Chapter 1: START OF DISC 1: New Game

-Subspace-

Deep Inside the Great Maze

It had been a long battle for survival, but he managed to stop the imbeciles from defeating him for real. Tabuu, though, had been weakened during the battle. As he floated along in the void of the Subspace surrounded by darkness and swirling purple and blue colors, he reflected on the disastrous end of the battle.

Master Hand had shown up right before Tabuu could terminate the big group of Smashers. As a last ditch attempt, the omnipotent hand used his space-bending powers to recall each one of the Smashers to their worlds, back into the past before they participated in the Brawl tourney and the war against the Subspace Army. He then called Crazy Hand, and both of them escaped from Tabuu's clutches, effectually putting a sudden end to the conflict for the time being…

Unfortunately, not everything was right.

Master Hand couldn't manage to save certain Smashers. Roy, Pichu, and Mewtwo had been killed by Tabuu in the ensuing battle. Furthermore, ROB seemingly betrayed them all by siding back with Tabuu. It became a huger disaster once Mr. Game & Watch had been caught once more.

There was more. An unlucky Smasher was captured as well in his trophy-fied state. Master Hand didn't manage to save that one Smasher, much to his chagrin. Tabuu kept him as a prize, but he would use his unrequited help very soon.

Tabuu grunted. It felt like an empty victory against the Smash Force, but he could at least relax and recover his power. As he pondered about what to do, a figure rolled into view over the cracked black floor of purple outlines. It was ROB, or rather, the Ancient Minister wearing his clothes. The robot was alone with the biggest threat the universe faced, but there was complete and absolute trust between the two of them.

The Ancient Minister looked up at his boss. "Lord Tabuu," he began, "what is your next course of action?"

Tabuu remained silent for a few minutes until he spoke. "My next course of action…is to mobilize the army beyond this realm," he said. "We managed to seize the land down below, even though I was weakened in this big battle…"

The minister looked down. "It is going to take you a lot of time before your powers are back, right?" he asked.

"Sadly, that is the case," Tabuu said nodding, his body glitching a bit. "But until then, no one can reach us. It is dangerous for anybody to enter this place knowing that I rule it… I will muster up my power to create an ideal place for our base of operations. You, however, will be in charge of the outside world."

The minister looked up and nodded. "Yes, I will gladly reassume control over the facility," he said. "Just give the word and we shall move out."

"I had my eyes…on the other worlds," Tabuu said. "The worlds that those accursed Smashers come from… I wish to conquer them all before they even have a chance to reunite and assemble their force," he explained. "Once we have gathered enough worlds…we shall move on and conquer the biggest one there is…"

"What?" the minister said. "…Oh…you mean the rumored real world…"

"Yes, you catch on very fast," Tabuu said. "It is the real world that is the real prize behind the entire war. Those fools do not even know about the real world existing, but they are missing the big picture…" He turned around. "Ancient Minister, begin preparations to invade one of their worlds. The facility is slowly being taken out from the Subspace. I want a Subspace Bomb to be deployed in Ness's world."

The minister nodded and turned around, moving away from his boss. "It shall be done," he said as he vanished in the darkness. "(…And so begins my long struggle to work with this person once more…)" the Ancient Minister thought to himself. "(This isn't the time to rebel again. I need…I need to find the right time…)"

The Gathering Saga

Begins

-Real World-

Chris's House – Living Room

March 9 – Sunday - Morning

Behind the scenes of the big war in another entirely different universe, the real world was safe from getting into a big fight of epic proportions. Life continued its pacific time of peace. Today, however, was a time of rejoicing.

A particular teenager with a big secret hidden inside the walls of his semi-luxurious house entered his home, carrying a bag holding a game he purchased that very same day. It was the release date of the game "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", and he was greatly looking forward to play it along with a very special person who took residence in his house half a year ago. He had paid the reservation in full as soon as the announcement came to the internet and the general media.

Sighing, the teen smiled to himself and looked around his house, trying to find his special guest…

Hello, I'm Chris. I'm a 16 year-old teen. You're getting this so far, right? Okay, I'm just making sure. I'm a 16 year-old. I have short black hair, and you could say that I look Hispanic due to the color of my skin. Truth is, I AM Hispanic, but yet I live in the U.S., specifically Los Angeles, California, in a house where I rule by my lonesome due to some…rather unfortunate decisions I've done in the past…

...Well, not exactly alone…

I have someone special here who has taken me out from my horrible curse of solitude... That someone is really, really special because he's not a person you'd expect to find here around the city…or for that matter, in the entire world itself.

…Let's talk about me before you decide to hog that person, okay? Firstly, let me tell you this. I'm an Honor High School Student who manages to keep a balanced life with studying and playing video games. I'm a huge video game fanatic, but I look beyond video games. By that, I mean that I care about the love and effort put into every single game I have ever bought. I enjoy the story and the characters besides the gameplay. In fact, I learn so much about the values shown in some games that inspire me to find something good in real life. As you can tell, I'm a high school student with an everlasting dream to discover what I'm good at...

And that's basically it about me. I'm an ordinary high school student living a…pretty particular life due to that person I mentioned to you…

The teenager couldn't find the person in his house. Looking around, Chris shouted, "Lucario, I'm hooome!"

On the second floor of the house, a figure entered through the terrace's entrance. His black feet touched the white tiles on the floor. A deep, gruff voice then said, "I'm up here, Chris."

Hearing the sound of footsteps rushing up, the person saw the teen coming from the stairs, all the while flashing a small smile as he carried with him the game he had bought. If the situation had taken place half a year ago, Chris would have screamed at the sight of a Lucario in his house. Alas, this was not the case anymore.

That special person I mentioned is a Lucario…

The teen and the Pokémon approached each other…and the first looked up at the towering Pokémon looking down at him with a smile.

...And he's beyond special in many ways than one.

First things first. You're surely wondering how a Lucario like this one appeared in this world. Well… I have no idea how it happened back then, but at the start of Summer Vacations during a rainy night, a lightning bolt struck by DS down, and from it, Lucario's Poké Ball came out. It accidentally opened up and he appeared…sprawled over the floor because he had a fever. When I saw him the first time, I was at a complete loss of words, and I feared that he would rip me apart… Luckily, doing the right decisions led me to become acquainted with him.

It was a long struggle for me to get him to like me. He was a very oblivious Pokémon who knew almost nothing about life. Fortunately, this Lucario can use telepathy to talk, but he can actually speak with his mouth just fine. It doesn't mean he knows how to read, though. During many days in the past, I took it upon myself to look after him by teaching Lucario how to live life while we tried to find a way back to his home. We had lots of fun moments together. I vividly remember his first shower and his first steak… But still, he longed for his dream to reunite with his real trainer…

When the day he was debating himself what to do about his issue that was being stuck in this world…I cried out, and after a while, he turned around and…he also cried. Without warning, he embraced me and yelled out, "I don't want to leave you like this! You're…you're my real trainer!"

…And ever since that fateful day, my solitary life changed forever for the better. I was a teen whose parents worked away from home to assist important corporations with revolutionary ideas. I didn't know much about what they do, but they're almost never at home. That made things easier for me to raise the special Lucario as…my loyal Pokémon.

You see, this Lucario is not normal… He's a 6'07" foot tall Lucario. I'm just 5'05". My head only reaches the murderous weapon that was his chest spike.

"Oh no!" Chris said as he accidentally let go of the bag, slipping down the white couch.

Lucario merely stared at the direction the item slipped down into. He bent down a bit and lifted the couch with a single hand. The couch was heavy to carry for two people, but the Lucario didn't struggle a single bit. "There it is," Lucario said, looking at the bag.

…And this Lucario just so happens to have Herculean strength. For reasons unknown, he is surely my world's strongest being there is. Mundane tasks such as cutting down logs with an axe and do some furniture redecoration were easily taken care of with a single hand of his. Despite having the strength of obliterating my house in a single punch (I don't even know if he can do that much, but do you want me to find out? Fat chance), he's an incredibly likeable person.

He just doesn't have the strength of a thousand men. He's really got a tough body of steel under a coat of fluffy blue and yellow fur (yes, I said fluffy. Don't you look weird at me). I remember how a brick fell on top of his head from the third floor's roof to the garden outside, and he just kept staring me while that brick broke apart the moment it landed on his head. Morbidly enough, we were talking that day and he didn't stop when said brick fell on him. He just kept talking and rubbed the dust on his head.

On top of that, Lucario knows four moves: Force Palm, ExtremeSpeed, Double Team, and the ever so devastating Aura Sphere. Coupled up with his almighty strength, these moves became…what's the word? Broken. Force Palm released a rather small blow, but just you wait until that thing goes off. It looked pretty small, yet its intensity was deadly. A tree would shatter into pieces. And then there was the Aura Sphere. If he wanted, he could make some monstrously big Aura Spheres and charge them in two seconds flat.

In a world where there are no Pokémon and battles, Lucario had no choice but to enjoy life with me. We never complained, though. We absolutely enjoy every single second of our time together… Oh, did I mention he was a gamer? I taught him how to be one. And today, we were going to waste away our time playing Brawl.

That's about it…

Chris sighed and went to pick up the bag. Once stepping out from the couch's shadow, the teen saw the towering Lucario putting the couch back down to the floor. He looked at his trainer. "Did you find it?" Lucario asked.

Chris then took out the item from the bag and placed the game in front of him. "Yep, I got it!" He smiled. "Now we can play it... Oh god, we have to do it now before the shows start later," he said. "I'm sooo excited to play this with you."

Lucario nodded and looked to the game. "Since you were this excited...hmm?" he stared at the game's case. "…Huh…"

The teen raised an eyebrow once he saw Lucario giving the game's box a hard look. "...Lucario?" he said. "Lucario, what's wrong? You're glaring at the box…"

"...There is something wrong with this game," Lucario said, staring at the box.

"Wrong?" Chris asked confused.

"I don't know what it is...but it feels evil."

"...Were you watching TV during the whole night again? I told you not to do that."

"I-ah-no..." Lucario blushed, shaking his head. "But Chris…"

Through Lucario's eyes, he could see a purple aura coming out from the very box. This Lucario was a master of auras. Unlike the normal Lucario stated in the descriptions, the Herculean Pokémon easily tracked down auras beyond a hundred miles. Not that there was any use to this highly developed sixth sense. Lucario only watched from afar how Chris's life developed in high school. However, only the living could exude auras.

An item exuding a dark aura was not normal.

"There is definitely a dark aura on that box…" Lucario added, shrugging at the aura trying to reach out for them.

"Hmm…" Chris looked worried. "Well, I don't really feel anything evil from the box. I believe you, though," he said. "But how can an insignificant item like this give out a dark aura?"

"Perhaps we shouldn't put it into the console," Lucario said. "I don't want to find out what could happen if something were to come out of it."

Chris was used to having a supernatural Pokémon accompany him all the time. It was half a year ago that they met, but there wasn't anything else besides Lucario that happened until he brought up the unbelievable fact that a game box had a dark aura. "That dark aura is red, right?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Lucario said. "I'm trying to pierce through it to find out more about its reason to have such thing, but… I can't find anything."

"That's…impossible…" Chris muttered. "You're a master of auras, but you can't discern anything from this?"

Lucario looked down in shame. "I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe I need to hone my aura skills even more…"

"…No," Chris said, making Lucario look at him. "You're a master. There just has to be a good reason behind this box giving you that evil aura… You know what, I think we should just go ahead with this and try it out ourselves," he said. Lucario looked a bit dismayed at the proposal. "Maybe you are imagining things…"

"No, I'm not," Lucario said, looking a bit serious. "But maybe I'm hallucinating a bit. I mean, this is just a game…"

Chris forced a smile. "Then let's go to my room and boot this up," he said. "I'm so looking forward to play as a Lucario."

Lucario grinned a bit. "That makes two of us."

"Dibs on the blue one!"

"What? I don't like the other palettes. They make my species look silly…" As the two debated on choosing the right color palettes, the dark aura that the box contained lingered in the air…

Chris's Room

Chris's room on the first floor was very clean. The teen, though, was not the one who cleaned it up. It was his dutiful Lucario who took it upon himself to put game cases away on the lower left corner of the room on a pile of ordered stacks of video games, next to the closed closet. The bed on the upper right corner was neatly made up, facing sideways at the HD TV on the upper left corner of the room. The two house residents entered the room. Lucario sat down on the bed as Chris went over to insert the disc inside his Wii. The Aura Pokémon turned the TV on.

The box stopped radiating the ominous aura, Lucario could tell. But now, the dark aura came from the disc itself. "See? Nothing seems evil or something..." Chris said as he then inserted the disc inside the Wii. The TV came to life with the friendly warning. Grabbing a nearby Wiimote, Chris went to sit next to Lucario. He moved the pointer over its game channel screen. "...Seriously, nothing is happening." And then he selected the game screen.

Irony was on Lucario's side. As soon as Chris wanted to boot the game, the Wii turned off.

"…" Chris remained silent as Lucario looked down at him. "I told you before that something isn't right," he said.

"Huh? Why isn't the game starting?" Chris said. "You don't really think that the evil aura you saw has something to do with this, right?"

Lucario nodded as he said, "It must be that dark aura's doing."

There surely was some logic behind this that didn't involve the dark aura. Chris rubbed his chin as he pondered on the issue. "Maybe those rumors about the disk being made as a double-layer disc were true. I think I put my Wii in the wrong place where dust gathers the most..."

Lucario could see that his trainer didn't want to believe it, so he tried to support the thought. "...I hope so..." Lucario muttered.

"That's weird. Let me check it." Chris approached to the Wii. "...Hmm..." He approached his right ear to listen to the disc spinning inside. "...There's a weird sound coming from within the Wii..." And suddenly, a purple light came from where the disc slot was. Chris looked at it and Lucario glared at the light. "Hey, what's the big deal here? I never saw a mention of a purple light in the manual." He was suddenly pulled back by a growling Lucario. The Aura Pokémon put his trainer under his left arm as he showed his fangs at the light. "L-Lucario, what's wrong?"

"The dark aura is growing!" Lucario said. "I don't know what's going to happen, but we better brace ourselves!"

Chris was so unfamiliar to listening to such an order that he looked frightened, but with a Lucario capable of carrying a couch with a single hand, he felt protected. "Why ar-" The light shone brightly and a force pushed Chris back. He was being held by the big Lucario, so he avoided being flung away recklessly. "U-ugh!"

"Are you all right?" Lucario asked, looking down at him.

"What in the world is happening here?!" Chris asked in terror as he saw the light illuminating the whole room. "Please, don't let it explode because there are no Wiis in the store!"

"Would you stop minding those things?" Lucario asked enraged. "This is very serious! I can't even tell what's going on!"

"At least I take care of everything here," Chris said. He was desperately trying to distract himself from the potentially hazardous purple light. "Not like you, Mr. I-Break-The-Wiimote-Because-I-Failed-To-Pass-The-Final-Boss!"

Suddenly, purple lights came from the disc and they started to fly in a circle in the middle of the room. Both of them looked shocked at the whole event happening just in the morning, and in their room. Chris looked horrified while Lucario growled menacingly at the lights. Not even the dawn's light coming from the window could overcome the bright, ominous lights.

"Okay, this is getting pretty insane..." Chris said with a gulp. "First, my Wii goes nuts, then, it shines, then, it shoots...g-ghosts out? Is this some kind of a new application I never heard of before?"

The Aura Pokémon frowned at his trainer's suspicions. "I told you," Lucario began as he growled silently at the lights, "…there was something wrong with it!"

Surely, Lucario could do something useful. Strength was not an option, but perhaps he could manipulate the lights using his aura. "W-well, do something about those lights! If my parents ever come back and see these abnormalities, what do you think they will say?" Chris ordered and asked.

"Too bad."

"W-why are you saying that?"

"Those lights aren't lights. Those are auras."

"O-okay, good. Now, get rid of them!"

All the purple "lights" fired to all the video games of Chris's collection and began to glow in a purple aura before fading out. Both of them stared at the games that shone purple from time to time. With the lights having seemingly merged into the stack of games, the intense purple light dimmed down a lot. The two exchanged looks before staring at the collection.

"...Lovely," Chris said with a bored look after his room returned back to its normal color with the sun's lights shining through the window. "My games surely got corrupted by purple auras from a new game I just bought from my local store... I'm NOT getting all of them through the internet either."

Lucario groaned with a frown. "...I told you, something was wrong with that game you got," Lucario pointed out.

"And yet you didn't do a thing..."

Lucario looked ashamed. "I'm sorry…"

The teen would feel guilty just seeing the powerful Lucario look down. Chris's eyes looked apologetic while his lips formed a small smile. He rubbed Lucario's head with care, making the Aura Pokémon look happy. Unlike other Lucario, this one liked that his trainer groomed him a bit from time to time. "It's okay," Chris reassured Lucario. "We're going to get to the bottom of this… Maybe you can pull the auras out from the collection."

The Aura Pokémon looked at the collection and held out his hands. Chris pulled his hand back and saw the big Lucario glowing with an intense blue aura. Much for their dismay, the purple aura that engulfed the games disappeared as soon as Lucario tried to pull them out. "N-no…" Lucario muttered. He didn't sense the auras anymore, and then his intense aura faded away. "They got away…"

Chris looked disappointed as he got up and approached the Wii to examine it. "Oh, great…" he muttered. "It just feels like the time you came to this world, only now it's far worse and confusing…"

Lucario nodded, but then, he felt a blue aura emanating from the Wii itself. Being unfamiliar with this aura, the Aura Pokémon narrowed his eyes. "Back away from that thing," Lucario said. "A new aura surfaced…"

"What? Now this Wii has an aura?" Chris asked and Lucario nodded. He looked at the Wii with a bored look. "Good, this machine may as well be corrupted...heavily corrupted...and my games as well... Lucario, do you know what this means?"

"We have to toss them all to the trash?" Lucario asked as he got closer to the video games. "I don't want those boxes exploding in midnight if that ever happens."

The teen gasped. "You BACK away from those video games now," Chris ordered. "I'm NOT going to get them all one by one. Those are my video games from my entire life as well! T-they have to be just fine!"

"You're asking that after we saw those auras merging into your collection?" Lucario questioned, crossing his arms below his chest spike. Sensing the Wii's aura shaking, the Aura Pokémon gasped. "Chris, look out!"

Suddenly, the Wii's disc slot was shining again, but instead of purple, it was a yellow light. The teen gasped and backed away from the yellow light, grabbing his chest as if he was getting a heart attack. His dutiful Lucario went over to shield him. Lucario subconsciously liked the fact that he was protecting his dear trainer during these confusing times, but he shook the thought away. It was far more important to keep Chris safe.

Chris looked at the light and groaned loudly. "Aw, god, it's seriously messed up this time!" he said.

Right after, the yellow light vanished. As Chris blinked confused yet again, Lucario could still see the blue aura engulfing the Wii. "The aura is still there, Chris," Lucario said. "It'd be best if you don't approach it."

"...Lucario, hand me the phone."

Grimacing at the weird order, Lucario looked down at him. "Why?"

"I'm calling Nintendo."

"..."

"Give the phone!"

"..."

"Lucario!"

"...Chris, I don't think they know about this..." Lucario said, looking away from his trainer simple yet piercing glare. "What are the chances of them knowing about this?"

"Then let me call a ghost hunter or aura hunter o-" Chris shook his head. "What am I saying? They really don't know about this."

"There are no ghost hunters in this world...or anywhere," Lucario said. Chris gave him an awkward look. "You started it," Lucario shot back. His trainer sighed.

Despite the warning Lucario had given earlier, the duo approached curiously to the Wii. "...Well, do you think it's time to get a new one?" Chris asked. "It's going to be a real drag getting all that time spent on the games we achieved a hundred percent completion…"

"That would be for the best," Lucario said. "Besides, I do look forward to replaying games with you."

Chris smiled. "That's a really nice thought," he said. "With you around, it's always bound to be an enjoyable experience."

"GUARGH!" Lucario growled proudly and nudged his muzzle against Chris's face. The teen chuckled heartily as the Aura Pokémon playfully rubbed the tip of his nose on his black hair. Chris then rubbed the Aura Pokémon's chin with affection. The Lucario looked up with eyes closed, growling with pleasure. Unlike many Lucario, this one completely enjoyed the idea of being groomed as proof of their strong bond. It gave him a powerful proud feeling that he cherished a lot.

The two never saw that the Wii shook violently in front of them. In slow motion, the Wii suddenly shot a faint image over the happy team. Once a big shadow loomed over them, the two smiling characters looked up just in time to see two heavy figures appropriately crushing them both on the floor. Whatever happiness had taken place before was crushed down along with them.

Under the two foreign bodies, Chris's right hand stuck out, its fingers wide open as if trying to reach out for outside support. "I…I had a good run…" Chris muttered under the bodies.

The bodies were not normal. They weren't normal people, but rather, two huge disembodied white gloves: a right glove and a left glove. From the looks of things, the two gloves were pretty much alive and kicking judging the fact both were groaning in pain. The right glove lied down on top of the left glove, unaware that they had seemingly killed the only two owners of the house they had entered without previous warning.

"Where are we, brother?" the left glove under the right glove asked casually, "looking" around its surroundings. "Hey, guess what! We made it to the real world after all! And here I was thinking we were going to end up somewhere nasty like a hot sauna with naked men."

The right glove on top floated up, looking around the room. The walls had multiple posters of several video game characters that he knew very well. "Oh, good," he said. "It looks like we got into the right place at the right time."

The left glove was lying down upside-down on its back. "Check this out," he said as he felt rumbling under his body. "This room has a massaging floor!"

The right glove looked down at him. "The floor isn't even shaking," he pointed out until a loud roar came under his companion. He backed away at the intensity of the roar, seeing that the window behind his wrist shook. "What in the…? That deep, gruff voice…"

"Sounds kinda familiar," the left glove said as blue aura shone underneath its body. "But this one sounds a hell deeper!"

"…Wait a minute," he said as he looked at the blue aura down below. "What th-"

An infuriated Lucario stood up to his full height, lifting the big left glove with a flaring right hand. Growling, the Lucario tossed the left glove aside to let his trainer gasp for breath. "Air! Oxygen! How much I missed you both..." Chris said in relief as he got up with his Lucario's help.

The two parties then stared at each other, falling in silence.

"…Oh…" the right glove stared long at the towering Lucario. "…Oh my…"

"…Goodness…" Chris muttered, staring up at the floating glove. "…I…"

There was no doubt. Chris and Lucario saw before their eyes none other than Master Hand and Crazy Hand. The two bosses were not even in their minds, thinking other things that took much more importance. The two gloves had come out from Chris's own Wii for sure. There was no other explanation…

Then Chris remembered something crucial. "...Wait a minute, aren't they supposed to be bad?" he asked and hid behind his Pokémon. " LUCARIO!"

"GRRRRR!" Lucario growled furiously as his body caught up with a powerful aura. His eyes even glowed yellow.

Master Hand screamed in a high-pitched voice as he saw the Lucario holding out his open palm, creating a rather big Aura Sphere that violently shook with destructive power. "AAH!" Master Hand screamed. "C-calm down! W-we're not bad, I swear!" Master Hand pleaded. "W-we're in dire need of help! Please, don't let that dog of yours blast us!"

It was incredibly weird to see someone like a big floating hand begging for mercy. Through his yellow eyes, Lucario's mouth opened a bit as he detected that the two hands' auras were blue instead of red. However, he didn't want to take any chances. The Lucario couldn't read their thoughts as there was some sort of mind lock that prevented him from dwelling in their minds. He could break that lock apart if he put some extra effort, but it was obvious to him that they had no ill intentions.

Thus, Lucario's intense aura faded away for a second time along with the big Aura Sphere. Seeing this, Chris asked, "Lucario, why did yo-?!"

"They have blue auras," Lucario interrupted.

"Blue auras…" Chris trailed off. He remembered that Lucario taught him a bit about auras. Blue auras belonged to good people. Red auras belonged to bad people. Therefore, if the gloves had blue auras, it meant they were good people… "They're…they're good, then?"

"Yes!" Master Hand said, making the two look at him. "Geez, how lucky we are that there was another Lucario in this world… But…" He stared at the wary Lucario. "How on earth did this one get here?"

Feeling that situation looked awkward, Chris sighed. "I…I don't think this is a good place to chat," he said. He felt unsure around the two gloves inhabiting his house. "This is a very extremely confusing event to me…"

"Huh, we think alike," Master Hand said, looking at the worried teen. "But it looks like it's going to be safe to explain everything to you two. I assume the initial shock of having a…big Lucario like the one you have makes things easier for the two of us."

"…Not really," Chris admitted. "He at least looks like a person. You two, on the other hand…"

Crazy Hand floated up, startling the teen. "Other hand? We've got a second brother?" he asked, sounding excited.

Master Hand chuckled nervously as the duo stared at them with weird looks. "Before we move, let me tell you this: he's my insane brother," he said. "He's technically the only person I can look after to avoid feeling alone, y'know. He drives me crazy many times, but we're still brothers."

Crazy Hand turned around and looked at them. "Oh, hello!" he said, forcefully shaking Chris's hand with two fingers. Lucario's glare stiffened. "Nice to meet my first human from the real world! We're gonna be best friends forever."

His brother slapped his wrist. "Stop that," he hissed. "We need to make a good first impression."

"Whoopsie-daisy," the insane hand said. "Sorry."

Master Hand looked at them with a frown. "Look, just don't get too close to him or else you might experience severe massive damage one way or another," he said. Chris cautiously moved behind Lucario.

Living Room

The teen never thought that it was going to be possible to have two extremely unlikely guests in his humble abode. If things weren't crazy with Lucario, they were crazier with two disembodied hands floating around in midair. Chris closed the curtains from all the windows just in case an unlucky person with a weak will happened to scream their heads off. Then, Chris sat down on the sofa while Lucario remained standing up at his side as both hands were in front of them.

Master Hand was admiring how lustrous the living room looked like. On the far left corner, there was a chimney facing some couches and a table, which were standing in front of a big flat screen TV. On the upper right corner, there was a dining room that faced the kitchen counter further up. Along the walls, several photos and other decorative furniture adorned the light gray walls. "Oh, good," Master Hand said as his brother sat down on his wrist on the opposite couch that faced the duo. "I'm happy to know we got the one with the nice-looking house."

"U-um, thanks," Chris said. "I do my best to keep this place clean while my parents are away…"

"Oh!" the hand "nodded" his body. "You're one of those who… I mean, I see," he said. "That kind of makes things even easier."

The teen nodded, interlacing his fingers over his knees. "First off..." Chris began, "...my name is Chris, and this is Lucario." Lucario responded with a silent growl. "He won't kill you..." Chris reassured the hands. Lucario sighed with a small frown.

"Okay, nice to meet you," Master Hand said. "I'm Master Hand, and this here...is my pretty insane brother, Crazy Hand."

"Hell-o," Crazy Hand said. "Don't mind if I take this couch as my bed."

Chris grimaced a bit, but he knew things weren't going to stay like this any longer. He saw that both hands stared at him...if it was easy to tell that apart. Their bodies were facing him, so he had a feeling he was being watched. "...I don't know what to ask first..." Chris said.

"C'mooooooon," Crazy Hand said. "You have something, don't you?"

"H-hmm..." Chris got something to talk. "I got something… Before you came here, there was this weird event where purple auras came out from my console…and then they entered my video game collection…" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you know anything about that?"

Master Hand cleared his invisible throat before speaking. "...Those purple lights were surely the Subspace Army spreading their reach, the culprits for invading the Smash Bros. Universe," he explained. The two blinked at him. "The disc you got, Chris, happened to harbor a wide open universe that had its own fair share of issues."

"What the…" Chris trailed off. "You mean to say I just so casually picked some kind of corrupted copy at my local store?" he asked. "How does that even make any sense?"

"Hello," Crazy Hand said, "six-foot tall Lucario?"

"T-that…" Chris exchanged glances with Lucario, "I-I admit we already went through something of the sort before, but this is just too much!" he said. "What are the chances that the people who manufactured that single copy of the game knew about this?"

"I don't know about that," Master Hand said, dismaying the teen. "But the thing is, things are happening. It was…how you say…destiny working by itself."

"Oh, don't give me that…" Chris trailed off until he saw that Lucario was giving him a worried look with his red eyes. "…You…you believe in this kind of destiny, I imagine…"

Lucario nodded. "Yes…" he said. "The two of us never found out how I even came here."

"I…I guess you're right…" Chris muttered, recalling the vivid event from a half year ago. "…Still…this makes even less sense…" He looked up at the hand. "It's just too much for me to believe that I'm living through this."

Master Hand sighed. "Look, Chris," he began, "you're going to break a blood vessel if you think too hard about that. You need to concern yourself with the information I want to give the two of you first." He saw the teen shaking his head. "I know it's pretty incredible, but it's happening. That's all you need to know about the situation as a basis."

"Ugh…" Chris grunted a bit. "…Okay… I'll listen to your story, then," he agreed. "So you're saying that…uh…this Subspace Army is trying to…"

"It's trying to conquer the worlds," Master Hand said. The duo widened their eyes. "The army's main goal is to conquer any world they come across using the Subspace Bombs."

"..." Chris was utterly miffed by that truth. "...Okay...that sounded so scaring..."

"But how did you two manage to get here?" Lucario asked suddenly. "For that matter, since Chris and I already spoiled ourselves of the plot of the game… Where are the others?"

Master Hand chuckled nervously. "You see… There was this big fight against Tabuu, the leader of the Subspace Army," he said. "This fight was supposed to be the one that would end with his defeat, yet…it never happened…" He looked up at the ceiling. "Tabuu was weakened due to some outside help, but he managed to fight back just fine, which ended up with us losing the battle."

Chris looked away in thought. "…You're saying the supposed final battle ended up on a bad note?" he asked, looking sideways at the hands. "And that's how things spiraled out of control?"

"Oh yes, they did," the sane hand said. "You see, I barely managed to escape safely thanks to Crazy Hand here." Crazy Hand waved his body at them. "Using his help, we used our powers to pull all the people involved in the fight back to their worlds of origin…with the added fact that we manipulated their memories so that they wouldn't remember anything that took place during the entire war plot."

"Wait, why?" Lucario asked. "Why would you do that?"

"I'm a hand of creation," the hand said. "I can't heal people! I can only use my powers to bend reality to my will! So then, I was desperate during that confrontation that I had no choice but to return them all to their worlds. If they went back in time with their memories intact, it would create so many nasty outcomes for their individual stories."

Chris looked back at him, bewildered at the statement. "You…tossed them all back in time?" he asked.

"Yeah…" the hand trailed off. "I did it so that they had time to prepare themselves for the worst at this point in time. Because I'm not that good at time-bending powers, however…I guess I overlooked a few mistakes here and there that…might have pulled them all further back in time…"

"…Oh…" Chris muttered in a low tone.

"You saw those lights going to your games, right? Well, they were going after them..." the hand explained. "Tabuu still has some reserves and he's using them to put an end to them. So, Crazy Hand and I fled away, and then I remembered that this world existed beyond our realms." He shook himself. "I didn't want to go recruit other people and drag them into this mess because the army is also hunting the two of us down."

The teen put two-and-two together and gasped. "Wait, there's a whole army coming into MY house?!" Chris asked. Sensing aura waves of desperation, Lucario bared his fangs.

"No, no, no!" the hand reassured them. "They can't easily barge into this dimension! T-they need to gather enough space to power up Tabuu so that he can invade this place! Luckily, he's very weak at the moment!"

Chris grabbed his chest as he calmed himself down. "P-phew…" he sighed as Lucario calmed down as well. "S-sorry for the outburst…"

"Eh, I expected that," the hand said. "So anyway… That's not the end of the story…"

"There's more?" Lucario asked.

"There were…other small accidents as we fled," Master Hand said. "…There were casualties."

"Casualties?" Chris wondered. "You don't mean people got killed or something…right?"

"Well…" the hand trailed off. "Roy, Pichu and Mewtwo gave their lives in the battle."

"!" the two responded with hoarse breaths. Lucario blinked in shock while Chris covered his mouth.

"It was a very shocking scene to be sure," the hand muttered. "Mewtwo fought with all his might until Tabuu pierced him through with a spear… Roy yelled and tried to help him, but then Tabuu sliced his body and left a very mentally-scarring wound that ran across his body… And just to clarify how evil he was, he spotted Pichu shivering in a corner and promptly blasted him away with a laser."

"...My…my god..." Chris muttered as he shook with fear. "...This is...unbelievable..." he muttered.

"To make a point, Mewtwo did a lot of help," Master Hand said. "He's a Legendary Pokémon of sorts…but Tabuu went all out and overwhelmed him."

Lucario looked away. "I wished I could've met Mewtwo," he said. "But it never crossed my mind that… Wait… Roy, Pichu, and Mewtwo…" He looked back at the hand. "Those are Melee characters that didn't make it to Brawl. How did they eve-?"

"Pfft," the hand interrupted. "I forgot you guys think that our dad canned those three. Well, I took it upon myself to keep them around for the Brawl era," he explained. "Besides, there's a whole new world out there for the tourneys I have organized a decade ago! You guys know about it for sure, right? The first Smash Bros. tourney…the Melee tourney…and the cancelled Brawl tourney. If I were to end a contract with one of the Smashers – that's how I like to call the participants, mind you – the ratings I get would take a long fall down."

It sure felt like the serious conversation had turned into some kind of advertisement. "…What?" Chris asked. "What do you mean by tourneys? What kind of barbaric name is Smashers? You have a show?"

"And, more importantly," Lucario began, "you have a father?"

"Let me answer every single one of those questions," the hand said. "Yes, I'm the boss that runs all those tourneys I mentioned, pitting the universes' greatest personalities to pit them against each other for a fight for supremacy. 'Smashers' doesn't sound that barbaric to me. I make a living using those tourneys to gain me some hard-earned money." He took out a photo and handed it to them. Where he took out that photo was a fine topic of wild-mass guessing. "And this is our dad. He looks pretty cool, don't you think? Look at that young face of his!"

Chris and Lucario stared with morbid looks at a photo of Masahiro Sakurai walking down a red carpet saluting an audience in front of a concert. One of Lucario's eyebrows twitched.

"What do you think?" Crazy Hand asked. "I think I got his looks!"

The teen grimaced at the thought of two disembodied hands knowing full well that the creator of the games was this man. He decided to go along with the flow. "Uh… I-I would really like to meet him one day," Chris said, forcing a smile as he handed the photo back to the hand. "(They don't even look alike!)" he thought.

The Aura Pokémon wanted to make things look serious once more. "Why are you here?" Lucario asked. "We know you're on the run…but what did you hope to accomplish by running into this world?"

"We're here because...we want to find help in order to fight them back," Master Hand said.

"...Do you want me to call the police, the NAVY, or the army?" Chris asked with the suggestions. "The two of us are…uh…very busy people…"

"We are?" Lucario asked.

"Yes," Chris hissed.

Master Hand groaned. "Hey, I wasn't talking about that! I was talking about recruiting a special human," he said. Chris didn't like where this was going. "A human I could convince to take upon the task of reuniting the team for a final confrontation against Tabuu while ensuring that their worlds are safe from danger…" He floated over to Lucario. "But screw that clichéd fan fic idea! I found myself a better recruit in this guy."

"Me?" Lucario asked, mildly shocked.

"Yes!" the hand said. "I can sense it from you. You're one big Lucario!" he rejoiced. "I saw how you lifted my brother with a bare hand alone. That just means you're very, very special! With you on my side, gathering the group will be an easy task! Here I was thinking I was going to recruit some headstrong boy who doesn't do well at school but is an expert at video games… That's a sad waste of time, let me tell you."

Lucario exchanged glances with Chris. The teen looked worried. "You mean to say you want to take Lucario with you?" Chris asked. "B-but…"

"…I can't," Lucario said, surprising the teen. "I can't just leave Chris behind knowing that he's going to be alone…"

"Lucario…" Chris muttered.

Master Hand groaned. "Aww, no, I knew this was going to be too easy to be true," he said. "Let me guess… You two are inseparable and would rather not leave the other behind."

"…Yes…" Chris responded weakly. But once he looked at Lucario's small smile, there was a sudden change of heart. "…And that's why you're not just taking Lucario for yourself." He stood up. "I'm coming, too."

The three gasped at the teen's decision. "WHAT!" Master Hand said. "T-that's not what I had in mind! Just a moment ago, you looked like you didn't want to take a part in this!" he said. "What made you change your mind? You don't look like a fighter unlike your superbly strong Lucario!"

Chris looked down, debating himself if it was a good idea to speak out his thoughts like that so recklessly. After hearing Master Hand's story, he thought that there was a small chance for him to help in some way… It was obvious that a great threat was trying to break into his world to conquer it. He just didn't want to let it all go so easily. "I…I know…" Chris muttered, looking at Lucario's worried expression. "It's just…"

"It's just that I'm thinking about your welfare," Master Hand said. "Chris, I don't want you to get involved in this. It's too dangerous for the likes of you."

"Just because Lucario is too damn strong doesn't mean everything will go the way you want!" Chris yelled, shocking the three at his sudden outburst. He looked worried once again. "A-and…and I can't just shrug this off and let Lucario go… I want to go and see what I can do."

"…You sure you're not the typical headstrong teen with a dream?"

"I'm not into fighting…" Chris admitted. "I'm a smart teen who works hard in high school…"

"That…doesn't fit my criteria too much," the hand said. "…Oh well, expect the unexpected, they say… But still!" He pointed a finger at the teen, startling him. "You know full well what you're getting into, right? You're entering a battlefield where anything can happen! You might get killed off!"

"Not if I'm around," Lucario said. He made a fist that got engulfed in aura. "I'm Chris's Pokémon. He is my Pokémon Trainer. I wouldn't want to think that he's going to be left behind doing nothing while I go out… Just the thought of leaving him alone doesn't bode me well." He looked at his trainer with a small smile. "I'm the strongest Lucario the world has ever seen… Using my power, I'll see that Chris pulls through without suffering."

The teen smiled a bit at his Pokémon's speech. "Oh, now I see how things are around here," the hand said. "It's the typical Pokémon bond between a Pokémon and his human. Yeah, I've seen that plenty of times before…" He grunted. "Okay, Chris, this is the last thing I'm going to ask of you… Do you TRULY want to join the Smashers, along with your Lucario, to fight against the Subspace Army knowing that you'll be facing danger a lot more than you've done in your life?"

"Join the Smashers…" Chris trailed off.

"That means you're working under me," Master Hand pointed out. "With my leadership, I shall guide you through."

"…" Chris stared long at Lucario. "…I have the world's strongest Lucario…" he said, smiling wide. "Why should I get worried about getting hurt out there?"

"Chris…" Lucario trailed off as he pulled his trainer under his left arm, nudging his muzzle against his head. The teen chuckled heartily and embraced him.

"Okay, that's kind of a moving scene," Master Hand said, "but there are things to be done around here. Are we okay that the two of you will work for me?"

"Yes," Chris said nodding, Lucario releasing his grip from him. "I'll do whatever I can to support the team…with Lucario, of course."

Master Hand turned away. "Well, that's just going to make me take some crucial decisions with you," he said. Chris and Lucario looked at him. "I'll tell you once we're ready to send you off in your first mission of the day…"

Chris was concerned. "Do we have to take a few items with us?" he asked.

"No, it'll be okay," he said as he began floating away to Chris's room. Crazy Hand hopped off from the couch and followed him. The duo looked at each other with flat looks before following the hands.

Chris's Room

Chris and Lucario stood in front of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. "Chris, Lucario," Master Hand began, "we have to stop the Subspace Army from conquering the worlds of my Smashers." He raised a finger. "Our first order of business is to keep their worlds safe by disabling the Subspace Bombs. It is also our top priority to gather them all once again when they're done with the plots of their games."

"Wait…" Chris trailed off, "so you do know that you're…part of video games?" he asked. Lucario looked away with a bit of disdain. "Lucario also realized that some time ago…"

"Oh… It's nothing, really," the hand said. "It only matters that we live. To me, it's far more important that I can have a conscience of my own to be aware of." It was hard to tell, but he looked serious. "For that matter, though…I FORBID you the idea of ever telling ANYBODY you come across about the fact that the worlds are part of video games…"

"It's going to be a pretty big thing to them, I suppose," Lucario supposed.

"Yes, right," the hand said. "The team doesn't even know about that. They'll react negatively to the whole idea if they were to find out… You better keep the secret covered and just tell them that you come from other normal worlds. I don't care what you do as long as you don't disrupt their stories."

"Disrupting their stories…" Chris repeated.

"It's unknown to me where you're going to end up," the hand said. "I will take you to the closest location where the plot is unraveling. That means that you'll be dropped off anywhere. You are expected to help the protagonists of any world with their issues while trying to find the army somewhere along the road… It's clear that the army wants to chase them down, so if you stick with them, you're bound to protect them. Do NOT stray away from their stories, though. It's not recommended that you make some alterations for better results…"

"How will we know when the mission is completed?" Chris asked concerned.

"I will contact you as soon as I can," Master Hand said. "I have powers beyond your imagination. I can see very well how you're doing by yourselves. For the time being, Crazy Hand and I will take residence in this house…avoiding people from seeing us from the windows, of course."

Lucario grimaced. "You better not cause any stupidity in here," he warned them. "I don't want to think what'd happen if you get out…"

"We won't do that," Master Hand said as his brother shook himself. "This is a safe place for us to hide from the army."

"But, how can we go to other worlds?" Lucario asked.

Master Hand saw a Wiimote on the bed and pointed at it. He fired a yellow light to the control and it went in front of Chris and Lucario by floating in midair. The two stared at the control. "And more of my belongings get corrupted..." Chris sighed.

"This is NOT corrupted!" Master Hand yelled before coughing a little. "Use this. This control is a key to go to the other worlds."

"What?" Chris said. "You did something to my control?"

"Your control has been modified to open portals," the hand pointed out. "Point forward and press the A button."

The teen could hardly believe that this was happening, but he did as he was told. Shyly pointing the control forward, Chris's doubtful thumb pressed the A button. Suddenly, a trail of light shot out and seemingly crashed against empty air. A small shining dot shone before the two, and then it started to grow into a big circle. When the big circle was seven feet big, they saw a swirl of bright colors inside the majestic abnormality. "A-aah!" Chris yelped, backing off from the vortex. It was a wonder to see that nothing was getting sucked into it.

"Yeah, that's the initial impression," Master Hand said. "What you see before you is a portal that will take you to Ness's world… I have sensed that the army's first target is Ness. I want you to rendezvous with him at the point where he's at and convince him to let you join his team."

"What if he doesn't let us join him?" Lucario asked.

"…Bug him a little more," Master Hand said. "Try to do your best to convince him. He's toasted if he gets targeted out of nowhere while walking through a city! You two are my only hope to see them safe…" He saw that Chris looked unsure. "Having second doubts now, Chris?"

"H-huh?" Chris said before looking away. "W-well…"

"…Look, because I don't want to see you chucking rocks and sticks at the enemies while Lucario does all the fighting," the hand began as he raised a glowing finger, "let me give you your tools for battle!"

"My tools for batt-?" Chris couldn't say anymore once the hand shot him with a bright light.

As Lucario watched in shock as his trainer's body glowed, Chris felt a funny sensation. However, it was still an odd feeling he never felt before, and it was by no means a negative one disguised as a positive one. He looked at his hands glowed briefly and, before he could see more, the light faded away. "What did you just do to him?" Lucario questioned.

"I gave him the Job System," Master Hand said.

"The…Job System?" Chris wondered, looking back up at him.

"I got this from a world I was spying on," the hand pointed out. "Basically, I gave you the potential to gain a wide assortment of powers that will unlock by themselves as time goes by while you fight battles. In short, let's just say that you're going to be a carbon copy of the Smashers… You're basically going to get jobs that will resemble them in powers and appearance. For example, someday, you'll get a Job that will give you a copy of Ike's clothes along with his sword Ragnell. There won't be any radical changes done to your body, though."

Chris thought hard about the Job System, but he was still unsure if this was such a good idea. Obviously, the hand spied on the Final Fantasy series when thinking about the system itself. "…Wait a minute," Chris said, realizing something. "How do I change jobs?"

"Oh, it's simple," the hand said. "You just have to imagine the job you want to change to in your mind… But the problem is that you don't have a single job at the moment."

"What?!" Chris said in shock as Lucario looked similarly with the same expression. "You're sending me into a foreign world without a single job?"

"I'm testing you," the hand said. "This is a test for you to prove yourself, Chris."

"Are you insane?!" Chris asked.

"No," the boss bluntly said. "Look, I do things around here pretty seriously. The people that work under me are expected to work hard. You're a special case, however," he said. "I know it sounds really bad that I'm giving you almost nothing to fight battles, but I wish to see how you develop your fighting skills as you progress through this long adventure. I can tell that you're not the adventurous type…so I wish to see how the likes of you mature."

Chris stared in pure disbelief at the hand for a few seconds until he sighed, scratching his right arm. "I suppose that…you're right on that…" he muttered as Lucario patted his trainer's back. "I already said I was going, anyway…"

"Don't be afraid," Lucario said. "You still have me to defend yourself."

"Lucario…"

"…I'll do everything in my power to help you out," the Aura Pokémon said with a small smile. "Nothing would make me very proud than seeing my trainer fight by my side."

"…" Chris's eyes looked away. He blushed a bit. "…I can really count on you, after all." Lucario growled and rubbed cheeks together with Chris, making his trainer laugh for a bit.

"Okay!" Master Hand said, startling the two. "It's time for you to start the big mission to gather the force! Now, go on into the portal and prepare yourselves for multiple worlds full of possibilities and unique characters waiting to meet you!"

"…Meeting other characters…" Chris muttered, a sincere smile forming on his lips. He stared at the portal in front of them. Curiously, the teen and his Pokémon stuck a finger each into it. "Uh… I don't feel so good just entering through this thing…"

The two never expected the big right hand to push them into the portal without previous warning. The portal then vanished once they were gone.

"And off you go!" Master Hand said. He chuckled and looked at his brother. "I should've said that before I pushed them in… Oh well, I have faith that they'll do just fine."

"And what if they don't do well and end up getting killed?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Pish-posh, brother!" Master Hand said. "Things will work out just fine… For the moment, though," he looked around, "we need to give them a big surprise once they're done with the mission."

Crazy Hand gasped. "You mean?!"

"Yup, we're going back home and do some special arrangements," Master Hand said. "I forgot that the Smash Mansion is all alone without any guests. I can't wait to see the look on their faces once they come back and see our base of operations. This house is not going to be enough!"

The hands kept talking to each other while keeping track of the two new recruits' progress in the first world…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Bound To a New Earth"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Creating new file data…

-Winters-

Chris, Lucario

And so, the story begins with a good start…

How good the start is to you is up to your review, though. A few more things shall be addressed in the next chapters as more characterization will come up from time to time. You'll see conversations and battles in the incoming chapters, so please, I ask you to enjoy the read.

I encourage all Brawl fanatics to review.
*Chapter 2*: Bounded to a New Earth

And thus, the first stop of the story begins.

Note: Centered words in italics means that a track is supposed to play while reading the paragraphs below it. You know, to give it a real sense of realism…

I encourage all (new) Earthbound fans to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The author only owns the story. All property belongs to their respective owners... Geez, I am supposed to write this every chapter?

Chapter 2: Bounded to a New Earth

-EarthBound-

-Winters-

Near Snow Wood Boarding School

Earthbound - Snowman

Winters was a special place in all Eagleland where it was always under a thick layer of snow that covered the whole landscape. Scientists had reported that the area might have been greatly altered due to human intervention, but luckily, it did not cause any problematic issues to the environment. Animal life was pretty much tame and was never endangered by the cold climate, so it was a peaceful area.

That was, until Giygas' influence took hold of the animal life and twisted every-day objects into monsters. Only normal humans would notice the enraged animals, but as for the objects, they would go largely unnoticed till their chosen prey would pass nearby as orders from Giygas came to their newborn minds.

Over a hill of snow that overlooked the Snow Wood Boarding School, a portal opened, and a teenager and his tall Pokémon stumbled down into the cold floor, the portal closing behind them. Shivering at the sudden temperature change, Chris slowly stood back up, Lucario standing up faster than he did.

"We're here…" Lucario trailed off in disbelief. They had actually managed to transcend the boundaries of space, and possibly all logic itself, to make it into another universe. Granted, Lucario had done it already, but he never noticed it. He looked at his shivering trainer. "I'm glad nothing morbid happened when we did this…"

"I-if you haven't noticed already," Chris shivered, "I-I'm not wearing winter clothing!"

The Aura Pokémon shrugged. "I can't even feel that much cold," he pointed out.

"Well, duh! You've got fur! I got skin! Without the fur!" Chris complained. "I'm guessing that oversized hand is not going to help me out with this! I-I'm so getting a cold…"

Lucario looked worried, but then he noticed a portal opening up behind them. Standing back, Lucario saw Chris turning around and gasping. "Sorry!" Master Hand's voice came from the portal as a blue jacket was tossed out from it. "It seems you guys were taken to that specific area."

Chris regained his composure. He was never going to get used to looking at portals any time soon. Picking up the jacket that he swore was actually his, he cleared his throat to say, "C-couldn't you have dropped us off somewhere else warmer?"

"Sorry, but the current story timeline is taking place right there," Master Hand shouted. "There's no way to work around this. You COULD wait a bit for the events of that area to end, but I suspect that the Subspace Army has already noticed your presences!"

The teen did not like what he heard. "Meaning…"

"Yeah, leaving that area behind like nothing happened will most likely explode in the worst of cases," Master Hand said. After hearing the teen's shocked "EXPLODE" word, the hand said, "Well! Off you go now! Try not to get killed or else it'd be REEEEEEEEAL bad!"

"Get killed?!" Chris shouted bewildered as Lucario growled, but the portal closed down conveniently on the hand's favor. "W-what in the hell!" he complained loudly.

Lucario continued growling until he stopped, frowning. "Well, we did accept this task…" he trailed off.

His trainer buried his face into his hands. "I was so blind in meeting other people that I actually never considered DYING on the job much… I'm so ashamed…" he trailed off, but Lucario approached him and hung his right arm on Chris.

"You still have me," Lucario said. "If anybody lays a finger on you, they will pay with their pain."

"…" Chris sighed. "You do all the fighting while I go somewhere to find a stick to beat people with…"

"Seriously now," Lucario said in a deadpan tone.

"What do you expect me to do?" Chris asked, looking up at his Pokémon. "I was given this job system, yet the hand didn't even give me a single job! Unless I'm Freelancer right now…"

Lucario immediately said, "Jack of all trades, master of none?"

"Except there are NO trades!" Chris responded. Throwing his arms up, he sighed once more and looked around where they had landed, spotting a landscape of withered trees with snow covering the branches. "I think there's no use complaining right now… Let's just…go with the flow, I guess…"

Lucario surveyed the area with his eyes. He turned around to see the Snow Wood Boarding School. "I suppose we should head down there," he said, his trainer turning to the brick-fenced building.

"The Snow Wood Boarding School…" Chris muttered. "I remember Jeff lives there...which means we're at the point of the story when Ness and Paula are trapped at the graveyard."

Lucario looked down at Chris. A closer look at his trainer made the Aura Pokémon look confused. "Uh… Chris…"

"What is it, Lucario?" Chris looked up to Lucario. The Pokémon didn't say a thing to let Chris tell what was wrong. A closer look at Lucario's face revealed that it had turned rather simplistic. The white of his eyes was gone, and only the red remained behind in the void of black that was his mask-looking pattern. "Oh…my…god…" he muttered.

"…Yes… I don't have any idea why we look like this…" Lucario muttered, seeing that Chris was also affected by some freak change. Chris's head was considerably larger, just as Lucario's, than the rest of his body. But by age standards, he still fit into the world's image of a teenager.

"We?" Chris touched his head with his heads. "Dear god, I'm a FREAK!" he shouted. "I-I'm a big-headed FREAK!"

Lucario looked serious. "Chris, keep your composure," he said. "I think that the world affected our appearance to make us match with the rest of the population."

"The big-headed population, you mean!" Chris said.

"What was that about going with the flow?" Lucario reminded his freaked trainer. "We should tough it up from here."

Not liking the fact that his head somehow had not put on a lot of weight to his frail body, Chris sighed yet again in defeat. "F-fine… At times like these, I wished Master Hand could've given us some pointers…"

"Like a manual?"

"I guess…" Chris turned back to the Snow Wood Boarding School. "No use complaining about anything else, now we somehow have to…uh…" He trailed off, unsure of what he was going to say.

"...Chris..." Lucario looked away.

His trainer turned around to face him. "What?"

"Was this...alright?" he asked, looking back at Chris.

"What was alright?"

Lucario closed his eyes. "Well... I was talking about your decision to do this adventure."

The trainer remained staring at Lucario before scratching his right shoulder, blushing a bit. "Well, I wanted to have something different…" he trailed off. "But… I don't know why I jumped at the proposal so suddenly. I mean… When I first saw that people like YOU could actually exist in the real world… I thought that it was possible for the rest of your 'universe' to do the same as well but with me going into their homes and then…well…"

Lucario asked, "But do you really think that this is the right decision?"

Chris looked away. "...I just don't know sometimes... I really wished to have an adventure with you, Lucario... Remember when you said yourself about going off somewhere with me like a trainer and his Pokémon?"

Lucario blinked. "Ah...yes, you and I said that before."

"…And to be honest," Chris chuckled, "I was thinking about meeting as many characters from the 'worlds beyond the real world' with you…" He shook his head. "I could make interesting friends if I get to talk with any of them…but…now that I think about it…" Once again, he looked worried. "It's not like I CAN really make friends with the protagonists of the worlds in just one single conversation! It took me like a year to get you to like me! To them, I'm…I'm a non-playable character who will keep saying the same thing over and over again if spoken to…"

"Uh…yes…" Lucario looked serious. "But this is completely different. I…I admit that I had a pretty bad case of a lone wolf attitude when I first looked at you. Not you, though," he said. "In my opinion, you have a likeable personality, and that's all you need to have any of them take a liking on you."

"…" Chris shifted his look to the sides, still feeling unsure. "…In that case, let's see if we can even get a secondary character like Jeff to take a liking on us."

Lucario gave him a hopeful smile and nodded. "Just as how you were optimistic in gaining my complete trust as your Pokémon, try to be optimistic," he said before hearing a faint sound that he could only hear. Turning back to the school, Lucario spotted two kids on the other side of the fenced gate. "I suppose this is where we take our first step into the mission…"

Chris nodded and walked forward, only to sink instantly inside the snow. Lucario gasped and felt that there was some kind of flat rock hidden inside the snow. There was a soft edge of snow that lacked the rocky surface. "C-c-cold!" his trainer shouted from the inside. The Aura Pokémon put up a tough look and dove into the snow to get him out.

Back at the fenced gate of the school, the two children were looking up. Both of them wore the school's signature uniform, though that was the only similarity they shared. The hat-wearing, red-headed one on the left was there to help his best friend cross over the fence. The glasses-wearing, blond-headed one on the right was intent on the other side.

The red-headed one, whose name was Tony, crouched down. "Okay, ready here! I'm gonna give you a boost…" he said.

The blond-headed one, whose name was Jeff, nodded and put a foot on Tony's cupped hands. Struggling a lot, Tony only barely managed to push Jeff up enough for him to grab onto the top bar of the fence. Jeff luckily had no trouble putting his right foot on top to climb it up and fall on his feet on the other side. "I was a little worried for a moment there…" Jeff said, fixing his glasses. He turned back to Tony, hearing him sigh a tad depressed.

"Jeff, promise me you will be careful in your journey," Tony said. "It's not really that common for people like us to be leaving the school behind till we're older…"

"Thanks, Tony. I appreciate the support," Jeff told Tony. "I will do everything to save Paula and Ness. Cover for me in the classes."

Tony looked unsure. "I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to cover for you if you're not even here, but… I'll come up with something," he said nodding. "Oh! Jeff, maybe you can get help from your dad! He should be still living somewhere close to here, right?"

Jeff nodded. "I was considering looking for him. I sure hope he is around here somewhere… Not nearby," he said. "Also, if I recall, it's been 10 years ever since the school faculty saw him last…"

"Alright, then… I guess this is good-bye," Tony said. "Jeff, be very careful on your journey. We're still best friends forever no matter what. Sad to see you leaving a day before my birthday."

Jeff shrugged. "Yes, I guess so..."

Tony smiled a bit. "Doing this is far more important, though. Go save those two," he said. "Once you come back, we'll celebrate my birthday for real! It'll be the day when you return as a hero!"

Waving one last time at his friend, both boys turned their backs on each other and continued their separate ways. Jeff looked over his shoulder, watching Tony getting back inside, but not only before Tony gave him a reassuring smile and a hand-wave. Once he was gone, Jeff sighed under his breath and turned back to face the withered forest of snow. He could get a clear view of the lake across from where he was standing. The school grounds were on top of a large hill.

Jeff looked to his left, finding a convenience store. Thinking that there could be something helpful, he walked to the door to enter it. Just before entering, several feet away from him, Lucario and Chris emerged from the hill of snow, barely catching a glimpse of Jeff entering the store. "H-he went in there," Chris shivered.

"Yes, now we have to come up with a way for him to lead us to Ness," Lucario said. "I think I remember Winters is pretty far away from that graveyard Ness fell into…"

"W-what do you suggest?" Chris asked, dusting off the snow from his hair. "I really don't want to be too straightforward to him and say, 'Hey, we're here to save Ness from his horrible fate because there's a whole army bent on getting his head! Let's be insta-friends and join forces together!' or even lie to him…"

"That is a problem…" Lucario trailed off. "Not even saying the truth or a lie is…difficult."

Chris thought for a moment. "What if…we casually avoid saying a lie and telling the truth by being good Samaritans?" he asked.

"You mean… What he doesn't need to know from us won't hurt anybody?"

"S-something like that," Chris said shrugging. "This is so difficult… Alright, let's give this a shot." They both looked at the convenience store. "Here goes nothing…"

The duo approached the store, only for the front door to slide open with Jeff walking out…together with a bubble-chewing monkey that seemed to have taken interest in the smart boy. While the first duo was pondering what to say without having established eye contact with Jeff, the blond boy had already looked up at the menacing canine known as Lucario. "Hold on, you there," Jeff called out to Lucario.

Lucario was taken off-guard and so did Chris. They both came to a halt. "Uh, y-yes?" Chris shyly asked.

Jeff fixed his glasses on Lucario. "You don't get to see such a…person," he said the last word while staring at Lucario's hind legs," like him walking around these parts…"

"(And here I thought he was going to scream at my big head. I forgot Lucario is the only one looking so out of place!)" Chris thought in shock.

"Though his hostile look didn't really cause any kind of pain on me…yet," Jeff noted. At least the two world-hoppers could cross out the possibility of the blond boy running away screaming bloody murder. "Do you two live around these parts?"

They felt an odd sense of danger with the question Jeff posed to them.

"We…uh…n-no," Chris said. "We're…"

"Travelers," Lucario added all of a sudden. "We're travelers who just happened to…uh…be passing through here."

Jeff was mildly impressed that the six-foot tall canine could even talk. "Ah, you can talk English too," he said. Chris wondered why he was sweating bullets in the cold climate somehow. "You seem civilized, judging you haven't ripped your companion's limbs."

Lucario took that as an offense. "I would never do such a thing to Chris," he said.

"Okay, then," Jeff said, looking to the forest. "I have some other business to attend to. Might as well leave now…"

If Jeff left, the duo would lose the chance to aiding Ness against the Subspace Army. Chris was quickly trying to come up with something to convince Jeff from letting them come with him along for the ride. He was the only lead that would surely take them to Ness, anyway. "(T-think about the facts or something, quick!)" Chris thought to himself. "W-wait!" he hastily said.

"Yes?" Jeff raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… Are you going off alone into the wild?" Chris asked, putting up a worried look. "You're kind of too young to be going alone…" He eyed the Bubble Monkey. The animal was busy chewing on bubblegum to care about what was going on, but the monkey followed Jeff just because he carried a pack of gum with him. "…And, honestly, that monkey doesn't seem to be of much help…"

"Huh…" Jeff trailed off, grimacing a bit. "Well, I suppose you are right on that notion. I just got this monkey because the store clerks wanted to get rid of it." Dismaying the duo, Jeff turned back to the forest. "I'll see how things play out for me. Thank you for worrying about me."

Chris's nerves got the best of him.

"For crying out loud! I was implying that we wanted to come along with you so you can cross the woods safely!" Chris shouted. Lucario stared shocked at him for a small while.

Jeff stopped in his tracks and turned back to them. "If anything, I'm worried about what might happen to you if you came along. For reasons I'm not at liberty to say, the task I was tasked to do is…kind of beyond your wildest dreams," he said.

"(You don't get to hear something from a boy his age in my neighborhood,)" Chris thought, mildly freaked out. "E-even then! What could a kid your age get into?"

"Speak for yourself. You're a teenager," Jeff pointed out. Lucario hoped this wasn't going to drive into an argument. "I was taught that I shouldn't trust strangers (though to be honest to myself I trust two complete strangers…)"

Lucario stepped forward. "We wish to aid you," he said. "If you haven't noticed yet, there's a monkey following you."

"…True enough…" Jeff muttered in defeat. The Bubble Monkey looked kind of insulted with the grimace on his face. "…Well… Fine."

EarthBound – Winters White

The duo couldn't believe what they heard. "F-for real?" Chris asked.

"I suppose so…" Jeff said nodding. "Don't say I didn't warn you, though. At least you did say that you would help me cross the woods. After that, you're on your own." He approached them. "Do you accept my conditions?"

"Sure, sure…" Chris said. Turning to face Lucario, his trainer tapped his own head. "(Lucario, please, listen to me. We're going to make whatever means necessary to make him lead us to Ness.)"

Lucario used telepathy to hear Chris's idea. He just nodded.

Jeff & The Bubble Monkey temporarily joined your team!

"…What was that?" Chris asked all of a sudden.

"What was what?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know. It just felt like somebody announced something…" He shrugged. "A-anyway, we'll be happy to accompany you for a while. Lucario here is the muscle of our little team." Lucario preened a little with a small smile directed at Chris.

Jeff took out some sort of small gun from his shirt. "I have this Pop Gun to defend myself. I…am quite clumsy a bit, but the teachers of my school agree that I'm smart enough to make my own inventions," he pointed out. "If any of us happens to find a broken apparatus, please let me know. I can try to work overnight to repair whatever we get our hands on."

"I'd love to see that," Chris muttered with some doubts.

"What?"

"Uh, n-nothing! Wh-why don't we move on now?" he asked. Jeff shrugged his shoulders and finally walked into the woods with the Bubble Monkey following close. The other duo exchanged relieved glances and followed them down. They all introduced each other while walking on the snowy path.

"And where do you live?" Jeff asked. "Where did you come from?"

Yet more questions that practically wanted to bury in their skulls like fatal bullet shots. "W-we come from a land far away from Eagleland," Chris said. He mentally punched himself for what he just said. "We're from…across the continent."

"Oh, foreigners," Jeff simply said. It felt like they had dodged the question. "That's quite interesting. I wonder if I can find people like Lucario if I ever take an exchange program down the line."

Lucario rolled his eyes. "(Not really,)" he thought.

"Judging how things are right now… I wouldn't be surprised," Jeff said, fixing his glasses.

"What do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

They passed down the thin shades of withered branches. The Bubble Monkey had now climbed the trees to hop from branch to branch. "The world has gone mad, apparently. Animals have turned hostile…while other unspeakable events have occurred all over Eagleland itself," the blond said, his glasses shining a bit. "Neighborhood dogs have attacked people, the possibility of there being zombies has actually been proven, and…inanimate objects somehow become mobile and turn against their owners."

"That is…" Lucario trailed off. Only then he felt that the area around them wasn't normal. He looked cautious, feeling an extremely stagnant presence covering the land. He was busy trying to comprehend their initial shock of having traveled through universes, but then he felt it clearly.

Not controlling his own nature as a proud fighter, Lucario growled. "Hmm?" Jeff looked up to the towering Lucario. "Hey, why are you growling all of a sudden?"

The Aura Pokémon thought it was fine to say it, even if Chris was giving him a worried look. "The entire land… It's been corrupted," Lucario said. Out of instinct, he pulled Chris close to him. To Jeff's surprise, Lucario glowed with potent aura, his eyes turning yellow. Through his eyes, he saw that the snowy land looked entirely different from its rather pacific environment. Everything, including the withered trees, was coated in a reddish aura that usually twisted itself in random spots. Widening his eyes, he sensed that the reddish aura seemed to be trying to strike them down by passing through their bodies, but they were unaffected by it.

"I…" Jeff trailed off, fixing his glasses, "I don't know how you can glow like that…"

While Lucario was busy growling and inspecting the surface area, Chris decided to speak next. "Lucario not only is a very strong fighter, but he has the ability to sense auras," he explained. "I'm guessing he just found a…uh…malevolent aura…right, Lucario?"

"Yes," Lucario said. "The land, all of it, is covered in a red aura trying to take over everything…and us, too."

"What in the world…?" Jeff muttered. "A red aura covering the land…and us? Huh, I've read a little bit about the supernatural force known as auras, but… This is kind of incredible."

Lucario stopped glowing, his eyes turning back to red. "Fortunately, the red aura can't even do anything to us. It's desperately trying to consume us whole, but to no avail…" Even without glowing, Lucario could tell at first glance that the red aura was particularly trying its best to strike Jeff down. "Jeff, it wants to take you down the most than any of us four. That is what I believe…"

Jeff shivered a bit at the thought. He really believed that the Aura Pokémon wasn't lying since he glowed with aura. "W-well, I don't feel inherently evil or anything. I'm not even feeling anything wrong with me," he said. "(If that's true then, this Paula might be telling the truth.)"

"Perhaps we're all immune to it," Lucario said. "It's so annoying… I can't shake off that feeling, but my aura is repelling it."

"Thanks for the little heads up," Jeff said.

Suddenly, Lucario felt that the red aura was gathering into a single point. Looking ahead of them, he spotted a goat eating some grass intact from the snow. It then rose its head up and stared at their way with deadpan eyes. "…Beware," Lucario warned them. "The red aura just took over that animal over there."

"That goat?" Jeff asked. The goat grunted loudly and charged at them. "Oh no, that news report about angered animals turned out to be true. Here it comes!"

Chris panicked. "H-how in the hell should I even fight it?" Before Lucario could tell him to fall back, Jeff tossed him a second Pop Gun. "What the…"

"I found a spare Pop Gun," Jeff said. "Use that to defend yourself. A-ah!"

Gruff Goat

Jeff – Chris - Lucario

48 – 79 – 489

There was absolutely no explanation to what had happened, but Chris and Lucario felt that they had been dragged off somewhere else. They could see the snowy plains, but there was a part of them that had been ripped off from existence itself. Looking at Jeff, the blond boy seemed unfazed. "What is this weird feeling?" Lucario asked, mildly horrified.

"I-I don't know!" Chris said disturbed. "B-but let's not think about that for now. We've got a gruff goat to fight!"

"Y-yes," Lucario said, his fists flaring up with aura.

Gruff Goat stomps on Jeff!

There was simply no way for the duo to stop the goat from stomping on Jeff's frail body. Lucario was completely baffled by how he was unable to run.

Jeff receives 8 damage!

"H-holy crap, Jeff!" Chris said, seeing the gruff goat stepping back.

Jeff whimpered a bit. "I regret…not taking P.E. class…" he trailed off, but even then he picked himself up and shot the gruff goat.

Jeff attacks!

Gruff Goat receives 18 HP of damage!

"Did it just stand there to receive the hit?" Chris asked, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Aw, screw this!"

Chris defends!

"A-all yours, Lucario!" Chris said. He was actually crouching down, his arms covering his head. The Bubble Monkey so casually landed on him and spat on the goat.

Bubble monkey spits in Gruff Goat's eyes!

Gruff Coat receives 12 HP of damage!

Jeff stared at the whimpering goat, helplessly trying to shake off the spit on its eyes. "I cannot fathom how spitting on its eyes is really damaging," he said.

Lucario attacks!

Gruff Goat receives 1,098 HP of damage! Actually, its head just blasted off into the sky!

YOU WIN!

Jeff and company receive 20 EXP points!

Jeff's level goes up by 2!

HP goes up by 4!

Offense goes up by 2!

Defense goes up by 1!

Speed goes up by 3!

Oh baby! Guts goes up by 5!

Luck goes up by 1!

Vitality goes up by 3!

Oh baby! IQ goes up 6!

To say the least, the world seemed to go back to normal to the newcomers, but that didn't stop them from seeing the brutal hit Lucario had delivered to the goat. What lied down in front of Lucario was the corpse of the goat with the missing head having blasted off high into the sky, leaving a trail of blood behind as it disappeared far away from the naked eye.

Jeff, Chris, and the Bubble Monkey all turned a sickening shade of blue (a feat Chris knew was impossible in the real world). Shaking his head, Jeff uttered "M-my word…" and dove behind a tree to puke. Chris felt an extreme case of vertigo and shivered at the morbid scene. The Bubble Monkey swallowed his gum by accident, staring with great horror at the bleeding corpse.

It took a few seconds for the serious Lucario, his flaring fist still stretched, to digest what he had done. He looked down and gasped, pulling back his fist and stepping back from the corpse. "Uh…" Lucario wisely trailed off.

His trainer wisely summarized the situation with a loud, "YUUUUUUCK! WHAT THE HELL, LUCARIO!"

"I-I-I'm really sorry! H-honest!" Lucario said, approaching his disgusted trainer. "I took it very seriously! I-I was just trying to protect you all!"

"By LITERALLY beheading it?!" Chris asked, Lucario sensing his body shaking in horror. Jeff overheard the fact and went back to puke a little harder than before. "DAMN! I know the thought is what matters, but this is BEYOND ridiculous!"

Lucario knelt down in shame, bowing his head to Chris. "I will control the extent of my strength next time so this doesn't happen again…"

"I have naaaaaaagging feeling you're going to do it again…" Chris turned back to face Jeff. He briefly saw the still expression on the Bubble Monkey's face. "U-um… Jeff?"

"I'm okay…" The blond boy limped a bit back to them, clutching his stomach. "I'm just not used to seeing people behead animals…"

Lucario stood back up, still looking ashamed. "You have my sincere apologies," he said.

"Honestly… I didn't think you were THIS strong," Jeff said, mildly regaining his composure. "You are certainly an incredible individual…"

The Aura Pokémon smiled a bit, but then his face fell when Chris gave him a deadpan look that implied, "Don't get too cocky or else you'll get it." He sighed instead.

Jeff adjusted his glasses, having slipped off from his little private time behind the trees. "On the bright side…I suppose our survival is pretty much guaranteed. I really wouldn't mind if you did accompany me beyond crossing the forest…" the two gasped mentally, "…AS LONG AS YOU DON'T BEHEAD ANYTHING ELSE."

"W-we don't mind, really!" Chris said, brightening up. "If you wish, you can hire Lucario as a guardian for the time being! Of course, I also come with the package…"

"I don't like the sound of hiring, but whatever," Jeff said. The Bubble Monkey pulled his sleeve a bit, wanting to have more gum. The blond gave him some gum, the monkey happily taking it. "Let's move on, making sure we avoid confronting any other goats…" He shuddered once he spotted the trail of blood left behind by the head. He nearly wanted to puke once seeing the fresh corpse on the snowy ground. Chris felt the same and so did the monkey, the latter who tried not to swallow the gum whole. They all quickly hastened their pace around the murder scene and walked down the path.

Several seconds later, after they were out of sight, a random hunter spotted the goat's corpse as he came from the same direction they came from. "Dunno what happened here but we're havin' a feast tonight!" he merrily said, pulling the succulent corpse away with him.

Back with the group, they suddenly came across some camping spots occupied by tents. "We should be nearing Lake Tessie that's assumed to have the legendary monster Tessie," Jeff pointed out. "I reckon that there's the Tessie Watching Club nearby, too."

"Oh! Maybe we could rest inside a tent if they let us," Chris said.

The first tent's owners allowed them to rest for a bit before moving down further along the road, where there were more tents stationed before Lake Tessie. Surprisingly, the lake wasn't frozen at all. Seeing a real lake, Chris was the first one to approach it, Lucario following him from behind. "…There is something big inside the water," Lucario said, his aura feeling another aura moving close to the shore of the lake.

"Tessie, perhaps?" Chris asked. "Please tell me we're not fighting a monster…"

"I won't behead it."

"Don't you even say that word!" Jeff said.

"Seriously…" Chris agreed.

The Bubble Monkey hopped up and down before rushing to a stretched portion of the shore, standing on a spot of dirt. He clapped his hands as if he was trying to do something special. "What is that monkey trying t-" Jeff was interrupted as ripples of water started to form right in front of them all.

Gloriously, a purple monster with a bright look on its face rose up from the water and howled playfully to the Bubble Monkey. In a second, the Tessie Watching Club members emerged from the tents and started taking photos and writing a whole lot of wild mass guessing in their notes. "You people act so fast," Chris said.

Jeff, not minding the public behind their backs, noticed that they needed to cross the lake. When they were resting back at the first tent, Jeff kept to himself that somebody named Paula had used a psychic call telling him that he needed to head south. The lake was in the way, so he assumed that they needed to cross it. The sides of the lake were surrounded by tall cliffs, after all. "We need to cross… Hmm, I wonder…" The blond calmly walked to the shore with the Bubble Monkey and looked up to Tessie. The crowd behind them gasped loudly.

"He's getting eaten whole, isn't he…" Chris trailed off.

"From what I read from Tessie's mind, it's a vegetarian," Lucario said. His trainer stared at him with an odd look. "…It only thinks about food all the time."

Tessie stared down at Jeff with what Chris thought was a very dopey smile. "Huh, it's pretty docile," Jeff noted, to which many of the club happily dotted down in their notepads. "We could probably ride it to cross the lake."

The duo carefully approached the legend. "…Oh, it's a vegetarian, alright," Chris said. The watchers also noted the fact down. They saw as Tessie lowered its head for them to climb over. Not wanting to say that Tessie had quite a flat head, the four stepped on top of its head, and then Tessie slowly swam through the cold lake. The four looked back to the watchers as they helplessly tried to snap as many photos as possible.

"Remember! We're editing the guy in the BLUE dog suit out! We don't want to make this look stupid so keep the kids and the monkey in the shot for extra points in cuteness!" one of them called out. Lucario overheard them and grunted, showing a few fangs.

Jeff and Chris sat down to rest. "We're lucky Tessie allowed us to travel across…" Jeff noted. "Just a few more ways ahead till I reach Ness and Paula… Oh," he turned to face the rest. "I guess I said that out loud."

Just for the sake of sounding interested, Chris asked, "Who are those two?" already knowing full well who they were.

"It's kind of crazy to believe this, but…" The duo felt that they were getting somewhere out of sheer luck. "There are these two other people who contacted me through my mind while I was sleeping. They're the reason why I even set out on my own to begin with."

"…So, you just…walked out from your home because two complete strangers told you to?" Lucario asked.

Jeff blushed slightly, small waves of water moving away from the trail Tessie left behind as it swam down south. "I know this sounds strange, but there's this feeling I got when I was called by Paula to help them. It's just as if I received an epiphany…" He moved up his glasses. "Call it a hunch if you may. There was this feeling inside me that told me to do this. And I just…jumped at the call or something."

"That's kind of…mystical?" Chris replied, not really sure how to put it.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Jeff said. "Hmm, it seems we're getting to the other side already…"

Tessie was now slowing down close to a small eastern coast. It slowly moved down its head to the ground to let them step down. Rising up its neck, Tessie calmly swam away, not before waving a small fin to them as it sank back down into the water. The Bubble Monkey waved at it.

"I don't know how I'm going to make it, but Ness and Paula are both very far away from here…" Jeff said.

"If you're really worried, then perhaps we can accompany you all the way to where they are," Lucario said. Chris sighed to himself, feeling nice for having heard the suggestion.

"This isn't going to distract you from…whatever you explorers do, right?"

"Not at all. It will probably help us explore the land better with some sort of guide."

"I don't know that much about Eagleland, but… It's okay," Jeff said nodding as they resumed their walk. The teen was happy to know that there was a safe lead to tag along with Ness. Now they just needed to convince Ness and Paula from letting them come…

Several minutes later, the group of four came to a stop, finding a dead end to the left side of the coast. "Well, I think we can surmise that Tessie knows nothing of…" Jeff faced to the right where an entrance to a cave lied. "…landmarks."

"Actually, Jeff…" Chris looked to the left where the land wasn't stopped by a dead end. In fact, they could jump down a small fence of ground and continue down the road. The random gray pencil sticking out from the ground just behind their backs was a topic none of them wanted to get into. "We can continue down through there."

"Oh, sorry," Jeff said, cleaning his glasses. "My glasses were kind of foggy. I didn't see clearly."

Just before they could even go down the path, Lucario suddenly grunted as he faced the cave. His grunting was unsettling Chris. "Lucario? W-what's wrong?"

"More of that evil aura you're able to sense?" Jeff asked.

"No," Lucario said. "There's another different red aura that doesn't seem familiar inside the cave… Grrrr…" Out of pure instinct, Lucario ran inside the cave. Feeling very vulnerable, Chris gasped and followed the Aura Pokémon. The Bubble Monkey thought they were playing a game so he gave chase as well, leaving a deadpan Jeff behind.

"Oh goodness," Jeff said. "I could head down alone, but they seem resourceful enough…" Sighing to himself, the blond entered the cave…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Odder Oddness. Such a fitting title," Jeff said.

"Are we like finally going to appear?" Ness asked.

"It looks like it," Paula said. "There's a bigger chance of dying horribly, sadly."

"I loooooove this world…" Chris sarcastically said.

Would you like to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Winters-

Chris, Lucario, Jeff, Bubble Monkey

You might be wondering where this last part of the chapter came from. It's just a little extra like adding music track suggestions to make the story stand out like you were playing a game. (Sadly, dropping out before you get to "save" your current progress in the chapters won't keep anything… Just kidding).

Originally, this chapter was a lot shorter and pretty rushed. There's a good chance many of the next chapters ahead will be longer versions of what they used to be. You can only tell if I do point things out, though.

Next chapter, the first (or second) official Smasher shall appear at last.

I encourage all goat hunters to review, or else the story will be responsible of killing goats.

Ness: That's bad for you, you know.

Oh crap, you're right.
*Chapter 3*: Odder Oddness

The world of EarthBound is home to many oddities due to Giygas' influence. The last chapter had Lucario sense said influence cover the entire land… So, what if that influence had other effects? Also, it's about time for Ness to make an appearance.

I encourage all fans of the occult to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The author does not own any characters other than the main duo.

Chapter 3: Odder Oddness

Brick Road

The group rushed inside the cave not knowing what Lucario had sensed earlier. Once having entered, they weren't expecting the cave to have some sort of special features. "Huh…" Jeff fixed his glasses, staring at the rows of boulders in front of them. "This can't be good, can it?"

From a bird's eye view, the cave held rows of boulders that loosely made up a big maze meant for travelers to cross. Judging how the actual floor seemed clean, the maze was probably man-made. The floor was constructed mainly of bricks. "Lucario," Chris began, "we could've probably jumped down the dirt fence back outside… What is wrong with you?"

Lucario growled, seemingly staring across the boulder walls with his eyes. "There are malevolent auras in here…and they're not like the others I've sensed," he said.

Jeff started to look skeptical. "If it's not related to the aura that you said was covering the entire land, then why come here?" he asked. "Hmm, hold on. Perhaps if we ignored this, it could come back and bite us in our backs…"

Chris really needed to enforce the idea that they needed to act without being so suspicious, so he decided to support Jeff's idea. "Y-yes!" he said nodding. "Who knows, maybe we could…uh…find something useful out of investigating this tunnel."

"All the more reason to explore, I suppose," Jeff said. "…But let's not waste a lot of time. I fear what might happen to Ness and Paula if we were to be late."

The teen stepped forward and looked around. "…Oh, great, this is some sort of maze," he said. Lucario, growling, walked to a boulder taller he was and suddenly used Force Palm on it, completely obliterating it into pebbles. The other three stepped back at the sudden move.

"T-that's one way to cross…" Jeff muttered, sweat-dropping.

Feeling worried about his Pokémon's serious state, Chris walked to him. "Lucario… Could you keep your rage in check?" he asked. Lucario wasn't turning to face him. "…You're kind of scaring me…"

Gasping a bit, Lucario turned to Chris, looking guilty. "I'm sorry," he said. "That's how the way I am…"

His trainer smiled and hugged him by the side for a bit. "You're just acting like this to keep me safe, aren't you?" Chris asked.

Lucario put up a happy expression. "Yes, this is all for you so nobody hurts you under my watch," he said.

Inside his mind, Chris looked suspicious. "(I wonder how much of that is even true…)"

"A-hem…" Jeff cleared his throat to get their attention. "I'm sorry to be demolishing this touching moment between you two," the duo slightly blushed and looked away, "but we must proceed through this tunnel."

"Right," Chris said. He turned around just to find a newcomer waltzing into their view. The fact Chris gasped to himself made it a bit obvious that said newcomer wasn't a good one.

In front of them, a Primid stood, staring with its red eyes at the group of four. Tilting its head, the Primid fixed its hat on top. "And what would that be?" Jeff asked. He saw the Bubble Monkey shaking a bit at the sight of the purple man. Seeing Lucario grunt made the point even more obvious. "A monster?"

"Yes," Lucario said. The Primid fixed its gaze on Chris and suddenly rushed at him with a fist ready to be tossed at his face. As Chris yelled, Lucario smacked a heavy punch into the Primid's side, sending it rocketing into the air as it left a trail of black aura behind that vanished in an instant. Feeling grateful, Chris sighed.

"…At least that kind of monster wasn't easy for you to behead," Jeff noted.

"Would you please drop that already?" Lucario asked, looking perplexed. "I'm not going to behead anyone else…"

"(I can't tell if he was going easy on that Primid. That worries me,)" Chris thought, looking at the trail of air the Primid once occupied. "Are there any more of them?"

Lucario nodded. "There are a lot of them surveying the whole perimeter of the cave," he said. "Also…there's something big in the center; something else that's radiating a whole lot more of that sickening red aura."

"Oh boy," both Jeff and Chris said, not looking forward to what he had told them. The Bubble Monkey uttered something to itself at the same time. "Please do get rid of it if you can…" Jeff added.

"Totally," Chris added. Lucario nodded, and they all proceeded down the unblocked way.

Lucario had taken overall control of decimating the Primids that stumbled into their path. From afar, wild explosions of aura and flying enemies could be seen very easily. Boulders were heard shattering into small rocks. Roars of fury echoed through the Brick Road. Other than Lucario, the other three were just walking behind him.

"I know we're kind of taking the easy way by allowing Lucario to get rid of everything, but…this seems kind of wrong to me," Chris said.

"It's all good," Jeff said. "We're still being taken into consideration. Besides, our levels are going up the roof even if we don't raise a finger in battle, further increasing our own personal performances should we find ourselves in a bind."

"Okay," the teen said before digesting what Jeff had said. "Wait…levels?"

"Uh, nothing, please don't pay me much attention," Jeff muttered, hearing another Aura Sphere going off right in front of the powerful Pokémon. "Let's just calmly continue."

The Brick Road wasn't as long as it seemed to be, mainly because they were literally plowing through the maze. In almost no time at all, the quartet made it to the center of cave where they identified the supposed spot where a lot of malevolent aura was supposed to be stationed at.

Chris's heart skipped a beat, the object at the very center being of a very meaningful value to both he and his Pokémon. Jeff and the Bubble Monkey only stared long and hard at it.

A fresh Subspace Bomb, with an R.O.B. on each side, was slowly counting down. At the time they had arrived, it only had five minutes to go off and consume the entire area they were in.

"What in the…" Jeff trailed off. "Is this some sort of…bomb? Is it perhaps part of this man-made tunnel?"

"N-no," Chris shook his head. "I-I don't think this is part of the cave at all!"

The two R.O.B.s attached to the bomb turned to face them. The group stared back at them, feeling some kind of emotion from the inanimate robots. "And these robots…" Jeff continued, going to inspect one of them to see their mechanical claws firmly inserted into the bomb, "why are they even attached to this?"

Lucario growled. "There is a dangerous amount of black matter inside this thing," he said. "We need to destroy this before it goes off!" His trainer gasped and grabbed his right arm. "What are you doing?"

"Destroying a bomb is pretty much like making it go off," Jeff suddenly said. He felt nervous, but he pressed on. The blond was wondering what to do with the bomb as the Bubble Monkey playfully got in a thinking position. The countdown was at four minutes. "Maybe… Maybe I can try to disarm it…"

A method of disarming a Subspace Bomb was never heard of before; at least that was what the otherworldly duo thought. They doubted if somebody like Jeff could even pull off the feat. "A-are you serious?" Chris asked unsure.

"Whatever you do, don't punch this bomb just yet, Lucario," Jeff said as he approached the counter, inspecting whatever open lid he could find in the contraption. Looking below the counter, he found a small lid that he could easily open by unlocking a simple lock. "Okay, I found something here."

Chris was mildly amazed, but his nervousness became worse to the possibility of Jeff accidentally triggering the bomb earlier by accident. "A-alright, now comes the hard part..."

Jeff found several sets of cables inside the circuitry of the bomb. Sweating a few bullets, the blond took out a screwdriver and school scissors. "Hate to say this, but I'll be doing some trial and error procedures to find something. Let's cut this cable here…" He cut a red cable.

The countdown was reduced to a half, nearing two minutes. Their stomachs felt sick as soon as they saw the seconds drop fast. "JEFF!" Chris shouted loudly.

Jeff saw the countdown and gulped before going back to the cables. "N-no, that wasn't the one…" He rummaged through the cables and pulled an orange one. He cut it slowly. "This should do…"

It looked like the seconds were being counted down faster. What took three seconds was now taking one. "It's going down faster!" Lucario said, pulling Chris next to him to be ready to run.

Jeff sweated even more as he searched for something else. "If only my IQ was higher than it is now!" he complained seriously.

"Why are you even saying that?" Lucario asked.

"Eh, Lucario, I think he really meant it," Chris said, his eyes petrified on the countdown. The Bubble Monkey clutched himself onto his right leg.

Jeff cut a green cable, and the countdown gained ten minutes.

The trio behind the blond was completely deadpan. "…Did it just go up ten minutes?" Chris wondered, confused at the event.

The blond boy sighed in relief, grabbing a magenta cable. "Now that's a relief. It'll give me more time to find the one…" he said as he cut the cable he grabbed.

The countdown suddenly took a heavy fall until it reached half a minute. Chris promptly screamed bloody murder and the Bubble Monkey muffled a loud scream inside the bubble balloon he blew into. Lucario had now assumed a running position.

Jeff looked up and shook his body violently, throwing his arms up. "Oh, screw this bomb! I'm cutting all the cables!" he said as he hastily cut down all the cables at once.

Lucario, with Chris in his arm, reached out for Jeff's legs, but then they all heard a clicking sound coming from the bomb. Looking up quickly, the countdown had stopped at twenty seconds. They all stared at the countdown, their jaws hanging down in shock. The R.O.B.s at the sides had been turned off as told by their lifeless eyes.

"…Dear goodness," Chris breathed out.

"It did stop…" Lucario added calmly.

Jeff froze into place for a little while until he stood back up, dusting off himself. "O-oh, I did it," he said. "I can't believe I actually did it…"

Lucario let go of Chris, who had been holding onto his neck with both arms for dear life. The teen and the monkey stepped away from each other while still staring at the defused bomb. "There goes one year of my life," Chris said.

"Don't say that," Lucario almost instantly said out of worry.

"W-well, that was a very adrenaline-filled experience! I've never predict we would come across something like this!" Chris complained. "B-but anyway, it was stopped after all! We should be glad we weren't blown to smithereens!"

Jeff forced a twitching smile. He was still scared of what he had done. "Yes, it stopped. Hopefully, it won't resume or anything."

As the four smiled to each other in triumph, Lucario suddenly felt something from the bomb itself. Staring at it seriously, the bomb started to shine brightly in a second. "What in th-!"

What followed wasn't a usual explosion from a Subspace Bomb. Instead of engulfing the entire area into the Subspace, the bomb merely blew up into a shining light that pushed the non-Lucario people away to the boulders. Lucario couldn't react in time to shield Chris from the pushing wind of the explosion. Luckily, the flash was only wind that emerged from within the bomb. "A-aah!" Jeff gasped as he crashed against a boulder behind him.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled, just as the bright explosion died down. The spot where the bomb and the robots once stood was clear. The Aura Pokémon, though, looked around and almost immediately found Chris's aura to his right. Preoccupied, he found his trainer's body lying down on the ground. His loyal Pokémon knelt down and picked him up. "Chris, are you…"

"…" Chris had briefly lost consciousness, but he didn't get hurt much besides just being pushed away. The teen slowly opened his eyes and found his worried Lucario staring down at him, holding his frail body with both arms. "Lucario…"

Jeff and the Bubble Monkey slowly stood back up from where they were pushed and approached the duo. "Is everyone okay?" the blond asked before facing Chris. Jeff noticed his glasses were slipping slightly so he pushed them up.

Chris shook his head as he stared at their rather deadpan looks. "…Why is everyone staring at me like that? I-I'm fine," he said in an oddly, slightly high-pitched voice. When he noticed the sudden change of his voice, he gasped. "W-what the hell happened to my voice? It sounds like I-I sounded when I was younger!"

"More like…" Jeff trailed off, confused, "…your entire body got younger."

The teen's jaw hung open before he started to look at his hands. They were slightly smaller than they used to be. When he looked down at himself being held by Lucario, the Aura Pokémon could probably just grab him with one free hand. Once Lucario set him down, Chris could only stare up at him in horror. "Lucario…please tell me you got a sudden growth spurt out of that bomb going off…" He stared at Jeff, who was now at his eye level perfectly. "…Oh…"

Lucario shook his head. The boy before them was his beloved trainer. "N-no… You…you really got…younger," he managed to say, baffled at what had happened to Chris.

Chris's next reaction summarized the entirety of his situation as he stared at his relatively smaller hands. Never before in his life he expected to utter a heavy swear, but the event forced him to yell, "HOLY SH-!"

Threed – Graveyard Underground

Down below the graveyard of the spooky city of Threed, two children were sitting down on the cold ground as they awaited the arrival of the friend they had contacted with using telepathy. Since the door that held them captive was tightly locked (and pretty hard to burn down and destroy to boot), there was almost no hope for them to escape on their own unless Jeff arrived from Winters.

"Paula, this is insane," said the boy wearing a red cap. "You should've contacted somebody closer to where we are…"

"Impossible," said the girl sitting beside him. "The rest of the population I tried to get into was all protected through Gyigas' influence warding off my powers. The closest friend I told you about happened to be all the way to Winters…"

"What about the fourth?"

She shook her head. "No use. I couldn't detect our fourth friend at all. It's like he's hidden away somewhere remote…"

"Like across the globe?"

"My powers DO have a limit, Ness."

"Oh yeah…"

The boy was an Onettian that had started a very surreal adventure to record eight different melodies that were spread across Eagleland so that then he and his band of three friends could confront Gyigas. He wore red shoes, shorts, a blue-and-yellow stripped shirt carrying a small backpack, and a red cap on top of his short black hair. It was the first Smasher, or soon-to-be veteran Smasher, named Ness. Although he had quite a docile look, there was an infinite amount of potential within him due to his adeptness to PSI…that he hadn't fully developed yet.

Next to him was a young blond girl originating from Twoson who wore a bright pink dress with red shoes and a medium-sized red ribbon behind her head. She was the second chosen one to accompany Ness in his adventure along with Jeff and the fourth friend. Her full name was Paula Polestar. Just like Ness, Paula possessed strong PSI abilities that might even surpass his own. She was more like a teacher to him, but it only looked like that in a few occasions.

"Ugh, that Jeff guy better come here soon or we're gonna die of starvation…and probably become zombies," Ness complained.

Paula sighed. "I really don't think he'll arrive today…or tomorrow…or the day after…"

"Then we'll have to make do with what we have now," Ness said, taking out from his backpack two sandwiches. He handed one to her. "We have four sandwiches after these ones. Maybe we could eat one in another seven hours."

"Bad idea," Paula said. "Let's eat whenever we feel really hungry, but not just hungry."

Ness had enough. "This does it!" he complained. Paula stared at him. "We're just eleven! We're not supposed to be fighting real-life zombies!" He stayed quiet. "…Oh my god, we're fighting real-life zombies!"

"Ness, calm down," Paula said, trying to stay sane. "I know, the fact we got dragged into this mess because destiny says so is pretty surreal, but there's nothing we can do to object… If it makes you feel any better, we're the only children capable of burning monsters with our minds."

"That's great and all," sulked Ness, "but that can only happen if there are monsters nearby! Clearly, I see no monsters anywhere in this stinky hellhole…" He smacked his face on his palms, sighing in defeat. "Now our only hope is with some guy we never met before who almost literally lives across the entire country..."

Paula looked away, embracing her knees. "Well, he's another chosen one," she said. "If he's special like us, there's a good chance we'll get out of this just fine."

Ness rolled his eyes. "Only if he could fly all the way to Threed," he replied. "But what are the chances of that?"

"Slim to none."

The Onett boy grumbled and tried to suppress the hunger that was starting to well up in his stomach. It was times like this that Ness wondered why he was a chosen one to defeat a mysterious entity that wanted to destroy the world with negative emotions. Why was destiny so cruel? He was just a boy who was suddenly granted psychic powers…but then, why did it feel like he had them from the very beginning? "…Any chance that Jeff guy is at least bringing some backup, preferably zombie busters?"

Paula shrugged. "None to impossible."

What a stupid question, Ness thought. "Oh yeah, the universe hates us," was all Ness could say.

Winters

EarthBound – Winters White

"The universe clearly hates me!" whined Chris with an even younger voice. "How in the hell could I have expected this to happen to me?! I'm screwed!" He grabbed his head and frowned. "What will my parents say when they see me like this?! I-I can't go to high school anymore if I look like an eleven-year old! I'm facing a terrible early age crisis here!"

Lucario really wanted to bring the good side of things, like for example the fact Chris would need his services even more than before. However, it was greatly discouraged to bring up the fact that Chris was close to a midget. Instead, the large blue dog sighed. "I'll…I'll try to find some kind of solution for this, Chris," he said, not sure if he could even find said solution.

The quartet was now exiting the Brick Road, leaving it behind their backs as they walked down a snowy path leading into another cave. They met up with the designer of the Brick Road, the aptly-named Brickroad who only cared more about the challenge his creation than to see he just put children and their companions through the whole thing. After finding out that his road was defeated by them, he congratulated their efforts and let them continue. Seconds later he did go back inside his cave to scream at the path of destruction Lucario left in his path, though nobody heard him at all.

With Chris having been de-aged, there was a lot of complains coming from him that it seemed like no one else would hear the end of it. There was great relief knowing that his clothes had shrunk along with his body. No way was he walking in large clothing around in the cold area. Coughing, Jeff said, "This is a strange event, indeed. But if you…accidentally got younger by that curious machine, I suppose there is something that can return you to your older self."

Chris sniffed, grabbing Lucario's far-away hand with one hand. "I want to find that solution immediately!" he yelled. "I can't live like this! The elderly would really find this super awesome, but not me! I have so many things going on with my life that I can't be seen like this!"

"I thought you said the two of you were travelers?"

The teen fell silent for a moment, and so did Lucario, though the first was more scared to reveal their inner motives to the blond. "Y-yes, but… Y-you should know how bad this is for me, anyway!" Chris said.

"Oh, I know how you feel. That much I can say," Jeff said, the other two dodging the bullet. "Still, my father should be able to find something you can use. He is a renowned scientist, from what the old magazines at the boarding school told me."

The otherworldly duo gave Jeff some odd looks at the fact, but they shrugged afterwards. Lucario then heard his younger trainer sigh. "Lucario, please be on your guard even more," Chris said. "…Like this, anybody could kill me with a stick."

"(I take offense to that,)" Jeff said. "(…Who am I kidding? I can probably die the same way too.)"

"I don't think someone can really… I mean, yes, I will," Lucario said, forcing a small smile, but his trainer didn't smile back. He was too busy sulking about his misfortune to feel optimistic while also thinking the horrendous chain of events that would follow if he never got back to his older self. His mentality was left intact, that much he could tell, but he felt too small and weak. If his parents were to see him…no amount of explanation would suffice.

It hit Chris that what he was going through was truly happening. The fact he had lived half a year with a large Lucario proved that anything could happen, but after the Aura Pokémon stumbled upon the real world, there was so much normality in their lives that the thought about transcending worlds was nearly unheard of. Even more morbid was the proof that Chris had been de-aged, but there wasn't anything even more traumatizing than this, he thought. He was now regretting his poorly-chosen life choice.

As Jeff brainstormed impossible ways to find a cure, they came across the entrance of another cave down a few ways away from the Brick Road: the Pond Cave. "And here lies our next stop in the journey," Jeff said. "Let's go."

Two caves in a row, Chris thought. It was about four hours into his journey and he was already at his second cave, except this time Lucario was a giant and Jeff was around his age. The Bubble Monkey didn't have any purpose to be added to the equation, its whole existence being spitting on enemies and chewing bubblegum.

Pond Cave

Brick Road at least had the decency of having near-clean air escaping between the multitudes of rocks. Pond Cave, in comparison, was harsher in hindsight, and it reminded Chris that his otherworldly escapades were just starting to get weirder and dangerous. It was more apparent in the odd world he had stepped into.

The cave had a damp atmosphere among the tall cliffs that had conveniently-placed ropes set on top of said cliffs to help travelers pass the humid cave. Surprisingly enough, Chris and Lucario expected bats to inhabit the cave, but there weren't any. Instead of natural bats, the cave was occasionally grazed with the presence of red fungi and slow-moving blobs that didn't have a care in the world until unaware prey would get in their way.

"(My first experience inside a dark cave,)" Chris thought, and for a moment he thanked Mother Nature for providing enough illumination to the cave's innards. Otherwise, he would be hand-grabbing Lucario the entire way. With the fact that he was younger, it didn't make things any less disheartening, but he had a super powerful Pokémon to shield him from everything so it was a big plus that kept him sane for the most part.

Sanity was of course the last thing on the long list of stuff Ness's world lacked. Shortly after, near the entrance of the cave, Chris could've sworn that a mushroom cap twitched. The others followed his gaze and saw the mushroom springing into life by taking itself off the ground, sporting a pair of thin legs. Chris and Lucario winced at the animated fungus strutting around its spot. "…That is definitely not normal," Lucario finally said, his red eyes circling around the running mushroom.

"Of course it's not…" Chris muttered, finding the strutting mushroom kind of adorable than threatening. Touching it was out of the question. "It looks…stupid."

"Well, I say," Jeff said. "Let's not get involved with it. It may give us the rabies...if we want to eat it."

Suddenly, the Struttin' Evil Mushroom waltzed to their side and stopped in front of Chris. The little kid backed off a bit, but then he remembered he was confronting a two-legged mushroom that didn't pose any threat. "O-oh, this is stupid. I can surely cut it down with a random stic-OWW!" The mushroom bashed his right knee with its cap.

Lucario growled and grabbed the mushroom by its cap. Growling, he tore the animated fungus in two and tossed its lifeless halves aside. As Jeff was greatly discouraging the fact Lucario had beheaded yet another creature (that luckily lacked any blood fluids to force the others into a puking session), the Aura Pokémon knelt down to check on his trainer. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Chris rubbed the spot where he was bashed. "I-it's really okay…" he trailed off. "That was…a bit too hard, but it wasn't that bad. Thank you for getting rid of it."

"Ignoring how he literally beheaded a walking mushroom with all the intention of the world…" Jeff began, "let's move on, shall we?"

The group of four walked through the cave to find the other exit on the other side. The Bubble Monkey proved to be an invaluable ally that helped them climb over the cliffs by throwing ropes down, but he was quickly overshadowed by Lucario's superb jumping skills, making the monkey's usefulness useless. It didn't bother the monkey, though, because he was being fed with bubblegum from Jeff. It was all good in his book.

After some walking on the high cliffs, they stopped walking when they came across an ominous sight before their eyes. There was some sort of sparkling light blocking the way to another exit that led to a small northern portion of Winters. Frightened by the weird light, Chris backed off and hid behind the growling Lucario. "F-forget about the two-legged mushroom. What is that?!" Chris muttered, the first time in his life to see a weird glittering light that wasn't fake at all.

Lucario immediately used his aura. The light emitted a red aura, but behind that red aura was an entity blocking the path to a sacred spot across the exit it guarded. "Its aura is serene," Lucario muttered. "Yet, it's an enemy… It's not attacking us, though. I don't know why." Jeff approached the light. "It'd be wise if we left it alone…"

"What a weird phenomena," Jeff said, staring up at the glittering light. "…" There was something odd that called Jeff out through his mind as he stood close to the light.

"You are not allowed to come through here," the light suddenly spoke to them all. "Only Ness can absorb the power of this place. Be gone."

Most of them yelped at the deep voice telling them to stay away from it. Jeff backed off and fixed his glasses. "U-uh, alright…" Jeff said. "I don't suppose we really need to pass this particular exit…but what if we need to? This light won't let us through unless we have this Ness person with us."

Recalling that Lucario could survey a large stretch of land with his aura, Chris suggested him to scan the area for another exit. Nodding, the Aura Pokémon quickly found an exit to the west of their position. The area behind the light led to a dead end, except there was a powerful feeling that enshrined the small field of grass. Moreover, Lucario listened to an ethereal sound that resounded several times with the same beat. However, there was no real need for them to go look at it. "There's an exit to our left," he said, still remembering the sounds that continued to echo in his head.

"Oh, that's better," Jeff noted, sighing. "Let's go to that exit… But as for this light…" He looked back at the light. "…Ness is the other friend Paula mentioned in her call… I should probably mention this to them."

Chris took one last glance at the dim, shining light behind their backs. He sighed to himself, and Lucario overheard him. "Is something bothering you, Chris?" he asked. "Um…besides your current condition…"

"Well…my current condition is another thing of my growing list of odd stuff I've seen so far," Chris said, noticing that Jeff wasn't within earshot along with the Bubble Monkey. "So far…I've seen gruff goats, friendly lake monsters, those…Subspace enemies we're facing…walking mushrooms and now some weird light…" He shuddered, rubbing his shoulders. "…It's so hard to take in all at once, you know."

Lucario nodded. "It'd feel more natural for me to find other Pokémon, not this," he emphasized. "Alas, this is our first job as…Smashers."

"Ugh…" Chris shook his head. "Don't use that refer to us. It sounds so barbaric, and I'm not even barbaric in the slightest! I really, really am regretting doing this…"

Lucario growled a bit, getting Chris to look up at him. "This only means that my job as your guardian hasn't been done so well," he said, feeling guilty over his statement. "…I must enforce my performance by being more protective of you." He looked a bit sad. "I'm…I'm shocked I couldn't prevent this from happening to you, Chris… Please, forgive me…"

"…It's really not like I'm mad at you," Chris admitted. "…I'm mad at myself for not…for not doing the right thing at the wrong time… But I didn't know beforehand that the damned bomb could go off differently and affect me like this!" he complained a little too loudly. "Expect the unexpected, they say…"

His guardian nodded. "I'll expect the unexpected even more than before, for your sake."

It was a nice feeling to have Lucario around. His trainer smiled a bit. "Thank you… That's really sweet of you," he remarked, to which Lucario replied with a small, pleased growl. Eventually, the group exited the Pond Cave to come outside to the last setting they would get to see of Winters.

Stonehenge Entrance

Whatever strand of reality Chris had was cut once more when he saw a large herd of dumb-looking cavemen sleeping and walking around the suspiciously-familiar landmark of stones. Cavemen were supposed to be either long dead or frozen somewhere in his world, but these ones were completely fine, except for their brains. "And this is another reason why I keep getting freaked out so often…" he muttered loud enough for them to hear them out. Trying to act like a foreigner, he added, "Do you, um, Eaglelanders have more oddities to see?"

"Asking me that kind of question is not recommended," Jeff replied back, his eyes looking at the cavemen doing some disgusting moves like eating whatever monstrosities were in their navels or licking their smelly armpits, usually not their own. The four felt sick just watching them that they looked away and tried to forget the event. "Y-yes, I don't get out much to know this…"

The Bubble Monkey kept chewing bubblegum nonstop, but then it found itself stopping with his teeth when, suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a similar female monkey wearing a red bow on top of her head passed by and climbed the nearby rocky wall. Chirping something close to, "Now she's my type…" the monkey parted ways from Jeff and followed his newly found sweetheart on the trees overlooking the plane they were on. "…Oh well," Jeff said. "I grew annoyed with the constant chewing sounds he made."

The Bubble Monkey left your team.

Chris and Lucario blinked. "Okay… There was it again," the young kid said. "That odd feeling about somebody announcing something is there…"

"…Look, Chris," Lucario began, looking deadpan, "it's futile to make sense of the strange events in this world…" Jeff gave him an odd look. "I-I mean, EagleLand, that we shouldn't think too hard about it. What with the walking mushrooms and cavemen freely prowling this area and all…"

"If the past is any indication, we're expected to see even weirder stuff down the road," Jeff said. None of them could go against his wise words. "…Anyway, with the Bubble Monkey gone, we're only three left. I wonder how long it'll take for us to meet up with Paula and Ness. Surely the long way will be perilous… Ha!" He suddenly laughed and looked up at Lucario. "As if! With you for the long ride, our security is…" He stared at Chris for a long while and recalled that the Aura Pokémon couldn't prevent the explosion from affecting him. "…mildly assured…if that makes any sense," he finished.

Lucario felt his pride hurt, but then his aura alerted him of a vicious entity bent on taking them on. With an alarming scream from his trainer, the Aura Pokémon turned to the left and saw a feral Caveman dumbly rushing to them with a large wooden mace meant to squash the poor kids. "W-what did we do to enrage that one?!" Chris asked.

"My guess is that this Giygas is responsible!" Jeff said, carefully taking out his Pop Gun. "H-here it comes!" he yelled as the Caveman let out a very scrambled yell while raising its weapon over its head.

Not wanting to fail his trainer one more time, Lucario decided to go all out on the Caveman before a battle could start. Using ExtremeSpeed to instantly warp right in front of the demented human monster, the Aura Pokémon placed a pulsing palm over the creature's stomach and released a potent Force Palm that, quite literally, blew the insides of the Caveman outside, turning every single twisting limb into dust because of the potent force of the blow obliterating them all. With missing organs, the Caveman fell on its back and died.

When Lucario's brief state of rage calmed down, he soon realized what he had done. His jaw falling down, he looked down at the morbid bleeding corpse of the Caveman seeping its blood into the white snow. His palm stretched out, Lucario gulped and looked over his shoulder at the two kids, hoping that they had looked away at the last second…

They didn't. The sheer morbid-ness of the scene was enough for Jeff and Chris to faint face-first on the snow. Lucario even saw the sickly shade of blue of their skins from the uncovered parts of the snow that he knew he went too far with his power once again. Feeling guiltier than ever, Lucario hoisted both of them on one arm and walked away to the south from the scene of the murder, the Aura Pokémon brainstorming the best apologies he could come up with to lessen the incoming scolding session.

After he walked away from the corpse, the other cavemen that were minding their own business smelled the sick scent of their former ally that they drew close to it, their mouths suddenly drooling as they formed a circle around it. They weren't actually above cannibalism, so they rejoiced with the feast for tonight and thanked the omnipotent beings they thought existed for giving them the present of food.

Several minutes later…

"Is it not enough for you to behead creatures?"

"I-I'm so very sorry, really! I-I went too far with my strength again…"

"Oh, really now! Apparently, beheading is a level lower than blowing creatures' intestines! I do like that incredible strength of yours, but there is something called 'control' that does work wonders by preventing these accidents from happening!"

"…If it's not much, at least this time the blood vaporized before it could soak my hand."

"Gah! Don't say that!"

"S-sorry!"

"Could we please just…stop talking about intestines?" Chris pleaded, clutching his stomach. "I can't bear it any longer… B-bluh…"

Lucario just couldn't stop getting scolded by Jeff. Chris could have joined in, but he was too busy trying so hard to forget about the mentally-scarring scene. It was futile, sadly, as the argument between the other two only fueled his thoughts with scary mental pictures. Lucario's super strength was surely a good thing, but now Chris started to regret why the hell he got an obscenely-powerful Pokémon that could kill anybody in one blow. Why not a normal one, he thought. Perhaps he was more of a wimp than he thought that he was in serious need of a super being to keep him very safe…

Keeping his health safe, on the other hand, was an afterthought that went largely ignored.

"Is he always like this?" Jeff asked Chris, but the young kid wasn't ready to answer, seeing as his face looked sick and about to puke. "I can infer from your reactions that he hasn't done this too much…which means I'm having bad luck."

"W-well…" Chris managed to say, catching a second breath, "I like how protective he is… It's just that he can get out of hand sometimes…" He lied. Back in the real world, the only enemy Lucario faced off on a regular basis was hunger and the occasional video game boss whenever he felt like playing something. Those weren't worthy enemies to mention. "…He means well." Lucario nodded for support.

Jeff sighed as they came across a metal building that overlooked a sea of trees far down below a tall cliff. Coming to a stop, the group wasn't open to the idea of climbing down. There wasn't a path anywhere else, meaning that they came to a dead end. "Only reason I haven't turned down your offer to escort me to Paula is that his help, no matter how sickening, is an invaluable tool for my survival…our survival," he reiterated until looking at the odd building next to them. "Huh, this building right here is the only spot we can enter. I don't see another path going south unless we dive into the forest down below…"

The building was odd-looking because of its metallic walls and roof, but it was better than nothing, Chris thought. "Let's ask for directions inside this place," he suggested as he walked around the construction, finding a metal door. "Okay… I've never gotten close to a door like this…" Weakly knocking on the door, Chris gasped when it opened up by itself. The other two got to his side and exchanged confused glances until they decided to enter. Lucario had already sensed a blue aura inside.

Dr. Andonuts' Lab

The cold from the outside couldn't hope to reach inside the building, as there was a warm heating system keeping the temperature at a stable level. Feeling some sweat, Chris took his jacket off and carried it on his arms as they inspected the place. It was a lab that had many weird-looking machines leaning against the walls, with tables displaying many unfinished gadgets and tools. Among those were devices Chris thought were toys, but there was a good chance everything was real. No doubt a scientist lived in the building somewhere.

Said scientist hadn't noticed them coming in, as he was busy tinkering with other devices on another table. It was an old man dressed in a white lab coat. He sported glasses that looked similar to Jeff's. He had a long white mustache that was coupled with the impossibly-tall sideburns that stood on the sides of his ears, acting as his hair since he was bald. It was the somewhat renowned scientist Dr. Andonuts.

Jeff had a hunch that it was his father. He cleared his throat loudly enough for the scientist to hear him out. "Hello?" he said.

"Hmm?" The scientist looked up from his workstation and turned to the direction of the entrance. Staring a long while at the fascinating creature that was Lucario, he then noticed the blond kid waving his arms to look at him. "Oh… I didn't see you coming in," he said. "What brings you… Wait… Could it be?" He approached Jeff. "You're…you're my son…"

"…" Jeff fixed his glasses and rubbed a small tear from his right eye. "I got a feeling that told me you were…my dad," he responded. "…It's nice to see you at last, dad."

"Well, I'll be," his dad said. "The day you finally ventured out from the boarding school finally came. Having you around the lab would've been disastrous when you were younger. There was an explosion almost every day! Back then, I was young and naïve…"

"Suddenly, all my bottled-up frustration at you has disappeared."

Chris then started to wonder what kind of family they were. Jeff was put in a boarding school just so that his dad's inventions wouldn't kill the blond in an explosion, but there was something awfully wrong and stupid about the reason. He wanted to question the poor excuse of a father for even going so far as t-

"Imagine my complete lack of housing issues when I sold my house for this lab in Winters," Dr. Andonuts said, laughing for a bit. "I could only barely afford a table for me to sleep on, and I twist a lot during my sleep! Having you around ten years ago would've been a nightmare for you. You'd have hated me even more if you missed an arm or an eyebrow!"

Chris couldn't believe men like Dr. Andonuts even existed.

"Uh…" Jeff fell speechless for a moment. "…You know what? I'm so very glad you put in me in that boarding school. I don't regret it one bit. Nope. Not at all." Chris and Lucario exchanged dull sideway glances at each other.

"Indeed! That saved your life countless of times," Dr. Andonuts said. "Well, either way, I'm glad you made it all the way here, my son. I'm so happy to have you back."

"Too bad our meeting will have to continue another day…" The scientist gave him an odd look. "Dad, listen… Earlier today, I got a call from a girl named Paula who begged me to go help her and another friend named Ness. They're being held captive at the basement of…some place I don't know somewhere in Threed, and I must get there at all costs before something happens to them."

"Oh, that's completely understandable."

The other young kid was bewildered. "(…Did he just seriously understand that?)" Chris thought.

"(No objections, no worries, no questions?)" Lucario wondered. "(I'm starting to believe he's not a good father.)"

"Allow me to help you out with that!" Dr. Andonuts said. "I thought something like this would happen, so that's why I finished my latest invention yet: the Sky Runner!" He motioned them to follow him to the left area of the lab where a large object sat on a small platform. The object was actually a flying ship that looked very close to a UFO more than anything. It was large with an oval shape, sporting small windows on the upper half of the gray metal. "Here it is. Your method of transport is ready."

"That…looks like an UFO," Chris spoke. "Aren't we getting shot down by an army base on the way to Threed?"

Perhaps he was oblivious, but the scientist just noticed that Jeff wasn't alone. "Who might you be?" he asked.

"(On top of all that, he's ignorant,)" Lucario thought ashamed.

"U-um, my name's Chris," Chris said. "This tall guy next to me is my guardian Lucario." Lucario preened a little at the description. "We're travelers traveling with Jeff to escort him to Threed."

"Why, you're too young for being a traveler," the scientist said. "Do your parents know you're here?"

The young kid felt a bit offended. "(Really… You're seriously asking me that when you put Jeff in a…)" Chris grunted mentally. "Y-yes, they do know… But…" He remembered that he was talking to a somewhat-mad scientist. "…But they don't know I've been de-aged! An hour ago, I was a teenager until some bomb that Jeff managed to disable by hims-"

"Jeff disabled a bomb?" the scientist said. Instead of voicing concern, he smiled wide and said, "Atta boy, Jeff! You make me so proud." Jeff kept looking deadpan despite the praise he got.

"Um, yes, kudos to him," Chris said, sounding desperate. "That bomb he disabled on the way here suddenly blew up anyway, but instead all of us getting affected, I was the only one who got screwed! Meaning, I turned into a kid!"

Dr. Andonuts pinched his mustache. "So, I take it you want to find a way to go back to your old self?" he asked. Chris nodded vigorously. "You're so lucky, young man! I have an invention that will help you out: the Age Jumper 1000!"

With all the impossible things that were happening today, Chris lost all sense of questioning what was going on. He just looked hopeful that there was a solution.

"Let's pray that it won't blow up or cause you to grow even older! That '1000' can…I mean, probably will reduce you to dust… Lately, I have had a bad streak of luck… But who knows, this may be it!"

That was enough for Chris to remember that this man wasn't the most reliable person to ask for help. "Y-you know what? Forget I asked about that. I don't want to take any chances…"

"Ahh…" the scientist muttered in shame. "That's too bad… I was hoping to find someone to test it out…" Lucario shot him with a nasty glare that he ignored. "In any case, Jeff, you should take the Sky Runner. It can take you all the way to the place you want to go where that Ness and that Paula are waiting for you. Here." He approached the UFO and pressed a button on the front, opening the door to it that fell down on the floor. "Go ahead! Oh, and when you can, please come back to check the Phase Distorter I'm working on. It'll blow your minds away, like, boom."

Obviously, the ship was meant to go in the sky. Chris hardly boarded any airplanes in his life so he didn't know what to expect from his first experience. Then again, he went through so many incredible experiences several moments ago that flying was the most common thing in the list. The flying machine being an UFO, though, was the only fact that put it next to the oddity. "This is probably a personal opinion of mine, but, why did you…modeled the Sky Runner after a UFO?" Chris asked. "Why not a normal, small helicopter?"

"Pfft," Dr. Andonuts chuckled. "A helicopter? Where's the fun in that? I like going for the most extravagant designs so that people can recognize me! Mundane is boring."

It occurred to Chris that the adults he had met in the world so far were very strange. The Tessie club should have been an early example of foreshadowing. "…Good enough…" Chris muttered.

Lucario scoffed at the UFO. He could easily take Chris and Jeff all the way to Threed using ExtremeSpeed, but Master Hand told them to avoid deviating from the plot or else they would suffer the consequences. "Let's go inside and hope this machine doesn't fall midway," he said.

"That won't happen, I assure you," Dr. Andonuts said. "…Lucario, I hope I'm not being rude, but can I put you inside a stasis chamber to study you in great detail?"

"Bite me," Lucario responded, glaring down at the scientist.

"Oh, the no glare… Fiddlesticks."

Several seconds later, the trio boarded the machine. The inside of the ship was a bit too cramped for their tastes, especially for Lucario who had to duck and push his ears down. The small windows provided them with enough sight of the outside, even when they sat down. Jeff opted to operate the flying vessel from the control panel on the front center, the blinking buttons distracting Chris. "Okay, Dad, we're ready to take off," Jeff said, closing the hatch.

"Good luck, Jeff!" Dr. Andonuts shouted. "Let's see each other in ten years again!"

The scientist started waving a hand as he saw the ship floating up from the platform into the open ceiling of the lab. When the Sky Runner exited and started flying southwest, the opening closed down slowly, a small piece of snow falling down onto the platform.

A full canister with gasoline was sitting behind the platform, hiding behind the large ship. Noticing the canister, the scientist blinked a few times. "…Oh boy, I forgot to refill the fuel tank of the Sky Runner…" he trailed off. "…Yeah, they'll crash down and Jeff will get into a ten-year coma for sure."

Above the Skies

Surreal experience after surreal experience, Chris and Lucario sat down on a corner of the small machine as they felt the occasional rumbling movements of the cruising UFO. It was a miracle that Jeff was quickly learning how to operate the Sky Runner as Dr. Andonuts completely forgot about making instructions on the go or even an instruction manual. A nearby sticky note on the control panel read, "Nobody reads the manual anymore these days and won't do that in the incoming years." Those were wise words, since Chris himself never bothered to read them unless it was very necessary.

Ironically, the situation was asking for a manual of the sort, but Jeff had everything under control.

Trying to forget about their worries, the duo looked outside through the small windows at the clouds. They were riding in a UFO, but that didn't make the scenery outside any less enjoyable. The clouds outside were being touched by the light of the sun. Since Winters was a particularly cloudy region, going further away reduced the cloud mass as holes in the sky started to appear, making the sunlight rays look majestic in a way. "…I was scared about riding this ship," Chris said. "But…but it's so amazing to look outside and watch the clouds."

Lucario kept a tight grip on Chris's smaller body, pulling him to his side with one hand. Sensing the calming aura from his trainer and seeing the small bright smile on his face, the Aura Pokémon felt at peace. "I agree," Lucario said. "This is also my first time flying through the sky."

Chris looked up and chuckled, leaning his head against Lucario's furred body. "Hey, this is one of our first times doing something new together!" he pointed out.

Lucario chuckled. "It's very refreshing to experience something like this for the first time together," he admitted. "For that, I'm grateful."

"I wish I could stare outside," Jeff spoke from the control panel. "Sadly, my Dad didn't build an auto control option for the Sky Runner. I'm slowly figuring out how to operate everything… We're lucky that Threed is far away from here, though I theorize we'll get there in…an hour or so if we keep the same speed."

"(…And Ness is there,)" Lucario thought.

His trainer also realized the gravity of the situation. Ness was the reason why Master Hand sent them to his world. Keeping him safe from the army would be easy with Lucario, but Chris wasn't so sure if they were up for it judging how they had screwed up very early. Moreover, Ness was the leader of the group of chosen children. Convincing him would be another ordeal to pass. More lies were needed to keep their charade up, unless they figured something out first. Jeff was just a stepping stone for what was to come.

The duo fell silent and exchanged worried glances.

"(How are my two saviors doing?!)"

Both of them gasped loudly when they heard a mental scream inside their heads. Jeff looked back at them. "Is something wrong, you two?" he asked. "We're not crashing into an airplane…right?"

"E-eh, no…" Chris muttered. "We just…we just...we just…"

"…realized we haven't eaten in a while," Lucario finished, faking looking ashamed. "Yes… We're starting to get hungry…"

"…Unfortunately, the Sky Runner also lacks a fridge with food," Jeff noted, turning his face to the panel. "Hang in there for another hour, guys. We'll immediately head for a food establishment to rest. We haven't stopped walking ever since we left the Tessie club people…"

The two sighed with relief, though Jeff thought they sighed at their hunger. Because talking verbally in secret was not a good thing, Lucario resorted to telepathy. "(Chris, I assume you also heard that voice, right?)"

"(T-the booming voice? Yes, I heard it…)"

"(Oh, good! You two heard me clearly!)"

Even though they weren't keeping up with things, the duo heard the voice clearer than before. No doubt it was Master Hand himself. "(M-Master Hand?!)" Chris said alarmed.

"(The one and only,)" the hand spoke to their minds. "(Good to see my dimensional telepathy skills are on top of the game… Howdy there, you otherworldly travelers! I've seen your every move ever since you departed to your long-ass journey to save the universes. Happy to see you two are doing…sub-par for the moment.)" He grumbled. "(I expected more from you, Lucario! You're certainly FAR stronger than the one I had with me, but geez, you're screwing up even more… Are you sure you're up for this task? I saw everything you've done like, for example, letting Chris turn into a kid…)"

Lucario winced. "(H-how was I supposed to know that bomb would react like that?)" he asked in his defense.

"(Well, I can tell you this. There was no real need for Tabuu to develop a bomb like that,)" the hand said. "(Bombs don't do that at all. What I can infer is that Ness's world had some sort of influence in how the bomb went off… That or your little Assist Trophy Jeff did a weird number on defusing the bomb. By the way, that kid is something. You could learn from him, Chris.)"

Chris winced next. "(He's just as inexperienced as I am! But what he does have is more IQ than I do…machinery-wise.)"

"(No excuses,)" the hand retorted. Afterwards, he sighed. "(…Look, Chris. You're starting to feel like the load for our little team, and I'm starting to regret not giving you a single job to test out your devotion for the rather suicidal choice you so foolishly chose to take on with Lucario…who can kill you if he were so much as to step on your frailer little body.)"

"(…Are you deliberately insulting me? I can't tell,)" Chris said.

"(If he is, I will 'deliberately' murder him while you're away so you don't have to faint,)" Lucario said in a threatening voice.

"(Empty threats fall in my deaf ears. As I was saying, Chris, I feel pity for you,)" Master Hand said. "(No way in that body you're going to dish damage. I'm going to go ahead and give you a break.)"

Chris was finally getting a break from the ordeals. "(You mean you're going to appear and finish the bad guys off?)"

Master Hand laughed, and then Crazy Hand joined with the laughing by laughing even louder. "(Are you effing kidding me? Doing that will put me in peril with the army! I go out from my hiding spot and Tabuu will call the National Guard on my wrist, the death rate in Ness's world will hit the top, you will either puke, faint, or do both and die in your sleep, and Lucario is probably getting a nuke dropped on his head...)"

"(…Holy crap,)" Chris said. "(Is it incredible to say I can totally expect all that to happen at this point?)"

"(Seriously…a nuke,)" was all Lucario could say.

"(…Yeah, things will get that crazy. You two are my only hope to keep things under control, and if I have to give you a job, Chris…then it's all better. So…snap.)" Fingers snapping echoed.

"(…Wait, give me a jo-)" Chris was interrupted as he felt something pulsating on his body for a brief moment, but the feeling quickly died down. It was a very strange feeling that even alerted Lucario through his aura senses. With a quick scan of his trainer's soul, the Aura Pokémon didn't see anything hazardous. "(A-ah!)"

"(Congrats!)" Crazy Hand said. "(You have obtained your first job: the PK Kid!)" He announced cheerfully. "(The description says: Blast foes with mind attacks, using a variety of elemental skills that only come out from your thoughts.)"

To be honest, Chris felt no different except for the smaller body size. "(But I don't feel a difference! Did you really do anything to me?)"

"(Sure I did,)" the hand said. "(I just didn't want you to make a scene in front of Jeff. Look, let me explain here how this works… Chris, your job list has finally obtained a new job; a job stylized to resemble the powers that Ness has. You won't only get his powers, but your appearance will get affected… I left out the part where your body goes through some horrendously painful alterations, so to indicate you're using a job, you'll be wearing the same clothing Ness wears. Don't worry about cosmetic things like shirt size. The job will always fit you with the right size.)"

"(Unbelievable…)" Chris trailed off. "(…This is really happening to me…)"

"(What a culture shock, huh? Really now, all will work out in the end if you add some courage into the mix,)" the hand, for once, encouraged the kid. "(Since I didn't change your appearance for some security, I'll tell you how to change jobs manually at will… All you have to do is think hard about changing to the job desired in your mind, and presto, you'll be wearing the job's clothes in an instant.)"

Though not having changed to the job, Chris sighed with some relief. "(At least I won't be that much of a load to the team now…)"

"(That is still to be seen,)" the hand said, confusing the duo. "(You see that job I just gave you? It only has PK Fire for usage… Everything else that Ness has is locked out to you from the start.)"

Once more, Chris was cursing his dumb luck. "(You gave me a CRIPPLED job?! Do you really want me to make a difference in a battle or what?! I-I can't believe how much pressure you're putting on me!)"

"(Alright then… Chris, show me you'll at least fight back in a pretty serious fight against a living being that's fully sentient… Oh, and to make a point, don't count on Lucario for support as if he's not even there to help. Imagine you're just you against, say, Galleom…)"

"(…)"

The kid was left speechless when he considered about such a situation ever happening to him. Who was he kidding? Fighting a monster was less heartbreaking than fighting a real foe that could feel emotions and think its own thoughts. It dawned on Chris that the chance to even going so far as to killing a sentient being just for the sake of keeping his own life safe was possible… Ness's world was filled with odd creatures that made no sense to live. It was like a tutorial world for him before the serious stuff showed up.

"(…I…I don't feel that confident,)" Chris admitted, Lucario looking sad. "(…I don't have a lot of courage like Lucario here…)"

"(Sorry for ruining the mood, but it has to be done this way,)" the hand said. "(Don't worry about not being able to use all of Ness's powers. Those locked powers will eventually unlock themselves as you build up experience in battles. I'm not saying you're leveling up or anything. Who knows! During a battle, you may learn new skills on the go. I encourage you to assist your murdering partner and anyone else you come across with your presence… I AM still testing you out, you know!)"

Lucario smiled apologetically. "(Chris, you have me. I'll prevent the day where you have to fight alone by fighting together against our enemies… Hopefully, experience can leak to you,)" he reassured his trainer.

"(I made my choice, so… I guess there's no complaining about it,)" Chris said. "(…This sucks, though.)"

"(You can complain all you want. Somebody like you would do that during their first missions,)" the hand said. "(…So, that's all I wanted to tell you, guys. From now on, I'll cut our communication. I don't want Tabuu to catch us talking like this. I'll call you when the mission is over with, which isn't really over due to the abnormal readings I'm getting from the mansion.)"

Chris sighed. "(I knew we weren't done yet… Wait, mansion?)"

"(Oopsie! I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet,)" the hand said. "(Godspeed to you and all that! Good luck! I'll call you very soon! Master Hand out!)" The telepathy then ended.

Lucario upheld the telepathy, seeing as Jeff was busy with the panel. "(…Everything is happening, Chris. Nothing is an illusion.)"

"(I wish it was, except for you, of course…)" Chris responded weakly, trying to cope up with the huge task he was given. Drifting in his thoughts, he looked outside to admire the scenery. Arduous battles would eventually happen very soon, and he feared to think about it for too much. For now, he looked down to see that the Sky Runner was hovering over Fourside.

The ship was flying close to the city. There was a large billboard on top of the tallest building that had a blond fat kid flashing a golden toothy grin. Chris couldn't see the fat boy's eyes because they were hidden under his hair, but he did read the neon sign that read, "Pokey owns YOU." Said kid happened to be standing next to the sign to admire his "sexy" good looks on paper. When he noticed the Sky Runner, Pokey snobbishly stuck out his tongue and walked back inside the building.

"(Well, excuse me for looking at your billboard,)" Chris thought. Lucario had seen the scene, and he growled mentally. The two got bored of sightseeing the cloudy setting that they decided to rest…

Half an hour later…

The ship suddenly rocketed to the sides, making the sleeping duo wake up, alarmed. Almost getting a heart attack, Chris looked outside. Somehow, everything had turned dark, but he could see the moon in the space. At least that was everything he could make out from the violent shaking of the ship. "W-w-what's going on?!" he shouted as Lucario kept a tight grip on him.

Jeff was frantically controlling the ship from the panel. A quick glance at the gas gauge told him that they ran out of fuel. "T-the ship ran out of fuel!" Jeff yelled. "I-I'm doing my best to keep it from plummeting down!"

The other kid started breathing in and out. The outside indicated that they were far above the ground. A fall that high up would most likely kill them all…except for Lucario, Chris doubted, though that wasn't important to think. "Can we make it?!" Lucario yelled, growling occasionally.

"…No," Jeff finally said once the arrow hit dead bottom on the gauge. The rocketing ship then stopped shaking as it suddenly came to a complete stop in midair, lifelessly hovering among the clouds. "…Nice knowing you, guys."

Shortly after, the ship responded by dropping down like a pebble to the far-away ground. Not sooner than that, screams ensued as Chris and Jeff proclaimed bloody murder. Lucario was thinking about opening a hole in the ship to escape, but the force of the air could suck them all out forcibly. In the end, he pulled Jeff to his side and clutched both screaming children together under his arms. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

It was pure good luck that the Sky Runner stopped right above the spot where Ness and Paula were held captive.

Threed – Graveyard Underground

Feeling as if an entire day had gone by already, the two children started eating their sandwiches after so much nagging coming from Ness and his grumbling stomach. Annoyance triumphed over Paula, but she couldn't complain. She was very hungry as well.

"This has to last us," she emphasized as Ness voraciously ate his sandwich. "I'm giving us ten hours before we resort to cannibalism."

"Skruh dut!" Ness spoke with his mouth full. Paula dodged the sight by looking away. He swallowed his food. "I'll go crazy and start blasting that door over there until it gives away! A serious dose of PSI Rockin' alpha is all I need…"

Paula shook her head. "That'll exhaust your mind! I won't do that," she said. "But if you want to give it a shot, go ahead. Don't complain once you start getting headaches because I didn't stock pills up for this."

Ness mumbled with relief as he let the sandwich's taste satiate his tongue. "Hmmmmm…" he trailed off with pleasure. "Just let me enjoy eating this sandwich before it goes to waste… Man, I'm glad I bugged you to eat this."

Paula sarcastically smiled. "Do be careful now, Ness," she said. "I won't spoil the food, but destiny likes to ruin the mood when people say that kind of thing."

Ness rolled his eyes at her. "Suuuuuuuuuure," he drawled on.

Destiny then responded by dropping a large object on the cave from the newly-broken rocky ceiling.

Both children gasped loudly before the abrupt force of the crash pushed dust and rock everywhere. The two PSI children stumbled and fell on their backs, losing their grips on their food as the cave became filled with dust. They screamed loudly, confused as to what was happening.

Amidst the dust cloud, Ness uncovered his head to forward. His eyes widened in shock at the scaring sight before him… His sandwich, its ingredients covered in dust and separated violently across the ground, mocked him. The Onett boy then bellowed to the ceiling, cursing destiny harshly for toying with him and ignoring the unknown sets of coughs coming from the wreckage. "MY SANDWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH! NOOOOOOOOOOoooooo…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

"The Oddness Gets Odder. Oh, come on! My world isn't that odd!" Ness complained.

"We're children capable of burning monsters with our minds," Paula said.

"I can't burn people with my mind, but what I can really do is fix broken machines," Jeff said.

"And I can blast foes with a single Force Palm," Lucario said.

"Thank you for reminding us how brutal you can be…" Chris trailed off.

Would you like to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Threed-

Chris, Lucario, Jeff / Ness, Paula

Now the first arc has reached the most important point: the eventual meeting with the first Smasher.

I like how this chapter turned out. This is definitely much better than before. For those of you who don't remember, the arc had Chris turning into a very young child who confused Lucario for his dad. That was scrapped over turning him into the three children's age to add to the, shall I say, oddness of the EarthBound world. A big plus is the addition of events.

The next half will surely be more eventful now that Ness is a few feet away. Expect more unique interactions.

I encourage all readers to review.
*Chapter 4*: The Oddness Gets Odder

Oof, this chapter turned out longer than I expected, but I guess it turned out this way because there needed to be more interactions for Ness and Paula to compensate for their lack of screen time in the previous chapters.

Though it was really fun to write this new version all the same, you should enjoy the run. I encourage all odd people to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: By now you should know the author doesn't own any Nintendo property here.

Chapter 4: The Oddness Gets Odder

-Threed-

Graveyard Underground

As Ness kept lamenting the loss of his sacred sandwich, from the dust, a figure covered in soot emerged and blinked under its dirty glasses. Jeff didn't see Ness and Paula for a moment as he cleaned his lenses. "Somehow…I survived the crash-landing," he commented to himself. "I do not want to go through that again."

"Who's that?" asked Paula somewhere within the dust. Not crying over her sandwich, she slowly got up and saw the blond boy in the darkness. "Oh… It's that you, Jeff?"

Jeff put his glasses back on and stared at her. "You're Paula? Hmm… Yes, you are her. I made it!" he said relieved. "Life-threatening crash landing aside, I made it just fine…"

Paula smiled a bit. "I'm so glad you're here," she said. "We were worried that you were stopped by Giygas' forces on the way here. His power must have shrouded all of Eagle Land by now."

Jeff looked down at Ness grieving the loss of his sandwich. "And…you must be Ness," he said. "Pleased to meet you."

"…" Ness sniffed sadly and got up on his feet, looking at their new companion. "Y-yeah, nice to meet you, Jeff," he said.

"Oh, would you stop crying?" Paula asked. "Jeff can take us out of this prison. You can order all the pizza you want after we get out."

With realization, Ness cleared his tears and immediately composed himself. "Oh, I see. Yes, I don't have to cry anymore," he said. "Hurray for easy solutions!"

"That was an awfully fast recovery…" Jeff remarked. He looked to the right of the mess of rocks where he spotted a locked door. "Anyway… That door is locking you in." He took out from behind a weird machine with a key shape protruding from one end. It was hard to describe the tool he took out, but it had a pseudo-square shape and was large enough to carry on two hands. Jeff moved to the door and inserted the key in the slot. Two seconds later, he twisted the machine, and the door opened slowly. "There we go."

"Sweet freedom is awesome!" Ness rejoiced while Paula looked appreciative. "I'm so desperate to make you my best friend, Jeff."

Jeff put the machine away, somehow. The machine was clearly larger and noticeable to just put away into thin air behind his back…but he managed to do it anyway. "I think you need to take some fresh air. Badly," he suggested. "Why don't we… Oh no, I forgot!" He went to the scrapped parts of the Sky Runner to look around his two party members. "Y-you two! Are you okay? Say something!"

"Wait, what's happening?" Paula asked as she and Ness stared at Jeff looking around the Sky Runner.

She got her answer when she heard an angry growl coming from the wreckage of the Sky Runner. The ship wasn't completely totaled. The spherical design was spared for the most part, so the interior of the ship was still standing somewhat. From within the smoke, a black paw-like hand with a spike on the back of the wrist emerged, causing Ness and Paula to back away. Being PSI-powered children, they drew their right index fingers back, sparking to life with energy. "T-there was a monster in there? Jeff! How could you come here with a monster?!"

"Uh, I didn't?" Jeff said. "I would've been dead by now if I did. Possibly. Anyway, don't attack him."

As Ness and Paula processed this bit of info, Lucario emerged from the wreckage with a low growl, holding his panicked trainer close to his chest with an arm. Because Lucario was a very imposing creature new to the children, they sweated a bit, thinking that Jeff was kidding about not bring a monster. When they saw the Pokémon's owner being clutched to his chest for protection, they lowered their sparking fingers in confusion. "What's going on here?" Paula asked, not completely sold on the idea with the spiked monster inside the cave.

"Chris?" Lucario suddenly spoke, getting their attention. The aura wielder was thankful to feel strong aura waves from his trainer, as evidenced by his coughing. "Oh, it's so good to know you're okay…"

"Bleargh!" Chris coughed loudly, his and Lucario's body covered in dirt and black soot. "I-I'm alive… Oh my god, I'm alive…"

Ness blinked once the two fixed their gazes on them. "…Uh…hi?" he said.

Chris was shocked to know that he had found the first "Smasher" of the group. Jeff was just a small preview of what was to come, but Ness was more important than the blond. Now the hard part to let them come with them was the current event taking place in the cave. "H-hi…" Chris said shyly. "Y-you're Ness, right? Jeff told us about you and…and Paula."

"…" Paula sighed and turned to Jeff. "Jeff, why did you bring normal…I mean, people in here?" she asked. "They're not part of us. I know in great detail that we're missing someone else entirely different than them."

Jeff nodded. "I know that, but these two helped me to get here," he said. "They turn out to have their own mission, you see. On the way here, we were attacked by other unknown beings not related to Giygas himself."

"Wait, what's that?" Ness asked. "You were attacked by other enemies that weren't Giygas' henchmen? How can that be?" He turned to them. "And how are these two related to the whole thing?"

Lucario placed Chris down, letting them both the chance to dust themselves off. "I-it's pretty hard to believe," Chris said. "Sadly, we got involved in that problem ourselves when we tried to escort Jeff to your side all the way here…and there's no other way for us to solve it without making a stand."

Paula stared at Jeff. "You got yourself mixed up with other enemies?" she asked.

"Yes, that's what happened on my way here," Jeff said. "I thought we wouldn't be able to face this new threat by ourselves so having them accompany us for the journey would be very good."

Ness had a feeling that the imposing blue monster was a nice guy somewhere behind that piercing glare of his, so he approached them to examine Lucario by walking around him. The aura wielder made no move, trusting Ness's blue aura. "Of course they're useful," Ness said, surprising Chris and Lucario. "This guy's got spikes on its body. Some good spike strikes are all you need to defeat enemies."

Lucario, or any other Lucario from his species, was ironically never too fond of using the spikes on their bodies for anything in a battle. In truth, the species felt that the spikes looked a little over the top, but most thought that it was how Arceus wanted. Using the spikes in battle was a clear sign that a Lucario would stoop so low as to inflict heavy damage on their opponents with the lethal weapons. "I never use these spikes for battle," Lucario said with a serious look.

"Really now? Then I dunno how you helped Jeff cross Winters," Ness said. "You look pretty…slim…thin…skinny, even. No muscle whatsoever. You just look tough to me."

"(Oh boy,)" Chris thought as he looked up at Lucario.

Feeling extremely insulted, even more so with the muscle fact, Lucario struck the ground with a clean fist, causing a fissure to run up a good forty feet from the floor, over the wall, and the ceiling right above him. Ness and Chris felt the small trembling shaking of the floor that they gulped in unison. "L-Lucario, careful!" Chris scolded. "T-that could've caused a cave in!"

Lucario gasped and took his fist back, standing back up at full height. "S-sorry, I was a little ticked off," he said.

"H-holy…" Ness gulped, examining the fissure in front of him, and so did an astonished Paula. This was a severe contrast to what he had fought before he got caught: angry ladies, rabid dogs, animated mushrooms, and New Age Retro Hippies. "U-um… Did I say weak? No, no, no! I meant to say the enemy is weak against you!"

"You didn't say any of that before," pointed out Lucario.

"…Don't punch me, please," Ness finally said, just to be sure.

"A-anyway…" Paula began, still examining the fissure, "…I'm still not convinced if we should let you come with us. We shouldn't stray too much from the prophecy by getting too much outside help."

Ness walked to her side. "Well, let's just pretend they'll help us till a certain point," he suggested. "But…what's this about other enemies who barred Jeff's way?"

"I've got no idea," Jeff said. "It's safer if we let them come… Please, you two, Lucario alone gave me a bunch of experience without me or Chris lifting a finger."

"(When did he get any experience?)" Chris thought in confusion. "(How can he even tell?)"

Ness and Paula exchanged glances. "Okay… You seem pretty sure yourself, Jeff," Ness said, turning to look at the two otherworldly travelers. "It won't hurt us to have some temporary backup…as long as the big dog guy doesn't trip of me and stabs my back with extreme prejudice using that glaring spike on its chest."

Lucario sighed. "I hardly ever trip and cause an accident like that," he reassured them. Chris, however, took a note of the warning by walking beside his Pokémon, no matter if he was taller or smaller.

"Besides," Jeff continued, "it is sort of my fault that Chris is like this."

The other two chosen children turned his way. "What do you mean by that?" Paula asked, getting an explanation as to what had happened on the way to Threed. "A bomb blew up and it turned Chris into a boy?"

"…Somehow, that doesn't sound too surprising to me," Ness said, blinking twice with a blank look. Both Chris and Lucario stared, not believing how he didn't take it that badly. "I know those looks, you two. You pretty much lose all sense of common sense when you get a talking bug from the future warn you from absolute destruction if you don't do anything about it."

"Uh…" Chris muttered, trailing off and feeling morbidly ill to hear the other boy say such a thing in the first place. "…I…I see?"

"See? That's even more shocking," Ness said. "By the way, I didn't notice up until now, but…why are you wearing my clothes?" he asked Chris.

"Wearing your clothes?" Chris said before looking down at himself as he said, "That sounds a little bit too random to…s-say…"

Lucario was just as shocked to see his trainer wearing a different wardrobe set. He didn't see Chris changing clothes during the fall, remembering he didn't change clothes before the panicking plunge to the ground. Sometime between the start and end of the fall, Chris's old clothes were ditched over an exact replica of Ness's clothes: down to the red sneakers and up to the iconic red cap. If that wasn't enough, he was also sporting a newly obtained backpack on his back. The sudden change of clothes scared the boy, mostly because he never felt the change at all, at least not by his free will.

The only reasonable explanation Chris could come up with was… "L-Lucario, did you strip me from my clothes before we crashed in here?!"

Lucario gasped, blushed, and furiously shook his head. "W-why would I strip you from your clothes?! I don't care (mostly) about what you wear as long as you're comfortable!" he shot in defense.

"W-well! Where are my other clothes, then?"

"H-how should I know? Maybe they are back in that ship?"

Chris looked behind into the scrapped Sky Runner. Reluctant, he got inside the wreckage and tried to find his old clothes around the debris. But it was useless. His old clothes were gone forever. There was no way the clothes magically floated out and fell down somewhere. Giving up in his hasty search, the defeated boy walked back to Lucario's side. "They're…they're gone…" he said. "My old clothes are gone…"

"I'm…not sure what's going on with you," Paula commented from her spot. "And frankly speaking, I don't see how we should discuss a topic about lost clothing right now in this dinky place."

"H-hey, this is actually important to me!" Chris said. "I had my normal attire a mere moment ago! I can't just…brush it off like that! What if I suddenly get naked in the middle of the day?!"

"Now that right there is a very surprising…uh, shocking thing to see," Ness commented. "Well… I don't care if you're wearing my clothes, unless you're a fanboy of mine… Are you?"

The fact Chris knew Ness very well from his world was extremely discouraged to mention. More than that, Chris didn't admire Ness at all. He admired Mario even more now that there was a chance to meet him in person. "I've never heard of you until Jeff said so," Chris said.

"Eh, good enough," Ness said nodding. "So, it's okay for you guys to follow us, I guess. If those weird enemies show up again, having more fighters should make things easy."

The duo was shocked to know they were able to get into Ness's group. "Wait, really?" Chris asked. "You don't object?"

"Why object when your guy can create a fissure with a fist?" Ness asked, kicking the fissure while Paula looked unsure of the decision. "He'll give us plenty of experience!"

Lucario shrugged. "I don't know what to say to this," he said.

"Me neither," Paula said. "But the more, the merrier, they say…"

Ness and Paula joined your team!

Ness and Paula looked around at the same time. "Huh, how odd," Ness said. "Feels like someone just announced something in a loud voice."

"Let's not bother with that now," Paula said, turning to the exit of the cave. "Let's get out of here first." The two children joined up with Jeff until Chris and Lucario exchanged grimaces and followed them from behind. They were still in shock that they made it just fine to Ness. Now the task to keep him safe started, but for how long, they couldn't tell for now.

As they climbed up some stairs made out of ground, Chris pondered why he had randomly changed clothes that resembled Ness. No doubt this wasn't normal, he thought. There weren't any mechanics in Ness's game where the characters could change clothes at will or not. For an experiment, he tried calling Master Hand with his mind but received no reply. He only had Lucario for better support, and he would need as much support as he could to pull through the mission.

Graveyard

Lucario was happy to know he would walk out in the open with his dear trainer at last. No more hiding inside the house in the real world. He was free to go wherever he pleased. Though this time, he would never leave Chris behind for anything in the world. His company was always refreshing and a good sign. He felt like a true Pokémon owned by a traveling trainer.

He wished the first urban setting they would visit was less gloomy than what Threed was.

Threed was, by all accounts, a creepy town shrouded in a perpetual night. The graveyard was the worst place to be, and it did feel incredibly morbid that they came up from underground where coffins were buried. Glancing around, the town was like a ghost town with citizens holed up in their homes to avoid the zombies and other monsters that roamed the dark corners, and that was just beyond the fences of the graveyard. The aura of evilness seemed to be stronger there, much to Lucario's distaste. Through his eyes, he saw the red aura actively trying to pierce through the children with desperation, but they were unfazed by the supernatural attacks.

"Ugh, we were locked up down there?" Ness asked, spotting the large hole the Sky Runner caused when it crashed down. "Gross! We were next to corpses!"

"It's not as bad as the roaming zombies and evil puppets," Paula said.

Jeff took off his glasses to clean them with his shirt. "What a drastic change in setting," he commented, putting the glasses back on. "I'm used to seeing a wide snow land from my room in the boarding school. This is…creepy."

Zombies here were real. It scared Chris to know that. When he spotted a limping figure behind a tombstone, its decayed green skin, grey hair, and red eyes proved it was definitely a zombie. He shivered and wisely hid behind Lucario, who noticed the abomination and narrowed his glare at it. There was a sickening red aura emanating from the monster, but the aura itself wasn't its own completely. A portion looked off… It had been reanimated by an outside force somewhere in the land where Lucario couldn't reach even within his a hundred miles of radius.

"You know you reached a new low when brainless zombies lock you up," Ness said.

"Well, they're not entirely mindless," Paula noted. "They would've eaten us right there at the hotel they lured us in, but they kidnapped us. Why they would skip brain eating altogether is surely a big dumb move on their part I'm grateful for."

"I-I'm still shocked to see real zombies, anyway," Chris muttered. "J-just please, let's not find any brain eating ones…" It was then he noticed a zombie coming from the west, stretching out its arms their way. He screamed and hid behind Lucario.

Due to the scream eliciting complete utter annihilation, Lucario growled loudly, charged ahead, and delivered a Force Palm on the zombie's face, blasting off its head far away from Threed, the force of the wind disintegrating it into nothing. More importantly, he had beheaded something else yet again.

Chris and Jeff got horrible flashbacks from before, but Ness and Paula were far less grossed out and more impressed at the Aura Pokémon's strength. They didn't mind the beheading just because it was applied on a zombie and not a living creature. While Lucario lamented what he had done, the zombie's corpse collapsed on the ground and turned to dust. "Wow," Ness said. "That was creepy awesome, but awesome anyway!"

"Indeed," Paula nodded, making Lucario turn around to see the mixed facial expressions. "Your strength is huge! You're going to prove to be a valuable asset before we make it to Giygas."

"Just so you know…" Lucario stole glances from Chris's and Jeff's sickened expressions, "Chris and I aren't tagging along for long…"

"Yeah, I knew this was too good to be true," Ness said, sighing. "What a shame. If only Buzz Buzz had said there was a big blue dog guy aside from us…"

His right eye twitched at the nickname. "My name is Lucario," Lucario said with some venom.

"Oh yeah, right," Ness said. "Sorry."

Jeff looked at Chris while holding his stomach. "They're lucky they didn't see what he did before," he whispered.

"Somehow, I feel he's going to repeat that again…" Chris whispered back, as Lucario walked back to his side. "Careful with the beheading! You never got to do that back home, I don't expect you to do it again!" he said.

"My apologies…" Lucario said, feeling guilty. "Just hearing you scream prompted me to jump into action."

"Ahh, the classic sense of overprotection," Ness suddenly said, getting into the conversation as they started to walk to the cemetery's exit. "It never fails to come up."

While they walked to the exit, the otherworldly duo was pondering when they should inform Ness that he was being targeted by an army of bad guys that had no relation to Giygas. Though it was also unclear how long they needed to keep him safe, and by extension themselves. Soon enough, they would possibly leave the children behind. Everything was a mess, and they could only help the trio in their tasks.

Chris's memories of the plot were a little hazy. He wanted to ask what they were going to do in the zombie town. Once having exited the graveyard from the west side, he asked them, "What are we going to do now?"

"Eradicate the zombies from Threed," Paula said. "This is clearly Giygas' doing. There should be an explanation to the odd occurrences here."

"Yet, we don't have any clues about where to go," Ness said. "Well, kind of. There are these zombies blocking the way up north to some kind of entrance. We gotta move those out of the way because there are a lot of them lurking around that area."

"Let me take them all on," Lucario said. "All of them will fall quickly against me." It was the most reasonable solution to sic Lucario to the zombies for a quick and easy victory.

But Paula had other thoughts. "No," she said, making Lucario blink. "The zombies are quite frail even against our PSI. We could've used our powers to make it through, but… We thought attacking that many zombies over there would make the rest attack the people in the buildings." She looked around as they were crossing the street, spotting many houses with closed windows and barricaded doors. "It'd be nasty if everyone in town would confront the zombies without weapons while we're off investigating what's up north."

The otherworldly boy stared into space, not believing that Lucario's Herculean strength wasn't effective for the task. Up until now, his strength was a boon for the journey, quite literally dismembering any enemies who looked funny their way. Destiny clearly didn't want to leave things very easy, as proven by Paula. "I'm…speechless," Lucario said.

Ness gave him a dull look. "Strength isn't gonna just solve everything, you know," he said. "You gotta be smart and think of everything. You're the heavy hitter of the group. You're suited to just beat up a few enemies."

Lucario felt a little broken to know that. He looked down at Chris. "I do think I need more training in my thought process," he said. "We never went around that back home."

"That's because there was absolutely no need for it before in a place where nothing dangerous happened," Chris said. "Now, it's very, very different."

To tell the truth, Lucario was actually going to enjoy doing such training. For once, he and Chris could look more like a Pokémon and his trainer. He was excited to do actual training than just doing push-ups with a bed on his back while Chris rested on top. Though his yearning for battle was becoming a reality, his trainer had a different idea altogether. A task to keep universes safe would ban them from normal Pokémon battles, and the boy was chained to fighting himself as well.

Multiple stomach growls made them stop on their tracks. In unison, they blushed and looked away.

"This is what happens when flying ships crash land during my sandwich hour," Ness told Jeff. "Alright, then! I saw a pizza place down south. We've got enough cash to spend on one."

Eating a mundane food with people he would have probably never meet before made Chris get curious. Eating with Lucario back home was always enjoyable, but this was a serious change of pace, which was also added with the fact that the Aura Pokémon was walking out without people screaming and tossing rocks his way. But now, the boy was puzzled if video game food would even have an effect on him… "Sure," Paula said. "I like the idea. Let's go."

Careful about not drawing too much attention from the zombies and shaking trash cans, the group made it to Mach Pizza, entering the double doors and reaching the counter. The place wasn't utterly odd, though not finding any tables or chairs was what was odd. While inside, they found out a weird fact. "I'm sorry, but we only deliver pizzas by phone," told the female clerk. "Here, let me give you the phone number."

While Ness - without asking much for details – recorded the phone number, the others stared. "You don't have many people coming in here, do you?" Paula asked.

The clerk sighed. "No…"

"…Wait, we're right here," Chris pointed out. "Why don't you just take our order now?"

"There's a reason why we don't have any tables and chairs in here, you know." Chris took the chance to look at the empty corners. "Yeah, business is this bad."

"Still! We're here! We can take the pizza home!" argued Chris.

"No, it's better if you're out and we have to charge you more money for the delivery guy delivering the pizza."

There was so much wrong with that sentence they had to stare blankly at her. Now Lucario knew without using mind reading why the aura of the "restaurant" felt fishy. "I'm sorry. What?" Jeff asked. "Are you purposely making us charge more money for something so…uh, unique?"

"…Thank you for coming in! Any other questions should be addressed with the manager, but he's not here. I'm just a boring clerk who only takes orders, not complaints. Too bad!" the clerk said with a twitching smile. Feeling this wasn't going to go anywhere, they gave up on the queries and just walked out while Ness reluctantly ordered the pizza by phone.

It only took roughly three minutes of walking away from the establishment for the pizza delivery guy to rush out from the double doors to greet them. "Hello! I'm the only Mach Pizza delivery guy!" he said, showing them the pizza box. There was a brief moment where almost everyone was enticed by the scent. "The charge is $48."

Chris and Lucario were both shocked at the absurd tab for the pizza, and Jeff was similarly looking unappreciative. No doubt Mach Pizza was in heavy financial issues if the price for pizzas were that big. They looked at Ness…who didn't even shrug one bit and handed over a fifty-buck dollar without complaining. "Here," he said, and he gladly took the pizza. "You can keep the change."

"Thank you for your patronage, sir! Enjoy!" the delivery guy said before hastily running back to his base.

"…I'm sorry, but forty-eight dollars for a measly pizza?" Chris had to ask, which he did. At no point when he played the game, he never called – or even entered – Mach Pizza at all. "What a rip-off! Ness, I can't believe you didn't say anything! Are you so rich you don't care either way?"

"Exactly," said Ness, which somehow mortified Chris and the others. Paula, already used to buying some atrociously, high-priced equipment, wasn't freaked out. "Don't give me that look. My father is funding my journey with his job. He's never given me a lot of allowance before, but now it's different! I think that I'm going to have to retire after I finish Giygas off." He opened the box and took the full scent in. "Enough about that. Who wants a slice?"

"Unbelievable," said Chris, Lucario, and Jeff at the same time.

"Yeah, this smell is sooooo good you can't believe it." He ignored the triple-facepalm display. "Huh, I didn't think where we're going to eat this. In hindsight, eating pizza out in the streets with man-eating zombies isn't such a good idea."

"Another reason why Mach Pizza will probably go bankrupt at this rate in the near future," Paula predicted. She was right.

"We're five people. We'll go through the pizza pretty fast. Alright, grab a slice, you four!" Ness said, opening the box.

Chris eyed the pizza presented to him. The smell was pretty real, and it did make his stomach growl in anticipation to eat a slice. He grabbed a slice and ate a bit… Sure enough, his body didn't reject the food. It went down without issues. He sighed in relief and started eating faster while everyone else did the same. The children ate more than one slice, with Lucario and Paula only eating one each.

Lucario took a small chance to talk to his trainer when the children were facing another way. "I'm enjoying this so far," he told him. "I'm not talking about the food… I'm talking about how we're out in the open together without restrictions."

Chris forced a smile. "Y-yes, it does feel good," he said. "Though I wish we were somewhere else instead of this zombie town, eating pizza out here…"

The Aura Pokémon looked serious, though the slice of pizza he was holding contrasted greatly to his expression, which Chris found very glaring from his rather low altitude compared to the large Pokémon. "With me by your side, you don't need to fear anything," Lucario reassured Chris. "I won't let those monsters bite your arms on my watch." He was hoping to sound very heroic to him, not minding the pizza slice that was bending down too much on his large hand.

"…I feel a little touched, really," Chris said, making Lucario smile. "But would you please finish your slice? I can't take you seriously with the dripping cheese bits on your waist."

Lucario blinked and saw he was getting dirty with cheese on the waist, getting tangled up with his sleek yellow fur. It was too late to clean up and stop blushing, for the children had turned their way and spotted the mess at eye level. "P-pfft," chuckled Ness with Paula. Jeff merely adjusted his foggy glasses.

"I…I need a napkin," Lucario said meekly, getting one from Ness. He wasn't expecting Chris suddenly laughing for a brief moment, wrecking the result Lucario was hoping to get instead. Still, his trainer's radiant blue aura flared with positive waves, and they felt so good and refreshing to the Aura Pokémon who smiled and chuckled as well. "(It's worth it to see him laugh because of me,)" Lucario thought relieved. "(…As long as he doesn't laugh at me.)" His little distraction brought the children closer to them, making things easier to bond.

When they were done eating and laughing, they discarded the box in a trash can and resumed with the journey, walking across the street to the south portion of the town; a portion that seemed too deserted.

"Bellies full, now what?" Ness asked the group. "We never found out what else to do when we were kidnapped by zombies."

"Our best bet is to look around," Jeff theorized. "Anything out of the ordinary – besides the zombies and evil trash cans – should be worth looking at." It wasn't long before they heard Lucario growl deeply. They jerked their heads his way and saw him baring his fangs; his sharp, bloodthirsty fangs. Seeing this as a bad sign of things to come, Chris leaned to him. "U-um, why are you growling so suddenly? …Oh, wait! Your aura ability!"

"Aura ability?" Ness and Paula repeated.

As Jeff and a reluctant Chris explained what the ability was about, Lucario's aura vision activated as he saw the world's lucid red aura cover the town completely. The sickening aura his senses picked up came from nearby… It was coming from a suspicious circus tent. He was able to tell how the tent itself had an aura of its own, unlike how the red aura engulfed everything and the buildings, which of course had no singular auras. A building like a tent emitting its own aura was unheard of, but the red coat was enough to tell him it was dangerous.

"Sense and see living creatures' souls at will?" Ness said. "Holy crud, that's awesome! I wish PSI had that sort of thing…" His remarks fell on deaf ears to Lucario. "You know, I think I'm starting to admire you. You're definitely looking cooler and cooler." If the very good remarks could come out of Chris himself, it would snap Lucario from his growling fits.

The boyish teen looked up at Lucario. "I didn't think others would see you in this light," Chris suddenly spoke, smiling. "I feel so proud of you..."

That was enough for Lucario to drop his aura vision and smile at Chris. An actual praise from his trainer was a must to relish, as evidenced by his low growling sound. The other three children exchanged blank glances for a moment before Ness said, "So, uh, what evil aura did you pick?"

Lucario focused on the task and pointed southeast. "A circus tent is expelling its own red aura," he said. "It's not normal at all. It's certainly possessed by Giygas' influence."

"There's our first clue right there, guys," Paula said. "Let's head over to that suspicious circus tent."

Carefully making sure they weren't spotted by monsters, after passing several trees that for some reason were unnerving Ness and Paula due to previous past experience, the group made it to the south portion of the town where they found a large purple circus tent that didn't look particularly odd, save for the desolate location. As they got closer to it, Lucario's protective instincts pulled Chris to his side, though his trainer didn't object.

"That tent is suspicious, you say?" Jeff asked.

The tent wasted no time to make itself known to them once a demonic face smirked evilly at them, known as the Boogey Tent. Horrified of the floating face on the tent's front entrance, Chris yelled and took cover behind the growling Lucario and the rest of the team.

They were too slow to avoid a bright flash that came from the tent's eyes…

Their eyes met the flash at full force, and nearly everyone started crying, much to their collective chagrin. They weren't necessarily bawling or tossing around needlessly. Their eyes were just full with tears that they couldn't focus well on their eyesight. "G-gah!" Jeff shrieked.

"It used PSI Flash alpha on us!" Paula said, trying to clear her uncontrollable flood of tears.

Lucario felt humiliated with his eyes crying tears for no good reason, but as long as Chris was next to him protected, everything would be fine. Even using his aura vision, the tears from his eyes prevented him from spotting aura waves by making them all look blurry. However, being a very special Lucario, he was able to keep track of the tent's aura by increased focus. The others didn't have to be told where the tent was, as it was just right in front of them.

The big problem, though, was the fact the tent's face was the strike point, not the tent itself. It was a fact they found out when Paula fired off a frigid wind from her hands that bounced off from the tent's uncovered portions. "D-dang!" Ness said, barely seeing the face warp to the left to laugh at their misery. "The face has to be struck to do damage!"

"Use area-of-effect PSI skills!" Paula suggested. She fired off a small bolt of fire that erupted into a wide wave of flames that struck the warping face head on. It shrieked in pain and shook the tent as a whole to dissipate the heat, going back to smirking and laughing at them, even more so when Jeff failed to shoot it with his gun.

Just as Ness and the other prepared to strike back, they were all struck by a wave of fire. The children recoiled a bit at this, but Lucario held his position, not feeling very damaged. "A-augh!" Jeff shrieked. "W-where did that fire come from?! I can't see well!"

"Guys…" spoke Chris weakly, his hands somehow stretched out in front of him to themselves. "I feel…strange… Odd, even…"

"What?" Paula said, dusting off her dress. "Strange, you say?" There was something Paula needed to ask when she remembered Chris didn't complain about crying eyes. "…Your eyes aren't crying?"

"N-no…" Chris muttered, worrying Lucario. "Everything…in front of me…is spinning…and I don't know why I don't know what to do…"

The other four stopped their movements to process what he had said. "O…kay?" Ness spoke up. "That was a weird way to phrase that…"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Paula said in realization. "Chris is feeling strange! The PSI Flash from before didn't make him cry! It made him feel strange!"

"That tent is going to pay for that!" Lucario roared, resorting to form a large Aura Sphere with an open palm.

If Chris's Lucario had been a normal one, he wouldn't have been a six-foot tall Pokémon with impressive physical strength. He would have needed to charge an Aura Sphere with two palms to concentrate his aura. Since he wasn't a regular one, he was able to charge Aura Spheres with a single palm in less than half a second, even going so far as to enlarge them in size for massive damage. Up until now, he never used an Aura Sphere in the real world because of how chaotic one small sphere could be in the backyard. When he learned the move and fired off a sphere to the air, it had caused a lot of panic in the neighborhood when a massive explosion was spotted high above. Now outside the real world, Lucario had complete freedom to go overboard; a fatal mistake in practice all the same.

The children barely saw an illuminating blue shade engulfing the area before it was shot at high speed to the tent's face. Looking shocked at the sphere of destruction, the tent's face shrieked and couldn't manage to escape the blow in time, blowing up within a very large explosion that pushed everyone with a strong gust of wind except for the sphere's owner. Lucario easily reached out to keep Chris from getting pushed back as he witnessed with his aura the eradication of the evil Boogey Tent within the massive explosion. As smoke flew everywhere, the chaos subsided very quickly, and the tent was no more.

With the battle over, the children and the aura wielder regained their vision and senses, going back to normal. However, the explosion of aura didn't go unnoticed by the chosen children. Chris himself was too shocked to see the crater where the circus tent used to be. He had forgotten how incredibly destructive Aura Sphere could be in his Lucario. It was times like these he wished the Aura Pokémon was only tall and not physically able to mow down an entire army. "H-holy…c-crap…" Chris shivered, looking for protection by embracing Lucario's waistline.

Lucario sighed, looking worried at his trainer. "Sorry… It irked me so badly when it attacked you with that flash as well," he said.

"W-well…" Chris didn't stop looking at the smoking crater. He hoped the people in town didn't see the explosion, which was inevitable for sure. "I'd hate to see what could happen if you were really, r-really angry…"

His Pokémon sensed waves of fear, feeling guilty for being the cause. Looking apologetic, Lucario knelt down and pulled Chris to his side. "I apologize for scaring you," he muttered. "It wasn't my intention at all… I was trying to protect you."

The boy was touched, but only for a little while. To know he was the probable main reason why Lucario obliterated the Boogey Tent with such extremes made him feel sick, wondering why he didn't get a baby Riolu instead of a juggernaut. There was some relief in knowing it wasn't a living person that was destroyed …

Before Chris could say anything, they heard Ness, Paula, and Jeff approaching the crater, looking like they were about to have a bathroom accident right there. "H-holy…steaks!" Ness breathed out, actually clutching a hand on his beating chest.

"Just…unbelievable," Paula said next, carefully making sure she wasn't going to slip down on the dome-shaped crater. She looked up at Lucario. "You are far stronger than you look…" Lucario felt proud until Chris shot him with a discouraging look to keep him from not going overboard.

"Why don't you stick around until we reach Giygas?" Ness asked. "No, really, I'm serious with this. We're all children with psychic powers but you're a god in a dog disguise. Logic dictates us young children should live to be the future of the country. Screw prophecies! Join us."

"I am not a dog," Lucario said annoyed. "And I've said before we're not planning to travel with you for too long. We've got other matters to attend to."

"Where?"

Paula and Jeff stared up at the aura wielder. "Uh…" Lucario looked down at Chris for help. The look on his face told Chris he was the one supposed to come up with the lies, and it pained Lucario to give his trainer the role for now.

"W-we're traveling for now," Chris said. "That's all there is to it."

"Just traveling?" Ness questioned. "Dude, you got yourself a monster in Lucario! Fighting an evil entity of pure evil is far better suited to him than just trekking the earth!"

Paula then said, "Ness, we ourselves can only confront Giygas. We're the chosen ones, and we can only get outside help when it's not about the Eight Melodies or Giygas himself."

The leader sighed. "Yeah, I know… It sucks anyway," he said, kicking a pebble down the crater. He then got the attention of a trash can rolling down to the center of the crater, and something fell out from it. It was a jar with honey. "Hey, what's that down there? I'll go check," Ness offered. As if it was normal for him, the boy was able to hover down using his PSI power, surprising Chris more than Lucario.

The blond girl looked back at the duo. "There is something bothering me," she said. The duo looked worried that she was probably not buying their tale. "…Where did that PK Fire come from? I'm the only one of the group who can use that ability, and I'm sure there weren't any other enemies nearby who could use that… Then…that means…" She eyed Chris with a blank look.

"…Wait, why are you staring at me like that?" Chris asked, backing off a bit.

It didn't look like it, but Paula was concentrating her powers on Chris's self. Quickly, she picked up a familiar energy running through his body that she didn't feel was there before, because she didn't bother to sense PSI energy on someone else that wasn't a chosen one. Jeff lacked PSI completely but he was still a chosen one. It came off as a wonder that the otherworldly boy even had PSI yet wasn't part of the ensemble. "Chris… You have PSI power in you," Paula said.

Jeff blinked. "Chris possesses PSI power?" he asked. "I feel left out now."

The otherworldly boy gasped and looked at his hands. "I-I have what now?!" he asked, feeling scared about the chance of randomly exploding or tossing someone away with his mind.

"PSI," Paula reassured. "Just like Ness and I, you possess the same energy. You used PSI Fire alpha during that fight back then…by accident, no less, but now you're aware of your gift."

Lucario was shocked to know his trainer had a dormant power to begin with, until it dawned on him Chris never, ever had anything like PSI in his soul back in the real world. In fact, a quick scan of his aura revealed there was an energy source that wasn't there before they arrived, and Lucario was certain when he recalled sensing Jeff's and Chris's aura when seeing the land's red aura. There was no energy there whatsoever, but now there was…

"…I don't want this gift!" Chris said, shivering and embracing himself. "PSI is technically psychic powers, right? I never used this before! What if I burn Lucario by accident or any of you without holding myself back?"

"(That fire attack you shot didn't even tickle me,)" Lucario thought.

"Now there," Paula said. "PSI is completely tamable. It doesn't look as hard as you make it out to be… You'll only burn someone if you keep panicking and losing control of yourself like an idiot," she pointed out. "Just be yourself and the PSI will never run wild."

The boy was doubtful it was that easy to avoid accidents like that, but it was the best thing to do now. Taking a deep breath, Chris slowly calmed down. "I…I can do this… I'm…one with myself," he muttered, closing his eyes. "I won't run around burning people with my mind…"

Paula looked duly at him. "No need to act so dramatic about it, either," she said.

"…" Chris opened his eyes up and sighed slowly. "…Okay... I don't feel any different, truthfully," he said blankly. He looked at his body for any second effects or an extra arm. "It's so weird…"

"It'll be 'weird' once you use PSI," Paula said. "That's when you feel a kind of tingling going on."

Jeff tilted his head. "PSI is such an amazing ability to have," he noted. "I wonder how it even came to be and why some people like you and Ness possess that ability…"

"I don't know myself," Paula said. "I was just born with it."

Lucario looked at Chris. "This is great for you," he said. "You can defend yourself in battle now."

His trainer shivered. "D-don't put me on the front lines just yet," he begged. "I'm just a novice, and I have never been struck down so badly! Can you keep being my shield?"

"Forever," Lucario gladly said with a smile, relieving his trainer.

Ness came back, carrying a jar with honey. Except, it wasn't normal honey; it was a jar of fly honey, as the label said. "Alright… I've never seen this before," Ness said, showing them the jar. "It looks special, though. Let's keep it and see what we can do with it."

"That was in a trash can, Ness," Jeff pointed out. "That alone is…not a healthy decision."

"…Whatever," Ness said, putting the item behind his back. Chris and Lucario gasped silently when they saw the jar seemingly disappearing from view completely once it tried to circle Ness's back. "I have a feeling we need to go to the cemetery and look for clues there, unless Mr. Aura Sensor here senses evil?"

Lucario blinked and focused on the question. "Nothing else seems odd aside from the red aura everywhere," he said. "There isn't another building expelling its own aura."

For now, the group went up north…

Much later…

Threed Hotel

Out of pure odd convenience, Ness got a call from a prodigy known as the Apple Kid who sent him an item called "Zombie Paper" to trap zombies. Combined with the Jar of Fly Honey – which attracted zombies to the group as they walked across town - these items made for an excellent bait to lure in all the zombies to a single location. The location to lay off the trap was in the circus in the middle of the town where a group of adults were trying to think of ideas to get rid of the zombies. After the children told them about their plan, they agreed to it, mostly because they weren't good at coming up with anything and they were too desperate.

For the trap to work, everyone needed to abandon the normal circus tent for a whole night. The children and their guests decided to rest at the local hotel (thankfully the one that didn't have suspicious ladies and zombies) and wait for the zombies to enter the tent and get stuck on the floor.

Telling the day and night apart was hard due to it being 3 PM and the night sky high above. Still, the children were exhausted and needed to recover. None of them had a proper chance to rest after eating pizza. Unfortunately, the hotel got nearly booked with people taking shelter there (the barricaded houses kept relatives out, ironically, just because they didn't want to risk letting zombified people in), forcing them to take a room with just two beds. The room itself was nothing to write home about, with one window facing north in the middle of two cozy beds and a drawer to the left. There was a bathroom door on the south portion of the room. It was a simple hotel room.

Standing near the only window of the room were Chris and Lucario talking to each other, away from the three children currently taking turns to use the bathroom. "It's hard to believe what we've been going through up until now," Chris spoke to Lucario. "Zombies…costly pizzas…evil tents…zombies…dead dogs…living puppets that aren't being held up by anything… I know I repeated zombies. Don't correct me on that."

Lucario nodded. "After coming here, I'm asking myself why we didn't start in my native world instead," he said, slightly getting pumped up to fight real Pokémon. "It would've been much better."

"I…don't really think so," Chris dismissed. "I wouldn't want to be thrown in a world full of man-eating monsters."

"Chris, you're perfectly protected," Lucario said, trying to convince his trainer. "Not even a full team will be able to touch your hair."

"I suppose… You are not ordinary," Chris pointed out. "Fate does have its ways to give people anything. I should know by now… Except not the part where it makes me get involved in a universal conflict against a super evil entity!" he complained. "And I can't back out from it because I just know I'll get into trouble either way! I've seen enough examples in TV that wouldn't make sense in real life otherwise…"

Despite his trainer's constant nagging about that, Lucario didn't complain at all. It gave him a huge opportunity to make his trainer proud all the same, and the day when Chris would fight alongside him was a possibility now that he had obtained PSI powers that still needed some work to do. Chris had all the right to voice out his opinions until a certain point would be reached. "Well…" Lucario trailed off, "…it would be far worse if I wasn't around."

"…" Chris stared. "It's like the definite answer for all my problems is to just have you by my side," he said duly. "Really, I expect an event where you're depowered to make things 'fair' to me. It's how RPGs usually tend to be. You're the taste of power before I'm stripped of the huge advantage."

"Perish the thought, Chris," Lucario said. "At least I'm swift and athletic enough to avoid damage… Not that anything in this world has damaged me so far… Wait, I won't get depowered," he said serious. "I shall demonstrate you the full extent of my abilities now that I have a reason to use them."

Chris thought back on the crater. "Are you kidding me? I know how powerful you can be!" he said, making Lucario widen his eyes. "I don't want to see that full extent of your powers just yet…or ever! What if you end up blowing up the planet at full strength? You made that crater with just an Aura Sphere back then. Lord knows what you can do if Master Hand lets you use a Final Smash."

Lucario smiled at the thought of using a Smash Ball, but he gasped when Chris glared up at him. "I-I'll be careful," Lucario said.

"Good…because I'm inevitably expected to grow stronger without you hogging all the experience for yourself," Chris said, sighing. "I'm crazy prepared to know what to expect from this 'amazing journey across the worlds' and whatnot, but I'm not crazy prepared to cope with all of it right in front of my face. Letting you do all the grunt work will come back to bite my own butt in the event you're not available…" He shrugged.

"...Chris, please, stop being so negative about this," Lucario said, kneeling down and failing to be at eye level with his trainer. "Everything will be okay."

The boyish teen looked worried. "I'll try…" he muttered. "Nagging too much is bound to annoy others, and I want to make new friendships with people in other worlds…" He shook his head. "…I'm not so sure myself, Lucario. I need time to cope with it all…"

His large Pokémon pulled him to his side, feeling waves of uncertainty in Chris's aura. "You have all the time to get used to it," he reassured him. "I'll be there with you."

"…Thank you so much," Chris muttered, hugging his Pokémon from the right side. Lucario growled deeply in appreciation and nuzzled Chris's head with the tip of his nose. "Heheh…" Chris chuckled. "Let's do our best to keep Ness safe from the army…" The Aura Pokémon heard the three children coming up to them before they would go to sleep.

"Let's rest for tonight, you guys," Paula said, hands behind her back. "Tomorrow is going to be a very arduous day…"

Suddenly, Lucario's senses alerted him that someone was trying to read his thoughts. Knowing full well where the source came from, he growled and his aura flared up, creating a mental shield that also went to Chris's self and caused him to gasp when his aura was brought out by Lucario. The Aura Pokémon saw Ness and Paula grabbing their heads in pain, worrying Jeff right after. "What were you trying to do?!" growled Lucario at the two children, disappearing his aura while still keeping the mental block on. "Don't act innocent! I sensed your minds trying to pierce through our thoughts!"

"W-what?!" Chris said shocked, staring at Ness and Paula.

"G-gosh!" Ness grunted. "I-I wasn't expecting you could put up a mind lock and keep mind readers away! You are very prepared!"

"T-that caught me off-guard too," Paula muttered, suddenly looking serious. "But…it was enough for us to find out your intentions to tag along with us." Her statement was met up with gasps from the duo. "Speak up… What is this Subspace Army? Why are they trying to annihilate Ness in particular? And why are you two related to them?"

Lucario growled, feeling ashamed he didn't put the mental block in time. "W-what else did you get from our minds?!" he demanded.

"We didn't get anything else other than that…" Paula said. Lucario read their minds for a few seconds and found nothing. She was telling the truth. They didn't get further into their thoughts, especially the controversial part that Ness's world was a video game… "…So I ask again, why is the army after Ness?"

"I can't believe they could read minds!" Chris said. "I didn't think PSI could grant mind reading too…" He stared at the three waiting for an answer. "Uh…um…there's no way we're going to get out of this one now, are we," he told Lucario.

"No," Ness said. "I feel a lot of pressure knowing there's an army I never heard of bent on taking my head! What's that about?"

"…Truth is," Lucario spoke up, in a small change to be the one to take the lead; "…Chris and I aren't from this world." The trio gasped, and so Chris. "We were sent here to keep Ness safe from the Subspace Army."

"(Ahh, crap,)" Chris thought. "(Now that secret is out…)"

"You're…not from this world?" Jeff asked. "H-how can that even be? I'd greatly question why Lucario exists, but not Chris! How are you two from another world?"

Chris gulped, trying to take the lead next. "T-there's this guy called Master Hand who wants to see Ness safe from this…otherworldly threat," he explained. "Master Hand opposes the Subspace Army, and he wants to keep the army from ever disrupting the worlds not related to them. Ness happens to be a threat to them, so…yes"

Paula and Jeff stared wide-eyed at Ness, he himself wide-eyed as well. "I'm a threat to an army aside from Giygas?!" he asked. The duo nodded slowly. "…DAMN! I knew I shouldn't have inspected that meteor near my house!"

"Ness," Paula began, "the call knows where you live. It'd be futile, anyway."

"Aww, dammit…" Ness slumped for a bit. "…So what's this army?" he asked. "Tell me anything to lessen this impending threat…"

"For starters…" Chris trailed off. "The army is made up of monsters led by this guy called Tabuu who wants to take over the worlds by detonating bombs called 'Subspace Bombs' to suck everything into a void." He looked at Jeff. "Jeff, that bomb you were trying to deactivate was a Subspace Bomb trying to take Winters with it…"

Jeff shuddered as the eyes were on him. "I-I deactivated a space-sucking bomb and you didn't warn me about it?" he asked. "O-oh boy… I-I don't feel so good in my stomach…"

"An army trying to take Ness down…" Paula muttered. "As if Giygas wasn't enough… This is a very bad omen, indeed…" She stared at the duo. "This Master Hand sent you to protect Ness?"

"Yes," Lucario said. "It's our duty to keep them from ever hurting Ness. We'll fail if Ness dies."

"And with it, our whole journey will be for naught," Paula added, looking worried. "You two don't seem to hide any bad intentions. Otherwise, Lucario could have crushed Ness under his foot hours ago."

"D-don't joke like that!" Ness scolded her, with Lucario looking offended. "I know what he can do! No need to make me think of gruesome stuff involving my bloody self!" He embraced himself for a brief moment.

With the secret out, Chris felt more at liberty to be more outspoken. He thought hard about voicing out his honest opinions until he reached to a decision. With his mind made up, he broke off from hugging Lucario to step forward. "…You know what I think?" he asked. "I think we should just keep tagging along till Ness is safe from harm."

"And we will that be?" Ness questioned. "How can you tell when I'm not going to be shot down by a random baddie?"

"…I…I have no idea when," Chris admitted sadly. "Master Hand didn't elaborate on that…"

"That guy sounds like a prick," Ness said. "No offense…" He blinked. "I dunno why I thought that. Odd."

"Uh…" Chris shook his head quickly. "Master Hand is sure to tell us when it's okay to leave Ness behind! We have to wait till it's safe to do anything else while he's busy doing his journey to stop Giygas… That's what I think," he added meekly. He saw their downcast expressions, hurting him a bit emotionally. "…We truly want to help you out in any way we can! Don't turn us down now!"

Paula considered the option by rubbing a finger on her chin. "You've been a great asset so far," she noted. "And perhaps we won't stand a chance against this army by ourselves. I wish our fourth member was here with us to be better prepared… Ness?" She turned to the confused boy. "What do you say we do?"

Ness grumbled and tossed his hands to the sides. "Guess we better let Chris and Lucario follow us till the end of their mission, whenever that is," he said. "I have enough enemies as is."

Chris smiled a bit while Lucario sighed in the background. "Oh, thank you," he breathed out. "It feels so much better to let this out at last…"

"Why turn down a dog that can nuke a field with his soul?" Ness asked.

Lucario's eyes shot open. "I HAVE SAID THIS ONE TIME TOO MANY ALREADY AND YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERS-!" he stopped yelling when Chris glared his way. The Aura Pokémon coughed when he realized his yelling wasn't helping their case, seeing the three children back off immediately. "U-um, I mean, I'm not a dog… Stop calling me that!"

"P-point taken," Ness meekly said.

With the mission having been revealed to Ness's group, Chris and Lucario would finally be able to rest easy that they had gained their trust.

Some difficult decisions were made when they turned out for the night. Paula was given a bed for herself, leaving the four males with a bed. Ness was able to nab a bed for himself once Jeff remembered he had picked up a Broken Air Gun. He managed to turn the broken machine into the Magnum Air Gun, a much stronger weapon than his Pop Gun.

As for Chris and Lucario, the Aura Pokémon became Chris's large bed: the Aura Pokémon leaned his back to the wall in a sitting position while his trainer took refuge behind his blue arms over his waistline. The boyish teen cursed how he had forgotten about his fake youthful appearance and height loss, but it had its benefits for an occasion like this (not like he was looking forward to it ever again). Still, it made Lucario feel so proud to be so close to his trainer for absolute protection. He was happy when he felt waves of relief and gratefulness from his sleeping trainer, getting a good night rest despite the red aura nagging his senses outside the hotel.

As some hours went by, the zombies all over Threed smelled the strong Fly Honey odor set up in the circus tent, enticing them to walk mindlessly to the trap…

Regretting the fact Chris had said good morning during the middle of the night, the group woke up and was told by Lucario that all the zombies in the area had been trapped in the circus tent. More importantly, the zombies guarding the mysterious passage up north were gone, leaving the way open.

After taking a good shower and exiting the room, the group was greeted by a happy hotel clerk. Chris questioned yet again why this was happening. "Good…midnight!" he said. "Here's your free copy of the…midnight newspaper!" Despite showing them the paper, he took it upon himself to read the headlines out loud. "Here are today's headlines in the Threed Times… 'Mysterious Crater Spotted South of Town! Threed Watch Community says, "The Zombies Did It."'"

Receiving four childish stares that knew better than the headlines, Lucario hung down his head in shame.

Graveyard

Just as they were about to enter the western graveyard, the group walked in front of a solitary tombstone when suddenly Lucario sensed a presence appearing within his range. He got paranoid that someone could so simply barge into his range like that, so he growled immediately and pulled Chris to his side, looking up in the sky to spot…a spinning bearded, glasses-wearing old man wearing a black tuxedo and a black top hat. "What the…?" Lucario muttered, getting the children's attention when the man descended down in front of them.

"Oh god, it's him," Ness said blankly, finding this sudden appearance not so surprising. "It's the photographer guy who's been stalking me ever since I stepped out of my house. He already knows who Paula is."

"How did he appear from the sky?" Jeff asked, never having met the man before.

"He just appeared out of nowhere!" Lucario said with surprise. Despite the man's gentle blue aura, he didn't give Lucario a good impression. "How could he manage to just…enter my aura range?"

"Now something is bugging you?" Chris asked bewildered.

"Pictures taken instantaneously!" the camera man said with glee. "I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

"All…right?" Jeff responded, not sure about what to say as they saw the camera man taking out an old-fashioned camera from behind.

"Okay, get ready for an instant memory!"

The newest three members exchanged curious glances with one another, hearing Ness and Paula sigh. "Might as well go ahead with it, you guys," Ness said.

Paula adjusted her bow. "He never accepts a 'no' for an answer," she pointed out. "See the bright side: he'll give us the photos for free for…some reason he doesn't want to disclose."

Chris stared at the man. "I feel like I'm being stalked!" he said. "And he appeared from the sky! I have goosebumps about what he really wants to do."

"Chris, hush," Ness said as he was trying to find a spot to take a good photo. The terrifying tombstone behind their backs was iconic enough for a memory. "Here. Come over here and just smile."

Jeff shrugged and went along with it; standing next to Ness's left side while Paula took his right. Still confused, Chris then looked up at Lucario. "What do you want to do?" he asked him.

Lucario smiled a little. "Let's do it," he said. "I do wish to keep a memory in a photo…no matter how odd it is to take one now." He didn't let Chris move away, picking him up and sitting him on his left arm. "What do you say?"

Chris looked down at the far away ground and forced a smile to Lucario, rubbing his head with care. "Okay, let's do it!" he said brightly. "I also wish to take a photo now…even if it's so random." Growling pleased, Lucario stood next to Jeff, and the five looked back at the camera man.

The camera man smiled. "Look at the camera… Ready…" he then added, "say, 'fuzzy pickles!'"

The three newcomers exchanged one last confused glance and said, "Fuzzy pickles!" together with Ness and Paula. Before the shot was taken, Ness gave a peace sign in time and Chris leaned his self to Lucario's head. The photo was taken nicely, though the travelers would never find out for now that a smirking ghost was floating above them in the shot.

"Wow, what a great photograph!" the camera man said. "It will always bring back the fondest of memories…" As strange as it looked, the man jumped high in the sky, spinning all the while. Lucario, Chris, and Jeff saw the man going so high up in the night sky that he eventually disappeared in a blink of an eye; within Lucario's range, which greatly perturbed him so.

"H-he disappeared inside my range!" Lucario said, feeling paranoid. "How does he do that? This isn't normal…"

"We'll never find out why, won't we," Chris said deadpan as he was set down on the ground.

"Nope," Paula duly replied.

The group of five resumed their adventure and walked down a hidden path behind the northwestern cemetery, passing through somewhat dead trees and bushes. The atmosphere was horrifying enough to some of them, but with the zombies trapped in a circus tent with the aid of Zombie Paper and Fly Honey (the latter that Ness decided to keep around), the team was safe from ever fighting zombies in Threed. "Down this path is the passage," Ness said. "If the zombies were keeping guard, it should be something we shouldn't see."

"Hopefully the mysterious source of the zombies is on the other side," Jeff said. "Threed can't go on having zombies forever until we beat Giygas."

"Hey, maybe the Subspace Army is behind this," Ness told the otherworldly duo. "They probably got here ahead of time!"

Chris knew better it was still Giygas' doing but couldn't voice out the fact without sounding strange. "I'm not so sure," he said. "We're not very informed about them to know this is their doing."

"They'd have fought you a long time ago without unnecessarily sending some mindless monsters after you," Lucario pointed out.

"That should be the reason," Jeff said. "But they got in our way in Winters and Ness wasn't there… Why did that happen that way?"

"I think they did that because they knew Ness was getting outside help," Paula theorized. "The two of you aren't from this world and you were sent here to fight the army. The villain team wants you out the most, if you know what I mean."

"I-I don't follow…" Chris muttered.

"What I mean to say is that it'll be easier for them to get rid of you two," Paula said, making Chris shiver. "With you out of their way, they'll do as they please with Ness without getting help to fight back. I don't know if Ness, Jeff, and I can hold them back by ourselves if they're that strong, but…" She trailed off in thought until the group came across a tombstone with a ladder going down a passage underground. It was the passage the zombies were guarding. "So that's the spot they were protecting."

"It's against my policies to go in there without adult supervision, but screw that," Ness said as he went to the ladder and started climbing down. "C'mon, you guys!"

Almost reluctantly, the group entered the tombstone to reach the secret passage. For added security, Lucario kept up the mental block and aura senses on to see if enemies would present themselves as they proceeded down the passage.

-Grapefruit Falls-

Passage

The passage was just a regular passage mostly shrouded in darkness that only had one direct path from Threed to the other side. It wasn't entirely free of monsters, though, with bees that didn't behave nicely, deceased zombie dogs, and ghosts.

"I can understand why there are zombies around, but how are ghosts real?" Paula asked.

"Frankly, Paula, we'll never find out why," Ness said.

As they went down the passage, some enemies did show up in the form of ghosts and more zombies. Steeling himself to fight for himself, Chris tried to at least use his newly acquired PSI powers to defeat them, which sadly never happened as Lucario himself almost always struck every enemy down with punch to the face or an Aura Sphere to the face. He did this mostly out of instinct to protect his dear trainer; his relatively weaker dear trainer who needed to develop his powers.

"Lucario, can you please stop hogging all the experience for yourself?" Chris asked and wished he didn't need to fight. The children didn't complain about the experience as it leaked on them, but Chris never felt any different to notice. "I need to train my PSI on an enemy!"

"Then why don't you use it on something else?" Lucario asked.

"If I use it on a tree, I may start a fire with my mind, that's why!"

"Then…I can be your training partner."

Chris considered the option of training with a juggernaut. It greatly scared what someone with spikes on their wrists would do to him. "Sorry, I-I love my life…"

"I wouldn't even think of tossing a fist your way…"

"Wait, hold on a minute," Ness said. "How come we can bash on ghosts? Aren't they supposed to be invisible?"

"Perhaps the TV media lies to children about some supernatural facts," Jeff commented. He got stares. "What? I was just commenting on it…"

The cave was relatively short and somewhat boring, though at the end, above a few rocky steps awaited a sentient foe bent on blocking their way to the next location.

They came to a stop where they found a glaring pink blob that was made out, of all things, pink puke. With Lucario sensing a red aura out of it, he started growling down at it. "Don't tell me this is actually…" Paula trailed off until two clean eyes popped out from the small pile of puke. "A-ahh!" she shrieked.

A sniffing sound came out of it as it neared Ness's side. The boy backed off once the eyes stared up at him. "You have…Fly Honey!" he said delighted. "But actually, you're just a commoner! I am the mortal enemy of your kind," he proclaimed.

"I hardly consider a puke ball a mortal enemy," Jeff said.

Chris winced. "I've seen everything now," he muttered to himself, hard to believe the blob of puke was capable of human speech.

Ness looked duly at the blob. "Look, uh, random puke guy, we need to move on ahead and get to that ladder behind you." There was a rope ladder leading outside to another area behind the pink puke. "Unless you wanna die, move aside, please."

The Mini Barf hopped angrily. "How rude, you commoners!" he said. "I am merely doing the job for my boss Master Belch! It is my sworn duty to keep you off limits from here." He turned to Chris and Lucario. "…Hey, you two. You look familiar."

The mentioned duo blinked. "Familiar?" Lucario wondered.

He narrowed his eyes. "You are those two guys sent by that hand guy those other guys alerted us about!" the Mini Barf said. "You must perish!"

"W-wait!" Chris interjected, confused about the fact. "W-who told you about us?"

"Since you are going to perish in here, I may as well tell you," the Mini Barf said, ignoring the group's collective bored looks. "…But first, STINKY BREATH!" It surprised them all by releasing a very stinky breath that propagated in the air quickly, causing them to gag. The breath had the nasty effect of making their eyes cry uncontrollably.

"Again with the crying eyes?! Ugh!" Ness complained.

"I hate this, and I'm already short-sighted as is!" Jess complained next, taking off his glasses to rub his crying eyes.

"Ha ha ha ha!" the Mini Barf laughed as they helplessly rubbed their eyes. "Now that you are defenseless against my might, you shall die!" He jumped towards Lucario to push him down.

Which was a very suicidal idea as it only got him to latch himself on his fur, alerting the Aura Pokémon from his presence. Lucario growled and grabbed the puke with his left hand (regretting doing so when he felt the odd texture) before tossing it harshly at the nearby wall, obliterating it in a large splat spot spread everywhere and bringing it to an anti-climatic end for its troubles.

With the short-lived battle having ended, their crying eyes were restored to normal, much to their relief. "Whew…" Paula sighed. "That was the end of it," she said as they looked at the pink puke splattered on the wall to the right.

"We won!" Ness joked. "Oh my god, I can't believe we defeated a monster made out of puke! We're so awesome."

"Stop it, please…" Chris muttered. "It feels so underwhelming when you say it like that. Moreover…" He stared at the sickening puke. "It said it knew who Lucario and I were…"

"Oh, that," Jeff said, cleaning his glasses. "He was talking about some guys alerting his team about you two. Don't you think the Subspace Army is those guys he mentioned?"

"Most likely," Paula said. "They are tracking you down after all…"

Lucario sighed slowly. "Then they were trying to take us out at Winters," he said. "Hold on for a moment. Let me see if I can track down their auras in the perimeter." He stood there and activated his aura senses, though he didn't go so far as to glow with it. It was activated in a stealthy manner before he scanned the area around them. "…That is strange. I can't find anything unusual in my field of vision," he said. "There shouldn't be anything else beyond that ladder over there, but I can sense that there is a lot more negative aura surrounding the falls up ahead than in Threed."

"There are falls up ahead?" Ness wondered as he went over to climb up the next ladder, indirectly telling the group to follow his lead.

Grapefruit Falls – Falls

The falls were known to have a distinct smell of grapefruits that wafted the air for a refreshing scent, which was completely true for anybody who would get to them. Even from the passage, the fruity smell could be reached from there at its weakest. From up close, the smell was stronger and more refreshing. The chosen ones and their guests climbed out from the passage into the grassy open to get a full scene of grapes into their lungs, finding it very pleasant to the nose.

Looking around, the falls had a setting which consisted of a long, grassy, winding path going up north between high land to the right and a large lake to the left. Far up north were the iconic crashing falls keeping up a water supply for the flora and fauna of the region. It was a location like this that looked majestic to visit, and both Chris and Lucario didn't mind the oddness that was the grape smell, as there were no grapes anywhere in sight for now.

"What a smell," Jeff noted, smiling. "How very pleasant."

"It's hard to believe this area is shrouded in a red aura," Lucario stated. "It looks so peaceful for the naked eye."

"Say," Ness began, "wouldn't that mean one of Giygas' cronies is somewhere in here? I get the feeling that's why that barf monster was trying to keep us away."

"And possibly the source of all those zombies in Threed," Paula said.

"Oh, customers!"

The five jerked their heads to the left where they found a man wearing a black hat smiling their way.

"Would you like to buy my wares?" he offered them. "I sell a lot of food like croissants, cups of coffee, and calorie sticks!"

Ness looked around to see if there were any other people nearby. "Seriously?" he asked. "You set up your business in this rather desolated location?"

Chris looked incredulously at him. "Are you seriously asking yourself this instead of the costly pizza you bought back at Threed?" he asked.

"This is far weirder than the pizza!"

"I fail to see how it is that much weirder than this man here," Lucario commented.

The man sniffed. "Don't call me weird. The other guys laughed at me for proposing an idea to set up my business here… I figured it was a tourist landmark," he said in his defense, despite his tearful eyes. "…Would you buy something from this poor soul?"

Sometime later…

After buying croissants from the random business guy at the falls, the group continued down the grassy path to see where it led them. As they walked, they stole glances at the large lake next to the path, admiring the falls far up ahead in the horizon. The overall scenery looked pretty and nice to set up a picnic spot, had it not been for the monstrosities that they came up across after walking further north…

There were large brown crocodiles in the path up ahead. The children backed off at the oddly-bipedal crocodiles constantly rubbing their bellies as they surveyed the area for food or, more precisely, prey to eat alive with their large jaws. The goofy looks on their eyes gave a false impression of friendliness; their version of crocodile tears.

"For once, I miss burning zombies…" Paula muttered.

"But we have to get through them all to proceed," Jeff said. He counted the crocodiles, adding up to six of them. He eyed the cliffs to the right from the base to the top. "We could possibly climb up to avoid them, but the trick here is to avoid alerting them of our presence."

Ness sighed. "This is nothing for Lucario, I bet," he said as he smiled up at the blank Lucario. "Go beat them up!"

Both Jeff and Chris disapproved of the idea of throwing them the Aura Pokémon who could potentially dismember them all. Lucario stared at his trainer and discouraged himself not to do it. "I don't want to do it," Lucario said. "It's…not a good idea."

Ness and Paula were never shown the horrors of his fights against living beings so they were largely unfazed. "It's a swell idea, of course!" Ness said. "Look, this is your time to shine! Not even tossing my PSI Rockin' will be enough to take them down, and Paula and Jeff are not exactly wall material unlike me." Paula and Jeff looked bored. "…Please move, you! Do it for Chris!"

"Nice try, but not even that excuse will work," Lucario said.

As they argued on, Chris looked forward at the crocodiles, who sadly managed to hear them from twenty-five feet of distance. Once they turned their heads to their direction and saw their prey conveniently carrying croissants as spices, their uninterested eyes lighted up, and they licked their lips nearly in unison as if they shared one mind among the crew. With such a terrifying response, Chris started sweating and trying so hard to forget the gruesome images of his body being torn in half between two Plain Crocodiles. Not seeing humans in the region made the crocodiles crouch down and slither over the grass at a quick pace, evoking a scream from Chris that alerted his group of the impending danger.

"They're coming over here!" Jeff yelled, taking out his brand new Magnum Air Gun.

The crocodiles were fast enough to get upon them. Though Lucario took on three all by himself, the other three Plain Crocodiles slithered past him to the four children. The children shrieked but held their stance against the monsters, albeit Chris was far more terrified than any of them and thus backed off further away. Paula used PSI Fire alpha to push them back, while Ness released multiple colored blasts of psychic energy – called PSI Rockin' beta – to greatly reduce their health. Jeff was somehow taking on one of the crocodiles, but the one crocodile noticed Chris further away from the group. Naturally, with no one to defend the boyish teen, the crocodile dodged an air blast from Jeff's gun and quickly slithered to Chris.

"Is that crocodile going after ME?!" Chris said in shock as the crocodile got closer, with Jeff panicking and failing to shoot it down with his weapon. Sweating and gasping, the boy looked at his hands for a brief second and crossed an open palm behind the other at the animal. "P-PK FIRE!" he yelled loudly.

His body did react to the command, and a small spark of fire erupted from his hands and burst into flames when it made contact with the crocodile's face. The animal got pushed back, shaking its head to blow away the fire.

"…I…I did that?" Chris asked as he stared at his hands. He ignored the Plain Crocodile nodding its head in agreement. "W-wow…"

Then the Plain Crocodile decided to lash its thick tail against his frail body. Chris felt his stomach brutally pushed aside in complete pain as he himself fell into the water. Paula saw the blow and gasped. "C-Chris fell into the water!" she said, quickly making Lucario look back at the event.

Miraculously, the boyish teen floated up into the surface, looking dazed and weak. It was not until the crocodile opened its maw that he began screaming in horror at the sharp fangs shining with the sun. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed.

Chris's loud screams were the trigger for Lucario's rage to come forth. Baring his fangs like a beast, Lucario roared loudly and charged forward, fists flaring up with intense aura in the name of his trainer. He was in high gear, and there was no way he would stop his fury until every enemy wasn't alive and breathing. The children were surprised when the crocodiles they were fighting were hastily pulled back by their tails to the spot where they were minding their own business before, and the angered Lucario roared louder as he reached out for the crocodile harming his trainer, squeezing its large tail with a free hand and tossing it back to its other comrades.

It wasn't over yet.

It was an unforgivable deed to hurt Chris in Lucario's eyes. Up until now the boy had gone unscathed in the adventure, and Lucario wasn't being completely himself when he saw the blow. It riled him up so badly that he became blinded by rage, his glare piercing through the six crocodiles' eyes. Whimpering, the crocodiles felt death right before the Aura Pokémon lunged himself at them with a high jump, leaving the children behind to go help Chris climb out from the water. The trainer noticed the abrupt change and froze there.

"N-no! Don't!" Jeff said, holding out a hand as the other children watched on.

Paula looked at him and said, "Jeff, please, we should just leave this to him. Why do you two oppose the idea so badly, anyway?"

"Yeah, I don't understand it either," Ness spoke up, dusting off his shorts. "Why not let the guy with super energy nuke the enemy for us when the going gets very tough? The universe is giving us a break with Lucario! Why not take advantage of him? Plus, they irked him sooooo badly when they went after Chris!"

The sound of limbs and bones being mercifully torn apart turned their heads to the general direction, causing plenty of eyes to widen in shock and horror at the bloodshed taking place before them.

"Oh… O-oh… O-oh my…" Ness shuddered.

Paula covered her mouth and looked the other way, though she still hear the sound of bones irking her ears, giving her a nice graphic image in her mind. "I-I can't see this!" she said. "I'm not supposed to see this stuff yet!"

"None of us have to!" Jeff yelled, trying to silence the bone-ripping sounds with his hands cupping his ears. He looked back to see Chris sitting down and shaking uncontrollably. "C-Chris?!" He went over to his side and went to check up on him. "…Chris? Are you…okay?"

"B-blood…" Chris breathed out, embracing his knees. "B-b-b-b-b-blood…"

"…C-Chris?" Jeff waved a hand in front of him, but Chris didn't react to it. "…Oh no, Chris!"

Later…

The children felt like the croissants they ate weren't meant to be in their stomachs, said stomachs disagreeing to any food contained. Clutching their bellies with both hands and looking partially ill, the children walked across the small wasteland of blood Lucario left behind in his wake. The Aura Pokémon felt extremely guilty when he found out Chris wasn't saying anything. Things had gotten really bad after taking one good look at him.

Chris was paralyzed in fear, embracing himself and breathing in and out heavily. His breathing was so irregular that his eyes were also affected, shaking slightly to the sides as Lucario tried to make him walk forward by gently pushing his back. Still, Chris was at a complete loss of words; he was traumatized at the horrific display back then, and seeing the smallest drop of blood sent him to something close to having cardiac arrest. Ness had offered to use healing energy to the group, though Lucario went undamaged in the fray of the battle.

"Now I know why you guys didn't like to throw him at the baddies," Ness muttered, his state of mind far more stable than the others. "He practically beheads monsters in a single blow!"

"But he went too far this time around!" Jeff said. "It wasn't enough to take their lives away! He still kept on beating their dead bodies and taking thei-!"

"JEFF!" Paula yelled loudly, seeing Chris shivering much more. "Stop bringing that up in great detail! He can't take it anymore than that!"

The traumatized boy kept shivering as he recalled the bloodshed a few minutes ago. Lucario had lost it when Chris screamed for help, turning him into a mindless beast bent on pulverizing all enemies in sight just for the sake of keeping his trainer safe. This had shocked him very much so, as he had hardly reacted so violently in the past. He had only done so twice; the first time when he abhorred the idea of being Chris's Pokémon and the second when he did go too far on a living person – a thief – who nearly killed the defenseless teen. Lucario admitted he nearly repeated the same misdeed again without considering the consequences thoroughly, and seeing Chris acting like an empty shell gave him nightmares. At the end of it, Lucario cleaned his blood-stained hands in the nearby river when he came to his senses too late.

"Chris…" Lucario muttered, trying to snap his trainer out from his shock. "It's…it's over now. You don't have to be like this…" It was hard for him to justify his actions without coming up with a good plan.

"B-blood…" Chris uttered out. "B-b-blood… T-t-too much…b-blood…"

Jeff grimaced. "That's odd… How come he is in shock now?" he asked as he thought back on the previous encounters they had in Winters. "He never reacted so negatively before, so why is he…?"

"I think…it made him remember an event in the past," Lucario said as he turned to the children, sensing waves of utter fear coming from Chris's aura. "This wasn't the first time he ever saw too much blood in a rare occasion…"

"What do you mean?" Ness asked. "Was there really another time when he got like this?" Lucario told Ness to cover Chris's ears. "Uh… Okay…" Ness went over to Chris and covered his ears. "So this happened before?"

"Sadly, yes…and…it was caused by me, too," Lucario ashamedly admitted, making the children gasp. "One night at our home, a thief got into the house and threatened to hurt Chris while he was going to the bathroom. I was waiting for him in our room, but then my aura picked up the thief's red aura and so I sprung into action and went to confront the thief. I was too late, however, because he had gotten a hold of Chris with a knife and…" He closed his eyes and grunted. "…There was so much going on back then. I grew furious with anger and…and I found out I had torn that thief into pieces by the end of it, and Chris was down on the floor, his eyes frozen and… He was a wreck. He refused to get so close to the mess of blood I made in the second floor. It was sickening to watch for myself, and I carelessly tried to calm him down when I noticed my hands were covered in blood, making him scream and back off from me. Worse yet…he got blood on his face sometime when I was not myself."

Paula covered her mouth. "My god…" she muttered.

He hung down his head in shame. "He was leaning to the wall and embracing himself. I tried to budge him from there after I cleaned my hands from blood and tossed the limbs away from the house, but he wouldn't listen. He was in utter shock for the whole night until he somehow fell asleep right there. I didn't leave his side and brought him to his bed to rest, wishing for his recovery."

"…Dude, seriously now?" Ness asked, looking almost as horrified as his teammates. "You tore limbs off?"

"It's…it's not a memory I'm so proud of…"

"Did he come to his senses the next day?" Jeff asked, looking over at the helpless boy.

"It took him days to recover from the shock of it all," Lucario explained. "It was a nightmare to see him so emotionless. Not to mention, I had to take care of him and convince him to eat food I made during those days of his recovery until he came to his senses down the road. This had a happy ending, somewhat." He forced a small smile. "When he came around, he cried to me and thanked me for saving his life, and that's when he revealed he was scared of dying alone with none of his parents knowing about it. He also fears to see so much blood himself so that is why his recovery took even more time."

Paula tilted her head. "His parents aren't around?" she asked.

"His parents travel abroad helping businesses from what he told me," Lucario said. "He never told this to them in fear of what they'd say… But that is in the past," he muttered, looking over at his trainer. "I don't wish to ever repeat that again. It's too much for me to see him so frightened."

Ness uncovered the boy's ears and walked to his field of vision. "Uh, Chris?" he said. "Chris, it's okay. You don't have to shake. Um, I'm not so good at this, so just…get better, okay?"

"I-I…I-I-I…" Chris stuttered, gulping some air. "I-I'll try…"

Lucario gasped and went to his side. "Chris?! A-are you recovering?" he asked. "Please, tell me so!"

Chris slowly looked up at his Pokémon. "Y-yes…I-I-I'm recovering…" he breathed out, worrying Lucario. "I-I can…k-keep walking…"

"Oh, what a relief," Paula sighed with the others. "Perhaps the scene before was less gruesome to watch than… I should better not continue," she rectified herself.

Lucario placed a hand on Chris's relatively smaller shoulder. "C-Chris, I'm so very sorry for what happened earlier. I-I shouldn't have gone too far to keep you safe! All I wanted was to save you from danger!"

"I-I…I know…" The group blinked twice when Chris forced a small smile. "T-that was…so sweet of you…" He fell silent. "…I-In a way."

"(How the heck can you say that was so sweet when he practically murdered crocodiles in YOUR name?)" Ness thought. "Oh," he said outside his mind.

Lucario shuddered. "Uh… Putting it like that sounds a little wrong, Chris…" he muttered. "But…I'm glad you're okay…and I'll never try to go so overboard with my power for your sake." He looked serious. "Nothing is worth it if my trainer can't go unharmed in any way, be it physically or emotionally."

"G-good boy…" Chris replied meekly, slowly embracing Lucario's side. The aura wielder similarly embraced him with a free arm. "Y-you're…a good boy…"

"Oh man, he's really not feeling so good," Ness said. "Should we go back to Threed and rest? If we don't leave this place in time, we'll be prey for more crocodiles (or prey for Lucario to slaughter)."

"Hold on," Paula said as she noticed a cave to the right. "I heard something coming from that cave over there. It sounds like…boings?"

The cave she was pointing at was very linear, as evidenced how they could see the other end of it from their positions. There was a particular sound echoing down the passage that they heard loud and clear, despite the fact they were getting so close to the falls. The sound was a loud "Boing!"

"What kind of sound is that?" Jeff wondered. "Should we even continue on like this? I worry about Chris's state of mind… Wait, Lucario! Use your aura to see what's over there!"

With the suggestion in mind, Lucario scanned the area up ahead across the cave using his aura senses. To his surprise, he found a somewhat populated village by…some unique individuals. "There is a hidden village on the other side of this passage," he said. "Let's go there. Chris can rest."

Paula evaluated the possibility. "How do we know he can rest i-"

"He can rest there," Lucario interrupted, his tone sounding serious. Keeping his trainer close to his side, the aura wielder and the Chosen Ones walked through the passage of the cave, avoiding contact with the enemies in there. The cave was particularly filled with rowdy cockroaches that swore their dislike to people stepping on them. Unsurprisingly, Lucario stepped on them all as a less lethal way to cause chaos inside the cave. The children didn't complain at that since the experience was leaked to them, yet Chris never felt any different. He kept on shaking and trying to forget the bloodshed, which in turn nagged Lucario's aura senses with guilt.

What they were not expecting that much on the other side of the cave was perhaps the mother of all oddities they had seen so far.

Saturn Valley

The grape smell lingered in the air with less force in the open valley they reached. Walking across a small section surrounded by cliffs eventually took them to the main area. They halted their advance when a small, curious creature presented itself to them. It was barely a foot and a half tall with a cream-colored head for a body without hands, with a large bump for a nose and a small strand of hair on top of its bald head; the strand of hair wearing a red bow.

"…What are you?" Ness asked as they stared down at the odd creature.

"Mr. Saturn, boing!" the creature replied jovially.

It was a rare place where they got to, but all Lucario cared for now was to let Chris rest to recover his mental stability. As he wondered what to do, his aura senses failed to pick up a presence shrouded in a dark aura hiding in the high cliffs behind them. It was eyeing the two otherworldly travelers, but it then fixated its gaze on Ness's back.

"Taking Ness down is top priority," the figure spoke in a gruff voice that sounded remarkably close to Lucario's own voice. "Those Mr. Saturns better not screw this up for us…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Enter The Bad Guys. Ooh, antagonists!" Ness said. "A rival team for us to fight!"

"It doesn't look like we're supposed to be the ones to fight them," Paula said.

"How can you guys find thrills in these unfortunate implications for us?" questioned Jeff. "I'm starting to think we got chosen because we're too odd ourselves."

"Shut up! Odd is cool!" Ness defended.

"I feel undermined," Lucario said, more to himself than anyone else.

"Me too," Chris responded.

Would you like to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Grapefruit Falls-

Chris, Lucario, Ness, Paula, Jeff

Wow. Uh, things went from humorous to super serious so fast…

The next chapter of these rewritten chapters is going to pack a lot more content than the first version. Of course, there are still more oddities to bring up in this crazy world. It is going to have more action, and several plot-important details will be explained.

I encourage everyone to review.
*Chapter 5*: Enter the Bad Guys

...What? There is an ending for this arc, you know. Let us resume on where we left on to see how the last chapter for the arc fares, okay?

I encourage all Ness fans to read on, enjoy, and review…

Rest in Peace, Satoru Iwata. Thank you for giving us so much and being a very renowned president for Nintendo…and for working on EarthBound, too.

Chapter 5: Enter The Bad Guys

Chris knew for certain that things were not going to be so good for him in the long run. After having seen that dreadful incident where he couldn't stomach seeing so much bloodshed, it was proof enough that appearances weren't everything. Truthfully, it was his Lucario who had behaved violently for his sake, but it didn't help matters just knowing that. If the teen got careless again, he didn't want to know what Lucario would do if he didn't manage to keep his anger under control. He could certainly make a happy place like Kirby's world a living hell.

Fortunately, the distraught teen was slowly getting out of his trance. He was thankful to know the world they were visiting was not really a normal one. The big-nosed, walking head with a red ribbon on a single piece of hair, strange creature in front of them was evidence to that, and somehow Chris could start to forget about what he went through just trying to make sense about the new creature.

"BOING!" it replied, its dot eyes curiously looking up at them. "WELCOME. THIS SATURN VALLEY. GUESTS REST FREE."

Ness and his team remained silent. For once, besides knowing Lucario full well, they were not really sure what they were staring at as it started circling around them. "...Okay, I'm so lost here. What are you?" Ness asked the creature.

"ME MR. SATURN. ZOOM! EVERYONE MR. SATURN," the creature replied in monotone as it continued to examine them. "ONE OF MANY. MANY LIKE CAKE."

"That's good to know, I guess..." Paula trailed off as she scratched her head in confusion. "Listen... We're kind of in a mission to fight this... Wait, hold on." She looked at the others. "Should we ask him about what we're doing?"

"Hey, they're pretty strange creatures. By all means, they should know some weird stuff related to Giygas," Ness said with a shrug. "You know, pair up weird with weird. It all makes sense."

"...Right..." She looked back at the creature. "Do you know anything about a shady Giygas character? He's been going around messing people's lives using his malevolent influence to corrupt their hearts and the like."

"..." The Mr. Saturn tilted his whole body to the right, possibly thinking what Paula had meant by that. "...DUNNO, ZOOM! STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN HERE THOUGH."

"There's a lead in that sentence," Jeff noted. "So, what strange things have happened here?"

"FRIENDS VANISH. WE WORRY," the Mr. Saturn said. "ONE TIME WE MANY. NOW LESS AND LESS. SCARY."

The group took another look at the valley. More like the Mr. Saturn they were talking to were frolicking about without a care in the world. Many huts that vaguely resembled them were positioned all across the plains and the cliffs up ahead. Unlike normal cities and towns, the valley they were at looked a little too empty, unless the Mr. Saturns were hiding very well as the few ones they saw were doing strange things like rolling, hopping, singing weird songs, bird-watching, little life gardening, and somehow flying a kite with no hands. They also saw a Mr. Saturn floating belly down on a small pond, but he didn't seem to be moving at all... "Ooookaaaayyyy... What I got from that is that these strange guys have been disappearing and they don't know why," Ness said. "Shall I play the Giygas Did it card?"

"Not until we make sure that was the case," Paula said as she crouched down to talk more with the Mr. Saturn. "Do you have any idea why they're disappearing? Maybe someone eats your kind?"

"WE TASTE BAD, BOING," the Mr. Saturn said. "ME TRIED LICKING FRIEND. HE TURN BLUE AND BOP ME ON HEAD. ANIMALS LIKE US, ZOOM! NO EATING MR. SATURNS."

"...Giygas Did it," the three chosen ones said all at once.

It was rather painful for Chris to know how everything was going to play out and not tell the children about it, or else they would question why he knew so much about the future events. He had to stick with the narrative to avoid more suspicion. Swallowing some breath due to still being perturbed about what had happened moments ago, he tried to talk to voice his opinion. "Well... Now I guess we have to find where those Mr. Saturns went to, right? (Don't mention the falls, don't mention the falls...)" he said.

"That should be a little easy the moment we find one of these creatures wandering about and away from this village," Jeff said. "Easier said than done, though. We never spotted a single one of them as we headed here."

Ness chuckled and looked up at Lucario. "Hey, you. You can sense auras and what not. It's your time to shine right and spot those big-nosed guys," he said.

Lucario sighed mostly because he thought Ness was using him, but he was right. Though Lucario was lucky to watch Chris play EarthBound once till the end, there was no need for him to even use his aura to locate the Mr. Saturns behind the falls. Unlike Chris's vow of silence, Lucario could abuse loopholes using his innate skill. "It shouldn't take me too much if they're close by. Let me see the landscape..." His eyes glowed yellow and he used his sixth sense to survey the area, but he entirely focused his whole attention behind the falls they saw on the way to the valley; behind the water wall that hid a big secret hidden away from plain sight and his own aura vision...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...What in the..." Lucario trailed off in utter surprise.

The Aura Pokémon was an adept at using aura, so it came as a complete shock that he didn't find anything behind the falls radiating with life energy. There wasn't a single soul he could spot immediately, and it got even worse when he found out there was nothing but hard rock being coated by the earth's own life energy, which had meant that the supposed factory hiding nearby was not there. Very much perplexed by the event, Lucario assumed something was wrong. He focused his senses even more in an effort to see if his sight was being crippled, but no matter how much he tried, there wasn't anything behind the falls... A factory was not there, much to his shock.

"Those words mean something meaningful. Did you find them?" Paula asked.

"Uh..." Lucario diverged his attention from the falls and tried to look around more somewhere else where souls shouldn't be found. After a minute of surveying miles and miles of land, he came to a shameful result: he couldn't find a single Mr. Saturn outside the valley. "...No."

"Way to not shine," Ness said, earning a growl. "If this guy can't locate them, what chances do we have in spotting them using our eyes?"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some sort of portal being somewhere nearby," Jeff said. He earned some long looks. "...Would you rather question me about the impossible after what we've gone through? Mind you, I became friends with a monster of the lake."

"Jeff has an impossible point there, you guys," Ness said. "And I want to put my blind faith on that point just to get somewhere around this valley full of silly creatures..." He noted that Chris wasn't looking so well. "Um... I think we should just gather some more information and relax, though. It's been a pretty long, hectic day."

Hearing those words eased Chris. "I'd rather do that for a change. Thanks," he said.

"Yes, we should do that," Paula said until she looked around the valley at the various Mr. Saturns. "Why don't we split up to cover more ground and information? These people have a weird speech pattern that makes my head spin trying to understand them fully." They all nodded, though ultimately Lucario decided to stick with his shaken trainer to see that he was fine.

After the other three children walked to their separate ways within the village, Lucario sighed and turned to his trainer. "I feel so ashamed and guilty for what I did back there, Chris. I didn't think you'd react so strongly..." he trailed off with worry in his eyes.

Chris shivered and looked away to some frolicking Mr. Saturns. "Just about anyone who has never seen a bloodshed happen in a universe where it's really uncommon to see would react like that, Lucario. You already know how something similar like this happened before..." He silenced one sobbing sound that might have as well stabbed Lucario. "And just like anyone else who's seen stuff like that, I want to try to forget about it doing something else to distract my mind..."

Lucario forced a small smile. "Do you want to go around this weird village talking to its people, then?" he asked.

"I'd honestly rather rest than focusing on this mission, truthfully... The grass here is nice to lie down on."

"BOING!"

The loud sound startled both of them as they looked down at another Mr. Saturn standing between their feet. Either it was the same one or another one. "G-goodness! You startled me! D-don't do that!" Chris scolded lightly. The Mr. Saturn was staring intently at the teen without reacting so badly at the scolding. He continued staring blankly for a little while until the two exchanged glances and looked back at him. "S-so, uh, what is it?"

"STRESSED HEADS BAD FOR LIFE," the Mr. Saturn squeaked. "WE HAVE SOLUTION. ZOOM!"

"...What now?"

"I STARE AT YOU FOR HOURS. YOU LOOK TIRED. READY TO SLEEP FOREVER." The two of them found that rather strange sentence not hard to decipher into something easier to understand, causing Chris to drop his jaw and Lucario to narrow his wary glare. "BUT NO FEAR. BOING! WE HAVE SOLUTION. ULTIMATE POTION. ULTIMATE RELAXATION. ULTIMATE POTION RELAXATION. ULTIMATE MAYBE NOT POTION RELAXATION. ZOOM!"

"I-I don't understand. Are you trying to say you're going to give me some ultimate potion for relaxation?" Chris questioned.

"YOU BATHE IN POTION. ZOOM!"

Given the fact the Mr. Saturns were overall strange and hard to understand, Chris feared the meaning behind those words was something else entirely different. "I'm not really up to bathing in potions right now..." he said.

The Mr. Saturn looked down in thought. "HOW THEY SAY... HOT SPRING?" he said. "HOT SPRING METHOD. BOING! WE HAVE HOT SPRING. ZOOM!"

Those words clicked Chris's memories. He did remember the valley had a hot spring atop the cliffs somewhere. He had never entered a hot spring before in his life, but now it seemed necessary for him to relieve the stress he went through. Even if the valley belonged to Mr. Saturns, he was a little too desperate to try that tempting option. "A hot spring? I could surely use one if that's what you really have. I've never used one of those before," Chris said.

Lucario was thankful that there was a method to give Chris some time off from the mission. Furthermore, Lucario never used one either. "We could use it together," he said.

But then again, a hot spring required people to take off their clothes. Remembering that, Chris blushed. "No way. You can go about without worrying about changing clothes, but I'm totally different on that matter," he said.

"EXCUSES. BOING! YOU BOTH ENTER. NO TOSSING CLOTHES OR FUR," the Mr. Saturn said.

Chris stared incredulously at him. "W-well, you normally take your clothes off when you go into a hot spring," he said.

"I NO DO THAT. BOING!"

"Why don't you..." Chris frowned when he recalled the Mr. Saturns wore nothing else than a ribbon on their heads. "Oh wait, you have no reason to... But I do! Don't tell me you' haven't seen naked humans enter in hot springs in here!"

"YES."

Chris and Lucario looked shocked.

"NAKED HUMANS GROSS. NEVER WANT TO SEE NAKED HUMANS AGAIN. HUMANS LOOK BETTER WITH CLOTHES ON. PAST IS CRUEL. PAST IS GROSS. TODAY IS OKAY. CLOTHES ON ON HOT SPRING. ZOOM!" he continued to explain.

"...But I have to take my clothes off and keep Lucario away from seeing me naked!" Chris said embarrassed.

"I thought it was completely okay for people of the same gender to share the same hot spring?" Lucario asked. "I read that up in a story before."

"W-well, yes, but this is different! You and I have wildly different body shapes, unless those baggy thighs of yours are shorts... I-I mean, I don't want to find out about that just to justify this!"

A moment of silence followed until Lucario gave one look at his thighs and said to his trainer, "They're not baggy shorts."

"...The truth is not that bad when it's not what I was actually expecting," Chris admitted.

"TALK TOO MUCH. I GET BORED," the Mr. Saturn chimed in. "USE HOT SPRING FAST. IT HEALS BODY FAST. ZOOM! KEEP CLOTHES ON PLEASE OR WE LOOK OTHER WAY FOR MONTHS."

Chris sighed in defeat. "Oh, screw it. I'm desperate enough to do it with my clothes on if that's my free entry pass. Let's just go and get this over already, because this Mr. Saturn really wants me to go there," he said as he noticed the little creature helplessly trying to push him forward from behind. He complied to the Mr. Saturn's idea and started walking forward into the cliffs where cave entrances were seen all over the several height levels. The trio entered the first one the Mr. Saturn led them to, though frustratingly enough, the Mr. Saturn they were with didn't have a good memory for traversing through the rather long caves inside filled with a few more Mr. Saturns doing strange things that they ended up coming to dead ends for over ten minutes until Lucario got sick of the whole affair and simply used his fairly developed jumping skills to get them all to the top of the cliff.

Once setting Chris and the Mr. Saturn down, the latter looked up at the behemoth. "YOU STAY HERE FOREVER. EASY EXPRESS TRAVEL!" he cheered.

"Never," Lucario grudgingly said.

After getting through that tedious event in the caves, Chris's gaze fixed immediately on the hot spring set up to their right a few steps up ahead. The hot spring looked very simple in design, with only a circular shallow pond of steamy water to the right of a small wooden table where an unassuming Mr. Saturn was looking their way. The simpleness of how the hot spring looked like in the middle of nowhere above the cliffs didn't bother Chris much. As long as there was a stress-relieving hot spring at all, it was all he needed to know, besides the unfortunate banning of taking clothes off. The steam of the hot water floating into the air and shrouding some of the cliff area seemed very inviting that he never realized his feet were walking straight towards the pond to look at it closer. "Even standing close to a hot spring feels a little refreshing..." he muttered under his breath.

"TAKE DIP. NOW," the nearby Mr. Saturn invited. "NO CLOTHES OFF. PLEASE. ZOOM!"

Hesitant about that unfortunate rule the creatures had regarding human bodies, Chris was a little surprised he slowly wandered into the pond's shallow water with his clothes on, until after ten seconds, he found his head sticking out from the steamy water, with the rest of his body feeling the hot temperature of the water already taking its toll on him. After a relaxed sigh, Chris heard footsteps waddling into the water where he turned to the south and saw Lucario getting in. The Aura Pokémon had to wander a little further into the pond where it was much deeper, though he had to kneel down to at least have his upper chest floating above the warm water.

"This actually feels really nice..." Chris commented to Lucario. "What do you think? I hope it's not so hot on a Steel-type like you."

Lucario smiled and went so far as to wet his face with the water using both hands. "It's not so bad on me. The hot temperature isn't annoying unlike getting all sweaty under the sun," he said as he too sighed with pleasure. "It makes me want to meditate in the hot spring for a long time."

"Well, don't. I don't know if our bodies can handle the heat for a really long time. It's only good for like half an hour... I really don't know how to properly make the most out of this. The only times I've ever seen hot springs is during anime episodes. All of those will always involve hijinks with guys trying to spy on the girls," Chris said.

"Hmm..." Lucario stared long at Chris. "...Would you do that if there we-?"

"No!" It was hard to tell if Chris was blushing because of the heat or because of the embarrassment. "I'm not a pervert! I'm not into ogling women breasts! I trust you don't have such thoughts either, right?"

"I'm safe on that regard. I don't have a...ahem...fixation on breasts..." Lucario closed his eyes in thought. "I believe us Pokémon have other assets to focus on when picking our mates..." He blushed under the steam and looked away. He wasn't much interested in talking about picking his ideal mate yet, but the conversation made him speak about it anyway.

"I can't really think of anything your kind likes to see in other girls. You're not like us humans who share the same body shapes," Chris said. "...I-I don't mean to prude too much into this, but what do Pokémon seek in an ideal mate?"

"Well... I think a good personality, probably someone strong... Sorry, Chris, but I'm not so used to thinking about stuff that should be second nature to other Pokémon," Lucario apologized. "I feel...inadequate... I've lived and learned so much about your world that I feel a little detached from my world of origin..."

Feeling sympathy for Lucario, Chris thought a bit about what they were doing right now: enjoying a hot spring scene in a world they were never going to get to through normal means. If that meant anything, it meant that anything was possible... "...Do you think we will ever get to visit your home world while we're out here?"

Lucario blinked in surprise at that idea. "Huh... It could be very much possible, if we think logically about what it's happening to us right now..." He smiled a bit and looked up at the sky through the steam clouds. "I could possibly go back to Sinnoh for real and...even perhaps try to locate my family to get to know them... We could even embark on a badge quest and defeat strong trainers."

"I-I don't know about that last part," Chris said. As Lucario stared a little taken off-guard at the denial. "It's a little too soon to have me and you go on that kind of adventure. The idea of catching Pokémon and traveling a big region completely unsupervised doesn't seem that hot to me now that it CAN be a thing... And besides..." He shook his head and sunk himself a little deeper. "...I don't have much of a head to be thinking that now, Lucario. I'm really sorry for shutting you off on those wishes of yours..."

"..." Lucario looked down until he frowned at himself and forced a smile at Chris. "For now, you're right... I forgot you're in this hot spring to avoid thinking of stressing things. Sorry for trying to imply dangerous adventures with my wishes..."

The teen-turned-boy chuckled heartily. "It's fine. I still like to look at you getting all excited to do all that when you have the chance to do them at last...and me being there feels like a true dream come true."

Lucario chuckled. "I wouldn't begin to think how any of that would be fun without you around. It's true that many things in life are better when others enjoy it with you." He felt a little drowsy and leaned on the dirt wall behind him. "All I want to do now is to enjoy this hot spring with you in it..."

The teen nodded and also leaned his back on the dirt wall behind. "It feels much better knowing that... Oh goodness, this hot spring is so divine..." He sighed out loud and closed his eyes, which Lucario also did. "I have this big urge to build a custom one in our house..."

"That sounds...very nice..." Lucario said, oddly yawning and feeling his body going numb.

"It does... Just imagine how much...time we could lose...just using that every day...multiple times without taking a break..." Chris then yawned as well. "Wow... Hot springs must be...really good because...all I want to...do now...is...fall asleep..."

…

…

…

Something was horribly wrong here.

Chris was nearly just about to fall asleep when he barely noticed Lucario had fallen asleep before he did. Although both had never entered a hot spring before, Chris knew full well he never saw anybody fall asleep in one. It would be completely suicidal to remain in a hot body of steamy water while sleeping in there, but he couldn't help closing his eyes. If Lucario's lifeless body slumped forward and he never made an attempt to violently wake up to shake off the water that his body was already used to, then it stood to reason that the hot spring wasn't normal at all. Maybe it was because the Mr. Saturns built it. Maybe it was because the hot floor underneath brought hot water from a strange source. In the end, though, the world blacked out for Chris as he felt everything in him going numb and briefly seeing a horde of Mr. Saturns standing all around the pond, staring very much intently at his way...

Twenty minutes later...

Ness, Paula, and Jeff couldn't gather a lot of info about the whereabouts of the lost Mr. Saturns. They had heard way too many strange tales from all of the Mr. Saturns they talked to, with many of them not even bothering to talk about their lost friends. The main trio of their universe was walking up through the cliffs after finding out the other two members of their team weren't seen anywhere else in the lower floors, and they wouldn't definitely be found in the many dead ends the children stumbled upon, though they soon figured out the way out. "And this one Mr. Saturn kept being paranoid about feeling something on top of his head until I told him it was his ribbon," Ness narrated to the other two. "It wasn't funny when he followed me around and I had to keep reminding him about it. Short term memory loss should've been applied on the stalking part."

"I'm certain Paula and I have some stories about our run ins with the rest, but, I'd rather not talk about what I went through," Jeff commented as they came out of the cliffs and were nearing the top.

"I saw you combing what little hair those ten had," Paula said blankly.

Jeff grumbled and gave up on hiding it when Ness shot him with a dull look. "What? They surrounded me and kept blocking the way with a comb. It was contemplating the thought of kicking them away and get us on their base side, or heed to their stubborn demands. I'm sure you would've done the same," he said.

"I would've tossed them around with my mind without making it look so obvious it was me," Ness said. They were now climbing up a ladder that, by all means, should have been found broken to the genre savvy people who knew said ladder shouldn't be functional.

"It's comments like yours that worry me what kind of things you'll do to Giygas when we find him at last, you know," Paula said, being the modest one in climbing the ladder last.

"A reason why I'm a chosen one... I'm aware how violent I can sound."

"If that was a needed requirement to depart from the boarding school, I sure do hope I'm not going to become like you... No offense, of course," Jeff said as they were reaching the highest cliff of the valley. They all looked back down to see if they could spot the duo anywhere else, but a huge blue thing like Lucario wasn't found anywhere so easily. "Anyway, where are those two?"

"They're not inside any of those huts, I can tell you that much," Ness noted. "Chris is too much traumatized about going back to the falls where his bipedal dog went utterly bonkers on those walking crocodiles. They should be up here." He turned around with the others and saw a wall of rock to the north. However, to the left side of the rock wall, it looked like there was a cave-in that blocked the path to an old cave entrance, whereas the right side did have an open entrance into another tunnel. Somehow, Ness felt a strange but inviting presence emanating from said entrance that he could tell right away it was familiar the other two times he had felt such a presence. "Guys... That cave to the right has a My Sanctuary place," Ness said.

"My Sanctuary? Well, that's good to hear," Paula said. "You said you got to the Giant's Step before you got to me and went to the other one. Finishing the creature guarding the third area should lead us to the third melody portion...but now's not the time to go in there. I'm concerned about Chris and Lucario...especially the first one."

"Your concern should focus on Chris only, because I found the other one right over there," Jeff said as he pointed forward.

The trio of children noticed the strange hot spring that had been used by the prior two guests they were looking for. The steam had died down a little, letting them see through it and find a lifeless Lucario body floating face down on the water. When they realized he was floating there without moving, they looked at each other with disturbed looks. "I guess someone likes his hot springs a little too much," Ness commented.

"That is not the way to enjoy a hot spring, though. It's not healthy to stay in one for a long time...without moving...face down..." Paula gasped and quickly rushed forward to the edge of the pond to look closer at Lucario. "Oh my goodness. Don't tell me he drowned in there!"

After hearing the polarizing statement, an ill Ness and a somewhat sick Jeff quickly joined her side. "No, no, no, no. You can NOT say he just drowned just like that! I knew it was too good to have a super powerful bipedal dog of aura, but this isn't the way he should go!" Ness said, obviously panicking at the thought. "This is not how your super powerful party members should leave you! I'm a young child! Retirement through death is just WRONG when the whole team is made up of children like us! Think of my weak constitution!"

"C-calm down. You said he's super powerful so something as commonly normal as mere drowning shouldn't be enough to kill him," Jeff said.

"Well, he has a rather thin stomach and this is warm water we're talking about..." Paula muttered until she frowned to herself. "W-why are we panicking instead of pulling him out? Ness, help me out here! We'll pull him out using our powers!" She held out her hands, which quickly started to sparkle with PSI power that called forth an eerie blue glow that covered Lucario's body. Ness, looking more concerned about pulling a dead body, held out his open hands to the same direction and helped Paula heave Lucario out of the hot spring, albeit rather slowly since the weight of the large Pokémon seemed to be heavier than what his appearance suggested. The two children grunted as they moved the body out to the ground level and quickly pulled it out to their side. Once it was out, they let go of it with a loud sigh and panted a bit.

"G-geez! He weights even more like a fat man!" Ness commented as he rubbed his head, feeling a few mental quakes going off.

"You used your powers on a fat man?" Jeff wondered.

"A fat cop man."

Paula quickly regained her composure and stared wide eyed at Ness. "You fought a cop of all people? Ness!" she scolded.

"Don't blame me! Somehow the cops of my town found it ethical to challenge me to a fight rush after getting rid of the local gangsters instead of them! It was self defense in the end!" Ness shot back.

"Wow. That's far more illogical than what we're dealing with, and that is saying a lot," Jeff noted, until his friends' dull gazes pulled him back to earth. They looked down at Lucario's back until Ness found it right to use a nearby stick to poke the back of his head. "R-right. Check up on Lucario..."

After a few pokes at Lucario's head, Ness started to breathe in and out quickly, though Paula slapped his head to get him to calm down. To their great relief, Lucario started to cough face down on the grass and slowly started to regain his steam-filled senses, soon noticing that he was lying down on the grass beside the hot spring and around the three worried children standing in a circle. "U-ugh... W-what the... What..." He pushed himself up and looked at the others. "What did just happen...?"

"We found you floating idly on the hot spring," Paula pointed out to him as the Aura Pokémon stood up to his full height while keeping his eyes on them. "Are you really that much into hot springs that you fall asleep on them?"

"N-no. I didn't feel like falling sleep before I got inside the water..." Lucario trailed off as he looked back at the dubious hot spring. "It was very relaxing, but then I felt very drowsy that I must've fallen asleep without noticing..."

"Who's not to say those Mr. Saturns rigged the hot spring with something strange? They are strange creatures, if you remember," Ness said.

"I should have predicted something like that from the beginning. I got too carried away about trying to make Chris relax that I didn't..." When he recalled he had gone into the hot spring with his trainer, Lucario found it odd that he was nowhere in sight. He looked at the three again and didn't see him anywhere around the upper cliff area. "...Where is Chris?" he asked them.

"Wasn't he with you?" Because we haven't seen him since we spread out," Jeff said.

"He was with me at the hot spring too," Lucario said. "Come to think of it, he also fell asleep just like I did so... CHRIS!" He yelled alarmed and went to the hot spring to see if his trainer hadn't been boiled alive while he slept deeply. With the steam blocking his vision, Lucario used his aura sight to scan the body of water for traces of life he was very familiar with, but not even seeing the bottom yielded life signs, nor there was a dead body coated in the planet's life energy. "He's not inside the hot spring... W-where is he?" he asked to himself as he then looked around the valley using his sixth sense. Lucario's nagging worries of his mentally-scarred trainer being alone in the unpredictable world caused him to breathe in and out quickly with every passing second he used to scan the whole valley for his tracks...but no matter where he looked at, he could just not find him in the valley...

"I-is everything okay?" Jeff asked.

"Obviously, no," Ness said as they watched Lucario frantically swing his head everywhere without his eyes fully open. "You can't find Chris anywhere nearby? I thought it would be easy for you to do."

Lucario dropped his sixth sense as he opened up his eyes to look back at the children. "I-I just can't anymore. I can't detect his aura anywhere within my range! This can't be happening so suddenly!" he said, though his words were coming a little too loud to them...and he was starting to breathe rather quickly. They saw his chest filling with air, his eyes shaking while trying to stare forward, his curled fists to the sides trembling with horror, and his face showing beads of sweat, though this last point was hard to tell as he was still dripping with water from the hot springs.

"...Lucario..." Paula held her hands open in a defensive position as the sounds of his breathing started to get louder, directed at the grass on the ground. "Calm down... This may be really bad, b-"

Lucario stared at them with wide eyes. They stepped back cautiously, because he was now baring his fangs unwillingly. "How can you say this may be really bad when I can't sense him anymore?! I have never lost sight of him before!" he scolded loudly as his body caught itself ablaze with short bursts of flaring blue aura. Only a gulping Jeff took cover behind a wide-eyed Ness, who took cover behind a shaking Paula. "This IS really bad! If I can't sense his life within my range and he got lost within a few minutes this fast, why would I think this may be bad?! Did you forget how troubled he looked like because of what I did?! He's not completely OKAY!"

Lucario's sudden panicked look was not boding well for the three children. It was rather creepy to see the stronger and taller member of their group slowly losing it to the possibility that he had lost his closest friend so simply like that. They understood well (at least much better than previous occasions) that Lucario was overly protective of Chris, and they knew how he would lose it if Chris would get a large bleeding cut on his head. But with the disturbed teen going missing without leaving a small trace behind, it caused Lucario great grief.

Ness noted how the blades of grass around the fuming Lucario were starting to move with the wind his bursts of aura pushed out. If they pushed the wrong buttons, dirt would be the next thing to fly away violently, followed by them. "W-we can try to look for him! M-maybe your aura isn't refined enough?" Ness suggested. He received a very pissed glare that made his skin crawl. "F-fine, your aura is really refined and powerful that it's very impossible for him to get lost in less than ten minutes..."

Paula swallowed her breath to start thinking about what was more important than trying to find a useless shelter to avoid Lucario's super wrath. "L-l-let's all calm down for a moment and think how on earth Chris disappeared so simply like that before someone does something really unneeded, okay? Screaming our heads off won't definitely give us an answer to where he went to..." she suggested as sweetly as she could.

What they all got in return was Lucario snapping out loudly with a mighty roar that practically and literally shot strong air currents of wild aura energy all over that rustled the grass violently and pushed the children away, alongside the table next to the hot spring that went tumbling down the cliff and startling all of the Mr. Saturn in the valley. On paper, the scream was not the most destructive thing they witnessed. It was the cliffs around the valley falling slowly and dangerously coming apart that caused large boulders to fall down and roll all the way down, wrecking as many huts they came into contact with. The three chosen children all screamed in horror at the doomsday scene that the only safest place to be was inside the hot spring, since they were standing in the highest cliff area and no other higher cliffs surrounded them. With that being said, the three disturbed children dove into the hot spring and held their breath as long as they could (though somehow they were able to pressure their bodies to hold it much longer) to not think about the murderous beast outside the water.

Much to their relief, they found out that the water had been drugged to contain a sleeping effect, knocking them out cold...

?

In the time that Chris had disappeared, the teen-turned-boy was out cold due to the drugged hot spring he took a bath in. He couldn't tell where he was because of how drowsy he felt, but his senses started to come back to him once he heard a loud roar coming from somewhere and felt a mysterious rumbling shaking the cold floor that he was lying down on, his body scrambled messily. Yawning and feeling cold, the boy shivered and embraced himself until he slowly opened his eyes, albeit he was too much distracted with how he felt like and the effects of the drug still lingered in him. "G-goodness... This is the last time I ever...take a hot spring offer from big-nosed creatures..." he muttered to himself, before he noticed he was lying down and there were bars in front of him. Blinking in confusion, he pushed himself aside and was startled by how the floor beneath him started to sway a bit.

It was quite the wake-up call for him when he saw that he was surrounded by bars all around him, and that said floor was not large enough to walk on. Further head swings confirmed to Chris that he had been somehow thrown into a dangling cell hanging from the ceiling he could barely see from his claustrophobic position. He froze, knowing full well he wasn't with Lucario or the others anymore. He was trapped inside a cage hanging from the ceiling, which was quite the abrupt change in setting. His shaking, dilated eyes looked beyond the bars to see a squared, steel white room where he was being held captive. Chris was completely out of words but full of beads of sweats on his forehead as he carefully crawled forward to take a grip on the bars for support, looking down to find the floor the same kind of material and color as the walls...

Where he was right now, he didn't know.

"...W-w-where... Where...?!" Chris started to breath fast and felt ready for his beating chest to have a heart attack; probably the best solution he had to escape from the rather random and cruel situation he was put into against his will. His hands started to sweat on the bars he was holding onto as if he was about to drop into an abyss and his only support was the bars to keep himself from falling. He felt a lot of vertigo that added up badly to his previous nightmare caused by Lucario... "W-W-WHERE IN THE HELL AM I?!" he yelled loudly.

"I heard a scream. Good. That boy is ready to face us all."

"He better be ready for wasting our time taking useless hostages. Those Mr. Saturns can't even do a good job for the life of them."

"I was BUUURRRP ready to show that kid BUUUURRRP a lesson anyway."

"...Why is our ally of this world a huge pile of living vomit?"

"That is the least of our complaints..."

The boy overheard those echoing voices coming from behind him. He was not ready to face the people who kidnapped him on a short notice, but his body unwillingly turned around and grabbed the opposite bars to look down at an open door he just noticed was there. From said door, his eyes shrunk when he saw some people pouring into the room...people whose bodies were glowing with a dark aura he had never seen before. Chris couldn't stomach all that he was seeing with his own horrified eyes, because, despite the fact his most likely assailants were the seven down there on the floor looking up at him with blank looks, it wasn't all that hard for him to tell who were cloaked in the stagnant dark air...

There was no need for him to ponder who the broadest one was: Master Belch. He was just as disgusting, if not more so, than his in-game appearance suggested since he was a large pile of vomit with a face on top. He had the nasty habit of randomly burping and belching, attributing to the awful smell in the air that was hitting Chris's nose a lot. Unlike the other six besides him, Belch was not cloaked in a dark aura.

One of them looked like he was walking with some meager upper body armor and carried a sword sheath on his belt. His hair color was impossible to tell, but it definitely looked messy. His appearance was that of a young teenager that was surely around Chris's age...

Another dark aura wielder was a very diminutive creature that barely was tall enough to reach an adult's ankle. Its small body was no match to its sheer size its head and two pointy ears had, making it a wonder it could even stand upright on its small feet.

Another one was an imposing figure with a strange body type that towered among all of them. Its lower body was large due to having a larger stomach that was fused with the beginning portion of its long tail, but the upper body was smaller but still regularly-sized for a bipedal person. The strange head shape, connected to the back of its chest through a cord, was not so hard to tell apart...

Another figure was small yet displayed a cocky, sinister grin under its strangely connected eyes through a small gap between them. This figure was thin in body shape, but its head had big quills that ran behind as if to indicate the owner liked to run around a lot...which he did.

Yet another assailant was someone who looked more like a dangerous thug, if only because said person was not entirely human but looked like a very serious lupine humanoid wearing just about every single trinket that screamed "I'm gonna mess you up good": chains clicking whenever his waist moved, spiked shoulder pads swaying with the movement of his shoulders, a tail that swung to the sides occasionally, and steel boots that made echoing footsteps. The lupine also was banned for life in showing a horrifying glare.

Lastly, the last kidnapper was just the bottom of the iceberg that utterly baffled Chris with his presence. There was no way Chris would ever forget an appearance like the bad guy below had...

"It seems you are awake," the tall one of the group spoke.

Chris swallowed his breath and started to talk. "W-what in the hell is going on here?!" he asked, which could have been easily broken into two separate questions about his situation and the fact he was kidnapped by the people he was looking down at. "W-w-why are my kidnappers Roy, Pichu, Mewtwo, Sonic, Wolf, and...a-and... Oh, holy crap..."

"A Lucario: me," the last one spoke, unfazed by Chris's stuttering. Unlike the Lucario Chris always knew and liked, the Lucario he was looking at was not as tall as his Lucario. Never mind the fact his kidnappers used to be good people. Never mind the fact one of them was a Lucario he didn't remember... It was all so hard to stomach. He found it hard to make sense of it all. "Is my dark aura that scary to you, a lowly human?"

"Y-y-yes, b-but... I-I mean... This makes no sense to me!" Chris yelled at the dark wielders. "Why did I get kidnapped?! Why are you all covered in that dark aura?! Why are you siding with the enemy?! ...Why is one of you a BIG pile of disgusting puke?!" he continuously asked them, though the last one was an extra question he added at the last second just to cover the fact he was from another world.

Roy shrugged. "We just had to kidnap the loud one, didn't we?" he asked his comrades.

"It's those Mr. Saturns who got the wrong one for us, you big dummy! They were told to bring Ness to us, but they confused him for this kid instead for some weird reason!" Pichu complained. While the dark aura wielders put up an evil tone to their voices, only Pichu's sounded a little too forced that Chris sometimes forgot he was supposed to be a villain now.

"Weird reason? Duh! I know how they got those two confused with the other: they both wear the same clothes!" Sonic spoke, grunting afterwards. "Talk about a stupid slip up. Remind me why we didn't kidnap Ness ourselves?"

"Orders from Lord Tabuu," Wolf spoke next, pinching his chin. "He told us specifically to avoid raising suspicion among the local populace of this world. We could have mixed up pretty well with the strange happenings, but he wants us to exercise caution."

"And we've done a good job on that," the Lucario said. "Belch is our only connection to those useless Mr. Saturns. They don't even know we are the ones pulling the strings to the kidnapping plot."

Sonic grinned. "Hey. Did you forget one of us is the fastest thing alive? I could've swiped Ness from the ground in the blink of an eye if I wanted to!" he boasted.

Mewtwo grunted. "Sonic, you are honestly too loud for stealth, and your ego catches up to you just as quickly that you will for sure show off in front of the enemy the first chance you get," he reprimanded.

The hedgehog grunted loudly and rather evilly at the psychic. "Not like they'll tell who I am after I'm done saying my line," he shot back, though the other villains looked at him with dull looks. "...No! That's not admitting I was gonna do that if I could in the first place!"

"Enough, BUURRRP," Belch interrupted with a loud burp. "If you guys need some reminders, let me give you one now: what are you going to do with Ness's identical friend? Master Giygas is not going to be happy that we got him the wrong one who is not one of the chosen ones from the prophecy, BUUURRRPP."

They stared back at Chris, who remained silent to avoid tempting them to hurt him in so many ways. "Soooooo..." Pichu trailed off in thought, looking confused at Chris. "...I thought Lord Tabuu said Master Hand was gonna get help to fight the army? Is this kid one of them?"

"I do not remember his face, nor I know if he is from his team," Mewtwo noted. "That Giygas person said to Belch that there were only three chosen ones, but what about this one who is borrowing Ness's appearance? To further add to the confusion, I can sense that strange psychic energy within him, though it is extremely feeble as it is... I do not know if we were meant to take him down." Chris gulped and shrank back.

Sonic grimaced. "...Aren't you probably thinking too much? I saw this guy walking with..." he pointed at the Lucario, "someone else who looked like your brother or something. You two look the same!"

"Another Lucario, you say?" the Lucario asked, looking a little surprised at that statement. He narrowed his eyes at Sonic. "Are you sure you did not confuse some creature from this world with me?"

"Naaaaaaah, I'm sure he looked just like you! He had the same unneeded spikes on his wrists and between his man boobs."

"...Firstly, your descriptions about me are sick. And secondly, that's impossible," the Lucario growled. "The chances of Master Hand actually having a spare Lucario besides me are nonexistent just like having a spare Sonic. I was never told about having a replacement ready when I was with his side. I am a formidable fighter who needs no replacements!"

The teen-turned-boy was unearthing a lot of info just being silent, and he was thankful that staying silent to listen to them was helping him to forget he was caged up. Unfortunately, he knew full well the worst was going to happen soon if he said the wrong things to them. "(...What?)" Chris thought to himself. "(What does he mean by...?)"

"Enough, you two," Roy spoke annoyed. "Sonic was lucky enough to get reconnaissance as his job. We haven't practically done anything in here other than hiding the location from mind readers and other supernatural forces Master Hand may have used on the worlds. Not even Ness can detect this zone as long as we are here."

"That makes us look like some freak viruses..." Pichu muttered. "Argh. What do we do with this wrong boy?"

Wolf chuckled. "Well, since it is speculated that he was traveling with the psychic boy, why don't we just simply use him as bait to lure the rest here?" he suggested.

"That could work, but it would draw too much attention," Mewtwo said. "Despite our large numbers, Lord Tabuu wants us to take Ness down when he isn't accompanied. His other allies could get in the way and we could have a chance to lose."

Sonic started laughing loudly, much to their chagrin. "Are you kiddin' me here? Why would we lose if we're a lot? Aren't you supposed to be the smartest guy of the team?" he asked with a teasing grin, which was replied by a narrowed glare from the psychic.

"We cannot take any chances here, Sonic. Precautions must be taken if we want to succeed in this mission to take Ness down for good. We cannot underestimate the boy as he does have psychic powers. I remember that you are quite...useless against psychics, or am I wrong?"

The hedgehog gasped and shook his head in defiance. "W-what th-?! No! I don't suck around psychics! I just gotta smack 'em first before they get to me!" he shot back.

"...Anyway, what about this other kid cosplaying as the other target?" Wolf asked. Every time Chris was mentioned in some form by them, he felt even more threatened and tried to fight back really hard to scream. "If we can't use him as a bait, what then? Do we just keep him here or do we get rid of him?"

"Letting him go would just alert everyone about what's hidden in here. And if we attack him... That would work against us because of you-know-what," Roy said.

"(W-what? T-they're not going to attack me?)" Chris thought in shock.

Mewtwo sighed. "A real shame this factory lacks any other rooms to properly keep hostages away from others. We cannot have him talk to the other strange creatures and let him cause some sort of commotion in here," he pointed out. "This room is..." he eyed Chris and then strangely to the wall across, "...unsuitable for noises, yet it is the only one we can use for him at the moment."

"(Wow... T-they actually thought about every possibility I could take... This is the worst thing that has happened to me,)" the teen-turned-boy thought dismayed.

"Given the situation, we can't have him alone either," Mewtwo said. "Someone has to keep tabs on him so he doesn't try to escape from here... Roy, you do the honors."

Roy grimaced at the psychic. "W-why me?" he asked.

"Wolf is too proud to do this, Sonic will most likely fall asleep on the job, Pichu is too weak should he let his guard down, I'd rather keep everything else in order, and Lucario is too violent for his own good," Mewtwo summarized, much to the overall annoyance of everyone else.

"BUUURP, you forgot about me, BUUUURP," Belch pointed out.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I like some torture now and then, but letting you be the guard for him would be too much," he said. The others exchanged horrified glances and shuddered at the thought, and so did Chris. Belch could only burp angrily. "Roy, this is why you're the best one for the job. Do you understand now?"

"Uh, yeah, I think..." Roy trailed off. Feeling that he was tricked into doing guard duty, the swordsman just stepped forward and sat down on the cold floor.

"Good. You understand," Mewtwo said before turning at the rest. "Everyone else should stay on stand-by in the factory while I try to come up with an alternative to deal with Ness. We are running out of time now that he has surely gained intel about what happened at the valley..." With that being said, the psychic calmly floated away from the room, followed by the other dark villains who gave Chris one chuckling glance before they left...

The World Traveler wanted to sigh, but just knowing that an evil version of Roy was looking at him kept him from remotely doing any body motion, but he settled with sighing really slowly and looking forward into the white steel wall above the door; the only means of escape he had…

Chris was rightfully scared of what was going to happen to him in a short while. The fear of dying a premature death at the hands of those shadow maniacs was the last thing that he thought would happen too soon, but there he was, trapped in a dangling cell and feeling hopeless about what to do. He was surrounded by enemies capable of tearing his limbs apart (though he wasn't so sure about Pichu after that comment Mewtwo made about him being weak) and he wasn't sure if he could manage to escape to call for help. Since he was cornered to his mind with Roy being down there and watching him, only Chris's thoughts served him for solace. "(Calm down… Calm down… You're… You're going to be fine if you don't do anything reckless…)" he thought to himself as his sight was completely fixed on the wall, though it was tempting to try to steal glances from the shadow minion with the sharp sword. "(E-even if the chances to escape are really…REALLY abysmal…I-I have to think hard about what I can do in case I ever get a real chance to escape…)" He closed his eyes to think where he was…

Given that he saw Master Belch, there was no doubt that he was in the factory (level) of the game that imprisoned Mr. Saturns for evil purposes he forgot about. Prior knowledge from Lucario not being to locate the factory behind the waterfall had convinced Chris that the factory was gone, until he woke up inside of it anyway. If that had been true, it puzzled the boy that Lucario couldn't find it. Then, he recalled something that Mewtwo said to his comrades… Something about them all being living methods that prevented supernatural forces and other mechanical devices from tracking them down… While Chris didn't know exactly how that was even possible, he didn't try to question that logic for too long given the world he was traveling in was utterly absurd in treating common sense right. So their presences made Lucario's aura obsolete. I am screwed, he thought first before slowly descending to depression…

"(…Should I give up now, then?)" he thought to himself as he embraced his knees and rested his forehead on them. "(Is this really how I…how I'm going out?)"

…

…

…

…

…

For about a silent minute, the boy randomly switched thinking about accepting death in solitude or about finding an escape route. During one of those switching moments, he thought back on what Mewtwo was doing when he said the room Chris was being held was…unfit for a cell room. During a brief moment, he remembered the psychic staring ahead at the wall on the other side of the room. Unless Mewtwo was thinking while staring into space for no reason, maybe there was a hint in the wall he stared at… Chris thought he was going insane if that small moment meant a lot. He looked back at that wall and saw nothing peculiar about it. Even after squinting his eyes, he couldn't see…

For some strange reason, the wall looked strange to him. It was as if a certain section of it looked slightly thicker with layers that he could spot by the outlines they left behind. The other three walls in the room looked perfectly flat, though the other one he was looking at was not like the others… It didn't look professionally built like the others either. Whatever happened to that wall, the layers of steel put on it were haphazardly placed all over.

Chris couldn't stop staring at the wall. His mind raced with a lot of desperate thoughts to escape from the factory into the wild outdoors. "(T-this is a long stretch… Is it possible there was a hole behind that wall…?)" Chris thought hopelessly. "(…Try to remember! I-I have a feeling there was something important in this factory that…)"

If memory served him well, Chris recalled that, at the end of the factory level, there was a room where Ness fought Master Belch. Behind Master Belch had been a secret tunnel that led back to Saturn Valley…

"(…You don't mean…)" Chris's eyes widened when he stared back at the wall.

If that was entirely possible, there was probably no doubt that the room he was held captive was the very same room that was positioned stupidly close to his only viable escape route. Ironically, he remembered that the same route would lead to the same place where that hot spring (with the hallucinogen effect he didn't know about) was and directly to the others were. There was some hope for him to escape from the hell he was!

…

But still...

With that shadow Roy watching him from below, there was no way he could take advantage of the route. He wasn't completely sure if the route was even there. Maybe he was truly being paranoid while desperate for a ray of hope. Quickly, he was falling back into depression as he eased his sitting position and embraced himself to keep his body from shivering too much from the horror of being held hostage. He hung his head low and repeatedly wished that Lucario would rush in and save him. As he thought about the freedom he used to have, Chris fought the thought of breaking into a crying fit, but all he could do was keep his sniffling sounds low…

"Geez, what a wuss…"

That little comment made Chris slow down. He weakly wandered to the edge of the cage and looked down at Roy, who didn't bother to look up at him. "…S-so what if I am?" Chris said, forgetting about his trauma and only recalling it when Roy looked up. He shrank back a bit, but he continued. "I'm having really bad luck here trying to deal with this situation I got myself into… A-and I can't help but cry because this never happened to me…" He shook his head quickly and tried to forget about it so hard. "B-but…you can ignore my crying if you want. I-I'd rather ask you if… Why are you even sided with the bad guys?" he asked Roy.

Roy blinked and looked away. "It's not like you're gonna survive here if you can cry this easily…" Chris grunted mentally at that, though his face reflected his horror. "…I didn't join willingly. Tabuu corrupted my original self to serve him, just like he did to the others you saw a moment ago."

"(…So…he's brainwashed…)" Chris thought.

"That's all you're going to get from me," Roy told Chris. The teen-turned-boy gasped under his breath when he saw the swordsman turning his back to him. "Rot in there in the meantime."

That was some meaningful progress in his big predicament, Chris thought. He wanted to get more insight on Roy's behavior and how he got brainwashed. Though, the horror of being there with no means to get a safe getaway made him shrink back on his position. Once more, he prayed for dear life that Lucario would come in to rescue him…and he felt very guilty that he was rendered useless on top of that…

Saturn Valley

A rock suddenly hit Ness on the back of his head, snapping him out from his sleeping state. His body suddenly feeling all that hot water around, he tossed his hands frantically trying to get out from the body of water until it dawned on him that he wasn't in danger. Trying to catch his breath, he started to notice what was around him until he managed to calm himself down, though that didn't change how shocked he was to find nothing else but a really wrecked Saturn Valley when he got out from the hot spring and looked down.

Some of the huts of the valley had been destroyed by large boulders that used to be part of the torn cliffs surrounding the settlement. He could tell at first glance that the boulders had rolled down given the large marks they left on the ground, so there was no way the boulders just happened to be tossed overhead from somewhere. Aside from the few unlucky huts that were reduced to wreckages, the grassy area had half of its greenery color mixed with brown color from the fallen debris from the cliffs, and the several paths inside the floors of the caves Ness and the others had entered before were blocked off by rocks… Everything looked like as if a tornado had passed through.

Albeit the valley was destroyed with many cave-ins and the clear water pond filled with mud, it didn't faze the Mr. Saturns all that much as they kept going on with their unusual lifestyle. They regarded the change in landscape as something new and curious, standing on the rocks and pretending their huts were still up as seen by some of them tuckered in their meager bed sheets within the circles of their homes and rolling down from a few boulders into the ground.

"Geez…" Ness muttered under his breath. When he remained silent for a moment, he overheard a few panting sounds coming from his right. Turning to that direction, his mouth gapped when he spotted Lucario, still holding that same pose he used to release all his hot air as he stared up into the sky with a menacing glare. He was still not any better from learning about the disappearance of his trainer, and Ness learned that even thinking about Chris being lost forever was a suicidal topic to bring up now. Cautiously, the boy approached the monster. "H-hey…" he called out weakly. He gulped almost immediately when one glaring red eye stared his way; a subtle answer that meant Ness would probably die if he didn't say the right words. "…I-I see you did quite a number on this valley! T-that was impressive! B-but rather unnecessary and random! S-so, h-how about we start looking for Chris right away?!" he asked with a large twitching smile, his feet ready to turn and make a run for it.

Lucario, very slowly, eased his stance and calmed down his growling sounds. He shut his eyes quickly and almost didn't try to lose it again as he covered himself in his potent aura coat. He was once again trying to pinpoint the exact location where his lost trainer was.

"L-look, we tried and failed miserably to raise your hopes with words and no action. How about we jump into the action then? I-I bet that's what you want to do now!" Ness ignored the mumbling sounds coming from the hot spring. It looked like Paula and Jeff were coming to.

"…Where are you…?" Lucario muttered under his breath, or more accurately, his gritted fangs. "You must be nearby… You couldn't have disappeared so simply like that…"

"…" Ness kept looking at the blue creature until the former decided to tip-toe his way back to the hot spring, thinking that it was better to leave Lucario alone. The boy saw his companions getting out from the hot spring, where he pulled them out when they held out their hands. "Welcome back to reality, you guys. Right now, this valley has gone through some modest renovation."

Paula and Jeff dried their clothes a bit before they gazed at the horribly-changed landscape beyond the cliffs. "For the love of… We surely underestimated how destructive he can be," Paula noted cautiously, as she and Jeff looked back at Lucario trying to calm his grunting sounds down.

Jeff wiped his glasses with his shirt, though it wasn't all that effective since he was all wet anyway. "Let's not ever bring up anything that remotely has a chance of him losing Chris forever. If we do it again, he will level the valley…" he trailed off.

Paula turned back to the hot spring and remembered that she had fallen asleep in there, despite the mass hysteria of the event a few minutes ago. "Say… This hot spring put me to sleep," she said, earning their attention. "So it was true Lucario and Chris fell asleep in there."

"That's kind of really, really strange," Ness said, staring into the big rocks that rolled inside the steamy pond. As he theorized why the spring had to be drugged with a sleep effect, he looked a tad serious. "…Hey, wait a minute. Something is strange about all this, you two. Why would the Mr. Saturns in here drug this hot spring and why did Chris even disappear from here?"

Jeff and Paula stared at each other in a moment of realization. "If they made the hot spring like this, there's no conceivable way they don't know what happened to Chris… That's what I think about the strange kidnapping," Jeff said, rubbing his wet chin. "Unless, there's someone else in the valley that was targeting one of us and they took advantage of the hot spring's effect."

"One of Giygas' cronies!" Ness said.

"Or, pray tell, the Subspace Army the two of them are looking for," Paula said. Hearing Lucario's growls, the girl looked at her companions. "We have to interrogate them to find out the truth! Before our you-know-who decides that creaming us is a good stress reliever…"

Conveniently enough, there was a waddling Mr. Saturn walking on the other side of the hot spring. They noticed him first before he did, though when he saw them running to him in a pincer attack, it was too late for him to make a run for it when one of them leaped on top of him, for he was walking around the scene of the crime. Stuck under Ness's body, the boy demanded the squirming creature by saying, "Okay, you! Tell us what you know about our friend who disappeared from the hot spring! DO IT OR I'LL EAT YOU WHOLE!" Paula slapped her forehead in embarrassment.

"ZOOM. DUNNO! FRIENDS CARRY BOY TO WATERFALL!"

"Ness, seriously, it's not like we'll get our answers dropped to our…" Jeff, Paula, and Ness gapped their mouths at what the sweating Mr. Saturn had just said. "Uh… Say again?"

"WATERFALL HIDES FACTORY! WAIT 30 SECONDS FOR DOOR TO OPEN. FRIENDS TRAPPED. WE DESPERATE. CAPTURED SLEEPY NESS BOY. WHY NESS BOY HERE?! BOING ZOOM BOING! BODY SQUISHED! SECRETS HURT!"

The three children were quite distraught at what the Mr. Saturn had just told them. They were equally astonished to get that much info dump in a very short time. "W-wait… T-this is a bit too much to swallow all at once," Paula said.

Ness yelped when the Mr. Saturn slipped through his body press and quickly fled down the valley. Desperately. Because the creature didn't care about jumping down at a high height. He was lucky enough to have a tree break his fall down below, but he cared about hiding behind a rock to avoid the ensuing punishment for revealing the dark secret to the children. When Ness tried to go after him, Paula grabbed his wrist to keep him from running. "P-Paula!" Ness yelped.

"Ness, it's fine. I think we have enough clues to go on," Jeff said, having translated all of what the Mr. Saturn had said. "From what I gathered from that one, he just said that Chris was carried off to a waterfall that hides a factory behind it. And the Mr. Saturns were…trying to capture you to trade you off for the other Mr. Saturns…"

"What the…? They KNOW where they are and tried to get me killed by the enemy's hands? GEEZ!" Ness complained loudly. "…But how did they end up taking Chris instead of me?"

"Well… You two sort of wear the same attire," Jeff pointed out. "Both of you have the same hair color. The big differences that the Mr. Saturns ignored were your skin color and the pitch of your voices. He also said they were desperate. It's probable that they were just as confused when they saw two 'Nesses' walking about that they chose the 'right' one but sadly got their facts mixed up," he explained as he adjusted his glasses in thought. "So, as you see, this is how the plan was carried out and was met with failure on their part."

Ness and Paula blinked in surprise at the statement. "But how could they carry Chris away without any of us noticing?" Paula asked.

"They probably snuck him out when they got us all busy doing menial tasks and conversations," Jeff theorized further. "Needless to say, it was very lucky for them to put Lucario out or else they could've been found out easily if they had gotten to Ness like they originally planned. They took the wrong target and…this is where we are."

The other two members were left speechless by the sound theory Jeff put up. It made so much sense to them that it was also surprising a kidnapping plot was planned by the seemingly-docile creatures. When they turned to look at the Mr. Saturns down below, all they saw was all of them taking cover. It looked like news about the failed kidnapping plot had spread out like wildfire among them that they were absolutely terrified about what else to do next. The creatures thought that the damage caused to their home, which they had originally ignored as just another weird day at the valley, was clear punishment for failing the mission to save their friends.

"And they were trying to get me killed in a factory… YOU'RE ALL PRICKS, YOU HEAR ME?!" Ness yelled. The Mr. Saturns hid completely behind their multiple hiding spots; a lot of them failing to conceal their whole bodies. "I'LL TOAST YOU UP FOR DINNER TONIGHT FOR TRYING TO MESS WITH ME! I GAVE YOU HOSPITALITY AND YOU REPAY IT WITH KIDNAPPING AND POTENTIAL MURDER?!"

"Ness, we know they're very desperate! You don't have to scare them even further!" Paula scolded.

"They tried to get me freaking killed!" Ness yelled. To Jeff's mortifying horror, the loud screams Ness was making had alerted Lucario about what was going on. "They failed and got Chris instead and now he's gonna suffer what they tried to do to me! Who knows what they've done to him behind that waterfall by now?! I could've been DEAD if I hadn't taken a dip inside that drugged hot springs before he did!" Ness was so focused on venting out so loudly that he wasn't paying attention to the large shadow looming behind the three children, though Paula and Jeff did notice the source and were doing their best to tip-toe away. "What kind of messed up creatures are they for trying to get innocent children with psychic powers KILLED? What, do they even CARE about the outside world or do they think humans are the expendable race over their silly big noses?! I ought t-!"

"Did you just say they know where Chris was taken and they took part of it?" Lucario asked, his voice very stern.

Ness mildly ignored the sound of cracking knuckles. "Yeah, I just said that out loud! Can you believe these guys have the nerve to go that far to…?" He turned around slowly and looked up at the indirect red-eyed glare looking down at him atop a murderous body. Realizing that the other target was a reason the valley was nearly leveled to the skies, Ness took a few seconds to carefully choose the right words to use. "…You know, dude, instead of wasting time venting it out on these guys, we could be going back to the waterfall to storm the enemy stronghold and rescue Chris. What do you say if we forget about screaming our heads out and we start the rescue mission right away?"

"…" Lucario closed his eyes and let out a small growl. "...As long as I can rescue Chris, then…" He nodded quietly and seemed to be perfectly calm, to the shock of the children coming back from their short distance.

"(HOLY CRAP, I'm still alive!)" Ness rejoiced mentally. "R-right! So glad to have you onboard again. Now everyone, let's head for the waterfall to that factory!"

The Aura Pokémon had calmed down long enough to think logically about what had happened when he tried to find the factory behinds the waterfall, his sixth sense telling him that there wasn't anything there. "But… But how could it be possible that there's a factory behind the waterfall?" he asked Ness and the others. "I used my aura senses earlier in the day to find the location of those accursed Mr. Saturns outside and there was nothing anywhere…"

After he voiced out his troubled fact, the children looked confused at one another, until somehow, there was a strong gust of wind that appeared out of the blue on the spot they were all standing. The four covered their faces when the wind picked up quickly in force…but it died down quickly just as soon as it had arrived from the east. "U-ugh, what's with this wind?" Ness asked.

Jeff didn't cover his eyes due to wearing glasses, so he was the only one from the group who noticed that the random gust had brought in something…or rather, someone else along with it. He was very much shocked to spot another child about their age standing behind them, holding a meditating position while standing up. Wearing nothing more than a white gi uniform with a black belt and black thin shoes, his head was nearly bald save for a very thin, braided ponytail on the top. The child had appeared from somewhere, though he was busy pressing his palms together in front of his chest. "U-uh, g-guys? T-there's another guy behind us…"

The other three uncovered their faces and gasped after seeing the kid standing there. Paula, however, had enough prior information about the kid that she said, "Wait, you're… You're the other chosen child I've seen in my dreams! I remember you well from them!" she said, making Ness and Jeff look at her surprised.

"What? He's the last chosen child?" Ness asked her.

"Correct," the fourth child spoke without opening his eyes, startling the children except for the stern Lucario. "As to answer your outsider companion's question from earlier, there is definitely a hidden contraption known as a factory behind the waterfall you all passed by earlier on the day…"

Lucario blinked at that statement. "H-how can you tell that much? W-who are you and how do you even know what we've done until now?" he asked with a wary glare, unaware completely about who the child was for having never seen much of the game's plot.

"I shall answer you every question in order," the child said, opening his wary eyes. "I can tell that much because I was using my PSI ability to watch the world from above while I was busy taking a rigorous martial arts training. Due to how destiny has decided my own fate, from the moment of my birth, I was informed by the elders of my homeland to do battle against the evil entity known as Giygas; that I would travel the world over alongside the other chosen children known as Ness, Paula Polestar, and Jeff Andonuts…" He looked at his companions. "I am Poo from Dallam, a tranquil town located in the Chommo region of the world… There is no further need to answer the last question. The first answer holds the same importance to it."

While Paula smacked Ness's head when she heard him chuckle at the child's name, Jeff pinched his chin in thought about the boy. "So… You're saying you're aware of what's been going on all the way over here? That is amazing… The region of Chommo is almost on the other side of the world from where we are," he pointed out.

"Precisely," Poo said. "Though I am afraid I have joined your journey prematurely…"

Paula tilted her head. "Why is that? We'd certainly welcome your addition to the team now…" she said.

"You see, I am still in need of dire training before I can be defined as one of your own, but circumstances have forced me to call it off for the time being. The reason why is because this world has been invaded by an otherworldly army known as the Subspace Army… I am sure you know the one you heard from the otherworldly travelers Lucario and Chris, the latter who has been kidnapped by them." Lucario growled at that reminder. "I know a factory is hiding in that location. The enemy disguised their hiding spot using their strange methods to camouflage the factory, but they never realized that the supernatural copy of a peaceful landscape they put up doesn't match the original life energy of our world's nature… This is how I know they are there to keep outsiders like us from pinpointing their hideout."

That reminder was what made Lucario all the more desperate, and he couldn't bother to waste more time after knowing where his trainer was being held hostage. Growling loudly as he turned around, he leapt down the high height of the cliffs to the ground floor and sped out from the valley towards the Grapefruit Falls in search for Chris. The first three children got alarmed to see the creature rush out quickly. "H-he just ran off!" Paula said.

"I do not know for certain if he will be able to handle the enemy alone," Poo commented as he walked forward to them. "He is rather unhinged and beastly. He could destroy everything in the factory if left alone… Come, we must make haste to the waterfall at Grapefruit Falls."

The other chosen children were feeling a little sick that so much was happening so quickly without their intervention, though they agreed with Poo's idea to chase the Aura Pokémon down. They spotted a long slope of rocks caused by a landslide going down to the ground floor, which they used to get down faster. The psychic children used their PSI prowess to float down and step down from rock to rock, but only a very careful and slow Jeff tried his best to avoid tumbling down. "So are you gonna stay with us for the rest of the journey?" Ness asked Poo.

"For the time being until the Subspace Army is driven off," Poo said as he hopped down on one foot without switching to the other. "I will have to depart to resume my training at Dallam. I wish to help you out against this threat so our efforts to defeat Giygas are not stopped this soon…"

Poo joined your team!

Ness sighed and looked dull. "As always, when things look very good for us, it's all too good to be true. ALL the strong guys always want to leave us behind after a certain point," he said.

"Patience is not a virtue everyone shares…" Poo muttered, slightly surprised at the boy's comment as they made it down the cliffs and started rushing back to the falls. Only Paula noticed that Jeff had tripped close to the lower portion of the landslide and helped him to get back up on his feet.

Grapefruit Falls

Lucario was deathly desperate about his trainer's fate. He kept beating himself up in his head about how he let those infernal creatures get the better of them both in that small moment of relaxation. With that small hint that he could still be alive, the Aura Pokémon was understandably hopeful that he could still rescue him in time. Though, at the same time he was hopeful about it, the anger boiling in his veins was putting a stop to his rational thinking. Once he had made it to the fall, he never stopped to use his aura sense to track down his trainer's aura inside the waterfall, but it never came up. He tried so many times to overexert his power to see what was behind it. He was standing there next to the shoreline that he unwillingly was quiet for a long while, until footsteps that he utterly ignored came from the direction of the valley.

Rushing out from the tunnel that connected the falls and the valley, Ness and Poo were the first ones to come out from it and notice Lucario staring at the long waterfall to the north. Relieved that the area didn't get a crater just yet, the two children went up to join the Aura Pokémon, who ignored their presence entirely. "Oh, good. You didn't get an urge to blow up the waterfall in a fit of rage," Ness said.

His words were heard, snapping Lucario out from actually blowing up the falls after careful, if not really desperate, thought. He looked down at the two children and looked back at the waterfall. "Chris is somewhere behind that waterfall… I can't even detect a single aura within the ground behind it," he reaffirmed.

"I said before that they hid their hideout very well against supernatural powers like PSI and aura senses," Poo said, staring up ahead at the waterfall while Paula and Jeff came out from the tunnel and rejoined their side. Jeff tried to catch his breath all the while everyone was focused on the crashing waters. "But there is no mistake. We must proceed into the backside of the waterfall to find some sort of entrance. If you are all prepared for what is t-" Poo already saw Lucario rushing up ahead. "Of course, it was a little…shall we say, too good to be true that he had gained the sacred skill of being patient now."

"Follow our war dog!" Ness commanded his group, not concerned about Jeff's huffing pleas to let him rest to catch his breath, forcing himself to follow the other energetic children at a slow pace.

They quickly walked near the shore of the lake to the area close to the waterfall. It turned out that the shore path continued all the way to the backside of the waterfall as Poo had said. The air felt very humid the closer they got to the big wall of water reflecting their bodies very loosely, and it was getting very loud just standing closer and closer the crashing water making foam near the shore. Looking up and down, the children and their really peeved Lucario spotted a wide-enough entry behind the water that concealed a wall. They carefully stepped under the waterfall and walked alongside a grassy, hidden path that took them all the way to the center, where they suddenly spotted a white metal door of all things engraved to the wall. "Mystery door found. I know something big is hiding behind it," Paula said.

That door was the lead Lucario ever wanted to see if he hoped to rescue Chris. After having used his aura sense for far too long, he finally snapped when he thought the very, very small chance that his trainer was done for behind that frustratingly despicable door. In all fairness, he was thinking way too many gruesome thoughts about the blasted door that it was a clear sign he wasn't going to take it anymore. He needed to bust some skulls… But then again, he had some restraint left that kept him from blowing stuff up…

Jeff inspected the door closely. "It is kind of strange that there isn't much more than a simple door in here," he noted. "…Should we knock on the door? I remember that the Mr. Saturn said something about waiting 30 seconds in front of i-"

The "w" word was too much to bear. A war cry howled louder than the crashing water behind it, and Jeff instinctively stepped aside as a flying fist flew over his head, colliding very hard against the door and promptly sent it flying back inside on the other side. The children then saw a very anxious Lucario growling like a mad animal as he rushed inside and immediately alerted the entire stronghold about their presence. The chosen children weren't even looking inside to see the loud explosions suddenly booming out and causing several quakes. They could see the blue glow from the explosions shining out from the broken entrance, even, accompanied by the Aura Pokémon's loud screams demanding, "WHERE IS MY TRAINER?! WHERE?! TELL ME WHERE! GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"…One second," Jeff broke the silence from the outside as he and the others took a peek from the entrance. "He couldn't even bother to wait one second to enter discretely."

"That puts an end to our plan to sneak inside," Poo noted, looking a tad disappointed.

"…Hey, we gotta rush in to save those big-nosed freaks before Lucario squashes their noses for me!" Ness said. He received three odd looks from his party. "Don't judge me. I won't live that down." Poo was politely enough to avoid making a snide remark about Onettians as he and his party moved inside the smoking factory; previously a normal hidden factory that had no smoke and the repeated quakes caused by explosions from a deranged creature…

Belch's Factory

Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise

The factory had become an extreme mess of smoke, screams, roars, and explosions, making it really hard for the children to move about without bumping into something such as walls, running Mr. Saturns helplessly trying to locate an exit or wondering why everything was going BOOM, and other enemies that used to patrol the hidden location. For the same reason it was hard to find the factory using supernatural powers, Paula and Poo couldn't use their telekinesis skill to find their captive member somewhere in their immediate surroundings. Everyone in the factory was blind in any sense they tried to rely on, and it looked like the roars became louder and louder.

Oddly enough, there were jars of some kind of honey broken around the floor. The color of the nectar looked a little familiar to Ness, but his attention was entirely focused on the chaos.

"He's so going to level the entire place at this rate!" Ness yelled as they came to stop to look around through the smoke. Jeff started to cough a lot and tried to cover his mouth from inhaling too much smoke. "There's just too much smoke to see anything through here! How are we supposed to get through all this chaos?!" He felt his right hand being grabbed on from behind. Turning around, he saw Paula holding his hand, with Jeff and Poo forming a longer chain. "What's with the holding hands part?"

"The last thing we want is to separate inside this place ready to fall down at any second. It's better that we go forward together while holding hands to avoid running into problems without company," Paula said. "We have to move in quickly. He may accidentally end up hurting Chris during his blind rage!"

"Y-yes, we have to keep going!" Jeff said.

"Or not. Someone has stumbled upon our way," Poo pointed out.

The four children looked to the front and spotted Sonic coming out from the smoke, looking scared that everything was going down to hell in a blink of an eye. He was also frustrated that he couldn't find a right path to rush forward at top speed. Yet, he couldn't risk running into…whatever the hell that monster was that was wreaking havoc and causing massive hysteria. "W-what the hell is going on in here?!" he asked loudly to the direction where he came from, hoping someone from his side listened. "How did we even get into this problem?! Nobody told me it was gonna happen!"

"H-hey, you!" Ness called out to the dark hedgehog, getting his attention and earning a surprised gasp. "Y-you totally look like a bad guy, with that dark aura thing and all! Tell us where you have Chris!"

"H-how the…?! You children got in here?!" Sonic asked back, before glaring. "So you're the ones who started this big mess in our hideout! Never thought you were capable of doing all this damage so quickly, and I should know about quick stuff!"

"In a sense, we did not cause this mess," Poo said blankly. "You brought this upon yourself for fooling around with my group and their extra member. He is quite…shall we say, in a bad mood for you kidnapping his close friend."

"Who cares about that stuff? You kids need to get outta here, or else I'm gonna kick you all out myself!" he said with a cocky grin, regaining his cocky composure.

"As if!" Paula shot back. "You've been terrorizing the Mr. Saturns for far too long! We're going to put a stop to this mad plan today!"

"TRY IT!" Sonic yelled, curling into a ball that spun on its place. The children, having never met the hedgehog before, were quite shocked when he shot himself almost like a bullet right at them, but fortunately, Paula had jumped aside while still holding a tight grip on Ness's hand, which resulted in her dragging Jeff and Poo aside to the floor as well. Jeff barely slipped on his feet when it happened, but the children didn't let go of their hands as they looked back at the smoke hole that the hedgehog left behind during his Homing Attack.

"Goodness… His speed is too high!" Jeff noted.

"That should explain why he flashed that maniacal grin of his at the start," Poo said. "…Quite a shame that he didn't notice the edge of the floor leading to a deep abyss."

The smoke cleared out on the spot where Sonic had shot himself into, revealing that there was a handrail that kept people from walking into an abyss on the other side. Sonic had unwillingly jumped to his death, given that they heard him screaming a very long profane word they weren't ready to say anytime soon. After screaming that word, they heard him screaming, "STUPID HOLE! MY WORST ENEMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyy..."

"Oh, classic smoke effect," Ness said. "I'm as slow as molasses. I would've been mincemeat for that guy if it hadn't been for you, Paula."

"Perish the thought. We would've fallen into that abyss if he had struck us directly," Paula said.

"T-that's nice, you guys, but let's move on! We're losing a lot of time trying to find Chris!" Jeff said.

The children continued moving to what appeared to be the northwest direction, carefully avoiding lots of hazards like falling debris and cracked floor, until they found someone else standing in the middle of a small, metallic clearing. "Can't you bozos try to do things right?!" Wolf complained at no one in particular behind the thick smoke. "I can still hear the monster growling and breaking our collective asses! Why can't anybody get a hold of it?!"

The children, except for Poo, were a tad intimidated at the taller figure dressed up like a leader of a biker gang and its attack dog fused into his body. Ness had fought a gang leader before, but he wasn't as scary as the humanoid wolf in front of them. "I'd advise you to stay out of his way if you value your life," Poo called out, making the lupine turn around and grimace at the children. "Seriously. He will no doubt maul you alive if he were to spot you."

"W-who the hell are…? Wait, you're those children that humongous pile of puke was frightened about. There's that Ness kid with you," Wolf said, eyeing Ness and giving him a chill in his spine. "Huh, so the kid walks right into our hideout without a fight…"

"W-well, except for our guard dog totaling your base!" Ness shot back. "And what's up with a creepy guy like you, trying to kidnap me through those Mr. Saturns?! Pedophile much?!"

Wolf grunted and flexed his claws. "Don't care what you think about us. Our orders is to eliminate you, and anyone else who tries to interfere with the mission. With you gone, it'll be one less nuisance for Lord Tabuu to deal with," he said.

"Why is it that EVERYONE wants to kill me? What did I do wrong in accepting this long perilous journey full with danger and hardships? Do people just HATE that a lot?" Ness asked loudly to everyone. "Why don't people focus a lot more on Jeff?"

Jeff felt a lot of fright when Wolf turned his way. "N-Ness, don't you pit the hatred everyone has on you ON me! You know I'm not really that tough!" he said.

"Grr, shut up, all of you!" Wolf barked, leaping forward to the children. "There's too much noise in here, and I'd rather get rid of you all to finish this thing, no matter if this place comes crashing down on my back!"

"S-scatter!" Paula yelled as she let go of their hands. The four children spread all over the clearing and avoided a claw stomp from the aggravated lupine. Despite being riled up by the situation, Wolf was clearly focused on their targets, as he did a sharp turn once he had landed on the floor. He was fully intent in taking Ness down as he charged straight for him without missing a beat.

"FURRED PEDOPHILE WANTS MY BUTT!" Ness shrieked as he looked over his shoulder and saw his assassin quickly catching up to him.

Poo overheard the scream and quickly acted by casting a skill directed at Wolf's leaping feet. "PK Freeze!" he shouted with open palms toward the lupine.

Midway towards Ness, Wolf felt a chilling air circling around his feet, until said wind concentrated so much that his legs were frozen solid in thick ice. He yelped as he slid on the floor and tripped recklessly, growling in pain when his chin hit solid ground. To his great chagrin, Paula had followed with PK Thunder alpha, striking Wolf's back twice with lightning bolts that tore the smoke cloud above. His increasing anger got only worse when Jeff attacked (out of massive panic) with his gun by firing a dozen of shots wildly, though about a half homed in.

"D-damned kids! No wonder you need to freakin' die!" Wolf grunted loudly, banging his frozen feet on the floor to shatter the ice and break himself free. When he was able to do that, he rolled aside and managed to stand back up…only to find that the children were gone from sight. He gasped and looked around to see if they had planned an ambush, but it was difficult to hear anything with the roars and explosions, just as how the naked eye was useless due to the smoke. It took a few seconds of recon for Wolf to realize the children snuck away while he was down. "Y-you lousy little…! Come back here!" he shouted as he ran to the east into the smoke cloud, thinking that was the direction they headed to. "I refuse to go down without a fight!"

Further up ahead, the four children frantically ran in hopes to find Chris and get away from their pursuer. Ness did not want to cross Wolf again, and he was feeling a tad embarrassed that he had showed his scared side. What his other friends didn't realize, at least until now, was that Ness had been putting up a brave front to keep enemies from picking on him. Having PSI had boosted his ego a lot, but now, he was feeling a little unsure about the whole deal after hearing repeated death threats tossed at him from other enemies he wasn't aware of. "I-I swear to god, why must the entire world be against us?!" Ness asked loudly.

"Because, Ness, it is out fate to do battle against Giygas and anyone else that tries to interfere with our pure goal," Poo said, running next to the Onett boy. "Your normal life's days have ended now that you have been blessed with PSI powers. Now you must use them for the greater good."

"W-well, screw destiny! I think it's a little unfair for children like us to take all this with a straight face!" Ness yelled. "I thought it wouldn't be that much of a deal when I got PSI, but… Dammit, this is too much! I don't know if this is the right thing for me to do!"

"Ness, don't you dare complain about it now!" Paula scolded. "Do you really think you're the only one who thought about that? It wasn't easy for me to take it all in when I found out!"

Ness came to a stop, making everyone else do the same. Jeff was thankful that they gained a moment to rest behind a wall, away from the not-lung-friendly smoke. Jeff kept looking back and forth to the smoke and to his group, while Poo cordially let the other two while keeping watch from the enemies. "What?" Ness asked, staring wide-eyed at Paula.

"I… I got scared when I first got PSI," the girl said, looking serious. The boy noticed that her hands were shaking slightly when she put them over her chest "It was when I was five, while I was trying to reach out for a cookie jar from the kitchen table… I know, it is silly how I found out, but it had been a life-changing event when the jar suddenly moved to me out of the blue. When I saw it moving, I panicked and the jar went flying and crashed on the wall. After I told my parents what happened, they believed me, because they saw the jar flying across the kitchen when I was there. They were both really worried about what I did since they never done it before... Every day, I tried to avoid using my hands to reach out for stuff unless they were right in front of me. I was very scared of my own hands, Ness!"

"O-oh…" Ness flinched and looked down at the floor. "I just recently learned about my gift so I never thought that much about it as a scary thing… Wait, your story doesn't relate that much to mine." He stared back up to her. "I'm scared about being killed by monsters. You were scared of your PSI…"

Paula looked angry. "How do you think I felt when I had been kidnapped by people in blue sheets and tossed in a cell away from my home?" she asked. At that, Ness felt silent. "I wasn't deaf. They were clearly trying to sacrifice me to a statue, and they didn't care I was just a girl, Ness. I was really, really scared that one time that I kept trying to contact the closest member of our group when I recalled that dream about our destiny…" And then, she started sniffing. "S-so when I picked you up…I fought back my tears and held on to hope that I'd be saved… That I'd avoid being killed over nothing… When that happened and you finally located me, everything started to fall into place to me, you know? 'Paula, there was a reason why you had a gift like that,' I'd tell myself while you were at work trying to put an end to that crazed cult…" She wiped her tears and forced a smile. "I'd be completely lost if I had taken this journey all alone…and just being with others…it makes everything much easier to tolerate… It's incredible all this came out from me when I heard you complain about it a moment ago, but things have taken a turn for the worst in this place. I was trying to keep a cool mind…"

Ness scratched his hat and looked guilty. "Oh, Paula. I-I didn't know… I was just venting off, that's all…"

"Regardless, she needed to let that out as well. It is not an easy thing to live with when you haven't been trained to use the gift of PSI as I have," Poo chimed in. "The emotional turmoil that comes with using the gift is great and many times stressing. The monks have taught me that such negative influence can be remedied with the passage of time with others who can understand your feelings. So, Ness, I recommend that you never fall into insanity. Instead, fight back said insanity with your powers, and we shall respond together."

Jeff turned around and nodded. "I-I can't really say much about PSI. You all know I lack that special gift… I completely understand how it feels like to be in the face of danger, and I've gotten used to it thanks to you. That's how I know my cowardice won't keep me from fighting back. Ness, I know I'm putting a lot on your shoulders, but…try to be brave. I want to draw some courage out of you. I sadly feel that I still need more experience to develop well…"

The Onett boy took a moment to organize his thoughts. He had to stop that, however, when the possessed Wolf showed up from the smoke and smirked at them. Jeff realistically screamed and backed off. "Here you are! Time to claw those faces out!" he yelled and wasted no time by leaping forward and stretching his clawed hands at his main target.

Putting up the brave face he was used to, Ness's hands glowed with PSI energy and he exerted enough unseen force to trap the lupine in midair, just a feet short of his claws touching the boy's skin. Wolf was unable to even grimace due to the psychic force keeping him still in every budging flesh of his body. Luckily and unluckily for him, the moment of stillness was rather short once Ness swung his hands to the left and slammed him on the wall. Wolf let out a howl of pain, regaining control on his body and falling back on the floor, but this time incapacitated. "You're…a real…pain…" muttered Wolf.

"PK Freeze!" Poo suddenly shouted and performed the same move from before, trapping Wolf's arms and legs to the floor in thick ice. "There. We must continue moving forward to find your friend. Time is running short… I can't hear the roars any longer."

The other three children quickly noticed that the roars of fury had stopped so suddenly. The silence of that part of the chaos meant two things to them: it could mean that Lucario had found Chris, or something unexpected happened. Whatever it was, they needed to move quickly. "Y-you don't suppose he found him after all?" Jeff asked.

"Maybe, or it could mean something really bad… I'm really worried, everyone. We mustn't stop here!" Paula said. She looked back at Ness. "Ness, are you okay now?"

"Yeah…" Ness said, looking down at Wolf snarling wildly at him. "…You're right. I have you guys to keep myself together. I won't let these second thoughts stop me now, unless I have a super near-death experience."

"Come on. Your friend will have just that and more should we stay idle any longer," Poo advised. The others nodded at him and then took off running further east, leaving a cursing Wolf behind who tried to break free from the ice to no avail…

Five minutes ago…

Cell Room

The loud protests from the Aura Pokémon startled everyone in the factory. The roars snapped Chris out of his sniffles and Roy from his resting spot on the floor. Both were very alarmed once the explosions and quakes started going off as soon as the growls echoed. "W-what the hell?" Roy spoke loudly as he looked at the door and saw bright flashes of blue and red. "Why is this place suddenly exploding? No, wait, what the hell are those roars?!"

"(L-Lucario?! Oh my dear goodness… H-he found this place after all!)" Chris thought, both shocked and feeling slightly better. He felt a little better knowing Lucario managed to break into the factory, but not a lot better due to how he had entered with guns blazing, because the quakes and roars did not stop coming once they started. It was even worse for Chris due to how his cage was attached to the ceiling, transmitting the earthly shakes to the chain and forcing his confinement to dangle to the sides without his consent. "(Bleh… I'm feeling sick in here… I worried too much…)"

The possessed Roy opened the door and tried to look outside, only to find a thick smoke cloud covering several areas of the factory. From within those clouds, he saw the quakes caused by blue spheres that blew out into massive explosions, severely causing collateral damage. To his luck, the explosions were coming from afar, but if he was right about it, the source was surely going to get to him before long. "Ugh, this has to be some sort of big joke! How on Pharae are we being attacked so badly like this in this world?!" he asked to himself. "Lord Tabuu never said Ness was this strong!"

Chris overheard the swordsman's complaints from where he was. "(Well, that's because it's not Ness but Lucario…)" he thought.

Roy suddenly ducked out of the way when a foreign object, engulfed in blue flames of aura, came blasting towards the room and crashed on the other side of the wall, causing a minor quake in the room. Startled from the object crashing so hard on the wall, Chris turned to the direction of the object and gasped when he saw the possessed Pichu knocked out cold and upside-down while lodged onto the thick wall of steel. He actually was knocked out cold after uttering, "M-m-m-monster… S-s-s-s-so very…strong… F-f-f-flee…"

The swordsman blinked in utter shock at his fallen companion showing a bloated, swollen lump on top of his head…but not as much as shocked when Roy saw Pichu's body cleansing itself from the dark aura that used to control his free will. Even Chris couldn't believe that the dark aura was dissipating from the Pokémon's body before his eyes. "W-what?! L-Lord Tabuu's Shadow Bugs are…! T-they're leaving his body! This has to be a nightmare!" Roy exclaimed.

"(H-holy crap…)" The boy-turned-teen muttered mentally when he saw Pichu's body perfectly cleansed from the dark aura. He cringed when he saw the swollen lump, though. It looked like it was about to bleed out from being so swollen from whatever hit Pichu had tried to endure. No doubt it came from Lucario, Chris thought.

While Chris was left to deal with seeing the downed body, Roy saw Master Belch slithering into the room, looking quite panicked. "BURP, what is going on, BURP?! Why is my factory BURP falling apart BURP by a monster BURP?!" he asked while burping the swordsman. "Can't your friends do BURP something to stop this BURP?!"

Roy pinched his nose, being the main target of the disgusting puke monster's stench-filled words. "W-we're getting annihilated here! That monster even got Pichu and knocked him out of the Shadow Bugs!" he said, pointing at Pichu still lodged on the wall. "We weren't expecting something like this to happen! Lord Tabuu just told us to get rid of Ness and didn't say anything about a monster of mass destruction inhabiting this world!"

"You guys are BUUUUUURP useless," Belch complained, looking angry and reevaluating why he let them join his side.

The swordsman glared back. "Says the massive load of puke who can't defend his own factory!" he shot back.

"You are right. I am but BUUUURRRP a massive load of puke. I cannot BURP defend my BURP factory alone. That is BUUUURP why I am asking for help BUUUURP to you, the valiant BURP swordsman who can put an end BUUUURP to this madness. And you will BUUUURP fight back for the BURP good of the mission you have BUUURP been sent to BURP accomplish," Belch said in his own version of a benevolent speech, all mangled up by his tone of voice, constant burping, and grotesque face gestures.

"…You're just trying to get out of doing the dirty work while trying to confess how useless you are yourself without feeling guilty about it!" Roy complained.

"I would rather BURP say this than really BURP losing my head."

Irony was rather strong that day, for a blue fiery evil Lucario suddenly flying through the open door and tearing it apart from being smacked hard on the face by the monster, who ended up scrapping the top side of Belch's head off from his body. As Roy backed off and screamed when he saw the beheaded lord of the factory, the evil Lucario tumbled on the floor and felt pain all over his body once he came to a stop. He growled in pain and sat up, jerking himself wide awake when he smelled the horrible stench of puke splattered on his face. He quickly wiped the puke off and completely tried to ignore the flinching pain of his arms just for that one occasion.

Roy covered his mouth in disgust at the headless pile of puke (though then again, it was a pile of puke) and couldn't believe the boss of the area was taken down so quickly like that...until the pile simply grew another a slow and graphic way that made Roy lose it for real, forcing him to puke on the back of the room. "I am a pile of BURP puke. I can rebuild my BURP body at will," Belch said, looking slightly fazed after the recovery. He noticed the evil Lucario and went over to talk to him, seeing as Roy fell into a puking fit that Chris wanted to avoid doing himself. "You. Did you get into BURP contact with that monster?"

The evil Lucario cringed at the smell and his own pain. He didn't notice the trail of blood from his mouth was mixing up with the puke stains under his neck. "I-it's…it's another…Lucario… A-another one like me, even!" he said, coughing. "B-but this one… He's not like me at all…!" The confirmation was good to hear for Chris, who silently cheered.

"…Another BURP one like you?" Belch wondered, though he truly couldn't care less about another Lucario. "…And BURP you couldn't subdue him?"

"N-no, that madman is… N-no, I won't admit it! He's not stronger than I am!" the evil Lucario complained, standing back up and twitching madly from the pain. "H-he's just…v-very unhinged…! I can't deal with…with unhinged monsters!"

"So he's BURP stronger than you, then."

"NO!" he yelled angrily, even baring his fangs. He couldn't stand the thought that there were stronger Lucario than himself. "J-just…let me go back in there…a-and I will finish him off for real…!"

"A-are you crazy?" came Roy's voice from the corner of the room. He was regaining some control on his internal liquids. "L-look at yourself! You can barely even wal-oh no, it's coming up again…!" He turned around and knelt down to continue his intolerant health issue.

"…You are ALL BURP USELESS!" Belch complained louder, startling everyone in the room. "Master Giygas BURP is going to get me for screwing this BURP up all because you couldn't BURP contain a single monster even with a BURP majority of people! I can't BURP stand this anymore! I NEED MY FLY HONEY PRODUCTION!"

Roy regained his composure and turned back to the owner of the factory. "Screw that! I don't even want to know why you like such disgusting honey product! We're doing the best we can to fight back, but the thing is, IT'S NOT NESS! It's some other Lucario that…" he trailed off in realization when he had remembered something Sonic had said earlier in the day. "…Didn't Sonic say he saw another Lucario with Ness? Wait, if that's so, then Ness got inside!"

"BURP who cares if he got in?" Belch asked. "He probably BURP got annihilated in those explosions by now. I don't see why we need to BUUURP keep this other kid trapped in that cage any longer."

Chris knew the attention was on him. "(Oh craaaaaap…)" he thought.

"I had it with these BURP children! I want them gone immediately!" the owner of the factory said, going over to a small hidden panel on the wall to the right and pressing it by ramming his own face into it. The panel button caused a slight shaking on the floor, where a large square under the hanging cell opened up and raised some sort of pool filled with green liquid that everyone gazed at. At first, they thought Belch had an acid pool, until a really bad smell filled the air and forced everyone to pinch their noses. Being made of the same material, Belch did not cringe. "Time to deploy my own BURP method to deal with them!"

"(A-a-a pool made out of vomit?!)" Chris thought alarmed as he looked down at the cruel and unusual punishment waiting for him. "(I-I'd probably have preferred an acid pool! O-or maybe not… B-b-but…this?! I mean, w-what the hell in he on?!)"

Roy was absolutely through with the oddness of the universe, as seen when he buried his face on his hands. "Why, oh why am I even witnessing this? What did I accept to do in order to please Lord Tabuu?" he asked himself, grieving his luck.

The evil Lucario didn't care in the slightest about what appeared in the room. Thinking that he could take on the erratic monster once more, he turned for the door and tried running out…only to notice that the sounds of chaos breaking the factory apart came to an abrupt halt, or at least the roars that kept echoing for a long while. Only when Mewtwo came floating inside the room and holding said monster in a tight psychic grip in midair was when the panic had stopped… "Really, this place could have fallen apart if I had not been here," said Mewtwo, his left hand wide open at the monster struggling to get out from his power.

Chris was heartbroken when he saw his Lucario – with chin pointing upward and bangs bared – twitching in place. Not even Mewtwo allowed the Aura Pokémon to open his eyes to look around, but Lucario was able to sense Chris's aura nearby that made him twitch even more in hopes to break free from the psychic grip. Mewtwo, sensing the budging, applied some more power by closing his hand to keep Lucario in place. "(L-Lucario…)"

Roy and the others saw the monster at a safe distance, not believing the fact they saw a second Lucario like their own. "I-I can't believe this. There IS another Lucario in this world of all places?!" Roy said.

"It appears our Lucario was right when he said there was another one," Mewtwo said, eyeing his captive fighter. "…I find it very surprising to find this one wandering this world as well. And to boot, he is exceptionally strong. I can barely keep a firm grip on his body." The evil Lucario examined his assumedly good copy closer, taking careful steps as to avoid irking the monster. "I may have met my match today, but as he is right now, he is nothing but a pure hindrance that caused major collateral damage to this factory. Not to mention…" he trailed off as he saw Pichu lodged on the wall, "…no matter. Pichu was the least productive member of our force. His loss will not be missed."

"H-hey, enough about that!" Roy said. "Why is there another Pokémon around here? What does this even mean?"

Mewtwo thought for a moment. "It is rather unlikely that this Lucario was sent by Master Hand. We never met anyone else other than the one in our group. Otherwise, why would he keep this one stashed away in secret? Let us not forget that this world houses strange phenomena… We can thus surmise that this Lucario just happened to live here, as odd as it sounds," he said before shutting his eyes and taking in a deep breath to relax himself. "Such a wakeup call... G-guh?!"

Things resumed going south once Mewtwo carelessly ignored the fact that the room was starting to become really stinky due to the ginormous pool of contained vomit in the center. He near-almost lost his focus when he took that suicidal deep breath. Fortunately for Mewtwo, he managed to stay awake. Unfortunately for his glowing psychic hand, it lost focus on the wild Lucario and released him. His body was quick to catch blue fiery aura all over again, and the ensuing roar sent a forceful wind that pushed everyone to the walls. The cage in which Chris was trapped dangled to the back as a result of the wind, which set him off by yelling.

That yell was enough for the really rabid Lucario to blink once and call off the intense aura covering his body. Calmness came back to him when he heard that familiar voice ringing in his ears once more, and he stared up at the cage where his trainer was. Seeing Chris shivering in the cage made Lucario gasp and regain his consciousness. "C-Chris!" Lucario yelled.

The startled boy opened his eyes and looked back down, where his Lucario stood oblivious to the other villains cringing in pain at the sudden back-slamming to the walls. "L-Lucario! Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Chris cried tears of joy, until he recalled where he was. "GET ME OUT OF THIS CAGE! I DON'T WANT TO SINK IN THAT PILE OF VOMIT DOWN THERE!"

His trainer's firm order spoken out loud, Lucario looked serious and performed a large leap to the cage's top side, where he grabbed the chain with one hand and easily tore it off from the ceiling while Chris latched himself to the bars to hold himself from the landing back to the floor. The cage bumped on the safe floor behind the pool, and Lucario climbed down from the top to stand in front of his trainer behind the bars. Those bars were the last things keeping them both apart, and Lucario's hands were not going to let them stay vertically upright once they held the bars and crushed them in impossibly-tight grips. Pulling the bars to the back, Lucario braced himself when his trainer cried and leapt to his waist for a tight hug he returned in earnest. "Chris…! I-I'm here…"

"L-Lucario! T-thank you, thank you so much!" Chris cried, his face buried on his Lucario's fur. "I-I-I thought I was really done for…"

Lucario shut his eyes and let a few tears leak out from them. He sensed his trainer's aura brimming with happiness; an emotion that put Lucario at ease. "You will never die as long as I'm around, Chris…" he muttered under his breath. "If anyone even tries to harm you…they will pay with their pain."

Chris smiled and looked aside, his left cheek still brushing Lucario's fur. The boy felt emotionally touched and convinced about his choice of words. "You're…you're my hero, Lucario… Thank you…" he muttered, yelping when Lucario growled happily, raised him by the sides, and started cheek-rubbing his trainer, much to Chris's delight and surprise. "H-hey, stop! Y-you're tickling me!" Chris giggled, completely overpowered by his guardian.

"U-useless…fools…all of you!"

The two stopped rubbing their cheeks and quickly looked to the back to see a rather angry Mewtwo pushing himself up from the floor, albeit floating. He glared daggers at the two before directing his gaze to his team. Lucario went back to his red-eyed glare and kept a tight grip on his trainer's side to avoid losing his side, while Chris wrapped his arms around Lucario's waist. "O-oh no, I forgot we're still not out of this mess!" Chris lamented.

Mewtwo glared at Belch, who recoiled back in fear. "That sickening pool of gastric liquids… This and your whole being are why I always thought you were a colossal fool…" he muttered under his breath, making sure he wasn't taking another deep breath by psychically plugging his nose. "Have you no shame for making me lose it this way?"

"I-I wasn't BURP trying to hinder you at BURP all!" Belch quivered.

"SILENCE!" Mewtwo scolded harshly while approaching in front of the door, going so far as to sending a psychic wave that pushed Belch on the wall, splatting all over it but barely surviving. The bits of vomit that remained behind quickly tried to recover from the damage by merging back together, though only a small face of the factory's owner tried hard to grow bigger again.

Mewtwo was too much frustrated to think and focus that he was pushed back by the door suddenly exploding on his side. The explosion was caused by several blinding lights that converged and burst multiple times; an attack most people wouldn't comprehend. The force of the explosion, much to his complete dislike, launched Mewtwo across to the center of the room where his body became numb when it dove inside the vomit pool. It would be safe to say that the psychic lost all senses once he fell inside, and he wouldn't be able to wake up unless he was dragged out from it.

From the blasted door, the other four children came rushing in, with a tired Jeff coming for last. "W-we're here!" Ness said.

They noticed the state of the room. A teenager with a dark aura was staring all wide-eyed from the left, a pile of vomit with a face was slowly regenerating next to him, from the north of the room both Chris and Lucario were staring wide-eyed with the cage hiding the fainted Pichu on the back, and in the center was the pool of vomit, where they spotted a dark aura tail pointing upwards...and seemingly twitching until it went numb and sunk…

"…I'm not surprised by what happened in here," Paula broke the silence.

"…Oh, oh!" Belch suddenly noticed Ness and moved forward. "You have come BURP at last, Ne-" His nose suddenly went wild when he found an exquisite smell in the air. Ness was seen carrying the Jar of Fly Honey, and it was leaking its contents through a hole. The smell of the small leak made the children pinch their noses.

The boy cringed and set the jar down. "Ugh, this jar has been occupying my stuff for a while, and now it broke after I tripped. I don't see how this is gonna help us in anything so I'm gonna put it away," Ness said.

Belch was looking at that succulent honey leaking. His mind raced with many thoughts about how he should enjoy the meal presented indirectly to him in ways that no one could imagine. The world meant nothing to him with that fly honey polluting the air. He didn't hear anyone talking to him if he was wrong; that anyone being Roy. Oh, to bathe himself in a bath full of fly honey. Belch was very giddy and happy that he let anyone do anything to him, which of course would be a really bad thing, because that meant he wouldn't get to enjoy that jar and its gooey liquid. No, he needed that fly honey as a way to relieve himself from the stress of having to repair the absolutely wrecked factory. Why even repair the factory when he could indulge himself in that fly honey? He just needed one sip to taste heaven incarnate, and everything in the world would be fine for him. Yes, that jar was asking for him to take it. Yes, only he could unleash the taste his other comrades couldn't hope to unleash with their meager, third-rate tongues. Belch just needed to get over there and claim his prize…and everything would be over for the epic life of a living pile of majestic vomit.

Needless to say, he went splat by a PK Thunder blow Poo called forth, and Belch was no more in the world. The Jar of Fly Honey went unloved.

Music stops

Roy was taking it really hard to comprehend what went wrong in his first mission with a large entourage of people. He didn't know what happened to Sonic and Wolf, Pichu had been knocked out silly and out cold, the strongest member Mewtwo was sadly put out of commission because of Belch's really unorthodox methods in dealing with captive people…and he just noticed their Lucario was long gone inside the same pool of vomit (having been pushed by the big Lucario's scream) seeing as the jackal's straight ears were sticking out from one side. The only good news was Belch's exciting demise…

The swordsman felt the gazes of six people in the room. Either he could escape or fight stubbornly and risk complete defeat. He chose the first one by snapping his fingers and calling forth dark portals that retrieved every single fallen member of his team within the factory area. Grimacing hard, he told the group, "Y-you better watch out next time! We won't be defeated like this ever again, you hear me?!" right before his head sunk into the portal. The group gasped when they saw the evil group no more…along with the pool of vomit that had been hastily taken away to make it faster and easier to retrieve the fallen members.

A moment of silence came afterwards, giving the group some time to relax and get it together. The children were all relieved to see Chris alive and well once they rushed over to see him. "Chris! Thank goodness you're okay!" Ness said. "You made it out just fine… I thought for a moment they tried to torture you or… Well, you know…"

Chris stopped clinging to Lucario and forced a smile at them. "W-what happened is a thing of the past I'll never want to think about too much… Still…" He looked at them all and looked earnestly happy. "T-thank you… I…I have never felt so happy to have so many people trying to rescue me from certain death… You don't know how many times I want to thank you for doing this for me."

Poo bowed cordially. "The invisible bonds that people create truly make individuals remain together through the harshest of times. I am proud of us for proving that theory right," he said.

The teen-turned-boy stared long at Poo. "Er… You are..."

"Poo; one of the chosen four," the boy said. "I came here to give Ness a helping hand in fighting the Subspace Army for this one occasion. I had to put my training on hold to do this…" He stared at Lucario. "…Perhaps I was a little rash in making this decision for other reasons. Nonetheless, it was a good experience to lend my aid to my comrades, and I am glad that you outlived the madness of this factory." He bowed again.

Chris felt a little touched to hear that. "O-oh, it's so nice to meet you…and for helping the cause," he said.

Jeff chuckled. "We did a good job after all, despite the big odds stacked against us. I was very afraid we were going to die trying to get here for several moments!" he said.

"That's over with," Paula said nodding. "All that's left to do is check the factory thoroughly to set the kidnapped Mr. Saturn free to end this ordeal for good."

Lucario scoffed. "You do that. I will probably toss a fit if I see those infernal creatures again," he said.

Ness looked annoyed. "Hey, they were trying to kidnap me, not Chris. If anyone has some beef against them, it's me. Let me sort things out with them and just pretend this never happened. You DID almost destroy their home with that chaotic fit you tossed hours ago! They need some space," he said.

Lucario saw Chris's bewildered face looking at him, and the first sweated a few bullets. "You did what?" Chris asked, his voice somewhat silent but stern.

"…T-they deserved some punishment!" Lucario said in his defense. "E-even if I wasn't really trying to kill them all before I found out what they did to you!"

The boy shrugged. "Please, no more killing talk. I don't want to see you hurting someone else for the rest of the time we're here…"

"I…" Lucario didn't want to make his trainer feel much worse after everything that happened in the day. "…I understand."

"…And no glares at the Mr. Saturns, either," Chris added. He saw Lucario's cringing look until he sighed and nodded in understanding. The Aura Pokémon thought that the favor was too much to ask, though.

"…Yeah, so!" Ness clapped his hands. "Anyone else wants to do something productive in this wrecked factory like exploring it for some clues and free items?"

Paula felt her feet shaking all of a sudden, until she noticed everyone else was affected by the floor shaking. "A-a tremor!" she yelped.

A small tremor caused them to gasp and look around frantically, until Poo pointed at the wall in front of the entrance of the room. The wall was starting to fall apart; its steel plates dislodging and separating. The group distanced themselves from the falling wall until, after dodging the debris and letting the dust clear out, found out that there was a tunnel on the other side of the obstruction… "H-hey… That's a pretty wide tunnel right there," Jeff noted.

"…So that's what Mewtwo was talking about when he said this room was inadequate…" Chris muttered under his breath. A closer look at the tunnel they saw shed some light further up ahead, making it clear as day that it could have been used as a getaway route to wherever it led to…

More importantly was the fact an unconscious yellow body with a bloated lump on its head rolled all the way to their feet and came to a halt. "Hey… Look at that creature," Ness said blankly. "Where did that come from?"

"P-Pichu…" Chris stuttered when he remembered what had happened to the creature. "I-I saw him getting blown into this room when there were explosions in the factory, a-and then he got knocked out when he crashed into the wall. He was with those guys…"

"You mean he was with the bad guys? …Oh, now I see what we can do with him," the Onett boy said while taking out his baseball bat and smacking it twice on his palm. "Time to make it squeal some dark secrets."

"Ness, we're not going to interrogate the poor thing with torture!" Paula scolded. Ness put away his bat and grimaced.

"I think it's fine for now… He used to have that dark aura until it went away when he got knocked out," Chris said. "That dark aura you saw on those guys was brainwashing them all. They would probably never behave like that if it wasn't for that aura."

"Dark aura…" Lucario muttered. "I just saw that aura when I rescued you. I didn't see it before when I entered."

"Probably because you were too busy causing chaos and destruction," Poo noted. "You were blinded by rage. It is pure luck that we survived the obliteration of this hideout."

"I-I was just trying to…" Lucario looked concerned at Chris.

"It is fine… All that matters is that you successfully rescued him with no casualties on our side. I do recommend you to keep a close check on your emotions for next time," Poo advised the Aura Pokémon, seeing Lucario in deep thought when he lost it several moments ago. Giving Lucario time to reflect, Poo looked down at Pichu. "It is your call what you want to do with this creature."

"…" Chris was afraid that Pichu could actually still be possessed. But the rodent looked pretty beat up, making it hard for them to consider if he was faking it. "…I think I'm going to take him with us. He was part of team we joined."

"Really? He was with you?" Ness asked, really vaguely seeing Pichu before in the past. "Does that mean those other guys were with you before?"

"W-well, we never met, but they used to be with the team. I'm sure our boss is going to be happy that we retrieved Pichu from this world," the boy said, bending down and picking Pichu on his arms. "This should be the right thing to do…"

"If that's what you want to do, go ahead," Paula said. "With Lucario by your side, it should be pretty safe to take that creature, right?"

Chris looked and nodded at Lucario. "Yes…"

Jeff looked at the tunnel up ahead and he talked to the others. "Say, why don't we see where this tunnel leads to? I have an inkling we'll find something important at the other end if the bad guys really wanted to keep it secret," he suggested. "We can come back to check this factory after we see where it goes."

"An enlightening suggestion. Let us proceed," Poo agreed. Looking back one last time at the claustrophobic factory, the group departed from the room and entered the long, winding tunnel, wondering what place the exit was going to be like. Sensing his trainer shivering at the memory of what happened at the factory, Lucario kept him close and became much more alert of anything else that could happen. He was never going to repeat the same incident ever again…

Once the group reached the exit of the tunnel, they had to push some boulders back to step out. The light was coming from some small gaps. After clearing the way out and stepping outside to breathe fresh air, Ness stared in disbelief at a familiar hot spring to their left. "Seriously?!" he asked loudly.

Saturn Valley

The group found themselves back in Saturn Valley, specifically right next to the drugged hot spring that kick-started the whole problem with rescuing Chris from the enemy army. The children were bewildered that they could have gotten to the factory by simply using the tunnel behind their backs rather than taking the long way through the falls. Chris was even more bewildered when he stared at the messed up state the valley was due to Lucario's howls of fury wrecking the cliffs and gave him a grimace that made Lucario hang his head down in shame.

"Unbelievable," Paula said when she looked back at the tunnel and then at the valley. "So this may have been one easy for us to rescue Chris."

Ness sighed. "Yup, we have the worst of luck ever… This really sucks," he muttered, sitting down and embracing his knees in solace.

Lucario tried one more time to see if he could pinpoint the factory using his sixth sense, and this time he was able to see that location clearly with nothing to fool his sight. Perhaps the invisible veil covering that place was caused by the presence of the enemies, he thought. He was very glad that he wasn't going insane with his emotions to find Chris, thinking that they had clouded his sight. "It's…all in the past, like we've said before," Lucario said. "Everything turned out okay."

Chris's smile wasn't forced. He felt happy anyway. "We should be glad that we managed to defeat the enemy, even if that involved me experiencing the worst…" He looked down at himself and recalled that he was stuck as a boy. "This…boy illness I have just won't go away, though. It's been some time and it hasn't left yet. It's about time that I just…give up and restart my childhood all over."

Poo turned to face the boy and took his time staring deeply into him. "…This body of yours is fake, isn't it?" he asked Chris, who looked surprised. "Your essence doesn't truly fit its shape. It is as if you had been afflicted by a strange spell that reverted your body into this…" Poo came closer to Chris, the latter feeling uncomfortable at the beady eyes staring deeply into his soul. Poo then stepped back and made his hands glow with PSI energy. "Hold still now…"

The boy started to sweat in horror at what was going to happen, and Lucario couldn't prevent what happened next after Chris managed to say, "W-wait, what are you going to do to m-?!"

"PSI Healing!" Poo shouted and opened his PSI-energized palms to the boy, sending a cooling wave out that covered the boy's body completely in a blue shade.

And with a simply poof of smoke, the boy version of Chris was replaced with the rightful teenage version that he used to be before he had been turned into the boy from that Subspace Bomb.

Lucario and the others watched on in shock at the turn of events just as how a speechless Chris stood there stupefied of what took place just now, until he looked down at the floor being a little farther away from his head. He started to look and feel his body with his hands, with a twitching smile slowly creeping up when he started to believe it did happen to him. From the spur of the moment, he let go of Pichu's downed body on a patch of grass. "M-my teenage appearance!" Chris rejoiced, joining his hands on his chest and hopping on the spot. "I-I got it back! I-I really got my appearance back! Oh, thank you so much, Poo! I was fearing trying to explain the change to my parents if they ever found out!" Poo politely bowed in gratitude.

Ness and Paula were more shocked to see the teenage Chris than Jeff. "S-so Poo can age up people at will?" Ness asked.

Paula looked bored at him. "No, Ness. He used PSI Healing alpha to restore Chris's body to his former appearance… Wait a minute, you also have the same ability with you, don't you, Ness?" she asked.

"Huh… Oh yeah, I do have it in my repertoire," Ness said.

Chris looked a tad angry at Ness. "Y-you mean I could've been restored to my normal body from the moment we met?" he asked in a complaining tone.

"Hey! I didn't know PSI Healing could restore people's bodies like this! Don't you blame me for not knowing that convenient effect!"

"At ease, you two," Poo said with all the peace in the world. "What I just did was simply me testing a theory out. I did not know either if the spell could revert him back but I wanted to give it a try. I am glad I was able to help Chris with his age dilemma."

"O-oh! Yes, I'm really grateful you tested that theory out, then! By all means, I'm happy you did," Chris said. He looked at the clothes he wore, seemingly having stretched out with his former body shape.

Lucario smiled. "Me too. It should make it easier for him to relax now… You have my gratitude," he told the Dalaam boy. "I can stop worrying about him fretting over that issue. It's a shame I won't get to see him in his childhood any longer, though…"

Chris forced a smile to the aura wielder. "I also wish you've been there in my childhood, Lucario, but it's better off this way to keep my parents from really losing their heads…me included," he said, earning a happy growl from Lucario. The other children shared glances and chuckled, feeling happy that everything turned out well in the end.

"Congratulations for a job well done, everyone!" said a booming voice that rung in everyone's heads and made them yelp in shock. "Please, children. Don't be so scared. It is I, Master Hand, Chris and Lucario's boss communicating to your minds."

Ness looked up in the sky to find the voice's source but couldn't do so. "W-whoa, who are you, exactly?" he asked as everyone else looked up at the sky as well.

"Not some entity speaking to you from the skies, that's for sure. No need to angle up your chins to find me," Master Hand said. "I am communicating to all of you present in the group to congratulate your efforts for driving the Subspace Army away from Ness and Friends' universe. Now, I can safely put up an anti-Subspace barrier to keep those bad guys from interfering with Ness's adventure. Ness, you can rest easy that those baddies will not try to get your head! You can continue with your personal adventure and never worry about them suddenly barricading the way."

"…Well, that's relieving to hear."

"Yup, it is… As for you, Chris and Lucario, I had some doubts you weren't going to succeed, but I'm happy you proved me wrong and came out victorious! Recruiting you wasn't a waste!" the hand said, sensing the annoyed looks on his subordinates. "Now, now, you two. I'm not undermining your efforts at all. You did so well… Wait a minute… Is that…? Pichu?!" The group at the valley looked down at the Pokémon on the grass, and Chris gasped and picked him back up on his arms. "How the hell did Pichu…?! Y-you know what, never mind. This isn't the time to talk about this HUGE shock I just got sensing his presence next to you all… Chris, Lucario, you have done tremendously well in your first mission, and you have surely unearthed some dark info I want to hear face-to-face to prepare ourselves for our next battles ahead. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo, you have my gratitude for letting these two assist you in your journey, but I am afraid you will have to part ways with them right now."

Jeff and the others looked sad at the two extra party members. "Y-you're going to take them away? But I did get used to having them around…" he muttered.

"I would love for those two to keep helping you, but other places are in dire need of help from the Subspace Army. I can't risk the worlds falling in disarray just so you children have an easier adventure to solve your personal conflicts. Divide and conquer, as they say."

"I…I knew this was going to happen sooner or later when they informed us about the army," Paula said. "I wish it could've happened much later…"

"Touching, really, but things happen and we must focus on our personal problems. Juuuuust give me a second to open up the portal for these two… SNAP!" That word defined the sound it wanted to make, and as soon as that sound echoed in their minds, a growing portal materialized behind the group until it reached a wide size for anyone tall enough in the group to walk through. The children were shocked and amazed at the strange phenomenon appearing out of the blue, though Chris and Lucario were equally as surprised as they were. "There we go. Ahh, it feels so nice to have less restrictions imposed on you to indulge in another universe! Alright, you two. Say your good byes to the children, because I just know you want to leave on a good note."

The two world travelers were having some mixed feelings as they looked at that portal swirling in midair. Seeing that portal that would put an end to his adventures in the current world, Chris was reflecting on all that went through in his stay. When he turned around, he saw the children looking a tad depressed to see the two go…and that pulled some emotions in him for having spent enough time with all of them to learn how to do an adventure. "I…I guess this is good bye for now, you guys…"

Paula's smile twitched slightly, but she nodded in understanding. "I-it's sad. You have other stuff to do away from this world while we have our own share of problems. I…I wish you two good luck in your adventures," she said, wiping a few tears. "It was so nice to learn there's more people out there looking out for us from far away in other dimensions… We will look out for you, too!"

"Your own existence just proved a lot of unscientific theories scientists in this world created. You should feel proud to be the living proof of it!" Jeff said excitedly, until he composed himself and blushed. "U-um… Y-yes, I feel sad to see you two go as well… You made my reunion with Ness and Paula easier and more secure. I'm happy that I got to know you two first…"

Poo smiled warmly. "You have my thanks for assisting us in keeping this world besieged by Giygas safe. I can predict your future endeavors will be full of hardships and more…" He closed his eyes. "I may have been a little hasty in trying to assist Ness and the others in fighting the enemies you are after. However, I will not forget that making such decision allowed me to meet both of you. A shame that we could not spend more time together…which we shall do when there is a time of peace soon."

Those encouraging words made Chris sniff, and he forgot about the bad stuff that happened to him during that moment of departure. Meeting otherworldly people with special attributes and getting to be friends with them was a huge tear jerking event to him. His leaking tears were proof about how he made a bond with them all. "T-thanks… I don't know how well it'll go for us two from now on. It's so, but so nice to hear you all encouraging us, though…" The teen felt conflicted about what dangers there were going to be in store for him if he chose to continue assisting the team with the really abysmal number of members. His kidnapping was a big strike that made it clear to him that even Lucario – the most powerful Lucario he knew – was not enough for security…but one look at him told Chris that Lucario was never going to let it happen again. They both were rusty in adventuring together despite the fact Lucario looked powerful enough to hold his own.

"Hey, Chris…" Ness spoke up, reminding Chris he hadn't spoken yet. "Listen… When we were rushing to your rescue back there, I got to thinking… This is your first experience in adventuring, right?"

"Oh? Um, yes, it is…" Chris said. "Why do you ask that?"

"…" Ness went over to Chris's side and grabbed with both hands his right hand, making the teen blink twice. "I-I've been putting up this tough face since I started this personal struggle to fight Giygas… You see, having PSI powers boosted my ego a lot when I found out I had those powers. And when I found out that the Subspace Army was going after my head…I got scared…and I remembered how scared I was when that strange alien guy tried to kill me when that fly from the future was with me… You obviously were scared almost all the time we had to fight the baddies."

Chris blushed in embarrassment. "I haven't really gotten used to this fighting thing yet… I wasn't even trying to hide it when I got turned into a boy. I'm still scared about what could happen down the road," he said, making Lucario place his left hand on his trainer's back for some moral support.

"Yeah, I know… So…what I wanted to say to you is…that you should rely on others," Ness said, looking back at Paula, Jeff, and Poo. "Things have gotten nastier the more I travel. It will surely be the same thing to you…but as long as you have people watching your back all the time…" he smiled and nodded at his group before looking up at Chris, "…you will get braver. Slowly but surely, you won't have to be so scared as you keep relying on others. They will have to rely on you, though. What I say is that no matter what happens…just…remember that people look out for you because they care…" He chuckled. "You and Lucario came down here because you cared about me after all even if we didn't know each other, right?"

"…N-Ness…" Chris stuttered, finding a lot of truth in Ness's words. "I…I… Thank you… I can't believe you were going to tell me this…"

Ness let go of Chris's hand and looked a bit peeved. "I-I have a heart too, you know! I-I just wanted to give you some support so it doesn't look like everything's lost!" he shot back.

Paula giggled. "Wow, Ness. You look more mature now that you said that to him. You can be a nice person when you don't want to rip someone's head off…no offense to you, Lucario," she said, earning a grunting sound from Ness and Lucario. Both Jeff and Poo exchanged small laughs at Ness's expense, and so did Chris who felt much better with everyone sharing a nice moment before he would have to leave. If only there was a way to remember the event…

A fanfare suddenly blared off from out of nowhere. From the skies, a spinning man wearing a trademark black top-hat and tuxedo descended with all the serenity of the world, with his camera tightly held between his hands. Somehow landing softly on a patch of perfect grass, the man chuckled loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Pictures taken instantaneously!" he said gleefully. "I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

"You again!" Ness said, while Lucario cringed that he couldn't detect the man's aura falling from the sky once.

A moment of silence followed until Paula sighed. "You know what… If we want to remember their departure with something, now's a good time to take a picture, even if we completely forgot about this person…" she said. The others exchanged glances for a moment and shrugged their shoulders, thinking the same thing as Paula.

"Okay, get ready for an instant memory!"

Without further questioning the photographer, the group of children and their otherworldly friends prepared themselves for the group photo, with Jeff, Paula, Ness, and Poo on the front and Chris and Lucario on the back (though Chris put Pichu away just to avoid the implication the group was celebrating beating him up). The photographer nodded gleefully and focused the camera on them all for a farewell photo that would last for a very long time… "Look at the camera… Ready… Say, 'fuzzy pickles'!"

"Fuzzy pickles!" And Ness flashed a peace sign right as the click sound rang…

After the photographer had left by way of spinning up and disappearing in thin air, the two groups were ready to go their separate ways. Chris, in particular, couldn't believe that his first incursion to a new universe came to an end. He felt sad and melancholic looking back at the four children who, in many ways, had helped him instead of the other way around…but then again, the teen admitted that he was still rusty in the ways of traveling through unknown worlds. With Lucario placing his right palm on Chris's back as they passed through the portal, the human reflected on Ness's words that he should rely on others to get used to it…and it would be those words that would help Chris grow more courageous with time, even if it would take a long time for that day to come. The portal received its guests crossing through it, which was the trigger for it to vanish by shrinking and leaving one last glitter of light behind.

The Mr. Saturns were in quite a bind after it was revealed that they had a hand in trying to kidnap Ness with the drugged hot spring trick. They weren't sure if they had to fear Ness or be thankful that the other children saved them. There was a lot of arguments between Ness and Paula, until he finally gave up and let them go…on the condition that they ALL would have to help him with whatever he wanted. The group thought that this was a right (or at least the best) solution if they wanted Ness to stop giving them looks that sent multiple chills to their rather short spines. Jeff wasn't wrong when he thought Ness was going to make them his slaves if the group of children didn't keep an eye on him...

As for Ness's group, Poo told them that he had to depart back to his kingdom, feeling that he wasn't ready for the next trials up ahead (to get his point across, he explained this by letting Ness smack him once, and shockingly, Poo fainted at the first hit). Telling them that he needed to go somewhere with a long straight path, the fourth child tasked them to go back to Threed once they were finished with the My Sanctuary location inside the cave to the right of the one they came out of. After Ness complained about every useful party member deserting them by the second, Paula helped him to calm down on his complaints. Just as he was about to enter the cave nearby, he looked up to the sky and smiled as he recalled the two otherworldly travelers, wishing them good luck in their adventures…and how there was this nagging feeling telling him that he would fight the bigger threat with them soon…

At the end of the Onett boy's adventure, he would receive all the photographs in his mailbox taken by the mysterious photographer… He would turn blue once he found out that, just like the first shot with Chris and Lucario, the second shot had the same smiling ghost floating right above an ill-looking Jeff who had sensed its strange presence nearby. Apparently, since the graveyard, the group was being stalked by the ghost all this time…

"HOLY CRAP," was what Ness would say eventually.

WORLD COMPLETED!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

Welcome to the Smash Mansion

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Chris, Lucario

This concludes my successful rewrite of the EarthBound arc. Phew! I thought I wasn't going to finish it, but I'm glad I did…

Sorry if you people expected a lot of action, but I just wanted to introduce the bad guys. The readers reading this probably think that "Hey, what gives? This Lucario was too OP during the whole arc!" but in reality, this is going to be the last time he ever gets to completely obliterate (or behead) everything in his way. You will see how that happens in the next chapter. And since this is a LONG story, you will see a lot of development for many characters…especially Chris.

The next chapter will contain a lot of surprises to newcomers and even older readers alike, because I'm sure some people noticed the massive changes that happened in this chapter alone… Ooh, I'm getting excited here.

I encourage everyone to read on and review.
*Chapter 6*: Welcome to the Smash Mansion

Get to know the base of operations for this bunch of misfits, even if it is a little too empty for comfort…

I encourage all readers to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Still waiting for a sequel for Ice Climber.

Chapter 6: Welcome to the Smash Mansion

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That strange feeling of completing a mission that could have ended your life because you didn't think of the consequences of wishing for dimensional travel was alien to the likes of Chris. There was no greater relief knowing he had made it out alive with the help of his previously-pissed off guardian leveling up a hideout in his name. Though Chris didn't like the fact a hideout was blown up in his name, he did like being alive to live another day. Specifically, living somewhere else away from danger was a welcomed idea.

…Except now, as they both had appeared in a really dark place the portal they took had dropped them at. It was not their home for sure. There were no open windows showing the outside world. It was pure darkness that greeted them from all angles they could turn around to.

"What…?" Chris breathed out when he eventually realized this was a bad situation to be in. "W-where are we? This isn't my home!"

"Hold it right there," Lucario told Chris, grasping his trainer's shoulder to keep him from losing contact. "I'll use my aura and scan the place for any shapes."

"O-oh, right. I forgot you could do that…" Chris said.

"Now hold it, you dog!" came a voice from the darkness that startled Chris and pissed Lucario. "Using your super sixth sense is going to ruin the surprise I've been holding for you two. Wait until I snap my fingers to bring in some light to this sacred place."

"Master Hand?" the teen spoke when having recognized the voice. "Y-you brought us here? Why did you bring us here and not my house?"

"Oh, please. As if I was going to take refuge in that little home of yours with humans ready to scream their heads off spotting me in the air… Racists, all of them," Master Hand said. "You know what the best place for refuge is? Well… Snappity snap!" then the appropriate sound echoed loud and clear.

The first sign of changes was moonlight coming from a long row of windows opening up behind their backs, with a distinctive gap between them that would be wide enough for a door to be at. They both turned around quickly to brace themselves for what would show up, only to briefly ease themselves at the windows. Distracted by the windows, the room they were at lit up quickly, and the darkness went away.

They found themselves standing in the middle of a gigantic squared grey lobby. Looking around quickly, they spotted the aforementioned windows on the back, with two large doors right in the middle leading outside to…wherever they were. To the right were many couches placed around rectangular tables being overlooked by a giant widescreen TV mounted on the wall. To the left was an empty wall to the right of a large entrance leading to a pristine white area that they assumed was a kitchen of untold size, spotting many sinks, and chairs placed around a very large table in the middle. To the front, the large lobby was three stories high with a wide open hallway on the first floor, an inward staircase on each side connected to the second floor and another hallway with a wooden rail, and lastly a third story level that was just a wall… The gaudy red mattress brimmed yellow gave a small professional look to the large environment.

Right there in front of them, Master Hand was floating, holding the pose he used to snap his fingers…then Crazy Hand appearing from behind him and raised a trumpet, seemingly playing a triumphant tune by just holding it. "Welcome…" Master Hand began, "…to the SMASH MANSION!"

That simple and emphasized greeting to the mysterious building only slightly startled them, but it didn't compare to how they got surprised at the very long echo that followed after that. The word "mansion" kept going on, bouncing across the empty hallways which must have been very long ones to even allow the sound to continue for a straight minute. It wasn't impossible to believe that the building they were in was simply too big as the word kept going further and further away into the hallways…

The duo remained looking around until the word died out completely. Crazy Hand stopped playing the trumpet to see his fellow brother miserably lying down on the floor, right before he started sobbing in placing. "This is… This is so depressing…" Master Hand sobbed. "The wonderful mansion…devoid of people…"

"…" Chris and Lucario exchanged worried glances and looked back at the hand. "Uh, so, um, this is a mansion, you said?" Chris asked.

"Yes. The Smash Mansion…" Master Hand got up very slowly. "Population…us four… Formerly over thirty… Oh god…" he sobbed.

"What is it with your sobbing?" Lucario asked.

"Y-you'd be sobbing too if the home where you housed that many interesting people suddenly went dead with no one else to brighten up the silence!" the hand complained. "I'll have you know, I have never invited less than eight people into this humble abode! But now I have to start REALLY slow with…just the two of you living here."

"I never said I was going to live here."

Master Hand broke crying. Lucario got a dope slap on the back of his head by Chris. "We don't want to crush his self-esteem more!" Chris hissed. He turned back to Master Hand as Lucario resisted that slap to his guiltiness. "S-sorry. W-we'll try to help you out with this. I think we agreed on that, right?"

The hand chocked up and looked at the teen. "C-can you multiple yourselves to eight people? That'd make me feel good with myself," the hand said.

"…We can't do that!" The hand sobbed harder, making the situation for uncomfortable for the two new guests. "Now you're trying to get too much from us! Can't you just be happy you have the two of us here?"

"And me?" Crazy Hand added.

A little moment of sobbing later, the hand regained his senses and stared at his low amount of guests he wasn't satisfied with. "Fiiiiiiiiine," he gave up in a bored tone. "Welcome to the Smash Mansion, where impossible wishes come true as nightmares people didn't think through. Yada yada yada, please have fun in these huge empty hollow halls of pure silence and don't make a big mess during your stay or else I will pound you to the ground."

The duo kept staring.

"…What," the hand said.

"It's like the life in you just died," Lucario pointed out.

"It did. It was horrible." He shrugged and composed himself even more. "Whew. I needed all that steam out of my system… As I've said before I got a breakdown, welcome to this mansion, you two. This is the place where you would have never guessed before all of your favorite, colorful fighters…lived together under the same roof."

Chris grimaced. "Seriously? You put everyone to live here?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's as chaotic as you may think," Master Hand said. "Bowser plotting to kidnap Peach under Mario's nose, Luigi cowering in fear, the swordsmen having a sword club, Zelda actively trying to avoid Captain Falcon's advances, the space furries snarking nonstop at the antics, Kirby killing the fridge and leaving everyone to starve or leave the place for food, Mewtwo glaring at anyone who tries striking a conversation with him, Mr. G&W hiding perfectly in plain sight, Ganondorf fighting his urges to blow Link a new one… The usual on almost a daily basis."

"If that does happen a lot, I don't want to think what my survival rate would be…" Lucario growled mentally at the thought.

"Trust me. Somehow, we all survive at the end of every day," the leader said. "The fighters living here do so under contract while tourneys are held at random times. Everyone gets a fair share of fun and get rewarded for tossing punches at each other. You see, the fights seen here are broadcast to specific places all across the dimensions of their homes."

"…What?" the duo said in unison.

"I didn't invite people to this mansion to appease my desire for amusement. Who do you think I am?" Master Hand asked. "…I invited people to this mansion to appease anyone's desire for amusement AND monetary gain. It works wonders!" he giddily said. The duo grimaced. "Don't give me those looks."

"B-but that's it?" Chris asked. "That's the whole reason they even fight each other? To entertain people and…give you money?"

"It was acting as a physical almighty god of high order to you lowly beings, or this," Master Hand said. "What's so fun about doing anything you want with a flick of your fingers when you can do some effort and see how everyone reacts at your escapades?"

"I support that notion," Lucario said. "But what a way to go out of your way…"

"Yeah, it makes things livelier than ever, which I enjoy greatly," Master Hand said. "I know it's pretty incredible such things happen across your TV set. That's the whole truth of how things are run here… I discourage you two thinking too much about how all of this exists. Even I'm not sure how all of this came to be. It just…sort of did…" He saw them shrugging. "I'm also curious to know how this dimension came to be at all. It's almost like the meaning of life and all that anyone else wonders. Mysterious indeed."

"I…guess…that's a valid reason…" Chris trailed off, trying hard to swallow that explanation.

"Back to the matters at hand! No pun intended!" Master Hand piped up, startling them. "Now that you know the stuff that used to happen, it's time we go back to talk about the damned Subspace Army screwing my plans for amusement and turning this mansion into a super hero base or something cliché like that. The mission you two took was a rotund success! I was honestly worried Chris's lack of fighting experience and Lucario's lack of guidance would SERIOUSLY stump you both, but you didn't! Your strengths complemented each other (somehow) and you pulled through!"

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure if you're flattering or insulting us," he said.

"Both. You two are newbies to this thing. Criticism is a harsh mistress during the first missions," the hand honestly said. Chris held Lucario from lunging at the hand. "You succeeded, and that's a high praise! You protected Ness and his world from their evil plots. With them gone from the radar, I safely put a cosmic lock on Ness's world so they never invade the place again." He turned his back on them and shook himself. "This isn't the end of this long struggle. Quite possibly, you will have to pull out similar stunts in each and every world. While you were away, I looked at every relevant dimension and saw how things were going… Many of those dimensions were targeted, I'm afraid."

Chris shuddered. "(Oh god…)"

"But as we go on…" the hand turned back around, "it will be a given our meager force will grow in numbers, and it will surely become easier to handle these missions against the army. You can rest easy the start will be hard and daunting."

"Like the Underworld from Pit's world!" Crazy Hand said. "Still haven't made it past that level…"

"Uh, yeah, like that, but with promise," Master Hand said. "You two had a taste of what's to come. Now that you've returned, I want to clarify something… Are you two willing to continue this task?"

The teen pondered the question a little more. Certainly it was all okay with Lucario if it was just him, but the Aura Pokémon was attached to his trainer that he would gracefully decline the offer if his trainer didn't take it. It all was on Chris's decision. Declining the offer would possibly mean his world would be targeted for last with no hope of salvation to the fantastic machinations of the worlds beyond, while accepting the offer would risk his life multiple times with an uncertain future that could end up in failure… Whatever the case was, he was already in too deep.

With his conflicted feelings only Lucario could sense clearly, Chris mustered up enough courage to nod at the hand. "Yes… It's not like we can back out now. We already made an impression on the enemy…"

"I'm going to guess Lucario scared them silly," Crazy Hand said.

"Well, sort of?" Chris said, looking at Lucario. "When he had infiltrated the factory I was at, he started to wreck the entire place looking for me, so all the people keeping watch started to panic and gather at my cell t-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Master Hand interrupted. "How much stuff did I miss after I last talked to you two?"

The two travelers summarized everything. How they were able to meet with Ness, lost time doing silly stuff that didn't faze the children much, got Chris accidentally kidnapped by frightened Mr. Saturns who took him to the commanders of the Subspace Army…

The last part was what got Master Hand's attention fully as Chris kept explaining.

"…the enemies who incarcerated me were…Mewtwo, Wolf, Sonic, Roy, Pichu, and…another Lucario," Chris said.

"…" Master Hand seemed to be looking down at the floor in deep thought at what he had heard from them. He scoffed once and said, "I knew our escape plan wasn't entirely perfect…"

"What?" Lucario said. "You know about this?"

"No, I didn't," the hand said, raising himself. "The part where you just revealed to me those people Tabuu killed were brought back to life as brainwashed servants? No, I ABSOLUTELY didn't know such thing was possible from Tabuu! The others? I kind of expected our escape to be flawed in a few areas since it was, well, desperate and all… Figures Tabuu would brainwash MY subordinates for his own gain."

"So that escape you pulled off was flawed?" Chris wondered.

"Only because Tabuu was alerted once Crazy here went to get me," the hand explained. "Scared of what we could do with the downed fighters, Tabuu surely fought back in the retrieving process and managed to get a hold on Sonic's and Wolf's trophies. The dead ones, though…that is what took me by surprise… Hold on a second." He stared at Chris. "I thought you were holding Pichu with you. Where did he go?"

Alarmed by remembering that part, Chris and Lucario looked around the lobby to see if Pichu had somehow woken up and scurried away from safety. It was then Crazy Hand snickered and opened himself up, revealing the knocked out rodent lying down on him. "I got myself a mouse!" he said, making the other three stare at him. "Hee hee! I took him during the portal transition because my brother could hardly contain himself to reveal the mansion to you guys. Didn't want the surprise to be spoiled!"

"C-Crazy, this is serious!" Master Hand said. "And now I remembered that depressing moment. Thanks." He picked Pichu from his brother's palm and put him down on the floor. Though it didn't look like it, the hand was examining the knocked out soul using every sense he had in him. "…Okay, I can confirm this one is not a zombie. It IS the real deal… How on my piece of earth was this possible? I saw him dying with my own ethereal eyes!"

"D-did he really die?" Chris asked. "Maybe…he was still breathing?"

"Nope. I saw him. All limbs torn off by that laser blast. It wasn't a pretty sight." The hand saw Chris covering his mouth in disgust at the small description. "Pichu was the biggest example of 'not being able to come back to life' than the others…and he's here, alive and weakened… How did Tabuu bring him back? That's the question that keeps bugging me. I never knew he had that kind of power."

"…Perhaps…" Lucario stared down at Pichu and then looked at the hand, "it's best that you don't think about it too much?"

"It's disconcerting to know your enemy has that kind of potential. Of course I can't stop thinking about it!" Master Hand said. "That skill is extremely invaluable to him if he happens to kill someone else from our side and they become his pawns! BUT!" He sighed loudly. "Today has been an extremely hectic day… The final battle being a bust, massive casualties, delayed resting time… It hasn't been easy for the two of you for sure." The duo nodded slowly. "I'd say you two earned your rest in this world. You may use this facility for anything you want to do."

The two looked up at the ceiling and then around. "So how big is this place?" Chris wondered.

"Ten floors high, with way too many rooms you don't know what to do with," the hand said. "Every floor in itself is like seven houses each. There are many rooms that aren't just guest rooms. There is a library, kitchen, washing room, gymnasium, theater, cinema, a hell lot of living rooms, observatory, bowling alley, tennis court, the item vault you should NEVER raid, museum, my sweet office, game room, bar… Bigger than your little house, Chris."

"I wasn't competing!" Chris scolded.

"Anyhow! This shall be your new second home as we keep doing the usual thing," the hand said, picking up Pichu. "As for this little guy, I will have to wipe off his memory from all the events that transpired right before we even knew Tabuu existed."

The teen looked confused. "All of that?" he questioned.

"It's not a good thing to remember you were blown to bits, you. If he remembers that much, he will NEVER live a good life without that nightmare turning up every night. A simple glance at Pichu is enough to tell you he doesn't have a great, sharp state of mind… Yeah, he's a bit of scaredy cat, but his help will be good for the team. Small sizes can be a boon during a battle! He will have to rest all night to recover." He threw Pichu in the air – causing the watchers to gasp – and snapped his fingers once, whisking Pichu's downed self somewhere. "Pichu is now resting at his room with no memories of what happened. When he wakes up, he'll think the Brawl season is going to start. Pretend you're new recruits to the tourney until I break the news to him about Tabuu. Can't wait for the déjà vu to ensue…"

"Oh, good. He'll be fine after a night of rest…" Chris sighed. "Where are we going to stay in here?"

"I have arranged a room for each one of you. Your room, Chris, is on the second floor. Lucario's room is on the third floor. You will see the label on the door with your names on it."

"I will rest with Chris," Lucario flatly said. Chris nodded.

"…Okay, you can rest with him, but there isn't an extra bed in a room. You will have to rest on the floor."

"It's fine by me. I rest by leaning on the side of the bed."

"The meditating monk type. They never get old," the hand mused. "I didn't expect either of you to rest alone without the other. In this world, that may be for the best."

"…This world?" Lucario repeated. "Where are we, exactly?"

"The Smash World," Master Hand revealed. He saw their bored looks. "What?"

"You like using the 'S' word a lot, don't you?" Chris said. "That word takes away from your titles sounding impressive to people."

"Oh, what do you know," the hand muttered. "This world was created by yours truly. It's a world that exists right in the middle of hundreds of dimensions, completely hidden away from trillions of people but a select few who are lucky enough to find themselves here. Speaking of which, you can find people spread across this world, but the biggest city you can visit to find many civilians is…"

"I'm going to guess Smash City," Lucario blankly said.

"No! My god, that's a weird name for a city begging to be destroyed," the hand said, ignoring their grimaces. "It's called…Nintendo City! The epicenter of everything that makes us…us!"

"…" The duo kept their silence with them.

"Oh, stop it with those stares. It's not like we had any original names that sounded better than that," Master Hand said. "One thing to mention is how Dreamcast Metropolis just died after a little while. It had so much potential…"

"F-fine, we'll take the name seriously," Chris said. "I want to rest already… I want to see that city at a later time."

The hands nodded and happily led the duo to the second floor to their new quarters. As they reached the second floor and the rather plain hallway that echoed with their steps, Lucario made a small comment that made Master Hand sob. "This place is really dead."

Chris's Room

The room they had reached did have a gold plate with Chris's name printed on the door frame. Behind the door was a normal-looking room that wasn't worth writing home about. It was a large room with a vertical single bed to the top-right corner to the right of an average-sized window looking out to the south. Overlooking the bed from the north wall was a wide enough closet that was empty save for a few hangers. The room had the benefit of having a pristine light blue bathroom to the left of its entrance, though Chris knew by experience Lucario was never going to use the toilet thanks to that bit of info that Pokémon gastric juices were top notch compared to humans'…

"Here is your permanent room, Chris," Master Hand presented. "Lucario, if you are ever curious, your room has a similar layout but it's not entirely the same."

The teen went over to the bed and touched the mattress bed, feeling it soft and nice. "It's…normal, I guess," Chris said.

"Hey, it's your decision to decorate as you see fit. Newcomers get to choose what to bring to make their rooms unique and flashy," the hand pointed out. "Suffice to say, don't wander into Peach's room if you think your eyes won't get blinded by pink."

"Duly noted…"

"There isn't much else to say from me now," the hand said as he backed away into the hallway with Crazy Hand. "Tomorrow will be a new day of events…and I'm sure the army will strike again that soon, too. Get as much rest as you can, okay?"

Once the duo got to thinking about fighting the army again so soon, Chris gasped in realization. "W-wait a minute. Another day is going to go by? I-I left my house behind without notice!" he said. "What if my relatives come by and they see I'm not home or I miss calls from my parents?!"

"Eh, that's taken care of," Master Hand said, confusing Chris. "Luckily, my super convenient time lord powers are as good as ever. Whenever you leave your world behind, time will just stop by my hand (pun intended) in there until you decide to go back and resume your daily life. The time of the day you left won't be the same as the time of the day here…or any other world…so remember that you left your world during the morning. Don't go back there from this world late at night or your sleeping schedule is going to get all messed up in your world!"

"Oh… Oh…" Chris nodded a few times and sighed. "That's good to hear… Do I have to ask you to send me back there?"

"There's no need for that. The Wii controller I altered for you is your gateway to any world, including yours. I don't recommend you escape somewhere else other than here or your home while this army business is taking place…"

The teen gulped and took out the controller from his pocket, examining it just by looking at it. "It was never my intention, anyway…"

"Just tossing it out here to remind you," the hand said, watching the human putting the controller away. "And another thing before I leave. The clothes you have on are magically tied to your current job. You can at will remove them using your thoughts and you will change back to your ordinary clothes. Try to bring some normal clothes while you are off-duty, though. Or just keep changing clothes for any other jobs you may obtain in the future. They get clean automatically whenever you switch jobs!"

"What a convenience!" Crazy Hand gingerly said.

"That's all for now. While you rest, I'm going to ponder a little more about how things will play out for us in this long run," Master Hand said as he closed the door with a finger. "Good night, team. Tomorrow is another day…" The door closed shut firmly, and the hands had floated away into the lit hallways as the lights turned off for the night…

Alone, the duo was speechless. It was not until an hour later of silence after Chris had undressed a bit and rested on his bed that Lucario, leaning from the left side of the bed, looked over his right shoulder at his trainer wide awake and staring at the ceiling. "You haven't said a word or fell asleep yet, Chris…" Lucario spoke.

"You're one to talk," Chris said, looking away and depressed.

"I know… I had sensed how troubled your aura felt like ever since we started talking to Master Hand," he pointed out. "No matter the brief smiles, you were…hurting in the inside."

"…"

Lucario looked worried. "It…hasn't been easy for you. I know that much. It wasn't easy for me despite my power…"

"…Yes…" Chris said, turning back to Lucario. "We were both taken off-guard during one single moment…and everything just went to hell when we got separated. That taught me how the situation can turn dire in a single moment…" He sniffed once, prompting Lucario to raise his right hand and place it over his trainer's chest. "I can't believe I was this close to dying and I couldn't do anything about it… I-I was so afraid, Lucario. I knew for sure for that one moment I was going t-!"

"You weren't," Lucario interrupted to keep him from breaking in tears, even if Lucario was starting to shed tears, being unwillingly forced to think of that bad outcome. He kept a strong front as he looked at his trainer. "It didn't and never happened because I went to rescue you. While I'm alive, nothing…no one will be able to kill you, Chris… So…don't lose hope…"

The teen sniffed and grasped Lucario's hand over his chest with both hands, barely able to cover it. "I-I have to do something quick to be able to defend myself, you know. The fights ahead of us will get harder with time, I know that. I have to be able to keep up with you, o-or just a hundredth of what you have in power."

"I believe we both lack skill… Power is hardly an issue," Lucario said. "…You are an astute person, Chris. I have the physical power to destroy anything. We both lack what the other has. Can't we try to combine out strengths?"

"T-this isn't like a Pokémon battle. I am also in the fray…"

"Regardless…it is something we must do together," the Aura Pokémon said. "You helped me countless of times in your world…now it's only right I do it for you here."

"Please tell me we're not becoming sparring partners because I woul-"

"No, nothing of the sort. I haven't had a chance to properly decrease my power with all the usual chores in the house," Lucario said, perishing the thought. "I meant while on a battle…"

"…Well, that's easy then," Chris said, cleaning his eyes. "I would stick on the back and you would defend me from the front while staying close."

Lucario nodded and smiled. "That right there is a start… I'd be your shield and sword while you provide support," he said. "Honestly, I feel stronger and more focused just knowing I'm protecting you during a battle."

"And naturally…I feel much safer with you…" Chris had a small smile on his face and grasped Lucario's hand tighter. "You're the only reason I haven't gone insane…"

"We just can't function right without the other. I blew up a base because you weren't around," Lucario chuckled. "I so need you. Master Hand is lucky I didn't wreck this building without you close by."

Chris chuckled next. "Oh, please. Stop trying to justify your destruction because of me. You're not a wild monster from the forest. I thought you were trying to cheer me up instead of trying to find an excuse to blow up stuff…" In two seconds, Lucario growled and quickly got on top of the bed, his hands and knees supporting him above a shocked Chris. Lucario minded the spike on his chest from giving his trainer a severe poke of death. "U-uh, what are you doing?" Chris asked the Lucario with the serious expression mixed with the smile.

"I'm a wild Lucario from the forest. You are my prey," Lucario spoke darkly, or rather, a fake dark tone. "I am hungry. I must eat you."

He was surely fooling around, Chris thought, and Lucario hardly ever did anything like that. The teen was a little wary all the same. "O-okay, I'm not sure I'm enough for your belly," he said.

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "Sure you are. But first, I will have to neutralize you with my only effective technique. Squirming prey is never fun while eating it… GUARGH!" He lunged his snout to the right of Chris's neck and vigorously tickled him by way of rubbing. Trying to push Lucario away was impossible due to his super strength playing a huge part in the attack. There was nothing Chris could do but laugh loudly as the beast kept on going with his nefarious attack. "Foolish human! You are more resistant than I imagined!" Lucario spoke between his attacks. "I can keep this up for all night long if I have to!"

"I-I give up! Please, I give up!" Chris laughed.

"Your mouth says so but not your feelings! I am NOT satisfied! GUARGH!"

Lucario was doing the rather odd attack just to cheer Chris up faster. The Aura Pokémon wasn't used to doing anything like it before but he felt compelled to do it now of all times when his trainer was very depressed. Now that he was crying tears of joy rather than teats of sadness, Chris's only worry was how to get the beast off of the bed because it was proving to be too hard to budge him. As his tail wagged with no chance for Chris to see it, Lucario kept on growling and tickling him mercilessly for about a minute.

When Chris was given a chance to catch his breath at last, Lucario laughed heartily and got off from the bed to return to his spot at the side. "M-my goodness, Lucario! What got into you?" Chris asked, wiping his eyes.

"You need to be happy," Lucario said, looking over his shoulder at him. "It's one of my duties to see that you are happy. I not only protect you from physical harm but from emotional harm as well. I am the Aura Pokémon, after all." He saw Chris reaching out for his head and stroked the black skin in the middle of his ears. Lucario closed his eyes and just enjoyed the gesture with a few low growls.

"I only need to have you to feel happy when I need to…" Chris muttered loud enough for Lucario to hear. "…Thank you for being so nice to me."

"I learned from the best," his partner said with a smile, earning another rubbing motion on his head. "We get to sightsee these other worlds, Chris. With me around, you will get to enjoy our travels. Never forget that motivation."

"You're… You're right…" Chris said with more optimism. "I need to stop thinking everything will get harder… It will only get harder the more I get scared into doing nothing. This was our first venture and it didn't exactly go right because we're beginners. Next one…I swear I will enjoy it."

Lucario nodded. "As will I."

The human yawned suddenly and adjusted himself on the bed. "Thanks, Lucario. I can go to sleep without worries now… So… Good night, Lucario…"

"Good night, Chris…" Lucario yawned and fully opened his fanged mouth before trying to fall asleep himself with his trainer… Several minutes when Chris had fallen asleep, Lucario opened one eye and stared back at him sleeping soundly. Without waking him up, Lucario turned to the left and pulled his trainer under his left arm to his side, lying down his cheek on his head for comfort. Subconsciously, Chris smiled in his sleep, and Lucario looked happy as he got to be real close to him to give him a sense of protection. Securing safety in his trainer's sleep, the Aura Pokémon fell asleep and made a mental note to wake up before Chris did so he wouldn't know about the move.

The quiet night went on in peaceful silence for them…

Lobby

…but not for the two hands of the mansion floating about in the lobby, deep in thought.

"So we saw how murderous our second Lucario can be like," Master Hand told Crazy Hand. "I understand having such tremendously powerful hound in our team will make things easier, but this is a team effort. He is not doing this alone."

"Why aren't you so sure about just spamming Lucario on Tabuu's butt?" Crazy Hand said.

"One…that sounds dirty. Two, I'm not surprised it came from you. And three, we got an extra team member with no battle experience along for the ride," Master Hand said, raising a finger for each point. "Sooner or later, he will notice getting experience from battles mean squat when he can just toss his jackal of death on the enemy. He'll be lucky to finish a sentence while doing it!" He sighed. "Look, this is bad. What if, very much later on, Lucario is put out of commission from something and by then his trainer hasn't had any combat experience other than just saying one-liners? If everyone was like him, I wouldn't worry. As how everything stands, the issue is bound to happen someday and it may cost us the war…" He snapped his fingers. "…That is why I will personally depower Lucario behind his back."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Crazy Hand trailed off. "You're gonna…NERF him without telling him?"

"I'll just leave his impressive height intact with some extra power, but not his full power," the hand explained. "I'm not telling him I will depower him. Telling him straight on the face without having built a trustful relationship is just asking him to beat me up… We'll just make up a story about how Tabuu got word of him and used his powers to keep him at bay from being a threat."

"…You think that's gonna work?"

"Yeah. Fantasy is out of whack in these universes," his sane brother said. "Any fantastic theory is bound to be real to these guys."

"Ha ha, you're right on that," Crazy Hand said. "Buuuuuuuuuut what else are we gonna do for tomorrow? You sure they can handle another mission with a NERFED super Lucario this time?"

"…I'll be honest. They are dead even if we convince the now unaware amnesiac Pichu to tag along," Master Hand admitted. "Optimism only gets you so far. They need more backup but our choices are… They don't exist. No one is ready to assist in the fight. They are all too busy retreading the past up to the present point."

"Except two people."

Master Hand stopped moving around. "Er, what? What two people?" he questioned. "Not the ones we have here, Crazy."

"Not them!" Crazy Hand said. "Those other two."

"Who are those people you're talking about?"

"Those guys."

"…TELL ME!"

"Ice ice, baby."

"Crazy, we don't have time for riddles! Just tell me who…!" Master Hand solved the riddle in his head anyway. "Oh. Oh. OH. OH! I see. Wow, we do have reserves ready… I'm amazed, Crazy. You came up with something smart to say! How did you think that?"

"It is only logical for the minds that are not constantly distracted by the many events they try to keep up with to find other methods of solving the intricate issues those other minds try to tirelessly solve at the same time without that clear answer lessening the work."

Master Hand fell silent until he said, "…You frighten me so."

"Aptly put."

"Oh, stop it. You're clearly messing with me with all that wordy talk," the sane brother said. The insane brother nodded. "Ugh! Alright, we do have reserves at the ready! I will immediately get into contact with them and hope they'll be willing to join the fray as soon as possible. Cross your fingers they do!" The hands nodded to each other and went their separate ways in the big building…

The next day…

Chris's Room

Morning sunlight was not really any different than the real world's, nor were the sound of the chirping birds waking the sleeping duo. Having sharper senses even while a little drowsy, Lucario quickly pulled himself away from the yawning Chris to avoid suspicion. The teenager stopped yawning and shuffled the bed sheets a bit until he was awake enough to tell anything around his surroundings without raising his head yet…

Yes. This was not his room, his bed, or his house. It was a fantastic dream very much real.

"Good morning," said Lucario, spotted leaning where he was last time Chris was awake.

"Good morning…" Chris said, yawning again. "Oh god. It wasn't a dream."

"The fact we had adventures, or the fact you were dreaming something else?"

"The first one…" He sat next to Lucario and subconsciously scratched his guardian's head. Lucario did not mind it any. "It's going to be our first proper day in this new place. Too bad it's supposedly all empty with just us, the hands, and… Oh, Pichu…" he recalled. "Why do I keep forgetting about Pichu?"

"Too many problems stressing our heads," Lucario pointed out. "You can focus on him today."

"Yes…and I'll get to meet someone new," Chris said, mildly excited at the prospect of meeting a new character. "This is actually exciting, Lucario. You'll finally get to talk to someone like you."

"I wish it had been a Hitmonlee instead." Lucario got a chop to the head. He only was hurt emotionally. "What?"

"Stop being stereotypical and let's take a shower to go meet that Pichu already," Chris scolded, getting up from bed and ready to take a shower to appear formal to the little rodent.

Just as he was about to enter the bathroom, several knocking sounds came from the door, stopping him in his tracks. Lucario got up from the floor and went to the door. "Who is it?" Lucario asked.

"Golly gosh. This Chris guy sounds intimidating…" whispered a boyish voice.

"Better put up our tough looks so he doesn't take advantage of us. Hammers at the ready!" whispered back a girlish voice.

Curious to see these people on the other side rather than peeking using his aura, Lucario opened the door and stared forward…at nothing. Then he looked down and caught a glimpse of two children gulping at the sight of the beast staring them down. "E-eep!" they both squealed in horror just looking at those glaring crimson eyes and that murderous chest spike for killer hugs…because why else would he need a spike there? The wrist spikes were just slightly less terrifying than the chest spike, but whatever the case, they got scared and backed off with their mallets shaking with their gloved hands.

The two children were clad in puffy-looking parkas; one who was boy wearing blue and the other who was a girl wearing pink. Aside from the color of their parkas, the only distinctive visual difference between both were their combed hairstyles sticking out from above their foreheads; the boy's hair was combed in bumps while the girl's hair was curved and smooth. Though they were knee-high compared to Lucario, they were both adept fighters all the same despite their age.

"S-sorry, Chris, sir! W-we'll just leave you alone to sulk alone!" the girl spoke. "A-ahh! I mean, not sulk alone! I mean just alone!"

"You're not helping things here!" the boy hissed at her. He laughed at Lucario. "J-just wanted to drop by and greet you! …Hello! There! Now we'll take our leave!"

Lucario was not a fluent person in being social with other people yet. His only response was narrowing his eyes and causing the children to gulp loudly at what he was going to do right there… "W-wait!" The real Chris squeezed between Lucario's right arm and the frame of the door to see who they were. The children were started there was even a second person in the room… "Please don't be scared. He won't do anything to you!" He just now realized he was talking to the two children who he knew from playing games: Popo and Nana, the Ice Climbers.

"M-M-Mr. Chris won't hurt us?" Nana asked, her face sweating only out of fear and not because of the warm season.

"Uh, no, I won't hurt you…"

The two kids lowered their hammers to the side and stared up at him and then gave Lucario one quick look. "Wait… You are Chris?" Popo asked.

"Y-yes, that's my name," Chris said.

"…Then who is this guy?" he asked while pointing a shaking hand at Lucario's narrowed gaze.

"P-pardon me. He's my Pokémon partner Lucario," Chris said. "Sorry if he scared you. He really can't help looking intimidating… Lucario, make sure you don't scare them with those looks of yours, okay?"

Lucario gave out a small grunt and looked away. "They looked at me at the wrong time. But it won't happen again," he said.

"I highly doubt that…" his trainer muttered.

"Oh!" Nana's fear went away now that they could just talk to the much less intimidating guest. "You're Chris, then! You must be a new deal in this tourney thing… Uh, wait…" She eyed Lucario and immediately averted his gaze. "You're saying he's a Pokémon but the room is in your name?"

"Ah, I got it!" Popo piped up. "You must be one of those Pokémon Trainers we've heard about from Pikachu and the others. It was about time we got one of your kind into the fights."

Nana rolled her eyes. "Popo, at best, he'll be background material issuing orders without pulling punches himself," she said. Oh, how Chris wished that could be the case…

Popo then playfully swung his hammer a few times. "I spot a weakness when I see it. I'm knocking him down in those fights!" Lucario naturally growled loudly at the child and made him back off in fear behind Nana, who gulped hard and backed off as well. "Y-yikes! I mean, no, I'll stop Nana from doing that to him! Get her!"

"P-Popo, you dimwit! It was never my idea!" she complained.

"Stop!" Chris raised his voice to all of them. Lucario stopped growling and looked away in disgust. "Okay, please, first and foremost, no talk about beating each other. Yesterday was a big day for us and I kind of want to rest easy… Can you please not talk about fights between each other?"

The Ice Climbers blinked at him and then scrambled around for words to say. "Um… Yeah… We can do that," Nana said. "Sorry. We got kinda excited to meet a new deal…and we're not even that gung ho into fighting people all the time. Please, forget about that first impression we gave you." She dope slapped Popo. "Popo, apologize!"

"Oww! Fine! I apologize! Sorry for that!" Popo cringed.

"A-apology accepted," Chris said. Even though he knew who they were, he wanted to play it safe. Moreover, he wanted to get to know them, as they were his favorite characters to play as in the actual game…that they should not know about. "W-who are you two, anyway?" he asked.

"The Ice Climbers!" both climbers said, striking a pose that usually had Popo on the front rather than Nana herself. They did notice how off it felt like and swapped spots to correct themselves.

"I'm Popo," Popo said.

"And I'm Nana," Nana said.

"You'll never find the same kind of fighter anywhere else in this mansion."

"That's to say, we're so unique! Everyone else has to fend off for themselves…" She shook her head. "T-that wasn't meant to offend you, of course."

"It's fine, really," Chris said, before the twins broke off from the pose. "Well, I'm Chris, but you already knew that. This guy right here…" Lucario eyed them, making them gulp, "…is my ever dutiful Lucario. He's also another fighter."

"(Craaaaaaaaaaap,)" the twins thought just imagining their premature deaths at the hands…spikes of that fighter.

"Sweet!" Popo lied. "Not like we had enough people like Mewtwo to reap fright in us! Oww!" Nana slapped him.

"What he's trying to say is we're happy to have you both here!" Nana said with a twitching smile. "…Oh! We're the first ones to get to know you before everyone else had a chance. That's great! We can so guide you about the other people you will get to meet here. We can start that today!"

Chris liked the idea of spending time that way with the twins. "That'll be great," he said. "What can you say first about them all?"

"They're all nutcases," the twins said in unison with wide smiles.

"Uh… What?"

"Er, yeah, I think we need to prep up first," Popo said as he looked at Chris's messy hair. "Why don't we meet up at the kitchen on the first floor after you've had a shower? I don't want to keep you out here for too long. Our talk is gonna be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long."

"Oh, uh, yes," Chris nodded. "I'll meet you two there. Lucario is also coming along, by the way." The twins froze when the intimidating creature stared at them. "If you couldn't tell, you'll probably never see him alone by himself without me around… H-he won't hurt you, though! As long as you don't accidentally hurt me in any way…"

"It's fine! We don't want to give you a bad impression (if it means we get to live)!" Nana reassured him and herself. "We'll see you in a bit, then! We're gonna go to our room to settle some stuff up. Catch you later!" She waved them off as she walked away…and had to drag a frozen Popo – stuck staring at Lucario – away from them both.

Once the twins had climbed a set of stairs going up, Chris turned to Lucario. "I think it would be nice for you to try to get along with others," he said. "They were just freaked out because of how you look…"

Lucario sighed. "I'll do an effort…but don't expect a lot from the start," he said.

"I wish I could. I have to put my expectations low if that will make you feel better…" He went close to Lucario and scratched his head with care. The Aura Pokémon growled with pleasure. "I do have to take in mind what you wish to do. I wouldn't be a good trainer if I didn't listen to you." Lucario, overjoyed, nudged Chris's face with his snout in a playful manner. After a few futile struggles to push Lucario away, he and Chris went back to the room to get ready for the day.

Back at the stairs going up to the third floor, Popo grimaced in thought and grumbled. "Nana… Don't you feel like we've seen that Lucario guy somewhere else before?" he asked her.

Nana held her head, feeling a very subtle thumping feeling. "I think? Maybe we just confused him for Mewtwo. They kind of look similar…" she said.

The unaware amnesiacs shook their heads and decided to brush off that lost piece of their past memories. They were looking forward to brighter times at the mansion with the new people accepted to the fights…

Kitchen

It was ridiculous that such a gigantic kitchen even existed. As seen from afar, the place had an unbelievably long white table counter that went from one side to another across 100 feet with many chairs surrounding it. All around the table counter leaning to the walls were stoves, ovens, refrigerators, sinks, dishwashers, and drawers, all neatly organized in pairs for convenience. Only four people in there wouldn't be enough to stop the echoes from bouncing all over the white space.

For convenience, seeing as there was a sign on the wall reading "Any cook is responsible for their cooking ventures", Chris took it as enough permission for him to own one set of the multiple pairs of kitchen sets. Lucario didn't even care Chris was probably trespassing and raiding a fridge for food supplies. He only cared to get lost smelling that enticing bacon smell taking over the air. Being a fervent meat lover, Lucario jokingly thought he wanted that bacon or else he would eat his plate to keep his newly found hunger at bay.

"It feels so weird to be cooking somewhere else that isn't our house," Chris told Lucario while the first was busy with the frying pans. Notably, he was preparing more strips of bacon for Popo, Nana, and maybe Pichu to give them a good first impression himself, indirectly making Lucario wish all of the bacon was for him. "I hope Master Hand doesn't mind me doing this."

"I only care about getting fed. He won't be a good host if we can use the food here," Lucario said, sitting right behind where Chris was cooking.

"Your meat cravings are getting to your head again. I can tell."

"I will Do you truly want them to run rampant?"

"Nope. It'll be ready in a little while. Hang in there and don't think about eating the plate," Chris said. Lucario shrugged and looked away. Did Chris read his mind or was he just that easy to read like an open book?

Footsteps came from the direction of the lobby. It was Popo and Nana, slowing their pace when they smelled bacon in the air. And it seemed plentiful because the smell leaked all the way to the lobby… They were a bit surprised it was Chris doing the cooking. "Hey, Chris!" Popo called out.

They stopped short when they noticed Chris was wearing a Ness getup fit for taller people… The teen had chosen to wear the PK Kid job to be on the safe side without thinking what others would say seeing him wearing the same clothes of the iconic

"What?" Chris asked when he noticed them just standing there.

"You look like Ness… Are you secretly a Ness fanboy?" Nana asked.

"Wait, wha-? Oh, no! No, no. This isn't what it looks like!" he said, flailing his hands in front of him. "It's…part of a strange gimmick Master Hand gave me to fight!"

Popo narrowed his eyes. "…Not sure if he's serious…or I'm jealous because he's not my fanboy instead," he said.

Chris grunted. "I'm not a fanboy to anybody here! Blame Master Hand for giving me this outfit!"

"Eh, we'll see the truth once Ness gets back here," Popo said. Chris groaned to the ceiling. "So hey, are you cooking bacon?"

Back to more important matters at hand, Chris nodded. "Yes. It's bacon for all of us here. I figured we'd all have breakfast together," he said. The Ice Climbers stared long at his face, unnerving him…until they sniffed and rubbed their eyes. "Uh, what now?"

They were now sobbing. "It's nothing…" sobbed Nana. "This is… This is the best way we have been received at the mansion by others since the Melee days were over…"

"Say what now?"

Popo showed his tearful, smiling face. "Y-you're so worth it, dude. You're so worth being a friend!" he cried.

"O-okay… I'm touched and also shocked it was this easy…" Chris trailed off…but why would he complain about being given such an easy way to make friends with others? "A-alright, you two need to stop weeping. I was never a fan of disrespecting people I haven't met yet… Besides, what happened to you in the past that made you happy to get bacon from me?"

Flashback

In front of the lobby, Master Hand presented the Ice Climbers to the original twelve of the 64 tournament. "And here we have the new deals: the Ice Climbers!" he presented the happy twins. "They'll be fighting together as one fighter in the battles!"

"What?" Yoshi said.

"Wow," Mario said.

"Not sure what to think of this…" Link muttered.

"Cheaters!" Donkey Kong yelled.

"Children at this thing get unfair advantages, I swear," Fox said.

"If they can pair up, I wanna pair up with someone else!" Captain Falcon said.

"Come on, you're giving these new deals the good stuff," Ness said.

"W-why do you have to make them scarier threats?!" Luigi bellowed.

"Bunch of cheating newcomers!" Pikachu hissed.

"Hmph! Well, I'm still gonna slap them both silly!" Jigglypuff puffed out.

Kirby blinked.

Samus said nothing.

Popo and Nana frowned at the less-than-stellar reception by their veterans.

End of Flashback

"Pricks…" muttered Chris until he shook his head. "Well, no more. I'll happily break that trend."

"Yay! Bacon impression!" the two children cheered, cheering Chris up. They were little children. It wasn't unbelievable to see them both being so happy over bacon. In any case, Chris was very grateful the day started off well with his first new companions embracing their new friend. Lucario, however, remained the lone silent wolf watching over his trainer talking to the other people of the mansion, though Chris wanted to bring him up to the climbers as much as he could.

After the bacon was set and ready, everyone was given over a dozen strips, with Lucario's share being larger. Of course the dog-looking Pokémon was carnivorous, the climbers thought as they silently stole glances from him while they talked to Chris over what to expect from the other mansion habitants. He told them at the start he had seen photos of them all from Master Hand to keep up with the horrible lie of never having heard of them, though it was different if he was going to know them on a personal level. "So what can you tell me about Ness?" Chris asked.

"Biggest egotistical prick you could ever meet," Popo said and Nana nodded. Chris nearly chocked on his bacon strip. "…Okay, maybe that was a big description, but he likes being the leader of the children group and is kind of a spoiled kid."

Bringing up the fact Chris had met Ness before would probably spark an argument. He didn't bring it up to them. "U-uh, wow. I'd never thought he was like that… (Then again, I heard from Lucario he liked to be violent…) How about Mario?"

"Eh," Nana said. "He's alright, I guess, but he's kinda boring. Nice guy all around but…yeah, you'd get fun out of him if you went in his adventures for sure. Otherwise? Nope."

"Oh, I see. I kind of imagined him being like that," he said. "Link?"

"Loves his sword too much to the point it sounds like an innuendo," Popo said.

The teen's face froze mentally at the same time he was drinking juice. He had to stop himself from asking and then immediately going back to eating. "(What the hell? They're too young to know that word at all!)" Chris thought alarmed. "W-what else is there about him?"

"He likes yelling whenever he tries slashing someone, it's become a frequent target of jokes," Nana chuckled. "Easy way to make fun of him. Don't do it too much."

"Right, no, I won't make fun of him," Chris said. He was not going to eat a strip right after asking another question. "Fox?"

"Egocentric jerk who can't stop bragging how he won the most tourneys out of everyone during the Melee days," Nana said, face dull. "I swear, if he ever picks Final Destination with no items again…"

Popo sniffed and embraced his shaking body. "No more… No more, please!" he said and almost immediately went back to eating happily.

"(Oh dear god,)" Chris thought as he made sure to eat before the next question. Lucario liked Fox's mentality, however. "Fighting aside, what else?"

"He likes to snark. A lot. It's like it's all he ever says when talking to someone," Popo said. "Falco's the same but worse. I tried giving him a cracker and somehow that was offensive to him!" The others stared incredulously at him. "…It was an honest gesture! I was not making fun of the bird! He just complained he was a grown-up who didn't like cookies, not because it was a bird getting a cookie!"

"…Alright, then…" Chris said. "Samus?"

"We thought Samus was a guy for a whole tourney until the next one came and then…" Nana trailed off.

"Hubba hubba hubba," Popo added. Nana slapped him.

"Samus is pretty quiet and chill. She has no flaws other than being a little of a lone wolf," Nana explained. "She's absolutely ruthless during battles. It's like a robot meant to kill was just released by accident! She was so close into beating Fox for most tourneys won."

"I somehow knew she was like that…" Chris muttered. "Luigi?"

"Scares off easily, very rarely shows good skills," Popo said.

"Not much else besides how he's into doing household chores… Hey, you two would probably hit it off well!" Nana said.

"Ah, I think so, but there could be more we could talk about," the teen said. "Donkey Kong?"

"Smells like a banana, stinks like a banana, and can't stop dreaming about bananas," Popo said with emphasis on the fruit word. "He goes bananas when bananas are involved. One time, we stole a banana from his hand, and an entire hallway was wrecked until we gave up and gave it back to him."

Nana gulped. "He hasn't lived that one down when he sees our group nearby his precious fruit… Whatever you do around DK, don't touch his fruit. You'll get those looks of his if you do!"

Chris was never going to be prepared to fight a big ape if he had destroyed a hallway just because of a stolen banana. "I-I'll be fine. I won't ever think about stealing stuff from others… Peach?"

"Sweet as hell," Popo said. "Her fascination with the color pink is unnatural that she can't even tell until she's asked about it."

"It makes my pink look like a speck," Nana commented. "Zelda is not like her. She is much more composed and doesn't tolerate jokes now and then. In particular, she can't stand Captain Falcon…including a lot of others."

"Why's that?" Chris asked.

"He's such a show-off! The guy is an embarrassment when you get to meet him, not unlike how in his world he's treated as a mysterious celebrity of justice," Nana said while cringing at the thought. "He's a shameless womanizer on top of that! Had it not been for him, Zelda wouldn't have gotten so cynical of his presence at the end of the Melee days! She was more gracious until he came to know her and she got all sour into any kind of foolery that happened in the mansion."

The teen was shocked to have gotten so much information about Captain Falcon being a life changer. "Would it be okay if I got to meet him?" Chris wondered.

"Good luck if he doesn't try pulling you into his strange schemes to woo girls. Sometimes we think he's too far from being saved."

"Food for thought: his Falcon Punch is as nasty as you may have heard," Popo added.

Not sure what to think about the racer, Chris simply decided to continue the conversation about someone else. "…Mewtwo?" For once, Lucario stopped wolfing down his bacon strips to listen. The climbers were unaware about the fate of that one person.

The Ice Climbers blinked once at Chris, and then they stole one glance at Lucario. "Dark, tall, intimidating, scary, mysterious, not sociable enough, kinda bloodthirsty even if he's pretty calm when talking in a conversation…" Popo said. "He only ever grins when he's challenged into battles against worthy opponents which is creepy…" Lucario hid a small smile. "Overall, a dangerous person to be around who dislikes or outright hates people fooling around him. I don't recommend making a joke for him because he hardly laughs when it's not him slaughtering an opponent who turned out to be not so worthy of his time."

"Don't ever talk to him if you like fooling around and you like your life," Nana said. "Young Link learned the hard way and he barely made it out alive."

"Holy crud…" Chris muttered and managed to hide the look of complete misery when he recalled Mewtwo was a threat to them. Judging how the events played out before, they were lucky he had been taken out through inconvenient methods. The next time they would meet, they would surely be injured a lot… The two kids didn't question his sudden silence and thought he just wanted to eat more breakfast for a bit before moving on. "Yoshi?"

"Pretty nice. He's so laidback and isn't prone to doing something stupid like many," Popo said. "Which is weird. The other Yoshis are more like gluttons with voracious appetites. He is different than them."

"Speaking of voracious, there's Kirby," Nana brought up. "He IS the resident glutton. We would've been famished if we never had to go out to eat food at the city."

Popo shuddered. "Only Peach can help into stopping him in time. She hardly ever makes him stop… Chris, you better plan out your moves of the day involving food. You will be set once you are ready for the random starvation seasons."

"Uh, duly noted. Thanks for the warning…" Chris said.

"You don't believe us? Kirby raids all the fridges the moment his black hole of a stomach growls a bit! It's insane!" Nana said, choosing to shake Chris for unnecessary added emphasis. "Get ready for those seasons, man! You must need the food to survive against all of these other guys!"

"O-oka-ay, oka-a-ay, I understand!" the teen said, pushing her away from him. "Young Link?"

"Look, here between us, he's a bit childish whenever he and his older self get on each other's nerves," Popo said. "Otherwise, he's okay. He's got some blind courage, that's for sure. Our escapades have gotten casualties because of him encouraging us too much to go through with them."

"By casualties, we mean just him," Nana said. "We're still not sure why we got a young and older Link in the tourney."

"Oh, well," Chris continued, "it's not as weirder as having two Marios around, right?"

"Who? Dr. Mario?" Nana asked. "Oh no, that's still Mario but with a doctor getup. They're the same person and not separate people, just like Zelda and her Shiek form."

"Except Mario can't transform in the middle of a fight," Popo said. "I feel like they both cheat for having those unique battle styles unlike the rest of us."

"I believe you just told us you were called cheaters by the others in the past because you are unique as well," Lucario suddenly spoke, breaking out from his eating.

"H-hey! That's mean!" the Ice Climbers whined, not really up to even thinking about smacking the aura warrior in fear of him going wild on them. Lucario got a dope slap from Chris, hurting his feelings.

"D-don't mind what he said. Truth is, I think everyone is unique in their own way. Nobody is cheating…" Chris told the frowning kids, who then smiled at him. "Every single one of you needs to be different from each other to make these bouts interesting."

"Aww, you get us!" Popo said happily. "…Just say no to the clones. So many of us give Master Hand a lot of flak for that."

"Oh yeah. Clones are the worst," Nana said, drinking her orange juice. "I give them some merit for being around here in the mansion, but when it comes to battles…"

The teen groaned mentally. "(What the heck? They use that term here too?) S-so, these clones…are they good?"

"If they were only meant to fight and not socialize, oh yeah. Otherwise, they're okay," Popo said. "We like our little Link clone."

"I hope you don't call him that to his face…" Chris muttered. "Jigglypuff?"

"Likes to sing and put people to sleep," Nana said, as if Chris didn't know that one. "For the life of her, she can never realize she puts people to sleep using Sing, or she doesn't know she's using her move at all. Then when you wake up, you have doodles on your face and she's long gone…"

Chris blinked in slight surprise at that description while the climbers resumed eating some pesky strips trying to hold on to their form while being pulled by their teeth. That Jigglypuff sounded so much like that one he knew…but…it was probably a coincidence if they were two different people with the same behavior. No way had he stepped into a universe that was not entirely video game-based. It made no sense it could actually… "Is she tolerable, at least?" Chris asked.

"When she's not singing. Huh, you're a trainer, come to think of it. Maybe you can train her?" Popo wondered.

"I…guess?" Chris said, unsure. Lucario gave him a curious look. "I'm not sure I can do any promises with other Pokémon. Lucario is the only one I got through."

"You'll be making everyone a huge favor taming her," Nana said. "Try it, please? My napping schedule is so screwed up because of her! People are up all night because of her singing! You're a trainer! Do your magic!"

"Fine, fine. I'll try, but I won't promise anything," Chris said. "It's not like she will sing in anger if I do it."

"She likes singing in anger," Popo pointed out, much to Chris's dismay. "I know. It makes no sense. Why do you think we are asking you to do something about her?"

"Oh crap…" muttered the teen. "Enough of her, though. What can you say about Bowser?"

"Biggest prick, no question. He constantly proclaims his desire to conquer Peach's pretty defenseless kingdom and hates plumbers with a passion," Nana said nodding. "He doesn't have any good traits besides being an occasional crybaby in his rare moments. He is the definition of dumb hot blooded guy there is."

"But Ganondorf? That right there at least has the effort to look smart with his green brawns… He is evil Mewtwo, in other words. You never want to be on his bad side for one moment," Popo explained. "If he hates you, he will hunt you down in battle and probably outside a battle. Young Link really likes to mess with him. Poor suicidal little kid…"

It was common knowledge not to mess with the likes of Ganondorf now that there was a chance to meet the real deal, Chris thought. "Oh, Mr. Game & Watch?"

"He's…odd but a good person," Nana said. "He's a bit aware about how he's extremely different than everyone else. When we met him, we thought something was so off about him."

"He thinks we're the weird ones for having more than two dimensions," Popo continued. "He's so flat, he can hide in plain sight! I think you can see for yourself by visiting his room…" He shrugged. "It's the stuff of nightmares!"

The flat person surely was the oddest choice of them all, Chris thought. What would it really feel like to know him in person? "Other than that, is he alright?"

"Oh yeah. He's sweet," Nana said. "Ignore he's pretty flat and you'll be good to go."

"That's good. So long as he's not a psycho like the other people you described," Chris said, then hesitated to ask about the next normal-looking person. "…How about Marth?"

"Almost the same as Link, except Marth is more…dignified and graceful about his profession."

"And girly-looking," Popo added.

"Oh yeah. He does look like a girl from afar until you get closer to his face. That tiara of his is so not for men… I want that thing so bad."

Chris just blinked. "Roy?"

Nana was wrestling a bacon strip that did not stop her from talking through gritted teeth anyway. "Eh, he's like's Link and Marth fused. Slightly dignified, slightly silly. Probably the best of both worlds when he's alone, and that's almost never. All of the sword guys just like being around too much," she said.

"We're not any better with the others," Popo said. "…Almost."

"With the others?" Chris repeated. "Are you with a group of people?"

The two climbers stuck their chests out. "Only with the best group of people you could ever meet in this building," Popo said. "Look, Chris. If you ever want to survive, you must join a group of characters here. Playing it alone is mostly dangerous and will only hurt you…" He eyed Lucario for a bit. "Maybe having that guardian around won't be enough for you… I-I'm not trying to insult you, of course!" he defended once Lucario sent a glare at him. "Luckily for you, Chris, our group has categorized every person into the right groups."

Nanan produced a piece of paper from her pockets and gave it to Chris to read. "Here you go. This super item will tell you who you need to avoid and who you need to hang out with," she said, unfolding the paper to the teen so that he could read it on the counter.

The Boring Ones

Mario, Luigi, DK, Marth, Roy, Mr. G&W

The Quiet Ones

Samus, Zelda, Yoshi

The Cynic Ones

Fox, Falco, Mewtwo

The Bubbly Ones

Peach, Captain Falcon

The Rotten Ones

Bowser, Ganondorf

The Cool Ones

Godly Ice Climbers, Kirby, Ness, Pikachu, Pichu, Young Link, Jigglypuff

Chris narrowed his eyes at the first people listed under "The Cool Ones" and then stared at the two kids. They both quickly took the paper back, messily scribbled all over the extra word, and put the paper back on the counter as they put up blank looks with blushing cheeks. "W-what's a character without some ego?" Popo asked.

"Yeah, don't judge us! You surely do the same thing!" Nana accused.

"I'm not egotistical enough to describe myself like that!" Chris scolded. "I'll pretend I didn't see that to avoid more arguments with you."

"Good! Good," Popo said. "That paper told you the right kind of group to be with. Our group is pretty safe and is able to keep others away, unless we're the ones who end up causing the explosions. Don't make that face! You won't get injured."

"Us children are the smartest people of the bunch," Nana said. "With another 10-year old like you in our ranks, those other guys will have to think twice before they mess with us!"

"…I'm 16," Chris said.

The two kids froze, their smiles intact and their eyes blinking. "…Sorry, Chris, but you're out of the league by default," Popo quickly said, just as he quickly took a sip of his orange juice.

"W-what th-?! I still have a heart of a kid in me! And no, I'm not childish!"

"Oooooh, saying you're not childish takes points away from your score," Popo said. "Our group embraces childishness to a T."

"Then how is it possible you survive if you're childish? Doesn't that get on people's nerves?"

"Sometimes, but we bear it," Nana shrugged.

"…You know what, I won't even bother with your group," Chris said, getting dull looks from the kids. "I'll…try to make my own group. I'm sure you're not telling the whole story about everyone else."

"Oh well. Good luck with that," Popo said.

Something occurred to Chris to say to the two stuck-up kids, recalling the past hours since they met. If what he had planned in mind was true, he would expect the right kind of reaction from them. "…I suppose…this is the end of our friendship," he said. The kids stopped eating, staring empty air. "If I'm not allowed to get into a group even after making friends with you…maybe it's not worth it to keep a connection any longer."

The kids had reacted the way he wanted them to react, but it had worked too well, because they pushed their plates aside and lunged themselves to hug – or glomp – Chris in desperation. The sudden tackle of both almost made Chris fall down his chair, but Lucario quickly reacted and kept him from tumbling down without of course forgetting to glare at the weeping children. "We're soooooooooooorryyyyyyyyyyyy!" Popo cried loudly.

"We don't wanna stop being friends with you! Please! Don't!" Nana sobbed. "You're really the nicest person we've met who hasn't tried to blow our skulls apart! We're not going back to that cruel phase of our lives again! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease, don't leave us!"

Their sudden change of attitude was too hard to believe, but Chris had a very good lie detector to use at hand. "L-Lucario, are they telling the truth?"

A quick scan of their auras revealed the results. "…Yes. Their reactions might be a little overblown, but they're being honest," Lucario said, cringing at their loud crying.

"Okay, fine. I won't leave you two behind," Chris told the kids, who slowed down their sobbing to look up at him. He subconsciously embraced them both. "I have to make do with who I talk to, and you two are nice enough to…ahem…survive the chaos this place usually gets every day. But I believe Lucario is going to prove to be the best security I'll ever have." Lucario raised his face, feeling proud. "With him, groups don't matter much to me, but…I'll be always ready to join one if you're ever bored."

The kids resumed crying and slammed their faces on his shirt. "Thank you!" Popo sobbed, his scream muffled.

"You're not gonna regret this!" Nana yelled next, her voice muffled as well.

The teen forced a little smile and petted their heads with care. Chris had gotten his preview through Ness that these new characters getting into his life weren't going to be normal. The Ice Climbers were just another proof of that now that he got to meet them as some scheming kids with good intentions. Despite all their loud reactions and unsettling knowledge, they looked okay to him… Having been used to live with a Lucario had been indirect training for him to meet these new people and welcome them with open arms. Literally.

Once the kids had settled down and started enjoying spending time with a sane soul seemingly safe from the corruption of the other guests, they all finished their breakfast roughly at the same time until Chris noticed there was bacon left on the frying pans. "…Oh, wait. I thought Pichu would already…" he trailed off.

"Pichu?" the Ice Climbers repeated, exchanging glances.

"Didn't you two hear?" Chris asked them. "Pichu is in the mansion."

"H-he is?" Nana said. "Oh, we just noticed we didn't talk about Pichu any!"

"T-talk about me…why?" squeaked a voice from the direction of the lobby.

The four turned east and spotted the confused Electric-type standing there, head tilted to the side in confusion as he stared at them all. Minding the blue goliath towering over the others, Pichu gulped to himself and calmly sneaked his way to them. His injuries had healed completely, as if he had never been badly hurt at all with no recollection of the last days. "P-Pichu!" Popo said. "You're here, too?"

"Um, yeah," Pichu said. Seeing a little Pokémon like Pichu talking had surprised Chris a lot. Was he just like Lucario in that he was special and knew how to talk human language as well? There had to be a good reason… "I came to a few minutes ago. A-at first, I got all scared because my head hurt and I didn't know how I got to my room… Urk…" He rubbed his head quickly. "I-I have no idea why I think I'm missing something here…"

Lucario looked away to look like he was not interested while Chris joined his hands and shyly scratched their backs with his fingers. Popo and Nana didn't see them and just looked confused. "What, you have amnesia?" Nana asked.

"Sort of? I dunno…" Pichu said, looking worried. "It's been nagging me…"

"Maybe you shouldn't think too much about it?" Popo suggested. "You're okay and all besides that, right?"

"Yeah…" Pichu nodded and looked a bit happy. "I shouldn't think about it too much, then! I'm happy to see you two here! Even if the halls were empty… Oh!" He noticed Chris first and ignored the scary monster behind him. "Who are you? Are you a new around here?"

Chris had to forget he ever had contact with the very docile rodent. Lucario, for his part, needed to forget he had blindly smacked the poor thing into a wall during his rage fit. "Y-yes, I'm new," Chris said, his smile twitching. "I'm Chris. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!" Pichu happily said. That sickening cuteness of his made Chris blush subtly. "I'm Pichu! I'm a Pokémon! I'm also a fighter and…uh…d-don't be so hard on me, okay?" he pleaded. "I'm trying to gain more courage fighting everyone here…"

"That's two of us, then," Chris admitted, sighing. "It must be harsh to develop that courage…"

"You understand me? Wow! Next to Luigi, no one else knows how I feel! I feel like we're going to be best friends!" Pichu said, melting Chris's heart. He did manage to work up the courage to ask about the intimidating creature behind Chris…but not to Lucario himself, despite the crimson stare burning his skin. "U-uh, um, who is that behind you?"

"Lucario," Lucario's deep voice answered before Chris could, terrifying Pichu and shaking his frail body to the core. Chris shot Lucario a hard stare, staggering his guardian into saying something nice. "N-nice to meet you, Pichu. I'm also a Pokémon just like you."

"R-really? (O-oh gosh, he's like a second Mewtwo but a little bit nicer…)" Pichu asked, smile and right eye twitching in discomfort. "T-that's rad. You'll fit in with all of us here! Can't wait to see how you fight… (E-eep!)" He turned around the moment Lucario flashed a smile thirsty for battle, but Chris smacked his snout in a scolding manner.

"He stopped smiling," Chris flatly said.

Pichu turned back around and sighed loudly. "T-thank you… I mean, sorry!" he apologized, his head bowing down and his large ears drooping. "I'm a little out of it today. Forgive me for saying rash stuff without meaning to…"

"I'm sure Lucario forgives you for that and wouldn't try to say no to me," Chris said, with Lucario sighing in the background.

"…" Pichu tilted his head. "Are you his Pokémon Trainer or something…? He looks like he listens to you."

"As a matter of fact, yes," Chris said. "You're safe with him as long as I say so. He won't try to hurt you or anything, right, Lucario?"

"Yes, Chris…" Lucario said.

"Wow! I always thought it was weird we didn't have a Pokémon Trainer like you in these tourneys!" Pichu said with interest, not knowing that Chris was the second trainer not worthy of taking that honor before the first one. "Why are you dressed like Ness?"

"Long story," Chris muttered.

"What?"

"Y-you'll see why later. Bottom line, I'm not a normal Pokémon Trainer… I'm also supposed to duke it out on my own like you too."

Pichu crossed his arms in thought and mumbled. "…You're gonna toss pebbles and bait at us?" he wondered.

"No… I'll never do that kind of thing."

"Oh, um, strange… I don't know a trainer that can fight by himself… This is a new idea…" He nodded at Chris. "Oh well! Welcome! I hope you have fun around! Be careful not to mess with some people here. They're pretty scary when they're angry…" He gulped just thinking about the scary people, which were a lot considering many were taller than he was.

"I'll take that in mind, thanks," Chris thanked. So far, he was doing great. He had become friends with the Ice Climbers and Pichu, although Pichu's short introduction seemed like it was tighter than the other kids because of how innocent he looked. Surely he didn't hide a dark side, Chris thought. The little rodent was a curious little creature he couldn't stop staring at… The teen didn't want to reveal how he had a weak spot for all things adorable, and Pichu fell into that category. Not that Chris was easily appeased by adorable creatures, however. He had a personal filter for things that were made extremely cutesy that wouldn't freeze him at all. He would instead not see the point of such beings even existing.

That urge to hold Pichu was in the way of his train of thoughts…

Oh, how he wished Lucario had been a Riolu instead!

"Chris," Lucario startled his trainer from his trance.

"O-oh, sorry. I was lost in thoughts," Chris said.

"And they seemed like they were erupting with happiness… Not that I can complain. You do need to be happy," he said, smiling. The kids were busy catching up with Pichu, without ever knowing they had met for a second time before already. "I'm sorry for looking a bit distant to them. I forgot doing that only made you worry… I-I can't have that if it means you won't be happy."

"Oh, Lucario… You shouldn't worry too much about it," the teen said. "It's good. I got to see who you don't like unless they offer you a good fight…which is…kind of an issue because I worry you're going to be with the wrong crowd, but we'll see where we go from here, okay? It's a rough start but it's getting easier for me."

"That's because the people we have here are more docile than the rest," Lucario pointed out.

"I… Yeah, but it's progress. That's what I mean," Chris said.

No later than that was said, Master Hand came into view from the lobby and greeted his meager amount of fighters in the kitchen. He hid a sob and spoke, "Good morning, you all. I already said good morning to the Ice Climbers but I wanted to be formal with everyone here reunited," he said. "I bet you're all excited to start a day of work now that everyone is here."

Popo, Nana, and Pichu exchanged glances and barely could tell Chris and Lucario didn't do the same. "We're kind of missing like…a lot of people to start tourneys, don't you think?" Popo asked. "Are we VIPs this time and we get to participate in private tourneys?"

"Oh, nothing of the sort," the hand said. "I had called the Ice Climbers for an emergency backup operation not related to the tourneys I had planned… Things have changed for the worst, I'm afraid. Your lives will forever change to what is to come ahead of us."

The children were a little terrified to hear such news, though a part of them thought the hand was merely trying to make an impression of how the tourneys would be like. "You've never said something like that before. What are you up to?"

"Believe me. This DOES not concern the tourneys but the worlds out there," the leader said. "They are all in danger and we must respond to this call. We are the only ones with the means to defeat this threat…"

"H-hold on. This is going too fast!" Pichu said with concern. "What threat? What is happening? A-are we going to get in trouble with someone?"

"It's so hard to take it all in, but we have to move things quickly," Master Hand said. "It's the only way I can prepare you three for what's to come."

"Us three?" Nana said. The hand pointed at the three children and they realized Chris and Lucario weren't among the counted ones. "Hey, wait, why aren't the-?"

"They already know and have fought this threat I mentioned," Master Hand interrupted, surprising the children and embarrassing the teen. "It's thanks to them they managed to save Ness from dying in their hands."

"What? Ness? Dying?" Popo said each word louder than the previous one. "I-I so need a little time to understand what's going on here…"

"Fine, I guess we can spare some explanation time," the hand said but turned around. "We will have to do that while I take you to what will become our center of operations which I haven't shown to the 'veterans' who fought this threat… Do I have your consent you will help us?"

"We haven't decided…" Nana said. "…I'm very interested, though. I just heard Ness was about to die? I need to know what's going on here."

"Yeah, me too," Popo said.

"U-uh, I'm a little scared, but…" Pichu meekly nodded.

"Alright, follow me, everyone," the hand told them as he started floating away. "You must be informed of what will happen next in the next days…"

The newcomers were frightened by what the hand was hiding from them, but they followed his trail, full of curiosity at what was trying to end them all so suddenly. Just as he was about to leave, Chris remembered the leftover bacon strips meant for Pichu and quickly put them on a plate. He rushed up ahead (passing Lucario who had remained behind to wait for him) and presented the food to Pichu. "For me? Wow, thank you! I forgot I was hungry!" Pichu happily took the plate larger than his body and miraculously managed to balance it with both hands. He used his mouth to pick the food occasionally and relished in the taste as they made their way to the room Master Hand was taking them…

The Ice Climbers Joined Your Team!

Pichu Joined Your Team!

"Did anybody hear that?" Popo wondered aloud.

"Shrug it off," Lucario advised, shuddering.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

Tallon IV Adventures

Would you like to save your data?

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~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris, Lucario, Ice Climbers, Pichu

The reason why the Ice Climbers were added without visiting their world is because…well…I really can't make much about climbing an endless(?) mountain. They're the only ones who don't have much of a plot going on, but the rest are still busy with their things. Their development doesn't end but start. Chris hasn't had a chance to really get to know them.

For you veteran readers, you may have already noticed the major changes for the beginning chapters. Instead of the duo going it alone, they get to have more allies – despite the fact said allies aren't so hardcore in attitude – and explore more worlds together. It will help the narrative to get longer.

I encourage everyone to review, or else you will never get a bacon impression ever again.

(By the way, I'm so done making notes for chapters in this place peeving people from me breaking rules. As such, updates about the story will be said through my twitter page: AuraGuyChris. Go there for a very easy way to contact me and watch how silly I am about today's events).

WARNING: THE NEXT CHAPTER IS NOT THE SAME IN QUALITY AS THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. DO NOT ADVANCE UNLESS YOU'RE COMPLETELY SURE YOU WANT TO SEE HOW MUCH OF A WRITING WRECK I WAS YEARS AGO. SKIP TO AROUND CHAPTER 120 IF YOU WANT TO HAVE SOME CONSIST QUALITY.
*Chapter 7*: Officially Screwed

And here is the next chapter everyone, enjoy! And please, R&R!

Chapter 7: Metroids! The life sucking beasts!

Super Metroid

?

The duo found themselves standing in an extremely dark room, with only the view of the stars and planets from afar from the big window that resided in their current location.

Chris walked forward and looked around. "...Everything is too dark to see... I-it's scaring me..." Chris said shuddering in fear.

"Let me use my aura..." Lucario said...then he gasped after using his aura.

"W-what is it?"

"We're surrounded!"

The lights turned on, and they were surrounded by many guardians inside a colony, pointing their guns at them.

"..." Chris walked to the nearby switch and turned off the lights. "...Okay, here's the deal, I'm going to turn on back the lights and everyone should be gone."

"..." Lucario facepalmed.

The lights turned on and...surprise...

"We-we come in peace! We don't want to cause trouble here!" Chris yelled in panic.

"Sir, we have 2 guests inside the colony; one is a kid and the other is a beast with a spike on its chest, with more on the backs on its hands," a guardian was talking through his communicator in his helmet.

"GRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted angrily as Chris held him back by grabbing his shoulders.

"Send them to me immediately," a voice came from the communicator.

"Roger!" 5 guards said.

"You 2, follow us," a guard said.

"Y-you're not going to kill us or something, right?" Chris asked in shock.

"Depends."

"..." Chris gulped.

"Don't worry," Lucario whispered. "I'll keep alive and we will escape from here if it is necessary."

"...Thank you..." Chris whispered.

Ceres Space Colony
Commander's Room

Inside, there was a general, standing in front of a big window and looking the space outside. The guards came from the door pushed Chris and Lucario to the floor, but Lucario retaliated, grabbed Chris in time and managed to stand up with him.

"I'm the commander of this place and leader. What is your business inside the Ceres Space Colony and how did you 2 get in?" the commander asked.

"...Okay..." Chris whispered. "Let me handle the conversations..."

"Why?" Lucario asked.

"...Who knows! I need to stay under pressure!"

"If you don't hurry, then we'll send you to somewhere else," the commander said.

Chris stood up and coughed a little. "F-first, we come here to erradicate a menace that is invading all the worlds. We got a signal indicating that they were around here."

"(Why are you talking like that?)" Lucario asked through his mind to Chris.

"(Who is in charge of the conversations here again?)"

"(...)" Lucario sighed. "(You...)"

"A menace? Do you mean the Space Pirates?" the commander asked, folding his arms behind his back.

Chris shook his head. "E-even worse, sir, the Primids."

"Primids? What are they? Some kind of new race?"

Chris nodded and sweated a little. "T-that's right. Primids are purple creatures who want to take over the worlds by using high tech bombs that suck everything they can reach with."

The commander turned to the window. "...There isn't any other intruder besides you... However, we've got a strange signal from the Planet Zebes. Besides the Space Pirates, there are other creatures in there as well," he turned to them. "But I'm not too sure about this."

"About what?"

"How did you 2 get here without the security even knowing of you?"

"...Help me here, Lucario..." Chris whispered.

"..." Lucario didn't talk.

"Well?"

"...He got us."

"...Great..."

"W-we..." Chris thought for a moment. "...W-we got here...by...um...uh....b-because...w-we used..."

A moment of silence took place.

"...We were teleported here by the Primids and Space Pirates!" Chris lied. "Yes! We were fighting in Zebes and both races pushed us in a portal that took us here!"

"...Then," the commander walked closer to them and looked straight at Chris's face. "Does that mean they can teleport here any time they want to?"

"...Yes." Chris said, sure about what he said.

"...If you've come here by accident to eliminate them, you will need the attendance of our scientists to give you special equipment that allows you to breath in any planet even if there isn't any oxygen in it, and for more help, we'll send you with a Bounty Hunter to aid you too."

"A Bounty Hunter?" Lucario asked.

"Did that creature just speak?"

Chris nodded. "Yes, Lucario can talk with words or through other people's minds too."

"I see now, if I'm sure, I think she is landing inside the colony in this moment. I'll call 3 guards to escort you to the hangar and meet her," the commander talked through his communicator and 3 guards appeared from the door. "A last question before you go."

Chris shuddered in fear and stopped before they were about to leave. He knew what the commander was going to talk about. How did a normal kid breath without air in a planet without oxygen?

"Nowadays, nobody uses tatoos on their faces anymore. I suggest you to prevent such a thing."

"(T-tatoos?)" Chris asked to himself before he knew what the commander was talking about. His face with the "tatoos" that resembled Lucario's "tatoos" as well. "Um...t-they're just here to intimidate my enemies!"

"They'd feel embarrassed then."

Chris cursed under his breath as they walked out.

Ceres Space Colony
Hangar

"Samus' gunship has landed safely now," a guard said.

A orange ship with high tech weapons landed inside the hangar, a hatch opened from above and a person in a orange suit jumped from it and landed in front of Chris and Lucario before standing up.

"U-um, h-hello?" Chris asked waving his hand.

She looked at the guard. "Who is this kid and that beast?"

Lucario slowly walked to her but Chris stopped him.

"The commander says is alright to have them here. Besides, they are going with you to Planet Zebes to complete their mission," the guard told Samus.

"Planet Zebes? Isn't that place a Space Pirate base and it was also supposed to be destroyed?"

"It's a Space Pirate base and it got reconstructed again," another guard said. "And what is that thing you're holding?"

"This?" Samus placed a container with a creature inside. "This is a Metroid, but it was born in front of me and now it thinks that I'm his mother, but I need to deliver this to the scientists in the colony to examine him."

"If you want to find the investigation room, go straight this way and you will find it," one guard pointed to a door. "You 2 can go with her too."

Once the trio walked, Chris walked closer to Lucario. "Lu-"

"So," Samus interrupted. "What is so special about you 2? Nobody sees a kid and his beast in a base like this. Never."

"Let me kill her." Lucario whispered.

"How about no?" Chris whispered. "S-sorry for accepting your help all of a sudden, but we really need your he-"

"I asked you a question and you haven't responded it yet." Samus pointed out.

"...I'm a kid-" Chris's forehead made a vein after he got tired from hearing the word "kid" to address himself. "-that can use many different abilities to fight and Lucario has the power of the aura to deal damage too. We're currently trying to fight a much, bigger menace than the Space Pirates."

"Hard to believe."

"Huh?"

"Hard to believe someone saying such things," Samus said. "How can I know you're not lying?"

"Didn't your commander give you an order to get to Zebes with us?" Lucario asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes."

"Then it's clear that we were already accepted as your helpers. We don't need to explain everything to yo-"

SLAP!

"C-Chris!" Lucario yelled once Chris slapped his forehead.

Tales of Symphonia - Off Key

"You're going to behave yourself before Samus!" Chris said, putting his hands on his hips. "I can't believe you have to be so rude to her! She wants a good explanation to accept our help and you're acting like that? You're unbeliavable!"

Lucario closed his eyes in shame and opened his right one a little to look at Chris. "B-but I-"

"No buts! Sorry!"

Samus took a step back. "I-ah...didn't mean to be rude either..."

"Oh, please don't mind us," Chris chuckled (a worried smile in his mind). "Lucario tends to be like this to people. I'll gladly explain everything to you before we get to the laboratory."

Samus looked at Lucario who was rubbing the back of his head as she walked away. "...R-right...if you would..."

"...Don't be this hard on me either..." Lucario whispered.

"...You can stop the acting. She's gone."

Lucario closed his eyes. "Please, make a good strategy that doesn't involve me being hit...by you."

"Don't worry about that."

Ceres Space Colony
Investigation Room

After a while of explaining everything to the bounty hunter, Samus was able to understand the mission that Chris and Lucario had to do. Of course, they didn't talk about the Smash Mansion or the hands.

"Hmm, what did you bring this time, Samus? An infant Metroid?" the scientists started to examine the infant Metroid. "Amazing, we can harness the power of the Metroids to benefit the humanity. Samus, you made an important discovery!"

"Excume me, but we've come here to get some devices to breath without oxygen. The commander said that to us too." Chris said.

"That's right, we got the word from the commander. Here, take these little devices," a scientist handed over 2 tiny devices to the duo. "You just need to place them near your noses at it will produce air," they did and the devices started to produce air. "Of course, being here will be hard to see the device working."

"I need to go to Zebes now. Good luck with the investigation." Samus said leaving the room with Chris and Lucario following her to the gunship.

Samus's Gunship

Chris found the Gunship really amazing from the inside after he and Lucario got to see the interior. It was equipped with all sorts of machinery and buttons with different travel options that nobody could understand, except Samus at the least.

"...We're never going to see this anywhere else, right?" Lucario asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Samus asked. "I thought you 2 already knew about this since you were fighting the Primids and Space Pirates."

"...L-look," Chris interrupted. "Just wait like 10 or so years and you'll know what we mean."

"...What?" Samus asked utterly confused.

"P-please don't mind him..." Lucario said as Chris gave him a glare. "I-I mean, forget about it..."

The Gunship started to take off and it went through the space. The 2 were looking outside and watched the emptyness of the space, that Chris found amazing.

"Wow...the space is amazing from here." Chris said as he and Lucario were looking outside, watching all the stars in the space.

"(Can I really believe these 2 at all?)" Samus thought with a frown.

Their peace was soon broken by an alarm...

WARNING: DISTRESS CALL, WARNING: DISTRESS CALL

"Connect me to the distress call." Samus commanded to the ship.

"Samus! Return to the colony. A big dragon like creature is attacking and he is destroying everything her-what? Oh no! Stop! No-" the transmission was interrupted by shots and screams.

"..." Lucario looked back at the colony were several explosions were shown. "They're there..."

"I-I-I'm scared." Chris said shaking.

"We have no choice, we need to return to the colony." Samus turned the ship towards the colony and it went as quickly as possible to the hangar, where it landed.

Ceres Space Colony
Hangar

They went deeper in the colony and found the commander.

"Commander! What is happening?" Samus asked.

"S-Samus, there is a big monster attacking the investigation room right now as we speak, but not only that, the way to the room is blocked my purple creatures who came with that too," the commander said coughing.

"Primids." Lucario said.

"Right, I need to go there and destroy it then." Samus said.

"There isn't any much time left, the colony was badly damaged by the monster and it will explode in 30 minutes!" the commander said.

"30 minutes is just enough." Samus stated, running away to the investigation room.

"...S-she is always like that..." the commander pointed out before he stood up. "All the personnel will evacuate the place. You 2 should go with her and aid her with that monster." Chris and Lucario nodded and they went with Samus to defeat the monster. "Don't worry about me! I'll escape before this blows up!"

Metroid Main Theme

Samus went first, then Chris, then Lucario. Bytans appeared from nowhere and the trio quickly prepared to attack.

"(Finally, an actual fight...) Take this!" Chris shouted using Force Palm. He hit 3 Bytans but it wasn't enough to destroy them. However, Lucario finished them with kicks infused with his aura, taking them down.

Samus was doing it fine. She was tackling them, shooting and bombarding them. The trio defeated the Bytans and went further inside. Sword Primids were in the way but Lucario took them out with his fists glowing with aura and Samus with charged shots.

"..." Chris rolled his eyes. "Yes, don't let the kid get in the way for the much, stronger people..."

"Sorry." Lucario said with a nod.

"...I guess it's okay..."

They were just in front of the investigation room, but another ordeal of Primids and R.O.B Sentrys appeared. Chris was surrounded but Lucario used his fists and kicks to defeat them. Samus was using her Grapple Beam and everything was fine.

"The lab is just crossing this door." Samus said.

"...That was fast..." Chris said.

"Maybe you could take this as some sort of...easy part?" Lucario wondered.

"...You're right." Chris smiled at Lucario, then the trio went inside the investigation room.

Ceres Space Colony
Investigation room

"This...is...horrible..." Chris said, looking at the dead bodies of the scientists laying on the floor. Everything around was destroyed. The machines were burning and blood was scattered around the place. "B-blood..." Chris muttered and shuddered as he embraced himself.

"...Who could have done this?" Lucario asked.

Samus looked a big mark that appeared to be from a big claw. "...I know who..." Samus said.

Suddenly, a roar came from the right, they turned their heads and they saw a big shadowy figure inside smoke preparing a laser from his mouth and fired it to the trio. Samus evaded it and Lucario grabbed Chris and he evaded it too.

"...Ridley..." Samus muttered, glaring at the Space Pirate leader.

"M-my god..." Chris gulped as the creature glanced at the trio. "R-Ridley looks a lot scarier than a bunch of pixels..."

"...That sounded extremely stupid if you ask me..." Lucario said.

"W-well, blame me! It's the truth after all!" Chris said.

Samus spotted the container of the infant Metroid in Ridley's claws. "Give it back now!" Samus demanded as she fired a missile at Ridley, but it destroyed it with its tail, then Ridley roared, made a hole on the wall with its tail and went away through it. The trio left the investigation lab to avoid being sucked into the hole. The bodies of the scientists were being dragged away and the machines as well.

"..." Chris looked down as they stared at the locked door of the lab.

Samus put a hand on his shoulder. "I know...nobody was able to live after that monster..."

"...I feel sorry for them..." Chris muttered.

"What are you doing?" Lucario asked. "The colony is going to explode if we don't hurry!"

"W-we must escape from here before it blows up!" Chris said running at the hangar, Samus was faster and Chris couldn't catch up, but Lucario grabbed him by the arm and he accelerated to the ship, they eventually made it and everything was blowing up, but they escaped fortunately.

"Ridley was escaping through that direction!" Chris pointed to a planet not far from them. Samus nodded and commanded the gunship to go to Planet Zebes, as they were approaching the atmosphere, the Ceres Space Colony exploded before their eyes.

"..." Chris looked down before Lucario put a hand on his shoulder.

"Be prepared, we're going into the enemy's territory." Samus stated as the ship was descending on the surface of the planet.

Preview of the next chapter

"This is Samus."

"I'm Lucario."

"The Space Pirates stole the infant Metroid to reproduce more Metroids and then they can launch a invasion to all the civilizations of all the planets, we must get back the Metroid as soon as possible."

"What is so dangerous about them?"

"They can take the life force of living beings and make themselves stronger."

"That would be a dangerous situation then."

"However, I doubt if you 2 can help me retrieving it."

Lucario glared at Samus "Is that an insult?"

"Not at all."

"I'm don't believe you."

"Next time: Zebes! The base of technology!

And I've said before, R&R please!
*Chapter 8*: Skipping Through Wastelands Of DEATH

Man, someone got to say (boss spoiler)'s red rings can cause an instant KO, that's a cheap attack! Wait...that was random...a-anyway, enjoy the next chapter!

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 8: Zebes! The base of technology!

Planet Zebes

Landing Site

"This place looks like a wasteland..." Chris said, shivering a little from the sand.

"The Space Pirates are maybe underground. They always have their bases beneath the earth," Samus pointed out. "...Let's move on and follow me."

Opening/Metroid Prime menu

Room 1

"What are those disgusting creatures?" Chris asked.

"Many kinds of disgusting creatures live in every planet. This one is not an exception." Samus explained as she was shooting them down from the distance. "But maybe the pirates brought species of other planets to protect their base or do research and increases their power."

"Chris, look, I found something." Lucario found something behind a boulder. It was a chest. He opened it and inside there were 2 blue gloves in it. "...Do you think this is a weapon for me? I mean, even the gloves can fit perfectly in my hands." Lucario placed the gloves on his hands "...Somehow I feel a little stronger now."

"Then it could be good to use them." Chris stated. "...Wait, what is a chest doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"Do we care?" Lucario asked confused.

"...I guess not..."

"There are no monsters in here. We can move on." Samus went to another area with the duo following her from behind.

Room 2

"Strange, nothing is here." Samus was looking around, using her visor to detect enemies. "Absolutely nothing."

"And is weird because this room is so much bigger than the last one." Chris pointed out.

Lucario glowed. "...Wait, something big is approaching."

The earth began to shake violently and from the ground, a big worm came roaring with its big mouth. The trio stood still for a moment before attacking.

"Wait a minute, that worm has purple spores coming from around its body." Samus scanned the worm and there were purple spores coming from it.

"...Maybe it was altered by the Primids!" Chris said in surprise. The big worm charged at them and it damaged Samus and Chris "And...I think it is stronger too..."

"How dare that monster!" Lucario glared at the worm. It roared and dug in the ground. They examined the floor and where it was sounding louder they ran to another part to avoid the attack.

"I don't know where he is going to come!" Samus said scanning the floor to locate the worm, but it was useless, the worm came from beneath Samus and Lucario fired an Aura Sphere, damaging it, but it wasn't enough to defeat it yet.

"Just how long is this going to last?" Chris asked angrily using many Force Palms to the worm, but the worm retaliated and swung his tail in Chris, sending him to wall and crashing to it. "...I'm...fine," he said before collapsing.

"Is he death?" Samus scanned Chris and she found a little life force coming from him. "...He is fine, but he is in a critical condition..."

"Grrrr..."

Suddenly, there was a blue light shining inside the room. Samus turned her head and saw Lucario glowing intensely in a blue light. "W-what? Your power is increasing at a fast rate!" Samus said surprised.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!" Lucario grunted furiously.

She scanned him before he jumped high in the air and fired a big beam of aura at the worm, destroying it in the process and leaving nothing behind from the monster. He descended, stopped glowing and went to check his trainer laying unconscious on the ground.

"Chris! Wake up! Are you alright?" Lucario asked worried about Chris. Chris opened his eyes half-way.

"I'm...fine, I told you that...didn't I?" Chris smiled at Lucario before standing up. "W-we should continue, we can't waste any second."

"(He is in a bad shape. I need to keep him away from enemies for a while...)" Lucario thought to himself.

Chris's damage percent: 78

As the team ventured deeper in Zebes, there were many problems along the way: lava rivers, disgusting bugs, moving platforms above the lava. Chris didn't feel so good, since that battle with the big worm damaged him. Lucario was almost doing everything for him, but he didn't complain even a little.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Huh? What's happening?" Master Hand saw the box of Star Fox Assault and Star Fox Command glowing in a purple light.

"Ooh! Ooh! Is it the Firework & Lights Day again?!" Crazy Hand asked.

And 2 lights came from it, combined themselves and then it went inside Super Metroid.

"Brother, what was that?!" Crazy Hand asked.

"I-I don't know! 2 lights came from those worlds and combined, then it went inside Super Metroid!" Master Hand looked at Super Metroid. "...And maybe is something very bad... I hope they are fine."

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Master Tabuu, we've sent our army to Corneria in both worlds."

"Say the report."

"We couldn't find a good place to take over. There were many disturbances in both worlds. However, we've captured one of them and made him a commander of our army, then we sent him to Planet Zebes to stop that kid and his Lucario."

"Excellent work, they are much better when they work for us. Keep going according to the plan," he teleported away

"...This is...horrible, what I need to do to...stop this?" he floated away.

Planet Zebes
Room 18

"Are we even there yet?" Lucario asked.

"I'm not really sure, but when there are machines near, we should be closer to the base," Samus said looking at the machines in the room. "However, the closer we are, the danger rises."

"She...is right," Chris said with a little force. "The last room was and is still dangerous, and yet this room is even harder to get through."

"Chris, stop pushing yourself like that or you will not recover from your injuries." Lucario said worried about Chris's sake.

"Don't worry, I can continue even...in this shape."

Lucario placed his hand on Chris's left shoulder. "Look, I know you want to help, but in this situation you will only be a burde-"

"Burden?"

"...I know, it's hard to resist that word to you, but please, stay away from danger and let me handle this." Chris looked away a moment before talking and nodding.

"Alright...I leave everything to you and Samus, but promise me you will protect me."

Lucario smiled a little. "I'm always doing that for you since the beginning."

Chris smiled and chuckled a little. "It...was a stupid question, I admit it."

"If you 2 are done, we can move to the next room." Samus said entering another room, with the duo following her.

Planet Zebes
Room 19

The room was big, there was no ceiling in there and the sky could be watched from below. Our heroes looked around if there was any Primid or monster.

"Do you think there is another...big monster here?" Chris asked.

"No, there isn't any of them approaching." Lucario answered.

"Stay focused, they probably can launch an attack from afar." Samus said charging her weapon.

They remained silent for 20 seconds. They made a triangle formation with back-to-back (Lucario's tail passed through between Samus and Chris), looking at every place inside. The door to the next room was locked and there was probably something inside the room to defeat so the lock could be opened.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...I hear something..." Chris said.

A sound like something doing a countdown was coming to them. They looked at every place again. It was coming closer, but suddenly it stopped and they didn't know where it was.

"Where is it?" Samus asked.

"It sounds like is near here...but yet so far." Lucario pointed out.

"Wait a second, that sound, is not an ordinary countdown, is like a tiny bomb with enough force to push anything far away with just a explosion if the victim is very near." Samus stated. The sound was going faster now.

"...Can you tell all that just by hearing the sounds?" Lucario questioned.

"Yes."

Boh aura users looked at each other and shrugged.

"Wait, if that isn't here in our point of view...then that means..." Chris turned his head and gasped.

"That bomb.." Samus turned her head.

"Is between us!" Lucario finished the sentence. Indeed, there was a tiny bomb between them, and it was too late because it exploded, causing a big explosion. It sent the trio to different directions across the air and outside the room, but Samus was flying with Lucario...but Chris blasted off alone.

"Luuucaaariiiioooo!!" Chris shouted, flying to another different place.

"Chriiiiiiiis!!" both Samus and Lucario shouted, flying to another location, away from Chris.

Dark Room

"(...I...I...need to do something! I'm going to crash on the ground if I don't act quickly!... Wait, I wonder if...)" Chris was about to crash on the ground, but he shouted, "Force Palm!" and he hit the floor, doing a somersault and landing on his feet "Phew, I thought I was a goner... (Oh, great! I did a somersault!...)" Chris looked around "But...this place is too dark to see...and...worse of all...I'm alone..."

"(Chris, can you hear me?)" a familiar voice rang inside Chris's mind.

"(Lucario! You're fine! I'm glad to hear your voice again!)" Chris said in his mind happily.

"(I'm glad too, but we need to regroup again.)"

"(I was thinking the same thing, but hurry up, I'm inside a dark place and I can't see anything too...I'm s-scared...)" Chris trembled in fear.

"(Don't worry, I'm coming to you with Samus. Just stay there and don't go anywhere else.)"

"(...Alright, just hurry up.)"

Lucario ended the telepathy talk.

"But, it would be better if I go to them too. It would be faster...right?" Chris wondered as he walked forward if he could spot a door inside, and he did. "...Yes, everything is getting better..." he opened the door and found himself in another room, this one wasn't dark like the last one.

Room 29

"Weird, the door is just a few meters away, and is opened... We can regroup in less time than I thought!" Chris said happily, but just as he was about open the door...

"Can't let yo do that, Star Fox!" a voice shouted from somewhere.

"...Star Fox? Since when this world was Corneria?" Chris asked confused. He started to inspect the room from the door, and the roof exploded making a hole in the process, and from it, a shadow came. It was shrouded in a purple aura like the Primids, but Chris could tell there was a man through the veil. He was standing like he was going to attack, his shoulders had spikes and also his knees. He had grey and white fur on his face, a tiny visor in front of his left eye. He was wearing a light blue jacket and a black shirt below, and claws coming from his hands.

"Wait...I remember you, you're Wolf O'Donnell!" Chris said in shock. "Oh, please tell me you're here to save me!"

"Heck no." Wolf said.

"...I'm so dead, am I?" Chris said with a bored look.

"That's right," Wolf pointed at himself. "I'm one of the commanders of the Subspace, and I came here to eliminate you and that filthy dog of yours." Wolf pointed his finger (or claw) at Chris.

"F-filthy dog? Y-you mean Lucario?"

Wolf nodded. "Yes, but first..." Wolf motioned his claw to Chris. "You must be eliminated!" Wolf charged at Chris, but Chris yelled, screamed and opened the door behind him and escaped. The door closed and Wolf crashed into it. He shook his head, opened the door. He started to chase Chris and tried to kill him as he let out a snarl.

Preview of the next chapter

"I-I'm Chris! M-man, Wolf is such a pain. Escaping through the rooms while he is chasing me is not an easy task...and worse when I'm injured. L-L-Lucario, if I need your help, t-t-the time is now! I-I-I can't escape from him... He is so fast and he can catch me...and possibly...kill me! Next time: VS Commander Wolf! Chris's first battle! OH, HELL NO! I-I don't want to fight!"

Oh yeah, I've made Wolf have a much more important role in this story, I mean, he could have been an interesting character in the SSE! But, what could've happened if Toon Link was in it WITH Link?

Read and review, please! :)
*Chapter 9*: He Won't Let You Do Whatever

This chapter was fun to make, you will you know when you read it, read and review please, I would appreciate that. :)

Chapter 9: VS Commander Wolf! Chris's first battle!

Star Wolf theme

Chris ran as fast as his feet could take him away from the commander. He passed quickly through many rooms with Wolf following behind, until he found himself standing in a room full of platforms. The door was high up, and he couldn't jump so high, but still, he jumped from platform to platform.

"This...is getting...so tedious...he doesn't surrender...does he?" Chris muttered as he jumped to a platform and doing it continuously. However, Wolf was almost catching him up. the lupine was 6 platforms away but still he was jumping quite fast. Chris hid behind some boxes near and Wolf started to look around.

"(Wait, what did Master Hand tell us about?)" Chris thought...and suddenly, a cloud popped out of his head with Master Hand in it.

"Remember Chris, use the force when is needed!"

"(...No, I know that wasn't it...)"

"Crazy never washes his glove!"

"(That's not definitely either!)"

"You will never guess what is inside my glove. Come on! Guess it!"

"(...Weird... Wait, I think I remember now.)"

"When you learn completely that technique or skill, you can use it even if you're not using the job where you were learning it. For instance, let's say you learned to use Aura Sphere in Aura Apprentice, but when you change to the "PK Kid" job, you can use Aura Sphere in that job too."

"(Hmm, what if...) PK Flash," he whispered. A green flash came from his head and he controlled it towards a clueless Wolf looking in a corner. Since the flash was getting bigger, it exploded right behind Wolf, crashed into the wall and fell in the floor, moaning in pain.

"Got you!" Chris said running to the next room...

20 seconds later, Wolf got up and started again in the chasing.

"W-w-wait a minute, this is an elevator!" Chris crossed quickly the previous room he just walked in when Wolf was damaged. The room wasn't a room, it was an elevator. The elevator area was quite big, 50 people could fit inside. Chris found buttons to the right of where he was standing in a hurry. He pressed one and the door closed slowly.

"You won't escape from me!" Wolf yelled while was coming from the other side. He rushed at the door before it closed, but it was too late and he didn't make it.

Chris let out a sigh of relief and the elevator started to move downward. He leaned to the wall and slid through it to the floor and took a seat "T-thank goodness...is over... Wolf won't catch me now...but I wonder...what are Samus and Lucario doing?" Chris wondered before he closed his eyes and fell asleep through his exhaustion.

Planet Zebes
Room 37

"...Chris is not there anymore... I told him to stay there!" Lucario said angrily.

"He's probably fine. Maybe something happened inside where he was and he needed to leave the room." Samus said, jumping to a platform.

"But did you forget he was in a bad shape?"

Samus nodded. "...I know, but you got to believe in him if you want to see him again."

"I'm always believing in him... Chris does that for me too...b-but this is different!"

"Stop complaining and let's move on. The faster, the better!" Samus said snapping Lucario out of his rage The Aura Pokémon grunted before he nodded as the 2 ran faster than before.

Planet Zebes
Elevator

"..." Chris was sleeping while the elevator was moving down.

Dream

"...W-where am I?"

"Chris!"

A voice said from afar. That voice was easy for Chris to guess.

"Huh?... Is that you Mario?"

"Chris!"

"...Is that you Luigi?"

"Chris!"

"...Y-you're Falco, right?"

"Chris!"

"...Captain Falcon?"

"Chris!"

"...Ness? Is that you?"

"Chris!!"

"...That voice...Lucario?"

"Chris!"

Many voices said in unison. Some were from others Chris couldn't remember.

"S-show yourselves! I can't see you!"

Planet Zebes
Elevator

"Show yourselves!" Chris woke up saying the same words he said in his dream. "W-what was that dream?... It was so weird..." he looked down. "...I hope it's not a bad premonition..."

Suddenly, the elevator began to shake a little. Footsteps were coming from the roof and Chris looked above. "H-huh? W-what's happening now?... Oh no...don't tell me..."

The roof exploded before his eyes, and Wolf came from it.

"W-will you stop chasing me?!" Chris asked.

"You're cornered kid. Say your prayers!" Wolf said standing in a fighting position.

"...W-well, technically speaking I can jump off the elevator an-" Chris stopped talking as he ducked his head from a shot of Wolf's Blaster. "F-fine!" Chris stood up and he didn't have another choice but fight him.

Star Wolf (Assault)

Wolf charged quickly and did a combo of 3 attacks with his claws. Chris rolled on the floor to evade it (and hit his head with the wall by accident). Chris retaliated using Force Palm, he grabbed Wolf and threw him to the ceiling. Wolf came back using Fire Wolf, the attack hit Chris and he fell on the floor.

"I'm...not going to surrender yet..." Chris muttered. He stood up again and ran towards Wolf to try and land several punches and kicks, though they were so simple to evade even with the little aura that emanated from his hands.

"Ha! Think you will defeat me with that?!" Wolf mocked as he used Wolf Flash to slice Chris down. He did it 3 times in a row and Chris's damage meter was rising up in an alarming rate.

Chris's damage meter: 108

"Ugh...I need help...but still, I-I won't surrender yet!" Chris shouted. He approached to Wolf and rolled passing him through, he did a tiny PK Flash and it exploded in Wolf's back. The lupine crashed into the wall but got up.

The elevator was going down faster than before, making little jumps high jumps.

"(I think I can...use this as an advantage...)" Chris thought to himself. Wolf rushed towards him and used a smash attack with his claw. It hits and Chris almost was going off screen but he came back in a slow way, since the elevator was going down faster, he knew what to do next.

"I...can...use...this!" Chris yelled. He came back faster and he used a downward kick in Wolf's head. Wolf bounced off the floor and he was sent off above. The downward kick was mimicking Ness's downward kick. Chris stood in the floor and panted heavily before sighing in relief.

Music stops

The elevator returned to his slow descent. Wolf was laying unconscious on the floor without moving. Chris had won the battle against the lupine.

"I...did it?... I-I did it! I've defeated Wolf without Lucario's help!" Chris jumped while smiling, but he felt weak and he stopped jumping, then he took a seat again in the wall, leaned to it and holding his left arm with his right hand. "...But...I think...I overdid it."

The elevator suddenly stopped. The door opened up and Chris stood up and walked to the next room, leaving Wolf behind. However, Chris pressed a button to make the elevator go up so he could escape from him. The door closed and Chris left, still badly injured.

Planet Zebes
Space Pirate's base entrance

"Lucario...where are you..." Chris muttered weakly. The room was tiny and it had 2 doors: one was surrounded with many machines while the other was a common one. He couldn't go on and he leaned on the wall and took a seat again in the floor, still holding his left arm. Chris felt so weak that he fell asleep again.

3 minutes later, a loud noise came from where the door of the elevator was. Chris just opened his eyes a little and the door exploded, and from it Wolf came again, still damaged but with enough force to walk. He saw Chris on the floor, he approached to him and grabbed him by the throat.

"Ugh, you're persistent...aren't you..." Chris said.

"I won't leave this place until you're dead kid... Now close your eyes and let my claw...kill you slowly to your death..." Wolf muttered with an evily smirk.

"I just...wanted to see...Lucario again..." Chris fainted but he didn't die yet. Wolf smirked a little at this moment, but suddenly, the other door opened up and Lucario came from it and tackled Wolf. Samus came with him too and she examined Chris's condition.

"Why did you do that to him?! Answer the question!" Lucario yelled enraged at Wolf. The Aura Pokémon was holding him in the wall, charging his fist with aura.

"Hehehe,, I almost killed him until you came... How pitiful...he almost defeated me but I came back and now...he is on the verge of death..."

"You...YOOOOOUUUU!!"

"Lucario...don't kill him..." Chris muttered as he slowly woke up.

"But, look what he has done to you! He deserves to die!" Lucario replied back angrily.

"Still...he is not the real Wolf...just let him go... P-please...do it for me..."

"I'm not going to listen to you!" Lucario yelled again enraged.

"P-please...Lucario...l-listen to me..." Chris whispered as tears began to stroll down his cheeks. Lucario couldn't tolerate Chris's tears and he let go of Wolf.

"...Leave now...or else!" Lucario stated, charging up his fist again.

"Grr, you're lucky kid...but next time...I'll see you again...then I'm going to kill you...and your partne-" Wolf was interrupted.

"I'VE SAID GO!" Lucario glared at Wolf.

"...Hmph, bunch of idiots..." those were Wolf's last words before he left the room and headed to where Lucario and Samus came.

"Chris, take this. It will heal you completely, I found it during our search for you." Samus handed over a small container. Chris took it and the container shined as he was surrounded in a bright light before he was completely healed.

"I-I'm feeling better now... T-t-thank you so much, Samus!" Chris said smiling at Samus. She smiled back at him with a chuckle.

Chris looked at Lucario who glared down at him. "I told you to stay in that room until we came for you!" Lucario said enraged

"B-bu-" Chris was interrupted.

"I don't want to hear your explanation! I was so worried about you and you just walked away like nothing happened!" Lucario yelled, turning his back to Chris and crossing his arms.

Chris looked away. He was getting sad for not listening to Lucario's orders and getting punished by him. The teenager closed his eyes and he was about to cry.

"...Lucario, stop that!" Samus yelled.

Lucario turned to Samus and he opened his arms. "B-but!"

"You have no right to yelling at Chris like that. He listened to you but he just wanted to search for you as we did for him, and he was running from whoever that guy was too... Don't you think about it before talking?!" she asked angrily.

Lucario opened his mouth in surprise. He knew he was wrong right at the moment Samus told him that. The Aura Pokémon looked away and closed his eyes before opening them up, looking at Chris.

"I-I'm...sorry...Chris, forgive me for yelling at you..." Lucario approached to Chris and placed his hand on Chris's right shoulder. "I was...very worried about you...to be honest..."

"..." Chris didn't say anything.

"You should forgive him now." Samus stated.

Chris turned to Lucario. He was about to cry but then he hugged him and then started to sob silently while Lucario patted his back.

"I-I...I don't want to be...s-separated from you again...I-I was just so scared...I was so scared, Lucario!" Chris yelled, still crying. Lucario placed his right hand behind Chris's head as he cried above his fur on his shoulder. Lucario closed his eyes and a single tear came from his right eye and fell on the floor.

"...I'm happy were reunited again..." Lucario whispered. "...I'm happy to be with you again..."

Chris wiped out his tears and he looked at Lucario. "...Thank you, Lucario... I'm good to go when you're ready too," he smiled a little with a chuckle as Lucario did the same.

Lucario nodded. Samus sighed in relief as she went to the other door and opened it. "The base is just behind this door. We should get going now."

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris everyone."

"I'm Lucario."

"This is Samus."

"What could've happened to Wolf to act like that? H-he almost kills me!"

"If he ever do that again, I'm going to kill him."

"We should worry about the present now. You 2 can investigate that later. Now we need to infiltrate the base and look for the infant Metroid."

"That's right, but...there are Primids here too."

"And? I can beat them with just one hand."

"...Are you saying that just to cheer up and protect Chris?"

"He is doing that."

Lucario blushed a little and looked away embarrassed.

"Guess that is the point."

"Leave him be, at least he doesn't want anyone to be hurt again."

Lucario looked at Chris. "Except the Primids."

"...That's the spirit, I guess..."

"Good point, Lucario! Next time: Kraid! The big monster and guardian! ...Please, tell me Lucario and Samus are going to fight that thing and not me..."

"You too," the others said as Chris groaned.

As I've said before, read and review. :)
*Chapter 10*: Insert Metroid Jingle Here

Sorry for not updating this yesterday, but here it is, the next chapter, please read and review! Or Pichu will evolve to a Pikachu, wait, that isn't a menace. XD

Chapter 10: Kraid! The big monster and guardian!

Planet Zebes
Room 42

The trio continued their path to the base, it was full of machinery, but the weird thing was, it was completely empty.

"Isn't weird to find this all abandoned?" Chris asked.

"Be on your guards, they always know when their enemies will come to their hideout." Samus stated charging up her arm cannon. They walked silently towards the next room, everything was too quiet, there were little sounds coming from anywhere and they turned quickly to find the source.

"Lucario, can you see someone with your aura?" Chris suggested.

"Let me see." Lucario glowed for a moment, he saw many figures coming from the other rooms, but mysteriously, he found some in where they were standing, just below of them!

Multiplayer (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)

"Below us! Avoid it!" Lucario shouted jumping away from there, Samus and Chris did the same and the floor blasted, and from it 5 Space Pirates came shooting at them.

"These guys know how to attack!" Chris pointed out evading some shots "Lucario, cover me up!" He hid behind a pile of boxes, Lucario approached to the pile and protected him from the shots.

"What are you going to do?!" Lucario asked. A green flash came from Chris's head and he controlled it towards the group of 5, it exploded and they fainted and died.

"Well done Chris." Samus congratulated Chris's action, they proceeded to the next room.

Planet Zebes
Room 43

"There are more of them!" Chris said.

"Chris, look out!" Samus shouted, a Space Pirate came with a sable attached to his arm and he was about to slice Chris, until he suddenly learned to use Double Team, he used it and the sable slashed through it, but he came from behind him and kicked him, Chris was completely unharmed.

"That was Double Team right?" Lucario asked surprised, however, 4 Space Pirates came from behind, he turned and used Double Team too, he dissapeared in a flash and he came from behind them quite fast with a powerful kick sending them to the wall and crashing to them.

"But yours is far more advanced that mine." Chris said.

"You will eventually learn how to use it well." Lucario said.

"Wait a minute, what is that?" Chris saw a little orange ball rolling in the floor and it shined and went towards a group of pirates, knocking them out with a single blown. Then the ball turned into Samus.

"How did you do that?" Chris asked.

"Is hard to explain it, I'll tell you 2 some time later." She said walking towards the next room. Both followed her.

Space Pirate base
Room 44

"Why is this room filled with lava? There are only 3 platforms in here too."

The room was starting to shake, the lava was moving wildly.

"Someone is inside the lava!" Lucario said, from the lava, a big dinosaur like creature with 3 spikes on his chest, stomach and another spike between the 2 spikes came from the lava roaring enraged.

"That must be Kraid." Samus said reading Kraid's information in her visor "Wait, what is that?"

"Is a Subspace Bomb!" There was a Subspace Bomb behind Kraid, the countdown was in 10 minutes.

"We must defeat that thing and deactivate the bomb before it explodes!" Lucario said firing an Aura Sphere at Kraid's head, but it bounced off "What?"

"His head is too hard to break through, his weak point are those spikes in his body! But they need first to be fired in order to do damage!" Samus said, the spike of the middle fired quite fast at Chris, but Lucario grabbed the spike before it could touch Chris, and he threw it to the lava.

"Now! Fire!" Samus was shooting in the spot of the spike, Lucario was firing several Aura Spheres there too, Kraid was roaring in pain and he fired the other 2 spikes, however, Chris was charging up a PK Flash and it exploded right in front of the spikes, destroying them in the process.

"Keep going!" Samus said again, now firing missiles, Kraid was without his spikes, so the monster approached to them and used his giant claw to slice them, they jumped just in time to evade it.

"Wait a minute, Primids are coming this way!" Chris saw a group of Fire Primids appearing from behind them, they used tiny fire balls, the trio was evading them and Kraid's claw. Lucario acted quickly and managed to beat them, then they returned to damage Kraid.

"Is becoming weaker, keep firing at it!" Chris said.

"...Huh? That sound...Metroids!" Samus said surprised, from a hole, 8 Metroids came moving their pincers of their mouths, they moved floating in the air and they quickly flew towards Samus's helmet, attaching their bodies and sucking her energy "Guys! I need...help...hurry..."

"Samus, hang in there!" Chris said jumping from his platform and landing (and almost losing his balance) in front of Samus, he used a Force Palm to push away the Metroids, but only 2 were pushed away and they approached their pincers to Chris "AAAHHH!!"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" Lucario yelled furiously punching the 2 towards the walls, they shook their bodies for a while and they disappeared.

"Lucario! Please help Samus!"

"But what about Kraid?"

"Leave him to me! I know I can defeat him!"

"He's stronger than you!"

"So? What's your point? I'm planning to beat him!"

"...Urgh, alright, but if you get in trouble, I'll rush and protect you."

"Thank you Lucario! Now save Samus!" Chris said and Lucario went to help Samus, Chris noticed a spike coming to him, but he quickly used Double Team to disappear and deal a normal blow changing the spike direction to a wall, Chris used a quick PK Flash to explode it in Kraid's belly and the monster yelled in pain once again. But for his last attack, he fired all the 3 spikes to Chris.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!" Chris blocked his face to resist the attack, but as soon as he closed his eyes, Samus and Lucario came back firing a missile and an Aura Sphere, the missile destroyed both spikes and the Aura Sphere went at high speed towards the belly.

Eventually, Kraid was defeated and he fell into the lava roaring in pain as his head was covered by the magma, the trio jumped to the next platform where the Subspace Bomb was laying, the countdown was in 4 minutes.

"Lucario, push it to the lava!" Chris commanded and Lucario nodded, he tried to push the bomb to the lava but it didn't budge a little.

"I can't...is too heavy!" Lucario said tightening his fangs.

"Let me scan it." Samus used her visor to scan the bomb "A bomb that will consume everything that is around it...was designed by the Primids...let's see..."

"Found anything yet?" Chris asked.

"Wait, there is something here" She readed it aloud "The only way to destroy this example of bomb is to find 3 switches inside of it, however, one of them will deactivate the bomb, but if isn't the correct one, it will explode instantly."

"I found the 3 switches!" Lucario found the 3 switches inside the bomb "Which?"

"Hmm, pull the first on-no no no- the third on-no no no!" Chris said confused, the chance of the bomb to not explode was of 33.9 percent.

"Pull the switch of the middle!" Samus said.

"Are you sure?" Lucario asked, she nodded, Chris backed away a little and closed his eyes and Samus crossed her arms in front of her helmet, Lucario grabbed the switch of the middle, he closed his eyes and he pulled the switch down.

A moment of silence soon followed.

"...Did it work?" Chris asked terrified.

The countdown stopped in 0:12:98, everyone sighed in relief and they smiled "The bomb is lighter than before now." Lucario said pushing the bomb to the lava, it melted and everything was normal again.

"Look! The Primid Locator is in green!" Chris saw the locator in green, meaning Zebes was freed from the Primids's grasp "This world is saved! We did it Lucario!" He hugged Lucario.

"Finally, we can rest now." Lucario commented.

"So, are you 2 going to leave now?" Samus asked. Chris turned to her.

"That's right, we need to save the other worlds from the Primids before they can use the Subspace Bombs, and now that we're talking about bombs, your visor said that bomb was an example?"

"That means the other bombs are different from this one." Samus pointed out.

"Phew, I don't want to decide which switch is the real one again!" Chris let out a sigh of relief before looking at Lucario "Lucario, let's go!" Both nodded, Lucario placed his right hand in Chris's left shoulder and he used the Wiimote, pointing it to a wall and vanishing in front of Samus.

She made a soldier salute to the 2 "Good luck...and I'll join you later..."

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"My lord, I've failed you" Wolf said knelting before Tabuu.

"You worthless commander! You were defeated by a kid, that is just ridiculous!"

"I wasn't aware that he was strong!"

"Silence! And for worsening everything, he was weak too! What kind of henchmen are you!"

"Please my lord, give me another chance and I'll not fail this time!"

"...Fine, you can take them down again, but it's your last chance!"

"Roger! As you wish my lord!" Wolf ran away to the darkness.

"First Eagleland, now the Planet Zebes, what is next?" He teleported away.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Excellent work you 2." Master Hand greeted.

"Yay!" Crazy Hand took a flower ornament from nowhere.

"Where in the hell did you got that?"

"Um, the garden maybe?"

"Oh, right." Master Hand said sarcastically "How was it in Zebes?"

"Well, the Primids are gone for that place now," Chris pointed out "And Samus is finally doing her work there, say, what is that screen over there? It wasn't there before."

There was a huge screen in the command room "That?" Master Hand snapped his fingers and the screen showed the 36 Smashers in their poses "That screen shows the 36 Smashers and their current status-" MH gasped when he saw Wolf's icon in purple "What happened to him?"

"Wolf attacked me while we were in Zebes, he almost kills me if it weren't for Lucario!" Chris said, remembering the incident "I don't want to remember it..."

"That means he is under the control of the Primids" Master Hand pointed out "They can take over the bodies of their opponents and use them for their own benefits."

"That is horrible" Chris stated "Wait a second, I thought there were 35 Smashers, not 36!"

"Well...take a closer look to the screen and find that extra smasher." Master Hand said.

Chris looked closely to the screen "Kirby, Meta Knight, Luigi, Peach, Fox, Lucas, Lucario and...me!"

Indeed, Chris was just to the left of Lucario's icon, he was standing in the same stance as Lucario, the only difference being his right hand behind his head.

"So, that means..." Chris looked at Master Hand.

"That's right, you're officialy a member of the Smash Bros!" Master Hand said.

"I can't believe it! I'm a Smasher now!" Chris jumped in happiness placing his left hand in the air.

"Congratulations!" Crazy Hand floated around Chris "Dizzy!" He said crashing in the floor.

"Save the celebration until the end, right now you need to-wait, where is Lucario?" Master Hand looked around.

"He is there!" Crazy Hand pointed while he was in the floor, Lucario was doing meditation in front of the wall "He is doing Yoga!"

"Hey Lucario! Come on, we need to go to the next world!" Chris shouted at his best friend, but he didn't responded "Lucario?" Chris approached to Lucario "Are you hearing me?"

"Is he in a trance or something?" Master Hand asked.

Suddenly, Crazy Hand took out a Megaphone "EARTH TO LUCARIO! RESPOND NOW!" Chris and Master Hand blocked their ears, but even that didn't made Lucario to respond.

"Crazy! Where did you got that?" The sane hand asked to the insane hand.

"The same place I took the flower ornament!"

"Ugh! Nevermind!" Master Hand looked away annoyed.

"Can you hear me Lucario?"

"..."

"Hello?"

"..."

"Alright, I have no choice but to do this to you!" He approached to Lucario's back, he placed his hands above his head and...he started to massage his ears.

"May I ask what will that do?" Master Hand asked confused.

"Just watch." Chris said simply, Lucario's mouth suddenly formed a smile.

"We wanted him to hear us, not to make him smile while he is ignoring us!"

"AS I SAID BEFORE, just watch." Chris said a little annoyed.

"...Alright Chris, you can stop now." Lucario said opening his left eye and looking at Chris.

Chris stopped "I'd continue but I know you were enjoying it." He smiled and narrowed his eyes.

"What is making you to think like that?" Lucario looked away blushing a little of embarrasment.

"Enough, my ship sails in the morning!" Master Hand said in a weird tone, Chris, Lucario and Crazy Hand looked at him confused "Erhm, look at the screen!"

An icon was getting darker, a who was in that icon was...

Preview of the next chapter

"You must choose who was in that icon so the chapter can proceed! It must be someone who his game was realesed after Melee but before Brawl!" Chris said waving his hand "Choose wisely!"

You heard him, send a review with that character whose game was realesed after Melee but before Brawl! R&R please!
*Chapter 11*: Toony Adventure

Good chapter is gooooood...

Read, enjoy, and review. ;D

Chapter 11: Toony Adventure

"Toon Link seems to be trouble. Go to his world and beat whatever thing moves around." Master Hand commanded. Both looked at each other and nodded, then Chris pointed to "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" with the Wiimote to open the portal, prompting them to walk inside and vanish.

"But wait a minute, what if we can save Roy, Mewtwo and Pichu in Melee?" Master Hand asked to himself.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Great Sea
Outside Forsaken Fortress

"Miss Tetra! The Forsaken Fortress is in sight!"

"Good job Gonzo. Link..." Tetra winked at Toon Link. "There is only one way to infiltrate the fortress without being spotted and rescue your sister. Are you sure you want to use that method?"

Toon Link nodded with a determined face. Tetra laughed a little because of Toon Link's cluelessness. "Okay. Nudge, Senza, grab Link and prepare the cannon!"

Toon Link's eyes widened more than they currently were.

20 seconds later...

"Stop moving the barrel, Link! You said you wanted to use this method, didn't you?" Tetra crossed her arms and smiled (or smirked at Toon Link). Toon Link was struggling inside a barrel, which was inside a cannon, which was aiming at the fortress, which Toon Link had to enter, which his sister was captive, which he…you know the drill...

"The cannon is ready, Miss Tetra!" Mako said moving his glasses.

"Excellent! Start the countdown, Gonzo!"

"As you wish! 3!" Gonzo said. Toon Link's face was getting angrier.

"2!"

His eyes narrowed.

"1!"

He closed his eyes and showed his teeth.

"FIRE!"

Toon Link was catapulted to the fortress. He yelled, flapped his arms (inside the barrel) like a crazy chicken being chased by hungry dogs, and went soaring through the sky above the calm ocean.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed.

"…Yep, that's the best shot we've ever done," Gonzo said.

Tetra laughed. "Well, he was so small unlike the bombs we have. Okay, let's wait and see what happens."

Forsaken Fortress
Boat Shore

A portal opened up and the duo from the mansion stepped out before it vanished.

"So, Toon Link is in here right?" Chris looked around. "...And what do you know? We're inside a fortress full of monsters and guards, just what we needed."

"..." Lucario didn't speak.

Chris looked at Lucario "Are you going to say anythin-" his eyes widened a lot. He saw Lucario with a drastic look, he was thin, he was a little overly draw, and still he was taller than Chris like what happened to them in Eagleland "Oh god, you're…Toon Lucario?"

"And you're Toon Chris," Lucario stated. Chris made a confused face. He watched his own reflection in the water near there. He gasped when he saw he was a little overly draw like Lucario was: his eyes bigger than they usually were, his head was big, but not too big, his body was thinner, his hands, his legs, his arms, even his fingers were smaller than before.

"…What the heck happened to us?!" He placed his hands on his head.

"Remember that the manual told us when we could travel to worlds with a different "air"? Well, this world has his own "air" as you see...that us are the living proof of that," Lucario pointed out.

Chris saw a little green spot inside a barrel flying through the sky and crashing into the wall near a window. The figure dropped a little sword and he fell in the water right in front of the toon heroes.

"What was that? …Oh, wait, this should be the part where Toon Link gets injured and…" Chris trailed off. From the water, Toon Link came with a "KO'd" out face, then he snapped out of it and saw Chris and Lucario. He made this face: (OoO)

"Want any help to get out of the water?" Lucario asked. Toon Link nodded and Lucario grabbed Toon Link's hand and pulled him out of the water. Toon Link smiled.

It was either listen to the silence of the swordsman or death for Chris.

"…Speak! Don't leave us with our words in our mouths!" Chris slapped hard Toon Link's back and he coughed a little. He grabbed his throat and he spat something out from his mouth.

"What is that?" Chris asked as he examined the thing. "…Y-yuck…gross! I-it's a chicken bone!"

"F-finally, someone took out that chicken bone from my throat!" Toon Link said. "I'm Link. Who are you 2?"

"Wait, what? This thing was inside your throat and you didn't even ask someone for help all this time?" Chris asked.

"Who're you to judge me?" Toon Link asked. "You try to get that stuck in your throat and not feel anything for 4 months! I forgot I had that in there for a pretty long time!"

"Well, you could have remembered if you didn't speak for 4 months!" Chris yelled.

"Chris, I think we shouldn't yell out loud here…" Lucario whispered.

"Oh, you're right…" Chris said embarrassed. "A-anyway, sorry for acting like this in front of you. I'm Chris, and this is Lucario," Chris said, pointing at him and Toon Lucario.

"…Okay…" Toon Link said with a nod. "…How did you 2 get in here, anyway? Nobody can enter this easy."

"Didn't you enter through the air?" Lucario asked.

"I rather forget my awful moments of my life, thank you very much," Toon Link said annoyed. "Since you're here, how did you 2 get in here?"

"We were…" Chris tried to make an excuse. "…K-kidnapped and we got out from a nearby cell…"

"Wait, what?" Toon Link asked. "Do you know a little girl with blond hair around here?"

"(He must be talking about Aryll…) N-no…" Chris said.

"I…see…" Toon Link said depressed.

"Link! Do you hear me?" A familiar voice came from Toon Link's pocket. He took out a shiny stone-like-pendant from it.

"Tetra! Yes, I'm fine. But if someone didn't, you know, FIRE ME TO A WALL and lost my sword, yes, I'm fine besides that," Toon Link said sarcastically and annoyed.

"So, you can talk now? Great, that will make the work easier… Wait… Oh, never mind… Anyway, I can talk to you through this stone I placed in your pocket when you were sleeping in the ship."

"You're one crazy stalker…"

"What?" Tetra asked annoyed.

"N-nothing… Hey, did you steal 30 rupees from my pocket too?" Toon Link asked annoyed.

(A/N: From this arc, Toon Link will be referred as Link).

"Hmm, why are you thinking that?" Tetra threw 30 rupees to her bed. "Anyway, since you lost your sword, you have no choice but sneak your way to the tower without being spotted by the guards inside."

"Well, I found 2 new friends in here and they can help me."

"What? That's ridiculous, show them to me!" Tetra demanded. Link placed the floating stone between Chris and Lucario. "…A kid with tattoos on his face and a beast? You've got to be kidding me," Tetra said, not believing what she saw with her stone. Chris and Lucario glared at the stone.

"Can I crush this stone, Chris?" Lucario glared menacingly at the stone.

"Hey! This stone is very important to me, so keep your hands out of this!" Tetra snarled. "How did these get in there, though?"

"They were kidnapped and taken in here. They got out from their cells, though…" Link explained.

"But they ain't girls with long ears…" Tetra muttered but shook her head. "That aside, if you want any help Link, please use this stone to talk to me!"

"But will you provide any good advice?" Link asked.

"Duh!" She ended the talk with a grunt.

"…Can you help me in rescuing my little sister please?" Link asked. "I-I'm sorry for asking this so suddenly, but I need to rescue her…" He looked down. "…My sister is very important to me…and the thought of her being alone in this stupid place of hell is just…"

"(…Family…)" Chris thought. "(…It's sorrow…like the one I have because my parents are away working without knowing where I am… Toon Link and Aryll…)"

"…So?" Toon Link asked.

"…We'll help," Chris said smiling. "I'd hate to see someone very dear to you get kidnapped and have loneliness… We'll help. Lucario, what about you."

"I agree if you agree," Lucario said.

"It's settled then. Thank you so much. You don't know how important Aryll is to me," Link said looking at the stairs near the dock. "…This is the start of a small adventure for me… I hope it doesn't get THAT long though."

Link heard some chuckles from both of them.

"Hey, were you laughing at me?"

"N-no…" both responded.

"…Let's go, we need to keep our voices down if we want to sneak."

And so, the new trio made their way to the tower, first by evading the huge lights of the fortress.

"Chris, Link, grab my hands, I can evade those lights," Lucario stated. Chris and Link grabbed each hand of Lucario, then he ran so fast, evading all the lights and he eventually made it to the other side.

"Wow, and I though the pigs in my island were faster," Link said amazed.

"Yep, the training I gave to him was a total success," Chris said proudly.

"I used Extremespeed, Chris..." Lucario trailed off.

"...I'm trying to make you look good and you blow it…" Chris said with sigh.

"Come on you 2. nobody is inside here," Link said. He walked inside with Lucario and Chris behind him.

Forsaken Fortress
Dormitory

"Is this room full of beds?" Link asked looking at many beds. They were like towers to them. Suddenly, a laser came from above and it hit Chris's left arm. He yelled in pain.

"M-my arm…" Chris grabbed his arm. Lucario showed his fangs and looked above to find 2 living gargoyles shooting lasers with their eyes. He jumped high in the air and he did a powerful kick destroying the first one, then he hung in the wall and he jumped towards the other and punched it, destroying it too, then he landed in front of Chris and Link.

"Chris, are you all right?" Lucario asked worried, looking at Chris's wound.

"I-I'm fine. It's just a little wound, that's all." Chris said.

"We have find a heart to cure you!" Link said climbing the ladders attached to the beds. "Hurry or that wound will get worse!" Lucario grabbed Chris and he jumped to the second floor.

Link opened his mouth at the high jump. "…Fine, leave me behind while you two are waiting for me!" Link climbed the ladder faster while cursing under his breath.

"…Quick, hide." Lucario hid behind some barrels with Link and Chris. "There are some guards in the hall."

"Let's use these barrels to hide so they can't see us while we cross to the other side." Link whispered, they grabbed the barrels, however, below one, there was a heart. "Chris, touch this heart!" Link whispered. Chris touched the heart and his wound healed instantly.

"…" Chris didn't say anything.

"What?"

"Is it normal for this worl-I mean, place to heal wounds that fast?"

"…" Link shrugged.

"At least I'm glad," Lucario said. They proceeded to hide inside the barrels and walked when the guards were not looking.

"Hey Frank, what is our boss doing now?" a moblin guard was asking to another moblin.

"I don't know George," Frank the moblin replied to George the moblin. "…Say, when did those barrels were there?"

"You know, Frank?"

"Let's ask the barrels themselves." Frank approached to the barrels "Hey, barrels! When did you were there?"

"Erhm, we are only talking barrels who only want to cross to the other side! That's all!" the barrel of the middle (Chris) said in a different voice.

"See, George? Leave the walking barrels alone, and look! It's time for dinner. Let's go, they are serving Red Chu Jelly a la Vaati!" Frank the moblin ran away. His mouth was drooling.

"RED CHU JELLY A LA VAATI?!" George ran away, his mouth also drooling after hearing the name of the food for tonight. Link, Chris and Lucario lifted their barrels.

"…Those guards are so stupid…" Chris pointed out. Link and Lucario nodded, and they proceeded to the next room.

Forsaken Fortress
Second look out tower

"Wait, this is not a room; it's just a hallway." Chris looked around and he found stairs from the other side of the wall.

"Link! Do you hear me?" Tetra asked through her stone. Link took out his stone. "You and your friends should first deactivate the lights so you can move on without being spotted from inside." She ended the talk and Link placed his stone back in the pocket.

"Wait here, I'll go." Lucario left and ran to the top of the tower. There was a Bokoblin controlling the lights. Lucario didn't get any difficulty in defeating him, then the lights faced to the sky and turned off, Lucario returned to Chris and Link. "Done, let's go now."

"Good job, Lucario," Chris whispered as he smiled at the Aura Pokémon who smiled back. They entered to the next room and it was empty. They proceeded further and they were in the third look out tower.

Forsaken Fortress
Third look out tower

Lucario did the same thing he did before, but Chris gasped when he remembered something "We didn't turn off the first lights!"

However, Lucario charged up an Aura Sphere and fired it to the first look out tower. By coincidence it landed in a clueless Bokoblin, killing him in the process and the lights faced to the sky and turned off.

"He can do that too?" Link asked surprised.

"Lucario does all sorts of things," Chris said walking to the next room with his arms crossed behind his back. Lucario followed him behind and he said "Humph" to Link.

Forsaken Fortress
Inner Boat Dock

"RED CHU JELLY A LA VAATI FOR TONIGHT!" Link shouted, hiding below a barrel. Chris and Lucario did the same and all the monsters and guards left in a hurry with their mouths drooling like crazy. They laughed a lot (Lucario just chuckled) and they went to the next room without any trouble.

Forsaken Fortress
Area before the main tower

"Strange, no one is here guarding this place," Link said, looking at the silent path above them.

"It's because someone shouted Red Chu Jelly a la Vaati," Chris said chuckling.

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Link scratched his head. "Aryll is near now. Let's go!"

After crossing a chasm in a Mission Impossible style (leaned to the wall while walking) except for Lucario who just jumped over the next platform, they managed to reach the place just outside where Aryll was being held.

"My sword!" Link saw his sword dropped in the floor. He took it back and he sheathed it "Finally, I can defend myself from enemies..." He looked down to some barrels. "Good bye! Sword guys doesn't need to sneak with barrels anymore!"

"Um, Link…" Chris began.

"…He is just showing off," Lucario said.

"…It looks like it," Chris stated.

"Aryll! I'm coming!" Link shouted, opening the big door.

"Wait, what is that monster doing on the floor?" Chris asked, looking to a red Bokoblin laying dead on the floor.

"I killed it when we came here. However, I did it before you 2 came here," Lucario said.

"Oh, good work, I guess."

Forsaken Fortress
Spiral Cell room

"Aryll!" Link yelled as he looked around the silent place. "Aryll, where are you?!"

"...Big brother!" Aryll shouted from behind a cage with 2 other girls inside. Link made a smile on his face and he ran to where Aryll was.

"Aryll! You're all right!" Link said.

"Big brother, did you just talk? …Wait, I remember that chicken bone got stuck in your throat." Aryll blushed a little. "Sorry, I knew that since a while ago."

"I-it's okay…" Link blushed a little as Chris and Lucario walked next to him. "Oh, right. You should thank these guys too. They helped me to get here to you."

"…A boy with tattoos and a beast?" Aryll asked confused.

"Why is everyone always saying that I'm a beast?" Lucario asked to himself and he let out a sigh.

"...Sure," Link rolled his eyes.

"I-i-is that beast going to eat me?" Aryll asked terrified.

"No!" Link shouted. "He was a lot of help!"

"…Really?" She looked at Lucario again and smiled. "…Aww, he looks like a puppy to me."

"What?" Lucario asked confused.

"Thank you, big blue puppy!"

"Hahahaha! Big blue puppy!" Chris burst out laughing. Lucario glared at Chris. "O-okay, I-I'm good…"

"Ugh! I can't break this lock!" Link was trying to open the lock of the cell, but it didn't work.

"The key is on the hands of the owner of this fortress," a girl with blond hair and expensive clothes said, pointing with her fan to the top of the tower.

"Big brother, please, go for the key!" Aryll pleaded to Link.

"Aw, crap…" Link looked at the top. "I'll have to attack the owner of this place? Just what I wanted… Don't worry, I'll return with the key on my hands," Link said nodding.

As the 2 were talking, Chris and Lucario wondered something…

No Primid was seen at all…

"…Isn't weird that there wasn't any Primid in the way, Lucario?" Chris wispered. He took out the Primid Radar "The locator is in red, but the gauge is in blue, meaning they are away from here, right?"

"Just maybe…" Lucario trailed off.

"You guys," Link interrupted. "We have to get to the top and defeat the guy to get the key."

"Just be careful with the big scary bird!" Aryll yelled. "It's coming right now!"

A record scratched.

"…Wait, what?" the trio asked in unison before looking up.

Suddenly, from the top of the room, a big masked bird came from above and it crashed on the middle of the room with its big claws. It slapped Chris and Link with his huge wing, making both of them crash into the wall and faint in the process. Lucario glared at the bird but it slapped him with its other wing and Lucario crashed in the wall and fell unconscious. The bird took the trio with its big claws of its feet and it fled to the top of the fortress.

The 3 girls watched as the bird flew away and Aryll grabbed the bars worried. "Big brother!!! Chris!!!" Aryll shouted to them.

"You forgot the big blue puppy," another girl with poor clothes pointed out.

"Oh, yes… You too, big blue puppy!" Aryll finished her sentence.

"Well, so much for that," the other girl said as she waved her fan to her face. "More days to stink in this rat hole…"

"Speaking of rats..." the other girl began as she showed them a rat. "Want to play with my friend? His name is Barry."

"Y-yuck! N-no way I'm going to!" she screamed as she backed away.

Aryll shifted her eyes and sighed in depression. "I'll have to get used to this place..."

The huge bird fled to the top with its prey. There was a part of a destroyed boat on the top of the fortress and a man clothed in black with a mark of a monster on his back came from it. He saw Link, Chris, and Lucario in the claws of the huge bird. He smirked and commanded the bird to throw them far at the ocean. The huge bird nodded and it threw them far away in the ocean.

"Foolish pests…" the man muttered with a chuckle before he turned to the boat and got inside.

1 hour later...

Great Sea

The trio was floating unconscious in the water, one right to the other. There were no islands close for them to drift off.

But then, a red boat came to them...

"So," someone said. "This is Link and…" The voice seemed to stop for a moment as it looked at Chris and Lucario. "…Whoever they are, I'm sure they were with Link, and leaving them to drown in the ocean would be a bad idea… I need to take them back to somewhere safe… Ah, Windfall Island…"

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Lucario."

"I'm Link, your unfortunate swordsman."

"It seems we failed in the rescue… But, where are the Primids?"

"Primids?"

"I'll tell you that later in the next chapter."

"Next chapter?"

"That's right. In the next chapter, a talking boat makes an appearance. We were lucky because he saved us from drowning in the middle of the ocean.."

"But according to this map, we weren't on the center but 4X8 to the north o-"

"MIDDLE of the ocean."

"Fine, fine, grumpy guy…"

"Killer Bees Club. I don't know why I'm feeling so bad all of a sudden by hearing this nickname.."

…Have you ever wanted a certain Aura Pokémon fall in love with a certain Rito girl? Just asking..

Read and review, please!
*Chapter 12*: Killer Bees Club

From all Zelda games, Wind Waker seems to be the one that has more emotion and comedy. All moments with Toon Link are just priceless for me to see.

I encourage people to read and review. ;)

Chapter 12: Killer Bees Club

Windfall Island
Below the jail

Ever since the sudden attack by the bird that kidnapped Aryll, it was hard to tell what happened next for Link, Chris, and Lucario. Grumbling to himself, Link began to wake up from his sleep. "Where...are we?" Link said, finding himself with an unconscious Chris and Lucario. "…"

His eyes looked a bit sore. Link extended his arms to yawn before he looked around. Once he did so, he found out that they were in a small cave, and onboard a red boat with a lion's head.

Link blinked confused at the scene. "Just…how did we end up here?" he asked. "I mean, this place doesn't look that familiar…"

"You are in Windfall Island," a voice spoke from nowhere.

Link sighed in relief. "Well, that's good to hear now…" he muttered. "I was freaked out to wake up in an unknown island."

"You're lucky I was close to where you were," the voice said.

Link chuckled heartily. "Yeah, we were lucky you were close to rescue us… Wait a minute," he said as he looked around. "Where's that voice coming from?"

"You mean to tell me that you do not see who I am?"

Link crossed his arms. "Well….no…"

"I'm in front of you," the voice pointed out.

Link looked to the front, only seeing the lion's head of the boat. "…Like I'm going to believe that there's someone there instead of the boat's bow."

And suddenly, the very same head turned around to look directly at him.

"…" Link's eyes widened.

"Did I startle you?" the head of the boat asked.

"…KYAH!" Link yelped loudly before he fell down on his rear, looking up shocked at the boat's head blinking, breathing, and looking down at him.

The boat's head laughed at this. "Do not fear me, Link. I'm not your enemy."

"H-how can I tell that if you have such a malevolent look?" Link asked scared.

"Do you judge people by their appearances? That will someday bring you bad luck," the boat's head said. "But seriously, I don't mean harm for any of you."

Link stared scared at the boat's talking head. It was technically impossible for boats to speak, but seeing that there was one just in front of him…

The boat looked at the unconscious duo behind Link. "I wonder who they are."

Link shook his head and looked back at the two. "W-well, those two are with me… The boy with tattoos is Chris, and the guy who looks like a dog is Lucario."

At that moment, both of two grunted a bit before they slowly woke up annoyed. "I heard somebody calling me a boy with tattoos…" Chris muttered. "For the last time, these are just markings, not tattoos…"

"And I'm clearly not a dog…" muttered Lucario in annoyance.

Once the two sat up, they looked at Link's shocked face before switching to the boat's menacing look.

"…" Chris knew well that the boat had a name, and Lucario did know about it as well. "(T-that must be the King of Red Lions…)" Chris thought. "(…He's a bit scarier in person…)"

The awkward silence made Chris look at Lucario.

"(Hey, you, don't keep staring at them like that. Act natural!)" Chris yelled in his mind.

Lucario decided to use telepathy on Chris. "(Act natural? How?)"

"(W-well, there's a talking boat in front of us! Act scared, surprised, anything!)" Chris yelled mentally. "(Quick, they're looking odd at us!)"

Lucario understood the message and looked back at the boat's head. "U-um, oh my god, it's a talking boat…"

The rather surprised response from Lucario sounded as if he was bored. Link and the boat exchanged glances before looking back at the two.

The aura apprentice looked annoyed at Lucario. "Nice acting, Lucario…" he muttered before looking at the boat's head. "O-oh god, i-is that boat's head talking to us?" he asked shaking a bit in fear.

Lucario looked at Chris. "(But…I don't want to look that ridiculous…)"

"(Did you just call me ridiculous?)"

"(I-I meant the way you're doing it…)"

"(…Be glad I'm not going to pull your appendages now, Lucario.)"

The Aura Pokémon saw this as a sign to shut up.

The boat shook his head. "That was awkward…" he remarked before looking at the trio. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. My name is the King of Red Lions."

"The King of Red Lions?" Link said.

The King of Red Lions nodded. "It's just a nickname. I'm not a king of red lions. Seriously, who has ever seen a red lion in his life?"

The trio shifted their eyes between each other.

The King of Red Lions shook his head. "Wait…that is not important… What matters now is the responsibility you have, Link."

"What responsibility is that?" Link asked.

"The responsibility of saving the Great Sea, of course."

"…" Link looked at the duo. "Guys, this talking boat is starting to make no sense now…"

The boat grumbled. "Link, you need to listen to me right now."

Link turned to him. "How do you know my name, anyway?"

"I have heard of you."

"Prove it."

"I'd like to tell you, but I'm afraid that is going to wait for the time being."

"What? You're just trying to hide the fact you don't have a reason to know my name!" Link complained.

"(If I were to tell you that the stone that Tetra gave you allowed me to know about you, you wouldn't believe me right now,)" the boat thought.

Link crossed his arms. "Also, when did you take us here?"

"I have been watching you since you went to the Forsaken Fortress to rescue your sister. I understand how your desire to protect your sister could give you the courage to stand up to anything...but such a bold attempt was fool hardy!" the King of Red Lions scolded.

"Hey, you try getting in there and fight a huge bird!" Link yelled. "I dare you to do that! Oh, that's right, you're a boat. You're forever destined to be on water. Nice try, but you're not going to ever fight that big monster son of a-"

Chris covered Link's mouth, the Outsetian still mumbling angrily. "P-please, ignore him. He has this problem with stubborn courage and all that… (Goodness, he knows the bad words?)"

The King of Red Lions shook his head. "I suppose all of you saw him... The shadow that commands that monstrous bird...Ganon..."

"We barely did see anyone," Lucario pointed out.

"I…see… But in any case, he, who obtained the power of the gods, attempted to cover the land in darkness and was ultimately sealed away by the very power he hoped to command," the King of Red Lions explained. "He is the very same Ganon, the emperor of the dark realm the ancient legends speak of..."

Link pushed Chris's hand away. "What legends are those?"

"Child, are you ignorant to the origins of this realm?" the King of Red Lions asked.

"It's not my fault I fell asleep with all the tales of the ancient Hyrule my grandma told me about during bedtime stories!" Link complained.

Lucario stared at Link. "…And you keep listening to bedtime stories at this age?"

"…I'm loved, so what?" Link said in his defense.

The King of Red Lions stared at Link. "(Is he really supposed to be the Hero of Winds?)" he questioned himself before speaking. "I do not know why the seal of the gods has failed, but now that Ganon has returned, the world is once again being threatened by his evil magic."

"The world as in everything we see?" Link asked.

"Yes, Link," the boat said. "Tell me, Link... Do you still wish to save your sister from him?"

Link looked serious. "There was a reason I went there to get Aryll."

"...I see. In that case, I shall guide you as we go forward... advising you on what you should do, and where you must go."

Chris looked at Lucario. "You have to say that this little union was a bit too fast…"

"I know," Lucario muttered.

"Ganon cannot be defeated by human hands, let alone by what little strength you possess. The key to defeating Ganon is locked away in a great power that you could wield after much toil and hardship," the King of Red Lions explained.

"So who's this Ganon?" Link asked.

"I already explained who he is," the King of Red Lions said. "He is the man who kidnapped Aryll through the bird monster he used."

"Oh…well, in that case, I'll confront this Ganon," Link said.

"I like the determination in your eyes."

Chris chuckled a bit. "(He should have said, "I like the determination in your cat eyes" instead.)"

"Do you understand?"

Link thought for a moment. "Let's see, while saving Aryll, I'm going to end up saving the whole Great Sea from this Ganon guy… What a huge feat…" He looked at the King of Red Lions. "Okay, I'll do it as long as I don't die trying."

"Good luck…" muttered Lucario and Chris.

The King of Red Lions nodded and looked at Chris and Lucario. "I saw that you two joined Link. If it's not much to ask, can you help him is his long journey?"

Chris looked unsure. "A-about that, we're just coming with him for a time," he said. "We have some other things to do…but it's okay for us to go with him, I guess…"

"We would like to keep traveling with him for a little bit longer," Lucario said.

Link smiled a bit at them. "Thanks, you guys."

The King of Red Lions looked forward at the sea. "In that case, we depart to the Great Sea!"

The trio looked forward at the sea.

…And they all kept staring forward, the boat cruising at the sides..

Link looked around. "…Um...King of Red Lions, sir…we're not moving…" he pointed out.

The King of Red Lions blinked before he shook his head. "...Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself," he said before turning to them in shame. "This is actually a bit embarrassing for me to admit, but...although I am a boat that possesses the power of speech... I possess no sail. And a boat with no sail can sail no seas."

The trio looked mildly annoyed at him. "It's incredible to think that you took us here to this island…" Chris remarked sarcastically.

"Really, how did you take us here?" Link asked. "I don't see the Forsaken Fortress anywhere."

"I have brought you far to the east of the dark gaze of the Forsaken Fortress," the boat explained.

Lucario looked at the sea. "And how long did it take you?"

"It took me around 7 hours to arrive here. I was lucky that the waves pushed me all the way here," the boat explained before looking to the left where a beach was located. "However, I want all of you to do something for me."

"What is that?" Link asked.

"This island is a town of merchants who deal with a wide variety of goods. If you search hard enough, surely you can find one who will sell you a sail."

"Yeah, I expected you'd ask for one…"

Lucario looked away. "We don't surely want to rely on the waves all this time to get anywhere…"

"And I think it's very lucky of us to have washed up all the way to a merchant island," Chris said. "…Very, very fishy…"

"I am sorry to ask this of you, but without a sail, I will be useless to you," the boat said. "This island of merchants is home to many valuable goods. While the sail must come first, do not feel limited to buying only it. Once you have it, feel free to stock up on anything else you think you may need. But remember: there is no time to play. Come back immediately as soon as your errands are done."

Link rubbed his chin. "Well, we'll go fetch you a sail. But if I find something to play with that looks interesting enough, I'll play."

The King of Red Lions glared at Link. "No time to play, Link."

"Nah-ah, I'll play," Link said. "I get stuff if I play."

"No time to play."

"I'll play, though."

"NO-TIME-TO-PLAY, LINK," the boat said with more emphasis.

Seeing that the little argument was getting worse, Chris chuckled and tapped Link's right shoulder. "S-shouldn't we get going and find that sail, Link?"

Link sighed. "Okay, let's do it…"

The trio hopped off from the boat to the sand where they exited the little cave, the boat glaring at their way. "I swear that this journey is going to be a long one that I will have to endure for the sake of the Great Sea…" the King of Red Lions muttered to himself.

Town

As the trio walked into the town through an arc, Link seemed to be upset while Chris and Lucario looked around to the various people walking around the town.

"That boat, who does he think he is?" Link asked irritated. "It comes out of nowhere telling me that I have to save the whole Great Sea while saving Aryll."

Chris chuckled nervously. "I-I guess you have some sort of important destiny…don't you think?"

"Pfft, what kind of destiny is that?" Link asked annoyed. "I mean, it looks like as if everything has to happen the day of my birthday." He looked at the two. "You guys know that Aryll got kidnapped the day of my birthday, right?"

"No… (Yes…)" Chris said and thought. "B-but I'm afraid I don't know what to do instead of going to the fortress and save her."

Link looked a bit defeated. "This is way too much for me to handle, anyway!" he said. "I just want to rescue Aryll, not rescue the whole sea! That should be a responsibility for someone older and wiser than me!"

"Well, the King of Red Lions did say that you're the only one who can do it," Lucario said.

"But still, everything happened so suddenly," Link said. "It looks very fishy to me."

"What can you do?" Lucario asked.

Link sighed. "I wonder if it is because of these clothes…" he said while looking at the green clothes. "Even I'm wearing this ridiculous green hat."

The two looked at the hat. "I think it looks good on you," Chris said.

"Who are you, my grandma?" Link asked annoyed before he looked to his right and found a jar hidden between some butches. "Okay, I'm short of money. I guess I should go break that jar."

Lucario and Chris stopped walking and watched as Link went over to the bushes and kicked hard the jar enough to break it apart, revealing a purple rupee. "U-um…that looked a bit…" Chris trailed off.

"…Needed out of temptation?" Lucario asked.

"Alright, a purple rupee!" Link said pleased as he stuffed the rupee inside his pocket. "This should make it up for Tetra plundering my wallet," he said before he began his way to the center of the town, Lucario and Chris exchanging odd glances before following him.

The trio eventually reached the central building of the island. They all looked up to see the still windmill, but Link was focused on the door's sign that read "Sinking Ships Game".

"Hey, there's a game inside this place," Link said. "Let's check it out."

"Um, Link didn't the King of Red Lions say..." Lucario trailed off.

"He's not my dad, so he loses," Link said annoyed before he opened the door and went inside.

Chris sighed at Lucario. "It's a bit hard to talk with him, don't you think?"

Lucario nodded. "I guess he's very upset that he lost his chance to save Aryll. He wants to let his stress ease."

"We'll have to wait until he's fine, then?"

"Well…he is the leader of the group for the time being…"

Chris frowned at this before the two went inside, not noticing the fact that there were four children spying on them from some bushes located to the right of the entrance to the building.

Sinking Ships Game

"Ssssplissh…"

"Dammit!"

"Ssssplissh…"

"For the love of Din!"

"Sssplissh…"

"There!"

"Ssplissh…"

"Well, how about here?"

"KA-BOOM!"

"Yeah!"

"You ran out of bombs, kid," Salvatore (the owner of the place) said bored on the small podium.

"Aww!" Link groaned loudly.

It had been around three hours after the group last entered the establishment. Thank to the fifty rupee that Link had found, he decided to use it on the Sinking Ships Game. However, it turned out that Link had this addiction to play games as much as he wanted, and that proved to be much of a hassle for Lucario and Chris, who were forced to watch the Hylian playing and playing and playing the game repeatedly and again from a bench close to the door.

"Link, stop it!" Chris yelled annoyed. "This is like your 90th try in the whole day!"

Link turned to him and crossed his arms. "So what? I want to keep playing, thank you!"

Lucario grunted at this. "We're sick of seeing you constantly spending all the money you gain that you later spend it to play even more. Besides, your wallet isn't that big enough to hold more rupees."

"That's right, kid," Salvatore commented out of boredom.

Link looked angrily at Salvatore. "You shut up!" he demanded before turning to the duo. "I'll play and play until I can't play more!"

Chris groaned. "For the gods, please, Link!" He pointed at two small blue charts and a spinning Piece of Heart close to their feet. "You already got the stuff here!"

Lucario stared at the Piece of Heart. "(I can hardly believe that these hearts actually exist here…)"

Link grunted. "Sorry, but I still have spare money with me." He looked in his pocket. "Yeah…I have it…somewhere…"

Chris sighed at this sign of poverty. "Finally, you ran out of money…"

"Oh well," Salvatore said before he put on a cutout of cheering people where he poked his face out to represent a little girl. "You saved us from the squids, mister!" he said in a high-pitched tone. "We're so grateful, mister! Yoohoo, you've saved us from those malevolent squids! Hurraaaay! Yaaaay!"

Link looked pissed at this before he threw his arms up. "Ugh, whatever, I ran out of money," he said before he went over to the two and grabbed the spoils from the floor. "Let's go find that sail for the Queen of Blue Kitties."

"I believe it was King of Red Lions," Lucario said.

"Whatever, you get what I mean!" Link said annoyed before he grabbed the doorknob, opened the door, walked outside, and slammed the door.

Chris looked at Lucario. "Yes, I think he's still very upset."

Lucario sighed. "I'd wish he wasn't upset."

"And I'd wish he stayed here some more to play the game," Salvatore commented, still using the cutout. "I-I mean… Come back again, misters!" he said in a high-pitched tone.

Freaked out a bit by the weird businessperson, Lucario and Chris quickly opened the door and ran outside before closing it.

Salvatore sighed and put down his cutout. "Oh well, everything's good in a business day…" he muttered bored on the podium.

Town's Center

After reaching a grumbling Link, the Hylian turned around to look at them. "Okay, fine, let's see where we can get a sail for the boat."

The aura apprentice sighed in relief. "We're finally getting back on track for once."

"I guess," Link said. "I was growing bored with playing that game, anyway."

Lucario shook his head. "No, you were actually looking very serious in playing that weird game."

"Who asked you for your opinion?" Link asked angrily before turning around, finding a lone door that had a chalkboard that read "Mrs. Marie's School of Joy" on white letters. "Hmm, let's see if we can find a sail in there."

Chris stared at the entrance to the only school in the island. "(You're not going to find a sail in there. That's the wrong place.) It might be there," he thought and said. "Let's see."

Lucario leaned to the wall and crossed his arms. "I'm going to stay here to breathe more air," he said.

His trainer nodded. "Okay, wait for us here," Chris said before he and Link entered the school, closing the door behind them.

Lucario closed his eyes and decided to rest. However, as soon as he closed his eyes, Lucario felt that there were four presences spying on him from some bushes nearby. Seeing that whoever was hiding behind the bushes, he didn't pay attention, knowing that they weren't dangerous.

The bushes rustled a bit before some whispers came out from them. "Boss, there he is," a voice whispered. "Cool Dog Man sighted at 3!"

"Awesome," another voice whispered back. "It's the first time we ever get to see such a cool person around here."

"I was getting sick of seeing common sailors and visitors now," another voice said. "However, we finally found somebody we consider so cool!"

"Yeah, I mean, he has three spikes," another voice said. "How cool is that?"

"So what's the plan, boss?"

"Quite simple. We just go there and ask if he's interested in joining us."

"But boss, he looks very intimidating. He might bark at us."

"If he barks, he won't bite. But if he does bite, we'll restrain him like the dog he is…with a collar."

"Hmm-hm, that's a plan now, boss."

The so mentioned boss stood up from the bushes, revealing to be a grinning kid (named Ivan, the leader) with light brown hair and brown hat who wore a blue jacket over a light blue shirt, brown shorts, and brown shoes. "Alright, let's put the plan on the road."

Another kid (named Jin, the fox) stood up to his right, whose face resembled a fox with pale brown hair, wore dark green overalls over a pink shirt, and wore brown shoes. "That sounds very nice, boss," he said.

To Jin's right, another one stood up. This innocent-looking kid (named Jan, the blue-hair) had blue hair, wore a brown jacket over a purple shirt, and wore blue pants with blue shoes. "We'll definitely get the guy to join us," he said.

Next to Jan, yet another kid stood up. This kid (named Jun-Roberto, the pig-nosed) wore yellow and gray overalls over a pale green shirt, and wore brown shoes. His face resembled a bit to a pig due to his big, round nose. "Oh yeah, let's do it!" he said.

Ivan pointed at Lucario. "Killer Bees go!" he commanded.

The four kids began to chuckle to themselves before they jumped out from the bushes and ran to Lucario. Once they reached him, they all seemed to corner him since they all stood around him.

Lucario opened his eyes and looked down at the children. "What is it?" he asked.

Ivan chuckled coolly and pointed up at Lucario. "We want you to join the Killer Bees!" he said.

Lucario studied the little kids before he closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll pass," he closed his eyes.

Jin tapped Ivan's shoulder. "Um, boss, I think we should come up with a better idea."

"Oh, no need," Jan said before he looked up innocently at Lucario. "Aww, come on, mister. We would like you to join us. Just think about all the stuff we could do."

"No," came as a response from the seemingly bored Lucario.

Jun-Roberto grunted. "Mister, you wouldn't want us to be angry at you, would you?"

"Actually, I don't care about joining a group," Lucario responded. "Now please, leave me alone. I'm waiting for some people to come here."

A tiny vein popped out of Ivan's forehead. "That's it. I'm not going to stand here and see this guy reject us like we were nothing to him. We ARE the Killer Bees, and nobody messes with us like you're doing right now!" he proclaimed before pointing up at Lucario. "Mess him up and GET HIM!" he ordered loudly, the four kids suddenly leaping at the bored Lucario.

Mrs. Marie's classroom

As a small feud broke outside, Link and Chris were talking to the teacher of the school, Mrs. Marie, a pink-haired woman who wore long-sleeved blue jacket with an orange shirt underneath, blue belt, and wore purple shorts with blue shoes. The teacher was wearing a Joy Pendant on her neck. "Sorry, my dears, but I don't know where to get a sail," Miss Marie said.

"Bummer," Link muttered. "I thought there would be one here."

Chris closed his eyes in disbelief. "(How are you supposed to find a sail in a school, anyway?)" he thought irritated.

"Why don't you look around town?" Mrs. Marie suggested. "I'm sure there would be one person out there who would be selling a sail."

Link sighed. "Look around town? I don't want to…"

Chris frowned. "Link, we have to do this. Remember Mr. Talking Boat? He's surely upset by now since you took a lot of time in th-"

"Thank you so much for your advice, Mrs. Marie," Link suddenly said, interrupting an annoyed Chris..

Mrs. Marie chuckled. "I'm glad I was able to help you," she said. "By the way, would you do me a little favor?"

"What favor is that?"

"If you see a group of four little kids, can you tell them about their homework please?" Miss Marie asked.

Link looked confused. "A group of four little kids?"

The teacher nodded. "Yes. You see, I have some issues with these kids. They don't like to come to school very much so they skip it almost every time. I always go to tell them to come, and they always yes, but they never come."

Chris felt a bit sorry for the teacher. "That…must be painful…"

"It should be painful, but sometimes I think they're right in thinking they don't like school. Nobody can force young children to want something they don't like. But even so, I'd like to teach them soon so they grow up to be fine civilians."

Link tilted his head. "Okay, where are they?"

"They are always playing outside the classroom," she explained. "You shouldn't miss the little gang since they're the few children of the town who go in a group of four. That Ivan, he has formed a little gang called 'The Killer Bees' and he is the leader of that gang."

"Pfft, big deal, it'll be easy to tell them to come here."

The aura apprentice looked away in boredom. "(My god, Link is being a bit different ever since the incident at the fortress…)"

"Oh, thank you!" Mrs. Marie said pleased. "But be careful, though. They are all a bunch of troublemakers who like to act tough all the time. They love to cause mischief to every person who is new in town."

"I'm a guy with a sword and shield. They'll respect me once they look at me," Link said before he turned to the door. "Chris, let's go find those kids."

Mrs. Marie looked at Chris. "Please don't let your friend do something harsh on them."

"I'm already regretting to know him, miss…" Chris muttered.

"Hey, Chris, let's go!" Link called from the door.

Chris bowed to the teacher before she waved at them and watched them exiting the messy classroom.

Town's center

Once the two stepped out from the classroom, they looked around to see Lucario, who was now missing from his spot. "Um, where did Lucario go?" Chris asked.

"Well, he surely wanted to play Sinking Ships," Link said.

"He's not addicted to that silly game as you are!"

"Too bad, because my record of fifteen used cannonballs still stands to this day!" Link complained. "I dare you to beat that record!"

"No!" Chris yelled. "I want to see where Lucario went first!"

"Chris!"

The two turned to the left where they gasped once seeing that Lucario was being harassed by four kids who were all over him on the ground. The kids were all shouting loudly as one of them held up a dog collar on top of Lucario's head. "Dammit, this dog moves a lot!" Ivan yelled on top of Lucario's head. "Stop moving so you become our man-pet!"

Link couldn't help but chuckle at Lucario's position. "W-why are those kids trying to put a dog collar on Lucario?"

Chris looked annoyed at Link. "I WOULD like you to help instead of watching the whole thing," he muttered before looking back at Lucario. "Lucario, hang in there! …I-I mean, stop whatever you want to do to him, you kids!"

"No way!" Ivan yelled to Chris. "We're keeping him as our new member!"

Link turned to Chris. "So Lucario likes to wrestle with little kids?"

"Link, you're not helping!" Chris said annoyed.

Lucario turned his look to Chris. "Chris, I want permission to defend myself!" he yelled.

Chris knew Lucario had the strength to push easily every kid away. However, the Aura Pokémon was pacifist, and he didn't want to hurt any of the children, even if Jan was trying to pull out his tail, or Jin pulling his hair from his back, or Jun-Roberto scratching an appendage…

Actually, Lucario wanted to hurt them, but Chris wouldn't want to see something like that.

"…Permission…granted…" Chris said confused.

Lucario sighed in relief before he grabbed every kid and threw them above each other on the ground. "I was getting so tired to hold my ground," Lucario stared before glaring down at the kids. "You better not do something like that to me ever again."

Link and Chris ran to them as every kid got off from each other, sitting down on the ground with crossed legs. "Fine, fine! You can go now!" Ivan said angrily. "We just wanted to hang out with you!"

"You wanted me to join you and I refused" Lucario pointed out.

"And it seemed you wanted to do that," Chris added.

"Aww, that's not fair," Jan said innocently. "Can't we just hang out with him for a bit? He looks soooooo cool…"

Lucario rolled his eyes. "I'd rather stay with Chris."

Jin looked at Chris. "Hmm, it's that so…" he muttered. "Well, in that case, we'll hang out with Chris."

Chris looked miffed at this. "Um, what did you say?"

Jun-Roberto lifted his shoulders. "If you're the only way we can stay close with the dog guy, then we better take advantage of this chance."

Ivan grinned and crossed his arms. "Not bad, Jin. That was actually very clever thinking."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Actually, boss, I think this is so soon to do," Jin said. "We'd like to hang out with the dog, but these two uncool guys?"

Link glared at him. "Hey, who are you calling uncool?"

The four kids stood up. "You're right again, Jin. These guys might have an advantage for having this cool guy with them, but we're not gonna let them go easy on us!"

Jun-Roberto shook his head. "Yeah, they're close to zero when compared to the dog guy!"

Jin raised his right hand. "I propose a Hide and Seek game!"

Link shook his head at this. "Hide and Seek?"

"Yeeeeeah!" Ivan said pleased at the idea. "You guys are gonna have to find us if you want us to come with you around." He looked at Lucario. "I'm sorry, but we can't hang out with you because you're with these two dimwits."

Lucario disliked the fact that Chris was called a dimwit by a kid that he glared at Ivan. This was further worsened after he was called "dog guy" multiple times.

However, the leader didn't pay any attention to Lucario as he turned to his gang. "Killer Bees, scramble to your posts!"

Link and Chris gasped as each member of the gang began to run away to different directions of the whole town and the island. The center of the town was quickly cleaned from any of them.

"..." Link looked at Chris and Lucario. "Um, I'm confused. When did we ever say yes to play their game?"

"We never did," Lucario pointed out.

Chris hung his head down. "Those kids were going to do this even before we could say yes or no, and we wanted to say no for sure..."

Lucario grunted. "Who cares about those kids? We have better things to do than play with them."

Link rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure, but I think we should go find them. We didn't tell me about what Mrs. Marie wanted to tell them."

Chris looked bored at him. "Why am I thinking that you want to get something out from all of this?"

"I have this weird feeling where I feel as if I knew that the people I'm going to help are going to give me nice stuff," Link said. "And my feelings are strong in this one."

Lucario looked bored at Chris. "I'm starting to wonder if this is happening because this game gives Link that feeling of getting something..."

"Excuse me, what did you say?"

Lucario shook his head. "Nothing..."

Link crossed his arms and looked determined. "Okay, let's play their game so we can tell all of them about Mrs. Marie's favor."

Lucario sighed and began to glow in blue aura while his eyes shined a bright yellow. "If we're going to do this, then I hope you don't mind if I find every single one of them."

Link's eyes widened once he looked at Lucario. "Y-you're glowing!" he said shocked. "How can you do that?"

"I'm the Aura Pokémon," Lucario explained. "I can perfectly sense the auras of all living things around great distances, and those kids' aura aren't going to fool me."

"Aura Pokémon?" Link said confused. "Sense auras? Just who are you?"

"The Aura Pokémon," Chris said.

"I-I know that's his title, but seriously, how can he do that?"

Chris looked away. "He was born with the power to feel and sense the auras. He can easily do any of them for his benefit. And also, his aura gives him enough strength to fight."

Link stared at Lucario's glowing body. However, it was not long before Lucario stopped glowing, his eyes turning back to their red shade. "I found all of them," he said. "I call tell you where they're hiding."

"..." Link sighed and lifted his shoulders a bit. "Okay, I have to admit that looked kind of awesome..." He looked serious. "Lucario, tell us where they are hiding!"

Lucario nodded. "Fine, follow me."

The trio then began to look around town for the kids where Lucario was pointing out their hiding places. Needless to say, it was extremely easy to find every single one of the troublemakers thanks to Lucario's aura.

Jan was hiding near a bush on the ledge where the trio had met them.

"Here," Lucario said to the bush.

Link walked around and found Jan ducking on the ground. He looked up and gasped at Link. "N-no!" he complained.

Next, Jin was hiding behind the bomb shop of the island. It looked like it was a difficult place to hide and reach out, but thanks to Link, he was able to sidle his way around the ledges of the shop to reach the fox face kid. "Link should be reaching the kid now," Lucario said to Chris in front of the shop.

"Hey, no!" Jin was heard complaining.

Next, behind the stone where a disco guy was dancing, there was Jun-Roberto hiding behind the stone without the man even knowing he was there. "Behind the stone," Lucario said.

Link walked around the stone and found the spoiled kid. "H-hey, not fair!" he complained.

And finally, the last one was Ivan. The leader of the Killer Bees, being the best climber of trees of the whole gang, was hiding on top of the lone tree in front of the bomb shop where a poor man (whose name wasn't known) sat down against the tree. The trio walked to the tree where Lucario pointed up at the top of the tree where Ivan was looking around to another way. "Up there," Lucario said.

Link ran and rolled against the tree to make it shake. This action made the tree shake a bit, but enough to make Ivan fall down right on Chris, the aura apprentice serving as a pillow for the kid. "Argh, no!" Ivan complained.

"G-get off me...please..." Chris muttered.

Some time later...

The Killer Bees, all looking annoyed with crossed arms, looked up at the trio. "Okay, fine, you win," Ivan said bored. "Man, what a way to mess up big time."

"I blame Jin!" Jan yelled. "He told us nobody would find us in those spots!"

Jin shook his head. "Oh, please! I was sure that those spots where the best ones in the whole island!"

"It's all your fault these guys found us, Jin!" Jun-Roberto complained. "We were owned with capital O!"

Ivan grunted loudly. "All of you, shut up!" he yelled irritated.

"Yes, boss..." the three kids said in shame.

Ivan looked up at the trio. "Okay, seems you won, happy?" he asked. "I'm pretty amazed that you were able to find all of us in such a little time. You must be quite the professionals at Hide and Seek for being older than any of us."

Chris looked at Lucario and smiled a bit at him. He then turned to look at the kids. "Sorry, but we never said we wanted to play with you."

Ivan waved a hand. "Oh yeah, you surely didn't want to play," he said sarcastically before crossing his arms again. "Alright, I guess you guys are worthy enough for the Killer Bees to hang out with you."

Jun-Roberto clasped his hands. "I like the sound of that now."

Jan nodded. "Everyone ends up winning!" he said happily.

Jin chuckled. "I told all of you that my plan would wor-"

Ivan covered Jin's mouth and looked nervously at the trio. "S-so, in any case, we're gonna start hanging out with you."

They all quickly scrambled between Chris and Lucario, the kids' gazes focusing on Lucario more than Link and Chris. "Soooooooo what do you like to eat?" Jan asked innocently.

Link shook his head at this. "Hey, wait just a minute here. Why am I thinking that it was your plan to get to him from the start?"

Ivan looked at him. "Hey, what makes you think that?"

The Hylian rolled his eyes at this and looked at the two. "You guys, let's just ignore these kids already. We should just focus in finding that sail."

Chris looked annoyed. "I've been trying to tell you that this whole time…"

The Killer Bees looked at each other before looking back at them. "Oh, so you guys are looking for a sail, huh?" Jan asked.

Ivan grinned. "Why didn't you ask that before? We know where to get one of 'em."

The leader of the Killer Bees stared at the three bored looks that the travelers gave to them.

"…What? Is there something on my face?" Ivan asked.

"Pardon me to say (actually, no, I'm not sorry), but it didn't look like you'd cooperate with us if we asked about the sail we're looking for," Lucario said.

Jun-Roberto shook his head. "Nah-ah, we're actually nice kids, dog guy."

Lucario grunted at the nickname. "I'm Lucario, not a dog guy."

Jin gasped. "Wow, Lucario? That sounds like a very cool name!"

"AHEM!" Link faked a loud cough. "Don't try to flatter us with those words!"

"Who's saying we're flattering you?" Jin asked. "We're flattering Lucario. Why would be wasting our words on you guys when we can do it to Lucario?"

Ivan slapped his forehead and slapped Jin hard on the face. The fox kid sniffed at this sudden hit while Ivan raised a finger to the trio. "A-anyway, you guys should've consulted us to get a sail," he said. "We might not look like it, but we're the best informants of the town."

"You certainly DON'T look like informants," Link questioned. "Mrs. Marie told us you were a bunch of troublemakers."

"Pfft, what does she know, anyway?" Ivan asked bored.

Chris frowned at this. "Please, it's easy to tell you're just trying to stay close to us so you can admire Lucario."

Jan hid a paper with a pen behind his back, about to ask Lucario for his signature. "Oh, you're so funny, Calory," he said. "C'mon, we're trying to help you in whatever you want to do in the island."

"…Firstly, my name is not Calory, but Chris," Chris said annoyed. "Secondly, we REALLY need to find a sail somewhere here."

"Then why are we still talking, then?" Jun-Roberto asked. "We should go around the town and find the sail!"

The other six stared in silence at Jun-Roberto.

"…I-I mean, we know where you can get a sail," Jun-Roberto said chuckling. "J-just follow us."

Ivan narrowed his eyes at Jun-Roberto. "(Screw up big time again and you're so out of the gang,)" he thought menacingly.

Link covered his face with a hand. "Why are we still listening to these kids again?"

"I was wondering that a long time ago," Lucario muttered.

Having no other option to choose, the trio decided to allow the Killer Bees to show them where to get a sail. Since the kids lived in town, it was more certain that the group would eventually find the so desired sail to get into the ocean's waves.

Sadly, this was all but a big lie. It turned out that the Killer Bees weren't the best of informants at all (although the trio had already figured it out sooner). This only was the start of some painful events by beginning inside pictograph shop of the town.

Surprisingly enough, the Killer Bees didn't enter with the trio, and they didn't cause trouble. They were all always waiting outside where the trio entered, overhearing what was happening inside the shop

Link was the one who caused the trouble, though…

"I am sorry, but I don't like when people go ahead and touch the pictures I have here," Lenzo (the pictograph scholar) was heard saying. "I'm quite sensitive of my art with my hard-to-take pictures."

"Oh, hey, there's a little mud spot on this one," Link was heard saying.

"E-er, Link, I don't think that's a mud spot but a rock in the picture…" Chris muttered.

Touchy-touchy.

"Uah, you children and your dog, get away from my sight and my pictures!" Lenzo yelled.

"What is making you think I'm a-"

Lucario was interrupted before crashing sounds were heard from inside. The trio then desperately ran out from the establishment to the left where the Killer Bees looked at each other and followed the running trio before the angry man of the establishment would come out.

Next, the trio decided to go inside the only expensive manor of the island while the gang of kids waited for them to come outside. Unfortunately, Link was soon going to cause another problem.

"Hey, look at those vases," Link was heard saying. "They're so glittery…that…I have the urge…to break them and see what…they have inside…"

Chris didn't like the tone of voice of the Hylian. "L-Link, you can stop walking to the vases and put away that sword now…"

"He's not listening," Lucario was heard saying.

And the Killer Bees then heard the sounds of four vases breaking apart.

"Uah, my expensive vases!" a man was heard yelling (the man being the father of Mila). "You little rascals, pay me those vases!"

"I-I don't have any money left with me!" Link said embarrassed. "S-sorry!"

"WHAT?! You…little…"

"L-let's get out of here!" Chris suggested.

"Wait, you don't escape now!"

The trio once again escaped a certain punishment from the lord of the mansion, hurrying all the way to the western area of the island together with the Killer Bees following them from behind.

Once running all the way to the western area, where the dancing man in front of the stone was…dancing, Ivan pointed at a door on the backside of a brick building. "Here, I guess…I mean, there's a sail in the jail."

Link stared at the door. "The…jail?"

"This is the jail," Ivan said. "I've seen something like a sail in there."

Link mumbled annoyed. "You've gotta be certain that there is a sail in there because if we end up running away from here I-"

"Um, Link, you were the one who caused all those incidents before," Chris pointed out.

Link rolled his eyes. "I can't control my temptations. You guys know me very well by now."

Lucario and Chris sighed at this fact before the trio went inside the jail, leaving the quartet of kids behind.

One hour later...

It had been a long time after the Killer Bees saw the trio enter into the jail. What's more, the kids met a weird guy in a green suit who thought that he was a fairy. The kids didn't want to talk with him even more, and he decided to go away somewhere.

"Who was that guy in green?" Jun-Roberto asked, remembering the guy with green outfit and red nose.

Jan shrugged. "I-I dunno, but he looked…so strange and weird…"

"Hmm, judging by how the man looked like, he was some sort of an idiot who still thinks he's a kid," Jin commented.

Ivan rolled his eyes. "Can we please forget the strange guy? The way he walked to us is making me sick to think about…"

After looking back at the door, the kids watched as it opened, the trio walking out. It looked like Link looked pissed at something that had happened inside the jail "Why didn't you tell us it was a very weird guy inside a cell?" Link asked annoyed.

"So, you met that guy fairy person in there?" Jun-Roberto asked.

"We pity you," Jin said.

Jan nodded. "Yeah, you surely didn't have to meet him in person."

Ivan crossed his arms. "At least he didn't something weird to you."

Link rolled his eyes at this. "When he was exiting from the cell, he slapped me on my butt!"

The Killer Bees looked at each other. After blinking a few times, they all stared back at the blushing Link before, one by one, they all broke laughing loudly enough to make them fall on the ground, holding their stomachs with both hands.

Link reddened while pouting at this reaction. "It wasn't funny to me, you know!"

Both Chris and Lucario looked at each other and stifled some chuckles.

"Hey, I can't believe you, guys!" Link yelled.

Chris covered his mouth with his left hand. "S-sorry, but it did look funny to me…"

Link groaned while everyone chuckled at him. "Isn't there somebody out here who wants to say sorry TRUTHFULLY?"

The aura apprentice stopped chuckling and looked back at Link. "W-well, at least you got that Picto Box from the cell."

The Hylian took out a small box with a lens. He grumbled at the worthless item that couldn't take photos with color. "Oh yeah, I'm so going to enjoy taking black and white and gray pictures with this thing…" Link said before he put the Picto Box away.

At this point, the Killer Bees had enough of laughing to Link that they all slowly stood up, wiping some tears from their eyes. "Oh man…that was the best laugh I've ever had ever since Jin got his head stuck inside a jar for the whole day…" Ivan muttered.

Jin looked annoyed. "Y-you told me that there was a red rupee in there…"

Ivan chuckled coolly and looked at the trio. "Well, did you find the sail?"

"There wasn't a sail in there," Lucario said.

The leader of the Killer Bees closed his eyes. "Hmm, now this is bad news…"

Link's right eye twitched. "Weren't you SUPPOSED to be the town's greatest informants?"

Jan sniffed a bit. "W-we are, but you need to give us our time…"

The Hylian looked bored at Jan. "Ah-ah, that ashamed look isn't going to fool us anymore."

"Their looks never did that sort of thing," Chris pointed out.

"Y-you get what I mean," Link said annoyed before looking at the thinking Ivan. "Seriously, we need to get moving to the sea before night comes around. Isn't there some kind of place like, say, a shop?"

Jun-Roberto thought for a moment. "Well…the shops in here are a bit demanding with money, but I think there's this little shop that recently opened…"

Link sighed loudly. "SHOPS, why didn't we think of visiting them before?"

Ivan chuckled. "Well, there you go our useful information," he said before turning to the gang. "Let's go get that pesky sail for them!"

"Yeah!" the other kids replied with enthusiasm before they all ran off into the town.

Lucario frowned at this. "When is this going to end? I'm starting to wonder that we're never going to get anywhere if we keep listening to those kids…"

The Hylian groaned. "Please, please Farore, let us end this nightmare already!" he pleaded to the sky.

Chris could only sigh in depression.

Once the group of seven went to the small shopping area of the island, the kids had leaded the trio to a small shop where a middle-aged man was attending it by himself. This man wore an exaggerated big white parka, and wore a blue coat. The man looked pleased to see the seven characters looking at him from the other side of his wooden counter that he began to talk without giving any introductions.

"My story is a strange one..." began the man, "I came across cursed seas from a land far away…a land where the blizzards blow violently..."

The Killer Bees were instantly appealed by the sound of this story that they rested their elbows on the counter.

"Heading for this town called Windfall," the shopkeeper continued. "But dear me! As I traveled, a terrible storm descended and tore my ship to bits...yet mysteriously only that escaped without so much as a mark on it..." he explained before sighing.

"Hmm, I see…" Jin said interested.

The man looked at the people. "From the looks of you, I would say you're travelers as well. Oh, yes indeed!" he said pleased at Link, Chris, and Lucario. "...Could you not purchase that from me? It is my one and only heirloom from home. The people in this town do not seem the least bit interested in that, despite the fact that it would help them travel the dangerous seas about their town..."

This somehow hinted that the man was trying to say the item that the trio was looking for. "Um, excuse me, but would that be a sail?" Link asked. "We really need to get one."

The man chuckled. "Well, I'll tell once you buy that from me… Please! I beg of you!" the man suddenly said as a plea. "I wish to open a business here in this town, so I am in desperate need of finances. How does...80 rupees sound?

Ivan looked over his right shoulder at Link. "So, green guy, do you have the money to buy that or what?"

Link looked annoyed at this. "Oh great…"

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

The Hylian grunted a bit in annoyance. "By coincidence, I had 80 rupees some time ago, but if it weren't for Tetra, I could have had enough rupees to buy the sail…"

Chris looked bored at him. "Well, who was the one who spent the 50 rupees on sinking ships and took time away for, like, forever?"

Jan hopped a bit. "Ooh, ooh, my best score is fourteen used cannonballs in that game."

Link wanted to ignore the fact that a kid younger than him had beaten his record previously. "Y-you're not helping here to solve this dilemma!" he yelled annoyed before crossing his arms. "I'm so broke of money right now…" He took out his sword and smiled bored. "Well, time to go jar breaking around the town."

Lucario frowned at this. "I suppose there isn't any other way to buy that from the merchant…"

Ivan chuckled. "Heheheheh, why bother going around breaking jars when you can ask people for some money?"

The trio looked at the kids. "What's that supposed to mean?" Chris asked confused.

The Killer Bees looked at each other, nodded, looked back at the trio, and showed them 20 rupees each on their hands, summing up an amount of 80 rupees. "Ta-daaaaaaaaa," Jan said.

Link gasped, Chris looked surprised, and Lucario stared at the sparkling rupees. The Hylian looked at Ivan. "H-hey, what are you doing?" Link asked.

"What, you don't want to buy that?" Ivan asked. "C'mon, we're actually being cool by giving you the money you need. Think of this as a special service by yours truly, the Killer Bees."

Link looked at the silent merchant. "But what it that ends up being something worthless?"

The man chuckled. "Oh ho ho ho ho, please, don't think that badly of that," he said. "I'm sure that you will like that very much."

Link looked unsure at this. He hated the kids very much for being very bratty, but it looked like they were actually trying to give them a hand. The Hylian thought hard for a moment before he nodded at the kids and took their rupees away form their hands.

Chris and Lucario actually smiled a bit at this generous display of help from the Killer Bees before

Link walked to the counter and showed the man the money. "We want to buy that," Link said to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper seemed very pleased at this. "Yes, yes, yes! Thank you very much, indeed! I have received precisely 80 rupees for it," he said. "I can use these funds to finance my new business! Oh dear me, what a happy day!" he said very excited. "Very well, young master... As I promised, please, take that with you!"

The shopkeeper ducked to get something out from the counter. The seven characters then found out the item that the shopkeeper was referring to as that turned out to be a nice white long sail with a green wind emblem in the center.

At last, the item Link wanted to get was his to take. The Hylian smiled a bit at the sight of the sail that he held it up above him.

This action was taken as odd since not everyone quite understood why Link was holding it up with a hand.

"…LINK!" Chris yelled.

Link snapped out from his little trance before he pulled down the sail and looked at the happy shopkeeper.

"Yes, yes, yes! You have made a good purchase today, my young master! You have saved my life and business as well! Treasure it dearly! It is the finest sail in the world! Treat it as such!" the shopkeeper exclaimed happily.

Link sighed in relief as he held the sail on his arms. "Now we can go out to the sea with this," he said. "That means we can leave this island at anytime."

The Killer Bees didn't like the idea since every single one of them crossed their arms at this. "Hey, hey, hey, you're already leaving?" Jun-Roberto asked.

"That's not-so-cool," Jan said.

"Yeah, we thought you guys would stick around some more," Jin said.

Ivan grunted annoyed. "Alright, we don't have the authority to make you stay here even longer." He looked away. "You can go away now."

As Link looked annoyed at this sign of disrespect, Chris recalled the favor they were asked to do. "Oh, um, by the way, we have a message from Mrs. Marie to you."

The Killer Bees looked at him. "A message from her? It's weird that she didn't come directly to us to tell us what she wanted," Jan said.

Ivan rolled his eyes. "Well, what did she ask? Go ahead and tell because we don't like to talk much about school related stuff or Mrs. Marie herself."

Link looked miffed at this. "(Stupid brats...)"

"Well, Mrs. Marie said that you should stop causing trouble around town and come back to school more often," Chris explained. "She said that she doesn't want to force you to come, but she's worried that you four won't grow up to be fine civilians."

Jun-Roberto looked away. "What does she know? She's just trying to sound sweet to pull us back to class."

"And the Killer Bees don't like to be taught," Jin said. "We taught people back instead!"

Chris looked worried. "B-but seriously, you need to go back to her. She looked very worried about your welfare..."

Ivan thought for a moment. "Adults are always trying to boss us around so much that it gets so sick to do much later... They think they can do anything they want, and they don't want us to play a lot like we want."

Lucario shook his head. "If you ask me, they're doing this so you can have a good future ahead of you. The ones being disrespectful here are all of you."

The Killer Bees stared at Lucario.

"I'm telling the truth when I say that the adults are trying to keep you away from harm," Lucario explained. "You should know better that you cause a lot of mischief around town that it annoys everyone. Soon, when you least expect it, you're going to be in jail, wishing to have another opportunity to amend for your wrongdoings, and nobody will help you out from that situation."

Link and Chris stared a bit surprised at Lucario before looking back at the Killer Bees. It seemed that the four children were looking worried at each other at this lecture from the Aura Pokémon. In truth, the lecture had given them some kind of realization.

Ivan looked away. "W-well, when you put it that way...I wouldn't like to be in jail like that strange man was..."

"T-that's a very scary thought," Jin admitted. "I-I don't want to end up as a criminal..."

Jan looked worried. "I-I don't want people to think I'm a very bad boy..."

Jun-Roberto sniffed a bit. "A-and I don't want my mommy to hate me either..."

The trio blinked a few times at this before Ivan cleared his throat and looked back at them. "Okay, you have a point there now," he said with a serious look. "If what you said is true, then...fine, we'll promise to attend classes."

Chris smiled a bit at this. "Phew, I thought you were going to refuse..."

Jun-Roberto looked annoyed. "How can we keep going on like this when you say we could end up in jail? I don't want to be inside a sticking cell, ever!"

"Getting in one isn't such a good idea," Jin said. "It's inhuman!"

Ivan looked at the trio. "Well, I guess that's it," he said. "Thanks for your advice, I guess..."

Link sighed in relief at this. "That's over with, then?"

"Er, no."

Link wanted to rip Ivan's head off after hearing the response he didn't want to listen right now. "What is it this time that you want from us?"

Ivan scratched his head a bit. "Well, you see, we're going to school again, but the thing is that..."

Jin gasped. "Oh, right! I completely forgot about it!" he said embarrassed. "It's going to be Mrs. Marie's birthday very soon!"

Jan gasped next. "Oh no, we haven't gotten her present yet!"

Jun-Roberto thought for a moment. "U-um, that is bad...so bad..."

The trio looked confused at these reactions. However, once thinking back, it looked like the children were going to do something good instead of causing mischief. If what Link assumed was true, then the children did have some sort of good in them all from the beginning.

Ivan looked at the trio. "You see, we were planning to get Mrs. Marie a present for her birthday...but we haven't found a present yet."

"...I see..." Lucario muttered.

Jin began to hit his head a bit. "Oooooh, why, oh why did we have to forget about this until now? The time is running out, and it will run out once we find that out!"

Jan looked up at the sky. "If we just had some sort of hint to think about a nice present for her..."

"...Wait just a minute," Link began, "so it turns out that you do care for her?"

Ivan closed his eyes. "D-don't think wrong, but we didn't plan on getting her a birthday present...before you guys showed up, though..." he admitted embarrassed. "We all know when Mrs. Marie's birthday is, so if we want to stay away from getting into jail, we should start doing some...nice things to others..."

Chris looked bored at this. "(All that they're worried about is getting into jail and nothing else...)"

Jan blinked shocked. "A-actually, I think I know the perfect present for her!"

The other three members looked at him. "Oh, you do know?" Jun-Roberto asked.

"Yeah, I do!" Jan said. "Don't you remember that Mrs. Marie started to collect those Joy Pendants she's so fascinated about?"

Ivan blinked a bit before nodding. "Hey, that's right. She liked to say that a lot," he said before looking at the trio. "By any chance, did you see some kind of butterfly necklace hanging around her neck?"

"Butterfly necklace?" Link said confused. "Hmm, I recall she wore one…"

Jin nodded. "Then she's collecting those pendants! Maybe we could get her one for her birthday present."

"Then go get one for her."

Ivan shook his head. "Nope, we can't just get her one."

"…Why?"

"Well, one, we don't have money to buy her one. Two, there isn't any shop in here that sells Joy Pendants. And three, we know where we can get one for free."

The Hylian looked bored. "If you know a place to get them for free, why don't you get it?"

"Thing is, this Joy Pendant isn't a shop, but outside," Jin explained. "However…that very same pendant happens to be hanging from a branch of the tree close to the bomb shop."

Ivan grumbled. "Not even I'm that stupid to go for it. What if the branch breaks and I fall down to the ground?" He sighed. "We're in such a pickle here…"

Link rubbed his chin. "There's a Joy Pendant hanging on a tree's branch close to the bomb shop, huh?"

Some time later…

The Killer Bees and the trio had gone all the way to the bomb shop's tree. Link looked serious at tree as he cracked his fingers and looked up to see the mentioned Joy Pendant hanging on the very tip of a branch just above them.

"That's the pendant," Jun-Roberto said. "Ivan could get it, but he could fall, and I'd become the Killer Bees' leader."

Ivan glared at him.

"…You didn't hear anything," Jun-Roberto muttered.

Link looked directly at the tree before he charged at it. "YaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA-OWW!" he yelled, rolling hard against the tree to make it shake.

Everyone looked up to see that the branches shook a bit. However, the impact wasn't strong enough to make the pendant fall down, much for the dismay of the children.

"Bummer," said Jan. "That wasn't just enough."

Chris walked to Link, who looked as if he was knocked out upside down against the tree. "Are you okay?" Chris asked to Link.

"Heeeeeeeeeey…" Link began dazzled as his eyes spun around a bit, "what's for dinner, grandma? I'd like some chicken soup right now…"

The aura apprentice sighed in shame at this before turning to the group. "Well, he did his best…"

Lucario stared up at the Joy Pendant before he performed a high jump towards it. The Killer Bees gasped in surprise as the Aura Pokémon easily and quickly passed by the pendant, grabbed it, and went even higher before he fell down on the ground on his feet, close to the group of children.

"…Did he just jump like 40-feet in the air?" Jan asked.

"Heck yeah, he just did!" Jun-Roberto said.

Jin looked amazed. "I knew there was some kind of coolness hiding in this guy… (He's so cool, I swear!)"

Ivan was the one who looked even more surprised. However, he shook his head and grinned coolly with some nervousness. "W-well, what do you know? I knew you were going to pull out an amazing stunt like that one. You look so cool, so you would do it very easily."

Lucario rolled his eyes at this and showed the pendant to the children. "Here," he said to them.

However, the children shook their heads at the offering, making Lucario look confused. "Oh no, we're not doing the giving here!" Jan said.

"Yeah, we're not going to give this to her directly!" Jun-Roberto protested.

"Are you nuts or what? We can't just do that!" Jin objected.

Ivan shook his head. "We don't want to do that. It's not the style of the gang to be teacher pets for her!"

Link quickly snapped out from his knocked out state and stood up angrily. "What the heck is wrong with all of you?!" he asked irritated. "We went through a big odyssey to get the sail we wanted because YOU wanted to help us!"

Ivan crossed his arms. "Hello, we're still the Killer Bees. We do NOT act very nicely, you know."

Link discarded the thought of leaping at Ivan to stab his chest as many times as possible before someone else would notice. "Y-you're just unbelievable!"

"We're not unbelievable," Jin said. "We're the Killer Bees."

"Grrr…" Link grunted annoyed. "Then what are you going to do with the pendant if you don't want to give it directly to her?"

"Simple, we just ask you guys to give it to her," Ivan explained. "You're going to do it, right?"

Chris was having enough of the whole nonsense that he took the pendant from Lucario's hand and began his walk to the town. "Let's just do as they say so we can leave already…" Chris muttered.

"Alright, now we're talking," Ivan said grinning.

Link slapped his forehead at this before he and Lucario followed Chris while the Killer Bees followed them from behind.

Some time passed, and after delivering the Joy Pendant to Mrs. Marie, the trio came out from the school to see the four children gathered around them. "How'd it go?" asked Jin.

"She was very grateful to get one pendant from you," Lucario said. "She even said that she can't wait to have you back into the classroom."

Jun-Roberto folded his arms behind his head. "That ought to do it," he said.

Jan looked pleased. "Okay, thanks a lot, you guys!"

"Yeah, I think everything turned out very good for each one of us," Jin said.

Ivan crossed his arms and nodded. "Uh-huh, things are surely gonna change around here," he commented nodding. "Well, I guess we should say thanks to you…so…thanks for everything, especially you, Lucario." He made a happy expression. "You were a bigger help than any of those two!"

Lucario didn't care much about the remark, but Link and Chris were fairly irritated at this. "Chris…" Link muttered through gritted teeth.

Chris sighed. "Yes?"

"Please…please don't let me slit their throats slowly and painfully…"

"I'll try…"

"Just…" Lucario began, "…don't ever call Chris with another name…"

Ivan nodded. "Right, we get his name right. He's Chris, and the other green dude is Lonk."

"Link!" Link corrected.

"Whatever, it's the same," Ivan said before Chris tackled the enraged Link from leaping at Ivan, the latter not minding Link's fit of rage. "Okay, if you'll excuse us, we have some chores to do around here," he said to Lucario.

The Killer Bees turned around and walked away into the town without even saying good-bye at the group. Lucario stared at them going away before turning back to the ground where Chris tried his best to keep Link from running off after the kids. "L-Lucario, help!" Chris yelled.

The Aura Pokémon sighed in depression before he ducked to grab the enraged Link with a hand. The aura apprentice stood up and sweat dropped at Link's blind fit of rage since he was flailing his legs and arms around to get where the kids had gone to. "L-let's just take him to the King of Red Lions so we can leave now…before a funeral for four kids is held here…" Chris said.

Lucario nodded. "I wanted to leave this place as soon we entered."

"Oh, please, don't tell me you're annoyed…"

Lucario and Chris sighed in unison before they all walked away from the center of the town, taking the enraged Link along.

Windfall Island

Below the jail

It had been a long time for the talking boat ever since he last saw the trio going away. The boat let out a long yawn before grumbling in annoyance to himself. "Now where are those people? By now they surely had found a sail in town," he said to himself. "No, I shouldn't be thinking about choosing another person to do the work to defeat Ganon. I'm certain that he is the one who can achieve such a feat."

The King of Red Lions looked around.

"…Of course, he is not a full-fledged hero now," he said. "It's going to take a long time before he turns into one…I suppose…"

The boat suddenly heard some screams of rage with some loud complaints coming from his left. The boat turned around and instantly asked himself why Lucario was grabbing with a hand an enraged Link as he helplessly tried to get off from him. The King of Red Lions blinked in curiosity at this before the trio reunited with him.

The King of Red Lions stared at Link. "What has happened for him to be this…furious?"

Chris looked away. "L-let's just say we went through an odyssey to get the sail before we could get it…and Link didn't enjoy it that much…"

"LET ME GO!" Link demanded at Lucario. "I HAVE SOME BUSINESS TO DO WITH SOME KIDS IN TOWN!"

The King of Red Lions narrowed his eyes at Link. "Link, we don't have time to do more things in town."

"YIAAAAAAAH!" Link screamed.

Lucario grunted at this and turned to Chris. "Can I please just punch him so he stops? I'm getting very sick of listening to his screams."

Chris thought for a moment. "We-"

The first syllable that came out from Chris was enough confirmation for Lucario to deliver a hard punch at Link's gut. The Hylian, however, wasn't only shut up, but he was also sent towards the back wall like a rocket, crashing hard into it where he was almost entirely into it except for his wriggling feet.

The boat looked very surprised at the mere punch that he stared at the annoyed Lucario. "...You seem to possess such a big strength within you despite of your looks," the boat remarked.

Lucario grunted and crossed his arms.

His trainer took this action as a sign of disbelief. "...L-Lucario...w-why did you decide to be that harsh to Link? I-I wanted to say that you should go easy on him!"

Lucario looked at him in embarrassment. "W-well...he was already annoying me a lot..."

"..."

"...Sorry..."

The King of Red Lions looked back where Link was wriggling his feet on the wall. "Well, that seemed to calm him down. All that is left is to take him out of the wall," he said before looking back at the duo. "Have you found the sail? I hope you didn't lose time because it was a long time after you were here."

Chris looked away. "W-we told you that we went through a lot… Sorry for making you wait…"

The boat sighed at this. "Just…be faster the next time…"

Some time passed, and the trio was onboard the talking boat. Link (with some bruise marks all over his face) looked forward to the sea with Lucario, Chris, and the King of Red Lions. The Hylian prepared the newly obtained sail that he bought from the merchant.

The King of Red Lions stared forward at the sea. He narrowed his eyes to find out if the wind favored them. As he expected, the winds pushed the waves to the west. "A westerly wind blows!" he advised. "Link, Chris, Lucario, let us all go to the west!"

"Why to the west?" Link asked.

"We have to reach Dragon Roost Island, which is located to the west," the boat said. "I have sensed the dark winds of Ganon gathering in that island."

"How did you do that?"

The boat shook his head. "I can't tell you that, unfortunately…" he muttered in shame before looking forward. "However, please, trust me, Link."

Link looked bored. "Why is it that you're so utterly secretive with whatever you say about me?"

The King of Red Lions turned to look at him. "We don't have much time left to waste. We have to begin our way to Dragon Roost Island. Or you don't want to rescue Aryll from Ganon?"

Link gasped and quickly prepared the sail. "I hate it when people can convince and distract me so they can go away with those excuses to avoid being asked stuff lik-"

"Um, Link, can we just go?" Chris asked before blushing. "I-I've never been in ship voyages before that much so I wanted to experience this trip…"

Link looked annoyed before sighing. "I seriously want to wish for someone to be here who can give me some support with what I want to get for once…"

"We're here with you," Lucario pointed out.

"I mean morally!"

The boat grunted. "Link, let us start our voyage!" he ordered.

Link stifled a grunt of desperation before he commanded the boat…to promptly turn around and crash it hard against the wall of the cave.

The trio looked shocked at this since the tip of the boat (in which case was the King of Red Lions) crashed hard on the wall. Apparently, the western wind had picked up even more speed than before, and since Link had the sail out, the wind was strong enough to turn the boat around and make it crash hard on the wall.

The trio remained silent as the talking boat didn't make any response at the sudden action he suffered. They supposed that his face had crashed deep enough to make him unable to talk. "…Link…" the talking boat on the wall began, "…tell me something…"

Link gulped and shook a bit. "Y-yes?"

"You have never sailed a boat before in your life…right?"

"N-no…"

"…Then…what made you think you could sail one?"

"I-I guess it had to do with determination a bit…"

"I would say a lot," Lucario commented.

Link slapped his forehead at this while Chris looked down and frowned.

Some time later…

After turning the boat to face the sea, the King of Red Lions (with a little X-shaped band-aid on his forehead) waited for Link to put the sail away. Once he did, the boat slowly started to cruise into the sea. "We're docking in the western part of the island," the King of Red Lions explained. "Wait until we get in the southern part where you CAN use the sail."

Link looked down. "Hey, it's not my fault I don't know how to sail boats… How was I supposed to know I was going to do this?"

"You never foresaw this?"

"N-not at all…"

The boat sighed as they came out from the cave. "Well, let me see when you can use the sail," he said.

Lucario watched as the boat nicely cruised along the coast of the island. Once the boat got around it, the King of Red Lions looked at the west. "Now!" Link yelled, putting back on the sail.

And the boat finally started its voyage to the west, much for the pleasure of the four. They sat down as the boat peacefully soar the waves of the sea towards the east, where Dragon Roost Island awaited.

Before they could leave the area of the island, Lucario looked back to see that there were some people waving at them from afar. "Link, Chris, look back," he said. "There are some people saying good-bye."

The two turned around to see four people waving at them from the docks. The three were able to tell that the Killer Bees were the ones who were waving at them. "Hey, they're saying good-bye to us," Chris said.

Link sighed in relief. "Finally, I can see that there's some good in them…"

"…There's somebody else with them," Lucario said.

The three saw that Mrs. Marie had came out from the classroom since she appeared from behind the children. Upon seeing the trio leaving the island, she waved at them together with the children.

Chris smiled a bit. "Do you think they all changed?"

"Well, I don't know," Link said. "I'll see if they did next time I drop by here."

The three began to wave at the group before they could leave the vicinity of the island, the classroom waving at them before both groups stopped seeing each other and stopped.

"…Chris," Lucario began, "…can I ask you something?"

"Yes?" Chris said.

"Well…don't we know where the sail was before?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I thought we knew very well where to find the sail…but…I think we forgot about it…"

The aura apprentice thought for a moment. "Well…I-I think we just forgot it…"

Lucario nodded. "And if we did, then that would have meant that we could have avoided going through the whole ordeal with the children…"

The teen looked shocked, but he remained silent.

"Guys, what are you talking about now?" Link asked.

"…Forget it…" Chris muttered, Lucario frowning at this.

Great Sea

The boat passed on the water at a nice, comfortable speed. The trio was staring out at the sea where they could see some islands far away from their spot. Soon enough, Link saw that some seagulls flying close to them. The King of Red Lions noticed the seagulls and began to talk. "See the seagulls? There are folklores that speak of seagulls being a good sign that the sailor is going through the right path."

"Is that so?" Link asked. "Well, I thought these seagulls were just close to me because they think I'm Aryll… She likes seagulls so much and they like her a lot as well."

Chris looked away. "(Actually, the seagulls are supposed to tell you that you're going to the right way… That's a tip in the game…)"

"…Please don't tell me they'll try to use us as the bathroom," Link said.

The boat stared forward. "Do not think of such a filthy thing, Link," he said. "The seagulls are a sign of respect. Respect them back if they want to help us."

Link shrugged at this as the boat went to the east.

After passing the area of Windfall Island and the area where an island with a secret resided, the four eventually saw a towering figure located to the east. They all looked up to see that the figure was an island with a huge mountain that had black smoke circulating on the top. "There! On the horizon! That is our destination, Link..." the King of Red Lions said.

"Would that be Dragon Roost Island?" Lucario asked.

The boat nodded. "Yes, it is the island I was talking about. Let us first arrive on the coast."

Link nodded at this as the boat continued its way to the east, looking around for a small beach or coast to dock the boat.

Dragon Roost Island

Coast

"…Aaaaaaand now," Chris said.

Link put the sail away in time for the boat to arrive nicely on a small beach of the island. Once arriving, they all looked up to see the black clouds covering the top. "I wonder if that's a volcano or something…" Link muttered.

The trio hopped off from the boat and walked a bit forward to stare at the mountain's top. The King of Red Lions coughed to get their attention. "High atop this island's peak lives the spirit of the skies, a great dragon by the name of Valoo," he explained.

"Valoo?" Link said.

The boat nodded. "Valoo is a high authority, Link. You must go see this dragon and request from him a jewel called Din's Pearl."

Link crossed his arms. "What is the Din's Pearl?"

"It's a special artifact that is going to help us soon," the boat explained. "We need that in order to stop Ganon from spreading his dark winds across the Great Sea."

Link was a bit skeptical. "Well…okay, I'll go for it… But is the dragon friendly?"

"Oh, please, don't think Valoo is a vile monster," the boat said. "He is a very respectable person. Once you go with him, he should give you the pearl." He looked up and narrowed his eyes. "However…I fear that there is something wrong in this island…" He looked back at the three. "Please, do go see what is happening. These winds are causing havoc as we speak."

Chris embraced himself. "I can tell we're so going to fight very soon…"

"Ask the people of the Rito tribe who inhabit this island about how to see the dragon," the boat instructed.

"The Rito? You don't mean the tribe who work as postmen, right?" Link asked.

"That's the very same tribe."

Link rubbed his chin. "I wonder if Quill is here… Thanks to him, I was able to convince Tetra from coming to the Forsaken Fortress…"

"You might find your acquaintance in there," the King of Red Lions said. "But, before you go…I want you to take this with you."

The trio saw that the talking had a small baton hanging from his mouth.

"Please, take it," the King of Red Lions said.

Link looked a bit grossed out by the baton in a talking boat's mouth. Well, he had a right to question where the boat took the baton out. "S-since when were you holding that baton? I didn't see it before…"

"I had it inside me all this time."

The trio looked a bit disgusted at this fact. Now, besides being a talking boat, the King of Red Lions had a stomach of the sorts…

"…" Link silently went to pick the baton from the boat's mouth. Upon taking it out, the Hylian stared at it with a skeptical look, wondering if it was really inside the boat's within.

For that matter, did the King of Red Lions really have a stomach?

"S-so…" Link began, "what is this thing again?"

The boat ignored the disgusted looks of the trio. "It's a baton of sorts that was used long ago when people played music in prayer of the gods. In those days, simply using it allowed one to borrow the power of the gods, but I don't know if it still works."

Lucario looked bored at this. "So you're saying that you had this baton for a long time, and you don't know if it even works?"

"…Well…how am I supposed to know?" the boat asked. "I can't even play it like this. Only someone with hands, in this case, Link, can use it for…something…"

The three stared at him with an eerie silence.

"…E-even so, I thought it might be of some use to you," the King of Red Lions said embarrassed. "It doesn't hurt to try, does it now?"

Chris grumbled a bit. "I think it's pathetic that you don't even know if the baton works… I mean, wouldn't that mean that you stole it from somewhere?"

"I did NOT steal it from somewhere," the boat stated angrily. "Besides, I have forgotten how to call upon the gods with it. How can you ask ill-mannered questions to the very same King of Hyrul-"

The boat looked away in embarrassment.

"…" The boat coughed a bit while the three stared at him in confusion (Chris and Lucario being amused instead). "…F-forget what I said about the King of Hyrule… My tongue…sometimes…well…says crazy things…"

Link blinked a few times before he looked at the two. "I told you that this talking boat was very suspicious," he whispered. "I mean, just LOOK at him. He's a talking boat who can somehow carry items inside his supposed stomach who likes to say weird stuff about Hyrule…"

Trying to sound convinced, Chris slapped his forehead. "This talking boat…surely says weird things…"

"Yes," Lucario said. "I'm starting to wonder if he's even trustworthy."

The boat looked back at them. "Please, don't think I'm weird… I-it's just that I can't fully explain some things because you would find them very unbelievable…"

Link looked bored. "I find the history of Ganon VERY unbelievable," Link said.

"It…is not…" the boat muttered. "…Well, I'd like to talk with you more and explain some mechanics about the Wind Waker, but right now, you have to go to Valoo by the time being."

"You're just wanting us to forget this altogether!" Link argued.

The boat glared at him. "L-Link, Chris, Lucario, this is very serious," he said. "Go before the dark winds get thicker than they are right now!"

Lucario grunted annoyed. "I hate when people like you try to make up excuses to avoid being asked, I swear," he said. "Is it hard for you to explain yourself, or is it hard for us to understand about what you can't tell…"

Lucario stopped talking as soon as his ears twitched a bit. The Aura Pokémon blinked confused as he overheard some kind of tune coming from somewhere in the island.

The other three looked at him. "Lucario, why did you stop talking?" Chris asked. "You sounded very irritated…and now you're just looking around…"

"E-excuse me…but…can you hear that?" Lucario asked.

"Hear what?" Link asked.

Lucario looked back at the mountain. "I can hear some kind of…melody coming from somewhere…"

Link cleaned his right ear. "Well, we don't have dog traits as yo-"

Lucario glared at Link over his left shoulder.

Link took a step back. "I-I mean, we don't have good ears like you do!" he said sweating.

Lucario frowned at this and looked back at the mountain. He listened to the melody's tune, and he somehow…found it very enjoyable. "…I wonder where it is coming from…" he muttered before he leaped high up to 60-feet to reach a high cliff. Chris gasped at this before his Pokémon ran to the other side of the cliff.

"H-hey, Lucario, come back here!" Chris yelled. "I-it's not like you to go run somewhere alone!"

The King of Red Lions saw the opportunity to intervene. "You should go see where he went," he said. "I'm sure you'll find something of importance if you go after him."

Link turned to him and grunted. "Hey, you won't avoid this at all! I want to listen to some explanations abou-"

"Lucario, come back!" Chris interrupted as he went after Lucario by heading around a cliff to the left to reach a small passage over to the right.

Link gasped and turned around. "H-hey, wait a second, you! D-don't you just run off like that!" he yelled before he gave chase to Chris.

The King of Red Lions watched as the two went after Lucario by the small path in front of them. He sighed at this and frowned. "Well, this should take care of what they wanted to question me…" he muttered. "I thank the gods for making my wish come true…".

Preview of the next chapter

"So, let me get this straight," Link began, "Lucario likes to do stuff of his own this often?"

"N-no, you've got it all wrong!" Chris yelled. "H-he doesn't this at all. I-I don't even know why he did this!"

"Well, he said he heard a melody, so the logical thing to do would be following the melody's sound, and then we'll find Lucario."

"I just hope nothing bad happens…"

"Oh, believe me when I'm saying they're bound to get worse."

"P-please, don't say that…"

"On the next chapter, Your Harp Makes My Heart Go Crazy, Bird."

"W-what kind of title is that? It sounds as if there's romance involved in there…"

"…Maybe because there's actual romance?"

"…Oh, crud…"

This chapter was totally re-written because of how bad it looked like before. At least I hope this came out better for those who already read it.

I encourage people to review so you can express how much you liked the chapter. ;)
*Chapter 13*: Your Harp Makes My Heart Go Crazy, Bird

Good news, this chapter is a little longer than the others! I can write longer chapters now! Enjoy and read and review!

Chapter 13: Lucario and Medli! Melody of love!

Dragon Roost Island

Dragon Roost Island
Shore

After climbing a simple tower of 2 blocks and one rock (the rock was destroyed by a bomb from a plant,) Link and Chris continued their way to find Lucario.

"Link!" A voice came from the other side, it was Link's postman, a Rito.

"You're the postman of my island!" Link said with a smile.

"I'm glad to see you again, but, how did you get here?"

"A lot of things happened when I was in the Forsaken Fortress, and my sister is still there."

"Don't worry, she will be okay, for now, I'm going ahead and tell the chieftain of our tribe to see you."

"Wait, have you seen a blue and black person around here?" Chris asked.

"Well, I saw a beast like that running this way and he jumped high in the air in the cliffs above, he was probably heading where Medli is now." He flew away inside a cave.

"Good thing Lucario wasn't here to heard someone did said beast again to him." Link said.

Dragon Roost Island
Cliff

"Phew, that's for today of my daily training with my harp," A young girl Rito said looking at the sea "Now, I need to try and cheer up Komali to climb the island."

"Can you please play that music again?" A voice spoke behind the young girl.

She turned and gasped when he saw Lucario behind her "A..a beast! What I'm going to do now?"

"(Not kill her, not kill her, not kill her.)" Lucario thought to himself "I'm not a beast, I'm just a traveler who happened to hear your soothing music."

She blushed a little "Is my melody...really soothing to you?"

Lucario nodded "Is by far the most relaxing melody I've ever heard."

"I...I think I can play it again if you like."

"Please, I'll appreciate it." He kneeled to her. (Now that is a signal of love in the air!)

"...Alright." She turned to the sea and let out a sigh, then she started to play the harp again and Lucario closed his eyes and he smiled enjoying the melody.

Not far away from there, a younger little Rito kid happened to appear from a cave holding a orange orb in his arms. He placed his head behind a wall.

"Medli? Where are you?" He asked looking around, he heard the music from the cliff and he smiled a little when he saw Medli on the top "Medli! I was looking for yo-" His eyes widened when he saw someone else standing behind her.

"Wh-who is him? And why is he near Medli? I...I don't want to interrupt, but, he is way taller than me and Medli...and he is scary too...is that a spike on his chest? And there are 2 more in both of his arms too..." He trembled a little in terror, and for worsening everything, Lucario turned his head to the kid, the young Rito kid got scared by the glare of Lucario (he took it as a glare, but it was a glare in reality) and he got inside running away scared and he went to his room.

"(Who was him?)" Lucario asked and thought to himself, he closed his eyes, turned his head to Medli and he continued to enjoy the melody.

Dragon Roost Island
Postman's Offices

"I heard from Quill that you're Link right?" The chieftain asked to Link.

"Yes, I am." He replied.

"It's good to have you here, but there is also a problem brewing up in the top of the island," He turned to a wall "As you may see, we are a tribe who take the jobs of postmans, but, there is more about it," He turned to Link and Chris "Every Rito has to climb to the top of the island and get their wings from Valoo, so they can fly and reach their goals."

"And what is the problem then?" Link asked.

"Something has been happening to Valoo, he is acting rather strangely and violently, not long ago, creatures came to the island weeks ago in the night, since that night, Valoo has been acting with great anger."

"But..." Chris looked around "Every Rito has his wings right?"

The chieftain nodded "Yes, everyone except for one."

"Who?" Link asked

"My son, Komali, he is now at the age of receiving his wings, but since this situation has been around, he refuses to climb the mountain, and I'm afraid he is giving up the ritual."

Just by coincidence, Komali came running with his orb in his arms to his room.

"That was Komali?" Link asked.

"Yes, he is my son, but, why was he shaking?" The chieftain asked to himself "Link, I have another favor to ask you, can you give something to Komali so he can try to climb the mountain?" Link nodded "Thank you, you 2 should look around first."

Quill (Link's postman) gaves Link a Delivery Bag and he keeps it.

Link and Chris looked around to know the place, they found a desk with a Rito looking to a pile of letters, he asked if Link could organize them to their destinations by throwing them to their blocks with their marks, he had a time limit to do it just for fun.

"This one to Outset, this one for Windfall, and this one for AHHH!!" He threw the letter quickly to his block.

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"That letter had the head of that weird man in the cell of Windfall!" He shuddered before continuing. He did it right and he got a Piece of Heart!

"Alright!" The piece of heart disappeared in thin air. Just then, Chris heared a familiar voice coming from near there and he found Lucario with crossed arms and leaned to a wall.

"Lucario!" He smiled at Lucario and he smiled back to him "Where have you been?"

"I was with a girl who played a very relaxing melody with her harp." He remembered the sound by closing his eyes "It was beautiful, I've never heard a melody like that in my life befor-"

"You're in love with her right?" Chris said in a serious tone and his eyes narrowed and he smiled rather curiously at Lucario.

Lucario blushed a little "What? N-n-no! What makes you think that?"

Chris placed his right ear near Lucario's chest right close to his spike and he heard a rather fast beat in his heart "Your heart says the contrary."

"I'm telling the truth!" He said annoyed.

Just then, the same young Rito girl from before came to the right of the 2, Chris's ear was still in Lucario's chest and both looked at the Rito girl "Oh, is you! I didn't introduced myself before, I'm Medli, nice to meet you." She smiled at him, and oddly, Chris felt Lucario's heart beating faster than before.

Lucario blushed more "I'm..Lucario, is a pleasure to meet you too."

"Lucario? That is a good name for you!" Lucario's heart was beating faster now "I'm going to be near the third exit of the cave, talk to me if you want." Lucario's heart was now beating madly faster! Medli walked away.

"She completely ignored me," Chris said, he stopped hearing Lucario's heart and looked at him "Lucario, admit it, you're in love with her!"

Lucario's head was now all red except for his black marking "For the last time, I'm not in love with her!" The voice rang inside the cave, only Link heard the conversation while he was still throwing the letter to their blocks. Breaking his record little by little.

"Fine, you're not in love with her." Chris said sarcastically walking away from Lucario, he shook his head and the red color was now blue again and he followed Chris to where Link was.

"Hey guys, check it out, I broke my record several times and see my wallet now!" Link's wallet was now completely full of rupees "Is a shame I don't have a bigger wallet now."

"(You will have a bigger one later.)" Chris thought to himself.

"Anyway, I heard from you 2 that Lucario is in love with someone, am I right?" He narrowed his eyes and smiled rather curiously to Lucario as Chris did. Lucario just closed his eyes and turned his head away quickly.

"Eh, no, you didn't heard anything." Chris said sarcastically.

"..." This was Link's response "Oh, by the way, a Rito girl with the name of Medli came not too long ago and asked me to go to the third exit of this cave, we should go with her now."

Lucario turned his head to Link "Fine." He said walking away...a little faster.

"What's the big hurry Lucario?" Link asked confused, but his words were sent to deaf ears...blue deaf ears.

"Ugh, I'll tell you now." Chris wispered to Link's toon ear.

Link then dropped in the floor laughing madly "OH MY GOD, THAT'S IS JUST TOO FUNNY! HAHAHAHAHA!" He held his stomach in pain for the laugh.

After laughing madly in the floor and some Rito gave weird looks at Link, Chris and Link proceeded to where Medli was.

Dragon Roost Island
Third exit to Dragon Roost Cavern

"Oh, it's you again, those clothes are from the ancient Hero right?" Medli asked but she shook her head "You're Link right? I've heard of you by the chieftain of our tribe a while ago, my name is Medli, I'm Valoo's attendant and is my job to help Valoo in times of need, but, actually, I'm not her attendant, I'm studying to become one, I hope you can get back your sister Link."

"I will." Link replied.

"I want to ask you 3 a favor, I want you to deliver this letter to Komali," She hands over a letter to Link and he keeps it in his new Delivery Bag Quill gave him a while ago "That letter is from his father, it holds something important for Komali to read about, but, after delivering the letter, could you please follow me to the exit behind me? I need another favor."

The trio nodded and they went to Komali's room below the cave, the room was all decorated with many things and amulets.

Dragon Roost Island
Komali's Room

"Who's there?" A voice came from the bed and there was Komali holding his orb in his arms, he lookes at Chris and Link "Oh, it's you, the 2 who were with my fathe-" However, his eyes widened when he saw Lucario, he hid below the blankets of his bed with his orb "AHHH! Is that beast again!"

"THAT'S IT!" Lucario walked towards Komali with fists ready to kill the little Rito kid, Komali screamed in terror, however, Chris took out a big heavy book and he hit Lucario's head really, but really hard (because Lucario's head is of steel) from behind, making him fainting and falling unconscious in the floor with his mouth opened and his eyes all white.

"NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO KILL AN INNOCENT KID!" Chris's eyes were now like those freakish white eyes that those Naruto characters make when they are angry.

"Where in the hell did you got that big heavy book?" Link asked, his eyes looking at the big heavy book.

EarthBound

Fourside
Museum

"Hmm, where did I left my book of Dinosaurs's History of 700 pages?" Jeff asked searching for his book inside his backpack that nobody can't see even outside the game.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Dragon Roost Island
Komali's Room

"From a friend!" Chris replied angrily. Komali got out of the blankets and he sighed after the event.

"What do you want? If you have anything else to do here, leave now."

"We got a letter from your father." Link handed over the letter to Komali.

"From father?" Komali readed the letter "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to climb the mountain in this situation," He stated "I'm not even satisfied if you can calm down Valoo either, is impossible, give up," He paused for a moment "But, however, I'll listen to you when you can find someone who can reach the top of the island."

"That would be us then!" Chris said "We will do it!"

"Yeah, good luck." Komali said sarcastically.

"You don't believe it right? Fine, but don't come to us when we are done," Chris said looking at Link "Link, I need your help, is very important."

"You want to climb the mountain right?"

"No! I need someone else to drag Lucario while he's KO'd on the floor, he is too heavy to carry!" Chris tried to lift Lucario "Please?"

Link paused for a moment before nodding, they amazingly lifted Lucario and they carried him away from Komali's room, but his weight was like 4 boulders for the 2, Chris carried Lucario by his head while Link carried Lucario by his legs.

1 hour later...

Dragon Roost Island
Outside Dragon Roost Cavern

They saw Medli down inside where a pond and a bridge were supposed to be, they carried Lucario to the edge of the cliff and they climbed down and walked to Medli.

"Why are you 2 so late and why is Lucario unconscious?" Medli asked confused looking at Lucario where she was standing.

"5 words: Lucario...is heavy...as hell" Chris said panting.

"Really?" Medli asked before shaking her head "Link, I need to reach to the other side of the cliff, I need to fly there when the wind is going towards where I'm going, you need to lift me above you, I'm going to say the word when it's the time you're going to throw me got it?"

"Got it!" Link lifted Medli above his head, when the wind was going to the side they were wishing for, Medli shouted "Now!" She flew towards the other side of the bridge, but suddenly, the wind changed to the right and she was carried to the right, crashing into a wall with her head and she landed in her butt on the floor.

"Medli!" Link and Chris yelled and they walked towards Medli "Medli! Are you alright?"

"Mom, please, they are taking evasive actions, I need plans for the flat soda machine!" She said randomly with tiny Ritos flying around her head.

"What is a flat soda machine Chris?"

"...I don't know." Chris said.

Medli shook her head and she regained her composture "Let's do it again!"

They did it again, fortunately, everything went as planned and Medli made it to the other side "Link! It worked!" She took out a empty bottle from her pocket and throwed it at Link who catched it "Use that! It may come in handy!"

"For what?" Link asked.

"Use your imagination!" She said, Chris thought if Medli was still fine from the crashing or if she was still insane "I'm going to the cavern! Wait her-AAAHHHH!!"

"Medli!" Chris and Link shouted, a grey arm grabbed Medli by the mouth and that arm was coming from...

"Wolf!" Chris shouted, indeed, Wolf (who was apparently also influenced by the "air" of the world) was there, grabbing Medli with his arm. Chris remembered what Wolf said the last time they saw each other.

Flashback

"Grr, you're lucky kid, but next time...I'll see you again...then I'm going to kill you...and your partner-"

"I'VE SAID GO!" Lucario glared at Wolf.

End of flashback

"Leave Medli alone you bastard!" Link said angrily.

"Can't let you do that Sta-" Wolf shook his head "Never! I dare you 2-wait, where is your partner?"

Chris pointed where Lucario was, his tongue was getting out of his mouth, Wolf saw him with a confused face "He's wasted?" Again, he shook his head "Nevermind! I dare you 3 to catch me!" He ran inside the cave, crossing the lava river by jumping 2 times with Medli still in his arm.

"Oh man, what are we gonna do?" Chris asked terrified "Hey, those dried plants over there look so familiar like the bombs we got in the shore, what if we spray some water to them with the bottle?"

After spraying water to the wittered plants, Link grabbed a bomb flower and throwed it to a boulder near, it exploded and below the boulder water came filling the lake, they swam to the other side where Lucario was laying unconscious.

"Hey lovebird, wake up!" Chris shouted at his best friend...his unconscious best friend "We need to enter the cave now!"

"..." No response.

"Wolf took Medli away with him." Chris said, rolling his eyes, and by coincidence, Lucario woke up...with a huge roar directed to the sky, he jumped over the lake, then he jumped over the lava river and went inside the cave.

"...Why did he roared?" Link asked confused.

"Probably just to show off his "manlyness" to Medli...PROBABLY, I don't know exactly."

They remained silent for 10 seconds.

"Wait a minute, did he left us?" Link asked.

"..." Chris thought for a moment "HEY! COME BACK NOW LUCARIO!" They ran to the lake, swam their way through, they made a bridge in the lava using some stones at the sides by exploding them with bombs, they jumped to statue to statue and they went inside the cave.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris everybody!"

"I'm Link!"

"Really, I don't know why Lucario loves Medli, she isn't even his type! And I meant it literally!"

"Yeah, I mean, he has 2 spikes in both arms while she has a nose of bird!"

"Ah, forget it! Just forget it! We need to catch up Lucario before something else happens!"

"Like what?"

"..." He shuddered "Lucario kissing Medli."

"UGH!"

"I KNOW! DON'T SAY IT! And worse, there are Primids inside this cavern!"

"Next time: A heart broken and a new job!"

Read and review please! This is getting interesting isn't?
*Chapter 14*: Of Dungeons And Unrequited Romances

Well, here is the next chapter everyone, sorry for the big waiting, also, please I need to know the errors in this chapter so I can get better at my chapters, read and review please!

Chapter 14: A heart broken and a new job!

Underground Theme (Super Mario Land)

Dragon Roost Cavern

"If my memory doesn't fails me, there should be 3 statues in this room," Chris looked around "Say, where are the statues?"

"They are dust and pebbles now," Link saw a big pile of rocks to his right and left "And also, there is a huge hole in the wall."

"Why I'm thinking Lucario did it?" Chris asked sarcastically, they walked through the big hole in the wall and there was nobody in there.

"Look, those Bokoblins are dead." Chris saw 2 red Bokoblins dead in the floor.

"Lucario did it." Link said rolling his big eyes, they proceeded to the next room, but Link saw 3 odd looking chests near the door.

"Hey, those chests looks weird, Chris, open them." Link said and Chris opened the 3 chests, he got a yellow vest with a spike near the top, a blue amulet and a brown bandana.

"Hey, there are descriptions inside." Chris took 3 descriptions of each chest.

Spike Vest

A yellow vest with a spike placed in the center of the person's chest, it makes the training of the aura easier to learn, can be worn by humans

Blue amulet

Slighlty increases the aura of the holder, can be worn by humans and Pokémon

Brown Bandana

Focuses your mind in a calmer way, it increases your defense slightly, can be worn by Pokemon

Chris equiped the vest, he placed the amulet in his neck and he placed the Brown Bandana in his inventory.

"Say, that vest looks familiar, it looks like Lucario's." Link pointed out.

"It is, now I know how it feels to have a spike in your chest."

They walked towards the next room (this time, they walked without stopping) they felt the next room a little hot, and it was because the room was filled with lava in the center, below.

"I hope Lucario is fine, the fire is his weakness, but judging at his current state, I'm starting to believe he isn't weak againts fire anymore." Chris said, he took out the Primid Radar, and the gauge was at red, but oddly, it was getting to blue little by little "Strange, is this thing broken?"

15 rooms away from where Link and Chris were...

"DON'T INTERFER!" Lucario was defeating a bunch of Roaders, Sword Primids, Armights, Floows and Metal Primids while he was in a rush to find Wolf.

15 rooms back...

"And is getting closer to the blue," Chris finished, he took away the Primid Radar "And...this room doesn't have any monster either."

"Lucario is doing all the work for us." Link pointed out.

"How do you know if he is doing this for us exactly?"

Link thought for a moment "Nevermind, he is doing all of this for her."

"Just one question, if she even in love with Lucario?"

"..." Link didn't knew anything about girls and their tastes "Erh, look! That door is opened!" Link ran away inside the next room.

"Stop ignoring me!" Chris said annoyed running after him.

(A/N: Since there is nothing else important to do besides rescuing Medli and defeating Gohma, I'll skip the entire walkthrough of the cavern.)

Dragon Roost Cavern
Island's top

After tolerating all the burden, hot burden of the cavern, the 2 looked around at the top of the island...and they were all wounded up.

"Link, I told you to get off of the falling platform in time and you didn't move at all!" Chris said, he was using like 15 bandages in all his body.

"But I thought it was the monster who was shaking the floor!" Link, on the other hand, was worse than Chris, his butt was all black and he had 25 bandages in his body.

"IT WAS A STUPID RAT, A STUPID LITTLE RAT MINDING HIS OWN BUSINESS! There wasn't any monster besides rats remember?!"

"Stop complaining! At least we're in the top!"

Chris sighed "Well, that is right, which means Lucario is in the top by now." They walked to some stairs hanging into the wall, but as soon as they stepped on, it began to fall!

"RUN!" Both shouted running quickly from falling into the first floor of the island, their eyes were bigger than they currently were, fortunately for them, normal floor was below their foots once they stopped and panted heavily.

"Where...is...Lucario...when you need him?" Chris asked panting. He looked up and saw Medli behind a cell.

"Link! Chris!" She shouted from the cell, they approached to her, just above her, Valoo was there yelling angrily and firing flames at every direction.

"Medli! Are you alright?" Link asked.

"I'm fine, but, this is a trap!" Behind them, pointy clubs of wood came from the ground, blocking their only exit.

"We're trapped!" Chris said in shock.

"No, were inside a cage meanwhile Medli is inside another one but less bigger." Link said rolling his big eyes. From the sky, Wolf came.

"This is the last time I'll try to kill you kid!" Wolf said preparing his fists, Link and Chris stood in a fighting position and prepared to fight Wolf.

Star Wolf (Assault)

(Below the screen, Chris's and Toon Link's faces shows up with 0 percent, Wolf's face shows up with 0 percent too, but his icon was a little dark, and yes, for this battle, the "Toon" word will be used.)

Toon Link charged at Wolf and slashed him, Wolf used a forward smash attack and it hits Toon Link, Chris used Force Palm but it misses and Wolf takes the opportunity to use his Fire Wolf attack and it burns Chris a little (Is that really fire, anyway?) Toon Link slashes Wolf 2 times and he falls on the ground before standing up.

"What's the matter? You think you can defeat me with your companion?" Wolf taunted.

"Actually, yes." Chris said smiling and laughing a little, that only made Wolf angrier than before and he did a 3 hit combo on Toon Link, Toon Link jumps in the air and he stabs Wolf with his sword, it dealt a good amount of damage to Wolf, he ran after Chris and he sliced him 4 times using Wolf Flash, Chris was getting so tired and he collapsed in the ground, Wolf took the opportunity and he jumped in the air and he came falling down above the unconscious Chris, Toon Link, however, interrupted him slashing Wolf in the air and he crashed in the wall.

"Why you!" Wolf ran fast at Toon Link and he used his forward smash attack on Toon Link, he flies to the other side and hits the wall with his back, then he falls in the ground unconscious as well.

"And now..." Wolf turned to Chris and he approached to him preparing his claws.

"NO!" Medli shouted from behind the cell, Wolf ignored her and he grabbed Chris by the throat, he smirked pressing the throat tightler and tightler every second it was passing.

"Just a few more seconds and you're done kid..."

But the "just a few more seconds" part was interrupted abruptaly, because a black fist came punching hard at Wolf's face, he again crashed to the same wall, Chris was fine now since Wolf stopped grabbing his throat.

Chris grabbed his throat and he coughed a little, he opened his eyes and saw a familiar blue tail to his right, he looked up and he smiled.

"Lucario!" He said smiling, Lucario turned head to Chris and he smiled a little at him.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a serious tone.

"I'm a little weak...but other than that, I'm fine"

Lucario glared at Wolf again, Wolf stood up and he saw Lucario approaching to him, he prepared to retaliate the attack but failed misserably because Lucario did a powerful kick, sending him high up in the sky.

"NOOOOOOO!!" Those were Wolf's last words before he blinked in the sky. The crowd cheered at the 3 and the screen panned out.

Music stops

Lucario kneeled to Chris and he examined his wounds "Stay away from the battle until we find something to cure you and Link."

"Thanks," Chris closed his eyes "I'm happy you're acting the way you were bef-"

"Umm, Chris..." Link interrupted holding his left arm with his right hand.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Lucario wasn't kneeled to you when you closed your eyes."

Chris opened his eyes and looked around, he found Lucario in front of the cell Medli was inside "Stay back." Lucario said, Medli backed away a little and Lucario broke the cell with his left arm, Medli got out and she approached to Link.

"Link, thanks for helping me, now that you, Chris and Lucario are here, you need to go below where Valoo is standing now, he told me that something big is below him and it's causing damage to his tail," She took out a Grappling Hook "Here, take this."

"A Grappling Hook?"

Medli nodded "I was going to use it to get to this far by myself, but if it weren't for that bandit, I'd use it, but I didn't at the end, for now, I'm going to head down and tell everyone the cause of Valoo's anger." She flew away, but she stopped above a wooden club attached into the wall "Use this to use the Grappling Hook!"

Link spun the Grappling Hook and he threw it to the wooden club, it attached by itself and Link went swinging in the air thanks to the hook. And with that, Medli flew away from the trio.

"It looks fun! I want to try it too!" Chris asked excited, Link saw an abyss near there, but there was another grappling point to use the hook, he used it and he crossed the abyss, he threw the hook at Chris and he did the same and landed on the floor of the other side, Lucario just jumped the abyss without problems.

After Link found some hearts inside vases and him and Chris were recovered, they did many other things inside the dungeon, such as finding the boss's room key and finding many other things, then, they proceeded to the room with the boss.

Boss's room

"Let's see, floors attached to the wall high above, Valoo's tail is in the center of the roof, a big pool of lava in the center and some vases around the room." Link said looking around "Still, no sight of the enemy."

3 seconds later, the lava was shaking, and it went crazy for a little while and a big horned scorpion like creature came from it and it roared, a banner came from below saying his name "Gohma".

Molgera Battle

As soon as they prepared to fight the big scorpion, Gohma acted quickly and he struck his left horn at the group, they evaded it, but it touched Link a little, he gasped at how Gohma attacks.

Lucario charged up an Aura Sphere and he fired it to Gohma, but it bounced off.

"What?" He said astonished.

"His exoskeleton is too thick to damage! We need something else to break it!" Chris exclaimed, he saw the rock were Valoo's tail was embedded, it was a little damaged, so he got an idea "If we use the Grappling Hook to swing in Valoo's tail to the other side, the rock embedded to his tail will fall above him!"

Link spun the Grappling Hook and he threw it to Valoo's tail, he swung to the other side of the room, only thing was, the rock didn't budge at all.

"It's useless Chris!" Link shouted from the other side.

"Dammit! What else can we do?!" He stood in a thinking position, Gohma struck both horns at Chris, he yelled terrified but Lucario tackled Chris and they evaded the horns at time. Link came running to them.

"Chris, do you have another idea?" Link asked.

"Well, this is crazy, but, what if we hold on to the Grappling Hook and with our weights combined, the rock could fell above him?" Chris suggested confused.

"Is worth of a try." Lucario stated, Gohma turned to them, Link used the Grappling Hook again this time, however, Chris and Lucario grabbed the hook with Link at the top, together they swung to the other side of the room, and this time, the rock actually fell above Gohma and his skull was breaking.

"We need to do this again!" Link said, Gohma rised up from the lava, pushing the rock back to his spot, they did it again, Gohma's skull was breaking more and more, they did it for one last time and Gohma's skull torn apart, revealing his hideous skin below.

"Link! Use the Grappling Hook on his eye and pull him to us!" Chris commanded, Link threw the hook at Gohma's eye, he tried to pull him to them but he needed help, Lucario grabbed the hook and he pulled Gohma towards them, he was stunned so they started to attack his defense-less eye with punches, slashes and Force Palms, they did their last attack at the same time and Gohma roared in pain.

Gohma solidifies and turns into black stone, then it superheats inside his body and he explodes, a Heart Container appears from it and lands in front of Link (doing the happy dance with jumps) Chris let out a sigh of relief while Lucario just crosses his arms.

A wind came from nowhere and then it creates a vortex in the middle of the room, the lava also became solidified after Gohma was defeated.

Link takes the Heart Container, showing it in the top of his hand, Chris smiles and takes his left hand at the right of the heart and Lucario just places his right hand on the left side. And the heart disappears.

"Alright, we beat it!" Link said, he walked towards the vortex "Ooohhh, whirling winds" He said curiously, he stood in the middle and he spun in the air and disappeared, Chris and Lucario looked at each other and they approached to the vortex and were teleported outside.

Dragon Roost Island

Dragon Roost Island
Shore

Outside, Medli was talking to the Chieftain, above the mountain, Valoo roars and the smoke surrounding the top clears up and the ash from outside the cavern disappears, Medli, along with the chieftain and some guardians look above to see the clouds vanishing. Link, Chris and Lucario appeared in front of the shore.

Just behind them, Medli alongside Komali appeared together.

"Link, you did it! Valoo is fine now thanks to you, Chris and Lucario!" She said, the trio blushed a little and looked away.

"I didn't thought you actually reached the top and calmed Valoo too, I'm sorry for being a idiot," Komali said "Link, I admire your courage too, Medli told me everything when she came to me, I think...I want to be like you someday."

"It's nothing, really." Link said smiling.

"And also, you should have this," He hands over the orb in his arms to Link, and it was Din's Pearl! "This is a thanks for giving me the courage to stand up againts bad things."

"Thanks!" Link replied.

Just then, Valoo roars and they saw him, and for a reason he was actually talking in ancient Hylian.

"He is saying that you Link should use the "Wind God's wind"." Medli translated and said.

"Is probably about the graves on the other side of that cave." Komali pointed to a cave not far from there. Link nodded and he went to the other side alone, Komali looked at Chris and he approached to him.

"Chris, I...want to ask you something in private."

Chris kneeled "Yes?"

Komali blushed a little "Well...I...well...I...think...I...love...Medli..." He looked down embarrased, Lucario managed to hear Komali's words, then he made his hands fists in rage and approached slowly to Komali, but Chris heard his footsteps and a vein popped out of his head and he took out the same big heavy book from the last chapter, Lucario saw the book and he remembered the incident and he gave up the "KILL KOMALI RIGHT NOW" part.

"Do you think...she loves me too?" Komali asked, blushing more.

"Well, you're younger than her." Chris pointed out.

"That's not actually true," Komali stated "When we gain our wings, the Rito who gains his wings grows up as well."

"Then again, you may actually have a chance to gain her heart." Chris said smiling a bit.

"You think so?!" Chris nodded smiling "Thanks for your help!" Komali approached to Medli.

And Valoo roared again.

"He is saying something else to you too," Medli looked at Chris and (the mysteriously all white) Lucario "He is talking about a great danger trying to take over the worlds and you 2 should fight againts it to save them."

"Yeah, we know that already, but coming from Valoo is such a honor (I think.)" Chris replied and thought.

"Alright! I need to try and get my wings now! Good bye!" Komali left to the Dragon Roost Cavern to try to gain his wings.

"Komali, wait!" Medli shouted to Komali, she looked at Chris "Thanks for helping Komali to gain his courage again, tell Link I said thanks to him too!" An with that, she ran behind Komali.

"Well, I think this world is free from the Primids, what do you think Lucario?"

"Ugghhhh..." Lucario fell in the floor, all white because of Komali's words about him being in love with Medli.

"LUCARIO!" Chris shouted and he kneeled to Lucario holding his head "WAKE UP! DON'T DIE PLEASE! SHE WASN'T FOR YOU!"

That didn't helped at all and Lucario was still unconscious, his mouth opened just then. Link came from the cave.

"Hey guys! I've learned a new melody!" He ran towards them and he looked at Lucario "What's wrong with him?"

"Komali told me that he is in love with Medli and Lucario just got all white and he fell in the floor, probably because he was rejected when Komali told me that."

"Is he nuts? He is...well..."

"A Pokémon."

"Whatever that is, Medli and Komali are both Rito, they CAN fall in love with each other."

"I know, but right now, we need to do something to wake him up!"

"He probably needs CPR..." Chris glared at Link "Fine! He needs something else!"

"Hmm..." Chris ran away, Link made a confused face, then he saw Chris standing in a very high point on a cliff.

"What are you going to do?" Link shouted asking.

"I'm going to fall!" He said, he opened his arms and he fell at high speed towards the floor, but Lucario didn't woke up, Chris was getting preocupied and he was getting closer to the ground, Link gasped and he tried to wake Lucario, but it didn't work.

"LUCARIO! HELP ME!!" Chris shouted crying, just then, Lucario came to his senses (he regained his blue, black, yellow and red eye colors) and he saw Chris heading to the floor, he shouted Chris's name and he jumped towards him and grabbed him before he could hit the floor.

"What were you going to do?!" He asked worried still holding Chris in his arms.

"(It worked!)" Chris thought to himself smiling in his mind "I was going to die! Please, don't let me die Lucario!" He hugged Lucario's throat.

Lucario blinked and he smiled a little "Don't worry Chris, I won't let you die."

"(Chris, you sure know how to convince Lucario.)" Link thought to himself, he laughed a little.

"Alright, you can put me down now." Lucario placed Chris in the ground and he stood up, and they approached to Link "Link, we're going to leave now."

"What? Can't you 2 stay here a little longer?" Link asked.

"No, you see, we need to save the other worlds before the Primids can take them, this world is now free from their gras-" Chris gasped when the Primid locator was still in red "What the?! There are still Primids in this world?!" Not only that, the gauge was getting to the red "Something is approaching!"

They looked around, from the sky, a familiar figure came falling down between them, it was Wolf!

"Ugh...why me..." Just then, he shined and he turned into a trophy.

"Did he just turned into a trophy?" Link asked touching the trophy. The locator was now in green and the gauge was in blue.

"I think he is out of the Primids's mind control now, thank goodness." Chris said. And not only that happened, but Chris glowed for a second.

"I got a new job!"

Swordsman

Use your sword to fight againts enemies! Not only you can use you sword, but also tools to deal different kinds of attacks! Let your courage guide you in battle!

Chris pressed the job in the menu, he changed to a similar appearance like Link's clothes, but his black marks were gone along with the Yellow vest and the Blue amulet.

"I'm now a swordsman!" Chris took out his sword "I've always wished to use a sword in my life."

"Awesome, you're me!" Link said examining Chris's new clothes.

"It's good, but right now, we need to return to Master Hand and take Wolf's trophy with us." Lucario stated.

Chris nodded "Well Link, I guess this is a farewell for now."

"We will meet each other again someday?" Link asked.

"Sure!" Chris placed his hand in front of Link and both did a handshake, Link smiled and he went with TKoRL and he changed the wind to the south and sailed away waving his hand at the 2.

Lucario took Wolf's trophy below his right arm and Chris opened the portal to the Smash Mansion and they disappeared along with the portal.

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Lord Tabuu, Commander Wolf was defeated by those 2."

"That is not important, he was useless from the beggining, prepare the next invasion!"

"As you wish my lord." He floated away.

"Soon, everything will be mine and nothing will stop me. But first I need to take that kid and his Lucario out of the way." He teleported out.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Lucario."

"I'm Chris."

"3 worlds are saved and there are still more to save."

"Yes, this will be a hard task."

"But, we need more help, not from anyone who lives in a world, I mean, someone who actually joins us for the remainder of our adventure."

"Let's ask Master Hand!"

"Right."

"Next time: The 3 forgotten Melee Smashers!"

Read and review please! This story will get even better!
*Chapter 15*: Glance The Past, Please

This chapter is shorter than the others, but is still interesting to read, R&R please!

Chapter 15: The 3 forgotten Melee Smashers!

Smash Mansion

Command Room

"Ah, it's you 2, how did your mission in Wind Waker go?" Master Hand asked.

"It went well, everything there is in order with their own problems." Chris stated.

"Their own problems?"

"Ganondorf..."

"Oh, right," Master Hand looked at Lucario holding a trophy "Is that a trophy?"

"Yes," He replied, placing the trophy in front of Master Hand "It's Wolf."

Master Hand looked at Wolf's icon on the screen and it was normal again, Toon Link's icon was also fine too, then he looked at the trophy "It seems he is out of the Primids' control."

"Can we turn him back to normal? I mean, living?" Chris asked.

"Well, not now, we have to return him to his world and when everything is fine, we should ask him to join us," Master Hand pointed out "Don't worry, leave that to me and he will return in Corneria without him remembering anything that happened during this time."

"Alright, Master Hand, we wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Well, is there anyone out there who can join us to help in our adventure through the worlds?"

"Now that you mention it..." Master Hand looked away "I was planning to send you 2 to Melee and ask Mewtwo, Roy and Pichu to join us."

A exclamation point formed above the heads of Chris and Lucario "Is that true?" Chris asked.

Master Hand nodded "Is the truth, but, they maybe will get confused at the situation, I mean, if you go to Melee, they could be asking about the next tournament, and if they ever find out that they are not in the tournament, who knows what could they do?"

"Well, Roy will surely start a rampage, Pichu will only...let out a sigh of relief I think and Mewtwo...well..." Chris looked at Lucario "He would probably try to eliminate/kill/assassinate/defeat/explode/slash/levitate and probably torn Lucario in half."

"Please, how can he ever do that?" Master Hand asked laughing a bit.

"Everyone in the world thought Lucario replaced Mewtwo, and I think that thought is still inside our minds and since he can read minds, we're dead meat!" Chris pointed out scared.

"Anyway! You 2 will go to Melee and recruit those 3 to our team! Is an order!" Master Hand said.

"Alright! Let's go nooooowwwwwww..." Chris fell on the floor fainting, but Lucario got him in time.

"Chris?! Chris?! What happened to you?!" Lucario asked worried.

"He's tired," Master Hand pointed out "You 2 have been working through all the day without stopping!"

"Is there a bed in this mansion?"

"A bed?!" Crazy Hand said "We got many for all the smashers!"

"You should take him to your room, follow me." Master Hand floated away with Lucario following behind and holding Chris in his arms.

4 minutes later...

Smash Mansion

Lucario's Room

"There, put him in your bed and let him rest, is 11:00 PM already, you should rest too," Master Hand suggested, Lucario placed Chris in his bed "I too will take a rest with my..." He shudders "Brother." And with that, Master Hand left to sleep.

The mansion was too big, it had 10 floors and every one was too large to even hold 100 persons, but since currently only 4 persons were living in there, the mansion was only a big spacious place. Not a living soul was roaming the halls. It was quite sad too.

Only the chirps of the crickets were heard, the night was peaceful and clean, outside, Lucario saw through his window and big, no, colossal yard, a big garden surrounding the mansion, a big pool near and a "Sports" area.

But he got tired after a while and he joined Chris in his sleep time, he smiled to him before he fell asleep.

3 hours later...

Chris's stomach was making sounds, he got up and looked around, he found himself in a room with a window to his side, and Lucario was sleeping to his left side.

"I wonder where is the kitchen, I haven't eat anything for a long time." He muttered to himself, he left the bed with Lucario in it and he left the room and he investigated the mansion by himself.

Smash Mansion

One of many Hallways

"Everything, too dark to see, where are the lights?" He touched the wall and searched for the switch, he found it and he turned the lights on, he looked around the big hall, many rooms were at both sides, in each one there would be a golden banner with something witten in it "Rec Room", "Observatory" and sometimes the names of the Smashers themselves, "Jigglypuff", "Pikachu", "Samus", "Falco", etc.

Chris continued down since he knew kitchens always are in the first floor, and he was right, there was the main hall, which was bigger than any room in the entire house, heck, it could be used for a big party, to his left, there were stairs directing to another room below, he walked down and he found the kitchen...which was almost the same size the main hall was.

Smash Mansion

Kitchen

In the middle of the kitchen, a big table was there, 35 or more chairs were around the table, Chris thought there were many chairs because the Smashers probably used them for eat together.

But his eyes focused in the refrigerator, but since everything was so big, it was also big, Chris opened the refrigerator and his eyes widened a lot when he saw what was inside.

Almost every kind of food was there! It was full of fruits, vegetables, milk, even snacks, it was a food paradise inside a fridge.

However, he saw a note on the back of the door, and there was something written too...

For the last time, don't eat everything in a one single swallow Kirby!

Master Hand

Chris chuckled a little went he readed that part, he looked around the fridge and he found the necessary ingredients to make a sandwish.

6 minutes later...

"And here goes the food..." He took a bite of the sandwish, it was good, he closed his eyes and smiled "Nothing is good for a good sandwish in the night." He said looking at the roof.

"And bread too."

"Yes, and bread too..." He replied to the voice, until about 5 seconds he gasped and he saw where the voice was coming from, luckily, it wasn't a stranger, it was Lucario eating a piece of bread.

"Lucario! You almost scared me!" Chris said.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to scare you, I was getting hungry too."

"Yes, I don't blame you, we have been traveling to the other worlds without eating anything."

Both of them sighed in unison.

"...Lucario, do you think we can save everyone from the danger?"

"As long as we have faith in each other and everyone, we will."

"But, what if we can't?"

"Chris, stop thinking about negative things, if you do that we won't go forward."

"...You're right, I won't think about the bad side, I'll be enthusiastic as I am."

"You got the point, I'm glad." He smiled a little bit.

Chris finished his sandwish "I'm goint to the bed to sleep, we should rest for now."

"I'm going too."

"Wait, I want to ask you something else too."

"What is it?"

"Well, is about your weight."

"Is something wrong about it?"

"No, is because...well...you sometimes weight normal, but sometimes you weight like 4 boulders, why is that?"

"That? Is because a self-defense system I have, since I'm a steel Pokémon, it activates everytime I'm either unconscious or fainted, so in that way I'll be protected."

"Oh, interesting, I guess, but it was such a pain carrying you around."

"...I did that to you?" Chris nodded "I'm sorry if it was annoying."

"It's okay, don't worry." He smiled at Lucario.

"But why didn't you used my Pokeball?"

"I left your Pokeball in our house by accident, if you're done, we need to rest now."

"I'm done, let's rest now." He smiled a little at Chris, both returned to their room and they were sleeping deeply now.

The next morning...

Smash Mansion

Command Room

"Alright, I've returned Wolf to his world without any memory in his mind of the events, are you ready to go to Melee?"

"We're ready now." Lucario said.

"We can do this!" Chris said.

"Ok, but first, I need to tell you something else too." Master Hand commented.

"What?" Chris asked.

"When you're in Melee, avoid visual contact with ANY other Smasher please."

"Why?"

"Because if they see you, they probably will want to help too, but that is the problem, if they follow you, their worlds will be left unguarded and the Primids will take them without any difficulty."

"Got it!" Chris said.

"Alright, now go, good luck brave soldiers!" And so, Chris and Lucario went to Melee to try and recruit Mewtwo, Roy and Pichu.

"Now I need to think about their Brawl forms..." Master Hand muttered to himself.

Super Smash Bros Melee
Temple

"Hmph."

"What is it Mewtwo?" Roy asked.

"2 strangers are coming here."

"Are they going to attack us?"

"I'm not sure, but, be on your guard."

"Thanks for letting me know, do you think we should tell the others?"

"No, let's leave this situation to us."

"Fine." And they continued their fight againts the other.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris!"

"I'm Lucario."

"There is Mario, Luigi, Fox, Falco, but I don't see Mewtwo, Pichu or Roy around."

"They should be in another stage fighting, let's search for them."

"But remember, no visual contact with the others or this mission will fail!"

"I know already."

"Next time: Hello Smashers! We're hiding!"

Read and review please!
*Chapter 16*: Going For Our Boy

Well, I'm planning to make this arc a little shorter than the lasts ones, is just this chapter and the chapter after this one, read and review please!

Chapter 16: Hello Smashers! We're hiding!

Eagleland
Onett

Chris and Lucario landed in Onett, behind the blue house at the right of the stage, hiding from Ness, Pikachu and Yoshi.

"They are not here." Lucario said.

"But, where could they be?" Chris asked.

"My aura doesn't know."

The only thing they forgot about, it was a special match, well, not exactly special, certain items were going to appear in a high rate.

"Can you see where they are?"

"Hmm...I found 4 in this way, follow me."

"Alright."

Eagleland
Fourside

They hid behind the Monotoli building at the left side, at the right side were Fox, Falco, Link and Pichu fighting, although Pichu was escaping from them.

"Pichu is in the top." Lucario pointed out.

For their bad luck, a Super Mushroom appeared in thin air, it was approaching slowly to Lucario, who wasn't aware of it.

Chris looked at Pichu's tail above his head "This will be easy, Lucario wait here until..." His eyes widened when he saw 2 giant black hands at both of his sides "What the?" He looked behind him only to find Lucario to be the double of his normal size.

"I let my guard down." Said Lucario, his voice changed drastically in a deep tone.

"OH GOD, WE'RE DONE FOR!"

"No, I'm going to hold on to the wall of the building so they can't see me." And so, Lucario grabbed the wall of the building with his currently big hands and legs, unfortunately, his ears were the only thing that could be seen.

"I just hope that they are blind." Chris muttered to himself, he approached where Pichu was standing.

"Oh no, where is an item when you need it?!" Said Pichu looking around for an item to fight back.

"Pss, Pichu, over here."

"HOLY THUNDER!"

"Don't be afraid, turn your head."

Pichu turned his head and he found Chris's face looking at him "AAAHH!!"

"Stop yelling please! I need to ask you something in private!"

"You're not going to hurt me right?"

Chris smiled "For what? I would not hurt you ever in my life!"

"S-sorry, but I have to turn down your offer..." He turned his head to the battle and he saw Fox, Falco and Link, he gasped when he saw them giant "O-o-on second thought, I will hear you!" He jumped behind the building and looked at Chris "W-what is it?"

"Is kind of hard to explain, but I need you to join us."

"Join who?"

"See? That was the thing I was trying to avoid, but, you want to know who are the others?"

Pichu nodded, Chris saw Lucario's big ears behind the clueless Pichu "Are you sure?"

Pichu nodded again "Are you really sure?"

Pichu was getting angry and he nodded again "...Really sure?"

"JUST SHOW THEM TO ME!" He yelled angrily.

"Ok, you can come out now." Chris said.

"Who is him?" Pichu asked.

"Is a pleasure to meet you." Lucario said behind Pichu. Pichu got scared a little, then he slowly turned his head to his back and he saw the big face of Lucario looking at him.

"YIKES!" He jumped scared, he hid behind Chris "WHO IS THAT?! IS THAT A BEAST?!"

Lucario glared at Pichu, but that made the things worser and Pichu screamed in terror "Lucario! Stop that!" Chris stated, Lucario snapped out of his glaring.

"Sorry Pichu, I've warned you but you didn't listened, allow me to introduce him, he is Lucario." Chris said introducing Lucario.

"Lu-Lu-Lucario?" Pichu asked scared.

"Don't be scared, he is not in his normal size, a Super Mushroom touched him and Lucario didn't saw it."

Just then, Lucario shrunk to his normal size and he stepped on the floor in front of Pichu, however, he was still taller than Pichu and he hid again behind Chris.

"But he is still big!" Pichu complained terrified.

"Oh for the love of-stop being a coward!" Lucario (his voice returned to normal) yelled angrily.

"I-I-I'm sorry, I'm like that because I'm not brave..." Pichu said looking at the floor, he was about to cry.

"No, wait! Don't cry! Lucario didn't wanted to make you cry!" Chris said patting Pichu's back.

Pichu sniffed "Re-really?"

"Is the truth." Lucario pointed out.

Pichu sighed in relief "Thank goodness..."

"Pichu, I want to ask you something, I want you to join us." Chris asked.

"For what?" Pichu asked.

"I just need to know something about you, do you want to participate in the next tournament?"

Pichu looked away from the duo "I...don't know exactly, I came here to this tournament because I wanted to be brave, but, since I came here, I was only a Pokémon who needed to grab items to survive the battles..."

"But you want to be brave right?" Chris asked.

"Y-yeah, but, I don't want to be hurted..." Pichu looked at the two "...I-i-is the only thing I don't want."

Lucario approached to Pichu and he kneeled to him, Pichu made a scared face "Pichu, you have to be hurted, is the only thing that can't be avoided if you want to be brave." Lucario said.

"But!"

Lucario placed his hand above Pichu's head "That is also the only way to become stronger, you need to do it sooner or later."

Pichu looked at the floor, he narrowed his eyes "But...I..." He paused for a moment before he looked at Lucario with a determined face "Ok, I'm going to do it Lucario, if that is the only way to be stronger, I will do it!"

Chris and Lucario smiled a little "So, are you going to join us?" Chris asked.

Pichu smiled and nodded his head "Yes! I'm going to join you 2!"

"Excellent! 2 more to go!" Chris said excited, just then, footsteps were coming from the other side of the building "They are coming here!"

"Quick! Follow me!" Pichu ran to the left and Lucario and Chris followed him, getting away from the fight.

"Hey, where'd Pichu go?" Fox asked.

"Who cares? He only escapes when we fight." Falco stated.

"I feel sorry for him though." Link said.

"Link is a little girl who likes cute things!" Falco taunted.

"What was that?!" Link said angrily trying to slash Falco.

Kanto
Pokémon Stadium

"Here, nobody is currently fighting in this arena." Pichu said.

"At least there is a place to hide." Chris said looking around.

"The air, it feels great." Lucario pointed out.

"What?"

"I'm watching myself fighting againts other Pokémon in this arena." Pichu backed away "...Not you." Pichu sighed in relief. There was a virtual crowd in the seats of the stadium. And suddenly Lucario started to punch and kick the air and the crowd cheers for him.

"What is he doing?" Pichu asked.

"Leave him alone, he is happy to be in his world after a while."

"But you're his trainer right?"

"Yes, I'm his trainer, but, to be more precise, I'm his best friend and he is my best friend too."

"That is amazing!" Pichu remarked.

"Anyway, do you know where is Roy?" Chris asked.

"I know! He is in the Temple right now!" Pichu ran away and Chris followed him.

"Are you going to come with us Lucario?" Chris asked.

"No, I'm going to stay here, when you're done with Roy, I'll join you later-"

"Alright, but be careful!" And Chris ran away.

"Be careful of what? I can train here forever if I want, this is my favorite place to concentrate-" Lucario said to himself, and he continued his training above the stage.

"And so is mine." A voice spoke from nowhere.

"Who is there?" Lucario asked looking around.

Hyrule
Temple

Fortunately, Roy was fighting in the Temple againts Marth, Zelda and Samus, Chris and Pichu hid beneath the Temple (the area where is at the left of a pillar hanging in the lower corner of the stage. Pichu went alone to call Roy and brought him to Chris.)

"Pss, Roy, can you come with me for a moment please?" Pichu asked to the young Fire Emblem boy.

"I can't right now, not when I'm fighting againts Marth!" Roy said.

A hammer appeared just above Pichu and he grabbed it "Now, I meant it." He said in a menacing voice.

"Okletsgo!" Roy said fast and he followed Pichu beneath the Temple.

"Roy! Is a pleasure to meet you!" Chris greeted the red haired swordsman "My name is Chris, nice to meet you."

"H-hello Chris! It's a good thing to see a different person besides..." Roy looked at Chris's Toon Link's clothes "Oh god, not another Link!"

"My name is not Link! It's just a costume that gives me abilities."

"Phew, good riddance."

"Anyway, Roy, I want to ask you something, and is very important."

"What is it?"

"Could you please join us?"

"For what?"

"We need your assistance to fight againts the Primids, Master Hand commanded me to ask you that."

"Primids? And Master Hand told you that?" Roy looked away "I'm sorry, but, I can't go if Marth doesn't join too."

"He can't join us, he needs to protect his world until it's safe from the Primids, don't tell me you always ask Marth so you can do your things?"

"I...I don't...but...I can't fight if Marth isn't there with me!"

"Roy please! Join us! Or you won't be in the next tournament!" Pichu said with a sad face.

"What? I'm not going to appear in the next tournament if I don't join you?" Roy asked worried.

"Sadly, if you want to appear that is," Chris pointed out "But, if you don't want to join, then don't do it, we can't force you if you don't want."

Roy walked at the edge of the stage and he looked at the sky "Come on Pichu, we have to go to Lucario." Chris walked away, Pichu walked a little bit, but he stopped and looked at Roy's back for a moment, then he walked away with Chris.

"There is...not another way?" Roy asked to himself.

Kanto
Pokémon Stadium

"Lucario? Where are you?" Chris looked around for the Aura Pokémon, but he didn't saw him "Where'd he go?"

"Chris! Look at the sky!" Pichu shouted looking at the sky, Chris joined him and he saw 2 figures fighting above.

"Lucario!" Chris revealed the first one "But, who is the other one?" He narrowed his eyes "I can't see him clearly..."

"It's Mewtwo!" Pichu revealed the other figure, and it was Mewtwo, fighting againts Lucario. Both Pokémon landed in the ground at each side of the stage.

"You're...good." Mewtwo said telephatically panting.

"You're strong too...I can see that." Lucario said panting.

"We've found Mewtwo!" Chris said behind Lucario, he turned his head and saw Pichu and Chris behind him.

"You're here...I met Mewtwo not long ago after you 2 went for Roy, where is he?"

Chris looked at the floor "He didn't wanted to join after all."

"I see..."

"Lucario, stop recovering, we have a fight to end!" Mewtwo said charging at Lucario, he jumped and evaded his attack then he landed on the other side of the stage "And stop using those clothes!"

Lucario nodded and he selected his normal form, then he continued his battle againts Mewtwo.

"Amazing! This is going to be an interesting battle!" Chris said, then he changed his job to the PK Kid job and he changed to his Ness's clothes. After that, he took out a microphone out of nowhere.

"Ladies and gentlemen! You're right now expecting the battle of the century, Mewtwo VS Lucario! Who will win in this fight? The Psychic Pokémon Mewtwo?" Half of the crowd shouted "Mewtwo! Mewtwo!"

"Or the Aura Pokémon Lucario?" Another half of the crowd shouted "Lucario! Lucario!"

"Alright! Let's see the outcome of the battle!" And so, the crowd went wild and shouted in amazement as the battle continued.

"Chris, aren't you getting too excited about this?" Pichu asked.

"Of course I'm getting too excited!"

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Pichu!"

"I'm Chris!"

"Their strength is amazing, I can't do that if I were fighting againts those 2."

"You could if you try."

"But, what is this? Why is Mewtwo showing hatred towards Lucario?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just seconds ago, Mewtwo was fighting at his usual level, but, suddenly, he got enraged and now he is attacking with high damage."

"Oh no, you're right! But, I'm worried about Lucario, he is badly injured."

"Stop this right now before it's too late!"

"Next time: Epic Battle! Lucario VS Mewtwo!"

Read and review! I don't have another thing to say! XD
*Chapter 17*: Psychic Rage

The next chapter is here everyone! Read and review please!

Chapter 17: Epic Battle! Lucario VS Mewtwo!

Pokémon Stadium (Melee)

Kanto
Pokémon Stadium

The crowd was getting wild, every time an attack of either Pokémon reached the other they cheered, this was indeed a battle to be watched.

It was all about Psychic and Fight types attacks, although the weakness of each were protected because it was a fight in the style of SSBM.

"They are in extreme damage everyone! Who will win?" Chris asked excited, Pichu was stood still watching the collides of the attacks in awe "But since Lucario is at high damage, his attacks will be a lot stronger than they were before! How will Mewtwo fare in this fight?"

Both Pokémon were panting heavily, but it seems Lucario was getting the upper hand, Mewtwo thought for a moment to attack his opponent, but was interrupted when he saw Lucario running at him, he levitated to the air to avoid his kick and he suddenly got an idea.

"(Now I just need to wait for him to approach...)" Mewtwo though to himself, and if that were a wish, Lucario did the thing Mewtwo was wishing for, Lucario lunged his left kick, but Mewtwo teleported behind him, then he used a Smash attack behind Lucario, but Lucario acted quickly and he used Double Team, he was divided in 2 frames of himself, then he lunged his kick again appearing behind Mewtwo, who floated aside just in time.

"He...is good." Lucario muttered to himself.

"You're not going to defeat me!" Mewtwo yelled angrily, as the 2 continued their battle, Chris was still watching along with Pichu.

"Oh! It appears that Bom-ombs are starting to appear! Watch your backs!" Chris shouted spotting 3 Bom-ombs walking around the stage, Mewtwo grabbed Lucario with his psychic powers and he threw him to the bombs, after colliding with them, they exploded dealing great damage to Lucario who clenched his fangs in pain.

"You're inferior to me."Mewtwo taunted grinning a little.

"And? What's your point?" Lucario asked as he charged at Mewtwo.

"Strength doesn't matters as long as you have a strategy planned." He said while dodging Lucario's attacks, but he received one blow of a Force Palm.

"It may not look to you, but I do think before attacking."

Mewtwo backed away while glaring at Lucario "I see it very well...you're by far the only worthy opponent to ever face me in battle." He charged up a Shadow Ball and fired it at Lucario.

"It's really an honor to know someone like you." Lucario said as he dodged the Shadow Ball.

"Heh, but don't attack until my attack didn't disappeared at all." Mewtwo said as he glowed in a purple light.

"What? AHHHH!!" Lucario was struck by the Shadow Ball he dodged a moment ago, Mewtwo used Psychic to control it and command it to hit Lucario's back and he kneeled to recover his breath "Ugh...I...will...not...lose...yet!"

"Bring it on, and if there is another tournament in the future, I wish to fight you officialy and not doing an exhibition like today."

"This is getting to the end everyone! But the question still comes to mind, why Mewtwo wasn't selected to be in the next tournament?" After he said that, everything went silent, the crowd didn't shouted or yelled, Lucario, Mewtwo and Pichu looked at Chris with eyes widened "...Why everybody stopped?" Chris asked confused.

"Chris...you just said...something you should haven't told...at this time" Lucario answered panting.

"...Oh, god dammit!" Chris cursed to himself.

"WHAT?!" Mewtwo said in a furious tone, then he glared menancingly at Lucario "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!"

"Um, Master Hand didn't wanted you in Brawl?" Chris answered confused.

"THAT HAND AND HIS INSANE BROTHER! WHY DID THEY WANTED ME TO BE OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT?!"

"Um, because they thought Lucario would be a fine replacement for you?" Chris answered, but that wasn't good either, and Mewtwo glared at Lucario again.

"I don't have anything to do with this!" Lucario said in his defense.

"YOU...YOU!!" Mewtwo charged at Lucario, unfortunately for the Aura Pokémon, a Super Mushroom appeared just in the way of Mewtwo, he touched it and he suddenly grew up, Lucario was now in trouble, but he couldn't escape because the now giant Mewtwo grabbed him telepathically and then he pinned Lucario to the floor, he was being crushed by Mewtwo's psychic powers.

"Hey! Stop now! You're not trying to defeat him anymore, but instead you're trying to kill him!" Chris said angrily.

"THAT IS THE POINT!" Mewtwo said (his voice changed drastically.)

"Stop! You can't kill him in this battle! At least fight with the rules!" Pichu said, Mewtwo glared at Pichu and Pichu hid behind Chris.

"I've said STOP!" Chris said, trying to stop the giant psychic Pokémon.

"I DARE YOU TO STOP ME!"

"Chris...help me..." Lucario said still being crushed by the psychic powers of Mewtwo.

"I...I don't know what to do..." Chris said "(Damn, a giant psycho psychic Pokémon is crushing Lucario and I can't do anything to stop him...or else I'll be crushed...is there somebody out there who can help us?)" He thought desperately.

Just then, Mewtwo was suddenly defeated and he was blasted off with fire around him, Lucario saw a red haired swordsman standing in front him stretching his hand to help him to get up.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes...I'm a bit weak, but I'm fine thanks to you" Lucario said streching his hand to the swordsman, then he pulled Lucario from the floor and he got up.

"Roy!" Pichu and Chris shouted running at Roy "Why are you here? What about your match againts Marth?" Chris asked.

"I was still thinking about joining your team, then I've realized that I don't need Marth to fight, I can fight all by myself if I want to." Roy said, sheathing his sword.

"Then, you're joining us?" Chris asked.

Roy smiled and nodded "That's right, I'm joining you."

"Alright! Mission succeeded!" Chris said smiling at Lucario "Now let's go to Master Hand!"

"Wait." A voice came from the sky, it was Mewtwo descending slowly in front of the four.

"If you're trying to kill Lucario, forget it, I won't let you do that to him." Chris said standing in front of Lucario.

"No, that is not important to me now, I was a fool trying to kill someone who won't change the matter of my problem, I'm sorry." He closed his eyes "I hope you can find the way to forgive me Lucario."

"I'm not going to forget your act againts me." Lucario said glaring at Mewtwo.

"...Lucario, forgive him now." Chris said.

"What? He was trying to kill me Chris! You saw that didn't you?"

"Yeah, I saw that, but he is right, it wasn't him who was trying to kill you, it was his rage who was trying, remember when you were trying to kill Wolf back in Zebes? Your fury was telling you to do that, am I right?"

Lucario looked at the floor "...Yes, I remember that..." He looked at Mewtwo "I'm forgiving you, apologize accepted."

Mewtwo opened his eyes "Thanks, I want to join your team too."

Chris's eyes widened "Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes, I want to fight againts those Primids you 2 have been talking about, and also, if that is the only way to enter the next tournament, I won't complain about it."

"Wait, we didn't told you about the Primids and the tournament yet!"

Mewtwo chuckled a little "I'm a Psychic Pokémon, therefore, I can read minds."

"Oh, right, I forgot that," Chris looked at Lucario, Mewtwo, Pichu and Roy "Alright everyone, let's go to the Smash Mansion!"

The five nodded their heads, each one placed their hands in Chris's shoulders and he used the Wiimote to make a portal and they vanished. The virtual crowd gave their final cheers to them before leaving the stadium.

Hyrule
Temple

"Huh? A note?" Marth found a note laying on the ground, it was from Roy, it had the Fire Emblem symbol on it.

Marth

I need to go on a journey, I'm sorry for leaving in the middle of the fight, but I need to start this now, don't worry for me though, I have friends who will aid me along the way, we will meet each other again soon, just wait! I wil prove myself to be more brave alone than fighting with you!

Roy

P.S: When I return, I want to fight you in 1-on-1

Fire Emblem Theme

Marth smiled after he readed the letter, then he looked at the sky, he thought in his mind "(Good luck Roy.)" then after 10 seconds of staring at the sky, he returned to continue his fight againts Zelda and Samus.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"We have recruited Pichu, Roy and Mewtwo as we planned!" Chris reported.

"Excellent work, now let's see what is the next thing to d-" Master Hand was abruptaly interrupted.

"YOU BASTARD!" Mewtwo charged at Master Hand and he used his psychic abilities to smash the hand to the wall.

"Hey! Stop now!" Master Hand said. Chris grabbed Mewtwo and he stopped his rage.

"Stop being furious, geez! You have anger issues you know that?!" Chris said angrily. Mewtwo just crossed his arms and looked away.

"Whew, that was...dangerous, at least to me." Said Master Hand, dusting little pebbles of the wall from his hand "Anyhoo, welcome back!"

Roy, Mewtwo and even Pichu glared at Master Hand "What is the glaring for?" MH asked confused.

"Ahem, they, not in Brawl, perhaps?" Chris said.

"Oh, right, about that, sorry," Master Hand apologized "But since you 3 are here, I can let you in again, but it will take some time to prepare your new moves though."

"New moves?" Mewtwo asked, making a fist "Finally, I will have a better moveset."

"Can I have a new moveset where I don't get hurted by my own electric attacks?" Pichu asked.

"Save that for later," Master Hand said "I have to change you 3 to your Brawl forms, your poses for the icons, your new moveset, your rooms, your knockback, etc." He pointed his finger at them "But you won't help Lucario and Chris until later."

The Meleers looked at each other and they nodded their heads.

"Alright, now that the problem is solved.." Master Hand looked at Chris and Lucario "There are Primids appearing in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, go there now! Meanwhile, I'm going to change a lot of things with Roy, Mewtwo and Pichu."

Chris pointed the Wiimote at Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, he and Lucario suddenly vanished as they went to the next world.

"You 3, follow me." Master Hand floated with Roy, Mewtwo and Pichu following him.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
Outside Pokémon Square

"Where...are we?" Chris was feeling weird after arriving at the next world, he looked around him, but then, he realized that he was too small, and Lucario wasn't there with him too, which made him worry.

He walked towards a hill, when he got on the top, he saw a village not far from him, he smiled and he ran as fast as he could, and he eventually made it. He looked around and saw a house with an appearance of a head of a Mudkip.

"If I remember, this is a Rescue Team's base, so, the leader must be a Mudkip." Chris thought to himself, just then, a male Mudkip wearing a blue scarf around his neck carrying a tiny bag came from the base with a female Chikorita wearing a blue scarf around her neck too, also with a tiny bag.

"Let's see what missions are for today." Chikorita said, checking the mailbox, the Mudkip was getting curious if there were missions for his team. Then, Chikorita took out a letter with a mission on it.

"Alright! We have a mission!" Both Pokémon said happily, then they saw Chris standing in front of them, they stared at him for a while after gasping.

"Oh...my...god! You're...you're a..." Chikorita couldn't talk when he saw Chris, he made a confused face.

"What? I have something in my face?" Chris asked.

"Is not that! You...look...like the Legendary Rescue Team Leader Lucario!" Chikorita replied in astonishment.

"What? But, I'm a human!" Chris stated.

"No way! I'm also a human too!" The Mudkip stated.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I didn't knew I was a Pokémon until Chikorita found me laying unconscious in the forest!" Mudkip said in surprise.

"Wait, what did Chikorita said to me?" Chris asked.

"That you look like the Legendary Rescue Team Leader Lucario!" Chikorita said again.

"Wait...you don't mean..." Chris approached to a nearby lake not far from him, when he saw his reflection, he gasped, he was no longer human, he was now a Pokémon, he was now tiny, he had red eyes, a black marking in his face, his hands were now blue and there were only 3 fingers instead of 5 and there were 2 spots made of steel in each arm, his ears were tiny and they were above his head, 1 appendage were at the end of both sides of the black marking, his legs were now black, he had now a tail and his chest was black except for his blue torso. Also, he was wearing a backpack (Probably because he had the PK Kid job with the backpack when he arrived.)

"I'm a Riolu!" He said.

"Awesome! You will be like Lucario then!" Chikorita pointed out.

"I can't believe it...I'm a Riolu..." Chris said.

"...Is that a bad thing?" Mudkip asked.

"...Not at all..." Chris said "It's just, I need to find my friend as soon as possible."

"Is he lost?" Chikorita asked.

"I don't know, but I think he is."

Chikorita placed his leaf above Chris's head "Don't worry, we're a Rescue Team, we can find your friend!"

Chris looked at the 2 Pokémon "Really?"

"Yeah!" Mudkip and Chikorita said in unison.

"Thank you so much! I would appreciate your help, my name is Chris!"

"I'm Chikorita!"

"I had a name when I was a human, but you can call me Mudkip for now."

"And, can I join your Rescue Team to find him?" Chris asked.

"Of course you can!" Chikorita said smiling. She took out of her bag a blue scarf and he gave it to Chris, who placed it around his neck.

"Thanks again!" Chris said smiling.

"But first, we need to prepare for our first mission, follow us to Pokémon Square!" Mudkip ran away to the village, Chikorita and Chris followed him, and so, the Rescue Team is now going to work for their first mission for today.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris!"

"I'm Chikorita!"

"Wow, who is that team over there?"

"That is Alakazam's Rescue Team, they are tough and strong, Alakazam is wise, Charizard is powerful and Tyranitar is strong, they make a perfect team and almost everyone in Pokémon Square admire them."

"Who are the other ones?"

"Ugh, you don't want to know."

"Why?"

"Just don't ask."

"Next time: First Mission! Find the lost Jumpluff!

So, how will Chris help in the Rescue Team and he will find Lucario? Find out tomorrow! Read and review!
*Chapter 18*: Missions For Fanatics Like Chris Himself

This chapter is short, sorry for that, but the next one will be a lot longer, I swear! Read and review please!

Chapter 18: First mission! Find the lost Jumpluff!

Pokémon Square

Town

The little town of Pokémon Square was sure crowded, there were many Pokémon wearing scarfs and many other things to distinguish their Rescue Teams, Chris was amazed at all the Pokémon he found there with his new friends.

"Come on! You should try to buy some things before we go!" Mudkip said excited.

"But, I don't have money to buy anything." Chris replied.

"Don't worry, as long is not expensive, we'll buy it." Chikorita said.

"Fine. Thanks."

"Hello! Welcome to the Kecleon Shop!" A Kecleon sang greeting the young Rescue Team "Oh my, you look like the Legendary Rescue Team Leader Lucario kid!"

"Well, I'm not him, that's for sure," Chris stated "I want an apple."

"That would be 50 then," Mudkip gave the Kecleon 50 "Thank you! Please call again!" He said still singing happily.

"An apple? It's too common to buy one, but I'm not you." Chikorita said looking at the apple.

After walking a little bit, they were now standing in the center of Pokémon Square, Chris saw a lot of Pokémon walking in and away, but none of them was the person he was looking for, until 3 big Pokémon approached to them.

"?" An Alakazam approached to Chris "You..."

"Is something wrong mister?" Chris asked.

"No, it's nothing, when I saw you, I remembered Lucario, but it was only a mistake, pardon me." He walked away along with a Charizard and a Tyranitar.

"I can't believe you just have spoken to Alakazam!" Chikorita said amazed.

"What's so special about him?" Chris asked.

"He is one of the best Rescue Team leaders from here! He has a big reputation for his wisdom and excellent leadership!"

"Wow, I never knew that."

"Anyway, let's check the Bulleting Board if we can find any other mission besides the one we have already" Mudkip said walking towards the Pelipper Post Office.

Pokémon Square

Pelipper Post Office

There was a Bulleting Board with missions for rescues, but it was empty.

"Too bad, there isn't any one left." Chikorita said disappointed, just then, a Gengar along with a Ekans and a Medicham walked by the side of the young Pokémon.

"Ignore them while you can." Chikorita wispered to Chris's ear, when they passed, they sighed in relief.

"Wait, where is my apple?" Chris looked for his apple, when he turned his head, he saw Gengar holding his apple above him "Hey! Give me back my apple!" Chris charged at Gengar, but he placed his hand in front of Chris, blocking his flapping arms.

"Heh, no way kid, finders keepers!" Gengar ate the apple, Chris watched in shock as the apple went inside Gengar's mouth and disappeared inside of it.

"That's not fair Gengar! Stop taking his food!" Mudkip defended Chris.

"We got the name of Team Meanies for a reason kids!" Ekans said smirking.

"We will ultimately conquer the world in this way, oh yes." Medicham said singing.

"That is...so mean!" Chikorita said, the 3 members of Team Meanies laughed and walked away.

"My apple...I was going to eat it..." Chris said looking depressed at the ground.

Chikorita placed her leaf above his head "We can always buy another one!"

"But...that was the last apple..." Mudkip pointed out.

Chikorita sighed and closed her eyes "At least we will find another apple inside a dungeon, let's see what is the mission for today Mudkip."

Mudkip searched in his bag for letter of the mission, but he didn't found it "Um, I lost the letter..."

"WHAT?!" Chikorita shouted "HOW?!"

"Hey jerks! Thanks for giving us your mission!" Gengar showed up holding the letter in his hands and he ran away.

"Grr, I hate those guys with passion!" Chikorita said showing her teeth, then she sighed "I guess we should take a break today."

"No way, I was getting excited already!" Mudkip said walking and looking at the ground.

"Help! Please I need help!" A voice came from behind them, it was a Jumpluff.

"Calm down! What happened?" Mudkip asked.

"Me and my friend were playing in the air, then he jumped very high and the wind carried him at the top of the Silent Chasm! He is in trouble, please, can you help me?" The Jumpluff asked, tears were starting to come from his eyes.

"Of course! It's just a normal cave, that's all!" Chikorita said happily, the Jumpluff took them away from Pokémon Square and he showed the entrance to the Silent Chasm.

Silent Chasm

"Here is it, my friend is at the top, but I've requested the help of Shiftry yesterday, remember? Well, he hasn't returned yet from the expedition he made!"

Chikorita smiled "Don't worry, we will rescue your friend!"

"Thank you so much! I hope you can't get in trouble because of Zapdos!" When he said that, everything went silent, Chikorita was shaking terrified after hearing one of the names of the Legendary Birds.

"Zap-Zap-Zapdos you said?!"

"Yeah! Shiftry didn't worried about that!"

"Well...I-I-I owww! My stomach! It hurts so much!" Chikorita said faking her actual state to Jumpluff.

"Nonsense! We will climb this cave no matter what Chikorita!" Mudkip replied.

"But...I'm scared, what if we find Zapdos along the way?"

"We have no other choice but fight him! I'm not going to let Jumpluff down!"

Chikorita paused for a moment when she sighed "Okay, since you're the leader..."

"I will do everything I have to help too." Chris said.

The young trio went inside the Silent Chasm, Jumpluff waved at them saying "Good luck!"

"Too bad, he will be the only last one to see before we die." Chikorita said, Mudkip glared at her, Chris was a little nervous, but he promised to himself that he will be brave, maybe Pichu taught him that.

"Zubats!" The 3 Pokémon yelled, a swarm of Zubats appeared and they ran for their lives to avoid losing blood to feed them, they hid behind a boulder and all the swarm of Zubats passed without searching for them, they sighed and continued deeper in the cave.

"Look! There is an apple over there!" Chris pointed to an apple laying on the ground and he took it and placed it inside his backpack "You were right after all Chikorita!" Chikorita closed her eyes and smiled proudly of herself.

There were wild Rattatas sleeping in a corner, unfortunately, the way for the next floor was in the way of the sleeping rats. the trio walked silently between the Rattatas, they sweated a lot, especially Chikorita, one wrong move and they would be food for a week for Rattatas! Fortunately, they crossed to the other side without making any noise, unfortunately, Mudkip tripped and the sound woke up the Rattatas, they glared at the team before Chris said something useful.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFES!" Chris said at the top of his lungs.

A lot of foosteps made the young team, running away from the Rattatas, their hearts were beating a lot, but misfortune struck Chikorita, who tripped and fell.

"GO ON WITHOUT ME!" She shouted at the grasp of the Rattatas, they lunged at her and she screamed in terror, Mudkip and Chris didn't wanted to continue without Chikorita, so they stood in front of her and they started to attack the Rattatas with Water Guns and Force Palms (which were more effective againts them) Chikorita got up and she joined them by shooting Razor Leafs at the rats, they retreated after they were hurted.

The trio jumped in happiness after what they have done just now, they could take on any danger if they cooperated and worked as a team.

Silent Chasm
Top

And so, their large struggle ended when they finally found Jumpluff along with Shiftry who was fainted, the young Pokémon looked at Shiftry with confused faces.

"What happened to him?" Mudkip asked.

"We got to leave this place while we can!" Jumpluff said terrified.

"Why?"

Suddenly, a huge roar came from the sky, and a big yellow bird with a sharp beak, wings that almost resembled thunders, it was approaching to Shiftry and he grabbed him with his big claws of his feet, then he flew away from the scared group of Pokémon.

"T-t-t-t-that was Zapdos!" Chikorita identified the big yellow bird as Zapdos.

"And it took Shiftry with him!" Mudkip finished the sentence.

"We can't do anything now, we should return with Jumpluff and then think about how to rescue Shiftry from Zapdos." Chris said, the other 3 Pokémon nodded their heads.

Pokémon Square

Mudkip's Rescue Team Base

"Yay! You have rescued my friend! Thank you so much!" The Jumpluff from before said happily as he and the other Jumpluff friend jumped in unison.

"But, Shiftry was taken by Zapdos when he tried to defend me..." The other Jumpluff said disappointed, he was about to cry too.

"Hey, this isn't the time for crying, we'll rescue Shiftry from Zapdos!" Mudkip said, determined of what he just have said.

"That's right, he already sacrificed and we'll do the same for him." Chris said, determined too.

"Unless we die from thunders coming from Zapdos" Chikorita said, the trio's eyes widened a lot after hearing this.

"You 3 are admirable! We will be rooting for you in your mission, let's go Jumpluff, we should go with our families!" The 2 Jumpluff left the 3 young rescuers jumping happily, however, the trio was already shaking in terror.

"Y-y-y-you know what? We should ask Alakazam to help us too!" Chikorita suggested, still trembling in fear.

"I-I-I-I agree." Chris and Mudkip said in unison, just then, a friend Caterpie of Mudkip and Chikorita came running with some news.

"Guys! Hurry! There is an injured Pokémon in the center of Pokémon Square, and he is new around here!" Caterpie said.

"Although we should see who is him first just for fun...I think." Chikorita ran at Pokémon Square, the other 3 Pokémon ran behind her.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Mudkip!"

"I-I-I'm Chikorita."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, it's just...It's just...I don't want to fight Zapdos! That's all!"

"But cheer up! We have him as our new member!"

"Who is him?"

"You will know in the next chapter, next time: Team Meanies' unsuccessful torment on Riolu!"

Read and review please!
*Chapter 19*: Team Meanies Is The New Team Rocket

Told ya! This chapter is longer than the others! Please enjoy it and leave a review!

Chapter 19: Team Meanies' unsuccessful torment on Riolu!

Pokémon Square

Town

A huge crowd of Pokémon were surrounding the center of the village, Chris, Mudkip, Chikorita and Caterpie couldn't see clearly who was the injured Pokémon.

"Did you hear? That Pokémon could be the Legendary Rescue Team Leader!"

"Yes, he could be him, but, why did he came all injured?"

"I don't know, but his body is in a bad shape."

Chris thought that Pokémon could be the person he was looking for, but how can he and the others pass through all the crowd?

"Chikorita, can you grab me with your Vine Whip so I could see who is in the middle?" Chirs asked, Chikorita nodded and she used Vine Whip, she grabbed Chris by the waist and he was pulled to the air, he narrowed his eyes to see clearly the injured Pokémon, and it was him! Alakazam along with Charizard and Tyranitar were examining him.

"He is not him, disperse now, he is just a traveler." Alakazam said to all the public, everyone dispersed and they went to different ways, but Alakazam's team stood there.

"It's him! It's the person I was talking about!" Caterpie said, looking at the injured Pokémon, and he was Lucario, the same Chris knew.

"Lucario!" Chris shouted approaching to him, but he was unconscious, which made Chris worried about his sake "What happened to you?"

"Do you know him?" Alakazam asked.

Chris nodded "Yes, he is my best friend, but we lost contact a while ago after we arrived here (those injures, they're from the battle againts Mewtwo.)"

"I see, there is only one thing that could heal him completely."

"What is it? I need to know!" Chris asked impatiently, Alakazam teleported a Sitrus Berry in his left hand.

"Here, make him eat this and he should be fully recovered." Alakazam said as he levitated the berry in front of Chris, he took it and he kneeled to Lucario.

"Here, eat this please." He shoved the berry in front of his mouth, Chris could heard a sniff coming from Lucario, he opened his mouth slowly and Chris approached the berry inside, Lucario took a bite of it, then he accelerated the rate in which he was eating it and slowly, his injures were recovering one by one.

After the berry was completely gone, Lucario opened his eyes quickly and he stood up like he was never hurted "Where am I? Chris?! Where are you?!"

"Look down!"

"Huh?" Lucario looked down, and in front of him a Riolu who was smiling was there "Who are you?"

"I'm Chris!"

"But, you don't look like him."

"Read my mind and you will know."

Lucario glowed for a moment, he was reading the mind of the Riolu, then he stopped and he smiled a bit "Chris!" He kneeled to him "What happened to you?"

"Well, when I came here, I was transformed into a Riolu, there are no humans living in this world too."

"Wait, the person you were looking for is him?" Chikorita asked.

Chris nodded "That's right, I want you to meet my friend, Lucario!"

"Why didn't you told us about this?" Mudkip asked.

"I didn't?" Chris replied, Mudkip and Chikorita sweatdropped.

"It's a honor to meet you, although you're not the Legendary Rescue Team Leader, is nice to meet at least one of his kind." Alakazam introduced himself to Lucario "I'm the leader of my Rescue Team, we're teams who work to protect other Pokémon who needs help to rescue missing Pokémon in dungeons, forest and such."

"Who is the Legendary Rescue Team Leader?" Lucario asked, Alakazam explained all to him "I didn't knew about him until you told me."

"Please, feel free to live here along with us if you want, you could be a lot of help to any Rescue Team." Alakazam walked away with his team, but Chikorita interrupted him in his way.

"Wait! We need to tell you something!" Chikorita said.

Alakazam turned his back "What?"

"Remember the Shiftry of yesterday who was going to help Jumpluff to rescue his friend?"

"I remember, why? Something bad happened to him?"

"He was kidnapped by Zapdos!"

"Zapdos?!" Charizard shouted after hearing the name of the thunder bird.

"But why did Zapdos kidnapped Shiftry? It makes no sense!" Tyranitar asked crossing his arms.

"There is a reason actually," Alakazam looked at his team and the others "The natural disasters that have been ocurring around, Zapdos probably was enraged and his fury made him act like that."

"Rage...the only thing that blinds you from your behavior..." Lucario remembered the battle againts Mewtwo.

"Charizard! Tyranitar! We're going to rescue Shiftry from Zapdos right now!" Alakazam commanded, Charizard and Tyranitar nodded their heads and they headed to Mt. Thunder to rescue Shiftry.

"Do you think they will be alright?" Mudkip asked.

"They are the best Rescue Team from here, they haven't lost any mission too, don't worry, they will be fine," Chikorita stated, then she turned her back to Lucario "Nice to meet you, I'm Chikorita!"

"I'm Mudkip!" The person you know said introducing himself.

"I'm Caterpie, good bye!" Caterpie ran away by no apparent reason.

"What's wrong with him?" Chikorita asked raising an eyebrow, both Pokémon were asking questions to Lucario, except Chris, who saw Gengar eating an apple near a tree with his team, Chris glared at him and he approached to Gengar.

"Hey! Give me back my apple!" Chris pointed his hand to Gengar, who only laughed and smirked.

"Kid, didn't you learned your lesson yet? The answer is no way!" Gengar said grinning.

"I don't because I don't need to learn it! Give me that apple in your hand!"

Gengar laughed a bit "Try me!" He placed the apple above in the air, but placed the other hand in Chris's head to stop him from grabbing it.

"Give, me, back, my, apple!"

"You don't understand?!" Gengar pushed Chris, making him fall in the floor "NO!"

Just before Chris could touch the ground, a warm hand wrapped around his back and he heard a rather hard punch coming in front of him, he looked and saw Gengar dropped in the grass in front of a tree he hit, the apple was not with him anymore, Chris turned his head to the right and saw Lucario with his right arm stretched in front of him, then the apple fell from the sky and Lucario catched it.

"Don't you ever push him!" Lucario glared at Gengar, Ekans and Medicham watched terrified as Gengar stood up slowly.

"And why not? Is really fun!" Gengar said.

Gengar then heard a big noise coming from behind, he turned his back and saw the tree torn in half, he sweatdropped and turned slowly his head to Lucario "S-s-so? What i-i-if we don't want to?" Gengar asked scared. Lucario approached slowly to Gengar, Ekans and Medicham, they were backing away a little "You don't scare us a little!" Lucario stomped the ground and it broke with great force, the 3 mean Pokémon gulped in terror as the Aura Pokémon glowed "RUN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Gengar said, him, Ekans and Medicham left in a hurry.

Lucario stopped glowing and he approached to Chris and kneeled "Here is your apple." Chris smiled and took it, then he started to eat it.

Mudkip and Chikorita were stunned watching this, they couldn't believe the strong power of Lucario "Alright! You showed them who is the boss here!" Mudkip said smiling and jumping, he turned his head and saw hearts were Chikorita's eyes should be "...Are you alright?"

"I think I fell in love." Chikorita said looking at Lucario.

Just then, Lucario's stomach grumbled and he blushed a little "Do you want an apple?" Chris asked.

"No, I can't take your apple." Lucario said shaking his head, Chris searched in his backpack and he took out the apple he found in the Silent Chasm.

"Eat it!" Chris said.

Lucario grabbed the apple and he started to eat it "Thanks."

After eating the apples, Chris wanted Lucario to join the Rescue Team, he accepted and he got a blue scarf, he placed it around his neck and Chikorita fainted mysteriously.

Pokémon Square

Mudkip's Rescue Team Base

It was night, Chris and Lucario decided to sleep inside the base along with Mudkip and Chikorita, Mudkip was sleeping above a rock, Chikorita was sleeping near a tiny pond inside and Lucario was sleeping, sat and leaned into a wall with Chris sleeping below his left arm.

"It's time for our revenge guys," Gengar wispered looking through the window of the base, he looked at Chris "That kid will know to not mess with Team Meanies."

"Hehehe, we will kidnap a kid, what fun!" Ekans wispered.

"Kidnapping is fun when you're evil." Medicham sang.

First try
The rope

"Alright, we need to drag him with this rope I got from the shop, we will throw it to his tail and we will pull him slowly to us, then we run like Dodrios!" Gengar wispered, he saw Chris's blue tail to his left and he threw the rope into it, fortunately for the team, the rope attached to his tail and they turned their backs at some trees, then they began to pull him slowly.

"When...did he...got so heavy?" Gengar asked and wispered, the weight of his prey was just too heavy for them, but eventually, they managed to pull him to them, however, Medicham was the first to turn his back and he gasped.

"Um, guys, can I ask you some questions?" Medicham asked, terror coming from his tone.

"Spill them." Gengar wispered.

"He is tiny right?"

"Right."

"He is weak right?"

"Right."

"His tail is not too big right?"

"Right."

"He doesn't have a spike in his chest right?"

"Right."

"He is not definitively tall right?"

"Right."

"He never glows intensely in a blue light right?"

"Right."

"I think we got the wrong one."

Gengar and Ekans turned their backs, his prey was not Chris, instead, they got apparently a bigger version of him, they looked at the rope and it was attached to a much different and bigger tail they thought it was tiny, and his owner was not exactly happy at all...

Oh screw it! It was Lucario glowing intensely and ready to kill the 3 Pokémon, ok?

He took the rope and he de-attached it from his tail, he threw it at the 3 Pokémon and then he swung them with the rope above him, they screamed in terror when Lucario stopped, throwing them away from him, Lucario stopped glowing and he returned to the base to sleep.

When he entered, he saw Chris shivering a little, he sat in his place again and he wrapped his left arm around Chris's body to stop the shivering, eventually, Chris stopped shivering and he smiled, still sleeping, Lucario smiled and he fell asleep again.

Second try
Invisible Riolu-napping

"Here's the next plan, I'll become invisible and then I'll slowly walk without making any noise and then bingo! We got that kid without any effort!" Gengar wispered to his teammates, he became invisible and he started to walk slowly inside the base.

He was sweating a lot when he entered, even if he saw invisible, he was sweating, one false move and he could wake up above the clouds with a harp and a halo above his head, he gulped silently after approaching slowly to Chris.

"(Darn it, he is below his arm!)" The ghost Pokémon thought to himself, it was now getting harder now, since Chris was wrapped by the left arm of Lucario, the only way to get him out was by pulling him out as slow as possible or else he would probably die if he fails.

Without thinking it anymore, he slightly grabbed the arm, and slowly unwrapped the Riolu from it, it was almost unwrapped completely, for his luck, he did it and Gengar sighed to himself inside his mind, he grabbed Chris without making any noise at all, and he did it again, he was now holding the sleeping Riolu, Chris.

"(Phew, that was close.)" He thought to himself with a relief, he turned his back smirking at his idea.

Until mysteriously, he was blasted off out of the base without Chris in his grasp, he crashed into a far away tree just in the front of the base, then he was visible again "(WHAT?! HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN?!") He thought furiously to himself, Ekans and Medicham walked to him "Hey! Why did I crashed into this tree without any reason?!" He yelled wispering to his teammates, Ekans was shaking terrified "What?" Gengar asked.

Inside the base, Lucario had his right hand stretched in front of him, but oddly enough, he was still asleep but he was defending Chris while he was still sleeping, Chris layed in the floor still sleeping, Lucario (who was still sleeping) grabbed Chris and he placed him below his left arm again.

"No, don't take him away from me, or you will die..." He said, still sleeping, or rather dreaming.

Now back with Team Meanies...

"No way, he even defends him while he sleeps?!" Gengar said shocked, both Pokémon nodded "Grr, he is getting on my nerves now!"

Third try
Mission Impossible style

Mission Impossible theme

"Here's the next plan," Gengar wispered explaining the next plan above the base with Ekans and Medicham "We will kidnap him by the roof, by the hole Ekans made with his acid, we will use the same rope from before and Medicham will be tied to it and he will descend to grab that kid while me and Ekans pulls you got it?"

"Got it." Medicham wispered and sang at the same time, he was ready to go now, he entered the base by the hole Ekans made before, he was descending slowly above both Aura Pokémon, the other 2 didn't got any trouble pulling Medicham down through the hole.

When Medicham was just directly above Chris, he saw him below the arm again, but this time he wasn't wrapped up in it, Medicham's luck was getting bigger when Lucario moved away a little, but enough to grab Chris without touching the steel Pokémon.

"Grrrr..."

Medicham's eyes widened when he heard a noise coming from the sleeping Aura Pokémon, he turned his head but luckily it was only a noise he made randomly, he sighed in his mind and he was about to grab Chris when...

"Grrrr..."

Again, the same noise came from Lucario, but he was still sleeping, this time however, he was showing his fangs, which intimidated Medicham a lot, he continued on his mission to kidnap the Emanation Pokémon and run from the base as soon as possible until...

"Grrrr..."

The same noise came from Lucario again, he was now showing his fangs completely, and since Medicham had a perfect vision, he saw his reflection in Lucario's fangs, and now he was too terrified, heck, he could even be more terrified than a Togepi. But he shook his head and grabbed Chris without any problems.

"(Phew.)" He sighed inside his his mind, Gengar and Ekans saw the whole act and he pulled Medicham out of the base, slowly of course.

...Until Medicham did something something stupid.

"(I won't do this again ever in my life.)" He said in his mind, he rubbed his forehead from the sweating he was making, but that was the stupid thing, because a sweat drop was falling just above Lucario, when the drop came in contact with the tip of his nose, he quickly woke up and used a fast and strong jab in Medicham's face, he dropped Chris in the process and he blasted off to the sky, with Gengar and Ekans since their legs were accidentaly tied up with the rope.

Lucario catched the sleeping Chris and he placed him again below his arm, then he smiled and he fell asleep again.

Fourth try
Hole below the target

After an hour, the team of stupid Pokémon were digging below the base with shovels and lights.

"Ok, the next plan is to take him by digging a hole just below and we got the treasure!" Gengar said excited, obviously losing his behavior.

"Treasure?" Ekans asked with shiny eyes.

Gengar slapped him "No you fool! The kid is the treasure!"

"Oh, I see." The snake Pokémon said.

Now they were just below their "treasure" Gengar commanded Ekans to dig through the roof, because somehow Gengar knew Chris was just above where Ekans was standing, the snake Pokémon slowly dug through the ground to avoid making any noise, he stopped a moment when he saw a blue spot just above his head.

"Guys, I found him, he is there." Ekans wispered, Gengar grinned after he saw the blue spot in the roof, the ghost Pokémon's plan was now to dig all the ground around the spot so Chris could fell in it without any sound, without thinking again, they started to dig the ground again.

"Finally, we will succeed!" Medicham sang and wispered, the hole was complete and their prize fell in it, they grabbed it and ran outside the base behind some trees.

"Now let's put him down." Gengar said grinning, however, when they placed "Chris" on the ground, they found a rather, or very annoyed and enraged Lucario.

"YOU 3 WON'T STOP ANNOYING ME RIGHT?!" The Aura Pokémon asked very irritated with a menacing glare.

"AAAHHHHHHH!!" The team ran away scared, but Lucario didn't left them escape alive without shooting a big Aura Sphere to them, it exploded and they blasted off again, then Lucario returned to the base and he sat down close to Chris (placing his arm above him again) and he fell asleep.

Fifth try
Just take him!

Another hour later, a furious Gengar just walked inside the base like nothing happened, he grabbed the sleeping Riolu from the sleeping Lucario and he walked away with him outside behind some trees.

"SEE? WE'VE FAILED AGAIN! GEEZ!" Gengar said, not noticing the Pokémon he was holding in his purple hands.

"But...isn't he the kid?" Ekans asked looking at Chris.

"..." Gengar thought for a moment when he realised his act "Alright! We got him! It's about freacking time!"

"Shh! You're going to awake him" Medicham said.

"Oh, that's right, we should escape now." The team nodded to each other, they walked just to the right of the base...until they heard a tiny sound coming from their prey.

"What is he doing?" Ekans asked, just then, Chris was making noises of what appears terror, he probably was having a nightmare in his sleep, then he started to cry very aloud. Making the 3 mischievous Pokémon to block their ears.

"Ugh! Shut up! I can't resist this anymore!" Said an annoyed Gengar, blocking his ears from the loud noise. When Gengar, Medicham and Ekans opened their eyes, they saw a big shadow in the ground just in front of them, they gulped in unison and when they turned their backs, Lucario was standing there with his arms crossed, showing his fangs, glowing intensely and glaring menacingly again at the 3 annoying Pokémon, he saw Chris crying in Gengar's hands.

"THE POKÉMON...IN YOUR HANDS...NOW..." Lucario said with a terrorizing tone extending his left hand at them.

"W-w-what Pokémon? You are probably blind sir!" Medicham sang terrified.

"GRRRRRRRRRR!!"

"Here is him! Take him please! Take him!" Gengar gave Lucario the crying Riolu, he grabbed him wrapping him up with his left arm, but still he was glaring at the 3 Pokémon and Chris was still crying.

"I-i-i-is something wrong?" Ekans asked terrified. Lucario stomped the ground in rage and they stood still watching the Aura Pokémon approaching.

"IF I EVER SEE YOU 3 AGAIN...YOU WILL MEET YOUR GRAVES VERY SOON...UNDERSTAND?!"

"Y-Y-YES!" They replied in unison.

"RIIIIIIII!!" Oddly enough, Chris made a high pitched scream, which made Lucario's aura to grow bigger than before.

"NOW GO AWAY!" Lucario said enraged.

"B-b-b-but, first we need to-"

"GGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Lucario made a huge roar that made the earth below him to tremble.

"MOMMY!!" The Team Meanies ran away at high speed to not being killed by the Aura Pokémon, the Riolu Lucario was holding was still crying. He just hugged him close to his chest near where his spike is, Chris was stopping slowly his tears and he soon calmed down, Lucario walked inside the base with Chris still in his arms and he sat again leaning to the wall and he fell asleep, 3 seconds later, Chris was smiling with tears coming from his eyes.

The next morning...

"I couldn't sleep so well," Chris said rubbing his head "I had a nightmare where 3 shadows wanted to take me away, but at the end, Lucario appeared from nowhere and he defeated them."

Lucario remembered the incidents of last night, Chris's nightmare was almost the same thing Lucario was experiencing, Chris closed his eyes and smiled at Lucario "I'm happy to have you with me."

"Me too." Lucario replied with a little smile.

"Ugh, at least you 2 didn't got my trouble." Mudkip said.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"Last night I could have sworn many noises inside our base, most of them were either punches or roars," He got in a thinking position "And after that, there was another earthquake right Chikorita?" Mudkip looked at Chikorita.

"Yeah, that was another earthquake, do you think it happened because of the natural disasters?"

"I think so." Mudkip replied. Just then, Caterpie, along with Butterfree, the 2 Jumpluffs from yesterday came running at them panting heavily.

"Hey guys, what's wrong?" Chikorita asked.

"It's Alakazam's team! They haven't returned yet from their mission!" Caterpie said in shock.

The eyes of the team widened after hearing this "What? But they always finish their missions in less than 2 hours!" Chikorita exclaimed.

"We know that, but everyone in Pokémon Square are worried!" Butterfree pointed out.

"And we're also worried about Shiftry!" Both Jumpluffs said in unison.

"So, are we going to rescue them?" Chris asked.

"Chikorita, Chris, Lucario, we're going to rescue Alakazam's team and Shiftry from Zapdos!" Mudkip said. The other 3 mentioned Pokémon nodded.

"Wait, are you really going to save them?" Caterpie asked.

Mudkip nodded "That's right, we're a Rescue Team and we have to help each other, isn't that the true meaning of the Rescue Teams?"

"..." Caterpie, Butterfree and both Jumpluffs didn't spoke for a moment "You're right, we're counting on you!" Butterfree said smiling.

"Wish us good luck!" Chikorita said walking with Mudkip, Chris and Lucario towards the road to Mt. Thunder, the other 4 Pokémon waved their hands at the team.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Mudkip!"

"I-I-I'm Chi-Chikorita."

"We're going to rescue Alakazam and Shiftry right? Well, this is not going to be easy, since we're talking about a Legendary Bird."

"What spike..."

"But I know with our forces combined, we could have a chance againts him right?"

"What strength..."

"Um, Chikorita? Are you alright?"

"What tail..."

"Chikorita?"

"What fur..."

"Are you listening to me?"

"What muscles..." She faints.

"Chikorita? Hello? Are you still in love with Lucario? Chikorita? Wake up!"

She is drooling.

"Ugh, why me, next time: The rage of the thunder! The Primid's General L!

I hope Chikorita's explanation didn't made a fan girl of Lucario faint if they were reading this, oh well, read and review please! XD
*Chapter 20*: Familiar Evil Adversary

Alright! I have written 20 chapters for the first time! Enjoy this chapter and read and review!

Chapter 20: The rage of the thunder! The Primid's General L!

Mt. Thunder
Trail

After a long walk, the Rescue Team finally reached the dangerous Mt. Thunder, the top of the mountain had many clouds making thunders, a sound was coming from Chris's backpack, he took the Primid Radar out and he examined it.

"There are Primids in this mountain, we should be careful Lucario." Chris said to Lucario.

"Understood." Said Lucario.

"Hey, what is that thing you're holding?" Asked Mudkip.

"And what is a Primid?" Chikorita asked.

Chris and Lucario explained all the information about the Primids and their mission.

"So, you 2 are here to defeat those Primids things and save this world from being invaded by them?" Mudkip asked, both Aura Pokémon nodded "Amazing, I didn't thought you had that mission to complete."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Chikorita said walking through the path to the top of the mountain.

The quartet we're now climbing the big mountain, there was something odd, there wasn't any wild Pokémon in their trail, which made the Pokémon confused.

"Isn't weird that this path isn't inhabited by any Pokémon? I've heard this mountain had many wild Pokémon, most of them were of the Electric type," Chikorita stated "It creeps me out to find this place abandoned."

"At least pray to god that there aren't any of them here," Mudkip said "We could be dead meat for Spearows."

"You don't have to worry," Chris said looking at Lucario "We got a powerful ally by our side and us to defend." Lucario blushed a bit and he looked away.

Suddenly, the Primid Radar was beeping, from the ground, Shadow Bugs came from holes spreaded in the ground, the bugs gathered and formed Primid versions of Pokémon, the difference being only red curious eyes and a whole purple body.

"Wha-what the heck are those things?!" Chikorita asked.

"Primids," Chris pointed out "And it seems they have taken the bodies of the wild Pokémon living here."

"That is...weird." Mudkip remarked.

"Um, are we going to fight them?" Chikorita asked. Lucario was already beating 4 of them "...Is that a yes?"

"Yes!" Chris and Mudkip said at the same time, they ran towards the purple Pokémon, Chikorita shook her head and she started to fire Razor Leafs, the fight wasn't that hard, when they've finished, the Shadow Bugs escaped from the Pokémon's bodies and they disappeared in thin air.

"Easy!" Chikorita said cheering at their victory.

"But they were only Rattatas, they could have taken stronger Pokémon too." Mudkip stated, that made Chikorita shiver of fear.

"We need to keep going, any minute is crucial." Chris said walking his way to the top again, Mudkip was thinking in his mind if the whole trouble with the Primids was really a big deal when Chris and Lucario told him that, but of all matters, he continued.

"Someone is up ahead." Lucario said, he glowed for a moment, then he spotted 1 fainted body on the ground, they accelerated following Lucario and finally they found Shiftry laying unconscious on the ground.

"Shiftry! Wake up! Are you alright?!" Chikorita asked moving Shiftry with her leaf.

"Ugh...Alakazam...be careful..." He said in a weak tone.

"Shiftry! What happened to Alakazam?" Mudkip asked.

"He and his team went to...fight Zapdos, but they haven't...returned for a while ago."

"How much did it passed?"

"Like...8 hours."

"8 hours?! They could be in trouble!" Chikorita said.

"Not only that...purple creatures who took the bodies of the wild Pokémon living here are appearing too."

"If the Primids are in this, they are maybe trying to take Zapdos in their control!" Chris said.

"Be careful...not so long ago, odd looking white creatures with red arms came here holding a...big sphere with a X in the middle...I think that was a bomb."

"That must be a Subspace Bomb!"

"Please...help Alakazam..." And Shiftry fainted.

Mudkip blinked before speaking "Should we take Shiftry with us?"

Chikorita looked around the area "Nah, we can leave him here, there isn't any wild Pokémon in this area, besides, we're almost to the top."

"She is right, I can see the clouds closer than before," Chris saw the black clouds closer than before "But be on your guards, they maybe are waiting for us with their best troops."

"What do you mean by best troops?"

"Stronger Pokémon." Chris pointed out, Chikorita gulped in fear.

"Let's move on!" Mudkip said walking to the top once again with the rest of his Reacue Team.

Only to be attacked by Primids resembling Raichus.

They quickly attacked, Mudkip was in trouble since they were using Electric types moves, but somehow Chikorita summoned her bravery and stood in front defending him, Chris was fighting well surprisingly, being a Riolu was really lucky, although most of them were attacking to Lucario, he didn't got any problem in wiping them out.

"AAAH!" Chris screamed in pain because a Raichu used his tail to attack him, but 1 second later, the Raichu crashed into the wall by a furious Lucario.

"Are you alright?" Lucario asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks for worring about me." Chris smiled.

"Look! They are retreating!" Mudkip said. All the Shadow Bugs were retreating from the bodies and they disappeared in the air. The group continued until they reached the top.

Mt. Thunder
Top

The entire Rescue Team looked around for Alakazam and his team, but they found nothing...except for the Subspace Bomb standing in the center.

"What is that thing? It's a bomb?!" Mudkip asked.

"We need to deactivate it before it explodes!" Chris stated, the four Pokémon started to attack the bomb, they used Aura Spheres, Force Palms, Razor Leafs and even Water Guns, but it didn't work.

"It doesn't work! We have to think about another plan!" Chikorita said panting a little.

Chris looked around for an answer, but he couldn't find one, except 2 robots at each side of the bomb.

"Huh?" Chris said, he saw the 2 robots attached to the bomb, he walked to one of them and he asked "Are you going to escape? The bomb is about to explode!"

The robot only shook his head, Chris somehow felt a little sad, because the robot lowered his head and closed his eyes, the other robot did the same and that made Chris worried, Lucario was wondering what was Chris doing.

"What are you doing Chris?" He asked.

"...Those robots can't escape from the bomb because their hands are attached to it..."

Lucario looked at one of the robots, he approached to him and tried to de-attach him, but it didn't budge either, it felt like the robot was combined with the bomb and couldn't escape from the explosion. Chikorita and Mudkip approached to them with confused faces.

"Is something wrong?" Chikorita asked, Chris explained all to her "...So, they are done for?"

Chris nodded slowly, then he tried to de-attach the same robot, but it was hopeless, the robot was stuck in his current situation and nothing could help him now, his fate was already decided. Chris only fell on his knees and he almost broke into tears..

Just then, a powerful thunder came from the clouds, it struck the bomb destroying it in the process along with the 2 robots, the bomb became ash and the Rescue Team backed away from the center, on the center of the clouds, a sparking, yellow bird came down flapping his wings, it was Zapdos!

"Who has the guts to come here, the home of one of the 3 Legendary Birds?!" The yellow bird asked, his voice was echoing through the top of the mountain. Chikorita, Chris and Mudkip backed away a little.

"W-we-we have come here to rescue Alakazam and his team!" Mudkip said shaking in terror.

"Alakazam? I don't know any Alakazam coming here!"

"Huh?" The four Pokémon sain in unison "What do you mean you didn't saw him?" Chris asked.

"I've only stole Shiftry because he woke up my rage when he was in the Silent Chasm, but after I came here, those purple abnormalities began to invade my home!"

The Rescue Team looked at each other "What could've happened to them?" Chikorita asked.

"If it they got lost somehow?" Mudkip asked.

"Please, the day they can get lost I'll dance inside lava." Chikorita joked.

Suddenly, a big explosion came from Zapdos's back, the electric bird Pokémon yelled in pain and he fell on the ground from the unknown impact.

"What happened?! Who did that?" Chikorita asked, the four Pokémon looked around to find the source of the attack.

"It was me, General L."

"General L?" Chris asked. From the sky, a very shadowy figure came down with a very intense purple light surrounding all his body, his body couldn't be seen with a normal eye, the only thing the Rescue Team saw was only yellow mad eyes and a whole purple figure.

"Who the heck are you?" Chris asked.

"I'm General L, a high rank soldier of the Primids," He pointed at Zapdos "I've come here because this bird destroyed the bomb to stole this place."

"But it was actually a good thing!" Mudkip said.

"For us it was not," General L stated "Since he is out of cold, we shall take him with us and make him a powerful weapon for our deeds."

"We won't allow you to do such thing to Zapdos!" Mudkip said, standing in a fighting position.

"Yeah! Even if he kidnapped Shiftry, he doesn't deserves that!" Chikorita said.

"That plan of yours is simply stupid and innecessary, we won't leave without a fight!" Chris said.

"If Chris wants to fight, I will fight along with him." Lucario said, standing in a fighting position.

"You little bastards, be that way and feel my wrath!" General L ran at the Rescue Team.

Wild Pokémon Battle! Diamond/Pearl

As soon as the battle started, General L charged a very odd looking purple sphere, he fired it at Mudkip, he evaded it, but the sphere returned and he was hit by it from the back, he yelled in pain and he fell unconscious.

"Mudkip!" Chikorita yelled, approaching to Mudkip "How could you!" She fired many Razor Leafs, but General L just stood there receiving all the attacks, but it didn't do any effect at all, which astonished Chikorita "What?"

General L ran at fast speed to Chikorita, she yelled in terror, but Chris got in the middle and used Force Palm, somehow, it damaged greatly to General L.

"Ugh, you little brat!" General L said, just as he was about to punch Chris in the face, Lucario interrupted him and used Force Palm too, General L crashed into a nearby wall and he got up quickly.

"That's it!" General L stood still for a moment, then he charged up a big purple sphere again, he fired it a Chikorita this time, she was still trying to revive Mudkip with a Reviver seed and yelled in terror again, but Lucario got between her and the attack and he tried to return it to his opponent with his hands, eventually, he returned it to General L, who evaded it as the big purple sphere exploded in the wall.

General L was in a hurry now, he was easily outnumbered and he was getting weaker, but that was his whole plan all along.

"You fools...you fell in my trap!" Again, he was glowing and he made another big purple sphere, but this was different than the last one, Lucario's ears perked up a bit and he gasped.

"QUICK! DISPERSE!" Lucario said, he grabbed Chris with his left hand and Chikorita ran to the other side, but she realised that Mudkip was still laying unconscious on the ground, she turned and ran to grab Mudkip with her Vine Whip. But it was too late, General L fired a big purple beam within his hands, Chikorita and Mudkip were still in the way, but when the beam was about to hit them, Chris ran and pushed them aside at time, they ran to the other side to evade the attack. The beam was big and it made a huge trail of destruction across his path.

"Wait...it can't be...that beam..." Lucario asked and muttered to himself, somehow, the beam was too familiar to him, he shook his head and when he saw his opportunity to attack a clueless General L, he didn't hesitated and he ran towards him, he quickly made a combo with punchs, kicks, jabs, Force Palms and finally an Aura Sphere, General L yelled in pain as every attack hit him, then he was all weak and he fell in the ground in defeat.

The battle ended and the crowd cheered for our heros.

Music stops

"Mudkip! Wake up! Everything is fine now!" Chikorita shook violently Mudkip, he already ate the Reviver seed, but he didn't woke up, until Chikorita used Vine Whip and slapped him several times until he woke up.

Chris examined General L's unconscious body laying on the ground, Lucario was near him if his enemy woke up and attacked Chris without guard.

"...Ril..." General L muttered.

"Ril? What does that mean?" Chris asked to himself.

"Rile...Rile...Rile...y...help me..."

"Rile-y?"

"...Rile...Rile...y...help me...those things...are...taking...my body..." Mysteriously, a part of General L's body revealed, the purple light around it disappeared for a moment, at that was a blue tail, but quickly, it was covered by the purple light again and General L escaped using the Shadow Bugs who disappeared in the air along with him.

"Wasn't that a blue tail?" Chris asked to Lucario.

"It was." Lucario reasured.

"But, I remember that blue tail somewhere else before, and also, he said Riley, but I also remember that name somewhere before too." Chris got in a thinking position.

"Not only that, when he fired that big beam, it was familiar to me." Lucario stated.

"Guys! Come here! I've found Alakazam!" Chikorita called from afar, Alakazam and his team was in front of her and they were getting up.

"Ugh...what happened to us?" Alakazam said rubbing his forehead.

"I don't know! You just appeared out of the ground with those purple things!" Chikorita pointed out.

"..Yes...I remember now...when we were almost going to reach the top, I couldn't see clearly when something got us from behind..."

"The Primids took them prisoners then." Chris said.

"I knew the Primids were behind this all along..." Alakazam said.

"What? How did you know about the Primids? We didn't told you anything about them yet!" Chris exclaimed.

Alakazam chuckled a little "I'm a Psychic Pokémon, therefore, I can read minds."

Lucario chuckled a little too.

"What's so funny Lucario?" Chris asked.

"That was the same thing Mewtwo told us too." Lucario wispered to Chris's ear.

"Look! Zapdos is getting up!" Charizard shouted, the yellow bird Pokémon was awakening from his unconsciousness, Chikorita hid behind a rock with Mudkip (who woke up thanks to the Reviver seed) and Chris hid behind Lucario.

"You were the ones who defeated those creatures?" Zapdos asked with a echoing voice.

"Y-yes!" Mudkip said terrified.

"And those creatures are gone from my home now?"

Chris looked at the Primid Radar and it was in green "Yes, they're gone now."

"I want to thank all of you for your help." Zapdos said.

"Huh?" Mudkip's Rescue Team said in unison.

"You want an explanation?" Both Rescue Teams nodded their heads "Alright then, listen well, one day, I was soaring the skies high above the clouds, when I was flying, I felt a disturbance in the land, when I descended, I saw big craters in forest, caves and mountains, those craters were not there before, I was sure that something was wrong to cause such incidents."

"Natural disasters." Alakazam pointed out.

Zapdos nodded "That is correct, many natural disasters had been occurred in every corner of the land, causing many Pokémon to go missing, that thing was enraging me deeply, then my rage was blinding from the reality and I started to act violently to all the Pokémon, that is why I kidnapped Shiftry."

"Tell us what happened after." Chris said.

"After I kidnapped Shiftry, I returned to this mountain to rest, but when I came here, purple monsters were invading my home and I dropped Shiftry in some part of the mountain and I quickly flew to the top to protect the mountain from them, when I finished with on the top, I hid in the clouds to wait for more of them," Zapdos looked at Mudkip's Rescue Team "That is when you four made it to the top and fought that monster, I'm very grateful of your actions."

"Oh that was nothing, really." Chikorita said (obviously showing off.)

"You can leave now the mountain, I will stop kidnapping Pokémon from now," Zapdos flew to the clouds again "I will wish you all good luck!"

"Now that everything it's settled, we should return to Pokémon Square now with Shiftry." Alakazam said, everyone nodded in agreedment.

Pokémon Square
Mudkip's Rescue Team Base

After returning to Pokémon Square, Shiftry gave thanks to Mudkip and his Rescue Team, he left waving his hand, Alakazam also gave thanks to them and told something to Mudkip if he wanted to know about his meaning to be in this world without humans, he left too with Charizard and Tyranitar.

"I think we should leave too Lucario." Chris said looking at Lucario.

"What?! You're leaving now?!" Chikorita asked astonished.

"Yes, we need to stop the Primids from invading the other worlds, I'm sorry to leave your team Mudkip."

"Nah, it's okay, you 2 were a lot of help to our team." Mudkip said and shook his head smiling.

"We...will miss you too...Lucario." Chikorita said blushing a little.

"I will too." Lucario said.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Chris said, he wispered something to Lucario's ear and he nodded, then the 2 took their blue scarfs from their necks and gave them to Mudkip "We almost took your scarfs away from you." Chris said rubbing his head.

However, Mudkip gave them back to Chris "Keep them, so you 2 can remember us." He said smiling.

"Really? Thanks, that is so kind of you!" Chris said smiling "Lucario, let's go now!" And with that, Lucario left with Chris walking away from the base, Mudkip and Chikorita were saying good bye to them while a tear came from their eyes.

Just then, Team Meanies were walking to the left side of Lucario and Chris, they gulped in unison when Lucario was walking to their left, just when they were about to pass Lucario...

"GRRRRRRR!!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" They ran away at high speed to Pokémon Square. Chris made a confused face when he saw them running at such speed terrified, maybe it was because of Lucario?

When the 2 were out of Pokémon Square's sight, Chris took the Wiimote out of his backpack.

"Now, we need to return to Master Hand and the others."

"Wait, I want to do something else before we go." Lucario said, he kneeled to Chris.

"What is it?"

"Since this is probably the last time you're going to be a Riolu...well...I've been asking to myself..."

"Yes?"

Lucario looked away with his eyes closed "Can I carry you a last time in my arm please?"

Chris just blinked at what Lucario did just asked to him, something was telling him that Lucario somehow felt like a father when he was a Riolu.

Chris thought about it for a moment, then he smiled "Of course you ca-"

Just when he opened his eyes, he was already wrapped up in Lucario's left arm "I didn't thought you would act so quickly-" Chris said, he pointed the Wiimote and it fired a light making a portal in the tip of it, Lucario smiled a little and he walked towards the portal, then the 2 vanished from the world along with the portal.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Lucario."

"I'm Mewtwo."

"It's time to save the Star Fox team from the Primids now, but now, Roy, Mewtwo and Pichu are tagging along with us."

"Heh, with my new attacks, this is going to be entertaining."

"Are you showing off?"

"Maybe, just a little."

"Sure, next time: Corneria! The lack of enthusiasm of Fox!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 21*: The Serious Vulpine Of The Future

This chapter was originally so short, but I later decided to add more things to it. I hope you like the new version of this chapter.

Read, enjoy, and review. :)

Chapter 21: The Serious Vulpine Of The Future

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Master Tabuu, I'm sorry to fail in this mission," General L said. "I'm not familiar with them as much as you do."

"You worthless little general… You are lucky that I saved you from your death back then," Tabuu said in an annoyed tone.

"I'll promise I won't fail this time, just give me another opportunity," he said. "I might have been defeated, but I can show you what I can really do."

Tabuu frowned in shame after hearing him out. As he frowned, he said, "Ugh...fine, you can go again. But if you fail, there will be no more opportunities for you, understand?"

"Understood," he said with a bow. "I will give them my revenge for humiliating me in battle. Until then, watch over my progress…" The mysterious figure clad in darkness turned around and dashed away to the darkness of the Subspace.

Once he was gone, the Ancient Minister approached his boss. "Lord Tabuu, we are ready to invade Corneria. The Aparoids agreed to cooperate with us," the Ancient Minister said.

"Excellent news. If everything goes according to the plan, we should take Corneria without any trouble."

"May I suggest sending some Shadow Bugs with General L?"

"Why?"

"Since we first got him, it seems that his true nature wants to break out from his own mind, and that isn't going to be good if he wakes up in the middle of a battle," he explained. "But if we boost his power with the Shadow Bugs, his true nature will be kept at bay longer."

"…We cannot lose more subordinates at this time…" Tabuu muttered. "Fine. Send the Shadow Bugs with him. Losing more men now is unnecessary."

"Affirmative," he said. "I'll prepare them to go with him."

"And do deploy the Subspace Bombs as well."

The Ancient Minister nodded slowly. "Very well."

Tabuu nodded back at him before he vanished in front of him.

"..." Once alone, the minister looked down and began to mutter something. "I believe he wants me to deploy more than one bomb…and that would mean more of my kind to sacrifice themselves to activate the bombs… There's no other way than this…"

With a depressed sigh, he went into the darkness and disappeared from the meeting point.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

In the lonely mansion, or more accurately, the command room, Master Hand floated around and sighed in depression. "God, the mansion is pretty dead silent with nobody around," he said to his brother. "We should have like 30 people roaming about doing their things, reserve matches, participate in our little tourneys, and once in a while have meetings about…whatever we do."

"Can I give free coffee if that happens?" Crazy Hand asked.

"For once, think harder than that," Master Hand said. "Days like these are nothing but pure boredom. Here I am, talking to you and nobody else. I'd do anything to get the guys back, but as you know what we did to them before… It's going to take a really long time before they slowly start to come back."

"You kind of made them go back in time when you returned them?"

"Er, no," he said. "Tabuu just sends people to their universes at the time he wants. I don't think that's much of a problem, but we have to stay alert and not mess up anything in the process," he explained. "Or else, we could have someone of the opposite gender."

"That would REALLY make the ratings go up, did you know that?"

"Again, you're insane."

"I like me."

"And I like people rambling against me for a complaint," he joked. "Okay, those guys should be back by now. I hope they like the new versions of the 3."

"Where are those 3?"

"In their rooms," Master Hand said. "They wanted to feel back right at their second home here."

"Oh, that aside," Crazy Hand began as he pointed at the screen, where the icon of Lucario was flashing bright purple. "Seems Lucario betrayed us."

"What do you mean by that?" He looked at the screen. "Oh, come now. I guess I haven't updated that thing in some days and… Wait," he muttered. "There's no way he betrayed us…"

Just then, Chris (back to his human form) and Lucario back through the portal before it vanished. The hands looked at the 2.

"Ooh, I'm jealous," Crazy Hand said. "I wanna have a "piggyarm" ride like you."

Chris blushed embarrassed and got off from Lucario's arm. "W-we're sorry for being late. We were able to fight them off."

Lucario looked depressed. "It looks like you were turned back to a human."

"Oh?" Chris looked at himself. "Oh, yes, you're right. I thought I was going to be a Riolu forever."

"(I wouldn't have minded…)" Lucario thought.

"Oh, you're back," Master Hand said. "Did something happen there?" he asked.

"It…was a weird experience," Chris said. "I mean, I got turned into a Riolu for being in that Pokémon-only world… B-besides that, there was another Subspace Bomb, but we were able to destroy it."

"Zapdos did that," Lucario said. "And there was someone else who appeared out of nowhere…"

"Who?" Master Hand asked.

"Well…there was this weird person with pure darkness around his body. We couldn't see him that clearly, but once we knocked him out, a part became visible and we saw a blue tail like Lucario's tail. Not only that, but we also heard him saying Riley before he vanished in thin air," Chris said. "But I think I know the name…"

"...Wait, Riley?" Master Hand asked. "…Ooh, right. I only know one person who knows that name. In truth, I know Riley very well."

"Who?" Chris and Lucario asked.

Master Hand looked away. "...It was the previous Lucario before your Lucario, Chris."

Chris blinked. "…So…" He thought for a moment. "…W-we fought a ghost?!"

"No!" Master Hand yelled. 'Why would you fight a ghost if you touched him? Tabuu can't go supernatural on us! Not that I'm aware of either, but he can't make pacts with ghosts as far as I know!"

"H-hmm…" Chris shook a little. "L-let me try to concentrate again… So did he survive after all?"

"He maybe survived the attack and the Shadow Bugs took his body while he was weak…" Master Hand looked at the 2. "Oh, sorry. Anyway, I don't remember what happened after that battle with Tabuu. But if my assumptions are correct…he might have survived, and he was taken by Tabuu. He is the Lucario of a Pokémon Trainer named Riley who lives in the region of Sinnoh. I sent a letter to Riley if his Lucario could participate in the tournament. After waiting a long while, he agreed and...you know what happened after."

"Riley!" Chris said. "Yes, I know who he is!"

"The Sir Aaron look-alike?" Lucario asked.

"Er, yes. The Sir Aaron look-alike…"

Chris started to get a little bit off from the main topic.

"I seriously think Riley is the reincarnation of Sir Aaron," he whispered.

"I think it's just coincidence that they look the same," Lucario whispered.

"Oh no," Chris said mildly annoyed. "The hat, the hair, the face, THE Lucario, everything falls into place."

"It's just mere coincidence," Lucario kept saying. "You're thinking too much."

"Okay, if I'm thinking too much, th-"

"Guys!" Master Hand yelled. "Talk about your reincarnations and your own supernatural things later!" he said. "For now, we have to focus on this."

"In that case…I just can't believe we fought him," Chris said. "Do you think there's a way to…save him?"

"Well, that could be possible," Master Hand said. "You'll have to save him ala Smash Bros way."

The 2 of them looked at each other confused. "Ala Smash Bros way? What does that mean?" Chris asked.

"You know, the way everything in all the universes work perfectly to resolve their problems."

The 2 kept staring at him.

"…With violence," the hand said bored. "By defeating him in a battle. That should weaken the Shadow Bugs on him."

"Violet icon, brother?" Crazy Hand interrupted.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Master Hand said. "I should replace his icon for your Lucario." Master Hand snapped his fingers and Lucario's icon changed to his normal form. "Silly me. I need to keep up with the new people."

"And..." Chris looked around. "Where are Mewtwo, Roy, and Pichu?"

"About them," Master Hand said. "Since…you know, they're from the past, I had to make some adjustments to their abilities and such. I hope they don't mind this."

"They're here," Lucario said.

Chris turned around and looked at Mewtwo, Roy, and Pichu walking inside.

"Hmm…" Chris tilted his head. "They look new for some reason.

"Oh yes, I've finished with their movesets and all the things they needed to do," Master Hand pointed at them. "Now you're watching Mewtwo, Roy, and Pichu in their Brawl forms. 30 percent less rounder, 70 percent sharper."

"I have to admit that my previous abilities were kind of stale," Mewtwo said. "I feel more comfortable with my new style myself."

"I can tolerate the pain of my own attacks," Pichu said before looking miffed. "But they still hurt…"

"And I...well, I'm still the same," Roy said rubbing his head.

"And for the final thing to add..." Master Hand snapped his fingers again and the screen made 3 more icons along with the 36 icons, the first icon had Mewtwo with crossed arms and looking away to the left, Pichu in a jumping position, smiling, and Roy with his sword crossed in front of him with the tip of the blade in front of his lap.

"When did we do those poses?" Pichu asked.

"I believe he made us do those poses…then erased our minds," Mewtwo said. "What is the point of toying around with our consciousness? That is going much farther than invading privacy."

"You 3 are submitted by the contract you signed yourselves," Master Hand said. "But of course, I don't go THAT far."

"You made us pose like that," Mewtwo said.

"You erased our minds," Roy added.

"And you made me weaker than Pikachu!" Pichu yelled.

"…Rulesarerules," Master Hand said quickly. "'Kay, Tabuu should make a movement by this time. Get ready for the alarm!" he faked excitement.

"I-I'm just doing this because of the people I'll meet!" Chris said. "Getting hurt MIGHT be with this, though. I'll avoid getting hurt if that's possible!"

"But you should get hit," Roy said. "You'll get stronger that way."

"That's the most twisted thing I've ever heard," Chris said annoyed. "If this keeps up like this, I'll wish to go to a world where everything is so dandy, peaceful, without violence, maybe fun times, an-"

The alarms suddenly went off, and Master Hand looked at the screen. "Oh boy, it's Fox's turn to shine…purple."

Fox's icon was flashing purple.

"Time for you 5 to work together now. Get happy, Chris. More reinforcements. It's going to be like this, though. Sending more people with you will make everything easier, as long as they don't screw something up…"

The hand noticed Chris somewhat worried.

"Did I say something bad to make you feel worried?"

"N-no…" Chris shook his head. "I-it's just that I'm going to go where Fox is, right?"

"What about it?" he asked. "Surely you're not intimidated by the army now, are you?"

"I-I'd say is Fox I'm being intimidated to…" Chris muttered.

"…You're intimidated by Fox? Why would that be? He's harmless if you don't piss him off a lot."

"I-I mean, this is going to sound so weird, but…"

"You're afraid of his face," Mewtwo said suddenly.

Chris blushed embarrassed and looked at the Psychic Pokémon. "D-did you read my mind or something?"

"I wanted you to get to the point, and you were being late. Think of this as a small aid I gave you."

"W-what kind of aid was that?" Chris looked back at the hand. "This is so embarrassing…"

"You're afraid of his face?" Master Hand looked at the icon. "Well, I might have changed 1 thing of 2 about his appearance, but you're actually going to see him in his Assault look. Anyway, don't get afraid, he's actually very sociable."

"Try to stare at his face for 10 seconds straight!" Chris dared.

"Fine."

10 seconds later of staring at Fox's face…

The hand turned to Chris. "Gave me some chills, but I'm perfectly fine."

"U-ugh…" Chris looked unsure.

"Are we stopping to go to his world just because of his face?" Roy said. "Well, I know he looks rather scary, but he's good at heart… Just don't look at him for too long."

"That would make him feel pissed, though," Pichu said.

"…" Everyone remained silent.

"Just go in there!" Master Hand commanded, breaking the silence.

"And do barrel rolls!" Crazy Hand said. Everyone paused for a moment and all were looking at him rather annoyed, even the alarm stopped "...Did I say something unnecessary?"

"What did I just think your brother…saw a rather annoying meme of the internet?" Chris asked. "He didn't…"

"Forget what my brother said just now! It's his hobby or the next universe! Go now! Chop chop!" Master Hand ordered.

Chris sighed with a frown before he made the portal with his control. "I-I'll try to get used to go with more members in the process. I bet I'm going to like this very much."

"Fox's face," Roy muttered.

"Knock that off now!" Chris yelled.

Lucario, angrily, punched Roy's shoulder. "O-oww! H-hey, you hit a little bit too hard!" Roy complained.

"Serves you right," Lucario responded with a grunt of annoyance.

"(Priceless,)" Mewtwo thought sarcastically.

"(I better not make Lucario feel angry… I'd die…)" Pichu thought with a gulp before they all went through the portal before it disappeared.

"Seriously," Crazy Hand began. "You're to blame for making his face like that."

"You shut up," his brother said annoyed.

Star Fox: Assault

Lylat System
Corneria

As for the futuristic city of Corneria, it didn't have a peaceful day if you considered soldiers having weird bugs taking over their bodies, patrolling the destroyed streets with weird bug cars swerving wildly. Odd thing was that there wasn't a single citizen in there. They were probably hiding underground.

And didn't it strike odd that Corneria had a city in the middle of the ocean?

"This is...horrible... The whole city is getting destroyed..." a blue vixen said over the speaker in the ear of a fox who was stepping in the city.

"Fox! We need to destroy the Jammers so we can communicate with General Pepper and also destroy the Aparoids in the process!" a hare said in the speaker to the fox.

"Got it loud and clear," the fox said as he overlooked the city from a destroyed street that went up. "Guys, cover the air and I'll cover the ground. If I have trouble, try to help me as soon as you can," the fox said.

"Are you kidding me?" an avian asked with a grin. "These guys aren't nothing. We already proved them not to mess around with us."

"I-I-I won't leave the battle either!" a green toad said in the speaker. "Falco's just showing off as usual, so it clearly means I'm still alive!"

"What the heck was that supposed to mean?" Falco asked.

"I-I imagine you as shorter, around the same height as me, with a different voice farther away than the clouds themselves…"

The other 4 listening to the toad shifted their eyes, dumbfounded. "…Slippy…" the vixen began.

"Yes, Krystal?" Slippy asked.

"What was that…supposed to mean, really?" Krystal asked.

"Don't mind him," Falco said annoyed. "He's just thinking way too much today."

"You're the one to talk!" Slippy yelled. "Peppy, you tell 'em!"

"Everyone, get yourself together now!" Peppy yelled. "A city is being slowly eaten by the Aparoids, and we're not helping at all now!"

"Just to let you know, I'm being chased by some of them right now," Fox said. "Dammit! They're shooting at me!"

"Follow Fox's example!"

"Get chased by bug things?" Falco asked. "No thanks."

"I-I mean, go out and fight them off!"

"Finally!" Falco rolled his eyes.

As Fox managed to destroy the Aparoids with his Blaster, he decided to move farther into the city.

At the other side of the city...

A familiar group stepped out from a portal that later disappeared. Guess who now.

"O-okay," Chris said. "Soon enough, I'll meet the serious vulpine, and I'll have to act normal around him…"

"I wonder how he will react when sees you with Ness's clothes," Roy said. "If you're THAT worried, don't give him bad impressions."

"I actually like Ness's clothes, though," Chris said worried. "H-he'll have to get used to what I like."

"That aside," Mewtwo began. "Roy, don't get unfamiliar with the technology of this place.

As he said that, Roy pressed a random button from a close machine, and the machine exploded, engulfing the swordsman before he came out covered in smoke. "Oops…" he said.

"Is he…that naïve?" Pichu asked.

"Roy comes from an age where technology doesn't exist. Fortunately, he'll learn of his mistakes very soon," Mewtwo said frowning.

"I-I'm slowly learning myself!" Roy said embarrassed. "I'm getting the hand of this very quickly!"

"Just learn faster," Mewtwo said with another frown.

"Pichu, you know more about machines right?" Chris asked.

"Y-y-yes I do. Using constantly many items gave me knowledge about machines at the same time," Pichu replied. "Am I something?"

"(People would hate him for using too many items…)" Lucario thought.

"Y-yes, you are," Chris said. "And see the taxi over the distance?"

A "taxi" seemed to be speeding at them from the other side of the street.

"I don't think taxis have green crystals on top of them, though," Roy said.

"…It's because it's not a taxi!" Pichu yelled.

"Dodge it, now!" Mewtwo yelled. Everyone sidestepped away from the "taxi" which was an Aparoid. It turned around harshly before locking them with its senses.

"Can I destroy this machine?" Roy asked.

"If you forgot, it was going to kill us off!" Chris yelled.

"Aw Arceus, they're everywhere!" Pichu yelled with a groan. The 5 quickly backed away to each other as more Aparoids appeared from the ground and shrieked in unison.

"These aren't dangerous," Mewtwo said. "They can be defeated with a single weak hit."

"T-thank goodness…" Pichu sighed.

"But still, they're too many," Lucario said as he narrowed his eyes.

"We need to fight back!" Roy said.

"No," Lucario said. "We can always talk to them and persuade them to join us."

"Are you kidding us?" Pichu asked.

"Guess."

"Lucario, stop acting like that!" Chris yelled.

The Aparoids shrieked another time, and made all of them get prepared to defend themselves.

Meanwhile, an Arwing came flying above the fighting place.

"Let's see, where is a Jammer hiding?" Slippy looked outside the window to find the Jammers.

For some reason, he ignored one just at his opposite direction.

"Hmm, Aparoids...trees...an announcement for a line of machines (Ooh, I need to buy that!) an infected soldier...a building burning...5 mysterious guys fighting against a swarm of Aparoids...another tree...another building on fire...another infected soldie-" He did a double-take and blinked in confusion. "Wait, what did I say just now?" he asked to himself.

"Slippy! What are you talking about?" Peppy talked through the speaker. "You're getting away from the range of the city. Turn back around and come back!"

"Y-yes! But Peppy!"

"What is it?"

"I-I-"

"I heard you saying something, but I forgot. What were you saying? You were saying something about…before buildings?"

"That I saw an infected soldier?"

"No, before that!" Peppy yelled.

"...A building on fire!"

"No, before that!"

"...A line of machines?"

"No! 2 things after that!"

"5 mysterious guys fighting against a swarm of Aparoids?" Slippy blinked. "Right! That was it! Peppy, there were some guys fighting the Aparoids in the other side of the city! One looked like a big cat, another one was red-haired, there was a small rodent, a big blue dog, and a kid with an odd sense of fashion!"

"What?"

"D-don't mind what I said about the kid!"

"What?" Peppy checked the radar and he found 5 dots on it defeating the Aparoids. "Well, this is very weird, indeed… Why would the people in the city fight the Aparoids? Unless they have weaponry or they managed to get away from being affected… Fox! Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Fox asked.

"There are 5 people fighting the Aparoids on the east side of the city. Go there immediately before we get casualties. We must maintain any citizen alive," Peppy commanded.

"Roger… Wait, what again?" Fox asked.

"Just go there now!" Peppy yelled. "It'll be good if you go and see what's going on!"

"…Fine, I'll go," Fox said with a nod before he ran to the east.

As for the Smashers, it was very easy to defeat the Aparoids (then again, Chris knew they were weak with one hit, so he just simply swung his bat around).

"That was way too easy," Roy said. "They made me sweat, though. They were too many."

"And considering how they were moving, they were frantically trying to kill us all," Mewtwo said.

"Oh, really?" Pichu asked bored.

Mewtwo stared at Pichu, and the Pokémon gulped before he nodded.

"Chris here just hit them senseless," Roy said.

"H-hey! A-at least I did something!" Chris yelled.

Roy looked at Lucario, and the red-haired swordsman sweated after Lucario glared at him. "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean he's useless or anything…"

"Grrr....." Lucario showed his fangs for a moment.

"Lucario…" Chris said bored.

"Fine, but he should watch his mouth," Lucario said with a grunt.

"So what now?" Roy asked. "Where to?"

"Wait," Mewtwo said before he started to glow. "I'll use my power to see if there is something happening here."

"Besides the fact the whole city is being invaded by bugs?"

Mewtwo nodded. "We're in the public park, and no more of them will get here."

The group looked around. They didn't notice they reached the public park (just a bunch of trees).

"Let me see the surroundings of the whole city…" Mewtwo closed his eyes.

Chris stared at Mewtwo for a moment. "…"

"Is something wrong?" Mewtwo asked without looking at him.

Chris blinked shocked. "N-no. I-I was just thinking how useful you are."

"Why are you saying such a thing?"

"I-I mean, I don't want to offend you, but I thought you were evil from the beginning when I first looked at you."

"…I'm constantly being judged for my looks," Mewtwo said. "However, I assure you I'm peaceful like any other Pokémon out there. I won't regret to say that I once thought foolish, but dangerous things about humans."

"Oh, I see…" Chris said. "Sorry if I sounded rude."

"No, it's okay," Mewtwo said. "As long as I don't go much further into detail, it's fine. Hopefully this will clear your doubts about me, am I right?"

"I think so…"

"Take in mind I don't plan to be friends with anyone."

Chris just blinked and looked down. "I-I'm not asking you that…"

"True," Mewtwo said. "And let it stay like that. Also, be careful when you're around me because I could read your thoughts at any moment. I wouldn't want to get angry at you."

Chris gulped. "O-okay. I understand."

"Good."

The other 3 simply watched them. "That's Mewtwo for you," Roy said. "He's like that, always."

"He's the reason why I never fight nasty-looking opponents," Pichu said. "Like Fo-I mean, big Pokémon."

At that moment, Mewtwo opened his eyes. "It's clear now," he said.

"What is it, Mewtwo?" Roy asked.

"After exploring the city for a little while, I managed to find at least…10 Subspace Bombs around the perimeter of the whole city. They're at 60 minutes each, so we could try to find them and deactivate before they blow up."

"T-ten?!" Chris said shocked. "Oh please, this has to be a cruel nightmare!"

A big shadow rose from behind him.

"And besides, I don't think any of us can deactivate them with 10 bombs around and only 5 of us… I guess we should find help."

"Or in other words…" Lucario walked to his side and looked at the shadow's origin. "Him."

Chris noticed that the others were starting at the origin of the shadow. The teen gulped and frowned. "…Don't tell me…he's right behind us…"

With a sigh, he slowly turned around, and looked high up where a person watched them from the top of a building.

"(Remain there, remain there! I-I don't want to see that face!)" Chris thought. "(My god, I'm so pathetic…)

"Halt! Hands to the air!" the shadow yelled before the person jumped off from the building (and fell 18 feet without getting hurt whatsoever) and ran at them. "Who are you and what were you doing fighting the monsters just now? Answer me!"

Fox looked dead serious about the whole thing that he shot them with a glare.

And Chris was the first to faint and fall down on his back.

"…" Fox looked at Chris. "…You okay?"

Roy facepalmed. "Fox, no need to go police on us," Roy said.

The vulpine narrowed his eyes at them before he recognized the group. His glare slowly disappeared and he put his Blaster away. "Oh, it's you," Fox said. "Wait, how did you get here?" He looked at Lucario. "Who are you?" He looked down at Chris. "And why's he fainted?"

"Your face," Pichu muttered.

"What?"

"I-I mean, you freaked him out…I mean, you scared him."

"Well, I couldn't help it… Wait!" Fox shook his head. "How did you all get here in the first place? You didn't come out of nowhere, that's for sure. And you surely didn't come for the Aparoids, am I right?"

"(He's very clever about everything he asks,)" Lucario thought. "(So serious as well.)"

"Look, Fox, we can explain everything later," Mewtwo said. "For now, you have to accept our presences here for a time."

"…" Fox looked confused at the whole thing. "Okay… Thing is, I want to see if he's fine."

Chris shook his head and opened his eyes before sitting up. "Oh gosh, that was so embarrassing and…"

The teen looked up at Fox.

A small whimper sounded in his mind, but he shook the sound away. "H-hello!" Chris said, forcing a smile as he stood up. "I-I'm so sorry for fainting all of a sudden, but you just came out of nowhere!"

"…" Fox kept staring at him.

"(Oh no, I already gave him a bad impression… S-stop looking at me with that look!)" Chris pleaded in his mind.

"…"

"W-well, I-I'm glad to meet you. My name is Chris," Chris introduced himself. "This here is Lucario."

"…Hello," Lucario said confused.

"A-and sorry if I did something embarrassing, but I just got here and all that so I-" Chris noticed that Fox was still staring at him…

…With THAT face.

"…(Don't kill me,)" came as a thought of Chris.

"…" Fox closed his eyes and nodded.

The way he did it made Chris feel extremely uncomfortable.

"I see," Fox said. "Hey, Peppy, everyone, did you listen? We have some friends of mine down here who want to help."

"Hey, you guys!" Falco called from Fox's right arm's caller. "Long time no see. How have you been?"

"Why does Falco sound different?" Pichu asked.

"…Different?" Falco asked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm here, Fox," Peppy said.

"Peppy, did you listen?" Fox asked.

"Very clear. I'm sorry for being brief, but we should regroup again in the Great Fox," Peppy said. "We're in a dire situation right now."

"I guess we should do that for now," Krystal said. "We can leave the city for just some minutes to think about this again."

"Oh, are you guys friends of Fox and Falco?" Slippy asked. "I never had the opportunity to meet you in person."

"Fox, Falco, Slippy, Krystal, and everyone else, return to the Great Fox!" Peppy commanded. "Return quickly!"

"Roger!" the Star Fox team said while they nodded their heads.

"My god," Chris muttered. "They're very serious when they need to."

"What was that?" Fox asked.

"(S-stay calm.) I-I'm very surprised at your teamwork as a…team," Chris said sweating.

"We do things like this our way," Fox said. "Anyway, you guys follow me. I'll take you to the Great Fox shortly. And while there, don't touch anything."

"Um, why?" Pichu asked.

"I just want to make myself clear, that's all," Fox said.

"(He's saying that because he doesn't trust me or Lucario,)" Chris thought. "(I'm really going to have a hard time here…)"

Great Fox
Over Corneria city

Several minutes have passed ever since both teams met each other…or rather talked about the Smashers' reason behind their appearance.

"…And that's why we're here," Roy said. "We're here to stop some guys from blowing up some bombs around the city."

"Hmm, I see," Peppy said. "To be honest, there were 10 signals coming from different parts of the city that appeared plainly so suddenly," he explained. "I guess these are the bombs you speak of?"

"Y-yes," Chris said. "And we thought if we could ask you for your help."

"Here's your answer," Falco began as he crossed his legs on the chair. "Duh."

"Phew," Roy said. "I forgot why we were so nervous in the beginning."

"Thank you," Mewtwo said. "But unfortunately we lack the knowledge to deactivate the bombs ourselves. We don't have any clue about deactivating the Subspace Bombs."

"Oh, bombs?" Slippy asked. "This is the era where technology has advanced so far. Those bombs are no problem for me at all. Let me take a look at a picture of it and I'll have the device to deactivate them with a single touch."

"Look who's bluffing now," Falco said, looking away.

"Oh, quiet, Falco!" Slippy said annoyed.

"Then let us proceed with the briefing," Peppy said.

Mission briefing

"Um, here is a picture of how the bombs look like," Chris said as he handed a picture to Slippy.

"Hmm…amazing," Slippy remarked with a nod. "This bomb seems way too advanced…"

"So we can't deactivate them?" Falco asked. "Hurray."

"Oh no! Not quite!" Slippy said. "These bombs are very advanced, but they won't stand against my inventions!" He cleared his throat. "Alright, listen up." Slippy pointed at five Subspace Bombs located through the city by using the virtual map. "I've located 5 bombs spread in the east, west, north, south, and center of the city."

"Weren't there 10 bombs, though?" Roy asked.

"…Hey! What gives?" Falco began. "I was sure they were there a second ago!"

"Maybe…" Krystal wondered. "…They're probably trying to drop the remaining bombs if the first 5 are deactivated," Krystal said.

"But why?" Slippy asked.

"Simple," Fox said. "Think they're having the remaining 5 bombs as last resource. But when you think again, it seems very suspicious that they hid the other bombs so suddenly."

"We'll worry about that later," Peppy said.

"So, how are we supposed to deactivate the bombs, Slip?" Falco asked.

"Ask me anything, but I will always have my ways," Slippy said as an image of a device appeared on the screen. "I've been developing a bomb deactivator since the last month. Luckily, I've made many copies for emergency occasions. Guess what? This is one of them!"

"How do we use them?" Pichu asked.

" You only need to place them in any part of the bomb and it'll be deactivated the first moment it touches the bomb. Easy, isn't?" Slippy asked excited.

"Well, you're the genius here. Any machine created by you always comes in handy." Fox remarked.

Slippy scratched his cheek. "Geez, I'm blushing now…"

"By the way," Peppy began. "It seems they're preparing reinforcements as we speak."

"What?" Fox asked. "Show the image!"

"The Aparoids are creating a barrier of them along with the Primids to stop us!" Peppy said. The image showed both Aparoids and Primids swarming around the locations of the bombs around the city.

"Darn it, they were aware of us since the beginning," Roy said.

"Wait, aware?" Chris began. "I-I don't think this all happened just by coincidence…"

"…We're getting a signal from an unknown source," ROB 64 said.

"What signal?" Slippy asked.

"Beginning signal," he said.

Everyone looked at the screen, and there was someone clad in darkness with crossed arms, glowing red eyes, and a devilish glare. It was hard to tell the background where the mysterious figure was located. "Good evening, gentlemen…" The person looked at Krystal. "And woman," he said.

"Who the hell are you?"

"General L, you know," he said. "The same person the dog and the kid defeated some time ago."

"Y-you!" Chris yelled.

"Good to be known," he said sarcastically.

"You imbecile…" Lucario grunted. "What do you want now?"

"Nothing," L said. "I'm just here to tell you that I got word of your plans just now."

"Wait, you…hi-jacked the Great Fox? But how?" Slippy asked.

"The Subspace can do anything, should I say. I alerted the troops about your plans in secret while you were discussing," L said. "But that aside, I'm simply here to tell you that I'm going to come after you very soon."

"W-who exactly?" Chris asked.

"You know who," L said. "I'm going to enjoy our future fight. You better be ready for the bombs, though. That worthless scum you have there to help you will at least give you some help." He waved a hand to them. "Good luck…idiots."

"W-wait!" Chris yelled before he cut the communication link. "I-I didn't tell him about Riley…"

"You know that guy?" Falco asked.

"We met him some time ago, but we defeated him," Lucario said. "But he escaped before we could finish him."

"Don't worry about him," Chris said depressed. "Sooner or later we'll encounter him today…"

"…" Fox shook his head. "Forget about him for now. We have better things to do than wasting our time with someone who can't even show his own face."

"We need to hurry up, then. The bombs are at 15 minutes now." Peppy looked at the 9. "You have to form 4 teams to deactivate the bombs. I'll drop you in the center of the city so you can finish with the first bomb. Since there are only 9 of you on the ground, one will have to guard the sky."

"The sky is my place," Falco said, raising a hand. "I'm not too much of a ground fighter anyway."

"Fine, Falco. Fox, you'll decide the teams once you touch the ground and deactivate the first bomb," Peppy said. "I wish you all good luck."

"I'm ready to go," Lucario said.

"So do I," Falco said.

"Me too!" Slippy said.

"I won't say the negative here," Krystal said.

"Very well, then," Mewtwo said.

"I-I-I'm ready! …I think," Pichu said.

"I need to test my sword in the fight again," Roy said holding his sword.

"Okay," Fox made a fist in front of his face "Let's go, team!"

End of mission briefing

"…Wait," Fox looked around. "Someone's gone here."

Everyone looked around. "Chris was here just a moment ago. Did he go somewhere?" Roy asked.

"He doesn't know this place at all," Fox said. "He could get lost if he doesn't keep track of where he's going."

"Then will you go for him?" Peppy asked. "We need him now."

"Ugh, okay," Fox said mildly annoyed before he left them all.

"Meanwhile," Peppy began as he looked at everyone. "I'll direct you all to the center of the city. Get ready for this."

Most of them nodded in agreement.

Bathroom

A door with the label "Bathroom" was shown before a flushing sound came from behind it. It later opened and a relieved Chris came out. "I thought this place didn't have bathrooms," he said with a small smile. "For being such a ship for war, it has what a normal house has… Oh, right, I need to go with everyone…"

He was about to walk away, but then something stopped him.

"(Wait… I shouldn't have left them so suddenly… That could make someone I know suspicious about me for this little thing…)" He gulped. "(Please, PLEASE don't tell me he's coming for me…)"

Chris looked around.

"(ALONE…)" he thought with another gulp. "Okay… I need to go back…pretend I didn't go somewhere…stay focused in the main mission…and everything will be alright."

"Did you know you're such a bad liar?"

"I know…" Chris said as he looked at Fox, who was leaned against the steel wall with crossed arms and closed eyes. "But I must do this so you don't get a ba-FOX!!!" Chris yelled as he backed away in fear. "U-u-u-u-um, sorry for leaving so suddenly, but I had to go!" He sweated frantically, with his heart beating faster in pure horror.

"Yeah, I know," Fox said as he opened one eye at him. "I can tell by the odor."

"…" Chris blushed. "H-hey, that's way more embarrassing! I-I mean, what are you doing here? I-it's bad to spy people in the bathroom!"

"And it's bad to lie," Fox added. "And to act like someone else as well."

"…I'm sorry," Chris said. "I'll go back to the mission, sir…"

Chris lowered his arms down and walked depressed to the way he came from.

A heavy hand fell on his right shoulder. By the looks of his face, Chris was getting more frightened. "…Y-yes?" Chris asked.

"Why the hell are you acting like that around me?" Fox asked with a serious face. "Answer me."

"(OH GOD!!!)" Chris cried in his mind. He shyly turned around and put his hands close to his neck. He was seriously scared by Fox. "…I-it's because…"

"It's because?" Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…I think you're scary in person," Chris said in shame. "When I first knew I was going to come here, I remembered you living here and I…couldn't just stare at you directly because…you're scary in person."

"…" Fox made a confused look. "Oh, that?"

"Y-yes," Chris said. "This is so embarrassing…but I think you're scary with even a normal look… (Don't tell him about the game at all…)"

"Hmm…" Fox crossed his arms and stared at Chris. "Then stare at me. C'mon."

"(What?!) H-huh?"

"Stare at my face. I want you to keep staring at me and see if you do get scared by me."

Chris looked away. "B-but why?"

"If you're really scared by me, you need to get over that stupid fear," Fox said. "You better do it quick or else the city below will get destroyed…"

"…H-hmm…"

"Tell me something. You don't want me to hate you for a bad impression, right?"

"I-I guess not…" Chris said without looking at him. "J-just don't hate me…"

"Then do what I told you a second ago," Fox said. "Do it."

"…" Chris slowly turned around and stared directly at Fox's face. He then stared directly at his eyes. "…"

"And no, I don't roll that way," Fox said.

Chris sweatdropped. "I-I didn't think that at all!"

"Remain silent," Fox said. "Don't stop there."

"(Oh goodness, is this my own version of the Test of Fear? I hated that part so much…and this one as well,)" Chris thought before he gulped. "I can do this…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Fox blinked one time and he smiled a little to Chris.

"!!!" Chris blinked shocked but he…smiled back to him. However, he blushed embarrassed and looked away, smile intact. "U-um, wow…"

"How are you feeling?" Fox asked, still smiling.

"I-I don't know what just happened," Chris said before he looked at him. "W-when you smiled all of a sudden, I-I just smiled back at you. I mean, what was that you just did to me?"

"Oh, come now," Fox said with a frown. "I made your useless fear of me disappear. Are you feeling well now that you can keep a straight face to me?"

Chris stopped smiling and he looked at Fox. "…I do. I can't believe it, I do!"

Fox nodded and smiled a little with a chuckle. For some reason, Chris smiled a little and chuckled as well with the vulpine.

"My god, that was fun…" Chris said with a chuckle. "A-and I don't know why I was scared of you either. I laugh at that whenever I remember it! How did you do that, really?"

"Good," Fox said. "Now that you're good, let's go."

"W-wait!" Chris stopped him. "Really, how did you do that to me?"

"It was just random," Fox said confused. "I…kind of thought of that out of the blue."

"…Oh," came as a response. "Well, that worked pretty well… Weird."

"Heheheh, let's go, then." Fox motioned to him.

"…" Chris blushed. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uneasy with me around."

"It was okay," Fox said. "Just don't lie…and faint when I walk to you, for crying out loud."

"I-I told you I got scared! You appeared out of nowhere!"

Fox began to laugh as they walked back.

"Y-you stop laughing at me now!" Chris yelled annoyed. "Ugh! I knew there was something devious with you! That face, I knew it had it! And stop laughing now! Fox, do you hear me? Stop laughing!"

Corneria

Center of the city

After everything was planned, the team landed just in the center of the city. Falco was already taking down many enemy ships in the air. Slippy gave them each the Bomb Deactivators (named after Slippy). Since the bomb was just in the center, Slippy tried it out first, and surprisingly, the bomb stopped.

Just then, Chris and Fox came to them.

"Finally. What took you 2 so long?" Roy asked.

"I-" Chris got interrupted.

"He was busy in the bathroom," Fox said. "Very busy."

"(You little…) Sorry," Chris said annoyed.

The teen looked at the Subspace Bombs, where 2 different robots were staring at the bomb. Chris remembered the last robots he last saw being obliterated by Zapdos. He looked down in shame before he shook the thought away.

"Alright," Fox began. "Here are the teams."

Team 1:

Fox and Krystal

North Bomb

Team 2:

Roy and Slippy

West Bomb

Team 3:

Pichu and Mewtwo

East Bomb

Team 4:

Chris and Lucario

South Bomb

"Any objections?" Fox asked.

It was revenge for Chris by Fox's teasing. "Oh, how weird. Krystal ended up with you."

Bless Chris for knowing about Fox's shy side for Krystal...a bad romance in the future.

A small chuckle came from Krystal, who seemed amused by this. Fox looked away and avoided them from seeing him blushing a little. "Y-yeah, weird," he said. "(Wait, how does he know about that anyway?)"

"By the way," Pichu began as he looked up at Slippy. "Please, watch out for Roy."

"What's so bad about him?" Slippy asked.

Just then, Roy was near another machine. "Hey, I think I can do this now. Let me see if I can turn this machine on!" he said and pressed another button, exploding in the process like the last one, and engulfing him in the process. "…I have a long way to go…" Roy said as he came out from the smoke he created by accident.

Slippy smiled…worried at this. "...Can we change members please?" Slippy turned his back and he didn't see anyone. They all just left them at that moment. "…Oh, thank you so much, you guys!" he yelled annoyed.

Roy walked to him. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Roy grabbed Slippy by the hand and they ran to the west. Slippy sweatdropped about what Roy was going to do.

A mechanical genius was paired up with a complete clueless idiot about machines…or at least he thought.

Preview of the next chapter

"This is Fox."

"And this is Chris."

Fox looked at Chris. "…Wait, when did you get a scouter, a jacket, and that blaster?"

"In the next chapter. Lucario also got the same job as me."

"Job? …That doesn't matter. Take it off."

"What? You want me…forget it. I'm keeping these clothes."

"I've said stop using them!"

"No!" Chris yelled. "What's so bad? I actually like the way you dress!"

"Grr!"

"Teaming Up With Thugs is the next chapter… Um, Fox? Why are you glaring at me? …Y-you can lower your right fist now… N-no! Don't hit me where the scouter is! F-Fox, you're really getting furious now. Y-you're scaring me, Fox! I-I BEG YOU, DON'T HIT ME! AAAAAAAAAH!!!"

If I do say so myself, this version came better than the last one. I hope you liked it as I did. :)

Read and review, please.
*Chapter 22*: Teaming Up With Thugs

Alright! Longest chapter yet! As I've said before, there are a lot of things going on this chapter, enjoy it and read and review!

Chapter 22: The five remaining bombs! VS a not Primid general!

Corneria
North side

Star Fox: Space Armada

As Fox and Krystal continued their way to the north with the Bomb Deactivator in hands, a horde of Primids and Aparoids surrounded them, however, Krystal was already prepared with a Gatling Gun, Fox, who was astonished by this, watched how Krystal was wiping out all of them.

"Krystal, when did you got that Gatling Gun?" Fox asked.

"I always search for weapons laying around Fox, not like you, who always use a Blaster." Krystal said, Fox looked at his Blaster and he shook in embarrasment.

With just one shot, any Aparoid or Primid were instantly killed (never underestimate the power of a Gatling Gun!) And much for Fox's dismay, Krystal's Gatling Gun was full of shots, leaving the leader of the Star Fox team in shame. Nevertheless, Fox was taking out some of them from afar with fully charged shots.

While they were shooting with their guns, Fox approached to Krystal "So, Krystal...I've been wondering..."

"Yeah?" Krystal asked.

"When all of this war is over..."

"I'm hearing."

"Well..." Fox blushed little, somehow, the talk with Tricky in Sauria gave Fox the sudden urge to ask Krystal for a...date.

"Why are you blushing Fox?" Krystal asked, she eliminated 4 Aparoids in the process.

"Can we...go out for a date when we get rid of the Aparoids?"

When Krystal listened to this, her eyes widened a lot, she blushed a little in the process like Fox too, did Fox just asked for date...a moment ago?

"Sorry, but I think I heard you wrong, did just you asked me for a date?" Krystal asked, waiting for Fox's reply.

"If we...can go...for a date...when all this war is over?" Fox replied. Krystal was left without words of what to say.

"Um...I'll think of that later..." She said, running to the north in a hurry.

Fox sighed and placed his hand in his forehead "You're an idiot Fox...asking her that in a time like this...why I didn't asked her in the Great Fox then?" He shook his head and followed Krystal. Their objective was just above a building which was guarded by many Primids and Aparoids again.

Corneria
East side

"They're attacking from above, Pichu, use Thunder on them." Mewtwo commanded.

"But...I don't thin-"

"GO!" Mewtwo threw Pichu through the air with his psychic powers, somehow, Pichu knew what was Mewtwo's plan, he casted a Thunder above the flying Aparoids, which destroyed them and missed Pichu from hitting him.

"Good, you knew what I was thinking." Mewtwo said, Pichu stood up and he smiled, just then, 2 Primids were behind Mewtwo and Pichu gasped.

"Look out behind you!" Pichu shouted.

Mewtwo just grinned and he turned his back quickly, then he somehow sliced them down with his hands "Hmph, I knew using Psycho Cut to change my 3 attack combo was a good idea."

Mewtwo's normal 3 combo attacks were changed for a variation of the move Psycho Cut, when he moves his hands in a diagonal position, he can cast a pink slice in from of him to harm his enemies, good idea, isn't?

"Look! The bomb is between those buildings!" Pichu pointed at the Subspace Bomb hiding between 4 buildings, as soon as he located the bomb, more Aparoids and Primids appeared from nowhere surrounding the bomb. Pichu just sighed and he closed his eyes and ran after them.

"At least he is getting braver now," Mewtwo muttered to himself, then he saw both alien races surrounding him, then he grinned again "Bring it!" He started to glow as the Primids and Aparoids lunged at him.

Corneria
South side

"There is no end to these things!" Chris said, he was tiring himself out of using PK Flash over and over again, he learned PSI Magnet in the process, but it wouldn't help too much.

"Stay behind me!" Lucario shouted running away from the Aparoids and Primids so Chris could hid behind him, Chris managed to hid behind him and started to think about something.

"No...this is not going to work...minus the Swordsman job...ugh, I need a new job!" Chris was searching in the menu for a job that would help him in this battle, he closed his eyes and suddenly, him and Lucario glowed for a moment and stopped "Huh? This one wasn't here before..."

Space Mercenary

With the Space Mercenary as your job, it will give you the neccessary knowledge to use high tech machines as your weapons, use your Blaster to defeat foes from afar and near and also use a wide variety of weapons in your arsenal!

As soon as Chris saw the new job at his disposal, he pressed it and his appearance changed, he gained a green scouter in his right eye, a Blaster with a belt and a gray jacket with 2 pockets of each side.

"Wow...this job is by far my favorite..." He took out his Blaster "And look, I even have this Blaster!" He tried it out with some Primids far away from him, with some shots they were defeated.

"Did you see that Lucar-" When Chris turned his head to see Lucario, Lucario was already different too, he got the same things Chris got too, but he didn't used his Blaster at all "That Blaster is a waste of time for you right?"

Lucario nodded and he ran towards the south side, Chris just frowned and he went with Lucario with his already charged Blaster of his left hand.

"I wonder how are Slippy and Roy though..." Chris muttered to himself.

Corneria
West side

"For the last time, don't touch that butto-NO!" Slippy shouted as Roy pressed another random button from a machine, exploding again in the process, Roy wasn't even paying attention to Slippy at all, sure, it was easy for him to defeat the Primids and Aparoids, but listening to Slippy with his curiosity at the highest level was impossible "How are you standing up like that after the 8th explosion anyway?" Slippy asked confused.

"Um...because I have this armor perhaps?" Roy pointed at his armor.

"...Ok...right...I knew it all along..."

"Look!" Roy pointed at another horde of Primids and Aparoids coming at them, Slippy, however, had everything already finished, he set mines in the way of the 2 races, when they were just above the mines, Slippy pressed a button and the mines exploded, making the Aparoids and Primids being defeated by Slippy's mines.

"Hahahaha! I'm not that stupid!" Slippy remarked, when he turned around to see Roy, he saw him more black than before "...But how did you turned black again if you've already pressed ALL THE MACHINES IN THE WAY?"

"I was...standing above those mines things" Roy replied, Slippy placed his hand in his forehead and he frowned.

"Ugh, you know what? Stay away from any machine and you'll be fine ok?"

Roy thought for a moment and he nodded, Slippy ran to the west and he found the bomb below some trees, then another horde of Primids and Aparoids appeared from nowhere.

"Falco! We need your help here!" Slippy shouted to the sky with his speaker, just then Falco appeared from the north and he fired many shots at the enemies, eliminating half of them, then he flew away again, giving a thumbs up to Slippy.

"HIIIIIYAH!" Roy shouted using the fire of his sword, sending many Aparoids away from him. Slippy just kept firing many shots using his blaster and, oddly, cheering happily as he did.

Corneria
North side

"This is Fox and Krystal, the north bomb was deactivated." Fox said to Peppy with his speaker.

Corneria
East side

"(This bomb was also deactivated.)" Mewtwo said telepathically to Peppy.

Corneria
South side

"This is Chris and Lucario, the south bomb was deactivated too!" Said Chris with his new speaker to Peppy, Peppy made a confused face about why Chris was using a speaker.

Corneria
West side

"Slippy here! The west bomb was deactivated with success!" Slippy said happily with his speaker.

"Well done everyone, now let's wait for the other bombs." Peppy said to everyone.

A few moments later...

Many ships came from nowhere in the sky holding the Subspace Bombs, every ship flew towards every point above everyone's current location.

Corneria
South side

"Here it comes Lucario...be ready..." Chris wispered to Lucario, the bomb was approaching to them, but something unexpected happened, the ship didn't dropped the bomb and it flew away from them "Huh? Why he didn't dropped the bomb?"

"Guys! They're not dropping the bombs!" Slippy said in the speaker.

"I know, it just came flying above us without dropping the bomb too." Fox said in the speaker.

"Wait, I know what are they doing." Peppy said.

"What?" Mewtwo asked.

"They're not dropping the bombs to the ground because they are going to detonate them in the air so we can't reach them!" Peppy yelled, almost everyone gasped when they realised their plan.

"What are we going to do then?" Chris asked.

"Fox, Slippy, and Krystal, go to your Arwings and prepare to chase them in the air, everyone else must board the wing of any Arwing, when you're able to reach the bombs, put the deactivators on them, be careful if the Aparoid on the air start to attack, you must eliminate them at all costs!" Peppy commanded.

"Got it!", "Understood!", "Ok!" Many voices said at the same time.

Corneria
Center

They quickly gathered again, Krystal boarded her Arwing and Pichu hopped in her wing (because Mewtwo threw him at the wind, even if Pichu didn't wanted in the first place) and then he floated to the other wing, Slippy boarded his Arwing and Roy hopped in his wing, both Arwings took off, but Fox was looking for his Arwing along with Chris and Lucario.

"Peppy, where is my Arwing?" Fox asked.

"Oh, right, I forgot, your Arwing is on the top of a building very close to you, is at the northeast of your current location." Peppy answered, Fox looked at the top of a red building with his Arwing on the top.

"Follow me guys." Fox said to Chris and Lucario, both nodded and followed Fox to the building.

After running without stopping because Aparoids (the Primids weren't there anymore) were in the way, they found the Arwing just in front of them.

"Alright, now jump to the wings of-" Fox was interrupted, many Aparoids came crawling from the walls around them, they destroyed Fox's Arwing in the process and he cursed to himself "Darn it! We're surrounded!" Fox said, just as the Aparoids were very close to them, Fox heard a ship coming to them "DUCK FOR COVER!" He shouted, Chris and Lucario ducked and the mysterious ship started to fire lasers at the Aparoids, destroying them and saving the 3.

"Hmph, Fox, you've grown careless as I see." A familiar voice said from the mysterious ship who was landing in front of them.

"Wolf!" Fox revealed the voice. Chris and Lucario sweatdropped after hearing the previous Primid commander.

"So? You wanna destroy those things or what? Jump to my wing." Wolf commanded, Fox jumped to the left wing of Wolf's Wolfen...and Chris and Lucario jumped to the right wind "Hey, I didn't told you 2!...Wait a minute..." Wolf examined his new "guests" for his right wing, both of them were sweating when Wolf was glancing on them.

"I-i-i-it's something wrong sir?" Chris asked sweating.

"I don't know why...but I think I've seen you 2 before...but I don't know when I did..."

"No! We've never met before!"

"I think we did..."

"Errhm...just forget it and fly this thing!"

"Hey! You don't order me around kid!"

"Kid, kid, kid, you don't know anything else besides that don't you?"

"What the heck are talking about?"

"Forget it now please! We have to destroy the Aparoids now!" Chris yelled angrily, Wolf just cursed under his breath to himself and he flew his Wolfen in the air...forgetting why he didn't dropped Chris and Lucario in the first place.

Corneria
Above the city

Star Wolf (Assault)

"Slippy! There is a bomb close to your location, chase after it!" Peppy commanded.

"Got it Peppy, Roy, prepare to touch the bomb with the deactivator!" Slippy said. Roy took out the Bomb Deactivator and Slippy accelerated to the closest ship with the bomb. The ship wasn't trying to get away actually, and Roy installed the device with a simple touch and the bomb stopped his countdown.

"Alright! One is down, 4 more to go!" Both Slippy and Roy said at the same time, they looked at each other and laughed for a bit.

"Heh, these enemies aren't worth to be killed by me." A chameleon said to Wolf and everyone else.

"Stop showing off Leon, this is not the time for doing that." Wolf said.

"Ugh, you party pooper..." Leon replied.

"A bomb is close to you Krystal!" Peppy said to Krystal.

"I know what to do." Krystal stated, the next bomb was flying above her and she chased after it.

"Fly higher, he is getting away!" Pichu said.

"I can't catch up with him, he is way too high!"

"In that case...Pichu, grab the deactivator." Mewtwo ordered to Pichu, the electric mouse took the device in his hands.

"Now what Mewtwo?" When Pichu asked that, Mewtwo used his psychic powers to lift Pichu from the wing and he threw him at the ship with the bomb, Pichu saw the opportunity and he touched the bomb with the deactivator, stopping the countdown by doing so, Pichu was screaming when he saw the ground far away from him.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He shouted, when he was in half-way, an Arwing got him, the pilot of that Arwing was Falco himself.

"Hey Pichu, open your eyes, you're fine" The blue falcon exclaimed, Pichu opened his eyes and he sighed in relief.

"Thank you Falco!" He thanked Falco with a smile "...Say, are you taller than before?"

"Huh?" Falco replied confused.

"Fox, there are 2 bombs close to you, Wolf, chase it!" Peppy commanded.

"I don't receive orders from a har-"

"JUST DO IT!" Fox, Chris and Lucario said at the same time, Wolf gritted his teeth (or fangs) and he chased the 2 ships.

"They're getting away from us! Accelerate!" Chris said.

"It's the maximum velocity, I can't accelerate!" Wolf stated, just then, another Wolfen came at the right of Wolf's Wolfen, that Wolfen had roses as marking in his sides, and it fired several lasers at the ship with the bomb, making the ship to come down enough for Chris to touch it with the deactivator, stopping the countdown.

"Thanks for your help, who are you?" Chris asked the pilot of the other Wolfen.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Panther Caroso... and all who see my rose meet death!" The pilot of the third Wolfen, Panther, introduced himself.

"But you didn't killed the ship..." Chris pointed out.

"You know what I mean." Panther said rolling his eyes.

"The ninth ship it's just close to us, we have to place the deactivator now!" Fox said.

"Then I'm going to accelerate this time, hold on!" Wolf said accelerating this time.

"Wait, you just said a moment ago you couldn't accelerate and you can now?" Chris asked confused.

"At least do you think why I didn't accelerated? It was because I don't wanted blames if you 3 would fall to the ground below at this height!"

"Oh...then you're worring about us right?"

"Not a chance kid-"

And again, Wolf said to Chris "Kid" which made Chris a little angry after hearing this. The next ship was very close to them, but it accelerated too.

"He is getting away from us!" Fox exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to accelerate this time, think about something and fast!" Wolf said.

"Let's see..." Chris looked at a particular black hand to his right "Lucario, can yo-"

Lucario already knew what was Chris's plan, he took the deactivator from Chris's hand and he threw it at the ship, installing the device in the process and stopping the countdown too.

"Good job Lucario!" Chris smiled at Lucario, and he gave him a little smile.

"Where is the next bomb?" Slippy asked to Peppy.

"Hmm...there is not another bomb on the radar...this is strange..."

"Wait, what is that sound?" Pichu heard a sound coming from far away.

"I don't know, but I can hear it too" Falco said.

"It sounds like a big ship for battle in the air." Slippy pointed out.

"It's coming closer to us!" Roy said.

"The sound is coming from the west!" Leon said.

"Wait, I know that silhouette!" Peppy stated, then he saw a purple ship coming close to Wolf, Fox, Chris and Lucario.

Boss Battle Song 1

"Ugh...Star Fox...everyone...I let my guard down...they took my body..." A voice inside the purple ship said, it was a person with a dog face and clothed in red general clothes, he was somehow embedded to the machine.

"General Pepper!!" Fox, Falco, Slippy, Krystal and Peppy shouted at the same time, revealing the person inside the purple ship.

"God...he is embedded to the ship..." Chris said, he looked at the appearance of the ship, it was big, a green crystal was on the top of it with purple crystals surrounding it, the ship was a big machine for both hand to hand combat equipped with razor blades is his arms, he was also equipped with long range weapons like missiles, beams and bombs. But when Chris saw the back of the ship, there was a Subspace Bomb attached to it!

"There is the bomb attached to the back of the ship!" Chris pointed at the bomb "We need to place the deactivator to it before 3 minutes!"

"It's not use! If we install the deactivator, the ship will explode with General Pepper!" Peppy said "We have no choice but to defeat it!"

"But...we can't harm the General!" Falco said angrily.

"Don't hesitate in shooting me...just destroy this thing!" General Pepper commanded.

Fox closed his eyes, he didn't thought about fighting General Pepper in this situation, but Wolf spoke to him "You knew this moment was going to happen anyway, prepare!"

"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!" Fox yelled and then the ship was coming right at them.

"Shoot the green crystal on the top, it's his weakness Fox!" Krystal said.

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere on it!" Chris commanded and Lucario nodded, he charged up an Aura Sphere and he started to shoot the crystal, Chris started to shoot too with his Blaster and Fox was using a Machine Gun.

"Darn it, his shield is too thick and we're doing little damage!" Fox said.

"Look out! He is close to you 4!" Slippy said, the ship was ready to attack them with his razor blades, Fox and Chris defended the ship with bullets and charged shots, Lucario was punching and kicking the ship to push it away from the Wolfen, it worked and the purple ship flipped back, but regained the composture and he started to get away.

"What is he doing now?" Chris asked, just then, the purple ship fired around 30 missiles, they stopped in mid-air and they aimed right the Wolfen, following it behind.

"We need some help here guys!" Fox said, Falco came from behind and shooted down half of them, Lucario was firing tiny Aura Spheres, but they were enough to destroy the missiles, Panther came from the left side and he finished the rest of the missiles.

"I've never expected to fight all of you..." General Pepper said.

"This is horrible, we need to save him quick!" Krystal stated.

"Don't worry about the general Krystal my dear, he is a dog hard to beat." Panther said (or flirted) to Krystal, she ignored him though.

"Look out! He is taking out triangle shaped lasers!" Wolf said "Destroy them before they fire at us!"

Krystal flew just behind the weapons floating in the air, she started to shoot them along with Shadow Balls coming from Mewtwo, they finished them in time.

"He is getting weaker Fox! Don't stop now!" Peppy said. The life meter of the machine was almost at the bottom.

"Not again, he is approaching to the Wolfen!" Fox said, this time however, the purple ship sliced the Wolfen with both razor blades, the Wolfen trembled a little and Chris was slipping from the wing, but when he was about to fall, Lucario grabbed him and pulled him back to the wing.

"Phew, thanks Lucario!" Chris thanked his Aura Pokémon.

"General Pepper..." Slippy said worried about General Pepper.

"Alright Fox, it's time to beat that thing once and for all!" Wolf stated, Fox nodded and he changed his Machine Gun for a Sniper Rifle, then he remembered the Jammers!

"We forgot about the Jammers!" Fox said.

"Those eye floating things you say?" Panther asked "They're gone, Leon and me took our time to take them down, be thankful to me or else."

"Thanks Panther." Krystal said.

"Oh Krystal my dear, you're finally admitting the love you feel for me?" Panther asked quite excited.

"Please, don't ruin it." Krystal frowned.

"Grr, fine."

"One last shot Fox! You can do it, just aim the crystal!" Chris said.

Fox carefully aimed to the green crystal on the top, he was being careful to not shoot General Pepper instead since the ship was moving a lot, he narrowed his eyes for the exact moment to shoot, if he failed, he could kill General Pepper in one shot, but if he succeeded, General Pepper would be fine to live.

"Quick, Fox!" Wolf snapped Fox out of his thoughts.

"NOW!" Fox shouted, he fired the bullet to the crystal, it was a success, the crystal was destroyed by the bullet and the ship was running out of energy, Fox did it, he saved General Pepper along with his friends.

"Um, one question, who is going to catch the ship now?" Slippy asked, when everybody noticed, they were far away from the purple ship, it was coming down to the ground slowly and nobody was able to reach it at time.

"GENERAL PEPPER!!" Another Arwing came from the sky, the pilot of that Arwing was Peppy!

"Peppy!" Everyone shouted in astonishment, Peppy flew his Arwing fastly just below General Pepper's ship, he catched the ship in time but Peppy crashed in a street along with the Arwing, General Pepper and his ship.

"It's...he alright?" Roy asked worried, everybody landed on the ground (except for Leon and Panther) and they went towards the smoke of the crashing site, there was a lot of smoke and nothing could be seen if nobody entered the smoke first, but eventually, the smoke cleared out and Peppy along with General Pepper were fine.

"Peppy...you almost lost your life because of me..." General Pepper said.

"Heh, I think I'm not going to retire after this." Peppy replied back.

"They are fine! Everything went well!" Slippy said excited.

"Whoa, that was an amazing stunt back there Peppy!" Falco pointed out.

"Nobody is dead! I'm glad!" Pichu said jumping and smiling.

"That hare knows how to make an scene." Mewtwo said.

"Finally, Corneria is safe for now." Krystal said.

"We have to deactivate the bomb first!" Chris said, he went behind General Pepper's ship with Lucario and he installed the Bomb Deactivator in the bomb, and the countdown stopped "There, mission complete!"

"Now we need to call the Ambulance so they can take General Pepper to recovery." Lucario said. Chris nodded and he went to Slippy to call the ambulances.

"Hey, where is Fox?" Chris asked.

"He is in the center of the city with Wolf, I saw them heading there." Roy pointed at the center of the city.

Preview of the next chapter

"This is Fox."

"This is Beltino."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh Fox, sorry to interrupt this moment, but I need your help right now."

"Sure, but you need to wait for the next chapter."

"Next chapter? Are you going to listen to me?"

"In the next chapter."

"You mean, the name of the next chapter is this? War above Corneria! General L's counterattack!?"

"Yep, that is the title."

"I'm glad to be of help."

What will happen in the next chapter? Is the title of the next chapter probably hinting something? Read and review please!
*Chapter 23*: Outside, Inside, And Within Darkness

Insert here the same thing I always say in previous chapters, by the way, be careful on your stories, you must check your documents twice before posting them because when you're trying to add a line like the one below this text, it doesn't appears until you add it again after clicking the "Save changes" button, and sometimes some words in your chapters will be repeated twice too and the bolded letters can be transfered to another location and when you wrote anything in italic, it will be overwritted like normal writing, anyway, enjoy this chapter and read and review!

Chapter 23: War above Corneria! General L's counterattack!

Corneria
Center

The Wolfen of Wolf flew away as Fox was thinking about a conversation he and Wolf had just a moment ago.

"When the time comes, just act..." He kept saying the same thing Wolf told him about to himself.

"Hey Fox! We need to return to the Great Fox!"

"Huh? Chris?"

"It's something wrong? Where is Wolf?"

"He just left a minute ago."

"Oh," Chris scratched his forehead "He's always like that."

"You know about Wolf, Chris?" Fox asked.

"Very little," Chris remembered all the fights he had againts Wolf in his mind "Really, nothing else."

"Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Do you think...Krystal loves me?"

Chris raised an eyebrow, he wasn't too good about romance, but he knew clearly that Fox was in love with Krystal since he saw the ending of Star Fox: Adventures. It was love at first sight!

"Maybe...very possible in my opinion."

"Thanks, I wanted to ask it to anyone who would keep it as a secret, this is only between you and me ok?"

Chris smiled to Fox "My mouth it's shut for this secret."

"Let's return to the Great Fox then." Fox walked away behind Chris, then Lucario came in front of Fox and he walked to Chris.

"Did I missed something Chris?" Lucario asked.

"Why do you ask?" Chris asked.

"I saw Fox smiling and his eyes were closed."

Chris chuckled a bit "Nothing, let's return to the Great Fox." Lucario didn't talked for a moment, then he nodded, Lucario and Chris headed to the Great Fox after the little event between Chris and Fox.

Great Fox
Command Room

"This mission was a total success." Roy said.

"I was sweating a lot back then." Chris said.

"Who would think we were going to fight General Pepper like that..." Falco said.

"At least he is alright now, thanks to us!" Pichu said.

"Incoming transmission from Orbital Gate's Station." ROB said, he was tipping over a keyboard and he called the virtual screen in front of everyone.

Mission briefing

"Hello everybody, this is Beltino." A green toad appeared on the screen, he was slightly the same as Slippy's appearance, because he is his dad.

"What now dad?" Slippy asked.

"I have a very important announcement to make," A object appeared on the screen "We have discovered that the Aparoids are weak againts Apaptosis."

"Apaptosis?"

"Indeed, we're currently finishing the device to destroy the Aparoids, but the motive for my call is, the Aparoids are coming to the Orbital Gate to destroy the device and the gate!"

"And you need our help to defend the gate right?" Chris asked, Beltino notices Chris, Lucario, Roy, Pichu and Mewtwo in the command room.

"I see you got new members for the team huh Fox?" Beltino asked moving his glasses.

"Yeah, they are a lot of help." Fox remarked.

"That's great, because we have another problem in hands," Another screen appears in the virtual screen and it shows the image of a Primid "There are reports of these strange creatures coming from nowhere inside the station, we need security from outside and inside."

"Primids..." Lucario said.

"Primids you say? Well, they kinda look different from the Aparoids since they doesn't resembles bug forms like the Aparoids does, anyway, would all of you help us while we finish the device?"

"Of course dad! What do you say Fox?" Slippy asked.

"I say let's do it!" Fox said making a fist.

"The work is never away from us, heh." Falco said chuckling a bit.

"I'm ready to go!" Chris said excited.

"It's settled, we're going to the Orbital Gate." Peppy said.

"I thank all of you for your help, be prepared." Beltino left the screen.

"ROB, command the Great Fox to the Orbital Gate." Fox said.

"Commanding next destination, Orbital Gate." ROB said. The Great Fox turned slowly to the space as the ship started to fly to the Orbital Gate.

End of mission briefing

2 hours later...

Orbital Gate

"This is Chris, Lucario, Roy, Pichu and Mewtwo, we're in." Chris said to his speaker. They were inside the station of the Orbital Gate.

"Got it Chris, wait until they appear." Fox commanded.

Several minuted passed, there was an entire army waiting outside the station to fight the Aparoids along with Fox an his team, Chris and the others were inside the station to fight againts the Primids.

Star Fox: Space Armada

"...They are here!" Slippy said, a huge horde of Aparoids ships came from strange purple vortexes, everyone started to shoot them as a big war in the Orbital Gate was unleashed, inside the station, Primids were appearing all around.

"Attack!" Roy yelled as he started to run after some Bytans.

"We should disperse since the station is big." Chris said.

"But, what if something happens to you?" Lucario asked.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Chris ran away from the quartet, Lucario felt a little worried of what could happen to Chris if he wasn't around.

"Look behind you!" Mewtwo shouted to Lucario, a Shaydas was about to slice Lucario, but Pichu tackled him and used thunder, defeating it.

"Thanks Pichu." Lucario thanked Pichu.

"Yeah...nothing is hard for me..." Pichu replied, being hit by his own thunder made him dizzy. After a moment, the remaining quartet separated and each went to different ways.

"Darn it, I have enemies on my tail!" Falco was being chased by 3 ships who were shooting at him, Fox came from behind and he shot them down, saving Falco "Thanks for the help Fox!" The blue falcon replied.

"Chris, how is everything going inside?" Fox asked through his speaker to Chris.

"There are too many Primids appearing, but they're not so tough to beat," Chris said, he saw Mites coming at him "I'm busy right now. I have to defeat 3 year old's poor drawings!"

"Be careful...wait, what?"

"Fox, I've got enemies on my tail!" Krystal shouted from afar through her speaker. Since it was Krystal, Fox went fast to save her.

As Chris was struggling his way inside the station, a big horde of Fire Primids came from nowhere, they all rubbed their stomachs before they started to shoot fire from their mouths, for Chris's luck, he learned to use the reflector, he was surrounded by a diagonal shaped figure and all the flames were returned to every single Fire Primid, they disappeared after that.

"Finally, things are starting to get better for me." Chris muttered to himself.

As soon as he turned his back, he saw a trio of Floows ready to attack him (those enemies are really annoying to me), he couldn't retaliate because they screamed their attacks at him, he was damaged badly and he crashed into the wall.

"You...bunch of...bullies..." Chris said under his breath.

They floated over to Chris, they began to finish their attack, Chris closed his eyes ready to be killed, until he heard a flurry of punchs and kicks, he opened his eyes and the Floows were gone.

"What happened?" He asked to no one.

"They're gone." A voice said, Chris saw a familiar blue tail in front of him and he saw Lucario standing, stretching his hand so Chris could get up.

"Wait, you didn't listened to my order?" Chris asked angrily.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't leave you in times like this."

Chris sighed, then after a moment he smiled "What I'm complaining for? You saved me from those things, and I should be grateful for your help," He rubbed Lucario's head "Thank you." Lucario closed his eyes and he smiled, probably because he felt Chris's hand so comfortable over his head.

After a moment, they ran further in the station, Fox and company outside were killing many Aparoids, they were gaining the upper hand of the battle.

"Do your best team!" Beltino said to everyone.

"Wait...what is that thing?" Falco asked, he saw a big purple vortex forming far away from the station, and from it, a big green missile came aiming at the station.

"Missile approaching, it is targetting the gate." ROB said.

"They're trying to blow up the gate with that missile! Fox, you must destroy that missile!" Peppy said.

"Got it Peppy, Falco, give me a hand!" Fox said.

"Alright Fox, let's go!" Falco said heading towards the missile.

"Hmph, come on, at least give me a challenge." Mewtwo said, he was killing many Roaders, he was having no difficult whatsoever "I've said, give me a challenge!"

"Then a challenge you will have..."

"Who is there?" After Mewtwo turned his back, a big hit could be heard around the station.

"Mewtwo! Are you alright? Mewtwo, answer me!" Chris asked worried through his speaker, he didn't heard anything, only footsteps, but not normal footsteps, big footsteps "Something bad happened to Mewtwo!"

"I'm on my way!" Roy ran to the area Mewtwo was, when he reached the half of his way, another big hit was produced.

"Roy!" Chris shouted, he was getting more worried about Roy and Mewtwo, what was happening inside the station?

"I-I-I'm going there now!...AAAAHHHHH!!"

"Pichu! Stay alive! What happened?!" Chris now was scared, Mewtwo, Roy and even Pichu were missing "Lucario, we must go there and save them!"

Chris and Lucario ran to the center of the station, they knew their unknown enemy was going there since their plan was to eliminate the device to destroy the Aparoids, they hid behind a corner, after a minute, the floor was shaking a little.

"I guess our enemy is big." Chris stated.

"Shh, he is coming." Lucario wispered.

The floor was shaking, there was something big coming from the other side of the hall, Chris just hid behind Lucario in terror, Lucario's eyes narrowed while Chris was hiding behind him, when they finally saw who was the source of the sound, both of them gasped.

"I-I-It's General L!" Chris said, he saw General L standing in front of them "And he is...so big!"

"I've learned my lesson from the last battle, so I've used the help of some Shadow Bugs to make me bigger than you, you're now going to die!" General L said in a deep tone.

"Stop now! We know you're just a Lucario and your trainer is Riley!" Chris said glaring at his enemy.

"Riley...Riley..." General L muttered to himself, he placed his hands on his head "I...I...don't know anything about a Riley!"

"Chris, it's hopeless, we need to defeat him to save him!" Lucario said.

"Defeating me? Ha! I want to see that if you can!" General L taunted.

"I'm so sick about your way to talk now! You're not like that in reality for sure!" Chris pointed to General L "And I won't let you get away with this, you will return to Riley you like it or not!"

Victory Road

"Chris, is everything ok?" Fox asked.

"Not at all! We're fighting a big enemy inside the station right now, how about you?" Chris asked, dodging a big Force Palm.

"They're firing big missiles at the station, hopefully, Wolf and his team came to help us."

"We're not helping you! I won't let anyone else besides me to kill you!" Wolf said.

"Stop arguing guys, we have to defend the base!" Krystal said snapping everyone out of their discussion.

"Stop moving around!" General L shouted as tried to hit Lucario or Chris.

Lucario rolled on the floor behind the big general and he did a combo of the punches behind him, General L yelled in pain and he quickly turned his back to kick Lucario, but Chris changed his job to the PK Kid job again and he used PK Flash, exploding right into General L, he fell on the floor but quickly got up.

"TAKE THIS!" General L punched Lucario in his body and Lucario crashed into a nearby wall, Chris saw this and he quickly thought about an action, he suddenly learned another new technique, it was PK Fire, he moved his hands behind him and shot a tiny lightning from his fingers towards General L, he was engulfed in a pillar of fire and Lucario saw his opportunity and he used his Smash forward attack to do serious damage to General L.

"Missiles approaching, they are targetting the gate." ROB said, more missiles came from the purple vortexes, Wolf and his team went there to destroy the missiles with Fox and Falco following behind.

"We're almost finished with the device, hang in there team!" Beltino said.

"Just how many missiles are they going to send?" Falco asked.

"The necessary to destroy the station and the gate, hurry up and destroy them!" Fox commanded.

Back inside the station, Lucario charged up an Aura Sphere as Chris was continuing his attacks using PK Fire over and over again, when Lucario finished, he fired the Aura Sphere and General L was getting badly hurted, even if he was a giant, he was losing.

"UUUUUURRRRRRHHHHAAAAAAA!!" He charged up a big dark sphere, he shoot it at Chris, but he used PSI Magnet to absorb the sphere and he was healed.

"Aww, I'm feeling better." Chris said smiling.

General L charged another big dark sphere, Chris knew he was going to do the same move and he activated the PSI Magnet again, but General L stopped and he ran towards Chris and he kicked him, then he proceeded to grab him and he threw Chris towards the roof.

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled in pain, Lucario glared at his enemy and he ran to General L and he started to punch him in his stomach, General L realesed Chris from his grasp and he was about to punch Lucario, but Chris interrupted him with a PK Flash.

"How is he resisting all that damage we have been causing to him?" Chris asked, he was panting heavily.

"He is not going to last any longer, we're winning this fight." Lucario stated.

"10 missiles approaching, they are targetting the gate." ROB said again confirming more missiles.

"10!?" Slippy said surprised.

"Grr...I won't let him laugh at me...I'm coming..." Mewtwo said awakening from his unconsciousness, he grabbed his right arm with his left hand and he floated slowly.

As the long struggle was continuing, Chris and Lucario were getting exausted, General L, on the other hand, was worse but he was able to stand up.

"GUUUUAAAARRRRRHHHGGGGGG!!" He charged up his fist and it collided with Chris, he was sent flying at high speed crashing to another wall, he yelled in pain and he landed abruptaly on the floor, fainting in the process.

"No...Chris..." Lucario said when he saw Chris unconscious on the floor, then Lucario glanced at General L and he glared menancingly at him, he suddenly started to glow intensely and his eyes turned yellow.

"You're the only one left...this is going to be easy..." General L said panting.

Much for his bad luck, when he blinked, Lucario was already punching him very hard in his body, every single punch Lucario was dealing it was like bombs exploding right in front of General L, Lucario did a series of punchs, kicks, jabs, grabs, Aura Spheres and even Force Palms, General L was getting weaker and weaker, Lucario then stopped in mid-air and he kicked General L very hard on his face that it made him crash quickly into the wall.

"Warning, warning, 100 missiles approaching!" ROB said, a whole horde of bigger missiles came from the vortexes.

"100 missiles?! We can't stop them in time!" Falco said.

"We have to do our best then! Everyone! Focus your lasers on the missiles!" Fox commanded.

"Chris..." Lucario was still glowing and he ran where Chris was laying unconscious, Lucario grabbed Chris in his arms and he looked at his face, there was a little trace of blood coming from his mouth.

"Please...don't die...I beg of you..." Lucario pressed his face on Chris's shoulder, tears were coming from his glowing eyes, suddenly, everything that was making Lucario glowing was transported in Chris's body, he stopped glowing when he realised that Chris was getting healed in every second, not only that, Chris was now the one glowing, he opened his eyes and they were yellow.

"Lucario...please...protect me while I cast the spell." Chris said.

"Spell? What spell?" Lucario asked.

"Just make sure General L doesn't interrupts me, go now!" Lucario placed Chris on the floor.

"YOU LITTLE BRATS!" General L got up panting, he was about to run after the 2 when he suddenly felt a little strange "What?! My...my body! Isn't responding!"

"That must be because of me."

"Mewtwo!" Lucario said the psychic Pokémon's name, Mewtwo was leaned to a wall lifting General L with one hand using his psychic powers.

"Hurry up Chris!" Mewtwo said.

"Great meteors and stars that travels in the space..." Chris chanted, his eyes were closed as he was casting a spell.

"Darn it! They're getting closer!" Fox said, the missiles were almost near the gate "Chris! What are you doing?"

"Please, hear my call..."

"Is he in some kind of trance or something?" Falco asked.

"And eliminate all my foes and difficults in my path..."

"He's scaring me!" Slippy said trembling in fear.

"Because I need to carry on my fight!" Chris opened his glowing eyes, Lucario was left speechless, what was Chris going to cast?

Chris crossed his arms in front of him "PK-" He opened them quickly and he looked at the roof while he floated a little from the floor "STARRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSTOOOOOOORRRRMMMMMMM!!"

"Meteors approaching from above!" ROB said, above the space, there were many tiny shiny spots coming from above, everyone who was outside looked and all gasped when they saw something dangerous, big meteors coming straight at them!

"EVERYONE, EVADE THE METEORS!" Peppy commanded, a huge rain of yellow meteors was coming, Fox and his team were trying to get away, until the first meteor was going to hit Fox's Arwing.

"AARRRGGHHHHH!!" Fox yelled closing his eyes, however, the meteor just came passing him without making any trail of destruction, he opened his eyes and he saw his Arwing completely unharmed "What?"

"Look! The meteors aren't harming us!" Slippy said as another meteor passed through him, however, every meteor was directed to every Aparoid and the missiles, the meteors only came there to destroy the Aparoids and the missiles.

Inside the station, the meteors were passing through without making any damage, except they struck General L as he was being destroyed by every meteor, he roared in pain, since Mewtwo was still grabbing him, there was no chance for General L to escape.

"Why are the meteors destroying the Aparoids and not us or the station?" Falco asked confused.

"I may be wrong, but the meteors consider us as their allies." Krystal said.

"Allies? Why?" Slippy asked.

"Chris was the one who called them right? When the meteors came from nowhere, they think we're their allies since Chris consider us as their friends."

"So, let me get this straight, Chris calling the meteors plus we, being his friends equals not getting destroyed by the meteors?" Slippy asked confused.

"If you put that in that way, then yes." Krystal said smiling.

"NOOOOOOO!! I WAS SO CLOSE IN KILLING YOU!! NOOOOOOOOO!!" General L yelled. Roy and Pichu regained their consciousness and they appeared behind Mewtwo, when the meteor shower ended, the station was freed from the missiles and the Aparoids, Mewtwo noticed he was holding a trophy with his psychic powers, Shadow Bugs came from the trophy and they disappeared in front of them.And the crowd cheered the heroes.

Music stops

"Ugh, my head...what happened?" Chris didn't remembered anything when he finished his casting.

"Because of you, the station is safe now." Fox said smiling a little.

"But...what did I do? Where's General L?"

"He is not living anymore, but instead, we've saved a person." Lucario pointed to the trophy Mewtwo was holding, above the stand, there was a Lucario extending his left arm in front of him.

Mewtwo explained everything to Chris, Roy and Pichu "I used PK Starstorm?" Chris asked pointing at himself.

"Somehow, you called a great ammount of meteors from the space and they eliminated every single Aparoid and missile." Mewtwo pointed out.

Chris looked at his hands "...I need to ask Master Hand about this."

"Phew, I'm going to be thankful for the rest of my life then!" Slippy said smilling.

"Thankful because of what Slippy?" Beltino asked.

Slippy looked at his right, then to his left "To not be on Chris's bad side!" Everyone laughed for a bit, Chris was laughing too, Falco, Peppy, Beltino, Lucario and Mewtwo were only chuckling.

"Oh, by the way everyone, the device it's now completed, thanks for all your help in the battle!" Beltino said.

2 hours later...

Great Fox
Command room

"Well, it's time to say good bye." Roy said.

"What? You're leaving now?" Slippy asked surprised.

"Since the Primids are gone from this world, we need to go to the other worlds to save them, it's a shame we can't stay any longer here with all of you." Chris answered.

"You're only leaving all the fun to us!" Falco said.

"Are you showing off?" Chris asked.

"He does most of the time." Slippy pointed out.

"Hey!" Falco glared at Slippy.

"Anyway," Chris looked at Fox "We have to get going now, we need to return to Master Hand."

Fox nodded "I know, it's your own mission after all."

"And do me a favor Fox."

"What favor?"

"Eliminate the Aparoids for us."

Fox smiled "Alright' I'll do it."

"Chris, let's go." Lucario said.

"Good luck guys!" Slippy said waving his hand.

"Be careful on your mission." Peppy said.

"I'll always be rooting for you." Krystal said.

"If you ever need my help, don't forget to call me!" Falco said.

Fox made a soldier salute, then all the Star Fox team did the same "Take care Chris, and everyone else."

"I...I won't cry! I won't-WAHHHH!!" Pichu was now crying since he was leaving, Chris grabbed Pichu and he patted his back.

"I will, don't worry!" Chris said smiling, he took out the Wiimote and he made the vortex to the Smash Mansion, he was the first walking in the vortex with Pichu on his shoulders, then Lucario followed him behind, then Roy, then Mewtwo holding psychically the Lucario trophy, after all of them stepped inside, the vortex disappeared.

"Now let's go, we need to defeat the Aparoids in their own home!" Fox commanded.

"For Chris?" Slippy asked smiling, Falco, Krystal, ROB and Peppy looked at Fox.

"For Chris and everyone else." Fox said.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris!"

"I'm Lucario."

"Guess what Lucario? We're going to Sinnoh!"

"Really? For what?"

"Riley's Lucario wants to return to Sinnoh to find Riley, but since there are not Primids there, you, along with Riley's Lucario and me are going."

"And where we will start?"

"...Well...we're going to start here..."

"...Oh no...Isn't that city the home of that Gym Leader?"

"I'm afraid so."

"...We're in trouble."

"Next time: The search for Riley in Veilstone City!"

It's time for make the things a lot interesting, after the next arc, you can choose what game should our heros go to save (it must be from the 35 Smashers), you only need to review in this chapter or the following arc, also, the next arc will have a lot of Lucario, let's see, we have Chris's Lucario, Riley's Lucario, and then, we have another one, and from who is this Lucario? (the title of the next chapter hints it) and another one (the third person on all Sinnoh who have the third Lucario you see). Read and review please!
*Chapter 24*: Helpless Novice Gym Leader

This is by far my most favorite chapter, read and review please! Don't forget to submit what world should be saved next!

Chapter 24: The search for Riley in Veilstone City!

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"General L has failed and he returned to his normal self Lord Tabuu, the Subspace Bombs were also deactivated and we broke our help to the Aparoids as well." The Ancient Minister said.

"Just what I thought what would happen." Tabuu shook his head slowly.

"What are your next plans?"

"I know what world should be invaded, prepare the next invasion!" He teleported away.

The Ancient Minister looked away "Please...you're the only ones who can help my race...but I don't want to betray him now..." He muttered to himself.

Smash Mansion
Command room

"We're here!" Chris greeted.

"Ah, you're here, it went well as we planned right?" Master Hand asked.

"Yup! Fox and his team are well!" Pichu said.

Master Hand looked at the trophy Mewtwo was holding "Isn't that Lucario?" He asked.

Mewtwo nodded "What should we do to him?" Roy asked.

"We should return him to his original form." Master Hand touched the trophy stand, the trophy shone, after 2 seconds, Lucario was standing there confused.

"Where...am I?" He asked looking around. Master Hand and the others explained all the things to him.

Riley's Lucario looked at Chris and his Lucario "I thank you for rescuing me, I would have been under Tabuu's control if it weren't for you."

"Hey...do you know who is Riley?" Chris asked.

"Riley? Yes, he is my trainer and my friend."

"Good, he knows." Master Hand sighed in relief.

"What are you going to do now?" Pichu asked.

Riley's Lucario thought for a moment "I want to return to Sinnoh with him."

"Why?" Chris asked "Are you going to help us?"

Lucario shook his head "No, the only reason that I joined this tournament it's because Riley told me to do it, but after all the things I went through, I don't want to be in this situation anymore."

"But that means you're giving up your spot!" Chris said.

"No," He looked at Chris's Lucario "I have a replacement right here."

"Me?" Chris's Lucario pointed at himself.

Riley's Lucario nodded "That is right, I couldn't see your battle style, but I think you're stronger than me, I would normally be upset about a thing like this, but it is for the better, besides, I want to stay with Riley again."

"If that's the case..." Master Hand looked at Chris's Lucario "You're now the replacement of Riley's Lucario," He looked at Riley's Lucario "But you can always return here when you want to fight."

"Thank you." Riley's Lucario said.

"So, it is ok to go to Sinnoh?" Chris asked.

"There are no Primid activity currently in any world, so I'd say yes," Master Hand pointed at Chris's Lucario "But you need to recover your energy, you look a little tired after the previous mission, and also Mewtwo, Pichu and Roy."

"Good thing, there are Pokémon Centers in Sinnoh, I can take Mewtwo, Pichu and Lucario there for recover." Chris said.

"Go on without me, I don't want to be in a Pokémon Center." Mewtwo said.

"Why?"

"Because since I'm a Legendary Pokémon to many trainers, they won't hesitate to catch me, and since I'm in this condition, it would be a bad idea, don't worry, I'm going to recover here in the mansion."

"Alright, I understand, what about you Pichu?"

"Well, I guess I could go...but...I'm going with you too!" He said jumping in Chris's shoulder "I need to be healed in the Pokémon Center too!"

"Are you coming Roy?"

"Nah, I need to train a little with the Sandbag, last time I was bad in battle, I don't want to be defeated the next time." The red haired swordsman replied.

"Everything it's ready, do you know where is Riley, Master Hand?" Chris asked.

"Why yes," He thought for a moment "If my memory doesn't fails I remember that Riley was heading to Veilstone City."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, when we were fighting in Corneria, I somehow casted PK Starstorm, how did I do that?"

"What? PK Starstorm?" Master Hand asked surprised

"Yes, when I was glowing, I grabbed Chris when he was unconscious, I was sad and I pressed my face in his shoulder and I started to wish for his safety, when I opened my eyes, I stopped glowing and Chris was fully healed, he was also glowing like I was." Chris's Lucario exclaimed.

"Well, I honestly don't know," He pointed at Chris "But I think the job that you're currently using is the explanation, I mean, you're using the PK Kid job and it's the same PK attacks as Ness's right? And since the power of Lucario is equal as a Final Smash, it was enough for you to use it."

"So I can use a different Final Smash if the job is different?" Chris asked. Master Hand nodded "That is awesome!"

"Hey hey, you're not that excited!" Crazy Hand said.

Chris blushed a little and he rubbed his head "Well, sometimes I lose control of myself when I'm getting excited."

"Ok ok, I know now, what are you waiting for?" Master Hand asked.

"Oh right, we have to go to Sinnoh, let's go!" Chris said pointing the Wiimote at Pokémon Diamond, a portal was created and Chris, Pichu, along with the 2 Lucarios stepped inside and disappeared.

"If you excuse me, I need to meditate to recover." Mewtwo floated away.

"And I need to go to train." Roy walked away. Suddenly, Pit's icon was flashing.

"Hey! The angel boy's icon is flashing!" Crazy Hand pointed at Pit's icon on the screen.

"Hmm, it appears his world it's fine, I wonder if I can call him to come over here?" Master Hand asked to himself.

Pokémon Diamond

Veilstone City
Entrance

A man with a blue hat and blue clothes stepped inside the city, his hair was black at there was a black shirt with a yellow marking on it.

He sighed "Lucario...I'm starting to miss you now, I hope you're fine wherever you are in that tournament."

Veilstone City
Near the Pokémon Center

"We're in Sinnoh!" Chris said excited, he somehow changed his clothes to his normal clothing he always wears, his eyes also turned like Ash's eyes "I think I can't use my abilities here since I can't use the jobs."

Chris's Lucario was in his normal appearance too, but he was feeling rather fine, Chris looked at his Lucario "It's something wrong?"

"No, it's just, I'm in my home" Chris's Lucario said.

"...Hey, that's right! Sinnoh it's your homeland!" Chris said smiling "We could find your family after all!"

"Yes, I know, but first we need to go to the Pokémon Center now." Chris's Lucario said, Chris nodded and he along with his current 3 Pokémon went to the Pokémon Center, it was too colorful as Chris thought it would, there were many trainers in there too with their Pokémon, and Nurse Joy was in the counter with a Chansey.

"Hi Nurse Joy!" Chris said.

"Hello there, do you have a problem with your Pokémon?" She asked looking at Pichu and the 2 Lucarios.

"Yes I do, I need my Pichu and my Lucario to recover here from a battle we had-" Chris paused for a moment when he remembered that his last battle was againts a general under the control of the Primids "-againts the Pokémon of a trainer!"

"Don't worry, we can heal all the wounds of any Pokémon here, you just need to give me your Pichu and your Lucario in their Pokeballs."

"Pokeballs?!"

"Yes, or you can give me your Pichu without his Pokeball and your Lucario inside his Pokeball."

Chris remembered he hasn't got the time for grabbing Lucario's pokeball in his house in the real world, he hoped if his Pokeball was inside his pocket.

"Where is it, where is it, where is it...huh?" Chris felt a round object inside his pocket, he took out a Pokeball with blue and black colors modeled after Lucario's head, there was a note attached to the Pokeball too.

I took my time to model your Pokeball after Lucario since he is your Pokémon and I dropped it inside your pocket when you weren't looking, I hope you like it!

Master Hand

PS: Good luck!

PSS: DIZZY!

PSSS: That was Crazy Hand again.

"My, what a pretty Pokeball!" Nurse Joy said looking at the Pokeball.

"Okay Pichu hop on the counter." Chris said to Pichu.

"Pichu!" He said smiling "(Wait, he can't talk to me?)" Chris thought and asked to himself "Okay Lucario, return to your Pokeball."

"(Alright, search for Riley while I'm here recovering.)" Chris's Lucario said through his mind, he talked through his mind because he didn't wanted to scare any trainer or Nurse Joy. Chris pointed his Pokeball and Lucario returned inside his Pokeball, Chris handed the Pokeball to Nurse Joy.

"What about your other Lucario?" Nurse Joy asked.

"He's not my Lucario in reality, I have to find his trainer in this city to return him."

"I see, you can return in 5 hours and your Pokémon should be fully healed when you return."

"Alright, thanks Nurse Joy!" Chris left running outside with Riley's Lucario.

"Hey, wasn't that the Lucario of the Gym Leader?" A trainer asked to another one sat next to him.

"No, I've heard her Lucario got lost when they were training and ever since she hasn't taken any challenge from any trainer, apparently anyone can find her sobbing in the Gym."

"I would do the same if my best Pokémon went missing too."

Veilstone City
Streets

"Where do you think Riley could be?" Chris asked.

"When I left, he said he was going to challenge half of the Gym Leaders because he was going to challenge the other half with me."

"Let's find the Gym now, every second that passes he will get away from us!"

Chris and Riley's Lucario ran through the city, they separated so they could find him in less time, every trainer that saw Lucario thought it was the Gym Leader's missing Lucario, but they thought after it wasn't.

After an hour, Chris found the Veilstone City Gym in front of him, Riley's Lucario was still searching in the city.

Veilstone City Gym

Chris stepped inside the Gym, the lights were off but the light of the sun was brightening the place through the windows, the floor was made of wood and the place looked like a dojo.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Chris asked.

"Go away! I don't want to fight now!" A voice shouted from afar.

"Where are you? I can't see you!"

"I've said go away!" After that, the voice started to cry and sob.

Chris knew the voice was from a girl, he searched for her inside, there was an arena with the Pokeball logo on the center, on the other side, there was a hall, he walked and he found many rooms on both sides of the hall, he didn't found her in any of the rooms, but he noticed another room at the end of the corridor and the cries and sobs were close now.

From the other side of the room, there was a beautiful garden with a pond, rocks and trees, there was a couch on the middle of the room, but Chris's attention was for the garden and he passed the couch.

"I've never seen a garden like this before...it's beautiful..."

"Get out of here now!" The voice from the girl shouted again.

"Huh? Where are you? I can't see you!" Chris looked around the garden, he didn't saw anyone around, but when he turned his back, he saw a girl in the couch looking away from him.

The girl had pink hair, she was wearing white pants and her feet was visible, she was also wearing a shirt with a big blue color and tiny black spots on them, if Chris could see her face, there was a big bandage covering her nose, her hands were inside blue gloves but her fingers were out of the gloves.

"I don't want any challenge now, get out!" She yelled.

"But I don't want to challenge you!"

"That's great, now go away!"

"Wait, I need to ask you something first!"

"What is it? Quick!"

"I've been wondering if you saw another trainer looking for a challenge before me in this day."

"No! I haven't accepted any challenge since one week ago and I didn't turned down any trainer in this day either!" She started to cry again.

"(There is something wrong with her.)" Chris thought to himself, he approached to her and placed his hand in her shoulder "You have a problem right?"

She stopped and she started to sniff "Yes...I have a problem...and a big one..."

"Good, you can tell me."

"N-no! I don't want to say it! If the other trainers hear this, I could lose my title as Gym Leader!"

Chris's eyes widened "Wait, you're the Gym Leader of this Gym?"

"That's right.."

"Please, I need to see your face."

"No...I don't want to..."

"It's really uncomfortable if you're like this, trust me, I'm almost the same as you."

"And...why almost?"

"Because I'm a boy and you're girl."

She stopped her sobbing and then she let out a small giggle "Hehe, you're right, I'm sorry to be actiing like this." She got up looking at the hall, she wiped her tears from her face and she turned her back to see Chris "You're the first one to comfort me." By the look of her face, Chris knew she was blushing a little. Chris noticed she was almost his size, but she was like only 1cm less taller than Chris.

"It's good to know another person, I'm Chris, what is your name?"

"I'm Maylene and I'm the leader of the Gym of Veilstone City." She said smiling.

"Why you were crying and sobbing a while ago?"

"It's...it's because...I...I lost my best Pokémon."

"Lost? How?"

"Well...everything started one week ago..."

Flashback

"We were training in the woods alone as we always do every day, I may look like, but I work a lot on my Pokémon, especially him, I met him when I was a child, in that day, something weird happened to him, he first closed his eyes, I asked him what was wrong, then, he ran away at high speed!"

"Hey! Come back! We aren't finished with our training!" I shouted

"But he didn't listened, he just disappeared in front of my eyes in the woods, after that, I thought he would come back on his own to the Gym, but 3 days passed and he didn't returned, and since I always use him in every Gym battle, I can't fight anyone without him."

End of flashback

"And now...there are a lot of trainers coming here to challenge me, but most of them haven't left the city, and that is a big trouble for me...I don't know what to do!" She said, she was looking down to the floor and she was about to cry.

"Hey! With that attitude you're not going nowhere!" Chris yelled, snapping Maylene out of her sadness.

"But, I've already searched for him and I didn't found anything about his whereabouts..."

"And you're giving up?"

"N..No! I need to find him as soon as possible!" She said. Chris placed his hand on her shoulder "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help you."

"What? I..I can't accept your help, I don't want to interrupt anything in your journey..."

"No, I'm going to help you, you're in a big trouble and you need help, besides, your title as a Gym Leader is at risk! You don't want to lose it right?"

"I don't want to lose it...but finding him is more important to me now..."

"Then we're going to find him no matter what happens."

"...Thanks...it means so much to me." She said giving a little smile "But, why are you helping me?"

"Isn't obvious? We're friends!"

"I know what are you going to say after...friends help each other right?"

Chris smiled "That's right, if you can't do it by yourself, we're going to do it together, what do you say?"

She looked away for a moment "I say..." the scene changes to outside of the Gym, Maylene locks the door of the Gym "Let's go!" She said smiling.

"With this kind of enthusiasm we're not going to fail, I promise!" Chris said, just then, someone was coming from behind them, it was Riley's Lucario standing there.

"Hey Lucario, did you find him?" Chris asked, Lucario shook his head "I guess we need to find Riley first, hey Maylen-hey, where did she go?" Chris didn't saw Maylene where she was a second ago, he looked around and she found Maylene...hugging Riley's Lucario very tightly.

"Oh Lucario! You're back! I was so worried about you! I won't let you go away from me ever!" She said smiling.

"Um, Maylene, the person you were going to search was a Lucario?"

She nodded smiling "That's right! My best Pokémon of my team is Lucario!"

"I don't want to ruin your happy moment...but...that is not your Lucario..."

She made a confused face "What? Then of who is this Lucario?"

Just then, the same tall man who entered Veilstone City came walking to the Gym behind them, he saw Chris, Maylene (still hugging Riley's Lucario) and Riley's Lucario, his eyes widened when he saw Riley's Lucario, the 3 of them turned to see him and the eyes of the Aura Pokémon widened a lot.

"Who are you?" Chris asked.

"He is...he is..." Lucario was about to say his name.

"Lucario!" The man shouted.

"Riley!" Lucario said, confirming the name of the person, he quickly shoved off Maylene out of his waist (and eventually she crashed her head to the wall and fell unconscious in the process, and Chris went to her) and he jumped in the air and landed knelt in front of Riley "I'm back." Lucario said.

"Lucario, I didn't knew you would return so soon, why?" Riley asked.

"A lot of things happened when I was alone, but that doesn't matters now, I've returned to your side once again." Lucario said looking at Riley.

Riley blinked for a moment and then he smiled a bit "I hope you were enjoying your stance in the tournament."

"I...kind of did."

"What?"

"Nothing." Lucario chuckled a bit "Chris helped me returning here, you should thank him." He pointed to Chris, who was holding Maylene's head.

"I thank you for helping Lucario." Riley said to Chris.

"It was nothing, really, but could you please help me with her?" He looked at Maylene, her eyes were swirls and she was talking with words that didn't made no sense at all.

"1 Aura Sphere...2 Hyper Beams...3 Tackles...4 Quick attacks...5 Splashes..." She said.

"MAYLENE! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Chris yelled, Maylene shook her head and she regained her consciousness.

"Huh?...I'm alive?"

Chris rolled his eyes "Yes Maylene, you're still alive."

"Hurray! I thank the Machops!" She said, Chris just sighed, then, Riley's Lucario punched her head and she fell unconscious again.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Chris asked angrily.

"She is not alright." He said.

"OF COURSE SHE WAS FINE, UNTIL YOU KILLED HER BY THE SECOND TIME!"

"I'm not dead!" Maylene said waking up. Lucario rolled his eyes and he was just about to punch Maylene in the head again, but Chris quickly pulled her to him.

"STOP THAT!" Chris said angrily.

"Lucario, stop it." Riley commanded.

"Yes Riley." Lucario said.

"Phew, finall-" Chris noticed that Maylene was just below his head and in front of his chest, Maylene also noticed it and both of them blushed and quickly separated from the other looking away embarrased.

"..." Maylene didn't said anything.

"..." Chris didn't said anything.

"This moment never happened." Both of them said in unison.

Riley just chuckled a bit "That was at least interesting to watch."

"IT WAS NOT!" Chris and Maylene said in unison.

"Alright, it wasn't." Riley said.

"Anyway, I need to go to the Pokémon Center to pick up my Pokémon, do you want to come Maylene?" Chris asked.

"O-ok, I'm going too." She said.

"Wait, I'm going too." Riley said.

"Why?" Chris asked.

"I'm think something bad happened to Maylene if she was hugging my Lucario like that," Maylene looked away embarrased "And I want to help her in her trouble."

Chris thought for a moment, then he nodded "Fine, you can come with us."

"Thanks, this is also my thanks for returning Lucario to me."

"See Maylene? Everything is starting to get better for you!" Chris said smiling.

"I think so." She said.

Veilstone City
Pokémon Center

"Nurse Joy! I've come for my Pokémon!" Chris said entering the Pokémon Center.

"You're here! Your Pokémon are in perfect conditions now, you can take them with you again." She handed over Chris's Pokeball and Pichu, he jumped to Chris's shoulder.

"Hey Pichu, are you alright?" Chris asked.

"Pi Pichu Pi!" He replied smiling, here is the translation "(I'm feeling better than ever!)"

"Good!" Chris said, obviously, he didn't understood Pichu at all.

"Oh, Maylene, you're here too." Nurse Joy said looking at Maylene.

"Well...yeah...I'm here..." She said rubbing her shoulder.

"A lot of trainers are waiting for you to fight them for the Gym's Badge, why are you not accepting challenges?"

"Yeah! Why?!" A trainer said walking to Maylene.

"We have been waiting to fight you for the Gym's Badge!" Another trainer said walking to Maylene.

"We can't go on in our journeys because you're refusing the fights!" Another trainer said walking to Maylene. She was hiding slowly behind Riley in fear.

"I...I'm sorry...but...I...I...I-"

"YOU WHAT?" All the trainers inside the Pokémon Center asked angrily. Maylene was closing her eyes slowly and she was going to cry, until...

"STOP NOW!" A voice yelled from the entrance of the Pokémon Center. Everyone looked at the source of the voice and all the trainers (Including Riley and Maylene) gasped in unison. There was a woman standing in front of the door, she was tall, she was wearing a long black robe and her hair was long and blond, she was also wearing 4 black sacks on her head.

"Who is she?" Chris asked.

"It's...it's...it's the Champion of the Sinnoh League, Cynthia!" A trainer said confirming the name of the woman.

"What is happening here?" Cynthia asked.

"The leader of the Gym of Veilstone doesn't wants to accept any challenges and she has been turning them down since a week!" A trainer said pointing at Maylene.

"And?" Cynthia asked.

"And we can't proceed to the next Gym!"

"Hmph," She walked towards Maylene "If she doesn't wants to accept any challenges then you have to go to the next Gym."

"Bu-"

"Sorry, but she can do that if she wants, but obviously, she need to fight againts a trainer who challenged her as soon as possible or else her title as a Gym Leader will be lost," She looked at everyone in the Pokémon Center "I'm sorry, but you have to wait until then." She said smiling.

"(I don't think they're going to understand so easily with tha-)" Chris's thought was interrupted.

"ALRIGHT LADY CYNTHIA!" All of the trainers said smiling and they quickly left the Pokémon Center, leaving only Chris, Pichu, Maylene, Riley, his Lucario, herself and Nurse Joy.

Chris just blinked at the event "...They surrendered so easily."

"Cynthia! You did come after all!" Maylene said getting out of Riley's back.

Cynthia smiled and nodded "I knew your Lucario went missing too."

"Wait, missing too? Do you mean your Lucario also escaped from you?"

"That's right, when we were training, he closed his eyes and he ran away from me, I knew there was something wrong with him, then you called me 4 days after saying that your Lucario was missing too."

"Now that we're talking about Lucario..." Chris took his Pokeball from the counter.

"What a pretty Pokeball!" Maylene said looking at Chris's Pokeball.

"Go! Pokeball!" He shouted tossing the Pokeball in the air, a light came from it and his Lucario came from the Pokeball, he was alright now.

"I'm feeling better now thanks to Nurse Joy." He said smiling to Nurse Joy.

"Be sure to be healthy!" Nurse Joy replied with a smile.

"It's good to see you're fine Lucari-" Chris was once again interrupted.

"OH MY GOD! YOUR LUCARIO IS SO COOL!" Maylene shouted, she was now hugging him tightly as she did with Riley's Lucario before.

"Wow, this one is so tall." Cynthia said looking at Chris's Lucario.

"And I see you have been training him very well Chris." Riley remarked.

"HOW IN ARCEUS's NAME DID YOU MADE HIM SO TALL?!" Maylene asked excited.

Chris rubbed his forehead with a finger "I think it was just luck..."

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris everyone!"

"Hello there."

"Wait...you're Professor Rowan!"

"It is I indeed."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to appear in the next chapter."

"Why?"

"Because something strange has been happening around Sinnoh."

"I see...what?"

"You will see in the next chapter."

"Can you tell me now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Okay...how about now?"

"NO!"

"Next time: The mysterious Valley of the Aura! How about now?"

"NO!"

So, we have Chris, the adventurer teenager, Pichu and his Lucario, Maylene, the hyperactive Gym Leader of Veilstone City and her missing Lucario, Riley, the serious trainer and his Lucario and, Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh League and her missing Lucario, what will happen to them in the next chapter? Read and review and don't forget to submit the next world!
*Chapter 25*: Aura People Plus Cynthia

And here is the next chapter everyone! In this chapter, the protagonist is going to be Maylene as she remembers the first day she met her Lucario, but it will be that the last thing she is going to remember? (Note: I don't know if her past with Lucario was revealed in the anime, but I felt it was interesting to try at least). Read and review with the next world to be saved!

Chapter 25: The mysterious Valley of the Aura!

Veilstone City

Pokémon Center

"Ok Maylene, you can stop hugging my Lucario now." Chris said tapping Maylene's shoulder.

"I don't want to!" She said.

Chris's eyes widened when he saw the face of his Pokémon turning into the purple color "I mean it! You're choking him!"

"I...can't...breath..." Chris's Lucario said, Maylene looked at him and she realesed him from her arms.

"I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me!" She said bending.

His face returned to his usual blue color and he sighed "It's fine...for now."

"Finally," Chris sighed, then he looked at Cynthia "You said your Lucario was missing too?"

She nodded "That is correct, not only that, I've heard in all the region that all the wild Lucario disappeared too"

"All?" Riley asked. Cynthia nodded "There must be some kind of event going on in Sinnoh then..." Riley got in a thinking position.

"That's why I called a expert for this job." Cynthia said.

"Who?" Maylene asked.

Just then, the doors of the Pokémon Center opened, and a man with a white beard, white hair, wearing brown coat and under it there was a lab coat and he was holding a briefcase in his right hand came stepping inside.

"Ah Cynthia, you're here already," The man said.

"Professor Rowan, how is your investigation about the evolution of the Pokémon going?" Cynthia asked.

"It's going well, but I was interested about your problem."

"I'm glad you took your time to help me."

Professor Rowan looked at Riley, his Lucario, Maylene, Chris and his Lucario "And are they your friends?"

"Yes." She said.

"Good, now let's have a seat over that table." He pointed to an empty table with a couch, all of them sat on the couch (except for the 2 Lucarios, who remained stood).

"What's this all about the disappearance of the wild Lucarios?" Chris asked, Rowan opened his briefcase and he took out a map, he placed it on the table so everyone could see.

"See the circled points?" Rowan asked pointing to red circles on the map, everyone nodded "Those are the locations of where the wild Lucarios had been roaming, but," He pointed to a big circle on the map "They have been spotted running to this location."

"It's near Mt. Coronet" Riley said.

"That's right, I've heard from many sources that they have been climbing into a hidden valley near Mt Coronet." Rowan said.

"A hidden valley?" Maylene asked.

"Yes, a hidden valley that it's almost impossible to enter, the valley is surrounded by high cliffs and pits, his geography could be only matched with Mt. Coronet's geography."

"So, we need to enter the valley then?" Chris asked.

"That is the hard part, many have tried to enter, but when they're close, they suddenly are attacked by Aura Spheres coming from nowhere, after that, they fall unconscious to the ground, the next thing they see it's the point where they started to go through."

"It sounds very weird to be attacked by Aura Spheres from nowhere..." Cynthia said.

"That's because there are Lucarios living there!" Riley said in surprise.

"Do you mean they live there and they attack any traveler who wants to pass?" Maylene asked.

Riley nodded "If they don't want any person inside their valley, it's because they are hiding something very valuable."

"But what could it be?" Maylene asked.

"I don't know for sure."

"That's where you 6-" Rowan was interrupted.

"7 if you count Pichu." Chris said pointing to Pichu.

"That's where you 7 enter, your mission is to infiltrate the valley and find what is going on with the Lucarios, it won't be easy, so I suggest to be prepared if you dare to go." Rowan said.

"What do you think Lucario?" Chris asked to his Lucario.

"I'm ready if you are." He said.

"Same for me if Riley wants to go." Riley's Lucario said looking at Riley.

"I'm good to go, this mystery is really intriguing me." Riley said.

"I'm ready too, I want to find my Lucario and I won't give up so easily." Maylene said (she was putting her shoes on).

"We're ready Professor Rowan." Cynthia said.

"Good," He stood up "I'm counting on all of you, be careful." He took his briefcase and he left the Pokémon Center.

Maylene stood up and she made a fist in the air "Let's go!" She said excited. Everyone nodded and they left the Pokémon Center.

Veilstone City
Street

Just outside the Pokémon Center, there was a Ice Cream man selling Ice Cream. Cynthia said she was going to pay if they wanted, they nodded and Cynthia bought Ice Cream for everyone...except her.

"Hey Cynthia, are you going to buy one for yourself?" Maylene asked.

"Just a minute, I need to decide which flavor I want to eat." She said, thinking in front of the Ice Cream man.

"Ok, you can take your time" Chris said.

1 hour later...

"Cynthia, haven't you decided yet?" Maylene asked.

"In a second." Cynthia replied.

1 hour later...

"Cynthia, we finished with our Ice Cream, are you done yet?" Chris asked.

"Just a minute." She said.

1 hour later...

"Cynthia?" Riley asked.

"I'm almost done."

Another hour later...

"CYNTHIA!" Everyone yelled at Cynthia, then she snapped her fingers.

"I know what to choose now!" She said smiling.

"Really? What do you want?" The Ice Cream asked.

"I want Vanilla please." She said smiling. Everyone were left speechless and they fell in anime style (even both Lucarios fell in anime style).

"What's wrong with all of you?" She asked while she was licking her Ice Cream.

"Nothing Cynthia, everything is fine" Chris said sarcastically while his face was on the floor.

After that little (and annoying) event, everyone regained their compostures and walked through the exit of Veilstone City...and Cynthia didn't finished her Ice Cream too.

Route 215

"So we need to cross the Route 215 and then we follow a secret path in the Route 210 near the Cafe Cabbin right?" Maylene asked. Riley nodded.

"Wow, does this Route ever stops raining?" Chris asked as he and Pichu were getting drenched by the water.

"It's very rarely if the rain stops in this Route." Cynthia said, just then, the rain stopped and the light of the sun was coming between the clouds and Starly flew to the air.

"Finally! I was getting upset with the rain!" Maylene said.

"Pss!" Chris's Lucario sneezed a bit.

"Take this, it will clear your nose." Maylene handed over a napkin to Lucario, he took it.

"Thanks." He said as he cleared his nose, Maylene gave a little smile at him and Lucario blushed a little.

"Wait, I need to see something here." Maylene said as she searched for something behind some trees, everyone else looked at each other and they went with her.

"What is it Maylene?" Riley asked as he looked around, there were a lot of rocks destroyed on the ground and there were also destroyed spots with some destroyed trees.

"This is...where me and Lucario usually train together every day." She said.

"This place looks a little destroyed you know..." Chris said.

"Pichu Pi." Pichu said.

"I know, it's because of all the Aura Spheres my Lucario have been shooting at me."

"Wait, your Lucario shoots Aura Spheres at you? Isn't that dangerous?" Riley asked worried.

She let out a small giggle "Not at all! It's really fun!" With those words, the eyes of Riley and Chris widened, but Cynthia was just staring at Maylene.

"That's because you have been kicking them back to Lucario right?" Cynthia asked smiling.

"That's right!" Maylene answered.

"What?!" Chris said, he looked at both Lucarios "Is that even possible to do?"

"I'm not sure if that can be done." Chris's Lucario said shaking his head.

"I don't know exactly either." Riley's Lucario said shaking his head too.

"That's the way we train together! He shoots his Aura Spheres at me and I return them back to him so he can dodge them at time! We also meditate below waterfalls between many other things!" She said excited, but then, she sighed looking at the clouds "I'm really starting to miss him too..."

"You and him are so close to each other right?" Riley asked.

"I met my Lucario since he was a little Riolu, and I still remember that day 7 years ago, I was little and it was my birthday, my dad gave me a Pokémon Egg, he didn't knew what Pokémon was inside until..."

Flashback

"Daddy, what is this big egg?" Maylene asked looking at a Pokémon Egg in front of her.

"That is a Pokémon Egg, it holds a Pokémon inside of it, that Pokémon will be your present for your birthday." Maylene's father said.

"Really? Do you think he or she will befriend me?"

"For sure, you're such a cute little girl!"

"Daddy! Stop saying lies please!" She said smiling and giggling, then she looked at the Pokémon Egg "I hope it is a Fighting type, they're my favorite type of Pokémon because they're so strong!"

"Why do you want a Fighting type?" His father asked.

"Because I saw a fight with a Machoke againts a Hitmonlee, and the Machoke won because of his strength! I hope it is a Machop, I've heard it's the initial Pokémon to evolve into a Machoke!"

Just then, the egg was starting to shake, Maylene glanced at the egg and she smiled "It's hatching daddy! I didn't knew if would hatch so soon!"

"Let's see if you can get the type you were looking for." He said.

The top of the egg was cracking, after shaking for a while, the egg was breaking up, Maylene was getting so happy and finally, the egg hatched, but it wasn't a Machop.

Instead, another Pokémon came from the egg and he looked around confused.

"Ri?" He said placing his hand near his mouth.

Maylene stood still for a moment, that wasn't a Machop for sure to her, but it was a Riolu.

"Wow, Maylene, you just got a Riolu!" Her dad said surprised.

"A Riolu? That is his name?" She asked looking at Riolu.

"Yes, I've heard they're so rare to get, and for your luck, he is a Fighting type!"

"Ri?" He approached to Maylene. Maylene just stared at him for a minute, then she smiled and she started to hug him tightly.

"Ooouuhhhh! You're so cute!" She said pressing her face to Riolu. Riolu blinked for a moment, then he smiled and he said his name repeatedly in happiness.

"Ri! Ri! Riolu! Ri!" He said.

"See? You're already his friend, I hope you can train him well." Her dad said.

"I will daddy! And also I'm going to become a Gym Leader using Riolu! What do you say Riolu?" She looked at Riolu.

"Ri!" He said smiling.

End of flashback

"And since that day, he became my best Pokémon and best friend." She said looking at the group.

"That was a touching story," Chris said wiping a tear from his eye "But how exactly did you become a Gym Leader?"

"I become a Gym Leader by-!" She looked at the sky again, but after a moment of silence, she rubbed her head "I actually forgot how did I became a Gym Leader in the first place, silly me."

(-.-) "...I see..." Chris said.

"But let's go, I want to find him as soon as possible!" She said running away.

"She regained her energy now." Cynthia said.

"I think she was inspired when she met her Lucario." Chris said.

"AAAHHHH!!"

"Something is happening with Maylene, let's go!" Riley said running after Maylene, Chris, Cynthia and both Lucarios followed him.

When they found her, she was sat on the ground shaking her head, because she was going to be rammed by a truck that appeared on the road.

"Hey you kid! Stop appearing from nowhere!" A man said inside the truck, his hair was mysteriously light blue and he was wearing a odd looking space suit with a G on it. The same G was on the truck as the logo.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking at both sides..." Maylene said in her defense while Chris's Lucario helped her to get up, this made the man of the truck gasp.

"Oh no, oh no!" He said.

"What is it?" A girl with the same mysterious light blue hair and space suit with the G asked at the side of the man asked, when she saw the 2 Lucarios, she gasped too.

"It's something wrong sir?" Riley asked, just then, his Lucario and Chris's Lucario started to shot glares at both persons, after a second, they started to show their fangs in rage.

"Lucario, it's something wrong?" Chris asked.

"I don't like those 2 at all." He said.

"Excellent! Good bye then!" The man drove the truck at high speed out of them.

Maylene looked at them confused "They were acting so weird, don't you think?" She asked.

"I remember I saw that G somewhere before." Cynthia said.

"There were a lot of eggs inside the truck." Riley's Lucario said.

"Why they were keeping those eggs inside the truck? There is a Day Care near here?" Chris asked.

"Nope, the only Day Care in Sinnoh I know about is in Solaceon Town," Maylene answered "And they were driving to Veilstone."

"Let's find the valley first, then we go back to Veilstone to search for that truck." Cynthia said, everyone nodded and they continued their way to the Route 210.

Route 210

After walking through the Route 215 and passing the Cafe Cabbin, they went inside some woods near there.

"If my memory doesn't fails, the valley should be on the other side of these woods, but after we cross, be careful to not step on a pit." Riley said.

Eventually, they crossed to the other side and they found a big cliff in front of them, it was really huge, they looked around for the pits but there wasn't any of them.

"I don't see any pit around here." Chris said.

"They must be hiding then," Cynthia walked to the cliff and she looked to the top "We need to climb this to pass to the other side."

"But I don't know if we can climb THIS one though." Maylene said.

"Even with the help of our Lucarios we won't be able to cross it." Riley said.

"Then we're going to fly to the top," Cynthia took a Pokeball and she tossed it in the air, a Salamence came from the Pokeball and he roared upon getting out "Now everyone, get on Salamence's back."

Chris, Pichu, Maylene, Cynthia and Riley along with both Lucarios went above Salamence's back, Cynthia ordered him to fly to the top, he roared in agreedment and he started to fly.

"At this rate we can reach the top in no time!" Maylene said.

Just then Riley's Lucario saw shiny blue spots coming at them from above, he gasped when he realised that they were Aura Spheres!

"THEY ARE LAUNCHING AURA SPHERES AT US!" He shouted.

"Salamence! Dodge them!" Cynthia ordered, Salamance flew avoiding the Aura Spheres, but when they passed them, they turned back and they were chasing them.

"Darn it, since they're Aura Spheres, they can't be avoided so easily, we have to do something!" Riley said.

"PICHU!" Pichu shouted in terror.

"I know!" Chris looked at both Lucarios "Use your Aura Spheres to destroy them!"

Both of them nodded and they charged their Aura Spheres, and then, they began to fire at every Aura Sphere that was going to touch them, making them explode in the process.

"They don't even stop firing at us!" Maylene said.

"No matter what they try, we are going to reach to the other side!" Chris said.

"Look! There is a cave up there!" Riley pointed to a cave above them "Fly there so we can take cover from their attacks!"

"Alright, Salamence, fly to that cave now!" Cynthia ordered, her Salamence roared again and he flew evading the Aura Spheres in the process, they eventually made it inside the cave, the rain of Aura Spheres suddenly stopped and Cynthia thanked her Salamence and she returned him to his Pokeball.

"This cave is deep." Chris said looking at the darkness of the cave.

"I dunno, but I think this cave crosses the cliff and the valley could be on the other side." Maylene said.

"But it's so dark to see, and we don't have lanterns with us."

"I know the answer for this problem." Chris's Lucario said.

"You know?" Chris asked. Just then, his Lucario started to glow and with the light of his aura he made enough light to brighten the cave to they could walk further inside.

"I wonder..." Riley's Lucario started to glow as Chris's Lucario and he made more light with his aura, the group could now advance further in the cave.

"Good idea, using the aura of both of you to shine the path through this cave." Cynthia said smiling a bit. Without any interruption, they walked deeper to the cave, it was so silent, even a little sound could make a echo.

"So if we can cross this cave, the valley will appear on the other side." Riley said.

"AAHHH!" Chris tripped on the ground, Pichu fell to the ground in the process, they stopped and his Lucario kneeled in front of him.

"Are you alright?" He asked worried.

"Yes...it's just a little bruise." He saw his leg bleeding a little, but it was enough to make him feel pain every time he walked using his leg. Pichu rubbed his head after he fell and he walked by his own. After a while, Chris's Lucario stopped and he grabbed Chris with his arms.

"You don't have to, really." Chris said.

"No, I can't watch you suffering from your injure, let me help me you." His Lucario said.

"(He is the same as myself.)" Maylene thought to herself, then she remembered something from a long time ago.

Flashback

"Alright Riolu, use Force Palm on that rock!" Maylene ordered, Riolu nodded and he ran to the rock to destroy it, but he tripped in the middle of his trail and Maylene gasped and she ran to him worried.

"Riolu! Are you alright?" She asked worried.

"I'm...I'm ok, you don't have to worry about me..."

"Huh? You can talk?" Maylene asked surprised.

Riolu nodded "Yes, I was a little afraid to talk to you while your father was close to us, and I choose this moment to talk to you."

Maylene looked at Riolu's leg and it was bleeding a little "We need to stop the training for today, your leg is in a bad shape!"

"N-No! I can continue! See?" He stood up, but after walking a little he stopped because he was suffering from his injure, Maylene shook her head and she grabbed him with her arms.

"You don't have to! I can train!" Riolu said.

"Don't be stubborn! You need to recover now or else you're going to worse up your leg!"

Riolu gasped after she said that to him, he looked at his leg again and it was still bleeding, then he nodded agreeding about his health.

Maylene smiled as she was walking to her house with her Riolu on her arms "Finally, you admitted it." Riolu looked away blushing a little, Maylene saw his blushing and she laughed.

"(You're so cute when you blush.)" She thought.

End of flashback

"(Don't worry Lucario, I'm going to find you no matter what happens.)" She thought with a determined face.

"Shh...I can hear something..." Cynthia wispered to everyone.

"What?" Chris asked wispering.

"It sounds like...leaves..." Riley wispered.

There was light coming in front of them, their eyes widened a little and they ran to the ligh-

"IT'S BLINDING ME!" Maylene shouted.

...As I was saying, they ran to the light, both Lucarios stopped glowing and when they made it to the other side, they found a lot of trees, bushes and grass everywhere, there was a waterfall and a river too.

?

"We finally made it to the hidden valley." Riley said. Admiring the splendor of the valley, there wasn't any Pokémon there, which was very strange.

"Isn't strange that this valley it's empty?" Maylene asked confused.

"Wait, something is coming." Cynthia said narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, I can hear something approaching too." Chris said.

"HALT! WHO DARES TO ENTER THE VALLEY OF THE AURA?!" A voice echoed coming from nowhere. Chris and Maylene were scared by the sound of the voice.

"W-we!" Maylene said.

Just then, a moment of silence came to them, after a minute, a lot of noises were coming from the trees, bushes, and in the river, the group looked at everything to be prepared for any kind of attack.

And suddenly, many figures came from everywhere jumping to anything, surrounding the group in the process, after a while, the figures stopped, revealing to be a lot, no, many Lucarios glaring at them, hundreds of them were showing their fangs to the group.

"O-ok...d-don't make any brusque move...w-we are just going to return to the cave..." Chris looked at the entrance of the cave they came from and there were a lot of Lucarios blocking the cave "...n-n-nevermind...w-w-we just wait for them to...k-k-kill us..."

Maylene blinked for a moment "W-w-wait...KILL US?!"

"GGRRRRRR!!" All the Lucarios said in unison after Maylene shouted. That made Pichu hid behind Chris's Lucario in terror.

And there was an Aura Sphere coming towards Maylene!

"MAYLENE!" Chris, Riley, Cynthia and both Lucarios shouted in unison, Maylene froze up as the Aura Sphere was coming closer to her.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Ooohhh Cliffhanger time! I need to do them more often to build up the suspence! Anyway, will they be killed by the angry Lucarios? Find out in the next chapter! Read and review please!
*Chapter 26*: Missing Family

Ooof, sorry for not updating this story yesterday, I was quite busy with other things, anyway, enjoy this chapter everyone and read and review please!

Chapter 26: Lucarios, Riolus and Maylene

As the Aura Sphere was coming closer to Maylene, there wasn't much time for her to evade it, all of them noticed that they were a little too far from her.

But then she looked straight at the Aura Sphere and she jumped into the air.

"HIIIIIIIIYYYAAAAAHHHHH!!" She said, kicking the Aura Sphere back to his owner, it was a Lucario standing in front of her, and he just simply stepped away and the Aura Sphere passed through his shoulder, crashing into a nearby tree.

"That was...awesome!" Chris said, still above his Lucario's arms.

"I remember that Aura Sphere," She looked at the Lucario who made that Aura Sphere and smiled "Lucario!"

"Maylene!" The Lucario revealed himself to be Maylene's Lucario, he ran to her and she did the same with tears coming from her eyes, when she reached him, she hugged him.

"Lucario! I was so worried about you! Where have you been?" She asked crying.

"I'm so sorry Maylene, I needed to come to this place by myself, I'm such a idiot for leaving you." He said.

"That doesn't matters now, I finally found you!" She said smiling, but she was still crying.

"Um, Maylene..." Chris said.

"What?" She asked.

"If you forgot, we're being surrounded by hundreds of killer Lucarios...who at the same time..." All of the Lucarios were charging up hundreds of Aura Spheres "..are probably making those blue orbs to kill us..."

Maylene looked at every single Lucario and all of them were charging up their Aura Spheres while they were glaring at her and everyone else.

"...Lucario..."

"Yes Maylene?"

"Do you think we can return all those attacks in time?"

"...Judging by all of them, no."

"..." She hugged him tightly now "I DON'T WANNA DIE!!"

"STOP!" The same voice from before yelled and all the Lucarios stopped their Aura Spheres.

"Who's there?" Riley asked, he looked at Cynthia and there was a Lucario knelting in front of her "That is your Lucario right?" She nodded and smiled.

Just then, another Lucario came from the huge crowd of Aura Pokémon, but he was different from the others, he was tall (and he even surpassed Chris's Lucario), there was an scar crossing his left eye and his arms were crossed behind his back, he looked quite intimidating too, which made Pichu hide totally behind Chris's Lucario.

"Humans? Visiting this holy ground?" He asked looking at Riley, Cynthia, Chris and Maylene "I'm the leader of this valley, what business do you have here?"

Chris gulped "W-we don't want to cause any trouble here, we just wanted to find our Lucarios, that's all."

The Lucario from the valley looked at Chris, but when he saw Chris's Lucario, his eyes widened a bit "I don't believe it...you're..."

"He is what?" Chris asked.

"He is...my son."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE HIS FATHER THEN?!" Chris asked pointing at the Lucario.

He nodded "He is my son, we lost him when he was still in his egg a long time ago near the Southwest region of the Sinnoh."

"Wait, I found an egg near Jubilife City as long time ago too, but I gave it to a trainer after he helped me with something," Riley said "But how did Chris obtained that egg?"

"Um, I think I met the same trainer who you met and he gave me his egg." Chris said (obviously lying and trying to evade the truth who could make many questions to all of them) "Wait, did you said "we"?"

Suddenly, another Lucario (who was shiny because her (Yes, it was female) fur was yellow where it was supposed to be blue, she was tall too (but she was tiny comparing her size with Chris's Lucario's size)) came from the crowd of Lucarios and she stood behind the leader, apparently, she was crying a little.

"Have you...found my baby?" She asked to Chris's Lucario's father.

"Not yet, but fortunately, we've found our first missing son." He pointed at Chris's Lucario, she looked at him and she started to cry even louder.

"My son! You're here!"

Chris's Lucario went with his father and mother (he left Chris on the floor) and he ran at his mother and hugged her while he was crying a little "Mother! Father! I thought I was alone in the world, but I never thought either I could find you here!"

"Wow, this is just incredible, not only we found the Lucarios of Maylene and Cynthia, but also we found Lucario's family too and he is the son of the leader of this valley." Chris said looking at Pichu.

"Pi Pichu Pi (It's good for him.)" Pichu said.

"Wait, "our first son"?" Chris looked at Lucario's family "Do you mean you have another son too?"

"Not a son, but a daughter." The leader of the valley said.

"I see, that is the motive for calling all the Lucarios of all Sinnoh right?" Cynthia asked smiling a bit.

"That is correct, but it sounds rather odd for just calling all of them for just finding our daughter, but there is a major problem in reality."

"What major problem?" Maylene asked.

"Everything started 7 suns and 6 moons ago..." The leader of the valley remembered an event that happened 1 week ago in the night.

Flashback

"On the middle of the night, we were sleeping under the stars of the sky, in that day also, we were waiting for a major event that was going to happen very soon." Chris's Lucario's father narrated.

"What was that event?" Maylene asked.

"The only important event that was going to happen was the most interesting in the whole story of the Valley of the Aura."

"A fight againts a Legendary Pokémon?" Chris asked.

"No, more important than that."

"Something about the Lucarios?" Riley asked.

"You're close, I'm giving you a hint, from what thing are the Pokémon born?"

"Pokémon Eggs?" Maylene asked.

"Correct, and what are first the Pokémon that are Lucarios?"

"Riolus." Cynthia responded.

"Correct, and we had many eggs containing Riolus inside that were going to hatch, and one of them was my daughter."

"And what happened to them?" Chris asked.

"That is where I want to explain."

The scene shows the Lucarios living in the valley sleeping in caves and above trees, there was an area with many Pokémon Eggs far away from there, and suddenly, 10 shadow figures appears sneaking inside towards the eggs.

"That night, humans started to infiltrate our valley while we were sleeping, when they saw the opportunity, they took every single egg from us."

Once the figures finished stealing the eggs, one of the Lucarios woke up by the noises they were making, after he saw 6 of them climbing the cliff, he glared at them and he charged up an Aura Sphere, he fired it at one of the figures, it made a explosion and the light coming from the sphere revealed their appearance, they were wearing space suits with light blue hair haircut and with G on the suits, the Lucario roared and it woke up every Lucario on the valley, and after they saw the mysterious thiefs climbing down the mountain, they all jumped to the cliff to chase them, but they didn't saw anything, but there was a black helicopter flying away from the valley far away in the air.

"Since that night, we used our Aura powers combined to call every Lucario living in Sinnoh to help us in finding the eggs."

End of flashback

"And now you know why we called every Lucario to the valley."

"And did you found them yet?" Chris asked.

The leader shook his head in disappointment "We haven't, we are starting to worry about the eggs and if they were taken to another land far away from Sinnoh and the valley."

"Wait...I remember something about eggs..." Cynthia said trying to remember if she heard of Pokémon Eggs before.

"Yeah, I remember it too." Maylene said, also trying to remember.

"Didn't my Lucario told us something about eggs before in Route 215?" Riley asked looking at his Lucario.

"Yes...the truck!" Chris said in surprise "You said the mysterious thiefs were wearing spacesuits with weird light blue hair and a G on their suits right?" The leader nodded "We saw them on the way here, Riley's Lucario saw something inside the truck and there were lots of Pokémon Eggs in it!"

The leader gasped "Are you sure?"

"Definitely!"

"Then we need to assault them and take the eggs back to us!" The leader said, he looked at every Lucario on the valley.

"No, wait, leave this to us." Cynthia said placing her hand on the leader's shoulder.

"We can't leave this to you! We need to retrieve the eggs and fast!"

"I know you want to retrieve them, but with force?"

"That is right! We are going to use the force!"

"Sorry, but that is a very bad idea actually."

"What?! Why?!"

"Using force is never going to resolve anything, you have to think carefully before acting, besides, if you use only brute force they're probably going to escape."

The leader looked at the floor, then Chris's Lucario placed his hand on his other shoulder "Leave this to us father, I promise I'm going to rescue my sister with the help of my friends."

"...Fine, you can go, but you need to fulfill your promise, or else."

"Thanks father, but do us a favor in return."

"What is it?"

"When all of this is over, every Lucario that was under the control of any trainer is going to return to his or her owner."

"You have my word." His father nodded.

"Please, save your sister son." Her mother said with tears coming from her eyes.

"I'll promise mother." Lucario said smiling a bit.

"Alright...now that everything it's settled..." Chris stood up, his leg recovered a little, but it was enough for him to walk "We're going to begin the operation "Bring back the Pokémon Eggs"! what do you say everyone?"

"Pichu! Pichu Pichu Pichu! (I want to rescue them!)" Said Pichu.

"I'm in." Riley said, his Lucario nodded.

"I'm goint too, it would be sad if the eggs hatches in their base." Cynthia said, her Lucario nodded.

"I won't say no to this, it saddens me for those cute Riolus to be kidnapped away from their own home." Maylene said, her Lucario nodded too.

"I thank all of you for your help, now go and rescue them!" The leader said and the team nodded "We have a hidden path that connects the base of the mountain and the valley together," He pointed to a cave inside the valley "Go inside that cave, it will take you to the base of the mountain."

Route 210
Hidden entrance to the Valley of the Aura

"This path was sure well hidden." Chris said as he and Pichu got out from a hidden hole near the cliff.

"Alright, now let's think for a moment, where did the truck was heading again?" Maylene asked.

"You said it was heading to Veilstone City." Chris's Lucario pointed out.

"Exactly, we need to return to Veilstone City and search for the truck."

"And then we find the base and sneak inside!" Chris said.

After passing again the Cafe Cabbin, Chris saw not far away from his position a very familiar tall girl clothed in a big green robe, her hair was also green and long, she was smiling because she had a very familiar jar with honey inside.

"Um, where did we saw her before Lucario?" He asked to his Lucario.

Lucario looked at the girl and he tried to remember where did he and Chris saw her before "I don't know...but she is vaguely familiar...and that jar with honey too..."

"Hey guys, go on without me, I'm going to ask her something first." Chris said leaving them as he went with the girl with the jar with honey.

"Oh hello, may I help you with something?" She asked, still smiling.

"Yeah, what's your name and where did you got that jar with honey?" Chris asked.

"My name is Cheryl and I got this honey from a big beehive of Combees near Eternia City." She said, introducing herself as Cheryl.

"And maybe this is going to sound weird, but, did you received any help while you were searching for that honey?"

"Why yes, I got help from a very nice group of trainers while I was searching for the honey," She placed a finger in her forehead "I remember their names were..."

"Yes?"

"Oh! I remember! Their names were Ash, Dawn and Brock!"

After hearing those names, Chris's eyes widened a lot.

"They were too nice to me, Ash had a Pikachu with him, it was so adorable, but his friend Brock was very weird, I thought he was trying to kidnap me or something, although he was also a very good guy, I needed to leave him by saying a lie by looking at a Beedrill who was flying by, and he fell for my lie." She responded smiling and laughing a little.

"Um...thanks...I-I need to leave now..." Chris said backing away a little "Good bye!" He said waving his hand at her and running away.

"B-but, wait! You didn't told me your name!"

"It's not important!" He said disappearing in the distance.

"...What a strange kid..." She said to herself.

Route 215

When they were heading to Veilstone City, they were challenged by 2 trainers, they asked to challenge both Chris and Maylene in a double battle.

"Are you familiar with double battles Maylene?" Chris asked.

"I don't think so, but let's give it a try!" She said.

They found a open area to fight againts the trainers, they realesed 2 Ursarings, Chris ordered his Lucario to step on the field and Maylene did the same, Cynthia and Riley along with their Lucarios were watching from the middle of the field.

"Ursaring! Use Hyper Beam!" One trainer shouted.

"Dodge it and use Force Palm!" Chris said.

"Lucario! Assist him with Bone Rush!" Maylene said. Her Lucario suddenly made a blue baton in the form of a bone long enough to use with both hands.

"Stop him with Slash!" The other trainer shouted.

Chris's Lucario evaded the Hyper Beam and he used Force Palm right into the stomach of the Ursaring, he yelled in pain and it was instantly paralyzed, Maylene's Lucario swung the bone colliding with the Slash of the other Ursaring, but with enough force, the Bone Rush was too much and the Ursaring was going to fall back.

"Use Force Palm on the head!" Maylene commanded, her Lucario jumped high in the air and his fist glowed and it punched Ursaring in the forehead, the Ursaring was getting weaker, but suddenly he fell on the floor defeated.

"Ursaring!" His trainer shouted worried.

"Ursaring, use Karate Chop!" The first trainer ordered, the hand of the Ursaring glowed and it was going to hit Chris's Lucario until...his Lucario grabbed the glowing hand with one hand.

"Huh?" Maylene said in surprise, Chris's Lucario looked behind him and he lashed the Ursaring still using his hand to the floor, the Ursaring bounced 2 times and he fainted.

"Ursaring!" The first trainer said worried.

"We won!" Chris and Maylene said in unison jumping, Pichu also was jumping. Their Lucarios returned to their sides and the trainers called their Ursarings back to their Pokeballs, they thanked both Lucario's users and they left.

"As I've said before, you have trained very well your Lucario, Chris." Riley said smiling.

"I was very surprised at how your Lucario was able to lash that Ursaring with just one hand." Cynthia said.

"And to think that Ursaring was bigger too!" Maylene said. Rubbing her Lucario's head "One of these days, I want to challenge both of you!" She said pointing at Chris.

"...Well, sure...we can have a fight later..." Chris said rubbing his head "Let's move on, we can't waste any second in this task." He said walking away with his Lucario. Cynthia, Riley and Maylene with their Lucarios followed them. It was very close the city now, Maylene looked at some trees in the way and she remembered when her Riolu evolved.

Flashback

"Why did you...had to punch that Mightyena? He is surely searching for us to eat!" Maylene said as she was holding her Riolu in her arms, he was very hurted, there were a lot of bruises in his body, and he could barely even walk.

"I'm sorry Maylene...I think I overdid it a little...I never going to underestimate my foes..." He said in a weak tone.

It was raining too, Maylene and Riolu were escaping from a Mightyena that Riolu had punched him on the face while he was sleeping, he woke up enraged and he saw Riolu in a fighting stance, the Mightyena was fast and slashed Riolu several times using his claws and fangs, after Maylene managed to distract the Mightyena to grab Riolu and run away, they ran as fast the feet of Maylene could take them.

"AAHHH!!" Maylene tripped on the ground and Riolu fell too "My leg...it hurts so much!" She said holding her left leg.

"Maylene!" Riolu shouted walking to her, he somehow was able to stand up without tripping "Are you okay?"

"No...my leg hurts so much...Riolu, you must flee away from here now, hurry!"

"What? I-I can't do that! What if that Mightyena tries to kill you?" He asked with teary eyes.

"It doesn't matters...I just want you to live!"

"I can't do it! Sorry Maylene...forgive me..."

Just then, the Mightyena finally appeared in front of them, he was growling as he was showing his fangs in rage, Maylene gasped and she started to cry for her life. But Riolu stood in front of her with his arms opened.

"DON'T TAKE HER! TAKE ME INSTEAD!" He said.

"RIOLU!" Maylene said crying.

"RAAAHHHHHH!!" The Mightyena lunged at Riolu with his mouth opened, Maylene clossed her eyes to not see how Riolu was going to suffer, and then, Riolu's eyes widened when the fangs of the Mightyena bit his right arm.

"RIOOOLUUUU!!" Maylene shouted, her voice was echoing in all the rain.

"(I'm sorry Maylene...if only I were bigger and stronger...)" Riolu thought crying.

Suddenly, Riolu began to shine intensely, the eyes of the Mightyena widened, he backed away and he closed his eyes, Maylene opened her eyes when she saw the light coming from Riolu, she saw Riolu growing, his tail got bigger as well as the rest of his body, the little steel parts of his arms turned into sharp spikes and one also appeared on his chest, his ears grew and his sacks on his face disaopeared but 4 new sacks appeared behind his head, his torso was no longer blue, yellow fur grew on it instead, 2 black rings formed on his shoulders and his eyes turned sharper and the black marking of his face was now crossing his head in both sides of both ears, his nose was now a little longer, there was also a black marking around his lap that looked like he was wearing a belt. Since Maylene was still a little girl, Riolu was now bigger than her.

"AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M GOING TO USE TO PROTECT HER!" He said glaring at the Mightyena, Maylene also noted that his cute little voice turned into a menacing voice. She saw the wounds of Riolu disappeared in the process too. He ran with his fist ready to punch Mightyena, he did and Mightyena went flying to a nearby tree and he yelled in pain when he fell, then he shook his head and ran away scared.

"Ri-Riolu" Maylene said very surprised at the sudden change of Riolu.

"I'm no longer Riolu," "Riolu" turned his back to see Maylene "I'm now Lucario."

"Lucario?" Maylene asked. Lucario nodded and he kneeled to her.

"Your leg is still hurting you?"

"Y-yes." When she said that, Lucario grabbed her with his arms carefully to not touch her leg "You don't have to!"

"No, it was my fault for enraging that Mightyena in the first place."

Maylene blushed a little and she nodded slowly, Lucario smiled a little "Now let's go to our house, If I remember your mother is making rice for dinner."

"Y-yeah! Let's go!" She said smiling and blushing, Lucario walked to their house as he was carrying Maylene on his arms, in the middle of the way, Maylene yawned and she closed her eyes, she moved her head to Lucario's face and she also wrapped her arms around his neck, Lucario closed his eyes and smiled. Then the screen looks slowly to the rain and the clouds disperse and the light of the sun came from the sky once again.

End of flashback

A tear appeared on Maylene's left eye and she wipped it out.

Veilstone City
Street

"Now where could that truck be?" Chris asked looking around.

"It's over there." His Lucario said pointing to the truck with the G on it, it was opened from behind and the mysterious men were in front of the truck talking to a little group of their team, Chris and the others sneaked carefully behind the truck and they found the eggs inside.

"...Whoa...just look at all the eggs!" Maylene said smiling, she saw all the eggs piled above more eggs, the truck was just full of them because they were literally touching the roof of the truck.

"They weren't joking about the amount of eggs." Cynthia said.

"But how are we going to carry them before they start the car?" Chris asked.

"I have everything ready," Cynthia looked at her Lucario "Use Psychic to carry the eggs."

"Yes Cynthia." He said, he started to glow in a purple light and he pointed his hands to the eggs, the eggs were now floating towards them slowly, Riley and his Lucario took the eggs to hide them behind some trees, after half of the eggs were retrieved, Chris entered the truck along with Maylene and Pichu to carry the remaining eggs to Riley and the other 3 Lucarios.

"Are there more eggs inside?" Riley asked.

Chris, Pichu and Maylene looked behind them and they smiled "Nope, we're done." Maylene said.

Just then, the back of the truck closed quickly and Chris, Pichu and Maylene were trapped inside, Cynthia, Riley and the 4 Lucarios gasped in unison and the truck was driving away from them.

"LUCARIO!!" Both shouted in unison inside the truck.

"Hey, did you hear something from the eggs?" The man of the truck asked to his partner.

"Nah, it must be a fly or something." She replied.

"CHRIS!" Chris's Lucario, Riley and his Lucario shouted in unison.

"MAYLENE!" Cynthia, her Lucario and Maylene's Lucario shouted in unison.

"We have to save them now!" Chris's Lucario said.

"But what about the eggs? We need to keep them!" Maylene's Lucario asked.

"2 of us will stay behind while 4 of us will follow the truck without being spotted," Cynthia said "Riley, we should stay behind and let our Lucarios to do the job."

"Alright Cynthia, be careful along the way," Riley said to the 4 Lucarios, all of them nodded and they ran away chasing the truck carefully "Why did you choose them anyway?"

"Because they are Lucarios." Cynthia replied smiling.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Chris's Lucario."

"I'm Maylene's Lucario."

"I'm Riley's Lucario."

"I'm Cynthia's Lucario."

"They took by accident Chris, Pichu and Maylene to a hidden base near the Route 215"

"If they ever lay one finger to Maylene, they are going to die."

"Calm down, we need to think carefully or else this mission is going to fail."

"I agree with him."

"You're right, we should think before acting."

"I can't concentrate well if I know that Maylene is in danger!"

"Relax, we're going to rescue them."

"The key word for this mission is teamwork."

"Alright, let's rescue them now!"

"Next time: Revelations! Good bye Sinnoh!" All of them said in unison.

Too many Lucario! XD

Phew, writing Lucario every single minute has made me faster to type the name actually. XD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, read and review please! And don't forget to submit the next world to be saved!
*Chapter 27*: Oath To Your Cruel Destiny Now Or Else

And here is the last chapter of the Sinnoh arc! After so much struggle, this is coming to an end! Since there were so little submittions for the next world, I have no choice but to make a "filler" chapter to make more submittions.

Here is the list of the worlds submitted by the reviewers:

Metal Gear Solid

Pikmin (Which is interesting because the reviewer said something funny with a little description of what could happen to Chris and Lucario if they go there)

Also, at the end of this story, the whole Subspace Emissary storyline will be created to not confuse anyone, the scene with King Dedede taking the Halberd will be also added since the Dojo confirmed it.

Anyway, enjoy, read and review!

Chapter 27: Revelations! Good bye Sinnoh!

Route 215
Inside the truck

Chris, Pichu and Maylene were still inside the truck, only their eyes were showing in the darkness of the truck.

"Let's see, we rescued the Pokémon Eggs, but we forgot to get out of the truck right?" Chris asked.

"It appears so." Maylene said.

"Pichu Pi (Uh-hu.)"

"Oh god... Things can get any worse."

"Open the gates!" a voice yelled from outside, the sound of gates opening up were heard.

"Did you say something?" Maylene asked narrowing her eyes at Chris.

"No." He said sweatdropping.

"Pi Pi Pi! (LOL, you got owned!)" Pichu (surprisingly) said.

"They are not looking, let's move on." Chris's Lucario wispered to the other Lucarios, all of them ran quickly to the other side of the gate while the mysterious people weren't looking, they hid behind a pile of boxes near a base.

"I just can't wait to see the face of Commander Mars to see the Pokémon Eggs, she will be very pleased if Master Cyrus thank her," the man said.

"Stop dreaming and drive this thing inside the base!" The woman said annoyed.

"Look, they're opening that door." Riley's Lucario said.

"The coast is clear, go." Maylene's Lucario said, all of them ran inside the base and they hid in another pile of boxes.

Route 215
Mysterious base

"Did you hear something like something grabbing this truck?" Maylene asked.

"Yeah, I did, I think this is not the interior of the truck, but instead, it's a big metal box."

"AAAHHH!" The big metal box shook violently and the 3 of them fell on the floor, they moaned in pain. Outside, the big metal box was being carried away with a crane to a big treadmill leading to another place of the base. The group of Lucarios looked around to see if there was anyone looking, unfortunately, there were a lot of persons walking at different places at the same time, leaving the Lucarios stuck in their positions as the big metal box disappeared to another room.

Mysterious Base
Commander Mars's room

"And now Sir Cyrus, let me introduce you your present," a woman in the same space suit but with a different desing and red hair said pointing to the big metal box coming from the long treadmill.

"I hope this is useful as you told me before, I'm very busy with my work now," a man in the same space suit with blue hair said staring blankly at the box.

"You will not regret it. Inside this box there are a lot of Pokémon Eggs with Pokémon that can harness the aura," she said smiling evilly.

"Are you really sure that those eggs are going to help us in our research for the energy they emanate when they evolve?" he asked. His face was staring at her blanky, showing no emotion at all.

"I'm so sure of it." She took out a button. "And with just one click, this box is..." She clicked the button and the big metal box's walls fell apart, revealing to be a big metal cage "Holding so many eggs that are touching the roof of the cage," she said smirking.

"...You really disappoint me."

"Of course I always disappoint yo..." She looked at the cage and instead of "many eggs" she revealed 2 kids with a Pichu staring blankly at her "...Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

"They look like humans, they smell like humans and they sound like humans, therefore they are humans." Cyrus said staring blankly at them.

"Master Cyrus, I swear there were lots of eggs inside this cage. I don't know what happened during the kidnapping but I was sure of it," she said pointing at the cage.

"Sure, they were." Cyrus turned his back and he crossed his arms behind his back. "Expect a lowering in rank tomorrow." He walked away from her.

"..." She looked at the side in irritation. "This didn't come out as I expected it to be..."

"Geez, get a life please." Maylene said bored.

"Yes, I mean, stealing eggs from a valley it's just plain wrong." Chris said.

"Pichu Pichu Pi (You're a loser.)" Pichu said.

"...Well, at least I can punish you all for meddling your noses where they don't belong to," she said as she looked at them.

"What was that again?" Maylene asked.

"If I'm getting my rank away from me..." Commander Mars looked at them while grinning. "Then you're really going to pay for that..."

"How? We're inside this cage and you're out of it." Chris asked. Just then, she took out a Pokeball, she tossed it in the air and a Purugly came from it.

"I don't get your point still." Maylene said staring at the Purugly.

"I just use Supersonic to torture you 3 from what have you done to me," she said smirking.

"...Y-you wouldn't dare!" Chris said surprised.

Team Galactic Battle

"Watch me! Purugly! Use Supersonic on those meddlers!" she shouted, her Purugly opened his mouth and ultrasonic waves came colliding with the cage, the 3 blocked their ears in pain as the sound of the attack was hurting them.

"UGH! STOP IT!" Chris shouted.

"Never. As cruel as this may seem, you need to be punished for stealing our eggs...and my rank as well. Humiliating me in front of Cyrus means crossing over the line." Commander Mars said.

"THOSE EGGS WEREN'T FOR YOU!" Maylene said.

"Do I care? Purugly! Double potency!"

Purugly nodded and the Supersonic attack grew in size, the 3 were screaming in pain, blocking their ears wasn't enough to protect them.

"THAT'S IT! PICHU! USE THUNDERBOLT!" Chris said as he glanced at Pichu who tried to stand up, he did and he charged electricity from his body and a lightning went towards Purugly, the fat cat stopped his attack gritting his fangs "Now, use Tackle to destroy the bars!" Chris said pointing at the bars, Pichu rammed his head towards the bars to broke them.

"Don't think I'm going to let go away that easily either!" Mars said and she ordered her Purugly to use Supersonic again, the Pokémon closed his mouth and he gathered air with his nose to launch his attack again.

"Use Thunderbolt again! Quickly!" Chris said and Pichu charged more electricity and he fired it at Purugly again, Pichu continued his plan to destroy the bars with his head, it was a little painful, but he continued to do it.

"I hear something coming from the other side of the treadmill," Riley's Lucario said.

"LUCARIO!"

"CHRIS! ...THAT'S IT!" Chris's Lucario glowed in an intense light and he ran to the treadmill, in doing so, all the personnel inside the base noticed them.

"FORGET ABOUT THE PLAN! WE NEED TO ATTACK THEM NOW!" Maylene's Lucario said glowing too, he jumped high in the air and he charged an Aura Sphere shooting it at some machines around the area.

"STOP THEM! WE CAN'T ALLOW THEM TO DESTROY THIS BASE!" one man shouted taking out a Pokeball, every single member took out a Pokeball and all of them called different kinds of Pokémon out of the Pokeballs. Riley's Lucario and Cynthia's Lucario stood in a fighting stance and all Pokémon lunged at them.

"You won't escape so easily from the cage! Purugly! Use Supersonic again!" A big explosion was heard in all the base and Purugly stopped and he noticed the noise coming from the treadmill "Huh? What was that big noise?" Commander Mars asked. The back of the treadmill was suddenly glowing and Chris's Lucario came from it and he quickly punched Purugly to the wall. Purugly crashed to the wall and he fell unconscious with swirl is his eyes.

"Purugly!" Commander Mars ran to her Purugly "You little bastard! How dare you to hurt my Purugly?!"

"GUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!" Chris's Lucario roared. Chris and Maylene unblocked their ears and opened their eyes and they noticed Chris's Lucario glaring at Commander Mars and Purugly.

"So? With that kind of emotion you're not going to scare m-"

Chris's Lucario stomped the floor and it broke leaving a huge mark of destruction on it.

"...The tough type, huh?" she asked before she called back her Purugly. "Well, since you want to rescue them so badly, then go ahead. I don't care about this anymore..." she said before she walked away.

"...I don't like the way she said that..." Maylene whispered.

"Lucario!" Chris said smiling, his Lucario looked at the cage and he stood in front of the bars, he grabbed 2 of them with each hand and he broke them without any problem. Chris stood up and ran at his Lucario to hug him.

"I was a little worried Chris." His Lucario said rubbing Chris's head.

"Where is my Lucario?" Maylene asked looking around.

"Maylene!"

"Lucario!" Her Lucario came from the treadmill and the 2 hugged each other. Maylene was smiling happily.

"Pichu Pichu! (Let's get out of here!)" Pichu said rubbing his head from the damage he received after hitting the bars.

"Right, we need to escape from this place." Chris's Lucario said. Chris, Pichu, Maylene and her Lucario nodded. All of them ran inside the treadmill.

"Are you tired yet?" Riley's Lucario asked panting, Cynthia's Lucario was at his right side looking back "No, and you?" He asked panting. A lot of Pokémon were laying unconscious on the floor, probably because they defeated them.

"They are too powerful! We need to escape now!" A member said to the other. Just then, Chris and the others came from the treadmill and they joined the other Lucarios in the battle.

"Pichu! Behind you!" Chris yelled as a Golbat was going to bite Pichu from his back, Pichu ducked in terror but Chris's Lucario punched the Golbat in the head, making the big bat to crash in some boxes and Pichu thanked Lucario with a smile, saying his name in happiness.

"Now as we always do it Lucario!" Maylene said to her Lucario and both positioned their hands like they were going to launch Aura Spheres, obviously, Maylene's Lucario did an sphere except of Maylene "Aura Sphere!" Maylene shouted and both pushed their hands in the same time and the Aura Sphere exploded right into the belly of a Rhydon, who fell on the floor fainted.

"Now Pichu! Use Thunder!" Chris said as Pichu gathered all his electricity again while Zubats, Poochyenas and Golbats were surrounding him, Pichu opened his little arms realising all his electricity and paralyzing all the Pokémons surrounding him, they fell on their faces in the floor and Pichu was tilting his head from the exhaustion.

"You did a great job Pichu!" Chris said grabbing Pichu on his arms but Pichu was still dizzy.

"What are we going to do now? Almost all our Pokémon were wiped out!" A Galactic Grunt said to another.

"No! We need the order of Commander Mars first!"

"This is an order: leave the base at once! I repeat, this is an order: leave the base at once!" Mars said over the mic from another place.

"RUN!" every member shouted taking back their Pokémon to their Pokeballs.

"Bunch of cowards," Cynthia's Lucario said crossing his arms.

"Now let's go!" Chris said, all of them ran outside the base to the gate, after passing through the gate, the stopped to catch their breath and the crowd cheered for them.

Music stops

"Ooof...we did it...right Maylene?" Chris asked.

"Yeah...we did it." She said smiling.

"PICHU!"

"What's wrong Pichu?" Chris asked.

"PICHU PICHU PICHU! (We're surrounded!)" Pichu said scared.

"Huh?" Chris looked and he gasped when he saw many members of Team Galactic surrouding them, they were holding a lot of high tech guns and pointing at them.

"Did you think we would surrender so easily?" Commander Mars came out of the crowd smirking. "That is where you are wrong kids."

"Darn it! They don't stop calling me kid!" Chris said annoyed. His Lucario glared at them and he charged up an Aura Sphere.

"Halt! If you shoot that orb, we will shoot at you with our guns at free will."

"Grrr..." Lucario stopped charging up his Aura Sphere.

"Now...surrender now...or else..." she said.

"I-I guess there isn't any choice left then..." Chris dropped to the floor, Maylene and Pichu did the same. "We surrender."

"Excellent, now take the-" She was interrupted because she heard a noise coming from the bushes, but in reality, all the bushes around them were moving "Huh? Who is there? Show yourselves!"

"If you say so!" a familiar voice said smiling, suddenly, from the bushes came hundreds of Lucarios walking towards the members of Team Galactic, all of the Lucarios were glaring at them, some were above the trees with crossed arms and some were high atop the trees. From the crowd of Lucarios, Riley and Cynthia came walking along with the leader of the valley.

"E-everyone!" Chris said getting up surprised at the sudden help from all the Lucarios.

"Oh, you've got be kidding me... I had everything perfectly planned to steal the eggs from these freak-" When Commander Mars said that annoyed, all of the Lucarios grunted at her and she stopped.

"Commander Mars! We're waiting for your orders! What should we do now?" A member asked looking at all the enraged Lucarios.

"LUCARIOS OF THE VALLEY OF THE AURA! PREPARE THE AURA SPHERES!" the leader ordered and all the Lucarios stood in the position for charging the Aura Spheres as the aura of each one was concentrating between his hands.

"..." Mars merely smirked. "Okay. It's doesn't matter now."

All the Lucarios stopped charging their Aura Spheres and looked confused.

"W-wait, why is everyone stopping?" Maylene asked.

"As irritating as it sounds, we're mostly pacific to anyone. Since she has something to say, we'll her speak," the leader said. "Speak."

It was not long before several choppers arrived from the sky and dropped ladders just above Mars's team.

"T-they're going to escape!" Chris yelled.

"Let them go," the leader said.

"W-wait, what?"

"We don't want any grudges with them anymore. In order to do this, we have to let them go so they don't bother our peace at the valley. Is that clear to you?" the leader asked with a glare to Mars as she was the last one to climb up the ladder.

"Fine," Mars said as the chopper started to lift her up. "We won't disturb your stinky valley anymore. But remember this, we won't forget this little event at all. After all, you were the ones who took my rank away."

"C-Cynthia! Aren't you going to do something?" Maylene asked.

"No," Cynthia shook her head. "If they agree to stop disturbing the Lucarios, then it's fine with me."

"But they're criminals!"

"Unfortunately, we lack proof for them being criminals," Riley said as Mars got inside the chopper. "You wrecked their hideout in your way out, didn't you? That pretty much wrecks the proof apart."

Chris and Maylene looked back at the hideout that was in ruins.

"...Oh god..." Chris said worried.

"Heh," Mars chuckled as she muttered something. "Sucks to be you, huh? Well, then, we'll meet again sometime in the future if we ever feel like it. Enjoy your peace between dogs."

They all watched the chopper disappearing in the horizon with the others. All the Lucarios were glaring at them before they let out grunts of frustration.

"..." Chris looked forward. "...Why did she sound like Amy? Her voice was very identical to Amy's voice..."

"Did you say something?" his Lucario asked.

"N-nothing..."

Route 210
Valley of the Aura

Everyone returned to the Valley of the Aura to return the Pokémon Eggs.

"So, you 2 went here after we were trapped by Team Galactic and asked for the help of the Lucarios?" Chris asked to Riley and Cynthia, both nodded.

"We are in your debt for rescuing all the Pokémon Eggs, you have my regards," the leader said knelting. His wife was holding a Pokémon Egg in her arms.

"Isn't that Pokémon Egg Lucario's sister?"

She nodded smiling "That's right. Very soon my daughter will be born from this egg."

"Hey look!" Maylene said pointing to the eggs.

"What?" Riley asked.

"They're shaking!"

Indeed, all the Pokémon Eggs were shaking, even the egg of Lucario's mother was shaking too. All of the Lucarios watched as the eggs were breaking up from the top, Chris, Pichu, Maylene, Riley and Cynthia were also watching.

"They're going to hatch at the same time. It's amazing." Riley said.

"I can't wait to see their faces filled with joy after they hatch." Cynthia said as she sat down.

When they stopped shaking, every single egg broke and as expected, Riolus came from the eggs saying their names in baby-ish tones, many Lucarios (who were female) walked to the Riolus and grabbed them smiling, every Riolu was too happy to have their mother in front of them.

And that was also the same reaction for Chris's Lucario's mother. Her daughter was also a Shiny Pokémon as her.

"My baby!" she said hugging her daughter in her arms. Chris's Lucario approached to her and he saw his little sister looking curiously at him.

"(Sooooooooooooo cute...)" Chris thought in happiness. "Isn't great Lucario? You have a little sister to look after." Chris said smiling.

"Do you see him?" Chris's Lucario's mother pointed at his son. "He is your big brother."

"Big...brother?" the Shiny Riolu asked putting her little left hand in his mouth.

"Wow, she can talk too..." Maylene said surprised.

"...Big brother!" his little sister said trying to hug his brother. Lucario approached closer to her and she hugged his right arm.

"Aww, isn't cute?" Maylene asked to Cynthia with closed eyes. She replied by nodding and smiling.

"Say, aren't those the new Riolus that hatched just now?" Chris asked. Maylene turned her back and she saw all the Riolus looking at her curiously.

"Hey!" She bent to them. "Aren't you the most cutest little babies in the world?" she asked smiling. Every Riolu looked at each other. They blinked in unison and...they leaped to Maylene, causing her to fall on the ground.

"Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Lu! Lu! Ri! Lu!" they said above Maylene.

"AAHH!! PLEASE! STOP! YOU'RE ALL TICKLING ME!! HAHAHAHA! PLEASE! I BEG FOR MERCY PLEASE!" she pleaded laughing, tears were coming from her eyes since all the Riolus were tickling her. "HEY! THAT'S MY CHOCOLATE BAR!" she said looking at a Riolu staring at the Chocolate Bar he took from Maylene's pocket. He took a bite of it and the Riolu smiled.

"Riiii!" he said in happiness.

"AWWW! YOU'RE SO CUTE!" she said smiling and laughing.

"Maylene...you're unbeliavable..." Chris said frowning. Everyone laughed at this for a while, even the Riolus were laughing too.

As their laughs echoed through the valley, Chris noticed that Lucario's father walked to him while everyone was laughing.

"You, come here for a moment." Chris's Lucario's father said to Chris.

"Huh? For what?" Chris asked.

"Just come, quick." He said leaving inside a cave, Chris made a confused face and he followed him.

Both of them found a small entry to a cave where the Lucario walked inside without looking back. Chris stopped in front of the cave before he went inside to the Lucario.

"What is it?" Chris asked as he looked around. "Why are you taking me here?"

"I need to show you something very important."

"Important?"

"Yes, and it is right here." He stopped in front of wall, there were torches with fire around the cave. In the wall, there was a picture of a giant Lucario glowing. Letters were shown around the image too.

Chris blinked surprised at the image that he examined every single part of it. "God... What is that?"

"That picture," he said as he turned to face Chris. "Is my son."

"Huh? And why is he in that wall?"

"I need to tell you a myth of the Valley of the Aura." He turned his back to look at Chris. "It's a myth of a Legendary Lucario."

"...A myth of a Legendary Lucario?" Chris repeated confused before he got in a thinking position. "...Wait, you don't mean my Lucario... Wait, it's just to-"

"Yes, a myth that has been here in the valley since its existence. There was a old legend about a bloodline of the strongests Lucario in the region of Sinnoh, I am one member of that family."

"So, that means..."

"Correct, your Lucario is also one of those members. You might have noticed the "brute force" he possess, am I right? That shows his heritage to the bloodline of the valley."

"W-well, he used to do pushups under the bed every morning. When I asked him if the bed was heavy, he said it wasn't heavy at all for his back that he kept going for a while..." Chris said.

"Then I was right... However, my son is special."

"Special about what? His strength?"

"There was an old saying about a Lucario who will have the special task that will prove his strength between all the Lucarios of the family." He looked at the wall. "The saying was this: One Lucario of the family will have a special destiny that will be used in good hands. This Lucario will help and protect a certain special being to save a great catastrophe that will engulf and destroy all the universe out of existence. The special being is the World Traveler, the human who is from another world and will save all the worlds from the ultimate destruction."

"..." Chris looked stupidly shocked at this. "...Aw no...no...no no no no no no..."

"What is it, World Traveler?" Lucario's father asked with a small smile.

"...L-look, this is so sudden to me about the World Traveler thing..." Chris gulped. "I-I mean, I'm some kind of hero because of this prophecy?!"

"Yes," he said simply.

The simpleness of the "yes" made Chris uncomfortable.

"...That's all you're going to say to me?" Chris asked.

"Yes," he repeated.

"...But this is just so stupid!" Chris yelled. "I'm a destined teen to save the worlds? I-I thought it was a good idea to save them and just that, b-but the World Traveler?"

"I expected you to react like that," the leader said with a chuckle. "In truth, you have a destiny full of perils and dangers ahead of you. When you accepted the task to save the worlds, you became the World Traveler instantly."

"I-I did it just for fun...just to meet different people in every single universe..." Chris muttered.

"Well, I know you're a bit hesitant about this revelation, but what do you want to tell me?"

"...That...this is...this is...this is..." Chris looked down. "...Unbelievable..."

"Do you care to say more than that?"

"...Can I change destinies?"

"No."

"Can I change names? Will it make a difference?"

"No."

"Can I make another identity?"

"No."

"Can I ignore this task?"

"No."

"Can I change the prophecy?"

"No!"

"Can I use another Pokémon?"

"No!"

"Can I-"

"NO!" he yelled angrily before he coughed. "You have a destiny ahead of you and you must complete it!"

"..." Chris sobbed a little as he cried toon tears. "Destinies shouldn't be this harsh on me... What did I do to deserve this?"

"Fate is sometimes cruel, but you must accept it."

"...A-as much as this is so unfair..." Chris looked to him. "...I'm going to accept this..."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, remember that you still have my son as your guardian. He will step in front of the danger for you."

"Well...that's true..." Chris nodded. "...I hope I can do a good job though..."

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm sure you can achieve this if you put effort and mind into it. But, do you really accept this task?"

"...I..." Chris gulped. "...I'm sure I will do it...for everyone and every single place out there..."

"If you have questions about this, please come to see me for your answers...as long as they're not like the questions you asked me before..." he said as he sweatdropped.

Chris pouted a little before shaking his head. "I-I'm going to do my very best then..."

"Then look at the wall."

"What?"

"I want you to say it out loud. If you accept the rank, then you must say it to the painting of my son by putting your hand against the wall."

"...For?" Chris asked.

"PUT YOUR HAND AGAINST THE WALL!" he yelled furiously as Chris quickly pressed his hand against the painting.

"I-I-I, Chris, w-w-will accept my destiny as the World Traveler!" Chris yelled in shock.

"MORE!" he demanded.

"I-I-I promise I'm going to save the worlds and everyone else!"

"MORE!"

"I-I-I'm not going to let anyone down, ever!"

"MORE!"

"I-I-I will do anything in my power to achieve my victories in battles in a near future!"

"MORE!"

"I-I-I won't let anything stop me from being successful!"

"MORE!"

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?!" Chris asked in utter irritation.

"You're not being respectful to the painting. You must speak out your mind so it doesn't feel offended!" he said in rage.

"IT'S JUST A PAINTING WITH MY LUCARIO ON IT, DAMMIT!"

"THEN SPEAK OUT YOUR MIND TO IT! NOW!"

Chris turned to the painting. "I'M THE WORLD TRAVELER! I'M GOING TO SAVE EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CRAP OUT THERE SO ANYONE CAN STEP ON IT AND WALK THE EARTH WITH SECURITY IN THEIR MINDS WHILE THE PEACE REIGNS THE WHOLE UNIVERSES! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled loudly as his voice echoed throughout the whole cave.

"You have spoken your words..." he trailed off as he nodded. "Congratulations."

"(...That was pretty stupid...)" Chris thought.

"(What was that?! You dare to disrecpect the prophecy through your mind?!)" the leader asked in rage through telepathy.

"(Would you stop it now?!)" Chris said in irritation.

"Chris."

"WHAT?!" Chris asked furiously to his Lucario, who decided to appear just now. "...O-oh, I mean, what?"

"Why were you yelling like you were being tortured?" his Lucario asked.

"...You tell him!" Chris demanded the leader.

A while later...

"Now you 2 know your destinies," the leader said as Chris stood right next to his Lucario. "You must protect the worlds from the menace you're facing so they don't end up destroyed."

"...I will take this in mind, father," Chris's Lucario said. "I won't let Chris down either."

"(Why must Lucarios be this determined?)" Chris thought with a bored tone in his voice. "E-er, I accept my destiny as well."

"Then, go ahead," the leader said. "I trust you 2 from here and onwards. Son, please, remember this place as your home. You should visit us once in a while during your travels with the World Traveler."

"Chris." Chris corrected.

The leader ignored him. "Remember, you have a family here. Your sister would like you to come and see her from time to time."

Chris's Lucario nodded. "I will. I can't forget about my family here because...I just found it..." Chris's Lucario said with a nod. "Chris..."

"...Don't worry," Chris smiled a little to him. "I want to visit this place sooner so I can play with the cut-I-I mean, Riolus a lot."

"Thank you, World Traveler," the leader said. "We would be pleased to see you here as well."

"For the last time, my name is Chris!" Chris yelled.

"Yes. Now, I wish you good luck in your travels. May the aura of all living things accompany you in your battles."

As the 2 nodded and Lucario said his farewell to his father, both walked back to the exit before Chris leaned closer to Lucario. "He ignored my name, didn't he?"

"...It seems so..." his Lucario replied.

"...Well, let's say good bye to everyone in the valley before we continue our gruesome destinies."

"Aren't you excited though?"

"To meet more people? Yes," Chris said. "To die? Hell no..."

"You have me."

"...To survive? Yes."

His Lucario just frowned before chuckling a little as they left the cave.

Veilstone City
Entrance to the Veilstone City Gym

"Well, you have your family now, a little sister to look after and a home to return," Chris said. "And I guess it's time to leave now."

"Yes," Riley said as he looked at his Lucario. "We're going to Iron Island to train for a while. After all the things that happened, we need a little break as we call it. I need to resume my training as an Aura Guardian as well."

He was just begging for someone to yell at him, "Sir Aaron, you're alive!"

"I...must...not...yell...Sir Aaron...at him..." Chris muttered.

"What?" Sir Aaro-I mean, Riley asked.

"N-nothing!" Chris yelled. "...Just a promise, everyone."

"What, Chris?" Maylene asked.

"Let's promise that we will never let anyone hear about the Valley of the Aura and that the Lucarios can talk. We will keep it as our little secret. If you see anyone coming to you if you're talking to your Lucario, you must stop talking to him and he can only say the only common thing every Pokémon does."

"His name over and over again?" Maylene asked.

"Sadly, yes." Chris said sweatdropping.

"Or just grunt," Riley said with a chuckle. "Grunting is the way they talk."

The 4 Lucarios glared at him before grunting.

"Told you so."

"Well, that's good for me." Cynthia said, licking something familiar.

"Cynthia...isn't that the same Ice Cream from before?" Chris said with a bored look.

"Yes, and look, I've finished," she said tossing the cone away in a trash can.

"...Leaving that, we need to get going now. Let's go, Lucario." Riley said.

"Yes, Riley." His Lucario looked at Chris. "Thank you for all your help. I wouldn't be reunited with Riley if it wasn't for you. I hope we meet again someday."

The Aura Guardian (Riley is Sir Aaron's reincarnation, for god's sake...) and his Lucario began to walk away as the 7 waved at them.

"Good bye, Riley! Good bye, Lucario!" Chris said waving his hand to them. They left waving their hands before they disappeared out of sight.

"And I need to return to do some work around Sinnoh. It was a pleasure to stay with you. Lucario, return to your Pokeball," she said pointing her Pokeball at Lucario.

"Yes, Cynthia," her Lucario said before returning to his Pokeball.

She chuckled heartily. "I hope we can have a little adventure someday in the future. Being with Lucario trainers is a worthwhile experience with lots of fun. Well, then, I must get going to visit my grandma at Celestic Town. The museum where she works at will show the rare Lustrous Orb for display in a private exhibition... Oops, I said something confidential. Keep this between us, okay?" she asked with a chuckle before she turned and walked away. "Good bye for all of you! Let's do something like this again sometime!"

"Good bye, Cynthia!" Maylene said waving her hand at Cynthia. Cynthia waved her hand as well and she left in the distance.

"...Well, Maylene, we need to go now. It was very fun to stay with you." Chris said smiling.

"Chris, thank you so much for helping me to be reunited with my Lucario. I've never been so happy before in my life...but I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't need t-" Chris was interrupted.

"Oh! I know how! Chris, I need you to open your hand and close your eyes. When I said the word, open your eyes."

"...Okay..." Chris said as he did what he was told. "Now what?"

He felt something above his hand.

"Maylene, what did you give m-"

He was interrupted once more, but, the strange thing was, there was something on his cheek.

Chris's Lucario's eyes widened a lot, and Maylene's Lucario's eyes widened too.

If you have been wondering what was the other thing...

"Maylene, a-a-are you kissing me?!" Chris asked blushing.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Maylene said.

"Did you just kiss me on my cheek?"

Maylene blushed a little "Well...I...think I was a little too thankful..."

Chris just blinked in embarrasment, then he looked at his hand and there was badge. "Isn't this..."

"Yeah, that is the Cobble Badge of the Veilstone City Gym. You've earned it," she said smiling.

"But I didn't challenge you!"

"That doesn't matter. Consider it as a thanks for reuniting me with my Lucario, without him, my Gym would be a disappoinment for the Sinnoh League!" She paused for a moment. "That's it! You should challenge the Sinnoh League!"

"Me? Challenging the Sinnoh League?" He looked at his Lucario. "I-I-I-I-I'm going to think about it."

"That's great! I want to see you winning!" She looked behind Chris and there was someone coming to them far away. "Look! There is a trainer coming!"

"Really? You should start accepting challenge with...oh my god, no..." Chris's face got scared of what he just saw coming, the trainer who was coming was too familiar...way too familiar to Chris. His Lucario saw his terrorized face, when he turned his head he made the same terrorized face, although Pichu was confused. Because that trainer was...

"Hey! I know him! He is Paul!" Maylene said smiling.

"P-Paul?!" Chris and his Lucario said surprised. Chris grabbed Maylene by the shoulders.

"Chris! What are you doing?!" She asked confused.

"MAYLENE, YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME SOMETHING, AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT... IF PAUL OR ANYONE WHO HAS A PIKACHU AND TRAVELS WITH 2 OTHER PERSONS ASK ABOUT ME OR MY LUCARIO, YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME THAT YOU WILL NOT TELL THEM ABOUT MY EXISTENCE OR MY LUCARIO'S EXISTENCE, UNDERSTAND?! AND IF YOU HAVE A FLASHBACK WITH ME IN IT OR MY LUCARIO, DON'T TELL THEM ABOUT US!"

"W-w-why?" she asked still confused.

"FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR GYM AND YOUR LUCARIO, JUST DO IT! PLEASE!"

"O-ok! Got it!" she said scared.

"GOOD! LUCARIO! USE EXTREMESPEED AND LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Chris said stopping grabbing Maylene by the shoulders. His Lucario grabbed him and Pichu quickly and the trio disappeared in front of Maylene and her Lucario.

"...You will remember his promise, Maylene?" her Lucario asked.

"...You bet I will! Now for starting good in this day, let's beat Paul and regain our fighting spirit as a team!"

These 2 better be prepared for what is coming to them...

"Shh... He is coming..." he whispered.

"Oh shoot, you're right..." she wispered back.

"Hey, I want to challenge you now." Paul said with a blank face.

"You're on! Let's do it, Lucario!"

Her Lucario said nodding, remembering Chris's promise.

Veilstone City
Street

"P-phew, that was close..." Chris said clearing his forehead because he sweated. "I can't believe it, we're inside the anime?!"

"We saw Paul, and Cheryl was also holding the same honey she got from that episode." Lucario said.

"Pichu Pi? (Do you know them?)" Pichu asked.

"...Yes..." Lucario answered.

"Now that everything is done here, let's return to the Smash Mansion."

Chris looked around if there were persons looking at them. The coast was clear and he made the vortex. The trio stepped inside and they disappeared, but the vortex didn't close and a yellow figure walked inside along with a round pink figure, then the vortex disappeared.

WORLD COMPLETED!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Surprised? I bet you are, but there will be no romance between Chris and Maylene, sorry.

Who were those mysterious figures anyway? And if you noted, I've added another thing to the story, the "World Completed!" part, I think I will add more things later too (Who am I kidding? There will be a lot of things added to the next chapter!). Read and review please!

And finally! The name "Lucario" will not be used many times... XD

Read and review, please! : D
*Chapter 28*: The Oldies Look So Young

As usual, this chapter got a good amount of reedits as well. Mostly because my writing wasn't always the same. I hope this came out better, though.

Read, enjoy, and review.

Chapter 28: The Oldies Look So Young

Smash Mansion
Command Room

A very small time passed after Chris, Pichu, and Lucario arrived from Sinnoh.

"You were gone for the last 9 hours. What you were doing in Sinnoh?" Master Hand asked.

"S-sorry for being a little bit late..." Chris said. "But there were some events that distracted us a lot."

"What kind of events?"

Chris, Pichu, and Lucario explained it all to Master Hand and the others.

"World Traveler, huh?" Master Hand asked.

"Y-yes, I turned out to be some kind of...you know?" Chris asked. "Why is it that it was already set for me?"

"Well...I can't really explain," Master Hand said. "Universes around here are complicated in their own paces. It's even harder for me to explain their complexity."

"But still..." Chris wondered.

"Well, what can you do," Master Hand began. "It only means you're bound to your job."

"What?"

"It means you'll have to risk your butt for everyone."

"What?"

"IT MEANS YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT THE BAD GUYS! There! Cheesy line included!" Master Hand yelled annoyed.

"O-okay!" Chris said worried. "I-I'll just follow it!"

"And you don't want to wonder more?" Lucario asked.

"What can I do...?" Chris trailed off. "I already gave my oath to your scary father."

"What oath?" Pikachu asked as he jumped to his shoulder.

"The oath Lucario's dad told me to say out loud," Chris said. "He scared me when he demanded it."

…

"...Pikachu?"

"Yes?" Pikachu asked.

"...AGH!" Chris backed away, causing Pikachu to fall down the floor. "W-what the..."

"Wow, you're not good at welcomes," Pikachu said bored as he got up. "And here I thought you were going to say at least hello."

"But..." Lucario began. "From where did you come from? And for that matter, how can you speak human language?"

Pikachu tilted his head at Lucario. "Hmm..."

"What?"

"...Well..." Pikachu crossed his arms and nodded. "You're not him, that's for sure."

"Him?"

"I once knew a stubborn Lucario," Pikachu explained. "But you're not certainly him."

"What makes you say that?"

"Dude, you look way taller than most Lucarios," Pikachu explained. "And you don't have that "face" they all have either."

"What face?"

"The glaring face?" Pikachu asked. "The one that makes Happinys cry?"

Lucario glared at Pikachu.

"...Okay, there it is," Pikachu said with a shrug.

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted. "How did you..."

It was not long before Chris spotted a Jigglypuff close to Pikachu.

"...Okay, what's happening here now?" Chris asked annoyed.

"Nothing," Jigglypuff said.

"This is very confusing..." Pichu said. "...Oh, wait a minute. You're the same Pikachu and Jigglypuff I know, right?"

"Yes," Pikachu and Jigglypuff said.

"...You're back!" Pichu said happily as he jumped back to the floor and hugged both newcomers happily.

"..." Chris turned to Master Hand. "Really, I don't understand how they came here!"

"Oh, stop that," Jigglypuff said. "We came here with you."

"What?"

"We kind of wanted to come here in the first place because Master Hand called us over," Pikachu said. "But then we saw you 3 going through the portal, and we recognized the portal as the same one we used last time."

"...Wait..." Chris began. "If you came from that world...then...are you by any chance Ash's Pikachu?"

"..." Pikachu blinked surprised. "...Well, yes, I am."

"..."

"...Hold on!" Pikachu suddenly said. "How do you know Ash?"

"I..." Chris sweated a little bit.

"We know him because he once appeared in TV," Lucario suddenly said.

"...Oh," Pikachu said. "But in what kind of event was that?"

It sounded like Pikachu was questioning the 2...

"T-the league in Kanto," Chris responded. "He lost to a guy named Richie, right?"

"...True enough," Pikachu said with some nods. "Alright, I believe you."

"Phew, thank you, Lucario," Chris whispered to Lucario.

"I had to act fast or else we could have been assaulted with questions..." Lucario whispered back.

"Okay," Jigglypuff began. "Since I come from the same world, I'm the same Jigglypuff."

"The same Jigglypuff?" Chris asked.

"The same Jigglypuff that, no matter what, stalked Ash and everyone," Pikachu pointed out.

Jigglypuff looked angry at him. "So, what? I wanted to give you a concert, but you always fell asleep!"

"What did you want us to do?"

"…Anyway," Jigglypuff as she smiled a bit. "You 2 know our names already, right?"

"Yes…" Chris said.

"Name please," Pikachu asked.

"Chris," Chris said.

"Oh, nice to meet you."

"Well, this is very good news," Master Hand said. "We know have 2 more in our group."

"And we're here to stay," Pikachu said.

"How can they talk?" Chris asked.

"We have our own translators with us," Pikachu said. "We kept them veeeeeeeeery well hidden."

"Personally I liked to talk without it…" Jigglypuff muttered.

NEWCOMERS!

Pikachu and Jigglypuff joined your team!

"And that's not all," Master Hand said. "I also invited 3 more guests back while you were away. They didn't have anything better to do so I called them here."

"Who again?" Pikachu asked.

"Can I come in now?" asked a voice from the hallway. "I'm bored over here."

"Shh!" Master Hand said annoyed. "You weren't supposed to talk!"

"Why do we have to hide and appear when you want, anyway?" another voice asked. "We're human beings; not things!"

"Actually, I think Pit is an angel and not human," commented another voice.

"I AM an angel and a human," the first voice said annoyed.

"With wings," the second voice said.

"That's about right."

"…" Master Hand frowned. "Pit, Popo, Nana, come in here already. You guys can't spoil something without spoiling it first."

From the hallway, there appeared Pit, Popo, and Nana. The 3 of them walked to the group.

"You 4," Master Hand addressed the first 4. "I introduce you t-"

"Hey there, you 3," Nana said to Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff.

"What is up with you?" Pikachu asked as he shook hands with Popo and Nana.

"Hey, why did you interrupt me?" Master Hand asked.

"Because we already know these 2," Pikachu said. "However though, we don't quite know that one over there…"

"Oh, excuse me," Pit said politely. "My name is Pit."

"An angel?" Pichu asked.

"What?" Master Hand asked. "You people are weird enough to make me ask the same."

"Er, you're a big floating hand without a body…" Jigglypuff pointed out.

"…Your point?"

"A-anyway," Pit began as he shook hands with Chris. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Pit from Skyworld."

"N-nice to meet you as well," Chris said politely. "...Am I dead?"

Pit tilted his head. "Why would you be dead? ...Oh, wait, you're not saying that because of me, right?"

"I...have to be honest with you..."

"...Oh, don't worry about that," Pit said. "As long as this doesn't happen too often, I'm fine with the first impressions."

"Good..." Chris said embarrassed. "Sorry for misjudging you."

"It's okay," Pit said. "Oh, glad to meet you as well," he said to Lucario.

"Likewise here," Lucario said with a nod.

At that moment, Roy and Mewtwo came from the hallway and spotted the 5 new people in there. "Oh, we have more newcomers in here?" Roy asked.

"That's right," Master Hand said. "They all came here after I summoned them here. These 5 were not doing anything so I went ahead."

"And the fact that you thought the Primids weren't going to assault their world was another small but important detail you didn't want to say, and also because their worlds were boring as well," Mewtwo pointed out bored.

The 5 looked somewhat annoyed at the hand. "O-okay, I hid some details from you but that's all in the past, right?" the sane hand asked.

"No," the 5 said.

"...One of these days, that psychic cat's mind powers will be blocked," he muttered.

"Try it," Mewtwo taunted.

"Oh, you shut up," Master Hand said annoyed. "Anyway, now we're 10 people in the team, meaning we have even more help than before."

NEWCOMERS!

The Ice Climbers and Pit joined your team!

"..." Chris suddenly got worried. "Wait, what day are we again?"

"What? Why are you asking that?"

"Because I have school and I don't want to ignore it while I'm here!" Chris said. "I have a very busy life in my world and I don't want to do that!"

"Busy life in your world?" Pikachu asked. "Ooh, you're one of those guys who attend school, yet at the same time they have a secret life of fighting crime in the streets."

"...N-no..." Chris said.

"Oh, relax," Master Hand said. "The time in your world has been stopped."

"What?" Chris asked. "Stopped?"

"Yep," the hand said. "I used one of my many mighty powers to stop the time in your world. It wasn't an easy task, let me tell you."

"But you stopped the time around everything in there?" Lucario asked.

"Pretty much," Master Hand said. "Stopping the time is way easier than slowing it because you have to be always looking at who you slow down...of course I don't slow down anyone in here (for my bad luck)."

"..."

"...You can wander here and won't even age a day," Master Hand pointed out. "As long as you all are here, you won't age like normal people do."

"So you practically mess around with time here?" Roy asked.

"Only inside this mansion," the hand said. "I don't want to be hunted by some people if they ever know I have those kinds of power."

"Understandable?" Pit said.

"I hope it is," Master Hand said. "Anyway, it's getting late now, and since we have new people in here, why don't we do a small celebration in our lonely but sweet kitchen?"

"Um, I don't know..." Nana said. "I don't think we should even celebrate."

"Oh, come on, party pooper," Crazy Hand said. "Everyone has to chill it out and be cooooooooool."

"...Translation?" Pit asked. "I'm afraid I don't know any slang or culture here. I come from a paradise after all."

"He means we should rest at least once in a while," Master Hand explained. "You guys up for some dinner? I have an important announcement to make as well."

The Smashers looked at each other and thought for a moment...

Smash Mansion
Kitchen

"..." Pichu looked around...

All of the Smashers were at the kitchen, sitting around a long table that ran across the entire huge room. Since the table was supposed to have every single one of them, it looked like they all had groups that were apart from each other. Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff were sitting some seats away from Roy and Pit, then some seats away there were Popo and Nana talking to Chris, and then even some more seats away there were Mewtwo and Lucario, who didn't even talk with each other whatsoever as they just simply ate some fruits in silence from others.

Master Hand appeared above the table, calling to everyone's attention. "Okay, how's the dinner going for you?" he asked.

"Too silent," Mewtwo commented. "This is not like we used to eat... And it's not like me to eat here, but I didn't want to have boredom."

"Well, that's to be expected," the hand said before he looked around. "We're just 10 people for now. We should have over 30 people talking and discussing whatever they have to speak."

"It's rather sad," Nana said. "I wonder how the others are doing right now."

"You don't worry about them. I'm sure they'll come back at some point, and then we're going to be a big and dysfunctional family."

"You and your weird names to group all of us..." Roy commented.

"Does he do that every time?" Pit asked.

"More often than you think, believe me."

The hand grumbled. "Anyhow, I have a small but rather interesting announcement to do here." Master Hand snapped his fingers and made a target appear in midair. "What's this I have here?"

"A target," everyone said.

"And for what is it?"

"To break it apart?" Pit responded.

"Correct again. For the veterans in here, what do you remember of this target?"

"That you have to break 10 in order to complete the stage?" Pikachu responded.

"Correct again. Tonight we're going to spice things up a bit and let you all take a test," the hand explained. "And by test, I mean Target Smash!!"

Everybody kept staring at the hand in complete silence.

"...Yahoo?" Master Hand said. "Hello? I'm calling for excitement here."

"It could have been with excitement if there were more people here, you know," Jigglypuff said. "You should've saved that for another day."

"Today isn't the right time, don't you think?" Popo asked.

"Who cares," the hand said. "Anyway, I've made some changes around here with the Target Smash. Now, instead of everyone having their own stage, everyone has 5 different stages to compete against each other's records."

"That sucks," Pikachu responded quickly.

"What? It doesn't!"

"No, it does," Pikachu went on. "We had fun with our own stages before."

"But I must say," Mewtwo began. "I think this idea is for the better."

"What?"

"Think, please," Mewtwo said as he moved his hand. "Since there's a big amount of rivalry between all of us, the new stages that all we have will raise the enthusiasm or something like that. Isn't that right?"

"Right," Master Hand said. "I wanted some of you to test it out for tonight so we don't get bored. I mean, look at Mewtwo."

Mewtwo frowned.

"Who wants to try the first level?" Master Hand asked.

Nobody raised their hands.

"...Anyone?"

"We're not that many, remember?" Nana asked.

"So? It doesn't mean it's not going to be fun."

Roy raised his hand.

"Oh, good. Alright," the hand began before he snapped his fingers and made a teleporter appear in the kitchen. He also called forth a virtual screen that appeared on the center of the big table. "Roy, please step here. It'll take you to the first level; the easy one."

"Okay," Roy said. "Wish me good luck," he said to Pit before he went to teleporter.

The Smashers watched as Roy was taken away to the first level of the test through the screen. The first level looked straightforward enough and easy as well. The swordsman looked around and nodded.

"And...begin!" Master Hand yelled.

Target Smash!!

"READY? ...GO!" a voice shouted from nowhere. Roy saw this as a signal and started to run after the targets in front of him. The first 3 that he found were easy to break.

"Those targets are too big, you know," Jigglypuff pointed out.

"It's because the first, second, and third level have the targets big so they are easy to hit. The fourth and fifth, however, have them small so they can be hard to destroy," Master Hand exclaimed.

"Hmm..." Pit rubbed his chin. "I think I could do it better with my arrows."

"You need technique and skill to find ways to break the targets apart faster than others," the hand explained. "It takes skill as you can see."

"He now has 3 targets left," Chris pointed out.

"Use your sword of fire, young one!" Crazy Hand yelled nearby (with some trails of his food on the tip of his fingers).

"And he's done," Popo said.

COMPLETED!

Roy returned to the kitchen and chuckled after clearing the first level. He walked to Pit and sat down next to him.

"Well done, Roy," the hand congratulated. "Now who wants to clear the second level?"

"Meh, I'll do it," Pikachu said as he raised his hand.

"Okay, Pikachu, you know what to do."

Pikachu stepped inside the teleporter and he appeared on the second level. The screen showed him in the next stage.

The second level now had several platforms and some targets floating far away from each other. Pikachu looked around and nodded.

"READY? ...GO!" the same voice shouted from nowhere.

"Is that the same announcer you told us not to meet?" Mewtwo asked with crossed arms.

"Um, well, you see, he doesn't like to meet people..." Master Hand said.

"Unfortunately, I know that you're lyin-"

"Oh, look! Pikachu is destroying a target!" the hand interrupted to create a distraction. Mewtwo merely frowned at this reaction.

Pikachu destroyed the first target behind him, then he jumped to the right and he destroyed the second one with his tail.

"Isn't that a Super Mushroom?" Pichu pointed to a Super Mushroom passing by in the stage. When Pikachu touched it, he shrunk instead of growing up.

"I guess that was Poison Mushroom," Jigglypuff commented, frowning.

"There are items here to help you," Master Hand said. "It's your imagination to use them that they'll break faster."

"And for what was the mushroom?"

"I'm evil..." the hand chuckled evilly.

Pikachu jumped to the next platform above him and he pushed a crate with wheels, prompting it to go down rolling, and crashing to a near target in its road. Pikachu saw more targets above him and he used his Quick Attack to reach the next platform. He saw a Cracker Launcher lying down on the floor.

"He is using the Cracker Launcher to destroy the far away targets now," Master Hand said. "Pfft, look at the way he holds it."

Some of the Smashers chuckled at Pikachu's way to handle the item as the rat destroyed the last target that was to the upper-right portion of the stage.

COMPLETED!

Pikachu returned to the kitchen, but then, he noticed most of them were chuckling. "Did anybody tell a joke when I was there?" he asked. "Anyway, that item I just used was kind of long…"

The chuckles grew louder.

"…" Pikachu looked bored. "Oh, you DIDN'T do what I think you're doing right now, right?"

"N-no…" Master Hand chuckled as Pikachu sat close to Pichu and Jigglypuff. "Okay, next level. Who wants to do it?"

"I want to do it." Lucario raised his hand before he looked at Chris. "(Please, I want him to feel proud of me…)"

"H-have fun?" Chris responded.

"…I will," Lucario said with a nod. The aura wielder stood up and walked to the teleporter where he was taken to the third level of the targets. Lucario flared up small flames of aura on his hands and narrowed his eyes at his surroundings.

The stage now had several conveyor belts moving towards abysses, and spikes were located in the lower area of the stage. The targets were apart from each other, but there were some items floating around.

"READY? ...GO!"

The aura wielder nodded and back flipped to the abyss. Lucario narrowed his eyes at a target hiding behind the platform he was on before he stuck on the wall and jumped back where he started. He noticed a dash pad that sent him spiraling to the left area of the stage where once he landed rolled to stand up and go down.

"Hmm…" Master Hand saw Lucario using the Ray Gun to destroy the far away targets. "Not bad, he could be defined as a veteran."

The aura wielder went further down the stage and found more targets. Lucario charged several Aura Spheres that he directed up and down as he touched the conveyor belt and was taken to the right area. He kicked hard a floating target in midair before he shot a fast orb of aura to a target floating at the lower right corner, completing the stage.

COMPLETED!

Lucario returned to the kitchen as everyone watched him sitting close to Chris. "How did I do?" Lucario asked.

"You were good…" Chris said before he nodded. "Actually, you were very good at your first try."

Lucario waited for another compliment.

"Good job," Chris said with a chuckle.

Lucario smiled a little to him and nodded.

"Let's see now," the hand began. "The next level is much harder since it doesn't have items, the targets are smaller, and on top of that it's on ice."

"I'd like to participate in this level if you don't mind," Mewtwo said as he stood up.

"Oh, ice stage?" Nana asked. "Popo, let's go to this one."

"Be gone," Mewtwo said. "I already said I can do this by my own."

"Actually, did I mention 2 people can do the same stage?" Master Hand asked. "It's fine for Popo and Nana to assist you in this one, Mewtwo."

The Ice Climbers looked at Mewtwo, who frowned at this. "...Fine, but don't get in my way."

"Likewise here," both said as they all stepped on the teleporter.

They were all taken to a very odd ice stage that had slopes, targets hiding behind ice, and there were even moving targets floating around the whole place. Mewtwo narrowed his eyes as the IC looked around.

"READY? ...GO!"

Mewtwo floated quickly to the right side of the stage while Popo and Nana ran to the other side without slipping on the ice. Mewtwo used a tiny Shadow Ball to destroy the first target coming from the ice.

"Yes..." Master Hand sighed. "I suppose they wanted to go to different ways."

Popo and Nana destroyed the first 3 targets crossing in their path from the right area as Mewtwo was having a hard time reaching the target behind a formation of ice which was above a chasm without platforms.

However, he stood there, crossing arms.

Mewtwo waited for the Ice Climbers to destroy one target floating on the middle of the stage. After they used their move Belay to reach and hit the ninth target, Mewtwo fell below, but he jumped in the air and used his tail to break it.

COMPLETED!

All 3 characters returned to the kitchen. "Why did you wait?" Nana asked to Mewtwo.

"I just wanted to be the one to destroy the last target," Mewtwo stated with a chuckle.

"What?" Popo asked. "You wanted to be the one to destroy the target only for that?"

Mewtwo merely chuckled and floated away to his seat. The IC looked at each other and frowned before walking to their seats.

"Now, who wants to clear the last level?" Master Hand asked.

The next stage was shown before anyone could go to it. The next harder stage had platforms coming from below spikes, strange formations of platforms were composing the whole left area, and there was a larger platform with and odd shape that took the right portion as well. The targets themselves were at odd places around the whole stage.

"That stage looks...tough..." Pichu said.

"Oh, please," Master Hand said. "You guys won't die in there...possibly."

Most of them looked annoyed at him.

"Can't you even take a joke for once?"

"..." Chris thought for a moment before he raised his hand.

"You want to try it?" Lucario asked.

"A-at least he said I'm not going to get hurt...possibly," Chris said unsure. "Besides, I think it could be a good training for me."

"And that reminds me to give you your double jump," Master Hand said, snapping his fingers as Chris glowed for a moment. The teen looked at him with a bored look. "What?"

"You mean you forgot to give me this until now?" Chris asked.

"...Oopsie," Master Hand said with a chuckle.

"Seriously, you should give me whatever I need to have befo-oh, forget it, okay?" Chris asked annoyed as he walked to the teleporter. He looked at it for moment before gulping and walking on it to be transported to the next stage, appearing on the highest portion of the left formation.

"READY? ...GO!"

Chris saw the first target above him. He used his newly acquired double jump and slashed his sword, destroying the target.

"A new ability?" Chris asked to himself as he took a bow from his back. "A bow... Wait, how is this a new ability? It's an item..."

Silence...

"...Who cares..." Chris asked with a grunt.

The teen saw a target hiding on the left chasm, and he used his newly acquired bow with arrows to break it apart. After many failed attempts to aim properly to the target, he finally broke it apart.

"Well, he is doing it fine for now," Roy said.

Chris jumped to the next platform and saw a Cracker Launcher lying down on the floor. He saw a target not far away from his position and he shot various bombs from the launcher and the target broke apart after one touched it. Chris fell to the left of the platform with the Cracker Launcher still on his arms and he saw another target to the left of some small platforms floating to the roof. He fired one bomb and it destroyed the target.

"If he can do it, I know I could do it as well," Nana said.

"What makes you say that?" Pichu asked.

"I can tell by his face he's just a newbie in fighting," Nana explained. "Or isn't he?"

"I'm afraid to say he is..." Lucario said.

When he landed near some spikes, he saw another target floating in the same chasm as the other one from before. The launcher had one more bomb to shoot. Chris used the last one on the target, and fortunately the bomb touched the target, destroying it. Chris jumped over the spikes and he jumped again over a chasm.

"Oh no, he is going to fall!" Crazy Hand screamed. "R.I.P. Chris – We Shall Miss You…"

"…" Pikachu looked at Master Hand. "Did he eat sugar before coming here?"

"He does that a lot…every morning," Master Hand said.

"If Chris doesn't do something, he will fall down," Mewtwo said.

"…" Lucario kept watching.

Chris closed his eyes and tried to do something…

…His eyes suddenly opened. "The Spin Attack…" Chris muttered before he looked up and concentrated. "YAAAHHHH!!" Chris was elevated to the air with a spin attack just in time to reach the right platform where a Beam Sword was standing still on its place.

Chris grabbed it and he saw one target high above.

"The Beam Sword could reach it if I toss it…" Chris muttered.

Chris tossed the sword with enough force to reach the other target, breaking it apart. When the Beam Sword destroyed the target, it went down and Chris got it back.

"Item catcher, item catcher bonus…" he muttered happily.

The teen saw 2 more targets to his left, and using the Beam Sword again, he threw it at the eighth target, the sword bounced again upon impact, and it destroyed the ninth target below the eighth one.

"Wait, where's the other target?" Chris asked as he looked around. "I remember I saw one…" He turned around and stared at the wall. "The target is through that wall! Maybe I can cheat a little bit and trespass the wall with my sword…" He looked at no one in particular. "Sorry, this does happen."

And the teen jumped towards the wall and began to slash it until he felt something breaking from the other side, instantly clearing the stage.

COMPLETED!

The teen came back from the stage and he looked a little bit relieved. "Congratulations," Master Hand said. "Your first try was a success."

"He just had luck," Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Popo, and Nana said at the same time.

Chris blushed a little. "I-I was a little bit scared at first, but I'm glad I did it."

"I think you did very good, though," Lucario said.

"T-thank you," Chris said, smiling a bit.

"Can we continue with this?" Pit asked.

Master Hand looked at the clock. "Don't you feel drowsy now? I think it's time to sleep for the night."

"But we came here when it was afternoon," Pikachu pointed out. "And you want us to sleep now?"

"Sorry, you know how messed up this universe is," Master Hand said. "You'll have to get used to this time."

Multiple grumbles were heard.

"Look, you have to do this, I'm sorry," the hand said. "You all should get a rest for now."

"That includes me?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Guess."

"Hmmmmm... Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... Hm... H-"

"Yes."

"Aww..."

Most of the Smashers frowned at him.

"Snappity-snap, good night," Master Hand said as he snapped his fingers and disappeared from the kitchen.

Pit talked to Roy as they stood up. "Excuse me, but would you show me my room if I have one, please?"

"Oh, sure," Roy said. "I think your room is where Popo and Nana's room is."

"It is in the same floor, right?" Popo asked.

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "Nothing else has changed besides that command room."

"And our rooms should be to the left of Ness's room," Pikachu said.

"I shall be going," Mewtwo said. "My room is just at the right of Lucario's room."

"Lucky you," Jigglypuff said to Chris. "You got the floor with the most people."

"We don't even know if we're at the floor with most people," Pikachu pointed out.

"Shh, I'm trying to sound smart here," she whispered angrily.

"As for my room, it's just close to Ness's room to the front," Roy said.

The Ice Climbers walked to Pit. "Well, we're the left outs here. We can show you your room if you'd like."

"Please do," Pit said as they began to walk away. "I'm new here, after all."

Chris blinked at the people walking away to their rooms. "I'm new here... I thought they already..."

Lucario walked to him. "Don't you remember?"

"What?"

"Master Hand..." Lucario looked over his right shoulder to see if they were gone. "...He erased his minds, remember? Their memories about the fight with Tabuu were erased by him."

"Oh, right..." Chris said. "But don't you think it's a little bit bad not to tell them?"

"I don't know..." Lucario said. "...I hate to change the subject, but can we go to our room? I want to sleep for now."

"...Okay..." Chris said a little worried about the veterans.

The duo then walked away before turning the lights off.

Lucario's Room

The moon's light came from the window as it illuminated the room a bit. There was a sleeping Chris with and a sleeping Lucario to his right on the bed. There were some grumbles coming from Chris.

The teen seemed to be having a dream...

Dream

Chris found himself in a misty atmosphere were nothing could be seen so easily. He looked around in shock to see if there was someone else besides him.

"H-huh?" Chris looked around as he began to walk through the mist. "H-hello? I-is anyone there? Hello?"

The teen then spotted a weak Lucario, panting heavily on the floor as he stood with his right knee. His trainer gasped at this and ran to him.

"L-Lucario! W-what's wrong with you?" Chris asked preoccupied.

"Ugh..." Lucario looked up to him. "S-stay away from here, hurry!"

"H-huh? Why?"

"L-look..." Lucario panted heavily. "Y-you must get away from here, Chris...or else you'll di-"

The World Traveler then saw a bright light coming from behind him. He quickly turned around and gasped after he saw a blue beam coming towards them.

"A-a beam?!" Chris asked.

"Go away, quickly!" Lucario yelled at him. "That beam will destroy both of us if you don't move!"

"B-but, what about you?!"

"Leave me here and live!"

"W-what? N-no! I-I can't leave you like this!"

"Listen to me and run away!" Lucario yelled. "I'm...doing this for you...hurry..."

Chris's eyes slowly began to fill with tears. "B-but..." he sobbed. "I-I don't want to leave you, Lucario...not like this... W-what's just happening here?"

The teenager could only turn back to see the light shining brightly, indicating it was going to impact into him and not Lucario. Chris wondered the reason behind the dream, but it was very confusin and so vague to tell what it was before the beam came into contact with him...

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

"...Please...don't die...please..." Chris muttered as he moved around his head on the pillow. "P-please, don't die..."

It was a small amount of time before the teen began to sob silently.

"...Huh?" Lucario woke up, hearing Chris sobbing while he was dreaming. "Is he having a nightmare?" he asked to himself as he watched Chris sobbing. Lucario shook him a little to wake him up. "Chris?"

"L-Lucario!" Chris said as he wiped some tears. "T-thank goodness it was all a dream..."

"Why were you crying, Chris?" Lucario asked worried. "You seemed to be sobbing as well..."

"I-it's because..." Chris looked away. "There was you, weak on the floor in a misty place, and there's this beam that wanted to kill you, and I stepped in front of you to protect you from getting hit by it as you yelled at me to go away and save myself..."

"...I see..."

"I-I didn't know what to do..." Chris sobbed. "E-everything was so sudden and random, but I had to make a move or else you would have..."

Lucario saw as Chris sobbed louder before covering his face with his hands.

"I-it was horrible, Lucario..." Chris muttered between sobs. "I-I didn't know what was happening, and I just wanted to protect you..."

Lucario looked worried as Chris kept sobbing. The aura wielder looked down and tried to think of something to stop Chris from sobbing any longer. He just couldn't watch the teen sob like that during the night.

"...What should I do..." Lucario muttered. "...I can't leave him like this..."

Suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

"...This is going to embarrass me..." Lucario muttered as he looked at Chris. "...But it has to be done..."

He carefully pulled Chris under his right arm, put his face at the level of his neck and then...

Lucario began to lick Chris's tears slowly and carefully.

This sudden movement made the teen stop sobbing as he looked up and saw Lucario licking his face with a happy expression. Chris blinked a few times before lowering his hands down before he began to chuckle at this move. The teen, who started to laugh silently, retreated back to the pillow where Lucario still followed with his licks.

"L-Lucario! P-please, stop!" Chris pleaded to Lucario. "S-stop licking me! Y-you're making me laugh, please! Y-you know very well I'm ticklish!"

But the aura wielder seemed to like this that he continued to lick Chris's face for a while, making the teen laugh louder as Lucario put a strong grip around Chris to prevent him from getting off him. Eventually, Lucario pulled his face back and saw Chris laughing, even to the point where he was crying tears of joy.

"Are you fine now?" Lucario asked with a chuckle as he looked down at his trainer.

"L-Lucario, what you just did was so...so...so random of you..." Chris said. "You haven't licked my face in a long time."

Lucario blushed and looked away. "I-it was the only way to make you feel better so I had to do it... I'm sorry if it was embarrassing..."

The aura wielder's eyes widened as his trainer gave him a quick hug, hugging him tightly as Chris leaned his head on Lucario's left shoulder. "Thank you, Lucario..." Chris muttered before Lucario hugged him with his right arm. "You know how to make me so happy in a short time... Really...thank you so much..."

Lucario growled a little in happiness as he hugged Chris tightly with his right arm. "I always do everything for you, Chris. I couldn't watch you cry like during tonight."

Chris stopped hugging him and chuckled at him. "You're...so awesome, Lucario..."

Lucario smiled a little and looked away embarrassed. "T-there's no need to go that far, either. I-I just licked your face without stopping..."

Chris rubbed Lucario's head with care, causing the aura wielder to growl happily. "I like you because you know to make me so happy, Lucario. You're very special to me because you do that just to see me happy." Chris blushed a little and looked away. "V-very embarrassing, but that's why you're very special to me…"

"…I understand…" Lucario said with a chuckle. "Thank you for saying that, Chris."

"And thank you for making me feel happy, Lucario," Chris said with a chuckle. "You're the best."

Lucario blushed more than before. "C-can we go back to sleep?"

"O-oh, right," Chris said with a nod. "Let's go back to sleep."

The aura wielder nodded with a sigh before both returned to sleep.

Lucario, however, waited for Chris to fall asleep before he pulled his head underneath his snout, carefully placing it above his chest. The aura wielder smiled a bit before he held Chris under his right arm and fell asleep with a yawn.

And the night went on as both were smiling a bit…

The next morning...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Did you guys hear those sobs yesterday during the night?" Pikachu asked.

Chris gasped. "I-I didn't hear anything like that. Why would there be sobs in the mansion, anyway?"

The group was reunited in the command room as the hands prepared to talk, leaving the current Smashers to talk between each other (or at least all except Mewtwo, who was the silent type of all of them).

"Weird, I thought I heard them as well," Roy said.

"Maybe you're misunderstanding..." Lucario said.

"(Did he lie just now? But he hates to lie…)" Chris thought. "(…I think it's for the best, though.)"

Master Hand coughed to get their attention. "Okay, everyone, we have another world under attack."

"They just began to invade another world in the morning?" Nana asked.

"It has been like this before we came here?" Pikachu asked.

"A little…" Chris said.

"Well, you guys should prepare because I'm planning to send you over there," Master Hand said as a virtual screen appeared in front of the Smashers. "We better get moving or else this world will kiss the Subspace's lower rear and probably Tabuu's."

"…" Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "That world looks kind of tiny…"

"…It's because that's Olimar's world…or actually another planet…" Master Hand explained with a chuckle.

TO BE CONTINUED...

This re-edit came out good. The scenes originally were cheesy and short, so I wanted to change them all and turn them more serious and interesting. I hope you liked this chapter's edit.

Read and review, please. :)
*Chapter 29*: Journal, Journal, What Should I Do?

After a long wait, the next world is Pikmin! Thanks everyone for submitting the worlds! I also want to thank nintendogeek01 for being the helper of this story, don't worry, I'm going to add more action in later chapters! For now, read, enjoy, and review please!

And, thanks to the last reviewer, I know what world is going to be saved, the hint is in his author's name!

One last thing, I've added also a special section in my profile with SSBB music in it, it's still in progress, but check everyday for new songs!

Chapter 29: Flowers and pellets

"-Pikmin!" He pointed to the box of Pikmin, on the screen, Olimar's icon was getting darker.

"Now choose who is going to go with you." Master Hand said looking at the Smashers. Chris turned his back to see them.

"If anyone wants to go with me to this world, please raise your hand." Chris said smiling, for his surprise, everyone raised their hands, even Crazy Hand, but his brother slapped him "Um, if anyone wants to stay in the Mansion, please raise your hand." Nobody raised their hands, Master Hand slapped his brother and he and Crazy raised their hands "Fine, you can go with me." Chris frowned to himself as he summoned the portal. Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Roy, Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Popo and Nana stepped inside and the portal vanished.

"Brother, do you think they will be alright? Sending 10 persons to a single world can be disastrous" Master Hand asked.

"ARGH! I HATE TO THINK!" Crazy Hand floated like crazy and he fell fainting.

"I just wonder, why are you so crazy anyway? Wait, I don't wonder it just this time, I ALWAYS WONDER EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE, WHY ARE YOU SO CRAZY?!" Master Hand's voice echoed through all the empty halls of the Mansion.

Pikmin

The Distant Spring
Landing Site

Plucked from the ground, gathered together, and ignored
Yet we don't ask that you love us (Part of the translated lyric of "Ai No Uta")

"BIBIIIIIIII!!" A sound coming from a whistle echoed through the area, a little person with a helmet, a space suit, closed eyes, a big pink nose and a little red light attached to the helmet was commanding a large group of plants, the plants were actually living, they were oddly curious, red, yellow and blue were the colors of their bodies, some of them had flowers, buds, or leafs over their heads, which the first one would increase their speed.

The little man saw a group of red plants coming to an onion, 20 of them were carrying a big, red pellet with the number "10" on it, probably because they were listening to the little man's order.

The Distant Spring
Sky

A portal appeared in the sky of the Distant Spring, our 10 heroes stepped outside of it and the portal disappeared.

"What a pretty view from mid-air." Nana said looking at a distant valley.

"I feel like I have become smaller." Chris said.

"Aww, the air, my favorite place in the world." Pit said.

"Wait, what did Nana said just a moment ago?" Pikachu asked.

"I don't know, something about mid-air." Jigglypuff responded. Mewtwo looked below him and there was the ground far away from his feet.

"Were standing in the air without a platform to stand up." Mewtwo said.

"Oh, great." Pichu said. After some seconds of blinking, everyone realised their current status.

"MID-AIR?!" Everyone shouted in unison, and then they started to fall to ground, except for Pit, Jigglypuff and Mewtwo, who just descended slowly. Chris yelled in terror, but Lucario grabbed him, Popo and Nana were falling whle they were spinning, Pichu and Pikachu were also falling while spinning, Roy, meanwhile, was in a praying position saying something in Japanese.

The Distant Spring
Landing Site

The red plants were close to reach the red onion with the big pellet above their little hands, the little man was waiting, he knew with 10 more plants, his work on recovering the missing parts of his ship would be faster and easier.

Just as the red plants were going to reach the red onion...

He saw 7 shadows above the big red pellet, they were increasing in size every second, he looked up and he saw the 7 figures falling at great speed over the pellet.

BUMP!

They jumped, the pellet saved their lives, but unfortunately, the red plants below the pellet were crushed by the pellet itself, 1 red plant escaped from his death and sighed in relief, but Popo fell above him, killing the red plant in the process. Then Pit, Jigglypuff and Mewtwo came floating to the ground.

"Good news, the number 10 is our lucky number!" Pichu said jumping happily over the pellet.

Chris looked around and he saw 3 onions, a ship, 80 plants of different colors and the little man staring at them with his arms pointing at the floor in disappointment after the death of his little group of red plants "Hello?" He said confused.

The little man only stared at them, then he turned his back and he took out a book for write. It was apparently a journal.

Day 24
The sky is my enemy
Today 10 unknown persons from the sky came above the pellet that the red Pikmin were carrying at their onion, unfortunately, my Pikmin were crushed by the pellet, something tells me that the sky doesn't wants me to return to my lovely home planet, Hocotate, oh, how much I miss my wife and my daughter, my work it's going to be harder than I imagined it would be.

He kept his journal in some place of his suit and he walked to the group.

"Hi, are you Olimar?" Chris asked.

The little man gasped after he heard his name coming from a unknown person "Ho-how did you knew my name?"

"It's just a question."

"Oh, I see, yes, my name is indeed Olimar."

Everybody introduced themselves to Olimar.

"So, it's the sky mad at me because I want to leave this planet?" Olimar asked.

"...The sky is mad at you? Why?" Popo asked.

"Because you 7 came falling above my red Pikmin who were carrying that big pellet you're standing on, and they died afterwards." Olimar pointed to 19 red ghosts resembling Pikmins from below the pellet. One came below Popo's butt. Pichu gasped when saw a red ghost in front of him and he hid behind Pikachu.

"No, we just came here to help you." Pikachu said.

"By killing my Red Pikmin?" Olimar asked with crossed arms.

"No!" Nana shouted.

"Then, I'd appreciate your help very much, I need to return to my planet in 6 days, you see, my ship, The S.S. Dolphin needs his parts to fly to the space, and with the help of the Pikmin it's easy to recollect them," He turned his back "But there are animals and beasts roaming all over the planet to stop my progress, and this place it's new for me, there are 10 parts of my ship scattered around."

"Then we would be glad to help you!" Chris said smiling.

"You can?! Thank you so much! It's really a miracle to meet all of you!" Olimar said, his Pikmin were jumping, although they weren't smiling of the fact they didn't had mouths, they were shouting in happiness.

Day 24
The sky is my friend
It turns out that they are willing to help me in returning to my planet! I couldn't believe it, is a step closer to escape from this planet, or 10 more steps closer since they are 10, but I wonder, can they be of help to me? I still have in mind the dead of my 20 red Pikmins though.

"Huh?" Chris heard the Primid Radar beeping loudly, after looking at it, there was a high emergency of Primid activity sprouting at every area of the Distant Spring! "We've got company! Primids are starting to appear all over the place!"

Olimar asked about what were the Primids, after explaining everything to him, he used his map from the Dolphin to locate the missing parts "I have located all the missing parts, but I can see those Primids things guarding them, also, they have possesed every beast in this place too, we should separate in groups of 3 or 2 to gather the parts."

Groups:

Group 1: Olimar, Chris and Lucario

Group 2: Roy, Pichu and Pikachu

Group 3: Jigglypuff and Mewtwo

Group 4: Pit, Popo and Nana

"Group 1 is going to the north, group 2 to the east, group 3 to the south and finally group 4 to the west." Olimar said. Everyone formed the groups, after that, they nodded to each other and they went to different directions of the Distant Spring.

The Distant Spring

North Side

Forest of Hope

After walking about 10 seconds, Olimar, Chris, Lucario and an army of 80 blue Pikmin saw a group of Primids surrounding the first part of the ship above a high place to reach.

"How are we suppose to reach that?" Chris asked. Olimar saw a slope where he could throw the Pikmins in so they could walk all the way up to the part behind the Primids, Olimar threw 30 of them and they walked to the top of the slope. The unsuspecting Primids were looking at the wrong directions, the Blue Pikmins only pushed them to the lake and they drowned.

"They drowned in that height of the water? How pathetic." Chris said frowning, the Primids drowned from the water that was only reaching their foots. He saw Lucario with the Blue Pikmins on the top, the part of the ship was laying there, so they grabbed it, although Lucario was able to lift it with both hands, and the Blue Pikmins returned to Olimar. Above the machine, there was a fraction, below the line there was a 20, but above the line, there was 100 on it, meaning that Lucario's lift power is of 100.

"Um, where should I command the Pikmin now?" Olimar asked looking around, he saw various sticks pilled above each other, he ordered the Pikmins to build a bridge with the sticks.

The Distant Spring

East Side

From the other side of the lake, Roy, Pichu and Pikachu were hiding from a sleeping black Bulbear, and it was possesed by the Primids, there was a dark aura coming from his mouth.

"Alright, here is the plan, you 2 will use Thunder of both sides of that beast, then I'll use my Flare Blade to burn it to a crisp!" Roy said excited.

"Burn it to a crisp?" Pichu and Pikachu asked in unison confused.

"Just go there and zap him!" Roy pointed to the sleeping beast, Pichu and Pikachu walked silently towards the creature, after one was behind and the other was in front, both shouted their names and a lightning bolt came strucking them down, the intensity of the thunder awakened the Bulbear who furiously roared, Roy came in and he used his Flare Blade to "burn it to crisp" as he said, however, it wasn't enough to destroy him.

"The Primids must have increased his force while he is under their control!" Pichu said running away from the black Bulborb, the bulborb stopped to inhale air, then surprisingly, he made a flame thrower from his mouth, Roy gasped when he saw the big stream of fire chasing after Pichu, but Pikachu pushed Pichu out of the way and they evaded the furious fire.

"Don't tell me they also gave him fire attacks!" Pikachu said.

"Look out Roy!" Pichu shouted to Roy, the red haired swordsman saw the big fire shooting Bulborb running at him, he gulped and he ran away from him, the black Bulbear was shooting fire balls at Roy, who fortunately evaded all of them, Roy looked around for something to hide, he was running inside the pond, the Bulbear was still following him, but when the Bulbear felt the water on his feet, he looked down and...he died?

"Huh? What happened?" Roy asked, he approached carefully to the Bulbear, he poked it with his finger on the nose and it didn't budge.

"Is he dead?" Pichu asked poking his eye.

"Looks like it, maybe his weakness was the water and he died." Pikachu said.

The bridge that the Blue Pikmin were building was complete, Olimar came from the crowd and he saw another part near where the Bulbear was, he ordered the Pikmin to carry the part to the Dolphin, Roy, Pichu and Pikachu followed him with the Pikmins.

The Distant Spring

South Side

To the south of the Landing Site, Jigglypuff was exploring the area along with Mewtwo.

"Stop." Mewtwo said hiding behind a log, Jigglypuff hid along him.

"What is it?" Jigglypuff asked.

"There are 3 frogs guarding a part, they are also possesed, their strength and speed were increased too."

"Do you have any idea to defeat them?"

"Yes I do." Mewtwo said grinning.

The 3 frogs were also surrounded by a dark aura, they were just walking to any side without anything special to do, except for guarding a part of the ship. Mewtwo floated quickly between them and they jumped high in the air to crush Mewtwo with their weights, Mewtwo passed from below them and they crashed their stomachs to the water, making a big splash.

Mewtwo's idea was to get them close so Jigglypuff could use her move Rest to create a chain reaction that would make them blast off to the sky, then Mewtwo would use a barrage of tiny Shadow Balls to destroy them.

For the luck of the Psychic Pokémon, they landed very close to each other, Jigglypuff floated quickly at them and she used Rest just on the middle of the group of frogs, the frogs were blasting off to the sky and Mewtwo fired several tiny Shadow Balls at them, but they were still living, Jigglypuff saw her oportunity and floated to the air, the frogs were still so close to each other, she used a powerful Pound and they yelled in pain, they fell on the water and Jigglypuff landed above them, and she spun and made a pose.

"Show off later, we still have more work to do." Mewtwo said floating away with arms crossed, Jigglypuff just inflated herself in rage and she followed Mewtwo.

The Distant Spring

West Side

Pit, Popo and Nana found a part of the Dolphin close to the Landing Site, it was above a odd looking maze, Pit flew over the maze and he landed near the part, Popo and Nana used their move Belay to grab onto the ledge and they climbed.

"Let's attach this part with a rope and you will bring it down the wall carefully." Popo said taking a rope from his back.

"I agree, but don't drop it above me." Pit said, he stood near the edge as Popo and Nana were tieing up the part with the rope, after they finished, Pit flew to the ground and he flew again to the ledge, the part was coming and he placed his hands below the object, Popo and Nana were pulling it down slowly so Pit could bring it to the ground without dropping it.

"Guys, could you hurry up please? My wings aren't going to resist for much longer!" Pit said under the part, Popo and Nana nodded to each other and they stopped grabbing the rope, and the part fell along with Pit to the ground, fortunately, the part was unharmed, but unfortunately, Pit served as a perfect couch for it.

"Pit! Are you okay?" Popo asked from the ledge worried.

"Yeah! Just a few bones are not responding, but other than that, I'm fine!" Pit said making a thumbs up under the part. Popo and Nana looked confused and they climbed down the ledge and helped Pit to get out of the part, after that, they carried the part to the Dolphin.

The Distant Spring

East Side

Roy, Pichu and Pikachu saw another part far away on the water, but there was a swarm of 3 eyeless beast with dark aura surrounding the part, but Pichu and Pikachu ordered Roy to step out of the water.

"What are you 2 gonna do?" Roy asked.

"Just watch, Pichu, are you ready?" Pikachu asked. Pichu nodded smiling and they casted another Thunder, the electricity electrocuted all the water of the area and the blue beasts yelled in pain and they died instantly, the part was now safe to take. The trio walked towards the part and they carried it to the Dolphin.

"What a great idea Pikachu." Roy remarked.

"Yeah, if you were inside the water, you could be zapped badly" Pikachu said laughing a bit.

Unfortunately, Pikachu and Pichu did electrocuted a person inside the water from far away.

The Distant Spring

North Side

"Chris!" Lucario shouted, Chris was actually inside the water when Pikachu and Pichu used Thunder, and his hair was pointing to all directions.

"No Lucario, you don't have to worry about me, worry about the debt of the Hospital." He said and he fell to the water. Lucario just frowned and he carried Chris in his back.

The Distant Spring

East Side

"Did you hear something?" Roy asked as he and the duo of electric Pokémon were walking to the Dolphin.

"Nah, must be the wind or anything else." Pichu said.

The Distant Spring

South Side

Back with Mewtwo and Jigglypuff, they saw a part behind a thick wall that can be destroyed. But Mewtwo told Jigglypuff to stay in her place, Mewtwo levitated to the other side and he used his Psychic powers to lift the part, he glowed in a pink light and he pointed to the other side of the wall and the part floated to the other side, Mewtwo floated too.

"Go with Pit, Popo and Nana, I can carry this by myself." Mewtwo said, Jigglypuff nodded and she headed to where Pit, Popo and Nana were.

The Distant Spring

West Side

The 3 retro Smashers were heading further to the West after delivering their part to the ship. Olimar, Chris (now normal) and Lucario headed to the center of the place to locate another part guarded by a big black beetle. Olimar saw fire pillars coming from the holes, he told Chris and Lucario to stay put until he returned with Red Pikmins.

Far to the West, Pit, Popo and Nana were fighting againts another Bulbear surrounded by dark aura.

"This thing doesn't die!" Pit said shooting many arrows at the beast, not only the attack was weak, but it enraged more and more the Bulbear, Popo and Nana were fighting againts 3 little versions of the big Bulbear, and they were fast.

"Squall Hammer!" They shouted spinning with their hammers, the little Bulbears were dumb enough to approach the spinning duo, each one was punched by the hammers, they shook their heads and prepared their fangs to bite them. Popo and Nana were unguarded after stopping their attack.

Then Jigglypuff came from the South with a powerful Rollout attack, it hits one of the little Bulbears, creating a chain reaction by bumping into the remaining Bulbears and they crash into a wall, then they died.

"Thanks Jigglypuff!" Both Ice Climbers thanked the Singer Pokémon.

"We have to save Pit!" Jigglypuff pointed to Pit, who was inside the big Bulbear's mouth.

"Oh my god! He is eating him!" Nana said in shock, the little trio charged at the big beast, the Bulbear spitts Pit out and the angel crash with Jigglypuff, the Ice Climbers jumped high in the air and they use their hammers in the head of the black Bulborb, he screams in pain and he faints.

"Pit! Are you alright?" Nana asked worried.

"After being crushed by a machine, and being eaten by a big monster, I'm not fine at all!" Pit said annoyed. The Ice Climbers looks down sadly and Pit shooks his head "But you've saved me from that monster, so I should thank you 3." Pit said smiling, Popo and Nana looks at Pit and smiles.

"Ahem."

"Oh, sorry Jigglypuff." Pit got out from above Jigglypuff. After a moment, they start to head farther to the West.

The Distant Spring

Landing Site

Back with Mewtwo, he reunites with Roy, Pichu and Pikachu, Mewtwo tells them that there aren't more parts to the East, so they decide to go to the West and aid Pit, Popo, Nana and Jigglypuff, Olimar came with his army of Blue Pikmins and he tells them to return to their Onion, then he goes below the Red Onion and calls 70 Red Pikmins to help him, Roy and Pichu decides to accompany Olimar, they follow him while Mewtwo and Pikachu heads to where Pit, Popo, Nana and Jigglypuff are.

"Didn't Olimar told us about a big black beetle in this area?" Chris asked, he didn't saw any big black beetle around the area with fire.

"I can't see that bug here, but something is telling me the contrary." Lucario said narrowing his eyes.

"I've returned!"

"Olimar, there isn't any black beetle here." Chris said.

Olimar rubbed his helmet "But my radar told me about him, I fought one in the Forest of Hope a days ago."

"Let's just search for him inside this area." Roy said, everyone nodded and they along with the army of Red Pikmin stepped inside the wooden floor while they were evading the fire coming from the ground.

The Distant Spring

West Side

Meanwhile, Pit, Popo, Nana and Jigglypuff were trying to get 2 parts at the corners of the West of the Distant Spring. One was near a shore, Popo and Nana were heading there and the other was high above a block of cement, Pit and Jigglypuff went there.

"Hey Popo!" Pit shouted.

"What Pit?" Popo asked.

"Do you have any trouble with that part?"

"Nope! We can carry this to ship by ourselves, what about you?"

"We can carry this without problems too!"

"Alright, let's head back to the ship!"

Just then, Mewtwo and Pikachu came, Pikachu went to help Pit and Jigglypuff, Mewtwo lifted the part of Popo and Nana with his psychic powers, both Ice Climbers thanked the Psychic Pokémon and he just nodded. The 6 were heading back to the Dolphin and after that, they were going to reunite with Olimar and the others for the part guarded by the black beetle.

"I can't see either the beetle or the part here." Chris said.

"Keep looking around, it gotta be somewhere." Roy said.

"But there isn't any of them!" Pichu said "It's just the fire, the big yellow pellet from over there and the weird black wood in the floor!"

"Pichu is right, we can't find anything else in this are-wait, what did you said about the floor?" Chris asked.

"That it's black?" Pichu replied confused.

They looked below and the floor was black, after some seconds, the ground started to shake and they quickly left the area, the wood serving as wall was becoming crumbles and the fire stopped coming from the floor, they watched the area being destroyed by itself and Pichu hid behind Chris in terror, suddenly, the floor was starting to shake violently and then, the big black beetle came from it.

"Impossible! This one is even bigger than the last one I fought before!" Olimar said surprised.

"Look! There is that dark aura surrounding him too!" Pichu pointed at the black aura coming from the body of the big black beetle.

"There is no other way but to fight this thing and retrieve the part from him!" Roy said taking out his sword.

"Then, we have to fight the Armored Cannon Beetle, or in this case, I shall name this one, Armored Primid Beetle." Olimar stated.

Preview of the next chapter

"Greetings, I'm Captain Olimar."

"I'm Pichu!"

"Why are the Primids so interested in taking this world?"

"Not only they want to take this world, but other worlds too."

"Really? Then I should fight to save the world of the Pikmin?"

"Yes! We can defeat them if you help us!"

"...Okay, I will help you."

"Next time: One big trouble!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

The Distant Spring
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Olimar

And there you have it! I've added the last thing just for fun, or maybe that can help you in remembering the current characters, read and review please!
*Chapter 30*: And Another High Authority Appears

And we have finally reached the 30th chapter of this story everyone! Sorry for not updating this 2 days ago, but I had many things to do, anyway, enjoy this story!

And before you begin to read this, I want to clarify something, I know many stories has their OC a perfect fighter and all, that it's just plain wrong, I mean, a random character that appeares from nowhere shows up at, let's say, the Smash Mansion and he or she is the perfect kick ass fighter of all times already and befriends with all the Smashers (even the villains)? What the hell is wrong with those people? At least make them suffer a great deal of damage to have a point of satisfaction, I'm not saying Chris is the perfect fighter and you know it since the first or second chapter that he is still learning to be helpful to the others, and also, he is my only OC, and I don't want to be so harsh with other people and their OCs, but please, keep the limit of their characters at a safe level, because before you notice it, there will almost half OCs living in the Smash Mansion that are godly fighters! Thanks for reading this part (Tries to not point out some stories with a ridiculous amount of OCs).

Oh, and his Lucario is not perfect too.

So, who agreeds with me? Or is someone againts my point of view? And don't worry, I'm not mad at those kinds of stories, it's just a question that probably will clarify some questions in my mind, I want to know more about this matter to be a better writer.

Anyway, read and review please!

Chapter 30: One big trouble!

Ai No Uta

"Um, that music doesn't fits with this battle you know." Chris said, breaking the fourth wall.

Tane No Uta

"Next please!"

Snowman

"NO!"

Wildlands

"JUST NO! Here's a hint, we're fighting againts a boss."

Boss Battle Song 1

"That's better." Chris said smiling.

"Who were you talking to?" Olimar asked confused.

"With nobody." He frowned.

GET

READY!

The Distant Spring
Landing Site

"Hey, did you hear that?" Roy asked hearing various loud steps from the West.

"It looks like a enormous enemy is fighting againts the others." Pit said.

"We should hurry up and help them!" Pichu said.

The Distant Spring
Armored Primid Beetle area

The APB was 2 times bigger than the common one, a dark aura was surrounding his body, his 6 legs were black along with all of his body, the only part of his body that wasn't black was his orange mouth. His skin was like a thick shield protecting him from any attack. He inhaled some air and...

"Watch out for his rocks!" Olimar said, the APB fired big rocks, but they were a lot different, they were big, fast and also they were burning.

"AGH!"

"CHRI-UGH!"

"OH N-WAAAHH!"

"GUY-AAAHHH!"

"RED PIKMI-NO!"

The big rocks of fire crashed to all of them, they were fast and nobody was able to dodge that attack, fortunately for Olimar, his Red Pikmin were unharmed.

"What...are we going to do to defeat him?" Chris said getting up.

"His mouth is his weak point, we need to throw something at it and he will open his back, after that, we need to attack his back!" Olimar said, he got up and quickly ran to the mouth of the beast with his army of Red Pikmin following him, he grabbed one of his Pikmin "Stucky, shut his mouth!" Olimar threw the Red Pikmin with the name of Stucky to the mouth, the APB choked a little and he opened his back, revealing a redish skin under the black shield.

"Now attack! It's our opportunity!" Roy yelled running to the back, but the APB closed his back after 5 seconds of being opened and Stucky came out, crawling back to Olimar's side.

"But, how?" Olimar asked "He shouldn't close his back now!"

"Maybe the Primids had made the time lesser when he closes his back." Pichu said. The APB inhaled more air and everyone hid behind walls, rocks and dead corpses of previous enemies defeated, but the fiery rocks destroyed every single place to hide.

"This thing is nearly invincible! What can we do to defeat him?" Chris asked.

"Hmm, if the status of him was increased, we should increase our attacks as well." Lucario said.

"Do you mean if an enemy multiplied his force by 2, we should multiply ours by 2 too?" Roy asked.

"That is my idea." Lucario replied back.

"In that case..." Chris looked at Olimar "Olimar, throw 5 Red Pikmins at his mouth!"

"Five?"

Chris nodded "His mouth's size was increased too right? More Pikmins can enter to it right?"

Olimar saw the mouth of the beast and he noticed the size "You're..you're right! I can do that!"

"Watch out! He is shooting more rocks!" Roy yelled as five more rocks were coming at them, it was too late for evading the rocks, they closed their eyes to try to resist the attack.

"...Huh? What happened?" Pichu asked as he was opening his eyes, he saw Pikachu standing in front of him "Pikachu! What happened to the rock?"

"It's gone, I used a thunder to destroy it." He said, the second group joined the first group at the perfect time, Pit was in front of Chris using his Mirror Shield to reflect the rock, Popo and Nana were guarding Olimar and his Pikmin using their move Blizzard to freeze the rocks, Mewtwo used his psychic powers to reflect the rock coming to Lucario and Jigglypuff used her move Rest right at the rock coming to Roy.

"Now! Olimar, it's your chance!" Chris said, Olimar nodded and he ran with his Pikmin to the APB, Popo and Nana were protecting him from the fiery rocks and he managed to throw 5 Red Pikmins (One of them was Stucky) and the bug opened his back again, this time, it didn't closed and Olimar ran behind the bug and threw as many Pikmins that he could throw.

"Let's help him!" Roy said running to the back, Pikachu, Lucario and Chris ran with him and they saw the redish back of the monster, Roy and Chris jumped to his back and stabbed it with their swords, Lucario used his spike of his right arm, stabbing the back too, Pikachu was making electricity around his body to electrocute him. After 10 seconds, the APB closed his back again and they jumped to the ground.

"Olimar, do it again!" Chris said.

"Everybone, take cover! He is firing more rocks!"

The APB fired more rocks at them, fortunately, Pikachu, Pit, Mewtwo, the Ice Climbers and Jigglypuff served as good shields to stay unharmed. Olimar acted quickly and he ran again to the APB with his Pikmin and threw more at his mouth, the APB opened again his back and the same group from before along with the Pikmins did the same tactic again.

"Huh? OLIMAR! LOOK OUT! HE IS SPITTING OUT ANOTHER ROCK!" Roy said pointing to a rock coming from the mouth, the 5 Red Pikmin were yelling in terror inside the mouth, unfortunately Olimar tripped on the ground and he was at the range of the attack, Mewtwo tried to float quickly to protect him, but he was quite far away from him, Olimar ducked and he waited for the attack.

"PI-CHU!" Pichu shouted from behind the beast, he made a Thunder Jolt which bounced on the ground at it merely touched the back of the APB, and for the surprise of everyone, the APB roared in pain and he fell to his right side, Roy, Chris, Lucario and Pikachu jumped to the ground and the dark aura surrounding the beetle came out as Shadow Bugs and they vanished in thin air, the APB turned back to the Armored Cannon Beetle but still, he died curling his 6 legs above his stomach, and another part came from his mouth.

"Victory!" Yelled Roy with his sword pointing to the sky. And the crowd cheered the heros.

Music stops

"Pikmins! Carry the part and the corpse!" Olimar ordered, his army of Red Pikmin lifted the part and corpse of the ACB, but then, an alarm was coming from his suit "Night is going to fall very soon! Hurry up everyone and report back to the Landing Site!" He ran to ship with everyone else.

"For what?" Chris asked.

"The beasts are more active in the night and they always are searching for more food to eat, and that food can be us!" Olimar said.

The Distant Spring
Landing Site

Luckily, Olimar did found the other parts of the ship at time, the area was empty of the S.S. Dolphin parts.

"I...can't take the Pikmin off the ground in time!" Olimar was plucking every Pikmin from the ground that the corpse of the ACB left behind, unfortunately, there wasn't time left to pluck all of them in time.

"Let me help you!" Chris ran to help Olimar, after he plucked one Pikmin, he glowed in a bright light for a little moment and he got another job at his disposal, his clothes of Swordsman changed and was now wearing a helmet on his head with a blue light on the top, his clothes were now the standard clothes he was always using, he also saw a whistle in his right hand, and the Pikmin he plucked from the ground was behind him.

Pikmin Captain

The only way to fight in this job is by ordering your Pikmin to attack any enemy, you need to have at least one or more Pikmin to exploit this job to the fullest, use the whistle to call them back and then command again!

10!

"What's wrong with this Pikmin? He doesn't wants to return to his onion!" Chris said.

9!

"Tell him to do it!" Olimar said.

8!

"Go and return to your onion now!" Chris said pointing at the red onion, the Red Pikmin nodded and he climbed one of the 3 legs of the onion.

7!

"You need to hang into something to escape from this place!" Olimar said inside his ship.

6!

"But, what?" Pichu asked.

5!

"Hmm..." Roy looked at the legs of the onions.

4!

"Think...think...think..." Pikachu said in a thinking position.

3!

"GRAB THE LEGS OF THE ONIONS!" Roy said grabbing a leg of the Blue Onion, everybody looked at each one and nodded.

2!

Chris and Lucario grabbed the remaining 2 legs of the Blue Onion, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Pikachu grabbed the legs of the Yellow onion.

1!

Mewtwo, Pit and the Ice Climbers grabbed the legs of the Red Onion.

0!

"Ignition!" Olimar shouted, his ship was starting to take off to the sky, the 3 onion along with the 10 Smashers took off from the ground, they saw many bugs coming from the ground and searching for food as Olimar told them before. They sighed in relief and looked above the night of the sky.

"That was close...thank you for assisting me..." Olimar said.

"No problem, but," Chris saw the Primid Radar and it was still red "There are still Primids in this world."

"I've located another place to find another part, its only one, so this should be easy for us, I shall call that place "The Final Trial". " Olimar said.

"What are we going to do meanwhile?" Popo asked.

"We're going to land near the top of a mountain to rest, there aren't monsters in that area." Olimar said commanding his ship to land near the top of a close mountain, the onions followed him with the others, after landing, they started to set a camp with a bonfire and they sat close to the fire.

"Olimar..."

"Yes Nana?"

"Why did you landed in this planet? I mean, I can see you didn't wanted to be here in the first place."

Olimar looks to the sky "You're right Nana...I didn't wanted to land in this planet, it was an accident while I was in my vacations, a meteor crashed into my ship and I fell to this land, all the 30 parts of my ship scattered around, so when I woke up from my unconsciousness state, the first thing I saw was my ship in a destroyed state, then I looked around and I found the red onion of the Red Pikmin, after plucking out my first Pikmin, he was curious about me, then he followed me wherever I was going..."

30 minutes later...

"And then my task for recovering the missing parts started to unfold, with the help of the Pikmin, it was going to be easier, I miss my family and my job back in Hocotate."

"That was an interesting story Olimar." Pikachu remarked.

"Thanks, but after we recover the last part, I'm going to return to Hocotate."

"Don't worry, with us helping you, there is no chance in failing in this mission." Roy stated.

"I'm sure of that." Olimar said.

After an hour, they fell asleep, Popo and Nana were sleeping close to each other, Olimar was sleeping near his ship, Mewtwo was sleeping while meditating above some rocks, Roy was sleeping behind a rock, Pichu, Pikachu and Jigglypuff were sleeping with their backs close to each other, Pit was sleeping near the onions and finally Lucario was sleeping, he was sat and leaned to a wall with Chris's head (he took off his helmet first) resting on his lap.

But little did they know that someone was watching them from the top of the mountain above the highest point. A person wearing a brown hood and a cape covering his whole body was there.

"Those are my enemies right Lord Tabuu?"

"Exactly." Tabuu reasured in his mind.

"They look pretty weak if you ask me."

"Don't underestimate them, especially that boy and that Lucario."

He looks at Chris and Lucario "They look weaker."

"What did I told you before? Don't underestimate them or you will suffer the consequences."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say my Lord."

"Listen well, your mission will start tomorrow in the morning, you will attack when I say the order understood?"

"You know that I hate to wait, because stopping isn't in my dictionary."

"Too bad, you have to listen to me."

"That is the only worse part of this, listening to you."

"Do you want to be turned into a trophy?"

"Wha-no! I don't want to be turned into a trophy! Everything but that!"

"Then follow my orders and you will be fine."

He gritted his teeths "...Fine."

Lucario's ears perked up a little and he wakes up and he looks to the source of the voices, after he turned his head, the black figure disappeared before making contact with Lucario's sight, the Aura Pokémon grunted a little at this.

"Lucario...what is it?" Said Chris, awakening up by opening his eyes a little.

"It's nothing, go to sleep now."

"..Fine..good night." Chris wispered smiling and he fell asleep again, Lucario smiled a little and he went back to sleep.

Day 24
Last night
Today my new friends helped me in finding the remaining parts of my ship, unfortunately, there is one last part hidden in "The Final Trial" I wonder if we can get it without problems, and I hope my company is well as family is too, I just need some rest and tomorrow it's going to be the final day with me and the Pikmin

The next morning...

The Final Trial
Landing Site

"This is the last place?" Pit asked.

"Yes, the final part it's just close to our location." Olimar responded.

"You know, something is telling me that someone is waiting for us." Pichu said rubbing his chin.

"And you're correct!"

"Who's there?!" Pit asked taking out his dual swords.

Above a hill, the same dark hooded person from yesterday appeared, he was surrounded in a dark aura and his face was covered by the hood.

"Heh, so you were the ones who has been causing a lot of trouble to my Lord right?"

"Well duh!" Pikachu said.

"Tsk tsk tsk," He shook his head "You're not going to live if you continue to do this!"

"Actually, if we continue at this rate, this should be no problem at all." Chris said. The dark hooded person suddenly appeared in front of him in less than a second "What the.."

"I like your style, but unfortunately if you want to fight againts me, you'll have to wait until another time." He said smirking inside the hood. Lucario got enraged a little and he tried to land a punch to his face, but he appeared right above the hill.

"You need to be faster than that, you turtle!" He taunted.

"Grrrr!"

"Lucario, don't listen to him." Chris said.

"Fine." He said.

"And without further interruptions..." He showed his left hand, it was a glove and he snapped his fingers, then a ridiculous amount of different Primids appeared surrounding the 11 Smashers, there were Floows, Primids, Glices, Glunders, Glires, Roaders between many other types "Here is my little welcome committee, hope you get some fun!" Then he disappeared.

"His lord must be very angry at us for sending this kind of welcome committee." Roy said.

"Sooo...are we gonna fight them to get through?" Popo asked. A Roader was going to ram him but Nana pushed him and they evaded the Roader.

"That is a yes!" Chris said.

Underworld

GET

READY!

Olimar went to his ship to take more Pikmins, but Bytans blocked his way and they multiplied, Pit was firing arrows at their eyes and they died, but they were multiplying at a fast rate, Mewtwo used his psychic slashs to take out the Bytans, hopefully Olimar came back with 50 Blue Pikmins and 30 Yellow Pikmins. He ordered his army to attack every single one Bytan, and they did it successfully.

"Hey Olimar, can I take some Pikmin from you?" Chris asked.

"Okay, you can." Olimar replied.

Chris used his whistle and 40 Blue Pikmins ran to his back "Hey, what kind of special abilities have these Pikmins?"

"They can breath under the water."

"And?"

"That's all."

"...To the water!" Chris said running with his army of Blue Pikmin. Various Glices blocked his way, but the Blue Pikmin attacked them and they went down "Although they are very good in my opinion." Chris said smiling.

Floows were attacking Popo and Nana, but they stopped in mid-air and the Ice Climbers approached curiously to them "Why are they stopping?" Popo asked. The Floows suddenly realesed various ghostly images and terrorific screams around his labeled bodies and the Ice Climbers suffered a lot of damage "Nana...are you alright?" Popo asked worried.

"Yes..I'm fine...but they are so gonna get it now!" She said with her hammer ready to hit the Floows, Popo joined her and they fought againts the Floows.

"Humph." Mewtwo was getting attacked by a Roturret (the enemy with a skull face and stays in mid-air firing 6 bullets at you), the Roturret shot 6 rounds of bullets, but Mewtwo just stood there in the middle "Your blind spot it's so obvious to discover." Then the psychic Pokémon proceeded to used a charged Shadow Ball, after that, he used his Teleport move and he appeared behind the Roturret, and followed his barrage of attacks with several psychic slashs and the Roturret blasted off, Mewtwo grinned a little and he floated away.

"Pi-Pikachu! Help me!" Pichu was being surrounded by Sword Primids, Pikachu was occupied with several Glices rolling after him, instead of Pikachu's help, Jigglypuff came using Rollout, but it only defeated one of the Sword Primids, but Pichu summoned his bravery and he used a Thunder, he was struck by it, but the electric attack electrocuted all of the Sowrd Primids and Pichu was a little dizzy after using Thunder, Jigglypuff slapped his face and Pichu returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Olimar was commanding his Pikmin to build a bridge with sticks, Chris came with his Blue Pikmin and he ordered them to help building the bridge.

"Chris, look behind you!" Olimar said, a Greap was about to slice him with his razor blades, Chris gasped but Lucario appeared in front of him and he stopped both razor blades with his hands extended, Chris saw his opportunity and he ordered some Pikmin to attack the head of the Greap, he threw 30 Blue Pikmin at the red head and since the Greap was busy trying to get his razor blades from Lucario, he was being defeated slowly by the Pikmin, and finally the Greap blasted off.

"Thanks Lucario, you were a big help to me." Chris said thanking the Aura Pokémon.

"Let's move on." Lucario said. The Blue Pikmin finished the bridge and Olimar saw a rocky wall blocking the path, Chris told Lucario to punch the wall, he nodded and the wall went down with 5 hard punchs, but now the next part was harder because the sticks to make another bridge was at the othe side.

"Let's see if we can find another path!" Olimar said running back to the Landing Site, the Blue Pikmin, Chris and Lucario followed him.

"Hey, this way has fire sprouting from the ground." Roy discovered a path with fire sprouting from the ground, Olimar came just then and he had an idea, he went to the Blue Onion and he ordered the Blue Pikmin to return, then he went to the Red Onion and called 50 Red Pikmin.

"Oh, I see what do you have in mind." Pikachu said, a group of Glires appeared and he went to destroy them, Olimar ran to the fire path and he threw every Red Pikmin and he told them to walk to the other side and search for sticks to make another bridge, they walked and did exactly what Olimar told them to do. But they found a box blocking their way, they pushed it aside and they started to make the next bridge.

"Pit, I need your help over here!" Chris said, there was a flock of Auroros flying towards them, Pit knew what to do and he shot several arrows at them, however, an Auroros was going to fall over Chris, but he stepped aside and the Auroros came falling down with his beak and he was now stuck in the ground.

"I wonder If I..." Chris grabbed the Auroros and he didn't moved at all, Chris saw a Primids ready to punch Pichu from behind, he looked at the Auroros and he tossed it to the Primid, both enemies blasted off and Pichu thanked Chris for helping him.

"Hey everybody, we can advance through the bridge now!" Olimar said, the 10 Smashers nodded and they ran towards the other side of the lake above the bridge made of sticks. They saw a wall made of hard vines and Olimar ordered his Pikmin to take it down. Meanwhile, more Bytans came from nowhere, but Popo and Nana used their hammers before they could multiply, the Bytans didn't had much time and they blasted off.

"The wall is gone, the part it's just to the other side now!" Olimar said, all of them along with the 50 Red Pikmins ran to the other side of the wall.

Music stops

The next area was covered by sand from the ground, it was a little big, but in the center there were strange green vines pointing to the sky, they were moving slowly too.

"What is that over there?" Nana asked pointing at the vines.

"I don't know, but the part is below the vines." Olimar said.

"Whoa, so you DID defeated my horde of Primids after all!" The same dark hooded person from before appeared above the green vines floating.

"Hey! Can't you just leave us alone?" Jigglypuff asked angrily.

"Nope, you're just too interesting to fight with."

"So? Come over here and let's fight!" Popo said swinging his hammer.

"I'm afraid you have to wait a little longer this time too."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"SHADOW BUGS, COME FORTH AND TAKE THIS LIFE FORM!" He pointed to the green vines with his glove and Shadow Bugs came from it, the bugs showered completely the vines and they turned purple.

"...You turned into a professional gardener by changing the colors of the vines now?" Pikachu asked.

Suddenly, the sand around the place was starting to shake violently, the purple vines were moving like crazy, the dark hooded person smirked inside his hood and everybody stood in a fighting stance, then the purple vines were being lifted up from the sand, the sand was covering the view from the 11 Smashers and when the sand cleared out, there was huge, grotesque giant purple Bulborb half awakened looking at them, the dark hooded person was at the top of the giant monster looking down at them.

"Hahahaha! Now let's see if you can take down this little pet of ours! Primid Bulblax, attack them!" He ordered pointing at the 11 Smashers, then he laughed maniacally and disappeared. The Primid Bulblax made a bored roar like he didn't care at all.

"...Anyone have an idea to defeat this huge thing?" Pit asked worried.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Jigglypuff!"

"I'm Pichu!"

"He's big!"

"He's gross!"

"He's uses his huge tongue to suck us!"

"He stomps the ground in rage!"

"He...drools."

"...Eww, anyway, we have to beat this huge thing or else Olimar will not return to his home."

"I'm gonna sing to sleep him!"

"And us?"

"You too!"

"...Please don't do it, next time: Bulborb of the Primids!"

Do you want to save your data?

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Overwrite file?

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The Final Trial
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Olimar

And, did you like it? I hope so, read and review!

Question: Do you want other worlds that aren't from Nintendo to be saved too?
*Chapter 31*: If That Thing Is A Bug, My Name is Louie

Wow, people actually agreed with me, did I said "agreed" wrong by the way?

And turns out this chapter was shorter, sorry, I couldn't think more about Pikmin, but don't worry about it, I won't repeat this mistake in the next world, because you will sure want to know about the next world's mechanics and story right?

Wait...but I can compensate the lack of writting by adding more songs to the jukebox...

Without more interruptions, read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 31: Bulborb of the Primids!

Boss Battle Medley

GET

READY!

The Primid Bulblax just stood there blinking slowly.

"..." Chris didn't said anything.

"...It's a waste of "Shadow Bugs" to use on that Bulborb." Olimar said.

"Attack!" Popo said, everyone looked at each other and they initiated a frontal attack, the Primid Bulborb just stood there again without doing anything, they started to attack with arrows, punchs, slashs, more slashs but psychically, throwing Pikmins and even Blizzards moves coming from the Ice Climbers, but the Primid Bulblax just stood there without feeling anything.

"Our attacks aren't doing any damage at all!" Roy said.

Remember the purple vines from before? Well, they were now huge whips and there were enough of them to grab the legs and foots of everyone attacking the Primid Bulblax, he did and now his whips were doing all the work for him.

"HOW IN THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO ATTACK NOW?!" Pichu asked terrified as he was moving violently in the air by the whip.

"HE'S JUST PLAYING WITH US!" Chris said.

"GET OF ME, NOW!" Lucario demanded, but the Primid Bulblax just watched as the whips were swinging them in the air.

"PIKMINS! DO SOMETHING!" Olimar ordered, but his Pikmin were running after him like crazy below following his shadow, sometimes they could get confused by the quick shadows of the other 10 persons.

"I DON'T FEEL SO GOOD!" Nana said holding her stomach in pain. Popo was trying to get to her but it didn't work.

Pikachu was using thunder like crazy, but he was miscalculating the exact time of the attack and it hit Chris instead by mistake.

"PIKACHU, STOP NOW!" Chris said enraged. Pikachu wanted to nod, but he stopped.

"YOU'RE JUST TRYING MY PATIENCE!" Mewtwo shouted enraged, his psychics attacks didn't do anything because of the constant swinging he currently was suffering.

Then, Pit managed to direct an arrow to the left eye of the Primid Bulblax, although it was good to at least inflict some damage to the beast, the shock of the attack made the whips to stop instantly and everyone sighed in relief, but after opening their eyes, they met face-to-face to the mouth of the beast, or in this case, face-to-mouth.

"Oh no, what is he going to do now?" Jigglypuff asked worried, the Primid Bulblax moved his whole body to see the sky a little and then, he opened his mouth, revealing a big, huge tongue, the tongue wasn't not only big, but large too, he threw his tongue at the 11 smashers and they got stuck in it and they were dragged inside the mouth.

Inside the beast...

"EWWW! GROSS!" Nana squealed inside the beast, still holding her stomach.

"Good thing he doesn't have teeth." Chris pointed out, being covered by saliva, huge amounts of saliva.

"This is really humiliating..."

"My sword is now sticky!" Roy said poking his sword.

"Lucario! Where are you?" Chris asked.

"Behind you."

Chris looked behind him and Lucario was sticked to his back due the saliva running from his back, Chris also noticed Lucario's tail was underneath his butt "So...are you enjoying your sight from my back?" Chris asked.

"Sadly, no, and maybe you're thinking the same as I."

"You're absolutely correct." Chris said smiling.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know." Chris looked down sadly.

"Guys...Nana's not feeling so good..." Popo said.

"My stomach..." The pink Ice Climber said twirling her head slowly.

"...Why I'm thinking Nana is going to..." Pit wondered to himself. Pikachu and Pichu gasped in unison.

"OH NO, SHE IS GOING TO PUKE!" Pichu shouted terrified.

"NO WAY, THE SALIVA IT'S JUST INTOLERATING AND NOW WE HAVE MORE?!" Chris asked terrified.

"...Urgh..."

"Oh boy..." Olimar said frowning to himself.

"Nana, do anything else, but please DON'T PUKE HERE!" Jigglypuff said begging for mercy to Nana's stomach.

"Too late, she won't hold on any longer."

"MEWTWO, YOU'RE NOT BEING OF ANY HELP!" Pikachu said furiously.

"Nana...think about something pretty and cute...and then gulp for 3 seconds..." Popo said with wide eyes.

"...Okay...something cute and pretty...cute and pretty...cute and pretty..."

"Isn't being stuck inside this mouth gross?" Popo asked curiously rubbing his chin.

"URGH!"

"POPO! OH NO!" Everyone yelled in unison.

Outside the Primid Bulblax's mouth...

"BBLLLLUUUAAAAHHHHHHH!!" The voice of the pink Ice Climber rang inside the mouth, the Primid Bulblax felt a disgusting taste in his tongue and his eyes widened a lot, then he needed the sudden urge to spit, he did and everyone (still covered in saliva) went out from his mouth and they landed in the sand, Nana was feeling fine now after doing her "business" and the Primid Bulblax fell to the ground dizzy. The Red Pikmins were still living and they quickly jumped to his face and started to smack him down.

"Look! He is receiving damage now!" Pit said, after removing some disgusting water from their bodies, they ran again the Primid Bulblax and this time their attacks were working.

"Don't stop, we're so close to beat him!" Pichu said casting thunders from the sky.

After 3 minutes, the Primid Blublax regained his consciousness and he stood up, this time however, he was furious for tasting you-know-what from Nana, and he stomped the ground in rage and the whole Red Pikmins died, fortunately, the 11 Smashers survived his attack by rolling away (which was a bad idea because the sand got sticked to their backs due the saliva) Olimar looked around for something to use and he saw weird rocks with red trails around them.

"I know what to do to defeat him!" He said.

"Me too! We just need Nana to puke inside his mouth again!" Jigglypuff said smiling, but she was punched by Nana's hammer.

"No! I need to go for Yellow Pikmins to carry those bombs from over there and then, they can throw the bombs at his mouth and they will explode, making the Primid Bulblax to fall, then we attack again and then he will be defeated!" Olimar said.

"...Or we can carry the bombs instead of the Yellow Pikmins or better, Mewtwo can use his psychic powers to lift the bombs and then throw them at his mouth." Pit said.

"...Actually, that is a better idea..." Olimar said rubbing his helmet.

"Distract him." Mewtwo said as he floated away.

The Primid Bulblax was now furious and he ran (slowly) to the group, it was very easy to escape from him, they realised that their enemy was really easy to defeat and defend.

"The whips are coming for us!" Pikachu said, the purple whips were going after them again.

"Oh no, he already did that to us, but twice? Forget it!" Roy say taking out his sword, his sword was now engulfed in flames and he realesed his Flare Blade and it sliced 3 whips in a single blown, the Primid Bulblax felt the pain and he roared.

"He's right, we don't want to enter to his mouth again right?" Pikachu asked and everyone nodded, a lot of whips were coming at them and this time, they were prepared.

"Lucario, change to your Monk job and grab his whips!" Chris ordered, Lucario nodded and he chose his Monk job, he got the same clothes from before and he was able to grab the whips in time before they could make contact with his legs, after that, he pulled with all his force and the whips abruptaly got out from the Primid Bulblax, and he again roared in pain.

"Blizzard!" The Ice Climbers shouted and an icy wind came from their mouths, freezing the whips, Pichu and Pikachu jumped from behind and their used their tails to shatter the whips, Jigglypuff used her Pound attack and the whips shattered into pieces.

5 whips were coming at high speed to Pit, he stood there and before the whips could even reach him, he used his Angel Ring attack and the whips became stuck inside the blades, and Pit spun again his swords and the whips were torn apart.

There was only one whip left, and it was directed towards Chris and Olimar, however, Chris had a trick beneath his sleeve (literally), he took out a tiny knife and somehow, the knife sliced the last whip and it fell to the sand.

"Where did you got that knife Chris?" Olimar asked glancing at the dagger.

"Before we came here, I took by accident this knife from the dinner." Chris said putting away the knife in his sleeve.

"Stand back!" Mewtwo returned with a full arsenal of Bomb Rocks floating around him, everyone backed away from the place and the Primid Bulblax saw every Bomb Rock, Mewtwo twirled his left hand and then he pointed his hand to the huge bulborb, the Bomb Rocks quickly floated and exploded in the face of the beast and he fell again to the ground unconscious.

"AAAATTAAAACK!!" Roy commanded, the 11 Smashers took their opportunity and they ran again and started to attack, the Primid Bulblax was being defeated and finally, after a long minute of damaging his face and all his body, the Primid Bulblax roared in pain for the last time and he fell in the front, the 11 Smashers ran from his huge body and he crashed to the sand, after that, the crowd cheered for the heros and the screen panned out.

Music stops

"And...he isn't living...anymore..." Lucario said panting.

The Primid Bulblax returned to his normal form and the Shadow Bugs escaped from his body and floated away in the air and disappeared, the Emperor Bublax was very weak and he exploded, the final part of Olimar's ship fell to the sand and Olimar ran at his part and rubbed it.

"Finally, after so much struggle, I've finally gathered the best part of my ship...the one that is very important to me...now is back..." Olimar said rubbing the final part.

"...A piggy bank?" Nana asked, Olimar nodded and Nana's right eye twitched.

"So, we were fighting againts a very disgusting monster, just for recover your allowance?" Jigglypuff asked, Olimar nodded again and her right eye twitched as well.

"And look, it's still full!" Olimar said looking inside the Piggy Bank "Thank goodness!"

"...Anyway, we should take your money to your ship now." Chris said.

The Final Trial
Landing Site

"Annnndddddd done! My ship is finally complete!" Olimar said jumping in happiness, his Pikmins were jumping as well.

"Hurry up! The night it's going to fall again!" Jigglypuff said.

"Okay...it's time to leave this planet once and for all..." Olimar walked slowly to his ship, but then he looked behind and his Pikmin were standing in a row, they tilted their heads to the right making a wave with their heads and then tilted their heads to left making another wave.

"What is it Olimar?" Chris asked.

"...I'm really going to miss my Pikmins...after all, they helped me in my whole adventure..."

"Well...you have to go to your planet again or else you won't see your family again." Nana said.

"And what about you?"

"Don't worry, we can return to our home by ourselves, maybe someday we will meet again." Pikachu said.

"...Okay...so it's a farewell..." Olimar looked at his ship and he entered inside and sat down in his seat, he pushed various buttons and the ship was starting to shake to prepare the ignition, he looked outside and saw the Pikmin still looking at him along with the 10 Smashers.

"I'll promise I'm going to return here someday Pikmins...just survive without me! I know you can do it without my orders!" Olimar yelled from inside the ship, the Pikmins were still looking at him confused, Chris smiled a little and then, the ship was starting to fly away from the ground and Olimar flew to the sky, then he successfully reached the space and saw behind him a lot of different colored Onions flying from the planet, he smiled inside his mind and a tear appeared in his left eye, then he accelerated his ship in the space and he disappeared between the stars, leaving a small blink.

"It's time to return to the Smash Mansion." Chris said opening the portal to the Smash Mansion, suddenly, a Bulborb appeared from the bushes and they stopped to beat him, but...

"Huh? What are the Pikmins doing?" Pit asked as he saw the Pikmins jumping towards the Bulborb and then started to smack him in the head, the Bulborb tried to shake them off from his head but it didn't worked and the Pikmins continued their defensive attack on the beast, the Bulborb ran away with the Pikmins still following him.

"This could be wrong, but I think they are doing the last order from Olimar." Roy said rubbing his chin.

"No, they are doing the exact thing Olimar told them to do." Lucario said.

"His lasts words to the Pikmins were actually an order." Mewtwo said chuckling a little.

"I'm happy to see the Pikmins defending for themselves without Olimar." Popo said.

"And since there isn't any Primid left in this world, everything has returned to normal again." Pichu said.

Chris smiled "Now, let's go back to the Smash Mansion!" He said, everyone nodded and they stepped inside the portal, then after a second, it disappeared.

Ai No Uta

Day 25
Good bye Pikmins
This was really a difficult fight to survive, but I finally escaped and now I'm heading back to Hocotate to reunite with my family, I wonder if the Pikmins are doing well without me, but something is telling me that my adventure with is not over yet, and for ending this journal, I just have a few words left before finishing it

Pikmins, please, I want to see you again very soon, and I hope that my friends I made there are going to be fine in their adventure to defeat the Primids, I wish I could help them, but my dear family and home are first to me...oh boy, I'm starting to cry...be strong Olimar...be strong...

Good bye...

WORLD COMPLETED!

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Mewtwo."

"I'm Roy."

"Our next destination is Nowhere Island."

"I've heard from Chris that there is a kid who uses PK attacks like Ness does."

"This should be interesting."

"Because he maybe can talk telepathically like you, Ness and Lucario right?"

"Correct."

"Next time: The odd world of Nowhere Island!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers

Say, isn't weird that there wasn't any Subspace Bomb in this world? Could it be that the Primids are planning something even bigger? But what could it be? Read and review!
*Chapter 32*: Oddness Comes

This is going to be an interesting arc since Mother 3 wasn't realesed in America, hopefully, I know what kind of plot is the story following, expect to see Lucas, Kumatora, Duster and of course Boney in the crazy world of Nowhere Island as our heros travel to protect the people of the island from the Primids and Pig Mask Army.

And read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 32: The odd world of Nowhere Island!

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"It seems they fell for our trap Lord Tabuu." The darh hooded figure said to Tabuu.

"I can't believe I didn't thought about this before...creating the biggest Subspace Bomb of all...but making it takes so much time to create..."

The darh hooded person pointed at himself with his thumb "Now what should I do now? Drop a few more Subspace Bombs in another pathetic world?"

"You may do that now, go to the next world, but I warning you, don't underestimate them even a little, or else you shall suffer the consequences."

"Ha! I want to see them trying it!" The dark hooded person ran away at high speed.

"Lord Tabuu, I think he is not a good puppet for your plans." The Ancient Minister said.

"Let him be, every strong general or commander that I take away from their world always underestimate them, and you see what are the results after that, but I have my power bestowed in him, I don't know why, but he can do chaos around his surroundings when he wants to."

"...Right..."

"Now send the next Subspace Bombs!" Tabuu teleported away.

The Ancient Minister opened a virtual screen and there were a lot of Mr G&W inside tubes, there were a lot of Shadow Bugs coming from their bodies too "Please, somebody save them...and my people too...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"...And with that Olimar returned to his planet." Chris said finishing his story to Master Hand.

"Good job, everything is still going well...and also, I want to announce something very important to you." Master Hand said.

"What?"

"From now, when you save the worlds, you will gain a certain amount of coins called "Smash Coins", they can be used as money for every kind of shop out there."

"Sweet, and how much did I got?"

"1000."

1000 coins came from the roof, buring Chris below the golden coins.

"Awesome!" He yelled below the coins, then they disappeared and a little wallet appeared in Chris's hand.

"See the wallet? You can store 9999 coins inside and it won't look like it has 9999 coins, use them well." Master Hand stated.

"Alright, but where I can buy something?"

"Over there." Master Hand pointed to a corner.

Crazy Hand was behind a counter and he was wearing a big red ribbon in his wrist "Come here to Crazy crazy wares!" He said.

"What does he sells?" Pit asked.

"Almost everything, from food for traveling to secret jobs." Master Hand said.

"Secret jobs?" Chris asked.

"Well, almost all of the jobs are for Lucario, he only has 2, and you have 5"

"Good...hey, wait a second, you're selling us things instead of giving them to us?" Pichu asked.

"Hey, we need to work for a job, I need to pay for the lights, the water and everything else here in the mansion, everything is not for free you know!"

Chris was shown already buying a job for Lucario for 600 Smash Coins.

"Thank you! Come again!" Crazy Hand said happily.

"What did you bought Chris?" Lucario asked.

"See for yourself in your menu." Chris simply said. Lucario opened the menu and saw the new job on his list "PK Pokémon"?"

"That's right, I think it has the same abilities from the PK Kid's job, try it out!"

Lucario nodded and when he touched the label, his clothes disappeared and nothing else happened afterwards, he looked at his hands and still nothing happened "Nothing happened."

"Try using Pk Fire!" Master Hand said, Lucario focused his power in his hands and they glowed in a red color, then he fired a little lightning in front of his hands.

"And it's his first attack." Roy said.

Suddenly, the alarms were activated and Lucas's icon was getting darker "Lucas is in trouble!" Master Hand said.

"But I don't have his game in my list!" Chris said.

"Don't worry," Master Hand snapped his fingers and a copy of "Mother 3" appeared in his hand "Here, you can go now," He placed the game in the desk "But you can take 3 characters only to this world."

"I choose Lucario, Popo and Nana." Chris said, the said characters nodded and Chris opened the portal to Mother 3 and they stepped inside, then the portal disappeared.

"Why did he chose those 3?" Pikachu asked.

"Lucario because he always goes with him and Popo and Nana because they look more human than us." Mewtwo said.

"But I'm human!" Roy protested.

"But you're wearing an armor and a sword, and in that world is full of normal humans, Popo and Nana looks more common to wear those parkas." Master Hand pointed out.

Mother 3

Naming screen

On the screen, the naming screen appears with the upper left corner showing the front of a wooden house and a little boy with blond hair, wearing an orange and yellow striped shirt and shorts with orange shoes walks in looking inside a Dog's house.

The younger twin brother.
A gentle boy.

Don't care

Lucas

Then, another little boy with orange hair walks in wearing a green and yellow striped shirt with blue shoes as he looks at the other kid looking for his dog.

The older twin brother.
An energetic boy.

Don't care

Claus

After several seconds, a man wearing a comboy hat bloking his eyes walks in and he stands still behind the boys and they tilt their bodies to the left and to the right.

The strong, kind,
and dependable father.

Don't care

Flint

The boys run away but the blong boy trips but then stands up, the man adjust his hat and then the boys come dragging and pushing slowly a woman with brown hair, wearing a red skirt and red clothes and then she stands behind the boys and to the left of the man as they watch the boys playing Rock-Paper-Scissors.

The beloved mother!

Don't care

Hinawa

When the kids stops playing, a brown dog cames from the left and he stops in the middle of the kids and the man and woman, the kind with orange hair stands in front of the woman and the blond kid stand in front of the man and the 5 looks at you.

The brave and smart dog

Don't care

Boney

What's your favorite food?

Don't care

Omellets

What's your favorite thing?

Don't care

Love

The persons reveals themselves to be a happy family, the orange hair kid runs away with the dog and the blond kid, then the mother walks away to them and the man walks along with her, leaving the screen...several moments later, a slightly black skinned kid with black hair walks in, then he suddenly changes and he is now wearing the same clothes of the boy with orange hair and he looks at you.

The boy that will save everyone.
An enthusiastic boy.

Don't care

Chris

He looks around confused and then, purple creatures walks in and he hides behind the dog's house in terror.

The menace that wants to
conquer everything.

Don't care

Primids

After some minutes, another figure cames from the sky and then he starts to defeat the purple creatures, leaving only him and the boy alone, then he walks behind the dog's house and the boy hugs him in happiness and he smiles a little.

The powerful, yet caring
Aura Pokémon!

Don't care

Lucario

The boy stops hugging the Pokémon and then they walk and stands in front of the house, suddenly, 2 kids wearing parkas of blue and pink colors walks in smiling and they look at the boy and the Pokémon.

The blue eskimo, and funny
boy.

Don't care

Popo

The pink eskimo, and cheerful
girl.

Don't care

Nana

Together they are...

Don't care

Ice Climbers

The four talks for 6 seconds, and then, they walk away to the right, leaving the screen.

3 years ago...

With Yokuba's arrival, the town is beginning to change. The townsfolk may be prospering but without knowing what they are dragging themselves into.

In all this darkness, a little boy is becoming stronger and stronger... Lucas wants to change this sad story into a happy one. He's becoming their only hope...and no one knows it...

Three years passed and you won't believe how much the town has changed...

Chapter 4: The Titibou Theater

Nowhere Island
Tazmily Village

The scene changes to a peaceful island in the middle of nowhere (hence the name of the island), we see a little city with happy citizens doing their usual day's labors, on the middle of the square, an arabian-looking guy is talking to several people about something, then we change the scene to a close house near the city where inside, there was a boy with blond hair and blue and white striped pajamas awakening from his bed and he shooks his head for a second.

"...They weren't joking about the thunder then..." He said looking outside the window to find the animal corral destroyed with smoke coming from the impact. He gets out of the bed and then he walks towards a mirror and he looks at his hair all messed up. He remembers his mother combing his hair when he was younger and then he changes to his shirt with yellow and orange stripes and he leaves the house, wondering where his father was now, searching for his dead brother.

"Boney! Come over here!" The boy shouted and the brown dog named Boney came to him.

Boney joined your party!

Mother 3 - Love Theme

From the other side of the city, a portal appeared and Chris, Lucario, Popo and Nana came from it and the portal disappeared. Nobody changed, except for Chris who was now looking in his EarthBound body.

"And to go along with this world..." He changed to his PK Kid job and his clothes changed, but instead of getting Ness's clothes, he got Claus's clothes "Huh? Why I'm wearing this and not Ness's clothes?"

"It doesn't matter, we need to find Lucas now." Lucario said.

Tazmily Village
City Square

The boy (which we will call Lucas) was walking through the city with Boney and they saw the arabian-looking guy talking to the citizens about the happiness boxes that all the citizens must have inside their houses, and if they don't have that, a "lightning" will destroy their house and everything inside, that was also the cause of the destruction of Lucas's animal corral because he doesn't has a happiness box since he thinks there is something fishy going on with those things. He shook his head and headed towards the Train Station.

When he reached the station, 2 mens came out from the train after working in their...work.

"I'm telling you! I'm sure it's him!" Jackie said to Bronson.

"It's just not quite possible, he disappeared three years ago." Bronson looks at Lucas and Boney "Oh, hi Lucas."

"Hi Jackie, hi Bronson, what are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"It's nothing, we just came from watching DCMC in the Titibou Theater and Jackie thinks the bass musician of them is Duster." Bronson said.

"Duster? It's that true?" Lucas asked surprised.

"Believe me Lucas, he looks like Duster!" Jackie said.

"Aw, come on, sorry Lucas, but we have to go now." Jackie and Bronson walked away from Lucas and Boney.

"I need to tell this to Wes now!" Lucas said running away from the Train Station along with Boney towards the city.

"And then everyone will know the true awesomeness of the Pig Mask Army!" The arabian-looking guy said to various citizens.

An old man with a white beard and little white hair on his head walked from the right and he heard the conversation of the arabian-looking guy (Who we will call Yokuba)

"Do you think that is actually stupid? Since you came here, everything has gotten worse!" The old man said. Yokuba looked at him and then a person wearing a pig mask came from behind the unexpected old man and got him with a bug-catching net then dragged him away from the city. Lucas and Boney came from the north and Yokuba saw him and stood in front of him.

"Hey you, you're the same kid who doesn't have a happiness box!...And you remind me of someone who almost killed me with a Drago." Yokuba said rubbing his chin "Go away and find a happiness box!"

"...Alright..." Lucas said sarcastically and Yokuba left him to talk with the citizens. Lucas and Boney then ran away to the east where Wes was taken. Then, Chris, Lucario, Popo and Nana came from the same direction Lucas came from.

"This city looks so cheerful." Popo said.

"Hello!", "Hi!", How are you?", "You're new around here right?", "It's nice to see more travelers in this city" A lot of people talked to the four when they were walking deeper.

"...All of them are so cheerful." Nana said.

"It creeps me out, I thought half of the persons living here were going to say hi, but not all of them!" Chris said. Suddenly, 2 guys wearing pig masks walked by in front of them, but after a second, they walked backwards and stopped in front of them.

"Hey kid (Chris: (Kid?) "Eye twitches"), you're new around here right?" Chris nodded "You should have a happiness box with you now."

"Um...sorry..but I don't want a happiness box now..." Chris said asking to himself what the hell was a happiness box.

"Then come with us!" One of the pig masks grabbed Chris's left arm. The other grabbed the arms of Popo and Nana, without noticing Lucario at all.

"Hey, stop it! You're hurting my arm!" Chris said trying to get his arm out of the pig mask's grasp.

"You're hurting my arm! You're hurting my arm! You're hurting my arm!" Those words rang inside Lucario's mind and he growled angrily. Then he separated both pig masks from the arms of Chris, Popo and Nana.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Both pig masks asked angrily. Lucario grabbed both of them by the collars and he approached them to his face, showing a very angry face.

"Nothing, I hate someone hurting Chris." Lucario said coldly.

"And what if we want to hurt him?" One of them asked. Lucario just glowed instantly.

And after a long moment of screams and yells of pain begin for mercy, both pig masks were shown buried in the ground, their costumes were abruptaly damaged and blood was coming from parts where it was supposed to not come out.

"That was the most scariest thing I've ever seen." Nana said as she and the others were walking away.

Back with Lucas and Boney...

"Lucas, thanks for letting me know about Duster's whereabouts, now I need you and Boney to go to the Titibou Theater and find Duster, then if you manage to find him, send me a pigeon with a letter." The old man from before (Which his name is Wes) said to Lucas and Boney, they were inside an almost wrecked house along with more people, they were there because they didn't have happiness boxes and the Pig Masks threw them inside to hear the sounds of the happiness boxes.

"I'll find Duster, we need to do something about the Pig Mask Army." Lucas said nodding.

"Thank you Lucas, you sure have grown well since...you know...your brother died..."

Lucas looked away sadly, he remembered that his brother, Claus, was dead after trying to get revenge on the Drago that killed her mother, Hinawa, the 2 of them were now in the heaven while Lucas was still living with his father and dog, but Lucas shook the thought away and he nodded. Boney barked and Lucas nodded again and both ran outside to the city, a little smile formed in Wes's face after looking at Lucas's energy for saving the city and the people.

Back with Chris, Lucario and the Ice Climbers...

"Do you always remove your parkas?" Chris asked to Popo and Nana.

"Nope! We always wear them!" Popo said smiling.

"...Even in summer?"

"Yeah!" Nana responded smiling, this caused Chris to back away from them.

"Chris, we must find Lucas now." Lucario said.

"But...where do we start?" He scratched his head "He could be anywhere."

"Let me use my aura." Lucario glowed and closed his eyes, he searched for Lucas around the area but he didn't find him for 10 seconds "Wait...someone is approaching to us."

"Who?" Chris, Popo and Nana looked around quickly "I can't see anybody approaching." Chris stopped looking at Lucario.

"He's accelerating..."

"To where?" Chris asked.

"...behind you."

"Wha-" Chris was suddenly tackled down by a blond kid, it was Lucas smiling happily with Boney wagging his tail and barking happily.

"Claus! I thought you were dead! But...you're alive! I'm so happy to see you again!" Lucas said hugging Chris's back without opening his eyes, Chris was trying to get Lucas off from his back. But it was useless since Boney was licking his face.

"AHAHAHA! PLEASE! STOP! I CAN'T STAND UP! HAHAHAHA!!" Chris said laughing "I'M NOT THAT CLAUS!"

When Lucas heard that, he opened his eyes and saw clearly the face of "Claus" and he backed away embarrased of himself, Boney did the same and he looked down sadly.

"Sorry...but when I saw your clothes...I thought you were my brother Claus..." Lucas said.

"You're Lucas right?" Nana asked.

"Ye-yeah, but how did you knew my name?"

"Because we heard many things from you." Chris said getting up from the floor.

"Really?" Lucas asked. Chris nodded "Wow...I didn't thought I was famou-HOLY CRAP, A MUTATED DOG!" Lucas said terrified after looking at Lucario, he backed away a little and Boney hid behind Lucas terrorized.

"Lucario? A mutated dog?" Chris asked looking at Lucario "Well...he does looks like on-" He stopped because Lucario glared at him "Butontheotherhandno!" He said quickly.

"Yeah, Lucario isn't a bad guy, don't be scared!" Popo said smiling.

"O-o-o-o-o-o-okay...j-j-j-j-j-just I-I-I-I-I-n-n-n-n-need-to-to-to-to ig-ig-ig-ig-ig-" Lucas said studdering, Lucario shook his head and he walked towards Lucas.

"BO-BO-BONEY! PROTECT ME!" Lucas ordered, but Boney was playing dead behind him "YO-YO-YOU!"

"Calm down," Lucario said putting his hand on Lucas's shoulder "Now relax, close your eyes, breath and count to 3."

Lucas was still shaking in terror, but after a second, he nodded slowly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath "...on-one...tw-two...three..." He opened his eyes and saw Lucario's face "I...feel more relaxed now...that was weird...but I see you as a common person to me now."

"Great." Lucario smiled a little and Lucas sighed in relief, Boney was now revived.

"I'm sorry for acting like that before." Lucas said apologizing to Chris and Lucario "I'm Lucas and this is my dog Boney." Lucas pointed at his dog, who barked happily, Popo and Nana approached to Boney and the dog leaped to them licking their faces, they were laughing.

"I already like this dog!" Nana said patting Boney's head.

"Who doesn't?" Lucas asked smiling, but then he gasped "Oh no, I have to find Duster first, I almost forgot!"

"Wait, can we go with you please?" Chris asked.

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"Because I know there is going to be trouble ahead and probably you will need our help in your way to find Duster."

Lucas looked at Boney, who was still licking Popo's face and wagging his tail happily "Ok, you can go with us!" Lucas said smiling.

Lucas and Boney joined your team!...For now!

"Thanks!" Chris replied smiling. Everyone nodded and then they went towards the Train Station to travel to the Titibuo Theater.

"What? There are no trains going to the Titibuo Theater?" Lucas asked worried to the man of the station.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a train to that place for now, wait until tomorrow" The man said.

"...Okay! Thank you mister!" Lucas said running away with Boney, the others wondered what was Lucas thinking now and they ran with him, when they stopped, they saw the rail road going inside a tunnel.

"Lucas, what is your plan?" Nana asked.

"My plan is to follow the rail and then we can reach the Titibuo Theater!" Lucas said proudly.

"If you're going to follow the rail then..." A black man walked to them and he stood in front of Lucas holding a map "You will need this map" He handed over the map to Lucas, and he walked away from them "Oh, and be careful of the monsters inside the tunnel!"

"Mo-mo-monsters?" Lucas asked worried, he peered inside the tunnel and there were walking mushrooms and serpent with chicken heads sneaking around.

"Lucas! Stop scaring yourself! Remember, you have us to fight those horrible abominations known to the man!" Chris said angrily.

"...You're right...thanks Chris for cheering me up..." Lucas said smiling.

Preview of the next chapter

"I-I'm Lucas."

"Woof! (I'm Boney!)"

"Who is this girl..I mean..man in the hot springs? I'm scared of his appearance."

"Woof! Woof! (He is so weird!)"

"But see the good news...at least I have those PK abilities that my brother told me about, right Boney?"

"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof (Right!)"

"...Okay...I don't know if you tried to say a very hard explanation to me or you're either happy because I gave you your snack...oh...right...next time: You're a Jealous Bass!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Tazmily Village
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Lucas, Boney

And what do you think? Great, isn't? Read and review please!
*Chapter 33*: Lucas's Amazing Adventure To The Club

Yet this chapter here got another re-edit. I'd like to say that this chapter bothered me, so I gave it more scenes.

Also, beware. This game wasn't released in America, so there are spoilers.

Read, enjoy, and review. :)

Chapter 33: Lucas's Amazing Adventure To The Club

Tazmily Village
Railway Tunnel

The cave that they were supposed to cross was large. The rail road entirely crossed it, and there were several parts where light could get in.

Lucas looked unsure. "Why is the club supposed to be this way?"

"Unfortunately," Chris began. "I don't have the slightest idea."

"Or me," Popo said.

"Or me," Nana said.

"Probably because-" Lucario was interrupted.

"U-uah!" Lucas yelped.

"What now?" Nana asked.

"A-a walking mushroom!"

This little discovery meant something…

Do battle.

Mother 3 - Mr. Batty Twist

Ramblin' Mushroom steps in!

Lucas Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana

98 89 96 200 89 78

Boney attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom receives 36 of damage!

"Oh, sweet, he defends," Popo said.

Ramblin' Mushroom kicks Popo on the knee!

Popo receives 12 of damage!

"What? How did it hurt again?" Popo asked.

Chris attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom receives 13 of damage!

"I don't get this at all… I should have defeated him by now," Chris said.

"You forgot it's a monster," Nana said.

Nana attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom receives 29 of damage!

"Ha, I do more damage," Nana said.

"Oh, shut up…" Chris muttered embarrassed.

Lucas attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom receives 4 hits, 37 of damage!

"What the heck? Why did you stop now?!" Nana asked.

"I-I suddenly lost my rhythm!" Lucas protested.

"Rhythm? Pfft, you're so weird."

Ramblin' Mushroom stopped moving!

"Wait, it turned back to normal? But how did it do that?" Nana asked.

YOU WON!

Lucas and company receive 16 EXP. Points!

"P-phew…" Lucas sighed.

"Don't tell me you got tired by that veggie…" Lucario said with a frown.

"I-it's my first time fighting something from nature itself!" Lucas protested. "I need to get used to it!"

The group rolled their eyes. After looking at the map, Lucas and the rest of the team walked for a while. And yes, they kept fighting mushrooms that somehow rambled. Blame Mother Nature for their creation…

…Or something else, perhaps?

"…" The group stopped right in front of a ladder.

"Should we go up?" Lucas asked confused. "I mean, what's a ladder doing here in this cave?"

"There is steam coming from up there," Lucario said.

"I say climb it!" Popo suggested.

"B-but we don't know if we should go up there!" Lucas said. "I don't want to get in trouble!"

"If you think again, the person who left the ladder here was irresponsible, and we're going to be a perfect example to take care of his or her things," Nana pointed out.

"…Aww…" Lucas groaned as Boney merely barked a little in agreement (to the group).

All of them climbed the ladder and they found a hot spring big enough for them to enter.

"…Maybe this is wrong for me to ask, but why is there a hot spring above this cliff?" Chris asked confused.

"Aww, hot spring," Lucas said pleased. "There are a lot of hot springs all around Nowhere Island, and they help to make you feel all better."

"Wow, you're happy to climb the ladder, then?" Nana asked.

"I-I... Let's go in!" Lucas said excited. "Every hot spring is open for anyone!" He jumped straight to it…with his clothes on.

"Lucas, are you stupid or what?" Nana asked. "You should have taken your clothes off and…"

Lucas looked at her.

Nana blushed. "T-then again, I don't want to see you… Oh, never mind! Let's just go in!"

She jumped inside.

"Cannonball!" Popo yelled as he jumped.

"...This is a free hot spring, right?" Chris asked.

"Let's just go in," Lucario said. "The steam feels so nice."

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Everyone hmm'd in pleasure as they got deeper.

"For being a random hot spring inside a cave with a train road," Nana began. "This place is sooooooooooo relaxing..."

"You know…I feeling that someone besides us is inside this hot spring," Lucas said.

"Oh, why's that?" Popo asked.

"You're quite right little boy," spoke a voice.

After hearing another voice coming behind Lucas, they looked around and saw another man inside the hot spring.

Lucas blushed. "O-oh, sorry! W-we didn't see you!"

"Oh please, don't apologize," the quite odd looking man said with a giggle...yes, a giggle. "I'm Ionia, one of the Magypsies of the island. This situation happens very often to me, so don't worry about it... Hmm..." The man eyed Lucas. "...Wait, aren't you Lucas by any chance?" he asked.

"Y-yes, I'm Lucas..." Lucas responded confused. "...But how did you know my name?"

"Then Kumatora was right about you. You have a special power inside you that hasn't awakened yet-"

"You know Kumatora?" Lucas asked .

"Why yes, I, along with the other Magypsies, raised her when she was a cute little baby, but she doesn't act girly like us though. She prefers to be rather tomboyish and energetic."

"...Girly?" Chris asked confused. "But aren't you a man?"

"Actually, I'm a woman," Ionia pointed out.

Everyone else besides the Magypsy man-woman slowly backed away.

"...I feel weird now," Popo commented.

"Popo!" Nana yelled disgusted.

"What? He i-"

"Don't be scared, we're very friendly with other people," Ionia said. "Actually, this also happens a lot of times, so I get used to the reactions. Too bad nobody can see true beauty."

It was either agree with HER, or hurt HER feelings.

She looked at Lucas. "Lucas, are you willing to use that hidden power for good...and not evil?"

"What power?" Lucas asked confused. "T-that's kind of sudden..."

"Like Kumatora, you have the same PK or PSI abilities like she does. Deep inside your heart (Popo: Corny) there's a great power that needs to be awakened and used for greater good. Do you want to have those powers?"

"W-well..." Lucas looked unsure. "...What kind of power is that?"

"Oh, great power," Ionia said with a giggle. "You could use fire, ice, another variation of Kumatora's abilities, or even read minds when you train enough."

"...Well..." Lucas looked at her. "...Yes, I want that power."

"Excellent and splendorous," Ionia said pleased. "Come to me now, Lucas," Ionia ordered.

"U-um, why?" Lucas asked unsure.

"You want to have powers or not? Trust me, believe in me, love m-I mean, come to me."

"Suddenly, I got a sick picture in my mind..." Lucario said.

"Me too, Lucario..." Chris nodded. "Me too..."

Lucas stood in front of Ionia as she started to say the necessary chant for Lucas to learn the PSI abilities.

"First, focus your mind," Ionia said.

Lucas focused his mind by closing his eyes.

"Now, think about your favorite thing in the whole world."

Lucas thought about his favorite thing. "(...The love of my mom...)"

"And finally..."

The steam of the hot springs became hazy and it prevented the whole party from seeing Lucas and Ionia. Chris and Lucario, however, could see Ionia slowly approaching Lucas.

"Lucario...what is Lucas doing?" Chris asked confused.

Lucario glowed for a moment to see what Lucas and Ionia were doing.

"...Oh...um...er...this is...oh Arceus..." Lucario gasped and stopped glowing. Then, he blocked Chris's eyes with his black hands.

Chris made a confused face below his hands. "Oh my god, i-is this scene M-rated or something like that?" he asked worried.

Popo and Nana opened their mouths and they blocked the eyes of each other. "G-gross! We're way too young for that!" Nana yelled unsure if Lucas and Ionia were doing...you-know-what.

And Boney whined scared. He wished nobody would see the green part around him.

After a while, the steam began to disperse, and they all looked at Ionia backing away from a scared Lucas.

"There..." she said. "You can use now PSI abilities," Ionia said smiling.

Lucas has learned PK Healing alpha!

Lucas has learned PK Lifeup alpha!

Lucas has learned PK Love alpha!

"I'm feeling different now..." Lucas said as the steam kept clearing out. "..." He blushed. "B-but what did you do to me just now?"

"Does it matter now? Now you have powers like Kumatora," Ionia said.

"Are you trying to evade the questio-" Popo got interrupted.

"Now go and find Kumatora. I saw her heading to Club Titiboo a while ago," Ionia said "I must continue to enjoy the hot spring for now."

"..." Lucas was just speechless. For some reason, he knew Ionia did something extremely weird to him. "...But seriously!" Lucas snapped out. "W-what did you EXACTLY do to me?!"

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Ionia relaxed in peace.

"..." Lucas shrugged. "...Let's just go..." he said in defeat.

"That...was the oddest scene I've tried to see by accident in my life before," Nana said.

"Amen," Chris said very confused.

Lucas and company left the hot springs and they continued their way to the Titiboo Theater.

And Lucas found several gifts in the way.

"Who leaves presents in the middle of nowhere?" Nana asked.

"I-I don't know," Lucas said. "Maybe I was meant to open them?"

"But there was a piece of bread roll inside a present, and it doesn't make sense for food to be inside presents," Lucario commented.

Boney opened a present and took out flea powder. The dog seemed pleased.

"I heard flea powder can be used as medicine for people as well," Lucas said. "It was on the book Buggy."

"…Eww…" Nana said grossed out.

And suddenly, 2 Slitherhen and 3 Ramblin' Mushrooms appeared.

"Since when did snakes make love with serpents?" Popo asked.

Mother 3 – Bothersome Guys

Slitherhen sneaks in with his cohorts!

Lucas Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana

98 89 96 200 89 78

Slitherhen 1 pecks Nana's face!

"Just to let you know, being pecked by a serpent is out of this world…oww…" Nana said.

Nana receives 18 of damage!

Slitherhen 2 pecks Nana's face!

Nana receives 20 of damage!

"Oh, come on! Stop pecking me!" Nana complained.

Boney attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom 2 receives 5 hits, 40 of damage!

Ramblin' Mushroom 1 kicks Nana on the knee!

Nana receives 12 of damage!

"Oh, knock it off already!" Nana yelled.

"Nana!" Lucas shouted. "H-hang in there…u-um…l-let's see…" The blond kid concentrated and remembered what Ionia…

…And the next moment, he really wished to forget what happened.

With a shrug, Lucas managed to use a healing technique as he pointed his right hand at Nana.

Lucas tries PK Lifeup alpha!

Nana recovers 40 HP!

"…" Nana blinked. "…Wow, thanks."

"Y-you're welcome…" Lucas said blushing. "(PK Lifeup…)"

Chris attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom 2 receives 3 hits, 38 of damage!

Ramblin' Mushroom 2 stopped moving!

Boney eats the mushroom!

"BONEY!" Lucas yelled.

Boney looked miffed before he looked pleased after a grumble came from his stomach.

Lucas backs away from his dog!

Ramblin' Mushroom 3 kicks Lucario on the knee!

Lucario receives 9 of damage!

"They just know how to kick. How pathetic…" Lucario said with a frown.

"But it hurt you," Chris pointed out.

"And that's why I feel a little bit offended."

Lucario's strength goes up!

Lucario attacks!

Ramblin' Mushroom 3 receives 8 hits, 212 of damage!

Ramblin' Mushroom 3 stopped moving!

Boney eats the mushroom!

The dog looks pleased!

The air around Boney suddenly gets stinky!

"Eww!!!" Lucas, Popo, Chris, and Nana said disgusted.

Popo attacks!

Slitherhen 1 receives 2 hits, 35 of damage!

Nana attacks!

Slitherhen 1 receives 5 hits, 49 of damage!

"I hate the rhythm thing!" Nana yelled.

Slitherhen 1 fades out!

Boney attacks!

Slitherhen 2 receives 20 of damage!

Lucas saw the chicken snake taking aim on him. "N-no! Get away!" he yelled before he pointed his palms at it. "S-stop!" he yelled before his hands glowed brightly.

The others watched as Lucas focused hard before his hands released some kind of majestic energy that was sent at full force to the Slitherhen.

"PK Love!" Lucas yelled.

Lucas tried PK Love alpha!

Slitherhen 2 receives 120 of damage!

Slitherhen 2 disappears like magic!

YOU WON!

Lucas and company earned 98 experience points!

Lucas's level goes up by 17!

"Al-alright…" Lucas said with a pant.

HP goes up by 3!
PP goes up by 5!
Strength goes up by 2!
Defense goes up by 1!
Guts goes up by 3!
Right on! Speed goes up by 6!
Evasion goes up 2!

"Phew…" Lucas wiped the sweat from his forehead. "T-that was…"

"…Incredible, I think," Lucario said.

"W-what?"

"You know, you have your own tricks under that shy attitude," Nana said. "You're both a healer and attacker."

"I just wish I didn't need to go through that weird ritual to get these somewhat overpowered…powers…" Lucas said embarrassed.

Unfortunately, the group shrugged at the thought and had to agree with him.

"…TRAIN!!!" Lucas suddenly yelled as lights came from behind them.

In very slow motion, the group turned around, gasped and quickly dove for the down side of the road as the train managed to brush their feet for a cm. They fell on the side of the track and looked up to see the train reaching the station some feet away.

"M-man…" Popo panted heavily. "I-I was going to see my whole life flash in front of me…"

"I believe we all thought the same thing…unfortunately…" Chris muttered.

And then, they finally reached the next side of the rail road. The whole party except Lucario reached another level in doing so.

"I feel…rather left out for not gaining another level," Lucario said.

"Gaining you what level now?" Popo asked confused

Club Titiboo
Factory

It made no sense that a construction site was at the end of the rail road. The group walked forth and looked around the site.

"What is a construction site doing here?" Nana asked. She glanced around and saw many men wearing pig masks walking around the area. There was a huge hill on the other side with a gondola going up.

On the top of the hill, the Club Titiboo laid below dark clouds. "A club is on the top of a mountain?" Chris asked. "What kind of place is this?"

"If you forgot, we fought snakes with chicken heads and rambling mushrooms some minutes ago," Nana said. "We were bound to find a place like that, anyway."

"So if the club is up there, let's take the gondola," Popo said.

Lucas saw the way to the gondola, but he was stopped by a workstation guy.

"…You don't seem to have any tickets," he said. "I can't let you on without tickets."

"Do we really seem?" Chris asked.

"Where can we get tickets?" Lucas asked.

"You can get one by buying it for 100,000 Dragon Points," he said simply.

"…" Lucas looked down. "My allowance isn't that big enough…"

"Or you can get one by working at that building over there." The workstation guy pointed to the building in the center of the area.

"O-okay, thanks," Lucas said walking towards the building with the others.

"…Are we ACTUALLY going to work?" Chris asked. "Well, you do know children can be submitted t-"

"What is your plan exactly?" Lucario asked.

"We're going to get a job so we can get tickets…" Lucas responded. "W-we don't have another choice, do we?"

Chris crossed his arms. "Lucas, there is a 9 percent that someone would actually give a job to 4 kids, 1 Pokémon, and 1 dog, and there is also no way that would happen..."

Later at the factory…

"You're accepted!" a blue pig mask said to the group, signing a document with the emblem of the Pig Mask Army.

"...If the Pig Mask Army wasn't the one who we're talking about…" Chris finished his sentence by sighing.

"Okay, first, you need to give your names to us," the blue pig mask said.

"We better make fake names so we don't get in trouble…" Lucas whispered to the other.

"Name?" the Pig Mask asked.

"Hu Flung Poo," Lucas said. The blue pig mask nodded and he wrote "Hu Flung Poo" on the document.

"Name please?"

"Lolo," Popo said.

"Name please?"

"Lala," Nana said.

Chris thought for a moment to create a name and chuckled to his thought.

"Name?" The blue pig mask asked.

Chris grew a little bit nervous. "…C-Chuck Norris?"

"…Oh, the name sounds almighty and absurdly powerful for some reason."

Chris looked somewhat shocked.

"Alright, you're in." The blue pig mask nodded and wrote in the document "Chuck Norris."

Lucario chuckled a bit. "Are you sure with that name?"

"Y-you keep quiet…" Chris muttered embarrassed.

Just when they were about to enter, the blue Pig Mask stopped them. "Hold on," the blue pig mask said. "The dogs go to the treadmills."

A toon red vein popped out of Lucario's forehead. Boney whined disappointed and he and Lucario walked first. After some seconds, Hu Flung Poo, Chuck Norris, Lolo, and Lala walked after.

"So, where do we start to work?" Lala (Nana) asked.

Hu Flung Poo (Lucas) saw a big pile of Clay Mans to their right with some men trying to revive them using electricity.

"You're new here right?" A man approached to them. "You should go inside the tunnel in this building and bring a Clay Man for test him if it works perfectly. Each one of you should bring one, meaning 4 Clay Mans," he said and walked away.

Lolo (Popo) hurried to the next area. He and the others found treadmills attached to machines to store electricity. They also saw a pig, a dog, a coyote, Boney, and Lucario running above them.

"Say, this doesn't looks like a dog at all," a pig mask said to another while looking at Lucario, who managed to glance at their way.

"Well, he has a tail, meaning he is a dog, right?" the other pig mask asked.

"Who cares? At least he can give more power to the machines than the others."

Indeed, Lucario was running quite fast in the treadmill, making a lot of electricity.

"...But still, he doesn't look like a dog at all."

"(At least someone got that right…)" Lucario thought.

"Oh, REALLY?!" Chuck Norris (Chris) asked climbing down the ladder to the tunnel. Both pig masks turned to see no one in the ladder. They lifted their shoulders and walked away.

Inside the tunnel...

"Well, there are a LOT of Clay Men walking around," Lolo (Popo) said. Multiple Clay Mans were walking around carrying a lot of things. There was an elevator to the left of the ladders.

"Hey you 4, go and pick up the 4 Clay Men at the end of this tunnel. Don't worry, they can be pushed to this elevator without problems," a pig mask near the elevator said to the little group.

"Do they actually allow children to do manual labor here?" Lala asked.

"Who cares as long as we get paid," Popo said. "We're going to get paid, right?"

Hu Flung Poo went ahead with Chuck Norris, Lolo and Lala following. After walking for a while inside the tunnel, they found 4 Clay Men standing without moving at all.

They pushed each one behind their backs to the entrance of the tunnel. The Clay Men were easy to push around, but they only made sounds like robots. Surely, there was something wrong with them.

Eventually, they reached the elevator and the Clay Men were being lifted to the floor above. The pig mask thanked them for a well done work and they climbed the ladder again.

After bringing the Clay Men to the guy who was electrocuting their little antennas on both sides of their heads, they watched as the guy who put on the electric pincers electrocuted the Clay Men.

"Aaaaaaaannnnnnd done," he said. "They are working perfectly now. Thanks for your help...er…"

"Chuck Norris," Chris replied embarrassed.

"Yes, Chuck Norris, thanks for your help!" The man thanked "Chuck Norris", who blushed as a response. "Oh, have anyone said you have some kind of almighty and strong name?"

"I-I'm sure I heard," Chris said more embarrassed.

They went to the blue pig mask and Hu Flung Poo asked for tickets to see the DCMC band. The blue pig mask nodded and he gave them 6 tickets.

At that moment, Boney returned from the treadmills and went over to Lucas.

"Wait, where is Lucario?" Chuck Norris asked. He went inside again to find Lucario still running in the treadmills...smiling happily?

"Lucario, we need to leave now!"

"But I want to stay here," Lucario said without looking.

"What? Why?"

"Running above this is great for doing exercise, and I don't want to leave yet."

Chuck Norris thought for a moment. "…If I say I could take you to Hyrule for you to run around the fields freely, would you stop running on the treadmill?"

With those words said, Lucario was kneeling down in front of Chuck Norris.

"Fine, I'm convinced," Lucario said smiling a little.

"Okay, let's go. The others are waiting for us," Chuck Norris and Lucario left the building.

And so, the group forfeited their fake names.

Club Titiboo
Mountain

Lucas, Boney, Popo, and Nana were waiting for Chris and Lucario near the gondola. Lucas had already handed the tickets to the man controlling the gondola. Chris and Lucario came back and they took the gondola towards the top.

"So, what do we need to do in the club again?" Nana asked.

"Well, there's a man named Duster who went missing some years ago…" Lucas said. "And then I heard he was seen in the club, and Wess told me to find him."

"All we have to do is to find this Duster person?" Lucario asked.

"Pretty much…but I don't know if we can find him…"

"We're reaching the top now," Popo pointed out. And they reached the top of the big hill.

Club Titiboo
Entrance

Lucas found a gift in a tiny bridge, but there were fireworks inside, and they instantly went high up to sky and exploded.

"…What was the point of that?" Lucario asked.

"I have no idea…" Popo commented with a shrug.

They walked towards the entrance of the club. Where they found 2 guards...guarding the entrance, of course.

"We don't allow pets inside," Skinhead said. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Oh, so much for that…" Nana said.

"…" Lucas looked down and walked away.

"We could have entered, but we have 2 dogs with us," Popo said. "That's too bad."

"Who is the second dog again?" Lucario asked annoyed before they left.

But 5 minutes later...

They all returned back, but this time, Boney was dressed like a kid walking in 2 paws, and Lucario…he just wore a DCMC hat that was just flying out of nowhere.

Heheh, get it? Nowhere? Nowhere Islands?

"Um...you're too familiar..." Neckbeard (the other guard) spoke. "…Are you sure you're not a dog?"

Boney whined in his mind while he sweated.

The others gulped and wished for something to happen…

That's when the doors behind them opened up with a slam, and a young waitress with pinkish hair walked out. "Wait! They are coming with me!" she yelled.

"Violet, are they coming with you?" Neckbeard asked. "Well, you don't seem to get that many visitors in a daily basis, but sti-"

"Well, yes!" Violet said as she looked at Chris, Lucario, Popo, and Nana. "At least 2 of them..." she muttered to herself.

"…If they are friends of Violet, then they can come in," Skinhead said moving away. "Besides, I guess that boy over there is definitely not a dog in disguise."

"Heheheheheh…" Lucas laughed nervously with the others except Lucario.

"What are you waiting for?" Violet asked. "Come on in, quick!"

And the 6 entered the theater with the help of the mysterious waitress Violet.

"The grumpy one looked more like a dog than the shorter one, don't you think?" Neckbeard asked.

"Meh, who cares as long as we get paid."

"I'd say so."

Club Titiboo
Lobby

Inside the club, they found themselves in a fancy lobby with everything that a usual theater had: soda machines, a snack bar, people walking around, and 2 corridors, one at each side of the double doors that leaded to the concert hall.

"And welcome!" Violet said cheerfully. "Welcome to Club Titiboo! Where we haven't had any accidents except for that time a drunken guy drank dirty toilet water and… Welcome!" she said avoiding a shrug from what she said.

"You hate your job, right?" Popo asked suddenly.

"Besides the fact I mostly serve to perverts who look underneath my skirt and they end up with some black eyes, I'm pretty much fine!" Violet said. "…And yes, this job surely sucks butt."

The 4 youngsters' eyes widened.

"…Why did you let us in?" Lucas asked confused, trying to forget the sudden change in attitude of Violet.

"...Have you forgotten all about me?" Violet asked annoyed.

"Um...I don't remember meeting you, so no…" Lucas scratched the back of his head.

"Lucas...I'm Kumatora!" Violet said, revealing to be the Kumatora. "Kumatora! Remember? The princess of Osohe Castle?"

"…"

"…The tomboyish girl."

"..."

"...The princess?"

"..."

"..." Kumatora looked annoyed. "...B(beep)h."

"...O-oh right! You're Kumatora!" Lucas remembered.

"Wait, so you remembered her by a curse?" Nana asked.

"U-um...she's a little bit energetic..." Lucas whispered.

"I'm still here, you know!" Kumatora yelled. "Ahem. Okay, fury aside, here I am. Thank you for coming here. By the way, you seem to have grown a little bit all these short years."

"D-did I now?" Lucas asked.

"Listen, but don't change your expression on your face," Kumatora began. "I have been here working to find Duster. He is the bass musician of the famous band DCMC." She looked away "But apparently he doesn't remember anything, because he lost his memory when I found him here...and let me tell you something, the only decent thing this place has is the band itself. Most of the people here are complete weird. Working here was a lot of pain in my a-"

"He lost his memory?" Lucas interrupted, raising an eyebrow. Kumatora sighed but nodded.

"Yes, but maybe with your help you can help him remember..." she said. "Say, who are the other 5 coming with you?"

"Well, this is Boney," Lucas said, pointing to his current-kid-dog Boney who barked silently "And they are friends I found in Tazmily Village."

"I'm Chris, nice to meet you," Chris said.

"We're Popo," Popo said.

"And Nana," Nana said.

"..." Lucario didn't speak.

"Who's the silent guy?" Kumatora glanced at Lucario's body and she noticed many things. Then, she lifted his hat a little to discover his blue ears. She turned to see Lucas. "Lucas, when did you tame this monster? He looks like a dog, but he is definitely a monster."

Lucario was about to punch Kumatora while she wasn't looking, but then Kumatora turned to him. "And come to think of it, he looks kinda cool."

"...Um..." Lucario was about to say something before Kumatora rubbed his head.

"You're lucky, I like bigger dogs," Kumatora said, rubbing Lucario's head. He seemed to blush a little and Kumatora chuckled for a bit. "Okay." She stopped. "You've arrived in time. The band is gonna take the stage in a few minutes now so if yo-"

Various cheers were coming from the main room.

"Speak of the devils! They are going to play in a moment. Enter now, quickly!"

The group at first looked confused, but they all entered inside the concert hall.

Club Titiboo
Concert Hall

There were a lot of people standing up, or sitting down on chairs. A big couch with a muscular pig mask with some ladies was at the front of the stage. Apparently, the Pig Mask was a die-hard fan of DCMC.

"Take a look around, please!" Kumatora said, faking excitement.

"Hey, honey," a man called over a table. "I want to have a drink here."

"(Ugh, the same man who looks under skirts...) I'll be right there in a minute, sweetie!" Kumatora said, again, faking excitement. "Gosh, this job really sucks... Okay, you guys settle in and I'll come to you later, 'k?"

The 6 dispersed through the stage area and everyone except Lucario talked to several persons. Many of the fans said about how well the band played, especially the big muscular pig mask, who went so far into detail that he later squealed with glee.

"...Okay..." Chris muttered as he slowly backed away from the Pig Mask.

And the lights of the hall suddenly dimmed down.

"They are going to play now. Let's go back to the table," Popo said to Nana.

The group quickly reunited and they took a table with six chairs.

Kumatora came to them again.

"Wait for me in the lobby. I have to show you something," Kumatora said before she walked away.

Then, a man came running and sat on a chair on the middle of the area. He looked back several times before noticing Lucas.

"Hey, Lucas! It's me! Thomas! Remember?" Thomas called.

"Oh. Hi," Lucas said. "Do you...work here?"

"Well, yeah, I do 20 hours a day, and daily," he said. "I'm still waiting for them to give me a raise and... Say, isn't the bass musician familiar? I think he is Duster."

"I heard he is..." Lucas said unsure.

"I knew it!" Thomas said surprised. "The resemblance just fits the image so well!"

Then the 5 members of DCMC walked in above the stage with the big letters of "DCMC" on the background.

The group was consisting of OJ, and man with blond hair, blond beard, who played the saxophone.

Next there was Magic, a man with a brown Mohawk, who played the electric guitar.

Up next was Baccio, a man with blond hair and sunglasses, who played the drums.

Shimmy Zmizz, a man with red braids, black hair, and sunglasses who played the electric piano.

And finally, on the left edge of the stage, the man with a big brown afro, the bass musician, Lucky, who was awfully familiar to Lucas.

Or actually, he was Duster.

"Tonda Gossa!" greeted OJ as the people cheered. "We're the DCMC, A.K.A. Desperado Crash Mambo Combo!" OJ said in excitement over the mic. The audience cheered loudly at this entrance, and some of them whistled.

"They're not drunk, are they?" Nana asked.

"I just hope they're not..." Chris muttered.

"And now we're playing tonight your favorite theme, the King P's theme!!"

The whole hall blackened out as everyone remained silent...

Mother 3 – King P's Theme (DCMC Theme)

A light shone on Magic and he started to play the electric guitar for a little while.

The audience started to gave loud cheers at his performance on the stage.

Then, the lights turned on wildly at the whole area and the band started to play in rhythm.

Meanwhile, on the table with the group...

"Hmm," Chris muttered. "...I like the beat. Actually, I like it very much."

"Do they play the same song?" Nana asked. "Because if they do, then I'll surely like to hear it every day."

"Duster..." Lucas muttered. "Why'd you change? Is there a reason behind that?"

The whole audience stopped cheering to listen to the band. Lucas saw Kumatora walking back to make sure an incident didn't happen. "I swear, it's like I take care of this place..." Kumatora muttered.

"..." Lucas sweatdropped and shrugged as Kumatora leaned to the wall and began to eat a lollipop.

"I think I like their music," Lucario said to Chris.

"Oh, really?" Chris asked. "That's a little bit new of you."

The big muscular man was shown dancing. The ladies were laughing at how he was dancing, but then he felt tired and he sat back on the couch again. He placed his big arms around the couch behind the ladies and they giggled in response.

And the band kept playing as they demonstrated their performance on the stage.

Magic started to make a little solo with his electric guitar before they started to get more enthusiastic.

A light shone on Lucky and Shimmy Zmith. They started to make a play with only the 2 of them. Lucky was synchronizing perfectly with Shimmy Zmith as more fans whistled wildly.

After some seconds, the whole band joined in and they were about to finish up with the song. The public began to cheer loudly again.

Then, a light shone on Magic again and he made another solo play with the electric guitar, and finally, the whole band played the last part with an ending with lights.

The crowd started to cheer louder than before with a big "EEEHHHH!!!"

"ALL OF YOU ROCK!!" the big pig mask yelled very excited.

Magic waved a hand to him.

"I'll never wash my eyes again…for more time," the Pig Mask said before he fainted, making the ladies giggle.

The stage blackened out, the lights went on, and the band already left the stage.

As the group clapped with everyone else, Lucas gasped and remembered what they needed to do. "We have to go back with Kumatora now."

The group nodded and decided to leave the hall with the cheering crowd.

However, Lucas was stopped by a lady. "Oh, excuse me," she said as she took out a pamphlet. "How about a DCMC pamphlet as a souvenir of your visit to Club Titiboo? It's free of charge."

"U-um, okay." Lucas said as he took the pamphlet.

Once they got back to the lobby, Kumatora asked them to follow her through a ladder hidden from everyone's sight

Club Titiboo
Hidden Tunnel

"Eww…" Nana blocked her nose. "Is this tunnel supposed to be a sewer?"

"You wouldn't like to hear the other stuff I've seen in this place at all…" Kumatora shrugged. "Follow me now, but be careful with the Sticky Slugs on the way," Kumatora said. "C'mon, hurry it up. This way." She began to go north.

"What Sticky Slug?" Popo asked suddenly.

Unfortunately, a Sticky Slug fell on top of Popo...

Mother 3 - Mischievous Blues

Sticky Slug steps in!

Lucas Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana

101 97 105 200 94 86

Boney attacks!

Slimy Slug receives 2 hits, 60 of damage!

Boney gets fleas!

Lucas gets fleas!

The others ignore them completely!

Popo attacks!

Sticky Slug receives 4 hits, 78 of damage!

Sticky Slug became tamed!

YOU WON!

Lucas and company earned 19 experience points!

Lucario's level goes up by 33!

"GUUUUARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!" roared Lucario.

"Was that…necessary?" Chris asked.

"...Yes," Lucario replied.

HP goes up by 4!
PP goes up by 3!
Right on! Strength goes up by 6!
Defense goes up by 4!
Guts goes up by 2!
Speed goes up by 4!
Evasion goes up 3!

"You know," Nana began as they continued their way north, where the princess headed. "This place isn't going to let us go without getting dirty."

"That's not going to be that much of a problem, right?" Lucas asked.

Club Titiboo
Violet (Kumatora)'s room

They got a little bit late as Kumatora seemed to be taking a shower in her room. The room itself was simple: it had a bed, lamp, pink walls, and purple floor.

"I somehow got this room," Kumatora spoke from behind the door. "You get dirty with all the mud in the tunnel, then add it up with the slugs in there and you'll surely end up getting dirty… Yep, it feels good when you take a shower," she said before she came out, looked at the group, and spotted several flies flying around them. "…Ugh! You're all dirty!" Kumatora said disgusted.

"That's what we get for going through a relative small tunnel…" Lucario said.

"And how come you haven't licke-I mean, cleaned yourself up?" Kumatora asked.

"…Because I'm NOT a dog," Lucario said annoyed.

"And Boney can't lick himself right now with those clothes on," Lucas pointed out.

"I know! A shower'll freshen you right up," Kumatora suggested. "You're gonna have to enter all at once, though. We have to do this fast."

"But...we can't enter all at onc-" Lucas was interrupted.

"GO IN OR YOU DIE!!!" Kumatora suddenly yelled as she raised her hands ready to shoot flames out. The group gasped and quickly went through the door of the bathroom.

However, there was Lucario in front of her. "And why are you still here? Go in, now!"

"…" Lucario grunted annoyed and got inside the bathroom.

The relaxing and soothing steam of the bathroom (don't worry, everyone forgot to take off their clothes again) made Lucas had a summary of everything that have happened…

…

No, really, he had a summary shown to him.

5 minutes later...

The group came out with some sparkles of clean clothes (and fur).

"Okay, now that all of you are clean..." Kumatora walked to the left side of the bathroom's door and revealed a ladder going inside the attic. "In order to get to the room with Duster, you need to travel inside the ventilation and find the duct to their room. You guys will have to go through there because the guards won't let you through. However, I can go and I'll inform the band about you all. Did you get all that?"

"Y-" Lucas was interrupted.

"Cool. Now go up and meet me at their room. Quick! They're gonna leave if you don't hurry up!"

The group then climbed the ladder before Kumatora left for the room.

Club Titiboo
Attic

After walking through the ducts, meeting up with some mice that spoke in a foreign language, the party found a living bass looking down above the DCMC's room at Lucky.

"As you can plainly see, I am a wooden bass," the bass said. "I'm still in my prime."

"Ooh look at that, it's a living bass," Popo said.

"This world has really gone nuts from now on..." Nana said.

"World?" Lucas asked.

"F-forget what she said," Chris said.

"Ever since that bass showed up, I've been left to rotten here in this stinky-attic."

"You mean this dirty attic is your home?" Nana asked.

"Meh, I saw that coming anyway," Popo said.

"What you less expect will surely happen right away..." Lucario said with a frown.

"Amen to that, amen," Chris said.

"What? No!" the bass complained. "I'm filled with so much frustration. Would you feel jealous if you were to get replaced so suddenly?"

"...Why jealous?" Lucas asked. "I-I think I'd feel angry a little bit..."

"Well, too bad I'm not you," the bass complained. "I want to unleash my jealousy on someone right now to feel much better. Oh, I know. I'm gonna beat you up."

"What?" Chris asked. "You mean you want to fight now?"

"But of course," the bass said (somewhat happy). "You guys will be my perfect targets. Beaten Drum, Gently Weeping Guitar, help me here!" the bass whistled to a living drum with a hole, legs and eyes coming from the hole, and a living guitar with a broken string who came from nowhere.

"Wait! You're cheating!" Nana yelled angrily.

"Who's the group with 6 people again?" the bass asked.

"Burned," Popo muttered.

Mother 3 - Twist and Battle

Jealous Bass steps in with his cohorts!

Lucas Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana

101 97 105 200 94 86

Boney attacks!

Boney misses!

Chris tried PK Fire alpha!

Jealous Bass receives 70 of damage!

Gently Weeping Guitar receives 78 of damage!

Beaten Drum receives 80 of damage!

"The fact that they didn't burn completely makes this world not have any kind of sense..." Lucario commented.

"Um, Lucario, we're fighting living instruments right now," Chris reminded him.

"...Wait!" Lucas interrupted. "You can also use PK abilities?"

"I..." Chris looked around. "...I...I know how. I just decided to use them for the right moment..."

"..." Lucas shrugged.

Gently Sweeping Guitar plays a horrible music!

Lucas receives 30 of damage!

Lucario receives 17 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Nana receives 25 of damage!

"How come you didn't get damaged?" Lucas asked to Chris.

"I blocked my ears beforehand," Chris said with a shrug.

Beaten Drum starts to play a loud music!

Boney receives 19 of damage!

Chris receives 21 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Popo receives 23 of damage!

Popo attacks!

Beaten Drum receives 5 hits, 59 of damage!

Lucas uses PK Love alpha!

Jealous Bass receives 157 of damage!

Gently Sweeping Guitar receives 160 of damage!

Beaten Drum receives 173 of damage!

Jealous Bass plays a solo bass session attack!

Lucas receives 75 of damage!

Lucario uses PK Fire alpha!

Gently Sweeping Guitar receives 78 of damage!

"Oh, the agony..." the guitar muttered as it looked down.

Gently Sweeping Guitar was destroyed!

Jealous Bass receives 60 of damage!

Beaten Drum receives 63 of damage!

"Hmm..." the drum began. "There better be a heaven for beaten drums like me because I don't want to go to nowhere an-"

"Go away then!" the bass yelled.

"...Go to hell..." the drum muttered.

Destroyed Drum was...destroyed!

Nana attacks!

Jealous Bass receives 2 hits, 54 of damage!

Jealous Bass plays a strange music!

Jealous Bass's strength goes up!

"MACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jealous Bass yelled loudly.

"Uh-oh…" Lucas muttered.

"Er, Lucas, why would you get scared by a bass?" Nana asked.

Jealous Bass plays a solo jam session attack!

Popo receives fatal damage of 90!

"Bleh…" Popo groaned.

Boney attacks!

Boney misses!

Boney whined disappointed.

Lucas tried PK Lifeup alpha!

Popo recovers 67 HP!

"Do you think you can save dead people?" Popo asked.

"I-I don't know…" Lucas said unsure.

Chris attacks!

Jealous Bass receives 3 hits, 59 of damage!

Lucario attacks!

SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!

Jealous Bass receives 349 of damage!

"Damn that thing!" Nana yelled angrily. "Lucario here would have pretty much defeated it with a hit!"

"Nana, Lucario isn't exactly and god-like character," Chris pointed out.

"Well, it would have been good, though."

Popo attacks!

Jealous Bass receives 39 of damage!

Nana attacks!

SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!

Jealous Bass receives 7 hits, 98 of damage!

"And DIE for once," Nana threatened.

"No!" Jealous Bass yelled as he backed away. "No, no, no, no, NO! Is this the end for an innocent bass like me?"

"Yes," everyone said with bored.

"…I hate you all…"

Jealous Bass was destroyed to pieces!

YOU WON!

Lucas and company earned 1352 experience points!

Popo's level goes up by 21!

"Booyah," Popo said somewhat bored.

HP goes up by 5!
PP goes up by 1!
Strength goes up by 3!
Defense goes up by 4!
Right on! Guts goes up by 7!
Speed goes up by 2!
Evasion goes up 4!

Nana's level goes up by 21!

"Alright?" asked Nana.

HP goes up by 4!
PP goes up by 1!
Strength goes up by 4!
Defense goes up by 5!
Guts goes up by 3!
Speed goes up by 2!
Right on! Evasion goes up 6!!

"You know, I think I kind of felt sorry for the instrument," Nana said.

"Nana, you were feeling sorry for an inanimate object?" Chris asked.

"That object was jealous…I mean…ugh, this world really sucks without logic…"

The group walked forward and looked down the vent. They all were able to find all the band and Kumatora inside the room.

"So, Music," OJ began. "What do you do to pay taxes?"

"Ehem," Kumatora coughed.

"Oops. Sorry."

"Okay, those guys should have arrived here by now," Kumatora said. "But what the hell is taking them so long? They better not have been fighting in the attic because that would be the stupidest thing I could ever hear."

The group in the attic had confused looks before they all decided to jump down.

Club Titiboo
DCMC's room

EarthBound - Happy Happist

Lucas and company landed in the center of the room. The band and Kumatora turned to them as Lucas stood up. "W-we're here," Lucas said. "S-sorry for coming late but we were figh-I mean, going through a maze of pipes up there."

"Oh, pretty understandable," Kumatora said. "Okay, these are the guys who I've been telling you about."

"Tonda Gossa," greeted Lucky. "...Who are you?"

"He's your acquaintance I was talking about earlier, Duster," Kumatora said.

"U-um…" Lucas looked unsure as he played with his fingers. "D-don't you remember your real name?" he asked.

"Duster?" Lucky wondered. "I'll admit I don't remember my real name but I've lived as 'Lucky' for a number of years now," he stated.

"…" Lucas looked down. "…Then…"

"He maybe forgot all of his memories…" Lucario muttered.

"Okay, I understand, Mr. Lucky. Sorry but can you explain again what you remember for him?" Kumatora asked. "I'm sure you have some fragments of your memory in there."

"...Alright. I know that it's a very important time right now..." Lucky cleared his throat before he started to narrate.

"Before I came to Club Titiboo, I lost any memory of myself. I didn't know who I was, where I came from, and where I was going. But, for some reason, I was carrying a very important looking Egg. Without knowing where to go, I kept on wandering around. All I knew was that the Egg seemed very important. I had to protect it at all costs... I looked for a hiding place. I kept on walking and walking until I hid it in a lump of clay in a valley where no one would look. I still remember that hiding spot. It's at the top of a cliff near a waterfall..."

Then, a scene showed a huge yellow tower firing lightning at Tazmily Village. Lucas blinked in curiosity at the narration.

"...That's Unknown Valley. It's got to be, Duster. The Egg we've so carefully protected is there. Let's go there right now!" Kumatora said. "Or it could get rotten if we don't."

However, Lucky looked worried. "...But, am I really Duster? If I am that Duster, then I'll have to leave the band...that's what it'll mean right? Either Duster or Lucky has to disappear today...right?!" he asked in shock.

"That could be true..." Lucas said unsure.

"If I were Duster, then what will happen to DCMC? If I were to go on living as Lucky, then what was that Egg for?" He paused for a moment. "What should I do?!" he asked loudly. "I can't decide."

"…Drama queen much?" Popo asked before Chris, annoyed, slapped his head.

Shimmy Zmizz took a step forward. "...That's not for you to decide. You have to ask destiny."

Batch took a step forward. "Yeah. If destiny dictates it, then I'll gladly let Lucky go."

OJ started to think. "Destiny, huh... Let's ask fate. There is an easy way, after all. Whenever I'm unsure about something, there's always this..."

Lucky nodded slowly to his band members. "There's only one way to resolve things here, and that is..."

A moment of silence took place.

"…Stone, sheet, clippers."

"…" The group that went in remained silent.

"…Rock, paper, scissors, they mean," Kumatora pointed out.

"Rock, Paper…Scissors?" Chris asked in disbelief. "…Seriously, are you kidding us? That's a little bit too childish, don't you think?"

All the band members shook their heads.

Even Lucas did.

"Do you have a life or something like that?" Chris asked.

"We have a life," the whole band said in a monotone voice, which made Popo and Nana back away slowly.

"This world has gone too insane…" Nana muttered.

"I second that," Lucario muttered.

Lucas approached OJ. "I-I'm going to do it," Lucas said in a serious tone. "I'll do it."

The other 4 looked at each other and frowned. "Lucas, you just turned yourself into a very ridiculous kid…" Nana said.

"Yeah. We're going to play stone, sheet, or clippers with this guy Lucas. If he wins 5 times in a row against all of us, you'll go. If he loses even once, you stay with DCMC and continue playing bass... How does that sound?"

"Five times in a row..." Lucky thought about it and nodded. "Sounds good to me. You there, that's fine with you, right?"

"Y-yes," Lucas said. "Let's play now."

"You can begin whenever you're ready. It doesn't matter who you play first," OJ said. "…Actually, play against me once you played the others."

The whole band prepared to defeat Lucas in the Rock, Paper, and Scissors game, while Boney, Kumatora, Chris, Lucario, Popo, and Nana simply watched.

"Why aren't you doing anything to stop this nonsense?" Lucario asked to Kumatora.

"Dude, these guys are the weirdest bunch you'll ever meet," Kumatora said. "Unfortunately, I grew into them…"

"Poor girl," Popo whispered.

"I'd say the opposite," Nana whispered back.

Something was wrong as Lucas played against Baccio…

The blond kid used sheet, but Baccio used clippers.

What was wrong with it?

"Tonda Gossa!" Baccio said suddenly as Lucas looked up confused. "Kid, you decided too late. Let's re-do it again, shall we?"

"Er…" Nana muttered. "But both did it at the same time…"

"O-okay…" Lucas said unsure before he used clippers while Baccio used the same.

"A tie…" Baccio said. "Okay, let's do it one more time."

This time, Lucas decided to use stone.

"Wow… You won, kid," Baccio said.

The thing that the group noticed was that every band member made up an excuse if they ever won against Lucas. Lucas kept playing and playing until he defeated every single member while doing re-do's of what he already did.

After an humiliating defeat by Lucas (due to the band telling him hints about how to defeat the others before starting to play…)

"Wow, looks like we lose..." OJ said.

"Then...it's a farewell..." Lucky said. "I'll stop using the name of Lucky right now, and I'll use the name of Duster now."

"What?" Chris asked as everyone looked at him. "I-I'm sorry, but that was so bizarre!"

"Hey!" Zhimmy began. "We do things like that around pretty much nowhere. You'll have to abide by the rules or else you'll embarrass yourself."

"What kind of stupidity is that?" Chris asked.

"He has a point…" Kumatora muttered.

"…Who cares, anyway…" Chris said with a sigh. "Go on with what you wanted to say… Just ignore me…"

Kumatora looked back and forth between everyone. "The egg is in Unknown Valley, so that means I can go away from here. Thanks for everything, guys," she said to the band. "…Now, wait here until I take out the guards, Duster." Kumatora left the room.

"Oh Violet, nice to see you again," a guard spoke from behind the door.

"TIME TO TAKE MY REVENGE ON YOU, PERVS!" Kumatora yelled loudly before the guards outside the room screamed loudly at the sound of punches.

Lucario looked at the band not paying attention to the yells outside the room. "Isn't anyone going to say something about all those yells?"

"Lucario…" Chris muttered in annoyance. "We're in the Mother world where NOTHING makes sense at all."

"…Oh."

OJ looked at Duster. "Well, good bye Duster..." He walked to the door. "It was really fun to play with you. You were the most talented bassist ever in this team," he said before he left.

Magic looked at Duster. "It's really a shame for you to leave us, but, we don't decide for you. Still, don't forget us," he said with a chuckle before leaving.

Shimmy Zmizz looked at Duster. "Farewell, my friend. Don't go and forget about us, got that?" He left the room afterward.

Baccio looked at Duster. "Come again to pay a visit, alright? Maybe you can play again," he said before left the room.

Duster walked to Lucas. "Okay, it's time to go now," Duster said.

Duster temporarily joined your team!

"So that's it?" Nana asked. "Not anything else to say?"

"Nana, Nana, Nana…" Popo said sadly. "We shouldn't even bother to wonder all of this at all… It's already confusing as it is."

The party decided to leave the room where they found 2 guards knocked out on the floor. Close to them, there was Kumatora (who apparently changed clothes very fast, now wearing a big blue sweater that reached her feet) who was cracking her fists with an annoyed look at the guards.

"Oh, and Denys," Kumatora began as she ducked at one guard. "I don't wanna go out with you. Go ahead and look under someone else's skirt in the girls' bathroom."

"Y-yeah…" the guard replied.

Kumatora noticed the 7 looking at her. "What? All the guys in here suck to me. They're nothing but perverts, even the sober ones!"

"At least I'm used to them," Duster commented.

"Well, shall we get going to Unknown Valley then?" Kumatora asked with a grin. "Time to find that egg and do something else if we can."

Kumatora temporarily joined your team!

"I'm already regretting to be here for some reason," Chris said.

"We all feel the same, Chris," Lucario said as they walked down the hallway. "We all feel the same…"

Club Titiboo
Lobby

Once they all reached the lobby, Duster stopped moving after hearing something coming from the concert hall. Noticing this, Kumatora turned to him. "What is it?"

"...That music..." Duster trailed when he heard a familiar music coming from the hall.

Club Titiboo
Concert Hall

Mother 3 - Bon Voyage, Amigo

Back on the stage, the DCMC group was playing a farewell song to Duster before he could leave. They were keeping that song until something like this happened.

Bon voyage, amigo

Oh, guy in the sky, please grant a gift to our friend who's about to set out…

How much time we wasted laughing together…

But, guy in the sky, oh, how we loved that wasted time and those helpless smiles…

Bon voyage

Bon voyage, amigo…

Club Titiboo
Lobby

The group looked back where the late-bassist keep staring at the double doors.

"…Let's go," Kumatora said. "He must be reminiscing his memories of this place. At least he made new memories."

"…Okay…" Lucas said somewhat worried before all the 7 left the lobby.

Flashback

Duster remembered all his times he had when he first arrived at the club. His memory told him the time he arrived, but was punched by the guards. However, the band members happened to walking close and looked at him. "Say," OJ began. "Who're you?"

"I…don't know…" Duster said in shame.

"Hmm…" All the band members looked at each other. "Well…" Magic began. "You don't know who you are, right? That's a very weird situation."

"I wanted to come in here for shelter…but I guess this place wasn't an inn," Duster said.

"…Actually…" Shimmy began. "We could give you a home here if you…I don't know…do you play the bass?"

"Bass?"

"Yeah," Baccio began. "A bass is an instrument, and we could ask you to use one for our band. What do you say? If you say yes, we'll be happy to let you have a home here."

"…I…"

After the man accepted the deal, the scene changed where he was practicing the bass inside the room of the band. He made an angry expression after he failed to do a solo without failing.

End of flashback

Duster blinked at the doors before him. He looked down at the floor where he took off his big brown wig to put it down in front of his feet. With a solemn look, he looked again at the doors and said, "Tonda Gossa… Thanks, guys…" he muttered before he turned around and left the lobby.

The wig remained there in place as the song kept going…

Club Titiboo
Entrance

Once Duster walked outside, he found the 7 waiting for him around the bright morning. The thief looked at all of them and nodded. "I'm done here. Let's go," Duster said.

Lucas seemed to be carrying a pigeon that had a letter in its beak. "I'm going to send a letter to Wess so he knows we found you."

"Wess?" Duster asked. "Yes…I think I remember that name somewhere else before…"

"Good, you're starting to recall some memories," Nana said.

Lucas walked a few steps forward before he let go of the pigeon and flew southwest to the horizon. The group watched as the pigeon disappeared into the sky before turning to a tower that shot lightning bolts towards Tazmily Village's direction.

Kumatora glared at the tower. "That tower is just in the center of Unknown Valley," she said. "We have to go there, find the egg, and then do something about that tower."

The group nodded before they all walked towards the gondola, taking them down as they all watched the club disappearing from sight.

"…Tonda Gossa…" Duster muttered.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Duster."

"I'm Kumatora."

"Not here...not even here either... Where could it be?"

"Duster, concentrate. You need to remember where you left the egg."

"...I can't remember that well..."

"Do it now! We have to stop that crazy lieutenant guy and that bomb before it blows up!"

"I'm just doing my best, so don't put pressure on me."

" Physics? What Are They? Well, physics don't exist that well in this universe so I wouldn't know."

"I'll laugh at physics."

"You get back to search that egg."

"Yes, ma'am, right away…" Duster said annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Unknown Valley
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, Boney

By this point, you should be wondering what Tonda Gossa means. It's DCMC's greeting word for anyone they meet.

Phew, this re-edit came out nicely. I hope you all enjoyed this new version more than the old one.

Read and review, please. :)
*Chapter 34*: Physics? What Are They?

Wow, sorry to keep you waiting, I was getting very busy with many things, anyway, here is the next chapter, and I won't be late the next time for sure!

For an odd reason, the HP meters for the characters doesn't shows right, but you can easily tell which meter belongs to who.

Read, review and enjoy!

Chapter 34: A Scary Womanizing Pig Mask!

Chapter 5: The Thunder Tower

No Man's Valley
Near the highway

The scene changes to a morning near a valley, we see our 8 heroes looking at the valley. There was a highway near too.

"So, that's the Thunder Tower?" Nana asked.

"Yes, this huge thing has been shooting bolts of lightning at Tazmily Village." Lucas said.

"Our mission now it's to find the Hummingbird's Egg and also destroy the Thunder Tower." Kumatora said.

Chris came into the scene eating a big piece of Beef Jerky "Oh god, this jerky tastes so good!" He said looking at Lucas "You were right about this Lucas."

"Told you, I know what kind of food it's good." Lucas said proudly.

Just then, Chris heard a grumbling near, that sound was coming from Lucario's stomach, he blocked his stomach with one hand and he looked away embarrased.

"Here, you can eat this." Chris was holding the big piece of Beef Jerky in his left hand, showing it to Lucario.

"But it's yours." Lucario said.

"Nah, I don't want to eat anymore, so take it please." Chris said smiling, Lucario looked at the jerky and he nodded, after one bite, he smiled at the taste of the jerky "I knew you would like it, since you resemble a dog, they always like to eat fresh meat."

"Wait, you said he WAS a dog!" Kumatora said quite annoyed.

"Umm, well, he's not a dog, he is...well...you know...a Pokémon..." Chris couldn't find the words to say to Kumatora.

"I know now, thanks to your mind." She said smiling a bit.

"Thanks to my mind?" Chris asked confused.

"I was reading it and I found everything about him, but also, I found the cause of why are you 4 here with us too."

Chris gasped "Then, does that mean..."

"Yep! You want to eliminate some nasty creatures called Primids right?"

Lucario nodded while he was eating the Beef Jerky "Doesn't he looks cute while eating?" Kumatora asked smiling, Lucario blushed again and he looked away.

"Hmm, yeah, sure, why not." Chris replied.

Lucas was a little confused at what were the Primids, so Kumatora explained him all, then he was still confused, why were they taking the worlds?

"There's a big road ahead, we should go on now." Duster said, everyone nodded and they walked further into the valley, but before they could step inside a little road with grass and disgusting creatures inside a cave with another hot spring, the dark hooded person appeared before them.

"Geez, you're so freaking slow! I was getting impacient!" He said tapping his foot below his cape.

"You're the same guy from the Pikmin World!" Popo said, pointing with an acussing finger to him, the dark hooded person just laughed for a bit and he stopped.

"You dare to compare me to those inferior beings? Ha! That's a laugh!" He replied, then he glanced at Lucario eating the Beef Jerky. Lucario glared at him, but then, the dark hooded person was holding the Beef Jerky in his glove, Lucario looked at his hand and the meat disappeared.

"Hey! Give him back the jerky I gave to him!" Chris asked angrily. The dark hooded person shook his head, then he took a bite of the jerky but he spat it out.

"UGH! That's why I like Chili-Dogs better!" He said and he threw it at the ground and started to stomp on it with one foot.

"Stop that!" Chris asked angrily.

"And if I don't want to?" He stopped and the jerky was already too dirty to even eat, Lucario showed his fangs in fury at him.

"Whoa, you sure are quite the mean guy around here!" Kumatora remarked.

"Thanks." The dark hooded person said.

"...That wasn't a compliment." Kumatora said.

"Whatever! That doesn't matters!" He pointed at the top of the Thunder Tower and there was a Subspace Bomb with a big countdown to explode "I dare all of you to desactivate that bomb before it takes this whole place!"

"...You're really stupid." Duster pointed out.

"What?!"

"You heard me, you're so stupid, I mean, letting us a chance to desactivate that bomb? What kind of tactic is that? Even a 2 years old won't fall that low." Duster said.

"You're getting on my nerves whoever you are!"

"Duster."

"THAT DOESN'T MATTERS EITHER!"

Duster rolled his eyes "I have the sudden feeling that you're going to accidentaly reveal your identity in a second."

"OH YEAH?!" The dark hooded person pointed angrily at Duster, just then, a simple wind came from the east and his hood along with his cape covering his whole body flew away without any problem, various (...) globes above the heads of our heroes appeared.

"...Wait...you're..." Chris said pointing to him rather confused.

"ARGH! ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! MY TRUE IDENTITY IT'S SONIC! HAPPY?! LIEUTENANT SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" The previously dark hooded person revealed himself as Sonic the Hedgehog, he was very angry at Duster's response, his body was glowing in a purple aura.

"So...your enemy is a hedgehog?" Kumatora asked.

"It looks like." Nana said.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?! SCREW ALL OF YOU! I'LL WAIT AT THE TOP OF THE TOWER TO SEE IF YOU CAN STOP THAT BOMB!" He ran away with great speed, but then, he returned "OR ME!" He said pointing with his thumb at him, then he disappeared in a blink.

"He has a lot of anger problems." Kumatora pointed out.

"That's maybe because of the control of the Primids." Chris said.

"He...scares me..." Lucas said trembling.

"Who doesn't?" Chris said walking away, Lucas made a confused face and they walked forward, however, Lucario stopped and he looked at his jerky on the ground. He closed his eyes in disappointment.

"...Hmm?" Lucario felt a sweet smell of meat near his nose, when he opened his eyes, he saw another piece of jerky!

"That wasn't the whole jerky, I kept this one for an emergency, but you can eat it if you want." Chris said smiling.

"...Thanks." Lucario grabbed the jerky and he started to eat, he gave a little smile at Chris and they continued further inside.

"This is...horrible..." Nana said, she saw various monsters on the way, but those monsters were not normal, they were either fusioned with another animal or transformed into a disgusting thing.

"Wasn't that a kangaroo before?" Popo said pointing to a monster with the bag of a kangaroo, but instead, the rest was fusioned with a shark and a little shark was inside the bag.

"I can't believe this." Chris said. The horrible sensation of watching a living nightmare in front of his eyes was impossible, how in the world can a shark suffer like that?

"This is the work of the Pig Mask Army!" Kumatora said making a fist "They are altering the fauna of the island!

"And also, they're making those things too." Duster said pointing to an armadillo with a machine embedded to his back.

"It's like those serpents with chicken heads we fought a while ago." Chris said.

"Look out!" Lucas said. One of the deformed kangaroo approached to them and started a battle!

Lucas and company met Parental Kangashark face-to-face!

Lucas Kumatora Duster Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana
101 123 126 97 105 204 99 90

Boney attacks!

Parental Kangashark receives 48 of damage!

Duster attacks!

Parental Kangashark receives 2 hits, 57 of damage!

Popo attacks!

Popo misses!

Nana attacks!

Parental Kangashark receives 37 of damage!

Parental Kangashark rests!

Parental Kangashark recovers 140 HP!

Kumatora uses PK Freeze alpha!

Parental Kangashark receives 114 of damage!

Lucas attacks!

Parental Kangashark receives 51 of damage!

Parental Kangashark attacks with his son!

Duster receives 60 of damage!

Chris receives 41 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Chris attacks!

Parental Kangashark receives 53 of damage!

Parental Kangashark was eliminated!

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company receives 87 EXP points!

"What the hell is that?" Chris asked, he saw various tentacles attached to a Lion's head, the robot sees them and he starts another battle!

Recon Lion makes his way to you!

Lucas Kumatora Duster Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana
101 123 93 97 76 204 99 90

Recon Lion fires a stream of fire!

Lucas receives 24 of damage!

Kumatora receives 21 of damage!

Duster receives 23 of damage!

Boney receives 20 of damage!

Chris receives 24 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Lucario receives 19 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Popo receives 25 of damage!

Nana receives 25 of damage!

Boney attacks!

Boney misses!

Duster throws a bomb!

Recon Lion receives 123 of damage!

Nana attacks!

Recon Lion receives 3 hits, 57 of damage!

Kumatora uses PK Thunder alpha!

Nothing happens!

Recon Lion receives 110 of damage!

Lucas uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Chris is fully recovered!

Chris attacks!

Chris misses!

Lucario attacks!

Recon Lion receives 289 of damage!

Recon Lion explodes in defeat!

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company receives 96 EXP points!

Kumatora's level goes up by 23!

"Alright!" Kumatora said smiling.

Right on! HP goes up by 6!
PP goes up by 2!
Strength goes up by 2!
Defense goes up by 3!
Guts goes up by 5!
Speed goes up by 3!
Evasion goes up 1!

"What kind of monsters are the Pig Mask Army to make the animals suffer like this?" Chris asked.

"They are too insane!" Popo said.

"Who knows what kind of monsters are ahead." Duster said.

The group continued further, but Boney stopped and he barked.

"What is it Boney?" Lucas asked.

"Woof woof woof! (I need to change my clothes!)" Boney said by barking, he was still dressed as a kid, after a moment, Boney was now in his usual appearance and they walked away to another area with many holes, Duster stepped in front of the group and he looked around.

"Wait, the pile of clay is near here, I remember I used one hole to reach the place where I hid the egg...but I don't remember which hole I used." Duster said.

"Then let's jump in one and see if you remember the way inside." Lucas said. Duster nodded, but Lucario stopped them.

"What's wrong Lucario?" Chris asked. He saw the eyes of Lucario turning into a bright yellow color and he closed his eyes and glowed.

"...The right hole is that." He said opening his yellow eyes and turning back to red, he pointed to one of the holes.

"Really?"

"My aura doesn't lies to me."

"Okay, you heard him, let's jump inside!" Popo said jumping in the hole, Nana followed him and soon everyone jumped inside.

Duster looked around the cave "This is the right way, at the end of this path, the pile of clay should be outside." He said, they started to walk around.

"It's good to have someone like you around Lucario." Kumatora said putting her hands behind her back.

"Thank you, Princess Kumatora." Lucario said nodding.

"Oh no, don't call me princess, just call me by my name."

"Fine, prin-"

"Lucario." Chris said interrupting him.

"I mean, fine, Kumatora."

"That's better." Chris said chuckling. Kumatora let out a small giggle and soon, they found the way outside.

"There is the pile of clay!" Lucas said pointing to a forgotten Clay Man laying above the grass, Duster walked to him and he crouched to seek the egg, he stood up and turned his back to the group.

"I found the egg!" Duster said. But he didn't had the egg with him and unfortunately, the Clay Man woke up with a explosion of electricity and Duster was pushed back to the group.

"Duster!" Kumatora said worried. Duster shook his head and he walked in front of them.

"What happened? Why is the pile of clay awakening?!" He asked confused.

The Clay Man stood up, he trembled for a moment and then, he walked around confused and he crashed into a wall, then he ran away at high speed to the east!

"He's escaping!" Duster said.

"After him!" Kumatora ordered. They ran after the Clay Man, when they looked around, the Thunder Tower was standing in front of them, they looked above and another bolt of lightning was shot to Tazmily Village, but that doesn't matter for them now.

"There he is!" Kumatora said pointing to the Clay Man, he walked confused again and he left the area in a hurry while running backwards.

"Are we really going to climb this tower later?" Lucas asked as he was watching the tall Thunder Tower.

"Sadly, yes." Duster said.

After some minutes, Lucas, Kumatora and Chris felt a little sick.

"Ugh...my head..." Chris put his hand on his forehead.

"I don't feel so good..." Lucas said.

"It must be time now..." Kumatora said.

Lucario was holding Chris in both arms "What...do you mean?"

"It's time for us to learn another PSI ability, when we feel a fever and if we can use PSI abilities, we're ready to learn another technique." Kumatora explained.

"How much does this lasts?" Lucario asked.

"Don't worry, it only lasts for a moment." Kumatora said reasuring Lucario.

They continued searching for the Clay Man, they found the highway again, but it was connected to a building.

"There's the Pig Mask Army's mark." Duster said pointing to an emblem of a pig nose.

"This must be one of their headquarters." Kumatora pointed out.

"Chris, are you alright?" Lucario asked worried.

"Everything is blurry, but...I think I'm fine..." Chris said.

"UGH!" Lucas, Kumatora and Chris said in unison, their fevers disappeared and they learned a new ability!

Lucas has learned Offense Up alpha!

Kumatora has learned PK Fire beta!

Chris has learned PK Lifeup alpha!

"The fever...it's gone!" Chris said blinking.

"Thank goodness!" Lucas said.

"See? That was a little painful, but we're fine now." Kumatora said. Lucario placed Chris safely back to the ground.

"Let's enter now!" Nana said, they nodded and they entered the building.

No Man's Valley

Pig Mask Army's Clay Man Factory

"Hey, do you take your mask off when you go to the bathroom?" A Pig Mask asked to another 2 Pig Masks.

"No, I leave it on," Another responded "Do you takes yours off? You go throught all that trouble in the bathroom?"

The 8 walked to them, and the trio of Pig Masks gasped.

"CO-COMMANDER!" They said in unison while looking at Lucas and Chris.

"Commander?" Lucas and Chris asked confused.

"Wait, there are 2 of them! What should we do now?"

"Well, 2 are better than 1, right?" The third Pig Mask asked.

"I guess so."

Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, Boney, Chris, Lucario, Popo and Nana sweatdropped.

A blue Pig Mask appeared behind the door where the 3 Pig Masks were standing "Commander! You should wear your uniform! Who knows what will our leader say about your freedom!"

Later...

Both Lucas and Chris were wearing a dark brown jacket with orange baggy pants, everyone else was wearing a Pig Mask uniform (except for Boney and Lucario, they were wearing only the mask).

"There, that should do it, now go and patrol the highway commander!" The blue Pig Mask said, leaving the group.

"Yuck! This uniform is stinky!" Kumatora said under the uniform.

"This is so humiliating." Lucario said.

"At least nobody who knows us are here." Nana said sighing in relief.

"But why did they confused us for their commander?" Lucas asked.

"Maybe we look like him." Chris replied.

They walked inside and they saw a big pile of destroyed Clay Mans, but none of them were the one Duster was looking for.

"There he is!" Kumatora said again, the Clay Man that they were chasing was running away outside, they ran as fast as they could but they saw the Clay Man being carried inside a garbage truck and it drove away in the highway.

"Follow that truck!" Nana said under the mask.

No Man's Valley
Highway's tunnel

"And here comes another deformed monster." Popo said sighing in disappointment. Another deformed monster with huge balls as wheels and a boar's body rolled at them.

Wound Up Boar is rolling after you!

Lucas Kumatora Duster Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana
77 108 70 77 54 185 74 65

Wound Up Boar rolls over everybody!

Lucas receives 50 of damage!

Kumatora receives 54 of damage!

Duster receives 49 of damage!

Boney receives 51 of damage!

Chris is fataly wounded with 58 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Lucario receives 37 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Popo receives 56 of damage!

Nana receives 56 of damage!

Boney attacks!

Wound Up Boar receives 4 hits, 67 of damage!

Duster uses his Wall Stamples!

Wound Up Boar became paralyzed!

Kumatora uses PK Lifeup alpha!

But she couldn't make it in time and Chris got tired and collapsed!

Kumatora recovers 89 HP!

Lucario is glowing in a very intense aura!

Lucario fires a big Aura Storm!

Wound Up Boar receives 897 of damage!

Wound Up Boar was destroyed completely!

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company receives 150 EXP points!

Duster's level goes up by 24!

"Interesting." Duster said.

HP goes up by 4!
Strength goes up by 5!
Right on! Defense goes up by 6!
Guts goes up by 4!
Speed goes up by 3!
Evasion goes up by 3!

"Chris! Please! Answer me! Are you alright?!" Lucario asked worried as he was holding Chris in one arm.

"I'm...fine...don't worry..." Chris said weakly. Lucas and Kumatora looked at each other and they nodded.

"PK Lifeup alpha!" Both shouted firing a green light to Chris, he was surrounded by the green light and he was completely recovered!

"I'm better than ever now!" Chris said jumping.

"Thank you." Lucario said nodding to Kumatora and Lucas.

"We should recover now, that fight was a danger." Duster said, Lucas and Kumatora nodded and they along with Chris used PK Lifeup alpha on the whole team and they were completely recovered too.

"Woof! (Thanks!)" Boney barked. He was wagging his tail happily.

They saw the end of the tunnel on the other side, after walking towards the other side, a flying ship with the Pig Mask Army's logo appeared stopping in front of the group. A Pig Mask got out and he looked at Lucas.

"Commander! You shouldn't be walking in these streets! It's dangerous!" The Pig Mask pointed to the ship "Use this Porkbean to patrol the Porkbean Highway!"

"But I don't-" Lucas was interrupted because the Pig Mask pushed them inside the Porkbean.

"There! Now you can go and patrol the area!" The Pig Mask said. He backed away a little from the Porkbean.

"Lucas, do you know how to drive this?" Chris asked.

"Honestly, I don't know how, but I'm going to give it a try." Lucas said grabbing the steering wheel, he started to move slowly the Porkbean and it went flying to the other side of the tunnel, until...

"LOOK OUT! A BANANA PEEL!" Popo said in shock pointing to a random banana peel on the street.

"This thing is floating, we can't trip over that peel, you don't have to be afraid of such thing." Lucario stated rolling his eyes.

"Phew, that was a RELIIIIEEEEEFFFFFF!!" Popo was going to sigh, but by no apparent reason at all, the Porkbean somehow slipped over the banana peel and they were spinning like crazy over the street.

"LUCAS! TURN TO THE LEF-" Kumatora was interrupted, because they crashed into the wall and they got out laying unconscious on the street, the Porkbean was making smoke from the inside. Then another Porkbean came from the north and it stopped in front of them.

"I can't believe this thing ACTUALLY slipped above that peel..." Lucario muttered while his face was in the street.

"At least we're okay..." Chris said, his face was also on the street and he was to the left of Lucario.

"Commander!" A voice said coming out of the Porkbean, it was the same big muscular guy from the Titibou Theater, Lucas and everybody else stood up and they shook their heads after crashing "Wait a minute...YOU'RE NOT THE COMMANDER!" The big Pig Mask said angry.

"Oh no, we've been discovered!" Nana said putting her hands in front of her face.

"You're not getting away without a beating of m-" The big Pig Mask looked at Kumatora and Nana "Hey there." He winked at the 2 girls and both shuddered.

"Stay away from Nana!" Popo said standing in front of Nana.

"Get out dorky!" The big Pig Mask said.

"Um, what were you talking about a moment ago?" Lucas asked. Chris and Lucario got up from the floor and Lucario lost his mask.

"Oh...well...I...oh yeah! You're not getting away without a beating of my fists!" The big Pig Mask chuckled his fists and he started another battle!

You met the Scary Womanizing Pig Mask face-to-face!

Lucas Kumatora Duster Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana
101 129 126 97 105 204 99 90

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask punchs the group!

Kumatora receives 59 of damage!

Duster receives 57 of damage!

Popo receives 60 of damage!

Boney attacks!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 5 hits, 68 of damage!

Duster uses his Scary Mask!

But it doesn't do any effect!

Kumatora uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Popo is fully recovered!

Lucas uses PK Love alpha!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 143 of damage!

"...HUH?! IS THAT A?!" The Scary Womanizing Pig Mask approaches to Lucario and he looks at the DCMC Hat he has on his head. Lucario had forgotten completely about the hat all the time on top of his head.

"...What?" Lucario asked confused raising his invisible eyebrown.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S A HAT OF DCMC!" He gasps "I...CAN'T...ATTACK!"

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask became paralyzed!

"...Well then..." Lucario narrowed his eyes and he ducks below the Scary Womanizing Pig Mask.

Lucario does a powerful jab!

SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 387 of damage!

Chris uses PK Fire alpha!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 90 of damage!

Popo and Nana uses Blizzard!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 78 of damage!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask is still paralyzed!

Boney attacks!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 8 hits, 71 of damage!

Duster throws a bomb!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 123 of damage!

Kumatora uses PK Fire beta!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 134 of damage!

Chris attacks!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 4 hits, 65 of damage!

Lucario attacks!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 16 hits! 584 of damage!

The crowd cheers for Lucario!

Popo attacks!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask receives 3 hits, 67 of damage!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask collapses!

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company receives 1548 EXP points!

Boney's level goes up by 23!

"Woof! (I'm happy!)" Boney barked happily.

HP goes up by 3!
Strength goes up by 4!
Defense goes up by 1!
Guts goes up by 2!
Speed goes up by 1!
Evasion goes up 3!

Scary Womanizing Pig Mask left a present!

Inside the present, there were Pickles!

Duster stores the Pickles in his inventary

"URGH! I can't believe I lost to a bunch of...kids! But I'll not surrender yet, next time we meet it will be your last breath on the EarRRTTTHHH!!" The Scary Womanizing Pig Mask slipped above a banana peel and he went jumping in his butt away.

"Your hat has powers." Popo said to Lucario. He replied by rolling his eyes.

"Woof woof woof! (I can smell the scent of clay close to us!)" Boney started to smell the floor and he went away slowly following the smell, the others looked at him and they went with him inside another tunnel.

"...Chris..." Lucas called Chris a little preocupied.

"Yes Lucas?"

"...Do you think I'm brave?"

"Of course you are! Why?"

"...Tell me the truth, I'm a coward?"

"You're not a coward."

Lucas got upset "Liar! I'm a coward!"

"Lucas, why are you suddenly asking me that?" Chris asked angry.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just because that I may be brave now, but it's also because of all of you around me, but when I'm alone, I don't know what to do, and if a monster is trying to kill me...I'll surely run terrified..." Lucas looked away a little scared.

"Well...I'm like you too...I think I'll do the same as your sittuation, but I know something for sure." Chris said.

"What?"

"I know that if I'm in trouble, I need to act and not run away scared, If you believe in yourself, you can have a possibility to win, why don't you try it too when it's the time?" Chris asked.

"...Thanks, that was an interesting talk with you Chris, I'll promise that when it's the time, I'm going to be brave...alone." Lucas said nodding and smiling a bit "Look there is a sign over there!" Lucas said pointing at a sign to the left of another sign.

East:
Garbage Dump

"The Clay Man is there for sure!" Nana said.

"Wait, what does the other sign says?" Popo asked and he readed the other sign.

This may look persistent but...
East:
Garbage Dump

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Was that really necessary?" Kumatora asked confused. Boney was barking to the east and he ran away in a hurry, they started to run as well to find the whereabouts of the Clay Man.

Porkbean Highway
Garbage Dump

After walking throught another tunnel, they found the Garbage Dump and there was a lot of garbage in there (duh!) and the Clay Man was also there! They climbed down the ladder since the dump was inside a hole, Duster looked around for the Clay Man.

"...Huh? Did you heard something moving?" Lucas asked looking around.

The pile of trash was moving and a deformed Clay Man stepped outside of it, everyone looked at the monster and he started another ba-

"SCREW IT!" Kumatora said annoyed and she lifted a huge boulder with her psychic powers and she dropped it above the deformed Clay Man and he was destroyed in less than a minute, Lucas, Boney, Chris, Popo and Nana backed away terrified from Kumatora.

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company received 2534 EXP points!

"There!" Duster said, he found the Clay Man that he was looking for near the ladder, it was deactivated and he looked around for the egg "!!" Duster found the Hummingbird's Egg!

"Finally!" Kumatora said smiling.

"I...I remember everything now..." Duster said blinking "Kumatora, Wes and I were in Osohe Castle saving this egg from the Pig Mask Army, and then, we fell to the bottom of the castle and fought againts a big snake on the water, then we were dragged away by the water and I lost my memory ever since...I also remember Rope Snake."

"Glad you remembered me!" A little but long red snake appeared in Duster's pocket, he was looking at Duster "I'm so happy now!" He returned to the pocket.

"Now...to where?" Chris asked.

"COMMANDER!!" A Pig Mask came inside a Porkbean and he saw the group inside the Garbage Dump "We have troubles in the Thunder Tower, we need your assistance now!"

Lucas thought for a moment "Troubles?"

"Yes! Troubles! Hurry up!" The Pig Mask said quickly, the whole group entered inside the Porkbean "Keep your dog away from the controls!" He said, Boney whined sadly at this and the Porkbean flew away at high speed inside a tunnel, they reached below the Thunder Tower and the Pig Mask parked the Porkbean just in front of the entrance "Enter now!" He said, he pushed them inside and they entered.

Porkbean Highway
Thunder Tower 1st floor

"...Wait, we didn't asked him what was the problem!" Kumatora said in shock.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm Lucas!"

"I'm Nana!"

"I have a question, why the monsters inside this tower are attacking us? I thought the monsters listened to the army!"

"Maybe that is the problem."

"Oh no, something very bad will happen when we reach the top...It's scaring me..."

"Don't be scared!"

"...I'll...I'll do my best to not run away, even if I'm with you!"

"Next time: The mysterious Masked Boy!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Thunder Tower 1st floor
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, Boney

You didn't expected Sonic to be one of them right? Don't worry, there will be a epic battle in...DU DU DUNNNN, his world! But let's stick with Mother 3 for now, read and review!

Thanks for reading this story until this chapter everyone!...Wait, that sounds a little weird...oh well, we're in Mother 3, what do you expected? Strange things happens there! XD
*Chapter 35*: Show Off Your Skills

It's time to end the Mother 3 arc...WITH THE LONGEST CHAPTER UNTIL NOW! The new goal for this fan fic it's to reach 100 reviews before it reaches the 50th chapter, this is getting fun and interesting!

And let's continue! Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 35: The mysterious Masked Boy!

Porkbean Highway
Thunder Tower 1st floor

"What should we do now?" Lucas asked.

"Climb the tower and ignore their trouble, easy." Duster answered.

"If I remember correctly, the bomb is in...1 hour until the explosion!" Kumatora said surprised "We need to run now!"

Unfounded Revenge/Smashing Song of Praise

They entered to the next room and they found little enemies with batteries on their heads.

"PK Fire alpha!" Lucas and Chris shouted and they fired the fire from their hands, the little battery enemies exploded and they continued further inside.

"Commander! I see you saw our experiments attacking without reason!" A Pig Mask said as they were running away, the Pig Mask made a confused face and he walked away.

A robot that was looking like an iPod blocked their path "Lucario, it's your turn to act!" Chris said, Lucario's left hand glowed and he used a quick Force Palm, destroying the robot in the process "Good job!" Chris said as they were running.

And more enemies like before blocked their ways "PK Love alpha!" Lucas yelled and various explosions and lasers came from nowhere and the robots were destroyed, 5 little battery enemies appeared from behind some pillars and they lunged at Boney, they started to laugh and they were surrounded by volts of electricity and Boney whined in pain.

Duster used his Scary Mask to scare the batteries away, they screamed in terror and they started to run away "PK Fire beta!" Kumatora yelled and a stronger fire came from her hands and the batteries were incinerated.

"...More of them?!" Popo asked annoyed when he saw little robots with mole's heads as their bodies, he and Nana nodded to each other and they started to spin in their feets using Squall Hammer, the moles robots were hit by the hammers and they exploded.

"Keep up the good work commander!" A Pig Mask said walking away while he was writting something in a note pad.

"Look! I can see a ladder leading to the next floor!"Nana said pointing to a red ladder.

"What is a poster of DCMC doing here?" Duster asked, he was glancing to a poster of DCMC, there was also 5 dolls of him and DCMC above a table.

"Ha! Did you think I'd leave defeated and never return right? WRONG!" The Scary Womanizing Pig Mask was blocking the ladder, but he was wearing a grey armor this time so that he could defeat them.

"Then we have no choice but to use..." Popo took Lucario's hat out from his head and showed it to the Scary Womanizing Pig Mask "THE HAT POWER!" Popo said proudly of himself.

"ARGH! I CAN'T ATTACK AGAIN!" The Scary Womanizing Pig Mask was paralyzed again.

"BEAT HIM UP!" Chris ordered and all of them lunged at him, various PK Fires, punchs, kicks, bombs, PK Thunders, ice attacks and Aura Spheres were being used many times at him, comically, this time they finished him without any problem, even if he was using an armor.

"Urgh...long live...the Pig Mask Army..." The Scary Womanizing Pig Mask said before vanishing "HAT POWER RULES!" Popo said holding the DCMC Hat. Nana rolled his eyes at the response of her partner.

"And here goes the next floo-" Duster was interrupted.

"STOP!" A voice said behind of them. It was Yokuba! Then he looked at Lucas "You're not the commander, you're that brat Lucas from 3 years ago who attacked me with that Drago!"

"Oops..." Lucas said sarcastically.

"But you're not going to escape this time! Nuehehehe!" Yokuba said eating a banana and throwing the peel away. After a moment of silence, the group quickly climbed the red ladder in a hurry.

"AFTER THEM!" Yokuba ordered the Pig Masks, but there wasn't anyone with him and he looked around "...PIG MASKS?! I'VE SAID, AFTER THEM!" He said pointing to the ladder.

Thunder Tower
Long Red Staircase

Our 8 heroes got rid of their uniforms (Nana sighed in relief).

"Looks like there's no turning back now." Kumatora said.

"We have to hurry up to the top." Duster said, all of them nodded and they started to run in the long red staircase.

"Don't tell me those screws are alive too..." Chris said as he saw a swarm of living red screws approaching to them

"...Since they're tiny, why we don't kick them?" Popo asked, everyone thought for a moment and nodded, they started to run again while kicking the screws out of the way.

20 minutes later...

"Just how...long is this staircase?" Lucas asked panting.

"...The next floor it's just above us Lucas..." Popo said pointing to the next floor. Lucas made an upset face and they climbed the next ladder.

Thunder Tower
Game Room

"What is a room like this doing here?" Chris asked, the room was filled with so many toys, plushies, a star-shaped hot spring, toy airplanes, boxes and such.

"Someone as retarded as their leader must have done this." Kumatora commented.

"Hello visitors."

"Who's there?!" Lucas asked terrified, behind the hot spring, a robot with the look of a maid appeared.

"I'm Miss Marshmallow, and this is the King's room, don't do anything suspiccious or else you shall feel my drill." Miss Marshmallow introduced herself robotically speaking.

"Drill?" Nana said rubbing her chin.

"That is correct, I'm equipped with weapons that would kill 4 cows in a row."

"...4 cows in a row?" Duster asked confused.

Miss Marshmallow nodded "Have a good piggy day sirs." She walked away to a container holding a Yo-Yo.

"She scares me." Popo stated.

"Oh well, let's go to the next floor, there's the ladder." Duster said pointing to another ladder.

"...Wait." Lucas stopped them.

"What?" Chris asked.

"That Yo-Yo of over there looks like a good weapon to use." Lucas said, he was coming closer to the Yo-Yo, but Miss Marshmallow slapped him "AHH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Lucas asked while a tear appeared in his right eye.

"INTRUDERS WHO WANTS TO TAKE AWAY THE KING'S FAVORITE YO-YO SHALL BE ELIMINATED WITHOUT ANY BLOOD FALLING TO THE FLOOR!" She said angry.

"Here she comes!" Duster said warning them. Suddenly, from her back, a drill and a pair of scissors appeared ready to attack them.

"HAT POWER!" Popo screamed holding the DCMC Hat, but Miss Marshmallow sliced it with her scissors, Popo just blinked terrorized and he let the sheddred hat fall on the floor.

"FLOOR IS GETTING DIRTY! PREPARE TO KILL THE INTRUDERS WHILE USING A MOP!" She said robotically, but there wasn't a mop on the room. She ordered the drill to attack Kumatora, but she evaded it, Miss Marshmallow moved the drill to the left and it got Duster, Boney and Nana.

"Nana!" Popo yelled after he saw Nana crashing into some toys, he got distracted enough for Miss Marshmallow to slam him with her scissors, Popo was sent hitting the roof.

"PK Love alpha!" Lucas yelled and the attack crashed into Miss Marshmallow, a cloud of smoke was made and she cleaned her uniform and continued her rampage while spinning around, the drill and the scissors were hitting almost everyone and they yelled in pain.

"UGH!" Chris yelled. The scissor made a rip on his clothes and he was panting. Kumatora was damaged by the drill and Lucas and Lucario barely evaded the crazy attack.

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled after he watched Chris holding his stomach where the attack got him, Lucario got enraged and he ran towards Miss Marshmallow.

"DUST COMING TO CLEANER! ELIMINATE THE DUST AT ALL COSTS!" Miss Marshmallow said and she aimed her scissors to Lucario, Lucario was between the scissors and Miss Marshmallow ordered to close them.

"NO!" Chris yelled, but instead of Lucario being torn in half, the scissors were destroyed after touching his body and Miss Marshmallow gasped at this.

"NEED REPAIRMENT OF SCISSORS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PREPARE THE DRILL TO KILL!" She prepared the drill and it went at high speed towards Lucario, he placed his arm with his spike pointing directly at the drill and the spike and the drill collided with each other, Lucario gritted his fangs and he advanced forward slowly.

"PK THUNDER ALPHA!" Kumatora got up from the floor and she casted 2 bolts of lightning, fortunately they came strucking Miss Marshmallow and she felt a little weak enough for Lucario to rush and destroy the drill with his spike, then he jumped high in the air and Miss Marshmallow looked at how Lucario was coming closer to her.

"PREPARE TO REBUILD WEAPONS TO KIL-" But she was abruptaly interrupted by a powerful Force Palm of Lucario blowing up her right arm and making short circuit, she stood up for a moment and collapsed on the floor. The crowd cheered them for their victory.

Music stops

Everyone got up from the floor and Lucario ran to Chris to help him to stand up.

"It's over?" Popo asked dusting off his hood, Kumatora nodded and they looked at Miss Marshmallow who was collapsed on the floor.

"KING...FORGIVE ME...BUT I NEED TO BE DESTROYED TO EVADE YOUR PUNISHMENT...ACTIVATING SELF-DESTRUCT PROGRAM IN...NOW!" She exploded leaving no trails of her behind.

Lucas walked towards the Yo-Yo and he grabbed it.

Lucas got the Friend's Yo-Yo!

"Why we don't use the hot spring to recover?" Kumatora offered, looking at the star shaped hot spring in the middle of the room, they nodded and got inside the hot water, after enjoying a relaxing time inside the warm and calm water, their wounds were completely healed!

"Let's move on, with that fight, the bomb is going to explode sooner!" Lucas said and they climbed quickly the ladder leading to the next floor.

Thunder Tower
Engine Room

"Whoa!" Chris dodged a bolt of electricity coming from the generator on the middle of the floor, however, the bolt of lightning turned into a creepy smiling monster laughing like crazy.

"HAAA!" Lucario pushed the monster, but he got zapped after making contact with his body.

"Lucario! Are you alright?!" Chris asked worried. Lucario shook his head and he looked at Chris.

"I'm fine, but we need to evade them if we don't want to be electrocuted." Lucario said.

"INCOMING!" Kumatora yelled and more bolts of lightning were being shot at them, they ran quickly to the other side while evading the monsters made of electricity, another ladder was there going to the next floor, they climbed it but unfortunately, the engine was still in the middle because it was tall and without any lost second, it started to fire more bolts of lightning!

"We need to return their attacks! PK Love alpha!" Lucas shouted and he fired the laser and blasts to the bolts, they disappeared but the generator shot more to them, Kumatora and Chris used PK Fire alpha and beta while running and crossing to the other side, but suddenly, the generator stopped his attacks.

"...HA! WE BEAT IT! TAKE THAT!" Lucas said smiling, putting his hands on his lap proudly of himself and closing his eyes, but comically, a thunder quickly fell above him and the next second, his body was black, laying unconscious on the floor. Everyone opened their mouths at the event.

"LUCAS!" Kumatora and Duster yelled preocupied.

"OH GOD! THAT WAS VERY FUNNY! HAHAHAHA!" Popo said laughing and rolling in the floor while holding his stomach.

"...Urgh..." Lucas got up, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head "I...I learned another ability!"

Lucas has learned PK Flash alpha!

"You learned an ability by being hit by a thunder?" Chris asked, Lucas nodded smiling a bit "Hmm..."

"Don't think about doing it." Lucario said closing his eyes. Chris rubbed the back of his head and he laughed a little.

After climbing another ladder leading to another floor with the annoying generator (who was stopped mysteriously and they proceeded further to the top) and climbing YET another ladder, they found the main generator room.

Thunder Tower
Generator Room

"That's a big ass generator!" Popo said surprised pointing to the big a-I mean, big generator.

"Popo! Don't say that!" Nana said angry at Popo's way of talking, everyone looked away embarrased.

"ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDERS DETECTED IN THE AREA!" An alarm with red lights turned on after locating the group inside the room, a big robot who came from a hole from the generator looked at them.

"I'M MR GENERATOR, AND YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED FOR INTERRUPTING THE PROCESS OF FIRING LIGHTNINGS AT COMMANDED LOCATION!" Mr Generator introduced himself and warned the group.

"You're the responsible for firing lightnings at my house and the whole village!" Lucas pointed to him angrily.

"I JUST FOLLOW THE ORDERS OF MY SUPERIORS, NOW YOU SHALL DIE BY MY HANDS!" Mr Generator said making electricity coming out from his hands.

Ms. Marshmallow

Mr Generator is blocking your way!

"Now here comes another battle..." Chris said (since they defeated a lot of enemies in they, their levels were increased).


Lucas Kumatora Duster Boney Chris Lucario Popo Nana
135 154 161 121 137 207 117 114

Duster uses his Wall Stamples!

It didn't do any effect!

"For what are the huge stamples?" Nana asked.

"They can make a ladder in the walls." Duster responded.

Boney smells Mr Generator!

Boney detects his weakness!

"Woof woof woof! (He's weak againts ice!)" Boney said barking.

Kumatora uses PK Freeze alpha!

Mr Generator receives 143 of damage!

Mr Generator attacks with electricity!

Lucas receives 66 of damage!

Kumatora receives 64 of damage!

Lucas attacks!

Lucas misses!

"But he doesn't moves at all!" Lucas complained.

Chris uses PK Fire alpha!

Mr Generator receives 76 of damage!

Lucario attacks!

Mr Generator receives 5 hits, 287 of damage!

Popo and Nana uses Blizzard!

Mr Generator receives 167 of damage!

Mr Generator is storing energy!

Duster attacks!

Duster misses!

Duster rolls his eyes for not being able to hit a thing that doesn't moves from his spot.

Boney throws a bomb!

Mr Generator receives 111 of damage!

Kumatora uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Lucas was fully recovered!

Lucas uses PK Flash alpha!

It didn't do any effect!

Chris attacks!

Mr Generator receives 6 hits, 99 of damage!

Lucario fires an Aura Sphere!

Mr Generator receives 367 of damage!

Popo and Nana uses Blizzard!

Mr Generator receives 161 of damage!

Mr Generator unleashes a powerful bolt of lightning at everybody!

Lucas is fataly wounded with 153 of damage!

Kumatora receives 150 of damage!

Duster receives 154 of damage!

Boney is fataly wounded with 156 of damage!

Chris is fataly wounded with 155 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Lucario receives 129 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Popo is fataly wounded with 156 of damage!

Nana is fataly wounded with 159 of damage!

Mr Generator is unable to move!

Boney eats a yogurt!

Boney recovers 80 HP!

Duster attacks!

Mr Generator receives 4 hits, 89 of damage!

Kumatora uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Chris recovers 90 HP!

Lucas uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Lucas recovers 88 HP!

Lucario fires an Aura Sphere!

Mr Generator receives 365 of damage!

Popo eats a Fresh Egg!

Popo recovers 80 HP!

"Yummy!" Popo said.

Nana eats Pork Chips!

Nana recovers 50 HP!

Mr Generator electrocutes himself!

Mr Generator recovers 100 HP!

Boney attacks!

Boney misses!

Duster uses the Scary Mask!

It didn't do any effect!

Kumatora uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Boney is fully recovered!

Lucas uses Offense Up!

Lucario strength goes up!

Chris uses PK Lifeup alpha!

Lucario recovers 89 HP!

Lucario's strength goes down!

Lucario attacks!

Mr Generator receives 10 hits, 388 of damage!

Popo and Nana uses Blizzard!

Mr Generator receives 166 of damage!

Mr Generator electrocutes himself!

Mr Generator recovers 100 HP!

Mr Generator is able to move!

Kumatora uses PK Freeze alpha!

Mr Generator receives 147 of damage!

Duster attacks!

Duster misses!

Lucas uses PK Love alpha!

Mr Generator receives 145 of damage!

Chris uses PK Fire alpha!

Mr Generator receives 78 of damage!

Lucario attacks!

Mr Generator receives 14 hits, 487 of damage!

Popo attacks!

Popo misses!

Nana throws a bomb!

Mr Generator receives 104 of damage!

Mr Generator attacks with electricity!

Boney receives 66 of damage!

Boney was paralyzed!

Lucario receives 49 of damage!

Lucario's strength goes up!

Lucario was paralyzed!

Boney is unable to move!

Duster attacks!

Mr Generator receives 67 of damage!

Kumatora uses PK Healing alpha!

Lucario is able to move!

Lucas uses PK Healing alpha!

Boney is able to move!

Chris attacks!

SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!

Mr Generator receives 8 hits, 123 of damage!

Lucario attacks!

Mr Generator receives 9 hits, 388 of damage!

Popo attacks!

Mr Generator receives 66 of damage!

Mr Generator explodes!

YOU WIN!

Lucas and company receives 4389 EXP points!

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE! MR GENERATOR DOESN'T APPROVES DEFEAT! MAYDAY! MAAAYYYDDDAAAYYYYYY!!" Mr Generator yelled and he was starting to explode, the entire engine was exploding and after a while, he was destroyed and the lightnings stopped from firing at Tazmily Village. The alarm was activated in the process of destruction of the generator.

"Phew, that was close." Kumatora said wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"THERE THEY ARE!" Yokuba appeared with 2 Pig Masks near the ladder.

"Oh no, we have to escape!" Popo said in shock.

Chris looked behind him to find a door leading to the top of the tower "Follow me!" He said running away.

All of them followed him and Yokuba stepped in front of the destroyed generator eating a banana and throwing the peel away "Fools! They're cornered! Nuehehehe!" He said laughing.

Thunder Tower
Top

"What's the big deal with ladders in this building?!" Nana asked annoyed after finding another ladder leading to the top, they climbed and gasped when they saw the Subspace Bomb, which was about to explode in less that 5 minutes.

"No...don't tell me..." Chris saw 2 R.O.Bs looking at the floor sadly, to their horror, Sonic was sleeping (and snoring) close to the bomb...or more especifically, close to the group.

Popo's eyes widened and he wispered to them "Now let's walk slowly to the bomb without awakening him...and then...we try to deactivate it..." Everyone nodded and they started to walk silently and slowly to the bomb while their eyes were looking at Sonic. If anything should wake him up, Lucario was near Chris to protect him.

"Okay...now that were far away from him...let's look at the BOMB!" Popo shouted terrified, when he turned his head to the bomb, Sonic's face was near his face looking at him with a evil smirk "But, how did you, and you, was there, an-"

"Tsk tsk tsk, kids, I'm the fastest hedgehog on the earth." He said moving his finger. For his bad luck, they were already trying to deactivate the bomb, ignoring him completely "HEY! DON'T LEAVE TALKING TO NO ONE!"

"If you're done, we're trying to do something to save this place, now shut up." Duster said focusing his attention at the bomb.

"GRRRR!" Sonic grunted and turned into a spinning ball and he quickly attacked everyone with speed.

"Hey! Watch it!" Kumatora said while getting up from the floor.

And Yokuba appeared and he saw them, Sonic and the bomb.

"What the heck is going on here?!" He asked furiously.

"Don't tell us you didn't noticed that bomb!" Chris said pointing to the bomb.

"...Well, it's useless to blow up that bomb now..."

"Why useless?" Lucas asked.

"Nueheheheheh! You idiots. You can't run anywhere! That's why! Nueheheheheh!" Yokuba said laughing.

"This is no ordinary bom-" Sonic was ignored again.

"You've done well to get in the way of our plans. We would've given you happiness if you just lived quietly in Tazmily Village and minded your own business." Yokuba takes out a banana and he throws the peel away, then he receives a phone call from his cellphone "Good, you're ready. I'll finish up here soon, so bring up the Pig Craft and wait for me" He hungs up the phone.

"You're not going to escape from the tower?" Popo asked.

"The Thunder Tower is now useless. But, this is the perfect chance to get rid of you all. This is a lot of talking for just 9 mangy rats but our King likes to do things with pizzazz."

"Pizzazz?" Sonic asked confused.

"That's why we're going to eliminate you in style by destroying the Thunder Tower along with you guys." He said, everyone gasped except for Sonic who was angry because he was being ignored by all.

"There's an aircraft approaching!" Lucas said pointing to an aircraft with the symbol of the Pig Mask Army on it.

Yokuba looks at the aircraft "Looks like my ride is here. Now, if you'll excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I have to get going."

"The bomb! We need to stop it!" Nana said and evryone returned to try and deactivate the bomb.

Yokuba calls to someone in his cellphone "Alright, I'm ready. Destroy the tower!" He ordered and the tower started to shake violently.

"There's only 1 minute left!" Duster said warning the group.

"ARGH! STOP IGNORING M-" Sonic was interrupted yet again.

"Well then, Lucas. We've only known each other for a short time, but I won't forget you. Nueheheheheheh, heeeheheheheh!"

A large explosion was heard from the base of the tower and Yokuba was going to fall but the banana peel he threw to the floor was close to him and he tripped in the air and he fell off the tower "NNNOOOOOUUUUUU!!"He yelled before disappearing.

Porky Theme

"...The nuisance is gone...and now..." Sonic looked at the group "IT'S TIME TO STOP YOU!" He turned into a spinning ball and he tackled everyone with great speed, they were trying to not fall from the tower since the attack made them stay near the edge, Lucas and Chris unfortunately were going to fall, but luckily (and painfully) they grabbed a blue tail at their range.

And from who was that tail?

"Umm, Lucario, I hope you don't mind us for grabbing your tail as a rope!" Chris said worried.

Lucario's left eye was twitching uncontrollably "D-D-Don't worry, I-I-I don't mind at all!"

"Can you please pull us to safe floor? PLEASE?!" Lucas asked terrorized after he saw the ground far away from his feet.

"SHIEEE!" Sonic rolled and pushed them out of the tower and they started to fell to the ground.

"LUCAS!" Kumatora yelled in shock.

"Hehehe, 3 gone, 5 remaining." Sonic said smirking evily.

"WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" Chris's voice was heard. Sonic opened his mouth surprised and he looked behind him, Lucas and Chris were grabbing Lucario's back while he used Extremespeed to return safely to the floor and Chris quickly retaliated with a PK Fire alpha to burn Sonic, the attack reached him and it exploded in a diagonal pillar of fire.

"Y-YOU!" Sonic said furiously.

"PK FREEZE ALPHA!" Kumatora yelled from behind him and he was frozen instantly, but quickly got out rolling at Boney, the dog was fataly wounded and he crashed into the big gun which was firing lightning bolts before and whined sadly.

"BO-BONEY!" Lucas shouted worried, he ran at his dog but Sonic was going to punch his face, but Duster got in the way and he received the hit instead of Lucas, Duster fell unconscious on the floor and Popo and Nana ran towards Sonic with their hammers ready, but Sonic rolled behind them and quickly kicked them hard in their backs, with that blow, they also fell unconscious. Kumatora tried using PK Freeze alpha again, but when she blinked, Sonic pushed her neck and she fell unconscious too.

"HOW DARE YOU TO DO THAT TO HER!" Lucario said furiously and he ran at Sonic, but the hedgehog appeared behind his back and he pulled his leg fastly and Lucario was going to fall, but Sonic quickly appeared in front of his face and he punched him hard in the mouth, making the Aura Pokémon to back away slowly.

"T-There's blood coming from your mouth!" Chris shouted pointing at Lucario's mouth, blood was coming from it and Lucario wiped it with his right hand, he glared at Sonic and both ran at each other to deliver a powerful blow, one being Lucario's brute force and the other being Sonic's speed.

But then...

4 bolts of lightning came from nowhere above both adversaries, they yelled in pain and they fell on the floor defeated!

"Huh? Where did that lightning came from?" Lucas asked as he was holding Boney's head in his arms. Chris walked to him and he found someone standing in front of the bomb, it was a boy with a helmet which was blocking his eyes, but his mouth was visible, a sword in his left arm and an arm cannon in his right arm and a black cape, he lifted his sword above his head and he easily destroyed the bomb with a single slice, the bomb was about to explode in 3 seconds, that was good right?

"A-A-Amazing!" Lucas remarked, the masked boy looked at them showing no emotion and started to walk slowly with his sword ready, they couldn't try to escape because behind them there was no floor to step on, the masked boy was now closer and they tried to attack him with PK Fire alpha, but it didn't worked and finally the masked boy held his sword above his helmet, he was trying to cast those lightnings from before while looking at Lucas.

"Wh-Who are you?!" Lucas asked terrified, the masked boy didn't replied and he continued to watch Lucas, then he looked at Chris.

"Why don't you tell us your name?!" Chris asked angrily, but the masked boy didn't said anything still. He looked at Boney but then he looked at Lucas again and the whole area blackened a little and far away from above, a lightning was going to attack them.

"OH NO!" Both Lucas and Chris yelled terrorized. Both of them ducked and tried to defend themselves from the attack. A powerful sound was heard around the clouds like something being attacked severely.

But...

"...It's over?" Lucas asked and he felt perfectly fine. He lifted his head to see Chris fine and Boney was still alive whining silently.

"Nothing happened?" Chris asked confused, Lucas nodded "Look!" Chris pointed to the masked boy, who was being electrocuted...by his own attack? How can that be possible?

"What EXACTLY happened here?" Lucas asked too confused "Huh? Who is that person above us?" Lucas asked when he looked above him. Chris looked above and he gasped when he saw someone familiar.

"It's...It's...It's..." Chris was trying to finish his sentence but he couldn't, the person landed in the floor in front of the masked boy "That tail...those ears...that uniform...those boots...and ESPECIALLY that reflector on his belt...it's...

"Hey Chris, how have you been?" The person asked smiling a bit.

"How in the hell do you think I am now? It's pretty obvious I'm not fine...Fox!" Chris said the name (a little annoyed) he revealed the person to be Fox McCloud!

The masked boy was still being electrocuted, but he shook his helmet and he jumped back to the aircraft and entered inside, everyone who was unconscious on the floor woke up shaking their heads, Sonic was the first one to wake up, but he jumped from the tower doing a backward somersault and disappeared using the Shadow Bugs.

"Ugh, what happened?" Kumatora asked rubbing her forehead, she saw the aircraft getting slowly away from them and the tower was being destroyed from the bottom! Duster looked at a rope ladder hanging from the aircraft and Kumatora looked at him "Grab the ladder!" She said.

"Rope Snake! Go!" Duster shouted and he grabbed Rope Snake from his pocket and the snake bit the ladder with his teeths, everyone looked at each other and they quickly jumped and grabbed each one. Duster was holding the Rope Snake, Kumatora was holding his left leg, Lucas was holding his right left, Boney was biting Lucas's short to not fall, Chris was holding Kumatora's left leg, Popo grabbed her right leg while Nana was grabbing his back, Lucario was holding Chris's left leg and Fox was holding Popo's left leg (the entire group were looking like a human ladder from below if you could see them).

"Hold on! We can't fall now at this height!" Duster said.

The masked boy got out of the aircraft and he looked at them with a blank face.

"Who's that?" Kumatora asked, the masked boy turned his back and he entered the aircraft, then the ship was going up and down to try to shake them off from the ladder, until the Rope Snake spoke.

"Erm, Duster, I think I can't hold 9 persons at once in this sittuation, I could hold 4, but still, I can't resist all your weights combined, also, my tail is REALLY hurting me." Rope Snake said while the ship was trying to shake them off "I'm sorry, but I need to stop grabbing this thing! Please Duster, I hope you can survive without me...or if I can survive without you...the thing is...I'M SORRY!"

"What's the red snake babbling about?!" Fox asked.

"...I'M SORRY EVERYONE, FORGIVE ME!" The Rope Snake realesed his teeths from the rope ladder and everyone started to fall slowly in the air while their eyes and mouths were wide opened.

"AAAHHH!!", "WAAAHHH!!", "ARRGGHH!!", "WOOF! (I'M SCARED!)", "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!", "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!", "HELP MEEEE!!", "UUAARRRGGHHH!!", "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!" All of them yelled while they were being separated slowly in the clouds.

The moving creatures made from dirt. The Tower that can create lightning. The
winding highway. And the flying ship.

The enemy Lucas and his friends have to face is much more advanced. Is there
any chance of defeating such a wicked and powerful foe?

No.
We cannot think like that.
Even if there is only one in a million chance,
there is still some chance of prevailing.

Lucas
Kumatora
Duster
Are the three going to be struck down again?

Or are they going to come together and stand back up despite their hardships?

And who was that Masked Boy that was looking down on Lucas and his friends
from the ship?

The story leaves the fierce battles up to this point lingering and moves on to
the next chapter.

But unfortunately, we have to see where Chris's group is going to fall!

"THIS IS IT! WE'RE DEAD! NANA, FORGIVE ME FOR TAKING YOUR FOOD THE OTHER DAY!"

"WHAT?! IT WAS YOU?!" Nana asked enraged and she tried to kill Popo by strangling his throat.

"CALM DOWN YOU TWO! WE HAVE TO THINK IF WE WANT TO LIVE!" Fox said.

"ANY IDEA CHRIS?!" Lucario asked.

"...ARGH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Chris said grabbing his head.

"JUST THINK!" Fox said.

"IT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY IF YOU'RE NOT THINKING WITH ME! WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW?! A BIG RANDOM TRAMPOLINE WILL BE BELOW AND SAVE US FROM THE DEATH?!" Chris asked angrily crossing his arms.

Far away from them in the ground...

Tazmily Village
Thomas's House

"For the last time, I didn't ordered a big trampoline sir!" Thomas said to a mister. A big trampoline was standing in front of his house.

"Really? Well, I don't see why you don't have to pay for it!" The mister said while looking at Thomas.

And out of a cue, Chris, Lucario, Popo, Nana and Fox fell above the trampoline and jumped high in the air to Wes's house.

"Did someone fell from the air, landed and jumped in the trampoline just now?" Thomas asked.

"I don't know, but you're going to pay for it!" The mister said arguing with Thomas.

Tazmily Village
Wes's House

Our heroes were lucky enough since they fell above a bige pile of hay.

"NANA! STOP! WE'RE LIVING!" Popo said, Nana looked around and she stopped her attempt to kill Popo and blushed in embarrasment.

"Phew, that was close," Chris said getting out of the hay "Where is Lucas and the others?"

"They fell in different locations." Lucario pointed out.

"Shh! Hide! Someone is approaching!" Fox said, they hid inside the hay and Wes along with Alec (Lucas's grandfather) appeared, they looked around after hearing some voices coming from the pile of hay, but then, Lucas and Boney fell above the pile unconscious, Wes and Alec were surprised and they took both of them inside Wes's House to rest. And Chris and the others got out.

"It's Lucas! We have to go with him!" Chris said, he was about to run away, but Lucario grabbed his shoulder "Lucario! Don't stop me!"

"We need to return to the Smash Mansion now, our job here is done." Lucario said crossing his arms.

"But what about Lucas?" Nana asked.

"He and the others are going to be fine by their own without us, also Chris, I think it's time for Lucas to act alone by himself."

Chris looked to the grass "But..."

"I don't know what happened here before I came to you in the tower, but I know that we need to return now." Fox said.

"...Okay...let's return now..." After a moment of silence, Chris and the others saw Lucas and Boney leaving Wes's House, Lucas turned his head because he could have sworn he saw Chris, Lucario, Popo and Nana standing next to big pile of hay, but they dissapeared, Lucas looked down sadly but Boney barked at him and a little smile grew on Lucas's mouth, he nodded and they ran away.

Behind some trees, Chris, with Lucario who was just behind him, Popo, Nana and Fox were watching Lucas running away to who knows where, Chris smiled and blinked.

But a tear appeared on his right eye and Lucario noticed it.

"Chris, are you crying?" Lucario asked.

"W-what? No! I didn't wanted to cry!" He wiped out the tear "I felt someone inside me was sad when Lucas ran away and he cried...that presence was familiar too."

"Someone inside you?" Fox asked raising an eyebrown.

Chris nodded "Yes, I could feel his feelings, he was crying out loud "Lucas! Don't die! I know you can stop them, remember me and mom! She's watching and protecting you from the heaven, don't surrender yet!" And then he started to cry louder."

Popo and Nana sniffed in unison after hearing this "That was...so touching!" Nana said buring her face in her gloves, Popo panted her back in response.

Chris closed his eyes "...Maybe this is wrong, but, I think he was..." He opened his eyes "Nah, he couldn't be." He opened the portal and stepped inside, Lucario thought who was him as he walked inside the portal, Popo and Nana walked inside crying a little and Fox went next and the portal disappeared.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 1000 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, ?

Why not use a cliffhanger now?

Anyway, it's the end for the Mother 3 arc and our heroes have saved Nowhere Island from the Primids.

Chris's tear appearing on his eye was a reference when Sora from Kingdom Hearts ll bid farewell to Hayner, Pence and Olette in the train station and a tear appeared on his eye because Roxas was crying inside Sora, the trampoline was a reference to "A certain movie of Disney about a egocentrical emperor who gets turned accidentaly into a llama", but, who was inside Chris, crying for Lucas? (Now that I think about it, why not saving Kingdom Hearts ll?).

And why is Fox with them and why did I added that interrogation dot at the end of the list of current available characters?

Those questions will be answered in the next chapter! Read and review!
*Chapter 36*: Intergalatic Issues

Why everytime I write this part, most words of this story gets weird? The italic letters turns back to normal and the bolded letters are taken to another spot! Something wrong is happening around here, I know it.

Oh, yeah, here's the next chapter, enjoy, read and review!

This chapter is also dedicated to Yoshizilla-Rhedosaurus, but unfortunately, this doesn't has Yoshi on it, sorry.

Before you continue, Mewtwo will stop talking with italic letters, but he'll still continue talking through his mind, and off you go to read! (This chapter was made while hearing Eternity, the boss theme of Blue Dragon).

Chapter 36: Third adventure on the space!

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"You failed? How could you lose to them?!" Tabuu asked furiously to Sonic.

"It wasn't my fault! Someone attacked me with 4 thunders!" Sonic defended himself.

Tabuu frowned "I'm having high hopes of you to destroy them, but it's the contrary!"

"Lord Tabuu, we managed to convince him to join us." The Ancient Minister said.

"Who?" Sonic asked.

"A previous ally of us that was fighting againts his own will, but we convinced him to join us by his own again without using Shadow Bugs." Tabuu responded.

"Heh, he's right." A voice spoke from the darkness.

"Who's there?!" Sonic asked.

"Shut up!" Tabuu yelled and Sonic trembled in fear "Our plan to take over your world with our best weapon is now beginning, you along with him are going there to defend the bomb."

"W-where?" Sonic asked again terrorized.

"This location." The Ancient Minister pointed to what appears to be a space colony high above the Earth, it was shaped in a ugly face of someone, but a big evil smirk grew on Sonic's face.

"Now THAT is where I'm going to kill them for sure!" Sonic said.

"Correct, I've analyzed those emeralds with chaotic powers that you use in extreme conditions and this is the time to use them." The Ancient Minister said.

"But not only I'm going to use the Chaos Emeralds, I'll ask for my friends to give us a hand." Sonic said.

"Excellent thinking, now go!" Tabuu ordered and Sonic disappeared in a blink.

"You're sure I can defeat Fox in this mission right?" The person asked.

"Just follow my orders and use the gun." Tabuu said.

"There's no chance in hell I'm going to carry that thing around!" The person said angrily.

"Fine, do want you want to do, but you will regret it." Tabuu said and the person ran away following Sonic to the next world "If they ever fail in this mission, I'll cause serious punishments around here." Tabuu teleported away.

The Ancient Minister looked away at the emptyness of the Subspace "You're doing it well, stop his plans before it's too late."

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Fun, strange, but we managed to save Lucas!" Chris said reporting the status of his mission.

"We haven't failed any mission, now that's luck." Roy said.

"I'm happy to know that everything is going well." Master Hand said "Oh, and before we begin..."

NEWCOMER!

Fox joined your team!

"Hmm, yeah, about that..." Chris wispered into Master Hand's "Ear", if he has one "Ok, how did you managed to get Fox to join us and what ending did you chose in his game?"

Master Hand wispered "Well, it was so hard to decide an ending, so, I invented my own ending, and that was the Star Fox team being reunited at the end."

"Good." Chris ended the silent chat and turned to see Fox "And Fox, how is the team doing?"

"They're fine, but I have someone else to help us too." Fox said.

"Who?" Chris was hearing footsteps coming from behind and he saw another familiar face.

"Hey Chris! Good to see you again!"

NEWCOMER!

Falco joined your team!

"Falco! You're joining us too?"

"Yep! My duties are done back in Corneria and Fox asked me to come here, so I said why not?" Falco said smiling a bit.

"Well, we have more allies now." Master Hand said.

"Wait, isn't Mother 3 the sequel of EarthBound?" Chris asked.

"Yes it is, why?"

Just then, Ness's icon was flashing and everyone looked at the screen.

"The good news doesn't stops, we can recruit Ness now!" Master Hand said surprised "When you were gone, I've upgraded the system to see the worlds from here, let's see what is Ness doing now, shall we?" Master Hand said and the screen with the whole character roster changed to see Ness's current location.

EarthBound

Onett
Ness's house

"Mom! Ness is back from that tournament!" A young girl with blond hair shouted from the entrance of her house.

"Coming Tracy!" A woman appeared from the stairs and she ran at Ness, who was standing in front of the door "Ness! My special son, did you had fun participating?"

"Sure did! There were a lot of people from different places!" Ness said smiling, closing the door.

"He must have returned from the Melee tournament." Pikachu said.

"And did you win?" Tracy asked.

"Unfortunately, I didn't, sorry, but that Mario guy defeated me in the third round." Ness said.

"Oh, don't be sad, for a consolation prize, we're going to eat Steak in a moment!" Ness's mom said. That made Ness to jump in happiness after hearing his favorite food. Tracy was laughing a little.

And then, 3 knocks were coming from the door.

"I wonder who is it now?" Tracy asked to herself and she opened the door, and Chris was standing there.

"Huh? Isn't that Chris?" Pichu asked confused, everyone looked around the command room and Chris wasn't there with them.

"Hi! Is this Ness's house by any chance?" Chris asked.

"Ness! Someone is looking for you!" Tracy shouted to his brother.

"Who?" Ness walked to the door "Chris! What are you doing here?"

"Well..." Chris explained everything to Ness in 5 minutes "And that's the problem."

"I see, ok, I'll join you!" Ness said.

"Whhaaatt? Are you going out again?" Tracy asked surprised.

"Tracy, you know I like adventures right?"

"Yeah, but, I was hoping you could stay with us a little longer, I mean, our dad is going to come here in your birthday!"

"Tracy, he hasn't visited us even in our 4th birthday and he always says he will come."

"...Wait, you're right, our dad is hopeless as you are."

"Yeah-wait, what?"

Tracy giggled "Nothing!"

"Ness! The Steak is ready!" Ness's mom yelled from the other side of the kitchen.

"Oh no, the steak my mom makes is delicious...what to do..." Ness thought in his head "(Steak, save the worlds, steak, save the worlds, steak, save the worlds, steak, save the worlds, steak, save the worlds, steak, save the worlds, stea-)"

"NESS!" Chris yelled.

"AAHH!!" Ness screamed.

"ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?!"

"Well...can I eat the steak before?"

"...Ok, I'll leave the portal opened outside your house, when you're done, step inside." Chris said leaving and Tracy closed the door.

"Was that person Chris who helped you in your journey to stop that Giygas?"

"Yes!" Ness said happily eating the steak, Tracy frowned to herself and she went to eat with him and her mom.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"You should have told us that you were going." Master Hand said.

"Sorry, I thought ahead" Chris said "...Lucario, what are you looking at?" Chris saw Lucario watching the screen, he turned his head to see the screen showing the steak on the table "Oh, you're hungry?"

"..." Lucario didn't said anything and Chris rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Ok mom! I'm done!" Ness said putting his fork down "I have to go now!"

"Okay sweetie, enjoy your adventure!" Ness's mom said waving her hand at him, Ness nodded and Tracy gave him a hug before leaving his house and stepping inside the portal, then he appeared in front of the Smashers.

"Hey guys!" Ness said looking at everyone.

NEWCOMER!

Ness joined your team!

"Alright, one more!" Pichu said jumping. Chris was shown standing in front of Crazy Hand's shop, Crazy crazy wares.

"Ok, I want a full list of what you sell." Chris said.

"Alrighty!" Crazy Hand said handing over a list to Chris with many things to sell.

Smash Coins in hand: 1400

Fake King - 700 Smash Coins: Can be used by Chris.

D (Description): Use a big mechanized hammer to pummel down your adversaries, call forth Waddle Dees or other weapons to aid, and sport a good looking big red robe with a hat! (Warning: This job can slow you down in battle because of the hammer)

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins: Can be used by Chris or Lucario

D: Ever wanted to be psychic? This is the right job to start! Use your hands to levitate boxes or your opponents and slam them to the walls, have the ability to read minds or talk telepathically and see your feet levitate freely above the ground!

Racer - 800 Smash Coins: Can be used by Chris

D: With the Racer job as your...job, gain the neccessary knowledge to be able to use any vehicle in an instant, the good thing of this is, your speed while running will be increased a little bit!

Chozo Arts - 750 Smash Coins: Can be used by Chris

D: Leap into the air with style, do some somersaults, use a electric whip and a paralyzer gun to stun your enemies for a moment and jump from wall to wall to reach big heights, with this job, you could win a contest of athletism!

Dragoon - 1000 Smash Coins: Can be used by Lucario

D: Use a lance to attack your enemies, jump to higher heights that you couldn't reach before and thrust your spear into the enemies from above, why don't you try and test this job out now?

"And that's all?" Chris asked.

"The next time you come, I could have more jobs to sell." Crazy Hand said.

Chris rubbed his chin and decided to buy a job "I want the Dragoon job please." He handed over 1000 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand.

"Thank you!" With the new job in his hands, Lucario changed his current job and he gained a lance in his right hand, a blue and yellow helmet was covering his face except for his eyes and blue and yellow gloves appeared in both hands.

"You look so cool with a lance Lucario!" Chris remarked. Lucario looked at the lance and he spun it above his head "And it looks like you've already mastered it!"

"Now if you're done, we need to wait for another attack." Master Hand said.

"Wait, something's wrong." Roy said.

"What is wrong Roy?" Pit asked.

"Don't you think it was weird that there wasn't any Subspace Bomb in the Pikmin world?"

"Now that I think about it, it's weird." Pikachu said.

"And we went to help Lucas, we didn't saw any Primid save for the bomb and Sonic." Nana said.

"Call me crazy but, I think they were just..." Chris looked away a little scared.

"WARNING! WARNING! HUGE AMOUNTS OF PRIMIDS ARE TAKING OVER A WORLD, ALERT OF A GIANT SUBSPACE BOMB IS ACTIVATED!" The alarm said with red lights.

"DISTRACTING US!" Everyone said in unison.

"Computer! Show to us what world is being attacked!" Master Hand ordered, the screen changed to a space colony above the Earth.

"Wait, isn't that the Space Colony ARK?" Chris asked while pointing to the colony

"The hell is that thing?!" Falco pointed to a big atrocity.

"It can't be! That is a Subspace Bomb!" Popo said revealing, there was a giant Subspace Bomb embedded from beneath the colony.

"They have been working on that bomb to take over the Earth with one single blow!" Mewtwo said.

"Those bastards, we can't let them do such thing!" Jigglypuff said.

"But...that means it's Sonic's world..." Chris said a little depressed.

"We have to save his world." Lucario said.

"...You're right, even if he wants to stop us, his world doesn't needs to suffer."

"Wait! I have another reason to be here too." Fox said stopping all of them.

"Another reason?" Nana asked.

"It's about someone who joined them too, I can't believe he would actually agree since he only wants to take me down by his own."

"Foooox! Don't tell me that person is actually..." Chris tried to warn Fox from saying that name.

"Wolf O'Donnell." Fox finished his sentence.

"This is JUST great, not only we have to try and save Sonic's world, but we have to watch out for Wolf as well...AGAIN!"

"YOUR FATE HAS BEEN DECIDED." Master Hand said, everyone stared at him confused "...What? I wanted to make this moment dramatic!"

"...You've failed totally at it." Ness said.

"ALRIGHT! All of you need to go there ASAP!" Master Hand ordered.

"Even me?" Pichu asked pointing at himself.

"EVEN YOU!" With that, Pichu fainted.

"I'll open the portal now!" Chris was now opening the portal to Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, when the portal appeared, everyone ran inside (with Pikachu dragging Pichu by the tail) and disappeared.

"This trouble is so big that we need to use the help of everyone available" Master Hand said.

"They are going to be alright, right brother?" Crazy Hand asked preocupied.

"They will...I hope they will..."

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

Space Colony ARK
Outside the colony

A Space Shuttle was getting closer to the colony holding a fox with 2 tails, a red echidna, a pink hedgehog, oddly, Sonic was there without the dark aura surrounding his body, he was leaned to the wall smirking rather evily while his eyes were closed.

"Whoa! When did that huge bomb was there?" The fox asked after glancing at the Subspace Bomb.

"Do you think this is one of Dr Eggman's plans?" The red echidna asked.

"I dunno," The pink hedgehog said "Hey Sonic, do you know what are we gonna do about it?"

Sonic opened his eyes "I don't know Amy, but you're going to obey my commands from now." He said to Amy, the pink hedgehog.

"Your commands? What are you talking about?"

"METEORS!" The fox screamed and he tilted the ship to the right, but the meteors got the ship and little green shards got out of the shuttle.

"THE MASTER EMERALD'S SHARDS!" The red echidna yelled and he jumped out of the shuttle to catch the shards.

"KNUCKLES!" The fox yelled.

"TAILS! HELP ME!" Amy shouted, Tails, the fox with 2 tails, turned his head to see Amy being covered by strange tiny purple shadows, he opened his mouth in surprise "SONIC! HELP HER!"

"Why should I?" Was Sonic's response. Tails noticed something odd with him, a dark aura was surrounding his body, but after blinking, he saw those strange purple lights coming at him and covering his whole body. Then the scene changes to outside.

"AAAAAHHHH!!" Amy and Tails shouted.

"...What in the hell happened to them?" A man hiding behind a door said, he was wearing a space suit, but inside he was wearing a black tuxedo and he was looking like he comes from Japan or something.

"Hehehehe, you know what to do now right?" Sonic asked smirking evily, both Amy and Tails were now surrounded by the dark aura.

"Of course we know, right Tails?" Amy asked smirking.

"Sure." Tails replied.

Space Colony ARK
Control Room

"UGH! They doesn't give up!" A white bat said dodging an attack from a Primid.

"Doctor, what the hell are those things?" A black hedgehog asked "...Doctor?"

"Hehehehehehe, Shadow, Rouge, why don't you join us?" The doctor said smiling evily.

"Doctor? Doctor?! Snap out of it!" Shadow, the black hedgehog said, but Shadow Bugs came from behind him and they quickly spreaded over all his body, Rouge, the white bat, was also being covered by them while screaming.

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"...Huh? What's that sound?" A kid asked when he heard someone yelling for help far away from his current location "(Something weird is going on...I can feel it...Sonic...everyone...please, help me!)" He thought yelling on his mind, 2 robots were alongside guarding him from escaping, one was a tall, yellow robot and the other was a grey, short robot.

"Was that the doctor yelling Decoe?" The grey robot asked.

"I dunno Bocoe." Decoe said to Bocoe.

Space Colony ARK
A part where the Eternal Engine level should be...wait, what?

Our 13 heroes appeared from the portal and it dissapeared, they looked around to see if there was a Primid near.

"...Too silent." Fox stated.

"...Too empty." Roy said.

"...Too lonely." Pichu said trembling.

"Okay, let's walk around until we spot something." Pikachu said, they nodded and started to wander around the colony with weapons ready to attack any enemy who could appear in a corner.

"I don't know why, but there's something odd with this world." Chris said wispering to Lucario.

"What?" Lucario asked.

"It's like it's not a game...but instead...I think this is th-"

"Who's there?!" Falco asked pointing his blaster to a corner, everyone else turned their attentions at the direction, but they saw Amy walking to them smiling happily.

"Oh, hi there!" She said waving her hand at them.

"You're Amy right?" Chris asked.

"That's right! You're one smart kid!" She said. Chris was getting a little insulted after hearing someone else saying "kid" to him again.

"Umm, thanks I guess, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I became lost trying to find my friend Tails, you see, the poor boy wanted to look around this technological colony since he loves machines and their complexity."

"I see..." Popo said rubbing his chin.

However, both Mewtwo and Lucario felt a little strange about her.

"Soooo, can you help me please?" Amy asked making puppy eyes to Chris.

"Urgh...well...I don't see why not..." Chris said rubbing his forehead and Amy hugged him.

"Ooouuhhh! Thank you so much!" She said smiling.

"Al-alright, but let me go!" Chris said gasping for breath, she listened and stopped her embrace on him. After a second, everyone wandered around with Amy following them.

"(Ha! They're so easy to trick! Now I just need to attack that nuisance with my hammer a Lord Tabuu will be happy! Oh yes!)" Amy thought evily in her mind. She saw that everyone was looking away while walking and it was the perfect opportunity to attack the clueless Chris, then she took out her hammer from nowhere and lifted it slowly above Chris's head "(Don't look behind you, aaaaaaaannnnnnnnddddddd-) AAAAHHHHH!!" She was sent quickly towards a wall, crashing in the process "Guys! Something attacked me! Help m-" She stopped when he saw that everyone were shooting glares at her.

"Why are you taking us for? Idiots? Sorry, but the only idiot here is you!" Ness said.

"Wha-what are you all talking about?" Amy asked confused.

Chris pointed at Mewtwo and Lucario "They told us in our minds about your little plan to attack us from behind since you passed through the corner!"

"Im-impossible! How could you do that?!"

"We can talk through telepathy" Mewtwo said crossing his arms "It's not hard for me, Lucario and Ness."

"Grrr! That's it! I can't stand all of you!" She got up from the floor, ready to attack them with her hammer "AAAHHHHHH!!" She yelled while rushing at them while the dark aura was surrounding her.

"HAAA!" Popo and Nana used their own hammers to give the first hit to Amy and she yelled in pain and backed away slowly, after she opened her eyes however, everyone were running at her "Oh shi-"

"BEAT HER UP!" Jigglypuff yelled.

Outside the colony, many hits, punchs, kicks, explosions and slashs were heard along with screams and yells for help.

Inside again, Amy was shown with swirls of her eyes and the Shadow Bugs escaped from her body. Everyone were forming a circle to make a little discuttion.

"Did you see that? She was also taken by them too." Pit said.

"Not only they're trying to blow up this bomb, but also they're taking Sonic's friends too." Chris said.

"It's for slowing us down." Roy said.

"Most likely." Pichu said. Nobody was noticing that Amy was regaining her consciousness.

"We have no choice but fight them." Falco said.

Pikachu sighed "Why is always fighting? Can't we just discuss things over for a change?"

"If you want to be mauled to death, then do that." Mewtwo said and Pikachu shuddered in fear.

"Well, let's get going now." Amy said.

"Yeah, let's-wait what?" Jigglypuff asked and they noticed that Amy was with them in the circle.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't introduced myself, I'm Amy!" She spun over her feet "Amy Rose!"

Everyone introduced themselves to Amy.

"Amy, do you know what happened to you?" Fox asked.

"Well...I remember being covered by strange purple bugs who were coming from...SONIC! OH NO! WHERE DID HE RAN OFF TO?!" She yelled putting her hands on her cheeks.

"Calm down! Tell us what happened next!" Ness said.

"Ok, ok, ok, I also remember Tails being covered by them and...then, I woke up here with all of you inside the colony." She said finishing her story.

"Then we're right, they took their bodies." Popo said.

"Amy, I know you want to come with us to find Sonic and Tails, right?" Chris asked and Amy nodded.

"But of course! I won't let them take my poor Sonic away from me!" She said taking out her hammer while fire was surrounding her body.

"(Now I know why Sonic can't stand her, she's scary.)" Chris thought "Okay Amy, welcome to the team!"

Amy has joined your team temporaly!

"Thanks guys, now let's go!" She said walking away, everyone looked at each other and they followed her "Alright Sonic, Tails, I'm coming for you! And you too Chris!" She said making a fist in the air.

"Umm, Amy, I'm right here." Chris said raising his hand. Amy looked at him and laughed for a second "What's so funny?"

"Oh, sorry, it's just funny that I know 2 Chris and one of them is kidnapped in this colony."

"I see..." A disc scratches "Wait, WHAT?!"

"You didn't know? I have another friend and his name is Chris too!" She said smiling and putting her hands behind, Chris's eyes were too big at this moment.

"(...Lucario...)" Chris thought while looking at Lucario.

"(...Yes?)" He asked, he knew Chris was trying to talk in his mind.

"(We got inside another freaking ANIME!)"

"(Sadly, it seems so.)" Lucario thought and both sighed.

"FALCO! GIVE ME THE BINOCULARS! NOW!" Chris ordered placing his hand in front of Falco and he handed over some binoculars to Chris and he looked outside in the space searching for something "OKAY, WHERE IN THE HELL IS THE METEOR HERD LEVEL?! AND WHERE IS THE FINAL RUSH LEVEL?! AND THE MAD SPACE ONE?!" He looked terrified in the space, but the only things he saw were just only meteors, satelites and a balloon, then he fell on his knees "This its JUST great right? Now how I'm going to act in front of that Chris?!"

Jigglypuff used Pound on him several times "Thanks Jigglypuff, I needed that so badly." Chris said smiling a bit.

"Here they come!" Mewtwo said and Primids were starting to appear over the whole hall, everyone took their battle positions to prepare.

Mission:
Travel inside the colony and fight
your way through the horde of enemies!

GET
READY!

Meta Knight's Revenge

Roturrets appeared above the air, Ness used PK Thunder several times and it went blasting off, Boom Primids came from far away and they threw their boomerangs at them, but Falco threw his Reflector, returning the boomerangs and destroying them in the process.

"Wow, you guys are something!" Amy said surprised.

"Amy! Behind you!" Nana shouted, a Greap was going to dig his scythes on her, but Amy turned her back and she used her big hammer to pound his head to the floor. Fox took the opportunity and he attack using his kicks and the Greap blasted off.

"PK Fire!" Ness shouted firing a tiny lightning at some Bytans, they were trapped inside the pillar of flame and Chris used a branch of a tree to send them far away "Cool! A branch!" Ness said looking at the branch.

"It's the Good Stick that Lucas gave to me." Chris said remembering.

"Who?"

"Nevermind, forget it."

"Pichu! Are you ready?" Pikachu asked to Pichu in his back.

"Sure!" He said, both of them casted thunders when 3 Big Primids appeared, they made a explosion of electricity and the Big Primids were sent flying away.

"Time to test your lance Lucario!" Chris said as Roaders were approaching at high speed to them, Chris used PK Fire to stop their run and Lucario thrusted his lance and the Roaders were destroyed. Both of them smiled to each other and continued further.

"Pit, you know what I'm thinking now right?" Roy asked when he saw Floows coming at them.

"Of course!" Pit said, he used his angel Ring ability to catch the Floows inside his blades and Roy used his Flare Sword to send them flying away.

"Pathetic adversaries." Mewtwo said with crossed arms after he saw Towtows running at him, he teleported behind them and he used his psychic powers to levitate and throw them away. He grinned at his action and levitated further inside.

"How about if we combine our hammers?" Popo asked to Amy, she nodded as Armights were coming from both sides, Popo, Nana and Amy grabbed the shoulders of the others and they started to spin above their feets and hitting the Armights with each hammer, Ness used PK Thunder on him to crash with a powerful blow of electricity and the Armights dissapeared after touching the wall.

"I wish I could do that too!" Chris said remarking Ness's PK Thunder attack, he rubbed his chin if he could do it and he stood with crossed arms and 2 fingers in each hand pointing at both directions (he was mimicking the way Lucas does his PK Thunder), and for his surprise, he shouted "PK Thunder!" and a ball of lightning came slowly from his head and he ordered it from his mind to touch him, he was sent with another similar blow towards a Shaydas, he passed through his body and at the end of the attack, the Shaydas went blasting off and Chris landed safely on the floor.

"Wow, that was incredible!" Ness remarked.

"It was?" Chris asked rubbing the back of his head embarrased.

"That is not something to be embarrased for you know."

Chris laughed for a bit "I think you're right."

"BEHIND YOU!"

A huge Bytan appeared behind Chris and he was about to attack, but Jigglypuff used Rest on him and he was destroyed in a single blow.

"Thank you Jigglypuff." Chris said, but Jigglypuff was sleeping "Jigglypuff? Hello?"

"Huh? Good morning..." She said shaking her head, Chris rolled his eyes and frowned.

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"What in the name of the Egg Carrier is going on in this place?" Bocoe asked when he heard many explosions coming from far away.

"It's something wrong?" The boy asked, he was Chris!

"How are we suppose to know? We're just watching you!" Decoe protested.

"But I think you should see what is the problem." Chris suggested and crossed his arms "I mean, you can go right?"

"That is againts the orders of Dr Eggman!" Bocoe said "If he finds out, we're done for!"

"But he will be too angry if he finds this colony destroyed and you 2 will be punished for just looking and not trying to do something, am I right?" Chris asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh no, he is right Decoe, do you imagine what can the doctor could possibly do to us?" Bocoe asked to Decoe and he made a image in his head reflecting the future.

"YOU IDIOTS! THIS BASE WAS BELONGING TO MY GRANDFATHER AND YOU JUST SIT AND WATCH THE WHOLE COLONY BEING DESTROYED?! I'M GOING TO SHRED YOUR METAL TO RIBBONS AND MELT IT IN SCORCHING FIRE!" Dr Eggman said while fire was coming from his eyes in Decoe's head and he gasped.

"WE NEED TO GO!" Decoe said grabbing Bocoe's hand and they ran away leaving Chris behind laughing a little.

"I didn't thought it could be so easy to trick them!" He said laughing and he stopped "But I need to find Sonic and the others soon, I can't stand here knowing that the world is being menaced by-" When he looked outside, his eyes widened when he saw the Subspace Bomb "A BOMB?! When did that was there?!" He asked to himself holding his hair, he was freaking out a little "Okay, change of terms, I can't stand here knowing that the world is being menaced by a huge bomb, I need to do something about it and what can Sonic say to me?"

Inside Chris's mind, there was Sonic looking at him and smirking "Leave the fight to the professionals!" He said punching a robot bigger than him and Chris shook his head.

"Nah, he would never say anything like that to me ever in my life." Chris said to himself smiling a bit (how wrong he was since he thought that), and he walked away slowly, but he heard someone coming from the other side of the hall, it was Shadow with a strange dark aura surrounding his body.

"(Is that Shadow? Why is he glowing?)" Chris asked to himself hiding in a corner, Shadow passed at his side and Chris sweated a little, but fortunately, Shadow went away without finding Chris, Chris sighed in relief and he ran to the other side "(Soon Sonic, I'll be reunited with all of you.)" He thought while running.

But unbeknownst to him, Shadow did saw him.

Space Colony ARK
Replacement of the Eternal Engine level

"HEEELLLPPPP!!" Somebody yelled from far away and everyone looked at the direction of the voice.

"That voice...Chris!" Amy said running away to find Chris.

"Amy! Wait up!" Popo said trying to stop Amy, but she didn't listened and continued running away.

"Somebody is approaching." Lucario said warning all of them, while Amy was running, she found Tails standing in her way.

"Tails!" Amy said surprised.

"Hi Amy, did you managed to kill them?" He asked smiling a bit.

But Amy raised her hammer "Is this a no for your question?!"

"What?! You LEFT us?! HOW COULD YOU AMY?!" Tails said enraged.

"SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU'RE NOT THE TAILS I KNEW BEFORE!" Amy said.

"DARN IT! I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT DESTROY YOU ALONG WITH THEM!" He said flying away to another area, Amy followed him and soon, everyone else ran with her. They found themselves standing in a wide green area.

"Where'd he go?" Falco asked looking around.

"RIGHT HERE!" Tails shouted from above, he descended inside a big white robot laughing evily and everyone were surprised to see a big robot standing in their way.

"We can't lose more time now!" Roy said.

"Then go! Leave this to me!" Pikachu said stepping in front of them.

"I see, robots are weak againts electricity." Mewtwo said.

"I-I-I'll stay behind too!" Pichu said stepping to the right side of Pikachu.

"I'm staying here too!" Ness said walking next to Pikachu.

Fox joined them "Go now, leave this to us and proceed with caution."

Chris nodded "Okay, but be careful!" He said running away with the others, but Tails stopped them in their way.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

"PK THUNDER!" Ness shouted firing himself towards Tails and the machine received the hit studdering a little "GO!" Ness yelled and they ran away.

"I'LL DESTROY YOU 4!" Tails said stomping the floor with the machine, Ness, Pikachu, Pichu and Fox stood in a fighting stance.

"Now let's see what fox is stronger." Fox said narrowing his eyes. Ness, Pikachu and Pichu sweatdropped "What? Did I said something weird?" Fox asked confused.

Preview of the next chapter

"As we thought, they are trying to destroy us with all their arsenal at their disposal."

"Yeah, but I feel sorry for fighting againts Sonic's friends Mewtwo."

"It's our fate Ness, you knew that since Amy told us."

"When this is over, let's just forget they were taken by the Primids."

"I agree with you."

"Next time: 2 hedgehogs, 2 Chris and a war!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Space Colony ARK
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Amy

Third time in space and second time to have another character with the same name, Chris is such a magnet for the anime. XD

Don't think wrong about me, I don't hate Sonic X at all, but I think I forgot some things on the story, but I think it's good of the way I wrote it right? I forgot the part of "GET READY!", please forgive me. XP

There's going to be a lot of action in the next chapter, and Chris x Chris moment (Not gay for the last time! Sorry fans who loves gay pairings!) Read and review please! It's going to be really appreciated!

By the way, have you noticed that Chris (From the anime) looks a lot like Sora from Kingdom Hearts? Compare them!
*Chapter 37*: Our Chris Is The Left One

Well, this chapter is a little shorter than the others, so the real action is going to be in the next one and the final chapter of this arc, but at least some introductions and background stories are good to remember right?

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 37: 2 hedgehogs, 2 Chris and a war!

Boss Battle Song 1

GET

READY!

"X Tornado, Battle Mode engaged!" Tails shouted pressing a button and the X Tornado changed to a floating machine with 2 big hands "Ha! Now try to destroy this baby!"

"Why I'm thinking he doesn't says baby too often?" Ness wondered.

"Shut up! Take this!" Tails shouted and the X Tornado charged a quick punch at Ness, but Ness did a double jump in the air dodging the attack, Pichu took the opportunity to cast a thunder below the punch and the X Tornado was struck by the lightning and Tails gritted his teeths "You're so annoying, did you knew that?"

"Don't say that to him!" Pikachu said above Tails's window, Tails was too slow to react before Pikachu casted another thunder which came with a strong impact upon the machine.

"ARGH! TAKE THIS!" Tails yelled trying to punch Pichu, but Fox pushed him out of the way and they barely evaded the attack "STOP MOVING!"

"Look below you!" Pikachu said below the X Tornado, Tails tried to stay away from Pikachu but another thunder came from above but this time, the thunder broke through the glass of the cockpit and Tails was damaged badly inside.

Tails yelled in pain, that was the last thing someone could dare to do to him, but before he could retaliate, Ness was just inside the cockpit in front of Tails with a Baseball Bat, Tails's eyes widened and Ness started to hit him hard with the bat, but Tails managed to grab Ness using a hand of the machine and he threw the PK user to a wall, fortunately, Ness was able to evade the crash.

"THAT'S IT!" Tails said and he ordered the X Tornado to spin around the air with the hands extended at both sides, he moved to Pikachu and the hands slapped him hard enough to bury him in the wall, Pichu went to Pikachu's side, but the X Tornado was coming closer to them.

"AAAAHHHH!!" Pichu yelled terrified.

"PK THUNDER!" Ness shouted firing a ball of lightning directly to Tails and the fox with 2 tails stopped his attack to regain his composture, it was too late because Fox was hovering in the air with fire surrounding him.

"What th-"

"FIRE!" Fox was surrounded by fire and he turned into a blazing comet, the attack was fast enough to hit the right hand and destroy it in the process, Fox landed safely above the floor and Tails was shocked to see his machine being slowly destroyed by 4 little pests.

"MY-MY X TORNADO! STOP IT!" Tails yelled trying to beg.

However, Ness came back using another PK Thunder and he went blasting off to the other hand and it exploded with the strong blow of electricity, Tails was now defenseless at this point.

"WHY YOU LITTLE! FINE! IT'S TIME TO FIRE THE CANNON!" Tails said pushing a button, from both hands a blue light was starting to charge up and he pointed it at Pichu, Pikachu and Ness (Ness landed near them), that made Fox to grin a little and he stood in front of them with one hand in his belt "YOU WANT TO DIE FIRST?! FINE!"

The cannon was fired directly at Fox, but he took out his Reflector and he was surrounded by a diagonal shaped figure "A shield?! This cannon can break any kind of shield!"

"Who said it was a shield?" Fox asked smirking a little, Tails made a confused face and he thought what was Fox trying to say.

"Unless it's a...REFLECTOR! OH NO!" Tails said gasping. For his misfortune, the beam was abruptaly reflected back to him and the whole machine exploded with Tails inside, he yelled in extreme pain and after a blinding light coming from the explosion covered the whole area, it panned out showing Tails unconscious on the floor and the Shadow Bugs escaped from his body.

The crowd cheered for them and the music stops.

"It's over." Pikachu said getting up and shaking his head.

Pichu and Ness sighed in relief and Fox approached to Tails and kneeled "Hey, are you ok?" Fox asked.

"Ugh...my head...where am I?" Tails said getting up slowly from the floor, then he saw the face of Fox looking at him "Who...are you?"

"Fox."

Tails got up completely and he cleaned his head from the smoke "Fox? Well, you're a fox like me, but is that really your name?"

"Of course, and I know your name is Tails and I think it's because of your 2 tails right?" Fox said looking at Tails's...tails.

Tails rubbed his forehead "Hehehe, you're right, but how did you knew my name?"

"Amy told us."

"Amy?" Tails looked around and he saw Ness, Pichu and Pikachu looking at him "There are more of you in this colony as well?"

"Yeah, my comrades headed that way." Fox pointed behind Tails to a corridor.

Ness, Pichu and Pikachu introduced themselves to Tails.

"Do you remember anything?" Ness asked.

"Well, I remember being covered by strange purple spores and Amy was also living the same situation...and...SONIC! HE DID THAT! I SAW THOSE STRANGE SPORES COMING FROM HIS HANDS!"

"Master Tails, I see you've been recovered from your mad state." A voice spoke close to them.

"Is that you Mr Tanaka?" Tails asked, the person inside the space suit came from another corridor and he approached to Tails, it was Tanaka, Chris Thorndyke's personal butler.

"What a relief to see you well." Tanaka said while his little japanese theme played when he appeared "I thank you 4 for saving him." He said bending a little.

"Well, thanks." Ness said.

"Master Tails, we must go on and find Chris before anything bad happen to him." Tanaka said.

"Yeah, I know, but...where is my X Tornado?" Tails asked looking around for his machine.

"My bad, you fired a big beam at us and I used my Reflector to return the attack at your machine and it exploded." Fox said rubbing his head and Tails looked down sadly but his ears perked up a little.

"Wait, Reflector you said?"

Fox took out his Reflector and showed it to Tails "This is the Reflector." Tails took the Reflector and he started to examine it.

"Amazing! I haven't see this kind of technology before in my life! Whoever did this is a total genius!" Tails remarked returning the Reflector to Fox and he kept it in his belt.

"Slippy will be happy to hear this coming from another inventor like you." Fox said.

"Ahem." Tanaka said.

"I forgot about Chris! We need to find him!" Tails said.

"Alright, you can come with us!" Pikachu said smiling.

Tails (And Tanaka) has joined your team temporaly!

"The direction where they went was...there!" Pichu said pointing to the right corridor, everyone nodded and they left the room.

Space Colony ARK
Near the Capsule Room

"Huh? Who are they?" Falco asked when he saw 2 strange robots running at them.

"They are the intruders! Seize them!" Decoe said.

10 seconds later...

Decoe and Bocoe were touching the wall with their backs while Lucario, Pit, Amy and Roy were pointing their weapons at them.

"Okay, tell us, where is Chris?" Chris asked with his hands behind his back.

"Why we should tell you?" Bocoe said and Lucario thrusted his lance just an inch away from his head and Bocoe sweatdropped "He-he-he is in the next room! Ju-ju-just follow this hall and you can't miss it!"

"Bocoe! You traitor!" Decoe said angry.

"It was either live or be punished by Dr Eggman...wait, that's worser!" Bocoe said gasping. Everyone else besides him and Decoe left running away to the Capsule Room "Just who were those guys? They don't seem to be one of Dr Eggman's rivals as Sonic is!"

"You didn't saw Amy with them? Any friend of Sonic or his friends is the enemy of the doctor!" Decoe said.

"We need to report this to him! I don't care if he menace us with punishments, he is going to listen this time around! Come on!" Bocoe said running away with Decoe.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!" A little robot with 2 horns came floating away scared.

"Bokkum! What are you yelling?" Decoe asked.

"Guys! It's horrible! The doctor, Shadow and Rouge...AAAAHHH!! I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT!!" Bokkum said moving his hands up and down.

"Keep it down! Tell us what happened to them!" Bocoe demanded.

Bokkum sniffed "...I...well...this is what happened..."

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"Shadow! What is wrong with you?! Stop! AAAHHH!" Chris yelled barely evading one of Shadow's Spin Dash attack.

"Orders from the doctor, you must be eliminated now." Shadow said in a serious tone.

"But I thought you were going to use me as bait for Sonic!" Chris protested.

"Him? No, you don't understand, he's already in our side."

"What?! That can't be possible! He'd never join you in his life!"

"Feel the truth kid, he's bad, a villain, admit it." Shadow said crossing his arms.

Chris looked at the floor clenching his hands "No...you're lying!" Unfortunately, Chris wasn't expecting Shadow and the hedgehog used another Spin Dash and Chris blocked his face and yelled in terror.

"HAAA!" A branch smacked the Spin Dash and Shadow was sent crashing to the wall.

"...Huh?" Chris opened his face and he gasped when he saw another human and more strange persons standing in front of him "Wh-who are you?!"

"Allies, now stay behind and try to not be attacked." Falco said glancing at Shadow.

"But how did you came here?"

"It doesn't matters!" The other Chris said and shook his head.

"So you're here, good, now I can kill all of you in one assault." Shadow said.

"Not if we attack first!" Popo said.

"Chris, run away with him, leave this to us." Mewtwo said glowing, he, Popo, Nana, Falco and Roy stepped in front of Chris, the other Chris, Amy, Lucario, Pit and Jigglypuff, Chris nodded and he told Chris to come with him and the group escaped.

"Fine, I shall kill them later," Shadow pointed at the current group in the room "You're next."

"So be it." Mewtwo said.

Space Colony ARK
Near the Capsule Room

"Wait! Just who are you?! Amy, you know them?" Chris asked while running.

"I just met them a while ago, they're a lot of help!" Amy said.

"But the only thing I can't understand is why is another kid like me doing here!" Chris said confused.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Chris protested.

"Haven't you see yourself in a mirror? You have the same height as me!"

"What are you talking abou-" Chris noticed that he was the same size as the other Chris "This world has also his own air?"

"Now I even more confused!" Chris said.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP! First, we must introduce ourselves!" Chris suggested.

5 minutes later...

"...Your name is Chris too?" Chris asked and Chris nodded "And they are your partners...even the angel?" Chris asked pointing to Pit.

"Even Pit." Chris said.

"And you're here to destroy that bomb which is going to explode right?"

"Correct."

"But I don't understand, why Shadow said Sonic was a bad guy?"

"This is going to sound very painful to you, but...Sonic has been turned into a bad guy just recently." Chris said looking away.

(To not confuse both kids (Chris: I'M NOT A KID!) with their names, we're going to call the Chris from Sonic's world Christopher outside the dialogue)

Christopher's eyes widened after hearing that Sonic was now a villain "But how? Sonic is not a bad guy!"

"It's the truth." Jigglypuff said.

"I fought him not so long ago." Lucario said.

"...Why? Who made him to act like that? It was me?" Christopher asked.

"You have nothing to do with this, Sonic was attacked by the Primids." Chris said.

"Primids?"

Chris, Lucario, Jigglypuff and Pit explained everything to Christopher.

"So they are the responsibles for this?" Christopher asked. Pit nodded "I can't believe this..."

"I'm can't believe it either, but in order to make Sonic a good guy again, we need to defeat him." Chris said.

"...Alright, I understand, but please, try to not kill him."

Christopher has joined your team temporaly!

"Oh, don't be afraid, I'll never die by them EVER in my life." A voice spoke behind them.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted.

"Sonic! So it's true!" Christopher said.

"It's true what? The fact that I'm going to kill you here right now?" Sonic asked smirking.

"Ok, I'm so mad at you now! Give me back my Sonic!" Amy said with hammer ready.

"You're not the Sonic I knew before! The Sonic I know it's a good friend, a hero to many persons, a person who doesn't hesitates to stop Dr Eggman, a-"

"A person that leaves you most of the time while you enjoy your free time with Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese and he will just come when you're in danger." Chris finished.

"...Umm...well...sadly that is true but...I know your friend also leaves you alone! And how did you knew about Cream and Cheese?" Christopher tried to taunt and asked.

"Who? Lucario?" Chris looked at Lucario and both laughed heartily "He doesn't leaves my side ever, I'm always taking him in every adventure and for your question, I know many things."

"...WHAT?!"

"He is right." Lucario said nodding. Christopher was now feeling a little depressed, everyone didn't noticed that he was ducking in a corner with black tiles surrounding his body as he was touching the floor with one finger.

"We just made him to act like an emo." Pit said.

"I'm NOT emo!" Christopher got up from the floor upset.

"Guys, we ignored Sonic again." Jigglypuff said pointing at Sonic while he crossed his arms.

"Are you done? Finally, now DIE!" He said turning into a spinning ball, Lucario thrusted his lance to attack, but Sonic moved far away in the hall and he came with great speed delivering a strong blow to them.

"Chris, go, leave this guy to us!" Pit said taking out his blades, Chris nodded and he along with Christopher ran further inside the colony with Lucario and Jigglypuff following them, Pit and Amy stood still in a fighting stance to stop Sonic.

"Let me pummel you!" Amy said jumping towards Sonic with her hammer ready.

Space Colony ARK
A part that resembles the Meteor Herd level inside the colony

"I think we can rest for now." Jigglypuf said sitting on the floor, they were standing next to an abyss with a half-constructed platform.

"Lucario, go and stay guarding us from anyone who comes here." Chris said, Lucario nodded and he ran near a corner, jumped and he held his position in the roof hiding in the darkness to attack anyone.

"Say Chris, I want to ask you some questions." Christopher said.

"What questions?"

Christopher looked away "Well...it's about you and Lucario, have you been together most of the time?" Jigglypuff was sitted next to Chris while she was hearing the conversation.

Traverse Town

Chris looked at the platform "Yes, he has been with me ever since I helped him recover from a horrible fever, after that, he hasn't leaved my side because he said I was so peaceful and kind for taking care of him," Chris looked at Christopher and smiled "I'm really happy to have someone like him as my friend, he always protects me from danger whenever I get into trouble and for sum that up, I live all alone in my house without my fathers because they travel around to do serious business, it's really fun to have company like Lucario."

"Wow, you're the same as me!"

"What do you mean?"

"I met Sonic one night and he fell to my pool in my house, I woke up and got up from bed to look who fell inside the water, I thought it was cat again, but after swimming inside, I saw Sonic there with crossed arms and an angry face since he hates the water so much, I swam to him and grabbed his hand to pull him to the surface and we got out and gasped for air, I asked what was his name and he answered saying "I'm Sonic the hedgehog!", after that, well, you don't want to know..."

"Oh please, tell us!" Jigglypuff said excited.

Christopher continued his story "The next morning, Sonic wanted to leave and find his friends as soon as possible, I asked him to stay just a little longer but he didn't listened and ran away, but I asked if he knew the city, after a second, he came back and lifted his arms and made a confused face with a weird smile, I knew he didn't knew anything about the city so he stayed with me, some time later, we found the others by searching, Tails was a great help back when we rescued Cream and Cheese from the military base."

Christopher looked at the floor "But after that, Sonic was always leaving me with Cream, Cheese, Amy and Tails in my house, the only way I could see him is if there was a Chaos Emerald to find or whenever we got in trouble by Eggman, and just to let you know, I also live alone in my house with them because my dad is an important business man and my mom is a famous actress, she was always asking me why my friends were wearing costumes, but after a while, she knew the truth."

"Interesting!" Jigglypuff said.

"But is there a way to be useful to Sonic?" Christopher asked.

"Well, I don't know what can you do." Chris responded.

"And I don't know what can you do either, you just smacked Shadow with a branch." Christopher said crossing his arms.

"Oh, you don't know me very well." Chris put his hand in front of his face and little sparks of energy came from it, Christopher gasped after he saw that.

"What the-how did you do that?"

Chris stopped his demostration "I have special powers to learn abilities in battles, it helps me so much when I'm in trouble, luckily, I'm not a burden to my friends."

Christopher looked away "A burden...that is the thing I've been doing ever since I found Sonic."

"Hey! How can you say that to yourself? Don't be so harsh please, I know you can be of some use to Sonic!"

"But, tell me! What should I do? The reason I'm here it's because Shadow kidnapped me!"

"Certainly, I don't know for what thing you can help, I'm sorry for not answering that question," Chris blinked "But try harder and find your way to help them out, that's the only thing I can say if that cheers you up."

Christopher closed his eyes and opened them after 3 seconds "Thanks, I'll remember that for sure." He smiled at Chris and Jigglypuff and him returned the smile.

The music stops "...Wait, did you said Chaos Emeralds just a moment ago?"

"Well yeah, I did, why? The Chaos Emeralds are here inside the colony in the core."

"Oh no...we're in serious trouble now..."

"Why?" Jigglypuff and Christopher asked.

"Who knows what could happen if Sonic OR Shadow gets in possession of the Chaos Emeralds while they're possesed by the Primids."

Christopher gasped "You...You're right! The way they're acting right now could be serious trouble if they manage to grab the emeralds!"

"Then you know what to do right?"

"Of course! We need to get the Chaos Emeralds before they can get them!"

"Nobody else is approaching." Lucario said approaching to Chris.

"Lucario, we have a new mission," Chris stood up "We need to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from the core before Sonic or Shadow can take or touch them!"

"Then let's go!" Jigglypuff said jumping from the floor, Christopher stood up and they nodded and looked at the platform "Talking about narrow to walk..."

"We have to watch our step." Chris said.

"That won't be necessary." Lucario said.

"Why?" Chris asked, just then, Lucario grabbed Chris with one arm (since the other was occupied with the lance) and he jumped to the other side and put Chris down to the floor "I see!" Chris said, Lucario jumped back and he grabbed Christopher, since Jigglypuff can float in the air for a time, she made it without problems.

"I really admire Lucario now." Christopher said.

"Where are you going boys?" A female voice spoke in the platform, they turned their backs so see who was talking to them.

"Rouge!" Christopher revealed the bat girl, which was being surrounded by the same dark aura.

"Now where is Knuckles? I want to recover the shards of the Master Emerald." She asked.

"Sorry, but we don't know where is Knuckles now." Chris said.

"Too bad then, I have to stop you 4 and wait for him to appear."

"I know the perfect way to call him though." Christopher said.

"What?" Rouge asked raising an eyebrow.

Christopher placed his hands in front of his mouth "HEY KNUCKLES! SOMEONE SAID YOU'RE TOO WEAK TO EVEN LIFT A PEBBLE!" He shouted.

"...That's it? The only way to call Knuckles is with an insult?" Jigglypuff asked. Just then, the roof above them started to shake and it was destroyed by a white glove with spikes, then it revealed to be Knuckles and he landed in front of the group.

"WHO SAID THAT TO ME?!" Knuckles asked enraged.

"Calm down, nobody told you that." Christopher said chuckling a little.

"Hey Knuckles." Rouge said, Knuckles turned his back and saw Rouge on the platform and he jumped and landed in front of her.

"Rouge! What happened to you?" Knuckles asked.

"Why, I joined another side which promised me more jewels and you know I can fall for them so easily." She said smirking a little.

"...Let's just leave them alone." Christopher said, they nodded and ran away in the other hall.

"Huh? Wasn't that Chris? And who were the others?" Kunckles asked turning his head to see them disappearing.

"You asked just now? My, you're so slow." Rouge said, a red toon vein popped out of Knuckles's head and he gritted his teeths (or fangs) and turned to Rouge.

"Okay, now that's it! You will give me back the shards of the Master Emerald now!"

"Humph, try me!" Rouge said taunting.

Space Colony ARK
Near the Capsule Room

"And that's pretty much it." Bokkum said finishing his story.

"Unbelievable! The doctor and the others got possesed?" Bocoe asked terrified, Bokkum nodded a little scared "Now what are we going to do Decoe?"

"I think it's time for Sonic and friends to stop him this time, we can't do anything by ourselves, let's just face it, we're useless right now."

"Oh, who are they?" Bokkum saw Fox's group approaching to them.

"Intruders! Seize the-" Decoe was interrupted by Bocoe.

"Stop, we know what is going to happen now." Bocoe said frowning.

10 seconds later...

Once again, the poor pair of useless robots (along with Bokkum) were being questioned while their backs were touching the wall.

"So that happened then?" Tails asked, the trio of robots nodded.

"Absolutely, the doctor is in trouble now." Bokkum said.

"Let's go and find the others soon!" Pichu said, after a second, everyone ran further inside.

"This was more humiliating than the last time." Decoe said.

"Why?" Bocoe asked.

"There was a little big headed kid with them and we got questioned by 2 yellow rats."

"...We're the laugh of the villains right?"

"Afraid so."

1/4 of the screen suddenly shows Mewtwo's group fighting Shadow.

"He's good, what are we going to do?" Roy asked to Falco.

"What else? Just keep fighting back!" Falco answered.

"That's the plan." Mewtwo said telepathically while dodging Shadow's Spin Dash.

Another 1/4 of the screen suddenly shows Fox's group running to the capsule room.

"I'm feeling a strong dark energy coming from a room!" Ness said.

"Got it." Fox said nodding.

Another 1/4 suddenly shows Pit's group fighting againts Sonic.

"He's so darn fast!" Pit said panting.

"I know...it's hard to hit him while he runs." Amy said panting.

"See this?" Sonic was holding a yellow emerald and Amy gasped.

"OH NO! THAT'S A CHAOS EMERALD!"

"A what?" Pit asked confused.

"It's a powerful crystal that holds an amazing power, whoever knows how to use it can turn into a powerful being!"

"Let me guess, Sonic knows how to use it right?" Pit asked, Amy nodded and they saw Sonic's hand shining and turned into a better version of the Spin Dash attack and he prepared to attack them.

The final 1/4 of the screen shows Knuckles fighting againts Rouge.

"UGH! (Something is wrong with Rouge, what the hell is the dark aura for?)" Knuckles thought inside his mind while dodging one of Rouge's kicks.

Then, the entire screen shows Chris's group being surrounded by Primids.

"They are the Primids?" Christopher asked while pointing to a Metal Primid.

"Yes, they were the ones who took Sonic." Chris said.

Preview of the next chapter

"We're doing a race to the core of the colony?"

"Yes Pichu."

"But how are we going to make it before Sonic and Shadow, Tails?"

"We need to try at least or the Earth is doomed!"

"Bah, it was doomed from the beginning."

"What'd you said?"

"I mean, it still has hope to survive!"

"...Next time: The cheapest thing in fights!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Space Colony ARK
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Amy, Tails, Christopher

So there you go, I was feeling a little inspired this time, maybe if I hear more music while writing the next chapter can make me more entusiastic, read and review please!

And luckily, Christopher evaded being emo. XD
*Chapter 38*: Hedgehogs Of Evil

At last, the action starts with this chapter and the next chapter is the final battle of this arc, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And there are some references, just keep your eyes on the dialogues!

Read, please enjoy, and review!

Chapter 38: The cheapest thing in fights!

Mission: Defeat the bosses and reach the core!

Boss Theme Medley

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

GET
READY!

Shadow prepared another Spin Dash, this time he was attacking the Ice Climbers, they prepared to wait for right time to dodge him.

"Wait, use Blizzard." Mewtwo said, the Ice Climbers stared at him for a moment.

"Ok..why not?" Nana asked to Popo and he nodded, Shadow was now firing himself towards them, Popo and Nana used Blizzard and Shadow was instantly frozen.

"Now..." Mewtwo lifted psychically the frozen Shadow and slammed him in the roof, shattering the ice, Shadow was about to fell on the floor, but Falco kicked him in the air and the hedgehog slipped in the floor with his face and got up quickly.

"You're good, but I'm better." Shadow said.

"Oh no, nostalgia!" Falco said.

Shadow ran this time without using Spin Dash and he rolled behind Mewtwo and punched him hard in the back, Mewtwo closed his eyes to resist the pain and he turned to see Shadow.

"Why you..." Mewtwo charged up a Shadow Ball and it went flying in a strange pattern and Shadow couldn't see which way to go and dodge the attack, but unfortunately for him, the Shadow Ball got him and he backed away shaking head.

The Ice Climbers were in the air above Shadow and he looked above and they smashed his face with their hammers, Shadow was sent flying to another wall but he rolled in the air and went straight to Falco and the Star Fox member fell on the floor. Shadow quickly jumped in the air and he extended his feet to attack Falco's head while he was a little distracted trying to get up.

"FIRE!"

Shadow was pushed in the air but landed in his feet, Fox came using Fire Fox and he stood in front of Falco.

"Falco, are you alright?" Fox asked while Falco was getting up from the floor.

"A little weak, but I'm fine, thanks." He replied.

"Ugh, more?" Shadow asked, behind him, someone shouted "PK Thunder!" and he felt a lot of electricity being sent through his body and he went flying away a little.

"Can I join the fight please?" Ness asked to Mewtwo and he nodded.

"Where's Master Chris?" Tanaka asked.

"The Chris you're searching for went ahead in the hall you're in." Mewtwo said, Tanaka nodded and he, along with Tails, Pichu and Pikachu ran further in the hall leaving Fox and Ness behind to fight Shadow.

Shadow looked behind him and stared at Ness "Humph, you're interesting, that's why you should die first than the others."

"No way!" Ness protested, Shadow ran towards him with a fist ready, but Ness trapped him inside his PK Fire, Fox and Falco saw their opportunity and they kicked Shadow out of the fire sending him straight to the Ice Climbers and they raised their hammers and slammed them in Shadow's face and he went flying to Mewtwo, who grabbed him psychically and threw him to the roof, Shadow touched the roof with his hands and he went after Fox with a punch ready.

"You're doing the same tricks." Fox stated and he disappeared using his illusion and Shadow landed the punch shattering the floor a little, Ness used his bat to hit him in the back, Shadow moaned a little in pain and he glared at Ness, he again rolled in the floor and pushed Ness with a strong Spin Dash, Ness was about to touch the wall, but Nana got him in time before he could touch the wall, Ness sighed in relief.

"Time to end this." Mewtwo said and he floated towards Shadow, the hedgehog ran to the other side of the room and he used the Spin Dash again, but this time, he rolled around the floor with great speed and he attacked everyone in a single move, making them to trip or back away.

Just then, Shadow took out a red Chaos Emerald and held it in his right hand showing it in the air "CHAOS SPEAR!" He shouted and yellow spears came from nowhere going straight to Ness, the PK kid gasped and he tried to evade the attack by running, but he tripped and he was at the grasp of the attack.

"Ha!" Falco yelled kicking his Reflector to protect Ness from the spears, the spears were reflected back at Shadow but he jumped back and the spears destroyed the floor with a great blow.

"Reflecting my own attack back at me, not bad, but still." Shadow used the power of the Chaos Emerald and he teleported behind Fox and punched him in the head, Fox was a little stunned enough for Shadow to kick him in the back and sending him slipping in the floor, Falco tried to attack him with his hands, but Shadow teleported behind him and did the same as Fox.

"(Ok, I got it!)" Ness said to Mewtwo in his mind.

"Weakling." Mewtwo said to Shadow, the hedgehog grunted a little and he teleported behind Mewtwo, Mewtwo grinned at this and then, Ness used PK Thunder on him and he was sent with a strong electrical blow towards Shadow, Shadow couldn't dodge the attack and he yelled in pain and he fell unconscious on the floor dropping the red Chaos Emerald.

"We did it?" Fox asked getting up with the help of Falco.

"For now it seems." Mewtwo said nodding.

"Ugh...I can't lose...to inferior beings like you here...not if I'm the ultimate lifeform..." Shadow said under his breath.

"The inferior being is you." Mewtwo said.

"We'll see about that after I gather the Chaos Emeralds..." Shadow said smirking and he took the Chaos Emerald and disappeared in a blink.

"Follow him!" Popo said, everyone nodded and they started to chase Shadow out of the Capsule Room.

Space Colony ARK
Near the Capsule Room

"AMY! WATCH OUT!" Pit yelled, but it was too late and Amy was struck by Sonic's powered Spin Dash and she yelled in pain and crashed to a wall fainting in the process while being stuck there.

"She's not a good fighter, pathetic, she's not worth to fight me." Sonic said narrowing his eyes, unfortunately for him, Pit shot an arrow directed to his head and Sonic backed away slowly rubbing the spot "How dare you!"

"It's my job to stop you from killing her!" Pit protested.

"I want to see THAT!" Sonic was struck by a thunder coming from behind and he flew a long distance in the hall before stopping by touching the floor with his feet, he turned his back to see Pikachu with electricity coming from his cheeks.

"Don't do anything to her!" Pichu demanded doing the same as Pikachu.

"If you want to kill somebody, try to kill us!" Roy said with his sword ready.

"Sonic! What is wrong with you?" Tails asked worried after he saw Amy fainted in the wall.

"No Tails, what is wrong with you? You left our side so soon? I thought you were going to destroy them as me." Sonic asked smirking.

"You know that I'm good guy like you!" Tails said pointing at Sonic.

"A good guy like me? I take that as an insult you little twerp!"

"Master Sonic, this kind of manners coming from you now it's really intolerable, I ask you to stop." Tanaka said with a straight face.

"How about no?" Sonic said chuckling a little.

"I thought you were going to say in the beginning."

"Fool, then why did you asked me that?"

"Because we want the old Sonic to return with us!" Tails said.

"The old Sonic you knew is dead, you're watching now the new Sonic, a person which is hungry for more power!" He said turning into the powered version of the Spin Dash, Tails could have sworn that the yellow Chaos Emerald was in Sonic's hand and he gasped.

"Watch out! His attacks are stronger while he is holding the Chaos Emerald!" Tails warned everyone, Pikachu, Pichu, Roy and Pit nodded and they prepared to defend againts the Spin Dash, Sonic went blasting off with great towards them but Pit used his Mirror Shield to protect himself from the attack and Sonic bounced quickly and he hit the roof with his own attack and was still spinning in the roof without moving at all.

"NOW!" Pikachu said under Sonic, he and Pichu nodded to each other and they casted 2 thunders and they struck Sonic while spinning, he yelled in pain and he fell off the roof, but Pit ran below him and he slashed Sonic with his twin blades and Sonic was sent again to the roof, but Pikachu slammed his tail in Sonic's face, then Roy hit him with a little charged Flare Blade, the hedgehog yelled and he crashed in the floor and moaned in pain as the fire stopped.

"I think it's over now." Tails said sighing, he looked to Amy and pulled her from the wall while she shook his head confused.

"What happened Tails?" Amy asked, Tails pointed behind her and they saw Sonic unconscious in the floor and the yellow emerald was laying at his right side.

"We should take the emerald back." Tails said walking towards the emerald, however, when he ducked, he was pushed by a strong punch from behind and he slipped in the floor with his body "Who...who pushed me?" Tails asked.

"It was me fox boy." Shadow said with a fist extended towards Tails.

"Shadow...you're here." Sonic said while gasping for air.

"You were defeated too..." He took the Chaos Emerald "Well, I'm planning to use the Chaos Emeralds right now to eliminate them once and for all, want more power?"

Sonic smirked at Shadow's plan "I like how that sounds..."

"Then get up and let's go to the core." Shadow ordered with crossed arms, Sonic jumped from the floor and they ran away with great speed towards the core.

"Oh no! They're going to use the Chaos Emeralds!" Amy said surprised.

"Guys!" Ness said running to them.

"Sonic and Shadow are going for the Chaos Emeralds!" Tails said.

"We need to stop them!" Pichu said.

"It's too late now, they're probably 1/5 away from us." Mewtwo stated.

"HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!" Someone said from where Sonic and Shadow went.

"Who was that?" Pit asked.

"I heard somebody being hit by a beam." Roy stated.

"That hideous laugh must be from..."Tails said.

Many meters away from them...

"Shadow...how could we let our guards down..." Sonix said in the floor.

"Hehehehe! You 2 thought you could get away with the emeralds without problems? Wrong!" Dr Eggman was there inside his floating machine along with Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkum. Oddly, he wasn't surrounded by the dark aura.

"It's incredible how can Bokkum's explosive TVs can defeat the doctor with one single attack." Decoe said to Bocoe.

"I thank you robots for snapping me out from that crazy mental power." Dr Eggman said grinning while holding the 2 Chaos Emeralds.

"Aw, it was nothing, anything for you doctor!" Bocoe said rubbing his head and blushing (he's not gay, by the way).

"And now, let's install these emeralds to the cannon to begin our operation to destroy the Earth!" Dr Eggman said floating away with the robots inside a hidden entrance and disappearing.

"I hate that Eggman..." Sonic said.

"Stop resting and let's continue!" Shadow demanded, Sonic grunted at this and they ran away with less speed since they weren't holding the emeralds.

Space Colony ARK
Meteor Herd level place look alike

(Because the author of this story is tired of describing battles, this scene will be displayed with Rouge being defeated after a long struggle againts Knuckles)

"Darn it..." Rouge said fainting slowly and falling in the abyys below, but Knuckles got her in time and the Shadow Bugs escaped from her body.

"It's over now, she's alright." Knuckles muttered to himself while holding Rouge "...There, the missing shards." He said taking away the shards of the Master Emerald from Rouge, he placed all the shards of the Master Emerald together and it recovered his original form "Finally..." He said touching the emerald.

"Ugh...my head..." Rouge was slowly opening her eyes and saw Knuckles staring at her and she blushed "AAHH! Stop holding me!!" She yelled and Knuckles blushed as well and Rouge jumped from his arms "What the heck is wrong with you retard?!"

"Retard?! You were being possesed by some strange spores!" Knuckles pointed out.

"Wait...I remember that I was being covered by those weird spores coming from some strange beasts...and...you completed the Master Emerald?" Rouge glanced at the Master Emerald.

"Well yeah! It's my job to protect it from you for example!" Knuckles said.

"Alright alright, I surrender, stealing the Master Emerald is not fun for me anymore." Rouge said lifting her hands above her shoulders.

After a moment, 2 fast blurs came from the hall disappearing to where Chris and his group went.

"Shadow?" Rouge said.

"Sonic?" Knuckles said.

"Together?" Both said in unison surprised.

"...Something is wrong with them." Knuckles said.

"I agree, seeing Shadow with Sonic running together creeps me out, I thought they were going to punch the other in quick movements but this doesn't looks like it." Rouge commented.

Space Colony ARK
Control Room

"Mwhahahaha! At last! All the Chaos Emeralds were gathered!" Dr Eggman said putting the last emerald in the cannon "Now, I just need to adjust the coordinates and fire the cannon to the Eart-what the hell is that?" Dr Eggman saw the big Subspace Bomb embedded to the cannon "A bomb?! How did that managed to appear there?!"

"ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!" A voice coming from the computer warned inside the whole colony "STARTING PLAN TO COLLIDE THE SPACE COLONY ARK WITH THE EARTH, ALL THE PERSONNEL MUST EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"

"What?!" Dr Eggman asked in shock and he started to type fast in the computer "I can't stop this thing! What is happening?!...Huh?" Dr Eggman saw a video starting to play in the computer as the Chaos Emeralds were taken away from the room.

Space Colony ARK
Near the Capsule Room

"Starting plan to collide the Space Colony ARK with the Earth?" Pichu said confused an terrified at the same time.

"Collision? This is getting worser now!" Roy said.

Pikachu's ears perked up "Huh? Someone is talking in that room..." He said running to the Capsule Room along with the others.

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

Inside the room, a machine appeared showing an old man chained to a chair and looking at the floor.

"Do you have anything else to say?" A voice spoke inside the video.

"No, I just wished to see the face of my beloved granddaughter Maria again, but you...you killed her in that assault to the colony along with the other scientists, we were just investigating an easier way to protect the Earth from danger and you misunderstood us believing that we were plotting to destroy the Earth." The old man said.

"Maria?" Ness said confused.

"Shh! He's not over yet." Amy said.

"But after so much work, we finally made the Ultimate Lifeform...the Project Shadow gave life to our new creation, a being with infinite power that will cause chaos and destruction to all the people who dares to attack him...you're doomed now."

"That's all?" The voice asked angrily.

"Yes, it's a shame I won't be here to see you all die by him."

"Alright soldiers, fire!" The voice commanded and the video ends with the old man screaming and dying afterwards by bullets from guns.

"But still, who was him?" Pichu asked confused.

"That was my Grandfather, Doctor Gerald Robotnik, a renombrate genius of the science by all." Dr Eggman came walking from the door explaining who was the old man in the video.

"But why was he killed?" Tails asked.

"He was killed by accident by the goverment after a misunderstanding for making experiments in this colony 50 years ago, every scientist died along with my cousin, Maria Robotnik."

He explained taking out a disc "This is the diary of him about the incident."

"Then let me insert it in the computer." Rouge came along with Knuckles while he was holding the Master Emerald in his hands "And when did we have so many different visitors?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't concerns me, just play the video." Dr Eggman said, Rouge took the disc and she walked to the computer and inserted the disc, after a second, the video starts with words appearing and Rouge reads them.

5 minutes later...

"I can't believe that happened here, he must have been feeling very sad about the death of Maria." Amy stated.

"In any case, we must stop the colony from crashing into the Earth! The power of the Chaos Emeralds combined will cause the biggest explosion of the story, even more powerful than a Supernova." Dr Eggman said typing in the computer and a map appeared showing the route to the core "Huh? Someone is already going there." He typed to show who was going to the core and a screen appeared showing Chris, Christopher, Lucario and Jigglypuff running and fighting againts the Primids.

"Chris!" Pichu said.

"Master Chris!" Tanaka said.

"That's the same kid from earlier!" Knuckles said.

"Wait, someone else is also going there." Dr Eggman typed in the computer and the screen showed Sonic and Shadow running at high speed towards the core, but then Sonic destroys the camera with his fist "Darn it! They need to hurry up before it's too late!"

"What can we do meanwhile?" Pikachu asked.

Dr Eggman looked at everyone "We don't have any choice left but wait for them to reach the core and take back the Chaos Emeralds, but if Sonic and Shadow manages to grab the emeralds, we must use the Master Emerald to neutralize their powers."

"The Master Emerald..." Knuckles trailed off while glancing at the Master Emerald.

"It's worth of a try." Rouge said.

"Chris! Hurry up! The Earth is in danger!" Popo and Nana said in unison cheering the group.

"I'm feeling something, at it's really bad." Roy said.

Space Colony ARK
Near the core

"That alarm is warning us from the collision to the Earth, we must reach the core and retrieve the emeralds!" Jigglypuff said while using Pound in an Auroros.

"Huh?"

"What is it Lucario?" Chris asked.

"They are coming here."

"Who?"

"Sonic and Shadow."

"Oh no, run faster!" Christopher said.

"Do you know a way to defeat Sonic while using the Chaos Emeralds?" Chris asked.

"No! Everytime he uses it, nobody so far was able to defeat him!"

"Then this is a high alert!"

"Look! We made it!" Jigglypuff said.

Space Colony ARK
Core

"A sanctum?" Christopher asked when he saw a Sanctum similar to the temple of the Chaos Emeralds.

"The Chaos Emeralds are there! Hurry up!" Chris said running with the others, they were standing around a pool with orange water and then, a virtual screen appeared above the sanctum "Huh?"

"Fools...you don't understand what it's the meaning of our creation..." Dr Gerald Robotnik said in the screen chained in a chair "You will see a true monster made by our technology..." The screen suddenly shuts down and a huge roar came from nowhere, the group looks above them and a huge lizard with a machine embedded to his back came falling in the center of the pool and he roared again.

"The Biolizard?" Chris asked surprised "We don't have much time left, somebody needs to stay behind and fight that beast!" When he said that however, Lucario was already grabbing both kids "...Oh no."

"HAAA!" Lucario tossed them to the other side of the pool and they fell on their butts "GO! I CAN DESTROY THIS GIANT LIZARD!"

"Correction, WE can destroy this huge lizard!" Jigglypuff said upset.

"...Alright, be careful! Remember that the machine it's his weak point!" Chris said leaving away with Christopher and they ran at the Sanctum while Lucario and Jigglypuff were fighting againts the Biolizard.

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"What in the world is that monster?" Falco asked.

"It can't be, so that was the experiment my grandfather and the scientists had been working on." Dr Eggman said.

Space Colony ARK
Core

02 Battle

GET

READY!

The Biolizard swung his tail to both Pokémon, but they jumped above it, the Biolizard however swung his tail in the air and both Pokémon were slammed in the floor.

"Ugh!" Lucario lifted the tail and Jigglypuff escaped, Lucario saw his opportunity and he quickly got out of the weight of the tail, the Biolizard roared and he charged up strange energy balls and fired them at both Pokémon, Lucario rolled, jumped and used Extremespeed to evade the energy balls, then the Biolizard was looking at his machine to recover energy that he hadn't lost yet.

"The machine!" Jigglypuff said.

"I've got it!" Lucario has learned a new ability, he jumped high above in the room and landed using a strong thrust into the machine with his lance, the Biolizard roared in pain and he swung his tail again, Jigglypuff used Rollout to escape to the other way while Lucario was evading the tail by jumping, the Biolizard opened his mouth to catch , but she rolled to the other side and slammed into the tail by accident, but the Biolizard felt pain and he shook a little.

"Now it's my turn!" Jigglypuff floated towards the machine and she used rest on the center, it made another strong blow and the Biolizard roared again, this time, he called strange pink spheres surrounding his whole body, he ordered them to slam into Lucario, but the Aura Pokémon dodged every attack since he knew which ones were going to come at him.

Jigglypuff woke up and she saw the Biolizard busy trying to attack Lucario, she blinked and floated towards the machine again, but a pink ball slammed into her and she landed in the water near the foot of the monster, the Biolizard lifted his foot above Jigglypuff and she yelled in terror, but Lucario came using Extremespeed, grabbing Jigglypuff and saving her from being crushed.

"What the..." Jigglypuff trailed off when she saw her feet above the floor along with Lucario, the Biolizard must have altered the gravity around his body to attack them, more pink ball were appearing around "No! I won't lose to him!" Jigglypuff said angrily and she started to use Pound to travel between the spheres, the Biolizard roared and the pink balls were flying towards Jigglypuff, but Lucario used his lance as a shield to destroy them while protecting Jigglypuff.

After floating through the gravity, Jigglypuff finally made it to the machine and she used the last attack using Pound and the machine was exploding now, the gravity turned back to normal, she and Lucario landed safely in the floor and they saw the Biolizard fainting and slamming his head in the water. The crowd cheers for them.

Music stops

"Now let's go, we need to catch up with Chris." Lucario said to Jigglypuff.

Space Colony ARK
Sanctum

After climbing a long staircase, both kids reached the center of the sanctum, and they found the 7 Chaos Emeralds laying on the ground and both smiled happily.

"We made it! We made it! We made it!" Both said singing.

"Alright, now we just need to hide them from the hedgehogs!" Chris said, Christopher nodded and he ducked to grab the Chaos Emeralds "Now we need to escape and the colony should stop from colliding with the Earth."

Chris and Christopher walked towards the long staircase but then...

"OH NO!" Chris said in shock after he saw a blue and a black blur coming from the other side of the big room, they passed right between Lucario and Jigglypuff and then they ran at high speed climbing the staircase and both were running towards Christopher, who was holding the 7 Chaos Emeralds.

"MOVE OUT! NO-" It was too late for Christopher to react because both hedgehogs landed a powerful punch in his face and stomach and he went falling to the other side of the sanctum (dropping the Chaos Emeralds in front of both hedgehogs) and Chris watched in terror as how Christopher was falling to the ground, but fortunately, Lucario used Extremespeed to reach the other side 6 seconds before Christopher could hit the floor and Chris sighed in relief.

"...No..." Chris was feeling the most powerful and destructive power being gathered behind his back after he felt a blinding light coming close to him, when he turned, for his horror, both hedgehogs were floating above the ground in their super forms smirking evil. But they were surrounded in a purple and darkish aura instead of a golden aura.

"Hehehe, now who's the weakling?!" Super Sonic asked smirking.

"I-I-I won't run away from you 2!" Chris said studdering a little.

"Too bad, because we're going to destroy the Earth with our powers." Super Shadow said. Both hedgehogs started to yell aloud and they teleported away.

"The Biolizard!" Chris said in shock after he saw the Biolizard disappearing along with them.

"Chris!" Lucario came up holding Christopher in one arm and Jigglypuff floated to them.

"It's too late, we can't save the Earth now..."

"Don't say that, we need to try and defeat them!" Jigglypuff said.

"Are you nuts Jigglypuff?! Fighting againts them it's like fighting againts the characters of DBZ!"

"Characters of DBZ?"

"Nevermind! Let's escape now, all hope is lost for this world, besides, I know there is way to restore the Earth once the bomb explodes!"

"...Take that back." Lucario said glaring.

"...What?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you, you're always being optimistic about all the problems whenever they are bad or good, and you're giving up now? If we follow your idea, I promise I'm going to kill you."

"Lu-Lucario, please, don't say that to me!"

"I'll stop once we save this world!"

Chris looked away "...Ok, we're staying to fight them, but promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise that you're not going to threaten me with death, I'm feeling very scared inside my mind now..."

Lucario thought about what he just said a moment ago "I'm sorry...I was getting so furious...forgive me."

"Phew, that was close, I forgive you." Chris said smiling and Lucario gave a little smile to him.

"The...emeralds..."

"Whoa, he is alive!" Jigglypuff said.

"Chris! Are you alright?!" Chris asked worried.

"They just used...the negative powers...the positive powers are still inside the emeralds...use them..." Christopher said pointing to the Chaos Emeralds in the ground and Chris glanced at them.

"...HELL NO! WE'RE NOT GOING TO FALL SO LOW AND TURN INTO THOSE POWER HUNGRY FOOLS!"

Power Hungry Fool

"I DIDN'T MEANT THE MUSIC EITHER!" Chris said breaking the fourth wall and the music abruptaly stops with a screech.

"Then what is YOUR plan?" Lucario asked narrowing his eyes.

"Well...umm...we could...use the help of everyone...and...well...OK OK! Let me touch those emeralds!" Chris said annoyed and he touched all the emeralds at once and he started to glow...but stopped with a funny sound of someone farting.

"...Hurray! Nothing happened! I can't control that power!" Chris said cheering "We're staying with the plan with everyone else to attack them!" After he said that however, he suddenly started to glow again and his clothes changed to what appears to be a long green robe with a yellow V upside-down at the end of his back with long green sleeves and black shirt underneath, his shoes changed to black shoes and his pants were now baggy white pants, he was also wearing a long green horn in a tiara on his head and a staff appeared on his right hand.

Summoner

Call upon powerful entities to aid you in battle, destroy your foes with mighty magic and shatter the ground with great force using all kinds of attacks by your summons, with this job, you're going to make a lot of damage around!

"...Wait, I remember this job somewhere before..." Chris said thinking "Wait, I know how to use it!" Chris concentrated his magic into his staff and he called forth an entity, the background blackened out a little and then the floor was starting to shake as something with great power was approaching, Chris was smiling happily and he waited for a powerful summon to appear and aid them.

...But much for his dismay, a Chocobo appeared and he chirped happily.

"..." Lucario didn't said anything.

"..." Jigglypuff didn't said anything.

"..." Christopher was still fainted if you forgot by the way.

"...A Chocobo?! I gained the most powerful job so far and I only called a Chocobo?! What the hell is wrong with those emeralds?!" Chris asked furiously. The Chocobo chirped happily again and it touched Chris with his beak in affection for calling him "...But at least, I have a new pet!"

"The world is in danger and you're adopting a Chocobo now?!" Lucario asked enraged.

"Hey! Anything else for a Chocobo is a dream coming true!" Chris patted the head of the bird "I'm gonna call you Freddy!"

"...It's female." Lucario pointed out.

"Lenne shall be then!" Chris said smiling petting the head of newly named Chocobo named Lenne.

"Guys! We need you here right now! The monster combined himself with the bomb!" Tails said over the speaker.

"Alright! Wait for us!" Chris said climbing on the back of Lenne "Come with me, Lenne will take us in a second with everyone else!"

Lucario sat on her back behind Chris and holding Christopher "But if I use Extremespeed again, we can reach the room without delays." Jigglypuff floated and sat in the head of Lenne.

"Don't underestimate the abilities of a Chocobo, Lenne, at high speed!" Chris ordered and Lenne chirped.

Lucario closed his eyes "Fine, but when we reach the room, the Earth is going to be destroye-" After he opened his eyes, he saw the Capsule Room not far away from them "...I take that back." He said frowning.

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"What's happening?" Chris asked while getting down from Lenne, she chirped again and disappeared in a second.

"Look over there!" Pichu pointed outside and the Biolizard was fusioned with the bomb as his new machine and both super hedgehogs were at both sides smirking evily with crossed arms while the colony was getting closer to the Earth.

"Knuckles! Use the Master Emerald now!" Rouge said, Knuckles nodded and he lifted his hands in the air.

"Oh great Master Emerald! Hear my words and stop the power of the Chaos Emeralds from destroying the Earth!" He chanted and the Master Emerald shone intensely, then it fired and light towards Sonic and Shadow, but the light just passed through them without doing any effect "What!?"

"It can't be! The Master Emerald can't even stop them from using the power of the Chaos Emeralds!" Dr Eggman said in shock.

"...We don't have any choice left then..." Chris nodded to his group and they nodded agreeding with his plan "We're going to fight them!"

"But you need a spacesuit or else you will need air to breath!" Tails said.

"For some odd reason, we can breath outside in the space." Mewtwo pointed out.

"Follow me, I'll take you to them inside a platform." Dr Eggman said, soon everyone else followed him except for Sonic's friends who remained in the Capsule Room to watch their battle. Lucario put Christopher in Tanaka's arms and he ran away with the others.

"I hope they can defeat Sonic and Shadow." Amy said putting her hands together in front of her face.

"I'm not giving up either!" Knuckles said, he lifted his hands to the Master Emerald and he started to cast a long chant to neutralize the powers of the Chaos Emeralds.

Tails sighed "When is this going to end?"

"After we die in the explosion or if they can defeat both hedgehogs," Rouge said with crossed arms "I don't want to be involved in this fight, I'll stay giving hints."

Space Colony ARK
Space

"Heh, they're coming now." Super Sonic said smirking when he saw a platform coming from the colony and the 13 Smashers appeared glaring at the 3 monsters.

"We are not going to let you 3 from destroying the Earth!" Chris said glaring.

"This is your own world and you want it destroyed? That is crazy!" Ness said.

"So far, this is the hardest battle we have been in..." Chris closed his eyes "But I'm not going to give up yet..." He opened his eyes with a glare "Even if that means I need to defeat you!"

"Bring it!" Roy taunted pointing his blade at the hedgehogs.

"NOW I'LL SHOW YOU!!" Super Sonic shouted and he ran at high speed at them with Super Shadow and the Biolizard, now the Biohazard, roared and prepared a beam to fire, all the Smashers stood in a fighting stance and they ran towards the monsters to begin the battle.

Preview of the next chapter

"Lenne...I don't know what to do now..."

"Kweh!"

"They're too strong and...we can't beat them even with our forces combined..."

"Kweh!"

"What'd you said? I can summon him now?"

"Kweh!"

"But I don't know if I can do it!"

"Kweh!"

"...You're right, there is still hope...thanks for cheering me up!"

"Kweh!"

"Next time: Live & Learn? This is Die & Forget!"

Do you want to save your data?

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Space Colony ARK
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Amy, Tails, Christopher, Knuckles, Rouge, Dr Eggman

Fun fact: I was hearing a FFX-2 music and I came up with a Chocobo and the job of summoner. XD

References:

-Shadow saying "You're good, but I'm better" was a quote from Wolf in Star Fox 64, but he says "bettar" or it sounds like it. XD

-Shadow saying that Ness was interesting to fight againts was a reference to Nintendogeek's story "Smash Exam", thanks for keeping reviewing the chapter! You're a lot of help!

-Chris naming his Chocobo "Lenne" was a reference to Lenne, the singer of FFX-2.

Sorry if I changed the conversation of Dr Gerald Robotnik or anything else, but making 13 different characters traveling into a single world can change many things, right?

What will happen in the next chapter? Will our heroes stop the mad hedgehogs from destroying the Earth with the Subspace Bomb? Find out in the next chapter! Read and review!

...Wait, where is Wolf in this arc?
*Chapter 39*: Unnecessary Rock N' Roll

Well, this is the final chapter of this arc, I can't believe this is by far the longest battle in the whole story, of course the final battle will be a lot longer, but I hope you like it.

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 39: Live & Learn? This is Die & Forget!

Space Colony ARK
Space

Mission: Defeat Sonic, Shadow and the Biohazard once and for all
and save the Earth from the collision!

Live & Learn

GET
READY!

"Okay! It's time for summon a real Aeon!" Chris focused his magic once again into his staff and pointed it at the space as the energy was gathering.

Unfortunately, Lenne came again chirping happíly.

"Kweh!" She said.

"No Lenne! Go away, you can't be here now!" Chris said trying to dismiss Lenne, but she pressed her beak at him in affection "Stop it please!"

"...I think you should stay away from this battle." Roy said.

"Behind you!" Chris shouted pointing behind Roy.

"Huh?" Roy turned his back and he received a powerful punch in the chin by Super Sonic, Roy was sent soaring in the air but Super Shadow kicked him back at the floor and Roy fainted with great wounds coming from his body.

"Roy!" Pichu yelled worried, suddenly, when he blinked, he was already at high feet above the floor and Super Sonic punched him in the back towards Super Shadow and he punched him back towards Super Sonic, Pikachu watched in horror as Pichu was being used as a Beach Ball for both super hedgehogs.

"PICHU!" Pikachu yelled and he went after Super Shadow, but Super Sonic punched Pichu at high speed towards Pikachu and both electric mouses fell unconscious, Pichu was above Pikachu's back.

"Sorry Pikachu..." Pichu said before fainting.

"Look out! That monster is trying to fire a beam!" Chris yelled while Lenne was still pressing her beak at his face, the Biohazard was charging up a big beam from his mouth to the Ice Climbers.

"Where now?" Nana asked terrified to Popo.

"I don't know! We need to act before he fires the beam!" Popo said, just then, Fox and Falco stepped in front of them with their hands near their belts.

"Don't worry, we can return his beam at him wit-" Falco stopped when he didn't felt the reflector and he started to look around his belt for it, Fox didn't felt his reflector in his hand either "Where is my reflector?!" Falco asked shocked.

"You mean this?" Super Sonic was holding both reflectors in his right hand and he crushed them and dust went floating in the space. Fox and Falco watched their previous reflectors floating away.

"Yo-YOU!" Falco took out his blaster and pointed it at Super Sonic, but he just pointed him with a invisible gun "Where is my blaster?!"

Super Shadow crushed 2 familiar blasters in his left hand and dust came from it too, Fox looked in his belt and his blaster wasn't there either.

"THE BEAM!" Nana yelled after the Biohazard already finished the beam, he fired it towards the quartet, they screamed and closed their eyes, but after 4 seconds, nothing happened and they opened their eyes to see Pit with his Mirror Shield trying to reflect the attack.

"H-HURRY UP AND GET AWAY!" Pit said gritting his teeths, the Ice Climbers and both Star Fox members jumped out of the way and they ran towards the Biohazard to stop his attack.

"STOP NOW!!" Super Sonic went at high speed towards them and he punched Falco in his face and he hit the floor 6 times before fainting at the right side of Chris and Lenne.

"FALCO!" Fox and Chris yelled. When Fox turned his head to see the Biohazard, he saw Super Shadow with a fist coming to his stomach and Fox closed his eyes.

"USE CHOCOBO KICK!" Chris yelled

"KWEH!" When Super Shadow noticed, Lenne was at his right side and the Chocobo kicked his face with a blow and he flew away a little shaking his head.

"How...HOW DARE YOU!" Super Shadow glared at the Chocobo but suddenly and pink aura was surrounding his body, Mewtwo was pointing his hand at him psychically and he threw Super Shadow at Super Sonic and both hedgehogs crashed into the other. For their bad luck, Ness used PK Thunder on him and he rammed his head at them with a strong blow with electricity and they yelled in pain.

"NOW ATTACK!" Fox ordered and he and the Ice Climbers jumped towards the machine and they delivered a strong blow with their hammers and kicks, the Biohazard roared in pain then he stopped his attack towards Pit and the angel moved away panting, and the trio jumped away from the Biohazard.

"LUCARIO! JUMP HIGH IN THE AIR AND AIM YOUR LANCE AT THE SUBSPACE BOMB!" Chris commanded, Lucario nodded and he jumped high above in the space disappearing.

"AFTER HIM!" Super Sonic ordered angrily and he along with Super Shadow went after Lucario, but Chris laughed mysteriously.

"Hahaha! They felt for it! Now attack the machine!" He said pointing at the the Subspace Bomb, Lenne chirped happily again and she flew right into the bomb and she used many Chocobo Kicks on it, the Biohazard roared in pain again and he aimed his mouth at Lenne.

"HAAA!" Jigglypuff came from behind the head of the Biohazard with a Rollout and it landed making the Biohazard to shook his head and recover his composture, but it was too late because Mewtwo used his psychic powers to slam his head in his body several times while Lenne was still kicking the bomb.

"It's working! Keep going!" Tails said in the speaker.

"Lucario's here!" Chris said when he saw the Aura Pokémon coming from the emptyness of the space and thrusted his lance in the machine on the back of the monster, Pit took the opportunity to fire several arrows at the monster's head to stun him while Popo and Nana were hitting the bomb with their hammers.

"CHAOS...CONTROL!" Super Shadow came from above slowing down the time around the colony, only him and Super Sonic were unafected and they rammed at everybody at high speed, Mewtwo was able to teleport just before they could even reach his body and so did Lucario, but unfortunately for everyone else (except for Chris because both hedgehogs thought it was a waste of time to kill him) received a lot of damage from Chaos Spears and Sonic Winds, Popo pushed Nana aside slowly from a Chaos Spear and she landed on her butt watching Popo screaming in pain and fainting.

"POOOPOOO!" She slowly yelled worried after seeing the blue Ice Climber unconscious.

"FOOOX! BEEEHHHIIIINNNNDDDD YYYOOOUUUU!!" Chris yelled slowly, Fox turned his head to see Super Shadow preparing a Chaos Spear, Fox blocked his face with the wrists of his hands and closed his eyes slowly (the whole Chaos Control attack it's just stupid, don't you think?) to defend himself of the destructive attack.

However, lasers came from nowhere and they went straight towards Super Shadow, he yelled aloud and he turned his back to see who attacked him, but there was no one there, in the process of the attack, the Chaos Control effect worn off since Super Shadow lost his concentration.

"Huh? Those lasers...I remember that attack somewhere..." Fox muttered to himself.

"PK FIRE!" Ness was able to fire a little bolt of lightning at Super Sonic and Pit used his Angel Ring to trap him inside, Nana came up with her hammer and she dealt the attack in Super Sonic's head, the super hedgehog closed his eyes enraged and he yelled aloud creating a invisible force attack and the trio were pushed away by the sound.

"Ugh...I won't give up yet..." Ness got up from the floor and he shook his head, but after opening his eyes, both hedgehogs landed a punch at both sides of his head and he fell unconscious, the blow also made blood to come out of his mouth.

"NESS!" Mewtwo yelled furiously, losing a psychic person to him was unforgiveable since he is a psychic Pokémon himself, he glowed in a pink aura and he charged at both hedgehogs, they grinned (like idiots) and they pointed towards the Biohazard, the group didn't noticed that the monster was charging up another beam and it went straight towards Mewtwo, he crossed his arms in front of his face to shield himself but Pit came up using his Mirror Shield again.

"I...CAN'T HOLD MUCH LONGER...GET AWAY! HURRY!" Pit said closing his eyes.

"Right!" Mewtwo said and nodded, he floated away and he saw the beam pushing the Mirror Shield away and the beam got Pit completely, Mewtwo's eyes widened a lot and he tried to attack, but Super Sonic punched his face and Mewtwo entered the beam by force and he along with Pit lost their energy and fell unconscious on the floor.

"MEWTWO!" Chris, Fox, Nana and Lucario yelled after seeing Mewtwo fainted below Pit, Nana rushed at both allies but she was kicked on the back of her head by Super Shadow and she crashed into Popo, Nana had her eyes half opened and she looked at Popo in the face.

"Popo..." She said before fainting.

"NANA!" Chris yelled worried, Lenne was able to stand up and she chirped again and kicked Super Shadow in the face again, Super Sonic launched another Sonic Wind and Lenne closed her eyes to resist, but Lucario got in the way and he used his lance and blocked the attack, but after a moment, his lance broke up, the wind got him and he yelled in extreme pain and fainted on the floor, Lenne chirped worried about Lucario and she pressed her beak in his back but he didn't responded.

"LUCARIO!" Chris and Fox yelled.

"Oh no, they're losing!" Amy said in shock "Knuckles! Hurry up with that chant!" She said looking at Knuckles, he was trying his best effort to concentrate the Master Emerald at his maximum power.

"Don't rush him or else Master Knuckles will lose the concentration." Tanaka said holding Christopher in his arms and he looked at him "Master Chris...I hope you can recover soon to see them trying to rescue Master Sonic."

"KWEH!" Lenne chirped and she did another strong blow with a kick in the Biohazard, fortunately, it was enough and the monster roared in pain and then, the whole colony stopped from colliding to the Earth before 6 minutes to reach it and the Biohazard exploded leaving no trails of the bomb behind.

"Good job Lenne!" Chris said patting the head of Lenne, she replied chirping happily and Fox walked up holding his right arm with his left hand "We've saved this world!"

"Chris...you forgot about them..." Fox said.

"...Huh?" Chris looked at both hedgehogs and they fired a lot of Chaos Spears and Sonic Winds at the trio, Chris and Fox ducked and tried to resist the destructive attacks, but nothing happened.

"...What happened?" Fox asked confused, however, both looked in front of them and they saw something very horrible.

Lenne was standing there with opened wings and she received the attacks to protect both of them.

"LENNE!!" Chris yelled crying after watching Lenne falling slowly to the floor, Chris ran at her with tears coming from his eyes and he ducked and grabbed her head "LENNE! PLEASE, DON'T DIE! WE JUST MET A MOMENT AGO!"

"Kweh..." She replied with a weak chirp.

"Please...don't leave me alone...you're the first Chocobo to aid me in battle and you just saved the Earth from the colony!" He said crying, Lenne just chirped weakly and light was starting to surround her and Chris gasped "NO!" He said, but after a moment, Lenne left in the light and Chris closed his eyes to stop crying.

"She's gone..." Fox said shaking his head in disappointment.

"No...this can't be happening! This can't be!" Chris said hitting the floor with his staff.

"Hehehehe, how do feel to lose someone precious to you?" Super Shadow asked smirking with crossed arms.

"It feels horrible...I can't believe you did this to her! What would Maria say about your action?!" Chris asked furiously.

Super Shadow looked away "I don't care for her anymore...I just live for gather more power and destroy everything in my path...THAT IS THE REASON OF MY EXISTENCE!" He yelled enraged.

"Now Shadow, let's destroy the Earth with Chaos Control!" Super Sonic suggested and Super Shadow nodded smirking, they floated high above at they started to prepare the most powerful Chaos Control in the story.

"WAIT!"

"What do you want kid? Can't you see we're trying to destroy this pathetic planet?!" Super Sonic asked furiously.

"Chris! You must stop right now!" Fox said.

But Chris clenched his hands in his staff while tears were running from his cheeks and falling from his chin "NO! I won't stop now!" He turned to see both power hungry hedgehogs "I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO DO SUCH THING! THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GOING AWAY UNPUNISHED!" He looked at everyone else fainted on the floor "THEY ARE VERY SPECIAL TO ME AND I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO STOP ANY BASTARD LIKE YOU 2 FROM KILLING THEM AND THE OTHER INNOCENT PEOPLE!" He closed his eyes "And I will defeat both of you in a single attack for...for...for..." He opened his eyes "FOR TAKING LENNE AWAY FROM ME!"

"BRING IT THEN! YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO DEFEAT US WITH A SINGLE ATTACK?! THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Super Sonic taunted smirking evily with crossed arms and Super Shadow did the same as him.

"What the?!" Fox said surprised after he saw something odd happening to Chris, his whole body was starting to glow with a blinding light and then he started to focus his magic in the staff chanting a spell.

Final Fantasy X Battle Theme

"The ultimate power of summoning, the ruler of all the dragons and god to all the summons, I call upon the skies to ask for help and destroy my enemies to protect the innocents from being killed," Chris chanted making a hand sign in the staff and closing his eyes "COME! BAHAMUT!" He said pointing with the staff at the emptyness of the space with eyes opened.

"HA! ULTIMATE POWER?! THE ONLY ULTIMATE POWER HERE ARE MY FISTS!" Super Sonic said smirking.

"GGGUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!" A extremely huge roar was heard echoing through the space, the whole Earth with the humans were hearing the big echo, Fox looked around surprised to find the source of the roar, both super hedgehogs were just moving his eyes at both directions of where they were floating.

"Where did that roar came from?!" Tails asked looking around.

"OH NO! WE'RE DOOMED!" Bokkum said terrified flying like crazy in the room.

"THIS IS THE END!" Bocoe and Decoe said hugging each other.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Fox said surprised. A enormous portal appeared behind the clueless super hedgehogs and they felt the most destructive and chaotic power gathering, they turned their backs to see a huge dragon head coming out from the portal, then the body was getting bigger and bigger, the dragon was slowly revealing his body, he had big black wings with a huge black tail and a weird orange wheel was between his wings, his chest was all protected by his scales of black, blue, red and yellow colors running to the tip of his tail, after a minute, the dragon stood there with crossed arms looking at his adversaries.

"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT MY DEEP SLEEP?!" Bahamut asked very furiously.

"(Wow, I never thought he could be so big.)" Chris thought in his mind, it was true, somehow Bahamut was now 5 times bigger than his normal appearance and his height was like 1/3 of the colony itself "I was the one who summoned you!" Chris shouted. Bahamut moved his eyes to look at him.

"A KID?!" Bahamut asked chuckling a little "THIS MUST BE SOME KIND OF JOKE ISN'T?!"

"Sadly, I'm not joking, I need your help to destroy both of them!" Chris said pointing at Super Sonic and Super Shadow.

"THESE 2 WEAKLINGS?!" Bahamut asked furiously and both hedgehogs glared at him "THEY WON'T SURVIVE TO MY ATTACKS!"

"Try us!" Super Sonic taunted. But after he noticed, he was now being held inside Bahamut's right hand while Super Shadow was in the left hand, both tried to punch his fingers to get out, but Bahamut didn't felt nothing since his scales were too thick to break "LET ME OUT YOU BIG DORK!" Super Sonic asked furiously but Bahamut roared directly in his face and the hedgehog trembled in fear.

"(Wussy.)" Super Shadow thought in his head.

"VERY WELL THEN, YOU SHALL SUFFER MY WRATH!" Bahamut said, he lifted his hands and he threw both hedgehogs at the floor with a loud crash and they shook their heads, the wheel behind Bahamut was now spinning rapidly and he opened his mouth and a bright light came from it.

"HAHAHAHA! YOU FORGOT THAT WE CAN FLY AWAY FROM YOUR ATTACK AT HIGH SPEED!" Super Sonic pointed out, he and Super Shadow tried to get away but they couldn't do anything "What the?! WHY WE CAN'T ESCAPE?!"

"IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!" They looked below and they saw Lucario glowing intensely since the Sonic Wind builded up enough damage for him to be at the same level as both hedgehogs, he was holding them by the legs and they tried to get their legs off but failed miserably "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE FROM THIS ATTACK!" Lucario demanded.

"ARE YOU NUTS?! YOU'RE SACRIFICING YOUR LIFE!" Super Sonic said. But Lucario chuckled to himself "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

"Fools, the colony is going to be unharmed except for you 2 since all the destructive attacks that Chris calls doesn't kills his allies in the process, instead, they protect us from the likes of you!" Lucario pointed out breathing heavily.

"NO! I CAN'T LOSE TO THIS PATHETIC KID!" Super Shadow said angrily pointing at Chris, who glared at him.

"JUST FOR THAT, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FIRST!" Chris said furiously gritting his teeth, at the same time, everyone else woke up from their previous state and they looked at Bahamut charging up his attack.

"RETURN THEM BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL FORMS!" Knuckles said the last part of his long chant and it fired a light towards the hedgehogs, this time it worked and both returned to their original forms but the dark aura was still with them, they felt a strong pain coming from his legs since Lucario was holding them.

"NOW!" Chris ordered.

"MEGA FLARE!!" Bahamut somehow yelled the name of his destructive attack and he fired the big beam from his mouth at both hedgehogs, they widened their eyes a lot and screamed, shouted and yelled in extreme pain, the attack was just the most powerful and strong attack Chris has called so far and after a while, the beam disappeared leaving Sonic in his normal state fainted on the floor.

"Maria...I'm joining you now..." Shadow said before disappearing, he was gone forever, supposedly, Chris killed him for the previous insult, or not?

"I HAVE COMPLETED YOUR COMMAND, NOW I MUST LEAVE TO BE CALLED BY ANOTHER POWERFUL SUMMONER AND TRY TO DEFEAT THEIR ENEMIES, CALL ME WHENEVER YOU NEED MY ASSISTANCE, YOUR POWER IS THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES ME STRONGER." Bahamut said before disappearing in the portal while making a huge roar and the king of all the dragons left.

"It's...over...finally...guys...we can go now..." Chris made a sigh of relief and he fell slowly but Fox catched him before hitting the floor with his face.

"You did well Chris...I admit it..." Fox said smiling a bit.

"Wow, they actually did it." Rouge said surprised.

"HURRAY! MY SONIC IS BACK!" Amy said jumping happily with Tails.

"Excellent work." Tanaka said smiling and nodding.

"Heh, that was close." Knuckles said grinning and wiping sweat from his forehead.

"WE'RE ALIVE!" The trio of idiots robots said cheering.

"(They just defeated both hedgehogs in their corrupted forms, if they were in their correct forms, they could have lost instantly.)" Dr Eggman thought "(But after all this trouble, it's finally over.)" He sighed and he commanded the floor beneath the Smashers to pull them back to the colony.

The screen slowly fades out while the crowd cheers for the heroes.

Music stops

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"You did it!" Amy and Tails said in unison smiling, all the Smashers came holding their arms or walking with the help of someone else with one arm above his or her shoulder. Lucario was able to walk and holding Chris at the same time.

"All thanks to Chris." Roy said glancing at Chris, after a second, both Chris opened their eyes awakening.

"What happened Lucario?" Chris asked.

"You defeated Sonic and Shadow a moment ago." Lucario commented.

"Really?"

"He's right ki-I mean, Chris," Rouge said smiling a bit "But you killed Shadow in the process."

"I what?"

"That doesn't matters," Amy said "Where is Sonic?" She asked.

"Right here" Mewtwo used his energy to bring the unconscious Sonic floating to the room and Amy ran and hugged him crying "OH SONIC! YOU'RE BACK! I'M SO GLAD!" She said and everyone laughed at this.

"But, who fired those lasers at him?" Fox muttered to himself while holding Falco with his arm around his neck.

"Did you said something Fox?" Falco asked.

Fox shook his head "...No, I didn't said anything."

"So-Sonic!" Christopher got out from Tanaka and he ran at Sonic and Amy "Finally, he's a good guy again." He said smiling a bit.

"But I have a question," Roy stated "Why was he possesed so easily by the Primids?"

"Now that I think about it, he's one of those guys who likes to defend himself from any unexpected attack." Ness said rubbing his chin.

Just then, someone was snoring inside the room, they looked around at the source...and it was Sonic who was sleeping.

"It's he snoring?!" Pikachu asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah! I remember now!" Tails said lifting a finger from his right hand.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

Tails slammed slowly his right hand above his left hand "I remember Sonic sleeping above Chris's house when I was getting a glass of milk in the night, then I saw those purple spores crawling in the window, I rubbed my eyes and they were gone and I thought it was only a dream, and after that, Sonic was starting to act weird." Tails explained.

Chris's right eye twitched "...Let me get this straight...so the reason about why Sonic was possesed so easily...WAS BECAUSE HE WAS SLEEPING?!"

Tails scratched the back of his head "Hehehehehe, it seems so." He said laughing heartily.

Just then, Sonic woke up, inhaling 3 long seconds of air from his mouth, exhaling and scratching his head "Umm...good morning guys..." He noticed that everyone was glaring at him with red shiny eyes "...Guys? Are you okay?"

Popo and Nana took out their hammers "Popo."

"Yes Nana?" Popo asked.

"I have the sudden feeling to eat flat hedgehog now."

"How weird, I was thinking the same thing." Popo said grinning.

"Guys?" Sonic asked a little scared. He noticed that Fox and Falco were clenching their fists.

"Fox, did you forgot about the reflectors AND the blasters?" Falco asked grinning.

"No Falco, he needs to pay them NOW." Fox responded grinning.

"...Guys?"

"Chris, can I have the permission to eat his flesh?" Lucario asked.

"No Lucario, leave some flesh for me." Chris answered.

"...Guys?"

Pretty much soon everyone were either clenching their hands or preparing their attacks to kill Sonic (heck, even Tails wanted to punch him), this made Sonic tremble in fear.

"...Amy? You can stop hugging me now!" Sonic said with a scared smile. He noticed that Amy was surrounded by fire.

"Yes Sonic...you will go on a date with me..." She realesed Sonic from her arms and she took out her huge hammer "ONCE YOU GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!" And with that, Sonic left in a hurry.

"GET HIM!" Roy yelled taking out his sword and soon everyone started a crazy chase to kill Sonic around the colony except for Dr. Eggman who just sweatdropped at the event.

Then, Lenne came from nowhere all fully replenished and the doctor petted her head and she chirped happily "You have a bunch of weird killer sickos as your friends."

"Kweh!" She said chirping.

Far away from them...

"GUYS! STOP PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! AAAHHH!!" Unfortunately, Sonic tripped and everyone lunged at him to kill him in that instant, but the scene stops with Chris being the first one to hit him with his staff and everyone else were too angry at the hedgehog. The scene blackens out a little showing the rank of the mission with the victory theme of the Sonic's missions.

...It was an "E"...

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING US!!" The 13 Smashers said in unison, their faces covered the whole screen with angry looks and the screens fades out.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 1500 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

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Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness

...Turns out everyone doesn't cares for Shadow, or will that be his last appearance? (Of course not, he always comes back, he's a Bowser!)

But who saved Fox from being killed? And where is Wolf?

Read and review please!
*Chapter 40*: Break Time

We reached the chapter number 40! Phew, this story is turning out great after all... Anyway, enjoy!

Update: You know the part where I say where are they currently, right? Well, let's say they're in the Smash Mansion, but the next location only shows "Main Hall" but not the "Smash Mansion" part above. It that doesn't happen, that shows they're still in the Smash Mansion.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 40: Break Time

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Mission failed." Wolf reported.

"You fool, do not be an idiot around me. I know what you did back there." Tabuu said.

"My action of saving Fox from someone who was going to kill him and WASN'T me? I thought you remember our little deal." Wolf said crossing his arms.

"Lord Tabuu, if I remember correctly, that was part of your deal with him." The Ancient Minister said.

"Fine, I admit it, that was our deal."

"Heh, good." Wolf said grinning.

"But the part I cannot believe is that our effort to take the whole planet ended misserably...BY HIM!" Tabuu made a screen appear showing Chris, who was smiling happily.

"He is going to be a lot of trouble your plans," the Ancient Minister said.

"I refuse to believe a normal human can defeat a whole army of Primids."

The Ancient Minister made another screen with the current Smashers along with Chris. "His strength comes from them. If he fights, they will too."

"Duh." Wolf rolled his eye.

"But even with the power of the Chaos Emeralds and TWO hedgehogs, he wiped them out with one single attack, it's pathetic losing my best men to him."

Wolf grunted. "Your first big error is making a egocentrical hedgehog your "best men" and the second was wasting your time creating a bigger Subspace Bomb," he stated.

"We need to make a distraction the next time..." the Ancient Minister got in a thinking position.

"No, what we need is more allies that can join us without using Shadow Bugs, that is our current plan." Tabuu said.

"I want to see that." Wolf said.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Flashback

Space Colony ARK
Capsule Room

"Well everyone, we need to go now." Chris said.

"You're going away to defeat the Primids right?" Tails asked and Chris nodded. The entire group was shown separated by the Smashers and Sonic's group, speaking of Sonic, he had several...or many lumps in his head but was standing up with crossed arms.

"It was really fun to be here, but it's time to go to another world." Ness said doing a handshake to Knuckles.

"You know, I could repair your weapons in less than 2 hours." Tails said but Fox shook his head.

"Thanks but, we can ask Slippy to make more of them, don't worry about that." Fox said and both foxes did a handshake.

"Chris, remember what I told you before." Chris said.

"Yeah, I won't forget our promise." Christopher said and both did a handshake.

"I hope we can see each other very soon." Amy said.

"Don't worry, I'm think we will." Jigglypuff said.

"Ok guys, we need to go now" Chris said and his group nodded, they walked away for 9 seconds but Sonic stopped them "It's something wrong Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head "Well, I was thinking in saying thanks to all of you for returning me to my old self but..."

"...You know, that would actually be good." Pikachu said.

"But I thought it could be more thankful if I join you." He said smiling a little.

"WHAT?!" His group said surprised but Chris stared at him with wide eyes.

"...Of course you can!" Chris said smiling.

"CHRIS!" The Smashers however protested at his idea but Chris winked at them.

"But first, I need to see if you can make a lap around the colony in less than 5 minutes, after that, you can come with us!"

Sonic made thumbs up "Gotcha!" He ran away at high speed, after Chris secured that he was away, he quickly made the portal "QUICK! ENTER!" The Smashers entered in a hurry inside the portal and it disappeared. Sonic's group sweatdropped at this.

End of flashback

"And that's pretty much it..." Chris said finishing his flashback with a sweatdrop.

"And what happened to that bird?" Master Hand asked.

"Lenne? She's fine, I thought she died but I found Dr Eggman with her and she ran at me pressing her beak at my face chirping, after 3 seconds, I dismissed her," Chris explained and sighed "But...this mission was the hardest one so far...summoning Bahamut took so much energy from me."

"Not only that, Pichu was badly damaged, Fox and Falco lost their reflectors and blasters, Ness was hurted horribly in his head and Popo and Nana were almost killed." Roy said.

"I just need a nap...and I'll be fine in the morning." Ness reasured.

"I'll call Slippy to send us our equipment to be ready." Fox said.

"I need to take a long rest...I think I can't go to any world for a while." Pichu said.

"I'll stay here to care of Pichu." Pikachu said.

"Same as Ness's idea." Both Ice Climbers said in unison.

"A meditation is the only thing I need to do to recover." Mewtwo said.

"I can't fly for now, my wings are hurting me a lot." Pit said without moving his wings.

Master Hand yawned "Well...it's already night so we should rest for now...I see you in the morning and good night."

"Good night," the Smashers replied and Master Hand floated away, then Crazy Hand floated in front of them.

"Hehehehe! You'll be surprised tomorrow after I show you my new list of merchandise!" he said before snoring in the air and Master Hand came again (frowning at himself) and dragged Crazy Hand away from the room.

But Chris suddenly collapsed.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled worried holding Chris in his arms.

"Didn't he say summoning that dragon took away his energy?" Falco asked.

"Yes, he did. After all, his energy made that dragon stronger." Roy spointed out.

"He just need a nap like all of us, there's nothing to be worry about." Jigglypuff said, reassuring Lucario.

The Aura Pokémon sighed in relief. "Thank god..."

After a second, some of them yawned and they went to their rooms to sleep for the night, Fox first called Slippy to send his weapons in the morning and the inventor nodded, then Fox ended the communication and he went to sleep in his room, Pikachu decided to sleep with Pichu to take care of him and everyone else soon were sleeping to recover their energies.

4 hours later...

Enviromental Noises

Falco's Room

Falco woke up shaking his head, he wasn't wearing his usual uniform of Star Fox, instead, he was wearing only a white shirt and red shorts "...Time to get a warm glass of milk." He said to himself before getting out of the bed and putting on his black slippers and he went towards the kitchen in the emptyness of the mansion in the night.

Kitchen

Falco made it to the refrigerator and he poured milk inside a glass, then he inserted the glass with milk inside the microwave and he set the timer in 1 minute.

...But after 10 seconds of staring at his glass, he felt a horrible sensation inside his stomach.

"(Why? Why the effects of the laxative from yesterday are acting now?)" he thought to himself while his eyes were twitching uncontrollably, yesterday before joining the Smashers, Falco just had ate water with laxative and he drank it completely, then Fox came to him telling about his mission and Falco nodded agreeding with his idea, but in the course of the whole adventure in the Space Colony ARK, he forgot completely about that.

"(Where in the hell is the bathroom?!)" He thought in shock after looking at both sides of the huge kitchen, the expert Arwing pilot ran away in a hurry to search for the bathroom and leaving his glass of milk being heating up inside the microwave.

Ness walked to the kitchen wearing his red pajamas, his hat was moving mysteriously and something said "BOING!" inside the hat.

"Mr Saturn...you want milk too?" Ness asked with half opened eyes.

"Mr Saturn likes milk, BOING!" A Mr Saturn came out of the hat looking around, Ness joined his search and then, a "ding!" sound came from the microwave and both found a warm glass of milk inside.

"How convenient..." Ness trailed off, he took the glass out of the machine and he drank the half of it and he gave the glass to Mr Saturn, the fact that Ness didn't or ever saw his mouth once wasn't so important now, but the nose of Mr Saturn was covered with milk.

"ZOOM!" The Mr Saturn replied happily.

"I know you didn't took a sip, right?" Ness asked grogily.

"NOPE, BOING!" He replied, Ness sighed to himself and he returned the glass inside the microwave and both returned to Ness's room to sleep.

Just then, Falco came from his trip to the bathroom and he took out the glass from the microwave, but after lifting the glass while touching his mouth (or beak) he didn't felt the flavor of warm milk going inside.

"Huh? What the..." Falco glanced inside the glass and the milk was gone! "Did I set the timer to 10 minutes that it vaporized?...How can that be possible?" He asked to himself confused, but he poured more milk inside the glass and he secured that the timer was in 1 minute and turned it on.

...But oddly enough, he felt another horrible sensation inside his stomach.

"(Again?!)" he thought in shock "(What kind of laxative did I drank?!)" The little bag with laxative was inside his pocket of the short he was wearing so he took it and he desperately readed all the information until he found something very stupid...

Warning: May act several times

"(WHY ISN'T THIS PART IN BOLD LETTERS?!)" Falco thought furiously before running away to the bathroom again.

Someone was walking inside the kitchen again, it was Pit in white pajamas.

"A glass of milk? That should do." He said glancing at the new warm glass of milk in the microwave, he grabbed it and drank his content before wiping out a mustache of milk in his face and placing back the glass in the microwave, then the angel went to his room.

Again, Falco walked to the microwave and found the glass empty again.

"This is weird..." he trailed off before he shook his head, and again, he poured more milk, put the glass inside the machine and he set the timer at 1 again.

And another sensation was happening in his stomach.

"(OH COME ON!)" He thought annoyed grabbing his stomach in pain and running away to the bathroom once again.

This time, Jigglypuff came walking with half opened eyes and she drank the warm glass of milk before returning it to the microwave.

"Someone must have heard my wish..." She said smiling grogily and walking away to her room.

The Star Fox member came once again from his painful trip to the bathroom and once again, the glass was empty without a single drop. Falco cursed A LOT under his breath before pouring more milk and putting the glass inside the microwave and setting the timer to 1 minute.

And once again, his stomach was hurting him and he found more words in the bag.

CAUTION: Drinking the entire bag can cause a lot of pain, pour one gram only in each sip

"(I'M GONNA SUE SOMEBODY AFTER THIS, I SWEAR!)" He said before running once again to the bathroom in a hurry.

The Ice Climbers walked inside the kitchen wearing a blue and pink pajamas for their respective genders and they found the glass of milk ready from the microwave.

"We share it?" Popo asked grogily.

"Why not?" Nana responded grogily.

Both of them shared half of the glass, they wiped out milk around their mouths and they left to sleep in their room.

"...There's somebody else here besides me right?" Falco asked furiously to no one in the kitchen and he did the same thing...again.

For his misfortune...

"(AAAHHHHH!!)" He yelled inside his mind before running away to the bathroom...again.

Nobody was walking to the kitchen, instead, someone came floating above the floor, it was Mewtwo, he used his psychic powers to lift the glass towards his mouth and he drank the milk, then he returned the glass inside the microwave and left to his room to meditate (that's his way how he sleeps).

And sadly for Falco, he cursed a lot under his breath, poured more milk inside and placing the glass inside the machine again, but he thought ahead and ran away to the bathroom to suffer his demise (mwhahaha, I'm so evil).

Now, Fox came walking grogily to the kitchen, he was wearing only a red shirt, blue shorts and black slippers.

"Good, somebody left this behind..." He said after finding the glass of milk ready in the microwave, after taking a long sip of it, he returned the milk inside the machine and he walked away trying to not fall for the need to sleep above something soft and not hard.

...And Falco came again saying a long list of curses, it only was fed with more curses after finding his glass empty, so he did the same process and left to the bathroom since his sickness became worser every minute.

Roy came wearing a blue shirt, black shorts and pale blue slippers. The red haired swordsman found the glass ready in the microwave and he grabbed it and...you know what he did after...

"Aww, time for more rest..." He said to himself with a little smile before walking away to his room to sleep, of course he returned the glass in the microwave.

"(...THIS...IS...JUST...STUPID!)" Falco thought furiously inside his mind, after repeating the entire process AGAIN, he went to the bathroom AGAIN.

This time, 2 persons came, it was Lucario holding Chris in his arms, somehow, Chris had enough energy to change clothes before falling unconscious in the bed, he asked Lucario if he could take him to drink something in the kitchen, obviously, Lucario agreeded and he took him with him.

"Let's see..." Lucario said looking around the kitchen, fortunately, he found a glass of warm milk ready in the microwave, so he grabbed the glass and gave it to Chris, who started to drank it slowly.

"Thank you..." Chris replied before falling sleep, a small smile formed in Lucario's face and he placed back the glass in the machine, then he walked away with his sleeping trainer.

Falco came again, cursed a lot again, more curses for finding his glass empty again, pouring more milk inside again, setting the timer again, feeling the same sensation again and running away...AGAIN!

Pikachu walked inside the kitchen with a glass already in his hand for Pichu, he found the glass ready and he poured the milk inside his glass and he walked away with half opened eyes while yawning.

"..." Falco was left speechless, something weird was happening to him in this night, he couldn't know what it was, but then, an idea came to his mind and he smirked, he didn't do anything except for walking away to the bathroom.

1 minute later...

When Falco returned, he was angry for the fact that the effect has worn off so he could rest secured for now, but his plan worked and he found a glass of warm milk ready in the microwave, after drinking his content, he was able to walk away to his room with a smile of victory in his face.

"..." Master Hand found his glass of milk empty however...

The next morning...

All the Smashers were eating breakfast in the kitchen in their sleeping clothes (but Pichu was receiving help from Pikachu since his injures were still hurting him), everyone else was fully recovered from the previous mission.

"Say, this breakfast it's too good..." Jigglypuff said eating her breakfast.

"I agree, I've never thought something like this could exist..." Chris said. Lucario was happy to see Chris with his usual energy from everyday back to him. "What about you, Lucario?"

"I agree too," he said eating.

Surprisingly, even Mewtwo decided to eat the breakfast with the others and he thought it was not so bad after the first bite.

"...Wow, I don't know why I'm feeling something heating up inside my stomach..." Popo said touching his stomach.

DING...DING...DING...DING! A little sound was heard inside the mansion, it was an announcement from Master Hand.

"Good morning everybody! Today is a beautiful morning to start our missions, isn't?" He said excited in his office "Anyway, today, we have another upgrade to the system, now you can watch the worlds from the kitchen while doing your business, the virtual screen is going to be shown in the middle of the table, so if you want to see a world, use the remote control near the table, that's all for today! See you in the Command Room!"

"AND DON'T FORGET TO VISIT MY SHOP, CHRIS!" Crazy Hand's voice boomed in the speaker causing everyone to block their ears.

"CRAZY!" Master Hand yelled annoyed and the announcement ended. A remote control appeared near Pichu and he grabbed it and turned on the virtual screen to show the current status of the worlds.

"Hey Slippy! Have you sent the reflectors and blasters Fox ordered to you?" Peppy asked.

"Sure did! Right now, I'm trying to deactivate this!" Slippy said trying to deactivate something...

"Wha-NO! SLIPPY! DON'T-" Peppy was interrupted because Slippy was trying to deactivate the most dangerous item of the Star Fox team, a Smart Bomb who exploded after cutting down the red wire (the blue wire was the correct one).

"Are they going to be alright?" Nana asked.

"Usualy, Slippy is always trying to deactivate those bombs everyday, but the result is always the same as this one, don't worry about that." Falco explained. Pichu changed the channel to another world.

"Prince Poo, how is your training going today?" a monk asked to a kid with karate clothes and with a little string of black hair in his head.

"..." Poo didn't reply.

"Oh, I see, you don't want interruptions now, pardon my behavior," the monk said before leaving.

"(Ness, we were almost done with your training to cast PK Starstorm, but you left before teaching the last thing...but even so, I wish you good luck in your adventure)" Poo thought in his mind before returning to his meditation.

"Why I'm thinking I forgot something very important to do with Poo?" Ness asked to himself, then Pichu changed the channel again.

The channel showed Maylene kicking an Aura Sphere from her Lucario, but something was weird with her Aura Pokémon...

"Lucario, call me crazy but I think something is wrong with Maylene." Chris said.

"Her Lucario probably lost his match againts Paul, I can feel anger coming from his attack." Lucario stated.

Just then, a group of young travelers came into the scene an-

"GIVE ME THAT CONTROL!" Pikachu took quickly the control from Pichu and he changed the channel to another world, the electric mouse Pokémon sighed in relief and he returned the control to a very confused Pichu.

"Weren't they Ash, Dawn and Brock?" Chris asked confused, Pikachu nodded.

The screen shows the Tower of the Gods rising from the water, but Toon Link wasn't there.

"Where is Toon Link?" Chris asked, just then, Toon Link came from nowhere and he crashed into the wall and fell to the sea "Oh, wait, I remember that scene..." He chuckled to himself, Pichu changed the channel again.

"Louie, stop sleeping in the cockpit! You're going to stay behind without doing absolutely nothing!" Olimar complained to another guy like him, but he was a little tall, his gloves and the antenna on his helmet were blue instead of red like Olimar's.

"...Huh? We're already here?" Louie said awakening from his slumber, then he got out of the ship (the ship was very different this time), but he fell to the ground and Olimar frowned to himself.

"(This didn't happened with them though.)" Olimar thought inside his mind remembering the Smashers.

"Olimar is going to have a hard time with him." Popo said laughing, then Pichu changed the channel.

The screen showed Samus landing in Tallon IV and she landed with a somersault, but her suit was smaller than the last time.

"Now it's time to explore this planet and search for more equipment." Samus said to herself and ran away. Pichu changed the channel again.

The channel was showing another different world that they haven't traveled to, there was a tall girl with a long green ponytail and blue clothes, brown boots and a sword in her belt, and there was a tall man in blue armor, purple hair and with a long axe standing in front of her, but Pichu noticed that they were going to kiss so he changed the channel quickly.

"Ugh, I don't want to see a romance novel now..." Pichu said disappointed.

But Roy's eyes widened a lot and he spat out his coffee...on Fox...wait, isn't he too young for drink coffee?

"What was that for?!" Fox asked angrily cleaning his face with a napkin.

"SHE...SHE...SHE IS...SHE IS...SHE'S MY MOTHER!" Roy said in shock and that caused a lot of them to stare at Roy confused.

"Come again?" Popo asked confused.

"GUYS! THAT WAS MY MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER, BUT WHAT IS SHE DOING WITH THAT GUY?!" Roy asked in shock.

"You mean Lyn is your mother?" Chris asked and Roy nodded "And that guy...what's wrong with him?"

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! MY FATHER WASN'T HIM! IT WAS MY FATHER ELIWOOD!" Roy explained.

"...I see..." Mewtwo said nodding.

"What?" Ness asked.

"If Lyn manages to marry that guy, I'm afraid that Roy is going to disappear for good from us." Mewtwo stated and everyone's jaws dropped astonished.

"...Won't that cause a time paradox?" Popo asked.

"Popo, scientists in the world had proven that time paradoxes doesn't exist." Nana responded frowning.

"...The point is! We need to stop him from marrying Lyn before it's too late!" Ness said and everyone nodded agreeding.

But all of a sudden, Pichu felt something bad inside his stomach.

"Ugh...I don't feel so good..." said Pichu.

"I'm not feeling good either..." said Pikachu twirling his head slowly, very soon, everyone else were feeling bad, then Chris gasped.

"What?" Lucario asked.

"Guys...there's a reason of why are we feeling so bad right now..." Chris said.

"What is the reason?" Falco asked.

"It's not weird that our breakfast has fire coming from it?" Chris asked raising and eyebrow, everyone noticed that fire was coming from their food.

"..." Fox didn't say anything.

"..." Mewtwo didn't say anything.

"...WE JUST ATE SUPERSPICY CURRY!" Chris yelled in shock.

The scene changes to outside the mansion and a fiery red color came from the kitchen with yells, screams and pleas for water.

"AAHHHH!!" Jigglypuff yelled, hell broke soon inside the room and many fireballs were coming from the Smashers and they were trying to cover their mouths but failed.

"COVER YOUR MOUTH!" Chris said, trying to cover his mouth.

"IT'S NO USE! THE FIRE CAN BURN OUR HANDS!" Roy yelled.

"AAAHH! PICHU! LOOK TO ANOTHER DIRECTION BESIDES ME!" Pikachu yelled as his fireballs were burning Pichu alive, but the same happened to Pikachu unfortunately.

"MY FEATHERS!" Falco screamed.

"THIS IS TOO HOT!" Nana yelled.

"!!" Mewtwo was trying to evade yelling, but the effect was just too much for him to handle and he yelled.

"MY TAIL!" Lucario yelled looking at a little flame increasing in size in his tail.

"WHERE IS SQUIRTLE WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!" Pichu asked in shock.

"MY HAT!" Ness yelled watching his hat for sleep being burned by the fire, the Mr Saturn from before got out with a tiny flame burning his ribbon.

Command Room

"Where's that noise coming from?" Master Hand asked and he made a virtual screen showing the kitchen and the poor Smashers being burned alive and gasped "THE KITCHEN!!"

"Oops...I think I served Superspicy Curry instead of eggs..." Crazy Hand muttered to himself and his brother ran away with a huge bucket with water to douse the fire. He forgot completely of someone else standing in the Command Room watching Roy, but the person was very familiar.

"Roy...looks like you haven't changed at all."

Preview of the next chapter

Currently, we're experiencing techniqual difficulties due to a fire starting in the mansion, to advance, we're going to leave this note with the title of the next chapter

Roy is NOT our boy

Do you want to save your data?

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Overwrite file?

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Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, ?

After thinking for a time, the next world is Fire Emblem, where Lyn and Eliwood appeared, but I thought it could be interesting to stop Hector from marrying Lyn or Roy can't exist if his father (Eliwood) doesn't marry Lyn, and I know you know who's that person looking at Roy.

References:

-The blue wire is the correct one part was a reference from Viewtiful Joe, the anime where the man who is trying to desactivate a bomb in Blue Town says to Joe that he should decide which wire is the right one, but Jr says to Joe that the blue wire is the correct one, so Joe does it and the bomb stops (However, at the end of the episode, the same man accidentaly cuts the red wire behind the Bianco Billy, resulting in a explosion and Jr could have sworn he just heard a explosion, but Joe says otherwise)

And for a reminder, the next arc is Fire Emblem becuase it was requested, thanks! Read and review please!
*Chapter 41*: Roy is NOT our boy

Okay! Stop your time of boringness everyone! This story is back with more action, adventure, and every last genre included as always! The Fire Emblem arc is ready to be readed! Please enjoy, read and review!

Sadly, my Wii doesn't wants to read Brawl so I sending it to Nintendo (I want to play as Lucario, dammit!) T.T

Chapter 41: Roy is NOT our boy

Kitchen

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Master Hand screamed before throwing the water from the bucket to the Smashers, a big river of water flooded the entire kitchen and after the water was gone, the Smashers were shown with upset faces and water running down their bodies, but the effect of the Superspicy Curry was gone.

"I don't know if I need to be mad or happy after this." Chris said.

"At least the fire is gone." Jigglypuff said sighing in relief.

"It could have been worse if all the Smashers were here," Master Hand said shuddering "The mansion would be on fire."

"I don't even want to think about that." Roy said clenching his shirt to dry it.

"Oh, by the way Roy, a friend is waiting for you in the Command Room, he wants to see you there now with everyone else." Master Hand said before leaving with the bucket.

"Who could it be?" Pikachu asked getting in a thinking position.

"...REALLY?!" Roy ran away at high speed towards the Command Room, forgetting the fact that he was still wet in his clothes for sleep.

"Hey! Wait up!" Popo said drying out his parka for sleep.

"...He's already there." Mewtwo pointed out.

Command Room

"IT'S YOU!" Roy said surprised pointing at the mysterious person.

"Man, he reached the room before me already?" Master Hand asked floating inside the room after Roy came in.

"Roy, how have you been since the Melee tournament?" The mysterious person asked.

"Good! I've been fighting againts the Primids with the others currently here!" Roy said.

The mysterious person glanced at Roy's clothes "...In that?"

"You know not with this." Roy said closing his eyes at the middle.

Suddenly, everyone else came with their clothes for sleep dried and they gasped after seeing the mysterious person.

"It's...it's...it's..." Nana trailed off accidentaly pointing surprised at the mysterious person.

"That's right! Our favorite nancy boy, Marth, is here!" Crazy Hand said. Revealing the mysterious person to be Marth!

"STOP CALLING ME LIKE THAT!" Marth demanded angrily and that made various Smashers to chuckle a little "HEY!"

"We're kidding! Take it easy!" Falco said still chuckling.

Marth glanced at the current Smashers, but his eyes were more interested in one particular person "Who is him?" He said looking at Chris.

"My name is Chris, nice to meet you." Chris introduced himself to Marth.

"He doesn't looks like he's from a land or place like all of us are."

"It's because he is a human of the real world." Master Hand pointed out.

"The real world? So it was true that there was a world like that."

"How did you contacted Marth?" Ness asked.

"Ugh, I don't want to remember how I went through all the trouble to take him here." Master Hand said frowning.

Flashback

The scene shows Master Hand being surrounded by a huge army of japanese soldiers.

"Calm down! I'm just looking for Marth of Altea!" Master Hand said sweating.

The only problem that made Master Hand was the soldiers who didn't understand his language since they only speak japanese, and many ramblings in japanese were created after he said that.

One of them asked something to the hand.

"Hey! My mother was a saint, mind you!" Master Hand responded angrily (he didn't knew what were they talking too) "What'd you say?!"

End of flashback

"And then, Marth came from nowhere and he explained everything to his crazy japanese army in his language and then, I convinced him to come with me." Master Hand said.

"I admit it, I would do the same if I were you." Popo said.

NEWCOMER!

Marth joined your team!

"...Wait, we forgot something about Roy, didn't we?" Pikachu asked.

"..." Roy thought for a moment and he gasped "MY MOTHER!"

"Your mother? What about her?" Master Hand asked, Pichu was still holding the control and he changed the screen to show Lyn about to kiss Hector "HOLY SH-"

"No need to swear." Marth said.

"Sorry," Master Hand said embarrased "If we don't stop them before Lyn or Hector say if they want to marry, this is going to cause a time paradox!"

"Time paradoxes doesn't exist!" Nana protested.

"SUUUUURE, they don't exist!" Master Hand said sarcastically "We need to do something since the Primids are taking a "break" from their invasions, everyone, prepare to go there now!" Master Hand ordered and everyone left to their rooms to prepare except for Marth.

WARNING: Epic scene coming after this message

The scene blackens out, but suddenly, it shows Ness putting on his stripped shirt with a impacting sound, then it shows electricity gathering in Pikachu's tail (With another impacting sound), Roy putting on his shoes, Nana taking her hammer from the floor, Chris changing of jobs, Jigglypuff clearing her throat, Fox adjusting his belt, Lucario chuckling his hands and the aura glows in them, Popo covering his head with his blue hood (Unfortunately, we lost the chance to see his head), Mewtwo slowly opening his eyes, Falco putting on his vest, Pit swinging his blades at the air, Pichu yawning, then, it shows everyone preparing themselves for the mission and the scene focuses on their faces.

"Let's do this!" They say in unison, but Pichu falls asleep since he was still weak.

End of epic scene

Everyone returns to the Command Room.

"Oh, I forgot something, only humans are allowed to go to this world." Master Hand said and that caused the non-humans Smashers to groan at this (save for Mewtwo and Lucario).

"Why we can't go to that world?" Pikachu asked.

"You see, there are rules for each world, the rules are that only characters who resembles another person or race in that world can go to that world, for example, the last world you visited was Sonic's, correct? It has various characters resembling different species, that's why all of you were allowed to go," He looked at the screen "Unfortunately, Fire Emblem only has humans, basically, only Roy, Chris, the Ice Climbers and Marth can go."

Ness made an upset face "But I'm human!"

"Humans don't have big heads."

"Racist!" Ness replied back.

"I'm not racist! Admit it! I consider you an EarthBounder!"

"Fine!" Ness crossed his arms "I didn't wanted to go from the beginning!"

"Do what you want to do!" Master Hand said "There's also a capacity of characters to go, let me show you with this explanation on the screen" Master Hand snapped his fingers changing the moment of Lyn kissing Hector to an instruction about traveling "Wait! This is also in the manual I send to you in your first trip!"

"I forgot about the manual the whole time." Chris said (he was using the PK Kid job) and he grabbed the manual from his pocket.

About traveling section

Over your travels, there are certain options to let a member of your party to travel along with you, if your partner has at least 2 or more of the next requirements, he or she can go with you

Race: This happens if the world has characters that are in one or many ways like your partner is, example: if there are characters who looks like birds, you can take any member who looks like a bird

"In other words, me." Falco said pointing at himself.

Abilities: In some worlds, there are certain cases that some abilities are strongly neccessary to use, example: ability to run fast, climb walls, espionage, magic, etc

"Well, I have espionage skills." Fox said.

Level of danger: If there is absolute danger of the world about to be destroyed, you can take ALL the party members you want to take, if this case appears, use this method IMMEDIATELY

There are 3 levels of danger (This method is always combined with another method):

Low: You can take 3 party members, this level appears if there is no danger

"This level must have appeared when we went to Sinnoh." Chris said.

Medium: You can take 9 party members, this level appears when the world is in a common danger of being destroyed along with his normal threat (Example: The world's main antagonist fighting with another villain of a completely different world)

"9? What a rare number when we went to Pikmin." Pit said.

High: This method is the most rarest of the previous 2 mentioned methods, this level appears when the world is about to be destroyed with a high percentage of enemies inside, take this level as the medium level but worser

"Like what was going to happen in Sonic's world." Pit said.

"Exactly, that was another reason of why you were allowed to go." Master Hand pointed out.

Members allowed to dispatch: There is a limit of party members to take in some worlds, for example, if a world has 4 protagonists, you can take 4 more characters to help you, this method can sometimes nullify the Level of Danger method

"Like in Mother 3." Nana said.

"But how I was able to go there?" Fox asked.

"Keep reading." Master Hand said.

Help request: If there is a risk of losing inside the current world, members outside the current party on the world can appear to save them from imminent danger, using this method it's strongly recommendable if you don't want to lose your life in the process, like the Members allowed to dispatch method, this can nullify the Level of Danger method too

"Well, this is helpful." Pikachu remarked and Chris took the manual back to his pocket.

"...But, I can only take 2 with me." Chris said glancing at the Ice Climbers, Marth and Roy.

Popo and Nana looked at each other and nodded "Go with Marth and Roy." Popo said.

"After all, is their kind of world." Nana said.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Roy said.

"I'm sorry for not taking you with me in this mission Lucario." Chris said.

"I understand, but if something bad happens to you, I'll be there in a blink to protect you." Lucario said.

"I'm happy to hear that," Chris said smiling a bit "Okay, Marth, Roy, let's g-"

"WAIT!" Crazy Hand interrupted "I HAVE NEW THINGS TO SELL!"

"Oh yeah, you said that at the breakfast, let me see the new things you're selling now," Chris said looking at the list, but he raises an eyebrow "Isn't this...a sticker?"

Crazy Hand nodded (or shook his head) "That's right! Now I sell stickers to increase your powers!"

"(Sweet! Time for another explanation from me!)" Master Hand thought excited "Ahem, as you may know, there was an update in the official site in your world about stickers and their powers right?"

"Right." Chris said.

"AND you haven't found any equipment since when?"

"...Now that is another thing I forgot about, I haven't found any armor or weapon since we went to Dragon Roost Island," Chris took out the Blue Amulet "This amulet increases the aura of a perso-" The amulet suddenly shines and Chris blocks his eyes, after a second, the amulet was gone, but a sticker took his place "What's this? A sticker of Rachel of Advance Wars DS?" After that, all his extra equipment turned into stickers.

"See? The amulet and the others turned into stickers, now you need to add them to Lucario's trophy stand." Master Hand explained.

"...Alright, where is it?"

"..." Master Hand thought for a moment "Err...it seems neither of you haven't cleared the Classic Mode yet."

"Classic Mode?" Pichu wondered (he woke up, but he was still weak).

"(This is my day!) The Classic Mode is the mode were a fighter proves his or her skills againts various challenges, if you pass the mode without giving up, you gain your trophy AND trophy stand."

"I want to take the challenge!" Ness said raising his hand. But Master Hand shook his "head" "I can't?"

"Nope, unfortunately, we need more Smashers to create the chain and eventually...fight againts me or Crazy Hand."

"Which characters do we need to unlock the Classic Mode?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Link or Zelda, Toon Link and Ganondorf, then Yoshi or Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, the 3rd round is againts any Pokémon but we have 5, the next round is againts either a Fire Emblem character or EarthBound character that is also completed, a target test comes after that, we need Kirby or Meta Knight and King Dedede for the round 5, round 6 needs either Samus or Olimar, the 7 is completed since Fox and Falco are available, but Captain Falcon or Wolf can be in this round too, we need Mario or Luigi, Peach and Bowser to create the 8 round, next round contains the Ice Climbers or Pit, but Mr Game & Watch or R.O.B can be here too, the next round needs Wario or Snake and Sonic, another target test comes after that and for the semi-final, a 1-VS-3 takes place but friendly fire is activated in the process and finally, if you choose to play in hard and you passed the previous matches in less than 15 minutes, you can challenge me and my brother to pass the mode and for fun, you get to shoot down some images of the current Smashers," Master Hand explained "Not to mention that in some matches, there are going to be special matches, such as Giant, Team Battle, Multi Man Brawl or Metal."

"...That IS interesting!" Popo remarked.

"Finally, there is variation in this tournament." Falco said.

"In other words..." Chris looked at Crazy Hand "I just lost equipment that we can use later after we recruit the missing characters?"

"Exactly!" Crazy Hand said.

"...ARE YOU CRAZY?! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW WITH THESE THINGS?!" Chris said holding a Eldstar's sticker.

"...Stick them in your body?" Pichu suggested.

"I'm not a living flier!" Chris protested.

"Crazy, this time, you totally screwed it." Master Hand said frowning.

"It was YOUR idea!" His brother said angrily.

"It was YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"Guys..." Roy trailed off.

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"Guys."

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"YOURS!"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?!" Both hands asked panting heavily.

"We can't have another delay or else I'm going to seize my existence!" Roy said angrily.

"Too bad." Chris said.

"What?!"

"I'm looking at the list right now."

Smash Coins in hand: 1900

Fake King - 700 Smash Coins

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins

Racer - 800 Smash Coins

Chozo Arts - 750 Smash Coins

Ranger - 900 Smash Coins: Can be used by Chris

D: Use a powerful but heavy sword in one hand, crush your enemies under the weight of your weapon and perform attacks that needs time to act before unleashing the might of your power! With this job, you're going to torn in half some monsters!

After that new job, the list was showing a lot of stickers.

"Hmm...I'll take the Ranger job please." Chris said taking out 900 Smash Coins to purchase the job, Crazy Hand took the money away from Chris's hand and he glowed changing his appearance.

To be more precise, he was wearing a smaller version of Ike's clothes, but obviously his sword wasn't Ragnell, but instead, it was a light blue color sword with the same weight as Ike's sword.

"This costume really goes along with Fire EMBLEEEEMMMM!!" Chris fell on the floor because of the sword's weight "THIS SWORD IS TOO HEAVY!"

"Let me help you!" Lucario ran at Chris and he tried to lift the sword, but surprisingly, he couldn't lift it even an inch away from the floor "UGH!...I...CAN'T...LIFT...THIS...THING!"

"WHAT?!" Chris yelled in shock after hearing Lucario's statement.

"TRY TO LIFT IT WITH ONE HAND!" Master Hand said.

"AND WHY NOT WITH BOTH HANDS?!"

"JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

"FINE!" Chris lifted the sword with one hand and it felt normal like any plain sword (Lucario thought if Chris was stronger than him for lifting the sword from the floor) "Huh? It feels normal."

"I can sense something else in that job," Mewtwo said "There is an ability to carry the sword with both hands, but you need more training to learn it."

"I see."

"That's not quite possible," Fox said "Chris's strength is by far a little weak but carrying that sword with one hand just seems wrong, the job is actually giving his freedom to carry it with one hand and not both hands."

"In resume, you're saying I'm weak?"

Fox nodded, Chris's left eye twitched "Fox..." Chris trailed off smiling sarcastically.

"Yes?"

"THINK FAST!" Chris threw his sword to Fox, who unfortunately was crushed by his weight above his waist and he yelled in pain.

"ARGH! I'M KIDDING! I'M KIDDING! NOW TAKE THIS SWORD OFF ME!" Fox shouted.

Chris didn't moved from his spot watching Fox trying to lift the sword "...Okay, that's enough." Chris said and he lifted the sword with one hand and Fox panted heavily to catch his breath. Then he opened the portal to Fire Emblem and he, along with Roy and Marth dissapeared inside the vortex.

Falco looked at Fox "Well, we couldn't go since our weapons haven't arrived yet from Slippy."

Pit noticed that one of Fox's boots was missing.

"Where is your boot Fox?" The angel boy asked.

Fox looked at his left foot and the boot that was once there, disappeared by no reason.

Fox looked around the room "Where'd it go?

"You know, I saw Roy approaching to us when Fox was trying to take off the sword from his waist and he then walked away with a smirk on his face." Nana said.

Fire Emblem

Caelin Kingdom
Near Caelin Castle

Near the castle of Caelin, a group of rebels are camping outside the castle to plan an assault to take back the building, but we change the scene to see Lyn about to kiss Hector, meanwhile, a group of his team hides behind some bushes watching the whole scene.

"Oh, this is getting so suspenceful! I want to see the kiss already!" A young girl with pink hair and ponytails on each sides of her head wispered, she was wearing a long, white clothes with a large purple bandana around her neck and brown shoes, she was also using a staff witt a violet crystal on the top, but she wasn't using it this time.

"Why did you dragged me into this? I was studying my magic for the plan of tomorrow!" A young man with purple hair wispered back angrily while he was reading a book of magic, he was wearing a long, orange cape, blue shirt, white pants and brown boots.

"Oh, come on! I know you like to see these things!"

"No, I like to study, that is the only thing I do everyday after we fight againts someone else."

"Sure, what about you Florina?"

"Um...well..." Another young girl was hiding with them too, she has violet hair, she was wearing blue armor pads on her shoulders, white clothes and long blue boots, she was blushing a little and playing with her fingers, her name was Florina "I like to see this kind of scenery Serra...but...I..."

"...I get it! You want to be the woman standing there!" Serra said (the girl with pink hair).

"No! How can you think like that?!" She wispered blushing more.

"It's because it's so obvious! You're in love with Hector!"

"Serra, stop teasing Florina now." There was another man wearing a light blue bandana on his head, he has dark green hair with a long tail of horse on his back, a sword sheated on his lap, wearing blue clothes, a green belt on his lap like martial-arts fighters, he was also wearing white pants and weird dark brown shoes.

"Geez Guy, you're like Erk!" Serra wispered, revealing the name of the first man and the second man.

"If my calculations are correct, you like to watch this right Serra?" Erk asked wispering.

"Yup!" She wispered happily.

"Too bad, Sain was trying to get Lyn's heart." Guy wispered.

"The nerve of that man, he flirts with all the girls, Lyn, me, Florina, Rebecca, Priscilla, heck, he even flirted with Lucius by accident!" Serra wispered annoyed "But someone can mistake Lucius for a girl."

"Now you're attacking Lucius? What kind of friend are you?" Erk asked wispering.

"It's not Sir Sain's fault that his vision was worse in that time." Florina wispered.

"You actually believed the words he told us? I can tell he was lying!" Serra wispered.

"Well...he was acting strange so...I think you're right." Florina wispered.

"Of course I am!"

"Sadly, I have to agree with her." Erk wispered sighing.

"Moving on, I can't believe Lyn fell in love with Hector after he received a full attack of arrows towards Lyn, that was so brave and romantic!" Serra squealed wispering.

"But somehow, I think Eliwood was interested in Lyn." Erk wispered flipping some pages.

"Well, Sir Eliwood and Miss Lyn could be a cute pair." Florina said.

"You're saying that because you could be another good couple with Hector!" Serra protested wispering.

"T-t-that's not true!" Florina wispered blushing more.

"Serra, stop it." Erk demanded wispering.

"...Fine, sorry Florina." Serra wispered.

"Thanks, it means so much for me." Florina wispered smiling.

"...What about Sain?" Guy asked wispering.

"Sain can kiss my a-" Serra was interrupted.

"Look! They're going to kiss!" Florina wispered alerting the group (even Erk was surprised and he decided to look at the couple).

"Ha! What did I told you before?" Serra asked wispering triumphaly.

"...Shut up." Erk wispered annoyed.

Lyn was now ready to kiss Hector's lips, Serra was getting desperate for watching them approaching slowly to the other, Florina was also a little desperate, Guy's eyes widened a little and Erk couldn't resist but he looked at the scene.

As the lips of the other were almost closing in the other mouth, they closed their eyes to feel the kiss.

Until...

"...Hmm? Hector, why are you smelling suddenly like a stinky boot?" Lyn asked while her eyes were still closed, when she opened her eyes, she gasped after her eyes met face-to-face to Fox's missing boot, she looked around for Hector and he was unconscious on the grass with a boot's mark on his face, and comically, there was smoke coming from the print.

"NO WAY! THIS IS JUST STUPID!" Serra said standing up with clenched fists, she couldn't believe that she missed the romantic scene...by a boot.

"Huh? Who's there?" Lyn asked looking at the hiding group.

Guy stood up "Great going Serra."

"I'd imagine she was going to ruin our hiding spot." Erk said standing up.

"So-sorry Miss Lyn!" Florina said blushing a little and standing up.

"I don't care if you were watching, but," Lyn looked at the boot "Where did this came from?!"

"What the-ROY! What was that for?!" Chris asked running towards Lyn.

Flashback

"They're going to kiss!" Chris wispered to Marth and Roy behind some bushes.

"(BOOT TO THE HEAD!)" Roy yelled inside his mind throwing the boot at high speed towards Hector's face.

End of flashback

Unfortunately, it seems that Hector suffered from the commonly and sudden attack of...a boot to the head.

"Who are you?!" Lyn asked in shock.

"And who's the girl?" Serra asked pointing at-

"I'M NOT A GIRL!" Marth protested angrily.

"You're wearing a tiara, nancy boy!"

"THAT IS A-"

"I ask again!" Lyn demanded pointing her sword at them "Who are you?!"

"Um..well..I'm Chris," Chris said raising his hand "This is Marth," He said pointing at Marth "And this is-"

"Eliwood?!" Lyn's group said surprised.

"I'm not my fath-" Roy's mouth was blocked by Marth.

"Excuse me?" Erk said.

"He's Roy!" Chris said sweating.

"Wow, he looks like Eliwood to me." Serra said.

"We're sorry for throwing that boot to your..." Marth looked at the unconscious Hector "Friend!"

"Who threw the boot?" Guy asked.

"Roy."

"And why did you threw the boot at Hector?" Lyn asked putting away her sword.

"Because...he was practicing his Boot Throwing Training!" Chris said and everyone stared at him.

Florina turned to see Serra "It's there a training like that?"

"Not sure..." Serra trailed off thinking.

"Yeah! He's still learning the way of the boot but he's not expert in throwing the boot at his target, most of the time he hits me or Marth! Right Marth?" Chris lied and sweated, glancing at Marth.

"Err...yes! That is the truth!" Marth said smiling, sweating at the same time.

"..." An awkward moment of silence came after that.

"...Ahem! Hector?" Serra said looking at Lyn.

"Oh right!" Lyn kneeled to Hector throwing the boot away (Chris got the boot in the air and he stored it safely in his inventary) "Hector! Wake up!"

"..." Hector didn't responded, the smoke was still coming from his cheek.

"Hector! Wake up!"

"..." No response.

"WAKE THE HELL UP!" Lyn snapped and Hector suddenly woke up.

"(Wake...)" Guy thought.

"(The...)" Serra thought.

"(Hell...)" Erk thought.

"(Up?)" Florina thought.

"(That is new coming from Lyn.)" Serra thought.

"Huh? What happened?" Hector asked while getting up.

"You were attacked by Crazy Boot's man over here." Serra said pointing at Roy.

"Eliwood?" Hector asked rubbing his head.

"He's not Eliwood, he is Roy." Erk said.

"It's weird to meet someone who looks like Eliwood now...ugh, I don't feel so good..."

"(Fear the power of the boot throwing skills of Roy, Hector.)" Chris thought sarcastically "It's there some kind of tent to tend Hector's injury?"

"It's not so bad, really." Hector said.

"(But the smoke is still coming from his cheek.)" Florina thought.

"Say...are you swordsmans by the way?" Guy asked while glancing at the swords of Roy's group (yes, he is the protagonist of this arc).

"We are." Marth said.

"And do you have a group?" Florina asked.

"Not by the moment." Roy said.

"Then could you join us for now?" Serra asked.

"Well..." Chris trailed off.

"Sure!" Roy said nodding.

"(He wants to join because he wants to stop Hector to marry Lyn.)" Marth and Chris thought at the same time.

"Excellent! Welcome to our team!" Serra said smiling cheerfully.

"It's getting late, we should return with the others now." Erk said walking away with his book.

"Follow us." Lyn said leaving, after a moment, Roy's group walked alongside Lyn's group.

"Can I carry your sword please?" Guy asked.

"M-my sword?!" Chris asked in shock.

"Yes, I'm also a swordsman."

"Um...well...why not?" Chris said taking out his sword and giving it to Guy.

"WHOA!" Guy fell to the grass trying to lift the sword "UGH! THIS SWORD IS TOO HEAVY! HOW CAN YOU CARRY IT?!"

"It's...a secret!" Chris said grabbing and putting away his sword, Guy got up gasping for breath.

"Okay...I prefer my sword better if you don't mind."

"It's okay, I don't mind at all." Chris said laughing a little.

"We're here!" Serra said taking the attention of the whole members of Lyn's group. All of them were either standing up or sat around campfires with tents around "And not only that, we have 3 more members!"

Chris noticed that someone familiar was approaching to them "Oh no...we have another problem in our hands..." He wispered to Roy.

"Why?" Roy asked confused.

"Hey there." A man wearing a green armor, a black shirt underneath, pale dark green hair with a pale grey bandana around his forehead, white pants, long green armored knee pads and brown boots said winking at Marth.

"I'M NOT A GIRL!" Marth protested furiously.

"He's Sain, a womanizer guy." Chris wispered to Roy.

Preview of the next chapter

"Serra, why are you helping me?"

"Roy, isn't obvious? I don't want Hector to be Lyn's boyfriend! I want to see Eliwood in his place!"

"Can I ask why?"

"It's a secret until the next chapter!"

"And why don't you say it now?"

"C'mon! Can you wait until the next chapter?!"

"No! I want to know now!"

"Next time: Roy's and Serra's plans to break up couples!"

"Don't ignore me!"

Runs away.

"Hey! Come back here in this instant!" Runs away.

Do you want to save your data? , Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, Serra, Florina, Erk, Guy, Sain

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Caelin Kingdom
Chris

Well, the Fire Emblem arc is now in progress (Hurray!), and you guessed it, Roy is the protagonist. There is going to be a lot of humor on the next chapter, but also, we can't forget the action of course, and since Fire Emblem has 3 protagonists and there is a low level of danger, only Roy, Marth and Chris can go to that world (sorry if you wanted Ness being surrounded by Pegasus horses XD).

Anyway, the next chapter will be up tomorrow, read and review please!
*Chapter 42*: Serra: Devilish Healer

Although I said this chapter was going to have action...I lied...kinda, oh well, it's still good, you won't regret it!

Enjoy, read and review!

Chapter 42: Roy's and Serra's plans to break up couples!

"Oh! Pardon me, I thought you were a girl by your tiara." Sain said rubbing his head.

"Don't worry, I did the same as you." Serra said.

"(Great, I'm starting to think about wearing a bandana now.)" Marth thought annoyed.

"Hey Lyn! Who's the Eliwood wannabe?" A man with dark orange hair, wearing a long red cape on his right shoulder, pale green clothes, white pants and brown boots asked to Lyn. One man sitting next to him opened his left eye to glance at "Eliwood's wannabe".

"Allow me to introduce our new recruits, he is Roy," She said pointing at Roy "This is Marth," She said pointing at Marth "And he is Chris." She said pointing at Chris.

"Like I've said before, the more, the merrier!" A young girl with a bow said cheerfully, she has dark green hair, ponytails on each sides of her lower part of her hair, she was also wearing a pale green handkerchief on her head, brown shoulder pads, a blue big bandana on her waist, brown clothes, a small brown skirt and brown boots.

"I agree with you Rebecca!" Serra said revealing the name of the girl.

"I expected to see another axe wielder." A tall muscular man wearing blue clothes, a blue steel circle around his forehead, a destroyed green cape hanging on his belt, black pants and sandals said crossing his arms.

"You get your chance to have a match againts Dorcas another time, Bartre." Guy said, revealing the previous man.

"That's the only thing that cheers me up! Hahahaha!" Bartre said laughing "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's have a small party to celebrate our new members!"

"(A party? I know Lyn is going to say-)" Chris's thought was interrupted.

"Sounds good to me." Lyn said nodding.

"(What?)"

"Alright! Lowen, Rebecca, how about if you two cook the dinner?" Serra suggested.

"I'll give it a try." A man with light green hair that covered his eyes said, he was wearing a yellow armor, dark pale green pants and brown boots.

"Ok!" Rebecca said.

That night...

Lyn's group were having a party for the recruitment of Roy, Marth and Chris, many of the friends of her were having a great time between the comrades (some of them were drunk, especially Bartre), but only one man was keeping his composture and remained skeptical.

Lyn was introducing the last but important member, or to be more precise, the other leader of her group.

"I'd like you to meet our next leader, Eliwood." Lyn said looking at Eliwood. Roy was sweating after his own future father glanced at him.

"So, you're my wannabe?" Eliwood asked, he was like an adult version of Roy, the differences being that he was wearing a long, blue cape, a yellow circle on his forehead, blue clothes, white pants and blue boots, but he only thing that they shared were the color of their hairs...oh well, some clothes were the same as Roy's.

"Y-y-ye-I mean, no!" Roy said sweating.

"What's wrong with you? I just asked a simple question." Eliwood said.

"Maybe for the fact that you have the feeling of looking yourself in a mirror?" Marth asked.

"It could be."

"..." Roy didn't said anything.

"Roy! Say something!" Chris suggested angrily.

"I had an accident in my bed!" Roy said randomly, that caused a lot of eyes to see him a little disgusted (even Marth and Lyn backed away from him).

"...He is just nervous, I know he didn't had that...accident, right?" Eliwood asked.

"Right! Right!" Roy said.

"Err, let's continue this party!" Serra suggested and everyone returned to their little festival, talking with each other. Chris dragged Roy away from Lyn, Marth and Eliwood.

"Roy! What the hell were you thinking?!" Chris wispered to Roy.

"Have you ever seen your own father in his childhood with you in person?!" Roy asked making a point.

"Well...no."

"See my point? I can't stop my nervousness with him around!"

"You need to overcome your fear now or else, you're going to dissappear if Hector manages to marry Lyn!"

Without knowing, they were being spied by someone who got their attention and she hid behind them listening to their conversation.

"I know! But...I think we need help for this mission."

"Sorry but, I'm not a pro in breaking up couples, you're on your own this time around." Chris said, then she went away sitting on a table.

"But why are you here then?"

Chris got in a thinking position "Well, you have another point there, maybe because I want to help you, but I didn't expected to break them up in the process."

"That was the idea!"

"Really? Then I can't help you."

"Please!"

"...Ok, I'll help you out, but only if you need my help when you got a plan, got it?"

"Got it!" Roy said smiling a bit.

"Well then, see you later!" Chris said walking away sitting near a table with other members.

Roy stared at Chris for a moment and he looked away a little concerned "(What if I can't convince my father to marry my mother?)"

After some minutes, Roy sat near a table with other members and he was thinking a plan to make Eliwood to fall in love with Lyn, but first, he needs to break up Hector and Lyn, the question is, how can he do that?

"I know why are you here." A creepy voice said near Roy and he looked around in shock.

"Who's there?!" He asked scared.

"Over here you idiot!" The voice said, Roy turned his head to see Serra sitting next to him to his left.

"Aren't you Serra?"

"That's my name! You didn't forgot!" She said smling.

"Excuse me, but, what did you said before?" Roy asked confused.

"Roy, I'm not stupid, you're here because...you want to break them up." She said grinning.

"Break up who?!" Roy asked trying to evade Serra.

"Hector and Lyn! I know you don't want them to be a couple!"

"How did you know?!"

"It's a secret, anyhoo, want any help from me?" She asked.

"Help from you? Why do you want to help me?"

"This may sound weird, but, I don't want them to be married." She said in a serious tone.

"Why?"

"It's yet another secret, I can't tell you, maybe because you look too troubled and I'm a good friend."

"...Alright, you can help me."

She hugged Roy "Thank you!"

"UGH! I...NEED...AIR!"

She stopped her embrace and blushed a little "Oops, sorry, I get carried away sometimes."

Roy was gasping for breath "I...know...now"

"Do you want to know what are my plans?"

"...I'm all ears now."

"Good!" She looked around and Lyn and Hector weren't there "They're hiding from us for the kiss, follow me!" Serra grabbed Roy by the cape and they ran away to find the wrong couple of the future.

After some minutes of looking around, they finally found them hiding behind some trees, Serra asked Roy if he could follow her, when Serra reached the place, Roy's eyes widened when he saw Serra's plan.

"Serra, for what is the catapult?" Roy asked a little scared, standing in front of him, there was a big catapult ready with a big boulder aiming at Hector.

"Isn't obvious? The boulder is going to fall above the clueless blue armored knight!" Serra said proudly.

"I thought we wanted to break their relationship, not break his bones!"

"Sometimes you need to do sacrifices my red haired swordsman." Serra said grinning.

"Serra, what is exactly your intension to kill Hector?"

Serra looked away with an upset face "The big meanie didn't wanted me to participate in a battle againts an army, but I kept protesting back to him and somehow, he managed to convince Eliwood to not accept me in the battlefield, if you were there at that moment, Hector was the one who suffered a lot of damage than the others! I was so angry at him at that day and I decided to get revenge on him!"

"But he was just thinking about your safety!" Roy said.

"I'm also doing a favor to Florina, you know!"

"Florina? What does she has to do with this?" Roy asked confused.

"I know Florina wants to marry Hector someday, so I'm doing big favor to her!"

Roy walked towards Serra grabbing the rope to stop her from launching the boulder at Hector "By killing his future husband?"

"...Wow, I didn't thought about that before."

"Come on, we have to think about another plan now!" Roy had enough guts to pull the rope by accident and Serra's jaw dropped after the boulder went soaring in the sky falling above Hector. Just then, he was about to kiss Lyn.

"(How I've been waited for this moment to happen.)" Hector thought with closed eyes, he didn't noticed that the shadow of the boulder was getting bigger below his foot.

"(After this kiss, I'm going to ask Hector for marriage.)" Lyn thought with closed eyes.

"HAAAA!" Someone shouted behind Hector and both of them were pushed away by Guy and Chris who were training in the night with their swords.

"You're good!" Chris said panting.

"You're not bad either, your style of battle it's getting better now." Guy said panting.

"Thanks for helping me mastering the ability to hold my sword with both hands, it's really weird to fight with one hand." Chris said. Unfortunately, Chris was standing in Hector's spot and he didn't noticed the shadow growing in every second.

"Let's continue!" Guy suggested, he yelled and ran at Chris with his sword ready and Chris prepared to retaliate with his sword, but just then, Chris was comically crushed by the boulder and Guy crashed into it by accident, making his own image on the rock as he walked away with dumb movements.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Roy and Serra yelled surprised and worried about their action.

"WHAT THE HELL I'M SUPPOSE TO DO NOW?! HOW I'M GONNA EXPLAIN THIS TO LUCARIO?!" Roy asked in shock grabbing his hair, he made a think cloud and he appeared on it in a dark place.

"H-hello? Who is there?!" He asked scared looking around, just then, big footsteps were coming from behind, he slowly turned his head scared and yelled terrorized, in front of him, a big black foot was standing there, he looked above the foot and found Lucario with crossed arms and a very menacing face towards him "W-when did you got so big?!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!" The giant Lucario said furiously and making a big echo in the cloud, Roy was now very terrorized.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah?!" He asked.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO CHRIS?!" He asked glowing intensely.

"W-w-w-w-well, it's a funny story, you see, Serr-"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO CHRIS?! TELL ME NOW!!" The giant Lucario demanded and Roy felt he was shrinking after the giant Lucario spoke.

"A boulder crushed him!" Roy said ducking and bowing to Lucario "Please! Don't kill me! I'll be good! I promise!"

"DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!" The giant Lucario said making the biggest, huggest, enormous and colossal Aura Sphere of all times directed to Roy and the currently tiny swordsman yelled like a girl of third grade.

"Roy! Roy! Roy! Earth to Roy!"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET SERRA! I'M TOO YOUNG AND SEXY TO DIE!" Roy said randomly snapping out of his think cloud and hugging Serra scared (that made Serra to blush a little), then she slapped Roy angrily.

"Get a hold of yourself, you perv!" Serra said blushing madly.

"Huh? I'm still alive?! Hurray!" Roy said cheering.

"Roy! What the hell were you doing back there?! Who's Lucario anyway?!" Serra asked furiously and confused at the same time.

"IT'S THE MANIFESTATION OF ALL THAT IS EVIL, SCARY AND DEATH!" Roy said scared.

"Phuu-lease! There's no such thing like that! Come on! We have to heal Chris with my healing abilities!" Serra said grabbing her rod and running towards the boulder.

"W-wait, healing abilities?! I'm saved!" Roy said running with Serra smiling happily.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Although Roy forgot completely about something, the remaining Smashers can see the group from the mansion at any minute if they want to, and it just happens that they were watching Roy's group the whole time. Laughing madly, except for someone else (and Mewtwo).

"Look Nana! Lucario's turning red!" Popo said pointing at Lucario, all the parts of his body that were blue once were now a shade of red.

"Oh no..." Mewtwo muttered to himself.

"BRING THAT IDIOT TO ME! I WANT TO KILL HIM, DESTROY HIS BONES AND EAT HIS FLESH NOW!" Lucario demanded glowing intensely while his voice echoed through the halls of the mansion...or the whole mansion itself.

Fire Emblem

Caelin Kingdom
Near Caelin Castle

Suddenly, Roy sneezed "Man, I need to stay away from the cold."

1 hour later...

"Chris, what happened to you?" Erk asked looking at Chris's head, there was a big cartoony lump on the top.

"Don't...ask." Chris said with gritted teeths.

Lyn and Hector were now hiding again behind another trees, but this time they were walking towards a secret lake Hector found some time ago, but Roy and Serra were following them.

Serra appeared from some bushes wearing a helmet with a black cross "Ha! Hector is walking towards the hole we dug and hid!" She said chuckling.

"How is that going to break them up?" Roy asked appearing with another same helmet as Serra.

"That is going to break them up because...well...they are...umm...oh snap!" She said in shock after realising her useless plan.

"What a lovely night, isn't it Hector? Lyn asked.

"Of course it i-" They were again pushed away by Bartre and another tall muscular man, he had red hair, he was wearing a pale green shirt, a brown collar around his neck, a belt, black pants and sandals with brown wristbands, both of them were fighting with giant axes.

"Bartre, this isn't the time to be fighting while you're drunk!"

"Shut up Dorcas! Prepare tooouu be tefeaded!" Bartre said drunkily and he charged at Dorcas, but just then, the drunk axe wielder fell in the hiding hole Roy and Serra dug for Hector and he yelled in pain after touching the far away ground with his butt.

"Bartre! Are you alright?!" Dorcas asked looking at the darkness of the hole.

"I'm fine! Say, what are the birds flying around my head for?!" Bartre said with hiccups and he lost consciousness, Dorcas frowned at this and he went for help, behind the bushes, Serra was getting more and more upset.

"Grrr! I can't believe this!" She said angrily.

"You know, we should think before acting, that is one of the things I've learned from Marth." Roy stated.

"I know! We should think before acting so we can come up with another plan!" Serra said smiling.

"But I said tha-" Roy was interrupted because Serra was pointing her staff at him with a glare.

"Who said that?!" She asked angrily

"You!" Roy said scared and sweating.

"Good boy..." She said lowering her staff and walking away, Roy sighed in relief and he walked away with her.

"...Hello? Is somebody there?" Bartre asked waking up inside the hole.

This time, Serra told Eliwood about someone trying to kill Lyn in the forest and he went inside the forest, of course, she didn't said that Hector was with her, but that was part of her plan. In a blink, she appeared just in front of the couple.

"Serra?! Where did you came from?!" Hector asked in shock grabbing his heart.

"Hey there Hector! How have you been?" Serra asked smiling.

"Um...fine?"

"Good! I need your help! Someone is trying to take your axe!" She said.

"My axe? But I have it right her-" Hector gasped when he saw his axe gone from his belt "MY AXE!"

Serra pointed to a random direction "Hurry up! The thief went to that direction!"

Hector ran away at mentioned direction yelling "COME BACK HERE, YOU THIEF!"

"I'll go with him to get his axe back." Serra said following Hector.

"I didn't see anyone grabbing Hector's axe...how weird..." Lyn said to herself getting in a thinking position.

"Hold it right there missy!" A voice spoke from nowhere and Lyn looked around confused.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" Lyn demanded.

A black hooded figure wearing a black ninja costume appeared from the trees with a sword ready, Lyn only was able to see his eyes "You're one pretty girl, I'll take you to my house for some action...(Serra, I'm so gonna kill you after this!)" The ninja said and thought in his mind, it was Roy in disguise and probably Serra told him to say that to Lyn.

"Yo-you pervert! I'll show you some actio-" Lyn was trying to take her sword, but she looked at her belt and it was gone "My sword! Where is it?!"

Back with Serra...

"(Hehehehe! I knew Lyn was going to defend herself, good thing Matthew stole her sword along with Hector's axe!)" Serra thought smirking a little "I saw somebody running to that direction!"

"Get back here!" Hector yelled to no one in particular, that made Serra to laugh a little.

Back with Lyn and the pervert ninja A.K.A Roy...

"What's wrong? You lost your weapon or something?" The ninja (Roy) asked.

"Ugh! I can't fight like this!"

"Too bad!" The ninja (Roy) ran towards her with his sword ready to cut her alive, Lyn blocked her face with crossed arms to resist the attack and wait for her death.

"Not so fast!" Eliwood came from nowhere and he shielded Lyn with his sword, the ninja (Roy) backed away after both swords impacted with each other.

"E-Eliwood!" Lyn said surprised.

"(Alright! It's working!)" Roy thought "Oh no, I can't fight againts you! I need to escape!" Then he ran away at high speed and Eliwood sweatdropped putting away his sword.

"...That was easy though..." Eliwood said.

"Thank you for saving me." Lyn said.

"You're a comrade, why I shouldn't help you out?"

"Well, that's true too." Lyn said blushing a little.

Behind some bushes, Matthew was watching the scene with the weapons of Lyn and Hector "They DO look like a good couple." He said laughing heartily.

"Did you hear something?" Eliwood asked after hearing someone laughing.

"Umm, miaooo!" Matthew turned into a cat to evade them.

"It's just a cat with vocal problems." Lyn said.

"Yeah, his voice is too deformed to be a cat actually."

"(Hey!)" Matthew thought angrily.

"Anyway, can you help me to search for my sword?" Lyn asked.

"(She lost her sword?) Fine."

Matthew gasped "(That's the signal to escape!)" He was about to flee away, but he crashed into a hard wall "(Aoohh!)" He rubbed his head and he glanced at the sudden random wall, but it wasn't a wall exactly...

"Matthew?!" Hector stood there with crossed arms glancing at his weapon above Matthew's hands.

"Err, hi Hector! How are you doing?" Matthew said smiling a little scared. He noticed that Serra was there looking a little annoyed.

"I told you to hide in those bushes, not these bushes!" She said.

"So you were working together in this?" Hector asked with a glare towards Serra.

"Umm, what makes you say that?" Serra said sweatdropping.

"Did you hear something?" Eliwood asked again.

"Aren't they Hector, Sierra and Matthew behind those bushes?" Lyn asked and mentioned characters glanced at them.

"Hello there!" Matthew said waving a hand sweating, for his bad luck, he was showing Lyn's Mani Katti.

"Matthew...did you stole my sword?" Lyn asked glaring at Matthew.

"N-no!"

"I told you Hector! Matthew was stealing your axe along with Lyn's sword!" Serra said pointing at Matthew.

"WHAT?!" Matthew said in shock "YOU! YOU TOLD ME THA-" He was quickly attacked furiously by Serra and her staff and he lost consciousness.

"Hahaha! I defeated the villain! Now you can take back your weapons!" Serra said proudly of herself and sweating at the same time.

"...Ok." Lyn said taking back her sword and putting it away and Hector did the same.

"(First phase of our plan is complete!)" Serra thought proudly.

1 hour later...

"Are you serious Serra?" Sain asked excited.

"It's true! Lyn took her clothes off!" Serra said dragging Sain with her. Then Sain's eyes turned into hearts.

"Heaven, here I go!" Sain said happily.

After running for minutes, Serra stopped her walk and Sain looked around, but Serra took this advantage and she hid above a tree.

"Huh? Serra? Where'd you go?"

"(Now!)" Serra pulled a rope close to her and a box was above Sain and the box was containing...a lot of women panties that fell above Sain.

"What the..." Sain said as he looked his body being buried in the panties "(Which is better? This or...)"

"Show yourself thief!" Eliwood came from nowhere with his sword ready "...Sain?! What the hell were you doing stealing...those?!"

"Eliwood! Is not what it looks like! Really!" Sain said trying to explain to Eliwood.

Just then, Lyn came from nowhere as Eliwood and she gasped after finding Sain inside the panties "Sain! How could you?!" She said with clenched fists.

"Lyn, wait! Let me explain!"

"I saw everything!" Serra said appearing from the tree "Sain was stealing our panties!"

"What?! I'd never do something like that!"

"You're a womanizer guy! That's enough to hear!"

Meanwhle, Roy was hiding behind some bushes "(How is this going to help us?)" He asked in his mind.

"He especially said that Lyn's were beautiful!" Serra said with an accusing finger towards Sain.

"(How is she able to think like that?!)"

When Sain noticed, Lyn was surrounded by fire and she was slowly taking out her sword "Lyn! Please! Listen to me!"

"Not only that, he was about to blame Eliwood too!" Serra said. Then Eliwood was surrounded by the same fire and he was preparing his sword.

"Eliwood! Who are you going to listen?! That liar or me?!" Sain asked sweating.

Another hour later...

Sain was fataly wounded by 2 swords and he decided to stay away from Serra for the remaining of the night, then he thought it was a good idea to fall unconscious in the table...over his plate.

"What is wrong with Sir Sain?" Florina asked.

"Probably he was doing one of his tries to get a woman's hearts again." A man next to Florina said, he was the same rank as Sain, but the difference was that he's not a womanizer like Sain is, but still, he is his best friend, he was wearing a red armor and his hair was orange.

"That guy is unbelievable." Erk said while flipping some pages of his book.

"I think Sir Kent is right." Florina said revealing the name of the man close to her "Sir Wil, it's something wrong?" She asked to a man close to Kent, he was an archer like Rebecca, he was wearing blue clothes, his hair was brown, a shoulder pad on his left shoulder protecting his chest in the area of the heart, a blue glove on his left hand and a light brown glove on his right hand, white pants, a belt with an arrow holder (with arrows) and brown boots.

"It's about Caelin Castle, we're going to attack in the morning right?" Wil asked.

"Yeah, like Eliwood planned." Erk said.

"So?" Rebecca appeared from behind Wil.

"I'm worried about Lucius, I heard he was imprisoned inside the castle along with Priscilla's brother."

"Well, Priscilla told me that his brother is Lucius's lord since childhood." Kent said (trying to wake up Sain).

"My point is, we need to rescue them before we can take back the castle."

Coming from the forest, Roy and Serra were shown a little exhausted.

"Phew...that was close..." Roy said.

"I told you to fire the arrow at Hector! Not Lyn!" Serra saind angrily "And for worsening up, you fired the arrow towards the castle!"

"How do you know the arrow actually made it to the castle?"

"I know because you broke a window!"

"Stop arguing! At least, Eliwood appeared again without us telling him to protect Lyn." Roy said sighing.

"Well, you're right, I think we can continue this until tomorrow, I'm so exhausted right now."

"Let's call it a night then?" Roy suggested.

"Let's do that." Serra said smiling a bit.

The next morning...

The whole group was shown preparing for the attack againts the castle behind a huge hill.

"Okay, here goes nothing, I'll see if my sword's skills were improved last night." Chris said nodding at his sword.

Behind Chris, Marth was looking at the army of Lyn and Eliwood preparing for the attack, until he found Florina riding a pegasus.

"Florina, are you a Pegasus Knight?" Marth asked.

"Yes, it's because of my sisters that are also Pegasus Knights, they're more skilled than me but I work hard to be of use to this army."

"I see. (It's remarkable to see someone as young as her to be able to ride a pegasus.)" Marth said and thought. Roy was taking out his sword and he looked at Eliwood.

"What is it?" Eliwood asked.

"It's...it's nothing, it's just that I want to see you in battle fa-Eliwood." Roy said sweating a little.

"...Well, I want to see you too."

"Really?!"

Eliwood nodded "Every time a new recruit joins us I always want to see their abilities, skills and development in battle."

Roy blinked "I think it's a good strategy to know about your comrades."

Eliwood laughed heartily "You shall see more of that after you have your own army."

Roy was now sweating more "Y-yeah...(Thing is, I have an army already...)"

"Is everyone ready?" Lyn shouted to have the attention of everyone. Various statements of agreedment were heard "Our plan for today is to take back Caelin Castle and rescue Lucius from the enemy inside, if you find the leader of the group inside, don't hesitate to kill him."

Chris gulped "(I have to kill people in this mission?!)"

"(Nothing like a good morning to fight againts an army with companions alongside me.)" Marth thought.

"(This day, I'm going to make my father to love my mother or else, I'll dissappear for good!...Wait...)" Roy was thinking inside his mind but he saw Serra looking at him "Serra?"

"Roy, our plans aren't finished yet, we have to clear our plans this day since we're going to attack the castle." Serra said in a serious tone.

"Alright, but tell me when you have one, got it?"

"Affirmative!" Serra said excited.

Lyn turned to see the top of the hill and she pointed the top with her sword and she yelled "ATTACK!!"

Attack

A huge war cry was heard and every men, woman and horses were running towards the castle ready to start their plan.

Caelin Castle
Terrace

"Huh? S-sir!"

"What is it?!"

"Look over there!"

"...An assault?! Alert the commander now!"

"Roger!"

Prison

"...Looks like they started." A monk inside a cell said.

"Hey you! Shut up and stay there without moving!" A guard shouted from outside the cell.

Preview of the next chapter

"How are we going to convince Eliwood to fall in love with Lyn while we're fighting, Serra?"

"Don't worry! I have everything planned right now!"

"Care to share information with me?"

"Geez, you're asking something again like the last preview!"

"But I can't help it! I need to know!"

"Next time: Roy and Eliwood!""

"Oh no, you're not gonna escape no-"

Runs away

"Darn it!" Runs away

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Caelin Kingdom
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, Serra, Florina, Erk, Guy, Sain, Rebecca, Marcus, Lowen, Bartre, Dorcas, Matthew, Merlinus, Wil, Oswin, Priscilla, ?, ?

Wow, the current character list grew so much in this chapter...but you know they're not going to follow them. And maybe you have noticed that I added some characters that didn't even appeared, well they will appear in some way in the next chapter.

Also, I know I forgot to add the "Do you want to save your data" part in the last chapter, that was replaced just now, I sometimes overwrite some chapters of some errors if you wondered. :)

Read and review please! I have the hope to reach 100 reviews before the 100th chapter after all!

One question if you're going to review, how do you imagine Master Hand's and Crazy Hand's voices in the fan fics?

...Oh, and Roy is so gonna get it at the end of the arc if you know what I'm talking about. XD
*Chapter 43*: Infiltration Of Roy's Home

Oh sorry, sorry, sorry! This chapter turned out to be shorter than the last ones! I can't believe this...but, I know there is some way to make up for this mistake, I know!

Read, enjoy and review please...

Chapter 43: Roy and Eliwood

Attack

Caelin Kingdom
Outside Caelin Castle

A war soon unleashed upon the castle of Caelin, Lyn's legion was outnumbered by the soldiers currently in command of the castle, but nevertheless, Eliwood knew that his soldiers were stronger.

"They're launching a frontal assault!" A guard said.

"We must defend this castle for Lord Bernard or we get our heads above lances!" Another guard said, then an archer approached to them "What is it?"

"Send more guards to the prison, the commander says that they're going to rescue the prisoners inside."

"Roger, send more guards now!"

"Affirmative!"

The guard ordered more guards to protect the prison from Lyn's group as they were approaching every minute.

"Remember, someone has to rescue Lucius from the prsion, who wants to do this?" Eliwood asked while he was running.

"Leave that to me Eliwood, I need to rescue my brother from them." A young girl with red hair said, she was wearing a feather on her left ear, a little white cape, green vest, a white skirt, light brown boots and a rod with feathers surrounding a purple crystal ball on the top.

"Fine, but you need more help if you want to return without problems, who wants to follow Priscilla?" Eliwood asked, also revealing the name of the girl.

"Umm, I want to go if you don't have any objections." Chris said.

"Count me in." Marth said.

"I'm ready to go too!" Guy said.

"Me! Me! Please me!" Rebecca said excited.

Eliwood nodded "Alright, now make a path for Priscilla's group!" He commanded and soon, the opposite army came clashing with Lyn's army and the battle finally began, Lyn ordered to make the path with the help of Sain (Now recovered) and Kent with their horses, an they started their plan.

"This...this is...madness! I can't believe I'm doing this!" Chris said surprised running throught the army alongside Priscilla, Rebecca, Marth and Guy (If you were specting a Sparta reference, forget it, you just were saved in this story).

Arrows, fire, yells of pain, everything that was always included in a war was now happening in the field in front of the castle, Chris thought it this was the life that Roy and Marth were always doing.

"Look out!" Guy yelled spotting an arrow coming towards Chris's heart, he couldn't do anything but the arrow reached his body, but...

"Huh? Nothing happened?" Chris asked confused, he looked at his chest and he forgot completely about the armor protecting his heart, he sighed in relief and they continued further.

Back with Lyn...

She was getting surrounded by many soldiers ready to launch an attack with their swords, but suddenly...

"HAAA!" Eliwood sliced 1/4 of the group and he ran towards Lyn.

"Eliwood!" Lyn said surprised.

"Are you alright?" He asked looking at the soldiers.

"I'm fine thanks to you, but, how are we going to defeat them?"

Serra was healing and healing and healing the army, then she noticed Lyn and Eliwood in a bad time, but then, Hector was running to Lyn and Eliwood and she gasped and thought about something quick.

"Umm...oops!"

"AAAHH!" Hector fell on the grass because Serra "accidentaly" put her foot in Hector's way "Serra!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" She said rubbing her head. Eliwood and Lyn were now fighting without Hector.

Hector stood up "Be more careful the next time, ok?"

"Y-yeah! Sure!" She said, but gasped after Hector was resuming his rescue "Wa-wait up!"

Hector looked at Serra "What is it now?!"

"Umm...look! An axe seller!"

"Where?!" Hector looked around for the imaginary axe seller and Serra took the opportunity to hit Hector's head with her rod and he fell unconscious on the grass with a dumb face.

Then Lowen came from the army riding a horse and he looked at Hector "Serra, what happened to Hector?"

Serra was now healing Hector "The poor knight was attacked on the head and I decided to heal him." She said with a smile.

"Oh, good luck with that." He said leaving with his horse, a smirk appeared on Serra's face.

"(That was easier than I thought it would be!)" She thought evily.

Meanwhile, Lyn and Eliwood were still fighting, but then, Roy came jumping above 5 soldiers and he sliced them with his sword and joined Eliwood and Lyn.

"Roy! It's good to see you here!" Lyn said.

"(Weird, I'm fighting with my fathers.)" Roy thought "Do you need any help?"

Eliwood looked at Roy and nodded "Yes, they're trying to kill us now."

Just then, they quickly formed a triangle formation because more soldiers were now outnumbering them, now they were getting in a big trouble.

"Do you have any ideas?" Lyn asked. Eliwood glanced at every soldier.

"We must attack now!" Eliwood ordered and the big ordeal of soldier ran towards them yelling a war cry.

Suddenly, a horse came jumping above the soldiers and above the horse there was a man with purple hair, a small purple beard, dark orange armor with a pale yellow shirt underneath, white pants, dark orange armored knee pads and brown shoes using a lance, when he appeared he quickly used his lance to stab the soldiers, not only he was alone, but another man with green hair, orange armor with a dark purple shirt underneath, armored orange gloves, armored orange knee pads, dark green pants and brown shoes using a lance came slicing more soldiers and helping the trio from the assault.

"(It's my mentor, Marcus!)" Roy thought surprised after seeing the man of the horse.

"Are you alright?" Marcus asked.

"Thanks to you!" Roy said nodding.

"Good," The other man said "Even Serra is working hard in this battle."

"(Or she's just only hitting Hector every single second.)"

Marcus looked at Eliwood "Eliwood, the assault is working from the beginning, we just need more time until the wall of soldiers blocking us retreats."

Eliwood nodded "Alert our troops to keep their movements, Oswin." He said to the other man.

"Yes?" Oswin asked.

"Try to shield Serra from any enemy."

Roy gasped in shock inside his mind "(Oh no!)"

Lyn noticed that Roy was a little nervous "It's something wrong Roy?"

"No no no! Everything it's fine!" Roy said sweating.

Eliwood looked at the castle "Alright, our next territory is the castle, Marcus, go on and tell them but keep yourself safe from the attacks of the enemy."

Marcus nodded "Sounds good." He said and he left riding his horse. Then Oswin went towards Serra to protect her but Roy was thinking about something.

"(Is Eliwood even aware that I'm his son?!)" Roy thought annoyed.

Caelin Castle
Entrance

Meanwhile, Priscilla's group were infilrtrating the castle avoiding the guards and using Rebecca's arrows to take them down.

"Where do you think the prison is?" Guy asked.

"Hmm, let's see...QUICK! HIDE!" Chris wispered when he heard a group of soldiers coming their way, they hid behind a wall as the footsteps were coming closer, but before Marth could attack, Priscilla stopped him.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Marth wispered angrily.

"Shh! They're talking!" Priscilla wispered trying to hear the conversation.

"Send more guards to the prison to prevent the prisoners from escaping!" A guard ordered.

"Roger!" Many guards said running to the prison and they left, Priscilla's group then got out of their hiding spot and silently, they followed the guards without making any sound.

Prison

Inside a cell, a monk with long blond hair, wearing a long white cape, light blue clothes, a long light yellow belt and dark brown boots was sitting next to another man, his hair was dark red, he was wearing purple clothes, a belt, white pants, light brown boots and a shoulder pad in his left shoulder, on his wrists, he was wearing a bandage on his left wrist and a glove on his left wrist, there was a sword on his belt, but it was guarded by the guardians of the prison that were increasing in numbers.

"Lord Raven, what are we going to do now?" The monk asked wispering to the other man.

"Grr, this is getting too stupid Lucius, why are so many guards taking care of the prison this time?" Raven wispered to Lucius (the monk).

"Didn't you heard? There is war just outside the castl-" Lucius was interrupted.

"Hey you! Stop talking!" A guard ordered angrily.

"On top of that, there are like 20 guards close to this prison now," Raven said "I have no choice but t-"

"Wait, someone else is coming." Lucius wispered to Raven when he saw 5 persons hiding behind a wall while they were ducking.

"Dammit, there are many guards in there." Guy wispered.

"What are we going to do now?" Marth asked thinking.

"...I have no choice." Chris said standing up.

"What is your plan?" Priscilla asked wispering.

Chris closed his eyes "...I'm going to gather up my courage and take one for the team!" He wispered opening his eyes in a serious tone walking towards the cell where Lucius and Raven were being held, the guards noticed Chris approaching and they pointed their swords at him.

"Stop! Now enter the cell if you don't want to die now!" A guard demanded.

"(He has guts to fight againts 20 guards.)" Raven said.

"Alright, I will." Chris said taking out his sword and dropping it on the floor, the weight caused a perfect image of the sword in the floor and everyone sweatdropped at this "But first, I want to do something else before surrendering."

"(Huh?)" Rebecca wondered. Just then, Chris got in a weird position and he started to...

Wes Dance

...to do the Wes Dance? That's right people, Chris does the Wes Dance!

"(WHAT?!)" Marth, Guy, Priscilla, Rebecca, even Lucius and Raven were left speechless with those freaky Naruto eyes on their eyes, except the guards who were watching the humiliating dance.

"(Alright! I'm gathering up my courage after all!)" Chris thought while dancing with weird moves.

"(What in the world is that weird dance?!)" Rebecca thought in shock.

"(Is he crazy?!)" Marth thought.

"(...Definitely, he's pretty much death.)" Guy thought.

The guards were still a little surprised at the dance, Chris was sweating a lot during his play and everyone else were staring in shock at him, where did he learned of that dance?

He was getting to the end of the dance now, after twirling around with his arms pointing to the rocky roof, he twirled over his feet and finally, he pointed at the roof with his finger of his left hand while his right hand was on his lap, then he panted heavily still sweating.

"..." There was a moment of awkward silence following the dance.

Until...

The guards started to whistle at Chris and clapping their hands, they were in fact amazed for the dance and Priscilla's group, Raven and Lucius were left speechless and confused with their jaws wide opened.

"YOU'RE THE BEST!", "AWESOME!" And many other cheers were coming from the guards and Chris bowed to them in honor.

"Thank you!" Chris said taking out a piece of paper with something written on it "Now the next act is, "Kill the guards and rescue the prisoners while they're clapping at your host, Chris!" now stand there!" Chris said grabbing back his sword and Priscilla's group shook their heads and they started their attack at the guards, surprisingly, they were defeated in a second.

"Victory!" Chris said turning into a chibi-style of himself, making a thumbs-up to the roof.

"...You're just too excited, aren't you?" A chibi-style Rebecca appeared with eyes closed and arms pointing at the floor.

Leaving the chibi-style, Marth broke the lock of the cell, the door opened and Lucius along with Raven walked outside, then Priscilla ran at Raven to hug him.

"Raven! I knew you were alive!" She said with closed eyes.

"Pri-Priscilla! Are you with them?!" Raven asked surprised and Priscilla stopped her action on him and nodded smiling with some tears on her eyes.

"Yes! Not only that, I'm with an entire legion!" Priscilla said.

Raven looked at the others "Thanks for taking care of my sister, let me show my gratitude by joining your legion."

"Lord Raven, if you let me, can I go with you?" Lucius asked.

"Of course." Raven said nodding.

Chris looked around for safety "There's nobody close, let's join the others now."

Entrance

Oh, wait, the music...

With Mila's Divine Protection (Celica Map 1)

Lyn's group was now infiltrating the castle and fighting againts the guards, enemy archers and mages, the battle for the castle maybe has just begun...

"Lyn! Where are you going?!" Roy asked.

"I'm going to kill the bastard who took the throne!" Lyn said.

"Wait, I'm going with you." Eliwood said stepping in front of Roy.

"Wa-wait! I'm going too!" Roy said.

"Is there any more space in your team to let me in?" Hector came holding his axe over his right shoulder, with Serra following him behind.

"(Oh no...)" Roy thought inside his mind after seeing Hector. But Serra tried to get his attention with some faces she was making.

"This is it Roy! We have to finish this before this war ends!" Serra wispered to Roy.

Lyn nodded "Thanks, I'll need help as much as I need it."

"Then let's go!" Hector said running deeper inside the castle along with the assassination group to recover the throne while a huge battle was ocurring outside the castle.

Outside Caelin Castle

In the air, Florina was riding her Pegasus but she was having sudden thoughts when she glanced at the castle and remembered Lyn and the others infiltrating it.

"...I...I need...I need to...I need to aid Sir Hector!" She said commanding her Pegasus to fly to the castle.

Inside Caelin Castle

We change the scene to Priscilla's group, making their way further inside the castle while attacking the outnumbering and annoying resistance of soldiers.

"Take this!"

"AAAHHH!" A guard was killed by Chris, but he was studdering and trembling all the way to see the blood coming from the body.

"Blo-blood..." He said scared.

Guy backed away blocking a slash of another sword "It's something wrong?"

"We-well...I didn't expected to kill anyone now...but...I just did!"

Guy defeated the soldier "These are the kind of things that happens in a war, haven't you experienced this before?"

"Something like that...but with less bloo-" Chris was suddenly sprayed by blood in the face by Raven who by accident sent some blood from a soldier he killed "Bloooooooooodddddd..." He said fainting with a dumb face.

Raven walked towards Chris "What happened to him?"

Guy glanced at Chris, then at Raven, then at Chris, then at Raven "He just was surprised to see blood on his face."

"Then do something, we can't have him in this state."

"Well..." Guy kneeled and shaked Chris by the shoulders "Hey! Wake up! We're on the middle of the war, wake up!"

"May I suggest to clean his face first?" Rebecca suggested cleaning his face with a napkin.

"Ugh..." Chris was awakening grogily "What...happened?"

"This is what happened!" Rebecca said showing the napkin with blood.

"BLOOD!" Chris yelled fainting again.

Marth appeared "What happened to him?" He asked, pointing at Chris.

Then he woke up again.

"What happene-"

"This is what happened!"

"BLOOD!" He said, fainting again by the napkin that Rebecca was holding.

"...Let's wait 10 seconds." Guy suggested and they nodded.

10 seconds later...

"Ugh...what happened?" Chris asked grogily.

"This is what happ-" Lucius took the napkin from Rebecca and he threw it outside a window.

"A soldier hit your head...VERY hard." Guy said sweatdropping.

Chris rubbed his head "I need to be more.." He stood up "Careful next time, right?"

"...Yeah." Said Rebecca.

"Hey look! Someone is coming!" Marth said looking to the other side of the corridor, it was Roy, Lyn, Eliwood, Hector and Serra running to the throne room.

"Lucius!" Lyn said.

Lucius bowed to Lyn "It's good to see you again."

"So, he is your lord?" Hector said looking at Raven.

"(Huh? He is Hector! From House Ostia!)" Raven thought surprised "Nice to meet you, I'm Raven."

"(I sense something bad from those words.)" Lucius thought.

"There is no time for introductions, we must reach the throne room and kill the commander of this army againts us!" Eliwood said looking further inside the halls.

"I agree with him," Lyn said "This is my homeland and I cannot allow someone to make his own orders above a throne that doesn't belongs to him."

"What are we waiting for?" Serra asked excited "Let's kick his butt right now!"

Everyone nodded and they ran together towards the throne room, in the way there...

"Roy." Eliwood said.

"Huh?" Said Roy.

"I can see you're a skilled person with your blade, am I right?"

"O-of course I am!...I think..."

"Then hear my hint, don't die on battle and don't left anyone else at the mercy of the death."

Roy looked away "(Father...you were a respectable leader when you were young...)"

"Did you listened to my hint?"

Roy looked at Eliwood "Yes I did."

Eliwood smiled a little bit "Good, if you remember that in every fight you take part, I'm sure you're going to succeed without losing your comrades."

Roy nodded and they continued their search for the throne room "(I will remember your advice.)"

Preview of the next chapter

"Ugh..."

"What is it Roy?"

"It feels weird to fight with my parents in a war, Marth, hopefully, this is going to end very soon."

"I'll lend you a hand if you want."

"Thanks, let's fight for Caelin!"

"Next time: Roy's family is reborn!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Caelin Kingdom
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, Serra, Florina, Erk, Guy, Sain, Rebecca, Marcus, Lowen, Bartre, Dorcas, Matthew, Merlinus, Wil, Oswin, Priscilla, Lucius, Raven

Wait, there IS a way to make up for it...

And that is...

VOTING!

That's right, you can vote for the next worlds to be saved!

Lately, I've been thinking what world could possibly appear on the next arc, so I thought "Why not letting the readers to decide?", and POOF! This idea came to me!

Okay, the rules are simple, if you're going to review OR if you want to vote (By reviewing, of course), you can choose 3 worlds of the next ones, to the end of this arc (That will be the next chapter), the world with most votes obviously will win.

Lastly, you can choose in what time and period are the main characters of that world doing now, and here is the list!

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door

-Glitz Pit

-Twilight Town

-Excess Express (Day One)

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga

-Chucklehuck Woods

-Woohoo University

-Gathering the pieces of the Beanstar

Donkey Konga 2 (Wait, what?)

-(Mysterious plot yet to be revealed)

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

-Candy Costellation

Luigi's Mansion

-Adventure before fighting Bogmire

-Adventure before fighting Boolossus

-Adventure before fighting King Boo

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

-Adventure before the Water Temple

-Adventure before Snowpeak

-Adventure before the City in the Sky

Super Mario Sunshine

-Bianco Hills

-Ricco Harbor

-Pinna Park

So think carefully before clicking the word "Go!", it's your time to decide!

Read and review with your votes please! :)
*Chapter 44*: Right Pairings Are Right

Finally, the Fire Emblem arc is ending in this chapter, and fortunately, this chapter is longer like the other ones.

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 44: Roy's family is reborn!

Caelin Kingdom
Near the throne room

With Mila's Divine Protection (Celica Map 1)

"There they are!"

"Shoot, more soldiers? I can't believe this army has so many of them." Guy said taking out his sword and running after the soldiers.

"Wait, the amount of persons guarding that door...it must be the throne room!" Lyn said.

"Don't let them enter the throne room!" A soldier said.

"...There is your answer." Chris said frowning and taking out his heavy sword.

And so, another battle started inside the castle, the swordsmans were fighting againts soldiers with swords, mages and archers were firing arrows at whatever enemy dared to move to attack them, Serra trying to interrupt Hector from getting near Lyn while healing the wounds of someone hurted with the help of Priscilla, Roy, Lyn and Eliwood making the triangle formation, Chris, Marth and Guy teaming up killing soldiers (and Chris evading all the blood possible to touch his face), Raven having thoughts of killing Hector...you know, the usual (man, I made that scene a little boring, didn't I? XD).

To hell with random enemies without character bios! Who wants to see them anyway? People ALWAYS wants to see the heros kicking the boss's ass! So we will change the scene...hmm...let's say...10 minutes later...

10 minutes later...

Wait, are they still trying to kill the useless random enemies without character bios? Wonderful! Just wonderful!

"You know, this is getting so repetitive! In every goddamn story there are lots of useless enemies without backgrounds that are so annoying!" Chris said annoyed to Marth (italic letters were directed at you, the readers and yes, he broke the fourth wall again).

"Do you have an idea?" Marth asked.

Chris nodded "Of course I have one!" He looked at Lyn, Eliwood and Roy "Go and kill that commander while we try to kill these useless guards!"

"Hey!"

Chris killed the random guard in rage "Shut up! I can't stand this anymore!"

Eliwood, Lyn and Roy sweatdropped "...Fine." Eliwood said entering the throne room along with Lyn and Roy.

"Wait for m-" Hector was abruptaly hit in his head by Serra and the knight fell unconscious on the floor, but her action was discovered by the other members of Lyn's legion (even the useless random guards noticed this and they stopped their attacks).

"Is that even a tactic in a war?" A soldier asked confused, but he earned a nasty glare of Serra.

"Oh, stop it! I can't tolerate this either!" Serra said enraged.

"Err, Serra, I think you need to calm down a littl-" Guy said but he was interrupted by Serra glaring at him.

"SHUT UP! Do you want to know why I tried to stop Hector from following Lyn correct?!" She asked (Eliwood's team was on the other side of the door and they didn't heard anything from Serra).

"Well..." Rebecca trailed off.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, REBECCA! Isn't obvious?! I don't want this stupid axe wielder to be married with Lyn! Eliwood is a much better choice for her! Happy?!" She said panting heavily.

A moment of silence was followed after her furious speech and she waited for an answer impatiently.

"...Why didn't you told us that before?" Priscilla said smiling.

"Huh?" Serra was confused.

"I'd be glad to help you out in this too!" Rebecca said smiling.

"Say what?"

"God, I forgot completely about this." Marth said.

"What?"

"I don't know why, but they don't look good to be a couple." Guy said.

"Come again?"

"I was having second thoughts about helping Roy or not." Chris said.

"Huh?!"

"They? A couple? They don't even match!" A random useless soldier said laughing.

"You too?!"

"I don't want my sworn enem-I mean, ally to be married with her." Raven said.

"...The hell?!"

Throne Room

"Where are you? Show yourself!" Lyn demanded with her sword ready.

In front of the throne, a man with a heavy red armor was sitting there and glaring at Lyn's team.

"I am Bernard, knight commander of Laus!" He said "I can't allow you to ruin my plans for this kingdom and nobody else shall do this either!" He demanded taking out his axe.

"Your days as commander are counted!" Lyn said.

"How pitiful."

"What?" Lyn asked, then Bernard snapped his fingers and soldiers came out of nowhere surrounding Lyn, Eliwood and Roy.

"Not again." Roy said glancing at every soldier.

"Kill the infidels!" Bernard ordered and the soldiers made a war cry.

"Do we have any plan?" Roy asked.

"Our plan is, fight to the death!" Eliwood said charging at the soldiers, Roy didn't do anything but then he nodded and he joined Eliwood in his battle "Where is Lyn?!"

"Lyn!" Eliwood yelled when he saw Lyn running after Bernard grabbing her sword from her belt.

However, Bernard blocked her attack with his axe and Lyn was trying to push aside the axe with her strength "So this is the legendary Mani Katti, I'm impressed that someone like you is able to fight with this sword."

"Shut up!" Lyn said.

"However, this is the end for you!" Bernard pushed Lyn's Mani Katti away and he lifted his axe above her, Lyn stared in shock when the axe was getting closer at her body and she blocked her face with her sword.

CLING!

"Out of the way whoever you are!" Bernard said gritting his teeths.

"The name is Eliwood!" Eliwood said blocking the attack from cutting Lyn and she unblocked her face to see him in front of her.

"E-Eliwood!" Lyn said surprised as Eliwood pushed the axe aside with his sword and he looked at Lyn.

"Are you alright?"

"Thanks, but you don't have to worry about me," She said smiling a bit "But where is Roy?"

"HELP!" Roy screamed while he was receiving a lot of attacks to his body.

"I'm on my way! Hang in there!" Lyn said.

"Not on my watch!" Bernard said swinging his axe at Lyn, but Eliwood blocked the attack again and he gritted his teeths.

"Hurry! Go and help Roy, this battle will be useless if he dies!" Eliwood said and Lyn nodded, running towards Roy to rescue him.

"(I can't make it in time!)" Lyn thought and analyzed the sittuation that Roy was experimenting, she was a little far away from the red haired swordsman but what could she do to help him?

"OUT OF THE WAY!" A voice spoke from behind the door and it was destroyed by weapons of war, Serra, Guy, Hector, Priscilla, Marth, Chris, Raven and Lucius appeared rushing to the room and they joined the fight while Serra helped Roy to heal his wounds.

"You can't win this battle without us!" Serra said while healing Roy.

"Finally, this is going to end NOW!" Guy said and he started to attack the soldiers.

Chris blocked an attack of an enemy "Lyn! Roy! Eliwood! Kill the commander! We can defeat these guys without troubles!"

"Roger that!" Roy said (now fully healed), he stood up and he went after the commander alongside Lyn and Eliwood.

"Impudent fools! You think you have a chance to defeat me?!" Bernard asked as he swung his axe.

"Actually, we do!" Roy said charging at Bernard and his sword clashed with the axe, Lyn took the opportunity to attack Bernard behind his back and she slashed her sword in his back and he yelled in pain.

"Hector! Look out!" Priscilla yelled when she saw 5 soldiers lunging their swords at Hector on his back and the axe wielder turned his back to see them ready to kill him.

"NOOOOO!" Someone yelled from the roof of the room, the roof was destroyed by a lance and then, Florina came with her Pegasus and she threw her lance at one of the soldiers, it was enough for Hector to defend himself and he quickly took out the remaining 4 soldiers thanks to Florina's help.

"Florina! I didn't thought you could help me at this time!" Hector said smiling a bit.

Florina blushed a little "It's because...I couldn't let you go to this place alone..."

Somehow, Hector was blushing a little after hearing this "I...I thank you."

"It means so much for me, thanks!" Florina said smiling.

"Umm, help please?" Guy asked when 6 swordsmans were surrounding him.

"Ri-right! I'll help you!" florina said grabbing her lance from the body of the dead soldier and she ordered her Pegasus to take her to Guy.

"...(What is this sudden feeling when Florina saved my life?)" Hector thought confused.

Serra saw the face Hector was making and a small smile appeared on her face "(Ha! It's working! Roy, this is working smoothly as we planned!)"

"THAT'S IT!" Bernard yelled furiously and he swung his axe around his body and the trio received a fatal blow and they backed away holding their wounds in pain.

"Ugh, that axe is a real trouble." Lyn said holding her right arm.

"We need to distract him to return his attacks." Eliwood said.

"I know how to do that!" Roy said, the red haired swordsman ran after Bernard and the commander lifted his axe again, but this time, Roy ran away from him and getting his attention in the process "Now!"

"I see! Lyn, gather your energy and help me!" Eliwood said running at the distracted Bernard, Lyn was able to lift her sword and she ran with Eliwood, both of them jumped high in the air and they slashed the shoulders of Bernard and the commander yelled in pain after feeling 2 swords piercing through his armor.

"Im-impossible! My armor...my armor is supposed to be unbreakable!" Bernard said in shock.

"You forgot...one thing Bernard..." Lyn said trying to speak.

"What could I possibly forget?!" Bernard asked furiously.

"You're fighting againts a person who wields the legendary sword, the Mani Katti!"

"That sword...that stupid and useless sword!"

Lyn pointed her sword and Bernard's face "Don't dare to say that again to this sword!"

Meanwhile, Roy was hiding behind the throne to launch a surprise attack to Bernard "(He's still distracted, I need to wait a little longer to execute my plan.)" He thought while watching Bernard.

"Your days as the corrupt commander of this kingdom is over Bernard!" Eliwood said.

Bernard was left surprised for various seconds, but then, a grin appeared on his face.

"Hehehehe..."

"What is so funny?" Lyn asked, demanding an answer.

"Fools...if I continue with this nonsense...I'd possibly die in your hands..." Bernard said backing away to the throne.

Just then, Serra and the others finished their fight againts the soldiers and they joined Lyn and Eliwood.

"I want to finish this thing now!" Raven demanded with his sword ready.

"Sorry...but you have to wait..." Bernard said.

"What is your intention now?" Serra asked.

"My intention?...THIS IS MY INTENTION!" Bernard turned his back to push the throne aside and he quickly grabbed Roy by his throat by wrapping up his arm, and he placed his axe near his throat as the Smasher was struggling on his arm.

"YOU, YOU WON'T!" Lyn said.

"What's the matter? You can't kill your enemy when a comrade will die along with him?" Bernard asked smirking.

"Leave him alone you bastard!" Marth demanded.

"UGH! Somebody...help me..." Roy said in a weak tone.

"How can you do that to Roy?!" Serra asked angrily.

"My death will only be fed along with the death of this young prey, I refuse to lose to all of you!" Bernard said moving the axe towards Roy.

"What are we going to do now?!" Chris asked in shock.

"I tell you what! Drop your weapons and lift your hands in the air!" Bernard demanded.

Eliwood closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again "...Do as he says." He said dropping his sword on the floor.

"Eliwood!" Lyn said.

Eliwood looked at Lyn "I'm sorry, but the lifes of our comrades are the most important thing in a battle like this."

"...Alright." Lyn said disappointed throwing her weapon away.

Pretty soon, everyone dropped their weapons on the floor and lifted their hands in the air surrendering.

"(No way, we lost?)" Guy thought.

"I'm sorry...I let my guard down everybody..." Roy said in disappointment.

"Mwhahahahahaha! What a way to lose in a war! I'm a genius by using a hostage as a shield! Mwhahahahahahaha!" Bernard said laughing maniacally.

"...Actually..." Chris said moving down his hands "You're not a genius."

Bernard stopped laughing "What?!"

"Alright guys! Come on out!" Rebecca said smiling.

Winning Road - Roy's Hope

Bernard was now confused, what were they planning? And where did that smoke came from...wait...isn't that Bernard's hair?

"MY HAIR!" Bernard sreaming after he spotted fire growing in his hair.

"ROY! NOW!" Priscilla said.

"TAKE THIS!" Roy said slamming his wrist in Bernard's face and he got out of his grasp as the commander was trying to put the fire out.

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" Bernard asked in rage.

"It's quite simple." A voice spoke from the destroyed roof Florina made a while ago, then the person jumped from the hole and he landed in front of Eliwood and the others, it was Erk with his book opened "We've planned this from the beginning."

Soon, the rest of the army of Eliwood came by the hole and they started to gather together, surrounding the commander.

"What?!" Bernard was still confused.

Serra stepped in front of the group "You still don't get it? Alright, let me explain how we planned this."

Flashback

"Let's do that." Serra said smiling a bit.

"Hey Serra, Roy." Wil called out from the table.

"Yeah?" Serra asked.

"We need your help with a plan for tomorrow." Wil said.

"A plan huh?" Roy rubbed his chin "Sounds good, what do you have in mind?"

Wil joined his hands together "I hear the knight commander of Laus, Bernard is the current person in control of the castle, I've heard also that his armor is hard to break through."

"But isn't Lyn's sword a legendary weapon?" Rebecca asked.

Wil nodded "That's right, but I fear with that sword alone isn't going to give us a victory, so I have deviced a plan, but this plan doesn't includes rescuing Lucius and his lord, that would be an direct order from Eliwood."

"I'm hearing." Kent said.

"My plan is to have the help of Florina."

"Did somebody said my name?" Florina asked appearing from nowhere.

"Good, you're here, Florina, we need your help right now, do you want to take part of this plan?"

End of flashback

"After that, Florina," Serra looked at Florina "Agreeded to help us out, then we planned an assault to the throne by making a hole on the roof, the plan was simple, just distract you while everyone was fighting outside your army, after we finished, we would gather up right in this room to corner you like the filty rat you are!" Serra said smiling.

"But Florina...acted so quickly as we planned." Wil said.

Florina looked at Hector and she blushed a little "Well...I have my...my reasons..." She said.

"Defeating me...by distraction?!" Bernard asked confused in shock.

"Let me put this in simplier words," Chris said lifting his sword "Kill your army, rescue Lucius and Raven, distract you long enough for everyone else to join this battle and lastly, stop your evil and useless reign!"

When Bernard noticed, he was surrounded by the army of Eliwood and he didn't had any place to run away.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I CAN'T LOSE IN THIS WAY!" Bernard demanded furiously.

"TOO BAD!" Lyn said running at Bernard.

"Nevertheless, I'M NOT GOING TO LET ANY OF YOU TO KILL M-WHAT?! MY ARMS AREN'T MOVING!" Bernard said when he saw his arms glowing but they couldn't move even an inch from their position.

"That is because of me." Lucius said, he was casting an immobilizing spell to stop Bernard from moving.

"NO!" Bernard screamed.

"I want to join you!" Eliwood said running with Lyn.

"Me too!" Roy said joining the attack of Lyn.

"THIS IS IT!" Lyn said taking out her sword and pointing it at Bernard's stomach, Eliwood and Roy did the same move and then...

Music stops

CRIIIIIUUSSSSSSHHHHHH!!

A moment of silence soon came after stabbing Bernard's body with 3 swords from a soon-to-be family, the background was all white and Lyn, Eliwood and Roy along with Bernard and the floor were black.

"...I...can't...believe...this...nonsense...ugh..." Bernard said as his final words when he fell on his knees and then, he fell on the floor defeated and killed, then Lyn, Eliwood and Roy sheated their swords with blood on them.

Just then, Chris walked between them and he kicked the body to reasure that he was dead.

Kick.

No response, he was defeated, visiting the hell right now after all his deeds to Caelin Kingdom.

Chris turned his back and he saw everyone staring and blinking at him, he sighed for 4 seconds before looking at them again, but then, he closed his eyes and smiled as he lifted his sword to the sky where Florina made the hole.

Victory is Near

"VICTORY!" He yelled proudly after the outcome of the war, the whole army smiled and they began to cheer loudly after gaining the victory, many of them were lifting their axes, swords and bows to the air in glory, Lyn smiled after ending the evil reign of the evil commander and a tear appeared on her right eye, but she wiped it out.

The most happy of all the army was Florina, who jumped out of her Pegasus and she ran at Hector giving him an embrace, the axe wielder blushed after watching Florina below his head.

"Mission complete!" Chris said smiling, putting his hands on his lap "Nothing is going to ruin this wonderful moment!"

How wrong he was.

Just then when he said that, from the body of Bernard, blood stupidly came firing right to his face...again, he laughed for several seconds before everyone noticed him, sweatdropping.

"..." Chris didn't said anything but he was still smiling until "Bloooooooooooodddddddd..." He fainted again.

Music stops

Nobody was able to speak after watching him, they were left without saying anything.

But then...

"...Hehehe..." Serra said "Hahaha, hahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She bursted out laughing, but that was just only fed by more laughs coming from everybody else, they took Chris's despair as a joke...but luckily, it was a friendly joke.

Victory is Near

Caelin Kingdom
Outside Caelin Castle

After talking to all the captives inside the castle, Lyn was able to recover the pride of her kingdom, but unfortunately, she has more things to do if she wanted absolute peace, her army was going to help her regarding of what troubles could the future hold for her and the others.

"What?! You're leaving now?!" Serra asked surprised.

"Our work here is done, we just wanted to help in your war." Marth said.

Serra crossed her arms, grinning a little "Oh, really Roy?"

"...Okay okay! Also because we wanted Eliwood to fell in love with Lyn!" Roy said embarrased.

Serra sighed "Yeah but, I don't see our results yet, sadly."

"Serra! Roy! Come here! You need to see this!" Guy said from some bushes, Serra, Roy, Marth and Chris hid along with him, then they noticed Florina and Erk hiding too.

"What is it?" Serra asked wispering, Guy pointed at something and Serra looked at the direction Guy was pointing to, when she saw Hector and Lyn talking.

"No way, we failed after all we did?" Roy asked wispering.

"Lyn...I...I need to tell you something." Hector said.

"What coincidence, I wanted to tell you something too." Lyn said.

"Really? Well, who says first?"

"You first, I don't mind."

"Lyn...I'm...I'm afraid that our relationship is not going to workout." Hector said, his tone was a little dissapointed.

"I...I think so too."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Hector, forgive me, but I have another person to love..." She said closing her eyes "But I can't tell you who is him."

"I understand...because I have my own person to love too, but I can't tell you either."

"So...lets make a promise, shall we?" Lyn said opening her eyes.

"Tell me."

"When we reveal who are our special someone, we're not going to argue and we will agree with the decision of the other, do you agree with me?"

Hector gave a little smile "I don't have any negative comments."

"Thank you for understanding it, I really appreaciate it." She said giving a quick hug to Hector.

"Let's give our best wishes to the other." Hector said. Then, they went away towards Caelin Castle, but this time, without any kind of embrace, just a friendly walk without love, but with partnership.

"...WE DID IT!" Serra said proudly.

"I'm saved! Hurray!" Roy said.

"Does that mean...I'm his special someone to Hector?" Florina asked blushing.

"You bet you are!" Serra said smiling.

"...I'm...I'm...I'm so happy!" Florina said, giving the most beautiful smile to the group.

Erk sighed and he smiled a bit "At least this has a happy ending."

"(Ironically, this has it now.)" Chris thought.

"(Our mission here is done.)" Marth thought.

After saying their farewells, Roy, Marth and Chris left walking away to return to the Smash Mansion, but not before Roy could tell something to Serra to tell Eliwood something, and that was:

"Tell him that I'm going to think of his advice in every duel and fight I take part, also, that I'm so grateful to fight alongside him."

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 500 SMASH COINS!

Mother 3

New Pork City
Very deep below the city

The scene shows somebody inside a capsule with the symbol of the Pig Mask Army, it was a fat-old-greedy-stupid-idiot-little-piece-of-crap-annoying-little-bastard-who-doesn't-have-any-respect-even-if-he-doesn't-takes-a-bath-daily-as-every-normal-person-does-

"I GET IT ALREADY!"

The fat-old-greedy-stupid-idiot-little-piece-of-crap-annoying-little-bastard-who-doesn't-have-any-respect-even-if-he-doesn't-takes-a-bath-daily-as-every-normal-person-does-kid inside a machine, who was inside a capsule said breaking the fourth wall.

"Man, getting your butt handed by a kid, a girl with a long sweater, a guy who doesn't walks right and a common dog isn't even funny to the greatest, king of all times!" He tried to look around "And that annoying doctor left! He doesn't has any respect at all for his king, King Porky!" He said enraged.

"Do you want to take revenge?"

"HOLY CRAP! WHO IS THERE?!" Porky asked terrified.

"I ask again, do you want to take revenge in those who laughed at you? Even if they are dead, but you want to make them suffer?"

"You mean that Pig's Butt, Ness and that crybaby, Lucas?"

The voice chuckled "Exactly...But why did you called Ness, "Pig's Butt"?"

"Personal issues, a long but tragic incident in schoo-WAIT, GET ME OUT OF THIS JUNK!"

"Hold it right there, if you want to escape from that capsule, you will listen to the orders from my boss."

"Hmm, what are the benefits of the membership?" Porky asked and a disc scratches.

"(Benefits? What is this kid talking about? Okay Wolf, remember, you're talking to an...old fat kid...why does Tabuu wants him?) Well...we have evil cookies" The voice said sweatdropping (it was Wolf), and lying about the evil cookies part.

"Evil cookies huh?...Hmm...Sounds good and tasty at the same time...count me in! NOW GET ME OUT OF THIS CRAP!" Porky demanded trying to slam his arms inside the machine but failing miserably.

Wolf appeared from a dark portal and he looked around to open the capsule.

"What the hell are you doing?! There isn't anything outside to open this thing!" Porky said furiously.

"...The doorknob is missing...you idiot kid." Wolf said sweatdropping.

"WHAT?! Why I didn't noticed that before?! URGH! I JUST MADE A DEAL WITH A STRANGER!...A FURRY!"

Wolf opened the Absolutely Safe Capsule and Porky got out trying to breath, but failing miserably "Say furry to me again and you're dead meat." Wolf warned walking inside the portal.

"Sure! Whatever...wait, evil cookies?! Here I go!" Porky said forgetting his rage and walking inside the portal, disappearing in it, just as a meteor crashed into the capsule but didn't got destroyed.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Chris's group returned safely to the Smash Mansion and he sighed in relief.

"Finally, back to our home, where I can see a psychic, a kid, 2 twins, a bird and whatever Pikachu is!"

"...A Pokémon?" Marth asked.

"Yeah!" He noticed the other Smashers looking at them "We completed our mission successfully!" He said smiling.

"..." Pichu didn't said anything (he was fully recovered now).

"What's wrong?" Roy asked.

"...Look above you." Ness said pointing above Roy. The red haired swordsman made a confused face but quickly gasped after seeing someone just above him.

...It was...

"YOU STUPID BASTARD!!" It was a very furious and enraged Lucario with aura glowing intensely and he lunged at Roy with great speed, Roy tried to get away but it was too late and Lucario was already beating...or killing him with his fists. Roy was now screaming like a girl of third grade.

"What the? Why is Lucario attacking Roy?!" Chris asked.

"Lucario didn't took very friendly the part where you were crushed by a boulder because of Roy's clumsiness." Mewtwo explained.

"Oh BASTARD,, I IDIOT, see, so BURN that IN was HELL! his YOU reason HEAR ME?!" Chris said (bolded letters were Lucario yelling angrily) "But I need to stop him before he kills Roy or this mission was all in vain!" He thought for a moment.

"Do something, quick!" Marth said in shock.

Chris snapped his fingers "I know what to do! Hey Lucario!"

"WHAT?! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M KILLING THIS DORK?!" Lucario asked enraged.

Chris smiled "I'm back!"

Those were his words, Lucario suddenly slowed his attacks towards Roy and then, he stopped and his aura disappeared, then he stood up and smiled a little bit, it was true after all, Chris was back, safe and sound.

To end this, Chris ran at Lucario to gave him a warm hug.

"I really missed you when I was in Caelin!" Chris said smiling.

Lucario patted his back "Me too, it's good to see you here again, right besides me."

Chris glanced at Roy and he gasped "...Lucario..."

"Yes?"

"Is that arm supposed to bent that way?" He asked pointing at Roy's left arm...and his dead carcass, Lucario looked at Roy and his jaw dropped, then he quickly blocked Chris's eyes and the world traveler made a confused face behind the black hand and everyone else had their jaws dropped in surprise.

Master Hand came holding Fox's and Falco's blasters and reflectors "Hey you guys! The reflectors and blasters you ordered are her-HOLY (BEEP!)" He cursed when he saw Roy dead on the floor and throwing away the weapons.

To break the awkward moment of silence, everyone ran at Roy to treat his fatal wounds caused by Lucario.

"ROOOOYYYY!!" Everyone screamed worried, but the scene stops showing them running towards the comically dead Roy.

"Don't worry, we'll be back very soon, thank you and have a safe day!" A message appeared in front of the screen with the Smashers, with Crazy Hand sleeping above a sofa (even though the sofa was smaller than him).

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth

Wow, just WOW, Roy ended dead in this arc after all, poor guy. XD

Hey you!

wiiboychris: Wait a minute, you're Merlinus!

Merlinus: Why didn't you added me on this arc?! I'm also a character in Fire Emblem!

wiiboychris: Well, excuse me, but the arc is done now, you lost your chance.

Merlinus: No no no no no no!

wiiboychris: What do you mean "no"?

Merlinus: I'll have a part on this chapter you like it or not!

wiiboychris: "Looks around" Well, you can say what worlds can be saved by the Smashers if you want.

Merlinus:...That's all?

wiiboychris:...Pretty much.

Merlinus: Hmm...alright, here are the worlds that can be saved if you vote, remember, you can select 3 worlds AND the current sittuation the characters are experimenting right now.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door

-Glitz Pit

-Twilight Town

-Excess Express (Day One)

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga

-Chucklehuck Woods

-Woohoo University

-Gathering the pieces of the Beanstar

Donkey Konga 2 (Wait, what?)

-(Mysterious plot yet to be revealed)

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

-Candy Costellation

Luigi's Mansion

-Adventure before fighting Bogmire

-Adventure before fighting Boolossus

-Adventure before fighting King Boo

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

-Adventure before the Water Temple

-Adventure before Snowpeak

-Adventure before the City in the Sky

Super Mario Sunshine

-Bianco Hills

-Ricco Harbor

-Pinna Park

Merlinus: Done!

wiiboychris: Thank you!

References:

-Pig's Butt and Evil Cookies: From What Goes On, by The Great Chicken Miasma (Your story rocks!)

Now please, read and review with your votes please! :)

And don't worry about Roy, he's going to be fine! XD
*Chapter 45*: Paper Burden

My god, this chapter is way longer than the others! (It's because I was hearing "Rock Star" from Kirby 64 and I got so much energy, yes, that was cheesy, I know).

And, we've finally reached 100 reviews before chapter 50! Thank you people! The result of the poll is right here in this chapter so read, enjoy and review!

Note: The last 2 votes from the last 2 reviewers were late, sorry.

Chapter 45: In paper style!

Smash Mansion
Infirmary

Since Roy was fataly wounded in the last chapter by Lucario, there wasn't any choice left but to...cover his whole body in bandages. All the Smashers were there with him, but Chris was kneeled to the right side of the bed.

"I'm so sorry Roy! I swear this isn't going to happen again!" Chris said preoccupied. "Lucario! Apologize now!"

"He started it." Lucario said with crossed arms.

"Lucario!"

"...Fine, if you say so...forgive me Roy." Lucario said.

"Don't worry, I deserved that in all matters." Roy said under the bandages.

Chris looked at Master Hand. "Is he going to be fine?"

"Well, Lucario broke both of his arms, six ribs and I'm afraid he ruptured various organs in the process."

Nana's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"But one of his arms was bent in the wrong way!" Chris protested.

"You just saw one, not all." Master Hand said.

"Dammit Lucario! You had to be so hard in him, didn't you?!" Chris asked angrily.

"I'm sorry...my rage blinded me totally." Lucario said ashamed of himself.

Chris sighed. "...I need to train you harder then..."

"Don't worry about Roy! He's going to be fine!" Master Hand reassured. "He just need...hmm...let's say...100 Heart Containers."

"Do we have that many?" Pichu asked.

"Well no...but we have Maxim Tomatos...but it will take 200 Maxim Tomatos to heal him completely."

Crazy Hand came wearing a huge nurse tiara. "And I'll be the nurse!" He made a Maxim Tomato appear in his hand and he approached to Roy. "Now open wide!"

"..." Roy didn't speak.

"Open wide!"

"..." Roy didn't speak.

"I said, OPEN WIDE!"

"..." Roy didn't speak.

Crazy Hand got angry and he started to pummel Roy with the tomato. "DAMN YOU! OPEN WIDE! YOU HEAR ME?!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" Roy screamed in fatal pain.

"OH MY GOD, STOP HIM!" Pikachu yelled in shock and all of them started to hit Crazy Hand like...crazy.

10 minutes later...

"I lied actually," Master Hand said panting. "We need 300 Maxim Tomatos PLUS 200 Maxim Tomatos for Crazy Hand," Crazy Hand was all covered in bandages next to Roy's bed. "And the shop is closed for now."

"Just great, I was going to buy something." Chris said.

"Somebody has to watch for these 2, who wants to help?" Master Hand asked and somebody raised his hand...or her hand.

"Me!" Jigglypuff said wearing a nurse tiara. "I always wanted to be a nurse!"

Pikachu stared at Jigglypuff. "I thought you wanted to be a singer."

"I have many dreams you know..." Jigglypuff said. "I'll go for the tomatos!" She said leaving the infirmary.

"...Can we go to the command room now?" Ness asked.

Hallway

"Oh wait!" Master Hand said stopping them. "Chris, I need to talk to you in private, everyone else, wait for us in the command room please." All the Smashers except for the hand and Chris left to the command room. "Alright, follow me please."

"Where are we going?" Chris asked.

"We're going to a secret room in this hallway...and it's riiiiiiggggghhhhhhtttt...here." Master Hand pressed a part of the wall and a door appeared to the right of the button, Chris blinked in confusion and they entered the room.

Secret Room

It was pitch black inside, there was nothing, except for them of course.

"Why did you call me here?" Chrs asked, when he asked a screen appeared showing the current Smashers on his team with red bars at the right side of each one, some were full, but others were half-filled. "What's this?"

"This," Master Hand said. "It's the partnership screen."

"Partnership screen?"

Master Hand nodded. "Yes, the partnership screen shows how well you and another partner works together in a battle."

"I know this is useful...but for what? It's some kind of trust level or something?"

"It's ALSO a trust level, let me show you your level or partnerships with the others, here." Master Hand handed over a strange machine to Chri-

"Wait a second, this is MY DS!" Chris said with his blue DS in his hands.

"Well duh! I've made some changes to your DS, it'll now show you the partnership screen along with more interesting features, but first, take out your pen and touch the arrow pointing down the screen the scroll down, give it a try and inspect the levels."

Chris did as Master Hand told him to do and he examined the screen.

Partner: Percentage Level

Lucario: 100

"This one is obvious." Chris said.

Pichu: 80

Roy: 80

Mewtwo: 60

"Wait, 60?"

"It seems you need to fight alongside Mewtwo if you want the level higher than that." Master Hand said.

Pikachu: 75

Jigglypuff: 75

Pit: 70

Ice Climbers: 85

"Before you scroll down the screen, I need to tell you something. If the level is in 50 or less, that person doesn't trust you enough, and it's worse if it is below 40."

"...Okay (Gulp!)" Chris said and thought worried "(But wait, the last 4 are Fox, Falco, Ness and Marth, what could be possibly wrong with any of them? I mean, they're friendly enough with...)"

Fox: 50

Falco: 35

Ness: 80

Marth: 75

"WHAT?! H-HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!" Chris asked terrified. "W-WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!"

"Let me see...huh? What in the world is this?" Master Hand wondered surprised.

"They don't trust me enough?! But I thought it was the contrary!"

"Calm down! You don't need to panic! Let me explain what is the true meaning of this too!"

Chris started to pant a little scared. "O-okay...go ahead."

"First, you saw Lucario's partnership level at 100, right?"

"Right, he trust me completely, right?"

"That's correct, but also, it helps them in another way."

"It helps them in another way? How?"

Master Hand paused for a moment before speaking. "It gives them strength."

"This may sound repetitive but...how again?"

"There are jobs that are actually a copy of themselves right? Their powers, skills, dexterity and abilities are all passed to you."

"But I need to unlock them first by fighting, isn't that right?"

"Of course! Well, your job is to unlock all the abilities and raise the levels to their maximum intervals, after that...something good will happen..."

"What?" Chris asked again.

"Maybe an attack combined with you and another Smasher working in perfect synch or making your partner stronger than he actually is by launching a devastating attack, basically, you make combined Final Smashes...but not now, you need to work hard in your battles if you want to discover those special powers."

Chris paused for a moment and he started to think.

"Oh right, you want to know how to raise their levels?" Master Hand asked and Chris nodded. "There are many ways to raise the levels, spending time with them, fighting with them, have fun together, help them and any other cheesy thing my mind lets me think of!"

"(Any cheesy thing?) Oh...well...I'll...do my best! I swear!"

"That's the spirit! (One step closer to reveal his real moves! I imagine you as the son I never had before! Sniff!)" Master Hand said and thought crying a little.

"It's something wrong?"

"No son, I mean, Chris!"

"...You're starting to creep me out."

"...I know...you can take your DS too."

Command Room

"Hey, where did this come from?" Ness asked finding a red book with a Starman printed on it.

"It was above Crazy Hand's desk, so he could have been reading it." Mewtwo said.

Ness opened the book. "Hmm...it has something written on it."

Master Hand and Chris came to the room. "Hey, what is that book?" Chris asked glancing at the book.

Ness gave the book to Chris. "Why don't you read it for us?"

"It could have a nice story!" Pichu said excited.

"Well...let's see..." Chris cleared his throat.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Intro (Music)

Ahem! Today...

I'm going to tell you the story of the Thousand-Year Door.

"A Thousand-Year Door? Ooohhh! This is getting interesting!" Pichu said sitting on the floor.

An awfully long time ago...

In a strange and far-off land, a big, bustling town thrived.

Chris flipped the cover to discover a big, white city in a picture.

It was a town where all
people lived very happy lives.

And it was said that the
town was very prosperous.

But one day...tragedy befell
this blessed place.

"What happened next?" Pikachu asked.

A great cataclysm struck
the town and its people.

"A-a-a cataclysm?!" Popo asked scared, Chris flipped the page to see the big city in chaos, the waves were furious, the sky was firing thunders, the buildings were being destroyed and the background was dark.

Darkness filled the skies, and
the earth roared and shook.

It was as if the very world
had come to a violent end.

And in but a single night...

The town sank into the
depths of the earth...

"It's hard to believe that something like that happened." Fox said.

"It's possible." Pit said, Chris flipped the page again, revealing a picture of a small settlement with ships and clouds with happy smiles, the background was now calmer than before.

Many moons rose and set...

Stories of the town passed
into the pages of fairy tales...

"Because IT IS a fairy tale!" Falco said.

"Shh! The best part is coming!" Pichu said angrily.

And when the town's site no
longer held relics of its past...

People gathered at that spot
and built a new town.

"And they lived happy there after?" Nana asked.

"Well...that's not all." Chris said, clearing his throat again and reading the book in the next page, it was showing a picture of a treasure in front of a door.

But word soon spread among
the people who moved in...

Than an ancient city lay
deep underground...

"BOOORRRIINNNGGGG!" Falco yelled.

And that a magnificent
treasure rested there.

"Wa-wait, a magnificent treasure?!" Falco asked a little excited and Fox frowned to himself.

Indeed...

This is the tale of the
fabled treasure of Rogueport.

Chris flipped the book and a weird looking town was shown in the picture along with a tiny image of a princess and a seller on the street.

Yes, this is where it begins,
in the sea town of Rogueport.

The tale of the quest for
the legendary treasure...

And the Thousand-Year
Door...starts here.

Chris closed the book and he received some claps from Pichu, Pikachu, Ness, Popo and Nana.

"Basically, a legendary treasure rests beneath the city." He said smiling a bit.

Suddenly, the alarms went off, and the screen showed a city near the sea.

"Wait, that is Rogueport!" Master Hand said. "What a coincidence...wait again, what is this Assist Trophy doing here?" He asked glancing at an Assist Trophy in the room.

Ness took the Assist Trophy. "How do you open this?" He said pointing quickly the trophy at the roof and it broke, then someone came out of it, it was...

"Where am I?" The person looked around and he found Ness looking at him. "Ness? What are you doing here? Is this the place where you have been participating?"

"It is." Ness said smiling.

"Jeff?" Chris asked confused, the person was Jeff indeed, who adjusted his glasses when he glanced at Chris.

"Is that you Chris?... Wow, you're actually taller than us in reality, interesting...wait, Ness, I have a request to ask you."

"What is it?" Ness asked.

"It's my dad, Dr. Andonuts, he was kidnapped by someone from a distant future when he was sleeping in the bathroom...again."

"EEEWWWW!!" Nana squealed shaking the thought off her head.

"Dr. Andonuts you say?" Master Hand asked.

Jeff adjusted his glasses again when he saw Master Hand. "A hand? Without a wrist or a body? Remarkable indeed, and yes, do you know where is he?"

"Hmm, I remember someone like him in Nowhere Island, who wants to go to get him?"

"I want to do it." Ness said raising his hand.

Chris quickly opened the portal to Mother 3 and Ness stepped inside, not before he said something "I'll be right back, don't leave me behind for the next world!"

"...This place is actually interesting." Jeff said breaking the silence and seeing everything in the room, even the Smashers. "A rat, a flying cat, a furry, a bird, another tiny rat, and a guy who doesn't has dignity and wears a tiara."

"HEY!" Pikachu, Mewtwo (even he), Fox, Falco, Pichu and Marth said annoyed.

"I wonder what is Ness doing there?" Chris asked getting in a thinking position.

30 minutes later...

In the meantime, Chris changed to his Aura Apprentice job.

"Ness! Come back! We're gonna leave you!" Pikachu said to the portal, just then, Ness came out with Dr. Andonuts following him.

"Thanks Ness for taking me back to my lab, I was already missing it...but...this isn't my lab!" Dr. Andonuts said looking at the room, then Jeff walked towards him.

"Dad." Jeff started looking at his dad.

"Son."

"Glad you're back, let's return to Winters now." Jeff said crossing his arms behind his back.

"(What a way to receive his dad.)" Popo thought.

SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE

"...Where did that sound come from?" Nana asked looking around.

"Was that even a sound?" Pikachu asked.

"!!" Someone was surprised.

"Dad, why is your lab coat shaking from behind you?" Jeff asked glancing behind Dr. Andonuts, he found someone hiding behind his father. "Who are you?"

"Err, don't say anything! Really, I don't want to see anyone now!"

"I got to remark, you look like Ness."

"Ness? Who is him?" The person asked scared a little.

"(Wait, that voice, I remember that voice somewhere...)" Chris thought walking towards the doctor "Is that you...Lucas?"

"Ch-Chris? Is that really you?" The person asked a little surprised, he peered from the back of Dr. Andonuts and he glanced around terrified "D-d-don't harm the doctor! I swear I'm going to kill anyone who touch him!"

Ness touched the doctor "Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh..." Lucas fainted, if this was an anime, his soul could have been seen escaping from his nose.

1 second later...

"He's coming back."

"Man, he is as weird as Ness."

"FALCO!"

"What?!"

"Shut up you guys! You're going to scare him again!"

"Shh! He's fine now!"

"Ugh...what happened?" Lucas asked confused. By the time he woke up, Jeff and Dr. Andonuts left saying good bye to Ness (yes, they left in one second).

"Ness over here touched the doctor and you fainted." Popo said.

Lucas looked around trembling. "I-i-i-is this where you go to another worlds like mine?"

Chris nodded. "Yes."

"W-w-well, I just know 4 persons of all of you...WHO THE HELL IS HIM?!"

"Lucas, that is Lucario."

"He is Lu-Lu-Lucario?! He's even scarier than the last time!"

Lucario growled and Lucas sweated a lot. "Lucario! He didn't mean to insult you!"

"...Sorry." Lucario said apologizing.

"P-Phew, t-that was close." Lucas said wiping out his sweat.

"Lucas, why did you came here?" Nana asked.

"W-well, I saw this Ness walking with the doctor to that portal and I thought it was an enemy, I was with Boney at that time and I left a note quickly saying a lot of things to everyone back in the new Tazmily since the Pig Mask Army was defeated, Boney left wagging his tail and I ended up here...I hope you're not mad at me."

"So Lucas is here already?" Master Hand asked.

"EEK! A FLOATING HAND!"

"Relax! It's just Master Hand, the host of the tournament! He's not a bad person...when he is not on Final Destination of course." Ness said patting Lucas's back.

"Wait, I know you, I saw a recording of you and 3 other kids in a cinema in New Pork City!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ness." Ness said holding his hand in front of Lucas.

Several minutes later after some introductions...

Lucas was able to maintain his composure (but nearly fainted after looking at Mewtwo's eyes) and he learned everything about...well, everything.

"I-I see now...c-can I please join your team?" Lucas asked.

"I don't see why not." Chris said smiling a bit.

NEWCOMER!
Lucas joined your team!

"But he is new in this thing, Lucas, do you know how to fight?" Marth asked.

"I-I know many abilities like PK Love, PK Healing and PK-"

"You can't use ANY of those abilities here." Master Hand said.

"Wh-why not?" Lucas asked confused.

"Master Hand, can I be Lucas's tutor please?" Ness asked raising his hand.

Master Hand thought for a moment before speaking. "Alright Ness, you're going to teach Lucas about how to fight...but, approach your ear to me."

Ness did it and got upset after hearing Master Hand. "WHAT?! Is he going to be a clone of me?!"

"A-a-a clone? I-I know we look the same, but we're not clones!" Lucas said studdering again.

"Grr! Fine, at least someone else can represent my symbol in the matches besides me." Ness said sighing a little. "Chris! Open the portal, now!" He ordered.

"Umm, okay?" Chris said creating the portal to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Ness stepped inside dragging Lucas by the hand. "Isn't Ness being a little hard on Lucas?"

"Let him be, I was upset like him when Falco was a clone of my moves." Fox said, but he noticed Chris staring at him. "...It's something on my face?"

"(I have to raise the level of him now, but I need to be friendly with him if I want to earn his trust)." Chris thought and he quickly hung his right arm around Fox and pointed to the portal. "Let's go! My sneaky partner!"

"Sneaky partner? What are you talking about?" Fox asked confused.

"It's simple! We have to save that world from the Primids, right?"

"...Right?"

"So! My point is, let's kick them out!"

"B-but wait! I can't go! How do you know if I can go?"

Chris pointed at Falco who ran in a hurry inside the portal. "If he can go, you can too!"

"I don't want to go thoug-"

"TOO BAD!" Chris said throwing Fox to the portal using the red bandana on his neck and the leader of Star Fox went blasting off to the next world (everyone sweatdropped at this and backed away from Chris in the process), then Chris ran towards the portal. "Can anyone else come with me?" He asked to Master Hand.

"Well, the level of danger is at medium and since there are many species on that world, you can take 4 more party members of any kind."

"Lucario! Pichu! Pikachu! Pit! We're going in!" Chris said leaving, the mentioned characters paused for a moment before entering the portal and it disappeared.

"...Chris is acting so strange all of a sudden." Marth said to Mewtwo.

"He must be energetic...or he is high on sugar." Mewtwo said shuddering.

"High on sugar perhaps." The Ice Climbers said in unison.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Rougeport
Underground City

The group safely appeared beneath Rogueport...but upon stepping out of the portal.

"What th-MY EYES! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY EYES?!" Falco asked in panic after he noticed something very different on him.

"Why I'm feeling so flat?" Pikachu asked.

"My wings feel weird." Pit said trying to flap his wings.

"Wow, it's just me or Fox suddenly grew up and reached my size?" Chris asked confused. "And Falco too?"

"...We don't feel any different though." Ness said and Lucas nodded.

"...Wait, we're flat..." Chris looked at Falco's eyes and they were different. "Our eyes changed..." He looked at Fox. "Our sizes changed...that only means something..."

"My eyes are different too." Lucario said, his eyes were now round red eyes shooting a glare like he always do, and so did Chris's eyes but without a glare (if they were black, their marking could hide them, don't you think?).

"...WE ARE OF PAPER!" Chris yelled revealing the status of the group, they were now transformed into paper forms of themselves, their eyes were now like Ness's and Lucas's (because they look like that), their sizes changed, now Chris and Lucario were at the same size as Fox, Falco and Pit, but Lucario's eyes were red instead on black "...Actually, we could be cuter than our real forms in this way." Chris said embarrased.

"CUTER?! HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO IMPRESS WOMEN?!" Falco asked in shock.

"Wait, impress women?"

"Errhmm, I mean, recover my original form?!"

"If we return to the mansion, we could regain our original appearances, but we need to save this world from the Primids first." Chris looked around. "...And I think we're below Rogueport, near a pipe where...wait...I forgot, I can't remember where we are!"

"Chris, we're in...wait...I can't remember." Lucario said.

"But I know this place!... But I forgot completely about this world! Lucario, you were playing this game recently, do you remember anything?!"

"...I'm afraid I don't know anymore."

"...How could this happen?" Chris wondered.

"Hey you! Out of the way!" Someone said behind them, it was an old woman with a tiny purple body along with 2 more purple ladies, they didn't have feet, the old lady was wearing a pointed striped blue hat and her hair was a pale, purple color, the other lady was fat, she had orange hair sticking out of her pointed striped yellow hat , there was another lady, but she was more innocent, her hair was pink making a swirl in front of her pointed striped red hat, her hair was also on her back, the 3 shadow figures's eyes weren't visible since their hats were bigger than their heads "We just got beaten by Mario and his annoying friends!"

"By Mario? He defeated you?" Ness asked.

"Wait, you know the red pest?... Hmm...you're a little useful from my point of view." The old lady said.

"Be-Beldam!"

"Yes, Vivian?"

Vivian (the girl with pointed striped red hat) wondered. "What if they are Mario's partners? We could kidnap them to lure Mario into a trap!"

"ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING?!" Beldam (old lady) asked furiously and Vivian started to tremble (Lucas was trembling too).

"Guhh." The fat lady said.

"Oh wait! I know! We could kidnap them to lure Mario into a trap!" Beldam said smirking.

"Bu-but Beldam! That was my idea!" Vivian protested scared.

"Shut up! It was my idea! Right, Marilyn?"

"Guhh." Marilyn (the fat lady) said.

Beldam looked at Chris's group. "Hmm, 9 enemies...this should be easy to take all of you out in one single attack!"

"...Is she for real?" Falco asked.

"Shut up! You bird with the strange Brooklyn accent!" Beldam said in fury.

"(Brooklyn accent?)" Falco asked to himself in his mind.

"That does IT! We are the Three!" Beldam said.

"Shadow." Marilyn said.

"Beauties!" Vivian said excited.

"The Three Shadow Beauties?!" Lucas asked surprised.

"...VIVIAN! You nincompoop!" Beldam said enraged and Vivian was trembling again. "IT'S "SIRENS"! NOT "BEAUTIES"! And where are the 3 beauties?! I see only 2 but YOU!"

"Be-Beldam! Don't be so harsh on me please!" Vivian begged for mercy.

"She actually made a point." Pit said.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! MARILYN! VIVIAN! PREPARE TO ATTACK!" Beldam ordered enraged.

"Guhh." Marilyn said.

"...Okay..." Vivian wispered, then they ran towards the group starting a fight.

Fox got in a fighting position. "We're fighting against girls?... Okay, if there isn't any choice lef-" He was interrupted because a long red curtain covered the whole screen and it went up and the scene changed to a theater with little public watching the fight from the seats.

Shadow Sirens

Chris, Ness, Fox and Falco walked to the stage from the left and the Shadow Sirens came from the right.

Chris: 30HP
Ness: 25HP
Fox: 35HP
Falco: 35HP

"Wait, where are we?" Fox asked looking around.

Chris looked around. "Well...I think this is how we fight in this world."

"By making a play?" Falco asked looking at the public of 40 spectators.

"Not exactly...but I know how to fight in this world, listen to me please!" They looked at Chris. "First of all, we fight in turns, currently, is our turn and we can attack without them defending from our attacks."

"What are those strange icons above your head?" Ness asked pointing to some icons with the words like (from left to right) "Attack", "Items", "Special Moves" and "Tactics" above Chris.

"These are the commands to choose, if you hit the icon..." Chris hits the icon and a list of attacks appears. "You can choose which attack are you going to use."

Force Palm
Double Team 3 FP

"...Wow, I'm short of attacks it seems. Well, let me choose "Force Palm" for example." Chris chose the attack and a comment box appeared below them with a instruction. "See the text below us?"

Press the A button when the bar is filled!

"...The A button?" Falco wondered to himself.

"(What do I do now? What if...) Think in your minds that you're pressing that button in the right time and if you succeed..." Chris walked towards Vivian and he started to concentrate his attack, a bar appeared starting to fill itself, then he fired a little blast of aura from his hand, thinking he pressed the A button in his mind and the bar stopped at the right time "4! The attack could have done 3 if I didn't thought of the A button being pressed in my mind, basically, if you press the button at the right time, you deal extra damage!" He returned to them. "Now, try it!" He said and a spotlight shone on Ness.

Tactics Items
Attack

Ness hit the icon of Attack.

Normal Attack
PK Fire FP 3
PK Thunder FP 4
PK Flash FP 7

Ness chose the Normal Attack and he walked towards Vivian with his bat ready to land the first blow.

Hold the Control Stick to the left and realese it when the star lights up!

A bar with 3 dots and a big star appeared with the control stick above, Ness thought he was holding it to the left and when the big star turned on, he hit Vivian, damaging her with 6 of damage and he returned to his group, but Vivian falls in defeat after that.

"Sorry Beldam..." She said fainting.

"Great, just great!" Beldam said.

"I get it!" Ness said. Then the spotlight shones on Fox. (Same commands as Ness) He chose the Attack too.

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3
Fire Fox FP 4
Fox Illusion FP 6

"I'll choose this one." Fox said choosing Fire Fox and he walked towards Marilyn.

Press the A button when the pointer is at the center and don't miss!

Another bar appeared with a red mark on the center and a pointer was going to each end quickly and Fox thought about pressing the A button at the right time as fire was surrounding his body.

But he accidentaly failed by stopping the pointer at one end and burns himself, receiving 3 of damage instead of dealing damage to Marilyn and he returned to his group with an angry expression.

"You OK fox?" Falco asked.

"No Falco, I just got burned... BY MY OWN ATTACK!!" Fox said furiously as the spotlight shone on Falco.

"Let ME teach you how this is done." Falco said and he chose Attack.

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3
Fire Bird FP 4
Falco Illusion FP 6

"This one is the best." Falco said choosing Falco Illusion and he stood in front of Beldam's group.

Press the right buttons quickly as they appear!

A pale orange bar appears with the A, B, X, A, A, Y, A buttons and Falco focused his mind in pressing them without falling.

He succeeds in doing it and he quickly slashed both Marilyn and Beldam 7 times crossing the stage, doing 1 of damage in each attack.

"See now? This's how is done!" Falco said making a thumbs up and the pinkish word "STYLISH!" appears to his right and the spectators went wild. "Are they cheering me?"

"Correct! After you execute an attack, you can do something like backflips to impress the public and they will cheer you in the battle!" Chris said.

"Sweet! I like this style!" Falco said as he returned doing backflips but the crowd stopped their cheers "...Why aren't they cheering me now?"

"Probably because it's too late to do more impressions." Ness said.

"What? Come on people! I'm doing this for all of you!" However, the spectators were all holding rocks above their heads and Falco's eyes shrunk, I should have mentioned that the spectators were all X-Nauts before. "They can't harm me with those rocks, can't they?" Falco asked in shock.

"Actually..." All the X-Nauts threw their 40 rocks at Falco, received 40 of damage and falls defeated. "They can hurt you if you don't attack one of them to stop their attacks."

"..." Falco was apparently dead.

"Is our turn you losers!" Beldam snickered, Marilyn started to shake and opened her arms, shooting down thunders from abov-

"STOP!" Chris yelled and the thunders stopped various inches above their bodies. "Press the A button to decrease the attack!" He said and his group thought in pressing the A button, covering their heads and receiving less damage of 1.

"That hurts!" Ness complained. "Is there any way to not receive damage?"

Beldam disappeared in her shadow and she appeared in front of Fox. "What now?" Fox asked.

"Fox, press the B button at the exact moment her attack lands on you!" Chris yelled and just about the attack of Beldam lands, Fox pulled Beldam and punched her dealing a counter of 1 of damage to Beldam and she returned to her position cursing under her breath. "That is how you don't receive damage! But it's harder than defending with the A button, you need to press the B button at the exact time the attacks hits you to counter it!"

"Got it." Fox said with a nod.

"Our turn!" Chris said but he looked at Falco. "Hmm...we need to change allies now...now it's time to explain the Tactics command." He hit the Tactics command and another list appears.

Swap Partner

"Swap Partner is obviously change any party member on the stage, but careful, you sacrifice your turn in the process." Chris explained.

Appeal

"Appeal is for impressing the spectators by doing something like waving at them or blow a kiss! It varies depending of what character appeals." Chris explained.

Defend

"Cover yourself, increasing the defense for one turn but returning your defense back to normal when the enemy's turn ends."

Run Away

"Run away when you're low of Heart Points! As I said before, run away to fight another day."

"You didn't." Ness pointed out as Chris mumbled angrily.

Do Nothing

"Need I say more?" Chris asked chuckling. "Time to open the menu for party members." He said choosing Swap Partners and yet another list appeared.

Lucario HP 45/45

A hard ally to defeat! Try to store his damage and his attacks will grow!

Pichu HP 20/20

His thunder attacks are strong! But he receives a little damage for using them.

Pikachu HP 25/25

This one is powerful at using electric attacks of all sorts!

Pit HP 30/30

This angel is not dead! Use his arrows to not fail!

Lucas HP 20/20

A starter in using PK abilities! They can deal a lot of damage too.

Chris chose Pikachu and Falco's dead body jumped and shrunk towards Chris and Pikachu jumps out a little confused.

"Where am I? First that red curtain falls and now I'm here?" He asked confused and Chris sacrifices his turn. "But somehow, I know how to fight in this stage...weird..."

Thunder Jolt
Quick Attack FP 2
Skull Bash FP 4
Thunder FP 8

Pikachu selected Thunder and he stood in the center of the stage gathering electricity in his body.

Press A, B, X, and Y buttons in order to gather up electricity!

Pikachu thought about pressing the right sequence of buttons, he does 6 in a row and then, Thunder falls from above doing 6 of damage to Marilyn and Beldam and they were defeated by Pikachu's Thunder and he returned to his group.

"Guuuhhh..." Marilyn said before fainting.

"Nooo!!" Beldam yelled before fainting.

The crowd whistled because they received 28 Star Points and for winning the battle.

"Star Points are EXP points in this world, when we reach 100, our level goes up, try to defeat all the enemies in your way to level up faster." Chris said and the camera focuses on the 4. "Now do something to show you won at the audience!" He said and he waves happily to the spectators, Ness says "Okay!", Fox crossed his arms, nodded and Pikachu waved at them too as the screen panned out.

The next scene is now back to normal and it shows Vivian, Marilyn and Beldam laying on the floor.

"Urgh! I'll get you next time! Marilyn! Vivian! Let's run away!" Beldam ordered and she ran away with Marilyn, Vivian got up but she tripped, she got up again before looking again at Chris's group before she ran away.

"...Now you know how to fight in this world, right...where is everyone?!" Chris asked, nobody was there except of him and Lucario. "Lucario! Did you see where'd they go?"

"I remember them jumping at you like they were being draged by a strange force." Lucario said.

".HR..!!"

"Did you hear something?" Chris asked looking around.

"C..IS!!"

"It's near here." Lucario said.

"CHRIS!!"

"They are! Aren't they?"

"LOOK INSIDE YOUR POCKET!" Many voices yelled at the same time. Chris made a confused face and he examined his pocket and for his surprise, all of them were inside in smaller versions of themselves.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!" Chris yelled surprised.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Pit demanded struggling out.

"But how?!"

"YOU KNOW THIS PLACE, YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW!" Pikachu yelled.

"(Alright, all that I remember is that Mario could only take 1 partner out in the field, but sometimes they appear in conversations...but MY team wants to get out...wait...team...teams...that's it!)" Chris thought snapping his fingers. "FOX, FALCO, PIKACHU, PICHU, PIT, NESS, LUCAS, YOU'RE ALL FIRED!" He yelled and by magic, all of them jumped out instantly returning to their normal sizes.

"Fired? What do you mean by that?" Ness asked.

"Well, that was the only way to get you out of my pocket (which means Mario had his partners inside his) but if you don't want this to happen again, all of you need to make teams for your own safety...NOW!" Chris yelled and everyone else except for him and Lucario made teams. "So let's get this straight, the teams are Fox and Falco (and obvious team), Ness and Lucas (another obvious team), Pikachu and Pichu (duh!) and Pit stays alone because he doesn't have any partner to choose from."

Pit looked down sadly as sad music played.

"Now that everything is under our control, let's move on and find Mario." Chris said walking with everyone else to a pipe connecting the surface with the underground, they entered and appeared in Rogueport.

Rogueport's East Side

"And welcome to Rogueport! The sea town of bandits, the mafia and many other dangerous things!" Chris said.

"Bandits, mafia and many other dangerous things?" Ness asked.

"Well, that's true, but you need to be careful in this town if you don't want to lose something," Chris explained as he walked with everyone "See that person with the mask and blue clothes?" He pointed to a Bandit with a rather evily face. "That's a Bandit, be careful with them."

THUD!

"Watch where you're going!" Falco said to a Bandit who crashed into him.

"Heh, you too." The Bandit said leaving with a smirk.

"That's exactly why you need to be careful." Pichu said.

"But he started it!" Falco said.

Pit looked at the Bandit and he spotted something the buglar was holding in his hands. "Say, when did he get that gun?"

"...Actually, that's Falco's-" Ness was interrupted.

"HEY! HE STOLE MY BLASTER! COME BACK HERE!" Falco shouted raising a fist in the air and the Bandit ran away with Falco chasing him.

"...Well...Fox, I think you should help Falco in his trouble." Lucas suggested and Fox went running behind Falco.

"I'll be careful but not like Falco!" Pichu said running to the west, when he got out of sight, he found someone else on the other side. "Guys! I found him!"

"You found Mario? Wow, that was fast." Pikachu said running with everyone to the center area of Rogueport.

Rogueport's Shop Area

"Where is Mario?" Pit asked looking around.

"I didn't find Mario, but I found Luigi!" Pichu said pointing to Luigi, he was talking to a tanned Blooper to his right side.

"Oh? Who's there?" Luigi asked as he turned his head to see the group. "Hey guys! I didn't think I'd find you here after the tournament!"

After Luigi asked who were Chris, Lucario, Pit and Lucas, they introduced themselves to him.

"What are you doing here?" Pikachu asked, while the Bandit from before was running in the background with Falco chasing him.

"I've been on my own adventure to save Princess Eclair from the Chestnut King!" Luigi said excited, then Fox came from the right looking around for Falco and the Bandit. "Do you want to hear my story? It'll not take no longer than 5 minutes!"

"2 stories in one day? Yes!" Pichu said excited and he sat on the floor, Fox was looking to the left and the Bandit cames from the right at high speed, making Fox spin above his feet and falls on the floor, then Falco runs above his poor leader and ran away.

"(Wait, what was the thing about Luigi's stories?)" Chris wondered as Luigi started his tale.

WARNING: ACTUAL DIALOGUE AFTER THIS MESSAGE

"As soon as my ship docked on the Pudding Continent, I set out for the volcano. To reach my destination, I spent several days fording through dense jungle... Scary beasts were all over! More than once I thought I was done for, guys! I may have screamed a bit. To scare them off, you know. But as fate would have it... A Blooper named Blooey heard me shrieking and found me in this one town. Blooey was on a journey of his own, but he joined me after hearing my tale. Now, Blooey's a madman. Back in his hometown, they call him "White Torpedo"! Yeah, he's a tough guy. Anyway, he helped me fight to Rumblebump Volcano. This place was all about bubbling lava pools and heat that'd make the sun sweat. AND, the place was lousy with evil traps designed to protect the compass piece. The scariest one of all was this gigantic, 100-foot-tall statue that stomped around. Now, the weakness of this giant statue, guys, was a red gem on its forehead... Now, I can jump high, but not high enough to reach this thing by a long shot. So I came up with this plan for Blooey to hit that weak spot! "All you, man!" I said. I waited for a pause in the statue's movements and hucked Blooey up there! And bull's-eye! The White Torpedo saved the day! That jewel got whacked! It was a critical hit, and that stone statue toppled and crumbled into pieces! Once that was done, it was an easy stroll to the room where the treasure was. Unfortunately, Princess Eclair was nowhere to be found... But I got another piece of the Marvelous Compass, and put it in the base... Now the compass pointed west, to Plumpbelly Village on the Strudel Continent. So I set sails once again and came back here to Rougeport to recharge. That's what happened to me lately, but I'll be heading back out soon..." Luigi noticed that Chris, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Pit and Pikachu were all snoring and sleeping above their feets except for Pichu and his Blooper named Blooey "So did you listen?" He asked ignoring the most obvious fact that they were sleeping, then they woke up looking around.

"I course we did!" Pichu said excited. "I can't wait to hear your next adventure!"

"Well, how about if you wait until I return?" Luigi suggested.

"Yay! I will!" Pichu said excited. Blooey floated towards Pichu and he whispered something to him.

WARNING: ANOTHER ACTUAL DIALOGUE AFTER THIS MESSAGE

"Hey there, I'm Blooey... And this guy is a total liar! Don't listen to him! You heard his story, right? Well, he did TRY to throw me, but he completely tripped! And what happens? I end up landing in lava! LAVA, man! You think that feels good? Thanks to him, you can stick a fork in me! I'm well-done! My pale skin's crispified! I'll NEVER forgive this guy! I'm gonna make him pay if it takes my whole lifetime! That's the ONLY reason I'm still hanging around with him. YOU'LL PAY, LUIGI!" Blooey whispered angrily and Luigi looked around confused.

"Weird, I heard someone saying that I'll pay or something." Luigi said.

Now back with Fox...

"...Fox..."

"Huh?"

"Fox, can you hear me?"

"Wait, that voice...father?"

"Follow my voice Fox, and you will find me when you open your eyes."

"...You're not joking right?"

"Of course not son, now wake up!"

"FATHER!" Fox yelled waking up from the ground and he hugged the first person in front of him.

"Wow, Fox got all happy all of a sudden. But even if you are a friend...STOP HUGGING ME!" Chris demanded embarrassed, Fox opened his eyes and he gasped when Chris wasn't his father and stopped his embrace.

"But I heard my father!" Fox said defending himself.

"Yeah yeah, and I'm the president of Corneria, where is Falco?"

"But I!"

Chris got fed up in rage and he grabbed Fox's bandana again. "Nevermind, you're going to follow us now and we'll find Falco!" He said dragging Fox to the West Side with everyone else following him (and sweatdropping).

Somewhere else besides Rogueport, maybe the heaven or Corneria? Who knows

James McCloud was taking a sip of his coffee and chucked to himself. "My son needs more things to learn." He said laughing a little, drinking his coffee.

Rogueport's West Side (Not the gangster one, mind you)

The group found Falco already killing the Bandit.

"ARGH! STOP IT! STOP IT! I've learned my lesson now, let me go please and tell Don Pianta that I'm not gonna mess with his guys!" The Bandit said.

"Falco, stop now." Ness said.

"Fine." Falco said letting free the Bandit and he ran away.

"Wait, Don Pianta? Who is him?" Lucas asked.

Don Pianta Office

"Huh? Boss, somebody said something about us." A yellow Pianta in black uniform said.

"Yes, I did hear it too, who was dat?" Don Pianta wondered and he peered outside the window. "Nah, just 9 nuisances saying random things."

"Mario? Where are you going?" A female Goomba asked confused, she had a yellow ponytail and a helmet with a headlight on it, she was wearing a tiny red ribbon below her pink head. She was accompaning Mario and the plumber peered outside the window as well, then he looked at Don Pianta.

"What's dat? You want 9 more tickets now?! What do ya think this is? Get one ticket and take 9 free special?"

Mario thought for a moment.

"...Well, I don't want to visit the Glitz Pit in a while, so take them." Don Pianta said giving Mario 9 more tickets and he left in a hurry.

"Hey! Wait up!" The female Goomba said chasing Mario.

"And don't show your faces around here!" Don Pianta yelled.

Preview of the next chapter

"So what do you think about riding this airship?" Chris asked to Fox.

"Our Arwings are better." Fox and Falco said in unison.

"Look! It's Falco's cousin!" Pikachu said pointing to Rawk Hawk.

"Very funny!" Falco said sarcastically.

"No way my name in the ring is The Great Pedro you racist!" Chris said angrily.

"But yer real name sounds boring." Grubba said.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Falco said rubbing his head, but gasped after he saw who was the person he bumped to. "WOLF?!"

"You're finally here." Wolf said grinning a little.

"Next time: Of Glitz and Glory and Stupid Rules!" Falco said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Rogueport
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas

Yes, I'm changing the way of the previews to more accurate ones, to build up the suspence or something like that.

Also, if you think that I'm going to add all the commands to them, think again, Chris ended his explanation and the fights are going to be a little bit more interesting or more.

Since many voted for Twilight Princess, that's going to be the next arc after this one, thanks for your votes!

The story is still in humor because the humor exists in Paper Mario, in Twilight Princess however, it'll be with Drama, slight Romance and more action...but even more humor is ahead.

References:

-There was a Naruto reference in this arc, can you find it?

And I dare you to imagine the characters in this arc (I'm talking about the Smashers) in paper style!

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 46*: Of Glitz and Glory and Stupid Rules!

Next chapter is up as always everyone! Sorry if I didn't update yesterday, but I'll try to update daily. So let's get started with this chapter already!

Read, enjoy and review please! :D

Chapter 46: Of Glitz and Glory and Stupid rules!

"Okay, now that we're here, where is Mario?" Pikachu asked.

FLIP! FLIP!...OK!

"Where did that sound come fro-"

"This is Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon, is actually kind of cute isn't? Max. HP: 25, Attack: 5, Defense: 0, be careful though! He can store electricity and paralize you with it! However if you defend correctly, you won't get paralyzed." The pink Goomba from before said while reading a green book.

"Who is sh-" Pit was interrupted.

"This is Pit, an angel...wait, if he is an angel, that means I'M DEAD?!... Just kidding. Max. HP: 30, Attack: 5, Defense: 0, he can also use a shield to reflect projectiles too and use arrows that never fails at hitting an enemy, if he doesn't prove that I'm dead, does that mean he is Cupid?"

"I'm not Cupid!" Pit protested.

"This is Pichu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon, he is the pre-evolution of Pikachu but is weaker than him (and cuter too!). Max. HP: 20, Attack: 4, Defense: 0, he can also paralyze you if you're not careful, but something that you should know is that his own attacks hurt him too, sacrificing his life in battle isn't good, you know?"

Pichu was now in fetal position with Pikachu trying to cheer him up.

"He is Ness, a boy with psychic abilities, don't you think his head is a little too...big? Just kidding again. Max. HP: 25, Attack: 6, Defense: 0, he can burn, paralyze and recover himself too? This boy is full of wonders, wonder if he could make a good partner with us?"

"I let the head part pass this time." Ness said a little upset.

"He is Lucas, another kid with psychic abilities, but he's having trouble fighting with his own abilities at this moment. Max. HP: 20, Attack: 6, Defense: 0, he can use the same abilities as Ness, but they are a little bit different in some parts, try to be kind or else he will be scared!"

"I-I-I don't have troubles with my abilities!" Lucas said protesting.

"He is Fox, the leader of Star Fox team and also, he has a secret romance with someone else...hmm, must be another fox, how romantic! Max. HP: 35, Attack: 6, Defense: 0, he can use a reflector to...reflect projectiles obviously, not only that, he can attack a whole bunch of enemies with one attack! Be careful with him too!"

Fox looked away blushing a little.

"He is Falco, another member of Star Fox as Fox, but more profesional in controling the Arwing, what is an Arwing anyway? Max. HP: 35, Attack: 6, Defense: 0, same abilities as Fox, nothing else...what? Is the truth!"

"Hey!" Falco said annoyed.

"He is Chris, a newcomer from a completely different world that can use many abilities. Max HP: 30, Attack: 4, Defense: 0, he can use attacks combined with his aura but doesn't know many of them, on a side note, if a certain partner is with him in battle, don't attack Chris or else "The aura will crush you"? What does that mean?"

"(Seriously, I need to train my abilities...wait, how does she know about me?)" Chris thought.

"He is Lucario, the Aura Pokémon...is he looking at me? (He's scary!) Max. HP: 45, Attack: 7, Defense: 3, whoa, he has better attributes. His attacks are all combined with his aura, wait, there is something else in this book, if he manages to store enough damage, his attacks will grow considerably too. Be EXTRA careful when fighting against him ok?"

Lucario didn't do anything.

"Well, that all about them Mario." The pink Goomba said to Mario.

"Wait, Mario?" Pit asked, he found Mario and the pink Goomba looking at them.

"We finally met Mario in person!" Chris said excited but sighed. "But he doesn't talks too muc-"

"You're-a wrong!"

"Huh?"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mario!" Mario greeted Chris with a handshake (Chris was very surprised).

"Wait, Mario, you spoke with words this time!" The pink Goomba said.

"Sorry for not telling this Goombella, but I like to listen instead of talking." Mario said to the pink Goomba with the name of Goombella.

"Ni-nice to meet you!" Chris said rubbing his head "(Wow, he's very nice as everybody says.)"

"So Mario, you finally stopped your killing spree on Goombas and joined one of them?" Falco asked, looking at Goombella.

"Hey! I'm so much different than any normal Goomba!" Goombella protested.

"He's just joking." Mario said.

"But still, I take that as an insult! C'mon! Let me headbonk his head!" Goombella said trying to jump above Falco's head but Mario grabbed her by her back. "Let me go! I need to teach this bird a thing or 2!"

After a long introductions of new persons Mario didn't know about...

Mario joined your team temporaly!

"Anyhoo, why did you want to take 9 more tickets?" Goombella asked (now relaxed).

Mario took the 9 extra tickets out. "Because they are going with us to Glitz Pit!" He said handing over a ticket to each one.

"Ticket for riding the Cheep Blimp which will take you to Glitzville, the flying city with the famous Glitz Pit where warriors show their powers and rise to the top as famous contenders. But I don't know if we need to go ther-" Suddenly, Chris's pocket was ringing and he grabbed his DS who somehow was now the Primid Radar "The Primid Radar has fusioned with the DS?...Hmm, it's pointing to the air to the east...in THAT direction!" He said pointing to the east in the air.

"That's where Glitzville is along with the Crystal Star!" Goombella said.

"Crystal Star?" Pit asked.

After hearing all about the Crystal Stars...

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Falco said running towards the Blimp Cheep.

"What's wrong with your Brooklyn friend?" Goombella asked.

"He wants to find the treasure." Ness said.

"Oh. We too."

Rogueport's Train/Blimp Station

"You want to go to Glitzville? Show me your tickets please." A Cheep Cheep wearing a hat said and everyone showed their tickets to him "Okay, use the pipe behind me to take you to the blimp, then aboard it, have a nice trip!" He said stepping out of the way and all of them entered the pipe.

But appeared far away from the pipe in the distance.

"Where are we?!" Lucas asked scared.

"Relax blondie, we're just in the background! Nothing bad can happen here!" Goombella said, then she saw the Blimp in front of them. "There it is!" She said stepping above the platform.

"We're gonna ride this blimp? I can't wait to see the clouds!" Pichu said excited, stepping above the platform.

Just when everyone was above, the platform lifted and they entered the Cheep Blimp as the blimp was starting to float over the grass, after some seconds, it went flying away slowly with some relaxing music.

5 minutes later...

All of them were waiting to reach the floating city in the sky (reminder, this is not Twilight Princess, besides, they could have reached that city in the wrong way) and Chris saw the opportunity to have time with Fox, so he walked towards him. Falco was also there with him looking outside.

"So what do you think about riding this airship?" Chris asked.

"Our Arwings are better." Fox and Falco said in unison.

"(Great going Chris, you're talking to guys who spend their entire days fighting in the air, think hard the next time!) I see." Said and thought Chris.

"Hey Pikachu! What does that cloud look like?" Pichu asked excited to Pikachu, the small mouse was asking the electric mouse about the shapes of every single cloud Pichu saw floating away.

"I dunno Pichu, a cloud?" Pikachu asked a little annoyed.

"Yes! You got it right again! Now, what does that cloud from over there look like?"

"A cloud?"

"And the other one?"

"A cloud?"

"And the other one?"

"A cloud?"

"And the other one?"

"A cloud?"

"And the other one?"

"A cloud?"

"And the other on-"

"ALL OF THEM ARE CLOUDS AND THE LAST ONE IS EVEN MORE STUPID! STOP IT!"

"Wrong! That cloud looks like your face!" Pichu said laughing, pointing to a cloud with the exact happy face of Pikachu. "You said stupid to yourself! Hahahaha!"

"...I hate you." Pikachu muttered to himself.

"Hmm, I think I need to know about Lucas, what do you think Pikachu?"

"Oh please, go with him! I heard he likes to guess about clouds like you too!" Pikachu said pushing Pichu away from him.

"Yay! We're so alike!" Pichu said running towards Lucas.

"(Hehehehe, now let's see if Lucas can bear Pichu's game!)" Pikachu thought evily.

5 more minutes later...

"A cloud!" Lucas said smiling.

"Yay! And that one?" Pichu asked excited.

"Another cloud!"

"Yay!"

"I can't believe this!!" Pikachu yelled traumatized "(...At least Ness isn't like them though.)"

"Hey guys! What does that cloud look like?" Ness asked excited.

"A cloud!" Pichu and Lucas responded laughing.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH!!" Pikachu yelled traumatized for life. To his left, Lucario was staring at Pikachu.

"...You have problems, serious problems." Lucario said walking away.

"I know." Pikachu said looking at the clouds with half-opened eyes.

"I see land!" Pit said spotting a dot far away in the clouds.

"Pit, we're above clouds." Chris reminded him. "Your life in Skyworld really afected you. That reminds me, where is the floor?"

"4 feets away from our feets!" Pit said pointing to a cloud below them.

"That's a cloud." Goombella said.

"Nope! That is the floor!"

"Pit, that is a cloud!" Chris said.

"A floor!"

"A cloud!"

"A floor!"

"A cloud!"

"A floor!"

"A cloud!"

"A floor!"

"A cloud!"

"STOP IT! IT'S TOO MUCH WITH PICHU'S GAME ALREADY!" Pikachu said walking away with his ears blocked.

"...A floor!"

"A cloud!"

"A floor!"

"I can see Glitzville!" Mario said pointing to the floating city.

"Yay!" Chris, Pit, Pichu, Ness and Lucas said excited.

Chapter 3: Of Glitz and Glory

A tiny Pit walked in and he sticked a note in the chapter.

Chapter 3: Of Glitz and Glory and Stupid Rules!

Glitzville
Attractions Area

They came from the lift of the Cheep Blimp and land above the city of attractions, they step out of the lift and they're greeted by another Cheep Cheep.

"Welcome to Glitzville! Home of the famous Glitz Pit and attractions!" he said smiling.

Everyone looked around to examine the city, a shop, a bar, a Hot Dog stand, many posters of fighters scattered around the city and the glorious Glitz Pit were there.

"Where first?" Pichu asked.

"Glitz Pit!" Mario, Goombella, Chris, Lucario and Falco said.

"Hot Dog Stand!" Ness, Lucas, Pit, Pikachu and Pichu said.

Everyone looked at Fox.

"...Glitz Pit?" he said confused.

"...We hate you." Ness, Lucas, Pit, Pikachu and Pichu muttered to themselves, then they walked inside the Glitz Pit.

Glitz Pit's Lobby

A yellow lobby was there with persons walking around, a door was in front of the entrance with another door above the stairs plus 2 doors leading to the back hallway of the arena, there was also a virtual screen to the right of the door of below.

"Fancy." Ness said.

"There is an arena supposed to be inside this place right?" Pikachu said walking towards the door. "I hear many cheers inside!" he said opening the doors and they walked inside.

Glitz Pit's Arena

A huge amount of people were watching a fight in the center of the stage, there was a Dark Koopatrol being defeated by a big, muscular yellow hawk wearing sunglasses with long yellow hair on the center and the hawk beat the Koopa with a rolling kick.

"You call that a fight?! Pfff, the rocks are harder than you!" The yellow hawk protested.

"Just astonishing! Rawk Hawk has defeated another opponent with his strength! Rawk Hawk, do you have any comments of this fight you just had?" asked a rather short suspicious guy wearing sunglasses, a red ribbon, a little vest with a green shirt underneath and black hat with orange hair asked, his lips were big and orange and his skin was a pale blue while his belly was white, a purple shell was on his back. He was pointing his microphone to Rawk Hawk (the yellow hawk).

"He didn't learn to mess with the RAWK until now! Kids out there surely take my advice very seriously!" Rawk Hawk said and the crowd went wild, then he held up a belt with an orange star on it. "This proves my power on the ring!" he said and the people went wild again.

Pikachu was standing above Chris's head to see (Chris didn't mind).

"Look! It's Falco's cousin!" Pikachu said pointing to Rawk Hawk.

"Very funny..." Falco said sarcastically.

"Wait, isn't that... Mario! That is a Crystal Star!" Goombella said looking at the Crystal Star.

"Do you think a fighter can defeat you Rawk Hawk?" The announcer asked.

Rawk Hawk pointed at the crowd (or the readers) "Ha! There's nobody out there who can't resist the power of the RAWK!!" He said grinning and the crowd again went wild.

The party left the arena and they return to the lobby.

Glitz Pit's Lobby

"That is the Crystal Star?" Falco asked.

"Yep! No doubt about it!" Goombella responded. "Mario! What are we gonna do to get that star?"

"Steal that thing!" Mario said.

We can't allow Mario to be a bad example for kids... We have to remake that scene.

5 seconds ago...

"Yep! No doubt about it!" Goombella responded. "Mario! What are we gonna do to get that star?"

"Fight our way to the top!" Mario said.

Much better. Lovely.

"You mean, fight to challenge him in a fight?" Lucas asked.

"There's no other way to do this." Lucario said.

"We could always steal that thing." Falco suggested.

"Unfortunately Falco, we're not burglars." Ness said.

"Sounds good to me." Chris said walking away. "But we need to register first. To where now?"

"Hmm? Isn't that...yes! It's you!" A white mouse wearing red glasses and red long shoes said walking towards Mario's group, her tail was curled up making an image of a heart, her name was Ms. Mows. "Hey sweetie! What are you doing here?"

"Oh no, you again!" Goombella said. "Are you gonna steal another badge around here?"

"Of course! I'm not a treasure-hunter for nothing! So are all of you plus the handsome mouse from over there," She said pointing to Pikachu "Enter the fights in this place?"

"You bet!" Ness said.

"Really? That's soooo dangerous and interesting at the same time! I'll cheer for all of you!" She said leaving, but she returned and kissed Pikachu on the cheek (with a heart popping out) and he blushed. "Especially you dear!" Ms. Mows said leaving.

"The flirting type it seems." Pit said.

"Y-yeah." Pikachu said studdering.

"...Let's register now." Mario said walking to the left side of the lobby where he asked a guard to enter the backstage and went with everyone else.

Glitz Pit's Back Hallway

Our heroes thought the hallway was going to be even fancier than the lobby, but it was the contrary, it actually looked like a dump, there were pipes with several holes and water drops came from them, it was rather loomy with guards guarding the doors.

"N-Ness?"

"Yes, Lucas?"

"This isn't the prison right?"

"It looks like a prison...but is not a prison for sure." Ness responded.

A drop fell above Pichu. "Say Mario, can you please fix these pipes? You're a plumber right?"

Mario just continued walking, ignoring Pichu's conversation. "Where is the room to register in the matches?" He asked to a guard.

"Over there." The guard pointed to a door which looked more normal instead of the others, the group walked inside and they were now in a fancy office with the announcer from before counting money.

Grubba's (Fancy) Office

"Who's there?" The announcer asked. "Oh, more people who wants to fight in the arena?"

"Is this where we register to fight?" Pikachu asked.

"Of course you mouse, you all came to the right place. Pardon my manners, you're talking to Grubba, the guy who runs this place and creator of this arena. You wanna live the glamorous life of a champion right?" Grubba asked and he walked behind the group. "You know, I was a very good fighter myself back when I was young, but now, I'm just an' old man with high hopes of a winner, the point is, if you dream big, you'll be BIG when you notice!" The camera focused on his face. "The real point is! Do you wanna be big in the arena?!"

"Yes! I want to be big!" Pichu said excited and jumping.

"That's the spirit kid! Now follow me to show you the places were you need to be." Grubba said leaving the office with everybody else following him.

Champion's Room

They were taken to another fancy room, the champion's room, it was small, but it had many gifts, a golden bed, a picture with the current champion (Rawk Hawk), a closet, a dumbbell and a dish washer. "Now how you like THIS? Just feast yer eyes, go on! This...is the champion's room."

"Can I sleep in that bed?" Lucas asked pointing to the bed.

"No way pal, you'll have to wait until you're the champion." Grubba said and Lucas groaned at this. "This place is worthy of any champion isn't?"

The scene gets literally changed (or replaced) quickly to another room full of fighters with lockers, pink floor, lockers, a single bed (I don't even want to think about how they manage with one bed) and 2 red benches on the center.

Major-League Locker Room

"Now, uh, here we have the major-league locker room. A lotta contenders here!" Grubba said grinning a little.

"(Pink floor? Gay.)" Falco thought.

"Move out." A koopa wearing a pale green shell, boots and glasses said to Pichu.

"Eek!" Pichu said hiding behind Pikachu.

"At least the floor is clean." Pit said.

"Not exactly glamorous, but it's clean and comfortable. Totally sanitary, too. MAYBE I'm old-fashioned, but I CARE about my fighters, darn it!" Grubba said a little bit angry.

"(You ARE old-fashioned...)" Chris thought.

The scene gets again literally replaced and now they were back in Grubba's Office.

Grubba's (Fancy) Office

"Now... I'm sure you know this already, sons, but there ain't but one world champion. All of ya got the eye of the tiger to aim the champion's title!... But since there are so many of you, only one can become the champion...unless somebody is the leader of yer little groupie." Grubba said.

Mario raised his hand and they nodded, then a exclamation mark appeared above Grubba and it disappeared. "Oh. You gotta sign a itty-bitty contract to be a fighter. It ain't no thing, just take a second or 2 of yer time. Just jot your names here here, ok?" Grubba asked and all of them signed the contract with their names, but when it was Fox's turn... "Hey you!"

"Huh? Me?" Fox asked confused.

"You've already signed the contract a while ago! You're...oh yeah! You're that grey lupine!"

"Grey lupine? But I'm not a wolf, see?"

"Hmm, you're right son. Go on and jot your name in the contract." Grubba said.

"(But still, grey lupine?)" Fox thought in his mind as he finished.

Grubba took the paper and he started to read the names aloud. "Mario, Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness and Lucas right?" He threw the contract. "A bunch of boring names! Hmm...we need to change yer names...I know!" He pointed at Mario. "How about if your name is... The Great Gonzales! Hoo! Ain't that a beaut?"

A globe with 3 dots appeared in everybody's heads and they disappeared. "Not only that, I shall call all of you in this order, The Great Pedro, Spike, Yellow Menace, Dangery, Golden Crown Leaf of Despair, Brown Vulpine, Brooklinator, Head of Chaos and Blondie Power!"

All of them started to protest about their nicknames in the arenas.

"No way my name in the ring is The Great Pedro you racist!" Chris said angrily.

"But yer real name sounds boring." Grubba said.

"Just because my skin is slightly tanned doesn't mean you can address me as a mexican!"

"C'mon pals! Be enthusiasts and use yer new names proudly!" Grubba said smiling.

"But Head of Chaos sounds a little offensive to me." Ness said.

"What the hell does Brooklinator mean?" Falco asked confused.

"Dangery?" Pichu wondered to himself.

"Everything it's settled then! Ohh, Jolene? My dear? Can you please come in?" Grubba called from his computer on his desk, then the door opened and a female Toad with pink polka-dots on her head walked in, she was wearing long glasses, a red uniform and red shoes, her hair was yellow and it was making a shape slightly looking like a banana in front of her face, she was also holding a clipboard and her name was Jolene.

"Yes sir? You wished to see me?" Jolene asked.

"Jolene, hon, this is The Great Gonzales and his team. Be a peach and take them to the minor-league locker room, all righty?" Grubba asked.

"Right away, sir." Jolene said and she looked at the group. "Mr. Gonzales and his team? If you would be so kind, follow me please." She said leaving the room and they follow her outside the office.

Glitz Pit's Back Hallway

They left the room and followed Jolene to the right as she explained something to them, the rules.

"First and foremost, what Mr Grubba says, goes. Period. You must do what he says. There are many other guidelines that I will explain as they become relevant." Jolene explained as they entered another room.

Minor-League Locker Room

The room was all dirty, there were 4 fighters inside, the lockers here were a little destroyed and kicked instead of the major-league locker room's, the benches were red, but springs were sticking out of it, there was also a bed to the right side (again, I don't even want to think about how they manage with one bed still), and the wall's papers were sheddred, there was also a purple GBA-look like screen to the left of the door.

"Well, here we are. This is your locker room." Jolene said.

Lucas looked around. "I-it's little bit dirty, don't you think?"

"No, it's as dirty as hell is." Pikachu said.

"If you don't like this dingy room, I suggest you work your way up through the ranks." Jolene said adjusting her glasses.

After she explained everything about the matches and how to reserve a match in the GBA screen, she left.

"We're up againts the Goomba Bros." Goombella said. "Although we can only take 2 of you."

"What was the rule again?" Chris asked.

"Defeat them in less than 5 turns." Pit said.

"Lucas! We're next!" Ness said.

"W-what?! S-so soon?!" Lucas asked terrified.

Just then, a guard came up from the door. "The Great Gonzales, your match is ready." He said.

"Good luck Lucas!" Pichu said as Mario, Goombella, Ness and Lucas left the locker room.

Glitz Pit's Arena

"An' here we are ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first match of the unique, incomparable an' rising to the ranks, THE GREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAATTTTT GONZALEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!" Grubba said over the mic pointing to the left of the arena, Mario, Goombella, Ness and Lucas came walking slowly to the arena while hearing some things of the spectators.

"Love that mustache!"

"I love his hair!"

"Is that a kid?"

"Nice cap!"

"He's sweating!"

"1 Hot Dog please!"

They stepped inside the arena, and from the other side, a group of 5 Goombas were there looking at them.

"This man needs reinforcements!" The first Goomba said staring at Mario's partners.

"So do you!" Goombella taunted.

"Hey there honey! Want to hang out with us?" The third Goomba asked with a wink.

"Sure, I'd rather be eaten by Piranha Plants!"

"Ouch!" The fifth Goomba said.

"Now now, the battle hasn't started yet, now for the rules of this match ar-" Grubba was interrupted by the first Goomba.

"Screw the rules! Hey Gonzales! Head's first!" The third Goomba said jumping above Mario, starting a battle!

Mario: HP 25
Goombella: HP 20
Ness: HP 25
Lucas: HP 20

Mario received a cowardly attack by the Goomba, but he uses a Superdodge to counter it and he returned to his position.

"That's IT! Mario, let's take those guys quickly!" Goombella suggested angrily.

Finish this battle in less than 5 turns

"Hey Mario! Wait please!" Ness said.

"What is it?" Mario asked.

"Let Lucas defeat those guys!"

"Oh well." Mario said swapping his turn to Lucas.

"Err, what I need to do?" Lucas asked.

"Use your list of attacks!"

"O-oh right! I will!" Lucas said selecting his list of attacks.

Normal Attack

"What?! What about your other attacks?!" Ness asked surprised.

"W-well, I'm so confused right now." Lucas said embarrassed.

"Use this then!" Goombella gave Lucas a Fire Flower.

"What's this?"

"A Fire Flower! Just plant it in front of us and it will launch fireballs to them! C'mon! Do it!" Goombella said, Lucas held the flower above his head and he planted (even if the stage was of wood and not soft ground) and a flower came out, it closed its eyes before lauching several fireballs from its head and the 5 Goombas were all incinerated and defeated instantly.

And they receive 1 Star Point.

They greeted the crowd and left the stage.

The scene changed back showing them jumping in victory and the Goombas were dizzy, Grubba approached to Mario to ask him a question about the match.

"So how do you think about this match Gonzales?" Grubba asked.

"It was oka-" Mario was interrupted.

"What's that? They should have never meet you because they lost to you because you're stronger than them because they punch like girls because they are girls because they took a gender change?"

"He didn't say tha-" Lucas was interrupted.

"Oooohhh!! What a speech everyone! This guy really says it! He has the guts to reach the title perhaps?! Let's give him one final cheer!" Grubba said holding his hand in the air and confetti starts to rain down above Mario's group, but he makes a thumbs-up to the crowd and they continue to jump.

Minor-League Locker Room

"That was a terrific match Gonzales, seriously, you gave quite the impression back there, Jolene, give him his salary." Grubba ordered and Jolene gave Mario a very poor salary for his first match. "Well, see ya pal, see you in the ring!" Grubba said leaving with Jolene.

"Hello there." A yellow koopa said walking towards Mario. "My name is King K, nice to meet you. Hey, I saw your match back there, not bad, you're really getting used to this as all of us here, let me introduce you the people inside this room." He looked to a Bob-omb. "He's Master Crash, his vocabulary is a little bad, but other than that, he's a good guy."

"BOOM! Nice to meet you, the BOOM! name is Master Crash, hope to BOOM! see you in the ring! BOOM!" Master Crash, the Bob-omb said.

"Next, we have Cleftor the Cleft, his vocabulary is EVEN worse than Master Crash's." King. K said looking to a green Cleft.

"Cleftor no like you, go away and Cleftor win matches." Cleftor the Cleft said.

"(Where did this guy come from? The rock era?... Hey! I made a pun!)" Ness thought in his mind.

"And lastly but not least, we have Bandy Andy the Bandit. He doesn't stay in this room sometimes." King. K said looking to a green Bandit.

"Hehehe, nice to meet you buddies, if you have any doubt about the Glitz Pit, just ask me." He looked at Falco. "Nice gun you have there."

"Oh no, not again!" Falco said grabbing the doorknob. "If anyone needs me, I'll be looking around this place." He said leaving the room.

"Wait up!" Lucas said following Falco.

"I'm a little worried about Lucas." Ness said following Lucas.

"If you want to recover your energy, rest in that bed of over there, careful though, it won't recover Star Power, well, that's all you gotta know, see you." King. K said walking away to his position.

Meanwhile, Fox was typing something on the GBA screen, he was looking through the list of fighters in the ranks.

20. Goomba Bros.
19. The Great Gonzales
18. Pokey Triplets
17. K.P. Koopas
16. Spike Storm
15. Dead Bones
14. Mind-Bogglers
13. Bob-omb Squad
12. Hand-it-overs
11. Punk Rocks

"Fox, what are you doing?" Chris asked.

"I'm looking for that grey lupine Grubba said a while ago when he misunderstood me." Fox said still typing.

10. Armored Harriers

9. Tiny Spinies
8. Poker Faces
7. Shellshockers
6. The Fuzz
5. Magickoopa Masters
4. Craw Daddy
3. Chomp Country
2. The Koopinator
1. Grey Lupine
Champ: Rawk Hawk

"(Yes, I took out Hamma, Bamma and Flare.)" The author of this story thought.

"Whoa, he's in the first place, does that mean he is a good fighter?" Chris asked rubbing his chin.

"I don't know, but I want to know his real name." Fox said.

"Let's reserve the next match already!" Goombella said.

Glitz Pit's Back Hallway

Falco, Lucas and Ness were examining the place and they found it...rather gloomy and with a feel of seriousness.

"Falco, did you just walk away from that Bandit?" Ness asked staring at Falco.

"Alright alright! That's why I wanted to see this place! Remember that I got a brand new Blaster this day? I don't want to lose this one like the last Blaster!" Falco said, they were now going to cross a corner but they stopped. "Bandits just creep me out and I don't like my things be stolen!" Then he crossed the corner but crashed into someone else and fell on the cold floor.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Falco said rubbing his head, but gasped after he saw who was the person he bumped to. "...WOLF?!"

"You're finally here." Wolf said grinning a little.

Falco took out his Blaster and aimed it at Wolf. "Okay, what are you doing here?" He questioned the leader of Star Wolf.

Wolf lowered Falco's Blaster and stared at the bird. "Simple, defeat Fox in one-on-one in the arena."

"B-but how can you fight alone?" Lucas asked trembling.

"Heh, I have some support behind me." Wolf said pointing behind his back, there was a small Primid with big red overalls with gifts in them and his ears were white making spirals. "Of course, when our match starts, I'll kill this guy."

"Lah dee dah! I'm Poppant! Nice to meet you!" The Primid (Poppant) introduced himself.

"...Your partner is a guy that has his own pants full of gifts?" Ness asked confused.

"You'll see how can he be useful in the battles later." Wolf said grinning evily (Lucas gulped as a response).

"Say Wolf..." Falco trailed off.

"What is it, bird-brain?"

"You got also a nickname as we did right?" Falco said smiling a little.

"...I don't want to talk about that." Wolf said looking away a bit embarrassed.

"I-is not Grey Lupine, is it? Mr. Grubba said something like that to Fox." Lucas said studdering.

Wolf's right eye twitched a little. "Errhmm, no, just no." He said walking away to the Major-League Locker Room with the Poppant singing. "Shut up." Wolf said to the Poppant before entering the room.

"Wait a minute, if he is with the Primids, does that mean he knows the location of the bomb we're searching?" Ness asked.

"...Oh crap! I forgot about that!" Falco said running to the Major-League Locker Room but he was pushed away by a guard. "Hey!"

"Sorry, only Major-League fighters or Grubba and Miss Jolene are admitted here." The guard said staring blankly at Falco.

"C'mon Falco, we need to return to our lockers." Ness said walking away with Lucas.

"(I need to tell Fox about this and quick!)" Falco said running to the Minor-League Locker Room.

Minor-League Locker Room

Mario, Goombella, Chris and Lucario came from their fight against the Pokey Triplets and their rank went up to 18.

"Oh my god, 20 of damage? That was awesome Lucario!" Goombella said to Lucario.

"All thanks to Chris." Lucario said looking at Chris, who rubbed his head embarrassed.

Then, Falco, Lucas and Ness came running to the room panting.

"Fox!... Fox!"

"What's wrong, Falco?" Fox asked confused.

"It's the Grey Lupine!" Falco said.

"Who's the Grey Lupine? You know him?"

"No, I mean, yes! He is Wolf!"

"Then I was right, Wolf is here to defeat me."

Suddenly, an earthquake was produced and everything shook a little in the area.

"What the hell was that?" Pikachu asked looking around.

"Oh, it must be that Grey Lupine again, he does that a lot in his matches." Bandy Andy said.

"Wolf made that earthquake? But how?" Pit asked confused.

"Maybe this computer can show us the image of the arena." Mario said typing on the GBA screen, he found the option to look the arena from there and he waited for the image to appear, but suddenly, all of them gasped surprised (except for King K. Master Crush, Cleftor, Bandy Andy and Lucario).

There was a big mark with the image of a huge claw on the stage, it was covering a quarter of it and Wolf and Poppant defeated the Koopinator.

"Astonishing Grey Lupine! I've never seen someone using an attack combination like that before! Do ya have any comments of this fight?" Grubba asked pointing his microphone at Wolf.

"I do have one." Wolf said grinning and he pointed to the camera. "Fox, I'm waiting for you in the first place, come on out and fight me!" He taunted by smirking. "And never call me Grey Lupine again, dammit!" He demanded.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Grubba muttered annoyed since Wolf has been saying that to him every single fight he was taking part of. "Look's like Grey Lupine is waiting for someone else to show up an' beat him up ladies and gentlements! Let's look forward to that battle!" He said as the crowd cheered for Wolf and Poppant.

"How he was able to do that?!" Pichu asked terrified while hugging a terrified Lucas.

"The mark is too big, unless he grew up suddenly or something else..." Pit said.

"I think Poppant has something to do with that." Ness wondered.

"There's only 3 things to do here," Chris said and everybody looked at him. "Retrieve the Crystal Star by defeating Rawk Hawk, find the Subspace Bomb hiding in this colosseum and watch out for Wolf."

Preview of the next chapter

"Hey guys, Mr Hoggle the hot dog vendor from outside is selling special hot dogs with some egg from a southern island, you gotta eat it before a match!" King K. said.

"Egg with hot dogs?" I'll pass." Falco said, but his stomach suddenly grumbled. "...But is better than nothing I think."

"These guys are invincible! We need to run away and forfeit this match!" Pikachu said.

"Count me in! Goombella suffered a lot already!" Pichu said while holding Goombella on his back.

"So, what's up, dudes?" the Yoshi asked.

"You tell me..." Mario said frowning.

"Guys! Fox is missing!" Falco said.

"Wonderful! That counts 7 now!" Chris said angrily, not believing that they just lost almost all their teammates.

"N-next time... Deux Ex Machina Yoshi." Lucas said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Glitz Pit
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Mario, Goombella, ?, ?, ?

Tension is rising up in this arc isn't? I also used some original comments of the characters in this game too, but with some changes such as short dialogues. Well, I only have a few more words, keep reading! XD

References:

-Lah Dee Dah was a reference to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars where the Fly Guy with a sprinkler sings "Lah Dee Dah" as his favorite line.

Question if you're going to review:

What option did you choose when your partner asked about how to obtain the Crystal Star from Rawk Hawk?

-Steal that thing!

-Fight our way to the top!

So please, read and review! :)
*Chapter 47*: Deux Ex Machina Yoshi

Okay, the reason because this chapter is the longest of all is because...

1. The arc I selected needed to be long to explain many things.

2. Or I got distracted too much that I added so many things into one chapter that was supposed to be shorter.

3. Or because the fights from the 10th to 1st rank need explanations.

My profile was updated with music of all the types of Paper Mario: TTYD for you to find them more easily. Enjoy them! :)

If I made a mistake during the chapter, don't worry, I'll look to overwrite that part to be correct, also, I'm considering to add Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss as worlds to be saved, what do you think?

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 47: Deux Ex Machina Yoshi

"Hey, looks like you're against me, good luck to both of us." King K. said.

"Gonzales, your match is ready to go, please follow me." A guard said and Mario, Goombella, Fox and Falco follow him to the arena.

"We should also find the bomb before it explodes." Pit suggested.

"Alright, who wants to investigate?" Ness asked.

"Me!" Pikachu said.

"Me too!" Pichu said.

"Your plan is to investigate the whereabouts of the bomb while we fight, but be careful, I have a bad feeling about this place." Chris said and Pikachu and Pichu left the room to search for the bomb.

Meanwhile in the arena...

Glitz Pit's Arena

Don't switch partners during this battle

"They're down! Falco, it's your turn!" Mario said returning from bouncing above the Koopas and Falco proceeded to slash them with Falco Illusion, he managed to do 2 attacks, but were enough to defeat them.

"(Oh right! I almost forgot!)" Falco thought, then he returned to his position doing backflips and this time, the crowd went wild instead of killing him.

They receive 3 Star Points and they greet the audience.

"AN' THE WINNER IS THE GREAT GONZALES!" Grubba announced and the crowd went wild once again.

"See?! No biggie!" Goombella said jumping.

Minor-League Locker Room

Pikachu and Pichu came first, then Jolene entered and gave Mario another poor salary, but with a bit more of money and she left, their rank rosed up to 17.

"Hey man, good match back there." King K. said.

"But we didn't see those other allies of you!" Mario said.

"Oh sorry, some fighters have also allies like you do too, I guess Grubba told you that already, right?" He asked and Mario nodded.

"So what did you find?" Ness asked.

Pikachu shook his head. "Nothing about the bomb, but we found Bandy Andy in the hallway and he told us something about "The 7 wonders of the Glitz Pit", wanna hear?"

Just then, Jolene came once again in the room with Bandy Andy in front of her.

"How many times must I tell you? Don't leave this room during the matches or else you're going to be disqualified!"

"Heh, sorry." Bandy Andy said.

"Also, I've got the strange feeling you're following me, that is creeping me out too, now stay in this room and wait for your match." Jolene said before leaving.

King K. walked to Bandy Andy. "Man, you're such a MAGNET for trouble, you know that?"

"Sorry King K. but I like to know about this place," Bandy Andy grabbed the doorknob. "If you excuse me, I need to find more information." He said before leaving.

"That guy never learns." King K. said.

Mario was already reserving the next match and he decided to take Goombella, Pikachu and Pichu this time. But he didn't like something about the match.

Kiss the person to your left side after winning

Goombella blushed. "What the hell is that rule supposed to mean?!" She asked angrily.

Grubba was still on the screen. "Romance is a very demanded thing these days so I'm giving them what they want! You gotta follow this rule or you won't advance further!"

Pikachu looked at Pichu. "But he's a guy!"

"Gay pairings are rarely the most popular things instead the usual way, don't ask me that or how." Grubba said grinning before leaving.

"I wonder if the other fighters do this." Goombella wondered.

"Gonzales." A guard called and Mario, Goombella, Pikachu and Pichu followed him.

Glitz Pit's Arena

FOR MAKING THIS STORY MORE INTERESTING, WE ARE GOING TO SKIP THE INTRODUCTION PART AND WE WILL JUMP STRAIGHT TO THE BATTLE

Mario: HP 25
Goombella: HP 20
Pikachu: HP 25
Pichu: HP 20

"Their defenses are too high and they have spikes on the top! What should we do Mario?" Goombella asked after viewing the information of the Red Spike Buzzys.

"Hmm...use Earth Tremor!" Mario said taking out the gray Crystal Star from a map. "Everybody, jump above the star!"

"For what?" Pikachu asked.

"Just do it!" Goombella said and the quartet jumped above the star and Mario focused his mind to make the star bigger and stronger (pressing the A button in the stars), after a while, the star started to grow.

"Oh boy!" Pichu said surprised as the star continued growing, until Mario successfully made the star reach its maximum power, the huge star started to jump on the stage, making tremors and waves towards the Red Spike Buzzys, defeating them...

"...We really need to do this?" Pikachu asked worried.

Goombella sighed. "Yep...sadly yes..."

Mario walked to Goombella and they...

CENSORED SCENE TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO HUMAN SANITY

"What an ending my friends! THE GREAT GONZALES WINS AGAIN!" Grubba said grinning.

"Yuck..." Was the reply of the team of Mario (Goombella gave Mario a glare because she actually enjoyed the kiss).

Minor-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario his salary and she left the room again, their rank rosed up to 16.

"What it feels to be kissed by a Goomba, Pikachu?" Ness asked chuckling.

"Shut...up...now..." Pikachu said angrily.

"...? What's that sound?" Pichu asked. From the other side of the wall, there was someone moaning in pain and he was being carried by some guards and doctors.

"AAAHHH!!"

"Hang in there!"

"Apply more pressure there!"

"AAAAHHH!!"

"He's leaving us!"

"Don't say that!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"W-what was that?!" Lucas asked scared.

"Looks like someone got himself a trip to the hospital," King. K said. "This happens a lot in this place."

Lucas gulped, fearing that his future doesn't have a bed with his name on it.

"The next match is against the Dead Bones." Goombella said.

Appeal at least once

"The rule is simple this time." Ness said, a guard came and Mario, Goombella and Pit went to the arena.

Arena

Mario: HP 25
Goombella: HP 20
Pit: HP 30

Mario appealed by waving at the audience and he received Star Power in the process.

"Guys look! It's an angel! I'm so scared!" A Dull Bone said taunting Pit.

"That's it you idiot!" Pit said selecting his list of attacks.

Normal Attack
Palutena Bow FP 2
Mirror Shield FP 4
Angel Ring FP 6

Pit transformed his blades into a bow and he pointed his arrow to the first Dull Bone.

Hold A button until the bar is filled!

He does the command correctly and launches the arrow at full speed, passing through each Dull Bone and piercing their defenses too, doing 5 of damage.

They receive 1 Star Point and greet the audience.

"ANOTHER MATCH WON BY THE GREAT GONZALES!" Grubba said grinning as the crowd went wild again.

"Goddess Palutena, victory is ours!" Pit said.

"Goddess Palutena?" Mario wondered.

"Must be her fiancée." Goombella whispered with a snicker.

Minor-League Locker Room

Once again, Jolene gave a better salary to Mario and she left the room, then King. K walks towards Mario. Their rank roses to 15.

"Hey guys, Mr Hoggle the hot dog vendor from outside is selling special hot dogs with some egg from a southern island, you gotta eat it before a match!" King K. said

"Egg with hot dogs?" I'll pass." Falco said, but his stomach suddenly grumbled. "...But is better than nothing I think."

"Yay! Hot Dogs!" Pikachu, Pichu, Ness, Pit and Lucas said.

"(I wonder if Pit is still a kid.)" Chris wondered in his head. "I want to eat one too."

Lobby

"YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!" A big crowd of spectators were blocking the way to the exit because Rawk Hawk was signing autographs to his fans at that time.

"What do we do now?" Lucas asked. Then Mario started to beat the fans with his hammer to make a path, but accidentaly beats ALL of them and Rawk Hawk sees Mario and his team.

"Hey! Don't beat up my fans! Who is going to get an autograph of the RAWK?!" Rawk Hawk asked furiously. But the group ignored the fighter and they leave, oh, the group was Mario, Goombella, Chris, Falco, Pikachu, Pichu, Ness, Pit and Lucas, while Fox and Lucario stayed in the locker room.

Attractions Area

"COME BACK HERE!" Someone shouted from the Hot Dog Stand, it was Mr Hoggler the hot dog vendor chasing a runaway egg escaping from his station of work, the worker tried to get the egg but the animated food was faster than him as it went jumping around. The egg was weird because it had colored polka dots in each part of it.

"It's something wrong?" Lucas asked.

"It's the special egg for the hot dogs I ordered from the southern island, if it manages to get away I won't serve any special hot dog!" Mr Hoggler said.

"..." Pichu was staring at the egg. "Food...Pichu...wanna...EAT!!" The small yellow mouse was drooling like crazy and he crazily ran after the egg, but failed in capturing it.

"Catch that egg!" Pikachu said and everyone started to catch the rare egg.

They tried everything, from running after him and...well, only running after him, but the egg jumped in everyone's head without touching the floor and that annoyed them.

"That egg is probably laughing at us!" Ness said while running after the egg.

After a minute, the egg was surrounded by 9 hungry characters made of paper, all lunged their hands at the egg but the food escaped by jumping away and they crashed their heads with everybody else, piling themselves above each other, defeated and humiliated by an...egg.

The egg jumped above the Hot Dog Stand and it stopped from moving.

"Get...that...egg!" Pichu demanded.

"...Zzzzz..."

"Huh?" Pit said.

"...Zzzzz..."

"...The egg...is sleeping?" Lucas asked confused after hearing various snores coming inside the egg. There were some Zs appearing above the egg, indicating it was sleeping deeply because it tired itself out after jumping and escaping.

"Oh great, now he's up there, can you get the egg for me please?" Mr Hoggler asked.

Mario and Goombella walked away searching for something to reach the egg while the group were talking to themselves.

"Well, who wants to reach the egg?" Chris asked.

"Pfff! Mario forgot we can reach that egg with a double jump!" Falco said standing to the right side of the car, but he just jumped one feet "..."

"What are you waiting for? Get the egg!" Pichu said.

"...I can't."

"What?"

"...You saw me! I didn't jump twice, I jumped one time!"

"Please, you're just kidding!" Ness said and he jumped one feet "..."

"Now you see?" Falco asked.

Pikachu tried and the result was the same, Lucas tried and failed and so did Chris but failed too.

"Pit! You have wings, fly over there!" Chris said.

But Pit only floated above the ground, with the exception that he made it to 2 feet above the floor.

"Wonderful, he made it! Now we need to wait until HE REACHES THE 6 FEET!" Chris said sarcastically as Pit rubbed his head embarrassed.

"There must be something in this world that prevents us from jumping twice!" Pichu said, still staring at the egg, then, a paper plane came from the right landing safely above the Hot dog Stand.

"Great, we lost the chance to get that well-made paper plane too!" Ness said.

But the paper plane turned into Mario and Goombella.

"I knew it! Mario is a paper plane in reality!" Pichu said pointing with an acussing finger to Mario.

"Pichu, you forgot we're of paper right now?" Lucas asked.

"Mario, what are we going to do with this egg?" Goombella asked glancing at the egg. Then, it woke up by jumping and somehow, he was talking "What's that? You want to follow us?" She asked and the egg jumped agreeding "Mario, can we take this eggy-weggy with us?"

"Jumping eggs bugs me out." Mario replied.

AHEM!

"Mario, can we take this eggy-weggy with us?" Goombella asked.

"OK!" Mario replied.

"Hurray! You heard that eggy-weggy? You're coming with us!" Goombella said smiling at the egg.

"Oh well, jumping eggs must be bad for health if I added it to one of my hot dogs." Mr Hoggler said.

Mario jumped to the floor with the egg following him and Goombella, Chris, Falco, Pikachu, Pichu, Pit and Ness went inside the Glitz Pit again...wait, there is somebody missing here...

"Here you go!" Mr Hoggle said handing over a Hot Dog to Lucas who ate it while returning to the building. And yes, they forgot their hunger.

Minor-League Locker Room

The group continued their way winning the matches easily, they were giving the best to the audience, even if there was something odd in the air around the arena, they were still fighting whatsoever. The egg Mario and Goombella took was always staying in the room with the other fighters (even some of them polished the egg).

When they reached the rank 13th...

"Hey man," King K. called. "I'm going to retire after some matches, you know, I want to surrender this kind of life because I don't want to awake above a bed, y'know what I mean?" He said walking away to his position.

"(I wish I could be him.)" Lucas thought.

And finally, they reached rank 11th, just one more rank to leave the minor-league locker room and stay in the major-league locker room. Jolene came from the door with a little violet bat and she explained everything that he should know, after a while, she left again.

"Umm...nice to meet you, I'm Sir Swoop, let's fight with...you know...with honor ok?" Sir Swoop said.

Back Hallway

Pikachu and Pichu were still searching for that bomb when they saw Jolene talking with a guard in front of a door with a lock.

"You say there are strange noises coming from inside?" Jolene asked.

"Yes of course Ms. Jolene, but we can't enter since we don't have the key." The guard said.

"Hmm, keep an eye of this door." Jolene said and the guard left. "I wonder if he is in there..." She noticed Pikachu and Pichu were staring at her. "Y-you! What are you 2 doing here? Go to your locker room or you're going to be disqualified!" She said leaving.

"She was acting a little odd, don't you think Pikachu?" Pichu asked rubbing his chin.

"There is something inside this room...and now that we're talking about odd things, have you seen Bandy Andy?"

"Nope, he was right there crossing that corner, but he wasn't in our locker room either."

Mario and Goombella came with a guard leading them to their next match. "Hey guys! You're coming with us to the next match!" Goombella said and the 2 mouses followed them to the arena.

Arena

"Welcome once again everyone! Now The Great Gonzales is up againts the Iron Adonis Twins, the Iron Cleft Bros. The Armored Harriers!" Grubba said looking at 2 big blue Clefts with red boots and green boots.

"Hey bruddha!" The green boot Cleft called his brother.

"What?" The red boot asked.

"They're going down right? Because we're invincible!"

"Right on bruddha!"

"Those 2 are just talk and no much else." Pikachu taunted and the crowd cheered.

"Now...BEGIN!" Grubba said and the battle started bu with another type of music.

Event Battle

Don't use items

Mario: HP 19
Goombella: HP 6
Pikachu: HP 17
Pichu: 15

Mario changed his turn and Goombella moved to the front and she searched in her book for information regarding the Iron Clefts...but...

"WHAT?! This book says they're invincible!" Goombella said in shock, Mario tried to attack using his Power Hammer, but it didn't do any effect on the first Iron Cleft.

Pikachu casted a powerful thunder with full force, but it didn't do any effect like Mario tried. "I-impossible!" Pikachu said astonished.

Pichu was looking at his list of attacks.

Thunder Jolt
Agility FP 1
Skull Bash FP 4
Thunder FP 9

He used thunder at full force like Pikachu, although the attack was stronger this time (and thus, damaging Pichu by 2), it didn't cause any effect like previous attacks. "N-n-no!" Pichu said.

The Red Boot Iron Cleft ran towards Goobella and she closed her eyes to resist the attack, reducing it to 3, but her HP was at 3 when she received the hit.

"Goombella! Use a Superdodge!" Mario said, Goombella was now defending herself from the second Iron Cleft, unfortunately, she was so tired and the attack came without changing his force and Goombella fell to the floor defeated. "Goombella!" Mario shouted worried.

"These guys are invincible! We need to run away and forfeit this match!" Pikachu said.

"Count me in! Goombella suffered a lot already!" Pichu said while holding Goombella on his back.

"...Alright!" Mario said selecting the option to run away and they did.

The next scene showed them unconscious on the floor and the crowd cheered the Iron Clefts for their victory.

"And the Armored Harriers win this match!" Grubba said.

Minor-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario his salary and she left, muttering something about a door.

"Now what are we going to do? Goombella was injured in battle, those rocks are invincible, what now?" Pikachu asked.

"Hey, the egg!" Pichu said pointing to the bench were the egg was. "It's gone!"

"It was here a moment ago!" Pit said looking around.

"Yo!" Somebody called from the room, a small green Yoshi with a tough face, wearing yellow pants and red hair between his eyes walked towards Mario. "You were the ones who saved me from being an ingredient from a hot dog right? Well, nice to meetcha!" It was the same small Yoshi who hatched from the egg.

"Oooohhhh! My baby has born!" Pichu squealed.

"What do you mean your baby? I polished his egg!" Chris protested.

"I was taking care of him from Bandy Andy!" Falco protested (even if Bandy Andy wasn't in the room the whole time).

"And why are you interested in it?"

"Meh, just because."

"Bu-"

"Just because."

"I was telling him a story of an angel saving an ancient land!" Pit protested.

"You mean, you?" Pikachu asked raising an eyebrow.

"Umm...no?"

"I was sleeping with him!" Lucas protested.

"I was showing him my pictures when I was in my adventure!" Ness protested.

"I was covering him with my vest." Fox protested and everyone gave him a series of confused faces.

"...Are you that protective?" Pikachu asked confused.

"...Sometimes..." Fox muttered.

"It's my baby!" Chris said.

"Mine!" Pichu said.

"Mine!" Pikachu said.

"Mine!" Falco said.

Soon, everybody lunged at every other possible father and they made a fight inside cloud of dust, except Mario, Koops (he replaced Goombella), Lucario, Ness and Lucas.

The newborn Yoshi looked at Mario and an exclamation mark appeared above his head and he walked to the Aura Pokémon.

"So, what's up, dudes?" the Yoshi asked.

"You tell me..." Mario said frowning.

"Hey, what's happening here? Those wackos are fighting."

"It was because you were born after they took care of you." Mario said.

The Yoshi looked to Mario. "Born? When did I do that?"

Flashback

Mario and co. were fighting against the Armored Harriers and the egg was watching the fight from the screen below Lucas, who was sleeping above.

Ness looked at the egg and it bounced from the bench, then when he blinked, the egg was gone and Lucas woke up in the floor with a lump on his head.

End of flashback

"Oh yeah! I remember!" the Yoshi said. "Hey bunch of lunatics! I don't need a dad after all! Because I don't need one! Hahahaha!"

The cloud of dust cleared out and they stopped in midair (literally), and fell on the floor.

"So what's your name?" Koops asked.

"Well... I'm a newborn, so why don't you decide for me?" The Yoshi suggested.

"Rocky!" Chris suggested.

"Churai!" Pikachu suggested.

"Victor!" Pichu suggested.

"James!" Fox suggested.

"Angelo!" Pit suggested.

"Ninten!" Ness suggested and strangely, it was the name of someone from Mother 1.

"Pancakes!" Lucas suggested.

"Falco Jr.!" Falco suggested and everybody stared at him with weird faces "...What? Isn't Pancakes weirder?"

"No." Everyone else said.

"I didn't even ask you 8! I asked this guy!" The Yoshi said pointing to Mario.

"His name is Mario." Koops said.

"Whatever his name is! It doesn't sound cool! Now, please give me a name!" The Yoshi demanded and Mario started to think about a proper name for the newborn yoshi.

"(After all we did, the Yoshi decides for himself.)" Pit thought.

"I got it!" Mario said snapping his fingers. "I have a good name that is better than all yours combined!"

"Really?" Chris asked surprised.

"His name will be..." Drums started to play "...Yoshi!"

...A cricket chirped for 1 minute.

"...Geez, like that name is really original." Falco said sarcastically.

"Hmm, Yoshi? Sounds good to me!" The Yoshi, now with the name of...Yoshi said.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Falco said surprised.

"Too bad he isn't an adult yet, I wanted to ride a Yoshi." Mario said.

"What are you waiting for? Get on my back!" Yoshi said.

"But you're still a baby!" Lucas said.

"Baby my red sticky tongue! C'mon! Get on!" Yoshi said.

"...If you say so..." Mario said jumping in the back of the Yoshi and everyone closed their eyes before Mario could even touch him.

"Oh no! He's crushed by Mario's weight! Why the good needs to die so earlier?! WHY?!" Ness asked to the roof dropping to his knees.

But instead of Ness's prediction, he opened his eyes and saw Yoshi carrying Mario as nothing bad happened.

"This Yoshi has much energy than I thought!" Mario said while riding Yoshi, then he got out of his back.

"So? Can I join your team?" Yoshi asked and Mario nodded. "Cool!...Hmm, oh yeah! Your name was Gonzales isn't?"

"His name is Mario." Koops said again.

"No, I'm pretty sure that guy with the funny ribbon said Gonzales to him, that name is so cool man! I'm going to call you Gonzales!" Yoshi said.

"But my name i-" Mario interrupted.

"No need to talk! It's Gonzales and that's that!"

"...Fine." Mario said surrendering.

"Anyway, I saw your defeat back there in the arena, I can help you out!" Yoshi said reserving the match against the Armored Harriers without Mario telling him to do it. "There!"

"Are you crazy!? We can't defeat them!" Pikachu said.

"Please! Those guys will be out before they say victory! C'mon Gonzales! Let's give it our best!"

"...Sure." Mario said unsure of what he said, a guard came and he, Yoshi and Pit followed him to the arena.

Arena

"The Great Gonzales is back for a rematch lads! Who will win this time?" Grubba asked excited.

"DUH! US!" The Armored Harriers said.

"Get yerself ready...TO BATTLE!!"

Event Battle

Mario changed his turn to let Yoshi stand in the front.

"Ha! Let me show them who's boss!" Yoshi taunted and he approached slowly to the first Iron Cleft.

"Ooohh! I'm scared! What is a twerp like you going to do?" The red boot Iron Cleft asked taunting.

"EAT YOU!" Yoshi said sticking his tongue in the Iron Cleft, pulling the rock inside his mouth, then Yoshi spat him out to the his brother and both received damage, and they fell defeated surprisingly...

"What?" Pit said amazed.

They received 18 Star Points and greeted the audience.

"WOW! Amazing! The Great Gonzales has defeated the Armored Harriers in his revenge! AMAZING!" Grubba said making the crowd to cheer wildly and Mario gaves them a thumbs-up.

Minor-League Locker Room

"Here's your fight money, Mr Gonzales," Jolene said giving Mario his salary. "Mr. Grubba wishes to see you and your team in his office, please follow me." She said with Mario's team leaving the locker room, their rank rosed up to 10th at that moment.

Hallway

"Yo! Gonzales!" Yoshi called.

"Yes?" Mario asked.

"I hear everything about the Crystal Stars and your quest for collecting them! So I wanted to ask you if I could tag along!"

"Of course! Why not?"

"Yippie!" Yoshi replied.

"...That was fast..." Ness said sweatdropping.

Grubba's Office (But still fancy)

Mario and company walked inside the office.

"Mr. Grubba, I've brought you Mr. Gonzales and his team, as you requested." Jolene said.

"Muh-muh-Ms. Jolene! You mind yer manners, now! We KNOCK 'round here, missy!" Grubba said.

"I apologize, sir." Jolene said.

"Ahh, don't mind yer head in little things then, now where I was...somethin' 'bout Gonzales...oh yeah!" Grubba said walking to Mario. "Gonzales, you ol' so-an'-so! Lemme me congratulate you and yer team, sons! Major league already, huh?"

Mario nodded.

"I've got that strange feelin' of you getting on the top, and darn it! I love when I'm right! Now lemme give you somethin'-something for yer ascend." Grubba gave Mario 30 coins for reaching the Major-League. "Oh, by the way, yer clothes ain't cool, but don't worry, son, when you get the champ's title, I'll give ya some clothes, I dunno, maybe a flashy pink with frills or somethin'"

"(Does-a he think I'm a queer?)" Mario thought confused.

"Now that I'm finished with my little rant, now give 'em yer fightin' skills! Jolene, take 'em to the...MAJOR-LEAGUE LOCKER ROOM!" Grubba said excited.

"(He must be very excited to talk like that.)" Ness thought in his mind.

Pichu's eyes shined. "For real?! We're top fighters now?!"

"Ya hear right, son!"

Major-League Locker Room

"Okay Mr. Gonzales, nothing is different in this league, except that the room is cleaner and the fighters here are stronger and harder to beat." Jolene said adjusting her glasses. "If you excuse me, I need to leave to attend more business around here, have a nice day Mr. Gonzales." She said leaving the room.

"Hmm, not exactly my style of room, but what the hell? We're in the major league!" Yoshi said, just then, Rawk Hawk came from the door and he looked at Mario and his team.

"Hey you! You're that Gonzales guy right? Congratulations on ascending so quickly to this league!" Rawk Hawk said, he noticed that Yoshi was inspecting his belt, or more accurately, the Crystal Star. "Hey! Get your hands off me or you will get RAAAWWKED!" Rawk Hawk warned.

Yoshi nodded to Mario. "Yep! No doubt about it! This one is a fake!"

"What?! You're saying my belt is a fake?! How dare you to insult the RAWK?! I'll crush all of you in the ring later!" Rawk Hawk said offended by Yoshi's words and he left.

"That isn't the real Crystal Star then?" Pikachu asked. "Where is the real one?"

Suddenly, Mario started to make a weird music of Super Mario Bros. 3 from his pants' pockets.

"Sweet, where can I find one of those pants with music on them?" Pikachu asked, for his bad luck, it was Mario's Mailbox SP for receiving messages, he looked to his new message and readed it aloud.

FoLlOw My InSTrUcTiOnS tO FInD tHe CrYsTaL sTaR.

From X.

"From X?" Chris wondered.

"Do you think he knows where is it?" Pit asked.

"I say follow his instructions! We don't have any clue about where is the real Crystal Star hidding!" Yoshi said as he reserved the next match, but...

"Hold yer foots son! There is a match currently takin' place in the arena!" Grubba said in the screen.

"Who?"

"Hmm...let's see...oh yeah! The Grey Lupine VS the Koopinator again!"

When Fox heard this, he pushed Yoshi out of the way and started to type on the computer to show the image of the fight.

Arena

"I'll take you out this time for sure." Dark Koopatrol said.

"Heh, let's see that," Wolf said and he looked at Poppant. "You, give me that again."

"Lah Dee Dah, here you go!" The Poppant said singing handing over an orange bottle to Wolf.

Major-League Locker Room

"What? Is he thirsty now?" Falco asked chuckling.

"Wait...that bottle...is not ordinary!" Mario said.

"Of course is ordinary! What does it have? A strange potion that makes you big or something like that?" Ness asked chuckling.

"Actually...is that."

"...No...you're not being serious right?"

"It's a Power Punch!" Mario said.

Arena

Wolf started to drink the entire bottle, suddenly, he started to grow the double of his size and glared down at Dark Koopatrol.

"You're dead." Wolf said in a deep voice thanks to the effect of the Power Punch, then he jumped high in the air and struck his claws above Dark Koopatrol, making another earthquake in the stage and leaving a big claw mark on it again, then Dark Koopatrol falls defeated and Wolf returned to his original size.

"WHAT A DEMOSTRATION OF POWER LADS!" Grubba said making the crowd wild.

Major-League Locker Room

Pichu and Lucas were fainted on the floor and some of them had their eyes wide.

"Is-is this some kind of joke right?!" Chris asked scared.

"No, the Power Punch makes you big and your strength obviously is enhanced greatly too." Mario said.

"...Fox?...Are you alright?" Chris asked tapping Fox's shoulder but he fainted. "...Oh god! Somebody help him!"

"I'm...so...dead...now..." Fox managed to say.

"T-that's not true! Besides, it's obvious that Wolf doesn't want to kill you, right Falco?!" Chris asked but Falco made a weird laugh "...Falco?"

"Well...not exactly..." Falco said scratching his head.

Flashback

High in the air above Corneria, Fox was taking his daily training in his Arwing when suddenly, his ship is attacked by lasers coming from Wolf's Wolfen and he tries to defend himself.

"Don't escape, I'm going to kill you right now!" Wolf said grinning.

Scene changes, Fox was walking without doing anything else in the streets of Corneria when suddenly, Wolf appeared with a gun ready.

"Stand there, I'm going to kill you this instant!" Wolf said grinning.

Scene changes, Fox was awakening from his bed, just to find Wolf with a Rocket Launcher pointing at his head.

"How did yo-" Fox was interrupted.

"Don't move, I'm going to kill you now!" Wolf said grinning.

And that wasn't all of them...

"Panther! Kill Fox now!"

"Kill Fox, Leon!"

"This is the end for you, because I'm going to kill you!"

"Kill Fox is the only thing I want to do in my life!"

"Today, I'm going to kill you Fox!"

"I'm not here to beat you, I'm here to kill you!"

End of flashback

"At least he didn't say kill though..." Ness said sighing.

"What is yer goal in yer life son?" Grubba asked in the screen to Wolf.

"To kill Fox McCloud." Wolf responded bluntly with crossed arms.

"Sorry Ness, I didn't hear you, what did you say?" Pikachu asked sarcastically.

The match ended and Grubba appeared on the screen. "You're up against The Tiny Spinies! Now here's the rule son, I want you an' your partners to make a human tower above each other's backs an' hold still until 10 seconds after winning, I want to impress some cheerleaders of the front row after all!" He said leaving the screen.

"If it just me or are the rules getting more stupid?" Ness asked confused and he was trying to wake up Lucas.

Arena

VS The Tiny Spinies

Don't use items

"PK FLASH!" Ness shouted commanding the PK Flash to explode between the Lakitus, it exploded right on the middle dealing 8 of damage and the Lakitus were defeated along with their clouds.

"Oh no, here it goes!" Ness said standing above Mario's back, then Lucas stood above Ness' back and Yoshi jumped high in the air to land on Lucas' back, the four made a human tower who tilted to the sides and they counted in their minds the seconds, just before when they were going to fall, they reached the 10 required seconds but they fell to the floor.

"Ooowww..." Lucas said rubbing his butt.

"THE GREAT GONZALES IS THE WINNER!!" Grubba said and the crowd goes wild.

"I don't want to do that again!" Lucas complained.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario his fight money and she left and their rank rosed up to 9.

"Say Mario, I want to investigate the Glitz Pit to find the Subspace Bomb, Lucas, do you want to come with me?" Ness asked.

"S-sure!" Lucas said, the psychic kids left the room to find the bomb.

"I hope they find it or this place is doomed with us as well..." Chris said.

Arena

VS The Poker Faces

Don't use items

Mario: HP 25
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30
Lucario: HP 45

"AAHHH!!" Chris yelled after the first Bristle pinched his body with his spikes.

"How dare you!" Lucario said enraged.

Force Palm
Double Team FP 3
Aura Sphere FP 5
Extremespeed FP 9

Lucario launched an Aura Sphere, dealing 10 of damage to the Bristle and it was defeated.

The second Bristle started to spin widly and he crashes his own body to Mario, but he defends himself, making the damage drop to zero.

"Take-a this!" Mario throwing his hammer to the Bristle, but it was useless and he didn't receive any damage.

It was Yoshi's turn and he decides to defend himself.

Chris's turn and he does the same as Yoshi.

Lucario uses another Aura Sphere and it collides with full force and the second Bristle fell defeated.

They received 2 Star Points and greeted the audience.

"THE GREAT GONZALES IS THE WINNER!!" Grubba said in the mic.

"We're awesome!" Yoshi said.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario a better salary and she left, then their rank rosed up to 8 and Mario received another strange e-mail from X.

Go To ThE wAtErInG hOLe OuTsIdE tHe GlItZ pIt.

From X.

"The "Watering Hole"? What does that mean?" Yoshi wondered to himself.

"Watering Hole...it means something with water but...we didn't see anything like a water coming from a hole..." Chris said.

"What if it doesn't need to be water exactly?" Pit asked. "It could be something related."

"How about if we just go outside and find something related to a watering hole?" Pichu asked and they nodded.

Attractions Area

Although it was stupid to take the whole party, only Mario, Yoshi, Chris and Pichu went outside to search the "Watering Hole".

"The Hot Dog Stand?" Pichu asked.

"No." Yoshi replied.

"The shop?"

"No."

"The Juice Bar?"

"No."

"The Glitz Pit?"

"We already got out of that place!"

"...The Hot Dog Stand?"

"Ugh, give up Pichu, you're bad at being a detective." Yoshi said.

"Wait, what was the third option again?" Chris asked.

"The Hot Dog Stand?" Yoshi asked confused.

"No, he means the Juice Bar!" Mario said.

"Hmm, the juice is the closest associated thing to the water." Chris said.

"Let's go inside!" Pichu said stepping inside the bar.

Juice Bar

"Hmm, juice..." Pichu said trailing off.

"Sweeeeeet juice..." Chris said trailing off.

"Stoooop doing this!" Yoshi snapped.

The manager of the place looked to Mario and he walked to him. "You're the Great Gonzales right? Well, someone left a package in the door but when I went for the package, the person was gone, but the letter told me to give you this." The manager said giving Mario a Super Hammer.

The red plumber was suddenly pulled to an explanation area with Toadette, except for Yoshi, Chris and Pichu.

"Where is Mario? He disappeared!" Pichu said in shock.

Mario came back blinking from nowhere and the manager speaked to him like if it was normal for a person to just disapear and then appear. "That's the Super Hammer 2004, it's the last model in the hammer series, yeah, good refinery, nice handle, the commercials says that the hammer chooses its owner, it isn't cheap too, so someone is really a biggest fan of yours, use it well!" He said and Mario received another e-mail.

"...That hammer is alive then?" Pichu asked trembling.

SmASh ThE bLoCk In ThE mInOr leAgUe loCkEr roOm

From X.

"The Minor-League Locker Room? Now that I remember, there was this huge yellow block to the left side of the room." Yoshi said.

"But how are we suppose to enter that room? There are guards guarding every single room." Chris said.

"Not all the rooms, except for one with a big lock on the center of the hallway." Pichu said.

"Let's just ask kindly and they will let us in." Mario suggested.

"There is a 0.1 percent of that..." Chris said as the scene changed.

Minor-League Locker Room

"...Happening." Chris finished by sighing.

"Look! There is the big yellow block! Gonzales, smash it!" Yoshi said pointing to the yellow block blocking a secret room, Gonzale-I mean, Mario spun around his feet with his hammer and he destroyed the block, they walked to the other side to find a destroyed computer with a book shelf, but above the shelf, a paper was laying there.

"Now how are we going to reach that place?" Chris asked, but he saw Mario and Yoshi jumping above the furniture where the destroyed computer was and Mario jumped above Yoshi's back and he floated for a few seconds in the air enough to reach the shelf, then Mario took the paper and they jumped to the floor.

Mario, Yoshi, Chris and Pichu examined the paper. "...Look! It has an article about the Crystal Star!" Pichu said.

"Let's return to our room to examine it with everyone else." Mario said and they agreeded, but just as they crossed to the other side, Jolene was inside the room and she noticed them.

"Mr. Gonzales! What are you doing here?" She looked at the paper. "And what's that you're holding? I'm sorry but I have to confiscate it." She took the paper from Mario's hands. "Now return to your room immediately." She said before leaving.

"Aww man! She took our evidence!" Yoshi said disappointed.

"(And I was hoping to use my Apollo Justice's skills on her...)" Chris thought disappointed with blue text on his words.

"Anyway...let's go..." Mario said leaving the room with them.

Arena

VS The Shellshockers

Say a bad word with censor

Mario: HP 25
Yoshi: HP 10
Pikachu: HP 25
Pichu: HP 20

Mario's team were fighting againts the Shellshockers, they were 2 Shady Koopas and 2 Shady Paratroopas.

"THUNDER!" Pikachu yelled launching a strong but not so powerful thunder, dealing 6 of damage.

"THUNDER!" Pichu yelled casting a less stronger thunder (and he received 1 of damage), but the attack dealt 3 of damage and the Shady Koopas were defeated.

"BEEP!" They said a curse or a swear in unison and the crowd was left speechless.

"THE WINNER IS THE GREAT GONZALES!!" Grubba announced over the mic.

"Ha! Take that!" Pikachu taunted and the crowd went wild.

"HEY!" Somebody yelled from the crowd, it was one of the Iron Clefts from before with his brother and they jumped to the arena, demanding another match with Mario. "Gonzales! We're here to take revenge! Prepare yourself!"

"Screw that!" Yoshi said gulping one of the Iron Clefts, launching him to his other brother and they were defeated in less than 5 seconds.

"WOW! THE GREAT GONZALES SHOWED 'EM WHO'S THE BOSS 'ROUND HERE! LETS GIVE HIM MORE CHEERS!" Grubba said excited and the crowd goes wild again.

"...But I did all the work, didn't you see?!" Yoshi protested but Grubba ignored him completely.

Major-League Locker Room

As usual, Jolene gave Mario his salary and she left, muttering something about a paper, their rank rosed up to 7 and he received another e-mail, but...

Keep sticking your noses in where it doesn't belong and you are D-E-A-D M-E-A-T

"Man, THAT dude sounds peeved! I'm thinking he isn't our X buddy." Yoshi said.

"Let's take this as a threatening e-mail." Chris said.

"I don't know why, but I have the feeling that Jolene is that mysterious X." Pikachu said.

"You're giving quick results but without proof." Fox said.

"Leave him be, because I know Grubba is that mysterious X." Chris said.

"No, it's Bandy Andy." Falco said.

"Alright, you either have a rivalry with that Bandit or you hate him." Pichu said.

"I hate him."

"Thought so."

"..." Lucario didn't speak and Chris looked at him.

"Lucario? You know something about that X person?"

"..."

"Ahh, you're thinking right? I really admire you!"

"...Zzzz..."

"WAKE THE HELL UP YOU DORK!"

"WHO?! WHAT?! WHEN?! HOW?!" Lucario asked in shock as he woke up.

Chris sighed. "Nothing...please calm down and don't fall asleep just because you didn't talk so much in this day."

"...Fine."

Arena

VS The Fuzz

Don't let your partners attack

Mario: HP 25
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30
Lucario: HP 45

Yoshi, Chris and Lucario crossed their arms annoyed by the rule and Mario was fighting againts the Fuzz alone. They were composed of a Fuzzy, a Flower Fuzzy and a Forest Fuzzy.

"HIYAAAH!" Mario used his Quake Hammer to make a tiny quake which dealt 2 of damage to each Fuzzy.

"MEEEOOORRRKKKKK!!" They "yelled" in pain.

The Fuzzies leaped their bodies (or heads) to Mario and they started to suck-up his health (and FP, because of the Flower Fuzzy).

Mario used a Shooting Star and stars came from his side, damaging every Fuzzy with 6 of damage, defeating them.

"THE GREAT GONZALES IS THE WINNER!!" Gruuba announced once again.

"And without us doing anything!" Chris yelled angrily.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario a better salary and she left the room, their rank rosed up to 6.

"Where is Ness and Lucas? Haven't they returned yet?" Chris asked looking around the room.

"Something happened to them if they were searching for the bomb for sure." Pikachu said.

"Can you please go for Ness and Lucas, Pikachu?"

"Leave it to me! Pichu, let's go!" Pikachu said leaving the room with Pichu, leaving Mario, Yoshi, Chris, Lucario, Fox, Falco and Pit.

"I have a very bad feeling about this..." Fox muttered to himself.

Arena

VS The Magikoopa Masters

Finish this match in 5 turns or less

Mario: HP 18
Yoshi: HP 10
Fox: HP 30
Falco: HP 30

They were fighting against the Magikoopa Masters, a Red Magikoopa, a White Magikoopa and a Green Magikoopa above a flying broom were the members of that team.

And Mario used the power of the green Crystal Star.

"For what was that?" Falco asked and suddenly, a big bomb with a big green star on it appeared on their side and they gasped. "MARIO! THAT'S A FREAKING BOMB YOU IDIOT!" Falco said moving his hands crazily up and down, they quickly acted and threw the big bomb to their enemies, they threw the bomb back to them and that continued back and forth until...

BOOM!

The Magikoopa Masters were frozen without moving.

Yoshi floated above the air by moving his feet and he stopped above the Green Magikoopa, he started to stomp on him 4 times and returned to the group, the magician was taken down from his broom.

This time, Fox tried to use Fox Illusion and he tried not to fail in his mind, and fortunately, he succeeds and he quickly slashes the magicians 7 times in a row, defeating them in one turn.

"You stole my spotlight!" Falco said angrily and they received 9 Star Points and greeted the audience.

"THE GREAT GONZALES IS THE WINNER!!" Grubba announced.

"Humph!" Falco said angrily looking away.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave a better salary, she left, their rank rosed up to 5 and the Koopinator walked to Mario.

"Hey. You, Gonzales. Jolene brought you a piece of cake. From a fan, I guess." Dark Koopatrol said pointing to a delicious piece of cake above a red wooden furniture.

"Now THAT is a present! Just look that Strawberry on top of the cake! YUMMY!" Yoshi said and after staring at the cake, he ate it and rubbed his stomach. "Gooood caaake." He said dreamily and recovered his health.

"All Yoshis are the same, no doubt about it." Fox said.

"...Where is Pikachu and Pichu? Don't tell me they haven't returned either!" Chris said looking around.

"Let me search for them." Pit said leaving the room.

"And there goes another brave soul." Lucario said.

"...That was very touching Lucario..." Chris said wiping out a tear from his eye.

Arena

VS The Craw Daddy

Don't take 20 HP of damage

Mario: HP 18
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30
Lucario: HP 45

"HHHHHIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Lucario launched the most powerful Aura Sphere he could make towards the Dark Craw, he received 20 of damage and he was defeated quickly.

"THE GREAT GONZALES IS THE WINNER!!" Grubba announced once again and the crowd goes crazy about the victory.

"Nobody can defeat us...yet!" Chris said happily.

"MAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRIIIIIIIIOOOOOOO!!"

"...Oh no...that voice..." Chris said shaking his head. From the crowd, the most stupid and idiot king of all, the same Bowser in person came jumping to the ring.

"I've finally found you of all places!" Bowser said and he looked to Mario's team, especially Chris. "Who's the wussy from over there?"

"W-wussy?" Chris asked a little hurted from the inside, but Lucario stepped in front of him.

"Call him like that again and you're going to regret it." Lucario said angrily glaring at Bowser.

"Whoa whoa whoa! I'm a king and I can say what I want to say!" Bowser looked around. "Talk about perfect timing! And now all these folks get to watch me murdalize all of you together!"

"Just try it." Lucario demanded narrowing his eyes.

Bowser Battle

"Mwhahahahaha! Now watch me audience! I'm gonna beat the crap out of them!" Bowser said laughing evily.

"Ugh, let's just finish this guy already!" Chris demanded.

Mario used Power Bounce on Bowser 8 times, then Yoshi made 3 eggs and he threw them at Bowser, he suddenly shrinks upon receiving the second egg plus 6 of damage in total.

"You little punks! I'm so gonna kill you 4 now!" Bowser said in a squeaky tone due to his tiny size.

"Chris, it's time for you to use the Aura Sphere." Lucario said and Chris looked worried at him.

"But I'm still a rockie!"

"You can do it."

"...O-Okay...let's see..."

Force Palm
Double Team FP 3
Aura Sphere FP 5

Chris focused his hands to create the Aura Sphere, but just as the orb was getting bigger, it exploded and Chris received 4 of damage "Oowww..." Chris said.

"...Don't worry, I'll train you after we return to the mansion." Lucario said with a little smile, then he used Force Palm on Bowser and received 7 of damage.

"ARGH! I'll get you for this!" Bowser said walking towards the group, he exhales fire and they received 1 of damage.

To finish this useless battle, Mario used Power Bounce again on Bowser, he received 9 consecutive hits and fell above his belly defeated "Noooo..." Bowser said returning to his original size, giving Mario and company 10 Star Points.

"Hoo, nelly! GONZALES DEFEATED THE OUTSIDER IN A BLINK! CONGRATULATIONS GONZALES! NOBODY CAN STOP YOU!" Grubba said.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gives Mario his salary and she leaves as always and their rank roses up to 4.

"That was Bowser right? Man, you can't get away a single day without him annoying you." Falco said and Mario nodded.

And Mario receives another e-mail (he needs to remember to get a spam e-mail blocker for his Mailbox SP).

gO tO tHe TeLePhOnE bOoTh OuT oN tHe PaViLiOn.

From X.

"A telephone booth? There is one in this city?" Chris asked. "And Pit hasn't returned yet..."

"Let me go for him and the others." Lucario said leaving the room.

"Okay, this is creeping me out now, we need to go outside but this time, together." Chris suggested.

Back Hallway

Rawk Hawk was there and he saw Mario and company. "Gonzales! There you are you little punk, if you keep stealing the spotlight from me, you're going to enter a world of hurt! Quit making such a splash, if you value your puny life along with your teammates! Harharharharharhar!" He said laughing, warned the group and left.

"Geez, what the heck is wrong with that guy?" Fox asked.

"He was threatening us, wasn't he?" Chris asked.

"He sounds like Falco, so he must be his cousin!" Yoshi said.

"Haha, look at how I'm laughing." Falco said sarcastically.

Attractions Area

They found a telephone booth just near the shop and they found a storage key laying inside. After taking it, Mario received another e-mail.

gO tO tHe StOrAgE rOoM nExT tO gRuBbA's OfFiCe.

From X.

"I'm starting to wonder if we are detectives by helping X with this." Yoshi wondered to himself.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm wondering how the heck does he know when do we get these items..."

Yoshi managed to catch a glimpse of a shadowy figure in the juice bar but it disappeared. "...Weird..."

Preview of the next chapter

"Guys! Fox is missing!" Falco said.

"Wonderful! That counts 7 now!" Chris said angrily, not believing that they just lost almost all their teammates.

"It's my fault...why did he have to suffer like that?! Why?!" Chris asked crying above Falco's shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself please, it's obviously not your fault." Falco said patting Chris's back. "...Wait, stop that!"

"You're going down kid!" Wolf said in a deep voice.

"If Fox was here to help us to defeat Wolf..." Chris muttered to himself.

"When the time comes, just act kid." Wolf said as he was preparing to fight against Rawk Hawk.

"You mean, now?" Chris asked.

"You bastard!" Mario said to Grubba.

"Say what you want! I'm gonna use the power of the Crystal Star and the Subspace Bomb to crush yer bones!" Grubba said as he started to grow with a purple aura.

"Next time: Everyone wants to be BIG." Wolf said.

Back Hallway

Chris found a Save Block and he hits it from below.

Saving...don't remove the Memory Card from slot A or turn off the game.

Your game was saved!

Glitz Pit
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Mario, Goombella, Koops, ?, Yoshi

Too much work, but this chapter was done with success! Hurray! :) (By the way, I didn't make it to the last preview of the previous chapter, so it will be moved to the next chapter).

I may have misplaced some parts of the game, but I checked it in a gamefaq to stay in the storyline as it needs to be.

References:

-The name Pancakes, a reference to the Rayquaza named Pancakes by Ness in What Goes On.

Also, if you're going to review, what color was your first Yoshi? Mine was green.

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 48*: Growth Is The Answer To Your Victory

Dammit! This chapter has over 10,000 words on it! Sadly, future chapters are going to be the half of length if I want to use the "Daily updates!" sentence. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this arc.

Read, enjoy and review please! Or this Yoshi will replace the Yoshi of SSBB! XD

Chapter 48: Everyone wants to be BIG

Back Hallway

Our current team is now in their way to the Storage Room in the back hallway, but they found Jolene speaking with a guard, the guard left and she spotted Mario.

"Mr. Gonzales! What are you doing her-"

"HOLD IT!" Chris yelled dramaticaly stopping his right foot in the floor. "Okay, now tell us, you know something about that room, right?" He asked with a dialogue box below him.

"I don't know anything about what is making sounds inside that room and no, I don't know absolutely nothing." Jolene said with a dialogue box below her.

"(Wait, when she said don't, she bit her lips slightly...) GOTCHA!" Chris yelled and then his group jumped surprised.

"Chris, this isn't a courtroom! Stop yelling like that!" Fox said.

"Jolene...when you said don't, you bit your lips a little, meaning that you DO know something about that room!" Chris said with an acussing finger towards Jolene.

CRACK!

Jolene started to sweat a little. "Errhh, Mr. Pedro, stop being paranoic! You can't prove that just because I bit my lips!"

"(She's right, just because she showed nervousness that doesn't mean she didn't have...wait, of course she knows something!) Okay Ms. Jolene, tell us everything that you know about the Storage Room!"

"There's just one little problem."

DING!

"What?"

"How should I know what is inside if there is a lock on the door? I'd have enter anytime instead of asking the guards."

CRACK!

"AAAHHHHHHH!! SHE'S RIGHT!" Chris said defeated and the dialogue box disappeared.

"Now if you 5 will excuse, I have important matters to attend, please return to your locker room." Jolene said adjusting her glasses and walked away, muttering something about a star.

"...What did I do wrong?" Chris asked with toon tears running from his eyes and the others ignored his "courtroom dramatization" by entering the room, opening the lock.

Storage Room

"Who's there?" Somebody asked above some boxes, it was the treasure hunter, Ms. Mows. "Oh it's my hunky mustache hunk! What are you doing here?"

"You're Ms. Mows! So you were making noises inside this room?" Yoshi asked.

"Sorry for not helping you but I didn't make even the smallest sound in this room, a treasure hunter needs to be silent on his or her actions!" Ms. Mows said denying their question. "Anyway, I found already what I was looking for." She jumped close to Mario.

"(Here we go again...)" Mario thought in his mind as Ms. Mows kissed him.

"I almost forgot my sweet...this arena holds many secrets, you know. You should be very careful, lest you end up like the poor souls uptairs. So bye sweeties! Say hello to that yellow handsome mouse for me! We shall meet again!" Ms. Mows said leaving the room.

"Poor souls uptairs? What does that mean?" Chris wondered.

And Mario received another e-mail from X.

fInD tHe StAiRcAsE sWiCtH tO rEaCh ThE aTtIc.

From X.

"There is a staircase switch around here? But I only see boxes in this room!" Yoshi said looking around.

"I think we should end this investigation, darn it! We were so clos-" Falco kicked one of the boxes but he noticed something odd in them. "Huh?" He kicked the box again. "Something's wrong with this box, it doesn't make a sound inside."

Chris sticked his ear to one box and he knocked it a little. "...This isn't a box! It's a block beneath!"

"Ooh! I know who to call!" Mario said, he makes Yoshi disappear and replaced him with a huge woman-cloud thing with...ugh, what did I rated this story T? With...boobs.

"Oh Mario sweetie, for what did you called me for?" Flurrie asked.

"Flurrie, can you please shoot air to those boxes?" Mario asked pointing to the fake boxes.

"Alright dear, make air from me!" Flurrie said with a giggle, Mario started to make air through Flurrie and she made the boxes "flip", revealing that in reality, they were yellow blocks. "Ok, my job is done!" Flurrie said leaving and Yoshi again came from Mario.

"...Mario, did I ever tell you that you have weird partners?" Falco asked confused. Mario started to break the yellow blocks and after a while, he found a blue switch with an exclamation mark inside and he stomped the switch, and a staircase appeared in the room leading to the attic.

"I just love when things like that happens, let's go!" Chris said climbing the staircase and they follow him.

Attic

"Just like old-mysteries stories, there is ALWAYS something odd in the attic." Chris said looking around. "And look over there! A huge yellow block is blocking something behind those boxes."

"Another room with a lock." Yoshi said looking to his right, there was a door with a lock on it just close to the staircase.

They went to the left side of the room and Mario smashed the huge yellow block, revealing a ventilation duct below.

"Maybe there is something inside the duct, let's go inside." Fox suggested and they entered inside the duct.

Attic's Ventilation Duct

"Apart that this place is too small, there is nothing else in this duct." Falco said.

"Wait, there is a hole with light over there." Yoshi said finding a hole with light.

"Isn't that hole just above Grubba's office?" Chris asked as Mario looked through it.

"It is, Jolene is inside talking to him." Mario whispered, looked down below to hear the conversation of the 2.

Grubba's Office (Still fancy)

"...So you didn't find hide or hair of nobody in the storage room, that what yer sayin'? Grubba asked.

"Yes. Mr. Grubba. It appeared to be secure," Jolene said. "Don't worry about it, sir. I've taken necessary precautions. It was likely just a rat or something."

"(But Ms. Mows said she didn't make a sound...)" Yoshi thought.

"Well, no big deal either way. Ain't nothin' in there we'd miss too much anyway," Grubba said. "Thanks fer stayin' on top of this, Jolene. Hey, an' by the way, any word on King K?" He asked.

"(Well, he said he was retiring soon, right?)" Fox asked in his mind.

"I'm afraid we still don't know the whereabouts of King K, Mr. Grubba." Jolene said.

"(Are they spying him or something?)" Mario thought.

"And so... I deleted his post on our roster per regulations. The Glitz Pit no longer has any official connection to KP Pete, a.k.a, King K." Jolene said continuing. "I have, of course, taken the same steps with all fighters who have gone missing."

"(Wait, missing?)" Yoshi thought asking in his mind.

"Hoo, fighters have sure been goin' missin' a lot lately! That's the eleventh this year!" Grubba said surprised.

"(Eleventh? Then he counted our friends too?)" Chris thought confused.

"What in tarnation's goin' on? I even heard some security ijit sayin' the Pit's cursed!" Grubba said.

"I doubt that, sir, but I certainly don't understand the disappearances." Jolene said.

"(Us neither.)" All of them thought in unison.

"Well, fer the time bein', tell the other fellas that King K. headed on home for a spell," Grubba said. "If word gets out about missin' fighters, it sure ain't gonna be good for business, no siree! Nasty rumors have a way of sendin' folks runnin' to the hills, know what I mean?" He asked.

"A think that's it." Falco whispered.

"Wait, there is more." Chris whispered back.

"I understand completely, Mr. Grubba. I'll take care of everything, sir." Jolene said and she walked towards the door, but Grubba interrupted her.

"Y'know, Jolene...yer a dang fine manager, but you just plumb disappear sometimes...I gotta know! Where in the world do you go, darlin'?" Grubba asked.

"The girl's bathroom, duh." Chris whispered and they chuckled a little bit.

"Uh...th-that's...Mr. Grubba, I know you're my boss, but I don't believe that's any of your business." Jolene said.

"Easy! Didnt' mean to pry, now! How 'bout this, then... Heard of the Crystal Star?" Grubba asked grinning.

"(That's what we wanted to hear about!)" Yoshi thought.

Jolene gasped a little. "N-no...I've never heard of such a thing, Mr. Grubba."

"Okeydoke, well, I 'preciate yer time, Ms. Jolene. You go ahead an' run along, now, y'hear?" Grubba suggested and Jolene nodded, leaving the office, but then, Grubba started to talk to himself. "Well, if this ain't a fine how-do-you-do! Seems like good fighters are a dyin' breed. That wild child Gonzales an' his group are just about the only draw I still got 'round here."

"(Is he considering us like his enemies?)" Fox thought.

"Whoa, Gonzales! WHOA! Did you hear that?!" Yoshi asked.

"We know, fighters are going missing, and surely Pikachu, Pichu, Pit, Ness, Lucas and Lucario are one of them too." Chris said.

"What in the hey?! Dang ceilin's is spookin' me! HEY! Somebody up there?" Grubba asked sweating a little after hearing some voices coming from the roof.

"Errhh..." Falco cawked.

"...Hoo, nelly! Just a little ol' bird...Here I am, thinkin' someone's up there a-peepin'! I gotta relax...take some yoga classes or somethin'... Yep. Well, back to the ring!" Grubba said wiping out his sweat and he leaves to the arena.

"Phew, we almost got caught by him, that was SO close!" Chris said sighing in relief.

"Grubba appears to know something about the Crystal Star after all." Fox said.

"Don't forget about Jolene, she was nervous after hearing about the star too." Falco said.

"I'm tired of this, let's return to our locker room to fight againts the next opponent before somebody finds us here!" Yoshi said and they found another way out of the duct, they entered and fell inside the storage room, then they headed to their locker room.

Major-League Locker Room

"Are you serious Fox?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I'm going to find more about the disappearances around here." Fox said.

"And I'll go with him to be secure." Falco said.

"...Fine, but be EXTRA careful this time, you hear me?" Chris asked and they nodded, but just as they were about to leave...

"Hey Fox, you're running away from me?" It was Wolf who was leaned to the wall with crossed arms.

"He's definitely not running away from you, we're worried about the others who disappeared investigating the whereabouts about the bomb you brought here!" Chris said.

"I'm not a suspect if you're thinking that way."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Wolf looked at Chris with a glare. "I don't have anything to do about all those mysterious disappearances."

"Lah dee dah, Master Wolf is right!" Poppant said singing.

"But if you Fox, run away from our match, I'll never forgive you and I'll kill your entire team."

Chris was now worried, Fox was a little scared about that match with Wolf and the Koopinator, could he fight Wolf's strategy?

"I promise, I won't run away." Fox said grinning a bit.

"(What? He was scared a while ago!)" Chris thought.

Wolf smirked. "It's settled then, don't let me down...or else."

Fox and Falco left the room.

"...Great, I don't have a partner to fight now." Chris muttered to himself.

Arena

VS The Chomp Country

Finish this battle before you take 20 of damage

Mario: HP 25
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30

"Ugh, Red Chomps, they have a good defense of...hmm..3 I guess." Chris said looking at the Red Chomps.

"Not-a problem!" Mario said and he used Earth Tremor, they jumped above the star and it started to grow to its maximum size and it caused various quakes in the stage, the Red Chomps received 6 of damage and they were defeated,

" WE GOT OURSELVES A WINNER, THE GREAT GONZALES!!" Grubba announced excited and the crowd went wild.

"All thanks to Mario, good job." Chris said smiling.

Major-League Locker Room

Mario received his fight money from Jolene, she left and their rank rosed up to 3, then Mario receives another e-mail.

This is your last warning! Stop snooping around about the Crystal Star! If you don't, you'll suffer the same fate as the others who have gone missing...

"Who's threating us with these e-mails? It's Rawk Hawk?" Chris asked confused, but he shook his head. "No, I don't care who sent us this, but whoever is him, we're going to take him down no matter what with Fox and Fal-" His heroic speech was interrupted because Falco came from the door panting.

"Guys! Fox is missing!" Falco said.

"Wonderful! That counts 7 now!" Chris said angrily, not believing that they just lost almost all their teammates.

"You're kidding me right?! I told Fox to not get missing!" Wolf said angrily.

"It wasn't my fault! He went towards the ring when nobody was there and I went to the lobby, but after checking the ring, he was gone and I returned here to give the news!" Falco said.

"That does it! I order all of you to find him so we can start our match!" Wolf demanded with a glare. "I've been waiting for this opportunity to happen in this day!"

"We haven't reached the second rank yet you know." Chris said.

"Then hurry up!"

Out of a cue, Mario received another e-mail.

rEmOvE tHe GrEaT gOnZaLeS pOsTeRs In ThE lObBy.

From X.

"You heard him, let's go!" Yoshi said and Mario, him, Chris and Falco left the room.

"There you go again, running away from your matches!" Wolf said angrily.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Chris yelled from the back hallway and Wolf grunted at this.

Lobby

A lot of Mario posters were sticked to the walls.

"Is there any poster with me on it?" Falco asked and Chris frowned at this. They started to peel off the posters from the walls and they didn't find anything behind them.

"Are we going to be put in jail for doing this?" Chris asked worried.

Finally, after pulling off the last poster a key fell from behind and it was another storage key.

"Another key? For what could it be for?" Yoshi asked to himself and another e-mail came to Mario.

gO tO tHe SeCoNd FlOoR oF tHe StOrAgE rOoM.

From X.

"There was a door with a lock on the attic right?" Chris asked and Mario remembered the door with the lock back at the attic and they headed to the storage room.

Attic

"Now open it!" Yoshi said and Mario opened the door, they entered to another different area with another huge yellow block blocking something.

Mario smashed the block with his Super Hammer and Chris took a look of what was hiding behind it, but...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" He yelled terrified after finding the most horrible thing his eyes could ever let him see.

"Chris! What's wrong?!" Falco asked from the other side.

"F-FALCO! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T COME OVER HERE! IT COULD BE TOO PAINFUL FOR YOU!" Chris yelled from the other side.

"What are you talking about?!"

"JUST GO AWAY AND DON'T COME!"

"For wha...oh...my...GOD!" Falco's eyes widened a lot, from the other side of the block, they found King K, Bandy Andy and for their surprise...Fox...and what was the scary thing? They were crushed on the floor moaning in extreme pain

"My...body...it...hurts..." Fox managed to say.

"FOX! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Chris asked about to cry.

"Don't...go...near...the...ring...when...nobody...is...there...ugh..." Bandy Andy managed to say.

"This is outrageous! Who did this to you Fox?! You must tell me who!" Falco demanded.

"...I...couldn't...see...but...I...saw...somebody...huge...crushing...my...body...from...behind...then...I... woke...up...here...ugh..." Fox said.

"We have to take them back to the locker room to recover!" Mario said grabbing Bandy Andy, Yoshi put King K. on his back and Chris and Falco carried Fox, after crossing some boxes, there was somebody hiding behind the door but escaped quickly after they saw the person.

"Hey, wasn't that Jolene? What was she doing here?" Yoshi asked.

"Worry about that later, we have to reach the room now!" Chris said while carrying Fox with Falco's help.

Major-League Locker Room

They took the injured above the benches and Chris and Falco put Fox above the bed, then Chris quickly hugged Falco.

"It's my fault...why did he have to suffer like that?! Why?!" Chris asked crying above Falco's shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself please, it's obviously not your fault." Falco said patting Chris's back. "...Wait, stop that!"

"But it was originaly my idea to investigate the Glitz Pit and they offered themselves to help, but they slowly disappeared one by one and we don't know where are the others!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Wolf asked enraged after seeing Fox extremely injured above the bed. "Who did this to him?! Answer my question!"

"W-we don't know!" Chris responded crying.

"Get a hold of yourself kid!" Wolf demanded.

"I...I just can't!"

"Grr, my opportunity to defeat Fox in battle was taken away by somebody else instead of me...WHATEVER! I challenge you to defeat me!" Wolf said pointing at Chris.

"B-but why me?"

"I hear you saying that it was your fault that Fox was injured investigating the whereabouts of your missing companions, so I'm going to finish you off!"

"Easy there Wolf! Chris isn't the culprit of this problem!" Falco said glaring at Wolf.

"Shut up bird brain!"

Falco approached to Wolf with a glare. "What was that?!"

"Bird brain!"

"Argh! I had enough of your mouth!" Falco said clenching his fists.

"What are you waiting for?! Hit me if you dare!" Wolf said taunting Falco.

"STOOOOOOOOOOP!" Chris yelled at the top of his lungs and both rivals looked at him surprised. "Stop right now! I'm so sad after finding Fox in a state like this and you 2 are just worsening everything up!"

"Who is going to tell me what to d-" Wolf was suddenly grabbed by the throat by Chris. "Get...your...filthy...hands...off...me!"

"If you really want to fight me so badly, so be it! But you'll have to wait until we reach the second rank so wait for us!" Chris said furiously and Wolf was left speechless for 10 seconds after Chris released him.

"...I like your style kid." Wolf said when Chris got his hands off him. "I admire your guts to challenge me like that."

"...Really? Well, I was so furious right now." Chris said rubbing his back embarrassed.

"I consider your menace worthy of a opponent like Fox does." Wolf said grinning.

"...Since when did you 2 were friends?" Falco asked confused.

"Shut up bird brain, he's even more worth fighting than you are."

"Hey, Gonzales, Jolene brought another cake to you, from another fan, I guess." Dark Koopatrol said pointing to another cake above the same wooden pedestal.

"This should recover Fox in a sinch for sure..." Chris said grabbing the cake he walked towards Fox and opened his mouth. "Now open wide!" He said dropping the entire cake inside Fox's mouth.

A moment of silence soon followed.

"...GUH!" Fox was grabbing his throat and his face turned to an unusual violet color before fainting.

"That cake had poison on it!" Falco said.

"I just killed Fox by accident!" Chris said grabbing his hair.

"...I take back my words, you're worthless kid." Wolf said walking away.

"Great, now we need to get a cure or an antidote for Fox!" Chris said.

"That'll be not necessary, the poison is going to worn-off in an hour, he needs to rest." Falco reasured.

"Thank goodness..."

Arena

VS The Koopinator

Don't use your jump

Mario: HP 25
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30
Falco: HP 30

"And the Spike Shield badge was going to be useful for this time, I'll use this!" Mario said using Power Smash on the Dark Koopatrol, dealing 2 of damage.

"Gimme a break Gonzales! This guys isn't hard to beat!" Yoshi said walking over the Dark Koopatrol, he ate him and spat him out dealing 4 of damage.

"Perhaps I can help?" Chris asked using Force Palm on his enemy, dealing 4 of damage. "Wait, it doesn't paralyze the enemy, it's a defense piercer! Now Falco, use fire on him!"

"Gotcha!" Falco said as he was surrounded by fire, after 5 seconds, he was launched at full speed towards the Dark Koopatrol dealing 8 of damage (and doing a somersault in the air while returning to his position).

The Dark Koopatrol started to stomp the floor and he ran after Mario with his spike of his helmet directed to him, Mario couldn't defend because he was faster than him and he received 5 of damage.

"Mario! Are you alright?" Chris asked worried.

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry." Mario reassured using a Thunder Bolt and the thunder came above the Dark Koopatrol dealing 5 of damage.

"And now for the final blow!" Yoshi said using a POW Block, the block appeared on the center and Yoshi hit the block from below causing a tiny quake enough to defeat the Dark Koopatrol with 2 of damage.

"THE WINNER IS THE GREAT GONZALES!!" Grubba announced once again.

"That means we're on the second rank now!" Chris said.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario a better salary and she left, their rank was now 2nd.

"Finally, we can settle this." Wolf said.

"Wait just a moment please." Chris asked as he changed his job for the Space Mercenary (for those who forgot about this job, is the job with the same abilities as Fox's skills). "There, I'll fight using this."

"Changing your clothes doesn't change anything."

Chris took out his own Blaster. "Oh, but I think my little friend says the contrary."

"Heh, we shall see that."

Arena

"In the left corner, The Great Gonzales makes his stand with his team!" Grubba announced.

"We're going to win!" Yoshi said.

"On the right corner, the Grey Lupine is preparing for battle!"

"Stop calling me like that!" Wolf demanded angrily.

"Lah dee dah, obey Master Wolf's demand!" Poppant said singing.

"Get yerself ready...TO BATTLE!!" Grubba yelled on the mic and the scene changed to the theater.

Fatalize

VS Wolf

Appeal at least once

Mario: HP 20
Yoshi: HP 10
Chris: HP 30
Falco: HP 30

"Hey! Wolf acted before he could take his turn! Not fair!" Chris said as Wolf was already a giant.

"You're going down kid!" Wolf said in a deep voice.

"If Fox was here to help us to defeat Wolf..." Chris muttered to himself.

For this fight, Mario used the Peekaboo badge to know about Wolf's HP.

"What? He has over 50 HP!" Mario said surprised.

"No way!" Chris said.

"But we can't lose this fight!" Mario used Power Smash on Wolf but he dealt only 1 of damage "And his defense is of 3!"

"Darn it, that wasn't an ordinary Power Punch then!" Yoshi said.

"Even though, I can pierce any defense with...Force...Palm..."

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3

"Shoot! I don't have many attacks in this job!" Chris said in shock.

"Hey Pedro! Isn't your turn yet, it's my turn!" Yoshi protested.

"Oh, right, I forgot, go on please." Chris said embarrassed and Yoshi used Gulp, he was somehow able to eat Wolf's body enterely and he spat him out towards the Poppant dealing 4 of damage.

"Daaah! That hurts Master Wolf!" Poppant complained.

"Shut up you twerp." Wolf said.

"I'll use my normal attack!" Chris said standing in front of the big Wolf charging his attack, then he was moved towards Wolf with a strong kick dealing 3 of damage and he returned to his position "It's all yours Falco!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Falco said using Fire Bird and he dealt 5 of damage to Wolf.

"Now die!" Wolf yelled and he was moved with great speed using his claw attacking the whole group dealing 10 of damage...wait, 10 of damage?

"ARGH! Gonzales, avenge me..." Yoshi said fainting.

"YOSHI!" Mario yelled.

"Lah dee dah, Master Wolf, take this please!" Poppant said throwing a Ultra Mushroom to Wolf, who recovered his damage in an instant.

"This is unfair! We were so close to beat him if it weren't for that Primid!" Falco complained.

"In that case, let's defeat that Primid first! Besides, he has only 16 HP!" Mario said jumping above Wolf and stomping above Poppant using Power Bounce, Mario was able to deal 9 of damage to him and he returned.

"Daaaahhh! Master Wolf, do something!" Poppant said in pain.

"Ugh, I can't! Something is preventing me to move from my place!" Wolf said.

"Hahaha! It's because of the Game Engine! You can't do anything unless your turn comes!" Chris said laughing a little.

"Damn you Game Engine!!" Wolf shouted angrily (making half of the audience flee away scared).

"(But I can't attack that Primid because Wolf is blocking the way to frontal attacks, Ugh, what should I do?)" Chris asked in his mind and suddenly, he glowed and learned a new ability.

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3
Chris Illusion FP 4

"Even though my name it's part of a name of this attack, it sounds stupid in reality, really." Chris admitted with an anime drop on his head. "Still, I'm going to use this!" He said walking towards Wolf and he prepared his attack in his mind, but he was able to do 4 slashes without damaging Wolf because of his defense. "It's on the ropes Falco, don't fail!"

"Leave it to me!" Falco said selecting Falco Illusion and he concentrated his mind to not fail, fortunately, Falco managed to make 5 consecutive attacks in a row, and Poppant was defeated and he disappeared.

"Master Wolf, forgive me!!" Poppant said before vanishing.

"THAT'S IT!" Wolf yelled angrily and he used his Fire Wolf attack to deal massive damage of 14 HP with his foot to the entire group and Mario was in peril with only 1 HP left.

"This...is...impossible...I...need to...use...Sweet Treat!" Mario said casting the Magical Map and the 7 Crystal Stars came from it and they flew above the scenery, stars appeared on Mario's hands and he started to launch them to hearts with the faces of his team to recover their injures, Mario was concentrating his aim carefully to not touch any Poison Mushroom and at the end, he managed to shoot down all the hearts and flowers and they recovered 8 HP in total.

"Gotcha!" Chris said and he learned the next ability.

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3
Chris Illusion FP 4
Fire Chris FP 8

"...It sounds stupid!" Chris said.

"How come that attack is the last of your list?" Falco asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's the third attack on my list but why did you have it at the end?"

"Hmm...maybe because it deals more damage...let me try it!" Chris stepped in front of Wolf and fire started to come below his body. "FIRE!" He shouted lauching towards Wolf colliding with his body, dealing a damage of 7 since Wolf's defense was of 3 "Cool! That was awesome!" Chris remarked smiling.

"I'll get you for this!" Wolf said grabbing his body in pain.

"Let's continue this assault! FIRE!" Falco said using Fire Bird on Wolf and he received 8 of damage.

"Wait, your attack pierces defense then!" Mario said.

"Here he comes!" Chris warned as Wolf charged his claw attack again, this time however, Mario used a Superdodge just in time and Wolf received 1 of damage and he returned to his position.

"ARGH! STOP COUNTERING MY ATTACKS!" Wolf yelled angrily but suddenly, his body was starting to shrink and he returned to his normal size "No! This can't be! My power is gone!"

"And so does your insane defense!" Mario said and he used Power Smash on Wolf dealing 6 of damage, he did 4 backflips while returning to his place and the crowd went wild.

But suddenly, Chris felt something in his mind...

"(Huh? What's this? My mind is telling me something...)" Chris said in his mind.

"(Chris? It's that you?)"

"(Falco! How did you get inside my mind?)"

"(I could ask you the same thing.)"

"(Well, my mind was telling me something about a combinated attack with both of us.)"

"(...Strange, I was thinking that too.)"

"(Hmm, how about if we combinate our fire attacks into one?)"

"(Sounds good to me!)"

"Alright, let's get this started!" Chris said and he and Falco jumped high in the air and they stopped in mid-air, preparing their attacks with fire, when they were ready, they went towards Wolf colliding with a burning attack in unison. "DOUBLE FIRE!!" Both yelled in unison and Wolf received a combinated damage of 20, then they made a somersault in the air and Falco landed first, then Chris landed above Falco but he moved Chris to his right and both returned to their positions.

New ability learned! Double Fire!

An attack in which 2 persons use the same attack with fire and crash their attack to their opponent, dealing great fire damage

"Ugh, how could you 2?!" Wolf cursed and he decided to attack them with his own illusion attack, but Mario uses a Superdodge and Wolf's attack failed again.

"And now for the final blow!" Mario said jumping above Wolf, used Power Bounce once again, he managed to deal 9 of damage and finally, Wolf fell defeated.

"I...must...know...your...power...kid..." Wolf said before fainting.

They received 18 Star Points and Mario's level went up, he decided to increase his HP to 30 and recovered all his FP lost in the match.

"WE GOT OURSELVES A WINNER...THE GREAT GONZALES!!" Grubba announced to the crowd and they went wild.

"That was hard, but we were able to win..." Mario said sighing in relief.

Major-League Locker Room

Jolene gave Mario his salary and she left, then their rank rosed up to 1, meaning that they can challenge Rawk Hawk for the Champ's title.

"I couldn't believe that attack we made together in that fight, I was feeling a strong power inside me!" Chris said amazed.

"For the first time ever, I did a combinated attack with you, and I've got to say, that was very impressive." Falco said.

"(Wait, I need to check out my DS first...hmm...wow!)"

Fox: 85

Falco: 100

"(N-no way! Now Falco trusts me completely! I'm so...so...)"

"Chris, it's something wrong?" Falco asked.

Chris hid his DS and he looked at Falco, sweating "No no no! I'm fine, thanks for asking! (Then what Master Hand told me was true.)"

Flashback

"Of course! Well, your job is to unlock all the abilities and raise the levels to their maximum intervals, after that...something good will happen..."

"What?" Chris asked again.

"Maybe an attack combined with you and another Smasher working in perfect synch or making your partner stronger than he actually is by launching a devastating attack, basically, you make combined Final Smashes...but not now, you need to work hard in your battles if you want to discover those special powers."

End of flashback

"(But what if he didn't say that there are more combined attacks with just one partner? I don't know why but I think there is more than just this attack, but how can I discover it?)" Chris thought confused.

"Hey kid." Wolf was standing behind Chris.

"Oh great, what do you want now?" Chris asked annoyed.

"I'll join you." Wolf said.

"What?!" Falco asked surprised "Why do you want to join us?!"

"I want to find that person who took away the opportunity to defeat Fox from me, however, I won't follow you after we defeat him though."

Mario blinked in confusion. "Well...what do you think Chris?"

"...I say let him in..."

"Are you kidding me Chris? He's only but trouble! There is a reason of why he has a large bounty on his head in Corneria!" Falco said angrily.

"And tell me, why the hell the police or your team always let Wolf go away?" Chris crossed his arms. "Something tells me that Fox always forgets that part everytime they fight against the other!"

"Errhh...well...when you put it that way..."

"The kid has a point bird brain." Wolf said.

"Just one condition." Chris said.

"What?"

"You're going to call us for our names, I'm so sick of hearing kid coming from you everytime you call me."

"Ugh, fine k-k-k-k-k-"

"...Why is your mouth twitching?"

"K-k-k-k-C-C-C-C-C-"

"Oh please, don't tell me you can't say a name besides Fox or your team?"

"Look! I can do that! It's so easy C-C-C-C-C-"

"...-_-...You're totally hopeless Wolf."

"And so you are, C-C-C-C-C-"

"OH STOP IT! CALL ME KID IF YOU WANT! I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!"


Wolf has joined your team temporaly!

Mario was already reserving the match againts Rawk Hawk and he waited for the guard to come in.

"Gonzales, come with me." The guard came from the door calling Mario and his team.

"Yoshi, I hope you don't mind if Wolf replaces you." Mario said.

"Ah, don't worry Gonzales, I understand, besides, I need to rest a little." Yoshi said disappearing in Mario and they walked outside the room.

Back Hallway

The guard walked to the left. "Hey! Where are you going? The ring is in the other side!" Chris called.

"This is a special match and you need to enter another area, sorry, regulations." The guard said walking away with the group following him.

"Something fishy is going on here..." Chris muttered to himself "Wait, Wolf, you know where is the bomb you brought right?"

"I don't know anything about the bomb." Wolf responded bluntly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I came here just for the desire to defeat Fox, even if it costed my appearance as you may have noticed, the bomb was dropped somewhere in this city without me knowing it."

"Originally, you weren't included in this world to invade right?" Falco asked and Wolf nodded.

"You can say that, I act on my own most of the time."

"But then, why did you join the Primids?"

"Because it was the only way to track Fox down. And another thing, my superiors are sick of you calling them the Primids, we're the Subspace Army."

"The Subspace Army...that sounds...good?"

"That's right kid."

"We're here." The guard said in front of a door and they entered inside.

Minor-League Locker Room #2

"Wait, this is the minor league room! What's happening?" Mario asked confused, when they turned their heads to the door, the guard disappeared locking the door with them inside.

"Get us out of here!" Chris said trying to open the door. "It's no use! I can't open this thing!"

"Out of the way!" Wolf said charging at the door with his shoulder, but after crashing, Wolf was pushed back in the floor and he got up. "They reinforced the door from outside, we can't get out!"

"Oh no, the match is going to start in any minute now!" Mario said.

Arena

Rawk Hawk was already entering the ring while many of his fans were cheering him.

"Our champ, Rawk Hawk is now here right in front of yer eyes! But what's this?! The Great Gonzales isn't here yet!" Grubba said grinning.

"I'll tell you why he is not here! Because he ran away to his house crying with his mommy for not challenging the RAWWWWWKKKKK!!" Rawk Hawk said yelling and the crowd went wild.

"Hoo hoo hoo! Good speech there buddy! The question is, where is exactly The Great Gonzales?!" Grubba asked excited.

Minor-League Locker Room #2

"What now? We can't go outside...that's it, we lose this tournament." Chris said.

"Don't give up yet, there's gotta be something here with some kind of secret passage." Falco said looking around.

"Like that poster of the princess without crown?" Wolf asked pointing to a poster of Peach without her crown.

"What is a poster of Peach doing here?" Mario asked and he touched the poster. "Huh? I can't feel any wall behind it." He pressed his hand on the poster and he made a hole.

"Mario! You did it! You found a secret passage!" Falco said pulling the poster off, revealing a secret passage as he said before.

"Whatever it has inside, it must be more interesting than this dump, move on!" Wolf said walking inside the passage and they followed him, they found a small TV in front of a mini table but there was a door leading to who-knows-where and they entered.

Major-League Locker Room #2

"Another major league room? Why is this place without participants?" Chris asked.

Falco tried to open the door but he couldn't do it. "Not good, this one is locked too."

"Mario, where are you going?" Chris asked glancing at Mario entering the bathroom of the room. "Oh, I see, got to do what you need to do right?"

"...Huh? What's this?" Mario asked inside the bathroom and he got out. "Guys, there is a pipe leading to another place in this bathroom!"

"A pipe? You don't mean...the toilet right?" Falco asked disgusted and Mario nodded. "...Okay, it's our only way to get out from this place..." He said entering the bathroom with Chris and Wolf.

"And I thought I'd never enter the same bathroom with 3 other persons." Chris said as they entered inside the toilet and were taken away inside the pipe, it took them through the back hallway below the floor until they reached the other side.

Major-League Locker Room

They appeared inside the bathroom of the first major league room.

"Ugh, traveling inside a pipe isn't my style." Wolf said disgusted.

"C'mon! We have to go to our match!" Falco said exiting the bathroom and they got out of the room, but Chris saw Fox in the bed and he whispered something to him.

"I'll find that idiot who made you this, I promise!"

Arena

"...Huh?! Whuzzat?! The Great Gonzales is here folks!!" Grubba announced as Mario, Chris, Falco and Wolf walked to the ring while their fans cheered them.

"GO, JUMPMAN!"

"Isn't that the Grey Lupine?!"

"YOU'RE AWESOME!"

"MARRY ME!"

"This is the battle for the ages ladies an' gentlemens! Who will win in this clash of powers?! The Great Gonzales?!" Grubba asked excited pointing to Mario. "Or the undefeated powerhouse, Rawk Hawk?!" He pointed to Rawk Hawk who crossed his arms. "GET YERSELF READY...TO BAAAATLE!!"

Suddenly from nowhere, Shadow Bugs came appearing from the center of the stage and they covered Rawk Hawk's body completely. "ARGH! GET THIS THINGS OFF ME OR YOU WILL GET RAWKED!" Rawk Hawk said.

"Hey Grubba! Stop this match, he needs help!" Mario said but Grubba ignored him. "Grubba! Listen to me!"

"(Heh, Gonzales is so predictable...)" Grubba thought evily in his mind.

The Shadow Bugs took Rawk Hawk's body and he glowed in a purple aura, he started to yell "RAAAAAAWWWWWWKKKKKKKK!!" and suddenly, he starts to grow the double of his size.

"What the-those Shadow Bugs are making him stronger!" Chris said in shock.

"When the time comes, just act kid." Wolf said as he was preparing to fight against Rawk Hawk.

"You mean, now?" Chris asked.

VS Dark Rawk Hawk

Don't use items on this fight

Rawk Hawk

Mario: HP 30
Chris: HP 30
Falco: HP 30
Wolf: HP 50

"RAAAAWWWWWKKKKKKKKK!!" Yelled Dark Rawk Hawk furiously, his HP was of 60.

"Just shut up already!" Chris complained.

"Let's-a go!" Mario said doing a Power Jump on Dark Rawk Hawk, only to deal 1 of damage. "His defense is of 5?!" He asked surprised.

"No problem! Leave it to me Mario!" Chris said using Fire Chris on Dark Rawk Hawk, dealing 5 of damage.

"Let me pierce his defense!" Falco said using Fire Falco, piercing Dark Rawk Hawk's defense and doing 8 of damage.

"Heh, bring it on." Wolf said grinning.

Normal Attack
Reflector FP 3
Fire Wolf FP 6
Wolf Illusion FP 7

Wolf used his Normal Attack, which was a simple claw attack that pierces the defense of his opponent and he dealt 5 of damage to Dark Rawk Hawk.

"RAAAAAAWWWWWKKKKKK!!" Dark Rawk Hawk yelled furiously and he starts to spin in the air, jumping above each member doing 15 of damage as he returned to his position.

"He's so strong... I already lost the half of my HP and we can't use items either...so let me use Sweat Treat!" Mario said calling forth the power of the Magical Map and he started to launch stars at the recovery icons, he failed sometimes, but he got 8 recovery hearts for each one of them.

"Let's use our combination attack Falco!" Chris said.

"...Right, how did we do that again?" Falco asked confused.

"What do you mean? We...umm...well...we..."

"Don't tell me you forgot how to use that combination now!" Mario said.

"(In a moment like this? It's time to use that attack again but why we can't use it?... Maybe...it has something to do with pressure that we were under pressure that time...)" Chris thought in his mind. "I can't use that attack now, there is only one way to defeat that monster and that is with our normal abilities!" He said using Fire Chris once again, dealing 5 of damage.

Falco used Fire Bird again, piercing through his defense and dealing 8 of damage, Wolf used Fire Wolf and he dealt a strong downward kick dealing 4 of damage. "It's better if I use my Normal Attack, dammit!" Wolf said cursing under his breath.

"RAAAAAAAWWWWWWKKKKKKK!!" Dark Rawk Hawk lifted one finger to the roof and then, he made a backflip, he touched the wall with his foots and then, he crossed his arms, blasted fastly towards Mario dealing massive damage of 30 and Mario fell defeated.

"MARIO!" Chris yelled preocuppied. "You're going to pay for that!" He said glaring at Dark Rawk Hawk. "Wait, don't tell me we need to spam our fire attacks again and again?"

"Afraid so." Falco said.

"Ugh, I hope people out there don't get mad at me or something, fire!" Chris was sent colliding with Dark Rawk Hawk dealing 5 of damage. "Now as our unthinkable and annoying strategy goes, use it Falco!"

"Fire!" Falco was surrounded by fire once again dealing 8 of damage. "Our FP is depleted!"

"That doesn't matter!" Wolf said sending another claw attack dealing 5 of damage.

"RAAAAAAAWWWWWWKKKKK!!"

"Does this guy ever shut up?" Falco complained, then Dark Rawk Hawk stomped the floor and part of the scenery's stage goes down from above slowly, the big adversary hung into the iron bar, he started to shake it and objects started to fall above the group.

"AAHHH! How in the-AAAHHH!! STOP I-AAHHH!!" Chris yelled in pain after receiving 14 of damage, Falco received 12 of damage and Wolf received 13 of damage. "I...don't have much energy left..."

"But we're...so close now!" Falco said panting.

"He is above and we need to use an attack that doesn't jump but instead crash since there is a floor above us. If only our FP wasn't depleted...wait, I don't care if we break a rule! This could end our lives if we don't use items!"

"I dunno, but-" Falco was interrupted.

"Falco, may I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Well...of course I trust you."

"Then trust me in this time, you won't regret it!"

"...Alright, do what you want to do."

Chris smiled. "Thank you!" He said as he drank a Maple Syrup, recovering 10 FP. "End this match now!"

"FIRE!" Falco shouted crashing into Dark Rawk Hawk's beak dealing 8 of damage, the big purple hawk stopped hanging from the bar and fell on his back above the floor, the Shadow Bugs left his body and shrunk instantly.

They received 30 Star Points and greeted the audience.

"AMAZING! ASTONISHIN'! THE GREAT GONZALES HAS WON THE VALUABLE AN' HARD-TO-GET CHAMPION'S TITLE! GONZALES?! HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW?!" Grubba asked to Mario.

"I...feel like a-"

"HE FEELS LIKE A CHAMPION DUH! WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION AN' HIS NAME IS THE GREAT GONZALES!!" Grubba said ignoring Mario's words, the crowd gave their final big cheer to the team and Mario gaves up and saluted them.

Major-League Locker Room

"Here's your fight money, Mr. Gonzales." Jolene said giving Mario 20 coins. "Mr. Gonzales, if you don't mind, could you please follow me to the champion's room?" She asked adjusting her glasses.

"We did it! We're the champions!" Chris said and he glanced at Fox. "Hmm...we should take him with us."

"I'll give you a hand." Falco said.

Champion's Room

"Now here you go." Jolene said giving Mario the Champ's Belt as Chris and Falco put Fox on the bed carefully. "From now on, this is where you'll stay. It's your room now, so make yourself at home If you excuse me, I have special business to do, have a nice day Mr. Champion." She said leaving the room.

"After so many fights, we finally reached this room." Chris said. "Wait, are we forgetting something?"

"The disappearances?" Falco asked.

"Oh right! I forgot about that!"

"Okay, now what?" Wolf asked.

"Well, we don't have any clue yet of where are they."

"But those spores came right from the center of the stage, that was weird." Falco said rubbing his chin.

"And Grubba didn't do anything after watching the whole thing too." Mario said.

"Hmm..." They said in unison getting in thinking positions.

"Huh? Where's that voice coming from?" Mario asked looking around the room

"It's coming from the air vent." Wolf said looking at the air vent from above the closet.

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..."

"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..."

"The question is...it's a ghost?!" Chris asked scared a little, then Mario received another e-mail and readed it aloud.

fInD tHe GhOsT iN tHe ChAmP's RoOm.

From X.

"There are ghosts in this place too?" Falco asked.

"One way to find out is entering that air vent and discover the "ghost"." Wolf said while looking at the air vent.

"Let's go then." Mario said trying to climb the closet and Chris helped him to climb, then Falco and Wolf did the same and they entered inside the vent.

Air Vent

"Follow the big gray road! Follow the big gray road!" Chris sang looking to the other side of the vent.

"Shh! Shut up and listen to that voice kid!" Wolf whispered angrily, they leaned their ears to the other side of the vent and they heard the voice of Grubba, talking to himself.

Grubba's Office...Fancy!

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk! Well, THAT'S in perfect condition, as usual! Yep, as long as I got THAT baby workin' fer me, this ol' bod ain't NEVER gonna get weak!" Grubba said.

"Body? Is he talking about his body?" Chris whispered.

"But I'm gonna have watch my tootsies here fer a little bit...First, I let that King K. ijit walk in on me when I was with...THAT... An' now I can't shake the feelin' that Jolene an' Gonzales' team are onto me..."

"He's starting to act suspiccious now." Falco whispered.

"Well, I guess I'll burn that bridge when the time comes, I'll just disappear 'em! Yep, just like I did to them others...like I did to Prince Mush, the first champ!"

"So he was behind all the disappeared fighters from the beginning..." Mario whispered surprised.

"I better lock this room up tighter 'n a peanut butter jar at a squirrel convention. An' I'll just go ahead an' hide the paper relatin' to THAT in the desk drawer...There we go! Y'know what, though? Since I'm thinkin' aloud here. Good fighters ain't nothin' to mess with. Even Rawk Hawk lost to Gonzales usin' the Shadow Bugs that ol' pal Tabuki...was that his name? Said to me to use 'em on him."

"Wait, Shadow Bugs? Those are the things we saw on the stage? He must know something about the bomb as well!" Chris whispered.

"This new champ might have to disappear purty soon... For my sake..." Grubba said before leaving his office, Mario smashed the vent to open it and they entered the room inspecting the desk drawer to find that paper (Chris found a Star Piece and gave it to Mario), then, they found the paper.

"Hmm...wait, this is a machine hiding under the stage, this is a blueprint of the entire stage." Falco said.

"Calculations, force divided by 3, there are many equations on this, but look at this part," Chris pointed to the top of the machine "This is surely the real Crystal Star! This machine sucks up the power out of the people using the Crystal Star, Talk about disgusting."

"So Fox's energy was drained out then?" Falco asked.

"It seems that way...along with King K. and Bandy Andy too." Chris responded.

Suddenly, Grubba entered the office again, he found Mario, Chris, Falco and Wolf looking at the paper and they looked at him with glares "GREAT GALLOPIN' GULPITS! How in tarnation did YOU get in here, sons? Well, slap me an' call me sassafras! Yer starin' at my secret paper, too!" Grubba said surprised.

"Okay sassafras, you're making me sick now, we know all the things you have been doing around here." Wolf said.

"Whoa, nelly! This ain't good!" Grubba said scared and he ran away from the office.

"After him! Don't let him get away!" Chris said and they started to chase Grubba.

Back Hallway

They lost him in the way when they got out of the office.

"Where'd he go?" Chris asked.

"Probably in the arena." Mario said and they walked towards a guard guarding the left door of the arena.

"Oh, Mr. Grubba? Yes, he went inside, but there aren't any matches scheduled now." The guard said stepping out of the way. But first, they prepared their HP and FP to be ready.

Arena

The crowd was gone, the whole area was silent, only Mario, Chris, Falco and Wolf were the only ones inside along with Grubba standing on the center of the platform, grinning evily.

"Okay Grubba, you can stop your plan to suck up the energy of the fighters!" Mario said.

"Like I care Gonzales, drainin' energy from others makes me feel like I'm on the top of an army of bulls! Don't you understand?" Grubba asked grinning.

"You're wrong Grubba, you need to accept your age and be a good business guy!" Chris said.

"Whatever you say it's useless againts me sons! I hope yer lifes were enjoyable before this, because I'm gonna use my machine and the Subspace Bomb!"

"Wait, Subspace Bomb?"

"That's right! That Tabuki guy or whatever his name was made a deal with me, if I finished you like I did with that little furry guy from a while ago, I'd keep the bomb for my own purposes to stay young! Sweet, isn't?"

"So it was YOU!" Wolf said glaring.

"How could you be so stupid? It's a bomb, not a power machine!" Chris said.

"The Subspace Bombs have many secrets son, an' 2 of 'em are spawning Shadow Bugs out and givin' absolute power to his target if it's used correctly, but I dunno if I only have one of a kind." Grubba said as the stage started to shake wildly and he fell inside a hole, then a huge yellow machine with the Crystal Star on the top appeared with Grubba inside. "Hope you enjoy the arena in the heaven sons!"

"You bastard!" Mario said to Grubba.

"Say what you want! I'm gonna use the power of the Crystal Star and the Subspace Bomb to crush yer bones!" Grubba said as he started to grow with a purple aura.

"I won't forgive you for draining Fox's energy!" Chris said.

"Me neither!" Falco said.

When he stopped growing, his body turned into a dark orange color, his shell had spikes on it, a dark orange mohawk on his head and his clothes were small for him. "MAAAAAACCHHHHHOOOOOO!!" Grubba yelled, now turned into Dark Macho Grubba.

Macho Grubba Battle

"MAAACCCCHHHOOOO!!" Dark Macho Grubba yelled.

"Ugh, I hate this kind of people already." Falco said.

Mario: HP 30
Chris: HP 30
Falco: HP 30
Wolf: HP 50

"Since I think he is going to attack us with a powerful attack, Wolf should be in the front because his HP it's high enough to resist." Mario said moving Wolf in the first position. "And his HP is of 80? I can't believe-a this." He frowned.

"Stop talking and let's start!" Wolf said using Fire Wolf, he was rocketed towards Dark Macho Grubba and he dealt 6 of damage as he returned to his place. "His defense is of 3, I presume." He said.

"Hmm, this should help us a little!" Chris said using a Courage Shell on Wolf and his defense was raised by 3.

"Good move kid." Wolf said grinning.

"Aww, don't mention it."

"...I didn't ask for your help!"

"...Fine." Chris said frowning.

"Fir-"

"Wait, Falco."

"What is it, Chris?"

"Why don't you use your Normal Attack for a change?"

"Hmm...sure..." Falco said walking towards Dark Macho Grubba, he lifted his hands above his head and when it was charged enough, he moved them down quickly dealing 3 of damage. "That was useless!"

"Oops, sorry, I think I just wanted to see that attack."

"My turn!" Mario said walking towards you-know-who already, he lifted his hammer above his head, and he was able to deal 4 of damage because he used Piercing Blow.

"At this rate, we're not going to defeat that bulky monster!" Chris said.

"MAAACCCHHHOOOOO!!" Dark Macho Grubba yelled gaining 2 more attacks each turn.

"HIYAH!" Wolf used his claw attack on Dark Macho Grubba dealing 5 of damage, Chris used his turn to give a Repel Cape to Falco and he became dodgy, then Falco used Fire Bird dealing 8 of damage and Mario used Piercing Blow, dealing 4 of damage.

"MAAACCCHHOOOO!!" Dark Macho Grubba yelled increasing his power by 3, then he walked backwards behind him and then, he ran spinning above the stage and the group jumping above each other, but since Falco was dodgy, he fell on the floor and returned to his position cursing in his mind. Wolf received 17 of damage and Chris received 20.

"Now you're fine because I gave you that Courage Shell! At least be thankful!" Chris said to Wolf.

"This is not the time to talk!" Wolf said.

"Wait, what attack besides your Normal Attack pierce defenses?"

"Well, my illusion can, I think."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"..." Wolf smirked. "Heh, I think I perfectly do." He walked towards Dark Macho Grubba and he started to slice him down with 9 slashes of his claws and Dark Macho Grubba received 9 of damage in total.

"Good! But I'll look to our FP to keep using special attacks." Chris said keeping an eye of the FP. "Now Falco, I know this is getting repetitive, but-"

"Fire!" Falco was already using Fire Bird again on Dark Macho Grubba dealing another 8 and Dark Macho Grubba yelled in pain.

"...Oh well, our FP is vital." Chris said.

"Oh wait, I forgot we have this too!" Said Mario taking out a Mr. Softener, making Dark Macho Grubba's defense drops temporaly by 2.

"MMMMMMMAAAAAAACCCCCCHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!" Dark Macho Grubba yelled increasing his defense by 3 and making the Mr. Softener's effect useless as he jumped in the air and crushed Mario dealing 25 of damage.

Without interruptions, Wolf used his illusion dealing 9 of damage.

"25?! That's a lot! I'm sorry but I have to sacrifice this turn by using this Ultra Mushroom!" Chris said giving Mario a green mushroom recovering his damage. "No wait, let me say it, fire!" Chris said Falco's words as Falco used his own attack on Dark Macho Grubba dealing 8 of damage.

"It's on the ropes now!" Falco said.

"Charge!" Mario yelled increasing his attack power by 2 using Charge.

"MMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!" Grubba yelled making himself dodgy as he jumped in the air and stomps on Wolf, dealing 25 of damage.

"Wolf, are you alright?" Chris asked a little worried.

"Don't be distracted just because I was damaged!" Wolf replied angrily.

"Very well Wolf, I'll ignore your moans of pain." Chris said.

"I didn't moan either!"

"Okay, fine! But I'll stay recovering your wounds you like it or not!"

"HIYA-what the?!" Wolf missed his attack on Dark Macho Grubba by stopping with 3 jumps behind Dark Macho Grubba, the bulky monster fell on his back crushing Wolf, dealing 30 of damage and Dark Macho Grubba got up "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Wolf yelled in pain.

"Hey! That wasn't supposed to happen!" Chris complained. "Wolf! Don't punish me but are you alright?!"

"..." Wolf didn't respond.

"Great, we lost him! Now this is going to be harder to defeat that thing!" Falco said angrily.

"There must be something here to revive Wolf, but..." Suddenly, one of the audience's members held something above his head and threw it to Chris, it was a Life Shroom. "Just what I was looking for! Wolf, even if you're out of cold, catch it!" Chris said throwing the Life Shroom to Wolf's back, the heart-shaped mushroom started to blink and then, it disappeared in tiny lights surrounding Wolf's body as he opened his eyes and returned to his position.

"Hmph, that was a smart move kid." Wolf said with crossed arms.

"It was nothing, thanks to somebody in the audience." Chris said (he didn't see who threw the Life Shroom, and that person was Luigi for luck).

"Fir-not again!" Falco said crashing his own beak to the floor, Dark Macho Grubba fell on his back, above Falco, but..."Not this time!" Falco said using a quick Superdodge dealing 1 of damage to Dark Macho Grubba and protecting himself in the process.

"Charge!" Mario said charging up and increasing more his power to 2.

Dark Macho Grubba did the same yell, he increased his attack by 3, then he walked backwards, ran and jumped spinning above the stage and stomping on Wolf, but he used a Superdodge, stopping Dark Macho Grubba's attack.

"Umm...bad news, we ran out of FP." Chris said.

"Are you kidding me?!" Falco asked in shock.

"Nope, unfortunately, we can only use Normal Attacks and worse yet, we don't have any FP recovering items and the audience always wants to see difficulty in these kinds of fights and don't help the main heroes, or us, and if there is a possibility, people who watches or somehow reads our actions in some kind of freaky dimension where nothing fun happens." Chris explained.

"...Was the part of the other dimension really necessary?" Mario asked confused.

"Erhm, no, but even worse, out Star Power was completely depleted because that freaking bed on the major league room doesn't recover Star Power!" Chris said angrily.

"...If you finished your rant to no one on particular, let's continue!" Wolf said snapping out the explanation and he was able to hit Dark Macho Grubba with his claws, dealing 5 of damage. "Just 10 more and this nightmare ends..."

"Wait just a second...there is a Power Punch on the inventary!" Chris said taking out the Power Punch.

"Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me!" Falco and Wolf said in unison.

"Erhm...sorry, but since Mario is charging up his attacks, he can defeat him with just 2 jumps!" Chris gives Mario the Power Punch and he grew the double of his size.

"Aw, I wanted to be big!" Falco said before using his Normal Attack on Dark Macho Grubba, fortunately, it hits and dealt 3 of damage.

"Okay Mario, I know this could be the last move but please, even if Grubba is dodgy and some attacks can miss, DON'T MISS FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR CAREER AS A PLUMBER WHO DOESN'T FIX PIPES!" Chris pleaded.

"Okay...but I don't make any promises..." Mario said in a deep voice as he jumped above Dark Macho Grubba and the entire stage and audience stopped.

"(This is the end! If we fail, we get a free pass to the Game Over screen, nobody wants to live in that place for sure, I mean, a very dark place with the letters G-A-M-E O-V-E-R above their heads while they cry is just painful!)" Chris thought in the stopped time.

"(Fox, if Mario fails at hitting that guy, I swear I'm going to haunt every single plumber in the world in your behest and probably kill them if I'm the right mood.)" Falco thought in the stopped time.

"(If you thought I was going to say something stupid as those 2, think again, I'm not an idiot.)" Wolf thought to the readers breaking the fourth wall in the stopped time.

Out of nowhere, Merlee the magician appeared on her magic spinning box and she disappeared putting a spell on Mario.

Damage will be increased in this turn!

The big Mario jumped twice on Dark Macho Grubba dealing damage of 11 in each jump, making in total 22 as Dark Macho Grubba moved his arms up and down and then, he fell on his huge belly above the floor giving the group 40 Star Points.

"YAARRGGGGHHHHH!!" Dark Macho Grubba said defeated and they greeted the audience (Wolf, however, howled to the roof).

"You're one heck of a sick animal...." Chris muttered as Wolf crossed his arms with a glare.

The Shadow Bugs escaped from Dark Macho Grubba's body as he shrunk to his original size (still defeated) and the black spores disappeared in thin air.

"No... How'd this happen? How could a perfect bod like mine lose to such chubs? Oh...Great...Gonzales... Great fight, there, son. Great fight... Urrrgghhhh..." Grubba said in a weak tone inside the machine, the Subspace Bomb stopped its countdown and nobody noticed it the entire fight.

"Mr. Champion!" Somebody called Mario and the group from behind, they turned their heads to see Jolene standing below the stairs of the arena.

Sad Music

"...No, I mean... Mario..." Jolene said. "Please allow me to offer my earnest thanks for defeating that foul Grubba."

"Huh? What do you mean Ms. Jolene?" Chris asked.

"I really have to apologize...I'm so sorry that I had to get all of you involved. But you must understand...I had to learn the truth about this arena by any means." She said.

"Why did you want to learn about this anyway?" Falco asked.

"Let me tell you everything... I had a little brother once, by the name of Mush. He'd have done anything for me."

"Mush? I hear that name before...wasn't he the champion of this arena?" Mario asked and Jolene nodded.

"Our family was always poor, so he became a fighter here to support all of us... But he suddenly went missing one day. Our family was inconsolable. I suspected foul play so I got hired as the manager and investigated in secret. As I looked for clues about my brother, I accidentaly saw Mr. Grubba transform. Seeing what I was up against, I almost gave up hope...and then you appeared. So I decided to secretly guide you." She explained.

"Wait, then that means you were that X person?" Falco asked.

Jolene nodded. "Yes...it was me. Once I saw all of you fight, I knew I found the only ones who could challenge Grubba." She said climbing the stairs and walking to the machine were Grubba was dropped inside. "Now, sir...No! Not "sir"! Grubba! I want answers, right NOW! What did you do with my precious little brother? You know exactly what I'm talking about! The first champion: PRINCE MUSH!" Jolene asked angrily.

"And what happened to Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu, Pit and Lucario?" Chris asked angrily too.

"Urrgghhh...Prince Mush...as those 7...they...they...discovered the secret of my...power-suckin' machine...I...had them...disappear... Any which way you look at it...oooog...they ain't around these parts no more." Grubba said in a weak tone.

Upon hearing that, Chris was left speechless and he dropped to his knees. "No way...that...can't be...possible..."

"...No!" Jolene yelled. "I...suspected as much... Oh, poor, sweet Mush..."

"Wow, talk about depressing, she lost her brother...and we lost them too..." Falco said shaking his head slowly.

"Don't said that! ...I know they are here somewhere!" Chris said trying not to cry.

"...Huh? Something is happening to that star!" Wolf said pointing to the Crystal Star on top of the machine, it was spinning like crazy making the machine crazy, after some seconds, from it, a toad with the same color for his head and hair as Jolene's except for his blue kenpogi appeared on the floor spinning a little and he looked around.

"Whoa...is this... Am I back in the Glitz Pit?" He asked confused.

"MUSH!!" Jolene yelled with some tears on her eyes and she walked towards Mush.

"Oh...is that really you, sis? What are you doing here? I...I was...I was just..." Mush trailed off.

"There, there, Mush. It's OK. It's all over...finally..." Jolene said.

"He was inside the Crystal Star? That was...unexpected..." Falco said.

Jolene looked at Mario "Now, Mario...the Crystal Star...is yours..." She said as the Crystal Star fell on the stage and bounced a little.

"Are you sure you don't mind giving it to me?" Mario asked.

"It's better that you have it...so that nothing like this will ever happen agai-"

"OK then!" Falco walked towards the star and grabbed it. "It's ours from now on!"

"F.l.O!!"

"...Huh? Did anybody else hear that?" Falco asked looking around.

"What?" Mario asked.

"FA..O!!"

"Those voices."

"I don't hear anything." Mush said.

"FALCO!!"

"Wait, something is coming from this thing." Falco said glancing at the Crystal Star on his feathered hands.

"Why don't you shake it?" Mario suggested.

"...Well, that will surely not work...but let's give it a try!" Falco said shaking up and down the star, after feeling something moving inside the star, the star made Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu, Pit and Lucario appear and fall above each other unharmed (but unfortunately Lucario's spike touched Pit's back and he screamed in pain). "What the-guys! You're alright!"

"LUCARIO!!" Chris screamed preocuppied and he ran to Lucario. "Lucario! Are you alright?!"

"Chris...is that you?... It's you!" Lucario said jumping from the pile (they moaned a little in pain) and he landed, kneeled to Chris. "...Thanks for rescuing me and the others."

Chris gave Lucario an embrace. "Oh please, nothing could have been possible if it weren't for the help of...hey, where'd he go?" Chris asked when Wolf was gone from the area.

"Of who?" Lucario asked confused.

"Erhm...of Falco and Mario!" Chris said looking to Falco and Mario, and Falco smiled a little.

"...Grubba!" Jolene said.

"What about him?" Falco asked.

"He is gone!" She said, Grubba took the opportunity to escape from them and they looked around, Grubba was standing to the left door with one hand to the wall.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk! I'm afraid you lost the chance to get me inside a jail, too bad! I'm leavin' sons and..." A familiar hand with finger-less gloves tapped his shoulder from the right. "Huh? What do you-"

PUNCH!

"ARGH!!" Grubba fell unconscious on the floor and the hand in the glove disappeared and then, the person who punched Grubba on the face appeared.

"It's...a miracle..." Chris said surprised. "...FOX!"

"Oh hey guys, what happened?" Fox asked sarcastically with a little grin as Chris and Falco ran to him.

"I can't believe it, you're fine!"

"I just needed a rest, that's all." Fox said.

"...Listen Fox, I have to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"I dragged you into this mess even if you didn't want to visit this world, it was selfish of me... I'm sorry."

"...Well, to tell the truth, I really enjoyed this place."

"...Really?"

"Of course, I had to fight through many enemies like all of us did, if I knew this was going to happen, I could visit this place without second thoughts."

"Oh thank you Fox! That really means so much for me!... Oh, by the way, here is your boot Roy stole from you." Chris gave the boot to Fox.

"Erhm...thanks, I guess...I think you should have this in return, not for the boot for sure." Fox gave to Chris an emblem after he kept the boot.

"What's this emblem? It seems familiar."

"That is an emblem of the Star Fox team, it proves that you are an official member."

Chris blinked surprised. "What? That means I'm a member of your team now?"

Fox nodded with a small smile. "That's right, you earned it."

"...I'll promise I won't lose this!" Chris said keeping his emblem on his pocket, then he looked at the Crystal Star. "Now to finish with this world, Falco, give Mario the Crystal Star."

"..." Falco didn't respond.

"Falco...give Mario the Crystal Star."

"...Errrh...sorry, but, I want to find that treasure."

"Sorry but Mario will do that, now give him the Crystal Star!"

"No!"

"I said give it!"

"No!"

Chris tried to take the star from Falco's hands. "Give it!"

"No!"

"Give it!"

"No!"

"Give it!"

"No!"

"Look! Isn't that Katt?"

Falco looked away. "W-where?! Is she here too?!" Chris took the Crystal Star from Falco's hands. "Hey! You cheated!"

Chris walked towards Mario. "The genius always win, sorry!" He looked at Mario. "I think this belongs to you Mario!"

After giving the star to Mario, it started spinning around him until it stopped above his head, Mario held up the star with a different background, and he learned to use Power Lift.

END OF CHAPTER

The curtain closef and a text appeared on the center.

Mario was able to obtain the third Crystal Star from the mysterious Glitz Pit, with the help of Chris and company, his adventure is getting shorter and shorter, Jolene is now reunited with his lost brother, Mush and everything is now at peace, what does the future holds for Mario? And what for Chris and the others? Only the time will tell...

1 hour later...

Rogueport

Bowser was walking weakly through the streets searching for Kammy Koopa as the citizens were running away scared of him. "Ugh, defeated by Mario again? How can the evil king of the koopas fall so low again? GRRR!!" Bowser said stopping the floor in fury.

"Maybe I can help you." A voice said in Bowser's mind and he looked around freaked out.

"WHUZZAT?!"

"Bowser, king of the koopas, do you wish to defeat Mario?"

"Well duh! That's so obvious genius!"

"The join my army of the Subspace, you will be a powerful general."

Bowser took out his agenda. "Sorry pal, but my agenda is full of things to do." The agenda had this written on it.

KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
DINNER
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL LUIGI, BUT IT'S BORING ANYWAY
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO
KILL MARIO

The voice frowned to itself. "Fine, but remember the deal, you won't be disappointed." The voice said leaving Bowser's mind.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever...HEY! What I was going to do now?" Bowser looks his agenda. "KILL MARIO? Oh yeah! It's that time again!" Bowser said smiling and walking away, whistling.

Lobby

"Mario, and everyone, thank you so much for your help, I'll never forget what you have done here." Jolene said, the entire group along with Bandy Andy, King K, Prince Mush and Rawk Hawk were there saying good-bye to Mario.

"Hey man, thanks for helping us through all this trouble, if you ever want to fight me again, just come to the minor league room and I'll do it." King K. said.

"Heh, good thing you were here or else I couldn't recover for those injures." Bandy Andy said.

"Gonzales! You showed me what true fighting is all about! From now on, I'll hit the dumbells, vitamins and reclaim my title as a champ without cheating! I'll be waiting for you in the ring!" Rawk Hawk said.

"I think it's time to leave, let's go Mario!" Yoshi said walking outside Mario and the others.

Attractions Area

"Mario, I really enjoyed my time here, but we must leave now becaus-" Chris was interrupted.

"I know, defeat that villain who brought those Shadow Bugs things right?"

"Uh-huh! You understand then?"

"Of course! I won't give up either, I have many people to help me too."

Mario and Chris did a handshake. "Well, the blimp is waiting for you 2, have a nice adventure!" He said waving at Mario and Yoshi, who boarded the blimp and they flew away, waving at them inside the blimp.

Falco sighed. "...There goes my chance to find that treasure."

"Oh cheer up!" Ness said patting Falco's back. "You still have us!"

"...How is that going to cheer me up?"

"Okay everyone, time to leave this place." Chris said opening the portal to the mansion. "I'm sorry because you couldn't fight with me Lucario."

"No, we can get another chance next time." Lucario reassured.

"You're right, thanks!" Chris said stepping inside the portal with Lucario.

"I wanted to eat a hot dog." Pichu said disappointed.

"I think there was a hot dog on the fridge in the mansion." Pikachu said.

"Hurray!" Pichu said stepping inside the portal with Pikachu.

"Ness, it's my fight style getting better?" Lucas wondered.

"Well, I'm not really sure, but let's train together in the mansion, how that sounds?" Ness asked with a little smile.

"G-good, I think." Lucas said stepping inside the portal with Ness.

Pit sighed. "I need to improve my skills to fight, I didn't get any chance to fight much on this world." He said stepping inside the portal.

"Hmm..." Falco stopped on his trails and Fox looked at him.

"What is it, Falco?" Fox asked.

"Nothing, I was just remembering how we fight with the others back at the mansion."

"Oh, right, when we get back, everything will return to normal."

"Wait...everything...that means... HERE I GO, MY HANDSOME APPEARANCE!" Falco said running excited inside the portal and Fox sweatdropped.

"...I need to remember why I ever let Falco join the team." Fox muttered to himself stepping inside the portal as it disappeared.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU GAINED 1100 SMASH COINS!

Fox's partnership level is filled! A path to a different world has been opened!

Falco's partnership level is filled!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Smash Mansion

Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas

Preview of the next arc

"ARGH! My...my body!...I'm...feeling...different!" Chris said putting his hands on his head and everyone else fell to their knees.

"Grrrrrrrr."

"It's official, we're wild beasts now." Chris said.

"Link, do you think we can trust them?"

"Midna, they're friends and they can help us a lot."

"(So they are trying to kill Link, I won't let them ruin my plans so easily)" She thought with a smirk on her face.

Cut! That's a wrap of Paper Mario everyone! I think you enjoyed this long chapter with the drama about Jolene and Mush, I used some actual dialogue to stay with the exact air of the game, that was interesting, right? And it's good to know Chris was able to gain Fox's and Falco's trust, expect to see more combinated attacks with the others too!

References:

-Chris used the same words Apollo from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney says when he contradicts statements (Why this chapter wasn't named "Apollo Justice references kick ass"? XD)

-Fatalize is a excellent battle music from a game, but there was actually a reason of why it was used on the battle with Wolf and it also has a connection to the "A path to a different world has been opened!", guess it!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 49*: Beasts of Twilight

It's here! It's back! The next chapter of this story is here! Meaning that we will return with more chapters!

Anyway, most of the errors in all the chapters were erased and replaced, so I'll update this as before, but unfortunately, not daily, it takes more time to write future chapters, but I say it's worth the wait, you will not get bored as well.

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 49: Beasts of Twilight

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"First, you aid them in a battle that they could have lost, then, you join them? What kind of henchmen are you?" Tabuu asked furiously.

"I told you before, my only goal is to defeat Fox and nothing else, I had no choice but to make a little truce for revenge." Wolf said bluntly.

"Urgh, and of top of that, we have the second, annoying general..."

"Who are you calling annoying? Mr. Virtual Old Man?" Porky asked angrily within his machine.

"Shut up! You shall refer me as your lord!" Tabuu's voice boomed through the Subspace.

"O-okay, if you want that to be in that way, I won't argue!" Porky said sweating.

"Lord Tabuu, what is our next movement?" The Ancient Minister asked.

"I'm still planning to get more soldiers to our organization, I heard that someone out there named Ganondorf is the lord of all evil and wielder of the Triforce of Power, send the next Subspace Bomb to the next destination!" Tabuu ordered.

"Hey Mr. Virtua-I mean, Lord Tabuu sir! Can I please go there?" Porky asked sweating "I have a very evil plan in my mechanized claws!"

Tabuu blinked "And that is?"

"Kill flowers by stomping on them!" After Porky said that, the whole Subspace was starting to shake violently and the Ancient Minister floated away slowly "He-hey! What's with the sudden earthquake on this place?!"

"And just when I thought things couldn't get worser..." Wolf said walking away.

"Hey! Could anybody please tell me what the hell is going o-" After Porky looked at Tabuu, he was preparing his laser eyes "Oh no..."

Then Tabuu fired his lasers at Porky and he said "YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SH-"

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"ACHOO!"

"Chris, are you getting a cold?" Pichu asked.

"No...is not that, I feel like I haven't been doing anything for the last week or something."

"But we just returned from Mario's world!"

"Ah, forget it, is not important of all manners."

Chris has been explaining all the things that happened when most of the Smashers were missing, although his explanation was being a little too childish...

"And then BOOM! We dealed like 20 of damage in a combinated attack!" Chris said, slamming his DS with his manual.

"I know this explains a lot, but aren't you getting...hmm...I don't know, too excited perhaps?" Marth asked.

"Oh sorry, I just get excited when something suddenly combines to create something stronger like that...hey...do you feel something strange?" Chris asked confused looking around.

"I don't feel anything." Popo said.

"No, it's true, I can feel something close to me."

"Look!" Master Hand pointed to the DS and manual that Chris just slammed a moment ago and both things started to shine intensely.

"What the heck is going with these things?!" Chris asked in shock as the light was engulfing all the room and they blocked their eyes, then about 5 seconds later, the light was gone, along with the manual and Chris blinked in confusion "...What happened?"

"I tell you what happened, lights and manuals don't mix!" Pichu said.

"Geez, that sure explains a lot." Chris said sarcastically.

"I really laugh at all your comments!"

"WHOA! Where did that voice came from?" Lucas asked surprised.

"It's coming..." Chris said opening his DS "From my DS."

"Oh! Hello there!" A floating head of a japanese man said happily inside the DS.

"Who are you?" Chris asked.

"Pardon my manners everyone! My name is Dr. Ryuta Kawashima!" The japanese head introduced himself as Dr. Kawashima.

"Erhm, nice to meet you...but...what are you doing inside my DS? I don't remember I had Brain Age on the Game Slot."

"Well...hmm...your name is Chris, right? The memory of this DS tells it, it's quite simple actually! When you placed this DS with your manual, they combined together to let me live inside here!" Dr. Kawashima said excited.

Master Hand looked at the DS "You!"

"Oh, it's the same hand again who failed at Sudoku." Dr. Kawashima said a little ashamed.

"You failed at Sudoku?" Chris asked raising an eyebrow.

"He failed the Beginner level like...well...I lost the count between 39 times and-"

"Oh shut up! Or I'll banish you to be an instruction manual again!" Master Hand said annoyed.

"Like you would do that again!" Dr. Kawashima taunted.

"Hey both of you! Stop!" Chris said "Now how can you help me?"

"Simple as fractions! I'll be your interactive manual! You can ask me anything like doubts and questions whenever you want!" Dr. Kawashima said excited.

Chris looked at Master Hand with a mischievous face "I think he can be of more help than you are."

"In your face if you have one!"

Master Hand sighed in defeat "Ugh, alright, I'll let you keep him."

"Thank you very mu-wait, that sounded like you're treating me like an animal!" Dr. Kawashima said.

"It's because you are!"

"Want to try Sudoku again?"

"Blasphemy!"

"STOP!" Chris yelled "You 2 will stop this nonsense already!"

"But..." Both said in unison.

"I don't care how many times Master Hand lost in Sudoku, I care what world is in danger to be taken by the Subspace Army!" Chris said.

"Great strategy Chris!" Dr. Kawashima remarked "Now how about if you try to pass the Beginner level of Sudok-" Chris quickly turned off his DS and closed it with force.

"On second thought, I'll ask him later my question when he forgets his idea to let me play Sudoku." Chris said sweatdropping and blushing a little of embarrasment.

"Wait...don't tell me you..." Master Hand trailed off.

"Blah! Blah! Blah! Please, tell us which is the next world!" Chris said sweating.

"Well...Link's world is currently in danger so..."

"Lucario, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Pichu, the Ice Climbers and Marth, we're going in now!" Chris said creating the portal.

"At least do you know if they can go?" Master Hand asked.

"The mentioned characters can go because 1, Link can turn into a wolf and I think Lucario falls on that category, 2, there are rats, both Pikachu and Pichu can go, 3, a lot of cats are there, Mewtwo can go too, 4, swordsmans can be in this world and I think Marth can go and finally, Popo and Nana can go since they are humans...with big eyes."

"Wait wait wait, Link, turning into a wolf? Since when he can do that?" Fox asked.

"Since...well..."

"Ahem, that IS a different Link." Master Hand pointed out.

"A different Link?" Chris asked confused.

"Of course, the new Link is very different from the last tournament, and unfortunately, this one doesn't remembers anything of the past."

"But he will." Mewtwo said raising a finger.

"What?" Master Hand asked confused.

"This Link is a descendant of the previous Link, if I can use an ability that I developed for several months, I think I can revive his past memories inside his mind." Mewtwo stated.

"That would be very helpful, we don't want another Link afraid of the toaster again." Pikachu said.

"Afraid of the toaster? Why?" Chris asked confused.

Pikachu laughed for a bit "When we met and when we were only 12, Link was acting like a cave-dweller as the bread was being burned inside the toaster, then when the bread popped out, Link screamed like a mad man and he literally destroyed the toaster with his sword saying that Ganondorf cursed it."

"...Men are so hopeless these days." Nana said frowning.

"And too many." Chris added "Okay then, let's go...by the way, how is Roy?"

Infirmary

"Just a few little more Roy and I'll take you out of this room!" Jigglypuff said as she dropped more Maxim Tomatos inside his mouth using a small spoon.

"Hey! You're giving him too many! I want too!" Crazy Hand said angrily.

Command Room

"He's fine, now go!" Master Hand said as Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Mewtwo, the Ice Climbers and Marth stepped inside the portal, disappearing.

"Hey Lucas! C'mon! I need to show you the mansion!" Ness said walking away.

"Co-coming!" Lucas said leaving with Ness.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Hyrule
Twilight Lanayru Province

Our group of Smashers appeared on the twisted world of twilight currently surrounding the north part of Hyrule, they stepped outside the portal before it disappeared.

"Wait, isn't this the twilight?" Chris asked as his voice echoed.

"Apparently, it is." Lucario said.

"Why? It's something wrong?" Marth asked.

"Well, I remember that only Link can travel inside this world in his wolf form, but...I have...a...very...bad...feeling...about...us...ugh...my...body!" Chris said.

"Ugh! What is this...power?" Mewtwo asked.

"Everything is spinning...around me..." Marth said.

"Pikachu...I don't feel so good either..." Pichu said.

"Something...is...changing us!" Pikachu said.

"I...can't...stand up!" Popo said dropping to his knees.

"Everyone!...Just...hold...on..." Lucario said, also dropping his knees.

"Popo...don't...leave me..." Nana said before she fainted.

"ARGH! My...my body!...I'm...feeling...different!" Chris said putting his hands on his head and everyone else fell to their knees.

Soon, everyone else fell unconscious as their bodies were being covered by a dark light...

"Ugh!...Don't...think...they...will...take...my...consciousness!" Mewtwo said enraged inside the black light and he slashed through the darkness and stood up, then he slashed the other black auras surrounding the bodies of everyone else and he managed to save them in time "What the..."

"Mewtwo..." Lucario trailed off as he got up "Thank you for saving us..."

"Lucario..."

"...What?"

"What happened to your face?"

"What do you mean?"

Mewtwo looked around for something to show what happened to Lucario and luckily, he found a river "See your reflection in the water."

Lucario walked over to the water to see his face and he kneeled to see clearly "What...happened to me?" He asked, his face changed when the light covered him, his fangs were sticking out from his mouth, his fur grew a little, especially his yellow fur, the appearance of Lucario was now beastly inside the twilight.

"Not only that...they changed too." Mewtwo said looking at the others fainted on the grass.

"Hey...what happened?" Chris asked as he was getting up "And...why I'm feeling I got small? Mewtwo? Did you grew up?"

"Chris...you're a..." Mewtwo trailed off.

"I'm a what? I'm a human, you know that very well."

"No...you're a..." Mewtwo couldn't finish his sentence because Chris looked at Lucario and he almost screamed.

"AAAAHHH!!" Well...he screamed anyway "Lucario! When did you got so scary?!"

"Chris? Is that really you?" Lucario asked.

"What do you mean? Stop leaving me in suspence! Tell me, what happened to me or something!"

"You're a Riolu!"

"...Okay, I know you really liked when I was a Riolu back at Mystery Dungeon, but seriously, stop joking!" Lucario quickly grabbed Chris and he ran to the water "Hey! Let me go!"

"Look at the water and tell me what do you look." Lucario said.

"At the water? For wha-" Chris discovered that he was in fact a Riolu again, however, little fangs were sticking out from his mouth and his fur was a little bit longer too "...I'm a freaking tiny beast!"

"AAAHHH!! What did you do to Nana you monster?!" Popo asked in shock after finding a Topi in Nana's clothes.

"No! What DID you do to Popo you monster?!" Nana asked in shock after finding a Topi in Popo's clothes.

"Wait, that voice..."

"It can't be..."

"Nana?"

"Popo?"

"WE ARE TOPIS!" Both said in shock.

"AAAHHH! PIKACHU! THIS ISN'T HALLOWEEN!" Pichu said covering his face.

"What are you talking about Pichu?" Pikachu asked confused "Oow! Who put these fangs in my mouth?!"

Chris walked with Lucario to where everyone were "Oh god, this is what I was trying to tell all of you before!"

"Chris, did you turned into a Pokémon?" Pikachu asked.

"I thought I was going to turn into a wolf, but this is the closest thing that suits to me I think."

Pichu uncovered his face and Pikachu looks at him "PICHU!"

"What?"

"You have fangs!"

"What? But, you too have fangs!"

"What about us? We're Topis!" Popo said.

"And what happened to Marth?" Nana asked looking around.

"I'm here." Marth said raising his hand, oddly, he didn't changed at all.

"...How come Marth didn't changed?" Popo asked confused.

"I was able to save him first in time before all of you, but it was too late for everyone else." Mewtwo responded.

"Hahaha, it could be funny to see Marth turned into a wolf." Chris said smiling a bit.

"Grrrrrrrr."

"It's official, we're wild beasts now." Chris said.

"But I didn't do anything." Lucario pointed out.

"I don't even growl." Mewtwo said.

"Topis never growl either." Popo and Nana said in unison.

"I don't growl." Marth said

"It wasn't me!" Pikachu said.

"I-I don't know how to growl!" Pichu said.

"Then if I didn't growled, neither Pokémon growled, Popo and Nana didn't do it and minus Marth, then that means..." Chris turned his head just to find a big wolf staring at him, showing his fangs and breathing heavily "...Umm...LUCARIO!"

"Don't move Chris, wolfs doesn't attacks his prey if their preys doesn't make brusque moves." Marth said slowly taking out his sword.

"Marth, I know that perfectly but the thing is...HE IS LUNGING AT US!!" Chris said running away from the big wolf with Popo, Nana, Pikachu and Pichu "HEY! COME ON! SOMEBODY SAVE US!"

"I...can't! Something is...grabbing my legs!" Mewtwo said trying to move his legs but he couldn't because a dark force didn't let him to do it, and unfortunately, Lucario and Marth couldn't move either.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Pichu screamed while crying above Pikachu's back.

"CHRIS! DO YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THAT WOLF?!" Popo asked screaming.

"I FORGOT! IT WAS SOMETHING IMPORTANT, BUT I FORGOT IT!" Chris said screaming and running away to the east with everyone trying to escape from the wolf, while the others were trying to get their legs off from the dark magic.

"Ugh! Not this again! It's the same magic!" Mewtwo said.

"Nani!?" Marth asked in japanese language.

"This is not the time to speak in a foreign language!"

"Hehehe, you're so fun and stupid!" A creepy voice of a girl said coming from somewhere.

"Who's there?!" Mewtwo asked enraged.

Near Hyrule Castle Town

"GRRRRR!!"

"HURRY UP! HE'S CATCHING UP!" Nana said screaming.

"I KNOW! EVERYONE SPLIT UP!" Chris said and the little Smashers ran at different ways but unfortunately, the wolf decided that Chris was an easy prey for him "YOU PUSSY! THE OTHERS HAVE MORE MEAT!"

"HEY!" Pikachu and Pichu said hiding behind a tree.

"GRRRRR!!" The wolf replied furiously after hearing someone calling him "pussy" and he accelerated towards Chris.

"AAAHHHH!!" Chris found himself cornered in a corner and the wolf slowly approached him with his fangs out "HEY! SOMEBODY! HELP ME!"

It was too late, the wolf jumped in the air and he lunged his fangs at Chris and the currently transformed Pokémon joined his hands in front of his face to wait the bite that probably could end his life.

CLING!

"NOOOOOO!!" Nana screamed after the wolf was covering Chris.

"Ugh...is this it?...But how? I really wanted to live longer...WHAT THE?!" Chris opened his eyes after discovering that the wolf stopped abruptaly when he bit his arms, for the bad luck of the animal, his fangs crushed right into Chris's steel parts of his arms and the wolf fell to the floor defeated "...Wow...now I know why are these parts like this." He said looking at his steel parts.

"Chris! You did it!" Popo said running to Chris along with the others.

"But it was an accident! I didn't thought my arms could protect me like this!"

"See the bright side! That wolf is dead!" Pichu said pointing to the wolf while a pink fairy was flying around him and dropping light spores above him.

"Yeah! Even that fairy is here to take him to the heaven!" Pikachu said.

"...But I thought the angels are in charge of that!" Chris said.

"Oh please, we need to return with the others now, leave the work to the fairy!" Nana said and they turned their backs...only to find the wolf standing up and growling menacingly at them and they sweatdropped.

"...Okay...what now?" Pikachu asked preocupied.

"Well, we're pretty much dead since he is cornering us in this corner...so..." Popo trailed off.

"GRRRRRR!!" The wolf once again lunged at them with his fangs opened and they screamed.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" I already said they screamed! Ugh, nevermind, the wolf was lunging at them.

"SCREW THIS! I'M NOT GOING TO LET THIS WOLF EAT ME! EVERYBODY! ATTACK HIM!" Chris said and he jumped as his hand glowed with a Force Palm.

"HE'S RIGHT! POPO, LET'S DO IT!" Nana said taking out her hammer and she and her brother jumped with Chris.

"PICHU! LET'S GO!" Pikachu said jumping and Pichu nodded and jumped with him, charging his body with electricity.

Eventually, their attacks crashed with each other dealing a powerful impact.

CRAAASSSSSHHHHHH!!

Even if I said they crashed before the previous message, the whole screen was engulfed in light and then after 5 seconds, it cleared out showing the wolf fainted on the grass and they were jumping and hugging together.

"WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!" They said jumping and embraced to each other, smiling too.

"Look! It's the same pink fairy from before!" Pichu said pointing to the same fairy floating above the wolf, dropping light spores again.

Suddenly, Chris's DS was beeping and he opened it, it was Dr. Kawashima again.

"God! You didn't had to be so harsh and turn the power off!" Dr. Kawashima complained.

"You just came here to complain?" Chris asked annoyed.

"No! I'm here because those fairies that you saw a moment ago are..."

"GRRRRRR!!"

"...Fairies that revive dead people and animals like that wolf." Dr. Kawashima said sweatdropping and Chris closed his DS again.

"...RUN!" They said in unison after the wolf was in the air once again and they ran below him just in time before he could bite them, the wolf quickly turned his back to start his chase again.

"IS THERE...A WAY...TO...BEAT THAT...WOLF?!" Pikachu asked panting. And just to worse everything up, the wolf appeared just in front of them and he lunged at Nana with high speed.

"AAAAHHHH!!" Nana screamed.

"TOO LATE! WE CAN'T PROTECT HER!" Chris said.

"NOOOO!!" Popo said blocking the path of the wolf and Nana watched in horror the noble sacrifice his brother was doing for her.

CRRRIIUUUSSSHHHHH!!

Seriously, are these innecessary messages going to appear so frecuently?

"POPOOOOOOO!!" Nana screamed at the top of her lungs while she covered her eyes in terror, she could find her brother probably dead with blood coming from his Topi-zied body.

"...Nana...open your eyes...it's over now..." Pichu said.

"No! Popo! Please, don't die!"

"No! You're not understanding! Open your eyes!"

"For what? To see my brother dead?"

"Ugh, why me, Nana, Popo is fine, the wolf, he doesn't." Chris said, Nana uncovered her eyes to see the wolf floating in midair with a pink light as he was trying to get out.

"Wh-what happened?" She asked confused.

"Everything is fine now." Mewtwo said as he came with Lucario and Marth while he used his psychic powers to levitate the wolf "We got out from that spell that imp put on us."

"Imp?" Pichu asked, Mewtwo motioned his hand to his back and an imp with a destroyed mask with red and orange hair and black and grey body came floating to them, trying to get out of Mewtwo's psychic powers.

"We were...so close in beating all of you!" She said with gritted teeths.

"Shut up now and tell us, what did you do to Link?" Mewtwo asked with a glare.

"Huh? You know Link?" The imp asked surprised and the wolf opened his mouth in surprise.

"Of course, I readed the mind of that wolf and there's no doubt he's Link."

"...So Link was trying to...EAT US?!" Pichu asked in shock.

"GRRRR!!"

"Silence!" Mewtwo said moving his hand towards the wolf and the beast calmed down with force "Now..." Mewtwo closed his eyes and then, his body was glowing as he tried to concentrate his power of the wolf.

"What is Mewtwo doing?" Marth asked.

"He is using that ability he was developing." Lucario said.

"Ugh! Stop this right now!" The imp demanded. However, Mewtwo ignored her.

"...I'm almost done." Mewtwo said.

"..." The wolf had his eyes closed and he slowly was going down on the grass, and Chris, Pikachu, Pichu, Popo and Nana hid behind Marth and Lucario.

"...I'm done, he now remember us." Mewtwo said reasuring them, the wolf looked around confused and his ears perked up after looking at Mewtwo and Marth, then Mewtwo lets the imp free and she rides the wolf.

The wolf slowly walked towards Marth and he just stares at him.

"Mewtwo, do you know what is he doing?" Marth asked.

"He says in his mind that it's good to see you again." Mewtwo said. Then the wolf looks at the remaining Smashers "And they too."

"What? Link, do you know them?" The imp asked and the wolf who was Link nodded "Okay, tell me, are you all helping the king of Twilight?" She asked with a glare.

"No," Mewtwo shook his head "We work on our own because we came here to defeat our enemies called the Subspace Army."

"...Subspace Army?"

The Smashers explained all to Link and Midna.

"That doesn't make any sense and I don't care about your problems now." The imp said crossing her arms, but the wolf looks at her while showing his fangs "What? Are you telling me to let them follow us?" The wolf nodded and the imp frowned at this "...Alright, alright, but if they just do something suspicious, I'll get mad."

"Can you please tell us your name?" Nana asked.

"Midna."

Link and Midna temporaly joined your team!

"Okay Midna...where are you 2 heading?"

The imp named Midna pointed at the Castle Town "There, we're following an scent from the lover of Link." She said with a smirk and the wolf growled at this "Oh come on! It's so obvious you were in love with her!" Midna said crossing her arms proudly.

"Alright, stop teasing him, we'll follow you." Chris said.

"Then my loyal order of servants, follow me!" Midna said as she and Link went inside the Castle Town running.

"...Since when we were "his loyal order of servants"?" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"She's the bossy type, it seems." Lucario stated.

Hyrule Castle Town East

Link was starting to use his nose to smell an scent of his friend that he lost in his village, and Midna was snickering for an odd reason, the group were following them through the ghostly state of the town.

"What are those flames?" Popo asked.

"Those are people who were unlucky enough to enter the Twilight Realm, they just turn into ghosts who can't see us except for the beasts that roams this realm." Midna said "Of course, I hate the light so much that I actually like Hyrule in this state, but I don't know what's so great about the light for Link."

Hyrule Castle Town West

"Then why are you helping him?" Pichu asked.

"Because he owns me one." Midna said smirking and Link growled "I saved him from being a poor cub inside a cell in Hyrule Castle."

"A poor cub?" Nana asked.

"Oh yes, you should have seen his face, full of confusion and despair! He's lucky to have me in short terms." She said and Link growled angrily.

"The way you told us doesn't seems too accurate." Marth said.

"Oh shut up you light-dweller! He was even chained to the floor and I had to use one snap of my fingers to set him free!" Midna said with a glare.

Hyrule Castle Town South

"Midna, I don't think your current attitude will give you good things." Chris said.

Midna crossed her arms and looked away angrily "And what does THAT tells you?"

"Someday, the karma will strike you after being so harsh on everybody that you will beg for help from people who were trying to guide you."

"Ha! It's another thing you light-dwellers believe? I don't believe in such things! And also, who's being harsh? I'm helping this person right now as we speak!" Midna said slapping Link's back and he growled again "What's up with you? You have been growling and growling ever since they came with us!"

"Look, there is a door opened over there!" Pikachu said pointing to a door a little opened inside a corridor. Then Link proceeded to enter and following the scent. Everyone else followed them inside.

Telma's Bar

"I-I still don't like these floating flames around us." Pichu said studdering and trembling a little.

Link's ears perked up a little and he walked over a chair and a box with someone sitted on it, he used his senses to find his friend looking at an ill Zora above the box, breathing heavily, trying to get air.

"Hmm, it doesn't looks good from here honey." A tall woman said behind the girl.

"I know, even the doctor in this town didn't helped so much, and he needs help so badly." The girl said.

"If only this madness of the foul monsters roaming this land could disappear, we could help him in some way." She said putting her hands on her hips.

"But is there anything we can do? We can't just sit here and wait for him to die!"

"Calm down, the only thing we can do is wait for something to happen."

"My, my! How useless do you look right now, aren't you?" Midna asked with a smirk "Your friend is right in front of you and you can't do anything to save her! Sorry, but that's the trut-AAAHH!!" Midna was slapped on her cheek and she fell to the floor "Who did this to me?!"

"I told you before," Chris said, putting his hand down "Karma will strike you for doing these kind of things."

"Link! Don't just stand there! Do something!" Midna demanded but Link let out a small laugh "...Okay, I deserved that, happy?" She said riding on Link again "Anyway, we can't do anything in this state, we need to find a clue of where is the next temple and the Lanayru's Spring, any clues?"

"So you say we should get to this area?" A soldier near a table asked pointing to something in a map and Midna glanced at it.

"Bingo!" She said.

"Yes sir! Those mysterious beasts were coming from Lake Hylia!" Another soldier said.

"You hear them Link! To Lake Hylia!" Midna said and Link went to the door with the others, but he looked to the girl once again before running away.

After a while...

Lake Hylia

"Whoa, we're so far from the ground!" Popo said looking at the ground below the bridge of the previously Lake Hylia, it was all dried up and just a small puddle was there with some flames around.

"Something doesn't seems right..." Marth said rubbing his chin.

"Do you mean the oil covering the whole bridge?" Nana asked as she treid to not slip above the oil, but she forgot she had spikes on her shoes which prevented her to slip.

"Grrrr." Link growled showing his fangs.

"What is it Link?" Pikachu asked.

"Look over there! On the other side of the bridge!" Chris said pointing to the other side of the bridge, a Twilit Bokoblin Archer was preparing an arrow with fire and he aimed to the other side, he fired it and it went flying above them and the arrow fell to the other side above the oil, it started to ignite quickly and the monster ignited the oil from his side and he escaped, making a fire wall coming at them without escape.

"Oh no, we're trapped!" Pichu said in shock.

"Link! Think about something! Quick!" Midna demanded and Link looked around for a route to escape. He looked below the bridge to find the puddle again and he backed away.

"Don't tell me we're going to jump at this height!" Marth said surprised, but Link jumped above the stone and he fell from the bridge with Midna "Do we have any other choice left?"

"Jump!" Mewtwo said falling to the puddle, Lucario grabbed Chris and they both jumped the bridge, then Popo, Nana, Pikachu and Pichu followed them and Marth looked at both sides before joining them, evading the fire walls from burning them alive.

"Please! Tell me we're going to fall inside the water!" Chris said before all of them fell on the water, saving themselves from the death (unfortunately, Popo fell on the ground with a thud comically and Nana went for him), then they got out of the water and most of them shook their bodies to get dry.

"Well...what do we do now? I can't see anything here besides those flames." Pikachu asked looking around.

"Isn't obvious rat? We eavesdrop to find out what happened to this lake." Midna said.

"You're starting to get in my nerves!"

"And so do all of you!"

"Stop it! We have to do Midna's plan!" Marth said snapping them out of their discussion.

"Ha, I won." Midna said snickering and Pikachu gave her a glare, after Popo regained his consciousness, the group walked towards a shack to find out what was happening to the lake.

Preview of the next chapter

"Okay, we got the Vessel of Light, time to get moving and find those Light Essences." Midna said.

"I want to be a normal human again!" Chris complained.

"Huh? What in the world is that monster?!" Marth asked.

"It's too big just for being a monster of the Twilight Realm!" Midna said surprised.

"See dear? Everything will be fine with these 5 young warriors, they are better than those coward soldiers!" Telma said, reasuring Ilia.

"Thank you...I really appreciate your help." Ilia said with a little smile.

"But...how are we going to get inside the Lakebed Temple?" Pikachu asked "Link can only enter that place with his clothes!" Everyone looked at Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo, do you have any idea?" Link asked.

"Next time: Twilit and Primids, a fearsome combination!" Midna said.

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Hyrule
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Link, Midna

Aww, it's good to write more chapters...okay, with the help of Dr. Kawashima, all of Chris's doubts will be answered when he gets the time, and probably Porky will make Tabuu crazy by his crazy and stupid suggestions, I feel sorry for the Virtual Old Man...I mean, Tabuu.

I sense drama, betrayal and some love in this arc too! Read and review please! Now, if you excuse me, I need to think and write...and kill some angels from an evil organization in 2 worlds. XD
*Chapter 50*: Sarcastic Twilit Midna

I'm sorry for the big wait, but the next chapter is here, now with 60 percent more wolves! XD

Readn, enjoy and review!

Chapter 50: Twilit and Primids, a fearsome combination!

Our group of Smashers walked towards the shack that was above the dried ground of the lake, Link used his senses to find an old man in a clown costume looking down at the ground.

"This won't do for business at all, oh no, with the lake dried, how am I suppose to get my job back into work?" The clown looked at the west and he saw something "Huh? What's that thing?"

The group looked at the direction and Midna found a Twilit near grass from the other side of the puddle "Maybe we can find something over there, Link, go!" Midna said and she along with the others ran to the other side of the puddle.

They reached the place where the monster was and he noticed them running at him, but he cuts a grass with the appearance of a hawk and he uses it to sing a melody, a howl was heard and they look around for the source, then a big black bird without face cames from the sky and the Twilit rides on its back and he commands the bird to attack them.

"Here it comes!" Marth said warning them, the monster flew towards them dealing a slash with his claws and Marth tries to block it with his sword.

"Link! Now's our chance!" Midna said to Link and he leaped to the body of the bird and starts to bite them several times, then he leaps out and the bird flies above in the air until he sees Pikachu standing alone by himself, then he leaps at him with his faceless appearance.

"I got you!" Pikachu said gathering electricity and he launches a thunder from the bird, the bird shook his head and he quickly flies towards Pichu and he grabs it with his claws.

"HEEEEEEEELP!" Pichu said in the monster's claws.

"Hang in there!" Lucario said charging up an Aura Sphere and firing it at the feet, the bird screams a terrorizing yell and Pichu falls, but Popo catches him in time by slidding in the ground and both sighs in relief.

"Link! One more time!" Midna said and Link quickly leaps to its body and starts to bite him furiously, then the bird screams in defeat and the Twilit falls on the ground, but Mewtwo quickly uses his Confusion to stop him from moving and Marth finishes him with a stab on its heart and the Twilit explodes leaving a trail of black squares before disappearing.

"Okay, now that we got rid of that monster, what do we do now?" Nana asked.

Midna looks at the grass the monster previously used "Link, do you think you can howl near the grass to call one of those monsters?"

"Are you crazy? We can end up fighting another one!" Pichu said.

"Shut up! That bird was listening to the orders of that subordinated freak, if we call another one, it will listen to our orders." Midna explained.

"I get it, so we could use him to escape from the lake to the bridge." Chris said.

"Or even better!" Midna said looking at a cave above the lake "We could follow that path to find out what happened to the water in this lake!"

"For what?" Pikachu asked.

"The water of this lake comes from the Zora's Domain, a domain inhabited by Zoras, surely they know something about this."

"Just a question, after we find out what happened to the lake, what are we going to do after that?" Marth asked.

Link was starting to howl a melody "I'll tell you once we advance." Link finished the melody and the same black bird comes to them, them Midna rides his back "Now get on!" She said, everybody was able to ride the back of the monster (save for Link, who didn't had any choice but to be carried in the claws), and Midna ordered the bird to fly inside the cave.

Zora's River

Along the way however, Twilit Bokoblins Archers were in the way and Midna had no other choice but to evade them while flying, the Smashers who could use projectiles attacks lauched their attacks at every monster and arrow that could reach the bird, but luckily Midna's way to order the bird to fly around was very helpful, unfortunately, Link made a sick face after all the dangers to crash into the rocks, poor wolf...

Upper Zora's River

The bird dropped them near a house with a flame floating about a tiny staircase and the monster flew away from them, there wasn't water there too. Link used his senses to see who was near the house, it was a tall woman with a big afro looking sadly at the grass.

"Man, if the water doesn't runs, my job is done for, ain't this a big misfortune? I wonder what happened in the Zora's Domain..." She said before sighing.

"Come on! The Zora's Domain is just passing that cave!" Midna said running with Link and the others.

Zora's Domain

"B-Brrrr! I-i-it's cold in here!" Chris said snivering.

"Really? I don't feel anything!" Popo said with a smile.

"D-d-duh! Y-y-you're using a parka!" Pikachu pointed out studdering and Popo sweatdropped.

"I-i-it because of that!" Marth said pointing to a big frozen waterfall in front of them, the frozen waterfall was extending from the top with some monsters flying around, the area was empty and there were a lot of paths from each side.

"H-h-how are we going to climb this now?" Pichu asked.

"W-we can only jump from those frozen platforms, but be careful and watch your step, if you fall from a big height, you could die." Mewtwo responded.

"A-a-at least Popo and Nana can climb this waterfall, right?...Hey, where'd they go?" Pichu asked looking around.

"Over here!" The Ice Climbers called from the top of the frozen waterfall waving at them.

"J-j-just how did they climbed that in so little time?" Pikachu asked.

"T-t-they don't have the name "Ice Climbers" for nothing, Pikachu." Chris said "S-s-say, I don't think I could jump that high..."

"Then let me help you." Lucario said putting Chris on his back "Hold on on my neck to not fall."

"T-t-thank you Lucario!" Chris replied with a smile, wrapping his arms on Lucario's neck to not fall, he noticed that Pichu was to his right doing the same.

"Pichu, get down." Lucario said.

"L-l-lucario, let him go with us."

"...Fine." Lucario replied with a sigh.

"T-t-thank you." Pichu wispered in Chris's ear.

The 8 characters started to climb the frozen waterfall carefully, there were some ice spikes in the way hanging above the platforms, but they took their times to let them fall first and then jump to the next platform, in the end. they reached the top where Popo and Nana were waiting.

"The throne room must be up ahead, let's go!" Midna said and they ran deeper inside a cave to the north.

Waterfall Cavern

Suddenly, the group were trapped inside various pillars that fell from the air, creating a dark barrier and a hole appears above them and it drops 3 Shadow Beings that fell surrounding them.

"A-A-AHHH! What are those beasts?!" Pichu asked terrified.

"They are Shadow Beings, stronger monsters of the Twilight Realm." Midna said narrowing her eyes.

"W-w-we just defeat them like any monster right?" Marth said stabbing the heart of one the monsters and it fells above the frozen floor.

"Ha!" Popo and Nana smashed the mask of one them followed up by a Thunder from Pikachu, then the creature falls.

"No! Don't do that!" Midna said opening her hand at them.

"Why?" Nana asked, suddenly, the remaining Shadow Being produced a terrorizing scream and they block their ears in unison, and the previous monsters that were killed got up reviving.

"W-w-what in the world..." Chris trailed off.

"You need to defeat them at the same time or the last one will revive them!" Midna said.

"But how?" Lucario asked.

"Link has a plan in hands." Mewtwo pointed out, Link started to growl a little and Midna's hair grew a little creating a hand and a force field below them, the 3 Shadow Beings had a strange red barrier around their bodies and Link quickly leaped from beast to beast dealing a fatal blow that killed them at the same time, the Shadow Beings yelled in a terrorizing pain before turning into black squares and they flew to the air high above, creating a black and blue portal.

Chris looked around to see if there was anyone there "T-t-there's nobody here..." Chris trailed off snivering. Link's ears perked up and he smells the ice below his paws, then he uses his senses to find all the Zoras frozen and trapped inside the ice below their feets.

"Oh, I see, the Zoras were trapped in the ice below us." Midna said.

"N-n-now that you mention it, there are a lot of flames inside the ice." Marth said.

Midna rubbed her chin "But now, how are we going to melt the ice?" She started to thought for a moment before snapping her fingers "Hey Link, remember that big chunk of blazing rock back in the Goron Mountain?" She asked with a little smirk and Link nodded "Ah, you know my plan already," She looked at everyone "Wait here, we'll be right back."

Link and Midna disappeared in front of their eyes, turning into those black squares and entering the hovering portal, the rest of the group made confused faces after watching the sudden transformation.

"Where'd they go?" Pichu asked.

"They said they were heading towards the Goron Mountain, the mountain which is located in the western province of Eldin." Mewtwo stated.

Just then, Link and Midna came again and the imp brought a huge blazing rock in the portal, they looked above them and gasped after the object was falling in the center of the ice, they backed away quickly before the rock could even hit them and the ice was struck down with a strong impact, destroying itself and melting all the ice, making the water flow in a fast rate.

"Alright, let's jump inside the water to reach the Lanayru's Spring." Midna said, just before they could jump inside the water, a shining light appeared on the center of the room and they looked to see who was, it was an image of a Zora.

"YIKES!" Nana said terrified.

"Do not fear my appearance," The Zora said "I am the Queen of the Zoras, Rutela." She said introducing herself as the queen of the Zoras.

"Wait, if you're a ghost, then that means..." Midna trailed off and Rutela nodded slowly.

"Yes, those beasts invaded my domain and they did not hesitated to kill me, I was trying to protect my people in the fight but I perished for my actions, but that is not the reason of why did I appeared before all of you."

"Then what is your reason?" Marth asked.

"I am here to ask for a favor, my child, Ralis, the prince of the Zoras was in his way to Hyrule Castle to get help when those beasts attacked, but it has been a long time since he went there that I fear something bad happened to him."

"Wait, we saw a sick Zora child back in the bar in the Castle Town, that must be him!" Popo said.

"Then it was true that something bad happened to him, I ask you to save him from dying." Rutela said.

"That's great and all, but what do we get in exchange?" Midna asked with crossed arms.

"Midna!" Chris said a little angrily.

"What? It's another obstacle to save this land!"

"I will teach you the ability to be able to breath under the water if you help him." Rutela said. Just then, inside Popo's mind, he was starting to dream a life inside the water while dancing with the fishes, clams and seaweed, Little Mermaid style with the music should I add.

Link nodded and he accepted the task "Very well then, I will bestow you my wishes, be careful." Rutela said before disappearing.

"Okay, now jump to the water!" Midna said making Link to jump inside the current and all of them followed the pair (Nana asked Popo what was he doing by standing there that she had to push him inside the water).

"LUCARIO! DON'T LET ME DROWN!" Chris said trying to swim inside the water, Lucario quickly grabbed him and all of them were being dragged by the fast current of the water outside the throne room.

Zora's Domain

The current made them fall in the big waterfall, and quickly dragged them out of the domain as well.

Lake Hylia

Since the water from the Zora's Domain is the main source for the water of Lake Hylia, they quickly came from the Zora's River and reached just in front of the Lanayru's Spring.

"We...we made it! The Lanayru's Spring is just inside this cave!" Midna said a little excited.

Popo was drying his gloves behind a pillar with Nana so nobody could see them "What's so special about the spring?" He asked shouting.

"It's the only way to restore this province from stop living in the Twilight Realm and live in the light...ugh, I don't know why I even got excited about this part, whatever, Link, let's enter this place." Midna said poking Link's head and the group entered inside the spring, then the Ice Climbers followed them.

Lanayru's Spring

After receiving a talk with the spring and knowing that the light could return all of them to their original forms, it gave Link and Midna the Vessel of Light to gather the Light Essences

"Okay, we got the Vessel of Light, time to get moving and find those Light Essences." Midna said.

"I want to be a normal human again!" Chris complained.

"...Humph..." Lucario said looking away.

"I'm sorry Lucario, but don't take it as if I don't like being a Riolu, it's just because I want to see my normal face again, you know that very well, don't you?"

"...Alright, I can't tell you what things can you like and what not."

Chris approached to Lucario with a smile "If you want, you can carry me behind your back."

"...Fine." Lucario said putting Chris on his back.

"Now? How do you feel?" Chris asked.

"More satisfied." He said with a little smile.

"Yuck, you guys makes me sick." Midna said with a disgusted face and Lucario glared at her.

"Stop it Midna, what are the Light Essences?" Marth asked.

"The Light Essences are special spores of light that the Twilit stole from this spring, they are scattered around the province for our luck, we can use this map to locate them." She said taking out a map to see the locations of the Light Essences but she made a confused face "...Weird, there's one missing... Well, it'll show up when we gather the others."

"How about if we split up?" Pikachu suggested.

"That sounds good!" Pichu said.

Lake Hylia

When they got out of the spring, electricity appeared out of nowhere and it went crossing the wooden bridge to the right of them.

"What was that?" Pikachu asked.

"It was probably one of those Twilit who stole the Light Essences," Midna said "Follow that bug, Link!" She ordered, all of them ran with the pair but Mewtwo stayed behind looking at the contrary direction and Chris returned to see him.

"What's wrong Mewtwo?" Chris asked.

"There is another one of those Twilit on the other side of this path." He said pointing to a small dock to the other side of them.

"Should we tell the others about this?" Chris asked.

"No, we can beat that thing by ourselves, but I need you to use your senses."

"My senses? Do I look like I have a sixth sense to you?"

"When that strange magic covered you, you gained the power to see the people and the monsters that hides in the Twilight Realm." Mewtwo explained.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, go on and try it, you can see that monster as Link does."

"But how can I use that?"

"Focus your eyes in one direction and the ability should activate by itself." Mewtwo explained again.

"...Okay...here I go..." Chris focused his eyes on the direction Mewtwo was pointing to him and suddenly, his vision suddenly changed, he was able to see a bug sending electricity through his body near the dock "I...I see it!"

"Then let's move on." Mewtwo said levitating above the water, Chris just stood there with crossed arms and Mewtwo returned to him "...You can't swim, right?"

"Right."

"Then..." Mewtwo used Confusion to lift Chris and they went to the other side alone.

"There it is!" Chris said pointing to the grass, Mewtwo nodded and he slashed the grass through, the bug went towards Mewtwo and he sticks himself sending electricity to Mewtwo's body and the Psychic Pokémon gritted his teeths in pain.

"Leave him alone!" Chris said jumping and using a Force Palm on the bug, the bug falls above his back on the grass before exploding and a shiny light cames in his place and it floats towards Chris, making him to glow and stopping after a second.

"Thanks for the help." Mewtwo said.

"It was nothing." Chris said looking away a little embarrassed "Hey, we got the first Light Essence, right?" Mewtwo nodded "We should tell the others too!"

"Tell us about what?" Midna said behind them with the whole group and Chris jumped surprised.

"We got a Light Essence!"

"Really? Well, that's good, now we need to get the other ones. To do that, we're going to scatter all of you to different places and we shall meet in front of the spring," She explained "First, we go to this place and..."

30 minutes later...

Waterfall Cavern

Midna teleported her, Link, Chris, Pikachu and Pichu to find the Light Essences of the Zora's Domain and Upper Zora's River, Mewtwo teleported him, Lucario, Marth and the Ice Climbers near the Castle Town.

"There it is!" Midna said pointing to a wall.

1 hour later...

Upper Zora's River

"Huh? What's that?" Pikachu asked, glancing at a strange stone with a hole on the middle, Link inspected it and he sat in front of the stone and his ears perked up.

"Link, it's something wrong?" Pichu asked confused, then suddenly, Link was starting to howl a melody that he was only able to do. And some seconds later, he disappears along with Midna and the group gasps.

"Oh no, where are they?" Chris asked.

"(Chris!)"

"(Huh? Is that you Lucario?)"

"(Yes, how is everything in your side? We were attacked by those Shadow Beings from before.)" Lucario said telepathically.

"(Did you managed to defeat them as Midna explained?)"

"(Yes, but I felt something happening where you are now, where is Link and Midna?)"

"(They vanished in front of us when he finished howling to the stone.)"

"(I see, they should return shortly, don't worry about that... Mewtwo says that there is another Twilit inside the town, we'll meet in the spring as we planned.)"

"(Okay, be careful.)"

"(Thanks, you too.)" He said before ending the telepathy talk.

"Look! They've returned!" Pikachu said pointing to the pair.

"Well Link, looks like another one of those wolfs is waiting for you, but let's finish this first." Midna said and Link nodded.

"Hey Midna... Lucario said that we should meet in the spring now." Chris said to Midna.

"Hmm, we almost gathered all the Light Essences...but...wait, this wasn't here before!" She said looking at the map and they looked along with her.

"It's near the spring, in Lake Hylia..." Pichu said.

"Then there is no other choice but...JUMP TO THE WATER!" Midna said and Link quickly put all of them on his back and they jumped to the river which leaded directly to the lake. (Along the way, they were screaming, since you know how is the current in the river).

Lake Hylia

They were able to reach the entrance of the spring.

"Pfff!" Chris spat out water "Tell us when are you going to do something like that before Link!"

"Heh, you forgot that he can't talk right at the moment...and never will." Midna said a little disappointed.

"Why?" Pikachu asked.

"From the beginning of this ordeal, Link has been speechless when talking to everyone he met, I don't understand how can them understand him with just grunts, facial expressions and such." Midna explained.

"Oh no, not this again." Chris said frowning.

"What?"

"I'll tell you once we regain our normal forms."

"Hey hey hey! Look! There is something over there!" Pichu said pointing to some wooden platforms far away from them floating in the water.

"I sense something powerful from that direction..." Chris said trailing off.

"We're here." Mewtwo said teleporting him with everyone else.

"Oh, right time, the last Light Essence is there." Pikachu said.

"Then let's not waste anymore time." Marth said entering the water, then the group enters as well (with Chris riding on Lucario's back) and they reached the wooden platforms and looked around for the last Light Essence.

"Link, do you see something?" Marth asked, Link was tracking down the odor and he growled all of a sudden.

"What is it?" Chris asked, he looked at the direction in which Link was looking and he found something large approaching to them at high speed "WATCH OUT! JUMP OUT OF THE WAY!" He yelled jumping to another platform and they jumped to different directions evading the attack of the monster. Then, it revealed himself with a huge roar, its aspect was gross, its body was big with strange pink spots and it was resembling a huge bug for traveling inside the water.

The Arrow was Shot

GET

READY!

"Huh? What in the world is that monster?!" Marth asked.

"It's too big just for being a monster of the Twilight Realm!" Midna said surprised.

"Here he comes!" Mewtwo warned them, the huge bug hid inside the water and he quickly rammed his huge body in Popo and Nana, they jumped high in the air and the bug suddenly jumps to catch them with his mouth.

"HELP!" Both of them screamed.

"Wait for me! Thund-"

"Wait Pikachu! If you use Thunder you will hurt us too by the water!" Mewtwo said.

"But!"

"AHHHH!!" Both Ice Climbers were being dragged in the beast's mouth far away inside the water, trying to struggle out by hitting him with their hammers.

"We have to do something!" Chris said.

Lucario grunted "If only that thing stopped from moving so quickly, I could concentrate my Aura Sphere to hit the right spot without risking their lifes."

"Mewtwo! You have something in hands! I know!" Chris said looking at Mewtwo.

"Sorry, but my abilities doesn't reach that far." Mewtwo said closing his eyes.

"What about you Link?" Chris asked but Link looked down sadly "...Oh no... Wait, where is Marth?"

"He was here just a second ago!" Pichu said.

Suddenly, the monster screamed in pain and he let the Ice Climbers escape by accident and he jumps out of the water, on the back of his body, Marth was pulling out his sword from his back and he jumps to escape from him as well.

"Marth! You did it!" Pikachu said smiling in relief.

"But the monster is heading to them again!" Chris said as the monster opened his mouth to not only trap the Ice Climbers, but Marth as well.

"HEEEELP!" Nana screamed preocupied and Popo hugged her to protect her.

"TAKE THIS!" Lucario said launching an Aura Sphere to the monster and it impacts on his head and the bug changes direction confused towards Link and Midna, then he rises from the water preparing to attack them with his fat tail.

"Oh no you don't." Mewtwo said stopping the bug using his Confusion, Link took the opportunity to leap into the body of the beast and he starts to bite him furiously.

"Hey! I have an idea! Pikachu, Pichu, jump to the wings and paralyze them!" Chris said, both electric Pokémon nodded and they jumped to the tail, they climbed through the back and they reached the top, then, using both attacks, they casted a double Thunder paralyzing the huge bug and it screams in pain and falls on his back (they jumped out just in time) on the center of the wooden platforms and he realeses his pink spots.

"He isn't death yet! We have to destroy those legs or he'll rise again!" Mewtwo said.

Link quickly stood there and Midna casted the force field to lock-on all the six legs of the bug and they start to leap from leg to leg, dealing a fatal blow which made the monster to yell in pain and he swims frantically in the water before jumping above them and exploding, dropping the last Light Essence which floats to Link and Midna and the crowd cheers the group for their victory.

Music stops

"Whoa! What's happening?!" Popo asked confused as Link and Midna started to glow intensely which made them to block their eyes as an strange magic teleports all of them to somewhere else.

Lanayru's Spring

The Vessel of Light floats down inside the water of the place and the Twilight Realm starts to fade out, then Link, Chris, Pikachu, Pichu, Popo, Nana and Lucario started to feel a power, changing them to their normal appearances in a bright flash.

"I-I'm a human again!" Chris said jumping, he noticed that he was instantly using the Swordsman job, he looked at the rest, Popo and Nana were jumping and hugging each other happily for not being a Topi again, Pichu was hugging Pikachu for having losing his fangs and Lucario's fur was back to normal and his fangs were inside his mouth again, and Link was now a normal human again without Midna.

"Yes, it's good to see you normal again..." Lucario trailed off.

"...Oh please Lucario, we've already been for this situation before and you accepted it." Chris said.

"...I accepted it..."

Chris sighed and he approached to Lucario "Then I have no choice but!" He started to rub the head of the Aura Pokémon before stopping again "Now how you feel?"

"A little bit more relaxed." Lucario replied with a little smile.

"That's good." Chris said with a smile before looking at Link "Well, it's nice to meet you finally!" He noticed that Link just smiled and Chris narrowed his eyes "Oh no, not this again..." He said frowning to himself and he walks up behind Link, the Hero of Twilight made a confused before Chris punched his back...hard, and Link spats out something from his mouth that fell inside the water and he grabs his throat, trying to catch his breath.

"What was that?" Popo asked confused.

"Ugh, my throat...wait, I can talk again!" Link said surprised.

"Don't tell me he had a-" Mewtwo was interrupted before the thing Link dropped inside the water returned from a water gun and it fell in front of Nana, who made a sick face.

"YUCK! IT'S ANOTHER CHICKEN BONE!" She said hiding behind Popo.

"Wait, what do you mean by another chicken bone?" Chris asked confused.

"The previous Link had also a chicken bone stuck in his throat in the past tournament, and so did Young Link." Mewtwo explained.

"What's wrong with Links and chicken bones?" Chris asked to himself with a chuckle.

Out of a sudden, the whole spring started to shook violently and a light ball floated from the center of the room, the water was making waves at every direction and then, a big, long, shiny snake took the light ball in his mouth and he looks at the group standing before them atop the cliff of the room.

"Whoa! Just look at that! It's...beautiful!" Nana said.

"The light of this land has returned once more, thanks to the Hero of Twilight and his efforts." The snake spoke to them "I am Lanayru, the Light Spirit that guards this spring."

"Li-Link, have you been meeting these kinds of magical creatures before?" Pikachu asked.

"I see you brought different allies with you." Lanayru said.

"Well..." Chris trailed off.

"It is because of the other menace that is currently trying to create destruction inside the Lakebed Temple."

"Do you mean..." Popo trailed off and Lanayru nodded.

"Yes, but that is not important now," The Light Spirit looked at Link "I need to tell you the story of the Fused Shadows and the Twilight Realm, it would be necessary knowledge to you to know."

The Light Spirit explained everything to Link and the others about the Fused Shadows, the Twilight Realm, and the Light Spirits were charged by the gods to protect the light that sustains the World of Light and the task to intervene when the Twili attempted to intervene the Sacred Realm, and the sealing of the tribe's power in the Fused Shadows.

"Those who do not know the danger of seeking power will be ruled by it." Were the words that the Light Spirit told them that was currently inside their minds. After he told Link to seek the Fused Shadows, he disappeared, hiding inside the water and leaving only trails of light.

"Okay, now that we know the danger of the Twili, what do we do now?" Popo asked and all of them got in a thinking position.

"...Wait, are we forgetting something?" Pichu asked.

"Oh, right! The favor the queen of the Zoras asked us to do!" Chris said.

"Then we're heading to the Castle Town." Link said.

"Let me handle this." Mewtwo said, gathering his energy to teleport them to the east entrance of the town.

Near Hyrule Castle Town

When they were teleported near the Castle Town, a golden wolf was blocking their way to the town, he had a red eye and he was panting heavily, even if he was sat on the ground.

"What is a golden wolf doing here?" Marth asked.

"Chris, stay behind!" Lucario said after noticing that Link and Chris were close to the golden wolf, the rare animal started to growl and Chris saw Link taking out his sword.

"Link, are we going to kill him?" Chris asked.

"No, he is-WATCH OUT!" Link yelled quickly after watching the golden wolf lunging at both of them, Chris quickly turned his head to see the wolf jumping towards both of them before a blinding light engulfed the whole place, changing the scenery.

Sacred Grounds

"...Ugh..."

"Chris, open your eyes, we're fine." Link said, his voice was echoing.

"...Huh?" Chris opened his eyes, realising that he and Link were in another different place, it was cloudy, or it was filled with mist, there were images of important places in Hyrule far away from them, the Hyrule Castle was standing proudly in front of their eyes and the floor couldn't be seen "Where are we?"

"This is one of those trainings of the Hero's Spirit." Link said pointing to the golden wolf who was looking at them as he was sat on the mist, panting heavily.

"Okay, this is ridiculous, but what's wrong with me and wolves? I mean, first, I have an enemy with a wolf that is trying to kill me and the others, then, I have a friend who almost ATE me alive by accident when he was a wolf," Link looked away embarrassed "And now you're telling me that this wolf is a Hero's Spirit? Who is making me fight all these wolves anyway?" Chris asked very annoyed for the fact that he has been fighting againts so many wolves on his adventure.

Either the golden wolf was deaf or he ignored Chris's complain because he howled at the sky, creating a blinding light and in his place, a skull entity wearing a rusty armor with a sword appeared in front of them.

"Hero of Twilight, we meet again," The Hero's Spirit said "And I see you brought another Swordsman in training for the menace."

"M-me?" Chris asked pointing at himself and the Hero's Spirit nodded.

"Correct, now is time for me to teach the two of you the next technique, the Back Slice!" The Hero's Spirit said.

Hidden Skill: Back Slice

"When fighting againts heavily armored enemies, using the Shield Bash may not be enough to drop their guards, but fortunately, some enemies lack armor on their backs that is easily to hit with the Back Slice, I'll show you how." The Hero's Spirit quickly rolled around the 2 of them and he rises from the floor with a yell doing a slash with his sword on their backs, but without doing damage "That's how the Back Slice is done, now show me that technique again!"

"Y-you first Link, I need to see it again." Chris said backing away, the Hero's Spirit prepared his sword and Link did the same, but he jumped to the left of the skull spirit, rolling in the floor and he yelled, doing a slash on his back and the Hero's Spirit falls on the floor before standing up.

"Great, now let's see if the younger Swordsman can do it." The Hero's Spirit said looking at Chris who sweated a little but took out his sword.

"O-okay, here I go I think..." Chris said approaching to the spirit, he looked around first for an opening but the spirit quickly pushed him with his sword "Oww! What was that for?!"

"Your enemy will not wait for you to make the next move, you need to act quickly before he deals the first blow! Remember that well!" The Hero's Spirit said angrily.

Chris nodded slowly "A-alright! Then let me do it!" He said rushing towards the spirit with his sword ready, the Hero's Spirit lifted his sword in the air to hit Chris, but Chris jumped to the right side and the sword was stuck in the floor, he rolled around the spirit until rising up from the ground, yelling and doing the Back Slice, making the spirit to back away slowly.

"Great..." The Hero's Spirit turned to them "You did it with great courage, the Hidden Skill: the Back Slice, has been passed on!" The Hero's Spirit said and both nodded, doing the Back Slice before sheathing their swords in different ways (Chris failed at sheathing in the first try and he blushed embarrassed before putting it away).

"Wow, this technique will be handy!" Chris said smiling a bit.

"Now let's go." Link said.

"Wait," The Hero's Spirit interrupted them "I need to tell you, younger Swordsman, about the strength that you possess."

"It's because of the sword or what materials were used to create it?" Chris asked confused but the spirit shook his head.

"No, the edge of the sword does not matters, neither the materials that were used to create sword are not important. A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." The Hero's Spirit said to Chris, who looked at his sword.

"My courage is important, no matter what sword I use?" Chris asked and the spirit nodded chuckling a little.

"Very well, you learned the true meaning of the swords. Now go and banish the evil spirits!" The Hero's Spirit said before a blinding light took place between them, changing the place again.

Near Hyrule Castle Town

"...Chris...Chris...Chris..."

"...Ugh..."

"Chris, wake up."

"Huh?" Chris found himself laying on the floor with everyone else looking at him and Link, then they got up "What happened?"

"That wolf blinded us with a strange light and later, we found you unconscious on the ground." Marth explained.

"Are you alright?" Lucario asked.

Chris nodded slowly "Yes, I'm fine... Well, what are we waiting for? We need to save that Zora!" He said rushing inside the town but he noticed that he, Marth, the Ice Climbers and Link were going with him "Hmm, hey, are you going in?" He asked to the group of Pokémon.

"We can't, if the humans inside the town sees us, they will start an uproar." Lucario said.

"Yeah, go on without us, we'll be fine." Pikachu said.

"Okay, but be careful." Chris said before leaving with the others.

Later...

Telma's Bar

After the group of 5 Smashers entered the place, Link quickly went where the girl was standing with Ralis, the sick Zora child.

"I-Ilia..." Link said.

"...Huh? Did you called me by my name?" The girl with the name of Ilia asked surprised "But...I don't know you."

Link suddenly felt a little shocked after hearing Ilia's words, what happened to her? She forgot all about him? And how?

"Hey there," The tall woman who was previously with Ilia approached to Link and the others "You must be a talented Swordsman am I right?" She asked with a smile and Link nodded "I beg your pardon, but we're in a hard situation over here. You see, this Zora is very sick currently, and we need to take him to an acquaintance of mine that lives in Kakariko Village, his name is Renado, the shaman of the village."

"Renado? I know him." Link responded.

"Really?" The woman smiled upon hearing that "Well that's good! Right now, we need a escort to cross the Hyrule Fields and-"

"Then let's take your request ma'am!" A voice came from behind the woman and she looks behind to find a group of soldiers with their lances "We can help you in your escort along the way! Right soldiers?" The soldier asked lifting his lance in the air with a crazy yell and his soldiers joined him with the same yell of some sort of victory.

"Nothing is getting bad this time honey!" The woman said with another smile "This escort will be of so much help to get rid of the wild monsters roaming the fields! Right guys?..." The woman turned his head to see the soldiers gone from the bar, except for a small soldier who looked around confused and he runs away from the bar, screaming like a maniac and the woman got a little angry by this "Great! Don't ever show your faces here again! You hear me?!" She said with a scary tone.

"Excuse me, ma'am..." Marth said.

"You can call me Telma pretty boy." The woman introduced herself as Telma with a wink to Marth.

"Err...Telma...right...if you don't mind, we can be your escort with all of us, it doesn't matters how many monsters are outside in the fields."

Telma looked at Link's little group "3 Swordsmans and 2 little kids with hammers...well!" She turned to Ilia with another smile "Better this than nothing dear!"

"We would like to help!" The Ice Climbers said jumping.

"I'll be glad to help as well!" Chris said.

"With respect, I shall escort you." Marth said.

"See dear? Everything will be fine with these 5 young warriors, they are better than those coward soldiers!" Telma said, reassuring Ilia.

"Thank you...I really appreciate your help." Ilia said with a little smile.

"Okay then," Telma said, putting her hands on her hips "I'll prepare the carriage, you 5 meet us outside the east gate." She said.

Near Hyrule Castle Town

It was night already, the group of 7 looked at the bridge above Lake Hylia to find King Bulblin riding Lord Bullbo, guarding the bridge from any trespasser that dared to pass the bridge.

"So you say the Bridge of Eldin was destroyed, correct?" Telma asked to Link and he nodded "This doesn't looks good, we need to take him out to take the other route towards Kakariko Village," She looked at Link again "That's where you enter my dear! You'll ride your horse to defeat that thing!"

The scene changes further to the west, showing the carriage ready with Ilia, Ralis, Chris, Popo, Nana and Marth inside with Telma sitting in front of the carriage, holding the rope of the horse. And Link was riding Epona "Now hear me boys, after this kind Swordsman defeats that monster, we'll take a dangerous route filled with monsters that will fire arrows with fire at us, but you need to protect the carriage from getting burned or else we die!"

"Right!" They said in unison, Chris looked at the top of a hill to find Lucario, Mewtwo, Pikachu and Pichu looking at them while hiding from Telma and Ilia.

Ilia thought for a moment before looking at Link "Thanks for your help, but, may I ask you what is your name?" She asked.

"Link." Link said.

"Link... I think I heard that name before... Thanks Link, I'll remember this." She said with a little smile and Link her a little smile too, but he didn't forgot why Ilia lost her memory about him.

"Now, let's start!" Telma said commanding the horse to run, pulling the carriage along with Link as he went ahead with Epona to prepare his fight againts King Bulblin.

Hyrule Field (Twilight Princess)

GET
READY!

Link stood there riding Epona from the north side of the bridge and King Bulblin was riding Lord Bullbo on the south side of the bridge, he was using this time 2 big shields in each arms to protect his body from Spin Attacks coming from Link and the Hero of Twilight gasped a little.

"What should I do now?" Link asked to himself after looking at the shields of the monster "Wait, what if I use my arrows?"

He was soon interrupted because King Bulblin was already rushing at him with his lance ready, Link had no other plan but to rush to him as well with his bow ready, he quickly prepared an arrow and he aimed at King Bulblin's head.

"(Wait, maybe I can help Link if I use my arrows as well...)" Chris thought while taking out his bow and an arrow, he put the arrow on the cord of the bow and he aimed to the head of the monster as well.

"NOW!" Link yelled firing his arrow to the monster, the arrow went flying quickly towards the head and it was encrusted instantly upon impact, however, King Bulblin took the arrow out of his head and he throwed it away before preparing his lance again, Link noticed that he and Epona were close to both monsters and he quickly took another arrow, but it was too late and King Bulblin thrusted his lance towards him and Link shielded himself with his shield.

"HAA!" Chris found the right time to fire his own arrow and it went flying straight to the head again, and fortunately, in the same spot as Link's arrow was encrusted, dealing painful damage to King Bulblin and he lost consciousness, leaving Lord Bullbo in confusion and it went running to the left side of Link and Epona, then his monster rams into the blocks of the bridge, making the king of the Bulblins to fall deep in the lake.

"Okay! Let's move on!" Popo said and Telma nodded, ordering the horse to cross the briddge with Link guarding their front, he found the Gate Keys where King Bulblin crashed to unlock the gates of the Ordona Province and Kakariko Village.

"WAAAHH!! THERE THEY ARE!" Nana yelled pointing to the Bulblins above the cliffs preparing their arrows with fire which were directed at the carriage, however, a unknown explosion made one of the monsters to fall off the cliffs, then 2 thunders fell from the sky eliminating a group of four of them and 3 were crushed by a levitating rock. Telma, after watching this, made a confused face.

"What in the world was that? Are the gods helping us?" She asked to herself while ordering the horse to turn to the left.

"It seems so." Marth said with a very silent chuckle.

"(Good job Lucario!)" Chris thought in his mind with a smile.

Near Faron Woods

Link dismounted Epona and he unlocked the gates of the Ordona Province, then the carriage continued its way inside the field and Link quickly remounted Epona and he protected the right side, for their misfortune, a big horde of Bulblins riding Bullbos appeared from far away preparing their arrows, they fired like 6 of them and they reached the carriage, igniting it.

"AAAAHHH!!" Ilia screamed after finding fire above the roof, the Ice Climbers looked at each other and nodded.

"YAH!" They used Blizzard to disappear the fire from the carriage and it worked, the fire was gone but Ilia got a little surprised after watching a blizzard coming from their mouths.

"H-how did you do that?" She asked.

"A special ability we learned a long time ago." Nana said with a smile, Ilia didn't understood what was that but she gave them a little smile with a nod.

"AAH!" They heard Link screaming in pain after finding a fire arrow encrusted on his right arm. But he took it out from his arm and used it againts the Bulblins.

"That's it! They asked for it!" Chris said preparing another arrow to a group of three Bulblins, he got out his tongue for a moment to aim well before launching the arrow at the Bulblin of the right, he shook his head violently and the Bullbo was getting confused, then the big boar veered to his right, crashing with the other Bullbos and throwing the Bulblins out of them "Yes! I love to use arrows!" Chris said looking at his bow.

"What the... MARTH! THEY ARE CARRYING BOMBS!" Popo said after finding a flock of birds carrying bombs in their claws, Marth not only looked at them, but he knew that they were at close range meaning that he could reach them if he extended his sword to their feets, so he did it quickly before they could throw the bombs, eliminating only one and two were left, although for his bad luck, they were high in the air, close to the other.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Chris said firing an arrow to the bomb of one of them, it made the bomb explode upon impact, and since both birds were so close, they fell to the grass because both bombs were near each other "Another victory for the bow!" Chris said excited.

Suddenly, the carriage was attacked by 3 bombs from 3 other birds, creating fire above the roof, Ilia screamed terrified but Link used his Gale Boomerang to disappear the flames, he did it before returning to slashing the Bokoblins with his sword.

"We're entering the Eldin Province! Hold on a little longer!" Telma said ordering the horse to speed up towards the province of Eldin through a corner, however, little did they know that a big horde of Bokoblins riding Bullbos were waiting for them on the other side.

Near Kakariko Village

"Oh no, look up ahead!" Nana said pointing to the bridge, 10 Bokoblins were waiting for them preparing to shot their fire arrows at them, but Telma didn't told the horse to slow down.

"Wait, are you crazy? We're going to crash into them!" Marth said.

"That's the plan, but I know they're going to fire the arrows just before we kill them," She looked to them "But with the help of those little kids, they should put the fire out in less time, right?"

"Right!" Both Ice Climbers said nodding.

"HERE WE GO!" Telma said speeding up the horse, the Bokoblins shot their arrows at full speed, they passed through the mantle of the carriage and the Ice Climbers quickly used Blizzard to put it out, although it could take them a little more time than the last time. And Telma was able to crush them with the horse.

"AAAHHH! MORE BOMBS COMING AT US!" Chris said spotting 8 birds carrying bombs in each claws and they dropped them above, Chris quickly tried to shoot them with their arrows, but unfortunately, he destroyed 3 of the 8 bombs and they collided with the carriage, and the horse went crazy and he veered to another direction scared to death while Telma tried to calm him down to return to the path.

"Link! Do something, quick!" Ilia said trying to shield Ralis from the explosions, Link was very busy trying to kill the horde of Bokoblins riding the Bullbos, but he ignored and quickly went towards the birds who were still carrying the bombs.

"I'll join you!" Chris said shooting more arrows at the birds, both Swordsmans started to fire arrows like crazy because the birds were dodging almost all of them, but for the luck of them, they took down the 8 birds with one shot since they were so close to each other, carrying the bombs that made a chain reaction of explosions, Link quickly noticed that the Bokoblins that were fighting him had shot mary fire arrows at the carriage as the Ice Climbers did their best to save the mantle and the carriage, so he took out again his Gale Boomerang to take the fire out, and he did it again.

"Link, sweetie, the gate is in front of us! Open it!" Telma said stopping the horse in front of the locked gate, Link dismounted Epona and he ran at the gate, but a lot of Bokoblins came out of nowhere preparing their arrows.

"Stop right there!" Marth shouted jumping out of the carriage and he ran at the Bokoblins with great speed, cutting their bodies in a quick flash, Chris also joined him by stabbing his sword in the heart of one of them and he noted that a Shadow Ball, an Aura sphere and 2 Thunders were coming right above the Bokoblins, destroying them as they yelled in extreme pain, Chris looked around to find the Pokémon and he smiled.

"Thank you guys!" Chris said.

"Alright, let's enter the village, now!" Telma said, commanding the horse to enter the village before some bombs touched the carriage, Link, Marth, Chris and Epona ran inside the village where they succeeded in protecting Ralis, as the crowd cheers for them for their success.

Music stops

Kakariko Village

After completing the task of taking Ralis through the Hyrule Field, the kids of Ordon were thanking Link for finding Ilia and admiring how he was brave at going through all the trouble (especially Colin, a kid Link knew from the village), later, Telma told Link about a resistance group that she is part of before Renado told Link that Ralis was going to be fine and he walked away, Telma looked at Renado and she looked at Link.

"Well Link, I need to go with Renado," She winked at Link "Before I go, I need to tell you something, there is a secret passage inside my bar that leads directly to the Hyrule Castle, if you want to know where is it, come to the bar, good bye!" She said running towards Renado, later, the Smashers appeared behind him.

"Now that we brought Ralis safely into the village, what do we do now?" Nana asked.

It was not long before Rutela appeared before them to the right of the house of Renado and she floated away towards the Graveyard.

"Should we follow her?" Marth suggested and they nodded before running to follow the queen of the Zoras.

Graveyard

"Lucario! Thank you for your help!" Chris said finding the Pokémon standing near a grave.

"Chris, that queen passed through that wall from over there and there's this weird rock with a weird symbol that disappeared when she passed the wall!" Pichu said, pointing to a hole in the wall leading to somewhere else.

"Hmm, we can crawl inside the hole." Link said as he entered the hole by crawling inside and they looked at each other.

"...Okay, I'll crawl inside." Chris said entering the hole.

"It's better if I just float to the other side." Mewtwo said floating to the other side of the wall as the others crawled inside the hole to pass, on the other side of the wall, they found a spring with a tombstone with the symbol of the Zora's Sapphire.

"Wow, this place is beautiful too!" Nana said admiring the water around her.

They found Rutela floating near the tombstone and she spoke to them "Thank you for saving my son from the death, as I have said before, you reward is below the tombstone of my husband. This place of the Graveyard is a special place for the Zoras of the Royal Family, like my son Ralis, now, I will open the tombstone." She said waving her hand slowly and the tombstone backed away slowly, Link looked to what was below and he found clothes with Zora's scales on them.

"With this, now you can breathe under the water as the Zoras, you can now reach the Lakebed Temple that resides deep inside the Lake Hylia, for now, I need to depart and leave all of you in your quest," She said, disappearing "Good luck, Hero of Twilight..." She said before fading away.

Link put the Zora Armor on and he looked at the water below him.

"But...how are we going to get inside the Lakebed Temple?" Pikachu asked "Link can only enter that place with his clothes!" Everyone looked at Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo, do you have any idea?" Link asked.

"Yes, wait a minute..." Mewtwo glowed for a moment before everyone except Link glowed but stopped after a second "Now, you can breathe inside the water with a special bubble of air, with this, you can't drown."

"Hmm..." Popo jumped inside the water and he noticed that a bubble was covering his mouth "Wow! I can breathe!" He said surprised.

"I-I hope I can swim inside..." Chris jumped inside the water and soon, everyone else entered inside as a bubble of air appeared on their mouths to let them breathe, except for Link because Midna appeared again.

"Link, do you think we can trust them?"

"Midna, they're friends and they can help us a lot."

Midna snickered a bit "But...they..."

"Midna, stop it, I know them perfectly, stop acting like that around them."

"Ugh..." She said hiding inside Link's shadow and he jumped inside the water, Lucario was destroying a huge rock blocking their path with his fists and they swam to the other side, appearing in Lake Hylia.

Preview of the next chapter

"Wait...what is that?" Pikachu asked.

"Darn it! They're here now!" Porky said.

"And? What are you going to do? Midna?" The dark voice asked smirking.

"(So they are trying to kill Link, I won't let them ruin my plans so easily)" She thought with a smirk on her face.

"Phew...that huge worm was almost killing us!" Nana said.

"Link! Look over there!" Midna said pointing to a random direction and Link looked confused at that way, Midna took the opportunity and she made quickly a dark portal, teleporting the rest of the Smashers "I'm sorry, but I won't let you kill Link and ruin my plans!" She said telepathically.

"Foolish, little Midna..." Zant said, opening his helmet to talk above Midna's left shoulder "Betrayal is such a good thing, isn't it?"

"No...you fooled me!" Midna said gritting her teeths.

"Who said I did that?" Zant asked with a smirk.

"Next time: Midna's Betrayal!" Link said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Hyrule
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Link, Midna

Moral of the chapter: Wolves for the win. XD

Oh no, I don't like the title of the chapter...Midna will betray them? But how?

Okay, the true epicness starts in the next chapter, where we will see the invasion of the Subspace Army in the Lakebed Temple and the betrayal of Midna, I'm planning to add the quest to find the Master Swords too, which will be a darker side of the arc. Oh, and the title of this chapter was a warning for what is waiting inside the temple for them.

References:

-"The Arrow was shot" music was used because I couldn't find an appropriate music for the battle againts that bug-thingy, it was this or the "Great Sea" music, cookies to whoever knows where did this music came from! :)

-The chicken bone was a reference to the Wind Waker arc.

And we made it to the 50th chapter! Thank you everyone!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 51*: Suffer Midna's Betrayal, Peasants!

Ugh, I had a horrible Writer's Block this time, but luckily, this chapter was meant to be short since it's only for showing fighting scenes, and to remind all of you, the next chapter is the end of this arc.

Now in related news:

TALES OF THE ABYSS! I GOT TALES OF THE ABYSS!

Ahem, thank you prosser783 for telling from which game the music "The Arrow was Shot" came from, now please, enjoy this chapter.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 51: Midna's Betrayal!

Lake Hylia

The Smashers continued their way deep inside the lake where they found a cave blocked by a rock above the reef that was blowing air.

"Now, how do we enter in that place?" Chris asked.

"Leave it to me." Lucario said swimming towards the rock and he started to destroy it with his fists to uncover the entrance, after the rock was turned into pebbles, they entered the temple (with Lucario grabbing Chris by the hand since he doesn't know how to swim).

Lakebed Temple

"Oh no! I'm in the water! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" Dr. Kawashima said in shock.

"Relax, the DS has also a bubble to protect you." Chris said and the doctor sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness!" He said "Oh, and by the way, I'm detecting some disturbance inside the temple, be careful out there!"

"You mean the Subspace Army?"

"Uh-huh! They're here! But not only that, there is a general inside too!"

"Don't tell me it's Wolf again!"

Dr. Kawashima shook his head "Nope, this time is a machine, a fat old kid!"

"A machine, a fat old kid?"

"Yep, there is no doubt about it, you should be careful, since his mind is very disturbed and...retarded."

"I wonder who that is..."

2 hours later... (Since it could be boring to write the entire walkthrough of the temple, we'll have to skip it to the boss battles).

Sub-Boss Area

After swimming inside the dungeon and deactivating and activating the traps and switches, the group got inside a room by the water from below.

"Ha! That'll teach that frog to not mess with the great, incredible, genius, marvelous, handsome, dreamy, cute, best, adorable, dangerous, powerful, all-mighty, gorgeous, amazing, coolest, super, genius-"

"You said genius again...genius." Popo said.

The mysterious person turned his huge machine to see the Smashers looking at him with blank faces.

"Wait...what is that?" Pikachu asked.

"Darn it! They're here now!" Porky said.

"And to think a fat old kid was a joke..." Chris said frowning.

Porky looked at everyone but after finding Lucario, he pointed one of his claws at him "YO-YOU!" He said in shock.

"Do you have any problem with me?" Lucario asked with a glare.

"YOU! YOU WERE THAT BASTARD WHO SHOT A STRANGE BLUE BALL AT ME BACK IN CHAPTER NUMBER 4!" Porky said angrily.

"What does he means by "chapter number 4" Chris?" Pichu asked confused.

"I...don't...know..." Chris replied very confused.

Pichu walked behind Porky who just stared at him and the Pokémon found the Subspace Bomb placed behind Porky "I found the bomb!"

"Okay, let's deactivate it." Nana said as everyone walked towards the bomb and ignoring Porky completely.

"..." Porky started to think "WAIT! You're not supposed to deactivate the bomb, who knows what will that crazy Virtual Old Man do to me!" He said slamming his claws at the rock beneath him.

"Ugh, fine, we'll fight you." Mewtwo said annoyed.

Porky's Theme

GET
READY!

"Hey! What was that just now? I'm not an interesting opponent to fight with?!" Porky asked as he slammed his claws at Link, who rolled away to dodge them.

"Well, we heard you praising yourself with so many, wrong things a moment ago." Pikachu said running below Porky.

"Shaddup! You don't know what beauty really is!" He said launching a red beam at Lucario, who dodged it by running to the right.

"Come on, you have a very pale skin, old man!" Popo said slamming his hammer at one of the claws.

"I'M NOT AN OLD MAN! I'M A YOUNG, PRETTY BOY!" Porky said trying to crush Popo, Nana and Mewtwo by doing a mad rush with his claws, but Mewtwo teleported himself and the Ice Climbers behind Porky before he stupidly crashed into the hard wall.

"If by pretty you mean leaving your mouth open all the time, then the answer is yes." Mewtwo said.

"DIE YOU PUSSY CAT!"

Mewtwo was starting to glow "That's it...now you have done it..." Mewtwo concentrated his psychic abilities by gathering them in his right hand before pointing it at Porky's Spider Mech, the machine was starting to float above the rock but Porky tried to get in the floor by moving his claws frantically, which made Mewtwo to close his eyes slowly to resist the struggling "...Stop...now..."

"Mewtwo is in trouble! We have to help him!" Link said running below Porky and he stabbed his sword at the machine, going through the gears and missing Porky's right shoulder by mere inches inside the machine.

"HEY! WATCH IT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS MACHINE COSTS TO ME?!" Porky pointed out furiously after the sword was gone from his shoulder.

"BEGONE!" Mewtwo yelled directing Porky's machine towards the wall, destroying it and leaving a huge mark of the mech.

"Ugh! Now you're trying my patience! Porky-Bots, go!" Porky said releasing 6 Porky-Bots who ran in a weird fashion after them, they tripped floating a little above the wet ground before exploding right into Pikachu, Chris, Pichu, the Ice Climbers, Link and Marth.

"Why...is the...fire...so strong?!" Link asked holding his arm in pain.

"It's because of that armor! The scales are weak againts fire!" Marth stated.

"So THAT'S how it is!" Porky said trying to smirk.

"Marth! You idiot!" Link said and Marth was starting to swear under his breath in japanese before more Porky-Bots came from Porky.

"Arrow time!" Chris said firing more arrows at half of the robots before they exploded, but the remaining 3 were still running around until they tripped towards Link again.

"HIIIYYAAAAHHH!" Lucario launched an Aura Sphere that passed through the 3 robots, exploding in midair before touching Link.

"A marvelous plan was just demolished! I'll kill you all!" Porky said jumping in the air and hovering, he commanded his Spider Mech to charge up a thunder attack from beneath his machine.

"Wait, STOP!" Chris said trying to stop Porky, but it was too late and Porky fired his thunder attack into the wet ground, and the whole room was electrocuted because it was very wet from the floor to the roof and they received a lot of damage after that.

"Is...anyone alright?" Marth asked breathing heavily.

"We're fine!" Pichu said raising his hand with Pikachu, the bolt made almost no damage to both of them, instead, they drained a little of the electricity but suffered a little bit "I'll use Thunde-"

"NO! You're just going to repeat the previous attack!" Chris said.

"But..."

Porky landed on the floor "HA! AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE HARDER TO BEAT THAN THAT!" He taunted, trying to smirk again.

"(Okay, he is not watching me,)" Chris thought while walking slowly behind Porky's Spider Mech "(If I can sneak to the top, I could stab my sword in the glass and defeat him.)"

"Wow, I'll defeat you all in style!"

Chris was approaching "(Just a little more...)"

"By using another thunder attack!"

"(Closer...)"

"Yes! That's how I'll this useless fight!"

"(Come on...don't look over here...)"

"Hahaha! I'm so darn evil!"

"(And...)"

"So let's finish this already!"

"(...No...my...)"

"What the? What did I just hit?"

Everybody had their eyes widened, Porky accidentaly struck Chris below his left claw with force that it shocked everyone, especially Lucario, whose jaw was dropped in terror after he saw...blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! MY BACK! IT HURTS SO MUCH! UGH! I...I NEED...I NEED TO STAY ALIVE!!" Chris screamed in extreme pain after feeling a lot of blood getting out of his back and Porky was sweating like crazy inside his machine.

"Oo-oops, I think I made a mistake...WAIT! THAT WASN'T A MISTAKE RIGHT?!"

"OH NO! HE'S LOSING A LOT OF BLOOD!" Nana said in shock.

"STOP!" Mewtwo yelled as he used Confusion to stop the blood from escaping Chris's body "Whew, that was close, but it's not enough to heal him!"

"HA! AND THAT FURRY MADE EVERYTHING SO HARD, MR. VIRTUAL OLD MAN WILL SURELY BE PLEASED AFTER I TELL HIM THIS!...Wait...where is this earthquake coming from?" Porky asked looking around after feeling a strong earthquake shaking the water below his claws.

"Lu-Lucario?! Are you alright?!" Pichu asked terrified after he saw Lucario's body glowing as he was gathering all of his aura that he could, the Ice Climbers, Pikachu an Pichu backed away terrorized.

"GRRRRRRR!! YOU...YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!" Lucario said as he quickly vanished by using Extremespeed and Porky quickly looked at all directions, wondering where he went.

"Hey! Where is him? I want to crush his body but good!" Porky asked angrily, but then, his machine was being lifted from the floor and everyone saw Lucario lifting the big machine as his eyes were in a bright, yellow color "PUT ME DOWN, YOU FREAK!"

"GGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!" Lucario threw the spider mech to the roof with great speed and Porky went flying and screaming like an idiot before crashing into the roof, then after 5 seconds, the machine fell from the roof and Porky saw Lucario's right hand glowing with an intense light before he went rocketing using a combination of Extremespeed and Force Palm, the Aura Pokémon passed through the machine and just below Porky's feet before the machine exploded, leaving the old kid out of cold with his destroyed Spider Mech above the floor.

"Wh-whoa! Th-that was very intense!" Pikachu said astonished before Lucario landed, still glowing and he turned to see Porky with a menacious glare.

"...Now the repairs...are going to...cost me a fortune...oh no..." Porky saw Lucario approaching slowly to him with clenched fists glowing with aura and somehow, his Spider Mech reacted quickly, still badly damaged "HELL NO! I'M NOT GOING TO DIE IN THIS WATER PRISON! LIKE THEY SAY, RUN AWAY TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY! GOOD BYE LOSERS, IT WAS A PAINFUL PLEASURE TO MEET YOU! YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Porky screamed scarred for life, and if that wasn't enough, the portal appeared just behind the Subspace Bomb and he ran towards it and crushing the bomb in the process before disappearing "STILL, YOU WON'T DEFEAT THE MONSTER INSIDE THE TEMPLE! HAHAHA! I WIN AFTER ALL!" He said as his voice echoed.

This time, however, the crowd didn't gave any cheers for them...

Music stops

"Mewtwo! How is Chris?" Link asked worried.

"It's not good, we need to take him back at the mansion or he'll die here!" Mewtwo said.

"I-I-I DON'T WANT TO DIE! P-P-PLEASE, I-I-I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I-I-I BEG OF YOU!" Chris pleaded crying, scared to death. Pichu was very scared and he embraced Pikachu in horror, Nana did the same with Popo.

"Chris! Please, hang in there!" Lucario said as he stopped glowing, kneeling to calm Chris.

"What's all the commotio-HOLY NUMBERS! CHRIS!" Dr. Kawashima said surprised inside Chris's pocket "WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?! HE NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT!"

"But how?" Pikachu asked in shock.

"EASY! First, he needs to return to the mansion before more blood comes out from his back, but also, somebody needs to keep the Wiimote to leave this world before he leaves, I'd also like to take Mr. Mewtwo along to heal him too!" Dr. Kawashima explained.

Pichu searched inside Chris's pocket and he found the Wiimote "I found it!" He said, showing it to them.

"Good, use it when this world is saved, I sense some strong readings deeper in the temple, but not only that, there are more strong readings coming from the southeast region of Hyrule."

"Wait, southeast...it's near my village!" Link said surprised.

"To be more accurate, they're inside a forest, but I don't know why they are there."

"O-okay..." Chris said trembling "I-I leave everything t-to y-you, M-Marth..."

"...Fine, but promise me you're going to be alright and resist the pain." Marth said nodding.

"I-I-I'll promise." Chris said, Pichu opened the portal to the Smash Mansion, Mewtwo carried Chris using Confusion but Lucario stopped them "W-w-what i-i-is it, L-L-Lucario?"

"I...want to follow you." Lucario said.

"N-n-no, you s-stay behind."

"But Chris! Just look at your wound! Also, I promised that I was going to protect you, but I failed this time." Lucario said closing his eyes.

"L-L-Lucario, please, l-l-listen to me, t-t-they need you m-m-more than I-I-I do, d-d-don't worry a-a-about me, I-I-I'll be fine."

Lucario looked down sadly "...If...that's what you want...I won't argue."

Chris gave him a very worried smile "T-t-thanks..." He managed to say before he fainted.

"Chris!" Mewtwo blocked Lucario with one hand "Don't stop me!"

"You already told him that you were going to listen to him," Mewtwo looked at Chris "He'll live, stop getting preocupied now."

"Mewtwo! Stop being so harsh on Lucario!" Nana said upset.

"Sorry, but we must leave now, excuse us." Mewtwo said, entering the portal with Chris.

"Hey, why hasn't the portal disappeared now?" Pikachu asked confused.

From the other side of the portal, many voices were heard and they gasped.

"What in the world?!"

"He needs treatment, immediately!"

"How could they do this to him?!"

"AAAHH! I-I'm very scared!"

"C-Chris! Please, don't die!"

"He is going to be fine Lucas, r-right Mewtwo?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to act, quickly!"

"Oh man, I can't stand something like this!"

"Hurry! Take him to Lucario's Room!"

"Roger!" All the voices said in unison before the portal disappeared.

Chris and Mewtwo has left the party

"Weren't those..." Popo asked trailing off.

"...Let's go, we can't lose more time." Lucario said.

"(It had to be so hard to see him like that.)" Link thought, before his eyes found a treasure chest where the Subspace Bomb was before and he walked towards it, finding the Clawshot "I wonder how is this going to help us?"

"Link! Over here! This gate is blocking our way!" Marth said waving at Link as he pointed at a blue gate blocking their way, Link looked around for a switch to open it and that's where he saw a hanging point to use his newly acquired item. He used it to reveal that the hanging point was the switch, and the gate opened after that.

Below Link's shadow, Midna was talking to herself "...Humph, that kid almost died, that was surely a stupid move coming from him."

"Midna." A voice spoke behind her and she looked around for the source.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" She demanded with a glare.

"Midna, I know there is something troubling you, am I right?" The voice asked with a tone full of evil.

"...Shut up! There is absolutely nothing troubling me! Go away!" She said crossing her arms and looking away.

"Aw, I know what it is, it's because of them, right?"

Midna gritthed her teeths, knowing that the voice knew her problem "...Alright! You got me! They! They are causing me a lot of trouble! Happy?"

The voice chuckled evily "And haven't you wondered why did Link befriended them in matter of seconds?"

"Now...that you mention it, they appeared out of nowhere and that strange cat put a spell on him when we met."

"Exactly, isn't weird that they want to follow Link and you around too?"

"Because they want to help us, but I can't argue with Link because "he wants to stay with them", geez, what a pain." Midna said.

"...Then I leave you and the assassins alone." The voice said before leaving, but Midna gasped a little and he stopped him.

"Stop!" She yelled opening her left hand at him.

The voice turned to Midna "Yes?"

"What do you mean by "assassins"?"

"It's obvious, they look like they're assassins."

Midna chuckled to herself "Yeah, yeah, and what do you think those 2 parka kids and the 2 yellow rats are?"

"Assassins."

Midna was now getting furious "Stop this foolishness! You can't trick me!"

"Fine Midna, but I warning you, those persons can't be trusted so easily." The voice said chuckling to itself.

"I...I...I can't allow Link to die! They could ruin my plans!"

"And? What are you going to do? Midna?" The dark voice asked smirking.

"(So they are trying to kill Link, I won't let them ruin my plans so easily)" She thought with a smirk on her face.

"So what's your decision?"

"I'm going to kill them when Link doesn't look, then after that, I'll be safe with just Link around." Midna said smirking.

"Hahaha, good luck then." The voice said before disappearing "(Foolish Midna, too easy to trick by her own thoughts...she doesn't even wonders what is waiting for her ahead...you'll pay for defying the lord of all evil, mwhahahahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!)"

2 hours later...

Boss Room

After going through the temple, they finally got inside the Boss Room...which was very small room with a hole in the middle.

"What if we jump inside the hole? There could be something inside." Marth suggested.

"A monster..." Lucario trailed off.

"W-w-what?" Pichu asked scared.

"A huge monster is waiting for us inside, and not only that, I can feel the Shadow Bugs taking over his body."

"Then that means he's going to be stronger." Pikachu said.

"We've come this far and I'm not going to give up yet! Come on!" Nana said jumping inside the hole with Popo following her, Pikachu jumped inside with Pichu and finally, Link, Marth and Lucario got inside the hole, falling inside a big room filled with water.

"Whoa...this room is too big." Popo said falling to the center with everyone.

Marth looked around "Rooms like this always have a huge enemy."

Pichu gulped preocupied "W-we're going to be fine, right?"

"Of course we will!" Nana said.

"We should reach the floor now." Link said, stepping in the floor with sand.

"Strange...nothing is here besides those big seaweeds." Marth said.

"Wait," Lucario said glowing to inspect the place "I can sense life coming for us."

"Where?" Link asked.

"From..." The sand was starting to shake violently and they almost stumbled (even inside the water), they quickly swam to different directions as the sand from the center was creating a quicksand, from the sand, transparent tentacles with a dark aura came rising with speed, from one of the tentacles, a scary-looking eye came glancing at their prey, not only tentacles came, but a big mouth was located in the center of the room.

TWILIT AQUATIC
MORPHEEL

Boss Battle Song 1

GET
READY!

"Okay, now what do we do?" Popo asked.

"Popo, you have been asking the same thing over and over again when you don't know what to do!" Nana pointed out angrily.

Popo crossed his arms "Then you know what to do?"

"Well...I...was...AAAAHHHHHH!!" Nana was pulled by one of the tentacles and Popo gasped before swimming after her, but the monster threw Nana inside its mouth to swallow her.

"NANA!" Popo screamed in terror before he went after the tentacle that catched Nana.

"I'll help you!" Pikachu said swimming towards Popo, but he accidentaly got stuck by one of the tentacles and he went at all directions as the tentacle was swinging him, before throwing the yellow mouse inside the mouth again with Nana.

"PIKACHU!" Pichu yelled worried but he had second thoughts, if he used Thunder, he could attack all of them with the water all around the room.

"These...tentacles...are...so...strong!" Popo said, bashing one of the tentacles endlessly but the tentacle kept his stance and the blue Ice Climber accidentaly got his right hand stuck on it before he went around screaming, then the tentacle threw him inside the mouth.

"Stop eating them!" Lucario said swimming towards the tentacles, 4 of them went towards him but he used several tiny Aura Spheres to hold them back, but unbeknownst to him, a tentacle struck his back hard and Lucario tried to get out by punching it, but it got worse and his hands got stuck too.

"Link! We have to do something!" Marth said.

"But what can we do? Those tentacles can stick to us and...wait," Link saw the eye that was appearing from tentacle to tentacle "Don't you think there is something odd with that eye?"

Marth looked at the eye "It had been appearing inside the tentacles, but why do you ask?"

"I think that's the monster's weak point!" Link said snapping his fingers, although he didn't do any snap since he was inside the water. Forgetting that Lucario just got swallowed because of their ignorance. (Ignorance is Bliss, people).

"Umm, guys..." Pichu tried to get their attention by pulling Marth's cape.

"Shut up Pichu," Marth said, getting in a thinking position "But as you saw, the eye is too far from us, also, the tentacles keep us from reaching it." He pointed out.

"Wait," Link took out his Clawshot "Maybe this can pull that eye out!"

"Guys!" Pichu shouted.

"What?!" Both swordmans asked angrily.

"We're being dragged by the tentacles." Pichu said as he was upside-down, Link and Marth looked below to see their right foots wrapped in one tentacle and they tried to struggle out, but it was useless and the tentacles swung them around "YIKES!" Pichu yelled scared.

"HURRY LINK! USE THAT!" Marth said from afar before Link shot his Clawshot right into the eye, but the new strength that the Shadow Bugs gave to the monster was enough for the eye to resist.

"DAMN IT! GET OUT!" Link said clenching his teeths as he tried to pull the eye out.

"Pichu! I don't care if you hurt us, but use Thunder!" Marth ordered.

"O-OKAY! BUT DON'T BE MAD AT ME! PIIIIIIICCCHHHUUUUU!!" Pichu casted a thunder from above that electrocuted all the water, not only the monster but including Link and Marth. The tentacles stopped moving and Link tried to pull it out.

"Let me help you!" Marth said trying to grab the chain of the Clawshot, but fortuntely he did and joined Link to fight againts the eye by pulling the chain.

"Wait for me!" Pichu said grabbing the chain with his teeths, he began to pull the eye out with the other 2 as fast as he could.

"GET OUT!" The 3 yelled in unison and the eye went out from the tentacle towards Link, the Hero of Twilight took out his sword and he stabbed it at the eye, then the animated monstrosity tried to return to one of the tentacles but...

"NO WAY!" Marth said stabbing the eye a second time before it went floating faster to the tentacles, but for worsening the short life of the possesed eye...

"PIIICCCHUUU!!" Pichu yelled casting another thunder above the eye and hurting Link and Marth again, all the tentacles swung madly as the eye retreated inside the mouth, throwing the trio aside and luckily, Morpheel spat out the 4 Smashers, before it withdrawed inside the sand along with the tentacles.

"Yuck! That's the second time a monster eat us!" Nana complained.

"Hey, at least you didn't puke!" Popo said chuckling and he earned a glare from Nana, sweating.

"Do you think we killed him?" Marth asked to Link.

"No! He's going to appear again!" Lucario warned them, then, the sand trembled and a huge roar came below their feets, they swam to the same direction before Morpheel came as a huge worm with his dark tentacles around his mouth, the eye that they were previously defeated was now embedded to the back close to the mouth and the tentacles. His body could now eat a whole town in terms of height.

"Oh no, he's coming after us again!" Pikachu said swimming out of the way with the others quickly to evade the big mouth of Morpheel "Hey, where is Pichu?"

"HEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!!" Pichu screamed from one of the tentacles, getting away in every second.

"How do we reach him?" Popo asked.

"Ugh, keep asking Popo, someone will respond YOUR problem for sure!" Nana said annoyed.

"I know! Since the eye is now on his back, we could grab the chain of the Clawshot to pull us to him, directly going to the eye and we should reach Pichu AND attack it!" Link said.

"I really, REALLY hate you Popo!" Nana said.

"Really?" Popo asked.

"Only this time."

"Link, hurry or Pichu will be eaten!" Lucario said snapping Link from his current state, he took out his Clawshot and all of them swam to the center to get an easy point to grab the eye, they grabbed the Clawshot and Link carefully aimed it at the eye, then, he shot the chain in the right time and it got stuck in the eye again, pulling all of them to his body.

"Pichu! Hang in there!" Pikachu said stopping grabbing the back and he swam quickly towards Pichu to get him out of the tentacle.

"NOW! ATTACK THE EYE!" Link said as he and Marth started to stab their swords at the eye, Lucario punched it and the Ice Climbers smashed it with their hammers, the huge worm roared in pain and he shook his body to throw them away, but accidentaly threw Pichu out of his tentacles with Pikachu.

"I think he's mad." Pikachu said.

"Why?" Pichu asked.

"BECAUSE HE'S ABOVE US!" He yelled and they screamed, Morpheel struck the sand with his mouth missing them by some centimeters, but he managed to eat Marth and Popo this time.

"NOT AGAIN!" Popo yelled inside the beast before Morpheel appeared below Link, swallowing him too and leaving Nana, Lucario, Pikachu and Pichu alone.

"What now? We can't reach the eye without Link's Clawshot!" Nana said.

"Then we have to create our own strategy." Lucario said.

"How?" Pichu asked.

"Grab my hand and follow me!" Lucario said extending his hand at Nana, she grabbed his hand and Pikachu grabbed Nana's and Pichu grabbed Pikachu's, Lucario swam as fast as he could.

"Wait, Lucario, what are you doing?" Nana asked preocupied, Lucario was swimming towards the mouth of Morpheel and they screamed in terror "CCCCCCRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!!" Nana yelled at the top of her lungs.

"GO!" Lucario said throwing the trio to the back and sacrificing himself as he entered the mouth by his own will.

"NOOOO!! YOU BASTARD!" Nana said enraged and she started to hit the eye with all her strength, Pikachu and Pichu were slamming their tails at the eye with their final force, with their final blow combined together, Morpheel made a huge scream of pain and he shook them off his body, the creature spat Link, Marth, Popo and Lucario before he went crashing around the room's wall, destroying himself in every second that was passing, then, he crashed his mouth directly to the wall, creating a huge crack and the water was drained out fastly and to end it all, his body exploded leaving black squares floating around the room and dropping a Heart Container, the squares quickly gathered in the center and a shadow piece of a mask came from the squares, it was the mysterious Fused Shadow. The crowd cheers for them before anything else was going to happen.

Music stops

"We...we did it!" Nana said jumping happily and Popo joined her.

"Now let's leave this temple right now!" Marth said.

"And save the forest to return to the mansion." Lucario said.

"Phew...that huge worm was almost killing us!" Nana said.

"Link! Look over there!" Midna said pointing to a random direction and Link looked confused at that way, Midna took the opportunity and she made quickly a dark portal, teleporting the rest of the Smashers "I'm sorry, but I won't let you kill Link and ruin my plans!" She said telepathically.

"Mi-Midna! What are you talking abou-" Marth was interrupted.

"Shut up nancy boy!" She said and Marth glared at her comment "I'm afraid this is a good bye to you, stop following us!"

"But why?" Pikachu asked very confused.

"I don't want to tell you!"

"Okay, if that what's you want," Lucario looked at Link "Link! Help us!"

"Link, come on, we need your help!" Popo pleaded.

"...Link? What's he doing?" Nana asked confused.

Link was holding the Heart Container in his hands, the heart was floating and spinning mysteriously and Link was wondering how could that be possible, not only that, a weird green screen with the image of the heart was in front of him describing the properties.

"LINK!" They yelled annoyed in unison.

"Farewell! See you later...IN HELL!" Midna said snapping her fingers furiously and the portal took them away from the temple, by that time, Link walked towards Midna and he looked around for them.

"Midna, where are they?" Link asked.

Midna made a smile of mischief and she looked at Link "Oh, they returned to their "mansion" thing, stop goofing around and take the Fused Shadow!" She ordered pointing at the Fused Shadow floating in the center of the room, Link was very confused at this moment as he took the Fused Shadow, then Midna made another portal to the Lanayru's Spring and Link stepped inside, but Midna looked around narrowing her eyes.

"Ha! I laugh at your karma, kid!" She said with a smirk to the hole above the room.

Suddenly, a disc scratches and the image of Midna smirking evily freezes and the author's voice appears.

"Okay! It's payback time for her for being such an ass in the beginning of the game!" The author said clenching his fists before Chris's voice appears.

"Hey! You can't do that, she's vital for this chapter!" Chris said protesting.

"Watch me, she was so irritating to me!"

"How are you going to make her suffer?"

"Elemental, my currently damaged character, I'm going to use something called scene skip to humiliate her!"

"No! I won't allow you to do such thing!"

"She said you were a moron below Link's shadow, even worse, he called you a kid again."

"...On second thought, make her suffer!" He said taking out a bag with popcorn.

"Hey, can I have some?"

"Get your own damn popcorn!"

"(Geez, he took the moron part so personal...and it was a lie too...)" He thought.

"You said something?"

"Er, no, don't mind me, okay, first we rewind this part when she looks at the hole and thhhhheeeeeennnnnnnnn, go." He said continuing the story.

"Ha! I laugh at your karma, kid!" She said with a smirk to the hole above the room.

After a long, dramatical event in the Lanayru's Spring...

"Ugh! Zant...stop this...nonsense at once!" Midna said trying to escape from Zant's power in midair, the Twilight Realm was covering the spring, Link was in his wolf form, fainted because he tried to protect Midna from Zant, but the ruler of Twilight had a force field that knocked him out.

"Hehehehe...Midna, you're so hopeless in this form..." Zant said chuckling.

"Zant...just what are you trying to do?" Midna asked with gritthed teeths.

"It's so simple Midna, I'll be the one to conquer this land, and you are just a pesky rat, trying to kill me."

"You...why did you talked to me inside the temple? Thanks to you, they could have defeated you in a matter of seconds!"

"Foolish, little Midna..." Zant said, opening his helmet to talk above Midna's left shoulder "Betrayal is such a good thing, isn't it?"

"No...you fooled me!" Midna said gritting her teeths.

"Who said I did that?" Zant asked with a smirk.

"What?"

"Midna, I didn't talked to you in the first place, maybe my god talked directly to you in the shadows."

"Your god? What god are you speaking of?"

"That's a secret...my dear Midna..." Zant said motioning his hand to the spring and Midna went flying in the center of the cliff trying to escape.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Simple," Zant said chuckling evily "I'll let you inside the Light Realm for eternity."

Midna gasped and she tried to get out of Zant's power "No! Please, you know that that is a fatal move for a being of the Twilight Realm!"

"Impressive...Midna? Begging for forgiveness? Now that is a nice image!" Zant said, starting to laugh evily "Come forth, Lanayru! Pull this being to the Light Realm!" He said, making Lanayru to come out of the spring with his dark magic and he approached slowly to Midna as the orb in his mouth was starting to shine intensely, Midna's eyes widened, the light was her most dangerous weakness and she screamed at the top of her lungs, the light covered the whole spring and she disappeared, Zant looked behind his shoulder and Link was gone too "Humph, that should be the end for them." He said, vanishing from the spring.

Near Hyrule Castle Town

The Smashers, meanwhile, appeared outside the Castle Town in the night and they wondered why Midna called them assassins.

"Why did Midna acted like that to us?" Nana asked confused.

"And since when did we tried to kill Link?" Pikachu added asking too.

"I knew she wasn't a good person since the beginning." Lucario said.

"But...I'm afraid what is she going to do with Link!" Pichu said worried.

"Guys, let's forget all of this, I know Link is going to be fine, he always confronts these kinds of situations and this is no exception." Marth said, reassuring all of them.

"Wait..." Lucario said closing his eyes and he concentrated his aura to sense someone "There is someone to the northwest."

"What's so special about that someone?" Popo asked.

"It's a...wolf. And he is unconscious with another person." Lucario said as he stopped glowing.

"A wolf? Don't you mean...Link?" Marth asked confused.

"I'm not sure, but may as well investigate there before going to the forest."

Marth nodded "If there is someone in need, we should help him out."

Preview of the next chapter

"How could you do that to us? We were so friendly to you!" Nana said furiously.

"We tried to be good, but why did you do that?" Pichu asked crying.

"There is no place for you in this world, burn in hell!" Lucario said.

"No! Wait! Please, don't leave me alone! I'll atone for my deeds, just don't leave me alone!" Midna said trying to run after them but it was futile as they walked away in the darkness.

"...Zelda?" Marth asked surprised.

"...Marth? Is that really you?" The hooded person revealed herself to be Zelda.

"The Master Sword is just beyond the gorge." Lucario said translating Link's words "But they are there too."

"Let's save Zelda!" Nana said, lifting her hammer.

"UUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!" He panted "Stupid sword! Why don't you get out already?"

"Hey! Leave the Master Sword alone, you furry!" Midna said with gritted teeths.

"Another wolf? You must be kidding me." Wolf said.

"Next time: Midna's Lament!" Popo said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Hyrule

Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Link, Midna

Remember that little talk about godly-like OC? Well, this was the time to make Chris suffer a painful attack, ouch, this will get dramatic for sure... (Why god? Why did you let me to do this? WHY?!)

Oh, and yes, you guessed it, there is going to be a wolf fight in the next chapter, but read this well, wolf fight, because Wolf93 gave me the idea, then I thought (a wolf fight? oh hell yes!). And I don't hate Midna, she's cool. :)

Read and review my fellow readers!

(For some odd reason, this text appeared like this, sorry.)

*Chapter 52*: Midna's Lament

wiiboychris: "Kills Writer's Block"

Phew, the last chapter of this arc is done! Finally, after some time to think about the creation of this chapter, it's here!

To NintendogeekwiththenumberthatIusuallyforgot, I didn't EVEN tried to scare anyone in the previous chapter, but thanks to your advice, I can write more interesting stuff happening, thank you!

Enjoy, read and review please!

Chapter 52: Midna's Lament

"...Zant...why..." Midna found herself standing in the emptyness of the darkness and she got up, moaning a little in pain "Where...am I?"

"Humph."

Midna turned to see Mewtwo who appeared from nowhere "Yo-you're him! Please, I know this is strange, but I need your help!"

"And why should I?" Mewtwo asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked and she quickly noticed that everyone except Link appeared in a group "How did you get here?... That's not important right now, please, can you help me?"

"No." Chris responded.

"B-but...why?"

"Don't act like a fool around us Midna," Marth said "We trusted you since we met."

"That's a misunderstanding! O-of course I trusted all of you!"

"Well, it doesn't seems like that," Pikachu said lowering his ears a little "You took advantage of us for your plans.

"I-I didn't!" Midna said joining her hands "I listened to Link too! I-Isn't that enough?"

"But only listening to Link won't get you friends," Popo said shaking his head slowly "Your behavior is the most important thing too."

"I-I showed you my good behavior!"

Chris looked down sadly "That's not true... You're lying to yourself."

"Chris, leave her alone, she doesn't matters." Lucario said.

"You've got to...be kidding me!" Midna said surprised.

"Lying is the first path to destruction." Mewtwo said narrowing his eyes.

"Tricking people is dishonorable." Marth said.

"Attacking them is even worse!" Pikachu said.

"Saying harsh things can hurt them from the inside." Nana said.

"Betrayal? Isn't that a bad thing too?" Pichu wondered.

"Gaining their confidence and then throwing it away is painful." Popo said.

"If you want power over friends, who is going to stay by your side when you want company?" Chris asked.

"Solitude...that is the place where you belong." Lucario said glaring at Midna with crossed arms.

"No way...I can't believe...I did all that...to you..." Midna said dropping to her knees "I'm...I'm sorry!...I'm so sorry!" It wasn't too late for her to cry and burying her eyes in her hands.

"How could you do that to us? We were so friendly to you!" Nana said furiously.

"We tried to be good, but why did you do that?" Pichu asked crying.

"There is no place for you in this world, burn in hell!" Lucario said.

"No! Wait! Please, don't leave me alone! I'll atone for my deeds, just don't leave me alone!" Midna said trying to run after them but it was futile as they walked away in the darkness.

Midna's Lament

"Don't go...please...don't go..." Midna opened her eyes a little and she looked around above dark green fur, it was night, and the sky had many clouds which were going to create rain in any minute "...Link..." She was able to identify Link, who was in his wolf form looking at her a little worried "...Let's...see...Zelda...she...knows..." She said before losing consciousness, Link ears perked up and his mouth opened surprised and he ran at the east at full speed, if Midna knew a way to return Link to him human form, then there was no time to lose.

"!!" Link noticed that the Smashers were coming from the east and he stopped when they saw him.

"Link, what happened?" Marth asked. Link couldn't talk but he looked at Midna and they looked at her weakened body, panting heavily "Oh, it's her."

"...I'm..." Midna managed to say.

"Humph! I don't care what happens to her anymore!" Nana said crossing her arms and looked away.

"You're the first person who makes me sick!" Pikachu said glaring at Midna.

"People who betrays us like she did are destined to suffer for eternity." Lucario said.

They noticed that Link was staring at them, blinking with a blank face and Popo rubbed his chin "Hey, are you trying to tell us something?"

Link looked at Midna and he turned to see them again "...Link, don't tell me you want us to help her!" Pichu asked surprised and Link nodded.

"After what she did back in the temple? Forget it!" Nana added angrily.

And again, Link was just staring and blinking at them with a blank face "Link, is this is a joke? She could do something very bad to us if we find something to save her!" Pikachu said protesting.

But Link looked at Midna again and he stared at them "Please Link, she deserves this!" Marth said protesting but Link was still staring at them.

"Are you willing to help her even if she used you?" Lucario asked and Link nodded "...I can't believe you still trust her."

Link looked at the direction of the castle and they joined his view "The castle? Are you going there?" Marth asked and Link, once again, nodded "But why?" Link looked at Midna "It's for Midna?"

"Link says Zelda can help Midna in her situation." Lucario pointed out.

"...But we're talking about Midna! The same person who betrayed us!" Nana said.

"I'm right with her." Popo said raising his hand.

"Me too." Pikachu said.

"Me too!" Pichu said pouting.

Lucario sighed to himself "...Fine Link, I'll help Midna."

"WHAT?!" The four little Smashers said surprised.

"Lucario, are you for real?" Pikachu asked.

"Don't think I trust her, if she makes another move like before," He pointed at Midna with his hand glowing "I'll kill her, no matter what."

"...If Link wants to help her, we don't have any choice left." Marth said sighing "But beware, I support Lucario's idea."

"Unbelievable...alright! I'll help her too." Pikachu said "But! I'm another person who supports Lucario's idea."

"...I...I don't like where is this going...but I'm in." Pichu said.

Popo looked at Nana "There's no point in staying in this group only by you and me."

Nana sighed "Okay...I'll help too." She said.

"Then let's go to the castle." Marth said and they nodded.

"...Thank...you..." Midna wispered with a tear strolling down her cheek. Not much time passed before the rain started to fall.

Hyrule Castle Town North

"It's not good," Marth said "The gates are closed and only Lucario, Pikachu and Pichu can pass to the other side."

"What really impresses me is that the townsfolk only screamed after they saw Link." Popo said.

"Yeah, the guards didn't do anything except protect themselves with their lances from us." Pikachu said.

Suddenly, Link's ears perked up and he remembered something from the past in Kakariko Village.

Flashback

"Before I go, I need to tell you something, there is a secret passage inside my bar that leads directly to the Hyrule Castle, if you want to know where is it, come to the bar, good bye!"

End of flashback

"...So that's the other way." Lucario said to Link.

"What?" Pichu asked.

"The woman that you met before said something about a secret passage in her bar that leads inside the castle."

"You mean Telma?" Marth asked and Link nodded "Oh well, let's go there."

Hyrule Castle Town South

"Link, I don't think it's a good day if you enter firs-" Pichu was interrupted before Link was pushed from the bar, rolling in the floor and the door closed with a lock.

"Great, now we can't enter the bar." Popo said frowning.

"Miaaoo." They turned their heads to see a female fluffy cat with a violet ribbon looking at them, the cat walked towards Link and she talked to him.

"What is she doing?" Nana asked confused, the cat ran away to the boxes at the left of the bar and she jumped to the top, where she talked to Link.

"Link says that the cat told him about the secret passage, it's inside that window." Lucario said pointing to the window where the cat was standing before she went inside.

"Phew! We were almost in a problem!" Popo said before they started to climb the boxes to enter the bar from the window.

Telma's Bar

"Shh, the bar is a little crowded, don't make any sound while walking." Marth warned them as they looked between the jars to eavesdrop the persons inside the bar, Telma was worried about what happened to Link when he went away from Kakariko Village, a Goron was asking to himself what to do with the rain outside and another group were sitting around a table, talking about someone wearing green clothes that defeated the beast of the temple.

"Look, there is a path over there." Lucario wispered to them, pointing to a dark path from the other side of the room "We can use those ropes to cross to the other side." He said looking at some ropes that were hanging from floor to floor.

They carefully walked above the ropes without making sounds, what really impressed Nana is that the people inside the bar didn't noticed them, even a little.

"There is water coming from the passage, let's enter." Marth said and they nodded, entering the passage.

Jovani's House

On the other side, they found a room filled with treasure, Nana squealed after finding gold below her foots, a floating candle was there floating and Pikachu was suddenly attacked by an unknown force.

"Ugh, who attacked me?!" Pikachu asked surprised.

Link started to growl angrily and he used his senses to find a ghost with a maniac face ready to slash Lucario from behind with a big scythe, Link jumped towards to Lucario, who gasped and ducked to let Link attack the phantom by biting its body, the ghost disappeared by Link because he pulled out a red soul from its chest, finding a Poe Soul.

"Oh little puppy, did you defeated that ghost?" A gold statue sitting above a big red chair spoke to them and Pichu hid behind Marth, scared "Thank you for collecting that soul, I'm Jovani, the owner of this house and the treasures, but may I request you a favor? Can you please defeat and collect the souls from the Poe's that took my body from me? If it is not much? If you accept, I'll open a secret path to the castle."

Upon hearing the words "secret path to the castle", Link nodded "Thank you! Here, I'll open it without moving from here." Jovani said and a big treasure chest opened to reveal a hole leading to somewhere.

"Whoa, how did he do that without moving?" Popo asked with shiny eyes, but Nana frowned to herself and they jumped inside the hole.

Castle Sewers

"WHEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!" Pichu shouted happily after sliding across the water from the sewers, taking them to the sewers of the castle.

"Wait up, Link!" Popo said as Link ran away in a hurry, they followed him to find Zelda by passing through the sewers, in the way, Link had to grab levers hanging from the roof to open some doors.

"This place is full of ruins." Marth said looking around, where the rain was falling above their heads.

"Don't stay in the rain for too long or you will get a cold, Chris." Lucario said looking behind him, but he gasped a little "Where is him?"

"Lucario, remember, Chris is in the mansion trying to recover from that wound." Marth said.

Lucario looked down with his eyes closed "...I know."

"I'm very worried about him..." Nana said.

"Yeah, I didn't thought he could receive that attack." Pikachu said.

"And this rain makes everything so unhappy and sad." Pichu said, drying himself by shaking.

"..." Lucario just walked ahead of them, looking at the floor while the rain was soaking his fur.

Pichu made a sad face "Poor Lucario..."

Pikachu patted his back "Don't worry, I got the feeling that Chris is going to be fine."

"Let's finish this mission to see if he recovered." Marth said and they continued their way with Link.

The group of Smashers eventually made it to the top of the castle, outside in the roofs.

"Be careful not to slip, or we could die from this height." Marth said.

"Yikes!" Pichu said slipping and going down the roof, slidding by the water, but Pikachu was able to catch him by grabbing his tail and he sighed.

"Be more careful Pichu!" Pikachu said pulling Pichu to him.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something else..."

"Pichu, I already told you, he'll be fine! Trust me!"

"...Okay, if you say so." Pichu said, returning with the others.

"Zelda is inside that tower, on the top." Lucario said pointing to a tower far away from them.

"We're almost there!" Popo said.

"Ahh!" Nana was being attacked by a big bird who appeared from behind her, Popo and Marth joined forces and they defeated the bird with a combined blow, falling down the castle.

"Nana, are you okay?" Popo asked worried.

"...Y-yes, I'm fine, it's just..."

"...I'm also worried about him, but please stay alert!"

"...I...I will."

Popo smiled a little "That's the spirit! Let's go!" He said running through the roof with Nana and the others.

Midna was breathing heavily with long pauses, she noticed and heard all the conversations from the Smashers, the demostration of how they cared for Chris was surprising her by the way the others were thinking about him, because they were his friends, but there was one problem with Midna, who is going to get worried about her right now in her current state? Does she has someone who actually cares for her? Probably not she thought, recognizing about all the things she did only by caring about her, and only her.

But what about Link's thoughts?

Tower

The Smashers climbed the long stairs and stepping inside a room, where a hooded person was looking outside the window.

"Who are you?" Marth asked.

"Have you seen someone named Zelda around here?" Nana asked.

The hooded person turned his back to see them, but he was surprised after identifying who were they, Marth glanced at the face and he blinked in surprise.

"...Zelda?" Marth asked surprised.

"...Marth? Is that really you?" The hooded person revealed herself to be Zelda.

"Zelda! What are you doing here, locked-up in this room?" Pikachu asked.

"And how do you know us? You're a different Zelda." Marth asked.

"It's because I know who you are, I can remember all the fights we have been." She said, uncovering her head to see them more clearly "It's good to see you all again...who is him?"

"Lucario, a Pokémon like Pikachu and Pichu." Popo said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Zelda said extending her hand at Lucario, but he looked away "Why is he so silent?"

"Something bad happened to a new friend we met a while ago, and he has been like this for a moment." Marth explained.

"...Oh...I see." Zelda said returning her hand to her, but she quickly noticed that Midna was all weakened above Link and she kneeled to see her "Midna...did you were pulled to the Light Realm?"

"...Zelda...Zant...did...it." Midna said in a weak tone.

"One bad thing after another, Link, I presume Zant used his dark magic to turn you into a wolf permanently, right?" She asked and Link nodded "But don't fear, there is a way to return you to your original form." She got up.

"Really?" Pichu asked.

"Yes, deep inside the woods of Ordona, lies the Sacred Grove, where the Master Sword rests in the remains of the Temple of Time, with the light of the sword, Link can return to his original form," She looked at Link and Midna "Link, Midna, you should head there and get the sword before Zant attacks with his forces."

"But what about Midna? She can't dwell in this world for too long!" Marth said.

Music Stops

Zelda put her hand above Midna's body and it started to glow with a shiny light and Midna gasped "Wait! Please...don't do it Zelda! You...will die...if you use that!"

"Sorry Midna, is the only way to save you."

Midna slowly looked at Link "Link! Stop her! Now!"

"Zelda! Don't die!" Nana said putting her hand in front of her face.

"It's too risky to lose you!" Marth said.

Zelda slowly closed her eyes "Midna...I hope you can understand what sacrifices are meant to."

"I...I know Zelda! But this is my fault, not yours!" Midna said trying to not cry.

Lucario couldn't resist anymore and he looked at Zelda "Your sacrifice is not going to bring any good!"

"...It will..." Zelda said with a little smile "...It will save Midna from the death..."

"Zelda!" Pichu shouted crying.

"We just found you are you're already sacrificing!" Pikachu shouted crying.

"Please! Don't do it!" Popo shouted.

"...Farewell..." Zelda said, turning herself into a blinding light, everybody shouted her name in preocupation before the light covered Midna completely, her body was recovered and she floated down the floor, looking at her hands with a worried look on her face, she couldn't believe that someone was caring for her all this time, and that person was Zelda.

"Midna..." Marth trailed off.

Midna blinked before she looked at them "...Everyone...I have something to say...I'm sorry..."

"Are you apologizing?" Pikachu asked very confused.

"Yes...I've been very rude to all of you...especially you Link," She said to Link "I'm sorry for making troubles...for thinking only about me...for saying insulting nicknames...for not helping inside the temple...for saying that you should go to hell...for not trying to be friendly...for everything I've done!"

"But that doesn't changes the fact that you were trying to keep us away from helping Link." Marth said, crossing his arms.

"Yes...it will take some time to get your affection and acceptance, but until that day comes," She looked at Link "Please, trust me, and I will trust you."

"What do you think everyone?" Popo asked.

"Well, she looks very troubled this time, so I guess we could trust her one more time." Nana said.

"...I'm only doing this because Zelda gave her life to Midna, but I'll help her." Pikachu said.

"She said "sorry", meaning that she is a good person, right?" Pichu asked.

"Zelda was a very special friend to me, I'll give Midna another opportunity." Marth said nodding.

"Thank you everyone..." Midna said smiling a little, it was the first smile she used instead of an evily smirk or a grin, she rode Link again, but she forgot that Lucario hasn't said anything to her and she looked at him "Are you going to say anything to me?"

"..." Lucario didn't said anything.

"...Oh...right...I didn't apologized for insulting him..."

"..." Lucario turned his head to see her with crossed arms.

"...If he can survive...tell him that I wish him good luck...and a safe journey with all of you..."

"..." Lucario was staring at Midna for more seconds.

"...And I'm sorry for not caring about him and all of you..."

"..." Lucario was still staring at Midna.

"Well, say something! I already said I'm sorry!"

"...I'll be the only one in this group with a desire of death towards you...but...if you're going to change, I'll think about it."

"...Thank you..." She said nodding slowly, knowing that she had to work hard to gain their trust again.

Faron Woods

Midna used her dark magic to teleport them deep inside the Faron Woods, where the first temple which Link went through before was there.

"It's this the deepest part of the woods?" Martk asked looking around.

"Yes, I think so," Midna said "But I didn't knew there was more here."

"UKYE!" Someone shouted from afar, it was a monkey being attacked by strange dark puppets with scary faces and they noticed the animal in danger.

"Hey! That monkey is in trouble!" Nana said.

"And look at that aura, the Subspace Army must be behind of this!" Pikachu said gathering electricity in his cheeks.

"Let's fight!" Popo said running after the dark puppets, everyone joined him and they managed to defeat them within 8 minutes, their velocity was increased along with their strength, good thing Midna used her force field to make Link to deal a fatal blow to all of them.

"Hey, are you alright?" Nana asked to the monkey, it was a female with a flower on top of her head, the monkey looked around before realising that she was saved by them, but after looking at Link in his wolf form, she remembered him and walked towards him, she told him something about a disturbance far away in the gorge close to them, before she went away jumping to some trees and disappearing. Link also got the feeling that the Master Sword was deeper inside the gorge.

"The Master Sword is just beyond the gorge." Lucario said translating Link's words "But they are there too."

"Let's save Zelda!" Nana said, lifting her hammer.

"For Zelda!" Popo said, lifting his hammer.

"For this land!" Marth said, lifting his sword.

"For the cake!" Pichu said, putting his hands on his hip and they stared at him confused.

"...Just ignore him." Pikachu said frowning to himself.

The group crossed the gorge where they found a secret path leading further inside the forest, Link stopped because he found another Howl Stone to call the Hero's Spirit, after he finished, they went inside the forest.

Sacred Grove: Labyrinth

"Why did it turned too weird all of a sudden here?" Pichu asked confused, Link found another Howl Stone and he howled another melody, but something was strange, the Hero's Spirit didn't appeared, except for a creepy Skull Kid glowing with the same dark aura, the kid summoned forth 5 dark puppets with his strange trumpet of the wind to kill them before he vanished in midair.

"Here they come!" Marth warned them by grabbing his sword from his sheath.

Hidden Mountain & Forest

GET
READY!

"Take this!" Marth stabbed one of the puppets with his sword before it vanished, Pikachu used Thunder to eliminate 2 of them and the Ice Climbers frozed the remaining 2 and crushed them with their hammers, shattering the ice.

"Well, that was easy." Pikachu said.

Not much time passed before they heard the same sound the Skull Kid produced with his trumpet, and 5 more dark puppets came making noises with their invisible strings.

"What the, there are even more?" Marth asked confused, he looked around for a way to escape and he found a little cavern "Follow that path!" He ordered and they went running inside the cavern, finding another area with more trees.

"They're following us!" Popo said as the dark puppets came closer with their maniacal faces, Pichu went after them by using another Thunder, but he was quickly interrupted by the claws of each puppets and he screamed in pain.

"Pichu!" Lucario yelled putting his hands close to the other to create an Aura Sphere...but something happened and he couldn't use his aura to create the orb "...What?"

"Lucario! Just don't stand there, do something, quick!" Pikachu said running to save Pichu, Pikachu attacked one of them with his tail and Link bit one of them furiously, Marth was surrounded by 2 of the dark puppets but he shielded himself using Counter to retaliate their attacks with a strong slash, cutting them in half, the last one went after Lucario.

"HIYAH!" Lucario punched him in the face, but the dark puppet stared at him evily and the Aura Pokémon gasped and looked at his hands "What is happening to me? Why I can't destroy him?"

"Lucario! Look out!" Popo called.

"Hu-" Lucario was slashed across the face and he backed away, wiping the trail of blood from the scratches.

"Ha!" Nana destroyed the dark puppet that slashed Lucario and they went with him.

"Lucario, why didn't you do anything back there?" Marth asked.

"I...I don't know!" Lucario said astonished.

"Pichu was going to be seriously injured if I didn't intervened from their attacks!" Pikachu said coming with Pichu.

"...My aura..."

"What about it?" Popo asked confused.

"...My aura...is gone!"

"Wait, isn't your aura the source of your power?" Pichu asked.

"Yes, without it, I can't fight very well and my strength is greatly reduced...I can't believe I lost it." Lucario said looking down at the grass.

"Great, now we need to take care of him." Midna said and she earned a glare from him "No! I wasn't being bad for that!"

"...Maybe...you can't concentrate well because something is preventing you from doing so." Marth said rubbing his chin.

"...I think I know wh-" Nana was interrupted.

They couldn't have more time to talk because the dark puppets came again tilting their heads as the Skull Kid summoned more of them to kill the Smashers.

"This is not good, we need to find that monster and defeat him!" Marth said running inside a cave with everybody else.

"Wait, he's up there!" Pikachu said pointing to the top of a tree where the Skull Kid laughed as he summoned even more dark puppets, now there were 10 surrounding them.

"PPPPPIIIIIIIIICCCCCHHHHHHUUUUUU!!" Pichu casted down a Thunder above the Skull Kid and that made him lost his control and the 10 dark puppets vanished, the little monster stomped the tree in fury and he vanished again, appearing in another location.

"Ignore the puppets and find the monster!" Marth said as the other went inside another cavern, finding another area.

"Where is he?" Popo asked looking around.

Midna remembered that the Skull Kid had a lantern with fire on his left hand and she found the light of the fire coming from a close cavern "Link, he's inside that part, go there now!" She ordered and Link ran to the way Midna directed him and they followed the wolf, but as soon as they crossed the other side, the Skull Kid summoned 8 dark puppets to protect himself from the Smashers.

"Idiot, if he called this amount of puppets, he must be hiding somewhere around here." Midna said grinning.

"Good thing that grin was friendly." Nana wispered to Popo, who nodded.

"I see the light behing that stump!" Pichu said pointing at a stump with the hat of the Skull Kid being shown, the dark puppets appeared quickly in front of the stump and they slashed Link while protecting Midna.

"Link! Are you alright?" Midna asked looking at Link's face, he nodded with his eyes closed a little, before he growled and lunged at 1 dark puppet "Don't waste your time beating those monsters, the Skull Kid is important to defeat them instantly!" Midna said before a puppet lunged its claw at her and she blocked her face with her arms, but Pikachu slammed his tail hard to the monster, and the dark monster disappeared "...But...why did you..."

"I got to admit," Pikachu smiled at her "You changed as you promised!"

Midna blushed a little after hearing this and she looked away embarrased "H-hey! What did I said to you before? Attack them!"

"You didn't said that..."

"...W-well, do it! What are you waiting for?" Midna asked trying to glare at Pikachu but it was imposibble to her since she was still blushing and sweating.

"HA!" Marth slashed the Skull Kid, and the monster stomped the floor again before vanishing in thin air, revealing a hidden cavern leading to a new area.

Now the Skull Kid summoned 15 dark puppets that blocked totally the cavern to stop them, but Lucario had an idea.

"Leave this to me!" He said accelerating.

"But you can't fight without your aura!" Pikachu said.

"You forgot that I still can use my spikes of both arms!" Lucario said putting his arms close to his face and he went crashing, striking them with both spikes and making a path to let them pass, they hurried further inside the area to find the Skull Kid sitting above a tall tree rising from the water as he called more dark puppets.

"Without Lucario's Aura Sphere, we can't reach him!" Pichu said.

"Leave it to us!" The Ice Climbers said in unison using Belay to pull Popo to the air, slamming his hammer right on the head of the Skull Kid before he vanished again, revealing another hidden path.

"I'm starting to hate that monster and his giggles!" Nana said angrily. For her luck, they found the final area of the forest where several pedestals and some rocks were located, the Skull Kid appeared on the center above a pillar, he giggled before summoning more dark puppets and he vanished again.

"Wait, he disappeared from this place!" Pikachu said looking around for him, he was eventually attacked by 3 puppets and he yelled in pain.

Marth quickly cut the puppets in half and he kneeled to see if Pikachu was fine "Pikach-"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little scratch on my back." He said sarcastically because Marth was staring at the blood coming from one scratch.

"...Y-yeah, sure." Marth said rubbing his head before he attacked just in time at 2 dark puppets from behind him.

"Stay back!" Pichu said appearing from behind the currently surrounded Lucario and he casted a Thunder to eliminate 7 of them "See? I'm useful to you Lucario!..." However, his Thunder was able to reach Lucario and he was laying unconscious above the grass with his tongue sticking out a little "...Oops?" Pichu replied sweatdropping as a little jolt appeared between Lucario's ears.

"There he is!" Pikachu yelled pointing to the giggling Skull Kid blowing his trumpet to call more puppets to kill them, Marth ran at high speed using Dolphin Slash to reach and hit the Skull Kid, the mischievous monster appeared in another side and called ever more dark puppets who went quickly flying at them.

"Darn it! He keeps calling more of them!" Popo said smacking 2 of them with Nana, then freezing 4 by using Blizzard, Pichu appeared jumping and slamming his tiny tail to shatter the ice and the monsters inside.

The trumpet made yet another sound and more dark puppets came tilting their heads, scaring Pichu in the process and Marth and Pikachu did a combinated attack, with Pikachu slamming his head with Skull Bash and Marth using Dancing Blade to cut 6 in a row.

"NOW!" Pikachu shouted casting another Thunder above the Skull Kid, he vanished after receiving another attack and called more dark puppets that filled enterely the room, cornering them in one place (where Lucario was fainted, still with the dumb face).

"Midna, do something about this!" Nana said.

"I'm on it!" Midna said casting the longest force field she ever did so far, targetting all the puppets who were just going to attack at the same time and in a second, Link made many jumps to many sides of the room dealing devastating blows to each one of the puppets, creating a big field of dead wooden corpses before they vanished in unison, the Skull Kid got very enraged and he inhaled more air to call the double of puppets to eliminate them once and for all.

"STOOOOOPPPPPP!!" Pichu yelled at the top of his lungs before using Skull Bash to strike the body of the Skull Kid, the monster was just about to vanish before Pikachu came behind creating a ball of electricity, electrocuting the Skull Kid, even worse for the monster was that Marth used Dancing Blade dealing several damage, Popo and Nana followed up using Squall Hammer to hit his head in quick movements, and finally, Link lunged at him biting his little body with his sharp fangs.

The Skull Kid yelled in extreme pain and Link backed away growling, the dark aura around the Skull Kid disappeared and he falls unconscious on the grass, after a second, he got up with the same scary smile and he vanished.

"Hehehehehe! Thank you very much for rescuing me! The idiot who made me this is further inside this area, be careful!" The Skull Kid said before another area was revealed before them. The crowd cheered at their victory.

Music Stops

"Finally! This nightmare is coming to an end!" Pikachu said sighing in relief as they walked inside the hidden area. But more puppets without the dark aura appeared tilting their heads again "WHAT NOW?!" He asked very annoyed this time.

"Even so, I'm still evil, so I shall put my final move on you!" The Skull Kid said from afar and the puppets lunged their bodies at the Smashers, trapping them in the walls with their claws stuck on the hard cement, but the only one who was able to evade and kill one puppet was Link along with Midna "Hehehehe! How amusing! I shall cheer you 2 againts that idiot! Good luck!"

"...We were defeated by this cowardly move...right?" Nana asked annoyed, looking at Popo.

"...It appears so..." Popo replied back, who was upside-down.

"Where is Lucario though?" Pikachu asked, Pichu looked over where Lucario was still laying unconscious with the same dumb face and Pikachu sweatdropped "...Erhm, go on ahead, we just need to wake him up to get out."

"...Okay, you heard him Link, let's go!" Midna said and Link nodded, as they went to the next area.

"...Lucario!" They yelled in unison trying to awake Lucario, and sadly for them, this was going to take a while...

Sacred Grove

"We...we made it!" Midna smiling a little after finding the hidden Sacred Grove, home of the legendary sword, the Master Sword, Midna didn't wanted to lose more time and she looked around, there were some destroyed statues with black points in front of the door to the Master Sword, without more interruptions, they ran inside the door. Where Wolf was trying to pull out the sword with all his strength.

"UUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!" He panted "Stupid sword! Why don't you get out already?"

"Hey! Leave the Master Sword alone, you furry!" Midna said with gritted teeths.

"Another wolf? You must be kidding me." Wolf said.

"What are you trying to do with the Master Sword?" Midna asked demanding for an answer.

"I've been requested to steal this sword from you, but, this thing doesn't wants to get out."

"It's because you're not worthy of its power." Midna said crossing her arms.

Wolf stood in a fighting stance "This will be your grave...prepare to die!"

"Here he comes Link!" Midna warning Link who growled.

Sacred Grove: Labyrinth

"Lucario!" They continued shouting their name which didn't made any result.

"Okay, that's it, we're stuck here for eternity." Pikachu said sighing in disappointment.

"Wait," Marth said "Pikachu, Pichu, why don't you use Thunder to destroy the puppets?"

"...Why we didn't thought about that before, Pikachu?" Pichu asked confused, looking at Pikachu.

"...Shut up please." Was the reply of Pikachu and he gathered his strength to cast a Thunder.

Sacred Grove

Hidden Village

GET
READY!

As soon as the battle started, Wolf ran after Link and he slids below him, slashing his stomach with his claw and Link growls in pain, he quickly backed away before leaping towards Wolf to try to bite him, but the Subspace enemy kept Link away from his face to preventing contact with his fangs.

"There's no way I'm gonna lose to this animal!" Wolf said with gritted fangs and he throws Link away with his right leg to get up. Then he proceeded to fire several shots from his blaster to paralyze both of them and he kicked them using Wolf Illusion.

"Ugh! I hate these kind of people like you!" Midna said glaring at Wolf as Link got up from the floor, he ran in circles surrounding Wolf and he attacked his back with his claws, but Wolf grabbed one of his paws before lashing him to the floor with force. But luckily for Midna wasn't crushed accidentaly by Link because she hid under his shadow to prevent damage.

"Where did that little imp go?" Wolf asked with a glare to Link, before he was struck down with a dark spell from Midna below his feet "You...you little!"

Midna appeared above Link's back and she was panting "I'm not suited...to use my spells to fight yet...I leave this to you Link..."

Link nodded and he ran after Wolf again, unfortunately, Wolf used his Reflector to create a wall around him and Link crashed into it, he shook his head a little and was attacked by Wolf using Fire Wolf (question: does he even gets covered by fire in that attack? It looks like a purple gas if you ask me), dealing a strong downward kick, pinning the Hero of Twilight to the floor by Wolf's foot.

"Heh, weakling." Wolf said smirking.

"Aaah!" Midna, surprinsingly, lunged at Wolf to slap him across the face, he backed away rubbing a little the spot Midna slapped before Link was the person pinning him down, trying to bite his face with his fangs.

"So this is a wild fight now? Then both of you will have one!" Wolf said punching Link in the face, sending him in the air a little, then Wolf used his claws to incrust them in Link's paws, the wolf of Twilight growled in pain and he bit Wolf's right arm. Not much time passed before Wolf decided to actually bite Link in the same paw with his own fangs.

"Stop it!" Midna demanded.

"Shut up, you little imp!" Wolf said while his fangs were getting deeper in Link's skin.

"Don't call me little imp, you smarty little dork!" Midna yelled hitting Wolf's head several times, but she couldn't do much damage and Link was continuing to suffer the loss of blood getting out of his paw.

"UGH!" Wolf was attacked by 2 jolts of lightning, stopping his attack in Link and the wolf of Twilight was twitching in pain, his paw was seriously bleeding "Who did this?!"

"Us!" Pikachu an Pichu said glaring at Wolf from the door.

"Don't think you can interfere!" Wolf said pushing a little button from his scouter, activating a force field hiding in the door that prevented the Smashers from helping Link and Midna.

Popo came carrying Lucario's body with Nana and he looked at both wolfs, he smiled after knowing what were they doing and he shouted "WOLF FIGHT!"

"Popo! This isn't the time to be happy!" Marth said.

Both wolfs continued their fight afterwards, Link jumped to a nearby wall before jumping from it towards Wolf, the leader of Star Wolf stepped away and Link dug his claws in the floor, before Wolf dug his own claws in his left part of his body (of Link, not him).

"Go away!" Midna said biting Wolf's hand to deal damage, he backed away as his eye was twitching after feeling the blood escaping his hand.

Wolf was now panting, this fight was so far the most dangerous to him, and who knew he was going to fight againts a wolf, what irony "...Okay...now is time to get serious..." He said taking out his vest, which made Nana to faint with a smile and she rolled behind her since there was a slope.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Pichu asked confused, just to know that the vest made a crack on the floor and he started to sweat.

"Wow, his vest is heavy?" Pikachu asked surprised.

"(No wonder why he is Fox's rival.)" Marth thought.

"Be careful Link!" Midna warned as Wolf ran after them, Link went after him too, but Wolf was faster than him and he was attacked with both of Wolf's claws, scratching severely his face and he shook his head, before Wolf continued his quick attacks with a kick on the face, sending Link to crash in a wall with Midna hiding in his shadow to protect herself.

"Link, are you okay?" Midna asked concerned about Link, his face was getting a little bloody but he nodded growling.

"HAA!" Wolf came unexpectly behind Midna and she was fataly attacked with one claw, and she went flying towards a wall, where she lost consciousness upon falling to the floor.

"MIDNA!" The Smashers yelled worried about her.

Link got furious and he quickly leaped to Wolf, pinning him down once again in the floor and he started to scratch Wolf's face with his own claws, Wolf gritted his fangs in pain and he used the knife attached to his Blaster to cut Link's stomach, creating a severe cut which was starting to bleed.

"Talk about a bloody fight, eh?" Popo asked laughing but Marth hit him hard in the head and the blue Ice Climber fell above Lucario's stomach with a dumb face.

Wolf followed up his attack with a kick in Link's injured paw, he gritted his fangs feeling the strong pain going through him before he was hit in the head with a punch. Throwing himself in the floor, moaning in pain, then Wolf put his right leg above Link's throat to crush it slowly.

"Stop it! You're going to kill him!" Marth demanded behind the force field.

"That's the plan, you idiot." Wolf said grinning evily, Link's throat was being crushed by Wolf's foot and he was starting to whine silently, and Midna woke up slowly.

"...Ugh...Link..." She said trying to get up "I...will...not...let...you...die...now!" She said making an upset face and her hair grew, and ordered it to slam Wolf to the floor, and he gritted his fangs in pain.

"Midna! Don't push yourself!" Marth said warning Midna.

"It's...alright...now...I know...what are...the meanings...of sacrifices..." Midna said while a little smile grew on her face.

"Don't think you defeated me yet!" Wolf said under the hair and he used his Reflector to send an electric shockwave through the hair which landed on Midna, she screamed loudly before her hair returned to her, and Wolf got up and he walked slowly to her, taking out his Blaster.

"...I know what is he going to do!" Popo said awakening from his unconscious state "He's gonna cut Midna'a throat with the knife of his Blaster!"

"...I wasn't going to do that, but that is not a bad idea either." Wolf said smirking evily.

"POPO! STOP GIVING IDEAS TO THE ENEMY!" Pikachu said electrocuting Popo, who fell unconscious again above Lucario's stomach.

"AAHH! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP HER!" Pichu said crying loudly, Wolf was walking slowly to Midna, sharpening the knife with one of his claws with Midna's reflection on the tip of the knife.

"(...Link...)" Midna thought slowly in her mind "(I...changed didn't I?... Did I saved you from the death?... Did Zelda's sacrifice was all in vain?... Did they accepted me?... And most important... We defeated him?... At least... I tried...)" She said with tears coming from her eyes.

Wolf was now standing in front of Midna and he lifted his knife above his head and he smirked "This...is the end for YOU!" He said aiming the knife at Midna's throat and he struck the knife towards her with great speed.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" The Smashers yelled in unison, blocking their eyes to not watch the horrible scene with the death of Midna.

Music Stops

Then...a stab of the edge of a weapon was heard through the forest, within the Sacred Grove, making some birds to fly away.

"..." Nobody was able to talk for several seconds. The sound of the leaves by the wind was breaking the silence that engulfed the whole place, Pichu was trying to not cry under his hands, Pikachu looked away with eyes closed to not watch, Marth blocked his face with one arm, Popo was still unconscious with Lucario and Nana was even fainted a few steps behind them.

To know what happened after the sound of the weapon, Lucario chose the time to wake up from his current state and he looked around confused and ignoring the events that have occurred during his accident "What happened?" He asked.

"Lucario is awake!" Pichu said smiling and forgetting that he was about to cry, his curiosity got the better of him and he glanced where Wolf was standing without moving at all, the knife was just a centimeter away from Midna's throat "...Huh?" He stared at the place before he pulled Marth's cape.

"What is it Pichu? Don't you see I don't want to see?" Marth asked behind his arm.

"Marth! Look!" Pichu said.

Marth lowered his arm slowly to know what happened, he made a surprised face after finding a sword crossing through Wolf's chest, for his own surprise, a familiar person was grabbing the sword from behind Wolf.

And that person was...

"LINK!" Marth and Pichu yelled, Pikachu looked at Wolf, while Popo and Nana recovered their consciousness.

Link was now back in his human form without any trail of blood, the Master Sword was stabbed in Wolf from his back, with blood covering the tip of the sword which made a drop that fell above Midna's face and she looked above her where Link gave a little smile to her.

"Link! You're fine!" Midna said smiling.

"...Why...you...little...punk..." Wolf said with the last energy he had before Link sheathed his sword, Wolf walked to the right grabbing the area where the sword was with his right hand, he let out a last gasp before he fell defeated, turning himself into a trophy. And finally, the crowd cheered at Link for his victory and he deactivated the force field to let the Smashers in.

"Link! You did it! You saved Midna!" Pichu said crying in happiness, running towards Link and Midna with the others.

"And Wolf's trophy is a perfect proof of your victory." Marth said glancing at the trophy.

"Link...thank you for saving me," Midna said with a tear running down her chin "I...finally gained your trust after all..."

"Midna, you gained my trust since you rescued me from that cell." Link said with a little smile.

Midna gasped a little and she made a surprised face "I...I can't believe you trusted me from the beginning...even if I was acting like that before..."

"...Link is admirable." Lucario said, looking at Link "He was trying to help you, regardless your actions that almost endagered his life in doing so."

"...Wait...you're...you're smiling!" Midna said to Lucario who was giving her a little smile "...I gained your trust too?"

Lucario nodded "It appears."

"Everyone...thank you...thanks for all the help you gave to me." Midna said smiling.

"Ha-ha! You a-re blu-shing!" Popo teased pointing at Midna.

"N-no I don't!" Midna said blushing more, glaring at Popo. But after a second, she was starting to laugh heartily and they joined her that lasted for a minute.

Nana sighed "Well, this world is alright now, that means we can return to the mansion anytime!" She said.

"And don't forget Wolf's trophy!" Popo said pointing to the trophy, which being dragged inside a dark portal "..."

"..." Everyone stood there watching the trophy slowly getting inside the portal.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET THE TROPHY!" Lucario demanded at the top of his lungs and they lunged in unison to catch the trophy, it was too late and the trophy disappeared along with the portal and they crashed right into the other with a thud.

"Darn it...we were so close..." Marth said getting up and scratching his head.

"Who cares anyway?" Pikachu said getting up and lifting his hands "We can always beat him another day."

"Pikachu's right!" Pichu said pouting "Next time I see him I'll shock him but good!"

"Hahaha, let's see if you do that." Link said.

"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink!" Pichu said annoyed.

"Oh please, stop now," Marth said and looked at Link and Midna "Link, we part ways from here until you're done with your mission." He said as Pichu used the Wiimote to create the portal to the mansion.

"Good luck to you, I'll join you after I finish here." Link said doing a handshake to Marth.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!" Somebody yelled from inside the portal and Lucario gasped before he entered in a hurry.

"Chris! We forgot about him, let's go!" Pikachu said running inside.

"Wait! Don't forget about my apology!" Midna said stopping Popo.

"Don't worry! We will tell him that!" Popo said smiling and waving at Midna before he and Nana entered the portal.

"See you later Link!" Pichu said disappearing inside.

"Take care Link, you too Midna," Marth said waving at them "Good luck to both of you!" He said before the portal could vanish, disappearing with them.

"...Link."

"Yes Midna?"

"Are they going to be fine without us?"

"I'm sure they will."

"I thought so." Midna said to Link, and both shared smiles.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 1200 SMASH COINS!

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

Everyone was gathered in Lucario's Room were Mewtwo was finishing the instructions that Dr. Kawashima was telling him to do to save Chris, fortunately, everything went as planned before he kneeled to catch his breath.

"CHRIS!" Lucario came from the corridor panting heavily and he looked at Chris, sleeping in the bed with bandages covering his body "Tell me! Is he going to be okay?!" He asked grabbing Roy's shoulders, he was recovered now by the time they were in Hyrule.

Roy sighed "Yes...luckily, he will live."

"Thank goodness..." Lucario said sighing in relief as the remaining Smashers came panting.

"Ugh...this treatment drained all my energy left..." Mewtwo said twitching in pain.

"Cheer up! You're a hero!" Dr. Kawashima said above a desk. But Mewtwo used his last energy to turn off the DS in annoyance.

"Not even Maxim Tomatos were enough to heal him." Jigglypuff said.

"But see the bright side! He just need a rest before he can go with us to save the worlds!" Falco said trying to cheer everyone.

"Speaking of worlds," Master Hand said "Tomorrow, a new world was opened when you were fighting in the Glitz Pit, but I'm warning you, this world is not related to any of you."

"You mean this world..." Fox said "Is different?"

Master Hand nodded "Yes, and to tell the truth, I don't know ANYTHING about it, but Chris may know."

Everyone looked at Chris "I hope he can recover for tomorrow." Pikachu said.

"For now," Master Hand said and they looked at him "Let's sleep for now and be prepared for tomorrow."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Chris said getting up.

"I want to go to that new world!" Pit said.

"Me too, learning something new is good." Roy said.

"Yeah, good night." Popo said leaving with Nana yawning, before everyone else left the room and Chris went back to sleep.

"..." Everyone was ignoring something very important, they stopped walking to their rooms before yelling and running back to Lucario's Room (the only one that didn't yelled was Mewtwo and he returned to his room).

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Chris yelled scared to death after they filled the room again "BUNCH OF WEIRDOS! LET ME SLEEP FOR ONC-"

"CHRIS!" The little Smashers jumped in unison into the bed embracing Chris totally.

"He's alive!" Shouted Lucas from behind him with his eyes making this face. XD

"OF COURSE I'M ALIVE! LET ME GO!" Chris demanded and they got out of the bed "Phew, I was going to die just a second ago."

"Sorry." Pichu said embarrased.

"But how could you be like this without feeling the pain in your back?" Pit asked.

"Pain in my back? What do yo-AAHH!" Chris felt the pain right behind his back.

"Stop! He needs to recover!" Master Hand yelled.

"Ack!..." Chris panted heavily after a second.

"Chris, you need to rest right now to recover your strength, that battle againts Porky was too much for you to handle."

"...I...I know." Chris said lowering his head slowly to the pillow "I couldn't see what happened after I was brought here."

"Midna changed when you were here, she is now a good person!" Pichu said smiling.

"Really? Did she apologized?"

"Yep! For all the things she did!"

"...I'm...happy for her."

"The next time I see Porky he is going to die!" Lucas said a little furiously.

Roy raised an eyebrow "But if I remember you were hiding below the desk after you saw him."

Lucas blushed "S-shut up! That's not true!"

"Hmm...I think I know Porky somewhere else before..." Ness said rubbing his chin.

"Please, if all of you can do me a favor, I need to rest to recover." Chris said.

Fox sighed "Okay, you earned it."

"Thank you."

"Good night." Some of them said to him before going to their rooms to sleep. Leaving Chris and Lucario alone in their room.

"...Lucario...it's something wrong?" Chris asked looking at Lucario, but he turned his back clenching his hands with force and Chris was getting worried "...Lucario..." He muttered before he fell asleep.

1 hour later...

Lucario finally turned his back to see Chris sleeping deeply in his bed, he blinked for a moment before closing his eyes and trying to not cry as he kneeled, touching the right hand of Chris "(Master...I couldn't protect you in that battle...please...forgive me...I was an idiot...)" He thought as the first tears were strolling down his cheeks, he looked at Chris's hand and grabbed it without doing brusque moves and he lowered his head, resting it above the bed, then he put the hand between his ears to try to make like Chris was rubbing his head, and to end his actions for the night, he slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep.

But deep inside his own self, a terrible fault was hurting him, he wanted to cry for the sudden events and nothing could help him...at least for today...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

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Overwrite file?

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Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pit, Ice Climbers, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas

Many things happened in the course of this chapter, Lucario lost his aura, the next world is unknown to them, Chris is still injured and nobody has figured out yet what kind of cake Pichu was refering to. XD

Next chapter is a filler, how is that going to be a filler? You'll find out sooner, hopefully, I can only tell you that someone of the Smashers is going to be the protagonist of the next arc...a certain angel...oops! I let that slip out of my mouth!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 53*: Social 1Day Vacation

Oh, my, holy, god! This chapter is...okay, it's getting repetitive, the longest chapter so far, in the making of this chapter, I found out that I like to write drabbles! Yayz! XD

...But don't expect more longer chapters after this one. T.T

Anyway, the next chapter is the introduction of the next new world, that means a new interaction with new characters with Brawl characters (including Chris).

Some of these drabbles are funny, dramatic, general or whatever you call it, read, enjoy and review please!

A reminder, if ANYONE (not going to say names) ask me something like if we were in some kind of forum to talk, don't turn YOUR review in something private that nobody shouldn't know! Send me a PM instead of doing that!... Phew, and don't take this as a rant, just a "friendly reminder."

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"And that concludes my awesome report!" Porky said laughing maniacally.

"You fool..." Tabuu said frowning.

"Hey! What do you mean by fool? I killed that stupid teenager!"

"IMPUDENT LITTLE OLD BRAT!" Tabuu's voice boomed inside the Subspace. "He managed to stay alive! But no, you had to stay there being an nuisance, watching him about to die!"

"I-I don't get it!"

"Ugh, let me put this easier to explain to a simple brain like yours," The Ancient Minister said. "You had the perfect opportunity to kill him, but instead, you stopped watching him crying in pain ignoring the best chance to finish him."

"Just thank someone else that I gave you another opportunity to stay here," Tabuu said. "Now," Tabuu turned to Wolf, who was back to normal. "What's your excuse for failing in this mission?"

Wolf crossed his arms. "They got me when I was distracted."

"Humph, at least is not a pathetic excuse like him."

"Hey!" Porky said angrily.

"SHUT UP!" Tabuu ordered, creating a shiver in Porky's old spine. "What did Ganondorf said about our offer?"

"Not good," The Ancient Minister said shaking his head. "He refused to cooperate after they defeated Morpheel and he decided to conquer Hyrule by his own."

Tabuu chuckled evily. "Fool...he will return here seeking more power, everyone in the universe is a fool in hunger of more power...is the next invasion ready to follow the plans?"

The Ancient Minister looked away and Tabuu was glaring at him. "My lord...we have a serious problem here, we were almost going to the next world, which was new thanks to the kid, but a problem appeared from nowhere and we can't-"

"WHAT?!" Tabuu's voice once again echoed through the Subspace.

"I beg for your forgiveness my lord, but it appears that the hands have sealed the ways to all the worlds using their powers about an hour ago. The spell should stop working after 24 hours have passed."

"That means we're stuck in here then?" Wolf asked.

"Master Hand, always making me mad!" Tabuu said furiously.

"S-s-say Tabuu my eternal master!" Porky said studdering. "Maybe if you let me infiltrate their mansion, I can possibly defeat them!"

Tabuu was starting to think. "Hmm...good plan, but I only have enough power to let one person go to their headquarters, and that person will be you."

Wolf stomped the floor angrily. "Hold on a sec! How come this old brat gets the chance to invade that mansion and not me? This is the perfect chance to kill Fox!"

"SILENCE!" Tabuu yelled furiously and Wolf grunted. "My decision is final! You will obey and listen to my orders you inferior being!"

Wolf pointed at Tabuu with one finger. "Just to let you know, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't defends himself from his "boss", so watch your words."

Tabuu was getting now really furious and he snaps his fingers, a force field suddenly covers Wolf totally before it sent electricity of high voltage to him, he tries to resist but he yells in pain before the electricity stops.

"Now, what did you say?" Tabuu asked narrowing his eyes at Wolf.

"I...will...obey...your orders." Wolf said falling to his knees as the force field disappeared.

"Ha-ha! You ma-de him ma-ad!" Porky teased Wolf stupidly.

"Shut...up." Wolf said getting up.

"Now prepare, this will be an undercover mission, so don't get caught." The Ancient Minister said. "(...Why this nightmare needs to continue?)"

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

I'm Sorry, Master!

The sun soon rose up from the far away hills of the mansion and it touches the whole building with light, the birds outside woke up and they flew to the north chirping.

Inside Lucario's Room, from the bed, Chris was slowly opening his eyes and he yawned a little, before noticing that his right hand was above Lucario's head between his ears, he made a confused face and he approached him moving a little his head.

"Lucario, wake up, it's morning already." Chris whispered gently to him, Lucario grumbled a little, then yawned opening his mouth, revealing a little his fangs and finally, opening slowly his eyes to see Chris looking at him.

"Chris!" Lucario said smiling and he stood up putting Chris's right hand down in the bed. "How are you feeling today?"

"I think I can walk for now, the pain is lesser than yesterday." He said giving Lucario a little smile.

Lucario's smiled faded away and he looked at floor. "...Master..."

"Huh? Did you call me Master again? Lucario, I thought we were done with that a long time ag-" Lucario quickly embraced Chris and he closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Master!" Lucario said with tears coming from his eyes above Chris's left shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing?" Chris asked confused.

"It's my fault! That severe injure you got yesterday was because of me!"

"Lucario, stop now! First, stop calling me Master! Second, get a hold of yourself please!" Chris said pushing Lucario away from him. "I-it's not like you to cry like that too!"

"Chris, I'm sorry!" Lucario said kneeling to him. "Please, don't be mad at me!"

"Lucario, stop!"

"If I only were closer to you, I could have protected you!"

"Lucario."

"I was very scared to lose you in that moment!"

"Lucario."

"It's not your fault, it's not your fault!"

"Lucario."

"I should be the one to die here!"

"LUCARIO!" Chris punched Lucario in the face. "I SAID STOP AND LISTEN TO ME!"

Lucario rubbed his cheek. "See? I made you mad! I'm a total failure!"

"Lucario..." Chris was now starting to cry. "Please...listen to me!"

Lucario wiped out his tears. "F-for what? There's nothing that can cure me!"

"Why Lucario? Why are you crying now? It's not your fault and you know it, please...calm down and hear me!"

Lucario was starting to tremble a little and he nodded slowly. "O-okay..."

Chris sighed. "Thank you...now, listen Lucario, you don't have to act guilty every time an enemy hurts me, it's my fault in the first place that I got wounded!"

"B-but..."

"No buts! Now explain to me," Chris sniffed. "Tell me...what are you afraid of?"

"I-I'm afraid of your death, I'm scared to not see you again, you're the only person that really matters to me..."

"...Tell me you're not in love with me or some-"

"NO!" Lucario yelled with a glare.

"O-okay! I understand! Please, continue!"

Lucario gasped a little. "I-I'm sorry for yelling at you...as I was saying, it scares me to see you hurt, I still remember the day you found me in your house, I knew later that the humans normally would go away from me because they could be afraid of someone like me...but you were the only one who cured me from that fever, I felt like I was in my home, being alone for so much time was painful to you, and I couldn't stand it and decided to live with you..." He looked outside the window. "And who knew we were destined to meet each other, and to get ourselves involved into this world."

Chris looked down. "...You still remember that stormy night...right Lucario?"

"Yes."

"...I...I really admire you so much." Chris said with a little smile.

"No!" Lucario turned to Chris. "How could I can be admired if I couldn't protect you?!"

"Even so! I'm still so happy to be living thanks to the strength you gave to me!"

"But I...didn't give you strength."

"Of course you did!" Chris said closing his eyes with a smile. "Since you saved me from many things in the past, I was able to realize that I needed to be strong just like you!"

"..."

"And with this chance to save my world...no...all the worlds is the perfect opportunity to be a real hero like you are!"

Lucario looked away. "But...what if something happens to you in the way?"

"I have you and the others to be safe!"

"Then that doesn't make sense about your injury!"

"No, you don't understand, remember to what you told to Pichu when we met him? You said that if he wants to be brave, he needs first to suffer in the battles, and that was exactly what I...suffered."

"...I have to...think carefully the next time..."

"Why? It was right what you said!"

"...Y-you think so?"

"Yeah! I'm so proud of you!... Wow, that sounded like I was a father or something," Chris said scratching his head. "I think of you as the big brother I never had before...even if you have only like 10 or 9 months of birth."

Lucario looked down to the floor and clenched his hands, showing his fangs. "...Chris..."

"Huh? What is it?"

"..." Lucario kneeled to Chris once again. "...Thank you for making me realize my trouble..." He noticed that Chris was hugging him and Lucario's eyes widened.

"Everything will be fine," Chris said closing his eyes and patting Lucario's back. "I promise to you, everything will be fine."

"...How?"

"Everything will be fine if we work together, not only you and me, but all of our friends, comrades and allies in the mansion and the other worlds, like Paula, Jeff, Toon Link, Medli, Komali, Mudkip, Chikorita, Krystal, Slippy, Peppy, ROB, Maylene, Cynthia, Riley, all the Lucarios including your sister, Olimar, Kumatora, Duster, Boney, everyone is counting on us!... Except Maylene, Cynthia and Riley, they don't know anything about our mission."

"...I'm surprised..."

"Why?"

"You remembered all of them until now."

"Well of course! They're special! And you know them too!"

"I forgot who is Knuckles though..."

"..."

Chris started to laugh loudly and Lucario just chuckled to himself with closed eyes. "Oh, Lucario!" Chris wiped out a tear. "Stop kidding me!"

"As you wish." Lucario said nodding and smiling.

"So, how do you feel now? Can we start with the Aura Training you promised to me?"

"What's wrong?"

"Chris, didn't you notice something when you punched me?"

"...Wait, your face wasn't so strong like before..."

"...I...I lost my aura Chris."

Chris gasped. "W-what?! H-how?!"

"I don't know, maybe my preocupation about you didn't let me to concentrate well, please watch this." Lucario said trying to make his hand to glow with aura and closed his eyes. "...See?"

"Lucario, tell me if I'm wrong but, isn't your hand glowing right now?"

"What?" Lucario looked at his hand and it was glowing with aura as he wished. "My aura...is back!"

"Maybe because you don't feel worried anymore, I'm so glad that everything went well and that means that you can train me after all!"

Lucario's hand stopped glowing and he got up. "Now, I will protect you this time without mistakes..."

"Thank you!" Chris said smiling. "Now what do you want to do?"

Lucario looked outside the window. "...I want to yell...loud."

"Then, go ahead! It'll inspire me!"

Lucario smiled upon hearing that if he yelled it would inspire Chris, his body was starting to glow and he embraced himself, before opening his arms in a fighting stance, yelling at the sky with a big roar.

"GGGGGGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"SHUT UP!" Many voices inside the rooms of the mansion came before returning to sleep.

"WHOA!" Somebody said in a room dropping various rounded objects.

"...That was your plan, right Chris? Getting a scold from everyone for me?" Lucario asked smiling a little and Chris couldn't resist more before laughing out loud.

"You fell for it!" Chris said holding his stomach. "HAHAHA-UGH!"

"Chris!" Lucario yelled placing his hand in Chris's back.

"I still need to...rest...but...I'll be fine for today." Chris said looking at Lucario.

Lucario sighed. "There you go again, pushing yourself around."

"At least I have you to help me."

"...You couldn't be more right than before." Lucario said shaking his head and smiling a little.

"Thank you, now, could you do me a favor and remove my bandages please?"

"Yes." Lucario said untying the bandages around Chris's body, taking the long trail of bandage in circles around him. "(...What the...)" Lucario's eyes widened a lot after finishing Chris's favor, his eyes found a big atrocity behind Chris and the world traveler looked at him confused.

"Lucario, why did you gasp just now?"

"(A...long...scar...)" Lucario though terrified after finding a long scar that was running from the throat to the middle of the back, if Chris knew about the scar that he wasn't aware of, he could be very shocked.

"Lucario?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about...the Aura Training you want to do." Lucario said sweating a little.

"Oh, you're right, I can't wait to train with you."

Lucario sighed "(...Stay calm...if he doesn't know...nothing will go wrong...)" He thought before throwing the bandage outside the window, which it fell conveniently inside a trash can with the help of the wind.

Find That Pokémon!

Hallway

The duo got outside the room, walking in the hallway as Chris changed his job to Aura Apprentice and closed the door of their room.

"Now let's see if there is something for breakfast." Chris said.

"...Wait..." Lucario said looking around.

"What now?"

"Don't you feel the tremble?"

"Tremble?" Chris noticed that the floor was trembling suddenly. "E-earthquake!"

"Not, it's too silent to be an earthquake, someone is causing thi-" Lucario was interrupted before both found a stampede of little Pokémon just running from the left to the right, they watched the Pokémon running away with a cloud of dust, causing them to cough a little.

Chris coughed. "Lucario! D-did you see that?"

"The Pokémon that appeared from nowhere?"

"Yes! They were like, 15 of them?"

"Correct, they were a Bellossom, a Bonsly, a Chikorita, an Electrode, a Gulpin carrying a Goldeen, a Meowth, a Munchlax, a Piplup, a Staryu, a Togepi, a Torchic, a Weavile and a Wobbuffet, and if my memory lets me remember, there was a Manaphy with them too."

"But why did they run away? And how did they get outside their Pokebal-"

"GUUUYYSSS! HELP ME!"

"Isn't that Lucas?" Chris asked as Lucas came running to them, panting heavily.

"Guys! I need your help! Those creatures got out from some rounded things I accidentaly dropped to the floor!" Lucas said flailing his arms.

"First, they're Pokémon, second, those rounded things were Pokeballs, third, what were you doing?" Chris asked.

"Well..."

Flashback

Storage Room

"I decided to wake up earlier in the morning to see the Storage Room, where all the items are stored, obviously, because Ness showed me this locked room, and I used my PK Fire to burn down the lock and I entered inside." Lucas narrated.

"So this is the Storage Room with the items Ness told me about..." Lucas said looking around the Storage Room, then he found a door with a golden label with the word "Pokeballs" on it. "I wonder what are Pokeballs?" Lucas wondered to himself as he opened the door, leading to a solitary shelf with 30 Pokeballs, labeled with the names of some Pokémon in each one.

The curiosity was one of Lucas's weakness, he took 15 random Pokeballs in his arms to inspect them, there was an instruction in the wall to how to release the Pokémon inside the Pokeballs.

"But...what if I get in trouble for doing this? Master Hand will be mad at me for sure..." Lucas thought scared and walked towards the shelf slowly to put all the Pokeballs to their places, Master Hand was a person with a clean past of hard work, but if Lucas dared to play with the items outside matches, Master Hand's color could change from white to a strong red of fury with smoke.

Just as he was about to put the first one in the shelf...

"GGGGGGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"SHUT UP!" Many voices inside the rooms of the mansion came before returning to sleep.

"WHOA!" Lucas tripped where he was standing, dropping all the Pokeballs in the floor by accident and each one shone, opening themselves by their own releasing all the Pokémon inside them, Lucas backed away scared to the wall and all of them looked around very confused, before running away from the Storage Room, leaving Lucas with a very terrified face.

End of flashback

Lucario looked away embarrassed, his huge roar just made Lucas to get himself into trouble by accident.

"I don't know what will Master Hand do to me! Ness told me one time that he seriously hurted someone named Captain Falcon when he poured beer in the punch in a party of the mansion, and everybody got drunk, even Pichu!" Lucas said scared and put his hands above his head shaking.

"D-don't worry Lucas we'll help you." Lucario said.

"T-thank you!" Lucas said sighing.

"Well, first we have to distract Master Hand or his brother to see the Pokémon, Lucario, help Lucas while I go to the Command Room." Chris said.

"Understood." Lucario said running away with Lucas, leaving Chris to go directly to the Command Room.

Command Room

"Master Hand?" Chris was able to reach the Command Room and he looked around for the hands. "Master Hand? Crazy Hand? Where are yo-AAAAHHHH!!" He found both hands pilled themselves in the floor unconscious. "MASTER HAND! WAKE UP!"

"...Oww..." Master Hand moaned getting up and floating. "That seal took almost all my energy left..."

"Master Hand! What were you doing in the floor just now?"

"I was sealing all the worlds to prevent anyone to go there, Crazy Hand also took part of this."

"But why? That means we can't go too right?"

"Exactly...that's another reason..."

"Another reason for what?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't recover for this day, then I thought it would be a good idea to let all of you a day of vacation."

"...Wow...I don't know if I need to be happy or relieved for what you did."

"Hey, all my fighters are special to me, you are one of us too."

Chris smiled. "Thanks for worrying about me, but what about Crazy Hand?"

Master Hand looked at his brother. "He'll be fine, but I know he's joking right now."

"Whuzzat?!" Crazy Hand woke up.

"See?"

"...Yes." Chris said chuckling.

"Now, since is our day of vacation, I think I should take a break too," Master Hand looked away. "Nothing can put me in a bad mood...except if some of the Pokémon from the Storage Room got away from someone who couldn't resist the tentation to free them, then I would kill him or her with extreme pain!"

Chris gulped and sweated. "...Y-yes, I know, I mean, who's stupid enough to free them?"

"You're right!" Master Hand and the other two laughed heartily, but Chris was sweating even more than before.

"W-well, go on and sleep in your room! You must be so tired now, right?" Chris said pushing the big hand to the hallway.

"O-okay, but why are you insisting?" Master Hand asked confused.

"Because I say so!" Chris said stopping the hand and waving at him, while Crazy Hand crashed into the walls by accident (or not).

"I'll leave you and the others to do whatever they want to do!" Master Hand said, disappearing in the hallway.

"...(I need to find the Pokémon or Lucas is so dead!)"

Kitchen

Meanwhile, while the chaos was just starting, Jigglypuff, wearing a sleeping hat and Roy, wearing only green shorts and a white shirt, were eating breakfast, waffles.

"At least this isn't Superspicy Curry like before!" Jigglypuff said happily munching a waffle.

"You know, I don't know why," Roy wondered, lifting a whole waffle to his left side and he looked to the right. "But I get this strange feeling."

"What?" The puffball Pokémon asked.

"Something unexpected is going to happen right now, like something or someone hiding from us."

"MUUUUNCH!"

"Did you hear that?" Jigglypuff asked, eating another waffle.

"That must be my imagination." Roy said biting his fork, wait, fork? "Hey! My waffle is gone!" He looked at Jigglypuff eating...a waffle! "Jigglypuff...did you stole my waffle?"

"What are you talking about? This waffle is mine!" Jigglypuff said biting the waffle and putting it to her right side while looking at Roy, because he was to her left.

"Yeah, and how do you explain the disappearance of my waffle?" Roy asked crossing his arms.

"MUUUUNCH!"

"There's that voice again." Roy said.

"Who cares?" Jigglypuff said with a small smirk and she bit her fork...fork? "Hey! My waffle is gone!"

"You mean MY waffle!" Roy protested, picking another waffle with honey spilling over.

"Come on! I'm not Kirby!"

"But both of you are puffballs!"

"Racist!"

"Shorty!"

"Japanese hero!"

"Pinky!"

Jigglypuff gasped. "Why you...Hector's son!"

Roy gasped. "Waffle thief!"

"MUUUUNCH!"

"Waffle kidnapper!"

"That doesn't make sense!" Roy said biting hardly his fork, only to be hurted painfully inside his mouth. "AAAAAHHH!!"

"Ha! You deserved that!" Jigglypuff said pointing with a face of victory to Roy.

"THAT'S IT!" Roy lunged at Jigglypuff and both started a fight in the floor, but it seemed that Jigglypuff was winning because of her hard Pound attack.

Although both were unaware of who was the true thief, it was the Munchlax who escaped from the Storage Room, munching all the waffles while both were fighting and ignoring the glutton Pokémon.

Just then, Lucario and Lucas came from the other side of the room, noticing Munchlax eating the waffles below the table while the 2 were fighting. "There it is!" Lucas said pointing to the Munchlax.

"Aim his Pokeball at him!" Lucario said.

"Okay!" Lucas pointed Munchlax's Pokeball and the red light went towards him, returning Munchlax to his Pokeball. "We got it!"

"Let's find the others!" Lucario suggested and they ran away.

"UGH! STOP!" Roy said hitting the floor as Jigglypuff was bending his leg to his back.

"Ha! I win!" Jigglypuff said triumphaly and she floated and sat on her chair, Roy came 10 seconds ago moaning in pain and sat on his chair too.

"...Roy..." Jigglypuff said smiling, looking at her plate.

"...What?..." Roy asked.

"Our waffles...are gone...and we didn't stole them..."

"...Crap..." He muttered, before both started to bang their heads to their plates.

Fox's Room

"Fooooxxxx." Krystal appeared running towards Fox above a flower field.

"Krystal? What are you doing here?" Fox asked confused.

"You silly, you wanted to see me, right?" Krystal asked with a little smile, stopping in front of him.

"Well...not right now...I'm kind of busy..." Fox protested blushing a little.

"Fox...are you...not pleased to see me again?"

"What?! No! I'm happy!"

"Just look at you...you're so cute when you blush."

"T-that's not right! I'm not blushing!"

"Fox, don't hide it, both know we love each other."

"K-K-Krystal..."

"Shh, don't say it, just...feel it." Krystal slowly closed her eyes and she was approaching her lips towards Fox's.

"(Oh man, she's serious now...what do I do?... Who cares? This is the moment I've been waiting for!)" Fox thought and he did the same action as Krystal, the lips of each other were going to touch very soon as the petals of the flowers around were flying to the blue sky...

"...Bye."

"What?"

Krystal just exploded right in front of Fox, creating a big bang that incinerated the whole field of flowers, sending Fox blasting off to the sky with a great blink.

"Return!" Lucas yelled returning the Electrode that exploded just above Fox, then the 2 ran away to find the other Pokémon.

Fox had the bad luck of getting attacked by the Electrode and he woke up with a very dark face, except for his green eyes that were unnafected.

"...That wasn't a dream?!" He yelled before fainting on his pillow, with smoke getting out his ears.

Pikachu's Room

"MEEEEOOOOWWWWTTTTHHHH!"

"Meowth, don't get in our way..." Pikachu muttered while he was asleep.

"MEEEEOOOOWWWWTTTTHHHH!"

"Meowth, what's up with you?"

"MEEEEOOOOWWWWTTTTHHHH!"

"Since when did you started to say your name?"

"MEEEEOOOOWWWWTTTTHHHH!"

"Ugh, just leave me alone..."

"MEEEEOOOOWWWWTTTTHHHH!!" The Meowth from before suddenly got very angry at Pikachu and he started to throw him a lot of coins using his Pay Day attack, pummeling Pikachu's face with his coins.

"AAAAAHHHHH! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD, MEOWTH IS ATTACKING ME!" Pikachu screamed receiving all the coins at his face as his body was being covered under the coins.

For his good luck, Lucas and Lucario came to his rescue and they returned Meowth to his Pokeball, then they went to another direction. Pikachu had his face with a very dumb expression until he woke up, shaking his head.

"What happened to me? First, I was attacked by a Meowth, for god sake, it was a MEOWTH!" Pikachu said annoyed. "Then, the first thing I see is this pile of money above my be...wait...pile of coins?" He found a big pile of coins just below his foots and his eyes glittered in happiness "I'M RICH! MY DREAM HAS COME TRUE! YAYZ!" He jumped inside the pile, playing inside by swimming through, before the whole cash disappeared, leaving Pikachu "swimming" above his bed.

He opened his eyes, the pile of coins gone forever, then he inhaled for 5 seconds before yelling out loud "(Long list of swears and curses.)"

Mewtwo's Room

Mewtwo bothered to use Confusion to catch the Gulpin carrying the Goldeen, then Lucas came and he returned both Pokémon to his Pokeballs and they ran away, leaving Mewtwo in peace as he continued to meditate.

Popo and Nana's Room

"Yeeeeeessssss...more...iiiiiiiiicccccceeee..." Both of them were being frozen by the Weavile from earlier because he was using Blizzard on both of them, but the Weavile was wondering how they could be enjoying it, his original plan was to hurt them just for fun using Blizzard, but that didn't stopped him from trapping them in a big chunk of ice.

"Return!" Lucas returned the Weavile to his Pokeball, then the 2 continued their way.

Inside the ice, the Ice Climbers were shown very happy, creepy...

One of the Many Hallways

"Okay, if I were a Pokémon, where I could be?" Chris wondered getting in a thinking position. "Oh, hey there." He said to the Bonsly from before, entering Falco's Room while he was asleep. "Now where was I...OH GOD!"

Falco's Room

"Get...down...there...please..." Chris whispered pleading to the Bonsly who appeared just above Falco's head, above a wooden platform attached to the wall for books and magazines, the Bonsly was hyperactive for Chris's dismay, because he was saying his name happily and jumping to each side.

"...Peppy...tell...Fox...to...do...a...Barrel...Roll,...not...me..." Falco muttered sleeping, turning his head to the right.

"Please, don't shout and just get here with me." Chris whispered loudly to make the Bonsly to listen to him, but apparently the Bonsly loved to cause mischief to the people around him, and for make everything worse, the little but heavy Pokémon jumped towards Falco's head.

"BONSLY!" The Bonsly said happily.

"NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Chris ran towards the Bonsly to catch him in slow-motion, but the Bonsly was winning the race to see who manages to do his work, Chris only managed to close his eyes and block his ears to try to not hear Falco yelling by the pain.

"Return!" A red light touched Chris's right shoulder and he saw the Bonsly being covered in the light before returning to his Pokeball, thanks to Lucas and Lucario, before running away from the room as Chris sighed in relief.

"Phew, that was close..." He muttered wiping out some sweat.

"...Chris! Have you ever heard of privacy time?!" Chris sweatdropped and turned his head to see Falco glaring at him for interrupting his privacy in his room, not only that, he was shirtless showing his blue feathered body which made Chris to blush a little bit.

"I...well..."

"No excuses! Get outta here!" Falco ordered and Chris ran away shaking the thought. "Man, what's wrong with him?" He asked to himself before searching for his clothes.

Pit's Room

"...Hmm...Goddess Palutena...what is that beautiful aroma of today?" Pit muttered while he was asleep, the Chikorita decided to sleep with him to the left of the pillow, curled up and putting her leaf in Pit's nose. (She was female and probably fell in love with Pit).

"Return!" Lucas said returning the sleeping Chikorita to his Pokeball, and both ran away, various seconds later, Chris came panting in front of Pit's door.

"Wait...for me! Please!" Chris said.

And Pit woke up surprised. "Who's there?!"

"Oops."

"Hey, close the door! I'm sleeping now!" Pit said a little angrily before returning to sleep, and Chris listened to his demand, closing the door saying a swear. "I hear that!" Pit said in the pillow.

Marth's Room

The Torchic was burning down Marth's clothes which was fun for the Fire Pokémon, luckily, Marth wasn't aware, his nose was covered in the pillow preventing him from smelling the smoke. Even worse, his cape was disappearing in the ashes.

"Hey! Here it is!" Chris said pointing to the Torchic and Lucas returned the Pokémon to his Pokeball, ignoring the fire that was growing bigger in the room of the japanese swordsman.

Pichu's Room

The Bellossom was hiding from Pichu, looking around his room because he could have sworn hearing someone saying "Bellossom!" and making the decision to find the culprit (even though the culprit wasn't a culprit).

"Oh, good morning!" Pichu said smiling to the trio, who completely ignored him and they searched in the room to find the Grass Pokémon.

"Here." Lucario said pointing to 2 random vases with flowers near the window, and behind them there were Bellossom's flowers of her head, Lucas didn't stopped and he returned the Grass Pokémon to his Pokeball, then they ran away.

"Huh? Lucas dropped this Pokeball by accident." Pichu said finding a Pokeball with the name of a Pokémon. "Oh well, he'll come for it later."

Ness's Room

The Wobbuffet was "staring" at the sleeping Ness, doing absolutely nothing.

Lucas, Lucario and Chris came, returned the Pokémon to his Pokeball, and then, ran away.

Ness sneezed randomly, waking up in the process and wondering if there was someone inside his room just now.

Main Hall

A new waterslide was made in one of the staircases of the Main Hall, wait, what is a waterslide doing in the Main Hall? It was created by the Staryu, using Water Gun to make the slide as the Piplup used Surf to play by going down quickly and walking all the way to the top to play again.

"Sweet! I always wanted a waterslide!" Chris and Lucas said in unison.

"Ahem." Lucario coughed, trying to reminding them of their mission.

"Oh, right, return!" Chris said returning the Piplup to his Pokeball and Lucas returned the Staryu.

"That only leaves one Pokémon left." Lucas said looking at the last Pokeball.

"Hey guys!" Pikachu came with the Togepi from before. "Look! I found Togepi walking around and I decided to bring him to Master Hand!"

"Oh no you don't!" Lucas said returning the Togepi to his Pokeball and Pikachu made a confused face.

"Why did you return him to his Pokeball?" Pikachu asked.

The trio explained everything to Pikachu.

"Then a Meowth did attacked me after all!" Pikachu said annoyed.

"Please, don't tell Master Hand or he will surely murder me!" Lucas pleaded joining his hands.

"Okay okay! But stop doing this, you're embarrassing me!"

Chris and Lucario sighed. "Well, this is over, now Lucas, return the Pokeballs to the Storage Room and everything should be fine after that." Chris said and Lucas ran towards the Storage Room to place all the Pokémon back to their places.

Pikachu turned to them. "Oh, by the way, the others are having a meeting, wondering what world is the next one."

"Oh yes, Master Hand told me that we have a day of vacation today, so we can relax this day without going to any world."

"Hmm, a day of vacation?"

"...Sorta." Chris replied remembering the Pokémon incident.

"That sounds good, follow me to the Living Room."

However, Lucario had something in his mind about all the missing Pokémon, he was trying to remember if there was any left behind by accident, but he decided to think about that later as they followed Pikachu to the Living Room with everyone else.

Living Room

The Living Room was one of the big rooms of all the mansion, with golden and red furnitures ornamenting the place that almost made the room like it was some castle, all of the Smashers were sitting in chairs or above sofas, talking about the next world. Except for Mewtwo, Marth and Pichu, who weren't there at the present time.

"I like the idea of the day of vacation." Falco said crossing his arms behind his head.

"Me too, we could visit Nintendo City again this time." Ness said.

"Nintendo City?" Chris asked.

"Yep, there is a city called Nintendo City just crossing the big hill in front of the mansion, the city is like a big metropolis with all sort of persons visiting it everyday, sometimes friends of our worlds visit the place too!" Pikachu explained.

"(Oh, the irony.)" Chris thought.

As everyone minus Lucario were explaining all the places of Nintendo City, Lucario was in his own world thinking about all the missing Pokémon, he couldn't let the thought go away because there was a Pokémon left, and not a common Pokémon, it was...he looked above the candelabrum hanging in the roof with the shadow of a tiny Pokémon that was silently saying happily...

"Manaphy!"

Lucario's pupils shrunk after hearing the silent wisper of Manaphy, he blinked to grow back his pupils and patted Chris's right shoulder to get his attention.

"Lucario, I'm talking right now, what is it?" Chris asked and Lucario pointed to the candelabrum were Manaphy was hiding giggling happily and Chris made the same action that Lucario made. "Oh...god..." He muttered to himself. "Lucas, Lucas! Look above you!" He whispered to Lucas and he got the same reaction from before, if the other Smashers noticed Manaphy in the candelabrum, they could tell Master Hand about the roaming legendary Pokémon, putting Lucas in a deep trouble.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, what do we do?!" Lucas whispered to the duo, frantically looking for the Pokeball.

"Lucas, where is the Pokeball?" Chris whispered as he looked to Roy and Fox, who were talking and they looked at him, but Chris waved at them with a worried smile before looking at Lucas again.

"I-is not here! I lost it!" He responded whispering and sweating at the same time.

Then Marth came to the room, his body all black for the incident which made Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Roy, Ness and the Ice Climbers to laugh hysterically at him.

"What do you mean you lost it?! If Manaphy manages to get their attention, you're totally screwed!" Chris whispered angrily.

"I-I must have dropped it in some place before!"

"Chris, Lucas, look!" Lucario whispered and the trio looked at the candelabrum, which was starting to glow in a pink light because Manaphy was going to use...

"Oh no, he's going to use Heart Swap! And in this room...with all of us!" Chris whispering sweating more.

"Too late." Lucario whispered.

"What?!" Chris whispered surprised watching Manaphy floating above and...using the move that switches the bodies of the persons around him...

A bright pink flash engulfed the whole room and pink hearts were flying around, pressumably the souls of everyone in the room, entering to different bodies with the tones of their voices too, which was even worse.

"So, then I think that would be a good plan to defeat them." Ness said and he looked at some person with his same appearance. "Hey, who's him? He looks just like me!"

"Whoa, since when Falco can talk like Ness?" Pikachu asked, seeing another Pikachu in front of him. "Another Pikachu?"

"Who is him?" Roy asked pointing at another Roy.

"I felt like my whole body grew hair, even in my face." Chris said, and he found another Chris. "What am I doing there?"

"Ahh! I'm wearing a tiara!" Lucas panicked touching a tiara on his head.

"Hey you! Give it back to me!" Marth said pointing to another Marth.

"Hey Nana! We have another Popo!" Popo said finding another Popo sitting to his left.

"And a Nana too!" Nana said looking at another Nana.

"Who are you?" Lucario asked to another Lucario.

"Hey, I could ask you the same thing!" Jigglypuff said crossing her blue arms...wait, blue arms?

"Say, where is my Blaster?" Fox asked trying to find his Blaster on his belt, that disappeared and he looked to another Fox. "What the hell?"

"Go away you useless copy!" Roy said trying to slash the other Roy with his sword, but he didn't found his sword in his invisible belt. "My sword!"

"Why is my head too big?" Falco wondered touching his head.

"...Wait a minute everyone!" Chris said and they looked at him.

"Fox, when did you talk like Chris?" Falco asked.

"What do you mean like Chris? I'm Chris, Ness!"

"Ness? But I'm Falco!"

"...Oh no."

Just then, the Manaphy from before came floating down in the table and they looked at him with blank faces.

"Manaphy?" Pikachu said confused.

"Manaphy!" The Manaphy said happily sitting.

"What's the big deal here? Why is this Pikachu sounding like Roy?" Pikachu asked confused.

"It's because I'm Roy!" Roy said. Before he was grabbed by Pikachu. "Let me go!"

"No way! Give me back my body!"

Soon, almost everyone was fighting against their "evil clone" and the Living Room became the newly adquired "Fighting Room", but the only ones that weren't fighting were Chris, Lucario, Jigglypuff and Fox.

"...And that's about it." Chris (currently in Fox's body) explained to Jigglypuff (Lucario) and Fox (Chris). "But I want my body back!" He grabbed his new tail. "I mean, look at me! I have a tail!" He protested, as a cloth of Roy's cape passed by.

"I agree, this new Pokémon can bring more chaos in a match, but outside? Total madness, just look at them." Fox (Chris) said pointing at Falco (Ness) who was smashing the head of Ness (Falco) with his new bat.

"This is very humiliating." Lucario (Jigglypuff) said frowning to himself.

"Look who's talking, I don't want to know if someone sees me in your body!" Jigglypuff (Lucario) said glaring at Lucario (Jigglypuff).

"What happened to Pit? I haven't see him when our bodies switched." Chris (Fox) asked and looked around the place.

"Here I am."

"Pit?"

"Look over there!" Jigglypuff (Lucario) said pointing to Pit, who was crashing into the window as he tried to get out, flailing his arms around.

"Who is inside Pit's body?" Chris asked as Popo's hammer almost hit his face.

"AHEM!"

Chris looked at his shoulder to find a fly with the voice of Pit looking at him. "Y-YIKES! PIT! IS THAT YOU?!"

"Don't yell at me! I appeared in this body of the fly I was trying to kill!" Pit (the fly) protested glaring with his glass-like eyes, Jigglypuff and Fox chuckled to themselves. "Hey!"

Chris (Fox) sighed. "...Well, we just need to tell Manaphy to return our bodies back to normal." He said walking over to Manaphy and he ducked to ask him. "Manaphy, can you please return us to our bodies? Before Marth kills Lucas with a branch." He said as a branch almost hit his head.

The Manaphy said his name happily and he used Heart Swap again, switching the bodies of all the people in the room, but this time was even worse than before.

"Oh no, Manaphy! You did it wrong!" Chris (Roy) said shocked.

"Why I'm wearing a toga?" Falco (Pit) asked very confused.

"Great, now look at me." Fox (Pikachu) said above Roy's (Chris's) head.

"Where did this beak appear?" Lucas (Falco) asked touching his new beak.

"Manaphy!" Chris (Roy) yelled and Manaphy changed their bodies once again, with even more weird results. "Thank you, if you keep going, I should make it before the night COMES!" Chris (the fly) said above the right shoulder of Popo (Chris).

"Phew, I'm back in my own body!" Jigglypuff said happily.

"..." Lucario (Pikachu) didn't speak.

"What in the name of Altea is happening here?!" Marth (Popo) asked angrily lifting his sword (hammer).

"You know, being a pair the 2 of us does make sense now." Roy (Nana) said rubbing his feminine chin, only to earn a glare of Marth (Popo).

"Manaphy!" Chris (the fly) yelled and they changed bodies again.

"Manaphy!" Jigglypuff (Fox) yelled, and sadly, this went for hours, yelling his name again and again.

"Manaphy!" Lucario (Ness) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Fox (the fly) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Marth (Nana) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Pit (Falco) yelled.

"Phew, finally!" Chris (Fox) said. "Dammit! Back to square one, Manaphy!"

"Manaphy!" Pikachu (Lucario) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Nana (Chris) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Roy (Pit) yelled.

"Manaphy!" Popo (Roy) yelled.

"Hey Lucas!" Pichu came holding the Pokeball of Manaphy. "You dropped this by accident in my room so I-"

"Manaphy!" Fox (Lucario) yelled, dragging Pichu into this in the process.

"Waaah! What happened to me?!" Pichu (the fly) asked.

"Manaphy!" Lucario (Chris) yelled.

"...Wait, this doesn't feel so bad." Chris (Lucario) said.

"Ugh, Manaphy!" Lucario (Pichu) yelled.

"Wait! Let me get the Pokeball!" Lucas (Pit) yelled running towards Jigglypuff (Pichu).

"Manaphy!" Falco (Marth) yelled.

"Wait please!" Lucas (Ness) yelled running towards the fly (Pichu).

"Manaphy!" Pikachu (Nana) yelled.

"Wait! Can't you wait for me?!" Lucas (Lucas, what?) pleaded running towards Pichu (Pichu, again, what?). "W-wait again, I have the Pokeball!"

"Thank goodness! We're back in our bodies!" Chris (Chris) said smiling in relief.

"...Manaphy!" Pit (Pit) yelled by accident.

"PIT!" Everyone yelled annoyed before changing bodies again, and back to square one.

"SHUUUUUUTTTTTT UUUUPPPPPPPP!!" Everyone sweated before looking at a furious Mewtwo, who has been hearing their yells from his room. "I'M TRYING TO MEDITATE IN PEACE AND YOU WON'T SHUT UP! OBEY MY DEMAND OR DIE IN HELL!!" He yelled furiously creating an earthquake that shook the furniture violently before sighing. "And now...continue with your business, in silence." He said before teleporting to his room and the earthquake subsided.

"...Whoa, I've never seen Mewtwo so angry before." Popo (Nana) said surprised and sweatdropping.

"...A-anyway, Manaphy, can you please do it right this time, please?" Chris (Fox) asked worried, but before Manaphy could use Heart Swap, Master Hand (wearing a huge sleeping hat) came yawning and Lucas (Marth) quickly hid Manaphy in his Pokeball and behind his back, sweating.

"Good morning everyone..." Master Hand said yawning more.

"Okay, that's it!" Ness (Falco) said angrily. "Master Hand, there was Manap-AAHH!" He was tackled down by Chris (Fox), blocking his mouth while he was above Ness (Falco). But Ness (Falco) tried to get Chris (Fox) off his body.

"Manapaah? What? And why is your voice a little bit...squeaky?" Master Hand asked confused.

"Erhm, it's because we were playing a game where we change our voices and try to mimic the voice of one of us!" Chris (Fox) said trying to mimic Fox's voice, but he ended up with a deeper tone of Fox's voice, sounding a little bit manlier as Jigglypuff (Lucario) thought.

"What happened to your voice Fox? It's deeper than before." Master Hand asked wondering.

"...Second puberty?" Chris (Fox) said confused and everyone slapped their foreheads (but Fox (Chris) added a frown to himself).

"...Oh! I see! Ahahahaha!" Master Hand laughed. "Yeah! Second puberty! I remember my lost cousin Glover had one of those before, oh yeah, I need to send him a letter to see what he has been doing with the mage, okay okay, I leave all of you in your little game, bye!" Master Hand said chuckling and leaving the room, laughing hysterically after entering the kitchen and that caused everyone to sweatdrop.

"...That was really close." Lucas (Marth) said wiping out sweat of his forehead and calling Manaphy from his Pokeball.

"Do your magic please!" Jigglypuff (Lucario) pleaded and Manaphy used Heart Swap again, causing everyone to close their eyes to see the results after that.

"...It's over?" Chris (?) asked scared, opening slowly his eyes to see his hands in front of him. "It's over!"

"Phew, that was very weird!" Pichu said sighing.

"I'm glad that this is finally over." Fox said sighing.

"That's good and all, but, can you please get off me?" Falco asked glaring at Fox and tapping his fingers in the floor, because Fox was still above his back and he got up scratching his neck.

"Aw, and I was thinking another Popo was a great idea." Popo said.

Lucas explained the big accident to all the Smashers, luckily for him, they told him that it was fine and won't tell Master Hand about it, or Lucas could be really screwed as Chris said before, that made him to thank all of them for understanding.

Oh, and fortunately Pit managed to kill the fly.

Porky who?

3 hours later...

Kitchen

"And with that, we receive Lucas as the new member of the tournament with us, the young Smashers, as the new recruit to show the older Smashers that the younger Smashers can be as strong as they are, congratulations Lucas!" Ness said proudly in a table where he, Popo, Nana, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Lucas were sitting.

"Congratulations!" Pichu said as they clapped their hands to Lucas who blushed a little after this.

"Of course, we were missing Young Link and Kirby into this announcement, but why not begin now?" Nana asked doing a handshake to Lucas.

"T-thank you, but why are we doing this?" Lucas asked rubbing his head.

"Because, Lucas," Popo began "You know there are older fighters in this tournament right?" Lucas nodded slowly. "And, we are the younger ones right?" Lucas nodded slowly again "And so, we thought if we made a group just for us to work in teams and defeat the others in the matches would be a very good idea! And here you are now, part of us!"

"Yep, we usually hang around in group as we are right now," Pikachu said. "In that way, it's more fun."

"What do you think Lucas?" Jigglypuff asked with a smile.

"W-well, I think it's a good idea too." Lucas said shyly.

"Oh please, you don't need to be shy Lucas," Nana patted his back. "It's a real honor!"

"R-really?"

"Not exactly bu-"

"Pikachu!"

"Okay! Okay! It's a real honor! Geez!" Pikachu said crossing his arms behind his head.

"And what do you do now?" Lucas asked curiously.

"We!" Ness raised a finger. "Well...this happens most frecuently between us."

"Yeah, the other reason of this group is to do something fun but productive." Popo said licking a red popsicle.

"Hey, where did you got that?" Pichu asked.

"The fridge, duh." Popo replied pointing at the fridge and Pichu went over there.

"I'm going too!" Jigglypuff said, following Pichu.

"Fun but productive? Like what? Doing charity?" Lucas asked.

"Nah, too good." Ness said.

"Clean?"

"Too boring." Jigglypuff said, licking a pink popsicle.

"Tag?"

"Lack of players." Pichu said, licking a yellow popsicle.

"Hide-and-seek?"

"Same as Pichu's response." Ness said.

"Battles?"

"First reason of this group." Nana said.

"Oh."

"Hmm, anyone has something to say?" Pikachu asked, looking at everyone.

"...I can't concentrate if it weren't for that tremble!" Jigglypuff complained hearing a tremble of a huge machine getting closer to them.

"Wait, tremble?" Ness asked confused, they noticed that he was now eating a noodle soup.

"Yeah, like the earth shaking all of a sudden?" Nana said sarcastically.

"The earth's shaking?" Popo asked surprised.

"Duh!" Nana replied.

"It's getting stronger!" Pichu said.

"And come to think of it, it sounds familiar to me." Lucas wondered rubbing his chin.

"HEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE'S JOHNNY!!"

"Where's Johnny?!" Popo asked excited before the wall of outside the kitchen was destroyed by several claws, creating dust that made them to cover their eyes and cough at the same time (and a chunk of the wall fell on Ness's soup, splashing the soup on him across the face).

"Hehehehe! Here I am in an undercover mission losers!" The dust cleared out to reveal Porky laughing like a maniac as he looked at the 6 young Smashers.

"Yikes!" Lucas and Pichu said in unison, hiding below the table.

"Oh no, not him again!" Nana said.

"Okay Johnny, what do you want?" Popo demanded for a response.

"Popo, his name's Porky!"

"How do you know?" Popo raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up you idiots!" Porky yelled. "Ness! Lucas! I've come here to kill you!"

"S-sorry, but Mr. Lucas is not currently here, l-leave a message if you want!" Lucas said under the table shaking.

"Oh, well, recorder, tell him that I was trying to kill him this time and-WAIT! Don't take me for an idiot!"

"Look who's talking! Undercover means staying hidden from anyone else!" Pikachu pointed out.

"Well duh! And what did I did?"

"Break down the wall and revealing your position." Nana said frowning.

"I was hiding behind some trees for the right moment to attack!"

"Which was..." Pikachu trailed off.

"...Now?" Porky wondered to himself. "Hey! Don't interfere!"

"I have one question!" Ness said cleaning his face with a napkin.

"Spill it! I dare you!" Porky said and Ness pointed at him with an overly drawn finger.

"WHO-THE-HELL-ARE-YOU?!"

Crickets chirps were heard after that.

"Oops, wait a minute, I activated the cricket chirps button by accident." Porky said blushing a little, turning off the sound. "Now where were we? Oh yeah, WHAT?! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM?!"

"No." Ness responded with a blank face.

"His name's Porky." Pikachu and Nana said in unison.

"I don't remember any Porky."

"But Neeeeeeeeess! I'm sure you remember your favorite neighbor in Eagleland!" Porky said in a stupid tone.

"Lier X. Agerate?" Ness tried to guess.

"He's not even near your house!" Porky said angrily.

"Frank?"

"No!"

"Jeff?"

"Not the nerd!"

"Poo?"

"The kid with the crap name? No!"

"Monotoli?"

"No!"

Ness gasped. "My dad?!"

"You mean your father who hasn't payed my dad? No!"

"King?"

"No! I'm not your cowardly dog!"

"The Orange Kid?"

"No!

"The Apple Kid?"

"NO!"

"Master Belch?"

"YUCK, NO!"

"Tracy?"

"I'M NOT YOUR SISTER!"

"Picky?"

"NO-wait, you're closer! Keep guessing!"

"Aloysius Minch?"

"Closer!"

"Her wife?"

"You're almost there!"

Ness gasped again "Then...no...you're..."

"YES! YES! YES!"

"PAULA!"

Porky fell in anime style and he got up, sighing. "Yes Ness, I'm Paula, your big and annoying girlfriend."

"I-I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"I WAS KIDDING, YOU IDIOT!"

Ness crossed his arms behind his head and looked away with his eyes closed. "Geez, that stupid and idiot attitude reminds of Pokey Minch, ugh, good thing he escaped through time travel."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"What you heard."

"I'M POKEY MINCH! YOU BASTARD!"

Ness looked at Porky. "But I'm pretty sure your name is "Porky" and also, you're not my favorite neighbor."

"I changed Pokey for Porky, cool, isn't it?" Porky was showing off his illegal name.

"...So you're telling us that you changed your name illegally by no reason?" Pikachu asked.

Porky nodded. "Uh-huh! You got it!"

"...That's the dumbest idea I ever heard so far." Nana said taking a sip of her soda.

"...That's coolness for you!"

"That's your idiocy you mean." Pikachu pointed out eating a strawberry.

"S-shut up!"

In that moment, Lucas and Pichu got out of the table. "Sooo, what are you gonna do now?" Pichu asked curiously.

"Kill the 6 of you now!"

"How?" Lucas asked.

"By!...Well...uhh..."

"By making us to eat dirt?" Pichu asked.

"Hmmm, dirt..." Porky drooled at the thought. "N-no!"

"Then how?" Ness asked.

"...Argh! I've come this far without thinking a way to kill you!"

Ness looked at the others. "And that's how you show the idiocy of your neighbor, thank you." He received a series of applauses by the others.

"Hey, what's happening here?" Roy asked peering from the other side of the kitchen. "I heard some rants coming from here and I-WHO ARE YOU?!"

"I'm-"

"The lord of all the lard, Pokey Minch." Ness said.

"IT'S PORKY!" Porky demanded.

"You were the one who almost killed Chris, right lord of all the lard?" Roy asked and taking out his sword.

"The dork? Well...yeah, pretty much...HEY!" Porky said blankly.

"You idiot! You're not getting away for doing that!"

"Why are all of you calling me an idiot?!" Porky asked angrily.

"You're one, enough said." Nana said.

"SHUT UP!"

"Idiot? Who's one?" Pit asked peering from the other side of the kitchen. "I heard someone complaining about something and I-YOU!" He took out his dual blades.

"Oh great, more people." Porky muttered to himself.

"Who are you?!" Pit demanded.

"I'm-"

"The biggest idiot in the whole world, Porky Minch." Pikachu said.

"IT'S POKEY...OH, DAMMIT!"

"The biggest idiot in the whole world! I shall avenge Chris in that fight!" Pit said.

"Why can't somebody say my previous name and not the unnecessary nicknames?!"

"Calm down, will ya?" Falco appeared from Roy's side. "I was reading one of my magazines in peace and I-YOU AGAIN?!" He took out his Blaster to aim it at Porky.

"...That's it, I'm not even bothering anymore." Porky said frowning.

"It's Porky Minch." Lucas said.

"IT'S LORD OF ALL THE LARD!...DAMMIT!"

"Don't think I'll let you go alive without taking revenge for what you did to Chris!" Falco said glaring at Poke-I mean, the lord of all the lar-I mean, you know who.

Porky looked around. "...If there is someone left to show up, please do it now!" He said like he was in the speaker.

"Me?" Marth asked peering from Pit's side. "YOU!"

"Me?" Fox asked peering from Roy's side. "YOU!"

"Great, now all of them are here." Porky muttered. "But that doesn't matter! I shall kill you all wit-"

"Humph."

"Who's ther-oh crap!" Porky found Lucario walking towards him with crossed arms. "Get away from me! Or you'll suffer!"

"Why?" Lucario asked with a glare. "By the last act you did to Chris, do you think I'm going to forget that so easily? You're wrong, that left a serious revenge on you."

"H-hey, c'mon pal, I was just kidding!"

"Yes, you were kidding." Popo said sarcastically.

"D-don't help him!" Porky said, backing away slowly. "I-I-I'm not afraid of you!" Lucario stomped the floor and it made a crack. "It was made of second hand!" Porky tried to point out before Lucario destroyed a portion of the wall with his hand while he was still walking towards Porky. "A-and that was made from third hand!"

"Usually, this is the time where Lucario tries to kill somebody." Ness said licking a popsicle.

"Y-you're kidding right?! ...Wait!" Porky took out a Lightning from behind him. "Tabuu gave me this if a situation like this happen!"

"What's that?" Pikachu asked curiously.

"This electric item shrinks everyone except the user!" Porky said and almost everyone gasped (except Lucario).

"So, you're telling us that that thing is like a Poison Mushroom?" Nana asked and Porky nodded his machine.

"You're smart! But with this, I'll be the only big person around to smash you with my claws!" He ordered one of his claws to touch the Lightning. "See ya, losers!"

Outside

A bright flash came from the kitchen and an instant earthquake was made, creating dust that covered the whole room.

Kitchen

Porky was shown coughing. "Hahahaha! It worked! This item really helps! Now, for the final act, I'll stomp on everyone else and...WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"

"Ugh, my body..."

"Why I'm feeling like I've suddenly grow so much?"

Many deeps moans came from the kitchen and Porky was left very surprised, instead of turning everyone into tiny characters, the Lightning backfired at Porky and made everyone else big, giants.

"Hey, look! We're bigger!" Falco said in a deep tone and he looked at Porky. "Looks like we were the ones to smash him up!" He said cracking his fists and approaching slowly to him.

"I like the idea!" Roy said lifting his sword.

"C-C-C'mon guys! I was...joking? Yes joking! Don't take it seriously!" Porky pleaded.

"We are going to say we were kidding AFTER trying to give you some "sense", stupid brat." Fox said cracking his fists.

"N-n-no! Please, don't do it!"

"FEAR ME!" Pichu said.

"YIKES!" Porky jumped surprised.

"I got him!" Marth said grabbing all the claws of the left side.

"We got him too!" The Ice Climbers said grabbing the claws of the right side.

"L-l-let me go!...oh no!" Porky noticed that Lucario had his hand just above the glass of the machine glowing with so much aura. "PLEASE! STOP! I WON'T BOTHER YOU IN THE NEAR FUTUR-"

"GET HIM!" Falco yelled and all of the giant Smashers lunged at Porky, beating the crap out of him with so many punches, slashs, electric attack that were like thunderstorms, blood spilling all over the place and destroying almost all the kitchen...oh well, the kitchen was destroyed enterily by them.

"I'M BLASTING OFF TO THE SUBSPACE!!" Porky said as a portal of the Subspace appeared on the sky as his very, extremely, destroyed, scrapped spider mech entered and disappeared inside.

"...I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Pikachu said sighing.

Just then, out of nowhere, Chris came. "Hey, I hear many explosions coming from here and I-WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF YOU?!"

"Chris!" Lucario walked towards Chris (and creating some trembles too) and kneeled to him.

"Lucario! When did you get so big?!"

Lucario shook his head. "We avenged you from Porky, he came just right here and he was defeated by all of us."

"Huh?"

Everyone explained everything to Chris.

"Oh, I see...thank you so much for doing that for me!" Chris said smiling and most of them were a little embarrassed, saying that it was nothing and such (the situation was very awkward because the effect of the Lightning didn't worn off).

"AAAAHHHHHH!!" Master Hand came from nowhere and he found the giant Smashers and Chris in the utterly destroyed kitchen. "THE KITCHEN! IT'S GONE!"

"Umm, sorry about that Master Hand." Marth said.

"Chris! What's the meaning of this?!" Master Hand asked angrily.

"W-well, Porky appeared out of nowhere and then he used a Lightning and then they were turned into giants and then they destroyed Porky and the kitchen and the-"

"Yes, yes, like I believe your made up story!"

"Hey! He's telling the truth!" Nana said.

"ENOUGH! Chris, you will pay for the damages to the kitchen right now!"

"...Okay, how much is it?" Chris asked.

"1600 Smash Coins!"

"WHAT?! That's way too much!"

"It's the kitchen, remember?!"

Chris took out 1600 Smash Coins and gave it to Master Hand, thus giving away the hard earned coins from saving 2 worlds. "There!"

"Okay, the kitchen should be repaired for tomorrow," Master Hand looked at the wall. "For now," Master Hand snapped his fingers and the wall was repaired. "There, good bye useless night bugs, see you later everyone." He teleported to him room to rest.

Chris was there looking away to the direction where Master Hand came and the Smashers were behind him, still in their giant forms.

"...Sorry...about...that...Chris..." Falco said trying to apologize and scratching his neck.

"...Yeah...but...we...had...to...do it...right?" Pikachu asked.

"...I hate you all." Chris simply said walking away from the destroyed kitchen and leaving them alone.

"...Do you think he will be alright?" Fox asked to Lucario.

"Normally, I think yes."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"You were saying?" Popo asked raising an eyebrow.

"..." Lucario was left speechless before they returned to their original sizes.

"...Well...at least we avenged him..." Lucas said before noticing another tremble. "W-what now?"

They looked above them to see the roof about to collapse, or more accurately, it collapsed fastly before they could even run from it, burying them below the previously floor known as roof.

"THAT WILL COST 600 SMASH COINS TOO!" Master Hand's voice echoed through the mansion.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FRIENDS!" Chris yelled giving Master Hand the money.

Night In The Spa

Hallway

6 hours later...

"FIRST, my body gets switched with them, SECOND, they destroy the kitchen by fighting Porky, THIRD, I get to pay their damages and FOURTH, I need to recover the lost money!" Chris said angrily stomping all the way to the Main Hall "This is the worst day in my life EVER!" He complained "And I don't want to see them again until tomorrow!...Hey...where's that steam coming from?" He asked finding a trail of steam in the roof and he decided to follow it.

Spa

"Whoa! There's a Spa inside this room!" Chris said surprised after he found a Spa with a hot spring inside. "I wonder who made this place..."

"Hello!"

"ACK!" Chris jumped surprised at the voice, who was Crazy Hand behind a counter. "Crazy Hand?!"

"Welcome to Crazy Hand's Spa! Or Spa for short." Crazy Hand said.

"You made this place?"

"Correct! I asked my brother to do a Spa to the open air and he thought it was a good idea!"

"Open air?" Chris asked and he peered inside the Men's Side to find the whole place below the starry sky. "...It makes the place to be enjoyable."

"Anyway, this only the area of the hot springs, actually there is massage service but... Do you want to enter?" Crazy Hand asked quickly.

"Hmm, okay! I need a good refresh for the last trouble they caused to me!"

"Trouble?"

"Don't ask." Chris said with gritted teeth.

"Okay," He took out a white towel and a white short. "Towel or short?"

"...Short, I don't want to be naked inside."

Men's Side

"Ahhhhhhhhhh...now this hits the spot..." Chris said with an anime dumb smile, wearing a towel in his head, the water made a lot of steam that covered the whole place, preventing from seeing anything through, but Chris didn't care at all. "This...is the heaven..."

He was starting to wonder inside the steam. "And...what am I supposed to do now? It's just me and the sky...wait, just me?" He asked with a smile looking around. "Hey, that means..." His eyes glittered. "I can finally sing without anyone hearing me! It's the opportunity of a life time! (..But Crazy Hand is here...)" He thought, before hearing a snore from the idiot hand. "(...That solves the trouble.)" He thought with a chuckle. "And why not sing my favorite themes? Alright!" He cleared his throat, singing with his own voice without changing it.

First Song

Sooousa kaanashimi wo yasashisa ni
Jibun rashiiisa woo chikara ni
Maayoi nagara demo ii
Aaaruki daaashiiteeeee
Mou ikkai!

Dareka no kitai ni zutto kotae
Homerareru no ga suki nano desu ka?
Naritai jibun wo suri kaete mo
Egao wa itsudemo suteki desu ka?

Haaajiiiimaari daaake yumeeee mite okiru
Sooonoooo saki naaara itsuuuuka jibun no ude deee!

Souda
Daiji na mono wa itsumo
Katachi no nai mono dake
Te ni irete mo nakusshiittemo
Kidukanu mama

Sousa
Kanashimi wo yasashisa ni
Jibun rashisa wooo chikara ni
Kimiii nara kitto yareru shinjiteeeeii-iteeee
Mou ikkai! Mou ikkai!

Second Song

Tooku de kikoeru koe wo hitori
Hitori mata hitori de chi agaru toushi
Kurikaesu dake no fudan doori
Itsu ga iku jumbi ii are you ready?

Karadajuu fuu no wa shinzou ni
Hageshiku chi narase yo stoping
Taeru tsuki wo ukasu call me
Kawarisugiru ga nuki ka story

Come on everybody stand up
Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da
Me ni mo tomoran no speed wo handa
Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba yeah

Come on everybody hands up
Mata assta no heroes wa comeback
Tsuujou kazoe hibi wo countdown
Let's go, 3-2-1 make some noise! Make some noise! Make some noise!

Hey yo mou basho nori tsuku wa kakugo desho
Nankai korondatte tatsu keredo
Nade aida naze kami hito e no seisho
Irikunda kanjou kizuki ageta desho

Mochiagaru kansei ga yuuki to naru
Tashiagareba ima kurushimi tomonau
Sore demo saikou wa kitto aru
Subete sarau to shouri no kansei

Everybody stand up
Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da
Me ni mo tomoran no speed wo handa
Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba yeah

Come on everybody hands up
Mata asshiitta no heroes wa comeback
Tsuujou kazoe hibi wo countdown
Let's go, 3-2-1 make some noise! Make some noise! Make some noise! Make some noise!

"...So what?" Chris asked to the readers. "I like my anime themes, blame me."

Third Song

We are Fighting Dreamers! Takami wo mezashhite
Fighting Dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu
Fighting Dreamers! Shinjiru ga mama ni
Oooli Oli Oli Oh! Just go my way!

Right here Right now (Bang!)
Buppanase Like a dangan LINER!
Right here Right now (Burn!)
Buttakitteku ze Get the fire!

Kewashii shura no michi no naka Hito no chizu wo hirogete doko e yuku?
Gokusaishoku no karasu ga Sore wo ubaitotte yaburisuteta

Saaaa kookoro no me Mihiraite Shika to ima wo mikiwamerooo! (Yeah!)
Uuushinauu mono nante nai sa Izaaa maaaiiroooouu!

We are Fighting Dreamers! Takami wo mezashhite
Fighting Dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu
Fighting Dreamers! Shinjiru ga mama ni
Oooli Oli Oli Oh! Just go my way!

Right here Right now (Bang!)
Buppanase Like a dangan LINER!
Right here Right now (Burn!)
Buttakitteku ze Get the fire!
Right here Right now (Bang!)
Buppanase Like a dangan LINER!
Right here Right now (Burn!)
Buttakitteku ze Get the fire! (BANG!)

"OWW!"

At the last part of the third song, Chris accidentaly moved his fist in front of him, feeling someone inside the steam by punching it and it sneezed 5 times.

"HEY! WHO'S THERE?!" Chris asked surprised and blushing because if there was someone hiding in the steam, he could have heard Chris singing alone without knowing another presence inside the water.

"MY NOSE!"

"...Isn't that..." Chris moved directly where the voice was and he exhaled air to blow away the steam, revealing the person hiding there. "YOU?!"

"I-I'm sorry for eavesdropping!"

"Why did you do that for, Fox?" Chris asked.

"W-we can explain it!"

""We?" There are more?"

"...Darn it!"

Chris started to exhale more air to blow the steam away, finding Falco, Marth, Roy, Pikachu, Pichu, Pit, Ness and Lucas hiding from him. "What the hell?! Did I just give a private concert in THIS place?!"

"Sorry! We didn't mean to eavesdrop on you!" Pichu said.

"But why didn't you tell me you were here?!"

"Because after the incident in the kitchen left you very angry against us, we entered inside the Spa and then you appeared and we hid in the steam." Roy explained.

"Although I understand all the words you were singing just now." Marth said.

"(...This is so embarrassing! But good thing they don't know anything about those songs.)" Chris thought. "Well, is somebody else in the Spa?"

Women's Side

"Just the 2 of us, huh?" Jigglypuff said to Nana, who was covered by the steam, preventing Jigglypuff from seeing her without her parka.

"It seems that way..." Nana said.

Men's Side

"Where's Popo?"

"Over here!" Popo said in an area where the steam prevented them from seeing his face without his parka.

"Where's Lucario?"

"He went to his room an hour ago." Pikachu responded.

"I see..."

A moment of awkward silence soon followed and they looked around to find something interesting to talk about, but without results.

"...Are you still mad at us?" Ness asked breaking the silence.

"After losing 2200 Smash Coins because of your combined recklessness, do you think I'd forget that so easily?"

"B-but we apologized!" Lucas said.

"Apologizing isn't enough to me!"

"...Then, what do you want?" Popo asked.

Chris thought for a moment. "Just leave me alone to think carefully about that..."

The others looked at each other. "Let's go Lucas..." Ness said to Lucas and everybody left to different parts of the Spa to leave Chris alone and he looked away.

Chris sighed. "...Now what...I think I should accept their apologies, but then again, this incident can happen anytime...because they're a bunch of lunatics...wait...they said it was because of Porky..." He looked at the sky. "...Am I taking this so seriously because I lost money? What the hell am I thinking? They could think of me as a greedy little kid...what to do...hmm...no, no, no! I'll accept their apologies even if I lost that amount of money!" He turned his head. "Guys, I want t-AHH!"

"S-sorry again!"

"What's with you Fox? This is the second time already!"

"Well, I can't think of something better than saying sorry to you!"

Chris narrowed his eyes and looked around. "...Is there someone else eavesdropping on me again?"

"Falco's behind me." Fox said pointing to Falco, who waved at Chris.

"And there's someone else behind him?"

"Just water and steam." Falco said.

"Phew, that's better."

"And...what were you going to say?" Fox asked.

"I...I accept your apologies, I was only thinking about the money I lost back then and well..."

"Just that?"

"...Yes?"

Fox chuckled to himself. "Don't worry about things like that, sometimes even Falco does that."

"Yeah, sometimes I-HEY!" Falco glared at Fox.

Chris laughed a little. "Hahaha! Now that puts me back in the mood!"

"But what about me?"

"Oh please, stop! It's too much already!"

"(...What kind of person is Chris?)" Fox thought and then got an idea. "Say Chris...it's everything fine now?"

"...Hmm...I think yes."

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Go ahead, I like to talk with persons like you."

"Good, I want to know about your sudden changes of personalities."

"Sudden changes of personalities? Like what?"

Falco got a little closer to join the conversation. "He means sometimes you're too calm, sometimes you're too hyperactive, and then, sometimes you're too angry, we thought people of your age doesn't act like that."

"...Most of that it's because...I...live alone in my house..."

"You mean locked up in your house without having someone else to live with you?" Fox asked and Chris nodded slowly.

"...Yes."

"Wait just a sec!" Falco began. "And where are you parents? Do they know you're here?"

"My parents don't know where I am now, they're important business people that travels around the world to work, ever since I had 9 years, they decided it was time for me to live alone in my house...you don't know how sad I was then..."

"...Sorry for hear that." Fox said.

"No, it's okay, I managed to live after that, my parents were still paying attention to me no matter where they were by sending letters to me...but even with my friends at school, nothing was very fun to me."

"...Did something happen after that?" Falco asked.

"...Well, nothing, until 6 years later where I met Lucario during a thunderstorm..." He explained everything until he and Lucario came to this world. "...And that's how we ended up here..."

"..."

"...What do you think?"

"Chris, from where you come, there are more people like you, correct?" Fox asked and Chris nodded. "Are they the same as you?"

"I don't think so, I think I'm the only childish teenager as far as I know, persons at my age only worry about their appearances, how much they win in part-time jobs and...how bigger their breasts are..." He shuddered at the thought.

"...That doesn't sound bad..." Falco trailed off.

"FALCO!" Fox yelled at him.

"Okay! Okay! It's wrong!"

"And what do you think about this whole trouble to save the worlds?" He asked returning to their conversation.

"...I think that it's the best experience in my life!"

"And there he goes again..." Falco said and Chris blushed a little.

"S-shut up! As I was saying, I'm so lucky to meet all of you! To be honest, it's like I'm already part of this, visiting all the worlds with you, hanging around, meeting more interesting people that I can only do from my world, and to make everything more interesting, I have my own skills to help!" He smiled. "I can't wait to save the next unknown world!"

"Save that enthusiasm for tomorrow, because we're going to need all the possible help." Fox said smiling a little.

"Thank you, that's a good idea...you know Fox...now I'm seeing both of you like the brothers that I never had before."

"Huh?" Falco said confused.

"Thanks to this little meeting, I'm so happy that both of you understood about my life, I feel like I can challenge any threat in my way if you help me to fight it."

"Hmm...brothers that you never had before...sounds good to me, I like the idea." Falco said.

"I agree too." Fox said.

"Thank you again for accepting my point of view! (Wait, I'm talking to 2 videogame characters right? It's time for ask a personal question then!) Hey Fox, can I ask you a question too?"

"Sure."

"What is the name of your mother?"

"...What?"

"Hey, that's a good question," Falco remarked. "I don't have any memories of your mother."

"T-that's not true! What about your mother, Falco?" Fox asked raising an eyebrow.

"D-don't look at me! If I remember correctly, he asked you! Not me!"

"Come on Fox! Tell me please!" Chris said.

"...Okay, the name of my mother wa-"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Lucas! That was the easiest joke I ever told you!" Ness said chuckling to himself.

"But it's so funny! I can't stop laughing!" Lucas said wiping out a tear.

"...Oh, so that's her name." Chris said after Lucas's laugh faded.

"Now I remember!" Falco said, before noticing Chris looking at the sky again. "What's wrong?"

Chris looked at them. "Oh, it's nothing, I was thinking about what world is the next one, Master Hand said it was unknown to you but known to me," He looked at the moon. "But which one is it?"

The screen looked at the moon in the sky and suddenly, it changed to a blue moon from another place as a long beam coming from it creates a portal between 3 huge rocks and a group of 9 travelers entered inside, the portal disappeared and a person in a red ninja costume stomped his foot in fury.

"Darn it! The guardian signature disappeared! They've escaped into Sylvarant!" The ninja said before the screen looked at the moon again, changing to his white color above the Spa.

"Yeah, this will be the first time we go to another world that isn't related to us." Fox said.

"Let's just wait for tomorrow and see which one is," Chris said with a little smile and they nodded. "Okay, I think I need to sleep for now."

"We'll stay here for a little longer." Falco said.

"Okay, good night to you, it was an interesting talk in my opinion!" He said leaving them alone, but both had their eyes wide after finding something in Chris's back.

"W-what the?!"

"Huh?" Chris turned to them. "It's something wrong?"

"N-no, w-we just wanted to say good night to you." Falco said sweating a little. "...Good night?"

"...Oh...good night again...I guess, oh, and also, I'll make sure to bring both of you to that place, think of it as a thanks for the conversation of a moment ago." Chris said and they nodded, leaving them alone and the Spa.

"Fox, did you see that?"

"The scar on his back?" Fox asked.

"Yes! It was very...weird!"

"And he didn't seem to know about it too...he doesn't know then..."

"What should we do?"

"As long as he doesn't know, nothing bad can happen."

"...Let's tell the others?"

"Yes, let's do that." Fox said and they told the others about the situation, which they took it seriously considering the description of it. After that, they were starting to wonder about a cure of the scar.

Good Night

Lucario's Room

"Oh, you're here." Lucario said looking at Chris.

"Yes...Lucario, about that incident, I accept your apology." Chris said.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Chris yawned. "Well then, it's time for me to sleep," He jumped to his bed to sleep and Lucario went after him. "Good night Lucario."

"Good night, Chris." Lucario said with a little smile before Chris fell asleep. "...(I wonder what happened that made him so happy...)" He thought before falling asleep, as the light of the moon touched his face from the window.

Preview of the next chapter

"Goddess Palutena! Please, you have to understand! Don't take my wings from me!"

"Pit," Palutena smiled at him. "Sometimes you need to pass the dangers ahead in your way with disadvantages to grow stronger and wiser, I hope you understand."

"But how am I suppose to help a female angel even if I don't know one in the first place?"

"I'm going to give you all my jobs." Lucario said.

"What?" Chris said surprised "But!"

"Oh my god! I know about this world!" Chris said very excited.

"Victory..."

"Belongs to..."

"The most..."

"Sexy! Dead sexy!"

"Next time: An angel who lost his wings!" Ness said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas

(Useful Brawl facts: The Lightning has a stronger effect than the Super Mushroom, the difference is that the character grows even bigger than a Super Mushroom, use this to take many snapshots in Giant Mode!) That's why the Smashers were bigger than the Spider Mech.

And that's a wrap of this chapter! Production can now begin in the new world!

References:

-When Chris said to Lucario that everything was going to be fine, that was a reference to Digimon 1 when Sora comforted Mimi in the Gekomon Castle (Don't expect a Digimon arc, sorry).

-Lucario's yell was a reference to Final Fantasy X, where Tidus wants to yell in Yuna's pilgrimage.

-This wasn't a reference, more like a tribute at What Goes On in the drabble "Porky who?".

-EDIT: Porky said Team Rocket defeat phrase, but he added his own end.

-Chris sang 2 different openings of Naruto and the first opening of Naruto Shippuden. Those are my favorite ones too.

Anyone can guess what world is the next one? Is a popular game that has a sequel in the Wii!

Read and review!

Chapter 53: A day of vacation...sorta
*Chapter 54*: Cursed Wingless Angel

The next arc is here people! The first time the Smashers gets involved with new characters of other worlds! (At least in this story.)

And on with this chapter! Read, enjoy and review please! :)

Chapter 54: An angel who lost his wings

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Giant...fists...big...swords...gigantic...kicks...DUAHA! BUAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!" Porky laughed insanely in fetal position with one claw of his destroyed spider mech rolling his old carcass inside.

The Ancient Minister rolled his eyes in disgust without closing them even a little bit "Maybe letting him go to their headquarters was a very bad decision, Lord Tabuu."

"Or giving him the Lightning." Added Wolf.

"...The idiocy is for the most stupid people..." Tabuu said frowning.

"And what about that seal?" Wolf asked.

"The seal should stop working in approximately 3 hours." The Ancient Minister said.

"When that it's gone, prepare the invasion immediately." Tabuu ordered.

"So I guess it's my turn again..." Wolf said crossing his arms "Seriously, when are you going to recruit more people into this? The old kid has lost all the dignity to me."

"Mama, get the swords away from me, mama, get the hammers away from me, mama, get the clouds away from me, mama, get the big people away from me. DUAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Porky laughed like crazy again.

"Just wait, the time should reveal for itself." Tabuu said.

"And when then?" Wolf asked.

"I've said wait!"

"Fine."

"Ancient Minister!"

"Yes?" The Ancient Minister asked.

"Be prepared to deploy the Subspace Bombs! I won't let the opportunity to take over a new world from getting away from me, this is the chance I've been waiting for!"

"Understood, Lord Tabuu." The Ancient Minister said, disappearing in the Subspace.

"...I hope you remember my suggestion." Wolf said.

"That is something that I don't care now." Tabuu said.

"Won't that make everything easier? They're like 10 or more against me and the traumatized old kid."

"...I'll have that in mind."

Smash Mansion
Outside

Pit's Room

Pit was in the middle of a conversation with Palutena, the goddess of Skyworld, his room was gone and he was standing in a dimension with clouds and Centurions flying around, with Palutena standing in front of him, smiling as Pit told her about his adventures.

"Goddess Palutena, I clearly say that this mission to save the worlds is so far helpful to increase my skills as a combatant in your regards." Pit said kneeling to her with a little smile.

"I see." Palutena said.

"In the honor of Angel Land, I shall help them as you wish, my goddess."

"Pit, I am so proud of your spirit as the captain of the royal bodyguards of my order, your wisdom in the fights are true to be believed."

Pit stood up "Then, with the Three Sacred Treasures, I will not let you down." He turned his back to her, starting to walk away before 4 Centurions blocked his way "May I please leave?"

"Sorry, but Her Majesty wishes to speak more with you." A Centurion said to Pit and he turned to Palutena with a confused face.

"Goddess Palutena, is there something to talk about?" Pit asked.

"Yes, it is about your fighting style." Palutena said.

"My fighting style? It's because of some mistake I made before?"

"No, it is the lack of bravery."

Pit gasped "L-lack of bravery? I don't understand! What is wrong with my bravery?"

"Don't dare to speak with her in a tone like that!" A Centurion glared at Pit with his bow ready, aimed at his head.

"Do I need to remind you that I'm your captain?" Pit said.

"Pit, I am sorry to tell you this, but your rank as the captain has been lowered."

"W-what?!" Pit asked in shock.

"Her Majesty has noticed your efforts from the realms of Skyworld, so far, Palutena has yet to see your true potential." A Centurion explained to him.

"True potential? What potential? It's there another Sacred Treasure I didn't find yet?" Pit asked very confused. But she shook her head "W-wait!"

"Pit," Palutena smiled at him "By the rules that I hold in the power of Angel Land, I shall decrease your rank of captain to a novice soldier, meaning that you will lose the Wings of Icarus as the rules for the rank of novice soldiers." She said as her right hand glowed with a sacred light, and Pit's wings glowed before vanishing into of spores of light, floating away in the sky of her realm and Pit's face was now very shocked at this moment.

"B-but how can I show you my true potential, goddess, if I can't use my wings?!" Pit asked yelling by accident.

"There are 2 conditions, you need to clear at least one to recover your wings and the rank of captain."

"Which?"

"The first condition is to help a female angel in her own mission, but if you fail to clear the first condition, then the second condition is to sacrifice your life in battle."

Pit was now utterly traumatized by this moment, the 2 conditions were impossible to accomplish for him.

"Goddess Palutena! Please, you have to understand! Don't take my wings from me!"

"Pit," Palutena smiled at him "Sometimes you need to pass the dangers ahead in your way with disadvantages to grow stronger and wiser, I hope you understand."

"But how am I suppose to help a female angel even if I don't know one in the first place?"

"The future shall be revealed to you in time, my loyal soldier."

"And if I can't clear the first condition, then the second is really insane! Dying in battle just to recover my wings and not be able to awake from the death is pure blasphemy!"

All the Centurions in the realm gasped in shock after Pit had enough guts to say that word to Palutena, and the angel without wings realized his error and waited for a punishment coming from her own goddess.

But nevertheless, Palutena just laughed a little and all the persons in the realm looked confused at her, even Pit.

"Pit, you need to trust my words, by the time that occurs, you will understand, believe in your allies of battle and they will help you."

"...(I'm surprised that she didn't reacted at my poor choice of vocabulary.)" Pit thought.

"However," Palutena continued "Since one of our rules is to have a good sense of choice of words, you have a limit to clear these conditions."

"Huh?"

"You have only 2 suns and 2 moons to clear one of the conditions or if you cannot do it, you will keep the rank of novice soldier for the eternity."

"W-WHAT?! (2 suns and 2 moons equals 2 days.)" Pit shouted very surprised.

"Be careful, another bad choice can turn this from bad to worse." Palutena warned Pit with a smile.

"F-fine my goddess, I'll try to do it." Pit said looking down at the clouds.

"I am happy for hearing your decision my soldier in training, but still you can use the Palutena's Bow to fight and the Mirror Shield to protect."

"Y-yes..."

"And now, I leave you in your mission, farewell..." Palutena said as a bright light shone in the realm, turning back to Pit's Room and the angel looked at the place where his wings once were, then he sighed in disappointment.

"..." He was left speechless, looking at the floor in shame.

Outside

Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of all mana.

A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place.

Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens.

The goddess left the angels with the edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed."

The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens.

And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world.

"...Chris, wake up."

"..."

"CHRIS!" He yelled at Chris.

"AH! WH-WHAT?!" Chris woke up in his meditation with Lucario, it was 5:00 AM and the Aura Pokémon decided to begin Chris's Aura Training early before going to the next world, and the World Traveler wasn't fully awakened yet and he fell asleep in front of Lucario.

"How can you sleep in a time like this, honestly?" Lucario asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, who had the idea to start this training," Chris pointed at the far away hills "When the sun hasn't even appeared yet?"

"We forgot the Aura Training yesterday and I thought that the only way to make up for it is by starting at this time." Lucario explained.

"Oh well, you're right in you explain it like that way."

"Moving on, what did you heard of my explanations?"

"That if I want to make an Aura Sphere, I need to have my mind empty to let my Aura flow without interruptions, but then does that means that you have your mind empty of thoughts everytime you make your Aura Sphere?"

Lucario shook his head and Chris made a confused face "No, once the Aura becomes one with you, it will obey all your orders."

"Become one with me? So it's like a wild beast waiting to be tamed?"

"Something like that if you want to put it in that way, let me show you my Aura Sphere for an example." Lucario positioned his hands to create an Aura Sphere, but several seconds passed without any effect, and he looked at his hands "This is strange...my Aura is back with me but...the Aura Sphere didn't appeared..."

"I think I know the answer for that question!"

Chris took out his DS where Dr. Kawashima appeared again "You know what's wrong with him?"

"Of course!" Dr. Kawashima said "It's theorycally possible that his Aura has returned to him, but there's a downside present at this moment right now."

"Downside?" Lucario asked.

"No doubt about it, it's another power you 2 share from the beginning."

"What?" Chris asked.

"The Job System that hand gave to you, it's not very conventional for a person like Lucario to handle it."

"Why?"

"Keep asking! I like to give answers!" Dr. Kawashima cleared his throat "Lucario has already the Aura to fight, right?"

"Right."

"Then, the Job System is another power that allows the user to get different abilities depending of the job, correct?"

"Correct."

"But," He narrowed his eyes "A character that has already his or her own fight style could be considered a sacrifice to his abilities because both skills could neutralize the other, and since there are so many jobs out there, the jobs are winning the "war" against Lucario's Aura, if Lucario continues to use the Job System, he will eventually lose his Aura abilities FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE."

Chris gasped "What?! But...there is a way to get his Aura back to him if he lose it?"

Dr. Kawashima shook his head "I'm afraid not, it's up to Lucario to decide, or he gives you his jobs or his Aura disappears for good."

"I'm going to give you all my jobs." Lucario said.

"What?" Chris said surprised "But!"

"Whoa, you decided to fast!" Dr. Kawashima remarked surprised.

"There is no meaning for me if my Aura is gone, remember, everybody knows me as the Aura Pokémon." Lucario said.

"W-well, that's true but..." Chris trailed off.

"Trust me in this one Chris, it will help you in the process too."

"...If that is your decision...then...okay, I'll do it."

"HOLD ON A SECOND CHRIS!" Dr. Kawashima shouted.

"What?"

"You must also sacrifice another power, the power that lets you use ANY other skill of another job if you're using another job that doesn't has that skill."

Chris took out his bow, even if his job was currently the Aura Apprentice "You mean this?"

"Yes!"

He looked at the bow "I...don't care anymore for this ability, I think I can handle everything just fine with one job at a time."

"Then it's settled," The doctor looked at Lucario "Now, hear me Lucario, once you give all your jobs to Chris, there's no other way to get them back, are you sure?"

"My answer will still be yes." Lucario said.

"That's fine with you Chris?"

"Yes."

"Okay, Chris, please navigate through the menu of the DS and press the "Option" menu," Dr. Kawashima explained and Chris was listening to his orders "Now, click in the "Job System Configuration," after that, select the "Transfer Jobs" button and highlight your icon, then, select Lucario's list of jobs and then arrange all of them to your list, once you're done, select the "Done" button." Chris finished the process and Lucario glowed and various lights that were shot at Chris, gaining all the jobs of Lucario and the "Transfer Jobs" button disappeared in the DS.

"Process was successfully cleared! Also, the Space Mercenary and PK Kid jobs were updated with stronger attacks!" Dr. Kawashima said happily.

Chris has gained Lucario's jobs

Lucario can't use the Job System from now on

"...Lucario..." Chris trailed off.

Lucario was able to create an Aura Sphere and he fired it to a nearby tree, destroying it with a explosion "It's fine with me, now let's continue with the training."

"Aren't you going to say anything about losing all your jobs?"

"Yes," Lucario smiled a bit "It will help you in the battles."

"...You're right, thank you Lucario." Chris smiled a bit before he returned to his meditation position alongside Lucario with closed eyes, listening to Lucario's orders to master the Aura inside himself.

2 hours later...

One of the many Hallways

Pit stepped out of his room with a worried look, so far he was the only one in the whole mansion that knew that his wings were gone, and what could they say about him?

"Now what? I don't know what to do now...but...I can't let them see me like this...first, I need to stay away from them, then I-"

"Hello Pit without wings." Chris said walking away like if Pit's condition was normal to him.

"..." Pit thought for a moment "It's that all what were you going to say?"

Chris turned to Pit "...PIT! YOUR WINGS ARE GO-" The angel quickly blocked his mouth to stop his loud voice to startle anyone else close to them.

"Please, don't tell anybody about this, who knows what could they say!" Pit wispered to him and setting him free.

"O-okay Pit, but what happened to your wings?" Pit explained everything to Chris "...Hmm...that's a hard situation..."

"I know! I don't have the right to be called an angel if I don't have wings first!"

"But the conditions you told me about were weird, help a female angel or die in battle..."

"Do you know a female angel Chris?"

Chris rubbed his chin "I'm afraid not."

Pit looked down "Then I'm done for..."

"N-no! You're not done for! Maybe there is a way to find that angel somewhere, in a world...just maybe..."

"What should we do now?"

"Hmm...everybody except Lucario and me are sleeping, so let's go to the Command Room and search for a girl angel in one of the computers, there's a posibility of finding the necessary data."

"Do you know how to use one of those computers?"

Chris laughed heartily "Of course! It's my favorite field of study! Just leave it to me!"

Pit smiled a little bit "Thanks."

"Save it for later, now here we go."

Command Room

Chris was typing fastly in a computer to search about the angel Pit was searching for, while Pit watched from behind the chair as he navigated through the information of all the worlds.

"Now let's press Search and..." Chris said as the computer started to analyze data from all the worlds that have angels and he finally found one file of a world "..."

"What? It's not that?" Pit looked at Chris, who had his face glittering with a very happy face.

"Oh my god! I know about this world!" Chris said very excited.

"You know?"

"Yes! Let me see, I remember various angels living there, and...here." A list of all the angels in the world Chris knew about apeared on the screen and he started to analyze their names "Mithos...Martel...Kratos...Yuan..."

"I think Martel is a girl's name, right?"

Chris turned to Pit "Well yes, but I'm afraid she passed away 4000 years ago."

"4000 years ago?!"

"Shh! You will wake them up!"

"Sorry."

"But there's more in this list..." Chris continued to read all the names of list and he finally found one match "Here it is! The only angel that is a girl and lives in this world is called...Colette Brunel." He clicked the file with the name of Colette Brunel and an image of her appeared on the screen.

"She's an angel? But where are her wings?"

"It says here: "Colette Brunel is the Chosen of Mana that is said to be the Chosen One to regenerate the world of Sylvarant, called Journey of World Regeneration, after struggling the dangers ahead of her with the help of her allies, she gained her wings to be an angel in the process of the regeneration to save the world from awakening the goddess, but once she managed to reach the Tower of Salvation, she failed her mission in a sudden twist of events and currently, she, along with her friends, are trying to find a way to save not only Sylvarant, but the second world of Tethe'alla to reunite them together and return peace once again, as the hero Mithos did in the Ancient Kharlan War from 4000 years ago by separating both worlds." ...And that's all...Pit?"

"...She's beautiful..."

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh oh! Sorry, I was distracted, what did you said?"

Chris sighed in defeat "Nevermind Pit, in other words, she's the female angel you were looking for."

"Then let's go! She needs my help so I can get my wings back to me!" Pit said.

"Okay, I understand but...we can't go to that world without telling Master Hand first..."

"Yeah, 'cuz I'm going to tell him!"

They looked away to find Crazy Hand behind his counter where he sells jobs to Chris and they jumped in surprise.

"Crazy Hand! Don't tell Master Hand about this!" Chris said.

"Nope! I'm his brother and we share a very special bond together, 'cuz we're brothers!"

"That sounded cheesy, but don't tell him!"

"Tell you what, if you buy a job from me, I won't tell him."

"...Deal!"

"But I know this is weird, but all the jobs were changed so you could use them and not Lucario, why is that?" Chris explained everything to the insane hand "...I don't get it!"

"That doesn't matters, let me buy something!"

Smash Coins in hand: 2200

Fake King - 700 Smash Coins

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins

Racer - 800 Smash Coins

Chozo Arts - 750 Smash Coins

Chosen of Mana - 1200 Smash Coins

D: Fly around your battles and use Chakrams to attack from long distances, pray to the heavens to unleash their holy power upon your enemies and use a wide selection of attacks to attack all close adversaries!

"(Chosen of Mana? Then...) I'll take the Chosen of Mana job please." Chris said giving Crazy Hand 1200 Smash Coins and he glowed instantly, his appearance once again changed and he now wore dark blue pants, white boots, a white shirt with blue edges and in the center of the shirt, a picture of a yellow cross was there, a tiny white cape of approx. 10 centimeters was behind his neck, in both hands, 2 white chakrams appeared and above his chest, a Cruxis Crystal appeared embedded to his skin and Pit looked at him.

"Those clothes looks like for a person from a church, but for battle...in my opinion..."

"Wait, I think I can take out wings from my back!"

"What?"

Chris concentrated his mind and a holy glyph appeared below him with spores of light floating around him, and then in a flash, light blue wings appeared from his back glittering a little and Pit was very surprised at this.

"W-whoa! You're an angel!" Pit and Crazy Hand said in unison.

"Yep!" Chris said happily "And look! And can put them away too!" He said before his wings disappeared "And put them back too!" He said and his wings appeared quickly flailing a little, before disappearing again.

"..." Pit looked down sadly.

"...Oh..sorry Pit, I forgot about your wings..."

"...No, it's okay, after all, we found her to help me."

"You're right."

"But," Pit glanced at the chakrams "What are those?"

Chris lifted his right hand with a chakram "These? These are chakrams, they're like Boomerangs, look!" He threw the chakram in a long distance to the other side of the room and it returned by changing directions to Chris "See?"

"Impressive! I wish I could use one!"

Chris walked to Pit and he gave him a chakram "Then try it!"

"Alright!" Pit said throwing the chakram to the same direction where Chirs threw it, but instead of returning to him, the chakram suddenly took another way and it went away in the hallway "...What happened?"

"I-I don't have any idea!" Chris said before noticing that the Chakram was getting away and oddly enough, various loud noises came from where the chakram went to.

"HEY!" Ness shouted from his room awakening from a hit of the chakram.

"Wasn't that Ness?" Chris asked before a crash was heard.

"MY VASE!" Jigglypuff yelled in shock awakening in her room by the chakram.

"What is going on?!" Pit asked.

"How should I know? You were the one who threw the chakram, not me!" Chris said protesting.

Whack "OWW!" Marth said awakening.

Thud "What was that?" Lucario asked confused.

Hit "OUCH!" Popo yelled awakening with Nana.

Crash "UGH!" Falco yelled awakening and rubbing his beak.

"...This is getting really stupid..." Chris muttered.

"...Oh no! The chakram is awakening everyone else!" Pit said in shock. Before the chakram was somehow able to fly around and hit everyone in the mansion, including Master Hand for Pit's dismay, and by the end of the track of the weapon, it returned to Pit with traces of ground, blood, feathers, cloth, a flower, blue hair, red hair, part of a red cap and a free coupon for a free hamburger in some restaurant.

And after that, the trio inside the room began to hear many foosteps getting closer and Chris gasped, before cleaning the chakram from all the items (and stealing the coupon because nobody would guess he stole it) before all the Smashers came.

"PIT! HIDE!" Chris yelled.

"BUT WHERE?!" Pit yelled in shock.

Chris looked at Crazy Hand and the hand gasped and sweated.

The Smashers came complaining about a ring that appeared out of nowhere and hit them while they were sleeping with Ness saying that he lost a coupon too. Also, they were wondering if they could go to the next world in that time to Master Hand.

"Can we go now to the next world now?" Chris asked to Master Hand.

"Everyone is ready, I think." Master Hand said.

"A new world? Finally!" Roy said excited.

"It's about time to meet new characters!" Ness said excited.

"(I'm sorry Pit, but it seems we can't do your mission right now...)" Chris thought in shame.

"What's the matter Chris?" Lucario asked.

"N-nothing..."

"Okay everybody," Master Hand said "The next world...that is new to all of you but only known to Chris is..." The screen appeared with drums playing on, before disappearing at the final sound, revealing the next world to all of them "Tales of Symphonia!"

"Uuuuggghhhh..." Upon hearing that the next world was Tales of Symphonia, Chris's fanboy senses acted so soon of the expected and he fainted dropping in the floor with a thud, and Pit's hiding spot was revealed because he fell from inside Crazy Hand's...hand.

Re-take, that scene was false

"...Wait, what?" Upon hearing that the next world was Tales of Symphonia, Chris was left very surprised and he shook Crazy Hand violently, and Pit fell from inside the hand with a disgusted look on his face.

"Yuck, do you know what does this hand hides inside his hand? A lot of disgusting and gross things that I should not speak about and...oh no..." Pit looked at all the Smashers and Master Hand with wide eyes after seeing that Pit didn't had his wings with him.

To broke the silence, Pikachu spoke "...Pit...where are your wings?"

"Shouldn't they be in your back in all times with you?" Marth asked.

"..." Pit looked down sadly at this and Chris stood in front of him.

"Wait guys, I guess you need an explanation of this, right?" Chris said and they nodded "Well, thing is..."

30 minutes later...

"And that's why Pit lost his wings, the ring attacked all of you by no reason at all and why I'm wearing this." Chris finished his explanation to all of them.

"I see..." Master Hand trailed off.

"Please, I begging you, help me in this one!" Pit begged to them.

"But for our bad luck, we don't know anything about that world..." Roy said before speaking again "...Except for Chris who knows."

"Oh, right!" Chris said "Don't worry Pit, if all of you listen to me, we will save that world and get your wings back!"

"...Okay, I'll trust you all." Pit said with a little smile.

"But Pit, if you can't recover your wings, I'm afraid you can't participate in any official match of the tournament." Master Hand said blankly and Pit gasped.

"What? Master Hand! That's so cruel!" Pichu said.

"I'm sorry but those are the rules of the fights in this place."

"You've got to be kidding me Master Hand!" Chris said "Give Pit an opportunity!"

"...Well...I can't...but I'll try to think about the situation, or he gets a replacement."

Chris rolled his eyes "Yeah yeah, a replacement, whatever."

"Chris!" Pit said.

"Pit, I'll promise to you, we will recover your wings no matter what happens, simple as that." He said with a little smile and a nod to Pit "Besides, with my intelligence of Tales of Symphonia, nothing will go wrong."

Three Legged Race

"...You know, I think we can do it after all!" Pit said taking out his dual blades.

"Hey Chris!" Dr. Kawashima said from Chris's pocket "The status of this world will be displayed on the screen now! I'll updated the system to be more precise from now on!" He said as the screen showed the status of Tales of Symphonia.

Tales of Symphonia
Current Status: In way to the Remote Island Human Ranch
Race: Humans, elves, half-elves, angels
Number of protagonists: 9
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Sword, Espionage and Magic skills

"Human Ranch?" Falco asked confused.

"Why does that sounds a little too...insane?" Marth wondered.

"I'll explain once we get there," Chris said "Well then," He opened the portal to Tales of Symphonia "I'll take Pit, Lucario, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Fox and Falco."

"You hear him!" Master Hand said and same Smashers who were called made a group, but Pikachu, Pichu, Popo, Nana and Jigglypuff made upset faces.

"...Erhm, don't worry!" Chris reassured them "I have the feeling that more new worlds are going to appear soon!"

"...Promise us that you're going to take us to those places!" Pichu said jumping excited.

"Wait, how can Lucario go? He doesn't has any required ability!" Pikachu pointed out.

"Pss! Chris!" Dr. Kawashima wispered to Chris and he opened his DS "Don't tell anyone, but read in the Touch Screen to see why Lucario can go."

"...O-ok..." Chris saw the reason of why Lucario can go with them "...Interesting...I didn't knew that Kratos's voice actor was Charizard's..." He wispered to him (If anyone forgot, there was a rule if a related character from the same series of another one that can go, his related characters could go too.)

"Did you said something Chris?" Pikachu asked.

"N-no, nothing, Lucario can go because he's a...well...a...sacred beast of the mythology of Sylvarant..."

Everyone stared confused at him after that "...You don't know anything about Sylvarant, remember?"

"Ohh." They said in unison.

"Wait!" Ness stopped them and Chris tripped strangely.

"...What, Ness?" Chris asked getting up.

"Master Hand considered me and Lucas "EarthBounders", and yet there aren't any of us in that world!"

Master Hand started to chuckle "Well...I lied, you're humans."

Ness's face was getting very red at that moment and Chris didn't wanted to see a scene with a murder, so the most useful way to prevent that was...

"Look! A Manaphy!" Chris yelled pointing to another direction and they gasped in unison, looking at the direction where Chris told them before pushing all the 8 Smashers inside the portal, disappearing along with it.

"...Hey, there isn't a Manaphy!" Popo said and looked around "And they're gone!"

"How rude!" Nana said.

"Where's Mewtwo?" Pikachu asked.

"Him? He's still recovering in his room, apparently trying to heal a person takes away all of his energy to the last drop." Jigglpuff explained.

Tales of Symphonia

The Port City, Palmacosta
Prison

Music Stops

"...How did we ended up in the prison?!" Chris asked angrily trying to get out of one of the cells. He was on the cell of the middle with Ness and Lucas, to the right cell, Marth, Roy and Pit were inside behind the bars.

Fox rolled his eyes inside the cell of the left where he, Falco and Lucario were "You tell us."

Sylvarant
Southeast continent

30 minutes ago...

"So let me get this straight," Roy began to speak "Only 4 of us can fight againts the monsters inside a field right?"

"Right." Chris said nodding.

"But if we die in battle, it's the end for the rest?"

"Yes, that's about it."

"It's Paper Mario all over again." Falco said crossing his arms.

"Well, it's very different because we fight on real time, and I saw how much you liked being in Over Limit, Falco." Ness said.

"As long as the enemies don't make me flinch, I'm good to go."

"And who would imagine that Chris had wings." Roy said.

"Hehehe, but I was a total mess back then." Chris said rubbing his forehead.

"The tripping was really random, and so did that squeaky hammer called "Pow Hammer", was it?."Ness asked wondering.

"But he fell above the tiny monsters, and he killed them with his own body!" Lucas said and Chris blushed a little.

"It wasn't supposed to be that way!" Chris protested.

"Well, do you know what we need to do Chris?" Marth asked and Chris looked to the port city of Palmacosta.

"Uh huh, I think we need to enter Palmacosta and gather information but...I don't know how the citizens will react when they see our 3 "monsters"." He said glancing at Lucario, Fox and Falco.

"Aw, c'mon! What would happen anyway?" Falco asked chuckling.

"They could dissect you alive for the sake of the science for example." And Falco gulped at this, but Chris made a fist in the air "Don't worry! If Digimon 3 taught me something it's to let any kind of company to go with you even if humans get scared...and to be a genius and not have a stupid beast that will react like a wild animal to another creature."

"I have a question," Lucas raised his hand "What is Digimon 3?"

Chris shook his head "Ugh, you'll have a hard time understanding it, believe me."

"But I'm curious! Tell me please!"

Chris raised a finger and smiled "Basically my curious friend, Digimon are steroidyzed and bigger versions of Pokémon that loves to cause massive destruction at their path to make themselves stronger to have more power and it goes on..." He noticed that everyone except him and Lucario had their entire bodies in a color white with worried looks and a cartoony black crow flew above them while he said "Loooosers! Loooosers!"

"...But we won't visit a kind of world like that! Rest assured!" Chris said and everyone sighed in relief, returning to their usual colors.

"Phew, I don't ever want to be annihilated by some kind of monster like that." Ness said.

"Neither do I." Pit said.

"If we're done, let's go into the city." Fox said walking away and Chris ran to get ahead of him with the others following.

The port city, Palmacosta
Entrance

For the first impression of the people living in Palmacosta was the weirdest event that they weren't expecting, of course, many travelers came from time to time to the city, but never travelers like the oddly and strange group called "Smashers".

"Chris...they're staring at us..." Lucas wispered terrified behind Chris, and his statement was true, all the persons were wispering amongst themselves like "Who are those travelers traveling with monsters?" And "I've never seen anything like them before."

"I think this wasn't the best idea Chris." Lucario said walking to Chris's right side.

"Oh don't worry, I don't think the guards around the city will let anyone like us to be judged by everyone else." Just when he said that, a guard stepped in front of them "Good time to show up, look sir, we need to gather information for-"

"Hmm? What's this?" The guard glanced at Chris's Cruxis Crystal "It's one of the Cruxis Crystal from the World Regeneration, but the Chosen of Mana already passed through here!"

"I don't like the tone of his voice at all." Ness said.

"IMPOSTORS!" The guard yelled and the group was quickly surrounded by all the guards in the city with their lances pointed at their throats.

"How did they appeared so quickly?!" Fox asked sweating at the mercy of the edge of a lance.

"Who knows?!" Pit yelled.

"Please listen to us! We're not trying to impersonat-" Chris was interrupted.

"We will not allow another accident like this to happen again!" The same guard from before said before ordering them to be thrown in the prison, Chris was accused for trying to impersonate the Chosen One, Lucario, Fox and Falco were falsely accused for being monsters and Marth, Roy, Ness and Lucas for being accomplices of the group.

Prison

"Well, I guess it's my fault from the beginning then..." Chris muttered.

"IT IS YOUR FAULT!" The others except Lucario yelled angrily.

"You and your Digimon 3 stuff!" Ness said.

"But it was because of that weird Cruxis Crystal thing on his neck!" Falco said.

"Don't forget your presenses, that pretty much made us to be thrown in jail!" Chris protested.

"Oh really? We don't know anything about this place and we thought it would be a good idea to listen to you!"

"Anyone have any idea to get out of this place?" Pit asked ending the discussion between them.

"Lucario, can you break the bars?" Chris asked to Lucario.

"I can do it but, escaping from here would be breaking the law of the city." Lucario said.

"Please, break them!"

"I don't want to do it."

"Why?"

"You taught me to respect the laws and that is exactly what I'm doing now."

"Just for this time, I let you to break one rule!"

"No."

Chris sighed "You're impossible, can anybody else break the bars and laws?"

"No." They said in unison.

"You don't have to be so good as persons, just for this time!"

"No." They said again.

"Then how are we going to escape?"

Marth raised a finger "By completing the sentence."

"We got a life imprisonment you know!"

"Then we're done for." Pit simply said.

"I can't believe all of you! That's it!" He took out his chakrams "These bars are SO going down!"

Chris started to bang the bars with his rings to destroy them, but the only thing they made were strong and annoying sounds that got the others angry at this, but then he started to use Pow Hammers to make everything easier but instead, it backfired making everything worse and they started to argue loudly.

But Pit, Lucas and Lucario were the only ones not caring about the arguing and they looked outside the windows of the cells.

"...Should we help them in some way?" Lucas asked.

"Nah, I think entering into their discussion it's a very bad idea." Pit said.

"I agree." Lucario said.

Governor-General's office

Since the prison was built just below the office of the Governor-General by unknown reasons, the loud yells were going all the way up to the office where Governor-General Neil was, and currently the Chosen's group was there leaving one friend of them and finding information about the reconstruction of the Human Ranch near Palmacosta.

"...Gah! Who the hell is making those loud yells?!" A man in red clothes with twin swords asked angrily.

"Oh, about that, we just got news of another group trying to impersonate the Chosen One not long ago, but it appears their way of impersonating was very odd," Governor-General Neil explained to them "They had monsters traveling with them too."

"Seriously, how many more people are still doing that?" A young kid with long white hair asked without trying to get a response from his question.

"Hmm, yes, I believe they could be another group judging by their yells." A woman with almost the same style of hair of the young kid said wondering a little bit.

"POW HAMMER! POW HAMMER! POW HAMMER!"

"Hey, that sounds like one of my attacks!" A girl with long blond hair said putting her hands on her neck above her Cruxis Crystal "Wow, I've never seen someone trying to impersonate me so well before!"

The man in red clothes and the young kid frowned at this "Colette, when did you start to be happy when someone is trying to steal your position?" The young kid asked, calling the name of the blond girl.

"But don't you hear that same squeaky noise, Genis?" Colette asked as a squeaky noise was heard, also calling the name of the young kid.

"...She's right, Lloyd..." Genis said to the man in red clothes named Lloyd.

"Now that you mention it, I can hear it too." Lloyd said.

"I'll go on ahead and meet them!" Colette said with a little smile and she ran off to the prison.

"And there she goes again..." A girl with black hair and violet ninja costumes said frowning.

"You gotta love that beautiful smile though." A swordsman in pink clothes (or armor) and long red hair said with hearts on his eyes.

"Oh brother..." She muttered to herself frowning.

"...Lloyd." Genis looked at Lloyd.

"What Genis?" Lloyd asked.

"Isn't dangerous to let Colette alone with prisoners like those ones?"

"Well, she has that superhuman strength at her side to defend so..."

"Do I need to remind you that Colette is so naive?"

"..." Lloyd crossed his arms "She'll be fine...unless she freeds them like the other prisoners of the other day and we had to attack them..."

Prison

"Oh god, please, stop yelling!" Pit pleaded blocking his ears and closing his eyes.

Lucario leaned to the bars with crossed arms "This isn't going anywhere." He said.

"And not even from the cells..." Lucas said.

Footsteps were heard but they weren't because of their arguments creating more yells, Pit noticed that someone was coming to the prison and he hid behind Marth and Roy to not be found, Lucas did the same but Lucario didn't and closed his eyes to wait for them to stop. And finally, Marth and Roy stopped arguing after looking at a blond girl with a smile and closed eyes walking and passing them without noticing both swordsmans, then Chris and Ness stopped and after passing their cell, Fox and Falco stopped arguing to no one before looking at Colette who stood just behind Lucario as she examined him.

The Aura Pokémon looked at both Star Fox members and he spoke "At least you 2 finished already."

"Er...Lucario..." Chris began.

"What?"

"There's a person behind you."

Lucario made a confused face before turning it into a smile with closed eyes because a gentle hand passed between the bars and rubbed his head between his ears with care, and for the first time in a long time, his tail was wagging slowly as Chris saw it.

"How cute! This one must be Poochie!" Colette said smiling.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! POOCHIE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" The others laughed hysterically at Lucario's new name, dropping themselves to the floor holding their stomachs in pain, and Lucario glared at all of them before pushing the hand away from his head.

"Give me a good reason to not kill you all!" Lucario demanded.

"He even talks!" Colette said surprised as if Lucario was the first normal "dog" to her "You could be a very well trained dog!"

"I'm not a dog!" Lucario said turning to Colette before she couldn't resist more and started to rub his head and he smiled again.

"You're so cute, Poochie!"

"POOCHIE!" They started to laugh even louder than before and Lucario glared at them again and pushing away Colette's hand.

"Stop! Just stop! First, my name is not Poochie-" Lucario was interrupted by louder laughs of the others and his glare grew even more menacing "...My name is Lucario! Second, I'm not a dog and third, stop rubbing my head!"

But nevertheless, Colette wasn't even half-scared by Lucario's glare and she continued to rub his head "Ow! You're even cuter when you're angry!"

"(Just great, she is impossible to deal with.)" Lucario thought.

"...Wait, who are you?" Colette asked stopping rubbing Lucario's head and they stood up with embarrassed faces and stopping laughing.

"(She noticed us at this time?)" Ness thought.

"(And to think I fell in love with her.)" Pit thought ashamed.

"(Talk about weird.)" Roy thought

"(That's what I call being dumb.)" Falco thought.

Colette looks at all of them with a confused face and she looks at Chris with the Cruxis Crystal "Wow, you're also a Chosen One too?"

"(...And I thought she wouldn't be even naiver than before.)" Chris thought "Um...how can I explain this...well..."

Colette quickly went to Lucario's cell and she looked at Fox and Falco "Those are some incredible costumes!"

"Costumes?" Both said confused before she went to Pit's cell and she looked at the 3.

"You're swordsmens right? I have 2 friends like you too!"

"Umm...really?" Roy asked very confused. Colette was quickly asking and saying to all of them without getting a response or an explanation, which made the situation really weird.

"Wait, stop!" Chris said and Colette looked at him.

"Yes?" She asked with a smile.

"Well, you see, I didn't tried to impersonate you so we need to get out of the jail if that's not much trouble for you..."

"Of course!" She said before blinking "Oh, sorry, I think I got carried away again without introducing myself, my name is Colette Brunel, nice to meet you all," She walked towards Lucario's cell "Especially you!" Lucario looked away blushing a little.

"Colette, can you please tell them to let us go?" Pit asked.

Colette nodded with another smile "Yeah, wait here please."

"We can't get out, remember?" Falco said crossing his arms.

"Oh, hehehe, sorry again, I'll be right back." She said walking upstairs and leaving them alone.

"...She's the most stupid person I ever met."

"She's so naive too." Fox said.

"Why I'm thinking that this is going to get bad?" Lucas asked to himself.

Governor-General's office

By the time Colette got to the office, her group already left her behind.

"Huh? Where's everybody?" Colette asked looking around.

A man with blond hair and wearing a white shirt with green edges and blue pants spoke to her "They've already left Colette, Lloyd told me that they'll wait for you outside the city to reach the Human Ranch near Palmacosta." He said.

"I see, thank you Mithos." Colette said to the man with the name of Mithos "Neil, could you do me a favor?"

"Why yes, what do you need chosen?"

"Well, the people imprisoned below didn't wanted to impersonate me, because they were falsely accused and I believe their statements, can you please let them go?"

"Hmm, I can't say no to the wishes of the chosen...fine, they can go, use the keys of the cell to unlock the doors." Neil said handing over the keys of the cell to Colette.

"Thanks!" She said running below to the prison.

"Neil, you said something about a person wearing a Cruxis Crystal right?" Mithos asked to Neil.

"Indeed, one of them had a fake Cruxis Crystal on his neck like the Chosen One's." Neil said.

"(But I can feel the presense of another Cruxis Crystal nearby...)" Mithos thought in secret.

"We're freed!"

"Thanks Lady Colette."

"You're our heroine!"

"Hehehe, it was nothing, really!"

Colette temporaly joined your team!

After Colette set them free, Chris asked if they could go with her, and she quickly agreed with a smile (before hugging Lucario, and making him to blush again), then the group walked towards the office following Colette and Mithos was left very confused after seeing who were they, leaving the office to go to the Palmacosta Human Ranch.

"That...that kid had a Cruxis Crystal!" Mithos said surprised.

"Mithos, it's something wrong?" Neil asked.

"...No...Neil, I need to go out for a bit." He said leaving the office leaving Neil before he could tell him to not leave the city.

City Square

Mithos looked around for a place to hide and he found one between some buildings, hiding in the shadows as he looked at both sides to see if there wasn't anyone. After finding the coast clear, he closed his eyes to communicate with someone else from afar.

"(Kratos, where are you? Speak to me!)" Mithos asked telepathycally.

"(Mithos, did you call me?)" Another voice spoke with the name of Kratos.

"(Yes, I need you to kill this kid.)"

"(Humph, and why do you need me to kill an innocent kid?)"

"(Because I found a kid with a very strange group with monsters, and he had a Cruxis Crystal on his neck!)"

"(Impossible, is there anyone else using a Cruxis Crystal without us knowing about it?)" Kratos asked with curiousity.

"(I know this is weird, but we can't let a person like him to be using a Cruxis Crystal, and even if they travel with Lloyd's group.)"

"(Alright then, I'll do your command Mithos, but I need to do some things first.)"

"(Do what you want to do, but hurry!)"

"(Don't rush me, even if you're the leader of Cruxis, you can't order me around with that attitude.)"

"(Grrr!)"

Kratos sighed "(Just wait and I'll do it.)" He said ending the telepathy talk and Mithos found a wild dog growling at him showing his fangs, but he held his hand towards the dog, firing a light blast and killing him instantly.

"Pathetic being..." Mithos said before returning to the office with Neil as if nothing happened.

Sylvarant
Southeast continent

The party currently led by Colette was walking in the fields of the southeast continent, Lloyd's group already went ahead to the ranch and she decided to bring them to meet her group.

A better name

"You know," Colette began "I'm starting to think that you're not wearing costumes."

"It's because they're not wearing costumes!" Pit said.

"Really?" Colette approached to Fox and she touched his face, which she felt so real "A-amazing! I can't believe you're not a person in disguise!"

"That's what we were trying to tell you." Falco said.

"So does that means you're monsters?" Colette asked.

"One thing that I'm certain is that we aren't monsters." Fox said.

"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to meet a person like you in my life before...umm..." She put her finger close to her mouth.

"Fox, Fox McCloud."

"Oh, that's your name?" Colette asked and he nodded "You know, I'm very good at giving names to animals and, wait don't get insulted by this!"

"Don't worry about that, I'm already used to it."

"I see, well, I think I know a pretty good name for you!"

"Really?" Pit asked.

"Yeah! One name full of bravery." She began.

"It's there another name better than Fox?" Falco asked.

"Yeah! One name with the strength of a bear."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Roy asked entering the conversation.

"Colette's going to give Fox a better name." Pit said.

"One name that will terrorize anyone, with a surname too!" Colette said excited.

"Wow, it could be true then." Fox said.

"And that name is..." She waited for an opportunity to get on everybody's nerves, which worked perfectly.

"Okay, tell us already!" Roy said with curiosity.

"That name is...Wolf O'Donnell!" She said with a smile and everybody blinked in surprise.

"...I'm out of here." Fox said leaving with a glare and clenched fists.

"Hey, why did he left?" Colette asked confused looking at Falco, who was chuckling uncontrollably.

"Of all the names in the world you had to choose that one." Falco said chuckling and leaving.

"But what did I do? Was something wrong with that name?"

"Er, you'll find out soon I think." Pit said leaving.

"Don't ignore me!" Colette said a little angry and leaving, wondering what made Fox angry.

"...I'll guess it was just coincidence..." Roy muttered to himself.

End of skit

A few miles away from them...

"Victory..."

"Belongs to..."

"The most..."

"Sexy! Dead sexy!"

"Zelos! Why did you ask me to say Colette's line?" Genis asked angrily to the man with red long hair named Zelos.

"Well twerp," Zelos began "It's not the same with my cute little Colette around us, and I had a horrible case of nostalgia and that's why you're saying her victory line." He said winking at the violet ninja, only to be punched hard in the face "Oww Sheena! Not the face!"

"That's what you get for flirting to every single woman near you!" Sheena, the violet ninja said angrily.

"Now now, settle down Sheena." Zelos said with a smile ignoring the pain of his black eye.

"Raine, did you heal him when we weren't looking?" Genis asked to the woman with the same color hair as his with the name of Raine.

"No, somehow Zelos can "resist" extreme pains without the help of my healing magic." Raine explained frowning.

"Zelos is...weird..." A young girl with pink hair and black clothes with a small skirt said.

"Presea, I think there are more things to describe Zelos." Genis said to the girl named Presea.

"What did you said, twerp?" Zelos asked crossing his arms and glaring at Genis.

"Guys, stop fighting, we need to see if the Human Ranch is being reconstruted." Lloyd said stepping between them.

"Lloyd is right," A tall man with handcuffs and long blue hair said "We must see if the ranch is operational again."

"So far, I agree with Regal about Lloyd's statement." Raine said.

"But what about Colette? We left her with those prisoners back in Palmacosta, remember?" Sheena said.

"Oh don't worry Sheena, Colette has her angel senses with her to fight back, I think they're pretty much death if they try to attack her." Zelos said.

"W-well...that's true but still..."

"You're worrying to much about Colette," Presea said "The worse thing that could happen is if she lets them free."

Lloyd chuckled "Like the last time she let the dogs out?"

Genis chuckled too "Heheh, you gotta admit, that was very funny!"

"I even wanted to sing a song related to dogs!" Zelos said laughing.

"They reconciled so quickly..." Raine trailed off.

"They're like that, what did you expected?" Sheena asked lifting her hands above her shoulders.

"I can see the ruins of the ranch." Regal said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Lloyd said.

Back with Colette and the others...

Kids?

"Are you not too young to be traveling around?" Colette asked to Ness and Lucas.

"Of course not! Watch this!" Ness said and he made his hand to glow with light and Colette's eyes gleamed.

"Incredible, that was awesome!"

"Heh, I know."

"What about you?" Colette asked to Lucas.

"W-well, I have the same powers as Ness, see?" He made his hand to glow as Ness an Colette smiled.

"I bet you 2 are strong fighters!"

"We are!" Ness said making a PK Thunder which he controlled it around Colette and she was becoming even more surprised than before and the electric ball disappeared.

"That was wonderful!" Colette remarked and Ness scratched the back of his throat blushing a little.

"I-I can do that too!" Lucas said a little jealous and he made his own PK Thunder, but he wasn't able to control it properly and the thunder went towards Roy, zapping his hair.

"Oww!" Roy entered with his hair pointing to all directions "Who threw me that thunder?"

"I-It was Ness!" Lucas said running away.

"Lucas!" Ness shouted angrily before he was hit hard on the head by Roy's sword, falling unconscious with a dumb face.

"...Hehehehe!" Colette giggled heartily.

End of skit

Preview of the next chapter

"Tell me a good reason to not punch you!" Lloyd said cracking his fists.

"And tell me a good reason to not kill you." Lucario said stepping in front of Chris.

"An underwater facility..." Raine said.

"Raine, don't get seasick again." Genis said, earning a smack on the head by her sister.

"You know, I think I can trust you!" Lloyd said.

"Finally!" Falco said.

"You will die within this ranch!" Dark Rodyle said.

"Here he comes!" Presea said warning all of them.

"Next time: Tales of Smash?!" Pit said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Colette

Moral of the chapter: POOCHIE! XD

In the making of this chapter, the author didn't wanted to stay againts the Digimon, the chapter only expressed them in a funny way (If you could describe chaotic with funny...wait...Team Chaotix...nevermind...)

On the next chapter, the Smashers will meet Lloyd's group, but I'm planning to extend this arc until the Temple of Darkness to show epic fights with 8 characters on the field to duke it out! It's going to be epic! And it's true, Charizard was voiced by the save voice actor of Kratos, in related news, Namco is related to Fox because Star Fox: Assault was created or distributed by them, I think.

References:

-The intro where Chris was meditating was a reference to the intro of Tales of Symphonia, good thing it wasn't the School scene or Lucario could have killed Chris with a eraser. XD

-The Chosen of Mana job was a reference to Colette, Chris gained her powers but without her supoerhuman strength.

-The Three Legged Race song is the music for the intro of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World that will come to America in some time in November.

-Chris made a reference to Digimon 3, about Takato and Guilmon to be precise (No Digimon arc is planned, sorry Digimon fans.)

-Lloyd said a reference to the song "Who let the dogs out?!" to a hidden event with Colette in it. Seriously, she's crazy enough to do that.

Many Tales of Symphonia's stuff are going to appear too, like the funny but interesting skits with characters and Unison Attacks, that will help Chris and the others to discover new combinated attacks. Also, Pit and Colette are the protagonists and..."ducks" if there is any fangirl of Pit that is mad at me for taking out his wings in this story, please don't kill me!

"Looks around with narrow eyes" Read and review! XD
*Chapter 55*: Tales of Smash

You don't have any idea how much time it took me from making sure the file of this chapter was right, it takes me 2 or 3 times to finally get the file without changes likes italic letters going to other parts of the text, but I managed to post this chapter in the 4th of July after all! Happy 4th of July to all Americans!

EDIT: Dammit! I couldn't make it in time! But nevertheless, happy 4th of July (or 5th).

(Every time a fight starts, the main music of the current world will always be used when the chapter shows the characters fighting at that moment.)

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 55: Tales of Smash?

Sylvarant
Southeast Continent

Colette's temporal new group continued their way to the Palmacosta Human Ranch, while she was still asking about them.

"I hope you get to like my group, it's good to have friends to travel with." Colette said.

"Well, I agree with you Colette," Chris said "But I don't think they will react like you before."

"Why do you mean?"

"Hello? We have Lucario, Fox and Falco, which they will take them as monsters!"

"...Really?" Colette asked confused and Chris slapped his forehead.

"...I shouldn't have asked."

Colette just smiled and she looked away to find the ruins of the Human Ranch "There is it!" She said pointing at the ruins.

"You said your friends are there right?" Pit asked and Colette nodded.

"Yep!... And here they come!" She said as Lloyd's group was walking towards them "I want this to be a surprise so, could you hide in those bushes please?" She asked pointing to some bushes near them.

"Umm...okay..." Chris said hiding in the bushes, only to notice that everyone else didn't "Get over here!"

They rolled their eyes in response and hiding alongside him.

"Colette!" Lloyd came running towards her.

"Lloyd! Did something happened there?" Colette asked.

Genis walked towards her "Well, Yuan and Botta told us that Rodyle is building the Mana Cannon in his own Human Ranch near the sea close to Palmacosta and we're heading there, what took you so long anyway?"

"Oh, you see, I met those prisoners in Palmacosta and I...well..."

Genis sweatdropped "Please don't tell me you let them go like before again."

"Oops?"

"Hah! Told you Genis, you lost the bet!" Lloyd said putting his hand in front of Genis and the half-elf gave Lloyd some gald angrily.

"Well, not only that, I befriended them too and I was wondering if they could tag along with us..."

"Colette, first you set free our impersonators, then you're asking us to take them with us? Are you insane?"

"Genis!" Lloyd said angrily.

"But it's true Lloyd! What if there is another ugly guy impersonating me again?"

"Colette," Sheena began "May I ask you who are they?"

"I can't tell you if you don't let me to take them!"

"Stop acting so childish Colette, first, let us see them." Raine said with calm.

"...Are you sure you want to see them?"

"It's something wrong that you don't want to tell us Colette?" Presea asked.

"N-no...well, but promise to me you're not going to scream or attack them...okay guys, come on out now!" Colette said turning to the bushes and slowly one by one, they stood behind Colette with worried looks.

"...Colette..." Zelos began.

"Y-yes?"

Zelos looked at both sides and he inhales air for 5 seconds "...I-" Lloyd however wasn't too pleased after finding Colette's impersonator, who was the only member of the Smashers that had a Cruxis Crystal on his neck, and that was Chris "Hey Lloyd!"

"Tell me a good reason to not punch you!" Lloyd said cracking his fists.

"And tell me a good reason to not kill you." Lucario said stepping in front of Chris.

"...He talked..." Raine said surprised.

"And he understood..." Regal added.

"..." Lloyd blinked in surprise "...Say, that's a good costume you have on." He said and everyone in both groups fell in anime style with a thud.

"Lloyd, you idiot! He's real!" Sheena said getting up angrily.

"How do you know?" Lloyd asked crossing his arms.

"His tail is moving, anyone inside a costume can't make his tail to move!" Genis said pointing at Lucario's tail, who moved slowly at both sides.

"And besides," Zelos said "He's WAY too skinny for a person to wear a disguise like that." And that made a vein to pop out from Lucario's forehead and he grunted at this.

"Look," Chris stepped in front of Lucario "We didn't tried to impersonate your group, we're sorry for this misunderstanding." He said bowing his head.

"We're sorry too." Marth and Roy said in unison.

"Us too." Ness and Lucas said in unison.

"And so us too." Fox and Falco said.

Genis not only was surprised that the 2 other persons in "disguises" talked, but he noticed that Raine's face was getting even more surprised that all of them combined.

"...Sis...don't tell me you're going to-" He was quickly interrupted before Raine laughed like a maniac and she ran at high speed towards both Star Fox members and they gasped at her mad dash towards them.

"F-Fox! What should we do?!" Falco asked, waiting for a response.

"W-" Neither Fox had the time to respond before Raine already examined both of them in thinking positions.

"Fantastic!" She said inspecting them "I've never seen these kinds of specimens before, you must be in danger of extinction!"

"Danger of extinction?" Both asked very confused at her statement.

"Hmm, what's this?" Raine took Fox's Blaster out of his belt and he tried to get it back.

"Hey! Give it back to me!" Fox said trying to get his Blaster but Raine was obviously taller than him and she examined it above him.

And she fired a shot at Lloyd and he quickly ducked in shock "Such a marvelous weapon, it appears that this wasn't made of mana or any known material in both worlds!"

Marth walked towards Raine and he took the Blaster and returned it to Fox "I'm sorry for interrupting but, you can't take people's things without asking."

Raine simply stared at him "...Who is this girl?"

After hearing the word "girl" Zelos's face glittered with hearts on his eyes and took out a flower and took Marth's hand and kneeled to him "Hunny, where were you?" He asked with a wink.

That only made the Smashers to chuckle a lot and Marth quickly backed away from Zelos "G-get away from me! I'm a man!"

Lloyd and Genis started to laugh hysterically at this "Haha! Zelos likes mens!" Genis said laughing.

Zelos was blinking in surprise and his face was getting red of embarrasment "S-shut up, twerp!"

Zelos obtained the title of, "Men Lover."

"It was a mistake! I swear his appearance looked like a girl to me! (According to him)."

Lloyd stopped laughing and he looked at Marth's sword and he walked to him "Hey so, you're a swordsman too?"

Marth looked at Lloyd's twin swords "Yes I am, and you fight with 2 swords?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good in my opinion." Lloyd said.

"Don't forget me!" Roy said.

"No way, you too?"

And the trio of swordmens started a conversation between them and Raine started to examine Lucario.

"What an amazing specimen!" She said looking at his spikes and his appendages "Hmm, these appendages are not for decoration aren't they?"

"(And there she goes again with her Ruin Mode.)" Genis said with small pupils.

Lucario sweatdropped "...No."

"Interesting, could you please tell me for what are they?"

"I'm sorry...but that is a secret."

"Oh, what a shame," She said crossing her arms until her eyes were staring at Falco "Now about you..."

"Uh-oh." Falco said before Raine slowly approached to him.

"Colette, are they friendly?" Genis asked and Colette nodded "Well, I don't see those monsters attacking us so..."

"H-hello?" Lucas waved shyly at Genis and he looked at him.

"Oh, hello, I didn't see you."

"W-well, nice to meet you, I-I'm Lucas." Lucas said putting his hand in front of Genis.

"I'm Genis Sage, nice to meet you!" Genis said with a smile and both did a handshake "So, how many years do you have Lucas?"

Ever since Genis asked that to Lucas, both became fast friends in no time and Ness looked at Presea and he walked to her.

"Hi, who are you?" Ness asked.

"I'm Presea, nice to meet you." Presea said simply.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Ness!" Ness said.

"..." Presea didn't talked.

"...So..." Ness started to think about something to start a conversation between him and Presea "Isn't dangerous to a girl like you to travel around?"

"No." She said, taking out a huge axe which was the same height as Ness.

"...Oh...my...god..." Ness said with a very shocked face, being reflected in the edge of the axe.

Zelos recovered his composture and he joined the group of swordmens "Hey, you."

"My name is Marth."

"Yeah, Marth, I'm sorry for judging you back there."

Marth sweatdropped "You don't have any idea how that happens very often to me, I bet you are treated like me for your long hair."

Zelos blinked in surprise before laughing heartily "Haha! What a joke, actually, girls think it's really handsome of me to have such a good appearance."

"..." Marth stared at him in utter surprise "(He's the Narcissistic type then.)" He thought.

Sheena rolled her eyes in response and she looked around, where Raine was still examining Falco with a magnifying glass in every part of his body and she walked towards him "So who are you?" She asked putting one hand on her hips.

"Erh..." Falco was blushing a little after staring at some part of Sheena which was...you know what...

"...Oh no, not another stupid Zelos!" Sheena said slapping her forehead is embarrasment.

"I hear that!" Zelos said.

Falco shook his head "Who are you calling stupid? The name's Falco, Falco Lombardi!"

And somehow, Sheena was able to make friends with Falco after a while, but the only one that wasn't so interested in the Smashers was the calm and serious, Regal Bryant.

"Hmm, it seems they made friends in such little time...now what's that?" Regal looked at something that he found rather interesting and Fox noticed that Regal was approaching to him, staring at his boots.

"B-back off criminal!" Fox said pointing his Blaster at Regal.

"Don't fear me, I'm not going to harm you in any way." Regal said and Fox lowered slowly his Blaster "I see your fighting style is by using kicks, am I right?"

"W-well, yes, you're right, I fight using kicks, why?"

"Because I fight using Greaves which increases the power of my own techniques." Regal said pointing at his Greaves and Fox looked at them.

"Wow, I didn't knew there were weapons like that before."

"If you want, we can train sometime to teach you some things."

Fox put his hand in front of Regal "It would be an honor...oh, sorry, I forgot about your handcuffs."

"No, it's okay." Regal said and both made their own conversation and became friends.

The only ones that weren't talking to any of them were Chris, Colette, Lucario and Pit "Looks like nothing bad happened after all." Pit said.

"Yeah, I'm so happy for this!" Colette said putting her hands in front of her neck.

"Hey Colette, who is the leader of your group?"

"Lloyd, I think." Colette said.

"Can you tell him to let us go with all of you?"

Colette nodded " Yes, but mostly we decide in group, wait a little longer please."

30 minutes later...

"Lloyd, can we take them with us please?" Colette asked.

"Why not? Marth and Roy agreed to train with me in a sword fight, I say let them in!" Lloyd said.

"After I met Lucas, I don't have any objections for that!" Genis said.

"I must say," Raine began "Lucario, Fox and Falco are good specimens."

"Raine!"

"...I-I was kidding, I have no objections either."

"Heh, I guess having a person like Falco isn't too bad, let them follow us." Sheena said.

"Marth is officialy one of my old pals!" Zelos said laughing a little "Yeah man, we'll rock all the hunnies in the world!"

"You're the biggest idiot I've ever met!" Sheena said angrily.

"Oww! Sheena!"

"Ness is a good person too." Presea said simply and Ness got a little ashamed for only receiving those words.

"So far, I've never thought I would meet someone like Fox, I decided to take them with us." Regal stated.

"Alright, looks like you guys can hang around with us!" Lloyd said smiling.

"It worked!" Colette said jumping happily.

Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Zelos, Presea and Regal temporaly joined your team!

"This is going to be fun!" Lucas said exicted.

"Oh, right," Colette turned to Lloyd "Where are we going?"

"We're going to Rodyle's Human Ranch near Izoold and Palmacosta to stop him, but Botta warned us to not destroy the ranch because they need something there." Lloyd explained.

"Do you think we can take all of them in the Rheairds?" Zelos asked.

"Well, I think 1 person is going to stay behind..."

"Don't worry about that," Chris said "I can fix that problem, Lucario," He took out his Pokeball "Return!"

"Understood." Lucario said returning inside the Pokeball.

"See? Now we can all g-"

"How did you do that?!" Genis asked surprised before Raine quickly took the Pokeball away from him.

"JUST MARVELOUS!" She yelled examining the Pokeball "This machine isn't made of mana either, it could benefit the humanity for the eternity!"

"(And here we go again...)" Genis thought.

Sky

Both groups managed to get along after all, and just for luck all of them were able to ride to Rheairds, but nobody missed the opportunity to start conversations above the air.

Genis, the scary chef

"Say Genis, what are you doing?" Chris asked.

"Oh, I'm doing the food of today." Genis responded.

"Hmm, it smells good."

"Hey, what's that good smell?" Ness asked.

"You 2 want to eat it?" Genis asked.

"Sure!" They said starting to eat Genis's food.

"And did you like it?"

"Yup!" Ness said.

"Hmm, the flavor reminds me of something, but what's this Genis?" Chris asked.

"It's Curry."

Ness's left eye twitched "C-c-curry?!"

"Y-yeah, it's Curry, why do you ask?"

"I-I gotta go!" Ness said running away and blocking his mouth.

"What's wrong with him?"

"...You don't want to know." Chris said eating his Curry.

End of skit

The lover of all monsters

"Hehehe!" Colette was hypnotizing Lucario with more rubs on his head.

"..." Lucario was smiling.

"You don't stop doing that, aren't you?" Marth asked.

"Hehehe, sorry, but he's so cute!" Colette said.

"Well stop it before he starts to scratch his throat with his paws!" Roy said.

"What does that supposed to mean?!" Lucario said pushing Colette's hand away angrily.

"Good, you're back to your senses." Marth said.

"By the way Colette, just for curiousity, what kind of animals do you like?" Roy asked.

"Oh, I like dogs, cats, birds, mouses, pigs, horses..." After a while, she was starting to say very weird things about her tastes "Serpents, boars, dinosaurs, tortoises, anacondas, eels, jellyfishes and-"

"Wait, you said every kind of animal just now!" Marth said.

"And what's so cute about anacondas anyway?" Roy asked.

"The way they're so sneaky!" Colette said smiling.

"But they're so huge!"

"I know! That's what makes them even cuter! That sound they make with their tongues are cute too!"

"Colette, have you ever had an anaconda before?" Lucario asked.

"Well...no." Colette said and all of them sweatdropped.

"Thought so." Marth and Roy said in unison.

End of skit

Cooking Contest? Part 1

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong Genis?" Lloyd asked.

"I was wondering if they can make recipes like all of us do."

"Well, why don't we ask them?"

"Good idea! Hey Lucas!"

"Y-yes?" Lucas asked.

"Do you know how to cook?"

"Only Sandwishes, why?"

"...That's very basic." Lloyd said.

"Yeah, Lucas, have you ever tried to make hard to make recipes before?" Genis asked.

"I-I think one time I wanted to make my own Omelet, but it got burned down."

Both of them sweatdropped "...If you like, I can teach you how to do it."

"T-that would be great!"

"Hey, I have a better idea." Lloyd said.

"What?" Genis asked.

"Let's do a Cooking Contest with the 9 of them to see who's the better chef!"

"Hmm, that doesn't sounds so bad. (As long if there isn't any "Raine" in their group.) What do you think Lucas?"

"W-well..." Lucas trailed off.

"It's settled then!" Lloyd said running away.

"W-wait! I didn't responded yet!"

Genis sighed "This is going to end badly, I know it."

End of skit

Know them, dissect them!

"Could you please stop examining every part of my body now, please?!" Falco asked to Raine.

"Sorry, but this is an important research, and it doesn't seems that an Exsphere wasn't responsible of your mutation."

"Mutation? What the hell are you talking about? I was born in this way!" Falco protested.

"Hey you, leave Falco alone now." Fox said before she went to examine him.

"Thanks Fox, I leave her with you!" Falco said laughing.

"Stop!"

"Be quiet, I'm doing various calculations in this moment." Raine said.

"Sis, I think you're going a little too far." Genis said.

"Shut up Genis, this could be the last time I get the chance to do an investigation to such magnificent lifeforms, think of all the Diplomas I could receive!" Raine said excited.

"At least she called us magnificent..." Falco said.

"Now take your clothes off."

"WHAT?!" Both said in shock and in unison.

Genis's eyes were wide after he saw Raine taking out a scalpel from their inventory "R-Raine! Where did you get that from?!"

"If I want to know more about them, I need to dissect them right now." She said in a serious tone that made both of them to shudder in fear.

"RUN FOR IT FOX!" Falco yelled at the top of his lungs and he and Fox ran away at high speed.

"COME BACK HERE YOU PIECES OF VALUABLE RESEARCH!" Raine said very excited, chasing after them.

"...Erh...WAIT! DON'T DO IT RAINE!" Genis said running after her sister.

Fox obtained the title of, "Specimen about to be dissected."

"Run away from the scientists! Run away from the labs, but whatever you do, don't get near Raine and her scalpel!"

End of skit

The trio of angels

"See Colette?" Chris said pointing to his wings.

"Wow, you have wings too!" Colette said surprised.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't remember any other chosen besides me and Colette before!" Zelos said.

"Is there any other world besides Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, Zelos?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"I have wings too." Pit said.

"Really? But you're not wearing a Cruxis Crystal." Colette said.

"I-It's because I'm a real angel..."

"Get away from Colette!" Zelos said stepping in front of Colette.

"Huh? Why?" Pit asked confused.

"How do we know you're not from Cruxis?"

"Cruxis who?"

"Oh, that's enough explanation for me." Zelos said sighing in relief.

"...(Idiot.)" Chris thought.

"So anyway, Pit, you're saying you're an angel too?" Colette asked and Pit nodded "But where are your wings?"

Pit looked down sadly and he scratched his right shoulder "I can explain it." Chris said and he explained everything to both chosens "And that's about it."

"Whoa, you all come from another world?" Zelos asked and Chris nodded "...Are you part of a gang or something?"

"It's funny but, we could be like that, there are more persons like us too."

"Like a big, happy family right?" Colette asked.

"Oh...well...almost like that too."

"Living with so many persons in the same roof is so fun!"

Chris smiled "Of course it is!"

"Y-yes, it's true!" Pit said.

While the trio were talking, Zelos was thinking all by himself "(So Pit says he's an angel, and yet he doesn't have a Cruxis Crystal...this is so weird...)"

End of skit

Lloyd's stupid phobia

"Lloyd, why are backing away from Falco?" Sheena asked to Lloyd who was standing behind her.

"B-backing away?! What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked studdering.

"Lloyd, there are several trails of fear in all the sweat you're making." Presea pointed out.

"It's obvious that you have a phobia or something else." Regal said.

"Wait, a phobia because of me? That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Falco said.

"Lloyd...are you afraid of birds?" Sheena asked.

"...S-something like that..." Lloyd said.

"...Hahahaha! C'mon! You've gotta be kidding me!" Sheena said laughing.

"I-I'm not kidding! Birds are scary!"

"Why?" Presea asked.

"W-well, when I was kid, I was trying to get a bird's nest near my house, it was a big nest for my bad luck, and when I took it, a huge flock of hawks appeared out of nowhere and they started to pinch me with their beaks, good thing Genis was there because he learned to cast Fireball and he used it againts the hawks, scaring them away and saving me."

"Hmm, it could have been a very bad experience."

"Hey, wait a minute Lloyd, we just fought againts hawks yesterday and you weren't showing any fear at all!" Sheena pointed out.

"Perhaps it's because of Falco's height." Regal said.

"Huh? What do you mean by height?"

"It's the same as some women have a fear againts spiders, but it's obviously that if the bug is bigger, the girls are going to get scared with a strong sensation without problems.

"And Falco it's at least bigger than any bird living in this world." Presea pointed out.

Falco rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah, phobia againts birds, look, with me around, you're not going to-" He put his right hand of Lloyd's shoulder and the swordsman instantly fainted "C'mon! You've gotta be joking!"

"He is drooling." Presea pointed out.

"Oh man..." Sheena said frowning to herself.

"...May as well cure Lloyd from his phobia." Regal suggested.

Falco obtained the title of, "Fear me!"

"It's this some kind of a joke? (According to him)."

End of skit

"Look! There is the entrance!" Genis said pointing at the entrance of the Remote Island Human Ranch.

"Okay, let's go!" Lloyd said commanding the Rheairds to land near there, but to hide the Smashers from Botta and some Renegades.

Remote Island Human Ranch
Entrance

Afer hiding from Botta's group, the Smashers were waiting for the opportunity to infiltrate the ranch when Lloyd say the order to let them in.

"Okay guys, let's go inside." Lloyd said to them and the 2 combined groups entered the ranch, Chris also didn't forgot to let Lucario out of his Pokeball and they proceeded further inside.

Corridor

"Whoa, look at this place!" Lucas said surprised after watching all the water outside the glass that was extending from the entrance to the base.

"An underwater facility..." Raine said.

"Raine, don't get seasick again." Genis said, earning a smack on the head by her sister.

"Wait, what is a Human Ranch anyway?" Roy asked and Sheena explained everything to them "There are humans here held like prisoners?!"

"Yeah, it's our work to save them from persons like Rodyle." Colette said.

"And what do they do with them? Isn't a prison a place to capture bad people like thiefs or assassins?" Lucas asked.

"...You don't want to know what they do to them..." Genis said.

"Why?"

Even more explanations, that left the group very shocked (except for Chris, who already knew).

"This is an exsphere," Sheena said showing them a blue orb with a mouth on her right hand "It helps you to increase your abilities."

"So those things are born from human bodies?" Roy asked and Sheena nodded "Unbelievable."

"Yeah, someday, I'll gather all the exspheres in the whole world so that no one can suffer again." Lloyd stated making a fist.

"That's some good dream."

"Heh, I know."

"Lloyd, stop showing off." Genis said walking away.

"Shut up, Genis!"

The party continued forward until passed through a big door which leaded to a room with 3 doors, and for their bad luck, guards were there.

"Hey you!" One guard shouted.

"Oh no..." Genis said before they started another fight.

Full Force

Lloyd, Genis, Presea, Zelos, Chris, Marth, Pit, Ness

It was a standard battle against a Whip Master, a Spearman (wait just a second with this name, it's a Spearman, but it's a woman, how does that work anyway?), and 2 Bowmans.

"This is gonna be a piece of cake!" Lloyd said running after the Bowman.

"How do you know?" Chris asked.

"Well-"

"Begone!" Lloyd was sent to the air by a punch of the Bowman "Take this!" He fired several arrows that hit Lloyd.

"Hey! That wasn't good!" Chris said angrily and he started to bang his Chakrams at the Bowman "Pow Hammer!" He said calling a hammer which hit his head "Wow!" He shone because he instantly learned another ability "Pow Pow Hammer!" He said calling more hammers hitting his head.

"It'll be over soon." The Spearwoman said blowing a kiss with a heart with hit Chris behind his back.

"Destruction!" Presea said hitting the floor with her huge axe creating a tremble which damaged the Spearwoman "Dual Infliction!" She said spinning her axe 2 times damaging severly her opponent "Eternal Devastation!" She jumped in the air slamming her axe in the ground hurting the Spearwoman, then another jump with a somersault with a stronger effect than before.

"No!" The Spearwoman said fainting.

"My goddess, did you looked how she used that huge axe Marth?" Pit asked to Marth, but the prince of Altea was busy trying to defeat the Whip Master.

"I could use some help here Pit!" Marth said turning to him.

"Watch out!"

"Huh?" He looked behind where the Whip Master was about to slash his back with his whip, until...

"Demon Fang!" A shockwave came from behind the Whip Master and he was stunned briefly "Sword Rain: Alpha!" Lloyd appeard from behind him slashing continuosly his body with many stabs "Twin Tiger Blade!" He yelled lifting his enemy in the air 2 times before sending him to the floor.

"That technique was very effective!" Pit said amazed.

"Heh, I know."

"(There he goes again.) Engulf this pathetic so-AH!" Genis couldn't cast Ground Dasher because one of the Bowmans shot an arrow at him.

"Ready for th-Whoa!" The same Bowman stopped Zelos from casting Eruption.

"Begon-" The Bowman was just about to send Genis into the air until...

"PK FLASH!" Ness came from behind with a fully charged PK Flash which exploded right behind the Bowman, throwing him away with great damage.

"How did you do that?" Genis asked.

"I have my own tricks!" Ness said.

"Guys, I need help here!" Chris yelled guarding some arrows from the first Bowman.

"AYAYAYAH!" Pit used his Angel Ring attack to spin quickly his blades damaging severly the back of the Bowman.

"Lose, to inferior beings?" The Bowman said dying.

"Thank you Pit!" Chris said.

"It was nothing!" Pit said.

"Wanna charge? Thunder blade!" Genis said pointing his Kendama towards the Whip Master, Marth and Pit gasped when they saw a big sword of lightning coming from above and they quickly ran away, but Lloyd stood there still slashing the Whip Master.

"Lloyd! Get away from there!" Pit yelled.

Just then, the blade came in contact to the floor and it sent electricity in the foots of the Whip Master, killing him.

"Inferior...beings!" The Whip Master said before falling to the floor, defeated.

"But that sword and..."

"Genis's spells or any other spell in our team doesn't harm us in any way." Lloyd pointed out.

"Oh." Pit said.

Won The Battle

"Not bad, am I?" Lloyd said sheathing his sword.

"Well, you were showing off to Marth and Pit all the time." Chris pointed out.

"Affirmative." Presea added and Lloyd sighed.

Music stops

The guards were defeated and the whole party looked around.

"There are 3 doors in this room, which one Professor Sage?" Lloyd asked.

"We came here to climb up so...I think the right door is the middle one." Raine said looking at the door of the middle.

"Then here we go." Sheena said walking ahead.

Elevator

"Hey, there is a weird machine over here." Lucas said pointing to a device to change the Sorcerer's Ring.

Lloyd touched the device and it changed the effect of the Sorcerer's Ring "It makes a sound this time."

"Hmm, it must react to other deviced inside this ranch." Raine said wondering.

"So apart from finding this machine, now to where?" Roy asked.

Regal stepped above the center of the room and looked below him "This is an elevator, it seems."

"Let's use it." Genis said and all of them stepped in the center and the platform went up, only one level.

"This doesn't goes higher than this?" Ness asked.

"There could be more elevators like this one ahead." Raine explained.

"And there's a door here too, let's go!" Zelos said entering the next room.

Puzzle Room

"Who's there?!" A guard asked demanding for a response.

"Oh crap..." Zelos muttered.

Sheena, Raine, Colette, Regal, Lucas, Lucario, Fox, Falco

This time, it was a battle against 2 Evil Sorcerers and 2 Whip Masters.

"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Colette said trying to reassure them.

"I don't think you can handle all of them at the same time." Lucas asked.

"Watch me!" Colette said as she started to do pray signs with light coming from below her.

"This isn't the time to be praying!" Falco said before he was attacked by one Whip Master on his back "Oww! Now you're so dead!" He said running after his enemy.

"Power Seal!" Sheena said attacking the same Whip Master with her cards "Life Seal!" She yelled taking some of his health to her "Pyre Seal!" She ended her attack with an explosion of orange cards sending the Whip Master away.

"My turn, ha!" Falco said slashing the Whip Master with his hands "Now this!" He said pushing him with Falco Phantasm "(Huh? This is strange.) And finally, this!" He said burning slowly the Whip Master with his fire and pushing him high in the air, killing him with a combo.

"Inferior...beings!" The Whip Master said dying.

"Ha! That'll show you!"

"Falco, that was amazing!" Sheena remarked.

Falco crossed his arms "Of course it was." He said simply (trying to flirt with Sheena in her opinion, which wasn't good).

"You know what, just stay focused." She said running away.

Falco sighed in disappointment "I don't have any future with he-OWW!" He was attacked by several fireballs from behind.

It was because of one of the Evil Sorcerers who made the spell.

"Hey, that's gonna leave a mark!" Falco complained.

"Are you okay? First Aid!" Raine spun her staff casting First Aid to instantly heal Falco's wounds.

"The pain...is gone!" Falco said surprised.

"Of course, I can't let a specimen like you to be killed now." Raine said crossing her arms.

"You're still obsessed with me?!"

Leaving them alone, Lucas was hitting the same Evil Sorcerer with his branch.

"No way!" The Evil Sorcerer said blocking Lucas's attacks and he swung his staff to send Lucas to the air. Only to be catched by Lucario.

"Thank you Lucario!" Lucas said to him.

"Don't get distracted, or we will be-"

"You ready for this? Fireball!" The second Evil Sorcerer yelled firing 3 fireballs at Lucas.

"Ahh!" Lucas yelled terrorized as the fireballs were coming closer at him, but Lucario stepped in front of him, receiving the attack as he gritted his fangs in pain "L-Lucario!"

"I-I'm okay..." Lucario said trailing off.

"Do not overexert yourself." Lucario looked in front of him where Regal was giving him a strange red gelatine.

"What's this?" Lucario asked grabbing the item.

"Eat it, it will heal your wounds instantly." Regal said running after the Evil Sorcerer.

Lucario looked at the strange red gelatine before eating it, and his wounds from the fireballs disappeared in an instant.

"Lu-Lucario! Your wounds disappeared!" Lucas said surprised.

"It seems that way...Lucas, let's go." Lucario nodding to Lucas.

"R-right!"

"Ugh, just die already!" Fox said angrily trying to kill a Whip Master with the same combo Falco discovered just a moment ago.

"Thy faithful servant asketh for thy blessing. Honor us with the splendor of thy song. Holy song!" Colette ended her prayers to the heaven and the whole room gets completely dark and a magic circle appears below them, creating a light ring which increased their strength and defense instantly.

"Th-this power...it makes me feel stronger than before!" Fox said before attacking his enemy with more intensecity which let him to defeat the Whip Master.

"Inferior...beings!" The Whip Master yelled before falling to the floor, dead.

"I guess that does it." Fox said.

"Ray Thrust!" Colette yelled launching one of her chakrams to one sorcerer "Para Ball!" She threw 2 spiked balls which casted 2 Lightnings upon contact with the sorcerer "Grand Chariot!" She threw both chakrams in a X-shaped direction with a powerful Lightning on the center, killing the Evil Sorcerer.

"Damn..." The Evil Sorcerer muttered before dying.

"Triple Kick!" Regal was doing three roundhouse kicks to the other Evil Sorcerer "Rising Dragon!" He yelled pushing him into the air with another kick "Eagle Fall!" Regal fell quickly to the floor dealing the last attack that killed the Evil Sorcerer.

Won the Battle

"And don't come back!" Sheena said with a glare.

"I don't think they can come back!" Colette pointed out.

"...Um... You're becoming more like Lloyd, aren't you?"

The party continued their path until they found a huge gap with no bottom.

"Now how are we going to cross this?" Pit asked.

"Well," Colette looked above her "This platform can help us but, it's so far from us."

Ness looked around "Hey, where's Lucas?"

"Ness! Over here!" Lucas shouted from behind them and they found him stepping above lights that were turning on after he stepped above them "This is fun, you need to try it!"

"Lucas, stop playing around!" Pit said.

"But I can't help it, it's so fun!" Lucas said finishing and making sure that all the lights were on, which was the solution for the platform to go down and they blinked in surprise.

"So that's how it works." Raine said.

"What did you said, Raine?" Genis asked.

"There's another puzzle like this one up ahead but it's even harder than before, if we try to turn on all the lights of each section, the next platform will go down like this one." She explained.

"Leave it to me!" Lucas said running up ahead of them, then they followed him.

Unfortunately for the little PK user, it was impossible for him to clear the next one, which was even more confusing than before.

"Lucas," Fox began "Are you done yet?" He asked tapping his foot impatiently in the floor.

"I-I'm trying my best to finish this, seriously!" Lucas said.

"Ugh, this will take a while for sure." Zelos said crossing his arms behind his head.

"Hey, I have a better idea." Chris said.

"What is it Chris?" Colette asked.

"Why don't you and me carry each one of them to the other side so we can all pass?"

Colette put her finger close to her mouth "Hmm...you know, that's a great idea!"

Chris promptly proceeded to bang his head in a nearby pillar in frustration, even more stupid, why didn't they thought about that in the game itself?

Prison

"Look, there are prisoners inside the cells!" Sheena said.

"Please...help us..." One prisoner pleaded.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out here."

Fox's ears perked up "Someone's coming."

"Hide!" Genis suggested and they hid above the door.

Just then, 2 Desians guards came out and they looked around to find the group.

"Now!" Lloyd said and he and Colette jumped and attacked both guards which they killed with no problems.

"Hmm, those switches can make the elevator to go to upper levels." Raine said running towards some switches she found, then she pressed each one of them, activating another route for the elevator to go.

"Now we can go further inside." Presea said.

"Thank you for your help." One of the prisoners said.

"It was nothing, now go and escape from this place, we defeated all the guards in our way here." Sheena said and all the prisoners nodded their heads, leaving the prison.

"Do you think they will be alright with just them alone?" Pit asked.

"Yeah, we have done this before so don't get worried about them." Colette said and they went inside the elevator again.

Laser Elevator

"...We have a serious problem here." Genis said glancing at a very tiny platform that could only take 4 people above.

"Is anybody going to stay behind? Yes? Then me, Sheena, Presea and the Gorgeous Ultra Cool Beauty will go ahead!" Zelos said stepping above the platform but almost all the mens pulled him away and he received a punch in the eye by Sheena, who was blushing a little and glaring at him.

"We should be careful," Raine said "Those sparks from the lasers can paralyze us."

"Do you have any idea to cross this?" Regal asked.

Raine looked above her where a platform was that led to the next room "Lloyd, pick 3 of us and then use the Sorcerer's Ring to change directions of the platform, after you reach the platform from above, throw us the Sorcerer's Ring to pass, but be careful to not touch the sparks." She explained to Lloyd and he nodded.

Multi-Warp Room

The whole group came out of the door with their hair or fur pointing to all directions with traces of jolt in some of them.

"I learned something in my life, NEVER follow Lloyd." Chris said as his hair produced electricity.

"Hehehe! Look at Fox's tail!" Colette giggled (with her hair pointing to all directions as Chris and the others) pointing to Fox's tail, his tail was even bigger than before thanks to the sparks.

"Don't...say...ANYTHING." Fox muttered with gritted teeths, his tail produced electricity too.

"Ugh...Purify!" Raine yelled casting Purify to heal their conditions in a second.

"I needed that, thanks." Falco said adjusting his feathers of his head.

"Me too." Lucas said adjusting his hair.

"I was scared after Lloyd threw the ring to the abyss by accident, it almost gave me a heart attack!" Genis said.

"But luckily Colette flew after it before it could disappear." Regal said.

Marth found a warp near him "What's this?"

Raine examined the warp point "This looks like a warp point, but if we use the Sorcerer's Ring again, it will change ways with each sound."

"Like this?" Lloyd said making a sound with the ring and the warp changed to a pink color.

"Let's go!" Zelos said entering the warp point and disappearing in front of them "AAAHHHH!!"

"He's in trouble!" Colette said and they ran inside the warp point.

Lloyd, Colette, Presea, Zelos, Roy, Pit, Lucas, Marth

The next battle was against 2 Giant Slugs, 2 Evil Jellys and a Sea Horror.

"Colette, are you praying again?" Lucas asked to Colette was praying again.

"Look out!" Marth yelled but Lucas was attacked by behind by the tongue of one Evil Jelly.

"Take this!" Roy said slashing the monster with his sword surrounded by fire.

"Leave it to me!" Marth said using Dancing Blade to deal a four-hit combo, followed by Lloyd using Sword Rain: Alpha and Twin Tiger Blade, killing the monster.

"Oww!" Zelos yelled in pain after receiving 3...musical notes of the Sea Horror "Don't do that you idiot! Demon Fang!" He touched the floor with his sword to create a shockwave which reached the mermaid "Lightning Blade!" He thrusted his sword which called a Lightning "Super Lightning Blade!" He thrusted it once again but with a stronger effect, killing the Sea Horror.

"AH! OWW!" Lucas was getting attacked by the 2 Giant Slugs, lunging their bodies at him.

"Punishment!" Presea came from behind spinning her axe one time "Dual Infliction!" She said jumping in the air swinging her axe 2 times to make 2 crescents moons levitating the slugs "Beast!" She stopped for a second before swinging her axe with a strong swing calling the face of a roaring lion, pushing back the Giant Slugs with great damage "Are you okay, Lucas?" She asked.

"Y-y-yeah, t-t-thanks to y-y-you." Lucas said studdering after watching Presea using her huge axe.

"It's something wrong?" She asked simply.

"N-n-no..."

"Ugh! I need help here!" Pit said as he was being attacked several times by the second Evil Jelly.

"Oh holy one, cast thy purifying light upon this corrupt soul... Light of judgement, Judgement!" Colette lift her hand in the air calling forth lights from the heavens crashing down the 3 remaining enemies, the Smashers in the fight were too shocked after watching the lights missing them by mere centimeters, but in all manners they couldn't harm them in any way possible and the remaining monsters vanished.

"...Why I can't do that?" Pit complained.

Won The Battle

"Good job everyone!" Colette said smiling.

"But you did almost all the work for us..." Pit said sighing.

"...Sorry?" Colette added confused and they slapped their foreheads (save for Presea).

Raine looked around the room where they appeared "This room doesn't has any other warp point, we should return and see if we can take another route." She said before they left the room.

...But, it was a very great mistake experimenting all the ways around the big maze, many of them took other routes which leaded to more routes with even more warp points, sometimes the whole party would end up in groups of 3 or 2 to fight againts more enemies, even Lucas had to stay away from Presea because he was afraid of her huge axe accidentaly hitting him when he didn't looked.

It was Raine's day for sure, because she ended up in the same room where her special "specimens" (A.K.A. Fox and Falco) were cornered by her and her scalpel in hand, but luckily Genis came from behind Raine and he melted the scalpel with fireballs and both of them sighed in relief before watching Raine smacking furiously Genis's butt, earning some chuckles from them too.

Zelos unfortunately mistook Marth for a girl again before glomping on him, but Marth "friendly" punched him in the face and Zelos used various Apple Gels to heal himself.

Lucario EVEN couldn't escape alive from this, that's for sure, because him and from all persons in the world, Colette, ended up in the same room which he wasn't able to escape until Colette started to tickle his paws and she giggled as the Aura Pokémon was trying to not laugh.

"Colette!" Chris yelled appearing from the warp point and Lucario quickly tried to get away from Colette and hide behind Chris for protection, but for his bad luck, Colette had her insane angel strength with her and she didn't had any trouble in grabbing Lucario with a big bear hug.

"CHRIS!" Lucario pleaded at the top of his lungs and Chris had toon tears strolling down his cheeks.

Lucario obtained the title of, "Big Blue Puppy."

"Don't deny it, you're a big, blue, puppy for all the little girls!"

"(I'm afraid your days of being a calm person ended this day, I'm sorry Lucario.)" Chris thought while he returned Lucario to his Pokeball and Colette fell on the floor, then the 2 continued searching the way to the top. Before appearing in another room with 2 warp points and they watched as how Zelos was trying to escape from a furious Marth, sweatdropping in the process.

Lloyd was by far the only one alone, trying to find the others by his own.

"Great, all of us are missing inside this maze," He sighed in disappointment "Man, I wish someone was here with me to fight againts all those Desians..."

"...Is that crazy woman here?!"

"Who's ther-OH NO!" Lloyd met face-to-face with Falco, who was sweating like crazy after losing track of Fox and especially Raine in her Ruin Mode.

"...Oh, great...him." Falco said.

"G-GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Relax buddy, I'm not going to bite you or anything." He noticed that Lloyd was scratching the wall, apparently, trying to dig a hole "...Are you an idiot or what?"

"You!" A Desian appeared from nowhere and Falco ran after him.

Lloyd, Falco

Falco didn't liked how the things were looking for them, it was a fight againts 3 Whip Masters and a Evil Sorcerer.

"Okay, now you can't run away and leave alone fighting them..." Falco looked around "Hey, where'd he go?"

"Leave me alone, you freak!" The Evil Sorcerer said trying to get Lloyd off from his back.

"...Just great, JUST GREAT." Falco said frowning to himself before he was suddenly attacked by 2 whips "AAH! STOP IT!"

"Ha!" The 3 Whip Masters were treating Falco like a weak kid because they were whipping his back with strong impacts and kicking his body, which was depleting his health rather quickly as he tried o get up.

"UGH! YOU, OVER THERE, HELP ME!" Falco said yelling in pain.

"B-b-but...I..." Lloyd trailed off, forgeting that he was still hiding behind the Evil Sorcerer.

"I'M GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T HELP ME OUT! AAAHHHH!"

"Get off me!" The Evil Sorcerer said whacking Lloyd with his staff.

"...Ah...AAAHHH!!" Lloyd pushed the Evil Sorcerer aside and he closed his eyes as he ran towards the 3 Whip Masters "Tiger Blade! Fierce Demon Fang!" He yelled slamming his sword to create a tiny tremble pushing away the 3 enemies a little "Rising Falcon!" He yelled rising in the air and rocketing towards 2 Whip Masters, dealing a fatal blow that killed them, saving Falco from dying.

"...I...I owe you one..." Falco said getting up.

"Look behind you!"

The last Whip Master was just about to hit Falco but he quickly turned his back to deal a strong kick sending his enemy away, killing him by the impact "Thanks...if it weren't for you, I couldn't have noticed him behind me..." He said panting heavily.

"You ready for this? I'll rip you to shreds!"

Both turned to see 3 fast fireballs coming from the previous Evil Sorcerer, they gasped and blocked their faces with their arms and closed their eyes to try to resist the attack.

But...

"AYAYAYAH!" Pit came out of nowhere spinning fastly his blades to reflect the fireballs, dealing damage to the sorcerer and he backed away before being attacked by 2 persons with several hits coming from their feets, it was a combinated attack coming from Regal and Fox.

"Damn..." The Evil Sorcerer said falling to the floor, dead.

Won The Battle

"You know, I think I can trust you!" Lloyd said.

"Finally!" Falco said.

"About time." Pit said.

"Yeah." Fox added.

"I agree." Regal added.

"Man, did everybody had this in mind?" Lloyd said looking down to the floor.

After a long and painful trip around all the maze (literally), all the party was able to regroup in the highest point of the ranch.

"I don't want to return here for the rest of my life, that's for sure." Roy said.

Chris was the most confused of all of them because he couldn't ask why Fox and Falco were hiding behind him, but he asked anyway "Okay, now you 2 are starting to act very weird this day like Lucario, what's wrong with you?"

"ASK HER!" Both said in unison pointing with an acussing finger to Raine, who had her hands behind her back.

Raine just coughed and Chris looked at them "Yeah...from now on, I consider you 2 as weirdos."

Ness looked at both of them and he rolled his eyes.

Ness obtained the title of, "I'm calmer than you are!"

"An adult? Being scarred for life? At least I have dignity (according to him)."

"...Moving on," Genis said sighing "There's a door over there." He said pointing to a door.

"Rodyle must be on the other side." Regal said.

"Yes...let's go." Presea said walking ahead of them.

"It's something wrong with Presea?" Ness asked.

"Rodyle did something horrible to her sister, Alicia, along with more people that turned her into a monster." Colette explained.

Regal suddenly blinked in surprise and he looked away.

"Regal, its something bothering you?" Lloyd asked.

"...No, it's nothing." Regal said shaking his head.

Rodyle's Room

"Show yourself!" Presea yelled taking out her axe (and missing from killing Ness and Lucas by inches of their noses too).

Zelos looked above a platform where Rodyle was looking outside a big window with a room containing a bomb, but something odd was happening to Rodyle.

"When did he glowed in that dark light?" Zelos asked and the Smashers looked at the Desian Grand Cardinal and gasped.

"H-his body...the Shadow Bugs took his body!" Pit said surprised.

"Shadow Bugs?" Genis asked.

"Hehehehehe!" Rodyle turned to see them "Well, well! If isn't Presea!"

"Die!" Presea said glaring at Rodyle, who stopped for a moment before speaking.

"Now, now, you don't have to be so rude!" He said as the party went towards him in the platform via a little staircase, Presea quickly tried to slam her axe above him but he backed away before making contact with the axe "You won't stop me from building the Mana Cannon and destroying the Tower of Salvation!"

Raine looked at the bomb on the other side of the window with Chris "That's a Subspace Bomb!" Chris said.

"Subspace Bomb?" Raine asked interested.

"That's right, with the help of the Subspace Army, I'm going to blow up this place for my lord! And don't think the prisoners that you let escape are going to be alive!" He said making a virtual screen to appear to their left, showing all the prisoners about to escape but the doors suddenly closes and water starts to came from the abyss, rising with every second it passed.

"Oh no, they're going to drown!" Colette said worried.

"There are kids in there, you bastard!" Zelos said.

"Damm it! We can't do anything to save them!" Roy said.

"How pitiful, those useless beings are going to drown thanks to all of you!" Rodyle said laughing maniacally.

"How dare you to call them useless beings? I'm sick of your mouth already!" Lloyd said taking out his twin swords.

"Just try to defeat me!" Rodyle said touching his Cruxis Crystal to mutate into a big monster with a huge blade arm and armor embedded to his body and a disgusting brain growing and shrinking on his back "I am Dark Rodyle! One of the Five Grand Cardinals and one secret commander of the Subspace Army!"

"There's that Subspace Army thing again." Zelos said.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Ness asked in shock.

"You will die within this ranch!" Dark Rodyle said.

"Here he comes!" Presea said warning all of them.

"I need your help, come please!" Chris said taking out his Pokeball and calling out Lucario, who stood in front of him to protect him.

Law of the Battle

Colette, Raine, Presea, Regal, Chris, Lucario, Roy, Pit

"This is going to be an arduous battle." Raine said, she and Colette started to cast their spells while all the melee fighters ran towards Dark Rodyle, but the monster attacked first by swinging his blade arm to damage all of them but luckily they blocked in to resist.

"AHH!" Chris saw Dark Rodyle's blade arm above him and blocked his face with his chakrams to defend, but Lucario stepped in front of him to block the attack using his spikes of both arms.

"What are you waiting for?! Hurry and escape!" Lucario said to Chris and he nodded stepping away from them.

"Let us help you!" Roy and Pit said in unison to help Lucario to push the blade away, unfortunately the Shadow Bugs gave more power to Dark Rodyle and he crushed the trio under his blade arm, causing extreme damage.

"What the-" Regal saw a glyph appearing on Dark Rodyle, casting an instant Stalagmite that sprouted from below the previous trio, sending them high in the sky and Lucario couldn't take it anymore and he fell defeated since it was a earth attack equivalent to a ground type attack.

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled worried running towards his Pokémon "Lucario! Please, wake up!"

"Chris, look out!" Presea yelled before Chris was pushed away by the blade, receiving a big amount of damage.

"Help is on the way, Nurse!" Raine yelled spinning her staff to call...4 nurses with wings on their backs.

"Where did you appeared? Get away from here!" Roy said to one of the four nurses. Before he suddenly glowed with the others recovering from their wounds "What happened?"

"That was one of Raine's special techniques." Presea pointed out before attacking Dark Rodyle with 2 hits, then using a combo with Devastation, Dual Infliction and Eternal Devastation.

"Lucario, please, answer me!" Chris yelled running and trying to awake Lucario.

"Leave him to me." Raine said preparing to heal Lucario.

"Holy wings, I beg of thee to reveal thy glory... Angel feathers!" Colette said lifting her hand above her calling 3 pink rings from her wings flying and slicing Dark Rodyle, Marth followed up by using Dancing Blade with dealing 8 hits with Angel Ring, but that wasn't the best idea because Dark Rodyle went into Over Limit, preventing him from any attack to make him to stagger.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Regal yelled before Dark Rodyle casted Gravity Well, taking a big portion of the field and damaging him, Presea, Pit and Roy, depleting their health to the critical level.

"Bring back this soul from Purgatory! Ressurection!" Raine said as she spun her staff in the air creating a holy glyph below Lucario, reviving him in the process.

"Ugh...what happened?" Lucario asked rubbing his head.

"Lucario, thank goodness you're okay, we need to defeat that monster!" Chris said pointing to Dark Rodyle, who was just about attack him "AAH!!"

"Leave him alone!!" Lucario demanded slamming his right hand in Dark Rodyle's body and creating an Aura Sphere that exploded doing a critical impact and pushing the monster away from them, for their luck, the Over Limit ended soon.

"Thank you!" Chris said.

"Save the thanks for later!"

"R-right!" Chris said as the 2 ran towards Dark Rodyle "Pow Hammer! Wow!" He shone learning another ability "Para Ball!" He said throwing 2 spiked balls creating 2 lightnings above Dark Rodyle's body.

"Spin Kick!" Regal yelled attacking the monster with a spin kick "Swallow Kick!" He yelled jumping in the air and kicking Dark Rodyle in the face "Eagle Fall!" He finished his combo with a fast attack towards the floor, damaging Dark Rodyle in his way.

"Root of all creation, grant us the breath o-AAH!" Raine was suddenly attacked by a quick Stalagmite pushing her to the air falling to the floor, but she jumped in the air to prevent falling on her back.

Dark Rodyle took the opportunity to strike the melee fighters close to his body by creating an energy orb that exploded hurting all of them with force.

"How does he do that?" Roy asked as he continously slashed the Dark Rodyle.

"Light! Photon!" Raine yelled casting a holy glyph that appeared on Dark Rodyle, at the end of the attack, he was badly hurted with an explosion of light.

"Begin..." Presea said touching her neck and hitting Dark Rodyle to start an Unison Attack with the help of everyone.

"Flare Blade!"

"Dancing Blade!"

"Dual Infliction!"

"Aura Sphere!"

"Grand Chariot!"

"Angel Ring!"

"Photon!"

"Pow Hammer!

All the attack belonging to their owners attacked in perfect unison to Dark Rodyle, but also, a special combined attack was called forth with the combined forces of Chris and Pit.

"(Wait, this is the same feeling again.)" Chris thought while the time around him and Pit stopped.

"(What feeling?)" Pit asked.

"(This happens every time someone else and me unite our attacks to create an even stronger skill.)"

"(Shall we use it?)"

"(Why not, let's go!)"

"Whack him!" Chris said turning Pit's blades into 2 Pow Hammers.

"POW RING!!" Both yelled in unison as Pit spun both Pow Hammers dealing more damage towards Dark Rodyle with many squeaky noises, which weren't weak at all.

New ability learned! Pow Ring!

Turns both blades into Pow Hammers to spin them near the enemy, dealing moderate damage with squeaky noises

"Alright! We won!" Pit said.

"...Actually...that attack wasn't a one-hit KO Pit..." Chris said and Pit made a confused face before turning his back to see the blade arm, creating a big cut in his arm.

"AAAHHHH!" Pit yelled grabbing his left arm.

"Are you okay? First Aid!" Raine yelled healing Pit's arm instantly.

"Something's comin-" Colette tried to warn them from an upcoming attack from Dark Rodyle, but it was too late and Dark Rodyle casted his magic on them. The melee fighters blocked their bodies to defend but nothing happened.

"...Nothing happened?" Roy asked as he unblocked his body.

"AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AHH!" They turned their heads to see Colette being attacked by Gravity Well, not only her was being attacked but Raine got herself inside the field of destruction of thunder "I'm sorry everyone..." Colette said falling on the floor defeated.

"I'm...sorry..." Raine said weakly dropping on her knees and falling to her right side defeated as Colette.

"N-no! How could you!" Roy said charging furiously at Dark Rodyle, but he by accident activated Dark Rodyle's Over Limit and he slashed his body without noticing it.

"No, Roy, stop and get away from him!" Regal tried to warn Roy but the monster created an energy orb that exploded right into Roy, and worse, it was a critical attack defeating Roy with a single impact.

"...No...way..." Roy muttered in the floor before fainting.

"I was too late..." Regal said to himself.

"No, it's not your fault Regal," Chris said "IT'S THE FAULT OF THAT MONSTER AND HIS BIG ASS BLADE ARM!" He said running towards Dark Rodyle.

"...Chris...saying a curse?" Pit asked very surprised.

"NO!" Lucario quickly used Extremespeed to appear in front of Chris to block an attack from the blade with his spikes again "How many times are you going to act like that?!"

"W-well, do you have an idea?!" Chris asked to him.

"Yes! Attack him on his back while I distract him, my aura has grown stronger of all the damage he caused to me!"

"G-got it!" Chris nodded flying behind Dark Rodyle and he started to attack him using 2 hits, Pow Hammer and Para Ball, which set Lucario free from him and he used Force Palm to hit him on his right arm, then Presea came using Fiery Infliction, Regal, meanwhile, was reviving the others using Life Bottles.

"Here." He said pouring the liquid inside Roy's mouth, the fallen swordsman coughed before awakening.

"...Where's that monster?! I need to get a revenge!"

"Go on and help them." Regal said leaving Roy to revive Colette and Raine.

Below Pit's feets, the floor was starting to shine brightly with a yellow color because Dark Rodyle casted Stalagmite in a second, the angel blocked his body with his blades to protect himself.

"NO!" Chris came from the sky grabbing Pit from his left arm to take him away from the stalagmites.

"C-Chris!" Pit said surprised.

"I told you before, I'm going to help you to recover your wings!" Chris said with a little smile.

"...Wait, Colette was defeated, right?"

"...Right?"

"And, Regal is using those weird bottles to revive her, right?"

"...Right?"

"...LET ME GO, I NEED TO GIVE HER A BOTTLE!" Pit yelled.

"Giving me what?" Colette asked appearing in the air in front of them.

"..." Pit was left speechless and he fell to the floor because Chris did it by accident.

"Presea!" Lucario yelled when he saw Presea about to be slammed by the blade arm, but she created a green barrier called Earthly Protection to reduce the damage done to her.

"Why doesn't he dies already?!" Roy asked angrily using Flare Blade on him "Hey!" Presea jumped on his back, jumping high in the air and she lifted her axe above the monster, Dark Rodyle saw her and he tried to swing his blade again to stop her.

"Stop!" Raine yelled casting Photon to stop Dark Rodyle, giving Presea enough time to deal the final blow.

"ETERNAL DEVASTATION!" Presea yelled at the top of her lungs slamming with great force her axe to the monster, then she jumped again in the air creating a small earthquake that damaged Dark Rodyle greatly as he screamed in fatal pain before dropping himself on the floor, defeated.

Won the Battle

"I did it, Alicia. I've avenged your death." Presea said wiping out her axe from blood of Dark Rodyle.

"...Creepy." Roy muttered to himself.

"Totally." Chris muttered.

"Humph." Lucario simply said.

Dark Rodyle grabbed his chest in pain and he started to talk again.

"Ugh!... My... My body! My body is disintigrating!" He said walking towards the edge of the platform where he was standing to activate something in his machine "Prooonyyma, you tricked me!" He said tripping above his machine "But I won't die alone! I'm taking all of you with me!" He pressed a button with his oversized right hand as he vanished, everyone inside the room began to hear water coming from the previous room.

"What's that sound?" Ness asked.

"The water is rising up!" Lloyd said "Professor Sage, can you stop the water from rising?"

Raine was shown typing in the computer "I... I can't! This will take much time even if the water comes to us, he also activated the self-destruct system!"

"Botta told us to not destruct this ranch!" Colette said and out of a cue Botta and 2 Renegades came near them.

"Move aside!" Botta said, not caring for Lloyd's extra members.

"Botta!" Lloyd said.

"This is not the time to chit-chat, go and enter that shaft to escape!"

Marth found an escape route where it opened "Let's go!" He said and everyone else followed him.

Cage Room

Lloyd's group managed to escape from the previous room before he noticed that the escape route was sealed to prevent the water from filling the room "Botta! Open the door!" Lloyd demanded.

"Heh... I think this is the time to say farewell..." Botta said from the other side of the window.

"Botta, don't die, please!" Colette pleaded.

"No, my death would be in vain if you do not tell Yuan about the success of this mission."

"Success? What kind of success is losing you?!" Lloyd asked angrily.

"Because my sacrifice was able to let you all to live, that's the meaning."

"Are you trusting us?" Genis asked.

"Yes, you're the only ones who can defeat Yggdrassil and his twisted idea of a world of lifeless beings, stop him or else..." Botta closed his eyes "This world will have no emotions to live."

"Botta!" Lloyd cried out.

"Thank you for helping Yuan and the rest of the Renegades...now...farewell..." He said closing the window with a huge wall as the water started to cover his necks, Lloyd tried to open the window with force but he couldn't do it.

"Out of the way." Regal said stepping in front of the window, he started to kick it with all of his strength but gave up after a while "Is useless..."

"Hmm..." Raine as examining the Subspace Bomb "This bomb has a very complicated system, but I think I can deactivated it in some seconds."

"You can do that Raine?" Chris asked and Raine nodded.

"Yes, don't worry, it'll not explode if I keep modifying it."

"Please, do it."

"I will."

Lucas and Ness, meanwhile, were looking away sadly at the floor and Chris walked up to them "I know why are you 2 sad, it's because of the prisoners that were about to escape but died in the water, right?"

Lucas sniffed a wiped out a tear "Y-yes, I'm so sorry for them!"

"We couldn't do anything to save them after all!" Ness said.

"Hey," Chris kneeled to them "I'm... I'm sorry too. But look at the bright side, Raine is deactivating the bomb as we speak."

"In a matter of fact," Raine began "The bomb was deactivated."

"See?" Chris smiled wiping out a tear "Everything will be fine."

"We should be trying to figure out for a way to escape." Lucario walked to them with crossed arms.

"Yes, besides, things couldn't get much worser than they are, right?" Chris said with a smile, before several huge roars came from the other side of the room where cages opened their bars and 3 dragons (they're not babies, how can they be babies at that size anyway?) came out flapping their wings.

"Behind you!" Presea said making all of them to see the dragons roaring.

"The universe just LOVES proving me wrong, doesn't it?!" Chris said annoyed glancing at the dragons.

Preview of the next chapter

"Mithos!" Genis said taking out a panpipe and making a melody to call someone to help them.

"Wow, look at the size of the hotel!" Lucas said looking at the Altamira's Hotel.

"Even better," Zelos said "Look at all the hunnies at the beach!"

"This is an order from Yggdrassil, I must stop the third Chosen One from traveling with you." Kratos said taking out his sword.

"M-me?!" Chris asked pointing at himself in shock.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Fox asked surprised.

"Meteor Storm!" He looked above him to see a bunch of meteors coming from the sky to crush them alive.

"Next time: Altamira, Meltokio and the Cameo Battle!" Pit said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Sylvarant
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Colette, Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Presea, Zelos, Regal

Phew, I'll say this again (or not) I'm not going to be so late in the next chapter, but I think you really enjoyed this one like the last ones right? I bet you did! More surprises are coming in the next chapter!

References:

-The Big Blue Puppy title was a reference to the Wind Waker arc, where Aryll names Lucario as "Big blue puppy".

Anyway, read and review everyone!
*Chapter 56*: Search a Seal 'Tethe alla'

"Bangs head in the keyboard" This is so frustrating, I've been forgetting the dots at the end of the explanation like attacks and magic before they talk for 55 chapters, but not now, because I changed that in this chapter! No more mistakes! (Well, unless I spot some in this chapter to re-write it).

And, sorry for the big wait again, but I got carried away writing this again.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 56: Altamira, Meltokio and the Cameo Battle!

Cage Room

"Whoa! What are they?" Lloyd asked surprised.

"They're transport dragons, they must have been released when the alarm was activated." Raine said.

The 3 dragons roared furiously. "Let me guess, they haven't eat for days, that explains why they're so skinny." Zelos joked.

"Yeah," Sheena said with a grin. "I bet you can feed them completely Zelos while we escape from here."

"Haha, very funny Sheena." Zelos said sarcastically.

"Here they come!" Regal said warning all of them.

"I'm sorry, but I can't fight this time, I'm so tired..." Chris said.

"Then I'll stand with you." Lucario said.

"But you need to help them!"

Lucario shook his head. "No, they'll be fine without me."

"...Thank you..." Chris whispered to himself.

"I'll fight them!" Sheena said as they prepared to fight againts the 3 Baby? Dragons.

The Struggle to Survive

Lloyd, Genis, Sheena, Zelos, Roy, Lucas, Fox, Falco

"They're going down!" Genis said.

"I-I hope we're not the ones going down!" Lucas said studdering.

"Just keep all of 'em occupied while we cast spells!" Zelos said as a magic glyph appeared below him.

"UGH!" Sheena was pushed to the air by one green tornado that one of the Baby? Dragons made, but she jumped in the air to land of her feet. "Don't try to make me angry!"

"(I couldn't agree better with her.)" Zelos thought scared. "Burn baby! Eruption!" He yelled lifting his hand in the air with a swirl as lava was sprouting below the feet of of the dragons, lifting him in the air with 3 hits. "Now, attack him while he's busy trying to escape!"

"Okay, here I go!" Roy said running below the dragon and he stabbed his sword several times in its stomach. Lloyd came from behind him and he used Tempest to slash the dragon in his tail, then he used Tiger Rage to keep the dragon in the air.

"Cyclone Seal!" Sheena said casting various magic cards that surrounded the first Baby? Dragon with one hit then followed by another stronger hit, making him to trip in the floor.

"Form a torrential vortex and engulf the evil spirits. Tidal wave!" Genis yelled pointing his kendama to the dragons as the background gets all black and a huge torrential whirlpool appears damaging all the dragons in the process. "Now's your chance!"

"H-here I go, PK Freeze!" Lucas said casting PK Freeze which he directed towards the second dragon, frozing the water below his feet. "D-did I do it?"

"Yeah, that was a good idea!"

"Now leave it to me." Fox said delivering several kicks in its stomach, then, he used Fox Illusion to push the dragon with him and finally, he used Fire Fox to burn slowly the dragon before rocketing towards his head, dealing a moderate amount of damage.

"Ha!" Falco did almost the same combo as Fox but first he paralyzed the dragon with one shot of his Blaster, then he used Falco Phantasm to push it again along with him and to end his combo, Fire Bird to push him in the air with fire damage.

"Wait, be careful!" Lucas tried to warn Roy before the swordsman got literally slapped 2 times by the third dragon, sending Roy away from him.

"Ready for this? First Aid!" Zelos casted to heal Roy's wounds from the attack, the other 2 dragons were attacking Sheena with 2 tornados that dealed several hits to her, but also, her Over Limit was activated and she got away from them to call a Summon Spirit.

"What is she doing?" Lucas asked as he saw a floating card in front of Sheena.

"She is going to cast a Summon Spirit to help us!" Genis said.

"I call upon the disciple of everlasting ice. I summon thee, come. Celsius!" Sheena yelled grabbing her card to show it to the sky, ending her spell.

"Oh yeah, and the best one too!" Zelos said with hearts instead of eyes, Celsius, the Summon Spirit of ice, appeared just behind Falco giving him a cold air and he turned to her.

"H-h-hello t-t-there." Falco said embracing himself from the cold air and Celsius knew he was trying to flirt her but she rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"It's over!" Celsius said slamming her right hand on the floor, creating 4 huge waves of icicles that ran towards the 3 dragons, dealing massive ice damage and killing 2 of them as she disappeared in a blink.

Roy and Fox were both attacked by another tornado coming from the last dragon and Genis saw this. "I'll show him what is a real tornado!" He said casting another spell "Gentle winds, gather before me and transform into waves of air. Cyclone!" He yelled pointing at the Baby? Dragon, creating a huge tornado that sliced him 12 times before the monster screamed in pain before vanishing.

Won the Battle

"Man, that was pathetic!" Genis said frowning to himself after winning the fight so easily.

"Even so, it tired me out." Zelos said.

"Suuure." Roy said sarcastically.

But after defeating the 3 dragons, an insane amount of dragons appeared from the cages surounding them from all directions. The party looked around for a way to escape but there wasn't any around.

"Darn it, there isn't any way to escape from here?!" Lloyd asked.

"I think we can defeat all of them." Ness said.

"But they're like, 20 or 30!" Fox said.

"Lucario, don't tell me we're going to die!" Chris said hiding behind Lucario.

"No, we're going to live, I'll promise!" Lucario said as he glared at the dragons with fury.

"Mithos!" Genis said taking out a panpipe and making a melody to call someone to help them.

The melody echoed through the room and all of them looked at Genis playing the song, and after that, they heard a sound from a big bird outside the room and for their surprise, many light that were fireballs came from above the dome, destroying it and creating a hole (because the room was also a dome), strucking down every last dragon as all the monsters screamed in pain, dying and vanishing in front of them.

"W-what was that?" Falco asked surprised.

"Genis! Raine! Everybody!" A voice came from the hole and Genis blinked in surprise before looking up.

"T-that's Mithos's voice!" Genis said surprised.

"Come on, get on your Rheairds!" Mithos said to all of them.

"Alright, let's go!" Lloyd said calling out the Rheairds from the Wing Pack to escape using the hole that supposedly Mithos made.

After escaping from the human ranch about to be destroyed, thanks to help of Mithos who said that he didn't do anything because a golden sparkling bird attacked the dome with fireballs, Sheena said it could be Aska, a Summon Spirit, they eventually passed the word to Yuan (of course with the Smashers outside the base) and Lloyd told them to go to Tethe'alla and leave Mithos with a dwarf named Altessa, then, Regal asked Lloyd and the others to go to Altamira and see the grave of Presea's sister, Alicia.

The flourishing world, Tethe'alla
The seaside paradise, Altamira

"Hey, where's Lucario?" Chris asked looking around.

"He along with Fox and Falco decided to stay outside to not be judged again." Marth said.

"Oh well, they're losing all the fun anyway." Chris lifted his hands above his shoulders.

"Wow, look at the size of the hotel!" Lucas said looking at the Altamira's Hotel.

"Even better," Zelos said. "Look at all the hunnies in the beach!"

The seaside paradise of Altamira was a beautiful sight to behold, a beach, a grand hotel, the Lezareno Company and the Amusement Park made the city one of the best resort places in Tethe'alla, the human Smashers were surprised just at the look of the place.

"Zelos, we're not here to see you flirting with all the girls near, we're here to see what Regal wants to see," Raine said. "And speaking of which, I need to go outside of this place."

Genis raised an eyebrow. "Raine, don't tell me you're going to-"

"Sorry, but I need to go!" Raine said running at high speed outside Altamira and if Colette's eyes weren't deceiving her, she saw a knife-look alike thing hidden in Raine's belt.

Chris noticed that Lucas and Ness were gone. "Ness? Lucas?"

Both kids came with candy in their mouths. "This place is awesome!" Ness said munching candy.

"Can we go to the company now, please?" Sheena asked. "We can go to show them the place later."

Lezareno Company

The party reached the skyscraper of the company, where they found a fat man named Vharley demanding for the password to George, the company's owner to open a sealed gate in a mine called Toize Valley Mine, but Regal told him that the gate opened with his words but refused to go with him, and Vharley called Kuchinawa, a previously friend to Sheena to escape from the building, after that, they watched Alicia appearing above her tomb (which scared Lucas and some of the Smashers) telling the story how Regal, the noble with the name Bryant, killed her to save her, after Regal told them the rest of his story as he also told them that he is the president of the Lezareno Company, he decided to remove his shackles until the 2 worlds were saved for Alicia.

And since the party was still there...

"I see..." Regal said.

"What is it Regal?" Lloyd asked.

"The person who was going to wear the costume of Klonoa, the dream traveler, fell ill and someone needs to wear the costume."

"Master Regal," George began. "We also need another person to use another costume of Klonoa."

"George, why do we need 2?"

"Because we recently held a voting for children, and strangely, they wanted to see another Klonoa appear."

"Odd, kids these days gets weirder and weirder." Zelos said.

George looked at Presea. "Master Regal, Presea is the perfect person to wear the costume," George looked at Chris. "And him can use the other costume as well."

"Wait, I'm going to wear a costume?" Chris asked and George nodded.

"We need your help or else the company is going to be in bankrupt."

"I don't have any regrets." Presea said accepting to wear the costume.

"Oh, please do it Chris! I like to see people dressed in costumes!" Lucas said hopping up and down.

"...Well...very well, I'll do it." Chris said sighing.

"Great, now please follow me." George said and Presea and Chris followed him to wear the costumes.

Altamira Hotel

Chris adjusted his new hat with the emblem of Pac-Man to the right part of the hat as Presea put her red shoes on.

Entrance

"I wonder what kind of costume is that." Pit said.

"It's said that Klonoa is Altamira's mascot too." Sheena said.

"And now young kids and girls, here is the great and unique dream traveler, the only hero with a big smile that brings happiness to all the young children, the great, Klonoa!" A person in an uniform said on the microphone opening the doors of the hotel, revealing Presea staring at all the kids without saying anything and Chris blushing a little.

Chris wore a light blue hat with the emblem of Pac-Man, a light blue shirt with a big zipper on his neck and blue shorts with red shoes, his hands were wearing big yellow gloves, Presea was wearing an smaller version of his costume, but the difference with Chris was that the hat had 2 long black ears with white in each end that reached his belt.

"Wahoo." Presea said simply.

"W-wahoo!" Chris said blushing more and all the persons around had bubbles with 3 dots after hearing them, even the Smashers.

But even so, the kids were all happy as they were receiving balloons from both persons in disguises, also, George let Chris and Presea to take the costumes with them.

Chris obtained the title of, "Dream Traveler."

"You're not only the World Traveler, but also the Dream Traveler! Wahoo!"

30 minute later...

Klonoa? Special Edition

"You made a great Klonoa, Presea!" Genis said.

"Wahoo!" Presea replied.

"What about Chris? These ears are so soft!" Lucas said.

"Wahoo!" Chris replied happily.

"I am grateful that you 2 helped to recover my company's mistake." Regal said.

"Loople-do!" Both said in unison.

"Heh, it sounds like you had fun, being Klonoa, the idol of Altamira." Zelos said with a small grin.

"Wahoo!" Presea said.

"Wahoo, wahoo!" Colette replied happily.

"Wahoo wahoo wahoo!" Presea and Chris said.

"Wahoo!" Lucas said happily.

"Lucas, don't say tha-wahoo!" Ness said. "...Wow, it rubbed off to me."

"Wahoo!" Genis said and blushed "I-it seems so..."

"...Presea, Chris, it is all right for you 2 to speak like a normal human when you are outside Altamira." Regal said.

"But Regal, we're not outside Altamira!" Colette said.

"Wahoo... Oh, I see." Presea said.

"...Oh well, it's not like they can say anything to them for speaking like usual right Regal?" Genis asked.

"...Maybe." Regal said.

"Wahoo!" Chris said happily.

"...Wahoo..." Zelos muttered embarrassed.

End of skit

30 minutes later...

Altamira Hotel, 2nd floor

Roy noticed that Chris was still wearing the Klonoa costume and he talked to him. "Chris, are you going to continue to wear that?"

"Why not? I actually like it," Chris said touching his fake long ears. "Besides, I could use this in battle too!"

"...Well, not to tell you what to do or anything but, it looks weird." Marth said.

"Think whatever you want, but my decision will be the same. These ears are freaking awesome."

"By the way, has anyone seen Raine around here?" Genis asked looking around.

"Didn't she go outside the city to do something?" Colette asked.

It was not too late before they heard various screams coming from outside the hotel, they blinked confused before asking to themselves who was making all the scandal, until they heard someone screaming...

"MONSTERS!"

"Monsters?" They asked confused to themselves.

"Hmm, it is not common to have monsters inside Altamira." Regal said while Sheena looked outside the window.

"And neither a city has this kind of problem." Zelos said before Sheena sweatdropped.

"Umm...guys...I think we know the monsters very well..." Sheena said pointing down below and they joined her, and the cause of all the yells was because of...

"RUN! FOX! RUN!" Because Falco was running alongside Fox passing the hotel while the party noticed that Raine had a very freaky look on her eyes searching everywhere for them.

"COME HERE, I JUST WANT TO DISSECT YOU 2 FOR THE SAKE OF SCIENCE!" Yelled the maniac Raine running away to capture them using another scalpel.

"...Oh man...my sis did it again..." Genis said disappointed.

"Oh no, Lucario was with them, if Raine managed to-" Chris was interrupted by a knock on the other side of the window, he peered outside to find Lucario to the left side, hanging from the wall. "L-Lucario!"

"Chris, quick, hide me inside my Pokeball." Lucario said in a serious tone.

"Lucario you don't have to worry about Raine dissecting you, you're a steel Pokémon remember? Any scalpel can't cut through your skin!"

"Any scalpel that isn't from Raine that is."

Chris made a confused face. "What do you mean by that?"

"She somehow discovered that I was a steel Pokémon and she decided to make a scalpel with fire elements to dissect me." Lucario explained and Chris sweatdropped.

"On second thought, you're in danger, get inside." Chris said taking out his Pokeball and returning Lucario inside it, then he turned to the group. "What now?"

"Save both of them before we get to see them inside a museum." Pit said.

"Wow Pit, you know about museums?" Roy asked.

"Stop talking, we need to save both of them from crazy scientist number one!" Lloyd said stepping inside the elevator.

Entrance

30 more minutes later...

Lloyd, Genis and (fortunately for himself) Zelos managed to calm down Raine and throwing her fire scalpel to the water, while Fox and Falco hid AGAIN behind Chris, trembling which made the situation even more awkward that before, should I say that they were hidding behind the fake ears too?

"Now...inhale air for 10 seconds and...think about your happy place..." Lloyd said.

"MWHAHAHAHA!" Raine laughed maniacally.

"Lloyd," Genis wispered. "Not her happy place, a museum full of things she discovered by herself."

"Oh...then think about...A BOAT SINKING IN THE WATER WITH JUST YOU!" Lloyd said.

Raine stopped and she started to inhale and exhale air quickly and slowing down in every second, until everything was fine.

"Phew, that was close." Genis said. "...Zelos, you can stop grabbing Raine anytime now."

Zelos shook his head. "Oh, what? Oh oh, yeah." He said releasing Raine.

"..." Raine was left speechless trying to find a way to apologize. "I'm...I'm sorry for what I did..."

"HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT AGAIN?!" Falco asked hiding.

"I'll stay close to her and watch her closely." Genis said.

"Thanks, that should work too. I apologize" Raine said.

Many people were staring at the 2 returning members of the party, muttering something about calling the Church of Martel to kill them.

Regal looked around. "...I think we must leave Altamira for the time being..."

"I agree." Sheena said nodding and they slowly left the city, but the people were still staring at them.

Sky

Lloyd's group wanted to show the Smashers the world of Tethe'alla to make them feel like their own home...or something like that, while they were on the Rheairds soaring the skies.

Roy's curiosity

"The world of Tethe'alla is amazing!" Roy said happily.

"Yeah, the people, the places yet to see and the big sea below are great!" Ness said.

"Wahoo!" Chris said happily.

"...Are you still wearing that costume?"

"Well yeah, nobody is complaining about that."

"...As I was saying before, visiting new worlds is a good experience!" Roy said.

"Hmm, I wonder if there are other new worlds like this one too." Ness asked to himself.

"Don't worry, I have a big collection with so many worlds to visit!" Chris said with a smile.

"Really? That's great! I could get the chance to meet more swordsmen like me!" Roy said.

"I've never seen Roy so hyped up." Ness said.

"Let him be, let's enjoy the experience while it lasts." Chris said.

"Okay."

Roy obtained the title of, "Curiosity killed the swordsman."

"No matter what cuts me or tries to kills me, the mere thought of meeting more swordsmen makes me feel in home! (According to him)."

End of skit

The Tower of Salvation

"Now, let's fly to over there." Sheena said.

"Where are we going?" Falco asked.

"I want you 2 to see one of the biggest monuments in the history of Tethe'alla."

"What monument?" Fox asked, riding in Regal's Rheaird.

"That." Regal pointed to something and the camera zooms-out from them revealing the tallest tower of all the times, the Tower of Salvation, which his height is supposed to reach the heavens and the camera zooms-in to shown Fox and Falco with very surprised faces.

"..." Fox didn't talk.

"So what do you think?" Sheena asked.

"...I think someone had all the time in the world to build that thing." Falco said.

"I don't think someone could climb that tower." Fox said in his opinion.

"In some points, you're right, nobody can climb that high because the tower goes all the way up to the heavens, according to the ancient books." Sheena explained.

"Do you think our Arwings can reach that high?" Falco wispered to Fox.

"Well...I think so but..." Fox trailed off whispering.

"It is bad to whisper in front of people." Regal said.

"Oh, sorry, we think it's an amazing monument."

"I'll tell you more about it later." Sheena said with a small smile.

Cooking Contest? Part 2

"I told them." Lloyd said to Genis, Lucas and Colette.

"And what did they said?" Colette asked.

"They said it's alright...as long as if isn't Curry."

"What's so bad about Curry anyway?" Genis asked to Lucas.

"I-I don't know what happened either." Lucas said.

Marth entered the conversation. "Oh, you don't want to know that painful experience."

"...So, Marth, can you really cook?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, honestly this is my first time, but a first time is always good."

"(...And we have our second Raine right here.)" Genis thought with small pupils.

End of skit

The snowy city, Flanoir

The party managed to reach Flanoir, the city which is full of snow and ice.

My ears...

Lucario sneezed.

"Lucario, are you feeling okay?" Chris asked.

"I-I-I'm fine but...something is freezing me."

"Impossible, the ice can't affect you."

"B-b-but something did."

Colette looked to Lucario's ears and she found snow getting inside. "Oh! It's because the snow is getting inside your ears, here, let me clean it."

Lucario blushed. "N-n-no!"

Colette was already taking the snow out with one finger. "I don't want you to catch a cold."

"Well Lucario, I don't think Colette is scary." Chris said.

"When she doesn't have the urge to hug me." Lucario said recovering thanks to Colette.

"There, it's done, how do you feel now?" Colette asked.

"...I'm fine, thanks to you." Lucario said blushing a little and unfortunately, that was what Colette wanted to see and she quickly gave him a hug. "C-C-CHRIS!"

"Oh no, the snow is in your ears again?" Chris asked sarcastically.

"N-N-NO! GET HER AWAY FROM ME!"

"Sorry, you have to get used to it."

"AAAAHHHHH!!"

"Hehehehe!" Colette giggled heartily.

"...Talk about stupid." Pit muttered to himself with small pupils.

End of skit

The university town, Sybak

Next on their list, they reached Sybak, the town full of scientists and researchers (luckily, Presea warned Fox and Falco to not enter the city because of this).

Studying is boring

Marth was reading a book inside the library while Lloyd was trying to not fall asleep. "Lloyd, it's bad to sleep when someone is reading."

"...Uh..." Lloyd replied sleeping.

"Does he always acts like this?"

"I would said yes," Raine said. "Lloyd is clearly an ignorant person for the field of study, it's hard to make him to listen to my classes."

"Knowledge is the first path to victory."

"Marth, I see you're a wise person right?"

"Of course, I'm the prince of my kingdom and every prince needs to have the necessary intelligence outside and inside fights."

"Absolutely correct." Raine remarked. "You're not like the people around here."

"Zzzzzzzz..." Lloyd snored.

"...Like him?" Marth pointed at Lloyd.

"I'm afraid yes." Raine said sweatdropping in disappointment.

End of skit

The mystical village, Mizuho

The next destination was Mizuho, home of Sheena and the village hidden from any other city and town.

How do they manage to live?

"This place is full of ninjas!" Lucas said.

"And here I am thinking Sheik was the only ninja I knew about." Ness said.

"I'm glad you liked my village, normally I wouldn't show this village to any people but I took an exception with you and the others." Sheena said with a grin if proudness.

"It's so calm around here, the river, the trees, the statues and everything else." Pit said.

"Hmm..." Lucas started to think. "Sheena, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can, but as long as if isn't what are our secrets to fight."

"N-no, is not that, I was wondering something..."

"What was that Lucas?" Pit asked.

"W-well...so far, there are a lot of people walking around right?"

"Yes." Sheena responded.

"But how come there are only 2 houses in the whole village? There are a lot of people that couldn't fit inside the houses and I don't think they live with the chief who is ill right now."

Sheena blinked in surprise and sweated. "I...we...well...um...er...many of our people have houses hidden within the trees."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah! We're ninjas, so it's customary for us to live in trees to sneak and attack intruders and to protect the house of the chief." Sheena said closing her eyes with a worried smile.

"...It makes much sense to me!" Pit said.

"Me too!" Ness said.

"W-wow! Ninjas are amazing!" Lucas said.

"(Phew, it's easier to trick persons like them in nowadays.)" Sheena thought sighing in relief.

Sheena obtained the title of, "Secret maker."

"What do you mean I tell lies? It's for the sake of the good and... (According to her)."

End of skit

The quiescent village, Ozette

Near Mizuho, they visited the burned village of Ozette, it was going to make no sense at all but Presea wanted to pray in the tomb of her father near her house, which made sense to them.

I'm not alone

Deepest Woods

"..." Presea made a sad face after praying.

"Presea, are you alright?" Genis asked.

"Yes...it's just...I..."

"It's something bothering you?" Chris asked.

"...Yes, it's because I don't have anywhere to live, I killed my father, my village was destroyed, and it was because my fault..."

"No! It wasn't your fault Presea, it was Rodyle's fault that all of this happened to you!" Genis said.

"...But even so, my time is not going to come back to me, I feel very depressed right now."

"I'm sure there is a way to-"

"Wait, what's that of your time not coming back?" Ness asked entering the conversation.

"Presea's age was stopped and she couldn't grow because of the Exsphere, she may look like a 12 year old but in reality, she chronologically has 28 years." Genis explained.

"...S-S-S-S-S-S-SHE HAS 28 YEARS?!"

"Ness!" Chris said angrily.

"S-s-s-sorry, but it's hard to believe that the Exspheres made all that to Presea..."

"But it's okay... I need to live without my time coming back..." Presea said sadly.

"You don't have to be so sad about it Presea." Chris said.

"Why?"

"Because you have us, maybe you can't recover your time, but you can enjoy your days to the fullest if you try. I know that of experience," Chris looked down. "Living alone in my house without my parents with me as they were occupied was very painful, fortunately, I met Lucario and since then, I was so happy to have company with me. You're not different from me, because you have all of us to support you...and I have everyone with me too. We're kind of the same if we think about it."

"...Thanks..."

"?"

"Thank you for telling me what I need to do with my life, I'm sure I can enjoy my days if I try." Presea said smiling a bit.

"Y-You're welcome." Chris said smiling.

"Let's do it together...if that's what you want." Ness said smiling.

"I...well..." Genis trailed off blushing before noticing that they were gone. "ARGH! Why I couldn't say that to her?!" Genis asked to himself furiously.

Genis obtained the title of, "Too slow!"

"Gaining the heart of a girl may be your hardest test in your life."

End of skit

Music stops

Temple of Darkness

After showing all the locations known to Lloyd's group, they headed to the Temple of Darkness to form the pact with Shadow, but unfortunately it was pitch black inside and even a common light coulnd't penetrate the dark, and oddly enough, Chris didn't go with them.

"Wow, it's pitch black inside." Lloyd said.

"Lloyd, always stating the obvious." Zelos said, earning a glare of Lloyd but he couldn't see it.

"Even the light of outside doesn't reach this place." Roy said.

"Where's Chris?" Lucas asked.

"Odd, he was here just a moment ago." Pit said.

"I'm going to find him." Lucario said leaving.

"What do we do now Raine? Do you know how to bring light that can disperse this?" Genis asked to her sister.

"Hmm, I heard the Blue Candle can create light to this kind of darkness." Raine said wondering.

"Oh yeah, the Elemental Research Laboratory in Meltokio has a Blue Candle, let's ask them to give it to us." Sheena said.

"Oww!" Lloyd tripped above Zelos's foot and the chosen gasped.

"My foot!" Zelos said shocked.

Outside

"D-d-dark...everything...dark..."

"Chris?"

"Ah! L-Lucario!" Chris jumped behind a boulder.

"What were you doing behind this rock?"

"W-well...I was waiting to enter the temple but I twisted my leg!"

Lucario looked at Chris's leg and it was fine. "But it looks fine to me."

"N-no! See?" He touched his leg, faking moans of pain. "Oww..."

"...You're afraid of the darkness, right?"

Chris sighed in disappointment. "...Yes..."

"But you're not afraid of that when everything is dark, like when we sleep."

"That's not it...it's because I get afraid if I don't know a way to enlighten the place where I am, and...this temple...has darkness all around it..." Chris started to shudder in fear. "I-I'm sorry...I'm pathetic..."

"No, you're not."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm going to stay close to you once we enter the temple."

Chris looked away before speaking "...You don't mind if I stay behind your shoulder?"

"If that's what you want, I won't complain."

"Thank you..."

"Hey, you 2, we're going to Meltokio to get the Blue Candle so we can enter the temple." Zelos said.

"A life saver!" Chris said happily running to the north and Lucario sweatdropped.

Regal looked to where Chris was going. "...We should catch up with him before he gets attacked by monsters."

The imperial city, Meltokio

"It's amazing that Chris was able to reach the city by foot and not the Rheairds." Lloyd said and Lucario sighed.

"Now that we're talking about him, where is he?" Marth asked looking around and he saw 2 guards standing in the gate. "Have you seen a kid with a weird costume getting inside?"

"Oh, not too long ago a kid like the one you talked about entered, but we can't let you enter since you're with the traitor." A guard said to Marth.

"Just ignore them, I know a way to get inside." Zelos said walking to the west.

City Square

"Oww!" Chris bumped into an innocent looking girl, she wore a white cap on her head with 2 long slightly pink tails, her hair was of a pale yellow, under her white cape, she wore a pink vest, various red belts were in her chest, in the middle of her arms with long sleeves and her wrists, she wore also long white boots with gold emblems on the top, but Chris also saw a knot with the tip of it with hard iron for punishing someone as he thought.

"Hey you! Watch where you're going!" The innocent looking girl said angrily.

"How dare you to push Alice in that way!" A man said pointing his big sword at Chris's face, his hair was purple, he wore a white vest with 3 diamond-shaped holes on the middle on his body with a long purple belt passing through them and attached to his throat, black gloves, black feathers around his neck and black pants and black shoes, there were also more purple belts in various parts of his clothing.

"It's okay Decus, we don't need to waste anymore time with this brat anyway." Alice said closing her eyes with a smile.

"Right, Alice." Decus said kneeling to her.

"(Geez, what an idiot, his attitude it's just disgusting!)"

"Oh, s-sorry if I made you mad." Chris said getting up and scratching his head in embarrasment.

"Of course you did!"

"Yeah, I don't...wait, what?"

"Of course you made me mad! What kind of brat are you? Pushing little innocent girls like me around?" Alice asked with another smile that was really scaring Chris.

"Please bow to her." Decus said.

"What?" Chris asked very confused raising an eyebrow.

"I've said, bow to her."

"W-Why should I do that for?"

"Because I want to, bow to me now!" Alice demanded with yet another smile.

"I'm sorry, but I've already apologized to you, meaning that I can leave now." Chris said walking to the right side of Alice but she slashed her knot hard on his back and he fell to the floor, resisting the pain where the same scar from before was. "Ugh! W-why did you do that?!"

"Isn't obvious? You didn't apologize to me, now bow to me!" Alice said with another smile.

"I...I dont' want to..."

"Impudent fool, bow to Alice now!" Decus said glaring at Chris with crossed arms.

"Or else I'll unleash my loyal monsters on you!" Alice said.

"Monsters?" Chris asked.

"That's right, with just one hit of this knot and the power of the Exsphere I use, no monster can't resist to obey my orders, or use a special machine that I don't want to talk about to anyone, not even you!" Alice said before she sighed. "...But honestly, I'm too depressed right now..."

"...Why?" Chris asked confused trying to get up.

"Because of the fact that I have almost every kind of monster at my arsenal, but neither them can ease my passion to get more," She joined her hands together and looked at the sky. "I wait for the day to get a monster that is unique and the only one of its species to get under my hand, and to be my chair!"

"...Your chair?" Chris asked even more confused.

"Yeah! Like this," Alice snapped her fingers. "Decus."

"Right." Decus fell on his knees and he held himself up with his hands keeping him from hitting the floor and Alice sat on his back with crossed legs.

"What do you think? Beautiful, right?"

Chris sweatdropped at the weird "couple". "...Um...right..."

"That's the meaning, you understand after all!" She stood up and so did Decus. "Now where were we? Oh yeah," She slashed her knot into Chris's face. "Bow to me!"

"Oww!" Chris rubbed the spot where Alice hit.

"Stop...now..." Alice was now getting irritated by Chris's behavior and she hid her smile behind her arm to slash Chris again, and an evil look replaced her innocent face. "OR ELSE I'LL-" She was just about to hit Chris again before noticing that someone taller than her was grabbing her knot by the iron part, and that person was...

"Get away from her, you monster!" Decus said trying to slash the monster with his sword but the monster took Chris away from them by backstepping and Chris looked up and gasped.

"Lu-Lucario!" Chris said surprised with a smile.

"What did they do to you?" Lucario asked while he glared at Alice and Decus.

Apparently, Alice was left speechless and surprised, Decus didn't do anything to her and her evil look disappeared and the innocent look returned to her once her eyes layed on Lucario, inspecting his body and his appearance while a big smile grew on her face.

"YAAAAAHHHHH!!" Alice squealed happily. "THIS IS THE KIND OF MONSTER I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR!"

"...Not again..." Lucario thought while he replaced Alice with Colette in his mind.

"Alice, do you want him to be your monster?" Decus asked kneeling to her.

"Wait just a minute Decus," Alice said walking towards Lucario with her knot behind her back. "This monster is very different than the others we've seen so far, it can talk too, and I just happen to be a good dealer so I may have a very good chance to convince him to join me to be my servant like you are," She joined her hands again. "Just imagine him as my new chair!"

"A-Alice, I'm astonished by your intelligence!" Decus said bowing his head to her.

"(What a double idiot.)" She thought with small pupils and she walked around Lucario. "So, your name is Lucario, right? That's a very good name, you know, I'm searching for the ideal monster right now, and you're that one special monster! Don't worry about my tastes, you won't get disappointed, I swear it! Just imagine me, being carried on your back as we travel in the grassy fields."

"What about me?" Decus asked pointing at himself.

"You're the random villager number 18 looking at us." Alice said ignoring him.

"Yay!" Decus said happily and Chris sweatdropped at the stupid response of her servant.

"SO!" Alice stomped her right foot in front of Lucario. "How does that sound to you? Leave this pathetic brat alone and join me, together we will conquer anyone in our path while I support you with my magic! What do you say?" She asked with a wink towards him.

"...I'll pass." Lucario said walking away.

A hard red toon vein popped out in Alice's forehead and she blocked Lucario from getting away. "Come on, the offer it's just for one chance only!"

"No."

The vein was getting bigger. "Please?" She asked while his right eye was twitching uncontrollably with a smile.

"No."

The vein was getting bigger again. "How about now?" She asked while both eyes were twitching uncontrollably with a twitching smile.

"Never."

The vein was now bigger that her own forehead but she didn't let her smile escape from her face, if Lucario ignored her again, she could use her knot on him to make him to listen. "ONE LAST TIME, DO YOU WANT TO BE WITH ME SO YOU CAN BE MY CHAIR USING YOUR HAIRY YELLOW BACK?!" She asked with a loud voice that was literally echoing through all the city, scaring Chris in the process.

"Please, accept the offer of Alice." Decus said bowing his head calmly to Lucario.

"...No." Lucario said and with that, both left the weird couple alone while Decus was trembling as a dark evil aura was covering Alice completely, she looked at the floor before taking out her knot with a serious vein above the skin of her right hand.

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE TO BE WITH ME YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" Alice said furiously rushing at Lucario and Chris, then she leaped high in the air to slash Lucario on his back, when she was about to hit Lucario, the Aura Pokémon turned his back and blocked her attack with his spike on his right arm and a wide smirk grew on Alice while she was floating in midair, literally. "HAHAHAHA! YOU'RE NOW IN MY POSSESION! NOW THROW THAT BRAT IN THE STAIRS AND KNEEL TO ME!"

However, Lucario was now utterly irritated by her and he simply took the knot out of her hand and bit it hardly that it made a snap, breaking the knot in the middle and returning it to the still-in-midair Alice. "This is yours." Lucario said turning his back and walking away with Chris on his arms and Alice looked at her broken knot, and part of it fell to the floor with a funny sound and she fell on the floor with a thud.

"Alice!" Decus yelled running after her, but she got up and slapped him hard in the face. "I-I know, you thought I was showing off by helping you than you getting up by yourself." He said not caring to rub the bright red spot with the hand's mark and Alice looked angrily at Lucario.

"YOU!" She said replacing her broken knot with a new one out of nowhere. "HOW DARE YOU! WHEN I SEE YOU 2 AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE TO MAKE YOUR LIFES MISERABLE! SLEEP WITH THE MERE THOUGHT OF SAFETY, BECAUSE WHEN YOU DO THAT, I'LL APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE AND STAB YOUR BACKS AND SPIN THE DAGGER AROUND TO SPILL BLOOD OUT OF YOUR HELPLESS BODIES AN-"

"Hey Lucario! You found him!" Falco appeared out of nowhere with the rest of the group and Alice's evil face disappeared and butterflies floated around her while her eyes were replaced by hearts.

"OH MY GOODNESS! THAT IS SUCH A FINE MONSTER!" Alice squealed again and Falco looked at her with a confused face.

"...What wrong with her?"

"OH! HE CAN TALK TOO! Not like the idiot blue dog, BUT HE'S EVEN COOLER!"

"What about me?" Decus asked pointing at himself.

"You're still the random villager number 18...Decus." Alice said not caring about Decus.

"Yay!" Decus cheered stupidly.

"So anyway!" Alice said cheerfully touching Falco's beak with the tip of her new knot. "Have you ever wanted to be with someone as cute and brilliant like me before?"

"Bah, you're too young for me, get away." Falco said pushing the knot away from his beak and Alice's eyes twitched again.

"(GRRR! Oh, wait! There's someone even cooler than this weird bird with the strange accent!)" This time, Alice went with Fox and she pointed the tip of her knot on his nose. "How about you? You're WAY cooler than that bird!"

"No." Fox said pushing away her knot. And Alice was left even more surprised and the butterflies around her were burned to death.

"Let's move on, we have to go to the Elemental Research Laboratory to get the Blue Candle." Sheena and everybody left the 2 of them...this time for real.

Alice was looking down at the floor while she grabbed her knot with so much force that she wanted to break it, but Decus stepped in front of her and put his left hand on her right shoulder.

"Alice, I-" He was punched very hard in the face and he was sent crashing into a tree, breaking in apart because Alice was now utterly furious by this moment.

"HOW DARE THEY DECUS, HOW DARE THEY TO MAKE FUN OF ME!" Alice asked furiously before she panted for several seconds and calmed down as another smile grew on her face. "Oh well, nobody say I can't make their lifes miserable."

"Then do you really want to have them in your disposal?"

"Who the hell is there?" Alice asked with a glare.

100 metres away from them...

"Who was that girl?" Genis asked confused.

"I don't know but...that servant of hers said she was Alice." Chris said rubbing his back while Raine noticed the back of his throat.

"Alice?" Lucario asked.

"No Lucario, she's not the Alice we know."

"Hmm, Chris, may I ask what's this scar behind your throat? It seems grave." Raine said approaching to Chris.

"Scar?" Chris asked confused and all the Smashers (except Lucario) were sweating. "Where?"

"In your back, and it also seems it doesn't end there."

Roy quickly pulled Chris away from her. "Er, no! He doesn't have any scar, what do you mean by that?" He asked sweating.

"Roy..." Chris glanced at the others. "Are you all hiding something from me?" He asked narrowing his eyes and they were shown whistling at random directions, still sweating.

"If you want to, I can heal that scar to disappear it." Raine suggested.

"...Okay, please do."

"Stop!" A voice yelled behind them and they turned to see no other that Kratos Aurion with crossed arms.

"Kratos!" Lloyd yelled stepping in front of the group.

"Calm down, I'm here to ask something to her." He said.

"What do you want with Presea?" Genis asked.

Kratos started to ask something about the Sacred Wood to Presea that only grew around the area near Ozette, but he didn't walk away.

"What now Kratos?" Lloyd asked glaring at Kratos.

"This is an order from Yggdrassil, I must stop the third Chosen One from traveling with you." Kratos said taking out his sword.

"M-me?!" Chris asked pointing at himself in shock.

"What's with the sudden change of mood?" Zelos asked.

"I do not know why he has a Cruxis Crystal that we did not were aware of, but if Yggdrassil wants it to be destroyed, so be it." Kratos said.

Chris looked at his Cruxis Crystal. "...I-it's not a Cruxis Crystal! P-please, w-where did you hear of it?"

"From Yggdrassil himself."

"...I-it's a fake!"

Kratos narrowed his eyes. "Your attempts to deceive have so far failed. I can perfectly tell that the gem on your neck is a Cruxis Crystal."

"Y-you can't take this away from me, I-I need it..." Chris trailed off thinking for another excuse.

Colette stood in front of Chris. "No! Kratos, please, don't do this!"

"Out of the way." Kratos demanded.

"And If I don't want to?" Lucario asked stepping in front of Chris.

"Humph, Yggdrassil was right after all, they're with monsters."

"I hate being discriminated just by my appearance." Falco said angrily.

"I will not show no mercy againts you, get out of the way before you get killed."

Beat the Angel

Lloyd, Genis, Zelos, Presea, Lucario, Marth, Roy, Falco

"You earnestly believe you can defeat me?" Kratos asked coldly while his wings appeared on his back.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Roy trailed off before all the melee fighters charged at Kratos.

"Demon Fang! Lightning Blade! Super Lightning Blade!" Kratos dealed a devastating combo towards Roy, defeating him in an instant.

"...What...no way!" Roy said falling to the floor.

"You're going to pay for that, Sword Rain!" Lloyd yelled dealing various stabs to Kratos, who didn't flinched and he attacked Lloyd by breaking his flurry.

"Humph, Sonic Thrust!" Kratos yelled stabbing Lloyd with a strong thrust. "Fierce Demon Fang!" He slammed his sword in the floor creating a earth shockwave hitting almost all of them. "Demon Spear!" He yelled spinning his body and sword to push many of them in the air and pushing them away from him, defeating Lloyd.

"Aaugh..." Lloyd said before he fainted.

"Lloyd!" Marth said before he was attacked by a Thunder Blade of Kratos, receiving electricity that damaged him greatly before another impact of lightning, finishing him. "He's so...powerful..."

"Drown! Spread!" Genis yelled casting water below Kratos and the attack managed to reach Kratos and he was pushed to the air receiving damage of the water. "Now's our chance, attack him!"

"Devastation! Dual Infliction! Eternal Devastation!" Presea made a combo with all those attacks to Kratos and Zelos was casting an spell from far away.

"Ready for this? Healing Wind!" He twirled above his feet casting a wide tornado healing the wounded fighting againts Kratos.

"This is for calling me an animal!" Falco said angrily slashing Kratos with his hands and dealing another combo using his phantasm and kicking his Reflector towards Kratos, then Lucario did a 3-hit combo followed by a Force Palm and an Aura Sphere.

"Want more?" Kratos asked as his Over Limit was activated and he held his sword in front of him casting magic while spores of light floated around him.

"Oh no, he's going to use Judgement on us!" Genis warned all of them but the melee fighters were still attacking Kratos without staggering him.

"Sacred Powers, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls. Rest in Peace, sinners! Judgement!" Kratos yelled pointing his hand at them and the background gets darker as an extreme attack with lights from the sky came crashing down all of them causing destruction, and unfortunately, it was too late and everybody in the party got defeated instantly by Kratos's Judgement attack.

Total Defeat

"You cannot oppose fate..." Kratos said.

Half of the group was fainted on the floor and Kratos slowly approached to Marth with his sword in hand. "Humph, what kind of performance was back there. Die!"

"NO!" Chris stepped in front of Marth with extended arms. "Please, don't do anything to them, they don't deserve this!"

"Then you'll take their place?"

"...If that's the only way to save them...I...I...I...I will!"

Kratos lifted his sword above his head and Chris closed his eyes to resist the attack, but after 5 seconds, Kratos sheathed his sword crossing his arms and looked at Chris. "Very well."

"...Huh?"

"I'm not sure what kind of trouble you can cause to Yggdrassil, but you're weak to me."

A vein popped out of Chris's forehead. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that you need more training to be a menace to your enemies...and also, because of the way of use of your clothing..."

Chris looked at his fake long ears and he glared at Kratos. "Sorry, but I like my own style, thank you."

Kratos closed his eyes in disgust before opening them again. "...Think what you want to do..." He said walking away from them.

Raine looked down before she stepped forward. "Kratos!"

Kratos stopped in his trail and looked at Raine. "Yes?"

"Tell me something," Raine began. "Have you heard about any kind of information regarding a threat that arrived in both worlds?"

Kratos just stared at her before he nodded. "Yes, I do believe that there are unusual creatures roaming around the Temple of Darkness as we speak. However, Lord Yggdrassil doesn't have any business with that problem."

"The Temple of Darkness... Unusual creatures... The Primids?" Chris wondered.

"Is that all?" Kratos asked raising an eyebrow.

Raine nodded. "Yes, you can leave now. But a word of advice."

"What?"

"Don't interfere with our plans, we want to find a way to save both worlds."

"...Hmph," Kratos began to walk away. "Do as you wish but Yggdrassil won't hesitate to kill you all."

"...Idiot..." Chris muttered.

Kratos looked behind him and Chris whistled innocently and sweated, the Seraphim made a glare before leaving.

"...Lucario!" Chris kneeled to Lucario, holding his head. "Lucario, are you okay?!"

"..." Lucario didn't respond.

Raine kneeled to see them. "We should rest at the inn for this day, after today, we can continue to get the Blue Candle."

Pit looked away concerned. "...I agree..."

Inn

"A-AAH! MONSTERS!" The girl of the Inn yelled terrorized.

"Not again..." Fox muttered while he carried Falco above his shoulders.

"S-stop!" Chris said. "Please, allow them to sleep in the inn, they're our friends and they need to rest right now!"

"B-but..." The girl trailed off thinking.

"See him?" Sheena asked to Zelos who was being carried by Regal.

"C-Chosen One!"

"He needs to recover too and this Inn is the only place to help us."

"But don't tell the Church of Martel about us, it's for the sake of this city." Raine said.

The girl looked away and she spoke. "...I'll make an exception this time, the rooms should be after climbing those stairs." She said pointing at the stairs.

"...Thank you..." Chris said smiling to her.

That night...

Just one day left

"..." Pit looked outside the window at the night.

"What's wrong Pit?" Marth asked entering the conversation.

"Oh...it's nothing..."

"Come on, you can tell me."

"No..."

"Please?"

"...All right, Marth, tomorrow it's my last chance to recover my wings, and if I can't do it by the end of the day of tomorrow, I will never have my wings back for the rest of my life."

"Hmm, yes, I remember that a short while ago."

"But I'm very afraid of what can happen...I'm scared..."

"...Then don't be scared."

"What?"

"I know this is going to sound cheesy, but you need to believe in yourself in order to recover your wings, in that way everything is going to be easier for you."

"...Who told you that?"

"Myself, see? I told you before."

"...Well...I'll try it..."

"I'm glad I was of help, good night." Marth said smiling a bit and leaving to sleep.

"(...I need to understand the true reason of this test though...)"

End of skit

A hero

"Doctor, is there a reason about why I can remember what happens inside the games and sometimes I can't?" Chris asked to Dr. Kawashima.

"Simple, because the Spoiler button is on." Dr. Kawashima said.

"...That sounds stupid! Where is that Spoiler button?"

"In your DS, you can adjust the option there, take a look!"

"Hmm, the Spoiler button is on, but if it is off, I will lose all the things that I remember inside this game for example?"

"Correct."

"Hey, there is another option here, "Difficulty" button...Normal, Hard, Mania, Unknown?"

"Careful there! If you press an even harder difficulty, all the enemies will gain a sudden boost of status, making everything else harder to all of you!"

"Ah!" Chris closed the DS in fear and turning it off, then he looked at Lucario. "...Lucario..." Chris whispered to himself while Lucario rested to his right side, wounded.

"..." Lucario didn't respond.

"...It's useless right now, isn't? Because of me, you got hurted and this is what happened to you..."

"..." No response.

"...You're really a hero, you knew that, right? You're always protecting me and...well, you risk your life just for me, I'm so grateful to have someone like you."

"..." No response.

"...Too bad you can't listen to me, I could make you feel embarrassed."

"..." No response.

"...Well...good night Lucario..." Chris said starting to sleep deeply.

"...Good night..." Lucario was able to say but Chris was already sleeping, he smiled a little bit before sleeping.

"...Hehehe..." Someone was sneaking to their room and the person slowly slid through the bed, close to Lucario.

End of skit

Nightmare

"WAH!" Lucas woke up panting heavily and Ness woke up.

"Lucas! I was dreaming with Pau-I mean, I was dreaming about my family, what's wrong?" Ness asked blushing a little.

"S-sorry, but I had a nightmare where that scary man from this day attacked all of us using that spell, and we were bleeding like crazy on our faces!"

"...And?"

"W-what do you mean by "and"? It was so scary!"

"But the thing is that that didn't happened."

"Ugh, Lucas, let me tell you something, there are 2 things in the life, one of them is called real, and the other one is called dream, the real is something that you need to care about and dream is something that you don't need to care about."

"But what if the dream was good?"

"Then take notice of it, if it is a nightmare, then ignore it until it's over."

"...Hmm..."

"Tell you what, think what I told you in this conversation and nothing bad is going to happen, good night." Ness said returning to sleep.

"...Okay..." Lucas muttered returning to sleep.

"(Talk about random...)"

End of skit

Discrimination

"Monsters...monsters...monsters..." Fox muttered to himself. "Why does everyone call me a monster?"

"Maybe is because you're not normal like me or Genis," Raine said entering the conversation. "Don't be scared, I managed to seize my attitude."

"...But you 2 are humans."

"That's not true," Raine said. "Genis and I are half-elves."

"What are half-elves?"

Raine looked down sadly. "The result of a human breeding with an elf, elves are people with long lifespans but half-elves are people with longer lifespans than normal elves. Everyone in Tethe'alla are scared of us because most of the crimes are comitted by half-elves... It's unfair to be judged just because it's seen so much around here."

"But what about my case?"

"Easy, because all the people living here think of you and Falco as monsters, nobody sees a fox walking in 2 legs wearing clothes in any day, never." Raine said chuckling.

Fox looked down a little sadly. "..."

"I know this will be hard to you, but as you travel around, many more people are going to say the same things over and over again, no matter what actions you do, everything will be the same."

"...Is there any solution?"

"Yes, and that is be yourself."

"...Be me?"

"Exactly, nobody can tell you what to do, as long as you think what is right and what is wrong, don't listen to what people tell you, do what you want to do and help them with the help of the friends with you, like Chris for example, he doesn't get scared by your appearance, for the fact that you're his companion and most importantly, a friend."

"..." Fox looked at her. "I'll remember that."

"I may also add that your actions could also benefit."

"...You just said they couldn't aff-"

"That is not mostly true," Raine said shaking her head. "Remember that I told you that half-elves are being discriminated by crimes? Well, you have your own advantage and show everyone that you can act like a normal person. What truly matters is what you do with your own life. Just be yourself."

"...Thanks." Fox said smiling a bit.

"Do it and don't regret it, because you're still a valuable specimen."

"Yeah, I will...wait, what?"

"Just kidding." Raine said laughing heartily, but Fox knew she wasn't kidding at all.

End of skit

The next morning...

The sun appeared in the sky with the light touching Lucario's face, the Aura Pokémon yawned a little and he looked to his left side, where Chris was sleeping deeply, a smile grew on his face and he returned to sleep noticing a blond bur resting to the right side on his chest...and his eyes opened wide enough like he was going to yell.

"GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Oh well, he yelled loudly enough to make a long echo in the city and passing through the mountains, echoing and scaring all the birds in the continent of Meltokio that flew away to Flanoir, where they died freezing to dead and losing 10 percent of the fauna of Tethe'alla. At least the merchandise of meat grew perfectly fine in that day for the residents of Flanoir.

Back at the inn, everyone woke up by the yell.

"Lucario! Shut up, I'm trying to sleep here!" Chris said very annoyed and burying his face on the pillow.

"Oh, good morning Poochie!" Colette said resting her head in Lucario's chest.

"Colette, did you sneak to our room just to rest with Lucario?"

"Yep!"

"(Ugh, I can't believe her.)" Lucario thought annoyed.

Raine knocked the door and she walked inside and sweatdropped after finding Colette in the bed with Lucario. "...I'll not ask about this," She looked at Chris. "If I may have a moment with you in private?"

"Oh, right, the scar you were talking about yesterday." Chris said getting out of his bed and dressed to follow Raine.

"...D-don't leave me alone with her!" Lucario yelled trying to get off from Colette's hug of death.

Town Square

"As I expected."

"What is it Raine?"

"There's a long scar running through your body from the throat to the half of your back, didn't you know about this before?"

"N-no, nobody told me anythi...wait, they knew about my condition but hid it from me!"

Raine put her staff above Chris's back and making it glow with light. "They have a reason for this."

"What reason?"

"If you knew about this, you'll probably end up in a crazy state of trauma for the lenght of this attrocity."

"So...they were just protecting me..."

"Correct."

"...What do you think of them Raine?"

"Normal people to me. There are some unique that I should not talk about."

Chris chuckled to himself. "Hehehe, I know who, are you done?"

"Yes, the scar has disappeared and your back is fully replenished."

Chris looked at her. "Thanks Raine, my parents could have freaked out if they knew."

"Don't worry, it's my job to cure the harmed."

Raine raised a finger. "Take in mind that I won't be around if you fight in another encounter though. Be careful and watch out for anything."

"Thank you."

Raine chuckled. "Thanks. Now, would you mind to do me a favor?"

"What?"

Raine began to blush a little with excitement. "W-wow, h-how could I put it...hm...can you convince Fox or Falco t-"

Chris began to walk away. "I'm not putting them in a bed and let you dissect them, no way."

"P-please!" Raine begged. "I need at least a sample of them!"

However, the World Traveler just sighed in disappointment as he returned to the in.

Elemental Research Laboratory

The party entered inside the laboratory to get the Blue Candle, but just as Sheena was going to take it.

"Wait! Because of them, Kate is in the prison waiting to be killed by the orders of the Pope!" One scientist said angrily.

"Kate is in the prison?" Genis asked confused.

"That's right, ever since you escaped from Sybak, they imprisoned her to atone for your actions!"

"Then we will rescue her." Sheena said.

"H-how?!"

"I hear the prison is directly connected directly to the colisseum." Regal said.

Zelos looked at him with a weird face. "How do you know that?"

"Zelos, there's no point in asking Regal how he knows that, we need to rescue Kate before they kill her!" Lloyd said.

"Yes." Presea said simply and they were about to leave the laboratory, until one of the scientist noticed 3 particular characters of the party.

"NEW SPECIMENS!" He yelled excited and all the half-elves scientists appeared with scalpels on their hands, shining.

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Falco yelled at the top of his lungs running away from the lab.

City Square

"!!" Someone was eavesdropping them and Zelos managed to see an orange hat and pink hair running away in the distance of the city.

"...Wait, I remember that hat and hair somewhere else before..." Zelos trailed off.

"Zelos, what are you doing?" Colette asked.

"Nothing." He said seriously walking towards the colisseum.

"Wow, I've never seen Zelos like that before." Lloyd said.

"The world's gonna die." Genis said chuckling with Lloyd.

"Kids these days..." Raine said sighing.

Coliseum

After entering the coliseum, they heard a multitude of cheers on the center of the place, because a battle was being held in that moment.

"All right! I always wanted to participate in a coliseum!" Lloyd said.

"Lloyd, you just made that up." Genis said.

"Shut up, Genis!"

"Excuse me, but can we enter the colisseum for a match?" Marth asked to the receptionist, who was a girl.

"Yes, but today we're are holding a special exhibition match of 4 people."

Chris walked to her. "Say, can you let 4 more participants to enter please?"

"I'm sorry, but that's against the rules."

"Don't worry, we'll give you Zelos." Sheena said.

"Oh my!" The receptionist blushed in surprise, putting her hand in front of her mouth.

"Sheena! What does that supposed to mean?!" Zelos asked scared.

A light bulb appeared above Ness's head and he walked towards the receptionist. "Yes, that's right, we'll give you Zelos in exchange to let 4 more of us fight! But you can only have a date with him 3 days after, how does that sound to you?"

"...Deal!" The receptionist said blushing a lot. "And just for this occasion, the entry fee is free!" And Zelos cursed under his breath and his anger against twerps grew more.

A small girl peered from the entrance from the exit to the arena and looked at Zelos, but Zelos looked at her and she gasped and ran away inside. "What the-Seles?!" He ran inside the door to find the girl, and accidentaly registering himself to enter a match.

"Hey, wait up Zelos!" Lloyd said running after him with Raine and Sheena.

"Don't leave me behind, let's go Lucario!" Chris said grabbing the hand of "Lucario" and running inside with Marth and Ness.

"(A date with the Chosen One...my dream is going to come true!)" The receptionist thought excited.

Arena

The 8 party members stepped in the center of the colisseum as the people in the seats were cheering loudly.

"It's like my home." Marth said taking out his sword.

"It's like those matches I watched in the T.V." Ness said.

"It's like I'm famous already! How does that sounds to you Luca-" Chris turned to see another person instead of Lucario looking at him with an upset face and crossed arms, and that person was...

"Ahem." The person was Fox, tapping his foot in annoyance to the ground.

"...Don't tell me I dragged you into this again..."

"I'm 100 percent sure about that."

Sheena looked at them. "Relax, I'm sure the match is going to be easy." She reassured them.

The gates of the other side of the arena opened slowly, revealing a young girl with purple hair and pigtails to the sides of her hair, she wore a pink dress with a small pink skirt and golden triangles on her wrists and the end of her skirt with a strange blue animal in her shoulder. "Hi, I'm Meredy." She said shyly to them.

Another young girl stepped outside with her hands on her hips of her orange skirt, she wore also another slightly pink skir belw the first one, her shoulders had red feathers and her neck was visible from any view with the image of a butterfly below it, her hair was of a dark green and she was wearing white shoes. "Hi! My name is Farah Oersted and I fight using my palms!" She said putting her hand in front of her.

The next combatant was a tall man with silver hair, he wore a small dark blue armor with 2 green jewels in front of his shoulders, his arms didn't had armor but he wore more armor on his hands, he was also wearing black pants and light blue shoes, on his back, he was carrying a bow and a sword. "My name is Garr Kelvin, nice to meet you." He said simply.

The last combatant was the one that surprised Zelos the most, it was another young girl with an orange hat and pink hair, she was wearing a white shirt without sleeves on her shoulders but in her arms with big blue crystals on her wrists, she wore also an orange skirt with a white ribbon crossing it from her hips, an orange purse and blue shoes. "Big bro-I mean, I'm going to prove that I can fight using the power of the Exsphere to defeat you!" She said pointing at Zelos.

"Zelos, is that your sister?" Sheena asked, remembering that the girl previously attacked her mistaking Sheena for a demon trying to kill Zelos.

"Is my little darling sister Seles." Zelos explained to them.

"Stop saying thosing things to me!" Seles said and she searched for something inside her purse, and surprisingly, she took out a big sword that really breaks apart the laws of the physics.

"Wait, that swords was inside that purse? It breaks apart the laws of the physics!" Ness said surprised.

"I'll show you all my power!" Seles said.

"Don't forget about me!" Farah said.

"And me." Meredy said.

"And me!" Garr said taking out his bow.

"(Strange, this didn't happened in the game at all.)" Chris thought to himself.

"Here they come!" Raine said taking her staff as both groups ran after the other to begin the fight.

Fatalize

Lloyd, Zelos, Sheena, Raine, Chris, Fox, Marth, Ness

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!" Zelos said.

"Oh come on, focus on the enemy!" Marth said annoyed.

"Get 'em! Acid Rain!" Meredy casted an acid rain and Ness panicked.

"Oh no! My clothes are going to disappear!" Ness said running around.

"No, that spell will drop our defense a little!" Lloyd said and their defenses dropped down.

"Huh? What's this?" Chris was starting to do pray signs and holy magic came behind his foot. But he couldn't finish his spell because Farah dealed 3 strikes to his body.

"Palm Strike!" Farah thrusted her palm on his body and he was pushed back.

"Ahh! That hurts!" Chris complained and he flew after Farah, but she used Beast to deal extreme damage to him, dropping his health to the critical levels. "...Help..." He said moaning and trying to not be defeated.

"Help is on the way, Nurse!" Raine yelled spinning her staff above her, calling the same nurses from before.

"Get 'em! Spread!" Meredy yelled pointing at the sky and a tower of water defeats Chris from below before the nurses could heal him and his body falls to the ground.

"I'm...weak...right..." He said fainting.

"I'm gonna take you out!" Sheena said running after Meredy and she started to attack her using her cards. "Power Seal, Life Seal, Demon Seal!" She used the last attack to push her to the ground with skulls appearing around the cards, but she got up and started to cast again.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Marth were fighting against Garr, who was gaining the upper hand by using a combination of his bow and sword in quick movements.

"Ugh! This guy is strong!" Lloyd said blocking his attacks with his sword along with Marth.

"Gale!" Garr yelled firing a flurry of arrow breaking Lloyd's defense and running after him. "Decisive Slice!" Garr rose up to the air dealing fatal wind damage to Lloyd, defeating him.

"I'm sorry...dad..." Lloyd managed to say before fainting.

"Now you're going down!" Marth said using Dancing Blade to deal various blows to Garr and he continued to fight against him.

Zelos and Ness were fighting against Seles, and the PK user was very surprised at her arsenal of ice attacks.

"Ready? Freeze Lancer!" Seles yelled lifting her hand as an ice glyph appeared in front of her launching several ice shards that went straight towards Zelos and Ness, cutting them through.

"Ugh! How can she be so strong?!" Ness asked panting.

"It's the Exsphere that makes her strong!" Zelos said firing a Demon Fang towards her, but she stepped away from the track of the shockwave and prepared another spell.

"Ready? Absolute!" Seles called an icy wind below Raine's feet and a fast galcier appeared stunning her, before exploding into shards receiving fatal damage.

"Don't get in my way!" Raine said clenching her hands on her staff because she was trying to revive Chris and Lloyd.

"Burn baby! Eruption!" Zelos yelled calling lava from below Seles, sprouting and dealing fire damage, Ness took the opportunity to ran inside the harmless magma and he used PK Flash to deal damage to Seles, and the 3 continued to fight.

"Bring back this soul from purgato-Don't get in my way! AAH!" Raine was pushed but she jumped to land on her feet from an attack coming from Farah. "I'm casting, I need support!"

"Palm Strik-"

"Not in my watch!" Fox came from the side dealing a strong kick in Farah's face, pushing her away from Raine and went after her to stop any other interruptions to Raine.

"(Thanks Fox.) Bring back this soul from purgatory! Resurrection!"

A light thrusted Chris and he slowly woke up, getting up from the floor and shaking his head. "...Ugh...I...I won't let them to defeat me again!" He said casting the magic that it was previously interrupted by Farah.

"This is the end! Indignation!" Meredy said casting a blue and purple glyph above Sheena, she gasped and ran away to evade the attack, but it stroke her down quickly with an explosion of lightning receiving a grave injure, dropping her into her knees.

"She's...strong!" Sheena said and took out a Lemon Gel to recover before attacking Meredy again.

"What was that about this fight being easy again?!" Chris asked annoyed. "Holy wings, I beg of thee to reveal thy power! Angel Feathers!" Chris yelled firing 3 light blue rings from his wings slicing Farah's body while Fox dealed fast kicks to her to prevent Farah from attacking.

"Resurrection!" Raine yelled reviving Lloyd from his state and he got up shaking his head and running after Marth to help him to defeat Garr.

"Fierce Demon Fang!" Lloyd said slamming his sword to Garr.

"No!" Garr replied as he was being lifted to the air a little by the shockwave of earth, the Marth used Dolphin Slash to push him more to the air and Lloyd used Tempest to slice his body.

"Mini Meteor!" Seles yelled creating a meteor on the tip of her sword, crushing Ness under the weight.

"AAHH!"

"Ready for this? Healing Stream!" Zelos said yelled casting a blue field with blue sprouting light that healed Ness little by little.

"PK Fire!" Ness yelled firing a lightning of fire and exploding to create a tower of fire that paralyzed Seles, then Zelos ran towards her.

"All right." Zelos said shining and starting an Unison Attack to make all of them attack Seles in perfect synchrony.

"Lightning Blade!"

"Dancing Blade!"

"Angel Feathers!"

"Demon Seal!"

"PK Flash!"

"Demonic Tiger Blade!"

"Photon!"

"Fire Fox!"

"Don't run!" Zelos said as he and Raine shone, creating a combinated attack.

"Plasma Blade!" Raine yelled casting another Photon on Seles as Zelos rocketed towards her with Lightning Blade, exploding the Photon with lightning and light.

Seles's hat was dropped to the floor and she defended herself from Zelos's attack using a shield (obviously bigger that her purse because it was also inside with the sword). "It won't work!" She said.

"Pow Hammer!" Chris ran towards Garr to help Lloyd and Marth to defeat him calling a hammer that whacked Garr's head, followed by Lloyd's Sword Rain and Marth's slashs.

"Here!" Farah said using a Hourglass that froze the time, stopping the 8 fighters except from Garr, Farah, Meredy and Seles.

"Get 'em! Indignation!" Meredy called another glyph appearing above Chris, Lloyd and Marth, strucking them with a powerful impact that was going to appear after the time went on once again.

"Swallow Dance!" Farah yelled pushing the timeless Fox into the air receiving a 3-hit combo, but the vulpine didn't reacted at all.

"Gale!" Garr yelled firing a flury of arrows towards the timeless Raine.

"Absolute!" Seles yelled casting an instant glacier on Zelos, who exploded dealing a powerful ice attack.

The time suddenly went on and Marth, Raine and Zelos fainted defeated.

"What a sorry way to go..." Zelos managed to say before losing his consciousness.

"Aaugh!" Raine yelled fainting and dropping herself to the floor.

"The Altean kingdom...will live on..." Marth said burying the top of his sword in the ground and he dropeed to his knees, holding himself from the handle of Falchion.

"...No! How could you?!" Chris said angrily and flew towards Seles, who almost hits Chris with turning her sword into a big comet called Star Comet, but he threw a Pow Hammer at her head, used Para Ball to stun her and learning...Item Rover "AAHH!" He tripped on his own feet, dealing a surprisingly massive damage to her.

"No...Zelos..." Seles said before she fainted, defeated.

"...YES! YES! I DEFEATED HER! I KICKED HER BUTT BUT GOOD!" Chris cheered flying around happily.

"Here!" Farah said again reviving Seles with a Life Bottle.

"...AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Chris yelled furiously beating the crap out of the now revived Seles, defeating her once again using Item Rover.

"No...Zelos..." Seles said again, fainting.

"AND STAY DEAD! STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEAD, STAY DEA-"

Zelos was tapping his foot impatiently behind Chris because Lloyd used a Life Bottle on him, Chris was kicking Seles's fainted body and he stopped after looking at Zelos, sweatdropping.

"Hehehe...sorry..."

"...Chris..." Zelos began. "I truly agree with you!"

Chris's eyes gleamed. "T-thank you!"

"No!" Sheena managed to defeat Meredy and a small grin of victory grew on her face.

"Ha! That'll teach you!" Sheena said proudly.

"Here!" Garr said giving a Life Bottle to Meredy, reviving her.

And unfortunately, Fox did defeat Farah, but Meredy used a quick Resurrection spell to revive her and a vein popped out from Fox's forehead.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Fox asked surprised.

"Meteor Storm!" He looked above him to see a bunch of meteors coming from the sky to crush them alive.

They received a full assault of meteors crashing upon the battlefield that dealed massive damage to all of them, Lloyd, Zelos, Fox, Ness, Sheena and Raine (she was revived but later defeated again) were defeated moaning in pain, and the only one left in the field was Chris.

"Everything is over!" Chris said as he glowed in a black light activating his Over Limit, then he was able to cast another spell that was very painful to him. "Thy power floweth purely, ever unwavering. Accept my soul into thine embrace. Sacrifice!" He lifted his hand towards the air and Garr, Farah and Meredy received holy damage and Chris sacrificed his life to revive everyone else as he fell to his knees.

"Hey, what happened?" Lloyd asked confused.

"Look! Chris was defeated!" Ness said pointing at the unconscious Chris.

"Leave him to me!" Raine said preparing to cast Resurrection on Chris.

"Ready for this? Grave!" Zelos twirled above his feet calling several pointy rocks below Garr, who was pushed into the air and Marth used Dolphin Slash to slice his body, then when Garr fell to the floor, Lloyd came from behind Marth.

"Hunting Beast!" He pushed Garr from him, then he created a shockwave in the air before slamming both swords into the floor, creating a strong impact and defeated Garr.

"Aahh..." Garr said before he fell giving up.

"Bring back this soul from purgatory! Resurrection!" Rain yelled casting a light above Chris who revived him instantly.

"It-it worked! My spell revived all of you!" Chris said happily.

"Get 'em! Thunder Blade!" Meredy yelled calling a sword that was going to crush Chris, the World Traveler disguised in the Dream Traveler's clothes gasped and he blocked his body, before he was suddenly grabbed by someone with great speed, saving him from being electrocuted.

"...Huh? Fox!"

"Are you alright?" Fox asked with a small smile.

"Yes, thanks to you but," Chris looked below him. "How can you carry me when you're smaller than me?"

"..." Fox felt Chris's weight enough for him and he fell.

"Thought so." Chris said.

"G-get off me!" Fox complained.

"Okay, time to end this, Cyclone Seal!" Sheena surrounded Meredy using many cards that pulled her to the air, then, she was attacked by an explosion of wind by the cards.

"OwwwwhahaaaaaaaAAAAAaaaaa!!" Meredy yelled fainting as her little pet behind her licked her face.

"PK Fir-AAHH!" Ness was attacked by Farah using Beast, then she hit his face with her arm and to end her combo, she used Beast again to push him and his health to the critical level "I need help!"

"First Aid!" Zelos yelled healing Ness's wounds.

"Thanks! PK Fire!" Ness yelled firing a lightning to Farah, creating a tower of flames. "PK Flash!" He called a flash of green light that exploded in Farah. "PK Thunder!" And finally, he casted a thunder moving it behind his back, sending him with a strong impact to Farah who was still stuck in the tower of fire, defeating her and the Cameo Team once and for all.

"No waaay!" Farah complained falling defeated on the ground.

Won the Battle

"I need to get a diary and write this victory on it!" Chris said.

"Write about my swordsman's skills!" Lloyd suggested.

"And my healing techniques." Raine suggested.

"And my beauty!" Zelos suggested.

"And my abilities!" Ness suggested.

"And my tactics." Marth suggested.

"And my card spells." Sheena suggested.

"And my...um..." Fox started to think.

"So?" Chris asked.

"...Well, you all took the good parts!" Fox complained.

Chris sighed.

Preview of the next chapter

"Remember me?"

"Not her again." Chris said.

"Here, my recipe." Marth said.

"I don't think our stomachs are going to last any longer..." Lloyd said.

"How cute! Another puppy!" Colette said happily.

"Ugh, I'm not a puppy! I'm a wolf!"

"Cruuumbleeeeeeee..."

"Scaaaaaaaaary!" Chris said hiding behind Lucario.

"Next time: Cruuumbleeeeeeee!" Pit said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Tethe'alla
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Colette, Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Presea, Zelos, Regal

According to the RPG Cliches guide

31. Bed Bed Bed
A good night's sleep will cure all wounds, diseases, and disabilities, up to and including death in battle.

Surprise, surprise, Alice and Decus from the sequel of this game made an appearance to make their lifes miserable as she stated before, well, they're obviously 2 years younger, but it's true that Alice controls monsters and Decus is...well, another swordsman who is stupidly in love with the ignorant of Alice. And I wanted to add the music of Ozette because the skit with Presea needed to be "sniff" sad.

Nobody, and I say it again, NOBODY can defeat Kratos (unless somebody uses the 10XEXP trick or spends the time killing the strongest monster before the Tower of Salvation), because apart from spamming Lightning Blade and Super Lightning Blade and for the fact that his initials are K and A, meaning Kick Ass. XD

References:

-Curiosity killed the swordsman was a reference to the popular saying "The curiosity killed the cat".

-Alice and Decus are living references to Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

-Lucario mentioned the Alice that he and Chris knew in the prequel of this story, "Lucario and Chris: Friendship Bond".

-The last quotes of this chapter of the victory of the battle are references to Tales of the Abyss, where the quotes are used by Luke, Natalia, Jade and Tear.

To end this chapter once and for all and to advance to the next and final chapter of this wonderful arc, here's the moral of this chapter.

SPECIMEN!

Read and review please!

*Chapter 57*: Cruuumbleeeeeeee

Well, this is my last longest chapter from now on, I took Nintendogeek's advice because also, if I keep writing long chapters, this story will never end this year! But hopefully, this chapter came out great after all.

I've noticed that is spelled Crumble and not Grumble, that is fixed now, read, enjoy and review please! The goal of this story is to have 150 reviews before chapter number 65! We've reached over 15,000 hits too!

Chapter 57: Cruuumbleeeeeeee

Coliseum

"Those combatants were so strong!" Ness said surprised.

"I was so preoccupied when those meteors appeared in the sky, thank god we managed to beat them." Chris said sighing in relief.

"Regal told me to enter in that door from over there, let's go." Lloyd said pointing at obe door to their left side, fortunately, all the persons inside the room were occupied doing their own business and the party of the match entered, leaving Zelos behind to ask why Seles fought against him and the others.

Prison

"At least we're not the prisoners this time." Ness said walking down the stairs, they turned to the left of corner where Kate was held inside a cell.

Ozette

Kate wanted to go back to Ozette where she explained that it was her home before the village got burned to ashes, she decided to stay in the destroyed village, leaving the party with no option but to leave her alone. Presea, who was the most concerned, thought about her.

Elemental Research Laboratory

"SPECIMENS!" The same scientist from before yelled excited, Sheena went up ahead taking the Blue Candle from his hand and the party made a run for it.

City Square

For the surprise of Sheena, the half-elves scientists finally decided to leave the lab just for having an example of the 2 specimens between the Smashers, so the party decided to escape through the sewers, but in the way, Alice and Decus returned to cause more trouble to them and the innocent and selfish girl pointed her knot at Lucario.

"Remember me?"

"Not her again." Chris said.

"I'll not let you escape this time around, because I-"

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Lloyd said pushing Alice to the floor and Decus stepped away from not being crushed by 32 legs, unfortunately Alice was all stomped by the entire party and her back had all their footprints.

"...Ugh! Why you! How rud-" Alice was once again stomped by the group of scientists, burying her whole body to the floor with Decus slowly walking towards her with a worried look.

"A-A-Alice?" Decus asked studdering.

"..." Alice suddenly got up, with a very furious face. "GRR! COME ON, WE'RE FOLLOWING THEM!" She said grabbing Decus by the right leg and slidding his back on the floor.

"ALICE! THAT HURT-AAHH!" Alice ignored walking above pointy rocks that were seriously hurting Decus's back, how did the pointy rocks were there you ask? It's one of the many mysteries of this world.

Sky

The party managed to get away from Meltokio and the crazy scientists, since the trip was going to be short, they had another conversation.

Cooking Contest? Part 3

"Okay, here are the rules, all of you must make an easy recipe, that recipe is going to be Ramen, and me, Lloyd, Colette, Sheena and Zelos are going to be judges to taste the food, you all will have your own time to make the food." Genis explained.

"Okay." Chris said.

"And...go!"

40 minutes later, and surprisingly, they didn't made it to the Temple of Darkness yet...

"Time, let's see what all you made, first we're going to taste Chris's recipe."

"Here..." Chris said handing over 5 plates with Ramen.

"...Umm...just by looking at it, it got burned." Lloyd said.

"I'm sorry! I'm not good at this!"

"Nah, we're eating it anyway." Zelos said taking a sip of the Ramen, before spitting it out and sticking out his tongue. "Who said that you don't need to judge a book by its cover?!"

"Zelos!" Sheena said, taking a sip of the soup and trying to not spit it out. "...Ugh..."

Lloyd, Genis and Colette decided to not taste the Ramen and they went ahead. "O-okay, next is Ness's." Genis said.

"Here!" Ness said giving them 5 plates.

"Wait a minute, this isn't Ramen, this is a Sandwich!"

"Then it wasn't Sandwich then?"

Genis rolled his eyes. "Oh well, we can't waste this, let's eat it...YUCK! There was something in there!"

"Yeah, it felt like a Squid moving." Colette said.

"W-well, there wasn't jam, so I replaced the jam with a Squid." Ness said blushing.

"But you forgot to check if the Squid was dead!" Sheena said.

"...It needed to be dead?"

Lloyd frowned at this. "...Let's move on, next one is Roy's."

"Here." Roy said doing the same action as the previous failed cooks.

"Hmm, it smells nice, let's eat it!" Lloyd said excited taking a sip of the soup with the others following his movement...only to spit the soup out after 3 seconds without moving at all. "Bleck! It did smelled nice, but the taste is horrible!"

"What were you thinking when you made this?" Zelos asked.

"Well, after I finished, I decided to put a little of perfume so-"

"Perfume? Are you crazy? Nobody in the whole world adds that as an ingredient!" Sheena said.

"...Really?"

"You have no future as a cook, that's for sure, next on is Lucas's." Genis said.

"H-here..." Lucas said.

"Let's eat this one." Colette said taking a sip. "Hmm, not bad for your first try, but you need to put more heat and noodles."

"Wow, Lucas didn't failed like I did." Chris said.

"And next one is Lucario's" Sheena said as she received her plate made by Lucario.

"...!!" Genis quickly decided to leave after taking the first sip, and everyone heard someone puking with long seconds, then Genis came back wiping something from his mouth. "Alright, helpful advice, taste his soup and you will lose 400 instant grams in 4 seconds."

The other 4 pushed the Ramen away from them.

"Lucario, what did you do to the Ramen?" Chris asked.

"I used several abilities on the ingredients like Force Palm, Extremespeed and Aura Sphere to-"

"So you're telling us that you made this soup by attacking it with skills and mixing them all together?!" Lloyd asked in shock and Lucario nodded.

"...New rule, Pokémon CAN'T cook and they'll never will for the sake of humanity." Ness said, earning a glare of Lucario.

"Next one is Pit's." Genis said as Pit gave them 5 plates with his Ramen, they took a sip of it and their faces turned into a bright purple color. "My...stomach...hurts...so...much..."

"Pit, what did YOU do to your soup?" Roy asked terrorized.

"W-well, I replaced the seaweed with grass an-"

"Wait, what? Pit, we have all the ingredients!"

"That's not true! My ingredients were gone when I searched for them in our inventory!" Pit said trying to defend himself and Chris whistled and looked away because he used Pit's ingredients when he didn't looked to add more flavor to his soup.

"Oh god, what's this brown thing?!" Zelos asked pointing to a brown thing in his soup.

"The meat that I was going to use was gone, but luckily I found something brown near the back of an animal and I-"

Lloyd, Genis, Sheena and Zelos used their Rheairds to fly away from them while they were blocking their mouths, trying to not release their contents, but they did it high above the Fooji Mountains, where a big echo of 4 persons puking were heard (Colette was immune to the taste because of her angel senses), then they returned, holding their stomachs in pain.

"N-n-next is Fox's recipe...MY GOODNESS!" Genis blocked his eyes. All the Smashers gasped and the other 4 judges had their eyes wide open after seeing the "thing" Fox cooked.

"FOX, I THINK YOU JUST CHALLENGED THE MOTHER EARTH WITH THAT THING!" Chris said blocking his eyes in disgust.

If nobody else reading this had any clue about Fox's recipe, here's the description, the seaweed was somehow moving, the meat was making weird moans of pain, the noodles were trying to rise up to the air, the soup had a very weird green color with bubbles coming out, the mushroom that he added was giggling like crazy trying to be reanimated, not only that, they saw an eye too!

"IT WINKED AT ME!" Zelos said in terror.

"W-what's so bad about it?" Fox asked confused.

"In a few words, you made a living sin!" Sheena said blocking her mouth.

"No wonder why I've never seen Fox cook before." Chris said, earning a glare of Fox.

"A-a-a-anyway, throw that thing away!" Lloyd said motioning like he wanted to throw it himself.

"No way, you're going to taste it!" Fox said shoving his soup at Lloyd.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!"

"Why don't you taste it Fox?" Pit suggested.

Fox took a spoon. "Fine, but I don't see what's wrong with thi-" After taking a sip of his own recipe, his pupils shrunk so fast and his ears perked up like never before, his tail even went up to his back and he fell to the floor, KO'ed.

"OH GOD, THAT THING KILLED HIM!" Lucas panicked hiding behind Ness from the soup, who was literally walking towards him because the noodles made 2 legs and the mushroom was the crazy head of the plate giggling like a maniac.

"IT IS A LIVING SIN!" Pit panicked.

Luckily Lucario destroyed the "living sin" with an Aura Sphere, and the 4 extra plates that were going to turn into monsters and the group sighed in relief as Roy used a Life Bottle on Fox to revive him.

"Keep Fox AWAY from any KIND of INGREDIENT from now on, got it?!" Lloyd asked and they nodded agreeding.

Genis was trembling, scared. "O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-our next recipe is from Falco."

"Humph, here." Falco said giving them a...miracle! It was a good looking and ordinary Ramen soup!

"Phew, now we can finally have the chance to eat real food!" Zelos said wiping out his sweat from his forehead and he took a sip of the Ramen. "Hmm! Now this is what I was talking about!"

"Yeah, it taste so good!" Colette said happily.

"Heh, I think the new meat that I added was perfect after all." Falco said crossing his arms.

"What new meat? And why is the soup a little bit...red?" Genis asked curiously.

"The meat that I was going to use was burned by accident of some mistake I did, but then, I decided to look inside the forest to kill an animal to get meat from it, unfortunately, a bandit attacked me while I was going there, I managed to kill him but the time was running out, but then I looked at the dead corpse of the bandit and carefully, I used a knife to-"

Fox's face was surprised at this moment. "Falco...don't tell me you..."

"...As a matter of fact I did that, I replaced the meat with the "meat" of the bandit."

Everyone stared utterly disgusted at Falco's secret ingredient, Sheena looked closely to her Ramen and she saw blood coming from...well...you know what...

"I JUST ATE HUMAN FLESH!" Lloyd panicked grabbing his hair.

"I'M A FREAKING CANNIBAL!" Zelos said in shock.

"I don't...feel so good..." Genis said grabbing his stomach.

"Really? I don't feel anything!" Colette said blinking in surprise and the 4 other judges backed away from her. "The last one is Marth's!" She said cheerfully.

"Here, my recipe." Marth said.

"I don't think our stomachs are going to last any longer..." Lloyd said.

"Or our own bodies..." Zelos added.

"But...look...it looks...normal to me..." Sheena said looking at her Ramen.

"Okay!" Genis glared at Marth. "What did you added to this thing?! A dog's head?! Saliva?! Dirt?! Poison?! DEADLY POISON?!"

"No, I followed the instructions like it needed to be." Marth said calmly.

Genis stared at his Ramen and gulped, then he took his spoon. "Here goes...nothing." He said sinking his spoon inside the soup and lifting it up in front of his mouth, he gulped again before pulling the spoon slowly to his mouth to taste the last Ramen of the day, he quickly shoved the spoon inside and closed his eyes.

"..." Several seconds passed and his eyes opened shaking a little in surprise. "THIS RAMEN WINS!" Genis said excited taking many sips from his Ramen, the others looked at each other before tasting the Ramen, before various smiles grew on their faces.

"W-wow! This Ramen could even challenge Genis and Regal's cooking skills!" Lloyd said surprised.

"Marth, what's your secret?" Pit asked.

"I don't have any secret, I followed the instructions like they told me to do it." Marth said.

"Too bad for you." Zelos said.

"Why?"

"Because this greatly boost your fake girly appearance."

"...That's not true!"

"I...agree with Zelos, if the soup tastes so good, it will only make Marth look more girly, considering that most girls are chefs." Roy said.

"You too?!"

All of them laughed at this and Marth clenched his hands in fury.

Marth obtained the title of, "Prince of the Dinner."

"That culinary skill, that hair, that tiara! Everyone is happy for this girl (boy)!"

End of skit

Temple of Darkness

Lloyd used the Blue Candle to enlighten the place and the darkness slowly disappeared, making a path in front of them.

"Alright! This really works!" Lloyd said.

"I've got the feeling that you're going to be bored after a while like you did with the other things." Genis said.

"Shut up Genis!"

Lucas looked at Lucario and he saw Chris hiding behind his left shoulder, his head in front of his appendages. "Chris, why are you hiding behind Lucario?"

"I-I'm sorry, but the darkness scares me...a lot..." Chris said studdering and everyone tunred to him.

"Are you afraid of the darkness?" Zelos asked.

Chris nodded slowly and he waited for someone to burst out laughing at his fear, but nobody did before Presea spoke.

"It's alright, I also fear the darkness." Presea said in a calm tone.

"...Really?"

Presea nodded. "Yes, but this is not the time to be afraid of it, except if the darkness takes control of your body or something like what happened to me in the last 16 years."

Chris looked away. "...I...I see, but either way, I'm going to stay close to Lucario."

"It doesn't bothers me at all."

"(But it's awkward, how is he going to fight in that state?)" Falco thought to himself.

Suddenly, Lucario was starting to hear someone hiding inside the darkness and he looked at all directions. "Lucario, what are you doing?" Pit asked.

"We're not alone, there is somebody else waiting to attack us around here." Lucario said narrowing his eyes.

"And you're correct." A voice said, echoing.

"...Not him again." Fox said frowning to himself before Wolf appeared in front of the party from above, standing in a fighting position.

"What now Wolf? And where's Lier X. Agerate?" Ness asked.

"His name is Porky, and he's currently counting sheeps in a fetal position." Wolf said.

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8..." Porky said while his machine was in fetal position, studdering.

Tales of Symphonia

Tethe'alla
Temple of Darkness

Wolf sweatdropped. "...And I rather not talk about that."

"What an amazing specimen!" Raine said and everyone else frowned to themselves.

"I'm not any kind of specimen you, woman...and...I...well..." Wolf noticed that Colette was rubbing his head gently and to the surprise of the Smashers, his tail was wagging and blushed a little. "H-hey!"

"How cute! Another puppy!" Colette said happily.

"Ugh, I'm not a puppy! I'm a wolf!"

The Smashers were starting to chuckle uncontrollably at this and Wolf glared at them. "What's so funny?!" He asked glaring.

"Hey, have you ever wanted to be named Fox McCloud instead of Wolf?" Colette suggested with a smile and Wolf's eyes twitched.

"The hell are you talking about?! You're not making sense!"

"...Can we move on?" Zelos asked walking to their left side, but Wolf took out his Blaster and he fired at Zelos's feet. "Hey, watch out! My foot doesn't wants to be hurted here again!"

Wolf pushed Colette away from him. "I won't let you pass, we're going to blow up the Subspace Bomb hiding in the deepest part of this place."

Chris looked at him. "There's a Subspace Bomb at the bottom of the temple?"

"You hear me."

"G-great, now we have to go all the way down into that darkness."

Suddenly, there were more footsteps walking around them, Lucario looked to both sides to find the stalkers, then, someone hit Wolf behind his head, then the figure ran towards the Smashers hitting Fox, Falco and Lucario.

"Hehehehe!" From the darkness, Alice and Decus appeared as Alice had her hands on her hips. "Finally, I've captured a wide assorment of monsters at my command!"

"Alice, you're truly amazing." Decus said bowing to her.

"Shut up Decus." Alice muttered while she looked at them. "Now, my beasts, c'mere!"

"...You think they're going to listen to you?" Roy asked, before he was punched in the face by Falco. "Hey! Why did you do that?"

"Ugh! I...can't...control...my...body!" Falco said clenching his teeths in pain.

"I've said, come over here!" Alice said stomping her foot on the floor and Fox, Falco and Wolf walked to her side, but she noticed that Lucario didn't went with her. "You too!"

"L-Lucario? A-Are you alright?" Chris asked scared because if Lucario was possesed, he couldn't have the chance to escape from him since he was still hiding behind his shoulder, Lucario looked down at the floor while he clenched his fangs.

"..." Lucario didn't spoke.

"...Lu-Lucario?"

"...I...will...not..."

"Huh?" Alice made a confused face.

"I...will...not...LET YOU CONTROL MY BODY!" Lucario yelled making a fighting position, freeing himself from Alice's control and she gasped.

"What?! How could you get away from my control?!"

Lucario looked at Chris. "My loyalty will only stay with Chris and no one else!"

"...Lucario!" Chris cried a little and gave Lucario a hug. "T-thank you!"

Alice made the scariest face ever and Decus took out his big sword. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU! I SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO THAT WEIRD TABUU GUY IN MELTOKIO!" She said furiously.

"Wait, Tabuu told you to attack them AND me?!" Wolf asked and Alice nodded with a glare. "YOU IDIOT, I'M ON YOUR SIDE!" Wolf said trying to punch Fox to his left side and Alice shook her head, not caring about which side was Wolf with.

"She is controlling us!" Fox said.

"I'M SO PISSED OFF NOW! MY BEASTS, ATTACK THEM!" Alice ordered pointing her knot at the party and she along with Decus and the 3 possesed Smashers ran after them.

"Everybody, this way!" Sheena said running deeper inside the temple.

"But what about Fox and Falco?" Lucas asked, then he noticed that Lloyd, Regal, Presea, Zelos, Ness, Marth and Roy made a wall to protect them. "Wait, you don't mean..."

"Yes, we are going to hold them off while you get inside and form a pact with Shadow." Regal said.

"You can't hurt them, they're our friends!"

"And who said we're going to hurt them? That strange and weird girl is controlling them right? All we have to do is defeat her and maybe they can recover their senses!" Lloyd said.

"T-that could work too..." Chris trailed off.

Presea looked at the 3 possesed Smashers, preparing to burn them with their fire attacks. "Here they come!"

"Hurry! Let's go!" Pit said entering the temple with Colette, Sheena, Raine, Genis, Chris, Lucario and Lucas, starting a double mission to form a pact with Shadow, the Summon Spirit of darkness and to save Fox and Falco from Alice and Decus.

With Sheena's group

Like a Glint of Light

GET
READY!

Genis found various weird floating fishes with one eye looking at them. "What are they?!"

"T-they're monsters of the Subspace Army!" Chris said as he noticed that a shadow was close to him. "A-AAHH!" Lucario turned his back to see the shadow and Raine kneeled to see it while hearts appeared above her.

"Marvelous! This must be a shadow made from mana, and look at this!" She found a light pillar and walked to it while the shadow followed her but stopped when the light of the pillar reached him. "This light is also made from mana! Oh, so many valuable objects!"

"Raine!" Genis called out.

"I'm sorry," Raine looked at them. "It seems these little shadows are remnants of Shadow."

Sheena was currently fighting against a swarm of Feyeshs. "Then we have to gather those shadows in order to call Shadow?"

"Yes."

3 Armights appeared from the darkness laughing and Chris hid behind Lucario. "AAAHHH!"

"Don't scare him!" Lucario yelled firing an Aura Sphere at one of them, killing it. Suddenly, Sword Primids, Poppants, Boom Primids and Roturrets appeared from dark portals infesting the whole place and looking at the party.

"G-Genis, can you attack all of them at once?" Lucas asked.

"Yes!" Genis said casting a spell while he played with his kendama. "Form a torrential vortex and engulf the evil spi-DUAH!" Genis was smacked by a Sword Primid. "I need help!"

"Chris, you need to stop being scared and help us!" Lucario said blocking various slashs from 3 Sword Primids from hurting him and Chris.

"L-l-l-let me try... H-h-h-holy wings, I-I beg of thee to reveal thy power! A-a-a-angel Feathers!" Chris yelled casting from behind Lucario but nothing happened. "I-It's useless! I can't concentrate in this state!"

"You need to get over it now!"

"S-sorry, I leave it up to you, forgive me!"

"..." Lucario just continued to make his way through the Sword Primids before a Roturret fired 8 rounds at him. "Ugh!"

"L-Lucario!"

"I'm fine, but he will not!" Lucario said jumping in the air (with Chris because he embraced Lucario's throat) and punching the Roturret right on the face, sending him crashing into something hiding in the darkness.

"Light! Photon!" Raine yelled casting a holy glyph in an Armight, exploding into spores of light and destroying the monster. "Haha, how was that?"

"Serpent Seal! Spirit Seal! Demon Seal!" Sheena did many combos to a Shaydas that she was able to defeat using her fierce combination of attacks, before another Shaydas slashed her back 3 times. "UGH!"

"You okay?" Colette said giving Sheena a Lemon Gel.

"Thanks!"

"Form a torrential vortex and engulf the evil spirits. Tidal Wave!" Genis casted his spell with the help of Lucas guarding him from the Mites as a huge whirpool appeared below the drawings, eliminating every single one of them.

"I found a shadow!" Pit said touching the shadow to follow him with the other.

Roaders and Floows appeared running and flying towards Colette, who was trying to cast Judgement to kill them. Pit noticed them and he thought that it was the perfect opportunity to help her.

"AYAYAYAH!" Pit spun his blades close to Colette to protect her from the Floows and Roaders.

"Oh Holy one, cast thy purifying light upon this corrupt soul. Light of judgement, Judgement!" Colette lifted her hand to the air as light from the heavens struck every last Roader and Floow in their way. "Thanks Pit!"

Pit blushed a little. "Y-you're welcome."

"I'll help, Sharpness!" Raine said casting a red magic that increased their strength to keep up attacking the monsters to defeat them faster.

Genis was getting attacked by Bytans slamming their rounded bodies at him, pushing the half-elf back and forth. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"G-Genis!" Chris said scared and he thought about helping him. "N-no...I won't let him die now!" He quickly ran away from Lucario's shoulder and used Pow Hammer, Para Ball and Item Rover to kill 3 Bytans, but the remaining Bytans started to attack him instead of Genis, jumping above his back. "HELP!"

"GUUUUUAAARRGGHH!!" Lucario appeared out of nowhere using Force Palm to push a whole horde of Bytans from Chris and he kneeled to see if he was fine. "Are you alright?"

Chris slowly got up trembling and hiding behind him. "Y-yes, thank you Lucario!" The Aura Pokémon backstepped to evade a ramming attack from an enormous Bytan as he glared at him.

"Ha!" Pit shot 8 arrows continuosly behind the huge Bytan to stagger him, and Lucario used this time to fire a charged Aura Sphere that sent the Bytan away, killing it.

"There's another shadow over there." Genis said pointing to a shadow near the edge of a platform.

"I'll go for it!" Colette said flying towards the shadow, but since the platform didn't had any kind of bridge to let the shadow go to the other side, it was stuck there. "Umm, we need something to take him to the other side!"

Chris looked at his wings and had an idea. "I-I know!" He flew between the platform and the floor, extending his hands to touch each side of the floors and Colette guided the shadow above Chris's arms, but he studdered in shock after the shadow passed above his head, fainting and falling to the floor below as the mana creature managed to cross him in time.

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled jumping to the floor below and running below Chris to catch him. "That was close."

"Ugh...Lucario?" Chris asked opening his eyes and Lucario put him down safely to the floor. "Thank you again..." He quickly hid behind him again. "N-now let's go please!"

Lucario frowned to himself and Chris glared at him. "Y-yes, let's go." He said jumping with Chris to where the others were fighting.

"It seems the path is clear to the right side, let's follow it!" Raine said and everyone nodded running to the right side of the room, finding a staircase leading deeper to the room, where the shadows were hiding.

With Lloyd's group...

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Person Who Conceives Frenzy

Lloyd, Regal, Presea, Zelos, Ness, Marth, Roy

"Remember, take Alice down to make this fight easier!" Lloyd said rushing towards Alice.

"Oh no, you won't!" Alice said kicking Lloyd in...his crotch?

"H-HEY! THAT WAS VERY LOW!" Lloyd said twitching in pain.

"And you think I care? Attack him!" She ordered and all her possesed subbordinates started to attack Lloyd doing a long combo that was pushing his health to the limit.

"Sorry! I can't control my actions!" Falco said as he tried to not slash Lloyd.

"Ready for thi-WHOA!" Zelos's First Aid was interrupted by Decus who stuck his sword in the floor and spun around hitting Zelos 3 times followed by Fierce Demon Fang. "Not the face!"

"Ha, what an idiot." Decus taunted.

"Devastation!" Presea came from behind slamming her axe on Decus to deal earth damage, interrupting his attacks on Zelos. "AH!"

"Even if I'm possesed, I still wanted to do it anyway." Wolf said slashing Presea with his claws. "But this is just ridiculous!"

"Swallow Dance!" Regal appeared from Wolf's right side sending him in the air with 3 kicks. "Eagle Fall!" He thrusted his legs to the floor damaging Wolf.

"Stop your useless mind control on them!" Marth said using Dancing Blade to stagger Alice who was going to cast Eruption, then Roy was charging his Flare Blade to deal massive fire damage to Alice, but was interrupted by a possesed Fox pushing him in the air using Fire Fox.

"I didn't wanted to do it, sorry!" Fox said landing on his feet after attacking Roy.

"Ready for this? Healing Wind!" Zelos casted a recovery field where Lloyd was trying to get away from Alice, recovering slowly his health.

"Be burned, Eruption!" Alice casted her own Eruption on Lloyd, who received the damage equal to what he gained just a moment ago.

"Don't run! Thunder Blade!" Zelos casted a huge blade of thunder falling above Alice, who screamed in pain as the electricity damaged her foots.

"Oww! You don't know how to treat a woman properly!"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in evil girls like you."

"GRR! I'M NOT EVIL! Shatter in million of pieces, Absolute!" Alice yelled casting Absolute on Zelos, as a quick glacier froze his body before shattering into pieces dealing great ice damage to the womanizer chosen.

"Infliction!" Presea once again appeared out of nowhere swinging her axe to push Alice above her. "Mass Devastation!" When Alice landed on her feet, still stunned by the last attack, Presea created a shockwave made of earth that hurted her with earth damage. "Fiery Infliction!" She slammed her axe in the ground creating another shockwave and linking her attack with 2 Inflictions, sending Alice to the air and falling to the ground.

"Yuck! Just look what you did to my skirt! You'll pay for that!" Alice said angrily trying to slap Presea with her knot, but Presea's axe was blocking her way.

Decus went after Marth and used Light Spear to push him into the air before thrusting his sword, using Super Lightning Blade to deal great lightning damage to Marth. "Why do you follow Alice around anyway?" Marth asked as his sword Falchion crashed with Decus's sword, trying to push the sword of his opponent away.

"Because she is the girl of my dreams, you don't understand the true power of our love, right Alice?" Decus asked (with Marth muttering how cheesy the part of the love sounded to him) to Alice.

"Whatever you say, idiot!" Alice responded back while she tried to cast Freeze Lancer on Regal, but Presea was still staggering her preventing any ice spell from the monster hunter.

"See? She truly loves me!" Decus said trying to push Marth's sword away.

"...Have you ever considered therapy before?" Marth asked annoyed.

"...Once, but that was when a dog bit my hair."

"...Loser." Marth muttered to himself.

"I hear that!" Decus said pushing Marth's sword away and slashing his body using Super Sonic Thrust.

"PK F-Oww!" Ness was kicked by Falco who tried to use Falco Phantasm on Ness, but Alice's mind control was stronger than him, taking Ness along with him to burn the PK user using Fire Bird, sending Ness to the air and landing on his back, moaning in pain. "Do something about that mind control thing!"

"I can't! You need to attack her now, hurry!" Falco said kicking his Reflector to push Ness in the ground to prevent him to get near Alice.

"Fox! Stop!" Roy said blocking Fox's right leg using his sword, clenching his teeths.

"You must attack that girl, this strange magic is stronger than me!" Fox said pushing Roy's sword away and kicking him directly in his stomach, sending the red-haired swordsman away.

"No way!" Lloyd said blocking Wolf's shots coming from his Blaster.

"This is not like me to ask, but set me free from that annoying pesky girl!" Wolf said as he "accidentaly" sent Lloyd to the air with a strong kick before using Fire Wolf to push him even farther from the ground, crashing into it as he moaned in pain.

Regal, meanwhile, went to help Marth to fight against Decus. "Wolverine!" He spun around to deal 5 roundhouse kicks. "Dragon Rage!" He pulled Decus into the air with 2 kicks. "Eagle Dive!" He fell to the ground with speed, damaging Decus on his way.

"Enough of this!" Decus yelled loudly as the whole background got darker and pink hearts started to appear behind him, putting his big sword behind his back while he stupidly watched a photo of Alice smiling. "Hmm, hmm, hmm..." He said dreamily as somehow, the photo got burned leaving the part of below in Decus's hand, he then glared at the floor clenching his fists into his sword before looking up. "...Uh...UH-UAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" He yelled loudly slashing both Marth and Regal, oddly enough, he spelled... "L-O-V-E!" In pink letters and in actual images dealing great damage, after that, he embraces himself before opening his arms to yell at the sky. "ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" He yelled loudly creating a big purple shockwave that damaged the entire party greatly, defeating Regal and Marth.

"I'm sorry!" Regal yelled fainting, defeated.

"I leave it...to you..." Marth said holding himself on his knees by thrusting hs sword of the ground.

"Zelos, we need your healing skills." Presea said simply.

"Yeah," Ness said running. "And fast!" From the possesed Falco because his health was at 1.

"Okay, okay, geez, you don't have to remind me that." Zelos said preparing to heal each member of the team.

With Sheena's group...

Keen Edged Blade

Sheena's group was able to gather all the five shadows and the group's next destination the deepest part of the temple, where Shadow's lair was.

"More battles?!" Sheena asked annoyed as she saw Floows flying towards them, the ninja/summoner leaped into one of them sticking a tag, then she landed on her feet doing a lot of handsigns to set the tag to explode, taking the horde of Floows in one blow. "Come on, the path is clear!"

"C-coming!" Chris said running with Lucario down the stairs with Colette, Pit, Genis, Raine, Lucas and the 5 shadows following them.

"Get 'em! Fireball!" Genis casted 3 fireballs towards a Trolow, who was sent away spinning madly.

"Whoa!" Lucas was lifted above the back of a Trolow and the flying monster started to fly slowly to the air before speeding up. "AAAHH!!"

"Pow Hammer!" Chris called from behind Lucario creating a red hammer that whacked the Trolow, giving enough time to Lucas to escape from his back by jumping. Then Lucario fired an Aura Sphere, destroying the Trolow in an explosion.

"Pit!" Colette called as she was attacked by 2 Shaydas, Pit took a quick action and fired 4 arrows at each blade wielder. Colette used Whirlwind Rush to spin her chakrams around her to hit the 2 Shaydas, sending them away from her. The angel without wings looked behind him to see if his wings appeared, but he found the contrary and sighed in disappointment.

"What is this monster?" Lucas asked confused when a Gamyga appeared rising from the floor looking at someone in particular. "We can't pass, its blocking the way!" Lucas said as he was attacked by a laser coming the Gamyga's eyes.

"Light! Holy Lance!" Raine yelled casting 4 light lances that destroyed the four bases of the Gamyga as its head fell to the floor until the last lance coming from above destroyed it, clearing the path for them to pass.

"Birds?" Colette asked confused when she saw a flock of Auroros flying above them and diving their beaks to attack Colette, but Pit shielded the clumsy chosen with his Mirror Shield and slashing them while they were trying to get their beaks out of the floor. "Thanks!"

"(Not good, my wings haven't returned yet.)" Pit thought in disappointment after looking at his back again.

"Umm, Pit, it's something wrong?"

"What? No."

"Oh, let's go then!"

"Y-yes!" And both of them followed the group, deeper in the big void of darkness.

Not much time passed when purple portals appeared surrounding the group and releasing 2 Greaps that rolled towards them strucking their big scythes at Sheena, who rolled out of the way and using Pyre Seal behind its back, but the attack wasn't so effective. "How can we beat these monsters?" Sheena asked.

Chris remembered something. "Their heads! Attack their heads, it's their weak point!"

"Oh! I know what to use!" Colette said smiling and flying towards the first Greap. "Hammer Rain!" She called a light that was replaced by 10 red hammers whacking the head of the Greap, destroying it completely. "Hehehe!" Colette giggled.

"(How can she be so happy in this place?)" Chris thought terrified as Lucario jumped towards the head of the Greap, dealing a strong punch stunning the fat monster and with Chris using Para Ball to send it rocketing away from the lightnings.

A Glice, a Glyre and a Glunder appeared rolling on the floor behind Genis, who was burned, electrocuted and frozen instantly. "G-Genis!" Lucas said scared before running after the Glice, smacking it with his branch and concentrating his energy to released a powerful PK impact to the sky that sent the Glyre and Glunder away from the frozen Genis. "PK Fire!" Lucas yelled firing a lightning that explode in fire, melting the ice and freeing Genis as he sneezed.

"T-thanks, L-Lucas." Genis said sneezing more.

Chris looked away worried about something and Lucario looked at him. "If you're thinking about Lloyd and the others, they'll be fine, don't worry."

"...O-okay." Chris said nodding slowly. "WATCH OUT!"

"Huh?" A Big Primid punched Lucario directly on his neck, backing away shaking his head.

"I'm sorry Lucario! I distracted you!"

"The one that will be sorry is him!" Lucario yellled furiously, jumping high in the air and kicking the Big Primid in the face, pushing it away the edge of the floor where the monster fell into the void of darkness.

"First Aid!" Raine casted healing Genis's wounds and they went deeper, walking down the stairs watching each sides to prevent any surprise attacks.

"We're closer to Shadow, let's move on!" Sheena said as she jumped and kicked away a Puppit into 3 more Puppits.

"PK Fire!" Lucas yelled firing another lightning towards the 4 Puppits, burning their strings that held them in the air, falling into the darkness.

"Don't get in my way!" Raine complained after a Shellpod pushed her away from the front, Pit came behind the Shellpod spinning his blades at each side to deal minor damage since the Shellpod was hiding inside a shell, but it broke soon as the bug-like monster "roared", then Chris used Grand Chariot to stun him and Lucario used Force Palm to send him away.

"Look! There is the lair!" Genis said pointing at Shadow's lair, with the Subspace Bomb just behind the big pedestal with the countdown at 10 minutes.

"Alright, there aren't any monsters around here." Sheena said as the 7 made it to the lair and the 5 shadows joined together in front of the pedestal, then it rose up to the air as a black magic materialyzed, and Shadow, the Summon Spirit of the darkness, appeared.

"Paaaaaaaact..." Shadow said trailing off, not caring about the bomb behind him.

"I am Sheena! I ask thou annulst your pact with Mithos, and establish a new pact with me." Sheena said trying to get a pact with Shadow.

"What the?!" Lucas and Genis said in unison and surprised when they found Shadow Bugs leaking out of the bomb and surrounding Shadow, the Summon Spirit looked below him as the spores were slowly crawling into his body.

"Awaaaaayyyyyy..." Shadow said turning his fingers into big blades, stabbing every spore but it didn't worked, his attacks were useless. "Begoooooone..." He said creating a dark force field that was supposed to damage the spores, but instead, the Shadow Bugs took this advantage and covered Shadow completely.

"What is happening? I demand answers!" Raine said surprised trying to get a response from the Smashers.

"W-well, all that I know is that those things were Shadow Bugs, they can take over the consciousness of anybody and take it to use it to fight." Chris said studdering in fear. At that time, the Shadow Bugs finished their task and Shadow's body was glowing in a dark aura, that made the air around him dangerous for Sheena.

"Fiiiiight..." Dark Shadow trailed off.

"Be careful, I don't like how is this going to turn out!" Sheena said taking out her cards."

"Cruuumbleeeeeeee..."

"Scaaaaaaaaary!" Chris said hiding behind Lucario.

"Be prepared," Lucario said to Chris. "This could be the hardest battle."

"W-wait, don't drag me into this, pleas-" Chris was interrupted because the fight already started.

With Lloyd's group...

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Person Who Conceives Frenzy

The fight grew even more dangerous this time, Regal and Lloyd were defeated, the only ones that weren't damaged at all were Fox and Falco, because the party were avoiding any attacks towards them, except for Wolf of course. Decus's health was in critical and so did Alice's, who was so mad this time and released her Mystic Arte.

"That's enough!" She said concentrating her magic around her. "Now, let's see if you can resist the ice." She said as the whole battlefield was frozen, freezing everyone except for "her monsters". "And fulfill your duty..." She said slamming her knot around the glacier surrounding her to shatter it. "Filbumvetr!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, shattering all the glaciers and creating a big chain reaction, exploding into shards of ice and leaving all the party with only 1 HP left.

"Zelos! Quick! Heal m-So quickly..." Roy was defeated by a simple slash of Falco.

"Ready for th-What a sorry way to go..." Zelos pushed hard on his back by Wolf.

"Endless Infliction!" Presea was able to deal the last attack to Decus, with 2 Inflictions on the ground, followed by another Infliction in the air and 2 more Inflictions on the ground sending Decus away from her.

"AAAAALIIIIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEE!!!" Decus yelled loudly in the air before crashing into the floor.

"Take this." Marth said reviving Zelos with a Life Bottle, after that, he revived Roy, also, running out of the bottles which was going to cause more troubles to the other group.

"Ready for this? Healing Stream!" Zelos said casting sprouting ground that appeared below him, the other remaining melee fighters ran quickly inside the circle to be cured, then after that, they went directly towards Alice who gasped.

"Let's take her down!" Roy said holding his sword on his right hand, pointing the tip of his sword to Alice.

"Move!" Fox came from nowhere blocking Roy's attack.

"(Okay, sorry, but I have to do this.)" Roy thought to himself before he pushed Fox out of the way and throwing himself to apparently, seize Fox by falling above him. "HURRY! I CAN'T HOLD HIM MUCH LONGER!"

Marth sweatdropped at this and he continued to ran towards Alice, but Falco stepped on his way before the Altean fell above him to let the others attack Alice. "GO, NOW!"

"(Well, I guess this was the only way to stop my betrayer self.)" Falco thought sweatdropping in embarrassment.

"Oh no, Decus!" Alice said when she was finally surrounded by Presea and Ness. But unfortunately her fake, innocent behavior were directed at deaf ears since Decus was fainted. She looked at her 2 enemies who already were lifting their weapons above her. "Oh shi-"

"PK Flash!" Ness yelled casting a full charged PK Flash, exploding into Alice and pushing her above Presea.

"Beast!" She said calmly spinning her axe, creating a howling face of a lion dealing a massive damage to Alice, who screamed in extreme pain.

"NOOOOO! MY...MONSTERS...HOW...COULD YOU!... I...lost?!" She said falling to her knees and dropping herself, hitting her face on the ground.

"...Huh?" Wolf suddenly recovered his control over his body, but since the battle took so much energy from him, he decided to leave them alone for their own problems.

"...Hey! I can move again!" Falco said touching his head with his left hand, but since he was still below Marth, he pushed him away. Not only him but Fox too was able to regain his control.

Won the Battle

Lloyd got up but he fell to his knees. "Ugh...did we win?" He asked weakly.

After defeating Alice and Decus, both persons stood up shaking their heads.

"GRR! WHY?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO MEAN TO ME?! I JUST WANTED TO HAVE COMPANY!"

"Alice...you still have m-"

Alice kicked Decus on his crotch. "SHUT UP!" Her eyes quickly looked at the party, who were shooting glares at her, especially Fox and Falco, who slowly walked towards Alice, cracking their fists. "Um, er, please, we can discuss this as civilized people!" She said touching the wall behind her, but Falco keep approaching to her before wispering something.

"...Boo!" Falco said.

Alice couldn't take it anymore and she started to cry loudly. "AAAAAAHHH! YOU'RE SO MEAN! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" She quickly ran away crying from the temple at the speed of light leaving a cloud of dust, with Decus running after her.

"Wait for me Alice!" Decus said grabbing the part where Alice previously kicked. Twitching in pain.

"...We were going to lose to them?" Ness asked confused.

"Talk about pathetic." Zelos said.

"Anyway, let us reunite with Sheena and the others." Regal said and the group nodded.

With Sheena's group...

Fighting of the Spirit

Sheena, Raine, Genis, Colette, Pit, Chris, Lucario, Lucas

"Cruuuuumbleeeeeeeee..." Dark Shadow said as his voice echoed around the void.

"I-I don't think we can defeat him!" Chris said hiding behind Lucario.

"Just have faith!" Raine said, preparing to cast Photon on Dark Shadow, but as she was preparing, Lucario was trying to punch Dark Shadow but his fists passed through his body like if Dark Shadow was a ghost.

"Grr! I can't hurt him!" Lucario complained, using Force Palm if that worked but it didn't and Dark Shadow stabbed him several times, fortunately, he pushed Chris away from him. "UGH!" The last attack of Dark Shadow defeated Lucario and the pupils of the Aura Pokémon shrunk, fainting.

"LUCARIO!!" Chris yelled very worried before he noticed that Dark Shadow appeared behind him, with a big hand that smacked him to the floor. "AAHH! But how?! Lucario punched his body and it didn't do any damage!"

The Shadow Bugs that captured Dark Shadow increased his strength, his body was now transparent but he can still deal great damage to his opponents even if his body was visible, also his casting time was greatly reduced.

"Light! Photon!" Raine yelled casting a holy glyph in Dark Shadow, somehow, the light made his body visible and the Summon Spirit received damage this time, that made Sheena to have a plan.

"Hey, Shadow is weak against light magic, if we attack him with that element, his body is going to be solid again!" Sheena said.

"I know! If we hit him while his body is solid, we can deal physical damage, right?" Genis asked.

Sheena was already doing a combo with 3 hits, followed by Serpent Seal, Life Seal and Demon Seal, with the last attack pushing Dark Shadow away. "Exactly!" Sheena said as quickly got up turning his body transparent again.

Lucas searched through his inventory to revive Lucario with a Life Bottle, but he was starting to go into panic when he couldn't find the bottle." Oh no! We ran out of Life Bottles!"

"What?! Are you serious?!" Chris asked scared and Lucas nodded. "Then how are we going to revive Lucario?!"

"That's my job." Raine said, concentrating her magic to revive Lucario. "Return this soul fro-"

"Cruuuuuumbleeeee..." Dark Shadow quickly casted Bloody Lance on Raine with 4 dark lances stabbing her body, with a last lance dealing massive damage of darkness that eventually defeated her. "I'm...sorry..." Raine said fainting.

"Oh no! She was the only one to resurrect us!" Lucas said putting his hands on his hair. "Now what are we going to d-"

"Cruuuuuuumbleeeeeeee..." Dark Shadow, this time, casted Dark Sphere on Lucas, which the first hit stunned him before exploding into spores of darkness.

"I need...to be healed..." Lucas said weakly.

"H-here!" Chris said giving Lucas and Lemon Gel, recovering 60 percent of his damage. But his eyes widened when he saw a black and red glyph below him, and it was because Dark Shadow casted Bloody Lance on him. "AAAHHH!!"

"NO!" Sheena pushed Chris away from the first stab of the lance and she was extremely injured, closing her eyes slowly and falling, giving up. "Damn..." She managed to say.

"SHEENA!" Chris cried out loud after seeing Sheena defeated. "...N-no, NO! I want to revive them!" He started to pray to the heavens and Colette gasped.

"You can't sacrifice yourself!" Colette said.

"Listen to her, please!" Pit said, but Chris continued not caring.

"When my spell attacks him, try to prevent him from casting!" Chris said ordering. "Thy power floweth purely, ever unwavering. Accept my soul into thine embrace. Sacrifice!" Lifting his hand into the air, Dark Shadow received a lot of damage with the light while the others were being healed and revived, but since Chris was sacrificed, he slowly closed his eyes. "Please...defeat him for me..." He muttered to himself before he fell on his back, above the long left ear with his wings disappearing.

"PK Freeze!" Lucas made an ice image going towards Dark Shadow, exploding into a mist of ice and frozing the Summon Spirit, Lucario took the time to shatter it with a hand charged with aura, dealing a moderate amount of damage to Dark Shadow. "NO! AHH!" Lucas was quickly defeated by a quick barrage of stabs coming from Dark Shadow, the PK kid, however, was able to deal a fair amount of damage to the Summon Spirit. "Mom..."

"I'm gonna take you out!" Sheena said glaring at Dark Shadow as she jumped high in the air and attacking Dark Shadow with her cards, taking his health a little with Life Seal, then using Demon Seal, luckily the now revived Lucario came from behind before Dark Shadow could fall, using orce Palm to stun him and Aura Sphere, since Raine was revived, she casted Holy Lance to continue with the combo dealing great damage to the Summon Spirit, then she was trying to concentrate and revive Chris and Lucas.

"..." Unfortunately for the group, Dark Shadow's Over Limit was activated and he hid on the floor, teleporting in an instant behind Raine, stabbing her to death to prevent any resurrections.

"You're gonna pay!" Genis said glaring at Dark Shadow. "Get 'em!" He suddenly glowed. "All right! Prism Sword!" He yelled to the sky casting 6 swords of light damaging Dark Shadow, with a much bigger sword impacting on his area, pushing him back.

"Take this!" Pit said firing many arrows at Dark Shadow, but he made his body transparent again and most of the arrows passed through it.

But actually, since the arrows were of light, all the shots were making Dark Shadow to stagger and receive minor light damage.

"I've got it!" Sheena said casting Cyclone Seal around Dark Shadow, pulling him into the air with an explosion of wind, then Lucario leaped to his body dealing a strong kick charged with aura as the last hit coming from him. Dark Shadow quickly got up and he teleported through the floor near Genis, crushing the half-elf with his big hand and defeating.

"Sis..." Genis muttered falling defeated.

"Annoying!" Sheena yelled activating her Over Limit, then she put a card floating in front of her to cast another Summon Spirit to help them. "I call upon the Heavenly Messengers." A big glyph appeared rotating below Sheena and she continued her spell. "I summon thee, come, Sylph!" She called taking the card in front of her to show it at the sky.

Suddenly, Selphie, Yutis and Fairess appeared, with Selphie pushing Dark Shadow into the air. "Are you ready?" She asked.

Then, Yutis appeared in the air firing several arrows at Dark Shadow. "Go go go!" She said firing the arrows as Dark Shadow fell.

"Here I go!" Fairess appeared on the ground pushing her huge shield to deal a strong impact on Dark Shadow.

"Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuumbleeeeeeeeeeeee..." Dark Shadow said again casting Bloody Lance on Lucario, but the Aura Pokémon stepped out of the way in time to evade the lances, he told Pit to fire an arrow to the Summon Spirit, which he agreed to make him solid to enable Lucario to attack him with his fists.

"Pow Hammer! Para Ball! Whirlwind Rush!" Colette started to attack Dark Shadow with her combo, then, she shone to initiate an Unison Attack. "Ready?" She asked hitting Dark Shadow.

"Whirlwind Rush!"

"Aura Sphere!"

"Angel Ring!"

"Demon Seal!"

And Dark Shadow was pushed before getting up and teleporting behind Sheena. "Diiiiiiieee..." He said by first smacking her with his big hand, then following his attack by stabbing her body with his fingers and finally, using a quick Dark Sphere to defeat the ninja.

"Damn..." Sheena muttered falling on her back.

"No!" Colette said, not trying to believe that almost the entire party was annihilated except for her, Pit and Lucario. "What are we gonna do?"

"Keep him away from us, firing at long-range!" Pit said trying to command his arrows to hit Dark Shadow from far away, but the Summon Spirit kept hiding on his own shadow from every arrow and slowly approaching towards Colette. "Lucario! Protect Colette!"

"I'm on it!" Lucario said stepping in front of Colette.

"Po-" Colette was interrupted by Lucario.

"Stop calling me with that name!"

"S-sorry...Lucario..."

"I'll protect you from that monster!"

"...Thanks..." She muttered before noticing that Lucario was blocking Dark Shadow's stabs from getting to her. "Lucario!"

"What are you doing standing there!? Run away!" Lucario said gritting his fangs.

"G-got it!" Colette said flying away from Lucario and Dark Shadow, but when she was to Pit's side, she heard a yell of pain and turned her back to see a blade stabbed on Lucario's neck. "NOOOOO!"

"I...will...live...on..." Lucario managed to say as Dark Shadow narrowed his eyes and pulling slowly his blade from the Aura Pokémon, Lucario then fell to the floor, trying to turn his head to where Chris was defeated. "You're...not...alone...Chris..." He was able to say before fainting.

"NOOOOO! LUCARIO! LUCARIO! LUCARIO!" Colette cried out loud as tears started to stroll down her cheeks.

"It's useless! They were killed!" Pit said trying to calm down the Chosen One.

"But look! The only way to revive them is to sacrifice my life!"

"No! Don't do that! By this time, he should have noticed that you and Chris can revive everyone else!" Pit looked at Dark Shadow who was slowly crawling his "legs" towards Colette. "And speaking of the devil, here he comes! Run away!"

"No! I won't!"

"Colette, I'm doing this for you, get away from here!"

"No!"

"Colette!"

"AAAHHHHHH!!" Colette shielded herself from a powerful thrust attack from Dark Shadow, closing her eyes as her tears were still strolling down.

10 seconds passed and nothing was heard, Colette was starting to think if she was dead, if everything was over, if Lucario is in the heaven with the others, but it was the contrary as she slowly opened her eyes to see Pit in front of her with extended arms, she then looked below his face, to find that Dark Shadow's blade was stabbing his heart.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!" Colette cried even louder after witnessing the event. "PIT!"

"...See? I...protected you...didn't I?" Pit said slowly closing his eyes with a small smile while Dark Shadow removed his finger from his heart, and Pit fell on his knees, but Colette dropped to her own knees and catched Pit's head.

"PIT! PLEASE, DON'T DIE!"

Pit was starting to cough blood, the attack that previously crossed his body through his heart was just too much to him to bear. "Please...don't cry...I don't want to see you suffer now..."

"PIT!"

"Stop now! I...I...can't hold on much longer..."

Colette took out a Miracle Gel and she dropped it in Pit's mouth to heal him, but it was useless and his wounds didn't healed. "NO!"

"Don't cry...please...don't cry..."

"I won't cry! I won't cry! I won't...aha...aha..."

"And..." Pit turned his head to see his back, without his wings. "Looks like I've failed to recover my wings...Colette...thank you for being so nice...to everybody else...I tried to save you...and I did without caring about my wings...the lifes of the others...are the most important thing...to me..."

"DON'T DIE PIT, DON'T...DIE!" Colette cried even louder than before embracing Pit's head to her face.

"...Good bye...Colette..." Pit said dying, but not fainting.

"(...Why? Why? I couldn't follow our ideal of "no life should be born for the sole purpose of dying", and Pit wasn't able to make because of me...no, no, NO! This is wrong! There must be some way to revive Pit without using healing magic!) THERE MUST BE A WAY!" Colette thought crying, noticing that Dark Shadow lifted his hand above her to crush Colette and end the battle. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Angel Land
Skyworld

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Goddess Palutena! Soldier Pit was able to help and sacrifice his life to a female angel!" A Centurion told Palutena, who was watching the whole fight through her spring.

"Yes, after all the problems he went through, he completed both tasks at the same time!" Another Centurion said amazed.

Palutena smiled upon hearing that. "Then, let us return Pit back to life with the Wings of Icarus." She said as her right hand glowed.

"Your Majesty, but what if that monster kills Soldier Pit again?!"

"He will not," Palutena said smiling. "Because Colette will help him with my aid... One last thing."

"What is it, my Goddess?"

"He is not a soldier anymore, he is the captain of the royal guards of my order." Palutena said making a swing on her right hand, creating a big light that went towards the sky, disappearing in a blink.

Tales of Symphonia

Tethe'alla
Temple of Darkness

With Lloyd's group...

"Huh? DOWN! NOW!" Roy yelled and all of them gasped when they saw a fast light firing towards them, they quickly ducked to evade the light that went piercing through the darkness as they watched it going deeper and deeper inside the temple.

"What is going on?!" Lloyd asked very confused before he started to run down the stairs.

With Sheena's group...

"Diiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee..." Dark Shadow trailed off preparing to stab Colette in her heart, who was still holding Pit's head close to her neck and crying.

But his attack was interrupted by a big light shooting down from the sky of the place piercing through the darkness and making Dark Shadow to block his eyes as the blinding light paralyzed his whole body and covered Pit and Colette completely, the light was so strong that it enlightened the whole temple, and Pit was slowly rising up to the air, with the Wing of Icarus appearing with holy light in front of Colette's eyes, who watched in surprise as Pit descended, touching the floor with his feets.

"What happened?" Pit asked confused before finding his wings back to him. "The Wings of Icarus! They've returned to me!"

"Pit! We have to defeat him!" Colette said pointing at Dark Shadow, still stunned by the light and Pit had an idea.

"Colette, let's combinate our attacks together to defeat him!"

Colette nodded with a smile. "Right!" She said preparing to cast Judgement and Pit readying an arrow, but to his surprise, the arrow wasn't blue as the other ones, it was gleaming with a golden color.

"What? Why is this arrow different than the others?"

"Pit."

Pit looked above him. "Goddess Palutena!"

"Fire your arrow at the sky to let the light of judgement punish your foe." Palutena said with an echoing voice.

"I-I got it!" Pit aimed directly to the center of the sky and he fired the golden arrow to the clouds, but nothing happened and he wondered why he did that.

Up above the clouds in the sky, 100 Centurions were summoned in Palutena's behalf. Then they saw the golden arrow coming to the center of their formation in a shape of a circle.

"That's the signal! Fire your arrows at the golden arrow!" A Centurion commanded firing his arrow and the other 99 arrows at the same time with all the Centurions to Pit's arrow, when all the arrows came in contact with Pit's arrow, it suddenly spreaded into 100 golden arrows stopping in the air as the whole background gets darker.

Back with Colette and Pit. "Thy faithful servant asketh for thy blessing, honor us with the splendor of thy...uh...whoops! I messed up!" Colette said sticking out her tongue a little and Pit looked at her with a shocked face.

"What do you mean you messed up?!" Pit asked in shock.

"Heh heh!" Colette giggled heartily but then, she felt a strong power appearing in the sky where the arrows stopped and a holy glyph appeared below her. "...Wha-?" Suddenly, a big circle grew on the place touching the bodies of everybody, making them to glow and surprisingly, the circle fully healed all the fallen fighters and meawhile in the sky...

The lights of judgement that Colette called struck every single arrow, creating a big horde of golden arrows of sparkling lights that went at high speed towards Dark Shadow. On their trail, the others who were still heading down watched the 100 golden arrows going down at full speed, they made very surprised faces at the sudden event.

Pit and Colette looked above them to find the 100 arrows falling at high speed towards Dark Shadow. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Pit asked yelling.

Chris was able to stood up where Pit and Colette were and he took out his DS because Dr. Kawashima was calling him. "Impossible!" The professor said astonished.

The 100 arrows quickly crossed Dark Shadow's body as he yelled in pain, every arrow was stabbing every part of his dark self, each arrow made a loud sound when they stabbed Dark Shadow and hitting the floor, leaving trails of light as they did.

"No! He's still alive!" Colette said shocked when Dark Shadow was still standing up, but almost trying to trip, however, Pit felt a strange power being gathered below Dark Shadow.

"Huh?" He looked at the floor to find an enormous holy glyph where the 100 spots of the arrows landed after stabbing Dark Shadow, it shone intensely before shooting the same 100 arrows at the same time, defeating Dark Shadow with the most powerful attack Pit has ever made before.

New ability learned! Judgement Arrows!

Shoot a golden arrow to the sky to call 100 arrows, then combinate it with Holy Judgement to turn all the arrows into holy lights to cure all the allies and deal extreme, massive light damage to all the enemies

"Weeeeeell...doooooooone..." Dark Shadow said as the Shadow Bugs disappeared in the air while he returned to normal.

"What was that attack?" Chris asked.

"That was a Level 3 Final Smash!" Dr. Kawashima said.

"A Level 3 Final Smash?"

"Ah, don't worry about that, it's easy to explain. You see, the moment you fill the partnership level of a character lets you and him or her to combinate attacks, of course, now you can only create Level 1 Final Smashes, but it appears Pit and Colette managed to get Pit's Level 3 Final Smash, the magnitude of the attack was just too destructive for that guy, Shadow, was it? And you saw the results before your eyes!" Dr. Kawashima said excited.

"Does that mean I can discover those special Final Smashes with the jobs that I use?"

Dr. Kawashima nodded. "Correct, every job has a secret use to create a Final Smash, just experiment each one to find them all!"

Chris nodded as Lucario approached to him. "I will! This discovery is really going to help us!"

Won the Battle

"All talk, no action." Genis said frowning.

"Wait wait wait," Chris said. "He didn't talked to much and we almost die!"

"Genis, you're horrible." Sheena said.

"I feel sorry for the rudeness of my brother, forgive him." Raine said.

"Aw, I was joking!" Genis said.

"Sure." Lucario said.

Luckily, Sheena's group managed to defeat Dark Shadow to save him from the Shadow Bugs, but Raine gasped when she saw the Subspace Bomb's countdown at 10 seconds.

"The bomb!" Raine yelled and Shadow turned his back to cast Bloody Lance on the bomb, destroying it with a strong impact.

"Paaaatheeeetiiiiic..." Shadow said turning his back to Sheena. "Vooooow..."

"You're of few words, aren't you?" Sheena said.

"Ahem!" Genis coughed.

"Umm, for the sake of the worlds to reunite them together and to let the people live in peace, I ask you to lend me your power."

"Agreeeeeee..." Shadow said agreeding to Sheena's vow and materializing into magic, before floating towards Sheena, giving her his power of darkness.

"All right! We finally saved this world!" Lucas said jumping happily.

Chris landed on his butt. "Phew, I thought I was going to die."

"Let's not make the same mistake again." Lucario said, receiving a nod and a smile from Chris. "AAHH!"

"Oohh! I was so worried about you, Poochie!" Colette said rubbing her cheek to Lucario's cheek with care, or rather with force.

"I TOLD YOU MY NAME IS LUCARIO!"

"Yes! Your first name is Poochie and your second name is Lucario from now on, Poochie Lucario!"

"NOOOOOO!!"

Chris's pupils shrunk with an annoyed face. "(Good thing we can leave this world anytime, which reminds me, where is Marth and the others?)"

Not too long ago Lloyd's group reunited with Sheena and the others asking about what was happening in Shadow's lair, Sheena's group explained everything to them with Pit recovering his wings (Lloyd's group was astonished by seeing Pit's wings on his back), then, they continued their way to leave the temple while they were talking to say good bye on their way up.

"Good news for you 2, we can leave this world anytime!" Chris said to Fox and Falco.

"Finally, no more persons calling us specimens." Falco said crossing his arms and looking at Chris. "When are you going to stop wearing that ridiculous outfit?"

Chris touched his fake long ears. "Well, I think it's time to stop using this, oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Suddenly, Raine appeared from nowhere. "So you're going now?"

"That's right, we need to travel to other worlds to save them from the Subspace Army."

"Oh man, that doesn't sounds good, I wanted to show Marth my groupies!" Zelos said hanging his right arm around Marth's shoulders.

"Sorry but, I'm not interested in girls right now." Marth said pushing Zelos's arm away from him slowly.

"What?!" Zelos asked in shock. "I lost all respect to you man." Marth sweatdropped at this.

"I gotta admit it, it was good to meet you and Roy." Lloyd said crossing his arms behind his head.

"Someday, we will meet again." Roy said doing a handshake to Lloyd.

"Genis, please take care of yourself." Lucas said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine with Lloyd and the others." Genis said smiling and doing a handshake with Lucas. "You're the first human close to my age to be a friend too."

"And you're my first half-elf friend!"

"That's true!"

Lucas obtained the title of, "Second Brother."

"There is always a friend that you will consider a brother, don't forget that there are second families in some worlds waiting to meet you."

"Presea, are you feeling okay now?" Ness asked.

Presea nodded. "Yes, thanks for your concern."

Ness blushed a little bit. "T-thank you."

"You're blushing."

"I-I'm not!"

Presea laughed heartily and Ness's face was surprised now. "What's wrong?"

"This is the first time to see you laughing!"

"Really? I haven't noticed it."

"..." Ness decided to not continue this conversation but he did a handshake to Presea. (Unfortunately, Presea had her insane strength to her side and she crushed Ness's hand by accident).

"Hey Falco." Sheena called out.

"Yes?"

"One suggestion for you and only you."

"What is it?"

"Don't try to cook ever in your life."

"..." Falco looked at each sides embarrassed.

"...Unless you take cooking lessons, then do it." She approached to him. "Especially him." She wispered pointing at Fox.

"...Er, I'm not going to cook ever again, that's for sure."

"Okay, I'm fine with your decision." She chuckling a little and giving Falco and handshake. (To tell the truth, he blushed a little).

"I was truly an honor to gave traveled with you 2." Regal said to Chris and Fox.

"Of course, it was really fun to fight together!" Chris said nodding. "By the way, did he taught something to you Fox?"

"Yes," Fox closed his eyes. "But that is a secret!"

"Oh please, tell me!"

"No."

"Please?"

And sadly, their conversation went for seconds and Regal frowned at this, but chuckled a little under his breath.

"Pit, thank you so much for what you did back there for me." Colette said putting her hands in front of her neck. "You're the second person to protect me like that."

"Who was the first person?" Pit asked and Colette wispered to his ear.

"Lloyd."

Pit looked at Lloyd. "Oh, I see, well, thanks to you, I was able to recover my wings, I can't be more grateful than this."

"Me too!" She said smiling. "I'm so sad you have to go now..." Colette looked at Lucario and she gave him hug. "Especially you, Poochie Lucario!"

"For god's sake, can you get a hold of yourself now?!" Lucario asked annoyed while everyone laughed at this.

Outside the Temple of Darkness

Chris was already opening the portal to the Smash Mansion as the sunset appeared on the sky. "Thank you for everything, we really enjoyed our time here!" Chris said entering the portal, but tripping accidentaly.

"See you later!" Roy said entering the portal.

"Bye!" Lucas said waving at them, entering the portal.

"I hope we can meet again!" Marth said entering the portal.

"Humph..." Lucario said entering the portal.

"Take care!" Pit said entering the portal.

"Good bye!" Ness said entering the portal.

"Good luck in your journey!" Fox sid entering the portal.

"Don't forget about us, or I'll remind you!" Falco said entering the portal.

"And there they go." Genis said watching all of them disappearing before looking at Raine, who was holding several weapons and devices with her. "Raine, where did you get that?"

"Umm, Chris, Fox and Falco gave them to me as souvenirs!" Raine said sweating a little, but suddenly, the same mentioned characters returned from the portal, annoyed, taking their Blasters, Reflectors, a Pokeball and a DS from Raine's hands, running inside the portal and disappearing with it as Raine sighed.

"You're unbeliavable sis." Genis said frowning to himself before earning a hard smack in the head by Raine.

"(Good bye...Pit...)" Colette thought with a smile as Lloyd called the Rheairds, riding them to fly far away to form a pact with Luna in Sylvarant as they remembered their experiences with the Smashers along the way.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU GAINED 1500 SMASH COINS!

Pit's partnership level is filled! A path to a different world has been opened!

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas

Preview of the next arc

"Poyo!"

"We found Kirby already!" Chris said excited. "But he can't talk to us..."

"Yummy! This block tastes like candy!" Nana said licking the blue block.

"This place has the name Candy Costellation for a reason." Pikachu said, licking a star which tasted like lemon.

"What is Master Hand and Crazy Hand doing here?!" Ness asked.

"DESTROY!" Both hands said in a scary tone.

"Who is there?" Chris asked scared looking around the destroyed area of the mirror world.

"I am Meta Knight," Meta Knight appeared from nowhere using his cape and throwing it away. "And you're in my way, begone!"

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH CHANNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!

Air Harmony

The text drops to the floor and Chris is shown happily smiling at the readers. "Hi hi hi everyone! Welcome to the special segment, SMASH CHANNEL! With your host Chris, one of the protagonists of the main story! Today, we're going to interview the 9 protagonists of Tales of Symphonia, this section will now appear everytime we go AND save other worlds that are not from Nintendo or Sonic or Snake's worlds! And for the theme of this show, we're going to use the theme of the Lost City of Surferio and Gemity, from Star Ocean 3: Till the End of time! Today we're presenting you the guests, give a loud applause to Lloyd Irving!"

He said presenting Lloyd waving at the readers. "Colette Brunel!" Colette waved too. "Genis Sage!" The half-elf waved too, happily. "Raine Sage!" She nodded upon hearing her name. "Kratos Aurion!" The mercenary just crossed his arms. "Presea Combatir!" She bowed to the readers. "Regal Bryant!" He nodded like Raine did. "And lastly but not least, Zelos Wilder and Sheena Fujibayashi!"

"WAIT!" Sheena yelled angrily. "Why did you mentioned me along with the pervert?! We're not a couple!"

"Obviously Sheena, there are so many pictures of Deviantart with you and Zelos according to my sources!" Chris said happily.

"What's so great about that?!"

"Cheer up Sheena! We're obviously the best couple there is!" Zelos said patting Sheena on her rear, and he was smacked by a giant hammer from Sheena.

"Okay okay, don't destroy the forum on its first day, geez." Chris said rolling his eyes. "Okay! Today the theme of the show is, what location of Sylvarant or Tethe'alla should be a perfect place to fight if you were represented in Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Lloyd, we start with you!"

"Hmm." Lloyd rubbed his chin. "I dunno, but I think Iselia could be a good place to fight!"

"Yeah! Because you want it to be destroyed again!"

"Yeah, that is my-wait, I didn't said that!"

"So Lloyd, what hazard could appear on Iselia to hurt the fighters on your stage?"

"...Well, Desians could appear from the gates shooting fireballs and-"

"AHA! So you want Iselia to be burned again!"

Lloyd was starting to get annoyed. "No! And if Iselia was attacked again I woul-"

"Oooohh! Sorry! Your time ran out, next up is Genis!"

Genis was starting to think. "How about Palmacosta? The residents living there could enjoy the fights in the City Square!"

"Great idea Genis! Not like Mr-I-Want-To-Burn-My-Village-Again." Chris said narrowing his eyes at Lloyd, who glared at him. "And what hazard could appear?"

"...Actually, I forgot that Palmacosta was destroyed, so I think the place is desolated right now..."

"Oh, you're right, I'm sorry for hearing that..."

"It's okay, it's not like someone important died in the chaos."

Chris ripped a piece of paper with the photo of the parents of Marta from the sequel and threw it inside the trash can. "Umm...yeah...sure, okay Colette, suggest a stage please!"

"The dog kennel!" She said smiling, excited as the screen showed a random dog kennel.

"Colette, as far as my memory of traveler around Sylvarant and Tethe'alla let's me to remember, there wasn't any dog kennel on both worlds!"

"Really? I thought I saw one in Meltokio!"

"That was the slum, actually."

Colette blinked in surprise and the only thing she did was to stick out her tongue a bit, embarrassed and making Chris to frown.

"Okay, Kratos, please name your stage."

"Derris-Kharlan." Kratos said showing a picture of Derris-Kharlan.

"Ouch, talk about the Final Destination of ToS, so what hazards could appear on it?"

"Yggdrassil could appear on the background to cast 50 lights of Judgement to punish the corrupt souls plaguing to field."

Chris sweatdropped and laughed scared at this. "S-sorry, but we can't kill the participants, or torture them."

"Then, just let a Phantasm appear and hit its target with a barrage of punches."

"...Sheena, please suggest your stage."

"The Isle of Decision near Mizuho." Sheena said taking a picture of where she and Kuchinawa fought before. "It shows the worthyness of rivalry between comrades under the laws of Mizuho and the Chief himself."

"Wow, that was inspirational, and what hazards?"

"Well, Kuchinawa could appear on the single tree casting Raiden to fataly damage an opponent."

"Hmm, not bad, not bad, Zelos, name your stage please."

Zelos got up with a big bump on his head with a bandage. "Altamira! Especially inside the Casino where most of my hunnies go to cheer for me!"

"Forget it, we can't have such kind of stage just to show your favorite gambling place and-what do you mean we can?!" Chris asked a little angrily receiving a note from the author himself. "Ugh, fine, hazards?"

Zelos's eyes were hearts at this point. "Preventing your nose to bleed from the hunnies inside the bathrooms." Sheena pummeled Zelos with her hammer again.

"Thanks Sheena, Raine? How about you?"

"The ruins of Asgard!" Raine said excited. "Such a marvelous place to fight while fighting in such invaluable site!"

"O-okay, hazards?"

"The Windmaster that attacked us above the ruin, he could cast Air Thrust to slash the fighters or use his blade on his tail to deal a fair amount of damage."

"Oh, very well, Regal?"

"The Skyscraper on the Lezareno Company in Altamira, where Alicia's grave is." Regal said.

"Hmm, that would be an interesting place, but what kind of hazards could appear there?"

"We have very dangerous weathers in some times, like winds that sometimes pushes the persons out of the building."

"Push the persons out of the building?! Then why did Alicia's grave was there in the first place?!"

"Because it was her favorite place when she was alive."

Chris made an ashamed face. "Oh...I see...that's so sad and yet solitary, I think...well Presea, what about your stage?"

"Ozette, actual place." Presea said.

"But nobody is living there except for you!"

"That's right."

"Huh?"

"The loneliness of the village makes a perfect place for battle, the sound of the birds chirping while the music of the forest plays should be a soothing melody."

"...Whoa, and what hazards?"

"The sensation of the sorrow invading the hearts of the people that will slowly consume their souls into the darkness to torture them for eternity, like I was in my state when my Exsphere didn't had a Key Crest."

Chris wiped out a tear. "That was so...touching...but we don't want the Smashers to be in fetal position or something, remembering their dark pasts in a match."

"Sorry, that was the only place I could think of." Presea said apologizing.

"Nah, don't worry about that, and look at the time!" Chris said looking at the clock. "Our time has ended for now! Thank you for letting us know your stages preferences in this show an-"

"But what about my stage? I was going to suggest The Tower of Salvati-"

"Shut up Lloyd." Chris muttered without looking at him. "Good bye to everyone! Please wish to me and the Smashers good luck in the next world! BYE!" He said as the logo of the show appeared, blocking the screen. "So Lloyd, what was going to be your suggestion?" Chris asked behind the logo with a dark voice.

"The Tower of Salvation."

"No, just no."

"Why? It's a good place to fight!"

"You mean carcasses floating around the place to scare the people away? What's so great about that?"

"No! You don't understand! I-"

"Lloyd, you're bad at suggesting things, give up, also, who knows if Mithos appears there like Kratos's suggestion."

"Humph." Kratos said.

"Like father, like son, Lloyd."

"But..." Lloyd trailed off.

"LIKE FATHER, LIKE RETARDED, STUPID AND FUC-" The screens disappears before Chris could even finish his sentence with his swear.

TO BE CONTINUED...

And there you have it, the end of the arc of Tales of Symphonia has ended! Whoa, now I can return to write shorter chapters now... And I don'thate Lloyd, it was just for entertainment. XD

Also, the special touch of this story are the combinated Final Smashes that creates even stronger attacks surpassing the individuals Final Smashes, there a 3 levels with each character, but some characters will cooperate to attack with a level 3 Final Smash, you will find out soon...but it's a long way to find those devastating attacks... Oh, and don't get Fox near a kitchen for your own safety, this chapter proved that. XD

References:

-The Ramen was a reference to Naruto, his favorite food.

-Fox saying that it was a secret of what Regal taught to him was a reference to the anime Slayers, where the character Xellos says his catchprase to annoy Rina and her group by saying: "That is a secret!".

-The Smash Channel short was a reference to Lucky Star, where there was a short called Lucky Channel, starring the innocent but abusive Akira and her always insulted and ignored assistant, Minoru. (By the way, if you liked the short, tell me in your review to keep it appearing after every different world that is not from Nintendo or Sonic or Snake's world.)

And with this done, we move to the next arc with our favorite puffball of all times!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 58*: The Amazing, Shattered Mirror

When this chapter was going to be short, it wasn't supposed to be this short, at least I think you will enjoy this anyway.

Please read and review!

Chapter 58: The Amazing, Shattered Mirror

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"You idiot!" Wolf snarled. "I couldn't fight because you had to recruit that annoying girl and his stupid servant!"

"SILENCE!" Tabuu said furiously. "Right now, we got another plan in hands, it does not matters to me if you were possesed or not."

Wolf crossed his arms and glared at Tabuu. "Well, what plan do we have now?"

The Ancient Minister appeared from the void of the Subspace. "Lord Tabuu is planning to find a ship to make our third base of operations, unfortunately, we couldn't find one."

"Our first base of operations is the Subspace, then it's the floating island called "Isle of the Ancients", but now we need another one?" Wolf asked and Tabuu nodded.

"Exactly, but we are not looking for an ordinary base, we are looking for a base to move around the worlds to invade them properly, the biggest ship in existence." Tabuu said. "After this defeat in the new world, that idea came to mind."

"Lord Tabuu, in reality, I have good news, we've found something related to that ship." The Ancient Minister said.

"Related?"

"Yes," He made an hologram of a small warrior wearing a mask, a dark purple cape and a sharp, golden sword, his whole dark blue body was round but a little big for some. "He is the owner of a ship called Halberd, a battleship full of weapons and a long and complicated facility inside. I don't have much more information about the rest, but if we manage to capture him, everything else should be easy."

"What is the name of that person?" Wolf asked.

"His name is Meta Knight."

Tabuu chuckled evily. "Ancient Minister! Tell me the current location of Meta Knight to start an invasion in our way to get the Halberd!" Tabuu said disappearing.

"Currently, my sources tell me that he is somewhere in the Mirror World, above Dreamland."

"Very well, prepare the next invasion!"

"Hey, where is that traumatized old kid?" Wolf asked.

"Sucking one of his claws somewhere in the Great Maze, it's better to leave him alone for the time being." The Ancient Minister said leaving into the deepness as Wolf walked away to prepare.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

In the previous chapter, we saw Chris tripping accidentaly in the portal, so, he crossed the other side continuing with his way to hit the floor with his face and unfortunately all the other returning Smashers tripped because of him, pilling themselves above the others (Lucario however knew this and jumped out of the way).

"Oww!" Chris moaned in pain. "Get off me!"

"Tell that to Lucas!" Roy said.

"I could say the same thing to Marth!" Lucas said.

"Blame Pit!" Marth complained.

"And why me? Blame Ness!" Pit complained.

"What about Mr. Beak?" Ness asked.

"Hey! Don't call me that, how about Mr. Specimen number 1?" Falco complained. Everyone were able to turn their heads towards Fox, who sweatdropped.

"...Who made us to trip?" Fox asked staring at Chris and they stared at him.

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand said annoyed taking all of them in his hand and throwing them to the floor again, separating them as they got up. "And where was I? Oh, yeah, congratulations on saving the new world everyone."

"YAYZ!" Crazy Hand threw confetti from his counter.

"So, it's our turn to go now?" Jigglypuff asked excited.

Master Hand showed the screen where a shattered mirror was. "Yes, in fact, this time you're going to help Kirby in the Mirror World. I'll tell you the details once Chris finishes his business with Crazy Hand and his shop."

Smash Coins in hand: 2500

Fake King - 700 Smash Coins

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins

Racer - 800 Smash Coins

Chozo Arts - 750 Smash Coins

Chris, this time, bought the Fake King job, handing over 700 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand, then suddenly, his clothes were once again replaced, now he was wearing a red cap with a white cotton on the top and with a yellow edge, a long red robe appeared on his back and arms, yellow gloves, a yellow kenpogi below the robe, a belt with red and yellow triangles and blue pants, and finally, yellow shoes.

"...Look! I'm wearing King Dedede's clothes!" Chris said looking at his red robe. "Wait, what's thiiiISSS!!" He noticed that a big hammer with 2 bigs star on both sides of the weapon was above his right shoulder, holding it with his right hand, but since the hammer was heavier than any other hammer, he fell to the floor.

"So, you're going to be like us?" Popo asked.

Chris slowly lifted his hammer to stood up. "I...think...so..."

"Wait, who's King Dedede?" Nana asked rubbing her chin.

"It must be that rival of Kirby he told us about, a big penguin carrying a hammer and the king of Dreamland, with a weird accent." Pikachu responded.

Chris managed to put his hammer above his shoulder. "Oh yeah, I know about him too, I hope we don't run into him in Kirby's world."

"If you're done, I'll display the status." Master Hand said displaying the status of the next world.

Kirby and The Amazing Mirror
Current Status: In the way to the Candy Costellation
Race: ?
Number of protagonists: 1
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Traveler skills

"...Wait a minute...this is strange..." Master Hand trailed off.

"What? We can't go?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yes, you can, but there's another information in here," He turned to see all of them. "Only "cute" characters and of course Chris are allowed to go to Kirby's world."

"...Cute? Like muah?" Jigglypuff asked with an Italian accent.

"I hate to describe the looks of the persons but, if the information says that only cute characters can go, then that means Pikachu, Pichu, the Ice Climbers, Jigglypuff, Ness and Lucas can go with Chris." Master Hand explained and some of them blushed for being called cute.

"Okay, that does it!" Falco said stomping the floor. "Tell me something, it's really necessary to obey those rules just to enter a world?!"

"Well duh! It's just plain wrong to make a character that doesn't meets the rules to go!"

"Bah! I'll show you how wrong you are! Chris, make the portal!" Falco commanded and Chris just blinked confused at the situation before creating the portal as Falco stood in front of the vortex. "C'mon! We're going i-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" After touching the portal with his right foot, he was instantly electrocuted with high voltage zapping his entire body and feathers, with the others blocking their eyes of the sparkling electricity that was currently electrocuting Falco to death.

"Falco!" Fox yelled.

"See? That is what I was trying to warn him!" Master Hand said as Falco was all black after the atttack and fell to the floor, surrendered. "He doesn't meets the conditions to travel and so, we have a fried Falco in our disposal."

"Lame..." Falco muttered.

"Hmmmmmmmm, fried Falco." Jigglypuff said drooling a little, causing the others around her to back away scared. "Well, he's a bird! I was hungry!" She said crossing her arms.

"In other words, if we force our way into a world that doesn't needs our skills that some of us have, we will only just be rejected by it?" Roy asked and Master Hand nodded before loaking at the toasted Falco. "...Okay, I'll have that in mind from now on."

"Ness, Lucas, do you want to go?" Chris asked.

"Hmm, okay, I still have energy left to continue." Ness said, glancing over Lucas. "What about you?"

"I-I'm fine too, I want to go too to meet Kirby." Lucas said.

"Okay, it's settled. Pikachu, Pichu, Popo, Nana, Jigglypuff, Ness, Lucas and me are going in." Chris said and Master Hand nodded. "Lucario, is that alright with you?"

"Don't worry, I'll leave everything to the others to protect you." Lucario said crossing his arms.

"Aw, I'll be fine, besides, I'm going to protect them too if it is necessary, let's go then!"

"Wait," Master Hand said stopping the party that was going to the Mirror world. "Give this to Kirby." He gave Pikachu a device and the electric mouse blinked in surprise.

"This is a translator!" Pikachu said and Master Hand nodded.

"Yes, Kirby forgot to take his translator with him, with this, he is going to talk like everybody else." The hand explained to Chris.

"Kirby? Talking? Hell yes, I want to see him talking!" Chris said excited walking inside the portal (and over the toasted Falco) with the others (walking above the toasted Falco too) inside the portal, disappearing along with it.

Marth looked at Pit. "Now Pit, can you tell us how did you do that powerful attack a while ago?"

"The Judgement Arrows attack you mean?" Pit asked and Marth nodded. "I don't know how did I do that, but Chris surely knows."

Kirby and The Amazing Mirror

Mirror World
Candy Costellation

A lot of Primids infested the whole costellation that was currently being investigated by no other than Kirby, who was very scared at this moment because the Primids looked at him, walking slowly to where he was, the pink puffball covered his head in fear and he floated towards the space, but Auroros appeared diving from above him and was struck down the floor.

"Poyo..." Kirby moaned in pain before getting up and starting to run as fast as he could, soon, Roaders appeared behind him crashing into him to send Kirby away from the site, entering inside a mirror that sent him to the entrance of the Amazing Mirror.

Entrance

The portal appeared near the mirrors leading to different areas of the mysterious world, and the Smashers stepped out of the vortex who instantly vanished.

"Hey look! Our appearances changed!" Popo said as he looked to his reflection in a shattered mirror, everyone were now smaller versions of themselves but "cuter", except for Chris, who was still the tallest of the group...with the height of 2 Kirbys above each other.

"Personally, I like these little blushes on my face." Chris said finding 2 red blushes on each sides of his cheeks. "...Wait...this is the Amazing Mirror!" He pointed out about the mirror that they were seeing to see their reflections.

"Whoa...look at this place!" Lucas asked surprised glancing at all the clouds and the big pillars with stars in the background, that it made it look like a holy coliseum.

"This is Kirby's world, where the food is abundant and flowers have faces that winks at people!" Pikachu said as a flower with a face winked at him and he winked back at it.

"But where is Kirby?" Pichu asked looking around.

"Probably he is eating a big pile of food he found near here." Ness said.

"Let's see if we can find our next member of the younger Smashers!" Jigglypuff said as every member glared at her. "...What?"

"Member of the younger Smashers? What do you mean by that?" Chris asked confused.

"Great going Jigglypuff, now we have to tell Chris about our little society!" Pikachu said crossing his arms.

"Little society?"

Popo looked at Chris. "All of us are part of a group with only young Smashers as us, the only members we're missing are Kirby and Young Link."

Nana continued. "Basically, we "conspire" to defeat the other older Smashers."

Chris tilted his head to the right, confused. "You mean kill them for good?"

"NO!" All of them responded angrily.

"It's just for fun, but after we created our little group, we have been winning many matches by sharing information and strategies between us." Ness said.

"I've won so many matches after that!" Pichu said happily.

"I see, a little group in secret would be good to plan all kinds of attacks...so, who is the leader?"

"Me, of course!" Ness said raising his hand.

Pikachu walked up to him. "Who died and made you leader? I'm the leader!"

"The leader is me!" Popo said, earning a glare of Nana. "...And her too!"

"The leader needs to have a good voice, I'm the leader!" Jigglypuff said spinning above her feet, showing a pose.

"I'm the leader!" Ness said glaring at everyone.

"No, me!" Pikachu said glaring.

"Us!" The Ice Climbers said glaring.

"It's me!" Jigglypuff said glaring.

Suddenly, a "ding" sound was heard and the mentioned Smashers leaped into one another, creating a cloud of dust where they were fighting inside pulling their hairs, biting their arms or hands, saying so many harsh things that nobody even didn't heard because of their yells, but Lucas and Pichu were outside the fight standing at each sides with Chris, who was watching back and forth the cloud of dust walking around them.

Chris looked at the 2 timid and shy Smashers. "And...why aren't you 2 fighting?"

"B-because I think Ness is the leader, in my opinion." Lucas said.

"That's right!" Ness's voice came inside the cloud before he was bit in the right leg by Pikachu.

"And you Pichu?" Chris asked.

"I-I think we don't have a leader to begin with..." Pichu said and soon, everybody in the cloud of dust stopped in midair, looking at him while they fell.

Chris looked at all the mirror doors around them. "...Er, where I was? Is going to be hard to find Kirby, this world has so many areas to explore and he could be anywhere, if there's some luck to indicate us like something like, I don't know, Kirby appearing from one of the doors and finding us instantly?"

Not much time passed before everybody's favorite puffball came from the mirror door leading to Candy Costellation, rocketing towards Chris because Kirby was still trying to recover his control, but he wasn't able to do it and crashed directly into Chris's head, pushing him to the floor in the process.

"Kirby!" Everyone said surprised at the Kirby with swirls instead of eyes above Chris's back.

"(.)" This was Kirby's face at the moment. And yes, they weren't swirls, they were letters.

Did you actually believed that? Of course they weren't letters!

Anyway, Chris slowly got up from the floor and he looked at Kirby, who shook his head, the pink "marshmallow" looked up to see Chris as a small smile grew on Kirby's face, walking around the red robe he was wearing and going below the robe to appear in front of him to say his favorite word.

"Poyo!"

"We found Kirby already!" Chris said excited. "But he can't talk to us..."

Candy Costellation

"Don't fear!" Pikachu said showing the translator to Kirby, who happily took it before throwing it inside his mouth as a little explosion was heard inside him, then he coughed a little.

"Thanks! I can speak again!" Kirby said cheerfully. "Who's him? He looks friendly!"

"Nice to meet you Kirby," Chris said dropping to his knees to do a handshake to Kirby. "I'm Chris!"

"Hi! My name is Kirby!"

"Yes, I know that."

"Ness, who's him?"

"He's Lucas, a new friend we met a while ago." Ness said presenting Lucas to Kirby, who walked up to him and shaked his hand.

"Nice to meet you!" Kirby said with a smile.

"N-nice to meet you too!" Lucas said smiling a little before Kirby looked at the Amazing Mirror.

"Hey, is Kirby so happy all the times like this?" Chris wispered to Nana.

"Yeah, most of the time around us too." Nana wispered back.

"...Say..." Kirby turned to see them. "I have a huge favor to ask to all of you."

"What is it?" Popo asked.

"Well, you see...this mirror was shattered and I need to recover the other pieces to save this world, but Meta Knight was trapped inside too!" Kirby said trying to not cry, as Pikachu pulled a violin to play sad music as Kirby narrated. "I don't want to see him suffer like this, I was trying to get the shard of the costellation but a lot of monsters appeared out of nowhere from purple portals, they kicked me, punched me and pushed me out of my way! Please, I need the help of everybody! Or Meta Knight will be trapped forever inside the mirror!"

At this time, Chris was trying to not cry at the sad look on Kirby's face because he was believing Kirby's story, so the only thing he did was...hug Kirby?

"O-of course we're going to help you! I can't let them make you to cry!" Chris said with tears strolling down his cheeks.

"R-really Chris?! T-thank you so much! I appreciate it!" Kirby said happily.

Kirby temporaly joined your team!

"(No way, he fell for it.)" Popo thought.

"(So far, Kirby was able to convince Chris and Peach to help him in his troubles.)" Pikachu thought while he continued to play his violin.

"(Even I don't fall that low.)" Pichu thought.

"(But we were going to do it anyway.)" Nana thought.

"(He has so many moods.)" Ness thought.

"(What's so bad about Kirby or Chris?)" Lucas thought wondering.

"(Hmmmmmm, fried Falco.)" Jigglypuff thought drooling.

Chris released Kirby from his arms and sniffed. "W-well Kirby, we only need you t-to tell us the way and f-find the shard you're looking f-for to save M-Meta Knight and-COULD YOU STOP PLAYING THAT VIOLIN?!" Chris said enraged lifting his huge hammer and destroying Pikachu's violin to stop the sad music from playing, because the music made him to cry, not Kirby's story. "Ahem, Kirby, who did you say that was trapped inside the mirror again?"

"Meta Knight."

After hearing the names "Meta" and "Knight" in a short sentence, his eyes widened a lot while his pupils shrunk so fast. "Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Meta Knight?! The same Meta Knight with a cold attitude and mexican accent?!"

"The same Meta Knight! But I don't know about the part of the mexican accent thought, he sounds a little evil but good behind his mask!" Kirby said happily.

"(Okay, that proves there's no Tiff or Tuff or Escargoon around here, or the weird purple Knuckle Joe.)" Chris thought inside his mind, sighing in relief for not being inside another anime by accident. "Okay member of the younger Smashers, can you tell us where is the Candy Costellation?"

Upon hearing his secret society, Kirby glared at the others. "You told him?"

"Well, thanks to second pink puffball here." Ness said pointing at Jigglypuff.

"Oh yeah," Chris dropped to his knees again to talk to Kirby. "Are you the leader of them?"

"Of course!" Kirby said putting his hands on his hips, proudly.

"No way!" The other younger Smashers (except Pichu and Lucas) yelled angrily and lunging at Kirby, creating another cloud of dust to fight for the leadership, but Chris narrowed his eyes with small pupils and sweatdropped at this.

"(I shouldn't have asked him about that, while I'm around them it makes me feel like the big brother of the bunch.)" Chris thought frowning to himself.

"This is..." Lucas began.

"Going to be..." Pichu added.

"A long day for sure." Chris added before they sighed in unison, looking down the floor.

Candy Costellation

Kirby leaded the group towards the huge and deep galaxy called Candy Costellation, a place full of stars, paths, nights and...enemies far away from them.

"Chris, can you tell me why are you wearing King Dedede's clothes?" Kirby asked curiously sitting above Chris's hammer.

"Well Kirby, I have a special ability called Job System that helps me to gain many, many skills to fight, the clothes are a second proof of me having a new power, for example, if you see me wearing Link's clothes, I'm going to have his moveset to fight." Chris explained while they were walking peacefully.

"(0.0) Wow! You're one million characters in a single person then?!" Kirby asked very curiously with glithering eyes.

"...Maybe, but don't think I can use all the skills in the same job, it would be unfair to be a godly-like character to defeat anyone."

Kirby jumped out from the hammer and started to walk next to Jigglypuff. "Does that mean you can have my abilities?"

Chris stopped and his eyes were trembling a little. "...You know Kirby, if I can get your ability to copy, I could have many, but many attacks to copy the attacks of the enemies!" He said excited and continuing to walk.

"Hmm, and what kind of abilities has Dedede?" Kirby asked, curiously again.

Chris searched through his long sleeve and they looked at him. "Hmm, let's see...hey, what's this?" He felt a head moving inside the sleeve and he took his hand out of the red sleeve, with a Waddle Dee looking at him. "WHOA!" He threw the Waddle Dee away from him and the mouthless creature walked towards them, staring at Chris.

"..." The Waddle Dee just kept staring at them while they stared back at him in surprise. "...You're King Chris?" He was able to talk, which amazed all of them.

"(0.0) Wait, that Waddle Dee just talked!" Kirby said surprised.

"Of course I can talk! We're only just too timids to speak, because..." The Waddle Dee closed his eyes and sniffed "(T T) Because King Dedede is such a greedy bastard that only cares for his money and to make Kirby's life impossible!"

"(-.-) Well...he is always doing that to me, it's not too new..." Kirby said.

"Aw, don't worry Waddle Dee, can I call you Waddle Dee?" Chris asked patting the back of the Waddle Dee.

"(- -) I don't have another name rather than Waddle Dee..."

"Then how about if I name you, hmm, Dave?"

"(O O) A new name?! For real?! Yay!" The Waddle Dee named Dave cheered happily at his new name.

Nana rolled her eyes. "...But...isn't awkward to give a name to a random Waddle Dee?"

"Hey! Don't hurt Dave's feelings!" Popo said upset.

"Yeah! Dave didn't do anything to you!" Pichu said upset.

"...H-hey! Who was being rude to Dave?!" Nana asked very confused at the situation.

Meanwhile, Chris searched inside his sleeve and he took another Waddle Dee. "Another Waddle Dee?!" Pikachu asked surprised as the Waddle Dee jumped to the floor, staring at them in curiousity.

"Guess what, my new name is Dave!" Dave, the Waddle Dee said to the other Waddle Dee.

"(O O) Really? Hey, I want a name too!" The second Waddle Dee demanded.

"...Hmm, Jonathan?" Chris wondered.

"(O O) Wow! I like it!" The Waddle Dee named Jonathan said happily.

Once again, Chris searched in his sleeve and the first Waddle Dee disappeared, but he took out a Waddle Doo staring at him.

"How did you were inside my sleeve?" Chris asked.

"(O) It's a pretty big place inside there." The Waddle Doo said.

Pichu looked inside Chris's sleeve and he started to move his legs up and down. "Hey, there's a big party inside!" He said entering the sleeve and various cheers were heard inside. "Yay!" Pichu cheered inside.

"What?" Chris looked inside his sleeve just to find a dimensional rift that appeared in a big castle full of Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos talking among themselves as Pichu was being dragged above the heads of the mouthless characters. "What the hell? Is my sleeve this big?"

Dave, the Waddle Dee, appeared from the crowd. "Hey! He's the one who gave me a name everyone!"

"...Oh no..." Chris muttered under his breath before all the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos were asking him for a name.

And just because some people wanted to know the names Chris gave to the thousands of Kirby-look alikes, he gave them the following names: Erika (there were Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos that were females, which was a great discovery to Chris), Ed, Diana, Jerrell, Harrison, Ed, Prosser, Gustavo, Ricky, Lanette, Bell, Aaron, Cameron, Maxwell, Elliot, Cherry, Tony, Florencia, Mimi, April, Edwin, a Waddle Dee which he named with 2 names, Nick Grey, John, Amber, Gambit, Anthony, Taylor, Kayla, Rachel, Asia, Martha, Weasel, Lee, Dan, Wes, Jessica, Skye, Alex, Sam, Willis, Kevon, Scribe, Ethan, between many other kinds of names.

1 hour later...

Chris and Pichu finally got out of the sleeve, noticing that the Waddle Doo and Waddle Dee were gone and the others were walking around the place.

"So in other words, I have a very big sleeve." Chris said, noticing the young Smashers licking some things around.

"Yummy! This block tastes like candy!" Nana said licking the blue block.

"This place has the name Candy Costellation for a reason." Pikachu said, licking a star which tasted like lemon.

"What do you mean that block tastes like candy?" Chris found a star falling down the costellation and catched it. "...This is candy?" Chris licked the star with a confused face before his eyes widened. "Hmm! Lemon mixed with Strawberry!"

Kirby was shown eating a bigger block than him. "(0.0) HMHMHMMHMHMHM!"

"What did you say Kirby?"

"(0.0) HMMHMHMHHMHHMHHM!"

"What?" Lucas asked as he was licking a tile with a Cherry flavor.

Kirby ate the whole block, turning into a squared Kirby before swallowing it completely with a "puff!" sound. "This is my happy place!"

"Yeah!" Pichu said eating a cloud with a banana flavor.

"...Wait, Kirby, can you tell us where did those monsters appeared again?" Ness asked, licking a tiny block with a mango flavor.

Kirby looked around and found the door where a Fire Primid appeared. "Beyong that door!" He said scared and hiding behind Chris.

The World Traveler pulled Kirby out of his back. "This is not the time to be scared Kirby! I know you can defeat that single enemy alone!" Chris said.

Kirby nodded slowly before looking at the Fire Primid, the puffball then made a glare and rushed towards the Fire Primid, who shot a tiny fireball which Kirby swallowed, turning all red and gaining a golden circlet with fire sprouting above his head, transforming into Fire Kirby shooting a big stream of fire from his mouth that incinerated the Fire Primid.

"Now, let's go please! I want to rescue Meta Knight as soon as possible!" Fire Kirby said running inside the door, with the others following him inside. But without knowing the big dangers ahead of them.

Preview of the next chapter

"Hey Kirby! Let me ride on you!" Pichu said excited.

"Okay!" UFO Kirby said happily as Pichu rode above him to combine forces.

"You had to call us, right?" Red Sword Kirby said angrily.

"Please...nobody needs to be hurted..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said worried.

"Let's have a fun time! Oh yeah!" Green Parasol Kirby said excited.

"What is Master Hand and Crazy Hand doing here?!" Ness asked.

"DESTROY!" Both hands said in a scary tone.

Kirby slowly put the last shard in the mirror, everyone watched the shining light coming from inside, where a voice spoke to them.

"Come..." A familiar voice said to them.

"Next time: 4 Kirbys, oh joy!" Nana said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Candy Costellation
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Kirby

Apparently, it's still a mystery if the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos (and the Gordos) lives inside King Dedede's sleeve. XD

References:

-All the names which Chris used were the names of authors, reviewers and readers from this section, did I named you?

Phew, I'm feeling well after writing this chapter, but the next one is longer but not insanely longer like the last one before this, that reminds me, the entire group of young Smashers are the protagonists, but can they defeat the bosses? Because I'm planning to do this arc until the last boss of this game.

And...(-.-)...(0.0)...(- -)...did you liked the faces? Read and review please!
*Chapter 59*: Attitude Disorder

I'm happy to be writing these chapters with not so many words together, and look! We're going to reach 60 great chapters after this chapter!

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 59: 4 Kirbys, oh joy!

Candy Costellation

Candy Costellation

GET

READY!

"There's so many of them!" Pichu said as the group made a wall position.

"Okay, here's the plan, we're going to rush towards them, using all our attacks at once to make a path to the next door, that way, everything should be easier for us." Chris said lifting his hammer.

"So easy, yet so simple." Ness said.

"R-right!" Lucas said.

"Of course this method not only will provide us an attack strategy, but a protection to keep everyone safe from any enemy." Chris explained.

"In the count of 3...3!" Popo said beginning and they narrowed their eyes at him before going along with Popo.

"Nana! Birds at 1:20 PM!" Pikachu said spotting 3 Auroros flying above them.

"But it's 12 o' clock!" Lucas said looking at his watch.

"It was a saying!"

"Got it!" Nana said jumping and using Blizzard to freeze the flock of birds instantly, falling above Fire Kirby, who exhaled fire and melting them.

A Greap appeared blocking their way and it rolled towards them to use its slices to cut them alive. "Leave it to me!" Pikachu said jumping above the Greap and casting Thunder to electrocute its red head, giving Chris time to slam his hammer at its head which was enough to send him flying away in the costellation.

"Lucas, can you freeze those 3 drawings up ahead?" Jigglypuff asked poiting to 3 Mites of red, yellow and green colors walking weirdly at them to leap.

"Y-yes! PK Freeze!" Lucas created a mist of ice that went directly exploding between the 3 Mites, freezing them until Jigglypuff used Rollout to shatter the ice and the Mites.

"Oh no, not those guys again!" Ness complained after he found 2 Armights laughing and appearing out of nowhere, the 2 floating swordsmens flew towards them, firing their swords but they dodged them easily. "PK Flash!" Ness yelled creating a tiny green flash that went growing overtime and exploding into the 2 Armights, sending them away.

"BOOMERANGS!" Chris yelled ducking in the floor to dodge 2 boomerangs coming from 2 Boom Primids, Popo and Nana went ahead to smash their hammers at the 2 Boom Primids, but they took their boomerangs to hit both of the Ice Climbers trying to defeat them.

"Whoa!" Chris suddenly jumped high in the air with his hammer pointing at the floor, jumping so high that he went above the Boom Primids and diving to crash between them, saving Popo and Nana from more hits. Learning the Super Dedede Jump. "Ouch, that didn't hurted...but still, that was a little heavy for me." Chris said lifting his hammer above his shoulder to continue their movements.

Fire Kirby was suddenly attacked by 6 UFOS appearing from the stars by shooting at him, 3 on each side firing their lasers at the fire ally. "Help!" Fire Kirby said.

Pichu was below a platform where the 3 UFOS of the left were above while Pikachu was above the platform where the other 3 UFOS of the right were above him, both yelled their names to cast 2 Thunders, eliminating the 6 UFOS from attacking Fire Kirby.

"Thanks!" Fire Kirby said smiling before running forward with the 2 electric mouses.

"OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!" Chris was attacked by 3 rounds coming from a Roturret, Ness and Lucas saw their moment to attack and jumped 2 times in the air to stay above the Roturret, before attacking the rotating monster with 1 strong downward kick from Ness with 4 blows coming from Lucas using his PK abilities at the tip of his shoes to defeat it. Chris thanked both of them before continuing.

Fire Kirby was blowing out fire from his mouth to burn 4 Sword Primids, while they were stunned, preventing them from moving, Popo and Nana jumped inside the harmless fire to smash their hammers right into their heads, pinning their heads at the floor before vanishing and leaving a tiny cloud of smoke which disappeared.

"I'm going to sing!" Jigglypuff said excited taking out a microphone to sleep 2 Primids and everybody gasped at this.

"NO! DON'T SING!" They protested except for Lucas, who was clueless about Jigglypuff's singing ability.

"Jiiiiiggggglyyyyyypuuuuuuuuuuuuff Jigggglyyyyyyyyyyypuuuuuuuuuuuffffff..." She sang and everybody was feeling drowsy a little before falling to the floor sleeping and snoring deeply, even all the enemies fell asleep, some in the air and some on the floor. "...Hey! Why did you fell asleep in a time like this?!" Jigglypuff asked angrily inhaling air to make herself bigger and taking out the top part of the microphone, which wasn't a microphone but a black scoreboard. "Wait a minute, they fell asleep too?!" She asked furiously finding all the enemies around them sleeping deeply, and used Rollout several times to send them away from the Smashers.

"...Ugh..." 4 minutes passed and they woke up shaking their heads. "What happened here?" Chris asked confused looking around.

"...If Jigglypuff sang...then that means..." Pikachu touched his face and looked at his hand to see a black color on it. "She drawed on us!" Pikachu said in shock with a star on his right eye and a drop on his left eye.

Ness had 2 long lines coming from his nose like he had a cold, Lucas had 2 swirls on both cheeks, Popo had a mustache and a circle on his right eye, Nana had a pig's nose on her forehead, Pichu had a fake tongue below his mouth with a whisker to the left side of his nose, Fire Kirby had like 5 stars on his mouth, eyes and behind his back and Chris had an arrow pointing down between his eyes.

"Jigglypuff! What do you always have to do this to us?!" Pikachu asked wiping out the color.

"And why do you always have to fall asleep when I sing!?" Jigglypuff asked crossing her arms.

"Because your song was supposed to be used to sleep people!"

"...Really?"

Pikachu sighed. "Yes Jigglypuff..."

"According to this map, we need to go down." Popo said.

"That's my face you idiot!" Chris said wiping out the arrow.

Fire Kirby wiped out the color and decided to stop using the Fire ability. "If I could assorb one of those UFOs to become UFO Kirby..." Kirby said trailing off. Before mentioned enemy appeared floating around him and swallowing the floating machine, turning Kirby into UFO Kirby, a flying pink machine with Kirby's head above. "Look at me!"

"You know, if you could use that ability in official matches, you probably could win many fights with it." Nana said as UFO Kirby charged his beam.

"BOOM!" UFO Kirby shot a powerful laser that went crashing into a sleeping, huge Bytan, sending it away from the group.

"Hey Kirby, it's there a door nearby?" Chris asked and UFO Kirby flew forward, finding a door above a platform.

"This way!" He said flying above to reach the platform, the others simply jumped twice to reach it to go to the next area.

Lucas looked around. "Kirby, are we there yet?"

UFO Kirby shook his machine. "No, it's a long way to go, but if we can find a shortcut, we could reach the boss in no time." He looked away. "Although it's most likely to find a mini-boss in that way."

"We're so many to fight any big enemy, let's search for that door!" Ness suggested and they nodded, searching around for a hidden door.

"Hey Kirby! Let me ride on you!" Pichu said excited.

"Okay!" UFO Kirby said happily as Pichu rode above him to combine forces.

2 Shaydas appeared spinning their blades between Chris, who searched through his sleeve to get help and threw a Gordo. "YIKES!" He said throwing the Gordo away, destroying one of the Shaydas, but the other one slashed his back and pushing Chris to the floor, but luckily Pichu and UFO Kirby were above above the Shaydas and Pichu quickly casted Thunder with UFO Kirby moving out of the way to evade the impact to let the Thunder crash into the Shaydas, electrocuting the blurry enemy to let Chris smash him with his hammer, sending it away.

Ness and Lucas were being attacked by 10 Mites coming from dark portals that haven't vanished yet, every time the 2 PK users eliminated one of them, the portal brought another one to kill them. "They just keep appearing from those portals!" Ness said battering 3 Mites, who were replaced by 3 more Mites.

"What if..." Pikachu walked next to the portal and spun around to send electricity to the portal, he noted that the portal was receiving the electricity and continued spinning to destroy it, eventually vanishing the portal. "The portals can be destroyed!"

"I know what to do!" Popo said continuosly hitting the second portal with his hammer and dealing a final blow to destroy it, closing the portal to stop more Mites from coming, Nana went with Lucas and Ness to freeze the Mites with her Blizzard attack, then the 2 kids smashed the ices around them with a bat and a branch, shattering them.

"Did anybody found the hidden door yet?" Chris asked as he was blocking the attack of 2 Sword Primids.

"No," Pichu said from a very far above platform with UFO Kirby. "There's only this wooden switch and that weird looking wall in front of us.

"...That's where the hidden door is!" Chris said slamming his hammer and squashing the 2 Primids. "But how do we get to that floor?"

"There's not another way to get to this floor without flying, but I think I can carry all of you to this part if yo want." UFO Kirby said leaving Pichu near the wooden switch and floating down towards them.

"Okay, here I go!" Chris said jumping above UFO Kirby, but his weight was too heavy because of the hammer for the puffball and UFO Kirby tried to get him to where Pichu was, flying slowly to the air.

10 minutes later...

Popo and Nana looked at the wooden switch. "Hey, we can hit this switch with our hammers!" Popo said looking at them, and the 2 Ice Climbers hit the switch, but it didn't budge at all.

"What's the problem?" Jigglypuff asked.

"The switch doesn't moves even with 2 hammers hitting it!" Nana said trying to make the switch to go down.

Chris walked up to the switch and looked at his hammer. "Wait, let me try." He said lifting his hammer and slamming it to the switch, but nothing happened. "Even my hammer doesn't have much power to press the switch!"

"(Wait, the same feeling again...)" Chris thought in his mind with an echoing voice.

"(Is that you Chris? I'm Popo!)" Popo talked to Chris in his mind.

"(And I'm here too!)" Nana said to their minds.

"(Maybe...Popo, Nana, do you think we can combine our hammers to create a stronger attack?)" Chris asked in his mind.

"(Hey, that doesn't sounds so bad, let's do that!)" Popo said excited.

"(I'm in!)" Nana said excited.

"(Okay.)" Chris said ending the sudden telepathy talk.

The trio of hammers wielders lifted their hammers in a triangle formation around the switch. "Hey, wait a minute, you're not too tall to hit my hammer." Chris said.

"Don't worry, we jump to hit it from above!" Nana said smiling a little.

"...Alright, let's do it!" Chris said looking at the switch, when he was about to move down his hammer, Popo jumped high in the air and Nana jumped after him, lifting their hammers together before hitting the switch with Chris's hammer below, Nana's hammer above it and Popo's hammer to the top of both hammers and hitting their weapons at the same time as they collided with the switch, pressing the switch with a strong impact that made a huge crack around the Smashers who were surprised at this.

New ability learned! Hammer Squash!

Smash 3 hammers at the same time above a single enemy, dealing a moderate amount of damage

"Whoa! When Popo and Nana got so strong?" UFO Kirby asked excited checking the huge crack around them.

"W-we didn't do that! Chris did that!" Nana said looking at Chris.

"D-don't look at me! Maybe we created our own combinated attack!" Chris said.

"Does that means you can do that with everyone else to make more attacks like that?" Ness asked.

"I think so, Dr. Kawashima told me that everyone has 3 combinated attacks that needs to be found when the situation demands it."

"T-that's so cool! Think of all the attacks we could discover!" Popo said and suddenly, the 8 young Smashers sat on the cracked floor forming a circle (with UFO Kirby only floating above) without Chris who was watching them with a confused face.

"Guys, I think if we let Chris join us, we could be stronger in team matches with him to discover those combinated attacks he was talking about." Ness said with narrow eyes.

"We could even have a portrait of us in the main hall as the most talented fighters!" Pikachu said with narrow eyes.

"The possibilities are infinite, think of all the fame!" Jigglypuff said with glittering eyes.

"So who wants him to be in our group?" UFO Kirby asked and they instantly raised their hands in unison. "Thought so."

Various evil snickers were heard from where Chris was standing and he sweatdropped at the shadow that was covering the entire group of young Smashers. "It's something wrong?" He asked confused and they laughed heartily, hiding their mischievous personality.

"No, nothing's wrong! Say Chris, do you want to join our little group?" Pikachu asked sweating a little.

"Hmm...well...I was just thinking about that just a moment ago." Chris said rubbing his chin and their eyes instantly gleamed with glee. "...But to tell the truth, I don't have 13 years to join s-"

"Oh no no no no no! We can make an exception with you! What do you say then?" Ness asked sweating a little.

"Yes! A beautiful but tempting exception!" Jigglypuff said.

"...I'll pass anyway." Chris said lifting his hands above his shoulders.

"What!?" They asked in unison.

"Sorry, but I like to be with Lucario most of the time, I'm sorry but maybe another time, oka-"

The young Smashers, once again, formed at circle between. "Is anybody against the idea to take out the big blue dog from our way?" Nana asked with an evil look, and they shook their heads in unison, even Lucas was acting like them.

"Who's Lucario?" Kirby asked and they explained everything to him. "I see..."

"Once we get rid of Lucario in a near future, Chris will be ours to use." Pikachu said evily.

"Oh yeah..." Ness said evily.

Another group of evil snickers came from them where Chris was, sweatdropping again. "(I need to stay away from those psychopaths as soon as possible.)" He thought.

The group of Smashers continued forward to the next door Chris, Popo and Nana opened using their Level 1 Final Smash, but UFO Kirby stopped in midair and glared at his surroundings.

"Kirby, it's something bothering you?" Nana asked to the floating pink machine.

"It's here..." UFO Kirby said.

"It's here? Who?" Jigglypuff asked confused.

Suddenly a shadow slidded below them and stopping 5 feets from the Smashers, and from the ground, a black Kirby rose up blinking innocently with UFO Kirby glaring at him.

"Look! It's Kirby's lost brother!" Pichu said excited.

"Kirby doesn't has a lost brother, Pichu." Pikachu said frowning.

"Then what is this...dark Kirby doing here?" Jigglypuff wondered to herself.

"He's bad! He has been trying to stop me from reuniting the Mirror shards!" UFO Kirby said.

"So we have to defeat him?" Popo asked and UFO Kirby moved up and down to say yes. "Then, let's defeat that doppelganger!"

UFO Kirby floated in front of them. "Sorry, but I need to fight him with my friends."

"Your friends? We're your friends!" Ness said.

UFO Kirby moved to the right and to the left. "Not you, my other friends."

Everyone stared confused at him before he took out a tiny satellite from his UFO, sending a signal to someone, then suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, 3 round puffballs appeared as shadows, but after the smoke cleared out, 3 Kirbys of red, yellow and green colors appeared with different abilities already being used by them.

Of course, Chris, being the one that knew about Kirby's abilities, recognized them as a red Kirby with the Sword ability, a yellow Kirby with the Cupid ability and a green Kirby with the parasol ability.

"You had to call us, right?" Red Sword Kirby said angrily.

"Please...nobody needs to be hurted..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said worried.

"Let's have a fun time! Oh yeah!" Green Parasol Kirby said excited.

"...Is there something odd in them?" Ness asked confused.

"What's so odd about me? Got a problem with that?" Red Sword Kirby asked angrily pointing his sword at Ness.

"I just want to be in peace to not hurt anybody..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said studdering a little.

"Pizza!" Green Parasol Kirby said drooling.

"Hmm, Pizza..." UFO Kirby thought drooling inside his machine.

"Kirby!" Chris snapped UFO Kirby out of his thoughts.

"Oh...sorry, everyone, I like you to meet my other friends, Red Kirby, the angry Kirby." UFO Kirby said.

"I'm not angry!" Red Sword Kirby said angrily.

"Yellow Kirby, the peaceful one."

"Nice to meet you..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said waving his hand shyly at them.

"...And the most weirdest of them all, Green Kirby."

"What's up!" Green Parasol Kirby said.

Nana stared at all of them before speaking. "So Red Kirby is always angry, Yellow Cupid is too shy and peaceful and Green Kirby is...high on sugar?"

"(-.-) It appears so..." UFO Kirby said sweatdropping.

"Candy!" Green Parasol Kirby said excited.

"...Then, what are we going to do now?" Yellow Cupid Kirby asked as he turned to see the dark Kirby. "Y-you!"

Red Sword Kirby stepped in front of them. "You're back for more, right?" He asked smirking a little.

"Do you wanna be friends?" Green Parasol Kirby asked excited.

"All of them combined are just plain scary..." Chris said backing away.

UFO Kirby looked back and forth between the Kirbys and the Smashers. "...H-hey! I'm not like them!"

"...Well...are you going to fight against that dark Kirby, Kirby?" Lucas asked, returning into the topic.

"What Kirby are you asking to?" The 4 Kirbys asked in unison turning their attention to Lucas.

"...T-the pink one..."

"Of course!" UFO Kirby said as he and his other companions charged at the dark Kirby...who they defeated in less than 10 seconds, as the dark Kirby disappeared in the darkness, leaving Kirby's favorite candy, an Invincible Lollipop.

"Oooooohhhhhhh..." The 4 Kirbys stared in awe at the glithering sparks of the candy.

"...Calm down Kirby, it's just a lollipop..." Pikachu said, but too late since the Kirbys already licked the lollipop and shining, running or floating around like maniacs as the Smashers stared all the 4 Kirbys going hyper.

"Ohgodthatissogoodmygodmygodmygod." Red Sword Kirby said quickly that nobody else was able to understand.

"yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesohyes!" Green Parasol Kirby said running around.

"Youguys! Youhavetolickthatcandy! Itissodelicious!" UFO Kirby said quickly, flying around as they stared back at the lollipop the Kirbys had already licked that layed on the floor.

"Ihavenottastedsomethingsogoodinmylifebefore..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said quickly, flying around.

"...You mean lick something that was already licked? No way!" Pikachu said protesting, noticing that Chris had the lollipop on his right hand. "Wait, don't do it!"

Too late, with just one lick, many glithers appeared around Chris and he dropped the lollipop to the floor, his eyes grew a lot and started to hop up and down in a faster rate, like 10 hops or so in a single second. "HEY! THISDOESN'TTASTESSOBAD, TRYIT!" He said jumping very excited with his hammer.

"Pff, do you think we're going to lick that candy? Sorry, but I'm out." Ness said looking away.

"Me too." Pikachu said joining Ness.

"And us too." Added the Ice Climbers, looking away.

"We too." Lucas and Pichu said looking away.

3 seconds later...

A large shining group was crossing at high speed in the area of the Candy Costellation, it was a group made enterily by kids, small creatures and a teenager who have gone high on sugar due to the effects of a radioactive lollipop with the power to make anyone invincible for a period of time, and they were enjoying their crazy mad rush in the costellation.

"SUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!" They screamed in unison with so much happiness that it could kill anyone on sight, speaking of anyone in sight, all the Primids, Glyres, Glices, Glunders, Greaps, Roturrets, Auroros, Fire Primids, Poppants, Feyeshes, Mites, dark portals, Gamygas, Shaydas and between many other monsters had the bad luck to run into them as they crashed directly into any of the monsters of the Subspace Army, which was very humiliating to be defeated by a bunch of people high on sugar and hunger for more.

"Whendoesthiswornsout?!" High on sugar Ness asked jumping continuously.

"Usuallyinanhourorso!" High on sugar UFO Kirby said lauching a barrage of lasers.

"Getmovinggetmovinggetmovinggetmoving!" High on sugar Green Parasol Kirby said floating down at high speed towards the floor.

"Let'sgowecan'twastemoretimelikethis!" High on sugar Nana said swinging her hammer rapidly around.

"TellthattoRedSwordKirby!" High on Sugar Pikachu said pointing at high on sugar Red Sword Kirby who was jumping over the enemies and diving with his sword to stab them on their heads.

"HAHAHAHAHA! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" High on sugar Red Sword Kirby said laughing like an evil maniac when his sword went throught the bodies of his enemies, liking the deaths he was causing around.

"He'snotonlyangry, butthirstyforblood!" High on sugar Chris said smacking his hammer in front of him, crushing every single enemy who dared to step in his way.

Just when their invincibility was giving them a lot of energy, it worn out just when they were about the final door where the last enemy was.

Everyone panted heavily, slowing down at their mad rush and wiping out their sweat. "Hmm...this is the door to the boss of this area guys!" UFO Kirby said excited.

"We already came this far?" Chris asked confused.

"The shortcut proved to be so useful actually." Jigglypuf said.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Pikachu said.

"Well, bosses are meant to be stronger than usual enemies right? You have to have a good strategy to beat them!" UFO Kirby said.

"And to be honest," Dr. Kawashima said from Chris's pocket. "There's a Subspace Bomb beyond the door!"

"Now that proves the existence of the boss." Chris said sighing in disappointment, trying to remember what boss was in the Candy Costellation. "Hey, the 3 Kirbys haven't left yet?"

"Weird, they don't follow me this far." UFO Kirby said.

"Is there another problem with that?" Red Sword Kirby asked angrily.

"W-well...I kinda want to stay this time around..." Yellow Cupid Kirby said studdering.

"Party!" Green Parasol Kirby said excited.

"Why do we need to be scared? We're so many to take anyone down!" Pichu said trying to reassure them.

"Pichu is right...with the help of the 3 Kirbys, nothing bad can happen...I think..." Lucas said wondering a little.

"I'm good to go!" Chris said. "We already came this far without even a scratch thanks to our tactics and...that radioactive candy thingy...so who's with me?"

Everyone raised their hands and Chris smiled and nodded, then, they went inside the boss room.

And of course, the Subspace Bomb was laying there on the center.

"...This is the part where the boss shows up after you're 1 inch away from the objective." Ness said and if it that was a wish, 2 shadowy figures appeared floating down the costellation, they looked above them and their eyes widened a lot after seeing who were the 2 mysterious figures.

"It can't be..." Pikachu said.

"No way..." Popo said.

"Why are they here?" UFO Kirby asked confused.

"Is this some kind of a joke? Because I'm not laughing!" Jigglypuff said.

Everyone realised that the 2 mysterious figures were Master Hand and Crazy Hand, who were staring at them in an awkward silence while floating above.

"What is Master Hand and Crazy Hand doing here?!" Ness asked.

"DESTROY!" Both hands said in a scary tone.

"DESTRUCTION!" Master Hand said.

"BARBIE!" Crazy Hand said.

"Barbie?" The Smashers (minus Chris) asked very confused at this.

"...ANNIHILATETION!" Master Hand yelled, causing everybody to roll their eyes.

"Those aren't the hands we know, our hands are more stupid and less chaotic than they are!" Pikachu said, charging electricity on his cheeks.

"...Pikachu, you're really gonna get it once we get back to the mansion, Master Hand and the others can see our actions anytime they want." Nana pointed out, which made Pikachu to stop charging up and trembled in fear.

"I don't think they're awake though." Chris said.

"Why?"

"Because Jigglypuff used Sing remember? So they could have fallen asleep, and what is happening now and the secret of your group is safe for now."

"Phew, what a relief..." Pikachu said.

"...But to tell the truth, Jigglypuff pretty much revealed it before we entered this area when Kirby found us."

Everyone shot glares at Jigglypuff, who looked back anf forth and laughed heartily and scar-

"Ahem, the crazy hands? About to destroy us for good?" Red Sword Kirby coughed angrily.

"Oh, right!" Pikachu said, starting to charge electricity again on his red cheeks.

Kirby and The Amazing Mirror: Boss Theme

"Okay, here's the plan, we split up to take both hands down an-AAAHHH!" They were instantly trapped inside both hands, who shaked them around the room madly before throwing them at different directions, crashing into the walls. "Oww...that was lame..." Chris moaned in pain.

"Screw the strategy! We can't think of anything if they keep attacking us!" Ness said as Master Hand made a fist and crashed into him.

"Hey! Infinite supply of Waddle Dees and Doos! I need your help!" Chris called looking inside his sleeve, but there was sign with something on it.

Please, wait 1 hour

"WHAT?! Since when they can take breaks?!" Chris asked angrily before Crazy Hand grabbed him. "HELP!"

Popo and Nana came from below using Belay to smash Crazy Hand, setting Chris free from his grasp and landing safely in the floor. Then the duo spun to use their Squall Hammer to hit Crazy Hand several times before he shot various bullets at them. "ACK!" Popo received a bullet right into the face and fell with Nana trying to help him.

"Pikachu! Pichu! Spam your Thunders!" UFO Kirby said dodging various flying fists coming from Master Hand.

"But spamming is cheating!" Pichu said.

"This isn't an official match, just do i-AAHH!" UFO Kirby crashed into the wall, losing the UFO ability instantly. "Grab that star!" He said pointing at the star with the UFO ability jumping around the room.

"I've got it!" Green Parasol Kirby said throwing his parasol away and sucking up the star...which he shot at Crazy Hand.

"Are you stupid?! We just lost 2 abilities because of you!" Kirby said angrily.

"But see the bright side! We can search for a new one now!" Green Kirby said.

"No we can't! Remember? Door disappearing once we enter the boss room? No more exits until we defeat them?"

"...Then ask Yellow Kirby or Red Kirby to give us their abilities!"

"Good job, I can prevent them from giving you a power." Kirby said walking towards Red Sword Kirby, as the pink puffball dodged several bullets from a fight Jigglypuff, Pichu, Chris, and Lucas had against Crazy Hand, and going where Red Sword Kirby, Yellow Cupid Kirby, Ness, the Ice Climbers and Pikachu were fighting against Master Hand. "Hey, Red Kirby! Can you give me your sword?"

"Hell no, you lose your ability, you're screwed." Red Sword Kirby said when he was crushed into the floor by Master Hand, losing his Sword ability turning into a star which Kirby promptly ate to become Sword Kirby. "Oh go on! I'm tired anyway!" Red Kirby said angrily, starting to look around for an ability or objects that came from to hands to eat them and shoot them back at them.

Thunders, PK Flashes, PK Freezes, hammer attacks and arrows flew, crashed, exploded around the room. While Red Kirby and Green Kirby were sitting on the floor trying to find a star.

"Hey look, the timid Kirby lost his ability." Red Kirby said while the Cupid ability jumped around as a star which came from a hurted Yellow Kirby by a smack on his face.

"Then go for it!" Green Kirby suggested with a smile.

"I'm not a pussy like he is, you, on the other hand..."

"I'll go! I'm a very good pussy!... Whatever that is..." Green Kirby said absorbing the Cupid ability and tiny wings sprouted in his back with a crown and a bow on his left hand. "See ya!" He said waving and flying away.

"...God, why he needs to be so stupid?"

Master Hand and Crazy Hand went to each side of the room with their hands opened and Chris gasped at this. "They're going to crush us at the same time!"

"Jump!" Pikachu suggested and they jumped from a clap that the hands made, but they continued it by going above to reach them. "Oh no, we're trapped!"

And unfortunately, they were, once the hands reached them, they started to clap very fast dealing strong amounts of damage, the Smashers then fell to the floor moaning in pain before getting up shaking their heads.

"They're too strong! No matter how many of us are attacking them!" Nana said.

"Remember, even if they don't look tired, their health will be reduced with each hit we give to them!" Jigglypuff said.

"That's true, but the ones who are in trouble are us!" Pichu said.

Chris looked inside his sleeve again and the Waddle Dees and Doos were there again. "It's about time, where were you all?"

"The bathroom!" They responded in unison and Chris made a sick face.

"I hope my sleeve doesn't smells bad because of you, now please aid me!" He said looking at the hands and taking out a random helper, which was a Waddle Doo. "Hey Maxwell, can you help me?"

"(O) Actually, I'm Edwin." Edwin the Waddle Doo said.

"Whatever, so Taylor, can you give me a hand against...those hands over there?"

Edwin looked at the hands. "(O) Hmm, okay, give me a second." He said walking towards Crazy Hand. "(O) I see...yes...here I go!" Before he could shoot rays from his eye, Crazy Hand slapped the Waddle Doo, sending him crashing into the wall. "Oww..." He said, disappearing in a puff.

"..." Chris looked inside his sleeve and there was another sign.

Please, wait until the battle is over

"...That's it, I'm not going to bother calling you guys again." Chris said rolling his eyes before he used the Super Dedede Jump, falling above Crazy Hand and pinning him down to the floor. "NOW ATTACK HIS FINGERS! LIKE THIS!" He yelled smashing the "bad" finger. "Oops, wrong finger, sorry." He said changing to the index one.

"DAMNATION!" Master Hand yelled flying towards Chris to set Crazy Hand free. But Chris used the Super Dedede Jump again to fall right above Master Hand to stick him with his insane brother.

"Does this hammer weights so much for you 2?!" Chris asked furiously smashing Master Hand.

"YES!"

"...Wow, they actually listened to me for once."

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand and Crazy Hand yelled moving out of the way quickly and smashing them to the floor in their place.

"AAHH! PIKACHU! PICHU! USE THUNDER TO PARALYZE THEM!" Popo said resisting the attacks.

Pikachu and Pichu used Thunder to create a black cloud that shot a thunder above the hands, crossing them and going down to impact both yellow mouses. "Now! Get out of the way!" Sword Kirby said rolling away with the others to evade another smash from the hands.

"Receive my love!" Green Cupid Kirby said firing arrows with hearts at Master Hand. "Hahaha! Did you fell in love with me?" Green Cupid Kirby asked excited as Master Hand grabbed him to crush him inside. "Ugh...look you guys...he's changing my facial color from green to blue...I'm Blue Kirby now!" Green Cupid Kirby said inside Master Hand.

"Pound!" Jigglypuff yelled using 3 Pounds on Master Hand to set Green Cupid Kirby free from him. "You're cheesy too!"

"Of course I smell like cheese!" Green Cupid Kirby said stupidly.

"I have an idea!" Chris said running from Crazy Hand. "Let's reunite them above each other to use our combinated attacks!"

"Okay!" The Ice Climbers said sticking out their tongues at Master Hand, who turned red and flew towards them while he noticed that Pichu and Pikachu were doing the same thing, and he turned to them to crush them alive.

"Closer..." Chris said when Crazy Hand and Master Hand were getting closer to each other. "Pichu! Use Thunder once they're above each other to paralyze them..or better yet, make them go above the bomb!"

"O-okay!" Pichu said a little scared from the plan but he ran to the center of the room above the bomb, placing himself above the bomb as both hands went after him. "PIIIIIIIIICHU!!" He called forth a thunder when they were just above each other and him, paralizing them in midair.

"Pikachu! Use Thunder too!" Ness said to Pikachu who nodded and ran above where Pikachu was and they casted 2 Thunders at the same time, electrocuting the hands to give Chris and the Ice Climbers time to jump high in the air to smash their hammers in unison.

And they jumped high in the air raising their hammers above the hands, letting out a yell. "HAMMER SQUASH!" They yelled in unison smashing Chris's hammer, then Nana's hammer with Popo's hammer above the 2 hammers above Master Hand. And then, Sword Kirby came from above with the tip of his sword pointing down above Master Hand and stabbing him, pushing him towards Crazy Hand and the Subspace Bomb with a great impact, creating a huge crack around them and the floor as the bomb exploded below the hands, then various flashes appeared on the background and Master Hand and Crazy Hand flashed together to scream in extreme pain, exploding too and the crowd cheered at their victory.

Music stops

"We...we did it!" Lucas said smiling and jumping happily along with the others and the Kirbys (except for Red Kirby, who crossed his arms), suddenly, a shard of the shattered Amazing Mirror floated down from the costellation and Sword Kirby looked at it.

"We even destroyed the bomb on our own!" Jigglypuff cheered.

"This is the final shard! Now we can save Meta Knight!" Sword Kirby cheered, taking the shard and they suddenly formed a group in a line, looking at the costellation with the typical victory dance of Kirby as they danced happily around before holding their hands above them (a Waddle Dee and a Waddle Doo appeared within the sleeve at the end of the dance, with happy faces).

Entrance

They instantly teleported right in front of the Amazing Mirror, where they looked at the mirror with their reflections on it.

"It looks a little sad when you think about it." Lucas said.

"Nevertheless, Meta Knight will be saved thanks to us." Pikachu said.

"Hmm..." Chris rubbed his chin.

"What's wrong Chris?" Pichu asked confused.

"Don't you think there's something wrong around here?"

"What do you mean?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I mean, we went through the costellation where many enemies appeared, but to tell the truth, I think they weren't showing us their true potential, and to sum that up, the fakes Master Hand and Crazy Hand we fought weren't possesed by the Shadow Bugs and the Subspace Bomb was laying there too."

"Yes...and Wolf didn't showed up too...weird..." Nana wondered.

"But they couldn't have entered inside the mirror, it was shattered!" Pichu said glancing at the mirror with his reflection. "Or did they?"

"Remember, they can create those dark portals to enter anywhere, maybe even in the mirror." Chris said.

Sword Kirby looked down the clouds to see Dreamland, then he spotted various tiny spots moving inside a hidden place where the sunset was red. "Hey, what's happening down there?"

The Smashers and the 3 other Kirbys looked below to see the spots moving inside the hidden place where the sunset was oddly red. "Are they...the Subspace Army?" Ness asked.

"And what's up with the odd red color covering the site?" Popo asked confused at this.

Chris looked at the mirror, then at the spots, then back and forth until he stopped. "But we need to rescue Meta Knight this instant, maybe he can help us."

"Meta Knight? Helping us? That only happens when I'm about to defeat the last boss!" Sword Kirby said, giving the Sword ability back to Red Kirby. "Let's just put the last shard and enter that world!"

Kirby slowly put the last shard in the mirror, everyone watched the shining light coming from inside, where a voice spoke to them.

"Come..." A familiar voice said to them.

Chris thought instantly of Meta Knight dancing above a big sombrero while the music of Mariachi played as the masked warrior clapped together along with the music on his head. But Chris shook his head to stop having that thought and spoke. "Great, he doesn't has a mexican voice, but instead, he stole Darth Vader's voice."

"Who's Darth Vader?" Pichu asked curiously.

"Your father."

Pichu gasped. "Really?!"

"No!" Replied Chris angrily.

Preview of the next chapter

"Who is there?" Chris asked scared looking around the destroyed area of the mirror world.

"I am Meta Knight," Meta Knight appeared from nowhere using his cape and throwing it away. "And you're in my way, begone!"

"You're no Meta Knight!" Kirby protested. "He's not that dark!... Unless you're his dark version from the Raddish Ruins!"

"I'm Ness!" Ness said.

"My name is Chris," Chris began. "I like potatoes."

"Oww! Oww! Oww!" Jigglypuff moaned in pain as the mirrors were hitting her continuously.

"Hit the eye! That's his weak point!" Kirby said swinging Galaxia.

The Smashers entered inside the portal, but just as the portal was going to close, a fast flying person entered inside in a rush to seek questions about something that was bothering him and the vortex disappeared.

"Next time: Galaxia, The Mighty Sword!" Kirby said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Mirror World
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Kirby, Red Kirby, Yellow Kirby, Green Kirby

It is just me, or this chapter has so many cute things on it? Everyone likes Kirby multiplied by 4! :)

References:

-Darth Vader reference, enough said.

The next chapters are where usually everything turns epic or something, and to tell the truth, the last adventure on the Kirby side will end of the next chapter, what? There's another sidequest on this arc? Of who?

Read and review please!
*Chapter 60*: Galaxia: The Mighty Sword

"Throws confetti" We've reached chapter 60! And it gets a special extra, the appearance of a mystical and yet powerful item! (That maybe is going to appear later too).

Enjoy the (dark dark) chapter before the sidequest, read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 60: Galaxia: The Mighty Sword

Entrance

"...Are you sure we can fight the last villain?" Yellow Kirby asked trembling.

"Pfft, I bet he's weak like the other enemies." Red Sword Kirby said rolling his eyes.

"Maybe he has candy for us!" Green Kirby said.

"Guys, guys, guys, stop saying those things, we're 12 against 1. Let's just enter and defeat him once and for all." Kirby said, jumping inside the Amazing Mirror.

"I've got an even worse feeling than before this time..." Pikachu said, jumping inside the mirror.

Chris looked inside his sleeve. "Hey, you're not going to run away again, right?"

"Of course not! Last time we were busy, but not this time!" Cherry the Waddle Doo said making a fist.

"Yeah!" all of them said in unison.

"...And just to be sure, do you need to go again?" Chris asked. And suddenly, all the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos ran away to the bathrooms. "...You're all unbelievable!" and Chris jumped inside the mirror, frowning.

"W-we can do it...w-we can do it...w-we can do it...w-we can do i-" Ness pushed Lucas inside and he jumped after him.

"For the combinated attacks!" the Ice Climbers said in unison jumping inside the mirror.

"This is going to be fun..." Red Sword Kirby said jumping inside the mirror with the other 2 Kirbys.

"D-don't be scared...y-you can do it Pichu..." Pichu said to himself, entering with Pikachu.

Amazing Mirror

The Smashers found themselves standing in a desolated, destroyed and gloomy place of the entrance of the Amazing Mirror. The pillars of the background were destroyed that it made the place look like a war took place there.

"H-hello? Is anybody there?" Yellow Kirby asked studdering. Then a pebble fell from the pillars. "Aah!"

"It's just a pebble." Nana said, looking around.

Winds were starting to blow around, creating a horrifying sound that made Lucas, Pichu and Yellow Kirby to duck, scared.

"This place it's just too creepy, and where is Meta Knight, our captive person?" Ness asked.

"I don't see him anywhere..." Kirby said.

"Because we already got him."

"Who is there?" Chris asked scared looking around the destroyed area of the mirror world.

"I am Meta Knight," Meta Knight appeared from nowhere using his cape and throwing it away. "And you're in my way, begone!"

"You're not Meta Knight!" Kirby protested. "He's not that dark!... Unless you're his dark version from the Raddish Ruins!"

"And that evilish aura...the Shadow Bugs!" Popo said surprised.

"That's right," behind a boulder, Wolf (in a cuter version of himself and shorter) appeared with crossed arms. "The Shadow Bugs took over his body."

"Aww, look, Wolf's a puppy..." Nana squealed.

"S-shut up! I hate being here anyway!" Wolf the pup-er, I mean, Wolf snarled at this.

"Wolf, I need to tell you something very important, he isn't Meta Knight." Chris said.

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't try to trick me kid!"

"But it's the truth! You just captured his dark version of himself of the Mirror World!"

Wolf looked with a frustrated look to Dark Dark Meta Knight (another Dark name was added since he had the first Dark from the beginning). "Hey you, do you know where is the Halberd?"

"The Halberd?" The Smashers and the Kirbys asked in unison.

"I don't know anything about that Halberd thing, I'm here to destroy them!" Dark Dark Meta Knight said pointing his sword at them.

"...Then I wasted my time with you! Ugh! Now how I'm going to explain this to Tabuu? He'll be very upset about this!" Wolf said angrily.

"Excume me but, why are you asking about the Halberd?" Kirby asked tilting his head at the right.

"That doesn't matter for you to know! We don't reveal our plans to you!"

"...Wait, you're not trying to-" Chris was interrupted.

"Well, at least this faker can destroy you this time. I'm leaving to report this to Tabuu."

"Call me a faker and you're going to regret it." Dark Dark Meta Knight said glaring at Wolf.

"Says the idiot who hides his face behind the mask." Wolf muttered to himself.

"What'd you say?!"

"Nothing," Wolf looked at the Smashers. "You're lucky this time, but I already ordered the Shadow Bugs to take over the body of Dark Mind to make all the things difficult to you, with that, my task is done here." Wolf said, entering inside a dark portal to the Subspace and vanishing with it.

"Oh no, just where do they obtain the Shadow Bugs from?" Pikachu asked upset about this.

"Well, most of the dangerous organizations have their resources from people and their arsenals," Chris said, trembling a little after looking at Dark Dark Meta Knight. "I hope they don't force anyone to help them."

"Because that would be cruel!" Pichu said.

Checker Knights

GET
READY!

"Enough!" Dark Dark Meta Knight said enraged. "We shall fight here and now!" Suddenly, he levitated from the ground flying using dark wings sprouting on his back and they gasped at this.

"Wait, that means the normal Meta Knight has wings like him?" Jigglypuff asked scared.

"Umm, yeah...well...it makes me wonder if he's a vampire, you know, maybe he's a vampire and hides his fangs in his face to-"

"KIRBY!" The Ice Climbers shouted in unison before Kirby was slashed several times by Dark Dark Meta Knight's sword and was pushed to the ground by his foot.

"Red Kirby! Give me your ability!" Kirby said as he got up.

"No way, he's mine!" Red Sword Kirby said and they backed away from him. "Not in that way you sickos!"

"Oh no, get away!" Yellow Kirby shouted.

Dark Dark Meta Knight quickly flew towards Red Sword Kirby, who instantly started a furious sword fight between them.

"...Er...guys...shouldn't we help the red Kirby to fight?" Chris suggested and they thought about it before charging at Dark Dark Meta Knight.

"Begone!" Dark Dark Meta Knight said swinging his sword one time to create a big tornado that went towards the Smashers.

"What the?! Get out of the way!" Ness gasped and they quickly ran to the opposite direction, but the tornado was faster and it trapped all of them, slashing continuously their bodies as they went up to be launched to the air and crashing directly to the ground, moaning in pain.

"Oww...he's too strong even with all of us to fight against him..." Popo said as he got up with Nana.

"But Red Kirby is in danger! We have to help him and fast!" Yellow Kirby said.

"AAHH!" Red Sword Kirby was pushed away to one of the pillars, losing the Sword ability who jumped around as a star.

"Kirby! Go and get the star while we distract him!" Jigglypuff said preparing to use Rollout on Dark Dark Meta Knight, but the dark warrior created a huge shockwave that went directly to her and changing directions to prevent Kirby from getting the Sword ability.

"Oh no you don't!" Chris said using the Super Dedede Jump to crash his hammer above Dark Dark Meta Knight, but he dodged the attack and used Drill Rush to spin with his dark sword at Chris's stomach, sending the World Traveler in the air a little just for Dark Dark Meta Knight to use Shuttle Loop and do a slash to Chris, sending him even higher in the air.

"PICHUU!" Pichu managed to cast a Thunder just below Dark Dark Meta Knight to deal electricity, giving Chris time to land on his feet and run away to recover a little from his wounds.

"Hiyah!" Ness used his bat on Dark Dark Meta Knight to send him away in the air, then Lucas came from Dark Dark Meta Knight's direction to use PK Freeze and froze the dark version of the knight.

"Fools!" Dark Dark Meta Knight said inside the ice, breaking out and flying directly towards Kirby who was about to eat the star with the Sword ability.

"No!" Kirby said as Dark Dark Meta Knight collided into him and taking the puffball high in the air with him, just to throw him back using his sword to crash in the ground, then Dark Dark Meta Knight flew at high spped towards Kirby to stab his sword at him.

"Don't do it!" Out of nowhere, Yellow Kirby appeared wearing a green hat and a sword, because he absorbed the Sword ability to save Kirby from Dark Dark Meta Knight pushing the dark version of Galaxia away, which gave time to Kirby to run away.

"Humph, a pitiful intent to save that idiot." Dark Dark Meta Knight taunted.

"I-I won't surrender yet!" Yellow Sword Kirby said shielding himself with his sword.

"It's on!" Dark Dark Meta Knight flew directly to Yellow Sword Kirby, who surprisingly gasped at every slash that was almost going to reach him, but blocked all of them by closing his eyes and imagining in his mind to block the sword in random directions, which were the right ones.

The Ice Climbers appeared from behind and used Blizzard to freeze Dark Dark Meta Knight, but he reacted instantly to dodge the ice wind to appear from behind the Ice Climbers and push Nana to hit Popo by accident, then Dark Dark Meta Knight prepared to slash his sword on their backs, but Yellow Sword Kirby jumped over the parka kids and blocked the slash to continue his fight.

"Go Taylor!" Chris said throwing a Waddle Dee (with the name Michelle actually) to hit Dark Dark Meta Knight from behind, it impacted and the Waddle Dee named Michelle rubbed her head before Dark Dark Meta Knight thrusted his foot at her to send the Waddle Dee away from his fight, but Michelle got unharmed and simply disappeared. "Why didn't that Waddle Dee get any damage from that attack?" Chris asked to himself before Harrison the Waddle Doo appeared from his sleeve.

"(O) Because we can resist even the most devastating attack and not receive any damage at all!"

"How can that explain everything Harrison?"

"(O;) A-actually sir, my name is Cameron."

"...Okay Cameron, give me a full explanation of-"

"CHRIS! LOOK IN FRONT OF YOU!" Lucas warned but Cameron hid in the sleeve before Chris was pushed by Dark Dark Meta Knight's right foot, pinning the World Traveler to the ground to try to stab him.

"Oh god, please don't tell me, you're going to stab my heart!" Chris said pleading for mercy sarcastically, and thinking why the dark knight was heavier than him if Dark Dark Meta Knight was smaller.

"Exactly what you say." Dark Dark Meta Knight said lifting his sword above him and Chris closed his eyes, before Jigglypuff, Green Kirby and Red Kirby came from the right side pushing him aside. "Get off me now!"

"Of course not, you're staying with us you like it or not!" Red Kirby said, glaring at Dark Dark Meta Knight.

"Now GIVE US DAH CANDY!" Green Kirby said laughing maniacally.

"...Do they have more hidden personalities?!" Jigglypuff asked confused at Kirby.

"(-.-) Well...Yellow Kirby is good at crying..." Kirby said and Yellow Sword Kirby instantly cried. "W-wait! No! I didn't meant to make you cry!" The yellow Kirby instantly stopped and blinked in surprise. "See?"

"TAKE THIS!" Dark Dark Meta Knight yelled pushing the 3 puffballs away and using Drill Rush to slash Jigglypuff, and using the same combo of attacks like he did with Chris.

"Stop right there! PIKACHUUU!" Pikachu used Thunder just when Dark Dark Meta Knight was going to use Shuttle Loop on Jigglypuff, paralizing him for a brief moment enough to let Chris to slam his hammer above him.

"UGH!" Dark Dark Meta Knight's mask was starting to fall apart but it didn't shattered and noticed that the Smashers and the Kirbys were running towards him, to attack all of them at once, he turned into a mini tornado using Mach Tornado, pulling all of them inside with a final slash to push each one to different directions.

"How can a thing so small be so strong?" Lucas asked confused, noticing that Dark Dark Meta Knight became enraged by his statement of "thing" and flew to him. "...HELP!" Lucas said, trying to run away before Dark Dark Meta Knight grabbed him by the collar of his striped shirt and pushing the PK user to the ground with a slash over Lucas, before attacking his stomach with a strong kick and crashing into a pillar. "Oww!" Lucas moaned in pain, slowly getting up.

"YAH!" Yellow Sword Kirby came from the left side but Dark Dark Meta Knight jumped above the yellow Kirby before thrusting his sword above him, Yellow Sword Kirby was instantly defeated and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the Sword ability to jump away from the spot towards Green Kirby, who ate it to turn into Green Sword Kirby.

"I'M DAH MAN, WEAKLINGS!" Green Sword Kirby said like an idiot before swinging his sword widly at Dark Dark Meta Knight, who simply stabbed Green Sword Kirby to defeat him in one strike. "Oh...well...screw you!" Green Sword Kirby said angrily before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, letting the Sword ability be eated by Red Kirby to turn into Red Sword Kirby once again.

"I'm not an idiot like him, I warned you!" Red Sword Kirby said rushing with Dark Dark Meta Knight doing the same thing, starting another sword fight between them.

"Let's help him!" Pichu said as he ran towards Dark Dark Meta Knight, but the dark knight grabbed Pichu and threw the yellow mouse into Red Sword Kirby, pushing them away and falling above their backs, noticing Dark Dark Meta Knight about to stab Pichu. "Help me please!"

"UGH!" Red Sword Kirby stepped in front of Pichu to receive the stab, thus saving Pichu from the attack.

"NO!" Pichu cried.

"Don't cry over me you idiot!" Red Sword Kirby said dropping to his...er...stomach? "Just do all of us a favor and defeat him to end this!" Red Sword Kirby said letting the Sword ability to wander around as a star again, as the angry Kirby disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"PK Freeze!" Lucas yelled casting a cloud of mist flying towards Dark Dark Meta Knight, but he dodged the ice explosion and flew to Lucas, but Ness appeared and used his bat to hit him, sending Dark Dark Meta Knight at Chris, who slammed his hammer once again at the dark knight, breaking his mask a little more.

"All of you...ALL OF YOU SHALL PAY FOR MY MASK! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Dark Dark Meta Knight swung his sword 10 times to create 10 huge tornados that went in circles around the destroyed area, eliminating almost everything in sight including all the Smashers and keeping Kirby away from getting the star with the Sword ability, pushing all of them high in the air to crash their bodies at the ground, moaning in pain once again.

"I can't...keep fighting him...even if we dealed a lot of damage...he's still standing..." Pikachu said, clenching his teeths.

"My voice is too...hurt...now..." Jigglypuff said, moaning.

"Thank you very much...guys..." Chris said sarcastically to the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos inside his sleeve.

"Did I let you guys...down?" Kirby asked weakly.

"Nooo..." They said in unison moaning too.

Dark Dark Meta Knight slowly approached towards Kirby, grabbing his left arm with his right hand, his sword on his left hand since he was the "mirror" of the real Meta Knight. "Say your prayers...this time...I shall end your life here and now...say good bye to your friends!"

"Forget it!" Chris said angrily throwing a Waddle Dee (named Amber) at Dark Dark Meta Knight, who pushed her with a single slash, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"We won't let you do that..." Jigglypuff said charging her Rollout and running quickly towards Dark Dark Meta Knight, but he slammed his sword at the ground to create a huge shockwave to stop her and hurt Jigglypuff. "AAHH!!" Jigglypuff fell unconscious on the ground.

"Stop trying to stop me, it's inevitable to save this nuisance." Dark Dark Meta Knight said, lifting his sword again above him to deal the final blow to Kirby, who was now crying a little for mercy and the rest of the Smashers turned their heads to see Kirby about to be defeated by Dark Dark Meta Knight, but couldn't do anything else to move from their positions, wishing for something to save the poor pink puffball. "THIS IS THE END!"

"FOR YOU!" Someone yelled above the destroyed pillars, they managed to look up to find a mysterious figure hidding inside a purple cape, covering his body, until the mysterious person put away his cape to reveal a mask with yellow eyes, a dark blue body behind the mask and black armor shoulders with 2 white gloves on his hands and the legendary golden sword, Galaxia on his right hand, close to his purple boots that fit his feets perfectly, then he flew down at high speed towards Dark Dark Meta Knight, who was standing above Kirby and was instantly pushed by the mysterious figure, backing away to stay above his feet, but before he could do that, the mysterious figure stabbed his mask right into the middle, into his red eyes, killing Dark Dark Meta Knight in a fatal way.

"...No...I thought I defeated you...curses!" Dark Dark Meta Knight yelled angrily, before he fell to his back and turning his head at Kirby. "You...you won't stop Dark Mind from destroying the Mirror World...not even Dark Kirby tried to save the Mirror World from you...uuuugh" Dark Dark Meta Knight said before gasping for breath and vanishing for good.

"Wait...that dark version of Kirby was trying to protect the Mirror World?" Nana asked confused, before noticing a Maxim Tomato in front of her eyes, not only her saw a Maxim Tomato, but everybody else saw their own one.

"...Eat it!" Chris said grabbing his tomato and eating it completely, restoring his health instantly with everyone else, who got up and walked towards Kirby.

"Meta Knight! You came to save us!" Kirby said happily and revealing the mysterious person to be Meta Knight, who stare at him, rather interested.

"Kirby?... Are you talking?" Meta Knight asked.

Kirby nodded smiling. "Of course! Thanks to my friends!"

Meta Knight looked at all the Smashers. "...So they are the persons who you met in that tournament you told me about..."

"Exactly like I told you!"

"H-hi...my name i-is Lucas..." Lucas said smiling a little, scared at the masked warrior.

"I'm Pikachu sir, nice to meet you." Pikachu said bowing his head and Pichu did the same.

"I'm P-Pichu." Pichu said excited.

"I'm Ness." Ness said.

"My name is Chris," Chris began. "I like potatoes."

Everyone stared at Chris by his strange response.

"...You like potatoes?" Pikachu asked confused.

"Well, sorry! That fight must have knocked me out some brain cells!" Chris complained.

"I don't care who you are, I care about, however, about that portal to Dark Mind." Meta Knight said pointing to a dimensional rift above them, growing in size in every second that was sucking all the rocks around, including the Smashers except for Meta Knight.

"AYEEEEEHHHH!!" Pichu screamed as he entered inside with the other ones too.

"Meta Knight! Are you going to help us to fight him?!" Kirby asked, trying to get away from the portal.

"No, but take this!" Meta Knight threw his sword Galaxia inside. "Use my sword to defeat him once and for all!"

"But what about you?! What are you going to do?!" Nana asked as she slowly entered the portal by force.

"Something is happening back in Dreamland, I don't know what it is, but there are mysterious creatures trying to steal the Halberd!"

If Chris was still outside the portal, he could have had an idea about the intentions of the Subspace Army to steal Meta Knight's ship.

"META KNIGHT!!" Kirby screamed before they were swallowed by the dimensional portal, and Meta Knight quickly ran away back to Dreamland before calling out his wings to fly down.

Dark Mirror World

"OWW!" They fell above each other above the ground, but Kirby and Jigglypuff just bounced off and landed on their feet, Kirby looked around for Meta Knight's sword and he found it struck just in front of his eyes, taking it and receiving its power.

"What is this place?" Pichu asked confused at the ominous background that was like a dark whirlpool.

"This is probably where Dark Mind is..." Chris said, slowly getting up and wiping some dust from his robe.

"Wolf told us the Shadow Bugs took his body, if that's the case, then the battle could be harder this time." Ness commented.

"MWHAHAHAHAHA!"

"And speaking of the devil, here he comes!" Kirby said glaring at the floating, dark creature who was appearing from above, the darkness around him disappeared to reveal and dark magician with a wicked face, an orange ball with a red eye was on the center of his body and he also wore a dark cape, covering his body with 2 floating mirrors.

Kirby and The Amazing Mirror Boss Theme

"Wait, there aren't any Shadow Bugs possesing his body!" Nana said.

"Call me an idiot but, I don't think this is the real Dark Mind!" Popo said.

"Who cares? Let's just beat him!" Kirby said charging towards Dark Mind, but the magician teleported to different places as they tried to land a blow to his body, but Dark Mind appeared on the center, firing 2 stars at Lucas and Jigglypuff.

"Dodge it!" Jigglypuff said rolling out of the way, but Lucas got the hit and was damaged by a little amount.

"Ouch! That hurts a little!" Lucas complained.

"Good, now we know his attacks are weak." Pikachu said, using Thunder above Dark Mind but he didn't received any damage at all. "What the heck? It didn't work!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Dark Mind laughed, spinning his mirrors around his body to land many hits on Pikachu.

"HEY! OWW! STOP! OWW! THAT!" Pikachu complained before the last hit sent him crashing into the ground.

"That's not how you do it you silly!" Jigglypuff said as she floated towards one of the mirrors. "You need to do a pose to wait for the mirror to break by your looks!" She said making a pose.

"...Jigglypuff, that's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Chris said. "You sound like those girly girls back in my school where they only care for their bre-"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Dark Mind laughed maniacally before throwing his mirrors at Jigglypuff and Chris.

"Hey! Don't interrupt me!" Chris complained and threw a Gordo at his cape, which actually gave damage to the magician and backed away in the air grunting a little. "...I just remembered! The eye inside his cape is his weak point!"

Popo and Nana nodded to each other and ran below Dark Mind, using Belay to smack their hammers below him where the eye was looking, causing pain to Dark Mind as he backed away and began to teleport to almost all the parts above the Smashers, and calling an odd blue ball that he threw on the middle of the field.

"Where'd he go?" Kirby asked confused as Lucas saw the odd blue ball that was starting to shine brightly.

"Umm...everyone...I think we need to-" Lucas was interrupted because the odd blue ball was in fact a bomb that made a huge explosion around the field, damaging all the Smashers in the blast as they fell on their backs.

"That was so cheap!" Popo complained as he got up. "Creating a bomb to hurt us!"

"Look! There he is again!" Pichu said pointing at a laughing Dark Mind who called 2 more stars to hit them.

"Say, what's that odd sound of a machine?" Chris asked confused, glancing at his hammer which was making odd sounds, then he lifted his hammer to the air and it changed into a mechanized version of it. "What the?! This hammer is a machine?!" Indeed, Chris just learned to use the Jet Hammer, as the hammer was charging to deal a strong blow, he saw one of the stars going directly towards him, then he thought about using the Jet Hammer to deflect it to one of the mirrors, he did it and the star went flying at high speed towards the first mirror, destroying it.

"Keep going! We have to defeat him!" Kirby said as he unleashed a huge flying shockwave that flew directly towards the cape, hitting the eye inside which made a nasty look on Dark Mind's face.

"PK Flash!" Dark Mind looked below him to see a green flash going inside his cape, who instantly exploded in a bright flash and...the magician shattered like a mirror?

"...Huh? Did we beat that thing already?" Lucas asked very confused at this before they were teleported to another place.

"What is happening here? Everything it's just too confusing..." Popo said shaking his head.

"Well, there's another door over there, why we won't go in now and see what is on the other side?" Kirby suggested as he saw his reflection on Galaxia.

"I-I suggest to just keep going..." Lucas suggested studdering a little before entering inside the next door, taking all of them back to the same spot, but with the difference of 2 platforms standing above them.

"Wait, so we returned to the same place again?" Nana asked angrily.

"No, see? Those 2 platforms above us weren't there before, right?" Popo said pointing to the platforms. "And Dark Mind it's there with his wicked look on his ugly face, laughing maniacally at us like usual, see? I'm a genius!"

In fact, Dark Mind was floating above the right platform laughing maniacally at them with his wicked look on his face.

"Popo, you do realize that we just met him 56 SECONDS AGO?!" Nana said angrily at his brother.

"Look out!" Pichu and Lucas said in unison stepping out of the way from a star, that went right towards Ness, knocking him out.

"Kirby, just thrust Meta Knight's sword into his eye like the last time!" Chris said to Kirby.

"Okay, but it's not a one-hit KO!" Kirby said as he ran below Dark Mind to thrust Galaxia into the eye, and Dark Mind backed away before teleporting to different places again.

"No you don't!" Ness said smacking his yo-yo into one of the mirrors, then Lucas used PK Freeze to freeze the flying mirror with an explosion of ice, the mirror went down and Jigglypuff used Rollout to shatter it in small pieces, with the ice and the mirror shards.

"Here I go!" Chris came from above using the Super Dedede Jump, landing above Dark Mind to push him to the ground, and Kirby came from the same direction Chris came and struck down his sword in the eye, shattering Dark Mind once again and teleporting the Smashers to another location.

"Not again, are we going to do this one more time?" Jigglypuff asked panting a little.

"I think, we can't rest once we see him explode to make sure he was killed." Chris said.

"Enter then!" Kirby said, entering another door where the platforms disappeared, but 2 puddles were at each side this time, and Dark Mind descended from the darkness once again.

"This is going to be a long day..." Pikachu muttered under his breath.

After fighting 2 more times against Dark Mind...

Their energies were almost depleted, they looked at each other after fighting 4 times against the annoying boss.

"I'm almost out of energy..." Lucas said weakly.

"And look...something is happening with his weird orange body..." Popo said pointing at the orange body with the eye that was the only thing from Dark Mind, it floated above the ground creating another area, the background was now an orange whirlpool, the ground was a floor, and the eye was closed, floating above the weakened party.

"T-the Shadow Bugs...are coming out from the eye!" Pikachu said, the Shadow Bugs that Wolf previously mentioned were pouring out from the eye and crawling to its body, turning Dark Mind's eye into an even stronger version as it opened his red glowing eye, Jigglypuff felt an earthquake shaking the whole place and they looked the eye growing slowly in size, and it was now bigger that Dark Mind himself.

"Those things were...probably waiting the right time to take his body in his final form..." Nana said as she got up with the others, trying to not stumble.

02 Battle

Kirby then looked at each sides, he felt someone approaching and turned his head to find Dark Kirby holding several Maxim Tomatos in his hands to each one of them. "Are you...helping us?" Kirby asked confused and Dark Kirby nodded with a little smile, giving each one of them a Maxim Tomato to recover their energies.

"That fake Meta Knight was right! This Kirby wanted to help Kirby to save the Mirror World!" Ness said.

Kirby simply stared at Dark Kirby and the pink puffball nodded to the dark puffball, who left in a hurry to let them fight Dark Mind's eye, or in this situation, Dark Dark Mind's eye.

"Kirby, did he tell you something?" Jigglypuff asked as she finished her tomato to regain her energies.

Kirby nodded with a smile. "Yes! He told me with the "please help me to save this world from Dark Mind, Dark Meta Knight tricked me to stop you and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but I beg of you, please defeat that evil monster from destroying this world, if you do that, I swear I'm going to protect it with my own hands if everything is saved with the help of that sword and your friends!" face!"

Chris made a confused face. "...He told you all that just with a simple face?"

"Yes!"

"Kirby, you're official th-"

"WATCH OUT! BEHIND YOU!" Popo yelled.

Chris looked above him to be impacted by a giant blue beam from Dark Dark Mind's eye, which damaged half of his health.

"Just great...when my energy returned to me..." Chris panted a little.

Pikachu found the 2 mirrors in each side of the place, then Dark Dark Mind's eye shot another laser that went to the first mirror, which was looking directly at the second mirror and his way, Ness and Kirby were fataly attacked and the beam bounced from the second mirror that went impacting on Pikachu, pushing him. "That was...too low..." Pikachu muttered.

Next thing Dark Dark Mind's eye did was to dig itself in the floor, with the eye facing the sky and the mirrors became a huge barrier that also was for attacking Jigglypuff and Lucas.

"Oww! Oww! Oww!" Jigglypuff moaned in pain as the mirrors were hitting her continuously.

"Hit the eye! That's his weak point!" Kirby said swinging Galaxia to create a shockwave that went towards the big boss, but Dark Dark Mind's eye quickly got out from the floor and floated above them again, evading the shockwave Kirby made.

"Yah!" The Ice Climbers were pulled towards the eye using Belay to hit it with their hammers, but Dark Dark Mind's eye quickly teleported to their right side, slashing its mirrors in an X shape across the sky to damage both parka kids, and crushing both of them to the floor by the mirrors. "Nana...are you okay?" Popo asked weakly under the first mirror.

"Yes...I can't believe that eye is already beating us..." Nana said weakly as the mirrors started to push them harder into the floor, yelling in pain.

"No!" Chris yelled raising his hammer to smash the first mirror, breaking it to set Popo free as he went to help Nana, suddenly, Dark Dark Mind's eye shot another laser that almost hits Chris, but Pikachu pushed him out of the way in time to save him. "Pikachu!"

"Ugh! Run...please!" Pikachu managed to say before he fell, defeated.

"Kirby! Call the other Kirbys to help us!" Ness said as he evaded the lasers from Dark Dark Mind's eye, Kirby took out a cellphone and called for help, suddenly, Red Kirby appeared using the Hammer ability, Yellow Kirby appeared using the Bomb ability and Green Kirby appeared using the Wheel ability.

"Okay, you need to hit its eye to do damage, so get moving now, please!" Kirby said before jumping above him to stab Galaxia into the eye.

"Heh, this is going to be a piece of cake." Red Hammer Kirby said, lifting his hammer above him.

"Piece of cake?! Where!?" Green Wheel Kirby asked drooling as he turned into a green wheel with a star that went accelerating towards the mirror that was crushing Nana, using it as a ramp that sent him at high speed above Dark Dark Mind's eye.

"H-here! Please don't hate me for this!" Yellow Bomb Kirby said throwing a bomb to the eye, which the round monster closed it before the bomb touched the eye, and opening it again to find Red Hammer Kirby about to smash his hammer into it, which he did and Dark Dark Mind's eye teleported madly around the place, recovering its first mirror and taking its second mirror off from Nana.

"Waddle Dees! Waddle Doos! We need your help here now!" Chris demanded looking inside his sleeve, just to find all the mouthless creatures running around. "What's wrong?!"

"(O O;) We're searching for something special to aid Kirby, but we can't find it." Gambit, the Waddle Dee, said.

"It? What's that?"

"(- -;) You'll find out soon, give us more time to find it first!" Gambit said, continuing his search for it.

"(But what is it?)" Chris wondered before dodging a mirror that fell from Dark Dark Mind's eye. "Watch it! Do you know how hard is to get a robe like this?!" he complained angrily showing his robe at Dark Dark Mind's eye.

Pichu used Thunder below the second mirror, since Popo smashed it a little, it was enough for the electricty to break it apart, Yellow Bomb Kirby threw another bomb, causing the monster to lose his vision for a moment because the bomb caused a cloud of smoke that let Jigglypuff to slap it 3 times, before Red Hammer Kirby smacked the eye with his hammer and another stab from Kirby using Galaxia.

"I think it's working! Keep going!" Pichu said a little excited before casting a thunder that went across the eye, Dark Dark Mind's eye called its destroyed mirror and controlled both mirrors to became blue bullets that went firing across the place of destruction, damaging fataly all the Smashers and the Kirbys.

"Waddle Dees!" Chris yelled.

"10 more minutes!" They yelled inside the sleeve.

"We're going to be under tombs before 10 minutes, hurry up!"

"Yes sir!" They responded in unison creating a lot of loud sounds inside the sleeve.

Dark Dark Mind's eye spun his mirrors around its huge body and it slowly flew around, but accelerating as the seconds went, slashing everyone else with its mirrors, causing more destruction in its path by leaving the huge scars that the mirrors left in the floor.

"I can't...go on..." Popo said fainting.

"Me too..." Nana said falling above Popo's back.

Dark Dark Mind's eye continued its assault with more lasers using its mirrors to reflect them.

"This is getting...so annoying..." Ness managed to say before falling on his back, defeated and gasping fro breath.

Dark Dark Mind's eye's next movement was to bounce around the floor, crushing Lucas and Pichu in its way.

"That move looked...so random..." Lucas said, fainting defeated.

"Yeah...it's up too you Kirby..." Pichu said weakly before he curled up and fainted.

Dark Dark Mind's eye was now charging up its laser to increase it in size for a massive impact that could take the entire place where they were standing.

Chris looked above him to see the eye about to fire its laser. "Now?" He asked annoyed to the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos.

"Not yet!" They responded in unison, making more sounds.

Dark Dark Mind's eye shot its laser, taking half of the stage and depleting the health of all the Kirbys, leaving them with just only a tiny bit of their health bar.

"Jigglypuff?... Where are you?" Chris asked as he looked around for the Singing Pokémon, and instantly felt something coming from his sleeve. "Jigglypuff?"

Jigglypuff appeared from the sleeve, apparently hiding from Dark Dark Mind's eye. "Oops, sorry, I was hiding to survive from that nasty monster and-"

"You're supposed to help us out!" Chris complained angrily, trying to get up.

"And that is exactly the thing that I was doing with the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos! To find it!" Jigglypuff said cheerfully.

"But how in the hell did you were healed? I recall seeing you the most hurted of all of us!"

"You silly, the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos gave me a Maxim Tomato to heal myself!"

"...Then ask them to give a few to us now!"

Jigglypuff peered inside the sleeve. "Everyone! Chris needs Maxim Tomatos!" Many burps were heard and she sweatdropped and looked back to Chris with a worried smile. "...Well...I think they're gone for good...sorry...forgive me!" She said returning inside the sleeve. Even Chris was so desperate that he cursed to Jigglypuff by calling her a hussy in his mind.

"AHH!" Yellow Bomb Kirby screamed after both mirrors almost cut his feets, Green Wheel Kirby rolled towards the mirrors to crash into them, but Red Hammer Kirby saw Dark Dark Mind's eye rolling above the floor towards Green Wheel Kirby, unfortunately, the bigger one crushed Green Wheel Kirby under its weight, thus losing the Wheel ability with one of the mirrors cutting the star in half.

"That didn't taste so good!" Green Kirby complained, somehow, because he was at the verge of be defeated.

"Of course not you idiot!" Red Hammer Kirby said angrily, slamming his hammer at the first mirror to shatter it, then Yellow Bomb Kirby threw a bomb at the other mirror, destroying it too and leaving Dark Dark Mind's eye unguarded that let Kirby slash his sword at its eye, dealing a moderate amount of damage since he was charging it.

"No! No! I won't let him kill us! Take this! And this! And this! And this!" Yellow Bomb Kirby screamed lauching a barrage of bombs to the eye, creating another cloud of smoke and blinding temporaly Dark Dark Mind's eye, Red Hammer Kirby and Kirby joined forces and they jumped at the same time to smack their weapons at the pupil, making Dark Dark Mind's eye to try to escape slowly from the 3, but for its surprise, it felt a huge pain from a green explosion coming from the fainted Ness.

"Ugh...that was my...last attack for today..." Ness said weakly as he fell unconscious.

Dark Dark Mind's eye once again recovered its mirror and it dug itself into the floor, creating a protective barrier with the mirrors to slash the 3 Kirbys, taking their abilities in doing so, but Kirby was able to catch Galaxia in the air and he stabbed it in the eye, dealing more pain to it.

"Don't be a fool Kirby...he's stronger that you are..." Red Kirby said weakly.

"But at least I need to try! Or their defeats are going to be in vain!" Kirby said, glancing at the fallen Smashers but finding Chris still standing using him hammer. "Chris!"

"I still have energy to go on...but I'm waiting for the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos to find it." Chris said panting.

"In a matter of fact sir," An unnamed Waddle Doo appeared from the sleeve. "(o) We found it!"

Jigglypuff came out holding something on her hands. "It was this!"

"...A capsule?! You mean you were searching for that useless piece of-" Just when Chris was about to say his curse, something inside the capsule shone and he blinked in surprise. "Wait, there's something important inside...right?"

"(-) Give me a name first." The Waddle Doo said crossing his arms.

"Okay Brandon, there's something inside?" Chris asked rolling his eyes.

Brandon, the Waddle Doo, spoke. "(O) Uh-huh! Break it! I don't know what it is, but it was a strange symbol with a colorful color!"

Chris took the capsule and looked around it, as the Kirbys were running away from Dark Dark Mind's eye who trying to crush them by slamming its round body.

"Then...let's see what is inside!" Chris yelled throwing the capsule at the floor, breaking apart and revealing the mysterious, yet powerful item inside, it was amazing, it was floating, it had a familiar symbol that many remembered, the colors that were surrounding it was stunning Chris, Jigglypuff and Brandon, while Dark Dark Mind's eye was still trying to crush the Kirbys, who rolled out from its path and ran towards Chris and the others.

"...Wow...what's that?" Green Kirby asked putting his left hand below his mouth in curiosity.

"I've never seen something so beautiful in my life before..." Yellow Kirby said with glittering eyes.

"I can feel the power gathering in front of me..." Red Kirby said.

"Isn't that the symbol of..." Kirby trailed off.

"It is! But I don't know what's this though..." Jigglypuff said wondering a little. Noticing that Dark Dark Mind's eye was slowly floating towards them and she gasped. "Guys! Do something!" She warned them.

The only thing that could turn the battle at their good side was the only item in the whole world that allowed anyone to use a final attack, a strong blow that could defeat anyone in sight, the only item that held an unbeliavable power, and that item was named...

"It's a Smash Ball!" Chris said surprised.

"Smash Ball?" They asked in unison confused.

"Kirby! Please, destroy the Smash Ball with your attacks to gain its power, quickly!"

The Kirbys looked at the Smash Ball slowly descending in front of them and they looked at each other.

"Wait, I don't know if 4 persons can take the power at the same ti-"

"HIYAH!" The 4 Kirbys yelled kicking the Smash Ball and shattering it, suddenly, their bodies glowed in a strange light and their eyes turned into a bright yellow color, turning their backs to see Dark Dark Mind's eye floating above them.

"Whoa...it worked...I can't believe it..." Chris said very surprised at this.

"What is going to happen now?" Jigglypuff asked curiously.

Chris looked at her and Brandon and smiled a little bit. "Just watch, I bet everything is going to be fine!"

Jigglypuff looked at the 4 Kirbys, taking out 4 chef's hats and putting them above their heads.

"Oh, mama mia! We're going to cook Fried Eye!" Green Cook Kirby said in an italian accent.

"Let's just add some spice to make it delicious..." Yellow Cook Kirby said a little excited.

"Leave to me the blood, I think I can do something very productive with it." Red Cook Kirby said smirking a little.

"And here's the pot everyone!" Cook Kirby said holding above his tiny arms what appeared to be a 10 foot tall iron pot with a fork and a spoon on the front as a symbol (Chris, Jigglypuff and Waddle Doo had their eyes so big at this item that was literally extremely bigger than the Kirbys) and Cook Kirby put the 10 foot tall pot down at the floor with a strong impact.

"(What?! I didn't know they needed something that big!)" Chris thought in shock.

"(O) (Kirby is really scary...)" Brandon thought.

"(Hmm, I wonder if Kirby can add a certain blue bird into it.)" Jigglypuff thought drooling.

Suddenly, the four cook Kirbys took out a frying pan and a big spoon for each one behind them, then they started to smack them together and somehow an invisible force pulled Dark Dark Mind's eye inside the pot along with his mirrors, and Red Kirby prepared the fire below the pot, Green Cook Kirby added the very hot water inside the pot (causing Dark Dark Mind's eye to suffer a grave case of conjunctivitis), then Yellow Cook Kirby held a 9 foot tall spoon above his tiny hands and jumped high in the air to twirl the spoon inside the soup (crushing the mirrors and thus the shards damaged the eye with extreme pain), Cook Kirby added a lot of vegetables inside the soup while Red Cook Kirby was shown laughing maniacally adding all the contents of a 5 foot tall spice jar (and even making Dark Dark Mind's eye to suffer inside the soup), the four cook Kirbys enjoyed their time cooking with the big pot, singing.

"...This is the most weirdest way to finish the last boss of this world..." Chris muttered embarrassed.

"La-di-da! We must cook! For the sake of the foooood! Because we felt like cooking this incredible dish for only uuus!" The four cook Kirbys sang happily. "O li-li! It is done! Now please enjoy the recipeee! Just let your tongue taste the amazing flavor of this..." The four cook Kirbys jumped to the floor with their hands pointing at the top of the pot. "OLEH!" They sang in unison and from the pot, Dark Dark Mind's eye came out with a very red color and went flying at high speed to the air, blinking to make the pain disappear, as a million of Maxim Tomatos appeared pouring down the pot and rolling inside the mouths of the defeated Smashers, slowling munching the vegetables to recover their strengths in a second as they got up, shaking their heads.

"What happened?" Ness asked confused when he saw his refection of the pot. "HOLY CR-"

"Look!" Jigglypuff pointed at Dark Dark Mind's eye, who was falling down and crashing with a strong impact to the floor, creating a big crater.

"...No! He's trying to escape!" Pikachu said surprised and the big eye flew farther away to the ominous sky.

"HE CAN FORGET IT NOW!" The four cook Kirbys said angrily in unison, grabbing the big pot with their hands and throwing it with an surprising speed towards Dark Dark Mind's eye, the pot went through above the eye and it vanished in thin air, Dark Dark Mind's eye was now low of energy and it closed its eye and fell towards the Smashers and they gasped at this.

"AAHH! THAT THING IS GOING TO CRUSH US!" Pichu, Popo, Lucas and Jigglypuff yelled and screamed scared, but then, Cook Kirby saw Galaxia trembling a little and the puffball approached to it.

"Huh?" Cook Kirby looked at sword slowly getting up by itself, then Galaxia floated in front of Cook Kirby and instantly, the sword flew towards Dark Dark Mind's eye, right in the center of the pupil, crossing across its body as Galaxia vanished in a blink in the sky, the Smashers and the Kirbys looked at the eye trembling a little, but after a while, it trembled violently before exploding, creating a huge explosion that shone the whole place and all of them saw the floor disintegrating and fell into the nothingness, yelling scared as the crowd cheered them for their victory.

Music stops

Dreamland

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The Smashers yelled in unison as they saw the grass approaching to their feets, but Chris felt something moving inside his sleeve.

"King Chris needs our help to survive! Everyone, go go go go go!" Brandon the Waddle Doo said as all the possible Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos began falling above their rears in the grass as each one made a circle for each Smasher and Kirby.

Eventually, all of the mouthless creatures made perfect coushes and Chris, Popo, Nana, Kirby, Red Kirby, Yellow Kirby, Green Kirby, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Ness and Lucas fell above them, looking around and sighing in relief before getting off the Waddle Dees and Doos.

"Great work everyone, you saved our lifes." Chris said smiling to all his subordinates, who nodded and closed their eyes happily before running inside his sleeve, with the last Waddle Dee (Diana) waving happily at him.

"Tomato rain!" Green Kirby said excited as the rest of the Maxim Tomatos from before fell around them. "Hmm! Yummy!"

"Let's eat!" Kirby suggested sucking all the Maxim Tomatos inside his mouth with the other Kirbys, rubbing their stomachs in happiness as they let out a big burp that echoed through the fields, the Smashers chuckled at this before starting to laugh hysterically at this and dropping themselves to the grass, laughing as the Kirbys blushed in unison (except Red Kirby, of course).

10 minutes later...

Dakr Kirby came riding a Warp Star from the sky and they looked at him. He gave Kirby the face of: "I'm so grateful for what you did to save the Mirror World, Kirby! I was wrong in thinking bad about you, I'm so sorry...forgive me, I bet you always do this to save your own world too!"

"It's my work after all." Kirby said sarcastically and Dark Kirby laughed a little.

Dark Kirby blinked, smiling and giving Kirby another face: "Kirby, I need to ask you something very important, it's about the other Kirbys, since Dark Meta Knight was the one who made them to "stop" your progress, they need to return to the Mirror World before they disappear for good!"

Kirby gasped at this and he looked at the 3 Kirbys and told them what Dark Kirby told him.

"W-what? But I like to be here!" Yellow Kirby said with tears strolling down his cheeks, as 3 more Warp Stars appeared from the Amazing Mirror, which was floating in the air and was the portal that teleported the Smashers to Dreamland.

"...I accept that condition." Red Kirby said, jumping to his Warp Star and both Kirbys looked at him. "You need to understand, if we stay here, we disappear, but if we live in the Mirror World, we'll live forever."

"...I want to...I want to..." Green Kirby trailed off. "I want to go too!" He said excited and jumping to his Warp Star.

"W-w-what? But why?" Yellow Kirby asked crying, before Kirby walked to him and patted his back.

"Don't cry please...I'm wishing you to live happily, if you stay here, you'll stop eating delicious things! You don't want that to happen, right?" Kirby asked smiling a little, with some tears appearing on his eyes.

"...I don't want to disappear...I need to...think..." Yellow Kirby turned his back...before closing his eyes and crying as he jumped to his Warp Star. "Aaaahhh! This is so...so...unfair!"

"Stop crying!" Red Kirby shouted and Yellow Kirby stopped crying. "You heard him already, stop complaining about that now!"

"Red Kirby..." Yellow Kirby trailed off. "Are you...crying too?"

"Wha-? N-no! I-I'm not..." Red Kirby wiped out his tears and turned to smile at Kirby. "This is not me but...it was so fun to be traveling with you Kirby..."

Kirby nodded smiling and turned to Yellow Kirby. "See? You're not going to be sad, because you have the 3 other Kirbys with you to be happy!"

Yellow Kirby looked away before nodding and smiling to Green Kirby. "Yes...yes! I still have you!"

"Meat!" Green Kirby yelled happily and Yellow Kirby sweatdropped.

"...Umm...I mean..." he turned to Shadow Kirby. "I have you!"

Dark Kirby smiled and looked at Kirby with another face: "It's time to go now, are you sure you don't want to say anything else to them?"

Kirby nodded. "I'll see you later Kirbys!"

"Bye Kirby!" The 3 Kirbys said waving a hand to the original Kirby with Dark Kirby, then, the Warp Stars slowly flew inside the Amazing Mirror, and the Kirbys disappeared inside as the mirror vanished in thin air with tiny sparks of light as leftovers.

"(So much Kirby for only one occasion...)" Chris and the others thought in unison.

Kirby turned to see them. "And...what are you going to do now?"

Chris rubbed his chin. "According to my DS, the Subspace Army is retreating from Dreamland, I think it's time for us to go now too."

"Something doesn't feel right though..." Pikachu said, getting in a thinking position.

"What do you mean?" Popo asked.

"Doesn't look weird in this way? A final boss waiting for us without a Subspace Bomb under his care? Since when they do that?" Ness asked to himself and the others.

"For this time, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I think so..." Chris said. "But still, something very bad is going to happen later...I have that sudden feeling..."

"W-what kind of feeling?" Lucas asked scared.

"They're making themselves stronger to wipe us out...probably..."

Popo threw his hands above his head. "Okay okay, I get it, but let's discuss this with Master Hand and the rest of the team to get to a point, okay?"

"Okay," they said in unison, nodding as Chris opened the portal to the Smash Mansion.

"Kirby," Chris looked at Kirby. "I really liked to be with you, it was very fun to help you in your troubles, I hope we meet again sometime in the future."

"..." Kirby didn't respond and Chris made a confused face.

"...Hmm...oh! I forgot to say good luck to you right? Then good luck Kirby, we'll meet again very soon for sure!" Chris smiled and waved at Kirby as he walked towards the portal, but something was pulling his robe from behind. "Hey wait, something got my robe...Kirby?"

Kirby looked down at the floor. "Chris...can I...go with all of you...please?"

Everyone's eyes widened a lot and they looked at Kirby. "...What?"

"I want to go and help you too! Also, because I want to see everyone else since the last tournament and meet the new fighters! Please, let me go with you!" Kirby said with a smile, jumping up and down.

"I'm sorry Kirby..." Chris said, with disappointment. "I can't let you go with us now, you have more adventures to have before I can let you join us."

Kirby looked down sadly again. "But...but...but I wanna go!" he started to cry a little. "I wanna go!"

Chris kneeled to Kirby. "Kirby, please, you have to understand! Then for what was the talk with Yellow Kirby?"

"It was only to encourage him, but my case is different, I wanna go Chris!" Kirby started to cry. "I wanna go to help!"

Chris's eyes began to fill with tears and he sniffed. "Pikachu, please stop playing that sad music now..."

"But you destroyed my violin!" Pikachu pointed out.

"I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go!" Kirby continued to yell and cry at the same time.

"K-Kirby, please, stop or you wil-" Chris was interrupted.

"UUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Kirby dropped to his back and started to cry even louder with so many tears strolling down his cheeks and Chris couldn't help it but cried a little.

"Chris, just let him go with us this time!" Ness suggested with tears coming from his eyes.

"Kirby is going to be so helpful, I bet he will!" Pichu said, crying a little.

"Let him join us!" Lucas suggested to stop his tears.

"PLEASE!" the younger Smashers said, crying a little because of Kirby's decision.

Chris sniffed and looked at Kirby, petting his head with his left hand. "Kirby...I have my final decision...do you..want to hear it? It could be bad or good depending of what you do..."

Kirby looked at Chris and smiled and nodded a little with more tears. "Yes...I wanna hear it!"

"My decision is..." Chris got up and put his hammer above his right shoulder. "SCREW DRAWCIA AND THE SQUEAK SQUAD! Jump to my hammer to follow us for the rest of our adventure, together!" He said giving Kirby a smile that made the pink puffball very happy and jumped quickly to Chris's face, hugging him and rubbing his cheek with his before sitting on his hammer.

NEWCOMER!

Kirby (happily and excited) joined your team!

Forest Nature/Area

"Kir-by! Kir-by! Kir-by! Kir-by! Kir-by!" the young Smashers cheered loudly and happily for Kirby, even Chris was cheering happily along with them as Kirby smiled happily and clapped his hands for accepting the decision that probably would bring many fun times to the Smashers.

The Smashers entered inside the portal, but just as the portal was going to close, a fast flying person entered inside in a rush to seek questions about something that was bothering him and the vortex disappeared.

...And if they were there just a little bit longer, they could have seen a battleship flying away inside a dark portal...

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU GAINED 900 SMASH COINS!

Kirby's partnership level is filled!

Ness's partnership level is filled!

Lucas's partnership level is filled!

The Ice Climbers's partnership level is filled!

Pikachu's partnership level is filled!

Pichu's partnership level is filled!

Jigglypuff's partnership level is filled!

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"I-I'm sorry Master Hand! But Kirby wanted to go with us so badly that we didn't had any choice but to recruit him!" Chris said as Kirby looked around the place.

"YOU JUST BROKE THE RULE I WAS TRYING NOT TO BREAK! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW THAT KIRBY IS HERE?!" Master Hand asked yelling, furiously, angrily, irritated and frustrated.

"Er...we'll have a big party?"

"NO! OF COURSE NOT!"

"Then what?!" Pikachu asked angrily.

"...Well...I don't know..."

Everyone stared angrily at Master Hand.

"Seriously," Chris put his hammer down (nearly hitting Pichu) and crossed his arms. "There's no need to be angry about Kirby, I mean, just look at his face!" He held Kirby in his hands. "It's so sickly happy all the time that anyone can do his wishes!"

"Anyone that isn't you." Roy said.

"(Are you aware that you sounded a little bit...)" Lucario talked telepathically to Chris's mind.

"(I know, childish, but you know I act like this because of the excitement.)"

"Ahem."

Someone inside the room coughed a little bit and the Smashers looked around, the voice was deep but also creepy if you didn't knew who it was.

The World Traveler felt his spine trembling with fear because someone stood behind him, he was shorter than Chris, but he could take anyone any day if he wanted to, finally, Chris turned his back to find an unexpected guest that he didn't expected to come yet...

Then all the young Smashers backstepped into the others with their hearts about to exit their bodies in any minute and yelled scared.

"ME-ME-META KNIGHT?!" They said scared, in unison, seeing no one else than Meta Knight, with his mask, or his yellow eyes inspecting the room and the Smashers themselves, everything that Chris knew Meta Knight had was all with him, Galaxia returned to him, his cape behind his back, his purple boots sharper than usual and his right hand holding Galaxia.

"Chris, don't tell me you let Meta Knight go with us too!" Ness said glaring at Chris.

"D-don't look at me! I didn't see him entering with us if I remember correctly!" Chris defended himself.

"Humph." Meta Knight said simply and the young Smashers gasped at this. "To think Kirby has spent time with pathetic fighters like you."

A large group of toon red veins appeared on everybody's foreheads by Meta Knight's rude comment.

"Anybody feels like kick his face right now?" Falco suggested while he glared at Meta Knight.

"Hmm...Meta Knight..." Meta Knight turned to Master Hand. "Is there a reason of why are you here? I know there's a reason of your sudden visit to the mansion...am I right?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Yes, I do have a reason to come here."

Chris made a confused face. "You do? Then it's not your hatred towards the potatoes?"

Meta Knight just stared at Chris with some intrigue. "...As I was saying before, there is something to ask you about a problem I had a while ago..." He turned his back to them. "It is crucial to request your help for my trouble, however, I'm searching for help and nothing else, I don't have plans to stay and help you out with your own business and once you help me, I'm leaving for good."

"When you put that in that way, it sounds a little demanding." Marth said.

"Because, indeed, I'm demanding for answers right now." Meta Knight pointed his sword at Chris, and Lucario stepped in front of him to protect Chris while he glared at Meta Knight. "Tell me everything about the thiefs who stole the Halberd! My battleship for missions of high danger!"

"T-t-the Halberd?! Was stealed?!" Chris studdered scared by the tone of Meta Knight's voice, as a sudden silence spreaded through the room.

Preview of the next chapter

"Boring, boring, boring!" King Dedede said furiously. "When that little puffball is not around to be annoyed by one of my ingeniuos schemes, everything really sucks! First, that weird mirror-thingy appears in the sky, second, the pink marshmallow goes off to save us from imminent destruction," He put his right hand on his right cheek as he put his right arm above a table. "Man, if there was some way to make the life of Kirby impossible and miserable, I'd do it without complains!"

"Then you will do it?"

"What the-who's dat?!"

"Therefore, I'll ask you to leave right now or else you shall suffer the consequences!" Meta Knight said with a scary tone.

"And what is a tiny masked idiot like you going to do?" Wolf asked smirking and chuckling.

"(It's time to call Galaxia to return to me, sorry Kirby, but this needs desperate actions.)" Meta Knight snapped his fingers and from the window, Galaxia came from the Mirror World and landed in Meta Knight's hand. "En garde!"

"Finally...it's over..." Meta Knight said panting and he turned his back, before a big hammer hit his mask with a strong force, pushing him out of the bridge and out from the ship.

"Hehehehehe! Who thought it was going to be easy to steal Meta Knight's ship?" King Dedede laughed before grabbing the steering wheel of the ship while more Primids appeared behind him. "Hehehehehehe!"

"Mewtwo?" Chris asked as he entered Mewtwo's room, finding the psychic Pokémon floating above a pedestal.

"Yes? What is your motive of your visit?" Mewtwo asked.

"I wanted to say thanks for saving my life when...you know..."

"Next time: How the Halberd was stolen." Meta Knight said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Kirby

Sorry for the chapter being long, but it was for being the 60th chapter. If you guessed, Meta Knight will tell his story about how the Halberd was stolen in the events of the Amazing Mirror when he left Kirby and the others to fight Dark Mind, to stay in the storyline of the Subspace Emissary. And yes, I'll resort to use King Dedede's funny accent as much as I can.

Something is telling me that Meta Knight will be the next protagonist along with someone else too...

References:

-Chris saying that he likes potatoes was a reference to another, totally different story about a girl named Michelle that gets herself inside Tales of Symphonia and says that she likes potatoes randomly after training with Kratos (she even gave him the finger).

According to my promised arcs, the next arc is going to be...

You know what? Try to remember if you readed the special chapter!

Read and review please!
*Chapter 61*: Stolen Masked Ship

Here it is, how the Halberd was...well...stolen, it's in the title, dammit! XD

And so, we begin with Meta Knight's story, read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 61: How the Halberd was stolen

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"...Wait...the Halberd was stolen?" Master Hand asked, breaking the silence.

"Correct, ever since you people, friends of Kirby, came to Dreamland, those foul creatures began to invade the Mirror World and took the time to invade my ship." Meta Knight said.

Chris slowly walked in front of Lucario. "M-Meta Knight...we're not the cause of this trouble..."

"You say that like if it was a common thing, I can tell by the look of your face that you know something about them," He turned to the others. "Including you all, without exceptions."

"Meta Knight," Kirby began. "That means you're going to help us to fight them right?"

"I already said no, until the time I get my ship back, I'll stay here for the time being."

"(This can't be happening, the events that happened during the fight against Tabuu are repeating all by themselves...or...it's just a coincidence?... Hmm... I wonder...)" Master Hand thought to himself. "Meta Knight, can you tell us how did your ship was stolen again?"

Meta Knight nodded, sheating his sword. "Everything happened like this when I left Kirby to fight Dark Mind while I returned to Dreamland..."

Flashback

Before Meta Knight's story...

Dreamland
King Dedede Castle

We see King Dedede's castle above a high cliff close to the ocean, the camera goes through the long halls, going further and further inside as we see many Waddle Dees with spears and Waddle Doos walking along to inspect all corners that they saw along the way, but our attention goes inside 2 big golden double doors, where a big penguin in king's clothes was utterly bored for not finding something to get distracted with. That king's name was King Dedede.

"Boring, boring, boring!" King Dedede said furiously. "When that little puffball is not around to be annoyed by one of my ingeniuos schemes, everything really sucks! First, that weird mirror-thingy appears in the sky, second, the pink marshmallow goes off to save us from imminent destruction," He put his right hand on his right cheek as he put his right arm above a table. "Man, if there was some way to make the life of Kirby impossible and miserable, I'd do it without complains!"

"Then you will do it?"

"What the-who's dat?!"

His pupils shrunk so fast and looked around his chamber, to find the intruder who spoke to him.

"Okay pal, show your big face to smack it with mah hammer!" King Dedede said smirking and spinning his hammer.

"Very well." The voice said as a huge void of nothingness engulfs the chamber and Dedede looked below him, stepping above nothing and wails his arms around in terror, grabbing his hammer with force to guard himself from any surprise attack (that he would rather run before fighting it).

"H-hey! M-my castle is gone! Who dah hell are ya?!" King Dedede asked trying to sound scary, but his voice was scared.

"So, we finally meet, King Dedede..." The king looked above him to find Tabuu, glancing at him as the penguin began to tremble with fear.

"G-g-g-g-g-ghost!"

"Silence you fool, I am not here to harm you...yet..."

Dedede hid his face inside his robe by this comment. "T-t-t-tell me you're lying..."

"Maybe...maybe not..."

"W-w-what's your business to interrupt mah privacy?! Can't ya see I'm busy right now?!"

"I am merely a friend of yours."

"...Y-y-yeah...sure...that explains a lot..."

"Do not fear me," Tabuu said. "I heard you want to make Kirby's life a hell, am I right?"

Dedede revealed his face to Tabuu. "H-huh? Do ya know that Kirby dingo-dingy then?!"

Tabuu nodded with a chuckle. "Indeed, my sources tells me that you always make Kirby's life a hell just for fun, you enjoy your time crushing, torturing, laughing and watch him cry on the ground while you laugh at him."

"N-now we're almost talkin' the same way..."

"Again, indeed, you are one of those persons who likes to see the pain of others, what are you going to do if I propose to you a deal?"

"A-a-a deal? What's ya talkin' about?"

"Here is my deal, I let you do anything you want to do with Kirby if you do me 3 favors."

"A-a-a-and those 3 favors are?"

"Simple," Tabuu snapped his fingers and showed the group of Smashers. "The first favor is to take all of them out," He pointed at Chris and Kirby. "Especially this pest and your enemy."

"H-hey...who are those guys?"

"This group is a special group of fighters that lives all together inside a mansion, their leader is Master Hand, the hand of creation that is against me and my organization to take over all the worlds, Kirby is also one of those fighters or "Smashers" as Master Hand says, however, not long ago a new threat joined their ranks, and is this human from the real world."

"Dah puffball is a fighter?! Now that's a laugh! But why do ya think that kid from the real-thingy world is a threat?"

"Since that kid joined them, every plan that I had before were foiled by him, it is rather ridiculous to lose to such inferior being to me."

"...Bah! Pure blasphemy!"

"Of course it is, the next favor is to steal a ship."

"Why bother for a ship? I have mah ships with m-"

"Not an ordinary ship you idiot. I am talking about the Halberd."

"...THE HALBERD?! Are ya crazy?! That ship belongs to the most ruthless, sinister swordsman, Meta Knight! One of Kirby's rivals!"

"Did not you once joined forces with Meta Knight at some point to take Kirby out of your way?"

"Dat was a long time ago you freaky-virtual old geezer!" King Dedede was instantly electrocuted. "Oww..."

"That was one of my powers, do not make me angry OR ELSE."

Dedede slowly got up with more smoke coming from all around him. "I'm not blind...but why do ya need his ship?"

"Once you do the third favor, I will tell you all the details."

"A-a-and that is?"

"The most easiest favor, join me."

"Join you?! Ya mean I'm goin' to be ordered by a old-I mean, a floatin' person that tells his minions what to do for his own pleasure?! What dah ya think this is? Some kinda adventure where ya ask anyone to help ya out?!"

"If you do not like my deal, then I will leave you alone and..."

"W-w-wait!" King Dedede stopped Tabuu when the threat of the Smashers was floating away, as a small grin grew on his face. "I'll...I mean...I have nothin' else to do so your deal isn't so bad at all...but I have a question, how do ya think I'm goin' to beat all those guys by myself?! I'll get mah butt handed down with just 2 of 'em!"

"I have everything planned, my organization is slowly growing by seconds, minutes, hours and days depending of the situations, you will be helped by more members, do not worry about such small details, I will swear you get your reward as soon as possible..."

Dedede looked around scared for not being electrocuted "randomly" as he thought. "(Okay, random old-geezer appears outta nowhere askin' me to torture Kirby every time I want to do it in exchange to help him out, think Dedede, the deal is temptin', yet a little or too dangerous at the same time...who cares?!) Alright whatever your name is!"

"Tabuu."

"Okie-dokie Tabuu, old pal, I'll join you to get mah reward as we promised!" King Dedede said with a smirk.

Tabuu smirked before laughing evily. "Then it is a deal, welcome to my organization and let us take anyone out of our path to gain control of all the worlds!"

"Yeah, right!... Wait! But I don't know where's Meta Knight's ship!"

"Thanks to the Ancient Minister, we found the secret location of the Halberd, at this time, there is a group of monsters outside your castle to show you the way to the Halberd, do not fear them, because they will obey you orders as you want to."

"...Well...can ya please return me to my throne room?"

"Why not." Tabuu snapped his fingers and King Dedede found himself floating above his throne room without the Subspace covering it anymore, falling on his back and rubbing his butt before getting up.

"Geez...what did I get myself into...but mah reward is Kirby! Hehehehe!"

King Dedede laughed to himself as he walked through the corridors where the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos saluted to him, crossing the gate to outside the castle and finding Primids in a formation, the Primids leaded King Dedede through a hidden path where he looked above to find the red sky with the red ocean, the king glanced above him where the Mirror World was and saw 12 small spots from the clouds looking at his direction, but Dedede smirked before continuing further inside the hidden cave the Primids told him to follow.

20 minutes later...

Back with Meta Knight's story...

Mirror World
Entrance

"After Kirby and his friends were swallowed into the portal, I quickly ran away from the Mirror World and descended using my wings to where the Halberd was hidding from any trespasser." Meta Knight narrated as we see him descending at high speed to the area where the sky was red.

"But how did you know that your ship was going to be stolen?" Marth asked outside the flashback.

"Simple, after Kirby managed to get the last shard of the mirror, he got inside and I got outside at the same time in my weak state to search for something to heal me and fast, but as soon as I looked around my surroundings, I saw the hangar where the Halberd was hiding, slowly opening up, but of course, I decided to find out who was trying to take my ship later to help Kirby instead to defeat that version of myself using my sword, Galaxia, and thus giving Galaxia to Kirby to defeat Dark Mind."

"Darn it, I need to fly faster and retrieve my ship once it launches!" The Meta Knight from the flashback said as he landed 2 more minutes later where the secret entrance of the Halberd was. "That evil air...is coming inside my facility..." He looked at the Mirror World. "...No...Kirby needs to use my sword a little longer...this is going to be hard..." He said as he entered inside his hidden facility.

Meta Knight's facility

Meta Knight's Revenge

GET
READY!

With the lack of his sword Galaxia, Meta Knight was instantly defenseless and decided to sneak to his hangar and take over the steering wheel to command his ship to take all the intruders out, unfortunately, his battleship was not only far away from his current position, but the facility that he was currently in was half the long the Halberd is.

"Ugh, why didn't I decided to take other lessons to attack?" Meta Knight complained to himself by wispering and hiding behind some boxes from 5 Shaydas who came floating, he secured his path and ran by flying from evade visual contact.

"It wasn't easy to sneak through my own dungeon, fortunately, judging their movements was enough to let me go through." Meta Knight narrated.

"!!" Meta Knight quickly leaned to the wall before turning a corner where 5 Feyeshes were floating to act as security cameras, the knight looked around to find something to help him to distract the monsters, finding a rock below his right boot, he threw the rock in another hall and the Feyeshes followed the sound and went away, letting Meta Knight to run deeper inside.

"My eyes didn't deceived me, my own facility was plagued by different kinds of monsters that were trying to prevent anyone to reach the Halberd to retrieve it. But nevertheless, I made my way."

"Of all the enemies I made, why are these monsters invading my place?" Meta Knight muttered to himself as he ran through the endless halls to the hangar.

"I never understood why those beasts wanted my ship, until I made it to the hangar."

Hangar

Meta Knight found the hangar, full of Subspace monsters as he expected, taking out many objects that Meta Knight kept inside the battleship for future purposes that he himself concealed from anyone else, but his eyes were being concentrated in the Control Room, where probably one of the leaders of the monsters is currently.

He glanced over a group of Bytans that were carrying purple capes above their round bodies, the freaky enemies entered inside the ship with 6 Big Primids looking down their necks to inspect them, the knight got an idea and took out a Bytan that was going inside the line, silently, he covered his mask with his own cape and got into the line, walking slowly to trick the Big Primids into believing that he was a Bytan, he thought that the bigger they are, the dumber they will be.

And of course, he thought correctly and entered inside his own ship to recover it, and breaking out of the line to sneak.

"Along the way, I saw all the corridors being infested by them, taking out all my items to empty completely my ship to later fill it with something else, it was very irritating to see the battleship turning into a big nest for monsters. But I didn't stayed with arms crossed and continued through."

Later, Meta Knight found other creatures that weren't monsters, but instead of monsters, they were robots with a base, a skinny body with 2 arms of grey colors and a head with 2 black eyes like binoculars, many types of robots were transporting heavier items than the Primids, what more else, Meta Knight found something written on a robot that was malfuctioning, it readed:

Family Computer Robot

"...I shuddered and shook the thought of something written on those robots out of my mind, thinking a weird machine with something like...that written on its base was embarrassing if the Halberd was the current subject..."

Meta Knight had many obstacles in his way to the Control Room, first, he had to make sure to not create any sound by his boots, second, he had to take the long road because the short road was infested or plagued by Gamygas, Primids walked fom anywhere like soldiers waiting to get an order to do something, the knight sneaked through the different problems, such as evade visual contact with 3 Roturrets that were acting like security cameras like the Feyeshes, a Fire Primid almost catch sight of his cape but it remembered that the Bytans were in charge to keep them safe and thought that Meta Knight was a Bytan.

Control Room

"Fortunately, I was able to reach the Control Room of my ship where all the operations are ordered from there, but also, I came across an evil entity with his back turned to see me, and of top of that, I could sense a smirk growing in his face, that person was a wolf with a look of a criminal."

"That wolf was Wolf?" Popo asked outside the flashback.

"Just how many times will he try stop us?" Falco asked.

"Until the day he defeats Fox...maybe..." Chris said as Fox looked away a little upset about Wolf.

"Wait, I thought he gave up to try to find the Halberd!" Pikachu said.

"Wolf is not that stupid, he will try to finish his objective even if you see him defeated, why do you think we're always trying to beat him when he always comes back to fight us?" Falco asked.

"So I was right after all, this has somehing to do with you." Meta Knight said as he continued to narrate his story.

"Who are you and why are you doing with the Halberd?" Meta Knight asked with irritation in his voice.

"Well, well..." Wolf turned his back to see Meta Knight and crossed his arms. "The owner of the ship finally appears."

"I asked you a question, who are you?"

Wolf chuckled. "My name is Wolf O'Donnell, I'm one of members of the Subspace Army."

"Subspace Army? And why my ship is currently being filled with those worthless monsters?"

"Isn't obvious you idiot? We're going to take this from you to make our plans easier."

"Without my permission?!"

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Like if you were going to lend us your ship if we asked to."

"Don't try my patience and leave the Halberd at once, this is an order!"

"I'm not going to listen to your demands, nobody tells me what to do except for Tabuu."

"As a warrior and user of the legendary sword Galaxia, I ask you to leave with your monsters peacefully and away from my facility without unnecessary fights brewing up all over the place!"

"(I've had enough of this guy already...)"

"Therefore, I'll ask you to leave right now or else you shall suffer the consequences!" Meta Knight said with a scary tone.

"And what is a tiny masked idiot like you going to do?" Wolf asked smirking and chuckling.

"(It's time to call Galaxia to return to me, sorry Kirby, but this needs desperate actions.)" Meta Knight snapped his fingers and from the window, Galaxia came from the Mirror World and landed in Meta Knight's hand. "En garde!"

"Try it, I dare you!" Wolf taunted as he ran towards Meta Knight, beginning a battle between the 2.

"And so, we started a fight between the 2, he had a horrible style of battle because I was taunting him a lot of times, I always let the rage rise up from enemies like him to blind them completely to make everything easier for me."

Meta Knight was grabbed by 2 Big Primids and Wolf started to prepare the ship to take off, all the monsters outside the Halberd were now getting inside the ship as the ship began to rise up from the hangar and out from the facility.

"But then, I was the one enraged after I saw my ship taking off from my facility. Causing my concentration to go down."

The warrior used Mach Tornado to defeat both Big Primids as he charged at Wolf, but the grey vulpine stepped out of the way and slashed his right claw in Meta Knight's mask.

"Then he did the unthinkable, pull my mask away from my face."

"He did?" Kirby asked outside the flashback and Meta Knight nodded. "Then he saw your face?"

"Fortunately, no, I kicked his nose-" Falco chuckled at this. "-to make him to sneeze while I went for my mask that he threw away before he could see my face, then I returned to fight him back, he told me how pathetic my sword was when he blocked my attack with the iron boot of his left foot."

"It's incredible that a legendary sword can't even get pass my foot, you're pathetic." Wolf taunted smirking.

"As you are more then."

"Using one of my new moves that I call Dimensional Cape, it makes me to vanish quickly from the sight of my enemy and appear in a short distance away or behind him."

"And the latter happened, right?" Master Hand asked.

"Indeed, he was left surprised before I began to thrust my sword several times in his back before pinning him down at the floor, then I questioned him again."

"Now, leave my ship peacefully with your monsters and I'll promise I won't harm you in any way possible." Meta Knight demanded while he was above Wolf's back.

"Maybe..." Wolf said. "...Maybe NOT!"

"UGH!"

"He made a cheap trick to me, incidentaly, while I questioned him, he slid his hand to reach a gun with a knife below the shooter and cut my right arm."

"Meta Knight, are you alright?" Kirby asked.

"Yes, the wound he made me healed by itself an hour ago. After I noticed, there was an odd sound coming from the hall leading to the room where we were, but I left that thought before hearing a growl as I was pulled to the air by him, using a first kick that sent me above as he turned upside-down to deal another kick, obviously, I sensed his ego when I saw his arms crossed when he was upside-down, before he went rocketing towards me to push me down in the floor, with his iron boot above my back, increasing the pain."

Wolf chuckled evily as he crossed his arms, proudly. "Don't tell me that was all talk just to distract me, I'm not that pathetic."

"In reality, you're pathetic."

Wolf glared at Meta Knight, increasing the force of his leg to hurt Meta Knight. "What did you say?"

"In reality...you're pathetic...are you deaf?"

"Then, I was still hearing that sound of someone, he or she was hiding behind the door to the Control Room, but in my current situation, I decided to take care of him first."

"I'll teach you to-" Wolf noticed that where he pinned Meta Knight down, the warrior was typing on a secret control panel, when Wolf looked outside the window, a big mechanical claw destroyed the glass to enter and grabbed him, pulling Wolf above Meta Knight who slowly got up panting heavily. "You piece of sh-"

"Good...bye..." Meta Knight said panting, ordering the claw to throw Wolf away from the ship and into the ocean.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!" Wolf yelled at the top of his lungs as he splashed inside the water, before getting out and seeing the ship flying away to the red sky, as he sneezed again.

Music stops

"Then, the only thing that was left was to turn the ship to the hangar and take out the monsters from my facility and the Halberd. But if you recall, the sound from before was getting louder and louder behind me, unfortunately, I was panting heavily, preventing me from hear the sound."

"Finally...it's over..." Meta Knight said panting and he turned his back, before a big hammer hit his mask with a strong force, pushing him out of the bridge and out from the ship.

"Hehehehehe! Who thought it was going to be easy to steal Meta Knight's ship?" King Dedede laughed before grabbing the steering wheel of the ship while more Primids appeared behind him. "Hehehehehehe!"

"Of all the enemies, monsters, abnormalities, rivals, arch-rivals and troubles, King Dedede had to be the last person in my mind to actually hit me when I was low of energy." Meta Knight narrated, irritated.

"There's no doubt he joined them too!" Master Hand said.

"After that embarrassing defeat, the ship began to accelerate, preventing my progress to land because not only that happened, but the monsters took control of the Halberd and ordered it to fire all cannons to me, of course, there was no choice left but to fly away back to Dreamland to heal a little and recover my energy. And I saw the sky as always, peaceful, Kirby was able to defeat Dark Mind after all."

Dreamland

"My ship was stolen from me...that strange Subspace Army organization appeared out of nowhere...and I don't have any clue to follow them..." Meta Knight said as he landed near some trees. "...Huh?"

"And then, I've found you by pure coincidence, overhearing your talk with Kirby."

"And...what are you going to do now?" Kirby asked.

Chris rubbed his chin. "According to my DS, the Subspace Army is retreating from Dreamland, I think it's time for us to go now too."

"(Did he said Subspace Army? Are they on their trails too?)" Meta Knight thought as he continued to hear the young group of Smashers.

"Something doesn't feels right though..." Pikachu said, getting in a thinking position.

"What do you mean?" Popo asked.

"Doesn't looks weird in this way? A final boss waiting for us without a Subspace Bomb under his care? Since when they do that?" Ness asked to himself and the others.

"For this time, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I think so..." Chris said. "But still, something very bad is going to happen later...I have that sudden feeling..."

"W-what kind of feeling?" Lucas asked scared.

"They're making themselves stronger to wipe us out...probably..."

Popo threw his hands above his head. "Okay okay, I get it, but let's discuss this with Master Hand and the rest of the team to get to a point, okay?"

"Okay." They said in unison, nodding as Chris opened the portal to the Smash Mansion.

"Just by hearing that talk, I managed to get a clue to get my ship back, I've realized that you were in this matter too." Meta Knight narrated as his flashback self looked at Kirby crying with tears as Chris smiles and his tears disappears and jump to his hammer as the others cheered Kirby. "And of course, that strange portal that the kid-" Chris's right eye twitched at this. "-made was strange in some way, but when I saw all of you entering inside, I flew quickly inside before it could vanish to follow you. I felt the Halberd slowly flying away from Dreamland as I got here."

End of flashback

End of Meta Knight's story

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"And that's the end of my story." Meta Knight said.

"I'm sorry for hearing that your ship was stolen because of us...I'm sorry Meta Knight. (Now I need to hear that apologize from calling me "kid")" Chris said innocently, but thought evily, and creepy.

"Of course, that fault will not be forgiven."

"...What?"

"Until all of you help me to recover my ship, I will not pardon your fault for getting in Kirby's way."

Everyone glared at Meta Knight by this comment.

"Getting in Kirby's way? What the heck are you talking about?! He was in trouble when they invaded your world!" Falco protested.

"You fool."

"What was that?"

"That could be the test to make Kirby a stronger fighter if it weren't for you to help him."

"Now now Meta Knight..." Master Hand said calmly. "No need to be rude with everyone els-"

"And you, if you're the leader of the group, then you should be ashamed for sending them to help Kirby, only a minuscule brain like yours can have those kind of dumb ideas." Meta Knight said blankly.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Master Hand's glove was now red and Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Ness, Roy and Pit tried to get him away from murdering Meta Knight.

"...Humph..." Meta Knight said simply as he walked away, stopping in front of Falco who was pissed off at Meta Knight's talk. "Hand."

"YES?!" Master Hand asked angrily, still with the mentioned characters trying to hold him off.

"Kirby told me that this mansion has many rooms, I remembered that he also told me a long time ago that you were building my own room here if I wanted to join, where is my room?"

"SECOND FLOOR, RIGHT NEXT TO KIRBY'S ROOM, CROSSING THE GREAT DEKU TREE REPLICA!"

"Thank you," He looked up to see Falco glaring at him with crossed arms. "Out of the way."

"No, I still have something to discuss with yo-"

PUNCH!

"OWW!!"

Apparently, Meta Knight had the bravery to hit Falco...where it hurts so much...

"A word of advice," Meta Knight began. "The black part of his pants is his weak point," He looked at Fox. "And so does him." And with that, he walked away to his room.

"You...little...piece of..." Falco managed to say, twitching in pain. As Lucas backed away from him.

"LET ME GO!" The red Master Hand said angrily.

"NO WAY!" Chris, Ness and Pit said in unison, but the PK user and Roy gave up and jumped away from the hand.

"I need to go to my room as well..." Ness said before Roy stopped him. "Yes Roy?"

"So Ness..." Roy began with a small grin on his face. "About that little and secret group..."

"..." Ness's face turned to a bright red.

Outside

"JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFF!!" Ness's voice boomed from inside the mansion with rage, fury and irritation.

Mewtwo's Room

After this event passed, Chris decided to go with Mewtwo, ever since he returned from Hyrule and saving his life once, the World Traveler grew a little worried about the Psychic Pokémon's sake. Although Chris was more preocupied about the partnership level with him and Mewtwo, since his level was the lowest of all the others Smashers.

"Mewtwo?" Chris asked as he entered Mewtwo's room, finding the psychic Pokémon floating above a pedestal.

"Yes? What is your motive of your visit?" Mewtwo asked.

"I wanted to say thanks for saving my life when...you know..."

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I see, I've already readed your mind with the response you want to say to me."

"Oh...well...that was...fine I guess...so Mewtwo, are you alright to go with us to save another world?"

"My energy has recovered just now, but I'll go if the status of the next world lets me to do it."

"Mewtwo, did you somehow knew who came to join us?"

Mewtwo nodded. "Kirby, I know, and the solitary Meta Knight, I knew it because I used my mind to see from my room about his narration of how his ship was stolen from him."

"You have some incredible abilities with you."

"But I curse them at the same time."

Chris made a confused face. "Huh? Why?"

Mewtwo got down, floated and looked outside the window. "I was created by Mew's DNA in Cinnabar Island's lab to be the strongest Pokémon of all, but the burden of carrying out my psychic powers are a pain in reality."

"But that power is devastating and helpful! You should be happy for having that ability!"

"I should...yes...but it wasn't easy to control it at first. When I was born, everything around me either floated or went flying to different directions, my abilities at that time were poor and I almost destroyed the lab, then, the scientists managed to put all kinds of machinery that inflicted pain on me from restraining the crazy psychic power that went out of control, but in doing so, they weakened me in a painful action."

"Wow..." Chris looked away. "That sounds painful..."

Mewtwo turned to him. "After that, they kept me for years and years to let me to control my own power, I grew up inside the capsules, without nothing else to do but look around the lab, papers, talks, laughs, machines constantly making sounds, I was bored to death..."

"What happened after that?"

"The scientists goals were to use me to cause destruction and pain to conquer the world, use me?! For their own deeds?! What was that all about?! I'm not a thing! I'm a living Pokémon that wants to have a peaceful life without causing destruction!"

Chris noticed that Mewtwo was glowing. "O-okay Mewtwo...y-you can calm down now..."

"CALM DOWN?!" He yelled as he flung a chair at Chris, but he ducked to evade it, with terror. "They were trying to use me! I don't want to be someone's toy! That enrages me and makes me to want to kill someone to ease my deep pain!"

"M-M-Mewtwo! P-p-please! Get a hold of yourself, you're trying to kill me just to ease your pain? W-what is that going to bring to you?"

Mewtwo blinked in shock and he stopped glowing and panted heavily. "I'm sorry, just remembering that horrible event...you know already..."

Chris slowly got up, shaking. "I-i-it's okay...everything is fine now...but how did you join them?"

"One day, Master Hand came when I was hiding at the top of the tallest mountains of Kanto, he asked me if I wanted to live in a place where more persons fights and lives together, just for fun, I've realized that there was nowhere else to go..."

"Then you joined."

Mewtwo nodded. "That's right, ever since I came here, everyone treated me as a friend, I met Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff, more Pokémon that didn't had a past like me, I was distant, but I was able to live here, I was happy but didn't showed that emotion to anyone else..."

"And you're showing it just now."

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm just imagining things...so, are you ready to go?"

Mewtwo nodded again. "Yes...thank you for hearing my story."

"It was a little educational, I like to learn anyway." Chris could have sworn that Mewtwo chuckled a little bit. "Was that a-"

"Let's go." Mewtwo said simply, floating away to the Command Room with Chris following him.

Preview of the next arc

"Amy, be more careful with our only clue."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Amy apologized.

"The Halberd is getting away!" Chris said.

"Wait! You're going to the same direction we're going, let us go with you!" Amy said.

"For what?"

"Because Sonic headed to that direction too." Amy said with hearts appearing behind her.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Roy asked annoyed.

"Hey, watch your mouth pal, I'm the leader of my own agency!" Vector said proudly.

"Marth, can you tell me how did we ended up with this jerk again?" He wispered to Marth and Pit.

"C'mon! You're too slow!" Sonic said tapping his foot at the end of Grand Metropolis with Tails and Knuckles.

"Wait...wait...a minute...please..." Falco asked panting heavily. "Our speed member doesn't runs as fast as you..."

"What was that supposed to mean?" Fox asked annoyed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Ice Climbers, Pit, Fox, Falco, Ness, Marth, Lucas, Kirby

Moral of the chapter: That Kirby can't drive a dingo-dingy!

I sense a high level of danger mission in the next arc! Can anyone guess what arc is the next one? It's soooooooooooooooo simple to guess! A lot of things are going to happen in the next arc, teams, members that you didn't expected to see between other things, also, Mewtwo and Meta Knight are going to be the protagonists too.

Anyway, Meta Knight hasn't officially joined the team, so, no space for him in the data section, oh yes, I'm just so evil. XD

Read and review please!

And...

FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!
*Chapter 62*: Obey Or Die, Inferior Being

The next arc...is here people...4 different ways...4 different perspectives...4 different teams...4 different paths to destruction! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-cough, cough, cough-HAHAHAHAHAHA! XD

And the Halberd first mission is shown too, so, we begin now!

Read, enjoy and REVIEW please! :)

Chapter 62: A not so friendly Meta Knight

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Hehehehe!" King Dedede laughed at Wolf. "You couldn't accomplish a tiny mission but I did! Hehehe!"

"Grr!" Was Wolf's reply.

"Enough." Tabuu said. "Get used to him, because I'll send him with you from now on."

"And more ways to kill him in the process too." Wolf smirked and Dedede's laugh faded as a scared look on his face appeared. "But I wonder how does the penguin's meat tastes too..." Dedede ducked covering his head in terror.

"YIKES!"

"I have said enough you two!" Tabuu said angrily. "Since this is the first time one our plans succeeds, we are going to prepare to launch a full invasion to the next world using the Halberd as our moving base of operations, the Ancient Minister already added all the "sources" of the Shadow Bugs to control the ship, as well as the guards to prevent anyone from entering."

"And did you asked around for more members?" Wolf asked.

"Indeed, right now as we speak, Ganondorf is trying to kill Link, Zelda and Midna, but I can see the weakness he has and after Link and him fights on their last battle, I will rescue him from the last blow and he WILL join us or else." Tabuu explained.

"Any word of the traumatized old kid?"

Tabuu frowned at this. "The idiot lost himself in the Subspace, but it is going to be easy to find him, although I do not think he has recovered from that event yet."

"I see, and what world is the next one?"

"The traitor's world." Tabuu snapped his fingers showing a familiar blue hedgehog with a smirk on his face.

"The blue egocentrical idiot..." Wolf said frowning.

Dedede got up angrily. "Hey! I'm not egocentrical ya furry!"

"Who was talking about you? You idiot?"

"SILENCE!" Tabuu yelled angrily. "NOW, ABOARD THE HALBERD AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE OVER SONIC'S WORLD ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Roger..." He said leaving to aboard the Halberd, dragging King Dedede with his right claw on the king's robe's collar.

Tabuu looked away. "Minions are so useless these days..."

Smash Mansion
Meta Knight's Room

When Chris and Mewtwo were in the half to their way to the Command Room, Chris went to Meta Knight's Room remembering crossing the Great Deku Tree replica (that was very well made in Chris's opinion) and found the knight inspecting his own room.

"Meta Knight?" Chris called from the door.

"It's you." Meta Knight said, turning to Chris as he closed a drawer.

"Are you alright to be with us? I mean, after you told that...rude...explanation about the Halberd..."

"Humph, fate decided to let us meet in this situation, but I'm not planning to make friendships with any of you."

Chris looked away. "But I could try..."

"Don't do it."

"Why? Isn't Kirby a fri-"

"Finish that sentence and-"

"I know, I'm dead." He said that just to make Meta Knight chuckle, but it didn't worked. "Oh, that's right, I should tell you about the rules to let you go with me an-"

"I already readed that on this manual." Meta Knight said as he took out a manual from the drawer he just closed, the manual's label said: "Rules to travel for dummies."

"...Er..."Rules to travel for dummies"?"

Meta Knight looked at the manual. "Wait, this isn't the one I readed...here." He put the fake manual inside and took the real one. "It says that only me and Kirby are allowed to go to any world as you."

"...You and Kirby can go to ANY world if you want? There are no restrictions for that?"

"No, apparently, since Kirby and me are a strange race as the manual says, it allows us to go to any world without restrictions."

"(Great, the cold warrior that is SMALLER than me but can take me out in a matter of seconds can keep tabs on me whenever he wants...but at least Kirby can go too...) Honestly, I think that's a little unfair for everyone else."

"I, too, think it's a little unfair..."

"Really?"

"But on the other hand, it's fair, it will let me to follow the Halberd and take it back. I don't care what the others think."

"Meta Knight...you're so cold..." Chris muttered to himself.

"I heard you muttering something."

Chris shook his head. "N-no, I wasn't mutterin-"

"If you think I'm cold, then think that way, it doesn't matters to me what the others sees in me."

"Okay, what's your problem you little knight? We're friendly and we're trying to help you in recovering your ship as soon as possible! When are you going to accept our trust in you?"

"When I leave, and I don't have any problem at all."

"Then what is it?"

Meta Knight walked to his side to the Command Room. "I don't like people like you or them, that's all." And he left as the sound of his boots made a silent echo.

"...Dr. Kawashima..." Chris took out his DS.

"Yes?" Dr. Kawashima asked.

"Can you show me the partnership level with Meta Knight?"

"Of course...here is it..."

Meta Knight: 0

"He...hates me..." Chris muttered.

"I'm afraid so, his partnership level is even worse than Mewtwo's!"

"This is going to be hard to get him to get along with me or them..."

"Aw, don't worry about that, I'm sure someday he will stay here!"

"And that day will be..."

"...Possible never..."

"Thank you, that really helps a lot." Chris replied sarcastically.

"...And...what do we do now?"

"Um-"

"WARNING! WARNING! SUBSPACE ARMY IS CURRENTLY INVADING A WORLD IN A BIG SCALE, REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO THE COMMAND ROOM AT ONCE!" The speaker yelled robotically as red lights covered every single corner of the mansion.

"Oh no, they're probably using the Halberd already!" Dr. Kawashima said shocked.

"I-I need to go!" Chris said running away from Meta Knight's Room.

Hallway

Ness bumped into Chris. "Oh, sorry about that." Ness said.

"Ness, aren't you going with us this time?" Chris asked.

"Nah, I need to rest, I think I saw Lucas heading to the attic."

"Shouldn't you follow him?"

"I'm not his mom!"

"Oops...sorry..."

And that little moment ended, awkward, wasn't it?

Command Room

"What's the problem now?" Chris asked as he stopped running.

"The Subspace Army are using the Halberd!" Master Hand said as the image of the next world was shown on the screen.

Sonic Heroes
Current Status: Various
Race: ?
Number of protagonists: 12
Level of danger: High
Members allowed to dispatch: 12
Highly recommended abilities: Teamwork skills

"But the level of danger is high, why can't all of us go?" Pit asked.

"I think I know the answer for that question..." Chris said. "I remember that this world is from Sonic, obviously by the title, but also, there are four teams that have almost the same objective and met at the end of each one's story."

"Four teams? For what?" Roy asked.

"Well...each one has 3 members that helps along the way, not only that, every member has an especialty like great speed, fly abilities and power, I'm not sure if we're going to the same place but..." He pointed the Wiimote at the game's case but instead of 1 portal, 4 portals appeared at the same time, one besides the other. "4 portals? Then does that mean we're going to be separated?"

"It seems that way." Master Hand said.

"...I...suppose 3 persons needs to enter a portal for it to disappear..." He looked at them. "Actually, I'm not completely sure if we need to make those teams now...okay, Lucario, try to enter one portal."

"Roger." Lucario said, but as soon he touched the portal, he was instantly electrocuted. "Ugh!"

"Lucario! Are you okay?"

"Yes...it was just a little pain..." Lucario said and Falco looked away embarrassed for being toasted the last time.

"Then it's true...but now, let's do this this way, Marth, Pit, please enter the portal at the same time with Lucario, but don't cross to the other side, just touch it with your hands to see the results."

"O-okay..." Pit said as he and Marth stood next to Lucario, the 3 Smashers touched the same portal and their hands went through without problems. "Nothing happened, what a relief."

"Well, I get it now, you 3 are creating a team with speed, fly and power abilities, just as I thought." Chris said. "So then, we have to make 4 teams with members that have speed, fly and power abilities combined. If there is anyone that thinks he or she is fast, please raise your hand."

Marth, Fox, Falco and Pikachu raised their hands to the air.

"Okay, now members who think they have the ability to fly."

Pit, Kirby and Meta Knight raised their hands.

"Wait, we're missing one flight member...and...well..."

"Hey, why are you looking at me?" Falco asked.

"Hmm...well...honestly, I think you should be with the flight members instead of the speed members..."

"And why is that?"

"You're a bird, birds should know how to fly, don't they?"

Falco looked away embarrassed again. "Umm...yes...we should..."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Falco...don't tell me you..."

Instantly, Falco raised his hand to change from speed members to flight members. "Done!" He said sweating a little.

"..." Chris sweatdropped. "...That fixes it but now we're missing a speed member...where is Jigglypuff by the way?"

"She and the Ice Climbers went to rest as Ness, Lucas and Pichu did." Master Hand pointed out.

"You were going to accept her as a speed member?" Roy asked and Chris nodded slowly. "She's not fast in the ground, just to let you know."

"Oops, I forgot about that...then who?"

"You." Lucario said.

"M-me?!"

"Yes, maybe there is a job in the shop for you to increase your speed."

Chris walked to Crazy Hand's shop, seeing the list again.

Smash Coins in hand: 2700

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins

Racer - 800 Smash Coins

Chozo Arts - 750 Smash Coins

"Wait, the Racer job..." Chris handed 800 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand and he instantly glowed, his previous clothes were replaced by blue goggles, a blue shirt with the 07 numbers on the front and the back while his short sleeves had a checkered design, he was now wearing black pants with 2 golden shoes with an image of a falcon on the front on each shoe, a red bandana was wrapped around his neck, there were also white gloves on his hands. "...Hey...the 07 numbers are so familiar..."

"That's because it's Captain Falcon's machine's number." Marth said.

"Then...does that mean I can use the Falcon Punch?"

"Probably!" Crazy Hand said, as he saw Chris running a little around the room.

"Well...I don't feel much faster than before, but it helps."

"(He's sounding like when he does his homework back at home.)" Lucario thought.

"Well, I'm officialy the fourth speed member, moving on, please raise your hand if you have the power ability." Chris said.

Roy, Lucario, Mewtwo and Lucas...wait...raised their hands.

"Lucas? What are you doing here?" Chris asked.

"I thought it would be good to go...also, the attic was very scary too..." Lucas said studdering a little.

"Can you at least do something to show us your power ability?"

"Like this?" Lucas asked as he gathered his PK power and releasing it with a big force towards the wall, destroying it.

"Wh-whoa!" Pikachu said surprised.

"Yes, who is going to pay for that wall?" Master Hand asked annoyed, looking at Chris.

"You! Just snap your fingers!" Chris said angrily.

"(Rats! I almost got the money!)" Master Hand as he snapped his fingers and the wall was instantly repaired.

"Now that that's done, please form your teams." Chris said calmly and they quickly made the teams. "Wait, I want Meta Knight and Mewtwo to come with me this time."

"Wha-? Why?" Kirby asked.

"Yes Chris, why do you want me in another team?" Lucario asked, crossing his arms.

"Because I want to spend more time with them and I need to get to know them more, I'm sorry if you don't like my decision."

"...No...I'm fine with that..." Lucario said as he and Kirby were separated from Chris and Meta Knight and Mewtwo stood at each side of him.

"So, the teams are..."

Speed/Fly/Power

Team 1: Chris/Meta Knight/Mewtwo

Team 2: Pikachu/Kirby/Lucas

Team 3: Fox/Falco/Lucario

Team 4: Marth/Pit/Roy

"Hmm, the members of each team looks good in my opinion." Chris said. "Now, we just need to enter a portal and the-"

"WAIT!" Master Hand yelled.

"What is it?"

"I forgot to change Kirby's Melee form to his Brawl form!"

"Yay! Another new form!" Kirby cheered as Master Hand snapped his fingers, the pink puffball was instantly glowing brightly as he changed from his Melee look to his Brawl form, the only thing that was surprising all of them was the long process of 20 seconds.

"What? Kirby is evolving?!" Falco joked.

"Good one Falco, really, good one." Pikachu said sarcastically as they saw Kirby's Brawl form...without any change at all.

"...Nothing happened..." Roy said.

"No, see? He's less pinky!" Crazy Hand said as Kirby jumped up and down.

Chris sweatdropped. "He looks exactly the same!"

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does!"

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he doe-ugh, let's continue, it's everyone ready?" He saw the Smashers nodding. "Okay, now select the portal and let's begin."

"Team Sword will win!" Roy said as everyone stared at him.

"Hey, that doesn't sounds so bad, we should name our team too!" Falco suggested as everyone else started to wisper and name their teams (except Chris, Meta Knight, Mewtwo and Lucario).

Chris rolled his eyes and sighed. "Is everyone ready now?"

"Team Sword is ready!" Pit said.

"Team Star Fox is ready too!" Falco said.

"Team Y.S. (Young Smashers) is more ready than ever!" Pikachu said.

"(I'm really ashamed for their selections of names...couldn't they choose a better name than those ones?) Hmm...Team...er...Bloody is ready too..."

"(Just because we're a force to be reckoned with in the battlefield doesn't means we're bloody.)" Meta Knight thought.

"(...)" Mewtwo didn't thought anything or even cared about the name of his team.

"Let's begin!" Chris said excited as the four teams entered inside each portal at the same time, appearing on different places near the Seaside Hill level.

Sonic Heroes

Beach Resort
Team Rose

Follow Me

"Oh, no!" A familiar pink hedgehog called Amy lost an important clue to find her "lover" Sonic, it was a newspaper that flew away from her hand with the wind, luckily, an orange rabbit with a small blue ribbon and orange skirt flew using her long ears to catch the newspaper with ease, along with her little friend, Cheese, a Chao, the name of the little young rabbit was Cream, Cream the Rabbit, as she and Cheese landed in front of Amy.

"Amy, be more careful with our only clue."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Amy apologized.

Then another strong wind came, and unfortunately Cream wasn't heavy enough and she along with Cheese were taken away, but as soon as she almost lost the sight of Amy, a hook of a fishing rod caught her skirt and puller her to a big purple cat, which ironically his name was Big, he pulled out an umbrella to make Cream to land safely of the wooden bridge between him and Amy.

"Nice catch, Big!" Amy complimented and Big laughed heartily.

"Hmm, Amy, do you had an idea where is Mr. Sonic?" Cream asked as she glanced at the photo of a brown Chao which was to the right hand of what appeared to be Sonic, that was Cheese's brother. "Chocola..." She muttered.

"Froggy..." Big said sadly as he looked at a green frog on the left hand.

"I'm not sure where is Sonic, but something tells me that our luck will change in this beautiful day!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!" A person fell near the water with a big splash, soaking the 3 members of Team Rose as they sneezed and dried themselves.

"...Or not..." Amy added as she dried her skirt.

The person that fell from the water was Chris, because the portal appeared just floating at a big height in midair, Mewtwo and Meta Knight were still floating down slowly, but they were still far away.

"...Mr. Big...can you fish whoever fell inside the water?" Cream asked and Big nodded, sitting on the bridge and throwing his hook in the water, after 10 seconds of silence the reel was now entering inside the water and Big pulled slowly his prey, the World Traveler that spat water out from his mouth and looked up at the sky.

"Pfft! Mewtwo, why didn't you used your psychic powers when I fell?" Chris complained as his gloves were creating drops from the tip of his fingers.

"...Chris?" Amy asked.

"...Amy?" Chris asked.

"Whoa! I didn't expected to see you here! A lot of things have happened ever since you and the others left!" Amy said with a smile as she put her hands on her hips.

"Okay but...can you put me in the land, please?" Chris asked to Big and the cat nodded, putting Chris in front of them and taking away the hook from him. "Amy, I told you we were going to meet again!"

"And you did, I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Amy, is he the same person who had Chris's name too?" Cream asked while she hugged her Chao with care.

"Of course! Chris, I'd like you to meet by best friend, Cream!"

Chris kneeled to Cream since she was smaller than him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Chris!" He said with a smile, because out of all the Sonic characters, Cream was his favorite character between other 3. (Amy was one of them).

"Hi Mr. Chris, my name is Cream and this is Cheese." Cream said with a smile as she looked at Cheese.

"Chao Chao Chao Chao!" Cheese said happily smiling.

"Oh please, don't say mister to me, I'm not that old yet." Chris said laughing a little.

"Oh, I see Chris." Cream said.

"Now, here's Big." Amy said opening her right hand at Big, the cat was the same height as Chris, why do you think he was named Big anyway?

"Hello, my name is Big, it's good to know more friends of Amy." Big said.

"Yeah, me too." Chris said as he got up.

"So anyway Chris," Amy began. "What's your intention for your...strange way to visit us in time like this?"

"Well, I'm here because the same monsters who invaded the Spce Colony ARK decided to attack you again, the others were separated as we got here."

A fire was now surrounding Amy and Cream hid scared behind Big. "You mean the same idiots who took Sonic as their toy?!"

Even Chris backed away from her, in reality, women were scary. "Y-y-yes ma'am! I-I mean, Amy!"

The fire grew bigger. "And they are here to take him away again?!"

"NO!"

The fire stopped and she smiled, joining her hands together. "Oh, then it's alright...but we need to find him and now! I'm now worried about those things trying to take him to the dark side!"

"Amy, we have to find Sonic!" Cream said.

Amy nodded with another smile. "That's right! Hey Chris, can you follow us to help in our way? Maybe we can protect you too!"

"D-depending of the decision of my teammates that is..." Chris trailed off.

"Teammates? You mean they're with you?" Amy asked as Meta Knight came landing behind Chris and Mewtwo came floating down with arms crossed. "...Chris...you REALLY have a bad way to choose your teammates."

Cream hid behind Big as she looked at Meta Knight. "They're not going to hurt us, right Chris?" She asked a little scared.

"O-of course not! Don't be scared Cream!" Chris said embarrassed.

"Humph, and the first persons of other worlds that I see first are 2 little girls and a big cat." Meta Knight said.

"Hey, who are you calling a little girl?" Amy asked annoyed.

"W-well, technically, I'm still growing up Amy s-" Cream said shyly as she was interrupted.

"I will not let you say things like that again! You hear me?" Amy asked a little angry.

"Do as you wish." Meta Knight said as he walked below the umbrella where Amy was before, sitting.

"...At least I know you though." Amy said as she looked up to Mewtwo. "How are you?"

"Fine." Mewtwo responded nodding.

"...(Honestly, I can't think of anything else to say to this guy.) Hey Chris," She turned to Chris. "Can you follow us to find Sonic then?"

Chris nodded. "Of course, what do you say Mewtwo?"

"It's alright with me." Mewtwo said.

"And you Meta Knight?"

Meta Knight left the chair. "I'm ready to recover my ship."

"Ship? What does he means by ship?" Cream asked curiously, and her cute looks were impossible to ignore to Chris and he happily explained everything to the 3 members of Team Rose, as they walked away from the Beach Resort.

...Oh, and...

Amy, Cream and Big temporaly joined your team!

Seaside Hill
Team Sonic

Sonic Heroes - Opening

"YAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Sonic just has leaped from the top of a mountain near the shore, he opened his arms to feel the air touching his face, as his other 2 teammates, Tails and Knuckles, jumped from each side.

"It think he's just enjoying this a little too much!" Knuckles yelled.

"I don't mind at all! Don't try to wreck his fun when he's like this, or he'll punch you very hard!" Tails yelled from his side.

"YAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"SONIC, SHUT UP!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"WHAT?! I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!" Sonic yelled laughing.

"I'VE SAID, SHUT UP!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! THERE'S SO MUCH NOISE AROUND HERE!"

"YEAH RIGHT, LIKE I'M GOING TO BELIEVE THAT!"

"KNUCKLES! SONIC IS TELLING THE TRUTH! THERE'S A VERY LOUD NOISE COMING IN FRONT OF US!" Tails yelled pointing in front of them, unfortunately, they blinked in confusion as they met face-to-face with a big brown wall that they had unfortunately crashed into. The mountain that they had jumped apparently was the biggest one in the whole region because Sonic wanted to jump from such height, thus crashing into a big, unindentified ship that was flying away.

The trio got themselves out from the wall and they quickly fell unconscious to the sand that was below them.

Speaking of trios, another trio was just below the first trio, at that trio was named Team Star Fox, which obviously had as members Fox, Falco, and unexpectly, Lucario.

"The Halberd!" Fox yelled as he saw the Halberd flying away from them.

"The sun! Is blinding me!" Falco said as the Halberd uncovered the sun which made them to cover their eyes, except for Lucario who backed away. "What's wrong with you?"

"Look out!" Lucario yelled as both members looked up confused, before falling to their backs as Sonic landed on Fox, Tails landed of Falco and Knuckles was the most unlucky character because he landed above a rock where Lucario was standing, and in the head.

"OWW!" Knuckles said awakening from his state and rubbing the big bump on his head. "Ugh! Why did I listened to Sonic in the first place? I told him it was a bad idea to jump from that mountain but no, it's great to feel the air Knuckles, just do it!" He said annoyed as he noticed Lucario looking down at him. "Hey, it's you from the incident in the Space Colony ARK!"

"..." Lucario looked at his companions under the weight of Knuckles's companions, Tails was above Falco's body and Sonic was somehow able to bury Fox under his butt, and above his head.

"Sonic...why didn't you listened to Knuckles?" Tails asked as he got off from Falco, who thought it was a sand castle.

"Look Tails, I can't let opportunities like that pass when I'm around." Sonic said as he got up from the strange light brown spot he landed on.

"But Sonic..." Tails pointed at more hills and mountains behind and beyond. "There are like 10 or 20 more like the last one."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh well, then I think it's not a big deal the-"

"NOT A BIG DEAL?!" Knuckles asked enraged as he accidentaly stepped above Falco. "You say that if it was a normal thing to do that happens commonly!"

"At least when Knucklehead is around." Sonic said trying Knuckles's patience.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Knuckles asked furiously as he was 1 inch away from Sonic's face.

"G-guys please...stop fighting, we need to find Dr. Eggman before the 3 days pass!" Tails said separating both of them. "Good...huh?" Tails looked down at the weird light brown fur below Sonic. "Hey Sonic, I think you landed above someone."

Sonic looked below his right foot. "Hmm, you're right, there's someone hiding in the sand." He started to dig around the spot, until Fox's face was visible and Tails gasped.

"Y-you!" Tails said surprised as Fox spat sand out.

"Pfft!... Tails? Is that you?" Fox asked as he looked up to see Tails.

"Yeah, it's me! How have you been Fox?" Tails asked as he fell to his knees to see Fox.

"Fine, I guess...but did you grew up?"

"Look below you."

Fox looked below him, to find more sand around his throat." Oh...anyone can get me out of this sand please?"

Sonic and Knuckles grabbed Fox's head and they pulled him out, and the vulpine dusted off the sand of his jacket by taking it out and putting it on him again.

"Wait, where is Falco?" Fox asked.

"Over here!" Falco shouted from the sand, below Knuckles who was still above him, or more accurately, his head, burying his beak in the sand.

"Sorry!" Knuckles apologized as he jumped out of Falco and he got up, wiping out the sand from the feathers of his head, spitting out sand as Fox.

"Pfft! Man, that didn't tasted so good." Falco complained.

"You're not here to punch me like last time right?" Sonic asked.

Back in chapter 39...

"GET HIM!" Roy yelled taking out his sword.

"GUYS! STOP PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! AAAHHH!!" Unfortunately, Sonic tripped and everyone lunged at him to kill him in that instant, but the scene stops with Chris being the first one to hit him with his staff and everyone else were too angry at the hedgehog.

Back in the actual chapter...

2 red veins popped out from Fox and Falco's foreheads. "Don't try to remind that to us, OR ELSE." Falco said, glaring at Sonic who laughed a little sacred.

"O-okay...well, why are you here?" Sonic asked.

"We're here to chase the Halberd." Lucario said as he pointed to the Halberd who was going away in the distance.

"The Halberd? Is that the ship we-" Knuckles looked angrily at Sonic. "-"accidentaly" crashed to?"

The 3 Smashers nodded. "Well...it's heading to the same direction we were heading too so...why don't we tag along? It could make the things easier!" Tails said a little excited, because this was the only time he could be able to stay with Fox.

"Of course, I like your idea, what do you think Falco?" Fox asked.

"Meh, I'm in." Falco said, looking at Lucario who was a little upset. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing." Lucario said.

"I know, you want to find Chris as soon as we see him right?" Fox asked and Lucario nodded slowly.

"Wait, Chris is here too?" Tails asked and they nodded again. "The others are here too?" They nodded again. "Then it must be really important to follow that ship right?" And again, they nodded. "...What are we waiting for? Let's go and find them!"

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles temporaly joined your team!

"But who is Chris?" Sonic asked confused and Tails and Knuckles stared at him.

"Chris? The same person who saved you from those monsters?"

"I don't remember any Chris..."

Tails gasped at this. "Not EVEN the Chris who helped us when we fought the Metarex?!"

"...No..."

"SONIC! How could you forget about them?!" At this point, Lucario had the idea to murder Sonic in his mind.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry!" Sonic said surprised. "Maybe something hit my head while I was sleeping...yes! That was it!"

"...I don't believe you..." Knuckles said narrowing his eyes.

Sonic sweatdropped. "Er...look! They're getting away!" He pointed behind them before he escaped at high speed from them.

"Hey, that's not fair, wait up Sonic!" Tails said as he flew using his tails.

"...SONIC!" Knuckles yelled angrily after realising Sonic's little trick on them.

"...Ahem!" Falco coughed.

"Wha-? Oh, right, let's go!" Fox said as he ran off with his team, following Sonic's team from behind.

Team Chaotix

Team Chaotix

"Hey Charmy!"

"What Vector?"

"How does an...hermit crab looks like again?"

"Ask Espio!"

"Ugh, here."

"Hmm...that looks like an orange cone to me...but whatever!"

"Seriously Vector, when did you see an orange cone?"

"One time when I was trying to decide my flavor in the Ice Cream Shop!"

"There's an Ice Cream Shop near our agency? Vector! Why didn't you told me about that? I loooove Ice Cream!"

"Quiet Charmy! You know you have a big problem with the sugar!"

"But I swear the alligator in the office was destroying everything in sight when I was running away from him!"

"THAT ALLIGATOR WAS ME! AND I'M NOT AN ALLIGATOR! I'M A CROCODILE!"

The chameleon sighed in shame.

Team Chaotix had one of those bad days again, first, a talking walkie-talkie that Charmy the Bee had delivered to Vector the Crocodile and told them to follow its instructions to get a good pay in exchange was their first work in this year...that was last one since they were still in November, however, Espio the Chameleon didn't liked their client, but his boss's motto was: "Never turn down the work that pays!", and so, they started to work...to find hermit crabs, for what? God knows...

"Vector, I'm still against the instructions of our client, do you have any piece of brain left inside your head to wonder..." Espio ducked to show an hermit crab at Vector. "Why do we need to get these animals for?!"

"Never question the demands of the clients! Remember! We're the Chaotix's Detective Agency! Our work is to find-" Vector was interrupted.

"Hermit crabs for who knows what." Charmy said as he held up an hermit crab on his hands.

"Charmy! Remember rule number 29!"

Charmy, for the first time in 27 months, sighed disappointed. ""Never question the demands of the clients, no matter how stupid or insane they are, we will do it regardless of the pay", seriously, even I think those rules are stupid."

"Hey!" Vector said angrily as he found another hermit crab. "Don't. Mock. The rules!"

"You mean don't change the rules." Espio said.

"Shaddup Espio!"

"Vector, how many did he ordered us to find?" Charmy asked.

"20...I think."

"We have right now...8, we've searched 2 times around this beach already! Why can't we find the last ones?"

"Pit, why are you carrying those crabs?" From the other side of the beach, Team Sword (Marth, Pit and Roy) were wondering why was Pit carrying 12 hermit crabs on his arms, blocking his vision in front of him.

"I heard if you collect these crabs, fortune will come to you in 5 days, well, at least that was in a book I readed in the mansion." Pit said as he dodged a pinch from a crab from his nose. "Back off!"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Nobody believes that Pit, seriously, who is dumb enough for recollecting these crabs?"

"Did you hear that?" Vector asked as he and his team hid behind 3 palms. "Our client probably doesn't has the money to pay us and he requested us to give him these hermit crabs, that will give him fortune in 5 days!"

"Vector, this is like the last time we tried to kidnap Cream...twice before when you were thinking other things and got us into trouble!" Espio said angrily. "And you're the only person dumb enough to believe that!"

"C'mon! Believe me! I'm so fired up that I could burn these palms any day!" Vector said proudly as fire began to surround his body, with 2 little flames coming from his eyes.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It is a real proof of my rights to be th-" Vector noticed that the swordsmen were looking at them in confusion. "H-hey! Don't sneak up to people like that!"

"Excuse me?" Roy asked. "Who is going to hide in these incredibly skinny palms?"

It was true, Team Chaotix didn't noted that the palms weren't wide enough to cover them completely, in reality, the palms were 10 centimeters wide, covering only 20 percent of their own selfs.

"...Er...hmm...nice to meetcha!" Charmy said sweating a little, shaking Pit's hand.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ANGEL!" Vector screamed, studdered and yelled in terror. "I'M DEAD! OH GOD, I'M DEAD! WHERE'S DADDY?! I WANT TO SEE HIM!"

"VECTOR!" Espio punched Vector. "CONTROL YOURSELF! WE'RE NOT DEAD!"

"REALLY?!" Vector asked with teary eyes as he hugged Espio, tightly. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MY GRAMPA YET!"

"GET-OFF-ME-NOW!"

"...Don't mind those idiots." Charmy wispered to Pit. "Anyway, can you lend us those crabs please? We're trying to give them to our client."

"...Sure..." Pit sweatdropped and gave the hermit crabs to Charmy.

"Thank you! Hey you guys, we finished the first mission!"

Charmy saw Espio trying to take Vector away from him.

"...Are they going to be fine?" Marth asked.

"...Yeah, after Espio uses his explosives shurikens, they're going to be fine until they get out of the hospital..." Charmy said sweatdropping.

"Good job!" The walkie-talkie that Charmy had on his brown jacket said. "Now throw them at the sea to set them free!"

"WHAT?!" Vector said angrily.

"Vector?" Charmy smirked. "Remember rule number 29?"

Vector gritted his fangs of his jaw. ""Never question the demands of the clients, no matter how stupid or insane they are, we will do it regardless of the pay", right Chaaaarmy?"

"Hehehe! Yeah boss!" Charmy said laughing happily as he set the hermit crabs free into the ocean.

Vector, Charmy and Espio temporaly joined your team!

Team Dark

This Machine

Team Y. S. unfortunately found Team Dark, who were Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat and Omega.

"P-P-Pikachu..." Lucas wispered to Pikachu as he hugged Kirby in terror.

"Y-y-yes?" Pikachu asked worried, looking up to Shadow.

"A-a-are they going to kill us?"

"...P-p-probably..." Pikachu wispered worried, as his reflection was in Omega's shiny claws.

Rouge crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "We're not going to kill anyone here today kids, unless Shadow has the urge."

"B-b-but I thought Chris killed him!" Pikachu said scared.

"..." Shadow just walked away from them.

"C-c-can he revive when he wants?"

Rouge laughed at this. "Kids these days have a really crazy imagination, no, this isn't the same Shadow from before, he is...a clone."

"A-a-a clone?" Lucas repeated scared.

"Current lifeform Shadow the hedgehog has incomplete DNA, therefore, target lacks of any memory from the past." Omega said.

"Okay, now that Omega explained about Shadow's situation, what are you doing here?" Rouge asked.

"W-we came here chasing the Halberd." Pikachu said.

"The Halberd? What's that?"

"That huge ship!" Kirby pointed above them as a huge shadow covered the whole landscape, Rouge's eyes widened and Omega started to analyze the battleship while Shadow just crossed his arms and watched the ship flying away from them.

"Battleship is heading where Dr. Eggman currently is, immediate action is required until object reaches its point." Omega said.

"Humph." Shadow started to accelerate and disappeared from their sight.

"S-Shadow, wait for us!" Rouge said complaining. "Why he doesn't listen to me?"

"Rouge, what should we do with our current preys?" Omega asked and Lucas instantly fainted by hearing preys.

"...Leave them alone, if they want to follow us, then let them do whatever they want to do." Rouge said as she left.

"It would better if we join forces to destroy Dr. Eggman." Omega suggested.

"D-d-destroy?" Lucas asked as he got up trembling.

"Correct, now follow us." Omega hovered a little above the sand and went away from the young Smashers.

Shadow, Rouge and Omega temporaly joined your team!

"...It's okay if we go with them Pikachu?" Lucas asked concerned.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "I bet the others are already chasing the Halberd except for us, let's go!" He then ran away.

"Wait for me!" Kirby said a little excited.

"W-what about me Kirby? That's not fair!" Lucas said as he ran after them.

Team Rose

Seaside Hill

"And that's how I came with the idea to name this red bandana around my throat, Reddy!"

"You mean you did all that just to give a name to your clothing?" Amy asked confused and Chris nodded. "And I thought Knuckles was insane to live for the rest of his life guarding an emerald that he always left unprotected."

"WHAT?!" A familiar voice roared from far away.

"Did you hear something Amy?" Cream asked as she looked around.

"...It must have been my imagination. Okay, so Big, you say Sonic could be passing through here?" Amy asked.

"Uh-huh, I can smell his odor." Big said nodding.

Amy made a sick face. "That reminds me, he needs to take a bath and pronto!"

"I haven't seen Mr. Sonic getting out of a bathroom before, do you think he gets scared of the water?" Cream asked.

"And speaking of water..." Amy glanced at the shore. "Sonic would rather run away from this kind of place...that means...oh my god! He's ahead of us! We need to hurry up!"

"Look, there is a big shadow coming at us." Big said as a huge shadow passed from above them, Meta Knight looked up and found his battleship flying away to the north, the knight then took out his cape to spread his wings and flew after it.

"The Halberd is getting away!" Chris said.

"Wait! You're going to the same direction we're going, let us go with you!" Amy said.

"For what?"

"Because Sonic headed to that direction too." Amy said with hearts appearing behind her.

"(Ugh, women are scary.)" Chris thought as he looked at Mewtwo. "You know, you two haven't been saying anything since we arrived unless it's a plan or an idea that we talk about."

Mewtwo began to float away slowly. "I don't get associated with girls...and guys like him." He said pointing at Big, who waved without doing a facial expression. "See what I mean?"

"But Mr. Mewtwo, if you could at least talk with me or Amy or Mr. Big, I think you'll find something to talk about like what's your favorite food, hobby, animal and-" Mewtwo already left as Cream noticed. "...Did I say something offensive to Mr. Mewtwo?"

"...Hmm...maybe because...no..." Chris trailed off thinking.

"What?"

"I think the 3 favorite things parts were that irritated Mewtwo a little bit..."

"Irritated?... I'm...irritating?"

"Wha-? NO! NO NO NO NO! You're not irritating Cream! Please, don't cry, please!" Chris said desperated as he tried to calm Cream from not crying, and Cheese too.

Preview of the next chapter

"Are we going to run into THAT huge loop?!" Chris asked scared as they ran at 3 huge loops ahead of them.

"Just let your feet go along with it!" Amy said as they entered, which really scared Chris out of his mind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUARGH!" Vector shot a lot of big bubble gums from his mouth that exploded and eliminated all the enemies.

"What? How did those bubble gums exploded if they weren't bombs?" Marth asked confused.

"It's my little secret!"

"PK Freez-" Shadow destroyed another robot.

"PIKA-" Shadow, once again, destroyed another robot.

"AAA-" Before Kirby could swallow a robot, Shadow destroyed it too.

"Oh come on! Leave at least one standing for us!" Pikachu complained.

"Found you! My dear Sonic!" Amy said with smile, proudly of herself.

"Amy! What are you doing here?!" Sonic asked scared.

"Oh good, we found you guys too!" Chris said smiling a little, before noticing that both teams were starting to fight by no reason. "...Er...guys? Why are you fighting in a place like this and a moment like this too?"

"Next time: A not so bad Halberd!" Charmy said excited.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Seaside Hill
Chris, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, Amy, Cream, Big/Fox, Falco, Lucario, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles/Marth, Pit, Roy, Vector, Charmy, Espio/Pikachu, Kirby, Lucas, Shadow, Rouge, Omega

...Whoa...just whoa..."Inhales deeply"...FALCO CAN FLY?! XD

Well, I can't wait to write the next chapter now, the part where I say the current members that are with the Smashers is going to replaced temporaly with this text, it's going to be interesting to make 4 different ways for the 4 teams (or 8 teams in this case), of course, I'm not going to put the 4(8) teams in the same place, this is how it will be displayed:

Seaside Hill: Team Rose and Bloody.

Ocean Palace: Team Chaotix and Sword.

Grand Metropolis: Team Dark and Y.S.

Power Plant: Team Sonic and Star Fox.

And so on...yes, I'm planning to insert the whole storyline, that IS going to be hard.

References:

-Falco saying that Kirby was evolving (joking about it) was a VERY obvious reference to Pokémon.

I may use some of the original dialogue too, but just a little. And why I'm thinking Sonic sounded a little offensive? (I'm so gonna kill that hedgehog later...NOT IN THIS ARC PEOPLE, don't go Super Sonic on me!)

Read and REVIEW please! :)
*Chapter 63*: Follow The Bright Blue Street

As the good author of my stories that I am, I'm now going to answer the questions of my fellow readers who came all this far to review! Note that in some I cut down the rest of their reviews.

From narutofan174: why u gotta be hating on da hedgehog? :( hes a hero lol but I like the chapter and BTW FALCN PUNCH! XD

Me: No, I'm not hating on da hedgehog, it was just comedy, lulz. XD Oh, and no Falcon Punch yet, Chris is not experienced enough to do dat. T.T

From BlackxShootingxStar: Lawl. THey are probalbly gonna murder SOnic...xD Anyway I'm surprissed they don't seem surprised that Tails can fly.

Me: Murder him? That's not a bad idea actually...just kidding narutofan174 XD. And for the next question, it was expected, I mean, there is a japanese swordsman with the Smashers, an italian plumber that speaks weird and a Pokémon with a big head. And if that was not enough, there is ALWAYS a war in the Lylat Cruise stage and Fox, Falco NOR Wolf does something with it. (Hmm...they haven't see anything about that yet...you know what that means...FILLER CHAPTER!)

From Nintendogeek01: Wow... Team Y.S. is certainly going to have a blast lol.

Oh and btw...

NOEZ! NOT THE STUPID PURPLE CAT! NO!

Me: I'm glad you liked it, you could say it was a small reference to your own story, really looking forward to that Ness (Naruto) and Shadow (Gaara) fight parody.

...You hate Big?

So far,this arc is turning out great in my opinion, heck I could even say it's the best one until now! So enjoy this chapter as the other before.

I just noticed, please review to reach 150 reviews before chapter 65 please!

Read, enjoy and review!

And please use the music (each song also indicates the place, by the way), it makes the story to take life! ;)

A small mention to Yoshizilla-Rhedosaurus and game2002 for their birthdays at the same day! But I forgot to tell that in the previous chapter, oh well, better do it than do nothing, happy birthday!

Now let me reconsider if Disagaea: Hour of Darkness is a good arc with a little PitxEtna. XD

Chapter 63: A not so bad Halberd

Team Rose and Bloody

Seaside Hill

GET
READY!

"Aw, the calm waves of the ocean, the sand around the place, the seagulls flying by, the palms creating shadows to shade us from the sun's rays, crabs walking around the beach, nothing can ruin this moment! Right Cream?" Chris asked as Cheese was sitting above his head to try to relax.

Cream nodded with a smile. "Right, I haven't been in a place like this in so long, except for the resort a while ago."

"Oh well, because I think there's really something that can ruin this moment though..."

"Really? What?"

"ROBOTS!" Chris yelled in shock as 6 Eggman Robots ran towards them. But as soon as the 6 robots were 10 inches away from them, they exploded instantly. "...Hey Cream! Cheese has the power to make robots to explode!"

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said happily.

"Weaklings." Meta Knight said as he sheathed his sword, because he destroyed them with great speed.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said angrily.

"Now I see why he acts like he's the toughest one." Amy said. "Hey look! There's a big downside ahead!"

"Wait, we're going to run all the way down? What if I trip?" Chris asked.

"Don't be silly, you can't trip! Here we go!" Amy said as the 4 of them (except Mewtwo and Meta Knight who floated above but were affected) began to accelerate overtime.

"WHOA!" Chris was almost feeling why Sonic liked to run so fast, but probably he runs faster even if there isn't a downside like the current one. "This is so fun!"

"See? I told you, nothing to be worried about!" Amy said.

"Except for that huge block!"

"Away." Mewtwo said doing a wave of his hand to create a psychic slash that made the block to be destroyed into crumbles.

"Good job Mewtwo!" Chris said as they ran.

"This is so easy." Mewtwo said, but Chris thought it was a complain.

"But be positive, our path is going to be good!"

"Did you forget about the danger this world has? There are no worthy menaces ahead for a time, that it's a shame for me."

"But I like the easy way." Big said.

"Your tastes doesn't concerns me."

"Why not?"

"Just stop it!"

"Ahem! More robots ahead!" Amy said, but the robots exploded again. "And Meta Knight took them out again..."

"Another reason of why our path is easy..." Chris said sighing.

The teams entered inside a cave and they found a cannon.

"Jump inside! The exit is up there!" Amy said pointing above.

"Where?" Chris asked.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh above." Big said.

"Now we're going to be the cannonballs?" Chris said as somehow all of them were able to enter inside the cannon, just to be shoot 3 seconds later and making it to the top. "My head's spinning..."

"Amy! Look at that!" Cream said pointing to a big horde of Eggman Robots with spears in a bridge leading to another island.

"Alright! Now we can attack at the same time!" Amy said excited as she took out her hammer. "YAH!" She crushed 2 robots at the same time.

"Huy!" Big used the help of Cream as a human bullet to fire her at 3 robots, destroying them in an explosion.

"Now time to see if I can use the Falcon Punch, here I go!" Chris made a fist and ran at one robot, as soon as his fist made contact with the robot however, all that he could make was a very red hand. "OWW! OWW! OWW!" He flailed his red hand to cease the pain. "Mewtwo! Attack him!"

"Fine." Mewtwo destroyed the robot by throwing it away to a wall, destroying it.

"What I couldn't do the Falcon Punch?"

"You need more experience for that, but you can use the Raptor Boost for now."

"The Raptor Boost?" Chris looked to a robot charging at him, he raised his fist in the air a fire surrounded it, he instantly ran quickly to the Eggman Robot and punched his chin with the fire rising up. "Wow, that was awesome!"

"My turn!" Cream said as she ordered Cheese to slam into the same robot in the air and the Chao destroyed the robot as he flailed his hands. "Hehehe, Cheese, remember, Chris helped too!"

"Chao Chao!" Cheese said trying to sound tough.

"Okay, let's go!" Amy said as Meta Knight destroyed 5 more robots that were blocking their way, the 2 teams began to ran across the bridge, finding more robots to keep them away.

"Meta Knight!" Chris yelled and Meta Knight flew ahead to cross the robots in a blink, a slash was heard and the robots exploded. "Haha! Nobody can beat you!"

"That was a pathetic try to get a compliment from me." Meta Knight pointed out.

"...Ouch..." Was Chris's reply.

Now for the next stunt for the team was a new terror for Chris, a 20 foot tall loop of 3 paths for each member.

"Are we going to run into THAT huge loop?!" Chris asked scared as they ran at 3 huge loops ahead of them.

"Just let your feet go along with it!" Amy said as they entered, which really scared Chris out of his mind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"YEAH! I KNOW, IT'S FUN!" Amy yelled as they were upside-down, Chris only thought of running without stopping or he'll crash into the floor, his other 2 companions didn't cared as they went in their ways.

"PLEASE, I WANT TO BE IN SAFE GROUND AGAIN!" Chris yelled terrorized as they made it to the normal perspective. "Phew, it's over..."

"Now let's use that boost pad from over there to jump reaaaaaally high." Big said calmly as they ran to a boost pad that was going to help them to cross a huge gap without the bridge, Chris saw 3 rainbow rings floating in the air.

"Mewtwo, take the lead!" Chris said.

"You too Big!" Amy said as both power members stepped in front of their teams creating a triangle formation, the 6 characters stepped above the boost pad and were shot at the rings, Amy and Chris got inside the left ring, Big and Mewtwo got inside the middle one and Cream and Meta Knight in the right one.

"Alright!!" Amy, Cream, Big and Chris said excited (except for Meta Knight and Mewtwo, who only said humph) turning their backs and doing a pose before landing on safe ground.

"More robots?" Amy complained when she saw more robots ahead.

"Dr. Eggman had so much time in hands probably." Cream said.

"I think he doesn't has a life." Big said and they stared at him. "...What? Did I say something weird?"

"...You're a little weird Big." Chris commented.

"Begone!" Meta Knight and Mewtwo said as the knight used Drill Rush to go through 4 robots and the Pokémon using Confusion to crash 4 other robots into each other.

"Amy, I can see a big palace!" Cream said as she spotted a large palace going by the ocean.

"I can see more! Sonic is probably around there!" Amy said excited. "Let's go!"

"What are we waiting for?" Chris asked as they entered inside the Ocean Palace.

Ocean Palace

"Wait, stop!" Mewtwo said as they stopped from crossing a corner. "There is a horde of enemies to the left side, we need to go down straight this path!" Mewtwo said pointing to another downside in front of them.

"But the Halberd went to the left!" Amy said.

"Sometimes you need to take other ways to reach your objective, keep moving." Meta Knight said as everyone except Chris ran away.

"Hmm..." He looked at the path of the right. "There's someone else comin-AAHH!" He stumbled and fell on his butt. "How did I stumbled?... Nevermind, I need to follow them!" Chris said, got up and left the 4-way path.

Team Chaotix and Sword

The reason of why Chris stumbled was because of Espio, the chameleon was using his ninja skills to become invisible and take the enemies that Mewtwo previously mentioned, he came from the path of the right all alone to sneak from the robots and destroy them before they could notice him or the others.

"Ugh...who was that kid?" Espio asked to himself as he got up. "...Forget it, concentrate on the mission, go!" Espio ran to the path of the left and carefully sneaking around the Eggman Robots with shields, the chameleon took out a big shuriken and threw it at their backs, creating a chain reaction to destroy everyone in sight. "The path is clear, you can come out now!" He said as he became visible again.

"Good job Espio!" Charmy said as he, Vector and Team Sword ran to him.

"Between all of you, I think Espio is the only one who doesn't acts like an idiot." Marth said.

"In many ways, that is right." Espio said.

"Pure lies! I'm the real genius of this team!" Vector said.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Roy asked annoyed.

"Hey, watch your mouth pal, I'm the leader of my own agency!" Vector said proudly.

"Marth, can you tell me how did we ended up with this jerk again?" He whispered to Marth and Pit

"Well, Vector compliments himself most of the time as I've been seeing it with my own eyes." Pit said.

"Vector, you're hopeless." Charmy said chuckling a little.

"Shaddup Charmy and open that weird teleport flower...thing...now..." Vector said trying to find a name for the weird mechanical flower.

"Flower!" Charmy said excited as he opened one of the flowers that had a mysterious power to teleport anyone, then they jumped inside to appear in another site.

"The wind is so strong is this area, and it's coming from below!" Roy said as he tried to grab his cape.

"Espio, Charmy, remember that movie with the plane formation for sky diving? Let's do that to cross to the other side!"

Marth looked at him. "We're going to make a circle formation by grabbing the hands of each one to float?"

"Yeah! Like this!" Vector jumped into the air with Espio and Charmy, the trio grabbed the hands of each other and they began to float above the strong air. "What are ya waiting for? Join us!"

"...This is so embarrassing..." Pit muttered as the 3 swordsmen joined the other team by grabbing their hands and going along, floating above the strong wind that pulled all of them in the air.

"...You know...this is so fun!" Roy said.

"Yeah!" Charmy said laughing.

"I see land!" Vector said as he found cement that was joined to another long way, they landed safely on the ground and started to run to cross the palace. "Espio! Turn invisible and kill those robots!"

"Roger." Espio said.

"I'm not Roger, I'm Vector!"

"..." Espio did a handsign and instantly disappeared in a tornado, the chameleon saw 2 walls close to each other and jumped to one and putting his feet to keep himself sticked to not fall, then, the next thing he did was to jump from wall to wall to make it to the other side before using his kunais in the right spot to make the robots to explode. "Done."

"I don't know why we need to hide from the enemy, we're so many anyway!" Pit said.

"Rule number 34! "Do as the client says you need to do, or the pay will be less!" That's a very important rule!" Vector said proudly.

"You know Vector, I think you forgot that rule when we kidnapped Cream instead of letting Vanilla to know if she was right an-hmhmhmhmhmhmh."

Vector took Charmy under his left arm and blocked his mouth and whispered to him. "Shaddup again Charmy, I'm trying to look cool to our new friends and..." He breaks the fourth wall as usual and points at the readers. "Especially to our great fans!"

Charmy looked at the readers. "Oh yeah! I forgot about them! Hey there guys! How have you been? I kept writing letters but you didn't answered back!"

Marth saw that Vector and Charmy were looking at him as Vector thought Marth wasn't in front of them. "...Fans? What are you two talking about and why is Vector pointing at me?"

"I refrain from answering that question." Espio said shuddering.

"Keep going!" The walkie-talkie said.

Pit narrowed his eyes at the machine. "You know, even if that voice sounds too stupid, the voice is a little familiar to me..."

"Who said that?"

"Pit."

"I don't remember any Pit, just keep going through Dr. Eggman's strong army of robots!"

Roy destroyed one robot by kicking it. "They seem pretty weak."

"HOW YOU DARE TO MOCK THOSE STRONG ROBOTS?! DO YOU KNOW HOW INTELLIGENT IS DR. EGGMAN?!" The walkie-talkie said enraged.

"...Hmm...you're one weird person."

"Er...I...Hmm...er...Umm...just go ahead!" The walkie-talkie said sweating.

"To tell the truth, I think I've unvelied the mystery of our mysterious client..." Vector muttered to himself.

"Did you say something Vector?" Marth asked confused.

"Nah, nothing...ya know, I'm sick of staying hidden from those idiots, let's do it the Chaotix way!"

"Don't do that!" The walkie-talkie said.

"Sorry! But you haven't said why we need to hide in the first place, I demand action! CHARMY! ESPIO! THE INSTRUMENTS!"

Charmy and Espio gasped in unison. "V-Vector! We can't use that here, there's no one around!" Charmy said.

"That's why we're going to those guys!" Vector said pointing at 4 hordes of 20 robots in each squadron.

"R-run!" Charmy said as Team Chaotix and Sword ran towards the robots, Marth, Pit and Roy were wondering what Vector meant with the instruments they suddenly took out.

"NOW!" Vector shouted as the whole area gets dark and prevents anyone from seeing anything.

"Wh-what happened?!" Pit asked as a spotlight shones on Espio playing a japanese guitar.

"Hahahaha!" Another spotlight shones on Charmy playing the drum in front of him.

The last spotlight shones on Vector holding the microphone, who inhales deeply to yell extremely loud.

"...Why do I feel this is going to end ba-" Marth was interrupted.

"AaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Vector yells at the top of his lungs creating a big shockwave that destroys all the horde of enemies in one attack, but unfortunately, Marth, Pit and Roy had the bad luck of hearing them sing together and they block their ears in pain and fall on the floor, twitching in pain.

"AAAHH! MY EARS! MY EARS ARE BLEEDING! MAKE IT STOP!" Pit begged for mercy.

"I HAVEN'T HEARD SOMEONE SING SO BAD BEFORE IN MY LIFE!" Marth yelled twitching in pain.

"THE PAIN! UGH! IT'S INTOLERABLE!" Roy yelled as he rolled a little.

"Great going Vector, we just killed them!" Espio said as their instruments disappeared.

"I told him it was a bad idea, I swear!" Charmy said.

"Nobody can resist the strength our of team combination!" Vector said proudly.

"Or our horrible voices to sing in reality..." Espio said sweatdropping. "That reminds me, why do we have that weird attack?"

"Vector's idea for sure." Charmy said narrowing his eyes at Vector.

"D-don't look at me!" Vector said with a dumb smile.

"Then whose idea is?!" Espio asked angrily.

"Er...umm...Mighty! Mighty the Armadillo! That bastard did it!"

"Not that idiot who left us a long time ago, you idiot!"

"It was his idea before leaving us! He told me that day he wanted us to be a singing group instead of a detective agency!"

"Or the other way around Vector!" Charmy said glaring at Vector. "The main reason why Mighty left us is because you had to tell him that we were going to make a band, it was too much for him!"

"...And somehow leading us to create this detective agency..." Espio muttered to himself.

"Yeah yeah, all that we know is that it was Mighty's idea!" Vector said proudly.

"WE SAID YOU, YOU IDIOT!" Espio and Charmy said angrily, shoving their faces at Vector.

"FIGHT!" Vector yelled and the 3 members jumped to each other and made a cloud of dust were they started to fight stupidly.

"...Um...guys...we're leaving you..." Pit said from afar with Marth and Roy, Team Chaotix were yelling and screaming in pain by bites, explosions, pinchs, low-attacks and even indian burns which was way worser than the previous ones. "...Guys?"

Marth rolled his eyes in disgust. "...Let's move on without them." He suggested and they nodded.

Charmy peered outside the cloud of dust and laughed a little to leave the fight between Vector and Espio and go with Team Sword. Then Espio got out and dusted off his gloves, leaving Vector to fight only...with himself.

"Look! The Halberd!" Roy said pointing at the Halberd that was flying to the north, in a big metropolis that was far, far away.

"The Macbeth?" Charmy wondered.

"Halberd Charmy, Halberd." Espio corrected the bee.

"Marth, isn't weird that this bridge looks endless?" Roy asked to Marth.

"Yes it is weird...and there are other bridges not too far away from us..." Marth spotted a far away bridge to his left, before noticing that a huge shadow passed above them with the appearance of a red hawk, and above the red hawk, Dr. Eggman appeared and landed in front of them.

"Grr! Why do you have to interfere with my plans?! I'll show you the power of my creations!" Dr. Eggman said above the Egg Hawk, the name of his machine.

"You're the same guy from the Space Colony ARK!" Roy said.

"Who the hell are you? Get away or be destroyed!" Dr. Eggman said angrily, as he flew away.

Egg Hawk

"Don't let him get away, I think he wants to attacks us from afar!" Marth said as they ran after Eggman.

"Get them!" Dr. Eggman yelled firing robots from his machine which surrounded the 2 teams in a sandy area.

And just then, Vector came up all badly damaged, he bit his own tail, punched his own eyes and even his chain neck was a little broken.

"Vector! Use that attack to destroy them all!" Charmy said excited as Vector began to eat something in his mouth.

"BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUARGH!" Vector shot a lot of big bubble gums from his mouth that exploded and eliminated all the enemies.

"What? How did those bubble gums exploded if they weren't bombs?" Marth asked confused.

"It's my little secret!"

Roy wondered if he could do that too, but Pit gave him a face which told him: "Are you stupid or something?"

"ARGH! Now take thi-"

"DOWN! NOW!" Marth yelled and everyone thought for what, until they saw the reason multiplied by four where the Halberd was and ducked by covering their heads, the reason was because the Halberd shot 4 lasers at the 4 bridges, and one of those lasers incinerated Dr. Eggman and the Egg Hawk completely, well, not exactly Dr. Eggman, he managed to survive and flew away in his weird machine that he always uses...whatsitcalled? Egg Clown Car? Whatever.

Team Dark and Y.S.

"Beam of high frecuency has destroyed the menace in front of us, proceed with caution is necessary until further attacks." Omega said as the others got up. They were fighting against Eggman and his Egg Hawk machine but the Halberd shot the same laser from the four to destroy his machine.

"But why the Halberd shot that laser to defeat Dr. Eggman?" Rouge asked in a thinking position.

"Don't think about insignificant things like that, let's go." Shadow said bluntly as he ran away to the farthest place in the bridge.

"P-Pikachu..." Lucas trailed off scared.

"Yes Lucas, what is it?" Pikachu asked.

"It's okay to follow them?"

"Of course! At least that's what I think..."

"The more the merrier!" Kirby said excited.

"Yeah...maybe that is the reason..."

Grand Metropolis

"...How did we ENDED UP here?! Here?! Here?! Here?! Here?! Here?!" Pikachu asked when both teams were high above a skyscraper of 50 foot tall height as his voice echoed through the big metropolis.

"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-tall...h-h-h-h-h-h-height..." Lucas repeated scared as he peered down the building while his sweat fell from it, he put a hand near his right ear to hear the drop touch the floor but it didn't and he gasped in terror.

"I have a better question," Rouge began. "What are you 3 doing here with us?"

"You decided to let us go with you, also, Omega said it was for the better!" Pikachu said.

"Omega, stop giving them ideas!"

"I only think about the success of this mission, with more persons aiding us, the percentage of Dr. Eggman winning is of 20 percent, but according to my analysis, Dr. Eggman flew inside the battleship known as Halberd to investigate the source of the beam." Omega explained.

"Leave that for now, we got a mission to clear." Shadow said with crossed arms.

Kirby looked at the long blue path with a loop. "Ooh, let's go!" He said running with Team Dark.

"See Lucas? We can step in this weird path, follow them!" Pikachu said as he ran down the blue path, Lucas looked at them going away and looked behind him, trembling.

"...W-wait for me! I'm scared to be alone!" Lucas yelled and ran down the way to catch on with them.

"YIPPIE!" Kirby said happily as the 2 teams stepped above a boost pad, causing them to jump above a bottomless pit (and giving Lucas a heart attack, almost) to cross to the other side.

"Leave this to Omega." Shadow said as he spotted 5 Eggman Robots with shields, Omega jumped into the air and used Shadow and Rouge as bullets to destroy their defenses and themselves in the process.

"We will eliminate them all!" Omega said as they ran above another bridge that was activated when they defeated the robots.

Spores of light appeared in the air and dropped more robots, this time, it was Team Y. S. to act and attack them. However, just as they appeared, Shadow started to destroy them with Homing Attacks.

"PK Freez-" Shadow destroyed another robot.

"PIKA-" Shadow, once again, destroyed another robot.

"AAA-" Before Kirby could swallow a robot, Shadow destroyed it too.

"Oh come on! Leave at least one standing for us!" Pikachu complained.

"It's not my fault that you're slow." Shadow said as they run further ahead.

"Slow? I'm keeping up! See?" Pikachu said as he was at Shadow's left side, but Shadow was only holding back and accelerated with his team members. "H-hey, that's not fair! I can run like that too! Ugh!" Pikachu began to accelerate as well but it was tiring him out, fortunately, he catched up with Shadow...before starting to decrease his speed.

"Shadow, don't leave them behind." Omega said.

"You don't tell me what to do." Shadow said.

"Sorry, I'm more worried about the success of this mission."

"Humph, fine." Shadow said as they waited for Team Y. S.

"Finally!" Pikachu said panting. "You're being nice at least for this time!"

"Food...need...food..." Kirby said panting.

"Hey Shadow," Rouge began. "What about if we use that Chaos Emerald that we found in the seaside?"

Shadow took out the Red Chaos Emerald. "Use this to destroy another army of enemies if they appear? That's not a bad idea."

"Shadow, my sensors indicate that you can use the Chaos Control to give me more power and stop time for a moment." Omega pointed out.

Kirby looked at some platforms up ahead and found 20 enemies waiting for them to arrive. "There they are!" He said.

"Rouge, lift me to the air, Shadow, insert the Chaos Emerald in my circuits." Omega commanded as the Chaos Emerald shone brightly.

"CHAOS...CONTROL!!" Shadow yelled and inserted the Chaos Emerald inside Omega, giving him a powerful laser that eliminated the 20 robots in a blink, stopping the time around them too.

"Unfortunately, allies seems to be affected as well." Omega said as he glanced at Pikachu, Kirby and Lucas, who were floating in midair because they were about to attack the robots. "Leave them to me, I will carry them in my claws."

5 minutes later...

"YAH!" Lucas jumped off from Omega's claws along with his teammates.

"Good, you're back to your senses." Rouge said.

"D-don't scare me like that Omega!" Lucas said grabbing his chest where his heart was.

"We should keep going, my radars indicate that the Halberd is near here." Omega said as Kirby stared at him in curiosity. "It's there any trail of mud in my armor?"

"No, I was just thinking what kinds of machines do you have inside you?" Kirby asked curiously.

"I have radars, sensors, lasers, beams, missiles, a digital map, memory with all of Dr. Eggman's events like the Space Colony ARK, the creation of the lastest robot of the E-series, Gamma and records of Dr. Eggman's successes, his current count of him winning against Sonic is of 0 against 14039856."

"Hmm...do you have a cooking machine inside?"

"Unit Omega was not created for culinary purposes, only to destroy his enemies and own creator, Dr. Eggman."

"Nah, you're not interesting at all."

"That response from character Kirby was expected."

"Exactly."

"That too."

Rouge looked above a building and found the Halberd landing on the skyscraper...but the building was 100 foot tall of height. "There! We need to reach the skyscraper and aboard the ship before it takes off!"

"But just look at that enormous building!" Pikachu said.

"Humph, we will make it in 2 minutes." Shadow said and Team Y. S. gasped in unison.

"2 minutes?! I can't even make it to the bathroom in 2 minutes when I'm so close to reach it!" Lucas complained.

"Too much information!" Omega complained, avoiding a short circuit caused by Lucas.

"Agree." Rouge said making a sick face.

Battleship Halberd
Control Room

"Stop!" Wolf yelled as he pointed his Blaster at Dr. Eggman. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Spill the beans pal!" King Dedede said laughing some.

For their surprise, Dr. Eggman became a pool of mercury before materializing into an evil robotic version of Sonic, his clone had his blue quills, but of steel that were pointy with a particular shine, he had a cape behind his throat and he wore blue and silver metalic clothes that were reflecting their faces, King Dedede gulped and hid behind Wolf as the Star Wolf leader crossed his arms in amusement.

"Answer the question at once!" Wolf demanded with a glare.

"I've seen your actions when you shot the lasers at my machines to fool those fools, what is your intension to stop me?" The robotic version of Sonic asked with an evil tone.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid they're our prey to hunt."

"So do I, but that is not a permission to kill me!"

"What will you say if we make a deal?" Wolf asked smirking a little as he lowered his Blaster back to his belt.

"A deal? And what does that "deal" has for me?"

"It's simple, we try to kill them by joining our forces in secret, in exchange, I'll lend you more power that you would ever imagine if you drop the Subspace Bombs along the way where they are heading to."

"Subspace Bombs?" He asked and Wolf explained everything to him. "I see, your intention is to take the places scattered around here to your superior...as long as you don't interfere with my own plans, I'll trust you in defeating them."

Wolf stretched his hand to him. "Deal then?"

"Deal." The robot said stretching his claw to Wolf's claw, doing a handshake as they chuckled evily, but King Dedede was laughing scared. "When are you going to lend me that power?"

"When the time comes my friend...when the time comes..."

"Huh?! I sense unrequired visits coming at this ship, you must take off immediately!"

Wolf nodded. "Okay, now leave before they see you!"

Team Dark and Y. S.

The robot turned into Eggman again and flew away by hiding from Team Dark and Y. S., the Halberd was also starting to take off slowly as they were reaching the top of the tallest building.

"Darn it, it got away!" Shadow cursed under his breath.

"We have no choice but to follow it again until we catch it." Rouge said.

"I've got the feeling that this is going to be a hard day..." Pikachu trailed off.

"Factory is up ahead, jumping from building is necessary to reach it." Omega said as Shadow and Rouge jumped off the building.

"Wh-what?! We're going to jump from this height?!" Lucas asked trembling before he was grabbed by Omega, the robot thought Lucas was going to ran off and the "duo" jumped off the building. "MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!"

"Kirby! Grab me to descend to that area!" Pikachu said, pointing down at a far away floor as Kirby grabbed the yellow mouse and they floated to that mentioned part.

Team Sonic and Star Fox

"-yyyyyYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyy!!" Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs as him and Omega descended quickly, if he looked carefully, he could have seen Knuckles on the other side of a mirror of another building.

"Huh? What was that scream just now?" Knuckles wondered to himself as he peered from the window and looked around.

"It's something wrong Knuckles?" Tails asked as he joined Knuckles in his search. "Are you looking for something? Because I doubt you'll find it in a such crowded place like this."

"I've could have sworn I saw someone yelling outside this window."

"That could be possible, but, who do you think someone will jump from that building? It's insane!"

Knuckles pointed at Sonic. "He could, and probably enjoy it too."

"C'mon! You're too slow!" Sonic said tapping his foot at the end of Grand Metropolis with Tails and Knuckles.

"Wait...wait...a minute...please..." Falco asked panting heavily. "Our speed member doesn't runs as fast as you..."

"What was that supposed to mean?" Fox asked annoyed.

"Guys please, you have been arguing all the way from the beach except for me, Knuckles and Lucario!" Tails said pointing at Lucario, who was leaned to a wall with crossed arms.

"Who wouldn't? Sonic is just so desperate!" Falco said, glaring at Sonic.

"I'm not desperate! You're starting to think weird things." Sonic said.

"STOP IT! JUST SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled loudly and they looked at him. "We're probably the only team that is not even near the Halberd! Chris or the others are probably aboarding the ship by now as you argue, can't you 3 just get along?!"

"NO!" Sonic, Fox and Falco said, crossing their arms and looking away with angry looks.

Lucario rolled his eyes and sighed. "...Fine, it's not my own business to interfere in these pointless situations."

Power Plant

"Hey, I hear a lot of noises from machines beyond this door, let's go!" Tails said.

"And possibly more Eggman Robots." Knuckles said.

Tails and Knuckles went ahead to the other side of the door to find a lot of machines working by themselves, they noticed that only Lucario was following them.

"Where are the other 3 complainers?" Knuckles asked.

"Still arguing behind the door." Lucario said.

"Well, do something, or anything to bring them here."

Lucario turned his back. "Don't forget, you said anything."

Team Rose and Bloody

Just below the trio, there was another passage that was currently being passed by Team Rose and Bloody.

"Hmm..." Chris stopped just where Tails and Knuckles were above the floor. "I think there's someone else through that roof. Mewtwo, can you see?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "My psychic abilities are too weak in this kind of environment. I doubt Lucario could use his aura to detect us too."

"Who is Lucario?" Cream asked.

"Oh well Cream, he is-" And they began to walk through the passage as Chris explained to Cream who was the Aura Pokémon, meanwhile, with Tails and Knuckles.

Team Sonic and Star Fox

"...That was the only way?" Tails asked sweatdropping. Because Lucario had Sonic, Fox and Falco above him while they were still arguing.

"At least we have dignity and use clothes! Not like you, nude!" Falco argued and Sonic blushed in embarrassment (and so did Tails and Knuckles).

"Wh-what the hell are they talking about?!" Knuckles asked, trying to stay deaf from the argument.

Tails looked behind him while he was blushing. "L-let's go, if we pass through here, I think the Halberd will be closer to us...KNUCKLES! More robots with shields!"

"Okay!" Knuckles said as he charged at the robots, breaking their shields using his fists. "That was easy."

"Don't be too confident, this was only the first wave." Lucario said (still with the 3 above him).

Knuckles looked at the 3 again. "Can you please stop arguing?! We have an important mission to clear!"

Team Rose and Bloody

The 2 teams found 2 big doors leading to different places and they looked around.

"Which way?" Amy asked.

"Once we cross a door, it will close automatically to prevent anyone else from trespassing it, even heavy weaponry will be useless to destroy the doors." Mewtwo pointed out.

"What is heavy weaponry?" Big asked.

"Something that you probably shouldn't know."

"Why?"

Mewtwo closed his eyes in irritation.

"Okay, stop it you two, let's take the door of the left...but it's closed!" Chris said.

Meta Knight and Cream looked above them to find 2 switches, one for each door. "That switch can open the door, I think," Cream said. "But it's so high up."

"For this time, let's join forces to reach it." Meta Knight suggested.

Cream nodded slowly. "But how?"

"You will lift me to the air, and when you start to get tired, throw me at the switch to use my wings to reach it."

"Right sir." Cream used her long ears to fly above Meta Knight and grabbed him to reach the switch, the rabbit was starting to get tired but at the last moment, Cream threw Meta Knight above her as she descended slowly (it wasn't too much force, but Meta Knight was able to reach the switch after all).

"Good work Cream!" Amy said with a smile.

"Mr. Meta Knight should be the one who needs the thanks." Cream said as Meta Knight descended.

"Keep it only for you." Meta Knight said as he walked to the other side with Mewtwo.

"How rude!" Amy commented.

"That wasn't rude Amy, I think he wanted me to have all the credit instead of him." Cream said while she hugged Cheese.

"...Seriously Cream, you defend the people who walk over you a little too much." Amy said as the whole team walked to the other side of the left door.

"OOF!" Unfortunately, Chris's bandana named Reddy became stuck in the door, leaving a small red cloth on the other side. "Reddy!" Chris shouted grabbing his bandana. "You're still here, don't worry, daddy is going to protect you..."

Meta Knight stared at Chris for a moment before sighing.

Team Sonic and Star Fox

Back where they previously were, the other 2 teams (Team Sonic and Star Fox) already appeared from the right door, fortunately, nobody was arguing this time.

"See? Just if we think instead of fighting, we can come to an easy conclusion." Tails said.

"Exactly buddy," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "There's no chance we're the only ones behind them anyway, we came all this way by working together."

"..." Lucario found the piece of red cloth that Chris accidentaly left on the floor and he kneeled to grab it. "What's this?" Lucario asked.

"Looks like a piece of red cloth." Fox said.

"But I think I've seen this before..." Falco began to think before gasping a little. "This is from Chris's bandana! Meaning that we are REALLY behind! See Sonic?!"

"Hey! What if this is from another person?" Sonic asked.

And the trio who were arguing a moment ago began to argue again.

"And there they go again..." Knuckles said.

Tails looked above him where the right door was to find a switch attached to the roof. "Lucario, can you throw me at that switch to open the door?"

"Yes." Lucario grabbed Tails and threw the fox towards the switch as Tails used his tails to fly faster and touch the switch, thus opening the right door.

"Thanks, now let's move on everybody...that includes you too..." Tails said to the 3 complainers.

The 3 complaine-I mean, Sonic, Fox and Falco looked at Tails. "Oh...right...that..." Falco trailed off as they entered inside.

"Sonic, look over there!" Knuckles saw a yellow shiny object at the top of a power plant. "That is a Chaos Emerald!"

"Heh, now I know what are you meaning." Sonic said with a small smirk before accelerating to the top of building, which was the power plant.

"See? He's desperate!" Falco said.

Tails rolled his eyes. "Whatever, he likes to act like that, let's follow him!"

Team Rose and Bloody

The 2 teams found the yellow Chaos Emerald at the top of the building they currently were.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Amy said pointing at the emerald. "We have to get it quickly!"

Chris looked at Cream and Meta Knight. "Combine forces again to reach it!"

Meta Knight had no other choice but to nod as Cream grabbed him again, after a short time of flying, Cream threw Meta Knight again to the emerald and the warrior took it and descended to the teams.

"Nice work you guys! Now we have a Chaos Emerald in our hands!" Amy said as she took the emerald and kept it safely.

"Hurray!" Big said.

Chris looked behind the building were a big blue path was that leaded to another building. "This way!" He said as he ran down with the others at high speed.

Team Sonic and Star Fox

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...HUH?!" Sonic ran to the top of the building where the emerald is...or was, because the yellow Chaos Emerald was no longer there as he made it. The hedgehog stood in the tallest point and began to look around.

And his other teammates came panting, except for Lucario and Knuckles.

"Sonic! Did you find it?" Tails asked panting.

"Nope, it disappeared!" Sonic said throwing his hands above him.

"What? How could an object disappear if it doesn't moves?" Fox asked.

"Maybe someone came here and took it before Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic appeared just in front of Knuckles. "Then it's a challenge!"

"A challenge?" Everyone except Sonic asked confused.

"Yeah, don't you see? There's someone around here and he or she is getting away from us because they stole the emerald!" Sonic explained.

"I doubt Chris took the emerald." Lucario said.

"...Or he did, there's another piece of red cloth close to where the emerald was." Fox said as he showed them another piece of cloth of Chris's bandana.

"I wonder with who is he?" Tails asked, getting in a thinking position. "Oh, that's right! I have a radar to locate the emeralds just in case!" The fox took out radar which showed them the location of the yellow Chaos Emerald, it pointed at the north 100 meters ahead of them and increasing. "It's getting away!"

Sonic found the path Chris previously found. "He took this way, let's go!"

Team Rose and Bloody

"I bet Sonic is waiting for me at the top of this huge building!" Amy said as she joined her hands together.

"What makes you think that?" Chris asked.

"It's obvious!" She dramatically fell to her right side as a spotlight appeared from nowhere and shone above her, even Mewtwo and Meta Knight looked around for that light. "The man who is waiting for her true love to show up at the top of the biggest building to see the sunset slowly disappear in the horizon is what happens commonly in the movies," She opened her hand at the elevator that went down to them. "And just by entering the elevator of the true destiny shall reveal my love for the entire life, and his name is Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Chris looked around because an audience was applauding to Amy from somewhere, as Cheese threw flowers above the pink hedgehog while Cream and Big applauded to her too.

"...Er...just a problem Amy..." Chris said.

"What?" She asked smiling and closing her eyes.

"It's just 11 ó clock and it's still morning here!"

Amy sweatdropped as she held her position, the light turned off before all the flowers around were burned by the fire she instantly created, making Cheese to hide behind Cream, who hid behind Big, who hid behind Mewtwo, who pushed Big using Confusion, but just a little to not crush Cream and Cheese under his back.

"...Okay captain obvious, now what?!" Amy asked while her Piko Piko Hammer appeared in her hand with a "poof!" sound.

Chris started to sweat crazily. "Hmm...I...er...enter the elevator of the true destiny!"

The fire disappeared and she smiled. "Alright! You DO believe in me!" The fire appeared again. "RIGHT?!"

"YES MA'AM! YES AMY!" Chris said bowing 3 times.

"Then let's enter!" The fire disappeared and they entered inside the elevator "of true destiny" according to Amy, taking them at the highest point of the building.

Team Sonic and Star Fox

Just as the elevator disappeared from sight, 30 robots came blasting off the door where the 2 teams came as they panted heavily.

"Man...that was tough..." Sonic said.

"No obstacle can stop us from advancing, right Sonic?" Tails asked and Sonic nodded.

"Tails, how far is the emerald now?" Knuckles asked.

"Hmm...it's just above us..." The elevator came back again and it opened. "Let's use this to go!"

"Yeah." Fox said as they entered inside the elevator...not aware of who was at the top.

Team Rose, Bloody, Sonic and Star Fox

"So Amy..." Chris began. "Where is your true lover?"

"I can't believe it! There are no such things as the man of your dreams waiting for you in this stupid power plant!" Amy said disappointed. "Fine fine, you get to keep the emerald."

"Hand it over!" Chris said proudly as Amy searched for the Chaos Emerald because Chris made a bet with her if Sonic appeared on the same building.

"That was a stupid bet." Meta Knight said bluntly.

"And that is also why I don't talk with these kind of things." Mewtwo said frowning.

"Wait Amy, maybe Sonic is going to appear in the sunset, we should wait for him." Cream suggested.

"But Froggy..." Big said lowering his ears sadly.

Amy looked at Big. "...No." She shook her head. "We need to find Chocola and Froggy, I don't care anymore if Sonic comes here."

Cream, Cheese, Big and Chris gasped in unison. "...Cream! I think this is not the Amy we know about, she must be an impostor!" Chris said to Cream.

"You are...you are probably right!" Cream said surprised.

"...Can you stop your stupid acts now?!" Meta Knight said snapping.

"Huh?" Chris said confused.

"My ship is getting away as we speak! If we don't succeed in retrieving it before it escapes," He took out Galaxia and pointed it at Chris. "I swear I'll kill you!"

"...C-c-calm down Meta Knight...I-I promise I'm going to recover the Halberd for you!"

"Meta Knight, sheath your sword, now." Mewtwo said calmly as Meta Knight grunted a little and sheathed his sword.

"Then let's go, we can't waste more time here."

"Right, now we're talking!" Amy said just before the elevator came up again and they looked at it, and backed away to stand in a fighting position. "There's someone coming to us!"

"Be prepared! I don't like how the things looks to us!" Mewtwo said as his hands started to glow.

The elevator's doors began to open up slowly, Amy's face quickly changed from a serious one to a happy one as the 6 persons inside the elevator stepped outside looking around, Sonic's spine was trembling before he found her "girlfriend" as Amy took the emerald back from Chris's hands.

"Found you! My dear Sonic!" Amy said with smile, proudly of herself.

"Amy! What are you doing here?!" Sonic asked scared.

"Oh good, we found you guys too!" Chris said smiling a little, before noticing that both teams were starting to fight by no reason. "...Er...guys? Why are you fighting in a place like this and a moment like this too?"

Team Sonic and Team Rose stopped in midair before they could attack each other. "...Wait, why we were going to fight against Amy?" Tails asked confused.

"I don't know either." Cream said.

"I just...sorta wanted some action..." Sonic said.

"What were we thinking?" Amy asked confused.

"This is soooooooo confusing." Big said.

"I agree with you in that one." Knuckles said.

"Chao chao chao chaoooo. (It's because that's what happens in this story)" Cheese explained and Cream looked at him.

"Cheese, I don't think Tails meant that." Cream said.

"Chao chao chao! (No! You don't understand!)"

"Well, Cheese apologized."

"(-.-;)"

Mewtwo looked at both teams. "...Why are you still floating by no reason in the air?"

And they fell to the floor in unison.

Chris ran to Lucario and gave him a hug. "Lucario! It's good to see you again!"

Lucario smiled a little and patted Chris's back. "I agree with you, I admit I was a little worried about you."

"Me too, don't worry anymore." Chris laughed a little.

Big looked at the Halberd that was getting away. "Look at that big shiny beam coming at us."

The other 11 (or 12 counting Cheese) looked at what was Big trying to say and their eyes widened in unison.

"OH..." Amy began.

"MY..." Cream added trembling.

"DEAR..." Falco added surprised.

"AND..." Fox added as his eyes twitched.

"HOLY..." Chris added.

"SAINT..." Tails added very surprised.

"DIVINE..." Knuckles added in shock.

"UNIQUE..." Sonic added in utter surprise.

"CHAO!" Cheese added.

Meta Knight looked at all of them and frowned to himself. "QUICK! THE HALBERD IS FIRING A LASER AT US, DODGE IT!"

"That's impossible!" Mewtwo as he looked at Fox and Falco, our to be more precise, their belts. "USE YOUR REFLECTORS, NOW!"

The Star Fox members looked at their Reflectors and then at them, nodding with a small grin as they stood in front of all of them to activate their reflectors.

"WAIT! THE REFLECTORS ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO-" Tails was unable to finish his sentence before a big explosion took place in the building, creating a big cloud of smoke that surrounded the entire area.

Team Dark, Y.S., Chaotix and Sword

"LASER APPROACHING AT HIGH SPEED TOWARDS U-" Not only the other four teams were affected, the Halberd and shot another laser at the other four teams on the top of another building, just when Team Dark was about to attack Team Chaotix.

...And...they survived you ask?

...Maybe...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" 25 screams and yells were echoing through the entire city...

Preview of the next chapter

"Targets have disappeared from sight, leader Wolf."

"Excellent, now let's drop the Subspace Bombs in these areas along the way to where our helper is." Wolf said smirking before laughing evily...and coughed after that. "Humph, I'm not used to this..."

The author sticks a note on the screen, saying: "Next time: A not so expected combination!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Casino Park
...

Will our brave heroes survive? Will the genius Vector survive to fight another day against the forces of evil? Will the story change to The Awesome Adventures of Vector and his trusty companions? Will Vector reveal the truth about his lost fathers? Will Charmy just keep his mouth shut to let Vector think to surprise his fans? Find out next time on the next chapter of-

Aw, that was a good ice cream...WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN FRONT OF MY COMPUTER?!

Er...um...I...well...you see...BYE! "Leaves"

Was that Vector?... Nevermind, "reads chapter" so I made a cliffhanger, didn't I? I don't know why but that bastard who was here just a moment ago told you what was going to happen right? "A reader tells him everything" ...Or not...wait, MY OC IS IN DANGER?! DAMMIT! He was unique!

Just hope they survive! Read and review!

*Chapter 64*: Obey Or Die, Inferior Being Part 2

Personally, I don't think it was a good idea to start this arc FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE GAME, you see why in this chapter. -.-

But that's not going to stop me! Because I tried really hard on this one!

Read and review please! We're so close to reach 150 reviews before the maginificent chapter number 65!

Chapter 64: A not so expected combination

Battleship Halberd
Control Room

Wolf and King Dedede were shown laughing at their victory over the 25 characters with a simple attack with 2 beams of high frecuency. A ROB Sentry rolled towards them to tell the status.

"Targets have disappeared from sight, leader Wolf."

"Excellent, now let's drop the Subspace Bombs in these areas along the way to where our helper is." Wolf said smirking before laughing evily...and coughed after that. "Humph, I'm not used to this..."

"Hehehehehehehe! Except for me! Hehehehehe!" King Dedede said laughing.

"(...Bunch of idiots, even though they're not around here, the explosion made them to be blasted off to different places far away from this metropolis...Fox! Be alive so I can defeat you without tricks!)"

Power Plant

The robotic version of Sonic was standing at the tip of a yellow needle as his cape flew to the east by the winds, he narrowed his red pupils to examine the area to find what was left of them.

"No sign of life in 1 kilometer close to this area, targets have been scattered beyond the range of 1 kilometer," He said. "Then they're near the casino area, troops!" He said to all the robots that were in the metropolis and far away from him. "Capture and take all of them to the Egg Fleet to dispose of them!"

?

"(...Oww...my head...am I...dead?... Is everyone else dead too? Even...Lucario?... No...not Cream too...she was so young...and Amy...and Big...he probably wouldn't mind...or not...what am I thinking?... Is even Cheese dead?... What about Fox and Falco...this is probably the first time...I...screwed up... I couldn't spend enough time...with Meta Knight or Mewtwo... Sonic is probably mad at me...for not knowing me well...and Tails...he was happy to have Fox around...I could tell from a mile away...hehehe...maybe this is not bad after all...hehehe...those tickles at my face...are cheering me up...hehehe...it's weird too...hehehehe...or this is seriously bad...hehehe...and Knuckles...I haven't said anything about him...hahahaha...he was so concentrated in his own things...hahahaha...why aren't those tickles going away?... It's like they're touching my face right now...with my eyes closed...)"

"...Mas...ter..."

"(...Huh?... That voice...that serious voice...it can't be...)"

"Chris...up..."

"(Is that...really you?)"

"Chris...wake up...please..."

"Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Please! Stop licking my face! Hahaha!" Chris opened his eyes slowly to find a tongue licking his face, upon more inspection, it was a weakened Lucario who was licking his face slowly.

"Chris...you're okay..." Lucario said weakly.

Chris opened completely his eyes and looked around, it was night already and he was laying on a red carpet very close to Lucario, who was by inches from Chris's face to try to wake him up by licking his face.

"L-Lucario! Oh no!" Chris got up from the carpet and he grabbed Lucario's head. "What happened?!"

"That beam that...shot us...made us to...land in this place by the explosion..." Lucario said.

"But why I'm feeling okay?"

"I...shielded you...from the attack...my aura is at a very high level now..."

Chris was starting to cry. "Lucario!" He held Lucario's face next to his cheek. "You're the best friend I ever met in my life, shielding me from an attack was so brave of you!"

Lucario smiled a little. "I'm glad that...made you happy..."

"Good, you 2 are fine."

Chris looked behind him to find Meta Knight panting heavily, there was dust in his cape and mask, but he managed to stand up.

"Meta Knight! You're fine too?" Chris asked.

Meta Knight nodded slowly. "Yes...fortunately, we managed to survive from that laser of my own ship...and probably the others are still living...is he alright?"

"Who, Lucario?" Chris looked at Lucario, who coughed a little before standing up. "L-Lucario, can you walk in that condition?"

Lucario nodded slowly. "I can do this...I need to protect you..."

"But I'm going to be a bad trainer if I let my only Pokémon to keep fighting!"

"And I'm going to be a bad Pokémon...if I let my own trainer to be killed without my protection," Lucario kneeled to Chris. "Please...let me go with you outside my Pokeball..."

"It's better if we go in this state onward." Meta Knight suggested.

Chris thought for a moment before he rubbed Lucario's head. "Alright, alright, you can stay outside your Pokeball to protect me, but don't push yourself too much, you got that Lucario?" Chris asked with a smile.

Lucario opened his mouth in surprise and looked down at the floor with closed eyes. "Whatever you want, I'll...do it just for you."

"That's my Lucario!" Chris said happily. "Meta Knight, are you starting to like to share your time with others now?"

Casino Park

"Humph, don't think I accepted this idea just because of you." Meta Knight said.

"...Okay...now you 2, let's find the others if they're alright...and meanwhile..." Chris took out his DS. "Doctor, how is my partnership level with Meta Knight?" He whispered to Kawashima.

"Here." Dr. Kawashima said.

80

"...80?! He's almost believing in me then!" Chris said happily.

"...Not really...you're holding the DS upside-down..."

"..." Chris turned the DS at the right direction.

Meta Knight: 08

"I hate you." Chris whispered angrily to Dr. Kawashima before putting the DS in his pocket. "Lucario!"

Lucario got up slowly. "Yes?"

"Use your aura to see if there is anyone close to us in this area!"

"Understood." Lucario said glowing and closing his eyes to search through the casino for the others, after 1 minute, he found someone. "There is someone up ther-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

GET
READY!

"Cream! Oh no, she is in trouble!" Chris said in shock. "I can't let anyone make Cream to cry! Let's hurry and rescue her!" He said in shock and both current members nodded and ran inside a building with sparkling lights. "Lucario, can you create the biggest Aura Sphere to defeat those flying robots?" He asked pointing at 5 flying robots with clown make-up that were blocking the stairs that leaded to Cream.

"Yes." Lucario said concentrating his aura on his hands, the Aura Sphere that was growing bigger and bigger appeared between his hands, it was big since his damage was so high at the moment. "GRUUUUAAAAH!" Lucario fired the Aura Sphere that went rocketing towards the robots, making a big explosion that also left a huge mark of smoke around the place.

"Lucario...that was definitely the most, strongest Aura Sphere you ever made!" Chris said as he looked at Lucario in surprise.

"That...surprised you?" Lucario asked with curiosity.

"Of course it did! You're amazing!"

Lucario smiled a little. "T-thank you..."

"Stop talking and let's go now!" Meta Knight said as he flew quickly.

Both of them saw Meta Knight going up and they shook their heads in unison." We can't waste more time or Cream will suffer!" Chris said in shock again.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" Cream cried as she was surrounded by 10 Eggman Robots with spears and shields, her attacks were useless against them so she dropped to her knees and started to cry while she hugged Cheese.

"Weaklings..." Meta Knight appeared in front of the duo with his sword pointing outside the casino, before the 10 robots exploded in unison.

"Mr. Meta Knight, thank you for saving me!" Cream said as she wiped out her tears and setting Cheese free from her.

"Creeeeam!" Chris yelled as he appeared from the stairs with Lucario.

"Chris! You're okay!" Cream said with a smile as she ran and stepping between Meta Knight and Chris. "I thought that beam finished you...who is him?"

"He's Lucario, the person I was talking about."

Cream bowed her head at Lucario. "It's really a pleasure to meet Chris's best friend." Lucario blushed a little at this.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said happily.

"Mr. Lucario, can you please help us to find Amy and Mr. Big? I think they're here somewhere because me and Cheese decided to look around as soon as we woke up, but those robots blocked our path and attempted to attack us!" Cream asked while she joined her hands together.

"Don't worry Cream, Lucario is already helping us." Chris said reassuring Cream.

"Thank you so much!"

Lucario was a little puzzled by her response but he nodded, glowing again to find the others. "...Hmm..."

"Is he using his aura abilities you told me about Chris?"

"Yes, they help a lot in these kind of situations." Chris said.

"...I found someone else a little ahead beyond that mirror." Lucario said pointing to a cube of mirror that was hanging above a long slide.

The quartet stepped above the glass door and Chris saw Meta Knight raising his sword above him. "Wait! I'm not ready yet to slide in thi-"

"HA!" Meta Knight broke the glass and they fell to the long slide, luckily for Cream, she was enjoying the long descend with Cheese abover her lap, unfortunately for Chris, he was screaming because he was afraid of falling off at the end, at least Lucario grabbed him by the hand to jump at the right moment to a platform that was a huge checkered floor.

"The lights around this place are making me dizzy..." Cream said.

"Who in their insane head made this huge place? It's stupidly big!" Chris said.

"Did anyone called me?"

They turned their backs to find Big sitting above a pile of scrapped metal of robots as he was taking a sip of tea.

"Mr. Big!" Cream said with a smile.

"Oh, hello there Cream, I was enjoying my time by taking a sip of my tea, those robots tried to attack me but I defended myself from them, after that, I decided to rest here until someone appeared." Big explained as he took a sip of his tea.

"So much for a day's works for you, right Big?" Chris asked smiling a little.

"You could say that."

"And where did you get that tea?"

"I'm always taking my tea with me to all the places I go with Froggy...FROGGY!" Big's ears perked up after remembering the reason of why he was there. "FROGGY!"

Chris noticed that Big was grabbing his legs. "B-Big! Calm down! We're going to find Froggy! I promise!"

"R-really?" Big asked with teary eyes before Lucario lifted Big above him to keep him away from Chris.

"Lucario, put him down, he's just worried about Froggy."

"...Fine." Lucario said putting Big down.

"Cream, look," Meta Knight said to Cream as he glanced at some floating red coins that were floating towards another platform. "Take Chris with you to the other side, I'll take Big with me."

"But what about Mr. Lucario?" Cream asked concerned.

"He can cross by his own, am I right Lucario?"

"Right." Lucario said as he jumped from red coin from red coin to cross the abyss below him. Cream grabbed Chris by the hands and she flew to the other side with Cheese too, Meta Knight had trouble with Big but he managed to cross to the other side.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!"

"Amy!" Cream, Big and Chris yelled in unison after hearing Amy screaming close to them.

"This way!" Meta Knight said, pointing at some stairs that were leading to the top of the building that they were, after 5 minutes of running to the top, they found her laying unconscious on the floor.

"Amy!" Cream said preocupied and dropped to her knees to see if Amy was fine. "Amy! It's me, Cream! Are you okay?"

Before she could get a reply, Amy got up angrily and she smashed her hammer that appeared out of nowhere to break 8 red lasers that were blocking her path to other stairs on the other side, but the lasers retaliated by electrocuting her and Amy fell unconscious again.

"Why is she attacking those lasers?" Lucario asked confused.

Amy got up, but before she was about to hit the lasers, Cream grabbed her left hand and she looked at her. "Cream! Oh, I was so worried about you!" Amy said, putting her hammer down.

"Me too Amy...but what were you doing just now?" Cream asked with curiosity.

"I was trying to get pass through these lasers because I saw Sonic running to this direction, and for making everything else worse, he ran off once he saw me...again!" Amy said irritated. "Then these lasers were activated and I've been trying to destroy them!"

"It's futile," Meta Knight began. "We can't proceed further inside this place...unless if we can find another way."

"And what about breaking this window to fall inside that cannon of below to shoot us to that building from over there?" Big asked, pointing outside a window where a cannon was above a floating platform above another abyss, trailing his finger to the other building in front of them.

"...Sometimes Big, you can find the most dangerous routes..." Chris said with closed eyes.

2 minutes later...

"LUCARIO! DON'T LET ME GO!" Chris screamed as they were fired at the other building as cannonballs, Lucario grabbed Chris before jumping and the team with different allies crossed to the other side.

"DUAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

After landing in the next building, Chris crashed accidentaly with someone who was flying and crying at the same time, he tried to get him off his face, but Lucario grabbed the person and held him to show him to the others.

"...Charmy?" Cream asked.

The person was Charmy who was crying uncontrollably, but after hearing Cream's voice, he instantly stopped like nothing happened. "Oh, hi Cream!" Charmy said smiling.

"So what are you, Vector and Espio up to?" Amy asked as she took out her hammer.

Charmy flailed his arms. "W-wait! We're not here to kidnap Cream again by accident! I swear!"

"Then what are you doing here?!"

"A beam that came out of nowhere when we found Shadow and Rouge made a huge explosion, sending all of us to different directions, I woke up in this place and then, I couldn't do anything else and started to panic around!" Charmy explained.

"You too then?" Chris asked and Charmy looked at him, confused.

"Hey, who are the new guys?" Charmy asked.

After 5 minutes of explanations...

"How funny, you have also the name of my old friend Chris, Chris!" Charmy said laughing a little, "So, are you like him by any chance?"

"Not at all." Chris said.

"Charmy, do you want to go with us to find the others?" Amy asked and Charmy got in a thinking position.

"Weeeeell, you guys treat me better than Vector does..."

Flashback

"I'VE SAID IS MINE, VECTOR!"

"NO CHARMY, THAT IS MINE!"

"WANT TO FIGHT FOR IT?!"

"WHY NOT?!" And both allies started to fight in a cloud of dust.

Espio sighed in disappointment. "Another useless discussion over the remote control..."

End of flashback

Charmy realized how stupid that fight was and sweatdropped. "I'm still accepting the idea, let's tag along for now!"

Big looked ahead of him. "What a big pinball machine."

Bingo Highway

Amy's eyes twitched. "Don't tell me we're going to climb that thing! It's just too big!"

"Sadly, we must be the balls...I'm really going to hate this." Meta Knight said.

"We too." The others replied in unison.

1 hour later...

BING! BING! BING! BING! BING! BING! BING! BING!

"IS ANYONE TIRED OF THIS STUPID OWW! GAME?!" Amy asked as she was pushed by the flippers again.

"OF COURSE OWW!" Chris replied as he crashed into a wall. "WHO IS CONTROLLING THIS THING ANYWAY OWW!"

Not far away from them, actually, above the huge pinball machine...

Tails didn't had any clue about Sonic's whereabouts, he wondered and wandered around the casino thinking only about him (and ONLY about him, to tell the truth, 90 percent was about Sonic, 9 percent was about Fox, 0.9 percent was about Knuckles and 0.1 percent was about the others), fortunately to cheer up the fox with 2 tails, he found a pinball machine next to him and began to play it with 7 balls, not only he did it for fun, because if he got the high score, the green Chaos Emerald was the price for completing the game.

"Here it comes, ha!" Tails said as he hit a ball with the right flipper.

Below him...

"OUCH!" Charmy was hit by the right flipper.

Above them...

"Another one!" He said hitting another ball with the left flipper.

Below him...

"UGH!" Meta Knight was sent rocketing to the top of the machine because the left flipper hit him.

Above them...

"I haven't had so much fun before in my life!" Tails said happily as he continued to hit all the balls inside the machine.

Below him...

"I HAVEN'T HAD SO MUCH PAIN BEFORE IN MY LIFE!" Amy yelled in pain.

Above them...

If you haven't realized, the pinball machine was activated as soon as the team that was trying to find the others stepped inside, in that moment, Tails was walking around and found the machine suddenly turning on, the 7 balls were actually the 7 characters (Cheese didn't counted because he was small), then, he decided to play...using them as human balls to play, the pinball that Tails was using was commanding the huge pinball from below him, not knowing about all the pain that he was causing to them accidentaly for 1 HOUR, luckily for the fox...

"One more to score 1,000,000,000 points! NOW!" Tails hit all the balls to hit the top part of the pinball to score 1,000,000,000 in unison to win the game, after he managed to get that score, a siren appeared saying that he was the winner and the green Chaos Emerald was given to him by a robot that was working there.

Although when he hit all the balls to hit the same place 7 times, the "balls" went through the roof or floor in Tails's view, the fox jumped surprise and gasped when he saw the 7 (or 8 with Cheese) team members with many bruises and dust around their bodies.

"E-everyone! What happened to you?!" Tails asked as he ran to them while he kept the green Chaos Emerald.

"Some lunatic used the huge pinball machine below to use us as the balls." Charmy said with swirl eyes pointing outside the window, Tails looked outside and realized that he accidentaly used all of them to win the emerald.

"Umm...y-yeah...I bet that lunatic ran away after you came here...hehehehe..." Tails said laughing scared, and sweating. "A-and...look! I found a Chaos Emerald!" He showed them the emerald.

1 hour later...

"News flash: MORE ROBOTS." Charmy announced, pointing to more Eggman Robots with clown make-up, the weird thing was that they fell in the center of a platform where huge slot machines were blocking their sight. Just then, Dr. Eggman appeared laughing.

"Hahahaha! I hope you like to fight against my army of robots!" Dr. Eggman said laughing.

"Dr. Eggman!" Amy said.

"We know his name Amy..." Chris said looking away ashamed.

"...Anyway, where is Sonic and everybody else?" Amy demanded, as her hammer appeared on her right hand.

"And do you think I care? Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you because Sonic obviously hates you!"

Fire started to appear around Amy and she glared at Eggman. "Say that again and I'll whack you but good!"

"Argh! Now drop the Subspace Bomb!"

"The what?" Tails asked confused when a Subspace Bomb fell from the sky, causing them to back away to avoid the impact, the countdown started from 3 minutes and counting down. "This is the same bomb that was embedded to the Biolizard in the colony!"

"Get them!"

Robot Carnival

"Tails, can you deactivate the bomb before it blows up with us?" Chris asked a little worried as Tails began to examine the bomb.

"Hmm, I'll take 1 minute to deactivate this...but in the meantime, protect me while I'm on it!" Tails said.

"Behind you!" Charmy yelled before Chris fell on his back to evade a bullet from a robot, Lucario got enraged by this and he trusted his palm into the robot to destroy him, using Force Palm.

Cream saw Big sitting on the floor as more robots appeared from the sky. "Mr. Big, can you do something to help us?"

"In a minute Cream, I need to relax for a while."

"Relax in a time like this? Stop being lazy and fight!" Meta Knight said angrily as he sliced 3 robots with shields.

Charmy, however, was in trouble because without Vector and Espio, he was defenseless. "C-can somebody please help me to attack?"

Chris walked to him. "For what?

Charmy instantly grabbed Chris and kicked him to 2 robots as an electric shot, fortunately for the World Traveler, it didn't hurted him at all. "But I feel kind of dizzy again..." Chris replied.

"Big! Do something and help us!" Amy said while she received various shots to her, but she jumped in the air to smash the flying robots that were shooting at her.

"Patience Amy, if we have patience we will win." Big said, taking out his tea again.

"GET OUT!" Meta Knight yelled as he used Mach Tornado to pull 6 Eggman Robots with lances into the tornado, slashing them to scraps of metal as Meta Knight stopped while he looked at the bomb. "That bomb...I saw one of those bombs inside my ship...then..." He looked above him to find the Halberd flying away to a nearby canyon. "The Halberd dropped the bomb!"

"I need more time, keep it on!" Tails yelled as he found cables beneath the bomb.

"Raptor Boost!" Chris yelled as he punched a robot in his chin with fire, then Lucario jumped over Chris and crashed his fist into the robot to destroy him. "Good work Lucario!"

"Thanks, but don't rest yet, there are more!" Lucario said as he glared at more spores of light that made even more robots than before.

"Robots, robots, robots, robots and more robots! I'm sick of them! Why can't Dr. Eggman make a beast for a change?" Amy asked angrily while she tried to destroy a shield of a robot.

"But Amy, beasts are more scary than robots..." Cream said as she told Cheese to slam into a robot.

"I know, but changing strategies is sometimes good and entertaining!"

"I agree with you, but changing of themes, I'm really tired of only using Raptor Boost over and over again! Why I can't use the stupid, Falcon Punch?!" Just when he said that, his fist became surrounded by fire and punched a robot in the stomach, sending it flying across the slot machines and he looked to his right hand. "...Well...it's about time but...I'm not going to yell the name..."

"Big!" Charmy yelled as a stupid amount of robots appeared surrounding the group.

"Okay, okay, here I go..." Big got up and he took out his fishing rod and started to swing it above him. "Hmm..." The hook became a big, spiky ball with fire that went across all the robots, similar to a chain reaction, creating explosions around the party and eliminating all of them as Dr. Eggman descended and pointed angrily at them.

"Don't get too excited boys! Those were only the eeeeeeasy ones!" Dr. Eggman said furiously as he flew away from the scene.

"...There!" Tails finished to deactivate the bomb in less time than expected. "The bomb was deactivated!"

"Good." Meta Knight said simply.

"I admit it, that battle was so easy." Charmy said as he fell on the floor above his butt. "Man, I didn't felt menaced either."

"The Halberd went to that canyon, we should move on." Meta Knight suggested as he flew away using his wings.

"Lucario..."

"Yes Chris?"

"Can you carry me until we get there? I'm really tired..."

Lucario grabbed Chris and smiled a little. "As you wish."

"Thank you." And so, Lucario jumped off the platform with Chris.

"Let's go Cream, Big, Cheese and Charmy!" Amy said excited as she jumped off the platform with the mentioned characters, using the flight members to descend slowly and go to the next area.

Rail Canyon

Rail Canyon wasn't exactly the easy place to survive, because for one, the place was literally high above the ground, two, a lot of rails were there, three, Chris didn't liked to be grinding above rails so Lucario decided to carry him again until they reached another platform, four, more annoying robots, five, the canyon was a really big base by Dr. Eggman and six, it was the longest place of all the levels.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Chris screamed above Lucario's arms as the 9 members went inside a spiral of rails that went directly inside a base a grinding, inside the enormous orange rocks. It was even more embarrassing to him since Cream or Charmy didn't screamed as they were on their own rails.

OR worse yet, Cheese didn't even felt menaced.

Fortunately, there wasn't any robot inside one of the many facilities...because the place was very dark.

"...Don't panic, I don't think anyone would attack us here..." Chris said as they walked further inside, with Cream and Cheese leading the way.

"Don't scream Cream...you can do it...nobody can attack you here..." Cream muttered scared as she held Cheese close to her.

"If anyone is going to attack you and Cheese, I'll promise I'll kill him with my hammer." Amy said behind Cream with her hammer ready.

After a while of walking, they found light ahead to the left of a corner and Cream ran to the light and turned to them with a smile. "Phew! It's over! Now we can go outside an-"

"HANDS TO THE AIR!"

Cream turned her head to the corner with light, finding a gun directly pointing between her eyes as her pupils shrunk instantly.

"...Ah...ah...AAAAAAHHHH!!" Cream screamed, crying and hiding behind Amy, who jumped instantly to the person who was pointing his gun at Cream.

"YOU BASTARD! BANZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIII!" Amy yelled at the top of her lungs.

The person began to sweat as Amy was starting to approach him in the air with her hammer ready to kill him. "W-WAIT! NO! STOP!"

WHACK!

30 minutes later...

The party was grinding above more rails with another member that they found 30 minutes ago, Amy, who hit him, apologized as they grind in the same rail.

"I'm so sorry! Forgive me for giving you that big bump on your head!" Amy said bowing to the person.

"I should be...the one apologizing..." The person said with a huge red bump on his head.

"That's what you get to point your gun at little girls like Cream, Fox." Chris said, revealing the person with the bump to be Fox.

"I'm sure he didn't wanted to attack me, right Mr. Fox?" Cream asked.

"RIGHT?!" Amy asked with the same fire appearing around her.

"R-right! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Fox said sweating like crazy.

"...At least we're slowly gathering everyone little by little." Chris said.

"Amy, did you said that Sonic ran away from you?" Tails asked and Amy nodded. "Honestly, I don't know why he needs to run from you."

"For the obvious reason that Amy will glomp at him." Chris said

"What is "glomp"?" Cream asked.

"S-s-something you should know about when you get older. Believe me, you don't want to know now."

"...Oh...I understand...also Mr. Fox," Fox looked at her. "I'm sorry for thinking that you were Tails's evil cousin when I saw you."

Chris blinked for a moment before bursting out laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA! OH GOD, WHEN CREAM SAYS IT LIKE THAT, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT LAUGH, HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Even everyone else chuckled at this and Fox glared at all of them.

"Okay okay, we laughed at Fox for being the evil cousin of Tails, now concentrate please..." Fox said grunting a little.

"Tails! You didn't told me your evil cousin was so rude!" Charmy asked as he bursted out laughing as well.

"SHUT UP!" Fox yelled at the top of his lungs.

"...DEAD END!" Big yelled and everybody looked ahead to find no more rails going to anywhere, which was really bad.

"...TAILS! CREAM! CHARMY! META KNIGHT! GRAB US AND TAKE US TO SAFE FLOOR, NOW!" Chris yelled as all the flight members quickly grabbed who they can carry to the nearest platform, fortunately, they found one not so far away from the dead end and they descended to land safely.

"...I thought I was going to die..." Amy said as she grabbed her chest were her heart was beating madly.

"Lucario, can you use your aura to detect someone else here?" Chris asked as Lucario put him down, the Aura Pokémon nodded and began to glow to find another person around.

"Hmm..." Lucario said.

"What?"

Lucario pointed above a huge cannon. "There is another person up there, but is unconscious."

"Then here we go." Charmy said as he flew towards the cannon with the others following him from behind, the bee managed to catch sight of a red dot and flew towards it, it was a fainted Knuckles. "Knuckles! Wake up you dork!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A DORK YOU IDIOT?!" Knuckles got up instantly with a glare to an innocent Charmy with crossed arms behind his back.

"Why do you have to be so mean to the people around you? Seriously?"

Knuckles cracked his fists. "OKAY BUZZ BOY, YOU ASKED FOR IT!"

"Hold it right there Knuckles!" Amy said as they reunited with the 2.

"You were going to murder Charmy? Knuckles, what's wrong with you?" Tails asked as Charmy hid behind Chris with teary eyes.

"Waaah! He tried to kill me!" Charmy said with an accusing finger to Knuckles and they glared at him.

"...Oh come on! You're not going to believe that liar instead of me, right?" Knuckles asked irritated.

"Well..." Cream thought for a moment. "This is not the time to be fighting, we need to find Mr. Sonic and Tails's evil cousin's friend too."

And Chris and Charmy fell to the floor, laughing madly at this.

"I thought you stopped calling me his evil cousin!" Fox said as he pointed at Tails.

"Sorry, I forgot..."

"Knuckles, did you ended all the way here because of the explosion?" Tails asked.

"I didn't thought it would be so strong but yes." Knuckles responded.

"We can't waste much more time now, we have to reach the Halberd!" Meta Knight said, finding the Halberd flying above them and getting away from the canyon.

Big saw another way with more rails. "Use this way."

And everybody got in the rails to grind down to another base, but Chris and Lucario were behind because Chris didn't wanted to stay in Lucario's arms again and grind for a change, but with the help of Lucario grabbing his hand to not let him fall.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lucario asked as they grinded down the rails.

"Y-yeah, sooner or later I need to overcome my fear...AAAAAHHHHH!" After a second, they started to accelerate as the rails were turning into a big downside. "D-DON'T JUMP...DON'T JUMP...DON'T J-AAAHH!" Chris fell from the rails but since Lucario was grabbing him, the Aura Pokémon put him on the rails again and Chris sighed in relief. "T-thank you Lucario...I could be dead if it weren't for you..."

"Good to hear that, now let's go."

Bullet Station

If you thought the Rail Station was dangerous, think again, the Bullet Station was 5 times dangerous than the previous level because it had 3 times more cannons, 3 times more Eggman Robots and 3 times the chance to die.

And it was to run around, evading shots, bullets and fire.

"How in the hell did Eggman made all of this?" Knuckles asked as he jumped above a flamethrower from a wall.

"I dunno." Charmy responded, dodging bullets from the robots.

"AAH!" Tails yelled in pain after the fire managed to burn his right leg.

"How could you!" Amy said furiously and raising her hammer above the flamethrower that burned Tails, smashing it into the flamethrower to destroy it in a single blow.

"Here, let me carry you Tails." Chris offered his help to Tails.

"N-no, I'm fine." Tails stood up but felt a pain running from his leg and dropped again in the floor.

"I'm serious, let me carry you!"

"...Well..."

"DOWN!" Chris looked behind him to find Fox lunging at him to push him at the floor to evade a missile. "...That was close..."

Chris slowly stood up and looked at the source of the missile. "Lucario! Use an Aura Sphere on that cannon!" He looked at Tails who was being carried by Fox on his back. "..."

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Fox said as he and Tails ran away.

"...Did Tails prefered Fox over me?" Chris asked annoyed to himself before running ahead with the others.

"I've said let me go you bullies!"

"That was Kirby's voice!" Fox said surprised.

The party entered inside another facility to find Kirby inside a cage as he tried to break the bars with his Cutter attack. Knuckles charged at the cage and punched the bar with his fists to break them to set Kirby free.

"Kirby! Are you okay?" Chris asked and Kirby nodded with a smile.

"Yep! Those robots captured me when I was unconscious, they took Lucas and Falco to another place around here!" Kirby said.

"Inside here?" Big asked but Kirby shook his head.

"No, in another room inside the rocks!" The puffball pointed at what looked to be the holes for a big cannon. "But! If we enter the holes of the cannon that is above this place, we can reach them in less time than expected!"

Charmy looked at the holes. "Hurray! Another chance to be the cannonballs!"

"Oh joy..." Amy, Knuckles, Meta Knight, Fox, Lucario and Chris said sarcastically.

The 10 (11 in Cheese's case) entered inside the holes to be shoot by the cannon to another long way of rails, this time, they saw more troubles because the rails were destroyed in some of their rails.

"RIGHT!" Meta Knight yelled from the front to tell to jump to the right rail in time to evade a fall. "LEFT!" They jumped to the left. "LEFT!" They jumped to the left. "RIGHT!" And so on until they reached another facility, they looked up to find Lucas and Falco inside a cage.

"Lucas!" Kirby yelled.

"E-everyone! Please get us out of this cage!" Lucas yelled from above before noticing that Meta Knight flew at the cage with a quick slash at the bars, cutting the bars in half and making Lucas and Falco to fall at the floor, Falco landed on his feet but Lucas landed on his butt. "Oww, there wasn't any better idea than that?"

"Thank goodness you're okay Lucas!" Kirby said.

"I was...I mean, we were captured by the robots when we woke up inside that cage, then they disappeared from this place, leaving us like birds inside their cage...n-no offense Falco..."

Falco dusted off his sleeves. "Don't worry about that, so, what's our objective now?"

"Follow the Halberd, the same mission, nothing else." Fox said.

"AND find Sonic!" Amy added.

"AND find Pikachu!" Kirby added.

"AND find Espio!" Charmy added.

"...What about Vector?" Cream asked.

"Meh, he can die in a forest if I care. Besides, hanging around with you guys is MUCH less painful than being with Vector anyway."

"But Charmy, think of all the good moments you and Vector have had before!"

Charmy got in a thinking position. "Hmm..."

More Charmy's flashbacks

Vector held a knife on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he stole his headphones.

Vector held a gun on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he painted his body of a blue color.

Vector held a hammer on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he put on his back a paper with the words "I'm a dork, kick me!"

Vector held a missile on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he set the agency on fire.

Vector held a rocket launcher on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he broke his computer inside the computer room.

Vector was using a bulldozer as he chased after Charmy because he painted a pink happy face on his stomach.

Vector held a nuclear warhead on his right hand as he chased after Charmy because he sent thousands and thousands of e-mails in all the network with photos of Vector taking a shower with a rubber duck on the tub.

Vector held the knife, the gun, the hammer, the missile, the rocket launcher, the nuclear warhead on his hands as he rode the same bulldozer as he chased after Charmy because he even sent photos of Vector kissing Espio by accident.

Of course, Espio, for a change, joined forces with Vector.

End of Charmy's flashbacks

The whole group (except Lucario and Meta Knight) stared with wide eyes to Charmy after he told them all the things Vector did to him.

"...Charmy...sometimes...I feel sorry for you..." Amy said surprised.

"A nuclear warhead? That's way to much!" Falco said surprised.

"Nothing is too much for Mr. Kill Charmy apparently." Charmy said, throwing his hands up. "Good thing I survived."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Dr. Eggman!" The growing party said in unison and they ran outside the facility to find Dr. Eggman above the Egg Hawk, who was above a blimp with robots with guns.

"You inferior beings! How dare you to come storming inside my base of operations! That's it! I shall end this here and now!" Dr. Eggman said angrily as the group gathered outside.

"Like hell you will!" Knuckles said smacking his fists together.

"Shut up! Now, let the destruction begin!"

Egg Albatross

"Fire!" Dr. Eggman yelled as the squadron of 6 robots fired at the group as the blimp was going away from their sight, the party had no other choice but to chase him as they evaded the shots from the robots.

"Can we catch up with him?" Charmy asked.

"Maybe, but don't stop running or he'll get away!" Meta Knight said.

"We have to run faster than this!" Amy said as she jumped out of the way to dodge more shots. "Oohhh! I wish Sonic was here just now!" She smiled and looked to both sides. "...I've said, oohh! I wish Sonic was here just now!"

Lucario pulled Chris to him to evade a missile. "Like if he is going to appear just if you wish." He said bluntly.

"A girl can always wish what she wants!"

And their long struggle went for seconds, minutes and 1 hour.

"Is anybody tired yet?" Tails asked, if you forgot, he was still being carried by Fox, who was slowing down.

"Yeeees..." Chris said tired.

"I'm sick of this already!" Charmy said. "We have been running for 1 hour straight, evading those missiles, shots and small lasers from Dr. "I don't have another thing to do but to annoy these guys" Eggman!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING ANNOYING?!" The walkie-talkie from his jacket said annoyed and irritated.

"...Dude, I mean Dr. Eggman, not you."

"...Oh...sure...right...hehehe...him and not me..."

"Lucario, just use an Aura Sphere and destroy that blimp!" Chris ordered and Lucario charged an Aura Sphere to hit the blimp, but Dr. Eggman activated a force field around the blimp to block the Aura Sphere and Lucario gasped at this. "Wh-what? But how? This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Hehehehe! I'm always prepared you fools!" Dr. Eggman said laughing.

"Damn straight!" The walkie-talkie said.

"Damn NOT straight!"

Tails smiled after hearing that voice that was coming behind the blimp, or more accurately, just behind Dr. Eggman. "T-that voice is fro-"

"SONIC!" Amy added excited as Dr. Eggman turned his back to find Sonic sitting behind him, cleaning his right ear with his finger.

"ARGH! SONIC! GET OUT!" Dr. Eggman said furiously and trying to punch Sonic, but if anyone but Eggman forgot about Sonic is that he was a lot way faster than him, the hedgehog appeared in front of the chair where Eggman was sitting, taunting the doctor as usual by...well...remember the episode where Sonic smacks his butt to show it to Eggman above a rocket fist and sticking out his tongue?

Everyone slapped their foreheads at this, except for Charmy who enjoyed that and thought about doing it to Vector.

"SO, SONIC, YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME RIGHT?! THEN LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN WITH THIS!" Dr. Eggman pressed a button on the Egg Hawk and the blimp instantly changed to a big robot with the hawk's head at the top, and defying the law of physics because the robot was bigger than the blimp.

Sonic jumped out of the robot and joined everybody else. "It's good to see you all agai-"

"SONIC!" Amy instantly hugged Sonic with force and taking out his air from his body.

"A-Amy! Y-you're asphyxiating me!" Sonic managed to say in Amy's grasp before Chris separated both of them and pointed to the big rocket fist that was going to attack them, but Knuckles stepped in front of them to stop the fist from colliding.

Tails got off from Fox's back and ran to Sonic. "Sonic, what do we do now?"

"That's an easy question!" For Tails's surprise, Sonic took out the blue Chaos Emerald and showed to everybody else. "I found this inside the bases!"

"Now we have 2 emeralds!" Amy said, taking out the yellow Chaos Emerald.

"3 emeralds!" Tails added as he took out the green Chaos Emerald.

Suddenly, Chris felt that same emotion again when he and another character combine their attacks. "(There it is again! Now who am I talking to?)"

"(Huh? Who's there? Who's talking to my mind?)"

"(...Sonic? You? I thought it was Kirby this time!)"

"(This time for what?)"

"(...Um...nevermind...Sonic, I need to tell you something.)"

"(What?)"

"(Our partnership level is probably filled...or maybe you get along with everyone, I didn't saw your partnership level with me to tell the truth.)"

"(O-okay, what's this partnership level stuff?)"

Chris sighed. "(Oh well, you haven't heard of it, look, the partnership level is a special factor to let me and anyone else to combine attacks to create an even stronger blow, when this happens and when we are fighting against someone, me and someone else or you get this feeling to talk through our minds to discover that attack, and it's time for us to use our combinated attack.)"

"(Let me get this straight, since I trust you completely the first time you saved me, we can use a combinated attack to deal a stronger blow?)"

"(Exactly, now, do you want to see our combinated attack on Dr. Eggman?)"

Sonic grinned. "(Of course I want to!)"

"(Okay...but no grins, smirks, cocky grins or cocky smirks to me, they're creepy...at least to me.)"

Sonic smiled a little. "(Right.)"

"But I can't reach him with my speed!" Chris said.

Sonic grabbed his right hand and went rocketing towards Dr. Eggman using the power of the Chaos Emerald in his hand, just when they were behind the robot, Chris already knew what to do and so did Sonic, who turned into a ball to use the Spin Dash, but he remained in the floor spinning as Chris prepared his Raptor Boost to send Sonic rocketing towards the robot.

"Now!" Chris yelled as he ran directly to Sonic to punch him to the robot, with the power of the blue Chaos Emerald, the attack was greatly increased and Sonic went throught the robot's body like a bullet. "FIRE HEDGEHOG!!" They yelled in unison, discovering Sonic's Level 1 Final Smash.

New ability learned! Fire Hedgehog!

Pull the second user using Spin Dash to the air while the first user uses Raptor Boost to send the second user rocketing to the sky, deals moderate fire damage

"Alright! We did it!" Tails cheered as everybody else sighed in relief for winning against Dr. Eggman, as Sonic came from the sky and landed on his feet, giving a thumbs up and a wink to Chris, who smiled a little after this and laughed heartily.

However, Cream looked above her to find Dr. Eggman falling to the floor with great speed and she gasped when his body didn't moved. "Oh my god! We killed Dr. Eggman!" She said in shock.

"You bastards!" Charmy said, earning a glare from everybody.

Everyone approached slowly to Dr. Eggman and approached slowly their heads to see if he was alright, but after 10 seconds of staring at the dead body, from the stomach came a cartoony face of Eggman playing a record while it laughed like a maniac and they jumped away from it.

"MWHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The head laughed maniacally as it deformed by itself.

"This is...a fake!" Amy said a little furious and stomping the floor a little.

"So that means Eggman is still alive?" Knuckles asked.

"Phew, I'm glad he's still alive." Sonic said.

"...What? Why are you glad for that?" Charmy asked confused.

Sonic put his hands on each sides on his shoulders. "Because without him, my adventures are over."

"Yes," Chris began. "Because is always fun to save the Earth from imminent destruction that you want to pull out stunts to amaze the persons around, just when they're about to die."

"...Ouch, that was...cold..." Sonic said a little scared.

Meta Knight was outside the conversation as he saw the Halberd getting away into a swamp full of frogs, he quickly threw his cape aside to fly after it while the others were talking to themselves.

Big looked at Meta Knight getting away and he patted Amy's shoulder. "What's wrong Big?" Amy asked.

"Meta Knight is following the Halberd without us." Big said and Amy looked at the tiny spot that was Meta Knight getting away.

"...Rats! We have to follow him!" Amy said as her team jumped out of the floor.

"Lead the way!" Sonic said, jumping off the platform with everybody else, except for Lucario who looked back at the fake Eggman but shook his head to follow Chris and the others.

...And after 5 seconds, the fake Eggman turned into mercury and materialized into the evil robotic version of Sonic, who was the forgotten Metal Sonic.

"Data...has been copied..." Metal Sonic said as he glared at the party who was going slowly away from the canyon.

Charmy looked behind him because he swore that someone appeared where the fake Eggman was, but Metal Sonic disappeared before Charmy could take a look, the bee began to thought.

"(Was there anyone else besides us?... Nah, I must have imagining things again...)" Charmy thought before thinking about Espio and Vector.

Frog Forest

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sonic yelled with energy.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Chris, however, yelled in terror.

The group was now chasing down the Halberd inside a forest with big frogs that every time they "croacked", rain would appear to touch all the plants to grow extremely big, like long vines that would grow longer and longer if someone was grinding down, and those someones were the party, grinding down a long road around a big green mushroom.

"JUST STOP YELLING!" Falco said annoyed.

"I CAN'T! WE'RE SO HIGH UP!" Chris replied as he was dragged by Lucario.

"C'mon! This is fun!" Charmy cheered.

"NOT FOR ME!"

"Relax! There's safe grass in front of us!" Amy said.

"WHAT A RELIEF!"

"NOW JUMP!" Sonic said as everybody jumped off the vine and landed on the grass in a very tall plant of 100 foot tall height, the ground was even barely visible from their sight, the Bullet Station's abyss wasn't nothing compared to this.

"Froggy..." Big lamented after finding another frog who croacked and summoned more rain, soaking all the party instantly again.

"I'm gonna get a cold from all this rain...ACHOO!" Sonic sneezed.

"But Reddy isn't complaining at all..." Chris said.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Reddy, the bandana." Chris pointed at his red bandana around his neck and Sonic stared confused at the cloth.

"...Riiiight...Reddy...by the way, did you noticed that it has holes all over it?"

"Wha-? REDDY! Oh no! This maybe happened when we were in that base on the canyons!"

Many of them backed away from Chris and "Reddy".

"VECTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" Charmy yelled loudly from the rain as his voice echoed through the forest and the rain itself. "IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! ANSWER MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Charmy, calm down, we're going to find him and didn't you were mad at him just a while ago?" Tails asked and Charmy looked down sadly.

"W-well..." Charmy scratched his shoulder. "He may be a complete retard, idiot, dork, stupid, useless, hopeless, ugly, poor, bastard boss who make many mistakes and drags us into trouble, but he is my retard, idiot, dork, stupid, useless, hopeless, ugly, poor bastard boss who drag me and Espio into trouble!"

Kirby sweatdropped at this. "...He would bit your head off if he heard that."

Charmy cried a little. "I don't care if he bites my head off! He took me in the agency to join him and Espio! I really enjoy spending my time with those idiots...I really do...now I'm starting to miss him in this short, little time..."

"...Wow, the rain hasn't stopped yet...it makes this moment a little sad..." Fox said, wiping out the drops from his face.

However, Falco eyed Fox closely. "How can we know those aren't drops at all?"

"A-are you saying I'm crying?!"

"Hehehehe..." Charmy laughed a little. "Just like that..."

"Huh?" Fox and Falco asked confused.

"Just like that...just like that is how we spend our time together...I wonder if I can find them..." Charmy looked above him to find an umbrella to prevent him from wetting himself, he looked to his right to find Espio holding the umbrella. "E-ESPIO!"

"I'm glad to see you fine Charmy." Espio said.

"...Y-you idiot..."

Espio closed his eyes. "I don't care if you say idiot to me, what matters now is that we're together once again...but of course, Vector is still missing somewhere else with Marth, Pit and Roy..."

"...Oh no, I completely forgot about Marth, Pit and Roy...and Pikachu and Mewtwo!" Chris said, but his face quickly changed from a worried look to a surprised look because Mewtwo was standing next to Espio. "M-Mewtwo!"

"If you're going to ask me how did I ended up here, it's because Espio offered his help to find you all." Mewtwo explained to them.

"...What a relief...everybody is slowly joining...that means the only persons that are still missing are Vector, Marth, Pit, Roy and Pikachu." Espio said.

"That's not true! We're missing the other 3!" Lucas said.

"Who?" Sonic asked.

"Shadow, Rouge and Omega!"

Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Cheese's eyes widened a lot after hearing the name, Shadow. "Shadow?" Knuckles asked.

Lucas nodded a little scared. "Y-yeah...he was very focused at his mission with Rouge and Omega, Kirby, Pikachu and me didn't helped so much with them because they simply destroyed all the robots in sight in a matter of seconds!"

Sonic smirked a little. "Alright, Shadow's back for more then!"

"...Ahem...Sonic?" Chris stared at Sonic for a moment and the hedgehog's smirk disappeared.

"Oh...right...anyway, let's move on to find them and fast!"

Meta Knight nodded. "I agree, but if we reach the Halberd before finding them, we must abandon our search and take back my ship."

Everyone stared at Meta Knight.

"...But Meta Knight, is important to rescue the others so we can retrieve the Halberd properly!" Chris said.

"And?"

"...What's that "and" suppose to mean?" Knuckles asked.

"I remind to you all, I'm here to recover the Halberd and leave after that, didn't you remembered? That was the reason of my presense here."

"Still, that doesn't means you have to be so harsh on everybody else!" Chris said defending him and the rest.

"...I don't care..."

A sudden shock fell above everyone after hearing those words, they have been traveling so far and yet Meta Knight was still acting rude and harsh, Chris forgot that his second mission was to spend time with Meta Knight and Mewtwo and was ashamed for not be able to do so.

"...Meta Knight..."

"Do you have something to say?" Meta Knight asked bluntly.

Chris shook his head. "...No...you're right, we need to retrieve the Halberd as soon as possible..."

"Then don't waste more time and proceed with caution." And Meta Knight flew away to catch up with his ship, while everyone stared at Chris.

"You didn't say it seriously, right?" Fox asked with crossed arms.

Chris shook his head again. "Of course not...I've been trying to get along with Meta Knight but since we woke up in the casino, I was distracted to gather all of you...now I'm starting to think if I did the right thing..."

"And you did!" Kirby said with a smile. "Meta Knight is just too worried about the ship he doesn't uses and cares only about it!"

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up Kirby...but..."

"That's it, what's wrong with you? You're starting to act a little emo to me!" Sonic said with crossed arms. "Who cares what he says? If you think you're doing the right thing that IS right, then don't stop, he'll regret it later!"

"I think you're right...I'm sorry."

Mewtwo floated to Chris and put his hand above his righ shoulder. "You don't need to apologize for that."

"...Thank you..." Chris whispered as he noticed Meta Knight again, standing in front of all of them. "Fine, we're going now Meta Knight."

"Good." Meta Knight said as they followed him, everyone except Cream who was hugging Cheese close to her while the rain was still falling all above the place, Amy looked behind her and walked to Cream with a worried look with Big behind her.

"It's something bothering you Cream?" Amy asked concerned.

"...Amy...I want to...I want to help Chris to get Mr. Meta Knight to like him...if he is trying very hard to do it...I'm willing to help him out..." Cream said.

"Chao...chao..." Cheese said sadly.

"Who cares about that idiot Cream? He can die in hell if he wants to, don't waste your time with guys like him." Amy said as she left with the others, leaving Big with Cream and Cheese.

"Cream, I'm with your plan if you want my help." Big offered his help to Cream, who looked up to him with a smile.

"Thank you Mr. Big! I'm sure we can do it together! Isn't that correct Cheese?" Cream asked a little excited to Cheese, who nodded happily.

"Hey! We're leaving you behind!" Shouted Charmy from afar the rain.

"C-coming!" Cream said, running with Cheese above her and Big. "(Soon Mr. Meta Knight will like you Chris...I'm sure of it even if I'm the only one who believes in him!)"

Preview of the next chapter

"Shadow!" Sonic said grinning as he evaded a Homing Attack from Shadow.

"Humph, so, Rouge told me that you and someone else like me fought against you a while ago, I won't lose like him." Shadow said.

"Are we out of this castle yet?!" Shouted Roy from inside a door that was upside-down.

Everyone opened the doors from all the walls to say their answers. "No!"

"At last...we came so far to enter the Final Fortress..." Chris said as all the 25 (we counted Cheese again too) landed in the darkish area of the Egg Fleet.

"Don't let your guards down, this is not going to be easy." Mewtwo warned all of them.

"After Sonic screwed it up BIG TIME, now we have to beat that sin against the holy nature that it's called...umm...Super Shadow Metal Overlord?"

"I've already said I'm sorry!" Sonic said annoyed for his big mistake.

"We are gathered here today to say our farewells to a beloved friend who fought along with us, you were a great inspiration to most of us, many thought you were useless, but me? I thought you were a great helper in the battles we participated in, and so, I leave the others to say their farewells to you, now excuse me." Chris said sadly.

"These kind of...funeral gets me...to cry!" Vector said, wiping out his mucus from his nose with a napkin.

"Shh, it's Cream's turn!" Espio whispered angrily to Vector while he sweatdropped.

"Next time: A not so good idea!" Sonic said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Frog Forest
Chris, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, Amy, Cream, Big, Tails's evil cousi-er, I mean, Fox, Falco, Lucario, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Espio, Charmy, Kirby, Lucas/Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Pikachu, Vector, Marth, Pit, Roy

So now, I'm waiting for your point of view, my loyal readers.

Anyway, next chapter is going to be filled with action, also, 2 more newcomers arrives to save the group from being killed and...someone dies...yes, someone of them dies...I'm serious, somebody will die in the next chapter, so guess who is going to be killed...Roy? Pichu or Mewtwo? Those 3 you ask? Only the future knows the answer...wait a second, Pichu isn't with them...sorry. XD

References:

-Cream and Charmy said the famous South Park reference of all times!

Read and review please! :) And remember, Tails's evil cousin is watching you! :( XD
*Chapter 65*: Why Sonic Should Die In Oblivion

Well, it looks like I'm moving to Arizona in 2 days (I'm going to miss my dog since he can't live in the deparment), so, here's the next chapter, and reaching the 150 reviews!

From Nintendogeek01: Well, sometimes it felt like they were out of character (especially Big... he hasn't done anything in this chapter that makes me hate him... I know he's out of character because of that.)

Me: -.-

From punchbag: Wow, I started a few days ago and have only just got up to this part! A lot of dedication, a few grammatical errors, mostly using the wrong tense. This is just me, but I know people who think that writing out the numbers looks neater. I really like the job system, and was wandering, how about a biker job, based on Wario!
You have one based on King D! Or a koopa king job... Ahh, the possibilities are endless!
Whats gonna happen! CURSE YOU AND YOUR SUSPENSEFUL PREVIEW... thingy.

Me: Well, from the beginning, I had troubles with my grammar, but slowly got the hand of it as people began to review my fic and got interested, my OC is not a Mary Sue...I think, I took all the precautions on him, you can say this story is parodying Kingdom Hearts or something, sometimes, I'd write the name of the numbers or the numbers themselves when I like to.

And about the Biker job...well...Chris will NEVER fart to fight, that's beyond utter embarrassment. XD

WARNING: This chapter is by far the longest of this story, I got carried away AGAIN when we're preparing to move to Arizona, in Nogales, I suggest you get something to eat and enjoy this chapter since it has humor and an epic battle at the end. Sorry for the lenght again. :(

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 65: A not so good idea!

Frog Forest

Croak, croak, croak and more croaks, the team had the bad luck of awakening the big frogs around the forest, creating an endless rain that went for hours and hours. Worse yet, Meta Knight lost the sight of the Halberd because of the rain.

"Good, we lost it." Meta Knight said.

"How about if we take a break? We need to stay out of the water to rest." Amy suggested.

"No, we have to find the Halberd."

Cheese and Charmy sneezed at that moment. "We're going to be sick if we don't find a cave to hide from the water! At least agree in this idea!" Knuckles said, Meta Knight, not having another option, sighed in rage and decided to follow them to find somewhere to stay out of the water.

Lost Jungle

For their luck, there was a cave which was big enough to keep them away from the rain, Tails, Cream, Cheese, Charmy, Kirby and Lucas were watching the rain from the entrance while the others were thinking what to do next.

"Where do you think Pit and the other 3 are?" Chris asked to Espio.

Espio shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't think of a place where they are."

"They're probably way back where we started our search for them...maybe we missed them in our way here." Amy said.

"But we inspected all the areas, didn't we?" Charmy said from the entrance.

"Of course, but what if they were captured by Eggman?" Knuckles asked.

"I doubt that could have happened." Lucario said.

"Meh, they'll be fine, trust me." Sonic said as he leaned to the rocky wall.

"Being carefree isn't always the best option." Chris said.

"What do you mean?"

"I...well...I want to make a difference between all the characters out there...I mean, there are so many carefree persons that they always think that all the problems that happens to their friends will be resolved only by themselves, but I'm different, I worry about the sake of the others...that I...well...care about..." Chris whispered the last part before shaking his head. "You can't say that a baby will be fine by just himself against a horde of monsters for example...even if the person is not a baby, he or she will be in danger. I'll prove that just by making ideas and strategies are enough to defeat anyone...is going to be hard...but...I think I'll do it someday..."

Sonic blinked for a moment before speaking. "Oh, okay."

"...What? It's that all you can say about it?"

"Don't get me wrong, but...you need to have more than that."

Chris looked at Lucario. "There's something I'm not remembering?"

"Hmm...is not your style...probably..." Lucario replied.

"...Is not my style? Hey, I can make a good strategy if I want to, using my mind of course, I'm going to be a person who worries about the sake of the others and a strategist in battle too!"

"And you're willing to risk your life by using weak attacks?" Mewtwo asked, quite interested into this matter.

"Power isn't all, intelligence is better than that!" Chris protested.

Sonic grinned a little. "Hehe, then, let's see how you can fight against a single enemy when that times comes."

"...Please, don't taunt me, just cheer me up!"

Lucario put his hand above Chris's shoulder and smiled a little. "Don't listen to them, I'll be right behind you to help."

Chris smiled at Lucario. "Thank you, I knew I could count on you!" He narrowed his eyes at the others. "Not like these bunch of idiots who are not willing to help me or cheer me."

"W-who said that? I'm not against that idea, I'm with you!" Lucas said as he ran to Chris.

"Thank you Lucas!"

"M-me too! I know you can do it!" Kirby said sweating a little.

"Thanks Kirby! Now I think I'm not going to talk to anyone else except for you three! Leave the special combinated attacks for only us!"

"...W-wait a minute, I'm not saying I'm not with you, o-of course I'll help too!" Fox said.

"C-count me in too!" Falco said.

"Wow, I never thought I could change your opinions so fast, thank you guys! (...Hehehe, I'm surprised that they fell for one of my first ideas...it was so obvious!... But Lucario was going to help anyway.)"

"H-hey! Don't forget me!"

"You too Pit!... PIT?!"

Everyone looked at Pit who was hiding in the darkness by accident.

"What were you doing in there?" Charmy asked.

Pit dryied his left wing. "I was inside this cave from keeping myself from wetting from the rain, then you all appeared out of nowhere and didn't even noticed me!"

"So angel boy, where are the others?" Sonic asked with crossed arms.

"Marth and Roy went out scouting to search for Vector, they said he fell somewhere in the swamp." Pit explained.

Charmy began to fly around the cave excited. "For real?! We must go now!" And he ran out outside the cave just when the rain stopped.

"That bee is so hyperactive." Big said.

"W-wait for me Charmy! I want to show Sonic the true strategist I am!" Chris said as he ran outside. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"What happened?!" Lucario asked.

"Go outside!" Meta Knight said as the entire group ran outside to find the source of Chris's scream, he was gone, but they found a hole in the grass that was leading to another place.

"He fell inside this hole?" Cream asked as she peered inside the hole.

"Chris!" Lucario jumped inside the hole and everyone looked at each other and nodded before jumping inside.

At the end of the hole...

"How did that beam took us here?" Rouge asked confused as she saw Shadow with crossed arms while he looked to a hole inside a tree. "It's something inside that hole?"

"Yes, but I sense more people coming right this way." Shadow said with a glare.

"Affirmative, multiple signs of life are rapidly coming from that hole." Omega said, as he took a yellow spot from his back. "I found Pikachu, unconscious on my back."

"...Strawberries...apples...Pecha Berries..." Pikachu mumbled to himself because he was sleeping.

"Cannot find information about what Pecha Berries are."

Rouge shuggred. "Who knows what he eats."

"AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" Chris appeared from the hole and landed just in front of Shadow, who looked at him with a glare. "...Oops..." He whispered scared.

"Now what do we have here? It's the same boy from the incident in the Space Colony ARK!" Rouge said, putting her hands on her hips. "Glad to have you around with us. Where have you been anyway?"

Chris was still staring at Shadow with terror. "D-doing a lot of things..."

"Oh, I see, and Shadow, please stop your glare."

"Humph, fine." Shadow uncrossed his arms and walked away a little to give Chris space to stood up.

"Oran Berries..." Pikachu mumbled in Omega's claws.

"Pikachu! You're okay!" Chris said as he ran to Omega and Pikachu. "Pikachu? Wake up!"

"Huh?... Good morning...hello..." Pikachu said grogily. "DUAH!" He jumped to Chris's shoulder when he noticed that he was above Omega's claws again. "Not again Omega!"

"Sorry, your presense behind my back was rather uncomfortable." Omega said.

"(Wow...it feels good to have a Pikachu in your shoulder...)" Chris thought with a smile.

"Why are you smiling Chris?" Pikachu asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Chris looked to Shadow who was holding 2 emeralds in his hands. "Y-you found the 2 Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow nodded. "That's right, we found the blue one in the beach and the purple one in this swamp."

Just then, Pikachu's ears perked up and he glared at the water of the swamp, where bubbles started to gather and they took a fighting stance. "Undentified being approaching, please attack with extreme caution." Omega warned them.

Pikachu and Chris saw 2 capes floating above the water and they gasped when they saw 2 familiar faces. "Marth! Roy!" They said in unison.

The 2 swordsmen were unconscious but not alone, below them, a green crocodile rose up from the water carrying them in his arms, it was Vector.

"Be glad I like the swamp, or else you would have drown in there!" Vector said, pointing at the water. "Hey! You 3 again!... And you 2 too!"

"We haven't met before you idiot..." Pikachu muttered to himself.

"Really?" Vector asked as he cleaned his chain neck. "Well, you're the enemies of my client, so, get out of my sight!"

"We're NOT your enemies!" Chris and Pikachu said in unison.

"Ugh..." Marth and Roy muttered as they stood up, rubbing their heads. "Where...are we?" Marth asked confused.

"In the swamp, a jungle in the swamp to be precise." Rouge said.

"Finally! We reunited everyone else!" Chris said and walked up to below the hole. "I wonder if they're coming for me...OH CRA-"

All the remaining members that weren't on the scene fell above Chris and Pikachu, pilling themselves above each other in every second, except for Lucario, who rolled out of the way since he was the first to land, the only one that wasn't below the pile was Cream who jumped as the last person with Cheese.

"Get...off...me...please...everybody..." Chris said under the pile.

"What...he...said..." Pikachu said under the pile.

Sonic swam inside the group and got out, shaking his head. "Don't tell me to jump in the same hole again!" He said angrily. (Because he accidentaly touched someone's breast inside the pile by accident, let's call her, Amy).

"YOU!" Shadow said with an acussing finger towards Sonic and jumped in the air to curl into a ball.

"Shadow!" Sonic said grinning as he evaded a Homing Attack from Shadow.

"Humph, so, Rouge told me that you and someone else like me fought a while ago, I won't lose this time." Shadow said.

"Neither I will!" Sonic said, taking a fighting stance.

Shadow smirked and took out the 2 Chaos Emeralds, but Sonic took out the 3 Chaos Emeralds as they grinned, before a fast force grabbed the emeralds and taking them out of them. "HEY!" They said angrily in unison.

Meta Knight was the one who took the emeralds from them and kept them inside his cape. "No time to waste since this is not the time to be fighting, the Halberd took a direction towards a darkish area and we shall follow it without discussion or useless fights, understand?"

By that time, everybody was staring at Meta Knight again (with Charmy hugging Vector as he cried).

"Who died and made you leader?" Rouge asked.

"Myself, now start to walk without interruptions." Meta Knight said bluntly, naming himself the leader of all the 24 characters (even Cheese).

"Nobody orders me around." Shadow said as he glared at Meta Knight.

"Too bad." Meta Knight said sarcastically. "You have to make exceptions sooner or later, the first one happening now."

"Wait, we just woke up and we don't know what is happening yet!" Roy said.

"I know there is someone who will explain everything to you. Now start to walk at my direction." Meta Knight ordered as he walked off, leaving all the characters to talk to themselves.

"So, accept his offer to follow him as the leader?" Falco asked.

Tails sighed. "We don't have any choice, I mean, he has all the emeralds under his cape, nobody can steal them without him noticing it."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Leave it to me! I'll get them back before he notices me!" And he ran at high speed towards Meta Knight with a smirk, but as soon as he was about to grab his cape, Meta Knight did a quick turn, grabbed Sonic's throat and pinned him down at the floor with his sword by 1 inch away from his throat and everybody gasped at this. "ACK!... No...way!... He's...fast!" Sonic managed to say in the grass.

"My goodness! Even Sonic couldn't do anything against him!" Pikachu said surprised.

"Target is clearly far more concentrated on his surroundings, chances on landing a hit of him by a punch is below 0.1 percent, but the chances of being killed by him is above 99.9 percent." Omega said.

"Now, if anyone is against my idea to be the leader, then you should agree with me or you will end like this desperate fool." Meta Knight said bluntly.

"(I-I don't want to be at his mercy of his sword!)" Lucas thought terrified.

"(And there he goes again...)" Kirby thought.

"(G-gulp...)" Chris gulped.

"(Impossible, if Sonic can't reach him in time, Shadow has the same probability to fail like him!)" Rouge thought surprised.

"L-lame..." Sonic was able to say, as Meta Knight increased his force above his back.

"Did you say something?" Meta Knight asked coldly.

"...No...sir..."

"Just leave him alone please!" Amy pleaded for mercy, Meta Knight grunted a little and released Sonic from his grasp and walked away to where his ship was heading.

Charmy was hiding behind Vector. "...The bad man is gone?" He asked scared.

"I don't think he's a bad man...we just...kind of...irritated him." Chris said scared. "And what are we doing staring at him getting away? Let's go before he does the same thing he did with Sonic!" Chris said as he ran to Meta Knight, with Lucario and Mewtwo following him.

"...You okay Sonic?" Knuckles asked as Sonic got up slowly.

"Yeah...man...he reacted so quickly..." Sonic said as both of them walked ahead with Tails.

"If he's like that in all the fights, think of what could he do in the official matches!" Roy said to Marth.

"At least he'd be a worthy opponent...a cold opponent." Marth said as they, along with Pit, walked ahead.

"(Come on Cream, you have to think in something before this ends...)" Cream thought on her mind as she, Cream, Cheese and Big walked towards the others.

"Shadow," Rouge began. "You're not planning to do the same thing right?"

Shadow shook his head. "This is the first time I got a little scared for real."

"Following the orders of Meta Knight would be the best to stay focused and alive." Omega said.

"...And alive? Sometimes you scare me." Rouge said as the walked off.

Mystic Mansion

The night came too earlier this time and the scenery was rather creepy, a huge castle was blocking their path, bats appeared shrieking and flying away to the darkness of the night and spiders crawled out of the small holes around the walls, there was a dark abyss surrounding the castle and a huge bolt of lightning appeared on the background, terrorizing most of the young characters.

"Y-you said the Halberd landed inside this castle, M-Meta Knight?" Chris asked, hiding behind Lucario who was glaring at the castle.

Meta Knight nodded, without a trail of terror. "Yes, it is rather pathetic to try and scare us with this "creepy" castle." He noted.

More thunders fell from the clouds and most of the young characters screamed.

"SHUT UP!" Said an annoyed Espio.

Meta Knight opened the giant double doors on the castle, creating an echoing sound. "Pathetic..." Meta Knight muttered as they ventured inside the castle, it was big, there were candles creating light to make the halls visible, the light of the thunders from outside shot intense lights from the windows, Lucas looked around scared and his eyes found a familiar bomb with a countdown in front of them in another room.

Inhaling deeply, he yelled: "SUBSPACE BOMB!"

"And it's right there? Tails, you know what to do!" Amy said and Tails nodded, the fox with 2 tails flew towards the bomb but as soon as he made contact between the doors, he disappeared in a blink.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Cream screamed terrorized.

"H-he disappeared just when he was about t-to reach the bomb!" Pikachu studdered in terror.

"Tsk, that's not going to keep me away from the bomb!" Sonic said as he ran towards the bomb, disappearing again.

"...It seems this castle is haunted." Mewtwo pointed out with glowing eyes to detect the area.

"No, really?" Vector responded sarcastically. "The floating portraits above us," He pointed at the floating portraits that were flying to different directions above them. "The piano from over there playing by itself," There was a piano playing by itself with a scary music. "The portrait with the shifty eyes," A portrait with shifty eyes was looking at them. "The witch laughing maniacally outside the castle and flying away to the moon," A witch outside flew towards the moon, laughing maniacally. "The carpet that is lifting and taking us to where the bomb is," The red carpet below them were taking them to the room with the invisible portal. "Are a clear proof that this castle is haunted!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The young characters yelled terrorized and scared as they disappeared inside the invisible portal, taking them to another room where Sonic and Tails were.

"Hey, you're here!" Sonic said with a small grin.

"What's so great about it?" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"M-Meta Knight! Where are you going?" Chris asked.

"Obviously, every second counts in our way." Meta Knight said as he flew to the other room.

Filled with irritation, Vector spoke. "Find the ship!"

"(Replace ship with computer room and it's a classic.)" Chris thought.

And so, the party ventured further inside the mansion, soon, they found themselves inside a room filled with doors on the floor, on the roof and on the walls, it was very confusing but Meta Knight opened one of the doors, went he entered, he appeared above in the roof, looking up at them.

"Wait, how did you do that?" Charmy asked to Meta Knight.

"I pressume that every door has a distortion to take you to another door and step on the walls as a normal floor, but one of these doors leads to the correct path we must follow." Meta Knight said.

Fox noticed that there were at least 500 doors inside the room, and the room was big. "This is going to take forever." He said.

Sonic said a "heh" and started to open every door, but even with his speed, he needed more help and the others decided to investigate quickly by entering all the doors and scrambling all around the room by accident, sometimes, they would appear in the same place or entering inside the doors that were previously opened by anyone else.

And the time was running out for the bomb to explode.

"Are we out of this castle yet?!" Shouted Roy from inside a door that was upside-down.

Everyone opened the doors from all the walls to say their answers. "No!"

"Dammit! This is so annoying!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

There was one character that wasn't entering a door, that was Cheese who looked at the door they used to enter the current room, the Chao opened the door and he found a very different room, thus finding the right door that was the entrance to the room filled with doors.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said to Cream, who was just above him in the roof.

"Everyone! Cheese found the right door!" Cream said as she tried to find a door to take her to the floor, eventually, they left the room to run through a hallway filled with robots.

"Seeing that this job is so annoying, I'm going to change it!" Chris said as he changed of jobs from the Racer job to the Chosen of Mana job as his light blue wings appeared on his back and flew to cast a spell. "Holy wings, I beg of thee to reveal thy power! Angel Feathers!" Light blue rings came from his wings crossing all the robots on the hall as he landed to continue to run, while many stared at him with wide eyes, especially Cream and Charmy. "...What?"

"Those wings are beautiful!" Cream said with a smile.

"Yeah! Where I can get one of those?" Charmy asked excited.

"I'M SURROUNDED BY ANGELS!" Vector yelled terrorized, earning a punch by Espio as Pit sighed and frowned.

"Er...I can only use this for me...sorry...that reminds, I quit my spot for the speed member, and I'm going to give my spot to...Falco..." Chris said as Falco made a fist and punched the air in victory. "I'm going to guess he didn't flew at all, right Fox?" He whispered to Fox who nodded, sweatdropping.

"Hurry!" Meta Knight yelled from the other side of the hallway, where more rails appeared, leading to another place as all the characters jumpd on them to grind down to a big room where a cascade was located, and a huge black robot was blocking their way.

"Here I go!" Sonic said as he used a Homing Attack to the robot, only to be punched and being threw to the bridge where they were standing, but landing on his feet. "This guy is strong!"

"In that case, Lucario! Burst through his defense!" Chris ordered to Lucario who nodded and ran towards the armored robot, the robot threw a punch to Lucario but the Aura Pokémon blocked it with his hands to prevent the colliding from hitting him. "Now, Tails, fly above him!" Chris said and Tails flew above the robot to get his attention. "Next, Mewtwo, try to immobilize him using Confusion!"

"...I see now..." Mewtwo said and began to glow to stop the robot from moving, using Confusion.

"Now's our chance, Sonic, join forces with Shadow and use a Homing Attack on the center of the armor to break through!"

Both hedgehogs jumped high in the air and turned into quick spinning spheres and went rocketing towards the robot's armor, breaking through and crossing to the other side, the robot was making a short circuit and exploded before their eyes.

"That was...incredible!" Kirby said.

"I told all of you, I'm a strategist." Chris said calmly.

"Good work, but you need more fights to call yourself an expert strategist." Mewtwo said.

"...Of course, I can't be an expert strategist in one day...oh right, the bomb!"

Meta Knight found a warp pad behind the robot and he looked at them. "This way!" He yelled and entered inside, appearing on the same room where the bomb was, the rest of the group appeared and Tails went to the bomb to deactivate it.

"...No!" Tails exclaimed surprised. "They enforced the equipment on this bomb!"

"Does that means you can't deactivate it?!" Fox asked.

Tails shook his head. "Unfortunately no, I lack of many tools right now, but If we had something that can resemble a screwdiver and a source of electricity to alter the voltage that is making the countdown to stay on, I'd have a chance to deactivate it."

Roy looked at his sword. "Hey, use the tip of my sword to act as the screwdiver!"

Espio looked at Vector's headphones. "The source of electricity could be Vector's headphones."

Vector took his headphones behind his back. "No way! These headphones took a fortune out of me!"

After a death treat by Meta Knight...

"Now turn that screw to the right while I connect the cables to the headphones." Tails said to Roy who was using his sword as the screwdiver while Tails removed the barrier and connected the cables to the source of electricity of the headphones, altering the voltage of the bomb to stop the countdown. "There!" Tails announced as the bomb turned off and they sighed in relief.

"MY HEADPHONES!" Vector yelled worried and taking back his headphones. "Tell me they're working fine!"

"Don't worry, I took extreme precautions to not damage anything inside of it." Tails reassured Vector.

"You better say the truth or else I-"

The whole castle trembled, there was a loud sound of something taking off and Meta Knight's prediction came true, the Halberd was indeed inside of the castle near them!

"The Halberd is probably taking off!" Pit said.

"And it is! There's smoke coming from that corner!" Rouge said pointing to a corner where smoke started to appear, Meta Knight, as before, flew at that direction at the fastest speed he could reach, everyone looked at him for a moment before following the rude knight further inside the hallway.

For their surprise, the castle was very weird from the outside, but in the inside, it was a big abyss with the Halberd slowly going to the sky of the night, a lot of robots that weren't Eggman Robots but ROB Sentries were inside the ship, transporting high-tech material around the facility inside, Meta Knight rushed towards the ship but he managed to grab a pipe near the door where the equipment usually got inside, then, the rest of the group jumped to the same pipe, grabbing to hold themselves as the ship took off the castle, the young characters sighed in relief as the darkness of the night was slowly disappearing.

Egg Fleet

"We did it! We reached the ship!" Chris said and most of them cheered for their success.

Something caught Omega's attention, it was the dark blue Chaos Emerald stuck on another pipe far away from them. "Chaos Emerald detected nearby, caution is necessary to reach the target."

Once again, Sonic smirked. "Leave it to me!" He said as he stood up on the pipe they were hanging, he leaned to the wall of the ship to not fall from it, carefully, he jumped to another pipe as he found a way to the Chaos Emerald above them, the hedgehog jumped and grabbed into the pipes each time the ship accelerated into the sky, after some minutes, he managed to reach and grab the emerald. "I got it!"

"Good work Sonic!" Tails remarked as Sonic gave them a thumbs up, but unfortunately, a very strong air pushed the hedgehog off the pipe and he went flying away, making everyone to gasp.

"Oh no, he's gonna fall at this height? We have to help him!" Roy yelled as Mewtwo got an idea, he pointed his hand at Chris and used Confusion on him to make his right hand to grab into another hand of the nearest character besides him, then, Mewtwo slowly moved Chris from the pipe to stay grabbed to Lucario's hand, slowly but carefully, Mewtwo made a huge chain with many of them to reach Sonic from far behind, Chris stretched his hand to grab Sonic's hand, the hedgehog opened his mouth in surprise before grabbing his hand, then Mewtwo sighed in relief as he pulled all of them to the pipe.

"Thanks Big!" Sonic said to Mewtwo.

"...My name is Mewtwo...idiot..." Mewtwo said and muttered the last part.

"...Oh, sorry pal." Sonic said scratching his neck in embarrassment as he handed the Chaos Emerald to Tails.

"Meta Knight," Shadow began. "Do you have a plan to enter this ship?"

Meta Knight shook his head. "It's impossible to infiltrate the ship once it takes off."

Kirby made a sad face before hearing a loud noise to his left, since he was the only character that was grabbing the far left end of the pipe, he looked to his left to see a chainsaw cutting the pipe. "Huh? A chainsaw?" He looked up to find a door opened with King Dedede using the chainsaw to cut down the pipe while he laughed. "King Dedede!" Kirby yelled and everyone looked at the mischievous king.

"So Kirby, ya here to wreck our plans eh? And look at yer voice! It's so annoyin'!" Kirby said with a smirk while the chainsaw cutted the pipe, then, another sound of another chainsaw came from the far right to where Tails was, he looked up of the owner of the chainsaw and it was...

"YIKES!" Tails yelled when he spotted Wolf cutting down the pipe.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't use this thing so often, but even so, it's the only way to prevent all of you to enter the ship." Wolf said bluntly.

"You!" Meta Knight said furiously to King Dedede and Wolf.

"I'm not afraid of ya anymore Meta Dork!" King Dedede said laughing.

Amy took out her hammer in rage. "You want a piece of my hammer?!"

Dedede took out his own hammer. "Don't make me laugh! Mah hammer is stronger than your poor imitation of a real hammer!"

"Wolf! I never thought you'd fall so low!" Fox said with a glare.

"How ironic, you're going to fall literally!" Wolf yelled as the pipe was torn from the Halberd and everyone except for Dedede and Wolf fell with high speed towards the ground, while Dedede laughed maniacally and Wolf smirking as they returned to the control room and reach Metal Sonic.

Final Fortress

"...Wait...the weather here looks dangerous..." Chris said as they fell inside black clouds.

Lucario looked to him. "Then that means..."

"...The Halberd took us to the last part!"

Rouge looked at him. "What do you mean by the last part?"

"...Um...well...I...knew it from the beginning...sort of...and...job change!" Chris changed his Chosen of Mana to his Racer job.

"Was that necessary?" Lucario asked.

"I don't know anymore Lucario! I'm freaking out because we're going to crash into the hard iron floor below us!"

"Do not fear." Mewtwo said simply as he glowed to concentrate his psychic abilities to the max, everyone else glowed in an ominous light and descended slowly into the dark fleet on the floor, and Mewtwo gasped for breath.

"Mewtwo, are you alright?" Chris asked.

"Yes...nothing is wrong with me..."

"At last...we came so far to enter the Final Fortress..." Chris said as all the 25 (we counted Cheese again too) landed in the darkish area of the Egg Fleet.

"Don't let your guards down, this is not going to be easy." Mewtwo warned all of them.

"Alright! This is the time were I kick Eggman's butt!" Sonic said, making a fist in the air as everyone else coughed to get his attention. "...And now let's go!" He tried to run away, but tripped because Meta Knight put his boot on his way and Sonic unfortunately crashed into a wall, upside-down. "What the hell man!"

"You...you...bunch of...idiots..." Meta Knight muttered as his hand on Galaxia pressed the handle.

Chris gasped and remembered what Meta Knight told him a while ago. "Oh no...we didn't...we couldn't retrieve it..."

"You..." Meta Knight called coldly and Chris felt horror invading his spine.

"...Y...yes?"

"Remember what did I promised if we couldn't retrieve the Halberd in time before it went away?"

Chris gulped. "You...you promised to kill me..."

Many of them gasped in unison (except for Shadow, Omega, Espio and Marth), and Lucario instantly glared at Meta Knight, showing his sharp fangs.

"...Right..." Meta Knight said calmly before he pointed his sword at the floor to prepare for his attack. "And now...you know what is going to happen next after this?"

"...I'll...I'll die..."

"...Prepare."

Chris crossed his eyes to wait for the attack, but Marth stepped in front of him. "Wait! Meta Knight, you can't do this to him, is not his fault for what happened!"

"Move out, he already accepted the responsability of this mission and I shall end his life now." Meta Knight said.

"You can't!" Kirby said, stepping to Marth's left side. "You're not capable of doing such a thing!"

"Believe me Kirby, I'm capable of many things."

Lucas walked slowly to them. "T-that's just wrong! You can't decide who lives and who dies!"

"This case is an exception."

"I'm sorry but," Fox joined them. "You'll have to pass over us before you get to kill him."

"I agree," Falco said walking to them. "It's too crazy if you think about it! You're lacking of common sense."

"And you lack the power to fight me."

All of the Smashers stepped in front of Chris, trying to prevent Meta Knight from killing him, while the Sonic characters just watched the whole scene, however, Cream was the one most pertubed of all of them.

"Let me understand this, are you willing to sacrifice your lifes just for him?" Meta Knight asked and they nodded while they glared at him. "...So be it..." When they blinked, however, Meta Knight was gone.

"Where'd he go?!" Roy asked as they looked around.

"...But..." They turned their heads to find Meta Knight about to cut Chris's throat in half. "You're still weak..."

"CHRIS!!" Everybody yelled in unison as Meta Knight prepared to slash Chris to kill him.

HIT!

"UGH!" Meta Knight was pushed far away from the group and he looked at the source of the attack that he received. "Who did that?! Answer me!"

"It was me!"

"...Cream?!" Amy said surprised as Cream was flying in the air using her ears while she glared at Meta Knight with Cheese flying besides her, before Meta Knight could land the hit, Cream went rocketing towards him, using her feets to deal a strong impact on his mask and sending him away from Chris.

"Girls should be out of discussions like this, begone!" Meta Knight demanded but Cream was still in her position.

"And rude and stupid mans like you should be thinking about better things to do!"

"Do not summon my anger or els-"

"Or else what?! I'm so sick of you already!!"

Everyone's eyes widened a lot after hearing Cream saying that.

"C-Cream!... You haven't been this mad since you defeated Emerl!" Tails said surprised.

"It's because it's time to tell him some sense from someone who values their friends and not useless things like battleships!" Cream said angrily.

"Chao chao chao chao chao!" Cheese said angrily.

"And what is a powerless girl like you going to do?" Meta Knight asked.

"Don't...hurt...him!" Cream demanded.

"Then stop me if you can!" Meta Knight yelled as he flew towards Cream, but as soon as he was going to reach her, Cheese tackled his body with force and Cream followed up by landing her feets in his mask to bury him on the floor, Meta Knight quickly stood up and tried to attack Cheese first, but Cream, once again, kicked him on his back. "...But...how could you?!"

"It's simple Meta Knight!" Cream said. "I don't care about very valuable things like most people like you do! I care about the people that are my closest friends...and...I'm not afraid to say that Chris is one of them!"

"...Cream..." Chris whispered surprised.

"And what will bring his dead? Nothing but...sadness!" Cream was starting to cry. "You're...you're...you're a pathetic person who lives only in your own sorrow and solitude!"

"...What?!" Meta Knight asked surprised.

"I'll tell you why!" Cream said crying. "You have no one to look for you! You have no interest in anyone else besides you! You only care for you! You only think that being alone will make you stronger! And...and...and you only think that once your job with others like Chris is done, you'll forget everything those persons risked their lifes just for you! They tried to be friendly too, but you turned them down!... Aha...AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Cream began to cry as the rain started to fall from the clouds and silence fell around the fortress, while Cheese was crying on her arms.

"...It's okay Cream..." Chris said while he hugged Cream. "I don't care anymore for Meta Knight if that's what you wanted to tell me."

"No!" Cream cried. "I'm trying to get him to like you...that's all I want to do!"

"...I'm giving up on that...sorry...there's no way to get Meta Knight to like anyone besides himself..."

"And never will! Mwhahahahahaha!!"

Everyone looked above in the sky to find a big golden robot with Eggman's face with a lance and a shield, Dr. Eggman was probably inside the machine to fight all of them.

Egg Emperor

"Eggman!" Sonic said from the wall he was still stuck into.

"This is not the time you should appear! Wait a little longer!" Chris said.

"But this is the perfect time to get rid of all of you in one confrontation!" Dr. Eggman said as he laughed.

"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind or 4!" Vector said as he cracked his fists.

"Dr. Eggman, your death shall be my victory!" Omega said as he adjusted his claws.

"A-are we going to fight him?" Lucas asked scared.

"The Subspace Bomb is probably further ahead of him, we should take him out and fast!" Pikachu said as electricity was being gathered on his cheeks.

"...I have no choice..." Meta Knight said. "Look, I'll forget all the things I told you before and join in this fight, if the Halberd escaped just because of my hatred towards all of you, joining your group would be for the best."

"...Meta Knight...are you serious?" Chris asked and Meta Knight nodded slowly. "...Cream...you did it..." He whispered to Cream who looked up to him with a smile with Cheese.

NEWCOMER!

Meta Knight joined your team!

"...I warn you...you have to do many things if you want to earn my trust first." Meta Knight said.

Chris nodded before a bullet torn "Reddy" in half and gasped. "Reddy!" He yelled as the bandana fell into the abyss below them by the air. "No! He was unique between all other types of clothing, don't worry Reddy! Every other person that wears a red bandana around his or her neck sucks!"

And Fox gave Chris a glare and Chris sweated and laughed scared.

Meta Knight's eyes shone in a weird green color. "...Or probably it will take you more time..."

"...Guys?...Dr. Eggman and his huge robot?" Rouge asked as Dr. Eggman got enraged by no reason.

"Enough of this! Sonic! Tails! Knuckles! Shadow! Rouge! Omega! Amy! Cream! Cheese! Big! Espio! Charmy! Vector! Chris! Meta Knight! Mewtwo! Fox! Falco! Lucario! Pikachu! Kirby! Lucas! Marth! Pit! Roy! Prepare to meet your maker!" Dr. Eggman said furiously and the whole party wondered how did he was able to say all their names without gasping for breath...or how he knew about most of the names of the Smashers since they didn't told him their names in the Space Colony ARK.

The Egg Emperor flew away and most of them groaned at this.

"Don't tell me we're going to chase that robot like the last robot!" Charmy said annoyed.

"...Wait, we have 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds right? Let's give them to Sonic so he can defeat that robot in less time!" Tails suggested as he looked around for Sonic. "But where is he?"

Sonic whistled from the wall he previously crashed into, because he was still stuck. Knuckles went to him to take him out and Sonic dusted off his gloves.

"Meta Knight! Give the other 5 Chaos Emeralds to Sonic!" Pit said and Meta Knight threw the 5 Chaos Emeralds to Sonic, who took them in the air and began to shone brightly to charge a powerful and stronger version of the Spin Dash.

"Wait just a minute Sonic! Let Shadow use it too!" Rouge said from below as Shadow joined Sonic to share the power of the Chaos Emeralds, both hedgehogs were spinning in midair, but nothing happened as they were still in midair as the group saw a huge laser that was going to crash into them.

"What do we do?!" Lucas asked as he panicked.

"Flight members! Take us above to dodge the beams, now!" Chris ordered and all the flight members (minus Falco) took all of them above the beam to evade it in time, then they landed on the floor and began to run after the Egg Emperor.

"Hurry up you two!" Amy said as she ran ahead.

"Take this!" Eggman yelled with his lance pointing at the clouds, a thunder fell on the top of the spear and the robot slammed the lance into the floor to electrocute it, causing severe damage to all the party.

"Wait a minute, you don't have that attack normally!" Chris pointed out as Dr. Eggman laughed.

"It's because I have my own Chaos Emerald with me fools!" Dr. Eggman laughed as Mewtwo glowed to find the emerald inside.

"The emerald is constantly changing places to keep it away from anyone inside the robot!" Mewtwo said.

Omega looked behind him to locate Sonic and Shadow still spinning in midair. "Target can survive even with just one emerald, retrieving the Chaos Emerald is necessary for the success of this mission." Omega informed.

"Let the power members attack just one place to torn it off from the robot!" Chris ordered as all the power members (he had to throw Lucas to the robot to cooperate), focused their attacks on the left arm, but the shield that the Egg Emperor used blocked their attacks and pushed them away to the air, but landed on their feets.

"Amy and Espio! Blow away the shield by combining your tornados!" Chris commanded.

"Roger!" Amy and Espio said in unison as Espio sneaked below the shield, he did a handsign to create a tornado under the shield, then, Amy created a tornado by doing a hard swing of her hammer in the air to struck Espio's tornado, that was turned into a typhoon and blew away the shield into the abyss.

"Power members! Resume your attacks on the right arm, now!" Chris ordered and the previous power members jumped towards the right arm where the shield was used before, using slashs, Aura Spheres, PK concentrated blasts, flamethrowers (courtesy of Vector), Confusions to prevent the arm from moving, punches and smacking it with a fishing rod, the right arm went down but the Chaos Emerald wasn't there.

"ARGH!" Dr. Eggman yelled angrily, fire began to surround the lance and like the thunder attack he did before, he thrusted his lance on the floor to create a hot temperature before it turned into flames that erupted from below their feets.

But before the flames were going to sprout out the floor. "Flight members, now!" Chris yelled and all the flight members grabbed 2 characters to fly above the flames to evade them. "And use us as electric bullets to the head, now!" He commanded and Tails, Cream, Rouge, Charmy, Meta Knight, Kirby and Pit kicked every person below their feets to shoot them towards the head. "Keep going and don't stop!"

"My head is spinning..." Kirby said as he was lunged at the head.

"YAH!" Tails kicked Knuckles with force to slam him into the head, with the last hit, the head exploded but the emerald wasn't there either.

"The emerald must be inside the lance, let's destroy the lance!" Meta Knight said.

"(But I doubt we can destroy the lance without him noticing us.) But we should take his lance away from him, in that case, all the speed members must distract him and let the power members grab the lance from him!" Chris said and ordered, Amy, Espio, himself, Fox, Falco, Pikachu and Marth ran around in circles around the Egg Emperor, distracting Egg Emperor and letting all the power members take the lance from the hand, Eggman struggled to pull his lance away from them, but with a last try, the power members took the lance from him and backed away with it.

"Mewtwo! It's the emerald inside the lance?" Chris asked.

Mewtwo glowed and spoke. "Yes, now Sonic and Shadow can attack without the robot surviving the blow."

"SONIC! SHADOW! DO IT NOW!" Charmy yelled at the top of his lungs and both hedgehogs came rocketing in just a second, crossing the robot in one attack as they went far away, but came back using the powered Spin Dash and stopped just in front of the collapsing robot who made a huge explosion as Eggman was flung far away where Sonic and Shadow came from behind.

"...It's over?..." Cream asked worried.

"I think yes." Big said, as Mewtwo used his psychic abilities to cut the lance through and give the emerald to Tails.

"...What do you know, Chris did made useful strategies after all!" Amy said, which caused Chris to blush a little.

"I...told you...didn't I?" Chris said embarrassed.

Sonic glared at the direction Eggman went. "C'mon! We have to find his dead carcass!" And he ran away with Shadow following him.

"The tone in which he used sounded a little irritated." Lucario pointed out.

"He's mad because Chris was right and he was wrong." Mewtwo pointed out too.

Rouge walked up to Chris. "If my memory doesn't fails, you're the first person who has ever made Sonic mad, I admit it boy, you have some skills."

Chris blushed even more. "T-that should teach him a lesson to believe in me and not himself, right Lucario?"

Lucario nodded with a small smile, but a little confused about this.

Amy gasped a little. "Hey! We can't lose more time, we have to catch up with Sonic and Shadow!"

The whole party ran in the direction where Eggman went, after 10 minutes of running, they found both hedgehogs with crossed arms as Eggman's body turned into mercury again, making Shadow to grunt.

"Another fake?" Tails asked and Sonic nodded with a serious face.

"This is not good." Meta Knight said.

Rouge noticed that Shadow walked inside a building and she and Omega followed him.

"Well, it's time to reveal the true face of our client!" Vector said making a fist and walking away to a closed door, with Espio and Charmy following him behind.

"H-hey! Don't do it!" The walkie-talkie said from Charmy's vest.

"Hey Vector, what are you doing?" Charmy asked as Vector smashed the closed door to break it.

"HI-YAH!" Vector broke the closed door to reveal someone behind it with an irritated face, Espio and Charmy's eyes widened when they saw who was their secret client. "Well well, we meet again Dr. Eggman!" Vector said proudly.

"What's going on?" Espio asked confused.

"So Vector, my tricks didn't tricked you at all, I thought you were a pathetic detective." Dr. Eggman said.

"Never underestimate the sources of any detective, now I demand you our money, right now!" Vector demanded as Eggman dropped to his knees.

"Wait! Wait! Wait please! Let me explain first before I pay you!" He stood up, making a fist in the air. "Once I conquer the world, I WILL pay you!" He pointed at Vector, but the crocodile only cracked his fists.

"Don't make us look like idiots pal, we don't accept late pays!" Vector said.

"You're in trouble Eggman!" Espio said with a glare.

"No! NO! WAIT, PLEASE!" Eggman pleaded.

Behind Team Chaotix, Chris peered from the door to watch his favorite scene in the whole game, Eggman being beaten up by a kid like Charmy.

"Take this you bad man!" Charmy said excited as he went towards Eggman to sting him to death.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Eggman yelled in pain as he was being constantly pinched, which caused Chris to laugh a lot.

Meanwhile with Team Dark, Shadow found a facility full of clones of him, sleeping inside capsules as Omega walked in front of him.

"I shall dispose all the clones, please wait outside until further advice." Omega said while his claw changed into a gatling gun, Shadow just grunted and turned towards the exit, before Rouge stopped him.

"Any words after this Shadow?" Rouge asked.

"No, just by not watching this atrocity anymore is enough for me." Shadow said simply and walked off with Rouge following behind, while Omega destroyed all the capsules in the meantime.

Meanwhile with Team Rose and the rest of the teams. Big was looking down at the mercury pool in sadness.

"Froggy..." Big said sadly.

"That's right, the main reason of why we came here was for search for Chocola and Froggy." Amy said.

"...Something is not right with this." Mewtwo said and they looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Cream asked.

"Look!" Marth said to make everyone to look at the pool of mercury, that was slowly materializing into 2 small figures that Cream, Cheese and Big recognized, the first small figure was a brown chao with a blue ribbon on his neck, and the other was a frog that stared at Big.

"FROGGY!" Big yelled happily as Froggy croacked and jumped to his head.

"Chocola!" Cream said with a smile as Chocola flew to Cheese, both saying: "Chao!" every now and then, circling around while Cream watched laughing heartily.

"Data...has been copied..."

"Grrrrrrr." Lucario grunted to what was left of the mercury pool, and Sonic looked at him.

"What? Are fleas jumping to your fur?" Sonic joked before earning a nasty glare of the Aura Pokémon. "...Oops, sorry, what's wrong?"

"This is not over yet." Mewtwo said.

"He's right, something doesn't feels right around here." Pit commented.

"N-no more fights please!" Lucas said scared as the clouds above the sky began to turn darker and darker.

Under Roy, the floor was shaking, a tremor appeared from nowhere and the red haired swordsman looked in front of him, finding a big wave of Eggman Robots running away scared of something, Roy looked further ahead where the robots came running and he found someone standing at the top of the highest place of the whole area as thunders began to fall from the clouds with more rain.

"Look over there!" Roy said and pointed to the top of the building, where a cape was moving from the wind.

"...Stop it Charmy, it's enough." Espio said and Charmy returned to them.

"Now, what happened here?" Vector asked.

"...Well..." Dr. Eggman began before the scene changes back to the teams gathering close to the building.

"POWER! DESTRUCTION! EVERYTHING FOR ME!" The person above the building said laughing evily as King Dedede and Wolf appeared behind him with smirks on their faces.

"Wolf!" Fox and Falco yelled in unison.

"King Dedede!" Kirby yelled.

"...Sonic?" Tails said confused when he saw the shadowy figure above.

"...No...is...Metal Sonic!" Eggman came from behind with Team Chaotix and Chris, then Team Dark came too to look at Metal Sonic covered in a shadow aura because of the Shadow Bugs.

"Metal Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"That's right, Metal Sonic returned with even more power than before to take revenge on Sonic for what he did years ago, he imprisoned me and brainwashed all my robots to attack all of you, the only way to call for help was by ordering from my cell room to Team Chaotix as their client in undercover to get help." Eggman explained to them.

"...And that's why you're also all hurted with bumps around your head?" Roy asked.

"It's because I didn't had money to pay them and that annoying bee decided to pinch me to death!"

"ENOUGH!" Metal Sonic yelled furiously. "THIS IS THE DAY WHERE ROBOTKIND SHALL RULE THE ENTIRE PLANET FOR A NEW DAWN OF PROSPERITY, WHERE I SHALL BE THE ULTIMATE RULER BY USING THE POWER OF THE SHADOW BUGS AND MY OWN MIND, NOW, PREPARE FOR THE ANNIHILATION FOOLS!"

"You gotta be prepared this time, I warn you, defeating this robot won't be so easy." Wolf said with a smirk.

"Ya heard that Kirby? I hope ya enjoyed yer life! 'Cuz this is the end!" King Dedede said laughing. "Oh, and the Subspace Bomb is just below him! Try to get through first! Hehehehe!"

"Dedede, time to leave, we don't want to be involved in this mess." Wolf said, jumping off the building with King Dedede and disappearing from sight.

"They got away...and probably inside the Halberd..." Chris trailed off worried.

"...No..." Meta Knight said. "I'll take the Halberd back sometime...but first...we have to defeat him and deactivate the Subspace Bomb!" He glared at Metal Sonic.

"DIRTY SCUM! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!" Metal Sonic yelled furiously as the whole area began to tremble with force, Pikachu saw many machine parts coming from the abyss and around that was flying at high speeds around them, there were a lot of parts of destroyed machines that were being gathered, covering completely Metal Sonic as more thunders fell with rage, terrorizing the young characters (and Chris), the parts made Metal Sonic to grow into a huge mechanical monster, it had a long, sharp tail, a menacing head with very sharp fangs, very long arms with sharp claws, a heavily armored body with a blue color, many spheres were on each part of the monstrocity that were turning on and off every second, he also gained huge, grotesque wings that made him to levitate slowly from the floor with the Subspace Bomb being sacrificed to made his armor more resistant, gaining absolute power before letting out a huge roar as the black aura returned to him.

"W-WHAT IS THAT MONSTER?!" Lucas asked terrorized.

"Metal Sonic has a new ability, that ability consist of using all the destroyed machinery to fuse them all together with his body, creating a beast with unbeliavable power." Dr. Eggman explained to them.

"And with the Shadow Bugs is even worse!" Pit said.

"Argh...if we had the Chaos Emeralds...there could be hope to defeat him!" Dr. Eggman said before he found all the 7 Chaos Emeralds in Sonic's arms. "N-no! Y-you gathered all the Chaos Emeralds?!"

"Along the way." Espio said.

"Then Sonic! Turn into Super Sonic to defeat Metal Sonic once and for all!"

Sonic smirked. "Of course...but! Let me wait for the exact moment to use them!"

"WHAT?!" Was the response of everyone, except the calm characters.

"YOU IDIOT! JUST USE THEM NOW BEFORE METAL SONIC GRABS THEM!" Knuckles said furiously.

"Don't worry Knucklehead, I'll use them just before he tries to grab them from me!"

"Sonic, this is by far the most, stupid, idiot and dangerous idea I've ever heard of!" Chris said, not trying to believe it.

"Relax Chris, nothing bad is going to happe-"

"LOOK OUT!" Rouge yelled before all of them were pushed away by Shadow Metal Overlord's tail, Sonic, by accident, released the emeralds from his arms and the robotic monster took them and ate them, then, an even stronger earthquake took place and his body glowed intensely, increasing drastically his power before he roared and many buildings across the area were instantly destroyed in a chain reaction effect, creating chaos and destruction.

Sonic stood up before he felt many nasty presenses gathering slowly behind his back, then he laughed very scared and turned to see them cracking their fists in perfect unison.

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC?!" They said in unison with so much rage in their voices.

"I...ah...well...you guys...well...don't need to be...so mad about...it...right?"

3 minutes later...

Sonic was very badly damaged, both of his eyes were black, there was blood coming from his mouth, much dust covered most parts of his gloves and arms, and one of his shoes had many scars. Even one of his teeths was missing. Chris, being the most furious of them all, spoke.

"After Sonic screwed it up BIG TIME, now we have to beat that sin against the holy nature that it's called...umm...Super Shadow Metal Overlord?"

"I've already said I'm sorry!" Sonic said annoyed for his big mistake.

"This will be a dangerous battle." Meta Knight said as his eyes shone again, while Big told Froggy to hide and so did Cheese with Chocola.

"Indeed." Mewtwo said.

Pit looked at all the destruction the super mechanical monster was making. "...Do you want to leave now?"

"Yes." The Smashers responded in unison.

"W-wait a minute! You're not talking seriously right?" Tails asked.

"After analizing the situation, we're pretty much dead if we try to fight that thing." Falco said.

"Run to fight another day." Pikachu said.

"Agree." Roy said nodding.

"...What are we saying? We have to beat him!" Chris said.

The Smashers sighed in defeat and decided to join the fight.

"So what's the plan Chris?" Sonic asked with a grin before Chris changed his job to his Chosen of Mana job and whacked Sonic's head with his chakrams. "Oww!"

"Of course, leave everything to Chris the strategist in training." Chris said sarcastically, before looking at Super Shadow Metal Overlord (which we are going to call SSMO for short) and trembled in fear. "O-okay, here's the plan, Mewtwo, can you detect his weak points?"

Mewtwo began to glow. "The spheres has lights that turns on and off in every second, those are his weak points when they're on."

Espio looked at the spheres that were constantly turning on and off at an insane rate. "I doubt we can land a hit at the exact time."

"N-now, the speed members needs to hit the spheres at the exact time to deal damage to him, since they're fast, they're going to be in the frontlines." Chris said.

"And that's why you changed your jobs?" Roy asked with narrow eyes to Chris.

"I-I-I-no! That's not it!" He sweated. "A-anyway, since that monster has long claws, the power members are going to act as the defenses to block his attacks and let the speed members to go through and strike the spheres."

"What about the flight members?" Kirby asked.

"T-the flight members will distract him if it is possible in the air, but seeing that he flies around, it's going to be hard if they accept the task."

"I'll do it." Rouge said. "He thinks he can destroy all the planet, but also the jewels? He is nuts then."

"Same old Rouge." Knuckles said with a small laugh.

"Tails, Cream, Charmy, Pit, Kirby and Meta Knight, are you against my plan? I'm going to join you too if you forgot." Chris said, trying to calm down.

"I-I will help too." Cream said a little scared.

"I couldn't do anything since we got here, I'm doing it!" Kirby said excited.

"I'm in too." Pit said nodding.

"...I-is everyone alright with this?" Chris asked and everyone nodded. "O-okay then..." He turned to SSMO. "Hey you! We're ready to fight against yo-"

The whole group was buried in the floor because SSMO slammed his huge tail to attack them at the same time, then he lifted it slowly to show all of them badly damaged, except for Cream and Cheese, who were intact and looked down worried.

Chris lifted his right hand with his chakram to the air. "We're...ready...to fight...against you!" He finished as everybody got out from the hole.

And Vector secretly broke the fourth wall again, taking out a small stereo. "This epic fight calls for an epic battle music!" He pressed the button to play a song.

Bohemian Rhapsody

"Oops, wrong track."

Macademia

"How did that got there?!"

I'll Face Myself -Battle-

"Now that's more like it!"

"Now begin!" Chris yelled as everyone ran towards SSMO, the monster thrusted his huge claw towards the speed members but the power members blocked it to make a path to the first sphere on his lower body, however, the strength of the claw was stronger and it crushed all of them under the hard steel. "LUCARIO!" Chris yelled worried before finding all the power members fainted.

"We're almost there!" Amy announced before she was grabbed by one of the claws and SSMO held her in the air. "AAAAAAAHHH! SONIC!"

"Amy!" Sonic yelled before changing directions and climbing the large arm to save Amy, but SSMO's eyes shone brightly and fired a destructive red beam of high frecuency, but Sonic jumped in the air to dodge it and run towards Amy, who was screaming for help. "Don't worry, I'm her-" Before Sonic could grab her hand, the huge tail wrapped around his body and pressed him with force. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"SONIC!" Tails yelled worried before flying towards him.

"TAILS! STOP!" Chris yelled but Tails was out of his reach, the fox with 2 tails flew quickly through the robot, in halfway however, the wings blocked his way and Tails was stuck between the steel of the wings.

"SONIC!" Tails yelled again as the steel began to press his body.

"TAILS! NO!" Sonic yelled from the tail before SSMO increased the force on his 3 victims.

"THAT'S IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Chris yelled before he began to cast a new spell he learned. "Oh holy one, cast thy purifying light upon this corrupt soul...light of judgement! Judgement!" Chris lifted his right hand in the air, then, the clouds were crossed with holy lights from the heaven that struck down the parts of the monster where the 3 were held captive and they managed to get out of him and landed safely on the ground.

"Wow Chris, I didn't knew you had that kind of power!" Sonic said surprised.

"...Yes...using magic is the only way to inflict damage to the spheres...flight members! I'll stay behind to cast magic to hurt him greatly, but I need support and protection to not be interrupted! Got it?!" Chris said and the flight members nodded while he glance at the fallen power members. "(Dammit! Isn't there any way to heal them without using Sacrifice?)"

"NOW!" Espio yelled and threw a big shuriken to land the hit at the same time the sphere turned on, since Espio had good timing, it got stuck on the sphere and SSMO roared in pain. "Wait, the light is still on, attack while you can, now!"

"GO!" Pikachu yelled as all the speed members began to hit the sphere with a barrage of fists, kicks, electricity, smacks of Amy's hammer and Spin Dashs, SSMO saw the whole group and grabbed them on his huge tail to take them in front of his face, before opening his mouth and charge his destructive beam.

"LET ME GO!" Shadow said furiously, trying to get free from the tail with the others, the beam was starting to get bigger and bigger on every second.

"TRY TO USE YOUR REFLECTORS!" Chris yelled as he shot light blue rings to a sphere on the arm, but failing to hit it while it was on.

"I...can't...reach...my...reflector..." Fox struggled to reach the reflector on his belt as Falco did the same.

"HURRY FOX, THERE'S NOT MUCH TIME LEFT!" Falco yelled, trying to get to his own reflector in time.

"FLIGHT MEMBERS! DO SOMETHING TO STOP THE BEAM FROM BEING FIRED!!" Chris yelled and all the flight members began to attack the head using their feets, Kirby turning into stone to hit it, Meta Knight using a series of slashs and Pit firing arrows at the mouth.

"DIE!" SSMO roared, firing the beam at the whole set of speed members and depleting their health until they were unconscious on the tail before being threw away into the abyss.

"CATCH THEM!" Chris yelled again as he casted Angel Rings to hit the right shoulder where another sphere was, all the flight members catched all the fainted speed members and returned them close to Chris to keep them away from SSMO.

"What do we do now?! We're the only ones left to fight that thing!" Charmy said panicking.

"All of the others were defeated in one blow!" Kirby said.

"It's obvious that we're lacking of skills right now." Meta Knight said.

"We can't give up yet, he has the Subspace Bomb inside his body along with the 7 Chaos Emeralds!" Pit said.

"It's my fault..." Chris said dropping to his knees.

"What?" Cream asked.

"It's my fault that everyone else got almost killed by him...even Lucario was defeated so easily..."

"Even so, Metal Sonic or whatever he turned into has to be destroyed for our own sake." Rouge said with crossed arms.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Charmy began. "Chris, how did you change of powers just now?"

"...I have a special skill to let me use different kinds of jobs to use different abilities such as using projectiles, casting magic and much more an-" Chris was interrupted.

"Then, do you have a job that heals wounds? It could help us out a lot if you have one!"

Chris got a little surprised. "N-no...I don't think I have one..."

"But angels are supposed to heal, right?" Cream asked as she hugged Cheese.

"This job doesn't has any healing skill...save for sacrifing my life to resurrect."

"No! Don't do that!" Cream said with tears appearing on her eyes.

"I'm not crazy to do that!... This is such a pain..."

"Indeed." They responded in unison.

"WORTHLESS SCUMS! SHOW YOUR FACES TO CRUSH YOU!!" SSMO roared to cause more destruction on his path and spotted the group below him. "NOW, DIE AND GO TO HELL!!" He quickly dove rapidly at them with high speed from a very high point in the air and the group blocked their faces with their arms to at least resist the attack for hope to survive.

"NO! (Please! There has to be something withing this job to protect all of us from that monster...PLEASE!) What the?!" Chris shone intensely as his entire clothes changed, now, he was wearing red pants, a brown shirt with yellow lines making a desing, his shoulders had short brown sleeves with the edges with a yellow color, he was also wearing short white boots, a long brown collar around his neck with the edges with yellow lines too and a holder with short knifes of an unusual desing, only to throw apparently, his chakrams disappeared and a staff with a crystal on the top took their place and he quickly concentrated his unknown magic into the staff before SSMO could crash into them. "O tone of unyielding protection...Kuroa Ryuo Zue Toue Ryuo Rei Neu Ryuo Zue..."

"Why did your voice echoed?" Kirby asked before noticing a blue barrier shielding all of them from SSMO's body from crashing into them, pushing him away. "W-what happened?!"

"I used one of Yulia's Fonic Hymn to protect us from him...wait, what did I just say!?" Chris asked confused.

"I never expected to see one of your jobs evolve!" Dr. Kawashima said from Chris's pocket.

"What do you mean?"

"Your job has evolved to the next level since you learned the necessary abilities to do so!"

Fonic Hymn User

Sing the hymns of Yulia to cast powerful light based magic and use healing abilities to heal your allies within an area, you can also use you knifes to attack from a long range or create holy glyphs to damage the enemies!

"...Wait...I know a spell to resurrect everyone...but one at a time!" Chris said.

"Then use it, quick before he attacks us again!" Meta Knight said.

"Right!" Chris held his staff crossed in front of his face while he recited the spell. "Return this soul from the abyss of death...Resurrection!"

A feather covered in light came floating down above Lucario, when the light touched his body, it created a holy light that gave life to Lucario again and the Aura Pokémon slowly got up. "...Grr...that monster just defeated me right?" He noticed that Chris was hugging him. "Chris?"

"Lucario! You're okay!" Chris said happily.

"Of course...but how did I came back?"

Chris looked at him with a small smile. "My job evolved to let me cast more powerful spells to help while you were knocked out. Now I can heal anyone to help us to fight him!"

"YOU TWO, LOOK OUT!!" Tails yelled as they saw SSMO's claw about to crush them, but Lucario quickly grabbed Chris and jumped out of the way to land close to the others.

"Thank you Lucario!" Chris thanked Lucario.

"Use your healing powers to heal the others!" Rouge said and Chris nodded.

"Return this soul from the abyss of death...Resurrection!" Chris showed his staff in the air and another feather of light fell above Mewtwo, who was instantly revived as he shook his head.

"...Ugh...now I'm furious..." Mewtwo said.

"Keep going Chris, we'll keep distracting that monster from interrupting you!" Pit said, flying away with the flight members while Lucario stood by Chris's side.

"Why are you still here?" Chris asked while he concentrated his healing magic.

"You need protection, and here I am." Lucario said with crossed arms.

Chris smiled a little bit. "Thanks... Return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!"

Another feather of light came floating down above Sonic's back, before it touched him with a blinding light and he slowly got up, wondering how did he returned. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm using my magic to heal all of you to fight back, join the others while I'm cast!" Chris yelled from his position.

"...Healing magic? You know, you have lot of surprises that keeps surprising me!" Sonic said.

"I know but join the others, now!"

Sonic gave him a thumbs up before going forward towards a sphere.

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled as another claw was about to crush them, but Lucario and Mewtwo joined forces to stop the claw from colliding as they gritted their fangs/teeths. "But how did you..."

"Although you're reviving the others, they're not coming with their full strength." Mewtwo explained as he blocked the claw using Confusion.

"And since my aura increases in strength everytime I receive damage, I grow stronger." Lucario said.

"That's right...I forgot about that... O healing power... First Aid!" Chris casted a green light covering Mewtwo's body that instantly healed his wounds.

"Thanks." Mewtwo said as he and Lucario continued to block the claw.

"Return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!" Once again, he casted another feather of light that fell on Amy's back, reviving her from the unconscious state as she shook her head like the others.

"Oww...my head..." Amy complained a little.

"Amy! Keep attacking that monster while I heal everyone else!"

Amy looked to Chris, confused. "...O-okay, leave it to me!" She said, taking out her hammer to strike the sphere that was on the shoulder that was connected to the claw which Mewtwo and Lucario tried to block, she slammed her hammer the moment it turned on and suddenly, the claw stops from moving. "Huh?"

"I see now." Mewtwo said and Chris looked at him while he revived Shadow.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Just with one hit the sphere that is connected to any part of his body will deativate the funtions of it."

"Then we need to hit any sphere that is part of his body to stop him from moving for a moment?" Tails asked.

"Yes, for example, I presume that those spheres are hiding behind his back where his wings are, if we hit them, the wings will be deativated for short time and he'll fall."

"It's not necessary to approach him, because I know what to use!" Chris said, finishing of reviving Omega. "Pow Hammer!" Chris yelled casting the Pow Hammer, but this time it was different, the Pow Hammer didn't appeared in front of him, instead, it appeared just above the sphere of the left wing and hitting it with a squeaky tone, unfortunately, the sphere turned off when it was about to smack it. "Oh no..."

"Timing is the key to success." Meta Knight said as he landed in front of them while Lucario and Mewtwo managed to push the deactivated claw away from them.

"What are you doing here Meta Knight?"

"I need recovery, that robot managed to cut my right arm." He showed Chris a red wound on his right arm.

"Right, let me heal it, O healing power... First Aid!" The wound was covered in a green light and it disappeared.

"I'll return to attack him from the sky." Meta Knight spreaded his wings and flew away towards SSMO.

"Mewtwo! Tell me the exact time I need to cast the hammer to hit the sphere!"

"Understood." Mewtwo said.

"Lucario! You will provide me and Mewtwo protection, but I'll keep your aura at the current level to maintain you strong!"

"Fine." Lucario said.

"While Mewtwo tells me the right time to cast the Pow Hammer, I'm going to revive the others in the meantime, return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!"

"...Everything is...blurry...hey, what happened?" Fox asked.

"Healing abilities, long story, anyway, keep fighting back and don't worry about being defeated, I'll revive you back!"

"...G-got it!"

"Lucario! Try to hit one of the spheres using a charged Aura Sphere!"

"Listen Lucario, when I give the order, you launch it." Mewtwo said and Lucario nodded, concentrating his aura to create a charged Aura Sphere.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!" Cream was about to be crushed by the tail and Mewtwo found the sphere attached to the tail.

"NOW!" Mewtwo yelled and Lucario shot the Aura Sphere at high speed to the sphere, impacting it with an explosion when it turned on that deactivated the tail as Cream flew away from it.

"(Vector?! Vector?! Where is he?! He's the last one that needs to be revived!)" Chris thought desperately, searching for the crocodile around the area, until he saw SSMO lifting him above his mouth to shred him to death. "RETURN THIS SOUL FROM THE ABYSS OF DEATH... RESURRECTION!!"

Chris hoped that the feather touched his back in time before Vector could be thrown inside his sharp fangs, the World Traveler closed his eyes and waited for the worst to come true, before opening his eyes and seeing Charmy carrying Vector away from the mouth as he was healed.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Vector said when he woke up and looked up to Charmy. "Charmy!"

"Hi boss! You know, you were almost his dinner for this day!" Charmy said.

"That scumbag! Charmy! Drop me over him to deal a good hit!"

"Roger that!" Charmy said and changed directions above the flying monster to drop Vector high above the head, the bee let out the crocodile and Vector joined his hands to slam them together on the sphere that was embedded to his neck, it turned on and he dealt a strong hit, paralizing the head and deactivating it. "Hurray! We did it!" Charmy cheered.

"UUUUUAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Sonic was pushed away by one of the claws but Tails flew quickly after him before he was about to fall in the darkness. "Phew, that was close!"

"O healing power... First Aid!" Chris casted his healing magic on Sonic to heal his wounds.

"Whoa, your magic is really coming handy!"

"Thanks, I'll keep going."

"And me too!"

"There you go!" Tails yelled and threw Sonic to the right arm's sphere to use his Spin Dash, the curled blue spinning ball landed several hits on the sphere until it turned on and deactivating the right arm.

"The 2 arms were deactivated and so did the tail and his head!" Kirby announced. "The only parts left are the left leg and the 2 wings!"

"Use it Chris!" Mewtwo said.

"Pow Hammer!" This time, the hammer landed on the left wing's sphere, turning on at the right time and shutting down the left wing, causing SSMO to lose balance with just one wing active.

"USELESS PESTS! GET OUT FROM MY NEW ERA OF DESTRUCTION!!" SSMO roared from inside the machine before creating a huge tornado by flapping his right steel wing that went chasing down all the flight members who got caught inside the typhoon and were constantly being slashed by the strong winds, yelling or screaming in pain as they were still inside the tornado, suffering.

"I won't allow more sacrifices just because of you!" Chris yelled before casting a new healing spell. "Come forth O illumination of life!... Healing Circle!" A blue glyph appeared inside the tornado that healed all the flight members from being killed, the tornado eventually faded and they panted heavily, because the spell was able to heal them before they could lose their strength. "Are you alright?!"

"We're almost in trouble of dying, we need to be cured!" Pit yelled from afar.

"I'm on it!" Chris said.

"SUFFER!!" SSMO roared, activating his head to roar at the clouds, the dark clouds shone intensely with electricity before launching a huge thunderstorm that impacted all the area and all the 25 characters, causing massive destruction and depleting their strengths to the max and dropping to the floor on their knees or hands and walking towards Chris.

"What unbeliavable power..." Shadow said as he panted heavily.

"I haven't been so menaced before..." Sonic said, panting heavily.

"T-this is not good, one more attack and we're done for!" Lucas panicked.

"But we have Chris as our source of heal!" Falco said, panting too.

"O melody beckoning toward the abyss... Tue rei ze croa riou tue ze..." Chris sang another hymn that made a large glyph below SSMO, creating bubbles with a violet light that was able to put him to sleep for various seconds and crashed into the floor.

"What was that? And when did Chris learned to sing like that?" Pikachu asked.

"I put him to sleep for a short time, while he is sleeping, I'll heal all the characters I can until he awakes. O healing power..."

1 minute later...

"INSOLENT FOOLS!!" SSMO roared furiously, awakening from his state and activating his left wing to fly to the sky.

"Darn it, I managed to heal only 7 of the-"

"NOW!" Mewtwo yelled, reminding Chris from his plan.

"POW HAMMER!" The hammer appeared above the neck when it was on, deaticating it again. "Have we done at least progress on depleting his health Mewtwo?"

"We managed to reduce his life force to the half, but the more damaged he is, his attacks will grow violent to unleash even more chaotic attacks."

"No way! This can't be true!" Rouge said.

"At this rate, Super Shadow Metal Overlord will eliminate us approximately before 10 minutes." Omega explained to them as he was fixing his right claw.

"10 minutes?! We have been attacking for 1 hour!" Roy said.

"Oh no, HERE HE COMES AGAIN!" Marth yelled before looking up to SSMO's claws approaching dangerously fast towards Chris, SSMO knew that the source of all the healing spells were coming from the World Traveler, and taking him out would make his path easier. "PROTECT CHRIS!"

"UUUUGGGGHHH!!" Mewtwo teleported in front of Chris to use Confusion on both claws, but SSMO moved his claws down to only capture Chris and Mewtwo and preventing anyone else from entering inside as they tried to shatter the steel claws.

"MEWTWO!!" Chris yelled preocupied as Mewtwo did all the best he could do to push the claws away from them, but his force was about to disappear but wanted to do the last protection.

"I'm fine...Chris..."

"Y-yes?"

"This is...my last time...helping you..."

Chris felt horror. "WHAT?!"

"One of us can escape from this prison made of steel...and that person from us is you..."

"M-Mewtwo! Y-you can't talk seriously, you were like a mentor to me, telling me what skills I had and what I needed to do to gain more skills, you can't die here!"

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I'm sorry...just let me teleport you outside..."

"Teleport yourself too! You can do it!" Mewtwo shook his head and Chris's eyes began to fill with tears. "W-why?!"

"Metal Sonic managed to lower all my strength with that thunderstorm...I have enough power to return one of us outside his claws."

"D-don't worry! I can still revive you!"

"Don't be stupid...once he finishes with his attack...I'll be death...my trophy will shatter under the pressure...and will end my life..."

Chris noticed that he was being surrounded by a purple aura and gasped. "NO! MEWTWO! DON'T DO IT!"

"It's a shame...I never smiled in my whole life...forgive me...this is not the time to be smiling..."

"MEWTWO!!"

"Farewell...World Traveler..."

And with his last strength, Mewtwo teleported Chris out of the claws and appeared besides the others who were shocked at this moment.

"No...STOP!" Chris pleaded to SSMO, but the claws were pressed with extreme force that caused an explosion, sending them away to different directions.

The World Traveler panted a little before getting up, he looked at the huge claws lifting up and showing no sign of life of Mewtwo.

"...No...it can't be..." Marth said.

"Mewtwo is...dead?" Pikachu asked with tears on his eyes.

"I can't believe it..." Kirby said with tears.

"Mewtwo...why...Mewtwo..." Chris muttered to himself before falling to his knees. "...Why...how could this happen..."

"He's gone..." Meta Knight said with shame.

"Mew...Two...aha...NO!!" Chris was starting to cry loudly for losing Mewtwo in this fight, most of the young Smashers began to cry while Cheese wasn't the one crying and wanted to say something to Cream.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said.

"Cheese! Mr. Mewtwo is gone...dead!" Cream said as she cried loudly.

"(...Tears...)" Lucario thought to himself while he watched Chris's tears fall to the floor, his red eyes were reflecting them. "(You made Chris...cry...)" He thought more before showing his fangs with rage. "(Nobody...makes Chris...to cry!!) GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"W-whoa! What's happening to Lucario?!" Charmy asked while a huge amount of aura began to cover Lucario's body as his eyes glowed in a bright, shiny yellow color.

"ANNOYING BUGS, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO BE DESTROYED!!" SSMO roared and charged a destructive beam from his mouth, unfortunately, everyone were unable to run since their energies were low and the mechanical monster fired the red beam that struck down everyone on range, even Chris was thrown back and fainting, except for Lucario who remained in his position while his aura was being gathered in high amounts. "YOU DARE TO CHALLENGE THE ULTIMATE BEING?!"

Lucario put his hands close to each other and began to gather his aura between them. "I SHALL END YOUR PATHETIC LIFE, YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING ONE OF US AND MAKING MY MASTER TO CRY!! WATCH THE POWER..." His hands began to tremble with extreme force before pointing them at SSMO's body while Lucario roared. "OF THE AURA!!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU THINK THAT THING IS GOING TO BEAT ME?!" SSMO taunted before shielding himself with his wings to block the Aura Storm, but he was pushed far away from them. "WHAT?! THIS IS...STRONG...WHY IS THIS HURTING ME?!"

"MY AURA HAS RISEN TO THE STRONGEST POINT, I WILL TAKE REVENGE ON YOU!!"

"...Mewtwo..." Chris muttered as he saw a shining object in front of his eyes with an arrow keeping the object from flying away as Lucario was still firing the Aura Storm, Chris turned his head to the other fainted and unconscious characters that were laying on the floor, defeated, some with sad faces while others fainted just in front of him. "How did...this..." He said weakly, identifying the object to be a Smash Ball with an arrow. "...Came here?"

"Use it, before Lucario ends his attack!"

"Break it now Chris!"

"...Huh?... Who is there?" Chris asked before turning his head to the Smash Ball and lifting his staff in front of him to shatter it.

"(UGH!... THIS IS NOT ENOUGH...TO DEFEAT HIM...I NEED MORE HELP!!)" Lucario thought loudly before trying to keep his aura from fading away.

"(Mewtwo...I can't believe we lose you...but don't get ashamed...because I will avenge you...) HA!" Chris used the last of his strength to shatter the Smash Ball, gaining his unbeliavable power, covering his body in a rainbow color while his eyes were shining brightly, then he got up slowly to regain his balance. "Please...I beg of you...I want to heal everyone...and help Lucario to defeat that monster..." Chris said while he concentrated his magic on his staff.

"NO!!" Lucario and SSMO yelled in unison, Lucario for stop using the Aura Storm and falling unsconscious on the floor and SSMO for losing his wings on the impact, making him to fall quickly to the floor, close to Lucario and inches away from Chris. "DIE! WORTHLESS HUMAN!!"

"BEGIN!" Chris yelled, crossing his staff in front of him as he joined his hands to recite a powerful magic, using different magic called fonons, SSMO looked his surroundings and finding himself and Chris between 2 giant holy glyphs that were spinning.

"I'VE SAID DIE!!...WHAT THE?! I CAN'T...MOVE!!" SSMO roared, trying to get away from the glyphs but his action was useless before hearing Chris saying his prayers to the skies across the dark clouds.

"O light that rains down on heaven and earth, bring my enemies to their destined annihilation!" He opened his right hand to show it at his right while his left hand opened below his belt. "FORTUNE ARC!!" He yelled, casting towers of light that rose and dove between the glyphs that dealt massive light damage to SSMO, enough to deactivate his circuits but not enough to defeat him yet.

"WEAKLING! MY POWER IS INFINITE!... YOU...CAN'T...DESTROY...ME..."

"Who said I was done?!" Chris asked furiously before shining brightly again as an even bigger holy glyph appeared around his body like a wall, throwing his hands behind him to deal the last blow. "And grants us the divine protection of thine brilliance!!" The glyph that appeared around him run through the bodies of everyone fainted that healed their wounds completely, but also, it was the contrary to SSMO who felt a massive pressure of pain that was slowly destroying his whole body.

"...Wha-? Is not over yet?" Knuckles asked confused at the situation as SSMO was slowly being destroyed by his own explosions.

"N-no!" Meta Knight said. "The head is still operable, we have to strike down his head but with stronger attacks that all of us combined!"

"(Stronger attacks...stronger attacks...)" Chris quickly wondered in his mind before gasping. "The Level 1 Final Smash's attacks!"

"You mean using Pow Ring?" Pit asked.

"Also using Double Fire?" Falco asked.

"And Fire Hedgehog?" Sonic asked.

"Yes! Look, the head is on the floor trying to fire another beam, I'll change my jobs to unleash our Level 1 Final Smashes as quickly as we can to destroy it and retrieve the emeralds!" Chris explained to them who nodded in unison. But he saw Lucas, Lucario and Fox staring at him before feeling the same emotion with 3 people in one telepathy talk. "(Wait...does this means it's time to use your own Final Smash?)"

"(What is a Final Smash?)" Fox asked.

"(Y-yes, what is that?)" Lucas asked.

"(I guess Master Hand didn't told you yet...)" Chris said.

"(Chris, this is the time to discover our own Level 1 Final Smash.)" Lucario said in a serious tone. "(Use the Aura Apprentice job to use it!)"

Lucas, somehow, knew what to say after hearing that. "(A-and try to use the job where you used Claus's clothes to use PK abilities too!)"

Fox began to thought before speaking. "(Use the Space Mercenary job to use our own attack and Falco's!)"

"(I-I know!... Let's do this...for Mewtwo!)" Chris said, secured of his response as they nodded and formed a line of 3 characters on each side to Chris. "A-are you ready?" He asked a little concerned.

"I was born ready!" Sonic said with a grin on his face.

"I know we can avenge Mewtwo!" Pit said as he took out his dual blades.

"We had a match to end when we met, but I'll reclaim the victory for him once we beat him." Lucario said as aura began to surround his hands.

"I'm aware of what could happen after this, but...we got to believe." Fox said, taking out his Blaster from his belt.

"Mewtwo was a psychic...and Ness and me can use something like that too...I-I won't fall back!" Lucas said as his right hand began to glow, using his PSI.

"He's going down, and we will win!" Falco said with crossed arms.

"NOW!" They yelled in unison, charging at the head to start their combinated attacks, Pit was the first one to go towards SSMO's head. "POW HAMMER! POW HAMMER!" Chris casted 2 Pow Hammers that replaced his dual blades and ran towards the head before yelling in unison: "POW RING!!" Dealing a moderate amount of damage while Pit continued to spin his hammers and ending his attack.

"Come on! You can do it!" Tails cheered from behind.

Chris quickly changed to his Space Mercenary job, since it was upgraded, he had now a dark blue vest under his jacket and had the same boots as Fox's, however, he and Falco jumped high in the air as their bodies began to be surrounded by fire and rocketing towards SSMO. "DOUBLE FIRE!!" They yelled in unison causing a fire explosion on the head as SSMO roared in pain but continued to charge his beam.

"We can win! We can win!" Big cheered from behind.

"Suffer a lot of shots!" Chris said, taking out his Blaster and joining Fox behind him while Fox knelt to fire closer to the ground as Chris held his Blaster above his head to fire from a higher point. "100 BLASTS!!" They yelled in perfect unison to fire 100 quick shots, 50 from each Blaster, colliding with the head in fast movements and using a secret move to charge their Blasters at the same time, combining both big Charged Shots to join them together and make an explosion.

New ability learned! 100 Blasts!

Fire 100 shots from 2 Blasters at the same time and increasing their speed to deal weak but quick damage to a single enemy, deals moderate amount of damage at the end by firing a Charged Shot at the same time as the 100th shot.

"Keep going!" Vector cheered from behind.

Now the World Traveler changed his job to the PK User, who was updated and now he had Ness's bat, but wore Claus's clothes and Lucas stood by his side, pointing 2 fingers, each one at the head while they glowed intensely. "Release!" Lucas yelled before the 2 shot 2 quick small lightnings from their tip of their fingers, entering inside his mouth before it shone and exploded in a burst of fire that went for 7 seconds. "PK DETONATION!!" Chris and Lucas yelled in unison.

New ability learned! PK Detonation!

Summon 2 bolts of lightning to be embedded into the target and exploding in a burst of flames inside, deals moderate fire damage

"Don't surrender yet!" Rouge said from behind.

For his next move, Chris changed to his Aura Apprentice job and Lucario stood behind him with their backs looking at each other, Lucario's left hand shone brightly with aura while Chris's right hand shone with aura too, then the 2 quickly accelerated to contrary directions and quickly ran towards SSMO's head on each side, lifting their glowing aura hands by using Force Palm close to their faces and shoving it with force on each side, both Force Palms shone intensely before the aura went through the head and caused a paralizing effect to all parts of SSMO's body and stopping him from charging his beam. "AURA FISTS!!" Chris and Lucario yelled in unison.

New ability learned! Aura Fists!

Strike both sides of the target with 2 Force Palms at the same time, causing electric damage and paralyzing the target's body to deal more damage in the meantime, deals moderate amount of damage and paralyzes the target for a period of time

"Chris!...I...I...I believe in you!" Cream cried from behind while Cheese pulled her blue ribbon to show her something.

"The last is the best!" Sonic said before Chris changed his job to the Racer job, Sonic turned into his Spin Dash just in front of the head and Chris backed away to try and use his move in the right time, then when he was ready, he ran towards Sonic using Raptor Boost to punch the ball with a fist of fire, and covering Sonic's curled body into a bullet of fire that went rocketing inside the head and crossing it to reach a Chaos Emerald that was the source of the beam, powering the Fire Hedgehog attack and going through all his mechanic body, Sonic was turning slowly into Super Sonic when he managed to gather all the Chaos Emeralds inside SSMO and crossed through the tail and flew into the dark clouds before turning back into Sonic and landing on his feet with all the emeralds on his arms.

Super Shadow Metal Overlord's dark aura vanished, along with his dark golden color, returning to his original form before yelling out loud.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!! THE ULTIMATE POWER...LOST BY THESE...WEAKLINGS?!...THIS MUST BE...A NIGHTMARE!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Metal Overlord yelled in extreme pain before exploding and as a long shriek came from him, creating a big cloud of smoke that covered the whole area and the party who covered their faces from the smoke.

...Silence fell when they saw Metal Sonic laying unconscious on the destroyed floor, his shiny quills weren't pointy and his cape, along with his clothing was gone and returned to his original look while all of them walked towards him and formed a big circle, wondering if he was alright as Sonic made a fist into the air.

Sonic's Mission Clear Music

"Victory!!" Sonic yelled proudly as everyone else cheered loudly at their victory for defeating Super Shadow Metal Overlord, Chris, being the most happiest, received many congratulations from almost all the characters who either patted his back, gave him hugs (which made him to blush a little) and nodded in recognizement for his tactics in battle.

"You're awesome Chris! Your healing magic really helped us out!" Charmy cheered while he flew around him, but Vector grabbed Charmy and hid him behind his back.

"I...I...I...I don't know what to say..." Chris said blushing a little.

"C'mon! You could be the greatest tactician in the whole world!" Sonic said, patting Chris's back.

"Seriously...I lack of words right now..."

"Chris is strong, right Froggy?" Big asked to Froggy who appeared above his head and croacked happily.

"...Please...that's enough everyone!"

"...Why?..." Everyone stopped cheering before looking at Metal Sonic who looked up to them. "Why I couldn't...kill you?"

"Metal Sonic!" Sonic said. "You should be ashamed for what you did back there! Tell me, what was your real reason of this trouble?"

Dr. Eggman appeared from nowhere, because he was hiding cowardly away from them as they fought before. "It's because...Metal Sonic wanted to prove he was stronger than Sonic." He explained, panting heavily.

"You mean he caused this whole rebellion just to show how strong he was to Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

Metal Sonic stood up slowly, as his circuits began to send electricity into his body. "My hole reason for existence...was to defeat Sonic in battle...that was the true reason of my creation...but as I grew stronger...my mind took over and turned me into a power, hungry machine to seek the destruction of all the species..." And then, he collapsed on the floor while Omega lifted his body to examine him.

"Signs of life are still on him, he should be fine after a reparation." Omega said.

"...But..." Chris looked down in disappointment. "That won't bring Mewtwo back..." Everyone looked down in shame while some of them cried (the loudest one being Vector).

"Maybe...we should do something to remember him..." Tails suggested.

"Hey, where is Cream?" Amy asked confused while she looked around.

"Well...everyone..." Chris began and everybody looked at him. "It's time to make a good farewell to Mewtwo...because he fought alongside us this whole time and never surrendered..."

"I agree on your idea." Marth said nodding.

Seaside Hill

"We are gathered here today to say our farewells to a beloved friend who fought along with us, you were a great inspiration to most of us, many thought you were useless, but me? I thought you were a great helper in the battles we participated in, and so, I leave the others to say their farewells to you, now excuse me." Chris said sadly.

"These kind of...funeral gets me...to cry!" Vector said, wiping out his mucus from his nose with a napkin.

"Shh, it's Cream's turn!" Espio whispered angrily to Vector while he sweatdropped.

Cream gave the tomb a flower ornament and dropped to her knees. "Please, accept this from me, Cheese and Chocola, also, thinks of this gift as Chris's gift too because he was very happy to have you around him." Cream said before she cried a little but the Chaos comforted her and Charmy walked to the tomb.

"This is stupid..." Falco whispered to Fox.

"I know, this is so awkward..." Fox whispered back to him.

"Why are we doing this again?" Roy whispered to Marth.

"It was Chris's idea from the beginning." Marth whispered back to him.

"But Big, this is so weird..." Amy whispered to Big and Froggy.

"It's painful too..." Big whispered, wiping out a tear from his left eye.

Pikachu walked towards the tomb while he sweatdropped. "Ahem, it's a shame to not have you with us, but Chris thinks you were an excellent partner to him...and sorry for not saying anything else." He finished with a grunt as Meta Knight walked towards the tomb, utterly embarrased of what were they doing right now.

"Ugh...where should I begin?" Meta Knight tried to find the correct words and cleared his throat. "Somehow, I felt...hmm...full of energy...I think...and I...well...leave you to let another one speak with you." He walked out to the group, all of them already said their farewells to him, even Dr. Eggman was there, the whole group crossed their arms and looked to the last person who hasn't said his farewell to him with a glare, but Chris was looking rather happy at that time. Shadow and Omega weren't there because they disappeared to some place with Metal Sonic.

"Come on, he will be happy if you say to him your farewell." Chris said to him.

"But...I'm not going to do this." He said, shaking slowly his head.

"Everyone else already finished, now is your turn."

"...I hate you..." He muttered before going to the tomb and crossing his arms in front of his chest and sighing. "I tried to tell Chris from keeping you away from danger, I didn't do it and thus you were killed, making all of us to do this useless funeral for yo-"

"AHEM!"

"...I mean, necessary funeral, rest in peace..." He said sighing and glaring at Chris. "Is this over yet?"

"Yep! Is done now!" Chris said happily and the camera shows what was wirtten on the tomb...

R.I.P
Red Bandana A.K.A "Reddy"
Thou shalt protect people in the heavens from the cold winters

The funeral was for Chris's lost bandana named Reddy, and the last person who said his farewells to it was surprisingly Mewtwo, all healed and completely unharmed.

Flashback

"I agree on your idea." Marth said nodding.

"EVERYONE!" Cream yelled from afar while Cheese and Chocola came with her singing happily.

"What is it Cream?" Tails asked.

"It's about Mr. Mewtwo!...He...He...HE SURVIVED!!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone said surprised before Mewtwo came from the abyss, floating up slowly with crossed arms as smiles grew on their faces and ran to him, Chris being the one leading them and stopping in front of him.

"MEWTWO! YOU'RE ALIVE!!" Chris cried happily before Lucario rubbed his back and looked at Mewtwo.

"How did you survived Mewtwo?" Lucario asked with curiosity.

"When Metal Sonic made that explosion on his claws, I was sent away to the abyss, but luckily, there was a collapsing platform that stopped my fall to the nothingness, I tried to stay quite to not make the platform to collapse, but then, a light covered my body and replenished my energy, then, I gained control to float back to all of you, the platform where I fell was far away from this place, that's why I got late to reach this floor." Mewtwo explained to them.

"Then my Final Smash must have recovered you along with everybody..." Chris said as he stopped crying. "But who gave me the Smash Ball in the first place?"

"I presume those 2 are going to appear later near the beach from the start."

"...I'm happy to have you back Mewtwo..."

For the first time ever, Mewtwo gave all of them a small smile and Chris gasped.

"M-Mewtwo! Y-you smiled!" Chris said in surprise.

"...Yes...I haven't smiled in my life before...it feels...good...I think..." Mewtwo said a little surprised.

"Wow! This day couldn't turn any better!" Pikachu said smiling.

Chris turned to them. "Well, we should go to the beach to meet those 2 who helped us and...can you all do me a favor?"

"Anything, we will do it!" Vector said with a fist and they nodded.

End of flashback

"Why we didn't shut Vector's mouth when we had the chance?" Espio wondered to himself, accepting Chris's favor to do a funeral to his beloved friend, "Reddy".

"I can't believe we just gave an eulogy to a cloth." Mewtwo frowned to himself.

"His name wasn't cloth, it was Reddy." Chris corrected him before mostly everyone groaned at this. "Hey! You agreed to do this didn't you?"

"It was the idiot of Vector who accepted this, not us!" Knuckles said as he glared at Vector.

"By the way Mewtwo, where are those 2 who helped us?" Chris asked before they saw 2 persons walking behind them, Chris looked behind them and his eyes widened after he was able to identify the strangers. "...You?!"

"Long time no see Marth!" A blonde swordsman said to Marth, who shook hands with him.

"It is an honor to see you well." A princess said, bowing to them cordially.

"...Link?! Zelda?!" Chris said very shocked, the 2 mysterious helpers were Link, the hero of Twilight (and many other things) and Zelda, princess of Hyrule.

"Looks like the odd ball we sent to you was able to defeat him after all." Link said.

"Master Hand told us to aid you when things began to look dangerous, he explained everything to us too and gave us that ball to give you power." Zelda explained, when she pointed at the portal behind the 2 of them. "He asked us to return to the Smash Mansion too."

"Does that means...you have to go now Chris?" Cream asked with a sad tone on her voice.

"I'm sorry...we have to keep fighting against the Subspace Army to save all the worlds from chaos..." Chris said sadly, Tails also looked down sadly in shame before noticing a mischievous smirk on Sonic's face.

The Smashers formed a line in front of the portal while they looked at the Sonic characters. "I wish I could stay here longer, but we must go now!" Chris said.

Cream began to cry while Amy hugged her. "Promise you're going to come to visit us!" She said crying while Amy cried a little too.

"Don't worry! I'll do it, let's go Lucario, Mewtwo, Meta Knight!" Chris said as the mentioned characters ran inside the portal.

"Ooh, I didn't do almost anything on my first trip here..." Kirby said as Pikachu patted his back and looked at Rouge, who smiled a little and waved back to him as the two entered inside the portal, with Lucas wiping out his tears.

"Anyway Vector, is Eggman going to pay you and your team?" Marth asked as Eggman itched away from Team Chaotix and Charmy turned to him.

"BOSS! HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Charmy yelled and Eggman began to run away from the trio.

"COME BACK YOU IDIOT! WE'RE NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Vector and Charmy yelled angrily as they chased Dr. Eggman from the beach as Espio shook hands with the 3 swordsmen and left to join his teammates, the 3 Smashers looked at each other and left the beach.

"Please come here to stay and talk about machines." Tails said as he shook hands with Fox and Falco.

"I'll think about it, good bye." Fox smiled to Tails and waved at him as he and Falco waved at the little fox and disappeared inside the portal with Link and Zelda, after a second, the portal vanished and Knuckles looked at the sky while Big ran around the beach, chasing Froggy.

"Well...peace is once again here...Sonic?" Knuckles looked behind him where Sonic once was and gasped. "SONIC?!"

"Hey! Sonic is gone!" Amy said.

"But where is he?!" Tails asked.

"Him? He ran inside the portal when it was about to vanish." Rouge pointed out before Reddy's tomb fell to the sand.

"...Oh no..." Tails, Knuckles and Amy muttered to themselves in unison.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 2500 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, ?, ?, Fox, Falco, Ness, Lucas, Marth, Roy, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Ice Climbers

I know, why use the interrogations points when you know who's joining, I had to use it, sorry.

No way I'm gonna let anyone die here!... But Reddy...sniff... And Link and Zelda joins the team to save the day? Wow! :O

If you were wondering about:

The Fonic Hymn User job, is resembling Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss, she has almost the same abilities as Colette from Tales of Symphonia, but has healing skills and 2 Mystic Artes (Hi-Ougis as you know since you probably didn't played the game on the PS2) and I added some jobs evolving, but only like 2 or 3 will evolve or maybe not.

"I'll Face Myself -Battle-" is the main battle theme from Persona 4 for the PS2, a game I found on Youtube, the music was just too good and I needed to use it here. (Sorry if you expected a Sonic battle music against SSMO).

Macademia i-wait, why do I need to explain that music? XD

Again, sorry for the length, next chapter is a short filler and I needed to cut some levels for the sake of the chapter. (Where's Sonic by the way?)

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 66*: RPG Cliché Book

We're back with more chapters! In commemoration (sp?) for moving to the USA and get back my internet, I'm going to give this enjoyable chapter, my loyal readers who keeps supporting this fic, thank you everyone!

From prosser783: I love your tales of and persona 4 references. You and your story rock! Keep up the good work!

From me: Yes, this fic is a multi-crossover, but I'll try to make the biggest multi-crossover fic of this section!

From BlackxShootingxStar: Awesome. THough I had three complantes...I think Chris was a godmodd in this chapter, though that is impressive considering there 65 chapters. I also would have liked to see some team blasts..( Not sure what there called) in the fight and what happened to the Chaos Emeralds? Other then that awesome like usual. Please keep it up

From me: Actually, it seemed that way to me, but it's an already overused cliché in almost all the games, which is the theme of this chapter! And the 7 Chaos Emeralds? Sonic has invisible pockets people, everyone does in this story! XD (And in the real stories too.)

From ngrey651: (Smiles.)

I was worried. I'll admit it. But then I thought about it. You didn't seem the type of guy to just kill off a character, especially not somebody who's been such a good friend to you. So I'm glad you did what you did. And the end result was an AMAZING chapter!

Some might feel cheated, but look at it this way: a couple twists and turns are sometimes all it takes to bring a fanfic back from the brink. And it's not about what the whiners want. It's about the story YOU want to tell. So tell it. And don't let anybody else tell you how to tell it.

From me: Thank you! I'll think hard to get people to like my OC, what are they called? Oh yes, character development.

From Nintendogeek01: Aw darn it... Bohemian Rhapsody would have been perfect. lol. (Boy you really love to beat up Sonic don't you?)

Anyways, Meta-Knight's aggressiveness took some drastic leaps and falls, almost to the point of being silly, but still it was acceptable. The fight with SSMO was good. It had a lot of suspense and some decent action. Oh and sorry for your loss... goodbye Reddy, we'll all miss you.

Overall it was a good chapter. The length didn't really even bother me, the overall content was good enough to make the length unimportant.

P.S. As for me hating Big, you'll just have to let it go.

From me: I think so too. XD And this is the last time I hurt Sonic...probably...mwhahaha...

Anyway, I appreciate your review AND being the first person to take the awesomeness of Reddy, the red bandana! :)

...What if Blaze the Cat was a descendant of Big? Have you ever thought about that? XD

From SmashEd44: 10/10

I cannot explain the excellence of this chapter. As soon as I saw the mischevous smirk I knew he was going to sneak in.

And on Reddy. XD

...I'm gonna miss that cloth.

And, I cannot wait for the next few chapters...I can tell that Sonic will get beat up again...

From me: We will miss Reddy...we will...REDDY! Thank you! (To SmashEd44, not Reddy).

From narutofan714: abusepretty good and awesome, also, this never gave me the slightest idea why I had to fight against the metal overlord while sonic took his sweet time, but that could've happened anyways, and you put another beatdown on sonic again sigh no harm done right? anyways the song that I heard was pretty cool and when I was getting sad at the funeral and realized it was reddy, I could've sworn a record scratched when I saw those words, and im glad that mewtwos alive :D yay!

whoa, this is one long review /O

From me: Meh, I have seen longer reviews. But yours it's very good too. And for the record thing, that was the idea!

A bang on the hedgehog's head isn't so bad...or is it? XP

From Rellymaster: OH, MAN! Now this is one awesome chapter! It really caught me off guard! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you pulled off a Deus Ex Machina during this story! But that'd be a logical impossibility.
Also, I'm glad that Meta Knight stopped acting stupid and became more rational. Looks like Cream and Cheese knocked some sense into him. What lies in the future for them?

Anyways, REALLY AWESOME CHAPTER! Your best yet!

end of praise

From me: The first person to take the Meta Knight VS Cream and Cheese seriously! (Or the second, Nintendogeek01 did it I think.)

...What the hell is a Deus Ex Machina? Some type of machine or something?

From mariko-ai-chan: Ha ha nya love it!Here's a suggestion if you haven't done it already.Give.FFEE!Can you imagine Lucario with a caffine buzz...nya?Keep at it!Oh and please do a little work on your review show if you can.Maybe you could check out my story 'A new brawl' nya?Lucario has a big role since i'm a Lucario lover too nya!Go for the victory Chris!

-Mariko-ai-chan

From me: Giving Lucario coffee by accident was a long-planned chapter in the prequel of this story, but it didn't worked out, fortunately, you get to see another moment between those two...

...And..."nya"? Isn't that from Digi-Charat-Nyo?

Somehow, I think you're friends with Shadow-Rukario-Chan...

...HOLY (BEEP), 8 REVIEWS?! I need to do these chapters more often!

Please, enjoy this chapter as an apology for not writing in a while! (To be honest, I have 2 chapters ready but I'll post them once I get some reviews to keep up with my work, because I have a new school too.)

Read, enjoy and review, please! :)

Chapter 66: The insulting, odd, and honest RPG Cliché's Book

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Glad you're back everyone, you did an exceptional job in Sonic's world, well done." Master Hand greeted them, 2 seconds later, his glove turned red of rage. "CHRIS! WHAT DID I SAID BEFORE ABOUT BRINGING CHARACTERS TOO EARLIER THAN EXPECTED?!"

"What? But Link or Zelda doesn't have any other future game together!" Chris said confused.

"I'M TALKING ABOUT SONIC!"

"...Sonic?" All the current Smashers that appeared from the portal looked behind them to find Sonic with a small grin on his face and crossed arms.

"Sonic! What are you doing here?" Pit asked.

"You said you were going to fight against the Subspace Army right? Well, I decided to tag along to join you!" Sonic said.

NEWCOMER!

Sonic (because he wanted without you knowing) joined your team!

Chris glared at the announcement and the screen disappeared. "But you can't right now! You have more adventures to hav-" Chris was interrupted as Sonic gave him a paper that looked like a schedule. "What's this?"

"The schedule of what is going to happen when I wait for another adventure, read it."

Dr. Eggman forgetting everything about the last problem and trying another way to conquer the world.
Dr. Eggman failling with the first attempt and finding another way to conquer the world.
Dr. Eggman failling with the second attempt and finding yet another way to conquer the world.
Dr. Eggman failling with the THIRD attempt and finding yet another stupid way to conquer the world.
Dr. Eggman (yawn) failling with the fourth attempt and finding yet another stupid and useless (yawn) way to conquer the world.

And the schedule kept going down with almost the same explanation with different but harshs words after the 23th time.

"Now you see?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow.

"(No way, he already guessed this...)" Chris thought, before he had an idea. "Oh yeah, honestly, I believe on this schedule."

"Then you'll let me in in your team?"

"Of course!"

"CHRIS!" Everyone protested after this.

Chris winked at everyone and looked back to Sonic. "Okay Sonic! Now we're going to the Tetris's world right now to save it from them!"

"Got it, tell me the way to go now!"

Chris opened the portal and Sonic quickly entered inside in a blink, but Chris closed the portal as soon as Sonic was gone and sighed in relief.

"You didn't sent him to that world right?" Lucario asked.

"Hell no! I sent him back to Sonic Heroes! Although I wanted him to be in our team when he came but unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Sonic Riders." Chris explained to them.

Sonic (for his own good) left your team

"But Kirby ha-"

"I SAID, we'll have to wait until Sonic Riders or not." Chris said a little angry. "...Anyway, Link! Zelda! What's your motive of your visit?"

Link made a serious face. "Because Ganondorf joined them."

"Ganondork you mean?" Roy asked.

"Come on Roy, you're still calling him like that?"

"But it's funny!"

Zelda cleared her throat to speak. "I explain where Link was explaining..."

Flashback

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Eldin Province

"Just when Link was about to stab Ganondorf's heart with the Master Sword, a strange, dark energy engulfed his body from below and took him inside the dark force, Link was surprised and stabbed the ground when the dark magic was gone, after that, Midna appeared and..." Zelda narrated as we skip when Midna on her original form breaks the Twilight Mirror. "Suddenly, Master Hand appeared on the Arbiter Grounds and told us to be prepared to be in the next tournament and fight against the Subspace Army, Link went to Ordon Village to say his farewells to the villagers and I made a degree to leave Hyrule under the protection of the chancellor and the soldiers, as soon as we met between Hyrule Castle Town and the Faron Province, Master Hand appeared and made the portal to teleport us to the mansion."

End of flashback

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"He explained everything to us, the Subspace Army, the enemy we must defeat, about the reason of why Chris is here and other things such as the new participants that are currently here with us." Zelda said and finished her narration.

Roy crossed his arms. "Ganondork...that bastard, betraying us!"

"Once he finds a way to get the Triforce he'll use it, no matter if it implies in betraying us, besides, he's evil and we know about that." Link said.

"Then that means 4 enemies against us..." Pit said.

The other younger Smashers appeared yawning a little from the other side of the room. "Master Hand...why did call us?" Ness asked grogily, before running to greet Link and Zelda with the others as the new fighters introduced to them.

NEWCOMER!

Link joined your team!

NEWCOMER!

Zelda joined your team!

"Oh right, everyone, I have an important announcement." Master Hand said and everyone on the room looked at him. "Seeing as this threat is rising up dangerously, with the Halberd at their disposal and the Shadow Bugs that you have fought on each world to increase the power of anyone to fight against you, we'll have no choice but to gather everyone else, starting from tomorrow."

Many cheers were heard after that as they began to talk to themselves about their old friends and the new participants that haven't showed up in the mansion.

Unfortunately for Master Hand's dismay, he was being asked about the people that didn't got in...

"Are you accepting Krystal in the tournament?" Fox asked.

"Is Addeleine going to be here too?" Kirby asked excited.

"I'm looking forward to see new women fighting here as well." Zelda said in amusement.

"Bring Plusle and Minum here!" Pichu said excited.

"Another japanese swordsman or a samurai would be good too." Marth said.

"Will you invite Lloyd here too?" Roy asked. (And some fangirls began to cry since the author knows Lloyd has a really big fanbase made of girls out there.)

"I'll be pleased with anything as long as that doesn't have Wolf on your invitations." Falco said.

Master Hand began to sweat after all these things and he and Crazy Hand floated away to their room in a hurry before they found out that their statements were going to be false and murder the hand with brute force.

"...Why did he ran away?" Pichu asked confused.

"You don't want to know..." Mewtwo said, floating away to his room, since the night already came, everyone decided to rest and continue tomorrow for their own mission to gather all the Smashers in the mansion.

"I want to eat something..." Kirby said as he ran away to the kitchen and everybody stopped on their tracks and remembered something important.

"...Isn't bad to left Kirby alone with the only refrigerator of the whole mansion in the kitchen?" Link asked while everyone looked at each other before gasping in unison. "Wait, Master Hand always leaves a note to prevent Kirby from eating all the food by himself."

"Oh-uh..." Chris said remembering something from a long time ago (in chapters).

Back in chapter 15...

For the last time, don't eat everything in a one single swallow Kirby!

Master Hand

We see Chris taking the note on his hand and throwing it to the trash as he chuckled a little to himself.

Back on the actual chapter...

"I...um...threw the note from the door if that was the note you were refering to." Chris said as he touched his fingers in shame before everyone narrowed their eyes in a bored way.

Kitchen

"KIRBY!!" Chris, Link, Zelda, Ness, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Popo, Nana, Marth, Roy, Fox and Falco yelled while the others not mentioned who didn't yelled ran across the main hall, the mentioned characters knew already what was going to happen, they entered the kitchen where Kirby was standing in front of the refrigerator and inhaling deeply to suck up the whole machine as they lunged at him to shut his mouth.

However, they saw Meta Knight blocking Kirby's mouth and they stopped in midair.

"Kirby, what did I told you before?" Meta Knight asked.

"Eat in moderation..." Kirby said bored under his hand.

"That's right." Meta Knight opened the fridge with his other hand and took out a cake with a strawberry on the top. "You'll eat this only this night."

Kirby took the cake and walked away to his room, a little annoyed for the fact that Meta Knight always stopped him when eating a large amount of food, and now that he's living in the mansion, it means no more eating in excess for Kirby, but the puffball forgot about that once he ate the cake and hopped happily to his room.

Meta Knight looked at the group in midair. "If you excuse me, I want to inspect this mansion a little more." He said and walked away while they saw the warrior leaving the kitchen.

"..." They looked at each other before falling with a "thud" sound.

One of the many hallways

Chris was having a bad day in the night, after preventing Kirby from eating the whole fridge, the World Traveler couldn't believe that he was lost inside the own mansion he lives in, he wandered around the hallways, spotting many doors but not his room with Lucario. He also changed to his Swordsman job to get a little colder from all the walking he has been doing.

"How did I ended up lost in this mansion?" Chris asked to himself, tired of walking aimlessly while taking out his DS. "Dr. Kawashima, do you have a feature to display a map on the DS?"

"How unfortunate, I lack of map of the whole mansion right now." Kawashima said ashamed. "But if you want, the DS has a phone funtion to call Master Hand."

"Forget it, he's tired right now...wait..." Chris spotted a room without a door, and his eyes instantly gleamed with joy and he kept the DS on his pocket.

With all his excitement, he shouted: "LIBRARY!" And ran inside.

Library

One of Chris's hobbies was to read books to study, the library of the Smash Mansion was bigger than the common libraries in his world, it had every kind of book regarding all the worlds, there were candlelights hanging from the red roof, a long red carpet extending to every corner and shelves with loads of books, in short terms, Chris's paradise.

Not only those things were ornamenting the library, red sofas for one person with a lamp to their right side were found separated through the room, the whole place was silent, much for Chris's luck as he wandered around, looking for a book to read before sleeping.

He went to the "Miscellaneous Section" and found an odd book with the label "RPG Cliché's Book".

"RPG Cliché's Book? Hmm...well, I like RPG games so it could be interesting to read before sleeping." He said silently and took carefully the book from the shelf and sat on one of the sofas to open it, in the first page, it readed this.

Welcome to RPG Cliché's Book, where the obvious will be said about the RPG genre games that you don't see clearly, you could also relate some of this clichés with other games that aren't RPG, such like adventure, action or horror genres.

"The clichés are supposed to be funny so..." Chris flipped the page where a list of clichés were listed in order, he thought some things on his adventure could be defined as a game to relate a cliché with his adventure with the others.

Calmly, he searched through all the clichés, which were like 192 of them.

3. Thinking With The Wrong Head (Hiro Rule)
No matter what she's accused of doing or how mysterious her origins are, the hero will always be ready to fight to the death for any girl he met three seconds ago.

"...Er...somehow, this reminds me of Maylene in some way..."

5. Logan's Run Rule
RPG characters are young. Very young. The average age seems to be 15, unless the character is a decorated and battle-hardened soldier, in which case he might even be as old as 18. Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic, years of experience, and never ever worry about their parents telling them to come home from adventuring before bedtime. By contrast, characters more than twenty-two years old will cheerfully refer to themselves as washed-up old fogies and be eager to make room for the younger generation.

"I'm obviously starting to have all of this."

6. Single Parent Rule
RPG characters with two living parents are almost unheard of. As a general rule, male characters will only have a mother, and female characters will only have a father. The missing parent either vanished mysteriously and traumatically several years ago or is never referred to at all. Frequently the main character's surviving parent will also meet an awkward end just after the story begins, thus freeing him of inconvenient filial obligations.

"Ha! I have my 2 fathers! (I wonder how are they in the stopped time...)"

7. Some Call Me... Tim?
Good guys will only have first names, and bad guys will only have last names. Any bad guy who only has a first name will become a good guy at some point in the game. Good guys' last names may be mentioned in the manual but they will never be referred to in the story.

"Well, I don't like to use my full name..."

8. Nominal Rule
Any character who actually has a name is important in some way and must be sought out. However, if you are referred to as a part of a posessive noun ("Crono's Mom") then you are superfluous.

"Everyone here has a name."

10. Luddite Rule (Or George Lucas Rule)
Speaking of which, technology is inherently evil and is the exclusive province of the Bad Guys. They're the ones with the robots, factories, cyberpunk megalopolises and floating battle stations, while the Good Guys live in small villages in peaceful harmony with nature. (Although somehow your guns and/or heavily armed airships are exempted from this.)

"That book clearly speaks the truth."

"YAH!" Chris found Meta Knight standing in front of him, appearently, he appeared when Chris began to read about it. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I found this library and yourself, ever since you started to read it, I have been hearing it, most of the things that book has can become crucial to our mission."

"You mean the Halberd being the floating battle station?" Chris asked and Meta Knight nodded. "...Oh well, I'll keep reading."

"Please do."

12. Poor Little Rich Hero (Meis Rule)
If the hero comes from a rich and powerful family, it will have fallen on hard times and be broke and destitute by the time the game actually starts.

"I have a fortune back in my house and I'm actually a little poor on our adventure..." Chris said embarrassed to himself.

"You must struggle then."

13. The Higher The Hair, The Closer To God (Cloud Rule)
The more outrageous his hairstyle, the more important a male character is to the story.

Chris looked at his hair, being a little messy when its not under gel. "I have an outrageous hair Meta Knight?"

"Possibly." Meta Knight responded.

15. Garrett's Principle
Let's not mince words: you're a thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house like the door wasn't even locked. You just barge right in and start looking for stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, lift their precious artifacts, and then chat with them like you were old neighbors as you head back out with their family heirlooms under your arm. Unfortunately, this never works in stores.

"Hey Crazy Hand! Can I grab the other jobs without paying and you noticing me?" Chris shouted.

"Forget it skippy!" Was Crazy Hand's reply.

15. Hey, I Know You!
You will accumulate at least three of these obligatory party members:
-The achingly beautiful gothy swordsman who is riven by inner tragedy.

"What does that book is saying about me?" Chris looked around to find everybody else around him and Meta Knight, sitting or standing above the carpet while he was reading the book, the one who spoke was Marth. "I'm not considering me as beautiful!" Marth protested as Chris noticed that almost everyone were wearing coats for sleep, except for Mewtwo and Lucario.

"H-hey! When did you came here?" Chris asked surprised.

Pichu hopped to his shoulder, wearing a small red coat. "Keep reading that book!" He asked excited.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm not even asking why are you all here."

"We couldn't sleep." Pit said.

"That EXPLAINS a lot!" Chris responded annoyed, continuing by the previous rule.

-The hero's best friend, who is actually much cooler than the hero.

Chris's eyes began to twitch when he readed that part and looked at Lucario. "I personally consider Lucario much cooler than you are!" Jigglypuff said, wearing a light blue coat.

"I don't know what to say in this moment." Lucario said.

"I HATE this book!" Chris proclaimed angrily.

-The grim, selfish mercenary who over the course of the game learns what it means to really care about other people.

Everyone looked at Meta Knight. "I hate that book." Meta Knight said a little irritated.

-The character who is actually a spy for the bad guys but will instantly switch to your side when you find out about it.

Their eyes were looking at Fox. "...I'm not a spy!" Fox said angrily.

-The weird bonus character who requires a bizarre series of side quests to make them effective (with the ultimate result that no player ever uses this character if it can be avoided.)

The most bizarre character that they tried to picture was Mr. Game & Watch, but he wasn't there.

-The nauseatingly cute mascot who is useless in all battles.

All eyes were looking at Pichu, then he cried. "D-don't cry Pichu! S-sorry for that!" Pikachu said, wearing a red coat as Pichu and jumping to the other shoulder.

21. Aeris's Corollary
Just as the main male character will always use a sword or a variant of a sword, the main female character will always use a rod or a staff of some sort.

Since Chris was using the Swordsman job, he looked at Lucario, who just grunted in irritation and Chris sweated a little bit.

25. Dimensional Trascendence Principle
Buildings are much, much larger on the inside than on the outside, and that doesn't even count the secret maze of tunnels behind the clock in the basement.

The World Traveler was unfortunately having that problem now.

27. Nostradamus Rule
All legends are 100 accurate. All rumors are entirely factual. All prophecies will come true, and not just someday but almost immediately.

"That prophecy on the Valley of the Aura was true then..." Chris muttered to himself.

"And it is." Lucario added.

28. IDKFA
The basic ammunition for any firearms your characters have is either unlimited or very, very easy to obtain. This will apply even if firearms are extremely rare.

Link received a group of stares for his unlimited ammunition of arrows that he uses in battle, also counting the bombs. "T-that's not true! I have a very big bag for each thing!" He protested and everyone said: "Sure."

29. Indestructible Weapon Rule
No matter how many times you use that sword to strike armored targets or fire that gun on full auto mode it will never break, jam or need any form of maintenance unless it is critical to the story that the weapon breaks, jams or needs maintenance.

"How does Marth, Roy, Link, Ness, Lucas, Meta Knight and Pit's weapons never breaks?" Falco asked.

"They are...unbreakable?" Roy said confused and the mentioned characters in Falco's statement shook their heads in shame.

32. You Can't Kill Me (Seifer Rule)
The good guys never seem to get the hang of actually arresting or killing the bad guys. Minor villains are always permitted to go free so they can rest up and menace you again later -- sometimes five minutes later. Knowing this rule, you can deduce that if you do manage to kill (or force the surrender of) a bad guy, you must be getting near the end of the game.

"It's because we really enjoy to make them suffer." Link said, thinking about slashing Ganondorf on the back and healing him, before attacking him again.

33. And Now You Die, Mr. Bond! (Beatrix Rule)
Fortunately for you, the previous rule also applies in reverse. Rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely blasting you down to 1 hit point and leaving you in a crumpled heap while they stroll off, laughing. (This is, of course, because they're already planning ahead how they'll manipulate you into doing their bidding later in the game -- see Way To Go, Serge.)

"Oh no...WOLF'S TRYING TO MANIPULATE FOX!" Ness said yelling, making some of them to laugh loudly while he received a glare by Fox.

38. You Die, And We All Move Up In Rank
During that fake ending, the true villain of the story will kill the guy you'd thought was the villain, just to demonstrate what a badass he (the true villain) really is. You never get to kill the fake villain yourself.

"I'm going to be so pssed off if that happens." Link said, remember Zant anyone?

39. What Are We Going Tonight, Vinsfeld?
The goal of every game (as revealed during the Fake Ending) is to Save the World from an evil figure who's trying to take it over or destroy it. There is no way to escape from this formidable task. No matter whether the protagonist's goal in life is to pay off a debt, to explore distant lands, or just to make time with that cute girl in the blue dress, it will be necessary for him to Save the World in order to accomplish it. Take heart, though -- once the world gets sorted out, everything else will fall into place almost immediately.

All of them had to say that it was true in all their adventures to save their own worlds, in which they didn't and felt embarrassed.

40. Zelda's Axiom
Whenever somebody tells you about "the five ancient talismans" or "the nine legendary crystals" or whatever, you can be quite confident that Saving the World will require you to go out and find every last one of them.

"Find the 5 Sacred Jewels Link...have you ever heard of them before? HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Pikachu joked trying to sound godly and laughing above Chris's shoulder as some of them chuckled to themselves.

"For your information, they're 3!" Link corrected him.

45. Law of Cartographical Elegance
The world map always cleanly fits into a rectangular shape with no land masses that cross an edge.

"I wonder why the map of Hyrule doesn't cross an edge..." Zelda asked to herself.

46. ¿Quien Es Mas Macho? (Fargo Rule)
Every powerful character you attempt to seek aid from will first insist upon "testing your strength" in a battle to the death.

"If anyone here DARES to do this, I'll make sure to disqualify anyone who does this!" Master Hand's voice boomed from his room and returned to sleep.

48. Zidane's Curse (or, Dirty Pair Rule)
An unlucky condition in which every major city in the game will coincidentally wind up being destroyed just after the hero arrives.

"Reminding me from what happened to Corneria when the Aparoids invaded it was not a theme to be talking about!" Fox said angrily.

"...Sorry..." Chris said.

"...It wasn't your fault, don't worry about it." Fox said sighing.

54. I Don't Like Gears Or Fighting
There are always giant robots. Always.

"True enough." Falco said, crossing his arms and shaking his head slowly.

58. But They Don't Take American Express
Every merchant in the world -- even those living in far-off villages or hidden floating cities cut off from the outside world for centuries, even those who speak different languages or are of an entirely different species -- accepts the same currency.

"That reminds me, didn't Master Hand told us that the Smash Coins can be used on the other worlds?" Lucario asked.

"Oh yeah...he said that..." Chris answered.

59. Apathy Principle
Your group is the only bunch of idiots trying to save the world. All other would-be heroes will either join your party or else turn out to be cowards and/or con men.

Meta Knight took out his sword. "I've heard enough from that book." He said a little angry, while the others nodded agreeding.

But nevertheless, Chris continued reading it.

65. First Law of Travel

"It may be helpful this time!" Dr. Kawashima said in the pocket.

Anything can become a vehicle -- castles, cities, military academies, you name it -- so do not be alarmed when the stones of the ancient fortress you are visiting shake underfoot and the whole thing lifts off into the sky. As a corollary, anything is capable of flight if it would be cool, aeronautics or even basic physics be danged.

"Hey Link, how can the City in the Sky fly with such little fans?" Chris asked to Link.

"Hmm...Zelda may know." Link looked at Zelda, who was a little puzzled.

"I...well...don't know exactly about that..." Zelda replied.

68. Fourth Law of Travel
Three out of every four vehicles you ride on will eventually sink, derail or crash in some spectacular manner.

Pikachu's flashbacks when he was with Ash

"The S.S. Anne is sinking!" Ash yelled loudly, panicking.

"The balloon is falling!" Misty yelled loudly, panicking in another ocassion.

"The blimp is falling, we have to get out of here!" Ash yelled in yet another occasion.

"Phew, fortunately, the drill didn't exploded." Max said in relief.

"What's this button for?" May asked and pressed a red button, that was obviously the self-destruct button.

"MAY!!" Ash, Brock and Max yelled, panicking.

End of Pikachu's flashbacks

The electric mouse sweatdropped at this.

74. If You Meet The Buddha In A Random Encounter, Kill Him!
When you're out wandering around the world, you must kill everything you meet. People, animals, plants, insects, fire hydrants, small cottages, anything and everything is just plain out to get you. It may be because of your rampant kleptomania (see Garrett's Principle.)

"Ness, did you fought against fire hydrants too?" Lucas asked with curiosity.

"And Old Womans, Police Officers, a tent and a Trash Can." Ness added.

81. Dungeon Desing 101
There's always goodies hidden behind the waterfall.

"...That's true." Link said admitting it.

82. Dungeon Desing 102
When you are confronted by two doors, the closer one will be locked and its key will be hidden behind the farther-away one.

"True too..."

83. Dungeon Desing 103
Your progress through a dungeon will be indicated by a sudden change in decor: different wall color, different torches on the wall, etcetera.

Link did the Cave of Ordeals too.

85. Dungeon Desing 301
All "puzzles" in RPG dungeons can be sorted into one of the following types:
-finding some small item and sticking it into a slot;
-pushing blocks (rocks, statues) onto switches;
-pulling switches or levers to open and close doors;
-learning the correct order/position of a group of objects;
-entering a certain combination of doors;
-something involving a clock or elevator

"All of those things always happens to Link!" Roy said and Link scratched his throat ashamed of doing almost the same thing again and again.

86. Wait! That Was A Load-Bearing Boss!
Defeating a dungeon's boss creature will frequently cause the dungeon to collapse, which is nonsensical but does make for thrilling escape scenes.

The mentioned characters related after this had to nod.

Remember Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time?

Remember Andross in Star Fox 64?

Remember 02 in the Crystal Shards?

Remember Ganondorf again in Twilight Princess?

Remember the Aparoid Queen in Assault?

Remember Claus (Masked Boy) in Mother 3? (Although it was another thing).

Remember another similar situation like this?

90. Guy In The Street Rule
No matter how fast you travel, rumors of world events always travel faster. When you get to anywhere, the people on the street are already talking about where you've been. The stories of your past experiences will spread even if no witnesses were around to see them.

"I can't relate that rule to us." Popo said.

"It's because there's another rule that can explain something else with this rule." Chris explianed to them.

91. Whenever You Go, There They Are
Wherever the characters go, the villains can always find them. Chances are they're asking the guy in the street (see above). But don't worry -- despite being able to find the characters with ease anytime they want to, the bad guys never get rid of them by simply blowing up the tent or hotel they're spending the night in. (Just think of it: the screen dims, the peaceful going-to-sleep-now music plays, then BOOM! Game Over!)

Everyone's pupils shrunk at this rule and looked around if they were there.

"Don't give them ideas!" Nana said terrorized.

"Seriously, that book is also dangerous in some ways!" Ness said.

97. Three Females Rule
There will always be either one or three female characters in the hero's party, no matter how many male characters there are.

All the men in the room looked at the current 3 female characters, Zelda, Nana and Jigglypuff, but Zelda crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Please, I know Master Hand will bring more female characters in this tournament and not keep the same ones here." Zelda said.

"And what will you do if that doesn't happens?" Marth asked.

"I'll try to summon the power of the gods to murder him alive in a slow and painful death."

Some of them backed away from her and Chris didn't knew Zelda was like that.

101. Law of Productive Guillibility (Ruby Rule)
Whenever anybody comes up to you with a patently ludicrous claim (such as, "I'm not a cat, I'm really an ancient Red Dragon") there's an at least two-thirds chance they're telling the truth. Therefore, it pays to humor everyone you meet; odds are you'll be glad you did later on.

Pikachu's ears dropped in embarrassment after remembering almost all the Gym Leaders that looked like normal people to Ash until they said: "Hi, my name is Blaine, and I'm the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island!"

"No! Really?!" Would be Ash's response for spending half of his time with him. (Seriously, even that keeps happening in the Sinnoh Region, and never will stop...which doesn't makes sense, I mean, all the Gym Leaders have crazy hairstyles and weird hair colors, proving that they're a higher authority...since when Brock lost his high authority now that we mention it?)

102. Perversity Principle
If you're unsure about what to do next, ask all the townspeople nearby. They will either all strongly urge you to do something, in which case you must immediately go out and do that thing, or else they will all strongly warn you against doing something, in which case you must immediately go out and do that thing.

"It is just me or that book is reminding me all the things I do on my adventures?" Link asked.

Chris looked behind the cover, and one of the most mentioned games were the Legend of Zelda games and sweatdropped. "It's because you're famous!" Chris said.

103. Near-Death Epiphany (Fei Rule)
If the party is not dealing damage to a boss character, then there's a better-than-even chance that someone in the party will suddenly become enlightened and instantly acquire the offensive skill that can blow the creature away in a matter of seconds.

Everyone stared at Chris. "...What?"

"Didn't you used something that was a great deal of damage to that robotic monster and healed all of us in a near-death situation?" Nana asked.

"...I did, I think so..."

"You did!" Ness and Pikachu said in unison.

105. Law of Mooks
Soldiers and guards working for the Evil Empire are, as a rule, sloppy, cowardly and incompetent. Members of the heroic Resistance Faction are, as a rule, dreadfully weak and undertrained and will be wiped out to the last man the moment they come in contact with the enemy.

"All the guards in Hyrule are a bunch of cowards Zelda!" Link reminded Zelda.

"T-that's not true! W-we have our special elite of soldiers training right now!" Zelda protested.

Link crossed his arms. "And where are they?"

"...They are...far away from the Snowpoint mountains!"

106. Law of Traps
No matter how obvious the trap, you can't complete the game unless you fall into it.

"I'm SERIOUSLY going to burn down that book!" Link said angrily.

107. Arbor Day Rule
At some point, you're going to have to talk to a tree and do what it says.

"..." Link was getting even angrier.

"Great Deku Tree?" Roy asked.

"Great Deku Tree." Link repeated nodding.

112. They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To
Modern-day machinery, by contrast, will always break down at the worst possible moment (for example, when you only need one more shot from the giant cannon to defeat the final boss.)

"Can we relate that when the Aparoid Queen turned out to be fine after you threw the capsule into its core Fox?" Falco asked.

"Hmm...maybe." Fox responded.

113. Place Transvetite Joke Here (Miss Cloud Rule)
If the male lead is required to dress up like a girl for any reason, he will be regarded by everyone as much more attractive than any "real" girl. If the female lead cross-dresses as a man, she will be immediately recognized as who she is by everyone except the male lead and the main villain.

"...WHAT?!" Chris responded.

"Relax, we're all the main characters!" Pichu said.

Every male began to thought.

"...Kill me if use a dress." Meta Knight whispered to Marth.

116. You Always Travel In The Right Circles
Whenever you meet a villager or other such incidental character who promises to give you some great piece of needed knowledge or a required object in exchange for a seemingly simple item, such as a bar of soap or a nice straw mat, be prepared to spend at least an hour chasing around the world exchanging useless innocuous item after item with bizarre strangers until you can get that elusive first item you were asked for.

"Blue Cucco Link! Blue Cucco!" Roy teased and Link punched him.

118. Stop Your Life (Setzer Rule)
No matter what kind of exciting, dynamic life a character was leading before joining your party, once there they will be perfectly content to sit and wait on the airship until you choose to use them.

"At least Falco had 2." Fox pointed out.

"2?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yes, the second was a Star Fox member and the other one was a ruff-" Falco blocked his mouth and glared at Fox.

"I rather not talk about that here and now." Falco said.

"That rule was a little insulting..." Lucas said.

"I'm sorry everyone." Chris said apologizing.

"It's not your fault." Everyone responded at the same time and Chris smiled a little a this.

"Thanks."

(120. Little Nemo Law)
(If any sleeping character has a dream, that dream will be either a 100 accurate memory of the past, a 100 accurate psychic sending from the present, a 100 accurate prophetic vision of the future, or a combination of two or all three of these.)

"(Wait...those nightmares I had before...are going to become real?)"

"Chris, why did you stopped just now?" Pit asked.

"Er...nothing, I skipped one."

121. Child Protection Rule (Rydia Rule)
Children 12 and under are exempt from death. They will emerge alive from cataclysms that slaughter hundreds of sturdily-built adults, often with barely a scratch. Further protection is afforded if the catastrophe will orphan the child.

Lucas looked down but Ness patted his back.

124. Gojira Axiom
Giant monsters capable of leveling cities all have the following traits:
-Low intelligence
-Enormous strength
-Projectile attacks
-Gigantic teeth and claws, designed, presumably, to eat other giant monsters
-Vulnerable to weapons 1/10,000th its size
-Ecologically sensitive

"Does anyone remember a giant monster in these descriptions?" Chris asked.

"...The dinosaurs in Sauria?" Fox asked.

"The Venastoise?" Pikachu asked.

"The ugly, giant strawberry cake that tries to eat me in my dreams?" Pichu asked and everybody stared at him and then at the book.

125. "You Couldn't Get To Sleep, Huh?"
If any character in the game ever meets any other character standing alone at night looking at the moon, those two will eventually fall in love.

Pit's eyes twitched. "Wait, there's something wrong with this rule..."

"It doesn't refers if they need to be of the opposite gender?" Zelda asked and most of them made sick faces and shook their heads.

126. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely (Althena Rule)
If a good guy is manipulated to the side of evil, they will suddenly find a new inner strength that will enable them to wipe out your whole party with a wave of their hand.

Chris looked at Lucario with a worried look. "I will never do that to seek that kind of power in the easy way." Lucario said and Chris sighed.

"You're a special Lucario and that's that." Chris said.

128. First Law of Fashion
All characters wear a single costume which does not change over the course of the game. The only exception is when characters dress up in enemy uniforms to infiltrate their base.

"Eww!" Nana said disgusted. "That's wrong!"

"...But it's true! You guys never wear another clothes that you use always in your travels!" Chris said.

"I'm wearing a rea coat!" Pikachu said angrily.

"This time doesn't counts!"

"It does!"

129. Second Law of Fashion
Any character's costume, no matter how skimpy, complicated, or simply outlandish, is always completely suitable to wear when climbing around in caves, hiking across the desert, and slogging through the sewers. It will continue to be completely suitable right afterwards when said character goes to meet the King.

"My dress is multi-funtional." Zelda said.

"I know what to use." Pit said.

"The Hero's Clothes are useful for every occasion." Link said.

"My vest and pants are flexible for doing exercises too." Fox said.

"Where do you guys get your clothes anyway?" Chris asked and continued to read the book.

133. Last Rule of Politics
Kingdoms are good. Empires are evil.

"Just to point out something in Star Wars, heheheh..." Chris said.

"Star Wars? What's that?" Pichu asked.

"I'll tell you later."

136. Dealing With Beautiful Women, Part 1 (Yuffie Rule)
All good-looking young females are there to help you. This rule holds even when the girl in question is annoying, useless, or clearly evil.

"I like that rule!" Falco said.

"There's the second part!" Pikachu said.

137. Dealing With Beautiful Women, Part 2 (Rouge Rule)
All good-looking middle-aged females are out to kill you. This rule holds even when the woman in question has attained your unwavering trust and respect.

"Drats!" Falco said annoyed.

138. Well, So Much For That
After you have completed your mighty quest to find the object that will save the known universe, it will either a) get lost, b) get stolen, or c) not work.

Link looked away, because of the Twilight Mirror being shattered.

Fox looked away, because of the second Aparoid Core stolen by Pigma.

Pikachu looked away, because of WAY more things than anybody else in the room caused by Team Rocket.

142. Thank You For Pressing The Self-Destruct Button
All enemy installations and city-sized military vehicles will be equipped with a conveniently located, easy-to-operate self-destruct mechanism.

"You know, that's true, every place it's not complete without a Self-Destruct button, why is that?" Pikachu asked.

"Don't tell them we have many of those buttons or else." Falco whispered angrily to Fox.

"Does the Halberd has a button like that too Meta Knight?" Kirby asked curiously.

"...No." Meta Knight lied, because he accidentaly installed that button somewhere in the depths of the Halberd, wait, the Halberd has depths?

143. Falling Rule
An RPG character can fall any distance onto anything without suffering anything worse than brief unconsciousness. In fact, falling a huge distance is an excellent cure for otherwise fatal wounds -- anyone who you see shot, stabbed, or mangled and then tossed off a cliff is guaranteed to return later in the game with barely a scratch.

"Tch, our clothes are stab-resistant." Link said chuckling and most of them chuckled. (Minus Pit, he didn't had one of those in Tales of Symphonia).

"...Can you let me fall from a high altitude Lucario?" Chris asked.

"No." Lucario said glaring at him.

149. Gender Equality, Part 2 (Tifa Rule)
If any female character, in a burst of anger or enthusiasm, decides to go off and accomplish something on her own without the hero, she will fail miserably and again have to be rescued.

Chris quickly got off the sofa with Pikachu and Pichu to evade a Din's Fire from a furious Zelda. "I have heard enough of the book." She said.

Chris sat again on another sofa because the previous one was already burning. "Sorry, not until we get to the end." He said.

152. Stealing The Spotlight (Edea Rule)
The characters who join your party only briefly tend to be much cooler than your regular party members.

Kirby hugged Meta Knight. "Don't go away!"

Meta Knight pushed Kirby away from him.

153. "Mommy, why they didn't use a Phoenix Down on Aeris?"Don't expect battle mechanics to carry over into the "real world."

"WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THAT?!" Chris asked crying a little.

"Who's Aeris?" Zelda asked.

"The first 3-D female character of a Final Fantasy game...with cubic poligons."

158. Party Guidance Rule
Somewhere in the last third of the story, the hero will make a stupid decision and the rest of the party must remind him of all that they have learned from being with him in order to return the hero to normal.

"..." Most of them became speechless.

"...I assume you did this right?" Chris asked and they nodded in unison.

163. All The Time In The World (Rinoa Rule)
Unless there's a running countdown clock right there on the screen, you have as long as you want to complete any task -- such as, say, rescuing a friend who's hanging by one hand from a slippery cliff edge thousands of feet in the air -- no matter how incredibly urgent it is. Dawdle or hurry as you will, you'll always make it just in the nick of time.

"Krystal got furious at me when I told her all the things I did in Sauria when she was imprisoned." Fox said.

"She slapped him...but hard!" Falco laughed and most of them chuckled.

168. Way To Go Serge
It will eventually turn out that, for a minimum of the first sixty percent of the game, you were actually being manipulated by the forces of evil into doing their sinister bidding for them. In extreme cases this may go as high as 90. The clear implication is that it would have been better to not get involved in the first place.

Link slammed his head into a random book. "Ganondork told you that one time, didn't he?" Roy asked.

176. "Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb!"
If the villain needs all ten legendary medallions to attain world domination and you have nine of them, everybody in your party still thinks it is neccessary to bring the nine to the villain's castle and get the final one, instead of hiding the ones they've already got and spoiling his plans that way. After you foolishly bring the legendary medallions to the villain's hideout, he will kidnap one of your companions (usually the main love interest) and you will trade the world away to rescue your friend.

Link slammed his head several times in the book again.

177. Dark Helmet's Corollary
After you give up the medallions to save your friend/parent/lover/other miscellaneous party member, don't expect to actually get that person back. Sucker!

Link broke the book with his head! "You'll pay for that book Link!" Master Hand's voice boomed.

181. Poetic Villain Principle (Kefka Rule)
All villains will suddenly become poets, philisophers, and/or dramatic actors when a) they first meet the hero, b) they are about to win or their evil plan is finally ready, c) some major event in the game is about to begin, d) right before the final battle, and e) right before they die, when they will frequently be feeling generous enough to reward you with some homespun wisdom about making the most of life while you have it.

"This ALWAYS happens everytime!" Chris said and everyone else nodded again.

"A bad villain is not complete without a poem related to destruction or deaths." Zelda said.

"And come to think of it, they could be great poets!" Pit said.

183. Adam Smith's Revenge
By the end of the game you are renowned everywhere as the Legendary Heroes, every surviving government and authority figure has rallied behind you, the fate of the world is obviously hanging in the balance, and out of nowhere random passers-by give you a pat on the back and heartfelt good luck wishes. However, shopkeepers won't even give you a discount, much less free supplies for the final battle with evil.

"Shopkeepers are evil, greedy people!" Kirby protested. "They don't sell good food anyway!"

"Yeah!" Ness, Popo, Nana, Pikachu and Pichu said in unison.

"Fox, are you tired of being frecuently related to these rules?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, why?" Fox asked.

"Because that's all!"

"Really?!"

"No, this rule gets the prize!"

187. "So, Andross, you reveal you true form!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Fox yelled annoyed.

"Hey! That's exactly how you yelled that time too!" Chris said laughing with Falco.

You will have to kill the evil villain at least twice at the end of the game. First the villain will look like a person or some creature and be rather easy to kill. Then he will grow to about 50 times the hero's size and be much harder to kill.

There was a red light on Chris's head and he looked at the source, which was Fox's Blaster. "YIKES!" He said. "DON'T MAKE ME TELL LUCARIO TO BREAK THAT ONE TOO!"

Fox rolled his eyes. "Fine." He kept his Blaster.

190. Weapon Rule
There's always a hidden creature who is much harder to defeat than even the ultimate bad guy's final, world-annihilating form. It's lucky for all concerned that this hidden creature prefers to stay hidden rather than trying to take over the world himself, because he'd probably win. As a corollary, whatever reward you get for killing the hidden creature is basically worthless because by the time you're powerful enough to defeat him, you don't need it any more.

"...Please tell me that book is joking now..." Popo said.

"We can barely fight against the Subspace Army and we won't stand a chance against a creature like that even with all the others here with us!" Pit said.

"Pray to god...just pray to god..." Mewtwo said calmly.

191. The Ultimate Rule
Anything called "Ultima (whatever)" or "Ultimate (whatever)" isn't. There's always at least one thing somewhere in the world which is even more.

"LIES! ALL LIES!" Lucas said terrified and hiding in a pile of books that appeared out of nowhere.

"Lucas, what's wrong with you?" Ness asked.

"The Ultimate Chimera it's the deadliest creature I got to know unfortunately!" Lucas said trembling with fear.

"Pfft, Ultimate my butt, how does he looks?" Popo asked with crossed arms.

"H-h-he-he has a r-r-rubber duck-"

Everyone else except for Meta Knight, Lucario and Mewtwo started to laugh loudly after hearing "rubber" and "duck" in the same sentence as ultimate.

"I-I'm not finished yet!" Lucas said.

"There's nothing to be worried about a rubber duck!" Nana said laughing and rolling on the carpet.

"O-okay, let's see the last one...hey, that's weird, it's the 256 one, there are more rules missing on the book...oh well, this is the last one." Chris said wiping out a tear from his eye.

"(But what if Porky tries to bring that back?)" Lucas thought scared.

256. "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!"
The final boss will often pretend to be dead, only to come back as an ultra-powerful being that you have to beat, or die trying. (Usually after the dungeon collapses, see rule 86).

"Hey, where is Fox?" Zelda asked.

"Him? He decided to sleep after hearing that rule, probably because of the Andross's rule." Falco said before yawning. "Well...that was interesting but, I need to get my sleep, good night."

Chris got up and put the book back to its place. "Me too, Lucario, tell me where our room is please."

"As you wish." Lucario said nodding and everyone else said their good nights and returned to their rooms to sleep and be prepared for tomorrow.

Lucario's Room

"...Hehehehe..."

Lucario looked behind to find Chris laughing a little. "What is so funny?" He asked.

"It's your hair...the hair on your shoulder is pressed, remember when I combed your hair?"

"...Yes...that painful experience..."

Flashback

The sun rose in the morning in Chris's House, but as soon as he was about to woke up, Lucario shaked him a little bit.

"Chris, wake up." Lucario said.

"Argh...yes Lucario?"

"I don't feel so good today...I was wondering if you knew why..."

Chris looked at Lucario. "Well...you don't have a fever...neither a cold and...wait, look at your hair!"

Lucario looked at his yellow hair. "It's something wrong about my hair?"

"Of course! Your hair is all pressed to your body!"

"I haven't noticed that..."

"You want to know a way to fix it?"

Lucario thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes...if you don't mind..."

Chris got out of the bed. "Then wait here please."

2 minutes later...

Lucario looked at Chris holding a comb, but since he didn't knew what was a comb, Chris told him to sit on the bed and wait he finished with his hair, but not all the combs were quiet...

"Grrr..."

Chris looked at Lucario with a worried look. "I'm sorry, it's going to hurt sometimes because some parts of your hair are made of knots, please resist them."

"Fine...just don't try to-Grrrr!"

"I-I'm sorry! Please, don't get mad at me!"

Lucario gasped a little. "N-no...I-I'll resist them without complaining...(Grrr.)"

"How about now?"

Lucario made a small smile and got into a meditation position. "It's calmer and relaxing than before...don't stop now..."

Chris chuckled a little. "Okay, relax while I finish."

"I will."

5 minutes later...

Lucario was checking himself on the mirror, the spikes of hair around his throat were back and that also happened to the rest, but something was missing...

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong?" Chris asked.

"There's something left...but I don't know what..."

The soon-to-be World Traveler looked in front of him, starting from looking from the upper part to the lower part where he found the missing thing. "Ahh! Look, the hair that usually touches your black belt isn't there." He took the comb. "Just let me finish this...?"

"It's a knot, right?"

"Umm...yes...it is another knot..."

"Don't worry, I'll not complain, try to untie it."

"Okay...ugh!"

The knot was stronger this time than the others and it seemed that Chris was pulling Lucario to the floor instead of untying the knot.

"Chris, you're pulling me to the floor."

"I-I'm sorry! This knot is so strong to untie!... Wait, let me try once more!" Chris pulled with all his forces to untie the knot, but unfortunately...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

End of flashback.

"I can't believe that knot was going to pull out your hair! I'm sorry if that hurted you so much!" Chris said apologizing again.

Lucario sweatdropped. "...The pain has disappeared from a long time ago..."

"But still..." Chris took out another comb from below the bed. "You want to fix that?"

Lucario backed away a little from him, shaking his head. "N-no...see? I'm doing it on my own..." He took the comb from his hair to fix it, and he did and returned the comb to Chris.

"...O-okay...Lucario..."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering...I want to give you something in return for saving me all the occasions you saved me, and more recently when we were in the Casino Park..."

"No, it's alright, knowing you're alive is enough thanks for me..." Lucario said.

"Forget it! I'm going to give you something special in all manners, first, we're going to sneak out to the Command Room and enter to a known world to give you a surprise!"

"But what if Master Hand finds out we escaped?"

"He will not, please, come with me!" Chris said, getting out of the bed and Lucario thought for a moment before nodding slowly and following Chris to the room without making sounds.

Command Room

"Can you tell me where are we going?" Lucario continued to ask when they left the room, by whispering of course.

"Fine Lucario, we are..." Chris opened the portal to a world. "Going to the Valley of the Aura to visit your family!"

Lucario's mouth opened in surprise. "A-are you serious?"

Chris nodded with a smile. "Yes! Your father said you could visit them anytime, so I thought it would be a good idea to go now!"

"It is alright to go in the night?"

"That's why we are going to ask a friend of ours in Veilstone City to stay for the night!"

"You mean...them?"

Chris nodded again. "Right! Now, are you ready to go?" Lucario nodded with a smile. "Then here we g-"

"Hold it right there!"

Both friends looked behind them to find Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff with crossed arms.

"We...I...um...er..." Chris couldn't find the right words to talk.

Pikachu walked to them. "So, you were going to escape for this night huh?"

"Pikachu, we can explain it." Lucario said and Jigglypuff raised an eyebrow.

"I don't believe it!" She said. "Sneaking out without us is a crime!"

"We were trying to sneak up for ourselv-wait, what did you say?" Chris asked.

Pichu jumped to his shoulder. "We want to go too! That's all!"

Pikachu jumped to his other shoulder. "Yeah! I want to visit Sinnoh when Ash is not around!"

Jigglypuff sat on his head. "Sinnoh is a pretty place!"

Chris sighed. "Alright, alright, but you do know once we go there you can't talk, right?"

"No problem!" Pikachu said. "The translators can be activated to talk anytime!"

"Then why didn't Pichu did that?"

Pichu scratched his head. "I forgot...sorry..."

"...Okay, once again, is everybody ready?"

"Ready!" Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff said excited.

"And you Lucario?" Lucario nodded. "Now let's go!" He said, entering with the 4 Pokémon inside the portal and disappearing with it to Sinnoh, in Veilstone City.

?

"Yeah! Take that!" A young boy of 10 years said punching the air while he watched a Pokémon battle on the TV, but it was very late and his mom appeared on the door holding a clock.

"Red! You're supposed to be sleeping right now!" Red's mom said, holding the clock with the time 12:00.

Red was now at the age to receive his first Pokémon, tomorrow, his adventure was going to start and obviously, he was excited to choose his first Pokémon, although he wanted the 3 starters of the Kanto region, only one of them was going to go with him.

Red dropped to the bed. "I'm sorry mom, tomorrow it's the great day and I can't wait to begin my new adventure!"

"But that is not an excuse to be up so late, what if you go late to get it before Gary?"

Red began to pout a little. "Gary, Gary, Gary, just because Professor Oak is his grampa doesn't means he'll get the best one, by the way mom, have you ever wondered why my name is "Red"?"

Red's mom chuckled a little bit. "Well, the color red was your dad's favorite color and decided to name you Red."

"And he ran away laughing like a maniac after doing that..."

"Red! You know your dad became one of the best trainers in the whole world, don't talk like that about him!"

"And where is he?" Red asked raising an eyebrow.

Red's mom started to sweat a little. "He...is...in...go to bed and sleep, good night honey!" Red's mom slammed the door with great speed and Red looked at the TV with the 3 starter Pokémon.

"(Charmander...I know he can evolve to a powerful Charizard...Bulbasaur...he can evolve to a Venasaur, a very strong Grass type Pokémon...but...)" He looked at the image of Squirtle. "(Squirtle looks so weak to me...I hope I don't get to use him at all, or starting my adventure with him will be a pain...and...ugh...I need to sleep now...I'm not forgetting something right?... Oh well...)" Red turned off the TV and dropped his head above the pillow, where he fell asleep deeply and began to snore a little.

But unfortunately...he forgot to set the clock's alarm to wake him up earlier in the morning...

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Veilstone City
Veilstone City's Gym

"Hello? Is somebody there?" Chris asked knocking the door of the Gym, the night in Sinnoh was different because it was raining heavily, but the door of the Gym opened to find a tall adult in a karate uniform that looked down to see Chris.

"What do you want kid? The Gym is closed for the night and the Gym Leader doesn't accepts late challenges at this tim-what the? This Lucario is so tall for a common one!" The adult said gasping a little.

"I'm sorry but, we're not here to ask for a challenge, actually, we came here to see the Gym Leader."

The adult crossed his huge arms. "Even so, she will not accept challenges or visits right now! Go away!"

"What's all the trouble here?"

The adult looked behind him to find Maylene and her Lucario with puzzled looks. "M-Maylene! This kid is trying to enter the Gym an-"

"Chris!" Maylene said with smile and she welcomed them inside. "Why are you here?"

"I told Lucario to go to the..." He looked at the adult. "Who's him?"

"Don't be scared, he is one of my pupils of the Gym."

Chris looked back and forth to the 2. "You mean you're her student?!"

The adult laughed. "Of course! Maylene is very tough for a girl of her age, she can beat any of us in minutes, that's why she's the Gym Leader too!"

"Maylene, tell me you didn't told anyone about the location of the Valley of the Aura or about me or Lucario or that the Lucarios can speak..." Chris whispered to her.

"I-"

Her Lucario grunted in irritation. "She did, she told everyone here and some other persons outside the city too."

"AND ALSO THE BOY WITH THE PIKACHU?!" Chris asked in shock.

"N-no! I-I didn't told him anything or Dawn or Brock or Reggie!" Maylene said waving her hands.

"You did told Reggie too, and also, he was going tomorrow to give berries to the Riolus." Her Lucario said crossing his arms and glaring at her. "I have the urge to blast another Aura Sphere on your face an-"

"Lucario! Show a little respect for your trainer!" The adult said.

Maylene's Lucario formed a baton that was Bone Rush. "Tell me right on the face if you can survive..." The adult backed away and Maylene's Lucario vanished the Bone Rush. "Humph."

"By the way Chris..." Maylene looked at Pikachu. "I've got a strange feeling I've seeing this Pikachu before...say, you know who's Ash?"

Pikachu began to sweat a lot and shook his head rapidly. "Pi-Pi Pika-Pi!" Her Lucario glared at him, already knowing the truth and showing his sharp fangs to intimidate the yellow mouse (and even Pichu and Jigglypuff). "...Pi?"

Maylene sighed. "Okay, maybe you're not Ash's Pikachu or even know who is Dawn or Brock..."

"Maylene, can we sleep in the Gym for this night? We don't have another place to sleep." Chris said.

"But of course! And maybe we can do our promised battle like you said before!" Maylene said excited. "Plus, Ash already left the city a day ago after Team Galactic tried to steal the meteors of the city and we ended up in a tie, and Lucario has been a little irritated ever since he left, and cheering him up with a fight against you two could be good!"

"I still remember that weak Piplup, he was weak and I won easily." Maylene's Lucario said.

"L-Lucario! You said it was because Dawn wanted to help us and you decided to accept her challenge!"

"Actually, I lied, when I saw her Piplup, he was so weak and since it was a good time, I decided to fight against her."

Maylene made a "gave-up" face. "Oh brother...you were only showing off then?"

"Correct."

"...So, come inside! We're eating rice for dinner!"

"Pichu!" Pichu said excited.

Preview of the next arc

"Look who came already!" Gary said, twirling a Pokeball in his finger.

"Aw! I should've set the clock before sleeping!" Red complained.

"Riii! My big brother is here, Riii!" Riolu said excited.

"Riii?" Chris asked confused.

"C'mon! You don't do anything at all!" Red complained to his Squirtle, who crossed his arms and looked away annoyed. "Don't turn your shell to me!"

"Squir..." Squirtle said angrily.

"(CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!)"

"...Master Hand?!" Chris said in shock, looking around the valley.

"Who?" Maylene and her Lucario asked confused.

"Next time: Another Pokémon arc!" Pichu said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Veilstone City

Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

If you want to know where did I got all those clichés...

http: / project - apollo. net /text /rpg. html

All you have to do is remove the spaces, copy it and go to read the other clichés! (Cliché number 256 was an extra of a friend of mine.)

I had trouble with the next planned arc that I needed to do something to make it longer, then I saw it, the opportunity began when I remembered that the episodes where Maylene and Lucario appears already aired and decided to bring them back one more time! And to tell the truth, her Lucario looks like one of those Pokémon who wants to get tougher and boast their power with weak Pokémon. If you want to know what will happen next, wait a little please!

Read and review! Which were your favorites clichés of this chapter? :)
*Chapter 67*: Clumsy Klutz Gym Leader

Next chapter is here!

From BlacksShootingxStar: You forgot two rules!

The princesse law. (I cant spell...)

No matter how strong the princeses is, even being a ble to spar with the hero and win, she will always get captured by the main villin and the main hero will have to rescue her usually only reseveing a meger prize and a thank you.

THe bad guy rule.
He main bag guy will never die, even if he is impailed,shot,falls into magma,stabed to deah or anything. He will always come back at full heath and kipnap the princese again.

I laughed so hard at this chapter. xD

From me: I didn't, or they weren't necessary.

From Nintendogeek01: Oh, and a Deus Ex Machina is a plot device that very suddenly makes everything better in an instant. (i.e. An apocalypse occured then some angel appears and makes it so the apocalypse never happened.) Deus Ex Machina are frowned upon since they can very quickly ruin a good climax.

From me: ...Oops, thanks.

From punch bag: I hope you don't hate me for this, but since you say hurt a lot, you don't say hurted, you say hurt in the past tense. SORRY!

From me: Actually, thank you! That error is not going to be repeated ever again!

Next chapter after this one is ready too, but I need reviews to respond to questions and suggestions, after that, all is normal.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 67: Another Pokémon arc!

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Pallet Town
Red's House

"...Psyducks... Rattatas...Weedles...hmm...hmm?" Red grogily woke up from his bed and looked at the clock. "...1:00 PM...I guess I should sleep for a little more..."

3 seconds later...

"1:00 PM?! I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR MY FIRST POKÉMON! MOM!!"

"Yes honey?!" Red's mom said from the kitchen.

Red was putting his pants on. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!"

"Is a responsability for you to do your things in time, I shouldn't do it for you!"

Red noticed that his cap was on his shoes. "But this is my great day!"

"That isn't an excuse to do it still!"

"MOOOOOOM!"

"Hurry up, or you're going to be late!"

Red groaned out loud. "BUT I'M ALREADY LATE MOM!"

Professor Oak's Lab

All the way from his house, Red was making sure that his backpack, his hat and even the odd machine that his dad left for him, the VS. Seeker, were there with him as he talked to himself when he said his farewell to his mom and ran to the lab.

"Charmander, Bulbasaur, please wait for me but don't leave me with a Squirtl-AAHH!!" Red bumped accidentaly with Gary, his rival from the school who got out of the lab and looked down at him with a small grin.

"Look who came already!" Gary said, twirling a Pokeball in his finger.

"Aw! I should've set the clock before sleeping!" Red complained.

"So loser..."

Red got up dusting off his hat. "I'm not a loser..."

"Whatever loser, so loser, look over here," Gary pointed his Pokeball at him. "I already got my first Pokémon and you don't, my grampa is a very considerate man to me, not like persons who get out of the bed late like you."

"And how come you didn't left the town yet?"

"Because, gramps told me what to do when the other trainer picked the second Pokémon from the lab, since I'm his grandson, I should be informed of the whole region, which reminds me, did you study to where you should go next after picking up your first Pokémon?"

Red scratched his head. "...I dunno..."

Gary chuckled a little. "Ha! Nevermind, I'm not going to tell ya either, maybe gramps can do it since he likes almost everyone out there." Gary waved at Red, walking away from the lab. "Smell ya later...Reddy..."

"MY NAME IS RED! NOT REDDY!" Red complained of his nickname of the school, he was always being teased by Gary or others by making fun of his name. "(Dammit, I forgot to ask him what Pokémon he got.) Man, what kind of jerk does he thinks he is?..." He looked at the lab. "Oh right! My first Pokémon!" He entered in a hurry and looked around for Professor Oak, who was examining a book on his desk. "Professor Oak!"

"Aw, you must be Red, the new trainer of this town!" Oak said with a small smile, putting down his book and getting up from his chair. "Your mother told me all about you, you and my grandson Gary assisted the school together."

"Ah...yeah, we did...kinda..."

Oak chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry if the behavior of Gary was annoying to you, he likes to act cool to the people around him."

"(And even if nobody is around except for me.)"

Oak walked to a desk where 3 Pokeball stood calmly and he walked to the other side. "Now Red, it's time for you to choose your first Pokémo-"

Red already was holding Charmander's Pokeball. "Alright! Charmander! Come on out!"

...But nothing happened when the ball opened.

"The second trainer already came for him." Oak pointed out.

"Then..." Red picked up Bulbasaur's Pokeball. "Bulbasaur! Come on out!"

The ball was empty like the last one and Red sweatdropped, embarrassed.

"Gary took Bulbasaur with him, he said it looked strong for a young Pokémon like him." Oak pointed out again.

"(Dammit Gary, you like to mess up my life everytime...)" Red thought annoyed. "Wait...if Charmander and Bulbasaur were taken...then that means..." He looked at Squirtle's Pokeball and took it from the desk and called him out.

This time, a light did came out from the ball and the Water Pokémon appeared on the desk while the light vanished and he opened his eyes with a smile after looking at Red. "Squirtle!" He said happily.

"...No way...Squirtle..." Red said a little annoyed.

"I'm glad Squirtle accepted you as his trainer, they're hard to raise but strong after doing so." Oak explained.

"...Professor Oak!"

"Yes?"

"Is there any other Pokémon in this lab to give it away?!"

"Why are you asking that? Of course not, Squirtle is the only one left."

"Please, you have to give me another Pokémon that isn't Squirtle!" Red looked above his hat where Squirtle was sitting on his shell happily. "Hey! Get off my hat!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle said happily on the hat.

"Look at that Squirtle, his energy will come in handy on your adventure Red!"

Red was trying to take Squirtle off the hat, but with no success. "DO WE LOOK HAPPY THE 2 OF US TO YOU?!"

"But of course, Squirtle looks rather happy above your head!" Oak said with a smile.

"SQUIRTLE! RETURN TO YOUR POKEBALL!" Red pointed his Pokeball at Squirtle and he returned inside, making Red to sigh in relief and looking at Professor Oak with a Pokedex and 5 Pokeballs.

"Take these with you, your Pokedex and Pokeballs." Oak said, handing the machines to Red who looked at them with curiosity.

"...Hey, professor, do you think there are wild Charmanders or Bulbasaurs somewhere in Kanto?" Red asked.

"Hmm...the chances of finding them are of 0.9 percent Red...it'd be hard to find them in their pre-evolved forms, many have seen them but in their evolved forms roaming around, plus, nobody was able to catch them in their evolved forms too..."

"Then I will be the first one to do it, once I do that, I'm going to challenge the Kanto League!" Red proclaimed.

"Just be sure to use the help of Squirtle, he'll help a lot for sure."

"By the way, where should I go next?" Red asked.

"The nearest city to Pallet Town is Viridian City, go there and then cross the Viridian Forest to reach Pewter City, where a Gym Leader is."

Red looked at Squirtle's Pokeball. "(Somehow... I want to do something even bigger than beating the Kanto League...but what and where?)"

"It's something wrong Red?"

"...Er, nothing, anyway, I'm going now!" Red walked out of the lab as Professor Oak waved at him.

"Take care Red! Remember, all the Pokémon you catch will be instantly teleported in this lab to store them!"

"Thank you, good bye and wish me luck!" Red said, leaving the lab to begin his new adventure...

...An adventure that will be even bigger than beating the Kanto League...

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Route 209
Valley of the Aura

Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Maylene and her Lucario were entering inside the Valley of the Aura, where lots of Riolus and Lucarios lived in peace within the tall cliffs, the Lucarios guarding the valley while the Riolus spent their time playing with each other, also, some of the Lucarios were either sleeping above trees or leaning to the trees while they watched the group walking to the leader, Lucario's father.

"Welcome home, my son." Lucario's father said, getting up from a huge pedestal. "Have you been protecting him like you should do?"

Chris's Lucario nodded. "Right, along with everyone else."

"I see you brought more Pokémon with you too."

Chris looked at Jigglypuff. "Y-yes, they also have been helping me too."

"My son," Lucario's mother began. "Do you want to see your sister?"

Chris's Lucario nodded with a small smile. "Yes, where is she?"

"Riii!" The group looked behind them to find Lucario's sister, the Shiny Riolu, wagging her tail happily as she jumped to Lucario to give him a hug, while he hugged her back as Riolu rubbed her cheek with his.

"Aren't they cute together?" Maylene asked.

"Riii! My big brother is here, Riii!" Riolu said excited.

"Riii?" Chris asked confused.

Lucario's mother nodded. "My daughter always says that everytime she talks, it is really cute."

"Brother, are you going to stay here with me, Riii?" Riolu asked.

"I'm sorry sister, but I need to protect my master from all dangers like I need to do." Lucario pointed at Chris and Riolu looked at him.

"Are you my brother's master, Riii?"

"(Must...resist...cuteness...ouch...) Y-yes, he has been enjoying it too." Chris said, trying to not hug Riolu.

Riolu jumped off from Lucario and walked to Chris. "Hmm...your aura is so peaceful Riii..."

"Can she feel the aura at that age?"

Lucario's father nodded. "Every member of our family can detect the aura perfectly at the moment of their birth, my daughter is no exception." He coughed a little. "Incidentally, I need to have a serious talk with her."

"M-me?!" Maylene asked sweating a little and he nodded.

"Yes, it is about the people you have been taken inside the valley."

Chris narrowed his eyes at Maylene. "Maylene, didn't you told us that Reggie was coming today?" Just then, mentioned character that was Paul's brother appeared behind them with a bunch of Riolus eating Oran Berries, some of them saying their names happily while they ate the berries.

"Maylene, you're here!" Reggie said with a smile. "Are they the friends you told me about?"

"R-Reggie...please, don't say that in front of them..." Maylene whispered embarrassed.

"Okay, that does it!" Chris snapped out of his calmless and crossed his arms. "Maylene, tell me, how many people did you told about this place? As long as the Gym Leaders of the whole region doesn't know about this place, I'm fine with your little mistake."

Maylene touched the tips of her fingers. "I...kinda...told them too..."

Chris's left eye twitched. "...You've got to be kidding me..."

Maylene's Lucario glared at her. "She did, and if I can remember, Roark and Candice are coming tomorrow to see the valley, Wake and Fantina came 2 days ago and returned to their Gyms later."

"..."

"Should I suggest an Aura Sphere on her?"

"Please do."

"It would be a pleasure."

"WAIT!" Maylene began to run away from her Lucario who chased after her and evading all the Aura Spheres from her main Pokémon, as the Riolus hid behind Reggie to avoid being hit by her Lucario.

Completely ignoring Lucario's father, he inhaled deeply and...

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The roar echoed almost through the entire route, and the valley was shaking strongly, the trees shook violently, the Riolus ducked in terror and both "friends" stopped on their trails to look at Lucario's father.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-my god! That was the most, loudest roar I ever heard! It even makes Lucario's roar looks like a whine!" Chris said in shock, (earning a glare of his Lucario).

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Lucario's father said enraged. "The girl has a serious problem with me, unless she has an excuse to pardon her, I'll not use brute force to make her to understand to not bring more outsiders here!"

"But we want Reggie to stay here!" The Riolus said in unison behind Reggie.

Lucario's father sighed. "...Well...since the likes of the children of the valley are the most important to us as their hold the future on their hands...just for this time...I will pardon her for her mistake...of course, if she doesn't makes the same mistake twice."

Maylene walked to him and bowed her head. "T-thank you, I'll promise I won't do it again, isn't that right Luc-" Maylene was attacked by an Aura Sphere of her enraged Lucario, and she dropped on her back while her legs twitched on the grass while her Lucario grunted and walked away.

Reggie sweatdropped at this event. "...I'm sorry if I caused any incovenience here."

"No, you don't have to apologize for that, seeing that the children already likes you, it is not a bad idea to have you here to bring food to them." Lucario's father said.

"Hi there, my name is Reggie, I'm Maylene's friend and Paul's brother." Reggie said, doing a handshake to Chris, then he stared at Pikachu. "Hmm...this Pikachu looks exactly like Ash's Pikachu..."

Pikachu began to sweat like crazy again. "Pi-Pi-Pi-Pi, Pikachu-Pi!"

"Maybe I'm thinking too much..."

"Piiiii..." Pikachu sighed in relief.

"Nice to meet you Reggie, I'm Chris."

"Yes, Maylene told me so much about you in secret."

"(At least that's good.) By the way, how did she won against your brother?"

Reggie looked at Maylene getting up from the grass and looked at Chris. "Please, don't bring that up, my brother...well..." He approached to Chris's ear. "My brother humiliated Maylene by not losing any Pokémon on his match against her, Lucario suffered a great deal of damage and was taken out so easily before her eyes by his Magmar, he told Maylene that she was the weakest Gym Leader he has ever been fought before."

Chris made a worried face. "...Wow...that was painful..."

"Yes, it was for her, until Ash-" Pikachu twitched after hearing that name. "-Dawn and Brock came and cheered her up, actually, Dawn fought with her a while ago and Maylene was able to win against her, then Ash came up and they ended up in a tie, but she gave the Gym Badge to him by returning her passion to fight."

"That was so considerable from him."

Reggie nodded. "Ever since that, she has been always happy for accepting all the challenges."

Chris looked at her Lucario. "But what about him?"

"Actually, Lucario didn't liked to end in a tie with Ash's Buizel, he acted all normal when they were here, but when they left, Lucario has been a little uncomfortable."

"Hmm..."

"I know that position, you're going to challenge both of them, right?"

Chris opened his mouth in surprise. "H-how did you..."

"It's a hunch, I already beaten many Gym Leaders before."

"...Well...she was looking forward for a fight against me and Lucario so... Maylene!" Chris called out and Maylene ran to him.

"Did you call me?" Maylene asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to..."

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Route 1

Red, meanwhile, was enjoying his time while he spent the walk with his friendly Squirtle, both of them were able to get along, they won many battles and they reached the first Gym, after an outstanding victory, both became the recognized team of all Kanto and decided to travel around the world to catch all the Pokémon and defeat anyone in their path.

...Unfortunately for them, Red wasn't a Mary Sue, so, we're going to tell what was REALLY happening right now...

"Do something Squirtle! Pidgey is getting away!" Red complained to his Squirtle, who was sleeping on the grass and ignoring his trainer.

The Pidgey chirped angrily and began to peck Red's head and slapped his wings at him, then she (it was female) flew away from him as Red cursed under his breath.

"Oh, darn it! It's the ninth one to fly away from us!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle said angrily, waking up from his state.

"Are you saying it's my fault it got away? Looks who's talking!"

"Squirtle, squir, Squirtle!"

"C'mon! You don't do anything at all!" Red complained to his Squirtle, who crossed his arms and looked away annoyed. "Don't turn your shell to me!"

"Squir..." Squirtle said angrily.

"I bet Gary alreaded headed to Pewter City to challenge the Gym Leader! Ugh! I can't stand it anymore! We have to work together or else everything is going to fall down in chaos!"

Squirtle, still ignoring him, found a dragon's head far away from them.

"What are you doing now?" Red asked angrily and looked at the direction where Squirtle was looking, his eyes widened after seeing the dragon's head before shining with glee. "IT'S...IT'S...IT'S...IT'S...IT'S A CHARIZARD! A CHARIZARD IS JUST IN FRONT OF US!!"

The wish Red made before became true, a Charizard was eating the berries of a tree in peace, for the way he was eating them, by throwing them in the air and swallowing them, the Charizard was trying to look tough, which Red thought and recognized.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle asked.

"Of course we're going to catch him! I'll be the first trainer to catch such strong Pokémon like him! C'mon, we have to try it, it's our only chance right now!"

Squirtle thought for a moment before nodding with a smile. "Squirtle!"

"That's the spirit! Now, let's go!" Both sprinted towards the Charizard who opened his left eye to glance at his opponents and grunted before releasing a strong Flamethrower from his mouth. "Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Red ordered and Squirtle shot water from his mouth to seize the flames, but Charizard's impretion became true and he was tough, the flames were stronger and covered completely Squirtle as Red gasped. "No!"

Red could have sworn a red vein popped out of Charizard's head and he sweatdropped scared after seeing Squirtle K.Oed on the grass in front of him. "...S-sorry for interrupting your time...b-but would you like to go with me in an adventure together?" Red asked sweating, opening his hand at Charizard, who looked at the hand and Red and back and forth.

10 seconds later...

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO ANGRY WITH ME! AAAHHH!!" Red was holding Squirtle on his arms as they ran away from the furious Charizard, the Fire Pokémon was exhaling fire to burn them alive. "I BET WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT TIME TOGETHER!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!! SOMEBODY, HELP ME!!"

From far away, Gary watched in amusement from a rock and got up, walking away from the spot while he talked to himself. "He should have thought before catching a Charizard at this time, even I'm not that stupid."

"WHERE IS THE HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT?!"

Gary sighed in disappointment. "No way, you're alone in this, good luck surviving against that Pokémon."

"Squirtle...SQUIRTLE!" Squirtle woke up from his state and warned Red from a rock that was going to hit his back, the trainer evaded the rock and gasped a little.

"THAT CHARIZARD KNOWS HOW TO USE ROCK SMASH?! AWESOME! I NEED TO CATCH HI-" A flamethrower burned his hat. "YIKES! BETTER LUCK THE NEXT TIME!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!" Charizard roared furiously and continued to fire...fire.

3 persons, meanwhile, were hiding behind some trees in the darkness as they saw the 3 characters running to all directions, the 3 mysterious figures were Wolf, King Dedede and the new recruit, Ganondorf.

"Heh, so Tabuu told us to convince that Charizard to join us, right?" Wolf asked.

"Correct, using the fire power of that dragon will come in handy to our plans." Ganondorf said.

"I'm not sure why Tabuu wants someone like him in our circle, but I'm not complanin' about dat!" King Dedede said.

"We just need to wait the right time to ask him."

"And what do we do if he refuses?" Wolf asked again.

Ganondorf smirked. "Simple, we use the Shadow Bugs to take control of his body."

"I agree with that, now, let's wait until their play time is over." Wolf smirked along with his companions as they hid in the trees.

"CHARIZARD?! AREN'T YOU TIRED YET FROM BURNING US ALIVE?!" Red asked and turned his head to Charizard, who smirked rather evily and continued to use Flamethrower on them. "WHAT THE HELL?! HE LIKES TO CHASE US DOWN!"

"SQUIRTLE!" Squirtle said scared and hiding inside his shell.

"(...Don't worry Squirtle, I won't let him attack you...even if you're not the Pokémon I wanted, you have to be fine until we reach a...um...dammit! I forgot what's the name of a Pokémon hospital!)"

Red had a bad memory for his bad luck, his mother told him from time to time to study a little about the Pokémon world, but the trainer only watched the Pokémon battles on TV and forgot to study them too, he was a fanatic of the battles, but not a fanatic of the study,

"DAMMIT! STOP CHASING ME RIGHT NOW! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"I'm sick of waiting! Let's move on with the plan now!" Wolf said angrily as he ran to the 3.

"NO! STOP! YOU ARE GOING TO WRECK THE PLANS IF THEY COME HERE!" Ganondorf tried to warn the wolf, but his words fell on deaf ears and everything was now beginning.

Smash Mansion
Master Hand's Room

"ALERT! ALERT! SUBSPACE ARMY IS TRYING TO TAKE BY FORCE A NEW SMASHER, REPEAT, SUBSPACE ARMY IS TRYING TO TAKE BY FORCE A NEW SMASHER, IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDS TO BE SUMMONED!" The alarm's voice boomed in all the mansion, awakening everyone who quickly adjusted their equipment and clothes to start their work to save the worlds.

"CRAZY! WAKE UP!" Master Hand said, shaking his brother on the bed who had a sleeping hat on his "bad" finger.

"Huh?... Is mommy here?" Crazy Hand asked grogily.

Master Hand shook his hand. "No Crazy, mom is not here."

"WAAAAAAAAH! I WANT MY MOMMY!" Crazy Hand cried but his brother slapped him. "Hey Master, what's happening?" He asked like nothing happened and his brother sighed.

"We need to go to the Command Room, ASAP!"

Command Room

The Smashers were already talking to themselves and preparing to go, as the hands came floating down the halls and appearing on the center of the room.

"Alright, is everyone here?" Master Hand asked.

"Y-yes, but Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff haven't appeared here yet..." Lucas said.

"Oh well, they're preparing."

"Hey, hand," Roy asked. "What's this alarm saying that a new Smasher is coming?"

"That's right! I said yesterday that we were going to gather everyone else, didn't I?" He snapped his fingers and on the virtual screen, Red appeared and they looked at him. "He's one of the new Smashers and comes from the same region like Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Mewtwo does."

"But aren't those kids "trainers" as Pikachu says?" Marth asked. "And they can't fight, but instead, their Pokémon does?"

Master Hand nodded. "Correct! He will be a new kind of Smasher, because his 3 Pokémon will fight for him while he orders them from the background, safe from any kind of attacks!"

"And what's his name?" Falco asked.

"...Well...his name is...Red..."

Everyone stopped talking for a moment before looking at each other, confused.

"...No, seriously, what's his name?" Falco asked again.

"It's Red! I'm not joking, his name is Red!" Master Hand said.

And they began to chuckle to themselves before laughing out loud and dropping to the floor, laughing like crazy (with Crazy Hand too (except for Mewtwo and Meta Knight)), even Master Hand chuckled to himself.

"A-alright everyone, stop laughing, you'll somehow get used to his name in no time...heheheh...Red...heheheh..."

"Who gives their child "Red" as a name?" Zelda asked chuckling.

"Very troubled parents for sure." Ness said chuckling.

"O-okay, that is enough everyone! Lucas, can you go to get the 5 missing Smashers to come here please?"

Lucas got up, still laughing. "Okay, please wait for me." He left the room calmly.

"A-as I was explaining, Red-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" After saying the name Red, they began to laugh louder than before, except for Mewtwo and Meta Knight again. "Red fights with 3 different Pokémon, Squirtle, Ivisaur and Charizard, each one of them have different kinds of advantages and disadvantages, Squirtle is fast and light, Ivysaur is an equilibrated fighter and Charizard is strong and heavy." The screen showed the 3 Pokémon standing behind Red. "B-but at this moment, he doesn't have all those Pokémon with him since they are trying to...THEY ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE IVYSAUR AND CHARIZARD!" Master Hand said in shock. "WE HAVE TO STOP THEM BEFORE THAT HAPPENS!"

"It is that bad?" Popo asked chuckling.

"Of course it is! We can't let them convince the new, good Smashers to become evil!"

"M-MASTER HAND!" Lucas came down running to the room and stumbling, before getting up and shaking his head. "I CAN'T FIND THEM!"

Everyone stopped chuckling to themselves and they looked at Lucas.

"Stop joking Lucas! Where are they? Didn't you checked their rooms already?" Ness asked.

"B-but it's the truth! They weren't in their rooms!"

"Yeah yeah, Mewtwo, do us a favor and use your psychic powers to search for them in the mansion." Master Hand ordered and Mewtwo nodded, asking to himself why the hand didn't do it by himself.

"..." Mewtwo searched carefully throughout the whole mansion.

"...And?"

Mewtwo stopped glowing. "They are not here."

"...Then..."

Mewtwo nodded. "They snuck and escaped to somewhere else."

Master Hand stayed silent for a moment before his hand began to turn bright red of fury as smoke started to come from the hole of his glove. "CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!"

The hand's voice boomed around the mansion and even outside, scaring all the birds that flew away scared to another direction.

"Chill out dude!" Falco said, trying calm down the hand.

"HOW CAN I CHILL OUT IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS?! 5 SMASHERS ESCAPED WITHOUT ASKING FOR PERMISSION!"

"Escaping doesn't needs permission you know..." Link reminded him.

"I KNOW THAT! BUT WHERE ARE THEY?!" Master Hand looked at the screen. "COMPUTER! BEGIN SEARCH FOR SUBJECTS CHRIS, LUCARIO, PIKACHU, PICHU AND JIGGLYPUFF RIGHT NOW!"

"Affirmative." The computer said as it began to search for them in all the known worlds to them, the current Smashers waited for the computer to finish.

"(I'M GOING TO KICK THEIR AS-)"

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Route 209
Valley of the Aura

Gym Building/Evolution

Meanwhile in the valley, all the Lucarios formed a huge circle to watch the battle between Chris and Maylene and their Lucarios, the Riolus were sitting next to Reggie in a trunk while Lucario's parents watched from the pedestal with Riolu sitting on her mother's lap, cheering for his big brother.

Apparently, half of the Lucarios liked to see battles between their kind when they got the opportunity, and since Chris's Lucario was the Legendary Lucario and Maylene was an important person in all Sinnoh, they decided to watch the battle between the 2 comrades.

Chris's Lucario had power and defense by his side, but Maylene's Lucario had speed on his side with 2 different movements than Chris's Lucario, also for Chris's dismay, he didn't had so much experience as a trainer (and with 200 red eyes that were always glaring at their surroundings was even scarier, even though he liked Lucarios), which gave Maylene the upper hand, fortunately, Chris's Lucario would defend when Chris didn't got a plan to strike back, Pikachu and Pichu were on both of his shoulders while Jigglypuff stood by his right side.

"Lucario, use Bone Rush!" Maylene ordered and her Lucario formed a blue baton in form of a bone and began to strike Chris's Lucario with force as he defended by using his spikes of his arms.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu said.

"Whisper to me!" Chris said.

"Try to tell Lucario to take the bone from him!" Pikachu whispered to his ear.

"R-right, Lucario! Take the bone and use it against him!"

"What?!" Maylene and her Lucario said surprised and Chris's Lucario grabbed the bone and started to pull it to him, after 5 seconds, he gained the command of the bone and began to smash it to Maylene's Lucario, who was being damaged severely with each hit. "Use Bone Rush again!" Her Lucario quickly made another bone and both started to collide hits with both bones while all the Lucarios and Riolus watched their battle continuing.

"My big brother is strong, Riii!" Riolu said happily, clapping her hands.

"(Well done son, it looks like you have been training well.)" Lucario's father thought.

"Lucario, use Force Palm on his stomach!" Maylene shouted motioning like she was Lucario, her Aura Pokémon vanished the bone and fastly collided his palm into his opponent's stomach, Chris's Lucario gritted his fangs in pain and backed away, Pichu managed to see some sparks gathering around his body and gasped.

"He was paralyzed!" Pichu whispered to Chris.

"(Oh no, what now?)" Chris thought desperately for a strategy.

"(C'mon Chris, I know you're not Ash, but you can think about something, you wanted to be a strategist remember?)" Pikachu thought while he watched both Aura Pokémon.

"(I can't try to look weak so she can win, her Lucario would be very angry at us...)"

"Use Aura Sphere!" Maylene ordered and her Lucario made the blue orb and shoot it with great speed towards Lucario who gritted his fangs in pain again and backed away.

"Maylene, isn't weird that you raise Fighting Pokémon and yet they can be hurted severely by their own type?" Chris asked.

Maylene scratched her forehead with a finger. "Well...I never thought about that...it doesn't makes sense when you think about it..."

"Maylene, don't get distracted, we're going to win this battle!" Her Lucario responded panting.

"I didn't tried to distract her!" Chris protested.

"(Aha! Her Lucario only cares about fighting and nothing else then! Just as I thought!)" Pikachu thought.

"Lucario, can you still fight?"

"(Yes, my power is strong enough to deal the final blow to him.)" Lucario talked telepathically to Chris, who saw his aura increasing in size around his arms.

"What the? His arms are glowing brightly!" Maylene said surprised.

"Can you move Lucario?" Chris asked.

Lucario embraced himself and opened his arms to recover from his paralyzis. "I'm ready to attack!" He said, running towards Maylene's Lucario.

"(Not good, something is not right, Chris's Lucario is very different than the others here, but still, we need to end this fight now!) Lucario, gather your last strength and use Aura Sphere!" Maylene thought and said, motioning like she wanted to create an Aura Sphere.

"Right!" Maylene's Lucario said as he began to gather his last energy to try and defeat them with a final blow.

"(Yes, the 2 of them are finally getting along again, if this match ends even if one sides loses, Lucario will recover his friendship with Maylene.)" Reggie thought with a small smile as he watched both Lucarios about to clash on their attacks, the Riolus began to wonder how will the fight end as they ate Pecha Berries close to Reggie.

"I haven't watched such match in ages." Lucario's father said nodding.

"I'm so proud of him." Lucario's mother said.

"You can do it big brother, Riii!" Riolu said clapping her hands happily.

Just when both attacks were going to collide, however, someone had to find them in such bad time and place...

"(CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!)"

"...Master Hand?!" Chris said in shock, looking around the valley.

"Who?" Maylene and her Lucario asked confused.

Both Lucarios stopped on their attacks and everyone looked at Chris, who was grabbing his hair in terror as Master Hand spoke to his mind.

"(WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN SINNOH AGAIN?!)" Master Hand asked furiously.

"(I-I-I'M SORRY! I WANTED TO BRING LUCARIO TO SEE HIS FAMILY AND THE OTHER 3 POKÉMON FOLLOWED US TOO AN-)"

"(GET YOUR ASSES IN THE MANSION, OR IF YOU DON'T COME IN 3 MINUTES, I'LL MAKE SURE TO THROW THE 5 OF YOU TO CRUEL BRAWL AND PLAY IT DURING 24 HOURS!)"

"((Oh god, he said asses, it must be really bad now) W-WE'RE COMING, JUST WAIT A LITTLE LONG-)"

"(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!)"

"LUCARIO! PIKACHU! PICHU! JIGGLYPUFF! WE HAVE TO GO NOW, HURRY UP OR WE'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO CRUEL BRAWL AND STAY THERE FOR 1 DAY WITHOUT RESTS!" Chris yelled at the top of his lungs and mentioned Pokémon gasped in horror and ran away with him to some place where the rest of the Lucarios and the 2 humans couldn't watch them enter inside the portal.

Unfortunately, Maylene's Lucario didn't liked the idea of their opponents who had to leave their match against him when he thought he was going to win at the last moment, so the thing he did next was to roar furiously and chased after the group.

"L-Lucario! Wait! You can't leave like that again!" Maylene shouted and ran away to find them.

"(What is happening? Why is Chris and his Pokémon leaving at this time of the match?) Maylene! You have to return to the Gym!" Reggie shouted and ran after her and the group.

"Big brother, Riii!" Riolu shouted worried and jumped off from the lap of her mother and ran to them.

"Riolu!" Lucario's mother shouted worried and holding her hand to where her daughter was running, but his husband stopped her.

"Let her go, it's time for her to know about the outside world." Lucario's father said calmly.

"But she is still a young baby!"

"Don't worry, we have faith on our son that he will protect her until she returns to us."

Lucario's mother joined her hands together. "...Please...let her be fine..."

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Route 1

"Stop right there!" Wolf shouted as he jumped high in the air towards the 3 characters.

"What?! Is a talking Pokémon?!" Red asked confused while Charizard stopped several feets away from the duo.

"I'm not a stupid creature, prepare to be captured!"

Charizard grunted and prepared to shoot a Flamethrower at him, but Wolf called his Reflector and reflected back the fire to Charizard who backstepped and smirked at his opponent while Red watched this sudden event happening in front of his eyes.

"Wh-who the hell are you?! And how can you talk and walk in 2 legs?!" Red demanded shaking in terror as he held Squirtle on his arms, embracing him.

"(That's it, the kid's going down first.) You there, prepare to be imprisoned!" Wolf said with a smirk, flexing his claws.

"(...Help...)" Red thought scared and whining a little with small pupils.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"W-WE'RE HERE! PLEASE DON'T THROW US TO CRUEL BRAWL FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" Chris pleaded as his group appeared from the portal.

"CHRIS, STOP TAKING MORE PEOPLE WITH YO-HUMANS!" Master Hand screamed in horror and everyone else hid or ran away from the Command Room, leaving a very confused Chris with the Pokémon wondering what was Master Hand trying to mean.

"...But of course I'm human you bunch o-OH DAMMIT!" Chris cursed out loud when he saw what Master Hand tried to mean, because before his eyes, Maylene, her Lucario, Lucario's sister and Reggie stood there confused at the whole situation as Chris began to bang his head in a nearby desk. "(That's it, everything is ruined, Maylene and the others will know about our secret, and who knows what will happen after that.) CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?!"

Maylene began to sweat. "I-It's not my fault! Lucario wanted to end our match at that moment when you left in a hurry and we ended up here!"

"Nobody leaves a match with me, NEVER!" Maylene's Lucario roared in fury.

"Big brother, it is alright if I come with you, Riii?" Riolu asked shyly behind Reggie.

"Oh man, what did we got ourselves into now..." Reggie asked to himself in shame.

Chris's Lucario put his hand on his forehead. "(Now we just need to wait what will happen next...)"

Preview of the next chapter

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Red screamed in terror while he ran away from Wolf, with Squirtle hiding below his hat but he was bigger than the hat.

"Don't escape from me! I just want to kill you!" Wolf said smirking and chasing after Red.

"Here! Take this translator!" Pikachu said, handing over the translator to Squirtle, who swallowed it and burped a little.

"Oh, finally! I can talk to him!" Squirtle said, which made Red to jump in surprise again.

"Now, if you want your Lucario to like you...well...try to massage his ears for example!" Chris said.

"Massage his ears? I haven't done that since he was a young Riolu." Maylene said.

"You may be thinking what is a boy like me telling you that, well, I'm not afraid of doing that in front of the others."

"...Ash...what are you doing right now?" Pikachu asked to the stars while his tears began to run down his cheeks. "It's...painful to not have you around..."

"So, you're Ash's Pikachu after all." Reggie said, sitting besides Pikachu.

"I...ugh..."

"Next time: Starring Red and Pikachu! Maylene, Reggie and Riolu!" Pikachu said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

...Oh boy...anime people escaping to videogames worlds is a very bad idea...or not! It's the greatest idea ever!... Or not.

References:

-When Red begins his adventure, it was reference when Ash started his adventure.

Read and review! :)

...Heheh...Red...Nintendo of America should give better names than that in the beginning...XD
*Chapter 68*: Red: Newbie Novice Trainer

Well, I'm glad I can post more chapters, I remember a review about characters being called back to help them, but then, I got the idea to invite other characters for one time only to go into other worlds!... However, I need 3 more arcs until that happens, except for this arc.

From Nintendogeek01: lol to Master Hand's reaction. In fact I thought the whole chapter was worth a chuckle with the hilarious Charizard chase and everyone laughing at Red. Nicely done.

P.S. I posted the chapter with your interview.

From me: Thanks!

From punch bag: Ri! AH, very cute. Oh well. I bet Red will be hit, twenty to twenty five times. At least Chriss will have someone sane to talk to.
P.S, They think Red's funny, what about a fox called Fox?

From me: Thank you too! Although the cuteness of our favorite shiny, Emanation Pokémon just begun...Rii...sane? Well, Chris will cause serious damage on Maylene in the next chapter...you'll know...

He messes up bad in this chapter...but I mean, BAD.

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 68: Starring Red and Pikachu! Maylene, Reggie and Riolu!

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Route 1

"Well, I heard somebody yelling from over there, let's go!" Pikachu said and most of them stared at him in surprise. "...What?"

Chris turned his back and put his right hand on his hip. "Alright, you're probably wondering what happened before this, am I right? Okay, I'm going to use the help of our friendly flashback waves to explain it, ACTION!" He broke the fourth wall and flashback waves starts to play.

Flashback

"Mom, please, they are taking evasive actions, I need plans for the flat soda machine!" She said randomly with tiny Ritos flying around her head.

"STOP!"

End of flashback

"That was way too back! I'm talking about how did Maylene, her Lucario, Riolu and Reggie got here!" Chris said and he took out a remote control to operate the flashbacks.

Flashback

"The world is in danger and you're adopting a Chocobo now?!" Lucario asked enraged.

"NEXT!"

"I don't want to ruin your happy moment...but...that is not your Lucario..."

"NEXT!"

"YUCK! IT'S ANOTHER CHICKEN BONE!" She said hiding behind Popo.

"NO!"

Hector looked at Serra. "What is it now?!"

"NOT THAT ONE!"

"You're hurting my arm! You're hurting my arm! You're hurting my arm!" Those words rang inside Lucario's mind and he growled angrily. Then he separated both pig masks from the arms of Chris, Popo and Nana.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"YOUR FATE HAS BEEN DECIDED." Master Hand said, everyone stared at him confused. "...What? I wanted to make this moment dramatic!"

"NEXT ONE PLEASE!"

"You and your Digimon 3 stuff!" Ness said.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

"Our Arwings are better." Fox and Falco said in unison.

Unfortunately after that, Chris pressed a lot of buttons and went to different chapters, programs, videogames parts, and accidentaly, anime cartoons.

"Down!"

"Of course not Stupei!"

"This is grown up time, time for children to go to bed."

"Booo, meanie!"

"I'll put my life on the line!"

"He's just a poor boy, of a poor family."

"Flat-chested fornicatress!"

"This is your story."

"Keep you waiting, huh?"

"What?! An attack from behind?!"

"Got it memorized?"

"Ha-ha, you got re-jec-ted!"

"Hey Ness, look at this doll, it says, Gen-"

"Chris, what are you doing?!" Lucario asked outside the innecessary flashbacks.

"THE BUTTON'S STUCK!" Chris replied angrily, and starting to smash the remote control. "UGH! UGH! UCK! UGH!"

"Gather all the-"

"OH NO! IT IS ADVANCING THE PARTS OF THE FUTURE CHAPTERS!"

"Samus is a man, right Fox?"

"DO SOMETHING!" Lucario said.

Chris threw the remote at Lucario. "DO IT BY YOURSELF!"

Lucario simply pressed the correct button and it started playing the right flashback. "Done."

"Finally...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Chris began to thought quickly for a plan. "JIGGLYPUFF! USE SING!"

Jigglypuff nodded cheerfully and took out the scoreboard to sing, Lucario knew tht Chris told him to block his ears while will block his, Pikachu and Pichu ran away to the halls, leaving the 4 accidental newcomers to hear Jigglypuff sing.

"No...I won't...fall...asleep...you..." Maylene's Lucario managed to say before collapsing on the floor right to his trainer and the other 2.

"..." Chris kicked slightly Maylene's side and he sighed. "Phew, you can come on out everyone, they're sleeping."

Everyone else slowly appeared inside the Command Room and stared at their "visitors", sleeping.

Zelda talked to break the silence. "Are they the newcomers Master Hand?" She looked at Maylene. "At least you brought a girl this time."

"Unfortunately Zelda, they aren't the newcomers I was talking about." Master Hand said before taking a deep breath. "Chris, do you have an explanation for this?"

Chris nodded and began to tell everyone about what they did.

"What should I do with them?" Chris asked.

"Obviously, you will take them back to their homes." Marth said.

"By the way Master Hand, what's the next world?"

Master Hand gasped. "T-That's right! You have to go to Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen to save Red, Squirtle and Charizard from the Subspace Army!"

"And that means I can only bring Pokémon with me?"

Master Hand began to thought. "Hmm...now that you mention it, with 5 Pokémon and you will not be enough for this mission...we don't need to show the status this time too..."

Lucario looked at the four unconscious people. "Why don't we take them with us?"

"Are you crazy Lucario? Once they awake, they will ask us how did they ended up in Kanto!" Chris said.

"Actually, it could work." Master Hand said.

"Huh?"

"This could be a new experiment, if we invite people to help us in our missions, it would be a great idea."

"I don't know if that's a great idea though..." Ness said.

"I'm still against this plan," Chris said. "I don't want Maylene or the others to be dragged into this matter."

"I have an idea." Lucario said.

"An idea?"

After that, Mewtwo entered inside the portal to go ahead while Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff dragged them to Kanto, then the group disappeared inside the portal.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Popo said.

"Well, I wanted to go on my first mission, but I can't do anything now." Link said.

"We just have to believe in them." Zelda said.

"I think you're right." Roy said.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Route 1

"...ylene...Ma...ne..."

"..." Maylene slowly woke up. "...Huh? Where am I?" She looked around to find her Lucario, Riolu and Reggie waking up, confused.

"Thank goodness, you're okay." Chris said calmly.

"Where are we?" Maylene's Lucario asked.

"You can't believe what happened, me and my Pokémon entered inside a weird portal that appeared out of nowhere and teleported us to the Kanto region!" Chris said kidding.

"...Portal? You mean the same portal that we walked into?" Reggie asked.

"Well...yes, unfortunately for you, you appeared on the sky above us and fainted after that, but luckily my Lucario catched all of you in time."

"Grrrrrr."

Chris sweatdropped after seeing Maylene's Lucario grunting at him with rage on his fangs, Chris could tell he wasn't the kind of persons that are easy to be tricked.

"(Okay, don't panic, you're safe on your mind and that Lucario can't read my thoughts and...LUCARIOS CAN READ MINDS!)"

"GRRRRRR!!"

Maylene looked at her Lucario. "Lucario what is it?"

"Maylene, don't believe all the things he said just now, I know what hap-hmhmhhmhm." Chris's Lucario quickly blocked his mouth.

"What?"

"Chris is telling the truth, I assure you." Chris's Lucario said before noticing that Maylene's Lucario was biting his hand and both started to fight silently.

"STOP IT!" Chris and Maylene said in unison and their Lucarios stopped.

"What is a Kanto region, Ri?" Riolu asked innocently.

"Hey, she's right, how do you know we are in Kanto?" Reggie asked.

"(Oh-uh.) I...a traveler passed by and told me." Chris lied.

":..But still, it's weird that all of this happened out of nowhere." Reggie said and got in a thinking position.

"I'm trying to tel-" Maylene's Lucario was once again interrupted by Chris's Lucario.

"Oh yeah, Maylene, your Lucario hit a rock very hard because Lucario couldn't catch him in time, so I think he's imagining things." Chris said laughing heartily.

"I see... Lucario, we should take you to a Pokémon Center." Maylene said.

"I DON'T NEED T-" Maylene's Lucario was once again interrupted by the other Lucario.

"So..." Reggie looked around. "What do we do now to get back to Sinnoh?"

"Well, I heard somebody yelling from over there, let's go!" Pikachu said and most of them stared at him in surprise. "...What?"

"...THAT PIKACHU JUST TALKED!" Maylene said surprised.

"Hahaha! Pikachu got busted!" Pichu said and he received the same stares. "...Oops..."

"THAT PICHU TOO!"

"Stop talking!" Jigglypuff said and received more odd stares. "...Oh no..."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Is this a dream or is real?" Reggie asked. "I only know that the Lucarios and Riolus can talk, but they can too?"

Chris sighed. "...Thing is, they know how to talk thanks to a translator for Pokémon they use inside their mouths. They developed it in some lab I found in my travels and the scientists gave me samples." He, again, lied at this fact.

"Wow, your travels are interesting." Maylene remarked.

Chris sweatdropped and laughed heartily. "Hehehe...yeah...you could say that..."

Another hour of explanations and lies later...

The group regained their control, Chris had Pikachu and Pichu on both shoulders, Jigglypuff sat on his head and Riolu was on his arms and the other 4 were walking besides him to the north.

"I haven't been in Kanto for a long time, I wonder how much it changed." Reggie said.

Chris remembered that this wasn't the same Kanto. "Believe me, it changed."

"Brother, this is how you travel around, Ri?" Riolu asked.

"Yes, someday, you will too." Chris's Lucario said with a small smile, traveling together with his sister was a great experience for him, because it would permit him to teach her new things.

"Ri! Someday I will travel too! Ri!" Riolu said excited.

"(It's a very good feeling to have a baby Pokémon close to you, it's awesome!)" Chris thought happily.

"Hey Pikachu, can you tell me about your travels with Chris?" Maylene asked and Pikachu began to sweat.

"Chris...well...he and me...traveled to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and recently Sinnoh too! We also traveled to the Orange Islands and competed in the Battle Frontier!" Pikachu said sweating.

"Cool! Those are so many places to go!"

Maylene, Lucario, Reggie and Riolu temporaly joined our team!

"(I'm starting to wonder if Pikachu misses Ash.)" Chris thought while he looked at Pikachu, a little depressed since his ears were a little down. "(Or...nah, it couldn't be...)"

"Chris! Remember, we have to help Red from being captured!" Jigglypuff said.

"...Red?" Maylene and Reggie said confused in unison before chuckling. "What kind of name is that?" Reggie asked chuckling.

"...How should I know?" Chris asked before hearing someone screaming from afar.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Red screamed in terror while he ran away from Wolf, with Squirtle hiding below his hat but he was bigger than the hat.

"Don't escape from me! I just want to kill you!" Wolf said smirking and chasing after Red.

"Oh no, we're getting late!" He began to run quickly with his Lucario.

"Getting late for what?" Maylene asked confused and the others ran with Chris and "his" Pokémon to an open field far away from them, they got there in 5 minutes, where a 3-way match between Wolf, Charizard and Mewtwo took place while Red and Squirtle watched from some butches.

"You just appeared out of nowhere, huh?" Wolf asked.

"Yes, I am here to stop you and those fools hiding there." Mewtwo said, pointing to Ganondorf and King Dedede.

"What is happening here? I'm scared..." Red said, this time, hugging Squirtle who was also worried.

"Squirtle squir..." Squirtle said scared.

Red sighed and petted his head. "I-I change my thoughts about you, if we want to survive, we have to get out of here and fast...LOOK AT THOSE POKÉMON!!" Red said surprised after looking at the 2 Lucarios with the other group who came last. "I-I've never seen those kind of Pokémon before, they must be rare in this region!"

"Huh? Is that?!" Reggie asked surprised after seeing Mewtwo with his own eyes.

"The Pokémon with the purple tail you mean?" Maylene asked.

"Yes, it's Mewtwo! I hear he escaped from a laboratory in Cinnabar Island a long time ago and have wandered around, but I never thought I would see him in person!"

"Grrrr." Maylene's Lucario grunted at Mewtwo.

"Your Lucario has anger problems, you know that?" Chris said.

"Sorry, he really likes to battle strong opponents just to get stronger that he already is." Maylene explained. "Which reminds me...didn't we had a match to end?"

"...She is right!" Her Lucario responded and looked at the other Lucario with a glare. "We have to end our match now!"

"Not now, we have to help Mewtwo!" Chris said.

"Are you crazy? Mewtwo is probably the strongest Pokémon of all!" Reggie said.

"It's because...Mewtwo...is one of my Pokémon too!"

Reggie's eyes widened a little. "...You're kidding right? Nobody hasn't captured Mewtwo before!"

"(I'm going to let that misunderstanding go for this time.)" Mewtwo thought irritated.

"Y-yes! See? Mewtwo! Use Confusion on-(I can't let the other know about Wolf's name!)- on that mutated Poochyena!" Chris ordered.

"Mutated Poochyena? This day is getting so weird!" Maylene complained.

Mewtwo thought before using Confusion to lung Wolf to a tree, but he touched the tree with his feet and landed safely on the grass. "I don't have a name of a pathetic creature! My name is Wolf O'Donnell!" He said angrily.

"...Okay, that's it, I don't believe anything here anymore." Reggie said and Maylene pinched him. "Oww!"

"See? This isn't a dream!" She said.

Charizard was getting impatient because nobody hasn't payed attention on him and threw a fully charged Flamethrower to Chris's group. "MOVE!" Reggie yelled and all of them jumped away to evade to furious attack.

"(Now what? Should I join the fight or not?)" Red thought.

"Where is he?!" Chris asked looking around for Red.

"LOOK OUT!" Pikachu yelled and Chris ducked to evade another Flamethrower that burned down most of the plants in front of him.

And just by coincidence, the plants that got burned revealed the position of a very black Red and Squirtle who blinked in surprise.

"I...must...catch...that...Charizard...ugh..." Red said before coughing smoke and fainting with his Squirtle, with swirls on their eyes.

Chris looked in front of him and found the 2. "...Well, that was easy..."

Jigglypuff jumped off his head and she examined their faces and lifted slowly her scoreboard. "Not today!" Pikachu said, grabbing the scoreboard and Jigglypuff hid it behind her.

"Red? Red? Red? Blue? I mean, Red?" Chris tried to wake him up. "Pichu, use Thundershock on him, would you?"

"Right!" Pichu said and jumped slightly in the air to shoot a bolf of electricity to Red and Squirtle, electrocuting both of them and waking them up.

"Oww! Why did you do that for?!" Red complained. "...Hey, you're the same guys with the rare Pokémon, right?"

While the 2 were talking, Wolf, Charizard and Mewtwo continued to fight against each other, even Maylene decided to help Mewtwo (but her Lucario still was trying to refuse) and Reggie called out his Swalot to help them too.

"Who are you?" Red asked.

"My name is Chris, nice to meet you." Chris said. (If he wanted to gain his trust, he needed to speak calmly to him).

"N-nice to meet you, but how did you know my name?"

"...A hunch?"

This day, Chris was lying like nobody else for sure.

"...A hunch? Isn't there any other reason?"

"...Oh yeah! Now I remember! I met your mom one day in Pallet Town in my travels! She said...um...she said that she had a son that was excited to be a Pokémon trainer! That is you, right?"

Red nodded confused at the situation. "W-well...she didn't lied then...oh, right! Hey, are you the trainer of that rare Pokémon? And the one in your arms?" Red pointed to Chris's Lucario, who was dodging a Flamethrower of Charizard and to Riolu.

"Lucario? Yes, he is my Pokémon, I'm so lucky to have one like she does too." Chris said while she glance at Maylene, who was ordering her Lucario to create an Aura Sphere by mimicking him. "This baby Pokémon is Riolu, and she has a rare color for her kind!"

"Rii!" Riolu said happily.

"That girl is crazy, look at how she moves around!" Red said, looking at Maylene.

"...Well, she likes to do that a lot, I think."

"How bad, I thought those Lucarios or whatever they're called were wild." He said disappointed. "But I can catch that Charizard and-hey, you're not here to catch him right? Because I saw him first!"

"N-no! In fact, we came to help you to catch Charizard!"

"Then do something now! He's getting away!"

"Huh?"

"He's right! Charizard is getting away!" Pikachu said.

"...OH MY GOD! THAT PIKACHU JUST TALKED!" Red said surprised.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle asked confused.

"Guess our secret went out to everyone else here..." Jigglypuff said.

"THAT JIGGLYPUFF TOO?!"

"Shh!" Pichu said.

"HE TOO?!"

"I-I'll explain later if you want to come with us!" Chris said as he ran to his group with "his" Pokémon while got up and went with him too.

"Don't let him escape! Chase him down!" Wolf ordered and his other 2 partners got out of the bushes and started to chase Charizard who flew towards Viridian City.

"Okay, what now?" Reggie asked as he called his Swalot to his Pokeball.

"We must capture Charizard before those strange mutated Pokémon catch him!" Red said.

"Wait, are you going with us?" Maylene asked.

"Yes, nice to meet you, I'm Red."

Maylene and Reggie started chuckling uncontrollably.

"Hey!" Red said angrily.

"Stop it guys! We have a mission and that is capture that Charizard!" Jigglypuff said and they nodded, but still chuckling while Red shot glares at all of them, but his Squirtle was enjoying his time.

"We can relax now." Reggie said.

"But why?" Maylene asked.

"The Charizards are not stupid, when they are chased, they lose their hunters while they fly to a direction, if Viridian City is near here, then Charizard is going to hide near that city but surely lose the hunters we just fought." Reggie explained.

"I propose to go to the Pokémon Center, my Lucario got hurted from that Flamethrower." Maylene said, glancing at her Lucario who grabbed his right arm.

"Yeah, let's do that, and while we are in our way...Red, are you going to Viridian City too?" Chris asked.

"Hmm, Viridian City has a Gym, right?" Red asked, remembering that the city had a Gym.

"Yes, it has one." Reggie assured Red.

"Alright! Let's go! And then, you can tell how did you taught your Pokémon to talk too!"

NEWCOMER!
Red temporaly joined your team!

"...Umm...sure?" Chris replied confused.

Viridian City
Pokémon Center

On their way to the center, the group already told Red many things about themselves, even Maylene told him that she is a Gym Leader and Red instantly challenged her, but since she wasn't in her Gym, he told him that later and Red got disappointed but accepted her decision, Reggie was asking Chris how did he "catched" Mewtwo, who was floating besides Chris at that moment and the World Traveler had no choice but to lie many more times yet, until they reached the Pokémon Center where they were greeted by Nurse Joy and Maylene asked her to heal her Lucario.

"So, are you going to tell me now how did you taught your Pokémon to speak?" Red asked while they were sitting on a bench (Mewtwo decided to not enter Viridian City and decided to stay away from the Gym, even if that Kanto wasn't his Kanto region).

Squirtle walked towards Pikachu and Red stared at his Pokémon.

"See the thing Pikachu has in his hand?" Chris asked and Red saw a tiny object on Pikachu's hand, then he jumped in surprise.

"That tiny machine is what helps your Pokémon to talk?" Red asked curiously.

"Yes! And to show my honesty, Pikachu will give your Squirtle and translator!"

"Here! Take this translator!" Pikachu said, handing over the translator to Squirtle, who swallowed it and burped a little.

"Oh, finally! I can talk to him!" Squirtle said, which made Red to jump in surprise again.

"W-whoa! Squirtle talked!" Red said astonished.

"Hey, Red! Good to see you can understand me at last!" Squirtle said. "Now, I want to ask you something, why don't you like Squirtles?"

"It's because...I think they look weak to me..."

"But Red, every kind of Pokémon can be strong in its own way, you just need to put effort on their abilities and train them." Reggie explained to him.

"Y-yeah, but I thought power was all in Pokémon battles..."

"No is not!" Maylene said. "You also need to train their other attributes, like speed, dexterity and their accuracy of their attacks, power isn't all in Pokémon battles, the trainer has to be a strategist if he or she wants to win a battle." She explained.

Chris was taking these notes on his mind too.

"Hmm...well, the other day I watched a fight between a Pidgey and a Fearow, but the Pidgey won...because his trainer was telling him strategies to evade every attack of the Fearow to find an opening to attack him back!" Red said.

"You're getting it now." Reggie said.

Chris noticed that Maylene and Reggie were staring at him. "...What's wrong?"

"Well, didn't you said you traveled to many places before? You should know strategies like Reggie and me does!" Maylene said.

"(Oh god, it's true, I traveled to many places but NOT THE POKÉMON REGIONS!) Another good idea to raise Pokémon is...hmm...be friendly to your Pokémon?"

"That's correct! That is another good idea to raise Pokémon too!... Something that my brother needs to do..." Reggie remarked and muttered the last part to himself.

They didn't notice, but Maylene got a little depressed at this.

Red saw that Squirtle wanted to sit on his lap. "...Hmm...go ahead!" He said and Squirtle jumped to his lap and sighed. "These tips are coming handy!"

Pikachu was getting a little depressed after watching Squirtle trying to sleep on Red's lap.

"So what do we do now?" Chris asked.

"It's getting late, we should rest in the Pokémon Center for today and start our search for Charizard tomorrow." Reggie suggested and they nodded.

Red saw that Maylene was walking towards the exit. "Where are you going Maylene?"

"Oh, I'm going for a little walk, don't worry, I'll be back before nights comes." She said and left the building.

"(...Not again, she probably heard what my brother said that time Team Galactic tried to steal the meteors on that night...)" Reggie thought.

"Reggie, it is just me or Maylene seems a little depressed?" Chris asked and Reggie nodded.

"She was telling the truth that you were one of the only persons that can see what is bothering her, in fact, something is bothering her."

"Bothering about what?" Red asked.

"In Sinnoh, the region we came from, Maylene and her Lucario were visiting me the same night after the incident with an evil organisation called Team Galactic, that night also, my brother, Paul, wanted his Electabuzz back to challenge the Gym Leader of Pastoria City...but I think she overheard our conversation that night..."

Flashback

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Veilstone City
Reggie and Paul's House

Maylene and her Lucario were sitting on a sofa while they were waiting for Reggie to do something on another room. She sighed and leaned to the couch. "Man, what is taking Reggie so long?"

"Maylene, don't tell me you're going to eavesdrop on him." Lucario said with a glare.

"What's wrong with you? Tomorrow we have to say good bye to Ash, Dawn and Brock and we must be in a good mood too!"

"What does that has to do with this in the first place?"

"...Nothing, but I want to see what is Reggie doing right now, follow me if you want but don't make any noise, got it?"

Lucario sighed in shame. "Fine, you first..."

The duo walked silently towards a room where they heard 2 persons talking, it was Reggie talking to Paul through a computer and Maylene hid in the wall to not remember her match against him. "Oh no...it's Paul again..."

"Grrrr, it's the same idiot who defeated us without sweating and humiliated you?" Lucario asked grunting.

"Shh! They could hear us, keep it down!"

"Alright Paul, Electabuzz arrived there with you, take care of him." Reggie said.

"Good, thanks." Paul responded bluntly.

"That's all?" Reggie asked crossing his arms. "Aren't you going to say something else?"

"What do you want from me? I don't have anything else to say." Paul said bluntly.

"C'mon, I want you to deliver an apology to Maylene for saying that harsh thing you said to her at your match."

"Tch, an apology? Well, if you want an apology..."

Maylene gasped on her mind. "(Is he going to apologize to me?... If he does, I'll forgive him for what he did back in our fight!)"

Paul thought for a moment. "If you want an apology, tell her that it's better that she quits her job as the Gym Leader of Veilstone and stop training with weak Pokémon like the fighting types, they don't stand a chance in the battlefield, especially her Lucario, he went down more quickly than the other 2 I fought before him, and he is her secret weapon? What a pathetic excuse for a secret weapon."

Reggie got a little angry at this. "Paul! Don't say things like that!"

"It's true," Paul continued. "She doesn't has the right to be a Gym Leader, at least I hear the Gym Leader of Pastoria City is stronger than she is...if she is strong that is..."

"Paul, stop now, I'm serious!"

"I can say whatever I want to say, sorry, but I must go now, thanks for delivering my Electabuzz though, I hope he didn't helped Ash in any way...or else." Paul said before the computer turned off.

"Why must you be so cold brother? Someday...you will regret what you said to all the people you defeated...especially Maylene..." Reggie said while he made a fist.

Meanwhile with Maylene and Lucario, Maylene had her eyes trembling a little and she walked silently towards the living room, looking down at her feet in shame for what she heard, and Lucario was grunting inside his mind and getting furious by every second after hearing that comment about him.

The 2 of them were insulted to a critical point that night, but they managed to say good bye to Ash, Dawn and Brock the next morning without getting sad, Reggie was oblivious to this situation until now.

End of flashback

Pokémon FireRed and LearGreen

Viridian City
Pokémon Center

"..." Chris was left speechless.

"...My brother is such an idiot...he insults all the people that he thinks they're weak and humiliates them to hurt their feelings...I don't know where he learned to talk like that..." Reggie said, a little ashamed.

"Your brother told all those things to Maylene? What an ass! He's just like Gary!" Red said.

"What is an as-" Riolu's mouth was quickly blocked by Chris who sighed in relief, and so did Lucario.

"You don't want to know." Lucario said to her sister.

"Anyway, the problem here is that Maylene is depressed for what Paul told her?" Red asked and Reggie nodded. "...You know, I want try if I can help people by talking to them, right now."

"(Is what Ash does too...)" Pikachu thought and jumped off and walked towards the exit.

"Pikachu, where are you going?" Chris asked.

"I'm going to walk around the city, don't worry about me, I'll return with Maylene if I can find her." Pikachu said laughing a little and leaving the center.

"Pikachu sounded a little depressed too, don't you think so Red?" Squirtle asked.

"Maybe because he misses Ash..." Pichu said and Chris glared at him. "W-What did I say?!"

"Pichu! Why did you said that?!" Jigglypuff asked angrily.

"Wait, that Pikachu is Ash's Pikachu then?" Reggie asked.

"There's no point in hiding it anymore, to tell the truth, yes...that Pikachu is Ash's Pikachu..." Chris explained to them.

"But I saw Pikachu leaving with Ash a while ago! How could he lend him to you?"

"Pikachu has a cousin with the same abilities as him, he usually sneaks out from him while they sleep and his cousin comes to replace him, it's easy because Ash doesn't puts Pikachu inside his Pokeball and can't tell the difference between the 2."

"And why does he travels with you?"

"...Dammit! I can't lie anymore! Reggie, Red and Squirtl-"

"What about me? Ri?" Riolu asked.

"And you too Riolu! I need to tell you the truth! I'm not a trainer that challenges the Gyms, I'm a person that can travel through worlds and save everyone else from a great menace called the Subspace Army, they are trying to conquer all the worlds and Lucario is a guardian to me, but my best friend too, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff and a bunch of amazing and strong people that some of them aren't humans but still comrades helps me and I help them too, I have a boss that is a big floating hand that continously messes up in some ways, but is a great help, I can fight using a lot of abilities that are copies of more characters with the same powers but I need to train first with the help of them, even still, I'm not strong enough to survive in a fight but fortunately they protect me and I protect them, also, I have a reason of being here, I came here to recruit Red and Squirtle to join us in our battle against them, until he catches Charizard and an Ivysaur as soon as possible before the Subspace Army captures them or else Master Hand, my boss, will throw me in Cruel Brawl to fight against Fighting Alloy Team that can send me soaring through the sky with just one touch, also, Master Hand has a brother, his name is Crazy Hand who is the left hand but insane on his mind and sells me jobs containing my abilities, I have a interactive tutorial in my pocket, in a funny way, Reggie has the name of a famous business man that sells videogames but I wait someday for a game that needs to be released on something called the Virtual Console and I know you don't care about that and...and...and that's all..." Chris panted heavily after talking through all that and both Reggie and Red were confused at this.

His Lucario frowned at this. "...That was unnecessary Chris..."

"Yeah!" Jigglypuff said angrily.

"...What the hell was all that you said just a moment ago?" Squirtle asked confused.

"Subspace Army? Master Hand? Fighting Alloy Team? Virtual Console?" Reggie asked confused.

At that moment, they saw Maylene's Lucario appearing from the hallway with Nurse Joy. "It's Maylene here? Lucario was already healed." She said.

"Oh yeah, I'm his friend." Reggie said.

"Can you deliver Lucario to her please?" Nurse Joy asked.

"I'm not a delivering object." Maylene's Lucario said grunting, then he ran outside the center.

"There he goes again." Reggie said with a small smile.

"If you were wondering Red, Lucario is looking for Maylene." Chris said.

"I know that! But we need to cheer her up too!" Red said as he got up and ran outside.

"...Wait for me!" Chris said running with Pichu, Jigglypuff, Riolu and Lucario outside.

"(...I should search for Pikachu...)" Reggie thought.

Park

"For the last time, I don't want that!" Maylene said to an old man with a television.

"But little girl, this will sure come handy if you want to know how to catch Pokémon!" The old man said. The TV was the Teachy TV.

"I-I'm sorry, but I know already how to catch Pokémon mister!"

"Maylene!" Red shouted from behind and Maylene turned to them.

"Thanks goodness you're here, this old man is trying to give that TV that I have been refusing to take it from him!"

"IT WILL COME IN HANDY!" The old man said angrily.

"For what is the TV?" Red asked.

"Well young boy, this TV helps you to how to catch Pokémon!"

"...Hmm...can I have that?"

The old man instantly gave the TV to Red. "It WILL come in handy! Mark my words kids!" The old man said and waved at him as he walked away.

Obtained Teachy TV!
Red put the Teachy TV on his Key Items...and it fits perfectly!

"I HAVE 16 YEARS, I'M NOT A KID ANYMORE!" Chris protested.

"Ha! I have 10 years and we have the same height!" Red said.

"Shut up, Red!"

"Guys, what are you doing here?" Maylene asked.

"Your Lucario was looking for you."

"Lucario? You mean him?" Maylene asked and pointed to her Lucario, who was leaning to a tree and grunting a little, which made Maylene to sigh a little. "I guess this is not a good time to talk..."

"Maylene, why are you so depressed?" Red asked.

"Red, we already know about that." Squirtle reminded him.

"I assume Reggie told all of you right?" Maylene asked and they nodded. "Okay...Chris, Red, I need to talk to you in private..."

"Lucario, Riolu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, go on and play around the park." Chris said, but his Lucario only got in a meditation position and Riolu went to a slidder with Pichu and Jigglypuff.

"You too Squirtle, if you want." Red said and Squirtle jumped off from his hat and joined the others.

"What do you want to talk about Maylene?"

Maylene scratched her shoulder. "It's about..." She glanced at her Lucario. "It's about Lucario, he has been in a very bad mood ever since we heard Paul's rude comment about the 2 of us."

"Then why don't you try to talk to him to find a solution?" Red suggested.

"I can't! See for yourself, Lucario, do you want t-" Maylene exploded because an Aura Sphere exploded right in front of her and she was on the sand, with the same look on her face like she didn't cared. "Now you see why? Everytime I try to talk to him he "Aura Spheres" me, preventing me from finding a solution."

"Hmm...my experience of living with a Lucario is going to be put on a test today! Maylene, I know how to get your Lucario to...hmm...what's the word? Like you again!" Chris said a little excited.

"...Now that you mention it, Lucario hasn't been friendly with me outside the battles, okay, I'm all ears, tell me what I can do about this problem."

"Now, if you want your Lucario to like you...well...try to massage his ears for example!" Chris said.

"Massage his ears? I haven't done that since he was a young Riolu." Maylene said.

"You may be thinking what is a boy like me telling you that, well, I'm not afraid of doing that in front of the others."

Red stared at him with a disgusted look. "..."

"Think whatever you want to think! I'm an expert on this in my opinion!" Chris protested. "You want to see an example?" He asked and Maylene nodded. "Okay, Lucario! Can you come over here please?"

"Did you call me?" His Lucario asked walking to him.

Chris sat on the sand. "Lucario can you rest your head on my lap?"

"For what?"

"Do you want me to massage your ears?"

Lucario thought for a moment and nodded, after doing so, Lucario was enjoying the hands of his trainer massaging his ears and Maylene looked at the happy expresion he made while he tried to sleep. "Ooh, I see now...petting or massaging some parts of his body gets him friendlier...alright! I'm ready!"

"Chris?" His Lucario asked.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Can you approach your ear to me? I want to tell you something."

Chris did it. "So?" Lucario smiled and licked his cheek. "Lucario! Thank you so much!" Chris said happily hugging Lucario in the head, Lucario growled happily at the appreciation of his trainer and Maylene got even more excited by this.

"Lucario! Can you come over here?"

1 minute later, however...

"GRRRR!"

"I-I'm sorry Lucario!" Maylene apologized to her Lucario.

"What is she doing wrong Chris?" Red asked.

"I think she's pressing the ears a little too hard!" Chris replied.

"O-okay, how about this then..." Maylene tried to massage the other ear and...

CRACK!

"RRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

One could have sworn a girl blasting off to the sky's night with a black eye and knocked out too.

"Grrrr..." Maylene's Lucario got up after delivering a powerful Force Palm on Maylene and he walked out, grunting.

Red was a little scared now. "...Find Maylene?" He suggested.

"Find Maylene." Chris replied and both nodded before running after Maylene and leaving the Pokémon in the park.

Outside Viridian City

Maylene landed just to a side of a rock where Mewtwo was meditating in peace, the Psychic Pokémon opened one eye to look at her and he frowned at this. "Anger issues...how can somebody else fall for that like I did before?" He asked to himself before returning to his meditation.

Somewhere inside Viridian City

Pikachu was resting on a patch of grass.

"...Ash...what are you doing right now?" Pikachu asked to the stars while his tears began to run down his cheeks. "It's...painful to not have you around..."

"So, you're Ash's Pikachu after all." Reggie said, sitting besides Pikachu.

"I...ugh..."

"Chris told me if you were wondering."

"Oh..."

Reggie stared at the stars. "You're missing him, right?"

"N-no I'm not! Who wants to be with him anyway?"

"You can't trick me Pikachu, something tells me you miss him so much."

"Who misses him? He always messes up in the leagues but in the extra events that most doesn't care about!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, for example, the Kanto League! He lost in a fight against Richie, a friend we met there, he thought using a bad trained Charizard was a good idea, but it made us to lose the league because he didn't wanted to cooperate, then the Johto League is next, we lost too against another friend we met there, his name was Harrison I think and he had a Blaziken that defeated Ash's Charizard, in the Hoenn League, we met Tyson and his strange Meowth with a comboy air around him, and guess what? I lost to a Meowth! I have been always blasting off a Meowth my whole life but I never thought I would lose to one! That was embarrassing! And now, I predict this is what is going to happen in the Sinnoh League, Ash, Dawn and Brock will arrive there, they will meet a friendly but stronger trainer than Ash, then after fighting all the way to the Quarterfinals or Semifinals, he will lose against the same friend he met a while ago and will try to console him, only for an extra league that nobody else has heard about to win it! It's getting repetitive that it's making me sick!" Pikachu explained and Reggie petted his head. "That will not console me at all! Ash already did it countless of times!"

"Well Pikachu, why don't you try to tell him?" Reggie asked.

"How? Like this? "Hello Ash, I want you to finally let all your Pokémon to evolve except for me because I don't want to be a Raichu, and stop starting "from zero" too, that gets us to lose a league!" Like this you mean?"

Reggie shook his head. "No, show to him that you want to be stronger and protest against his ideas sometimes, if you want him to know about your ideas, then do it."

"I'm not sure if I can do that..."

"You will, this is probably one of Ash's many saying but, I believe in you Pikachu, do it."

"...I'll try," Pikachu said looking at Reggie. "I'll show him what he needs to do! No more starting from zero! No more no evolutions! I'm a new Pikachu!"

Reggie smiled. "Glad you understand Pikachu."

"Thank you Reggie, that helped me a lot, now I need to try it and see what happens! But first! I need to defeat a greater menace!" He said and started to walk towards the Pokémon Center with Reggie.

"The Subspace Army?"

"...Chris, I'll kill you one of these days..." Pikachu muttered to himself.

Preview of the next chapter

"Try number 27 Maylene!" Chris said. "Play a little game of Tag with Lucario!"

"That won't work either!" Squirtle said.

"Try number 28? Wash him?"

"I don't think so..." Red said.

"One day...I was going to die..." Chris said and they gasped.

"Really?" Maylene asked surprised.

"...AN IVYSAUR!!" Red yelled surprised.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY OR THE MISSION FAILS!" Pikachu said.

"The darkness can take easily the hearts of the weak ones..." Ganondorf said as he called Shadow Bugs.

"Weak hearts? One of them has a weak heart?" Wolf asked and Ganondorf nodded.

"Yes...and is...that girl..."

"Next time: How to get a Lucario to like you!" Reggie said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Viridian City
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Maylene, Lucario, Reggie, Riolu, Red, Squirtle

A lot of funny things will happen in the next chapter, is Chris really an expert on this to get Lucarios to like other people? Will he and Maylene succeed? And what will happen to our protagonists Red and Pikachu? And why does Reggie has the name of a famous figure in our Real World? XD

References:

-Lots of references to many games and other shows, but actually, the references were a reference to one episode of Naruto Abridged, I think it was the 11th one.

And for my last words...let's see if Red can catch his next 2 Pokémon and...something bad will happen to Maylene in the next chapter after the next one?

And Paul is the biggest stupid, idiot trainer in the whole series! He can die anytime in a pit!

Read and review please!

*Chapter 69*: Grumpy, Aren't You?

It took a lot of time to bring this chapter and erase all the errors, but it's here!

From Nintendogeek01: Yikes... Maylene's Lucario is freakin' scary.

From narutofan714: nice chap. :) but seriously, maylenes lucario has issues man, I wouldn't even go near that guy Oo

From me: Then again, he scared me the first time I saw him, I agree with both of you, fortunately, this chapter will help him to get over his issues.

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 69: How to get a Lucario to like you!

Viridian City
Pokémon Center

In a good mood for something new, our heroes awake inside the Pokémon Center of Viridian City where Red is excited for his first match in his first Gym battle while Chris, Maylene and Reggie, along with his Pokémon to join him and-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! GET OUT!" The author yelled angrily, using a bazooka to send the narrator away with a huge explosion.

"THE NARRATOR IS BLASTING OFF AGAI-" The narrator once again exploded.

"NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO SAY THAT HERE!" The author said because he put a mine on him when he blasted off and activated it.

Back with our characters...

Red yawned a little after getting out of the Pokémon Center with Squirtle standing besides him with a smile.

"Alright! We're going to challenge our first Gym battle Squirtle, and we're going to win!" Red said excited.

"Oh, please, stop that!" Pikachu said, appearing from the center with blocked ears. "Do you know how old is that? It's way too cheesy for me!"

"...Sorry, I didn't knew that was overused...then what do I say then?"

"Hmm...say...hmm...oh! Say let's challenge the Gym Leader! At least that isn't that overused...or I think so..."

"...Let's challenge the Gym Leader!" Red said.

"Now that's more like it!"

Just then, Chris appeared from the center with Riolu on his arms, apparently, they were playing together. "Who's a cute Riolu? Who's a cute Riolu?"

"Me? Ri?" Riolu asked.

Chris put Riolu in front of him. "Yes! You got that right again!"

"Rii!" Riolu flailed her hands happily.

"Red, what are you doing earlier in the morning?"

"I'm going to challenge the Gym Leader of Viridian City, that's why I woke up early."

"...Er...Red...if I remember, the Gym is closed right now and will be closed for a loooooong time..."

Red laughed a little." Yeah yeah, what a good joke."

"No, seriously, it's closed!"

"Pfft, please," Red crossed his arms. "I've never heard of a Gym closed."

"It's because you're starting your adventure!"

Red walked ahead with his Squirtle. "Nah, it's open! Trust me!"

"...Are we going to follow him, Ri?" Riolu asked.

Chris nodded and sighed.

Viridian City's Gym

"LET ME ENTER!"

"NO! THE GYM LEADER IS NOT HERE!"

"BUT LET ME SEE!"

"NO!"

After arriving at the Gym, a stubborn old man was always turning Red away from the door of the building, while Chris watched from a bench with Riolu and Squirtle, what's more, it went for minutes as the novice trainer tried to enter.

"...I'm bored, Riii..." Riol said yawning.

"Won't that man get scared because we can talk?" Squirtle asked.

Chris shook his head. "Luckily for us, he's deaf, only by yelling he can hear."

"LET ME GO INSIDE!" Red yelled at the old man.

"I HAVE SAID, NO!"

While they were still arguing, Chris was tickling Riolu.

"Ririririririiii!" Riolu giggled a lot.

"You won't escape from the clutches of my magic little fingers!" Chris said playing.

"Riiiiiiiiiii!"

Squirtle turned his back to find Chris's Lucario standing in front of him. "When did you came here?" Squirtle asked.

"Since Chris began to tickle my sister." Lucario responded.

"Big brother, Ri!" Riolu escaped from the tickles assault and jumped to his brother to give him an embrace. "Good morning, Ri!"

Lucario rubbed his cheek with his sister and she did the same.

"You know, you're starting to get like the exact opposite of Maylene's Lucario mood." Chris pointed out.

And Maylene came walking with Reggie.

"...Er...Maylene, for what is the other black eye?" Squirtle asked.

"Try to wake up my Lucario in the morning and you will get this too..." Maylene said disappointed.

"At this rate, her Lucario will break her bones." Reggie said sweatdropping. "And what is Red doing?"

"Red has been trying to enter in the Gym, but that old man told him that the Gym Leader is not inside, but as stubborn as the old dude, Red didn't listened and wanted to enter." Squirtle explained to them.

"By the way, where are Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff?" Chris asked and mentioned Pokémon came from behind Lucario and her sister. "Where have you been?"

"A walk, just that." Pikachu said.

"And a visit to the park again!" Pichu said excited.

"Everyone is here but...I don't see our angry and grunt friend..." Chris said, narrowing his eyes at Maylene, who shook his head quickly and took out a Pokeball.

"No way, I'm not going to call that beast outside just to punch me again!" She said.

"C'mon, there's a little chance that you'll get a punch by him." Reggie said, patting Maylene's back.

"...I'm really going to regret this soon...come on out!" Maylene threw her Pokeball in the air and her Lucario came out.

"Well, let's get start-"

"GRRRRRR!!"

Just as soon as the angry Lucario came out, he instantly lunged at Maylene and the Gym Leader got the unluckyness of being inside a cloud of dust, and her being the target of fists, Force Palms and bites...wait, the last one is dangerous...

"HELP!" Maylene yelled from inside the dust.

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled at his still distracted Lucario. "GET THOSE 2 AWAY FROM EACH OTHER!"

His Lucario stopped rubbing his cheek with her sister and shook his head to return to reality and entered inside the dust, leaving her sister with Chris of course.

"Oh god...this day will be a long one..." Chris said ashamed, as he looked at the dust and Red and the old man.

Reggie crossed his arms behind his back. "Indeed." He said.

"Of course..." Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff replied.

"Riiiii..." Riolu said.

Route 2

Red couldn't enter inside the Gym (and the old man laughed for his victory) and decided to go to the next city, where a Gym Leader should be inside his Gym, however, there were different plans, with Chris and Maylene, they were going to try and get Maylene's Lucario to like her again, outside the battles that is, with Reggie and Red, they were going to search to find and capture the Charizard, with Pikachu, he was going with Reggie, Red and Squirtle, with Mewtwo, who teleported to them and began to search on his own, and for Pichu, Jigglypuff and Riolu, they decided to help Chris with his plan, "How to get a Lucario to like you".

"Alright, listen up...my all damaged friend..." Chris said to Maylene, who had 2 black eyes and a bandage on her forehead. "Seriously, that Lucario will someday kill you if he gets the chance."

Maylene looked down, both of them were sitting with the small Pokémon while the 2 Lucarios were meditating...far away from each other to not get in a fight. "...No, I'm sick of getting depressed."

"That's good, it will help, and now, let's begin with the first plan!"

First Plan

"Plan number 1! Talk with your own Pokémon!" Chris said.

"Isn't this plan number 2?" Pichu asked.

"Shut up, Pichu." Chris whispered. "The goal of this plan is simple, talk to your Pokémon and find a theme that will get him interested!"

"Like what?" Maylene asked.

"Who's the owner of the killer Pokémon?"

"...Me..."

"So, talk about his likes or something!"

Maylene looked at her Lucario walked to him. "...H-hey Lucario, do you want to talk with me?"

"Grrr..." Was her Lucario's response.

"It's no use, I'm getting him angry!" She shouted at Chris.

"Don't worry, press on!" Chris responded.

Maylene made a worried smile and looked again at her Aura Pokémon and sat next to him. "Do you want me to meditate with you like usual?"

"Grrr..." Was her Lucario's response again, and this time, he was a little annoyed.

"I'm getting worried now!" Maylene shouted.

"Just ignore his grunts!"

By gulping, Maylene got in meditation and began to stay silent. "(...It's working?...)" She thought.

"...It's working, Rii?" Riolu asked curiously.

"I hope so..." Chris said.

"Well, he hasn't started to punch her yet." Pichu said.

"Pichu!" Chris and Jigglypuff said angrily.

Maylene opened one eye to glance at her Lucario and closed it again. "(...I don't get it, I know that meditating is just to get calm, but how is this going to get my Lucario to like me?)"

"Oh no, she's going to mess it up, I'm getting that feeling..." Chris said.

And Maylene looked at Chris again. "Now what?"

"MAYLENE!" The others shouted before Maylene got attacked by her Lucario, inside a cloud of dust like the last time.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Maylene screamed from the cloud.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!" Her Lucario grunted while he continued to punch her like a maniac.

"LUCARIO!" Chris shouted to his Lucario.

"(I already predicted what is going to happen after these plans...)" Chris's Lucario thought while he entered inside the cloud to stop the attack.

Second Plan

"Geez, what kind of Pokémon is he? He got angry when you stopped meditating!" Jigglypuff said.

Maylene got another bandage, but on her right hand. "AAAAAAHHH! MY LUCARIO WILL NEVER LIKE ME AGAIN!" She cried.

"Don't say that, Rii!" Riolu tried to cheer her up, but then she was quickly embraced by Maylene and wagged her tail.

"How about if you become my new Pokémon?" Maylene asked.

"Ri?" Riolu asked, stopping to wag her tail.

Chris noticed that the angry Lucario heard that and glared at Riolu, then his Lucario glared at him. "Forget about that Maylene!"

"But why? She's so cuddly!" Maylene said.

"Riii!" Riolu responded happily.

"Don't support her!" Jigglypuff said.

The angry Lucario got angrier, and so did the other Lucario.

But the World Traveler took action and Riolu away from Maylene, ending the glares. "Sorry, but this Riolu will stay away from a trainer." He said, petting her head. "Plan number 2! Give him a hug!"

"...A hug?" Maylene, Pichu and Jigglypuff asked confused in unison.

"I'm never going to give my Lucario a hug, for 2 reasons, 1, did you forget about the spike on his chest? And 2, hello to the cemetery." Maylene said.

"Maylene, I'm aware of that, I hug my Lucario with the precaution to stay away from his spike, just hug him by any side!" Chris said.

"But what if my Lucario gets angry that he already is?"

"If we do this later, it'll be worse."

Maylene got up and walked again to her Lucario. "...I want to see an example first!" She shouted.

"Okay..." Chris walked to his Lucario and gave him a hug from his left side. "Have I ever told you that you're my favorite Pokémon?" He asked and Lucario growled happily.

"(...Now this will work for sure...)" Maylene hugged her Lucario by his right side. "I love you, Lucario."

Everyone stayed silent for a moment, not for what Maylene said, since she was a girl and said that just like friends, because her Lucario didn't responded at her appreciation.

"(...Worst thing that could happen is Lucario saying that he loves her...but I mean LOVE...)" Chris thought preocupied.

"...Do you want to say anything?" Maylene asked.

"...Yes..." Her Lucario responded and Maylene quickly smiled.

"What?" She asked.

Her Lucario got up and the aura started to engulf his hands. "...DON'T...INTERRUPT...MY MEDITATION! GGGGGGGGUUUUUAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Maylene screamed and ran away at high speed, but her Lucario was faster than her and they heard a lot of punches.

And Chris's Lucario already went to stop both of them as Chris frowned to himself and smacked his head in a nearby tree. "WHY THIS KEEPS HAPPENNING?!" He asked, yelling.

Meanwhile, with Red, Reggie, Squirtle and Pikachu...

"Tell me you're lying..." Red repeated.

"No, I'm not lying." Reggied responded.

"Seriously, you have to be lying now!" Pikachu said.

"I'm not! This is a solution!"

If you were wondering, they were disguised as Charizards, but Pikachu was a Charmander.

"Reggie, I know this is not going to work!" Red said inside the Charizard costume. "And where did you got these costumes?"

"Believe me, most of these things are coveniently scattered around." Pikachu said sweatdropping. "You can find a 5-star costume close to Cerulean City too."

"And why do I have to be dressed as a Bulbasaur?" Squirtle asked, because he was wearing a Bulbasaur costume, but in 2 legs.

"Sorry, couldn't find another Charmander costume, besides, it fits you perfectly." Reggie responded.

"But it itches!" The Water Pokémon complained, scratching his neck.

"Anyway!" Reggie began. "If you want to find a Charizard, you first need to be one!"

"I'm starting to wonder how did you get all those badges Maylene told me about..." Red wondered.

"Trust me Red, this always works."

"Chances are he's telling the truth, it's a cliché." Pikachu whispered to Squirtle.

"Second, we need to act like Charizards, by putting our hands, or claws, like this." Reggie put his hands like he wanted to grab something, and Red did the same. "Now, the next thing is, roar."

"...Roar?" Red asked confused. "Please, you've got to be kidding me..."

Reggie started to roar and Pikachu and Red didn't had any choice but to do the same, except for Squirtle, who kept walking around and scratching all the parts he could reach.

"I'm getting bored!" Squirtle said annoyed.

"Yeah, this is not working Reggie!" Red tapped Reggie's shoulder, and he turned to him and tilted his head. "Now you're going to tell me that I need to be confused at the whole situation?"

Reggie kept his position. "What's wrong with Reggie?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't know, he doesn't talk anymore!" Pikachu said.

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Reggie asked, appearing from behind them.

"Reggie, do something about Reggie, he doesn't respond to us!" Red said and did a double-take. "Wait, what are doing here if you're there?"

"I went to the bathroom." Reggie responded, glancing at the other Reggie. "You won't believe that there was a bathroom close to us, how convenient!"

"Wait, if Reggie is here, but Reggie is right over here, then who's the first Reggie?" Pikachu asked before he jumped to Reggie and opened the mouth to find 4 sharp fangs and a tongue. "...Guys..."

"...He is not Reggie, right?" Squirtle, the Bulbasaur, asked.

"I'm over here!" Reggie reminded them.

Red glanced behind the back of the first Reggie and saw the tail with a flame and gasped. "THIS IS THE CHARIZARD WE WERE LOOKING FOR!" He said and Pikachu jumped from Charizard.

The Charizard didn't do anything and he just stood there, glancing at them. "...Why he doesn't attacks us?" Pikachu asked.

"Probably because we're still wearing the costumes." Reggie responded.

"What?! You mean this Charizard is as stupid as Ash doesn't realizes he talks with Team Rocket every day?!" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"...Looks like it..."

Pikachu threw his hands up. "Great, everyone in the whole universe is stupid."

Charizard glared at Squirtle, who was a Bulbasaur. "...Hey there..." Squirtle responded chuckling a little and Charizard stomped his foot on the earth. "Is that some kind of form to say we're friends?" He asked sweating.

"Yes, and those flames gathering on his mouth are clearly the flames of "I want to stay with you!", and then, he will probably get you inside his stomach which it's his room." Pikachu said sarcastically.

"In english, RUN AWAY!" Red shouted at the top of his lungs and Squirtle sprinted away while Charizard chased after him while he roared. "...Wait! That's my only Pokémon! Come back here!"

Those words are clearly a statement that he chased after the 2 Pokémon.

Reggie looked at Pikachu, who was pulling his fake wing. "Shouldn't we chase them down too?"

"Er, right! Follow them!" Reggie said shaking his head and both went after the 3.

Behind the bushes, however, King Dedede, Wolf and Ganondorf appeared.

"Why do we always have to be hiding behind bushes?" Wolf asked.

"It's the main villain's first place to hide," King Dedede said. "Now, anyone has a plan to convince dat stubborn dragon? Not like the furry's plan?" Dedede looked below him to see a claw about to cut his throat and back stepped from it, scared. "YIKES!"

"I'm not a furry, remember that." Wolf said glaring at Dedede.

"Quiet you 2," Ganondorf said. "First, we have to wait for the exact moment to ask him, or in this case, capture him when they fail to do so."

"That's why we're gonna follow them in secret, right?" Wolf asked.

"Just like that, nothing simplier can be thought about." Ganondorf said smirking.

"Well, what the hell are we waitin' for?" Dedede asked as he snuck his way through the bushes, Wolf just frowned because the penguin was way bigger than the bushes themselves but followed him with Ganondorf.

"HEY! DON'T BURN ME!" Squirtle pleaded for mercy, becoming numb to the itching sensation he was getting from the costume. "REEEEED!"

"I'm coming just behind him! AH!" Red did something unexpected and jumped and grabbed Charizard's throat, Charizard didn't liked what the other "Charizard" did and he rose up to the sky, then Red glanced down. "HEY! TAKE ME DOWN, YOU FREAK!"

Red's face was seen from Charizard's view and the dragon turned his head and gasped a little. "OH, COME ON, IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS!" Red yelled before noticing that an evily smirk appeared on Charizard and gulped, what was the Charizard going to do was probably something really bad for Red.

What he did was to go crazy, flying in the air to make Red to puke, the plan of the dragon was working, Red's face became green...heheh...colors...

"I'm not feeling so good..." Red said weakly.

Then Charizard grabbed Red and flew high into the air, the trainer didn't wanted to scream or else he was going to puke, Charizard stopped in the air and threw Red at high speed towards another direction, but the trainer didn't yelled and Reggie, Squirtle and Pikachu watched him getting away before running after him, thus forgetting about catching Charizard until later.

Charizard landed on the grass, smirking like a total idiot before walking away, however, on his path, he stepped right inside a trap and was captured inside a cage, the dragon began to get furious and started to use Flamethrower on the steel bars to get away, but it didn't worked and he used Rock Smash, unfortunately, all what he received was a bump on his head and roared furiously after that, demanding to see who captured him.

"I'm gonna guess you're gonna say" Play time's over" again." Dedede asked with a grin while his 2 other companions appeared, walking towards the cage with Charizard inside.

Charizard roared furiously. "Settle down, you dragon," Ganondorf began. "We're not here to capture you."

Charizard got a little confused and decided to listen at the words of his captors. "Aren't you a good dragon?" Wolf joked, making Charizard to grunt a little. "I assume you want to hear what are we going to do with you, right?" Charizard nodded with a glare. "Very well, but first, eat this device."

Charizard took the device from Wolf and he swallowed it, before coughing. "Wh-what the hell did you just gave me?... What the?! I can talk like you?!" Charizard asked surprised.

"Correct my friend, the device you just ate was a translator, it helps you to talk normally like many do." Ganondorf explained to him.

"Okay, I heard something not annoying, now, GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!" Charizard asked, roaring furiously.

"Calm down, if I were to tell you that you could get an absolute power, would you listen to my words?"

Charizard stopped roaring and crossed his arms. "Absolute power? Ha! Now you're kidding there! I'm already powerful!"

Dedede laughed. "And still, you can't escape from that cage."

"...You got a point there...WAIT! LET ME OUT!"

"Absolute power, remember?" Wolf asked with a smirk.

"...Fine, fine, how can I get that absolute power, thingy, you're talking about?"

"That is simple, the only way to get that is to join us, the Subspace Army, and once you accompany us to our leader, you will get what you seek." Ganondorf explained to him.

"The guy with the funny way to talk is weird...but it does makes sense to me...maybe..." Charizard thought for a moment. "But, I like to mess around with that stupid trainer and his Squirtle..."

"And you will do it forever, there will be more idiots to mess around, including the trainer."

"...Sounds good to me then, alright, you got a deal, AND GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!"

Wolf simply walked to the cage and grabbed 2 bars, then, for Charizard's surprise, Wolf bended both bars with 4 other bars, making a way to let Charizard get out.

"How did you..." Charizard asked.

"Absolute power." Wolf responded smirking, while Ganondorf explained all the things Charizard needed to know, leaving Wolf to talk with Dedede. "I can't believe your plan worked..."

"The enforced bar cage with 6 weak bars has never failed to me." King Dedede whispered to him.

"Are we done here yet?"

"Nah, the green dude said we were going to capture another creature like the dragon."

Wolf frowned at this. "More nuisances to tolerate..."

Back with Maylene and Chris...

Ninth Plan

By the time they got to plan number 9, Maylene was really beaten up, but nevertheless, she never gave up.

...Which was a very bad decision for her own sake...

Chris was shown covering his forehead with his right hand and frowning. "I still can't believe you can survive through all the things he has done to you..."

"It's 'cuz I'm strong!" Maylene responded stupidly, all the damage she has received was really bad to her own self.

"Ugh, Pichu, use Thunder Shock on her again."

"Will do!" Pichu responded, zapping Maylene to return her to her senses.

"Moving on, plan number 9 Maylene!... What's that thing in the sky?"

"I need to ask him that?" Maylene asked confused.

At that moment, both Lucarios's appendages spreaded a little and glanced at the sky. "It's Red." Chris's Lucario pointed out.

"And it's heading towards..." Chris looked at Maylene. "Maylene..."

"Hey, why is his face all green?" Jigglypuf asked confused.

"Red! You're going to crash in me! Change directions!" Maylene shouted.

"Another Thundershock?" Pichu suggested.

"BLUUUUUUUUAAAARRGGGGHHHH!!" It was not long before they heard someone puking in the sky and...

...Well, you know what happened next...

10 minutes later...

Chris's Lucario was able to find a lake close to their location, and Maylene got out from the water and dried her hair with a towel Reggie gave her.

"Red, I'm seriously mad at you for what you did a while ago!" Maylene said angrily to Red.

"I-I'm sorry, but that stupid Charizard flew like crazy in the air and threw me towards you!" Red said on his defense.

"He is telling the truth Maylene, Charizard knew how to mess around with Red." Reggie said.

"What?! Charizard was using me as a toy then?"

"Obviously, if he did that, he's a bully." Jigglypuff said.

"Wait, I haven't seen Mewtwo for a while..." Chris said, just then, Mewtwo teleported to them. "Mewtwo! Did you find Charizard?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "No, I have bad news, they managed to capture Charizard."

At this moment, Red kicked a rock, and jumped grabbing his foot from the damage. "DAMMIT! THINGS COULDN'T GET MUCH WORSER!"

Maylene sighed. "They are, I have been trying to get my Lucario to like me, so far, I got myself a new scar on my hand." She showed Red and scar she recently got.

"...Oookay...things are getting worser then..."

"Do you know what are they going to do next?" Reggie asked to Mewtwo.

"I do, their next move is to find an Ivysaur in the Viridian Forest." Mewtwo explained to them.

"An Ivysaur?! Now they want an Ivysaur?! No way, I'm getting an Ivysaur first before them!" Red proclaimed angrily. "Now, where is the Viridian Forest?!"

"Here." Chris's Lucario responded, pointing to a sign with:

Welcome to Viridian Forest, beware of the Bug Pokémon! (...)

Viridian Forest

"...Well, that was fast." Squirtle said.

Pichu examined the sign closer and found something. "Hey, there's something written on it..." He said.

"What does it says?" Reggie asked.

"It says..."

(Gary was here, Red is a loser.)

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT GUY WHEN I SEE HIM!" Red yelled angrily before running inside the forest to find the Ivysaur.

And the others sighed in unison before following the trainer with the stubborn personality, when they catched up with Red, Chris decided to continue with his plan.

13th Plan

"Plan number 13!" Chris said proudly.

"You skipped 4 other plans!" Pichu pointed out.

"Shut up, Pichu!" Chris whispered angrily. "Now for our next step, Maylene, this time, you're going to give Lucario...hmm...this!" He took out a Sitrus Berry that he found laying below a tree of berries.

Maylene took the berry. "A Sitrus Berry? Well, he hasn't eat something in hours so..." She walked right to her Lucario, who was walking alongside everyone else. "Lucario, do you want to eat something?"

"Hmm... I'm not hungry now." Her Lucario responded, crossing his arms before his stomach grumbled.

The odd thing was that he glared at his own stomach...

Maylene chuckled a little bit. "You have to eat to stay healthy, now eat."

And for the first time, the plan was working, her Lucario blushed a little bit and took the berry slowly and began to eat it.

"..." Maylene walked towards Chris. "It worked! Look, he's blushing!"

"Working! Working! Working! Rii!" Riolu repeated happily.

"It is really working! I can't believe it, Maylene, we got him now where we wanted, let's move on to the next plan!" Chris said excited.

15th Plan

"Plan number 18!"

"It's the 15th, actually..." Pichu pointed out.

"Shut up, Pichu!" Same person whispered angrily. "Okay, we're going to get help from everyone else...and the first person is..." He grabbed Riolu. "Our favorite Emanation, cute and young Pokémon, Riolu!"

"Riiiii!" Riolu said very happily.

"That's right! She will be the perfect starter for our next plan, called, "Jealous." Chris said a little darkly.

"Jealous?" Maylene repeated confused.

"You see, I used my mind when you hugged her and got the attention of our target, then, I thought cuddling Riolu was the only way to draw his attention!"

Riolu began to think and her eyes were filling with tears. "I don't want to die, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Grrrrr." Chris's Lucario's response, making Chris to sweatdrop.

"D-d-d-don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen to her, I swear! If something does happens to her...well...you can...I don't know! Riolu, don't worry, everything is going to be fine, I promise!"

"You promise, Riii?"

Chris hugged Riolu tightly. "Of course! You're my favorite young Pokémon! I'll never think about putting you in danger!"

"Riiii! Everyone likes me, Riiii!" Riolu responded, wiping her tears and smiling, then Chris gave her to Maylene.

"Walk nearby your Lucario and say a lot of good things to Riolu, but do it until he gets angry because he doesn't receives the same appreciation an-"

"What about me, Rii?"

"When he walks towards you, throw Riolu to me and start to rub his head and say a lot of good things then!"

This time, Maylene thought it was going to work, so she and Riolu walked nearby the angry Lucario. "Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! I really like your name! Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! You're my favorite Pokémon! Riolu! Riolu! Riolu!"

"Ri! Ri! Ri! Ri! Riiiii!!" Riolu sang along Maylene, being happy again, of course.

Maylene threw Riolu slightly in front of her like a baby. "Look! You're flying! Now you're a Fighting type and a Flying type!"

"Riiiii!!" Riolu said happily.

"...Grrr..."

Maylene narrowed her eyes at her Lucario, then she looked at Riolu. "You know Riolu, I was thinking if you could be my newest Pokémon on the Gym! I'm sure you would be perfect for the lastest but important spot of my team!"

Riolu's eyes beamed with glee. "Really? Ri?"

Maylene nodded with a smile. "Of course! You're going to be my soon-to-be shiny, Aura Pokémon!"

"GRRRRRRRR!!"

"RIIIIIIIIIII!!" Riolu cried because Maylene's Lucario charged towards her, showing his fangs.

"(NOW!)" Maylene yelled inside her mind and she quickly sent Riolu towards Chris, who catched her in time and hugged her tightly and Maylene quickly turned her back and embraced her Lucario. "Forget what I said before, you're still my Aura Pokémon!"

"Grrrrr..."

"(His grunt this time isn't directed towards me, but he didn't punched me either, it's working!) I'm so happy Lucario!"

"...Hmph..."

Reggie walked towards Chris. "Looks like it's working now."

"Of course!" Chris noticed that Riolu was crying a little. "Don't cry Riolu, you helped a lot on this plan...I better stop saying "a lot" a lot now..." His right eye twitched, but Riolu was wagging her tail. "You're still cute and cuddly!" And he received more odd stares from Red and Squirtle. "...What? I like cute things!"

19th Plan

"Plan number 19!"

"Now is fine!" Pichu said.

"Shut up, Pichu!" He whispered angrily. "Our next move is to...talk to Mewtwo about a match, but tell him you're going to use another Pokémon instead of Lucario, that will attract his attention, and when that happens, call whatever Pokémon you're going to use back!"

Maylene called her Machoke out. "You mean Machoke?"

"Ma-choke!" Machoke said, flexing his muscles.

"Perfect! Now go and talk to Mewtwo!" Chris said.

"Right!" Maylene and her Machoke walked towards Mewtwo. "Mewtwo, I was wondering if you wanted to have a match with me..."

"(Mewtwo, tell her this.)" Chris said telepathically, trying to call Mewtwo who got the call and nodded, crossing his arms.

"No, Fighting type Pokémon are weak against me." Mewtwo responded bluntly, then, Maylene's Lucario glanced at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, come on! I'll show you how strong the Fighting type Pokémon are! My strongest Pokémon of my team is..." She narrowed her eyes at her Lucario, then she glanced at Machoke. "Machoke!"

"Choke! Ma-choke!" Machoke responded crossing his arms.

"Grrr..."

Machoke felt a scary feeling on his back, but shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Mewtwo. "So, what do you say?" Maylene asked with a grin.

"I told you, he is not a worthy opponent." Mewtwo responded bluntly.

Maylene told Machoke to approach his ear at her. "I know you can cut down that tree, but I need you to look weak to him, don't worry, I'll think about adding more weights to your routine."

"Machoke!" Machoke responded nodding in agreedment.

"Okay! I'm gonna show you power! Machoke, cut down that tree!"

"Choke!" Machoke ran towards the tree Maylene told him to cut down and he prepared his fist to break it. "...Ma?" A cloud with Maylene on it appeared above him.

"Remember, there's no way a Machoke can evolve into Machamp without trading him...or her." The Maylene of the cloud said and Machoke shook his head, to find what Maylene told him to do. "My greatest Gym Leader to fight with Fighting type Pokémon is Chuck!" Again, he shook his head. "My love interest is Bruno!" She giggled and blushed. "Or was it Brawly? Heheheh!" More giggles, but then, she got out of the cloud and smacked his head. "Hey! Remember! I know you can cut down that tree, but I need you to look weak to him, don't worry, I'll think about adding more weights to your routine...routine...routine...routine...routine...routine...routine...routine...do I really need to repeat it in these moments? Moments? Moments? Moments? Moments? Moments? Moments? Moments?" The cloud with Maylene disappeared and Machoke hit the tree...weakly and faked to have been injured.

Maylene gasped (by faking it, of course) and put her hands on her cheeks. "Oh no! I don't have a strong Pokémon to cut down a single one tree?! This is so bad!"

"You're a failure." Mewtwo said.

Maylene opened her hand at the sun, trying to sound like a poet. "Is there a strong, Fighting type Pokémon, preferably blue, yellow, black with spikes and red, menacing eyes?" Chris smacked his forehead at this statement. "That can break a tree or 2?"

"GUUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!" Her Lucario roared furiously and thrusted his glowing fists into the tree, and cut it down.

"Alright!" Maylene called her Machoke back. "Now what do you think Mewtwo?"

"Hmm..." Mewtwo began to talk to Maylene for a while and Pikachu sighed in relief.

"Everything is going as planned." Pikachu said.

They heard a loud sound coming from behind them, unfortunately, Maylene's Lucario was showing off his strength by breaking down more trees. "DEFORESTATION!" Jigglypuff screamed terrorized before noticing that a tree was going to crush them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Chris, Riolu, Red, Reggie, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Squirtle screamed in horror and blocked their faces.

Just before the tree could hit them, however, Chris unblocked his face and looked at his Lucario carrying the tree above him without problems. "Thank goodness Lucario!" He hugged his Lucario from behind. "You're a really a hero with that brute force!"

His Lucario growled happily and threw the tree away from them. "Big brother! You're so strong, Riii!" Riolu hugged her brother too, growling a little.

However after that plan, his plans were starting to go downhill...

They were sitting in a circle, without the 2 Lucarios and Mewtwo. "Plan number 23? Dress him up?" Chris suggested.

"I'm not like all the girls out there!" Maylene protested.

"Plan number 24? Play a wrestling match with him?"

"Maylene's gonna die then." Pikachu said.

"And I know you didn't do that with your Lucario either." Maylene said.

"(She's sharp.) Plan number 25? ...Hmm...give him coffee!"

"How is that going to work?" Reggie asked.

"That will only get him more energetic and ready to kill Maylene!" Pikachu said.

"Plan number 26? Tell him a joke!"

"He never laughs, I tried one time and he got angry." Maylene said.

"And that will kill her too!" Pikachu said.

"...Okay, stop with telling what will kill her, now." Red said.

"Try number 27 Maylene!" Chris said. "Play a little game of Tag with Lucario!"

"That won't work either!" Squirtle said.

"Try number 28? Wash him?"

"I don't think so..." Red said.

Maylene got up and walked towards her Lucario, making Chris to gasp. "No! You're going to get-"

"Killed!" Pikachu added quickly and Chris glared at him.

"Lucario?"

Her Lucario opened one eye. "Yes? What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you...still...like me..."

"Why are you asking me that now?"

Maylene made a fist and closed her eyes. "Because ever since Ash left, you have been treating me like you were a bully or something! I want you to stop, please! That really hurts me! I'm starting to think you don't like me anymore!"

"...And?"

"What do you mean "and"? Please, I want to know if you like me or not!"

"...Do you want to know now?"

"Yes! It's going to ease my pain!"

"Then...Maylene..." He stayed silent for a moment and Maylene got preocupied. "I...personally...hate you..."

"WHAT?!" Everyone asked in unison surprised.

"Wh-what do you mean you hate me?!" Maylene asked while tears started to appear on her eyes.

"You're not assuming your position as a Gym Leader anymore, I thought that was your dream, but after seeing your last battles...you have lost your spirit..."

"My spirit?!"

"Yes, I'm starting to think about leaving you."

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE SOOOO GOING DOWN NOW!" Chris lunged at Maylene's Lucario and both started to fight.

Unfortunately, Chris was defeated by just one punch. "Oww...ouch...oww...this is what I get for trying to win a fight against a Lucario...oww..." He moaned in pain.

"Lucario! You...you don't mean it! I swear I'm going to do my best again!" Maylene said crying.

"And you'll lost the spirit again, I can't tolerate that anymore." Her Lucario said, glaring at her.

"Now you're saying stupid things!" Pikachu said angrily. "She will do it! You have faith on her!"

Maylene's Lucario shook his head. "I'm leaving now..."

Maylene grabbed her leg. "NO! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Lucario, you're starting to have a bad reason to leave her, I order you to stay with her and decide whether you should leave her or not." Reggie said calmly.

Mewtwo put a hand on his shoulder, but he received a grunt. "Listen to them, I once was manipulated by my own rage that it blinded me from the truth."

"Grrr..."

"Thirsty for a fight, I presume...but for now, you should stay a little longer and make a decision."

Chris raised a finger from the grass. "Do it!"

"..." Maylene's Lucario kicked her away from him and got in meditation, but Maylene sighed and looked down sadly.

The World Traveler got up and dusted off his green clothes (if you forgot, he was still using the Swordsman job) and walked and sat next to Maylene. "I'm sorry Maylene, all our tries were all in vain..."

Maylene shook his head and wiped out her tears. "No...it's okay...it was fun while it lasted...I guess my Lucario will never be like your calm and peaceful Lucario..."

"...Who said my Lucario is calm and peaceful?"

"What?"

"There was a time when my Lucario got furious and enraged for something, it had to do something with me, but that left a serious and emotional memory on my mind..."

"Big brother was furious? Ri?" Riolu asked, sitting on his lap.

"Yes...but...if you want to hear that event..."

"No! If that was painful, then don't try to remember it!" Maylene said.

"...I must tell that or all of you are going to be bothered later..."

His Lucario sat next to him. "Chris, don't do that, is not necessary..."

"One day...I was going to die..." Chris said and they gasped.

"Really?" Maylene asked surprised.

He slowly nodded, embracing his legs. "Yes...I was never terrified like that again...forutnately..."

Flashback

Real World

Chris's House
Chris's Room

"It's getting away! Don't let him escape or else!"

"I'm on it! Keep doing your part while I finish him!"

"Oh no, he's spreading all those orange explosives! They're like 20!"

"Now?"

"Yes! Draw a star!"

"Understood!"

"..."

"...LET'S USE IT BEFORE IT WEARS OFF!"

BANG!

"The Stigma has been erradicated!"

Chris jumped with joy after receiving an S rank for their cooperation in the operation. "We did it! We cleared this mission with an S rank! Thank you so much Lucario!"

"Our movements were fully syncronized, I'm amazed by your quick-thinking." Lucario remarked and received a hug.

"Oh yes, with you on my side, we can't lose without winning with a perfect score!"

"...You know this is the Easy difficulty right?"

"...God, we're pathetic..." Both started to laugh heartily after this and they looked at the clock. "It's 11:00 already?"

"We have been playing this game for 5 hours straight." Lucario pointed out.

Chris yawned and turned off the console. "Okay, let's continue tomorrow since it's Saturday, meaning no school and fortunately, all my homework is ready too."

Lucario yawned, showing his fangs for a second. "If you say so..."

Both of them got in the bed and fell asleep, but after an hour, Chris felt fur touching his face and opened his eyes to look up to find a happy Lucario sleeping deeply. "...Lucario?..." Lucario snored a little. "...Lucario?..."

"Urgh...yes?"

"Can you tell me why is my head...under your arm and touching your furry yellow chest?"

"I wanted to have you closer to me."

"...Okay, that's just creepy..."

"...I'm not that kind of people and you know it..."

"Well, that's true...you can release me anytime now..."

"No."

"NOW!"

Lucario embraced him tightly. "I don't want to! I'm feeling happy for at least faking a situation to protect you!"

"Protect me? Faking it?"

"Yes, please, let me do it for this night! Just once!"

"...Can I ask you a question first?"

"Fine."

"Are you going to protect me and not never leave my side forever?"

Lucario rubbed his cheek with his head. "You're the only person in the whole world to live with that will not run away and accept my presence."

Chris leaned his head to his chest. "Lucario! Of course I'll accept for what you are!"

"Master!"

"AHEM."

"I mean, Chris!"

"That's more like it, and yes, you can do this for this night!" Lucario got too far and used his brute force to embrace him tightly. "But...don't...get...too...far...either!"

Lucario gasped and blushed a little. "Sorry..."

Chris inhaled air quickly. "Phew...okay, but first, let me go to the bathroom."

The Aura Pokémon nodded and Chris walked towards the bathroom in the farthest point of the house, Lucario decided to rest and wait for him to get done.

But as soon as he was going to sleep, a loud sound was heard like a window breaking and his appendages spreaded a little bit and growled silently. "Grrrrrrr...I sense another person inside the house...and his aura is red..." His eyes glowed brightly and he closed them, the person that got inside the house looked around his surroundings and hid behind a wall because the person found light coming from a door. "Why is he hiding behind the wall? It's something wrong there?... Wait, the door...is where..." Another figure got out from the room and the person quickly grabbed him by the back and blocked his mouth. "IS WHERE CHRIS IS!" Lucario grunted in rage and got out quickly from the bed, then he ran at high speed to the living room where the person was menacing Chris with a knife close to his throat.

Living Room

"Now kid, tell me where is the fortune!" The person was a thief that wanted to steal the money that Chris has gotten from his parents, and since he was living alone with Lucario in a big house, the money should be a fortune.

"HMHMMMMMHMHMHHM!! (I'M NOT A KID! GET OFF ME OR ELSE!!)" Chris said under his glove.

"Not the helpful kind, aren't you?" The thief approached the knife closer to his throat and Chris's eyes shrunk in fear, just then, Lucario came from the other side and glared at the thief. "W-WHAT IS THAT?! A MONSTER?!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!" Lucario grunted in pure rage and walked slowly towards the thief.

"S-S-STAY AWAY! OR THIS KID WILL PAY THE PRICE WITH HIS LIFE!"

Chris trembled in fear and he began to cry loudly under the hand, the cries sounded like whimpers, which made Lucario to back away.

"O-O-OKAY, STAY THERE AND DON'T DO ANYTHING!... What's this water coming from my glove?... YUCK!" Chris decided to spit out saliva from his mouth and run towards Lucario after the thief released him, but he didn't liked what Chris did to him and took his knife from the floor. "Y-YOU INSOLENT KID! DIE!" The thief threw the knife directed towards Chris's head and he turned his back and screamed loudly to try to resist the attack.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!" Lucario quickly used Extremespeed to appear on the way of the knife and he punched it on its tip, breaking with a fist charged with aura and he looked behind him where Chris was sitting on the floor, crying and hugging his legs in terror. "Chris...nothing bad happened...don't worry..."

"Aha...aha..." Chris didn't listened and he continued to cry.

"Are you going to protect me and not never leave my side forever?"

Lucario rubbed his cheek with his head. "You're the only person in the whole world to live with that will not run away and accept my presence."

Chris leaned his head to his chest. "Lucario! Of course I'll accept for what you are!"

"Master!"

Lucario felt a sudden feeling of his own blood boiling inside him, his pupils shrunk but not in the same way of someone surprised, but rather it made him to look menacing than before like a beast, he slowly showed his fangs in fury and his aura started to cover his whole body, his appendages spreaded like the last time and his eyes shone brightly, when he made his hands fists, the sound of something cracking was made and the floor below him crumbled like a wave hit it, the thief backed away to the wall and looked quickly for a way to escape, then he remembered that he got inside by the terrace and decided to run towards it.

But as soon as he was going to get out, he noticed that Lucario was holding his neck and lifted him above the floor.

"HOW DARE YOU...HOW DARE YOU TO TRY TO HURT AND MAKE MY MASTER TO CRY?!" Lucario asked enraged by the actions of the thief.

"N-NO! P-PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME! I'M INNOCENT! I'M INNOCENT!" The thief pleaded for mercy but Lucario didn't listened and approached his face with the thief's and roared furiously. "NO!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Lucario turned his back and slammed the thief on the floor with extreme force, the thief's back suddenly made a sound like it broke, then Lucario raised his fist in the air and charged it with all the aura of his body, before hitting the thief where his heart was, but something happened...

...Lucario's fist crossed the skin, flesh, bones and went crossing to the other side of the thief and punched the floor, creating a tremble, Chris watched terrified from far away and Lucario raised the now dead body of the assassin to the air, where he made the hole and the blood began to pour down his arm, Lucario looked outside where the thief came from and he roared enraged and threw the thief with all his forces to somewhere in the distance, his power full, his rage and fury pushed it to the max level.

The aura around him disappeared, his eyes stopped glowing and his appendages lowered slowly to their original position, then, he turned his back and walked slowly where Chris was crying, he kneeled to him and offered to carry him back to the bed. "Let's go..."

"S-STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Lucario blinked confused. "W-why?"

"Y-YOUR HAND...YOUR HAND IS COVERED IN BLOOD!"

Lucario quickly looked at his right hand and gasped, his whole arm was now covered in a bloody red color, even his spike looked like it crossed something, his eyes twitched in horror and his mouth was trembling a little.

"I...I don't want to...I DON'T WANT TO BE TOUCHED BY BLOOD! IT SCARES ME!" And then, he began to cry loudly and Lucario closed his eyes in shame and walked away from him, he looked at what he did, there was still blood filling the cracks his force made and the trail of blood didn't ended there because when he threw the body outside, the blood made a trail from the room to where the thief's body went far in the distance...

That night, Lucario felt a godly-like power...but it scared Chris in the process...

The next day...

Chris's Room

The soon-to-be World Traveler didn't felt well in the morning, he wasn't able to sleep and Lucario was busy fixing all the things he broke, including the blood in the living room and to make sure nobody suspects about where it came from outside, because he woke up earlier and hid the blood outside by spreading ground on it.

Lucario quickly appeared using Extremespeed, knelt to Chris, who was in the bed. "The blood it's gone and all the damage has been repaired." He said bowing his head.

"G-good..." Chris responded trembling and Lucario sat next to him.

"Are you feeling well?"

"N-no...I'm never going to get over it...never..."

"I'm sorry...I...I was so furious yesterday...and I-"

"We interrupt your usual program schedule for breaking news in the morning." Chris was watching another episode of Pokémon to try and forget about yesterday's event but it got suddenly interrupted by the TV news. "We got a report of the mysterious thief AKA the silent robber, who has been found dead near the district. Apparently, reports indicate that his heart was crushed and was destroyed by a strong impact that went crossing the other side of his body, no signs of bullets were found in the research, but the scientists assume it was another force, a superhuman force." The reporter chuckled at this. "Of course, this is obviously a joke, nothing like something or someone with superhuman force is impossible to exist, however, there was no sign of clues and we couldn't find the source either, however, families will be safe for now and things will get calmer and peaceful once again, more at 12:00 AM." The news ended and the program continued where it left.

Chris only hid his face on his pillow and began to cry, the Aura Pokémon only embraced his trainer and rubbed his back to calm him down, after that, he sniffed and his own tears fell on Chris and they continued for minutes, trying to forget what happened.

End of flashback

"After that, Lucario explained to me that he was furious to lose me, but also, he was crying deep inside and a sudden power took over him and...he killed that thief...with his own hands..." Chris said, ending his narration and tears began to appear on his eyes. "I was really scared...his usual behavior wasn't like this time, he was a beast...a beast full of-"

"Fury." Mewtwo finished.

"...Yes..."

His Lucario embraced him tightly. "But you're still living because I protected you."

"And I should be happy for that...but...Lucario! Don't leave my side, I don't want to be alone anymore!"

"I won't, Master."

"Please don't ruin it with that." Chris frowned at this.

"Sorry Chris."

"...That was going to happen to you?" Red asked surprised and Chris nodded slowly. "I guess you were lucky to liv-"

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

"I-I mean, at least thanks to Lucario you're living!"

"It's like when Lucario saved me from Mightyena..." Maylene said remembering.

"That's why Pokémon with strong bonds are helpful," Reggie pointed out. "They protect you from all dangers."

"My big brother is a hero, Riiii!" Riolu said happily, hugging his brother who growled happily along with her.

"(...Saving the one you love...)" Maylene's Lucario thought secretly.

Squirtle yawned a little. "I'm glad everything went well...speaking of which, it's getting late now, we should rest for today and continue to search for Ivysaur tomorrow."

"I'm tired..." Jigglypuff said.

"Me too..." Pikachu and Jigglypuff said in unison.

"I shall search around the forest in the night, don't try to search for me, I'll be back once I got a clue." Mewtwo said, floating away from them and disappearing in the woods.

"W-wait! Can you at least tell us how to start a-" Red looked behind him to find a campfire. "...Campfire..."

"Done." Mewtwo said from afar.

"Oh, good, I don't have a bed to sleep on now..." Chris said disappointed.

Reggie was sleeping using a rock. "You'll get used to it."

"...I'm starting to wonder who's the most mature of all of us here..." Chris looked in front of him to find Riolu smiling at him, then he looked above him to find his Lucario. "...Oh brother, are you going to be a bed or something?" Lucario nodded. "...Well, your fur is the most softest thing around here so..." He was embraced tightly again. "...Nevermind...good night Lucario, good night Riolu, good night Pikachu, good night Pichu, good night Jigglypuff, good night Reggie, good night Red, good night Squirtle, good night May-"

"STOP ALREADY! Ri!" All yelled in unison, the last word being from Riolu, and they went to sleep.

The next day...

"Hmm...what's that good smell?" Red asked grogily while his face was buried on his backpack, because he was using it as a pillow.

"Saur?"

"Hey, Squirtle."

"Yes?" Squirlte asked from behind him.

"You're going to start imitating an Ivysaur?"

"Uh, no, why?"

"Funny, I think I just heard one jus now..."

"Ivy?"

"There it is again..." Red looked in front of him to find an Ivysaur, but he rolled above Squirtle, crushing him a little. "Nah, must be a dream..."

"Saur." Ivysaur nodded and he walked away to the forest, Pikachu woke up and looked at the Grass Pokémon getting away, he looked to another direction before gasping and yelling loudly to wake up everyone else.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!"

"AH!" Reggie got up, putting up his green apron. "I-I'm coming! What's the problem?!"

"THERE WAS AN IVYSAUR HERE JUST A MOMENT AGO AND RED LET HIM GET AWAY!"

"...AN IVYSAUR!!" Red yelled surprised.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY OR THE MISSION FAILS!" Pikachu said.

"PANIC!" Pichu yelled and most of them started to panic, before Jigglypuff slapped all of them. "GET HIM!"

"WAIT! WHERE IS MAYLENE?!" Chris asked, looking around for Maylene. "LUCARIO! USE YOUR AURA!"

"As you wish!" Lucario nodded and glowed to find Maylene. "...She went that way, probably because her Lucario...ran away when we were sleeping..."

"He's right! Look at those footprints!" Squirtle said, pointing to the footprints of Lucario, but he also found other footprints close to them. "...These footprints are probably from Maylene!"

"Okay, listen up everyone, we're going to split up into 2 teams, one will go after Maylene and the other will go after Iv-" Reggie looked at the 2 directions of their targets, Red, Pikachu, Squirtle and Jigglypuff went after Ivysaur and Chris, Lucario, Riolu and Pichu went after Maylene, then he sighed. "...I guess I should go after Maylene..." He ran to Maylene's direction. "But then again, I'll follow Red." He turned to the other direction.

Far away from them...

Maylene was shown panting heavily, following the footprints of her Lucario. "Why did you do it? Why?" She continued to ask to herself, until for her misfortune, the footprints ended on one place and she fell on her knees. "No...why...why? After all the things we have been living through together...you left me...NO!" She slammed her fist on the grass and tried to stop her tears from falling, but it didn't worked.

4 figures appeared behind the bushes, it was Ganondorf, Charizard, Wolf and King Dedede smirking.

"I don't think dat's the Ivysaur thing." Dedede said, holding up and picture and comparing it with Maylene, but he received a smack on his head. "Oww!"

"That's me, you idiot!" Wolf said, snatching his photo from Dedede.

"Why are we wasting our time with that girl?" Charizard asked, then he noticed that Ganondorf was gathering Shadow Bugs. "Hey, Ganondorf, what are you going to do with those bugs?"

"Simple, I am going to take her to the evil side."

"That sounds so cliché." Dedede said.

"And do you think it will work on her?" Charizard asked.

"The darkness can take easily the hearts of the weak ones..." Ganondorf said as he called Shadow Bugs.

"Weak hearts? One of them has a weak heart?" Wolf asked and Ganondorf nodded.

"Yes...and is...that girl..."

"...Will that help us?" Charizard asked.

"Of course, we are going to make her fight them while we try to capture Ivysaur, or convince him, now, go Shadow Bugs, take the body I am offering you!" Ganondorf ordered and the Shadow Bugs quickly moved inside the grass and got closer to the Gym Leader who was crying.

"Pfft, you don't have to be poetic." Dedede crossed his arms.

"It's an evil villain rule."

Maylene could have sworn that something was cmoing to her and she looked at something moving through the grass. "Huh? What is that?" She asked, getting up and wiping out her tears.

Chris's group was shown panting, running deeper in the forest until...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Maylene!" They said in unison.

"Something bad happened to her, let's move on!" Lucario said.

With Maylene...

"...Destroy...enemies...obey...Lord...Tabuu's...orders...at once...now..."

Preview of the next chapter

"Maylene!... No...no...no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Chris repeated continously after finding out what happened to Maylene.

"Now you're cornered!" Red said, the whole group cornered Ivysaur and the Grass Pokémon growled angrily.

"Red! Fight against him to catch him!" Reggie said.

"Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Riiiii!" Riolu called out, trying to find Maylene's Lucario.

MISSION FAILED!

"Next time: Targets: Ivysaur and Maylene, Rii!" Riolu said happily.

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Viridian City
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Maylene, Lucario, Reggie, Riolu, Red, Squirtle

...I don't like the "MISSION FAILED!" part at all...

References:

-When Red heard what Gary wrote on the sign, it was a reference to when Ash, Misty and Brock got out from Mt. Moon and they found the same thing written on a sign to Cerulean City.

-When Reggie found the costumes, it was another reference to Pokémon, which reminds me, is Ash's bag full of costumes for Pikachu or are they easily found close to them in conveniently?

And think about it, Reggie could have done something stupid on his adventures too.

And no matter what you say, Riolus are cute and cuddly, Riii! :)

Read and review! Next chapter is the 70th one! ;)
*Chapter 70*: Targets: Ivysaur and Maylene

I was making this chapter a little bit rushed, but I did my best since tomorrow I have 2 exams, we reached 70 chapters too!

From soinozi: Yay, was that Stigma thing in the chapter a refrence to Trauma Center? It seemed like it. You need a couple more break margins in the story, making it go too long makes me lose intrest.

From me: My, what a sharp eye you have there. Of course, it was a reference that I forgot to point out. Fortunately for you, this hcapter seems to be a little less longer than the previous one.

From Nintendogeek01: Oh wow... that got dramatic. And sad... and the flashback was scary as well.

Well done to put all of these emotions in one chapter!

From me: Thank you! Now I'll put all the reviews I receive from now on before this chapter! (First chapters doesn't counts).

From Mariko-ai-chan: Poor Maylene nya...I hope things work out well.Oh by the way I have some questions nya:

1.If you're still doing Worlds Conquest when some of the new Sonic games come out,will you make arcs for them nya?

2.Are you going to do a Luigi's mansion arc?You said you might earlier nya.I think it would be funny for everyone to get the snot scared out of them by ghosts nya!

3.Do you mind if I use your DS thing for my story nya?I'll give you credit and all...please?

Well that's all she wrote nya!Bye-bye!

Oh and here's a cookie for Lucario!(Gives Lucario cookie).

From me: "Takes out fake cigarrette" Well, let's answer them:

1. The beginning of this story was in March 9 of 2008, but since Master Hand stopped the time in Chris's world so he can travel to other worlds to save them, I'm afraid "newer" games after Brawl's release date will not be published, sorry.

2. We passed Paper Mario and that was after Luigi's Mansion, so, no, sorry.

3. Go on, but please say where did you got the idea from, because "glares" Double Dee Edd Boy dared to take away the SAME quotes from the Tales of Symphonia arc and didn't told anyone where he got them!

Thanks for the cookie for Lucario!... He threw it...sorry again.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 70: Targets: Ivysaur and Maylene

Viridian Forest

"Now, return where you came from and destroy anyone that goes in your path." Ganondorf commanded to Maylene, who nodded slowly and returned where she came from. "Quick, we have a bigger plan set in motion after this one."

"Tabuu mentioned that we were going to split up and capture the others on the list, right?" Wolf asked.

"Just like that, quick, we must make haste and capture Ivysaur!"

"Leave that puny little guy to me." Charizard said smirking, the group was going to run, but then, all of them crashed into something and they fell on the grass. "What the?! There isn't anything in front of us!"

"You will not get through here." Mewtwo appeared from the other side with crossed arms, floating down the trees.

"So, the traitor Pokémon shows up." Ganondorf said.

"Ganondorf, I expected more of you."

"And so did I."

"I'm sorry, but I must not let you go any further, it is my mission to stop all of you here and now."

The four henchmen surrounded the Psychic Pokémon, some were cracking their fists and others were doing different movements to prepare to attack him. "Interesting, 4 against 1..." Wolf said darkly.

"I will not need more help from anyone else to defeat all of you at the same time." Mewtwo said bluntly. "How amusing...another Charizard..."

"Got a problem with that?" Charizard asked snarling.

"No, let's see how you fare against my power!"

"CHARGE!" The 4 generals said in unison, charging after Mewtwo.

With Chris's group...

Riolu, oddly enough, started to grunt and her appendages lifted up a little after she managed to see Maylene approaching to them. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."

"What's wrong Riolu?" Pichu asked curiously.

"I sense a bad aura, Ri..."

Chris looked in front of him and smiled after seeing Maylene walking back to them. "Maylene! I thought you were in danger!... Wait...something is not right with you..."

"Destroy...Lord...Tabuu's...enemies...immediately...must...call...my Pokémon...out..." Maylene said, taking her 2 Pokeballs and calling out Machoke and Meditite, who were covered in a dark aura and Chris's Lucario growled instantly.

"Maylene!... No...no...no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Chris repeated continously after finding out what happened to Maylene.

"The Shadow Bugs took her body." Lucario pointed out.

"And her Pokémon too!" Pichu pointed out too.

"Riiiii..."

"Don't worry Riolu, everything will be fine." Chris reassured her. "(Why of all the people they decided to take Maylene against us? She doesn't deserves this after her Lucario abandoned her...wait a minute...we need to find him and try to get Maylene back to her senses! He's the only one who can call her back!) Everyone, we have to find her Lucario to make her listen to u-" Chris quickly ducked because an Aura Sphere was going to hit his head. "W-where did that came from?!"

"I-Impossible! Maylene made that Aura Sphere!" His Lucario said surprised.

"...WHAT?! How come she can do that and I can't?! I have been training for a long time and she learned it in 10 minutes?! No fair!"

"RIIIIII!!"

"...Everyone! Someone has to find her Lucario! But we need to resist against her Pokémon until we can find her Lucario, who wants to go?" He looked at Pichu, who shook his head quickly. "How about you?"

"No, I'll stay here to protect you." Lucario said, then Chris looked at the only person who hasn't said anything, Lucario's little sister, then the aura Pokémon glared at him. "You wouldn't dare..."

"Riolu? Do you want to be helpful again?"

"I want to! Riiii!"

"Then do you want to search for her Lucario as soon as possible?"

Riolu thought for a moment. "But he hates me, Rii..."

"Don't worry about that, he will listen to you! But you must be fast and search for him in the forest!"

"Riiiiiiiii..."

"...If you find him, I'll give you this." Chris gave her a candy.

"What is this? Ri?"

"Food, eat it!" Riolu ate the candy and she smiled and wagged her tail.

"Riiii! It's so good, Riiii!"

"And there's more where that came from if you can find Lucario, just use your aura abilities to locate him in the area!"

Riolu jumped off his arms and ran deeper in the forest, but Chris noticed that Pichu was going with her. "H-hey, where are you going? We need your help!"

"I want candy too!" Pichu said.

"No candy for you! Now come over here and fight against Meditite!" Chris said angrily and Pichu's ears dropped and returned to them. "Lucario, take care of Machoke and Pichu will fight Meditite...and that leaves me with the girl with pink hair...and for my bad luck, I can't use my jobs to fight in this world..."

Lucario got in a fighting stance. "When you're in trouble, call me and I'll be in a second." Lucario said.

"Thanks, Pichu, can you win against Meditite?"

"I-I can't make any promises, but I-I'll do my best!" Pichu said trembling, but he gathered electricity on his cheeks.

"Destroy...enemies...seize...them..." Maylene said.

And Chris broke the fourth wall to point out something. "For lesser people controlled by Shadow Bugs, we're going to call them Dark (insert name here) and for bigger and destructive monsters, we're going to refer them as Shadow (insert name here), and sorry if we didn't do that in the first Sonic arc."

With Red's group...

"The Ivysaur!" Jigglypuff said pointing at Ivysaur, who was strolling down the path and he looked at them and stopped.

"Surround him! Now!" Pikachu said and all of them cornered the Ivysaur in a circle.

"Now you're cornered!" Red said, the whole group cornered Ivysaur and the Grass Pokémon growled angrily.

"Red! Fight against him to catch him!" Reggie said.

"...And you're going to stand there and do nothing else?"

"Hey, it's a rule, we can't help you in a battle to catch a Pokémon, it's all yours." Pikachu said.

"Okay, but don't break the circle to let him escape OR ELSE, I want to capture my first Pokémon without mistakes this time, right?"

"Right!" The others responded in unison.

"Saur! Ivysaur! Ivy!" Ivysaur said to Red, who made a confused face.

"He said he wants to challenge you!" Jigglypuff said.

"Ivy! Ivy! Saur! Saur!"

"...Eww!"

"Saur..." Ivysaur apologized before charging at Squirtle.

Pokémon Colosseum Music - First and Friendly Battle Theme

"What now?!" Squirtle asked frantically.

"(That's right, this is the first time Red tries to catch his first Pokémon, and probably his first battle too.)" Reggie thought. "Red, tell Squirtle to dodge the attack!"

"R-right, Squirtle, dodge it!" Red ordered and Pikachu shook his head after hearing those words, Squirtle stepped out of the way of the Ivysaur and dodged the attack in time.

"Red! I know how to use Skull Bash, Water Gun, Surf and Withdraw!" Squirtle said.

"You know how to use Surf at such level of training?" Reggie asked surprised.

"O-okay, use Surf on Ivysaur when he comes to you!" Red ordered and Ivysaur tried to slam his head with Squirtle, but Squirtle took his time to use Surf and when it was time, he summoned a slope of water under his legs and it pushed Squirtle to the air and Ivysaur received a little amount of damage. "That was Surf?"

"Hmm, it's different from all the other Surf attacks...but maybe your Squirtle is special...even so, that attack did little damage to Ivysaur, try using Skull Bash on him!"

"Squirtle! Use Skull Bash!" Red commanded and Squirtle ran towards Ivysaur and hid inside his shell, spining on the grass and he managed to hit his legs. "Alright! That attack was effective!"

"RED!" Squirtle yelled from above and they looked at him being lashed around the air by Ivysaur's Vine Whip, then the Grass Pokémon slammed the Water Pokémon to the ground, dealing a great amount of damage. "AAAHH!"

"Not good, the Vine Whip attack is strong against Water Pokémon, remember that you can use different strategies to win a battle, the moves of a Pokémon doesn't matters unless you have a way to use them wisely at the proper time and place!" Reggie explained to Red.

"(If I use Skull Bach constantly, he will find out my attack's pattern and dodge it to keep going with his Grass type attacks, but Reggie said I should make strategies to use them at the right time...then I need to look at my surroundings and th-)"

"AAAAAHHHHH!!" Red's thoughts were interrupted and found Squirtle being constantly attacked by Razor Leafs from Ivysaur, Squirtle backed away to a tree and the leafs were cutting him down and passing through the tree at the same time.

"Squirtle! Use Withdraw to resist the attack until he gets tired!" Red ordered and Squirtle hid inside his shell, blocking all the attacks until Ivysaur got tired and panted a little. "Now use Skull Bash again!" Squirtle began to spin above the ground, inside his shell and went after Ivysaur, reaching his legs again to make to trip and fall on his body. "(Wait, while he gets up, I should be continuing to attack and gain the advantage.) Squirtle, now use Wayer Gun but in the ground!"

Squirtle began to shoot water to the ground. "Don't stop until it's all muddy!"

"(I get it, by making the ground mud, Ivysaur will trip on it and Squirtle will use Skull Bash to accelerate and hit him with force.) Keep going Squirtle!" Pikachu shouted and after 20 seconds, the ground became mud and Ivysaur got up by the time Squirtle finished.

"Now use Skull Bash again!" Red shouted.

"Okay!" Squirtle hid and spun on his shell to slam himself to Ivysaur, the attack's speed accelerated and it hit Ivysaur with a stronger impact.

"Direct hit!" Jigglypuff pointed out happily, cheering for the 2.

Reggie gasped. "No! There is one of his vines hidden in the mud!"

"Wha?" Squirtle was suddenly pulled to the air and he was positioned above Ivysaur's flower. "Hey, what are you going t-" The flower began to shoot quick bullets of seeds.

"Bullet Seed? Red! Do something or Squirtle will lose all his energy!"

"B-but what can I do?!" Red asked worried.

"Think about the situation carefully!" Pikachu shouted.

"(Well, Squirtle is above Ivysaur...but...AH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!... I can't use Withdraw because Ivysaur's vines are grabbing Squirtle's arms to prevent him from getting inside...his mouth? Yes, his mouth can shoot water, but it's not effective against Grass types...unless...I use it in the right place...the flower!) Squirtle, if you can, use Water Gun on the flower!"

Squirtle opened his eyes while he received the seeds, he looked below him and found the flower shooting the seeds, his mouth became filled with water and shot it inside the flower, Ivysaur gasped as his flower began to fill and the seeds stopped from attacking the turtle, the Squirtle bit one of the vines and Ivysaur threw him away, setting him free.

"Use Skull Bash!" Red shouted and Squirtle ran after Ivysaur, but Ivysaur used Vine Whip on a nearby branch and pulled himself to it to evade the attack, then he jumped above the shell and landed above him. "What is he going to do?!" Ivysaur inserted his vines inside the shell and he began to use Squirtle as a boat for mud, then he turned to a tree and shot Squirtle's shell using his vines, dealing damage to him. "Squirtle!"

"That Ivysaur is tough, maybe it was a bad idea to capture an evolved Pokémon Red." Reggie said but Red shook his head.

"No...I won't let this opportunity go away! I have an Ivysaur to capture!" Red said on his defense.

"But Squirtle can't go on!"

"I know!... But at least I need to keep trying!"

"..." Pikachu didn't said anything.

"Were you going to say something Pikachu?" Jigglypuff asked.

"What? No, I thought Squirtle was going to evolve when he was losing the fight, that happens most of the time with other Pokémon too." Pikachu said chuckling.

"Then what are you going to do?" Reggie asked.

Red looked around and then, he got an idea. "Squirtle! Run to that direction!" Red pointed to a direction and Squirtle ran to the direction, Ivysaur kept his position and used Razor Leafs to damage the turtle, Squirtle was suffering from the attacks but he continued to move on, struggling.

"Stop! You're going to be defeated!" Jigglypuff yelled preocupied.

"(Keep moving, you're reaching that spot.)" Red thought.

Squirtle was able to reach the spot where Red indicated him to go, but he collapsed at the moment he reached it, the Grass Pokémon smirked at his victory but he continued to fire more Razor Leafs at Squirtle...although that was Red's plan from the beginning.

Reggie could have sworn he heard something close to Squirtle, he looked behind Squirtle and he saw the same tree that Ivysaur hit by accident using Razor Leaf continuously, since Ivysaur's leafs were still cutting the tree little by little, it started to move slowly down to him and the fainted Squirtle, when the shadow of the tree was covering him, his eyes shrunk a little and he looked up and screamed in horror. "IVY!" Ivysaur yelled when the tree crashed down above him...and Squirtle, creating a cloud of dust.

"SQUIRTLE!" Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Reggie yelled preocupied.

The dust cleared but they couldn't find Squirtle, except for Ivysaur who was fainted with swirls on his eyes. "Where is Squirtle?!" Jigglypuff asked crying.

"Go! Pokeball!" Red yelled throwing the Pokeball at Ivysaur, they stopped looking around for Squirtle and watched Squirlte being engulfed by the red light and entering inside the Pokeball, then it landed on the mud and it shoo-

Let's just forward the tape to skip that scene, since you know he'll catch him anyway to skip the suspence.

"...YES! FINALLY!" Red made a fist in the air and ran towards his Pokeball on the mud and grabbed it. "We got Ivysaur!"

"But Squirtle...he sacrificed his life..." Pikachu said, trying to not cry.

"Yes...he was weak after all..."

"Red! How can you say that?!" Reggie asked angrily.

"...Well...the truth is..." Red looked down at his feet but then, he looked at them with smile and laughed a little. "Trick ya!" He took out another Pokeball and Squirtle came out and appeared on his arms, smiling weakly. "I managed to call Squirtle back when the tree was going to crush him, you couldn't see me calling him when it was about to kill hi-"

However, the other 3 persons became furious at his joke and they lunged and started to beat him badly, while Squirtle got out from the fight and sighed in relief. "Red, I think our adventure is going to be interesting...ouch..." Squirtle said, smiling a little.

With Chris's group...

Pokémon Colosseum Normal Battle Theme

"Maylene! Please! Listen to me! You have to regain your senses before you hurt somebody!" Chris yelled while he dodged all the attacks Dark Maylene was trying to land on him, but since he was powerless in any kind of Pokémon world, his dodges were so awkward because sometimes he tripped or almost fell on his back. "Maylene!"

"I'm jealous...your Lucario...will never be...like mine..." Dark Maylene said darkly as she continued to land her attacks on Chris.

"Jealous? Why? I know your Lucario will like you soon!"

"Then tell me...when that moment is going...to happen..."

"B-but first we need to return to the plans again!"

"They humiliated me...although...I didn't lose the hope...how could you Chris...you played with my emotions..."

"I didn't! I warn you, this is going to sound cheesy, but I believe in you!"

"Believe in me?... Then why didn't you...thought harder..."

"I did! Believe in me too!"

"You must die...that will make Lord Tabuu...happy..."

Lucario was trying to block a Cross Chop from Dark Machoke. "It's useless, you have to defeat her, there is no other way!"

"But how am I going to do that?! The Shadow Bugs gave her more strength!"

"Then resist until the others return and help us!"

"Red is going to ask me many more things of what happened to Maylene then, and so will Reggie!"

"Sorry, I need to concentrate in the battle, but think about something and fast!" Lucario said and gritted his teeth while he pushed Dark Machoke away.

"Maylene! Listen to me!"

"You must die Chris...everything is going to be...much more...easier for Lord Tabuu..." Dark Maylene said as she created an Aura Sphere.

"Cheater! I was trying to do that for several trainings! (When I see Tabuu, I'm going to have a serious talk with him about all these things happening to my friends and all the worlds, Maylene doesn't deserves this...she doesn't!)" Chris ran to a tree to block the Aura Sphere flying towards him, he hid quickly and the sphere exploded and cut down the tree, the World Traveler gasped and rolled out of the way to evade the weight of the tree. "RIOLU! PLEASE HURRY!"

"Medi...Medi..." Dark Meditate began to meditate.

"I-I can beat you! I know I can beat you!" Pichu said studdering.

"Medi..."

"I'm not weak! How rude are you!"

"Meditite..."

"Oh yes? Then l-let's see who wins!" Pichu ran after Dark Meditite to land the first blow, but the Meditation Pokémon pointed his hand at him and Pichu was lifted to the air by a pink glow. "AAAHHH! HELP ME!"

"FEAR THE POWER OF THE BRANCH!"

"Medi? MEDITITE!" Meditite yelled in pain after Chris came from behind him and smacked a branch on his head, setting Pichu free from the Confusion attack and Chris backed away. "PICHU! USE THUNDER ON HIM!"

"PICHUUUUUUUUU!!" Pichu called a thunder from above and it went down him and Meditite, dealing a moderate amount of damage. "D-did you liked that?!"

"Meeeeeeeediiiiiiiiiiii..." Dark Meditite stood up and glared at Pichu, the yellow mouse backed away scared before Dark Meditite jumped in the air and his foot glowed and went towards Pichu using Hi-Jump Kick.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Pichu yelled in pain as he was sent towards a tree where he crashed and landed on the grass, panting heavily since the attack was powered by the Shadow Bugs. "Ugh!... He's...strong...I don't think I can...hold much longer..."

"Pichu! You must survive!" Chris yelled before he received a flying kick by Dark Maylene. "OWW!"

"Meeeeediiiiiii..." Dark Meditite slowly walked towards Pichu and the yellow mouse got up coughing a little.

"(I won't let Pikachu down...and everyone else too...I'm strong!... And young too, but I'm strong!)" Pichu thought with optimism on his mind.

"You will not defeat me! Anyone who uses the Shadow Bugs to be stronger than me will fail!" Lucario said.

"That sounded a little cheesy Lucario!" Chris called out from afar.

"MA-CHOKE!" Dark Machoke grabbed Lucario by the leg and he started to swing him above him.

"I'm not a toy! GUUAARRGGHH!!" Lucario used Force Palm on Dark Machoke's head and the Superpower Pokémon staggered for a bit and Lucario jumped away from him and landed on his feet "(Wait, the blow paralyzed him, now's my chance.) GUARGH!" He quickly charged up an Aura Sphere that exploded right into the head, creating a cloud of smoke, but Dark Machoke came fastly from the cloud and used Karate Chop on his neck, Lucario's pupils shrunk and he coughed blood a little and backed away. "What the...how?"

"Remember that the Shadow Bugs gave him more power!" Chris called out before he was kicked hard on his stomach. "Stop please!"

"MA!" Dark Machoke continued his attack with Cross Chop and the previous attack caught Lucario off-guard and he couldn't defend himself in time before receiving an even more powerful impact, sending him towards a tree where he crashed into it and the tree fell down.

"...I'm fine...don't worry..." He said weakly while he got up slowly.

"CHOKE! MACHOKE!" Dark Machoke was flexing his muscles, trying to itimidate Lucario.

"So that's how you want to fight then...THEN SO BE IT!" Lucario ran towards Machoke with high speed using a combination of Extremespeed and Force Palm to make a fast and strong impact on his chest, the aura of Lucario was higher than before and it increased his power, because Dark Machoke backed away, grabbing his chest in pain where it got paralyzed again. "...You're still...standing...but I'll end this before I fall defeated!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"Huh?!" The scene changes to a slow pace and Lucario watches in front him where Chris was flying unconscious, Lucario's pupils shrunk in horror as Chris crashes into the earth and faints instantly. "CHRIS!"

"I'm sorry...I'm useless without the jobs...It's up to you Lucario...ugh..." Chris managed to say before he fainted sighing. "Please...rescue...Maylene...she doesn't deserves this..."

"One down...2 more to go..." Dark Maylene said darkly as she ran towards Lucario. "You...you were hurting my Lucario...you must die..."

"He was hurting you!" Lucario protested.

"Nevertheless...you must be...eliminated...Machoke...use Seismic Toss..."

"MACHOKE!...MA!" Since the attack implied Dark Machoke to embrace Lucario, the spike of his chest prevent him from doing the attack.

"Idiot..." Lucario said before he charged up an Aura Sphere and looked at Dark Maylene. "(No, I can't hurt her.)" He quickly changed his attack towards Dark Machoke, aiming it at his leg to stun him for a moment, but Dark Machoke jumped and evaded the attack. "MY MOVES CAN'T BE EVADED!" Lucario roared furiously before the same Aura Sphere from before turned ways and slammed behind the leg, stunning Dark Machoke.

"...Choke..."

"Useless pest...return..." Dark Maylene said calling Dark Machoke to his Pokeball and she ran towards Lucario to hit him, but the aura Pokémon dodged her fast attacks using his enhanced aura.

"How can you be so cruel to your Pokémon?!" Lucario asked while he evaded her attacks. "Didn't you wanted to gain the appreciation of your Lucario?!"

"I only care about him...and only him...my other Pokémon doesn't mean anything to me...anymore..."

"Medi?" Dark Meditite turned his head at her before he received a fully charged Skull Bash attack from Pichu.

"Ha! Take that!" Pichu said taunting him.

"You're not the Maylene I know! The Maylene I know cares deeply about her Pokémon!" Lucario said as he blocked her hands.

"She died...and a new and better person was born on her place..."

Lucario pushed her away and continued to return her to her senses. "Stop talking like that! Even Chris was hurt because of you!"

"He...deserved it." She charged an Aura Sphere and launched it at him, surprisingly, Lucario tried to block it but it exploded right into him and was pushed towards a tree, the attack also stunned his left arm and he kneeled weakly. "It's time to...get rid of you..."

"Pichu?" Lucario asked holding his left arm in pain where he found Pichu jumping over Dark Meditite several times.

"Take this! And this! And this! And this again!" Pichu said jumping up and down above Dark Meditite's body.

"Medi! Medi! Medi! Medi!" Dark Meditite pleaded for mercy.

"PICHUUUUUUUU!!" Pichu called down another Thunder that crashed into both of them, the bolt of lightning struck Dark Meditite hardly and he fainted, the Sahdow Bugs got out from his body and they vanished in thin air. "...I won? I won! I won!" Pichu cheered happily.

"PICHU!" Lucario called and Pichu shook his head and ran towards Dark Maylene using Skull Bash.

"HAAAAA!" Pichu went flying towards Dark Maylene but Dark Maylene's reflexes were bigger and she bended her back and landed using her hands to have Pichu flying right above her, then she slammed her right leg on the yellow mouse with force and Pichu cried out and crashed into the ground while Dark Maylene regained her position and continued walking towards Lucario. "Sorry..." Pichu said moaning in pain as he fell unconscious.

"(...Sister...hurry up...my aura can defeat her but Chris told me to not harm her...and I can't move anymore...)" Lucario called out to her sister telepathically.

With Riolu...

"...RIIII!" Riolu growled receiving the message and she continued to use her aura to locate Maylene's Lucario.

The forest was just too big for Riolu, and she needed to be careful to not attract the attention of any Bug type Pokémon like Beedrills or Pinsirs.

"Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Riiiii!" Riolu called out, trying to find Maylene's Lucario.

Unfortunately, when she met face-to-face with a bush, a Pinsir got out and glared at her, which instantly made her to cry and duck in fear.

"RIIIIIIIII!!"

"Gruck!" The Pinsir jumped towards and bended down to grab Riolu using its tweezers to crush her between them.

"RIIIIIIIII!!"

"HA!!"

"Ri?" Riolu looked above her and found Maylene's Lucario stopping Pinsir's tweezers from grabbing her, then he used Force Palm to break one of them and Pinsir gasped and ran away scared from them. "Lucario! You saved me! Riii!"

"What are you doing here?" Maylene's Lucario asked with a glare and crossed arms.

"Ri! You must return with Maylene! Ri! She needs your help! Ri!" Riolu was trying to pull him to where she came from, but obviously he was stronger than her.

"For what? I told all of you that I will not return with her anymore."

"Maylene's in danger! Ri!"

"They can help her, she doesn't needs me."

"No! Ri! You don't understand, she was attacked by something and then she is trying to kill us!"

Maylene's Lucario turned his back to her and walked away. "I must go on and leave her, if you try to convince me, I warn you that I won't hesitate to hurt you painfully."

Riolu thought for a moment. "She defeated my brother with her bare hands, Riii..."

He stopped on his trail and his pupils shrunk, surprised at this statement.

With Chris's group...

Dark Maylene's palm was glowing about Lucario, ready to defeat him or kill him in this case after he falls unconscious. "Die...and stop bothering me..."

"NOOOOOO!" Dark Maylene looked to her right and was pushed with another person, it was Reggie who came back with a beaten up Red, and weakened Squirtle, Pikachu and Jigglypuff. "Maylene! What happened to you?!" Reggie asked while he tried to stop Dark Maylene from moving.

"Reggie...you didn't helped so much...you must die too..."

"What are you talking about? And what is that weird, purple aura covering you?"

"REGGIE! LOOK OUT!" Jigglypuff yelled and Reggie was instantly punched in his stomach and he staggered for bit, trying to not faint for the quick attack.

"Maylene...why...why are you...attacking me?" Reggie asked weakly.

"I must eliminate everyone...to please Lord Tabuu..." Dark Maylene said, throwing Reggie out of the way and into a tree where he hit his back hard and fell unconscious, but he glanced at her before fainting.

"REGGIE!" Red yelled preocupied before he noticed that Maylene was looking at him.

"Red...you...you...you puked on me..."

"...That's why are you mad at him?!" Chris's Lucario asked enraged while he walked behind them to recover from his wounds.

"Red...you must die too..." And then she ran towards Red, who looked at both of ways and tried to get away from her.

"Wait, I should use Ivysaur to attack her an-"

"No!" Lucario shouted while Jigglypuff examined him. "We can't hurt her, Chris told me to prevent any of us from harming her!"

"THEN WHAT CAN WE DO?! AAAHHH!" Red jumped above an Aura Sphere before the sphere turned to him and gasped in horror.

"REEED!" Squirtle yelled worried and jumped on the way of the Aura Sphere to protect his trainer, there was an explosion that covered Squirtle completely before he fell unconscious, defeated. "...You're fine...now run..."

Red held Squirtle close to him. "Squirtle! Squirtle! Wake up!"

"He fainted! He's out!" Pikachu yelled.

"Hey, do something!" Jigglypuff suggested.

"I can't because I don't want to harm her! But what about you? Use Sing to sleep her!"

"And it will affect all of you too! And what if she's immune to my singing voice by the Shadow Bugs?"

"...Did you just realized your song makes us to fall asleep?!"

"It's a near-death moment!"

"AND WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU REALISING ABOUT YOUR ATTACK?!"

"GUUUUUYS!" Red yelled running away from Dark Maylene, who was shooting Aura Spheres on him continuously while he held Squirtle close to him.

"It's useless..." Lucario said ashamed. "We failed, we can't clear this mission, Charizard got away and Maylene doesn't get back to her senses...and my sister hasn't come back yet with her Lucario..."

"But there must be a way to end this!" Pikachu protested.

"GUYS!"

"There must be! I know it!" Jigglypuff protested.

"GUYS!"

"But what can we do?!" Pikachu asked trying to think about a way.

"GUYS!"

"We can't harm her right?!" Jigglypuff asked.

"GUYS!"

"SHUT UP, RED, WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE YOU!" Pikachu and Jigglypuff yelled at him in unison.

"Now where were we?" Jigglypuff asked to Riolu. "Riolu! You're back!"

"Rii! I brought Lucario too, Rii!" Riolu said excited, pointing to Maylene's Lucario who was in a fighting stance as he faced her trainer.

"Maylene..." Her Lucario said.

"Lucario..." Dark Maylene said.

"What is wrong with you? What is that dark aura?"

"Lucario...you must be...returned to your Pokeball...and join me...to kill them..."

Her Lucario shook his head. "I won't anymore...I told you..."

"I want you back...and I'll do it now..."

"Don't even try it."

"Lucario...return your Pokeball..." she aimed her Pokeball at her Lucario but he backstepped away from the red light and glared at her.

"I'm sick of that behavior, I must return you to your...annoying senses..."

"Lucario, don't try to harm her! Chris told us that!" Red said.

"And I won't listen to that order, nobody orders me around either."

"Lucario..." Dark Maylene trailed off. "Ah...Aaahh...AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" The aura around was blinking and trying to fade away, dropping her to her knees in pain as she held her head in pain, but Lucario didn't do anything about it and crossed his arms.

"What's happening to her?!" Red asked confused.

"(You won't take my body! Let me go!/No...you're going to stay like that...for eternity.../Forget it! I have an important duty in Veilstone!/And do you think...I care?/Of course not! You just came out of nowhere and possesed my body!/Lord Tabuu is going to be mad...if I let you go.../I don't care either about your problems! Get off me! I want to have my Lucario back!/Then try and recover your control...I dare you.../You asked for it then!/Wha...what the.../Get the hell out of my body! I know I'm stronger than you are!) Ugh...no way...I can't...control her...I..." Dark Maylene was trying to stop the real Maylene from getting out and take her body back, but after her Lucario appeared, the real Maylene woke up inside and tried to escape from her clutches. "You're not...going t-"

PUNCH!

Music Stops

Dark Maylene was hit very hard on her neck and she fell unconscious, because her Lucario couldn't wait for her and decided to attack first before her and the Shadow Bugs vanished in thin air as Red wondered what were those spores.

Pikachu was holding Pichu. "YOU IDIOT! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Pikachu asked angrily.

"I listened to her thoughts and I decided that that was enough, then I used Force Palm on her shoulder to end all this foolishness" Maylene's Lucario explained bluntly.

At that moment, Chris woke up from his state and stood in front him with those freaky Naruto-eyes. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHICH PART OF DON'T ATTACK HER DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"It was the only solution."

Chris decided to turn to the readers to break the fourth wall, again. "See?! I knew this guy was nothing but trouble! He ended up this chapter so quickly without an epic fight like we do every 4 chapters in an arc! Seriously, this is the last time I travel to Sinnoh! Especially in Veilstone City!"

"Also, she didn't died, the attack was weak on her just to get those things off her." He explained bluntly, turning his back on Chris. "I beg your pardon, but I must leave...get out of my way." Maylene's Lucario glared at Riolu, who was glaring at him for the first time.

"I won't, Ri." Riolu said simply.

"Get out."

"No, Ri!"

"Get out!"

"No, Ri!"

"GET OUT!"

"NO! RIIIIIIIIIIII!" For his own surprise, Riolu quickly jumped towards him and landed a Force Palm on his chest, and unfortunately for Lucario, the attack paralyzed his whole body and he kneeled, gritting his fangs in pain. "Why don't you live with Maylene? Ri? She's good! You grew up together with her! Ri!"

"You...don't...understand..." Lucario said with a glare.

"I do! More than you do! Ri!"

"You're still a baby, babies shouldn't be involved in this!"

"Then I'm a smart baby that is smarter than you! Ri!"

"She got you there." Red said from behind him.

"Grrr..."

"Stop it! Just stop those useless grunts! Ri!"

"You don't order me around...only..." Lucario realized what he just said and looked down to close his eyes, shaking his head slowly.

"Only what? Ri? Or...WHO! RI!"

"..." Maylene's Lucario sighed and looked at her unconscious trainer. "Only...only...only Maylene orders me around...but when I need to listen to her...and she has been trying to do that from the beginning and I just ignored her..."

"And attacked her." Pikachu added.

"Lucario, Maylene is not going to turn back on her words," Chris said. "Please, just give her another opportunity, but stop being rude with her too! She just want you to appreciate her!"

His Lucario walked to his right. "Like he and me do."

"...Maybe I was jealous..."

Chris made a confused face and shook his head. "Okay, that didn't made any sense now..."

"But I was."

"You didn't!"

Maylene's Lucario nodded. "I was, I wanted to have her full attention towards me and not other Pokémon, then I saw you and your Lucario always standing next to each other, and Maylene only backed away from me, scared that I was going to punch her to get off my rage."

"(--)...But you DID that!" Red said angrily.

"...I did?"

Everyone fell in anime style and got up slowly.

"The conclusion is that you want Maylene to stay with you most of the time so you can stop being furious at her, am I right?" Chris asked and he nodded. "Well...why didn't you said that before? But first, I need to use Lucario's plan to convince Maylene and Reggie that all of this didn't happened...Red...do you want to come with us?"

Red looked at his weakened Squirtle. "...I..."

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Veilstone City
Veilstone City's Gym

"Maylene, wake up." Chris said.

"Ugh..."

"WAKE UP!"

"AH!" Maylene woke up surprised and she looked around surprised. "What the-what are we doing in the Gym?"

"What do you mean by that? We have been here ever since you fainted!"

"Say what?"

Chris nodded. "It's true! You, Reggie, Lucario and Riolu ran up to a wall and fell unconscious for 3 hours!"

"...But I swear that wasn't a dream! Where is Reggie?!"

"I took him to his house, he's resting right now but I think he'll wake up soon."

Maylene sighed in defeat. "But...then all the things we did...those odd black balls...everything was a dream?!"

Her Lucario sat besides her. "Yes, I can't believe we ran to a wall either...how embarrassing."

"And what about Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff?! They can talk right?!"

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu asked confused, tilting his head above Chris's shoulder.

"Ji?" Jigglypuff asked, tilting her head above Chris's head.

"Pi?" Pichu asked tilting his head above Chris's other shoulder.

"And where is that Mewtwo too?!"

Chris looked away for a moment before looking at her. "Mewtwo? The Pokémon that escaped from Kanto? What are you talking about?"

"...Look Maylene, everything was a dream for you..." Her Lucario said.

She sighed again in defeat. "After all...Lucario is never going to like me...Chris, you don't have to tell your Lucario to rub his cheek with my cheek..."

"But Maylene..." Chris began. "My Lucario is right besides me, he's the taller one, remember?"

Her eyes blinked in surprise. "Then that means..." She looked at her Lucario, who was growling happily and she hugged him and rubbed her cheek with his cheek. "Lucario! I thought you hated me! I'm so happy!"

"I'd never think about leaving you Maylene, never in my life." Her Lucario said happily, wagging his tail a little.

Maylene's eyes were starting to fill with tears of joy and she looked at Chris. "I don't know why...but I want to thank you Chris...you made all of this possible...if only Red was real, then I would thank him too..."

Chris chuckled. "Red? What kind of name is that?" His Lucario chuckled a little, and so did the other Pokémon.

Maylene hugged Chris and he blushed. "Thank you so much! I bet Lucario will be closer to me from this moment!"

"T-thanks...can you stop please?!" Chris asked very embarrassed.

"MAYLENE!" All of her pupils appeared crying and they dropped to their knees and began to cry in the floor, bowing to her.

Chris's eyes twitched and looked away. "...Okaaaaay...we need to get going now...before this turns more awkward that it already is..." He found Maylene tickling her Lucario. "Seriously, let's go! Good bye Maylene, see you later!" He said running outside and away from the Gym with "his" Pokémon.

However, Maylene looked at her right hand and gasped. "What the-this is the same scar I received in my dream!..." She began to thought but laughed a little after that. "Nah, that wall did it...Lucario! Do you want a hug?"

Her Lucario's mouth opened in surprise. "Yes, if you want to."

"Oh, thank you!" She hugged her Lucario by his right, as they laughed heartily while her pupils cried in happiness.

Valley of the Aura

"And here's your reward, to let you see I kept my promise!"

"Riiii!" Riolu said happily, receiving a bunch of candies from Chris as she sat down and began to eat them happily. "Riiii!"

"Did you enjoyed the outside world?" Her mother asked.

"Yes! Riii! My brother even taught me many things, Riii!"

"Thank you for protecting my daughter, and I'm glad your mission was a success." Lucario's father said but Chris looked down in shame. "It's something bothering you?"

"What? No, it's nothing...it's just...we lost a dear friend to us in the process..." Chris said ashamed.

"Sacrifices needs to be taken seriously, you have to be strong and overcome them."

"Well, at least we got something else in return." Chris pointed to a table with wheels with something inside below a grey mantle. "But I think it's a perfect gift for us."

"Are you going to continue in your quest?"

"Of course! Maylene didn't had to be involved in this, I'll make sure this won't happen again in the other worlds!"

Lucario's father got up and walked to him. "I wish all of you good luck, remember to visit us anytime you want to."

"Big brother! Bye! Rii!" Riolu said hugging her brother's leg before returning with her mother to continue eating her candies.

"Let's go, Chris, everyone is waiting for us." Lucario said and Chris and the others walked outside the valley by the secret exit, and taking the mysterious "gift" with them.

Route 209

"...I can't believe we couldn't succeed in this mission..." Pikachu said, dropping his ears in shame.

"Master Hand is going to be furious after he finds out we lost one of us." Jigglypuff said scared.

"But cheer up!" Chris said. "We got this gift!"

"Also, what gift is that? For the look of the mantle, it must be something big." Pikachu said, getting in a thinking position.

"Well, only Red and me knows about it, right Red?" Chris asked to Red, who was walking besides him and the others with Squirtle.

"Y-yeah..." Red said studdering a little.

"Oh, right, this is the first time you're going to do something big than beating the Kanto League, aren't you excited to meet new people like us?"

"I...well, after what happened to Maylene, I don't want to let them get away with it either...then...I decided to join in this fight so...I can help with my Pokémon, right?"

NEWCOMER!

Red joined your team!

"Don't worry Red, if they do something that offends you, then I will tell them to stop."

"Thanks Chris."

"Don't mention it." Chris opened the portal. "Now, are you ready to go? The 2 of you?"

Squirtle jumped to his shoulder. "We are! Right Red?"

"We sure we are!" Red said making a fist in the air.

"AHEM! TOO OVERUSED RED!" Pikachu said embarrassed.

"...I mean, yes, we are."

Chris stepped away from the portal and smiled at Red. "Then go on, you're first." And Red entered inside nodding his head and the others followed him and the portal vanished.

MISSION FAILED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 200 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Small preview of the next chapter

"Hey Fox, Falco, I got you 2 a gift from Kanto!" Chris said pushing the gift towards Fox and Falco.

"Sweet! Look at the size of this thing! It must be something big!" Falco said a little excited as both Star Fox member removed the mantle, but their eyes widened and their pupils shrunk at the same time. "...Oh no...this is..."

"Not a gift, but must be a joke then...it's a joke, right?" Fox added sweating a little and asking too.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, ?, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

Her Lucario screwed up the whole chapter number 70! What a wuss! :(

Hehehe, I raised more unexplained things, where is Mewtwo? What is the gift Chris got for Fox and Falco? And for what is the ? on the current character list? And why did the Lucario VS Riolu scene seemed like the Meta Knight VS Cream and Cheese scene?

I'll point out the references later, if I had ones.

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 71*: Rodeo Old Friends 'Round Futuristic Eras

From Double Dee Edd Boy: Sorry about that! I forgot! But the ToS arc inspired me to do my fic. And I had those thoughts on ToS characters to Smashers before I read the arc. I'll put that in in the next chapter (provided that I don't forget)..

Anyway, that chapter was epic, no other way to descirbe it

From me: "Puts Nuclear Warhead down" YOU BETTER DO OR ELSE, YOU HAVEN'T SEE MY BAD SIDE AND BELIEVE ME, NOBODY WANTS TO BE ON MY BAD SIDE AT ALL! And please, getting inspired and making a rip-off (YOU-KNOW-WHAT) are 2 different things, so be careful and original please. :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: Ahh yet another excelent chapter nya.And now my two OC's Maya and Dusk have questions for you nya.

Maya:Hi!(Waves)

Dusk:Yo.(Peace sign)

Maya:So...no 'Mansion' arc huh?Well how about putting a ghost in YOUR mansion?Like the rest of the hands bodies or something!

Dusk:And on the subject of scary things,what's Lucario afraid of?I know he's scared of you getting hurt and all,but what else.And DON'T pull that not afraid of anything crud 'cause everyone's scared of something.Me,i'm afraid i'll hurt my friends when I get on my beserker anger.

Me:...Okay well that's-

Luca:(Runs in)Chris!How do you stop and/or distract a rampaging Lucario?Hurry and answer!(Runs out)

Me:Sigh...Well NOW that's all nya.Oh and since I really don't get what happened to Lucario's cookie,he gets another nya.

From me: The mansion chapters are enough were they rest and weird things happens, he's afraid of harming Chris by accident or making him mad at him, just put him inside the Pokeball and everything is fixed, and the cookie was eaten by Kirby.

Kirby: "Burps"

From me: He says thank you though.

From Nintendogeek01: Yay! It all came together. Except we don't know for sure about Charizard, and Mewtwo has disappeared after his attempt at battling the four bad guys. A fitting conclusion with some mysteries to boot.

From me: You will like what really happened, but in 2 or 3 chapters later. When there are things unexplained, is when I get really creative.

From Rellymaster: Once again, you have done really great work on this story. I laughed, felt sad, got angry, and felt glad. By the way, the Deus Ex Machina is a sort of 'answer to all problems' in a story.

Boy, Maylene's Lucario has/had some major issues. He's like a death threat to her in this arc...Reminds me of my 17 yr. old nephew.
Funny references and a very hilarious yet emotional chapter.

From me: Bad thing for her is we get to see her Lucario blast her off with an Aura Sphere on Monday, I laughed at that moment. XD

Okay, now we press the A button to begin and...

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 71: Rodeo Old Friends 'Round Futuristic Eras!

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"...And our mission is to defeat the Subspace Army from taking all the worlds, and that's why we need your help to defeat them and catch Charizard too, any questions Red?"

Red fainted and they formed a circle around him.

"It was too much for the boy's mind to take calmly." Zelda said frowning.

"Well, anyone would faint if they saw a puffball, 2 kids with big heads and 2 talking animals that aren't Pokémon." Chris said.

"It's normal for us to have this size!" Ness protested.

"Y-yeah!" Lucas defended.

"I want to hear what happened to Mewtwo first." Master Hand said.

Chris cleared his throat. "Last time I saw Mewtwo...well...he wanted to search for Charizard alone but..."

Flashback

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Viridian Forest

"...I...I...I'm going with you!" Red finished his sentence.

"You do know that the next city is close to us now, right?" Pikachu asked.

"...But still, I need to have more training in Pokémon battles...but something tells me this is not going to be a Pokémon battle at all..."

"You just stay in the background giving orders or something to not get hurt, we can do all the fighting in your place too." Chris said.

"...You're going to fight?"

"You will see my true powers once we get back to the mansion...wait a minute...aren't we forgetting someone else important?"

"...Mewtwo!" They said in unison. "Lucario, can you tell me where is Mewtwo?"

"Let me see..." Lucario glowed for a moment and stopped. "There, I sense someone in that area."

"Red, you come with me, Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Lucario, take Maylene and Reggie inside the portal I'm going to make, we'll reunite once Red and me return." Chris said and they nodded agreeding, Red, holding Squirtle, went with Chris deeper in the forest, after a while, they found a big area destroyed and burned down. "...What happened here?"

"Maybe someone else was fighting, but look! The trees are either down or burned!... UAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"What is it?!"

"LOOK!" Red pointed to a tree that was still burning a little, but he wanted to show Chris an image of someone head with charred wood around, the image was oddly familiar too...

"...No...that image looks like...Mewtwo's head...what happened?"

End of flashback

"...They got him too..." Chris finished looking down at his feet.

"So we lost 2 Smashers, but got 3 in return..." Master Hand said.

"What do we do about Red?" Pichu asked, recovering his energy by eating a Maxim Tomato.

"I think I got another idea in mind, we're not going to waste his first time helping us." Chris said.

"...And what's the thing below that mantle?" Link asked looking at the gift Chris got.

However, Lucario didn't liked the "gift" at all, because he grunted at it.

"This is a gift for 2 special friends...and they are..."

"They are?" Nana asked.

"Hey Fox, Falco, I got you 2 a gift from Kanto!" Chris said pushing the gift towards Fox and Falco.

"Sweet! Look at the size of this thing! It must be something big!" Falco said a little excited as both Star Fox members removed the mantle, but their eyes widened and their pupils shrunk at the same time. "...Oh no...this is..."

"Not a gift, but must be a joke then...it's a joke, right?" Fox added sweating a little and asking too.

"Nope! I always knew you wanted to have this from a long time ago!... Or in this case...him..." Chris said a little darkly and enthusiastic at the same time.

"AAAAHH!" They backed away and prepared to attack the gift Fox and Falco received.

"It's just a trophy!" Chris pointed out.

"But it is WHO is the trophy!" Zelda said while her hand glowed with magic.

Chris ducked and reached to the trophy's base, but Fox stopped him before he could touch it. "Think carefully what is going to happen next after you touch the base, Master Hand already told us what happens if we fall defeated with great injuries, do you want to do this still?" Fox asked in a serious tone.

"Hmm, yes!" Chris got his hand away from him and touched the base of the trophy which made the thing to shine brightly and everyone prepared to attack "him".

"...Uuuggghhh..."

"No...way..." Falco said slowly.

"...I'll have in mind to get you out of my team, Chris." Fox said frowning to himself.

"...Where...is this...place..."

"Welcome to the team!" Chris greeted happily, extending his hand at him.

"...What?! How did I got here in the first place?!"

The mysterious person backed away and took a fighting stance to stay alert from them, but Chris tilted his head confused.

"We're not going to hurt you, don't worry about tha-"

"We ARE going to hurt him, but severly!" Falco said, taking out his Blaster.

"...Fox and the bird brain are here?! Then...that means I'm in the enemy's base!?"

"This is not the enemy's base! It's the good guys's base!" Pichu said, gathering electricity on his cheeks.

"I'm not gonna stay here for too long either, let me go!"

"But nobody is tying you to a chair or something..." Popo trailed off and the person calmed down a little.

"...Guess this is not my day then..."

"And never will!" Fox added while he dashed towards him and prepared to kick his face but the person stopped his foot with his claw, as they tried to land the first blow.

"Heh, calm down you."

"You...calm down!"

Chris separated both of them, who crossed their arms and looked away annoyed from each other. "I know you 2 will get along very we-"

"WE'RE NOT!" They said unison.

Chris sighed. "...Okay, I'll stop being optimistic..." He blocked Falco. "No, you're not going to try to hurt him either."

"Humph!" Falco crossed his arms and looked away annoyed like the 2.

"...Anyway, I want everyone to welcome our newest member to the team as Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur, give a warm welcome to...Wolf O'Donnell!"

The person who was mysteriously a trophy was Wolf, the same person who was their enemy and the person Chris got somehow in some way.

"What are you going to do with me?" Wolf asked with a glare towards everyone.

"Nothing, I found you laying around in the grass and then, I thought it was a good action to take you with us." Chris said.

"...This is what happens when Tabuu gets impacient..."

"I remind you, if it weren't for me, you could be stuck in Kanto for the rest of your life."

"So what? Want a thanks or something?"

"Well...no, you're a very hostile person under pressure or bad situations, but I want to ask you if you want to join us."

"NO!" Many of them said glaring at him.

"Please guys, forgive him."

"I rather kill him before apologizing." Lucario said.

"I rather stab his heart again." Link said.

"And I rather let him join, I still remember the first day we hopefully met..." Chris said, remembering...

Back in chapter 8...

"Can't let yo do that, Star Fox!" A voice shouted from somewhere.

Back in the actual chapter...

"Were you blind when Tabuu manipulated you?"

Wolf blinked in surprise before glaring at him. "Wait just a second, what do you mean Tabuu manipulated me?"

"He didn't told you? You were being possesed by the Shadow Bugs when we encountered each other in Zebes!"

"...So that's why you're familiar...that idiot took control of my body without knowing it!"

"That's why you know him too then..." Fox said.

Chris nodded. "Of course, he caused me so much trouble but Lucario managed to defeat him and return him to Corneria with his mind erased to not remember he events, anyway, Wolf, do you want to join us to get revenge or something like that?"

Wolf crossed his arms again. "I refuse to do that."

"You get to beat Fox at least 1 time a week in the matches if you stay here."

"WHAT?!" Was Fox's response.

"...No, the benefit is tempting, but no." Wolf said.

Fox sighed in relief.

"2 times then?"

Fox glared at him.

"3."

"4!"

"Hey!"

"7."

"10!"

"10?!"

"12."

"12?! Are you kidding me!?"

"6! It's my last offer!"

Wolf smirked at the thought. "You got a deal then."

Both of them shook hands and Fox instantly fainted.

Lucario walked to Chris. "That was a little bit too fast..."

"If you know how to convince your enemy, you can get very sweet deals in return."

"At least I got to beat him too." Falco said.

NEWCOMER!

Wolf joined your team!

"When are the matches starting?" Wolf asked.

"Until we reunite everyone else." Chris said.

"How many of them?"

"...Like 15..."

Wolf, yet again, glared at him again. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Sorry, you already did the deal and I KNOW you don't quit deals you have accepted."

Fox got up sighing in relief again. "But how did you find Wolf?"

"Well..."

Flashback...again...

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Viridian Forest

"...No...that image looks like...Mewtwo's head...what happened?" Chris looked around and found a trophy base on a bush. "...Mewtwo?" He pulled the trophy slowly from the bush and gasped a little.

"...HIM?!" Red yelled scared.

"Wow...I don't exactly know what happened here...but we got Wolf's trophy in a sudden twist of..." Chris twirled and stopped. "Events."

"Why did you twirled?"

"Raise the drama or something, anywa-"

"Why is he a trophy?"

"The selected Smashers like him ar-"

"Wait wait wait, what is that of Wolf being a selected Smasher?!" Fox asked outside the flahsback.

"Wolf is one of the new Smashers, I forgot to point that out." Master Hand pointed out.

"...Falco, please tell me this is a dream..."

"Is not." Falco said, shaking his head.

"(This maybe won't be so bad after all.)" Wolf thought.

"-e turned into a trophy if they were weakened to a point, you're no exception too." Chris finished and then got an idea. "Hey, wait, we're gathering everyone else so...why don't take him with us too?"

"Are you nuts?! He tried to kill me!"

"He won't kill you, now, let's find something to carry him...weird, there's a platform with wheels and a grey mantle over there, let's use them to give him as a gift to some friends I know."

End of flashback

"...Oops, I forgot to stop being your friend before YOU took him here!" Falco said annoyed.

"Would you please stop doing that? It was for the best!" Chris said. "...Oh, forget it." Chris slapped Fox from the back and he looked at him.

"Hey! Who did that?!" Fox asked angrily.

"Wolf did it."

"Wait, wha-" Wolf was suddenly attacked by Fox and they started to fight on their own little world.

"...You know you want to, Falco..."

"Alright!" Falco jumped between the 2 to join their pointless fight.

Link sighed. "This is going to be so troublesome..."

"It will and already did." They said in unison.

A portal opened up and they looked at it.

"For what is the sudden portal?" Pikachu asked.

Master Hand raised a finger. "Once again, I upgraded the system, this time around, when a Smasher is ready to come to join us, Chris will have to go and convince him-"

"Or her." Zelda interrupted him.

"...Or her." Master Hand repeated, they were looking at him like it was normal. "...It's a new Smasher." They began to cheer loudly, and if I didn't say it, take a guess who didn't obviously cheered.

"So who?" Popo asked.

"Chris, go on and convince."

"I'll be right back." Chris said before entering inside the portal and they began to talk among themselves...except for the fox, the falcon, hawk, or whatever Falco is and the second selfish mercenary of the team that will...you know what.

"No Young Link for sure, finally." Link said proudly.

"It was very weird to have your younger self around the mansion." Marth said.

Pichu decided to sat on the floor and watch the 3 fighting people...fight. "What's so bad about Young Link? He was better than you!"

"He was only faster!" Link protested.

"...You do know you and him are the same person, right?" Pikachu asked.

"He wasn't that good fighting." Roy said.

"Yeah!" Falco said before returning to the fight.

"How about a Young Zelda?"

"That wouldn't work...and speaking of which, Master Hand, return to me my other form, ever since I left I forgot to ask you for my Sheikah abilities." Zelda ordered.

"She was helpful that way." Link whispered to Marth.

Master Hand snapped his fingers and Zelda glowed for a moment before she stopped.

"Good, this time I won't forget about it." She said.

"You idiot! You're leaving us like nothing happened?!"

They turned at the portal. "What was that?" Ness asked.

"Probably he is convincing whoever he is talking to." Meta Knight said.

"T-Tetra! Please, you have to understand!"

"We have our own mission, remember? Find the new land?"

"I-I promise I'll return, I swear!"

"But for a long time, our mission will take more time...AND CAN YOU UNTIE ME PLEASE?!"

"Hush! Don't talk to Miss Tetra like that, boy!"

"(...Why do I need to be a boy in this world again?)"

"...Fine! Go but I don't want to see you for a long time!"

"Tetra...I..."

"...Go!"

"M-Miss Tetra! Are you cryi-"

PUNCH! SMACK! HIT!

They sweatdropped for a moment.

"Go now before I change my mind!"

"...Ugh..."

"...Te-"

There was a sound of someone taking out a sword.

"YAH!"

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

"S-SORRY! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" And both of them entered inside the portal.

"(...I'm...I'm really going to miss you...good bye...)"

"Miss Tetra, are you cr-"

There were even more sounds of someone being badly hurted to a bloody pulp.

"Now c'mon! We'll search the new land before he returns!"

"AYE, MISS TETRA!"

A familiar person stepped out of the portal confused, pulling a tied up Chris with him and everyone looked at him, even Fox, Falco and Wolf stopped fighting and they looking at him.

Lucario walked towards Chris again and kneeled to see him. "What happened to you?" He asked while he broke the ropes.

"Tetra's pirates tied me when I appeared out of nowhere in their ship." Chris explained.

"...WHO THE HELL IS HIM?!" Link asked while his eyes were twitching.

"...WHO ARE YOU?!" The person asked an-wait, you already guessed who was him.

"It looks like Young Link but...more...what's the word?" Roy asked.

"Cartoony?" Kirby asked.

"Where am I? Why is this guy looking like me but...uglier..."

"Uglier? Have you looked your eyes in a mirror?!" Link asked.

"Yes, they're perfectly fine an-"

"You got E-Mail."

"WAAH!" The person took out a big hammer with the form of a skull and started to smash a computer next to him because it startled him greatly, quickly too.

"TOON LINK, STOP! YOU JUST DESTROYED A COMPUTER AND AN E-MAIL FROM MY COUSIN GLOVER!" Master Hand said enraged and Toon Link's mouth opened in surprise and he gasped.

"A BIG FLOATING HAND!" Toon Link started to continuously pummel Master Hand using his Skull Hammer.

"OWW! OWW! OWW! DO SOMETHING, EVERYONE! OWW!" However, most of them were either laughing or chuckling uncontrollably. "I'LL THROW ALL OF YOU IN CRUEL BRAWL OTHERWISE!" They stopped laughing and Toon Link too from murdering the hand.

"LET ME GO! I NEED TO KILL THAT THING!" Toon Link said.

"But he didn't attacked you!" Nana said, taking the Skull Hammer away from him.

Then Toon Link calmed down and panted. "...Can anybody here explain me who is that hand, what are those weird things with images, why is him here, why is that kid from over there fainted, why this guy looks like me but older, why there are animals walking in 2 legs, who are those rounded balls, why the hand called me Toon Link and why that guy is wearing a tiara that makes him look like a girl?"

"I'm not a girl!" Marth said angrily.

"I can do that if you want." Chris said raising a hand.

"Okay...please explain to me."

5 hours later...

"And...lastly...we need your help...to defeat the Subspace Army, the same guys...we fought in...Dragon...Roost...Island..." Chris finished his long explanation to Toon Link, who was left even more confused than before.

"Let me get this straight..."

"Oh no..." Chris muttered under his breath.

5 MORE hours later...

"And the Subspace Army is trying to take all the worlds and rule them all?" Toon Link asked and they nodded, some of them snoring or sleeping. "...This is so...darn...confusing..."

"By any chance you didn't pulled out the Master Sword and went to the future where you were older, right?" Link asked.

"The Master Sword? Well, I pulled it but I didn't got any older...hey, what are you doing with the Master Sword?"

"I'm-" Zelda blocked his mouth.

"He's like you in some ways." She said.

Toon Link looked at Chris. "Alright, alright, I'll stay here to help, but just a favor, don't call me Toon Link, call me Link."

NEWCOMER!

Toon Link joined your team!

Chris nodded with a smile. "Okay, then the first Link will be Link 2."

"What?" Link 2 asked.

"Just kidding...wait, we're going to have issues with the names later...let me think about something..."

As Chris began to think, Red slowly woke up and looked around scratching his head. "It's over?" He asked and glanced at Toon Link. "LOOK AT HIS EYES!" He yelled before fainting.

"Where is Squirtle?" Jigglypuff asked before she took out a Pokeball from Red's belt and called out Squirtle. "Can you wake him up?"

"Sure!" Squirtle used Water Gun on Red and he woke up again, while Roy explained some things to him.

?

"No! No! Why?! This can't be!"

"Heh, looks like I win Goroh."

"GRR! I'm not going to let you go like that Falcon! C'mon guys! Take him!"

"Wha-"

PUNCH!

"UGH!" He fell on the orange ground.

"Hahaha! Look who's laughing now! Take him away!"

"(D-Darn it...I need help...but...who? Who should I call?... Wait, I still have the emergency button to call them...they're taking away somewhere...then there's no other choice...)"

"B-BOSS! LOOK AT THIS!"

"What is it?... U-UAAAAAHHHHHHH! LET'S GO AND GET OUTTA HERE! WE CAN'T BEAT THOSE MONSTERS EVEN WITH ALL OF US!" Then they ran away in their machines at high speed, leaving his rival at the mercy of the mysterious monsters.

"(W-who are these monsters?... I don't think I can defeat them...I must...call...them...)" He pressed a weird button on his helmet with the emblem of the SSB and he fainted before he was surrounded by Big Primids.

?

An armor was walking through the halls of a forgotten city of modern machinery, the armor stopped on its trails and leaned to a wall to inspect the area, there were different creatures inspecting the whole place and moving machines and devices to another section of the area, the armor readied its arm cannon, but before, the armor began to click on its visor and to an image of the emblem of SSB since it thought it couldn't defeat all of them.

...Since they were 1000...and there was a cage with someone trying to get out using waves of energy...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

The Smashers were all talking among themselves, everyone but Wolf and Meta Knight, who were glaring at each other.

"Because of you, my ship was stolen." Meta Knight said coldly.

"Because of you, I lost to a stupid puffball." Wolf said coldly.

"Because of you 2, I'm getting sick." Chris said, crossing his arms. "I'm going to guess you 2 will not get along for a long time." They nodded. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm planning to get everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE to get along with persons who haven't talked with."

"Don't tell me you're going to get Fox to be my friend or something cheesy like that." Wolf said glaring at him.

"...I...I think there will be exceptions of course, but as a member of this..." He glanced around, where Master Hand was giving Toon Link his Master Sword and changing him into his Brawl form, Link, Marth and Roy measuring their swords, Ness and Lucas playing a thumb fight while Popo, Pikachu, Pichu and Kirby watched cheering, Nana talking with Zelda and Jigglypuff, Fox and Falco whispering with each other to how tick Wolf off and Pit trying to get Lucario to talk with him. "...This team full of very weird people or something else, I need to do something big then...but then again, that would ruin all the fun."

"Don't do it." Wolf and Meta Knight said coldly.

"But I-"

"Don't do it."

"But-"

"Don't, do it."

"Bu-"

"Don't, do it."

"B-" At that point, Meta Knight pointed his sword at him and Wolf aimed his Blaster at him too.

"Don't, do it."

"...Weeell, if you want to..." He clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone. "Alright, listen up, we have been wasting so much time already! We need to get to work right now or we're not going to get through this!" If you weren't noticing, Chris was wearing now a white, grey and green shirt that looked like it came from the future, a plasma gun that was also a whip inside a holder in his black belt, green and light blue pants, white shoes and a small red bandana around his neck (he named it Reddy Jr.), because he bought the Chozo Arts job.

"We're waiting for an invasion!" Popo shouted.

"Our mission is to gather everyone else, remember?"

"It's more fun when they invade first!" Roy shouted.

"Yeah!" Link replied.

"(...That's new coming from Link.) Forget about that! This time, we'll not wait for them to attack an-"

"RECEIVING A DISTRESS CALL FROM SUBJECT CAPTAIN FALCON, REPEAT, RECEIVING A DISTRESS CALL FROM SUBJECT CAPTAIN FALCON."

Many of them began to cheer loudly and Chris slapped his forehead before the screen played the call.

"Is anybody in the mansion?... Good, okay, I'm going to be quick, some creatures with dark spores came out of nowhere and scared Goroh and his band of bandits away from the Red Canyon, unfortunately...the bandits started to beat me when I wasn't looking at those creatures appeared...and they are carrying me to somewhere...this is the motive of my call...hurry up whoever is in the mansion right now...idiot...Falcon...there is nobody in the mansion right now...man, this is it then...is that...a ship?" The transmission began to lose communication and it turned off and they were talking yet again between themselves about the call.

Chris clapped his hands to get their attention. "Our mission is clear no-"

"RECEIVING A DISTRESS CALL FROM SUBJECT SAMUS ARAN, REPEAT, RECEIVING A DISTRESS CALL FROM SUBJECT SAMUS ARAN."

They began to cheer loudly and Chris slapped his forehead again...before realising that there were 2 persons this time instead of 1, the screen didn't got any voice transmission, it was written.

"Samus here, I need help right now, I was investigating the Sanctuary Fortress when I found an area full of monsters with black spores coming from their bodies, I remember I saw them a long time ago too, I should have defeated 100, but 1000 it's just enough to tire me out. I'm requesting help from anyone in the mansion, I don't care who it is, but you must come here as soon as possible, and that's not all, there is a ship landing on the highest point of the maze and that's the place where I'm going, roger and out." The transmission ended and they stopped talking.

"Samus...always acting like a soldier." Master Hand said before the screen showed the status of both worlds.

F-Zero GX
Current Status: Currently, somewhere in Red Canyon
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 1
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Fighting abilities (Any type of fighter will be fine to go).

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Current Status: Searching for the Dark Keys of Sanctuary Fortress
Race: Anyone. (Preferably women)
Number of protagonists: 1
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilites: Fighting, Espionage, Traveling or High-Jumping abilities (Any type of fighter will be fine to go).

Most of them were puzzled at many things.

"Race, preferably women?" Marth readed confused.

"Maybe because Samus is a woman." Zelda said.

"Samus is a man, right Fox?" Falco asked.

"Excuse me? Samus is a woman!"

"I've never heard of any girl wearing an armor!"

"But Falco, Samus is a woman, right Master Hand?" Chris asked.

"Is a man, I think." Master Hand said.

"...And you call yourself the manager of this tournament...she is a woman!"

"HE is a MAN!" Falco said annoyed.

"STOP IT! Focus on the mission, we have 2 characters in danger, but then, we have to make teams to help them and investigate why are there 2 ships."

"2 Halberds...one of them must be fake..." Meta Knight said.

Chris nodded. "Exactly, it's weird that the level of danger is medium too...but that doesn't matter, anyone can go to both worlds so...since I'm not so good sorting teams with so much differency, I'm going to the Sanctuary Fortress and help Samus, who wants to be the leader and help Captain Falcon?"

At that moment, Link, Roy, Pikachu, Fox, Falco and Ness were fighting to gain the leadership.

"...Nevermind, Marth will be the leader."

"I shall success by the name of Altea." Marth said, stepping to Chris's right side.

"You don't need to get dramatic either...alright, now in order, and I mean it, IN ORDER, please decide with who you want to go." The teams were sorted out in this order.

Marth's Team: Marth, Roy, Link, Toon Link, Ice Climbers, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu and Pichu.

Chris's Team: Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Zelda and Red.

"Jigglypuff, you don't want to come?" Kirby asked and Jigglypuff shook her head.

"I want to get a bath, I'll go the next time." She said and left the room.

"...Wait, I'm missing 3." Chris said.

"Maybe because of them?" Red asked pointing at fox, Falco and Wolf, who were looking at different ways.

"...We can't go through this without you 3!"

"Sorry, but this wasn't on the contract!" Falco said annoyed.

"There wasn't any contract in the first place! You 3 will go with us even if you don't like each other!"

"I'm fine with Falco." Fox said.

"I know that Fox, but I was meaning Wolf."

"Then no."

"Master Hand...can you do me a favor?" Chris narrowed his eyes.

"Yes?" Master Hand asked.

"Grab those 3 together and throw them inside the portal to Samus." Chris said pointing at the portal to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Master Hand quickly grabbed the 3 and they were yelling above his fingers, trying to get off him. "HEY! YOU HAND! LET ME GO!" Wolf said angrily.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE THIS CLOSE TO HIM!" Fox said angrily.

"ME NEITHER!" Falco yelled angrily.

"Okay!" Master Hand threw them at high speed towards the portal before all the teams entered inside the portals to begin the mission.

F-Zero GX

Red Canyon

"We're here! Captain Falcon, can you hear-" Roy found a big pile of Big Primids dead before they vanished, and Captain Falcon was dusting off his gloves from behind and he looked at them appearing.

"Guys! Good to see you here!" Captain Falcon said shaking hands with Marth.

"...What happened here?" Ness asked.

"Oh, those monsters? I got rid of 'em in no time, guess I didn't needed to call all of you here..."

Link took out his sword in fury. "Then...you DID handed all of this by yourself and didn't EVEN needed our help at the end?"

C. Falcon laughed a little. "Yeah, that's right."

"GET HIM!" Roy yelled and they lunged at him.

Lucas and Pichu were watching all of them beating C. Falcon. "My god, they're so brute." Lucas said.

"You get used to it." Pichu said sighing.

NEWCOMER!

C. Falcon temporaly joined your team!

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Sanctuary Fortress

"This is not good, I think Dark Samus destroyed the bridge to the fortress...hey, where are Fox, Falco and Wolf?" Chris asked.

"They were thrown at high speed towards the fortress by Master Hand's force, and it was too much actually to make them to cross the walls." Lucario pointed out.

Kirby looked from the cliff. "Yes, I can see 3 holes with their images."

"Anybody knows how to cross this big chasm?" Chris asked and Zelda looked above her to find a destroyed, but very small line hanging from their point to the fortress.

"I've got an idea." Zelda said as she transformed to Sheik, and Chris instantly stood in front of her.

"Okay, you're still a girl, right?"

"...Of course." Sheik said, before she jumped high in the air and began to walk across the line and they looked at her.

"I don't like where is this going AT ALL."

"If you slip, I'll catch you." Lucario reassured him.

"Thank you but...wait, where is Meta Knight and Kirby?" Lucario pointed to the other side where mentioned characters were already there waiting for them. "Red, how are you going to-" Red was already fainted while Squirtle sprayed more water on his face. "...Why is he fainted?"

"Duh, we're above a big-whatever-is down there, anyone could have fainted from seeing something like that!" Squirtle said and pointed to the big, forgotten civilization city down below.

"Hmm...wait, I have an idea to cross...but I don't know if I can do it...let's see..." Chris threw his whip to latch it to the line and he swung to grab a much farther rope and he continued to do the same. "Wahoo! This is incredible! Lucario, you should do this someday too!"

Lucario just smiled a little and ran above the line to catch up with them.

...Leaving Red and Squirtle behind by accident.

Reactor Core

Pursuing My True Self

Samus didn't wanted to wait more time and she decided to sneak through all the different machinery that the Primids were pushing around to not be spotted.

We are living our liiiiiiiiiiiiiives

As soon as she was behind a big wall, she began to scan all the different equipment of the Primids.

Abound with so much informatioooooooooon

Then, the next thing she did was to launch a missile to some barrels with energy that exploded to kill 10 Primids that caught all the attention of her enemies, then she snuck through their backs as silent as possible. She leaned to a nearby wall where she pressed her hand to open a lock to the left room to escape from them. She ran inside and the Primids looked at each other before continuing with their work.

"(Those were the Primids that appeared that time too...why the alarm of this fortress doesn't makes a warning signal or something? The Luminoth should have been safer with an alarm.)" Samus thought as she sat on something on the wall to use her visor to review all the information she gathered about them.

Not much time passed before she heard someone close to her...very close to her.

"(Huh? I heard voices...)" She began to scan the area around her, but there wasn't anyone there.

Samus looked around, a little scared of something that could appear anytime, she hated enemies that could teleport around. "(Where is it? I can't find it.)"

"...e...re..."

"(...It's getting closer.)"

"..ve...h.er..."

"(Closer...)"

"Ove...here..."

"(Ovehere? What's that suppose to mean?)"

"SAMUS, MAN, BELOW YOUR COLD BUTT!"

"(What?)" She stood up and looked down where she sat and found Falco with a very angry expression on his face. "(...Falco?)"

"Why so silent? It's weird to find someone's head stuck on the wall? Wait, IT'S WEIRD!...WELL, TALK!" Samus shook her head, she couldn't talk through her helmet at all and the air around wasn't recommended for her, but persons like the Smashers didn't needed that because they were protected against it.

Samus wrote something of her visor and showed it to Falco. "Where is Fox?" She asked in the visor.

NEWCOMER!

Samus temporaly joined your team!

"Fox and unfortunately Wolf are the guys unconscious below me!" Falco looked down where Fox and Wolf were knocked out with swirls on their eyes and Samus sweatdropped. "GET US OFF THIS WALL! I NEED TO SCRATCH MY MOUTH!"

Preview of the next chapter

"I told you, Samus is a woman." Zelda said proudly of herself.

"Is a he! I need actual proof! Like...hmm...breasts!" Falco said before he was slapped by Samus and Zelda. "Oww!"

"Mommy told me to not go to these places...they're bad..." Lucas said studdering and trembling with fear before a drop of beer was dropped from Bio Rex's mouth, making him to back away scared.

"It's a story about 2 guys who were fighting for a princess...one guy that only accepted jobs for money and the other one being a mercenary and the rival of the space fighter...and the girl that is left out of the conversation with not so much sense..." Chris said before he told the 3 about a video on Youtube he saw a while ago.

Super Mario Hyadian - By Scott Falco

"So, all we do is to watch him run around and meanwhile we do nothing?!" Toon Link asked and Nana nodded.

"That's C. Falcon for you..." Ness said.

"Next time: School time for Fox, Falco and Wolf, with some races and more!" Toon Link said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Red Canyon/Sanctuary Fortress
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Sheik, Red, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Samus/Marth, Roy, Link, Toon Link, Ice Climbers, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu, Captain Falcon/Jigglypuff, Mewtwo

Mwhahahahaha, as much as I love to make Fox, Falco and Wolf's lifes miserable, these arcs are going to be interesting...if you were wondering why I did 2 arcs, it's because it was not going to work with only Metroid Prime.

I thought it was enough time for Toon Link to appear, I didn't play Phantom Hourglass but I took the necessary amount of time to do it, and for what happened to Mewtwo and why Wolf was in that state is going to be interesting...you should know where is he right now.

Main characters for these arcs will be Zelda, Samus, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Link, Toon Link and Captain Falcon...wow, so many protagonists...

References:

-Pursuing My True Self is the opening for Persona 4, but it kind of suited Samus, the first 2 verses were also related for what Samus did, was that a little epic for you? (It's possible that I could use music from other games and Brawl music all together.)

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 72*: Grown Up Children

...I can't believe that this chapter was shorter...but the humor makes up for it. :)

From swack16: Hey if your going to do the Dark Echoes arc are they going to the dark world. And will the other Smasher will be effected by the darkness?

From me: ...They will...in the next chapter and they won't find it the best place to live...

From Avatar Fan 11051: Brilliant story!
Also, next chapter, the title has races in it. Does that mean F-Zero racing for everyone?
And also, is Glover's e-mail just a sort of filler, or is it important?

:D

From me: I couldn't have time to put the race! Sorry! But the next chapter it will! I promise!

From Mariko-ai-chan: Hooray for Wolf bashing nya!Okay it's Q&A!

How do you plan to introduce the Mario bros...you WILL be putting them in right?Nya?Nya?

How how HOW do you get the energy to write such gihugeic chapters nya?I get tired just reading them!

What kind of music do Lucario and you listen to?I ask this because it can tell ALOT about personality...that and I can't think of good questions (Chibi grins).

You have unfinished stories.When will you finish them?I know your busy but i'd like a guesstimate if you could nya.

Here's to Reddy jr. and a Kirby proof cookie for Lucario.

From me: Okay, stop it rabbid fangirl of Lucario, at this rate you're going to ask all about the characters!

...Ahem...

Wait for Mario Bros later, speaking of which, I have that already planned.

I write daily.

Hmm... Final Fanatsy music.

Later.

And unfortunately Yoshi came in and...you know what happened to the cookie...IT TURNED INTO AN EGG! XD

From Mar-

From me: Remember that I was going to put ONLY the reviews of the last chapter? For those who are interested about Chris's life with Lucario in the real world will be revealed through the mansion chapters or when they are the protagonists!

From Seitei: This is a great story. Keep it up! I find your interaction with the characters pretty believable and detailed!

One thing I'd like to draw your attention, to, though, is your use of pronouns as subjects or objects. Through the course of your story, I've noticed several sentences such as "who the hell is him?!" (should be "who the hell is he?!")
It's hard to describe, so if you're confused, I guess you could go here: /English/HeOrHimWhichIsCorrect/bbxrq/post.htm.

But other than that, I look forward to your new chapters! Let the Fox/Falco/Wolf bashing deepen.

From me: I like to talk to genius reviewers like you! I'll visit that page before I write the next chapter, thanks for the advice and the correct way to write that. :)

From Nintendogeek01: lol, Fox Falco and Wolf, this is going to go well.

Anyways the C. Falcon thing seemed a twinge cut short, but it looks like you may have something planned after all, now Samus' arc so far is funny. I'm looking forward to this.

From me: Since this chapter will not feature the F-Zero GX arc well, I'm going to give you a hint, one team will do absolutely nothing and the other one will do a lot of things...without...(blocked for spoilers). XD

From Rellymaster: This is gonna get interesting! Another mercenary? And it's Wolf? Oh yeah, things will definitely get weird.
BTW, nice music choice.

From me: They will, a villain to the main heroes is a great twist to the story, thanks for the remark too. :)

From Blaperile: Cool chapter, just like your other chapters.

From me: Um, yay for new reviewer as Seitei? :x

And look at this! This story is flourishing with many reviews! I could get 200 reviews before chapter 75 at this rate! Thank you so much everyone! :D

IMPORTANT UPDATE OF MY PROFILE: I'm adding the soundtrack of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift, please enjoy it. :)

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 72: School time for Fox, Falco and Wolf, with some races and more!

Note: This arc will change continuously from world to world, to indicate without writing the game, we will mention the teams (Chris's Team or Marth's Team) to make everything simplier.

Sanctuary Fortress
Reactor Core

"...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

Samus shook her and grabbed Falco's head to pull him out of the wall, she tried harder and harder but it wasn't too comfortable for Falco either.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PULL MY HEAD OFF INSTEAD OF GETTING ME OU-"

BANG!

Samus was already furious for all the complains Falco told her and decided to knock him out of cold to shut him up using her arm cannon. And his eyes were Xs.

"(Finally, I can't tolerate more complains coming from him)" Samus thought and walked off...until realising that she was leaving 3 stuck characters in walls alone and stopped. "(Wait, how did they got there? I sent the distress call but why did they appeared on the wall?)"

Just then, the door opened up and Samus prepared her arm cannon to shoot, but she lowered it when all the Smashers stepped out. "Samus!" Chris said smiling a little.

"(It's Chris, and he still looks the same...)" Samus thought.

"Thank goodness we found you, I was worried that the Subspace Army captured you...you can't talk with that suit, right?" She nodded and wrote something on her visor.

"Can you explain some things to me?"

"Well, you see..."

1 hour later...

"And he is Red, a new Smasher." Chris finished explaining all the things to Samus, it didn't took so long as Toon Link's explanation.

(Samus will communicate through her visor using words.)

Samus nodded. "Right...and how did Fox, Falco and the other guy we saw in Zebes got stuck on the wall?"

Chris sweatdropped and looked at the 3. "They didn't wanted to come here, and Master Hand threw them with all his forces together...but he went too far and this is what happened. Lucario, do me a favor and take them out please." Lucario nodded and with one simple pull, he took the 3 out of the wall and they woke up shaking their heads.

"I'm going to kill that hand if I ever get the chance." Wolf said as he got up.

"I presume you will once we get back." Zelda said.

"I know him very well, there's a chance of that happening." Fox said.

"Like you know me very well." Wolf said crossing his arms.

"But I do."

"Okay, stop it you 2," Chris said. "Samus, you said there were like 1000 Primids out there right?"

"Wait, you didn't saw them?" Samus asked.

"Saw who? There weren't anyone in our way here."

Samus walked behind them and the whole room was empty like nothing happened and she began to think where did they could go.

"High-technological machines, walls with shiny lights, walking armors, I wasn't sure this was going to be around on this quest." Red said.

"And there will be more, believe me." Kirby said.

"Samus..." Chris looked down sadly. "Did you saw Mewtwo around here? I'm afraid he was captured by them..."

"...Then it was him...there was a cage liberating some energy waves that looked like it was a psychic energy..." Samus said.

"Why are they keeping him inside a cage?" Squirtle asked.

"It's possible that the Shadow Bugs aren't too strong to take control over his body," Meta Knight said as he looked at the yellow light in front of them. "And think about this, we are inside a facility with all kinds of devices and such, maybe the best place to conduct experiments to make research to find a way to manipulate him."

Chris's eyes were wide. "...I didn't knew you were this smart in situations like this."

"One must be smart to fight and concentrate in battles."

"I'll keep that hint in mind, do you know where they went Samus?"

Samus shook her head. "No, but there was a signal of a ship arriving at the highest point of the fortress, I know the way there too."

"For one more time we know where to go, we follow you."

Samus nodded and walked further ahead while all the Smashers followed her...but it wasn't a normal walk, not because of the monsters that mysteriously vanished and didn't left dust behind, but for 3 peculiar persons...or all of them.

Chris looked behind him where Fox and Falco were various metres away from Wolf.

017 - Adelle

"Are you 3 going to be like that from now on?" Chris asked.

"We have a thief in our team, remember?" Falco asked.

"...And we have a bird that complains too much too."

"Yeah an-hey, what bird are you talking about?" Falco asked narrowing his eyes.

"You know who, you got a reason too, Fox?"

Fox nodded. "Never walk near a guy with a Blaster...with a knife on it, who knows what could he do."

"Just because he has a knife on it doesn't means he will cut down your throat."

At that moment, Wolf smirked at Fox.

"See his smirk? He will do it when you turn your face!" Fox said.

"Pfft, yeah, right, look, nobody will get killed by anyone on my watch here, so behave you 3."

"And what will you do if we don't listen to your orders?" Wolf asked glaring at him.

"Well my Mr. Texan Voice friend, I lack power on this job, but fortunately, I can always convince Lucario to break some bones...or shatter them if I want to." He looked at Lucario, who cracked his fists.

"Your way of talking is getting obnoxious..."

"Hahah, well, I could say I get smart around stupid people." Chris crossed his arms behind his back and jumped to a platform with all of them to follow Samus, while Fox, Falco and Wolf were wondering what he meant by stupid people.

"...I'm not stupid!" They said angrily before following them.

And thus, chaos began...between them.

"...Falco, stop walking too close to me." Fox said a little annoyed.

"Why don't you stop walking too close to me?" Falco asked.

"No, you first, I'm in a bad mood right now."

"Same here."

They tried to walk to different ways but they couldn't.

"Hey, what's the joke here? I can't get away." Falco said.

"Just walk to the opposite direction." Fox said.

"And what do you think I'm doing right now?"

"Walking to my direction."

"I'm not!"

"Well, stop!"

"You stop!"

Both of them looked at each other with annoyed looks on their faces before they looked down, finding their belts crossed with each other and making them look like they were sticking their hips.

"What the hell?!" They said in unison and tried to de-attach their belts, but with no luck, then for their bad luck, Kirby looked behind them and pulled Red's shirt.

"Hey, look! They want to kiss!" Kirby said and he laughed together with Red and Squirtle, as 2 veins popped out from Fox and Falco's foreheads, since their belts were crossed but with force that made them look like they were going to kiss each other if they turned their heads, and both of them sweatdropped and looked away quickly, making Chris to look at them.

"What are you 2 doing now?" Chris asked.

"Our belts got stuck!" Falco said.

"As far I know, belts don't get stuck and cross together."

"But Wolf did it when we weren't looking!" Fox said pointing to Wolf, who had his hands inside his pockets and whistling.

Wolf turned his head at Fox. "How do you know if it was me?" He asked with a glare.

"Seriously, stop acting like that, you're acting like children in the school or something, de-attach your belts and don't get in more trouble." Chris walked ahead with Kirby, Red and Squirtle who were still laughing.

The 2 got their belts away from each other and they glared at Wolf. "I know you did it!" Falco said angrily.

"Then be more careful." Wolf said walking ahead.

"Grr, I hate that guy."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Me too."

That wasn't chaos exactly, but they decided to take revenge.

Wolf looked to his pocket where his small chain is, but it wasn't there and he looked around for it. "Hey, where is my chain?" A sound of a chain was heard and he looked to Falco, who was looking away with a grin on his mouth...or in this case, beak.

"What? I have something on my face?" Falco asked grinning.

"No, but something else in your feathered hands, which are conveniently behind your back." Wolf tried to look behind Falco, but Falco turned his back away from Wolf.

"No, I don't have anything in them."

"I believe the opposite."

"Do you want to take a peek?"

When Wolf was going to look behind Falco, the previously ruffian saw his moment to throw the chain at fast speed towards Fox who catched it and hide it inside his own pockets, then Wolf looked at Falco's hands and there wasn't anything on them. "Hey, where is my chain?"

Falco's grin turned into a smirk. "What chain? I don't know anything about a chain."

"You had my chain bird brain, didn't you?"

"What makes you think about that?"

Wolf grabbed Falco's bandana to pull him slightly above the floor. "I give you 3 seconds to give it back."

Falco's smirk didn't went away yet. "I told you, I don't have it."

"3..."

"Seriously man, I don't know ANYTHING about a chain."

"2..." His hand turned into a fist.

"Why don't you ask Fox about it?"

"1..." He showed his fangs a little.

"What is happening here?" Chris asked, walking to them.

"Hey Chris, Wolf's trying to kill me." Falco said.

"Wolf, put Falco down."

"Not until he gives me back my chain."

Fox tapped Chris's shoulder and showed Wolf's chain. "I found this laying around the floor, do you know from who is this?" He asked. (Inside his mind, however, he was smirking like Falco.)

"Oh, Fox, you found his chain! Wolf, you don't have a reason to murder Falco now."

Wolf glared at him and Fox. "But they took my chain!"

"Fox says otherwise, give his chain Fox."

Fox held the chain in front of Wolf and the grey vulpine snatched it and walked away grunting, putting Falco down too.

"We just need to walk more, please wait." Chris said and both Star Fox members nodded smiling a little, but just when he turned his back, they grinned. "My grin senses are tingling..." Chris looked behind him but Fox and Falco were shown shaking hands together and their grins changed to friendly smiles. "...Riiiiight..." And he walked away.

Both of them chuckled, a little evily. "Oh yeah, this is going to be our day..." Falco said evily.

And with a thought full of might, Fox, Falco and Wolf thought at the same time "It's ON!"

With Marth's Team...

Port Town

The Blue Falcon went through the streets but it stopped in front of a bar and the hatch of the vehicle opened up, C. Falcon got out by jumping but for the rest, well, they sprung out since the Blue Falcon wasn't exactly designed for 10 passangers.

THUD!

"Get off me!"

"You're so heavy!"

"I'm above him!"

"Who touched me there?"

"Sorry, my fault."

And between many other complains, they finally got up and looked around the blinding lights of the city.

"Where are we?" Ness asked.

"This is Port Town, my home." Captain Falcon said.

Toon Link looked in front of him and pointed. "Hey, what's that place?"

"The bar, I need to relax for a little and gather information about Black Shadow." He said as he walked towards the bar.

"C-C. Falcon! Are kids under 15 allowed inside?" Lucas asked studdering.

"Of course...yes!" He shouted.

"I predict a fight with drunk people, stay alert." Marth warned them as they entered inside.

It wasn't a pretty sight, pretty sight would be strolling down in a green bushy area like Aisenfield of Final Fantasy.

But strolling down the bar was like awakening all the Malboros in the Calm Lands that would throw the dreaded Bad Breath attack and confuse your overly-powered Wakka who has a very high accuracy and pummel down your other 2 companions and himself to gain an instant Game-Over, seriously, many hate Malboros.

But enough with that.

"Dr. Clash, the usual but by 4." Captain Falcon ordered and Dr. Clash took out 4 glasses and filled them with beer, supposedly, the other 3 were for Marth, Roy and Link. "Drink."

"Er...no thanks, but I need to get older for this." Link said, putting his glass away.

"Me too." Roy said.

"I don't want to have another accident." Marth said.

And for the rest of the young Smashers, things weren't going well...

Lucas and Pichu backed away from all the weird but scary guys drinking beer like there was no end, but Toon Link, Ness, Popo, Nana and Pikachu weren't that scared...okay, maybe a little bit.

"Mommy told me to not go to these places...they're bad..." Lucas said studdering and trembling with fear before a drop of beer was dropped from Bio Rex's mouth, making him to back away scared.

"D-don't worry sir, he didn't wanted to start something, j-just return to your things and we won't interrupt you!" Nana said scared and Bio Rex looked to another way and drank his beer, spilling it all over the floor.

"I hate this place already." Ness whispered to them.

"Just a poke and they will try to murder you." Popo said.

"They're just drunk, if they aren't drunk, then nothing will happen." Pikachu said, finding a green alien walking from the entrance and he walked to him. "Good day si-"

PUNCH!

Pikachu was sent flying towards them by a punch from Pico, who walked towards the main desk and ordered a beer.

"What did you said again?" Popo asked raising an eyebrow.

"Shut...up..." Pikachu said annoyed.

"Toon Link..." Pichu trailed off.

"It's Link!" Toon Link said.

"...O-oh right, Link, what do you think of traveling around worlds?"

Toon Link sat on the floor. "I think it's pretty exhausting, I haven't fought with anything yet and I'm already bored and tired."

"Well, for me, I'm glad, I've never been doing this before." Ness said.

"Although it's fun to do it." Nana said.

"Just think of all the places we could go than anyone else here couldn't! I couldn't go to a new world before for some stupid rules, but after we return to the mansion, we could visit a new world that we don't know about!" Pikachu said excited.

"Like which one?" Toon Link asked.

"...Chris knows..." Popo said and they nodded.

"I wonder what are they doing right now." Nana wondered, looking outside where it started to rain.

"Probably they're doing fine, you know, fighting against the Subspace Army and not with each other and getting along well instead of doing pranks with each other." Popo said, patting her back.

"...Wait, didn't Wolf joined our team and Fox and Falco don't like him at all?" Ness asked and they sweatdropped.

"Oh god, they're probably killing each other as we talk." Pikachu said.

"Well, what do you think one of them is going to ask for something stupid?" Pichu asked.

"Hmm..." They began to think.

With Chris's team...

Falco was arguing with Zelda if Samus was a man or a woman, even Samus was trying to tell him that she was a woman...

...But can you believe Falco wasn't believing it?

"For the last time, I'm a woman Falco!" That was repeatedly repeated on Samus's visor.

"I told you, Samus is a woman." Zelda said proudly of herself.

"Is a he! I need actual proof! Like...hmm...breasts!" Falco said before he was slapped by Samus and Zelda. "Oww!"

"Perv!" Zelda and Samus said at the same time.

"(I won't fall yet Zelda, I'm going to win that bet I made with you a loooong time ago...)"

Flashback

Smash Mansion
Living Room

We are taken back when the Melee tournament was going on, and we see Falco (in his Melee form) talking with Zelda (in her Melee form) together.

"So Zelda, where is he?" Falco asked as he leaned to the sofa.

"He? Who?" Zelda asked.

"Samus, obviously, that guy hasn't appeared here to say a farewell since the tournament is over and everyone else is packing up to leave."

"...Falco, you do know that Samus is a woman right?"

"...Say what?"

"Samus is a W-O-M-A-N."

Falco chuckled at this. "No, Samus is a M-A-N."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "I know her pretty well."

"And I know him pretty well too."

"Liar, I have been spending much time with Samus...and Peach than you."

Falco pointed at her. "And we have been fighting each one longer than you!"

"Idiot, spending time and fights are 2 different things."

"Nope, in my dictionary, they are the same."

"In your dictionary, if you search the word "Stupid" there is going to be a picture of you to the right."

Falco grew annoyed and stood up. "Wanna make a bet?"

Zelda stood up, annoyed too. "Tell me."

"If you can get actual proof of he being a woman, I'll give you my Arwing and-" He took out a card. "-my credit card of the bank! It has tons of money on it!"

"And if you lose, I give you my permission to name you king of Hyrule and make everything you want there."

"Deal!" Both of them shook hands but pressed them hard to crush their opponent's hand, but it didn't worked and they walked to different directions.

Just then, Ness was shown walking with Pikachu.

"Remember our bet, Ness," Pikachu said. "If we ever get the chance to travel around the worlds someday, with a teenager and a new Pokémon that will be his favorite Pokémon and in a twist of events try to take Mewtwo's place but both are accepted back and we fight against a great menace out of nowhere and we choose to fight it, I'll get to see what is inside your backpack if I win."

"Are you sure you want to make a bet like that? That's never going to happen even in 7 years!" Ness said, shaking hands with Pikachu.

"Believe me, that will happen." Pikachu said proudly.

End of flashback

"(I WILL win that bet!)" Falco said cheering inside his mind.

With Marth's Team...

"Nah." They said in unison.

"Hey Ness, do you remember something we bet?" Pikachu asked.

"...No?" Ness responded confused.

"H-hey guys! Look at C. Falcon!" Roy said laughing with Link and the young Smashers looked at C. Falcon wearing an extremely embarrassing clown outfit with a cape.

"N-Neelsen! I don't want to take part of that race now!" C. Falcon said to an old man with a long white beard pushing him towards the track further inside the bar.

"Nonsense boy! Go get the prize! It's worth it!" Silver Neelsen said rambling about how good is the prize money.

"What is C. Falcon going to do?" Nana asked.

"That old man appeared out of nowhere and talked to C. Falcon, he asked him that if C. Falcon wanted to participate on a race, but he refused but the old man was stubborn and disguised C. Falcon with that ridiculous outfit." Roy said chuckling.

"...Wait a minute, aren't we forgetting someone else back in the mansion?" Link asked.

"Who?" Marth asked.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

A sound coming from the bathroom was heard and Pit came out. "I can't believe I took so long in the bathroom...hey, where is everyone?"

"Pit? You're here?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes, I was spending a painful time in the bathro-"

"Too much information, please don't continue."

"...Well, where is everyone?"

"They left when you were occupied."

"...They left without me?! What happened when I was occupied?!"

"Let's see...Wolf joined our team, Toon Link also joined our team, Chris bought the Chozo Arts job, C. Falcon and Samus were in trouble and they made teams...and that's all."

"...Goddess, I missed so much, did anyone else stayed here?"

Jigglypuff appeared whistling happily. "Aww, that was a good bath...Pit?"

"Stuck in the bathroom."

"Oh." She said, looking away for a moment before looking at him again. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, do you know?"

Jigglypuff took out a game from her back, where did she got it? It's a mystery. "Do you want to play Uno, Pokémon Version?"

With Marth's Team...

"...No, I don't recall anyone." Nana said, they remained silent for a moment before Lucas spoke.

"...W-where are they?" Lucas asked.

"Who?" Pichu asked.

"T-the Subspace Army, they should be attacking by now."

Roy took a seat. "Relax, we can rest and watch C. Falcon win this race."

...But unfortunately...they didn't knew that there were black spores appearing for a second from Silver Neelsen...

With Chris's Team...

"No, just no."

"You dressed him?"

"Well, I tried to, but all the clothes that I was putting on him were ripped by all sort of things, like the spikes or the black rings on his shoulders."

Lucario groaned a little at this because Chris was telling Zelda, Samus and Red about how he dressed Lucario...or tried to dress him one time, but Lucario didn't liked to be dressed, being one of his most hated things.

Unfortunately, this wasn't an arc focused on Chris or Lucario, so we change to...Meta Knight?

"I won't take part of your foolishness again." Meta Knight said bluntly.

"C'mon, just a little bit?" Falco asked but Meta Knight shook his head.

"No, spending my time doing pranks is not what I usually do."

"One time! Just one time!"

"I'll cut you but in 3 if you don't stop now."

"..." Falco felt scared and Meta Knight walked away from him. "..." He looked at the readers. "What? I don't have any ideas, look where is Fox!"

Oddly enough, Fox was walking next to Wolf.

"Fox, get away now." Wolf said irritated.

"I don't want to, you do." Fox said grinning at another way.

"No, you first."

"I'm being kind for a change, you first."

"I order you to walk to another way."

Fox rolled his eyes. "You're not my father."

"So?"

"So I'm not going away until you do."

"Do it, now."

"You're older than me, go first."

"No, you go first."

"You!"

"I said, you first Fox!"

"No, you first."

Wolf did the same thing as he did with Falco, grab Fox's bandana and treaten him. "Listen you, I'm warning you to walk to another way than MY way, and you will do it."

Fox smirked a little. "And what will happen if I don't?"

And a fight began.

"...Shut...up...shut...up...shut...up...SHUT UP!" The World Traveler yelled and started shooting his charged paralyzing shots to calm them down.

"UGH!" Fox and Wolf were paralyzed and they couldn't move from their place.

"Look, do you think I'm that stupid to ignore all your pranks on each other? Do you think I didn't saw who took Wolf's chain? Who stuck the belts? Who took one of the feathers of Falco's tail? Who set Fox's Blaster in self-destruct before it could explode? Who tried to take Meta Knight's sword to give it to Wolf but failed miserably?"

Falco had several new scars under his feathers and looked away.

"I know you 3 were doing pranks on each other, even you're starting to act like children!"

"I'm older than you!" The 3 said annoyed.

"Young but wiser!"

"Wiser, yeah, right." Falco said.

"Who knows about everyone around here?"

"...You..."

"Who knows about new worlds that you don't know about?"

"...You..."

"Who saved your butts when you were going to be defeated or die?"

"...You..."

"Wh-"

"OKAY OKAY, STOP ALREADY!...HUMPH!" They JUST figured out that they were talking in unison and looked away angrily.

"..." Chris sighed. "...To make everything more relaxing between you 3, I'll do something interesting, a story!"

Wolf opened his right eye and looked at him. "What?"

"It's a story about 2 guys who were fighting for a princess...one guy that only accepted jobs for money and the other one being a mercenary and the rival of the space fighter...and the girl that is left out of the conversation with not so much sense..." Chris said before he told the 3 about a video on Youtube he saw a while ago.

Super Mario Hyadian - By Scott Falco

The video starts playing but it shows first Fox, Krystal and Wolf shocked (they even were wearing the Mario's group clothes) and then Falco (in Luigi's clothes) smiles at the readers as the song starts playing.

Fox (in Mario's clothes) pops in. "Hey, Wolf. You're such a stubborn fellow. Won't you give up on Krystal already?"

Wolf (in a Bowser costume) appears from the left. "Well I regret to inform you that's unacceptable." He points at Fox and winks. "I'm her destiny, no doubt about it."

Krystal (in Peach's clothes) appears not trying to believe what she heard. "Won't the both of you stop it?" She closed her eyes in shame. "Just look at the mirror..."

Fox and Wolf walks close to each other. "Well you don't have to say such a thing. Men compete with their hearts!" A heart appears and they smile.

"Nice job!" Wolf said happily.

"Oh, nice job!" Fox replies happily.

"Fox, how have ya doing lately?"

"Doing excellent, you know? The G-Diffuser systems and Blasters stuff have all sold out!"

Wolf grins. "Isn't that nice? No time to slow down!"

"Oh, cut it out, O'Donnell! Ah, the second verse is starting!"

Wolf closes his eye and stands in a poetic position. "My sweetest Krystal girl. I'm so in love with you." He smirks. "If you can't understand that, I'll kidnap you and seal you up again."

Fox glares at Wolf. "I'll steal you back risking my life!" He gets depressed. "But I cannot steal your heart..."

Krystal appears again. "Cut it out the 2 of you... Are you listening to me at all?"

Fox and Wolf gets depressed again. "The tsundere in you is also charming," They jump at the screen with a heart around them. "And men compete with their hearts!"

The heart gets bigger and it shows Krystal about to marry Wolf with General Scales (dressed as Count Bleck) behind her as she gets shocked at this fact. Then she was shown with a napkin with an annoyed face to Fox who gets away crying a little as she said to him, "Sorry, but YOUR vixen is in another palace..."

They were shown shocked again but Falco appears once again laughing before realising something and began to run madly.

"Wait a minute!! Aren't you forgetting someone!?" He appears from place to place and smiles at the camera. "F-A-L-C-O! Entering the stage! Thanks for waiting!"

"WHAT WHAT WHAT? EXCUSE ME?" Fox asked annoyed.

Wolf appears bigger than Falco and the falcon sweatdrops scared. "KY KY! Try to understand the atmosphere around here!"

Fox shoves his face at Falco as he cries a little. "If you get carried away I'll really kick the hell out of you!"

Falco sits far away depressed.

Krystal appears once again. "One mushroom eater is enough for me... Quite insolent for a stand in..."

Fox and Wolf sings again. "By looks wed only pass as medium/low class..."

Fox does a solo happily. "Well, men compete with their hearts..."

Wolf does a solo too. "Men compete with their hearts..."

Krystal ends her discussion closing her eyes in shame. "Please compete with your faces..."

"Ah, it's finally over..."

"I'm exhausted..." Fox commented.

"So... Let's get the night life rolling!"

"Ah sorry... I have this and that to do..."

"Oh I see... Next time introduce me to someone nice!"

"Next time introduce me to someone nice!" Fox gasps. "Did you know the MIC's on?"

"Really? My bad!"

Falco gets happy again and smiles at the camera.

Music ends...or story

"So? What do you think?" Chris asked smiling.

"I WOULD NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH THAT DUMB GIRL!" Wolf roared furiously.

"DUMB GIRL?! WHAT WAS THAT WOLF?!" Fox asked furiously.

"YOU HEAR ME McCLOUD!"

"I WOULD NEVER BE INSULTED BY THESE 2 EITHER!" Falco said furiously.

"Fight!" Kirby said imitating Wolf's voice and the 3 lunged at each other, this time, giving their best punches at each other in a cloud of dust.

Chris sweatdropped and Lucario approached to him. "That will help them?"

"No, and it appears I made Falco to hate Fox by doing this too...just be glad I didn't told them about Caramelldansen or it could have been worser." Chris said ashamed before he looked at the watch. "And it appears our chapter to do funny things will end for now, and so does our camera time for the remainder and will start more dramatic things like fights and such...also, we didn't fought anyone in our way here! And how could we even fit inside those holes Samus can only enter using her Morph Ball anyway?" He asked breaking the fourth wall.

With Marth's team...

His team were watching from the bar as C. Falcon was forcefully made to participate the race with the ridiculous clown outfit he was wearing.

"So, all we do is to watch him run around and meanwhile we do nothing?!" Toon Link asked and Nana nodded.

"That's C. Falcon for you..." Ness said.

"No Subspace Army, no reason for staying here." Popo said and they nodded.

"I'm bored! I'm a man! I want action! I'm a man that needs action!" Toon Link said swinging his sword and stopping to catch air.

"I'm with you!" Pichu said excited.

"Calm down, we can meanwhile relax." Link said sitting on a chair.

"Shut up, C. Falcon 2." Ness said bored and Link rolled his eyes.

"...What the..." Marth saw something weird happening on the screen and they looked at it.

"Hey, are those black spores part of the race?" Popo asked.

"I don't think so." Roy said.

"...Oh man, C. Falcon is going to be in trouble if we don't stop the Shadow Bugs from taking over th-" Ness was interrupted as the Shadow Bugs already took over the bodies of the racers. "...Nevermind, he's dead."

"NESS!" They yelled in unison.

Roy was now running towards the track and they followed him...to try to stop him, what else?

"ROY! YOU'RE GOING TO BE RAN OVER BY THE CARS!" Link yelled as they followed him.

Preview of the next chapter

"Those machines are faster than my own racer!" C. Falcon said astonished a little.

"KILL HIM! LORD TABUU WANTS C. FALCON DEAD!"

"...I-I'm not sure if we have to enter the Dark World now..." Chris said studdring at the ominous look of the portal.

"It's just a world but black and funky, what do you think that is? Hell or something?" Falco asked rolling his eyes before entering inside.

"Black Shadow! Show yourself!" C. Falcon yelled at the rain before he found someone laying on the ground, crawling out of a racer. "Tanaka!"

"C-C. Falcon...Jody is inside that tower...go and rescue her...ugh..." Tanaka manged to say before fainting.

"DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THESE WEIRDOS!" Chris yelled at the top of his lungs before Fox, Falco and Wolf glared at him at the same time.

"Next time: Hell and more hell!" Samus said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Port Town/Sanctuary Fortress
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Zelda, Red, Fox, Falco, Wolf/Marth, Roy, Link, Toon Link, Ice Climbers, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu/Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Pit

Aw, living in the US is great! A Caffeteria with free food, good classes, using the internet during breaks, this is heaven! :D

Oh, the chapter, right, it seems Chris only worsened the friendship between Fox and Falco...by narrating an altered version of Super Mario Hyadian? This is the first time you read "Wolf" and "happily" together. XD If you were wondering, yes, Dark Samus will appear on the next chapter too, there are going to be twists and...wait a minute, what is that about a mansion chapter after these 2 arcs? They don't have enough time for another world?

...And do you think the 2 Halberds rumor is fake? Oh no, who said one was fake, but is another one?

Hint: Axe.

...And yes, I forgot completely about Pit in the previous chapter...and nobody didn't noticed! XD Is the a Pokémon Version for Uno too? XD

References:

-The music "015 - Adelle" is from FFA2: Grimoire of the Rift, since the music was for someone mischievous and liar, it sounded well with their attitudes!

-Chris was imitating Jade Curtiss's personality (from Tales of the Abyss) at the conversation with the 3, actually, it was a test to see if I could do Jade's personality very well, and I think I did! That pretty much confirms a Tales of the Abyss arc too (but later). :)

-The Aisenfield is a place of FFTA.

-The Malboros was a reference to the STUPID AND IDIOTS MALBOROS in the Calm Lands from FFX, AND DON'T TELL ME YOU DIDN'T WENT THROUGH THIS UNHARMED, DON'T GET YOUR WAKKA INVOLVED WITH THEM UNLESS YOU HAVE A PROTECTION FOR CONFUSE! "Calms down" I personally hate Malboros, they won't die! :(

-Super Mario Hyadian...you know.

I'm so happy to have Super Mario RPG on my VC! And good news, I'm sending my Wii FINALLY for repairs since in the US is free, even without warranty! So if anyone who waited to play against me, will have his or her opportunity very soon! (PM if it is related to a Brawl match or something).

Something tells me that Mewtwo will be...

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 73*: Hellish Bickerings

Sorry for updating so late, I'm really sorry, but I'll explain why this chapter wasn't published yesterday at the end of this chapter. ;)

From Seitei: Congrats on your latest chapter!

This is a very interesting viewpoint of 3 grown (animals) acting like schoolchildren. The pranks were good. The Western Show was a bit awkward, but funny none the less.

And right now I'm interested at what's going to happen with the other group and the outcome of the race.

Either way, I look forward to more bashing.

From me: Your answer is right here...although they're going to really mess up. XP

From Rellymaster: Boy, that video was hilarious and also a bit sad since the princess Krystal in this case was ignored. Those bits where the actual characters were replaced with the story characters were extra hilarious! Howw do you do it? Are you like some master of humor or something?

From me: "Blushes" I'm...I'm not exactly the master of humor, I'm just being creative, the word creative is the hint word here.

From Nintendogeek01: Caramelldansen is so much better than Super Mario Hyadian... the latter of the two just weirded me out a bit.

But regardless this was a pretty funny chapter. I liked the prank war.

From me: You'll get to see Caramelldansen but later, but without explanations...but in PERSON! :D

From hornedjolteon: gasps the puts ducktape on the name of the team who owns the ship OO looks at a big axe ish thingy i no wat teh 2nd ship iz :)no spoilers 4 u. only hintts.

From me: Might I say you were the ONLY one that cared? It's very crucial for the history and so on and it's also right in this chapter!

From Wolfenpilot687: Great. Just Great. This one is better because Fox and Wolf are on it! I hope I can see more Mansion Chapters, I like those. Also, maybe, just maybe, an Animal Crossing arc? XD

From me: "Rolls eyes" No wonder why you have "Wolf" in your username.

Mansion chapters will keep coming...wait...

"Clears throat." Actually, I thought making a story with not always fighting all the time in all the chapters would be good for a change here, you know, character interaction is important, sometimes, it's better to spend time between friends as they do here, but when going to new worlds, it seems most of the writers here uses the excuse when, let's say, Mewtwo appears in a world where he's not supposed to exist in, let's put for example, Golden Sun, to arrive just when there is an invasion and the humans sees Mewtwo as a normal person to them, isn't that weird? They're using the cliché that I call: "I don't know who you are, but since you defeated an enemy, it seems you're with us not caring about your way of looking or how grim you are." cliché, making a story with break times as most of you call "Mansion chapters" are good fillers!

The point is, that Yoda and Darth Vader aren't supposed to appear in Soul Calibur 4 since they don't match with the game at all! Nex thing is you're going to see the Power Rangers in the next installment and...wait, I got sidetracked...sorry. XD

Basically, maybe, just maybe, my story is making a little difference on this section, a self-insert hasn't looked so well before...at least that's why I think since I haven't readed another self-insert with this kind of height with chapters...

And yes, there is going to be an Animal Crossing arc, just after they reunite with Mario, Luigi, Peach and the others. ;)

From Lucario210: This is the best story ever.

From me: "Blushes again" It...is? T-thank you.

This chapter holds many surprises! Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 73: Hell and more hell

Casino

"3..."

"C. FALCON! STOP!"

"2..."

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ARE YOU RACING AGAINST!"

"1..."

"DON'T DO IT!"

"GO!"

Devil's Heart

The machines took off the starting line at high speed and they couldn't stop C. Falcon from giving up.

"Oh man, now what do we do?" Popo asked worried.

"We can't chase with their high speed either so...hey, there are teleport pads all over the place to keep on track the race, maybe if we attack but from afar to knock out the other racers could be our only way to help C. Falcon." Marth explained.

Link took out his bow. "Leave the long-range attacks to me." He said before he looked at Toon Link taking out his own bow and narrowed his eyes at him. "...Hey, what are you doing with that?"

"Well duh! I'm going to shoot arrows too, I have a great accuracy!" Toon Link said.

"Ness, Lucas, can you use PK Thunder to attack from afar too?" Marth asked and both kids nodded. "Pikachu, Pichu, you could use your Thunder Jolts to assist too." Both Pokemon nodded. "Popo and Nana could freeze the track in some parts to make them crash." The Ice Climbers nodded. "And for me and Roy...we'll stay behind if you need our help."

"GO GO GO GO GO!" Toon Link said a little irritated before running inside the teleport pads to appear in different parts of the track.

Things weren't going well with C. Falcon, unfortunately.

"HEY! THIS IS NOT A FIGHT MATCH!" C. Falcon complained to Dark Pico, who was slamming his racer with C. Falcon's until Dark Billy joined the fight as they tried to kill him. "IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT TO PLAY, THEN TAKE THIS!" C. Falcon spun his racer to push away the other cars, but also Dark Billy fell outside the track and was defeated instantly for the remainder of the race.

"GET HIM OR KILL HIM!" Dark Neelsen said in the speaker around the track and C. Falcon looked above him.

"(Get him or kill him? Does he means me?)"

Over a tall tower, both Links were preparing to shoot their arrows at Dark Bio Rex.

Toon Link stuck out his tongue a little to aim carefully. "Steady...steady..." He muttered to himself.

"You just have to aim without anything distracting you." Link said rollling his eyes.

Toon Link looked at him. "I have 100 points in the shooting range in an island close to where I live, so mind you!"

"I have 1000 points using a crossbow."

"Well, that doesn't matters, I'm still a good archer!"

"So am I."

"I'm happy for you."

"Me too."

"So yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Uh-huh too."

"Well, I'm glad."

"I'm more glad than you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"You see now?"

"Perfectly."

"Absolutly."

"Of course."

"Link..."

"I'd love to."

"Link..."

"Perfectly."

"Link..."

"Why not?"

"Link."

"I'm right with yo-"

"LINK!"

"WHAT?!" Link snapped out and looked furiously at Toon Link.

"THE RACER IS GONE BECAUSE YOU KEPT TALKING WITHOUT STOPPING!"

"Well, who started this?!"

"YOU!"

(We shall skip after 10 more "YOU!"s.)

Both Links started to fight slashing their swords with each other, that also caught the attention of Marth who used some binoculars to see the fight from afar.

"What are those 2 doing now?" Marth asked to Roy.

"By the looks of the things it seems both started with a simple discussion that went growing into a bigger one where they decided to fight pointlessly." Roy explained and Marth looked at him confused. "...What?"

"...Nevermind, go and stop both of them!" The red swordsman nodded and used the teleporter to stop them...but after he made it, both Links pushed him out of the tower and Marth sweatdropped at this as Roy headed down the virtual floor and crashed into it. "...Well, it was an accident..."

Back with C. Falcon, he noticed that most of the racers were targeting him to take him out, he tried to escape but the racers were faster than his own machine.

"Those machines are faster than my own racer!" C. Falcon said astonished a little.

"KILL HIM! LORD TABUU WANTS C. FALCON DEAD!"

"(That's it, he's not Neelsen, they were telling the truth about those Shadow Bugs things.)" C. Falcon thought and then, he used his boost to ran into a corner without floor, but the boost helped him to cross over the gap and be ahead of the killer racers, and he was currently in the 3rd place.

The F-Zero machine passed through the Ice Climbers who were on the center of the track. "Ready?" Nana asked to his brother.

"Always!" Popo said happily before they shot a frigid blizzard out of their mouths to freeze the track and they left the track before all the racers came by and began to slip through the ice...oh, and did I mention the Ice Climbers forgot before this statement that all the machines jumped above the ice using a ramp nearby?

"Rats!" Both said annoyed.

It was Pikachu and Pichu's turn to stop all the racers that were too close to C. Falcon, they started to charge with electricity before shooting along the track their Thunder Jolts...that hit the Blue Falcon instead, causing the captain to stay paralyzed for a moment to give enough time for the other racers to slam their machines at him. "We just worsened up the entire situation!" Pichu said crying a little.

"Let's just hope Ness and Lucas don't mess up like all of us did..." Pikachu muttered to himself.

It was Ness and Lucas's turn to help C. Falcon with his predicament, both psychic kids were standing a little far away from the track as Ness told Lucas about his plan.

"W-Wh-What do you mean I'm going to stand there and use PK Fire when they're about to ran over me?!" Lucas asked terrorized.

"Your PK Fire has an explosion power rather than my power to create a tower of fire, it will cause their engines to explode too." Ness explained.

"B-but I don't know if I can do that!"

"Just go there and do it!"

"A-and what are you going to?" Lucas lost Ness for a second and looked around frantically, noticing that he was already in the middle of the track and the racers were already coming his way. "A-AAAAHHH!"

Ness looked from a wall and shouted. "JUST USE PK FIRE!"

Lucas's eyes began to twitch madly before he began to breath heavily to wait for the exact moment to realese the fire, when the racers were just going to crash into him, he shot a lightning that exploded into fire, creating a cloud of smoke that was crossed by the Blue Falcon and 4 other machines, Lucas was able to take out 3 machines by luck...

Bad thing was that he was fainted on the track and Ness went to carry him back away from it.

Meanwhile, Marth went by himself to stop both Links from fighting.

"Could you 2 please stop? C. Falcon's life is in danger!" Marth yelled to the 2 who kept fighting.

"AT LEAST I HAVE MY GRANDMA AND MY SISTER, WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Toon Link shouted furiously.

"I'VE GOT MANY GIRLS!" Link said defending himself.

"(Well, that's true, but Link doesn't talks too much about it.)" Marth thought before shaking his head. "Link!"

They stopped and looked at him with many bruises on their bodies. "WHICH LINK ARE YOU TALKING TO?!"

Marth sweatdropped. "...I mean, both Links! Stop! We need your help right now!" At that moment, C. Falcon's racer passed through their point, entering the second lap. "Great, you missed him!"

"THIS IDIOT MADE ME TO DO IT!" Link said pointing at Toon Link.

"LOOKS WHO'S TALKING!" Toon Link said furiously before they began to fight again.

"Ugh, this is not getting us anywhere...alright, you don't leave any other choice..." He waited for 2 minutes to see the other partners failling in their attempts to help C. Falcon and hitting him instead, the racers were on the final lap and Marth took time to do his move...

That was push both Links off the tower to crash into the racers and leave C. Falcon alone to win the race without getting killed.

BOOM!

Music stops

The Blue Falcon got the first place of the race and C. Falcon jumped out and ran towards Dark Silver Neelsen to attack him with his Falcon Punch, the old man covered his face in terror but the captain only hit slightly his neck to make him to faint, which was enough to let the Shadow Bugs escape from his body, fortunately, all the possesed drivers were saved from them as well as C. Falcon left the prize money to Silver Neelsen. "Take it, you will need it for the hospital." He said.

The rest of the team returned to him with many injuries (minus Marth, Ness, Pikachu and Pichu) and they glared at C. Falcon. "You were getting in the way of our attacks!" Pikachu complained.

"I'm not dead...I'm not dead..." Lucas kept repeating to himself in fetal position.

"You put Lucas in a trauma!" Ness said angrily.

"Actually, you kind of did." Pikachu pointed out.

"They pushed me off the tower!" Roy said angrily pointing at both Links who were glaring at each other.

However, C. Falcon wasn't even listening to thei complains, because he looked at the TV broadcasting the sudden appearance of Black Shadow close to a communication tower not far away from him, then he ran away outside. "After him!" Nana yelled, before Marth and Roy dragged both Links towards the Blue Falcon...

Where they were once again forced to ride inside the small machines for 10 passangers, at least C. Falcon didn't complained...since his seat was away from the passenger's seat.

"(I wonder what are the others doing right now...)" Marth thought inside his mind while they crossed the streets at high speed, trying to get off from each other again.

With Chris's team...

"(I wonder what are the others doing right now...)" Chris thought while he looked outside the fortress, with the shiny lights of the abandoned civilization down below.

"It's something bothering you?" Zelda asked.

Chris sighed a little and started to walk to their destination. "Well, yes, I have so much things in mind, I'm worried about Mewtwo, what Marth and the others are doing with C. Falcon...and..." He looked behind him and looked at Zelda again. "Those 3 are getting distant from each other, they only talk to me and not between them, I'm afraid I messed up."

"Shh, Fox is coming to you." Red whispered to him.

Fox gave Chris a note. "Can you please give this note to Falco?"

I just sent all the humiliating things you did back in High School to Kat.

Chris took the paper and ripped it to many pieces. "No."

Fox looked away a little angrily before Falco, this time, approached to Chris and gave him a note. "Can you please give this note to Fox?"

I just sent all the humiliating things you did back in High School to Krystal.

Chris did the same as the last paper and Falco rolled his eyes as a response, then, surprisingly Wolf walked towards Chris and gave yet another note. "Here, to both idiots."

I know where you live.

Chris was just about to rip the note but his curiosity got the better of him. "Wait, can you tell me where they live?"

"No."

He ripped the paper. "Then no."

Wolf grunted and looked away annoyed.

"See?" Chris asked to Meta Knight.

"It does not matters about their friendship to me." Meta Knight said.

"Yeah, I expected that coming from you, does anyone else cares?"

"No." Red, Zelda, Samus, Meta Knight, Squirtle, Kirby and even Lucario said in unison.

"...Wow, you're so cold."

Zelda shook her head. "It's better if you leave them alone to resolve their differences."

"But I'm good at getting friends to reconciliate!" Chris protested.

But Lucario shook his head. "You aren't honestly, maybe it's for the best to leave them alone as Zelda says."

Chris looked down at his feet. "...I think so..."

Samus stopped on her tracks and fired a dark shot to what looked like to be a portal of darkness. "Let's go." She said.

"W-wait, w-we're going to the Dark World?" Chris asked studdering at the shocking darkness from the portal.

"Of course, it's the only way to get to the tower and reach the ship." She said before entering inside, along with Meta Knight who thought he needed to reach the top as soon as possible.

"...I-I'm not sure if we have to enter the Dark World now..." Chris said studdring at the ominous look of the portal.

"It's just a world, what do you think that is? Hell or something?" Falco asked rolling his eyes before entering inside.

"L-Lucario, d-don't leave my side now, I-I hate the darkness so much..." Chris said embracing Lucario from his neck.

The Aura Pokémon took it very nicely and began to growl happily. "Don't worry, I won't let you be consumed by it."

"T-thank you..." Chris whispered scared before they entered.

Red gulped and entered with Squirtle, then Zelda entered like it was normal to her as Kirby, leaving Fox looking at the portal and Wolf smirked at him. "What's the matter, sca-"

Fox aimed his Blaster at him. "Not at all, I was wondering what were you doing here too."

Wolf glared at Fox. "What? Do you think I'm the one scare-"

Red peered from the portal. "Can you at least stop arguing and follow us now?" He asked annoyed before returning inside, both vulpines glared at each other and ran inside the other world.

Dark World

It was hell in reality.

"W-w-whatever you do, d-don't step out of this barrier an-NO! DON'T DO IT FALCO!" Chris said panicking from Lucario's back.

Falco just looked at him and grinned. "Watch me, nothing will happen if I do thi-"

BZZZZZ!!

"AAAAAHHHHAHAHA! AAAAHHHHH! AHHHHHH!! WHAT THE HELL?!" Falco grabbed his left hand in pain after he felt it burning by something after he got it out from the barrier.

"The atmosphere outside the light barriers is dangerous, you have to run through quickly to another barrier if you don't want to be burned by the ominous air." Samus warned them.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US BEFORE?!"

"Chris did it."

Falco looked at Chris, who waved at him with a worried smile.

"We're toasted if we get outside this then?" Falco asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Zelda said.

"This is not good, I can resist for a much longer time than all of you do, you could get seriously injured by the darkness without a suit like mine in less than 20 seconds." Samus said.

"But aren't the light barriers also a source to heal wounds over time?" Chris asked.

"...I didn't knew you know that much, how did you know?"

Chris looked away embarrassed. "I...came prepared, that's all."

"...I see...the Ing."

"The who?" Kirby asked.

Samus prepared her arm cannon. "The Ing are the monsters trying to take over the Light World before they spread to other worlds, and this place is their hive to multiply and attack anyone who dares to step on their grounds."

Metroid Prime Opening

Meta Knight found many shadows gathering outside the barriers that turned into big, disgusting bugs with long pincers that shrieked. "Here they come."

"I-I don't know if they are possesed by the Shadow Bugs with their dark aura!" Chris said.

"...They aren't," Lucario said. "It appears they don't like to cooperate with anyone else."

"WATCH OUT!" Red shouted before they looked a many dark blasts coming straight to them and they ducked or crossed their arms to evade the blasts, but the dark shots vanished when they touched the barrier of light and they looked at the bugs again. "What happened?"

"I forgot, the light barriers are some kind of shield against their attacks since it harms them if they enter." Samus said.

Red got an idea. "What if we attack from this position to get rid of them with long- range attacks?"

"I don't have long-range attacks!" Kirby complained before he stared at Fox. "Hmm, fox..."

Fox looked at Kirby with a shocked face. "D-don't even think about it!"

"Hmm, bird..."

Falco did the same as Fox. "W-why don't you choose another one?"

"Hmm, wolf..."

Wolf, however, didn't cared since he didn't knew Kirby very well. "What? You're going to eat me or something?" Kirby nodded. "Don't be stupid, I'm bigger than your mout-" Wolf felt something pulling him towards a big force of wind and he disappeared quickly. "Hey! What's the big idea?! Where am I?!"

"Inside Kirby's mouth!" Zelda yelled from outside.

"He can do that?!" Red asked surprised and Meta Knight nodded.

"HOW?! IS THIS PUFFBALL SOME KIND OF BLACK HOLE?! BECAUSE I CAN SEE A LONG SPACE OF EMPTYNESS HERE!" Wolf said before he got out as a star and he landed on the floor and looked at Kirby with a glare. "What was that for, you idiot?" He noticed that Kirby was different now. "...Where did you got those ears and that scouter?"

"I'm Wolf Kirby!" Wolf Kirby said, taking out a similar copy of Wolf's Blaster.

"...Wolf what? Do you steal people's moves with your mouth or something?"

"Of course! I'm more useful this way!" He shot various blasts to an Ing. "Hehehe! Die, scum! Die!"

"Now you're even imitating me!" Wolf said annoyed.

"Kirby does that just to annoy us." Zelda said.

"(I wonder how a Chris Kirby looks like.)" Chris thought before he screamed after an Ing appeared from behind him, outside the barrier. "LUCARIO!"

"GUUUARGH!" Lucario quickly spun on his feet and punched the Ing right into its "chin" and it crashed into a wall where he turned into spores and vanished.

"This way!" Samus said outside the barrier.

"But we're going to be burned by the darkness!" Squirtle said trembling.

"(He's right, but how can I take them to-wait, Zelda...) Zelda! Can you teleport all of them into another light barrier?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, but I don't see any other barrier close to us!"

Samus looked behind her where Light Beacons were floating around the place, it even made a long trail to the next door and she fired multiple shots at all of them. "There, now go! The barriers will disappear soon!" An Ing took her on its pincers and most of them gasped.

"D-DOWN!" Chris yelled firing a paralyzer shot from Lucario's shoulder that went flying towards the Ing's eye, paralyzing him for 3 seconds, giving Samus enough time to fire a missile and get off it.

Zelda took the opportunity to teleport all of them to the barriers using her Farore's Wind, while she teleported them, all except for Meta Knight who stayed still to defend them from any attack fired at all directions using long-range attacks and then teleport to the next barrier.

"WAIT, N-" Squirtle was interrupted before Zelda teleported them but to a barrier that turned off and they started to receive a lot of damage for seconds.

"AAHH! IT BURNS!" Red yelled dropping to his knees.

"IT'S TOO PAINFUL!" Kirby yelled.

"HA!" Samus shot a...shot to the Light Beacon and it created the barrier, saving them from being annihilated.

"I don't feel...so good..." Fox said panting.

"O-one more mistake...and we're dead..." Chris said weakly, hanging from Lucario's neck.

"I'm sorry, I need to pay more attention to my surroundings." Samus said.

"Please do it!" Squirtle pleaded. "I don't want to be the first Pokémon to die!"

"Actually, a pussy Lucario did died first." Chris said.

"You called pussy to Sir Aaron's Lucario?" Lucario asked.

"Hey, the guy was an idiot compared to you, and it was the fault of that extra girl that wanted to investigate the Tree of Beginning that that Lucario decided to sacrifice his life! And where did he got that chocolate bar in the afterlife or wherever he appeared?... Although I'd thank him if he kicked Ash in the crotch in that scene in the night, rememb-"

"Fine, fine, I get it now." Lucario said a little annoyed and irritated.

"Apart that his conversation took much time, we have to move on or this barrier wil-" Red was teleported to the next barrier. "...Forget it, Squirtle, keep using Water Gun!"

"The next door is right in front of us, let's go!" Falco said motioning to the door and they entered further inside with Samus.

"Bird brain, give me some help here."

"Say what? I'm not going to help you Wolf!"

"It's Kirby that is talking, actually..." Zelda said and Falco slapped his forehead.

"Kirby! Don't try to make me angry!" Falco said irritated.

"Shut up, bird brain!"

"Kirby!"

"Wolf talked this time." Zelda said and Falco looked away.

"Aw, just forget it! I don't care anymore!"

"Heheheh." Wolf smirked but returned to do his work.

"YIKES!" Red hid behind Zelda trembling. "LOOK AT THAT THING!"

"...Yes...how scary..." Zelda said sarcastically as they found a TowTow sleeping peacefully while Samus, Wolf Kirby, the original Wolf and Falco were shooting down all the Ings.

"Isn't cute, Lucario?" Chris asked approaching to it and rubbed his nose, but Lucario grunted at the TowTow. "Oh, I see, you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Lucario said.

Chris looked at him and slapped the TowTow slightly on its nose. "Sure, I believe yo-"

They heard a loud roar that was from a furious TowTow roaring as sparks of electricity appeared around him and lunged at them.

"HELP!" Chris screamed ducking to protect himself.

Fortunately, someone answered his plea for help and it was Fox who used him as a platform to jump high in the air slam his right leg above the TowTow's head to knock it out, then Zelda used Din's Fire to blast the TowTow off.

Chris looked above him and stood up. "T-thanks Fox, and Zelda too, I thought he looked docile to me."

"Don't judge a book by its cover." Zelda said.

"...O-okay, thanks for the advice too." He returned back to Lucario, who smiled a little before glaring at their way.

And then the team wen-

"(Wait a minute, in the game, it took you more time to get where Dark Samus was in that interminable rising elevator place and yet, we're so close to reach it...and that means...)" Chris thought while he ignored all the shots and entering inside the portal where they appeared back once again in the Light World, most of them sighing in relief to not be burned alive by something else.

...Then, they found Dark Samus absorbing Phazon... in the elevator.

"What the...Samus, do you have a twin or something?" Falco asked.

Samus aimed her arm cannon at Dark Samus, who did the same. "No, that doppelganger is the Metroid Prime from Tallon IV."

"...I don't know what is a Metroid Prime."

"Basically, a super evolved version of a Metroid or their leader or something." Chris added.

Meta Knight looked around him where engines started to be activated. "We are in an elevator!"

They looked above them. "That means the ship is high above us!" Wolf Kirby said.

Then the elevator pulled all of them towards the top slowly, but their eyes were concentrated at Dark Samus. "Be careful, the Phazon that it absorbed is highly radioactive to anyone except for it." Samus warned them.

"Then does that means if we just get touched by the Phazon, we're out?" Chris asked trembling and Samus nodded, making him to gulp. "I-"

"LOOK OUT!"

"AHH!"

"UGH!"

"NO!" Chris saw with his own eyes Lucario falling unconscious on the floor, since he blocked an assault of Phazon shots from Dark Samus and Chris grabbed his head. "Lucario! Please hang in there!"

"I...can't go on...sorry...if I disappointed you...Mas...ter..." He managed to say before he fainted.

"NO!"

Fox's eyes twitched and looked at Dark Samus again. "We will be like him if we aren't careful!"

The 13th Struggle

"W-what do I do now?" Chris asked worried.

"Maybe you can return Lucario to his Pokeball to rest, I think!" Red shouted while he hid behind a pillar to command Squirtle from behind.

"...Sorry Lucario, you need to rest for now." He returned the Aura Pokémon to his Pokeball and stood up and gulped. "I-I'won't let you get away with this! You hear me?!" Dark Samus teleported close to him. "...I...I didn't mean it!"

"HI-YAH!" Wolf Kirby jumped from behind Dark Samus and slashed it using Cutter to save Chris, making the doppelganger to back away from them.

"Thank you Kirby." Chris said sighing in relief.

"Let's work together!" Wolf Kirby said happily.

Chris looked away for a moment before he smiled a little and joined forces with them in the battle.

"Wait just a minute, Chris, didn't you had a job that can heal wounds?" Fox asked.

"You have that?" Zelda asked.

"...Why didn't I think about using it to revive Lucario?" Chris asked ashamed before he changed to the Fonic Hymn User. "AAH!"

"NO!" Fox tackled Chris to evade various shots of Phazon and both managed to get away.

Chris panted for being scared a little. "T-thanks again Fox...I would be dead if it weren't for you."

Fox smiled a little and helped Chris to get up. "Just be careful next time, I won't guard you all the time."

Chris nodded. "I will, don't worry."

"...Hmm, but cast those healing spells if I get hurt."

"Of course, I'll stay supporting all of you from afar!"

And Fox left and charged towards Dark Samus who moved with great agility across the floor firing shots of Phazon to all of them, however, since the majority of the group had reflecting abilities, all the Phazon attacks were just reflected back to it, but Dark Samus evaded all of them using its speed.

"(I want to try this chant,)" Chris thought. "Holy power, come to me!... First Aid!" His Pokeball glowed with a healing light. "Wait, he's fainted so... Return this soul from the abyss of death!... Resurrection! Now, come on out!" He threw his Pokeball back into the air and Lucario came out, breathing heavily. "Lucario!"

"I'm fine..." Lucario said weakly.

"Wait, I'm going t-"

"No, don't do it."

"But, why?"

His aura flared up on his hands. "This battle should be faster with my current strength."

"...Oh, I get it, but one blow are you're out!"

"I'll be fine, trust me."

"I-I do! Now go!" He ordered and his Pokémon ran towards Dark Samus.

"WHY-DON'T-YOU-STOP?!" Wolf asked furiously firing many shots at Dark Samus who only bounced off from the dark creature.

"You have to attack when its blue shield disappears!" Samus yelled from behind firing a Super Missile to Dark Samus when the shield disappeared, but Dark Samus floated above in the air and turned into a glowing blue ball charging with electricity. "WATCH OUT, THAT ATTACK IS DEVASTATING IF YOU DON'T DODGE IT!"

"It's targetting Squirtle and Kirby!" Zelda said looking over to Wolf Kirby and Squirtle, who gasped and ran to different directions as Dark Samus shot herself with an impact towards its target.

But Zelda's prediction was wrong, the attack was aimed directly at her and she gasped before Meta Knight grabbed her and dodged the explosion.

"Ugh!"

"Meta Knight! Are you alright?" Zelda asked.

"That attack...caught one of my wings...I can't fly anymore until I...recover..." Meta Knight said weakly.

"Chris! Do it!" Wolf Kirby said.

"O healing pow-"

"DUDE! GET OUT OF THERE!" Falco shouted and Chris stopped his chant confused.

"Why?... AAHH!" The reason was because Dark Samus focused her Phazon attacks towards Chris, but the World Traveler was able to evade them by using Lucario's Extremespeed who took him to the other side of the elevator. "Thank you Lucario!"

"Stay away from that monster while I take care of him." Lucario said nodding.

"Rude! Remember that all of us want to take Dark Samus out!"

"...Yes, sorry."

"Darn it, is there any way to stop him from floating around without staggering?!" Red asked.

"(Wait, since dark is related to darkness, then...)" Chris thought before he chanted a new spell. "Thou who wouldst take revenge, carve here thy holy seal... Eclair de Larmes!"

A holy glyph appeared below Dark Samus and it shone brightly under it, then an X shaped light sprouted dealing severe damage that made Dark Samus to stagger and stun itself.

"ATTACK WHILE DARK SAMUS IS STUNNED!" Chris shouted from afar and the Smashers nodded and launched and all-out attack to Dark Samus.

Zelda ran towards Dark Samus and jumped in the air to kick it with her foot, right into the helm that caused high damage, then Lucario came in and slammed his hand using Force Palm to make a explosion on its chest, then Wolf Kirby floated above Dark Samus and turned into a brick stone, that fell quickly on the head, Meta Knight took revenge for his damaged wing by using Drill Rush on its arm cannon, then Squirtle used his tail to slam it on the helmet.

But Chris thought. "(Hey, this was supposed to be an all-out attack with everyone else.)" He looked to various metres away from them where the Star Fox members and the Star Wolf leader were pushing each other out of the way. "What happened now?!"

Meta Knight walked towards him and asked for recovery for his wing. "Apparently, Fox wanted to attack first, but Wolf came running behind him and pushed Fox out of the way, then Falco came out and he pushed Wolf, but then Fox pushed Falco out, then Wolf did it and it went on like that until they decided to fight against each other."

"CHRIS! I NEED TO RECOVER!" Fox shouted while he received a punch by wolf.

"No way! You 3 are supposed to fight against Dark Samus! Not between yourselves!" Chris said angrily.

"He got in my way!" Wolf pointed furiously at Fox before Falco kicked him out. "I'm waiting to be healed!"

"I can't believe it! That's it, if you get killed, it's not my fault!"

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Meta Knight shouted using Dimensional Cape to teleport himself and Chris away from a Phazon Missile from a recovered Dark Samus.

"And you couldn't use this to teleport when we were on the Dark World?!"

"It has a short range and my cape can't take more persons." Meta Knight explained.

Chris saw Samus turning into her Morph Ball to escape from Dark Samus who chased her, firing Phazon Missiles like crazy, then, something gave Chris an idea, a creative idea when Samus used Boost.

"Samus! Do you think you can resist being kicked towards Dark Samus by someone else?"

Samus used Boost again to run below Dark Samus to turn into her normal appearance to talk with Chris. "I think so, why do you ask?"

"Because Fox will kick you towards Dark Samus like a ball of football. Fox! Do you-" He sweatdropped after seeing the trio continuing to fight between themselves. "...I'll...resort using brute force...Lucario!"

"Yes?" Lucario asked appearing close to him.

"Kick Samus towards Dark Samus when she turns into her Morh Ball form, then Samus will use Boost to deal additional damage!"

"That maybe could work, let's do it." Samus said nodding and turning into a Morph Ball.

"Red! Tell Squirtle to spray water into its helmet and Zelda! Use Farore's Wind to take Squirtle close to Dark Samus!" Chris ordered and mentioned characters prepared their strategy.

Squirtle hopped into Zelda's arms and she ran behind Dark Samus, who kept tracking them down to stay alert.

"Pow Hammer!" Chris called out a red-squeaky hammer that whacked Dark Samus's helmet, stunning it for 1 second, enough for Zelda to use Farore's Wind and teleport close to the helmet where Squirtle's mouth became full and sprayed the helmet with all the water he could shoot from his mouth, to make Dark Samus blind for a moment and stop her movements across the floor.

"NOW!" Lucario shouted and kicked Samus with his foot charged with aura to give it a boost, then Samus charged her Boost attack to crash into Dark Samus's waist that caused extreme damage to the dark being.

...But nevertheless, Dark Samus was still standing.

"It was great Chris, but it wasn't enough." Lucario said.

"...I hoped it was a One-Hit KO, but it wasn't!" He glanced at Fox, Falco and Wolf. "And if they were helping us, this battle could have been easier!"

Wolf Kirby ran to them. "What If I suck them together in my mouth? I could get a random ability!"

"I don't think that works here Kirby...wait, you can shoot them out as stars if you don't want to take their abilities, right?" Wolf Kirby nodded.

"But it will be the same with 2 or 3!"

"(Be creative, be creative, be creative...)"

"Do you want me to take and throw them together towards Dark Samus?" Lucario suggested and asked.

"...That is the most, stupid and primitive idea I have ever heard of coming from you Lucario."

Lucario looked down ashamed.

"...But not if they are the subjects!"

He looked at Chris with a small smile.

"Go on and grab them! And don't care if they don't like it!"

The Aura Pokémon walked towards the now westling Smashers who looked at him with glares. "What do you want dog?" Wolf asked with a glare before Lucario lifted all of them above him. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"GUUUUUUUUAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!" Lucario threw the 3 furried (feathered in Falco's case) Smashers towards Dark Samus at high speed, they screamed in horror before they impacted directly into it.

Just be glad it was a CRITICAL HIT!

Dark Samus shrieked in extreme pain and it held his hand close to its chest, but Samus wanted to finish Dark Samus by charging her Light Beam to full potency, just as the blast of light was going to hit the weak Dark Samus, it melted into dark spores and vanished into the Dark World to recover from its heavy wounds on its skin, or armor while Samus cursed under her breath and slammed her fist on the floor.

Zelda walked to her and patted her armored back. "One day, I know you're going to bring that doppelganger down, by yourself." She said with a small smile and a nod.

Samus slowly nodded and stood up, doing a slow handshake to Zelda and the rest of the Smashers walked to her.

Music stops

"That was excellent!" Red remarked.

"Our teamwork went very well!" Wolf Kirby said cheering.

"Screw the complex strategies, primitive ideas are better from your point, right Lucario?" Chris asked while he rubbed Lucario's head with care and he growled happily and nodded.

"Although it could have been better if those 3 didn't fought with each other." Zelda said looking at Fox, Falco and wolf who got up from the floor as Chris walked to them slightly slamming his staff on his left hand, it appeared he wanted to bang their heads.

"Do you 3 have an explanation for this?" Chris asked narrowing his eyes.

"It was Wolf's fault!" Fox said angrily.

"It was the bird brain's fault!" Wolf said angrily.

"It was their fault!" Falco said angrily.

"It was YOUR fault! Now prepare to be hardly damaged by me!" Chris said raising his staff into the air and they chuckled at this.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Yes, like you could take us ou-"

PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!

"OWW! AH! OWW! OWW! THAT WAS SO LOW!"

Here's a hint of what Chris did, he hit all of them with the staff but on the "black part" as Meta Knight said previously, but hard.

The others sweatdropped and looked above them. "Are we there yet?" Wolf Kirby asked.

"...I can hear a ship..." Squirtle said closing his eyes to concentrate his hearing.

Meta Knight narrowed his eyes slightly, but it didn't looked like it with the mask. "Be prepared, I sense something bad coming from the top."

"Aw, I'm glad Dark Samus wasn't possesed by the Shadow Bugs, they could have increased her speed or worse, the Phazon attacks." Chris said.

"Thanks everyone, I had problems with that thing the first time we encountered each other." Samus said.

"It's our long, tiresome work to help, but it's somewhat fun."

Falco crawled towards Chris and lifted his hand at him. "First...Aid...please...it hurts..."

Chris blushed and looked away. "I'm not going to heal you 3 there!"

Many of them chuckled at this.

With Marth's team...

The Blue Falcon was speeding through the city's night until it was surrounded by many racers with the same design but with different paled colors. It was the gang, the Bloody Chain, whose leader was Michael Chain.

Michael Chain approached to C. Falcon. "Falcon! Don't get in our turf you stupid!"

"I-I'm sorry, but I have to cross this place to get where Black Shadow is!" C. Falcon replied, his tone a little worried about something.

"Idiot! You know this is my turf!"

"We don't care!" Many voices said from the Blue Falcon.

"...Where did those voices came from?"

C. Falcon pointed with his thumb behind him and Michael made a weird face after finding all the Smashers all piled up in the passengers's seat, trying to struggle out.

"...Falcon, when did you become a taxi driver?"

"I didn't! I have more important problems to attend with them!"

Michael Chain laughed. "Yeah yeah, even so, you're not getting through this street if we don't say something about i-"

Pikachu got out from Roy's cape and glared at Michael. "Shut up! We just want to beat that Blach Shadow guy AND get out of this tiny place! Do you know the smell of Link's butt?!"

"Hey!" Link said under Ness and Lucas.

"EWW!" Nana screamed and shook her head.

"This space is mine!" Toon Link said pushing Link's face using his right foot.

"Sorry, I don't see your name here!" Link said annoyed.

"There is! See?!" He pointed at the wall with the name "Link."

"HA! It says "Link," not "Toon Link!"

"It's because my name is Link!"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Ness said annoyed covering his ears as everyone else began to argue, minus Marth and Roy.

"Should we stop them?" Roy suggested under Popo.

Marth shook his head above Lucas and Pichu. "Haven't we tried before?"

Michael's eyes twitched. "Hey! Stop ignoring me!"

"They agree with me." C. Falcon said.

"DO YOU WANT TO BE MESS WITH US THEN?!" Michael said enraged before all the Smashers pointed their weapons at him, swords, bows, glowing hands, hammers and electricity. "...Er...you know what? I'll let you go without a scratch for this time! To see how generous I can be!"

"Thanks!" C. Falcon smiled and used his Boost to accelerate and got away from the gang.

"Hell no, I'm not getting between those guys again!" Michael Chain said before he turned his machine and went away with the thiefs.

"Alright guys! We're almost there!" C. Falcon announced and most of them cheered.

"I get to breath air! I get to breath air again!" Pichu cheered above Marth's head.

"What's so bad about this little space?" Popo asked while he sweated.

"Duh! We're sweating like crazy!" Nana responded angrily.

"I want to use PK Freeze to get fresh, cold wind!" Lucas said.

"Wait, no, no! No Lucas! Don't do it!" Ness pleaded but Lucas was already preparing the concentrated PK charge to explode into shards of ice.

C. Falcon saw an ice image in front of him and tilted his head confused. "Hey, what is this?"

BOOM!

The interior of the Blue Falcon was frozen completely, getting all of them frozen too without moving at all, (the Ice Climbers, however, enjoyed being frozen).

"L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-Look! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I can see a tower!" The frozen Roy said gritting his teeth inside the ice.

Outside the rain, Tanaka, one of the members of the Space Galactic Federation got out from his burning racer, but he was uncompletely unharmed for his fortune and he began to analyze the area. "Dam, Jody is still inside, I wonder if she's alright fending Black Shadow by herself." He said to himself before he found lights coming from far away and he sighed in relief. "That's C. Falcon's Blue Falcon! Captain Falcon! Here! Stop!"

However, the Blue Falcon didn't stopped and Tanaka got worried, since he was standing in a narrow place.

"...Why he doesn't stop?... UAAAAAGH!"

Tanaka was ran over and crashed into his racer.

"...FALCON..." Fire radiated from the ice. "PUNCH!" The ice instantly shattered and C. Falcon stopped and jumped off from his racer, while the others were smiling and waking up from their states as they got out from the machine.

Pikachu was shown kissing the street with water. "Water! Life's most precious thing!" He started to lick it with the other young Smashers.

...Weird thing was that Link did the same.

"Black Shadow! Show yourself!" C. Falcon yelled at the rain before he found someone laying on the ground, crawling out of a racer. "Tanaka!"

"C-C. Falcon...Jody is inside that tower...go and rescue her...ugh..." Tanaka manged to say before fainting.

C. Falcon jumped to his Blue Falcon and started the engine to get away in high-speed, the other Smashers gasped and jumped inside before it could take off, and it took off with them inside again.

Lucas looked outside where Tanaka was fainted and he stared at him. "Ness, that guy is giving us a sign, but I don't know what sign is that."

"What sign?" Ness peered inside from the window, since he was stuck right next to it.

"Well, he's showing us only the middle finger while the others are curled."

"...THAT GUY JUST FLIPPED US OFF!"

"How rude!" Nana said under Roy.

We're now skipping until they got Jody...inside the Blue Falcon to escape from the collapsing building in fire.

"...Well, this isn't so bad anymore." Link said near Jody.

"C. Falcon, are these persons your friends?" Jody asked confused.

"Sadly yes, they are." C. Falcon said while he steered the car between 2 narrowed walls to cross before it could close.

"What do you mean by sadly yes?" Ness asked, his location somewhere between Marth and Roy.

C. Falcon used his Boost several times after catching various capsules of fuel in their way. "Haven't you noticed yet? All of you have been arguing with yourselves since you came here!"

Toon Link rolled his eyes behind Jody. "Well, excuse us, prince! Who made this car-thing so small from the inside in the first place?!"

"I don't think it was designed for more than 2 persons." Jody said calmly as the Blue Falcon almost hits a wall, but C. Falcon used a Side-Attack to only receive a scratch on the blue paint.

"It should be!" Roy protested.

"WALL!" Lucas screamed as he took Ness's cap to block his face but the Blue Falcon dodged the wall by doing a very close turn and Ness took his cap back from the embarrassed Lucas.

"By the way Jody, did Black Shadow had a weird black aura or something when you saw him?" Roy asked.

"Now that I remember, he had that black aura you were mentioning just now." Jody said remembering.

"The Shadow Bugs!" They said dramatically like most groups does.

"Good news everyone, the exit to this hell is right in front of us!" C. Falcon said pointing at the closing wall that was wide open.

"Yes! Yes! Yeeeeees!" Pichu cheered under Pikachu.

"Bad news, the fuel is almost empty!"

"I'll kill you!" Pichu said and C. Falcon shook his head.

"Good news, I got a fuel capsule!"

"Yay!"

"Bad news, it was just a green fly."

"I WILL kill you!"

"Good news, we're almost there!"

"Yayz!"

"Bad news, remember the empty fuel?"

"GRR!"

"Goo-"

"STOP ALREADY!" They said annoyed and angrily.

"But I was going to say..." He stopped the Blue Falcon and opened the window to get out. "That we got out!"

"...For real?! We're done?!" Toon Link asked while Jody helped Tanaka to get up.

"I'm afraid not, we still need to beat Black Shadow." Marth said.

"Thank you C. Falcon...I owe you." Tanaka said, doing a handshake with C. Falcon.

"I have good news," Jody said. "Black Shadow shouldn't be too far from here by now, if you follow that path from over there without slowing down, you should catch up with him."

"But what about the fuel problem?" Link asked.

"My racer should...have enough fuel to fill the tank." Tanaka said motioning to his destroyed racer, the young Smashers walked to it.

After removing the fuel as soon as possible, all of them went away to the path Jody told them to follow as the 2 Space Galactic Federations waved at them and wished good luck.

"...The Halberd!" Marth yelled pointing at a huge, dark figure in the rain that rose up close to the Blue Falcon and they noticed the Blue Falcon was getting away from the ship in the same track. "What are you doing? We have to take back the ship!"

C. Falcon grinned. "I'm just preparing to jump to it!"

"..." They looked at each other minus C. Falcon. "AAAAHHHHHHH!!"

The Blue Falcon took a quick turn and crashed into the wall's track, crossing through it and jumping over a big and dark chasm of emptyness, most of them screamed in terror and horror, for their reliefs, the Blue Falcon was able to land on the Halberd, just in front of the cannon.

C. Falcon sighed and jumped off from his seat as the others did the same and got off, looking around their surroundings...their dark surroundings.

"I-i-it's...creepy and dark in here..." Lucas said studdering.

"Now we can finally fight!" Toon Link cheered by jumping.

"...Personally, I liked Young Link better." Link said.

"Young who?"

"Forget about it."

"AAHH!" Lucas screamed and hid behind Ness.

"For what was that scream?" Ness asked confused.

"LOOK AT THAT THING!" Lucas pointed to a flat-dark figure walking around them and they gasped.

"It's...Mr. Game & Watch!" Pikachu said smiling a little. "How did you get here?"

"..." Mr. Game & Watch didn't spoke.

"I-i-i-i-i think he's traumatized, I would if I were inspecting this ship on a dark night with a storm..." Lucas said.

"That's hard to tell." Popo said.

"The guy's face is somewhere around his nose." Pikachu joked.

"..." Mr. Game & Watch didn't spoke at all again.

"He said beep?" Link asked confused.

"No." Nana said.

An awkward moment of silence fell and they looked at each other, and noticed that C. Falcon was gone. "Where'd he go?" Ness asked in a thinking position.

Marth closed his eyes and tried to concentrate to find a sound he could have sworn he heard before. "...I don't hear anything except for the thunders and the water flowing around us."

"I-I'm scared..." Lucas said.

"Me too..." Pichu said lowering his ears.

"If you excuse me, I have to find our Mr. Iron Nipples Man." Popo said walking to another direction before he crashed into something and they could see an invisible barrier surrounding their area after Popo touched it by accident as he fell on his butt and got up confused. "A...barrier?"

"More like a force field." Toon Link said, curiousily because he touched the barrier. "...Look! There he is!" He pointed to C. Falcon who was pushed from someone hiding in the darkness of the night.

"Oh dammit! He's already fighting with Black Shadow while we are trapped!" Roy cursed while he kicked the force field and glanced at Mr. Game & Watch, who was outside the barrier staring at them. "Mr. Game & Watch! Can you do something?!"

"...Fools..." Mr. Game & Watch said.

"We got to think about som-" Nana did a double-take. "Did he just called us fools?"

"Did he talked?!" Popo asked shocked before Nana hit him with her hammer.

"Popo, of course he talks, he was the most excited to have a translator that he took it with him!"

"Back on the topic, why did he called us fools?" Marth asked before their eyes widened when Mr. Game & Watch turned into Shadow Bugs and crawled away from them. "...What the..."

"Hell was that?" Roy added confused.

"Mr. Game & Watch turned into Shadow Bugs?!" Pichu asked.

"But how? I don't know what to believe know!" Link said confused, scratching his head with both hands continuously.

"Samus is a woman." Pikachu said sarcastically.

"...I know Samus is a man, that's for sure."

"Good."

"G-guys, maybe we can think about that later...C. Falcon is fighting against the dark guy!" Lucas reminded all of them who looked at C. Falcon fighting againstone of his nemesis, Black Shadow, who was possesed by the Shadow Bugs, turning him into Dark Black Shadow.

"Ugh! your powers are...strong..." C. Falcon said gritting his teeth.

"HAHAHAHA! You're going to be consumed by the darkness, C. Falcon! Or better yet, the darkness will kill you!" Dark Blach Shadow said laughing evily and floating above the floor.

"We got to help him!" Roy said as he raised his sword and started to slash it to the force field. "DISAPPEAR YOU STUPID FORCE FIELD! NOW!"

"(If we are in the Halberd, then the other ship was a fake?)" Marth thought.

With Chris's team...

"...That is the Halberd?" Wolf Kirby asked confused.

"QUICK, HIDE!" Meta Knight said ordering all of them to hide behind some boxes, Lucario dragged the still-on-the-floor trio since they were severly hurt "in the black part."

Chris looked through a small hole and examined the ship with the Primids carrying boxes inside. "Weird...that ship is not a fake...but is familiar..."

"What do you mean?" Lucario asked.

Chris looked at them. "I know I've seen that ship before not too long ago."

"So you know from who is it?" Squirtle asked and Chris nodded.

"Yes...and speaking of the owner...or...owners..."

King Dedede appeared on the scene in front of the ship alone without Ganondorf or Charizard by his side to wait for 5 persons who teleported right in front of him. "Yeah! We have everythin' accordin' to da plan!"

"Just as Tabuu told us to do after he was so kind in reviving us back from the death!" A pink soldier with a small axe said cheerfully.

"At least he's much better than Smithy himself!" A red soldier with a small axe said, standing on the middle of the group.

"Whatever, I'm fine by just doing some fighting." A black soldier said with a small axe.

"But I could get hungry!" A yellow, fat soldier complained with a small axe.

"Just ignore him if you can." A green soldier said frowning with a small axe.

King Dedede pushed a big cage with someone inside through a dark portal with some Primids carrying it. "There! Since he doesn't wants to cooperate with us, then let those Ing-thingies use him as a tool!" He said laughing evily. "Man, who'd think Ganon's magic and Tabuu's magic combined could be useful to summon previous defeated enemies from the death! It's ingenius!"

"Who are those guys with the small axes?" Red whispered.

"Shh!" Wolf Kirby said.

"So," King Dedede rubbed his chin. "What are ya names again?"

The red soldier spun his axe. "Glad you asked, I'm Axem Red!"

The pink soldier sent a kiss to him. "My cute name is Axe Pink!"

"The name's Axem Black." The black soldier prepared his axe.

"Axem Green!" The green soldier thought and pointed his hand at the air.

"My name is Axem Yellow, and I'm still hungry..." The yellow soldier said slamming his small axe at the floor.

"And together we are..." Axem Red said.

All of them stroke a pose as a cheesy background with yellow and red lights appeared behind them. "THE AXEM RANGERS!"

"..." King Dedede sweatdropped as a dried ball of roots appeared from nowhere in front of him and dropped into the shiny abyss. "(Although they look stupid at the end...)" He shook his head. "Our mission here is done! Get back to the Blade to return!"

"AFFIRMATIVE SIR!" They said in unison yelling as they got inside the Blade with all the Primids and King Dedede, the Blade's engines started and it got away slowly into a dark portal to the Subspace, vanishing from the fortress as the Smashers got out from their hiding point (Fox, Falco and Wolf were fine by now).

"...The Axem Rangers?" Wolf Kirby asked confused.

"...Now I remember! They are old enemies of Mario, Bowser and Peach!" Chris pointed out. "But they're supposed to be dead..."

"I hear King Dedede saying something about Ganondorf's magic and Tabuu's magic combined to bring them back from the death." Lucario said.

"Does that means they could bring back anyone else that we had defeated a long time ago?" Samus asked.

"I'm...afraid so..." Chris said as he looked at the dark portal. "...If I wasn't mistaken, King Dedede pushed a cage to the Dark World with someone who didn't wanted to cooperate..."

"Mewtwo..." Lucario trailed off.

"We have to save him from the Ing!" Samus said as she shot a dark beam to open the portal as she jumped towards it.

Zelda put her hand above Chris's shoulder. "There were Shadow Bugs coming from inside."

"...Oh no..." Chris shook his head before Zelda ran inside.

"D-don't be scared Red...this is your time to shine..." Red said gulping as he entered inside with Squirtle.

"HERE I COME! YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Wolf Kirby ran inside screaming to sound like a barbarian with Meta Knight frowning.

"L-L-Lucario, go first please." Chris said studdering a little.

"I'm worried about you." Lucario said worried.

"N-no, I'm fine, go first please..."

"...Right..." Lucario walked inside the portal.

"...Fox? Falco? Wolf? Is something wrong with you 3?"

Mentioned characters were looking away, somehow, they were thinking by themselves. "...What? Er, no, it's nothing." Fox said.

"It's because of your issues against each other?"

Falco shook his head. "No, it's because about reviving old enemies from the death, and I was just thinking about...well...I don't want to say it...and I think Fox doesn't wants to either..."

"What do you want to not say?" Chris asked confused.

"The Aparoid Queen." Wolf said bluntly.

"...Unfortunately, you could run into her once again, and who knows, we could run into many more of them much later..."

"I'll be ready." Wolf said crossing his arms.

"You will?"

"Me too." Falco said.

"You too?"

"And so do I." Fox said.

"Then..." Chris looked down and then smiled a little at them. "Does that means you're friends again?"

"HELL NO!" They lunged at each other and started to fight again with many more punches as Chris looked back and forth between the portal and them and then, he ran inside.

"DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THESE WEIRDOS!" Chris yelled at the top of his lungs before Fox, Falco and Wolf glared at him at the same time.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRDO?!" Fox asked angrily, running inside the portal.

"I'LL GET YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS! YOU HEAR ME?!" Falco asked enraged, running inside the portal.

"COME BACK HERE, I'M NOT DONE YET!" Wolf yelled furiously, running inside the portal.

Preview of the next chapter

"Mewtwo! Please, you have to return with us now!" Chris pleaded.

"It's no use, we came all this way and he doesn't get back to his senses!" Samus said, preparing her arm cannon to fire.

"CAPTAIN FALCON! CAPTAIN FALCON!" The young Smashers cheered loudly.

"How amusing, a cheering group." Dark Black Shadow said smirking.

"It was my fault...it was my fault!" Fox said slamming his fist close to the dead Chris.

"We're sorry! We're sorry Chris for being so selfish! It was my fault in reality!" Falco yelled.

"It was our fault..." Wolf said weakly.

"USE THE FALCON PUNCH!" Link yelled.

"He will, I know it." Nana said rolling her eyes.

"We too." The others replied nodding, except for Lucas and Toon Link, who didn't understand at all.

"Next time: Dark Mewtwo or Dark Black Shadow? Double Battle!" Zelda said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Halberd/Sanctuary Fortress: Dark World
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Zelda, Red, Fox, Falco, Wolf/Marth, Roy, Link, Toon Link, Ice Climbers, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu/Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Pit

...Shocked to see the Axem Rangers here and now? I'm going to say the so overused words.

"It's just the beginning..." Of a very long story.

References:

-The 13th Struggle was a reference to...me! Because I bought Kingdom Hearts ll yesterday to pass the time while my Wii is on the way to be repaired! That was also the reason this chapter wasn't published yesterday too, sorry about that. XP

-The verse "Holy Power, come to me!", was a reference to Tales of Vesperia, being Estelle's incantantion to use First Aid.

-The CRITICAL HIT was my own response for the other words FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE!

-When Toon Link said "Well, excuse me, prince!", it was a reference to the Link of the cartoon, saying that but saying "Well, excuse me, princess!", many times during many occasions.

-The Axem Rangers come from Super Mario RPG, the main theme for other arcs, and you know what that means...Exor...

Here they come, the hardest battles against Dark Mewtwo and Dark Black Shadow! Will Samus and C. Falcon join them? Will Fox, Falco and Wolf get over their issues and fight together? (Wolf maybe not.) Will Toon Link and Link be friends someday and will the other Smashers that hadn't got a chance to fight, fight in the next chapter? Will Fox, Falco and Wolf learn to not piss off the World Traveler with the deadly staff again? XD

If you're going to review, answer this with your review: Do you like the friendly Lucario of this story over all the selfish, loners and grim Lucarios of the other stories? (Makes you think how in the hell did this Pokémon evolved with friendship again, right? Next time, Nintendo will change his evolving phase with gaining levels.)

Read and review! We're so close to get 200 reviews! ;)
*Chapter 74*: Unforgivable Fault

Sorry for the late publishing of this chapter, but several interruptions prevented me from finishing this chapter (my Wii being shipped back to me, getting Kingdom Hearts II, thunderstorms, and computer problems. Geez…) and get it up here. Hopefully, the chapter itself will make up for the long wait.

From Chef Colette: Great chapter! It was good!

Also,if you do another Fire Emblem arc with one of Ike's games,will it be Path of radience or Radiant Dawn? I guess there will be laguz pocessed by primids.
Anyway,keep up the great work!

From me: Obviously, we'll go with the Path of Radiance Ike. Choosing the one after that would seriously ruin the story's flow. And as for Laguz, that is yet to be decided. Thanks. :)

From Molto Alesato: ...It's sad I got three of those refrences... .. Anyway awesome as usual.

From me: Don't worry. You get to learn more things every day in here, I guess. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From ngrey651: The whole "lone wolf" Lucario thing's done to death. Your use of him as a caring father figure is unique and touching. I like somebody who's willing to think outside the box, go the extra mile...that what you do. So keep on keeping it real by being natural!

Sincerely...

Nick

From me: A…father figure? Well, I don't know, but Lucario is more like an overprotective guardian than a father. If you think again, if he was a father…well…my view on Chris would totally change… Thanks again. :)

From Nintendogeek01: M... not sure if I have a Lucario personality preference or not.

Anyways, this wasn't really your best chapter. The escape from the Ing part was good and some C. Falcon scenes were funny, but the plot seemed kind of weak in C. Falcon's part and the Dark Samus battle wasn't really your best fight. It wasn't a bad chapter though.

From me: Well, Dark Samus wasn't possessed by the Shadow Bugs, so, no boost power, not a chance against 10 people.

Fortunately, I think you'll like this chapter. ;)

From hornedjolteon: dammnit... 1 second it's 197 reviews then the next it's 201 reviews... i coulden't get #200 :( casts a spell Yaubf duewa id Ho oH m vyeb rgua 'ew'! explodes 2 reviews and replaces them with this one then casts another spell ewok'xw rgwaw 'ew'a qurg rgua ibw! the 2 reviews reappear after this one Yayz! I got the 200th rieview!

From me: Hmm…I don't know how to respond to this review… It's all written in cryptic words I can't understand… Maybe you could write better next time? I'm sorry for the inconveniences.

From Rellymaster: This story gets better and better! Hmm...the Axem Rangers have appeared...

Good choice on getting Kingdom Hearts 2, an awesome game!

When will Fox, Falco, and Wolf learn not to argue with Chris? They'll just get hurt really badly. XD

Oh, and your friendly Lucario is infinity times better than all the loner and grim ones.

From me: This chapter will surely have a closure for their arguments. And, thanks for complementing Lucario's personality. :)

From Lucario210: This is a cool and funny story and will you make a Metal Gear Solid
arc?

From me: It's still a bit too early to make a Metal Gear Solid arc, but I don't think I'll make one. It's a bit too complex for me to explore that game's plot and everything it has. But I'll make Snake's appearance a memorable one…perhaps… Thanks for reviewing. :)

From narutofan714: lol good story, lets hope C. falcon will FALCON PUNCH black heart in da face!

oh and great chapter but I gotta agree with lucario210, when is snake or even some of the metal gear arc gonna happen, also, try adding a gag where character slips on a banana peel like the item ones in the game

oh and good choice on KH2, great game, awesome gameplay, and I have a feeling that game inspired this story )

From me: I'll see what I can do about Snake's game. It'll be hard, but I'll make the sacrifice. And a banana peel gag? Well, I'll see…

Thanks again. :)

From Blapherile: This chapter is called Hell and more Hell, so will there be a chapter named Heaven and more Heaven? XD

Good chapter! I wonder how strong Dark Mewtwo is...

From me: Meh, I don't think there will be a chapter like that. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: WOW! tHIS IS a good fic! The previews of the next chapters always remind me of the Naruto episodes. Also, are you going to do a Naruto arc?

From me: Unfortunately, I won't ever make an anime arc because it attracts the wrong crowd of people here. I don't want fanboyism to greatly influence the fiction. I'm sorry for not doing this, but I want to keep this clean and straight.

This chapter got a very nice revision, replacing almost entirely everything in it so there would be a more comprehensible flow. Also, I thank everyone's reviews so far. You guys are always making me happy to accept this story. :)

With no more words to say, I encourage suit fanatics to read and review. :D

Chapter 74: Unforgivable Fault

Dark Sanctuary Fortress

-Ing Hive -

A long while later, the group walked through the world of the Ing. Darkness was the only thing the group met when they entered the dark side of the Sanctuary Fortress. Most of them felt sick just by seeing the atmosphere around, but there wasn't any other choice left but to proceed through the sea of black spores.

"I'm still not feeling so good about entering this place again," Fox said. "It's like the darkness here has acid or something."

"You guys shouldn't have come here," Samus said. "I'm the only one who can resist the hazardous atmosphere. Since none of you is wearing a special suit of armor, it's going to be so hard for you to withstand it."

"A little acid isn't going to stop me from going forward," Wolf said. "I just need to run to those domes of light so we don't get roasted like the birdbrain here, right?"

Falco grunted loudly and looked away. "Well, EXCUSE ME from being so annoying, mutt."

"Oh, for the love of Nayru, please, stop it…" Zelda trailed off. "You three need to reconcile as soon as possible before we end up fighting some monster together."

"I'm sorry, but I currently want to stay away from those two," Falco said boringly. "I'll go nuts if I heard them talk once more."

"Tsk, at least we share same thoughts, but that as far as we're going to relate with each other," Wolf said.

Chris looked worried at Fox. "Please, you don't have to be so angry at Falco anymore. You two ar-"

"Chris, I want to have some time away from him," Fox said sternly. "It's not because I hate him. We're comrades, but right now…"

"You two are having a pointless bickering, but you just won't admit it," Samus pointed out. "In my eyes, you're acting like children."

Fox crossed his arms and looked away. "Nobody asked about your opinion, Samus."

"See what I mean?"

"To me, it's pointless to further talk about this conversation," Meta Knight said bluntly. "Let them reconcile when they think the time is right. We do not have a place in their personal problems."

"U-um," Red began, "I-I don't know what to say here…and I'm still pretty shocked at what I'm dealing with…but…can we just get along?"

"No," Fox, Falco, and Wolf said in unison, each one of them looking away to different directions.

"B-but…I thought it'd be better if everyone… Oh well…" Red muttered.

Chris gave up in convincing all of them to reconcile. He embraced his arms as they continued their way through the dark world. "Well, where did Mewtwo go to? I'm starting to worry about him…"

"It's hard to tell," Lucario said, glowing bright with his blue aura to locate the Psychic Pokémon. "There are many dark auras in this world that they're distracting me from locating him."

"..." Chris didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, Chris… This world doesn't make my aura abilities work very well. Darkness itself is just too much for me to resist…"

"B-but you still have your brute force with you, right?"

"Yes, of course."

Red was the next one to embrace himself. "Y-you guys are sure that you do this kind of thing all time? If you do…I don't belong here…"

"Red, I think everyone but Samus don't belong in here…" Squirtle muttered.

"I was thinking the same thing, kid," Wolf said before a ghost passed just in front of them and Chris completely hid behind Lucario. "Yes, I totally don't belong in this world made of crap…"

"I-I don't remember any ghost being here!" Chris yelled terrorized. "W-what the hell was that?"

"A ghost?" Falco said, rolling his eyes.

Kirby, back to his normal form, looked confused as he saw the ghost flying away. "Um…was that Mewtwo?"

"Kirby, that wasn't Mewtwo…" Samus muttered, recalling the gross look of the ghost that flew nearby. "If I recall, that was one of the Dark Keys to open the way to the Hive Temple, where the stolen light energy of the Luminoth resides."

"Are we gonna fetch those keys or what?" Wolf asked. "Let me tell you something, I don't want to stay here any longer than ten minutes, and five minutes have passed ever since we entered this place."

"Our main objective here is to look for Mewtwo," Meta Knight said. "Those keys can wait to be found. We should focus on finding him before we do anything else than that."

Red took out a Poké Ball from his belt. "I want to have some more company here…" he muttered, tossing the sphere to the floor to let Ivysaur out. The Seed Pokémon looked at its surrounding before looking up at Red. "…Um, Squirtle, he doesn't have a translator like you do, right?"

"Don't worry about that," Squirtle said, showing Red a translator. "Pikachu gave me this one when you wanted to call Ivysaur out." He walked to Ivysaur and pushed the translator down its throat, making it choke a bit before stopping. "There… Can you talk, Ivysaur?"

"B-bleh, why the hell did you do that for?" Ivysaur asked angrily before looking shocked. "H-hey, I'm speaking human language now? G-goodness, what the hell is happening to me?"

Squirtle slapped it. "Get a hold of yourself! Now, are you a dude or a girl?"

"A-a dude," Ivysaur confirmed. "…Why are you asking me that?"

"I didn't want a female Ivysaur with us, that's why."

Red rolled his eyes at this and looked at Ivysaur. "So, um, Ivysaur, welcome to the team… Sorry for keeping you in your Poké Ball all this time…"

"I don't want to stay in that thing for much longer, you heard me?" Ivysaur asked angrily. "Anyway…what's your name?"

After some laughs at Red's name, and explanations about what was going on…

"Are we fighting THE Mewtwo?" Ivysaur asked.

"Afraid yes…" Red muttered.

"Screw Mewtwo!" Ivysaur yelled. "I heard pretty scary stuff about how he blew up some laboratory where he was being kept!"

Red looked curious at this. "Are you talking about the Cinnabar Island incident? I think I saw an article about a Pokémon going wild in the lab there… How do you know that? I found you in the wild."

"Information DOES travel fast between Pokémon," Ivysaur pointed out. "Pidgeys are very helpful for that matter."

"Okay…"

They didn't know why, but they heard many explosions coming from somewhere in the dark world. The floor shook a bit, but they knew something big was happening somewhere in the temple.

"W-what's happening here now?" Chris asked, hiding behind a wary Lucario.

"Explosions…" Fox muttered. "Something is blowing up."

"W-what is that something?" Squirtle asked, hiding inside his shell.

Samus shot at the Light Beacon to recharge its Light Barrier's duration. She looked to the south of the corridor they were walking through. "They just keep blowing up so hard…" she muttered. "Everyone, get ready, because we're going to see where those explosions came from."

"A-are you nuts? What about Mewtwo?" Ivysaur asked.

"Would you rather find Mewtwo and get attacked by whatever made those explosions?" Samus asked before the sounds subsided. "Looks like they stopped…"

"…I have a very bad feeling about all this," Lucario said, examining the ground with his aura once more. "…What the…"

"W-what is it, Lucario?" Chris asked.

"…There's a familiar aura far away from here in a big area," he said. "…But…is it…Mewtwo's aura?"

Falco turned to Lucario. "So, you found him with your weird aura thing?"

"I'm not so certain, but the aura is definitely Mewtwo's aura," Lucario said. "What I can't understand is the fact that the aura seems…very troubled…"

"What do you mean by that? Stop talking in cryptic words, dog," Wolf said before he frowned. "Whatever, let's just go."

Although half of them didn't want to go further, they traveled south.

-Hive Access Temple-

The group reached an elevator that took them down. However, something about the steel passage made Samus feel uneasy. The bounty hunter looked around to find rather deep fissures imprinted all along the passage. What's more, the same fissures were lying down on the elevator. "What in the world happened here?" Samus asked. "These fissures shouldn't be here."

"Why?" Fox asked.

"There weren't any fissures the last time I went through this place in the light world," Samus said. "In fact, let me examine them with my scan visor…" She clicked on her scan visor to examine the fissures. After three seconds, she got a response.

Fissures created by intense psychic waves. Magnitude of force is above usual readings, indicating that target was powerful. Date of fissures' creation is just an hour ago. Target may be around the area.

"…" Samus lowered her hand to her side and remained silent. The group stared at her for a while before she spoke. "…Mewtwo was the one who caused all this. The fissures were created by psychic waves."

"And Mewtwo uses psychic powers," Lucario said. "But they're not this strong at all."

Meta Knight looked forward where a door awaited them. "Judging at the amount of fissures in this passage, he might be just close to this place."

The Aura Pokémon glowed more, examining the room next to their place. "There is a wide area… Mewtwo's aura is beyond this door," he said. "He seems to be standing right in the middle of the room."

"But if that's so, then why hasn't he come back to us?" Falco asked. "Oh, wait… The Shadow Bugs didn't…"

"…That's it," Lucario said, stopping glowing with aura. "I knew that the malicious aura was the Shadow Bugs' aura… Mewtwo was taken over by the Shadow Bugs, then."

"And if that's true, that means he's being controlled by them, and that his powers were increased," Fox said sternly. "Great, as if things couldn't get any worse than they are now."

Squirtle looked freaked out. "U-um, guys, are we going to fight him, then? Because if we're doing that… I want to return to my Poké Ball right now!" He tugged Red's right leg. "You there, return me to my safe and happy place!"

"S-Squirtle, calm down!" Red said as the Tiny Turtle Pokémon kept tugging his leg. "E-everything is going to be okay!"

Squirtle stopped tugging Red's leg. "I want to hear some honest words from that mouth of yours, Red! You BETTER promise me that we're not going to fight Mewtwo! I-I'm a scared little Squirtle!"

Red looked at the others. "W-what are we going to do next?"

"Fight the scary-ass cat," Wolf said, "or whatever he's supposed to resemble. Either way, it's obvious we're gonna have to fight him."

Zelda looked concerned. "Fight Mewtwo while he is possessed by the Shadow Bugs… He is a formidable fighter when fought alone, but I fear that the battle will be much harder than before…"

The group walked through the automatic door, reaching a terrace where heavy-armored glass windows prevented them from going down to the wide area. However, between the glass windows, a big entrance where a door once was provided them a way down to the dark area. The wide room down below the terrace, oddly, had smoke floating away into the red sky. Back on the terrace, Samus looked down at their feet where she found some debris. "...This door was originally the door I was trying to open with the Dark Keys. Even a Super Missile couldn't break through."

"And did he do this as well?" Meta Knight asked.

Samus scanned the debris. "No doubt about that, sadly…"

Lucario looked to the center of the wide area where a much darker spot was located; a malicious aura that made him feel uneasy. The malicious aura made him growl in anger, tightening his aura-engulfed fists. "There's the aura, Chris," he muttered, growling silently.

The group looked to the center of the room where the malicious aura rested. The location of the aura seemed to be over a pile of steel debris. "Is he that black spot over that pile of crumbles?" Falco asked.

"It is Mewtwo," Lucario said. "He is waiting for us to go there to him, I guess…"

"Cocky much?" Wolf asked before chuckling. "I hope he doesn't match Fox's cockiness. If he did, we'd be in real trouble now."

Fox glared (fiercely) at Wolf. "Care to explain what that means?"

"It means that you both should stop taunting each other, so shut up, you!" Zelda yelled annoyed before sighing. "I really need to stop you both from causing the other to argue pointlessl-"

"Shh!" Squirtle whispered. "Z-Zelda, don't speak too loud! Y-you could get Mewtwo's attention!"

"I'm aware that he might have noticed us by now," Meta Knight said. "If so, ready yourselves."

Chris looked worried. "A-are we already going to face him?"

"Yes," Wolf said, crossing his arms. "You better get ready, kid."

"H-hey, Red is younger than me. He should be the on-oh, forget it…" The World Traveler looked away. "Since the battle is going to be a hard one, I suppose I should resort to healing…" he muttered.

Kirby gulped and looked forward. "I-I don't want to fight Mewtwo… He's scary…"

"Nobody wants to fight Mr. Psychic Cat, but meh, whatever," Falco said. "It came down to this. There's no turning back now."

"Literally, because he's already using his psychic powers to drag us all towards him," Wolf pointed out.

The others noticed that their bodies were glowing and floating towards the center of the place. Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur panicked, looking back at the Light Barrier. They began to scream once they were pulled out from it, allowing the hazardous atmosphere to burn them. "AAAAAH!" Squirtle screamed, hugging Ivysaur in fear. "W-we're going to become roasted corpses, a-and I'll become turtle soup for sure!"

"…But…" Samus stared at her right hand, glowing with psychic energy, "this is odd… The atmosphere isn't damaging us at all."

Ivysaur blinked and looked around the air. He looked at himself, not finding any hurting feelings in his body. "Er…freaky…" he muttered. "…Useful, but freaky…"

As they were taken to the center of the area, Zelda got in a thinking position and looked down. "We are not being burned by the darkness anymore? How is this possible?" She looked at Samus. "Is there something else you can explain to us?"

Samus shook her head. "I'm afraid this is the first time I get to walk in darkness without being burned," she pointed out, all of them landing nicely on the floor. "But still…I wonder why this is happening…"

"It is because I gave all of you a force field to make things fair," a familiar voice explained. "With it, you won't be harmed by the hazardous darkness. I, however, can dwell in this darkness as if it was my home."

Everyone looked in front of them at the column of debris where a dark figure glowing yellow eyes and dark body was sitting down on top of it. The figure was Mewtwo, possessed completely with the Shadow Bugs. The Dark Psychic Pokémon narrowed his eyes, staring down at them with a calm demeanor. Lucario narrowed his eyes and took a step forward with Chris standing behind him. "Mewtwo, is that you?" Lucario asked.

"It is I, of course," Dark Mewtwo said. "I think my new appearance is shocking most of you, but have no fear for that. I have perfect control on the Shadow Bugs."

Wolf sighed and frowned. He glared up at Dark Mewtwo. "It's the first time I heard that somebody can control the Shadow Bugs to benefit themselves with their enhancements in power." He crossed his arms. "Are you sure they didn't mess up with your mind? They always screw minds so much."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Dark Mewtwo said. "My mind is probably the strongest weapon I have under my sleeves. It managed to take over the Shadow Bugs' power to make me supreme."

Kirby gulped. "B-but…y-you look so scary and serious…"

"Kirby, everything is fine. Don't cower in fear anymore," Dark Mewtwo said. "I assure you that I'm better than I was before."

Meta Knight frowned. "I am amused by your confident words, Mewtwo," he said, his hand resting on Galaxia's hilt. "They are so easy to tell apart that you were obviously corrupted by the Shadow Bugs. Please, if you don't want to look like an idiot, stop saying the real you took over the Shadow Bugs when it was you who got taken over by them."

Dark Mewtwo closed his eyes and frowned. "You had to be with somebody so stubborn like Meta Knight to ruin my fun."

"I never doubted you'd get taken over by those bugs," Falco said bored. "You aren't that better than any of us. Well, maybe better than Fox and the mut-"

To prevent any bickering, Samus covered Falco's beak with a hand. "Mewtwo, what is in your mind right now? Why'd you go on ahead and give us protection from Dark Aether?"

Dark Mewtwo opened a hand by his right side. "Isn't it obvious? I'm shielding you all from getting hurt by this worthless excuse of a world," he said. "Thank me now because Falco will stop ranting about how bad this world is for his feathers."

Falco pushed Samus' hand away and glared at Mewtwo. "I never said anything about my feathers! Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Beak," Wolf corrected.

"Shut up!"

Dark Mewtwo chuckled darkly. "It was a pleasure to listen to your every word from here. It was music to my ears to listen how you fought each other verbally."

As the trio of space fighters glared annoyed at him, Zelda looked concerned. "What do you mean by that? Are you trying to say you spied us this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Stalker!" Falco yelled.

"As if your bickering was very silent. Anyone in a ten-mile radius can hear you all very well, even the people traveling with you," Dark Mewtwo said. "Of course, somebody like me would notice that."

Squirtle looked up at Lucario. "H-hey, you're the mind guy of our team right now! How didn't you notice that he was hearing us from here?"

"I-I'm sorry, but I already said the dark atmosphere of this world makes me locate anything very hard to do," Lucario said. "I could've perceived Mewtwo's presence outside this place, but while I'm here…"

"You're as lost as a Rattata in a maze," Ivysaur said.

Lucario closed his eyes in annoyance. "I wouldn't put it like that, if you know what I mean…"

Red pointed at Dark Mewtwo. "S-so, what do you want to do right now, Mewtwo?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Red whimpered a bit at the tense air. "W-would you speak up, please?"

Dark Mewtwo slowly stood up in midair, his dark aura slowly flowing up around him. "I don't want to prolong this talk any further," he said. "Why don't we just move up to the part where I decimate you all to your deaths?"

Hearing this, Squirtle slowly hid his head into his shell, trembling in fear. "A-aren't we friends, though?"

"We were," Dark Mewtwo said. "We're enemies as of now, though. As enemies, one of us needs to get rid of the other as soon as possible, correct?"

"N-no, it shouldn't be like this!" Chris yelled. "Y-you're still one of u-"

"I would like to stop you from finishing that sickening sentence, Chris," Dark Mewtwo interrupted, making the World Traveler gulp with fear. "Whatever I said is a true fact. We're not considered comrades or anything of the sort right now. We're enemies, and I must get rid of you all in this place full of debris."

"Wait a minute, why is there debris all over the place?" Samus asked, scanning the debris. "My visor says it was part of something called the Quadraxis…"

"You mean the four-legged machine that tried to attack me just some moments ago?" Dark Mewtwo asked before nodding. "Yes, it was such a pathetic excuse for a guardian that I've ever seen before. I myself crushed it down."

"Then those explosions were coming from it being annihilated by you… Is that right?"

"Yes," Dark Mewtwo said. "You'll be the next ones to explode but in blood. Be honored that you won't have to pester anyone else."

"S-stop that!" Chris yelled a little scared. "I know the Shadow Bugs changed you a little bit, but that's enough! I want the old Mewtwo back...and don't you ever say the old Mewtwo is dead and a new one was born!"

"You stole my words from my mouth."

"T-then please, stop this-"

"Foolishness," Wolf added.

"Y-yes, foolishness!"

Dark Mewtwo shook his head. "No, this is the power I've been searching for so long and you will be the first ones to feel it."

"…Give me a break." Fox said.

"Well, I'll give you one to explain yourself, little kid," Dark Mewtwo taunted.

Fox grunted. "This is the ultimate power I've been looking for secretly during my life. Oh god, I'm more powerful than you," he mimicked Dark Mewtwo's voice before speaking normally. "To me, you're just an idiot driven to madness because of the Shadow Bugs' influence. So, you're thinking we're going to be reduced to corpses as you did with the machine in here? Heh, think again."

Dark Mewtwo looked at Wolf. "He is pretty cocky," he said, making Fox's ears perk up a bit.

"Glad you can tell that," Wolf said, receiving a glare from Fox. "Now, if you would, shut up and let's begin this fight."

"I-I wouldn't get so jumpy to start the fight… C-can't we discuss this with food or something?" Red asked.

"I-I second that," Chris admitted.

Dark Mewtwo sighed. "This is my response to that suggestion…no."

Tales of the Abyss - Awkward Justice

Suddenly, the floor below their feet began to shake with a bit of magnitude. The piles of steel around the area began to scramble a bit as they saw Dark Mewtwo descending in front of them. Lucario was the only one to tell that the Psychic Pokémon's aura was causing the tremble to occur. When Dark Mewtwo floated over the floor, he opened his glaring eyes at them, tightening his fists at his sides. "I have a much better idea than that pathetic suggestion. The ones standing up after this fight will do anything with me as you wish, but if I'm the last one standing up…you will all die, simple as that."

Meta Knight unsheathed Galaxia and put it behind him. "We accept that condition. We're now playing by your rules."

"D-don't decide for all of us here, please!" Chris said worried before the tremble stopped.

"Let us start the fight for your lives... Begin," Dark Mewtwo said, disappearing from sight.

The group quickly scrambled around their position without separating too much. "Here he comes," Samus warned them. "Remember that he uses psychic powers to teleport anywhere. He could either attack us close or from afar!"

"I-in that case, we need to tell where he will attack," Chris said before turning to Lucario. "Lucario, please, locate Mewtwo so we can attack him before he does!"

Lucario looked down.

"…Lucario?"

"The dark auras of this place seem to have grown in intensity, Chris…" Lucario trailed off.

Meta Knight looked at the Aura Pokémon. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know how to explain this, but the dark auras grew much more powerful, preventing me from locating anyone here," Lucario said.

"Damn it, did Mewtwo do this? Just how powerful did he get?" Falco asked.

"Mewtwo wasn't the one who did it…"

"What? But he grew powerful! I thought the Shadow Bugs provided him with new powers and more stuff!"

"I can tell he didn't do it because he didn't have to exert any energy out," Lucario said. "As a matter of fact, I didn't see him do anything. My aura was fixated on him, but I just lost track of his whereabouts."

Samus shook her head. "If he didn't do it…then, maybe the Ing did…" She looked up. "The Ing creatures are doing this to us so they get rid of me."

"Why are you so certain that those creatures from the devil's a(beep) want to take you out?" Wolf asked.

"Don't you remember? I was the one who restored the Luminoth's light energy back to them. The Ing are vicious, but they know very well that I'm a problem to their plans to take over Aether."

Dark Mewtwo appeared right behind her with crossed arms. "I'll do them a favor by exterminating you, Samus."

Samus turned around and tried to slam her arm cannon at Dark Mewtwo, but the dark fiend had already teleported somewhere else in the area. Grunting at this, Samus tightened a fist. "I thought you were going to work alone by yourself, Mewtwo. It's so you to do things yourself without having to help others that much…"

Dark Mewtwo appeared over a pile of scrapped steel. "Don't misunderstand me, Samus. I might be still helping others unconditionally."

"Aura Sphere, quick!" Chris ordered Lucario, who charged an Aura Sphere to shoot the psychic user down. Unfortunately, Dark Mewtwo teleported to another pile of steel, chuckling darkly to himself. "D-dammit!"

"It's such a pity that you aren't fast enough to land an attack on me," Dark Mewtwo mocked before he teleported away to avoid a Din's Fire from the Zelda, the sphere of fire blowing up in the air.

"I thought I almost had him," Zelda muttered before her body glowed against her will. "U-ugh, what is happening?"

"There he is!" Falco yelled, pointing to the south where Dark Mewtwo was holding out his hand towards Zelda, using Confusion on her.

"P-Pow Hammer!" Chris shouted, calling a red-squeaky hammer above Dark Mewtwo's head. The Psychic Pokémon, however, teleported away before the hammer could whack his head. "W-would you please stop doing that?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Dark Mewtwo spoke right behind Chris, making the World Traveler yelp and trip forward. "If you forgot, I don't listen to anybody's orders. I listen to my own orders.

"Stop right there, you freak!" Fox yelled as he dashed towards Dark Mewtwo to stop him from harming Chris, but the psychic user teleported away before Fox could land a kick. "Dammit…" he muttered.

However, for some reason or another, Fox had ignored the fact that Falco and Wolf were going to attack Dark Mewtwo as well. The other two were ready to land attacks, but as soon as Dark Mewtwo teleported away, they both crashed against Fox and the trio fell down on their backs. All of them grunted and sat up, shooting glares at each other.

"Would you please be more careful?" Falco asked to Wolf. "Oh, right, you don't know what being careful is!"

"Shut it, birdbrain," Wolf replied harshly. "You should be yelling at Fox instead of me. After all, he was standing right in the middle."

"Oh, so now it's my fault," Fox said with a glare at Wolf. "Don't put all the blame on me when it's you who caused this."

After hearing this, Kirby looked down in depression. "Please, don't fight now…" he muttered.

At that moment, Dark Mewtwo appeared in front of Lucario, who performed a backward somersault to get away from him. "You're going to be the first one of all of you to die," Dark Mewtwo said evilly.

Lucario readied his aura fists. "I didn't want to fight you like this, Mewtwo, but I guess the Shadow Bugs will give you an edge against me," he said.

"I already had an edge over you, with or without Shadow Bugs," Dark Mewtwo said. "Please, don't think I'm inferior when it is the other way around. Now, prepare yourself."

"Not if I have something to say."

Dark Mewtwo's eyes widened a bit before he was slashed consecutively on the back by Meta Knight, who appeared using Dimensional Cape from behind to kick Dark Mewtwo on his head to push him away. "You'll pay for that..." Dark Mewtwo muttered. "At least you seem to be much more of a problem to me tha-"

"Now, he is distracted!" Meta Knight shouted. Dark Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and looked around. Then, he saw something shining around his body that instantly pressed into him. It was an invisible chain from Zelda, who changed into Sheik when Dark Mewtwo was busy dealing with the others.

"You're all mine," Sheik said.

"Not quite, cocky ninja," Dark Mewtwo replied.

"Huh?"

Dark Mewtwo's body began to glow with darkness, as the strings were possessed by his Confusion attack, making Sheik back away from him, noticing that the dark Pokémon motioned his hand at her. "Get her," he spoke to the chain, and it accelerated through the piles of metal to create a distraction. Sheik waited for the exact moment to evade her own chain, letting go of it. The string appeared below her feet and tried to entangle her legs, but she jumped out of the way in time, landing in front of the chain.

"Too close," Sheik said, picking back her chain.

"Exactly," Dark Mewtwo said behind Sheik, who looked to him. Dark Mewtwo performed a slashing motion right in front of the ninja, creating a slicing wave that pushed Sheik away into a pile of scrapped metal where she was buried to her heels.

"D-damn you," Sheik muttered inside the pile.

"S-Sheik!" Chris shouted worried before Dark Mewtwo appeared in front of him and looked down at him, terrorizing Chris with his yellow, glowing eyes. "U-um…h-hello…"

"The World Traveler, scared because of me? You're pathetic," Dark Mewtwo said as Chris backed away from him. The psychic user slowly floated towards him. "Please, don't be scared. Death itself should be welcomed with open arms. You're being rude for telling it to go away…"

"You better leave Chris alone!"

Chris's face brightened up when Lucario came from above, using Extremespeed and combining it with Force Palm to land a harsh blow on Dark Mewtwo with an impact on the floor, which made the Psychic Pokémon back away by floating. "Lucario…t-thank you…" Chris muttered with relief.

"...T-thanks, but go help Sheik now!" Lucario said, a little embarrassed at the little compensation.

"...I-I will! Holy power, come to m-"

"Never," Dark Mewtwo finished when he appeared once again in front of the World Traveler. The psychic user quickly sliced the air with his fingers, creating six Psycho Cuts that pushed Chris away to the floor while he screamed in pain. The cutting waves ripped his clothes a bit, but the World Traveler managed to keep his conscience. "How were my Psycho Cuts? They were enhanced by the Shadow Bugs."

Chris coughed a bit as he got up from the floor. "I-I think you shouldn't have used them on me…"

"GUARGH!" Lucario roared as he tried to land a blow on Dark Mewtwo. The dark fiend merely teleported behind the aura wielder, used Confusion, and tossed Lucario away to another pile of scrapped metal.

Dark Mewtwo raised a finger over his right shoulder, looking down at Chris. "I shall use my Psycho Cuts as many times as I want."

"D-don't hurt Chris, please!" Kirby pleaded as he rushed in. He opened wide his mouth to suck Dark Mewtwo, hoping that he would gain his ability. After he felt something entering his mouth, Kirby swallowed it, gaining a new ability. "T-there!" he told Dark Mewtwo, who looked down bored at him. "…W-what? B-but I thought…"

Kirby looked behind where Chris had apparently jumped out from him. The World Traveler was sitting down on the floor before looking at Kirby. "K-Kirby, you sucked me instead of Mewtwo… You gained my ability instead…"

Apparently, Kirby had pale-green hair and a little staff on his right hand. The puffball looked at his hair before he looked at the staff. Looking serious, Fonic Kirby raised his staff up, calling forth a Pow Hammer over Dark Mewtwo, who merely floated aside to avoid it. "Hmm," Fonic Kirby grunted.

"A hammer made out of rubber… Probably the most pathetic excuse for an attack," Dark Mewtwo remarked before using Confusion on Fonic Kirby. The puffball blinked before he wailed his hands up and down, calling for help.

"K-Kirby!" Chris yelled as he got up and lunged at Fonic Kirby, trying to pull him back to the floor. Unfortunately, Chris was dragged with Fonic Kirby before Dark Mewtwo moved his hand away to throw both of them away to the floor. Fonic Kirby bounced along the floor, but Chris crashed on it, groaning in pain. "O-oww…" he muttered.

Bravely, Red stepped out from behind a pile of metal and pointed a finger at Dark Mewtwo. "M-M-M-Mewtwo, if you don't want to come with us, t-then I'll have to resort to catch you!" he proclaimed, taking out a Poké Ball from his belt.

Dark Mewtwo's eyes glowed, and the sphere blew up into pieces. "Small objects are easier to blow up than people. I wonder if I can do the same to people now with me newfound power…"

Red stared in shock at his empty hand. "T-that was… Oh my god…" he muttered, shaking his head to snap out of his thoughts. He glared at Dark Mewtwo and yelled, "A-alright, you asked for it! Squirtle, Ivysaur, step up!"

An eerie silence replied.

"…" Red looked back at the pile where a scared Ivysaur was hiding behind Squirtle's shell. "G-guys!" Red groaned. "I-I issued an order just now!"

"B-but I found a Poké Dollar right here," Ivysaur spoke behind the shell. "I don't want to let go of it."

"P-Pokémon don't know how to use money! Now please, fight Mewtwo before he comes after us!"

"I-it's pretty comfy inside," Squirtle said inside his shell, his red eyes being shown on the top hole. "You should drop by, Red."

"G-guys!"

Dark Mewtwo sighed and merely used Confusion on Red. The Pokémon Trainer screamed loudly, making both of his Pokémon gasp. Not long after this, a Super Missile blew up behind Dark Mewtwo's back. The psychic user grunted and let go of Red, who fell hard on the floor before running back behind the pile. Samus appeared behind Dark Mewtwo as she held out her arm cannon at him. "Don't try to pick up a fight with a child," she warned him.

"H-hey, that's so low!" Red yelled from behind the pile.

"Sorry," Samus said before Dark Mewtwo sent a fast Psycho Cut that she ended up receiving painfully. "U-ugh, that blow was strong," she said, backing away a bit. Dark Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and used Disable. Unlike before, the Disable's ray didn't reach a short distance, but it could reach long distances. Samus, unfortunately, received the rays entering her eyes, making her feel very dizzy. "M-my head…" she muttered.

"Having my Disable attack to reach longer distances is pretty useful, if I do say so myself," Dark Mewtwo boasted a bit before appearing behind the dazzled Samus. "It allows me to do many different things, such as this," he said as he charged a Shadow Ball. Unlike the usual Shadow Ball, its energy had a reddish and blackish color. The dark Pokémon narrowed his eyes and slammed the ball into Samus' back, creating a big explosion f darkness that sent her flying to the air. She painfully collided against several piles of metal before she crashed right into the far southern wall.

"…I…can't believe how powerful he got…in such a short amount of time…" Samus muttered painfully, coughing in pain.

.

Dark Mewtwo, inside the big cloud of smoke, crossed his arms while it dissipated completely. "An explosion like that one could have hurt me, but since I'm a being of darkness, it didn't have any effect on me," he explained. "Dark attacks are no longer super effective against me anymore."

Meta Knight appeared right behind Dark Mewtwo while using Dimensional Cape. The knight slashed the dark creature harshly before using Drill Rush to cause more pain. Dark Mewtwo grunted before Meta Knight kicked him forward, the dark creature turning to face him. "The moment you lower your guard will be the moment I'll attack," Meta Knight said.

"Nice," Dark Mewtwo said. "You know when to attack me. That can't be good, can it?"

"For you, it's not good," Meta Knight said. "For me, it's pure good thinking."

"Perhaps a battle of minds will suffice this battle?" Dark Mewtwo asked before he began shooting Disable rays at Meta Knight. Being fast, the knight dodged the rays before they could reach his eyes. "Dance for me, little knight. It's a pleasure to assist you in this ball," Dark Mewtwo taunted as he continued to launch rays at Meta Knight.

"Then I'll dance until you get hit," Meta Knight said as he dodged the rays.

Dark Mewtwo then received a crossed slash attack by Wolf, who had snuck behind the piles to ambush the dark creature. Dark Mewtwo stopped shooting rays, allowing Meta Knight to use Mach Tornado to pull him in and slash him across his body. Meta Knight finished by slashing Dark Mewtwo away to the air where he flipped and landed on the ground. "Like he said, lower your guard down and you'll be sorry," Wolf said.

"Weren't you having a nice chit-chat time with the other imbeciles?" Dark Mewtwo asked.

"Sadly for you, we shut our mouths to fight you," Wolf said. "They should be preparing themselves to attack you…separately from each other, of course."

Just then, Red fell down on the floor. All of them looked at his direction where Falco was lying on top of Red's back. "Would you mind stepping out of the way next time? I'm trying to punch that bastard!" Falco yelled at Red.

"Y-you were looking at Mewtwo all this time without noticing me!" Red yelled, pushing Falco away from his back. "Don't blame me for this!"

Wolf slapped his forehead. "I think I was thinking too highly of them…maybe just a little bit."

"I heard that!" Falco yelled before getting up from the floor. "Or you shut your mouth right now, or I'll go over there and shut it myself!"

"Like you can get closer to me, birdbrain," Wolf replied. "C'mon, just get closer if you dare."

"I hate to interrupt this conversation between comrades, but if you forgot, there is a fight that we must face," Meta Knight said while Lucario, Fonic Kirby, and Chris rejoined them, as well as Samus and Sheik.

At that moment, Sheik fell down because Fox had run against her back. The vulpine fell on the floor, smacking his face against steel debris. "O-oww, Sheik! Step out of the way when I'm not looking at you!" Fox demanded.

"E-excuse me, but you should be blamed for that," Sheik said with a grunt as she got up from the floor with Fox. "Now, don't blame me because of your faults."

"My fault? I-I was trying to sneak behind that bastard but you had to stay there standing without doing anything," Fox said.

"Would you PLEASE stop arguing at a time like this?" Red asked in disbelief.

Dark Mewtwo chuckled darkly, getting everyone's attention. "My, what a surprising and entertaining display of teamwork… It's such a fortunate time to happen for me to watch quietly while each one of you keep fighting with each other. Please, do go on."

"What was that?" Falco asked pissed. "Care to repeat that?"

"I would care because I don't want to repeat myself," Dark Mewtwo said before he teleported and appeared right behind Red, whose pupils shrunk instantly. "Farewell, Red. It's such a shame that your journey had to end this way."

Red began to sweat bullets after Dark Mewtwo placed a hand over his right shoulder. "S-Squirtle, I-Ivysaur, help!"

Ivysaur stepped out from the pile and forced a glare at Dark Mewtwo. "I-I'm warning you. I can be a pretty crazy opponent when I want to!"

"Show me your craziness, then," Dark Mewtwo said as his hand over Red's shoulder began to glow dark. "Or would rather let Red have his last moments of breaths?"

"F-first choice, please, let it be the first choice even if it's going to hurt his dignity! I mean, I'm the one who has the creepy dark hand of doom over my shoulder after all!" Red pleaded before he received a shock on his shoulder by the dark hand. "U-ugh… T-told you I was screwed before…" he muttered, falling down to his knees before losing consciousness.

"R-Red!" most of them yelled before Dark Mewtwo teleported away from their sight.

Squirtle and Ivysaur ran to Red's side. The two began shaking him. "I-it was a simple touch, it HAD to be a simple touch!" panicked Squirtle. "You're stronger than this, Red! Please, wake up!"

"He's not responding! Oh Arceus, he isn't responding!" Ivysaur panicked.

"We're dead, man, we're dead for real! It was such a short stance with this bunch of weirdoes, but it's the end already!" Squirtle panicked.

"B-before you continue panicking and insulting all of us with your words out of panic," Chris began as he approached them, "can you focus on the battle?"

"I want to leave this place!" Squirtle yelled. "Having a normal Mewtwo is enough for me, but having one that is thirsty for my blue blood is just too much!"

"We don't even know if you DO have blue blood!" Ivysaur argued.

"Concentrate!" yelled Sheik, snapping both of them out. "Panicking right now isn't going to be very helpful against fighting Mewtwo. Or you two help us, or I'll make sure you help us!"

"…" Squirtle and Ivysaur exchanged glances. "…With the latter suggestion, is that proposing a violent action on us?" Squirtle asked.

"Yes."

"…Crud," Ivysaur muttered before he spotted Dark Mewtwo appearing behind Sheik. "B-behind you!"

Sheik reacted by brandishing three kunais between her right fingers and turning around to slash the dark being across his face. However, before they could reach his face, Dark Mewtwo used Confusion to halt Sheik's hand right before touching his skin. The Sheikah grunted in pain as the psychic attack held her hand in midair. "You have fast senses, but mine are faster," Dark Mewtwo said before he began to levitate Sheik off the ground, making her grunt louder in pain. Her eyes widened after she saw her kunais slipping away from her fingers. The kunais then turned towards her, glowing in darkness. "Let us see if you can dodge this."

"N-no, stop!" Squirtle yelled!"

"I'll do the opposite," Dark Mewtwo said, simply making the three kunais cut Sheik continuously around her body. The kunais acted as some sort of swarm, circling Sheik completely. After a small while, Dark Mewtwo directed the kunais towards the others, shooting them all to their feet. Lucario grabbed Chris and jumped away, but the other two kunais cut Squirtle and Ivysaur, making them jump over their spots in pain. "I have no use for a rotting corpse," Dark Mewtwo told Sheik, who barely able opened her eyes before she was tossed aside to the floor.

"I...have failed… I'm sorry…" Sheik said weakly before she fainted.

Lucario grunted at this while Chris looked horrified at Sheik. The World Traveler saw various blood marks around the Sheikah, making him feel very sick. "N-no, Sheik… H-how could he do that t-" he stopped talking after Dark Mewtwo warped right in front of the two. "Y-you!"

"Is that rage that I see right now?" Dark Mewtwo asked calmly while Lucario readied his fists. "Grow furious, World Traveler. Things can be much more interesting the more you get furious."

"I-I'm not furious or angry at you," Chris admitted with a gulp. "T-the Shadow Bugs should be the ones having all the blame for changing you into this twisted persona…"

"They did a good job at enhancing my already almighty power," Dark Mewtwo said, holding out his hand at Lucario to use Confusion on him. "You could say I'm very close to a god now."

"A-a god? T-that's so ridiculous!" Chris yelled before Lucario was levitated off from the floor. "L-Lucario, don't let hi-"

"I-I'm trying to resist, but I can't retaliate!" Lucario yelled as his aura was forced to disappear from his hand. "W-what?"

"I told you that I have god-like powers," Dark Mewtwo said. "Your aura is but mere smoke to me. I just need to blow it away."

"D-don't mock me…" Lucario muttered before he began to feel pain running through his body. "U-ugh!"

"S-stop it!" Chris demanded. "L-leave Lucario alone!"

Dark Mewtwo glared fiercely at Chris. "I dare you to stop me."

Chris began to feel terror as his eyes were fixed on Dark Mewtwo's eyes. The World Traveler's hands shook with the staff as he tried to gain his composure. His thoughts about attacking Dark Mewtwo were slowly being vanished as he kept staring at the yellow eyes of the dark being. "I-I…I-I…"

"C-Chris…help me…please…" Lucario muttered. "D-don't let him get to you… Please…"

Chris shook his head and forced a terrified glare at Dark Mewtwo. "I-"

"You're way too slow for my tastes," Dark Mewtwo interrupted.

"W-what the heck? I was just about to attack yo-" Chris was stopped right when Dark Mewtwo slammed Lucario against him. The World Traveler crashed his back against a pile of steel before he opened his eyes and watched as Lucario was continuously slammed down against the floor, each time seemingly being much faster and stronger than the previous one. "L-Lucario, no!"

"Hahahahah," Dark Mewtwo chuckled in amusement as Lucario yelled in pain. "He looks like a bouncing ball than an Aura Pokémon. You are much more fun to play like this… Hmm, what is this?" Dark Mewtwo asked, stopping crashing Lucario against the floor. He noticed that Lucario was knocked out unconscious as blood dripped out from his mouth and other several parts of his body. "I guess fun times don't last that long… What a shame it is," he said before he tossed Lucario's body away to the top of another pile.

"N-no..

Chris shook his head in horror, staring at Lucario's body on top of the pile. "N-no… Please…no… S-stop this brutality… I-I can't…"

Dark Mewtwo turned to see him. "Where were we? Oh...right, I was about to finish you." His right hand began to radiate dark energy before he aimed it at Chris. "Do not cry because you will join Lucario very soon. I don't know how you will join him, but that is one of the thrills life has for you to experience."

"H-he isn't dead… L-Lucario isn't dead…" Chris muttered in fear. "I-I know he isn't dead!" he yelled before turning towards Lucario. The World Traveler began to focus magic into his staff. "Holy power, come to m-" he stopped after his staff was forcibly tossed away from him by Dark Mewtwo's Confusion. "I-I'm getting really pissed now!" he swore.

Dark Mewtwo then held Chris with his Confusion, making him yelp. "Healers must be taken care of first before dealing with the attackers, that's an important rule in battles," Dark Mewtwo said. "You let healers alive and they will heal the fighters, making some kind of cycle that will further prolong battles. I rather stop that cycle from ever happening." He chuckled darkly. "You had to be a healer to get my attention, Chris."

"I-I'm starting to regret that…b-but…now…I'm starting to regret refusing being a healer…" Chris muttered.

Dark Mewtwo's eyes widened as some vines entangled his chest. He couldn't react in time before he was slammed down against the floor. He grunted in pain as Squirtle, Meta Knight, and Ivysaur came back into the scene with Samus, who used a Super Missile right at Dark Mewtwo, pushing him away to a pile of steel. Since he was interrupted, a weakened Chris fell on the floor, gasping for breath. "C-Chris, are you okay?" Samus asked.

"B-barely…" Chris muttered, slowly getting up from the ground. "I-I'm not sure if I can keep fighting on…"

Samus shook her head. "Didn't you see the comeback we made on him?" she asked. "We need to keep going no matter what happens."

"B-but Lucario…Sheik…and Red…all of them…"

"They're not dead," Meta Knight said. "They are still breathing. Their conditions are at a critical state, but we can pull this off together."

"Together… Y-you mean that Fox, Falco, and Wolf are finally cooperating?"

Meta Knight looked behind where the mentioned trio was having a discussion. Apparently, the three were muttering ways to attack Dark Mewtwo by each other alone, but they spoke too loudly that the other heard and commented it was a stupid plan, causing a bickering to ensue afterward. "…I would rather keep my hopes at a reasonable level, if you know what I mean," Meta Knight said.

Chris sighed. "I know what you mean, that's for sure…" he muttered depressed.

"Whatever," Samus said. "We don't need those three. Us five can do this alone."

"Can you, though?" Dark Mewtwo asked, appearing between the four Smashers and Chris. "Your chances to win this fight would be better if you all cooperated. Too bad you don't have that advantage for the moment."

"Screw you!" Ivysaur yelled. "F-for knocking out Red, I-I'll knock you out!"

"You barely knew Red for two hours, and you're very motivated for him already?" Squirtle asked.

"That's because he'll be my ticket to take me away from this place I like to call HELL," Ivysaur whispered angrily before glaring up at Dark Mewtwo. "I know I'm screwed, but I don't care anymore! What I want to do is cut you down with this!" he yelled, using Razor Leaf to cut the dark being. The leaves, however, glowed dark with energy and turned back towards a shocked Ivysaur. "…You know, this is exactly WHY I hate Psychic types. They think they're so strong and stuff than any other type out there," he muttered pissed.

Dark Mewtwo raised a finger. "And also because you're part Poison type," he added.

"Oh yeah, that as well," Ivysaur said before the shadow leaves shot towards his forehead, making him roll back before he lied on top of his flower bulb. "O-owie…" Ivysaur muttered.

Dark Mewtwo proceeded by holding out his dark hand towards Ivysaur. "Do me a favor and shut up," he said, levitating a panicked Ivysaur off the ground. Before he could do anything, Dark Mewtwo was pushed away by a Water Gun attack from Squirtle. This allowed Samus to use her Light Beam, shooting several rays of light energy at Dark Mewtwo's chest. "U-ugh!" Dark Mewtwo grunted loudly, warping away from the light shots.

"But of course," Samus muttered, staring at her arm cannon. "Mewtwo gained dark powers, so he must be weak against light attacks… I might have the upper hand with this."

Dark Mewtwo warped to the top of a pile of steel. "I should've known that you had many weapons under your disposal, Samus," he said. "Truly, you need to be taken ou-" he was interrupted when a squeaky hammer whacked his head as it disappeared in the air. "And the bastard behind this ridiculous attack would be…" he muttered, turning to glare down at Chris.

The World Traveler gulped as he held out his hand towards the dark being. "W-without my staff, my attacks aren't strong," Chris explained, "b-but I can still fight…right?" he asked unsure.

"You can fight, but you become a real pest to me in the process," Dark Mewtwo said.

"Y-y-you haven't killed anyone yet! You just knocked them out!" Chris pointed out. "I-it strikes me odd that you didn't really kill anyone yet…"

"I'm glad that you asked that, Chris," Dark Mewtwo said. "Now that I think about it, I'll give you to Tabuu."

"W-what?" Squirtle said a bit astonished.

Samus aimed her arm cannon at the dark being. "Didn't you say you were working by yourself?"

"Who knows," Dark Mewtwo said. "Maybe I could get more powerful than this if I get to convince Tabuu to give me more Shadow Bugs." He flexed his fingers a bit as dark energy radiated from his body. "I wouldn't mind more space for improvement…and, think about it… If you let Tabuu take over your bodies, we might be comrades… But I will be your leader."

Samus began to charge her Light Beam. "I won't let you take me where that bastard is and get possessed like you…" she said, shooting a big sphere of light that traveled towards Dark Mewtwo. The sphere itself was a Sunburst, a glittering sphere of light that shot rays of pure ethereal light around its spot.

"A much slower shot of concentrated light energy?" Dark Mewtwo asked before frowning. "You must be joking with that… U-ugh…u-ugh…u-ugh!" Dark Mewtwo began to feel a burning pain running across his body as the Sunburst approached him. "W-what is this burning sensation?" he asked before the sphere collided against him, creating a big explosion of light that pushed him down to the floor where he grunted loudly in pain.

Samus, Ivysaur, Squirtle, Meta Knight, and Chris stared a bit surprised at this before looking back to Samus. The bounty hunter looked at her arm cannon, recalling how the Sunburst dealt a great deal of damage to Dark Mewtwo. "I think I know his real weakness now…" she muttered. "The Sunburst's energy makes him burn with its light right after it is shot at him. It's just like the Ing."

Chris ran towards their side, joining up with them. "T-that attack just now made him scream in pain, didn't it?" he asked.

"T-there's a real weakness for him?" Ivysaur asked. "K-keep using that, please!"

Samus shook her head. "I can keep using this, but it will deplete the Light Ammo I have," she explained. "It takes thirty rounds of Light Beam Ammo and five Missiles to create an attack like the Sunburst." She clicked on her visor. "According to my visor, I have enough Light Beam Ammo and Missiles for…five more Sunbursts."

Squirtle sniffed sadly. "W-why must our luck be so short?"

"In that case, we must fully depend on the Sunburst if we wish to attack Dark Mewtwo," Meta Knight said. "You said that the moment it is released, it paralyzes him, correct?"

"It appears that way."

"In that case, we need to attack only when he gets paralyzed," Meta Knight suggested. "Will the explosion of light harm us?"

"It won't," Samus said. "It was a difficult process, but I managed to make all my attacks immune to you. They all recognize you as harmless to me."

Squirtle joined his hands together and sniffed a bit. "Thank you, Arceus. Thank you for giving us a way to win this dreaded fight…"

Dark Mewtwo appeared right before them. "I have to admit that attack was super effective against me." He held out his hands at Samus. "I must get rid of you, Samus."

"And I think you need to shut up for once!" Squirtle yelled, using Water Gun that was avoided by Dark Mewtwo teleporting away.

Meta Knight turned to Samus. "Start charging! Shoot the Sunburst when the time is right!" he ordered.

"I'm on it," Samus said, charging her Light Beam.

Chris gulped and began looking around for his staff. "(If light attacks are super effective against Mewtwo, then I need to get my staff back so my magic deals more damage! Dammit, where is it?)" He found his staff several feet away. Unsure of what could happen next, he looked at Meta Knight. "M-Meta Knight, I need your help! I need to get my staff back so I can attack with my light-based magic!"

"Of course," Meta Knight said as he dashed towards the staff with his bat wings replacing his cape.

"…" Chris sighed in depression. "I know he's just doing it because we need to defeat Mewtwo together…not because he's worried about me…"

Before grabbing the staff, Meta Knight stopped flying towards it after Dark Mewtwo appeared between him and the staff. "You won't pass through here," Dark Mewtwo warned, slicing the air several times to launch Psycho Cuts at Meta Knight, who brandished his cape and slashed Dark Mewtwo from behind. Taking advantage of this, Meta Knight took the staff and used Mack Tornado to get pass the dark being, slashing him before the knight flew back to Chris, giving him his staff. "Not bad…" Dark Mewtwo muttered. "Your Dimensional Cape helps you to deal quick damage to me, Meta Knight…"

Chris rejoiced once he got his staff back. "T-thank you, Meta Knigh-"

"Start chanting a light spell, quick!" Meta Knight yelled, seeing Dark Mewtwo warping away from his spot.

"G-geez, at least let m-oh, whatever," Chris said giving up before he began chanting a light spell.

At that moment, Dark Mewtwo appeared in front of Chris and Meta Knight. "I must put that light away before it caused more trouble to me… Be gone from my sigh-"

Chris shone brightly, indicating that he learned a new spell. "(A-a new spell?)" he asked to himself before he automatically held out his staff towards Dark Mewtwo. "Holy Lance!"

A holy glyph appeared beneath Dark Mewtwo. The dark being's eyes widened as four spears of light shot out from the glyph and pointed down to his chest. The spears then crossed his body from four different directions, making him yell in pain and stumble back. "D-dammit…" he muttered.

Meta Knight nodded at this. "Great job," he muttered before he used Drill Rush, drilling into Dark Mewtwo's chest. Once he stopped, Meta Knight slashed Dark Mewtwo across the face several times, finishing with a harsh kick that knocked him down to the floor. "Are you starting to let your guard down?" Meta Knight mocked.

"D-don't get so cocky," Dark Mewtwo warned, warping away over a pile of steel. "You managed to perform a surprising comeback, but that's all there is to it."

Samus rolled her eyes. "He's weak to fight, but he's not that weak to mock us. How pathetic…"

"You're the one mocking me now," Dark Mewtwo said before he smiled evilly. "I wonder how long you streak of luck will last, though." He pointed behind him. "Those three over there will cause your deaths very soon."

The Smashers looked back at Fox, Falco, and Wolf. By now, their argument started to escalate to a critical point where they were preparing to punch each other until two would fall down unconscious. "You don't know if my plan is stupid or not!" argued Falco to Fox. "You think you can just order me around 'cause you're my leader? Screw that, I work by my rules!"

"Who's making you believe that I can order you all the time?" Fox asked aggravated. "You ALWAYS follow your own damn path without listening to me! It's useless to bring some sense to that little head of yours!"

"Gosh, are you two THIS pathetic when you're not facing me?" Wolf asked in disbelief. "If I knew this beforehand, I could've skipped fighting you so you could beat each other's brains out."

Fox tightened his fists and glared fiercely at Wolf. "What was that you just said, Wolf?"

"Admit it, Fox," Wolf said, crossing his arms. "You don't have what it takes to be a respectful leader. Heck, the birdbrain even wants to kick you a good one."

"Would you stop calling me a birdbrain? I have a name!" Falco yelled.

"You're a birdbrain, you look like a birdbrain, you smell like a birdbrain, you talk like a birdbrain, and you act like a birdbrain," Wolf said amused. "Therefore, you must be a birdbrain…birdbrain."

"AAAAAAH!" Falco yelled before he lunged towards a Wolf and began punching him. The lupine began fighting Falco before Fox joined in and fought the two. At this moment, they were all grabbing each other's throats, hoping to choke them.

Ivysaur slapped his forehead with a vine. "Those two are seriously going to make us die in here…but die out of desperation."

"So much for your so-called teamwork," Dark Mewtwo mocked. "Will you last long enough to make me take my last breath? We shall see very soon."

"(The odds are a bit too unbalanced in my point of view…)" Chris thought. "(At least I know the others with Captain Falcon aren't having so much trouble right now…)"

F-Zero GX

-Lightning – Halberd's Deck-

"You know," Ness began as he was sitting down on the floor with Lucas, "I bet the others are thinking that we're having a very dandy time in this place you like to call…well, whatever it is. This freaking storm is making everything around the Halberd hard to see."

"So, what were you saying?" Pikachu asked.

"Oh, right," Ness said. "They're probably thinking we're having a nice time here WHILE IT'S FREAKING OBVIOUS that we're NOT doing a thing inside this force field in the middle of a FU-"

Marth covered Ness's mouth in time before curses could come out, stopping his outburst of anger. "Ness, please, don't erupt in anger like that, not at a time like this," Marth said before Ness pushed his hand away.

"Then you try calming down, because I like to be the one out there fighting instead of being forced to be a trapped spectator inside this…thing!" Ness fumed, pointing out to the deck where C. Falcon was fighting Dark Black Shadow.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "You know, if he got infected by the Shadow Bugs, he would be called Dark Black Shadow, right?" he asked. "…Don't you think it'd make him look…darker?"

"…" Ness stared blankly at Pichu,

"…I'll be quiet," Pichu muttered, looking back outside.

"(I can't believe Black Shadow got so strong in so little time. If I only had the help of everyone, this could be easier than fighting him alone,)" C. Falcon thought as he rolled to dodge a thunderbolt from Dark Black Shadow.

Dark Black Shadow laughed evilly as he called forth more thunderbolts. "HAHAHAHAHA! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, YOU LITTLE SCUM!" he proclaimed laughing.

"Hey, Iron Nipples Man," called out Pikachu annoyed, "how about if you dodge those bolts AND approach the laughing maniac?"

"Nice, Pikachu," Marth remarked. "We can still give him advice while we're trapped in here…but it was really necessary to insult him?"

Pikachu looked bored at the prince. "Marth, right now, I want to cheer myself up because we're trapped. Also, would you refrain from saying we're trapped? It pisses me off to hear that fact right now."

"Okay…"

"Nice, now let's watch this battle and give him some useful advice. I swear the dark muscle maniac is so damn blind to notice that his attacks are pretty much predictable. Oh wait, his muscles are his brain, so that would explain how stupid he is," Pikachu commented.

C. Falcon took the advice and dodged the bolts, slowly approaching the unexpected Dark Black Shadow. "Got you now," muttered C. Falcon as he jumped towards the evil racer and kicked his face with three kicks, making him stumble back.

"Why, you little vermin!" Dark Black Shadow tried to punch C. Falcon, but C. Falcon evaded all of the blows to once again sneak below Dark Black Shadow's arm and deal a strong uppercut to his chin, using Raptor Boost. "U-ugh!" Dark Black Shadow grunted, backing away from the fiery blow.

C. Falcon stepped back and grinned. "I though you were stronger, but I was wrong after all," he said.

"YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, THEN?"

Toon Link looked bored at Ness. "These guys like to be so dramatic and stuff; emphasizing everything they're saying to each other, right?"

"Nah, I think the black spandex guy is more of a drama queen than C. Falcon is," Ness said.

"And when he's not around, C. Falcon holds the crown," Roy said.

Back at the fight, C. Falcon motioned at himself. "Bring it on, Black Shadow!" C. Falcon said taunting. After taunting him, Dark Black Shadow floated away into the rain to disappear from sight. C, Falcon looked confused before a set of horns collided against his right side, making him roll towards to the edge of the Halberd's deck where he managed to stay on the floor. "D-dirty trick…" he muttered before getting up, looking at Dark Black Shadow's horns pointing at him. The evil racer chuckled and pulled back to float over the floor and cross his arms.

"Heheh, what did you say, Falcon?" Dark Black Shadow asked. "I thought you said something about bringing it on. Hope you didn't mind my horns bringing it on instead of me."

Back at the energy field, an angry Link banged on the shield before he resorted to use his Master Sword, the slashes doing nothing to break the shield. "I'm getting sick of standing under this stupid energy dome!" Link said angrily.

Toon Link rested an arm over his right leg, looking up bored at Link. "Sheesh, you just became sick of being in here? Man, you're slow, alright," Toon Link commented.

"S-shut it, you…mini…whatever you're supposed to be…" Link muttered with anger.

"Aww, he can't get over the fact that there will always be a second Link to have around," Nana teased a bit. "You're lucky that this guy here isn't the young you."

"I-I don't want talk about that anymore. Say something useful so we can break this shield down and go help C. Falcon before that Dark Shadow Black guy kills him off!"

"I believe his full name was Dark Black Shadow," Roy corrected, receiving a grunt from Link.

Popo looked at Pikachu and Pichu. "Can you two call thunders to hit the steroid-floating guy?" Popo asked.

The Electric Pokémon shook their heads. "Since Master Hand messed us good, I can't use Thunderbolt. Also, did you forget my Thunder attack ONLY falls on me?" Pikachu asked before frowning.

"Got to love that hand," Ness said sarcastically.

Nana looked over at Marth. "You're the guy with the most intelligence here. Suggest something quick before I start playing cards."

"Hey, Marth, do you know how to get out of this annoying barrier?" Ness asked.

Marth scratched the back of his head as everyone stared at him. "I'm not good at technology and breaking energy force fields, so I'm afraid I don't know."

"That's it, then. We're screwed, everyone."

"Totally," they replied in unison.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Roy asked. "There must be something, I know it!"

"Well, if you do know it, please, enlighten us all with your wisdom, Roy," Ness said.

Roy blushed a bit. "W-would you ask for it in a much nicer way than that?"

"Enlighten us before I enlighten your hair, if you know what I mean!"

"W-well…" Roy looked at Marth, "t-they're right about you, so say something!"

Marth sighed and pressed his brow to think. "Well...if there was some way to assist C. Falcon, it'd be using magic or something like that..." Marth said.

Toon Link sighed. "We can't do anything because we're not mages."

Lucas covered his face with both hands and frowned. "W-we have to do something to help C. Falcon…"

"Why we don't cheer at least to give him some support?" Popo suggested.

"And lose our dignity and become like our personal cheering crowd in the background during our matches? No way, dude. I'll pass. My dignity is far more important that C. Falcon," Pikachu said.

Link stared blankly at the fight. "…You know, I think we're lucky that they're not minding us the least bit. If they did, C. Falcon could just punch us for talking about him like this."

"You're right, we're lucky," Nana said, faking a happy expression. "So shut up and let's keep thinking what we can do to help him out and save our butts, okay?"

"Okay…"

Just then, outside the energy dome, C. Falcon was about to attack Dark Black Shadow, but his adversary began to laugh maniacally to himself. "What's so funny that you're laughing, Black Shadow?"

"I'm glad you're asking, Falcon," Dark Black Shadow said. "Before all this ruckus was going to take place here, I was about to perform another trick." He snapped his fingers and grinned evilly. "This is the trick I'm talking about, Falcon!"

Out of nowhere, the fingers' snapping sound made an electric field cover C. Falcon's body. The racer yelled in pain. Oddly enough, the electricity seemed to have some sort of secondary effect. The Smashers watched as C. Falcon's shadow began to increase in size before it shot itself towards Dark Black Shadow's side. "A-AAAAAAAAH! W-what are you doing to me, Black Shadow?" C. Falcon asked.

"H-holy Din, he's stealing his shadow!" Toon Link said in shock. "This is probably the only instance that I'm going to be this shocked, you guys!"

"…Link, I hope you're being sarcastic," Ness said.

"U-um, well, yes, I'm sarcastic… I-I'm just saying it looked sort of…shocking…to me…"

"…"

"…So what?" Toon Link asked before looking away. "I'm not that familiar with what you see every day, so don't complain to me for being so clueless, okay?"

"Point taken," Ness said, returning to watch the fight (against his will).

The shadow besides Dark Black Shadow (no pun intended) suddenly rose up and began taking a familiar look. The Smashers then noticed that the figure that stood besides the evil racer was somebody who looked like C. Falcon, except for the fact he had a red suit, purple helmet, and a different emblem imprinted on his back. The C. Falcon doppelganger showed his teeth with a smirk before laughing together with Dark Black Shadow.

Toon Link gapped his mouth at this. "H-holy…"

"…And as if things weren't getting much worse," began Nana as she stared at the doppelganger, "here we have another C. Falcon to deal with…except this one is red and more maniac-looking."

Link looked annoyed at this. "Oh, so now he has a Dark Captain Falcon like I have my own Dark Link?"

"It's so cliché that everyone has to have a dark side, you know," Roy commented.

"True that," everyone else said nodding.

Back at the fight, C. Falcon was released from the electricity field, falling down to one knee as he panted heavily. He gritted his teeth and looked up at his doppelganger. "...What...the...hell?" he muttered.

Dark Black Shadow chuckled and patted the doppelganger's back. "Falcon, I want you to meet your counterpart, Blood Falcon," Dark Black Shadow introduced the maniac. "Don't worry; he's not your long-lost brother or something. He is, um, the real you."

"Mwahahahahaha," the doppelganger laughed, pointing down at the panting C. Falcon. "Hi there, C. Falcon! My name is Blood Falcon, your evil side!"

"S-so…cliché…" C. Falcon muttered before standing back up. "Are you going to use this…idiot to fight me as well or what?" he asked Dark Black Shadow.

Dark Black Shadow chuckled evilly. "You're lucky because I have more plans with him. I'll let him go for this time and see if you can hang in there with me around."

"Feeling confident of winning this fight, Black Shadow?"

"Hmm, let me think… Yeah," he said chuckling, nodding to Blood Falcon.

Blood Falcon mocked C. Falcon by saluting him. "See ya around, C. Falcon! Mwahahahahahaha!" he laughed maniacally before he ran over to the edge of the Halberd and leaped down into the deep abyss of rain.

The Smashers stared blankly at this for a brief moment. "…Wow, the idiot just jumped off to his death," Roy muttered. "He died just now, right?"

"I think the Halberd is flying over the streets right now, so there's a chance he might have survived the fall…" Marth muttered.

"I know we barely knew him, but I'll give him a prayer," Nana said, getting some odd looks from everyone else. "…Who knows if the guy was miscomprehended? At least I'm being the nice here."

"Just what are you planning to do with that doppelganger?" C. Falcon asked.

"I'm planning to use him for my own personal needs," Dark Black Shadow said. "If I'm unable to beat you, my plans will still carry on with his aid… Of course, who's talking about you losing to me, Falcon?"

C. Falcon cracked his fists. "You better be prepared, then, because I'm going to beat you."

"We shall see that!" Dark Black Shadow yelled before he disappeared from sight. Then, C. Falcon was quickly pushed on the head by Dark Black Shadow's huge arm, sending the racer towards a wall. "You're a human rocket now, Falcon! Ha! How do you like that?"

"N-not yet…n-not yet!" C. Falcon muttered as he rocketed towards the wall. He managed to flip in the air, land on his feet in time against the wall and land safely on the floor. "T-that was too close right there…" he muttered, rubbing his helmet.

Dark Black Shadow warped in front of him. "I shouldn't underestimate you, Falcon," he said. "After all, you're my arch-nemesis for some reason… So now, TASTE THUNDER!" Dark Black Shadow yelled furiously before his hands were covered by intense electricity that shot, going towards C. Falcon in a zigzag motion. Fortunately, C. Falcon dodged all the fast blows and his nemesis didn't notice that for each missed hit from the bolts he dodged, he was approaching more and more towards Dark Black Shadow. "On no, you don't!" the evil racer said as he commanded the bolts to go after C. Falcon.

While he ran towards the evil racer, C. Falcon turned around and gasped at the bolts going after him. He decided to forget charging at Dark Black Shadow. Accidentally, he ended up making the fast bolts collide towards Dark Black Shadow, making him yell in pain as he fell back on the floor. C. Falcon noticed this and whistled a bit. "Man…that was unexpected…" he muttered.

"F-FALCON!" Dark Black Shadow proclaimed before he pushed himself up and hovered over the floor. The evil racer, full with rage, shot more bolts of lightning towards C. Falcon, who quickly dodged them before they all turned around and went towards him. Like before, C. Falcon ran towards Dark Black Shadow to roll aside and let the bolts impact the enemy hard, making him fall back to the floor as sparks flew out from his body. "D-dirty trick, Falcon!" he yelled, pushing himself back up.

"Dirty, but useful," C. Falcon said, dusting off his hands. "Wanna try it again?"

"T-this time, it'll make you scream in pain!" he yelled, shooting the bolts towards the sky before they rained down towards C. Falcon. This time, the racer sidestepped from each blow, finding no way to direct them towards the evil racer, who at the time had pushed himself up to regain his composure. Dark Black Shadow began to punch the air literally, sending bolts of lightning towards the sky so they could continue raining down on the dodging C. Falcon. "Dance, dance, dance, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE FOR ME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Dark Black Shadow laughed, throwing fists with lightning towards the sky.

"Okay, it appears he's going to have even more trouble this time around," Nana said.

"Isn't there a way to help him?" Link asked, looking around to find something to help C. Falcon.

"I doubt you'll find something here, Link," Marth said. "After all, there's nothing else in here besides us that we can use."

He didn't know how, but Link spotted some kind of little vortex spinning some drops of water just outside the barrier. "…What the hell is that?" he asked before he looked at a bored Toon Link, twirling a very thin baton in front of himself towards the little vortex. "H-hey, what are you doing playing with that branch?"

Toon Link stopped twirling the baton and glared at him. "I already got bored watching those two fighting each other. Watching one-on-one fights aren't that entertaining to me, so I decided to play with my little Wind Waker."

"Wind…Waker?" Pichu repeated, confused.

"In a few words, this little baton lets me control the winds. I'm honest when I'm saying that this little magic thing made my voyages around the Great Sea much faster to complete," Toon Link explained. "Using this too much allowed me to do some little tricks with the wind like that little circle of drops just outside this stupid barrier." He twirled his baton as its tip glittered, the little circle of drops forming outside the barrier. "Cool, isn't?"

Lucas stared at the little circle of drops made by the winds. "(I-I want to do something like that…)" he thought.

"You know what's sad about this?" Popo asked. "It's sad that Link's little wind trick is far more interesting than C. Falcon's fight against Mr. Black Bull Dude."

"Sad, indeed," Roy commented.

"…Wait a minute…" Marth muttered as he stared the little circle of drops outside the barrier. "Toon Li-"

"Link!" Toon Link corrected him. "Dammit, I told all of you not to call me that! My name is Link!" He pointed up at Link. "You don't say anything, you super detailed me!"

Link rolled his eyes before Marth spoke again. "Link, can you control the winds?" he asked.

Toon Link nodded. "Of course I can. I need to have the Wind Waker to do this… Why do you ask?"

"Can you do more than circling drops of water?"

Toon Link thought for a moment. "Well, I can make tornadoes to go to faraway places…change the directions of the winds…control day and night…oh, and I can possess people and inanimate objects if I'm nearby…"

Link looked bored. "Control day and night… Are you sure that you're not my younger versi-"

Marth covered Link's mouth with a hand without looking at him. The prince seemed awfully interested in Toon Link's Wind Waker. "You can do all that?" he asked.

"It was hard at first, but I got the hand of it pretty soon… Um, why are you staring at me with that look?" Toon Link asked.

Marth nodded and looked at everyone. "It's pretty simple now. I figured out what we can do to help C. Falcon in his fight." He looked at Toon Link. "Link here will do that by himself, though."

Everyone else stared at Toon Link before they soon noticed what Marth meant by addressing him. "Oh yeah, now I know what you're talking about," Pikachu said nodding.

"…H-hold on, can somebody tell me what you're planning to do with me? I-I don't know what you're trying to say!" Toon Link said obliviously. "D-don't hurt me! I-I'm just a little boy playing with his little Wind Waker! I-I swear I'll kill you if yo-"

"Stop panicking and just listen!" Nana yelled. "That baton of yours is going to be our trump card to get the hell out of this stupid futuristic place of HELL!"

Toon Link stared at his Wind Waker. "U-um… I-I… A-ah… O-oh…w-wait, I-I see it now…"

Ness sighed in relief and looked up at the falling drops on the barrier. "(Finally, there's some way to escape from here… Now, I sure hope that the others are having a dandy time, because we're sure not having one right now. Yes, they're pretty sure walking over an alien planet, admiring the beautiful scenery around them.)"

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Sanctuary Fortress

-Hive Temple Access-

Hiding behind a far away pile of steel, the World Traveler sat down against the pile, tightening his grip on his staff with both hands. His eyes shifted around uncomfortably that he began to sweat bullets. "(I-I hope the others with C. Falcon aren't thinking we're having a nice stroll around this place I like to call hell, because if they're thinking that, I'll yell at their faces so loudly that their ears should better bleed for real…)" he thought. "(N-not that I'm saying our victory over here is sure to happen…)"

The World Traveler sighed and looked around for a bit.

"(L-let's recap what Meta Knight told me before we split up,)" Chris thought. "(He said that he was going to face Mewtwo by himself so we could split up. That point worked. After getting to our positions, we had to wait for his order to attack by calling Samus first so she could use Sunburst at the right time. Once she did, he told me to begin chanting Holy Lance to strike Mewtwo, and then Squirtle and Ivysaur would join as well before the Sunburst could…burst into Mewtwo…)" He overheard some slashing sounds being made close to him. "(That must be Meta Knight…)"

The World Traveler looked to the west where he could overhear Fox, Falco, and Wolf having their own little business, not minding what was happening right now.

"(Those three…they're just…unbelievable…)" Chris thought worried. "(If we could get them to fight with us against Mewtwo, the battle could be a bit easier to win… I don't want something so gruesome to happen. I don't want something REALLY bad to happen…)"

His train of thoughts was interrupted once he saw a familiar knight falling down in front of him. Upon closer inspection, Chris noticed the knight was Meta Knight, who was out of cold with several slash marks running across his body. The only part of his body that seemed intact was his mask, which only had a deep slash mark on the top side.

" …" Chris began to feel sick in his stomach. He began inhaling and exhaling air. "N-no, t-this can't be really happening… T-this happened so fast, dammit!" he muttered curses. "I-I know he's better than this. M-Meta Knight, stand back up, please!"

The dead silence made Chris feel even more uncomfortable.

"…Y-you can stop joking, Meta Knight…" Chris whispered, his eyes darting back and forth to find Dark Mewtwo. "S-seriously, you can stop joking now!"

"I'm afraid he's not a joker," spoke Dark Mewtwo from the top of the pile Chris was leaning against, making the teen's eyes widen. "Meta Knight would be out of character if he was a joker, which he is not."

"T-thanks for the little pointer," Chris muttered, his thoughts starting to scramble themselves in his mind. "S-so, what are you going to do right now?"

"Compress you," Dark Mewtwo said. "I shall compress your body so it squeezes your blood out."

"Y-you can't do that!" Chris yelled. "And I mean that you're not able to do that!" His body glowed and he felt that his body started to feel tight. "O-okay, okay, you can do that, but don't do it on me, please! I-I beg you!"

"I don't accept pleas," Dark Mewtwo said, glowing with dark energy as Chris began to grunt in pain. "It'll be around a minute before your blood starts to evacuate your feeble body. Please, hang in there while the pain becomes more and more unbearable."

"S-sadistic…b-bastard…" Chris muttered. "I-I know I'm asking for too much, b-but… CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE GET ME OUT FROM THIS TIGHT SITUATION?"

"Good pun," Dark Mewtwo remarked.

"S-shut up, you humanoid cat of…evil…whatever the heck you're supposed to be…" Chris muttered weakly.

Out of a cue, Dark Mewtwo looked over his shoulder before he warped to another pile, avoiding being hit by Squirtle's Water Gun. This little momentum gave Chris enough time to regain his composure and run behind the pile to hide from Dark Mewtwo as Samus jumped on top of the pile and aimed at Dark Mewtwo with her arm cannon ready to shoot a Sunburst. "He's lucky for surviving," Dark Mewtwo said, pulling his head back a bit. "As your enemy, I must dispose his saviors."

"I'll dispose you first," Samus said. "Burn!" she yelled, preparing to shoot the Sunburst, only making Dark Mewtwo teleport behind her.

"You need quick reflexes, so I shall do the first attack," Dark Mewtwo spoke as he lifted up a hand to slice Samus with more Psycho Cuts.

"And you need to think better," Samus said, swiftly turning around to release the Sunburst at point blank, right on Dark Mewtwo's chest. The Psychic Pokémon grunted in pain as he was forced to crash against the floor while traces of light left a trail behind in the air. Dark Mewtwo felt that his body was paralyzed, and he couldn't concentrate long enough to warp away. "Chris, is your turn!"

"I-I was already starting to chant my spell!" Chris called out from the pile's backside, a glyph of light shining under his feet. "O divine spear, run my enemy through… Holy Lance!"

Four lances of light shot out beneath Dark Mewtwo. The dark being grunted at this before the spears shot towards his chest, making feel even more pain. Suddenly, Ivysaur came rushing into the scene, entangling his vines around Dark Mewtwo to raise him off the floor and slam him against a pile of steel, making a cloud of dust from the pile. "Yeah, we're now making a true comeback!" he said.

Suddenly, his vines glowed with dark energy. Ivysaur gasped as he was then tossed away across Samus's spot. Samus watched as Ivysaur landed on the floor, rolling recklessly before stopping. Her little attention allowed Dark Mewtwo to hold out his hand at her, casting Confusion to toss her down as well. Chris gasped before he received the same treatment, this time, being tossed towards a pile where he yelled a bit in pain.

"Foolish fools…" Dark Mewtwo muttered as he rose from the pile of steel, his arms crossing over his chest once more. "It won't make a difference that you're starting to land some hits on me."

"Y-you're dead wrong!" Squirtle yelled, standing in front of Dark Mewtwo. "You're just trying to act so tough so we get worried that we're not making any progress! I know you're starting to feel pain in yo-" His lips glowed and shut down tight. "Hmhmhmhmhmhmh!"

"Sorry, but I'm starting to grow tired of your mouths. Please, forgive me for shutting yours," Dark Mewtwo said. "If I really want to shut your mouth forever, I'll have to skip my fun time and go right to the point of this fight…your death."

Squirtle's lips stopped glowing, making him talk again. "W-we're Pokémon! W-we can't kill each other! A-after all, we're equal as individuals!"

Dark Mewtwo narrowed his eyes to the point he glared down at Squirtle. "Did you just say we're equal?"

Squirtle gulped and looked at no one in particular. "Why am I thinking I touched a very delicate topic he didn't want me to talk about?" he asked before his body glowed, suddenly forcing him to levitate in midair. "I-I'll be good! I-I'll be good! I-I promise I'll be good, but please, SPARE ME!" he pleaded the glaring Dark Mewtwo, who slowly floated towards him. "T-take Ivysaur! I-I never really liked the guy!"

Ivysaur peeked out from behind a pile. "Y-you insensitive traitor!" he yelled before hiding back. His little act allowed Dark Mewtwo to use Confusion on Ivysaur, dragging him back with Squirtle. The two little Pokémon exchanged glances before gulping and looking at the dark Pokémon. "G-great going, now we'll be killed at the same time!"

"Hmm, killing you both at the same time wouldn't be a bad idea," Dark Mewtwo said.

Squirtle gulped. "S-stop giving him ideas!" he said.

"F-forget what I said about killing us at the same time, then!" Ivysaur said. "Y-you can…u-um…"

Dark Mewtwo sighed and merely used Disable to stagger both of them. The two dazzled Pokémon twirled their heads around their shoulders before Dark Mewtwo rose them a bit and slammed them down hard on the floor, right on their heads to make them both faint. "It's not much fun killing you both because you're so annoying," Dark Mewtwo said as he slowly descended, albeit still floating. "It'd be more fun killing you if you tried to retaliate. Now, I wonder where those two are…"

Further to the southeast, Chris and Samus were hiding behind a pile. Both of them took advantage of Dark Mewtwo's attention on Ivysaur and Squirtle to hide away from him. "This is just getting worse and worse," Samus said. "The two of us won't last for much longer if we fight Mewtwo like this. We need more backup."

"Y-you don't really mean…" Chris trailed off.

"Yes, I want those three children to help us," Samus said, referring to Fox, Falco, and Wolf. "I hate to say this, but they HAVE to help us out. We'll get beaten if they don't do something helpful."

Chris looked worried. "I…I don't know what to do about them anymore…"

"You want me to head over there and knock some sense into their furred heads, then?"

"S-staying alone right now is suicide," Chris said. "With Dark Mewtwo around, I don't know if we can really pull this out anymore!"

"You might want to keep your voice down," Samus suggested. "He might be looking for us right now. He even said he didn't care much longer about those three…"

"…Samus, you go with them."

"...But what about you? Are you going to stay behind and confront Mewtwo by yourself?"

The World Traveler knew what he said. He knew he wasn't able to face Dark Mewtwo alone. However, Chris felt guilty about something regarding Mewtwo himself. "I...I need to do it… It was my fault that Mewtwo went with us to Kanto and got missing after that..."

"Really, don't do this, even if it's your fault or not," Samus said. "We'll go over to them while avoiding Mewtwo. If we're lucky, we could get them to focus on the battle."

"And what if he ends up attacking them for real this time?" Chris asked. "Someone has to stay behind…"

"Chris, you go and help them while I buy you time to reach them out," Samus said. "We have three Sunbursts to use. Everything will be okay if you go and talk to them. Besides, I don't know them that well."

"I tried everything to make them make up with each other, but I failed…" Chris muttered ashamed. "By now, they surely don't want to listen to me again… Samus, please, do it. I'll be alright by myself.

"...Really?"

"Hell no! I'll die before those three stop arguing!" Chris yelled. "B-but please, go! I'll fight Mewtwo by myself! If I'm lucky, you can come back with them to save in time before I get beaten!"

"Are you absolutely sure? This might be very dangerous!" Samus snapped out.

"I-I know, but this stupid feeling of guilt is just too much for me!" Chris yelled. "I-I didn't know this was actually possible, but dammit, it's possible!"

Samus grabbed his shoulders. "If you are so sure about this, then I'll ask again. Are you sure you want to go with this?"

Chris gulped. "…I want to do this…" he said unsure but serious about doing his task. "Please…just go and I'll take care of Mewtwo by myself."

"…Fine, but this is going to be your fault," Samus said as she stood up.

"Believe me…I'm already feeling bad for this," Chris said. "Now go!"

Samus nodded before she turned around and went towards the arguing trio. Along her way, however, Dark Mewtwo appeared before her, forcing her to come to a halt. "And where do you think you're going in such a rush?" Dark Mewtwo asked.

"(This isn't good…)" Samus thought as she charged her Light Beam.

"That feeble weapon of yours has been causing me a lot of pain. It must be destroyed," Dark Mewtwo said, holding out his hand towards Samus's arm cannon, which started glowing with dark energy before she was pulled into the air.

"Holy Lance!" Chris shouted, having starting to chant right after Dark Mewtwo appeared before Samus. The dark being gasped as the light spears shot out from the floor before impaling his chest four times. Dark Mewtwo grunted in pain, letting go of Samus who passed him and ran towards Fox, Falco, and Wolf. "Stay away from Samus, you spawn of the demon!" Chris yelled before he started to shake in fear. "I-I'll be your opponent…you like it or not…"

Dark Mewtwo held his chest with a hand in pain. This was a sign that he was starting to get weaker, and Chris took it to relieve himself a bit. "H-how dare you strike me with those spears…"

Chris gulped. He knew the tension was growing thicker than before as Dark Mewtwo glared deeply into his eyes. By now, he started to feel a bit more confident of himself. "M-Mewtwo…I-I'll save you…n-no matter what happens…"

"Save me? Don't make me laugh," Dark Mewtwo said. "I don't need to be save-"

"T-the real you has to be saved, not you!" Chris interrupted. "I-I don't care who you are right now, but the real Mewtwo is surely there within that stupid veil of darkness of yours, waiting for us to pull him back out! He might not look like it, but…he still needs help!"

"That is such a nice little speech of friendship," Dark Mewtwo said sarcastically. "I don't want you to get so emotional, though."

"And you'll rather kill me off, right?" Chris asked annoyed. "Well, guess what; I'll kill you off first, and then I'll bring Mewtwo back!"

"I'll bring your death on you first," Dark Mewtwo warned. "Are you sure you want to fight me? You're so puny in my eyes."

"A-and you're a big nuisance in mine," Chris said. "M-Mewtwo, if you're still there, please, hang in there!"

"Don't be ridiculous… Now, prepare yourself," Dark Mewtwo warned, teleporting right in front of Chris. "Too late," he said, raising his fingers to send Psycho Cuts at Chris.

Chris armed himself with three knives that he took out from behind. "N-Nocturnal Night!" he yelled, tossing the three knives to cut Dark Mewtwo. The dark being didn't expect the attack that he grunted and backed away. "(W-wait, his injuries must be making him weaker now. I-it's my chance to attack!) Severed Fate!" Chris yelled, throwing several knives around Dark Mewtwo's feet to create a holy glyph, emanating saint energy that damaged Dark Mewtwo. "(I-I'm actually pulling this off, I'm pulling this off for real!)" Chris rejoiced mentally.

Chris's luck streak soon ended once Dark Mewtwo teleported away and used Confusion right behind him. "Dare toss me a knife again, and I'll use them to slit your throat," he warned darkly.

"(I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!)" Chris panicked, flailing his legs back and forth before Dark Mewtwo turned around and tossed him high up in the air, being showered by a barrage of fully charged Shadow Balls, making him scream in pain as he fell down and crashed on the floor. "I-I knew I was so screwed the first time I agreed to do this by myself…)"

"Foolish kid," Dark Mewtwo said. "You actually thought that you had hopes in beating me? Don't make me laugh," he said, slowly floating towards the weak Chris. "You are but a mere stepping stone on my foot."

"B-but you hardly use your feet to walk, lazy bum…" Chris muttered before he gasped and looked up at Dark Mewtwo's glare. "I-I mean, y-you should really use your feet more often!"

"…"

"…That didn't exactly change anything, did it?" Chris asked before Dark Mewtwo used Confusion and tossed him aside. "O-oww!" he groaned in pain.

"That's enough," Dark Mewtwo stated. "I won't let you talk anymore."

Chris quickly forced himself up, albeit suffering from his pain. "I-I'll talk and talk and talk until I can't talk anymore! Y-you're not my father!" He brandished three knives and tossed them towards Dark Mewtwo. "Nocturnal Night!"

"Please," Dark Mewtwo said, using Confusion to grab all knives in midair. This gave a warning sign to Chris who turned around and ran away before the knives chased after him. They all dove down, but each one failed to impale Chris's back. Dark Mewtwo decided to follow him.

While this commotion took place, Samus had reached out Fox, Falco, and Wolf. Ironically enough, all of them were fighting as animals trapped in corral. Samus just shifted her look to each one of them, shouting curses, swears, and between many other things that made them all even more furious. Occasionally, they would tackle each other down, just for them to stand back up and get into a fistfight. "Y-you, three, stop fighting like children!" Samus yelled. "If you haven't noticed, there's a fight going where you have to be right now!"

"Shut up, Samus! I have to set the record straight with these two!" Falco said angrily before dodging a slash from Wolf. "What, you got your good eye bad again?" he taunted Wolf.

"I'm just giving you a chance to strike, which of course you haven't done yet!" Wolf said enraged before dodging one of Fox's punches. "Too damn slow like always, Fox!"

"Grr, shut it, you!" Fox said angrily before sidestepping away from three lasers from Falco's Blaster.

"Are your discussions more important than saving the life of someone that we care about?" Samus asked annoyed. "Right now as you're throwing fists against each other, Chris is trying to buy you time to reconcile!"

"With Wolf?" Falco asked, dodging several blasts from Fox's Blaster.

"Okay, maybe not with Wolf, but you get the point!" Samus yelled. "Please, you guys, stop it! Chris is in danger right now!"

"Screw the damn kid!" Wolf yelled, blocking one punch from Fox. "He's the one who caused all this in the first place. If he hadn't brought me with THESE two, nothing of this would've happened!"

"At least there's something we agree here!" Falco yelled, jumping over a sweeping kick attack from Wolf. "It's all Chris's fault that we got into this fit! But, hey, at least he made me see how stupid I was to be with these two idiots!"

"It was his fault that he got dragged into this in the first place!" Fox yelled, dodging some fast kicks from Falco. "Luckily, this can be resolved if these two just shut their mouths and behave right!"

"Oh, so now you're the good kid here," Wolf mocked. "Always trying to show off, Fox."

"I'm not showing off here, Wolf, so shut up and stop pestering me!" Fox yelled, firing several shots at Wolf, who sidestepped and hid behind a pile of steel. "Are you a man or a chicken? Come on out!" he yelled before Falco lunged and pinned him down before starting a fistfight.

Samus just shook her head in shame at the scene before her. "(This just can't be happening at a time like this…)" she thought before she tightened a fist and aimed at the trio. "Shut up…shut up, SHUT UP!" she yelled, firing a Super Missile.

The three were too busy to watch the missile going off on them. The trio yelled in pain as they were sent to different directions, rolling recklessly before stopping. The three grunted in pain before they all turned to Samus with angered looks. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Falco asked.

"I should be asking that instead!" Samus yelled. "But seeing as you three are going to keep this dispute, fine, I don't care what you do! Blow each other's brains out all you want for all I care! Don't blame me if Mewtwo ends up killing all of us just because you can't even work together like you're supposed to!"

Wolf snarled at her. "When did you get the idea that I should be working with thes-"

"I'm using common sense here!" Samus interrupted. "In my eyes, you're just an idiot making a fool out of yourself. I DOUBT you can hang in there alone against Mewtwo. If you really value your life, work together with us or die and rot in the Ing Hive!"

Wolf showed his fangs at her. "Keep talking back to me like th-"

"I give a damn about you!" Samus yelled before turning to Fox and Falco. "And you two should better work together as you used to before, or else I'm going to leave you here behind and let the Ing eat you alive!"

Falco tightened his fists. "Hey, why the hell are you being like a bit-"

"Ugh, it's useless. I can't bring some sense to you anymore," Samus interrupted before turning around. "You better be quiet while I'm helping Chris out. If I come and see you acting like the animals you are…prepare yourselves to live in this world because nothing in here that isn't like the Ing survives for long…"

"Samus, wait up!" Fox called out.

"I don't want to listen! Suit yourselves!" she yelled angrily before she rushed towards the battle, charging her Light Beam to prepare a Sunburst. The three kept staring at her direction before they noticed they wore themselves out from their fight, sitting quietly on the floor.

"D-damn you, both of you…" muttered Falco.

"Shut it, birdbrain…" Wolf snarled.

"U-ugh, thanks to you two, we're going to have to be here for a while…" Fox complained.

"Like it's all my fault, Fox," Wolf shot back. "You're obviously too dense in picking the right partners. Just look at the birdbrain here."

"You better shut that snout of yours before I'll smack you!" Falco yelled.

Back at the battle, Chris tripped and fell down on the floor, allowing Dark Mewtwo to catch up with him. "Looks like it's all over…" Dark Mewtwo chuckled, holding out his hand to charge a Shadow Ball at Chris.

"Freeze!" Samus yelled as she came into the scene and shot the Sunburst, making the Shadow Ball vanish and causing Dark Mewtwo to freeze himself into place by the radiant light. "Chris, quick, use a spell! He's paralyzed!"

The World Traveler staggered in pain as he stood up. Forcing himself, he focused magic into his staff once more. "…O divine spear, run my enemy through… Holy Lance!" he shouted, holding out his staff towards Dark Mewtwo.

As before, four spears of ethereal light shot out from the floor and impaled Dark Mewtwo once more, making him grunt in pain, this time even louder that previous occasions. This was further enforced by the Sunburst, crashing and exploding against the dark being. Dark Mewtwo, for the first time, yelled in pain as he was pushed away before regaining his composure, holding his chest with a hand. Samus reached Chris and stood in front of him. "Are you okay?" she asked, facing Dark Mewtwo as she charged her Light Beam.

"T-thank you so much for coming to rescue me," Chris thanked. "D-did you manage to…"

"No…those three act like babies now."

Chris looked down in shame. "T-then…are we…"

"No, don't say it, Chris," Samus said, watching as Dark Mewtwo tumbled a bit to the sides. "I think we're starting to get the upper hand in this battle without their help. Just look at Mewtwo. He's starting to lose his balance to float anymore."

Chris stared at Dark Mewtwo. "Y-yes, you're right… M-maybe the battle is coming to an end this time!"

"Don't think foolish things…" Dark Mewtwo spoke suddenly, making Chris step back while Samus aimed her arm cannon at him. "So what if I'm starting to feel weak? It won't make a big difference to you that my energies are getting weaker…"

"You're wrong," Samus said. "Once you start to feel more pain, you won't be able to attack like you used to… Oh, also, Sunburst to the face," she said, shooting another blast of Sunburst that made Dark Mewtwo freeze in his spot. "Chris, I don't care if we're spamming attacks, but give Mewtwo another blow!"

"I-I'm on it!" Chris said, charging magic into his staff. "O divine spear, run my enemy through… Holy Lance!" he chanted.

"Stop being such nuisances to me right no-ugh!" Dark Mewtwo grunted in pain as four spears of light impaled him once more before the Sunburst reached him and exploded in a burst of light, pushing him away to the floor where he bumped his back a few times before stopping. "Y-you…t-two…" he muttered, twitching in pain.

"How does it feel to have a fatal weakness?" Samus asked, readying another Sunburst. "(I have two more shots left, but it's all we need to finish this bastard for good…) Chris, chant the spell once more while he's down!"

"R-right away!" Chris yelled, focusing more magic into his staff.

"Enough of this foolishness!" Dark Mewtwo snapped out, holding out a hand to use Confusion on Samus. The bounty hunter gasped at this sudden ambush before she was tossed away, making Chris gasp as he saw Dark Mewtwo warping away from the scene. The World Traveler felt a dark presence looming behind his back. Gulping, he turned around in time to watch Dark Mewtwo use Confusion on him. "Where's your…confidence now, Chris?" Dark Mewtwo asked, grinning as he panted heavily.

"Y-you…h-how could you do this if you wer-"

"Have you ever heard about…opponents reserving their last strength to unleash their ultimate attack?" Dark Mewtwo asked as he slowly rose up his head a bit, grinning evilly at Chris. "This…is one example of that kind of event…"

Chris's eyes widened horrified. "U-um, I-I'm not liking that look you're giving me, M-Mewtwo…" he said. "Y-you can stop giving it to me…"

"I won't," Dark Mewtwo muttered as he slowly pulled Chris into the air. "You've been giving me a lot of trouble, Chris… For all the pain I've been suffering of your dreaded light spears…I shall do something similar but more painful than your spells…"

Chris struggled to snap out from Dark Mewtwo's Confusion to no avail. The World Traveler looked around, finding himself in midair for about forty feet away from the floor. He gasped and began struggling to save himself, but it was useless, as he remained floating in midair. "N-no, please, stop! I-I don't like where this is going!" Chris yelled. "W-who am I kidding? I-I didn't like this from the very beginning!"

"It's a good thing that you'll be finished soon…" Dark Mewtwo said, hearing Samus standing back up on her feet. "No…I must keep nuisances like you from attacking me…" he muttered, using his free hand to use Confusion and throw Samus to a pile of steel. He chuckled darkly and looked back up at Chris. "No one will interfere this time…"

"A-aah!" Chris screamed. "P-please, anybody, help me!"

For once, the arguing trio looked back towards Chris. Fox and Falco gasped once they noticed Chris was trying to set himself free from Dark Mewtwo. "C-Chris?" Falco said. "H-hey, why's he floating?"

"Does the kid have the ability to freakin' fly or something?" Wolf asked annoyed.

"He doesn't… Something's not right here…" Fox muttered as he tried to stand up. The pain of his fights against Falco and Wolf, however, weakened him enough to prevent him from standing. "D-dammit…I can't stand up…"

"U-ugh, me neither…" Falco muttered in pain. "Y-you two shouldn't have fought against me…"

"Sheesh, the birdbrain is still whining about that…" Wolf trailed off.

Falco grunted. "Care to repeat that again, mutt?"

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!" Chris broke out screaming, making the three look towards his direction. The World Traveler painfully looked down towards Dark Mewtwo.

Dark Mewtwo's left hand glowed with dark energy before he began slicing the air with his fingers, sending ten Psycho Cuts every time he sliced the air. Instead of going directly after Chris, the Psycho Cuts circled around him in a wide area. For his dismay, the ten Psycho Cuts were soon accompanied by more Psycho Cuts. Chris gasped and looked down to see Dark Mewtwo slicing the air as many times as he could, sending hordes of Psycho Cuts that flew around Chris, making a big sphere of them. Chris began to panic, looking around to see the deadly waves of energy were soon covering his field of vision to see anything outside of them. He couldn't count how many they were, but they were roughly a thousand.

"U-um, this doesn't look really good to me anymore…" Falco muttered.

Fox grunted loudly and tried to stand up. "C-Chris, h-hang in there!"

"And where are you going?" Wolf asked aggravated.

"Bastard, I'm trying to get over there and save Chris, of course!" Fox yelled.

"Wow, now you want to go ahead and help him out? What about our dispute?"

Fox swung his right arm. "Screw the damn dispute!"

"Funny, I thought you only cared about tha-"

"F-Fox, look!" Falco interrupted, pointing towards Chris.

The trio stared back at the circling Psycho Cuts suddenly coming to a halt. Chris blinked in shock at this. He, however, didn't stop panting heavily in panic. He gulped as the Psycho Cuts were aiming towards him, and he looked down to see Dark Mewtwo's please and twisted smile. "W-why aren't you doing anything?" he asked.

"…" Dark Mewtwo kept smiling sadistically.

"I-I'm talking to you! W-why aren't you doing anything t-"

Music stops

Suddenly, Dark Mewtwo closed his hand, and in an instant, all the Psycho Cuts shot towards Chris and sliced every single part of his body, crossing to the other side before vanishing. The World Traveler let out a fearsome scream that echoed in the Ing Hive. Fox and Falco yelled his name while Wolf just looked away, not wanting to hear the scream that made his ears hurt. Samus pushed herself up from the pile and looked shocked at scene above them. She could only watch as Chris fell back down to the floor as his screams faded into silence.

The event didn't stop for their dismay. Dark Mewtwo chuckled darkly and used Confusion to stop Chris from falling down. The dark being smiled sadistically at Chris, who had an innumerable amount of bleeding cuts around his body. Dark Mewtwo blinked a bit surprised as he heard some sounds coming from the World Traveler. "You're still alive after all I've done to you? You're one annoying cockroach… No matter how many times I crush you, you will keep coming back…"

"…S-shut up…" Chris whispered silently, his eyes starting to shed tears that mixed up with the blood dripping down his forehead. "…I…hate…you…"

Dark Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and tossed Chris far away from him. Fox noticed that Chris was being tossed at his direction, and the Star Fox leader found enough strength to stand back up and dash towards Chris. "CHRIS!" Fox shouted as he leaped towards the teen and fell down on the floor, managing to catch him on his arms. "Chris, I'm here! Answer me!" Fox yelled out of panic as he stood back up and looked at Chris's bleeding face. "Oh my god… Please, open your eyes! Open your eyes, dammit!"

Fox felt a bit relieved after Chris coughed blood. The vulpine now cared about the smallest sign of life in the magic user. "F-Fox…is…i-is…t-that…y-you?" Chris asked, starting to sob silently before he turned his head towards Fox. "I-it's…y-you…" he muttered, smiling weakly.

"D-damn you, why the hell do you get into this fight if you know you don't stand a chance against an enemy like that guy?" Fox scolded.

"T-that's…b-because…y-you…d-didn't help us…"

Fox gasped and shook his head. "N-no, that's not true…t-that's not true!"

"W-why…a-are you being…s-so…stubborn…Fox?" Chris asked, coughing more blood. "T-thanks to you…Falco…a-and Wolf…"

"Are you scolding me now? This is not the time t-"

"S-shut up…please…" Chris whispered. "I-it's…clear t-that y-you…will be so s-stubborn…e-even if…s-somebody…p-points it out…f-for you…"

Fox closed his eyes tightly. "Stop scolding me! This isn't my fault!"

"…I-it's…s-so sad… Y-you…you're…s-so…b-but so…pathetic…"

The vulpine opened his eyes in shock and looked back at Chris. "C-Chris, please, d-don't say those things when you're like this! W-we need to take you out of here!"

"N-no use…d-doing that anymore…" Chris muttered sadly, starting to sob silently. "I-I'll die and rot…in here…"

"D-don't sat those things, dammit!" Fox yelled.

"L-look…I…d-don't have much time left…" Chris muttered. "I-I know it's-so…cheesy…b-but…y-you know what…i-it's true that it…h-hurts so much…t-to be like this…"

"Don't you dare die on me now, Chris!" Fox yelled as he started to shed some tears. "Dammit, you're making me cry!"

Chris coughed more blood, shocking Fox even more as Falco regained energies and went to him while Samus did the same. As for Wolf, he slowly stood up and watched the scene from his spot. "I…I can't…k-keep hanging on forever…s-so…p-please…t-tell everyone…t-tell everyone that…I…I'll miss them…" he said as his voice kept getting weaker and silent, starting to make Fox panic.

"No, no, no!" Fox yelled. "Chris, I-I'll make anything you want me to do if you hang in there! J-just ask anything! I-I don't want to see you dying!"

"…D-do…you mean it…F-Fox?" Chris asked.

Fox gritted his fangs and closed his eyes. "A-anything, just ask me what!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Fox slowly opened his eyes and gulped. "…Please…don't take him away yet…" he muttered.

Falco gasped once he stared at Chris. "O-oh god, no…" he muttered. "I-I…I-I can't look at him, sorry!" he said, looking away. "I-I don't like to see that much blood myself!"

The vulpine gulped and stared at the teen. Unfortunately, no more responses were going to be replied at Fox. The vulpine shook his head in shame, seeing that Chris had left them behind with his tears mixing up with his own blood. Fox grunted silently before he grunted louder and louder and said, "Dammit…DAMMIT!" he cursed. "Why, why, WHY? Why does this have to happen at a time like this? Thanks to this, Chris is…Chris is…dammit!" Fox cursed, his hands putting a stronger grip on Chris's arms.

Samus looked down in shame as her visor analyzed the body. She was trying to avoid thinking the reality, and using her visor would maybe correct what they were seeing. Sadly, no such thought came from the visor. "Please…don't tell me he's dead…" Samus muttered.

Severe loss of blood caused target's death. Life signs are negative.

"No, please…no…" Samus muttered.

Severe loss of blood caused target's death. Life signs are negative.

"This…this can't be true…"

Falco tightened his fists as he fell to his knees and knocked on the floor as hard as he could. "Damn it all! Damn everything!" he yelled. "I didn't want him to die right now! Heck, I didn't expect anything like this to happen!"

Wolf came into the mourning scene and stared at the teen. "So…the kid took his last breath…"

Fox instantly shot him a death glare. "I don't want to listen to you…" he snarled. "What? Are you happy that Chris is dead?"

Wolf looked away. "Maybe…maybe not."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Don't ask me for my opinion, Fox," Wolf said, crossing his arms. "I'm not the guy who lets you cry on my shoulders. Also, the kid is not that important to me. After all, he caused all this and died because of it."

Fox gritted his fangs. "Don't you DARE blame Chris of all thi-"

"He did it, so stop deluding yourself," Wolf said. "I know that, if I wasn't here in the first place, none of this would've happened."

"Why are you caring about who made this happen, you son of a-"

Wolf turned to glare at Fox. "However, now that I think about it again, none of this would've happened if we kept ranting and arguing like immature children."

Falco glared at Wolf. "So now you're realizing that?"

"It's clear all of us three didn't have the best of behaviors," Wolf said. "There, did you want to hear that at last?"

"And you're blaming me of this?"

"By the gods, birdbrain, you're the last one acting childish here," Wolf said harshly. "Do you want to finish this the good way or the bad way?"

"All of you, please, stop!" Samus yelled. "How can you be arguing right now? If you forgot, Chris was…he was…"

"He was killed because we couldn't even fight that imbecile right over there, who's grinning idiotically at us," Wolf said, glaring over to Dark Mewtwo, who listened at them grieving over Chris. "Alright, you bastard, do you have anything else to say or are you just going to stay there and snicker all day long?"

Dark Mewtwo chuckled. "Can't I just stay here and see how each one of you sheds tear over that cockroach? The scene is quite amusing to watch."

"For your information, I'm not even shading one tear," Wolf said. "Thank goodness I didn't so close with the kid like these three did."

Falco grunted. "What the hell are you saying now?"

"Shut it, birdbrain, I'm not done yet," Wolf said without turning to Falco. "Even though I didn't care much about the kid, I do care that you took my opportunity to finish him off myself…and nobody, I repeat, nobody takes my own chances to crush my prey until I say so."

Dark Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "Why would you be traveling with this bunch, then? Last time I recall, you hated all of them."

"Yeah, I did," Wolf said. "I changed my mind once I got to know them a little bit more, though."

Falco looked blankly at the lupine. "You're just here so you can beat Fox down a few times a wee-"

"And like I was saying before, you had no right in taking down the kid," Wolf said, taking out his Blaster from its holster. "For that, I'll be the one to take you down now."

"Please, it's obvious you're trying to keep your cool to avoid inferring that you DO care about the cockroach," Dark Mewtwo said, angering Fox and Falco. "Why would you be so fixated in taking me down just because I killed him, then?"

Wolf grinned. "Okay, then, let's pretend I do care about the kid," he said. "Since I care about him and you killed him, I'll avenge him."

"Idiot, you just told me the truth."

"Ooh, no, I'm scared. He knows I care about the kid," Wolf said, looking over to Samus. "What am I gonna do now? I'm so screwed."

Samus blinked confused at this. "What are you trying tell me?" she muttered.

Wolf rolled his eye and kept talking. "Now that we don't have him with us, do we have a chance to beat you down alone with all of us four?"

"(…Wait; he's giving me a signal to attack, isn't he?)" Samus thought, moving her eyes towards her Light Beam.

Falco grunted once more. "You want us to fight alongside you? Are you out of your mind?"

"Falco…" Fox muttered as he stared at Chris, who he put down on the floor, "I seriously hate to admit it…but we have to work together with Wolf and fight Mewtwo."

"W-what?"

Fox tightened his fists and turned to Falco. "I said help us fight Mewtwo! Do you have any better ideas to suggest rather than mindlessly beating us while we should be beating Mewtwo instead?"

"I-I…I-I…" Falco stammered at Fox's determined glare. "W-well, I-I myself don't wanna keep arguing… I-I mean, sure, I seriously want to knock him some good sense for killing…Well…you know…"

Fox nodded. "I understand," he said, turning to glare at Dark Mewtwo. "What do you say if we drop this fight for another occasion and we head over there with that imbecile to teach him not to mess with us?"

Falco looked back and forth between his group and Dark Mewtwo before he screamed for a bit and took out his Blaster. "Fine! Let's do this!" he yelled annoyed. "But you better remember where we left off!"

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time – Cutting Edge of Notion

Dark Mewtwo snickered as he saw the reformed group aiming their Blasters at him. "Now you look like the space police is trying to take me to jail," Dark Mewtwo said. "(Damn them all, I have very little energy left to continue fighting… I must avoid showing weakness so they don't think they're winning this fight… I need to warp away before the-) Ugh!" he grunted as a light shot crashed against his chest. Dark Mewtwo stammered for a bit before he looked forward at Samus, aiming her Light Beam at him. "T-that annoying light of yours… HA!" he yelled, using Confusion to push Samus into the air.

"Y-you three, do something, quick!" Samus demanded.

"Geez, can you be a little bit nice next time?" Falco asked.

"Just shut up and attack!" Fox ordered.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Falco said, shooting several blasts at Dark Mewtwo. The dark being narrowed his eyes and warped away before the blasts could connect with him. Samus felt back to the floor on her feet. "Grr, he's disappeared!"

Samus looked away. "(I think I wasn't listening well enough, but Mewtwo seemed to yell his attacks… He didn't do it before. Does this mean he's starting to get weaker?)"

Wolf darted his eye around the area. "I don't think he left the area. He should be waiting for any of us to lower our guards."

"That was precisely my intention," Dark Mewtwo said over a pile of steel. They all turned around to see him raising his hands, creating a multitude of Shadow Balls over them that he shot down to their feet. The four gasped and quickly ran away from their spot, with Fox grabbing Chris back on his shoulders. "What good is it to carry a corpse in the fight?"

"S-shut up!" Fox yelled as he took refuge behind a pile to lay Chris's body on the floor. "(I know you're not here anymore…but…this is the least I can do for you, Chris. I just hope you can forgive me for everything I did today…)" He stepped out from the pile and began shooting laser shots at Dark Mewtwo, who merely warped away. "What's the matter? You can't keep standing on the same spot for long?"

Fox's eyes widened as a dark hand was placed over his right shoulder. He received some chills as Dark Mewtwo stood floating behind his back. "It'll be over soon," Dark Mewtwo said. "You'll be reunited with Chris in the afterlife."

"I won't do such a thing!" Fox yelled.

"Sorry, but it seems you will have t-"

Suddenly, from a near pile of steel, Wolf jumped out from the scrapped metal and lunged towards Dark Mewtwo, who turned towards him to get a severe slash from Wolf's claws to his face. The dark being yelled for a bit before the lupine landed on the floor and dealt an upper kick to his chest, pushing Dark Mewtwo away. Wolf chuckled and looked at Fox. "You okay, Fox?"

Fox turned to Wolf. "What's the matter with you? You're asking me if I'm okay?"

"Just making sure you're alive and kicking for me to stop you from doing those things in the near future," Wolf stated. "I wouldn't like that guy to do that instead of me, you know."

"…" Fox grinned cockily at Wolf. "Well, thanks for the help."

"Don't get too cocky, McCloud," Wolf said, glaring back at Dark Mewtwo. "We still have him to deal with."

Dark Mewtwo regained his composure. "As if you had any chances to beat me…" He turned around and used Confusion to bring Falco out from behind a pile of steel. "And may I ask what were you planning to do to me behind that pile?" he asked, forcing Falco to levitate off the floor.

"D-damn it, it looks like my strategy worked out after all," Falco struggled to grin.

"What is that supposed to mea-" Dark Mewtwo halted once he looked behind him and saw Samus shooting a Sunburst at him. "U-ugh, that dreaded light again!" he cursed, paralyzed just by seeing the Sunburst slowly coming after him.

"Fox, Falco, Wolf, quick, attack him while the Sunburst is active!" Samus yelled. "Mewtwo can't move when it's shot at him! Take advantage of his paralysis and attack!"

"Are you sure we're not gonna be toasted by that freaky sphere of light you made?" Wolf asked.

"It's all good, so go!"

"You better be telling the truth or else I'll sl-"

"Just shut up and attack!" Fox yelled, dashing forward under the Sunburst to reach the paralyzed Dark Mewtwo. "Hope you're ready to pay for what you did, idiot!" he yelled, dealing a harsh right kick at Dark Mewtwo's face. Fox followed this by using Fox Illusion, slashing Dark Mewtwo across his body.

Neither Falco nor Wolf could attack in time before the Sunburst exploded on Dark Mewtwo, making him yell in pain as he was pushed away into the air before crashing right back to the floor. Dark Mewtwo grunted in pain, slowly standing up. "(B-bastards…I knew I wasn't going to keep this up with my current condition…) I don't care how hurt I am. I care about getting rid of all of you…" he muttered, using Disable to dazzle Fox. The vulpine spun his head around his shoulders while his eyes twirled. He lost focus as he fell on the floor on his back.

Falco came into the scene and split his legs apart to kick Dark Mewtwo along the floor. The dark being grunted and warped away before Wolf could land his claws on him. "Damn that warping numskull," Wolf muttered through gritted fangs, pulling back his claws from the floor just to notice that his body glowed. "W-what the…" Wolf looked over his shoulder where Dark Mewtwo held out his hand at him, using Confusion.

"Be gone," Dark Mewtwo said, tossing Wolf in the air to launch a Shadow Ball barrage that hurt the lupine greatly. Wolf grunted loudly in pain before he was forcefully slammed down against the floor. "Is that all you got?" Dark Mewtwo taunted.

"(T-these stupid injuries from that quarrel fight are starting to hurt me again…)" Wolf thought, feeling pain in his body. "(If he sends another blow, I'll be finished…maybe.)"

"I may as well get rid o-" Dark Mewtwo stopped talking once a Super Missile went after him. The dark being narrowed his eyes and used Confusion to plummet the missile towards a pile of steel, creating a big explosion. He turned back to Wolf, only to see that he was gone from the spot. "A distraction?"

Just after noticing this, Fox appeared from a nearby pile and began shooting at Dark Mewtwo. Dark Mewtwo grunted in pain before warping away to avoid being shot by the lasers. Fox lowered his Blaster and looked behind where Wolf was leaned against the pile. "You're so careless, leaving yourself dropped on the floor like that," Fox said.

"Fox…now it's not the time to show off that you rescued me," Wolf shot back. "It's safe to think that you saved me just because you wanted yourself to beat me down someday instead of that black cat, right?"

"And be glad I did it just because of that," Fox said. "U-ugh, n-not this again…" His body glowed for a bit before he was tossed aside by Dark Mewtwo's Confusion. The dark being stood on top of the pile looming over Wolf's head. The lupine grunted and looked up.

"Your rivalry allowed you to stay alive for a while, but this time, it's over," Dark Mewtwo said.

Wolf chuckled weakly. "So what are you waiting for? Finish me off now that you can."

"I'll finish him off instead!" Falco yelled as he ran over the pile of steel towards Dark Mewtwo. With a sharp turn, Dark Mewtwo fully charged a Shadow Ball and tossed it at Falco, who used his Reflector to reflect the sphere back to Dark Mewtwo, who avoided it by stepping aside in midair.

Before Dark Mewtwo could mock Falco, the confident Pokémon was shot from behind by Wolf, who panted heavily as he held up his Blaster towards Dark Mewtwo's back. The paralyzing shots allowed Falco to ram his right shoulder against Dark Mewtwo, pushing him down to the floor. "(I can't let my guard down any longer… I must remind myself that there are four people fighting against me… Wait…four people…)" Dark Mewtwo looked around, trying to find Samus.

"It's over!" Samus shouted as she appeared from behind a pile, jumped high, and aimed at Dark Mewtwo with her Light Beam fully charged. The Psychic Pokémon's eyes widened, deciding to warp away to avoid being shot with another Sunburst. "(No, we're so close now. We can't just let him do more surprise attacks!)"

Dark Mewtwo appeared close to Wolf, using Confusion on him. "I better finish you off before I ge-"

"FIRE!"

"U-UGH!" Dark Mewtwo grunted in pain as he was pushed into the air by Fox, who came quickly from behind using Fire Fox.

The vulpine's flames vanished as he landed on his feet and looked up at Dark Mewtwo. "Samus, do it!" he yelled.

Samus jumped towards Dark Mewtwo, who couldn't regain his composure in time to warp away in time from a harsh Sunburst attack. "Now, it's over!" Samus yelled, shooting off the last Sunburst sphere she could shot. The Sunburst began to burn Dark Mewtwo as slowly approached him, and once it collided against his body…

Music stops

Sparkling lights were set off once the Sunburst exploded on the dark being. Samus, Fox, Falco, and Wolf could only heard the explosion and Dark Mewtwo's yell of pain echoing in the area as little crumbles of lights came out from the burst of light. As Samus landed back on the floor and looked up at the mesmerizing sphere of light, she noticed that an immobile body fell back on the floor, revealing to be Dark Mewtwo.

Being the one unable to see what was happening from his spot, Wolf raised his face towards the dark sky. "Did we…win?" he asked to himself.

Samus, Fox, and Falco remained silent as they slowly walked towards Dark Mewtwo. The three stopped walking once Dark Mewtwo raised a glowing hand with dark energy meant to attack them, but its energy soon vanished, and Dark Mewtwo let his hand fall back. "…I…can't…move…any longer…" he spoke softly before the Shadow Bugs began to retreat from his body to vanish in thin air. Once they were gone, Dark Mewtwo soon reverted to the normal Mewtwo, who had turned into a trophy before them because of his injuries in the battle.

"…It's over…" Falco muttered with a sigh, falling down to his knees. "It's…really over…"

Fox sighed next and looked away where Chris's corpse rested against a pile of steel. "Yes…but…" he trailed off, feeling guilt just by looking at the dead teen. "…Damn it…" he cursed softly, tightening a fist to his side. "All this came with a fatal price…"

Samus shook her head. "This will never be forgiven with just a sorry, you guys," she said. "What happened here could've happened because of Chris's actions…but you're grown ups. You should know better to behave correctly than making fits against each other."

"I know, I know, I know, dammit!" Falco cursed, pounding his fist on the floor. "If I knew this was going to happen beforehand, I'd…I'd…I would have…"

"…A-aaaaaaah!" Fox suddenly screamed in pain, grabbing his right wrist in pain.

Samus gasped once she noticed that the three anthros started to scream in pain as their bodies radiated the dark energy of the Ing Hive. She then recalled that Dark Mewtwo was keeping them safe from succumbing to the dark world's hazardous air. "N-no, you won't last for much longer if we don't get you in a Light Beacon as soon as possible! But if you're burning as well, then…" she turned around to find the others' bodies radiating dark energy, "then that means everyone else will die! I need to do something and fast!"

The bounty hunter recalled that Mewtwo's trophy was resting in front of her. Without thinking, she reached it over and stared at it. "How do you get him out of this thing?" she asked in panic as she heard their screams getting louder. Once she touched the trophy's base, it shone brightly, and a worn out Mewtwo soon stood on one knee before her. "M-Mewtwo, you're back!"

"S-Samus…w-what happened to me?" Mewtwo asked, looking around the area to see the others screaming in pain. "This place has some kind of hazardous energy tha-"

"I'll explain everything to you later!" Samus yelled, pointing over to the area where they had gone through to enter the Hive Temple Access. "Please, get everyone back over there where the light barrier is! No one but me can stay out here in the dark world for any longer!"

Mewtwo himself began to feel a burning sensation across his body. "U-ugh, I-I don't understand what is going on…b-but I understand we need to get everyone out of this place…" he said, glowing a shade of purple to use Confusion on Fox, Falco, and Wolf to toss them all the way into the light barrier of the Light Beacon.

"Wouldn't it be much better if you used Teleport instead?" Samus asked.

"M-my powers aren't very strong right now. I need to rely on Confusion for the time being," Mewtwo said as the pain itself worsened. "A-are there any more of us here?"

Samus began telling Mewtwo where the others were lying down. Mewtwo, once he saw Chris, wanted to ask what had happened, but he hurried and brought everyone back into the light beacon just before anyone could die. Soon, Mewtwo and Samus were standing inside the Light Beacon that Samus had enforced with a Light Beam, providing slow healing to everyone.

"D-damn…" Wolf muttered as his injuries slowly faded. "S-stay out there in the freaky world of darkness and you'll turn into ashes before long…" He looked at Mewtwo. "Oh god…"

"Everything is okay," Mewtwo reassured him. "I'm back to my normal self again."

"He doesn't have that dark energy anymore… He surely is himself again," Samus said.

Mewtwo noticed that everyone else groaned in pain, starting to wake up. They then were told what had happened in the battle to the point most of them began to feel sick at seeing Chris's condition. "Judging by your looks, you surely fought me when I was taken over by the Shadow Bugs… You have my sincere apologies."

"It's alright," Fox said. "The Shadow Bugs can make anyone go on a rampage without your conscience knowing about it."

"That is correct," Mewtwo said. "However…" he trailed off, looking over at Chris's dead body, "…I can't bring myself to ask why he got…"

Falco grunted and looked away. "I'm really pissed at you, but I don't know if I should be pissed or not because of this!"

Fonic Kirby began to sob as he stared at Chris. "C-Chris…p-please…w-wake up…" he said deluding himself that Chris was merely resting while he was dead. "P-please…w-wake up…"

"Why…why did this happen?" Red asked, looking away. "I-I never seen somebody I know die before!"

Sheik frowned. "He had so much to do in his life…and…he couldn't keep living on and work with us…" she muttered.

Meta Knight looked down solemnly. "Such a tragedy happened because of our actions," he said, making Fox and Falco look away while Wolf merely grunted. "I don't have anything else to say at the moment… As all of you, I'm shocked to see this happened."

Squirtle sobbed as he leaned against Ivysaur, who sniffed silently to himself. "I-I know this is useless to ask, but…i-isn't there a way to bring him back?"

Samus shook her head. "I don't know if there's a way, sadly…"

Fox began to curse himself out in his mind, Falco doing the same thing.

"…But…I don't know if this will work…but…"

Falco looked at her. "We don't have anything to lose here! Tell us what you have in mind!"

"I'm very unsure if this will do something, but…please, let me retrieve the light of the Sanctuary Fortress," she said. "I need all of you to wait for me here. I'll go over to the temple and get the light. Once I do, I'll come back here, and we'll go back to the light world where we will come back here and go to the temple on the other side."

"What do you have in mind?" Meta Knight asked.

"Like I said before, I'm not very sure if this will work…but please, listen to me."

"…Alright," Fox said. "Please, go."

"And be careful," Sheik advised. "We're still walking in this sick place of darkness, after all."

"Thanks…" Samus muttered before she jumped off the platform towards the area where they fought Dark Mewtwo. Once she landed on the floor, she noticed something hovering between several piles that she didn't see before. Between said piles of steel, a gadget of light and dark energy glowed. "What would that be?" she asked to herself as she approached the piles, blowing them away with a Super Missile.

Samus walked towards the unknown gadget. She used her visor to scan it.

"…Annihilator Beam…" she muttered, reading her visor information regarding the gadget. "It can use both light and dark ammo to create strong attacks…" She sighed depressed. "If only I had found this before…we could have ended that fight sooner before Chris… No…I need to stop thinking about that," she said, grabbing the device that instantly modified her arm cannon to infuse light and dark energy together to unleash a fast shot of light and darkness combined.

Upon doing this, several spider ball tracks came out from the center of the area, making a tall path that leaded to a door to the south, which was far away from the floor.

"I was asking myself how I was supposed to reach the temple's door," she said, turning into her Morph Ball to ride the spider ball tracks.

Back with the group, Falco stared at Lucario, who had not woken up like everyone else. Suddenly, a thought made Falco yelp a bit. "U-um, g-guys, what will happen if he wakes up and sees Chris dead?"

"Oh my god," Squirtle said. "Lucario's surely bound to kill somebody if he sees Chris like this!"

"Hey, if he's bound to kill somebody, let him kill Fox, Falco, or Wolf!" Red said, alarming only Fox and Falco. "After all, they should be responsible of what happened here!"

"W-what?" Falco asked in bewilderment. "Why should one of us get killed?"

"Hello, if you guys didn't beat each other while we're beating Dark Mewtwo - no offense to Mewtwo, of course, -" Ivysaur said, "Chris wouldn't have died!"

Fox's ears perked up as he heard the aura wielder grumbling on the floor. "C-crap, he's waking up," he muttered.

Before Lucario could fully open his eyes, Sheik quickly took out a napkin with a sleeping chemical from her back and covered Lucario's mouth with it. In an instant, Lucario felt drowsy before falling unconscious.

Falco sighed loudly. "I THANK YOU for saving my life…" he said.

Sheik glared at the avian, removing the napkin from Lucario's mouth. "You, Fox, and Wolf better promise all of us that you will stop beating each other's brains out. If any of you don't comply, I'll release this dog on you…and I will also tell him what happened so he REALLY does kill all of you."

Fox slapped his forehead and gritted his fangs. "Okay, we comply," he said.

Falco closed his eyes and fumed a bit. "F-fine," he said.

Wolf crossed his arms and looked away. "Never," he said.

Sheik started shaking Lucario, alarming Falco who went over to Wolf, grabbed his head, and made it nod several times. "S-see? H-he's agreeing!" Falco said.

Wolf snarled at this and pushed Falco away. "Touch me with those feathered hands of yours again and I'll rip those feathers off so you can't fly again. Oh, that's right, you don't even know how to fl-"

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP AND STAY QUIET FOR ONCE?" yelled Sheik, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Fox, Falco, and even Kirby.

"…Whatever, you bunch of fools…" Wolf said. "Okay then…I agree with your deal."

Meta Knight sighed and looked at Mewtwo. "Do you have to tolerate all of them when they get like this?" he asked.

"You don't even know what else goes with them all," Mewtwo said bored. "Sadly, you get used to them. Be careful not to fall so low like them."

"…I shall keep that in mind," Meta Knight sighed and looked back up at the dark sky.

F-Zero GX

-Lightning – Halberd's Deck-

"Um, Marth, could you please hurry up?" Link asked as they all saw C. Falcon being slammed down against the floor by Dark Black Shadow, who held his right arm with a tight grip to slam the racer around the floor. "C. Falcon is surely going to get his bones broken if you can't think of something good."

"I'm thinking!" Marth complained, staring at Toon Link's Wind Waker. "One of the four possibilities sound very helpful, but I just don't know which one to choose!"

"Why aren't you moving? Why aren't you moving?" Dark Black Shadow kept asking as he laughed and stomped on the weakened racer, who he had slammed down on the floor. "C'mon, Falcon! Move away before I kill you! Mwahahahahahaha!"

Ness grunted at this. "For the love of god, he's becoming so satanic!" He turned to Toon Link. "Do whatever you want to do! Marth is at a total blank right now!"

"What was that supposed to mean?" asked Marth annoyed.

Toon Link grunted and began moving his baton up, left, and right in a delicate manner. "You people JUST won't decide!" he complained before looking back outside. "I order the winds to release a strong gust on that guy! Don't you dare harm the guy on the floor!" he ordered, the eastern winds suddenly becoming harsher.

Dark Black Shadow stopped stomping on C. Falcon, noticing that his cape swung wildly in the air as he itched away from his victim. "H-huh? "W-w-woooooooaahh!" Dark Black Shadow was pushed by the strong winds.

"What...happened?" C. Falcon asked confused, seeing the winds blowing Dark Black Shadow away. He coughed for a bit, standing back up from the floor.

Nana sighed. "Phew, that was close," she said.

Toon Link grunted, seeing Dark Black Shadow flying against the wind to reach C. Falcon. "Dammit, that guy's fighting the winds with his floating powers!" he complained.

"CAPTAIN FALCON!" Dark Black Shadow yelled, getting the racer's attention. "DIE!"

Pichu shook Toon Link. "D-do something!" he pleaded.

"U-um, let's see… I-I got it!" Toon Link said, moving the Wind Waker with the same moves. "Northern winds, heed my voice and blow him away!" he ordered, the winds from the north turning harsher.

Dark Black Shadow laughed maniacally before he swiftly changed courses and turned to the right. He began yelling before he slammed himself against the force field. The evil racer blinked shocked, his arms and legs spreading across the barrier.

"…Hi there," Popo spoke, getting a backside hit by Nana.

"U-ugh!" Dark Black Shadow grunted, as he was able to push himself off the barrier and land back on the floor, just to receive a Raptor Boost attack up his chin by C. Falcon. "A-aah!" he yelled before C. Falcon jumped towards his face and dealt a strong knee attack on it. Dark Black Shadow yelled in pain, grabbing C. Falcon to toss him away. "W-what is going on here? Why's the climate changing so suddenly?"

"Nobody say anything to him so he doesn't know," whispered Roy to the others.

"Maybe Mother Nature doesn't like you," joke C. Falcon.

"Shut up, you!" Dark Black Shadow said, moving his hands up where he circled them around the air.

C. Falcon looked up to see dark clouds circling over him. He gasped and backed away, but it seemed that the clouds were chasing him. He grunted at this and began running away, but the clouds easily hovered over him. It was not long before sparks began to radiate from the clouds, trying to cast a powerful thunder on him. "W-what are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to burn you into a crisp with some thunders!" Dark Black Shadow said smirking. "So, Mother Nature doesn't like me? Well, she doesn't like you that much either!"

Pikachu perhaps was the only one of all of them to get annoyed at the whole thing. He looked at Toon Link and said, "Okay, that's it. You better stop him from turning C. Falcon into dust with those thunders. NOBODY messes with my source of power like that."

"But, Pikachu, I haven't seen you actually recharging your powers with natural thunders," Pichu said. "Have you done that befor-"

"Dude, just do it!" Pikachu interrupted.

Toon Link sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do…" He delicately moved his Wind Waker. "Southern winds, please, knock him down!" he ordered, the southern winds turning harsher.

"W-what in the world?" Dark Black Shadow yelled as the winds pushed him forward. He lost his balance and rolled in the air, trying to regain his stance.

C. Falcon blinked at this for a brief moment. Seeing his enemy flying recklessly towards him gave C. Falcon an idea. He began running towards the evil racer. Once he was about to reach him, C. Falcon pulled back his fist, charged it with fire, and unleashed a Falcon Punch to send Dark Black Shadow rocketing back towards the shield, where he bounced off painfully and flew back to the racer.

Instead of running away, C. Falcon used yet another Falcon Punch, rocketing Dark Black Shadow back to the shield. The process then kept repeating itself repeatedly, allowing C. Falcon to deliver a huge amount of damage to Dark Black Shadow, who kept yelling louder with each time he was hit and bounced back to C. Falcon.

"Nice," said Ness, seeing the enemy bounce off the barrier. "Good thing this barrier is strong enough to resist breaking up."

"That was my original idea," grumbled Toon Link. "I wanted the guy to break the shield with his damn body, but nooooooo, he bounces off instead," he complained. "Was that too much to ask for or what?"

"Well…see the bright side," Marth said. "At least this will give C. Falcon a huge edge over that guy."

Pichu chuckled happily. He looked up at the sky and gasped suddenly. "U-um, maybe we're getting a little bit too ahead of us…" he muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucas asked, looking up at the dark clouds. "…N-no!"

The Smashers looked up and gasped to see that the dark clouds didn't exactly disappear when Dark Black Shadow was pushed away by the winds. In fact, the clouds looked even more dangerous as a huge quantity of sparks began jumping out before turning into bolts. Worse yet, they were right over the clueless C. Falcon, who kept using Falcon Punch on his enemy.

"…Okay, that seriously looks bad enough to me," Link said. "C. Falcon, watch out!" he shouted.

Link's words fell to deaf ears outside the barrier. The dark clouds suddenly shot a powerful lightning bolt on C. Falcon, who screamed loudly in pain as he was knocked away to the floor. Dark Black Shadow grunted loudly before he flipped in the air and landed on one knee on the floor. He panted heavily, wiping out some blood drooling from his mouth. "M-mwahahahaha…" he laughed, smirking despite his pain running through his body. "Y-you thought the clouds were going to disappear as soon as I stopped focusing on them, weren't you? T-think again…" He stood up and turned towards C. Falcon, who lied down on the floor in pain. "No matter what you do…I'll always win…"

"D-damn you, muscle head…" C. Falcon muttered in pain, coughing some blood.

Lucas covered his face with both hands. "I-I don't want to see what'll happen next! S-somebody do something!"

Everyone looked at Toon Link.

"…I SERIOUSLY hate you all, really," Toon Link muttered.

"Just swing that baton of yours and save him!" Link yelled.

"I thought all of you hated C. Falcon!"

"Yes, but we have to like him against our will, so help him!" Roy yelled.

"Against your will?"

"JUST DO IT!" everyone yelled.

Toon Link grunted and quickly came up with an idea after he saw Dark Black Shadow raising a hand to the sky. "So he plans to throw in a thunder? Let's see what happens when the winds deny his wish…"

"Mwahahahaha," Dark Black Shadow said, hovering in front of the weakened racer. "Maybe you ought to like another thunder blow, Falcon? Let's see how you resist this little gift!" He snapped his fingers. "Bolts of lightning, rain down on thi-"

Dark Black Shadow stopped talking once he saw that several light spots appeared over the deck. He looked around before looking up to see that the clouds were dispersing and vanishing into nothing, revealing the starry night sky. He gasped and began grunting loudly at this.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked enraged. "I can't even ask for another bolt of lightning here?"

"Of course you can't!"

Dark Black Shadow suddenly received a harsh uppercut on his chin, making him back away. He coughed a bit in pain and looked forward, seeing C. Falcon back up, his right fist pumped up in the same spot where the villain got the uppercut. "S-so you can move?" Dark Black Shadow asked.

"I…know I'm pushing myself so much…but you're in the same spot as I am," C. Falcon said panting. "You're…getting so annoying…"

"It's the same here," Dark Black Shadow said panting. "You're like a damn cockroach. No matter how many times I crush you, you'll keep coming back…"

The Smashers trapped in the barrier looked bored at this. "It's creepy to think they're getting so serious right now," Ness commented.

"It's not like C. Falcon to get so serious either," Roy said. "What the hell happened to him?"

"Oh, that's maybe because there are no girls around," Marth said. "When there are, he changes to a different person that we all know and…despise so much."

Link crossed his arms and nodded. "It's sad to think he's not like this back home… Why do we have to deal with his other self and not this one?"

"(These people just keep freaking the hell out of me,)" Toon Link thought as he sweat dropped.

Dark Black Shadow chuckled. "Well…Falcon…this is it; the grand finale." He raised his fists. "You're dead now! Your chances to win are very slim!"

C. Falcon raised his fists. "Don't say that when your own chances are the ones being slim," he said.

Ness looked at Toon Link. "Okay, do something before they keep saying their arch-nemesis monologue. It's getting sickening."

Toon Link rolled his eyes and stared at Dark Black Shadow. "Well, I can control people, but I don't think it'll work very well with him… Even so, I'll see what happens," he said, moving his Wind Waker to the left, center, right, and center again. He suddenly took a weird stance, moving his hands as if he was trying to use magic. "Ooooouuuuhhhmm…" he trailed off.

"…I swear he's…peculiar," Nana commented.

Popo looked at Link. "I think this guy is better than you. He's funny."

"Oh, please…" Link muttered.

Dark Black Shadow began winding up his right fist. "Combining my fist with my flying ability, it'll turn into a flying rocket going straight to your face!" he said. "Try to block it because it will ALSO break your feeble arms!"

C. Falcon grunted and crossed his arms in front of his face, awaiting the attack.

"You know, that's why dodging is better than defending yourself," Pikachu said. "If you defend, you're bound to get hurt anyway. But if you dodge, you don't get hurt."

"Say your prayers, Falcon!" Dark Black Shadow proclaimed as he prepared to rocket himself towards C. Falcon, who gritted his teeth and waited for the blow to connect to his arms. "Mwahahahahahahahaha-UGH!"

"What?" C. Falcon said, looking back towards the evil racer who had stopped winding up his fist.

Dark Black Shadow grunted as he tried to move his body. However, he was unable to budge even a finger as he stood straight up firmly on the floor. "H-hey, what's wrong now?" he asked enraged. "M-my body…I-I can't move it!"

Marth looked at Toon Link, who was standing straight up as Dark Black Shadow. "Phew, this guy's brain isn't that complicated to control," Toon Link sighed. "Like you said before, he's all muscles but no brain…"

"Hmm, what are you going to do?" Pichu asked.

"I'm going to make this guy humiliate himself as he never did before," Toon Link said. "Wo-hoo, he's so close to the barrier," he said, turning around to force Dark Black Shadow to face the barrier. "And one, two, three…"

"W-what's happening to me now?" Dark Black Shadow asked. Before long, Toon Link began to smack his forehead against the air, but in the evil racer's case, he began smacking his own face against the barrier. "U-UAH!" he yelled in pain.

Toon Link chuckled darkly before he began smacking his forehead so many times against the air. Some of the Smashers began to stifle some small chuckles as the villain kept banging his face against the barrier. "Why are you hitting your face?" Toon Link asked. "Why are you hitting your face?" he kept asking, getting screams of pain as replies.

"S-stop it, STOP IT!" Dark Black Shadow pleaded, getting Toon Link to stop. "U-ugh! M-my face!" he complained as his nose began to bleed badly.

"Let's do some kicking exercise next!" Toon Link said as he started to do some sort of dance, kicking the air in front of him. Outside, the evil racer began to hit his feet against the barrier, causing pain to arise in his legs. "Yeah, keep the rhythm! You're not doing it THAT bad, are you?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Dark Black Shadow screamed in pain, his feet hurting themselves against the barrier. He suddenly stopped and panted heavily. "U-ugh, y-you cockroaches! Y-you're the cause of all of this!" he complained to the Smashers inside the barrier.

"Hey, nobody calls me a cockroach and gets away with it!" Toon Link said. "Let's do some more kicking exercise…and some FACIAL exercise as well!" he suggested, starting to kick the air while smacking his face against the empty air. Some of the younger Smashers began laughing a bit, as Dark Black Shadow smacked his feet and face against the strong barrier, making him scream in pure agony.

C. Falcon watched the scene from a safe distance, grinning and chuckling at his enemy's situation. "Well, I should wrap this up soon," he said, dashing towards Dark Black Shadow.

Link noticed C. Falcon dashing towards Dark Black Shadow. He gasped and turned to Toon Link. "C. Falcon is coming! We have to end this once and for all!"

Toon Link stopped dancing, much for Dark Black Shadow's relief. "Aww, you're no fun, I swear," he said, turning to face C. Falcon so that the evil racer would do the same. Toon Link leaned his face forward so Dark Black Shadow's face would reach a suitable height for a direct Falcon Punch. "Please, do punch him hard!" he said.

"N-no, no, no, no, no!" Dark Black Shadow pleaded while C. Falcon stood in front of his face and pulled his fist back.

"Falcon…" C. Falcon trailed off.

"P-PLEASE, DON'T!"

"PUNCH!" C. Falcon yelled, delivering a strong fiery punch right on Dark Black Shadow's face.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Dark Black Shadow yelled as he rocketed himself against the barrier. The Smashers gasped once that they saw that the barrier itself seemed to be acting weird as it began to act erratic, changing translucent colors so many times. Lucas noticed that it began to shatter apart thanks to a big rip forming over Dark Black Shadow.

"T-the barrier's going to break apart!" Roy yelled.

And for their relief, the barrier broke apart, its pieces shattering and disappearing in thin air. As for Dark Black Shadow, he crashed right between all of them, falling unconscious. Most of them backed away when they saw the Shadow Bugs leaving his body behind. The spores of darkness floated into the air and vanished, leaving no traces behind.

The battle had ended…

"…Thank god it's over," Ness muttered, falling to his knees. "We're free from that barrier, we beat this guy, and now we can do anything we wanted to do before…"

Toon Link stopped standing in his weird position and fell on his rear. "Whew, that's done…" he sighed.

Pikachu smiled a bit and crossed his arms. "You really do a good job yourself. We're so glad to have such a guy like you in our team," he muttered.

Toon Link smiled with a chuckle looking embarrassed at the praise. "Please, knock it off… You're making blush a bit."

C. Falcon walked towards them and sighed. "Phew, thanks for all the help, you guys," he thanked them. "Boy, Black Shadow never got any power like this before…"

"The Subspace Army can do a lot more," Marth said. "Sadly, we have to go ahead and stop them from causing trouble."

Ness looked away bored. "That's the typical hero cliché thing to do. Why, oh why do we have to do it?"

"We're the guys with the portals to go to other worlds," Pikachu said bored. "That's why…"

C. Falcon looked at Black Shadow, fainted on the floor. "Once we get back to safe ground, I'll turn this guy over to the police."

"…A-anyway," Roy began, "since we're done with that guy…" he turned to face the highest point of the Halberd, "why don't we go ahead and take over this ship to give it back to Meta Knight?"

"Right," Nana said. "That's why we're here. And just maybe, we can see if we can find Mr. Game & Watch."

"…Speaking of him, he's standing right over C. Falcon's Blue Falcon," Popo pointed out.

"What?" everyone said confused before noticing that said 2-D person was standing right over the Blue Falcon, looking at them from the top of the windshield.

"H-hey, get down!" C. Falcon yelled. "You're gonna scratch the window with your feet!"

"I doubt his feet can do a small scratch," Pichu said. "I mean, isn't he…flat…literally?"

Marth looked serious. "Something is not right… He might be just another copy and not the real Mr. Game & Watch…"

"Dammit, get down, you evil flat copy!" C. Falcon yelled.

Suddenly, the battleship began to shake itself. The Smashers began tumbling to the sides as they watched the ship tilting down. Most of them lost their balance and fell on the floor. It was not long before they began to slip down towards the long floor. "U-UAH!" Lucas yelped. "W-why is the ship tilting down?" he asked.

Link stopped sliding down and looked up, gritting his teeth. "T-they're trying to shake us off the ship!" he yelled, his fingers starting to slip down more.

"T-they're crazy!" Ness yelled. "They'll just get the ship to crash down if they keep doing this!"

Pichu and Pikachu hung themselves on Marth's cape. The two noticed Black Shadow's body slipping down until it fell away from the ship. "There goes one dead man!" Pikachu yelled. "This world is so cruel to its own people!"

Pichu began to cry loudly. "I don't want to die!" he cried loudly.

C. Falcon looked up to his Blue Falcon. When he noticed, the Mr. Game & Watch copy disappeared from sight. He got alarmed when he saw the Blue Falcon was starting to slip down as well. However, it wasn't just slipping down; it was slipping down towards them. "T-that's dirty! They're using my own racer to push us off!" he yelled.

"You HAD to park that speedy, tight coffin over us, right?" Nana yelled.

"E-everyone!" Toon Link yelled, pointing up towards the Blue Falcon, which began to slide down over them.

"Oh, crud!" they all cursed before the racer slammed down against them, pushing everyone off the Halberd's Deck. They screamed as they disappeared into the dark abyss of the night, trying to find a way to survive the seemingly deep fall. Once they were gone from sight, the Halberd pulled back up into a huge portal to the Subspace where it vanished once it crossed it.

The Smashers yelled as they, along with the Blue Falcon, fell down into the darkness. Many of them didn't know what to do, and they even started to think that they were going to die. "I don't know what to do, and we're going to die!" Lucas yelled.

C. Falcon grunted at this. "T-there should be something we can do to survive this fall!" he yelled, looking over to the Blue Falcon. "M-maybe…t-that's it!" he yelled, reaching out to open the windshield of the car. C. Falcon boarded the cockpit and turned on the engine. He looked at everyone and yelled, "You guys get inside, quick!"

"W-what are you planning to do?" Popo asked.

"Trust me and just get inside the damn cockpit!" he yelled.

Popo crossed his arms. "I want to hear a much more cordial orde-"

"JUST GET INTO THE DAMN CAR!" Nana yelled loudly.

The Smashers tried their best to get into the car. One by one, they boarded it and closed the windshield. They scrambled inside to fit themselves in a suitable space while Marth reached over C. Falcon's seat. "W-what are going to do?" he asked.

C. Falcon spotted a track far away from their position. "There's a track over there! If I turn on the engines and boost them, we might be able to land over it!"

"What are you waiting for? DO IT BEFORE I MAKE AN ACCIDENT IN HERE!" yelled Toon Link.

The Blue Falcon's engines started to rev up wildly. While it fell down, it began to tilt itself forward until it aimed itself to the track. C. Falcon grunted and began boosting the engines so the racer could propel itself towards the track. The Smashers yelled as the Blue Falcon hovered in the air, trying its best to reach the track. C. Falcon gritted his teeth while he kept a tight grip on the steering wheel.

Fortunately, their yells for help soon were listened once the Blue Falcon landed forcefully over the track. The car bumped along the floor before it began to slow down. After crossing over a distance of a hundred meters, it eventually came to a halt.

Everyone looked around in panic before noticing that the danger was gone. They all sighed out loudly as the windshield opened, forcing them to jump out to the floor. C. Falcon sighed at this and jumped out from the Blue Falcon, dusting off his hands before grinning at them. "That was a very wild ride, would you say?" he asked.

"…Shut up…please…before I burn you…" Ness muttered on the floor.

"Unlike you…we're not exactly having high spirits…" Pikachu muttered, standing back up. "We DIDN'T do a thing except for Link here. Our mission failed, and there's nothing else to make up for this big mess!"

"Now that we missed the Halberd, Meta Knight is bound to slit our throats once we tell him the news," Roy said. "Actually…we could just avoid telling him that…"

"We'll tell him," Marth said. "He's not barbaric, Roy. Besides, if he did want his battleship so badly, he would already have threatened all of us."

"Phew, you're right on that…"

C. Falcon chuckled and looked forward to the track. He noticed that they weren't standing over a common track, but the very same track where the F-Zero Grand Prix was being held. "Hey, speaking of the devil. We just arrived in time for the F-Zero Grand Prix to begin!" he said.

"And…your point?" Nana asked.

C. Falcon shook his head. "I'm supposed to be competing right now. If I win, I'll get the prize and the title. If I recall, Blood Falcon went on the loose so he must be there as well."

"And you're going to pursue him," Link said.

"Yeah, I need to do this… Maybe you guys can stick around for a little longer," C. Falcon suggested. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll be done with my things here fast so I can go with you."

Popo looked skeptical. "Take you with us… Hmm…that's a very hard decision to make now…"

"H-hey, don't do this to me! Thanks to me, you were able to get around the whole place, right?"

"Yes, but we DIDN'T do much still," Ness reminded him.

"I did," Toon Link said proudly. "Yup, I know I can get used to work like you do. I just can't wait to see what else is waiting for me in the futu-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Toon Link screamed as his body was electrocuted by an angry Pikachu, who stood closed and used Thunder on him. Once it stopped, Toon Link tumbled to the sides while his eyes spun out of sync. "Y-you get so pissed easily, y'know…" he muttered before falling down unconscious.

Marth sighed at this and looked at C. Falcon. "If you're so sure that you'll be done fast…then please you lead the way."

C. Falcon grinned and nodded. "It's a deal, then! C'mon, you've got to take some seats with the public!" he said, boarding the Blue Falcon.

Lucas sighed depressed and looked up at the starry night sky. "(Things really went so wild in here…but we pulled through somehow… I wonder how the others are doing right now…I hope they're okay…)"

?

Instead of the majestic corridors of the Sanctuary Fortress being shown, a totally different area was shown. The scene had a dark swamp extending over the horizon, under the shades of shady trees of different gloomy colors. Bushes usually blocked the sight to see further away and the gloomy sky, along with the thick trees' branches and leaves. In the middle of all the gloominess, some kind of sanctuary where flat goblin-looking people (called D-Men) walked about was found. The demons were all wearing business suits as they attended several blue flames that looked exactly the same from each other.

Across the long hall, a woman awaited the flames to come to her. The woman dressed in a very odd manner, dressing in purple and black garments together with a purple-and-black hat with three spiked ends over her purple head. Perhaps the most noticeable feature was the fact that her arms weren't visible; something she usually complained about. She was the ruler of the whole place, even the boss of the D-Men.

"The work for the queen of Game Overs never ends," she said. "Why must I deal with this? Well, maybe I'm the only one who can do it. It makes me feel very special," she mused to herself.

A D-Man walked towards her. "Queen Jaydes, someone wants to see you," he said. "The next soul is ready for you to judge."

"Let him in, D-Man," Jaydes ordered. "Let's see what this unfortunate life went through."

The D-Man nodded and turned to the west. "Hey, you, the new soul! Come in here! Queen Jaydes would you like to have a word with you!"

A blue soul, which greatly resembled a floating blue flame, floated towards the queen. The soul seemed to be shivering as it looked around in panic. "Oh, please, don't panic, little one," Jaydes said. "Welcome to the Underwhere, young one. If you are here that means you died. There's a time when you will make a big mistake and fall into a pit of spikes. Worse yet, you get crushed by an ultimate boss's foot or die by chocking on your own food."

The soul looked at her fairly freaked out. "U-um, can you please be a little bit more…nice?"

Jaydes looked a bit mad. "Oh, please, you've got to accept the time where your lives run out at last. Don't be so prudent."

"W-would you please be nice, still?"

Jaydes sighed. "Souls these days really like to ask for a lot of stuff when they get over here."

The soul sniffed sadly. "B-but I don't know what to do anymore… I lost my body and became a soul like you say…a-and…a-and…I-I don't want to be here…"

Jaydes stared at the soul sobbing silently. "Please, don't cry, little one. It's all good. Once you get over this side, you don't have to worry about many things. In fact, you don't experience pain while being here."

The soul looked bored at her. "I think I wasn't clear enough, but what I wanted to ask for is GO BACK WITH MY FRIENDS INSTEAD OF ROTTING IN HERE ALONE!" he yelled before he started to sob again. "R-really, I just don't want to be here…"

"…Fine, let's see why you died," Jaydes said, taking a good look at the soul. "Your name is Chris. You were killed by psychic blows to your body… Hmm, the attack was just too much for you, apparently…"

The soul, Chris, nodded. "Y-yes, that's why I died…"

"Well, you're lucky today because that is good enough for me to bring you back to where you died," Jaydes said.

Chris kept looking down. "B-but…"

Jaydes noticed that another soul was waiting for her just behind Chris. "I hate when souls keep other souls from coming to me. Excuse me, but I'll have to attend that other panicked soul," she said.

The D-Man turned to the other soul. "Queen Jaydes wants to speak with you!" he told the soul, who shyly floated towards Jaydes and looked up at her.

"Let's see… You're…Klonoa, the Dream Traveler, right?" Jaydes said.

Chris looked at the soul. "(Wait, he's the Klonoa I know? The same one who is a…cabbit?)"

The soul nodded and sniffed. "Y-yes, I'm Klonoa… I…I fell into an abyss and I…"

"Your skull broke and you died instantly because you bled so much, making a big pool of your own blood," Jaydes said.

Chris gapped his mouth at this while the soul Klonoa did the same thing. It was such a very twisted yet simple sentence that made them both look horrified at the thought.

"…What? That's one of the most common causes of deaths around these parts," Jaydes said, oblivious to the fact both were still horrified at her words. "But, don't fear, Klonoa. Your death wasn't meant to happen in that gruesome way. As the queen of Game Overs, I shall bring you back to life…on a safe spot so you continue your journey."

"U-um, thanks…" Klonoa said horrified.

Jaydes suddenly began to concentrate as magic covered Klonoa. "GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER...CONTINUE!" she chanted, her garments opening up somehow.

Before his eyes, Chris saw as Klonoa was pulled into some sort of kaleidoscopic portal that appeared right over the cabbit. Klonoa blinked shocked at this before the cabbit, along with the odd-looking portal, disappeared from sight.

"Heroes have to keep on fighting," Jaydes told Chris. "They're my only way to get less work, anyway."

The teen sweat dropped at this. "U-um, well, can I go back to my friends? They're surely worrying sick about me…"

Jaydes took a closer look at Chris. "Hmm, wait… Are you perhaps a member of the so-called Smashers?"

"…My god, that nickname REALLY sounds…so bad…" Chris muttered. "E-er, yes, I'm part of them…"

"That's more of a good reason to send you back to them," Jaydes said.

Chris gasped. "What? I just needed to be part of them to get back?"

"Oh no, that's not how it works," Jaydes said. "I watch every single move a hero out there does to save people. Do you really think I look like a workaholic? I HATE to do this work a lot. It keeps me away from enjoying some quality time with my beloved Luvbi. Of course, I don't get away with it and revive all heroes. They all have lives that they must guard at all times."

"Lives… Wait…I have lives?" Chris asked.

"You do," Jaydes said. "Thanks to this little death, your life count was reduced to two. If you are killed two more times, it's a definite Game Over for you. That's it, you won't get back, no superhuman force will guide you back, it'll be the end for you." She sighed. "Video games are that complicated…"

"You know…all the worlds out there are video games, then?" Chris asked shocked.

"Duh! Why am I the queen of all Game Overs? It was obvious that Game Overs ONLY exist in video games!" Jaydes said. "Everyone here knows that we all belong to some sort of video game, but I rule over all the worlds by being the queen of all Game Overs. Technically speaking, all the worlds are connected to this place. No matter where you die, you'll end up with pretty me here."

"Oh…that's pretty…useful, actually…" Chris remarked.

"In any case, I'm straying far away from the topic," Jaydes said. "You're part of the Smashers, right? I just love when heroes unite for a common goal. They save me much more time with people ending up here." She eyed Chris. "…That's strange…"

"W-what?"

"You don't seem to belong anywhere in any realm of video games… Why is that?"

Chris shifted his eyes a bit. "T-that's because…I'm…part of the real world…outside the video games…"

All the D-Men and Jaydes looked shocked at this. They all stared at Chris as if he had done something beyond humiliating.

"…W-what?" Chris asked.

Jaydes snapped out from her senses and cleared her throat. "I-I knew that'd be the most possible answer for this…" she said. Jaydes looked at her subordinates and said, "Alright, everyone, please move along and return to your duties."

All the D-Men snapped out and resumed working.

Jaydes looked serious at Chris. "What is this supposed to mean, exactly? There hasn't been an event where a human from the real world intervened in these realms. But even so, it seems you have assimilated with the rules of the realms…Tell me something. Do you know how you were dragged into this?"

Chris looked confused and shook his head. "I-I'm afraid to say that I don't know what brought me here in the first place… Maybe…it was destiny or something?"

Jaydes looked annoyed. "That's the most overused reason I've ever heard. There must be a more plausible explanation for this weird event. I am worried that this might happen to others in your world."

A D-Man walked nearby. "You're just worried because it'll bring more work for you."

"Your salary shall be reduced."

The D-Man started crying. "N-no, please, don't be so angry at me, Queen Jaydes! Please, spare me!"

"I'll spare you if you stop reminding me about work."

"F-fine, as you wish, milady," the D-Man sniffed, walking away from them.

Jaydes turned back to Chris. "This intrigues me a lot… But I shall send you back with your group. I want to have less work as possible."

Chris blinked skeptically. "You really hate your work, don't you?"

"Ugh, I'd like to get my own Game Over, but that's impossible for me," Jaydes said. "As for your inexplicable appearance in these realms, I shall find out what the force that brought you here was… Oh, by the way, you have two lives left. You are killed twice again; it'll be over for you. Be more careful, please."

Chris nodded. "O-okay, I'll be careful."

"Don't you dare slack off on me. I hate slackers more than anything else."

Chris looked pissed. "You're just saying that because we make you work less!"

"Right."

Chris remained silent at this response.

"…One more thing before I send you back," Jaydes said. "Please, don't tell anyone that this place exists. Many of the people you live with haven't died once and reached the Underwhere. I don't want them to know because it could make them…feel so sure that they will revive. If they think that, I won't make their wishes true once they arrive here."

"But what about Klonoa?" Chris asked. "He knows that this pla-"

"I brainwashed his mind after he crossed the portal," Jaydes explained. "Sadly, I can't do it with you because you don't belong in these realms." She looked serious. "You tell them about this and you will suffer here, got that?"

"…O-okay," Chris said gulping. "…One more question."

"Ugh, what?"

"Does everyone else back at the mansion have lives?"

"They have a lot more than you, that's for sure," Jaydes said. "You're WAY behind the ninety-nine lives mark."

"…They ALL have beyond ninety-nine lives?"

"You just started your work here," Jaydes pointed out.

"Does that mean I can get more lives?"

"I'm afraid not," Jaydes said. "You're technically a very fresh new character without a video game world. As a rule, all fresh characters start with three lives. Those three lives WILL have to be protected if you want to keep them. There's absolutely NO way you can get more lives."

"…" Chris gulped. "O-okay, I-I'll be extremely careful…"

"…Anyway, go, go, go!" Jaydes instructed as she began focusing magic on Chris. "GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER, GAME OVER...CONTINUE!" she chanted, sending Chris back to the living world through the same portal.

Another D-Man walked nearby and looked at her. "Queen Jaydes, we've got another character from an anime-looking world. Here he is," he said, looking over to a very hyperactive soul.

"Where the hell am I? I wanna go back to Konoha, you grandma!" the soul demanded. "I'm Naruto, and you better believe that I'll make a ruckus if I stay in here any longer! That stupid Haku isn't gonna get away this time!"

Jaydes looked bored at no one in particular. "Seriously, when are people going to learn that turning animes into video games is a very bad idea when it comes down to my eternal job?" she asked annoyed.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Sanctuary Fortress

-Sanctuary Energy Controller-

Samus' group had reached the light world, where they arrived at the Sanctuary Energy Controller room where a big spherical machine awaited Samus to send back the light energy of the temple. Instead of doing it first, she carried Chris's corpse on her arms while Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Red carried the unconscious Lucario.

"Are you sure that using the light of the temple will bring Chris back?" Zelda asked, having changed back to her usual self.

"Like I said before, it's worth a shot," Samus said, looking at Chris. "It…brings me so much pain in seeing him like this…"

Mewtwo looked away, grimacing a bit. "I will never let my guard down and let that Subspace scums take over me again…"

Meta Knight looked at Mewtwo. "Please, do not feel rage against them. Right now, you should calm down and think about what to do for now."

Mewtwo sighed. "You are right on that," he said.

Fox looked saddened as he looked at Chris. "(…Please…just come back to us so I can apologize…)" he thought sadly.

Samus set Chris down on the floor. Once she did so, she aimed her arm cannon at him as it radiated with holy light. "Well, here goes," she said, shooting an ethereal light to Chris's body.

Unbeknownst to them, the ethereal light didn't do any other effect than making Chris's body shine. Behind the scenes, his injuries were quickly healing up by themselves, and his traces of blood soon vanished from all over his body. All deep scars were soon replaced by normal skin, and the silence around the room was shattered as soon as some grumbles were heard coming from him.

Falco gasped and shook Samus' shoulder. "W-wait, he's coming back to us!" he yelled.

"What?" Samus said, stopping shooting the light on Chris.

"…M-my…head…"

The Smashers stared at the corpse, which now had been nursed back to normal. The teen's eyes slowly opened up, staring up at the pale green sky over the fortress of machines. His vision was a bit blurry, but it quickly turned back to normal, and soon he sat up and looked around confused. The group could just only stare.

Wolf blinked shocked at this. He and everyone else couldn't believe that the teen could be brought back to life just by getting shot by some light. The teen stretched his arms and yawned a bit.

"…Huh?" Chris opened his eyes fully and looked at the Smashers. "U-um…h-hi, everyone…" he muttered, blushing in embarrassment. "I-I'm back…"

Red gapped his mouth and shook his head. "I-I see it and I don't believe it…" he muttered.

"H-he…h-he…h-he came back to us…" Squirtle muttered, sniffing a bit. "I-it's that miracles do exist…and they…they do happen as well…"

Fonic Kirby's eyes filled with tears before he broke out crying and jumped towards Chris, giving him a warm hug. "C-Chris, you're back!" Fonic Kirby rejoiced, shocking the World Traveler. "I-I thought you were never going to come back!"

"K-Kirby!" Chris said before he hugged the puffball and rubbed his cheek against his. "Oh, Kirby, please, don't cry! I-I missed you as well! A-And I missed everyone else too!"

This little scene was enough for Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Fox, Falco, and Zelda to join them and make a big group hug. Most of them rejoiced so much that some of them began shedding tears happily. The World Traveler shed tears of happiness as each one of them welcomed him back to the group while Samus, Wolf, Meta Knight, and Mewtwo watched them rejoicing.

"…I did it…"Samus muttered. "The light of Aether brought Chris back…"

Wolf frowned and looked away. "Guess the kid is really a cockroach…"

"I would not like to address him as a bug," Meta Knight said. "Please watch your mouth."

"Whatever, you little knight," Wolf mocked.

After a while of rejoicing at Chris's revival, the group calmed down while the teen regained his composure. The teen sighed, standing in front of everyone. "I…I'm so happy to be back with all of you."

"So, did you go to heaven or hell?" Wolf asked.

The World Traveler wanted to say where he went, but he couldn't break the promise he made with Jaydes. "…I went to… Actually, I don't know where I went," he lied.

"I expected you to be so clueless."

"W-what was that supposed to mean?" Chris asked embarrassed.

Zelda chuckled and smiled at Chris. "It's good to have you back with us. You really made us feel worry sick…"

Chris smiled. "W-well, that really proves I'm a very important person to you. It's good to know you care for me that much…" He looked at Mewtwo and gasped. "Y-you were able to beat him?"

Mewtwo nodded. "I'm sorry for causing a lot of trouble. I should've known that no one can escape the Shadow Bugs' influence when they take over your body."

Chris looked away. "I-I know what you mean…a-and I'm sure I was the one who suffered the most…"

Zelda looked sternly at Fox, Falco, and Wolf. The first two looked apologetic at this while the lupine looked away with a grunt. "Now…or else I'll…" she muttered.

Fox and Falco gasped and looked at Chris. "C-Chris, we're really sorry for messing this up big time!" Falco yelled. "P-please, man, forgive us! W-we shouldn't have fought against each other while you were all fighting Mewtwo by yourselves!"

Fox nodded quickly. "Y-yeah, we won't make the same mistake ever again. We learned our lesson this time."

Chris scratched his right arm and looked away. "H-how can I trust you two right now? Y-you're so…so unbelievable!"

Fox and Falco closed their eyes and looked down.

"If you really want to apologize to me, apologize to each other!" Chris yelled, turning back to them. "You're supposed to be a team, aren't you? I'd like to hear some apologies but to each other instead of me!"

Fox and Falco looked at each other. "…He does have a point when he's saying we're a team…" Falco muttered.

Fox sighed. "Yeah, he's right on that…" He slowly held out his hand at Falco. "So…pals again?"

Falco stared at Fox's hand. "…Pals again," he sighed, doing a handshake with Fox.

Chris looked skeptical at this. "Not so fast, you two. Handshake each other for twenty seconds straight if you're really sorry."

The two shook their heads and looked back at Chris. "W-what?" Falco said bewildered.

"It's just nineteen seconds more! You won't get each other's fleas or something!"

Fox looked a bit angry. "I-I don't have an-"

Zelda coughed a bit.

Fox and Falco grumbled and kept handshaking each other's hand for twenty seconds straight, fuming a bit in embarrassment. After the specified time elapsed, they both looked away from each other.

Chris chuckled and walked towards them. Seeing them both once more, he laughed a bit and hugged them together, making them look surprised. "Thank you so much, you two… I hope you really learned your lesson," Chris said. "I know this is a bit sudden…but I know everything will be alright from now on."

Fox and Falco looked at each other once more. Surprisingly enough, Fox chuckled and hugged Chris back. Falco, frowning at this, decided to hug Chris as well. "Oh god. Why do you have to do this to us, Chris?" Falco asked. "This is plain cruel torture."

"But you've got to admit you three look cute together when you're hugging each other," remarked Zelda while some of them chuckled at the little scene.

The three stopped hugging each other and looked embarrassed. "I-I had to do it!" Chris said in his defense, making most of them laugh for a bit.

When they calmed down, Chris looked back to Wolf. The lupine looked at the teen and sighed. "What, you want me to handshake and hug them? You're out of luck for that," Wolf said.

Chris shook his head. "If…you want, Wolf, you can leave us… It's not like anyone is holding you hostage…"

Wolf shook his head and chuckled. "Are you nuts, kid?" he asked amused. "These two are just too much fun to watch from a safe distance. I won't cause any trouble to any of you, but I'll stay with your bunch and see what's in store for me."

Falco looked pissed. "Are you gonna stay here just to laugh at us when we do something wrong?"

"Mostly, but I'll give a helping hand should you need me to beat the army."

"You little son of a-" Falco was restrained by Samus, making him look away annoyed.

Wolf looked serious and crossed his arms. "I have to admit that those guys are a real pain in the butt. If I stay with you, I'm gonna have a very good reason to oppose them." He closed his eye and shook his head. "It's foolish to beat them all by myself…" He grinned and opened his eye. "This might as well be the best thing that has happened to me before, so you better get used to have a ruffian in your league."

Fox pointed at Wolf. "You do something fishy and I'll-"

"Settle down, Fox. I already said I wasn't going to cause any trouble," Wolf interrupted. "Stop glaring at me with that nasty face of yours, you got that?"

Fox grunted and lowered down his hand. "Fine, but I'll be watching your every move."

"Same here, Fox, same here…"

Chris blinked a bit once he heard some deep grumbled coming from behind the Smashers. He looked behind them where Lucario started to wake up. "Huh? Why is Lucar-"

Falco quickly covered the teen's mouth and pointed at him. "You better listen to me before you talk with him! We're responsible of you getting killed off, so we don't want him to know that! If he gets to know what happened after he was knocked out, Fox, Wolf, and I are all dead meat on his hands, you got it? Don't you DARE tell him you ever died!"

Chris looked a bit panicked at this and pushed Falco's hand away. "O-okay, I-I understand! I-I won't tell him!" he said.

"U-ugh…" Lucario muttered, sitting up on the floor as he shook his head. "D-did…we win?" he asked before Chris passed the Smashers and went to hug Lucario by his side, shocking him a bit. "C-Chris?"

"O-oh, Lucario! I-I'm so glad to see you again!" Chris rejoiced. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

Lucario blinked confused at this and hugged Chris back. "But, Chris…why are you saying something like that? It's not like you or me died or something…"

The teen gasped mentally, and so did Fox and Falco. "I-I'm just glad that we rescued Mewtwo… It REALLY got nasty after he knocked you out."

Lucario looked up at Mewtwo. "So…you're back," he said.

Mewtwo nodded. "Like I said before, I'm sorry for making a lot of trouble to you. So please, Lucario, I hope you can forgive me."

Lucario and Chris stood up from the floor. "It's okay," Lucario said nodding. "I blame the Subspace Army for what happened to you. I forgive you, Mewtwo."

"Thank you," Mewtwo said.

Zelda clapped her hands together to get their attention. "Well! This was sure a long day, wouldn't everyone agree?" she asked. "Sadly, it's time for us to go. Samus, are you going to stay behind?"

Samus nodded. "I'm sorry, but you guys will have a very bad time dealing with the Ing. I can take care of myself just fine. I always work alone most of the time, anyway… But, really, thanks for all your help."

Red sighed. "I guess everything is okay for now…"

Falco raised a finger. "Before we go, I'd like to see how Samus looks like a girl or a boy."

Samus sighed and began clicking some buttons on her arm cannon. "Let's end this stupid business about my true gender. It's obvious to see you won't stop bothering me with it…"

Falco looked pleased as Samus' armor shone, forcing her to done her Zero Suit.

Smash Mansion

Command Room

"…So, why is it that most of you plugged your noses with toilet paper?" Master Hand asked.

Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Fox, Falco, an annoyed Wolf, and even Chris himself were all covering their noses with paper due to their noses bleeding for some reason. Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Fonic Kirby, Lucario, and Zelda just could only shake their heads.

"O-one thing…" Falco began, "…you should really warn us males about the little female cast we have here…

"Also, please tell us beforehand that some of them have a rather big… You know what I mean…" Fox trailed off.

"…Bunch of perverts," Master Hand muttered.

"I-I swear my nose bled just because I had a bit of a fever!" Chris said in his defense. "D-don't think other crazy things, please! I-I'm a very clean person myself!"

"Oh, please, you're as dirty as Wolf is," Falco muttered.

Chris groaned once Wolf glared at Falco. "For the love of god, stop arguing!" he yelled.

Master Hand turned to Mewtwo. "I'm glad that you were able to come back to us, Mewtwo. Maybe you could tell us what happened to you in your struggle against the Subspace Army?"

Mewtwo looked away. "…Maybe I'll tell…or maybe not."

"?" Master Hand tilted himself confused at this. "(Oh well, everyone's fine, so that's something I should relish for now…)"

MISSION FAILED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 200 SMASH COINS!

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 900 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

References:

-"Tales of the Abyss – Awkward Justice" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you fight the six God Generals.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Cutting Edge of Notion" is a song reference to the same game. It is the main battle theme for random battles, and occasionally some storyline battles.

I like this version better than the original. It fills the plot-holes that it had before nicely. The concept about the Underwhere being the only point that all worlds connect came as an idea after playing through Super Paper Mario. Personally, it adds more depth into the story.

With Mewtwo rescued, and C. Falcon joining back with the group, the story will just keep getting better. However…the next chapter will begin the era of new specials to come…

I encourage any Underwhere fanatic to review. :)
*Chapter 75*: Wish Upon a Geno

Actually, this is a special of 2 Mansion chapters, I hope you all out there enjoy it! :)

From Seitei: That. Was. EPIC.

I really liked this one; Chris' insecurity from deep within welled up and ultimately killed him. In light of his temporary death, Fox and his two buddy-pals (Yes.) finally stopped arguing and being just plain morons. I still hope there's some good Star Fox bashing, though.

And Caramelldansen? Dude, now I've got that image of EVERYONE doing it. S'okay, though.

I've also discovered (a bit late, funnily enough) that everything becomes more epic when I listen to the music. Gotta start doing that now.

Other than that, I look forward to your mansion chapter.

From me: Your review has the kind I was looking for, thanks for doing the suggestions of music, it changes the story a lot. :)

From narutofan714: wait a minute...what the crap!? XD how in heck did naruto get there

and good chapter so far, and ROTFLMAO at the samus part

From me: Hm...LOL. XD

From TARDISrevierwer: I've signed up just to review this. one word describes this chapter; EPIC.

will you do a Shadow the Hedgehog arc? (I wanna see Chaos Blast!)From me: Nope, I won't do that arc, I don't know anything about that game and I'm not planning do it, sorry, but there is another Sonic arc later.

From Anakin Mario son43: Good Chapter! a Naruto Reference is as good as a Naruto Arc.

From me: No Naruto arc, sorry.

From hornedjolteon: Caramelldansen! Ooh ooh oa oa LOL yayz mansion chapter! bore- I'm Naruto! BELIEVE I- turns demon form and kills naruto twice so he has no lifes left finnaly. will there be a point where the you in the story loses two more lives and they have to go to super paper mario?

From me: You're as crazy as Mariko-ai-chan. XD

And for the Super Paper Mario...well, this is an arc planned too.

From Nintendogeek01: Caramelldansen! LOL!

That was a great fight chapter. Black Shadow's fight was more comical than anything, and the vs. Mewtwo fight was good as well. I liked it a lot. Well done.

From me: Phew! I managed to make it up for the last chapter for you, didn't I? ;)

From Chef Colette: Great chapter!
The Underwhere,huh?Now I know where my Fire Emblem units go when they die!(Because in FE games,when a unit is killed,he or she dies for good.)
Boyd:(now a blue flame): Where am I?Oscar?Rolf?And am I a blue flame?
This is because I lost Boyd in Chapter 7 of Fire Emblem,Path of radience.
Anyway,this chapter was very well written
Keep up the great work!

From me: ...Dunno what is Fire Emblem still...and now I can see you're Chef Colette since you put "Great chapter!" at the first part of your reviews. XD

From Ninja Lucario: As always a great chapter! Can't wait for the next one. Truly a great fight sequece, I was sort of weirded out when Chris almost died, NO! Chris! XD

I wonder what Lucario and the others would do if Chris was actually captured by the subspace army? (hint)

Keep writing I love your stories.

Signing off,
Ninja Lucario

From me: ...About the capture part...nevermind...thanks. :)

From Rellymaster: Your best chapter yet! It was awesome and pretty tragic, since Chris actually died (Oh no!). Awesome choice of music and I like your choice of the Underwhere since all worlds ARE connected. I also like that Toon Link used his Wind Waker to control Dark Black Shadow.
Thankfully, Chris wasn't dead completely, which would kill everyone if Lucario found out.
Your new rank:...There's nothing higher, unfortunately...

From me: I look carefully for which music I need to use before I write the moment and time, fortunately, it turns out well.

From Double Dee Edd Boy: Best chapter ever! The Underwhere (I almost spelled Underwear!) was very creative of you! That explains so much for me. XP

I couldn't help bout think after Fox, Falco, Wolf, Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur saw Samus' breasts, they would totally lose focus on the entire Subspace Army and spend most of the time saying, "Boobies!"

From me: ...You have a sick mind for the last word...

AHEM! Glad that explained the things to you. :)

So now, enjoy the special of 2 chapters, we have surprises and unexplained things to solve for the next chapter, so don't worry!

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 75: Wish Upon a Geno

Smash Mansion
Infirmary

The World Traveler watched Crazy Hand putting the blood in each one of them, which made him to sweatdrop and look to the sane brother. "Were you worried when I was killed?"

"Of course I was! I can't let a Smasher like you to be lost on this mission, but I couldn't do anything to help, sorry." Master Hand apologized.

"...It's okay...but...have Marth's team returned already?"

"No, they haven't, wait for them until they can return, in the meantime, why don't all of you go to Nintendo City? It's still early to go."

"...Nintendo City?... Yes, I remember Ness told me about it."

"That city is a grand metropolis where you can find almost any kind of people there, like Koopas, Shy Guys, even Pokémon are living there!"

"Where is it?" Chris asked and Master Hand told him to look out the window.

"Crossing that big hill from over there, it oddly covers the sight from the city from here."

"...Oh well, I want to go now!"

"And before you go...here, a list."

"...Wait a minute, this is a list for doing grocery and we have still plenty of food!"

"We had, Kirby went to the kitchen and ate all of it, Meta Knight couldn't stop him from going since he helped you to carry these guys here."

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPPPPP!!"

"That was Kirby." Master Hand pointed out.

"...Before I go...I want to ask those 3 a question...but the most sane of them is Fox so..." He walked to Fox. "Are you and Falco friends again?"

"Of course, Christopher!" Fox replied dumbly.

"...My name is Chris..."

"Right, Napoleon!"

"...Is CHRIS!"

"Betty?"

Chris groaned. "Whatever, I talk to you once you get 80 percent of your blood back as the other, you still have 30 percent to gain 100." He walked away from the infirmary...or rather itched and ran away.

"See ya, buddy!"

Hallway

"We have things to do now," Chris announced. "We have to go to Nintendo City and get this list of groceries done, since Kirby ate all the food of the kitchen."

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPP!! Sorry!" Kirby apologized from the kitchen.

"I'm not doing stuff for girls." Meta Knight said, turning away to his room.

"So do I." Mewtwo said, turning away to his room.

"Wait! Aren't you going to tell us what happened to you when you were captive and when they captured you in Kanto?" Chris shouted asking.

Mewtwo looked to him from his shoulder. "...In another time." And he teleported to his room, instead of walking.

"..." He looked at his Aura Pokémon with crossed arms, leaned to the wall. "...Do you want to come with me?"

"I don't have anything to do here." Lucario responded.

"Are you coming?"

"Yes."

"I-I want to go too!" Pit said raising his hand and throwing his jewelry away, disappearing for good.

"Me too! The city surely changed a little when we left!" Jigglypuff said excited.

"Wait!" Zelda appeared from the door of the infirmary and closed it. "I'm coming too, I want to see the city again."

"Okay, thanks for coming with us." Chris said smiling a little and the 5 walked down the hallway.

Command Room

They walked passing the Command Room, finding Master Hand floating around, apparently, he was waiting for the others to finish with C. Falcon.

"Master Hand? Are you waiting for the others?" Pit asked.

"Yes, I have good news too, they managed to recruit C. Falcon to our team." Master Hand announced.

Zelda frowned. "You had to invite him again."

"What? Is there a problem with him?"

"Well, he's one of the pervert guys of the mansion, and he doesn't knows that Samus is a woman too."

"...Your point?"

"He will probably hide on the bathroom to see a girl naked!... Save for Jigglypuff and Nana."

"He's a pervert?" Chris and Pit asked in unison.

"And one of the worst, too...if you have the chance to let him go to a world where there are beautiful women, please don't do it."

Chris got in a thinking position. "Hmm...I'm sorry, but I'm a good person."

"You can be bad for once." Master Hand suggested.

"No! I don't want to!"

Just then, a small alarm played on the desk and Master Hand looked at it. "Oh! They're done, it's time for them to return here." He snapped his fingers and a portal appeared, then, Marth's team stepped out...severly hurt...except for C. Falcon. "...What happened to all of you?"

"NEVER, AND I SAY IT, NEVER GO TO THE PLACES THIS GUY GOES!" Pikachu said, all burned.

"W-w-w-w-we went to a space full of...nothing...it creeps me out..." Lucas muttered, trembling in fear.

"What do you mean by that?" Pit asked.

Ness (with a small fire on his hat that vanished by a tiny portion of Lucas's PK Freeze) raised his hand. "We watched a race with high speed machines, unfortunately, Link thought it was a good idea to stand on the edge to cheer on C. Falcon, but the idiot slipped and fell on the track, and was ran over by 29 machines! Then, C. Falcon won the race and something came up again, we went to a very dangerous tunnel with fire sprouting all over the place, there, he had another race with a weird guy showing his brain on his head, for our bad luck, we were burned to DEATH!" He explained to them angrily.

Roy decided to narrate the next part. "Once we arrived at C. Falcon's secret house, he put these belts together that he won, but then, we were transported into a weird, paradox-dimension-distortion-data-information-thing which was WAY weirder, ghosts challenged him into a race, I mean, what the hell?! They appeared out of nowhere! Good thing he won against the creators or something!"

"...(Well, they do have a point, the last part of the game was random...)" Chris thought when he noticed C. Falcon standing in front of him.

"Hi kid, my name is Captain Falcon." C. Falcon introduced himself, doing a handshake.

A vein popped out from Chris's forehead, but he was still smiling a little. "N-nice to meet you, my name is Chris."

"Yeah, they told me a lot about you, you're new around here, right?"

"Yes! I imagine they also told you that I'm a human of the real world, right?"

"Of course! I almost forgot about that!" C. Falcon said frowning a little before laughing. "Hey, how 'bout if you show me your mov-"

Chris quickly blocked his mouth, disgusted. "Er...sorry sir, but I'm afraid I don't want to do it, RIGHT NOW."

NEWCOMER!

Captain Falcon joined your team!

He unblocked his mouth. "It's nice to have you on our team, we need all the help we can get from everybody to defeat the Subspace Army."

"Don't you hate those guys? They almost kill me when Black Shadow was manipulated by them!"

"...Um...yes...I do...a lot...believe me..."

C. Falcon wondered why he looked down. "It's there something wrong?"

Chris quickly shook his head. "N-no! Nothing is wrong!"

He sighed. "Good to hear that...heeeeeey, Zelda, nice new look you got there."

Zelda rolled her eyes as a response.

"And who is this dog?" C. Falcon asked as he looked at Lucario, who grunted in irritation.

"He is Lucario, a new Smasher, is also my friend and guardian." Chris pointed out. "Watch out, though, he can be a little bit too strong."

"...But he's all skinny and no muscles!" The Aura Pokémon grunted longer. "I'll test him out with something simple, here, try to crush my fist." He put his fist in front of Lucario and the Aura Pokémon covered it using his right hand.

"...Lucario, don't over do it with your brute force please..." Chris warned him worried.

C. Falcon laughed. "C'mon, do it with all your forces! Show me your power! Bring it on!" He taunted.

"Fine." Was Lucario's response.

Outside

"YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Command Room

C. Falcon was moaning on the floor, holding his right hand in pain.

"How amusing." Zelda said amused, chuckling.

"...Okay...I recognize your strength...ouch..." C. Falcon said moaning a little.

"That's my Lucario!" Chris said rubbing Lucario's head, who replied with a happy growl.

"...More like...killer Lucario..."

"...Why is Toon Link all badly beaten up?"

Toon Link had smoke coming from his tunic, cap and boots. "I'm...Link..."

"We don't want to remember, really." Nana said glaring at Toon Link.

"But he needs medical treatment immediately!"

"HOLD ON!" Crazy Hand appeared with a poof of smoke on his counter and they looked at him. "CHRIS! YOU GOTTA TRY THE NEW JOB I JUST RECENTLY MADE FOR YOU! IT'S VERY SPECIAL AND HELPFUL!"

He shouted loudly enough to make a huge wave of wind around the room, making most of their hairs spikier than usual. "FINE, FINE! SHOW ME THAT JOB!" Chris said with a spiky hair that he quickly fixed.

Smash Coins is hand: 5600

Psychic User - 900 Smash Coins

Musician - 2000 Smash Coins

D: Have you ever wanted to be a person that knows how to use flutes, guitars, harps, the piano and pretty much every kind of instrument out there? Well, fear no more! Using this job will allow you to become a perfect musician that can use all kinds of songs and music! That is not all, in battle, support your allies by increasing their strength, defense and other things, it also have different debuffs for enemies, play your way to the victory!

"...2000 Smash Coins?!" Chris said utterly shocked.

"It is a very good job, give it a try!" Crazy Hand suggested.

"...Ugh, fine! Be happy that I have a lot of money right now!"

When Chris gave 2000 Smash Coins, his clothes once again changed, he had now a golden harp on his right arm, a blue bandana around his head (with red and green colors in a zig-zag desing), his shirt had like 3 blue triangles of the same design of his bandana (his arms were getting out the triangles's upper edges...or more specifically, a triangle was on the front and 2 were behind his back), long blue sleeves, blue pants with brown boots.

"...A harp?" Chris asked confused, looking at his harp.

"Try to play something! It's going to surprise you!"

Chris gulped a little, it was his first time he ever used an instrument...save for the piano on his house, which he didn't used a lot. "...L-let's see...hmm...I know this one...Soul Etude!"

He began to play his harp with perfect synchronization and an enthusiastic and happy atmosphere fell around the room, all the Smashers and the hands were feeling very well, especially Lucario, who was enjoying how his master played the harp without any error on his tunes.

"...There!" Chris said happily, finishing his play as everyone clapped at him, making him to blush, embarrassed. "...It was good?"

"Good? That was like holy angels singing!" Pit remarked.

"I even feel more healthy out of a sudden!" Toon Link said happily.

"Me too!" The Ice Climbers replied in unison, happily.

"My wounds healed a little bit in the process." Link pointed out.

"That's right!" Crazy Hand said. "Soul Etude heals all the party members close to an area a little of their energies, there are a lot of songs that you can discover while you earn experience in battles!"

"I feel honored to have someone like you that can play that well." Lucario said kneeling to Chris.

His trainer rubbed his head with care. "Thank you so much, Lucario, I feel really embarrassed now!" Chris said blushing a little. "...Hey, it heals wounds a little but...wait for me here, I have something to do on the infirmary." He ran to the infirmary and they were thinking why.

Before hearing the song again and 6 greetings were heard, like "Wow! I feel much better! That song has magical powers! Thanks Chris, that was good. Hmph. I'm not stupid anymore!" Chris's Soul Etude was enough to heal the others back at the infirmary, which regained their energy (and intelligence) back to them, then he told them to wait outside because they were going to Nintendo City to do something, the World Traveler returned to the Command Room. "All right, I'm good to go to Nintendo City now." Chris said.

"Nintendo City?! We're going there?! Hurray!" Pichu said excited.

C. Falcon finished introducing himself to Pit. "Hey, Master Hand, can you give me my Brawl form?"

"Why, of course." Master Hand snapped his fingers and C. Falcon's form changed to his Brawl form, the captain flexed one arm and grinned.

"Heh, I like this new look, sharper, a little stronger-" Chris snickered a little at this part. "-and above all, "handsomer" than usual! Do you want to go out for a da-"

"Sorry, you're not my type." Zelda said walking away and C. Falcon felt horrible out of a sudden.

"...Oh well, I can always try again." He said and earned a glare from Link.

Outside

Twilight Town - Sora's Side

All the Smashers (except for Mewtwo and Meta Knight) were now heading to Nintendo City, as C. Falcon talked with the other 6.

"Hahaha! Now Fox looks even scarier than before!" C. Falcon said laughing as he earned YET another glare, but from Fox.

"I'm not that scary." Fox said annoyed.

"Um...Fox...are you and Falco friends again?" Chris asked a little worried.

"...Yes...and about what happened in that battle...I'm sorr-no, really sorry this time, I swear."

Falco patted Chris's back. "Yeah, sorry about that too."

"And are you friends with Wolf?"

"...Are you nuts?!"

Chris sighed in relief. "Phew."

"Why are you happy?" Fox asked confused.

"I learned that you 2 must be only rivals and not friends or else."

"...You finally understand...I'm glad."

Wolf looked away to hide a small smile, before it turned into a normal face...the typical "I don't care" face. "Anyway, what are we doing now?"

"We're going to get some groceries in Nintendo City since Kirby ate all the food." Chris reminded.

"BUUUUUUURRRRRRPPPP!! Sorry again!" Kirby said embarrassed.

"...We're doing some kind of home's job? I'm out that." Wolf said irritated.

"Okay okay, I'll do the groceries instead of all of you, happy?" Chris asked and all of them nodded...save for Pichu. "...To change the subject, can you tell us what happened in that fight between Mewtwo, and Ganondorf, King Dedede and Charizard?"

"...I rather not...it was embarrassing..."

"Huh?"

"You didn't heard anything."

"...Okay..." They continued to walk. "...Are we there yet?"

"Where? Nintendo City? We have to cross that big hill that oddly blocks the sight from the mansion, remember?" Jigglypuff reminded him.

"There's actually a back story about that big hill, want to hear it?" Link offered.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "There is?"

"Yes, it does, it tells the story about a couple who had 2 castles on each side of the hill, across of course, but it was like that when there wasn't this hill, since both persons's family used to fire cannonballs at the other castle of one of the lovers, so one day, both snuck out their castles and began to gather all the earth they could to create a big barrier to stop the castles from firing each other, at the end before the sun could rise, they managed to build this big hill and the families couldn't attack each other anymore, and the couple lived happy there after..." He finished the story and received weird looks from everyone. "...What?"

"That is the most stupid story I have ever heard of." All of them responded in unison.

"Why? It's real!"

"I don't think so, Link," Roy said. "I mean, why they couldn't escape instead of doing this? Now we have to climb the hill to reach the city, and it's exhausting!"

"And there wasn't any explanation of why their families hated each other." Marth pointed out.

"It's because the girl was white and the guy was black, and so did their families." Link explained to them.

"...You're a freaking racist!" C. Falcon pointed out.

"What do you have against white and black people?" Toon Link asked annoyed.

"Wha-no! I'm not racist!"

"You are." Chris said teasing him a little.

"I'm not!"

"You are." They said in unison.

And they kept doing that once they got on the top of the hill, where they stopped to see something amazing at the other side.

"Now Chris," Pichu said happily, bouncing in front of them. "Welcome to the biggest metropolis of all the worlds, Nintendo City!"

Nintendo City

The metropolis was big, no, bigger, no! Way bigger than a metropolis! It had every kind of buildings, shops, markets, people walking on the streets, cars going around, many enthusiastic people laughing and talking, there were Goombas, Shy Guys, Koopas, Paratroopas, Pokémon, some Hyrulians, Waddle Dees, there were even Cappy people there! It was the biggest city known to man!... And anthros.

"Oh...holy...mother...of...GOD! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" Chris said amazed at the sight of the city that he ran towards it to the paviment, with all the Smashers following him.

"Lucario? Are you okay?" Pikachu asked tilting his head.

"What? No, it's just...it's the first time I get to see a real city..." Lucario said embarrassed.

"What? Didn't you and Chris lived together in the real world?"

"Yes, I only enjoyed our lifes inside his house that is for 10 people or more, watching TV, eating 4-star foods, playing on a big pool he has outside in the backyard, sometimes he trained me with targets to refine my accuracy at attacks, playing videogames and...what?" He noticed that everyone except Chris were staring at him.

"...So, in other words," Ness began. "You have been living the real, good life while we got tired doing a lot of common and usual things while YOU RESTED ON A VERY SOFT SOFA WITH HIM?!"

"A red, soft sofa that trembles actually." Lucario pointed out.

"...You HAVE to invite me to your house one of these days." Popo said to Chris, who wasn't even paying attention since he was distracted admiring Nintendo City to the fullest.

"..." He looked around. "I need to live close to a city like this one."

"You are already living near here." Nana pointed out.

"...Oh...right..."

"Quill! I'm going off to the Smash Mansion!"

"Fine, just get here to get in time for our schedule of today!"

"Ah, don't worry about that, I've got everything covered!" A paratroopa wearing a pilot's helmet with a mailbag flew quickly looking to the post office, but unfortunately he and Chris crashed into each other, making both of them to fall on the floor while mail letters fell around them. "Oh, no! I did it again!"

"Can you watch where you were going?!" Chris asked annoyed as he recolected the letters.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was a little late for my schedule an-" When the Paratroopa looked up, he gasped. "W-wait a minute, aren't you by any chance Chris? From the Smash Mansion?"

"Um, yes, I am...wait, aren't you Parakarry?"

The paratroopa smiled a little. "Of course! My name is Parakarry, the postman of this, big city!" Parakarry said enthusiastic (now in full 3-D without sides that can cut you through!) "Right now, by coincidence, I was going to deliver some letters to the Smash Mansion, my job, along with Quill back there on the Post Office, began this day!"

All of the Smashers walked to them. "Hmm, you also brought the others here too, can you hand me my letters please?"

"Um, sure, here." Chris handed over the letters to Parakarry and the paratroopa searched through them.

"Okay, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris, Boshi, Chris, A-HA! Here! 8 letters for you!"

"8?!" Chris took the 8 letters as Parakarry went to the Smashers.

"I've got 1 letter addressed to Fox McCloud and another one for Falco Lombardi."

Both Star Fox members got confused before taking the letters...and their eyes began to grow in shock...if you remember, both of them sent all the humiliating things they did back in school to both Krystal and Kat, the letters had things like they couldn't believe or laughs or snickers.

And for Chris's letters...

Obtained Jeff's Letter!
Obtained Medli's Letter!
Obtained Marshtomp's Letter!
Obtained Slippy's Letter!
Obtained Kumatora's Letter!
Obtained Jolene's Letter!
Obtained Colette's Letter!
Obtained Cream's Letter!

Chris was impressed that many people wrote letters to him. "Wait, many of them are from other worlds, how could you get these letters from them?"

Parakarry turned and laughed a little. "Master Hand made an important thing to the Wings Post Office, the name of my office, the thing was to make a special system of mail service, he put special mailboxes to all the worlds you guys have been going lately, and only the friends you made there can only see the special mailboxes he installed there, and fortunately, they figured out how to send them to you, every mailbox has a secret portal deep inside that gets here instantly, and if you were wondering how Quill got here, it was because many people find their way to this city! You can find even different people from other worlds here!"

"...Wow...thanks a lot for the explanation of how things works here..."

Toon Link walked to Parakarry. "Hey, you said Quill a second ago, is that person by any chance a Rito?"

"Of course he is! You can see him in the office if you want to!"

"I will!" Toon Link laughed a little before he went to the office, while Chris checked his letter with everyone else.

From Jeff.

Hello Chris, if this letter arrives to you, then I want to tell you that everything on Eagleland has been going well lately, I'm happy to have my father back too. "Takes a break to adjust glasses." Anyway, I'm just sending you a simple letter of good luck to your travels with Ness and that other kid...hmm...Lucas was it?

From Genius, Young Inventor, Jeff.

P.S: Have you seen a big book of Dinosaur's History of 700 pages? I have been looking all over it recently when I remembered.

Next letter.

From Medli.

Chris? Did this letter arrived to you? If it did, then good! I'm happy!

I wanted to tell you that I have been improving my skills with my harp, you know, playing daily, even Prince Komali hides behind the walls just to listen to me. "Blushes." But...I want to do something bigger, I want to compose greater songs with more people...but the only friend I know is Makar from the Forest Haven Island...well, I just wanted to say hello and good luck in your adventure, best wishes to you!

From the Rito Bard, Medli.

P.S: Say hello to Lucario from me.

Lucario looked away as Chris readed the next letter.

From Marshtomp.

Hurray! Chris! Do you remember me? I was the Mudkip from before, I evolved to a Marshtomp when an earthquake revealed a cave near Wishcash's pond, even Chikorita evolved into a Bayleaf! I'm now training harder to become a strong Swampert!

Right now, our rescue team has been doing great in our rescue missions, we're almost reaching the Gold Rank! Like Alakazam's Team! Even we got many recruits with us!

...Unfortunately, we haven't found either a Riolu or a Lucario like you 2...wait, you're a human...the point is! We could be famous if it only we had a Lucario in our team! (I've even heard there's this Lucario Rank you can get...and a statue of him too!)

From the Hard Worker, Marshtomp.

P.S: Team Meanies are not acting like bullies again since we helped Gengar once!... But they don't want to get near dogs, like Poochyenas because they have bad memories of something big and scary, odd, right?

Lucario smiled a little. (Because he wanted to do it again, you know what, right?)

From Slippy

...

Oh no! I did it again!

...

Apparently, the letter was burned for unknown reasons.

"Let me see," Fox said taking the letter. "...Hmm..." He began to press something on his scouter.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked.

"I'm trying to analyze what was written before this got burned...there, it's finished, let me read it.

From Slippy.

Hi everyone! I know this letter was going to arrive to you Chris! I know that because I took my time to analyze EVERY single detail of this weird mailbox, cool, isn't?

Everything has been great over here, what is strange is that Wolf is not with his team right now, he disappeared somewhere, but Krystal knows Leon and Panther were hiding something from us, now I'm worried! Be careful out there!

On with the letter, my works here have been BORING, I'm even opening my own, personal business! (Fortunately, Fox OR Peppy don't know about this, or else they'll fire me from the team!) One more thing! I'm almost finished with FINALLY knowing how a Smart Bomb works and...wait, what's that weird tick-tack like sound? "Explosion."

Oh no! I did it again!

From Energetic Inventor, Slippy Toad.

P.S: I'm not that stupid to let ANY kind of scouter to read this if Fox or Falco were reading this, so, I put a code for autodestruction for scouters like the ones I made for them! In 3...2...1...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Fox's scouter instantly exploded and he put his left hand on his left eye in pain. "HELP! HELP! HELP!"

"Soul Etude!" Chris called out playing his harp as Fox's eye was healed slowly...but it wasn't enough.

"AAAAAHHHH!!"

"SOUL ETUDE AGAIN!"

This went for 8 more Soul Etudes. (Lucario was VERY pleased at least, and so did the others. (Even Parakarry.))

"...Phew, it's fine now, thanks." He approached to Falco. "Send a letter of warning to him, NOW." The blue falcon nodded.

From Kumatora.

Hi there! Kumatora from Nowhere Island sending a letter straight to you!... Okay, enough with formalities, let's get to the point here, I saw this weird mailbox that appeared out of nowhere and decided to write a letter to you, is Lucas with you? If he is, then tell him that I'm rooting for him to come back alive! Also, we couldn't find Porky anywhere, but I think he's dead.

Nothing weird happened here, it's usual, sometimes I go to visit Wes or Flint...nothing else, yes, I'm not good at writing mail.

From Princess of Osohe Castle, Kumatora.

P.S: HOW CAN LUCAS MAINTAIN BONEY? THAT DOG...HE...HE USED MY FAVORITE SWEATER AS THE BATHROOM!

"Just take him to a walk, that's all." Lucas said calmly.

From Jolene.

Mr. Pedro? Wait...no, I mean, Chris, how have you been? The Glitz Pit has never been like before now that I run the whole building, Rawk Hawk haven't been cheating too and he's playing fair, even my dear little brother wants to be in the tournament.

Of course, being the manager isn't easy, fortunately, it's not a big deal of pressure for me, I sometimes go the relax to the bar and...nevermind, I was telling you too much information.

Also, for my surprise, there are some fans for you waiting for your return to the ring as Mario does, they also want to see the others as well.

I'll end this later with my best wishes to your adventures, please, come to visit us sometimes.

From Glitz Pit's new owner, Ms. Jolene.

P.S: Prince Mush says hi to you.

The next letter now.

From Colette.

"Blushes embarrassed." H-hi there Chris, I wanted to send to you a letter if this arrived to you so...

Umm...how have you been lately? We're doing fine here, Lloyd completely misses Marth and Roy, Genis wants to see Lucas again, but I don't know why Professor Sage is sometimes getting crazy when she thinks about Fox or Falco, I even heard she was even trying to imagine Zelos as them, now he doesn't wants to get near her...for 1 minute until the Professor punched him, then Sheena said he "glomped" on her, what is glomped?

Oh, Regal is himself, it appears he doesn't misses Fox that much (than Professor Sage does that is).

Oh...and...umm...hmm..."Blushes more." How is...Pit and...um..."Blushes even more." Is...Lucario...alright now? I..."plays with her fingers." Miss him...a lot...oh, I'm so embarrassed! Good bye!

From Colette Brunel.

P.S: PLEASE LET ME HUG LUCARIO AGAIN! T.T

Lucario blushed and looked away. "Lucario is in L-O-" C. Falcon was punched severly as Ness started to laugh out loud.

"Are you going to send to us the letters we receive?" Chris asked.

"Duh! That's my work, isn't? Well, I can be your personal postman if you want, if you have a letter you want to send to someone, just call my name and I'll be there in a second!" Parakarry said happily.

"You sound too happy about this." Nana remarked.

"Uh-huh! Actually, I like to serve this city with the mails and all, I can get a lot of gossip sometimes...but they're secret." He shifted his eyes before chuckling. "Anyway, I must be going to deliver the rest, if you find Mario, tell him I said hi!" Parakarry said as he flew off to the sky.

"Okay...wait, where's the shop?!" Chris asked shouting.

"It's close! Just look around and you shouldn't miss it!" Parakarry's voice said.

All of the Smashers went to different ways of Nintendo City, but Pichu decided to follow Chris to one of the biggest supermarkets of the whole city, Shy Guy's Islands of Goods.

Shy Guy's Islands of Goods

Destiny Islands

"...Um..." Chris was left speechless.

"I know...there are a lot of them here..." Pichu said.

Since the shop had "Shy Guy" on it, there were a lot of Shy Guys walking around, you could see different people walking around the small masked guys.

Nevertheless, the duo managed to buy all the things (using Chris's money, the Smash Coins, and he will have something to rant about to Master Hand), but before they were going to reach the counter, they noticed 3 oddly penguins staring at them, their legs were very skinny, they were carrying pouches on their waists and had small black wings on their backs and they never blinked whatsoever.

"Um...hi..." Chris said confused.

"Hello, dood!" They replied in unison.

"Dood?" Pichu wondered.

"That's how we talk, dood, it's our signature word, dood!" One of them said.

"So...what are your names?"

"We're the Prinnys, dood! Or more specifically, the Prinny Squad, dood!" They said in unison again.

"Do you live here in Nintendo City?" Chris asked.

"Well...we don't, we're currently traveling around to find the King Krichevskoy's son, Laharl, our boss, Miss Etna, is somewhere in an apartment on the city, dood, she is a vassal for him, too, dood." A Prinny said.

"Is she kind?" Pichu asked with curiosity.

"KIND?!" The Prinnies said shocked. "Dood! She can be pretty scary, she can throw us at long distances and also, she doesn't like to be called "flat-chested" because she has a flat chest!"

"Dood! Why did you said that?!" A Prinny asked angrily.

"Dood! We're screwed if she finds out we called her like that, dood!"

"Dood! You said that to her, not us, dood!"

"Dood! He's right, dood!"

"Dood! Stop then, dood!"

"Dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood-" They began to panic and run around in circles around Chris and Pichu, who were getting dizzy by all the "doods" they were saying repeatedly.

"SHUT UP!" Chris said yelling and the Prinnies stopped.

"Dood." They said in unison, which made both of them to sweatdrop.

"...And, you're doing the list for food, too?" Pichu asked.

"Right, dood!"

"We have to please her as hard we can!" A Prinny said enthusiastically.

"(They change moods very quickly,)" Chris thought. "And how does she looks like?"

"Sh-"

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"DOOD!"

A girl appeared out of nowhere and presumably, began to attack the poor squad in front of the duo, causing a lot of noises that nobody in the shop cared to stop, Pichu jumped to Chris's shoulder and hid behind, then, Pit came out of nowhere and spoke to them.

"What is happening here?" Pit asked confused, watching the cloud of dust in front of him.

The cloud of dust cleared out and the girl was revealed, she had 2 long red pigtails, a little fang was sticking out her mouth, she had a small black skirt made of belts and a small black cloth covering her chest (or flat chest in her case), she wore long black gloves covering her arms, long black boots with small red rings with small spikes around them above the feet, as the other rings on her wrists, she was about Chris's size.

...But what surprised more the trio is that she had red eyes, small black wings on her back and a long, thin tail with the tip shaped as a heart.

But what was WAY WEIRDER is that she had a jackhammer and a helmet out of nowhere while she said "DEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEH!!" to imitate the sound of the machine, to use it to torture the Prinnies, but she stopped once she saw the trio with shocked looks.

"...Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you 3," She glared at the Prinnies. "But my Prinny Squad was getting late to deliver the food to our house here." Then she threw away the jackhammer and the helmet.

"D-DEVIL!" Pichu yelled terrorized as Pit took out his blades.

"I shall purge this land from demons!" Pit proclaimed as the girl laughed.

"Oh, please angel boy, I'm not here to destroy anything, I'm just a vassal searching for the next heir to the throne for the Underworld, the Overlord." She said.

"FORGIVE MISS ETNA! DOOD!" The Prinnies said with teary eyes.

"...You're Etna?" Chris asked and the girl nodded.

"That's right, I'm Etna, Vassal of the great King Krichevskoy!... Who is dead and set me to search for his son, Laharl." Etna said.

"Pit, lower your blades." Chris said and Pit did it, but still glaring at her.

Etna tilted her head. "Hmm...well, you're strangers to me right now..."

They introduced to her.

"Oh well, nice to meet you 3, now, if you excuse me AND the Prinnies, we must leave and eat dinner for tonight, ON THE DOUBLE, PRINNIES!" Etna said taking out a megaphone, making many of the customers there to block their ears.

"RIGHT, DOOD!" The Prinnies said saluting and following her outside with the bags of groceries.

"...Those were weird persons..." Chris said as a Shy Guy pulled his shirt.

"Sir, your friends didn't left any money to pay for the food, so we are taking your money instead." The Shy Guy said.

"...ETNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Chris yelled at the top of his lungs and he handed over the money for both, losing 3000 Smash Coins...

However, a girl stopped him from handing over the money and she payed the amount by her own. "Thank you, have a nice day." The Shy Guy said leaving.

Chris and Pit were a bit shocked when they saw who it was.

"COLETTE?!" They said surprised in unison.

"Who?" The kind girl asked confused, tilting her head. "Oh, no! You must have confused me for another person." She said sweetly.

The girl had long blond hair, blue eyes, a blue ribbon on top of her head, she wore a white collar for her neck, she also wore long white gloves covering her arms, a white dress, another blue ribbon around the white collar, the dress wasn't too long because it ended on her hip, below, she wore small pink shorts for girls and a red shirt underneath the dress with white shoes on her feet. She was about Pit's size too.

On her back, she had small, white wings too.

"Pardon my manners," She said bowing. "My name is Flonne, I come from the celestial kingdom of Celestia, I'm also an Angel Trainee in training."

"You're an angel?" Pit asked and she got surprised a little.

"Wow! I've never seen an angel like you! From which kingdom do you come?"

"From Skyworld."

"..." She closed her eyes in an anime manner. "Never heard of it, sorry."

"Why did you payed for me?" Chris asked.

"I saw that demon getting away without paying for her groceries and I decided to pay for you!" She said happily.

"But you didn't had to." Pichu said as she quickly hugged him.

"How cute! I love this little creature!" She said excited and Pichu instantly blushed and smiled under her arms.

"So do you live in Nintendo City too?" Chris asked.

"Nope! I'm searching for King Krichevskoy to assassinate him, it was a mission that I need to complete as part of my training."

To the group, asassinate and cute little girl didn't sounded too well if they are in a sentence.

"Umm...Etna said that King Krichevskoy died..." Pit said and Flonne gasped.

"WHAT?! You mean I missed my opportunity to become an angel?! Oh boy...now what I'm gonna do?" She asked sadly as Pichu jumped back to Chris.

"...Well...you could assassinate his son...what was his name? Laharl?" Pit tried to remember and she quickly became happy again.

"His son Laharl?! Oh, right! I've heard he had a son that was going to become the next Overlord! Thank you so much for the information, I need to go now, good bye!" She happily running outside...before crashing into a wall which made her dizzy but walked outside with the dizziness following her. "I'll stay here for a little longer, search for me if you want to!" She yelled as she bumped into a tree and ran away.

"...She is as clumsy as Colette..." Chris said and they nodded.

Music stops

Smash Mansion
Attic

Some of the Smashers returned to the mansion earlier than the others, it was Ness and Lucas who made it there before they could return, Lucas asked Ness to investigate the attic of the mansion because it was interesting for him.

Both PK users were searching for...something through all the boxes.

"Hey, check this out!" Ness changed his cap for a red hat with an "M" on it. "Now who I am?"

"...I don't know..." Lucas said confused.

"...Oh, right, you haven't met Mario yet," Ness threw the hat away and put his red cap on. "Lucas, I don't think there is something interesting to find here, I mean, look! Boxes, boxes, boxes, a box containing C. Falcon's dirty magazines, and more boxes!"

"But I swear Ness! There must be something good here!" Lucas protested as he removed a box.

"...Lucas, why did you took that box from that big tower of boxes?"

"..." Lucas looked behind him and the box that he took made a huge tower of more boxes to fall above him, dust flew everywhere around the attic as both PK users were coughing and sneezing constantly as the dust cleared out. "Why did I do that in the first place?!"

"Because you wanted to." Ness pointed out.

"Oww!" A little statue fell on Lucas's head and between both kids, who looked at it with curiosity, examined it.

"Hey, this a weird, funky doll..." Ness said as Lucas took the doll.

"Hey Ness, look at this doll, it says, "Geno," is this the doll's name?"

"Maybe, it has something hidden?"

"Let me see...hm?" Lucas pressed a button on the back and Geno raised his hand. "Oh!" Lucas pressed another button and Geno shot a fast blow with his right hand to a glass that was shattered instantly, they were surprised when the hand came back to the doll and attached for itself. "Wow! This is so awesome!"

Ness took the doll from him. "It's probably valuable! We could keep it as a lucky charm for our team!"

"B-but what if it is from someone else?"

"I didn't see his or her name on the doll, so we keep it for ourselves!"

"Yay!" Both kids ran with Geno outside the attic to play with it on Lucas's Room.

Lucas's Room

2 hours later...

It was night already and they were exhausted for playing with the doll all the afternoon, the room had now several new holes on the roof and the walls because the doll was too strong.

"What? You say I can keep it?" Lucas asked surprised, holding Geno.

"Yes, that bastard of Popo sometimes sneaks to my room and steals my things, and since he doesn't know about Geno and us having it from anyone else, you're the only person that can take care of him." Ness explained to him.

Lucas looked at Geno. "...All right, I'll keep it from anyone else!"

"Then, I need to go to my room and sleep, take care of Geno!" Ness said waving at him as he left the room and closed the door.

The blond kid looked again at the doll, then he decided to put the doll close to the window, where the night was clear and beautiful, Lucas also jumped to his bed and prepared to go to sleep, but he looked at the doll again and smiled a little. "I wish you were real, Geno, you could be an excellent Smasher...like...us...and..." He fell asleep as soon as he blinked, leaving the doll in the window.

Lucario's Room

Traverse Town

"And then I met a girl who looked like Colette in the mall, she was very kind in paying the groceries!" Chris said finishing his day to Lucario while the 2 were already on the bed.

"I'm glad that you made new friends in the city." Lucario said smiling a little.

"Yes, I think I'm going to see her tomorrow when we get done with the worlds and all that."

"...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Did I do it fine on the last battle? Against Mewtwo?"

"Well...you were defeated in a single blow so..."

Lucario looked down in shame. "Don't tell me I was awful back there...huh?" Chris was leaning his face into his yellow, furry chest.

"Lucario...what really mattered to me was your determination to protect me...I remember when you yelled out loud that I wasn't pathetic, I was so happy when you jumped to save me..." He was crying a little and Lucario gasped. "Seriously...I was very happy...that you protected me..."

Lucario hugged his trainer slowly. "Chris..."

"Thank you Lucario...you know how to cheer me up...I know I will someday find my best Pokémon..."

"...What?"

"I'm trying to find the perfect Pokémon for me, you know, one that has the qualities I'm looking for." Chris said wiping out his tears and Lucario got out of the bed, confused, wasn't he Chris's favorite Pokémon?

"And what kind of qualities?"

"Well, my perfect Pokémon needs to be as tall as me," 1 point for Lucario. "He also needs to control the Aura perfectly," another point for the Aura Pokémon. "He needs to be super-strong enough to lift a bed with a person on it with just one hand and without straining at all," Lucario lifted the bed with one hand without straining and put it down safely back. "He needs to have very cool fighting stances," Lucario got in a fighting stance. "Grunt like a beast!" Lucario grunted like a feral beast. "Show his sharp fangs!" Lucario showed his fangs in rage and fury as he continued to grunt like a beast. "And most important of all...sleep with his dear trainer on the bed in less than 2 seconds!"

Lucario gasped when he realized that he was out of the bed and got quickly on it.

"Oh, sorry Lucario! You were too close to be my perfect Pokémon!"

Lucario closed his eyes in shame and got sad. "I'm sorry...I wish you good luck in finding that special Pokémon..."

Chris hugged Lucario this time and tears strolled down his eyes again. "You idiot...you are and will always be my perfect, special, caring, coolest, powerful, super-strong Aura Pokémon..."

Lucario was crying a little, then he turned to him and smiled a little. "...Well...I'm searching for my ideal trainer too..."

"...And what kind of ideal trainer?"

"The one that lets me tickle him to death while he hugs me." He said chuckling.

"...Oh no..."

Outside

"LUCARIO! PLEASE, STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'M YOUR IDEAL TRAINER, STOP TICKLING ME!"

"Not until you die!" Lucario said joking as he continued to tickle his helpless trainer.

"SO?! YOU WANT A TICKLE FIGHT THEN?! I'LL TICKLE YOU! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Lucario grinned a little for the first time. "Heh, try to tickle me, it's going to be impossible for you to make me laugh with tickles."

"YOU'RE GRINNING?! IT'S ON NOW! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Wh-where are you going?" He asked when Chris hid under the sheets of the bed, still tickling him.

"EASY! I'LL TOUCH YOUR PINK SPOTS OF YOUR FEET! HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH YES, I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THIS BEFORE!"

"WAIT! NO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP CHRIS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I BEG FOR MERCY! PLEASE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"THEN I BEG FOR MERCY TOO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Both were laughing like never before as they continued to tickle each other, until most of the sleeping Smashers yelled to shut them up.

Lucario's Room

Chris was shown panting above Lucario, who was also panting and smiling as they both laughed when they looked at each other.

"Thank you so much again Lucario! That was really fun coming from you!" Chris said hugging his Aura Pokémon, who rubbed his head slowly.

"Everything that my master wishes are orders for me," Lucario said nodding. "...Chris...do you want to have something else?"

"Hmm...it's weird that you ask that to me...well...I'd wish for a giant Lucario! You know, having a giant Lucario to fight against the Subspace Army for one day would be the most, happiest and coolest gift I ever could receive!"

"A giant Lucario?" Lucario repeated confused, but if he could find a way to grow fast, he would do it without thinking 2 times just to please Chris.

Chris hugged him tightlier. "Of course...that's just a thing I could never get...maybe that was lie or not..." He got out of the bed with Lucario as they looked outside the window. "But I'm not rushing anyone for having a Lucario like that..."

"What is that Chris?" Lucario asked when he found something in the sky of the night.

"...That's a shooting star! I need to make a wish!" Chris said as he kneeled and joined his hands together.

"A wish? A shooting star?"

"Yes, if you see a shooting star and make a wish before it vanishes, your wish will come true!"

"...Can I wish for something too?"

"Of course!"

Lucario kneeled as Chris did and joined his hands for wish for something, after 10 seconds, they got in the bed again.

"What did you wished Chris?" Lucario asked in curiosity.

"It's a secret, but what did you wished?"

"If you're not going to tell me, then I won't either...hmm...can you...play that song again?"

Chris took out his harp. "You mean Soul Etude?"

"Yes, I want to hear it as a song to go to sleep...I want to have a peaceful sleep for tonight."

"..." Chris rubbed the head of Lucario. "Everything for my all-mighty, Aura Pokémon!" He began to play the song again and Lucario blinked slowly as he smiled, before he fell asleep as Chris finished his song and yawned. "Good night...Lucario...my guardian...and...friend..." He slowly fell asleep as well and both were now sleeping...

...But Lucario woke up later and pulled Chris's face on his neck, where the World Traveler smiled when he felt his fur touching gently his face. "Good night...Chris...my master..."

However...when he fell asleep, his appendages opened up a little and Lucario began to growl menacingly as his eyes turned into the eyes of a beast...like he did on the real world as he looked outside the window from the bed and to a dark cloud forming just above Nintendo City...and Chris was awakening slowly from his dreams...

Preview of the next chapter

"Lucario...your eyes...your face...they're scaring me..." Chris said trembling while Lucario looked at him with his beastly face, the Aura Pokémon gasped and shook his head to make the nasty face to fade away.

He kneeled to him ashamed. "I'm sorry! Forgive me! Just please, don't be scared by me, I won't do that again!" Lucario said apologizing.

"UAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" Lucas screamed when he saw a star getting inside his room and it went straight towards Geno, who shone brightly. "Wh-WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!"

"NINTENDO CITY IS IN DANGER!" Parakarry yelled preocupied.

"We can't get inside!" Quill said shocked.

"Our next destination is..." Master Hand trailed off as the computer showed them the next, unknown world.

"Next time: Etna's Deal!" C. Falcon said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

Oh yeah, cameo characters start to appear on Nintendo City, CONTEST TIME!

-If you can identify from what game does Etna, Flonne and the Prinny Squad come from, you get to choose your arc! (Non-anime that is.) Simple! Just put the correct game along with YOUR REVIEW and then you're done! Simple as that!

References:

-The Soul Etude skill is a reference to Hurdy from FFTA2: Grimoire of the Rift.

-Twilight Town - Sora's Side, Destiny Islands and Traverse Town are songs from Kingdom Hearts l & ll

This part only introduces various things, the other part will explain all of them, just be patient!

And my Wii has returned to me! I'm adding my hotmail on my profile to have people on my MSN, I like to send hard-to-get-photos to my friends on the Wii.

...And pink spots...who doesn't want to tickle them a little? XP

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 76*: Etna Decides To Steal Screentime

Hmm...I'd better stop writing chapters with such length, because I need to have more before this year ends...

Oh, what? Oops! I forgot you were reading this! First, let's see everyone responses for the contest!

From Nintendogeek01: lol. That was pretty funny. The grocery incident anyways. Anyways I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Good luck.

From me: Thank you!... Well, you never decide when I do this, but thank you very much for the review. :)

From SmashEd44: Excellent Job! I wonder what happens next?

The Prinny Squad and all the other ones you mentioned are from Disgaea.

Hmm...what to choose...what to choose...

You know...gets into a thinking stance

Aha! To see the reactions of the smashers to see Wario's snobbyness in Wario Land would be a sight to see!
And great as always Chris!

From me: Thanks, and you got the answer! But since pretty much everyone (which surprised me that many of you know about Disgaea (luckily you didn't cheated by first looking the reviews and then putting the answer by copying it)) else here responded, the winner deep down after this chapter.

But I think a WarioWare Inc. arc would be more interesting, what do you think?

From Rellymaster: This chapter has really lightened up my mood. C. Falcon is hilariously stupid and perverted. I'm surprised he wasn't KO'd.

I really like the part between Chris and Lucario. The amount of bonding shown really made my day.

From me: Since this story is struggling, trying to include all genres, friendship genres are my favorites, personally talking. :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: "YA!"
You mess with Lucario,you will feel pain.So much PAIN!NYA!Oh and incedentally...So what if i'm crazy nya?Half the people on this site are nya.Me and Dusk checked.
Dusk:(Gives thumbs-up)
Now then...this is an awesome chapter Chrissy-boy.BUT!It needs...it needs...that sofa?No no...um...?
Dusk:Nut-kicking?
Yes!Nut-kicking nya!Or something random.Like um...you take Snake's boxes right nya?And then...You make em ESPLODE!!Nya nya!
Oh!And is the reason you are keeping Lucario from his cookie is 'cause he gets hyper nya?Like:"WE!"...That would be funny now that I think about it.AND!I have my own computer now nya.So go on and shower me with words of praise nya!
One more thing nya!It's Etna not Edna from...Disegea!And Mariko wants...a Harvest Moon arc nya.I'd pick something cooler but you've already done all the cool games nya...

From me: Did you forget this (XD)? This shows I was kidding or laughing, but I was doing both. XD

Anyway, I know many of you wants Snake, but you need to give me more time!

And thanks for the correction of the name, I corrected it when I saw your review with the answer, thanks again. :)

And about the Harvest Moon arc...I'm completely clueless for that game, there are many of them, but if you want, I can take it as Animal Crossing since it's almost the same thing.

From Blaperile: Disgaea and Disgaea 2 are they from. Cool city!

From me: I can take the city part as review but, you forgot the game...don't worry though, you still have a chance since I'm not writing for the choosen arc by you, the readers, yet.

From ngrey651: Musician as a job...you seem to give it proper props. I take my hat off to you. Also, nice touch on making Geno get introduced as a doll. He's surprisingly powerful and liked for such a little guy. But above all, I like how Chris's personality is. He gets ANNIHILATED by one of his compatriots and he just bounces back like it's practically nothing. He's got serious moxie!

From me: Thank you...for the hat thing. :P

And, well, he was being tickled by Lucario of all persons, at least he retaliated back. XD

From TARDISreviewer: here's a job suggestion to be avaliable for the next Sonic arc...

Chaos Manipulator

description - Manipulate the abilities of the Chaos Emeralds to teleport, slow time, improve your abilities, and ultimately gain the most destructive ability!

appearance; normal clothes except for shoes (they get replaced with Shadow's, he has white gloves, and those golden rings on his wrists that Shadow does, starts with Chaos Control for teleporation, and as you can probably guess, the final ability... CHAOS BLAST!)

maybe you could have combination jobs by getting all the abilities for two others, retaining some of the abilities from both.

From me: ...What? That's stupid, sorry, but that's a little over-powered, you have the Racer job, remember? I'm trying to keep my OC away from godly-powers.

And about combinations of jobs...more over-powered things, sorry, but no.

But thanks for at least trying. :)

From Avatar Fan 11051: DISGAEA HOUR OF DARKNESS!
If I'm the lucky winner :D Billy Hatcher or Lost Kingdoms? If you know about them :)

Hooray for Kingdom Hearts! When's the arc?

Nice chapter, dood. ;)

From me: Correct! Dunno about the 2 games, but I'll try to do some little research...no, not the "research" like Jiraiya does, rest assured. XD

The Kingdom Hearts arc will be unlocked once they travel to Final Fantasy 7 and 8, but I haven't played the 7 one so I may skip that one (since I've seen that game is always overated, it has has many kinds of sequels, prequels, movies, what about the others?)

From notfromearth7: Finally, we get to see the bond between Lucario and Chirs.

Very good man

From me: The simpleness of this review is made of silver instead of gold, thanks.

From punch bag: YAY! MANSION! AND CITY! But looking (Or reading) about those Waddle dees made me think. And that thought was "I WANT TO SEE THE FAKE KING JOB AGAIN! AND THE WADDLERS! AND DAVE!(- -) I would of wrote Dave bigger, but I can't.
YAY PARYKARRY! But didn't you miss out Cream's letter? (O0)
WHEN WILL CHRISS BUY THE PSYCHIC USER JOB!
Punchbag!

P.S. Sorry for the many capital letters.

From me: You'll get happy, what would you think if I didn't missed it at all and was just something more important?

Later, just wait.

Thank you! :)

From Chef Colette: Awsome chapter.
The "great chapter." is knd of my signature. As for the characters,they are from Disgaea.
If I do win my arc should be either "The world ends with you"(Nintendo DS) or "Pokemon Coluseum(GameCube) or "Fire Emblem Path of Radience(I guess you already know that)
Anyway,keep up the great work!

From me: But you forgot this time! "Gasps." XD

For the arcs, The World Ends with You sounds good, but I haven't played that game either, but if it was released after Brawl, then no, Pokémon Colosseum seems good, but I rather write XD: Gale of Darkness since it has more touch and new things, and the Fire Emblem arc it's good too, good selection of arcs, but let's see if you win. ;)

From Ninja Lucario: Nice work as usual. Nintendo city sounds like a nice place. I like how you take a break chapter every now and then, after all no one can fight 24/7 right?

Hm... as for Edna, isn't she from Disgaea?

From me: Well, duh! It amazes me that the other stories like this (without OC) have characters that can fight for 24/7! How do you do that? "Ends sarcasm and laughs." XD

And didn't you forgot your arc? XD

Thanks. :)

From Wolfenpilot687: I'll guess Disgaea: Hour of Darkness?

Whoa, good chapter!

From me: You guessed right, but what about your arc? And thanks too. :)

From Lucario210: This chapter was awesome.Nice new job will you learn how to do
battle chant or requiem?

From me: Eventually, I might even do a FFTA2 arc, because I personally think the first one didn't had all that emotion to it (since Marche only cared about getting back to his world as soon as possible). Thank you too.

From prosser783: Nice job with all the different references. The plot was really good too. Is Etna from Makai Senki Disgaea?

From me: She is, but you forgot ALSO your arc...

So, let's read this chapter and find out who won!

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 76: Etna's Deal!

1 hour ago...

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

"Ugh...ugh...UGH!... There, we managed to revive all of them..." Ganondorf said panting after he and Tabuu combinated forces to cast a spell to return someone back to life, but that person was big, sharp, and malicious looking.

"Heheheh... Soon...very soon...all the worlds will lose their abilities to make wishes..." Tabuu said chuckling evily.

"Tabuu, what are we going to do with the traitor?" Charizard asked with crossed arms.

"Wolf O'Donnell? Leave him for now, he will pay for betraying us and joining them."

"Oh yeah! Now I can smack mah hammer on him!" King Dedede said spinning his hammer.

"...Does he talks like that all the time?" Charizard whispered to Ganondorf.

"Unfortunately, yes." Ganondorf said frowning.

"Hmm...I don't get it, why did you 2 revived a bunch of weirdos made of weapons along with that big-creepy sword thing?" Charizard asked.

"Fool...that sword was once from Smithy, a villain trying to rule Mushroom Kingdom years ago...but Mario and the other pests defeated his army of weapons...I was able, however, to bring the sword that fell on Bowser's Keep to do something again..." Tabuu explained and trailed off.

"And that is?" Asked the newly reformed Porky.

Tabuu laughed evily. "We will bring down Exor upon Star Road to destroy the wishes of everyone, no, all the worlds!"

"Pfft, wishes, they aren't true..."

"Do not underestimate the wishes, most of them become reality and the others that have a evil feeling, will vanish, once we break the Star Road, our wishes will come true!"

"Like pummel dah puffball?" King Dedede asked excited.

"Yes, like destroying Kirby for example, Ganondorf! Send Exor upon the Star Road and destroy everyone's wishes! Charizard! Prepare Mack, Bowyer, Yaridovich and the Axem Rangers to escape with any fragment of the Star Road! King Dedede! Decide the destinations where all the revived minions should go! The Ancient Minister should tell you all the worlds." Tabuu said chuckling as all of them prepared to start their mission.

High Above Nintendo City
Star Road

Very high on the sky's night, a road full of stars was gathered above Nintendo City, it was the sacred Star Road, where all the wishes come true if they are good and not bad, the ones who decided what wishes should come true were simple shiny stars, who lived together in harmony as they decided the wishes.

"...Hmm...let's see..."I want to kill my replica."... No..."Please don't let Isaac know about the joke Sheba said to me just to tease."... Yes..."I want to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, kidnap Princess Peach and defeat Mario."... Bowser..." A star sighed. "Why does he have to wish the same wishes every night?"

"What did you said? Geno?" A small, young star asked happily.

"For the last time, that's not my name, Twink." The star said annoyed.

"Aw, but your real name is hard to pronounce."

"Is not that hard."

"Music symbol...cloud...star..."

"Nevermind...call me Geno if you want."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Twink, it's my work to make wishes come true, remember? Many stars like us make the wishes from all the people, living in all the worlds, to come true, you don't remember?"

Twink got sad. "I'm sorry...it's just...how many years have passed since we haven't see Mario or Princess Peach?"

"...I see...well...I don't remember either...good times...stopping Smithy from controlling the Mushroom Kingdom...using the Geno Whirl...those were good times...I wonder how is Mallow doing." Geno said smiling a little (since he was a shiny star, it was hard to see his smile).

"You miss them as I do?"

"...Yes..."

Twink got closer to Geno. "If by any chance, like, I don't know, a same menace got in our way and have to return with Mario to work together again...will you do it?"

"Well, he's the only one I can count on, but please, don't wish things like that."

"I won't!"

"Good...wait, here comes Eldstar, it's weird to see him out the roads..."

A star with a large moustache floated towards the 2, he looked rather concerned. "Twink and..."

"Geno." Geno said annoyed.

"Oh, right, Twink and Geno," Eldstar said chuckling. "You 2 must go to sleep, it's too late to work on the wishes."

"I'm sorry sir, but I like to work for a couple of hours after we stop working." Geno said.

"Eldstar, you looked a little worried about something, right?" Twink asked worried.

"My child, you have a good eye," Eldstar remarked. "Yes, I have been rather concerned about something."

"It's about the Star Rod?" Geno asked.

"No, the Star Rod is completely hidden somewhere in the stars, rest assured by that...what is corcening me was that a great evil has been invading all the worlds lately."

"Right! Muskular told me that there were some guys trying to conquer the worlds, but he also told me that there was a special elite of fighters stopping them from doing their evil plans!" Twink said excited. "I even heard Mario and Princess Peach are part of that elite!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, something bad is going happen..."

Both stars gasped. "When?!" They asked in unison.

"...I'm afraid something...is going to happen this night...on the Star Road..."

"...You're kidding right?" Geno asked concerned.

"I wish I was kidding! Although you don't have to worry at all for that, me and the other stars are guarding carefully this sacred sanctuary." They sighed in relief. "I beg your pardons, but I must leave to my shrine, good night." Eldstar said floating away to the Star Shrine.

"Good night." They said in unison.

"...Geno...do you think he wasn't kidding?" Twink asked preocupied.

"Let's just wish that doesn't happen."

"...Okay, stop the wish puns, they got annoying."

Suddenly, the whole road started to tremble violently and they looked around frantically for the source, but they couldn't find it.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING GENO?!" Twink asked scared as he hid behind Geno in fear.

"I-I don't know! Maybe Eldstar was right after all, something IS happening!"

"AAAAHHHHHH! DARK CLOUDS!" Twink yelled as he saw dark clouds covering the Star Road completely, there were a lot of noises and yells from the other stars, one who wasn't working, made a wish come true by accident.

"I wish to be bigger so that my master can be pleased by having a giant Pokémon, and that Pokémon will be me." The wish said.

"WISH COMING TRUE!" The panicked star said panicking, making that wish to come true.

"EVACUATE THE STAR ROAD! REPEAT! EVACUATE THE STAR ROAD!" Klevar, one of the Star Spirits said panicked as all the stars from the Star Road began to disperse and stay fine from the impeding destruction.

Geno and Twink quickly floated towards the Star Shrine to see what was going on.

Star Shrine

"ELDSTAR! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Geno asked shouting as Twink and Klevar appeared from behind him, but something weird happened on the shrine, a huge blade of a sword was crossing it, splitting the temple in 2 as a dark force emanated from it and captured the 7 Star Spirits from escaping, as Geno and Twink watched in horror. "NO! HE'S BACK!"

"Who?!" Twink asked worried.

"I recognize this sword somewhere before...it's...EXOR!" Geno said as the sword's face, Exor, descended slowly through the crumbling roof.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I HAVE RETURNED ONCE AGAIN TO RULE THIS WORLD! NOBODY WILL STOP THE SUBSPACE ARMY FROM CONQUERING ALL THE WORLDS!" Exor said laughing.

"Subspace Army? You don't mean the Smithy Gang?!" Geno asked surprised.

"THE SMITHY GANG IS NOTHING BUT A FALLEN MEMORY TO ME, I HAVE BIGGER PLANS TO DESTROY ALL THE WISHES FROM EVERYONE TO COME TRUE, SO OUR WISHES COME TRUE FIRST!"

"GENO! TWINK! YOU MUST ESCAPE FROM THE STAR ROAD AND SEARCH FOR HELP!" Mamar said worried inside a force field.

"WE CAN'T HELP YOU IN THIS STATE, HURRY UP!" Muskular yelled.

"I KNOW YOU 2 WILL FIND HELP AGAIN LIKE YOU DID BEFORE, JUST WISH FOR A HOPE!" Misstar yelled preocupied.

"But this happened all of a sudden, do you think we can do this by ourselves?!" Twink asked crying.

"WE TRUST YOU!" Kalmar yelled.

"JUST GO, GO ON CHILDREN!" Skolar shouted.

"GENO! TWINK! GO AND SEARCH FOR THE SPECIAL ELITE OF FIGHTERS, THEY SURELY KNOW HOW TO HELP US!" Eldstar yelled.

"...But...but!" Twink trailed off crying before Geno grabbed him.

"Twink, we must go and find them before they catch us!" Geno said as he dragged Twink outside the Star Shrine, outside the Star Road and outside the sky, far away from it as Exor continued to laugh maniacally.

"MY NEXT TARGET IS...NINTENDO CITY! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Exor said laughing evily, dispersing all the 7 Star Spirits with different villains, some who revived and some who returned to cause more chaos and destruction, escaping into different worlds to stay hidden with the Star Spirits.

Nintendo City
Etna's Aparment

Just in the center of Nintendo City, Etna's Aparment was located in the exact point of the center of the whole city, the scene shows her clapping her hands in amusement after the Prinnies delivered tons and tons of food to her table.

"Now THIS is a good dinner and feast!" Etna said drooling a little.

"Dood, can we eat now, dood?" Asked one of the many Prinnies.

"...Hmm...let me see...you prepared the dinner, you went for the groceries and food to the market...you even washed all my skirts and sharpened my lance...for this time, I'll let you eat this." Etna said grinning.

"Yeah! We can eat together this time, dood!" A Prinny said happily as all of the Prinnies sat together around the table, taking all the food they could grab before Etna could, but everyone were able to grab their food and eat calmly.

...Just below the table, however, was Flonne, trying to figure out the perfect moment to attack Etna, she snuck to her aparment from the open window the Prinnies left opened by accident when they weren't looking. "(I know she isn't Laharl, but I must kill all the demons I encounter in my mission, that could raise my training level too!)" Flonne thought excited before a potato rolled behind her and a Prinny ducked to grab it, but he looked at Flonne sitting below.

"Dood? Do you live here?" The Prinny asked.

"No, I don't, I'm here to assassinate this demon eating food, can you leave me please?"

"Okay, dood." The Prinny said calmly, ignoring her response completely.

"What a good penguin...anyway, where I was? Oh yeah! Kill the dem-"

"DOOD! ETNA! SOMEONE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU UNDER THE TABLE!" The same Prinny from before shouted, making Flonne to sweatdrop as Etna choked her food and pulled Flonne out of the table.

"Oh, hi there, I hope I didn't interrupted your dinner, heheheheh..." Flonne said embarrassed, scratching her head, blushing.

"An angel?! Under the table?! Trying to kill me?!" Etna asked surprised as she hit her neck to un-choke her food.

"Oh! Let me apply some pressure on your neck to get the food out!" Flonne offered happily, doing the Helmlish (sp?) move to help Etna, eventually, a chicken bone got out and crashed into a Prinny. "There!"

Etna coughed a little. "Phew! Man, that was close!"

"I'm glad I was able to help you!"

"...You know," Etna tilted her head. "I don't think you don't want to kill me at all," She took a big bite of jam as she talked with the jam on her mouth. "You're an angel, and angels don't help demons, you know?"

"Oh...maybe you're right, I mean, you were in trouble and I..."

"Don't say anything else!" Etna said swallowing her jam completely. "How about if we're friends? How that sounds to you?"

"You mean friends? As friends helping each other in difficult times!?" Flonne asked excited about the idea, making Etna to back away a little from her.

"Um...yeah, whatever you say. (I didn't thought she was this cheesy...)" Etna said and thought scared of Flonne.

"Yay! We're officialy friends!" Flonne siad hugging Etna happily.

Etna pushed Flonne away. "All right, alright, I get it already! Now, do you want to eat with us?"

"Dood?" The Prinnies asked.

Flonne looked at all the food on the table and her mouth drooled a little before her stomach grumbled. "I'd...like to eat something now..."

"Then have a seat and take anything you want, you should take advantage of me, I'm feeling generous for this night."

However, Flonne first went to the window and looked outside and to the sky with a smile. "Thank you giant, creepy sword falling from that ominous dark cloud to allow me to make new friends!" She yelled to a giant, creepy sword falling from an ominous dark cloud.

"Okay, stop thanking the city outside an-" Etna did a double-take. "Wait, what do you mean by giant, creepy sword falling from an ominous cloud?"

Flonne put her hands together and looked at her. "Well, that is a giant, creepy sword falling right above this aparment, and we're inside right now, right?"

Etna quickly ran to the window and her eyes widened when she saw a sword falling...just in the center of the whole city, in which was coveniently located on her aparment. "...Flonne..."

"Wow! How did you know my name?!" Flonne asked surprised, since she didn't told Etna her name.

"A hunch and my name is Etna if you were wondering..." Etna said a little bored as she looked at her. "Flonne...if there is a giant creepy sword falling JUST above us, what is the thing we ALL should do right now?"

"Escape? Yelling in horror and get out of this place as soon as possible?" Flonne suggested.

Etna smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Right! You know a lot about this!"

BOOM!

Etna, Flonne and the Prinnies (which were many) blasted off when Exor landed and crashed into the aparment, destroying it completely and the food they were eating.

"DARN IT! I WASN'T FINISHED WITH MY DINNER!" Etna said as they flew towards the sky.

"ETNA! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!" Flonne asked worried crying.

"MISS ETNA! THERE IS A MANSION OVER THERE, DOOD!" A Prinny said pointing to the Smash Mansion.

"ALRIGHT! WE FOUND THE PERFECT PLACE TO STAY!" Etna said happily, snapping her fingers

"But what if there are people living there already?!" Flonne asked worried.

"JUST LEAVE IT TO ME!" The demon girl said with a plan as they landed on the pool of the mansion, with all the Prinnies falling like nothing happened.

Smash Mansion
Hallway

1 minute ago...

We see Wolf (wearing only a black shirt without sleeves and black shorts) walking down the hallway to his room with a glass of milk, apparently, he found it inside a microwave, heating up, which was probably from another person (cough, Falco, cough).

"Hmm...at least this place has food and drinks, not like the Subspace does." Wolf said as he finished with his glass and threw it outside.

1 minute later...

The wolf's (pun intended) ears perked up but VERY little and looked outside the window to find a lot of penguins and 2 girls falling from the sky as he watched in amusement. "...I don't think there is a weather that rains penguins...wait, that's stupid!... Not my problem." Wolf smirked laughing a little as he ignored the whole pool filling with Prinnies.

Back with the demon and angel, both managed to get inside with the whole squad of Prinnies following them.

Mission Impossible Theme

Etna looked around the hallways, they were large and contained many rooms for many people, she smirked at the thought of opening a hotel with the help of the Prinnies to make many money as a normal business girl! Just think about it!... Or the first demon business girl as she thought.

"My, this mansion looks big from the outside and inside, we could open a hotel here and win lots of money!" Etna said with money signs as eyes.

"Etna, I'm not sure if we can just barge in here and take something that is not ours." Flonne said worried.

"Dood! She may be right Miss Etna!" The Prinnies replied yelling.

"Shh! What if Flonne is right and there are people living here?! Keep it down!" Etna whispered angrily.

"Dood." The Prinnies whispered ashamed.

"Alright Flonne, you will inspect that part of over there, I'll inspect the upper floors and the Prinnies can inspect the other rooms around, but if there is anybody getting close, hide! Understand?"

"...I didn't said that I was going to help you either...but maybe there is something valuable here, so I'm in!" Flonne said excited, clapping her hands silently.

"Move on and examine the area!" Etna commanded and all the Prinnies, Flonne and herself dispersed to different parts of the mansion. "AND STOP SAYING DOOD!" She shouted at the Prinnies angrily.

Music stops

Lucario's Room

The Aura Pokémon grunted and his eyes turned into the eyes of a beast as he saw the dark cloud forming above Nintendo City, he got out of the bed and walked to the window, wher he kept staring at it with rage, fury and more of both things.

Chris slowly woke up from the silent grunts Lucario was making and he rubbed his eyes slowly. "Lucario...is something wrong?... A-AAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

"What?" Lucario asked with the nasty face as he looked at Chris, straight to the eyes, what was scary is that his response sounded like he didn't cared about scaring Chris, even a little.

"Lucario...your eyes...your face...they're scaring me..." Chris said trembling while Lucario looked at him with his beastly face, the Aura Pokémon gasped and shook his head to make the nasty face to fade away.

He kneeled to him ashamed. "I'm sorry! Forgive me! Just please, don't be scared by me, I won't do that again!" Lucario said apologizing.

"But it's still on my mind! I can't get that nasty face vanish!"

"You have to forget it!"

"I can't! And everytime I look to you, I imagine it!"

Lucario quickly hug his trainer as tears appeared on his eyes. "Please...forgive me...I won't do that again...if I do that...punish me with anything..."

"..." Chris didn't replied as tears appeared on his eyes, strolling all the way down to Lucario's shoulder. "...You promise?"

"I promise, word of a guardian."

Chirs hug Lucario back. "Thank you...that's why you're special to me..." Lucario smiled and his tail wagged a little. "But...why were you looking outside the window?"

Lucario looked outside and pointed at the dark cloud. "It's because of that, something is not right with that cloud, see those lightnings forming inside?"

"It's just a thunderstorm...nothing to worry about..."

"But I could have sworn there was something evil inside..."

"Maybe because you thought it would scare me and you decided to glare at it."

"...No...that's not it..." He closed his eyes as Chris rubbed his head with care.

"Just get back to sleep, everything is going to be alright tomorrow."

Lucario got in the bed and smiled a little to Chris. "I trust you."

"Thanks again...good night..." Chris whispered as both returned to sleep, but Lucario pulled Chris again to his neck and fell asleep with a long yawn...

Before he felt something weird happening to his body because a star touched him when he wasn't looking, he felt the bed getting smaller somehow...

Roy's Room

Now let's change to a person who DID cared about the dark cloud.

Pichu's Room

That's why we're changing to Pichu.

"What's that dark cloud?" Pichu asked worried, before a huge earthquake was created and many shouts and yells for help came directly from the city, which scared the mouse Pokémon greatly. "Y-YIKES! I NEED TO ALERT THE OTHERS! EVERYONE! COME AND SEE WH-" When he opened the door of his room, most of the Smashers (minus Marth, Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Lucas, Lucario and Chris) came running above him and looked outside the window. "...Bunch of...pushovers..." Pichu muttered as a bump of his head on the floor.

"What is happening now?" Zelda asked.

"Looks like Nintendo City is being invaded." Nana said.

"It's that book of clichés haunting us for when the main hero arrives at the main city?" Popo asked confused.

"Pfft, don't be stupid Popo, that was just a book."

"Anyway, we need to tell Master Hand about this!" Roy suggested and they nodded.

"Just another suggestion." Pikachu said grogily.

"What?" Ness asked.

"Heck no, we're not going wearing pajamas or plains shirts with shorts."

They looked at their pajamas and shirts and shorts, sweatdropping in unison as they ran to the rooms to get changed...running above Pichu by accident that is.

Command Room

"So you said that Mr. G&W turned into Shadow Bugs?" Master Hand asked to Marth, holding a secret meeting in the room.

"Yes, it creeped me out when he said fools to us, but that was strange when he turned into Shadow Bugs, there wasn't any dark aura covering his body too." Marth explained.

"(I don't remember Mr. G&W turning into Shadow Bugs when I erased their memories, maybe I wasn't aware of that at all or did Tabuu erased some of my memories in that escape?)"

"Are you thinking about something I should know?"

"N-no, it's nothing, thanks Marth for telling me your report."

"Right, should I go and check what is happening in Nintendo City?"

"Go now, the others probably are preparing to go too."

"I will." Marth said as he ran outside...before heading someone saying "dood." "Did you said something?" He asked peering from the wall.

"No, I didn't, why?"

"I thought you said "dude."

"...No..."

"...Well...I'm off..." The Altean prince shuggred and turned to the door.

Hallway

We see Pikachu, Ness and Fox running down the Hallway as they stop in front of Lucario's Room to knock the door. "Chris? Lucario? Are you ready to investigate what is happening in the city?" Pikachu asked as they heard something being crushed inside. "...What's all that noise?"

"I-I'm sorry! W-we were just getting prepared to go!" Chris shouted.

"He's telling the truth!" Shouted a deep voice which made all of them to wonder from who it was.

"Is there anyone else inside besides you 2?" Fox asked, wondering.

"N-no! What makes you say that?!" Chris asked before he fell to the floor by accident. "Oww!"

"Chris...are you hiding something from us?" Ness asked narrowing his eyes.

"No! Just let me get prepared!"

The trio looked at each other and nodded, they backed away a little from the door to crash into it to open the door and find what was Chris and Lucario doing inside, once they managed to throw down the door, however, Chris was standing there sweating a little, they saw the bed crushed and parts of the wall destroyed by something. "I told you, I was getting ready?"

"You mean you turned your own room into the training room?" Ness asked confused as they got up.

"N-no...I was...practicing my singing voice!"

"As far as I know, nobody can sing THIS bad." Pikachu said sweatdropping.

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"SHUT UP!" They yelled annoyed blocking their ears.

"Now, can we go?"

"But where is Lucario?" Pikachu asked and Chris slipped a Pokeball on his pocket when they weren't looking.

"He already went ahead, he wanted to go first."

"...Okay, be prepared, I think there's going to be some fighting very soon." Fox warned him as they ran together outside...before looking back because he heard someone saying "dood", but he shook his head and got outside.

Outside

The Battle Opens Fire

"What the...Primids?!" Chris asked surprised as the whole group of Smashers found Primids appearing from the Shadow Bugs (Lucas wasn't with them) and charged at them.

"The Subspace Army maybe is trying to hold us off from reaching the city!" Ness said.

"Oh no, they won't! I won't let them destroy the first metropolis I went to visit!"

"CHARGE!" Roy shouted as all the Smashers charged forward the group of Primids blocking their way, they were like 100 of them, but fortunately, they were experts in fighting at this point.

...But they weren't prepared for the Bucculus that left their lips on the ground and launch to the lips of the closest person who stepped on them, which were Chris, Marth, Meta Knight and Pichu.

"YUCK!" Chris said as he threw away the Bucculus from his lips. "Gross! That was...disgusting! And they had spikes on their lips too!"

"I'll shall get revenge for that." Meta Knight said.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" Pichu casted a powerful thunder that electrocuted all the Bucculus, who went blasting off.

"Thanks for clearing our path, Pichu." Marth said.

"I do what I can do!" Pichu said happily.

All of them heard many yells coming from the city. "Just what is Tabuu trying to do with this?" Wolf asked to himself.

"Oh, please, don't destroy the bar, anything but the bar!" C. Falcon said as he kicked a Big Primid out of the way using Falcon Kick.

"...I'll be very pleased if they do that..." Chris said frowning, because he hates drunk people.

"AAAAAHHHH!!" Ivysaur was assaulted by 4 Fire Primids who kept shooting a torrent of fire from their mouths, hurting him severly.

"Squirtle! Go and help Ivysaur!" Red ordered.

"HELP ME FIRST!" Squirtle said crying a little as he ran for his life from a squad of Roaders.

"Get out of our way." Mewtwo said simply teleporting above the Fire Primids and using Confusion in one of them to slam it to the others and save Ivysaur.

"Phew, thanks Mewtwo, I owe you one..." Red said as he got in a thinking position.

"...Forget it, I won't let you capture me." The Psychic Pokémon said as he floated away from both of them.

"Oh c'mon!" Red pleaded as he joined with Mewtwo...leaving Ivysaur to watch Squirtle being chased around by the Roaders.

"WHY DON'T YOU HELP ME?!" Squirtle asked shouting.

Ivysaur smirked and yawned. "Red didn't told me to help you."

"YOU STUPID GRASS POKÉMON!"

"PK BLAST!" Ness shouted exploding a green flash that opened a way through the crowd of Primids. "Why didn't they showed up when I went to help C. Falcon, Lucas?... Lucas?" Ness looked around to find Lucas, but he wasn't there. "Hey where is Lucas?"

"Worry about him later, he is probably sleeping in the mansion." Nana said, smacking her hammer on a Auroros.

"Aw, why didn't we slept with him?" Popo asked yawning.

"Because, Popo, the city is in danger and we have to do something to save it! Chris! I need healing!"

"Soul Etude!" Chris played the song around Popo, Nana and Ness, recovering their wounds a little.

"Thank you!"

"WAIT!" Roy shouted and they looked at him. "Instead of fighting and leave nothing, why don't we just rush towards the city and push away anything that comes from our direction?"

"...He is right." Mewtwo said.

"Why didn't we think about that before?" Toon Link asked confused before all of them joined in a circle formation.

"Okay, here's the plan, I'll stay on the middle to cast my healing song if anybody gets hurt in our path as you attack them, understand?" Chris asked.

"Got it!" They responded in unison.

"This is madness!" Pikachu shouted shocked.

"Madness?" Chris's right eye twitched "...THIS...IS..." He shook his head. "Um, I forgot the next part, Popo, do you remember?"

"'Course I do, SPARTAAAAAAA!!" The blue Ice Climber shouted charging forward...with just only Chris as the others wondered what was that supposed to mean.

Thus breaking Chris's formation...

"What the heck is a Sparta?" Falco asked confused.

"JUST CHARGE!" Toon Link yelled annoyed as they followed the duo towards the chaotic city.

Music stops

Smash Mansion
Lucas's Room

The blond PK user was still snoring a little from his sleep, he even had a mucus bubble growing and shrinking on his nose, he must have had a deep sleep since the early earthquake didn't woke him up.

"...Hmm... Why... Why I can't be older to marry Kumatora..." Lucas snored dreamily, turning to the wall to yawn a little.

Outside

Twink and Geno were seen flying around the area as fast as they could, but Geno stopped mid-way and Twink stopped to see him. "Are you alright?" Twink asked worried.

"No... I'm not... I don't think we can find the doll I used to fight with..." Geno said losing hope.

"Don't be preocupied! I admire you Geno, I know we can find that doll somewhere, I know that!" Twink said pouting.

"Oh, so do you have an idea of where is the doll?"

"Well...it could be close to an open window of some blond kid that is sleeping right now, you know, maybe in a mansion around here?"

"...I doubt we can find that mansion...wait, how do you even know about that?"

"Because I'm seeing the same doll you used to talk about a lot on that open window with the blond kid snoring, inside the mansion we are just in front of." Twink pointed out, because they were just 10 inches away from Lucas's window, close to the doll.

"...Wait, this wasn't here before if I can remember!"

"You were looking down since we escaped from the Star Road that you missed most of the areas we saw back there!"

"...Fine, let's just get the doll and return to the Star Road."

"Wait, it's going to be rude to steal it from him!"

Geno rolled his eyes. "I did this once and I can do it again without awakening him, trust me."

Lucas's Room

"UAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" Lucas screamed when he saw a star getting inside his room and it went straight towards Geno, who shone brightly. "Wh-WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!"

"Geno! You told me this wasn't going to happen!" Twink said angrily, floating above Lucas who had his pupils small when he saw Twink.

"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" Lucas asked scared for life, hidind below the sheets of his bed.

The doll which Geno entered began to grow slowly in the light, surpassing Lucas's height by 1 inch as Geno slowly opened his wooden eyes and looked to Twink and Lucas, who uncovered his face and his mouth opened a little in surprise.

Geno bowed his head. "Sorry for interrupting you, but Twink and me need to go back to the Star Road to save it." He said before walking to the door.

"W-wait!" Lucas shouted stopping both of them.

"What?" Geno and Twink asked in unison.

"A-are you going to explain to me what is happening?"

"I don't think so, it's a little complicated for kids like you." Twink said confused.

"But you're a kid, and probably younger than me!"

"At least I'm wiser!"

"At least I have hair!"

"At least I can fly!"

"At least I have LEGS!"

Twink gasped. "WELL...AT LEAST I HAVE A MOTHER!" He realized how pathetic his reply was and waited for a laugh.

However, Lucas gasped. "WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Geno said angrily, snapping out of his calmness. "You 2 are still kids, while the Subspace Army is taking over the Star Road!"

Lucas shook his head. "Wait, did you say Subspace Army?"

"Yeah, why?"

"B-because me and the others are trying to defeat them from taking over the worlds."

Geno gasped a little. "Wait, don't tell me this is the place where the special elite of fighters live..."

"Hmm...I think you're talking about the Smashers, well, I'm one of them."

"Whoa!" Twink said surprised. "Then you're a special fighter?!"

"W-well...I'm not that strong...see?" Lucas casted PK Freeze that exploded in front of both stars, but it was enough to surprise them.

"...Then...what is your name?" Geno asked.

"M-my name is Lucas...and you must be Geno because it said that on the doll."

"Well, my name is in reality (HARD TO PRONOUNCE NAME.)" Lucas made a confused face, and so did Twink. "...Call me Geno."

Lucas got out of bed and quickly ran to his closet to get dressed in 3 seconds by throwing clothes to his bed. "S-so, where are you going?"

"AHEM!" Twink called out angrily. "My name is Twink, nice to meet you!"

"Oh, s-sorry about that...nice to meet you too...so Geno, where are you 2 going?"

Geno pointed outside to the city. "There, Exor is right on the center of that city."

"Who?"

"I'll explain it while we go there, c'mon, let's go!"

Hallway

Rowdy Rumble

"Dood?"

"WHAT THE?!" Lucas found 5 weird penguins looking at him, and they instantly ran off to somewhere. "Were those guys working for the Subspace Army?!"

"Then we must stop them from doing damage to the mansion!" Geno said, dashing after them.

"Wow, he's fast!" Twink said surprised as he and Lucas followed Geno to capture the odd penguins that appeared out of nowhere, that were the Prinnies.

"DOOD! THEY'RE FOLLOWING US, ETNA IS GOING TO BE MAD!" Prinny #3 said shocked.

"QUICK! HIDE IN THIS ROOM, DOOD!" Prinny #1 yelled.

"CD Room? Dood?" Prinny #5 readed confused before they rushed in...and broke all the things inside by accident and clumsyness combined when Geno stopped in front of the room as Lucas and Twink came panting.

"They went here, let's go." Geno said before running inside with the other 2.

CD Room

"Huh?" Lucas looked down to his feet and found many CD shards shattered below their feets, there were a lot of CD shards scattered around the room as the Prinnies got outside a pile of shards, with some shards embedded into their skins as they looked to each other and screamed in pain. "For what are these shards?"

"These shards look like CD shards..." Twink trailed off.

"Dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood dood doo-" The Prinnies began to panic and ran around the room, making the 3 of them to track down 1 Prinny at a time, but it was so confusing that they got dizzy.

"Why don't they...just stop..." Geno asked spinning a little.

"I'm seeing...things..." Twink said spinning a little in the air.

"Shut...up..." Lucas said spinning a little and blocking his ears.

Just then, Flonne and Etna appeared from the door and gasped when they saw the whole room and the trio spinning while the Prinnies ran around in circles. "Oh no, they already broke something here?!" Etna asked furiously.

"E-Etna, what is that weird red aura covering your body?" Flonne asked scared while Etna took out a large axe.

"THIS AURA TELLS I'M ANGRY!! BANZAIIIIIIII!!" Etna shouted jumping over the trio and directly over the Prinnies to punish them for what they did, the Prinnies didn't retaliated and were beaten to a bloody pulp by their boss, making the trio who recovered to sweat a little.

"Doooooooooooooooooood..." The Prinnies said with Xs on their eyes as Etna put her axe on her shoulder with an angry-anime face.

"IF YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE TO SEND YOU TO HELL!" Etna proclaimed angrily.

"B-but, aren't you a demon living in hell?" Flonne asked from the door.

"THE HELL AND THE UNDERWORLD ARE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS!" Etna shouted to Flonne before noticing the trio (although Lucas and Twink were hiding behind Geno) looking to her confused. "...Uh-oh...I think they're the people living here..."

For the first time, Flonne rolled her eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Lucas asked scared.

"...Wait just a second, they're just only kids, ha! You gotta scram out of here before you ge-" Etna was interrupted before she and the Prinnies got frozen. "..."

"MASTER HAND IS GOING TO KILL ME FOR WHAT THOSE PENGUINS DID HERE!" Lucas said scared and trembling after he used PK Freeze on them.

"I-I'm sorry, I beg your pardons, Etna just wanted to see the mansion from the inside, but we weren't trying to take it to turn this into a big hotel and win lots of money, right Etna?" Flonne asked sweetly (trying to apologize and lie to them, in which she failed miserably) as she looked at Etna inside the icicle.

"S-s-s-s-s-she's right, believe her!" Etna said with gritted teeth.

"D-d-d-d-d-dood!" The Prinnies said.

Music stops

"Do you know about the Subspace Army?" Geno asked.

"Subspace Army? What's that?" Flonne asked confused.

"I guess they're not with them after all." Twink said sighing in relief.

Etna and the Prinnies were able to broke out the ice and walked towards the trio. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry about taking this mansion by myself." She said.

"Dood." The Prinnies behind her bowed ashamed.

"But if you aren't with the Subspace Army, then what are you doing here?" Lucas asked.

Etna laughed a little. "Well, thing is, a huge sword came out from a dark cloud AND above my aparment, then it blasted us off all the way to this mansion, inside the pool outside."

"Huge sword? That's got to be Exor!" Geno pointed out.

Etna narrowed her eyes at Geno. "...You know that sword? Then you must know something about it!" She grabbed Geno and began to shake him violently. "TELL ME, WHY DID THAT SWORD DESTROYED ALL THE FOOD I WAS GOING TO EAT?! I WAS STARVING!"

"C-c-c-c-c-c-c-calm down, j-j-j-j-j-j-just put me down and I'll explain it to everyone here if yo-"

Master Hand came floating in front of the room and stopped when he saw Etna, Flonne and the Prinnies looking at him, but he gasped when he saw the CD shards scattered around the floor. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! THE MUSIC FOR THE STAGES ARE DESTROYED!!"

"Music for what?" Twink asked, getting the hand's attention to him and Geno.

"INTRUDERS!" Master Hand yelled before everyone but Lucas got captured instantly in cages that sprouted from the floor.

However, Twink squeezed from Geno's cage and laughed. "Ha! You can't catch me!" A bird cage captured him from the roof. "...Dammit!"

"I'm innocent! Let me go!" Flonne pleaded from her cage.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!" Etna ordered angrily.

"M-Master Hand! Don't hurt them please!" Lucas tried to calm down the hand's fury.

"...UGH, FINE! TAKE THEM TO THE COMMAND ROOM!" Master Hand ordered angrily.

His insane brother came from the wall and took all the cages with them to the Command Room. "(I'm starting to wonder if there are any "elite" fighters living here...)" Geno thought disappointed.

Nintendo City

The Smashers were able to reach the city through all the barrage of Primids blocking their way, but when they got on top of the hill, the city looked different than before...

The city was protected by an invisible barrier as all the people who were living in there were yelling and crying around, outside the barrier in panic as the Smashers ran towards the crowd, where Parakarry and Quill were in thinking positions, Quill being the calmest one, since Parakarry was flying around in panic.

"Quill! What happened here?!" Toon Link asked.

"NINTENDO CITY IS IN DANGER!" Parakarry yelled preocupied.

"We can't get inside!" Quill said shocked.

"What do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

"A huge sword came out from the sky and it created a big barrier that went growing overtime, all the citizens were able to escape from the barrier, but the city can't be entered from any part, and all of us are panicking for what happened just now." Quill explained to them.

"A huge sword?"

"It laughed and it said something like "I WILL DESTROY THIS CITY IN LESS THAN 2 DAYS, AND TAKE THE STAR SPIRITS WITH IT!" Parakarry said.

"(Did he said Star Spirits?)" Chris asked in his mind, before another earthquake was created. "W-what was that?!"

"An earthquake!" Zelda said.

"...MOVE! NOW!" Mewtwo shouted to all the crowd, but their yells were louder and they couldn't escape from something weird that happened on the scene...

All the Smashers, Parakarry, Quill and the people screaming around were trapped inside force fields, they looked around and tried to get out, but it was useless, they were trapped by something unknown.

"NOW WHAT?!" Pikachu asked irritated.

Meta Knight knocked the force field. "It seems we're trapped."

"We know that." Link said rolling his eyes.

"...Where is Chris?" C. Falcon asked and they looked around, just to find Chris outside the barriers.

"Guys!" Chris yelled worried.

"Chris! You know how to get us out of these things?" Squirtle asked.

"I-I'm afraid I don't know, everything happened out of a sudden!"

"DUAHAHAHAHAHA! HE IS TOOOOOOOOOTALLY RIGHT!"

Ness frowned after hearing that voice. "Oh no...of all times...he needed to appear right now..."

"Who?" Fox asked confused before a big machine fell from the dark sky, revealing Porky laughing maniacally as they glared at him in unison.

"Good to see you again, losers!" Porky said chuckling.

"Pokey! What are you trying to do?" Ness demanded for an answer.

"It's Porky! And, Tabuu wants to destroy the Star Road and this pathetic city, along with you, once and for all!"

"The Star Road?" Chris asked confused.

"Yep! The same Star Road where wishes are granted! You know? Tabuu wants to destroy everyone's wishes so that he can take over the worlds faster and easier! Pretty cool idea, huh?"

"..." Nobody replied.

"...What is the Star Road again?" Pit asked confused and Porky fell in anime style before getting up.

"...Let me put this a little simplier than before with another similar plan, I'm taking your friend, Chris, with us as the barriers, that are currently stopping you from teleporting or escaping, to explode in 3 minutes."

All the crowd began to panic and the Smashers shot nasty glares at him for his second plan, since Chris is supposed to be outside to capture him.

Betting in this Bout

"You bastard!" Nana said with a glare.

"...Bring it on!" Chris said taunting and they looked at him with worried looks.

"Chris, don't tell me you're going to fight him alone?" Link asked worried.

"I'm going to do it, I need to get revenge for what he did to me before, you already took your revenge, so I want to make things fair between us!"

"I doubt you're going to win against him using that job..." Marth pointed out before Chris changed to his Fake King job.

"I'm prepared, let's begin!" Chris shouted angrily, conveniently, the field was big enough to let them fight with space.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You got some nerve, I like that!" Porky said laughing before he stomped the floor with his claws and ran towards Chris, who rolled out of the way and looked inside his sleeve to call the Waddle Dees.

"Waddle Dees and Doos! Can you find another Smash Ball like the last time?"

"Everyone! King Chris needs our support, find another Smash Ball to help him out!" Dave the Waddle Dee said and all of them began to scramble around to find another Smash Ball.

"TAKE THIS!" Porky said launching 6 Porky Bots that went running dumbly after him.

Chris tried to run, but his speed wasn't high since the hammer made him to go slow. "OH NO!" The Porky Bots lunged at him by stumbling and exploding on his back, which caused severe damage to him.

"I TOLD YOU, THIS IS TOO EASY!" Porky taunted laughing.

"Chris! You can do it!" Jigglypuff said cheering before most of them nodded to each other and began to cheer on the World Traveler.

Porky turned to the Smashers. "Shut up! You're distracting me!"

"Exactly!" Chris said jumping above him to slam his hammer on the glass, it made a small crack and Porky backed away.

"You little wuss!"

"That's it, it's on!" Chris said angrily before jumping and slamming his hammer on the machine, but Porky dodged it again in time. "Go!" Chris said taking and throwing out a Waddle Doo (Brandon) that landed above Porky and shot an electricity ray on him.

"UGH!" Porky grabbed Brandon and threw it to another direction before it vanished in thin air. "Not done yet!" He said as his machine jumped in the air to charge his electricity charge above Chris.

"Roll out of the way!" Wolf shouted from the barrier.

"Wolf? Giving suggestions?" Falco asked with a grin.

"Do you want him alive?"

"...You have a point there, go!" He started to cheer as the others did.

And Chris did it...late, the electrical charge managed to reach him and was pushed to the air, but he got control of himself and did a backflip in the air to land on the ground. "...Wait, I did a backflip? Awesome!" He said cheering.

"THAT'S GOOD, BUT CAN YOU RESIST THIS?!" Porky asked furiously concentrating energy between 2 claws that shot a red ray along the ground and exploded when it reached Chris, making him to yell in pain as he gritted his teeth.

"I'm not done yet...either..." Chris said panting before charging at Porky with his hammer ready.

"I'm starting to think he will not defeat him..." Meta Knight said, shaking his head slowly.

"Don't think like that!" Kirby said as he continued to cheer on Chris.

"C'MON!" Chris started to charge his Jet Hammer to smash it on Porky's machine when he started to stomp the floor to crush him with the claws. "NOW!" His Jet Hammer shot quickly and Porky backed away from him, but he ran to another direction. "Hey, come back here!"

The World Traveler started to chase down the old kid, but Porky was faster than him since Chris was literally dragging his hammer along the ground.

"You'll never catch up with him with that speed, do something to pull him closer to you!" Marth shouted suggesting.

"Try to annoy him!" Ness suggested.

"But with what?!" Chris shouted as he chased Porky around.

"Make fun of his fatness!"

"Porky! You're so fat that many chocolate factories closed down since you ate all the chocolate!"

"WHAT?!" Porky asked furiously before charging towards Chris.

"Have you found the Smash Ball yet?!" He asked to the Waddle Dees and Doos.

"We're doing our best in finding it!" Jonathan, the Waddle Dee, shouted from the sleeve.

"AAAAAHH!!" He wasn't able to dodge Porky's crazy mad dash with his claws that his health was greatly reduced, making most of the people to panic as the Smashers tried to figure out a way to help him.

"This is not good..." Chris muttered weakly.

"He isn't used to fight on battles of one-on-one yet." Fox said.

"But it isn't fair, he is fighting against a much stronger foe!" Jigglypuff said pouting.

"Darn it! Let me go!" Toon Link said slashing the barrier continuously.

"If Chris doesn't defeat him, we're as good as death!" Red said shocked.

"There!" Diana the Waddle Doo said throwing a Smash Ball from the sleeve. "By the way, King Dedede prohibited us to lend you his Final Smash, you have to be creative and create one on your own!"

"What?! That stupid bastard!" Chris said angrily before starting to smash the Smash Ball with his hammer, before a claw got him and threw it away. "I REALLY HATE YOU!"

"Now's time for my new attack, missiles!" Porky took out various missiles launchers that shot 10 missiles that went straight towards Chris in the air, making a huge explosion as the World Traveler was in danger to lose.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Maxwell the Waddle Doo yelled jumping from the sleeve directly towards the Smash Ball to break it with his head, fortunately, he broke the Smash Ball and Chris gained his power as his eyes and body began to glow.

"Now I'll beat you up to a bloody pulp!" Chris said charging at Porky, who started to run away. "Did I mention you were so fat that the ocean around Eagleland was made up by your pee?!"

"NOT THAT KIND OF FUN, CHRIS!" Ness said disgusted.

"GRRRRRRR!! TAKE BACK THOSE WORDS!" Porky said enraged before falling for Chris's trap and charged at him by stomping his claws on the ground.

"Closer... Closer... Closer..." Chris muttered to himself as Porky got closer in every second, when one of Porky's claws, or him was very close to him.

"DIE!!" Porky yelled at the top of his lungs when he put all the force on one claw to smash it into Chris.

Tenacity

However, the whole place gets dark as Chris begins his new Final Smash that stopped the time before the claw could reach him. "Here I go, everything I've got!" He yelled before yellow lines starts to rain down the dark area as Florencia (the Waddle Dee) throws 4 hammers, spinning high above the air while Chris reached between them.

"Is this the power of a Final Smash?" Pit asked surprised.

"I wonder how mine looks like..." Pikachu asked to himself as they see Chris's next move.

Chris grabbed one spinning hammer. "1!" He throws it a high speed towards Porky, who yelled in pain.

And he did the same with the other 2 hammers.

"2!.. 3!"

"AAAAAHHH! IT HURTS!" Porky moaned in pain before Chris grabbed the last 2 hammers above Porky and raised them above him.

"Here it comes, the last blow!" Roy said excited making a fist.

"OVERLORD REEEEIGN..." Chris quickly descends above Porky, smashing his hammers through him and directly to the ground, where he finishes his attack. "IMPAAAACT!!" A yellow glyph shines brightly under them before creating an earth shockwave, creating an earthquake that dealt extreme damage to the Spider Pig Machine, creating a cloud of dust and smoke around the 2.

The scene returns back to normal and Chris was shown panting heavily, the Final Smash drained a lot of his health as he smiles weakly.

"It's over...finally...I got my revenge..." He says weakly.

But the barriers didn't vanished.

"Hey, it's not fair, he won!" Link said.

"...No...he is still breathing!" Mewtwo pointed out before the dust cleared out, but one claw wrapped Chris and pulled him to the air, Porky's machine was damaged severly, but he was still standing.

"Hehehehehe...look who's laughing now!" Porky said laughing maniacally.

"Ugh!" Chris gritted his teeth in pain as the claw's grip got stronger.

"...That's it...we lost..." Wolf said crossing his arms.

Falco punched the ground with his fist. "Darn it! We couldn't help him!"

"If only Lucario was here..." Jigglypuff said randomly, trying to sound poetic...

...But her random sentence did made a point there, where is Lucario?

"Hey, where is he?" Ness asked looking around.

"Well, didn't Chris told us that he was here?" Pikachu asked.

Somehow, Chris was starting to sweat as he ignored the pain, becoming numb to it.

"Chris! Call Lucario, he must be here around somewhere!" Pichu shouted.

"...Er...I don't think that's a good idea!" Chris yelled from the claw, sweating.

"...Chris...did you hid Lucario in his Pokeball?" Red asked confused.

For the first time, Red was able to guess the place where Lucario was. "...Okay! Okay! Lucario didn't went to the city because I called him back to his Pokeball!"

"Then call him out, genius!" Toon Link said annoyed.

"...I...I can't! You're going to ask me a lot of questions if I call him!" Chris yelled.

"This is a near-death scene! Call him out!" Popo yelled.

"Don't mind him about the cliché book, just call Lucario!" Nana yelled.

"...But promise me you're not going to ask me anything!"

"...Promise?" All of them said confused.

Chris reached to his Pokeball. "Please...don't let them ask me anything..." He muttered before throwing it high in the air.

"...I know I'm a novice trainer...but...why did he threw the Pokeball in the air and not into the ground?" Red asked confused.

"...Well...unless his Pokémon was very big...but Lucario isn't that big t-" Pikachu was interrupted before an enormous light came out from the small Pokeball and they gasped to next thing they saw behind Chris and Porky.

...Somehow, Lucario wasn't the same anymore...

Because the Aura Pokémon was 15-foot tall now.

"...WHAT...THE...HELL?!" Pikachu asked as his eyes twitched.

"Can Lucarios grow into that size?" Pichu wondered.

"Of course not! That's stupid, nobody can do that!"

The giant Lucario crossed his arms as he glared towards Porky, who was sweating like crazy after seeing his huge, red eyes looking straight to Porky's eyes. "GRRRRRRRRRR..."

"Er...h-h-h-hi there big doggie..." Porky said waving a claw to him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY MASTER." Lucario asked as he glanced to his weakened trainer, looking down weakly as he looked up and smiled a little to him.

"I was...just...cleaning him?" Porky asked before the giant Lucario kneeled and grabbed Chris with his big right hand, pulling the claw off the machine to release the World Traveler from its grip.

Lucario crushed the claw in his left hand and dropped the dust into the ground as all the people were left speechless. "Chris, did he attacked you?"

Chris glared at Porky from Lucario's hand. "Not only that, he called me a little wuss and shot me with missiles, rays and electric charges from all directions! He even called robots that exploded and caused me a lot of pain!"

The giant Aura Pokémon didn't liked what he heard and grunted down at Porky.

"...I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Porky yelled at the top of his lungs and began to bow down to Lucario. "PLEASE, DON'T HURT ME, I'LL BE GOOD, JUST DON'T HURT ME!"

"Lucario, tell him you're serious, but do it with the most extreme tone of voice." Chris whispered and Lucario grabbed Porky with his huge, left hand and pulled him closer to his face.

"IF YOU DARE TO HURT MY MASTER WITH EVEN THE MOST, SLIGHTLIEST CUT OR SCRATCH ON HIS SKIN, I WILL MAKE SURE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE A REAL NIGHTMARE AND TAKE YOU TO A REAL WORLD OF PAIN, UNDERSTAND?!" The giant Lucario asked furiously, enraged and angrily.

"...W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-well...only if Tabuu tells me t-"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The giant Aura Pokémon roared at the top of his lungs, creating a very loud sound that created strong winds that spreaded around the trees of the area, many windows got broken by his roar in a chain reaction, it even broke Porky's machine's glass.

Oh, did I mention it made several scratchs on Zelda's crown, a small crack on Meta Knight's mask, Roy and Marth's armors, and it even destroyed Fox, Falco and Wolf's scouters?

"Thank you very much, this is the second scouter I lose this day!" Fox yelled angrily before replacing his destroyed scouter by another one on his pockets.

"Fortunately, I wasn't too close to him or else my mask would broke." Meta Knight said.

Porky was able to move without his machine!... Because he was sucking his thumb up, trembling in fear and horror combined as he nodded, understanding the demand of the giant Aura Pokémon. "...C-c-c-c-c-c-can I leave now?" Lucario clenched his left hand to throw the traumatized old kid (traumatized yet again) high into the air with all his forces. "I WILL GET MY REVENGE NEXT TIME! JUST YOU WAIT!!" He screamed as the dot got smaller and blinked in the sky, the people began to cheer as the barriers disappeared and Lucario smiled down at Chris a little.

Music stops

The Smashers, Parakarry and Quill approached to the giant Lucario as he put Chris down in the ground safely, who received many cheers from the young Smashers.

"Yay! You did it!" Pichu said jumping happily.

"But it wasn't me, Lucario did all the work." Chris said scratching his head as he looked up to Lucario.

"So, can you explain why he got this big all of a sudden?" Roy asked.

"Hey, you promised that you weren't going to ask!"

"I lied, can you explain?"

"...Well..."

Flashback

Lucario's Room

We see Lucario being touched by a small star that made his body to glow, after 3 seconds, he starts to grow slowly as his arm was able to make a new bed for Chris, who was still sleeping deeply, his legs reached the door but they kept growing until the touched the roof, the bed below him got crushed and his right ear bended when it touched the roof and the other ear got out of the window, the spike on his left arm (where Chris was sleeping on) made a huge crack on the wall, the result of the growing was this, Lucario was so big that the room looked like a small cage to him, as he yawned with a very deep voice.

"...Hmm...wow...this bed got immediately soft...I like this mansion...do you Lucario?" Chris asked (still sleeping) while he rubbed Lucario's big fur.

"Yes...I like the mansion...too." Lucario said smiling a little (still sleeping too).

"...Weird...why does your voice sounds a little deeper?"

Lucario chuckled a little. "Remember when...you said it was because of the second puberty?"

Chris slapped Lucario's fur slightly and laughed a little. "Don't be...stupid...that was just a joke..."

"But I like it."

"Sure."

"I'm glad."

"Me too."

"Go back to sleep."

"You too."

Both of them finished talking with a small laugh...before Chris's eyes opened in shock, which Lucario also did as he looked at his new size.

"LUCARIO! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Chris asked, peering from Lucario's left side to him.

"I-I don't know! I just woke up and this is the first thing I see!"

"Did you took my wish seriously and you wished for it to happen? Because I was lying about having a giant Lucario!"

"Wh-what? Then you didn't wanted a giant Lucario?"

"Of course not! I know, the idea of getting your wish coming true after 5 minutes sounds stupid, but the others would be mad at us because you would end any fight by just tripping above your enemies!"

Lucario looked down (since he couldn't look up) in shame.

Chris got a little pleasant and rubbed his fur. "I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings..."

"...No...it's okay..."

Chris closed his eyes before opening them again. "...What the hell...I'll take the advantage of this opportunity..."

Lucario smiled a little. "Then it was the right thing?"

"...No, but I must be optimistic! Now I got a giant Lucario!" He hugged his giant Pokémon before gasping when his own Pokémon wanted to hug him. "DON'T EVER THINK ABOUT THAT, ONE TOUCH OF THAT GIANT PAW AND MY BONES ARE GONE!"

"S-sorry." Lucario said embarrassed.

"Anyway, we have to do something about your size, if the others sees you, or worse, if Master Hand sees you, they'll be asking us a lot of questions."

"I don't think there is anybody awake now, it's still late."

However, his statement was proven to be false before hearing many yells of help coming from the city.

"What was that?"

"Chris! I told you, something is happening right now in the city and you ignored me!"

Chris hid from him by ducking. "...I'm sorry..."

"...Are you trembling?"

Chris sniffed. "My Pokémon got angry at me...and worse, he yelled at me..."

Lucario gasped. "I-I didn't meant to scare you! Please, forgive me master!"

Chris quickly got up. "Say "master" to me again and I'm going to punish you for real this time."

"...Sorry...Chris..."

He smiled, climbed Lucario's body and walked towards his face to rub it with care as the Aura Pokémon growled (deeply) happily. "I just can't stop forgiving your errors, I know you're really sorry when you get like this."

"Mas-" Chris quickly glared at his left eye. "...Chris!"

"That's better, now we just need to put you back to your Pokeball and go to Nintendo City before anyone else wakes up an-" They heard a knock on the door and their pupils shrunk in unison.

"Chris? Lucario? Are you ready to investigate what is happening in the city?" Pikachu asked.

"Shoot! They're here!" Chris whispered, before Lucario crushed the bed completely.

"...What's all that noise?"

"I-I'm sorry! W-we were just getting prepared to go!" Chris shouted.

"He's telling the truth!" Lucario said.

"Is there anyone else inside besides you 2?" Fox asked, wondering.

"N-no! What makes you say that?!" Chris asked before he fell to the floor because Lucario tried to move. "Oww!"

"...Sorry again..." Lucario whispered to him.

"Chris...are you hiding something from us?" Ness asked narrowing his eyes.

Chris searched for Lucario's Pokeball because he accidentally dropped it when he fell, it rolled below Lucario's right arm's spike. "No! Just let me get prepared!" He yelled, straining to reach the Pokeball.

The trio looked at each other and nodded, they backed away a little from the door to crash into it to open the door. "CHRIS, HURRY UP!" Lucario whispered loudly.

"Got it!" Chris pressed the Pokeball to return the giant Pokémon to the Pokeball, that's when Ness, Pikachu and Fox threw the door down. "I told you, I was getting ready?"

End of flashback

Nintendo City

"...We don't know what happened..." Chris said.

Mewtwo looked at Lucario. "You wished this?"

"Yes..." Lucario said nodding.

"...Then...let's get back to the mansion."

"What? Are you going to leave the city like this?" Parakarry asked surprised.

"We can't proceed further, when we were trapped, I used my mind to analyze every single corner of the city, and more accurately, the sword that crashed in the center."

"...I see...you can't do anything right now..." Quill said.

"Don't worry, once we get an idea to help all the people to enter the city, we will return." Marth reassured them.

"In the meantime, try to calm down all of them." Roy said.

"And tell them we will save the city!" Pichu said.

"..." Parakarry nodded. "Okay, I'm putting all my hopes on all of you, but please, save the city! We still have mails to deliver!"

"(...Wait, I forgot to read Cream's Letter...)" Chris thought.

"Return me to my Pokeball." Lucario said.

"You don't want to walk?"

"No, it's embarrassing to walk like this, I don't want to leave my footprints."

Chris returned Lucario to his Pokeball and he readed Cream's Letter...

"OH NO!" Chris yelled worried.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"...A deal?" Master Hand asked confused.

Etna nodded while she was still inside the cage. "Yes, since my Prinnies broke your precious CDs, we will try to repay the damages they have been doing around without my permission." She said as she glanced to a cage full of Prinnies, all pilled together above each other.

"But Etna, you gave per-" Flonne's mouth was quickly closed by Etna.

"Also, they are excellent butlers, chefs, mechanics and they also know how to obey anyone's orders!"

"Dood." The Prinnies replied dumbly.

"...Hmm..." Master Hand wondered for a second before Etna snapped her fingers.

"Did I mention they know how to massage? Even with big fingers?" Etna remembered smirking.

"...Hmm..."

"They can also clean disasters."

"Deal!" Master Hand snapped his fingers and the cages opened, except for Geno and Twink's cage. "Now, what is your reason for being here?"

"I told you, we need the help of the Smashers to save the Star Road!" Twink said angrily.

"Not our problem."

"The Subspace Army invaded the Star Road." Geno added.

"What?!"

The alarms quickly activated and the Prinnies began to panic once again as Etna tried to calm them down...by swinging her axe around as Flonne hid under a table from a computer.

"WHAT NOW?!" Lucas asked scared before his mouth opened a little in surprise when he saw the screen showing many different worlds. "...It's...a new world?"

"Our next destination is..." Master Hand trailed off as the computer showed them the next, unknown world.

Small preview of the next arc

Geno's eyes widened and he hid behind Chris when he looked at C. Falcon. "NOT HIM!" Geno said scared.

"What?" Chris asked confused.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

New moral: If you think pissing a Lucario off was bad, think again when that Lucario is a giant. XD

Phew! It's done! Now we move on to the next new world!

Wait...I have a problem though...

The next world should be a Final Fantasy world, but I don't know if I need to make a FF8 (from where Squall reunites with the other 3 members in Disc 2 to the confrontation with Fujin and Raijin) arc or FF9 (from where Zidane reaches the Windmill Village to the Festival of Hunt) arc, well, I know, I'm asking a lot of things lately, but whatever your decision is, I may do the other Final Fantasy (3,4,5,6 or 7) in a near future, so it's your decision.

References:

-Twink and the Star Spirits hails from Paper Mario, in an unexpected twist, I decided to add them at the last moment to make a more, memorable special.

-The Battle Opens Fire, Betting in this Bout and Tenacity are music from Tales of Vesperia, the Overlord Reign Impact is a reference to Karol's Mystic Arte from the same game (don't blame me for changing the Final Smash at the last moment), because that little guy is like the opposite of Presea Combatir (since he uses giant axes to fight and he's still a kid).

-No, no way I'm explaining what is the Sparta joke, but don't blame them, they don't know anything about the Real World. XD

-Rowdy Rumble was yet another reference to Kingdom Hearts ll, just to hype up that incoming arc...and since it fits a theme for mischievous guys like the naive Prinnies. XD

The winner...of the contest...is...

...

You know, I need the others who haven't wrote their arcs to write down just their answer (with their reviews, that is to stick to the rules), but remember, only the people who forgot may put their arcs as suggestions, think carefully, I'm also giving a shot to research about the other games too, don't worry and don't lose hope yet!

Read and review! :)
*Chapter 77*: The Star Guardian of Star Haven

Well, I finally did it, a shorter chapter, but somehow I feel kind of...I don't know, I think there was something missing on this, I think it's just me. :)

From Chef Colette: Great chapter!
(I put it this time!lol!)
Can't wait to see what the next world will be.
Keep up the great work!

From me: You did! :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: WOW!! I WANT A GIANT LUCARIO(HENCE THE CAPITAL Letters) By the way, can you do a TMNT arc? ( If you don't know, TMNT means Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

From me: "Frowns" No...just no, it sounds stupid, sorry.

From Wolfenpilot687: Ok, I'll give my arc. Warioware: Smooth Moves.

Oh, and the creatures with giant lips that pop from the ground are called Bucculus.

No...the CD Room! My favorite room is gone!

From me: Thanks for pointing that out. :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: Mac has antlers on her head."Now read that back." Dusk:"Dear king Haakon,i'm not dictating.What?This was a very good-get back in the cuboard you pantomemetic royal person!-chapter.I particually liked the parts with Etna (Happy to help by the way:D) and-Thank you for the eels full stop-the references to the sparta joke,the falco milk thing-Raindrops keep falling on my head-and the RPG book (My fav chapter).I also think a billy hatcher arc would be good because I can imgine-(Shoots gun twice)-the funny costume Chris would wear hehe!Fictionally yours,Mariko-ai-chan and Dusk.

From me: ...What the heck was all that you said on the beginning of your review? Stop writing those weird things...

Billy Hatcher costume? Well, if you didn't noted before, all the jobs need a Smasher to make the combinated Final Smashs, and the costume idea was funny, but it won't work, sorry, but thanks for trying. :)

From ngrey651: Ah, the bond between a Pokémon and it's trainer is strong. And yes, I've figured out how to put the little sign above the "e" in Pokémon so now I can write reviews and no longer feel like something's missing.

You know what I like best of all about you? You respond to reviews in a personal manner. That puts a face on your story and makes you...well, more human!

Can't wait for the next chappy.

Sincerely...

Nick

From me: As I've said before, the friendship genre is my favorite genre (my strong point), and responding to my reviews is great, even though some aren't questions...what the...you're the second person saying human to me. (Because the site asked me that when I put the wrong password). XD

From Seitei: Yes, it's Star Road!

Though... it needs more Mallow. Keep them chappies coming!

By the way, Lucario IS going to shrink back to normal, right?

From me: You'll see for the Mallow thing...

And you'll see for the next thing...

From Blaperile: Yoshi's island as an arc maybe?

From me: Hmm...good one...or maybe I have something similar in hands...

From timrtabor: nice chapter P.s. I want to see the pikmin job again

From me: Each job will appear again, just wait. :)

From Rellymaster: And I thought a Lucario at normal size was bad enough. RUDE awakening for Porkey! XD
Wonder what's going to happen now that Lucario is giant-sized.

Cool! The mansion's got new handymen! When's Mario entering the scene?

From me: Mario will join them very soon, although we need like 4 more arcs of Mario.

And what's wrong with Lucario's normal size? XD

From Nintendogeek01: Okay I read a twinge about Disgaea so I'm no longer completely clueless about Etna and Flonne. Anyways nice chapter. The giant Lucario thing was funny. And Chris did pretty well for himself, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

From me: I'm glad you investigated about Disgaea, you should see the anime on Youtube. ;)

From Ninja Lucario: Great job as always. Can't wait for the next chapter.

And yes I forgot my arc (.

From me: You did. XD

From narutofan714: I wonder why you made lucario big? O.o

anyways, good chap, and when are ya gonna add that banana spoof? X)

From me: A random thing I thought. XD

From Lucario210: That was AWESOME! That was so funny when you said this is Sparta.

From me: It did? XD

Now, I have special news, during the freetime on my school, I've been trying to draw Chris to life to get an idea how he looks like to make everything easier to understand, I'll post the drawing once it's finished, but I warn you, I'm not too good, but average.

And this is probably the first time this game gets in this section, in this story!

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 77: A timid Black Mage and the run-away princess

Smash Mansion
Outside

The Smashers were walking back to the mansion to report the status of the mission in Nintendo City, there was so much to talk about, Exor, the Star Spirits, the problem in which Lucario was and the destruction of everyone's wishes that was into matter.

"Something odd is happening around here..." Pit said.

"Yes, the first time we visit the city is then blocked the next second we return." Pikachu said.

"The bar..." C. Falcon muttered before Zelda slapped him...but hard.

"I have in mind all these problems and is probably going to give me a headache for trying to understand." Ness said scratching his head.

"Well, let's just pray something else doesn't happen, like someone appearing from the other side of the front door and greet us in surprise o-" When Chris was just about to open the doors, they opened by themselves and Etna jumped from it, shouting...

"WELCOME BACK!" Etna said cheerfully, making most of them to backstep away in surprise, but Chris fell on his butt.

"What the?! Etna! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Etna chuckled a little. "You guys were getting late in coming back, that there are 2 new guests waiting insi-"

Chris quickly got up (anime-style) and stared at Etna in annoyance. "Can you answer my question please?! What-are-you-doing-here-in-our-home?!"

"...Isn't obvious? I live here now."

"WHAT?!" Chris, Pit and Pichu asked surprised in unison.

"There is no way I'm going to live with a demon!" Pit said angrily.

"Then you have to live with Flonne too." Etna said as Flonne appeared behind her, waving her hand shyly.

"Hi!" Flonne said happily.

"You too?!" The trio asked surprised and Flonne nodded.

"Yes...well...I think Master Hand knows the answer to all your questions if you go to see him, he also told me to tell you that there are 2 persons inside anxious to meet all of you."

"Wait, Master Hand even allowed you 2 to live here then?" Pichu asked before many Prinnies appeared from the 2 girls. "They will live here too?!"

"Dood." The Prinnies said before disappearing.

Etna chuckled again. "Don't worry about the Prinny Squad, they are now your 24/7 butlers and servants!... But of course, I keep telling them what to do to not mess around."

"..." The trio looked behind them to find the other Smashers very confused at this event. "...What?"

"You didn't told us about who they are." Zelda said simply.

"The red-haired girl is Etna, a demon, the girl with blond hair is Flonne, and the penguins that said dood are the Prinny Squad, Etna's subordinates." Chris explained.

"Hmm..." Falco wondered after looking at Etna.

"How amusing, a bird." Etna remarked.

"How amusing, a flat-chested girl." Falco remarked.

"...Dood..." The Prinnies quickly dispersed after hearing Falco's statement.

"Hey, where did those guys ran off to?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Etna quickly took out her axe and started to pummel (or cut or slash) Falco with it as the others didn't do anything to stop them...except Fox, but got part of the massacre instead of stopping it.

"...What happened?" Popo asked confused.

"It's a girl's rule, if somebody dares to call a girl "flat-chested," he or she will be dead the next second." Zelda said.

"...You're not into girl things as Peach does if I remember." Nana said.

"She doesn't stop talking about it to me..." Zelda shrugged.

"HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Fox and Falco yelled inside the cloud of dust with sounds of metal being heard.

Link looked at Wolf, who had his arms crossed and his right eye closed. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"Do I look like Fox's father or something to you?" Wolf asked annoyed.

10 seconds later...

Main Lobby

After a treatment of 10 (20) Soul Etudes from Chris who offered to cure both of them by using the Musician job, they got a big surprise when they entered inside the mansion...it was filled with Prinnies, Prinnies, Prinnies, Prinnies and more Prinnies doing usual home works, such as cleaning the windows, floor, walls, moving vases around, which left most of them with their mouths opened in surprise after seeing the tremendous amount of Prinnies working.

"What..." Nana trailed off.

"In..." Toon Link trailed off.

"The..." Pit trailed off.

"World..." C. Falcon trailed off.

"Is..." Ness trailed off.

"Going..." Zelda trailed off.

"On..." Pikachu trailed off.

"HERE?!" Chris added in shock.

"Ta-da! I present all of you the Prinny Squad!" Etna said proudly as 2 Prinnies passed, carrying a portrait.

"How many are they?!" Roy asked surprised.

"It varies, between 10 and the unlimited."

"...There are so many of them?" Flonne asked thinking.

"Yep! I, of course, handle things very smoothly."

"Then we have now an unlimited amount of birds plus 1." Mewtwo said.

"Plus 1? Who is the extra one?" Chris picked up a Prinny. "He?"

"Dood." The Prinny said and left.

"No, I'm pretty sure he mentioned Falco." Fox said and Falco glared at Mewtwo.

"...A-anyway, let's see who is waiting for us in the Command Room..." Chris said as their made their way through the crowd of Prinnies...until Etna yelled at them to make a path.

Command Room

"Oh, you're here." Master Hand said.

"Master Hand, you were waiting for us? ...No...this must be some kind of dream...I'm seeing things..." Chris trailed off as he looked at Geno.

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Geno." Geno said bowing a little to them.

"A puppet?" Popo asked.

"Actually, I'm really a star coming from the Star Road, the road where wishes come true."

"And I'm one citizen that lives there too!" Twink said appearing from behind Geno.

"Hey, I recognize you, you are Twink, the star who helped Peach and Mario when Bowser kidnapped her!" Chris said surprised.

"Wow! I'm famous then?!"

"Possibly."

"Yay!" Twink began to fly around the room before Geno stopped him.

"Geno already told me everything about what happened to Nintendo City and the Star Road, and it's important that he explains to you the trouble he and Twink are in." Master Hand said.

Marth raised his hand. "I have a question, what is this place called Star Road?"

Geno nodded laughing a little. "You haven't heard of the Star Road before? The Star Road is where all the wishes from all the people from all the worlds become true if they are good that is."

"Wishes? I thought wishes were just things that can't become true." Wolf said.

"You're wrong, many wishes are determined of how much that persons wants his or her wish to become true, many stars and I up there decide whether or not a wish can become true, if they are bad, however, we just make them to vanish and disappear."

"Geno! Can I continue?" Twink asked excited.

"Yes, let's see if you learned."

"All right! Ahem, as Geno was saying, the work of all the stars in the Star Road are overlooked by the Star Spirits, Eldstar, the leader of the spirits, Mamar, the kindest star, Skolar, who gives knowledge to all of us, Muskular, who gives courage, Misstar, the star of beauty and help, Klevar, the genius star and Kalmar, the star of forgiveness."

"Don't think they are somewhat odd by their talents," Geno continued. "Catastrophe fell upon the Star Road by Exor, the same sword that took control of Bowser's Keep long ago, when he crashed into the Star Shrine, all the Star Spirits became captive again and imprisoned with 7 different bosses of the Subspace Army, which Exor told us about...I don't know why the Subspace Army decided to attack us, but since the Star Spirits are in charge of the wishes, and since they hold the Star Pieces, the Star Road was broken and many wishes are left to vanish."

"So in short words..." Link trailed off.

"If the Star Road keeps as it is, broken, all the wishes will vanish and chaos will reign on all people! That's why I came here to possess this doll once more and ask for your help."

"I'll pass." Wolf said.

"What?"

"Wishes are just things that won't happen, it's useless and worthless, don't waste my ti-"

"Your wish to defeat Fox will not come true then..."

Wolf blinked in surprise. "How did you..."

"I'm a star, therefore, I know the wishes of everyone here in the room, just by seeing your faces I can tell which wishes are from you, Chris, your wishes are the most purest ones since you always wish to stay with the Smashers and enjoy fighting, playing and living together with them."

Chris received some pats on his back as he blushed a little.

"Ness, your wishes are not too bad either, I'm sure you will get the love of P-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Ness said embarrassed.

"...Roy, your wishes contains things like being like your father Eliwood and be stronger."

Roy looked away embarrassed.

"Flonne, we also count your wishes related to love...although you wish a lot about that."

Flonne blushed and laughed a little.

"I'm the only one that doesn't wish for anything?" Fox asked confused.

"Fox, we're trying so hard for your wish to find your father too."

"...W-why did you said that in front of everyone here?!"

"But that's not a bad wish in my opinion..." Chris said.

"...It's not bad?"

Geno smiled a little. "It's a good wish, Nana...about your wish of intelligence to another dear broth-"

"DON'T EVEN SAY THAT!" Nana said as she sweated when Popo narrowed his eyes at her.

Geno walked to Zelda. "...About your wish of more girls in the tournament..."

"Yes?" Zelda asked a little excited.

"...Find out yourself."

"It's a good surprise, right?"

Geno's left eye twitched. "...Yes..." He looked at Pichu. "You wish a lot of things, like being like Pik-"

"DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE EITHER!" Pichu said blushing.

Geno's eyes widened and he hid behind Chris when he looked at C. Falcon. "NOT HIM!" Geno said scared.

"What?" Chris asked confused.

"H-h-h-h-he has the most, perverted wishes I've seen before!"

"Me too!" Twink said hiding behind Chris.

"WHAT?! They're not that ba-wait, I don't wish things like that!" C. Falcon said alarmed before all of them made disgusted faces and backed away from him.

Geno walked in front of them again. "Maybe I should stop saying the secret wishes of everyone before you get mad at me," he coughed. "The point is, I need your strength to rescue the Star Spirits from the Subspace Arm-"

Chris quickly shook his hand rapidly. "WELCOME!"

Geno and Twink temporaly joined your team!

Geno sweatdropped. "...Thanks...that was fast to convince you..."

"Since when he decides for everyone else here?" C. Falcon asked.

"Because unfortunately, we're the most nicest guys in the whole universe...that's why..." Popo said looking down.

A Prinny came in and delivered fresh spaghetti to Crazy Hand...who just played with it. "Hey, how did these weirdos got to work here? I didn't know you were hiring workers." Ness asked.

Master Hand sniffed. "They...they...they...THEY DESTROYED EVERY LAST PIECE OF MUSIC WE HAD STORED!"

"...What's the big deal? You only put like 15 or 20 songs in each tournament," Falco said, not caring. "Besides, a miracle would be putting more than 100 songs, now that's great."

"...And there were even more..."

"...Huh?!"

"There are 258 songs in all."

All the Smashers (yes, this time we counted Mewtwo...just kidding, the same ones) blinked in surprise. "So...how many did you added to our stage?" Link asked.

"More than 8."

"THOSE BASTARDS MUST DIE!" Link said running away while yelling like a barbarian.

"But it's only music." Chris said simply.

"ONLY MUSIC?!" Most of them said angrily.

"Don't ever disrespect the beauty of the music on the stages!" Jigglypuff said angrily.

"The music makes a fight even better between one-on-one matches!" Roy said angrily.

"It's more epic that way!" Pikachu said angrily.

Link came in. "WHO SAID IT'S ONLY MUSIC?!" He asked angrily with shifty eyes.

"C. FALCON DID!" Chris said hiding behind Fox (who physically was a little smaller than him).

"WAIT! IT'S TOO MUCH DAMAGE FOR M-" C. Falcon managed to say as Link lunged and started to stab him endlessly.

"Master Hand...we have also another problem..." Chris raised his hand from behind the vulpine and walked to his place.

"What kind of problem?"

"Well, remember when I told you about the chicken and the egg thing? Who was first?"

"It was the egg."

"It was the chicken!" Popo argued.

"It was the egg! How did the chicken was born then?!"

"It was the chicken! Then how do you explain the egg first?!"

"STOP IT! That was not it!" Chris shouted. "It's about...Lucario..."

"Hey, you're right, where is he?"

"Inside his Pokeball...to not crush anyone..."

"Crush? Did he grew up to a giant or something?"

"...Well...do you want to see?"

"Please do, I'll be glad to help in any way, unless he's bigger than all of us combined, I'm going to be happy with whatever problem you want to be answered." Master Hand said calmly.

"...Okay!" Chris threw Lucario's Pokeball in the air.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" The Smashers (except Lucas) yelled terrorized.

"What?" Master Hand asked confused.

Outside

A tremble was created.

Command Room

There was a big dust cloud covering the whole room, when it cleared out, Master Hand was panting heavily while he was sticked to the roof as he saw the giant Lucario sitting on one half of the now destroyed Command Room, and most of the Smashers disappeared when that occurred.

"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" Master Hand asked angrily.

"I'm sorry if I crushed anything." Lucario said, before he felt many persons yelling below him (or more accurately, his butt). "Chris! I crushed him too?!"

"I'm right here," Chris called from Crazy Hand's counter. "Mewtwo and Zelda were able to teleport me in time before I got crushed."

"Can you please advice us before you call that huge creature outside?!" Zelda asked angrily.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" Many voices were heard below Lucario, which made him to sweatdrop. (The sweatdrop was big).

"FIRST, DID HE TOOK 2 SUPER MUSHROOMS?!" Master Hand asked shocked.

"N-no! He just wished to be enormous just to make me happy!" Chris defended him.

"WISH?!" Geno yelled from below Lucario. "I THINK I KNOW WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, YOU WANT HIM TO BE BACK IN HIS NORMAL FORM, AM I RIGHT?!"

Chris ducked to talk with Geno. "Yes!"

"GET ME OUT TO HELP!"

5 minutes later, with Master Hand and Crazy Hand lifting Lucario to take all the Smashers out from him, before Chris realized he could have called him back to his Pokeball...

Geno cleared his cape and coughed a little. "Let me see, you wished and your wish came true, correct?"

"Yes." Lucario said nodding.

"And you want to return to your normal form, right?"

"Yes."

"It's easy to revert a simple wish like that, wait just a minute..." Geno closed his eyes and concentrated a magic spore that appeared between his hands as he shot it to Lucario, who closed his eyes and opened them when the spores were gone. "Done."

"...But I'm still a giant..."

"Your wish of being a giant should end for tomorrow morning, until then, you need to sleep for tonight."

Lucario looked down before he nodded. "I understand..."

"I apologize for causing all this trouble, normally, we don't make wishes like this kind to become true, it probably happened by accident when Exor stroke down the road and a star accidentaly made that wish."

"And here I thought I could wish for that too." C. Falcon said ashamed.

"Stop, that is enough," Geno said disgusted. "...Why is Flonne staring at Lucario?"

Flonne was just in front of Lucario, staring at each other, Lucario thought Flonne was like Colette and probably would throw herself at him to give him a warm hug just because "he looked cute."

IF YOU THINK FLONNE IS GOING TO...

A) Shoot an arrow to Lucario.

B) Say many cheesy things about how cute he is.

C) Hug him.

WE WILL WAIT FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

5 seconds later...

IF YOU THOUGHT SHE IS GOING TO HUG HIM...YOU'RE WRONG!

Flonne glared at Lucario and took out her bow with a tip of an arrow in the shape of a heart. "I shall purge this land from all demons, including you, in the name of love!"

"W-wait! Lucario is not a demon! Well, he looks like one bu-"

"GRRRRRR!!"

"O-o-okay! He doesn't look like one, but he's not a demon!" Chris said alarmed.

"No! All demons have red, menacing eyes like Etna does, and it just happen that Lucario is a demon for his devily red eyes! Now, SUFFER THE WRATH OF LOVE!" Flonne said as she shot her heart arrow towards Lucario's chest...

It bounced off and Lucario scratched that part...

"It's going to take more than one arrow to pierce Lucario's steel body..." Pikachu said sweatdropping before Flonne took more arrows out from nowhere...

And began to shoot the giant Aura Pokémon like crazy, and I mean it, CRAZY, because Lucario was getting showered in arrows that just kept bouncing off, falling and burying the Smashers little by little which each second it passed.

It also made Lucario to take a deep, long breath because he was bored. "I'm supposed to be hurt by these weak arrows, Chris?"

Chris's head popped out from the pile of arrows. "Yes."

"Because I don't feel anything."

Etna, fed up (of boringness) by watching the entire scene from the roof, decided to stop Flonne. "Flonne, it's useless, he is not a demon, you can stop firing arrows now."

Flonne immediately stopped panting. "I...was going...to use dynamite next..."

"You WHAT?!" Lucas asked appearing from the pile.

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand yelled annoyed. "Smashers, tomorrow you have a new world to save, it's a new one, Lucario, try to not crush anything in your way to your room."

"But I can't fit in the hallway anymor-"

"Flonne, Etna and the Prinny Squad, you will stay here and do all the work to repay for the CDs, Geno and Twink, you will accompany Chris and the others to rescue the Star Spirits if we can find them in the worlds, for now, rest, it's an order!"

"Roger!" Most of them said before they walked to their rooms (by crossing the big fence that was Lucario's legs) and dispersing.

"Geno, Twink, Etna and Flonne, please follow me to your guest's rooms." Master Hand said floating away as the 4 mentioned characters followed him.

Chris and Lucario heard Etna and Flonne complementing their rooms, being very expensive-looking.

Lucario's Room

We see Chris walking alone to his room, where he found the crushed bed and the other destroyed things that Lucario accidentaly crushed.

He sighed. "...I don't think I can sleep in that bed anymore...I'll ask the Prinnies to fix it tomorrow...but where I can sleep?..." Chris snapped his fingers and moved to a wall where it was left untouched, he leaned to it and called Lucario out of his Pokeball, putting him in the same position he was before. "Hello, my giant Pokémon!" Chris greeted Lucario happily as he un-leaned from the wall.

"Why did you call me out?"

"Because I feel alone just by sleeping by myself...and also because the bed was crushed."

"But there is hardly any space left in this room by my size, how are you going to sleep? By leaning to the wall?"

"No, I have the perfect idea to sleep."

1 minute later...

"You!" Chris said sleeping above Lucario's body, below his spike.

"I'm that soft for a bed?"

"Your fur is so soft right now, perfect for me."

"Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Did he...hurt you a lot?"

"Who? Pokey?"

Sky

"IT'S PORKY!" Porky said angrily as he continued to drift off the sky of the night.

Lucario's Room

"He didn't, because my super-giant hero rescued me just in time!"

Lucario blushed a little. "I didn't acted that much, I just threw him with all my forces."

The World Traveler hugged him and Lucario's eyes widened a little. "I'm going to miss your greatness tomorrow...I was very happy when you defended me..."

"You asked me to sound extreme on him, remember?"

"And then, it sounded very menacing and heroic at the same time, protecting me as always, but in that form, you looked so awesome!"

"I was just..."

"Shh...don't speak anymore, I'm very happy to have such strong Pokémon like you..." Chris tried to not scream when Lucario's huge hands were going to hug him tightly, but when he closed and opened his eyes, the hands just stopped at the right moment that he felt warm instantly. "Wow...your hands are so soft too..."

"I do everything just to make you proud of me." Lucario said smiling.

Chris yawned and Lucario yawned, but longer as it created a small tremble. "Just...go to sleep...I want to see my normal Lucario making me proud as he does every day...without being giant...and..." Chris felt asleep and Lucario chuckled.

"Master..."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Chris!"

"...You better tell the truth...my guardian..."

Lucario chuckled again as he closed his eyes and felt asleep. "...Chris...I'll continue to protect you forever...I won't hurt you...never..."

Outside

How wrong he was, however...

CRACK!

Because he managed to roll over someone important to him.

"...Chris? Chris? Are you there? Where are you? Chris? Do you hear me? Chris?! Chris?! CHRIS?! CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!" Lucario yelled preocupied, causing nearby windows to shatter in pieces.

The next day...

Infirmary

"YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"I'M SORRY MASTER! FORGIVE ME!"

"HOW CAN I FORGIVE YOU THIS TIME?!"

"I'M SO SORRY!"

"LOOK AT MY STUPID BODY! IT'S ALL CASTED BECAUSE OF YOUR BIG, FURRY BODY!"

The Smashers ignored the discussion between Chris (who had casts all over his body, save for his head) and Lucario (back to his normal size) kneeling to him with closed eyes, looking down embarrassed, ashamed and both things combined, even Lucario was at the point to cry silently.

"Wow...this is...just...stupid..." Toon Link said.

"I KNOW, BEING ROLLED OVER BY THIS POKÉMON SOUNDS STUPID, BUT NOT FOR ME, DARN IT!" Chris said very angrily.

"Chris, you need to calm down now..." Fox said calmly.

"HOW CAN I BE CALMED IN THIS STATE YOU IDIOT?!"

"I like the new kid." Wolf said chuckling.

"Shut up." Fox said annoyed.

"Chris, Lucario is trying to apologize to you, accept his apologies." Mewtwo said calmly.

"NO CHANCE IN HELL I'M GOING TO FORGIVE HIM THIS TIME!" Chris shouted angrily before Lucario fainted in horror, knocking himself out as Pikachu, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Jigglypuff walked around him in curiosity.

"Is he still living?" Squirtle asked poking Lucario's ear.

"Looks like it." Ivysaur said by poking the nose.

"It seems Chris can only hurt Lucario, but greatly..." Pikachu said as he leaned his ear to check Lucario's heart pulse. "...Yep, he's just knocked out."

"HE BETTER WILL! OWW!" Chris yelled in pain.

"You better stop yelling or the pain will be worse." Professor Kawashima said above a nearby desk.

"Where were you?" Nana asked.

"I'm afraid to respond right now, maybe an otherworldly force prevented me from appearing?" He asked winking.

"...So, Chris can't come with us..." Lucas said looking down.

At that moment, Etna and a sad Flonne entered and they looked at the girls.

"What's wrong with her?" Toon Link asked.

"I don't know what to do to help here, I'm very clumsy when it comes to make food and many other things...I'm only good at my training only..." Flonne said sadly, looking down at her feet.

"(At least she complimented my leaderism.)" Etna thought.

Flonne looked up to see Chris in the cast. "Oh my, what happened to you?"

Chris glared at his fainted Pokemon. "I'd better not respond..."

Flonne quickly felt happy. "Oh! I know how to help!" She called her magic baton with wings on the tip of the pole (it can also be her bow when she wants) and pointed it at Chris. "I'm going to heal your wounds!"

"W-wait! Do you know how to cure and not set me on fire?!" Chris asked sweating.

"Uh-huh! Just wait a second!" She closed her eyes and a magic ring began to shine around her baton, she was chanting a spell (using the name Prinny occasionally) and then, she opened her eyes. "HA!"

A bright explosion of light was created, and when it cleared out, Chris was shown blinking in surprise. "...The pain...the pain is gone! I can't believe it! The pain is gone!"

"I'm glad I was able to help!" Flonne said clapping her hands happily.

"Chris!" Lucario quickly woke up from his state and got up to see his trainer healed, but he stopped, looked down and backed away from him.

"Can anybody please get me out of this cast?" Chris asked.

"I'll do it." Marth said using his sword as a knife to cut through the cast and set Chris free from it.

The World Traveler sighed in relief. "Alright everybody! We have a mission, get moving!" He said clapping his hands and they began to talk among themselves as they walked away from the infirmary. Chris kept the DS in his pocket but before he could walk out, he saw Lucario trying to not cry. "Are you alright?"

"No, I hurt you...I'm not worthy to stay with you..." Lucario said looking down as he kneeled.

"Lucario, it was an accident! I was angry because of all people in the world, you were the only one who hurt me!"

"Please! Set me free! I'm not allowed to go with you anymore!" Lucario said as tears began to stroll down his cheeks while they were closed.

Chris walked towards him, kneeled and gave him a hug, which made his ears to perk up a little in surprise. "I need someone very strong to protect me in the new world."

"Ask anyone else here besides me..."

"..." Chris rubbed Lucario's head. "You're the only one here that wants to do it, please, do it for me."

"..." Lucario didn't spoke.

"...I know, I'll scratch or rub your ears or the head if you stay with me but very close, I'm going to feel lonely and I need someone like you."

Lucario smiled a little and rubbed his cheek with his trainer's cheek as he growled slowly, which made a tear to stroll down Chris's right eye, but he wiped it out.

"...Thanks..." Chris whispered to him.

Command Room

"THIS DAY COULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN BETTER!"

Final Fantasy lX
Current Status: Visiting Dali Village
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 4 of 8
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Fighting abilities (Any type of fighter will be fine to go).

"I ALWAYS WANTED TO GO THERE NOW THAT I CAN!" Chris said jumping very excited as many cheered at this.

"If you save this world, I'm going to show you a lot of new features in the shop besides jobs and stickers!" Crazy Hand said excited.

"I want to go! I want to go!" Lucas said raising his hand excited for the first time in a long time.

Chris stepped in front of all of them. "Listen up everyone, since our mission is to find and rescue the Star Spirits somewhere in this world, I'll bring Geno with me always from now on until we finish."

"Of course, you need me to locate them." Geno said nodding and walking to his side.

"I wanna go too!" Twink said flailing his...arms?

"No Twink, you will stay here."

"Geno! I want to help too!"

"It's still too risky for a little star like you, please, you must understand me."

"Aww..." Twink floated away sadly.

"Who wants to come with us?" Chris asked.

His response was kind of bad, why? The Smashers (again, most of them) began to fight for who was going to be the last standing, it was a new world, so, why not kill each other to go?... Wait, that is bad...

"...STOP!" Chris yelled, but they kept fighting and he sighed embarrassed. "Geno, please don't think bad things about us..."

"No, I must be optimistic, this is very different when I traveled with Mario, Bowser, Peach and Mallow, but it's the only way to save the Star Spirits after all..."

"Fortunately, many of them aren't too stupid like them." He pointed to Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Wolf, Lucas, Zelda, Lucario and Marth, who were various metres away from them.

"It's the only good thing about this team?"

"...Apart from being experts in fights, yes...Lucario! Link! Toon Link! Zelda! Ness! Lucas! You're coming with us!"

"Sweet!" Link, Ness and Toon Link said as they left the useless fight, and the other 3 simply walked to his side.

"Wait, you have a spot left." Master Hand pointed out.

"Then I'll choose..." Chris drawn his finger and many were jumping or either calmed to get his attention, when it was just about to stop on Fox...however... "I choose Wolf!"

Wolf, who was still leaning to the wall, opened his right eye. "What? Why do you want me to go?"

"Because," Chris got in a thinking position. "I want to find out what happened in that battle back in Kanto, Mewtwo never told me, but you must know something that he doesn't."

Wolf's eye widened a little as he glanced at Mewtwo, who did the same action an-

"Wait a second! Stop the image!" Chris said stopping the image of both characters. "See those faces they're making? I know those kind of faces, they're the faces of "something very embarrassing happened that we don't want anyone else to find out" faces!" The time starts to run again.

Wolf groaned a little and walked to his side.

"Of all people, you chose him..." Fox said frowning.

"I'll choose you in the next time." Chris said.

"That's not what I mea-"

"OPEN THE PORTAL!" Chris quickly yelled as he opened the portal. "Geno, you need to walk towards th-" Geno already left when he noticed. "...Nevermind, let's go..."

The team walked inside and the portal vanished.

Roy sighed disappointed. "Now that they're enjoying that new world, what are we going to do? I'm a little hungry so..."

"Dood." A Prinny appeared with a hamburger for Roy.

"...Thanks!" Roy took the hamburger and began to eat it.

"Hmm...I want lemonade..." Popo said grogily and a Prinny came in and gave him a lemonade. "Sweet lemon!" He cheered drinking it.

"Oh, now we know what can we do while they're getting their butts kicked around..." Nana said evily. "Prinnies! I want an Omelet! Chop chop!" A Prinny came in a delivered an Omelet to Nana.

"(These guys aren't not bad at all...heheheheh...)"

"Etna, is bad to think out loud..." Flonne said.

"What the...I didn't!" Etna said surprised.

Final Fantasy lX

Outskirts of Dali Village

"Man..." A boy with a blue and green vest yawned bored, the boy was young, although he had a monkey tail.

"What is it Zidane?" Another young kid asked, he was dressed like a small black mage, he had a pointy but bended mage hat, and his face was all dark except for his yellow eyes that blinked sometimes.

"Well, remember that we need to take Garnet to Lindblum?"

"INCREDIBLY stupid!" Another boy wearing heavy armor said angrily. "It is my duty to guard the princess with my life from scoudrels like you, thief!"

"Rusty, do us a favor and shut up, Garnet is interested to reach Lindblum, right?"

A beautiful young girl was walking besides the other 3, she was thinking about Alexandria, the kingdom where she lived, until she was kidnapped by order of Cid, king of Lindblum, although she accepted the idea to reach Lindblum, she had so many things in her mind, why did her mother, Queen Brahne, attacked her when she fled in the Tantalus? Did she hated Garnet in a sudden twist of events?

"...What?" Garnet asked confused.

"Hello? Return to Lindblum to get you safe from Queen Brahne?" Zidane asked sarcastically.

"...Right..."

"Garnet, it's something wrong?" The black mage asked.

"...No...I'm fine...thank you for worrying about me Vivi."

"...Uh-huh..." Vivi, the black mage, nodded unsure.

"Princess! We must return to the castle at once right this instant before this imbecile drags us farther away from the kingdom!" "Rusty" ordered.

"Steiner, I-I think you should let Garnet decide by herself..."

Rusty, or his real name Steiner, suddenly change of moods when Vivi spoke, he respected the black mage a lot that he called him... "Master Vivi, I know she can decided whenever she wants, but I'm just suggesting..."

"Geez, what a loser you are." Zidane said folding his arms.

"DARE TO REPEAT THAT AGAIN?!"

"Steiner! Stop!" Garnet ordered.

"P-Princess Garnet!"

"Right now, I want to reach Lindblum and see my uncle Cid, he must know something about my mother's behavior...I'm sorry Steiner, but I need to do this..."

"What if Queen Brahne thinks about us as thieves too? What about my rank as Captain of the Knights of Pluto?!"

"You mean Captain of the Knights of Retards." Zidane said laughing a little.

"WHAT?!"

"S-stop!" Vivi yelled and they looked at him surprised. "P-please...I just want to find a village to sleep...I'm very exhausted after crossing the Ice Cavern..."

"...Vivi is right, and Steiner, you must address me as Dagger, understand?"

"Preposterous! Such filthy name comes from a-"

"Bandit." Zidane and Vivi said in unison, half bored because Steiner has been saying that word way too much since they departed from the Evil Forest.

"Hey, I see smoke!" Zidane said as Garnet walked faster, when she stopped, they have reached the small and peaceful village, Dali.

Dali Village

"Finally! A place to rest!" Zidane said making a fist.

"Hmm..." Vivi looked around.

Steiner sighed quickly. "W-well, I need to maintain the princess's health perfect, so, a little rest cannot hurt right now...JUST THIS TIME."

"(I'm glad he understood.)" Garnet thought. "Zidane, I have heard of some places to sleep in...what were they called?"

"Inn!" Zidane said opening the door to the nearby Inn close to them. "Girls first..." He said opening the door wider to let Garnet enter first.

Inn

Unfortunately, there were 2 persons taking the room right now...although they were familiar...

"Kupo!" A nearby moogle laughed when one of the persons, Toon Link, touched his pom-pom.

"So, this thing is attached to your head?" Toon Link asked.

"Of course, it's the main feature of a moogle, kupo!" The moogle responded happily.

If you were wondering who was the other person, it was Chris, who gasped when he saw the quartet entering.

"(Okay, here they are, now, try to act nice or do something to get them to like me.) Hello there!" Chris greeted them.

"Do I know you?" Zidane asked, getting in a thinking position.

"...Nope, but I was waiting for you."

"Reeeally?"

"...Yep...in fact, I was already reserving the room for you!" He looked at the clerk sleeping in the desk. "WAKE UP!"

"Whuzzat?!" The clerk woke up and looked at the clients. "...Oh...sorry about that...(Huh? Isn't she...)" He thought when he saw Garnet looking at him.

"...It is something wrong sir?" Garnet asked confused.

"...No..."

"Hey, I want to rent the room for the 6 of us, there are also 7 others in the village too." Chris said.

"...Oh? Right...here...the key..." The clerk handed the key to Chris and the World Traveler took it and gave it to Zidane.

"I don't know who are you...but thanks for paying for us." Zidane said doing a handshake.

"(Great, more strangers.)" Steiner thought, huffing.

"By the way, what's your name? My name is Zidane."

"M-my name is Chris, nice to meet you!"

"Hey guys."

"DON'T ADDRESS THE PRI-" Garnet kicked quickly his foot. "AUGH!"

"Hey guys, I want you to meet Chris, he payed the room for us, the boy with the dark face over there," Zidane pointed to Vivi, who was talking with the moogle and Toon Link. "Is Vivi and this girl is Dagger."

"Hey." Steiner muttered to himself after realising that Zidane didn't mentioned him.

"It is an honor to meet you." Garnet said bowing a little.

That's when Zidane frowned at this. "(Oh no, I forgot she comes from the royalty...)"

However, Chris didn't cared at all. "Nice to meet you too."

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you to him." Zidane said pointing at Steiner, who tried to smile a little.

"Greetings sir, I a-" Steiner was interrupted.

"The guy with the silly armor is Rusty." Zidane finished grinning a little.

"YOU BASTARD!" Steiner said turning red of anger.

"Don't mind him, he gets angry so easily."

"GRR!" Steiner crossed his arms a looked away.

Toon Link and Vivi walked to them. "I forgot to introduce my friend here, his name is Link." Chris said introducing Toon Link.

"Hi." Toon Link said opening his right hand at them.

"...Huh? You use a sword and a shield?" Steiner asked interested.

"Right, I like to fight using this sword." Toon Link said, unsheathing the Master Sword which Steiner examined closely.

"...I have never seen such material before...it looks very valuable from first sight..."

Toon Link sheated it. "Heh, thanks."

"Hmm, this may be the start of a long but wonderful friendship..." Steiner said a little excited.

"See? He gets sometimes cheesy too." Zidane said.

"...I will deal with you later...monkey..." Steiner muttered.

"Hey, you said you have 7 other friends in the village?" Zidane asked a little interested.

"Of course! All of them are excellent fighters as me!"

"...A bard?"

Chris was still using the Musician job, and he noticed he was holding his harp. "...Well...you'll see later..."

"...Right!" Zidane said laughing. "So, let's see our room!"

"...Wait, you're inviting us to the room too?"

"After all, you payed for it, c'mon!"

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner and Vivi temporaly joined your team!

It's not important to point out in what part of the inn were they in, let's say they were in the only room of the whole inn.

"...Chris..." Toon Link trailed off.

"Yes?" Chris asked.

"There are only 4 beds, and we are 13!"

Preview of the next chapter

"This sector is clear!" Steiner said wiping dust from the table.

"Can somebody here shut him up? I'm trying to enjoy my drink!" Wolf said annoyed.

"Do you know how to act like a commoner?" Garnet asked.

"I've been living in my own kingdom for so long that I didn't noted that." Zelda said shaking slowly her head.

"Vivi! Thanks goodness you're okay!" Lucas said.

"I-I don't like this place..." Vivi said trembling a little.

"This is so strange..." Chris muttered.

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

"We skipped the part where we should be fighting against Black Waltz 2 now that we are in the airship...but then...that means..." The airship began to shook violently. "BLACK WALTZ 2 AND 3 ARE ATTACKING TOGETHER!"

"Next time: The 2nd part and evil, sinister black mages!" Geno said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Dali Village
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink, Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi

Yes, our second new world is Final Fantasy 9, the last FF for the Playstation 1, now, who doesn't want to see Vivi, our favorite timid Black Mage?

References:

-Somehow, when Lucario screamed, it was a reference to Otacon when he yells preocupied for Snake...yeah, it sounded weird... XD

In the next chapter, the group reaches Lindblum, and to be more FF esque arc, we're going to add the "Active Time Event" as the "skits" for own personal means between all the characters.

And will Lucario make Chris proud of him now that he needs to stay very close to him for his "chuckles" mistake? Go Geno! Go and use that Geno Whirl! :P

Read and review! :)
*Chapter 78*: The Final Fantasy IX Gang

Since probably many people wonder what is FF9, I decided to make this chapter long with some of the original script of the game. Let's see if I can get people to know more about this franchise.

From ngrey651: Hmm. Squished to death by any large object, living or not. I'd say that's...number 4 on the "Suckiest Ways to Die" which I'm constantly having to change around because of extremely imaginative fanfic authors like you!

...I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult. In any case, I'm interested in finding out what Mewtwo refuses to talk about, and what else Geno can do for the team!

From me: Sadly, you'll see it in the next chapter. :( But wait then! :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: I apologize for that...random review you see...it wasn't me nya,it was...THE PANTOMIME GOOSE!!But don't worry,he's all gone now nya.

Flashback to Mac fighting a large paper mache goose.

Yeah...sure was crazy ,anyway nya!This chapter was quite funny.I can't wait to find out what happened to Mewtwo,and I liked the giant Lucario ,a Final Fantasy Cyrstal Chronicals arc would be good too nya!

TTFN,Mac.

P. careful of the pantomime goose nya,he's a tricky little Lucario at the ready nya.

From me: ...Still you're being weird, I like that. XD

But the FFCC arc doesn't sounds too good, I mean, OCs.

From the1undzeonli1: I love your and I think youre a very great author. I have a job selection too. I think that chris and lucario should get the ice climbers job and before you say no or the ice climbers suck may you please hear me out? I think chris and lucario are very much like the ice climbers because they are very good freinds and have what Cheng Li called a blood bond and I really think they do.

From me: You need to read more, Lucario left that skill a while ago in the beginning of the ToS arc. But they DO have a friendship bond. :)

From Rellymaster: Well, this proves my point that a giant Lucario can be a hassle if in the wrong area. I can't wait to see what Chris looks like so that my image of him can no longer be scrambled!
Personally, I only know about Vivi and the Moogles from playing Kingdom Hearts 2, but now you have me curious about it all. Clearly, I need to do some research.

From me: Not all the good things are good sometimes. XD

And you're sick dude! Doing your research and...wait, you're not Jiraiya from Naruto...sorry. XD At least I'm getting people interested, alright!

But about the Chris drawing...you have to wait a little more.

From Anakin Mario Son43: OK, I understand why TMNT is stupid. Good Chapter. Will you do Transformers?

From me: "Facepalms." Transformers is even more stupid, this story WILL NOT INCLUDE CARTOONS IN ANY WAY, save for the Jimmy Neutron reference in the "Break Time" chapter, AND ANIME TOO!... Although anime can get references. Sorry about the harsh response.

From Seitei: Yes, something Final Fantasy! (As long as it's not X...)

Overall I got into this chapter. Geno remains awesome (as always) and stars are cute.

From me: ...Well...FFX is a planned arc, and it's very popular too...

From Ninja Lucario: Nice Final Fantasy IX! Should be really good. Haha Flonne mistook Lucario for a demon. The Prinnies are going to be pretty useful in upcoming mansion chapters.

Sorry about my computer not submitting my arc idea, you see it's dying a slow horrible death.

I suppose its too late, but if you will take it my arc idea was for Metal Gear Solid 3.

From me: ...Wait, that is the game where the Snake (I'm taking timeline seriously) come from? Because if it is, I'll do that arc right away to investigate.

From notfrommearth7: Let's do a Fire Emblem POR arc.

Puhleeze?

From me: I'm already preparing that arc, wait a little longer. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: Hm... well this certainly could prove to be interesting. I dabbled on FF9 and I was a bit interested in it. I am looking forward to how this turns out.

lol. Floone and Lucario moment was hilarious.

From me: I want to see your review about this chapter already! :)

From Molto Alesato: ...I didn't get one word of that...then again I've never played F.F... You need to do an ark with Rockman/Megaman!

From me: Megaman arcs are planned too, I'm planning to do most of the different ones. (Network, the normal one and another on).

To timrtabor: Donkey Kong will appear soon, along with Diddy Kong. :)

So let's get started! Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 78: The 2nd part and evil, sinister black mages!

A moogle walked in and looked at the readers. "Kupo-po! Okay! Let's start where we left last time!" he took out a big book by flipping in the air and looked through it.

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link
Dali Village
04:17:38

"There! This is the saved file, kupo!" the moogle said before the screen blackened...

Dali Village
Inn

Chris and Toon Link were watching as Zidane and Steiner argued against the other. "I know I screwed up in Evil Forest. But there's no doubt in my mind now. I'll protect Dagger with my life!" Zidane said angrily.

"Don't be ridiculous! It is I who protect the princess, now and forever!" Steiner argued back.

"Guys, guys, please, stop arguing!" Toon Link said.

However, they didn't care and kept arguing. "Then tell me, how do you intend to take her back to the castle?" Zidane asked in a serious tone.

"I-I will think of a way..." Steiner said in shame, before they heard someone snoozing close to them, it was Vivi, who fell asleep in peace on one of the beds.

"Zzz... Zzz..." Vivi was sleeping.

"Master Vivi..."

"I guess he can make everyone here decide in a second," Chris said before jumping a little. "Oh! I almost forgot! I need to call everyone here!"

Zidane looked at him. "Your friends you mean?"

"Of course, but first, I need to call him," he said running outside.

"W-wait up!" Zidane said leaving.

Garnet sighed as she laid down on her bed. "This is not like the bed in the castle...but at least it is soft."

Steiner looked away frowning. "(WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS HUMILIATION?!)" he thought with toon tears strolling down his eyes.

"...Steiner, are you alright?" Toon Link asked.

"What? Um...yes! Do not worry about me!"

Outside

Lucas was in front of the inn and Chris and Zidane got out. "Chris..."

"Zidane, he is Lucas, one of my friends." Chris introduced Lucas.

"Hi there." Zidane said.

"(...H-he has a tail?) O-oh! Yes, I was going to tell you something. The others are going to look the village for a little more time and Geno sent me to tell you this." Lucas thought and said.

"Can you tell them to go return to the inn to sleep?" Chris asked.

"...But it's very early to be sleeping..."

"Don't mind us. We're just exhausted from getting through the Ice Cavern." Zidane said.

"...I see. Okay, I'll go and tell the others about this, but I don't think they will sleep in the inn." Lucas said nodding before running off.

"That kid looked nervous about something."

Chris looked at his tail. "...I know why...that reminds me, LUCARIO! Come over here please!"

"Lucario? Who's that?"

"GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!"

Zidane's mouth opened in surprise and looked around. "W-what was that yell?!"

"Look! something is coming from afar!" Chris said pointing outside the village, because there was a big trail of dust coming straight to the village at high speed from far away.

"A monster?! But they don't attack villages like this one!" Zidane said as he took out his twin blades. "...Hey! You're in its way! Get out!" he motioned to the right, but Chris kept his position as the fast unknown monster was getting closer and closer, approaching at high speed. "HA!" Zidane jumped in front of Chris to prepare a slash on the monster. When the monster was at 1 meter away from Zidane, however, it jumped and leaped towards Chris, who rolled with it on the ground as Zidane coughed for the dust before he made a confused face after seeing the "monster."

...The monster was a very happy Lucario, who was hugging his trainer tightly while he licked his face in happiness for seeing him again.

"HAHAHAHA! LUCARIO! P-PLEASE! STOP IT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Chris laughed as Lucario continued to lick his face.

"...Okay, I'm so confused right now..." Zidane said scratching his head.

Lucario stopped licking Chris's face and he helped him to get up. "Z-Zidane, I want you to meet my guardian and friend, Lucario, the Aura Pokémon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Lucario said bowing a little his head.

"...H-he talked!" Zidane said surprised.

"Of course he can talk!" Chris said rubbing Lucario's head a little, that made him growl happily.

"W-why do you treat him like that?"

"I like whatever way he shows me his appreciation to me." Lucario said as Chris stopped.

"...Hmm...interesting I guess... Does he knows how to fight?"

"He has brute force and great speed." Chris said.

"Really?"

"Lucario, destroy the ground."

Lucario nodded before he raised his right fist a little and smashed it quickly at the ground, creating a small tremble around the village as Zidane sweatdropped after he saw the big crack the Aura Pokémon made, he could have even sworn Lucario grinning a little at him when Chris wasn't looking. "Done." Lucario said as he stood up.

"Now you see?" Chris asked.

"...W-whoa...I better not make him angry at me or I'll regret it." Zidane said, wiping out the sweat from his forehead.

"That's my Lucario!" Chris said, rubbing his cheek with Lucario's who pressed his left hand on Chris's left cheek to push him a little closer to him as he growled.

"...S-so, are we going to sleep now?"

They stopped. "Hmm...I think so..."

Inn

It was still the morning and Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Toon Link, Chris and Lucario were sleeping, but Zidane (who gave his bed to Toon Link) and Steiner (who gave his bed to Garnet) decided to sleep on the floor (which made them sneeze from time to time).

Chris glanced at Lucario, who was just various inches away from him. The Aura Pokémon looked a little depressed, probably because of the accident he made back in the mansion. "(...Lucario...wait...I know how to make him happy, I'll pretend to be having a nightmare to get his attention...) Hm...ugh...hm..." Chris muttered trying to sound scared, pretending to be sleeping which got the attention of his Pokémon.

"...Master?" Lucario asked worried (ignoring the sudden vein that popped out from Chris's forehead). Lucario blinked and stared in curiosity at all the murmurs Chris was doing, then, he pulled Chris close to his chest to lean his head to it and the World Traveler stopped murmuring as a small smile spreaded on his face.

"...Lucario...good job in beating that...huge monster..." Chris muttered silently.

"Master..." Lucario said smiling a little, licking Chris's forehead to make him chuckle a little as he fell asleep together with him.

1 hour later...

Zidane was able to hear something...it was someone singing a lullaby or something. The voice was very beautiful and he looked around grogily for the source. "What a...beautiful voice... Who's singing...? I've never heard a song like that before... Was that Dagger singing?" he looked around to find himself in the room. "Oh, everyone's up already. I wonder where they went?"

ACTIVE TIME EVENT

Vivi, confused

Outside

2 kids ran away from Vivi, who tilted his head in confusion, when they saw him, did they think about how he looked that they got scared?

"Did they...were scare of me?... AHH!"

"Ow!"

Vivi stumbled into a blond kid and he got up, dusting off his baggy pants. "I-I'm sorry! I wasn't looking so I-"

"AAAAHHH!" The blond kid was Lucas, who hid behind Geno and Ness after he saw Vivi's face.

"I-I didn't mean to scare you either! Please, forgive me!"

"Hmm..." Ness tilted his head a little amused after seeing Vivi. "...You don't seem to be a bad person..."

"O-Of course not! I'm just a normal boy like you 2 and...him." Vivi said pointing at Geno.

"Sorry for being rude, but Lucas just got surprised, that's all." Geno said as Lucas peered from his back.

"...If you excuse me, I wanna go to see the windmill over there..."

"Wait!" Ness stopped Vivi by touching his shoulder. "We were going to the windmill too, why don't we go together?"

"Y-you're not scared of me?"

"No!"

"Lucas owes you an apology too." Geno said as Lucas waved shyly at him.

"H-hi..." Lucas said.

"H-hello..." Vivi said shyly.

"I-I'm sorry for what happened just now..."

"I-I thought you were going to run away from me..."

"..." Nobody spoke for a moment.

"I-I can't believe we have so much in common!" Lucas said surprised.

"M-me too!"

"...That was rather fast." Geno commented.

"Let's get going anyway." Ness said as the quartet walked towards the windmill, talking among themselves.

Garnet tries

We now see Garnet, who had her hands joined together and close to her chest, probably because she was the one singing. "...This melody always manages to calm myself in these moments...mother..." she muttered to herself as the wind touched gently her face.

"That was the most beautiful voice I have ever heard before."

Garnet gasped a little as she turned around to find Chris, Lucario, Link, Zelda and Toon Link walking towards her, Zelda was the one who talked since she was ahead of them. "...It was beautiful?"

"Yes, it did. I think so as Zelda thinks." Lucario said nodding.

"...Are they your friends?" Garnet asked to Chris, who nodded.

After introducing Link and Zelda...

"You are also a princess?"

"Yes, I have my own kingdom far away from this land." Zelda said.

"...But...did you run away from your home as I did?"

"...No, I decided to take a journey around the vast lands to meet new people. Link also comes from the same kingdom."

"...How fascinating...I have been running away from my home because I want to find out something about my mother, ever sinc....I am sorry, but I cannot tell you more about my personal problems."

"No, it is alright for me. It is not my business to get into people' personal matters."

Toon Link approached to Link. "Hey, does she talk like this? I mean, like the royalty?"

"Only sometimes, but she doesn't know that much how to talk like us." Link whispered to him.

"Dagger, were you going somewhere?" Chris asked.

"...Yes...I was going to that little plant maze from over there." Garnet said pointing at a small field for growing crops.

"...That's a small field for growing crops actually..." Toon Link said sweatdropping as Garnet wondered what was a crop.

Queen Brahne's Steiner

Pub

The dutiful daughter Slai had such a weird day this morning. First, a very menacing-looking man (Wolf) came in to order a drink bluntly. She was staring at him in curiosity before he asked "What are you looking at? It's my drink ready?" and she hurried to get his drink. The grey lupine grunted at her as he sat down on a table. Second, a guy "in a silly armor" (Steiner) as she thought came in later and offered to give her a hand in the bar like cleaning and such.

"T-thanks for checking the firewood, sir..." Slai said shyly.

"This sector is clear!" Steiner said wiping dust from the table.

"Can somebody here shut him up? I'm trying to enjoy my drink here." Wolf said annoyed.

"Excuse me sir? Do you want me to clean your table as well?" Steiner asked.

"No! Just stop!" Wolf said annoyed, making a disgusted face as he scratched his left ear. "It's not how you clean this dump, is that annoying, noisy sound of your steel can that is bothering me!"

"DO NOT DARE TO DISRESPECT MY ARMOR! It is the best armor in Alexandria there is!"

"..U-um...excuse me..." Slai called shyly and they looked at her. "It's my job to clean the bar. Why are you doing all this?"

Steiner walked towards her, ignoring Wolf's snarl at him as the grey lupine continued to drink. "S-Sorry. Well, now that you have time, would you introduce me to some adults, like your father?"

"My father won't be back until nightfall. All the other men are also working. They don't come here during the day."

"Pubs are supposed to be a prime source of information..."

"And a place to stay quiet and let other persons to enjoy their time, idiot!" Wolf shouted from his table, hearing the conversation between the 2.

"Shut up, you swine!"

Wolf slammed his fist in the table with force. "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!"

"Ahem! I need not ask an adult. Let me ask you a question! I need to know what transportation method people use in this village. I cannot tell you the reason, but there is someone I must escort to the castle." Steiner asked to Slai, ignoring Wolf as the lupine snarled at him again.

"Are you from Alexandria Castle?" Slai asked.

"Indeed! I command the queen's Knights of Pluto! I am Adelbert Steiner, Captain of the Knights of Pluto!"

"And yet, you're here instead of being there..." Wolf said chuckling, taunting Steiner who kept looking at Slai, but with a vein on his face.

That's when Chris and Lucario came in and looked at Wolf. "Oh, here you are." Chris said.

"Hmph."

"Knights of Pluto...? Oh. Well, if you're from the castle, I guess it's okay to tell you... Please go to the observatory on top of a mountain on the outskirts of the village. An old man named Morrid lives there. He takes care of the cargo ship." Slai said shyly to Steiner.

"Cargo ship!? So, that piece of junk flies to this village! Thank you!" Steiner said, turned around and found Chris and Lucario sitting on the other side of Wolf's table. "What are you 2 doing here?"

"We were looking for Wolf. Dagger and my other friends are looking the village." Chris said.

"...Wait a minute...so this shady man, "Wolf," is your friend?!"

Wolf glared at him. "Who said I was his friend? I'm just following orders from a floating hand and a bunch of imbeciles."

"I KNEW YOU STRANGERS WERE NOT SOMEONE TO TRUST! You are all thieves!"

"T-that's not true! Just because Wolf looks like one it doesn't mean we are too!" Chris protested.

"Lies! All lies!" Steiner yelled before sprinting off the pub.

"W-wait!" Slai said holding her hand in front of her. "...I forgot to thank him for cleaning the pub..."

"I MUST MAKE HASTE!" Steiner's voice was heard.

"...By far, I think he is the most crazy person we have ever met." Lucario said frowning.

"...I think that too...Wolf, what are you going to do now?" Chris asked.

"Stay here in solitude, without anyone bothering me while I'm drinking." Wolf said as he drank. "...That means NOBODY."

Lucario grunted at him. "Lucario, let's go... Let's just leave him alone for a moment." Chris said as he walked towards the exit with Lucario.

"...Stupid kid." Wolf said bluntly.

"E-excuse me sir..." Slai asked from the counter.

"What?"

"T-that kind person forgot to pay a drink he bought without paying..."

"And you want me to pay for him?"

"W-well...you 2 looked like companions so..."

"...That's it, next time I see him he is going down...but to hell, that is." Wolf muttered at the last part, making Slai jump scared.

END OF ACTIVE TIME EVENTS

Outside

"VIVI! VIVI!"

"Huh? Lucas?" Chris asked confused when he saw Lucas yelling Vivi's name.

"Chris! Have you seen a boy with a black face and yellow eyes around here?"

"You mean Vivi?"

"You know him too? Me, Ness and Geno met him a while ago and we decided to see the windmill together, when Zidane came and when he left..."

Flashback

"I'll see you back at the inn!" Zidane said as he ran away, waving at them.

"Okay!" Vivi said cheerfully.

"You know Vivi," Ness started. "You sound a little more happier than before..."

"...Oh, w-well, it's because I met you 3 and other friends a while ago. I've never had many friends before... I'm so happy for that because most people either ignored me or ran away scared."

Lucas got a little worried. "S-sorry for hearing that..."

"No! It's okay though! I'm happy to have friends at last!"

Geno kept his position and they looked at him. "...Geno, are you still hearing the sounds of the Chocobos?" Ness asked, when Zidane was with them, they have been hearing the sound of a Chocobo nearby the windmill, Ness remembered how a Chocobo looked like when he was in the Space Colony ARK, Zidane even told Lucas and Geno about the big yellow bird.

"Huh?... Yes, it's weird to hear its sounds in this place, doesn't it?" Geno asked.

They looked around. "What are Chocobos..." Vivi wondered, before something happened to him.

"Well, Zidane told us they were big birds that live in the wild and...Vivi?" Lucas looked around to see where Vivi was. "Vivi?"

"Where did he go?" Ness asked looking around.

"He was here just a moment ago...and I doubt he got far away from here in such little time." Geno said wondering.

"Should we search for him?"

"Y-yes! Let's do that!" Lucas said nodding, preocupied for Vivi.

"I MUST MAKE HASTE!" Steiner ran in front of the group at high speed, going outside the village towards the observatory outside.

"...Who was that guy in the silly, noisy armor?" Ness asked confused before they ran to different ways and began to search for the black mage.

"VIVI! VIVI!"

"Huh? Lucas?" Chris asked confused when he saw Lucas yelling Vivi's name.

"Chris! Have you seen a boy with a black face and-"

"Lucas! You're going too far already! Stop!"

End of flashback

"...Sorry..." Lucas said embarrassed. "The point is...we are searching for Geno around the village to see what happened to him..."

"(Good, I forgot what happened at this point in the game.)" Chris thought. "Lucas, continue to search for him. Meanwhile, I'm going to see where is Zidane to ask for his help."

"T-thank you! Vivi is very shy and nervous...and I'm like him too, I just...don't want anything bad to happen to him, that's all."

"Don't worry, he is probably somewhere around the village."

And Lucas ran away to search for the black mage as the duo watched him getting away. "Why didn't you ask me to use my aura to locate Vivi?" Lucario asked confused.

"...Oh, darn it!... Well...don't use it."

"Why?"

"Because I think it's for the best to find the others first before we search for Vivi."

"...Whatever you say."

"We have to find Zidane, let's go!"

Garnet Tries Harder

We see now Link, Toon Link, Zelda and Garnet about to enter the only shop from the village, previously, when Garnet went to the "little plant maze," she tried to be like a villager to not raise suspicions about her being Princess Garnet Till Alexandros, the royal princess of Alexandria.

That rank in the royalty made Zelda to give her a hand. The princess of Hyrule was happy to find a real princess like her (Peach didn't count so much when she was in the mansion...oddly enough, she acted royalty only in her kingdom).

"Do you know how to act like a commoner?" Garnet asked.

"I've been living in my own kingdom for so long that I didn't notice that." Zelda said shaking slowly her head.

"Yeah," Toon Link began. "I mean, when that old woman threw that weird thing, Oglop to you, you were supposed to jump scared and you only stared at it in your palm."

"Then she screamed after 5 seconds." Link added.

"Why don't you ask Link how to act like one? He has been living in a village." Zelda said.

"I think it's the best way..."

"First, what do I need to do?" Garnet asked in curiosity.

Several minutes later...

Shop

Garnet was entering the shop by herself and the girl in the counter, Eve, stared at her. "(I must speak with this girl and learn how common folk talk...let us see...what did Link tell me to do?)" Garnet thought.

"Welcome!" Eve said happily.

"Um, yes, can we talk for a bit?"

"Talk?" Eve repeated confused.

"(Now, is my chance.) So, how have you been?"

Meanwhile, the other 3 were peering from the door behind her and Toon Link smacked his forehead. "Link! That was stupid to ask that to somebody she doesn't know!"

"Well, she wanted something quick, so why not?" Link asked.

"Excuse me?" Eve asked confused. "Have we seen somewhere before?"

Garnet gasped in her mind. "(Oh no, did I do something wrong? Was my way to talk weird that it raised suspicions?) I...just wanted to examine this place..."

"I don't think "examine" is the appropriate word right now." Zelda whispered.

"...Um...well...have a look around?" Eve asked very confused.

Garnet bowed her head. "God, did she screw it all up..." Toon Link whispered embarrassed.

"Shh! Don't get to quick conclusions yet!" Link whispered angrily as they returned to see her talking with Eve.

"Thank you so much for you consideration." Garnet said.

"Shh! Dagger!" Toon Link whispered from behind her.

"What is it?" Garnet asked turning her back to Eve.

"Why don't you say something shorter than that? You don't need to add "for your consideration" now, it's not necessary!"

"T-then what should I ask for?"

"Just say thanks!"

"I-I understand..."

"It's "okay!"

"O-okay!" Garnet said sweating as she turned to Eve. "I-I mean, thanks!"

"...You're welcome?" Eve said tilting her head, still confused as Garnet sighed in relief.

"...We're not too good in teaching her well..." Toon Link said sweatdropping.

"If only someone else could give her some pointers..." Link said wondering, in that moment, a kid ran close to them and stopped in front of the counter, panting a little.

"Eve!!" the kid named Yacha yelled.

"Yacha! Can't you see I'm with a customer?" Eve asked embarrassed, glancing at Garnet.

"But I just heard something awesome!"

"(Awesome? What is "awesome?")" Garnet asked in her mind.

"Can't you see I'm working?" Eve asked while she still stared at Garnet.

"Um, please... I mean, don't mind me." Garnet said shaking her head.

"Shh! Dagger! Try to hear their conversation to talk like them!" Link whispered from behind her.

"...Oh, I know! "(Here's a chance to listen in on some conversation...at last, an example.)" Garnet said relieved.

"Thanks, lady!" Yacha said happily. "I was gonna say..."

Then Eve and Yacha began to talk between each other as Garnet looked to another way, but kept hearing the conversation as the trio smiled to each other.

Near the Cargo Ship's landing place

Unfortunately for the World Traveler, he got really clueless about where to look for the others, that he gave up very quickly and decided to go alone near the village, in the landing place for the Cargo Ship. Of course, Lucario followed him as they sat next to each other in the grass.

"...Isn't this too peaceful for you, Lucario?" Chris asked.

"It is, it reminds me of our home." Lucario said with a small smile as the gentle wind touched their faces.

"I miss my home as you do too...but...I'm so happy to be in a place like this."

"No matter where we are, it's very enjoyable my time when I'm with you."

"Thank you Lucario, that was very nice of you."

"And will always be."

Both of them sighed in unison and chuckled to each other as Chris took a deep breath.

"Are you tired?" Lucario asked.

"I think so...remember? I always do this whenever we stay for too long without doing anything..." he looked to Lucario, who was looking away. "...Are you okay?"

"What?... Yes... I'm fine..."

Chris knew Lucario very well. The tone of his voice sounded a little depressed.

"...Hmm..." Chris rested his head on Lucario's lap and the Aura Pokémon looked down at him.

"What are you doing?" Lucario asked with curiosity.

"Isn't obvious? I'm trying to enjoy my time with you... Speaking of which...can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"I want to have a nap right now and I was wondering if you...could...rub my head a little to fall asleep faster?"

Without hesitation, Lucario did Chris's favor by slowly rubbing his head and Chris smiled a little at him. "Now try to sleep. I will keep you safe."

"...Thank you..." Chris whispered as he fell asleep on Lucario's lap. The Aura Pokémon was happy instead of being depressed for serving his trainer as he looked to the distant clouds floating away in the sky.

Lucario closed his eyes as he continued to look up. "(I like these moments so much... Thank you. Master...)" he thought while he looked down to Chris, who was sleeping peacefully.

Shop

"Zidane?!" Garnet gasped when Zidane was looking over her shoulder for a while when she was looking at the merchandise.

Zidane looked at the exit spotted the trio. "Hey, why don't you come here? It's bad to eavesdrop."

"Zidane, do not think wrong about them. They are Chris's friends."

"There you go again, speaking like if you were in t-" Toon Link gasped and shut his mouth.

"Hey! Don't dare to say the last part!" Link said walking to them.

Zidane pushed Toon Link away from him. "Geez! Sorry, I think I got carried away..."

"Hmm..." Garnet looked away.

"Dagger? Why is your face all red?"

"I-I'm fine..."

Zidane snapped his fingers. "I know! You changed the way you talk!..." he remained silent for a moment. "You still sound funny though..."

Garnet stammered a little. "I just started! I'll master it soon enough!"

"Yeah, sure." Zidane said trying to annoy her a little.

"...Zidane...I was wondering something..."

"You love him!" Toon Link said all of a sudden and both turned red of embarrassment.

"What?! N-no! I am not in love with him!"

"S-she's not my type of girl either!" Zidane said embarrassed.

"Hey!"

"A-HA!" Toon Link said triumphaly.

"I'M SAYING THE TRUTH!" both protested in unison.

"Um..." Eve called from the desk, blushing a little. "Could you 2...please...stop shouting? You're going to scare my customers..."

"Sorry..." Zidane apologized.

"It happened so quickly..." Garnet said. "...What I was trying to wonder...was if I did fine in the play."

Zidane quickly shook his head to return his face to his normal color. "Yeah! You sure know how to fake it!"

"Dagger made a play?" Zelda asked interested.

"Fake!?" Garnet's right eye twitched a little. "How insensitive! I love Lord Avon's plays. I've seen all of them. 'I Want to Be Your Canary' is one of my favorites. I even have all the lines memorized! I shall...I'll learn soon enough."

"But what was someone like you doing in a play?" Link asked.

Garnet looked at Eve, who was staring at them. "I...think we should return to the inn for now...I don't want to talk here..."

Zidane walked to the exit. "I'm going in first."

The trio walked to the exit. "Alrighty, I'll catch you later."

"That's! That's how you do it!" Toon Link said, until she bowed to Eve, however... "...Okay...we need to work in that..."

Inn

"No way! You saved a kingdom?!" Zidane asked surprised, some time in the inn was enough for Link and Zidane to get along well, even he met Zelda and Toon Link.

"Interesting, I'd like to read that book someday if you lend it to me." Zelda said to Garnet.

Zidane kept an eye on Garnet to see if she could talk like a commoner. "You'll like it. The story is a great...um...hit in all Alexandria. The characters are so alive and the plot is very good too." Zidane winked and gave a thumbs-up when he returned to talk with both Links.

Then, Geno came in and found the 5 talking with each other. "Oh, you're here."

"Geno, it's something wrong?" Toon Link asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we can't find Vivi anywhere."

Zidane jumped out from the bed. "Wait, you know Vivi?" Geno nodded. "Now that I remember...I didn't see Vivi on my way here near the windmill..."

"I'm worried about Vivi, can we search for him?" Garnet asked.

"Dagger..."

"I-I mean...can we look for him?"

"That's better. Hey guys, could you help us find Vivi?"

Link nodded. "Okay, I'll lend you a hand."

"I-I'll go too!" Toon Link said hopping from his bed.

"Maybe I should go as well." Zelda said as she stood up.

"Thanks guys." Zidane said as they ran outside.

Outside

Ness and Lucas reunited with the group. "Link! We haven't found Vivi yet!" Ness said to Toon Link.

"Wait a minute..." Zidane said as he glanced at the windmill. "Last time I saw Vivi he was here..." he got closer to the windmill.

Geno went with him. "Well, this is the first place where he disappeared."

"What were you 3 doing then?"

"Looking to another way..." Ness responded embarrassed.

"And I was looking to this hole..." Lucas said, pointing to a hole in the ground. "There were some "kweh" sounds coming from it."

"That's the sound Chocobos make, didn't I told you that before?"

"What sound?" Link asked.

"Shh, stay silent for a moment and you'll find out..."

The 8 remained silent as they looked around...then...someone was sniffing close to them...

"Is somebody crying?" Zidane asked.

Ness looked at Lucas quickly. "H-hey! I'm not crying!" Lucas said angrily.

There were more sniffs, then, Zidane looked at the ground and to the pipe that Lucas mentioned. "It's coming from the hole... Vivi?"

"Please, there's no way Vivi could have disappeared in there, just look! The hole it's at the size of our feet!" Ness said.

"...Zidane?"

Their eyes widened in unison and they looked at the pipe in curiosity. "Vivi!" Zidane and Lucas shouted surprised.

"Vivi! Where are you? Are you underground? Can you move?" Zidane asked.

"Calm down Zidane! You're asking many questions!" Link said patting Zidane's left shoulder.

"...They told me to stay here..." Vivi said sniffing a little.

"They? Who are they?" Garnet asked.

"Did they hurt you?" Geno asked.

"...No...I'm fine...for now..." Vivi said shuddering in fear.

"We're going to find a way underground, stay there and don't move! You hear me?" Zidane asked.

"...Okay...but hurry up..."

"Vivi..." Lucas said worried.

"We'll get him out, I promise," Zidane said as he looked around. "What's going on in this village?... There's gotta be a way into the underground somewhere. Let's look for one."

"You know...there is something weird here, I mean, I haven't seen a single adult while we were here." Toon Link wondered.

"And there are only girls attending the shop and pub." Ness pointed out.

"We shouldn't waste any more time. Let's look around for Vivi." Garnet suggested and they nodded.

"Our first place is the windmill!" Zidane said, kicking the door to enter the windmill.

"W-wait! It's rude to enter to a building without knocking first!" Lucas said.

"Nah, I've been doing this before and the people inside don't do anything. Plus, anything I find on the bed or the floor is mine to take and they don't say anything, weird, isn't?"

"...Ness..."

"I know...that stupid cliché book was right..." Ness said sweatdropping as they entered the windmill to examine it.

Near the Cargo Ship's landing place

The World Traveler was still sleeping on Lucario's lap, the Aura Pokémon hasn't stopped from rubbing Chris's head either.

Lucario sighed. "How I like these moments..."

"Pussy..."

"Grrr..." Lucario turned his head to find Wolf staring down at him.

"Hey, I'm not here to start a fight or something."

"Then go away, leave us alone."

Wolf rolled his right eye and sat various meters away from them. "...You 2 do this a lot or something?"

"Go ahead and laugh. I don't care what other people think about us."

Wolf chuckled a little. "Heh, sorry, but it's not like me to not laugh at others...maybe my stance at the mansion made me a little different."

"..." Lucario kept staring at him.

After a moment, Wolf folded his arms and laid down on the grass. "...What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No...it's just...you're being a little kind right now..."

"...Say that again and I'll kill you 2 someday."

"You won't."

"Watch me."

"Then how will I know when you kill me?"

"..." Wolf chuckled a little. "Maybe my only alternative to live with all of you wasn't so bad after all..."

"You didn't want to stay with us before if I can remember."

"It's because..."

"Fox and Falco?"

"Yeah, because of them, just by seeing their faces, it boils my blood with rage...it disturbs me so much."

"Then why did you decide to live with us?"

"Because I didn't have any other choice left, mostly because to find my way back to Corneria and reunite with Leon and Panther. Those 2 are complete idiots without someone telling them what to do."

"...Hm...I don't think that's all..."

"...I told you everything, don't try to find another reason or else..."

"Nobody can lie to me. I can read people' mind to find out if they're saying the truth or not, but you hold another reaso-"

"Fine, it was because of the same problem with Fox and the bird brain. Ever since the kid told me that I have the chance to beat any of those 2 anytime if I lived in the mansion made up my mind," he made his hand a fist. "And I'm waiting for that fight. If battles on the air can't resolve our hatred for each other, then a fight of one-on-one would be the best."

"I can't see the reason for you 3 to be hating each other."

"That's what rivals are for."

"But I know Falco isn't your rival."

"Nah, the bird brain is another different story. It's very easy to make him angry and also amusing and funny to watch for me...and also because he gets too cocky," he closed his eye. "What about you? Do you have a rival?"

Lucario looked at Chris. "I don't, and I'm glad for that too. Chris told me rivals are good to have...but they just distract you to feel uncertain, that's why he doesn't have one."

"...Oh, how am I going to enjoy fighting against you and your pointless response..."

"You're not my rival and never will...ever..."

"Be that way... If the kid wonders what I was doing with you, this conversation never happened."

"I agree."

Underground

For the surprise of everyone, there was an underground facility under the village. It looked like a secret mine but the sounds of the Chocobos were heard...along with the sounds of machines.

"What in the heck is this place?" Link asked.

"Looks like the village wasn't so peaceful after all..." Garnet said.

"Great going, you're learning so much in such little time!" Zidane remarked and Garnet blushed a little.

"H-hey! We should be looking around for Vivi!" Lucas said a little impatient.

"Calm down, Lucas." Ness said.

"...S-sorry, I think Vivi and me are different but...similar..."

"We'll find somewhere around here, let's keep moving an-" Zidane was interrupted.

"HIDE!" Geno yelled as he pulled Zidane behind a big barrel.

There was a hut inside the cave that was leading to somewhere deeper. Also, 2 workers, probably from the village, had Vivi with them as he trembled scared.

What surprised Garnet wasn't Vivi, it was the oddly familiar pattern on the big barrel where they hid. "(This pattern...it's...)" Garnet thought as Zelda looked at her.

"It's something wrong?" Zelda whispered, before they heard the 2 workers talking.

"Hey, let's put this in a box," the worker said looking at Vivi.

"I guess the guys at the castle will take care of it," the other worker said.

"(The castle?!)" Zidane thought shocked.

"Yup. We're only in charge of production."

"Gotcha."

When the 2 workers walked outside the hut, Vivi was walking between them and they led the black mage deeper into the cave, but Vivi stumbled and the worker in the front kicked him. "Hurry up!"

"That bastard!" Zidane whispered angrily as he tried to ran towards the workers, but both Links pulled him to the group. The 2 workers also got away with Vivi. "Hey! What's the big deal?!"

"Did you see the large barrel next to the shed? I've seen the exact same pattern on some of the barrels at the castle. This place must have some kind of connection with Alexandria Castle. I must know what it is! So please... I beg of you, don't cause any trouble just yet." Garnet said joining her hands.

"Why are you so concerned?" Geno asked.

"It's because...this place must be related to my mother and what she has been doing lately... The barrels, the patterns of them, they are from Alexandria Castle..."

Zidane got in a thinking position and nodded. "...Alright. But I will start trouble if Vivi is in danger. Agreed?"

"I will do that too!" Lucas said determined.

"Sure." Garnet said.

"Knowing Lucas, he will blow up the place by tripping." Ness joked.

"N-Ness! I'm not going to do that!" Lucas said blushing a little.

"...I will be the one blowing the place up!" Toon Link said.

"No, you won't. Now let's go." Link said frowning as they decided to go deeper into the strange storage facility.

It was not long before they came up with a large machine making odd eggs. "What the heck is that?!" Zidane asked surprised.

Garnet looked to an odd box that was sniffing. "Zidane!"

"What is it?" Zidane asked.

"Someone's crying..."

Lucas leaned his ear to the box and knocked it a little. "...Vivi?"

"...Lucas?" Vivi's voice came from the box.

"Guys! Vivi is in here!"

"It IS you! I'll get you out! Why would they stuff you in a box?" Zidane asked confused.

"How could they?" Garnet asked wondering.

"Get me out of here!" Vivi yelled from inside.

"Link, Ness, Lucas, Geno and the other little guy named Link too, help me get Vivi out!"

"Told you, it would be better to call you Toon Link." Ness said laughing a little.

"Grr!" Toon Link grunted at him.

When mentioned characters tried to get Vivi out, the black mage dusted off his baggy pants again and looked at them while he tried to stop crying.

"Vivi! Thanks goodness you're okay!" Lucas said.

"I-I don't like this place..." Vivi said trembling a little.

After Vivi explained everything to the group, they decided to investigate the facility to find out what was happening there.

Zidane met face-to-face with double-doors. "Hmm...I wonder what is on the other side...there's mist coming out."

"Mist?" Zelda asked.

"I don't remember any mist outside..." Link said.

"Wait, when we were walking to this place, we saw mist covering the lower fields from down below the mountains." Toon Link said.

"Yeah, mist is the most dangerous thing in all Gaia. It attracts monsters." Zidane said.

Lucas trembled a little after he looked at the mist coming out from the doors. "T-they are on the other side?"

Zidane laughed a little. "I don't think so...because..." he closed his eyes, opened the double-doors and looked at them. "There aren't any monsters on the othe-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Lucas and Vivi screamed terrorized.

Zidane quickly turned his back to find a lot of monsters roaring, laughing evily and grunting at them. "W-whoa!"

Final Fantasy lX - Battle Theme

He backstepped and took out his dual blades. "Guess we won't get through this place so easily after all! Ness, Lucas! Hide to not be hu-"

"PK FREEZE!"

"PK BLAST!"

Zidane watched a blue mist, then a green flash flying over his head that exploded right after the other in the Ghosts that appeared and were killed. "...What the..." Zidane trailed off surprised.

"Vivi, are those attacks magic like yours?" Garnet asked.

"N-no, I don't think so...that magic was very different..." Vivi said.

"It's because it's our PSI or PK attacks." Ness explained.

"I wasn't talking about that! I was surprised to see Ghosts here!" Zidane said.

"...Oh..." Vivi, Ness and Lucas said in unison. "..." they remained silent for a moment. "GHOSTS!" before they ran around screaming.

Toon Link frowned and rolled his eyes. "Pfft, ghosts, big deal. They aren't that scary."

"THERE'S ONE BEHIND YOU!" Link yelled.

"A-AAH!! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Toon Link said swinging his sword crazily around...to nothing. "Hey, where did the ghost go?"

Link was holding his stomach since he burst out laughing. "Trick you! You should have seen your face! Hahaha!"

"LINK! LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

"Yeah, right, there's a ghost behind m-AAAHH!!" Link was smacked in the face by a Vice (soldier-mischievous like enemy) and he backed away and unsheathed his sword. "You'll pay for that!"

"W-wait! Let me do this. Ha!" Vivi casted Fire on the enemy and a burst of flames burned the Vice entirely. "T-there."

"Wow! Y-you called fire out of nowhere!" Lucas said surprised.

"I-it's that incredible?" Vivi asked embarrassed.

"Of course, magic is the best thing ever!... But PK attacks are better." Ness scoffed.

"B-but, black magic is powerful if you know how to control it!"

"I have another kind of power..." Garnet said.

"Really?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, I have summoning magic."

"Summoning magic? Hey, I saw that magic before. Chris knows how to call summons too." Ness said.

However, Garnet's eyes widened a little after hearing this. "R-really? Then there are more people that can summon magic too?!"

"...Chris is the only one I know."

"Oh...I see... (I need to ask him about the summons...maybe he knows...)"

"Dagger? Are you wondering something?" Zelda asked.

"What? No, I'm fine."

"Hello? We have more company coming this way!" Zidane yelled as more Vices and Ghosts ran and floated towards them.

Then Geno dashed in front of the group. "Leave this to me. I want to see if I can use the Geno Whirl."

"Geno Whirl?" Lucas repeated confused.

When a squad of Vices ran towards Geno to use their hammers, Geno watched carefully for the right moment to fire a very fast glowing ring that appeared on his right hand, when the Vices were aligned... "GENO WHIRL!" he yelled firing the ring at high speed that cut the Vices in half as they vanished in the air. "...I can use it after all..."

"T-that attack was amazing!"

"No kidding. It must have dealt like an insane amount of damage to them." Zidane said.

"9999." Geno said.

"...What?" Link asked confused.

"A friend, Mallow, told me it deals 9999 of damage sometimes." Geno said.

"...You know, you should be a Smasher like us." Ness suggested.

"That's a great idea." Toon Link said.

"I-I agree too." Lucas said.

"Hey, I'd love to, but unfortunately I have a duty to find and rescue the Star Spirits from the Subspace Army." Geno said.

"Subspace Army?" Garnet asked confused.

"Y-you're fighting against an army?" Vivi asked trembling a little.

"You guys think you're all that strong, huh?" Zidane asked.

Link grinned and closed his eyes. "Of course we are. We are a lot of fighters in a team. We're only 6 right now, but we have 15 or more allies in our base."

"Are Chris and Lucario one of them too?" Zidane asked and Toon Link nodded.

"Yep, each one of us are very talented on certain styles of fight." Toon Link said.

"Oh, so you are the so called Smashers then?"

"Hahaha, I laugh at your strength."

"Even Mario proved to be more than a threat! You look weaker than him!"

"Heheh, Smashers..."

The entire group made confused faces and looked around the place. "Hey, where did those voices come from?" Link asked.

A sudden strong wind came out of nowhere and they covered their faces, then, Garnet heard some footsteps coming from the same door Zidane opened before. wWhen they opened their eyes and looked in front of them, there were 4 different turtles of different colors and headbands around their eyes.

Music stops

"...Turtles?" Lucas said confused before the 4 turtles gave thumbs up to all of them, what was weird was that their thumbs shone in 1 second.

Koopa Bros. Theme

"Ha! We're here again! The great and mighty, Koopa Bros!" a red turtle said, or more accurately, a red Koopa said.

"Koopa Bros?" the whole group repeated very confused.

A yellow Koopa walked in front of them. "That's right! We're the ones holding a Star Spirit captive, it turns out it's the same one we once held captive!"

"Oh yeah baby, Mario isn't here to screw our things up!" A green Koopa said.

"Heheh... Mario..." a black Koopa said chuckling a little.

"...Could all of you introduce yourselves? Please?" Garnet asked.

"But of course! We're going to introduce before you all die!" the red Koopa said laughing. "I'm Red Ninjakoopa, the leader!"

"I'm Yellow Ninjakoopa!" the yellow Koopa said.

"My name is Green Ninjakoopa!" the green Koopa said.

"Heheh, Black Ninjakoopa..." the black Koopa said chuckling.

"And we are..." Red Ninjakoopa trailed off.

"THE KOOPA BROS!" they replied in unison.

...Silent fell in the cave and a dried plant came rolling out of nowhere between the 2 groups.

"...Never heard of you." Zidane said folding his arms.

"WHAT?! You haven't seen the awesomeness of our team?!" Red Ninjakoopa said.

"It's a very high disgrace!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said angrily.

"C-calm down, we just met you a moment ago..." Vivi said.

Green Ninjakoopa sniffed. "You're mean, man, you're mean!"

"Heheh, mean..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

The other 3 stared at him angrily. "That wasn't even funny!" Red Ninjakoopa said angrily.

"You lost your particular shine, Black." Yellow Ninjakoopa said frowning.

"Dude, you must recover or else." Green Ninjakoopa said patting his shell.

"Heheh, recover..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

The other 3 Koopas sweatdropped at this and turned to the Smashers. "Ahem! As I was saying before, we have the first Star Spirit in our hands right now, and you won't take it from us!"

"You! Return the Star Spirit to us in this moment, right now!" Geno said glaring at them.

"Tsk tsk, nope! It's ours!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said smiling.

"And guess what? We're going to kill all of you right now!" Green Ninjakoopa said laughing.

"Heheh, going..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"..." Red Ninjakoopa shook his head. "A-anyway! Ignore Black and let's fight right now!"

Zidane cracked his fists. "Alright! Bring it o-"

"RED! WAIT!" Green Ninjakoopa yelled.

"Oww! Don't yell like that again! What?!" Red Ninjakoopa asked angrily.

"We don't have the Shadow Bugs to make us stronger right now!"

"C-crap! You're right! We forgot to ask Tabuu for them, didn't we?"

"Good, it's easier for us to beat all of you." Ness said as he took out his bat.

"W-wait! We need to get prepared first! Have mercy!" Yellow Ninjakoopa pleaded.

"Heheh, mercy..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"SHUT UP BLACK!" The other 3 yelled angrily at him.

Link slowly approached the quartet and they began to panic. "GO AWAY! PLEASE!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said.

"OH, FORGET IT! LET'S JUST GET OUT OF HERE USING THIS!" Red Ninjakoopa said, taking out a small ball that he threw at the floor, exploding in a cloud of smoke which made everyone cough. when the smoke cleared out, they were gone.

Music stops

Geno ran where they were and cursed under his breath. "No...we didn't make it..."

"C-cheer up Geno, I know we can still find them somewhere in this place." Lucas said patting his back.

"...I guess you're right..."

"So Mario defeated those Koopas before then..." Zelda said wondering.

"Who's Mario?" Zidane asked.

"A friend and one of us," Link said. "He's very good at fighting too."

"E-excuse me everyone," Vivi began. "I-I want to see what is further inside this place if you don't mind..."

Garnet put her hands on Vivi's shoulders. "I want to investigate this place too. There must be some kind of connection with the castle and this factory."

"I-if Vivi wants to go, I'll go too!" Lucas said a little determined.

"We'll go too." Ness and Toon Link said.

"I'm a little interested about this place too..." Zelda trailed off.

Zidane looked further deeper in the cave. "Then, don't waste more time and let's go!" he said running ahead and they followed him.

However, they couldn't believe what they found deeper...

Near the Cargo Ship's landing place

That's why we are changing the scene to Chris, Lucario and Wolf.

Lucario was already getting irritated by Wolf, why? Because the grey lupine decided to take a nap, but that wasn't all, after 5 minutes, Wolf started to let out long and deep snores from his mouth that almost everybody in a radius of 1 kilometer could hear from far away, to tell the truth, Lucario wasn't irritated by that...

It was the sleeping Chris who made Lucario irritated. No, don't get the wrong idea, it was because Chris couldn't sleep very well with all the snores Wolf was making that made Lucario grunt at the lupine in rage. Anybody who dared to disturb his master's dreams was asking to be killed... Unfortunately, Wolf was an exception, keeping Lucario's hands off his throat.

"(...Shut...up...shut...up...)" Lucario repeated in his mind angrily.

"UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...UUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH...fuuuuuuuu..." Wolf's snores were sounding like this.

Lucario showed his fangs at the sleeping bounty hunter. "(Why can't he stop snoring?! If he snores one more time...I WILL kill him this time!)"

His promise was slowly coming true. He waited for the moment for Wolf to snore one more time to jump towards him and crush his throat. When Wolf was slowly opening his mouth...

The Koopa Bros. appeared running to who-knows-where and Lucario opened his mouth a little when he saw them running away.

"Run! Run!" Red Ninjakoopa said panting. "We must go and hide on the castle across the border!"

"We're dead if we don't make it!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said running.

"Hurry! Haste! Anything!" Green Ninjakoopa said panting heavily.

"Heheh, anything..." Black Ninjakoopa said panting as he ran.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, BLACK!" the othesr replied as they ran away.

"...Huh?" Wolf slowly woke up and wiped something from his eye. "Hey, did you were shouting?"

Lucario looked at him. "No, there were some Koopas running away to that direction just now."

"...Yeah, whatever. Don't say things I don't know about..." he yawned as he returned to his nap.

"But I didn't..."

"Lucario?"

Lucario looked down to see Chris yawning. "Chris?"

"Did you were shouting just now?"

His right eye twitched a little. "I-I wasn't shouting! There were some Koopas running away to that direction!"

"...Lucario..."

"Yes?"

"Don't be stupid, there aren't any Koopas in this world. Now let me go to sleep..." he fell asleep on his lap again.

"..." Lucario trembled in rage. "I WASN'T SHOUTING!!"

"SHUT UP!" Chris and Wolf shouted angrily as they returned to sleep.

"..." the Aura Pokémon sighed in defeat and swore to kill those Koopas if he saw them again.

"Hey! You 3 over there! You need to get out of that place, the Cargo Ship is going to land!" a villager said from afar and the 2 woke up and looked to the sky. The Cargo Ship was already going to land and Wolf got up and walked away with Lucario, who had Chris on his arms as the Cargo Ship landed close to the village.

"An airship?... Heh, my Wolfen can destroy that thing any day." Wolf said chuckling.

"Always you and your wishes to destroy something..." Chris said frowning. "By the way, can you tell me what happened in that battle now?"

"No."

"Bu-"

"No."

"B-"

"NO! LATER! YOU HEAR ME KID?! LATER! IS THAT FINE WITH YOU?!"

"Yes, thank you." Chris said smiling a little as Lucario put him down safely on the ground.

The trio watched the 2 workers coming out from the underground with a big barrel that was sometimes moving when they didn't look.

"I wonder what they're gonna use them for? We've been making lots of 'em since they set up the factory six months ago," a worker said.

"Who cares? This is a piece of cake compared to farming. Better money, too... H-Hey! Is that scary guy in armor running towards US!?" the other worker asked scared when a guy in a silly armor was running towards them...you should know by now who was that guy...

"... Let's get outta here!" the first worker yelled scared as they ran away from Steiner, who came up and looked at the barrel as the other 3 walked towards him.

"YOU 3 AGAIN?! DID NOT I TELL YOU TO GO AWAY?!" Steiner asked irritated.

"You didn't." Chris, Lucario and Wolf repeated in unison, making Steiner sweatdrop.

"..." he sighed and looked down at the grass. "It is hard to convince you...fine! Be that way! But stop following me!"

"Hey, hear me you stupid steel can. I'm not following anyone anywhere here." Wolf said angrily.

"ARGH! You are making so mad that I wish I could stab this giant barrel right NOW!" Steiner had all the guts to stab the barrel with his sword that suddenly moved, making them back away from it. "...Did this barrel just move?"

"LOOK OUT!" Chris shouted when the barrel fell above Steiner, crushing him under the weight as the rest of the Smashers, with Zidane, Vivi and Garnet, crawled out from it.

Several minutes later...

"Princess, what in the world is going on!? You scoundrel! Is this your doing!?" Steiner asked impatiently as he jumped several times in fury.

"Steiner, please!" Garnet said.

"Yes, Your Highness..." Steiner calmed down, earning various chuckles from Wolf.

"Zidane, I don't know what to say to Vivi. I never knew anything suspicious was going on at the castle..."

"We still don't know for sure. Let's stay by Vivi's side." Zidane suggested while Ness and Lucas were patting Vivi's back as the black mage looked down in shame for something that happened in the facility.

"(This is not the time to panic... I must get the princess onboard the cargo ship somehow. Then we can head back to Alexandria Castle.)" Steiner thought.

"W-what happened to all of you?" Chris asked confused.

"...You don't want to know." Toon Link said, trying not to remember what he and the others saw in the underground.

"Yo, Rusty, do you know where this airship's going?" Zidane asked as he looked at the Cargo Ship.

"...L-Lindblum. Yes, to Lindblum." Steiner said.

"Alright! Let's go on aboard!" the bandit sprinted towards the ship, but Steiner stopped him.

"I-I shall go ask them!" Steiner said shuddering a little.

"Oh, really. How come?"

"I-It is not for your benefit. I am only doing this for the princess!" he said and he ran off to the ship.

"Talk about weird and stupid..." Wolf said frowning.

"Z-Zidane..." Vivi said shuddering a little.

"Look Vivi, whatever we saw below, they're not like you. They were just dolls."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Chris asked. For his bad luck, he forgot most of the things that happened in the game.

"...I'll explain it later..." Zidane then looked at the Cargo Ship that was starting to fly and he gasped. "It's moving. What the heck is Steiner up to? Alright, we have to get on, Dagger."

"On a ship that's not going to Lindblum?!" Garnet asked surprised since the Cargo Ship was destined to arrived at Alexandria Castle, the first place where she escaped.

"I don't have time to explain... Hey, you guys, do you want to come with us? We could use a hand in our way there."

Chris looked at the airship. "O-on an airship?! Hell yes! I want to ride that thing!" he said excited before Lucario grabbed him. "Lucario? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to jump to the deck." Lucario said.

"O-okay!" Chris said before Lucario jumped high in the air and landed on the deck.

"...He just keeps surprising me..." Zidane said as they ran to the ladder which Vivi ascend first before Ness, Lucas and Geno followed after him.

"An airship...this is going to be fun..." Toon Link said chuckling a little as he climbed the ladder with Link and Zelda.

"...Oh, what the heck..." Wolf climbed the ladder and entered the airship.

Zidane looked at Garnet. "Hurry up before it takes off!"

"But..." Garnet shook his head, before the Cargo Ship began to fly a little.

"It's taking off!" Zidane yelled as Garnet quickly climbed the ladder as Zidane followed he-" Ooh, soft..."

"Aah!" Garnet slapped Zidane when the bandit touched her butt...yes, you read well, he touched her butt.

Sky

"Yes, he did it Zelda." Garnet said crossing her arms.

"Z-Zidane! That was so...ugh! You're like C. Falcon!"

"Captain who?" Zidane asked confused.

"Dagger, let's go inside." Zelda said as she and Garnet entered inside the airship, before Garnet gasped and ran towards Zidane.

"What? You're not mad at me?"

"It's Vivi..."

"Vivi?" Both of them ran inside.

Engine Room

"U-UAAH!!" Lucas tripped when he backed away.

"T-they're alive...and they're moving too..." Link said gasping a little.

Vivi was trying to talk to another black mage that was operating the engine on the room. The small black mage tried to get a response, but with no result, the others who previously inspected the underground were watching in surprise.

Vivi walked to Zidane as he looked down at the floor. "Were you able to talk to any of them?"

"No... It's like...they don't even...see me at all...I tried...again and again...but...they won't even turn around." Vivi said sadly as Ness patted his back and Lucas walked to him worried.

"Vivi..." Zidane said feeling sorry for him.

Deck

Steiner was dropped on his knees while Wolf was leaned with crossed arms near the cockpit of the ship. "Grow up you idiot..." Wolf said chuckling.

"How could I let this happen...? What am I to do...? I never expected things to go so badly... I cannot believe the ship took off without the princess! What will I say to Queen Brahne...?" Steiner asked to himself, trying to hit his head on the floor.

"What the heck were you doing? You almost took off without us!" Zidane said appearing from behind him.

"That is because...this ship's crew... Hey!" Steiner got up in his feet and pointed an accusing finger to him. "Why, you! Where is the princess!?"

"In the engine room." Zidane replied simply.

"She is on the ship!?... All is well, now. The ship is returning to the castle. You will be hanged for the kidnapping of a member of the royal family! Enjoy your freedom while you can." Steiner said triumphaly as he crossed his arms behind his back, laughing a little as Zidane looked at Wolf.

"Sorry if he annoyed you."

"WHAT?!"

Wolf smirked a little. "You speak by yourself. I've got even more annoying people hanging around with me."

"I hear that!" Chris yelled angrily sitting close to Lucario, far away from them.

"But the steel can can be tolerable if you know how to handle him."

"Damn straight." Zidane said as both of them laughed while the bandit walked inside the cockpit.

"YOU LITTLE SWINES!" Steiner yelled angrily.

"Shut up, steel can." Wolf taunted with a smirk.

"Why you little...argh! Forget it!" Steiner yelled as he walked to the front of the deck and crossed his arms. "At last! Queen Brahne is sure to be pleased," he got in a thinking position. "However...the princess would have been left behind without the thief's aid. I shall petition for a life sentence on his behalf. Yes, that would be the honorable thing!"

"What a weirdo you are. Talking to yourself." Wolf said chuckling, rather evily.

But the knight ignored him. "But that was because the crew wouldn't listen! I must run a background check on them. Ah, yes. It is my duty as a knight!"

Then, the ship began to shake violently and Steiner almost tripped. That's when Link, Toon Link, Zelda and Geno came from the engine room and Wolf looked at the cockpit. "Wh-What the-why is the ship turning directions?!" the impatient knight asked as he quickly ran to the cockpit.

Cockpit

Steiner was overly outraged now, because Zidane was happily steering the Cargo Ship while he whistled. There was another black mage staring at him since the mage was the one steering the ship.

"Y-Y-Y..." Steiner wasn't able to find the words to argue with Zidane.

"What's wrong? Something stuck in your throat?" Zidane asked sarcastically, laughing.

"Y-You insolent fool! Turn the ship around!" Steiner tried to punch Zidane, but the bandit dodged it easily by jumping away. "GRAAAAAH!" he tries to punch Zidane again, but Zidane used his monkey tail to hold into a pipe of the cockpit to grapple.

Zidane stuck his tongue out.

"I will have your head for that!" Steiner said jumping furiously, as a sudden swarm of black mages surrounded the cockpit.

"Hey, I think we upset them."

Deck

"...Oww!" Chris hit the floor by accident because the wind was just too strong.

"Chris! Are you alright?!" Lucario asked worried.

Chris rubbed his head. "I...I'm fine..." he blinked in surprise. "...Lucario...guess what! That hit made me remember all the things that happened here!"

"Really?"

"Yes! I thought I forgot just a moment!" he then remained silent for a moment.

"...It's something wrong?"

"This is so strange..." Chris muttered.

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

"We skipped the part where we should be fighting against Black Waltz 2 now that we are in the airship...but then...that means..." The airship began to shook violently. "BLACK WALTZ 2 AND 3 ARE ATTACKING TOGETHER!"

The swarm of black mages left the cockpit and started to walk to the deck, where 2 flying black mages with menacing red eyes were glaring at Vivi and Garnet, who appeared from the engine room as all the Smashers (except Zidane and Steiner) looked surprised at the mages.

"No!" Vivi said trembling.

The first black mage was Black Waltz 2, he didn't have feet but he had 2 purple wings on his back with antlers on his mage hat with a long blue robe, he was also hovering above the floor. The other black mage was nastier than the last one, his name was Black Waltz 3, he had longer wings with a feathery blue robe, he was also carrying a staff on his right hand and preferred to stay on the floor rather than flying like Black Waltz 2. Both mages were also bigger than Vivi himself as they chuckled evily.

"So, Princess Garnet is here along with all these filthy black mages." Black Waltz 2 said chuckling evily.

"It's wasn't my option to fight alongside another Black Waltz, but someone told us to attack together since there are so many of you." Black Waltz 3 said.

"Let's make a bet."

"What was that?"

"The first one who manages to kill more pests gets to be the strongest Black Waltz out of the 3."

"...Hm...it's worthless to do that since I'm the stronger one...but the challenge is too tempting...fine! I'll accept your bet!" he pointed at Vivi and Garnet, when everyone except Zidane and Steiner walked behind them.

"...H-huh?" Lucas saw all the swarm of black mages walking silently in front of the group, making a barrier of black mages to protect them. "W-what are they doing?!"

"We have to go to the cockpit, hurry!" Link suggested and they ran away from the black mages.

"Are you protecting them?! ...Nonsense. You are no different from mindless dolls! What can you do? Get out of my way! Do you dare to fight a Black Waltz like us?!" Black Waltz 3 asked angrily as he gathered a dangerous amount of magic on his staff.

"GET OUT OF OUR SIGHT!" Black Waltz 2 yelled furiously creating the same magic, all the Smashers and Zidane's group were watching from the cockpit the event.

Cockpit

...When a huge explosion of fire and lightning was created, shattering the glass of the cockpit as they ducked in horror. Vivi peered trembling from the shattered window, his yellow eyes widened in terror as he saw every last black mage being pushed out from the airship and to the nothingness. The others got up and gasped for all the destruction that was happening on the deck by the 2 black mages, for Vivi's misfortune, the electricity reached the barrels from down below and exploded, revealing even more black mages that fell without doing anything.

Vivi backed away as he tried to stop his tears from coming. Both PK users patted his back and Garnet put her hands on his shoulders to try to help him a little.

"...No...not this scene again..." Chris said frowning. "...This was...too cruel..."

"They wiped out every last one of them..." Toon Link said surprised.

"I don't know why...but I feel sorry for all of them...even though they didn't do anything for us...they risked their lives..." Zelda said shocked.

"No! They did do something for us, and that was protection!" Ness said sniffing a little. "...Why..."

"...And I thought they wished something better than this..." Geno said sadly.

Wolf grunted. "Be prepared..."

"What?" Garnet asked.

"Here they come!"

"GRRRRRRR!!" Lucario grunted in rage after the 2 black mages descended from the sky crackling with electricity. Everyone except Vivi gave the mages nasty looks of pure fury that they enjoyed to watch.

"Wh-what cruelty!" Steiner said enraged.

Final Fantasy IX - Boss Theme

Vivi looked down at the floor when suddenly, he starts to stomps in fury and Garnet backs away from him. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Vivi yelled furiously, rushing off the cockpit.

"Vivi!" Ness, Lucas and Toon Link ran with him to the deck.

"M-Master Vivi!" Steiner ran to the deck with Geno.

"Wait for us!" Link shouted running with Lucario and Wolf.

"Zelda, let's go!" Chris said but Zidane stopped him. "What?!"

"You stay here and protect Dagger from getting kidnapped." Zidane said.

"B-but I want to fight to-"

"Chris, Zidane is right. We must protect Garnet from getting kidnapped." Zelda said and Garnet gasped.

"N-no! You were not supposed to know my true name. I do not want to divulge it!"

"Don't worry, your secret is alright with me." Zelda reassured her with a smile.

"...Okay, I'll stay behind and protect Garnet," Chris looked at Lucario. "Lucario! Do your best!"

"We'll take care of the Black Waltz. You steer the ship. Things are gonna get even more dangerous from here on. It's not too late to turn back. You can go back to the castle or cross South Gate into Lindblum. It's your choice! I'll be with you either way! But try not to crash the ship!" Zidane explained quickly as he went to join the others.

"...CRASH THE SHIP?!" Chris and Zelda yelled scared.

"I'm not going to crash the ship, believe in me! Be careful Zidane!" Garnet said, steering the airship.

"I will!" Zidane shouted.

Deck

"Why? Why would you do such a thing!? Weren't they your friends!?" Vivi asked while Ness and Lucas were standing besides him with everyone else.

"You fool. Do I look like some lowly black mage soldier?" Black Waltz 3 asked laughing.

"How pitiful, we didn't leave any trail of those filthy rats." Black Waltz 2 said chuckling evily.

"Even if they weren't your allies, what you did was reprehensible!" Steiner said as he took out his sword.

"Kwahahaha! Worry not about them, many more are being produced even now!" Black Waltz 3 said laughing evily.

"More pests to destroy, better for us!" Black Waltz 2 said.

"...What?! You mean there are more?!" Ness asked.

"Ah, the princess's bodyguards have gathered! How very convenient!" Black Waltz 3 said laughing louder.

"You monsters! What kind of people are you?!" Geno asked furiously.

"Answer me!" Zidane demanded.

"It wouldn't do you any good if I answered, since you're all going to die! Kwahahaha! I will eliminate any who stand in my way!" Black Waltz 3 said opening his wings.

"Let's see who gets eliminated first then." Wolf said.

"LET'S BEGIN!" Black Waltz 2 yelled as both groups rushed at each other.

Preview of the next chapter

"Lucario! Are you alright?!" Chris asked worried.

"...No...t-the fire...it's hurting me..." Lucario said panting.

"Phew! We made it!" Zidane said, taking a deep breath.

"W-whoa...this castle is so big..." Vivi and Lucas said in unison.

"I was waiting for this moment! Tell us what happened in that battle!" Chris said excited.

"...Ugh...fine, but I won't repeat it again." Wolf said frowning.

"Hey guys! I signed everyone in the Festival of Hunt!" Zidane said.

"YOU BASTARD!" Chris said lunging at him.

"Next time: Lindblum, the city inside a castle!" Zidane said.

A moogle suddenly appeared behind Chris. "H-hey! Where did you appear?! We're on the middle of a fight!"

"Kupo! Do you want to save your game?"

"...Well...I should take the opportunity...so yes."

"Kupo-po!" The moogle flipped in the air and slammed his book into the floor.

Loading game data. Do not turn the power off or take Memory Card in Slot a...

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link
Dali Village
04:17:38

Overwrite file?

Yes

Saving. Do not turn the power off or take the Memory Card in Slot A...

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link, Link, Zelda, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Wolf, Geno
Cargo Ship
05:48:50

First kidnappers of the Star Spirits, the Koopa Bros! (DON'T EVEN MAKE A REFERENCE OF THAT HORRIBLE SUPER MARIO Z OR ELSE HERE!) This is going to get interesting after the fight against the Black Waltzes.

And no references? Well, there were some I think...some parts like what was on the underground didn't appear here, just to raise the curiosity of the game and let people know by videos on Youtube. ;)

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 79*: Inside Looking Out Lindblum

First, sorry, but this time I DID slacked off...but the length doesn't seems like it, second, I'm sorry again, but you have to wait a little longer for the drawing, I even made 3.

From Mariko-ai-chan: Gasp!A cliffhanger nya?AUGH WHY?!(Clears throat)I like the little moogle thing AND the fact that we're gonna find out what happened to Mewtwo nya.On another note...Thank you Lucario!You are such a loyal pokemon nya!(Holds up pantomime goose feather)

Dusk:He won't bug us for a long time!Also I like the prinnies,and Etna too!

From me: Cliffhanger destroyed, you may read the chapter now. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: It's okay. I actually thought your response was funny! Can you do spyro? I won't ask anything after this?

From me: The dragon that looks rather cute than menacing, even if the producers try very hard to make him look tough? No, sorry.

From Rellymaster: Wow, this chapter was really strong in the Friendship genre. Did Steiner take his crazy pills or what? Also, that upcoming battle sounds intense, and a lot of things caught me off guard like at the Review section. XD

From me: Enjoy it and let me know if you liked it. :)

From Seitei: I can see the next chapter's going to be more epic. I remember the ATBs and how they'd always make laugh with Quina and Vivi's wedding.

There are a few things I'd like to draw your attention to:

-Zelda giving Garnet a hand: So she's giving a hand to Garnet because she is royalty and that makes Zelda happy?

-Yacha and Eve's conversation: I think "listen" would be more suitable in this case.

Anyways, the interaction with Wolf was great. I look forward to see Vivi in trance mode (he will be, right?).

From me: Questions...

-Yes.

-Listen! That was the word I was looking for!

And yes, he will...or is. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: Sorry, alerts are apparently down since I didn't even notice this chapter was posted.

Anyways this was okay, it was a bit dragged on due to the large amount of in-game content, but still throwing everyone else in the mix does keep it fresh. And the upcoming battle looks promising.

P.S. No I haven't played the game, I just know a fair bit about it.

From me: I hope you don't get bored with this chapter though...it is very long...

From Pyros Aves: Great story so far. So, you don't plan on useing anime shows even if there are video games related to them? (Naruto has video games, though I've never played them) That's too bad as my brother wouldn't mind a One Piece arc (I do have video games linked to that series including One Piece Unlimeted Adventure on the Wii). I am pleased you'll be doing a Megaman arc though. Anyway, my brother started a forum thread on animesuki(dot)com about possible addictions for the next Smash Bros. game. It basically uses the same criteria you did in your omake at the end of the Tales of Symphonia arc. He's waiting for input before putting in his own ideas, but I know from talking to him that they include one for the classic Megaman. I look forward to reading future chapters.

From me: Um...wow, complicate review...

Ahem, no, you don't get it, anime will be away from this story EVEN if they have video-games, because obviously the games are the exact episodes of any anime and many knows that.

And about your brother's idea...well, he'll get to see the same "Lucky Star moment" at the end of this arc. :)

From Ninja Lucario: Long chapter. As to Black Waltz 2 & 3 fight all I can say is this, THEIR OWNED FOR KILLING THE BLACK MAGES!

...Sorry lost my temper there and can't wait for the upcoming chapters!

P.S. I didn't understand the question you asked, but if you asked if this was the first as far as time order then no its not... at least I don't think it is. Can't wait for the Snake arc.

From me: I want to make Snake join them at the current time he is in Brawl, I know for sure he's not old for Metal Gear Solid 4, but in what game does he looks like in Brawl...just quit the Brawl look and find the one that matches so I can research the correct game.

From Lucario210: I don't know much about finalfantasy 9 but your story rocks go Chris!

From me: RESEARCH, MAH BOI! RESEARCH! YOU'RE LOSING A BIG GAME! XD

From Wolfenpilot687: Hm...still good. Waiting for some arcs, though. This thing is going to take a life! But...I'll will read it until the end.

From me: Don't ignore the original characters of the game, they're very important. ;)

For reaching over 30,000 hits, we present to you the longest chapter because of my laziness, I really APOLOGIZE people!

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 79: Lindblum, the city inside a castle

"...Kupo?" A moogle woke up grogily from the dark floor and gasped. "Kupo! I forgot! Forgive me! Let's see the saved file!"

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link, Link, Zelda, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Wolf, Geno
Cargo Ship
05:48:50

"Let's get on with it, kupo!"

Cockpit

Final Fantasy lX - Boss Theme

"GO AWAY! HUSH!" Zelda said throwing the moogle outside.

"Z-Zelda! He didn't do anything bad!" Chris said alarmed.

"And you just killed him!" Garnet said.

"Kupo! I'm fine!" The moogle said flying from outside. "KUP-" He crashed into a random bird and they sweatdropped at this.

"...He's fine..." Chris said worried.

Deck

And back with the fight...

"Trance!" Vivi yelled as electricity began to appear around him and he shone brightly, making Ness and Lucas to block their eyes before he stopped glowing, now, Vivi was glowing with blinks, his clothes were white and purple, shining brightly, his hat wasn't bended anymore and it was very pointy. "I-I'm going to avenge every black mage you 2 killed!"

"V-Vivi! What happened to you?!" Lucas asked shocked.

"He's in Trance, a sudden power gained from strong emotions, it greatly boosts the power of somebody!" Zidane said.

"FIRA!" Black Waltz 3 yelled casting a huge envelopment of fire that burned every single one of them.

"Ugh!" Link backed away and dusted off his hat to stop it from getting burned. "They can use magic too?!"

"But of course, they're black mages like Vivi!" Zidane said.

"Fire!" Vivi yelled casting a fire that bursted into the 2 evil mages. "Blizzard!" He called a chunk of ice that shattered between them.

"How pathetic, is that all?!" Black Waltz 2 asked.

"NO!" Toon Link shouted firing an arrow from behind, it went straight to his chest and Black Waltz 2 backed away by floating.

"You little twerp!"

"HI-YAH!" Wolf trusted his claw behind his back when he wasn't looking, causing more damage.

"FI-RA!" Black Waltz 2 casted Fira on only Wolf.

"UAAAH!" Wolf was surrounded by a strong fire that vanished after 3 seconds.

"Hey, what were you doing with this?" Zidane asked behind Black Waltz 2, holding a Potion.

"G-give me that back!" Black Waltz 2 said trying to reach his back to grab Zidane.

"Steiner! Catch it!" The monkey-tailed bandit threw the Potion to Steiner.

"What?" Steiner looked behind him and the Potion crashed and shattered into his face since he was distracted fighting against Black Waltz 3. "AAAAAAHHHHH!! THIS HURTS! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" He began to hold his face in pain and began to run around madly.

"Sorry!" Zidane yelled as he jumped away.

"THUNDARA!" Black Waltz 3 called forth lightnings that fell with force above their opponents who yelled in pain.

"V-Vivi! Do you know how to cast that?!" Lucas asked as he stumbled to evade fire magic from Black Waltz 2.

"N-no! It's a little advanced for me right now!" Vivi said as he started to look around for Steiner since he wanted to fuse his magic with Steiner's sword.

"PK BLAST!" Ness yelled casting a green flash towards Black Waltz 2, but the mage teleported before the blow could reach him and he chuckled. "Rats! Who the heck do you think you are? Mewtwo, or Mewthree?"

Black Waltz 2 teleported behind him. "BLIZZARA!" A big spiked ice covered Ness and it exploded, hurting the PK user severly.

"Oww! T-that hurts...brrr..." Ness studdered and snizzed.

"Arrow power!" Toon Link shouted firing another arrow with Link that went flying towards Black Waltz 3, it reached him and got attacked by the arrows on one of his wings.

"Insolent fools! FIRA!" Black Waltz 3 yelled furiously as he saw Lucario about to shoot an Aura Sphere at him, the Aura Pokémon gasped when a strong fire enveloped him.

"GUUUUARRRGGGGHH!!" Lucario yelled in pain as he dropped on his right knee and gasped for breath.

"Lucario! Are you alright?!" Chris asked worried.

"...No...t-the fire...is hurting me..." Lucario said panting.

Cockpit

"I-I know this is too early to worry about, but I need to help them!" Chris said as he took out his harp, but Zelda lowered it. "Zelda!"

"You wait here with me, we must protect Garnet from getting hurt." Zelda said calmly.

"H-how can you be so calm in this situation?!" When he asked that, Steiner ran inside the cockpit, yelling in pain and he ran to the deck, still screaming, but they ignored him. "Everyone is suffering because of their magic!"

"Even so, we have to protec-"

"THE ONLY THING THAT YOUR MOUTH CAN SAY IS TO PROTECT DAGGER!"

"Zelda! Chris!" Garnet yelled and they turned their heads to see Black Waltz 2 preparing a spell to attck them. "Hurry!"

"LUUCAARIIOO!" Chris yelled crying a little, the Aura Pokémon growled in fury and landed a powerful punch on Black Waltz's stomach, pushing him away from him. "Thank you!"

"...Chris...I know this is not the time to ask but...can you summon?" Garnet asked in a serious tone.

"...Who told you that?"

"Ness."

"Wait here a second." Chris ran to the deck and smacked his harp on Ness, then he returned. "What did you said before?"

"OWW!" Ness yelled.

"That if you can summon, entities of great power." Garnet said.

"What's that?" Chris pointed to a random direction and ducked.

"Where?" Garnet looked around confused. "I don't see anything..." She found Chris in his Summoner job. "...When did you changed clothes so quickly?"

"I'll explain later."

"Then, can you summon too?"

"Y-yes...but I can only summon a chocobo..."

"Can I see for myself?"

"...Well..." Chris began to chant to call Lenne, his chocobo.

Deck

"FIRE! THUNDER!" Vivi casted more fire on Black Waltz 3, but the sinister mage backstepped to evade the fire and the lightning and chuckled evily. "N-no! It's over!" Vivi said shocked when he started to glow, ending his Trance form.

"Even so, your magic wasn't that effective." Wolf said as he did a somersault to evade a Thunder.

"...T-that's not true..." Vivi said looking down.

"D-don't listen to him, cheer up!" Lucas said trying to cheer Vivi.

"He's right, magic can be powerful sometimes." Geno said as he protected both of them using the Geno Beam in Black Waltz 2, who yelled in pain.

"...Thank you...I...appreciate it very much..." Vivi said looking up and preparing to cast another spell.

"THUNDARA!" Black Waltz 3 yelled casting an enhanced version of Thunder on Link, but the Hero of Twilight covered using his shield to resist the attack as he gritted his teeth.

"UGH! ...NEED...HELP...HERE..." Link said struggling, the thunder attack didn't seized to disappear.

"YAH!" Toon Link threw a bomb at the mage's head, exploding right into it, which made Black Waltz 3 to yell in pain as he blew the cartoony smoke by flapping his wings.

"I'll get you, you twerp!" Black Waltz 3 cursed. "FIRA!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!!" Toon Link was instantly covered in a scorching fire, giving him a lot of damage.

"(...Wait...if I can use my Reflector and deduce the magic as projectiles...) Hey! You! Winged idiot! You can't even hit someone like me because your eye sight sucks!" Wolf yelled taunting at Black Waltz 2.

"WHAT DID YOU SAID?! BLIZZARA!" Black Waltz 2 shouted furiously casting Blizzara on Wolf.

"(Heh.)" Wolf smirked in his mind and activated his Reflector, the cold attack bounced off from him and went directly to its owner, Black Waltz 2's eyes widened and was frozen in the spiked, chunk of ice that shattered instantly, dealing moderate damage.

"WHY...YOU...LITTLE...FURRY..."

A toon vein popped out from Wolf's head. "You're dead!"

The mage flew high above the deck to evade any kind of attacks. "Now try to reach me if you can, heheheh..."

"FIRE!"

He frowned. "Magic isn't that effective against me, insolent-AAHHH!!" It wasn't magic that reached Black Waltz 2, because the arrows of both Links hit directly his back with force. "I'm starting...to hate all of you..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" Steiner continued to run around in circles, since the pain on his face didn't seized.

"S-Steiner! Calm down! W-we have to cooperate!" Vivi yelled before a powerful lightning fell on him. "AAAAHH!!"

"Vivi!" Ness and Lucas shouted worried, Lucas saw Ness gasping and jumped away, the blond PK user got confused before a scroching flame covered him completely.

"HEEEELP!" Lucas screamed in pain.

"Lucas! Hold, on, I'm going!" Zidane shouted as he evaded a hit from Black Waltz 3's staff. "Lucas! Drop and roll!"

"AAAAHHH!!" Lucas began to roll in the floor, but the fire didn't seized. "PLEASE!"

"USE PK FREEZE!" Ness suggested.

"P-PK FREEZE!" A cold glyph appeared from Lucas and it exploded right into him, saving him from being burned alive, he got up trembling a little. "...I...I can't go on...I'm too scared..."

"We have to defeat these guys!"

"FIRA!" Both Black Waltzes casted at the same time, increasing the potency of the fire on Ness, his eyes widened when the fire began to surround him, but...

"NO!" Geno came in and pushed Ness out of the way before an explosion of fire caught him instead of the PK user.

"GENO!" Ness and Toon Link shouted worried.

"...F-fire..." Geno managed to say before he fainted and fell defeated.

"GENO!" Chris yelled from the cockpit, forgetting about his chant.

"I'll avenge him, don't worry!" Lucario said determined firing a charged Aura Sphere towards Black Waltz 2, but he teleported out of the way and chuckled evily.

"You need to have better accuracy to land a hit on me." Black Waltz 2 taunted.

"And who said the attack missed you?" Lucario asked in a serious tone.

"What?!" Black Waltz 2 turned his head behind him where the Aura Sphere from before followed him and exploded right into his face. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! WHY IS THIS WEAK ORB HURTING ME SO MUCH?!"

"I'll tell you why," Lucario began. "All your fire attacks towards me made my aura stronger, and all my attacks got much stronger than the last time."

"B-BUT, THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

"It DOES make sense to me!" Chris yelled cheering from behind, which made Lucario to blush a little.

"YOU STUPID ANIMAL, DIE!"

"Tsk, tsk, don't turn your back to your enemy!"

The mage gasped as he turned his head behind to see Zidane descending from a previous jump he did to reach him, who made an X-cross slash using his twin blades that left a serious scar on his dark face. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! STOP! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

"D-die! Thunder!" Vivi yelled casting Thunder that fell directly on the mage, energy started to appear around Black Waltz 2, like electricity, that made him to tremble violently.

"N-NO! I CAN'T...DIE...TO SUCH INFERIOR...MAGE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Black Waltz 2 yelled as he descended slowly and stopped trembling before he vanished in the floor.

"...He's down?" Link asked.

"I think so, he vanished." Toon Link said.

"...Hey..." Zidane looked around. "Where is the other mage?"

Scorch my enemies in this strong heat...

"...Heat?... Fire?" Lucario said surprised as he looked around.

Turn them to ashes and take them away...

"A-ashes?!" Ness said alarmed.

I'll bring them to your destruction!

All of them looked above and gasped when Black Waltz 3 had a big orb of searing fire above his staff, his eyes were wide and he was laughing evily as he floated in the air. "FIRAGA!"

"F-Firaga?! I-It's the strongest fire magic ever known!" Vivi said terrified.

Zidane remembered that Wolf used something to reflect the magic and looked to him. "How about if you use that thing again before he defeats us?!"

However, Wolf lost his Reflector and looked around for it. "Good time to lost the only thing that can save me!" Wolf snarled angrily as he looked around.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Steiner ran around screaming in pain.

"...He hasn't wiped out the Potion from his face?" Zidane asked confused.

"LOOK OUT!" Toon Link yelled to warn all of them of the huge orb of fire that went stricking the floor with a huge explosion of fire, everyone on the deck screamed in a lot of pain and Zelda gasped when she found all of them unconscious.

Cockpit

"No, he defeated all of them!" Zelda said shocked and she looked at the other 2.

"Er...um...L-Lenne! Come to me! Please!" Chris said pointing his staff to the sky, but nothing happened.

"Maybe it was all a lie..." Garnet said ashamed before finding the black mage with crossed arms walking slowly towards them. "Oh no...everybody lost?"

"LENNE! COME ON! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

"Princess Garnet Till Alexandros," Black Waltz 3 began. "You're coming with me and to the castle!" He demanded.

"I will not let you take me!" Garnet said glaring at him as she continued to steer the ship.

"Zelda! It's your turn to help!" Chris said, still continuing to call Lenne.

"Right." Zelda said simply as she threw a Din's Fire towards Black Waltz 3, but the mage used his wings to protect himself. "Strange, I thought his wings were going to catch fire."

"Mwhahahaha, Black Waltz 2 told you already, magic isn't effective against us at all." Black Waltz 3 said chuckling.

"...That is it, I lost my common sense now." Zelda said sighing and both of them looked at her. "We're dead, all my attacks are mostly based on magic, meaning that you Chris need to hurry up with the summon."

"...Wow, it's impressive that you can be so calm in this situatio-" Zelda quickly grabbed Chris by the shoulders and began to shook him violently.

"ARE YOU NUTS?! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T HURRY! HURRY! HURRY UP!"

"Z-Zelda! Why did you acted so weird all of a sudden?!" Garnet asked surprised, sweatdropping.

"THERE'S A MAGE ABOUT TO KILL US! THAT'S WHY!"

"B-but Zelda, last time I tried to call a powerful entity, I called Lenne instead an-" Chris was once again interrupted.

"DO YOU HEAR ME?! CALL A POWERFUL SUMMON RIGHT NOW, IT'S AN ORDER!"

"...It's quite amusing to see a princess getting this crazy..." Black Waltz 3 said before he shook his head. "PREPARE TO GO!"

"CHRIS!"

"Z-Zelda! Please! You have t-"

"STUPID LITTLE KID!"

A very big red toon vein appeared on Chris's forehead. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A KID?! YOU WANT A POWERFUL SUMMON?! FINE! I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU! COME FORTH, WHOEVER YOU ARE!"

Chris casted a summon with all his forces and the airship began to shook violently, Black Waltz 3 looked around a little amused before something caught his attention between them...

...There was a weird cactus creature with a weird face as he "danced" by moving his legs and arms.

The trio peered from the window and made confused faces in unison. "...What the..." Garnet trailed off.

"...Is that a moving cactus?" Zelda asked.

"...No...it's a freaking Cactuar..." Chris pointed out as the Cactuar looked at them, before looking at the mage who laughed evily.

"Do you think this pathetic creature is going to kill me?! What a laugh!" Black Waltz 3 said laughing.

The Cactuar pointed at him as he bended a little. "What is he doing?" Garnet asked.

"THUNDARA!" Black Waltz 3 called a powerful lightning, but it didn't do any damage to the cactus who kept his position. "...What the...FIRA! THUNDARA! BLIZZARA! THUNDARA! FIRA! BLIZZARA!"

The mage kept going on like if there was no end, the cactus didn't received any damage and he was tiring himself out from using magic on the cactus.

The Cactuar started to spin his spiny arms and began to shot a furious barrage of 1000 Needles, piercing through Black Waltz 3's body as he yelled in pain for every needle that went through him as the trio watched rather surprised at this weird attack. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Black Waltz 3 yelled in pain as he dropped to his knees, holding his staff to stay standing.

Music stops

The Cactuar didn't went away and was running in circles around the fallen black mage, jumping sometimes as Chris ran to them. "Good job, Cacty!" He said hugging his...wait, no! You idiot! Don't ever hug a- "AAHHH!!" Chris yelled in pain after he hugged "Cacty."

Zelda sighed in relief. "...I thought we were a goner..."

"Shouldn't we help them?" Garnet asked.

"But how?"

Garnet took out her staff. "Let me do it." Spores of light began to fly around her and she pointed her staff at the unconscious group. "Cure!"

More spores of light appeared around the deck and it touched the floor, making all their bodies to glow in a healing light, curing them a little from their wounds as they slowly got up.

"...We won?" Zidane asked confused as he scratched his head.

"...Ugh...you won't get away with this... I exist only to kill!" Black Waltz 3 muttered and yelled the last part before he flew off, as Vivi ran to his direction but stopped right next to a hat of a falled black mage that was destroyed.

"..." Vivi looked down in shame.

"...Chris? Why are you hugging a Cactuar? Doesn't that hurt you?" Lucario asked confused, tilting his head.

"..." Chris's face was a very crazy one and Cacty didn't went away yet.

"...Chris?" Lucario got in a thinking position and suddenly had an idea. "Master?"

"What?!" Chris asked glaring at Lucario.

"That's better, are you feeling alright?"

"...Well..." He looked down to Cacty. "...No...my arms are all pinched..."

Toon Link walked to them and stared at Cacty. "What are you doing hugging that cactus?"

"THIS cactus saved our lifes, so be respectful to him!" Chris defended Cacty.

Wolf rolled his eye and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to be respectful to a plant...ever..."

"...Cacty, show him what I mean."

Nobody knew about Wolf ever since Cacty met him from that day...well, for about 10 seconds.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Wolf yelled at the top of his lungs as he glared menacingly, showing his fangs at Cacty. "GIVE ME THAT THING!"

And Chris made a run for it from the 1000 Needled Wolf who chased him around as Toon Link and Lucario watched without doing anything. "Are you going to do something to help Chris?" Toon Link asked.

"Why? He's laughing." Lucario pointed out.

"...Vivi?" Lucas walked towards Vivi, who stared at the hat. "...Are you okay?"

"..." Vivi didn't spoke.

"Vivi..." Lucas said worried. "...Geno!"

The puppet appeared from behind him and sighed in relief. "I'm impressed, maybe this team is the elite I've been hearing a lot about."

"..." Lucas looked at Vivi and Geno looked at him.

"...I know...I don't know what he feels right now for what happened..."

Ness walked to them. "We should be cheering him up again."

Cockpit

Zidane ran to the princesses. "Do you see South Gate?"

"Yes!" Garnet said as she steered the ship.

"What is the South Gate?" Zelda asked.

"South Gate is a huge gate built exclusively for airships," Zidane explained. "But...maneuvering through it could be tricky. Do you want me to do it, Dagger?"

"I want to do it on my own..." Garnet said simply.

"You're a very interesting princess, Garnet." Zelda remarked.

"Alright... We don't have clearance. They might close the gate on us. It should be okay, though. Security was totally lax when I came through here on the theater ship. It'll be fine, Captain Dagger!"

"What a fitting name..." Zelda said sarcastically.

"Roger!" Garnet replied nodding.

The bandit walked towards the engine. "...It's old, but the engine's got power." Then, suddenly, Steiner runs in jumping.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Steiner screamed since he still had the shards of the Potion of his face.

...But somehow, Zidane knew what he was trying to say. "(We must turn back!! Princess! Please turn the ship around! The Black Waltz is heading straight toward us on an airship! He might crash into us!)" Steiner's translation said.

Zidane looked through the window and saw Black Waltz 3 flying a small jet towards them, he was yeling that he only existed to kill while he approached them. "Dagger, Rusty's right! It's headed straight for us! Punch it! Go through South Gate!" Zidane said alarmed.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! (Don't be ridiculous! What if the gate closes on us!?)"

"There's no way we can outmaneuver him in this cargo ship! We'll slide in before the gate closes and shut him out! That's our only chance! Rusty! Turn the power up to max with that lever over there!" He pointed to a lever which Steiner quickly went to as he tried to stop screaming from the Potion. "Dagger, stay on course no matter what!"

"Okay!" Garnet said determined.

"I know we can make it!" Zidane said.

Then both Links ran in. "Why is the ship accelerating?" Link asked.

"We're going to get through the South Gate and escape from the Black Waltz!"

"He's right! The mage is still alive!" Toon Link shouted when he glanced outside.

"Did I missed something?" Geno asked as he entered.

"We're going to get through that closing gate from afar!" Link said pointing to the South Gate.

"Wh-what?! But what if the..."

"Don't worry about that, trust Dagger!" Zidane said.

Deck

The Cargo Ship accelerates through the clouds of the mountains as Black Waltz 3 flew quickly at high speed, then, Chris looked to Vivi, Lucas and Ness staring at the hat. "G-guys! Get out of there! The Black Waltz is going to attack you 3!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!" Ness and Lucas yelled scared and ducked when the evil black mage was about to fire lightning.

"...Don't...HURT THEM!" Vivi yelled furiously casting Fire on the jet that knocked it off the course a little bit to protect both kids. "Ness! Lucas!"

"...Huh? He's gone?" Ness asked looking around.

"We're going through the gate, hold on to something!" Wolf yelled as everybody managed to duck and stay close to the floor.

"AAAAAHHH!!"

"VIVI!" Chris, Ness, Lucas and Zidane yelled when Vivi was pushed out of the ship by the strong wind. "NO! I GOT YOU!" Zidane said jumping towards Vivi to catch him. "WAIT! SOMEBODY CATCH ME!"

"NO!" Ness jumped towards Zidane to grab him, but he was being pulled too. "HELP!"

"AH!" Lucas lunged at them to pull them back, but the same happened to him. "MERCY PLEASE!"

"I WON'T LET YOU FALL!" Chris jumped quickly to pull them back, but his feet was slowly getting off the floor. "I DON'T WANT TO FALL!"

"GUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!" Lucario grabbed Chris using his right hand as he wrapped his other arm on a nearby pole, preventing all of them from falling.

"I EXIST ONLY TO KILL!" Black Waltz 3 came in with the jet charging up Thunder to strike all of them.

The 5 who were going to fall (except Lucario, who glared at him) gasped in unison. "PULL US BACK LUCARIO!" Chris yelled.

"DIE!" However, the lightning that he was charging up touched the engine of the jet that caused an explosion, getting his attention as the others watch in surprise when he looks at them rather worried.

"THE GATE IS CLOSING!" Geno yelled as they looked to the other side, where the huge gate was closing and left a small space, which made the things look dangerous.

"PULL THROUGH!" Link yelled at the top of his lungs and Garnet accelerated the ship at full speed.

"NOW!" Lucario yelled pulling the 5 with great force back to the ship before the gate closed, Black Waltz 3 wasn't so fortunate and his jet exploded when the gate closed at the same time he was between it.

"..." Everyone blinked in surprise at the dangerous event and looked to each other.

"...We made it! We made it! We made it! WOHOO!" Zidane said making a fist in the air and everyone began to celebrate loudly, Chris hugged Lucario for saving his life (the Aura Pokémon growled happily and rubbed his trainer's head), Ness and Lucas did a high-five, both Links and Zidane shook hands and Toon Link even shook hands with Steiner, Geno just sighed and nodded with a small smile to Garnet and Zelda, who nodded back and Wolf dropped to the floor but leaned to the wooden wall as he grinned with a small nod.

...However, Lucas looked to Vivi who was still depressed. "Vivi?"

Zidane walked to Vivi. "Vivi...listen to me, those mages and you are very different, you won't turn evil like them, you're an individual, no matter what happens!"

Vivi looked away before he looked at Zidane. "...R-right!"

"I'm glad everything turned out so well!" Ness said happily.

"M-me too, don't forget about me!" Lucas said raising his hand.

"Well, the South Gate was badly damaged...but they'll fix it in no time." Zidane said as he walked back to the cockpit.

"...I can see Lindblum!" Garnet said impressed and everybody stared in awe after seeing the biggest castle in Gaia, Lindblum, the city inside a castle.

"Phew! We made it!" Zidane said, taking a deep breath.

"W-whoa...this castle is so big..." Vivi and Lucas said in unison.

"...Maybe this is not going to be so bad...heh, I'll admit it, traveling around the worlds was just the thing I needed." Wolf said grinning a little.

"That's Lindblum Castle?! How gigantic!" Steiner said impressed.

"Isn't that amazing Lucario?" Chris asked and Lucario nodded with a small smile.

The cargo ship flew between the gates of Lindblum that opened instantly, many other airships got out as well and the Smashers watched the city from the inside, in the sky, Vivi, Lucas, Ness and Toon Link got closer to the edge of the ship to look down to enjoy the sight, Zelda was also admiring the place, maybe she could build a similar kingdom like Lindblum someday?

Even so, all the characters flew inside the main part of the castle, the Grand Castle.

Lindblum

Grand Castle

The cargo ship docked on the hangar and they walked out to safe floor, above the red carpet.

"Wow! This castle is huge! It's even bigger than Alexandria Castle!" Vivi said amazed.

"Yeah. They don't call it Lindblum Grand Castle for nothing." Zidane said folding his arms.

"An indoor airship dock! This is truly amazing! Even Her Majesty's Red Rose would easily fit in here." Steiner said impressed.

"Just look at all those moving gears!" Toon Link said pointing at the moving gears from nearby.

"It's official, I like to visit these kind of castles!" Chris said happily.

"If you like, I like it too." Lucario said.

"...Yes, I figured you were going to say that." He said sweatdropping.

Zidane looked at Garnet, who wasn't that impressed. "...Dagger, you don't look too impressed. Have you been here before?"

Dagger looked at him. "Yes, I came here a few times when I was little... I haven't been here since my father passed away."

"I'm sorry for hearing that." Zelda said.

"No, it's okay." Garnet reassured her.

"My, what a kingdom is this, I'd like to meet the king and queen, they must be very dedicated to their kingdom."

"I thought you were going to say that." Link said.

"Well, you don't seem to respect at all the laws of a kingdom like in Hyrule."

"I-I do!"

Zelda crossed her arms. "No, you don't."

Wolf looked around the place, and the statue near the hangar. "...Hm, I wonder how the city looks like..."

"I'll show it to all of you, after all, I live here," Zidane began before 3 elite guards walked towards them. "Here comes the welcome committee."

"That's a really old airship." An elite guard "remarked" the destroyed ship from the battle.

Garnet bowed to them cordially. "Greetings. I am Princess Garnet Til Alexandros. I humbly request an audience with Regent Cid."

Zelda didn't wanted to lose the chance either and bowed to them. "I am Princess Zelda, I come from the distant kingdom of Hyrule with Princess Garnet."

"You must be kidding!" The elite guard said. "No member of the royal family, let alone 2 princesses, would ever ride in such a shabby airship." He looked at all of them. "And look at the company you're keeping."

Steiner got very mad at this moment. "How dare you accuse the princess of lying!? The princess was forced to come here under extreme circumstances!... But you can take the furry guy if you want to prison."

"I heard that!" Wolf said grunting at him.

"Then show me some kind of proof of your royal heritage." The elite guard demanded to see if Garnet had any proof of royalty.

"Very well..." And she took out a pendant.

"This pendant... Is it a Falcon Claw!?... No. The shape is a little different. Call Minister Artania!" The elite guard commanded and one of them walked away.

"Oh, nice pendant." Link said.

"If you weren't such a filthy-looking oaf, they would not be suspicious of us!" Steiner said angrily to Zidane before turning to all of them who looked at him. "And all of you! Why did you followed us here?!"

"Hey, I'm not the idiot with the loud voice, and the dirty, rusty armor." Zidane said crossing his arms as the young Smashers began to laugh loudly at this.

"WHAT?!"

"STEINER!" Garnet snapped out and Steiner quickly kneeled to her. "Stop acting like that right now! They helped us so much in our escape and our arrival here, behave yourself right now!"

"B-but princess! H-how can you trust them?!"

"They're our new companions, I order you to be kind to them in this instant!"

Steiner yelled loudly inside his mind. "(WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!)"

Suddenly, a minister walks to them and he glances at everyone. "What is going on?" He asked.

"Sir, we have unknown visitors who wish to see the regent. And one of them is carrying a pendant that looks like a Falcon Claw." The elite guard said and the minister looks at Garnet's pendant before he gasped.

"Huh?!... You are dismissed. I'll take care of this."

"Yes, sir!" The guard saluted before walking away with his other comrade.

"Uncle Artania!" Garnet said smiling.

"He's your uncle?" Ness asked and Garnet nodded.

"Well, he is not exactly my uncle, but he looked after me when the regent and my father had conferences and I call him uncle."

"It's good to see you, Princess. Please follow me. The regent is waiting." Artania said as he looked at all of them. "Please, if you would, follow us as well." He said nodding before he walked away.

Garnet got a little confused after hearing that the regent was waiting for her. "I'm very excited to see the king, let's go." Zelda said and Garnet nodded, and the others followed the fugitive princess to the elevator

Elevator

All of them got above an elevator with Minister Artania, it began to accelerate slowly as he explained all the levels. "Lindblum Castle has three levels, all connected by this lift. From the base level, which lies below the Mist, you can take a trolley to the harbor and the back gate. Ships hardly arrive at the harbor anymore since travel by air has become so popular. The Mist poses great danger, so we've sealed off everything. Just above the Base Level is the Mid Level. You can ride the air cab from the Mid Level to go to town. The Upper Level contains the royal chambers and conference room. Access to that level is restricted, because the regent himself resides there." Artania explained.

"I-I'd like to see the town if I can..." Vivi said.

"I want to do it, too..." Lucas said curiously.

"If they go, I'll go." Ness said.

"W-what about me?" Toon Link asked.

"Don't worry, I know Lindblum very well, I'll show you the city once we're done here," Zidane said. "Hey, Dagger, what's Regent Cid like? I lived in Lindblum for a while, but I've never met him."

"Regent Cid is very wise. He always thinks ahead. He may seem a bit odd at times, but he is very dependable. He and my father were best friends... I wonder if he will listen to what I have to say..." Garnet said joining her hands a little as Zelda patted her back.

"With that information in mind, I'd like to meet him right now." Zelda said.

"Don't worry. We're not leaving until he does." Zidane said.

"We will arrive at the Upper Level shortly." Artania said as they arrived to the Upper Level and walked towards the throne room.

Throne Room

All the party walked inside before the minister Artania. "Sire, Princess Garnet of Alexandria wishes to see you, there is also another princess who wishes to meet you as well." Artania said, but Garnet looked around.

"Princess, is something wrong?" Steiner asked.

"The regent isn't here, and I don't know who... Take a look at the throne." She pointed at the throne, were someone was sitting on it already and they glanced to it.

"Who left his pet here?" Geno asked.

"What in the world?" Steiner got a closer look of the creature and his eyes widened together with Garnet's, Link's, Toon Link's and Zelda's eyes.

Because the creature looked them and jumped towards them, he had a big white mustache and it looked like a big bug. "Gwok-gwok. Gwok-gwok! Greetings!" He spoke.

"OG!! OGLOP!!" Steiner and both Links yelled in unison, when the big Oglop was close, Steiner delivered a strong punch, sending it crashing into the throne.

"Sire!" Artania said gasping.

"What?!" The oglop, who appeared to be the regent, asked recovering from his state.

"Huh?!" Steiner was suprised and shocked.

"What!?" Garnet was even more confused.

"T-the king of this kingdom is a bug?!" Zelda asked very shocked. (And even she wondered if bugs could rule the world anytime).

On a side note, not everyone entered the room, because Zidane and Vivi walked in. "Dagger, what's wrong? Why aren't you talking to-GEEZ! That's an oglop!" He said disgusted.

"Wow... Even the oglops are big in Lindblum." Vivi said rather amused.

"I-I don't think so..." Chris said sweatdropping.

"What is the meaning of this!? How dare you greet the princess like this!? Get that repulsive bug off the throne immediately, and call the regent!" Steiner demanded jumping angrily.

"Please, settle down! You ARE before the regent!" Artania said calming the knight down.

"What!? Enough of your nonsense!" Steiner said stopping.

"Steiner, stand down. I remember that mustache. Is that really you, Uncle Cid?" Garnet asked kneeling to the Oglop, who was the regent himself.

"Yes. Greetings, all gwok. I am Cid Fabool, Regent of Lindblum." Regent Cid said, sometimes "gwoking".

"It's incredible how people can recognize others by their mustaches." Ness said.

"It's even one of Mario's trademark symbols." Link said.

"...It is?"

Regent Cid coughed to get their attention. "I knew it was you, I recognized your pendant's description, it's so much like my 'Falcon Claw.' I'm delighted to see you again, Garnet. You have truly gwok become a fine lady. I, on the other hand..." He trailed off looking away.

"You're disguising as a stupid bug thing..." Wolf said frowning.

Minister Artania coughed. "Allow me to explain. About six months ago, someone snuck into the castle and attacked the regent in his sleep. Unfortunately, we were too late... The regent had been transformed into an oglop, and his wife, Lady Hilda, was abducted."

"My goodness..." Garnet said shocked a little.

"Whoever pulled this off had to be highly skilled, like me." Zidane said grinning.

"Suuuuuure." Both Links said in unison, sarcastically.

"Hmph! I bet it was you!" Steiner said with an accusing finger to the bandit.

"That's not possible." Cid said and they looked at him.

"How can you be so sure? Do you know who we are?" Zidane asked.

"Of course. I may be a bug gwok, but I am still the ruler of Lindblum."

"And it's still hard to believe all of this..." Zelda trailed off.

"May I ask for your name?"

"C-certainly, I am Princess Zelda, I come from the distant kingdom of Hyrule." Zelda said bowing.

"I have never heard gwok of the Hyrule kingdom before, is somewhere around the continent or it's a far away kingdom?"

"...You could say that."

"Uncle Cid, I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice. I desperately need to speak to you about my mother." Garnet said.

"That's what I figured. But I'm sure it can wait 'til tomorrow. Why don't you all get some rest for today?" Cid suggested.

"Thank you."

"It is time for lunch. Please follow me." Artania said walking away to the dining room.

The Smashers made a small circle to talk to themselves. "So, what are we going to do here?" Geno asked.

Chris took out his DS and Kawashima appeared. "Professor, can you tell us if the Subspace Army is here?" Chris asked.

"Of course...hmm...it looks like there are 4 minions hidding somewhere around the castle, or more specifically, the entire city." Kawashima said as Chris kept him on his pocket.

"4 minions...the Koopas?" Lucario wondered.

"Koopas? But there aren't any Koopas around he-"

"Actually, we found the Koopa Bros back in the village a while ago." Geno said.

"...So Lucario was telling me the truth all along? And of all people, the Koopa Bros?!"

"Yes." Toon Link said nodding.

Chris looked to Lucario. "I-I'm sorry for not believing in you..."

Lucario nodded. "I'm glad you understand."

"First off, who is staying in the castle and who is going to the town?"

At that moment, Zidane approached them. "Hey, I'm going to hit the town, wanna come with me?"

"I'll go." Wolf said walking away.

"I'll stay here at the castle and have a pleasant talk with the regent." Zelda said walking away with Garnet, who was on the door wondering about something, then Steiner ran out of the room.

"If the regent meant the lunch here...it must be a very expensive one!" Toon Link said drooling a little before running to the dining room.

"I'll make sure to stop him from stealing all the food." Link said frowning as he walked away. (And both Links began to argue on their way there).

"Um...what to do..." Chris wondered.

"I'll go to the town and look for those 4." Geno said walking away.

"Z-Zidane? Can you show us the town?" Vivi asked with both PK users on both sides.

"Of course! Follow me!" Zidane said.

"Um..." Chris kept wondering. "(5-star food, Wolf's battle, 5-star food, Wolf's battle, 5-star food...)"

"I'd...like to go to the town if you don't mind." Lucario said blushing a little.

"...Huh? What? Oh, okay! Let's go!"

Industrial District

Zidane, Chris, Lucario and Wolf walked between the buildings and Zidane stops in front of a bar that he knows. "I can't stand the food at the castle. It's way too high-class for my tastes. How can anyone get full on that stuff?" He asked to himself.

"Good, since I'm not that hungry, I would kill you right now for saying that." Chris said.

"The cheap food here is a lot better. Today's special is..." The bandit looked at the menu. "Soup du Silence. Not bad."

"Soup du silence?"

"It's good stuff, believe me!"

"I thought he was going to replace "me" with "it" for a moment..." Lucario said.

"...Yes, Lucario, I miss watching Naruto too..." Chris trailed off as they entered inside.

Bar

As they got in, they stopped right in front of the desk and Wolf decided to sit down on a seat before the trio did. "Yo, Pops. I'll have the stupid special." Zidane said rudly.

"What manners..." Chris said sarcastically, then, there she was, the lady in red clothes drinking peacefully on a seat close to the counter. "(Ooooohhh, there she is...)" He quickly sat down close to her, but sometimes he looked away to not get her attention as Lucario sat to his right.

"Who said that!? Zidane... I figured it was you." Bobo, the owner of the bar, said a little angry.

"How've you been?" Zidane asked grinning a little.

"Alright, I guess... Have a seat. Your soup'll be ready in a minute." Bobo said and Zidane nodded, then, a waitress stops right next to him and he starts a conversation (flirting with her to be precise) as the others were sitting.

"...Wolf..." Chris trailed off as he glanced to Wolf, who looked at him with a glare and snarled a little.

"...Alright kid, it's better to tell you what happened before you keep annoying me for the rest of the day." Wolf said irritated.

"I was waiting for this moment! Tell us what happened in that battle!" Chris said excited.

"...Ugh...fine, but I won't repeat it again." Wolf said frowning.

"...Wait a minute...you were going to say a lie!" Lucario said grunting at him.

Wolf began to sweat a little. "Wh-what is he blabbing about?! I-I was going to tell you the truth!"

"Chris, don't listen to him, he was trying to hide something from his story to cover what really happened."

Then, the Aura Pokémon closed his eyes and received a telepathy talk from Mewtwo, from the Smash Mansion. "(Lucario, I warn you, if you ever tell anyone about what happened, I'll make sure to torture you slowly but painfully!)" Mewtwo said furiously.

"(Just try it, Chris will never allow you to do such thing.)" Lucario said before he looked at Chris, ending the telepatic talk "I know now what happened in reality..."

"Why is Wolf aiming his Blaster at you?" Chris asked and Lucario quickly turned his head to Wolf, who hid the Blaster behind his back. "..."

"...Now, let me tell you what happened..."

Flashback

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Kanto
Viridian Forest

The four henchmen surrounded the Psychic Pokémon, some were cracking their fists and others were doing different movements to prepare to attack him. "Interesting, 4 against 1..." Wolf said darkly.

"I will not need more help from anyone else to defeat all of you at the same time." Mewtwo said bluntly. "How amusing...another Charizard..."

"Got a problem with that?" Charizard asked snarling.

"No, let's see how you fare against my power!"

"CHARGE!" The 4 generals said in unison, charging after Mewtwo.

...But, oddly enough, Charizard tripped and began to roll towards Mewtwo and Wolf who raised their eyebrows (if Mewtwo had one) and were run over by the heavy Pokémon. "...I can't believe I was ran over by him..." Mewtwo said as he got up and quickly evaded Ganondorf's Warlock Punch.

"Wolf! Get the Subspace Gun!" Ganondorf ordered and Wolf stopped in front of him.

"Why should I use that bulky gun? Use it yourself!" Wolf grunted as he got up and pointed to the table with wheels and grey mantle covering the Subspace Gun near a tree, telling also where Chris got the things to take Wolf's trophy to the mansion. "Hell no I'm not going to use that thing!"

"Do as I say!"

"Make me!"

Both began to grunt menacingly to each other before Charizard shot a Flamethrower to Mewtwo, who teleported out of the way and the flames got both villains.

When the fire cleared out, they had their bodies covered in ashes. "...Shouldn't we fight against him rather than argue?" Ganondorf asked.

"You! Stupid dragon! Be more careful where you shoot that fire!" Wolf shouted angrily to Charizard.

"Hmph, it's not my problem!" Charizard said smirking a little.

Mewtwo was busy getting away from Dedede who tried to catch up with him as he panted heavily. "I...hate...you...so...much..." King Dedede said panting as Mewtwo chuckled.

"Heh, try to catch me, I doubt you'll make it without hel-"

THUD!

Mewtwo crashed right into a tree's branch and fell on the floor as his eyes spun around a little in confusion. "...Why...is the world...spinning around me?" He asked confused before Dedede threw a Waddle Dee at him. "Hello..."

Ganondorf sweatdropped at this. "...That was unexpected, coming from Mewtwo... Dedede or Charizard! Get the Subspace Gun right now!"

"Heck no, I'm not using that weird gun!" Charizard said glaring at him.

"Mah hammer is better than that dingo dingy gun!" Dedede said spinning his hammer a little.

"Tabuu told us to use it on Mewtwo if we got the chance, now obey his orders!" Ganondorf said angrily.

"And why don't you use it?!" Charizard asked making a point.

"I'm the lord of all evil! I'm recognized for using magic and not guns!"

"Then I'm the lord of all the idiots and have a right to not use it too!"

Mewtwo, meanwhile, was trying to regain his composture as he floated around the place, as his head moved awkwardly. "What a day is this..." He said as the quartet were still arguing.

King Dedede was getting furious by this talk that he finally decided to sneak towards the gun to shoot at Mewtwo while he floated around confused.

"USE IT!" Wolf yelled furiously.

"USE IT!" Charizard yelled angrily.

"USE IT!" Ganondorf yelled enraged.

"This ain't getting us anywhere!" King Dedede said as he revealed the Subspace Gun from the mantle and he aimed the gun at Mewtwo. "Dragon! Attack him while I prepare dah gun!"

"WHAT?!" Charizard roared as he looked to the currently dumb Mewtwo, who kept floating around, saying very awkward things. "BURN!" Charizard roared again firing his Flamethrower to Mewtwo...but...

"...Chris, you're going to be more surprised at this part..." Lucario said outside the flashback.

"Why?"

Mewtwo quickly jumped (literally) out of the Flamethrower's way...ballerina style? "I'm a butterfly...a sweet, pretty butterfly..." Mewtwo sang.

"STOP! STOP! SKIP THAT PART! SKIP IT! I CAN'T IMAGINE MEWTWO DOING THAT ON MY MIND!"

"I even can't picture him doing that, it's stupid!"

Lucario quickly skipped all the ballerina jumps Mewtwo was doing until 30 minutes later, Wolf and Ganondorf even didn't do anything to help the dragon who burned the entire area down because they were still arguing (the fire even caught them, but they became numb to the pain), for his misfortune, Mewtwo regained his composture and glared at him. "You...insolent idiots!" Mewtwo said charging up a Shadow Ball.

"GUYS! A HAND WOULDN'T BE SO BAD RIGHT NOW!" Charizard yelled and both villains looked at him.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GRABBED HIM?!" Dedede asked irritated as he charged up the gun.

"You didn't saw him?! He was dancing around all over the place!"

"Well, it was very hard to aim, since you couldn't stop firing your fire every 3 seconds, you even burned the entire area!" Dedede pointed out.

Wolf flexed his claws and glared at Mewtwo. "This time, I'm not going to fail! YAH!" He quickly dashed above the ground and reached the Psychic Pokémon trusting his claw, but Mewtwo teleported out of the way and used Confusion to stop the grey vulpine. "LET ME GO!"

"I won't do that." Mewtwo said before Ganondorf came behind him, pushing him using his arm to set Wolf free.

"THE GUN IS ALMOST READY TO FIRE, HURRY!" Dedede yelled as the gun began to shine brightly.

Mewtwo, however, chuckled. "I bet I can get out of here before that gun even hits me."

"I doubt it!" Ganondorf said trying to crush Mewtwo into a nearby tree using his force, but the Pokémon teleported out of the way and appeared right in front of Wolf.

"I'll finish you off now!" Mewtwo said raising his glowing hand above Wolf.

"You wouldn't dare!" Wolf taunted.

"FIRE!" Time began to slow down and Wolf saw a black arrow being fired towards him, his eyes widened when the arrow touched his body and turned him into a trophy, but Mewtwo quickly beagn to float away chuckling.

"It's that all the speed of that shot? How stup-"

THUD!

Unfortunately, he hit a charred tree with great force on his head that made him to have a very dumb face as the arrow touched his body and turned him into a trophy, also explaining the image on the charred tree that Chris saw before.

"THERE! WE CAUGHT HIM!" Dedede said triumphaly.

"But we "got" Wolf too!" Charizard said.

However, the 3 villains began to chuckle evily as they glanced down at Wolf's trophy.

"Heh, that's what he gets for not obeying us." Ganondorf said kicking the trophy away.

"He was starting to get annoying anyway." Charizard said smirking.

"Yeah, nobody orders me around!" Dedede said before a lightning (probably from Tabuu) crashed down to him and he coughed. "A-alright! Nobody except Tabuu does!"

"So, we leave him here?" Charizard asked.

"But of course, let him alone get lost in this world. Charizard! Carry our new trophy!" Ganondorf said as Charizard took Mewtwo's trophy below his arm.

"It's a pleasure, now let's scram."

End of flashback

Final Fantasy lX

Lindblum
Bar

"...So...both of you...messed it up?" Chris asked.

"...I'm afraid so..." Wolf said frowning to himself before he looked at Lucario. "Wait, I don't remember that last part."

"It appears they were already planning to throw you away from the army." Lucario said.

"But what happened to Mewtwo in the Subspace?" Chris asked.

"Tabuu tried to use the Shadow Bugs to get Mewtwo, but he was stronger to be manipulated, so Tabuu didn't had any choice left but to throw him in the Dark World of Aether, where the Shadow Bugs got stronger by the atmosphere and thus, he was manipulated."

Wolf slammed his fist in the counter. "Those idiots backstabbed me from behind?!"

"I-it appears so..." Chris said trembling.

"Grr! Once I see them again, I'll slice their throats in half!"

"...You know, I'll be glad to help you in an-"

"Don't do that, this is something I need to do by myself."

At that moment, the woman to Chris's left spoke when Zidane was still flirting with the waitress. "Hey, monkey-tail, you're disturbing the other customers." She said as she took her drink.

Zidane turned to her and the waitress walked away with the food. "What the-you've got a tail, too, rat-face!"

"BUUUURN!" Chris said.

"CHRIS!" Lucario said angrily.

"S-sorry, I-I got carried away..."

The woman lowered her drink slowly. "Rat-face... After I finish my drink, I'm gonna kick your butt."

"I want to see that." Wolf said crossing his arms, smirking a little. (Chris wondered how he snapped out of his rage just a moment ago).

"Hey, Zidane, take it outside." Bobo said, when the woman looked at Zidane, he gasped.

"Long time no see, Zidane." She said as she got out from her seat.

"Hey! What's up!?" Zidane asked cheerfully but stopped to get in a thinking position. "Wait a minute..."

"You forgot my name?"

"No, I remember. You're Helga, right?"

"Wrong."

"...Christine?"

"No!" She said irritated.

Zidane snapped his fingers. "...Oh yeah! You used to live next door to me. How's it going... Ratchel? Man, you've really gotten...big."

Rache-I mean, the woman clenched her hands. "You nasty little-"

"Brat." Wolf finished.

Since Chris already wanted to finish this, he took the iniciative. "Hey! I know you, you're Freya!"

The woman looked at him. "...But...how did you knew my name?"

He sweated. "I...hear around?"

"You know her?" Zidane asked surprised.

"Wait...if you know my name, did anyone named Sir Fratley told you?!" Freya asked shocked.

"N-no! I just hear from somebody in a private conversation, I swear!"

Zidane decided to speak. "...So, how've you been, Freya?"

Freya shook her head and sat back on her chair. "...Same old Zidane."

Zidane sat to her left. "How long has it been?"

"About 3 years."

"Hey, did you ever find out anything about your boyfriend?"

"No..." She said looking to Chris, who began to sweat a little.

"So... What brings you to Lindblum?"

"The Festival of the Hunt. What else? It's a good opportunity to test my skills."

Wolf glanced to Freya. "Festival of Hunt?"

"The Festival of Hunt is a great event where monsters are released into the streets of the whole city and all the people watch from their houses how all the hunters kills them, whoever gets the most points, he or she receives a great prize, whatever they want!" Zidane explained.

"...Hm...that doesn't sounds too bad..." Wolf muttered.

Zidane looked at Freya. "Oh... Well, I'm sure you'll find him someday."

"Aren't you participating?" Freya asked.

"...Nah. I think I'll pass."

"Lazy bum." Freya and Wolf said in unison and they shook their heads afterwards.

"...Are you ever gonna go back?"

"I have no reason to return to Burmecia. There is nothing there for me anymore."

"Hey, you, I want to know where I can sign to enter the festival." Wolf said, rather interested.

"If you want to sign up, you need to go the Grand Castle and request a permit to participate, it's easy." Freya said.

"...What are the prizes?" Lucario asked.

"Whatever you want."

Lucario looked at Chris, who was already eating his soup. "...Then, I'll enter."

Chris began to choke a little but gasped for breath. "W-why are you entering?"

"I want to see if I can get something good, also, I want to test my abilities as Freya."

"...Something is telling me you're doing it for another reason..."

Lucario sweated a little. "N-no..."

Airship Hangar

We change the scene to Lindblum's Grand Castle, in the Airship Hangar where Garnet, both Links, Zelda and Regent Cid were walking around. "What is this place?" Garnet asked.

"The heart and soul of Lindblum: our airship dock. This is Dock No. 1, where we conduct our research gwok." Regent Cid said as Toon Link ran ahead and admired the empty spaces.

"Wow! You mean there are even bigger airships?!" Toon Link asked excited.

"Of course, gwok."

"But...where are the airships?" Zelda asked.

"Lonely, isn't it? We had a new airship model in here about 6 months ago. It was our latest creation; it didn't require Mist to fly."

"Zidane told me mist is needed to fly airships here, right?" Link asked and Zelda nodded.

"The man who attacked you...was he the one who ran off with it?" Garnet asked to Cid.

"Good guess, but no... Actually... I met a lovely lady at the pub..." Cid said looking away.

"...Um?"

"What?" Link and Zelda asked confused while Toon Link was just about to fall from the floor since he slipped accidentaly.

"When Hilda found out about my little affair, she used her magic and turned me into an oglop. Then she stormed off in the new airship, which I named Hilda Garde. Pretty ironic, eh?... She hasn't been back ever since gwok. I've been working on Hilda Garde 2, but it hasn't been going too well. My mind just isn't the same as an oglop. I'm hopeless... But that doesn't mean I can't help you. I'll do my best for Alexandria." Regent Cid explained as he looked at them.

"..." Zelda began to tremble as she imagined Regent Cid as C. Falcon. "YOU SMARTY LITTLE DORK!" She lunged at him and began to attack him endlessly, trying to kill the king oglop.

"Z-ZELDA! STOP!" Link said trying to pull Zelda away from the king. "HEY! HELP ME HERE!"

"C-COMING!" Toon Link said getting back on the floor and helping Link to drag Zelda away from Cid, who was twitching a little on the floor as Garnet saw the trio getting away.

"...Thank you... But with South Gate badly damaged, I don't know how we can get to Alexandria..." Garnet said.

Regent Cid dusted off his cape. "Don't worry. South Gate is being repaired as we speak. Once the repairs are finished, we'll go to Alexandria." He backed away when Zelda tried to murder him behind Garnet, who ignored her and began to thought secretly if Zelda was a person to trust.

"Yes. I'm sure Mother will finally open her eyes to the truth."

"..." Cid didn't spoke.

"Uncle, is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, I was just thinking...about how the theater ship crashed. Baku sure has good men working under him..."

Was the Oglop thinking about getting away from Zelda maybe?

The next day...

Inn

"Vivi! Let's go!" Ness said running down the stairs.

"I-I'm coming!" Vivi and Lucas shouted running down the stairs.

The Smashers decided to take a rest to regain their energies, we now see Lucario sleeping with Chris leaning to his chest, because the World Traveler began to shiver a little but his Pokémon wrapped him to keep him warm.

"...I like this bed...is so warm..." Chris said while he was sleeping on Lucario's chest, moving a little that made Lucario to growl happily, licking his forehead.

But then, Zidane walked inside and found both of them sleeping together, then, the bandit walked towards them and touched Chris. "Chris? Are you awake?"

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted silently so Zidane couldn't hear him.

"Chris? Wake up!" He shook him a little.

"Grrr..."

"C'mon! Do you want to see the town?"

"Grrr..."

"Let's go!"

"GRRR!!"

Zidane backed away a little from the grunting, sleeping Pokémon. "...Oh...well..." He walked away, but then, returned and shook Chris violently. "WAKE UP!"

Outside

"So, where do you want to go?" Ness asked to Vivi as the trio walked down, and a familiar blue explosion with a familiar, menacing roar were created and heard behind them back in the Inn but they ignored it.

"I-I want to go to that shop over there..." Vivi said pointing to a shop.

Lucas could have sworn someone was singing "DIRI! DI-RI!" somewhere, even the background of the shop was white while the shop bounced from time to time, the label of the shop had this on it: "Convenient Store."

"I-I don't think that shop looks good..." Lucas said sweating a little after they walked ahead of the weird shop. "What about that one?"

Vivi's Shopping

Not the Convenient Store, that's for sure

"Do you have bombs?"

"No."

"Do you have arrows?"

"No."

"Do you have Deku Nuts?"

"No, only Kupo Nuts."

"Do you have Red Potion?"

"No."

"Do you have Bait?"

"No."

"Do yo-"

"NO! I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING YOU'RE ASKING TO ME! HAPPY?!" Alice yelled angrily after spending a "beautiful" time with Toon Link, who kept asking for things she didn't had.

"Geez, you didn't had to be so mad about it." Toon Link said frowning, walking away to the exit as Alice blushed embarrassed. "You guys!" He found the trio reading a sign, telling about the Festival of Hunt while Vivi had a Kupo Nut in his right hand.

"Wow, there's gonna be a festival!" Vivi said excited.

"Sweet! I like festivals!" Ness said.

"Festival? With Candy?" Lucas asked as they walked towards Alice, where they saw Toon Link. "Oh, hi there..."

"Did I interrupted something?" Toon Link asked.

"No...I don't think so..."

Vivi was already in the counter showing the nut with Ness. "Hi. I wanna buy this."

"Oh, are you friends with the moogles?" Alice asked interested.

"Huh?" Vivi and Ness asked confused.

"That item is called a Kupo Nut. Kupo Nuts are moogles's favorite food."

"Oh. I didn't know that." Vivi said.

"That's too bad, I thought it was candy by the smell." Ness said.

"I thought it was like the sesame beans of my grandpa..."

"I think that's the last one... Go ahead, honey. It's on me." Ailce said smiling a little.

"Really!? Thank you!" Vivi said nodding.

"Hey, what is this Festival of Hunt?" Toon Link asked after he readed the sign.

"Well, we let a bunch of animals loose and..." Alice trailed off.

"(Oh, there's gonna be a lot of animals.) "It sounds like fun! Thank you!" Vivi said happily.

"Animals? Like rabbits? I want to see rabbits!" Lucas said.

"I want to see the PIGS!" Toon Link said.

"I want to see the birds!" Vivi said.

"I want to see the bears!" Ness said and the trio stared at him. "...What?"

"How can bears be funny?" Toon Link asked as they ran outside, questioning him.

Alice got in a thinking position. "What's so fun about fighting savage beasts? Wait a minute! Did I say 'animals' again?!" She asked to herself alarmed.

Theater District

"Here's my hideout, pretty awesome, huh?" Said a very beaten up Zidane showing Chris and Lucario his hideout of his band of thieves, which was currently empty inside the clock tower.

"It is, but doesn't the sound of the bell gets annoying after a while?" Chris asked while Zidane leaned to a gear.

"You'll get used to it."

"Lucario, why was Zidane twitching in pain in our room?"

Zidane looked away scared when Lucario glared at him. "He tripped, that's all." Lucario said.

"Oh, I see..." He said before the bell starts to ring and they look above the hideout.

"Geez, it's that late already... I wonder what Dagger's doing..." Zidane wondered.

"We haven't seen her in a while..." Lucario said.

What can I do?

Guest's Room

Garnet was talking with Zelda and Link when the bell suddenly rings and they look at the window, outside. "...A bell's ringing... A performance in the Theater District must've just ended."

"They have plays here?" Zelda asked.

"I know that because Uncle Artania once showed me."

"Is there anything you need, Your Highnesses?" An elite guard came asking.

"No, thank you. I'm thinking of going outside and having a look around, Zelda wants to do it too."

"I'm sorry, Your Highnesses, but we cannot grant this request. Right now, there are many people coming to Lindblum for the Festival of the Hunt. Therefore, things are quite chaotic in town, making security rather difficult. Also, very few people know of your presence here. It's for your own safety. Please understand."

"Okay, I understand..."

"Wait, what is the Festival of Hunt?" Link asked interested.

"A festival where we set monsters on the loose around the castle, hunters need to kill as many as they can to raise at the highest rank, if somebody can win, he or she is named the "Master Hunter." The elite guard explained.

"Hmm...where can I sign to enter?"

"Link, are you planning to enter?" Zelda asked.

"Yes! It's probably a good idea to do something interesting in this place!"

"What about finding those 4 minions?"

"Chris and the others can take care of them, I know, e-excuse me, can you show me where to sign?"

"Certainly sire, follow me." The guard said leading Link to sign up.

"...I can't stand sitting around like this. I didn't come here to be protected. I just want to help Mother..." Garnet said as she looked away outside. "...And I know, I'm very remarkable."

"H-how did you knew I was going to say that?" Zelda asked a little surprised.

"Because it's the 47th time already!"

Theater District

Zidane just finished talking with 2 kids and he looked at the 2. "I wonder if she got to talk to Cid... Maybe I should go see her..." He wondered.

"Zidane? Where are you going?" Chris asked.

"I'm going to see Dagger, want to come?"

"...O-oh well, we have nothing better to do..." Chris said as the trio walked outside...and they found 4 rather shady guys looking at them with tough faces. "..."

"Hey, you punks, yeah, you!" A person with red clothes called them.

"Chris..." Lucario trailed off blinking bored.

"Do you think we're that stupid?! GET THEM!" Chris yelled raising his staff in the air and the 4 shady guys gasped.

"CRAP! THEY FIGURED IT OUT TOO EARLIER!" Green Ninjakoopa said.

"We're dead!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled.

"..." Black Ninjakoopa didn't spoke because he had his mouth blocked with bandages.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Lucario said enraged as they chased them down.

Not far away from there, Wolf was leaned to a wall with crossed arms. "Hmph, I need to wait a little bit longer for the festival to begin...how boring..."

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The Koopa Bros revealed their identities, screamed and ran in front of him with a confused look on his face.

"GET THEM! THEY'RE THE MINIONS!" Chris yelled and Wolf watched the trio getting away.

"...Pfft, fine, but I'll take it as a warm up for the festival." Wolf said before he followed them.

"OH NO!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled when he saw Geno on the middle on their way charging up his Geno Beam.

"FIRE!" Geno yelled firing the beam towards the Koopas, but they ducked in terror and the beam went above them, even the chasers rolled out of the way of the beam.

"HA-HA! SUCKER!" Red Ninjakoopa said running away with the rest of his brothers.

"Get back here and return the Star Spirit!" Geno demanded running after them, joining the previous group in the process.

Business District

Steiner was seen walking aimlessly around the Business District, why? Because the city was so big that he got himself lost as he groaned and threw his arms down. "Why is this city so big? I do not know how to return to the castle now!"

"GET OUT, STEEL CAN!" Green Ninjakoopa said pushing Steiner out of the way while the 4 ninjas ran over him leaving footprints on his armor.

"...First, I got lost, then the next thing is those weirdos running all over me...what's next?" Steiner asked while his face was still on the floor.

What was next was that the Smashers and Zidane didn't saw him on the floor and ran completely over him (although Wolf was aware of that, so he stomped on him) and they ran away to catch the Koopa Bros.

"...You...are...so...going...to...prison...you...hear...me?" Steiner asked with an accusing finger before he fainted.

Vivi, Ness, Lucas and Toon Link were walking down the shops talking about the animals of the festival. "So, why do you think they set animals on the loose here? Doesn't that sounds a little weird to you?" Ness asked.

A kid walked right next to them and overheard the conversation. "What do you mean? We don't set animals on the loose, we set monsters on the loose." He said before he walked away.

"..." The group didn't spoke and looked at each other. "M-MONSTERS?!"

"W-why they would set monsters free?!" Lucas asked terrified.

"Because many hunters come to the castle and the regent takes notice about that that he decided to make a festival like this one!" The kid from before shouted from afar.

"But isn't there another reason for that?" Toon Link asked.

"To be named the Master Hunter, a very important title!" The kid shouted before he disappeared from sight.

"Master Hunter? Hmm..."

"...D-don't tell me you're going to enter..." Vivi said studdering a little.

"Hey, I want to have a title! Just think about it! "Link, the Master Hunter."

"You mean Toon Link, the Master Hunter." Ness pointed out.

"SHUT UP! MY NAME IS NOT TOON LI-YAAAAAAHHHHH!!" The cartoony Link was ran over by the Koopa Bros who didn't slowed down and got away.

"Those were the same idiots from before!" Ness said remembering.

"GUYS!" Chris called from afar and they looked at him.

"CATCH THEM, DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Geno shouted.

"R-right! C-come back here!" Lucas said as he started to run.

"G-get back here, you scumbags!" Vivi yelled while he ran with both PK users.

"Alright! You learned it!" Zidane said triumphaly as both groups joined the chase.

...But they left Toon Link on the floor, when Steiner was seen running to him with the footprints still on his armor. "L-Link! Are you alright?!"

"I-I guess so..." Toon Link said as he got up.

"We must make haste and catch all those thieves!"

"You mean the turtles right?"

"No! I meant Zidane and those weird persons!" He said when he started to chase them down.

"W-wait! Don't do that!" Toon Link said alarmed, joining the chase.

When all the 10 joined together to capture the Koopa Bros...well, we're going to change the scene to the dragoon, Freya, who was conveniently staring at the clouds near a fence, on the other side of the fence, there was a long abyss where the city expanded with more houses. "The sky looks ominous... Something's about to happen. Sir Fratley, where are you?... I need you..." She muttered to herself in sorrow.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

Freya watched rather amused when 4 weird turtles dressed in ninja's clothes jumped over the fence, then, she found Zidane's group stopping where the turtles jumped and watched them celebrating. "What's happening?"

"Yeah! Yeah! We're away from you, how's that?!" Red Ninjakoopa said jumping happily.

"We so totally owned you guys!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said laughing.

"You can't catch us now!" Green Ninjakoopa said happily.

Black Ninjakoopa removed the bandages from his face and spoke. "Heheh, catch..."

"Well..." Freya began when she walked towards the Smashers while she was still looking at the Koopas. "You do have a point, nobody is stupid enough to jump over a fence that has a deep abyss."

"That's right!" Red Ninjakoopa said before he stopped laughing when he saw that the floor was quite far away from his feet. "...Um...why are we floating in midair?"

"Don't be stupid! We can't float in midai-" Yellow Ninjakoopa looked down. "...Oh crap..."

"QUICK! TO SAFE FLOOR!" Green Ninjakoopa said alarmed flailing his arms and legs.

"Heheh, too late..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"SHUT THE HECK AND HELL UP BLACK! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The Koopa Bros. fell straight down the abyss, where they crashed into a roof of a random house and moaned in pain.

"..." Geno looked down the fence. "Shouldn't we capture them?"

"Nah, they will probably look for us again." Zidane said.

"I think he is right..." Chris said.

"Zidane, may I ask what happened here?" Freya asked interested.

"Well..." Zidane trailed off.

Garnet's Song

And suddenly, someone was singing somewhere in the castle and they looked around for the source. (But Lucario rather sat on the floor and enjoyed it).

"Laaaaa, la, la, la...la, la, la, la, la, laaa...la, laaa, la, la, la, laaa, la, la, lala laaa...laaa la la laaa! Lala..." The person sang with a beautiful voice that echoed through the castle.

"That voice...it was beautiful..." Geno remarked.

"...Where is the thief?!" Steiner asked as he looked around for Zidane who instantly disappeared.

Terrace

Zelda and Garnet were high above the terrace of the Grand Castle, the princess of Hyrule listened to the princess of Alexandria's song, it was very peaceful that even attracted a flock of white birds that sat around the place. "Garnet...your song is excellent...and beautiful..." Zelda said.

"...Thanks." Garnet said smiling a little as she finished.

"But do you remember where did you hear it to sing it?"

"...I don't know. I can't even remember where I learned it. I sing it whenever I feel sad or lonely... For some reason, it comforts me and reminds me that I'm not alone."

"So, you were the one singing." Zidane said as he walked towards both princesses.

"Z-Zidane! How did you get in here?!"

"I'm a thief, I should know how to sneak into places, Lindblum's Grand Castle is no exception."

"That's why you're in Baku's group..."

"Hey, Dagger. So when do you wanna go on that airship cruise?"

"What are you talking about?" Garnet and Zelda asked confused before Zidane gasped.

"(What am I thinking!? I asked the girl at the...) Never mind."

"Well...it sounds like you've asked the wrong girl." Zelda said.

"Wait. I-I can explai-"

"Why bother? Go have a wonderful time." Garnet said a little annoyed, looking away.

"Oh, man... Okay, how about this? If I get first place in tomorrow's hunting festival, you and me'll go out on a date!"

"How does that have anything to do with her?" Zelda asked.

"Come on. Pleaaase."

"...Fine." Garnet responded, grunting silently.

"What!?" Zelda asked surprised. "B-but that was all of a-"

"Okay, it's a date!" Zidane said interrupting Zelda, then he ran away.

"...I-I don't understand why you accepted his deal!"

"..." Garnet didn't spoke.

"...Garnet? Is something wrong?"

"W-what? No... I'm fine..."

Various places around Lindblum

"It may be tradition, but this is a dreadful festival. So many lives lost each year, especially because of him..." A soldier said as a carriage loaded with Fangs (wolf monsters) shook violently.

"Hardly. The festival is a test of manhood. I tingle with excitement every year." The officer said while he kept looking at the carriage.

"This is the last carraige. All the preparations for the Festival of the Hunt are complete."

"Very good. Now we wait for the signal."

"Yes, sir."

The carriage opens quickly and the soldier and officer runs away scared, but the captain, who was staring at another way, didn't escaped as a Fang stands behind him.

"The fangs have been freed." Another soldier in a different area announced.

"What?! We haven't even received the minister's authorization!" Another officer said alarmed.

"We believe that they're going to release 'him' any minute."

"Alright, release the Mus before they let him loose. Hurry!"

The 2 ran away when another carriage released the Mus (blue squirrels like monsters) who began to spread around the city.

Meanwhile, in another different area...

"All is ready!" A voice shouted.

"Alright. Standby!" A soldier said.

"This year's specimen is perfect. Nothing can stop him! Ha ha ha! What power!" The breeder of the monsters said as a huge cage shook violently with force below him, then, the Koopa Bros were shown hiding behind some bushes as the stared at the cage and smirked in unison.

"I think we got our monster to get revenge on them..." Red Ninjakoopa said.

"Sweet, slow revenge." Yellow Ninjakoopa said.

"Hehehe, now, let's call the Shadow Bugs and take control of him." Green Ninjakoopa suggested and Black Ninjakoopa nodded.

"Heheh, Shadow Bugs..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"Hey, make him stop! It's too early to let him loose!" The soldier yelled.

"How? I have no control over him." The breeder said calmly.

"Dammit! Open the gate at once! The gate's gonna fall apart!"

"GO, ZAGHNOL!" The breeder yelled enthusiastically and the big, swine-like monster, Zaghnol, ran when the cage was opened, then the Koopas snuck between the buildings as the Shadow Bugs began to appear behind them...

Guest's Room

The entire group were waiting in the room to be called to the festival, even Freya was there leaning to the wall with crossed arms (with Wolf), both Links were training a little by swinging their swords and checking their equipment.

"(Where's Zidane?)" Vivi thought.

Steiner tried to cheer Garnet up since she looked a little depressed. "Please, Princess. You might actually enjoy it."

"Okay..." Garnet said nodding worried.

"(Garnet...)" Zelda thought on her mind.

"(I wonder if Zidane has improved his skills...)" Freya thought as she glanced to Wolf, who glared at her, earning also a grunt, before Zidane appeared and they look at him.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late." Zidane said scratching his neck.

Chris and Lucario were talking between themselves, even Chris changed to his Swordsman job because he was getting a little hot (not the appearance one, the feeling one, mind you).

"I hope Vivi doesn't get surprised." Chris said.

"Why?" Lucario asked.

"Well, Zidane acts as "Vivi's father" and signs him in the festival even if he didn't signed."

"But you don't look that worried."

"Haha, of course not, I don't have to participate at all in this festival, I hate fighting with those Fangs, they're scary."

Lucario kneeled to him. "If you want, I will only hunt them down and kill them."

"Hmm...fine."

"Alright, let's begin." The elite guard in the room said.

Festival of the Hunt
Hunters, on your mark! Ferocious beasts swarm about the
castle town! The bigger the catch, the higher the score!
The time limit is 12 minutes. Use air cabs to go to other
districts. Once you lose in a battle, you will be forced to
retire. The winner will be crowned Master Hunter and
receive the hunter's reward. Who will come out on top?!

"What do you wish for your hunter's reward?" The guard asked.

"I'll go with Gil all the way!" Zidane said making a fist.

"I'll take an Add-on." Freya said.

"Gil, I guess..." Wolf said.

"Me too." Link said.

"Pigs!" Toon Link said and they stared at him in confusion.

"Chris, do you want anything special fo-OH NO!" Lucario gasped.

"A-HA! You entered because you wanted to make me happy with the prize!" Chris said proudly of his guess.

"...It was going to be a surprise..." Lucario said frowning before Chris quickly hugged him.

"I'm so happy now for your choice Lucario, you made me already very happy!"

"I...I'm very happy too..." Lucario said smiling a little. "...And what do you want?"

"Well, I was playing Tetra Master the other day an-"

"I'll choose a Card." Lucario said to the soldier quickly.

"..." Chris shook his head. "Well, I guess is time for Vivi to know he was signed without permission from Zidane, but if Zidane ever signed all of us, may I kill him with my sword and arrows!"

"And you, Mr. Vivi?" The soldier asked.

"WHAT?! I never signed up!" Vivi said very shocked.

"I thought you would do pretty well, so I signed you up. Don't worry. With your black magic, it'll be a piece of cake." Zidane said.

"I...I don't know..."

"Y-you can do it Vivi! I'm rooting for you all the way!" Lucas said before Zidane snapped his fingers.

"Hey guys! I signed everyone in the Festival of Hunt!" Zidane said.

"YOU BASTARD!" Chris said lunging at him.

"HEY! STOP! AH! DON'T STAB ME THERE! HEEEEEELP!" Zidane said running around the floor from the enraged Chris.

"That was very inconsiderate of you, Zidane." Freya said sarcastically.

"W-what?! I-I can't believe he signed me in too!" Lucas said.

"And me too..." Ness said frowning.

"...W-what if we work together to win?" Vivi suggested.

"...That's a great idea!" Ness and Lucas said in unison.

Chris lost Zidane for a minute and began to look around the room, but then, Zidane appeared behind Vivi to suggest him for a prize. "Oh! How about this? If you win, I'll fix you up for a date with Dagger." He whispered, making Vivi's yellow eyes to widen a lot as he trembled.

"Me and the princess?!" Vivi yelled shocked.

"SHHH! Keep it down!"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Chris said jumping above Zidane to stab him, but the bandit dodged the blow and continued to run around.

Steiner glared at the bandit when he heard Vivi saying something about her. "What was that?! You just mentioned the princess. What evil deeds are you plotting now?!"

"It's nothing, right, Vivi?!" Zidane asked as he ran around from Chris.

"Y-Yeah." Vivi said unsure.

"So, what would you like for your reward?" The soldier asked.

"Oh, um... I'll take a Card as Lucario if you don't mind..."

"Okay. Money, an Add-on, and...2 Cards and pigs. The festival will begin shortly. You all have different starting points. Hunters Zidane, Chris, Wolf and Toon Link will start in the Theater District, Hunters Freya, Geno and Lucas will start in the Industrial District, and Hunters Vivi, Ness, Link and Lucario will start in the Business District."

"I don't get to stay with you?" Lucario asked.

"I-I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do about it..." Chris said sadly, he didn't wanted to participate because the monsters scared him, since they look scarier in this world, but the Aura Pokémon thought of a plan as he walked away alone, leaving Chris behind.

"N-Ness, we get to work together!" Vivi said excited.

"Yeah! Let's go and grab the title!" Ness said.

"B-by the way, for what did you asked for a prize?"

"Candy, I wasn't able to think of a good prize..." Ness replied as both walked away with Link, while Lucas looked down ashamed for not being with Vivi.

"Cheer up, if you want, we can work together." Geno said.

Lucas looked to him and gave him a small smile. "O-okay! Thank you!" He said happily as the 2 walked away with Freya.

"Princess Garnet, Princess Zelda, let us go and watch Master Vivi win the festival!" Steiner said running to the bridge where the Zaghnol was previously held.

"After you." Zelda said and Garnet nodded, walking ahead of her.

Everyone left, except for Zidane, Chris, Wolf Toon Link and the soldier.

"Your starting point is the Theater District. You'll need to take an air cab to get there." The guard said and they nodded, walking towards the cab to the Theater District.

Bridge above the Zaghnol's cage

Hunter's Chance

"Such rudeness! Princess, they are treating you like a commoner!" Steiner said angrily pushing a spectator to let the princesses to have a watch of the festival, the whole city was above the buildings watching from the windows as all the monsters and hunters ran around to hunt them down.

"Oh, hush. We get a great view from here." Garnet said.

"I know Link is going to win." Zelda said.

"You're not going to cheer on the others?"

"I will, but Link has the upper hand."

"Hmm, you're right. I can see the entire town. Princess, look! Master Vivi is also participating!" Steiner said excited, pointing out the OBVIOUS.

"I can't believe it. He seemed to reluctant earlier." Garnet said.

"People change so quickly in this kind of events." Zelda said.

"MASTER VIVI!! THE PRINCESS AND I ARE ROOTING FOR YOU!!" Steiner yelled at the top of his lungs since all the spectators were cheering loudly.

"COME ON, VIVI!! YOU CAN DO IT!" Garnet cheered loudly.

"LINK! EVERYONE! WIN THIS ONE FOR US!" Zelda yelled.

"No! Master Vivi!" Steiner gasped.

"Look out! Oh, gosh! I can't watch anymore!" Garnet said covering her eyes.

"Don't do that! We need to keep an eye on them for the whole event!" Zelda said.

"YOU CAN'T WIN JUST BY RUNNING! A GOOD OFFENSE IS THE BEST DEFENSE! ATTACK! You can't lose to that monkey Zidane and those other thieves! YES! THAT'S IT! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE! ONE MORE TIME! VIVI, BEHIND YOU! YES! GO!" Steiner continued to cheer loudly.

But what about the Zaghnol and the Koopa Bros?

"Hehehe...we got him..." Black Ninjakoopa said darkly.

Preview of the next chapter

"I-I won't hold back! Prepare!" Chris said running towards the Fang, but the wolf dodged the slash of his sword and lunged quickly at him with a grunt. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! NOW WATCH OUR POWER! GO! DARK ZAGHNOL!" Red Ninjakoopa said as Dark Zaghnol charged at the group while the 4 Koopas rode the swine above its back.

"This is going to get dangerous, be on your guards!" Freya warned them.

"Z-Zelda?!" Garnet gasped surprised.

"I'm not Zelda for now, I'm Sheik." Sheik said as she jumped high in the air and jumped from building to building.

"The time is up! The winner of the Festival of Hunt is..." The announcer said speaking to all the citizens of Lindblum, the Smashers, Zidane, Freya, Steiner, Garnet and Vivi waited anxiously for who won the event.

"Next time: The Festival of Hunt: Currently Hunting Koopas!" Freya said.

"Who are you?" Zelda asked to the weird creature staring at her.

"I'm the same moogle you kicked from the airship, kupo!" The moogle from before said angrily.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to save your progress, duh, kupo..."

Loading game data. Do not turn the power off or take Memory Card in Slot a...

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link, Link, Zelda, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Wolf, Geno
Cargo Ship
05:48:50

Overwrite file?

Yes

Saving. Do not turn the power off or take the Memory Card in Slot A...

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link, Link, Zelda, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Wolf, Geno
Lindblum's Theater District
18:23:28 (We counted the stay at the Inn, too, kupo).

References:

-There were 2 Naruto references! Find them all just for fun with your review! :D

-The store that Lucas saw before was in reality the famous shop: "Convenient Store," a popular video on Youtube about a shop open 24/7 and characters (including Brawl characters) goes to shop at night.

We present to you, Cacty, the Cactuar that can pinch you, but in fact, he DOES dances well! XD

I'm sorry for the length of the chapter, but one of the days I was slacking off, was my 17th birthday!

So, will Geno rescue the first Star Spirit? Who will win the festival? The scared Chris? The determined Lucario? The bandit that signed all of them Zidane? The blunt Wolf? The looking-for-something-interesting Link? The nervous Lucas? The excited Ness? The serious dragoon of Burmecia Freya? The terrorized Vivi? The calm figure that didn't spoke so much in this chapter Geno? Or the pig fanatic Toon Link? XD

I'll try to update the Sunday! Read and review! :)
*Chapter 80*: The Festival of Hunt

Well...it seems I didn't make it in time...but still I tried...

From Wolfenpilot687: Pretty good (and pretty large too) for the 79, huh?
COME ON WOLF! YOU'LL WIN! (XD)
Also, pretty funny the Cactuar part.
Thnaks for the "Convenience Store" reference. I loved the video.
Looking forward the great 80!(and soon the 100!)

From me: Yes, we're almost going to reach 100 chapters, thanks for reviewing! :)

From ngrey651: Isn't it nice the way a Moogle's always there to save your progress? They get so abused.

And Mewtwo hit a TREE. Twice. That...is just...

I'm gonna go laugh hysterically now.

From me: Let's see if you can resist this one! XD

From Ninja Lucario: HAHA! How'd you like that Black Waltz?! (sorry love black mages)

Wow that really was a long chapter! Looking forward to the festival hunt. Lesson for Steiner: Potion contact with skin may hurt XD. Now a lesson for Zidane: Never try to wake Chris when Lucario is with him.

And as to your question, yes Metal Gear Solid 3 is what Snake looks like in Brawl.

From me: A-HA! I was looking all over for that game! Now, I need to begin the research for Snake, thank you so much! ;)

From Rellymaster: Dazed and cocky Mewtwo if that's even possible reminds me of either Crazy Wario or Spinda lol. It's ok that you slacked off a bit, this more than makes up for it. Guess waking disturbing Chris in his sleep is a death wish from Lucario. Poor Zidane. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

From me: Thank you for the birthday part, and it seems you were the only one saying that too...oh well, moving on, there are still many more things about Chris's past that will be eventually, and finally, revealed in much later chapters too.

From Nintendogeek01: Again a lot of in-game content that drags it out longer, but you still had a good fight at the beginning. So not too bad. Oh and the description of what happened between Mewtwo and the four bad-guys was hilarious.

From me: Fortunately, this chapter is completely more original this time, I hope you enjoy it. ;)

And...it seems the review have descended quite a bit...but fear no more readers! We're going to announce the winner of the contest in the next chapter, along with the selected world! Just please don't be mad about which game won! ;)

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 80: The Festival of Hunt: Currently Hunting Koopas!

Bridge above the Zaghnol's cage

"...Kupo..."

"You're still here?" Zelda asked tapping her foot.

"KUPO!"

Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Chris, Toon Link, Link, Zelda, Lucario, Ness, Lucas, Wolf, Geno
Lindblum's Theater District
18:23:28

"THERE!" The moogle said angrily. "I'm going to report you for moogle abuse, kupo!" The moogle said angrily flying away, cursing.

"Pfft, moogle abuse, sure." Zelda said crossing her arms as Garnet and Steiner sweatdropped.

Theater District

Hunter's Chance

The 4 "hunters" arrived by the cab, Zidane quickly ran away, Wolf got out and went to his way, leaving Toon Link and Chris behind.

The World Traveler wasn't so sure in participating, gosh, he had the chance to kill Zidane but he let it go...

"Chris?" Toon Link called and Chris shook his head.

"W-what?"

"Are you wondering about something?"

"N-no...it's just...I didn't wanted to participate in this thing..." Chris noticed that ever since he said "just," Toon Link already disappeared from his sight, leaving a yellow mark where he was supposed to be. "YOU STUPID BAS-"

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!" A Fang appeared behind him, growling menacingly.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Chris ran for his live screaming like a lunatic and the Fang got a little insulted and began to chase him around.

"You're pathetic!" Wolf yelled appearing from the top of a roof and slashing his claws directly into the Fang's skin, the monster let out a yell of pain before it died.

"Hunter Wolf is taking the lead of the competition!" The announcer said and many began to cheer.

"...B-but why?" Chris asked stopping.

"If you want to win, you just have to kill these pathetic excuses for monsters!" Wolf replied with a glare.

"H-hey! I-I'm a little afraid of these monsters! I know, it's weird, but the monsters in this world are a lot scarier than other worlds!"

"Then don't stay quiet and get moving!"

"Hunter Ness and Vivi are taking the lead of the competition!"

Wolf grunted at the sky. "And look at what have you done! I'm losing to those kids, stop interrupting me!" He said angrily before running away.

"W-who said I was interrupting you! I didn't asked for your help!" Chris shouted angrily, pouting a little.

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

"NOT AGAIN! DUAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Industrial District

"Lucas! There's another parrot behind you!"

"PK FREEZE!" Lucas shouted freezing a Sparrow, then Geno threw his Rocket Punch on it, shattering the ice in pieces as his hand returned to him. "One more down!"

"It seems you have recovered your enthusiasm."

Lucas blushed a little and looked down. "...Y-yes..."

"Hunters Geno and Lucas are taking the lead of the competition!"

"You hear that? The crowd is wild." Geno said looking at the roof.

"I-it's not so bad after all...GENO!"

"GOT YOU!" Geno quickly spun and shot many bullets from his fingers, taking 3 Mus down.

"W-whoa...you don't even need me help at all..."

"That's not true, if you didn't adviced me from those squirrels I could be in trouble."

"B-but you seemed like if they weren't there..."

"My reflexes are very high, I guess."

"Y-you're incredible Geno..." Lucas said crossing his arms behind his back.

Geno merely blinked but laughed a little. "Maybe..."

"N-now you lost it..."

"..." Geno rolled his eyes.

"Hunter Freya is taking the lead of the competition!"

"It seems Hunter Lani took the lead after Hunter Freya!"

"W-who's Lani?" Lucas asked.

"Maybe the woman with the big axe we saw earlier...c'mon! We have to keep killing these monsters!"

"I-I know!"

Business District

"PK FIRE!"

"FIRE!" Vivi and Ness yelled finishing a Mu and a Sparrow using fire attacks, when the monsters were killed, they cheered at this. "W-we're doing it!"

"See? I told you before, we're a strong team!"

"U-unfortunately, we're not on the top yet..."

"BEHIND YOU!"

"BLIZZARD!" Vivi casted quickly on a Sparrow that was diving down on him, but the cold attack got him in time and killed it.

"Hunters Vivi and Ness are now taking the lead!"

"You were saying?" Ness asked.

"N-nevermind that..."

"NESS! ROLL OUT!" Link yelled before a Fang was about to pin Ness down, but Link stabbed him in time and killed it. "Don't get in the way of those wolves, man, they're harder to beat than the other ones!"

"L-Link, how many monsters have you killed by now?" Vivi asked.

"About 2 birds and 2 wolves."

"And you haven't raised to the top yet?" Ness asked.

"It's a little harder than I expected it would be, there are many hunters around besides us, you know!"

"...Hey, Lucario should be here in this district, where is he?"

"...Hmm...I recall seeing a blue spot jumping towards the Theater District a moment ago...maybe it was him?"

"I-I wonder why did he went there, it seems there are many monsters in this district." Vivi wondered.

"Well, I heard there is this big bull that gives you a lot of points if you can kill it." Link said and both kids gasped a little.

"FIRST TO KILL IT IS THE BETTER SMASHER!" Ness yelled running off with a confused Vivi being dragged on his left hand.

"You cheater!" Link called before he began to run.

Theater District

"GERONIMOOOOO!!" Zidane appeared from the air and slashed the Fang that was chasing Chris. "You gotta defend against them if you want to win you know!"

"Hunter Zidane is taking the lead now!"

"Alright! I have the date with Dagger if I keep up the good work!"

"T-thanks for rescuing me Zidane..." Chris said nodding his head a little ashamed.

"No problem, I wish you good luck!" He said before he leaped from the fence close to his hideout.

"It seems Hunter Chris is at the bottom of the rank with 0 points! Can he recover from this desperate state?!"

Chris only clenched his hands and tried to retrain his tears from coming, he wasn't a very good hunter and he unfortunately thought it was true.

Until another Fang showed up...

"I-I won't hold back! Prepare!" Chris said running towards the Fang, but the wolf dodged the slash of his sword and lunged quickly at him with a grunt. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

"GRRRRRR!!" The Fang's...fangs were embedded into his skin as he yelled i pain.

"Get off me! Get off me!" Chris yelled hitting the Fang with his sword, then the monster jumped from him and he watched his blood on the Fang's teeth. "You...nasty...little..."

"GRRRRRR!!" The Fang once again lunged at him with his claws prepared to slash Chris.

The World Traveler ducked in horror and waited for the attack of the monster, but then, he felt a sudden wind that touched his face and looked up to see the Aura Pokémon's back as he held the monster with his right hand, staring at him.

"GRRRRRRRR!!" The Fang grunted menacingly at Lucario.

The Aura Pokémon pulled the monster closer to his face. "GUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!" Lucario roared loudly on its face, the monster began to whine a little before Lucario threw him towards a wall at full force, killing him in a strong blow for revenge. "Chris? Are you alright?" He asked kneeling to his trainer. "Your arm...it's bleeding..."

"I-it's okay...y-you don't have to worry about me..." Chris said sniffing a little.

"Are you...crying?"

Chris broke into tears and quickly hugged his Pokémon. "Lucario! I was so scared! T-that monster was going to kill me! And if you haven't appeared...I...I..."

Lucario hugged his trainer back and patted his head. "It's okay now...I'm going to stay with you until this festival ends..."

"And after that too?"

"Like always."

"Lucario!" Chris hugged Lucario tightlier. "You're the best Pokémon that I could wish for!"

"...The best?" Lucario repeated.

Inside his mind, there was a very happy Riolu jumping happily and excited after hearing his master's appreciation. "Yay! I saved my master from dying! And he told me I'm the best Pokémon he ever had before! I'm the best! I'm the best! I'm the best!"

"(Riiiiiiiiii!!)" The voice of the Riolu rang inside Lucario's mind, the Aura Pokémon closed his eyes and growled happily as he rubbed his cheek with his trainer's cheek. "I will protect you no matter what, you can rest assured now."

"...Thank you..." Chris whispered before they got up and looked at each other with small smiles. "Lucario..."

"Yes?"

"I have a favor to ask to you..."

He kneeled to him and looked down to the floor. "I'm listening."

"Could you please help me to get to the top of the festival to win it? I-I need someone to take care of me while I fight against the monsters."

"And what will I receive in exchange?"

"...You can call me Master as much as you want while we're here starting from now."

Lucario gasped and smiled at Chris. "Master! I won't let you down, I'm putting down all my strength at your service and for you!"

"(You nasty little dork, you didn't said that when we met the first time!)" Chris thought angrily. "Thank you so much Lucario! I knew you were going to help me after all!" Chris said very happily.

Lucario got up. "Shall we continue?"

"GRRRRRRRR!!"

"LUCARIO!" Chris quickly hid trembling behind Lucario's back after yet another Fang appeared growling at them.

But it also made Lucario furious for scaring his trainer. "NOBODY, AND I REPEAT IT, NOBODY SCARES MY MASTER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Industrial District

"Hunter Freya has taken the lead for now!" The announcer said as Freya removed her lance from 3 dead bodies of Mus.

"I need to find something or someone to put my skills to test, anyone can find these monsters around the Alexandria kingdom's region by walking around." Freya said, suddenly, she began to feel on her feet a strong tremble from an enormous monster somewhere nearby and jumped very high in the air and landed on the roof of one of the many houses. "Maybe I found what I was looking for...wait...what the...they're the same retards that fell into the abyss a while ago...and what are they doing riding that monster's back?"

"Heheh, retards..." Black Ninjakoopa repeated.

"What was that, Black?" Yellow Ninjakoopa asked looking behind.

"He doesn't talk too much, remember?" Green Ninjakoopa said.

"No, that statement is clearly wrong, I do talk a lot, it's just that I was just trying to find the exact moment to be funny, that's why I repeat someone's word to try to sound funny, haven't I? Well, if you wondered about what I listened to a moment ago, then the answer would be the same girl that pointed out our lack of floor various hours ago, which made us to fall at high speed into a random house, and unfortunately, into someone's bath, and we took quite a beating from a fat woman before we got this bull-animal thing to control it and achieve our evil schemes once and for all to keep the Star Spirit away from them, but I know they won't do that even in a million years, because we're bright." Black Ninjakoopa explained. (00)

"Well, he's right for once, and I still have the headache." Red Ninjakoopa said.

"Look! It's the same girl from before!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled pointing to Freya.

"Let's show her who's the boss AND man around he-" Green, Yellow and Red Ninjakoopa did a double-take when a record scratched.

"DID BLACK JUST EXPLAINED SOMETHING WITH A WHOLE PARAGRAPH?!" They asked in unison, rather shocked.

Black Ninjakoopa shifted his eyes. "...Heheh...paragraph..."

"...Naaah!" They said throwing their arms up.

"Anyway! See this new pet we have now? He will help us in destroying all of you, once and for all!" Red Ninjakoopa said determined.

They were riding the Zaghnol from the breeder, they managed to get control of it by using the Shadow Bugs, increasing its strength greatly.

"Well, if I can take down the 5 of you, my points are going to rise up to the top." Freya said lifting her lance.

"Pfft! Points? Who needs 'em?" Green Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"We WILL show you! GO!" Red Ninjakoopa shouted pointing at Freya, the dragoon jumped high in the air and disappeared from sight. "Hey, where'd she go?"

Suddenly, Freya's lance fell at high speed from the sky and it was stuck on Dark Zaghnol's skin, then Freya came in and retrieved her lance from the monster as it roared in pain. "You rat-face! Don't do that!" Red Ninjakoopa yelled angrily.

"I'm just being a tactician, because I use my mind and not brute force to resolve my problems." Freya explained as she landed on the floor.

"Even so, that didn't do much damage to our little pet!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said proudly, slapping the monster.

In that moment, Geno and Lucas came in and gasped when they saw Dark Zaghnol stomping on the floor. "You're Freya, right?" Geno asked.

"Yes, I am." Freya responded.

"G-Geno! T-that monster was possesed by the Shadow Bugs!" Lucas said terrified.

"So those are the Shadow Bugs..." Geno trailed off.

"I don't know what you 2 are talking about, but, may as well ask for help to take those 5 down." Freya said.

"Why?"

"Because they pointed out that my lance didn't do much damage to the beast."

Geno prepared his rocket punch. "Then let's work together."

"Hunters Chris and Lucario are quickly rising up to the top! But Hunter Zidane is currently taking the gold!"

"G-Geno! We're forgetting about the festival!" Lucas said alarmed.

"Hmm...the first one that manages to take down the Zaghnol will get the points." Freya said.

"And if the Shadow Bugs increased its strength, then the points are going to be much more." Geno said.

"B-but don't forget, we need to cooperate!" Lucas reminded.

"HAHAHAHAHA! NOW WATCH OUR POWER! GO! DARK ZAGHNOL!" Red Ninjakoopa said as Dark Zaghnol charged at the group while the 4 Koopas rode the swine above its back.

"This is going to get dangerous, be on your guards!" Freya warned them.

"PK FREEZE!" Lucas shouted casting an ice glyph that exploded on Dark Zaghnol, but the pig didn't felt the cold, instead, Green Ninjakoopa did as was frozen.

"GREEN!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled punching the ice to break the ice.

"Forget about him! We're going to win this thing!" Red Ninjakoopa said determined. "DARK ZAGHNOL! START CHARGING UP YOUR ATTACK!"

Dark Zaghnol began to electrocute himself to charge an electric type attack before he ran after Geno, the puppet shot a fast rocket punch on its nose and rolled out of the way from the ramming attack. "Maybe this is going to be easy after all."

"THUNDAGA!" Red Ninjakoopa shouted at the sky.

"W-wait...Vivi told me that Thundaga was one of the most powerful magic and...LOOK OUT!" Lucas yelled terrorized after a purple tower appeared on the center on the area, after that, it exploded in a huge bolt of lightnings that spreaded around, delivering massive damage to the trio, depleting their health to the critical point. "...Help..." Lucas moaned in pain.

"Ugh...I underestimated them..." Freya said dropping on one knee.

"But nevertheless...we must defeat them...and retrieve the Star Spirit..." Geno said panting heavily.

"HAHAHAHA! SEE OUR POWERFUL POWER?!" Red Ninjakoopa said proudly.

"Heheh, power..." Black Ninjakoopa said chuckling.

"NOW THAT'S FUNNY! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"..God, they're bad at jokes..." Freya said frowning as she panted.

"I agree..." Geno trailed off recovering.

"Hunter Toon Link has taken the lead!"

"MY DAMN NAME IS NOT TOON LINK!" Toon Link shouted angrily from the Theater District.

"At this rate...I'm not going to win the festival..." Freya said.

"N-neither we will..." Lucas said weakly.

Dark Zaghnol began to stomp the floor as steam began to appear from his nostrils. "We're going to get a raise! We're going to get a raise! We're going to get a raise!" The Koopa Bros sang happily.

"Please...somebody...help us..."

"NOW CRUSH THEM!" Red Ninjakoopa yelled angrily, Dark Zaghnol prepared to crush the trio and then it rushed towards them, stomping the floor in rage while Freya, Geno and Lucas tried to stand up.

"...I guess this is it..." Freya muttered to herself.

"No is not!"

An arrow came from the sky and it hit the left eye of the Dark Zaghnol, making him to lose control and ram into a house (the Koopa Bros were sent flying straight to the wall by accident) and Link jumped from one of the buildings and ran to them.

"Is everyone alright?" Link asked.

"D-do we look alright to you?" Lucas asked.

"Link...you must defeat that thing..." Geno said panting.

Link glanced to Dark Zaghnol, who turned to him as the Koopa Bros rode his back again, shaking their heads. "You little son of a-!"

"Hunter Wolf took the lead once again!"

"Stupid little-"

"But Hunters Vivi and Ness took the lead after him!"

"Go f-"

"Hunters Lucario and Chris are now on the top!"

"Yourself and f-"

"Hunter Lani made a comeback!"

"Your mother and suck up your d-"

"ACHOO! Sorry!"

"You hear me?!" Red Ninjakoopa cursed but was interrupted consecutively.

"W-what is a d-" Lucas's mouth was quickly blocked by Geno.

"It's better if you don't know." Geno said frowning.

"Do you need any help?" Link asked.

"HERE IT COMES!" Lucas yelled and Link saw Dark Zaghnol charging at him while Red Ninjakoopa yelled like a barbarian, the Hero of Twilight ran towards it with his sword ready, but Red Ninjakoopa told Dark Zaghnol to stab his horns into him, but as soon as both were close, Link used both horns to climb its back and began to kick down every Koopa Bros to the floor, and the monster lost control of itself and crashed directly into another house's wall.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE PIECE OF SH-" Red Ninjakoopa was interrupted.

"Hunter Zidane is winning!"

Bridge above the Zaghnol's cage

"NO! MASTER VIVI! YOU MUST WORK HARDER THAN THAT, DO NOT LET THE MONKEY GET AWAY!" Steiner yelled loudly.

"Link is going to win, he's fighting against that big swine." Zelda said.

"Blasphemy! If you kill weaker enemies like Master Vivi does, your rank is going to rise up faster!"

"Look, Lucario is hugging Chris." Garnet said.

"Those 2 are very close to each other." Zelda said.

"...Why is Chris's face a litte funny?"

"...I guess Lucario used his brute force, I know he has that because Mewtwo told me."

"NOOOOO! MASTER VIVI?! WHY ARE YOU HEADING FOR THE BIG PIG?! TURN BACK!" Steiner yelled loudly.

"At this rate, Zidane is going to win...and...I...accepted a deal...for a date...with..." Garnet's eyes began to grow wide by every second. "SOMEBODY WIN INSTEAD OF HIM! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!"

Garnet didn't noticed that she yelled even louder than any spectator, making Zelda and EVEN Steiner to back away a little from her (along with the spectators).

Industrial District

"L-Link! Do you want any help?" Vivi asked as he ran to Lucas with Ness.

"Lucas! Are you feeling okay?" Ness asked worried.

"N-no..." Lucas replied weakly.

"MORE IDIOTS! GREAT!" Red Ninjakoopa yelled laughing maniacally.

"...Don't tell anyone, but Red has turned into a power hungry fool or something..." Green Ninjakoopa whispered.

Power Hungry Fool

"What? Did I tell you to change the music?"

Hunter's Chance

"That's better."

"H-hey! I won't let this opportunity go off my hands! If we can kill this pig, then we'll win the festival!" Ness said excited.

"So am I." Link said, taking out his bow.

"G-guys! That monster is electrocuting himself!" Vivi said trembling.

"NOW WATCH MY POWER! THUNDAGA!" Red Ninjakoopa yelled loudly to the sky, and another purple tower appeared on the center.

"R-RUN! THAT ATTACK IS DANGEROUS!" Freya yelled trying to warn them.

But then, a huge explosion of lightning fell on the area and a cloud of smoke was created from the catastrophic magic.

"..." Freya was coughing, but when the smoke cleared out, she looked below and noticed she was being carried by someone.

"Hey, are you crazy or something? You were going to get killed back there!" Zidane said while he was grabbing Freya.

"...Zidane..."

"Yeah, I know, you're my hero and all I want to date you anytime from now on since you're the most coolets hunter in th-"

"LET ME GO YOU STUPID PERV!" Freya yelled furiously, doing an uppercut on Zidane that make his nose to bleed like crazy, the reason? He was grabbing Freya...

...By her breast.

"OWW!! MY NOSE! YOU BROKE IT!" Zidane said holding his nose in pain.

"YOU IDIOT! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY MANNERS AT ALL?!"

"H-hey! I saved your life! Didn't I?"

"THAT ISN'T AN EXCUSE TO GRAB ME THERE!"

"I-it was accident! Who would marry and rat-face like you anywAYYYYYY!!"

Freya grabbed Zidane by the throat. "YOU...DID...NOT...SAID...THAT...YOU HEAR ME?!"

"I...DIDN'T...I...SWEAR...IT...UGH..." Zidane said struggling from Freya's grip.

"HEY! YOU 2! COME DOWN AND BE KILLED!" Red Ninjakoopa called from below, before a familiar lance almost hits his crotch but hit the monster as it roared in extreme pain. "Y-YIKES! WOMEN ARE SCARY!"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH WITH THIS GUY!" Freya yelled loudly. "WHERE WERE WE?!"

"FREYA...YOU'RE...KILLING ME...PLEASE..."

Bridge above the Zaghnol's cage

"LOL." Said Steiner.

Industrial District

"...Oh...sorry..." Freya replied releasing Zidane from the grip of her hands.

"M-man...what's with you..." Zidane said wiping out the blood from his nose.

"Well, you tell me." Freya said crossing her arms.

"H-hello? Lady? Aren't you mad anymor-I mean, MWHAHAHAHA!" Red Ninjakoopa laughed maniacally.

"...Do you want to cooperate and take down those guys?" Zidane asked stretching his hand to Freya.

Freya shook hands with Zidane. "Deal."

The bandit took out his dual blades and jumped off the building. "Let's begin with this!" He yelled falling above the back of Dark Zaghnol and kicked Red Ninjakoopa down from it. "Who's next?"

"YAAAAAAH!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled flailing his arms around, but Zidane merely walked a little to the left, and the Koopa tripped from the monster and fell on his shell. "HELP ME TO GET UP!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled.

"I won't go down as them!" Green Ninjakoopa said cracking his fists.

Then, Freya came behind Zidane, pulled out her lance and pointed the tip and Green's throat. "You were saying?" She asked.

"...MOMMY!" Green Ninjakoopa cried and jumped off the monster...leaving Black Ninjakoopa with 2 hunters.

"...Heheh, cornered..." Black Ninjakoopa chuckled and both hunters sweatdropped, before Zidane threw him off the monster and both jumped from it.

"They're down!" Zidane said proudly.

"Y-you idiots!" Red Ninjakoopa said angrily slamming his fist to the floor.

"I know, that monster doesn't have control anymore and will be standing there dumbl-"

"No! You don't understand! Now that the monster doesn't have anyone to tell him what to do..." Dark Zaghnol roared loudly and began to electrocute himself again. "...He will destroy anyone in sight now that we're off its back..."

Zidane gasped when another purple tower appeared on the center and looked quickly to Link, Geno, Lucas, Vivi and Ness fainted on the floor, that attack could kill them for good this time if he didn't acted quickly to defend them. "Freya! Grab many as fast as you can to save them!"

"It's no use! It's too late!" Freya said alarmed when another huge explosion of lightning was created in the area.

Bridge above the Zaghnol's cage

"I...I can't stand this anymore! I need to help them before they get killed by that monster!" Zelda said worried.

"B-but we're too far away to help them..." Garnet said before magic began to surround Zelda.

"...SHE IS A WITCH!" Steiner yelled scared as he hid behind the spectators.

"Hunter Wolf has recovered the first place!"

"Z-Zelda?!" Garnet gasped surprised.

"I'm not Zelda for now, I'm Sheik." Sheik said as she jumped high in the air and jumped from building to building.

"I KNEW IT! I AM NOT CRAZY! THEY ARE WIZARDS! EVIL WIZARDS!" Steiner screamed terrified before Garnet slapped him.

"Steiner! You gotta stop talking like that this instant!" Garnet said, putting her hands on her hips.

"G-gotta?! You're speaking like that thief!"

"So what?"

"Huh?"

"I have freedom you know!"

"NOOOOOO!! THE PRINCESS CHANGED! IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD!"

Garnet only rolled her eyes and looked to Sheik jumping away to help them. "Zelda...now I'm the one saying you're remarkable..."

Industrial District

"...I'm dead?" Zidane asked while he opened slowly his eyes and found himself alright, breathing normally but confused at the situation. "...But...how did I..."

"Lucario! Great job in using Extremespeed!" Chris was just various meters away from Zidane, the World Traveler was rubbing the Aura Pokémon's head with care and the bandit looked around, they were above a building with all the other hunters unconscious except for him and Freya.

"Master, I do everything to make you proud." Lucario said kneeling to him.

"...Wait, Lucario saved us? But how?" Zidane asked confused.

"He knows a special technique called Extremespeed, with that, Lucario's speed drastically increases to the maximum level, and since he is the legendary Lucario, he was able to grab all of you in time." Chris said.

"...Huh?" Vivi woke up and looked around. "Where am I?"

"Lucario saved us, as Chris says..." Zidane said.

"What's that purple tower?" Chris asked.

"IT'S ANOTHER THUNDAGA?! HOW DOES THAT GUY DOESN'T GET TIRED AT ALL?!"

"LUCARIO!"

"Understood!" Lucario said using Extremespeed to grab everyone to another building before the explosion of lightning could land on them.

"W-we have to attack him or we are going to do the same thing over and over again!" Ness shouted awakening from his state.

"Let me change jobs!" Chris said selecting the Musician job. "Hear me out, I'll stand far away from that thing to heal everyone a little!"

"Y-you can heal?" Vivi asked.

"Sure, Soul Etude!" He began to play his song and a healing air began to heal their wounds a little.

"...Wow...that song...is healing me..."

"See now?"

"Y-yes...I see it..." Lucas said recovering.

"Not enough time to be surprised, alright, let's cooperate together to finish that monster!" Zidane said making a fist in the air.

"...Wait...m-m-monster?" Chris looked down and saw Dark Zaghnol roaring in fury. "MONSTER!" He yelled before fainting.

"Great, we lost our source of healing..." Ness said ashamed.

Lucario grabbed his trainer. "I'll put him away just to be safe, in the meantime, try to kill it." He said before he went away by jumping from house to house.

"It's electrocuting again!" Freya warned all of them.

"Disperse!" Link said awakening from his state and all the "hunters" spreaded around before the explosion of bolts could reach them. "NO!" Link wasn't able to reach a building and he was going to fall...

But a hand grabbed him in time and he looked up and gasped. "Sheik!"

"Stop being too reckless next time." Sheik said pulling Link to safe floor.

"R-reckless?"

"That's right, reckless."

"I'm not reckless! Watch!" Link prepared his arrow and shot it into its eye, making the Dark Zaghnol to roar in pain. "Ha! Who's reckless now?"

"Good job, my plan went well just as I planned." Sheik said nodding before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"...Sometimes, I think in having the Triforce of Wisdom would be better than the Courage..." Link said scratching his head before he leaped from the building to the floor...before he realized something. "Wait a minute, we can resist long falls, why did I gasp for then?"

"Idiot." Sheik said as she hanged from the wall.

"Well, do something!"

"Done."

Various explosions were created around the monster and it roared in pain again. "What the-did you used those prohibited explosion tags Master Hand told you not to use?" Link shouted asking to Sheik somewhere.

"Isn't obvious?" Sheik asked appearing behind him, making Link to jump in surprise.

"GAH! S-stop doing that!"

"Is not my fault that your reflexes are poor."

"And speaking of reflexes, watch out!" Zidane yelled from afar and Sheik grabbed Link's hand and jumped out of Dark Zaghnol's ramming attack.

"DAMMIT! IT'S ELECTROCUTING ITSELF AGAIN!" Ness cursed when more electricity began to cover the monster again.

"We have to find a way to make that attack backfire at him!" Freya said.

Vivi looked at Freya's lance, then he looked at the electricity, then at the lance, and back and forth. "I-if we use the lance as a lightning rod perhaps?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I-I mean, lightning falls at lightning rods, correct? S-so, if we can somehow use your lance as the rod, we could make the magic to land on it!"

"How are we going to do that?"

"W-well..."

Geno appeared. "Maybe if we can thrust the lance on its back to get it stuck there, the lightning would fall on it."

"B-but the skin on its back is even harder to pierce through!" Freya said.

Then, Lucario appeared from behind them. "I'll do it, give me your lance, I already used one before."

"THE THUNDER!" Lucas yelled out loud and everyone quickly spreaded to evade the explosion of bolts.

"TAKE IT!" Freya said throwing the lance directly to Lucario, who catched it by jumping.

"Hunter Lani is winning!"

"YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!"

"...Was that Dagger just now?" Zidane asked confused.

"Er... (She said she wanted anyone else to win rather than Zidane)... No..." Sheik said sweating a little.

"...Oh, guess that spectator was crazy."

"(She's so going to kill him now...)"

"OH GIVE ME A BREAK! IT'S ELECTROCUTING ITSELF YET AGAIN!" Ness yelled cursing.

"Everyone! We must create some kind of decoy to let Lucario to thrust the lance on its back!" Geno yelled. "...That's it! Link! Shoot arrows to its eyes!"

"I heard you!" Link said taking out his bow.

"I could help him using my kunais too." Sheik said taking out kunais using magic.

"Somebody quick needs to distract him." Geno said.

"Leave it to me, I'm very sneaky, that's why I'm a bandit, right?" Zidane asked as he dashed towards Dark Zaghnol.

"W-what can we do?" Lucas asked raising his hand with Ness.

"...You could...well...use your PK attacks to...I...don't know..."

"...Lucas could freeze it while I use PK Blast to deal massive damage to make the ice shatter." Ness said.

"Y-yeah! I could do that!" Lucas said smiling a little.

"W-wait!" Vivi ran up to them (stumbled in his way) and continued to run. "I-I could support them using my magic too!"

"So let's summarize it quickly..." Geno said as he got in a thinking position.

"HURRY! IT'S GOING TO ATTACK!" Link yelled from afar preparing to shoot his arrow.

"Hunter Wolf has taken back the first place!"

"Link and Sheik will shot his eyes, Zidane will distract him, Ness, Vivi and Lucas will use magic to make him to stagger and I will use my beam to add something while Lucario gets on its back to thrust the lance while Freya does absolutely nothing, (Freya: Hey!) alright, begin!"

"GO!" Link and Sheik yelled and fired their weapons at the same time into Dark Zaghnol's eyes, they managed to thrust them on its eyes and it began to roar.

"Hey! See this?" Zidane asked grabbing his tail. "You can't chew on it, 'cause you don't see!" He laughed and ran away while the monster tried to figure where he was.

"PK FREEZE!" Lucas casted his ice glyph that was fully charged and exploded into Dark Zaghnol, trapping him inside a big chunk on ice.

"PK BLAST!" Ness casted his green flash that went growing overtime and it exploded on the chunk of ice, shattering the ice in a million of pieces.

"GENO BEAM!" Geno fired his beam from his right hand, colliding with Dark Zaghnol's stomach.

"F-FIRA!" Vivi casted a stronger fire that covered Dark Zaghnol completely.

"V-Vivi! How did you do that?!" Lucas asked surprised.

"See this?" Vivi asked pointing at his staff that was yellow with a red crystal on its top. "Zidane said he found it while we were fighting against the Black Waltzes, it enabled me to cast Fira!"

"...Where is Lucario?" Link asked.

"Right here!" Freya yelled from above, everyone looked above to find Freya and Lucario holding the lance together at a very high altitude, Freya's jumping abilities and Lucario's made the jump longer and stronger that they went at full speed towards the back, combinating Lucario's brute force, both managed to thrust the lance on its back before they jumped away from it.

"H-hey! Where's that bastard Wolf?" Ness asked looking around.

"Who needs him? We're handling this situation very well by ourselves!" Link said.

"And where is Toon Link?" Sheik asked, she just could have sworn someone was sneaking somewhere in the buildings.

"BACK AWAY! IT'S GOING TO CAST IT!" Geno yelled loudly and all of them ran to different directions as fast as they could.

A huge explosion of lightning fell directly on Dark Zaghnol's back, the monster yelled loudly in extreme pain before it threw itself to the floor with a tremble it created, then, Freya's lance fell from its back and the dragoon walked to it and got it back as she put it above her shoulder.

Final Fantasy lX - Victory Theme

"W-we won! We got all the points!" Vivi said jumping happily.

"...No! It's alive!" Lucario said grunting and Vivi gasped when the monster was able to stand up, it prepared to ram into the black mage that everybody yelled Vivi's name loudly.

The black mage ducked in horror as he cried a little and waited for his death.

...Until all of them heard a long moan of pain from Dark Zaghnol, who stopped on its track and fell defeated.

"Hunter Wolf has defeated Zaghnol, making him the possible winner of the festival!"

"WHAT?!" Every hunter in the area asked shocked in unison, on the top of the monster, there was Wolf's claw dug deeply on its skin as the grey vulpine grinned and stood up as he crossed his arms in victory as the monster's Shadow Bugs vanished along with it.

"Bunch of weaklings." Wolf said smirking, rather evily.

"N-no way!" Ness said dropping to his knees.

"T-that's not fair!" Lucas said doing the same.

"After all the work we did, he just appears out of nowhere and deals the finishing blow!" Link said very annoyed, doing a groan.

"Actually, he was waiting for the exact moment to appear here." Sheik said.

"And you didn't said anything about it?!" Zidane asked irritated.

"Hey," Wolf began. "It's not my fault that all of you couldn't finish this pathetic excuse of a monster."

"Watch your mouth, we could have done that a long time ago!"

"Heheh, how ironic, you stole the words from my mouth."

"Huh?" Freya said confused.

Wolf took out a diagonal-shaped device. "You forgot about this, my Reflector."

"...So that's why..." Lucario said.

"What?" Geno asked.

"Since the magic from the battle against the Black Waltzes bounced off from Wolf's Reflector, he could have finished the encouter just by using it." Lucario explained.

"I see now..."

"...And it seems the time is up." Wolf replied grinning again.

"The time is up! The winner of the Festival of Hunt is..." The announcer said speaking to all the citizens of Lindblum, the Smashers, Zidane, Freya, Steiner, Garnet and Vivi waited anxiously for who won the event.

Wolf merely smirked and raised his fist slowly in the air to reclaim the victory.

"THE WINNER OF THE FESTIVAL OF HUNT IS...HUNTERS, CHRIS AND TOON LINK!"

"Yeah, I won...WHAT?!" Wolf asked very annoyed and furiously after hearing those names being announced instead of his, making him to snarl.

"...Master! I forgot about him!" Lucario said gasping.

"AND NOW, WE PUT THE LIFES OF THE OTHER HUNTERS IN RISK WITH THIS INSANE AMOUNT OF CONFETTI!"

The crowd, or Lindblum itself, began to cheer loudly with many applauses as they saw many airships throwing the insane amount of confetti that covered the whole castle while the cheers began to be louder and louder by every second, as the Smashers and hunters began to think for what was the confetti necessary for as they were buried on it.

Throne Room

"WE WON! WE WON! WE WON WE WON WE WON!" Chris and Toon Link said jumping happily with hands joined together as they jumped in a circle.

Zidane, Vivi, Ness, Lucas, Geno, Lucario, Freya, Wolf, Link were behind them in a line, wondering how could they win, Zelda, Garnet and an utterly happy Steiner (because Toon Link was his friend and because he won) were standing right next to Regent Cid.

"That was marvelous! All of you!" Regent Cid said very pleased.

"437,328,049,957,215,375,397,254,754,908,927,547,032,089,374,143,978,341 points!... Congratulations!" Artania said panting heavily after saying the WHOLE new number.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Every single character (including Lucario himself) asked very very very shocked and surprised at this very insane amount of points.

"H-HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU 2 GET SO MANY POINTS?!" Freya asked utterly shocked.

Chris and Toon Link looked at each other and chuckled and laughed after. "Well, it was pretty simple!" Toon Link said chuckling.

Flashback

Business District

"A-Alice! Are you sure this is going to work?!" Toon Link asked to Alice, the owner of the shop that was introduced in the previous chapter.

Alice peered from a huge box of food. "Yes! Monsters love to be attracted to this food that they quickly gather to eat it!"

"So what am I going to do?"

"Simple, you need to put all the bombs you ordered to me around this area, you need to be quick, the whole district is going to be filled probably with all the monsters of the festival!" She looked to the ground below her feet trembling. "Hurry! They're coming this way!"

"Right!" Toon Link took a big pile of bombs and began to spread around the explosives around. "...Huh? What are you doing here?" He found Chris unconscious on the floor and he woke up grogily.

"...Ugh...monsters...I hate them..." Chris said. "...Toon Link? What are you doing with all those bombs?"

"That's right! There's going to be a huge massacre of monsters if I can put all these bombs in time around all the district!"

"HUGE MASSACRE OF MONSTERS?!"

"...Well...I'm not a killer so..."

"Why didn't you said that before?! I'd love to help you out as your companion!"

Toon Link chuckled and smiled instantly. "Thank you! Here, grab a pile and help me out!"

5 minutes later...

"HURRY UP! THEY'RE COMING!" Alice shouted from her shop and both hunters screamed as they ran inside before Alice closed the door, then, all the monsters from the festival began to gather above each other to get the food Alice ordered for Toon Link.

When all the bombs that both of them gathered, Toon Link threw an igniter from the window and all the bombs exploded at the same time, creating a huge chain reaction that killed EVERY single monster, blood was flying everywhere in the district that it covered it completely.

"DIE! YOU SCUM! DIE!" Chris said laughing maniacally while he watched the scene from the window as he took out 3 blackglasses (where did he got those was a mystery) and gave each one to Toon Link and Alice to protect them from all the lights of the explosions.

"Oooooooh, fireworks." Chris, Toon Link and Alice said in unison amazed by all the massacre they just have created, as blood splattered on the window.

End of flashback

Throne Room

Link had his mouth wide open after hearing that. "...Both of you are freaking monster killers!"

"Well, I hate monsters so much, so why not just blow them up? Alice also offered a hand to Toon Link to give propaganda for her shop!" Chris asked laughing with Toon Link.

Business District

There was a huge crowd of customers in Alice's shop, trying to buy all the things
she had to sell as she attended every last one of them very happily.

Throne Room

"Oh, and Link, you can have the title and the prize, it was your idea to blow them up after all."

"We grand you the 'Master Hunter' and your reward." Artania said to Toon Link.

"YAY! PIGS! Where are they?!" Toon Link asked excited.

"Over here sonny!" The breeder called from the door and Toon Link followed him to get his prize.

"..." Lucario looked at Chris. "Master...about that way in defeating the monsters...wasn't that stupid?"

"...No..." Chris answered.

"...Sorry but...I should return calling you by your name for now, I-I'm sorry, but you don't feel worthy enough to be called Master anymore..."

"..." Chris walked and hugged him. "Thank you...thank you so much Lucario..."

"...Chris, you don't have to trick me anymore..."

"...What?!"

"I knew you were trying to trick me to get appreciated by you, so I just acted depressed from the beginning to get you close to me."

"...You...planned this from the beginning?!"

"Yes...because..."

"Because what?"

Lucario laughed a little. "I learned it from you."

"...LUCARIO!" Chris hugged Lucario tightlier. "YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY THE BEST POKÉMON EVER!"

"Chris!" Lucario said growling happily.

"...Wait, aren't we forgetting something?" Geno asked.

"...Y-you're right! The Koopa Bros!" Vivi said gasping.

At that moment, the doors exploded (but they weren't destroyed) and mentioned characters walked with electricity constantly electrocuting them, they were also very angry.

"Y-YOU! YOU BUNCH OF IDIOTS!" Red Ninjakoopa said pointing angrily at them.

"WE'RE HERE TO GET REVENGE ON ALL OF YOU!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said angrily.

"YEAH! USING OUR SHADOW BUGS!" Green Ninjakoopa said angrily.

Black Ninjakoopa chuckled. "Yes, we will use the Shadow Bugs to grow 100 feet tall, our bodies are going to be covered in hard rock muscles that our shells will break with the first flex of arms we make, all the citizens living here will be crushed by our mighty power of our feet as they scream in pain while their bones are shattered in a million of pieces, yes, I can taste it, the power running through us, we will torture all of you so much that we will enjoy licking the blood coming out from everyone here, then next thing will be total power over this insolent world that even Tabuu will fear, did I mention that the package comes with laser eyes? Oh yeah."

"...All the things he said are 100 percent true!" Red Ninjakoopa said angrily.

"N-no! We must stop them at once!" Geno said glaring at them as all the fighters inside prepared for the worst.

"SHADOW BUGS! COME FORTH!"

...Cricket chirps were heard after the Koopa Bros pointed at the sky.

Red Ninjakoopa shifted his eyes. "...I SAID, SHADOW BUGS! COME FORTH!"

More cricket chirps were heard.

"I SAID, COME FORTH AND GIVE US SUPER STRENGTH!"

Even the cricket chirps stopped.

"...NOTHING IS HAPPENING!"

"...Wolf..." Chris began. "Close the doors please."

Wolf appeared behind the Koopa Bros and closed the doors. "With pleasure." Wolf said cracking his fists as he approached them.

"I-I'm going to get revenge this time!" Lucas said, taking out his branch.

"Now you're finished." Geno said preparing his fingers to shot bullets.

"I'm really going to enjoy this moment." Chris said thinking of smacking his harp to them.

"So do I, Chris." Lucario said cracking his fists with aura.

"This is for calling us idiots and many more things!" Ness said, taking out his bat.

"You're not even ninjas, you're pathetic." Zelda said as her right hand glowed.

"I shall get revenge for calling the princess an idiot!" Steiner said angrily as his sword glowed with fire magic.

"F-finally, we're gonna use the Black Sword at last." Vivi said nodding to Steiner.

"Hmm, do you have something of value?" Zidane asked as he prepared his dual blades.

"This is for trying to hurt me AND Zelda!" Link said, taking out a bomb.

"May as well help them." Garnet said, taking out her staff.

"I have serious problems to resolve with them too, let me deal the finishing blow." Freya said, taking out her lance.

The Koopa Bros were cornered in small circle that went shrinking over time. "M-MERCY! WE'LL GIVE YOU THE STAR SPIRIT!" Green Ninjakoopa pleaded.

"PLEASE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said bowing to them.

"FOR THIS TIME, WE'RE TELLING THE TRUTH!... Heheh, truth..." Black Ninjakoopa pleaded.

All of them stopped and the Koopa Bros sighed in relief. "Remember, try to not get this place dirty with their blood gwok." Regent Cid reminded before the circle began to shrink again.

Outside

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! MERCY!! WE BEG OF YOU!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" The Koopa Bros screamed terrorized after many punches, fists, slashes, magic and many more things fell on them, then, a small dot (probably them) blasted off from the castle and into the sky where a dark portal opened up. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" They yelled before disappearing inside the portal, along with it.

Throne Room

"..." Geno looked down to find a card with the picture of Eldstar. "...This is...COME OUT!"

The card began to shine brightly and all of them gasped when the card broke into dust, then, on the center of the room, Eldstar appeared blinking confused by his surroundings. "...Where am I?"

Geno quickly ran and kneeled in front of him. "Eldstar, we have rescued you."

"Geno? Is that really you?... It is you! Boy, I'm so happy to be breathing again!"

"It seems gwok we have many surprises this day." Regent Cid said laughing a little.

"Eldstar, this couldn't have happened if the Smashers, the special elite of fighters didn't helped us." Geno announced and Eldstar flew towards Chris, who blushed embarrassed and played with his fingers.

"H-hello...i-it's a pleasure to meet you..." Chris said shyly.

"What a young hero you are, so, you were the one wishing pure wishes?"

"Y-yes sir!"

"My, I'm honored to be rescued by the World Traveler himself, it is truly honorable."

"B-but we all helped!" Chris said pointing to the Smashers.

"Hohoho! Of course! Your heart is one of the most kindest too, how could I forget that?" Eldstar said laughing. "World Traveler, Smashers, hear me out, while I was imprisoned, Tabuu, leader of the Subspace Army took the other 6 Star Spirits to different worlds, he also revived old adversaries of probably enemies related to all of you," the camera zoomed to his face. "Not only that, he revived Smithy and that creator of weapons is probably residing inside Exor."

"Smithy?!" Geno asked shocked.

"Yes, Smithy, the same one you and Mario defeated a long time ago."

"That bastard...he's creating more weapons to conquer the worlds?!"

"No, you're misunderstanding Geno, there is another enemy that is controlling Smithy's actions."

"Tabuu?"

"No...is not Tabuu...is someone else he called in a twisted dimension, all that I remember were 4 rhombus-shaped objects floating around him."

"Hmm...where did I saw those 4 rhombus before..." Chris wondered.

"There's no need to wonder now! World Traveler Chris! I ask you to lend you my power for the good of the worlds and the wishes!"

"H-how?"

"Stay quiet for a moment." Eldstar said before he shone a little and began to fly around Chris as spored stars surrounded Chris, before a white circle grew in size, earning a new star power.

Chris has learned Refresh!

Refresh restores 50 percent of damage to an ally or the user and heals the target from status ailments or debuffs!

"W-wow! I can feel a new ability!"

"Now, Chris, your new task is to rescue all the Star Spirits to repair the Star Road, it's going to be a difficult journey and mission, so use Geno and Twink's help to the fullest, along with the Smashers, and don't forget to call me to use my power too." Eldstar said.

Chris joined his hands together and kneeled to him. "I humbly accept this task, I will save all the Star Spirits from being taken away."

"No need for mannerisms from you! Don't worry about that!"

Chris got up. "Sorry..."

"No need to apologize too!" Eldstar said chuckling. "Now, I must return to the Star Shrine and wait for the other Star Spirits to come," he toom out a blue star. "This is one of the 7 Star Pieces that each star have, we guard them with our lifes, once all of us are gathered, we will open a path to Exor to save the city it fell on," he began to shine brightly. "I must return now! Good luck Geno! You too, Chris! The World Traveler! If you 2 can find Mario, tell him I said hi!" And with a blink of spores, he disappeared to the Star Shrine.

"...We're done here everyone! We have to return to the Smash Mansion!" Chris said smiling.

"Wait, are you leaving now?" Zidane asked.

"Y-yes...sorry, but we have an important mission to complete."

The bandit walked to Link. "Then good luck my friend, be sure to visit us sometime."

Link shook hands with Link. "I will, be sure of that."

Vivi looked at Ness, Lucas and Geno. "I...I...I'll miss you guys too..."

Lucas sniffed. "V-Vivi...t-try to be strong please...I-I'll do that too..."

"I-I'm sure we will meet again..." Ness said sniffing.

"You're very strong Vivi, I know that." Geno said nodding.

"...WAAAAAAHHHH!!" Geno, Lucas and Ness hugged each other as they cried, but Geno patted their backs as he smiled a little.

"Please tell Link that I asked him to join the Knights of Pluto." Steiner said saluting Chris.

"Y-yes...of course I will..." Chris said sweatdropping.

"Zelda, I really enjoyed my time together with you, it's a shame that you have to go away for now..." Garnet said to Zelda, who put her hand on her shoulder.

"Garnet, I'll never forget our moments together, as a princess of Hyrule, I wish you good luck." Zelda said with a small smile.

"Thanks, I appreciate it so much."

"Even if we didn't get to know each other very well, it was great to work together with you 3." Freya said to Chris, Lucario and Wolf.

"T-thank you Freya." Chris said shaking hands with her.

"I'm sure you'll find Sir Fratley very soon." Lucario said.

"...But I didn't told you about Sir Fratley, how did you know that?" Freya asked suspiciously.

Chris stomped Lucario's toe and the Aura Pokémon tried to not scream. "I-I told him! That's why!"

"Heh." Wolf chuckled a little at this.

"Please be welcomed to live in my kingdom." Regent Cid said bowing to the Smashers.

"T-thanks your majesty." Chris said bowing to Cid before he looked to the Smashers. "Let's go! We have the task to save the wishes of everybody!" And with that, they walked away to the double doors while Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner (who was crying), Freya, Artania and Regent Cid waved to them.

Industrial District

"Why did we ignored the injured soldier struggling on the floor on our way here?" Link asked.

"B-because he was faking it?" Chris asked sweating, if they knew a war was going to come, they would stay for a little longer so Chris managed to trick them.

"I hate those people." Zelda said narrowing his eyes.

And suddenly, Chris began to shine brightly before his clothes changed again, earning a new job. "W-what?"

Thief

Stealing the items of your enemies may be your only way to survive, with loot, that is! Sometimes, you can even steal weapons so you can use them as you please as long as the enemies don't take it back! Your evasion and speed also increases a little.

Chris was now wearing a brown shirt below a green cape from his back, he was also wearing a cap covering his hair, with hair sticking out of it, he wore dark yellow pants and brown boots, there was also a knife on his new belt for storing goods. "W-why did I learned to use this job?"

"Maybe because you understand the true meaning of being a bandit." Geno said.

"Geno? Are you an adept in knowing why this happened?"

"I act like a sage sometimes, it was easy for me to point this out, it's possible that your stance with Zidane made you a bandit."

"Or Steiner constantly calling us thieves of bandits..." Link said shaking her head.

"Why aren't we going?" Ness asked.

"Well, if you remember, we're missing Toon Link."

"...yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" Toon Link appeared running screaming like a lunatic and they watched him getting away in the distance.

"Why was he running?" Link asked.

Lucario looked to the direction Toon Link came from and quickly grabbed Chris under his arm and ran towards Toon Link. "Run!" Lucario yelled.

"Why?" Geno asked.

"...T-THAT'S WHY!" Lucas and Ness yelled running away screaming.

"RUN!" Wolf yelled sprinting together with a terrorized Zelda, Link and Geno who were following him.

If you remember, Toon Link won pigs, correct? The breeder, that happened to be the same breeder of the Zaghnol, gave Toon Link nothing more than 5 Zaghnols since they are the official "pigs" of Gaia, and the old man laughed as Toon Link ran away for his life screaming.

Final Fantasy lX - Airship Theme

"OPEN THE PORTAL CHRIS!" Lucario yelled before glancing at his trainer under his arm doing something. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Tales of Symphonia, check! Final Fantasy lX, check! Yes! We're doing progress!" Chris said happily putting a circle inside a notepad on each new world.

"For what is that notepad?!"

"For pointing out what new worlds we have been traveling to!" He looked at his list. "And I wish our next one is a Megaman one! And meet Squall! And Yuna! And Tidus! And that Klonoa guy I saw in the Underwh-"

"WISH LATER! THEY'RE GOING TO ELECTROCUTE THEMSELVES!" Geno screamed running past behind of them.

"AND OFF WE GO!" Chris yelled excited opening the portal which everyone entered in a hurry for their lifes before 5 Thundaras could hit them with force.

And thus, they managed to save Eldstar, the first Star Spirit.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 1300 SMASH COINS!

Link's, Zelda's and Toon Link's partnership level were filled! 2 paths to different worlds have been opened!

The same moogle Zelda kicked earlier appeared chuckling evily. "Heheh, just you wait, you're going to be thrown in jail for moogle abuse...KUPO?!" He gasped when he saw the readers. "S-sorry! But my job is done here for now, kupo! See you all next time in another Final Fantasy world, kupo!" He waved happily as he flew off.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink

Viva! Smash of...

Sheridan

"ACHOO!" Chris sneezed. "H-hello everyone! W-we're once again in another section of SMAS-ACHOO!" He cleaned his nose. "S-sorry, but I have a terrible cold today, meaning tha-ACHOO! Someone else is going to take the role of this section, and since we left the Smash Channel location for a long time, I asked these 2 guys to help me ou-ACHOO! G-give a warm welcome (please!) to one of the new introduced characters of this story, ZELOS WILDER! ACHOO!"

"HELLO, EVERYBODY! The great and unique Zelos has returned to impress all my fans out there!" Zelos said happily as many of his fans began to cheer loudly and asking him for marriage.

"A-and since Zelos gets ahead of himself all the time, w-we present you a future character of a future arc, ACHOO! G-give an aplause to the necromancer and the Malkuth Empire, Colonel of the Third Division, ACHOO! Jade Curtiss!"

"Hey!"

"Hmph." There was another man reading a book about how to conduct a show, he was extremely relaxed by the look of his red eyes behind his glasses, then, he hid his book behind his back of the uniform of the general. "My, it's a pleasure to be here today, hahaha."

"A-always relaxed, I see, w-well, ACHOO! I leave you 2 the main topic of the show, it's on the desk, so please present the 5 guests of today, by-ACHOO!" Chris left the studio.

"So!" Zelos began, taking the note on his hand. "We have today our next guests for this story, first, we present to you Zidane Tribal!"

"Hey! Missed me?" Zidane asked with a grin.

"The lovely Princess Garnet Till Alexandros!" Zelos said with heart eyes.

"It is good to be here today." Garnet said bowing.

"The small but powerful black mage, Vivi Orunitia!"

"H-hi!" Vivi said waving silently.

"The Dragoon of Burmecia, Freya Crescent!" Freya merely nodded. "And those are the guests of-"

"HEY!" Steiner called out angrily.

Jade adjusted his glasses and took the paper from Zelos. "Of course, we couldn't forget Adelbert Steiner by any means." Jade said.

"...Okay!" Zelos said cheerfully. "The topic for today is...Why Zelos is so damn popular with the girls!"

"Or more accurately, what kind of items do you think would be good for SSBB." Jade corrected Zelos with a smile.

"Man, you're not funny at all."

"Oh, sorry, I thought I was supposed to not be funny on this show at all." Jade said sarcastically, laughing a little like he always does.

"...Zidane! Your answer for this topic?" Zelos asked twitching in anger.

"Hmm...the only thing that will always follow a Final Fantasy game, the Potion!" Zidane said. "You know, you could find it laying somewhere in the stage, its percentage of appearance would be of 80 percent, it will recover 20 percent of damage but if the stage moves and if the Potion is about to fall to another level, it'll break and the item would be lost and then turn into a slippery floor!"

"Ha! That was a good one! Now, cutey, would you like to say your item?"

"C-cutey?! Me?!" Garnet asked blushing a little.

"HANDS OFF THE PRINCESS!" Steiner said angrily, taking out his sword.

"Okay, okay, geez..." Zelos said backing away.

"M-my item would be...um...I guess the Ether...it could boost your next power attack instead of healing MP points, but you have to use it carefully, because the slightlies attack could waste it." Garnet said.

"Vivi, your item if you would?" Jade asked with a smile.

"U-um...my item...er...my item...would be...I know...the Oak Staff, it could only be usable for powering up magic attacks..."

"Well, what an interesting weapon, but I'm afraid that would only work as a sticker since only Peach and Zelda use magic so you lost your opportunity."

"...Oh..." Vivi looked down in shame.

"Hahah, don't get depressed, you did your best, Steiner, now's your turn."

"The Legendary sword, Save the Queen! You know? The one Beatrix uses? It could be stronger that your pathetic "Beamsword" and use it as a short range weapon, but with a strong blow that could send your opponents of the screen, and it is going to be rare to find one, because its rate to appear would be of only 1 percent!"

"Dangerous and yet interesting, Freya, your turn."

"Since weapons are technically items, I'll choose Kain's Lance, once you take it, it would pull you quickly to the sky and crash into a random opponent, anywhere on the stage, and the rate would be of 30 percent." Freya said.

"And since that was all for this section, I'm going off to send autographs to all the hunnies!" Zelos said excited.

"Good luck with the assassins, Zelos." Jade said chuckling a little and they looked at him rather confused.

"...What?"

"Girls can be the most dangerous people of the world."

"Hahahaha! That was a good one!"

"No, I'm serious," Jade's face suddenly turned a little dark as he adjusted his glasses, who remained shining creepily. "Many girls have become expert assassins that seek the richest men of the world, and it just happen that you're from the royalty and one of them would seek marriage, then, they kill you from behind and run off with all your money."

"...Is that even true?" Zidane asked.

"Well, we have 2 girls in this studio, or not?"

Zelos looked at Freya and Garnet. "...You girls are no assassins, right?"

Jade walked towards the door of the exit and laughed more. "Well, you don't have to worry about that."

"...Really?" Zelos asked excited.

"Haha...no." Jade opened the door of the exit revealing the craziest community of Zelos's fans in story, screaming like crazy for him, making the 6 of them to back away from the weird women trying to pass the door.

"...Oh...god..."

"I advice our 5 guests to run, I've heard they like to kill people around the vicinity too."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Zelos, along with the FF9 cast ran away for their lives as the crazy fangirl community ran after them, asking Zelos for marriage that probably left a serious phobia on his mind.

Then Chris, all recovered, came out from the exit's door. "Phew, I recovered...where are the guests, Jade?"

"Oh? Them? They already left, there was an army of girls that tried to get Zelos just a moment ago, I tried hard to stop them, but since my back aches, I couldn't do anything to help Zelos." Jade said folding his arms, laughing sarcastically...or was him laughing really?

"...Sometimes, I really don't get videogame characters at all..." Chris said frowning.

TO BE CONTINUED...

References:

-Green Ninjakoopa made a reference by saying Power Hungry Fool, the same thing happened in the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle arc with Chris.

-"Viva! Smash of..." Segment was a reference to the japanese segment, "Viva! Tales of..." segment, where Zelos Wilder and Jade Curtiss are the hosts, interviewing characters of all the Tales of games until Tales of the Abyss, same game where Jade comes from.

-Even Toon Link's yell is how he yells coming from afar, then close to you, then gets away like in the game. XD

Smithy has come back to life, but another entity is controlling him, is not Tabuu, but who could be using 4 rhombus-shaped objects?

In the next chapter, a new Smashers joins them! And Geno will call an old friend from the clouds too...

Read and review, please! :)

This may be weird but...what's wrong with Zelda and moogles anyway? XD

*Chapter 81*: The Greil Mercenaries

From wolfenpilot687: DAMN YOU CHRIS! WOLF WAS GOING TO WIN! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WITH THOSE BOMBS! Takes mysterious "herb" and inhales it Ok...good...better, good chapter, I actually read it completely, unlike other stories...lol at the "pigs" XD

From me: No need to get bad at that, putting Wolf plus Reflector would be called cheating and the whole chapter could have been a failure then. XD

From Rellymaster: Where'd Red Ninjakoopa get that dictionary, the Dammit Store? Zidane is another C.Falcon. Guess this chapter has turned me into another laughing bomb! Haha, in your face, Wolf!
More notable points:
-Chris's Lucario is even more awesome, cool, and friendlier than before! Such a great friend!
-Poor Koopa Bros. But...THEY HAD IT COMING!!
-Toon Link was pretty smart here, he and Chris getting an impossible-to-say score.
-You sir, are awesome!

From me: Oh, thank you for your review, I don't know what to say. (Really, I don't know). :)

From ngrey651: Hi, I'm Eric Idle. Due to Nick being paralyzed with hysterical laughter, he is sadly unable to say, in person, how amazingly funny your chapter was. So I'm saying it for him because I'm Eric Idle and using my "narrative" voice makes everything sound bloody funny. He also wishes to add that he is putting your story on "Alert" and adding it to his favorites.

From me: ...Oops, sorry for making him die of laughter. XD Thanks for the alert and favorites. :)

From Nintendogeek01: That was an intense battle. And it was funny about who won the festival in the end. I liked it. But now I'm wondering what's going to happen next.

From me: You'll be surprised. ;)

From notfromearth7: So...we're doing a Tales of Symphonia Ark?

This is good stuff.

From me: WAY TOO LATE DUDE, a Tales of Symphonia arc was made a long time ago. But I'm doing a Tales of the Abyss arc later in the future. ;)

From Mariko-ai-chan (oh no): (Mac and Dusk finish ch.79 and 80)Me:Oh...Dusk:M...Both:G!Hahaha!!Me:Cacty?Dusk:I'm a butterflying Mewtwo?Me:Two trees?!Dusk:It's your birthday?(Happy birthday nya!)Paco:Squawk!(Stop the moogle abuse!)Me:Now the second chappie nya!I like this mind Riolu thing nya!Bring this back!Dusk:Black NK is smart?Whoa!Me:Death to Zidane!A lady MUST be treated with respect.Paco:Squawk!?(It's the end of the world?!)Me:Yippie,Killing!Congrats to TL and Chris nya!Dusk:Yippie!Koopa killing!Me:And of course...Both:Smash Channel!

From me: ...I needed to decipher all your weird writing style, did you forget to separate sentences?

Okkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy, let's seeeeeee...hmmmmmmmm...aha...uh-huh...thanks? XP

From Ninja Lucario: Yay monster massacre! 437,328,049,957,215,375,397,254,754,908,927,547,032,089,374,143,978,341 points?! Wow! So is are the Lindblum citizens now swimming up to their necks in monster blood? (if so Ew...) Looking forward to the next arc. Was the fact that Zidanes nose was bleeding like crazy a reference to Naruto? Is the next smasher to join going to be Mario?

P.S. No problem, Can't wait for the snake arc ;)

From me: Fortunately, Lindblum has a sewer system (I think) or the blood went straight down the ocean since the castle is high above the cliffs of the ocean. XD

And I don't think so, I don't recall any nose bleeding part...and no, it's not Mario, but it's his same size. ;)

And the winner...of the contest with his arc...is...none other than...

Chef Colette!

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance arc!

Congratulations for winning the contest! After so much thinking, another Fire Emblem arc is going to be shown right now! (As a small intro), for the other participants that participated, thank you so much for giving me new arcs for the future of this fic!

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 81: The Greil Mercenaries

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"YOU FOOLS!" Tabuu yelled angrily to the Koopa Bros, who were hugging in each other trembling in fear for something scary.

"B-but it's not our fault! They were too strong!" Red Ninjakoopa said trembling in fear.

"SILENCE!" The Koopa Bros hid inside their shells. "BY MY POWER AND COMMAND, I HEREBY PUNISH AND BANISH YOU 4 FROM THE SUBSPACE FROM THIS DAY AND ON!" Tabuu raised his hand and a black thunder fell on the brothers, making them to disappear in a poof of smoke to their homes. "Hmph..."

"It's something wrong, Lord Tabuu?" The Ancient Minister asked.

"Yes, a new world has opened once again after the first, this time, we're sending an assassin to kill the blue-haired swordsman that caused us trouble that time."

"Then it's my job!" A tall but skinny figure said.

"Very well, since you're an adept in using spears and the power of the water to aid you, your task is to take the next Star Spirit away with you and kill this swordsman," the Ancient Minister said nodding as he opened a dark portal which the dark figure entered quickly. "Ganondorf, keep an eye on him, we don't know what could he do all alone."

"I shall return with a mission complete report." Ganondorf said chuckling evily, entering the dark portal that disappeared.

"When it's my turn?" Charizard asked with a glare.

"Patience, wait a little longer, we have plans in invading Mario's world once again, I've heard he and his friends are holding up a festival of sports very soon and many people are going to attend it, that time, we're going to drop off the Subspace Bombs we've been created lately."

"ARGH! I WANT MY TURN NOW!" Charizard roared furiously.

"QUIET!" Tabuu yelled angrily and the dragon sweatdropped scared.

"Dah dragon got owned! Dah dragon got owned!" King Dedede said laughing, earning a nasty glare of Charizard.

"We will also send Dedede with you, in the meantime, try to get along or something." The Ancient Minister said floating away as Tabuu disappeared by teleporting away.

"...ME AND HIM?! HMPH!" Both looked away annoyed with crossed arms, cursing under their breaths.

?

?
?

"...Why now..."

"It's something wrong, brother?"

"W-what? N-no, it's nothing..."

"You can't fool me, I know you very well, something is bothering you."

"...I told you, nothing is bothering me."

"You can't hide it, admit it!"

"...Fine...I was wondering if I'm a good mercenary for the company of my father, after I argued with him about letting me join, I think the stress got me very soon."

"Please! Don't be stupid, you have been training many times, haven't you? For joining the Greil Mercenaries?"

"Of course, I've been training a lot lately...maybe that's where the stress came from..."

"Just you don't worry about it, I know you're going to do it just fine."

"...You're right...thanks Mist..."

"You're welcome anytime, Ike." She said giggling a little.

"I'm off, Titania needs to see me to discuss my first mission."

"If you can get through alive, I'll prepare you and everyone a good meal, I promise!"

"...Sheesh...you didn't needed to say it like that..."

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"The first Star Spirit was rescued successfully!" Chris said happily.

"Once again, good job." Master Hand said...wearing a tropical hat.

"...What happened when we weren't here?" Ness asked looking around the room, it was all decorated with hawaian stuff, most of the Smashers were holding lemonades or wearing sunglasses or both.

"We've been enjoying the sweet life thanks to the Prinnies!" Popo said wearing sunglasses and drinking his lemonade.

"Why didn't we think about having servants before?" Nana asked licking an ice cream.

"These guys sure know how to have fun with my subordinates." Etna said appearing from the roof, drinking lemonade as she laughed a little.

"THIS, is life." C. Falcon said drinking, laying on a beach chair.

"...Riiiiiiiiiight..." Chris said while his right eye twitched a little.

"CHRIS!" Crazy Hand (wearing a small tropical hat) yelled from his hawaian styled counter. "I got new stuff to sell that will amaze everyone here inside! Including Etna!"

"...Are you sure you're not going to sell the stickers that we CAN'T currently use?"

"...Noooo..."

"Are you sure?"

"...Yeeeeesss..."

"And what are they?"

"...Fiiiiiind ouuuuuuuttt..."

"...JUST SHOW ME!"

"Here!"

Smash Coins in hand: 4900

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilites

"...Huh? The "Smashing Abilities" part wasn't here before..." Chris said wondering.

"Well, using the help of my brother and myself, we managed to create special abilities that will not only help you, but everyone else! You'll get amazed by the abilities, we used our mighty magic to combine, change and add new things together!" Crazy Hand explained excited.

"...Okay, but to clear out the jobs list, let me buy the Psychic User job."

"DEAL!"

Chris gave 900 Smash Coins and his blothes began to shine brightly, but Mewtwo gasped and quickly teleported to him.

...Though his clothes didn't changed that much, he was wearing only a white shirt, white shoes, white pants, white gloves and white SOCKS to be more specific, but the strange thing was that his face didn't showed any emotion as Mewtwo was straining himself, glowing. "Sorry...but you're not ready for this power yet...change to another job...now..." Mewtwo said.

"...Yes..." Chris replied with a small whisper, changing to his Musician job. "...What happened just now?"

"I felt a strong but chaotic power building up in you." Lucario said walking to him.

"I even felt it." Zelda said.

"It's because that job included psychic powers like the ones I use, it's possible that the job is compatible with me too, but that's not the point," Mewtwo explained as he stopped glowing. "Psychic powers are not a thing you can master instantly in one day."

"What do you mean?" Kirby asked wondering.

"I mean to control those powers, you need hard training, control of thoughts and emotions, since Chris has almost a very lively mind, his thoughts aren't very well controled and the telekinesis inside him would have gone chaotic and probably could have hurt us without intention."

Chris gulped. "Y-you mean I need to stay away from using that job then?"

"Exactly." Mewtwo said nodding.

"...O-okay...I'll ask you to have meditation so I can control them well..."

"It would be for the best, sorry if you wanted to use it right now."

"It's okay, thanks for the advice though."

"Ahem, Chris?" Crazy Hand called coughing.

"...Oh, right!"

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 1 - 1000 Smash Coins

Enables one member of a party to use his/her Final Smash when the gauge is filled completely.

"...Over Limit Lvl. 1? Isn't that from Tales of Symphonia?" Chris asked.

"Well, maybe, but we changed it a little bit to be more efficient, buy it! You'll need!" Crazy Hand suggested.

"...Fine! I'll buy it!"

"EXCELLENT!" Master Hand said as Chris handed over the money, when suddenly, all of them began to glow for a moment before stopping. "Now you have adquired a very important and useful ability!"

"But why did we all glowed?" Roy asked.

"Oh, if you want to know how to use this ability, care to be teleported to the tutorial?"

"There's a tutorial for this?" Chris asked before getting in a thinking position. "Well...okay, we want to go."

"I didn't decided, don't talk for all of us!" Pikachu said angrily.

"Bing!" Master Hand said snapping his fingers and they were teleported to another area.

Wi-Fi Waiting Room

Burn More, Fighting Spirit

"And here we are! The Wi-Fi Waiting Room with the Sandbag!" Master Hand said, locating all of them in a very creepy place with a grey background, a simple flat platform with a Sandbag staring without emotion at them.

"Is this place our first stage to fight?" Pichu asked.

"...No."

"Phew, I thought it was just a moment an official stage!" Link said sighing in relief.

Fox looked at the Sandbag. "...And...that is for..."

"Nothing." Master Hand said and most of them fell in anime style. "Well, only one of you will use this place, but for this time, we're using this room for tutorials!"

They got up slowly. "So...for what is the ability then?" Toon Link asked as he aimed his arrow to the eye of the Sandbag.

"See that bar over there?" The hand pointed to the left and they looked to that direction.

"I don't see a bar." Geno said.

"Well, you can't see it, but it's there." Master Hand looked at the Sandbag. "Okay, listen up, the Over Limit is a special ability that lets you use a Final Smash, Final Smashs are different for each fighter as you have seen before with Chris."

C. Falcon got interested and walked in up to the front. "So, how do we use the Over Limit?"

"Simple, see the Sandbag? Once you land many hits or receive hits from the enemy, the bar is going to grow little by little and the gauge will be ready for the use of the first person that says a certain sentence to activate it."

Every Smasher (minus Chris, Geno, Etna, Mewtwo, Meta Knight and Lucario) slowly walked towards the Sandbag with weapons ready. "...And...can we start now?" Asked a very impacient Falco.

"I don't see why no-"

"AAAAAH!!" They all started to beat up the Sandbag like it was a person that made something very bad to them, shots, yells and even weapons began to appear inside the cloud of dust.

"...And they're still being so brute..." Geno said frowning.

"Wow! Looks like the bar has been filled already!" Master Hand said surprised.

"...Meh, it was expected." Etna said simply.

"Okay...but they haven't noticed it yet..."

"...I'll start," Chris began, thinking for a good sentence to start the Over Limit. "Hmm...what can I say Lucario?"

"Something like "the aura is with me" with a yell to the sky?" Lucario suggested.

"...I'm not you!"

"Well..."

"...Maybe this one," he cleared his throat. "I-I am so gonna make you!!" Chris yelled spinning above his feet as the whole background got dark and a rainbow aura covered his body. "...Hell no, I'm not going to say that I can feel the absolute power or something running through me."

Master Hand snapped his fingers and Chris stopped glowing. "Sorry if you wanted to see the Final Smash for that job, but we need the "barbarians" over there to stop hitting the Sandbag and...is that the Sandbag over there?"

The Sandbag had his sand getting out from many holes, outside the cloud of dust for the fight. "I think they ripped it off." Geno said.

"..." Master Hand frowned at this.

10 minutes later...

All the Smashers were tapping their foots in impacience as another Sandbag appeared from above. "Okay, let's do this like we need to do, Chris, since you're probably the most sane person out of most of them, you go and hit the Sandbag as many times as you can, but to do this quickly, Meta Knight is going to help you." Master Hand said.

"Please, be careful in not slicing me." Chris said sweating.

"I'm always careful, now, go!" Meta Knight yelled flying towards the Sandbag with Chris wh-

"W-wait! I need to have a job that can attack!" Chris called before changing to his Thief job, taking out his knife. "I-I'm ready!"

"Hit it with all your force." Meta Knight said slashing continuously the bag.

"M-multiple hits are more effective, ha!" Chris started with 2 slashs before thrusting his knife continuously.

"The bar is filling up!" Master Hand said. "...There! Say out loud a sentence to activate it!"

"R-right! I-I'm so gonna make yo-"

"Blink and die..." Meta Knight said as an explosion of a rainbow aura pushed Chris out of the way as Meta Knight glowed.

"Oww!" Chris hit the floor and got up. "H-hey! You didn't said an explosion was included!"

"My bad, activating the Over Limit causes an explosion to push anyone away from the one using it," Master Hand explained. "Meta Knight! Use your Final Smash on the Sandbag!"

"Let's see..." Meta Knight saw the Sandbag coming down and grabbed his cape. "Know my power..."

Everyone noticed that the whole background got dark and Pichu began to scream terrorized. "The lights turned off!" Roy said in the darkness.

"Stages don't have lights, you idiot!" C. Falcon said.

Master Hand gasped. "Wait, if you all were able to hurt yourselves...then that means...META KNIGHT! STOP!"

A very fast long slash reached everyone and they were pushed into the air before falling to the floor, moaning in pain for the strong attack as Meta Knight was seen with his sword out before sheathing it. "What...was that?" Marth asked.

"That was...the Final Smash of Meta Knight...first...he hits the target with his cape and everything will turn dark...and he will fastly slash everyone before a second can pass...ugh..." Master Hand said moaning a little in pain.

"Hmph, it was interesting to use it." Meta Knight said walking to them.

"But...it wasn't for us!" Etna said angrily.

"Then, my apologies."

"DARN IT! LET ME USE MINE AND SHOW HIM!" Link said angrily rushing towards the Sandbag.

Music stops

Command Room

"No fair!" Link complained.

"Sorry, but if you want to see and use your Final Smash, you have to fight against the Subspace Army and activate the Over Limit once the bar is filled." Master Hand said.

"...You have to take me the next time, got it?" C. Falcon said pointing at Chris.

C. Falcon was pushed. "Why wasting time with him? You know you want to see mine!" Link said.

Link was also pushed away. "Don't listen to them, I'm sure you want see my own one." Fox said.

"Mine's better than Fox's!" Falco said pushing Fox out of the way.

"Er..." Chris already knew what was Falco's Final Smash.

Falco was pushed away. "Forget about them! I'm better!" Pikachu said.

The yellow mouse was hit by a bat. "Why you don't see mine?" Ness asked.

Then Roy pushed him out. "How about me?"

"(Roy's Final Smash? Heck yes!) I'll think about it."

"Yes!"

"Chris, you forgot the other section!" Crazy Hand said from the counter.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

"...The "Items" part wasn't there before!" Chris complained.

"It was my most recent part yet! Inside, you're going to find all the items avaiable for the matches, both old and new items are here!" Crazy Hand said excited.

"...Fine, I'll see what you have..."

Banana Peel - 100 Smash Coins

"Why do we need a banana peel? For tripping?" Red asked.

"...Uh-huh." Master Hand responded.

"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Most of the Smashers bursted out laughing after hearing the word tripping.

"Tripping, that's funny, we never EVER trip in fights!" Popo said rolling laughing in the floor.

"And probably never will!" Pikachu said laughing on the floor, hitting it with his tail as Master Hand looked away embarrassed for a fact.

"I'm not buying that thing!" Chris said.

Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Now it has a longer reach if you swing it with a stronger swing." Master Hand explained.

"You mean the Beam Sword that is better than the Master Sword?" Nana asked.

"Hey! My sword is stronger than that thing!" Link said angrily.

"Give me one, please." Chris said paying for the Beam Sword that he...well, kept in his invisible bag that is behind his back that is easy to carry around as many do.

Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"Bom-ombs are the worst thing you can ever have, don't buy them!" Pikachu said.

"...Okay...next item..."

Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"Wait, wasn't the Bumper the same item from the first tournament?" Pikachu asked.

"Yes, it is, I decided to bring it back to this one." Master Hand said.

"Why did you bother in bringing it back? It was very weak an annoying." Fox said crossing his arms.

"Chris, here, throw it to Fox." Master Hand said giving a free Bumper to Fox.

"Pfft, I'm not bothering using my Reflector." Fox said rolling his eyes.

"Here you go!" Chris said throwing the Bumper to Fox.

Hallway

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Fox was flung instantly and quickly to the other side of the room, crashing into the wall where his head got stuck. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He yelled angrily.

Command Room

"DON'T EVER MAKE FUN OF MY ITEMS, YOU HEAR ME?!" Master Hand yelled angrily as Falco went for Fox, but Wolf was rather amused at this. "Now, see it? It's floating in midair, it can be put down in the ground too, if someone approaches it, they'll bounce off, the higher the damage, the longer they'll bounce."

The bumper disappeared and Chris looked at Crazy Hand. "I'm not buying it either."

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"You mean the funny hat that increases your speed?" Chris asked excited.

"Yes!" Crazy Hand said cheerfully.

"GIMME GIMME GIMME!" Chris gave 400 Smash Coins to the hand and stored the item.

Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Master Hand snapped his fingers and the item fell in front of them. "Allow me to pesent to you the Cracker Launcher, it has 16 firecrackers and you can aim it to your opponents and fire, the last shot will be slightly stronger too."

Pichu took the Cracker Launcher. "So...I need to press this button and..."

"NO! THAT'S THE AUTOMATIC BU-"

"RUN!" Roy yelled terrorized and they ran away screaming (most of them) from the crazy item that kept firing firecrackers, the last shot hitting the screen.

Everyone entered back coughing from the smoke. "I'm-" Chris coughed. "Not buying it either..."

Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"The Deku Nut?" Link, Toon Link and Zelda asked at the same time.

"It serves to stun and confuse your target for a moment by the explosion of the flash, it can also be used as a bomb but when someone is in the air." Master Hand explained.

He made a Deku Nut and Toon Link grabbed it. "Hmm...well...it looks odd..." He threw it...

FLASH!

"Heeeeeey Nana...you look weeeeeeeirddddddd..." Popo said twirling his head.

"I believe I can flyyyyyyyy..." Chris said before trying to fly but fell. "Oww!"

"I wiiiiiiiiill protect you." Lucario said confused.

"Stop iiiiiiiiiiit guys..." Master Hand said before recovering.

Chris got up. "Next."

Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies

"Nobody uses those things." Zelda said.

"But it's great to break shields." Master Hand pointed out.

"...Hmm...fine, I'll buy one." Chris said buying a Fan.

Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Oh, the Fire Flower, good source to recover." Ness said smiling a little.

"Now you can use the Fire Flower while moving around." Master Hand said.

"I'll buy another thing." Chris said.

Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"Food! Buy it! Buy it!" Kirby said pleading.

"But just because you want it doesn't means..." Chris looked at Kirby's face, who suddenly got sad that was very hard to avoid. "(Aww, look at that face, how can I say no to that face?) Okay! I'll buy the food!"

"Yay!"

Chris bought the food. "But you do know we'll use it if we're tired, right?"

"...You're not fun." Kirby said simply walking away and Chris sweatdropped.

Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"The Franklin Badge? Huh? You know about it?" Ness and Lucas said and asked to themselves.

Master Hand made the badge appear. "If someone equips this item, a reflective shield will protect you from any kind of projectiles."

Pit walked up to it and wore it in his chest. "Like this?" Pit asked.

"Yes, like that."

"FIRE!" Pikachu yelled firing a Thunder Jolt towards Pit, the angel covered his face with his blades but the jolt bounced off and hit Pikachu. "Oww! That hurts a little even if I'm an electric type!"

"Told you." Master Hand said before the badge disappeared.

"I want one." Chris said buying the badge.

Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Freezies, hate them." Falco said shrugging.

"Tsk, fine..." Chris said rolling his eyes.

Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"The Golden Hammer is a new item, it's better than the normal Hammer because it lets you float above depths for a time, it's faster to swing it too."

"But the head won't come out like the Hammer?" Popo asked.

"...Sorry, I couldn't fix that part." Mostly everyone groaned. "H-hey! Those things are hard to make!"

"Let me use it!" C. Falcon said as Master Hand made a Golden Hammer and C. Falcon took it, then he started to to swing it crazily fast with the music of the Golden Hammer.

"GET AWAY!" Pit yelled and everyone backed away from the crazy captain.

But after several seconds, the hammer disappeared and C. Falcon was panting heavily. "Man...that was...exhausting..."

"Even that freaky spell with the music is on that hammer as well." Ness said.

"...Hmm...I'll buy it later." Chris said.

Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"The Gooey Bomb is an explosive encased in a gummy goo, if you throw it to an opponent or any part, it will get stick until it explodes, but if someone comes into contact with the one with the Gooey Bomb, it will change targets." Master Hand explained.

"Care to show us how the item looks like first?" Squirtle asked.

"Why not, it's behind your shell."

"DUAAAAAHHHH!!" Squirtle ran around screaming until he got close to Red.

"H-HEY! GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Red yelled trying to get the bomb off him, but since it gets stuck, he couldn't do it until he touched Roy.

"I DON'T WANT IT EITHER! YOU HAVE IT!" Roy said touching Marth.

"I-I don't want to have an explosion on my face, yours!" Marth said.

"UAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Lucas screamed until he touched Falco's tail by accident.

"H-HEY! THIS IS NOT FUNNY! IT'S YOURS!" Falco said.

"G-get this off me!" Wolf said irritated touching Fox, and the bomb began to shine.

"NOT ME!" Fox said touching Mewtwo.

"D-don't drag me into this nonsense!" Mewtwo said angrily before touching Master Hand.

"...Oh...f-" The bomb exploded on Master Hand. "YOU...BUNCH...OF..."

Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"We know what that is, skip it." Nana said.

Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"Skip!" Popo said.

Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"I'll buy one." Chris said buying the heart.

Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Now everybody has their own swing stance!" Master Hand said turning back to his white color.

"I want that one!" Chris bought that too.

Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"When thrown, the Hothead will roll across the ground, inflicting fire damage, the longer the Hothead is rolling, the faster it moves across the ground." Master Hand explained as he threw a Hothead.

"Jump!" Pichu said jumping over the item with Pikachu.

"Jump!" Popo said jumping over with Nana as the othead vanished.

"Although it seems fun I don't want it." Chris said.

Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Wasn't that the same thing that made us grow bigger than the Super Mushroom?" Ness asked wondering.

"That item can do that?" C. Falcon asked.

"Well, the Lightning decreases the size of everyone but the user in a match," Master Hand explained. "But it sometimes malfunctions and shrinks the user instead or it can supersize everyone else, careful, using one of these can be either helpful or dangerous."

"Buy one! Buy one and use it right now!" Pichu said excited.

"...For once, I'll give you a sample." Master Hand said giving a free Lightning that Chris touched.

"Yes! We're big again!"

"Actually...is the other way around..." Pikachu said squeaking.

"Oh god! Somebody turn me back to normal!" Jigglypuff said.

"We can't, we have to wait for the effect to worn off." Master Hand said.

15 seconds later...

Everyone grew up. "Phew, I thought I was going to be a Pichu for the eternity." Link said.

"Yes, be a Pi-hey!" Pichu said angrily.

Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"A.K.A useless item that nobody uses." Nana said.

"But you got to remark, that flower looks very well detailed." Pikachu said.

Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"I'll take 2!" Chris said buying 2 tomatos.

Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"The Metal Box turns you into a metal version that is heavier to knock out, right?" Chris asked.

"That's right, it also makes you to lose speech." Master Hand said making a Metal Box to appear and roll towards Lucario.

"Lucario, use it and try to talk."

"Fine." Lucario said kicking the box and he turned into ametal version of himself and tried to talk.

"...Let's see...you lost your eyes, you can't either scream or yell, you're shiny, oh, who's the pretty guy in the metal?"

Chris was pushed away by C. Falcon. "That's me! I can't believe it! That's me!"

"Lucario's now a Steel/Fighting/Metal type Pokémon!" Jigglypuff said.

"Metal is made of steel so that doesn't counts." Pikachu pointed out.

"Rats!"

Lucario turned back to normal. "I felt...weird...I couldn't talk and..."

"Yeah, all of us wondered the same thing." Roy said.

"Next." Chris said.

Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"I once stepped on those explosives somewhere, and that hurt a lot because they were like 4!" Link said angrily.

"Um...yeah...heheh..." Pichu said sweating a little.

"Next." Chris said.

Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies

"100 copies?!" Ness said shocked. "Those guys aren't too helpful at all in the field of battle are you're letting them hang around with us?!"

"H-hey! You hurt his feelings!" Lucas said pointing at the random Mr. Saturn that appeared on his head.

"BoInG! NesS baD PeRsoN, BoiNG!" Mr. Saturn said before he disappeared.

Ness rolled his eyes. "Please, don't buy him."

"...Okay..." Chris said.

Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"The Pitfall is a ball that once it hits a target when thrown by someone, he or she will become stuck on the ground," Master Hand made a Pitfall and they looked at it. "I'll give you an example, CATCH IT!" He threw the ball at high speed towards Zelda, who used Nayru's Love to reflect it back to Master Hand who hit the cold floor quickly. "OWW! Why'd you do that?!"

"Because that was going to attack me." Zelda said crossing her arms.

"...I deserved that, alright," Master Hand said getting up. "If that item hits you when you're above a platform, you're going to fall through it instead of being stuck on the ground."

"I'll take 1." Chris said buying a Pitfall.

"Oops! Looks like your inventory became full and you have only 700 Smash Coins!" Crazy Hand said. "Don't worry though, you can still buy more things to have them stored here and decide which item you want to bring with you!"

Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Ew, not that mushroom, don't buy that." Nana said.

Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies

"Wait, Pokeballs but with Pokémon inside?! Buy them for me!" Red said excited.

"Red!" Squirtle and Ivysaur said angrily.

"...No thanks, too expensive." Chris said.

Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"Biri-didiiiiiidididi-dororo!" Chris sang the James Bond theme.

"You want it?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Yeah!"

"It's yours my friend, as long as you have enough Smash Coins!" Crazy Hand said giving Chris the Ray Gun.

"Brr! T-those sentences are very familiar to me for an odd reason..." Link said shuddering.

Zelda shuddered too. "I wonder what was that about..."

Toon Link exchanged glances with Link but shrugged it off.

Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"I called that item, the Screw You Attack." Falco joked and some of them chuckled.

"Okay, that was funny, but I'm not buying it either." Chris said.

Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Wait, the Smart Bomb is an official item in this tournament?" Fox asked.

"Yes, I decided to bring even more explosives like the Gooey Bomb, the Smart Bomb creates an expandive sphere of explosion that catches anyone near, sometimes it's going to malfunction when thrown but will explode later." Master Hand explained.

"Hmph, I hate those things." Wolf said crossing his arms.

"So do I, that's why I'm not buying them." Chris said.

Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Aleluya

"That's...the best item...ever...nuff said..." Popo said crying a little.

"Nothing can compare its awesomeness..." Ness said crying a little.

"Just imagine what lies inside that ball..." Nana said poetically.

"A very strong power." Mewtwo pointed out calmly, not like many of them who were admiring the image that Master Hand showed them.

"It makes me feel strong already..." Pikachu said sniffing and cleaning his nose with a napkin Pichu gave him.

"BUY IT! BUY IT! BUY IT!" Pikachu, Pichu, Popo, Nana, Ness, Lucas, Toon Link, Jigglypuff (and even Link, Roy, C. Falcon and Falco) cheered.

"...Sorry, but as much as I like to buy it...I don't have enough money left with me..." Chris said ashamed and the music stops with a record being scratched..

"...You suck." Previous characters said in unison with glares and Chris sweatdropped.

Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies

"The Smoke Ball is just a ball that spreades out a rainbow colored smoke that cloaks somebody or traps like the Motion-Sensor Bomb." Master Hand explained, throwing a Smoke Ball that got stuck on Pit.

"H-hey, get this off me!" Pit said before the smoke increased and next thing that happened, the whole room got covered in smoke and they coughed.

Several minutes later of coughing, the Smoke Ball disappeared with the smoke.

"Next." Chris said.

Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"A super-powered ball that releases a powerful hit whoever can hit the opponent with a strong attack!" Master Hand said as he created a free Soccer Ball that went rolling to the floor to the Smashers.

Fox picked up the Soccer Ball and sighed. "This makes me remember the good times in school..."

"Sweet, school times..." Falco said.

Flashback

Corneria
Middle School's Soccer Field

"Okay, listen up boys, today we're doing a hard training exercise," the coach said holding a Soccer Ball. "We're going to train hard to beat the other Middle School's team an-"

"STOP THE FLASHBACK!" Chris yelled outside and the whole scene breaks like a glass, shattering.

End of flashback

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"What was that for? We were remembering the good times in Middle School!" Falco said angrily.

"But we didn't asked to remember it with you 2!" Pikachu said, as the Soccer Ball disappeared.

"Well, if you have a flashback in the future, don't continue with it!"

"Next, I don't have enough money." Chris said.

Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"The Spring is the thing that ALWAYS appears in most worlds, you don't need an explanation for that." Master Hand said.

"Next." Chris said.

Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy

"Do I need to explain that?"

"No...but it's too expensive." Chris pointed out.

Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Hmm...nope, next." Chris said.

Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"I want to be BIG anytime!" Pichu said.

"One please!" Chris saying buying the mushroom, now having 100 Smash Coins.

Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"Now you can jump and move around to fire a charged shot or multiple ones!" Crazy Hand said.

"But even so, I don't have enough money." Chris said.

Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies

"Ooohhh, I want curry!" Kirby said and they glared at him (the same characters who ate the curry before).

"No, we don't want THAT inside us again." Nana said frowning.

"It's just curry." C. Falcon said chuckling.

1 minute later...

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!! IT BURNS SO MUCH!! WATER! WATER! WATER! I NEED WATER!" C. Falcon begged while everyone ran away from his mouth's fireballs.

"You just have to wait for 20 seconds to pass." Master Hand said hiding in the counter.

21 seconds later...

"...Ah...that was...hot...literally..." C. Falcon said panting.

"Next!" Chris said impaciently.

Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies

Master Hand created the Team Healer. "Grab and throw this item to one of your allies to recover damage, the higher the damage, the higher they're healed."

Meta Knight grabbed it. "Hmm..." He threw it to C. Falcon, who sighed in relief.

"Thanks." C. Falcon said.

"Next." Chris said.

Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"The Timer slows down everyone's time except for the user, but it also can malfunction and slow only the user instead." Master Hand explained as the Timer came floating down.

"...Is it just me or many items malfunctions?" Marth wondered.

"You really did screwed up this time." Link said.

"Screw this!" Master Hand taking the Timer, slowing everyone's time.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy, wwwwwwwwwwwwwhat's haaaaappeeeeeeenniiiiiiiiiiinnnnnng?" Ness asked.

"Theeeeee tttttttimeeeeee sloooooooowed dooooooooooooooownnnnnnnn." Roy said.

"IIIIIIIIII feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel weeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrd." Lucas said.

"Meeeeeeeeeeee tooooooooooooooooooooo!" Popo said.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT wooooooooooondeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrr iiiiiiiiif IIIIIIIIIII siiiiiiiiiinnngggggggg..." Jigglypuff thought and Mewtwo SLOWLY, but very slowly shook his head.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee neeeeeeeeeeeed toooooooooo waaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit tweeeeeeeeelve seeeeeeeecooooooooondsssssssssss." Master Hand said.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyy diiiiiid yoooooou weeeeeeeereeeeeeee affeeeeeeeeecteeeeeeeedddd?" Pit asked.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit baaaaaaackfiiiiiiireeeeeedddddd!"

12 seconds later...

"Not buying that thing either." Chris said frowning.

Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies

"The Unira is a spiked ball that grows its spikes once its thrown or hit, it attaches itself on the ground or the walls." Master Hand said creating an Unira.

"...You know you want to, Pichu." Pikachu said.

"Yay!" Pichu took the Unira and threw it to the wall, where its spikes grew when it got attached before disappearing.

"It's going to be easy to deal with that item around." Nana said.

"Next." Chris said.

Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

"I love to use my Warp Star!" Kirby said hopping.

"But still...it's very expensive for me right now..." Chris said.

"And those were all the items, these were the items you bought, choose which ones you want to take with you!" Crazy Hand said showing Chris the list.

Beam Sword
Bunny Hood
Fan
Food
Franklin Badge
Heart Container
Home-Run Bat
2 Maxim Tomatos
Pitfall
Ray Gun
Super Mushroom

"I'll take with me the Beam Sword, Bunny Hood, Food (Kirby: Yay!), Franklin Badge, Heart Container, Home-Run Bat, 1 Maxim Tomato, the Pitfall, the Ray Gun and the Super Mushroom."

"Then you're storing the Fan and the other tomato, fine! And since everything is a little too expensive, you're going to receive more Smash Coins after clearing a world!" Crazy Hand said.

"Well, now we just need to wait until they attack another world." Ivysaur said.

"...Wait..." Geno said. "I need to make a letter to a friend."

"For what?" Chris asked.

"Because we need him to help us, and as a matter of fact, I have the letter ready." Geno said holding a letter.

"Then we should call Parakarry to deliver that let-"

"Hey, something is moving inside that drawer close to that machine!" Toon Link said, when he opened the drawer, someone popped out happily, making him to back away. "YAAAH!"

"Hello everyone!" Parakarry said smiling.

"B-but how did you were inside there?!"

"I'm a very sneaky person, may I say," Parakarry said chuckling. "Anyway, someone needs to send a letter to someone? I heard that from far away and decided to appear here!"

"Are you an instant postman for us or something?" Link asked.

"Something like that!"

"Oh no, that creepy postman is coming to my mind again."

"By the way, the office has a new postman, the Postman!"

"Great, thank you very much!" Link said crossing his arms angrily.

"Here, please, deliver this letter as fast as you can." Geno said handing over the letter to Parakarry, who nodded and kept it inside his mailbag.

"Parakarry, how are the citizens of the city?" Master Hand asked and Parakarry's face turned serious this time.

"Everyone decided to abandon the city until that sword, Exor, was it? Disappears to enter the city, but Quil, Postman and me decided to stay behind to see if you guys could do something about it." Parakarry said.

"We will do something, that's because I need you to deliver the letter to him." Geno said.

"Who is him?" Kirby asked.

"You'll see soon enough."

"Well, it was a pleasure to stay here, but I have work to do now!" Parakarry entered in the same drawer he came from while his head was sticking out. "I'll deliver the letter as fast as I can! Good bye!" He entered inside the drawer and disappeared when Toon Link opened it again.

"...That guy is WEIRD." Toon Link said.

"Meh, instant postmans are good, I guess." Roy said.

"No, they aren't." Link said.

"By the way Chris," Master Hand began. "Since Etna's Prinnies destroyed EVERY single CD, I'm asking you a favor."

"W-what favor?" Chris asked confused.

"Could you please call any kind of musician to the mansion so they can recover the lost tracks? It doesn't matter what kind of instrument they use, it matters if they can use them to recreate all the music-" Etna looked away after Master Hand looked at her. "Etna's Prinnies destroyed, if you can do that, I'll give you a reward."

"...You mean as a sidequest or something?"

"You could say it like that if you want."

"...Fine, I'll look around for musicians."

"Wanted: Musicians" sidequest has been added to the sidequests list

"I'll keep that note on my list if you want to see it again!" Professor Kawashima said from Chris's pocket.

"Oh!" Flonne appeared from the hall. "Could you do me a favor too?"

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"I-I'm trying to find where is Laharl to kill him so I was wondering if you...could search that world for me...pretty please?"

"Wait," Etna jumped off from the desk she was sitting on. "Take that favor for me too, I want to prevent this little knucklehead to stop from doing that."

"E-Etna! I-I'm sorry, but it's my work as an angel to assassinate him!"

"And it's my work as a vassal to protect and serve him." Etna said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Y-you'll decided once I find that "Laharl" person." Chris said.

"Wanted: Laharl" sidequest has been added to the sidequests list

"Thank you!" Etna and Flonne said smiling before they stared at each other.

"..." Chris sat on the floor. "...So many things to keep track on..."

"You'll do it just fine if you concentrate in only one thing." Master Hand said before a small alarm was activated and he gasped.

"I-it's another invasion?" Lucas asked.

"No! It's a new Smasher that is ready to join us!" Master Hand said as a new portal opened. "Chris, do the honors and convince the next one."

"...Okay..." Chris said stepping inside the portal.

And all the lights turned off and a spotlight shone of Master Hand with a red curtain to his left side, then another spotlight shone on all Smashers and Geno, Etna and Flonne.

"W-what happened?" Pit asked.

"Let's do this with a little more fun, if you can guess who is the new Smasher, you get to see your Final Smash in action!" Master Hand said.

"Knuckle Joe!" Kirby said excited.

"No."

"Krystal!" Fox said.

"Hahahaha!... No."

"Plusle and Minum!" Pichu said excited.

"No!"

"Another Zelda?" Zelda asked.

"...No."

"Another japanese character?" Marth asked.

"No."

"Samurai Goroh?" C. Falcon asked.

"No."

"An old Link?" Link asked.

"You wish! No!"

"Leon." Wolf said.

"No! Everyone but him!" Falco said alarmed.

"No." Master Hand said and Falco sighed in relief.

"Paula!" Ness said excited.

"No."

"Kumatora!" Lucas said excited.

"No."

"Jeff?" Ness asked again.

"No."

"Poo?"

"You already choose!"

"Duster?" Lucas asked doing the same as Ness.

"No!"

"Boney?"

"NO!"

"Blaziken?" Pikachu asked.

"No!"

"Lloyd!" Roy said excited.

"No!"

"Colette?" Pit asked.

"No!"

"Bill?" Falco asked.

"No!"

"A Topi?" Popo asked.

"No!"

"The Polar Bear?" Nana asked.

"No!"

"A Topi?" Popo asked again.

"NO!"

"Whismur?" Jigglypuff asked.

"No!"

"Hitmonchan?" Red asked.

"No!"

"Blastoise?" Squirtle asked.

"No!"

"Venasaur?" Ivysaur asked.

"NO!"

"Tetra?" Toon Link asked.

"NO!"

"A random enemy." Meta Knight said.

"NO!"

"Someone that nobody knows about!" Twink (who decided to appear from the darkness) said excited.

"Correct!... But since you're not a Smasher, you don't get a Smash Ball."

"Okay!"

The red curtain moved, indicating that Chris came back. "Our new Smasher is..." Master Hand removed the curtain, and Chris was standing there looking around. "Olimar!"

NEWCOMER!

Olimar joined your team!

"...No, that's Chris." C. Falcon said as the lights turned on.

"Weird, he was with me a moment ago, where is he?" Chris asked looking around.

"...There! Close to your right foot!" Master Hand said using a magnifying glass to show Olimar rather alarmed at his surroundings.

"WHERE AM I?!" Olimar asked screaming and running around in circles. "WHY IS EVERYTHING SO BIG?!"

The Smashers approached closer to see the mini captain panicking. "...I could beat him with one stomp, not to be rude or something..." C. Falcon said pointing down at Olimar.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

"Oh, just shut up and let me resize you!" Master Hand said firing a laser to Olimar, who made him to grow about Mario's size...but still, he was panicking until Chris stopped him.

"CALM DOWN!" Chris said slapping Olimar's helmet.

"...Huh? W-what happen? Why did I grow up suddenly?" Olimar asked looking at his hands.

"Olimar, I welcome you to the Smash Mansion and to the Smashers." Master Hand said.

"...A-A FLOATING HAND! PIKMINS!" Olimar yelled ordering his apparently invisible army of Pikmins to attack Master Hand.

"Relax! Your Pikmin are waiting to be pulled out of the ground when you try to call one!"

Needless to say, Olimar listened to Master Hand and called 6 Pikmins (about his size) that directly went after the hand. "ATTACK!"

"OWW! GET THEM OFF ME!"

"No, don't listen to him, it's funny!" Zelda said chuckling.

"CRUEL BRAWL ANYONE?!"

"...If it has "Cruel" next to "Brawl" then...IT'S THE BRAWL VERSION OF CRUEL MELEE!" C. Falcon gasped throwing the Pikmin away that died once they touched the walls, turning into ghosts.

"NO! THEY WERE JUST BORN!" Olimar said dropping to his knees.

"OLIMAR! CALM DOWN! WE'RE NOT YOUR ENEMIES!" Master Hand said.

"Hi Olimar!" The Ice Climbers said waving at him.

"Oh, Popo! Nana! It's nice to meet you 2 again!" Olimar said quickly calming down.

"...That was fast..." Master Hand said.

"Wait, let me explain everything to Olimar." Chris said and they nodded.

1 hour later...

"And whatever you think, any person you see looks like an animal is just a friendly anthro." Chris said explaining everything to Olimar, who kept nodding at all things.

"...Oh...I see...let me write this down in my journal..." Olimar said taking out a pen.

Day 389
It seems I was recruited to fight an evil organization called "The Subspace Army" that my friends that helped me the other time were fighting against, oh, I hope my dear wife and kids don't get worried about me.

...However, I need to keep the Pikmins away from that "Falco" person, what if he is acquainted with those bird heads or whatever their names were I used to run away from?

"...I...ready to understand all this problem..." Olimar said.

"Wait, you say you were a captain?" C. Falcon asked.

"Y-yes, I'm a captain from my own company I work for."

"...Pfft, you're a worker instead of a captain."

"W-what? No! I'm a captain!"

"Neither of you are captains, C. Falcon only has the "captain" word just for disguising his true identity...which makes the question what is below that helmet..." Zelda said wondering.

"If you go on a date with me, I'll show you." C. Falcon said winking at her.

"...Then again, he knows how to scare me away."

"Yeah, I-HEY!"

"THE ALARMS WERE ACTIVATED!" Master Hand said as the alarms, along with the small alarm activated at the same time. "It's a new Smasher's world!"

"A Topi!" Popo said again.

"NO! He comes from the same kind of world where Marth and Roy came from!"

"I'm already interested to see who is him." Marth said interested.

"So am I." Roy said.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Current Status: Ike's iniciation of a mercenary
Race: Humans, tigers, birds and dragons
Number of protagonists: 1
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Sword play/skills

Chris changed to his Ranger job. "UAH!" He fell because he held his sword with 2 hands instead of one. "I-Ike! He is the next one!"

"Ike?" Roy asked.

"Just imagine a person with the same clothes as me but taller and with blue hair...and not slightly black."

"In other words, only Link, Toon Link, Pit, Marth, Roy, Meta Knight, Geno and C. Falcon can go." Master Hand said.

"I still have energy to continue so..." Toon Link trailed off.

"Hey! I'm a bird!" Falco protested raising his hand.

"And we're humans too!" Ness, Lucas and the Ice Climbers said in unison raising their hands.

"But I'm tired..." Lucas complained.

"...Well, me too." Ness said embarrassed.

"Then that means Link, Toon Link, Marth, Roy, Pit, Meta Knight, Geno, C. Falcon and Falco can come with me?"

"What about us?!" The Ice Climbers asked.

"...Meh, let them go instead of me, I'm tired too." Link said.

"Thanks!"

"Let Pit go instead of me too." Toon Link said deciding.

"Thanks, I'll appreciate it." Pit said.

"So the final characters are the Ice Climbers, Pit, Marth, Roy, Meta Knight, Geno, C. Falcon and Falco...I'm not sure about the Ice Climbers, C. Falcon and Falco since they're not swordsmen so...I'll accept them." Chris said.

"(Just a little longer, and when the Over Limit gauge fills, I'll USE my Final Smash to show it off! MWHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)"

"Falco and C. Falcon, is bad to say out loud what were you thinking." Master Hand pointed out.

"Heheheheh...heheh...heh..." Both looked away embarrassed.

"Lucario, you'll have to wait here until I return, no complains, okay?" Chris asked.

"I understand." Lucario said nodding.

"Since Olimar is still confused about all of this, Jigglypuff will show the mansion and the other stuff to him." Master Hand said.

"W-why do I need to do that?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Because you have to do SOMETHING."

"...Chris...when you return...take me to the next world to show him, alright?" Jigglypuff demanded.

"O-okay..." Chris said before opening the portal. "Please, don't try to do something stupid in front of Geno."

"Like you haven't done something embarrassing." Nana said.

"...I-I didn't, I think..." Chris said a little embarrassed before they entered inside and vanished.

"You say the Prinnies are butlers?" Ness asked interested.

"Yes." Mewtwo said nodding.

"Prinnies! Bring me my lemonade!" Ness ordered.

"I want some too!" Pichu said.

"I-I want some too!" Lucas said.

Preview of the next chapter

"They said some strange people appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the village." Titania said.

"Then I'll go to see them personally." Ike said.

"Next time: Mist knows best!" Olimar said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Tellius
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink

References:

-The sentence "I'm so gonna make you!" was a reference to Rita Mordio, from Tales of Vesperia. (Who can be overpowered in Over Limit using Violent Pain over and over again).

-When Crazy Hand asked Chris if he wanted it and the trio of Zelda reps shrugged, that was a reference to the Zelda CD-i. (A mansion chapter is going to be focused only on that very soon!)

-The Over Limit and "Burn More, Fighting Spirit" song are references to Tales of Vesperia (which got a section in this site!)

Alright, let me explain some things here:

The reason of why I added the Over Limit and the items were to make this story a little more Smash-look-alike adventure, I thought it was a good idea to make this decision, I mean, who doesn't wants to see a Final Smash without chasing a rainbow-colored ball around? Or who wants to see the items being selected by Chris to help the others? (Now we just need to wait for the Stickers and the Classic Mode to be openen).

And yes, Olimar joined the team since a lot of time has passed since the Pikmin arc (writing in his journal/dairy is going to be a running gag), now I wonder what is going to happen in Tellius? (And yes, Falco is going to be misunderstood for a laguz). XD

So, who was that person Geno was going to call by letter? It's...him?

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 82*: Mist Knows Better Than You

I was slacking off this time, I'm sorry, but I was almost going in a Hiatus or something I think, well, what matters is your response about this chapter, right?

From wolfenpilot687: Uh, a bit short...wasn't it? Well, it doesn't matter, at least it was a Mansion chapter. And the Wi-Fi room? XD

From me: Yes, I know, and no, that wasn't a Mansion chapter, and Wi-Fi Room? Better than telling them the stages that they haven't seen yet. XD

From Chef Colette: Yay,I won!
Anyway,great chapter!
Falco is not the only one who is gonna be mistaken for a laguz,Pit will be too!Because of his white wings,he will be mistaken for a heron laguz!I don,t know if Falco with get along with Shinon! I hope the rest of the mercenaries(Rhys,Oscar,Boyd,Rolf,Shinon,Gatrie and Soren.) will appear as well!
Anyway,keep up the great work!

From me: Using the magic of Youtube and the script, I was able to add all of them in time in this chapter just like you like it, enjoy. :)

From Seitei: I'll admit it, as much as I consider Olimar to a flea, I'm still happy to see that he's here.

And the store's selling new things! Over Limit Lvl. 1 sounds powerful already; and it sounds like Lvl. 2 will let more members use their final smash. I'd like them to have a different "final smash" to make it even more interesting. Creativity is a flame that attracts viewers, after all.

I look forward to your Fire Emblem arc, though I wish there was another Final Fantasy arc. There's one thing I'd like to ask, though. When are Mario, Luigi, or Peach becoming Smashers?

Anyways, keep updating!

From me: You're not going to see a different Final Smash, sorry, that could make a headache to my head and wreck the story in some way, you're only going to see the combinated Final Smashs. The Over Limit gauge that they use is the same one from Tales of Vesperia, but the Llv. 2 one it's better.

There are going to be more FF arcs, don't worry about that (according to the record, the next FF arc could be FF Vlll), and the trio of the Mushroom Kingdom will join after some arcs after this one. ;)

From ngrey651: Thanks to your playing of "Aleluya" I was reborn! And a good thing too, because an great chapter awaited me. Poor Olimar gets too much of a bad rap for being short and/or useless, but his abilities are surprisingly tricky...plus, he actually has a good comeback if somebody asks "Oh yeah, shrimp? You and what army?"!

From me: Why didn't I think about that before? XD

From timrtabor: yay! omair from my favotite game has joined and about the mario arc coming after word is it a mix of different spinoffs.

From me: Yes. :)

From Nintendogeek01: Whew... long intermission chapter with lots of content. Pretty well done. And I'm looking forward to the next story arc.

From me: Everyone is looking forward, what's up with that? XD

From Ninja Lucario: Wow I'm really glad this is up, Can't wait to see Ike. Didn't Chris overpay on the bunny hood item? I guess Crazy Hand owes him 100 smash coins. So Olimar joined, I was way off.

Can't wait for the next chapter. -Begins to shake Chris- No! really I can't wait! Why can't you update this story daily?! -Puts Chris down and calms- Ok I'm better now. I guess my demands are unrealistic. Keep writing!

From me: He did? XD

"Punches you in the nose." Don't grab me there! XD

From Mariko-ai-chan (Oh god): Sorry 'bout my last review Chris-sama,but I was hyper nya!In a nutshell:Ch.79 awesome.Ch.80 awesome.Ch.81...AWESOME!And who is HIM nya?Is it...a rabbit?An OC?Nya?A smart person?Oh!And I am sending you a pie because it's 'Send a pie to a good author' day!To Chris,pikmin!

Pikmin:(Run off to Chris)

From me: The only hint I'm only going to give you is "ll." ;)

From SmashEd44: Woohoo! Olimar has joined the gang! Another fantastic chapter Chris! I like the whole over-limit concept and I can't wait for Olimar's Journal gag. I also wonder who Geno was alerting...Can't wait for the next chapter and I certainly can't wait to see how much of a role the items will play. I expect hilarity to ensue with some.

From me: The next chapter the hilarity may ensue. XD

From blackroseofdeath49: This story is really getting good! Great job! Oh, I have two questions. First, Does Pit like Colette? And will there be disgaea ark?

From me: He did before he found out she was clumsy. XD

And yes, there is going to be a Disgaea arc. ;)

From Rellymaster: I'd have reviewed sooner, but I was away...Anyways, this chapter was super hilarious, especially the Aleluya song where the Smash Ball was described.
I was even able to guess what was about to be said when it came to the items part. And the Over Limit is a nice touch. "I'm so gonna make you!!" is the most powerful phrase I've ever heard of. I look forward to your next chapter like anime!

From me: I like Rita Mordio, more powerful than Jade Curtiss and younger, but has an anti-social attitude and never will equal Jade's sarcastic personality. XD

From Lucario210: Why wasn't Sandbag in the shop? Awesome chapter Chirs!

From me: Hello, Sandbag is a training item, not very necessary. And my name is not Chirs. (Of course I got what you tried to mean.) ;)

Part of my slacking off part was due to play Kirby Super Star Ultra, and good news, I found 2 new ultimate bosses to add to the story later!

(Note: I'm not bothering telling who dresses like who or how they do, I saw the characters for my own and since many of you know the characters, then let's do it that way, okay?) :)

And another thing, Lucario's special, why? If you reunite all the characters in the SSE, he is going to be on the center of the whole roster of a saved file, weird, huh? XD

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 82: Mist knows best

(From this point on, Mist will narrate the story by her own POV, I know, she didn't appeared on this part, but let's do this like this to make interesting thoughts).

Tellium - Crimean Kingdom
Caldea

And there he goes again, my brother, Ike, a new mercenary for the Greil Mercenaries, going running away to meet Titania and father...late, of course, his first day as mercenary started wrong using the left foot...

"Oww!"

"Are you alright Ike?" Mist asked from afar.

"Yes! I just tripped! I'm fine, don't worry!" Ike reassured her as he continued to run.

I roll my eyes when he turns his back to me, surely, his path to become a swordsman will be a long one...

...But see the bright part, I get to see his clumsyness.

For me, it was alright for Ike to train a lot to join them, he was very clumsy from the beginning (how in the name of Elincia's name did he was like that if he trained a lot and was let to join the company it's even beyond me), but, I need to point out something.

He wasn't weak, it was the other way around.

"...Weird...I could have sworn there was an odd light coming from the other side of the village." I said when I narrowed my eyes, when I saw my brother entering the hut where Titania and father were, I decided to carefully sneak my way through the house.

"Sorry. I'll get up earlier from now on. So, what's my first job?" I heard my brother's voice from the window when I snuck right passing there, be thankful I threw a bucket of cold water on you this morning!

Flashback

"Wake up!" I threw the bucket on my snoring brother.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Ike screamed at the top of his lungs.

End of flashback

Then I heard a sneeze, from my brother of course.

Titania and Ike got out from the hut and I hid behind some bushes when Oscar came riding his horse with Boyd, who came running.

"Your first campaign at last. I know you've wanted this for a while. Are you nervous, Ike?" Oscar asked with a small grin.

"I think I was more nervous last night. I could hardly sleep. This morning, I'm feeling pretty good. It's the calm before the storm." Ike replied confident of himself.

Now I know my brother was determined, but I didn't knew he was a pretty bad liar, you could see his hair a little wet after all...or either Boyd, Titania and Oscar were all blind or ignorant about that.

...Did I just see them chuckling when Ike turn his back on them?

I must be imagining things...well, first, to see the source of the light...

"Ike, before you go to the village, I need to tell you something important." Titania said stopping Ike.

"Yes?" Ike asked.

"They said some strange people appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the village." Titania said.

"Then I'll go to see them personally." Ike said.

I hurried my way through the village, I was being careful to not caught the attention of the bandits on my way to the other side of the village, when I was running through some bushes who were coveniently laying around, I peered from a hole of the leaves to see the source of the light...gone, completely.

But my suspicions grew up suddenly when I saw 10 odd looking characters looking around.

"So, where is this Ike?" A boy in a blue armor asked tapping the shoulder of...wait just second! Is that other boy wearing my brother's clothes?! And how did the first one knew about my brother?

"Well...I don't remember very much of this part," the impersonator of my brother said scratching his head. "I think this is the part where he's training..."

My right eye twitched in horror and confuseness, is that even a word? Where did these people come from anyway?

"We must investigate the surroundings of the village and search for Ike." A small rounded-masked creature said rather darkly, wait, I don't know if that or he is even a monster, I was going to freak out, I know, a girl like me freaking out is strange, but, just look at them! There's a laguz bird standing there too!

And not only that...or him, what about the strange caped person, or the identical twins with creepy smiling faces? And the girl with the tiara?

...Wait...I don't think she is a girl...I think it's a guy...no, must be a girl.

...Hmm...the person with the weird helmet was rather strange too...

...Is that an angel?! Get a hold of yourself Mist, please!

"...We're being watched." The small masked creature said shifting his eyes around, oh no, did he found my hiding spot?

"Okay, it's time to work." The bird laguz said taking out a weird thing from his belt.

"(I need to get out of here and tell my brother about this as soon as possible...)" I think when I slowly tried to create my path back to a safe area.

"...Hey! I think I heard something over those bushes!" One of those twins said pointing...WHERE I AM!

"S-sorry for eavesdropping!" I yelled terrorized by getting up, revealing my position and turning my back, blushing, and started to run away from them.

"Hold it." Somehow, the small-rounded masked creature appeared in front of me stopping my way.

"G-get away from me!" I yelled trying to kick him away, but in a blink, he unsheathed a sword that looked like a golden flame and pushed my leg away. "Aaaaaaaah!"

I stopped when I turned my back to see the person with the weird helmet staring down at me. "Hey there, you're pretty." He said.

I know he was trying to flirt with me, so guess what I did after that?

SLAP!

"Oww! You!" The man said while I started to run to the direction where I came from, just to find the laguz bird with crossed arms standing in my way.

"Calm down, I'd never hurt and pretty girl like you."

Was this group full of flirting guys?

...SLAP!

"Oww! Come back here!" He yelled with a glare, and obviously, I decided to go on and escape from them.

"Guys! Please! You're only scaring her even more, j-just let me talk to her!" The impersonator of my brother said as I was able to hear.

Well, they managed to scare me, so better run than getting a try to get killed.

For my own surprise, I saw my brother running towards me when I was away from them.

"Ike!"

"Mist! W-what are you doing here? You're in the enemy's territory!"

"And you are too!"

"Tell me, what were you doing over there?"

"That's right! Ike, I saw a very strange group of people that way, there were twins, a small-masked creature, 2 swordsmen, a boy and a girl, a guy with a weird helmet, a guy that looked like a puppet, and even a bird laguz was with them! Even an angel was there! What was more shocking to see was a boy with the same clothes as yours!"

"...Wait, I-I don't get all that, I don't know what is a laguz, were they the sub-humans that Shinon always mentions?"

"...Well...yes, but it's less discriminative to call them laguz but...that's not the point!"

"Then tell me, what happened?"

I sighed and tried to summarize all. "I saw twins, 2 swordsmen, a guy with a helmet, a small-masked creature, a puppet guy, the bird laguz, an angel, and a boy who had your clothes on."

"...I don't believe you with the angel part at a-"

I grabbed his hand and put a grip on it. "Just follow me if you believe in me!"

"M-Mist! You're acting a little strange this day!"

"I am not!"

As we argued, I managed to shut up my brother and we hid in more bushes, not in the same place, the masked creature sliced them to prevent anyone from spying them, good thing he didn't sliced the other bushes.

"See now, Ike?" I asked to my brother with a glare.

"...Oh...you...were...telling...the truth...after all..." Ike said a little shocked.

"Ike! You must go there and stop them, specially your impersonator!"

"Wait a minute, have you think if they're friendly?"

"I could have sworn the guy with the helmet touched my butt if I can recall."

"Those bastards!" Ike said turning serious before grabbing his sword and jumping out of the bushes...

...And his cape got stuck on the twigs and he tripped hardly on the ground, the cape not only made him trip, it revealed a hole big enough to reveal my position too as the weird people looked at us and most of them bursted out laughing after seeing Ike dropped on the ground.

"...Dammit..." I heard my brother muttering while his face was tasting the ground.

"P-please! Stop laughing! It's just his first day as a mercenary!" I said trying to stop them from humiliating my brother more.

"Don't help me Mist!" Ike said as he got up quickly.

"W-wait! Brother! Your cape is stil-"

"AAH! OWW!"

"...Stuck..." I finished, remembering my brother's cape being still stuck, now the twins were rolling and laughing on the floor, holding their stomachs. "H-here, let me get it out...there."

Ike rolled his eyes and dusted off his cape before grabbing his sword. "Prepare yourselves!"

Finally! They stopped laughing!... But now, the boy and the girl were rather shocked when they saw Ike, and most of them too.

The girl's eyes were trembling a little. "Oh my g-" She was able to say.

The laguz bird approached closer to Ike. "It's like Marth and Roy fused into one body..." He trailed off a little impressed.

"EEEEEWW!!" The swordsman boy said disgusted.

"...Something on my face?" Ike asked confused.

"..." The impersonator just blinked a little bored.

"..." Ike shook his head. "S-stop it, just stop! I don't know who you are, but I know something for sure, you're in league with the bandits of this village! And that person," he pointed at the impersonator. "Is trying to make a bad name for me!"

"W-what?! N-no! You're mistaking Ike!" The impersonator said before gasping.

"Wait, how do you know my name?! Answer me!"

"I-I-I heard! Okay?"

"Calm down, we're not your enemies nor bandits." The girl said...wait, her voice sounded a little too manly just now...

"He is right, we just came here to help." The angel said. (Ike was now getting even more confused, but then again, I'll do the same if an angel was in front of me).

"We didn't try to raise a problem here." The puppet said.

"P-please, just listen to us..." The impersonator said joining his hands.

"...Fine, but I'll decide if I let you go or get in jail." Ike said calmly.

"IKE!"

"Mist? MIST!"

For our misfortune, the bandits, and I mean it, ALL the bandits of the village decided to show up behind me and one of them held a knife close to my throat and I screamed. I began to think the laughs of them made the bandits to go here.

"So, I hear you're the son of Greil, and this little girl is also his daughter." A bandit said smirking.

"You bastard! Leave her alone!" Ike said.

"Stop! One more step and she's done for!"

"IIIIIIIIKE!" I yelled crying.

"Grr!..." My brother sighed and looked down. "...Fine, I'll throw my weapon away..." And he did, threw his sword away he did.

"Now, come with us, if we can get money by offering your life, then this whole situation is going to be good after all..."

"I won't allow that on my watch, my apologies."

"What the?!" I quickly turned my head to see the small-masked creature floating in midair using black wings that sprouted from his back, in a blink, he unleashed many slashs that quickly took 4 of the bandits down, including the one holding me. "IKE!" I yelled my brother's name again and ran towards my brother.

"GET BACK HERE!" Another bandit quickly dashed towards me holding a knife, I covered my face in horror and screamed out loud again.

"No, she won't!" The red-haired swordsman quickly dashed past in front of me and stabbed the bandit right into his chest, killing him, but saving my life in return. "That was close...are you alright?"

My god, I blushed embarrassed after I looked to his face, to think I almost fell in love with a stranger.

"Y-yes...thank you for saving me..." I said bowing a little, still blushing.

"Thank god, I thought I wasn't going to make it." He said.

I looked behind me to see the others fighting back the bandits, the guy with the helmet was strong, even his fist caught fire but didn't burned him when he used an uppercut on one of them, the impersonator wasn't so bad either, swinging a heavy sword using only one hand was very impressive, the puppet used some kind of pebbles that went quickly towards everybody on sight, defeating every single one, the twins had hammers that both used at the same time to deal a great amount of damage, the swordsman girl was very fast too, she snuck behind them and slashed continuously their backs until they stopped breathing, I said enough about the small-masked creature, the laguz bird was very surprising, he used both his wings on his sleeves to deal severe bruises or either he used his feet to slam them hardly on their faces to send them flying away a little, knocking them out of cold as he grinned sometimes.

...And in the end, they took down all the bandits rather quickly.

"..." Ike was very impressed. "...T-thanks for saving my sister, I own you one." He said to the red-haired swordsman who shook hands with him.

"Now, do you believe in us?" The guy in the helmet asked crossing his arms.

"Certainly, one saving my sister is considered an ally or a friend." Ike said.

"Oh, finally! I was afraid you wouldn't listen to us!" The impersonator said.

"...Right...may I ask for your names?"

"...Oh..." He blushed embarrassed. "M-my name is Chris, nice to meet both of you."

"My name is Roy, from Caelin" The red-haired swordsman said sheathing his sword.

"My name is Marth, prince of Altea." Wait, she was a man? Somebody needs to suggest him good clothes one of these days...I bet he gets constantly mistaken for a girl because of that tiara on his head.

...Wait again, he is a prince?!

"My name is Popo!" The twin in blue clothes said smiling.

"My name is Nana!" The other twin in pink clothes said smiling.

"And both we are the Ice Climbers!" They said wrapping each other's arms around the other laughing a little.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Geno." The puppet said politly bowing his head.

"Meta Knight." The small-masked creature said nodding slowly.

"My name is Pit, I come from Skyworld." The angel said.

"My full name is Falco Lombardi, but you can call me just Falco." The laguz bird said doing a thumbs up with a wink (towards me, which made me to shudder).

"I'm Captain Falcon, I'm pleased to meet you too." The guy with the helmet said saluting.

"My name is Ike, I'm a mercenary from the Greil Mercenaries, and this is my sister, Mist." Ike said introducing both of us.

"N-nice to meet you too..." I trailed off blushing.

"IIIIIIIIIIIKEEEEEE! MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST!" Both of us turned our backs to see Boyd running at us, rather relieved for finding us. "Man, where did you 2 were? I was looking all over you, the bandits were not found around, the strange thing is they left their boss, who I defeated and..." He glanced at the other group. "...I...think...I got here in the wrong time, didn't I?"

"Not at all Boyd." I said smiling a little, somehow, seeing Boyd again made me feel much more relieved too.

"...So...Mist..." Boyd trailed off.

"...Yes?" I asked confused when he walked towards Pit.

"It's good luck to find an angel in a common village like this? Because if it is, I bet things are going to get better for me! C'mon you! Will I be more powerful than Ike?" Boyd asked excited to Pit, who backed away a little from him.

"I-I don't read the future, sorry." Pit said twitching a little.

"You can't lie to me! Tell me!"

"...Boyd..." I closed my eyes gently and walked towards him.

"Yes?"

SLAP!

"OWW!"

"Don't be stupid, you idiot!" I said angrily to him. "Try to be normal to our new friends, they saved my life!" I was confident of myself back then, somehow, inside of me, I was sure of them being good.

"You didn't have to slap me hard...what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing! I'm just very happy, that's all!"

"(Somehow, characters may hide their true personalities when you don't meet them in person.)" Chris thought.

And then, Ike showed hospitality and invited them to follow us to meet Titania, since she was the only one in charge of our actions in the battlefield and because my father was away with Shinon and Gatrei in another mission.

Somewhere in a field full of wildflowers

"And then when she saw Pit and Falco, she couldn't believe they weren't laguz as all of us!" I told my friend, Rolf, Oscar and Boyd's younger brother about what happened in the meeting.

So let me summarize this, Titatia was rather happy after those 10 joined the mercenaries just yesterday because "they have to protect Ike from an evil organization of villains" as Chris said before, at first, Oscar was suspicious about them, but decided later to trust in them (after I told them how they rescued me), right now as Rolf and me were gathering wildflowers in the good morning early.

But something was bothering me about that organization trying to kill my brother, especially Marth's group, were they of trust? Were they good people?

To change the subject, Rolf is a very important friend to me, ever since his parents died when he was little, Boyd and Oscar decided to take him in with us since he had nowhere to go.

And I need to tell you this, we were best friends after a short while.

"Really? That's good!" Rolf said laughing a little.

"I think the mercenaries will have a lot of help after they joined us, isn't that great? I even heard my brother wanted to know more about Marth and Roy that he asked them to train with him!" I said smiling.

"Well...that's good too, I want to be of help too someday..."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"I need to do something to show my brothers I'm not weak, I need to find something where I'm good at..." He trailed off.

"...Well, I'm trying to find my own way to help too, Ike is just too blunt and a little reckless that he has been hurting himself on his trainings."

"Maybe you can ask Rhys to teach you how to heal?"

"...Hmm...I have never think about that before...it's settled! I'm going to ask him to train me in secret to surprise my brother!" It couldn't get any better for sure, I was excited to ask Rhys to train me and become a healer just like him, even Rolf was pumped up for the look of his face.

"Oh, there you are."

I smiled and chuckled heartily, I forgot the voices of my new friends in a day, I wanted to know them better when I heard them behind me, so I turned my head to greet them cordially, surely, my mother sent me some way to enjoy this beautiful day in the morning together with my best friend Rolf, yes, I know, I'm so very happy right now.

Bandit Hold

FORGET TOTALLY ABOUT WHAT I SAID BEFORE, please, I just got kidnapped together with Rolf. All the things mentioned before were turned upside-down, I was now very mad, but afraid since I got kidnapped, and ever worse, Rolf was getting worried by the look of his face, and did I mention I just got kidnapped?!

"Mist...I-I'm scared..." Rolf whispered while we were inside the hideout, crying a little, and for my bad luck, I was a crying a little too.

...And I tried so hard to stop my nose from running, Ike was always making fun of me if he saw me with my nose running, and why did they tie us up? I can't clean my nose!

"Don't worry, I know my brother will come to rescue us..." I said sniffing a little.

"What about my brothers?"

"They will come along with Ike."

"And the new mercenaries?"

"They're with Ike, of course."

"Hey you! Stop talking!" One of the bandits said angrily shouting from a table.

"...I'm scared..." I said biting my lip.

"M-me too..." Rolf whispered sobbing a little.

"...Huh? T-they're coming this way!" I heard a bandit shouting, what was odd was that it was only one of the many bandits, there were only 2 of them left here.

"And where's our boss?" The bandit that was guarding us asked.

"They killed him!"

"W-what?! That's impossible!"

"What do we do with these kids?!"

"H-hey! I'm far more mature than you are, jerk!" I shouted before they approached closer to us. "W-what are you doing with us?!"

"Heh, isn't that obvious? We're going to use you as shields."

"Huh?!" Rolf gasped.

"T-that is the most dirty way to win a fight, battle like men!" I said crying a little, my nose was running even more, I was really scared...

"You mean battle like living men!" The bandit said laughing before both of them grabbed us to go outside, the light blinded me for a moment and we stopped in front of the house.

"W-w-we are done for Mist..." Rolf whispered scared.

"H-have faith, there must be a way to escape..." I whispered back to him.

Then, the 4 of us heard a sound coming from the roof and looked up.

"W-what was that?!" Rolf scared before the bandit hit him.

"Shut up!" The bandit said. "Whoever is above the roof, show yourself!"

"..." Nothing happened.

"Grr, you, get above the roof and take out the first person you see there, I'll keep an eye of the crybaby." The bandit ordered the other one who released Rolf but sat on the ground scared of the bandit's glare.

"(I am not a crybaby...I am not a crybaby...)" Rolf thought.

Several minutes passed and the second bandit didn't returned, I was afraid something bad happened, because if there was someone trying to rescue us, I'd be very happy then.

PUNCH!

"UGH!"

"(Was that the bandit's voice or our rescuer's voice?)" I thought, before a shadow appeared from the roof...it was the bandit...who fell quickly to the ground, knocked out of cold.

"What happened to you?!" The bandit asked angrily to a dead man's body, he was dead, not knocked out of cold, sheesh, he was talking to a dead man...

...I never say sheesh!

"Enter the great, Falco!"

...I was waiting Roy to rescue me! No fair!... Oh, how embarrassing, I just expressed my feelings...

Ahem, were I was? Oh yes.

Falco came doing a high jump in front of the bandit that held me by his arm (it was dirty, eww), I gasped when he tried to kick him hard, but I was in the way, what surprised me was that he hit his face directly without even touching mine, the bandit released me for a moment enough to run for Rolf and get him up to hide, but it was too late, because the bandit was already killed on the ground as Falco smiled to us.

"Good, you 2 are okay." Falco said.

"Thank goodness somebody came to rescue us!" I said, well, I'd rather have Roy than Falco, but then again, we were saved.

"Mist!" Ike yelled from afar coming with everyone else.

"Ike!" I ran towards my brother and gave him a hu-

"Is your nose running?"

STOMP!

"Ugh!" Ike twitched after I stomped his foot to shut him up.

"Brother! You came for us after all!" I said happily.

"Rolf!" Both Boyd and Oscar yelled running towards Rolf.

"Brothers!" Rolf cried.

"You're fine?" Oscar asked.

"Y-yes! Fortunately!"

"That was very risky," Titania said. "I want to have a talk with many of you for dissobeying my orders."

"Er..." Boyd looked away.

I saw Marth shifting his eyes, before he shouted "FALCO! MOVE!"

"What?" Falco asked confused, because an arrow was just going to hit him between his eyes at high speed, but he dodged just in time as it barely scratched his face. "Hey! Who did that?!"

"Darn it! I almost got the sub-human!"

"That voice..." Ike trailed before from some trees, Shinon came cursing under his breath.

"Why are all of you with a filthy sub-human?"

"H-he isn't a filthy sub-human!" I said.

"Hmph, you have to be so kind to everyone, even this scum, don't you?" Shinon said looking away.

Then, Gatrie came in panting heavily, and his face was red. "Deputy Commander... Shinon...hah...hah... You're both so cruel. With this armor on, you know I can't run that fast..." Gatrie said.

Okay, I think this was enough of my narration for now, it was great to narrate all of you this part, so, I leave this to another person who can narrate everyone's perspective better than me, see you!

Oh, I forgot, we're skipping the part of the pirates problem to make things more interesting.

Mercenary Fort
Training Grounds

The next day early in the morning...

"Alright, let's see you 2," Marth said looking at Ike and Chris. "Lately, both of you have been a little unusual on the battlefield."

"W-what do you mean?" Chris asked.

"Chris, your skill with the sword has been going down lately, I mean, you killed a soldier without slashing him, rather using the weight of your sword..."

Flashback

Chris was climbing up a rock behind a bandit and put his sword pointing down at him. "Well...here goes..." He closed his eyes, and put his other hand on the sword, and quickly he fell above the bandit at high speed, killing him using the sword's edge and weight. "Gross! Blood!"

End of flashback

Chris blushed. "H-hey! At least I killed him!"

Marth shook his head. "But that's not the point, people are going to laugh at you for the way you fight."

"Ah, Marth, I see you're training Ike." Greil came behind Marth.

"Yes, we were talking about his way of using his sword."

"...(What the...)" When Greil looked at Chris's sword (that was shaped like Ragnell, but in a light-blue color), he gasped a little. "...It can't be..."

Chris began to sweat. "I-it's something wrong?"

"Nothing, your sword seems to be strong to me, that is all."

"(Phew.)"

"Father, it is alright if they come with us?" Ike asked.

"Hmm, they seem to be very strong, and it is quite the surprise to see young children," he looked at the Ice Climbers, who were cutting down firewood. "Like them to be powerful."

"What about the 2 sub-humans?" Shinon appeared from behind him.

"Shinon, stop calling them sub-humans, even if they look odd, our group has not gotten members like them before."

"Tsk, fine."

"As I was saying before, it impresses me, really."

"Thank you sir." Marth said bowing.

"And you are a prince from a kingdom we never heard of before."

"Yes, I lead my own army."

"You mean this army?"

"...Something like that."

"It is a great honor to have such members working with us, and since you are training my son, please, continue, I want him to be strong so that he can someday lead the Greil Mercenaries."

"(...I'm feel sorry for you sir...)" Chris thought while Shinon glared at Ike when Greil said that about him, he didn't wanted to be ordered around someone younger and inexperienced than him.

"I heard there is someone as young as you and Ike named Roy, where is he?"

"Roy is trying to know better the other mercenaries of the company."

"And I beat Ike on his training." Boyd came talking with Roy.

"You seem to be very confident of yourself, was that the truth, Ike?" Roy asked.

"No, it was the other way around if I can recall." Ike said.

"Er..." Boyd looked away. "N-no, it wasn't!"

"Boyd, I even saw your defeat in the hands of Ike." Greil said, Chris and Roy chuckled.

"...Fine, Ike was the strongest one to defeat me." Boyd said rolling his eyes.

"What really is impressive is the animated puppet that can talk, are you sure you are not using magic to control him?" Greil asked.

"Geno is 100 percent real, believe or not." Roy said.

"And he is very reliable." Chris said.

"Did you call me?" Geno asked walking to them.

"No, we didn't, we were talking about your abilities." Roy said.

"Chris, I need to talk you about something."

"Yes?" Chris asked.

"It's about the next Star Spirit, we haven't been attacked by the Subspace Army or the next guard, doesn't that seems wrong?"

Not far away from them, there was a skinny dark figure crackling evily. "Geno, so it's you again..."

"Greil is with them?" There was a tall knight with purple armor standing there like normal.

"Yes, I heard Greil was your master." Ganondorf said behind him.

"And he..." He looked at Ike. "Is his son?"

"Yes, his name is Ike." The skinny figure said.

"Hmph, he may be as headstrong as Greil is...is that the?!"

"It's something wrong with the kid?" Ganondorf asked.

"T-that is Ragnell...no, it looks like Ragnell, why is that child using that sword on his filthy hands?"

"You may as well stay away from that kid, he has strange powers with him."

"And that is the reason of why he is using Ragnell?"

"...Hm?" Ike looked behind him.

"It's something wrong Ike?" Chris asked.

"I could have sworn there were people spying us."

Shinon quickly took out his bow and shot a fast arrow, but it hit the tree where they were hiding, although they were gone. "Rats, they went away!" Shinon cursed.

"Who could it be?" Chris asked.

"Probably the Subspace Army." Geno said.

"The Subspace Army is the army that you are currently fighting against as Titania told me about, right?" Greil asked.

"That's right." Marth said nodding.

"And they are trying to kill Ike?"

"Well...we don't know, but they're capable of doing that." Roy said.

"I'll do my best to stay on guard." Ike said.

"Hmm, since you saved my daughter twice, we can lend our help to you anytime you ask." Greil said.

"We'll do it too!" The Ice Climbers said walking to them.

"Such enthusiasm on all of you inspires me greatly," Greil turned his back. "I need to go to the mess hall, I hear someone was coming this way." He walked away.

"Ike, Chris, are you 2 ready for the training?" Marth asked.

"May as well start now." Ike said unsheathing his sword.

"Ike!" Mist came running to them.

"What is it, Mist?" Roy asked.

"He's back...Soren is back!"

"Soren? Why is he here so soon?" Ike asked.

"Who is Soren?" Geno asked.

"Soren is a mage, very focused on military matters that can irritate someone." Shinon said.

"Only he irritates you." Boyd said.

"Shut your mouth, Boyd"

In another area

10 minutes later...

"..." Meta Knight looked away. "Duck your head."

Falco ducked his head from the tree he was leaning to evade the arrow from Shinon. "What the heck is wrong with that guy?"

"Pit, move your right wing."

Pit moved his right wing away from another arrow. "He can fire from that distance?"

"It seems that way, Falco, left leg."

Falco moved his left leg from another arrow and frowned. "Why does everyone judge us by our appearances?"

"Because for the fact that we don't fit in any world rather than ours where we can, Pit, right hand."

Pit moved his right hand away from another arrow. "Why doesn't he stops? It's the 12th arrow now!"

"If he hates something that much, he'd rather kill it than spending time, Falco, crotch."

Falco continued to talk and tried to remember something Meta Knight told him. "I know if we can talk things over, maybe we can becom-wait, what did you say?!"

Mess Hall

"Bad news. Something big is happening, and we need to formulate a plan of action." A dark mage, Soren, said before Ike, Marth, Roy, Chris, Geno, the Ice Climbers and Boyd entered the hall.

"Soren!" Ike said.

"Hello, Ike. Long time, no see." Soren said simply with a blank expression.

"(That was just a little bit awkward.)" Chris thought.

"...Hm? I see we have new recruits..." Soren said narrowing his eyes at Chris's copy of Ragnell.

"...I-it's not what it looks like!" Chris said hiding the sword behind his back...with both hands that made him to fall.

"..." Soren sighed. "Why do I even bother..."

"Soren, they may look odd from first sight, but they are of great help to our company." Greil said.

"UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"I'm guessing that yell was coming from one of the new recruits." Soren said frowning.

"(Wait a minute, where is C. Falcon?)" Roy asked in his mind.

In yet another area of the fort

"I'm only interested in missions that include women, what about you?" Gatrie asked to C. Falcon.

"Same here pal, although most of the time many of my own missions don't include them." C. Falcon said before Gatrie patted his back and sniffed.

"I suffer your own pain."

"Thanks for understanding my feelings, I think this is the start of a great friendship, man..."

Mess Hall

"(...I'd rather not ask about him anyway...)" Roy thought sweatdropping.

"Soren, why are you here so soon?" Greil asked.

"It's because... Crimea and Daein fell into war not too long ago." Soren said.

"What!?" Ike asked shocked.

"I need to get everyone here to discuss things, it's for the best."

Another 10 minutes later...

"Is everyone here?" Soren asked, glancing at Ike, Greil, Mist, Titania, Boyd, Oscar, Rolf, Gatrie, Rhys, Shinon (shooting glares at Pit and Falco), Chris, Marth, Roy, Geno, Popo, Nana, Pit, Falco, C. Falcon and Meta Knight. "Good, as I was saying before, Crimea and Daein fell into war."

"Where's Crimea and Daein?" Popo asked.

"(You have got to be kidding me.)" Soren thought irritated.

"Shh! Popo!" Roy whispered to Popo. "We're in the Crimean Kingdom, meaning we are in Crimea!"

"Oh! Sorry! I forgot just a moment!" Popo said embarrassed before Soren let out a small grunt.

"...Going on where I left, take a look at this map." Soren said showing them a big map.

"So this is how the Crimeam Kingdom looks like." Marth remarked the details of the map.

"Don't tell me you don't know about Crimea either."

"Soren, don't be harsh on them, they came from a far distant land named Altea." Greil said.

"That explains the ignorance of this nation to you."

"Why you little-" Roy tried to strangle Soren, but Marth stopped him.

"If anyone doesn't have many more interruptions, this is Melior, the capital of Crimea." Soren said pointing at the map.

ANOTHER 10 minutes later...

"That's all right. Word of the war cannot have traveled far yet. We may well be the first ones who know of it out here. You did well to bring us this information, Soren. I know some risk was involved." Greil said as many were shocked at Soren's report.

"It was nothing." Soren said.

"(Suuuuuuuure.)" Roy thought.

"Daein has invaded Crimea... We may be mercenaries, but this still affects us." Titania said.

"What are we going to do?" Ike asked.

"Kick their asses!" Popo said swinging his hammer.

"POPO!" Most of the Smashers said annoyed.

"That's the question of the day. How do you see it, Titania?" Greil asked, ignoring Popo's answer.

"Crimea is the closest thing our company has to a homeland. The Crimean royal family and noble houses have been generous, providing us with many lucrative jobs. From a moral standpoint as well as a business one, it's in our best interest to help Crimea." Titania said.

"And you, Soren?"

"I agree on one point: we are mercenaries." Soren said.

"But I just became one!" Popo said.

"Popo! Hush!" Nana said frowning.

"(And do you think I care?) We are not Crimea's private militia. No coin has crossed our palms, so I think we should stay out of it." Soren said.

"What kind of coin is t-" Nana blocked Popo's mouth.

"Just don't mind him." Nana said.

"So you would have us sit and watch as Crimea is overrun?" Greil asked.

"I would. Daein's troops are superior in both numbers and morale. The chances of a Crimean victory are slim indeed."

"Sorry, but I have a contradiction," Marth began, "I believe with our help, this war is going to be easy."

"How in the name of Elincia can you say that? Daein's troops are a force to be reckoned with!" Soren said a little shocked.

"Crimea is ruled by King Ramon, who is known throughout the land for his wisdom. And his brother, Duke Renning, is said to possess peerless valor and courage. Daein may not find victory so easily." Titania said.

"Valor and courage are for children's tales."

"Is not!" Popo said.

"Popo, for the last time, just shut up!" Nana said angrily.

"(If that kid doesn't shut up, I'm going to resort to drastic measures.) In terms of military prowess, Daein's King Ashnard is every bit Lord Renning's equal. Victory will hinge on troop numbers and supplies, and Daein is superior in both. I think the outcome is painfully obvious." Soren said, trying to tolerate Popo as far as his very calm mind could possibly do.

"Curse you, Soren!" Greil said angrily.

"About Crimea or the parka kid?" Soren joked a little.

"Not him! Crimea is not doomed! If they can turn aside Daein's initial thrust and turn it into a test of endurance..."

"With the Crimean army both demoralized and ill prepared? They simply will not be able to hold out that long."

"And what if we take a look ourselves?" Marth suggested.

"We'll send a scouting party to get a closer look at Melior. Ike, I want you in charge of this. Assemble your men and get going." Greil commanded.

"What? Me?" Ike asked shocked.

"It's the opportunity of a lifetime, Ike!" Roy said.

"You can finally show your father how well can you command people." Marth said.

"And think about this, if I die, you'll get the full responsability and will probably be murdered someday!" Chris said and everybody stared at him. "...What?"

"...Titania will accompany you as an advisor." Greil said.

Shinon didn't liked one bit of this and stepped forward. "Commander, you must be joking! He's just a boy, and he's had barely more than a taste of battle. What do you expect a whelp like him to accomplish?"

"May I have the word?" Pit asked. "I know you dislike my presense and Falco's, but I know I speak for everyone here that you must listen to the orders of your superiors."

"Repeat that on my face to see if I can kill you."

"Both of you, stop!" Geno said. "We have the problem of the war coming up, and you're starting one here!" The scene shows everyone while Geno talks. "I know, many of you dislike the other group, others like some people like us, but what I want to mean is that we have to stop this war!"

"...I like Geno's idea, simple and yet good." Boyd said nodding raising his hand.

"Even if we are few, we can still give it a try." C. Falcon said.

"After all, we are mercenaries of Crimea." Oscar said.

"A group that works for money and helps the kingdom itself!" Gatrie said.

"Goodness and love will always win." Chris said.

A sudden moment of silence fell after he said that.

"...What?"

"That is the most cheesiest thing I've ever heard." Roy said.

"And what if I told you Lloyd says that all the time?"

"...He does?"

"(Please, tell me he is joking...)" Soren thought irritated.

"Ah, Shinon. Since you're so concerned, you can go as well." Greil ordered.

"Wait, that's not what I... Blast." Shinon cursed under his breath.

Falco slowly approached to Chris's left ear and whispered "Owned!"

Chris chuckled uncontrollably.

"You can take the new recruits with you along with Gatrye, Rhys and Soren...wait, where is Rhys?" Greil asked.

"And where is Mist?" Nana asked.

"Well, they were here just a moment ago!" Chris said.

Training Grounds

"Mist, are you alright to continue with this?" Rhys asked to Mist who was panting heavily using a staff.

"Yes... I want to learn healing magic to help my brother and everyone..." Mist said panting.

"And why in secret?"

"Because my brother could say something like, Mist, it's too dangerous to use magic, Mist, it's too dangerous to step on the battlefield, Mist, the plants from over there are dangerous, Mist, don't hold a sword like this, Mist, don't touch the meat it's hot an-"

"Fine, fine, I get it...somebody is coming! Hide your staff!" Rhys alerted her and she did it before Ike appeared.

"Mist, Rhys, there you are," Ike began. "What are you 2 doing here?"

"We were...talkng about the Daein war..." Mist said.

"And not with all of us?"

"Yes."

"...Okay, Rhys, we need to go now."

"Understood." Rhys said nodding before Mist gave Ike a sword.

"A sword? Where did you get it?" Ike asked.

"From Father. He told me to come and give it to you before the meeting." Mist said smiling a little.

"It's beautiful."

"This is the first sword you've gotten that wasn't a hand-me-down from somebody, isn't it? That's great!"

"Yeah..."

Mist began to walk away hiding her staff. "Well, be careful! Oh, and bring me a souvenir! Something nice. I've never been to Melior before..." And she went away humming happily.

"Mist, I'm not going on a vacation. Sheesh!" Ike said groaning a little while Rhys merely chuckled at this when they walked away.

Preview of the next chapter

"I'm going to kill you Ike, tell me, you're not going to pair me with these filthy sub-humans?" Shinon said enraged.

"Are you expecting me to work with these idiot children too?" Soren said glaring at Ike.

"Hey guys, guess what!" Chris said excited.

"What?" Popo asked.

"The Over Limit gauge was filled!"

"Wait...isn't that..." Titania trailed off.

"It's the Black Knight!" Soren said shocked.

"Next time: Shinon and Soren, haters of the Smashers?!" Ike said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Tellius
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink, Ike, Mist, Greil, Boyd, Titania, Oscar, Rolf, Rhys, Shinon, Gatrie, Soren

Yes, I did use some script of the game to make things a little easier for me. This game was like FFTA2! Why didn't I bought that game before? It's very interesting! XD

References:

-The title is a reference to a video I didn't saw, "Ganon knows best."

-When Marth, Falco and Roy remarks that Ike is like Marth and Roy fused into one body was a reference of a picture I found on Google, where Marth and Roy are shocked after seeing Ike, but Link (the original character who said Falco's line) remarked that they fused together, Ike asks them what's wrong with his face, and Soren, who was at Ike's side, prefers not to get in the conversation, and looks away annoyed. XD

-"Goodness and love will always win" is a reference to Lloyd Irving, one of the many unseen Dwarven Vows. XD

And no, I'm not portraying Ike as a dope, there's a bigger event coming up about that, don't worry Ike rabbid fan girls. XD

I'll let you wonder by your own, to raise the suspence. I was impressed by Soren (the mage who became a bandit later?) and Shinon's personalities and tastes. :P

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 83*: Die, Laguz, Die! Die, Popo, Die, Too!

First, sorry for posting the chapter so late, I thought the distractions were going to end, but I was wrong. T.T

Surprise, surprise, but here's Chris and Lucario to make up for it again! If you want to see the drawings, just remove the spaces. (Credit to wolfenpilot687 for posting it!)

http: / i420. photobucket. com/ albums/ pp285/ Wolfenpilot687/ DCFC0027. jpg

And one of his jobs, the musician job! (Jigglypuff is the character suitable for a combinated Final Smash).

http: / i420. photobucket. com/ albums/ pp285/ Wolfenpilot687/ DCFC0028. jpg

I did my best to draw them, please, be kind to me. (It's possible that I could draw the other jobs and characters as well, but I need to improve my skills a little).

From Seitei: Yeah, the whole "love will conquer all" is outdated and cheesy. Kind of makes me wonder if Chris is up to par in his world.

You might want to look out for who the receiver of the action is in sentences such as "And what if I /tell/ told you Lloyd says that all the time?"

I'm a bit confused on why you were thinking what if the organization trying to kill Ike are good people? I think you need to clarify on that part.

Other than that, I like the dialogue that the mercenaries are throwing around. Seems exactly what they would say.

I look forward to your next chapter and the day when Ike stops being a pansy.

From me: Errors were edited after reading your review, fortunately, I proofreaded this one and made sure it was okay, thanks. :)

From saphirarubius: Great job!
Just a note: Soren is actually a mage who turns into a sage and typically shown using wind magic because his weapon level for wind is higher when you get him. He can't use dark magic(there is none in Path of Radiance) but his attribute is dark and when he turns to a sage he can use staves or knives in addition to his magic (in all honesty, giving him a knife is useless because his strength is so low that it usually does no damage).
I bet you noticed this already but I'm a fan of Path of Radiance and an extreme fangirl of Soren...He's the best mage in all of Fire Emblem games! :P
Sorry if my review sounds like a long lecture(-.-') but your story is great and I thought your Ike was funny. I never see anyone write a clumsy Ike. Keep up the good work!

From me: THAT little mistake was corrected as well, also, I confused Soren for Sothe after doing more research, how silly of me. :P

From ngrey651: I am intrigued by the upcoming chapter, and I do hope for your sake you're NOT mobbed by Ike fangirls. Still, just to be safe, wear a hard hat to bed...they come out at night...and then they take the cows! The COWS, man!

From me: YIKES! XD (Thanks). :)

From Rellymaster: Mist does a lot of slapping, doesn't she? Poor Falco and Pit but mostly Falco. Why does Shinon hate them?
Heh heh, Ike doesn't have a clue, but he doesn't knw, so...

From me: ...So what? :P

Shinon hates the laguz which he call them "sub-humans" since he is...racist towards them and can't tolerate them, and there a bird laguz, so he mistook Falco for one and probably Pit too.

From Nintendogeek01: Well I would like to point out that in this point in time there is now way they should have known about Elincia since she was raised in secret. And also I noticed that Greil said something that Titania said in game.

Technicalities aside this way okay. I feel it's a bit awkward to have the Smashers as temporary recruits but hey it could still work out.

From me: Oh, that wasn't an error. "Winks." It was true, something happened to that world when they were taken there...though the Greil part was truly a mistake.

A horrible result is going to happen for that...a very sad one... "Creates suspence." ;)

From notfromearth07: Good job!

From me: LOL, needs more details! XD

From Shining Riku: Ha ha! That was a rather funny chapter. BUT! Things are starting to look ugly now. I figured Shinon would dislike the smashers (Prejudiced idiot) But Soren too? That spells trouble, an' lots of it!

Not much else to say, but i'm going to keep up with your updates from now on! That also means much more frequent reviews. Keep up the awesome work, and good luck with the next update! See ya next time, and take care!
-Shining Riku-

From me: You're the other enthusiastic writer, right?

Soren is almost as Shinon, but isn't racist and likes to be focused, you'll see. ;)

From swack16: In my opinon in your Metal Gear arc you should either do the Shadow Moses arc or after the Tanker incident in Metal Gear Solid 2 which Snake went missing for two years ironicly it happen in year 2007 and doesn't show up until 2009! so he might have gotten teleported to he smash world at that time.

From me: More hard decisions to me, but I'll try an-hey, and your review? XD

From wolfenpilot687: Uh-huh. A bit confusing, but I'm doing research. Did the arrow hit Falco? XP Pretty good, chris!

From me: It sure did, I'm surprised he managed to go through that. O.O Thanks. :)

From Ninja Lucario: Thank all that is good that the first person point of view was over half way through the chapter. No offence keep to the third person POV please. Mist putting both of the perverts in their places was funny. Overall good chapter. Can't wait for the ne... you probably know what i was going to say by now XD.

By the way... you owe me 3,812 (or 38,120,0 smash coins) for the surgery to repair my nose. XD

From me: ...Okay! You were almost not going to make it with the review, but you did after all. Thank you anyway. :)

And hell no, I'm not paying your health insurance or something. XD

300 reviews! ZOMG! 300 reviews! Thank you so much everyone!

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 83: Shinon and Soren, haters of the Smashers?

Capital Way

Our group of mercenaries, along with the Smashers, were now continuing their way through the plains, towards the capital, it was the afternoon, there wasn't someone waiting for them...yet.

Well, not now, but tension was rising up between the group in a wide open area.

"Oh god, something bad is going happen to us." Chris said.

"Why do you say that?" Boyd asked.

"Look around, we're in a wide open area, things always happen in WIDE OPEN areas!" He produced a long echo around the mountains too.

"Please, that is not going to happen." Ike said.

"Oh, you tell me, I experienced many things before and this one is no exception."

"Although I dislike his statement, it's the truth." Roy said.

"Wide open areas are suitable for wars." Marth said.

"And how does it feels to be in one?" Popo asked.

"Horrible, deaths, destruction and sadness." Titania said.

Popo gulped. "W-we're not going to die, right?"

"The chances are very high, we might die." Soren said.

"Why do you have to be so twisted?" Chris asked.

"Because we're dealing with Daein, a powerful nation ruled by King Ashnard."

"(And I'm talking to his son, the prince.)"

"It's something bothering you? You're staring at me with an odd look."

"N-nothing."

"..." Soren looked away as they continued to walk.

"Can I ask you a question?" Popo wondered.

"If is it not stupid, then yes."

"What is the funny drawing on your forehead? It's some kind of sign meaning you're some sort of emo boy?"

"...What did you just say?"

Nana smacked his brother and sweated after looking at Soren. "Don't mind my brother, he hit his head very hard when he was a baby."

"But really! I want to know what it i-" Popo was smacked again.

"Popo, ask another question or continue with this one, and you die." Nana whispered angrily to him.

"And simple don't get you 2 at all." Soren said frowning, walking away from the Ice Climbers.

"Great, look what you did, now he will think bad things about us!"

"You were the one who made us to look stupid if I can remem-"

We leave the killer pink Ice Climber alone, changing to Shinon.

"So sub-humans, why don't you change back to your "human" forms?" Shinon asked.

"Because we don't have one, we were born in this way." Pit said.

"Tsk, that's what sub-humans always say."

"Would you stop?" Falco began. "We're not sub-humans, we're not laguz, we're not weird, we are ourselves! Stop being a freaking racist!"

"Bird, say freaking racist to me and next time you open your eyes, you're going to see the heaven or hell."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Want to do it now?"

Shinon took his bow. "Why not?"

"Stop, both of you!" Geno said. "Remember, not wars between us."

"...Hmph." Both looked away with crossed arms.

"Why can't everyone get along for a change?" Roy asked.

"Those 2 do." Rhys said pointing at Gatrie and C. Falcon.

"With the money I get from working with the mercenaries, I'm going to give it all to my first girlfriend." Gatrie said.

"Well, I like better to first look at all the pretty women I find, then decide for one, but I just can't choose or find the appropiate one!" C. Falcon said laughing a little.

"Excuse me," Chris said. "But Gatrie's idea is going to turn out bad, I recommend you to not do that."

"Why is that?" Gatrie asked.

"Well...just don't do it! You're going to end being poor and with a heart broken!"

"Ha ha! That's funny, that's is never going to happen!"

Chris just threw his hands above him. "Okay, but don't run to me and say what happened..."

"Just be confident, you'll do it just fine!" C. Falcon said giving him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, that will help." Gatrie said smiling.

"So, anyone has a clue of what are we going to find in Melior?" Oscar asked.

"Not really, we're not going at all to Melior, we're going to find a princess that was confined from the castle and public after we fight some Daein forces in a moment, Titania is in love with Greil secretly, Greil will die very soon, Ike will become the commander of the Greil Mercenaries, someday, Shinon will like the laguz, Soren doesn't knows but he's the prince of Daein and not a Spirit Charmer but a Branded, meaning he is son of Ashnard himself, Boyd loves Titania secretly not aware from the huge age gap, Mist will marry Boyd someday, Rolf will become an archer very soon, Mist will be a crappy healer worse than Rhys and Gatrie is going to be tricked and become poor after giving all the money he won in the war." Chris said.

The party was very shocked after hearing this that they decided to stop and become something else to prevent all these things from happening.

...Of course, that could happen, since Chris didn't said that at all.

"Maybe a lot of death bodies." Chris truly said.

"I expected that." Soren said.

"We expected that from you." Oscar said.

"Why aren't you cheerful for a change?" Popo asked.

"Because I think." Soren said closing his eyes in annoyance.

"Because you think?"

"Popo, he means you don't use your mind at all." Nana said.

Inside Popo's mind, there was a rat trying to figure out where was the cheese, needless to say, the cheese was behind his back. "I don't get you."

"JUST SHUT UP!"

"Halt!" Titania said stopping them. "I heard footsteps coming from over there."

"We've got Daein soldiers moving in on our location! And they don't look happy!" Gatrie said.

"...Wait, NO! HIDE!" Chris yelled hiding somewhere.

Everyone was a little confused at this, but decided to follow him afterwards to hide.

"Why are we hiding? Don't tell me you chickened out, chicken!" Shinon said.

"Shinon," Chris sighed. "Just shut up and hear me out, I'm so very annoyed by all your ramblings since we came from the fort to here."

"Why you little-"

"Stop Shinon," Titania began and Shinon looked away cursing. "May I ask why did we hide?"

"Look, doesn't that black aura looks familiar?" Chris asked pointing at the Daein soldiers and their boss, who were covered in a familiar black aura.

"The Shadow Bugs!" Geno said.

"The Shadow Bugs? Are they some kind of new bugs in Tellius?" Rhys asked.

"I wish they were," Pit said. "Shadow Bugs are black spores from the Subspace Army that take control of someone's body and greatly increases the strength."

"And we are going to fight those soldiers?" Boyd asked.

"Unfortunately, it seems so." Oscar said.

"Ike, since you're the leader, tell us what are your orders." Marth said.

"All right, Ike. Let's see how you handle the role of captain. Well? What are your orders, boy? We'll do what you say, so long as you hurry up and spit it out!" Shinon demanded.

"I know, I know! I'm thinking! Give me a moment, will you, Shinon?" Ike asked thinking.

"Bah. Useless! We'd be better led with Mist than this soft, untested whelp."

"She beat me at chess," Chris said ashamed. "She was very good for her first time."

"Let's see..." Ike examined the area. "We're in the middle of the road, and there's not much cover."

"WIDE OPEN AREA, remember?"

"I'm thinking, don't distract me! Hmm... Soren and Rhys are vulnerable, so we have to protect them from enemy attacks... Right?

"That's a sound strategy, Ike. I can attack from behind your defenses. Good thinkin-" Soren was interrupted.

"I'm not done."

"What?"

"Now that we have more recruits, I think we should sort everyone well around to have a much better defense."

"Very well thinking Ike." Titania remarked.

"So here's the plan, our offensive force will be Titania, Marth, Roy, Oscar, Boyd, Gatrie, Falcon, Chris (Chris: (WHY ME?!)) and Meta Knight."

"...Wait, I don't like where is this going..." Shinon said.

"And the next one, the defensive force will be the ones attacking from afar using arrows and magic while being protected by the others I didn't mention before."

"...Ike...don't tell me..." Soren trailed off, trying to not look at the Ice Climbers.

"Shinon will be protected by Pit and Falco, Soren will do it with Popo and Nana, while Rhys will stay far away and stay alert for the wounded, of course, Popo, Nana, Pit or Falco need to protect him together too."

"I'm going to kill you Ike, tell me, you're not going to pair me with these filthy sub-humans?" Shinon said enraged.

"Are you expecting me to work with these idiot children too?" Soren said glaring at Ike.

"I'm going to do it regardless your questi-" Ike was interrupted.

"They were rhetorical questions Ike, meaning we didn't wait for an answer."

"Why can't I be on the offensive force?" Falco asked, shooting glares at Shinon.

"You have to trust him and he will do that too." Ike said.

"...Fine, but thank me after we get roasted-bird for dinner." Shinon said.

"What was that?" Falco asked angrily.

"I know you 2 weren't going to accept it, that's why I'm leaving Geno behind with you to act as "peace creator." Ike said.

"Okay, I understand." Geno said.

"But I don't!" Nana said angrily.

"Boss! We found them!" A soldier said shouting.

Attack

"Mercenaries! Move out and don't die on my hands!" Ike ordered and the mercenaries spreaded and formed Ike's formation. "Just like you said, Marth."

"Exactly." Marth said nodding and running with Ike.

"Let's hit them many times to fill the Over Limit gauge!" C. Falcon said.

"Oh, but I'll be the first one to show off my Final Smash!" Roy said.

"Just concentrate and show off later, if I die, I'll haunt you in your dreams!" Chris threatened.

"The first soldiers are coming this way, be careful, they have the Shadow Bugs on their side!"

"Like if the Shadow Bugs are going to help us..." Meta Knight frowned.

"I wonder if Soren and Shinon will get along with them..." Chris wondered.

Since this chapter features the interaction between these 5 (or 6 in Nana's case), we will see what were they doing on the back of the offensive forces.

"First, Ike gets to be my captain, then, I have to be paired up with th-" Shinon was interrupted.

"Sub-humans." Pit and Falco repeated annoyed.

"Grr, why don't you 2 go away or something?"

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing...but about you." Falco said.

"Enough, please, we can't waste time arguing between ourselves or the enemy will kill us!" Pit said.

"I expected that from the puppet guy." Shinon said.

"Did you call me?"

"UAH!" Shinon backed away from Geno who appeared behind him. "What were you doing behind me and when did you appear there?"

"Since you started wasting your time in another unnecessary discussion with Falco, and he wasted time too."

"Wait, are you putting the blame on me too? He started it!" Falco said.

"Both of you were fools."

"Excuse me!?" Both asked angrily.

"What about Pit?" Falco asked pointing angrily at Pit.

"Hey, I was the first one who didn't wanted to have a fight!" Pit said defending himself.

"You 3 will fight together, you like it or not." Geno said before soldiers ran towards them. "Here they come, prepare!"

"Bah! With Shadow Bugs or not, this is going to be easy." Shinon said before shooting an arrow, but it bounced off. "What the?! My arrows didn't worked!"

"Of course not, you need to have a better attack than that."

"Useless bugs, fine! Many guys have weaknesses and they are no exceptions!"

"Glory to Tabuu!" A soldier said raising his sword.

"You're going down, pal! Without one eye!" Shinon said aiming his arrow at the soldier's right eye.

"Don't be stupid, nobody can hit an eye directly with an arrow!" Pit said.

His statement proved to be wrong, Shinon managed to hit the eye directly and the soldier yelled in pain. "What were you saying, sub-human?"

"He's still charging at us!"

"How about if I shot down his other eye?"

"How about if I kick his face?" Falco said dashing towards the soldier and jumped to deal a strong kick on his face, knocking him out. "Yeah, that's more like it."

"Behind you!" Pit shouted, Falco turned his head and 3 soldiers were about to slash his back.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno threw his quick whirl to ther heads, but wasn't able to defeat them. "Darn it, the attack didn't worked!"

"Leave those scums to me!" Shinon preparing to fire several arrows to their necks.

"Please, let me use my arrows too!" Pit said using his bow.

"Who do you think you are? A better sniper than me?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but I do admit you have better accuracy and aim than mine."

"...Tsk, just fire! Fire!" Both archers started to fire a barrage of arrows that made the soldiers to stagger.

"Now, attack them while they can't respond!" Geno shouted, Falco nodded and did the same thing like the last time, though he did the kick hitting the 3 soldiers with one strike, knocking them out.

Back with Soren and the Ice Climbers.

"I'd better reserve a grave in the cemetery." Soren said bluntly.

"Hey, my brother here is the stupid one, don't compare me to him!" Nana said.

"Yeah!" Popo said, making both of them to sweatdrop. "I-I mean, I'm not stupid!"

"Then you 2 better start acting, because they're coming this way." Soren pointed out as 2 soldiers rushed towards them.

"And you're not going to do anything?" Nana asked raising an eyebrow.

"I won't slack off, I have my wind magic with me to attack from afar," Soren looked around. "But be aware of the archers hiding in the trees, they could take me down."

"Popo, here they come, stay focused for ONCE."

"I'm always focuse-" Popo found a worm on the ground and ducked to see it. "Hi Wormy!"

SMACK!

"Popo! What did I say before?!"

"You killed Wormy, you bastard!"

"It was necessary to get you out of it!"

"You dorks, stay sharp!" Soren said angrily.

"I'm not a dork, dork!" Nana said angrily.

"You did not said that!"

"I did, I have freedom and liberty to express my thoughts!"

"Then just hold your position!"

"And I'm doing that, don't you see?!"

"Yes, but where's your brother?"

"Right here!" Nana looked behind her and Popo was gone. "POPO!"

"A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!" Popo yelled while he was being constantly slashed by the soldiers.

"Rise, o violent winds!" Soren chanted before a explosion of winds pushed away the soldiers from Popo.

"You're not a bad guy after all." Nana said.

"I'm focused on this battle, following orders as I was instructed."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything about us at all."

"Nana! I need your help, they're chasing me!" Popo shouted while he tried to run away from the soldiers.

Soren saw various shines coming from behind leaves of the trees and gasped. "Archers! They're hiding in the trees after all!"

"But Popo need my support!" Nana said.

"Act fast or I'll be killed if you don't!"

"Wait, I have an idea, Popo, freeze them!"

"O-okay!" Popo said inhaling air and turning his to use Blizzard, which frozed the soldiers for 5 seconds, enough to him to reunite with Nana.

"You can breath ice?" Soren asked.

"Uh-huh, we have the ice in our names for something!"

"Popo, actually, we have the ice in our nicknames, not our names."

"Really? I thought my name was Popo Ice."

"..." Nana smacked her face and frowned. "...The archers!"

"They're starting to attack!" Soren said as arrows were flying towards him.

"Wait a minute, Popo! Let's make an ice wall!" Nana suggested.

"But how?" Popo asked.

"Simple, we breath ice at each other from afar, the ice breath will crash and make an ice wall, hurry! Soren can die if we can't do that!" Nana said dashing to the other side and both Ice Climbers used Blizzard pointing at each other, the cold wind crashed and quickly formed an ice wall where the arrows were stopped just in time from saving Soren.

"Hmm, good strategy." Soren said.

"How are we going to attack those archers?" Popo asked.

"If you use your hammers on the trees to shake them off, maybe you can push them to the ground while I cast my magic, where did he go?" Soren asked because Popo instantly disappeared.

"Shake them-off from tree I-will! Shake them-off from the tree I-will!" Popo sang while he smashed his hammer continuously on the tree to push off the archers.

"Go and help him, I will attack after they fall!" Soren ordered and Nana quickly ran to his brother to offer aid.

Eventually, the archers fell down the tree but prepared to shoot arrows to the Ice Climbers.

"(If I can use the wind at the right time to change the directions of the arrows, maybe I can deal more damage using their own arrows than using my magic.)" Soren thought while he chanted his spell.

"YIKES!" Nana yelled as the archers fired their arrows at the same time to them.

"Violent winds, change the directions!" Soren casted winds that appeared in front of the scared Ice Climbers, the winds acted like a reflective wall that shot the arrows back to the archers's head, killing them with one shot. "It worked, that was close."

"I shall respect thou with thee loyalty!" Popo said speaking poetically.

"Popo...shut up..." Nana said frowning.

Back to the offensive force.

"It's the Over Limit gauge filled yet?" C. Falcon asked.

"No." Chris said.

"Now?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No!"

"What about now?"

"No! We need more hits, keep attacking them!"

"Hey, why don't we use the items now?"

"I could use the Beam Sword to deal more damage."

"You're not fun, let me use the Super Mushroom!"

"No thanks, I don't want the mercenaries asking me to explain that...besides, I think you're going to boast your muscles to the enemies while you crush them."

C. Falcon shifted his eyes. "N-no, what makes you say that?"

"A hunch."

"Look out!"

"What?!" Chris turned his head and was about to be sliced by a sword, but Meta Knight appeared using Dimensional Cape to use Galaxia as a shield. "T-thanks Meta Knight!"

"Get out of here!" Meta Knight said, struggling.

"Wait, let me help you, keep him like that!" Chris said raising his heavy sword in the air to slam it into the soldier, killing him with a heavy strike. "Ugh! M-my sword got stuck in the ground!"

"There are more coming this way, go away!"

"I-I can't! I can't leave my sword here!"

"Die you pest!" The soldiers said in unison charging at Chris, Meta Knight grunted in irritation and used Mach Tornado to trap them in, continuously slashing them before stopping.

"C. Falcon! Use the Bunny Hood!" Chris said throwing the Bunny Hood to C. Falcon's head, but the captain backed away. "Use it!"

"No way, that thing will embarrass me in front of Gatrie!" C. Falcon refused.

"Use it! Meta Knight can't take 6 soldiers down alone!"

"...Okay okay!" C. Falcon dashed using the Bunny Hood on his head, dramatically increasing his speed. "FALCON KICK!" He yelled as his right leg catched fire and went fastly towards the 6 soldiers, the hood increased the speed of the attack and turned the captain into a ground-human meteor, blasting off the soldiers to the trees where they lost consciousness. "Ha! Take that!"

Unbestknown to C. Falcon, Gatrie was chuckling uncontrollably after seeing him wearing a ridiculous hat above his helmet. "Hehehe..."

"...Oh, damn you, Chris!" C. Falcon cursed, throwing the Bunny Hood away from his head.

"Bunny!" Chris yelled, taking out his sword from the ground before the hood could disappear.

"..." Meta Knight turned his back and flew away.

"So, I think he is the boss." Marth said glaring daggers at Maijin, the boss of the soldiers who was covered by the Shadow Bugs.

"You filthy Crimean soldiers, you will taste the judgement of Lord Tabuu!" Dark Maijin said laughing evily.

"Lord Tabuu?" Titania repeated.

"He's the guy who controls the Subspace Army, we haven't seen his face yet, but I know he causes all these problems to us." Roy explained.

"Surrender at once!" Dark Maijin demanded.

"But if we do that, we're going to be cowards, no thanks!" Boyd said.

"Surrendering could mean defeat." Oscar said.

"You're outnumbered, you should be the one surrendering!" Ike pointed out.

"Such stupid comments coming from you, the Shadow Bugs don't need to be underestimated, come forth!" Dark Maijin summoned spores of darkness that materialized into 6 Shaydas.

"W-what the hell are those things!?" Boyd asked.

"They're the monsters that works for them, be careful, they're strong!" Roy said before dashing towards one of the Shaydas, who tried to slash Roy instead, but its blades and Roy's sword clashed. "Ugh!"

"Help is on the way, my friend!" Boyd said charging towards Roy to give aid, but 2 Shaydas slashed him. "Oww! T-that hurts you monsters!"

"Those pink cores that they have looks suspicious," Marth began. "Maybe they're their weak points?"

"Then let's see!" Oscar said ordering his horse to rush towards a Shaydas, Titania was the one who rushed first using her horse to block the blades of the Shaydas to let Oscar to impale his lance on the core, as expected as Marth said before, the core was its weak point and it went blasting off.

"My suspicions were right, attack the cores!"

"This should be easy then." Ike said.

"Have you forgotten completely about me?" Dark Maijin asked glaring at Ike.

"Boyd is an ever greater challenge to me than you." Ike said.

"Thanks man!" Boyd said before he was pushed by a Shaydas.

"Die in the hands of Daein and the Subspace Army!" Dark Maijin said charging at Ike with his lance.

"Hold it!" Roy said stepping between the 2, using Counter to try to push Dark Maijin back.

"Roy! How did you do that?" Ike asked.

"A-ask me later...ugh! Help me!"

"Lances have the upper hand."

"Would you help me out?!"

"Fine, sheesh!" Ike said rushing towards Dark Maijin, but the boss took out another weapon. "Another sword?!"

"Hahahaha! I can wield a lance and a sword in each hand, thank the Shadow Bugs for that!" Dark Maijin said before thrusting his weapons on both swordmen, which dealt severe damage.

"Rhys! Roy and Ike need to be healed, do you work!" Oscar said struggling from a Shaydas's blades.

"I can't heal from this distance, someone has to offer me protection to get close to them!" Rhys said where Soren and the Ice Climbers were.

"Go with him." Soren said.

"B-but what about you?" Nana asked preocupied.

"If you didn't noted before, their boss and those monsters are the only ones left, go."

"Then with who are they fighting?" Nana asked pointing at Shinon's group.

"Fighting between themselves, it seems, the puppet Geno is trying to calm them down, but with no success and the sub-huma-"

Nana groaned. "For the last time, they-are-not-sub-humans! They are themselves! Why can't you believe in us!?"

"Because I have yet to see their "human" forms and...wait..."

"Human forms? Are you nuts? They don't have "human" forms, they can't transform into anything, because THEY can't from the beginning!"

"...I'll see by myself."

"Nana! Let's go, I'm bored of not doing anything!" Popo said swinging his hammer around.

"Please, lead the way and offer me protection." Rhys asked with a small smile.

"CANAIDAAAAAAAAA!" Popo yelled running to the front.

"...Chris! Just how many things did you tell to my clueless brother when I wasn't looking?!" Nana asked while they were running, spotting Chris trying to find the Bunny Hood in some bushes.

"How did you know it was me?!" Chris asked while he looked around.

"While those 3 are getting closer, I'll try to stop Shinon from murdering someone unnecessary." Soren said walking towards Shinon's group.

"Calm down! Please! Nothing good will come out from this useless dispute!" Geno said.

"Shinon, I don't think they are sub-humans, now, if you can, stop this nonsense at ONCE!" Soren ducked in time to evade an arrow. "Shinon! You just were going to kill me with that thing!"

"Soren, I don't listen to orders coming from a bastard like you." Shinon said.

"Always the uncooperative loner, I see."

"Me? Uncooperative? I'm trying to take these sub-humans down by mys-"

"OK, THAT DOES IT!" Falco said enraged stomping the floor.

"Falco, don't get away by hi-" Pit was pushed away to the ground by the avian and put a grip on Shinon's neck.

"Listen you! If you don't stop being the bastard racist you are, discriminating someone that ISN'T a stupid sub-thing, I'm going to be the one to shut your mouth, but for the eternity!"

Shinon put a grip of Falco's neck. "And you listen to me, do you think I'm going to hear your demands towards me? I'd better off to roast you for dinner to end this nonsense as Soren said before!"

"CHRIS!" Falco shouted. "GIVE ME THE SUPER MUSHROOM TO SHOW THIS GUY WHO'S THE BOSS AROUND HERE!"

"I don't support disputes, sorry!" Chris said from afar.

"I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR SORRY ASS IF YOU DON'T, BELIEVE ME!"

"Lucario's going to do the same thing, remember!"

"(...Well, that's true...)"

"So, you're done, sub-hum-" Shinon was interrupted before Falco lunged at him and started a fight while they argued.

PUNCH! SMACK! PUNCH! PUNCH! SMACK! HIT! PUNCH!

"Do something, at this rate, they're going to kill each other!" Geno said.

"That's the idea!" Both said before returning to the fight.

"Geno, and..." Soren trailed off.

"Pit." Pit said.

"Pit, back away, I'm going to end this nonsense at once."

"How?" Geno asked.

"Back off." Soren said before chanting a spell.

Back with Chris...

"Chris, you should stop searching for that, the items disappear after a time." Marth said.

Chris stuck his head out of the bushes. "Oh...yes...I forgot..." An explosion of wind ocurred after he spoke, where Soren and the others were, 2 persons in particular (coughShinoncoughFalcocough) yelled in pain after that.

"Shh! Chris! Over here!" Kawashima called him from his pocket.

"What is it?"

5 seconds later...

"Hey guys, guess what!" Chris said excited.

"What?" Popo asked.

"The Over Limit gauge was filled!"

Music stops

Most of the Smashers (even Falco) stopped doing their things and looked at Chris with widened eyes.

"Really?!" They asked.

"Stop ignoring me!" Dark Maijin said, before Roy pushed him away like he was nothing to him, even Ike was a little shocked, even the mercenaries, what was so special about this Over Limit gauge?

"...So...who is going to use the Final Smash?" Chris asked a little confused.

20 seconds later...

"We The Palutena! For I'll Get can fight Give me Caelin! show out of fight..." Between many other sentences from the interested ones (the Ice Climbers, Pit, C. Falcon, Roy and Falco) were heard, not syncronized at all, and the Over Limit wasn't activated either.

"Ugh! Why can't they just shut up for a moment?!" Boyd asked as he fought Dark Maijin by himself.

"Well, there's a magic called "Over Limit" that lets them use a powerful attack, but to use it, one must hit a target many times to fill a bar or gauge, then say a special sentence to activate it, since everyone are saying their sentences at the same time, they can't use it." Marth explained.

"They're repeating it again." Titania pointed out before attacking a Shaydas.

"Why can't any of them focus right now?" Oscar asked.

"Because this is the first time they can see their powerful attack." Marth said.

"Why they don't just decide?" Soren asked.

"It's the same thing when we need to decide to eat something for dinner, it ends always in a fight or food fight."

"Why don't you use it instead of them?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think they can't use that because their sentences are mixing up in the same place, however, you are far away, try to use it."

"Hmm...well, I'm quite interested in seeing my own attack so..." Marth paused for a moment and lifted his sword in the air. "For the kingdom of Altea!" Marth shouted to the sky and an explosion of rainbow aura covered him and his eyes glowed.

"So, that's the Over Limit." Soren said.

"...I thought you were going to be surprised." Marth said.

"Amused, in reality, surprised would be seeing someone as the Black Knight in this field, which is not going to happen."

"The Black Knight?"

"One of Daein's Four Riders, they have blessed weapons that are impossible to break or deal damage without another blessed weapon." Soren explained, while Boyd was pushed away by Dark Maijin.

"But they are in Daein, right?"

"Of course, but with this war, they're probably on the loose."

"I see..."

A moment of awkward silence soon followed.

"...Are you going to use that "Final Smash" or something on their boss?" Soren asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, right, I forgot." Marth turned his back and dashed towards Dark Maijin.

"So, they send a small guy to take me out? How pathetic!" Dark Maijin said while he tried to hit Meta Knight with both weapons.

"Frankly speaking, you're no match for me." Meta Knight said while he dodged his attacks.

"What did you say?"

Meta Knight knew the moment to make him angry. "What you heard, are you deaf?"

"WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

"NO! META KNIGHT!" Ike yelled stepping between them.

"NO! YOU IDIOT!" Meta Knight yelled at the sudden event, Meta Knight was aware that he could take out Dark Maijin, but without someone else getting in his way, and that person was unfortunately Ike...

SLASH!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"IKE!" All the mercenaries (surprisingly, even Shinon) and the Smashers yelled worried at the same time before Ike collapsed with a severe wound as he twitched in pain.

"B-blood is getting out of his arm!" Chris said twitching in fear.

"YOU WILL NOT MOCK MY PRESENCE!" Dark Maijin said laughing evily. "Huh?!"

"Ha!" Marth's sword Falchion shone brightly and at blinding speed, he dashed towards Dark Maijin who held his weapons pointing at Marth.

"Bah! Do you think a mere sword is going to-" Marth's sword was able to desintegrate both weapons when the swordsman pointed it at Dark Maijin, but the sword didn't even touched the weapons, the wind that the sword created was very hard and made the work. "WHAT THE?!"

"Hmph." Was the only thing Marth said before stabbing Dark Maijin's armor, piercing his heart directly, then, the prince removed his sword and prepared to sheath it as his aura vanished. "Only the ignorants fall in battle," he sheathed his sword and Dark Maijin fell with a grunt. "You are no exception."

"Gwaa haa... Wretched curs... You will regret your decision to oppose Daein and the... Subspace Army... hehehe..." Dark Maijin said before he collapsed, and presumably died as the Shadow Bugs left his body and vanished.

"First, I need to say Marth's Final Smash was incredible, a critical hit, I think, second, IKE!" Chris ran towards Ike.

"Is he okay?!" Boyd asked.

"Let me see his arm!" Rhys asked.

"UGH!" Ike twitched more in pain.

"Not good, he received a lot of damage, and his blood is quickly leaving his body, we have to take him back to the fort!"

Pit looked at Shinon, who was searching for something in the dead bodies of the soldiers. "What are you doing?" Pit asked.

"This swine's got some nice weapons. Besides, he ain't gonna complain. He won't need them where he's going." Shinon said.

"And where is he going?" Popo asked.

"Where dead people go, you idiot." Nana said.

"Skyworld?"

"What?" Pit asked with a glare.

"Get a hold of yourself! We can't afford such behavior right now. Steal from the dead on your own time." Soren said.

"What? You judgmental little-" Shinon was interrupted.

"Soren! Shinon! Stop this at once! This is no place for us to wastetime bickering amongst ourselves!" Titania said.

"Ooooh, tension between comrades, I'm experienced in that." Popo said before Nana smacked him. "See?"

"...Wait a minute, where is Gatrie?" C. Falcon asked looking around.

"I haven't seen him ever since he laughed at you for the Bunny Hood." Meta Knight pointed out.

"You have to remind me those things, don't you?"

"...ruuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn!!" Just then, Gatrie dashed past in front of them, carrying an unconscious beautiful lady on his arms towards the fort.

"Hey, Gatrie, score!" C. Falcon said making a thumbs up, before Chris kicked his crotch. "OWW!"

"You perv! Behave yourself!" Chris said irritated. "Why was he running away?"

Everyone looked at the direction where Gatrie came from and Geno took a closer look. "...You!"

There was the dark-skinny figure approaching, laughing evily, his head had a spear, but he had a long, sharp stick on his right hand and a cape and...you know what? It's Yaridovich which was covered by the Shadow Bugs, it's hard to explain what the hell was that guy composed of anyway.

Power-Hungry Fool
(Yes, we're using it for real this time)

"Geno...long time no see..." Dark Yaridovich said. "How have you been?"

"Yaridovich!" Geno said glaring at him.

"It's one of the generals of the Subspace Army?" Oscar asked and Geno nodded.

"Wait, just to complete this moment, Mallow needs to make a sudden appearance!" Chris said excited.

"How ironic, he will later." Geno said.

"...No way...no (BEEP) way..."

"We have to take Ike to the fort, ignore him!" Oscar said turning his back and directed his horse towards the fort carrying the injured Ike, running with Rhys and Marth.

"W-wait, we can't leave! One Star Spirit is in his hands!" Geno said.

"I laugh at your "skinningness," my arrows will pierce you through no matter what." Shinon said, preparing to shoot an arrow.

"Hahaha... You're the laugh here, my boy." Yaridovich said.

"What'd you say?" Shinon asked with a glare.

"I have company with me, or should I say, powerful company?"

"The Greil Mercenaries... Where is Ike and Greil?" The soldier in the bulky, purple armor (that it looked purple by the sun, but was black) asked, appearing behind some trees together with Ganondorf.

"Ganondork's here?" Roy asked.

"Impudent little red-haired boy!" Ganondorf said grunting.

"Too bad Link isn't here to see me finish you!"

"...Wait, no! We have to retreat!" Chris said shocked.

"Wait...isn't that..." Titania trailed off.

"It's the Black Knight!" Soren said shocked.

"So even filthy Crimean people know about my strength?" The Black Knight asked.

"(Wait a minute...something is wrong with this...)" Chris thought, trying to remember something important.

Flashback

"How in the name of Elincia can you say that? Daein's troops are a force to be reckoned with!" Soren said a little shocked.

End of flashback

"Soren, do you know who is Elincia?" Chris asked.

"Why do you want to ask me that in a moment like this?" Soren asked.

"Answer me!"

"...Fine, yes, Elincia is a princess confined from the castle and the public just for her safety and not cause national turmoil, only a selected few know about her existence, I was able to know about her and probably the girl that Gatrie was carrying was her." Soren explained and Chris looked to the Black Knight.

"(He wasn't supposed to appear yet, did we messed up something when we appeared here?)"

"Is something bothering you?"

"N-nothing..."

"What are you doing here?" Titania asked.

"They asked me Greil was "hiding" here, show him to me!" The Black Knight demanded, noticing that Roy and C. Falcon were running towards him.

"NO! BOTH OF YOU, YOU CAN'T DEFEAT HIM!" Soren yelled.

"I think otherwise!" Roy said lifting his sword.

"You're going down!" C. Falcon said.

"OK, I know what C. Falcon said was overused and cheesy, BUT PLEASE, DON'T ATTACK HIM!" Chris said shocked.

The Black Knight took out his sword slowly. "Enough with you!"

With a simple swing of his sword, the attacks that were going to collide into him were nothing, Roy's sword was flung to the other side of the field and C. Falcon suffered a great deal of damage. "UGH! The...pain...it's...too much...for me..." C. Falcon said holding his hand in pain.

"We are no match for the Black Knight, we must retreat!" Titania ordered.

"Then let's take the other one down!" Shinon said.

"No! Retreat, fall back!" Titania said running away.

"Grr... Fine!"

"But we can defeat them, I know that!" Popo said running along with the others.

"I'll explain the situation in the fort, just keep moving!" Soren said running.

"C. Falcon, i-it's your hand alright?" Chris asked.

"I...think so...but...he rendered it with one slice..." C. Falcon said twitching a little in pain.

"I hate to run away from a fight...but..." Falco trailed off.

"Trust me, it's for the best!" Chris said.

The mercenaries and the Smashers managed to run away from the trio, who chuckled evily at this as they disappeared in the distance, then, the Black Knight began to walk to their direction.

"Let's make an assault to their fort." The Black Knight said walking.

"You want to kill Greil right now." Ganondorf said with a smirk.

"Right, this shall be the day for his death and funeral, along with his son and daughter."

"Don't forget about Geno, that freak will go down as well." Yaridovich said.

Mercenary Fort

Crimean Army Sortie

"Mist! Everyone is coming back!" Rolf said with a smile after he saw everyone else returning back.

"Really? I thought they were going to Melior," Mist began, before her eyes saw something. "Hey...isn't that my brother?... Ike?"

"Reunion at the mess hall, we got an injured soldier!" Oscar yelled from afar.

"Who got injured?" Rolf asked to Mist.

"I don't know..." Her eyes quickly widened while her pupils shrunk.

"What is it?"

"...Ike...Ike...IIIIIIIIIIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" Mist cried out after seeing his brother deverly injured, the soon-to-be healer ran towards them, trying to not cry, which was useless and began to cry.

"What is the ruckus all about?" Greil asked.

"It's Ike! H-he got injured in the arm!" Roy said when they arrived.

"Ike?!"

"Ugh!" Ike twitched in pain while Rhys tried to heal him.

"What happened to him?! Tell me!"

"Who is that woman?" Rolf asked, pointing at Elincia.

"Reunion at the mess hall, I shall explain the situation." Soren said calmly.

Mess Hall

"The Black Knight?!" Greil said a little shocked.

"Yes, he appeared after Marth slayed a Daein general down, and the girl we found unconscious is Elincia, she is the princess of Crimea as I have explained before." Soren said.

"There's no doubt those bastards are heading to our location now." Shinon said.

"A battle in our own fort?" Gatrie asked.

"It seems that way." Marth said.

"Okay, since this fight is against someone very hard to defeat, we have to cooperate this time." Chris said.

"The odds of losing are very high, it would be a miracle to defeat the Black Knight." Soren explained.

"Leave him to me." Greil said.

"C-captain! You can't!" Titania said shocked.

"It is destiny for us to fight, sorry Titania, you must understand."

"...I-I do...but..."

"Boyd, is Rhys curing Ike?"

"Yeah, he is doing his best to heal him, Mist was crying for Ike and decided to help Rhys in everything she could do to see him." Boyd said.

"And Princess Elincia?"

"She's still sleeping, apparently, she was very exhausted after running." Rolf said.

"And who is watching her?"

Music stops

Dormitories

"Beautiful..." Gatrie said while he looked at Elincia

"A little sexy..." C. Falcon said while he did the same thing as Gatrie.

"But too hot..." Both said drooling a little.

Mess Hall

Crimean Army Sortie

"...I see..." Greil said before shaking his head. "Everyone! We must protect Princess Elincia from harm, do your best to protect this fort! But leave the Black Knight to me, that is an order!"

"We have to take out Yaridovich and retrieve the next Star Spirit too." Geno said.

"Don't forget about Ganondork," Roy began. "He will probably attack along with them."

"Please...I just don't want to die...again..." Chris muttered.

"...I shall offer my assistance to you." Meta Knight said looking away.

"...You will do it?"

"Yes."

"...Thanks."

"...Isn't this silence a little bit odd?"

"Silence?" Falco repeated.

"Open your ears and listen. Listen! All of you!" Greil said.

"Huh? ...What is it?"

"I'm hearing something!" Popo said.

"What?" Nana asked.

"Our voices."

SMACK!

"Moving on, I don't hear anything." Pit said.

"Idiot! That's the problem. Don't you think that's a bit odd? Complete silence, in all four directions." Shinon said.

"The silence is odd, there must be something happening outside." Marth said.

"Not only are the animals quiet, but the bugs are silent, too. And that is unnatural beyond belief. Which means..." Oscar trailed off.

"You can even hear animals and bugs!" Popo said, before Nana smacked his head.

"Wait... I heard something..." Soren trailed off.

"...Footsteps...a lot of them..." Shinon said.

"...I don't think so..." Meta Knight said.

"Why?" Chris asked.

"There are not only footsteps, there are rolling, sharp and heavy sounds, meaning they're bringing many of them, it could be a trap to lure us out, but we don't have a choice."

"Probably so. But the deal is, we're not so naive or inexperienced as to fall for their trap. Everyone, take your positions! We're going to settle this right now! Protect the fort and both Ike and princess Elincia from harm, I don't want my son to die this day!" Greil ordered.

"Understood!" All of them said before rushing outside.

Another dormitory

"Mist, bring me sample A." Rhys said.

"R-right." Mist said handing him a small green tube.

"Magic isn't going to work alone, we have to use medicines or combine them to create a better effect to heal such deep wound."

"R-Rhys..."

Rhys chuckled heartily. "Don't worry, Ike is not going to die or lose his arm, I'll try to heal him as soon as possible."

"...C-can I use my healing skills on him?"

"Well...I think that could ease the pain."

"T-then I will use them!" Mist said sniffing, taking out her staff.

"...Looks like a fight is going to start outside."

"What?"

"They're here, but stay focused on Ike, we must heal him as fast as we can!"

"(...Please...hang on...Ike...)"

Preview of the next chapter

"...Oh...my...god..."

"We're completely surrounded, they're everywhere!" Oscar said glancing around the field around the fort, finding a lot of Primids.

"Let's see how you handle it being a scarecrow!" Yaridovich said.

"A what?" Falco asked confused.

"We can't lose...not now!"

"Is the Over Limit gauge ready?" Roy asked.

"Not yet!"

"WAIT! NO! DON'T BE STUBBORN AND SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE!"

SLASH!!

"FAAAAAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!" Mist cried out dropping to her knees.

"Next time: The Unexpected Result!" Roy said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Tellius
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink, Ike, Mist, Greil, Boyd, Titania, Oscar, Rolf, Rhys, Shinon, Gatrie, Soren

References:

-Popo saying "CANAIDAAAAAAA!!" was some kind of reference to a quote I saw on a messed up video of Tales of the Abyss, but is not a reference to Tales of the Abyss, do you know?

It seems the person that Geno called was Mallow, when is he going to appear? What is going to happen in the final chapter of the arc? Will Ike recover? (LOL, You must recover! Get it?) Will Shinon stop being a stupid bastard racist towards Pit and Falco? XD

Read and review! :)

*Chapter 84*: The Unexpected, And Yet Expected Result

Yes! Finally! The last chapter of this arc is here! No more research until Metal Gear Solid 2 or 3! :D

From Chef Colette: Great chapter!
I agree.Shinon is a jerk!
Anyway,keep up the great work!

From me: Thank you, I'll do that! :D

From Mariko-ai-chan: "Just concentrate and show off later, if I die, I'll haunt you in your dreams!"
O.O
"Really? I thought my name was Popo Ice."
It's not?You lied to me Paco!!
"Bunny!"
Nya!
"CANAIDA!" Popo yelled running to the front.
"...Chris! Just how many things did you tell to my clueless brother when I wasn't looking?!" "How did you know it was me?!"
Cause she's a girl nya.We just know.
...WAIT A MINUTE!!THE LINK DON'T WORK NYA!...Dang!

From me: The link should work now, enjoy Lucario and Chris. ;)

From saphirarubius: Is Popo really that stupid?
Soren is not only the prince of Daien but he is a prince of Goldoa because his mother is the daughter of the king, making Soren the king's grandson... I think I'll have Soren in all my reviews if this keeps up. (-.-')
You're doing a great job, and I think it's funny that everybody is obssessed about the Overlimit gauge. I can't wait to see Roy's final smash. Will Ike still have the same final smash, because the only reason he has fire was to make up for dumping Roy out of Brawl. Ike is not even a fire attribute... Anyways, keep up the good work.

From me: Maybe. XD

Oh, I may had ignored some information, but that's okay with you, I guess. And you get to see his Final Smash in this chapter. ;)

From notfromearth7: I enjoy how you're balancing the in-game plots for each series while adding a little bit of animeish humor. Oh, you don't have to have the previews. We've all played these games before, we know what's going to go down.

I don't know why I haven't done this yet, but this is going on my favorites and alerts.

From me: "Rolls eyes." Have you noticed before that the previews show different things? You should read more. ;D

From Seitei: I can't see your drawings. Are they on Photobucket?

Just a few word problems:

"not wars between us" - "no wars between us"

Past negative: I assume that in Spanish there's a helping verb and a past participle for the verb, right? If you're using a word such as "did," the verb stays in the present tense.

(e.g., "You did not said that" - "You did not say that")

Anyways, I loved the interaction between the characters and Marth's Final Smash (would of been hilarious if that HP bar was displayed and dropped to 0).

Keep updating!

(...this is also a lame attempt to get you to read my SSB fic.)

From me: Yes, in fact, they are, but the links are now fine for you to see.

And thank you very much for telling me that, this chapter was proofreaded for not more mistakes thanks to you. ;D (Though I may have missed some minor errors).

Oh don't worry, I already read that, good story, from all the characters besides Lucario, Fox is my next favorite. ;)

From ngrey651: Hmm...will Shinon stop being a stupid racist bastard?

(Shakes magic 8 ball)

...oh boy. Outlook not so good...

From me: "Sighs." You just will have to wait. XD

From Rellymaster: C. Falcon and Gatrie seem to only think with their messed-up, prverted minds XD. Reminds me of Jiraiya. Shinon had a bad experience with the Laguz, hm? Your drawing is decent. At least now there's no confusion, but strangely, that's the exact image I had in mind. Looking forward to your next chapter!
P.S. Do you ever wish your story was real, with you in it?

From me: Thank you so much for your POV about the drawings, I'll keep getting better on them!

And yes, it's an author's dream. ;D

(Magic 8-ball? Hmm, not bad for a mansion chapter...)

From Nintendogeek01: I... well the fight was bit slowly paced, I felt like the enemy could have easily found time to kill them while they were talking. Even so the tri-villain appearance is interesting. Good luck with the next chapter.

From me: Personally, I wasn't too sure about that chapter as well, but I hope this one is better for you to read. ;)

From Shining Riku: I HAVE played PoR before, so I know how everybody acts already. I just thought I ought to get that out there. Anyways...

Gotta love Marth's final smash, and now that i've actually got Super Mario RPG I know what some of the characters look like now! Huzzah.

Getting to the point, I'd say things have changed a LOT, now that the smashers are involved. The Black Knight is coming! Next chapter looks like it'll be a real doozy, and Ike won't be able to help! That isn't good.

Good luck on your next update, and see ya next time.
-Shining Riku-
(I'm enthusiastic? What'd you mean by that? Are you refering to my hyper reviews? Lol)

From me: Yes, you could say that. XD Thanks! :)

From swack16: Damn! The Black Knight is Badass he defeated Falco and C. Falcon in one swing! Is he really that tough in Fire Emblem?

From me: He is, I think he appears between chapters 5 and 9 and if someone is too close enough from him, they're dead meat until you fight him in chapter 27. Hope that helps. ;)

From Ninja Lucario: Good fight scene. Nice way of describing the final smash. LOL the perverts got bashed again. Great detail. Grammar could use a bit of work. (Do you have a beta reader?) As always waiting for the next update.

Do you plan on having chapter 100 up by the end of the year?
Thanks!

From me: Well, I don't have a Beta Reader (I don't even know what that is T.T) But I'll be aware of any mistake.

Planning to have 100 chapters before the end of the year? Hell yes, this story is far from over too. ;)

So now, enjoy the last part of this arc!

wiiboychris: RESOUND THE CRY OF VICTORY!

A new character that is going to appear in a much later Mansion chapter called Repede who is a dog and comes from Tales of Vesperia: "Whines."

wiiboychris: Er...okay...

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Repede: Woof!

Chapter 84: The Unexpected Result

Mercenary Fort

Against the Black Knight

"All the troops have been assembled, we await for your orders." Dark Yaridovich said.

"Begin to infiltrate the fort and attack until they come out." Ganondorf ordered.

"Are we going to wait here for them to get to us?"

"If Greil can get through this army of monsters, then he is a worthy opponent to fight me." The Black Knight said.

"Do not worry about such pests, we can all take them down if we work according to the pla-" Ganondorf was interrupted by the Black Knight's sword away by mere inches of his throat.

"Interfere between me and Greil and you are only going to be a foolish dead man."

"T-this was not according to the plan! Then why did you follow us?!"

"I am one of Daein's Four Riders, we only fight for the good of our nation, but my matters are different, I fight in the war and fight people who are worthy to fight me."

"Y-you!"

"Enough, I have heard enough from you." The Black Knight said sheathing his sword.

"Grrr..."

"Now," Dark Yaridovich looked at all the army of Primids and different monsters slowly walking towards the fort, itching to destroy everything in sight. "ATTACK!!"

The army of the Subspace accelerated and began to enter inside the fort, where a war for who would live through this would be put in risk.

Domitories

"What is happening outside?!" Gatrie asked after hearing a lot of sounds coming closer and closer to the fort.

Another dormitory

"Looks like the battle is going to start." Rhys said as he continued to heal Ike's arm.

Dormitories

"What do we do? Go outside or protect hottie-hot-hottie?" C. Falcon asked glancing at the unconscious princess.

Another dormitory

"Rhys, please tell me my brother is going to be okay!" Mist asked with tears on her eyes.

Dormitories

"I'm worried about Ike, he went through this and..." Gatrie trailed off.

Another dormitory

Mist got a little annoyed and looked at them. "Then, could you please help us instead of watching the princess?"

Turns out both parties were in the same dormitory after all.

"I-I'm not a healer!" Gatrie said.

"Me either!" C. Falcon said throwing his hands up.

"Then go outside and assist the rest, we can watch the princess in your places." Rhys said calmly, struggling to put a healing magic on Ike's arm.

"B-but we're leaving a-"

Mist pushed the 2 out of the dormitory and they looked at her once they were outside the door. "M-Mist! Please! Hear us firs-" Gatrie was interrupted by a door slamming into his face, courtesy of Mist.

"UGH!"

"IKE!" Mist realized she left her brother from being a victim to the pain and returned to her position to calm him down. "D-don't worry brother...everything is going to be just fine...trust me..."

Outside

"And a 3, and a 2, and a 1, and a-" Popo counted behind the door of the mess hall.

"SHOW YOURSELVES!" Greil yelled slamming the door open to find the entire fort covered by all kinds of enemies of the Subspace.

"...Oh...my...god..."

"We're completely surrounded, they're everywhere!" Oscar said glancing around the field around the fort, finding a lot of Primids.

"We have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, mercenaries! Battle stations! Defend the fort with your lifes! And bring the Black Knight to me!" Greil ordered.

Chris saw Sword Primids coming to him, but his attention was drawn to their own Beam Swords, but he, for the first time, grinned and took out his Beam Sword, throwing the copy of Ragnell (above Popo, who got crushed) and swung it like the famous Lightsaber. "Stubborness, I see." Chris said Yoda style.

1 minute later, however...

"So, you're telling me you got owned by 8 Primids with swords?" Boyd asked.

"Pretty much, that sums it up." Chris said Yoda style, he was left badly beaten up to a bloody pulp (even he had a black eye) and collapsed behind Boyd with a thud. "The Beam Sword, even I lost."

2 Sword Primids tried to attack Boyd. "Could you please stop talking like that?"

"Why not, I don't see," Chris said raising a finger. "Okay...I'm fine...now, where is my sword?"

"MHRRHRHRH!!" Popo called from afar, the sword above his head.

"...Oops...sorry Popo..." Chris apologized, he slowly got up and took back his sword from the Ice Climber. "...Say, you're still you, right?"

"Of course, Sally!"

"...I guess you're still you..." Chris shrugged and ran away, telling Nana about his brother.

"Popo! Get up! Soren needs our help!" Nana said.

"I thought nobody told us to protect him." Popo said as he got up.

"...Maybe I like that guy..."

Popo gasped. "You mean...you're...in...love?!"

SMACK SMACK SMACK!

Nana blushed. "O-of course not! H-he's far older than me! Now c'mon! We have to help them out!"

"Say, Nana."

Nana grunted in irritation. "Yes, my beloved and sick of the mind, twin brother?"

"For what are the prehistoric birds flying around my head?" And Popo lost consciousness, making Nana to sigh in disappointment.

"Violent winds, heed my c-UGH!" Soren was attacked by Fire Primids on his back.

"Soren!" Oscar yelled worried, he rushed towards the Primids and used his lance to push them away to check Soren. "Soren, are you okay?"

"Ugh...it was just fire...don't worry..."

"Just look at this mess..." Oscar glanced around, from what he could tell, Greil swung his axe to make a path by defeating Big Primids with Titania supporting him, Shinon was busy shooting arrows at every enemy that moved as fast as he could (and Pit was secretly helping him), Geno was firing bullets constantly to all the Boom Primids, Marth and Roy were watching each other's backs from Shaydas, Falco was shooting down the Auroros that were going to fall on them using his Blaster, though it wasn't enough, Chris tried to fight back the Sword Primids (using the newly learned Counter that was helpful to him) and Gatrie was seen watching Shinon's back using his lance. "Monsters are literally trying to take this fort down.

"Yes...but we are no exception, we must defend this with our lifes for the princess, if we can't do that, then everything will fail." Soren said dusting off his cape.

"...Hey...where is Rolf?"

"I haven't seen him since this conflict started."

"Oh no, I need to find him, if he dies our fathers will never forgive Boyd and me!" Oscar said ordering his horse to charge to another way.

"...Huh?...Isn't that the Black Knight over that hill?" Soren narrowed her eyes at a distant hill outside the fort.

"What? The Black Knight is over there?!" Greil asked taking 3 Big Primids down.

"...Yes! There he is!"

"Then here I go!"

"W-wait, you're not thinking in beating him!"

"That is the idea, anyone who wants to offer me a hand, follow my path!" Greil yelled raising his axe and yelling, pushing every Primid away from his sight.

"...Wait...this isn't right..." Chris muttered to himself, but he looked down and found a blue Nagagog. "...Er...I don't have time for you...sorry..."

The blue Nagagog didn't like that and punched Chris's right leg.

"OWW!" Chris held his leg in pain. "Y-YOU LITTLE PIG! TAKE THIS!" He slammed his sword with all his forces and the Nagagog went several meters away from him, but it rubbed his stomach.

The blue Nagagog grew up a little to a yellow Nagagog and tripped over Chris.

"GET...OFF...ME!" Chris yelled furiously under the Nagagog's stomach and stabbed his chest, pushing him away.

The yellow Nagagog rubbed its stomach and it grew up to a big red Nagagog, making Chris's eyes to widen a little after comparing his size with the Nagagog's.

"...LOOK OVER THERE!"

The red Nagagog looked to Chris's direction, but the World Traveler decided to run away screaming. "C. FALCON! I LEAVE THAT THING FOR YOU!" He said as he passed C. Falcon, who cracked his fists and ran towards the red Nagagog.

"Ha!" C. Falcon's right fist caught fire and used Raptor Boost to take the enemy above the ground. "FALCON...PUNCH!" The red Nagagog was hit very hard that it went blasting off, vanishing while C. Falcon cheered a little before returning to the fight.

"My lord, I shall follow you." Titania said gathering with Greil.

"(If Chris said the Black Knight's armor can't be scratched...then...) I'll go too." Marth said dashing with Greil.

"I'll follow Greil." Roy said.

"If you're going where Yaridovich is, then I'll go too." Geno said joining them.

"Don't forget me!" Falco said as he finished with the Auroros.

"I-I need to retrieve the Star Spirit as well!" Chris said joining the group.

"Soren! You're in charge of the protection of the fort, order the others around and don't fail to me!" Greil said as they made their way through the enemy's army.

"Fine, but promise me you are not going to do something reckless that we may be disappointed." Soren said.

"Whatever! This is going to be the day my pupil will fall!" And they ran away.

"Soren! I saw various monsters trying to get where Ike was, not only that, all the monsters seem to be searching around the fort!" Oscar said.

"How do you know that?"

"We were clueless about some places around the fort, they entered inside each room but didn't destroyed a thing, then I got this strange idea, they're maybe trying to find Ike to kill him as they said before!"

"Darn it, there is no end for these things...alright, Oscar, keep searching for Rolf and tell the others to defend the room where Rhys, Ike, Elincia and Mist are, we're going to protect only that place from all of them, or else Ike will...nevermind, tell the others as fast as you can!"

"Roget that!" Oscar said before ordering his horse to rode him and tell the others about the plan.

"Soren! Thank goodness you're okay!" Nana said smiling a little.

"If you're saying that because of my cape, don't worry, it's a small burn, anyway, we're going to gather where Ike is being treated, the monsters are trying to get to him."

"Not Ike the dike!" Popo said gasping.

"Popo, what was that supposed to mean?" Nana asked.

"I dunno." Popo said sticking out his tongue.

"..." Nana and Soren groaned in unison.

Back with Greil's group...

"Not good, more of them are coming this way!" Titania said.

"(I need to prevent Greil from getting killed or else the storyline will be messed up if I can't do that...)" Chris thought.

"HEY!" Falco shouted, kicking a Roader that was going to crash into Chris. "Chris, what was that just now? You were going to get attacked!"

"I-I'm sorry, my mind was in another place."

"Then concentrate, I'm not going to watch your back all the time."

"..." Chris stopped and looked away.

"..." Falco also stopped and looked at him. "...Sorry if that was a little harsh, I didn't meant to..."

"...It's okay Falco, I was being stupid."

"No no no, it was my fault...anyway, we have to follow the others, we can't let them have all the fun, right?" Falco asked grinning a little.

"...I guess you're right..."

"Now, be kind and give me the Super Mush-"

CRASH!!

"I WAS AN IDIOT FOR LETTING YOU GET AWAY WITH MY HOSPITALITY! YOU JERK!" Chris said stomping as he got away, leaving Falco's face buried in the ground, the bird tried to take his beak out of the ground by the impact of Chris's sword.

"At least I saved you!" Falco's mouth said below the earth.

"Geno Beam!" Geno shouted firing his beam towards a Big Primid who backed away and rubbed its stomach.

"Ha!" Titania rushed forward thrusting her lance in the Primid, blasting it off. "The path is clear, move on!"

"Not yet!" Roy said spotting 3 Shaydas in the way, but he held his sword above his head, his sword was starting to shine brightly. "Marth! Pull them to me!"

"I know why." Marth said dashing to the Shaydas, he rolled behind and slashed them to get their attention, then the altean prince ran towards Roy to pull them to him. "Now Roy!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Roy unleashed his Flare Blade that exploded, dealing a great amount of damage to the Shaydas who blasted off.

"That was incredible boy!" Greil remarked before dashing towards the area where the trio of villains were.

"We have even more of them, damm!" Falco cursed when...strange monsters with chicken appearances appeared from above, the Tickens.

"...I don't think these ones are dangerous." Chris said.

Unfortunately his statement was proven wrong, the pink gums over their heads turned into sharp horns and they rushed at the group, towards Marth. "AAH!!" Marth was struck from one coming behind and got pushed away.

"A new power?!" Chris asked to himself when he suddenly was shot directly to the same Ticken and slashed him, he learned to use Quick Draw.

"Leave me those monsters!" Greil said, swinging his axe in every Ticken, taking them down with few hits. "Ha! I bet this fight isn't that hard after all!"

"We're not with the bosses yet, that is going to be real fight!" Roy said.

"AAAHHH!!" Chris yelled loudly after he found a Floow about to yell its scream, he covered his face, but a slash was heard and the Floow was gone. "M-Meta Knight!"

"I told you before," Meta Knight looked at Chris. "I was going to offer you my assistance."

"...H-hey! You didn't do that before when we started!"

"I was busy."

"...Yeeees...I expected that from you."

"Focus!" Meta Knight yelled.

"H-hey! You don't have to yell at m-" He was kissed in the lips by a Bucculus. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!" Chris pulled the monster out of him and slammed his sword to get rid of him. "O-ouch! T-that hurts and...it...was gross!"

"I told you befo-"

"Yes, yes, focus, let's go!" Chris said running with everyone else with Meta Knight. "You know, you're pretty fast in the ground rather than the air."

"I didn't notice that before."

Chris sweatdropped.

Back in the fort...

"Gather!" Soren said, the remaining mercenaries gathered in the dormitory where Ike was being treated and Elincia. "Hear me out, we have to protect this place, and only this place until we dispose all these monsters!"

"For Ike!" Gatrie said raising his lance.

"For the Greil Mercenaries!" Boyd said raising his axe.

"For my safety!" Popo said raising his hammer and they stared at him. "...What?"

"ATTACK!" C. Falcon yelled, Soren remained close to the door while the others melee fighters decided to attack. "...Wait, Ganondorf!"

"Ganondorf?!" Nana repeated confused, Ganondorf appeared behind the army and smirked after seeing them preparing to rush and continue the fight.

"Hahahaha! We got you surrounded, surrender at once and hand over Ike!" Ganondorf proclaimed.

"No way, you're a rapist!" Popo said.

"W-what?!"

"Don't listen to my brother and just get on with the fight, I'm already sick of hearing his stupid things!" Nana said irritated.

"...Ahem...ATTACK!"

"N-no! that's my line!" C. Falcon said.

Odd thing was that the music stopped with a scratch.

Ganondorf smacked his forehead. "Seriously, do you have to be so darn stupid?!"

"Who are you calling stupid, clone!" C. Falcon said getting closer to Ganondorf while both parties just watched them.

"You are the clone, my skills are far superior!"

"Warlock Punch? A rip-off of my own punch, don't you think?"

"At least I don't say the name of my attack out loud!"

"It raises the epicness, EPICNESS!"

"Dumbness is what I see!"

"And dude, just look at your hair! You look like a freaking girl who just got out from the costume shop!"

"Do not dare to mock my hair, nipples man!"

"I'm more handsome than you are, wait, that's right, YOU'RE NOT HANDSOME!"

"You are not my enemy, where is Link and Zelda?!"

"Far away to stay away from your horrible look!"

And both continued to argue with each other, until they got in the typical cloud of dust for fights.

Pit looked at the army of the Subspace and tapped a Fire Primid's shoulder. "So...aren't you all going to fight us?"

The Fire Primid thought for a moment and nodded.

Against the Black Knight

"HA!" The Ice Climbers used Squall Hammer on a Towtow, the Towtow got furious and lunged at the twins, but Shinon appeared from nowhere in a tree and shot down the beast using 3 arrows at the forehead. "S-Shinon! Where were you?"

"Training my own pupil." Shinon said bluntly.

"Pupil?" Boyd asked.

From the tree that Shinon came from, Rolf jumped out using a bow on his right hand, he laughed after he saw them. "Hey everyone!" Rolf said waving at them.

"Your pupil is our brother?!" Boyd and Oscar asked at the same time.

"What the hell were you thinking Shinon?!" Boyd asked.

"Hey, the kid didn't want to leave me alone, he begged to be an archer and I gave up." Shinon said.

"A-actually, I was the one who shot the arrows." Rolf said.

"Shinon, this has to be the most, risky idea you have ever done before." Boyd said frowning.

"D-did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's not you, it what Shinon di-"

"Listen you, be glad we have another archer in our group, also, he saved the lifes of the twins." Shinon said.

"...Fine, but if Rolf dies, it will be your responsability." Oscar said.

"Tsk, fine, fine."

"B-brothers! Behind you!" Rolf shouted pointing behind Boyd and Oscar.

3 Armights appeared laughing and they prepared to slash their backs, but Soren used his wind magic to push one of the Armights to each other, preventing the brothers from being sliced. "Don't get distracted now, this isn't done yet."

"...Huh?" Gatrie felt a drop fall in his face and looked above, the sky was very dark and was sounding with thunders, then a heavy rain began to fall. "It's raining..."

"This is a premonition to something bad."

"S-something bad? Like what?" Pit asked.

"I don't know, but we must protect Ike!"

"Wait a minute, Rolf, are you hiding something from us?" Boyd asked.

"W-what?" Rolf asked.

"I thought Mist was going to cry all over Ike, but I haven't heard a cry from the dormitory."

"I-it's because she's strong and..."

Dormitory

Boyd opened the door and found Mist healing Ike along with Rhys. "What th-Rhys, did you teach Mist healing magic in secret too?!"

"It's there a problem with that?" Mist asked as she continued to heal Ike.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, but she's good for her first time, Ike's arm is going to be recovered in no time." Rhys said smiling gently at Boyd, who closed the door after looking at the unconscious Elincia.

Outside

"Everything is going well, Ike's arm will recover soon!" Boyd announced as he returned to the fight.

"What a relief." Soren said chanting a spell.

"AND YOUR YELLOW SCARF LOOKS STUPID AN-" Ganondorf continued to argue with C. Falcon, both of them decided to fight for real this time, but still argued and insulted each other.

"AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR SKIN? ALIEN!" C. Falcon argued, missing Ganondorf using Falcon Punch.

"TRIANGLE EYES!" Ganondorf argued, missing C. Falcon using Wizard Foot.

"CREEPY HOMO!" C. Falcon argued, missing Ganondorf by using Raptor Boost.

"IRON NIPPLES MAN!" Ganondorf argued, missing once again by using Warlock Punch.

"GIRLY HAIR!" C. Falcon argued, missing the king of all evil using Falcon Kick.

"Hey, C. Falcon! Do you want any help?" Gatrie asked as he struggled to push away 5 Sword Primids's swords.

"LEAVE THIS CREEP TO ME!"

"...O-okay then..." Gatrie said pushing the Primids away and thrusted his lance after that.

"I wonder how are the others now..." Pit trailed off. "Nice try!" He pulled out his Mirror Shield to reflect back a Fire Primid's fire back at it.

"They're probably beating the boss's ass." Popo said.

Pit looked at Nana who was half-bored. "Aren't you going to say something to him?"

"Why?" Nana asked. "He will probably be back to his old self once we get back to the mansion."

Back with Greil's group...

They managed to get where the Black Knight and Dark Yaridovich were. "Finally...the second Star Spirit is almost with us..." Geno said glaring at Yaridovich.

"Hey, where is Ganondork?" Roy asked looking around.

"He used a dark portal to appear in the fort." Dark Yaridovich said.

"Greil." The Black Knight said glaring at Greil.

"You." Greil said glaring at the knight.

"It is time for us to end this at last." The Black Knight said unsheathing his sword.

Greil put a grip on his axe. "Yes, but I will be the one winning this fight."

"Let us see then."

"Why not!" Greil said dashing towards the knight, but the Black Knight stopped him. "What is it now?"

"Use this." The Black Knight took out the real Ragnell and gave it to Greil.

Greil looked at the blessed sword in his hand but threw it behind his group. "I don't need that sword to defeat you, I will use only my axe!"

"Enough talking then, ha!" The Black Knight tried to slam his sword on Greil who used his axe as a shield, but the sword of the knight was blessed and was stronger than Greil's weapon.

"We have to help him!" Chris said.

"Leave me alone, this matter only concerns to me!" Greil said gritting his teeth.

"Even so, I'm not listening!"

"I will offer him my aid." Titania said.

"So will I." Marth said and both rushed to help the commander of the mercenaries.

"Leave the skinny guy to us, let's finish this before the rain causes me allergies...we can beat him, right?" Roy asked.

"So we're Meta Knight, Roy, Falco, Geno and me against Yaridovich...I'm not sure if we can win..."

"Use the items." Falco said winking to him.

"...Ugh, fine!"

"Gimme!"

"Here."

"YES! I'M A GIANT AND...wait," Falco narrowed his eyes at the item on his right hand. "I didn't want the Fan!"

"Too bad, nobody is going to use the Super Mushroom."

"YOU WILL GIVE ME THE MUSHROOM OR I'LL BEAT YOU UP USING THIS CRAP!" Falco said glaring at Chris, pointing the Fan at his head.

"Yaridovich is charging at us!" Geno shouted, dodging a Blast attack from the dark enemy. "Falco! Look out!"

"You're mine!" Dark Yaridovich said about the stab Falco using his head as a lance.

"Shut up!" Falco began to hit continuously Dark Yaridovich, making him to flinch quickly.

"See? It's helpful, now keep him there!" Chris said raising his sword.

"I don't think so!" Dark Yaridovich said, he was able to grab Falco's Fan and torn it in 2 as he backed away. "WATER BLAST!"

POOF!

"Huh? W-what's happening?!" Roy asked when a water explosion was about to hit his back, but then, it began to accelerate and explosions of water occurred around the area where they were fighting.

"This is my upgraded version of the Water Blast, thanks to the Shadow Bugs, all the drops from the rain I called will explode and cause severe damage to the unfortunate person who is near, meaning ALL OF YOU!" Dark Yaridovich said laughing evily as more explosions of water appeared.

"UGH!" Roy was hit by 3 explosions at the same time, but him and everyone else were continuously damaged by the explosions, until...

A huge explosion of water appeared, sending all of them to the sky before crashing into the muddy ground, panting heavily after they slowly got up, straining a little.

"I-I can't believe I'm almost dead by...the rain..." Meta Knight said panting.

"Let's see how you handle it being a scarecrow!" Yaridovich said.

"A what?" Falco asked confused.

"SCARECROW SONG!" Dark Yaridovich called forth a ringing bell above them that created music notes, after hearing the song, a cloud of smoke appeared on the area and...

Scarecrows were in the places where everyone else once were. "...What happened?" A scarecrow with Roy's voice asked before gasping. "I-I'M A SCARECROW!"

"NO! WHERE IS MY BLASTER, MY REFLECTOR AND MY FACE?!" Falco asked trying to move.

"Now I know how does it feel to be a scarecrow." Chris said.

"I don't think you need to feel that." Meta Knight said.

"Darn it, only special attacks can be used to do something in this form." Geno explained.

"Wait, I can call Eldstar to heal one of us to turn anyone back to normal again." Chris said.

"Great idea, use it in me!"

Falco rolled his wooden eyes. "Pfft, Chris is not going to do that just because you're asking him t-" Eldstar appeared before them. "Y-YOU CHEATER!"

"What can I do for you?" Eldstar asked.

"Please turn Geno back to normal again!" Chris said and Eldstar nodded.

"There, call me once a certain amount of time have passed." Eldstar said before disappearing.

"Only with Geno alone won't be enough to defeat me!" Dark Yaridovich said.

"He's right, I can't do it alone, you'll just have to wait until the spell wears off." Geno said.

"Too bad, the spell is permanent this time."

"What?!"

"Shadow Bugs? Remember? Hehehe..."

"Ugh, then..."

Chris got an idea. "Wait, I think I can change to my Musician job and use Soul Etude, it not heals a little but also removes any kind of status effect on allies."

Geno saw Dark Yaridovich preparing his lance. "Then do that, I'll keep him busy!"

"Ha!" Dark Yaridovich struck his lance on Geno, but the puppet stopped it using his wooden arms.

"Your face always made me sick." Geno said as he looked at Dark Yaridovich's face.

"Heheheh, that's what I like more." Dark Yaridovich said chuckling evily before his head shot a blast of water, pushing Geno to a nearby tree.

"Soul Etude!" Chris called out playing his harp on his scarecrow form, the song flew everywhere and it restored everyone back to their normal forms. "Now we can continue!"

"Any ideas?" Meta Knight asked.

"(Oh, Meta Knight, asking me for ideas? Priceless.) Hmm...somebody needs to distract Yaridovich, Meta Knight, Falco, you're going to be the decoys."

"Decoys for what?" Falco asked.

"For Roy to use Flare Blade, a fully charged one."

"Er...I don't think that will happen." Roy said scratching his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Since it's raining, my sword will get all wet and...well...my Flare Blade won't work and will turn into Marth's Shield Breaker instead."

"...Change of plans, let's see, hmm...Meta Knight, can you use your Mach Tornado to create a tornado of mud with the mud around here?"

Meta Knight looked at the mud on their feet. "That is easy, but for what?"

"I'm planning t-"

"STOP TALKING!" Dark Yaridovich yelled furiously calling a stone engulfed in flames from the sky, but the rain didn't soak the rock and it almost hits Roy, but Meta Knight pushed him aside in time.

"As I was saying before, the mud will likely hit Dark Yaridovich's eyes and make him blind for a moment, you must target his eyes and not us, there's a lot of mud here!" Chris finished and Meta Knight nodded.

The knight used Mach Tornado to engulf himself in mud, creating a mud tornado that went towards Dark Yaridovich, not only Meta Knight was able to blind his eyes, but he slashed the general a consecutive amount of times before stopping, dusting off his cape from the mud. "YOU LITTLE!" Dark Yaridovich cursed trying to get the mud off his eyes.

"...Geno!" Chris looked at Geno, who was unconscious in the same tree. "Soul Etude!" A cheerful blue light engulfed the puppet, healing his wounds a little.

"...Ugh..." Geno got up, shaking his head.

"We need your help!"

"Right...but I'm seeing 2 Yaridovichs..."

"Huh?" Chris turned his back to find 2 Dark Yaridovichs in front of the first one.

"He must have splitted himself to attack us by separate!"

"Actually, that isn't a bad idea." The 2 Dark Yaridovichs said before splitting themselves to 2 other Dark Yaridovichs each, making 5 Dark Yaridovichs in total as the original one managed to get the mud off his eyes.

"Geno!" Chris said angrily.

"Dammit!" Geno cursed.

However, a strange event happened, when they blinked in unison, they saw the 5 Dark Yaridovichs gone, but in their places, there were...themselves chuckling evily.

"What the.." Roy trailed off after looking at himself, chuckling evily.

"H-hey, I don't look like that!" Falco said pointing at himself, chuckling evily as Roy's dark clone.

"Scramble!" Dark Yaridovich (Geno) said, and all the clones ran around in circles before crashing into each one of them, but the dark clones also were pushed into the mud, to create the confusion.

"Oh no, which one is the real one?!" Chris asked, though we couldn't see if he was the real Chris.

"I'm obviously the real one!" Chris said pointing at himself, still, not sure if that was the same Chris since the dark clones'a black auras vanished.

"I'm clearly the real one." Meta Knight said.

"Hmph, yes, why not." Meta Knight said.

"Answer me! Are you Roy?!" Chris asked.

"I-It's me, don't you remember me?!" Roy asked sweating.

"I-I'm the real one! But how do I know you're the real Chris?" Roy asked crossing his arms.

"Because I'm the real Chris!" Chris defended himself.

"This is some kind of illusion, right?" Geno asked.

"Looks like it." Geno said.

"Stop copying me!" Geno said preparing to shoot his bullets.

"No, you stop copying me!" Geno said doing the same action.

"You stupid doppelganger, stop looking like me!" Falco said glaring at Falco.

"You wish, you're the real doppelganger here!" Falco said preparing to use his Blaster on Falco.

"That's it! Chris, I don't care if you don't want to, but GIVE ME THE DAMN MUSHROOM!"

"...What mushroom? What are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"...Wait...only the real and stubborn Falco would ask me that." Chris said.

"...And only the real Chris would know about a Super Mushroom...hey, did you just call me stubborn?!" Falco asked angrily.

"..." Both paused for a moment before pointing at each other, smiling proudly. "YOU ARE THE REAL PERSON!" They said in unison.

"Oh-uh." The fake Chris and Falco said in unison.

"Guys! Tell something you only remember about our experiences together!" The real Chris said.

"I was a fool trying to take my ship back, not caring about the others." Meta Knight said.

"What was the name of my ship? The Macbeth? UGH!" Meta Knight cursed and fell to his knees.

"I was skeptical about leaving Marth behind when Chris first asked me to join him." Roy said.

"And I doubted about my sex...UGH!" Roy cursed, falling to his knees, earning a glare of the real Roy.

"I called Mallow to help us out, but only refered him as him." Geno said nodding.

"I have a frog friend, his name is..Toady? UGH!" Geno cursed, falling to his knees.

"You 2 don't need to say something else!" Falco said glaring at the fake Chris and Falco, before the Smashers reunited in a group.

All the clones turned back to normal and pointed at the sky. "WATER BLAST!"

"WHERE TO RUN?!" Roy panicked before the drops began to explode around them.

"THERE'S NO ESCAPE!" The 5 Dark Yaridovichs said laughing evily as all the drops began to explode once again, creating a huge explosion of water at the end, making them to fly to the sky and fall to the mud with severe damage.

"...Ugh...I hate that attack..." Roy said panting as he got up by using his sword to stand up.

"Isn't there...any way to evade it though?" Falco asked panting.

"Unless...the rain stops...but Yaridovich said he called it so he may call the rain again..." Geno said panting heavily.

"We can't lose...not now!"

"Is the Over Limit gauge ready?" Roy asked.

"Not yet!" Chris said.

"We have to...find a way to stop that attack from occurring again." Meta Knight said panting.

"...Geno...maybe I forgot but...do you have an attack that can reach the sky?"

Geno looked to Chris. "The only one I remember...is Geno Blast...wait, I think I can use that attack still..."

"Then use it!"

"R-right!" Geno put his hands above him. "Stars, give me strength! Geno Blast!" Geno chanted to the sky and swung his hands below.

The 5 Dark Yaridovichs looked above the sky and red, green, blue and yellow flashes fell with force towards all of them, the flashes not only damaged them, it made a hole exactly above the fight. "Darn it!" The 5 Dark Yaridovichs cursed.

"We can always call it back!" One Dark Yaridovich said snapping his fingers, and the hole from the sky was covered with clouds again.

"Pss, Falco." Chris whispered to Falco.

"Yeah? What is it?" Falco whispered back.

"Geno Blast!" Geno called forth more pillars of light, opening a hole in the sky to stop the rain and damage the 5 Dark Yaridovichs again. "Ugh...if I could have more energy...I could use this attack all day..." Geno said panting heavily.

"Hahahaha! Good things are indeed weird to use!" The 5 Dark Yaridovichs said laughing evily.

"...Hey, don't you feel something weird coming above us?" A Dark Yaridovich asked.

"What do you mean?" Another Dark Yaridovich asked.

Once they looked at the sky, there was a small dot that got increasing in size over time, they narrowed their eyes to see what it was.

"OH SHI-"

"HA!" A Giant Falco crushed a Dark Yaridovich under his big foot, presumably killing him. "Now, let's get started and end this!" Falco said grinning and rushing at every single Dark Yaridovich, he used his hands, feet and even his Reflector that crushed some of them in the trees.

"Move! Move! Move! We have to give him some aid!" Chris ordered and the other 3 Smashers rushed for Falco's aid.

"We have to take advantage of Falco's size, that way the battle will end sooner!" Roy said.

Chris got an idea. "Oh, right!"

"W-what are you doing?!" A Dark Yaridovich asked struggling from Chris's grab.

"Throwing you at the giant, what else?" Chris said with a glare and managed to threw the Dark Yaridovich to Falco. "Falco! One for you!"

"Got it!" Falco responded nodding and used a charged kick straight in the face, sending him blasting off to a tree where he vanished with a grunt.

"T-these bastards are killing us one by one!" A Dark Yaridovich said narrowing his eyes, he felt someone touching his shoulder and looked behind him. "NO!"

"UAAAAHHHH!!" Roy used a charged Flare Blade, making the Yaridovich to blast off towards Falco, who kicked him doing a backflip in the same spot.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" The Dark Yaridovich yelled loudly as he went blasting off to the sky, until he crashed hardly in the muddy ground, once again, Falco executed a final downward kick on the Dark Yaridovich, who vanished.

"2 more to go!" Falco said.

"Then that means if we take the last 2, the battle is over!" Geno said, looking around for the last 2. "But where are they?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

They looked behind them where Meta Knight sliced down to a half a Dark Yaridovich, without anyone's help. "Hmph, the last one is behind that tree."

"You bastard!" The last Dark Yaridovich said, sweatdropping after he saw the 4 Smashers plus the Giant Falco running towards him.

"Guys, the effect of the mushroom will wear off very soon!" Falco said as they ran towards Dark Yaridovich.

"Hmm, I know! Use your illusion to reach him in time, and then throw him to us!" Chris said with quick thinking.

"Over Limit gauge is ready!" Professor Kawashima said.

"Roy, it's your time to deal the final blow!"

"Yes! Finally!" Roy said proudly (earning a glare from Falco).

Falco used Falco Illusion to quickly slash Dark Yaridovich before grabbing the spear monster in his right hand and threw it towards them before returning to his original size. "It's all yours!" Falco said.

"Ha!" Meta Knight used Drill Rush to continuously drill Dark Yaridovich's thin body.

"WATER BLAST!" Dark Yaridovich snapped his fingers and the rain quickly got back, exploding all over the place.

"ROY! QUICK! Soul Etude!" Chris called out healing everyone's health a little to survive the attack.

"Caelin, give my sword the force of fire!" Roy called out pointing his sword to the sky, and he was engulfed in a rainbow aura with an explosion.

"Force of fire...Geno! Use Geno Blast again!"

"U-ugh...one last...time!" Geno struggled calling out once again the pillars of light from the sky, this time, however, made holes around the field.

"Y-you idiots!" Dark Yaridovich cursed, trying to run away.

"He's running away!" Chris said.

"Thanks for pointing that out for us, really." Meta Knight said sarcastically and Chris grunted in irritation.

"Hahahaha!" Dark Yaridovich laughed, calling out a dark portal to the Subspace below a tree's branch. "See you later, it was a great battle, but I'm taking the Star Spirit with me, fools! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"We made him a little insane, didn't we?" Geno asked and they nodded in unison.

"S-shut up Geno! Next time we meet, you'll be dead!" Falco appeared upside-down with crossed arms using the tree's branch when Dark Yaridovich wasn't looking, between him and the portal. "Now, I will make sure to get you all next time!"

"That's great and all, but it's over for you." Falco said preparing his fist.

"...Huh?!"

PUNCH!

"AAAAAHHHHH!!" Dark Yaridovich went blasting off towards Roy, the punch he received from Falco was enough to send him away since he had a lot of damage accumulated.

"(Now's my chance.)" Roy thought before closing his eyes and put his sword pointing down at the ground. "Erupt, o fire of the earth!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Blazing Fire!!" He called out, his voice echoing, he struck his sword down with force in the earth and eruptions of towers of fire came from the earth in a great wave, when he struck down his sword, 2 big towers of fire erupted and they spreaded on both of his sides, Dark Yaridovich was burned greatly by the temperature and the fire combined together.

Music stops

"Heheheheh...good fight...fare...well...u-ugh..."

Those were Dark Yaridovich's last words before he vanished into spores, leaving a card with Mamar, the second Star Spirit behind.

Tales of Vesperia - Victory Boss Battle Theme

"...Alright! We won!" Roy said making a fist in the air in the sword's grip.

"What a relief..." Chris dropped to his knees. "We're finally over with this fight."

"Piece of cake." Falco said kicking back and forth his Reflector before catching it.

"Yes Falco, we know you like bread."

"...W-wait, what? I didn't say bread, I said cake!"

"Then does that means you like to eat cake?" Roy asked.

"Yes, we know that's the truth, don't deny it." Meta Knight said.

"Y-you to-oh, screw all of you!" Falco said crossing his arms angrily.

Geno walked over the card and showed it to the sky. "Please, come on out!"

The card shone brightly, making all of them to block their eyes, after some seconds, the light disappeared and Mamar, the second Star Spirit appeared laughing heartily, floating in front of the group.

"Oh, it's good to breath air again." Mama said before looking around, and more specifically the Smashers. "...Eww, you're all muddy."

That was the truth, they were covered in mud and didn't noted that before.

"Mamar, good to see you again." Geno said bowing to her.

"Geno, is that you? Then it's true you used that doll to help Mario before."

"You should thank them, they were a lof of help and we have already rescued Eldstar, they're the special elite of fighters called Smashers that I talked about."

"Is that so?" Mamar looked at them and laughed heartily. "Thank you so much for saving me."

"I-it's our work ma'am." Roy said bowing down.

"Such nice gentlemen rescued me? I'm a little flattered."

"But still, she isn't totally my type." Falco whispered to Meta Knight, who nodded back.

"Hmm..." Mamar floated towards Chris. "I feel Eldstar's power within you, are you by any chance the World Traveler?"

"Y-yes! I am!" Chris said nodding quickly.

"Even the World Traveler himself rescued me? Oh, how embarrassing!" Mamar said laughing.

"What so great about being rescued by Chris? He's very clumsy." Falco said.

All the avian was able to see were stars flying everywhere before being knocked down by an angry Chris, he even had a bump on his head while his face was in the mud.

"A-anyway, it's a great honor to meet you." Chris said.

"Now, I think it's time to give you my power." Mamar flew above Chris and she touched him, spores of light in the form of stars flew everywhere around Chris before he shone for one second.

Chris has learned Lullaby!

Lullaby puts all enemies to sleep for a while, be aware that it may not work sometimes.

Mamar started to shine brightly. "Well, it was good to be rescued, but now I have to return to the Star Shrine to reunite with Eldstar, once you reunite all the other 5 Star Spirits, we shall open the way to Exor to confront Smithy and end this nonsense." Mamar began to fly away upwards. "I believe in all of you, good luck, Smashers!" And with a blink, she disappeared in the rain of the night.

"...So, how does it feel to have that weird magic in you?" Roy asked.

"N-nothing, in reality." Chris shook his head. "I just call them out and they will arrive."

"If she meant we rescue 2 Star Spirits...then we have 5 more left." Meta Knight said.

"And 5 more generals." Roy pointed out.

"I just hope our way gets easier..." Chris said looking away.

"But if we work like we just did a moment ago, nothing is going to be hard." Geno said.

"Y-yes, I think you're right."

A silence fell and only the drops of the rain were heard...along with Falco's grunts trying to get his head out until Roy pulled him out.

"...Hey, aren't we forgetting something?" Roy asked.

All of them got in thinking positions. "...The Black Knight!" Geno said gasping.

"Oh no, where are they?!" Chris asked looking around.

"I-I don't know! They were there just a while ago!" Roy said pointing to a part.

"We have to look around for them, if Greil dies..."

"Then what are we doing thinking of the possibilities?" Falco asked, wiping out the mud from his face. "C'mon, let's go!"

Back at the fort...

Dormitory

"...Ugh..."

"I-Ike!" Mist said surprised when Ike opened his eyes a little.

"...M-Mist?" Ike asked. "A-are you healing me?"

"She is," Rhys said smiling a little. "I taught her how to heal, your arm is going to be cured in a moment."

"...Mist, why did you do this?"

"..." Mist closed her eyes. "Because I don't want to see your suffer...just look at the injure you got on your arm!"

"T-then does that means you're going to risk your life in the battlefield?!"

"I don't care!" Mist broke into tears.

"Huh?"

"Don't you see?! Y-you're very clumsy at times, but that doesn't means anything, I have to do something!" Mist opened her eyes while she was stil crying. "I don't want to lose you as our mother!"

Ike gasped a little. "Mist...t-this is not an excuse to risk your life an-"

SLAP!

"Oww! Why did you do that?!"

"I'm not listening to you anymore! I'm going to do my best and protect your life!"

"Mist..."

"Ike, listen to her," Rhys said while he was still healing Ike's arm. "I know she will be a good healer someday, she just needs the experience to achieve that by helping you and all of us."

"...Mist..."

"Y-yes Ike?" Mist asked wiping out her tears.

Ike closed his eyes for a moment before speaking. "...Alright, I let you go with me from now on."

"Brother!!" Mist hugged Ike tightly.

Ike twitched a little in pain but kept talking. "But only if father agrees, got it?"

Mist stopped hugging him. "O-okay! Thank you Ike!"

"Just a little more..." Rhys said before his staff stopped glowing. "There, your arm should be healed."

Ike looked to his right arm and tried to move it a little, he didn't felt anything anymore and got up from the bed. "My arm, it feels like new again."

"The procedure was a success." Rhys said smiling, taking a sip of his tea.

"Ike, I'm very happy to see you alright again!" Mist said wiping out more tears.

"Yes, but..." Ike looked at Elincia. "Who is she?"

"That's right, there's a battle going out outside." Rhys said, putting down his tea.

"A battle?!"

"Yes, everyone are fighting to protect the fort from the monsters that came here, not only that, the Black Knight showed up and he is probably outside fighting your father..." Rhys paused for a moment. "A battle to the death."

"A-a battle to the death?!" Mist gasped.

"Father!" Ike said before grabbing his sword and rushing to the door.

"W-wait up Ike!" Mist said following Ike.

"It's too dangerous Mist, don't come with me and stay with Rhys to protect Elincia!"

"You jerk, I told you before, I'm not going to listen to you!"

"Go with Ike, Mist, I'll stay behind to protect princess Elincia." Rhys said laughing heartily.

"Thanks Rhys!" Mist said smiling a little.

Ike groaned. "Fine, fine, you can come, but stay behind me."

Mist nodded. "Okay!"

Outside

"I think something good is going to happen!" Popo said, protecting the door.

"Yes? What?" Nana asked smacking a Fire Primid away.

SLAM!

"I'm ready to join the fight!" Ike appeared slamming the door with force, everyone looked at him and got relieved to see him back again.

...Everyone except Popo, who got crushed behind the door.

"...You know, you were right Popo, something good DID happen." Nana said chuckling uncontrollably.

"TAKE THIS!" Ganondorf said punching C. Falcon's visor, the glass of it broke and C. Falcon backed away, holding his right eye in pain. "Darn it, Ike is back again?!"

"Bet your head he is!" Popo yelled, raising a finger from the door as Ike sweatdropped after looking behind it.

"This is not good, I wasted all my time in you and this is what happens!"

"You broke my visor, you rapist!" C. Falcon cursed.

"Told you!" Popo said pointing at Nana from the wall.

"Argh! Retreat, fall back! We have to return!" Ganondorf announced hiding in the crowd of monsters that listened to his order and ran away from the fort, inside a wide dark portal.

"Rolf!" Shinon called preparing his arrow.

"R-right!" Rolf prepared his arrow, both aimed at Ganondorf's throat and shot their arrows.

HIT!

"UGH! Y-YOU! NEXT TIME, I WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!" Ganondorf said angrily after the 2 arrows struck his throat, he removed the arrows and disappeared in the portal will all the remaining monsters.

"They're gone?" Boyd asked.

"They're gone." Soren repeated nodding.

"Phew, that was hard...but we did it." Pit said sitting on the ground.

"...I hate to say this...but..." Shinon closed his eyes.

"Huh?"

"...You fought well."

"...T-thanks..." Pit said nodding. "...Does that means you don't hate me anymore?"

"Don't get carried away either."

"..." Pit looked away.

"Ike, are you feeling okay?" Boyd asked.

"I think so, Rhys and Mist did a god job." Ike said and Mist blushed a little.

"Everyone! Let's go!" Oscar said running away from the fort.

"W-why?" Pit asked.

"Greil and the others haven't returned back yet!" Soren said running away.

Betting In This Bout

"Wait for me!" Nana said dragging her brother in the ground.

"Father!" Ike and Mist yelled in unison, running away together.

"Don't die us old man!" Shinon said running with Rolf.

"C. Falcon, is your eye feeling fine?" Gatrie asked and he ran together with C. Falcon.

"My eye didn't get damage, but I don't want anyone to see my eye!" C. Falcon said.

Back with Greil, Marth and Titania...

"Away with you!" The Black Knight said pushing Marth's Falchion away and slashing him after that.

"UAAGH!" Marth held his chest in pain, he noticed the Black Knight raised his sword above him.

"Now, you die!"

"Stop!" Titania came in blocking the Black Knight's sword using her lance. "Marth, run!"

"B-but what about you?" Marth asked worried.

"Such pitiful lance is nothing compared to my sword!" The Black Knight said breaking the lance with force with a pull, making Titania to fall from her horse, the horse yelled and backed away from the knight to not get killed.

"Titania!" Greil yelled appearing from behind the Black Knight, protecting both of them using his axe to block the blessed sword Alondite.

"My lord!" Titania said.

"J-just get away from here and let me handle him alone!"

"Titania, this is the only chance we have to escape, get moving!" Marth said getting up, Titania didn't had any other choice left but to follow Marth, wishing for the safety of Greil as she calmed down her horse.

"There they are!" Geno said appearing.

"Marth! How is the battle going?" Chris asked.

"Not good at all, the Black Knight is just too powerful to defeat." Marth said, looking around for his sword which was with Roy, who gave it back to him.

"Greil can't win this alone, you need to help him!" Titania said.

"I said no!" Greil yelled, evading the Black Knight's attack.

"This stubborness will only have bad consequences." Meta Knight said.

"I know that!" Chris said looking down.

"This is how strong you got?" The Black Knight asked without straining on another clash of sword and axe.

"Grr, you got very strong, even if you're not using Alondite." Greil said grinning as he strained.

"I hate to break this up, but stop!" Chris yelled.

"No kid! We need to settle this here and now!" Greil said grunting as a thunder fell on the background.

"Father!" Ike and Mist yelled appearing from behind the group along with everyone else.

"Ike! Your arm is alright!" Roy said.

"Yeah, thanks to Mist and Rhys, what happened?"

"That is happening." Soren said pointing at the 2 fighters.

"Father!" Ike yelled.

"Ike! Listen to me, you must get stronger!" Greil said.

"(Typical talking, if they're saying that, then that must mean they're going to...) NO!" Chris yelled.

"I HAVE ENOUGH OF YOU!" The Black Knight yelled.

"What the?!" Greil noticed a small crack on his axe that went increasing in size, the crack got wider and bigger until he backed away before his axe could break apart to evade also the slash from the sword of the knight. "Y-you!"

"Now, since you lost your weapon, it is time to stop this." The Black Knight said walking towards Greil.

"...Heheheh..."

"Huh?" Everyone in the party got confused at Greil's sudden laugh.

"...I think this is it." Greil looked at his son and daughter. "Ike, please, take care of Mist."

"W-what?! F-father! What are you talking about?! D-don't tell me you're planning to die here in front of us!" Ike said worried.

"We promised each other..."

"What?"

"We promised each other if someone, of us, should lose his weapon in battle, will die at the hands of the other...I was stupid back then, to think I didn't take advantage to use Ragnell..."

"O-oh, y-you mean this?" Chris asked showing Ragnell, struggling to not fall until Ike took it, but strained to hold it.

"Father...dad...please! Don't leave me alone!" Mist pleaded crying.

"Mist...protect Ike too..." Greil said giving her a small smile.

"...Father..."

"Old man, this is stupid!" Shinon said.

"I have to agree, it is stupid." Soren said.

"Even more stupid than Popo!" Nana said.

"Hey!" Popo replied back.

"Oh, you're back to your old self, thank goodness."

"Greil...don't do this to me..." Tinania whispered the last part, trying to not cry.

"(...Would Titania be a good mother to Ike and Mist?)" Chris thought but shook his head.

"Now, it's time." The Black Knight said raising his sword above Greil.

"Yes..." Greil said looking down.

Music stops

The whole background, along with the trees and rain disappears only showing them. "(No...this wasn't supposed to happen...)" Chris thought.

"(N-NO! I'M GOING TO STOP THIS FATHER!)" Ike thought and prepared to run towards the Black Knight.

"(Please, don't kill him, I beg of you!)" Mist thought, trying to stop her tears.

"WAIT! NO! DON'T BE STUBBORN AND SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE!" Chris yelled out loud closing his eyes.

SLASH!!

"FAAAAAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!" Mist cried out dropping to her knees.

"...Good bye...my son...and daughter..." Greil managed to say.

"Not done yet." The Black Knight said, before thrusting his sword in Greil's heart, and passing through his armor as the rain continued, the boss of the Greil Mercenaries fell, dying.

"GREEEEEEIL!!" Everyone yelled surprised as Ike rushed towards the Black Knight, Ragnell in hand.

"Y-you...YOU!" Ike said glaring daggers at the Black Knight, the blunt mercenary tried to slash him with Ragnell, but in a quick movement, the Black Knight slapped his hand and Ike lost Ragnell in the ground, the Black Knight quickly grabbed his throat and raised him above the ground. "UGH!"

"IKE!" Everyone yelled once again as another thunder illuminated the whole area.

"As blunt as your father, there is only one person besides him with that attitude, his son." The Black Knight said.

"Leave Ike alone!" Marth said.

"Why should I?"

"Because with who am I going to fight later?" Boyd asked.

"Boyd, you're not helping!" Roy said.

"STOOOOOOOP!!"

"Huh?" The Black Knight noticed Mist holding his arm as she cried. "Y-you're Greil's daughter?"

"Please! Stop! I can't see my brother be murdered in front of my eyes after my father was murdered by you! It's too painful already!" Mist yelled crying.

"M-Mist! Come back here, it's dangerous!" Oscar yelled.

"Y-yes, come back here!" Rolf yelled.

"I beg of you...don't kill my brother...I love him so much that I will do anything to protect him..." Mist pleaded closing her eyes, sobbing as her tears strolled down her cheeks, mixing up with the rain.

Tales of the Abyss - Serious

"...M-Mist..." Ike said fainting.

"...Fine..." The Black Knight released Ike from his grip and the mercenary fell down, Mist hugged her brother as she cried, everyone ran towards them as the Black Kinhgt slowly walked away.

"Ike! Ike! Answer me! Are you okay?!" Boyd asked.

"...These are my last words..." The Black Knight said turning to them. "Tell Ike to get stronger and lead a powerful army, once he achieves those requirements, I will be back to confront him." And the Black Knight disappeared in the deepness of the trees, as a thunder enlights the place.

"...Ike..." Mist whispered, resting her head on his brother's chest.

Mercenary Fort

The next morning...

"You're leaving us?" Ike asked as all the mercenaries were gathered in the fort's entrance to say farewell to the Smashers.

"Our work here is done so, we have to leave for now." Chris said bowing. "I really enjoyed my time here with all of you."

"Heh, of course, now the place will be normal again." Shinon said.

"...I'm not even bothering anymore." Falco said looking away.

"Good luck with the women." Gatrie said doing a handshake

"You too, good luck." C. Falcon said with a bandage covering his missing part of his visor.

"You're not going to say good bye?" Nana asked to Soren.

"Good bye." Soren said.

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeird." Popo said.

"...I have to agree with you for once." Nana said.

Chris noticed that Marth and Roy were talking to themselves. "...It's something bothering you?"

Marth looked at Roy and they nodded. "Chris, we decided to stay behind."

"What?!" Pit asked surprised.

"I think Ike needs all the help he can get, besides, staying here will make me feel like I'm in home."

"For me too!" Roy said smiling. "I want to stay here for a little longer!"

"Then we shall leave you behind." Meta Knight said.

"Meta Knight! Are you going to say something to oppose them?!" Chris asked.

"Decisions from other people needs to be understood sometimes."

"..." Chris looked at the swordsmen. "Okay, you can stay here, but don't mess anything up and return to us once you're done here."

"Roger." Roy said.

"I understand." Marth nodded.

"Welcome aboard." Ike said smiling a little.

"We shall miss you." Titania said.

"Titania, are you sure you're feeling well after what happened...yesterday, right?" Boyd asked.

"...Yes...don't worry."

"(Poor Titania...)" Chris thought preocupied. "...Well then, it's time to leave, good bye!" Chris, along with Pit, Meta Knight, C. Falcon, Geno, Popo, Nana and Falco walked away waving at the mercenaries and Marth and Roy.

"Take care everyone!" Roy said.

"We will take care of Roy!" Mist said waving at them.

Music stops

"H-hey! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm not a kid!"

All the mercenaries laughed and chuckled as Roy pouted a little, crossing his arms as Ike watched the Smashers walking away.

Shadow Dragon Medley

"I have this feeling we will meet again someday very soon." Ike said.

"Did you say something Ike?" Mist asked.

"...Nothing, c'mon, Rhys said Elincia woke up from her state."

Marth and Roy have left your party

Back with the Smashers...

"So, it was okay to leave Marth and Roy with them?" Falco asked with folded arms behind his head.

"Meh, I guess so, think of it as a gift for what happened yesterday." Chris said.

"Don't worry about them, they're going to be fine!" Popo said confident.

"...Hey, Popo, do you want to do it?" Chris asked winking at Popo.

"Of course! I need to do something random!"

"Wait, what?" Nana asked.

"Falco, can you join us too?" Chris asked.

"...Why not!" Falco said putting his hands above his shoulders.

"C. Falcon, how about you?"

"Count me in!" C. Falcon said excited.

The 4 got closer together and Chris began to count.

"And 3, 2, 1, go!"

The 4 began to sing a sped up version of "If you wanna be my lover."

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!" Chris sang.

"So tell us what you want, what you really really want!" The other sang together.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!"

"So tell us what you want, what you really really want!"

"I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha! If you wanna be my lover! You gotta get with my friends!"

"Gotta get with my friends!"

"Make it last forever! Friiiendship never eeeends! If you wanna be my lover! you have got to give! Taking is too easy!

"But that's the way it is!" The 4 sang together, continuing to sing as they walked.

"Ugh, seriously, what kind of things does Chris tell us about?" Nana asked groaning.

"He told me many things one time about his world, and they're interesting." Pit said.

"...Maybe he told me some things too." Meta Knight said embarrassed.

"Hahaha, I just like to hang out with you, just like Mario, Peach, Bowser and Mall-" Geno paused for a moment. "Mallow! Chris! Open the portal!"

"Okay!" Chris continued to sing after he opened the portal and the others who weren't singing entered in a hurry. "Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!"

"So tell us what you want, what you really really want!" The other sang together.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!"

"So tell us what you want, what you really really want!"

"I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna ha! I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha! If you wanna be my lover! You gotta get with my friends!"

"Gotta get with my friends!"

"Make it last forever! Friiiendship never eeeends! If you wanna be my lover! you have got to give! Taking is too easy!

"But that's the way it is!"

"FALCON KICK!" C. Falcon used Falcon Kick to enter the portal and break their "singing" formation.

"MY PIKMIN!!"

"...Oh no..." Chris entered inside the portal with the last 2 before it disappeared along with them.

And thus, they managed to save Mamar, the second Star Spirit.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 3000 SMASH COINS!

C. Falcon's, Marth's and Roy's partnership levels were filled! 2 paths to different worlds have been opened!

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Twink

References:

-Chris talking like Yoda, from Star Wars. XD

-Victory theme was a reference to Tales of Vesperia. (Blame me, I love that game, but I don't have it but still it fits nicely). XD

-They misheard Falco saying bread instead of cake, a reference to many people who did the same thing. XD

-Tales of the Abyss - Serious theme was a reference to the game with the same name, it raises the sadness.

-I'm not going to say anything about the song at the end. XD

And we ended this arc, so, by going there, Greil's death came earlier than expected, but Marth and Roy decided to stay behind and help Ike out.

And what's up with Chris and Popo? XD

Read and review please, time for Mario to appear again! ;)
*Chapter 85*: Fact: Yoshi Likes Sports

Well, it seems we got out from Fire Emblem at last, but it's time for a Mario arc to make an appearance! :)

From Rellymaster: So hilarious, especially when practically BURNED Ganondorf. That's a lot of money to be earned for such a dramatic arc.
I saw that "hottie-hot-hottie" thing from The Emperor's New School. XD

From me: Thank you, I might do some references to TV shows but it seems stupid to point it out in the fic, so you have to guess and find them all if you can. ;)

From ngrey651: "It raises the epicness, EPICNESS!"

"Dumbness is what I see!"

"And dude, just look at your hair! You look like a freaking girl who just got out from the costume shop!"

"Do not dare to mock my hair, nipples man!"

"I'm more handsome than you are, wait, that's right, YOU'RE NOT HANDSOME!"

Readers...note the CUNNING way the author takes up space in his story. ;)

From me: ...Thanks! :D

From Nintendogeek01: Ugh... thanks a lot... you've made me re-live memories of my bad taste in music back when I was eight...

Well anyways... sorry Chris but I have to be honest. The fight with Yaridovich was good, but the plot was a bit too weak. This wasn't one of the better arcs. Still like I said, you did well with Yaridovich's fight.

From me: ...I'm sorry...I think it wsn't enought for you, but I do agree in some points of the music, I mean, the black knight music it's not so lively, I should have used FFAT music instead...but please, don't lose hope for this fic, let's see if the next arc will get you interested again. ;)

From saphirarubius: SOREN IS TOO GOOD FOR NANA! And everybody else for that matter... :P
AND WHY DID YOU LEAVE MARTH AND ROY THERE!
Now we won't see them for a while... cry
As for inaccuracies, its fanfiction, all fanfictions are "inaccurate". :)
This seemed like a short arc but I can't blame you. To write about a game you never played before is hard. All in all, I thought it was good.
My brother declared that Captain Falcon was evil ever since he saw C. Falcon kill all the Pikmin in Brawl. :)

From me: Me too, he didn't care. XD

But don't worry about Marth and Roy, both will return along with Ike in some point much later, since Greil was killed before the part where he was supposed to be killed, it was a better choice to leave them behind to help Ike, so as I have said before, don't worry! :D

From Chef Colette: Great chapter!
lol,Nana likes Soren! Nana and Soren sit under a tree,K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
Anyway,this is great so far.
Can you do a Soul Calibur 2(GameCube) or Soul Calibur Legends(Wii) arc?
Keep up the great work!

From me: NO WAY FOR BOTH THE STATEMENT AND ARCS SUGGESTION! Sorry, but no. :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: It's time for MARIO nya!!Oh the joy!And I think an 8-ball mansion chapter would be HILARIOUS!!Dusk don't you have one of those nya?
Dusk:Yup!It's rigged with the funny can borrow it if you want.(Tosses it over)But I want it back when you're done,I'm going to a party soon.

From me: ...T-thanks, both of you. XD

From wolfenpilot687: *raises eyebrow* Any more Falco references? *sighs* Glad that arc it's
over...

Then again...I'm here reading like always! Good work, AHROH!

From me: Hmm, I don't get you at all. :D

Well...I think it was "good" the Fire Emblem arc, but I hope this one gets interesting...I also received few reviews for the last chapter...I WILL try to not fail again, just cheer me!

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 85: Yoshi's lively sport spirit!

Somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, in the night

"A little more..."

"Dang it...this thing is too heavy!"

"Why did the Ancient Minister send us to carry these bombs?!"

"The R.O.B. can do that alone, I wonder..."

"...We just got tricked!"

"Dammit!"

"Bah! Who cares anyway?! All the people will be sucked into the Subspace if this goes according to the plan!"

"...Huh?" A green nose peered from a part.

"Nobody will know about these bombs being here, the cloaking devices will hide them!"

The green nose disappeared from sight.

"Alright, we have to prepare for the next day, let's hide for now."

"Hey, when it's going to be my turn to attack?" Asked a small Piranha Plant on fire.

"Pacience, if things get out of control, we will make you grow back to your original form to start a rampage."

"You better not lie on your words!" The Piranha Plant said before hiding in the earth.

A kingdom above the clouds

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaail!" Parakarry yelled flying towards the kingdom of clouds, Nimbus Land, flying inside the castle at high speed.

Nimbus Land's Castle

"Coming through! Excuse me!" Parakarry yelled warning all the servants of King Nimbus, flying in front of them.

"W-who was that just now?!" A servant asked to another.

"Who knows!" The other replied back.

Throne Room

Parakarry bursted out of the doors. "Mail for Prince Mallow! Is Prince Mallow here?"

"Mallow?" A queen asked walking (rather floating) towards the paratroopa. "Why, yes, Mallow is my dear child."

"Is he here?"

"Of course!" King Nimbus said nodding, standing besides Queen Nimbus. "Mallow should be walking to this room right now as we speak!"

"Oh, great! That will save time!"

"I'm here!"

The young prince of Nimbus Land came from the doors smiling.

"Mallow! This person has a letter addressed to you!" Queen Nimbus said.

"A letter for me?" Mallow asked tilting his head in confusion. "We have never had letters from outsiders before, except for my grandpa."

Parakarry took out the letter. "Here, this is from someone called Geno."

Upon hearing that name, Mallow jumped 10,000 feet high and landed surprised. "W-W-W-WHAT?! GENO?! FOR REAL?! GIMME THAT LETTER!" Mallow hurried taking the letter from Parakarry's hand. "Hmm!"

"Geno? Is that lad from the Star Street that didn't give an autograph to me?" King Nimbus asked.

"Honey!" Queen Nimbus said angrily.

"It's the Star Road dad." Mallow corrected him as he continued to read the letter. "...What?!"

"What is it?"

"I-it seems the Star Road has been broken once again by Exor!"

"What?!"

"You know about Exor?" Parakarry asked.

"I could ask you the same thing! How do you know about that?" Mallow asked.

"Maybe the letter has more, continue!"

"Okay..."

10 minutes later...

"Subspace Army... Smashers... Star Spirits in trouble... Geno needs my help!" Mallow said throwing the letter away. "Oh my god, I'm going to see Geno again! Isn't that wonderful?!"

"There you go again my child, going off to another adventure." Queen Nimbus said laughing heartily.

"Okay son, I know this is important, but pleas-"

"I know dad! I gotta help Geno to reunite the Star Spirits!"

"No! You have it all wrong! I was going to ask you to get autographs for me this time!"

"Honey!" Queen Nimbus said angrily.

"A-alright..."

"But I don't know where is Geno or the Smash Mansion or the Smashers!" Mallow said about to cry.

"If you want, I can take you to them in an instant, I'm friends with them!" Parakarry said.

"...Can you do that for me?"

"Anybody who is a friend of the Smashers is a friend of mine!"

"Wow! Thank you so much!" Mallow said, jumping out from his pants for a moment.

"My, our son is very happy again." Queen Nimbus said.

"Autograph!" King Nimbus said again.

"Hush!"

"I-I mean, what are you going to do now Mallow?"

"It's not obvious dad? I'm going to meet Geno again and help him out!"

"Do you have your favorite pants on?" Queen Nimbus asked.

Mallow groaned. "Moooom! Not in front of him!"

Parakarry chuckled. "O-okay, hop on my back."

Mallow jumped on Parakarry's back and the paratroopa began to fly above. "Wait, I don't weight that much?"

"Nope! You're just a cloud!"

"...I see..." Mallow looked back at his parents smiling a little. "It's okay for me to leave the kingdom again?"

"You're a prince, but you can do whatever you want." King Nimbus said.

"Also, maybe you can meet up with Mario or Princess Peach along the way." Queen Nimbus said.

"Oh yeah! Mario and Princess Peach!... Wait, wasn't her name Toadstool?"

"We heard she changed it a long time ago."

"...And why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask." Queen Nimbus chuckled heartily.

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeell...I'm off!" Mallow said sweatdropping, waving at them as Parakarry flew off the room.

"Good bye Mallow! Please, don't get hurt!" Queen Nimbus said waving at him with a smile.

"And bring autographs!" King Nimbus added waving at him.

"Why are you so obsessed with autographs?"

"It's my hobby, what can I say?" King Nimbus chuckled heartily.

Nimbus Land

"Bye everyone! See you all later!" Mallow said waving at the citizens of Nimbus Land who waved back at him and gave him their wishes to stay fine.

"Smash Mansion, here we go!" Parakarry said accelerating to the ground.

"(Geno... I want to see you again...)" Mallow thought excited.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Flashback

Dear Chris

How are you doing? Everything is fine over here, Mr. Sonic says hi by his part, by the way, he told to tell some thing to you and everyone...

Mr. Sonic is planning to go to Soleanna to a festival, I want to go too, but he told me to stay here, but he also told me that he, Tails and Knuckles were going to somewhere first before Soleanna, I think the name was Future City to search the Chaos Emeralds, Amy ran off without him knowing it too.

Oh, one thing I almost forgot about!

Sonic heard the rumors about someone named Mario, he heard a lot of good stories about him actually, he even sent a letter to him for a challenge about the olympic games soon, I was instructed to participate being...well...I forgot, the scorer I think?

...But he said he was going to Soleanna first in the way to Future City, but I don't know that...

I wish you all good luck in your journey! Say hello to Mr. Meta Knight for me!

From Cream the Rabbit.

P.S: I met a very kind person named Blaze the Cat, she was very kind to me.

"OH NO!" Chris yelled worried.

End of flashback

Mushroom Kingdom
Peach Dome

"It's finally here folks!" Toadsworth said over the mic announcing the big crowd of people gathered in the Peach Dome. "The Sports Festival is finally here! Here, our favorite challengers, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Koopatroopa, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong between many others will show us who is the best in this great event!"

The screen shows the surroundings on the dome as Toadsworth talks. "Yes! This event is going to be the greatest yet, our favorite hero, Mario, has told us about someone named Sonic who challenged him as his friends to the olympic games at some place called Beijing!"

The screen shows the different places around the area. "Our main sport events are golf, tennis, baseball and for the last, 4 new tracks of our incoming kart racing event after the olympics to get all the challengers pumped up to participate!"

The screen shows Toadsworth again. "And now, some words from our sponsor and princess of our lovely kingdom, Princess Peach!" He handed over the mic to Peach, wearing her sport dress.

"Hi everyone!" Peach greeted gigling.

"Hi Princess Peach!" Everyone in the dome said happily.

"As you know today, we have this event of sports, many will participate, even I'm participating myself! We have all the instalations prepared for this greatest idea to...umm...what's the word?"

Daisy appeared grabbing the mic. "Hang out and have fun!"

Peach took the the mic back. "Yes! Exactly!"

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"We've got a lot of preparations, but everything seems to be ready to start! We just need the entries to be filled before 3 hours have passed! Come on now and enter everyone!" Peach said opening her arms as everyone in the stadium cheered loudly.

"So you said there are several Subspace Bombs hidden in the area?" Chris asked.

"Yes, but they're very well hidden, so it may be hard to find them all." Master Hand said.

"My Pikmin..." Olimar said looking down in shame.

1 hour ago...

"And here is the Command Room, where we know what worlds are being attacked, any questions?" Jigglypuff asked with a small smile.

"No, I understand everything perfectly." Olimar said nodding once Jigglypuff finished her tour around the mansion to Olimar. "But I have a complain..."

"What is it?"

"My Pikmins don't like to get near those weird butlers birds..." Olimar said pointing to 5 Pikmin above 5 Prinnies, trying to win a fight.

"Dood! Dood! Get off me, dood!" A Prinny said trying to take off his head a Purple Pikmin.

BIBI!

Olimar used his whistle to call them back to him, but as soon as they came back to him, they returned to fight the Prinnies. "Oh my..." Olimar frowned.

"Er...Etna! Do something!" Jigglypuff said to Etna.

"...Huh?" Etna was sleeping in a chair that was leaned to the wall. "What did you say?"

"Tell your Prinnies to go away!"

"Oh, okay, Prinnies, go away, now...Zzzzz..." She fell asleep again and the Prinnies left the room.

"There, problem solved." Jigglypuff said.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality everyone, I shall be of help." Olimar said.

"Good thing you said that." Master Hand said before the portal opened. "Oh, here they come."

"They left Marth and Roy behind?" Link asked.

"Yes, they did."

"Great, now with who am I going to measure swords with?"

"Ask that to Toon Link." Zelda glancing to Toon Link, who gulped after Link took out a ruler out of nowhere.

"You...will...measure...your...sword...with...me..." Link said darkly holding the ruler.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Toon Link ran away from the crazy Link.

At that moment, Pit, Meta Knight, Nana and Geno came out. "Good job out there!" Master Hand said.

"Please, kill those weirdos, that song is irritating me!" Nana said pointing at the portal.

"Song?"

Olimar walked to the portal with his Pikmins in front of the portal in curiosity. "Song? It's country music?" Olimar asked.

"FALCON KICK!" C. Falcon came rushing out, kicking the 5 Pikmin who were sent to the walls, dying.

"MY PIKMIN!" Olimar said alarmed.

"Did something happen?" Chris asked peering from the portal before stepping inside the room with Popo and Falco, the portal also vanished.

Present...

"Will you please snap out of it?" C. Falcon asked.

"Why? My Pikmin died...once again!" Olimar said.

"But you can call them back anytime." Master Hand said.

"...Yes...but I appreciate them very much..."

"Just by curiosity, how many Pikmin died before?" Pichu asked.

"Like 12,000."

"What the-Olimar, what was the cause?" Chris asked.

"...Louie, he isn't that experienced with Pikmin that he let many of them die against Bulborbs."

"..." Chris didn't spoke.

"...Oh well...I call more back..." Olimar plucked 5 more Pikmins out of the floor. "There, nothing will kill them this time."

"...Oooohhhh..." Kirby drooled a little after seeing the Pikmin...that he swallowed them. "Yum!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!"

"...ANYWAY!" Chris turned to Master Hand. "What was our mission again?"

"Go to Mario's world again, find and destroy the Subspace Bombs before they explode!"

Mario Golf, Power Tennis, Superstar Baseball and Kart
Current Status: Beginning of the festival of sports
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: Many
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Sport skills

"It's your lucky day, it seems you can take anyone there." Master Hand said.

"I see, okay, who wants to come with me?" Chris asked.

"I'll go again." Geno said.

"I want to do something." Jigglypuff said glaring at Master Hand.

"I'll go as well, I want to keep an eye on you this time." Lucario said.

"My Pikmin..." Olimar said sadly.

"...Olimar...do you want to come with me?" Chris asked.

"...Huh?"

"Do you want to start helping us?"

"...Well...that's why I'm here, right?... So I guess I'm in..." Olimar said agreeding.

"That's 4 characters, 5 counting me, I have 4 more spots."

"I'm coming, I want to find Charizard to capture him!" Red said.

"Red and his Pokémon count as one character." Master Hand reminded Chris.

"3 more left."

"Hmm, if the festival is of sports, then I'm going too." Fox said.

"2 more left."

"Can I go this time? Please?" Twink asked.

"You can take Twink with you, but he will not count as a character since he can't fight." Master Hand said.

"Now that's just mean!"

"Okay Twink, you can come with us." Geno said.

"Yay!" Twink floated happily towards Geno.

"We still got 2 more left." Chris said.

"Me! Me! I want to go!" Kirby said raising his arm.

"You're in."

"Yay!"

"1 more left." They looked at each other. "...Does anyone want to go?"

"I don't want to this time, I don't feel like it." Pikachu said.

"Weird, I usually play sports but...this time I don't want to either." Ness said.

"Count me out as well." Mewtwo said.

"I'm...not prepared to meet Peach again, maybe later." Zelda said.

"I only play soccer, and I'll be glad to challenge Fox any day on it, but not today." Wolf said.

"What about everyone else?" Chris asked and everyone else shook their heads. "...Then that means only 8 will go..."

"Wait... I need to wait for someone outside." Geno said walking away.

"Wait for someone outside?" Lucas asked.

"Who could that be?" Red asked.

"...Hmm...Mallow!" Chris said surprised rushing out.

"Should we follow them?" Pit asked.

"I have curiosity about this Mallow guy...let's go!" Pikachu said rushing out from the room, most of them decided to follow Geno and Chris outside, minus the hands and Mewtwo.

Outside

"...Hmm..." Geno looked to the clouds from far away.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kirby asked.

"Yes."

"Who is Mallow?"

"Mallow is a friend of mine that helped me out along with Mario when we stopped the Smithy Gang, we parted ways once I gathered all the Star Pieces, he is very powerful too since he can use magic related to the weather." Geno explained.

"Oh god, I'm going to meet Mallow." Chris said excited. "Aren't you happy Lucario?"

"Well, I don't associate with anyone else, but I can say it's fine with me." Lucario said.

"...You know, you should socialize with the others, not just me."

Lucario gasped a little. "B-but Chris!"

"Seriously Lucario, you need to have friends someday, and I want that day to be today, you're going to try and be friends with anyone here!"

"But with who do you expect me to talk to?"

"How about Mewtwo?" Lucario glared at Chris. "Okay, he's out, Pikachu?"

"Possible."

"Pichu?"

"No."

"Jigglypuff?"

"Worse."

"Zelda?"

"No."

"Olimar."

"No."

"Roy?"

"Never."

"Geno?"

"Maybe."

And both went on after that.

"...Hmm..." Ness narrowed his eyes at the dot coming from the south.

"I think someone is approaching..." Pit said.

"...And fast." Lucas added.

"...GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" A familiar voice made Geno to smile and he walked in front of the group.

"It's Mallow, he's here!" Geno said.

"GEEENOOO!" Mallow called waving at Geno from Parakarry's back, the postman paratroopa made a slow landing to make Mallow to land safely, but the cloud stumbled and fell, though he got up and ran towards Geno to greet him. "Geno! It's that really you?! Answer me!"

"We fought Valentina to free your fathers." Geno said to reveal himself.

"IT'S YOU! HAHAHAHAHA!" Mallow hugged Geno happily, and the puppet hugged him back as they laughed heartily.

Chris sniffed at this moment. "I just like...these happy moments..."

"Here." Lucario gave him a napkin and Chris took it.

Both stopped hugging each other. "Geno, so why did you come back? You said Exor broke up the Star Road again?"

Geno nodded. "Yes, I knew you were still in Nimbus Land and I decided to call you."

Mallow looked behind Geno. "Hmm...are they the Smashers? Wow," Mallow walked to them. "You sure reunited people who looks different from each other."

"N-nice to meet you Mallow." Chris said blushing a little.

"What's your name?"

"M-my name is Chris."

"Oh, nice to meet you too, so Geno told me you're the World Traveler."

"He did?"

"Yes." Geno responded.

"Hey, do you think we can travel to see Mario and Peach again?" Mallow asked.

"It's your lucky day, we were just preparing to go there!" Chris said.

"For real?!" Mallow's feet ran where he was standing, he was very excited. "I-I need to go there! Can you take me with you?!"

"O-of course! Welcome aboard to the Smash Mansion!"

"Thanks!" Mallow looked to the others. "So, what are your names?"

"Okay, I need to go back to Quill and Postman, see you all later!" Parakarry said flying away, but he stopped and returned. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?" Chris asked as Mallow was meeting the Smashers.

"I heard someone named Jynx and The Master are building a dojo close to Nintendo City, I also heard they're so strong!"

"Jynx?" Geno repeated confused. "I think I remember that name somewhere..."

"It's a Pokémon." Lucario pointed out.

"No, it was also the name of another person...but I can't remember..." Chris wondered. "But who is The Master? I think I have heard that name before too..."

"The Dojo" sidequest has been added to the sidequests list

"...I'll let you wonder by yourselves, go there once you have free time, bye bye!" Parakarry said flying away from them. "I know who is The Master though, a clue, I fought against him with Mario a long time ago!"

"...Oh, I think I just remembered..." Chris said.

Mallow temporaly joined your team!

Command Room

"We have a new guest!" Kirby said excited. "His name is Mallow!"

"Oh joy, more guests, at this rate the mansion will be full with guests." Master Hand said sarcastically.

"..." Mallow looked at the hands. "...So...are they..."

"Yes, hands, without head or bodies...or you could call Master Hand my boss." Chris said sweatdropping.

"You're Mallow?" Master Hand asked.

"Y-yes, nice to meet you hand...I mean! Master Hand sir!" Mallow said nodding quickly.

"Well, it seems we do have guests, we have Etna, Flonne who is in the infirmary being the nurse, Geno, Twink and now Mallow."

"Who's Etna?"

"Huh?" Etna woke up from her chair and waved at him before returning to sleep.

"And who's Twink?"

"I-I'm Twink!" Twink said appearing from Geno's back.

"Twink was a little shy in meeting you." Geno said.

"T-that's not true!"

Meanwhile, Chris was seeing the shop for items and new things.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 3100

"My final update for the menu is this, once I get something new, I'm going to label it next to the things for that menu!" Crazy Hand said.

"Okay, show it to me." Chris said.

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Everyone in your party will have their own Over Limit gauge, enabling more Final Smashs

"20000 SMASH COINS?!" Chris asked outraged and everyone stared at him. "I-I just can hold up to 9999 Smash Coins! How am I supposed to get that awfully amount of coins?!"

"Maybe if you do the sidequests you have been assigned to," Master Hand began. "Who knows, maybe someone out there has a bigger bag for holding Smash Coins."

"Chris, it's no use arguing." Lucario said.

"...Fine." Chris said sighing disappointed.

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Lets Kirby call his helpers to aid him whenever he gets an ability from another opponent

"Helpers? Like GIM?" Kirby asked curiously.

"Yes!" Crazy Hand said.

"Wait, there are some abilities for only one character?" Chris asked.

"Er, yes! But I like to keep the abilities not so overpowered, you know, it ruins the whole adventure if you put something overpowered like someone immune to stagger, and that's all for the abilities!"

"...Well, I only have 3100 Smash Coins, so that will have to wait, now, show me the items."

Items
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Food
Franklin Badge
Heart Container
Home-Run Bat
Maxim Tomato
Pitfall
Ray Gun

Stored items:
Maxim Tomato

"CHEATER!" Crazy Hand yelled. "You took the Fan with you!"

"Er...oops?" Chris replied.

"100 charge fee!" Crazy Hand demanded and Chris gave him 100 Smash Coins. "So, what do you want?" Crazy Hand asked excited.

"Hmm, I want the Soccer Ball, the Timer and the Gooey Bomb."

"That will be 1200 Smach Coins, do you want to accept membership preferences by joining The Hand inc.?"

Chris sweatdropped. "Er...no thanks..." He said giving the 1200 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand, who gave him the 3 mentioned items.

"Why didn't you buy the Smash Ball?" Red asked.

"To tell the truth, I don't feel so much treatened in this world, besides, it's a Mario world! What's the most dangerous thing in there?"

"The Subspace Bombs?" Ness asked.

"...Well..."

"Alright, alright!" Master Hand began. "You should go there now, and since there is a festival going on, why don't you have fun and enter?"

"...Wait, did Toadswroth mention golf and baseball? I'm so in!" Chris said excited.

"I'm in for the tennis!" Jigglypuff said twirling.

"Me too!" Kirby said excited.

"Me 3!" Squirtle said.

"Me 4!" Ivysaur said.

"Hmm, I haven't played baseball when I started my adventure..." Red trailed off.

"I wonder what kind of sports are there...Geno, are you going to play too?" Mallow asked.

"To be honest, I don't know how to play sports, but I'll give it a try." Geno said.

"I'll help you!" Twink said.

"Olimar, do you want to participate too?" Chris asked.

"Oh boy, I have to play golf, I haven't since I departed from Hocotate on my first trip to the Pikmin planet." Olimar said a little excited.

"We can play tennis like you want, Lucari-" Lucario blocked his mouth.

"Shh! Not in front of them Chris!" Lucario whispered angrily.

"I'm in for baseball." Fox said.

Chris opened the portal. "Okay, we have to find the Subspace Bombs, rescue the Star Spirit, and win whatever trophy they're giving to the winner of probably each event!" Chris said excited.

"YEEEESS!!" Jigglypuff, Kirby, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Red, Mallow and Twink cheered.

"GO!" Jigglypuff yelled excited running inside the portal, along with everyone else before it disappeared.

"...Say, where is Toon Link?" Pikachu asked.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Toon Link was seen runing in the hallway from Link with ruler.

"And my sword has this length, and this width! And!" Link continued as he chased Toon Link down.

"...I'm surrounded by lunatics." Mewtwo, Meta Knight and Wolf said frowning.

Mario Golf, Power Tennis, Superstar Baseball and Kart

Mushroom Kingdom
Peach Dome

"I'm telling you Mario! There were some suspicious guys leaving bombs around the dome and some other areas!" Yoshi said jumping up and down.

Mario and Luigi were sitting on a bench inside the dome. "What is Yoshi saying?" Luigi asked confused.

"I don't know." Mario said.

"Oh please! You can understand me!" Yoshi said.

"Now now Yoshi, calm down, everything will be fine." Mario rubbed Yoshi's nose with care, and the dinosaur-lizard...thing grunted in irritation.

"By the way Yoshi, have you assigned your team yet?" Luigi asked.

"...Team? What do you mean? I thought this festival was a free-for-all!"

"No Yoshi, the festival is in reality for teams."

"...Then I'm joining with you!"

"Too bad," Mario shook his head. "Luigi and me are in Peach's team along with Daisy, Toad, Toadette, Toadsworth, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Birdo."

"Bowser made his own team with Bowser Jr., Wario, Waluigi, Boo, Petey Piranha, Koopatroopa, Paratroopa and 2 other guys." Luigi said trying to remember.

"BIRDO TOO?! WHAT IS SHE DOING WITH YOUR TEAM?!" Yoshi asked shocked.

"She didn't tell you? She wanted to talk about it yesterday in the night but you weren't home..."

"That's because I went to the dome to retrieve my lucky racket when I saw those guys carrying that bomb here!"

"Now now Yoshi..."

"OH FORGER IT! It's useless talking with you 2!" Yoshi said crossing his arms and looked away.

"Participants must enter the festival before the entries closes, you have only 1 hour left before the entries are taken to participate." Toadsworth said over the speaker.

"...Yoshi..." Luigi trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a team yet?"

"..." Yoshi's pupils shrunk. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The crazy dinosaur ran away at high speed leaving a trail of dust behind, he was looking around the dome frantically for a team to make, he would run in the walls and even the ceiling, search inside trash cans and lockers or appear inside them when he could get out of sight, then he ran away.

"Poor Yoshi..." Luigi trailed off.

"He's going to be fine, now let's-a-go! Peach wants to see her team ready!"

Entrance of Peach Dome

Behind a tree, the portal appeared and the Smashers walked out before it disappeared and they walked to the entrance.

"Entries will close in 1 hour, repeat, the entries will close in 1 hour." Toadsworth said.

"We should hurry up or else we won't enter!" Jigglypuff said.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Yoshi ran past them and they looked at him running around the dome at high speed.

"...Wasn't that Yoshi just now?" Kirby asked.

Chris stepped in Yoshi's path. "HEY! CALM DOWN! WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU OUT IN ANY PROBLEM! JUST STOP AND WE WILL LIST-" Yoshi ran above Chris in his mad dash, leaving his footprints on his shirt. "...You...little..." Chris muttered while his face was on the floor.

"GRRRRR!!" Lucario got furious at this and used Extremespeed to catch the mad Yoshi and bring him to them, he succeeded and Yoshi tried to ran away from him.

"LET ME GO YOU FREAK! I NEED TO GATHER MY TEAM OR ELSE I WON'T ENTER THE FESTIVAL!" Yoshi said trying to get out from Lucario, the dinosaur looked down to find Kirby and Jigglypuff staring at him, then he calmed down and got confused. "Kirby? Jigglypuff? What are you 2 doing here?" Lucario dropped Yoshi down.

"Well, we came here to participate in the festival and destroy the Subspace Bombs." Jigglypuff said.

Yoshi looked around to see all of them. "And who might you be?"

"...Yoshi...I'm Fox..." Fox said narrowing his eyes in a bored way.

"...Oops, I didn't recognize you with that new look...so, who are all of you?"

After introducing themselves...

"Wait, you said something about Subspace Bombs, right?" Yoshi asked.

"That's right!" Kirby said.

"Weird, I just happen to know about some bombs I saw last night."

"You know where are they Yoshi?" Chris asked.

"Uh-huh, but they hid them somewhere in the Peach Dome, I even heard they hid them in several areas where the festival is going to be held! I tried to warn Mario and Luigi but they ignored me completely!" Yoshi looked down in disappointment. "But to tell the truth...I'm not interested in that right now..."

"Why is that?" Squirtle asked.

"You see, I don't have a team to enter the festival, everyone already have a team and I'm the one being left out..." Yoshi covered his eyes. "I want to participate so badly! I can't find anyone to help me!"

"Wait, the festival is all about teams then?" Ivysaur asked.

"Yes...I just found that out too late..."

"...Hmm..." Mallow looked at Geno. "Maybe we could help Yoshi by being his team?"

"That's the same thing I had in mind." Geno said nodding.

"Me too!" Twink said.

"Yoshi could be our guide through the festival, so let's make him the leader of the team." Fox said.

"The leader of the team? Oh well, I'm a little sick of ordering around so I don't see why not." Chris said.

"Fine by me." Lucario said.

"I just want to play golf already..." Olimar said playing with his fingers.

"I don't have complains either!" Jigglypuff said.

"...For real?! You mean it?!" Yoshi asked with glittering eyes.

"O-of course, why not!" Chris said sweating after Yoshi handshaked his hands repeatedly.

Yoshi temporaly joined your team!

"Oh, thank you so much! I hate to not participate in these sports, it means so much for me!"

"Isn't he even worried about the bombs at all?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Bombs? Oh yeah, you mentioned the bombs from them...can you explain to me who is the Subspace Army?"

As they walked towards the dome, they went directly where the entries were, to sign up...weird thing was all the characters of the festival were there, they also forgot to sign up as well.

"What the..." Yoshi trailed off and looked at Toad. "You all forgot to sign the entries?"

"Yes, we kind of did, the festival wouldn't have started then, how funny isn't?" Toad said laughing.

Mallow, Geno and Twink were looking around for Mario and Peach. "Where are they?" Twink asked.

"They must be around here...I found someone!" Mallow said walking.

"You found them?"

"Nope, but I found Bowser!" Mallow said patting Bowser's back.

"WHO DARES TO GIVE ME A PAT IN THE BACK?!" Bowser asked turning angrily and looked down. "...Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Bowser, I'm Mallow! Don't you remember me?"

"Hmm...er..." Bowser crossed his arms and nodded. "Not a clue who the hell you are."

"Remember you had a castle named Bowser Keep in the kingdom that was taken by the Smithy Gang?"

"...Hmm...I lost the count of all the castles I have left behind..."

"You kissed a weirdo named Booster."

"I would never kiss a weirdo..."

"You tricked Mario into believing he joined the Koopa Troop."

"He joined the group and then left..."

"You didn't even care about the Smithy Gang until Geno here explained the situation to you!" Mallow said pointing at Geno.

"...Arf! I don't know any of you 2, begone!"

"But Bowser, you were then a good g-" Mallow's mouth was blocked by Bowser himself and he looked around.

"Shh! Mallow, you idiot, I know who the hell are you and Geno, but you can't say out loud I was a good guy back then, what do you think my son will think about me?!" Bowser whispered angrily, as Boo shrugged and looked away.

"Papa! What are you doing talking with them?" Bowser Jr. asked with a grin.

"Nothing Jr! These persons are now going away!" Bowser said chuckling.

"Bowser, I didn't know you had a son before, so who's the lucky lady?" Mallow asked winking.

"You damn cloud thing, stop saying stupid things!"

"Papa, are they making fun of you?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"N-no! In fact, THEY MUST GO AWAY NOW!"

"...Mallow, leave him alone..." Geno said turning his back with Twink, Mallow then followed Geno before looking at Bowser and his son again, but then left.

"Seriously, strange people talk to me!" Bowser said sarcastically.

"..." Bowser Jr. looked at the readers, blinking before looking at Bowser. "Hey, it's our turn! Move outta my way!"

"That's the spirit son!"

At that moment, Kirby peered from Bowser's back. "You have a son?"

"Ah great! Now I'm seeing Kirby!" Bowser said walking forward, ignoring Kirby.

"Excuse me pal, I need to sign up."

Chris turned to find Donkey Kong staring at him. "Oh, you must be DK!"

"You know my name?" DK asked.

"I-I sure do!"

"So, what's your name?"

"M-my name is Chris, nice to meet you!" Chris said stretching his hand out to do a handshake to DK.

Bad move actually, DK grabbed his hand and Chris went up and down screaming a little. "Heheh! Nice to meet you too!"

"WHOOOA! WHOOA! WHOOA! PUT ME DOWN PLEASE!" Chris pleaded and DK listened. "Phew, I thought you were going to throw me..."

"Okay, if you excuse me, I need to sign up with Diddy...say, have you seen a small monkey with a red shirt with stars and a hat labeled Nintendo?"

"...Chris..." Fox came up walking to them.

"Oh, Fox! You're here too? Nice new look you got there!"

"Yes...but that's not the reason of my presence here..."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

Fox pointed behind him with his thumb. "It's just...this monkey has been following me around ever since we entered the dome...and he has been staring at me with that look!"

Chris looked behind Fox, and there was Diddy staring at Fox's face, without blinking. "...Hi there?"

Diddy kept staring at Fox without moving.

"Aww, look at that, he likes you Fox." DK said.

"B-but he's...well..." Fox trailed off as he stared at Diddy. "Would you stop please?"

Diddy kept staring at him.

"Hey, maybe you could take care of him when I'm gone." DK said.

"W-what? I-I'm not a babysitter!"

"Heheh, Diddy's no baby, he's a full grown monkey."

"...Yes...I can see that..."

"C'mon Diddy! We have to sign up!" DK said going away.

"OK!" Diddy said blinking back and going with DK.

"...Phew, that's over," Fox said sighing. "This is probably going to be the last time I see him for sure, and only just here and not the mansion."

Chris chuckled nervously. "...Well...Fox...I...need to tell you something about Di-"

"Hey, DK and Diddy already finished signing up, let's sign up now." Fox said walking away.

"..." Chris sighed. "He better enjoy all the time he has left before Diddy joins us...hey, where is Lucario?"

"Grrr..." Lucario was just standing behind him, grunting at someone.

"Lucario! Y-you scared me just now!"

"Grrr..."

"...L-Lucario? Are you alright?"

"Grrr..."

Chris turned his head to the direction Lucario was looking at and gasped. "KING DEDEDE AND CHARIZARD?!"

"Charizard?! Where?!" Red asked appearing from nowhere with his Pokémon and a Pokeball on his hand, already signed.

"Dedede?" Kirby asked appearing from Lucario's side with Jigglypuff.

"Look who's here!" King Dedede asked grinning, walking towards them with Charizard. "It's Kirby and his band of mentally retarted friends!"

"But I have an IQ of 97!" Chris protested.

King Dedede rolled his eyes. "So dah kid's a nerd then!"

"I-I'm not a nerd, fatty!"

"What did ya say?!"

"Stop! Please!" Kirby said stopping Dedede. "Dedede, why did you join them?"

Dedede took out his hammer. "To knock out some sense to ya!"

"Dedede, not here." Charizard said glaring at Dedede.

"...Pfft, fine!"

"Charizard!" Red said with a glare pointing his Pokeball at Charizard.

"Oh, nice to see you again Red." Charizard said sarcastically, smirking a little.

"It's time for me to catch you!"

"Heheh, what a joke, but no."

"...But I have you here now!"

"Tsk, tsk," Charizard moved his finger at the sides. "You can't fight here in the dome, those are the rules, see that label over there?"

Under no circumstances, nobody will break up a fight in the Peach Dome or during the festivity, we REALLY mean it, don't make any fights in the Peach Dome or else you will get thrown in jail, sincerely, Toadsworth, Princess Peach's steward.

"Dammit!" Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur cursed.

"So, that means I can wander around freely with no interruptions." Charizard smirking evily.

"You have something in mind, I know." Lucario said glaring at him.

"Like you know that."

"Hey you 2 dorks!" Bowser called out. "Come here and sign up for the team!"

"Time to go Dedede." Charizard said walking away.

"I'll beat you in the sports, pink puffball!" Dedede said with a grin before leaving.

"...Should we tell him he was pointing at Jigglypuff?" Ivysaur asked.

"Oh no, it's just funny to see him blind." Chris said trying to not laugh.

"Rude! I'm not Kirby, why did he mistake me for him?" Jigglypuff asked.

"You're both round, soft and pink." Everyone said in unison.

"...But I'm...I'm..."

"Guys, come on! You have to sign!" Yoshi called them.

"I'm cuter!" Jigglypuff finished.

"Aw, we couldn't find Mario or Peach." Mallow said.

"We thought we found them, but it was only just a guy trying to impersonate Mario." Geno said.

"But I'm not trying to impersonate my brother!" Luigi yelled.

"Geno! He's Mario's brother!" Twink said.

"If you want to find him, you'll just have to wait until the opening ceremony begins...and it's in 10 minutes!"

"HURRY UP GUYS!" Yoshi yelled and they went to sign up.

Center of the dome

The 3 teams, leaded by Peach, Bowser and Yoshi, were standing in rows in the center of the dome, where the crowd was getting wild and cheered loudly.

"Oh my god, they so totally love me!" Jigglypuff said excited.

"Hey everyone!" Olimar said appearing.

"Olimar, where were you?" Kirby asked.

"Well, I just met my new friend, everyone, please introduce yourselves to Petey!" Olimar said presenting the big Piranha Plant who roared back.

"OLIMAR, YOU FREAKING DORK, THAT'S PETEY PIRANHA!" Chris yelled scared.

"So?"

"SO?! He's going to eat you!"

"Nuh-uh!" Petey shook his head.

"Yes-uh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Look! He even ate your Pikmin, I know because he has those suspicious leaves in his mouth!"

"Huh?" Olimar looked at Petey's mouth, but the piranha ate them quickly and smiled. "I don't see any leaves, maybe my Pikmin got lost again...oh well," Olimar called 5 more Pikmin back. "I can always replace them!"

Petey Piranha laughed to himself (well, if you can call that plant a he, those red briefs looks kind of...) as he returned to his team.

"...Somebody should tell him to make friends." Mallow whispered to Twink.

"...Hmm, have we met somewhere before?"

The Smashers turned their backs to find Mario in a thinking position, Geno's and Mallow's eyes widened a little, along with Twink's.

"I think I have seen you somewhere before..."

"MARIO!" Mallow and Geno yelled happily hugging Mario as Twink flew around.

"H-hey! Get off me!"

"Mario! Don't you remember us? We're Mallow and Geno!" Mallow said wiping out the tears from his eyes, there were clouds forming up in the dome by coincidence, but disappeared after Mallow calmed down.

"Mallow? Geno?" Mario took a closer look. "You! I haven't seen you in a long time!"

"Mario, it's good to see you agai-" Geno was interrupted.

"Chris, everyone! You're here!" The trio looked back to see Mario handshaking Chris's hand, and they fell in anime style.

"MARIO!" Twink yelled.

"...Oh, Mallow! Geno! Twink!" Mario said smiling.

"Finally." Mallow whispered to Geno.

"What are you 3 doing here?"

"We're here to prevent a b-"

"We're here to have a friendly participation in the event." Geno said blocking Mallow's mouth.

"That's why you looked around for the doll? Wow, thanks!" Mario said nodding.

"It's nothing, anyway, do you know where is Peach?" Geno asked unblocking Mallow's mouth.

"Geno, why did you stop me from saying bomb?" Mallow whispered.

"I don't want to cause panic, many people are here."

"It's something wrong?" Mario asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh, okay, if you're looking for Peach, she is going to appear very soon to begin the event."

"Thanks."

"So Mario, what have been you doing lately?" Twink asked.

The quartet started to talk between themselves.

"Aw, I really like to come to Mario's world, everything is always fun here." Chris said.

"...It's beginning." Lucario said.

"Now?" Ivysaur asked and they looked at the big size screen of the dome.

"Please, everyone line up with their leaders on the front." Toadsworth announced.

"Yoshi!" Kirby yelled.

"I-I know!" Yoshi said stepping in front of the group who quickly gathered and lined up.

"See you around!" Mario said waving at the trio, reuniting with his team, but then he walked to another way.

"I wonder where is he going..." Twink wondered as they looked at the screen of the dome and the crowd calmed down.

"May I have your attention please?" Toadsworth asked using the mic, and appearing in front of the screen with Peach. "Thank you, now, welcome to the Sports Festival, sponsored once again by our lovely princess, Princess Peach herself!"

The crowd went wild and Peach took the mic as she laughed heartily.

"Thank you to everyone for coming here, as you may know, the purpose of this festival was to get prepared for the olympic games at Beijing by a challenger from far away named Sonic the Hedgehog, I have taken my own personal time to investigate about this person, and it surprised me, he is a hero very well known around where he lives!"

"(Oh yes, Cream's letter said that to me.)" Chris thought.

"He sent a letter to Mario to challenge us and his friends to the competition of the olympic games, so the next thing that happens is this! Mario decides to make this festival possible by suggesting it to me, and I just couldn't refuse the opportunity to be back at sports!"

"Say the sports already!" Wario yelled.

"Okay! Now, our main events are going to include golf, tennis, baseball and kart racing, not only that, we're going to have mini-games as well!"

"Good!"

"But there's actually more to it!" The crowd went silent after that. "Now, if you see, we have...hmm...3 teams...3 teams ready to participate, but! We have also another surprise! The event is also an elimination match between the 3 teams and...wait a minute, can I have a closer look of this third team? I thought we were going to have only 2 teams in the event!"

A Toad walked to Peach and handed her a letter from Mario, who just returned to his team, Peach carefully readed the letter and gasped surprised.

"I wonder what's happening now..." Squirtle asked above Red's head.

"We have very important news from Mario again!" Peach said as everyone noticed that the dome was closing up, leaving a spotlight on her and Toadsworth. "I've got the news of a new, unexpected team that just arrived to participate as well!"

Spotlights around the dome where looking around randomly. "What's happening?" Koopatroopa asked.

"We would like to present to all of you, the newcomers for this event, friends to Mario and me, well, most of them barely," Peach pointed down at Yoshi's team and the spotlights centered on all of them. "Give an applause to the Yoshi Islanders team, the captain, Yoshi, and his teammates, Kirby, Jigglypuff, Olimar, Fox McCloud, Chris, Lucario, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur!"

The spotlights shone on each one of them and the crowd went wild again, cheering loudly.

"Oh...god..." Chris blushed embarrassed. "I...have...stage fright..."

"Just wave at them." Fox said waving at the crowd.

"...Er..." Chris waved shyly at the crowd.

"I'm famous! Oh my gosh! I'm famous!" Jigglypuff cheered jumping up and down, waving at her "fans."

"W-whoa, I didn't see this coming." Red said waving at the crowd.

"Who cares? They love us!" Squirtle said doing a peace sign.

"...Wait, Yoshi named us the Islanders?" Lucario asked confused.

"SILENCE!" The crowd stopped and the spotlights went on Bowser's team.

"What's so great about them anyway?!" Bowser asked enraged. "Cheer only to the winner of this festival, and that's me!"

"Who died and made you boss?" Wario asked. "I know you're the team's captain, but we need to have some merit!"

"Shut up fatty! You're the same arrogant, fat and stubborn person who will steal the trophy when I turn my back!"

"You tell him Papa!" Bowser Jr. said chuckling.

"King Bowser rules!" Boo said laughing, spilling saliva sometimes.

"I rule!" Waluigi said pointing at himself.

"Suuuuuuuure, you rule!" Bowser, Jr, Wario and Boo said sarcastically.

Petey just roared.

"Why did we join this team again?" Koopatroopa asked.

"Bowser, that's why." Paratroopa said sighing in disappointment.

"Let's just get on with this thing, I'm sick of waiting!" Charizard said roaring.

"Me too!" King Dedede said.

"Now now, calm down, we can't fight in the dome, it's a rule." Peach said as the dome opened up.

"Now princess, I know you came up with another decision, would you care to explain it to everyone?" Toadsworth asked.

Mario Power Tennis - Menu Theme

"I'd love to!" Peach said. "Now, since we have 3 teams, the Peach Fencers, the Bowser Fangs and the Yoshi Islanders, there is another thing that I came up with, but first, let me continue to explain the rules," she cleared her throat. "As you remember, I said something about elimination matches, right? Well, since there are 3 teams, the elimination matches will be altered a little bit, the events will be carried out like this."

Toadsworth took the mic. "In the golf event, teams will put the captain along with the 9 other teammates to participate, the captain will always stay safe from not being disqualified, but his teammates won't, here is how the things work out, depending of the decisions, the captains will decide to disqualify 2 teammates in each event for each team on their own, frankly speaking, this will also apply to the tennis and baseball events, but not the kart racing event."

Peach took the mic back. "The kart racing event is a surprise for everyone, the racing competition will be the final event where the captain and his or her last 3 remaining teammates will participate to win the festival, but there's more, the tracks are going to be 4 exclusive new tracks from our next kart event after the olympic games that the remaining challengers will test to win the festival!"

The crowd cheered in awe after this.

"4 new tracks?! I have to see them!" Chris said excited.

"Every event will also have mini-games, which will also count as part of the festival to increase the fun!"

"Here I go, Artist on the Court!"

"More detailed information will be given after reaching a sport, for now, prepare yourselves for the golf event in the Toadstool Tour section!"

"Please follow the Toads that will guide you to the location." Toadsworth said.

"Wow, everyone here is so pumped up!" Twink said.

"I can't wait to start, the suspence and the waiting is killing me!" Jigglypuff said.

"Are the bombs ready?" Charizard whispered to Dedede.

"Yep, they're activating now, but they're well hidden and nobody will suspect."

"What about the flaming Piranha Plant?"

"Lava Piranha Plant? He's ready to help us to win this thing."

"Alright, let's begin the operation."

Preview of the next chapter

"The Ring Attack mini-game on Congo Canopy? Wow, that's new." Chris said.

"The area has a lot of tall trees in the thick forest...I hope I don't throw up." Olimar said.

"I can't find the Subspace Bomb anywhere!" Lucario said.

"It got to be somewhere around here!" Mallow said looking around.

"The tennis event will be with doubles?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes, but I know something, they're going to decide with who." Fox said.

"Mini-games!" Kirby yelled excited.

"Next time: Golf and Tennis, hit and return!" Olimar said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Congo Canopy

Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

No references were made in this chapter, or they did?

Anyway, Yoshi is our protagonist, many more things are going to happen in this event, especially that Piranha Plant...

Read and review please! Please, don't lose hope for this fic! ;)

*Chapter 86*: Halloween Special

I had to make this chapter, since I'm a very enthusiastic person. A special of Halloween featuring the Smashers who were left behind in the mansion was created! I even stopped working on the next chapter, so that means a new chapter will come very soon, tomorrow or 2 days after. ;)

From ngrey651: Thank God Olimar can call more Pikmin but YEESH, that's a whole lotta killed-off Pikmin in just one chapter. EVERYONE'S bringing Olimar down, aren't they?

From me: I don't think so, I mean, this is the first time Olimar meets different and totally new people, isn't? And don't worry, no bashing on him or any other character. :) (Unless the chapter contains humor, that is).

From Mariko-ai-chan: "I just like...these happy moments..."
Me too!(Blows nose)This chapter was wonderfully random nya!A suggestion,why not put in the hari hari yukai dance!You'd be Haruhi I think...
Dusk:Lucario likes tennis?Weird...Oh and the Hand Inc isn't as bad as it sounds Chris!(Grins and holds up membership card)

From me: I don't exactly know what is the Hari Hari Yukai Dance, but I've heard of it in Youtube.

Oh, and good luck with the membership. ;)

From Wolfenpilot687: *claps* Now that's chapter! Great one, Chris! Good to know what I search in a fic, huh?

*clears throat* Well, I'm talking by myself, but, I think it's great. Keep going.

Huh? Wolf's into soccer? XP

From me: Think about it, out of all the 35 characters in Brawl, it seems the Star Fox reps (if you can call Wolf a Star Fox rep since he is from another team) wear iron boots, I'm thinking their strength comes from their feet or their boots (or buckles), so putting something like them being adepts in kicking their opponents and relate it with soccer was creative. ;)

From notfromearth7: Excellent my friend! I can't wait to see how well you pull of the sports stuff.

From me: Wait more, it's Halloween time. ;)

From Seitei: It had to have been a few days ago since you posted your last chapter. You're crazy, man.

And the whiny cloud prince makes an entrance! I bet he'll cry when he loses. BAD.

This chapter's really special, 'cause it's not adventure this time, but sports. In Beijing as well!

I love your story. Keep it up!

PS: Could Daisy join the Smashers as a guest?

From me: I would say I like to write for games I DO know about for my reason of writing this chapter down...don't get offended Ike fans.

Maybe.

Wait for the Mario & Sonic arc. ;)

...Wait, what? I don't think so, but you'll see Daisy acting a lot in the next chapter. XD

From saphirarubius: About the Link thing...Why does he need to measure his sword with others and it sounds like he does it more than once. It's not like his sword can turn into different sizes... or does it? If I didn't had a hatred for Toon Link, I would feel sorry for him...
A Mario Sports arc, hm... I don't really like Mario but he IS Nintendo's mascot, at least it's not focusing on him but on Yoshi. Yoshi is more tolerable. :P
Later when Diddy joins them he's going to stare at Falco too, right? At least he's not dragging them yet. :)
Looking forward to the next chapter!

From me: Seeing Link and all the other swordsmen being defined as friends in all the fics I've readed so far made this idea, that would be his running gag (every character has a running gag in the story) and no, Toon Link is one of my favorite characters. :)

Why am I thinking Diddy is going to cause chaos...nevermind, maybe it's just me. XD

From Rellymaster: How exciting! I've played almost all of these games, but I didn't expect them to be in the same arc!

From me: Mixing many sports game (save Strikers) was a great idea after all, right? ;)

From Coyote 71: Been reading this for awhile and all I have to say is. This is just a plain good awsome story. with every chapter I read I'm laughing my head off keep up the good work. Oh yeah one more thing just wondering the next chapter are we going to have a Happy Gilmore incident by any chance.

From me: Thank you so much! But what is a Happy Gilmore incident?

From Nintendogeek01: Sorry for taking so long to review. But here I am.

Not bad, this arc does look promising. I hope to see more of this soon.

From me: I hope you like the arc...BUT HALLOWEEN'S FIRST! XD

Now please, enjoy the little misadventure of the Smashers that were left out from the Mario's world, have you ever wondered what could happen if you mix Halloween with the Ultimate Chimera?

Read, enjoy, review and Happy Halloween too everyone! ;)

Halloween Special: Ultimate Halloween of the Chimera

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Can I go again?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"With sugar, a cherry, lemon ice cream, candy and cream on the top?"

"NO!" Tabuu yelled furiously to Porky. "YOU ARE NOT GOING THERE AGAIN AFTER YOU LOST!"

"B-but I have a great idea this time!" Porky dared to argue.

"Ugh."

"...I'm quite curious about this new idea Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister said.

"...Oh, thank you." Porky said.

"...I am hearing." Tabuu said a little annoyed.

Porky played with his claws as he talked. "Well, you see, I had a pet a long time ago, it was the Ultimate Chimera, this pet, well, he was indestructible that Lucas and his band of retarded friends and his dog couldn't make any damage on it, because if they touched the chimera, it retaliated with a quick bite that could destroy anything, even KO them!, it was invincible when it was living!"

"...Continue..."

"Y-yes! If you could at least, um, I don't know, bring it back to send it to them?"

"...Ancient Minister, you thoughts?"

"Hmm, I interested in this beast, maybe we could give it a try." The Ancient Minister said nodding.

"So, are you saying we should bring it back?" Ganondorf asked crossing his arms.

"Let us see if Porky has a good idea this time, since it does not involve him for a change."

"H-hey! What was that supposed to mean?!" Porky asked annoyed.

"Ganondorf, let us start right now."

"Affirmative." Ganondorf said nodding.

"While the World Traveler and his team are dealing with Charizard and King Dedede in Mario's world. We are going to send this beast to make chaos in their home."

"Heheheh..." Porky chuckled evily.

Smash Mansion
Outside

Porky was seen carrying the Ultimate Chimera in a cage above his Spider Mech. The "king" looked at the mansion and chuckled evily. "Heheheh, just you wait you all! My pet will teach you all a lesson for sure this time around, and not the other way around! DUAHA, BWHAHAHAHAHAH-cough cough-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"RUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHH!!!!" the Ultimate Chimera roared loudly.

"Shh! Keep it down, Ulti! You're going to have your food very soon. Just you wait Ness, and that wimpy guy Lucas!"

Porky imagined Ness and Lucas in his mind, and both kids were shown laughing in a think cloud.

"Hahahahaha! And that's not the best part, he posed for a photo using a pink dress...under a ventilator with strong air, pushing the skirt above and Pokey blushed and laughed like a girl, giggling as he tried to put the skirt down!" Ness said laughing madly, showing Lucas a picture of Porky with a dress.

"Oh god, is that his phone number on the photo?!" Lucas asked pointing at the number at Porky's side before rolling on the floor, holding his stomach in pain after laughing out loud.

"This is definitely going to the internet!" Ness said walking towards a computer, putting the photo in the scanner, uploaded the photo to the internet.

In only 4 seconds, the photo was seen 845,003,247,302 times with half the comments about how stupid Porky looked like, what's more, Ness received 100 awards worth of money.

"Lucas! We're rich! We're rich, I can't believe it!" Ness said holding the photo in his hand. "This is pure gold!"

Since it was Porky's crazy mind... "KISS ME YOU FOOL!" Lucas lunged at Ness and started making out, of course, out of the think cloud before it disappeared.

"DANG IT! I'M SO GONNA KILL THOSE BASTARDS NOW!" Porky said turning a bright red.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" the Ultimate Chimera roared.

"AND WHY NOT?! I WANT YOU TO GO THERE AND BITE THEIR HEADS OFF!!!" Porky yelled furiously, by accident, his rage blinded him and threw the cage to the 6th floor of the mansion, making a hole and setting the chimera free. "...Oops...COME OVER HERE! IT'S THE FIRST FLOOR, NOT THAT ONE!" Porky said running to the floor by burying the claws on the wall to climb it.

6th floor

"Ulti! You hear me?! Wow, this place is suuuuuuure alone! Look at the walls, they're so old and stinky!" Porky said looking around for his pet, where it appeared and walked to him. "Oh, here you are, Ulti. Gosh, I don't know my own strength at all, hahahahahaha!"

The Ultimate Chimera (which are we going to refer as UC (heheh, U(You)C(see)) roared agreeding.

"...But just look at this place! Walls, stinky and about to collapse, rooms, dark and gloomy, ceiling, as dirty and their butts are, lights, off! What the hell is wrong with them? Do they even know about sanitation?"

The UC roared.

"W-what do you mean I don't know what that is?"

The UC roared again.

"I-I always kept the tower very clean!"

The UC roared again.

"The brainwashed employers were the ones who cleaned it? Y-you're not making sense!"

The UC roared again.

"Y-you! I told you before I had to leave you near the stinky bathrooms for a reason. Lucas would go there and do the 2, that's where you come in and bite his as-"

The UC roared again.

"W-WHAT?! I-I can't get out from this crap. How do you suppose me to use the bathrooms there? I have a portable bathroom inside this machine, neat, huh?!"

The UC roared again.

"It's not disgusting, it's genius!"

The UC roared again, but this time, furiously.

"Says the old kid man who pees every 10 seconds?! I have a problem with my...oh...wait...I have to go now..."

The UC turned his head, after 10 seconds, he looked back at Porky and roared furiously.

"Ulti, you just DID not say that to me!"

The UC roared again furiously.

"You know what?! Screw you! I don't even know you!" Porky turned his back on it. "I have a very cute and strong Towtow named Ultichi, and guess what, it's a girl, better than you, you pathetic excuse for a chimer-"

CHOMP!

Outside

Porky was sent blasting off to the sky by a bite from his own pet, who decided to hide in the 6th floor. "THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I GET BLASTED TO THE SKY ALREADY! AND FROM ALL PERSONS BUT YOU! YOU DISGRACE ME!"

The UC roared again.

"I DON'T COMPLAIN TOO MUCH!" Porky complained as he disappeared from sight.

And so, the King P left his pet wander the 6th floor freely, roaring or grunting with low volume.

Command Room

The rest of the Smashers who didn't go to the next world were sitting on the chairs in front of the computers, some were leaned to the walls or remained up as they watched the event unfolding by itself from the screen.

"Why didn't I go there? There's going to be baseball event and I'm not there!" Ness complained crossing his arms.

"Well, you said before you didn't feel like going, didn't you?" Pikachu asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that's true. But I guess I wanted to go after all."

"Look, that oversized plant is eating Olimar's Pikmin when he's not looking." Nana said pointing at the screen.

"Look! He even ate your Pikmin, I know because he has those suspicious leaves in his mouth!" Chris argued but Olimar didn't see Petey's mouth in time before he swallowed them and smiled.

"...I'm bored." Lucas said moving his legs in the chair, looking down.

"We all are bored." Pichu said sighing.

Pichu's Confessionary

"I know this, when Chris selects somebody to go to a world, they DO something there, I mean, the ones left behind have nothing else to do but to watch how they are doing in the world. For me, I'm going to say it, it sucks being left behind, so, as the enthusiastic Pokémon I am, I decided to take the iniciative and find something interesting to do, something INDEED to kill the time..."

"Who wants to play Solitary in the computer?" Pichu asked cheerfully, but only the sound of the crickets were heard. "...Nobody? Anyone?"

"I have a better idea." C. Falcon said raising his hand.

"Yes?"

"Let's go and participate."

"That can't be done," Master Hand began. "We can't let more people go or else you'll suffer the consequences."

"Trust him, I learned the bad way." Falco said looking away embarrassed.

"...Fine...man, we have to do something."

"But what?" Ness asked.

"We could a) go to the city and see if we can do something, b) try to stop Link from murdering or torturing Toon Link with the ruler or c) convince Zelda to take a shower and peek on her."

"...You do know I'm standing besides you, right?" Zelda asked raising an eyebrow with a glare.

"...Yeah."

"Oh, I have something better for you." Falco said grinning and took out a photo.

"What's this?"

"The best female in the whole world, Samus."

"...But Samus is a man, right?"

"Oh no, is a girl...but I'm not going to see that photo, it's so awesome but dangerous at the same time, one small peek and you're going to wish her to be here...FOREVER."

C. Falcon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, like if that could ha-HOLY MOTHER OF PORT TOWN!"

"When did you take that photo anyway?" Pikachu asked.

"Hey, this scouter is useful for all things, for scanning areas, take photos, record small videos, etc, and the feature that Slippy added randomly, the power level indicator."

"Power level indicator?"

"Yes, but it's completely unnecessary, Fox thinks the same."

"...Okay, somebody has something to say?" Ness asked.

"Hmm...I have something." Mewtwo said.

"Well, spit it out!"

"Not too long ago, I heard a crash coming from the 6th floor, and I could even hear roars."

Crazy Hand gasped and they looked at him. "T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-THE 6TH FLOOR?! BETTER KNOWN AS THE 666TH FLOOR?!?!?!?!?!?"

"The 666th floor? But the mansion only has 15 floors, every single one very long and wide for letting 500 characters to live here!" Pichu pointed out.

"Everyone, there's some story behind that floor," Master Hand said and turned off the lights as a light shone below him. "It's the old legend of the 666th flooooooooooor!!!."

"...It that was supposed to scare me, try again, that was the most pathetic try I've ever seen before." Wolf said frowning.

Wolf's Confessionary

"Nothing, and I repeat it, NOTHING scares me the slightliest bit. I'm the most bravest person of the whole mansion for sure, and the last one who is for sure the most scared guy is that wimpy little blond kid named Lucas. I looked at him with my normal expression and he nearly fainted. What a wuss..."

"So, why is that floor mistakenly named the "666th" floor?" Wolf asked.

"It's because we built the mansion above an INDIAN CEMETERY!" Master Hand yelled the last part as a creepy thunder fell on the background.

"...I know you're lying with that part." Mewtwo said narrowing his eyes, noticing Lucas who was already fainted.

"Lucas! Lucas! Wake up! The mansion wasn't built above an indian cemetery!" Ness said moving Lucas.

"...Okay, where was I? Oh yeah," Master Hand cleared his throat. "Has anyone ever noticed that the floor has no persons in assignated rooms?"

"...Well, now that I remember, there isn't anyone who uses a room up there." Nana said remembering,

"And come to think of it, the elevator we have doesn't have the "6" to go to that floor." Popo said.

"And even the stairs skips a whole room size, the same size a normal floor is." Pikachu said.

"Yes, well, it's because that floor is believed to be haunted." Master Hand said darkly.

"I-I-I once went in there, a-a-a-and I heard roars and screams coming from a room, w-w-w-when I went to check in there, there wasn't anybody around!" Crazy Hand said studdering in fear.

"Originally, I bought the mansion from a very rich guy, but he told me not to go to the 666th floor. Many people who have gone there didn't return back. They said they were murdered in a slow and painful death...or rather fast and not so painful death, because there's a beast roaming the halls of that floor, searching for its prey to be eaten by its fangs."

"...Oh no, look how I'm scared, my hair is getting spikier from the horror..." C. Falcon said sarcastically.

"I-i-it should be! It's the truth!" Master Hand said. "Anyway, that's why that floor is off-limits. I would feel sorry for the next person who is dumb enough to go in there and sacrifice his or her life in vain."

"Master Hand, after inspecting your mind, I found out something," Mewtwo said raising a finger and the hand sweated. "There isn't any beast in there. The whole place stinks very bad and its layout it's horrible. The rooms can be dirty enough to make someone to fall or trip, and you didn't buy the mansion from a person, you built the mansion slowly until it was finished, but for some odd reason, you forgot to clean that floor and kept forgetting about it until it got very dirty and not safe for someone to sleep there. And it's not called the "666th" floor, Crazy Hand came up with the name just to make it sound scary." Mewtwo explained and they stared at the hands with angry looks.

"Oh, now we have something interesting to do, find out if that floor is really cursed!" Ness said as Lucas woke up slowly.

"Ness, I alread-"

"I know, I know, but there must be something hidden in there!"

5th floor

Master Hand continued talking as we see some stairs with a long yellow tape saying "Off limits, keep out!"

"Oh, why bothering? That floor is really haunted, seriously," Master Hand said, before we see Toon Link cutting down the tape and going upwards as Link was shown chasing him to the 6th floor. "Someone very stupid and sick of the mind only would go in there."

Command Room

"I'm not stupid and sick of the mind, that's why I'm assembling my own party to go there, who's with me?!" Ness asked raising his hand.

"...Meh, I'll go." Pikachu said walking to his side.

"I'm going too!" Popo said walking to their side.

"Count me out, I'm staying here." Nana said.

"Nana is s-ca-red!" Pikachu taunted.

"Nope, not at all," Nana snapped her fingers and Prinnies came in, giving her a hamburger. "Less people, more Prinnies for me to stay in the good life."

"Huh?" Etna shook her head, waking up from her state. "Did I miss something?"

"We're going to investigate a haunted floor!" Popo said.

"...Haunted?" Etna quickly sprang out from her seat. "If you're going to some haunted place, then take me in."

"...Why do you want to come?"

"Well, duh! Haunted places are the most awesome places to hang out. It's a devil's dream to find something haunted... Besides, there are 3 Prinnies that I haven't seen yet ever since we came here."

"...Okay, you can come."

"You don't order me around twerp." Etna said putting her hands on her hips.

"Anyone else?"

6th floor (666th floor)

There was a box trembling occasionally as Link looked around for Toon Link, not even caring about where in the hell he was now. "Linky, come over here and let's see which sword can cut through a cake faster!" Link said shifting his eyes, holding a cake on his right hand and his sword, cutting the cake slowly as walked away.

"...He's gone?" Toon Link asked looking around, then he sighed. "Phew, I thought it was never going to end... Where am I?" he asked to himself after looking around again. "Hmm, maybe there is something here. I haven't looked this floor at all now that I remember..."

The cartoony version of Link entered inside a room, where he found many things covered in dust, then he coughed after blowing some dust from an instrument. "...What's...this?"

For his surprise, he found nothing else than the legendary Ocarina of Time.

You found the Ocarina of Time!

Said a creepy voice that made Toon Link shudder, not noticing the sudden screen above his head that disappeared after 3 seconds.

"...So...hmm..." Toon Link found 6 dots in the wall. There was a symbol pointing at the right, a symbol pointing down and the other one was pointing above, then the same pattern repeated once again, Toon Link looked at the Ocarina of Time and found 5 holes with the same symbols. "...I wonder if something will happen if I follow these steps." Toon Link wondered, closed his eyes and pulled the ocarina's mouth hole to his mouth and began to play the song.

c-right, c-down, c-up, c-right, c-down, c-up...

If anyone can remember, Toon Link played none other than the Sun Song, with the yellow light covering him but he didn't notice it, but nothing seemed to happen as it vanished before he could see it. "...What a let down. Nothing happened." Toon Link said looking around, there wasn't nothing, the whole room was the same. There wasn't any wind coming in. The sun quickly hid behind the hills and the night came in quickly and he sneezed a little bit...wait, something did happen...

The small Link walked towards the broken window and saw that the night came very fast and gasped surprised. "T-that song was magic?!"

Command Room

Meta Knight came in walking to the room and spoke. "It seems the night came too fast. How strange."

"What do you mean?" Pichu asked.

"He means the night came too fast. It was still 2:00PM too." Zelda said and got in a thinking position.

"Master Hand is playing with us. He tries to make the things scarier just to scare the hell out of us." Ness said smiling proudly.

"...N-Ness, I didn't do anything..." Master Hand said.

666th floor

"...Maybe there are even more songs hidden somewhere in the walls!" Toon Link said smiling and blowing out the dust from the walls. Eventually, after coughing for a while, he found more symbols, this time, the next song had an "A" symbol, a down symbol and an up symbol, once again, repeating itself again. "Hmm, I wonder what is going to happen if I play that one too..." Toon Link said doing the same action.

A, c-down, c-up, A, c-down, c-up...

The Song of Storms played this time...

Command Room

CRASSSSSSSSHHHHH!!!

"UAAAAAHHHH!!!" Lucas hid below the table after a thunder fell, making a loud noise.

"Master Hand, stop it! That doesn't scare us even a bit!" Nana said annoyed.

"B-but I'm not doing anything, I swear!" Master Hand said.

666th floor

"Uh-oh, I think I called a thunderstorm, and a very strong one!" Toon Link said horrified looking outside, clouds completely covered the night and many thunders were seen making lot of lights above the clouds.

"Linky? Where are you? Come here and let's see which sword can make the-" Link paused for a moment. "THE DEEPEST SCAR! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Toon Link quickly let the Ocarina of Time fall off his hand and ran away from the room, and the instrument fell inside a sofa, where nobody would look for it never again, before a thunder illuminated the room again, with the shadow of a beast opening its mouth, showing its sharp fangs before disappearing after the next thunder.

Command Room

"Lucas, do you want to come?" Ness asked.

"I-I'm not going! No way!" Lucas said terrified under the table.

Ness's Confessionary

"Lucas needed URGENTLY to do something, he needs to stop being scared from things that don't exist at all, take me for example, I used to be afraid of the toilet because...well...I once fell inside by accident and I got stuck there for 30 minutes, because I didn't want Tracy to help me and see my p-"

"Fine, we'll leave you here." Ness said rolling his eyes before leaving the room with his party.

"T-thanks!" Lucas said, still trembling with fear.

"Well, at least the lights are on." C. Falcon said.

"It would be ironic if a thunder fell on the mansion and took away the electricity at this time to turn off all the lights for a long hour and make everything scarier." Zelda said crossing her arms.

"T-t-that's not going to happen, right?" Lucas asked by whispering.

"Aw, don't worry, that won't happen."

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ironically, a powerful thunder fell on the mansion and all the lights blinked a lot before shutting down temporally making them look above rather amused and not scared a little bit, but that terrified Lucas to the extreme, who fainted in the darkness.

"Geez, this is SO original," Falco said rolling his eyes before applauding. "Really, you're trying to make us think that there is a curse on the "666th floor" and went so far to make the night appear quickly with a thunderstorm and shutting down the electricity for a period of time, or temporarily. Bravo."

"Falco, I'm being serious, it wasn't me!" Master Hand argued.

"Hand, don't be ridiculous. This is all our doing." Wolf said in the darkness.

"...I believe he is telling the truth." Mewtwo said, being the only one with glowing eyes to make everyone to see him. (But Lucas woke up and stared at his eyes, making him faint again).

"...Oh well, this is not a big deal." C. Falcon said.

"I-I-I wonder what is Flonne doing now." Crazy Hand wondered.

Infirmary

There was a bed sheet trembling uncontrollably, but it revealed to be Flonne who was scared by the thunders and wondered how did those things happened at the same time.

CRAAAAAASHHHHH!!!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Flonne hid in the bed sheet as the light illuminated the room. "W-what is happening around here? E-everything got to so creepy all of a sudden!"

"Dood, we don't know what the cause is, dood." Prinny 3489 said carrying a First Aid box to another drawer.

"W-why aren't you scared at all?"

"Dood, this isn't nothing compared to what Miss Etna does to us, dood."

"...Okay..." Flonne said getting out from the bed and she looked around. "W-we should find some candles to at least create some light."

"Then do it in another room, dood."

"W-what?"

"I already looked for candles around here but didn't find anything, dood."

"T-then..." Flonne put her hands on her neck and looked at the dark hallway. "I-I-I need to go in there and look for the candles?!"

"If you want dood, I can go with you."

"W-would you that for me?"

"Dood!" Prinny 3489 said nodding.

"Oh! Thank you very much! I don't feel so scared anymore!"

CRAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHH!!!

Prinny 3489 sweatdropped after Flonne snuck inside the bed sheet, trembling with fear.

5th floor

Step: The Cave

The Angel Trainee and Prinny 3489 carefully walked inside the darkness of the hallway. To not trip, the Prinny took and flashlight with him to make light, making their way easier.

"Hmm..." Prinny 3489 looked at some ripped yellow tapes on the floor, close to the stairs. "We'll go upstairs, dood."

"W-why do we need to go up there?" Flonne asked trembling behind Prinny 3489.

"You don't know? The things you are always looking for are in the most suspicious places, and I haven't seen what is in the next floor, dood."

Flonne's Confessionary

"This wasn't going fine at all to me, with the electricity turned off, the probabilities to get lost in the darkness was inevitable. I am inside a big mansion of 10 floors, each one very long and wide! At least I had one of Etna's Prinnies to make some company with me. They're so kind to me, I wonder why?"

Prinny 3489's Confessionary

"She's leaning her chest to my back, dood..." Prinny 3489 said blushing, reddening too.

"So up we go then, dood." Prinny 3489 said walking towards the stairs, to the 6th floor.

"W-wait up! Don't leave me here alone!" Flonne said sweating and running towards the Prinny flailing her arms and legs.

666th floor

"Y-yuck," Flonne just stepped on a green blob and she tried to pull that out, but it got stuck in her right hand. "T-this place is so dirty and stinky..."

"Dood, I should suggest Etna to tell us to clean this place up, dood." Prinny 3489.

"Y-yeah, even the walls are sticky..."

"Okay, hmm, we should go...there." Prinny 3489 said pointing to the right and Flonne followed him.

"A-are you sure there's nothing to worry about?"

"Nope, nothing to worry about dood."

Groooooooowl...

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?!" Flonne asked looking behind her, preocupied.

"The wind or the thunders, dood."

"B-but I'm pretty sure that wasn't a thunder!"

"Just keep moving; the faster we leave this floor, the better." Prinny 3489 said looking around as they walked.

"O-okay, but I'm not sure about this..."

Prinny 3489 looked at Flonne. "Look, everything is fine, there's nothing to worry about. We are only you, me, and this strange pink beast with the duck on its head opening its mouth showing its sharp fangs that appeared out of nowhere when we didn't look when I started to talk with yo-"

The UC roared menacingly and both sweatdropped and began to sweat.

"...Okay, change of plans. We're going to turn our backs to it, lift our hands to the air, take a deep breath to scream loudly and run away as fast our feet can take us, got it?"

"...Uh-huh." Flonne said nodding.

"RUUUUUUUUUUN!" Prinny 3489 said screaming and running to the opposite direction with Flonne. The UC didn't like that action and started to chase after them by hopping and closing its mouth everytime it touched the floor. It was very hungry too because it was drooling, and not only that, its saliva was acid.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Toon Link came from a hallway and joined the escape with the 2. "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT MONSTER?!"

"JUST RUN, DOOD!" Prinny 3489 yelled screaming.

"W-WHAT WERE YOU DOING HERE?!" Flonne asked screaming.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER, BUT LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Toon Link yelled screaming.

"IT'S NO USE, WE IGNORED THE STAIRS JUST 3 SECONDS AGO, DOOD!" Prinny 3489 yelled.

The UC roared menacingly again and they screamed in unison, hidding in the darkness to escape from the chimera who chased them down, and a thunder fell, illuminating the place again.

5th floor

Luigi's Mansion Theme

"The 666th floor should be after crossing these stairs." Pikachu said.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"W-what was that?!" Popo asked hidding behind Etna.

"Popo, don't tell me that fake scream scared the hell out of you already." Ness said frowning.

"To me, it wasn't a fake scream." Etna said.

"N-no, it didn't!" Popo said taking back his place.

"And to make the experience worthwile," Pikachu took out a camera from his back. "I'm going to record this occasion for our supernatural moments!"

"Great idea, not bad!" Ness said doing a high-five with Pikachu and with Popo.

Pikachu put his camera looking at him, recording. "Now, welcome to the special segment of "The Mysteries That Aren't So Scary At All," or TMTASSAA for short! With your faithful host, Pikachu and his allies, Ness and Popo, along with a special guest, Etna! Say hi to the viewers Etna!"

"Hi there!" Etna said smiling at the camera.

"Now, we're going to find out about the fake mystery of the 666th floor, that is supposed to be the den of a fearsome and scary beast. Popo, any comments?"

"Juice!" Popo said.

"Great suggestion. I was getting thirsty but we don't have any drinks with us!"

"Oh, rats, the Prinnies that got lost were the same ones in charge of the drinks." Etna said snapping her fingers.

"So now we have a mission, and it's to find the Prinnies to get some drinks, preferably lemonades!"

"Go!" Ness said walking to the stairs with the others.

666th floor

"Oh, just look at this place, green, stinky, sticky, gross, it gives someone disgusting thoughts already!" Pikachu said looking around.

"Pikachu, isn't that the camera with green background?" Ness asked.

"...Oh, crap! You're right! This camera is supposed to make everything scarier with color green and black for long distances!"

"Anyway, let's see if we can find those reckless Prinnies." Etna said walking to the left.

"And now we begin our mission people!"

Pikachu's Confessionary

Pikachu wore sunglasses and a hat as he took a sip of his soda. "I'm going to get an award for showing the truth to the world. I can see it, Pikachu, truth discoverer, shows how Master Hand is such a bad liar!" He jumped out from his chair and began to dance. "Oh yeah! Who's the Pokémon? Who's the Pokémon? Who's the Pokémon? It's me, oh yes!"

"...Thunder." Popo said.

CRAAAAAAAAASSSSSHHHH!!!

"There is nothing here so far, not even a trail of the Prinnies." Ness said.

"This place is really boring." Popo said.

"PRINNIES! C'MON AND GET HERE!" Etna yelled using a megaphone and they blocked their ears in pain, but nothing appeared or happened. "PRINNIES! PRINNIES!"

"ETNA! YOUR YELLS ARE THE LOUDEST THING AFTER THE THUNDERS. STOP NOW!" Pikachu said. "YOU'RE EVEN GOING TO BREAK UP MY CAMERA!"

Etna sighed and threw her megaphone away. "You guys are not funny."

The Pokémon looked at her with his camera. "Now, after shutting up the demon girl, we continue our adventure in this "creepy" place."

"Ha, that didn't even make me angry." Etna said chuckling a little.

"Hey, check this out," Popo ducked and found a small feather. "Haven't we seen this somewhere before?"

"Hmm...you know, this wing isn't so well developed, it must be from...Flonne's wings..."

"So she's here looking around for the mystery as well? Wow, impressive! Just marvelous!" Pikachu said.

"Gang, we have something in hands now, we need to find Flonne and the "beast" in this floor." Ness said, putting on a red hankerchief around his neck.

"...A red hankerchief? Where did you get that?" Popo asked.

"Chris gave it to me."

"Oh, great! It looks good on you!" Pikachu remarked zooming the camera on the hankerchief.

"Hey, I think there's something behind that door." Etna said walking towards the door, opening it and she froze after she saw the UC's mouth fully opened and the young Smashers stared at it awe.

"This is rich, my boys! We found an apparently real imitation of a beast, good job Etna!" Pikachu said recording the UC that didn't even move at all.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-" Etna pointed at the UC terrified and studdering.

"Hey, check this out, even the fangs look so real!" Popo said looking at the fangs, where he could see his reflection and winked at it.

"Aw, look at that, there's a chicky on its head!" Ness said glancing to the duck in the UC's head.

"B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-" Etna continued studdering in fear, now her tail was pointing up to the ceiling.

"This, is in fact, a toy! Look at the button on its back!" Pikachu said recording the button from the floor.

The UC growled menacingly.

"Even this beast has a good growl. Master Hand really made a good job, but too bad he failed in scaring us!" Ness said laughing. "Okay, this is over, whoever is inside this thing please come out, after all, it's a controlled robot!" Ness yelled walking to its mouth.

"Guys, you can come out now!" Popo yelled, entering the UC's mouth. "Hello? Anybody in there? Hello?"

The UC started to slowly close its mouth and Etna gasped. "B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-"

Pikachu frowned. "Etna, seriously, you can't be serious. This thing is not scary, right, Ness?"

"It isn't!" Ness said laughing together with Pikachu. "Look! There's a perfect replica of a dead Popo in front of us!"

"Ha! We got you, Popo! You're with them in this too!" Pikachu zoomed into the dead Popo, who was drooling mysteriously. "Popo! Wake up and stop faking a death scene!"

"..." Popo didn't even move at all.

"...Popo?"

"Even there's red cherry juice coming out from his right arm, look at my face, I'm so scared!" Ness said laughing madly and grabbing the "red cherry juice" on a finger to taste it. "Yum! It even tastes like blood, how do you do this? It feels so real!"

Pikachu took a lick of the red cherry juice but froze instantly. "N-N-Ness..."

"...Yes?"

"I-I-I'm pretty sure this isn't red cherry juice..."

"...How so?"

"T-this doesn't taste like juice... It IS 100 percent real blood!"

Ness just blinked before laughing madly again. "Now everyone's on me! Nice try, Pikachu, but that didn't scare me!"

"Ness, you're sick. I'm telling the truth!" Pikachu said recording Ness and a frightened Etna.

"G-g-g-g-guys..." Etna pointed at the UC's mouth, which was covered in blood.

"...You know Pikachu..." Ness trailed off thinking.

"Yes?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm starting to believe this beast is real...I mean, even Popo's hammer was turned into dust over there..."

"N-NESS! IT'S WALKING TOWARDS YOU!" Etna yelled and Ness just blinked at the creature who opened its mouth and slowly put Ness inside its mouth.

"Eww, gross. I'm covered in your saliva," Ness said inside the UC's mouth and crossed his arms. "What are you gonna do? Eat me alive? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-"

CRAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!

Command Room

"They haven't returned yet." Meta Knight said.

"I wonder what's the problem up there." Zelda wondered.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Lucas jumped out from the table and trembled with fear. "W-WHAT WAS THAT SCREAM?!"

"It sounded like if Ness was bitten by some beast." Master Hand said before C. Falcon laughed for 5 seconds.

"Now Ness is in your little trick? Too bad isn't working with me." C. Falcon said.

Not much time passed before they heard screams and yells for help coming from the 666th floor, even they heard roars and growls.

"I-I-I'm not scared!" Pichu said studdering in fear, before Mewtwo came in using Confusion in 5 candles with fire as he put each one in different places of the tables.

"...Anyone wants to go up there?" Crazy Hand asked.

"For what? They can take care of themselves just fine." Falco said.

"Who knows, maybe the beast got them."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Oh, now I see your little trap. You expect me to go to the 666th floor and look around for them, when suddenly in the most unexpected moment, you're going to appear and scare me."

"Nah-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nah-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Stop it." Wolf said irritated.

"Oh well, I didn't think Falco was such a chicken and not a real bird." Crazy Hand said, trying to get Falco's nerves.

Unfortunately, Falco was one of those people that were easily tricked with easy sentences such like the one the insane hand said just a second ago, the avian pointed at him with his Blaster. "Wanna see the chicken I am? Fine! I'm going up there and prove to you my courage!"

"Maybe we can make a deal to do something interesting?"

"I'm all ears!"

"If you prove me you were right, I'll give you full access to the items's storage room, but if I'm right, you're going to wear your uniform of your team...but pink along with all the other stuff you have on you."

"Deal!"

"Oh no no no no no no, I haven't finished, there's another condition for this dare."

"Bring it. I'm not going to complain for whatever the other condition is."

Falco's Confessionary

"So, once again, I have another good dare. Are you hearing me, Zelda? Items are much better than money! I'll show you once I get my hands on Gooey Bombs to stick them all to your room and watch it explode!"

Zelda's Confessionary

"Falco, what are you doing in my own confessionary time and what is that about blowing up my room?" Zelda asked with a glare.

"...Er...anyway! Whatever the condition was, I'd do it without complaining!"

666th floor

"...But he HAD to pair me with you..." Falco said annoyed looking away from his condition of the deal, which was a very angry Wolf.

"So? If I won I'd get the same deal as you." Wolf said looking away with crossed arms.

"And for what are you going to use the items?"

"You don't know how much damage can you do while you're a giant and to your sworn rival..." Wolf said hiding a smirk.

"...Whatever, I don't care about your problems with Fox, so count me out from your plans."

"Who said I was inviting you?" Wolf asked angrily as they walked the dirty halls.

"Any idea of where they could be?"

"Beats me. I'm not their babysitter."

"Neither do I."

A silence fell before Falco heard a small growl that made him to shudder a little. "Did you hear that?" Falco asked.

"Hear what?" Wolf asked turning quickly to Falco. He was apparently chuckling and the avian narrowed his eyes at him.

"...You growled to me just to scare me, right?"

"Correct."

"Dang it," Falco said looking away annoyed, then he heard another growl. "Stop it you bastard!"

"Heheheheheh." Wolf chuckled darkly at this.

Another growl, another glare to Wolf. "I'm serious, stop it before I shoot down your head!"

"Fine." Wolf said chuckling.

One more growl. "Wolf, don't try to make me use the mushrooms on you after we win this dare!"

"Oh, I'm so scared." Wolf said sarcastically.

...And yet once more, another growl and Falco turned to Wolf angrily. "STOP THAT!"

"But this time it wasn't me." Wolf said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, right, like if that was the truth!"

"Bird brain, when I'm serious is when I tell the truth. It wasn't me, period."

"Grr," Falco turned his head to the right and found the UC looking at him. "Oh, and let me guess, this is yours?"

Wolf glanced to the UC. "Yes, bird brain, I'd have a beast at my side with a f(BEEP)ng bird on its head just to annoy you."

"No need to get mad at me. I know you like tiny and cheesy looking birds." Falco said pointing at the UC, who got interested in his right hand and drooled a little.

"Whatever." Wolf said rolling his right eye.

"Yeah, whatever, look, I know this thing is from you and the hands just to win that dare they did to me and you." Falco said pointing at Wolf with his bloody right hand.

"...Bird brain! Get your bloody hand off me!" Wolf said walking a little away from Falco.

"Bloody? What do you mean by blood-" Falco's eyes widened after he saw the blood getting out from his hand, and glanced at the UC who had bloody feathers on its fangs. "...Great, cool visual effects."

"..." Wolf just frowned at this.

"I even feeling the pain in my hand an-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Falco grabbed his hand in pain and glared at the UC. "YOU F(BEEP)D UP MONSTER! YOU'RE GOING DOWN NOW!"

The UC retaliated with a powerful bite and Falco was sent flying towards the wall, where he lost consciousness as Wolf watched the UC walking towards him, licking its lips from the blood. "...You monster, back away, now!" Wolf ordered but the UC didn't stop and continued to walk slowly towards him, cornering Wolf in the same corner where Falco was unconscious. "Y-you! Wake up and give me a hand!"

"..." Falco didn't move and he fell to the floor.

"Grr, this isn't good..." Wolf said as the UC was several inches away from him, but he took out his Blaster and started to fire at it, but it didn't do any effect and he grunted in irritation. "Back-off-you!" Wolf ordered one last time.

Command Room

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"T-that was Wolf's voice now!" Pichu said hugging Lucas, who hugged him back in fear.

"There must be something happening here... You! Hands! Did you were working in secret with some of them to scare us?" Zelda demanded for an answer.

"For the last time, no!" Master Hand said annoyed.

"Okay, Mewtwo! Meta Knight! Are you 2 with him?" C. Falcon asked.

"I would never work with Master Hand." Mewtwo said shaking his head slowly.

"Me neither." Meta Knight said doing the same.

Meta Knight's Confessionary

"If someone dares to say something stupid that is not related to me again, I'm going to do some serious threat to that person by stabbing his or her heart directly with Galaxia," Meta Knight said. "Actually, not a threat but a last glimpse through their eyes...me."

"Lucas and Pichu are probably alone in this so..." C. Falcon trailed off.

"Okay, if you think this is all my doing, then go, every single one of you, to the 666th floor!" Master Hand said.

"B-but I don't want to go!" Lucas and Pichu said in unison trembling in horror, before they were being dragged off the room by Mewtwo's Confusion. "LET US GO!"

"No, I'm rather sick about your coward attitudes and it's time to change that." Mewtwo said floating away.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Mewtwo, take some Heart Containers with you just in case!" Master Hand said giving Mewtwo some Heart Containers. Mewtwo was unsure for what, but decided to bring them.

"I'm not so sure about this..." Zelda said getting in a thinking position.

"Don't worry, if something happens, I'll shield you." C. Falcon said.

"Fine, but no hugs or kisses." Zelda said walking away.

"...You just love to remove all the fun, don't you?" C. Falcon asked sighing disappointed, walking with Meta Knight at his side.

Captain Falcon's Confessionary

"Yes, I know, admit it and say Zelda likes Link, but wrong at the same time, it's still unclear if they do really love each other, so I guess I have a chance, right? And speaking of which, what happened to Link? I haven't seen him ever since he chased Toon Link around..."

666th floor (seriously, this time, we're going to stay here WAY longer without changing the scene constantly)

The 6 now were wandering aimlessly around the halls of the abandoned floor, but Pichu was hugging Lucas as they walked together.

"...Look at this..." Zelda bended down to pick up something. "This is..."

"Toon Link's Wind Waker." Mewtwo pointed out.

"S-something bad happened to him?" Pichu asked.

"I fear yes." Mewtwo said and Pichu gulped.

"Not only that," C. Falcon said bending down, getting a lot of items. "This is Ness's cap, Etna's axe, Pikachu's fur, Flonne's feather, Falco's Blaster, a Prinny's pouch, Wolf's cyber eye patch and one photo of that crazy party we had when the Melee Tournament began," he chuckled at the photo of him and Marth totally drunk with Roy. "Man, how wild was that one..."

"I blame you for pouring beer in Marth's and Roy's sodas." Zelda said glaring at the captain.

"H-hey, it was still fun!"

Meta Knight frowned at this and looked around after a thunder fell. "We are not alone."

"W-what?!" Lucas asked.

"We are not alone." Mewtwo repeated.

"I-I know, I just got surprised!"

"Hey, look at this," C. Falcon found another item. "Is this a camera?"

"It has Pikachu's logo on it, maybe he recorded something?" Zelda asked and C. Falcon turned on the camera and played a video that it was stored on the memory.

Wess's Dance

However, it was a video of Pikachu doing the Wess's Dance with Lucas and Ness and the captain quickly pressed the forward button to the next video as Lucas looked away embarrassed when Pichu looked at him.

Luigi's Mansion Theme

"HELP! PLEASE! THERE'S A FREAKY BEAST CHASING AFTER US!" Pikachu pleaded as he was carrying the unconscious Popo above him while Etna ran past him carrying Ness without his hat. "LISTEN TO ME! THIS IS NOT A JOKE! THERE IS A BEAST HERE TRYING TO EAT US ALIVE OR DEAD!"

There was a familiar growl and roar that Lucas quickly recognized and backed away scared.

"SO LISTEN! WE ARE GOING TO HIDE IN SOME SAFE ROOM AROUND HERE. TRY TO FIND AND SAVE US FROM THAT DEMON FROM HELL!!!" Pikachu accidentally dropped his camera, but it was his plan as they saw 4 pink foots on the screen before it ran out of batteries.

"N-n-n-no...i-i-i-i-it can't be..." Lucas said dropping to his knees.

"W-what?" Pichu asked trembling.

"I-i-it's the Ultimate Chimera, the monster I was trying to talk about that time when we readed the book of clichés!"

"The monster with the rubber duck?" Meta Knight asked and Lucas nodded trying to not scream.

"T-the Ultimate Chimera is a dreaded beast, i-if someone gets close enough to it, t-the monster will send a serious bite that will KO or maybe even kill someone with one hit, a-and don't even try to hurt it, i-it's totally invincible!"

"That is...almost impossible to believe..." Mewtwo said.

"B-but it's the truth! You saw how Popo and Ness were badly beaten, right?"

Lucas's Confessionary

"CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED YOU SO BADLY NOW!!!" Lucas screamed crying to the roof.

Zelda looked with a worried look the halls "...I think the goosebumps are getting to me..."

Mewtwo looked down before he turned quickly to find a floating ghost trying to scare them, but he used Confusion to reveal the identity of 3 Prinnies holding drinks. "What are you 3 doing here?"

"Y-yeah! Why did you try to scare us?!" Pichu asked hiding behind C. Falcon.

"Dood, sorry! We just couldn't resist the urge to do it!" Prinny 4893 said.

"We walked to this place and thought it would be fun to play the ghosts, dood!" Prinny 1103 said laughing heartily.

"Have you seen Etna or Flonne around here?" Zelda asked.

"Hmm, dood, now that I remember, we saw Flonne and another small guy with Prinny 3489 running away screaming from a pink beast with a duck on its head, dood." Prinny 5867 explained to them.

"...Then the beast is hunting us." Mewtwo said.

"P-Porky! H-he did this whole thing!" Lucas said.

"Maybe, but our top priority is to gather everyone else and escape from this floor, then bring Master Hand to do something about this."

"Good, because it would be a great idea if we do that now, dood." Prinny 1103 said.

"Why?" Zelda asked.

"'CUZ THE PINK BEAST IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU, DOOD!" Prinny 4893 yelled screaming terrorized, the 6 quickly turned their heads to find the UC roaring loudly, standing several feet away from them.

"Ugh, it's useless to fight that thing back." Mewtwo said narrowing his eyes.

"T-then what do we do?" C. Falcon asked.

Unfounded Revenge/Smashing Song of Praise

"The most logical option we have...RUN!" Mewtwo said quickly floating away and the others began to scream (not Meta Knight, of course) loudly as the UC roared again before chasing them.

"AAAAAAHHHHH! WE'RE SO DEAD NOW!" Lucas screamed.

"Quick! Turn this way!" Meta Knight said pointing inside a room, they quickly entered inside and the UC passed the room by accident.

Inside the room, only their eyes were visible in the darkness.

"UAH!" Lucas tripped.

"Great...now everyone is here." Wolf's voice was heard as we see his right eye.

"Wolf? What are you doing here?" Pichu asked.

"What do you think?... Hiding from that monstrocity, that stupid thing bit me in the leg, but I managed to get away from it, heck, I even saved the bird brain from becoming dead dinner! ...Have you seen my cyber eye patch laying around here? I can't let people see me without it."

"Here." C. Falcon gave the patch to Wolf, who put it on.

"Here, use this to heal your leg and Falco." Mewtwo said handing over 2 Heart Containers to both of them, Wolf glanced at Falco and threw the heart to him, regaining their energies.

"What...happened..." Falco asked opening his eyes slowly before finding the others by their eyes in the darkness. "What are you all doing here?"

"Hiding from a monster? Like you 2?" C. Falcon asked sarcastically.

"...That...grr! I'm gonna kill it when I see it again!"

"It's useless, that chimera is invincible as Lucas said before." Zelda said.

"Shh, it's coming here, shut up." Meta Knight said leaning to the door, the steps of the beast were heard, they paused when it stopped right in front of the door, the beast looked at it as another thunder fell and illuminated the room where they were in for a moment, but the chimera turned its head and walked away. "...It's gone..."

Pant...pant...pant...pant...

"Wolf, I told you, stop your tries to scare me and get off my shoulder!" Falco said annoyed in the darkness.

"I'm not even close to you, bird brain!" Wolf replied back.

"...Wait, those yellow triangle-shaped eyes are familiar..." Pichu said wondering, they looked over Falco's shoulder to find 2 yellow eyes glaring at them, a thunder fell outside and they found the UC in the room, panting heavily and licking its lips as it drooled and their eyes shrunk in unison, even Meta Knight's eyes shrunk.

Flonne, Toon Link and Prinny 3489 were walking slowly in front of the same door, looking carefully at all directions to stay alert from the chimera. "...It isn't here dood..." Prinny 3489 said.

"Good, we lost it." Toon Link said.

"What a relief, I thought we were going to die just now..." Flonne said sighing in relief and they leaned next to the same door. "I want to find the exit to this place and get out of here..."

"Well, good for you, I have another problem trying to find me here."

"Who?"

Before Toon Link could even respond, the door burst out opening and they were slammed hardly to the wall by it, and all the Smashers ran out panicking (take your guesses who didn't again) from the UC who roared and ran away from the room, then the door slowly opened and they had very shocked faces with swirl eyes.

"...Wait...for us...dood..." Prinny 3489 said before the trio collapsed and slowly got up, shaking their heads.

"Oh no, they're here and the monster is trying to eat them alive!" Flonne said worried.

"...RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Toon Link screamed loudly as he saw them returning back, with everything and UC included. Flonne and Prinny 3489 looked at each other and the penguin jumped on Flonne's arms and ran away, joining up with the entire group.

"TOON LINK?! HERE!" C. Falcon said giving Toon Link back his Wind Waker.

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!" Falco asked as he screamed.

"WE NEED TO FIND THE OTHER 4 AND RUN TO THE STAIRS TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Zelda yelled as Mewtwo evaded one bite of the UC by moving his tail to the front.

"DEAD END!" Flonne yelled worried, looking back to see the UC running at them with its jaw opened.

The Prinnies looked around and found a door. "Go! Go Go Go! Dood!" The Prinnies yelled and evrybody quickly entered inside the room, evading to be crushed by the monster who crashed into the wall.

"Holy Lindblum's Gysahl Greens! There's another door over there!" Zelda said relieved, finding another door leading to the other side of the hallway.

"Quick!" Wolf grabbed the door knob and opened the door. "Get to the othe-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Most of them screamed in terror.

Wolf took a quick glance of the door and the UC was there roaring loudly, the grey vulpine got this time scared and slammed the door with all his forces. "RETURN! RETURN! RETURN!" Wolf ordered by yelling loudly and they quckly left the room from where they came from.

Prinnies's Confessionary

The Prinnies were running around in circles and occasionally tripping as they said "dood" over and over and over and over again.

"Please tell me it's not here!" Pikachu pleaded hiding inside a cardboard box with Etna and the 2 unconscious Smashers.

"Shh," Etna said and she looked outside through the hole of the box, she shifted her eyes and kept that position until she looked back at Pikachu. "The coast is clear. We can escape now."

"A-are you serious?"

"Yes, now get a move on!" Etna said throwing the box away and they stood up with each Smasher.

"T-this is getting out of hand. We have to get out of here and tell Master Hand about that monster!"

"Relax," Etna said moving her right hand and smiled closing her eyes as she walked to the corner of the hallway. "I bet that monster is far from us by now. We should take the guys to Flonne so she can heal them in the infirmary an-"

"OUT OF THE WAY!!!" Pichu yelled appearing and jumping over Etna, running away as he screamed terrorized.

"W-was that Pichu just now? What is he doing here?" Pikachu asked confused.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" A stampede of Smashers came from Pichu's direction and stomped on the soon-to-be vassal girl along with the dead Ness, her right leg twitched and Pikachu sweatdropped and went to check on her.

"...Etna?" Pikachu asked poking Etna's forehead with his tail.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Pikachu quickly turned his head and his body froze from fear after he found the UC running towards them. The electric mouse Pokémon screamed and ran away...before returning to amazingly lift Etna's and Ness's body above him to join up with the others as he quickly ran to them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Pikachu asked, yelling.

"THE THING CHASING US, THAT'S WHY!" C. Falcon said yelling.

"GIVE THESE TO THEM!" Mewtwo yelled handing over 3 Heart Containers to Pikachu, who quickly threw them at the 3 unconscious people who woke up, after seeing the beast, they began to scream as well and joined the mad escape.

"WHERE IS SOMEBODY WHEN YOU NEED SOMEBODY?!" Ness asked yelling.

"NANA! WHERE'S NANA?!" Popo asked yelling scared.

Ice Climbers's Room (forget what I said before, sorry)

There was Nana being treated by all the Prinnies of the whole mansion as if she was a princess, enjoying her sweet life with all the luxury she could ever demand, the pink Ice Climber took a sip of her highly expensive orange juice. "Yes, leave the psychopaths dealing with the "beast" alone while I enjoy all the luxury for my own pleasure!" Nana said laughing heartily before sighing and burying herself in her sofa. "Nothing...nothing can wreck this moment..."

Nana's Confessionary

"I swear, like, this is the happiest moment in my life ever since Popo found out about what it meant to get vaccines. God, he freaked out so much that time that he pinched the doctor to death! At least he received 30 years of healthy life!"

"...Toon...Link..."

Nana's eyes quickly opened up and looked at the other side of her room, finding a creepy shadow with red eyes on the window, out in the rain as another thunder illuminated the room, surpassing the candles' light. "...Hmm...hey, is that you Link? What are you doing outside?"

"Sword...test it...with me..."

"Sorry, but I got no sword." Nana said laughing before Link growled at her.

"Dood, should we let him inside?" Prinny 57902 asked.

"First, let me see his face, I can only see his creepy red eyes that are bothering me."

The Prinny took out a flashlight and pointed it at Link...

...And somebody could hear a girl screaming in panic and thousands and thousands of Prinnies scattering around the mansion while the girl ran away for her life from a maniac.

666th floor

The UC was inspecting an abandoned room, but after some seconds, it walked away from it.

But after that, all the Smashers along with Flonne, Etna and her Prinnies came out from behind the furnitures and sighed in unison.

"Mewtwo, I was wondering, why couldn't you just teleport all of us to the room?" Pikachu asked.

"I can't, that beast has something that prevents anyone from disappearing or teleporting." Mewtwo said.

"Shouldn't we do something ourselves instead of Master Hand saving our rears?" Popo suggested.

"...Well, he does have a point..." Etna said.

Etna's Confessionary

"Don't think I don't think. I have pretty sweet ideas in my mind, and I could use them anytime I want!... It's just...well...I want to see if they can come up with something as good too!"

"I don't know what to do. Any ideas?" Toon Link asked and they got in thinking positions.

"...Hmm..." Ness looked around and Pichu looked at him.

"A-ha! You got something in mind, don't you, Ness?" Pichu asked excited.

"I was thinking of splitting up and try to find things to help us catch the Ultimate Chimera...." Ness wondered and Popo laughed heartily and walked towards a mantle.

"Fear not, my boys!" Popo pulled the mantle and they looked to what was under it, the best machinery to catch ghosts. "We have all the perfect and technological ghost traps stuff to catch ghosts here!"

Popo's Confessionary

"I think I got a little smarter this night! Take that Nana! Popo, 4 points, Nana, 3,589,249 points!"

"Oh, Popo! You're such a genius!" Falco said smiling.

"Really?"

"No," Falco's face turned serious. "You do know we're dealing with a MONSTER and not a GHOST?! Can't you see the difference between those 2 things?!"

"...I dunno." Popo said sticking out his tongue and Falco facepalmed and frowned at this, feeling sorry for the Ice Climber for a moment.

"Lucas, are you sure there isn't a way to stop it?" Zelda asked.

"W-well...there's a way but..." Lucas shook his head. "N-nevermind, the chimera has a button on its back, right?"

"Now that you mention it, it does!" Popo said remembering.

"T-that button is actually to turn it on or off, i-if we can reach if in time before the chimera eats us, we could capture it without problems..."

"I got it!" Ness said slamming his fist on his palm. "Everyone, private reunion, gather around me and let me explain the plan!"

They looked at each other before they gathered in a circle except for Lucas, who kept shaking his head.

"B-but I haven't told you the reason of the du-"

"Lucas! Come here, Ness's plan doesn't sound so bad!" Flonne said with a smile. The PK kid sighed in fear and decided to hear Ness's plan.

10 minutes later...

Pikachu and Pichu were walking down the halls by only themselves, they were laughing too. "Pichu! I didn't know you had so much meat under that skin!"

"It's the truth Pikachu! I even have a ketchup flavor, the doctors told me in the analysis of my blood test!"

Both mouses began to hear footsteps coming and they smiled at each other. "But I have even more flavor. I taste like fresh grilled steak!"

"No, really?!"

The UC appeared, roaring loudly and both characters began to run as fast as they could from the same beast who chased after them. "There! The room!" Pikachu said running inside a room with Pichu following him, before the UC got inside but lost track of both Smashers.

"Yohooooooo!!!"

The UC roared loudly before his eyes widened and turned into hearts, on the other side of the room, there was a small female UC waving at him, the UC ignored the reason of why she could stand in 2 foots, apparently, it was Popo in disguise. "Gooooooooooorrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh..." The UC tried to imitate a wolf's whistle, but couldn't do it as Popo giggled.

"My, what a strong and powerful UC you are. I have been searching for the ideal man to marry." Popo said winking at it, the UC tapped his right foot and this time, whistled to the roof and towards the fake female UC.

"(...Somebody, please tell me the chimera isn't falling for that.)" Mewtwo thought irritated from somewhere.

"(Unfortunately, it is.)" Meta Knight replied back through telepathy with Mewtwo.

Popo wagged his little pink tail in front of the UC's face. "So...are you single?" The UC quickly nodded its head, drooling. "Are you looking for a woman?" The UC nodded faster this time. "Hmm..." Popo petted the UC's head as it dropped to the floor, wagging its tail. "Heeeeeeeeey...can I touch this little button from your back?" The UC nodded even faster before his eyes turned into shocked eyes.

CLICK!

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" The UC's yellow eyes began to blink and suddenly turned black, the chimera let out a small growl before it collapsed on the floor, and Popo quickly removed his disguise and took out another hammer.

"EVERYONE! TIE IT UP, NOW!" Popo yelled to the ceiling, the ceiling was very dark but with a closer look, all the other Smashers were stuck on it thanks to Mewtwo's Confusion and fell around the chimera and quickly tied every part of its body. After 2 minutes, they succeeded and most of them high-fived each other after defeating the monster, but Lucas was still worried.

"Yes! Yes! We beat it!" C. Falcon said making a fist in the air.

"I can't believe that plan actually worked." Wolf said frowning.

"The scarier they are, the dumber they are!" Ness said adjusting his hankerchief.

"Now, we need to take this sin against nature to Master Hand and see what we can do with it." Zelda said.

"...OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" Lucas panicked after he examined the UC's head.

"What is it Lucas? It's over! You don't have to worry about anything now!" Toon Link said laughing.

"N-NO! IT'S GONE!"

"What's gone? The horror of this night? The ordeal we went through together or the bravery we have displayed so far?" Pikachu asked poetically.

"THE DUCK! IT'S GONE! WHERE IS IT?!"

"...The duck? You mean the chicky on its head?"

"Y-YES! WE HAVE TO FIND IT, HURRY!"

"Lucas, I don't see why you are panicked about a small bird." Mewtwo said.

"I-IT'S BECAUSE THAT DUCK WILL ACTIVATE THE CHIMERA ONCE IT'S TURNED OFF TO TURN IT BACK ON!"

Everyone froze for a moment and looked around.

"...Wait, you mean that chicky wasn't for making it cuter?" Popo asked.

"I-it wasn't!" Lucas said terrified.

CLICK!

"...It's awakening..." Meta Knight said glancing over the chimera, who began to roar loudly and ate the ropes tying its legs, it shook violently before jumping and standing, then the bird from before appeared from behind it and sat on its head as the UC started to growl at the Smashers, who backed away to a book shelf where they leaned into it.

"Oh no, no no no no no no no no NO! My plan was useless because of that bird!" Ness said and looked to the Prinnies taking out all the books from the shelf. "W-what are you doing?!"

"There must be a book that can turn over this shelf to save us, think about it, this whole place is creepy and a place like this is not complete with the shelf that can spin with a special book, dood!" the Prinnies said in unison and accelerated, throwing all the books to the chimera.

"We are SO dead now!" C. Falcon said.

"Dood?" The Prinnies's prediction turned out to be true and the shelf began to tremble before it spun on its place and took all of them to another room, where they sighed in relief after seeing nothing in front of them, just another door to somewhere.

"...They were saying the truth..." Flonne said panting heavily.

"...Wait, something is not right..." Mewtwo said looking to the shelf, then, all of a sudden, the UC crashed into the shelf just above Lucas and Ness, the others watched in fear as the beast moved its head to get out and then, the Smashers ran away from the room before the UC got out and chased them down, yet again.

"LOOK! THERE ARE MANY DOORS IN THIS HALLWAY!" Toon Link yelled.

"SPLIT UP AND CONFUSE IT!" Ness yelled and everyone entered in all the different rooms, oddly enough, the amount of rooms was the same as they were. The UC glanced at all the rooms. It roared before charging inside Zelda's room.

"YYYYEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!" Zelda ran out from her room and entered Lucas's room, the UC following her.

"UAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucas and Zelda ran inside Toon Link's room with the UC.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Toon Link along with the previous 2 ran to 3 different rooms and the UC decided to choose its way.

And you would know what happened next after this. Everyone was running around the rooms, entering and exiting, screaming and scattering, tripping and yelling. The scene pretty much looked like they weren't even getting out from the rooms they were in. What was odd, one could have sworn seeing Colette, Boney, Jolene, Shinon, Red, Green and Yellow Kirby, Cream, Slippy, a Bulborb, Paula, Jeff, Genis, Guy, Kumatora, Peppy, the Axem Rangers, Charmy, Cynthia, Medli, even a random Primid, screaming and running inside the rooms where they would never be seen again...

...Oh, and a New Age Retro Hippie too.

"THAT'S IT! LET'S GET OUTTA HERE FOR REAL THIS TIME! THIS PLACE IS REALLY SCARING THE HELL OUT OF ME NOW!" Pikachu yelled leaving the crazy rooms with everyone from the UC, unfortunately, they were cornered in a dead end.

Music stops

"...I think it's the end of the line for us..." Flonne said dropping to her knees. "It was really a good experience knowing all of you...but...it's time...to die..." She buried her face in her hands as another thunder fell.

"F-Flonne, don't say that...at least you're not going to die alone..." Etna said, hugging Flonne as she cried.

"Dood! Miss Etna!" The Prinnies joined in and hugged them as they cried.

"C. Falcon...I think I need to tell you something..." Zelda said looking down. "You...kind of...managed to get my attention..."

C. Falcon facepalmed. "Great, I was going to ask you out for a fate if we could get out of this!"

"But please...don't let me die first!"

"...Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Hmph, it was a shame my life was going to end like this..." Wolf said shaking his head. "There were many things that I had yet to do, like kicking out Leon from the team."

Falco's eyes widened. "No way!" Falco said surprised.

"Nana! Please! Take care of you by yourself! I'm going to stay with you in your dreams and heart an-" Popo's mouth was blocked.

"Popo, stop it before it gets cheesier." Pikachu said as he hugged Pichu, who was crying.

"Pikachu, you were like a brother to me, a role model to follow!" Pichu yelled crying.

"Don't cry! You're going to be a...wuss...WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Pikachu cried loudly together with Pichu.

"Forgive me for not ending our match...but it's over for me..." Mewtwo said looking down, probably he was talking to Lucario but without talking directly to him.

"Kirby...sorry..." Meta Knight said throwing Galaxia away.

"If only I could see Link for one last time..." Toon Link said sadly.

...A moment of silence fell and they looked at each other.

"Hey, wait a second, where is that bastard?" Zelda asked angrily.

"Yeah! Link hasn't appeared yet ever since this whole thing started!" C. Falcon said.

Not much time passed before they heard stomps and screams for help coming from behind the UC, the monster even turned its head and saw a pink image passing by its side and hugged Popo tightly.

"Nana!" Pichu said wiping out his tears from his eyes.

"GUYS! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Nana yelled panicking on his brother's arms.

"Duh, we have an insane beast in front of us. We can't escape from he-" Ness was interrupted.

"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE FROM HIM!" Nana pointed scared behind the UC, and they saw a shadow figure with glowing red eyes walking closer, laughing maniacally and evily which made them shudder in fear.

"Heheheheheh...come here...Toon Link..."

"...OH MY FARORE! IT'S LINK!" Toon Link yelled screaming.

"Mwheheheheheh...look...we have many people to test my sword...OF BLOOD!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" A thunder just illuminated the place as Link crackled maniacally.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" At this point, being constantly chased by a monster that could KO or kill you with one hit on the night, with a thunderstorm, and now with a crazy swordsman assassin with blood dripping out his clothes and sword with scars would scare even the most calmest character (Mewtwo or Meta Knight).

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG!!!" the UC roared loudly and charged at Link.

"...WHAT THE HELL IS LINK DOING NOW?!" Falco asked scarred for life as Link jumped to the ceiling and began to run on it to fall above the UC, stabbing his bloody sword on its back.

"BLOOD! BLOOD! LINK WANTS MORE BLOOD! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Link yelled laughing maniacally and constantly stabbing the UC's back as everyone screamed at the top of their lungs.

"LINK IS A SERIAL KILLER NOW!" C. Falcon yelled scared.

CLICK!

Fortunately, Link pressed the button on its back and the chimera turned off. The bird tried to go there, but it got sliced down by Link and died on the scene.

"...Hey! That's not fair! Why didn't I think of that before?" Lucas complained.

"LUCAS! SHUT UP!" Ness yelled to him before Link looked at them with a scary dark look on his face.

"Heheheheheheheheh..." Link slowly approached to them, walking in a very unusual manner. (If someone reading this has ever played Kingdom Hearts and have seen a Heartless walking, well, Link was walking like one now).

"MEWTWO! DO SOMETHING FOR THE HECK OF IT!" Pikachu yelled.

"...NO! I-IT'S USELESS! MY POWERS DON'T WORK ON HIM!" Mewtwo yelled gasping.

"YOU MEAN HE TURNED INTO A DARK TYPE OR SOMETHING?!"

"MORE LIKE HE JOINED THE DARK SIDE!" Popo yelled with Nana as they cried.

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" The maniac Link lunged at them with his sword raised in the air and they screamed loudly and closed their eyes and waited for the moment to be killed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"SHUT..." A big shadow appeared from behind Link and slammed him down as another shadow put the chimera inside a cage. "THE HELL UUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A thunder illuminated the place again, there were 2 scary monsters floating above the floor, holding both killer monsters above them as they approached them, they trembled in fear and leaned to the walls...

...However, Meta Knight took a closer look when the lights decided to return to the mansion, the lights revealed the monsters to be Master Hand and Crazy Hand. "...You?"

"God, why were you all yelling like maniacs or lunatics or both combined together all night long?" Master Hand asked confused.

Command Room

"Well, gang, looks like we solved this mystery..." Ness said sitting on a chair and throwing his hankerchief away.

"There wasn't a mystery at all." Mewtwo pointed out.

"Porky managed to infiltrate the mansion in a reckless manner and let the chimera in." Master Hand said.

Zelda looked to Link's cage, where he tried to destroy the bars with his teeth as he laughed evily. "B-but what is happening to Link?" Zelda asked.

"Simple, my dear Zelda. Link went insane because Marth or Roy aren't here, the current weather even threw him in a sick mental state."

"MH!" Toon Link came in panting heavily before looking up holding the Ocarina of Time. "I fixed the weather and day. It's clear and it's the afternoon!"

"Good job. Now everything is going to be back to normal."

Etna smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Worry no more. All my Prinnies are fixing up the whole 6th floor to get in clean. Take it as an appreciation."

"I'm glad everything went back to normal, I was really scared." Flonne said sighing in relief.

Master Hand's Confessionary

"I couldn't let my Smashers to be killed. I'm not that evil unless someone enters my office or if someone steals the items or if someone puts pictures of my brother naked in the internet o-"

Crazy Hand's Confessionary

"LOL!"

"What do we do with Link?" C. Falcon asked backing away from the cage.

"Simple," Master Hand said, he lifted up Link's cage, opened a portal and threw him inside before it vanished. "We'll send him with Marth and Roy to get him back to normal."

Link has left your team

"I won't miss his new self though." Zelda said.

"W-what are you going to do with the Ultimate Chimera?" Lucas asked.

"I'm going to use it as a new hazzard for a new stage I'm going to show you all once we gather more people." Master Hand said.

"It won't get away, so rest assured!" Crazy Hand said.

"I'm going to burn down this recording when I get the time, no memories of this again, got it?" Pikachu asked holding his camera.

"And we definitely didn't say something personal that time. It's a secret between us!" Pichu said smiling.

"Finally, no more Halloween stuff." Wolf said taking a sip of his coffee.

"But is not Halloween yet!" Falco said.

Everyone looked at each other. "...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Everyone laughed, even Mewtwo and Meta Knight laughed together for this time only.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Crazy Hand took out pink costumes for everyone. "Since you all were accomplices of Falco and Wolf, you will wear pink versions of your clothes for this day since you all got scared by something we didn't do!"

"..." Everyone shot glares at the insane hand and went for their clothes, even those who had fur had to be clothed, no exceptions.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Somewhere in Gallia

"Here he comes, Marth!" Roy said pointing at Link, who came walking down the woods, back to his normal self.

"Finally. What took you so long?" Marth asked.

"Heheh, sorry, there were some problems but I managed to get away with our plan to get me here after all." Link said laughing heartily.

"Told you, Marth, it was going to work." Roy said.

"It did work..." Marth said as the trio walked away, talking about what happened...before they got rulers out of nowhere and...they did you know what with them.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Since this was a special, it's not necessary to write down the save your data part. Well, Link leaving was a little necessary, but hey, at least this was funny to write. :P

...Wait, is Link a monster or something?

References:

-Only for this time, I'm going to say it, the whole chapter was a reference to Scooby Doo, there were many references too.

-Link acting and walking as a Heartless, a reference to Kingdom Hearts l & ll.

So were you eating candy while you were reading this?

Read and review and happy Halloween everyone! :)
*Chapter 87*: Golf And Tennis, Cheating To Win

Okay, here's the next chapter, it was supposed to be updated yesterday but I had trouble with a homework, and possibly, I won't update this story for like 3 days without writing because I need to finish an essay of World Geography, wish me luck! :)

From Seitei: There's something about reading this after you've been gone trick-or-treating and reading it in the dark. Link should have gone around trying to kill everyone else too.
And the Ocarina of time should have been kept, too. There were so many songs on that...

Good shoot! This is an epic chapter, and I couldn't believe that the Ultimate Chimera's that horny.

I am curious as to how Crazy Hand was "naked" though... (BEEP).

You seriously have to do a Christmas special. Keep up the holiday spirit and happy Halloween! Keep updating!

From me: I didn't go trick-or-treating at all. :P

Well, Link could have, but that would have splitted the story in 2 parts and I didn't want to do that, and the Ocarina of Time is, in fact, kept, I got a funny mansion chapter dedicated to that instrument. ;)

Of course, there is going a Christmas special, and a thanksgiving one too. ;)

From notfromearth7: This chapter was made of laughter!
Good show old chap.

From me: Thanks! :D

From Wolfenpilot687: NICE! I was actually eating candy with this! Lucky Candy! It was pretty fun to see that (somewhat bloody and messy, but fun.).

I'm eager to see what hapens next! (...want to read more about Wolf...that script was good, so you left me with expectatives...)

ANYWAYS, NICE! *flashes Hand Inc. card.*

From me: That incorporation is evil people! XD Thanks! :)

From ngrey651: Ah, the good old days of watching Scooby Doo. How I miss them.

A lovely Halloween special indeed. The dramatic confessions turning into anger once everyone realizes that Link ain't even AROUND was funny. I made a short poem for the occasion:

"Where are you, you ugly cretin! You're gonna HIDE while we get EATEN!?"

(Poetic beat) Thank you.

From me: Nice little poem you have there, thanks. :)

From hikariclowreed: Um..I'm pretty sure you mean calmest character, not clamest. And did you mean to add a 'that'?
Right here:

...now with a crazy swordsman assassin with blood dripping out his clothes and sword with scars [that] would scare even the most "clamest" character (Mewtwo or Meta Knight).

Although that would be pretty funny. Clamest character. Character with the most clams. X3. Although, is that how Meta Knight got his pink costume for Brawl? Cause that would make sense, Crazy Hand giving them the pink costumes. I practically laughed my guts off when Link started to act nuts. Although with the red eyes, he sounded like Dark Link for a sec. o_O Anyway, can't wait for the next chapter!

From me: You, are correct, I must have ignored that part, fortunately, it got corrected, thanks for checking that out for me. ;)

And maybe? I didn't think about Meta Knight's costume at all. :P

From Rellymaster: Reminds me of Luigi's Mansion or Uncanny Mansion (Wario Land 2). Oh yeah, I forgot how unsanitary Porkey is.
Nice use of the confessionaries.
"Aw, don't worry, that won't happen." Jynxed!
I think a better music choice would have been the It's Chimera Research music (Mother 3).
So scary! You're good at horror...*trembles under covers*

From me: I think that too about the music. :)

From Nintendogeek01: Finally reviewing. Nicely done with that chapter. I thought it was hilarious.

P.S. Hare Hare Yukai dance is the dance that is featured in the ending credits of each episode of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", it's more or less considered the theme dance of the series.

P.S.S. You should also check out that series.

From me: Thanks, hope you enjoy this arc as well and I'll be sure to watch that anime. :)

From Mariko-ai-chan: I knew Reddy Jr. would be back!Nice chapter nya!Mewtwo is such a know it all...and the 'haha this isn't real' just added to the fun.
Dusk:I love the door thing!Does this mean...Christmas special too?

From me: Er, yes, he did come back, and yes, there is going to be a Christmas special too as I have said before. :)

And now, plese enjoy this arc, sorry for the error back in chapter 85, it was Congo Canopy instead of Lakitu Valley, got fixed too. (I think this arc it's going to be of 5 chapters, but I don't know that, the events need to be a little longer in each one).

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 87: Golf and Tennis, hit and return!

Dear journal, my, or should I say, our next location is the Mushroom Kingdom, home of many kinds of people, people with mushroom heads, palm heads or shell heads or whatever.

My new and first mission is to participate in a sports event, well, not really, we have to find the bombs of Subspace or Subspace Bombs as we are here, oh, good thing the first event is about golf, I really missed that back at Hocotate.

You know, back when I was a young lad, I was very well known around my friends in college, I was known as "the Hole-in-Olimar," yes, I was very talented back then, though the only thing I didn't had were girls, all the guys respected and admired me.

"Olimar..."

It could be a good idea to teach my kids to play golf, maybe they inherited my skills as well...

"Olimar."

And maybe I can even show Louie how to play!

"OLIMAR!" Jigglypuff yelled loudly.

"W-what?!" Olimar asked alarmed, opening his eyes and stopped writing in his journal.

"We're here!"

Congo Canopy

Congo Canopy

"Welcome everyone to the first event!" Toadsworth greeted them. "The Ring Attack in Congo Canopy!"

"The Ring Attack mini-game on Congo Canopy? Wow, that's new." Chris said.

"The area has a lot of tall trees in the thick forest...I hope I don't throw up." Olimar said.

"The thing that makes me wonder is HOW IN THE HELL DID THIS FOREST GET SO BIG?!" Squirtle yelled, creating a long echo.

"This is Mario's world for you, odd things happen." Fox said.

"So, where are the rings?" Toadette asked.

"Oh ho ho ho, patience people! I need to explain first the rules for this event!" Toadsworth said and they looked at him. "This event is simple, you have to locate the floating rings around the area between the tee and the hole area, the rings are located somewhere around here, carefully, look around."

Everybody started to look around, but they couldn't find any ring in sight. "There aren't any rings, are they invisible or something?" Red asked.

"Why, no young lad, the rings are just above us."

They looked above. "WHAT THE?!" Many responses came at the same time, the reason of why they were was...because the rings were like 100 feet above them.

"H-how are we going to reach those?!" Chris asked.

"Think my boy! You must have a member of the team with enough power to reach them!" Toadsworth said. "For example, Donkey Kong and Bowser can reach them using their high strength, do you have a member with that power?"

"...M-maybe I can reach them." Lucario said.

"...Lucario, why were you unsure just a second ago?" Ivysar asked.

"...Because..." Lucario looked down in shame. "I-I don't know how to play this sport..."

"..." A silence soon fell...

...Before most of the members of the Bowser Fangs bursted out laughing and rolled around the grass, laughing their asses off.

"Y-you don't know how to play golf?! How pathetic is that!" Wario said laughing madly.

"BWHAHAHAHAHA! GETTING RID OF YOU WON'T BE THAT HARD AT ALL!" Bowser said laughing.

"You tell him Papa!" Bowser Jr. said laughing with his dad.

"GRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted and prepared to attack them.

"Now now now, you can't fight here, sorry, rule regulations." Toadsworth reminded and Lucario just crossed his arms and looked away.

"...Lucario, if you want, I can teach you." Chris offered.

"...Would you do that for me? That didn't embarrass you?" Lucario asked.

"It's not your fault, I guess, but that doesn't mean I can't, right?"

"..." Lucario kneeled to Chris and nodded. "Thanks."

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!" Most of the Bowser Fangs continued laughing loudly.

Chris glared at them but them smiled at Lucario and approached to his ear to whisper him something. "You can kill those guys after the festival ends if you want."

Lucario smiled a little at Chris. "Thank you."

"Now, let me explain how is this going to be done," Toadsworth began. "There will be 10 holes in total, each one will have each participant, now, the 3 participants for each hole will be the "rivals" as we assigned them, the first hole will have Donkey Kong, Bowser and Lucario, I will tell which holes have their opponents, you must also find a way to get close to the hole with one shot only, you have to pass through the rings and land close to the hole with one shot, the one who gets closer to the hole wins."

"Okay, now that's going to be hard to pull off." DK said nodding.

"And now, let's begin! First at the hole is DK! Teams can also help their allies to get a shot, and stay aware of the wind, it's 3 mph to the east!"

"Okay, now let's see the rings, hmm..." Toad looked above. "There are 3 rings, one above the other, and DK needs to move his shot to the right a little to land close to the hole."

DK took his golf club with one arm. "OK, I'm ready!" DK put his ball and slowly prepared to hit it. "OH!" DK used all his forces to send the ball towards the ring.

"1, 2, 3! It went through!" Luigi said excited.

"Now is falling to the hole!" Daisy said.

"Hmm..." DK eyed the ball falling to the green and one of the many Lakitus that broadcasted the competition went to measure the distance between the ball and the hole.

"...12.4ft!" Lakitu said.

"Yes!" DK cheered flexing his arms as Diddy clapped happily.

"Next up is Bowser!" Toadsworth announced.

"Arf, this is going to be hard..." Bowser said. "...Nope!" Bowser added at the end and he hit his ball with all his forces, it went crosing the 3 rings but the wind changed the course where it was falling.

"It's going to fall off the platform!" Paratroopa said.

"Now." Bowser whispered to Dedede, who nodded with a grin.

"Plant, do your work." Dedede ordered.

The ball got out from sight and it fell down the deepness of the forest. "O.B.!" Lakitu declared.

"We still have a chance to win this hole!" Twink said.

"...Twink?" Peach looked at Twink.

"Peach!" Twink said happily floating over to Peach, who gave him a hug as the star blushed.

"...Wait a minute! Look!" Toad pointed down and they got confused for what, what was shocking was that Bowser's ball came from the deepness and it went straight towards the hole, Lakitu watched very confused at this before the ball got inside the hole.

"B-but how is that possible? Is somebody down there?" Paratroopa asked.

"...Not that I'm aware of, there are many poisonous vines down below, but if the ball somehow returns if an O.B. was declared, then there's no penalty for the one who hit it..." Luigi explained.

"That means Hole-in-one for the Bowser Fangs!" Lakitu yelled and the Bowser Fangs cheered at this.

"I smell something fishy with this..." Geno said.

"...You can smell?" Mallow asked confused.

"...Mallow? Geno?" Peach came up.

"Peach!" Both of them hugged Peach.

"If the Yoshi Islanders can make a Hole-in-one, then both teams will receive one point each!" Lakitu said from the green.

"Lucario, I hope you got the instructions right, are you ready now?" Chris asked.

Lucario grabbed his golf club and nodded. "Yes, please, wish me good luck." Lucario said walking over to the tee.

"Always do." Chris said chuckling heartily.

"HE'S GONNA LOOOOOOSE! HE'S GONNA LOOOOOOOSE!!!" The Bowser Fangs said trying to get Lucario out of focus (except Paratroopa and Koopatroopa, who were opposing the idea).

"You can do it Lucario!"

"YOU CAN'T!"

"YES HE CAN AND SHUT THE HELL UP ALL OF YOU!" Chris yelled irritated.

"...Hmm..." Lucario looked at the rings, then the ball. "Here we go then...I hope this is right..." Lucario closed his eyes and put a hard grip on his club before hitting the ball with a great hit, it went soaring through the air towards the ring.

"1..." Twink trailed off.

"2..." Chris trailed off.

"...3!" Yoshi finished. "Now let's see if it can fall in the hole!"

"Now." Dedede whispered.

"...IT'S A HOLE-IN...huh?" Lakitu was going to say that it was a hole-in-one, but as soon as the ball was going to enter, it rolled out from above the hole like if something prevented it from entering, but Lakitu couldn't find a reason for that. "...Hmm...the ball is 26ft away from the hole, Lucario ends in third position, DK in the second one, meaning the Bowser Fangs wins the first hole!"

"YES!" The Bowser Fangs cheered loudly at this.

"W-wait, what? How could that be possible?!" Yoshi asked very confused. "The ball was inside the hole, I saw it clearly!"

"Little green dinosaur can't believe the truth!" Waluigi taunted.

"But I saw it, didn't you Mario?!"

"...I...don't know really..." Mario trailed off.

"But!"

"Let's move on to the next hole!" Toadsworth announced walking away to a path, where most of the golfers followed.

"Something is not right here..." Ivysaur trailed off as they walked to the next hole.

"First, how did Bowser's ball returned and how did Lucario's ball "rejected" the hole?" Jigglypuff wondered.

"Maybe it's my ability in the golf that made us to lose..." Lucario said looking down.

"...Lucario, we haven't lost yet, we can still win this!" Chris said trying to cheer Lucario up.

"Thanks for the affection...but it was my fault..."

"...Lucario...(There must be something odd...I know that...)"

"We're here!" Toadsworth said. "Now, you have to stay alert, there's no wind but this time, the rings are around that big tree from over there! There are 2 rings, golfers must get around the wide tree and use the wall in the direction of the ring to land close to the hole in the green with one shot! For this hole, Birdo, Yoshi and Paratroopa will play!"

"Birdo!" Yoshi said shocked.

"H-hi Yoshi..." Birdo said embarrassed.

"H-how could you do this to me?!"

"I-I'm sorry Yoshi, seriously!" Birdo said taking her? golf club and prepared to hit the ball.

"...Should we tell Yoshi that Birdo is a-" Chris's mouth was blocked by Lucario, who shook his head slowly.

"Ha!" Birdo hit the ball and it went in a curved trail in the air, going around the tree and passing through the 2 rings, it hit the wall, bouncing towards the green inside the same tree and Lakitu went to check the distance.

"17.9ft!" Lakitu declared and Birdo walked back to her? team.

"My turn!" Paratroopa said taking his golf club, but he glanced over to Yoshi's team but shuddered a little. "H-hiyah! Paratroopa hit the ball, that went around the tree, passing through the rings, hitting the wall to bounce towards the hole.

"...Huh?" Lakitu noticed that the ball, after stopping, went moving towards the hole, but it stopped right before it could enter. "...Er...0.1 ft!"

"0.1ft?! O-oh yes! I haven't had such nice record before!" Paratroopa said, but inside him, he was feeling unsure as Bowser and Charizard chuckled evily.

"Here I go!" Yoshi said with enthusiasm, taking his golf club and running inside the tee.

"Try not to fail Yoshi!" Mallow said.

"Pfft, I'm good at this sport, I never fail!"

"Heheheheh..." Bowser chuckled evily, along with Wario and Waluigi.

"...Ha!" Yoshi hit the ball and he watched it going far away...

"...Wait, where is the ball?" Toadsworth asked adjusting his glasses. "I can't seem to find it anywhere!"

"But Yoshi did a good hit!" Kirby said.

"...I...think I know where it went..." Red said trailing off.

"Huh?" Yoshi looked at him.

"...Isn't that ball from over there your ball?"

"...WAAAAAH!" Yoshi was shocked, all of them found his ball just 20 inches from the tee.

"Yoshi's ball is 189ft away from the hole, another point for the Bowser Fangs!" Lakitu declared and the Bowser Fangs, this time, high-fived each other in triumph.

"B-but Yoshi has never lost a shot before!" Koopatroopa said.

"YOU! SHUT UP AND ACCEPT IT!" Bowser yelled loudly, making Koopatroopa to hide inside his shell as he shook in fear inside.

"S-sorry..."

"Move on to the next hole!" Toadsworth said and they followed him.

"Something is DEFINITELY going on here..." Squirtle wondered.

"Shouldn't we start looking for the Subspace Bombs?" Geno whispered.

"Professor, do you have any signals of the bombs?" Chris whispered to his pocket.

"Hmm... I'm receiving weak signals of the bombs...but they're a lot of them..." Kawashima said.

"...Hmm...Lucar-"

"I'll go." Lucario said.

"...I didn't finish yet, I was going to say that you and Mallow are going to go."

"...For what?"

"Remember my idea of you socializing with people back at the mansion?"

Lucario groaned a little. "B-but Chris!"

"No buts from you, you will go with Mallow! Mallow!"

"Yes?" Mallow asked.

"Do you know what a Subspace Bomb looks like?"

"...I dunno." Mallow said sticking out his tongue.

"See? He needs your help."

"But you haven't asked him yet!"

"What did I say about the buts? ...Nevermind, Mallow, can you go with Lucario and find the Subspace Bombs?"

"...Okay...if that's alright with him..." Mallow said.

"...Fine, if that's what you want me to do...Mallow, jump on my back, we're going to look for the bombs in the forest by jumping to tree to tree."

"...OK!" Mallow said jumping on Lucario's back, and the Aura Pokémon prepared to jump very high until he did the action, disappearing from sight.

"Where is Mallow going?" Peach asked appearing from the group.

"He...um...went to look around for a coin he lost in the way...hey, are you Peach?"

"Yes, I am, and you're Chris, right? Mario told me you and the others helped him in Rogueport before."

"Um..." Chris blushed a little. "Y-yes, it was very fun to help him out."

"I wanted to thank you for doing so," Peach smiled a little. "If it weren't for you, I would be captive in the moon forever!"

And both of them became fast friends ever since that conversation, until they reached the next hole.

"Welcome to the next hole!" Toadsworth said. "The golfers for this hole are going to be Daisy, Chris and Petey Piranha!"

This time, however, the next hole had many Lakitus with cameras showing all the characters to the spectators back at the dome to broadcast the event much better.

And Daisy couldn't refuse the opportunity to say something.

"Hi! I'm Daisy!" Daisy greeted, but everyone heard many groans coming back from the dome, since Daisy says that every time she enters something, everyone in the whole world got annoyed by that. "Why you all! I'm gonna run to you and then I'll slap your faces so hard that you will be send towards the space an-" Daisy tried to hit a camera, but Luigi quickly held her by her waist.

"No! Daisy! Please! They didn't mean it, calm down please!" Luigi pleaded.

"LET ME GO! I NEED TO SHOW THEM SOME RESPECT TO ME!"

"NOT AGAIN, PLEASE DAISY!" Luigi yelled scared, all the Lakitus floated quickly away from the crazy princess and to a safe distance, putting their cameras in zoom mode to get a better view.

"Daisy, no fights, remember." Toadsworth reminded her.

And in 3 seconds. "HA!" Daisy hit the ball with her golf club.

"W-wait! I haven't told all of you about the rings an-"

"HOLE-IN-ONE!" Lakitu declared.

"...She passed through the 5 rings?"

"Yes, she passed the big ring to the last small ring!"

"...Peach Fencers are taking the lead of this hole!"

"YES! YES! I WON, TAKE THAT!" Daisy yelled loudly, proudly of herself and the crowd decided to cheer loudly for her. "Hi! I'm Daisy!"

...Nevermind, they groaned after that. "GRR! NOW C'MON OVER HERE AND LET ME DO SOMETHING!" Daisy said angrily, but Luigi tried to stop her again.

"NOT AGAIN DAISY!" Luigi yelled.

"I don't know if I should feel sorry for the spectators or Luigi." Ivysaur said.

"Somebody has anger issues..." Jigglypuff whispered to Fox.

"Geez, I wonder who could that be..." Fox rolled his eyes.

"WHO SAID THAT?!" Jigglypuff sweated, but Daisy turned to the Lakitus. "NOW C'MON OVER HERE!" Daisy taunted the Lakitus but Luigi stopped her.

PUNCH!

...Or tried to stop her, he fell to the grass with a black eye and his brother went to check on him as Daisy stomped back to her team, where Peach tried to calm her down.

"Luigi." Squirtle said to Ivysaur frowning.

"Um...I think it's my turn now..." Chris said taking his golf club and looked at the rings above the green. "...The first one is a big one, but the last one is small...ha!" He hit the ball and it went directly above the rings.

"5." Red said.

"4." Kirby said.

"3." Jigglypuff said.

"2." Twink said.

"...Darn it!" Chris cursed when the ball didn't go through the last ring.

"Failed!" Lakitu said. "But still, I'm going to say the distance, 16.1ft!"

"Heheh, loser." Wario chuckled.

"...Oh, you did well." Yoshi said.

"...Thanks, I'll appreciate it." Chris said nodding, as Petey Piranha walked to the tee, laughing a little. "OH, COME ON! OLIMAR! PETEY ATE YOUR PIKMIN AGAIN!"

The big Piranha sucked up the leaves, smiled and waved to Olimar, who waved back at him. "See? He's a good friend!" Olimar said.

"Oh, forget it!"

"BLEACK!" Petey hit the ball, but his insane strength made the ball to go very far away from the rings.

"...And it's gone!" Lakitu said.

"...I wouldn't be too sure!" Paratroopa said pointing at Petey's ball's direction, everyone looked at the same direction and saw the ball returning, passed right through the rings, and rolled inside the hole.

"...Okay, I don't know what happened, but Hole-In-One for the Bowser Fangs! That means both Peach Fencers and Bowser Fangs gain 1 point each, the Yoshi Islanders are having a hard time since they're in the last place!"

"..." Yoshi looked down in disappointment.

"Aw, don't worry Yoshi, everything will be fine." Mario said patting Yoshi's nose.

"...Leave me alone please."

"..." Mario got worried but listened to Yoshi.

"...I wonder what are Lucario and Mallow doing right now..." Jigglypuf wondered.

In another area, we see Lucario jumping from tree to tree with Mallow looking around the place to find the bombs.

"I can't find the Subspace Bomb anywhere!" Lucario said.

"It got to be somewhere around here!" Mallow said looking around.

"Grr, we have been looking around carefully and there aren't any!"

"But where could they be?"

"Hmm..." Lucario glowed for a moment. "...It's useless, they hid them even from my aura..."

A moment of silence fell and none of them spoke.

"...So...are you and Chris friends?" Mallow asked breaking the silence.

"I'm not his friend, I'm his guardian and best friend, but he's almost the same since he is my master."

"...Master in what?"

"He taught me how to live and not to be afraid of anything when I was sick the first time we met."

"...Oh, I see now..."

"But he hates to be called "Master" and prefers his name because it makes him to sound old."

"...Well, I don't know, but you should listen to him, I mean, he's your master and you obey his orders right?"

"Yes, but with some exceptions."

"Then don't call him master and call him by his name."

"...I know that, but I feel more happy in my way..."

"But he feels bad about it."

"!!"

"...Now you see?"

"...I think so...Mallow..."

"Yes?"

"I've come to realize it's not so bad to talk with other people...sometimes they help even the most alone person..."

Mallow laughed and smiled. "I'm glad I was able to help!"

"Thanks, now let's continue to search for the bombs."

"Right!"

As he jumped from tree to tree, he closed his eyes and smiled a little. "(...Chris, you were right about socializing with other people...)"

Back with the teams at hole number 4...

"The Bowser Fangs have made another Hole-In-One with Dedede's help, Peach Fencers comes in second place and...the Yoshi Islanders are still WAY behind!" Lakitu announced.

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! IN DAH FACE KIRBY!" Dedede laughed proudly of himself.

"B-but that's impossible! My ball was going to roll inside the hole with one shot after passing through the rings!" Kirby protested.

"Pinky can't believe it either!" Boo said drooling a little.

"I'm starting to doubt about something," Olimar began. "Balls don't jump off the field by themselves once they roll around and stop."

"I think there's something odd about that too." DK said raising his hand.

"Well...nobody has proof about that, right?" Paratroopa asked, laughing a little scared as Bowser glared at him with a grunt.

"...No, and we move on to the next hole!" Toadsworth said walking away to the next hole.

"Why isn't anyone here trying to find some proof?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Maybe it's normal for them for these things to happen." Squirtle said.

"But not for me! I'm very aware of the situation!" Yoshi protested.

"Then tell us what's the problem and we will listen." Fox said crossing his arms.

"...You know, sometimes, I get the feeling you like to mess around with me, because I don't know what's the cause for this trouble." Yoshi said blinking a little bored.

"...Maybe."

2 minutes later...

"In this hole, golfers need to take precaution of the windy winds!" Toadsworth said as his mustache was moving to the east, by the strong wind. "The air is at 21mph to the west, you have to take advantage of the wind and pass the 4 rings above the abyss! The golfers are Red, Squirtle or Ivysaur, Luigi and Charizard!"

"How ironic, we ended up being the rivals." Charizard said smirking.

"Guys, let me do this one, I won't screw up!" Red said determined.

"...Ookay, go on but I'm not sure."

"Wait!" Chris yelled and ran towards the green. "I'm going to find out what is the cause for our bad losing streak here and now!"

"Oh no, we have trouble with the kid." Bowser whispered.

"Oh, I have everything under control." Dedede whispered back.

"...Huh? What is a Waddle Dee doing here?" Chris asked confused after a Waddle Dee looked at him.

"WAAH! LOOK AT THAT THING, IS HIDEOUS!" Luigi screamed hiding behind Daisy.

The Waddle Dee walked away. "Hmm, I wonder where is he going..." Chris wondered and decided to follow the Waddle Dee.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Red said ready with his golf club. "(Please, I don't want to fail like everyone else did.)"

"Red, it's bad to think out loud!" Twink said, making Kirby and Yoshi to grunt at the trainer.

"...My bad! HA!" Red said hitting the ball.

"Did you take the wind's speed?" Olimar asked.

"I did! Look! It's going through the rings!"

"1, 2, 3 and 4!" Kirby said counting the rings. "It's going to fall..."

"In the hole!" Jigglypuff added.

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that." Dedede said snickering.

"...Hmm..." Lakitu got closer to the hole to see the ball about to fall directly.

"What's that?!" Dedede yelled shocked pointint at the sky.

"Huh?" Dedede's plan worked and everyone fell for their trick.

"...Okay, you need to tell me where are you going." Chris said to the Waddle Dee, who kept walking around, towards the hole.

"(That's the signal!)"

THUD!

"(Oww!)"

Someone tried to get out from the hole, but Waddle Dee's foot prevented the exit and both him and Chris walked out the green, then Lakitu returned to see the hole and the ball entering inside. "Hole-In-One!" Lakitu declared.

"What?!" Bowser, Charizard and Dedede asked shocked at this.

"N-no way! I did it? I did it!" Red saying making a fist in the air and returned to his team.

2 minutes later...

"Luigi's ball is 12ft! That only leaves Charizard to hit the ball!" Lakitu said.

"Heh, this is going to be easy." Charizard said picking up his golf club. "HA!" Charizard hit the ball, passing through the rings and going towards the hole, exactly above.

"...Huh? Where am I?... The ball is getting closer! I need to take it out and fast!"

"(And even without cheating, I should consider a career in golf as a professional!)"

However, much for his dismay, his ball was just going to enter, but it went bouncing out from the hole and fell to the abyss.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Charizard's jaw dropped to the floor astonished.

"The Yoshi Islanders win this hole!" Lakitu said.

"Yes! One for us!" Twink said high-fiving Red.

"Plant! What the hell was that just now?!" Dedede whispered to the grass, and a small dot of darkness appeared.

"I-I'm sorry, I though that was the ball from the kid!"

"Make another mistake and that rampage over Mario won't happen at all, you hear me?!"

"Ugh, yes, boss..."

With Lucario and Mallow...

"Hmm..."

"...What is it Lucario?" Mallow asked as Lucario landed on the top of a tree and began to focus, glowing.

"...Something is wrong here..."

"Why?"

Lucario's aura showed the entire area, but something very big and long was moving inside the trees, soil and earth. "I sense a disturbance under the earth, and it's big..."

"H-how big?"

"Gigantic, though, there is a small brain that is controlling all the spiked vines, that brain needs more power to become very big..."

"A-and what can we do?"

Lucario shook his head. "Nothing for now, the vines are deep underground or between the trees, we will just have to wait until something happens."

"Did you find the bombs?"

"No, they're still hidden, very well hidden."

Mallow looked down. "...Maybe we should return with the others..."

"Chris is not going to like this...but I can't do anything else." Lucario said, stopping his glow before jumping down.

Back with the teams at hole 6...

A very small space with one ring was between 2 big and thick trees, but somebody who had a great accuracy and aim could get an easy Hole-In-One, since the hole was at the very bottom of a hill, the golfers for this hole were Toad, Waluigi and the last one who hasn't participated yet, Jigglypuff, luckily, the previous 2 that weren't Jigglypuff failed into crossing the side.

"Okay Jigglypuff, focus...you can do this if you concentrate..." Squirtle said.

"I know, just let me shoot already!" Jigglypuff said pouting a little.

"Pss, there's no way for the plant to get to the other platform, it she succeeds, we phail!" Dedede whispered to Charizard, misspelling a word.

"Relax, there's no snowball chance in hell the puffball wil-"

"HOLE-IN-ONE AGAIN FOR THE YOSHI ISLANDERS!" Lakitu said from the other side.

"...Wait, this doesn't make sense at all, we didn't watch her shoot!" Charizard said angrily.

"You 2 were on your own little world, Jigglypuff managed to pass the ring and get the ball in the hole." Paratroopa said.

"Well done Jigglypuff!" Chris said holding Jigglypuff above his hand, the Singer Pokémon twirled above it and stroke a pose as Yoshi cheered at this.

"Alright, next hole everyone!" Toadsworth said.

2 minutes later...

Ring Attack

"In this hole, golfers must use the 3 trees between them and the green and bounce their balls 3 times to pass through the different rings's angles which descend from the top to the bottom, starting from the right tree and bouncing the ball to the other one and finally bounce it in the same previous tree, for this hole, Diddy, Fox and Bowser Jr!"

"This is easy, don't worry." Fox said taking his golf club and walked over the tee. "..."

Diddy was stading there between his ball and him, staring at his face without blinking. "Oops, my mistake Fox, Diddy couldn't resist it anymore, Diddy! Come over here!" Dk called over and Diddy listened and joined him.

"...I swear, that monkey just creeps me out sometimes..."

"Fox! Just focus on the ball!" Geno yelled.

"Fine, fine, I heard you!" Fox said preparing to hit the ball. "Ha!" Fox's ball went directly towards the wall of the tree.

"1." Chris said.

"2." Yoshi said.

"3!" Red said.

"C'mon, roll to the hole!" Fox muttered as Lakitu watched carefully the ball...that somehow accelerated in speed and fell inside a bunker. "...Dang it!"

"45.8ft!" Lakitu said.

"Okay, that's it! Something fishy is going on around here and I'm going to see what it is!" Fox said angrily returning to his group.

"Fox, we ALL thought the same thing in our minds after we failed." Kirby said.

"I'll beat you all in this thing, just see!" Bowser Jr. said grinning evily to the Yoshi Islanders.

Bowser sniffed and took out a napkin from nowhere. "That's...my son! Make me proud!"

"...Bowser has a son?" Toadette asked.

"ARGH! YES! AND I HAVE 7 MORE WATCHING THIS EVENT BACK AT THE DOME!" Bowser roared furiously.

"So who's the lucky lady?" Twink asked winking.

"SHUT UP YOU!"

"Okay!" Bowser Jr. put his mask on his mouth to look more treatening and spung on his feet with his golf club. "HA!" He stopped quickly, holding himself above the grass and hit the ball with speed, it went bouncing on all the walls until it rolled inside the green.

"This is gettin' repetitive, so just move it a little closer to the hole." Dedede whispered and the ball rolled towards the hole and Lakitu checked the distance.

"...4.8ft!" Lakitu declared.

"Go pal, remember to get the ball close to the hole, or better yet, inside!" DK said pushing Diddy, who hopped happily towards the hole with his golf club.

"...Donkey Kong!" Fox yelled annoyed.

"DIDDY! GO TO THE TEE, THE TEEEEEE REMEMBER?! NOT FOX!"

"Okay!" Diddy said laughing before going to the tee this time as Fox grunted at this.

In that moment, Mallow and Lucario came from the trees as Diddy prepared to hit the ball. "Did you find the bombs?" Chris asked.

"No, we couldn't find them, I'm sorry." Lucario said.

"This is bad, if the you-know-what can't be found, they will you-know-what the entire forest!" Mallow said.

"Even my aura can't detect them."

"At this rate, the bombs will explode!"

"...Mallow!" Geno yelled before they heard footsteps.

"Excuse me, but what is that of bombs exploding?" Mario asked appearing from Peach's team.

"Er..." Twink looked at both directions preocupied.

"W-we're not talking about bombs Mario!" Chris said sweating.

"...Mallow, are you hiding something from me?" Mario asked.

"N-no I'm not! We're definitely not hiding the fact that bombs are hidden through the forest and they could explode in any moment!" Mallow said.

"...Mallow, you idiot..." Geno muttered smacking his forehead.

"Bombs? You mean the same kind of bombs we saw in the Glitz Pit before?" Mario asked.

"...Yes..." Chris said.

"And they're here? In this forest?"

"...Yes..."

"And why didn't you tell that to me?"

"Because I feared you would said that to the others and start a panic attack or something."

"Are you serious?" Mario pointed at Peach's team, which was cheering on Diddy. "I can't take their fun away, just look at them! They're so excited for the festival!"

"...But unfortunately, we don't know where the bombs are." Squirtle said.

"Don't worry about that detail, I won't tell anybody about this." Mario reassured them.

"Phew, thank you." Chris said sighing.

"But I have one favor."

"What is the favor?"

"Please try to destroy the bombs before they blow up, I'll distract the others to evade attention or else the festival will be ruined!"

"...I don't know if I ca-"

"Got it." Fox said nodding.

"Fox!"

"Thank you! And in the meantime, please enjoy the festival!" Mario said as he returned to Peach's team.

"Why did you say that for?"

"I guessed you were still going to agree, so I went ahead before you."

"..." Chris was blinking confused.

"Also," Fox grinned and crossed his arms. "Take that as an example for deciding before we can decide for ourselves."

"...Fox." Chris walked towards Fox and smiled a little.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Chris hand-chopped Fox's head with his right hand.

"Oww!"

"Diddy's ball is getting closer!" Lakitu announced after Diddy was able to pass through the rings.

"Now." Charizard whispered to the grass.

"(Oh, I don't think so!)" Diddy thought happily as somehow the ball got around the sudden bump on the grass and entered inside the hole.

"HOLE-IN-ONE! ONE POINT FOR THE PEACH FENCERS!" Lakitu yelled and mentioned team cheered loudly for this.

"(Diddy! Why did you use the remote control ball?!)" DK asked in his mind with toon tears.

"This is getting repetitive but noooooo, you had to make my son to lose!" Bowser whispered angrily to Charizard.

"You 2 are such idiots!" Bowser Jr. said holding back his tears.

"We move on to the next hole!" Toadsworth said walking away with all the other teams.

"...Chris..." Lucario walked closer to Chris.

"Yes Lucario? Do you have something to tell me?" Chris asked.

"Yes...I wanted to tell you I made friends with Mallow."

"...Seriously Lucario?"

Lucario nodded. "We had an interesting conversation too...so I may do the same with everyone else, but in another day and time."

"Lucario, that is progress coming from you!"

"...I don't know what to say..." Lucario said looking down before Chris hugged him, making the Aura Pokémon to growl happily.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed of, you're a very unique Lucario, all the other ones should be like you!"

"...Thank you..."

"...Weirdos..." Wario muttered as he passed them from the side, making Lucario to growl angrily.

"Lucario, ignore that comment," Chris said rubbing Lucario's head. "He's not worth it."

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted.

"And we're here!" Toadsworth said.

"...But isn't this a little longer than usual?" Mallow asked.

The next hole was very large, the green was 1000 yards away from the tee and their positions, what's more, no rings were around the air, it was a long, straight course between the green and the tee area.

"And where are the rings?" Toadette asked.

"Simple, this, my friends, is the last hole!" Toadsworth said.

"But what about the golfers that haven't participated yet? Like me, you and Toadette?" Toad asked.

"Oh ho ho! You see, I lied about the 10 holes, this one is the last, now, the last 3 teammates from each team, Boo, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, myself, Mallow, Geno and Olimar will participate in a race to the hole!"

"Race to the hole? I haven't heard of that kind of event before." Olimar said.

"It's very easy to understand, the remaining golfers will hit their balls-" Bowser chuckled at this part. "-and then all of them will run as fast as they can to hit the balls again, the first team to get their ball's team inside the hole will win 3 points!"

"WAIT!" Bowser stomped furiously at this. "That isn't fair! The Peach Fencers and Yoshi Suckers (Yoshi's team: HEY!) have 2 points each and my team has 3!"

"Oh, Bowser! You saw the meaning now, if a team wins this hole, they win the golf event!"

"But Wario's fatness will slow him down!"

"HEY!" Wario yelled angrily.

"And my legs can't run that fast either..." Olimar said looking down.

"I'm a bad runner myself!" Toad said.

"Well, that pretty much equals all of you in the same category, anyway! Teams! Prepare your teammates!"

"Whatever." Geno said grabbing his golf club.

"Oh, I don't like this," Toad said grabbing his golf club. "Toadette, prepare to run." Toadette nodded.

"Mess up this one and you'll be sorry!" Waluigi threatened his "brother."

"Same thing to you!" Wario said grabbing his golf club.

"Who says we can't get help a little..." Charizard whispered smirking evily.

"And 3! And 2! And 1..." Toadsworth trailed off.

"GO!" Toad, Geno and Wario hit their balls as strong as they could do and they went soaring through the air before landing, all the 9 characters began to run to their objects, while their teams cheered loudly after this with all the other spectators back at the dome, since the Lakitus broadcasted the match. (And stayed away from Daisy's reach).

"Oh! Oh! Uf! My back! Is killing me!" Toadworth complained.

"Get a hold of yourself old man! The trophy is at risk!" Toadette said.

"My! Back in the old days, children were most respectful to thei-"

"Just don't talk and let's get the ball!" Toad said as the Toads ran.

"Wait! Let me hit the ball this time!" Olimar said as they reached their ball, he grabbed his golf club and hit it in 5 seconds, before they continued running.

"Nice work! You hit fast!" Mallow said smiling.

"My skills in the golf haven't changed, I think." Olimar said.

"There it is!" Boo said pointing to their ball behind a tree.

"Rats! It's behind that tree!" Wario said panting heavily.

"Unless somebody can change the things a little bit!" Waluigi said grinning as the ball rolled by itself from the tree and reached an open area for Waluigi to hit it. "HA!" Waluigi hit the ball and it went soaring to the air before landing closer to the green.

"So far, nothing seems suspicious." Kirby said.

"Let's hope nothing happens." Yoshi said worried a little.

"Knowing our percentage to win, I'd say something will happen." Lucario said.

"Just let's hope for the best, don't get depressed now!" Chris said with a little enthusiasm.

"Old man!" Toadette yelled to Toadsworth, who was holding his back in pain with the golf club on his right hand.

"Please...don't...run...so...fast...." Toadsworth pleaded as he reached both Toads and gasped for breath. "O-okay, I'm ready!"

"Peach, you should decide which teammate to disqualify now." Daisy whispered to Peach.

"I know that, hmm, Toadsworth is not going to hold for much longer so..." Peach trailed off.

"Ha!" Toadsworth hit the ball, still gasping for breath and it got closer to the green. "Somebody! Carry me! Please!" Toadsworth yelled.

"Ugh, fine!" Toadetted grabbed Toadsworth above herself and the trio of Toads continued to run.

"Heheheheh! There's the ball!" Boo said quickly floating over the ball and landed a strong hit on it, getting even closer to the green. "Uhaha!"

"Alright Mallow, it's your turn now." Geno said nodding to Mallow.

"I won't fail!" Mallow said happily grabbing his golf club and prepared to hit the ball.

"I don't think so." Dedede whispered smirking.

"...HA!"

"...Wait, Mallow! The ball is still here!" Geno said shocked.

"He's right! How can this be?!" Twink asked alarmed.

"W-what?" Mallow looked down and the ball was still there. "B-but how? I could have sworn I-"

"Quick! The other teams are advancing!" Olimar said alarmed, opening his eyes and flailing his arms.

"HA!" Mallow looked to the green, but looked down and the ball was still there. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

"Heheheheh, the Subspace Bombs are ready to explode in 5 minutes." Charizard said evily.

"Keep doing your work and continue to make the cloud thing angry." Dedede whispered to the grass.

"Heh, no problem with that."

"Oww! My back! Is...killing me!" Toadsworth complained holding his back before hitting the ball.

"Hurry up! I can't believe Wario's team is getting ahead of us!" Toadette complained angrily.

"Ugh! Why you must be so hard on an old man like me?!"

"No sir, why you must be so tired and make us lose?!"

"Toad! Do something about her!"

"S-sorry!" Toad said hiding behind a tree. "B-but Toadette gets REALLY scary when she's angry!"

"HIT THE BALL!" Toadette demanded.

"Bwhahahahahaha! Gotta love team issues!" Wario said and he was about to hit the ball, but instead hit Waluigi from behind his back. "You! Get outta my way!"

"MY EYE!" Waluigi complained holding his eye. "YOU BASTARD! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SCREW UP, AND YOU DID IT WITH MY EYE!"

"You 2! Stop arguing and hit the ball already! Both teams are distracted!" Boo said angrily.

"We can't because Mr. Fatty McButt is not hitting the ball!"

Wario glared at his brother. "What's that? Mr. Skinny McBones?!"

"You heard me! Mr. Farty McGasses!"

"Mr. Ugly McFace!"

"Mr. Snobby McBum!"

"Mr. 2 Idiots McDorks! Hello?! We need to win this now!" Boo said annoyed.

The other teams were watching the disputes from their spots, cheering loudly or arguing. "...Somehow, I just knew this was going to happen..." Squirtle said frowning.

"...Honestly, I also knew that." Chris said.

"Why do you think that?" Red asked.

"I mean, look at our team without Yoshi, we're the most, weirdest team ever made! We're a teenager that freaks out by anyone's antics, a Pokémon Trainer that started with the left foot, a so focused talking puppet, an hyperactive cloud prince, an almost silent Aura Pokémon who's bad at golf, a singer Pokémon that can't stop adjusting her hair in front of the cameras, 2 more Pokémon that haven't done anything, a captain of some minor and not so important company, a Super Tuff Pink Puff/Star Warrior of some part of the galaxy, a talking little and young star and on top of all those things, a mercenary that can't even find his lost dad!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr."

Chris sweatdropped after almost his entire team glared and grunted at him (save Lucario, Yoshi and Kirby). "...I said something bad?"

"GET HIM!" Red yelled loudly and the not mentioned characters before started to, for the first time, beat Chris up to a bloody pulp inside a cloud of dust.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled loudly. "LUCARIO! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE MANIACS!"

"Why should I? You deserved it." Lucario said frowning.

"OWW! MY LEG!"

"..." Lucario groaned and went inside the cloud, he lifted up everyone except Chris and threw them one feet away from his badly beaten up trainer.

"T-thanks...remind me to give you steaks...lots and lots of steaks...ugh..." Chris said fainting with swirl eyes.

"Fine."

Back with the teams...

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Mallow tried to hit the ball, but failed everytime. "DANG IT! I CAN'T DO IT!"

"OLD MAN! HURRY UP!" Toadette yelled annoyed.

"ACK! MY BACK! IT HURTS SO MUCH! PLEASE, HAVE MERCY ON THIS POUR SOUL!" Toadsworth pleaded but Toadette kept arguing as Toad hid completely behind the tree.

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!" Wario argued furiously with smoke coming from his ears.

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!" Waluigi cursed loudly.

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEP) Mc(BEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEEEEEEEEEEEP) Mc(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP)!"

"Mr. (BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP) Mc(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP)!"

"...Why are we even recording all their curses anyway?" A random Lakitu asked another one.

"Because duh, we win more money that way, besides, we have censorship in this T rated story anyway." The other Lakitu said rolling his eyes and breaking the fourth wall.

"...Should we stop Toadette from murdering Toadsworth? She's scaring me..." Luigi said trembling a little.

"No, she needs to release all her fury to stop being angry, I learned that doing Yoga." Birdo said.

"I wouldn't want to be on her bad side, EVER." DK said shuddering.

"You say it, DK." Diddy said nodding.

Petey roared silently to Bowser. "Yeah, I'm sick of this too, just move the ball!" Bowser ordered the grass.

"...Eh?" Lakitu watched Wario's ball moving slowly towards the hole by itself, what was odd, Wario didn't even hit the ball at all and the fact that the hole was still 300ft away, it got all by itself to the green, close to the hole, and inside the hole.

"We need to leave Yoshi's team behind too, so give Peach's team a hand."

"...Okay, this is really stupid now." Lakitu said yawning as Toadsworth's ball rolled inside the hole by itself. "...Zzzzzzzzzzzz..."

"..." Another Lakitu came in and slapped the first Lakitu.

"THE BOWSER FANGS WIN THE GOLF EVENT! The Peach Fencers come in second place and the Yoshi Islanders stay in the last position!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!" The Bowser Fangs cheered after this.

"Oh well, we did this just fine." Peach said giggling a little.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT US?!" Yoshi said dropping to his knees. "WE COULD HAVE WON! BUT MALLOW MADE US TO LOSE!"

"...W-w-w-w-what?" Mallow stopped trying to hit the ball and his eyes got teary all of a sudden.

"The bombs are going to explode in 1 minute, let's get out of here!" Charizard whispered to all the team and they ran away, with the Wario Bros. arguing, but they hid in a spot out of the bombs's reach area.

Music stops

"...Huh?" Mario looked up to see a lot of dark clouds gathering, then he looked at Mallow and gasped. "Geno! Is Mallow about to cry?!"

"Y-yes! B-but I can't stop him, he is going to do you-know-what!" Geno yelled from afar trying his best to calm Mallow down.

"Oh mama mia! Mallow is going to do it again!"

"W-what do you mean by it?" Chris asked with a patch on his left eye.

"Mallow calls clouds to make rain when he cries, but that's not the worst part!" Mario said alarmed and suddenly, very loud sounds from thunders came from the sky.

"W-what do you mean by that? It gets worse?!" Chris asked terrified.

"Y-yes...much worse...this only happened one time in the past, it almost destroyed the entire Land's End!"

"...Mario, you're starting to make no sense and to scare me at the same tim-"

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The World Traveler sweatdropped and looked above him. "....T-THAT WAS THE LOUDEST THUNDER I EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE BEFORE!"

"WE NEED TO GET OUR BUTTS OUT OF HERE AND FAST!" Mario yelled loudly panicking.

"(If Mallow's action was enough to make Mario say butts, it must be very dangerous!) GUYS! HURRY UP AND ESCAPE FROM THIS PLACE!"

"IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!" Luigi yelled screaming from behind.

Squirtle rolled his eyes when it started to rain. "It's just rain, for the love of Arceus, why can't people enjoy a little rain?" Squirtle asked smiling opening his arms to the sky.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon got zapped by a powerful thunder and their jaws dropped a little. "...I...hate this..."

More thunders came from above and Kirby and Jigglypuff hugged each other trembling. "P-please! Tell me we're going to be fine!" Jigglypuff asked trembling with fear.

"LOOK OUT!" Red yelled after a devastating thunder fell on a tree from far away, who got burned and started a forest fire, even the rain couldn't stop it.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Mallow cried veru loudly, causing the thunders to become more wild.

"MALLOW! CALM DOWN! YOU DIDN'T MADE US TO LOSE, NOW STOP CRYING!" Geno yelled louder.

"PLEASE, BEFORE I TURN INTO STAR SOUP!" Twink yelled hiding in Geno's cape.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Mallow continued to cry still and Geno grabbed him and ran towards his team with an alarmed Olimar before thunder divided the suspended field in half.

"...All this madness caused by that crybaby cloud? How can that even be possible?!" Charizard asked in his hiding spot, before an enormous tree fell nearby in flames.

"...OH NO!" Dedede yelled shocked.

"What is it penguin?!"

"THE SUBSPACE BOMBS! ALL THE TREES! ALL THE SUBSPACE BOMBS ARE BEING DESTROYED OR CRUSHED BY THE TREES!"

Charizard's jaw dropped. "Y-you've gotta be kidding me!"

"No! It's the truth!" Lava Piranha Plant came from the ground and Petey waved at him. "All the bombs are being destroyed in this replica of a war!"

"PAPA! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Bowser Jr. cried hugging Bowser.

"Jr! Be a man and face this destr-" Bowser felt the ground shaking violently and he looked around frantically. "SCREW IT! I'M OUT OF HERE!" Bowser yelled calling his Koopa Klown Car and escaped with his son.

"PRINCESSESES AND KIDS FIRST!" Daisy's voice was heard in all the chaos.

"ME TOO!" DK yelled.

"L-Lucario! D-don't leave my side please, I-I'm so scared!" Chris said hugging Lucario's back.

"Grrr, we have to get out of here!" Lucario yelled.

"B-but where?! All the trees and the fire are preventing us from escaping!" Fox yelled.

There was another earthquake and they looked to the grass. "I-I don't like where is this going anymore!" Yoshi said trembling and ducking in fear.

"...THE PLATFORM IS FALLING APART!" Ivysaur yelled.

And the platform did that, the platform splitted into 2 big-halfs and all the teams fell into the depths of the jungle, screaming and yelling scared.

"WE'RE DEAD!" Kirby yelled crying with Jigglypuff.

"AND THANKS TO MALLOW!" Yoshi yelled angrily as Mallow continued to cry louder.

"YOSHI, YOU'RE NOT HELPING AT ALL!" Geno yelled angrily.

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" Luigi yelled passing them, and a Waddle Dee fell from Dedede's coat and it looked at Luigi, who screamed like a girl of 1st grade. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!"

"EVERYONE, HOLD ON!" Fox yelled.

"TO WHAT?!" Olimar yelled panicking.

"MARIOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Peach yelled scared as Mario dove faster to catch her.

"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER LIFE BY THIS!" Chris yelled, crying on Lucario's shoulder.

"NOBODY WILL DIE!" Lucario yelled.

Meanwhile, all the Lakitus were escaping but one was still recording all the teams falling. "Er...ow...oh no!" A tree's bark fell from the sky and it hit the camera.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!

Peach Dome

All the crowd was very shocked at this that they began to panic a little, they looked at the screen to see if they could get a small view of the event, but all they got was:

We're sorry, but we're experiencing technical difficulties right now at the moment, please wait

And the advice was there in the screen along with a Toad's mushroom head in the floor as same Toad had a towel above his head, trying to get the head and avoid getting seen without his mushroom head.

The crowd went silent for a moment before looking down at the center of the dome, where slowly, one by one, all the golfers came walking through the halls and to the center, making the crowd to go wild and cheer loudly.

Though, in reality, all of them looked like if they just went to a war and came back, many had their clothes ripped, blood trails on their noses, some were moaning a little, even Bowser and Jr. couldn't escape in time and got severly injured.

The only 2 characters that weren't hurt were Peach and Chris, Peach because Mario protected her from all the pieces of wood from the sky (poor plumber, he broke a leg in the process) and Chris because Lucario shielded him (even Lucario called forth his aura to grab a gigantic piece of wood to save them in time).

"I can't...believe we survived...that cataclysm..." Geno said, with his hat ripped.

"I-I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Mallow said burying his face in his hands.

Geno looked above the dome and more clouds began to gather. "Mallow, it wasn't your fault, now please, try to cheer up."

Mallow uncovered his face and the clouds disappeared. "...T-thanks..."

Chris looked at the screen showing Congo Canopy...or what used to be Congo Canopy. "...Lucario..."

"Yes...Chris?" Lucario asked panting, dropped on his knees.

"...I think Mallow made a perfect replica of Bahgdad."

Lucario looked at the screen, all the trees were destroyed, turning into dust that perfectly looked like sand, and some trees were still burning. "...God..."

"Hey, the leaders are going to say who are they going to disqualify from their teams." Ivysaur said (a fang lost from his mouth).

"Now...Princess...can you please say...who are you going...to disqualify?" Toadsworth asked (his cane broken and part of his mustache was ripped).

"Hmm...well...you." Peach said.

"Oh ho ho ho! What a joy! I'm disqualified an-" Toadsworth paused when Peach's eyes widened a little. "...Er, I mean, what disappointment...oh no..."

"...The next one will be...hmm...DK."

DK's jaw dropped in shock. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! First, Congo Canopy was destroyed, and now, I'm disqualified!"

"DK! I'm still in this!" Diddy said.

"..." DK groaned a little but patted Diddy's back. "Aw, that's good, at least one of us will continue in this, try to win this for me, pal!"

"My turn!" Bowser yelled and quickly decided his first 2 teammates. "WARIO! WALUIGI! BOTH OF YOU, SCRAM!"

"(BEEP) you!" Wario and Waluigi flipped Bowser off, fortunately, their fingers were censored.

"It's Yoshi's turn, I wonder who is he going to disqualify?" Chris asked as Yoshi put his finger close to his mouth and looked at his team (his all badly beaten up team).

"Yoshi?... Would you please decide?" Toadsworth asked.

"Hmm..." Yoshi thought harder.

"Nice trousers you're wearing now." Olimar remarked Petey's blue trousers, because the last ones were ripped.

"...Olimar, isn't your helmet broken?" Jigglypuff asked (hair messed up).

Olimar looked at his helmet and found a hole in it. "Ah, yes, it is, fortunately, I don't think there's oxygen in this planet."

"Why do you ask that?"

"Oxygen is deadly poison to me, good thing there isn't any of that here or else I'd die!"

"...Olimar..."

"Yes?"

"...There IS oxygen here so..."

Olimar's face turned purple in a second and he began to gasp for breath. "UGH! ACK! SOMEBODY!"

"GUYS! OLIMAR IS CHOKING!"

"...Huh? OLIMAR!" Chris yelled worried and ran towards Olimar, and he quickly blocked the hole and Olimar's face returned to his normal color.

"T-THANKS!" Olimar said breathing heavily.

"...Olimar!" Yoshi decided.

"...W-why did he say my name?"

"Because...he just disqualified you." Red said (backpack with a hole and left black eye).

"...Oh...teabags..." Olimar said snapping his fingers.

"Well," Chris unblocked the hole. "I think he did it just for your safety an-"

"CHRIS! THE HOLE!" Jigglypuff reminded him as Olimar began to choke again.

"S-SORRY OLIMAR!" Chris said blocking the hole again and sighed in relief.

"Whew! ...Well...I sort of...didn't want to participate in tennis..." Olimar revealed.

At that moment, Geno walked towards Yoshi and returned to his team. "What did you say to Yoshi?" Kirby asked (cast on right arm).

"Geno!" Yoshi decided and Kirby looked at Geno with a worried look.

"Sorry, I'm not into sports so, I quit." Geno said.

"Good thing the golf event ended now," Chris said and looked at all the other characters. "Everything went nuts just a while ago."

"At least...we survived that..." Fox said (scouter broken and belt missing, along with his Blaster). "Damn, I lost my Blaster...it probably got crushed in some tree..."

"...Hmm..." Chris ducked to see Fox and the vulpine looked at him.

"What is it?"

"I'm just surprised."

"For what?"

"Your boots," Chris pointed at Fox's boots. "I mean, they look like they haven't been scratched at all."

"Oh, my boots?" Fox knocked one of them and it made a metal sound. "These boots aren't ordinary, they were made with the best metal and iron from Corneria, not even Link's Master Sword can make a cut on them."

"Falco's boots are also made like yours, right?"

"Exactly, both of us talked to Slippy to made stronger boots for the next tournament, not even the strongest bite can pierce through them, the bluckles are the hardest part and the strongest part of my kicks."

"Wow, I didn't know that before."

"We are going to take a break of 2 hours before the tennis event, so please rest and eat something to recover your energies." Toadsworth announced, before every single character fell to the ground exhausted.

Entrance of Peach Dome

"Hmmmm..."

"Hmmmmmm..."

"Hmmmm..."

"Do you like the ice cream I bought to you Lucario?"

Lucario nodded smiling and continued to lick his ice cream, as Chris rubbed his head and laughed heartily.

"That is your reward for saving my life in the woods, you looked so strong holding that big piece of wood!" Chris said laughing heartily and Lucario waged his tail a little, but Chris sweatdropped after looking at everyone else. "...But since Kirby pleaded to me, I had to buy ice cream for everyone else."

"Yum!" Kirby finished his 3rd ice cream and grabbed his 4th one from the 10 he had with him.

"...Okay, let's see, 14 persons, 24 ice creams counting Kirby's, 10 Smash Coins counting as 10 Mushroom Coins for each ice cream, multiply it by 24 and we have...240 Smash Coins spent in ice cream...well, we could have bought more." Kirby looked at him with glittering eyes. "...Er...I mean...we couldn't..." Kirby looked down ashamed before the ice cream cheered him up.

"I finish." Olimar said, with a big bandaid covering the hole on his helmet.

"...How did you eat yours with the helmet on anyway?" Jigglypuff asked licking her ice cream.

"Sometimes, I'd wish people don't ask me how."

"...Eww..." Jigglypuff shuddered and continued to lick her ice cream.

Yoshi was looking down sadly and Mallow looked at him. "Yoshi, please, cheer up!"

"I can't..." Yoshi replied shaking slowly his head.

"Your ice cream is melting, you have to eat it before it melts."

"I don't wanna..." Yoshi said throwing the ice cream away (which Kirby sucked up and burped happily).

"Cheer up, we only lost one event, we still have 2 more events to win!" Ivysaur said eating the cone.

"But if Bowser's team wins another event, they will win the whole festival!"

Red stopped licking his ice cream and looked at Yoshi. "W-what?"

"So, in other words, 2 events won by a team means the end of the festival." Geno said.

Squirtle came in burping a little after finishing his ice cream, with Fox following him. "Where were you?" Red asked.

"We went to see how is the tennis event, it's going to be with doubles."

"The tennis event will be with doubles?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes, but I know something, they're going to decide with who." Fox said.

"More reasons to end up with an unexpected partner..." Chris said.

"Fortunately, I told Mario how are we going to play and he went to Toadsworth." Squirtle said.

"Please, tell me you paired me up with Lucario!" Chris asked and Squirtle nodded. "Phew, thanks, Lucario likes t-" Lucario quickly blocked his mouth again.

"I told him you and Lucario were going to be doubles, Red, Ivysaur, me and Jigglypuff, Yoshi and Kirby and Fox and Mallow."

"I'm looking forward to the kart racing event, I hope I can make it there!" Mallow said running on his feet.

Peach Dome

"Okay, I need to put this on Toadsworth's desk and the doubles will be decided! I hope I get paired up with Toadette to calm her down!" Toad said happily carrying 3 papers with the names of the 24 participants. "Oww!" He tripped and the papers were released, all of them went floating towards a corner of the hallway, where a red claw took it, 5 seconds later, it returned back the papers. "Where are they? ...Oh, there they are." Toad ducked, took back the papers and walked away humming the Super Mario Bros. theme.

"Heheheheh, let's see now if we can win this event..." Charizard appeared from the corner smirking evily and burning down 3 familiar papers with his mouth, before he walked away to the darkness of the halls.

Entrance of Peach Dome

"Just by curiosity," Jigglypuff began. "If there was a secondary partner, who would that be for each one of us? I'd select Kirby!"

"I'd choose Jigglypuff!" Kirby said finishing his 7th ice cream.

"Well, I'd choose Mallow." Red said.

"Same here." Squirtle and Ivysaur said nodding.

"Sounds good to me!" Mallow said.

"Hmm...I think I'd like to participate with Fox." Chris said.

"I'd say the same as Chris." Fox said nodding.

"...Then..." Chris looked at Lucario and Yoshi. "...I think that left an interesting but sick idea in my mind..."

"...What was that?" Lucario asked opening one eye.

"...Well...I'd rather have Kirby..." Yoshi said looking away.

Lucario looked at Yoshi and shrugged. "...Well...I'd rather have Red, Ivysaur or Squirtle, no offense."

"None taken." Yoshi said closing his eyes and nodding.

"My my," Chris adjusted his glasses who shone creepily. "The day that happens I'll bring a camera and take a picture of it."

"Since when do you wear glasses?" Twink asked, trying to finish his ice cream on a bench.

Chris threw the glasses and hyperveliates a little. "What glasses? I don't see any glasses!" He calms down. "Anyway, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look for the Subspace Bombs around the area, I could use Olimar's help." Geno said.

"Don't forget me!" Twink said burping a little.

"O-okay, as long as my Pikmins are with me, I won't complain." Olimar said looking to his back, where his Pikmins were gone.

That moment, Petey came in sucking up 6 leaves and smiled proudly, then Olimar looked and waved at him. "...Oh, screw them, they're stupid." Chris said frowning.

"Participants, please report to the dome and see your partners, repeat, participants, please report to the dome and see your partners." Toadsworth announced.

"That's our call!" Jigglypuff said running to the dome with everyone else except Geno, Twink and Olimar.

"Good luck!" Twink said waving at them.

"We'll search for the bombs, try not to lose!" Geno said.

"Say hi to Petey!" Olimar said.

"Hell no!" Chris yelled annoyed.

Hallway

The other participants were there seeing the boards for the doubles, upon more inspection, it looked like Peach and Daisy, Diddy and Birdo, Mario and Luigi, Toad and Toadette, Bowser and Charizard, Dedede and Boo, Petey and Bowser Jr., Koopatroopa and Paratroopa got in doubles, neither of them were complaining and they walked away.

"Who needs to see the boards? We know with who already!" Kirby said walking pass the board.

"Yes, it doesn't matter if we ended up like this, Red, Ivysaur, Squirtle and me, Jigglypuff and Kirby, Yoshi and Lucario and Chris and Fox like the board says!" Mallow said walking pass the boards with the others...before they returned without turning their backs and looked at the boards, shocked.

"What the? Squirtle! You said you told Mario!" Ivysaur said glaring at Squirtle.

"I-I'm pretty sure I did, but this wasn't it!" Squirtle said worried.

"Suckers!" King Dedede came in and laughed at them. "By now, you should have figured out all the traps from the golf event were made by us!"

"Weeeee pretty much knew that from the beginning." Mallow said scratching his back.

"...What?"

"Dude, you were like, talking to the grass all day long." Squirtle said.

"And we're not blind, there were bumps on the grass and the green." Ivysaur said.

"...Yeeesss, I knew that too..." Yoshi said chuckling nervously, before looking at the board shocked.

"...Well! It doesn't matter! You can't prove anythin' without proof, and you will be forced to play the tennis event with your most hated partner! Hahahahahaha!" Dedede laughed loudly.

"..." Everyone looked at each other before Chris, Fox, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Mallow, Kirby and Jigglypuff bursted out laughing and dropped to the floors, holding their stomachs in pain as Dedede got confused and scratched his forehead.

"...I don't get ya all..."

"You idiot, you paired us with our second prefered partner!" Jigglypuff said rolling and laughing.

"...WHAT?!"

"Okay, we can't mess this up now, let's go!" Mallow said and everyone ran outside to the center of the dome, as Dedede's right eye twitched before stomping the floor in fury.

"I'LL GET YA ALL! ESPECIALLY YOU KIRBY!" Dedede proclaimed angrily and ran to the center as well.

...The camera looks back at the board and we see Yoshi and Lucario with shocked expressions, staring at their faces on the boards, one standing besides the other.

"..." Yoshi didn't speak.

"..." Lucario didn't too.

"...Are you good at tennis by the way?" Yoshi broke the silence.

"...I'm afraid to say it but...I'm think I'm very good, Chris told me once."

Yoshi took out a ball and a racket and handed it to him. "Let me see your first serve."

"...Fine." Lucario nodded, he threw the ball above him, raised the racket behind him and delivered a strong hit that went crossing the other side of the wall...or 5 walls and Yoshi watched the holes with wide eyes.

"...WE HAVE THE TROPHY IN THE BAG!" Yoshi said jumping, flailing his legs happily.

Center of the dome

All the teams except for the disqualified characters (DK, Wario and Waluigi) were there in the lines, each one were given a racket with the initial of their names or a sign or emblem.

"Hey, is this some kind of a joke? I got a racket that has "U SUCK!" on the center!" Chris said tapping his foot impatiently.

"Heheheheh." Charizard chuckled evily before Chris got a racket with the "C" in light blue color.

"Welcome, current participants, to the next event, the tennis event!" Toadsworth (healed) said in the speaker and the crowd cheered loudly for this. "As with the golf event, the tennis event is going to be different as well, following tournament rules!"

"Spit it out!" Bowser Jr. yelled.

"Okay, seeing you eagerness to start, the tournament will be all about mini-games!"

"Mini-games!" Kirby yelled excited.

"There are mini-games in tennis?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yes, fortunately, they're fun to play." Yoshi explained.

"Artist on the Court, please let Artist on the Court be the first mini-game." Chris muttered crossing his fingers.

"There are 12 doubles, 4 for each team, this event will be an eliminatory match between 2 doubles against each other, the events can be of who gets the highest score or who have met the conditions to win!"

"SAY THE MINI-GAMES ALREADY!"

"Chris, calm down." Fox said calmly.

"The first mini-game will be, Artist on the Court!" Toadsworth announced and the crowd cheered loudly.

"YES!" Chris joined his hands happily.

"The identity of the other mini-games will be said after the first mini-game ends!" Toadsworth pointed at the screen, showing how the mini-game was going to be played. "Doubles will have the task to compete against another doubles, the rules are simple, the first team who can get their wall with the right paint color on the right area will win and advance to the semi-final of another mini-game! To win, you must see the color of the pipe and a ball of the same color will pop out right after the pipe changes, bouncing towards you in any part of the court!"

"Sounds easy, don't you think?" Yoshi asked.

"I guess so..." Lucario trailed off.

"Just...try not to get hit by them, or else you'll end up messed up with paint."

"I'll take that in mind."

"Now, here they are, the doubles and their rivals!" Toadsworth announced as the screen shows all the rivals for each double, from left to right in the brackets, meaning if the first, third and fifth brackets lose or win, they will advance to the next part.

Toad & Toadette VS Bowser & Charizard
Peach & Daisy VS Red, Ivysaur, Squirtle & Mallow
Birdo & Diddy VS Yoshi & Lucario
Bowser Jr. & Petey Piranha VS Fox & Chris
Mario & Luigi VS Koopatroopa & Paratroopa
Boo & Dedede VS Kirby & Jigglypuff

"W-why do we have to face them?" Toad asked pointing at Bowser and Charizard, who chuckled evily.

"Hush! They're nothing!" Toadette said putting her hands on her hips.

"Say that in my face." Charizard in a deep tone, making Toad to hide behind Toadette.

"Heh, twerps." Bowser mocked.

"Hey! Why do we have to face against 4 guys? That's not fair!" Daisy said angrily.

"H-hey! Only 1 of 3 of us play!" Red argued back. "However, we have freedom to change whenever we can!"

"Peach! Say something!"

"Hmm...they can do that, according to a letter I got from Master Hand." Peach said.

"In your face!" Squirtle, Ivysaur and Mallow said in unison.

"WHAT?! THAT CREEP WHO DIDN'T ACCEPT ME IN THE TOURNAMENT?! I'M GONNA GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND LATER AN-"

Luigi tried to calm Daisy down. "Daisy! Not again please!"

"Here we go again..." Mario said frowning.

"Should we tell him?" Koopatroopa whispered to his partner.

Paratroopa looked to Bowser, who glared at him. "...B-but...what will our previous boss say about this?" Paratroopa asked trembling.

"...Maybe we should when Bowser doesn't see us..."

"Please, let's win! I wanna play against him!" Diddy said to Birdo, pointing to Fox who shook his head witn an angry expression.

"Diddy! Birdo! You have to get through us first!" Yoshi said pointing at him.

"Y-Yoshi..." Birdo looked away.

"And you!"

"Yoshi, don't start an argument." Lucario said.

"...Grr, fine." Yoshi crossed his arms and looked away.

"...Yoshi..." Birdo muttered and looked down.

"Whatever you do, please win your match." Fox said to Yoshi.

"...May I ask why?" Yoshi asked.

"Diddy, that's why." Fox looked at Diddy, who was staring at him with the same creepy smile. "DK! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Diddy! Stop it!" DK yelled from the crowd and Diddy walked away.

"Ha! Loser! Hey you! Loser! Over here!" Bowser Jr. called Chris and the World Traveler looked at him. "Ha! I made you to look at me, loser!"

"H-hey! You little!" Chris said angrily.

Petey merely roared and let some leaves drop from his mouth.

"...I won't ask from where did those come from..." Chris said frowning.

"2 puffballs! This couldn't have gone better!" Dedede said laughing.

"Nieheheheheh!" Boo laughed.

"Pfft, Gastlys are far scarier than you," Jigglypuff said rolling her eyes. "What about you Kirby?"

Kirby's stomach grumbled. "...I want to eat something..."

"...You just ate 10 ice creams! One of them was a weird sea-salt ice cream!"

"The last one was goooooooooooood."

"Tennis players!" Toadsworth clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone. "We shall now enlarge the dome to hold all the 6 matches at the same time!"

"...What?" Yoshi asked confused.

Toadsworth took out a button from his back, pressed it and an earthquake was created, all the players ran away from the big cross that divided the dome in 4, the crowd remained seated on their benches and the dome began to enlarge by itself, from the hole of the big cross, walls without color and pipes came out on a big and large platform, there were 12 walls, 24 pipes loaded with different colors, and even more crowds appeared from the hallways and filled the extra seats that appeared, making the dome even gigantic and enormous.

"Teams," Toadsworth began. "Prepare to play tennis, on the first mini-game, Artists on the Court!!!" The crowd cheered loudly at this as all the players took their positions in their assignated courts.

"Wow, that was incredible!" Chris said in awe.

"Stay sharp, we have a wall to paint!" Fox said.

Chris looked at the painting...it was Diddy on his jetpack flying to the west as Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha's painting.

"...Dammit!" Fox cursed.

Preview of the next chapter

"...Let's face it! There's something stuck in the pipe!" Chris said.

"Maybe the ball got stuck?" Fox asked and walked towards the pipe to see what was the problem.

"Don't throw up, don't throw up..." Red said trying not to throw up after seeing the water below the platform...but he did it. "BLUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"Gross!" Ivysaur, Squirtle and Mallow said disgusted.

"The finalists will use items to win the last round...on Balloon Panic!" Toadsworth said.

"I HATE that game!" Chris said angrily.

"Baseball! Baseball! Baseball!" Red said excited.

"I don't want to run..." Jigglypuff said worried.

"Next time: Tennis and Baseball, return and it's getting away!" Mallow said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Peach Dome
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Chris hand-chopping Fox's head was a reference to the most focused Genius Mage of Tales of Vesperia, Rita Mordio, who hand-chops Karol's head when he says stupid or hidden things about her.

-Chris saying Super Tuff Pink Puff to Kirby was a reference to that good commercial for Kirby Super Star Ultra.

-Mallow's destruction mimicking Bahgdad's war.

-Sea-salt ice cream, ice cream from Kingdom Hearts ll, careful, may contain ideas to make Nobodies. XD

And the tennis event starts! With the baseball event aftet that! Will the Yoshi Islanders win this one or will they end losing it like the golf event? And it's that Lava Piranha Plant from Paper Mario?

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 88*: Tennis And Baseball, The Perfect Duo

I just can't believe I haven't updated in 10 days or more, I'm so sorry, I had so much homework back then!

From Blaperile: I wonder how Olimar ate that ice cream...

Nice chapter, the Halloween chapter was nice too, I'm wondering if they will ask about what happened. :)

From me: Of course they will.

Unfortunately, we still don't know how Olimar eats at the moment. XD

From Shining Riku: Man, Bowser's team is so annoying! I can't stand cheaters, and all they do is make fun of everybody else. I sure hope this arc ends with them getting their butts thrashed. Grr!
Anyhow, you're doing great, Wiiboychris! Keep up the awesome work, and see you next time! (I liked Mario Power Tennis! This next chapter looks fun.)
-Shining Riku-

From me: Did you forget the "Lucario will kick their asses deal" part? ;)

I hope this chapter gets interesting for you...I had few problems, but it got well I think.

From notfromearth7: Wow, remind me to never make Mallow cry

Good jjob.

From me: Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: I had almost forgotten that Mallow's crying was so potent. Also, great chapter...but now I feel sorry for Toad and Toadette. No offense, but I think they're gonna get their "Frickin' A's" kicked if you kno what I mean.

From me: It's even more potent when he cries louder.

And you'll see what happens in reality for both Toads... ;)

From Ninja Lucario: Good last 5 chapters. The halloween special was really interesting. The bad news is that my computer finally died, the good news is that I got a new one (^-^). The upcoming tennis and baseball look promising. However the golf I think was just a little more confusing than was nessisary. The Olimar log in the beginning was funny. Chris you crack us up man :) Daisy's psycoticness is a very true point (she scares me really bad.) Lucario actually enjoys something that doesnt involve Chris?!?! Weird o.O

One question: How many chapters do you plan for this story to have?

Oh and can I make another arc sugestion? (If not ignore the following) How about Radiata Stories?

From me: Really? It didn't seem to me that way actually.

Oh, you'll see once we reach chapter 100th. ;)

I did some research about Radiata Stories, but I think it's not going to happen, sorry.

From Rellymaster: DK reminds me of Guy from Naruto. Also, I'm glad Lucario actually chose to make friends with Mallow. I saw that crude humor joke! Wario and Waluigi had those insults coming, the stupid bullies! I'm surprised no one said McDonalds.
Wow, Chris actually got beat up? Well, he had it coming for once.
Mallow's power can actually cause an apocalypse?! And this is him crying?! I'd hate to see him angry.
Wario and Waluigi were especially funny this chapter.
Daisy is officially the Drama Queen. She reminds me of my sisters. Sorry for this long review, I had a lot to say.

From me: Hopefully, he won't act like that that much.

Under no circumstances, no OC shall be gone from a beating, as it said by myself. XD

From Mariko-ai-chan: I don't usually like sports but I LOVE this chapter nya!You even got the koopalings!I have that game...somewhere nya.I don't get the glasses thing the Diddy and Fox parts?Love em nya!!
"DIDDY! GO TO THE TEE,THE TEEEEEEEEEE REMEMBER?!NOT FOX!"
I was gonna die!!
Dusk:It's not an evil 's a CRAZY organization!!Yes.

From me: Oh no no no, there is even more in this chapter for you to enjoy. ;)

From Wolfenpilot687: Whoa, Mallow really screwed up everything, or it was Yoshi?

Chris referenced Fox's boots for a special reason?

Still, this chapter was awesome!

From me: Wow, you're sharp, there's something special about those boots in the next chapter, well done. :) (I'd say Yoshi). XD

From DianaGohan: You know in truth I kind of would of wanted to see more of Lucario and Chris's adventures before they were more or less plunged into this storyline. You know actually seeing more of how Chris first got Lucario and helped him and more on how Lucario feels indebted to him. Yeah I know that could be part fo the mystery of this story but really you can only have so much heaps and pounds of exposition in a story going over certain details without connecting it to a character level. Espically for a serious story which I feel this is.

Also in general this feels like a sort of Mary (or should I say gary) Sueish idea: The author's avatar and they're favorite character team up to go and save they're favorite game worlds since only they can. I guess the Job system is a nice twist of them being able to get different abilities from the worlds they go into but it still seems like a power up system that's work better for the Smashers not for... well the guy writing this, no offense to him.

Speaking of writing, maybe this is just my own paranoia but I think a bit of Master Hand and Crazy Hand's personalitie have been done before. Maybe not just by me but by others. Then again maybe it just makes sense to have Master the more calm and collected explainer who likes screwing over the heroes a bit more then he should (really you need to be a bit nicer when talking about taking over and changing someone's room while they're in life and death situations in video games) and Crazy is the more psycho one with bits of insight.

Those are really the only flaws of this story so far. I am interested in seeing just how exactly Chris and Lucario can help the smashers out by going into others games (starting with Earthbound I guess). And I do think despite it not being fully explained Lucario and Chris's bond is nice and Crazy and Master make for a good comedic duo here. Personally I would of liked to see what they did to Chris's room more after he left but oh well guess that's another chapter. Still this does bring the question of just how the Primids are going to get involved with all these games but hey that's for other chapters right? Till then decent start but a bit too exposition heavy and uh Gary Sueish to call one of the really greats. Yet that Is.

GRADE: B- (Which is like an 81 but hey there's definite room for improvement here).

From me: Diana! You're back! I'm glad to see you here again!

Anyway, I know you already saw the prequel of this fic and since your review was quite interesting, I decided to put it here, just for this time.

If you keep reading the story, you'll see how Chris is not so Gary Sueish at all, and Lucario...well...you'll see too. XD

From Lucario210: Awesome chapter. Can you do a finalfantasy 7 arc please?

From me: That arc is planned so you don't have to worry about that. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: So cheated... Still that was a good golf-match up. The tennis event sounds like fun.

From me: I hope for it too...

On a side note, I got Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, yes, I know, you expect me to say "I'm not going to update for a while," nope, I'll update faster this time, there are going to be more Tales of Vesperia references, but they will end in the Mansion chapter and the ToS2 references will start appearing from this point, it's a great game to play!

Warning: Chris's mood is going to be changed here due to a job, his personality may change sometimes or sometimes not, also, my profile was greatly updated with more stuff about the characters and their thoughts about Chris.

Read, enjoy and review! ;)

Chapter 88: Tennis and Baseball, return and it's getting away!

Peach Dome
Center of the dome

Artist on the Court

"...W-wait, I think we should look like if we have the same team but with the same clothes." Chris said.

"What do you mean?" Fox asked.

"I mean, this!" Chris changed to his Space Mercenary job. "Okay! I think this feels better now boss!" Chris said saluting Fox.

"That's fine with me, but you don't have to call me boss."

"Nope! It says here on the manual for the novice member for the Star Fox team, written by Peppy Hare himself!" Chris said taking a manual from his back.

"...How did that end with you?"

"Who knows boss!" Chris threw the manual away. "Also, I recall that if a member should lost his weapons, he or she needs to have a replacement or the same weapon!" Chris took out another Blaster from his back. "And I happen to have another one with me, take it boss, I'm not going to lose mine like yours!"

Fox took the Blaster and placed it on his belt. "Well, than-"

"Hold on a second boss!"

"W-what is it?"

"The manual also specifies that the leader should follow the rules to show an example of leadership to his or her team too, where is your replacement?"

Fox began to sweat. "I-I left it with Falco."

"Hmm, boss, I suspecting of you!"

"(Wait, if I'm his boss then...) A-TTENTION!"

Chris made a salute. "Yes, sir!"

Fox sweatdropped and didn't think of talking like this before. "Since I'm your boss, all the regulations need to be followed by the boss himself, correct?"

"Of course boss!"

"Then hear my orders! You will stop talking like a soldier and to remind your boss of rules that he should know by now, understand?!"

"YES, SIR!... Wait..."

"Got you."

Chris sweatdropped and looked down. "Oh...well...you're my boss so...I'll listen..."

"If you're asking what color your painting needs, look below you to find the image of the cleared painting, the flashing parts are the parts where it needs the correct paint. And now, we begin!" Toadsworth announced pressing down a button, that ordered the 24 pipes to throw paint balls to the tennis players.

Bowser and Charizard's painting was Mario's face as Toad and Toadette's, Peach and Daisy's was Peach with Toad and Toadette as Squirtle and Mallow's painting, Birdo and Diddy's painting was Luigi about to hit a ball as Yoshi and Lucario's, previously, Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha was Diddy with his jetpack as Chris and Fox's painting, Mario and Luigi's painting was a lot of different Yoshis like Koopatroopa and Paratroopa's painting, and lastly, Boo and Dedede's painting was Bowser with Bowser Jr. as Kirby and Jigglypuff's painting.

"Why the hardest one for us?!" Luigi complained hitting a green ball to the white Yoshi.

"Relax Luigi, everyone wants to see us to paint this one!" Mario reassured him, hitting a black ball to the black Yoshi's mouth.

"Hey, dragon! Tell the plant to act and make every double of my team to win!" Bowser whispered as he hit a blue ball to Mario's hat.

"Plant, do your work now." Charizard whispered, evading a green ball.

"Right-o." Lava Piranha Plant said nodding in the darkness of the grass of the court, smirking evily as he snuck his way quickly to every part of the court.

"...Okay, we have trouble with this one..." Chris said sweatdropping after seeing their painting, Diddy's mouth was red, his fur was blue, his eyes were black, the fires were violet and the background was brown. "I-I think this mini-game is hard to complete."

"Fortunately, I know what to hit and touch!" Fox said spotting a red ball flying towards him, but he ran after it.

"Sorry, but no."

A bump appeared on Fox's path and the vulpine tripped, not only that, the ball hit him and got spilled all over his face as he fell to the grass. "..."

"...Fox...Boss?" Chris took a closer look to Fox.

"...Ugh..." Fox rubbed his forehead and got up, noticing Chris chuckling at him. "...What?"

"Y-your face...heheheh..."

"..." Fox touched his face and looked to his hand before he gasped. "What the, hey! Where is that bump?!"

"Bump?"

"Yes, there was a bump that appeared out of nowhere and made me to trip!"

"I don't recall seeing one..."

"Now let's have some more fun."

"Hey! We're skipping a lot of paint balls, we should get back to play now!" Chris said hitting a blue ball that crashed into the background. "Bull's-eye!"

"That wasn't a bull's eye, the target was very big." Fox pointed out.

"You always have to ruin my fun, don't you?"

We change the perspective to Toad and Toadette, who were having trouble with the sudden bumps from the grass, Toad tripped in every last one of them but didn't get hit by a paint ball.

"Hahahahaha! Look at him tripping!" Bowser laughed loudly, hitting a cream ball to Mario's nose.

"...Wait, no! But look at her!" Charizard yelled pointing at Toadette.

Toadette was shown with fire on her eyes and she took advantage of every bump to jump in the air and hit the balls back to the painting, surprisingly, she was hitting every part of the painting with perfect accuracy. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Toadette yelled loudly hitting all the balls with speed as Toad watched in awe.

"T-Toadette! A-are you okay?!" Toad asked trembling with fear as Toadette ran around the court hitting every ball.

"HOW IN THE HELL IS SHE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OU-" Charizard's mouth was blocked by Bowser.

"Shh! We can't let the other people to know about our plan!" Bowser whispered angrily to him.

"...Fine, alright, what do we do? At this rate, we're going to be defeated by those twerps!"

"START HITTING BALLS!" Bowser yelled loudly hitting a brown ball to Mario's hair.

"Kirby and Jigglypuff have won the game!" Toadsworth announced astonished.

"What?!" King Dedede asked in shock, he glanced over Kirby and Jigglypuff's painting at it was already painted with the right colors. "B-but how did the puffballs end so soon?!"

"Hiiii!" Kirby waved at Dedede, the king looked at Kirby and was shocked after seeing a hat with paints and a brush on Kirby's right hand, Kirby was also covered with paint in some places, since he absorbed a paint ball and turned into Paint Kirby to shoot the correct balls to each part.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"That's it! I'm out of here!" Boo said throwing his racket to the grass and disappeared, but he was there, sobbing while he was invicible.

"Yes! We're on the lead now!" Yoshi said happily dodging a green ball. "...Wait..." Yoshi looked to Lucario's racket, which was all covered with paint. "...Hey, what's wrong with your racket?"

"I don't know, but I've been hitting all of them." Lucario said as he hit a black ball, but as he hit the ball, Lucario's force was just too much for the ball to handle that it got destroyed and was spilled all over Lucario's racket and the grass. "I don't know why there isn't any of them in the wall."

"It's because you have been hitting each one of them with so much force!!!" Yoshi yelled loudly pointing at Lucario's racket. "They're PAINT balls, meaning they're SOFT!"

"...Really? I thought they were just painted tennis balls."

Yoshi smacked his forehead and frowned at this. "Oh man...I think you're not good in this...I think we should withdr-" A fast, brown ball hit Yoshi's face and the dinosaur fell to the grass. "W-who threw that paint ball to me?!"

"Yoshi, dare to withdraw and you'll be sorry, and I mean it!" Fox said from his court, glaring at Yoshi with his racket pointing at him.

Chris tripped again by another bump and looked up to Fox. "I didn't think you really hated Diddy that much! Why is that?"

"Just looking at him can make me to shudder, I mean, look at his face!" Fox pointed to Diddy, who was staring at both doubles. "Stop that! Can't you play for a chance?"

"...If you didn't notice, he's playing." Lucario reminded him, pointing at Diddy's tail with his racket hitting every ball that was going to pass him, the monkey showed his teeth with a smile to both doubles, who sweatdropped in unison.

"...Boss..." Chris muttered.

"...Yes?" Fox looked down to Chris.

"If Diddy has a creepy obssesion with you...then that means he's the "G" word..."

"Hmm..." Fox began to think before he gasped and returned to hit the paint balls quickly.

"Oh, boss! You really know how to show it to m-"

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT AND GIVE ME A HAND, QUICKLY!" Fox said, not caring about how many times was he tripping.

"...Well, those bumps are still annoying, but I'll go with you nevertheless!" Chris said cheerfully (or creepily) as he slowly got up and continued to hit the balls.

"No fair!" Daisy said annoyed after glancing at her rival team, where Ivysaur was shown hitting the paint balls...using Vine Whip to reach them in time without moving as Mallow watched from behind surprised. "Peach! They're cheating, do something!"

"I'm sorry, but Ivysaur can't use anything else to hit the balls so he will resort using his vines." Peach said calmly as she hit a red ball with a smash move, hitting the right part of Toad's mushroom.

"B-but Peach!"

Ivysaur yawned and decided to move to the right and to the left, decreasing the Vine Whip's length to do some exercise. "This is tooooooo hard..." Ivysaur complained sarcastically.

"Keep it like that!" Red cheered from the back of the court, with Squirtle above his head (how did the turtle remain on his head if Squirtle was bigger was odd).

"I think WE have the trophy on the bag!" Squirtle said doing a high-five with Red.

"Can I play? I want to!" Mallow said to Ivysaur.

"Meh, go ahead, I'll keep the balls from getting away." Ivysaur said stepping back as Mallow went forwards.

"Not a chance."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mallow tripped by the sudden bump and Squirtle gasped a little and jumped off from Red's head.

"Mallow! Are you okay?" Red asked.

"I'm...I'm fine but..." Mallow got up. "Something made me to trip!"

"...Huh?" Ivysaur shook his head to wake up. "Something made you to trip? Then that means this is Charizard's doing all over again!"

"Charizard! Stop this!" Red yelled angrily to Charizard, who was panting heavily to catch up with the Toads.

"You're...not...my...boss or something!" Charizard yelled panting as he ducked his head to evade a brown ball.

"Time to get the plan on wheels...wait, that sounded stupid..."

Lava Piranha Plant's work was becoming even more evident because even more bumps appeared on the grass which weren't with Bowser's team.

"What the?!" Mario stopped right in front of a bump that just appeared. "Was this here befor-"

"AAAHHH!" Luigi tripped just behind Mario and both fell to the grass, 3 balls of paint hitting their backs. "M-Mario, what's happening?!"

"I-I don't know! These bumps appeared out of nowhere just now!"

"Daisy, be careful please!" Peach said as she spotted the bumps on her court.

"Always do, don't worry!" Daisy said using the bumps to jump to the air and hit the balls as Toadette.

"Junior! Get to work with the plan!" Bowser said to Jr. as he tried to catch up with Toadette as she didn't even care about the bumps, as long as they helped her reach the high balls.

"Oww!" Toadsworth tripped by a vine that appeared behind the stage's screen and it quickly hid to make the Toad from seeing Bowser's plan.

"Okay you 4! This is a warning...or actually, this is what you get for messing with my dad's team and me!" Bowser Jr. said pointing at Yoshi's and Chris's team.

"What's he talking about?" Yoshi asked confused before Bowser Jr. took out his Magic Paintbrush.

"TAKE THIS! Ha! Ha ha! Ha!" Bowser Jr. made 3 rainbow colored paint balls, one went towards Yoshi's painting and 2 went to Chris's painting.

The first ball turned half of Yoshi's painting to its white color while the other 2 balls turned Chris's painting back to white, making both teams to glare at Bowser Jr., even the crowd got angry at this boo'ed the Bowser Fangs.

"You bastard, look what you did!" Chris said angrily.

"I bet Toadsworth saw that!" Yoshi said angrily.

"...Correction, he didn't." Lucario pointed out.

"He's right, look!" Fox pointed at the screen where Toadsworth was slowly getting up, moaning in pain.

"Wait, it is just me or did they..." Yoshi wondered.

"They are trying to take us all out, duh!" Jigglypuff said over a bench with Paint Kirby.

"Then we'll just have to keep playing and watch out for their tricks." Fox said returning to his game as the other did.

"B-but they keep popping out from the grass!" Chris pointed out.

"Wait, the balls are supposed to bounce to us, we need to hit them from one spot!" Yoshi said as he hit another paint ball.

"Remain at your position Chris!" Lucario said hitting a ball, taking note not to break it in the process too.

"Red! How is your team doing?" Chris asked as he focused his mind into the game.

"Good so far, Ivysaur doesn't need to move around and hit them!" Red said as Ivysaur remained in one place and used Vine Whip to return the balls.

"Did you hear that Koopatroopa?" Paratroopa asked.

"Oh no." Chris, Fox, Lucario, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Mallow said at the same time, word quickly spreaded to Mario's team and they took advantage of this.

"We gave them ideas by accident!" Squirtle said gasping.

"Thanks for pointing the obvious for us, really." Red said frowning.

"Dedede!" Charizard called out.

"What dah ya want?!" Dedede asked appearing behind the court.

"Go and see him."

"...Him?... Oh, right!" Dedede laughed before he ran away to the hallway.

"Looks like they got out from the first plan, then let's try the next one!" Bowser said.

"Plant, now, go and control the dome's roof, cut off the electricity and return everything back to normal, we're going to make Yoshi's team to lose." Charizard whispered to the grass.

"I don't like where is this going anymore Paratroopa..." Koopatroopa whispered to his partner.

"B-but if we tell Mario or Toadsworth, Bowser's going to kill or eat us for dinner." Paratroopa whispered trembling with fear.

"Ha! I'm gonna win Birdo!" Yoshi said happily as he spotted 3 spots without paint.

"Y-Yoshi... (Please, don't be mad at me...)" Birdo thought sadly.

"...Huh?" Diddy looked around the dome and an enormous shadow began to grow in size, he looked up and saw the roof closing as the crowd looked up and got confused, then, when the roof closed, the dome's lights tried to turn on, but it didn't and the crowd began to panic as the tennis players stopped and remained in their places.

"What is happening now?!" Mallow asked.

"Somebody cut the electricity and closed the dome!" Squirtle said.

"How do you know that?" Red asked rolling his eyes.

"BLUARGH!"

"Hey, who's there?!" Fox demanded in the darkness.

"Who's there? What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"There is someone here on our court besides us...but he got away."

"BLUARGH!"

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted and the darkness and he used his aura to see through it. "T-the painting!"

"What about it?" Yoshi asked.

"BLUARGH!"

"I-I hear someone!" Mallow said trembling.

"Yeah, there was someone here just a moment ago!" Ivysaur said.

The dome began to open again and the lights returned but turned off, however, previous characters that could have sworn someone on their courts gasped when they saw their paintings...

The paintings were all covered in some kind of muddy goo, when the mood slipped from them, the paintings were all brown, preventing them from seeing the colors that the parts needed to have.

"N-no! M-my painting!" Yoshi said gasping and looked to the other paintings. "Y-you too?!"

"Aw, please! We were almost done!" Mallow complained.

"But who did this to us?" Fox asked.

Lucario looked at Petey Piranha, who chuckled smiling as some familiar goo was falling from his mouth. "He did this!"

"Birdo and Diddy win!" Toadsworth announced.

"...No!" Yoshi looked at Birdo's painting, which was completed as Diddy cheered loudly for this.

"Oh, c'mon! This can't be happening!" Fox said frowning.

"But we haven't won yet!" Chris reminded him. "And don't ever think about losing boss!"

"...Chris..." Fox muttered annoyed.

Chris blushed a little. "...Oops, sorry, I got carried away..."

Hallway

"How are we supposed to find those bombs?" Geno asked to Olimar with his 6 new Pikmins.

"I don't know, but this is the first time I get to do something like this..." Olimar looked down.

"Me too, I thought the army was supposed to take the Star Spirits away from us, not blow up bombs."

"W-well, they tried to do that in the Pikmin world..."

"Really? And how did you win?"

"Chris and the others came in to help me out, I was very happy to meet them."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, even if they're not Mario's group, they're a lot of help."

"...May I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"What is the weird guy with the king's coat doing over there talking to the fat man an-"

"HIDE!" Geno pulled Olimar to the corner to hide along with his 6 Pikmins, on the other side of the hallway, Dedede was talking with Wario alone.

"Let me get this straight, so, your boss wants to take me in his army?" Wario asked.

"Yep, that's about it, he promises to give you lots and lots of fame and fortune." Dedede said chuckling.

"Hmm, fortune..." Wario wondered.

"What are they doing?" Olimar whispered.

"Shh, keep it down." Geno whispered back.

"Sorry, but I gotta take care of my business in the incorporation back in Diamond City." Wario said

"Your incorporation? I betcha it's not so great!" Dedede taunted Wario.

"What did you say? Don't dare to insult my incorporation! W-I mean, I make good business!"

Dedede put a hand on his right ear and grinned. "What was that? Were you going to say "we?"

"N-no! All the money is for me and me alone!" Wario said stomping the floor.

"No need to hurry fatty, anyway, we have a deal or not?"

"I'm so gonna refuse your offer penguin!" Wario said walking away as he grumbled to himself.

"Be that way! But! You will regret it later, ya hear me?!" Dedede yelled walking to the opposite direction, passing by Geno and Olimar who revealed themselves after Dedede went away.

"I wonder what were they talking about just now..." Geno wondered.

"S-something about the fat man named Wario to join their army as far as I know." Olimar pointed out.

"But it seemed that they didn't agree after all."

"Maybe because the penguin was taunting him?"

Geno nodded. "Probably and luckily, if they hate each other, it'd be easier to us then."

"What a relief."

"Now, let's go, we should be looking around for the bombs." Geno said walking away to another direction with Olimar and the Pikmins following him.

"W-wait! Do you have any idea how to find them?"

"Not yet, but that isn't an excuse to stop searching, right?"

"...I guess so..."

Center of the dome

"Mario and Luigi win!" Toadsworth announced with enthusiasm as the crowd cheered at the plumbers's victory over the Koopas.

"Y-yes! I did it!" Luigi cheered.

"Ahem..." Mario coughed.

"...Oops, I mean, we did it!"

"Oh, I knew we were going to lose..." Koopatroopa said sadly.

"Aw, don't feel bad, it was still fun." Mario said in his court.

"...T-thanks Mario." Paratroopa said nodding.

"Y-you know, you're not a bad guy as Bowser t-" Koopatroopa stopped talking when Bowser glared at him. "...I-I mean, you know what I mean, right?"

"...Yes, I do." Mario said scratching his hat.

At that moment, back with Chris and Fox, the paint balls stopped coming from the pipe and they got confused.

"Oh no, what now?" Chris asked.

"As far as I know, the balls can't get out." Fox said.

"B-but that's impossible! We're almost done with our painting an-"

"TAKE THIS! Ha! Ha ha! Ha!" Bowser Jr. used once again his Magic Paintbrush to shoot 3 more balls that went splattering on their painting, turning the painting back to its white color.

"...Now I'm pissed off..." Chris said trying not to burst out of anger. "And tell me something, Toadsworth DIDN'T see that, right?"

Fox glanced over at Toadsworth, who lost his glasses and looked around for them, probably because a vine quickly hid behind the screen. "...He didn't...."

"Now, try to stop the balls from getting out, that way, junior is going to win." Bowser whispered to the grass.

Lava Piranha Plant was somehow struggling. "Y-yes, b-but I don't think I'm going to hold on much longer!"

"YOU IMBECILE! Remember who's your original boss here!!"

"Y-yes Bowser, I mean, yes sir!"

"TOAD AND TOADETTE WIN AGAINST BOWSER AND CHARIZARD!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!" Bowser asked very shocked at this statement, the king of the Koopas looked at Toad and Toadette's painting that was completed, Bowser wasn't even half completed for his dismay since he was distracted ordering the piranha around.

"Ha! Take that!" Toadette said making a fist.

"Today, we're going to put this victory on the record for the citizens of Mushroom Kingdom against Bowser without the help of Mario!" Toadsworth announced loudly and all the other Toads cheered loudly for this.

"T-this can't be! No way!" Bowser yelled stomping the grass in fury.

"Great going jackass!" Charizard complained to Bowser.

"What did you say?!" Bowser asked angrily, fire preparing to be shoot from his mouth.

"Now now, no fights here." Toadsworth reminded him.

"Hmph!" Bowser crossed his arms and looked away annoyed as Charizard did the same.

"Oh please! They need to come on out now, we're going to lose to that brat!" Chris said pointing to Bowser Jr.

"Hey! Watch your mouth or my Papa is going to crush you both to smitherings!" Bowser Jr. threatened them.

"So far, he has lost most of the matches against me." Fox said pointing at him, grinning.

"Wow, boss! You're incredible!" A chibi-style Chris said clapping.

"AHEM!"

Chris turned back to normal. "Oops, sorry..."

"Peach and Daisy win!" Toadsworth announced and the crowd went wild.

"Yes! Yes! I won! Take that!" Daisy said and high-fived Peach and the crowd groaned out loud. "What the?! Hey! what's wrong now?!"

"You said the same thing in the previous chapter!" A pink Pianta yelled from the crowd.

"You stupid little fourth breaker wall Pianta! Come over here and say it in my face an-"

"DAISY!" Luigi yelled holding Daisy by her waist.

"GET OFF ME! I NEED TO SHOW 'EM AND THING OR 2!"

"WAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Luigi cried as Paint Kirby sweatdropped at this.

"Poor Luigi..." Peach muttered.

"...I know, she's scarier than any other person out there..." Jigglypuff whispered trembling.

"N-no! W-why?!" Red asked shocked dropping to his knees. "If it weren't for that muddy goo, we could have won this!"

"Change of words, the trophy wasn't in our bag..." Squirtle said disappointed.

"Sorry." Ivysaur said looking down, before he heard a loud thunder crash above the dome. "Mallow!"

"Ivysaur! Tickle him! Quick!" Red ordered.

"Okay!" Ivysaur used Vine Whip on Mallow's sides and the cloud prince began to laugh out loud as the clouds disappeared from the sky.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mallow laughed.

"Phew, please, we don't want another Congo Canopy here..." Squirtle said sighing in relief.

"So!" Toadsworth began. "It seems we only have 2 doubles left! Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha with 95 percent of their painting done against Chris and Fox with only 11 percent of their painting done! It seems so obvious that Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha are going to win!"

"In your face, furry!" Bowser Jr. said laughing as he hit more paint balls, laughing together with Petey.

"...Let's face it! There's something stuck in the pipe!" Chris said.

"Maybe the ball got stuck?" Fox asked and walked towards the pipe to see what was the problem.

"Found something?"

"Hmm..." Fox looked closer inside. "Nothing, it's like a dark maze in here!"

Below the pipe, we see Lava Piranha Plant's mouth being filled by dozens and dozens of paint balls, the plant didn't enjoy this at all and struggled to hold on or else he'd see Bowser's rage against him.

"UGH!... I... CAN'T... TAKE THIS... ANYMORE!"

"Try to reach the bottom!" Chris yelled outside the pipe.

"...WAIT, NO!"

Fox's hand reached Lava Piranha Plant's mouth and the plant gulped a few paint balls inside.

"Hey, there's something in here, I can feel the paint balls gathering in some place and..." Fox took out his hand, all covered in saliva. "...Eww..."

"WATCH OUT!" Chris yelled.

"For what?" Fox raised an eyebrow and looked back at the pipe, which was trembling and moving awkwardly making Fox to backstep away from it, then, dozens and dozens of paint balls were fired to the air and began to descend to both of them as the crowd stared in awe after seeing the balls rocketing 50 feet above in the dome.

"It's a frenzy of paint balls! What should we do now?!" Chris asked panicking.

"...Um..." Fox thought if he looked around he would find something useful, and how right he was, he glanced over Chris's Blaster, his own and snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"What?!"

"Chris, we haven't used our combinated Final Smash in some time, care to use it now?" Fox reminded Chris who gasped.

"W-wait, I haven't either bothered in finding them all yet, but that's the only thing we got...but we're just going to destroy the balls an-"

"Trust me, I know something good will happen!"

"B-but in order to use it we have to be under pressure!"

"And it's now!"

"...Wait, you're right!"

Both of them took out their Blasters and waited for the moment when the balls reached the floor. "We're-gonna wiiiiin! We're-gonna wiiiiiiin!" Bowser Jr. sang happily as he and Petey continued to hit the paint balls to their painting.

"Suffer a lot of shots!"

"...Huh?" Petey glanced over Chris's court and looked at all the paint balls falling down, when they were about to reach the grass...

"100 BLASTS!!!" Chris and Fox yelled synchronized and firing a barrage of 99 shots that went across every single paint ball with perfect accuracy, somehow, the shots turned into each paint ball's respective color and went touching Diddy's painting at all the places, painting where the parts that were white and coloring the whole wall, Petey tapped Jr.'s shoulder and the small Bowser looked at him annoyed.

"Can't you see I'm trying to win here?! What is it?!"

"Iuh!" Petey pointed at their opponents.

"What are you trying to tell m-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Last one!" Chris said charging his Blaster together with Fox's.

"Now!" Fox ordered and both shot their charged shots together that combined and went across the last brown ball, turning their shot into a brown shot and hitting Diddy's fur, the last part of the painting, completing it in the process.

"CHRIS AND FOX MOVE ON TO THE SEMI-FINAL!!!" Toadsworth announced the last team that passed the mini-game as the crowd went wild and cheered loudly for this.

Star Ocean 3: Victory Bell

"The sign of victory!" Chris held out his right hand above him and Fox raised his right hand confused.

"Like this?" Fox asked.

"Yay!" Chris jumped towards him, high-fived and spun in the air to stand at Fox's left side crossing his arms behind his back, smiling proudly of their victory.

"What was that about?" Fox asked blinking confused.

"BLUARGH!" Petey couldn't resist anymore and puked, making everybody on the dome to look disgusted at this.

"This...stiiiinks!" Bowser Jr. smacked his racket to the grass. "This STINKS!" he smashed it harder. "THIS...STINKS!" he sat on the grass and began sobbing. "Uhu...uhu...UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Bowser Jr. flailed his arms and legs, crying out loud.

"(DAMN YOU PIRANHAAAAAAAAA!!!)" Bowser thought enraged and went towards Bowser Jr. "Junior! Be a man and stop crying! We can still win!"

"PAPA!" Bowser Jr. hugged Bowser, both of them were sobbing against each other.

"Now, now jr., you did well, you looked like a total, evil villain back there!"

Bowser Jr. sniffed and looked up to his dad. "Y-you think so Papa?"

"Yes!"

"PAPAAAAAAAA!!!"

"JR!" Both of them hugged each other as the crowd "aww'd" at this. "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!"

"The final bracket for the semi-finals is this!" Toadsworth announced getting the attention of everyone.

Toad & Toadette VS Peach & Daisy
Birdo & Diddy VS Fox & Chris
Mario & Luigi VS Kirby & Jigglypuff

"Wait, there are 2 doubles of the same team!" Luigi pointed out.

"Hmm, in that case, the leader can decide which 2 of the 4 of them can go the the finals!" Toadsworth said. "But let's leave that for later!"

"...Huh?" Chris looked to Yoshi's court where Lucario looked down in shame, kneeled. "Lucario?" Chris walked towards Lucario and kneeled to see him.

"I...lost..." Lucario said slowly.

"But Lucario, I was able to continue an-(Wait, you dork, that is not going to comfort him!)"

Lucario closed his eyes. "I'm sorry Chris...huh?" Lucario saw Chris hugging him.

"Good job Lucario, I think you would win if it wasn't this event, I know that!"

"...Thanks..." Lucario muttered with a small smile.

"Awwwwww!!!"

Both of them found a Lakitu filming their moment to the whole dome, making them to blush and stopped hugging quickly, looking away embarrassed. "(I thought you didn't care if many looked at us in this kind of moments.)" Lucario said telepathically to Chris.

"(Unfortunately, this is very different!)" Chris replied back.

"Oh no, this is so bad, we only have 2 doubles of my team and Peach's team is still inside!" Yoshi said worried.

This time, Chris was confident of himself and patted Yoshi's back. "Don't worry Yoshi, I'm still in the game! See? I told you YoshixLucario doesn't work an-"

"LUAMP!"

"GET ME OUT OF THIS EGG!!!" Chris yelled inside a Yoshi egg, moving and rolling around the grass since Yoshi ate him and turned him into that.

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted at Yoshi.

"LUAMP!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Lucario said inside his Yoshi egg, not moving at all.

Ricco Harbor

Ricco Harbor

"This, my friends, is the Items event in Gimmicks with Birdo & Diddy VS Chris & Fox!" Toadsworth announced above a platform, hanging just above the court close to another platform with seats, where Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Mallow were cheering at their team.

However, let's say Red had trouble with the water...

"Don't throw up, don't throw up..." Red said trying not to throw up after seeing the water below the platform...but he did it. "BLUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"Gross!" Ivysaur, Squirtle and Mallow said disgusted.

"Somebody call the Pianta Environment Team and clean that mess!" A random blue Noki said far away.

Delfino Plaza

"We also have the items and Gimmicks event of the main city, Delfino Plaza, with Mario & Luigi VS Kirby and Jigglypuff!" Toadsworth announced over Ricco Harbor, in that part, on the seats, Peach, Daisy, Toad and Toadette were there cheering loudly, Olimar and Geno decided to give up in searching the Subspace Bombs and cheer their team, with 6 Pikmins...

...Wait, what is Petey Piranha doing there seated besides Olimar?

"Oh, hey Petey!" Olimar waved at Petey, who waved back laughing. "Weird, I could have sworn my Pikmins were there where you sat just now..." Petey burped and Olimar looked at him. "You were eating that weird soup you talked me about, right?" Petey nodded. "Oh, Petey, why do you keep eating it?"

"Heheheheh..." Petey merely laughed at this while Geno frowned.

"Both teams will participate in Items and Gimmicks events, with the Ricco Harbor court, teams will have to be careful not to bounce their ball on the water blocks that opens depending of which arrows the ball hits, resulting in a fault and a point for the opposite team, also, watch out for the items as well which will complicate the whole thing! Each game will be of 6 game points, the first team who gets a set point wins the event!" Toadsworth explained. "In the Delfino Plaza court, doubles will have to be careful of the muddy goo from the Piranhas Plants and avoid to trip or else the ball will bounce away, watch out for the items too!"

Ricco Harbor

"First off Fox, I'm so glad I got paired up with you by accident, of course, but I'm just happy that I finally got with someone who is at least sociable and intelligent." Chris said.

"Really? Then can you tell me something?" Fox asked.

"Sure?"

"How was it?"

"What?"

"Fighting alongside Wolf and Falco."

"To be honest, with both was a complete disaster, Wolf just thought by himself the whole time and Falco...well...Falco was Falco..."

Fox sweatdropped. "Can you give me more details?"

"Wolf was being such an hypocrite and always went away by himself, while Falco was hungry of Super Mushrooms, you can't believe how many times he asked me to lend him the mushroom until I gave up and made his wish come true. Frankly speaking, you're the next person besides Lucario whom I can talk with without something distracting us from the whole subject." Chris explianed.

"Well, I'm glad to be on your good side." Fox said smiling a bit.

"No no no no no no no no, don't think Falco and Wolf are on the bad side, they're just..."

"...Irritating sometimes?"

Chris closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes..."

"It's typical that you will have companions that will irritate you sometimes, but you'll get over it and get used to it in no time, trust me, I've experienced that before many times."

"See? You're a real person to talk with besides Marth or Lucario. It's really nice of you."

"Good, now, can I ask you something?"

"Whatever, ask away."

"CAN YOU PLEASE REMOVE DIDDY FROM YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW AT THIS MOMENT?!" Fox asked very irritated staring at Diddy above Chris's head, the monkey was there even when the conversation started.

Chris looked up to Diddy and both laughed. "Hey, Diddy's a good friend when you meet him, right Diddy?"

"Uh-huh!" Diddy said nodding.

"Too bad, he irritates me, now go to your court area!" Fox demanded.

"What was that about people irritating us?" Chris asked.

"There are 2 different kinds of people, the ones who are with us, and the ones who ARE NOT with us, and Diddy happens to be the latter!"

"Aw, sorry Diddy, but Fox doesn't want you around him." Chris said patting Diddy's back.

"Can I do something before I go?" Diddy asked trying to hop sometimes.

"Sure."

"Alright!" Diddy used Monkey Flip...on Fox's face.

"GET OFF ME YOU STUPID LITTLE MONKEY!" Fox yelled angrily trying to get Diddy off his face.

"Looks like Diddy is monkey-rapping Fox." Squirtle said over the platform.

"SQUIRTLE!" Red, Ivysaur and Mallow yelled annoyed.

Chris noticed a Lakitu filming the whole thing and he aimed his Blaster at him. "Keep recording and you die!" Chris threatened and the Lakitu flew away scared and the World Traveler went to help Fox. "DK! WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU?!"

"DIDDY!" DK, ironically, appeared from the cranes, jumped and landed right besides the four and looked down. "Stop Diddy! You're making bad publicity you know!"

"Got it!" Diddy said getting off from Fox's face and jumped towards his side of the court with Birdo waiting for him.

"That was...interesting..." Birdo remarked sweatdropping.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I'm not, this day turned out for the worst to me." Fox said, irritation filling his voice.

"Aw, don't worry, I know everything will get better."

"Hey, Fox!" Diddy called over his area.

Fox grunted and turned to him. "Wha-"

HIT!

"..." Fox turned his face to Chris and the World Traveler chuckled uncontrollably...

...Because Diddy threw a ball inside Fox's jaw, blocking his mouth.

"...Don't...say...anything..." Fox's voice was heard behind the ball before he spat it out.

"And without further ado, the games begin!" Toadsworth announced.

Delfino Plaza

We see all of Bowser's team (minus Wario, Petey and Waluigi) hiding behind some buildings, arguing with each other. "What do you mean we can't sabbotage the kid's game?!" Bowser asked to a plant pot where Lava Piranha Plant appeared trembling with fear.

"B-because they're above a platform? Which is above the water? Which is bad for me because once water touches me I'm dead?" Lava Piranha Plant (who we are going to call LPP for short) pointed out trembling.

"GRR! YOU USELESS PIECE OF FLOWER!!!" Bowser roared out loud and LPP hid, or escaped.

"We can only sabbotage Mario's game so..." Paratroopa said.

"No chance in hell I'm going to help out Mario!!!"

"Whoa, easy there, I know Mario is your rival but sheesh!" Charizard said rolling his eyes.

"..." Bowser rolled his eyes, grabbed some water from the ocean and dripped it above Charizard's tail.

"MY FLAME! MY CUTE LITTLE FLAME!!!"

"So! I guess everyone does have an embarrassin' thing!" Dedede said laughing.

"Focus you 3!" Boo said.

"Right, right, focus, we need to do something about this!" Bowser Jr. said.

"We have to make Yoshi's team to lose, meaning that we have to help Mario to win this...there's no other way out of this one Bowser..." Koopatroopa said unsure.

"Grr...fine! Fine! We'll help Mario out!" Bowser said grunting angrily.

"Can't believe this Papa!" Jr. said.

"Sometimes Jr., you have help out your enemy to defeat your enemy." Bowser said frowning and teaching how to live to his son. "Hey, where's Charizard?"

"FIRE! FIRE! I NEED FIRE FOR MY TAIL!!!" Charizard was seen screaming and running around, holding his tail and shooting fire to prevent the tail's flame from vanishing. "Phew, that was close..."

"...Hey!" Dedede got angry. "Hace you placed the Subspace Bombs yet?!"

"...Er...we have a problem with that actually..." Charizard said scratching his head.

"What dah ya mean?!"

"We...kinda used all the Subspace Bombs on the jungle so..."

Dedede slapped his forehead. "...You've gotta be kiddin' me..."

"...Afraid so..."

"...Great, just great, Tabuu's really gonna get mad at us for this one..."

"...But!" Charizard snapped his claws. "We still can do 3 things at the same time!"

"I'm hearing."

"We can 1) stop Yoshi's team from winning, 2) kill the selected members of the kid's group and finally, 3), kill or take the kid to Tabuu!"

"...That...is the most BRILLIANT idea to save our butts dragon!"

"Heh, I'm evil man," Charizard said smirking. "But leave Red and his puny Pokémon to me."

"Got it."

"Alright!" Bowser smacked his fists together. "Let's get a move on!"

Bowser's team walked away from the scene...not aware of Lucario who overheard the whole conversation.

"If they want to kill my master, they will have to get through me first...and the others, I must tell the others too." Lucario said narrowing his eyes before jumping away towards Ricco Harbor.

While the conversation was in progress, the event already started.

"30-0!" Lakitu said raising a flag to Mario and Luigi.

"Oh, I have an item under my invisible sleeve..." Jigglypuff thought grinning.

"You think so, pinky?"

"Ha!" Kirby served first and Jigglypuff took out a Lightning.

"Now!" Jigglypuff said. "What the?!"

In a quick movement, both Kirby and Jigglypuff were shrunk instead of Mario and Luigi, who looked confused at this. "What happened?" Kirby asked as he quickly flew above to hit the ball.

"I-I don't know! The Lightning malfunctioned?!" Jigglypuff responded confused.

"W-what's going on Mario?" Luigi asked.

"Lightnings aren't supposed to malfunction, this must be a mistake!" Mario said.

"Er, I can't tell if there was an error but the game needs to continue." Lakitu said scratching his head.

"No fair!" Jigglypuff replied pouting, missing the ball.

"40-0!"

Both puffballs returned back to normal. "Oh no, we have to win this!"

Previously, we see the cause of the malfunction, it seems LPP used his vines to quickly grab Kirby and Jigglypuff by their feet, then he quickly put them above Mario and Luigi before the thunders could fell on them, shrunk, then were put back before they could notice.

"Luigi! Watch out!" Mario said when Luigi was about to trip by the mud a Piranha Plant shot at the floor.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Luigi screamed as he was about to fall.

"No kiddo."

"Huh?" Luigi noticed that he was standing perfectly fine and returned back the ball to Kirby. "W-what happened?"

"Something weird is going on around here..." Kirby wondered.

Ricco Harbor

"What?!" Red asked shocked and Lucario nodded.

"Their new plan is to kill us." Lucario repeated.

"I'm too young to die!" Squirtle said panicking.

"Pfft, we can't be killed." Ivysaur said rolling his eyes.

"Not only that, they want to take Chris away from us." Lucario said with fury filling his voice.

"I guess we should be careful then." Mallow said.

"(Hmm...)" DK overheard their conversation and began to think.

"Wait a minute, where is Yoshi?" Squirtle asked.

"Weird, I haven't seen him in Delfino Plaza." Lucario said.

"Maybe you should look for him?" Mallow suggested.

"But..." Lucario looked down at Chris, who was returning the ball but tripped by a Banana Peel. "I...want to take care of Chris, I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

"You're the only one here who can run fast and jump very high, you can also use your aura to detect people far away!" Red said.

"...Fine, but keep an eye on Chris...or else." Lucario said, the last part with his eyes glowing yellow before he jumped away.

Mallow gulped. "I-I wonder what he meant by the or else part..."

"I guess 5 new spots in the Cemetery." Ivysaur said shuddering.

"1 game point for Diddy and Birdo! 1-0!" Lakitu announced.

"Diddy! Can you keep yourself from aiming at Fox's mouth? This is the 6th time already!" Chris yelled as Fox spat out another ball, since Diddy has been aiming at that part the whole game.

"Diddy, I think you should listen to him for once..." Birdo trailed off.

Diddy looker at her? and laughed heartily. "But I love to do this!"

"But not for him! I can see his creepy glare at you!" Birdo pointed at Fox's glaring face towards Diddy.

"Aw, that's because we're friends, right Fox?"

"NO!" Fox yelled angrily, stomping his right foot on the metal platform.

"(I guess it would be better to tell him much later that I asked Master Hand to let Diddy join the tournament...)" DK thought closing his eyes and smiling with a worried look.

"YOU! GET ON WITH THIS GAME, THE SOONER WE END THIS, THE BETTER!" Fox suggested "friendly" to the Lakitu who nodded quickly.

"B-boss, you're even scaring m-" Chris received a nasty glare from Fox, he could even see the fire surrounding his leader. "N-nevermind, I'll listen!"

Pianta Village

Atop the biggest tree of the whole village, we find Yoshi looking down disappointed as he was sobbing a little. "W-why...I wanted to win this by myself so badly...and we're losing this competition..."

"Hey, how did that Yoshi end up there?" A Pianta asked looking up from the base of the tree.

"I dunno, but let's go to Ricco Harbor and see the tennis event! I hear the monkey it's humiliating a member of Yoshi's team!" A Noki said cheerfully as both ran towards the Warp Pipe to get transported to Delfino Plaza.

"This is unbeliavable..." Yoshi said burying his face (or at least 10 percent, since his nose is way too big) on his hands, before a breeze touched his face.

"Here you are."

Yoshi looked behind him and found Lucario standing there with crossed arms. "Leave me alone."

"No, listen to me, we have to return with the others." Lucario said uncrossing his arms.

"Why? To see them losing?"

"No," Lucario shook his head. "Bowser's team will try to kill us and we must stay together."

"...What?"

"What you heard."

Yoshi got angry and stood up. "D-don't play with me! I'm in a emotional state right now! Was that a lie just now?"

"No," Lucario repeated again. "It's the truth."

"H-how do you know it's the truth?" Yoshi questioned.

"Just trust in me, you can die if you're alone!" Lucario said irritated.

"O-okay! B-but don't get angry!"

"It's because I want to take care of Chris or else he will too!"

"F-fine! I'm following you!" Yoshi said walking to Lucario. "...Oh what the heck, let's jump." Yoshi jumped from the tree's leaf and descended slowly, Lucario fell faster but landed with a soft touch in the ground. "..." Yoshi sighed as he landed safely.

"There you are!"

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted after finding Charizard and Dedede blocking their way to the Warp Pipe.

"Oh, please, just leave us alone!" Yoshi said irritated.

"Nope, orders are orders, kill the Smashers, period!" Dedede said smirking and raising his hammer.

"Steel freak going down!" Charizard said gathering fire in his mouth.

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

"Huh?" The 4 looked to their right and found 20 Piantas with police uniforms smacking their police batons in unison.

"Hey! Who was going to start a fight here during the festival?!" The boss asked threatening them. Yoshi and Lucario quickly pointed at their opponents. "GET 'EM BOYS!"

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!" Charizard and Dedede yelled loudly as they ran away before all the Piantas rang their whistlers, raising their police batons in unison before leaping into the 2 and started to beat the crap out of them, ironically.

"...That was...good?" Yoshi asked confused.

"I think so, now move on." Lucario said calmly jumping inside the Warp Pipe with Yoshi.

Dedede tried to enter the Warp Pipe, but a police dragged him back and continued to beat him up.

Delfino Plaza

"So far each team has 2-2 game points!" Lakitu said as Kirby and Jigglypuff were shown panting heavily, even they had bruises.

"I...can't believe this..." Jigglypuff said panting, holding the ball on her left hand.

"We have been...attacked by our own items...and still nobody wants to believe us..." Kirby said panting heavily.

"K-Kirby, maybe you should give up now?" Luigi suggested confused.

"N-no way! Even if the items are somehow against us, we're still on this..."

"(This has to be Bowser's work...but how can I prove it?)" Mario thought.

"Serve!" Jigglypuff yelled hitting the ball with all her forces as the crowd cheered loudly. "I have a Starman! Yes!"

That was only the beginning of cruel results for Kirby's team from that moment, all the items they got were always backfired at them, there wasn't any exception, Mario kept trying to find out if Bowser was behind this while Luigi didn't seem to care (well, partly, he began to worry later), both puffballs were pushed to their limit but kept going on.

The Lakitu kept saying the scores. "15-30! 40-30! Deuce! 0-15! 30-40! 30-15! Deuce! 5-5!"

Music stops

"God, the competency is really getting hard." Geno said.

Ricco Harbor

"God, the competency is really getting hard." Mallow said, repeating Geno's words by accident.

"Well, that's for Kirby and Jigglypuff, things aren't looking too well for Chris and...well...the poor Fox we have there..." Ivysaur said sweatdropping and glanced to the score.

4-0

"All the points were given to Birdo and Diddy because Diddy has the bad habit to aim at Fox's mouth, resulting in a hit and a point for Diddy..." Red said sweatdropping.

"THANKS FOR REMINDING ME THAT!" Fox yelled angrily, pissed off at this point. (And possibly to the max.).

"Diddy! Please! For once, just listen to me and stop doing that!" DK yelled down to Diddy, who wasn't paying any attention and was clapping his legs happily.

"THAT'S IT!" Chris walked over to Diddy and glared down at him. "Diddy, for once, stop doing that! This is supposed to be an event of sports, not the humiliate Fox event, that is scheduled in 2 weeks after the humiliate Link event!"

"HEY!" Fox yelled angrily.

"Uh-uh..." Diddy backed away a little.

"Please, stop-hitting-him-right-now! It's annoying all of us and the joke already got boring!" Chris said and Diddy's mouth began to tremble.

"He's right Diddy, I don't want to win this...like this..." Birdo said embarrassed.

"Listen to her!" Yoshi said appearing from the cranes and jumping besides Squirtle.

"Yoshi!"

"Hmph!"

"...Oh..." Birdo looked down.

"..." Diddy closed his eyes in shame.

"Look, I can even see the smoke coming out from his ears and nose!" Chris pointed at Fox, who literally had smoke coming out from mentioned parts.

"...Sorry..."

"...What was that again?"

"...I-I'm so sorry..." Diddy said apologizing. "I-I kinda admired Fox in some way..."

Multitudes of "awwwwwww" were heard coming from the dome, making Fox to get even angrier than before.

"...I-I'm sorry...I won't do it again...I promise this time..." Diddy said with tears on his eyes.

"...What do you say Fox?" Chris asked glancing to Fox with a worried look.

"...Whatever! The sooner we end this, the better, I'm already annoyed by this point!" Fox said enraged.

"...Sorry Diddy, you screwed up your own opportunity..."

"...No...it's okay...go to your court area..." Diddy said sniffing.

Of course, this emotional moment caused many to glare at the vulpine and label him as "monkey hater."

Fox looked up to the platform where everyone was glaring at him. "Oh, c'mon! Now I'm the bad guy of the story? He started it all!"

"You did!" Many yelled from the dome.

"I didn't!" Fox argued back.

"...I think you should accept his apology..." Chris suggested worried.

"No...way...no!"

"Just look at him! He's about to break in tears!"

"...This is all a set-up by him, I know that!"

"Apologize to him, now."

"You don't order me around!"

"I'm 16 years old, 1 year older than you!"

Fox narrowed his eyes in a bored way. "...Chris...actually...I'm 30 years old..."

"...What?"

"I'm 30 years old."

"...But you look like a 15 years old anthro to me!"

"Well, I take that as a compliment, thanks."

"...(I can't believe my best friend is an adult...how embarrassing...then that means Falco...)" Chris shook his head. "So, are you going to apologiz-"

"No, period."

"But please, do it for Diddy! I bet he won't do it again!"

Fox looked to Diddy who had his face buried in his hands, the vulpine frowned and sighed to himself and walked towards him. "HE'S GOING TO KILL DIDDY!" A Noki yelled from the harbor.

"SHUT-UP!" Fox yelled back before looking down to Diddy. "...Diddy?"

"...Hm?" Diddy muttered while he was still looking down.

"Look, I'm sorry for being harsh, but you were just so annoying to me, and I had to put yo-"

"Actually, I kind of did that for yo-"

"Shut up Chris," Fox said closing his eyes. "Anyway, what I want to say is...forgive me..."

"...Huh?" Diddy looked up wiping out his tears.

"I'm sorry Diddy."

"...You're not angry with me anymore?"

"To be honest, I am," Diddy looked down in shame as Fox opened his eyes. "But I'll give you a second chance if you stop annoying me for once."

"...A-are you sure?"

"Yes."

"...Thanks Fox..."

"Good, now let's end this event and let the best win," Fox held out his hand to Diddy, but for his surprise, Diddy's mood changed to a happy one and handshaked his hand very fast. "O-Okay okay! I get it now, stop!"

"OK!" Diddy said walking back to his court area as Fox returned to his court area.

"Boss, that was really nice of you." Chris said.

"Okay, hear me out Chris, we're going to win this once and for all." Fox said smiling.

"Alright boss! We can still recover from our bad losing streak and win against Birdo and Diddy!"

"That's the spirit, now, let's play!"

20 minutes later...

6-0

"6-0! Birdo and Diddy win!" Lakitu announced as the crowd cheered loudly while Diddy and Birdo were celebrating between themselves.

However, let's say that Fox didn't take it so well...

"...Fox?" Chris looked at Fox, who was turning his hands into fists.

"...Chris...what was that of recovering again?" Fox asked cracking his fists.

"That we could recover?"

"We could...what does it says on section R-6, fourth paragraph of the manual?"

"If by any chance the leader and one of his companions are pitted into a sports event, the leader can do any kind of punishment to his or her ally if they lose, however, this can be decided by the leader himself or herself and can choose not to do it, that's what it says if I remember...wait..."

"You're getting it now..." Fox said smirking.

"..." Chris looked around, not good, they were on a platform above the water, much worse, Chris didn't know how to swim. "...B-boss! Wait!" Chris stopped Fox right before he could hit Chris's face.

"What is it." Fox asked in a serious tone, his fist about to hit Chris's face.

"I-if I remember, we can't fight during the festival!"

"...You're lucky..." Fox said crossing his arms, before Chris gave him a hug. "W-what are you doing now?"

"I'm just happy for participating together with you! I really enjoyed this experience!" Chris said happily.

"Please, tell me this isn't a try to get me happy again."

"No is not! Really Fox, if I ever get the chance to be your partner again, I'm going to take it...if Lucario isn't around that is..." Chris hugged him tightlier. "Thank you so much boss!"

"(...Ah, whatever, if he's happy why shouldn't I?)" Fox asked with a smile inside his mind and gave Chris a quick hug and a pat in the back.

Everyone else jumped to the platform. "Chris, I need to tell you something, it's important." Lucario said.

"What is it?" Chris asked confused.

Delfino Plaza

5-5

"GO MARIO! GO LUIGI! BETTER YET, GO, LUIGI!" Daisy cheered throwing her pompoms above.

Luigi blushed at this. "D-Daisy! Stop it please!"

"This has been a really heated match folks! Both doubles are struggling to get the next spot in the finals! Kirby and Jigglypuff have been severly damaged by their own items while Mario and Luigi haven't even received a scratch! It's lady luck accepting a husband? Or 2 husbands in this case?" Lakitu asked.

"Dude! You shouldn't have say that!" Another Lakitu said appearing quickly.

"Wh-" The first Lakitu was attacked by a flaming pompom from Daisy. "Oww!"

Kirby and Jigglypuff were panting heavily as the Mario brothers were a little worried. "Kirby, stop! You're just hurting yourself!" Mario said worried.

"B-but...even if we have been attacked by 38 Red Shells, 50 Green Shells, 10 Lightnings, tripped by 89 Banana Peels and lose 20 Starmans...we can...go on..." Kirby said panting heavily.

"I'm worried about Kirby and Jigglypuff..." Peach said.

"It would be cheesy to say "they're going to be fine, trust me" in this situation, but all we can do is wait." Geno said.

"...That didn't reassure me at all..."

"It didn't have to." Geno said and Peach sweatdropped.

At that moment, the rest of the team in Ricco Harbor came in and sat on the benches. "So! I hear Diddy beat your butts but good!" Toadette said laughing, earning a nasty glare from Fox. "Er-eh...nevermind..."

"How is the game going?" Squirtle asked.

"Very bad, something odd has been happening to Kirby and Jigglypuff, all their items backfired at them!" Olimar said.

"But that isn't supposed to happen." Chris pointed out.

"But it does!"

"Why we just don't blame Bowser already?" Mallow suggested.

"We need actual proof to prove that, unfortunately, we don't have any." Ivysaur said shaking his head slowly.

"15-15!" Lakitu announced and they looked at the court.

"Hey, I have a better idea!" Mario said snapping his fingers.

"What idea?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Why we just evade using the items to make it fair?"

"Wow!" Lakitu said astonished.

"You took your sweet time to think and say it at this moment of the game?!" Jigglypuff asked annoyed.

Chris looked to Lucario who was glowing with his eyes closed. "Lucario, what are you doing?"

"The vines..." Lucario trailed off.

"The vines?"

Lucario stopped glowing and looked at Chris. "The vines that I saw in the jungle, those vines are also here."

"But what do the vines have to do with this?"

"They have been moving around, even I suspect that they're following us wherever we go."

"Do they have some kind of relation with the event?"

Lucario shook his head. "I...don't know, they move very fast and I can't track down their patterns or movements."

"JIGGLYPUFF! BE CAREFUL!" Red yelled as Jigglypuff's Red Shell backfired at her.

"Oh, no, PUF!" Jigglypuff used Pound of the Red Shell to push it away and used a Smash hit on the ball, both Mario brothers couldn't reach it in time and failed.

"0-15!" Lakitu announced.

"Did you see that?" Mallow asked.

"Well, the shell DID backfired..." Ivysaur said. "...Wait...I can feel something..." Ivysaur laid down on the floor and closed his eyes.

"You're sleepy, that's it." Red said.

"No, it's not that," Ivysaur said focusing. "Something below is moving quickly without even making the slightliest sound."

"How do you know?" Squirtle asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a Grass type Pokémon, duh." Ivysaur said rolling his eyes before focusing again.

Cipher Admin Theme

Behind some buildings, Bowser and the rest of his team (without previous mentioned characters) were chuckling evily (but Koopatroopa and Paratroopa weren't used to that that they coughed).

"Dedede, you have the bait?" Charizard asked and Dedede pulled out lots of food.

"I do." Dedede said chuckling evily.

Toadsworth came walking from the plaza and Chris looked at him. "Hey, can you tell me what it's the next mini-game about, I hear somewhere there are going to be items there but what about the mini-game for the finalists?"

"The finalists will use items to win the last round...on Balloon Panic!" Toadsworth said.

"I HATE that game!" Chris said angrily.

"Balloon Panic?" Mallow asked.

"It's an infernal game where you have to prevent some balloons from popping out from Klaptraps that climb into vines, you must change the direction to areas without globes to stop them from exploding!" Chris noticed that a Lakitu broadcasted his rant.

"Well! I don't think I need to explain the game anymore, well done boy!" Toadsworth said chuckling. "But if Mario and Luigi win...the finals are going to be canceled..."

Petey looked back at the building and nodded to Bowser, the piranha changed seats to block their view to the right as a box appeared besides Petey.

"30-40!" Lakitu announced.

"Yes! We can win this Kirby!" Jigglypuff said happily.

"...Huh?" Kirby put his hand near his mouth and glanced over the box, suddenly, the box opened and it revealed lots and lots of food, fortunately, Kirby ignored it.

...

...Who am I kidding?

"Ooooooooooohhhh..." Kirby's mouth drooled and he silently walked towards the box without making any noise.

Odd thing nobody noticed him at all, Peach and Daisy were giving Mario and Luigi bottles of water to fresh them, the Smashers were discussing what to do about Bowser and the rest were not paying attention and looked around.

However, when Kirby was about to reach the box, it got pulled farther, Kirby got confused but kept walking to it. "Almost..." Kirby said drooling as he disappeared from sight.

"Well, let's end this!" Luigi said excited.

"Be careful, they managed to get through all the items and this is a no items battle." Mario reminded his brother. "...Where's Kirby?"

"Kirby?!" Yoshi looked around in shock.

"H-he was here just a second ago!" Jigglypuff said shocked.

Music stops

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"What was that?!" Toad asked terrified.

"...Kirby! No!" Jigglypuff gasped and ran away from the court.

"W-wait!" Chris yelled chasing her.

"D-don't forget me!" Yoshi said preocupied.

"Should we follow them?" Mallow asked.

"No, they got everything under contro-" Geno was about to finish but...

"GUYS! COME OVER HERE! YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!" Chris's voice was heard and Lucario quickly used Extremespeed to appear besides him.

1 minute later...

Tales of Symphonia 2 - The Grudge

"...W-what the..." Fox muttered under his breath with a shocked face.

The entire group found several holes around the plaza but Kirby was nowhere to be found, everyone looked into the holes but they were dark and bottomless.

"K-Kirby?" Red studdered in fear and looked through one hole.

"...The vines..." Ivysaur and Lucario said at the same time.

"D-don't tell me the vines did this to Kirby..." Geno trailed off.

"Mario...I'm scared....what's happening?" Peach asked.

"Peach...it's possible that Bowser..." Mario couldn't find the words to explain Peach about Bowser that he shook his head disappointed.

"Bowser what?"

"...Nothing..."

"Oh! What seems to be the problem her-OH MY MUSHROOM!" Toadsworth gasped and jumped surprised after seeing the small destroyed area. "W-what happened to young Kirby?"

"He disappeared through one of these holes!" Yoshi said pointing at the holes.

"B-but that means...LAKITUS! DON'T COME OVER HERE! STOP BROADCASTING!" Toadsworth yelled warning the Lakitus from recording the event and they turned off the cameras.

"...I'm going in!" Chris said about to jump inside a hole but Lucario stopped him by grabbing his right hand with only one hand. "L-let me go Lucario!"

"No, it's dangerous in there, there's a long way to the underground where the vines are, you're only going to get yourself hurt because the vines have sharp thorns all over them." Lucario said putting down Chris to the floor.

"He isn't lying, I know that very well." Ivysaur said nodding.

"S-so, anybody knows where Kirby is?" Toadsworth asked.

"...No we don't..." Yoshi said worried about the outcome.

"Then...the Peach Fencers...win this event by forfeiting the match against Mario and Luigi..."

Kirby has left your party

Nobody knew what really happened to Kirby, the event that just took place behind our backs was really unexpected to me, everyone decided to try and avoid this conflict and evade possible turmoil and panic to the spectators back at the dome, even my Pikmins were trembling with fear (though one of them said it was because of Petey) but Petey's good.

Anyway, where I was? ...Oh, right.

It was the time to disqualify people, as far as I know, Peach disqualified Diddy, maybe because of what he has been doing to Fox (poor guy actually) and she also disqualified Toad (who cried before Toadette slapped him, ouch), Bowser came laughing evily and disqualified Koopatroopa and Paratroopa, both were relieved in some way, finally, Yoshi had to disqualify Lucario (for showing clumsyness in the first mini-game) and Kirby by obvious reasons.

The spectators were confused at this event, but Toadsworth managed to explain everything in a way that nothing chaotic would rise from all the commotion that just happened.

Now the only ones left are Yoshi, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Jigglypuff, Fox, Chris and Mallow...

Music stops

Peach Courtyard

"Baseball! Baseball! Baseball!" Red said excited.

"I don't want to run..." Jigglypuff said worried.

"Welcome to the baseball event everybody!" Toadsworth said cheerfully as the crowd gathered in the courtyard cheered loudly.

"It's rather cruel to leave things like that." Olimar said to Geno and Lucario, who were seating together with the crowd as he finished writing in his journal.

"Don't worry, we're going to look for Kirby once this event starts, Bowser is now evil to me..." Geno trailed off.

"Fortunately, we have things under control!" Twink said.

"...Twink, where were you?"

"I...was looking around for more ice cream..." Twink said sticking out his tongue.

"Guys! You know what to do right?" Chris yelled from his team's bench.

"Yes, we'll search." Lucario said nodding.

Back with Yoshi's team's bench, Yoshi was looking down depressed. "...We're going to lose now...we haven't won a game yet and if we lose now..." Yoshi muttered.

"N-no we won't!" Mallow said jumping from his pants. "We WILL win this event!"

"B-but with Bowser's trap around, it's likely that..."

"We can be careful about that, we have a secret weapon..." Squirtle looked to Ivysaur and winked at him, the Grass Pokémon winked back.

"We're not going to fall so low like them by doing the same, right?" Yoshi asked raising his invisible eyebrow.

"Nope, Ivysaur will tell us where are those vines going to appear while he searches through the soil for Kirby." Red said.

"Wow, I think things are going to work out very well this time around, we're prepared for the worst now!" Chris said excited.

"Well! I can't run fast but I can fly faster than my feet!" Jigglypuff said pouting a little.

"Running is for me." Fox said nodding.

"And this game is as good as ours!" Mallow said making a fist in the air, he looked to everybody who gasped before raising their fists in the air (vine in Ivysaur's case), however, Yoshi looked down and Chris looked at him.

"Yoshi?" Chris asked worried.

"Well...I'm counting on you all...I hope we win this for once ...This is...stupid...and...madness..." Yoshi said disappointed.

"...Madness?" Red's right eye twitched (you should know what it's going to come by now). "THIS...IS...S-"

Preview of the next chapter

"You're SOOOOOO going down furry!" LPP said laughing evily as he rose up quickly below the running Fox who was about to reach the fourth base...

CRACK!!!

"This...is...just amazing..." Chris said sniffing after looking at the track.

"Welcome to Mushroom Gorge!" Toadsworth said cheerfully.

"Shopping malls, electric stairs, crazy shoppers and cars can be found here!" Toadsworth said excited.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!" Chris cheered loudly.

"I don't like this at AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!"

"HOLD ON!"

"What? What do you mean there's a sudden change of new tracks at last minute?" Toadsworth asked confused.

"Y-yeah, w-we're going to this hot place..." Toad said pointing down at the map.

"Next time: Baseball and Kart Racing, it's getting away and race around!" Squirtle said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Peach Courtyard
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The Victory Bell was a reference to Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time.

-Chris making the Sign of Victory part was a reference to Estelle's Sign of Victory after winning a battle with Rita on the party.

-Cipher Admin Theme was a song reference to Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

-Tales of Symphonia 2 - The Grudge was a song reference to the same game.

-Red couldn't finish it but it was a reference to...you know what. XD

Now the plot thickens, what happened to Kirby? Will Yoshi stop being ashamed and be cheerful again? Will the team win? Will Diddy stop his freaky obsession with Fox someday? (Probably not.) Will Wario reconsider to join the Subspace Army? What is LPP going to do with everyone?

By the way, I guess you should know by now that the racing event it's going to be about Mario Kart Wii, my 3 favorite tracks are going to be shown with fierce races, but the last one will be rather bad for them, but good for LPP, what will happen? Only the future knows...

Read and review please! :)

*Chapter 89*: Baseball And Kart Racing, Yoshi Time

It seems school ALMOST tried to prevent me from posting again.

From Wolfenpilot687: Biggie chappie. Rick scared. Poor Fox. Poor Diddy. Poor Yoshi. Kirby...well...disappeared. Nice one. Good music choices. Write more. Me too lazy to make paragraphs.

From me: Here's for you luckily. :)

From Shining Riku: For a bit there I'd thought you died. Good to see you back! Sorry to hear that you're being piled up with homework. Bleah.

And the Bowser Fangs are still at it. -_-;; at least Charizard and King Dedede got beat up by the police. That part was funny.

Diddy was also being annoying, lol. I'd be mad if the tennis ball kept getting launched into my mouth, too. Good to see that he and Fox made up afterwards (Sorta)

And now, (Spoiler) went missing! NOEZ! He's one of my favorite characters! I hope Ivysaur can find him. When will these villains ever figure out they've taken things too far? Never.

Or, at least, they will when Lucario whips their butts to the point they spontaneously combust.

Keep up the awesome work, Wiiboychris, and see ya next time! I hope school lets up a little, HW can be SO annoying.

-Shining Riku-

From me: I won't die, don't worry about it.

And hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: this is a really good story. this would also be my first review! i've been reading it for awhile and it would also be the first story i've read on fanfiction on my wii. is it possible you may be doing a sly cooper arc? and lucario rules!

From me: Wow, you read this in your Wii? That's a point there.

And for the Sly Cooper, well, probably, I don't know, in Mansion chapters I could make him to appear in some sort of cameo… Who knows…

From Mariko-ai-chan: I'm surprised Lucario didn't call you a hypocrite with that 'boss' thing nya...So I !!Love love love this chapter!Ahh the Diddy Fox thing...I pity the Fox Fool nya!

...Because Diddy threw a ball inside Fox's jaw, blocking his mouth.

Dusk:If ever oh ever a sap there was,Fox is one because-(Blocks mouth)Oy you got lots of 'Aww' moments too!

From me: Well, Lucario judges when Chris deserves punishment and when not.

And there's more about Fox and Diddy in this chapter, but just a little. ;)

From Rellymaster: This version of Chris reminds me of a classmate who gives me too much praise. He sounds like a kiss-**! I would film that moment too if I was there. As per usual, you are the King of Comedy! To Red, I suggest he takes a barf bag everywhere. When will Olimar learn not to trust a Creeping Crysanthemum look-alike?

Oh no, Kirby! I hope he's ok...

Also, Mario Kart Wii really is an exciting game.

From me: Oh, thank you so much!

And to me, Mario Kart Wii is fun to play. :)

From ngrey651: The bad guys almost NEVER play fair, it seems. But that makes it all the more sweeter when the good guys kick their cans.

I also want to thank you for not actually FINISHING that "300" reference because if I keep hearing it over and over again I'm gonna have to throw myself off a building. A very TALL one.

From me: Er...well...you'll see what this chapter has...

From notfromearth7: Hm..you seem you have a good taste in MKWii tracks sir

Good job.

From me: I like those tracks simply because of the music, they rock. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: Whew... that was a long one. It was a bit hard to keep track of it all. But still pretty good. I hope things look up for Yoshi and Kirby, yikes.

From me: Fortunately, the next chapter is a battle that I hope I don't screw up.

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Wow 80 something chapters into this fanfic & I've been reading this since April. Anywho I decided that this will be the chapter I review so yeah... Great storytelling here I really like the character of Chris he actually feels like an character from a media source and not a Gary Stu\Mary Sue type of OC. And do you have any advice for making a believable OC? I would like to hear that. Hopefully you'll tell what happened to Kirby because that took me & several others by suprise. Nice work, Dude & continued the tremendous work. Peace.

From me: I put my best effort on creating Chris, thanks. I think the first step to make a believable OC is to not make him/her cheesy, you know, laid-back, confident, typical heroes traits, why people keep using them is beyond me (except in the games and not fics, that is).

And this chapter will explain what happened to Kirby, don't worry.

From Ultra Blader: Hey Chris. It's me, Ultra Blader. I don't sign in to review much anymore, but I have been reading your story for some time now, and I think that it's excellent. Not many people stay this focused on writing stories for this long, and I'm glad that you are still writing. I think it's among the best stories currently written on the entire website, and more or less the best story ever written in the Smash section!

From me: Oh, hello there. Actually, I'm taking this fic to a totally new level. Just wait until 100th where I'm going to make the big announcement.

And my fic being the best story ever written on the section? That sentence has been used on popular fics like Shining Riku's one. From I've seen those are good fics (that I hardly review now that I remember). Oh, but you'll see this one will be very different...wait until chapter 100 till then. ;)

From Lucario210: Why does Toadsworth never see them was a great chapter.

From me: Because Bowser made him trip? The guy had luck.

From Redsoff: 4 Things:

1:Great Job!

2:Kirby IS going to come back soon, right?

3:How many of the smashers watched 300?

and 4:Can you make a Persona 3 arc?

From me: 1: Thanks.

2: Of course.

3: They didn't, but Chris told Popo and Red only.

4: A Persona 3 arc? Hmm, I could do that but it would take work to make the Smashers and the characters of the Gekkoukan High School to know each other. I mean mostly anthros and teenagers meeting each other in some way? That WOULD be interesting…but hard at the same time.

Since the ideas of the arc were just so many, this arc will have to be of 5 chapters instead of 4 chapters.

By the way, it was Peach "Garden," not Peach Courtyard. Sorry for the little mistake. Now it was fixed.

I encourage people to read and review as always. ;)

Chapter 89: Baseball and Kart Racing, Yoshi Time

Peach Garden

Mario Superstar Baseball - Main Theme

"Once again, welcome everyone to Peach Garden!" Toadsworth said cheerfully. "In the baseball event, the 3 teams are going to participate in the same match!"

"The events just keep getting weird," Twink said. He looked around and the previous three disqualified characters were already gone. "H-hey, wait for me, Geno!"

"We have the Peach Fencers, Daisy, Toadette, Mario, Birdo, Luigi, and Peach!" Toadsworth announced lifting one hand to mentioned team, which waved at all the audience from the center of the field as they walked to the center. "We also have the Yoshi Islanders, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Chris, Jigglypuff, Fox, Mallow, and the captain Yoshi!"

The mentioned team came running from the banks and waved their hands at the public before stopping on the center of the field. Oddly enough, the spectators cheered loudly to the team.

"And lastly, we have the Bowser Fangs!"

Bowser, Jr., Petey Piranha, King Dedede, Charizard, and Boo came in running (some of them stomping) to the field. When they made it to the center, they all made peace signs with cheerful faces to the crowd...

...However, a quick silent filled the whole place and crickets began to chirp, but they stopped three seconds because they got bored as the crowd.

A random blue Pianta's cough was heard from the crowd while a withered plant crossed the garden out of nowhere.

"..." Toadsworth shook his head and decided to ignore the useless. "A-anyway, let's all show some enthusiasm!"

The crowd began to cheer loudly again, some of the teams chuckling a bit at Bowser's team welcome.

"The event for the baseball sport will have the 3 teams competing with each other!"

"How is this going to work out?" Toadette asked.

"Simple," Toadsworth began, "this is how it's going to be played: one team will have the bat, which will be someone from Peach's team. The pitcher, the 2 in the first and third base, and the one in the right area of the outfield will be 3 players from Yoshi's team. And finally, 2 on the second base and fourth base and left area of the outfield will be the 3 for Bowser's team."

"I...think I need more details..." Red said.

"Okay, this is how it is then. The batter will try to score a run and try to evade the ball from landing in a base or if he or she results touched by it from an opponent. However, it's more complex than that since the 3 teams merge in one match. The rules are as follow: if a team manages to score 3 outs, that team will receive a point depending of which player was the one who got the out. Defensive players can gain 1 point for, well, defending, while the offensive team will be able to score more runs if it keeps scoring points. Be aware that each team will have an opportunity to participate in battering."

"Well, I think I can play with those rules..." Yoshi trailed off worried.

"Okay, captains, please decide the order of your teammates and positions. The first order will be batters, and the pitchers will be the captains from the second team ahead of the first one."

Peach Fencers: Peach, Mario, Daisy, Luigi, Birdo and Toadette

Outfield (From left to right): Mario and Luigi

Bases: Peach, Daisy, Birdo, Toadette

Bowser Fangs: Bowser, Charizard, Petey Piranha, King Dedede, Bowser Jr. and Boo

Outfield: Bowser Jr. and Boo

Bases: Bowser, Charizard, Petey Piranha and King Dedede

Yoshi Islanders: Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Mallow, Chris, Red/Ivysaur/Squirtle and Fox

Outfield: Ivysaur and Fox

Bases: Yoshi, Mallow, Red, Squirtle, Chris and Jigglypuff

"From the Peach Fencers as their batter to give it her all in the field, our faithful princess of the kingdom, Peach! From the Yoshi Islanders as the pitcher, first, third, and right part of the outfield respectively, Yoshi, Mallow, Chris, and Fox! And from the Bowser Fangs as the second and fourth bases' players and the left area of the outfield, Charizard, King Dedede, and Bowser Jr.!"

Mentioned characters ran to their positions as the others ran to their benches and began to cheer.

"This is a little weird, but...I'm not planning to lose either!" Mallow said, putting on his glove.

"This isn't going to be easy, but prepare for anything," Fox said. "Something here isn't just making me feel good."

"Traps..." Yoshi muttered.

"(Let's see who's going to win now… LPP is ready to take out all of you as he did with Kirby, which is now imprisoned somewhere in his vines,)" Bowser thought evilly while he stared at the Yoshi Islanders.

Dedede glanced to the crowd and didn't find the trio, making him grin wide. "(Ha, everythin' is going accordin' to the plan. 3 mutts are gone, 3 more to take out.)"

Mario Superstall Baseball - Peach Garden

"Now...BEGIN!" Lakitu announced the beginning of the game as he put on his mask.

The Yoshi looked at the ball before focusing his view to Peach. Yoshi narrowed his eyes and pulled back his right hand. "Huuuuuuuu..." Yoshi charged his ball for a bit before throwing it towards Peach."HA!"

Peach fixed her eyes on the incoming ball before she gave it a clean hit, and the ball went soaring to the air to the right area of the field. "N-no!" Yoshi said before looking at Fox. "Fox, it's going to you! Catch it!"

"Got it," Fox said before he began to dash towards the ball while raising high his right glove. Once he reached the spot, Fox easily caught the ball and showed it to the crowd.

"Out! 1 out point for the Yoshi Islanders!" Lakitu said while Peach blinked a few times and walked away sadly to the benches of her team. Mario hopped off the bench and went to cheer Peach up before he took the bat from her and walked to his spot.

"(Now, Mario, it's time for you to lose this one big time...)" Bowser thought evilly while Yoshi threw the ball at Mario, which he hit it with force and went soaring to the air where it went to Bowser Jr.

Somewhere within the earth, a dark figure swam inside and smirked to itself. "Hahahaha! Let's see how you resist this one, Mario!"

As Mario was about to reach the first base, the red plumber suddenly tripped down and, for some reason, grabbed his right foot in pain and began to twitch. The crowd, being mostly fans of Mario, stood up and gasped loudly to see him grabbing his foot in pain.

"W-what the… W-what did just happen?" Luigi asked confused.

Seeing this, the cloud rider blew air to his whistle. "STOP THE GAME!" Lakitu yelled loudly. "We have an injured player!"

Yoshi and Peach's teams quickly left their benches to the injured plumber. Peach, being the most worried, sat down on her legs and took a closer look at Mario. "M-Mario, a-are you okay? W-what did just happen to you?" she asked confused and worried before looking at his right foot

Mallow spotted some small holes running across Mario's right shoe. "S-something bit his right foot!" Mallow said worried. "Look at those holes!"

The people stared at the holes around Mario's right shoe. "These holes…" Yoshi began, "…they were made by…fangs…" He looked back at the spot where Mario had tripped. "...But I can't see any holes nearby…" Yoshi muttered confused.

Mario twitched a bit in pain and slowly sat up. "I...can still play..." Mario said, twitching a little pain.

"I-it's just a normal bite, that's all…"

"No, you can't! That leg got severely injured!" Daisy scolded Mario. "You need to rest for the time being. Luigi will take your place!"

"B-but…"

"Mario…I'm sorry, but this is for your safety…" Peach said. "Leave this to us, okay? Try to recover first before you play again…"

Mario looked up at her before he nodded. "…Okay, I'll do that…" he said. "I need some help to stand up…"

"Here, let me help you out," Fox said as he knelt down and put Mario's right arm over his shoulders.

While the vulpine helped the red plumber to stand up and walk to the bench, the World Traveler turned around and glared at the smirking Bowser. It looked like the whole team of the king of the Koopas was smirking evilly at the whole event. "(...I know you did this...I know that very well...)" Chris thought before he returned to his bench with the others.

1 minute later...

The game resumed while Mario was being attended by Peach in the benches as Luigi walked to the fourth base. Yoshi and Bowser's team had 1 out point for each one.

"This is for...Mario..." Luigi said as he sniffed a little. "T-this is going to be...in memory of him..."

"Luigi, stop acting like if Mario was dead..." Yoshi reminded him.

"Yet," Bowser said chuckling evilly, receiving a glare from Yoshi.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuua!" Yoshi threw the ball to Luigi.

"STRIKE!" Lakitu said, returning the ball to Yoshi.

"Focus on the game, Luigi!" Daisy yelled from the benches. "Show 'em what you can do, my man!"

"I-I can't! Mario is stil-" Luigi was interrupted.

"He'll be fine…but please, let's play the baseball game already!" Chris yelled loudly.

After Chris said that, for some reason, the whole crowd stood up from their spots and began to sing something aloud. "LET'S PLAY THE BASEBALL GAME!" The crowd began to sing as all the players sweat dropped at this weird moment.

Chris blinked confused at this reaction. "...Did I say the secret words or something?"

"Er...it seems we skipped that part of the beginning of the game actually...heheheh..." Toadsworth said embarrassed.

"...Okay...as long as the song doesn't last too long..." Ivysaur said.

However, something…extremely unexpected happened. It turned out that the people of the Mushroom Kingdom liked to sing to overcome the saddening events that took place in the game (Mario's injury being a biggest reason). All the teams watched as the whole crowd kept singing loudly, trying hard to forget anything cruel.

"...WHY...THEY...CAN'T...JUST...SHUT UP?!" Bowser Jr. asked yelling, blocking his ears in pain.

"I WANT TO PLAY THE BASEBALL GAME ALREADY, ALRIGHT!" Red said annoyed blocking his ears.

"I THINK I MEMORIZED THE SONG AT THIS POINT!" Mallow yelled blocking his ears in pain.

We could also mention it was night already too.

"Hey! I know how to shut them up!" Toadette said snapping her fingers.

"ANY KIND OF IDEAS ARE GOOD TO HEAR!" Luigi yelled.

"Daisy, I hear somebody over the crowd…or the whole crowd, that you suck!"

"…WHAT?!" Daisy asked yelling.

"I hear somebody over the crowd, or the whole crowd, that you suck!" Toadette repeated.

"…WHAT?!"

"I hear somebody over the crowd, or the whole crowd, that you suck!"

"…WHAT?!"

"I hear somebody over the crowd, or the whole crowd, that you suck!"

"…WHAT?!"

"I hear somebody over the crowd, or the whole crowd, that you suck!"

"…WHAT?!"

"I HEAR SOMEBODY OVER THE CROWD, OR THE WHOLE CROWD, THAT YOU SUCK!!!"

"OH, THEY DID NOT SAY THAT!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Peach Dome

Hallway

"We've been searching around the dome and nothing so far." Geno said.

"And that annoying music coming from Peach Garden hasn't stopped yet." Olimar said.

"I wonder how the team is doing." Twink wondered.

There was a huge explosion in the garden and they glanced to it. "...I guess the song ended in some brutal way..." Lucario said.

Not long after he said that, the screaming voice of a princess was heard yelling "FEAR THE POWER OF DAISY!"

Twink hid behind Geno before slowly peering out his face. "W-what was that just now?"

"Daisy," Geno simply said.

"That is not important to me...unless she hurts Chris, then I will do something," Lucario said.

"...Anyway, back on the plan, 10 hours have passed and we haven't found Kirby yet, are you sure you lost the tracks of the vines?" Olimar asked and Lucario shook his head.

"I can sense some ominous presence going down in the earth...but it's hard to pinpoint the exact location of this creature."

"Kirby, we were just starting to be friends," Twink said suddenly. "He was...very good..."

"...Twink, I'd like to point something out. You haven't spent time with Kirby at all," Geno pointed out.

...Oops," Twink muttered as he stuck out his tongue.

"...Silence..." Lucario said as he closed his eyes as he began to glow.

"What is it?" Geno asked.

"...The vines are starting to move..."

"...W-where are they starting to move?" Olimar asked.

"...They're moving to..."

"...Why it suddenly feels so hot all of a sudden?" Twink asked as they saw red rocks getting brighter and brighter from the opening of the vines.

Peach Garden

"...What the..." Ivysaur looked at the grass. "...The vines appeared quickly on the dome but disappeared very quickly...but if I'm not mistaking...that's the direction where Lucario, Geno, Olimar, and Twink went to..."

"W-what do you mean?" Red asked.

"...I'm afraid they got captured..."

Red looked back at the field. "N-no!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"LUIGI GOT INJURED! STOP THE GAME!" Lakitu yelled as the previous event repeated by itself.

3 minutes later...

It was break time and the 3 teams were re-doing their strategies, however, Yoshi's team was planning another thing while they were on a circle.

"Okay, this is getting dangerous now; Bowser will take us out one by one by doing something unexpected while we don't notice it," Squirtle said.

"But what can we do to evade his traps?" Mallow asked.

"Maybe we could...just jump all the way to the bases?" Chris suggested.

"That WILL humiliate us in front of the spectators though..." Red trailed off.

"It was a good idea still..."

"Then...should we just resist even more than Mario and Luigi?" Jigglypuff suggested.

"Wait, Yoshi's supposed to offer a good plan, any ideas Yoshi?" Mallow asked again to Yoshi who had his mind somewhere else.

"H-huh? O-oh right, a plan...I forgot about that..." Yoshi trailed off a little worried before clearing his throat. "Okay, I'm sick of getting worried about the event...alright! Everyone, listen up!"

1 minute later...

"As the batter of Peach Fencers, here comes the princess of Sarasa Land, Daisy!" Toadsworth announced but many in the crowd shuddered in fear after Daisy waved at them cheerfully.

"Throooooooooow it, throw it, throw it, throw it!" Daisy taunted Yoshi who grunted in irritation and threw the ball at Daisy, but she failed.

"STRIKE!" Lakitu said.

"C'mon! You can't throw it well!" Daisy kept taunting, ignoring Peach's voice that tried to calm her down.

"STRIKE!" Lakitu said after Daisy failed to hit the ball.

"I dare you to throw it at me!" Daisy taunted again, grinning this time.

"THAT'S IT!" Yoshi yelled angrily.

The crowd, the players, and Toadsworth gasped when Yoshi ACTUALLY threw the ball at Daisy...literally on her face.

"HEY! THAT'S A FAULT!" Daisy yelled angrily to Lakitu.

"STRIKE! OUT! 1 OUT POINT FOR YOSHI'S TEAM!" Lakitu yelled as the crowd cheered loudly, but Daisy shot a nasty glare to them that they quickly stopped, sweating in fear as she returned to the bench.

...Wait, did she just flip off the whole audience just a second ago? ...Maybe not...

"Papa, I think that princess scares me..." Bowser Jr. said, trembling with fear.

"Me too, junior...me too...Why do you think I don't ever think about kidnapping her?" Bowser said nodding and asked.

"Didn't you try to before?"

"...N-no..."

"Bowser, did LPP capture the others?" Charizard asked walking to Bowser to the benches.

"Yep, they're gone, but not for good."

"Good, now we just need to take the rest out and we win this fight and the competency." Charizard said smirking as he returned to his base.

"The next batter is Birdo!" Toadsworth announced as Birdo was applauded while she(?) walked to her place, where she got worried after seeing Yoshi.

"Y-Yoshi..." Birdo waved at him shyly.

"...Just play already..." Yoshi said frowning.

"(Yoshi...)"

"...Ew..." Chris muttered under his breath and Red walked to him.

"What was that "ew" for?" Red asked.

"You see..." Chris explained Red by whispering on his ear about Birdo's gender and Yoshi's clueless behavior.

"…I think I'm going to be sick…" Red muttered.

Yoshi glanced to Ivysaur and both nodded. "Now!" Yoshi threw the ball at Birdo and she hit it with force that was getting away from the field, but Ivysaur's senses reacted.

"BIRDO! STEP TO THE RIGHT!" Ivysaur yelled to Birdo who got confused at first.

"LISTEN TO HIM!" Yoshi warned Birdo.

"O-Okay but I don't know why..." Birdo said wondering as she stepped to the right quickly.

In slow-motion, Birdo turned a little to the right where LPP raised up himself quickly from the ground, failing to bite her leg before he quickly hid and left no trails of the hole he made. The piranha cursed under his breath and waited for Birdo to cross to the second base.

"Fox, try to climb the wall, hurry!" Chris yelled to Fox who quickly turned to the wall and used it as platform support by jumping to it and sprang directly to the ball.

"I-I'm not going to make it!" Fox said, struggling to reach the ball in time. Unfortunately, an inch of difference between his glove and the ball made the round object cross over the wall, making a Home-Run.

"HOME-RUN!" Lakitu yelled excited as Birdo got happy and began to twirl around the field, successfully reaching the base as all the team looked down in shame, except for Yoshi who sighed in relief.

"(Thank goodness, I was able to save Birdo from getting hurt...)" Yoshi thought with a smile.

"The next batter is Toadette!" Toadsworth announced as Toadette waved at the crowd and prepared to hit the ball.

"(Luckily, she's small so she won't reach the ball,)" Yoshi thought as he threw the ball.

It was bad thinking of Yoshi to underestimate the little Toad gal. Toadette hit the ball and Yoshi cursed as the ball went away...and away...and away...

"SOMEBODY GET THE BALL!" Yoshi yelled shocked.

"The ball IS mine!" Charizard said flying towards the ball, extending his right hand to it as he smirked evilly. (Though it was unnecessary, I mean, what the hell does he need to smirk for anyway?)

"I don't think so!"

"What the…?!"

Charizard saw a cloudy hand appearing quickly from below him, snatching the ball in time before it could get away from the garden. Mallow's right hand stretched to catch the ball. The cloud showed the ball to the crowd as he smiled and chuckled heartily.

"OUT! 1 POINT FOR YOSHI'S TEAM, THEY GET A RUN, ENDING WITH A TIE TOGETHER WITH PEACH'S TEAM!" Lakitu announced cheerfully as the crowd cheered loudly. Toadette, however, stomped the floor before walking to her bench.

Next formation:

Batter: Bowser Fangs

Pitcher, first, third bases and right outfield: Peach, Daisy, Birdo and Toadette (due to Mario and Luigi's temporal immobility)

Second, fourth, and left outfield: Red, Squirtle and Jigglypuff

"BEGIN!" Lakitu said putting his mask on again.

"MWHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed evilly as he walked to his position with his iron bat.

"I'll try my best," Peach said.

"Who said something about doing your best Peach?! Throw the ball!"

"...Okay..." Peach said nodding as she gracefully threw her ball...that Bowser failed to hit.

"STRIKE!"

Bowser grunted angrily and Peach threw the ball again.

"STRIKE!"

Bowser was getting angrier as the ball was sent to him. The king of the Koopas grunted before he landed a harsh hit on the ball to make it blast off to the air.

Bowser grinned and began to run to first base as Red, from the second base, got the ball from the grass and began to run towards Bowser, who quickly turned his back and got safe in the first base. "Darn it!" Red cursed returning the ball to Peach.

It was Charizard's turn. The Fire-type smirked at Red and Squirtle who glared back at him. "Alright, let's finish this already," Charizard said spewing out smoke.

"Ya!" Peach threw the ball at Charizard.

"STRIKE!"

However, Charizard didn't see that as a strike. "That wasn't a fault, it was a mistake!"

"Nope! I graduated from the Baseball Academy sir and that was a strike!!!" Lakitu said excited.

"Whatever!" Charizard said before noticing the ball crossing him.

"STRIKE!"

"God! I wasn't prepared!" Charizard cursed before raising his bat as Peach threw the ball at him, he hit it and the Pokémon quickly flew around the diamond-shaped field.

"I got it! I got it! I got it!" Jigglypuff said flying towards the ball.

Ivysaur's eyes widened and looked quickly to Jigglypuff. "JIGGLYPUFF, FLY TO THE LEF-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jigglypuff was instantly pulled to the grass where she moaned in pain as the ball hit her stomach and rolled away.

"Mine!" Toadette said grabbing the ball and throwing it to Birdo.

However, the ball quickly changed directions to the north and Toadette gasped. "W-what the hell just happened?!" Daisy asked confused.

"I-I don't know, the ball turned directions all of a sudden!" Birdo said confused as Charizard passed her and landed in the fourth base.

"1 run for the Bowser's Fangs!" Lakitu yelled as the crowd booed them, but Bowser merely roared at them in fury.

"J-Jigglypuff!" Chris ran to Jigglypuff and ducked to see her. "A-are you alright?"

"Y-yes..." Jigglypuff said standing up and shaking her head. "S-something got my foot and pulled me back to the ground!"

"Is your leg fine?"

"Y-yes, I think so..."

"What a relief...but please, be more careful."

"O-okay," Jigglypuff said as Chris returned to the benches.

"(...I wonder if Lucario and the others found Kirby yet...)" Chris thought worried.

Music stops

?

Somewhere in the depths of the earth of the Mushroom Kingdom, the three captured Smashers, Geno, and Twink were inside a thick vine cage that was surrounded by even more vines with sharp thorns, luckily, the cage didn't had thorns inside.

"I-I'm scared, what are we going to do to get out?" Twink asked trembling together with Kirby who hugged him in fear.

"Lucario, can you break the vines?" Geno asked to Lucario who tried to use his brute force to tear open the vines. The Aura Pokémon let out a long grunt before panting heavily.

"I...can't... These vines are too strong to break... The only way to break these would be using fire…" Lucario said, dropping to one knee.

"Oh, boy, this isn't good..." Olimar said as he saw his 6 Pikmins trembling.

"...What is it?" Kirby asked.

"My Pikmins told me something bad is going to happen… T-the vines around this place aren't too safe to be around...and they said the one controlling these vines will do something very bad to everyone above..."

"Grrr," Lucario grunted in rage.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to wait here until something happens…" Geno said, looking down in shame.

"Dammit, just what is happening here?"

"...The vines are moving!" Twink said as the cage suddenly began to tremble and moved to another location of the earth.

"...This isn't good..."

"I-I know..." Kirby said preoccupied.

Peach Garden

Mario Superstar Baseball - Peach Garden

Back in the surface, we see the ball going away to the distance until it crossed the wall, earning another run for Petey's action as the piranha happily ran around the field. "Another run for the Bowser's Fangs!" Lakitu said.

"At least they didn't cheat this time." Yoshi said.

"Next up is King Dedede!"

Dedede walked towards his position. However, instead of using a bat, he was going to use his hammer. "Throw that thingy to me, pinky princess!" Dedede taunted Peach.

Peace gracefully threw her ball, which Dedede failed.

"STRIKE!"

"I-I wasn't prepared!" Dedede said.

"STRIKE!"

"S-seriously! This time is for rea-"

"STRIKE! OUT! 1 OUT POINT FOR THE PEACH FENCERS!" Lakitu announced happily as the crowd cheered loudly.

"Bah! Who needs this game anyway?!" Dedede asked angrily, leaving to his bench as Bowser Jr. walked to this position.

"Get maaad!" Bowser Jr. said putting on his mouth mask as Peach threw her ball at him. "HA!" Bowser Jr. hit the ball and it went soaring through the sky as he ran to the first base.

"It's mine! It's mine! It's mine! It's min-" Red was going to catch the ball but he mysteriously tripped quickly and the ball hit his head and it rolled away to Squirtle, then, Bowser Jr. was coming to the fourth base.

"You're mine!" Squirtle said holding out the ball in front of him.

"I don't think so, blue turtle soup!" Bowser Jr. said smirking evilly as LPP was going to make Squirtle to lose touching his opponent.

"Squirtle, jump, quick!" Ivysaur yelled.

"W-what?!" Bowser Jr. asked astonished as Squirtle jumped from the ground and touched his face with the ball.

"OUT! 1 OUT FOR THE YOSHI ISLANDERS!"

"DARN IT! DARN IT! DARN IT! I HATE ALL OF YOU!" Bowser Jr. said angrily, hiding his sobs as he went to his bench and sat besides Bowser, who patted his back.

Dedede ran to Charizard. "Uh-oh, they are creatin' plans to evade our traps already."

"Hmph, fear not, this is only the beginning." Charizard said with a smirk.

"...I hate when people says that when it's already too long..." Dedede muttered as he returned to his bench.

"Last one on the field, Boo!" Lakitu said as Boo appeared in front of his face laughing, which made Lakitu to hide in his cloud before Boo took his position.

"Heheheeeh!" Boo laughed as Peach tossed the ball at him. The ghost spun behind before he landed a clean hit on the ball.

Boo quickly floated towards the first base as the ball got away to the north, it reached the grass and Toadette took the ball before Jigglypuff. "BIRDO!" Toadette yelled launching her ball at Birdo.

"RED! JUMP TO THE RIGHT AND EXTEND YOU RIGHT HAND!" Ivysaur yelled from the benches.

"R-right!" Red nodded jumping to the right and extending his left hand with his glove, the ball was going to reach Birdo, but it quickly took directions to the left, where Red got it in time as he rolled in the ground and quickly ran after Boo. "S-Stay there!"

"Oh, no!" Boo said horrified as Red was getting closer to him, the Boo turned his back to the first base where he was close to reach. "(Hahaaaa! I'm going to be safe there, that stupid kid will never reach me in tim-)"

"Daisy!"

"WHAT?!" Boo saw the ball flying above his head as Daisy merely extended her right hand, right in front of Boo's face where the ball landed between them.

"OUT! 2 OUTS GATHERED FOR THE PEACH FENCERS! CHANGE PLAYERS NOW!" Lakitu yelled declaring his statement as the crowd cheered loudly. Boo hid his face behind his small hands and vanished from the field as the final leg took place.

Next formation:

Batter: Yoshi Islanders

Pitcher, first, third bases and right outfield: Bowser, Bowser Jr., Charizard and King Dedede

Second, fourth, and left outfield: Peach, Daisy and Toadette

"Hmm..." Chris glanced to Mario and Luigi, who were on the benches with casts on their right legs.

"...Maybe..."

"Is something wrong?" Ivysaur asked as Yoshi walked to his position.

"I think I can..." Chris trailed off.

"It's Yoshi's turn to take the bat!" Lakitu said while putting his mask on again.

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser's laugh echoed as he pointed at Yoshi with an angry expression. "You, Greenie, are going down!"

Yoshi grunted at this. "Grr."

"BEGIN!" Lakitu said as Bowser charged his ball and threw it at Yoshi, landing a clean hit to it.

"DANG IT!" Bowser cursed as the ball passed above his head as it went towards the wall. "(Not quite my dear Yoshter...)"

"OUT! 1 OUT POINT FOR THE BOWSER FANGS!"

"W-what?!" Yoshi looked to Dedede, who was throwing the ball slightly above his hand as he smirked.

"N-no!" Yoshi said looking down as he returned to the bench and sat down, giving Jigglypuff her turn.

"A vine sprouted out from the ground and gave the ball quickly to Dedede," Ivysaur said.

"Oh no, if we let this going like that again, they're going to win this..." Red said worried.

Chris saw Boo floating in front of him as he returned to his bench. Just then, a light bulb appeared above Chris's head. "…What the heck?" Fox asked, looking at the light bulb over Chris's head.

Chris took out a hammer from his back and destroyed the light bulb without even looking before he hid the hammer behind, making Fox wonder where he got that hammer. "Well… Well...wait here..." Chris walked towards Boo before he could get near the bench.

"What do you want?" Boo asked.

"…Well, I wanted to ask you a favor…"

"…A favor? Do I look like some kind of good ghost to you? Don't waste my time!" Boo said before he turned his back at Chris. "We're supposed to be enemies, anyway…"

"W-Wait!" Chris got out an old-music player with a disc on it. "I-I'll give you this in return if you help me!"

Boo turned to him and looked to the disc before gasping. "Is that the Sorb. Oiram disc?! W-where did you get that?!"

"A Toad gave it to me as a runner-up present because he wanted to cheer us up a bit for losing so many events… I think you want to hear this music?" Chris played the record by spinning the handle, playing a familiar tune of the Mario Bros. Theme that Boo liked.

The ghost began to flail his arms at the sound of the music.

"So, do you want me to give it to you?"

"Yes, gimme that!" Boo went towards the record but Chris put it behind his back.

"Not so fast, you music-hungry ghost, this record isn't going anywhere soon if you don't listen to me. If you want this, first, do me the favor I wanted to ask you."

Boo rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll listen."

Back at the game…

"IT'S GETTING AWAY!" Squirtle cheered as Jigglypuff flew to the first base while the ball got away from the field, making the trio of villains to smirk evilly.

"(Alright, GO!)" Charizard ordered inside his mind and crossed his arms.

...But nothing seemed to happen and the ball crossed the wall.

"HOME-RUN!" Lakitu yelled as Jigglypuff got happy and began to dance her way to the fourth base.

"Yes!" Jigglypuff looked to the sky with a smile as the crowd went wild.

"W-what happened?!" Bowser asked astonished, suddenly, Boo appeared with his music playing, making Bowser to cover his ears. "Where did you get that infernal music?!"

Bowser Jr. covered his ears. "Aww, that music makes my ears bleed…"

"Sorry, King Bowser, I'm afraid I can't tell you that," Boo said happily.

Previously, we see the ball about to be grabbed by a vine, but then at that moment, Boo touched the ball slightly for a moment to turn it invisible along with himself to evade the vine, then Boo disappeared and the ball got visible before crossing the wall.

"Good job, Jigglypuff," Chris said. "You did it very nicely out there".

Jigglypuff looked happy. "Phew, at least I did it, didn't I?"

Mallow walked to his position, waved at the crowd, and raised his bat. "Coming, coming, coming, coming, coming!!!" Mallow tried to taunt Bowser.

"(Wait, I have an idea to take the cloud out and reclaim an out.)" Bowser thought before talking to the ground and returning to see Mallow.

Seeing Bowser's odd action, the trainer looked at the Grass-and-Poison type. "Ivysaur, what did he do?" Red asked.

"Hmm, he talked to the ground again, but I can't perceive anything yet," Ivysaur said.

"BUAAH!" Bowser threw the ball to Mallow and the prince hit it and began to run to the first base.

"...Wait, a vine is going to sprout somewhere else..." Ivysaur said looking around.

"OUT!"

And out of a sudden Mallow's right foot was bitten hard by something. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"STOP THE GAME!"

3 minutes later...

Due to Mallow's tears, it rained a bit, and Yoshi's team was gathered on the benches while Mallow sniffed as he had a cast on his right leg. "Okay, that does it! We need to find a way to end this nonsense with the traps!" Jigglypuff said pouting.

"M-Mallow, can you tell us how did you were hurt?" Chris asked preoccupied.

"S-something bit my foot very hard..." Mallow said sobbing as the rain began to slow down.

"So Mario, Luigi, and Mallow got bitten by something… That's why their feet were hurt," Fox said, getting in a thinking position.

"...If we just could figure out a way to reveal that trap..." Squirtle tried to think.

"Well, as far as we know, it bites anybody when they least expect it," Ivysaur reminded them.

"I-I don't want to get bitten..." Yoshi said stuttering.

"Bitten...bitten...maybe..." Chris thought.

"How bad… If we just had something so hard that it can't be penetrated or pierced so easily, maybe we could capture the one behind those weird incidents…" Red said.

"But where are we going to get something like that?" Fox asked. "I mean, it's not like we're going to find something like hard steel or something…"

Chris looked at Fox. "You're right on that…" He looked down in shame. "We're screwed now…"

However, once his eyes spotted Fox's boots, Chris stared at them for a while before he recalled something. "(…The boots…)"

Flashback

"Your boots," Chris pointed at Fox's boots, "I mean they look like they haven't been scratched at all."

"Oh, you mean my boots?" Fox knocked one of them, making it do a metal sound. "These boots aren't ordinary. They were made with the best metal and iron from Corneria. Not even Link's Master Sword can make a scratch on them. Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Falco's boots are also made with the same materials as yours, right?"

"Exactly, both of us talked to Slippy to make stronger boots for the next tournament. Even the strongest bite can't pierce through them. The buckles are the hardest and the strongest part of my kicks."

End of flashback

"...Wait a minute...I remember something you told me before..." Chris trailed off looking at Fox's boots...

3 minutes later...

"W-what's this?! It seems Yoshi's changed his team formation, because the last member to take the bat, Fox, is coming to his position with bat ready!" Toadsworth said astonished as Fox put a serious face and raised his bat.

"Pfft, furries, who needs 'em." Bowser said frowning.

"(How amusing, boss is gonna show him... Wait, since when I started to say "gonna"?)" Chris thought confused. "(...Must have been Sonic...)"

"So, the plan is to bite his leg to take him out, right?" Dedede whispered to Charizard, who nodded...smirking again.

"BUUUUUAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Bowser charged his shot with full force.

"STRIKE!"

"Grr." Fox grunted at this while Bowser chuckled.

"STRIKE!"

"(Please, Fox, just hit the ball or our plan it's going to fail…)" Yoshi thought worried.

"BUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Bowser charged and much, more powerful shot that caught fire instantly.

HIT!

"RUN! RUN! RUN!" Red yelled loudly as Fox quickly dashed through the field, towards the first base.

"(Boo, do it now!)" Chris thought as Boo made the ball invisible while he was invisible himself to evade somebody from seeing him as the ball landed on the grass, far away from the catchers on the outfield.

"Amazing! Fox is displaying quite the speed on the court; he's going for the third base!" Toadsworth said surprised.

Bowser began to sweat and stomped the ground. "(PLANT! DO YOUR WORK NOW!)" Bowser thought angrily as Fox crossed the third base.

"You're SOOOOOO going down furry!" LPP said laughing evily as he rose up quickly below the running Fox who was about to reach the fourth base...

And then, something made him come to a halt, feeling like if his right boot tried to be pierced with some fangs.

Music stops

"..." Fox stopped and looked down to his right leg. Upon seeing the cause of the traps without moving from his spot, the Star Fox leader smiled.

"..." Everybody on the field stopped yelling or getting desperate and glanced to the cause. Bowser's team looked very shocked by the revelation that they began to whistle innocently.

"..." Yoshi's team had their mouths wide opened after seeing the cause, not moving at all while Fox's iron boot was between his fangs, which were conveniently on the hardest part of them. The buckles that Fox mentioned were very hard to pierce through.

"..." LPP didn't move and froze upon making contact with his victim, using X-Ray vision, we see his fangs cracking up and shattered into dust, while long, red trails indicating pain ran across his body. "!!! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! MY FANGS! MY PRECIOUS FANGS! THEY'RE GONE FOR GOOD! OWW OWW OWW OWW!" LPP cried out in pain as he stopped biting Fox's boot.

"IVYSAUR! USE VINE WHIP!" Red ordered running to LPP with Ivysaur.

"NOW!" Ivysaur yelled grabbing LPP by the neck using a quick attack of his Vine Whip and raised him so the crowd could see him.

"Everyone! This is the cause of Bowser's weird winning ways, this plant caused all the mysterious traps from the golf event and onwards! He's an accomplice of Bowser, Charizard and King Dedede!" Jigglypuff said pouting.

The crowd instantly glared at Bowser's team and they continued to whistle innocently.

"You right there, say the truth already!" Chris demanded to LPP who was trying to get off from Ivysaur's Vine Whip.

"Ugh...I...won't...say...anything..." LPP said panting heavily.

"...Oh well," Chris began as Mallow gave him some scissors that he opened and put them wide open on LPP's vine. "I guess you wouldn't mind losing a portion of your body then. I'm sorry, but this seems to be the only way to end this...or...you can always save your grassy butt by telling the truth..."

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'M CONFESSING!" LPP said crying loudly. "Charizard and Dedede brought me back to life using the Shadow Bugs and they took me to my old master Bowser to cheat in the whole event… Also, we were planning to kill you, Smashers, in the process after you destroyed all the Subspace Bombs! But please, LET ME LIVE!" LPP cried out, begging.

"..." The crowd shot nasty glares to Bowser, even Toadsworth and Peach's team shot glares at him while Ivysaur slowly lowered LPP to the ground, but without releasing him as Yoshi's team gathered around him, cracking their fists.

"W-what are you gonna do to me?! I-I told the truth already, set me free!" LPP said sweating nervously.

"This is for making Lucario lose…" Chris muttered angrily.

"This is for trying to make us trip in the tennis event!" Jigglypuff said angrily.

"This is for making me lose against Diddy…" Fox muttered angrily.

"This is for ruining my painting that I tried so hard to paint!" Ivysaur said angrily, with Red and Squirtle standing at both sides.

"This is for making me fail in the golf event!" Mallow said angrily.

"This is for making my team lost an embarrassing…lose!" Yoshi said angrily.

"W-WAIT! I-I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE GOOD!" LPP pleaded. "Y-YOU CAN'T FIGHT IN THE FESTIVAL, REMEMBER?!"

"This is for breaking my favorite lens of last model, I'll allow fighting this time to teach you something, my boy!" Toadsworth said angrily as we zoom to his lens, that had labeled' semi-last model made from Gold Coins, cheaper than the last model, therefore, bad.'

"...NO!"

The seven Smashers and Mallow started to beat LPP as much as they could, releasing their inner fury with every single fist they landed on the plant, cursing a lot, punching a lot, kicking a lot, shooting a lot, pretty much every combination of attacks were directed to the plant. Heck, even Petey who was watching the massacre of one of his brothers made him shudder in fear and hide below a bench, which was much smaller than he was.

After five minutes, they stopped their beating on the plant, panting heavily, staring angrily at a crushed, punched, stomped, and badly hurt LPP. "...I...will...take...my...revenge...on you... Just...wait...ugh...." LPP trailed off before he slowly retreated into the earth and disappeared.

"…Crap, they all know the truth now… What are we gonna do?" King Dedede whispered panicking before Toadsworth coughed and glared at them.

"So! All the traps, the cheating, the breaking of my last model lens and the attacks on the players were caused by you all, dirty scoundrels?!" Toadsworth asked angrily.

"...Yes?" Charizard said dumbfounded.

"THE BOWSER FANGS ARE DISQUALIFIED FROM THIS EVENT!!!" Toadsworth yelled furiously as the crowd went completely wild and cheered after hearing those sweet, words for their ears while they threw trash to Bowser's team who ran away from the field, humiliated.

"I knew Bowser was behind this...oww..." Luigi rubbed his leg.

Toadsworth walked to Yoshi. "I must say sorry for you Yoshi, I should've notice Bowser's tricks from the beginning, unfortunately, he can still participate in the kart racing event since we can't take off points."

"...Wait, if you said they can participate in the kart racing event...then that means..." Mallow's eyes began to glitter with glee.

"Since the Peach Fencers have 1 run and the Yoshi Islanders have 3 runs, 1 extra since Fox managed to reach the base in time, and the only point left the Peach Fencers can gain with outs in their last turn, THE YOSHI ISLANDERS WIN THIS EVENT AND CAN PROCEED TO THE KART RACING EVENT, THE FINAL EVENT OF THE FESTIVAL!!!" Toadsworth said happily as confetti began to fall from the sky by the Lakitus, the crowd cheered and applauded loudly, Yoshi's eyes began to fill with tears of joy that he instantly hugged Chris while he wagged his tail happily, the whole team was laughing heartily at this moment.

Peach was very happy for Yoshi and her team applauded along with the audience, even Mario and Luigi cheered at this moment, we see the Yoshi's team high-fiving each other as the camera gets away from the Peach Garden and pans out...

Mushroom Hotel

"HURRAH!" Mallow cheered loudly together with Red, Ivysaur, Squirtle and Chris, raising their sodas to the air.

Since it was night, the next event was going to be held tomorrow, the teams were allowed to use the Mushroom Hotel, a high class place to let teams relax before the events continue, Yoshi's team was gathered there, they were all sitting in a circle in their big room as they celebrated for their victory.

"Thank you, thank you, and thank you! We can win this festival in the kart racing event!" Yoshi said happily.

"Everything went well after all, I'm so happy!" Jigglypuff said happily drinking her soda.

"Bless Fox's weird selection of boots!" Squirtle said touching Fox's left foot, which made Fox look annoyed.

"Stop it…" Fox muttered with a glare.

"A-anyway… Yoshi, I didn't see who you disqualified…" Chris said looking to Yoshi.

"...I disqualified Red, Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Fox." Yoshi said simply and mentioned characters looked at him with shocked faces.

The vulpine blinked confused before looking at Yoshi. "Hey, what was that? Why did you disqualify me?"

"Sorry, it's just that...I haven't seen you riding a kart before. If there are motorcycles, then I'd have kept you."

Fox looked annoyed at him and rolled his eyes. "…Great, thanks a lot," he muttered with a grunt.

"B-but why us?!" Red asked shocked.

"Apparently, Daisy convinced Toadsworth that 3 characters in one were considered cheating so he told me to disqualify you or else we couldn't move on." Yoshi explained as the door of their room suddenly opens, where Daisy appeared by sticking out her head.

From the door, a chuckling Daisy peeked inside. "Ha-ha! Now everything is fair between u-us!" Daisy taunted them as she closed the door with a slam.

"...That crazy girl can't have her mouth closed for some good seconds..." Ivysaur muttered angrily.

"That means we made it to the finals!" Chris said to Jigglypuff and Mallow.

"Of course, I'm worried about you Chris; I haven't seen you riding a kart before." Yoshi said.

"Oh, that's no problem actually..." Chris changed to his Racer job. "Here, with this job on, I can drive like a normal racer."

"…I swear that weird ability of yours makes me get some odd looks for you…" Yoshi trailed off before he shook his head. "…Whatever, let's drink one last time to celebrate this moment…."

"Alright, Twink, Geno, Lucario, Kirby, Olimar, drink up!" Jigglypuff said cheerfully as the team drank their drinks in unison...

As their beverages went down their throats, they all suddenly looked shocked and spat out the sodas to the floor.

"Oh Arceus…" Squirtle muttered shocked.

"I know… This soda has 0.1 percent proteins! You know how bad this is for my health?! I need even more proteins than this thing!" Jigglypuff complained.

"Jigglypuff, that's not the point… We forgot to ask the piranha about Kirby and the others!" Yoshi said angrily.

Chris hit his head with the can of soda. "D-dammit! I knew we were forgetting something when we were beating that thing alive…"

"...Well...we can ask Bowser about them..." Mallow suggested.

"He's right; Bowser still knows where they are." Fox said.

"...Thanks goodness...I'm worried about them..." Jigglypuff said sighing. "...But seriously, 0.1 percent proteins…"

Everyone sighed with frowns at Jigglypuff's complaint.

Chris yawned. "...Well...I think we should rest for now… It's getting very late… I just hope we can find everyone very soon…"

"I agree with you," Fox said before yawning. "Personally, I'd like to rest for tonight before the big events tomorrow…" He looked behind him. "…The hell?"

"What is it?"

The vulpine didn't know why, but for some odd reason, there was a weird poster stuck on the wall close to his bed. The poster itself looked weird yet familiar since…it had Raine Sage on it.

"Was that poster there before?" Fox asked as he stared at the poster with some confusion. "Why a poster of…Raine from all people, anyway?"

The Smashers stared at the weird-looking poster for a moment before the World Traveler blinked a bit. "…Come to think of it," Chris began as he got up and walked to the poster, "I didn't see this here before…"

"No matter how it got here, get rid of it," Fox said annoyed. "I don't want to think about those life-threatening moments with Raine again…"

"What do you mean by that?" Red asked confused.

"The woman in the poster, she tried to dissect me alive for the welfare of science."

"…Why?"

"Sorry, but I don't want to say," Fox grumbled a bit. "Chris, take it off from the wall, will you?"

"…Okay…" Chris said as he grabbed one side of the poster to rip it off.

For some odd reason, the very same poster that was touched by Chris released a cloud of smoke that easily covered the whole room and the Smashers themselves. Somebody wanted to say something at the seemingly weird scene, but nobody could say anything since everyone coughed aloud.

"N-now what?" Yoshi asked inside the smoke. "W-what is happening now?"

"H-how am I supposed to know?" Squirtle asked between coughs.

For their relief, the smoke began to clear out by itself. Once it did, they all looked around the room to see if something or someone had sneaked inside. They thought that the cloud smoke was there to make them believe one of Bowser's teammates got in, but nobody entered the room at all.

Chris looked back at the spot where the poster was before. "Huh? The poster disappeared…" he trailed off. "…U-uah!" he yelped in shock as he fell down on his rear.

The Smashers quickly looked back at the direction of the World Traveler. Before Chris, there was a person. They all knew that, once they found out that the person looked pretty harmless; the person wasn't surely one of Bowser's minions. In fact, the blond person was a guy who wore a chef hat, green trousers, long-sleeved white shirt, brown shoes, and a red cape around and behind his neck. This person was holding in his right hand an abnormally big fork. He was sticking out his chest while smiling happily at the group.

"Greetings, apprentices of culinary arts!" the person greeted them. "I am the Wonder Chef!" he introduced himself.

"…The…Wonder Chef?" Ivysaur repeated confused.

"That is right," the person named the Wonder Chef said. "I am here to teach you all a very good recipe for healthy stomachs!"

"W-what?" Chris said confused as he slowly got up and took a step back from the weirdo. "W-why were you here in the first place?"

"Wait, you mean to say this guy…was the poster?" Fox said confused.

"Yes!" the Wonder Chef said. "I am surprised that you managed to say I was the poster itself! It's one of my many special abilities to hide away from people. You're lucky to have found me. You're sharp!"

"…Not really…" Yoshi said confused.

"…Wait!" Chris yelled before glaring at the happy chef. "H-how did you come here, anyway? I-I thought you were only limited to roam the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla!"

The Wonder Chef rubbed his chin a bit. "Hmm, very good question," he remarked. "But I am currently in a voyage of discovery to further expand my skills as the Wonder Chef. I stumbled upon this place, so I hid from the people like all of you," he explained. "I am a great authority in the cooking area. I can't let anybody find me so easily, but you did, and now I'll give you the necessary knowledge to prepare…Curry!"

"S-stumble upon this place?" Chris repeated confused. "B-but it doesn't make any sense for you t-"

Chris was interrupted as the Wonder Chef rose up his fork to the air over him. "I am the Wonder Chef who will teach everyone here how to make Curry! I call upon the sweet aromas and tasty recipes' powers to let them make…Curry!"

The Smashers shifted their eyes in confusion before they all felt like if something was given to them by an act of magic. In fact…after the chef had chanted his words, they suddenly knew how to prepare Curry…

Yoshi, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Jigglypuff, Fox, and Chris have learned how to cook Curry!

"All done," the Wonder Chef said with a pleased grin. "You all now know how to make Curry!"

"…Just like that?" Red said confused. "I-I mean, all you did was raising your…big fork and chant…"

"Such is the power of the Wonder Chefs," the Wonder Chef said. "You have been blessed by it through the knowledge to make Curry."

"…We were blessed by a big fork then?" Jigglypuff asked confused.

"Yeah!" the Wonder Chef said. "You don't get this anywhere else. You should be very fortunate for meeting me!"

Fox glared at him. "What the hell were you doing in here? I doubt you came here to teach us that…through magic…"

"Well, you see, my vulpine friend, I am a big culinary authority," the Wonder Chef explained. "I'm a very recognized chef through the art of food across the lands. I usually conceal myself from people so they don't steal my secrets with them."

"And was somebody looking for you here?" Squirtle asked.

"…Nope."

The Smashers looked bored at the chef.

The Wonder Chef grinned. "Thank you, though! I hope you all cook Curry!"

"Do you even think we're going to let you go that easily?" Yoshi asked. "We're going to report you from getting in here without permission…"

"…Sorry, but I've got to leave for the time being!" the Wonder Chef said before raising his big fork above him. "Until we meet again!" he said before he called forth a cloud of smoke from under his feet, covering him completely before it cleared out, the chef no longer standing in the place where he was.

"W-wait!" Chris yelled.

"Did he just…disappear by using ninja skills?" Red asked.

"Who was that guy, anyway?" Yoshi asked confused.

Chris sighed and turned to them. "He's the Wonder Chef. He's a chef that disguises himself by turning into weird objects that shouldn't blend with the room he's in. Whoever manages to find him gets the chance to learn a recipe…through magic…"

The others shifted their eyes with each other.

"…I-I know it sounds weird but that's how he does it…" Chris said.

"…So…was this random…or what?" Ivysaur asked.

"…I…guess…"

Yoshi yawned. "Talk about randomness… I don't know you, but I want to sleep for the time being…"

"Agreed," Red said with a yawn. "I-it's weird we can cook curry…b-but I'd like to rest for the time being…"

"Me too…" Chris admitted. "(But…the Wonder Chef shouldn't be here at all… What is happening here?)"

The Smashers decided to call it a night and wait for the next event tomorrow, wondering what had happened to the other Smashers.

The next morning…

Mushroom Gorge

The World Traveler looked around amazed. "I can't believe this is going to be an official track very soon…"

"Welcome to Mushroom Gorge!" Toadsworth said cheerfully.

The next event was surprising, it was an event only about kart racing, with new incoming tracks from the next Mario Kart, the teams had their teammates gathered there cheering loudly along with the crowd who were spread along the track, above the cliffs.

"In this magnificent, last event, teams will have to race to the finish line! The rules are very simple! If a teammate reaches the finish line before the others, that member and his team will receive a point! There are 4 tracks in total, so, do your best to win!" Toadsworth explained. "Oh! There's also another thing! We're promoting the racers to use motorcycles, if you can make stunts on the air, you will receive a small boost after landing successfully on the ground to get ahead of your opponents!"

Fox grumbled at the word 'motorcycles' while Yoshi looked away in embarrassment.

"Please, select if you want to choose a kart or a motorcycle!"

Everyone selected motorcycles, but Mallow was the only one who chose a kart.

"Speaking of which, what members did Peach and Bowser disqualify?" Mallow asked. "I don't remember anymore…"

"Oh," Peach walked to him giggling, "Bowser disqualified Boo and Petey and I disqualified Mario and Luigi."

Mallow looked down. "Oh, I see…"

Bowser, while preparing his motorcycle, overheard the talk and smirked to himself. "Heheheheh, the plumbers are out for good with their legs in a bad shape. They won't bother me for a good time now… Oh yeah, I so damn evil…" Bowser muttered evilly.

Not long after he said that, mentioned plumbers passed right in front of him. "Hi Bowser, good luck in the race," they both said in unison as they walked to their area to cheer on Peach and Daisy.

Bowser smiled honestly at them. "Oh, hi there, idiots, good to see both of you here to watch the race… Now, where was I?"

It took Bowser's brain around ten seconds to finally notice that the plumbers didn't have their feet in casts anymore.

"What the hell did just happen to them? How did those 2 get their feet back to normal?" Bowser asked confused before an annoyed Chris walked to him. "What do you want now?"

"Oh, just wanting to tell you that I used my healing skills with the Fonic Hymn User job in the night and cast First Aid on them continuously. It was a difficult procedure because I had to use many First Aids on their feet." He crossed his arms. "And by the way, you're lucky to have been allowed to participate in the tourney. With LPP away, you're going to have to tell where he took the others."

Bowser shoved his face at Chris's face. "You little punk! I'll make sure I kill you off one of these days!"

"Ha, look how much I look scared," Chris taunted. "I know for a fact I shouldn't fear people like you, Bowser. Now that I have you here, I want you to tell me where they are!"

"Ha, that's a good one, kid! I'll never tell you THAT easily!" Bowser said before pulling back his face. "You've got a lot of guts to yell back at the King of Koopas!"

"Okay, since you won't tell me that easily, will you tell me where they are if Yoshi's team wins the race?"

Bowser thought for a moment. "...If I win, you'll get out of my way and never see your pals again… But if you win, I'll tell you where they are!"

Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "I hope you keep your word…"

Bowser laughed loudly to himself before turning around to his motorcycle. "See ya...kid!"

Chris grunted at the addressing yet offending name to him before he returned to his motorcycle and sat down on it.

"Chris, calm down please." Mallow said behind him, already prepared in his kart.

"...It's just that I hate people telling me that I'm a kid..."

"Racers, go to your positions!" Toadsworth announced over the mike as all the racers rode their motorcycles. "On your marks," Toadsworth raised his checkered flag, "geeeeeeet set," everyone started the engines of their motorcycles and looked at each other before focusing on the track.

Mario Kart Wii - Mushroom Gorge

"GO!" Toadsworth yelled moving his flag as all the racers took a good start as they drove away while the crowd cheered loudly.

"…W-wow, look at the size of that motorcycle…" Yoshi muttered surprised as Mallow glanced to Charizard's motorcycle, which was big. The dragon smirked pleased at the 'remark' that he got.

"…I'm surprised that a Pokémon can drive, actually…" Chris trailed off accelerating as they all got items.

And from that point, craziness started.

On the first place, Peach was getting the lead and they reached the first mushroom where they performed their stunts and landed with a small boost to accelerate. "Not so fast!" Bowser Jr. yelled using his Spiny Shell, which went to the sky and crashed on Peach, dropping her to 7th place before she regained her speed.

Now Dedede was in the first place (driving a Wheelie from Kirby Air Ride), taking advantage of the next mushroom to jump in the sky, land on the green mushroom and then use the red mushroom to land with a small boost using a stunt, then everyone else followed him by behind.

"Oh no, you're not getting away!" Daisy said accelerating as she used a Red Shell, but Dedede took out a Banana Peel that he used as a shield, entering inside the crystal cave with mushrooms.

"Ha! No way princes-" Dedede was interrupted before Daisy threw her 2 remaining Red Shells at him, making Dedede to spin madly and lose his speed, falling to last place. "You're gonna regret that! Ya hear me?!" Dedede cursed as he recovered his speed.

Everyone reached the mushrooms that made a path across the abyss. In the first place, Chris accelerated and did some stunts in the air before he jumped through the mushrooms. Apparently, the racer job gave him a chance to be a normal racer. "S-slower, slower, slower!" Chris yelled in panic as he went jumping from mushroom to mushroom. "I-I'm not a fan of races that much!"

"CHRIS! BE CAREFUL!" Jigglypuff yelled from 4th place.

"YAAH!" Chris yelled loudly after he looked to another place and fell to the abyss, where a Lakitu brought him back, dropping him to the last place as everyone else crossed the mushrooms. "O-oh, wait for me, will you?"

"Second lap!" Lakitu announced loudly as all the racers, then Chris, crossed the finish line by passing the curve.

"Wahoohoohooo!!!" Toadette was on 9th place but she got a Golden Mushroom, which she used instantly, sent her rocketing to the first place. Toadette blasted off long enough to reach the first place.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

A Lightning crashed down on all the racers minus Bowser Jr., who laughed as he went ahead to the crystal cave.

"No way!" Mini Charizard said taking out a Mega Mushroom, which he used as he grew the double of his size with his motorcycle and began to accelerate, crushing Yoshi, Daisy, Birdo, Mallow, Chris, and accidentally King Dedede who complained as he was flat. (Though Charizard thought, Dedede had it coming for something).

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! SEE YOU, LOSERS!" Giant Charizard yelled as he jumped towards the path of mushrooms, doing stunts by throwing flames above him before he returned to his normal size once he was hallway through.

"WEHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Mallow cheered using a Bullet Bill, making him to cross the mushrooms and pass around the curve where he crashed into Charizard and got the first place.

"FINAL LAP!" Lakitu yelled.

Mario Kart Wii - Mushroom Gorge Final Lap

"Chris," Squirtle began as he jumped above the fence where they were and yelled to Chris while stretching his right hand. "High-five!" The others who were there looked at each other and gave Chris a high-five each.

"T-thank you, you guys!" Chris did four high-fives with Squirtle, Red, Fox, and Ivysaur as he sped forward and left them behind.

Coming from behind, Yoshi saw the whole thing and raised his left hand. "H-hey, everybody, high-five with me as well!" Yoshi yelled as he came in 5th place.

Unfortunately, for Yoshi, the four Smashers had some grudges against him that they decided to punch him in the right eye by their own. Yoshi, driving away from his teammates, sighed depressed at this.

"OH NO!" Jigglypuff saw a Spiny Shell flying towards the first place, which was with Mallow, who was about to cross the gap between the bridge and the mushroom, the shell exploded into him and the prince fell down the clouds, as Charizard took the first place back, crossing the abyss and going to the second row of mushroom.

"Oh no, you don't!" Daisy yelled throwing a Banana Peel right on Charizard's face.

"Oh, damn you!" Charizard yelled as he began to lose control of his vehicle and drove accidentally to the abyss. Daisy chuckled several times, taking the first place while making stunts, accelerating inside the crystal cave.

"Fall back!" Mallow yelled coming right behind Daisy using a speed boost to gain the first place as they were about the final row of mushrooms.

"Ha!" Toadette used a Starman to gain a great amount of speed, passing the 8th, 7th, 6th and 5th place, but the effect ended when she was hallway the mushrooms.

"Rats!"

"NO SO FAST!" Bowser came from behind using three Mushrooms, accelerating towards the end of the mushroom path where he pushed Mallow in the air and the cloud prince fell to the abyss before reaching safe ground.

"MALLOW!" Yoshi yelled jumping from the final mushroom as he was in 2nd place, but the dinosaur/dragon/whatever made a serious face and did a wheelie to gain velocity, though it was very little to catch up with Bowser.

"He's not going to make it!" Red said gasping as Bowser was a few feet away from the finish line.

"FINISH!" Lakitu declared once Bowser crossed the finish line. "THE BOWSER FANGS WIN THIS TRACK!"

"!!!" Bowser laughed evilly, stopping with the breaks as everyone crossed the finish line.

A shocked Yoshi arrived at the finish line and stopped his motorcycle. "N-no, we lost this one…"

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Red said in annoyance.

"Now, we move on to the next track!" Toadsworth announced.

Coconut Mall

"Shopping malls, electric stairs, crazy shoppers and cars can be found here!" Toadsworth said excited.

Chris joined his hands together. "More new tracks galore…"

The next track was the Coconut Mall, home of the shopping madness and a convenient location for a race like the kart racing event.

However, something peculiar caught Chris's eyes as he looked around surprised.

"...Aren't all those people inside the mall and outside my…Miis?" Chris asked confused glancing at all the Miis cheering loudly together with the Piantas, Nokis, Toads, and other people.

"Hey, look at him, isn't he Chris?" Red asked pointing at Chris's Mii standing besides him. The Mii looked at him.

"( :-) )" The Mii said with his face.

"...Er...hello?"

"( ?:-( )"

"Can't you talk?"

"( ?:-( )"

"...Well...see you..." Red said looking back at the racers preparing for the race to begin.

"Attention all shoppers, 80 percent off on sales for orange skirts while the race is on!" a Toad said over the speaker.

"YEAH!" Daisy said making a fist in the air.

"FREE DISCOUNTS TO THE BEST SHOPPER!"

"OH, I KNOW WHO THAT'S GONNA BE!"

"Ahem! Daisy, please resist your shopping sprees for the race," Toadsworth said as Daisy crossed her arms and looked away.

"...So, you want us to do that strategy?" Mallow asked and Yoshi nodded.

"Yes, in the previous tournament of karts, whoever who could get behind a racer would gain a speed boost to take the lead," Yoshi explained.

"…Oh, then you want us to-" Chris was interrupted.

"Shh! Yes, exactly, now take your positions. We shouldn't speak our ideas aloud around the other teams…not that we're going to cheat or anything, of course…" Yoshi whispered as they ran to their motorcycles (kart in Mallow's case).

"3! 2! 1!" Toadsworth counted down.

Mario Kart Wii - Coconut Mall

"GO!" Toadsworth waved his flag as the racers took a mini-turbo and sped inside the mall as the crowd cheered loudly (which was overused at this point already).

"Peach, let's take the electric stairs of the right!" Toadette suggested as she glanced at the electric stairs of the right going up.

"Alright!" Daisy said taking mentioned stairs together with Peach's whole team, taking them up to gain advantage.

"They also devised some ideas to get ahead, we should take theirs too!" Jigglypuff said as they turned around the corner to the right.

"Stunts!" Bowser Jr., said as Bowser and him used the fountain as a ramp to make stunts in the air and gain a speed boost, they were inches away from Birdo who accidentally gave both Bowsers a speed boost and passed her from behind.

"W-why aren't we climbing up this thing?!" Charizard asked.

"BECAUSE IT'S GOIN' DOWN!" Dedede pointed out since they took the wrong electric stairs that were going down.

"See ya!" Mallow said from the other stairs, getting away further inside the mall with Yoshi.

"DANG IT!"

All the other racers made it to the mall's garden area. "I wonder for what is this?" Toadette wondered taking out a POW Block that appeared on everybody's head except her team.

"Huh? For what is this bloc-UAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Yoshi lost control of his motorcycle with everybody before he could use the flowers' borders as ramps to do stunts. He crossed over the flowers as he spun before getting control again, but Daisy appeared from behind and got the first place.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser Jr. threw a Green Shell to Yoshi, making Yoshi to roll on his place as he was dropped to 10th place.

"Y-you little…" Yoshi tried to curse but he regained his speed and chased after Bowser Jr.

Daisy was in the front, crossing the cafeteria to the highest ramp of the mall where her team accelerated and did long stunts in the air, landing in the far away street to gain a mini-turbo. Then Mallow, Jigglypuff, and Chris came to the street also with a mini-turbo, and then Bowser and his son came in with mini-turbos and accelerated.

However, Yoshi was being interrupted by Charizard and Dedede, who were pushing him constantly between them. "Heh, take that, greenie!" Dedede said pushing Yoshi to Charizard.

A small smirk appeared on Yoshi's face. "Oh, now you're going to regret that." Yoshi said as both passed him, but Yoshi pulled out a Mega Mushroom that made him to grow double his size.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Dedede and Charizard yelled loudly while the giant Yoshi flattened them under his big weight, Yoshi used the speed pads from the cars in the parking area to go even faster, he even pushed the cars away with his big height before returning to normal after he crossed the finish line.

"Second lap!" Lakitu announced.

Inside the mall, we see Birdo taking the lead before a Spiny Shell crashed into her by Jigglypuff, who passed her and stuck out her tongue to Birdo. "Ha-ha! You got a-ttac-ked!"

"JIGGLYPUFF, LOOK OUT!" Mallow yelled.

"Huh?" Jigglypuff turned her back to her direction, where she crashed inside a shop and many things were broken, ran over, people screaming, even Mallow lost sight of her and turned around the corner, hoping for Jigglypuff's safety.

On a side note, he was now in first place…

"OUTTA MY WAY!" Daisy came from behind using a Green Shell om Mallow, making him to stumble, rolling on his spot, giving Daisy the first place as she went to the electric stairs and passed them.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me! We're so far behind!" Dedede said as Charizard and he turned around to the right while the rest of the racers already were in the garden area.

"Huh? What's this?" Charizard took out a Blooper that flew away.

"Hey! Get out of my sight!" Toadette complained to the Blooper that appeared in front of her, but the Blooper pointed its tentacles at her and sprayed ink on her eyes, making her to lose control of her motorcycle as the rest tried to look.

"I-I can't see anything! T-this ink is so…sticky!" Chris complained, stopping as he cleaned his face with his hands before he resumed the race and went to the cafeteria, noticing that Bowser Jr. was now in the first place.

"U-heheheee!" Bowser Jr. chuckled as he turned around the corner to the lowest part of the ramp.

"Y-you're not getting away for all those traps in the past… Here, take this!" Chris took out a Fake Item Box that he threw to Bowser Jr.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Bowser Jr. rolled above his spot as Chris took the first place with him and did stunts after reaching the ramp. (He did the Superman).

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" Bowser roared from behind Chris who threw at him a Bom-omb, exploding on the World Traveler who was sent into the air by the explosion as Bowser accelerated using the boost pads in the parking lot, evading the cars there that were being driven by the Miis.

"Final lap!" Lakitu declared.

Mario Kart Wii - Coconut Mall Final Lap

"Ha!" Peach used a Spiny Shell from the parking lot, it went soaring through the sky and crashed on Bowser who jumped in the air as Birdo took the lead of the race and used the stairs to get up quickly.

"Now, let's use the strategy before it's too late!" Yoshi said as he and his team entered inside the mall. The four racers lined up with Yoshi behind the line and Mallow, Jigglypuff, and Yoshi got a speed boost that helped them reach even further inside as Chris was left behind waving at them.

"Go! Go! Go!" Mallow said to Jigglypuff and Yoshi who gained another speed boost, using the fountain as a ramp to make a long jump to the top of the stairs. Mallow saw two Red Shells coming from behind by Dedede and he sacrificed himself to protect Yoshi and Jigglypuff who were now in the garden, trying to catch up with Birdo.

"Y-Yoshi!" Birdo said surprised as she went towards the cafeteria, Yoshi accelerated using the speed boost from Jigglypuff combining it with a wheelie, running besides her.

"Birdo, I hope you can understand how bad I felt back then!" Yoshi said with a serious face to Birdo as both ran to the highest ramp.

"I-I'm sorry Yoshi, I didn't want to make you mad at me, but you wer-"

"Actually, I should be the one saying sorry…" Yoshi said ashamed as they ignored doing their stunts on the ramp.

"...R-really? You mean it?" Birdo asked blinking surprised.

"Yeah! I admit it, I was very harsh on you, and it was my fault, Birdo..." Yoshi closed his eyes before opening them again as they made it to the parking lot. "...I'm sorry...I wish you could forgive me..."

"...I-I do… I'm even saying sorry if I offended you…" Birdo said. "I-I'm really sorry, Yoshi…"

"...Birdo…t-thank you…" Yoshi trailed off happily as they leaned closer to each other an-

Well, let's say the people around watching this part of the event refrained from saying some yelps…

"FINISH!" Lakitu declared.

"But who crossed the line first?" Ivysaur asked.

"The Yoshi Islanders win this track!"

"Oh my gosh, we did it!" Jigglypuff (who came fully dressed with jewels, clothes, and even expensive boots that oddly fit her) cheered and stopped after crossing the finish line, running to Yoshi as the quartet jumped together with joy.

The rest of the racers crossed the finish line and stopped, however, Peach looked around. "Where is Daisy?"

"OUR BEST SHOPPER OF THE RACE IS DAISY!" The speakers said loudly as Daisy was seen on the screen holding lots and lots of bags, apparently, she couldn't resist it anymore and dropped out the race to buy a lot of things, and of course, receive free discounts.

"Yay! Yay! I won, take that" Daisy said in victory as everybody groaned loudly at this. This angered Daisy, though. "Why you little sons o-"

Since the broadcast team didn't want to let the public hear swears and curses from the princess of Sarasa Land, they decided to cut off the transmission."

DK Summit

"Welcome now to DK Summit, our next leg of the race!" Toadsworth said with a red coat while the audience cheered loudly.

It was a snowy paradise. There were gondolas reaching the summit with Shy Guys skiing down with their skis or snowboards.

Chris sneezed. "W-why this track needs to be on i-ice? I-I won't resist this climate at all during the r-r-r-race! A-achoo!"

"Here, use this to protect you from getting a cold," Fox said as he offered Chris his red scarf.

"...B-but that's yours, Fox… How are you going to-"

"It doesn't matter, okay? I have fur over all my body, perfect protection to me. But don't lose it during the race you got that? I don't want to lose clothing after losing equipment now..."

"..." Chris quickly covered his throat and mouth with the red scarf. "T-thanks, Fox… I really appreciate this…"

"I'm glad you like it. Good luck out there, okay?" Fox said as he gave Chris a grin before he returned to Red, Squirtle, and an apparently frozen up Ivysaur.

"IVYSAUR!" Red yelled worried after noticing his Pokémon in a big chunk of ice. Both he and Squirtle started to hit the ice to defrost the Seed Pokémon.

"This is just unfair!" At that moment, DK and Diddy appeared from Squirtle's side (wearing red coats) "There's a track with my name on it and I'm not even in the race to test it out!"

"Even worse," Diddy began, putting on some binoculars from behind his back and looked to the top of the mountain, "there's a giant wooden Mario statue with a snowboard on the top of the mountain. Why aren't you the wooden statue, though?"

"What?" DK snatched the binoculars and looked to the mountain. "…Hey!"

"That doesn't even make any sense," Jigglypuff said.

Mario suddenly appeared behind the Kongs. He looked up at the wooden statue and rubbed his chin. "Hmm, I wonder why…"

Diddy didn't like how Mario was the one with the statue instead of DK. "You, give back DK's pride!" he yelled before he leaped to Mario and pushed him down to the snow, smacking his face a few times before everyone went to stop the crazy chimpanzee. For Mario's dismay, Toadsworth didn't see any of this.

"Stop it, you 2, and help us to get Ivysaur out from this icicle!" Red yelled trying to save his frozen Pokémon.

"Racers, on your marks," Toadsworth began before everyone scrambled to their motorcycles and revved up their motors. "G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-get set and…g-g-g-g-g-g-g-go! ACHOO!"

Mario Kart Wii - DK Summit

"Yes! We got ahead first!" Jigglypuff cheered as she got the first place with Mallow drivin behind her in second place.

Both turned right and gasped after they found a huge barrel pointing at the top of the summit. "W-wait, are we going to use that to get HIGH UP THERE?!" Mallow asked terrified as they entered inside the barrel and blasted off to the summit.

"I don't like this at AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!"

"HOLD ON!"

Everyone else followed the duo before they were all blasted away to the summit at a high speed. Soon, they all landed inside a long half-pipe that leaded down the whole mountain to the finish line.

"Everybody, follow my path! I think this is the quickest way!" Yoshi yelled accelerating to the ramps of the left side. While going down the half-pipe, they all did some stunts to impress the crowd.

"Marvelous! The Yoshi Islanders know how to amaze the folks!" Toadsworth said surprised repeating the stunt of the team on the screen.

"GO!" Bowser yelled using a Lightning to shrink everybody except his team, running over Yoshi, making the crowd get angry with them as they got the first place. "SHUT UP!"

Bowser's team reached the multiple bumps of snow. They smirked in unison and began to do stunts non-stop, gaining a lot of speed to cross the field before the others could. "Papa, we're going to win this!" Bowser Jr. said happily.

"Jr., remember that this is how you win, like your big evil daddy," Bowser said as they turned right and then left to reach the hall-pipe area.

".........yaaaaahoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Toadette appeared using a Golden Mushroom and passed the team at high speed; even she reached the finish line in time.

"What th-CATCH HER! WE CAN'T LET HER WIN!" Dedede ordered angrily and the quartet chased after Toadette.

"Second lap!" Lakitu announced.

"...By the way, can you all tell me about this "Subspace Army" thing?" DK asked to Red, who was almost done with the ice since he destroyed half of the chunk of ice as Ivysaur looked at him with a small smile (since he really hates ice).

"DK? You want to know about the Subspace Army?" Squirtle asked.

"Yes, I heard you talking about them on your "private" meetings and I got interested, even Diddy here got interested as well."

"We wanted to ask you if you could let us join your adventure…" Diddy trailed off smiling excited. "I mean, we don't have anything better to do later…"

"Er…no, it's okay…" Fox said annoyed. "We're just fine as it is."

"Why don't we ask the others first, though?" Red suggested and Fox glared at him.

"Right, why we don't ask the others first, Red..." Fox replied gritting his fangs as they saw the team coming from the hall-pipe. "Hey, everyone, do you want DK and Diddy to join us now?" Fox yelled shaking his head for a "no" as a reply.

"O-oh, um, sure!" Chris said as he passed them and went to the barrel to be blasted off to the summit.

"W-why not?" Jigglypuff asked as a sign of a yes while she passed the bystanders.

"No objections here!" Mallow yelled as he accelerated to the barrel.

Fox looked away in annoyance and slapped his forehead with a frown. "Great, just great…" he muttered before the Kongs looked at each other and smiled.

NEWCOMER!

Donkey Kong joined your team!

NEWCOMER!

Diddy Kong joined you team!

"Alright!" Diddy did a back flip on his spot. "We're going to have lots of adventures together, defeat bad guys with style, do awesome victory poses and even get treasures on the way! Isn't that so cool, Fox?" he asked excited.

The vulpine turned around and looked down at Diddy to force a creepy smile on his lips. "S-sure, we're SO going to do that…Diddy…"

Toadette was still in the first place where she was crossing the half-pipe, doing stunts to accelerate a little to evade the Shy Guys. "Ha ha, nobody can stop me now!"

But a Spiny Shell crashed on her and Charizard took the lead while laughing to himself. "Nobody wins except me, little girl. Go cry me a river and see if it gets frozen here!"

"W-why you!" Toadette said angrily as she regained her speed.

"FINAL LAP!" Toadsworth announced after Charizard crossed the finish line with Toadette following him from behind.

Mario Kart Wii - DK Summit Final Lap

An epic race between the dragon and the Toad girl began as they went blasting off to the summit. "You, get outta my way!" Charizard yelled to Toadette.

"No sir, you get out of my way!" Toadette argued as they landed on the summit and began descending to the bottom.

"MINE!" both yelled loudly taking items from the boxes on their way, both got Triple Banana Peels and began to launch each other to get ahead, unfortunately, none of them were able to aim well and they even crossed through the snow that slowed them down.

"I won't let a twerp like you win!" Charizard said as every Toad in the seats gasped in unison and trembled with fear. "...Why is it that I feel like I shouldn't have said that?"

"YOU JUST DID NOT SAY THAT!!!" Toadette yelled loudly as her voice echoed through the mountain, the girl Toad began to accelerate madly and she literally blasted off to the gondolas' ropes, which she used as grinding points to go down the mountain faster, making Charizard sweat drop with fear as he was crossing the bumps.

Toadette jumped off the ropes and made crazy stunts as she made her way directly towards the finish line.

"W-what is she doing now?!" Ivysaur (now recovered) asked in shock.

"She's doing 360 degrees!" Diddy said amazed.

"540 degrees!" Squirtle said astonished.

"720 degrees!" DK said utterly surprised.

"900 degrees!" Red said amazed.

"...1800 degrees?" Mario said shocked.

"What?" the previous characters asked astonished, then, the crowd watched as Toadette descended towards the finish line.

A section of only Toads raised "10" signs of 10 x 10. "TOOOOADETTE! TOOOOADETTE! TOOOOADETTE!" The Toads yelled loudly flipping their signs, making Toadette's face by flipping the signs.

"FINISH! THE PEACH FENCERS WIN THIS TRACK, ENDING IN A TIE WITH THE YOSHI ISLANDERS AND BOWSER FANGS!" Lakitu announced loudly, the crowd went wild (again), the other racers reaching the snow bumps by this time while Charizard made it to the finish line but stopped and hopped down his motorcycle, cursing under his breath.

"...You got to remark, the races were pretty wacky..." Ivysaur said (wearing a long, purple scarf around his neck).

"But there's the last one, right?" Red asked.

"So, can you tell us more about this "Subspace Army" thing?" DK continued to ask.

"Well..." Squirtle trailed off.

After many explanations that included the Smashers back at the mansion, the reason of why they were there, their mission to rescue the Star Spirits, and the racers finally reaching the finish line...

"Thank you, Fox. Your scarf helped me a lot," Chris said as he gave back the scarf to Fox.

"And thank you for saying yes for Diddy to join us," Fox said with a grin.

"...Really? I thought you hated him…"

"Have you ever heard of sarcasm before?" Fox asked with a glare.

"...Er...yes?"

"Then you should know what I'm doing right now."

"...DK! Diddy!" Chris said turning to both Kongs, leaving Fox to mutter curses.

"Don't worry about explaining the details to us. We know all about the Subspace Band," DK said.

"...You mean Subspace Army...DK…"

Dk tilted his head. "Oh...is that the name? Weird, I thought it was Subspace Band... Oh well… Anyway, I'll be glad to lend you all a hand or 2."

"Me too," Diddy said jumping on DK's back. "We were kind of bored because we didn't have anything special to do, but with this in our hands will make us get excited again.

"Well, we need a lively duo like you around so I don't see why not," Chris commented.

"Thanks, glad to hear that," DK said as took out his Bongos. "Also, we need to make a tour in Nintendo City and play some new songs we learned about after our first performance."

"...DK...Diddy...you should know what happened to Nintendo City..." Jigglypuff said looking down in shame.

"What happened?"

"Nintendo City is currently at risk of being destroyed by the Subspace Army for a giant sword named Exor," Mallow explained before looking down.

"...Y-you're kidding, right?" DK asked shocked. "B-but that city is probably the most populated city of all the cities in the worlds… Diddy, you know how many people could have seen us doing our performances there?! Like the people of Mushroom Kingdom multiplied by 50…"

"W-what? Is Nintendo City THAT populated?" Diddy asked with curiosity.

"I'm not joking!"

"Er, hate to interrupt your moment of shocks, but we need to go to the next track," Yoshi said walking away with his motorcycle.

"Well," Mallow began, "if we win the next track, then that means we win the festival and get the trophy!"

"...But...huh?!" Ivysaur lay down on the ground. "...No... The vines..."

"The vines again? But didn't we kill the plant?" Squirtle asked.

"No...I can feel them moving again...but they're moving to the opposite direction of the track an-"

Meanwhile, Bowser, Charizard, and Dedede were chuckling evilly. Apparently, Bowser Jr. had told them all about some news. "LPP was revived once again?" Bowser asked.

"Yep, the Shadow Bugs managed to bring that plant back to life, which means we can still proceed according with the plan," Bowser Jr. said grinning.

"Hold on, I heard from the plant that there's a hidden track where his powers could grow to the max," Charizard said.

"Hmm, the only thing that can increases LPP's power is lava or magma," Bowser wondered crossing his arms.

"Exactly."

"...Oh, this is ought to be good..." Bowser Jr. said rubbing his hands together with the villains, chuckling evilly one more time.

"So, how are we going to take everyone there? That track is in the opposite direction," Dedede asked.

"Don't worry about little details. I ordered the plant to change the tracks for our advantages," Charizard said as we see Toad running to Toadsworth, whispering something in his ear and gave him a map.

"What? What do you mean there's a sudden change of new tracks at last minute?" Toadsworth asked confused.

"Y-yeah, w-we're going to this hot place..." Toad said pointing down at the map.

"Hmm... This track wasn't supposed to be used but...are you sure this is official?"

Toad nodded. "Y-yeah, you said "go get the map at the desk back at Peach Dome, then bring it to me to see which was the last scheduled track," that's what you said to me."

"In that case then..." Toadsworth cleared his throat and got the mike closer to his mouth. "Everyone, it seems we have a change of courses at the last minute. Please, spectators, proceed to the Peach Dome. Racers and teammates, please proceed down the east path where you should find a teleport pad to take you to the next track!"

Many people groaned and began their walk to the Peach Dome as the rest of the racers got confused but continued their way towards another path.

"...I have a bad feeling about this..." Jigglypuff said stuttering.

"W-we have problems!" Chris took out his DS where Professor Kawashima was freaking out. "I sense high levels of Shadow Bugs being gathered on this path!"

"What? What do you mean?" Mallow asked.

"I can sense a dangerous beast deep in the earth's depths… Not only that, it seems I can detect the others who disappeared during the event!"

"T-that means Kirby and Lucario with the others are there, then?" Chris asked worried.

Fox narrowed his eyes. "We should be prepared for the worst now."

"Hey! Are you going to fight against something?" DK asked punching the air, boxing-style.

"Well, probably..." Jigglypuff trailed off.

"I could give you all a hand. I wanted to have a new fight against something new after pummeling those bosses in the jungle!"

"Hmm, maybe I can fight as well…" Diddy wondered.

DK shook his head. "Oh no, don't do it, Diddy."

"W-why?"

"You wait at the dome, Diddy. You don't have any weapons with you right now. Once we tell Master Hand to give you your move set, then you can fight."

"Tsk," Fox chuckled silently at this fact. "Hate to tell you this but Master Hand hasn't said if Diddy is an official Smasher."

"B-but I asked Master Hand if Diddy could become one some time ago… I-I know he could say yes…"

"Well, yeah, but Diddy is not a Smasher yet," Fox said. "I'm just telling you this for you to know."

Chris looked at Fox. "(I hate to say you this but Diddy…is a Smasher…Fox…)"

Diddy looked down before DK panted his back. "Don't you worry, little buddy. I know you're going to be out there fighting with us. Until that, go to the dome."

"...Aww..." Diddy said disappointed as he returned to the dome, looking down all the way with the spectators.

"...Alright! I'm prepared for the worst, bring it on!" DK said excited.

"(I hope DK is enough to help us out...) Yoshi?" Chris noticed Yoshi looking down worried.

"Huh?" Yoshi looked up.

"What are you doing?"

"I was...thinking if we can still win..."

"I can't really say but...let's do this...er...together, okay?"

"...Alright..." Yoshi said, still worried as he walked ahead with his motorcycle.

Preview of the next chapter

Soon, chaos reined the place. Roaring sounds were heard, lava shook violently around, and everybody panicked. The spectators back at the dome were scared by this moment. Thunders were filling the dark sky, and the Smashers prepared to fight against the creature causing this event of destruction…

"Kart Racing and LPP, Last Event… I forgot. Who's LPP again?" Diddy asked confused.

"The psycho-Shadow Bugged Piranha Plant we met," Mallow reminded.

"Oh…"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Grumble Volcano

Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The music Chris gave Boo was the very same disc record you find in the Boo Mansion of Paper Mario.

-The Wonder Chef himself is the chef who randomly appears in Tales of Symphonia. He is usually found if you check for objects that don't seem to belong to a certain setting (like a piggy bank in a restaurant).

-Toadette did Tony Hawk's style stunts, but some were crazy ones that are surely so hard to pull out…

And now, a fight will come very soon…

The Kongs joined the Smashers (much for Fox's dismay) and the third Star Spirit is waiting to be saved. How are things going to turn for the Smashers? Will Yoshi win the festival?

Only time knows... And is it just me, or Fox suffers excessively often?

I encourage readers to review as always. ;)
*Chapter 90*: Kart Racing And LPP, Last Event

EVERYONE! "Ducks from paper attacks labeled Homework" School is trying to get my time again! "Uses flamethrower" BACK OFF YOU BEAST! YES! JUST LIKE THAT! "Right eye twitches" WE REACHED 90 CHAPTERS! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY! BURN BABY! BUUUUURN! "Chases homework monster around with flamethrower on."

From ngrey651: Dang it, you finished the reference!...

Aw, well. It's alright. I'm surprised Daisy gets so...wild. And now a poem to commemorate her craziness. "You'd best watch out for Princess Daisy...that girl is COMLETELY CRAZY!"

(Beat.) Thank you.

From me: Thanks! :)

From Wolfenpilot687: Say, this one was pretty cool with the baseball and racing...
Chris Mii? So..this is happening in Chris' Wii, huh?
YAY! Fox's boots saved the day!

From me: Thank you, well, remember that the Brawl Disc is in Chris's (and Lucario's for that matter) Wii? ;)

And boot to the head my friend...boot to the head. XD

From aquadragonsayian: Sklee! You have updated!! Heh, the Wonder Chef appears! Fox is gonna be in a BIG surprise to see that Diddy IS a smasher! Update soon please! This is getting good. Oh, and can you do a Dragonball Z reference someday?

From me: You'll see all that here! And hell no for the DBZ thing, sorry. XD

From notfromearth7: Fox doesn't get the worse, it's just that he's understandingly nervous of psycho Diddy Monkey.

Anyway, awesome.

From me: Oh, it's time for him to shine this time. (Or burn). XD

From Seitei: Seems as if this arc is slowly coming to an end. As much as this is pretty original, I'm itching to get some good action in.

Finally finished! Well, I look forward to the conclusion (?) of this arc. And now you made me hate Daisy (that little **).

Keep updating!From me: Thanks for the "How to write 101" lesson, I'll take that in mind thanks to you my friend! ;)

And why hate Daisy? She's awesome an-

Daisy: Hi Seitei! I'm Daisy! "Runs away"

...On second thought... XD

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: another great chapter added to this great story! it's good that sly may have a chance to meet the smashers and chris and finally, the cheaters have been busted at least once! when will the others be found and a major question, when is sonic coming? and another suggestion, could you make the smashers meet yuna? after all, zelda does want more females for the tournament

From me: Sonic will join them very soon (same goes for Snake and the rest), and FFX is a planned arc, I couldn't forget the best Final Fantasy game after introducing the FF lX arc at all! (That also means the other FFs will be arcs as well in order to advance). ;)

From Rellymaster: "THIS, is for breaking my favorite lens of last model, I'll allow fighting this time to teach you something, my boy!" = Awesome Toadsworth line. Never break his glasses!
A Vanishing Ball? That sure is effective. Wow, Chris was really deductive here, wasn't he? He actually got somone to work for him to counter the villains' plan!
My god! That's GOTTA HURT!! I go a headache simply reading that part. I can't imagine how LPP feels right now.
Ha! DISQUALIFIED!
Wonder Chef?
Heh heh, Daisy did the same thing I do with the Banana Peel...
Well, you sure did live up to your statement to include all genres, strangely enough.
You know, all the tracks you chose are my favorites, too.

From me: (Mistake fixed of the fighting thing). Got to love character development Relly, and yes for all the questions, and the reason of why those tracks are my favorites is for the simple reason, music! They're so catchy that I always use them in Wi-Fi!

And we are finally here in the end of the Mario Sports arc! Let's see how this ends!

Read, enjoy and review please! :)

Chapter 90: Kart Racing and LPP! Racing around and...what?

"...Are we sure this is the location?" Jigglypuff asked trembling.

"Well, they said this area is called "Grumble Volcano," so I guess this is." Yoshi said.

Grumble Volcano

"It's just me...or does the heat increases by every second?" Red asked wipping out the sweat from his forehead.

"We're surrounded by magma, lava, magma, and even more lava...hey, how did we come here again?" Squirtle asked confused.

"Beats me." Mallow said.

"Welcome, everybody, to Grumble Volcano! A place filled with dangers of lava, magma, pits and even flying hot rocks!" Toadsworth said.

"I-isn't this place a little bit dangerous to race though?" Luigi asked seeing waves of lava crashing into the rocks.

"Not at all, we proved this place as safe for racing, moving on, are the racers in their positions?"

"Oh hell yes!" Daisy said pumping up her motorcycle.

"(Daisy seems to be ready...from the beginning.) OK! Racers, take your positions, the winner of this race will determine the winner of the festival of sports of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Many Lakitus were broadcasting the match from above, people back at the dome were cheering loudly.

"...Not good, I can't sense the vines anymore." Ivysaur said.

"Why is that?" Squirtle asked.

"The magma is discrupting my abilities...and the heat here is intolerable as well..." Ivysaur said wiping out sweat from his head using Vine Whip.

"...Everyone! This is the last time so, I hope none of us screw up this!" Yoshi said to his team who nodded.

"3! 2! 1!"

Grumble Volcano

"GO!!!" Toadsworth waved the flag and announced the start of the race, everyone got a mini-turbo as they all raced down the road very close to each other.

"...What was that?!" DK asked hearing a loud explosion under the lava.

"I don't know, but maybe that explosion is part of the track?" Red wondered.

Back in the race, the racers were entering the cave, turned right and grabbed the item boxes once many took separate roads.

"Birdo is on 1st place!" Jigglypuff said.

"Correction, was!" Mallow said using a Red Shell that went towards Birdo, but Birdo threw a Banana Peel to use it as a shield, they were now exiting the cave.

"MOVE OUT! COMING!" Bowser appeared using a Mega Mushroom exactly from last place, he accelerated towards everybody who were all lined-up, eventually crushing all of them under his weight as he sped to catch up with Birdo.

"I hate to say this but Bowser didn't cheat this time!" Mallow said as he was flat.

"Was that really necessary to point out?" Chris asked, crossing the gaps to reach the other side, where many volcanoes were erupting with rage.

"Oh, lava, how much I love thee." Charizard said poetically.

...Before a flaming rock crushed him.

"...Oh, flaming rock, how much I HATE THEE!" Charizard yelled angrily (and poetically) under the rock, dropping to last place.

"LOOK OUT!" Yoshi yelled turning right too evade being crushed under a flaming rock.

"...What the hel-METEORS ARE COMING THIS WAY!" Toadette yelled loudly seeing dozens and dozens of flaming rocks being fired from all the volcanoes, flying high up in the air and starting to descend rapidly to each one of them.

"EVERYONE BY THEIR OWN!" Daisy yelled loudly taking another part to the finish line, while everyone did the same and did their best to evade the flaming rocks.

"Second lap!" Lakitu declared once Birdo and Bowser passed the line, 8 seconds later, the other racers passed the line.

"There's another explosion!" DK yelled.

"...Wait, something is not right..." Fox glanced around the track.

"Those magma rocks are being spreaded all over the place...but non-stop!" Red said gasping.

"Chris! Chris! Chris!" Professor Kawashima yelled from Chris's pocket as the World Traveler evaded 4 rocks.

"W-what is it?! C-can't you I'm trying to save my life?!" Chris asked by yelling.

"The Shadow Bugs are getting even closer, much worse, the rocks falling all over the place shouldn't be attacking anyone!"

"Attacking?"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris looked behind him where Toadette once was, but a flaming rock didn't appear from the sky, but from the pool of magma, pushing her off the stage.

"Toadette!"

"Don't worry about her, she will appear back on the track shortly!" Yoshi said speeding close to Chris, crossing the gaps to the small valley of volcanoes.

"...Lakitu! Get moving and bring back Toadette!" Toadsworth yelled to one Lakitu, who panicked as he searched around. "What is wrong with you?"

"I-I can't find Toadette anywhere! She disappeared from my reach!" Lakitu yelled.

"Nonsense! The lava here isn't damaging, unless she fell to the bottom, which is unlikely possible to happen!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"PEACH!" Jigglypuff yelled after Peach was attacked by a flaming rock, pushing her off the track. "OWW!" Dedede came from behind using a Red Shell, the "king" smirked as he took the right road to make to the finish line.

"Oh, no, Mario, I-I don't think this is normal anymore..." Luigi said trembling (both Luigi and Mario were close to the Smashers).

"Well, there's a lot of chaos around the track s-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The Smashers gasped when Mario was attacked by another flaming rock, Luigi watched his brother falling to the lava in horror.

"MAAAAAAARIOOOOOOOO!" Luigi yelled scared.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Daisy was also attacked before she could pass the finish line to reach the final lap.

"DAISY! NOT YOU TOO!"

"(Heheheheheh, this isn't going so bad at all.)" Bowser thought evily as he crossed the finish line.

"FINAL LAP!" Lakitu declared.

Grumble Volcano Last Lap

"H-how can you say that after seeing everyone running for their dear lifes?" DK asked.

"I'm not the one racing, besides, everything is just fine." Lakitu said.

"Toadette, Peach, Daisy and even Mario who isn't participating were attacked and haven't returned yet!" Ivysaur said angrily.

"OH MY GOSH! MARIO TOO?! I DIDN'T SEE THAT! EVERYBODY! SEARCH FOR THEM QUICKLY!" Lakitu panicked yelling to all the Lakitus who began to descend close to the magma to search for the fallen racers.

"...Wait just a second! Why isn't Bowser's team being attacked as all of us?!" Mallow asked seeing all the magma rocks only trying to crush or push them, but to Bowser and his teammates, they weren't being threatened at all as they crossed inside the cave.

"Heheheeeeh! That is because we're cheating again!" Bowser Jr. said chuckling evily.

"JUNIOR!" Bowser yelled from the front angrily.

"...OH, NO!"

"YOU'RE CHEATING AGAIN?!" Yoshi asked in shock as they crossed the gaps, then, Birdo appeared from behind.

"Yoshi! We need to get out of here, my team was attacked and they haven't returned here yet!" Birdo said panicning a little.

"H-how could you be cheating again?! Can't you play fair for once?!" Jigglypuff asked.

"Not a chance in hell!" Charizard said. "We're GOING to WIN this STUPID event by taking and killing all of you once and for ALL!"

"That's it, it's official, you 3 are totally sick of the mind!" Chris said disgusted.

"...Hey! What about me?!" Bowser Jr. asked angrily.

"No use hiding this crap anymore!" Bowser said snapping his fingers.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Luigi was attacked by a magma rock and was pushed to the lava.

"LUIGI!" Red yelled worried.

"TAKE COVER AND DUCK!" Fox ordered loudly as he duked.

"OH MY HOLY-TAKE COVER!" Squirtle yelled scared, hiding in his shell.

"W-what's wrong?" Red asked confused.

"GET DOWN!" DK yelled pushing Red with himself to the ground, evading a series of magma rocks coming from the lava pool.

"T-THOSE ROCKS ARE ATTACKING EVERYONE!" Ivysaur yelled seeing the magma rocks pushing all the Lakitus broadcasting the match, Toadsworth and even Birdo who were pushed to the lava.

"YOSHIIIIIII!!!" Birdo yelled before she? fell into the lava.

"BIRDO!" Yoshi yelled preocupied.

"Sorry, but this is the end of the line for you, good bye, it was a pleasure to tolerate you around!" Dedede said laughing with the villains who jumped off the track and fell into lava, the Smashers thought they did a stupid move, but probably they were safe in some manner.

Music stops

The track was empty, nobody was there except of the Smashers and one last Lakitu that survived the attacks (he even had one last camera with him), silence reigned the place and Yoshi, Mallow, Jigglypuff and Chris looked around for the sudden peace as they returned with DK, Fox, Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur.

Only the sound of waves of lava crashing into the rocks were heard, along with small explosions around.

"...I-I'm scared...we were left alone in this place..." Chris said studdering.

"Everyone was attacked but we were lucky to get through." Fox said.

"This is bad...I don't think things are going to get better..." Red said studdering a little.

"You there!" The Lakitu flew to them and aimed his camera at them. "Do you know what happened here? The crowd in the dome is panicking for this unexpected event! Maybe you could shed them some light to this?"

"(Must...avoid...stage...fright...)" Chris thought blushing embarrassed after Lakitu aimed his camera at him. "...Er...well...w-we don't know exactly what did this, b-but surely this is going to be a-answered shortly if we do some research."

DK looked down into the lava. "...Are we going in?"

"N-no way! Lava is fire, magma is fire! Bad for grass! Bad for Ivysaur!" Ivysaur said panicking in third-person.

...And suddenly, an earthquake began to manifest and the whole area shook violently, thunders began to fill the clouds.

"...Mallow, please tell me you're crying..." Yoshi said studdering.

"I-I'm not crying! This is not my doing!" Mallow protested.

"ALERT! WARNING! SOS! CAUTION! CALL THE MARINE! SHADOW BUGS ARE BEGINNING TO APPEAR!" Professor Kawashima said panicking in Chris's pocket.

Soon, chaos reigned the place, roaring sounds were heard, the lava shook violently around and everbody panicked, the spectators back at the dome were scared by this moment, thunders were filling the dark sky, and the Smashers prepared to fight against the creature causing this event of destruction.

"...T-then..." Chris changed to his Summoner job. "I-I hope I'm doing the right choice..."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"W-what was that?" Jigglypuff asked.

The center of the track was covered by a wide plain of rock that appeared from the magma, making a big field, the center of the track also got vines that spreaded all over the place, a tall tower of vines with sharp thorns covering something inside rose up, the Smashers looked puzzled at this but went on the new area, looking around to stay with caution.

"...Let's go." Fox said walking towards the plain.

"H-hey! I-I should be saying that line, no fair!" Chris said pouting a little before walking inside.

"Mallow, don't get scared, this is your first time you participate in a battle in a long time, don't get scared, don't pee your pants, is your pink hair looking good?" Mallow asked himself.

"Too much information." Jigglypuff said shrugging.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!"

"S-stop with the maniacal laugh and show yourself already!" Yoshi demanded trembling.

Holes began to sprout around them once they were close to the vine tower, magma sprout out, but after that, it stopped before erupting, the holes were 10 spreaded around, they were wide too.

"...LOOK OUT!" DK yelled after another earthquake shook the place, before they knew it, 5 tall, big figures covered in lava sprout out from the holes and looked to the sky, once the magma left their bodies, they lowered their heads to grin evily after looking down the Smashers who gasped in unison.

"Y-you! I thought we were done with you!" Squirtle said.

The figure was none other than LPP, his body was glowing with a dark aura, probably because the Shadow Bugs enhanced his strength to a dangerous level.

"I am Shadow Lava Piranha Plant! One of the kidnappers of the Seven Star Spirits!" Shadow Lava Piranha Plant said laughing evily together with his heads, who said the same thing in unison. (We're going to refer him as SLPP for short).

"S-Shadow? Then that means you're a much powerful foe like that Metal Sonic..." Chris said and the 5 nodded chuckling.

"Exactly," One of SLPP's heads showed them his tongue and they found a card on it. "Here, proof that we have the third Star Spirit, Skolar!"

Skolar's reflection appeared above the card and looked worried to the Smashers. "Help! Somebody! I need to be rescued! I don't want to stay in this prison any longer like the last time!" Skolar yelled before he vanished and the head got his tongue back inside.

"G-give it back to us!" Chris said pointing his staff at them.

"Unfortunately, we're the bad guys here, so guess what? We're not doing that!" One of SLPP's heads said.

"We can't wait to kill these persons either!" SLPP said ordering a vine from the vine tower to lower, the Smashers gasped when they saw something inside the vines...

...The rest of the Smashers, and the racers were there inside a vine cage, unconscious as Chris almost broke into tears after seeing Lucario faint. "L-LUCARIO!" Chris yelled worried about his Pokémon but the vine rose up and covered the cage. "Y-y-you stupid, bastard! What did you do to Lucario?!"

"That guy tried to get out, but our vines are supeeeeeeeeer thick to be cut down by his so-called "brute force" Tabuu mentioned." SLPP said chuckling.

"Can we start fighting already? I can't WAAAAAAIT to pummel this plant!" DK said pushing the air.

"You, together with everyone else, are going to be the ones being pummeled you monkey! You should surrender, this field favorates us since there's magma and lava involved, you don't stand a chance against us this time!"

"W-w-we can do this!" Jigglypuff protested trembling.

"F-for Geno and Mario!" Mallow said trembling.

"A-and for everyone else and Lucario..." Chris closed his eyes before opening them again. "W-WE WILL SAVE THEM FROM YOU, F-FREAK!"

Final Fantasy X - Boss Theme

"And it begins!" SLPP said hiding inside the magma with his heads.

"B-bad move, I'm going to call a summon now!" Chris said gathering magic into his staff before showing it to the sky.

...But petals began to fall around and the Smashers got confused, even a petal tree appeared close to them and they heard someone barking.

"Huh?" Chris looked to the tree where an orange dog came barking happily and he stopped right in front of Chris, who ducked and petted his head. "Aw, you're a little cute..."

"Chris, this ISN'T the time to be petting dogs!" Red said before a japanese guitar was heard and footsteps began to appear behind the tree.

From the tree, a caped tall figure appeared walking slowly towards, the figure had a hat, a long cape covering his weaponry below, a chinese sword on his belt, the figure was the Aeon, Yojimbo, who stopped right in front of them and looked to Chris.

"I am Yojimbo, Summoner, I am here to help you in your ordeals." Yojimbo said nodding.

"Sweet! We got a samurai to help us out!" Iyvsaur said happily.

"...However, my services aren't free."

"WHAT?!" The Smashers asked surprised.

"You must give me my payment in order to accept my services." Yojimbo explained.

"...There is always something screwing up your "Summons," Chris." Fox said sweatdropping.

"H-hey, I know you're supposed to be the Aeon that accepts money to attack, but can you make an exception this time?" Chris pleaded joining his hands.

"Then I would lost the whole reason of being a hired bodyguard." Yojimbo said.

"What did he mean by that?" DK asked.

Chris pulled out his glasses and coughed a little. "Basically, Yojimbo's name has roots in Japanese history. A yojimbo is a hired bodyguard that acts as a...well, a bodyguard, but you need to pay him or her in order to be protected," he threw the glasses away. "But you're my Aeon! I didn't hire you!"

"The rules of making pacts with the Aeons are not applied to me, now, pay me." Yojimbo said holding out his hand.

"...That sentence sounded really awkward in a situation like this..." Mallow said blinking bored.

"...(Okay, remember, Yojimbo can attack depending of how much I pay him, he can attack ordering his dog...what was his name? Daigoro? Yes, that was it.)"

"THE PLANT IS APPEARING! HURRY UP CHRIS!" Squirtle said as one of SLLP's heads rose up preparing to attack them.

"Scatter around everyone!" Chris ordered and everyone ran to different parts of the area. "Okay, here, 200 Smash Coins, use a good attack!" Chris gave 200 Smash Coins to Yojimbo, who nodded.

Chris gave 200 Smash Coins

"Daigoro, go." Yojimbo said ordering his dog to attack using his legs on SLPP, doing minor damage.

"...That's it?" Chris asked.

"You need to pay me more if you want another attack by Daigoro." Yojimbo said before a toon vein appeared on Chris's forehead.

"You're supposed to attack! Not your dog!"

"Daigoro is also a part of me, both of us are Aeons in one."

"...At this rate, I'm going to lose all my money..."

"What did you say Summoner?"

"N-nothing... (Why do I keep getting pathetic attacks?)"

"Hey! You! Prepare to be crushed!" SLPP appeared from behind a hole and Chris screamed, but Yojimbo took him under his cape and jumped out of the way of a head slam.

"...Wow, thank you Yojimbo! You aren't that bad actual-"

"That would be 400." Yojimbo held out his hand.

"WHAT?!"

"Protecting my client is even more expensive than attacking, now, pay me."

"...Grr..." Chris gave 400 Smash Coins to Yojimbo.

Chris gave 400 Smash Coins

"What do you want me to do now?"

"Stop asking me for money!" Chris complained.

"No, that would not do."

"DAMIT!"

Back with the others, they were really having a real fight, not like Chris.

SLLP's heads appeared from the holes and began shooting fire at all directions, everyone were rolling out the attacks to evade them.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Ivysaur screamed as he was dodging fire balls like crazy.

"Hey, let me help you!" Squirtle said stepping in front of the scared Ivysaur.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun and protect Ivysaur!" Red ordered from the finish line (since he can't fight).

Squirtle nodded and shot a stream of water from his mouth to back off the fire and protect Ivysaur. "Hmm...I wonder if..." Ivysaur called his guts and grabbed Squirtle using Vine Whip to approach him closer to SLPP, who backed away after the water was getting near.

"Ha! Not that powerful as you boasted!" Squirtle said...stopping as he was burned. "...Ivysaur...sometimes, I hate you...this is one..." Squirtle said fainting.

"Oops." Ivysaur replied before he was about to be burned. "HEEEEEELP!"

"Coming!" Jigglypuff came from the right using Rollout to push Ivysaur and herself out of the way, even Squirtle was dragged since he was on Ivysaur's vines.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ivysaur said rubbing his cheek to Jigglypuff's.

"H-hey! Stop it! You're making me blush!" Jigglypuff said blushing embarrassed.

"Here you are!" One of SLPP's head popped out from a hole as he charged a shot from his mouth.

"...Wait, something is not right with that shining light..."

"HA!" SLPP shot surprisingly a ball of magma that went quickly to Jigglypuff and Ivysaur, making a explosion of fire and engulfed both of them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Ivysaur and Jigglypuff screamed loudly.

"M-magma?! He can shoot magma balls at us?!" Yoshi asked in shock, seeing 2 heads charging magma balls. "AH!" Yoshi ran somewhere panicked evading the shots of magma.

"I-I'm worried about Jigglypuff and Ivysaur!" Chris said worried. "Okay, 600 Smash Coins!"

Chris gave 600 Smash Coins

"Kozuka." Yojimbo said taking out a dagger from his cape, before revealing 2 more daggers that he shot at fast speed to one of SLPP's heads, making a fair amount of great damage.

"UGH! YOU!" SLPP grunted in pain and charged more shots of magma from his mouth.

"U-umm, I'll resist the attack instead of evading it!" Chris said crossing his staff in front of him.

"Be that way." Yojimbo said doing nothing.

SLPP shot a barrage of magma balls to Chris, the World Traveler closed his eyes to resist the attacks and Yojimbo just stood there, not receiving any attacks since they were all aimed at Chris.

"...Nothing happened?" Chris asked uncrossing his staff.

"Hey, you should evade if you want to live." Fox said in front of Chris, who quickly appeared using his Reflector to protect Chris.

"T-thanks Fox!"

"AAHHHH!!!" SLPP was being damaged by his own shots and he was pushed back, but he returned grinning. "Fools! Reflecting my own attacks can heal me!"

"W-what?" Chris and Fox said shocked.

"NOW, BYE!" SLPP yelled using a new attack, a stream of lava being fired from his mouth.

"I can't reflect that, roll out!" Fox ordered rolling out of the way with Chris, a part of the stream touched Chris's right arm and he felt extreme pain.

"Ugh!" Chris grabbed his right arm.

"C-Chris! Are you alright?"

"O-of course not! That attack can kill us with one-hit if we aren't careful!"

"You should have payed me to protect you, or both of you." Yojimbo suggested.

"..." Fox looked at Chris with a bored look. "Is this "Aeon" always like this?"

"...Unfortunately." Chris said sighing together with Fox.

"Hello?" SLPP appeared from a hole a prepared to slam his head on them.

"YOJIMBO! ATTACK HIM!"

"Pay me." Yojimbo demanded.

Chris gave 500 Smash Coins

"Kozuka." Yojimbo appeared right in front of them at blinding speed and stopped SLPP's head using his 3 daggers as shields. "Hmph, begone." Yojimbo said pushing SLPP away and stabbing his 3 daggers into him.

"At this rate I'm going to be broke!" Chris complained.

"Are you going to pay me?"

"THAT'S IT! Yojimbo, dismiss!" Chris said angrily, swinging his staff one time.

"Too bad, I thought using Zanmato to end this fight with one-hit was good with the next payment you were going to give me regardless of the amount of money." Yojimbo said disappearing in a cloud of smoke when he did a hand-sign, Daigoro also disappeared with a howl.

"...Oh hell no! I'm not going to call you back just to be scammed!" Chris yelled to no one in particular.

"BYE!" SLPP yelled as he was about to crush both of them with a fast head slam.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" DK came from the left and grabbed both of them with his left arm and evaded successfully the slam.

"Thank goodness! It was really a good idea to make you join us!" Chris said before DK put him and Fox down.

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Professor Kawashima said.

"Let's save it for later, we should first see if SLPP has an attack pattern." Fox said.

At that moment, all the heads hid inside the magma and they all looked to the holes. "Now what?" Mallow asked.

"HEAD BASH!" SLPP yelled inside the magma, all the heads suddenly began to sprout out from the magma in a quick succession and slammed their heads to the ground, damaging everyone with moderate damage as they yelled in pain.

"OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW!" Mallow yelled in pain as the others did the same before the attack seized. "...I'm almost...done for..."

"...Why do I need to use this job the most..." Chris said frowning as he changed to his Fonyc Hymn User job. "O healing powe-"

"Forget about that!" SLPP called from the magma and appeared near a hole, went towards Chris and swallowed him whole.

"HELP MEEEEEEE!" Chris yelled inside SLPP's mouth.

"W-we need...to rescue him!" Jigglypuff said panting.

"Duh!" Red replied from the finish line.

"Well, that's going to be easy since we're too many an-" DK was interrupted before the heads shuffled together by entering and existing the holes rapidly. "...Forget what I said..."

"Chris! Can you hear us?!" Yoshi asked by yelling.

"Heheh, too bad, I made him faint and it's going to be difficult for you to find him!" SLPP said chuckling. "If you don't hurry up, the magma will incinerate him..."

"But the lava here is harmless!" Red yelled.

"Nope! Not a chance!" SLPP said laughing before the magma shone and stopped. "The magma is now harmful but good for me to hide!"

"Everybody! Start looking for Chris!" Mallow ordered and they began to attack the heads by double jumping and using aerial attacks on the heads. "...Wait, maybe I can...SNOWY!" Mallow called out to the sky where winds containing ice quickly scattered around the field, frozing the heads instantly by a big snowman that crushed the field but not the Smashers before exploding into more snow, that vanished.

"Good job Mallow!" Jigglypuff said using Rollout in one of the heads.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" SLPP grunted in rage and shattered the ice around him. "I HATE ICE!"

"Yeah! You know? That's very bad for our health an-" One of the heads was speaking with a weird tone of voice, like if something was inside his mouth, then Yoshi snapped his fingers and looked at that head.

"Chris is in there!" Yoshi said.

"...Oops." SLPP said embarrassed.

"..Sorry, but I have to do this..." Yoshi swallowed Mallow, turning him into an egg and used Yoshi Egg to aim at the head and throw his egg to him, the egg hit the head with a direct hit and it dropped Chris, who was falling to the ground unconscious.

"Oof!" Mallow got out from the egg and shook his head.

"Somebody catch Chris before he gets hurt!"

"I'm right on that!" DK said running to Chris, the gorilla rolled to the ground and caught Chris on his arms then looked down to him. "Hey, Chris! Wake up!"

"...Uuuuugh..." Chris shook his head and tried to regain his vision, before seeing DK's face straight.

"Heheh."

"UAH!" Chris yelled scared and jumped off from DK's arms.

"Be grateful, you were going to be thrown in the lava!"

"...Really?"

"Watch out!" Mallow yelled as DK took Chris with him and evaded a head slam.

"O healing power..." Chris quickly tried to cast First Aid on Ivysaur.

"SQUIRTLE! SQUIRTLE!" Red yelled from afar and tried to wake up Squirtle, the turtle Pokémon shook his head and awakened. "Squirtle! Can you still fight?"

"I-I guess so..." Squirtle said before he quickly hid in his shell and resisted a flamethower attack from SLPP. "HELP!"

"(Wait, I got it!) First Aid!" Chris casted First Aid on Ivysaur, who regained consciouness and shook his head, he looked around and found Mallow. "Mallow, attack the same head that is attacking Squirtle, he's distracted trying to hurt Squirtle, do you have an attack to deal a great amount of damage?"

"Y-yes, I do! Thunderbolt!" Mallow held out his hand to the sky and thunderbolts began to rain down the clouds, not only the thunders hit the one head, but crashed into the rest of the heads who screamed in pain.

Burning Fighting Spirit

"...Mallow! That's it! Your magic is the weakness of this monster!"

"Really?" Mallow asked tilting his head with a small smile.

Chris looked at the heads who were stunned and couldn't move around. "Everyone! I got a tactic!"

"I'm all ears, tell us." Yoshi said.

"Look, the heads can get distracted when they attack someone, during their attack, they stop focusing their attacks on the others, if someone can attack them while they're busy, then we could win against them, not only that, if Mallow's magic can reach all of them, then it's much better!" Chris explained and the group instantly smiled with a nod of agreement.

"And don't forget the Over Limit gauge ready." Fox reminded him.

"What's the Over Limit thing?" DK asked.

"The Over Limit lets someone use his or her Final Smash to deal a powerful attack to the enemy, everyone has a different Final Smash of their own, to use it, you need to say a sentence to use the Over Limit, then, use your Final Smash anytime when you are glowing." Chris explained.

DK began to hop a little. "Ooh! Ooh! It's my Final Smash about making me bigger?!"

"..." Chris remembered DK's Final Smash. "...Er...I don't think so..."

"Aww...oh well, anything's good."

"How about if we use the items for a chance?" Red asked from afar.

"Hey, he's right! We haven't used the items!" Jigglypuff said.

"And the Star Spirits, I can use them to help us!" Chris said.

"Is everyone ready?" Yoshi asked.

"Ready!" Everyone said and they turned to different heads, who regained their compostures and looked at them.

"Let's stun them for more time, Mamar! Please help us!" Chris said joining his hands and calling forth Mamar in a blink of light. "Mamar! Use Lullaby on them!"

"Oh?" Mamar looked at the piranhas looking straight to her. "When I was a little child, my mother used to cook these good cookies that I usually enjoyed, they were so good that I shared them with my friends in the schools for young stars, anyway, they thought they were so delicious that they asked me for more, so I asked my mother to make even more cookies to share with my friends and then we thought about opening a cookie shop to sell in the Star Street, basically, the idea was to make money and donate it to the needed stars, did you know that there are homeless stars up above the sky where they need food to survive? So we started that shop and I need to tell you, we sold a lot of them! Dozens by dozens, they began t-"

"All that talk is making me feel kind of tiiiiiiiiiiiireeeeeeedddddd..." SLPP said before the heads fell asleep, snoring loudly.

"Zzzzzzzz..." Chris was shown sleeping as he was standing up.

"CHRIS!" Jigglypuff yelled using Pound on him.

"Oh, what?! They're asleep! Attack them!"

Mamar giggled. "Call me once you have more star power sweetie." Mamar said before she disappeared.

"Let's see...what to use..." Chris searched through the inventory. "Soccer Ball?"

DK quickly took the Soccer Ball out from Chris's hands and used a charged up Giant Punch, the ball was engulfed by the fire (OF YOUUUUUUUUUTH! Not actual fire) and stroke down one of the heads dealing massive damage. "Bull's eye!" DK said as the ball fell down.

"Oh, you want a bull's eye?" Mallow asked raising his finger in the air and the prince closed his eyes before slamming it down in the air to the ball. "SHOCKER!"

SHOCKER!

A huge bolt fell down the Soccer Ball and it got covered in fire, blasting off to one of the heads, again, dealing massive damage as it fell down to the ground.

"Hmm..." Squirtle looked at the Soccer Ball rolling towards him and then got an idea. "I got it!" Squirtle said snapping his tiny fingers, the turtle Pokémon hid inside his shell and charged up a Water Gun attack.

"Now, Squirtle, use fully charged Water Gun!" Red ordered and Squirtle shot a fast stream of water to the ball, it went blasting off to another head, dealing massive damage.

"...Wow, I didn't think the Soccer Ball had so much power..." Chris said in awe.

"...All of you..."

Yoshi looked to his right where Fox looked down clenching his fists. "...Fox? Are you alright?"

"...All of you..."

"All of us what?" Jigglypuff asked confused.

"...All of you...ARE COMPLETE AMATEURS!" Fox yelled angrily before he sped towards the Soccer Ball, making everyone to make confused looks.

"...Complete amateurs?" Chris, Jigglypuff, DK, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Yoshi and Mallow repeated confused.

What they saw next was really surprising, once Fox reached the ball, he lifted it with his legs high in the air, jumped to it and did several complex soccer maneuvers that made the Soccer Ball to caught fire and blasted off to every single head in quick succession, making everyone to open their jaws wide open.

"...Falco wasn't kidding about the soccer memories..." Chris said in awe.

"...Wait, maybe we can take advantage of Fox's soccer skills and deal many attacks with them!" Yoshi suggested.

"...I got it!" Chris said snapping his fingers as he finally decided to use the Dragoon job (he was dressed as Freya Crescent, but in light-blue clothes). "If we can maintain Fox in the air long enough, we could extend the duration of the combo he's making!"

Yoshi looked to Fox who began to descend from the air. "Hurry! Follow me!" Yoshi said running towards Fox.

"...Yoshi's a tactician as well?" Chris asked to himself, shook his head and followed Yoshi.

"Alright, here's the plan, both of us will stand below Fox and we'll be human platforms to make him stay longer in the air as he continues to hit them."

"Sounds good to me." Chris said nodding to Yoshi who nodded back, Yoshi jumped towards Fox and pushed him higher in the air with his back, the vulpine continue to kick the ball back and forth as Yoshi descended and Chris jumped high up to levitate him using his lance.

"OWW! OWW! WATCH IT! OWW! OWW!" SLPP's heads complained as this combo constantly kept going.

The Soccer Ball was going to vanish, but Fox did a final kick stronger than the last ones and blasted off the ball with great speed to one head, surprisingly, it killed one of the 5 heads as Fox landed between Chris and Yoshi as he grinned, triumphaly.

"That has to be the MOST, AMAZING COMBO I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!" Chris said happily.

"As I've said before," Fox stood up, crossed his arms and closed his eyes, still grinning. "You're all amateurs."

"I have to remark your opinion, that was soooo incredible!" Yoshi said.

And what do you know, Fox finally had his badass moment coming for a while, didn't he?

"Y-you darn furry! You killed one of me!" SLPP said angrily.

"...Wasn't that sentence awkward as well?" Ivysaur asked.

"(Huh? Is this...feeling again...)" Chris thought.

"(W-what's happening? Where am I?)" Yoshi thought.

"(Y-Yoshi?!)"

"(Chris?! W-what's happening? And what do I have this weird idea of creating an attack together with you?)" Yoshi asked confused.

"(...Wait, the Dragoon job is compatible with Yoshi then?... So that's how our Combinated Final Smash goes...)"

"(Chris!)"

"(O-oh! Sorry Yoshi, w-well, you see, this happens when me and another Smasher have reached their maximum partnership capacity, meaning that you trust me completely, right?)"

"(W-well...I do trust you...I mean, you offered to help me in the festival of sports...)"

"(...I'm so happy for that Yoshi! It means so much for me!)"

"(...So, what do we do now?)"

"(Our Lvl. 1 Final Smash, remember how is it?)"

"(...You know, I do!)"

"Then let's test it!" Chris said nodding with Yoshi.

"Hey, stop ignoring me!" SLPP said annoyed.

"And me!" SLPP said annoyed.

"Or me!" SLPP said annoyed.

"And most important of all, me!" SLPP said annoyed and the heads looked at each other with annoyed looks...annoyed.

"Jump!" Yoshi said as Chris rode Yoshi's back (Chris thought it was really fun to ride Yoshi) and the dinosaur/dragon/whatever propelled up very high in the air and disappeared in a blink.

"...Where'd did they go?" DK asked confused.

"Who cares about those pests?! It's time to get revenge on you!" SLPP said preparing to shot a stream of magma from his mouth.

"...Huh?" Jigglypuff looked up to find a blink in the distant clouds. "...They're coming back!"

"What the?!" SLPP looked above and found a fast meteor that made a huge impact on one of the heads, making a small earthquake in the area as one head vanished in thin air, when the dust cleared from the impact, Chris and Yoshi were there while the World Traveler shoved his spear to where one of the heads once was.

"DRAGOON SPEAR IMPACT!" Chris and Yoshi said in unison, the World Traveler dismounted Yoshi atfer landing and both jumped back to their team.

New ability learned! Dragoon Spear Impact!

Rises high up in the sky with your ride and crashes down the enemy with a powerful descend using the spear, an enhanced version of the ability Jump by a Dragoon, deals a great amount of damage to a single enemy

"NOT ANOTHER ONE!" SLPP said angrily.

"Yes! 2 heads down and 3 more to go!" DK said.

"OH? SO YOU THINK YOU JUST CAN WALK ALL OVER ME LIKE THAT?! NOT A CHANCE!" SLPP yelled furiously hiding inside the magma.

"...There's another earthquake!" Jigglypuff said.

All the holes began to shine brightly before they shot magma to the air, creating drops of magma that damaged the entire party greatly.

"UGH!... This feels...like acid rain!" Yoshi said struggling to resist the attack.

"This is not good...I don't think I can't hold on much longer..." Fox said panting heavily.

Just then, when the rain stopped, huge bursts of magma explosions occurred all over the place, the whole party was getting even more fatal damage, there was no escape from that attack as they yelled in pain.

"UGH!"

"FOX!" Chris yelled worried before Fox dropped to his knees.

"I'm...sorry...I can't go on...anymore..." Fox said fainting and falling to the ground, muttering the last part.

"UGH!" Chris backed away from a burst of magma. "I...need to...survive..."

"SQUIRTLE! USE WATER GUN!" Red yelled.

"I CAN'T! UGH! THE MAGMA IS JUST TOO HOT!" Squirtle yelled inside his shell as he defended himself from the explosions.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!" SLPP rose up from the magma laughing evily, stopping the attack. "Who's on the ropes now?!"

"Over here!" DK yelled behind one head, the head turned and was punched straight in the face and was sent to the ground with an impact.

"Leave that one to me!" Jigglypuff said charging up her Rollout attack, she was then blasted off to the head with great speed and crashed into him, dealing a great amount of damage before the head rose up and shook his head, grunting at Jigglypuff.

"DIE!" SLPP yelled firing a stream of magma to Jigglypuff from his mouth.

"SOMEBODY!" Jigglypuff yelled blocking her face in fear.

A vine quickly grabbed Jigglypuff and pulled her before the magma could reach her, she looked behind her and Ivysaur was there grabbing her. "Ivysaur! T-thank you!"

"Ugh...I guess I can still fight..." Ivysaur said twitching a little.

"It's distracted, attack him!" Chris said, Mallow rode Yoshi and both went after that head.

"Oh no you don't!" SLPP said opening one of his heads's mouth and rushing towards Yoshi and Mallow to eat them.

"New skill!" Chris said shining a little before he dashed towards the head that was flying slightly above the ground, 3 dragon clouds formed around him and he stabbed his spear on the head. "Lancet!" Chris said stealing some energy from the head with the stab, regaining some health and stopping the head.

"You're mine!" Another head, doing the same action, went after Chris and he shielded himself with his spear and closed his eyes.

"PUF!" Jigglypuff came once again using Rollout to slam herself into the head and push him away from Chris, who smiled to Jigglypuff and thanked her.

"SHOCKER!" Mallow yelled pointing at their head.

SHOCKER!

"UGH!" SLPP twitched in pain after a huge bolt of lightning fell on him and made him to crash in the ground, he slowly rose up and glared at Yoshi and Mallow. "I hate pests like you!" He looked around and smirked when he saw the fainted Fox on the ground. "Time for that guy to be INCINERATED!" SLPP's motuh shone and he fired a stream of magma to Fox who couldn't react.

"LUAMP!" Yoshi used his tongue and it reached Fox in time to pull him away from the magma, Yoshi turned Fox into an egg and he took it with him. "I know, this is embarrassing but it's the only way to protect him from the piranha!"

"I'm not complaining about that, good idea!" Mallow said nodding.

"DK!" Ivysaur yelled as DK looked back to see a hole about to explode with magma, one head was underground the magma to cause the explosion, DK couldn't escape and decided to block the attack, but somehow Squirtle tackled him to evade the attack in time.

"Hey, thanks little buddy!" DK said with a smile to Squirtle.

"ROLL!" Squirtle said rolling away with DK to evade a magma ball.

"Heads down!" Chris yelled taking out he Ray Gun and began to shoot the heads continuously.

"Oww! Oww!" SLPP moaned a little in pain.

"Jigglypuff! Take this!" Chris threw the Home-Run Bat to Jigglypuff who catched it in the air and flew to the same head Chris was attacking.

"HA!" Jigglypuff charged her hit with inmense power and made contact with the head, SLPP yelled in pain as he stretched himself because of the power of the bat high in the sky and went crashing down the ground causing a tremble, he was apparently knocked out of cold since there were stars floating around him.

"DK! Throw the Pitfall to the head to bury it!" Chris threw the Pitfall to DK who as soon as he got it, threw it with force to the same head, burying it in the ground.

"Y-YOU! STOP IT!" SLPP yelled twitching in pain.

"Mallow! Can you use Star Rain?"

"Y-yes I can but how did you know?" Mallow asked.

"That doesn't matter, use it now!"

"STAR RAIN!" Mallow held out his hand to the sky where a big Starman fell and crushed the head continuously, 11 times to be exact, SLPP yelled in extreme pain and that head vanished. "2 more to go!" Mallow said.

"I...need more strength..." Yoshi said panting heavily trying to evade all the magma shots from one head.

"Alright, alright, I'll use the Musician job!" Chris said changing to the Musician job and began playing his harp. "Soul Etude!" He called out creating a blue atmosphere, healing everyone's health a little.

"Oh, I'd wish to see what Final Smash do we have together!" Jigglypuff said floating to Chris and throwing the bat to one head before the bat vanished.

"Well...I think this job should be compatible with you, I mean, music and singing are 2 same things, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"(What the-)"

"(Is this the same feeling that Nana told me about?)" Jigglypuff asked through her mind.

"(Jigglypuff! We were right, the Musician job IS compatible with you!)"

"(Thank Arceus it is! Hmm... this combination isn't so bad, I want to try it out now!)"

"Gladly!" Chris said smiling a bit and both stood close to each other.

"So," One of SLPP's head appeared behind them. "I have freaky teen and pink puffball for dinner." SLPP said smirking opening his mouth.

"Tune of help, please, hear our chant and make out path easier and enthusiastic by stealing our foe's health!" Chris chanted creating a melody as Jigglypuff sang quietly. "ABSORBING SONATA!" Jigglypuff called out finishing her song, suddenly, both heads began to shine brightly with a pink color before big pink drops dispersed on the center and shot the Smashers's bodies, shining brightly and recovering moderate damage, even one drop went towards Yoshi's egg and it broke out, with Fox regaining consciousness and looked around confused.

New ability learned! Absorbing Sonata!

Create a peaceful and cheerful melody that makes enemies feel pain inside and steal their healths, deals a large amount of damage and restores/revives party members with large amounts of health depending of the enemy's health

"Say Yoshi, your baby looks a lot like Fox." Mallow said walking to Yoshi, who was holding Fox on his arms, both of them exchanged glances and Yoshi threw Fox to the ground disgusted and they glared at Mallow.

"A-anyway, did we make progress in the fight while I was unconscious?" Fox asked.

"We took down another head, Chris and Jigglypuff discovered their first Combinated Final Smash that recovered us and you and there are 2 heads left!" Squirtle said summarizing the events.

"...Oops." Chris randomly dropped a Watermelon from his pocket, from his 5 foods.

"...Okay, I know this is stupid to ask, but was that even necessary?" DK asked confused.

From the vine tower, inside the cage, we see Kirby moving a little and he slowly woke up and looked around to find the others unconscious. "Food...I can...taste the food..." Kirby muttered weakly.

"Gimme!" DK said swallowing the Watermelon in a second. "Hmm!"

Chris made a shocked face. "W-what the-how did you eat that thing in less than a second?!"

"In the tournament, we swallow the food to recover quickly, try it!"

Chris took out a tea and...he ate it, with tea and teacup. "...OH...MY...GOD...I ate the teacup and thought it was delicious!"

"Master Hand likes to defy the physics actually..." Jigglypuff said sweatdropping.

"Hello?! Subspace monster trying to kill you all?!" SLPP asked furiously before he hid inside the magma with his remaining head.

"STAY FOCUSED!" Yoshi yelled worried, looking around madly.

CHOMP!

"CHRIS!" Red yelled after Chris was being bitten by the 2 heads.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! HELP ME!!!" Chris cried out, trying to resist the attack.

"WE HAVE TO HELP HIM OR ELSE HE WILL DIE!" Fox said alarmed rushing to the heads with everyone else.

"CHRIIIIIIIIIS!!!" The Smashers yelled loudly, trying to reach the head in time before they could finish Chris.

"NOW!" One head said to the other and they separated quickly, slashing their fangs on Chris's body, dealing massive and fatal damage to the World Traveler who began to cry silently.

"...NO!" DK yelled astonished with small pupils.

"...So...rry...I'm too...scared...to go on..." Chris muttered weakly as his tears ran down his cheeks before he fainted.

"Oh, c'mon! This has to be a joke!" Yoshi said horrorized.

Jigglypuff leaned her right ear into his chest. "...He's still alive! Don't worry!"

We change the scene to the vine tower, focusing our view where Lucario was unconscious. "...Lucario...help me...I need you...please...hear me...I...don't want...to die...I beg of you..."

A Formidable Foe Stands in the Way

Chris's voice rang inside Lucario's mind, Chris's aura was an important part of Lucario's mind, whenever Chris's aura was in trouble, the World Traveler would be suffering and Lucario would hear that and react to that reaction.

"GRRRRRRRRRR..."

"Huh?" Kirby looked to Lucario's face, where he began to show his fangs slowly before showing them fully, grunting with inner rage.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

Kirby saw Lucario's body glowing intensely and the Star Warrior began to tremble with fear. "L-Lucario?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!" Lucario opened his glowing yellow eyes and he stood up quickly, roaring loudly to the sky inside the cage where he manifested his fury.

"L-LUCARIO! C-CALM DOWN, YOU'RE SCARING ME!" Kirby yelled hiding behind Luigi's unconscious self.

"CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS! WHERE IS HE?! WHO IS THE BASTARD THAT HURT HIM?! WHERE IS HE?! TELL ME!" Lucario roared to Kirby furiously as his aura covered his body as a blue flame.

"I-I DON'T KNOW! PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME!" Kirby said hiding completely.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Lucario roared furiously and closed his eyes to use his aura and search through the area and find Chris quickly. "THERE!" Lucario said opening his eyes showing a nasty glare, then he went to the vines and tried to tore open them with his hands glowing with intense aura.

"Y-you already tried that before and it didn't work!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Lucario roared loudly breaking the vines with ease as Kirby's eyes widened in awe.

"...Wow..." Kirby muttered before Lucario used Extremespeed to disappear from the cage.

"UGH!" SLPP felt pain running across his body and they got confused at this. "No...who broke out from the cage?!"

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Lucario appeared quickly in front of the group showing his fangs with rage.

"Y-you! H-how did you escape from th-"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Lucario used his Final Smash on one of the heads at full potency, a beam of aura stroke down one of the heads and it vanished, making the last head to get worried.

"M-my god, is he that strong?!" DK asked.

"...Only when somebody manages to defeat or kill Chris..." Fox said.

"...Chris..." Lucario looked over his shoulder where Chris was unconscious, tears still strolling down his cheeks. ".....Grrr.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"

"O-okay, I know the rules already, d-don't get in the kid's way or else you will kill anyone, heheheheh, f-fine, I'm going away now and leave you alone, okay?" SLPP asked trembling with fear.

"DO YOU THINK I'M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY TRAINER?!?!?!" Lucario asked with fury on his tone as he gathered even more aura between his hands.

"...N-no! Please! Don't!"

"GuuuuuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lucario shot a devastating beam of aura that went blasting off to the last head who screamed in fear before being completely covered with the aura that destroyed him completely.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" SLPP yelled in extreme pain before he vanished, for good.

"...Hmph..." Lucario was shown panting heavily as his aura disappeared and turned back to normal.

"...That was...amazing..." Yoshi said in awe.

"I think I just fell in love..." Jigglypuff said joining her hands with heart eyes.

"...Lu...cario?"

"Chris!" The Smashers said surprised after seeing Chris slowly waking up from his fatal state, Lucario quickly ran to him and kneeled.

"C-Chris! Y-you're alive!" Lucario said looking down to him and closed his eyes.

"...Lucario..." Chris smiled a little and closed his eyes.

"...Phew, I thought you were gone..." Jigglypuff said turning back to normal.

"...Everyone!" Kirby yelled from the vine tower waving at them. "Help me carry everyone back to safe land!"

10 minutes later...

The Smashers took everyone back to the finish line, who were still unconscious, Lucario was holding Chris in his arms since he was fataly wounded.

"...Thank you Lucario...you saved me as always..." Chris said smiling weakly to Lucario, who smiled a little and started to lick his face happily. "Thank you...Lucario..."

"Is Lucario always like this?" DK whispered to Jigglypuff.

"Well, both of them are very close to each other," Jigglypuff closed her eyes and smiled. "I think it's very cute of Lucario to do that personally."

"I wish there was a way to heal you quickly Chris..." Lucario said stopping licking Chris.

"...Wait...I think there's a...Heart Container somewhere in my inventory..." Chris said trying to remember and Lucario quickly looked for the item and showed it to Chris.

"Here, please." Lucario said giving Chris the heart.

"..." Chris took the item and it vanished, creating spores of light around his body before stopping. "...I think I can walk for now..." Chris said as Lucario placed him down slowly.

"Geno! Geno! Geno! Wake up Geno!" Mallow said running on his spot.

"...Mallow?" Geno muttered, slowly opening his eyes.

"Geno! You're alright!" Mallow said opening his arms to the sky, then Geno stood up and shook his head.

"...Where are we? What happened?"

"Lots of things happened..." Yoshi said, looking down to Twink and poked him.

"YAH!" Twink floated quickly and blinked in shock. "...We're free?! We're free!"

"...Huh?" DK put his hands near his ears. "Wait, something's not right!"

Jigglypuff was slapping Olimar to wake him up. "What?"

"...The music! It's not gone yet, the plant is still alive!"

"...The music?" Chris asked.

"Don't you see? The author haven't told us when the music ended as is still playing, if it is still playing, then the plant hasn't been defeated yet, unless the author forgot to indicate when the music stopped and finish this fight!" DK went WAY too far in breaking the fourth wall.

"...The author?" The Smashers exchanged confused glances. "The music?" They got in thinking positions. "Finish the fight? Hmm..." They began to thought in unison. "What are you talking about?" They asked in unison.

"...Oh, nevermind, you don't know that yet." DK said moving his right hand.

"DUAH!" Olimar's eyes quickly opened in shock. "W-where am I?! And my Pikmins?!" Jigglypuff explained everything to him. "R-really?!"

"Y-yes!" Jigglypuff said nodding quickly.

"So, what are we going to do with all of them?" Red asked glancing at the unconscious people, the Lakitu from before turned off the camera and looked at them.

"Well, it would be bad to broadcast this part to the crowd, they would panic if they ever see this!" Lakitu said.

"..." Lucario closed his eyes and started to glow. "...Grrrr..."

"...I don't like that grunt..." Olimar said studdering.

"...He is back!" Lucario said turning to the vine tower who began to descend slowly to the magma and all the holes began to shook violently, the Smashers once again took fighting stances (well, most of them), and they waited for something to happen.

From all the holes, vines with sharp thorns began to sprout and spreaded around the field, the center of the field was shaking violently, and then, 2 small Piranha Plants's heads showing their tongues appeared from the magma, then, another big one appeared showing his flaming tongue and smiling rather wickly, their heads were covered by the Shadow Bugs, and they also had black flames above.

"Oh please, you've got to be kidding me!" Ivysaur said frowning.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" SLPP laughed evily. "That wasn't the last of me, this is my true form, the most powerful!"

"...STUPID, LAST BOSSES, FINAL FORMS!" Chris said stomping on his place.

"W-what do we do now?" Kirby asked.

Geno looked at all the characters who were unconscious. "Red! Do you think you can take care of them while we go and fight that thing?"

"W-well, I think so, leave them all to me and go on!" Red said nodding with a serious face.

"I'm going to stay here as well!" Twink said floating close to Red.

"...Everyone," Chris changed to his Dragoon job, raised his spear and pointed it at SLPP. "Please, let's go and...let's finish this annoying, stupid little eye-less, plant!" Chris said.

"Right!" Everyone said nodding before they ran towards SLPP and jumped the vines with thorns along the way.

"We are 12 against 1...but...I don't know if we can make it..."

"HAHA! Already losing confidence?!" SLPP asked laughing evily.

"...N-not even a chance!" Chris said closing his eyes and gulping.

"I will finish you off this time...for what you did to Chris!" Lucario said while his hands flared up with aura.

"I-I'm not sure if this is a good idea..." Yoshi said trembling.

"U-us neither." Kirby and Jigglypuff said trembling.

"L-let's see, the field is now covered by vines and thorns...we have to be careful and evade getting pinched by the thorns!" Chris said and they nodded.

"Now, it begins again!" SLPP said gathering magma inside his mouth.

"The same moves again?" Squirtle asked.

"BLUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" SLPP shot an insanely fast stream of hot magma from his mouth that spreaded to at least 90 degrees of the field, dealing severe damage to all the Smashers who screamed loudly in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Mallow yelled inside the stream of magma.

"...Please...tell me I'm not dead..." Chris muttered with closed his eyes.

"Chris, open your eyes, we're fine," Lucario said, Chris opened his and found himself being carried by Lucario's right arm on the other side of SLPP. "I managed to use Extremespeed in time before that attack could reach you."

"T-thank you, but what happened to the others?"

The stream of magma stopped and the Smashers were somehow still standing up, panting heavily. "No...our health is in danger again..." DK said panting heavily.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAA! Who's the boss around here now?!" SLPP asked smirking evily.

"P-Professor Kawashima! Do you think we can use the Over Limit gauge many more times in a battle?" Chris asked.

"W-well, if you use it now, use any Final Smash, then deal many hits to SLPP, then you should use it again by that time." Kawashima explained.

"(Think hard Chris, you should select the indicated person to deal as much damage possible, remember the spoiler videos you saw in Youtube...er...I mean the dojo, it's awkward to think about Youtube in a time like this, okay, who can deal more damage then?)"

"Chris! Hurry! He is charging his attack again!" Lucario yelled as SLPP was charging up his magma attack to finish them off.

"Lucario! Leave me here and rescue everyone using Extremespeed!" Chris ordered.

"Right." Lucario said nodding and used Extremespeed to quickly cross the field and grab everyone to put them in different places, out of the reach of the stream of magma that was fired from SLPP's mouth.

"Grr! I hate people with insane speed blocking my already insanely fast stream of magma!" SLPP complained by grunting.

"You're more talk than action you know..." Red said from the finish line.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"You're more talk than action you know..."

"WHAT?!"

"You're more talk than action you know..."

"WHAT?!"

"You're more talk than action you know..."

"WHAT?!"

"Hmm..." Yoshi began to think at the situation.

"...He is distracted, isn't he?" Fox whispered to DK.

"I think we got a plan..." Chris muttered with a small smile.

"You're more talk than action you know..." Red repeated as SLPP kept asking why.

The Smashers quickly gathered and discussed their strategies. "Okay, we can't reflact back his magma balls attack because it would heal him, it's time for one of us to use the Over Limit gauge, who wants to use it?" Chris asked, and for his surprise, all the weakened Smashers raised their hands quickly. "...We need to decide who!"

"But we don't know what Final Smash do we have!" Yoshi said.

"Meh, I've already seen mine." Kirby said.

Chris sighed disappointed and finally decided to explain each one of them what kind of Final Smash they have, except for Mallow and Geno.

"...That's it?" Jigglypuff asked with a glare.

"...Yes?" Chris said confused.

"So I get wings and invincibility and shoot fireballs?" Yoshi asked and Chris nodded.

"So I get bigger and bigger and bigger until I push out my opponents?" Jigglypuff asked and Chris nodded again.

"I use my bongoes to attack?" DK asked and Chris did the same thing.

"So we need to have Charizard with us in order to do our Final Smash?" Ivysaur asked and Chris nodded yet again.

"Oh, hooligans! I can't believe my ultimate attack is calling Bulborbs to eat my enemies and then crash my ship into the ground!" Olimar said a little alarmed.

"...Are those complains?" Chris wondered.

"YES!" Previous characters said a little angry.

"...Er...Fox, I haven't heard your opinion yet..."

"...So I get to call a Landmaster and use it against my enemies?" Fox asked and Chris nodded. "...That is a waste of time! I can't believe Master Hand gave me that attack!"

"Huh?"

"I thought I was going to use Krystal's staff with some kind of powerful, sealed, ancient magic that I could only use or something like that, not to resort to my weaponry!"

"...Hate to say this, but is KRYSTAL's staff, not FOX's staff." Chris said closing his eyes.

"...Whatever, anything is good at this moment..." Fox said a little disappointed.

"Well, for your luck, I think your Final Smash would come handy at this moment, anyone who uses their Final Smash is invincible during the attac-"

"At least Falco will get a different one, probably with his Arwing."

"...Y-yes..." Chris said blushing embarrassed.

"...And Wolf too."

"..." Chris was now utterly embarrassed and tried not to laugh. "E-everyone! We need to attack him and fast, every second counts before he notices he's..." Chris ducked and whispered: "Being distracted..."

"Let's do this thing!" DK said making a fist in the air.

"B-but first, is everyone feeling alright?"

"...No...we received a lot of damage during that magma attack..." Geno said twitching in pain.

"...I guess I don't have another choice..." Chris changed to his Fonic Hymn User job and prepared to cast First Aid. "O healing power..."

"You're more talk than action you know..." Red kept repeating.

"WHAT?!" SLPP kept asking angrily.

"You're more talk than action you know..."

"WHAT?!"

"You're more talk than action you know..."

"...Wait, I think I got it!" Chris said smiling a little before his staff glowed brightly. "Nurse!"

"Nurse?" Geno repeated confused.

Footsteps began to be heard and they looked behind them where 4 nurses began pacing around the field and jumping the thorns happily, flapping their little wings in unison.

"...Sooooooooo, you called nurses just to be killed?" DK asked before their bodies glowed with a blue light, restoring their health and the nurses disappeared. "W-what?"

"...I feel so good now!" Kirby said hopping happily.

"Can you repeat that again?" Mallow asked.

"...I'm afraid I can't, using magic constantly tires me out and they have a delay when I cast them on the field, if the magic is more powerful, then I need to cast a longer chant and focus before executing the attack." Chris explained before he shook his head. "...Aren't those piranhas looking at us?"

They all turned to the 2 small Piranha Plants showing their tongues at them with closed mouths, they looked at each other, nodded, and began firing fast magma balls as they quickly evaded the shots and jumped the vines with thorns. (Lucario holding Chris in his arms in their case).

"We have to deal with the small heads and the bigger one!" Jigglypuff said flying away.

"The bigger one is more stupid than it seemed to be though..." Squirtle said.

"WHO SAID THAT?!" SLPP asked angrily looking at the Smashers.

"SQUIRTLE!" Jigglypuff used a Pound on Squirtle's cheek and pouted.

"TURTLE SOUP!" SLPP yelled before his mouth began to shine brightly.

"Squirtle, use Surf!" Red yelled.

"O-okay!" Squirtle said and used Surf to be propelled to the air with a stair of water, evading the fast blow in time.

"Lucario! Do you think you can attack those piranhas using Aura Spheres?" Chris asked to Lucario who began charging an Aura Sphere.

"That is not so difficult, leave that to me." Lucario said nodding before firing his Aura Sphere at one head, pushing it back.

"Keep firing! Red, Ivysaur! Can you 2 grab the other piranha and pull it away?" Chris asked.

"I-i'ts going to be hard, but I'll try it!" Ivysaur said nodding.

"Ivysaur! Use Vine Whip on the piranha and pull him!"

Ivysaur nodded and used his Vine Whip attack to grab the small piranha head and struggled to pull him away. "U-ugh! He's...too...strong!"

"Worthless scum!" SLPP said ordering his head to enter the magma, along with Ivysaur's vines, making the Grass Pokémon to yell in pain as he pulled back his vine.

"O healing powe-" Chris was interrupted before the same head rose up below him and pushed him to the air, dealing fire damage to his legs. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"CHRIS!" Lucario stopped firing Aura Spheres and jumped to the small head and deliver an uppercut, then he used the head as a platform (resisting the fire damaging his legs) and jumped towards Chris to catch him in time to land safely. "...Ugh..."

"Follow-up uppercut!" DK yelled jumping to the same head who was closer to the ground and did a strong uppercut with his right hand in the chin.

"L-Lucario! Thanks for saving me!" Chris said a little worried.

"I-I'm fine, I can still fight back." Lucario said twitching a little.

"THUNDERBOLT!" Mallow called out.

"GENO BEAM!" Geno called out along with Mallow and both landed/fired their attacks at the same time to the head that was being attacked by Lucario, also damaging the other heads by Mallow's Thunderbolt a little.

"Taste this!" SLPP yelled many magma balls to the air who began to descend towards all the Smashers who gasped.

"Kirby! Yoshi! Suck them up!" Squirtle yelled, Kirby and Yoshi nodded to each other and jumped high in the air to suck the magma balls into them, Yoshi made eggs that he began to fire back to the heads and Kirby shot them away to prevent SLPP from healing.

"YOU LITTLE-" SLPP was attacked by an Aura Sphere from Lucario, and from behind. "Y-YOU!"

"He is distracted, now Fox!" Red yelled from the finish line.

Star Ocean 4 Battle Theme

Fox took out his Blaster and spun in his finger before slamming it back to his pocket. "Now, let's see if you can still resist!" Fox said before an explosion of a rainbow colored aura covered his body and his eyes glowed in a yellow color, the Star Fox leader ran towards SLPP jumping above the thorns.

"O healing power..." Chris chanted closing his eyes and concentrating his force on his staff. "First Aid!" He yelled pointing at the sky as Ivysaur was healed from his burns a little.

"Thanks!" Ivysaur said.

"Ivysaur! Use Razor Leaf!" Red commanded.

"Yes!" Ivysaur began to slash SLPP's head continuously using a barrage of sharp leaves.

"S-STOP! I HATE TO BE SLICED!!!" SLPP yelled.

"Sliced?" Kirby wondered before he took out his cutter, ran to SLPP to stay close and rose up to the air with an uppercut slash, before coming down and slam his cutter to creat a shockwave, crossing SLPP.

"DIE!" SLPP yelled chasing after Mallow and Geno using the main head, then he swallowed them whole. "HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Oh no you don't!" DK appeared from behind slamming his fists directly into the head, SLPP spat out the 2 and evaded the crash into the ground before returning to his position.

"Psychopath!" Mallow called out as spotlight focused on SLPP. "Hmm...he still has more health left..."

"(I love hot potatoes!)"

"Guys! He loves hot potatoes!" Mallow pointed out.

"H-hey! How did you know?!" SLPP asked surprised.

"LANDMASTER!!!"

"Wha-UGH!" SLPP was uppercutted from below by Fox who rose up to the air and appeared inside his Landmaster and landed on small head.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Yoshi yelled panicked and the Landmaster began to fire a round of charged shots to SLPP, who yelled in extreme pain and couldn't retaliate, all the heads were being attacked by all the shots from Fox's Landmaster.

"Assist him while SLPP is stunned!" Chris called out. "O divine spear, run my enemy through!"

"GO! GO! GO!" Yoshi said jumping towards the stunned heads using flutter kick attack to hit one small head continuously.

"Ready!" DK said stopping charging his Giant Punch and ran to one head. "HA!" He punched him hard and it went towards the ground with a crash, staying there since Fox's shots were still being fired continuously.

"Holy Lance!!!" Chris said doing a 360 degree spin on his place and called forth a holy glyph below SLPP, 4 spears of light appeared on a square position and crossed his body quickly before vanishing.

"GUUUUARRGH!" Lucario fired a fully charged Aura Sphere to one head, increasing the damage amount.

"SNOWY!" Mallow called out a blizzard to crush the 3 heads under a big snowman who exploded into more snow, dealing moderate damage.

"Stars, give me strength! Geno Blast!" Geno fired a light to the cloud before pillars of different colors rained down the plant dealing even more moderate amount of damage.

"WATER GUN!" Red ordered making Squirtle to shoot a stream of fast water to one head, who apparently was being hurt by the water that was wetting his head.

"O-Olimar! Where are you?!" Chris asked looking around.

"HELP! MY PIKMINS CAN'T DECIDE WHAT TO ATTACK!" Olimar yelled from a far away spot, where his Pikmins were hitting the vines with sharp thorns as Olimar used his whistler continuously, but with no success.

"HI-YAH! EY!" Kirby came from the air and slashed down the vines, cutting them in half and making the Pikmins to stop their attacks as they looked confused.

"Oh, thank you!" Olimar said bowing before he ran (rather slowly) to SLPP with his Pikmins. "Go!" Olimar threw his 5 Pikmins to the main head...and got burned and died since they were all Blue Pikmins. "Oh, fire plants and pipes..." Olimar said snapping his fingers before he began to take out 2 Red Pikmins, 1 Purple Pikmin and 2 Yellow Pikmins. "Go!" Olimar threw his 2 Red Pikmins to the head and began smacking him.

"LAST SHOT!" Fox yelled inside his Landmaster and charged up a stronger shot that went blasting off to one head before the Landmaster disappeared (digitally, how can that be possible?), Fox backflipped and landed safely on the ground.

"Psychopath!" Mallow called out focusing the spotlights on the main head. "...His health is almost gone! We can do this!"

"THAT'S IT!" SLPP yelled hiding inside the magma quickly.

"LUCARIO! SLAM YOUR FIST INTO THE GROUND!" Chris ordered.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucario crashed his fist with aura on the ground to create an earthquake, but that didn't help and he was surrounded by the 3 heads who began to charge fire inside their mouths before showering Lucario with a tower of flames. "UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"LUCARIOOOO!!!" Chris cried worried, the heads quickly hid inside the magma and Lucario was taken down with fatal damage. "W-where did that bastard go?!"

"HELP M-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Mallow cried loudly as the heads appeared surrounding him and firing an assault of hot flames, taking him down as he sobbed siltently. "...Ge...no...u-ugh..." Mallow was able to say before fainting.

"MALLOW!" Geno yelled gasping and the heads appeared from the magma and surrounded him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Not him too!" Kirby said worried as he saw Geno fainting weakly besides Mallow.

"GEEEEEEEEEEENOOOOOOO!!!" Twnik yelled from the finish line crying loudly.

"D-don't worry Twink, e-everything is going to be alright." Red said trembling a little.

"DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU 2?!" SLPP asked appearing from the ground, charging his attack as Red and Twink yelled in fear.

"REEEEEED!" Squirtle came from above using Surf, taking Ivysaur above his back who used Vine Whip to take both of the characters out of the devastating fire attack.

"T-thank you guys!" Red said as Ivysaur put him and Twink down safely to the ground.

"Hmm?" SLPP turned his head and smirked after seeing the still uncosncious characters laying on the ground, then he began charging his fire attack.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" DK yelled running to SLPP and jumping to him to prepare his Headbutt attack.

"Strengthen the power of my ally, Geno Boost!" Geno called out increasing DK's strength.

"HU!" DK used a stronger Headbutt on SLPP who became paralyzed as the Kong landed on the ground.

"Attack him, now's our chance!" Chris ordered and all of them ran to SLPP. "Return this soul from the abyss of death!" Chris chanted focusing his magic on Lucario.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" Yoshi used his Yoshi Eggs to damage the heads continuously.

"Red Pikmins, Red Pikmins, Red Pikmins..." Olimar said pulling out Pikmins to get the red ones, sacrifing Pikmin after Pikmin after Pikmin that he was throwing into the lava (a closer look and we see his tears running down his cheeks). "ATTACK!" Olimar said launching his 5 Red Pikmins to the main head who smacked him.

"Haaaaaa!" Fox jumped into the air and did several midair kicks on one small head, landed and did the same combo.

"Resurrection!" Chris casted a sacred light from the dark clouds that touched Lucario's body and revived him.

"...U-ugh..." Lucario grunted in pain.

"Lucario!" Chris ran up to Lucario and gave him a hug.

"C-Chris, are we still fighting?" Lucario asked looking to Chris over his shoulder.

"Y-yes, go on and help them!"

"UGH!" SLPP regained consciouness and hid quickly in the magma. "SO, DO YOU LIKE THE HEAT?!" SLPP asked and the magma began to shine brightly.

"W-what's happening now?!" Twink asked before he began to pant heavily. "...Oww..."

"...What...is this...heat...?" Ivysaur said dropping into his stomach and began to sweat.

"...He...is increasing...the heat of the magma..." Yoshi said weakly and dropped to his knees.

"I'm...going to get...a fever if this continues..." Chris said trying to hold on using his staff as a supporter.

"...What...can we...do...?" Lucario asked even more weakly than the others.

"I feel perfectly fine if you ask me." They all looked to Olimar who was all fine.

"...B-but...why?" Fox asked slowly falling to his right knee.

"This suit protects me from drowning, extreme high and low temperatures and from breathing air!" Olimar said sounding happily.

"DK looked at the 5 Red Pikmins swimming in a magma hole. "...How come they...can resist the magma?"

"Oh? Well, magma is technically fire so it doesn't damage them." Olimar explained.

"...I got...an idea..." Chris said weakly before changing to his Pikmin Captain job (first time he changes jobs so many times in a chapter and first time in a LOOOOOOOOONG time he uses the Pikmin Captain job at the same time). "...Phew! This suit has even air conditioner inside!" Chris said inside his helmet happily.

"...Thanks for...getting the wish of...air conditioner to us...now do something!" Yoshi tried to yell angrily.

"R-right...well, the Red Pikmins can swim inside the lava so...we should tell them to attack SLPP inside the magma to finish him off!" Chris trying to get Red Pikmins (doing the same action Olimar did before) before he got them. "E-everyone! Are you alright?!"

"If you can...count...all the sweat...running from...every part...of us...then...NO!" Jigglypuff yelled angrily.

"...Food..." Kirby muttered quickly panting heavily.

"...Okay, this already went too far, Olimar! You know what to do with me?" Chris asked and Olimar nodded slowly. "Pikmins! Go down and smack the grassy crap out of that plant!" Chris ordered his Pikmins who nodded and dove inside the magma together with Olimar's Pikmins.

"...Hey, where did you come from?" SLPP asked under the magma where he was shown panting heavily since his energies were almost gone as the 10 Red Pikmins swam slowly above his heads and himself.

3 minutes later...

"OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! STOP IT! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW!!!" SLPP yelled as him and his heads were being smacked by the Red Pikmins who ganged up on them.

"Chris! Chris!" Professor Kawashima yelled from Chris's pocket. "The Over Limit gauge is almost full!"

"W-what?!" Chris asked.

"Apparently, 10 Pikmins count as hits so, the gauge is almost full an-wait, it's ready!"

"O-OK! Now we need to take him out somehow!" Chris began to thought as SLPP yelled in pain under the magma.

"Hu...rry...Chris..." Lucario muttered almost to the point of fainting.

"Olimar! Use your Final Smash!"

"H-how can I do that again?" Olimar asked.

"JUST DO IT FOR THE SAKE OF ALL OF US!"

"Um-hm, like this?" Olimar asked looking around, activating the Over Limit with the confused sentence he made and created an explosion force, covering him in a rainbow aura.

"Now, how can we take him out?... Wait...Mallow said...HOT POTATOES!" Chris yelled to the magma.

Suddenly, SLPPquickly rose up and looked frantically around for mentioned invisible items. "H-HOT POTATOES?! WHERE?!"

"OLIMAR, NOW!"

"I-I-I- I'M TAKING OFF!" Olimar ran below SLPP and his ship, the...er...Olimar's Ship appeared and the captain quickly climbed to his cockpit and blasted off to the sky's night, everyone was able to see the ship flying off to the distance...

...Before a rampage of Bulbobrs came in and started to chow down SLPP furiously in a frenzy of bites. "YEOOOOOOWWCCCH!!!!" SLPP yelled in pain as he was being constantly bitten.

"...Ridiculous..." Yoshi, DK, Kirby and Jigglypuff muttered in unison.

The Bulbobrs disappeared and SLPP shook his heads. "...I...can't...hold on...much longer...BUT I CAN STILL EAT YOU ALL AS DINNE-"

A blink appeared from the sky and they all looked at the dot increasing in size, we see Olimar panicking (because the reason of why his ship crashes into the ground was because it always runs out of gasoline in the worst moment, or every time he uses his FS). "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! SOS!!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!" Olimar screamed loudly as SLPP panicked since he was the impact site of Olimar's ship.

"HAHA! I CAN STILL ESCAPE, YOU FOOLS!" SLPP yelled smirking evily, trying to hid inside the magma but he couldn't budge at all. "...WHAT THE?!" He looked down where the Red Pikmins tried hard to keep him outside, even all the remaining Smashers were grabbing the roots hardly using their last forces to end the battle once and for all. "...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

A huge explosion took place on Shadow Lava Piranha Plant, all the Smashers were pushed away by the force of the explosion spreading around the field (Olimar who fell above Chris) and they saw the explosion still occurring on the enemy before they saw SLPP with his jaws wide openned in shock.

Then...the plant along with his heads fell to the ground, defeated.

"...Uh...uh...uh..." SLPP sobbed as the Shadow Bugs left his body and vanished in thin air. "...I failed you...Lord Bowser...forgive...me...Lord...Tabuu...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lava Piranha Plant yelled loudly to the sky before he began to explode in his place crazily, going in all directions, the vines around the track began to disappear along with the thorns, the Smashers looked at all the vines vanishing, or more accurately, drying up until they became dust, going all the way to Lava Piranha Plant, who turned all brown and into dust that desintegrated in the magma, for good this time.

Music stops

"..." The Smashers walked to the center of the site, they looked down to a small rock where a card containing Skolar, the third Star Spirit, was there laying silently.

"..." Chris slowly took the card on his right hand, he closed his eyes, raised the card in the air and did a peace sign to the sky nodding happily. "Alright! We won!"

Tales of Vesperia - Victory Boss Battle Theme

"We did it...WE DID IT! YOOOOHOOOO! MY FIRST BATTLE AND I WON!" DK cheered loudly smacking his chest proudly.

Fox sighed and crossed his arms. "I'm glad this is over...finally..." Chris was standing there with arms behind his back, smiling. "..." Fox smiled and held up his left hand. "Alright, here we g-"

"YAY!" Chris spun in the air, did a high-five with Fox and stood by his left side.

"...Good job." Fox remarked nodding.

"...Did I miss something important?" Lucario asked confused, getting up slowly and tilting his head to the right.

"Nothing Lucario!" Chris said hugging Lucario happily.

"...Fine..." Lucario said, before he started to lick Chris's cheek again, laughing heartily with his trainer.

"W-we won! W-we won!" Yoshi said happily.

"And all thanks to Olimar!" Jigglypuff said glancing over Olimar...who was knocked out of cold. "...Hello?"

"Olimar?" Kirby poked Olimar's helmet with curiosity.

Red and Twink came in with Squirtle and Ivysaur laughing together. "We did it everyone! We rescued Skolar after all!" Twink said flying around happily before looking down to Geno and Mallow. "...But..."

"Give me 2 minutes please." Chris said changing to his FHU job. "Return this soul from the abyss of..."

2 minutes and a half later...

"W-we won?!" Mallow asked before jumping 100,000 feet in the air and opened his arms to the sky. "WE WON! WE DID IT!"

"Thanks goodness." Geno said nodding and walked to Chris. "Give me the card, we have to release Skolar no-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" They all exchanged confused glances before looking up where Lakitu was broadcasting the whole match, the crowd back at the dome were getting wild by their cheers to Yoshi's team, then Lakitu waved at them laughing heartily.

"Trick you! I WAS broadcasting the entire match to the crowd!" Lakitu said laughing.

"...Uuuuuuugggggghhhhhh..." Chris's stage frightness hit him and fainted above Lucario's left shoulder with swirl eyes.

"...Heh, stage frightness..." DK muttered and they chuckled in unison.

Peach Dome

"RELEASE!" Geno held Skolar's card to the air and the card began to shine brightly on the center of the dome, everyone was there, along with Mario, Luigi, Peach and the rest watching the spectacle of light of the card, then after a bright shine, Skolar appeared spinning in the air before stopping and smiling down the Smashers.

"Ho ho ho!" Skolar laughed heartily. "I'm free from that prison again! Thank you Geno, you did all of this?"

Geno shook his head and looked at the Smashers, and Mallow. "No, they all helped, especially Chris, the World Traveler."

"The World Traveler hmm?" Skolar flew to Chris (who was recovered and tried not to faint in front of the spectators). "Such an honor to be rescued by you, and the elite of fighters named Smashers."

"W-we don't use the word "Smashers" so often..." Jigglypuff trailed off.

"Seriously, sometimes I want to change that name too." Yoshi said frowning.

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me at all," Skolat chuckled a little and looked around the dome. "Mario? Princess Peach?"

"Mario, is he one of the Star Spirits from long ago?" Peach asked.

"Yes, he is, it's good to see you again, Skolar." Mario said bowing to Skolar.

"Still defeating Bowser's schemes, I see?" Skolar asked raising an eyebrow.

"...Always..." Mario said scratching his hat.

Skolar laughed a little and looked to Chris. "World Traveler, it's not necessary to say that your journey is not over yet, isn't it?"

"Well..." Chris looked at the Smashers, Geno, Twink and Mallow who smiled a little to him. "...I want this journey to get longer...I really enjoy spending my time with all of the-"

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!" The spectators said interrupting, making Chris to blush a little...or a lot.

"...O-okay, enough." Chris said.

"So, I think it's also time for you to get my powers to help you." Skolar said shining, he began slowly to spun around and spun even faster overtime Chris, making star images with spores before he stopped above giving Chris his powers.

Chris has learned Star Storm!

Calls forth stars from the space and damages all the enemies, deals great amount of damage

"T-thanks! This will help us!" Chris said smiling to Skolar who chuckled heartily.

"Still an honor World Traveler, now, I msut return to the Star Shrine and reunite with Eldstar and Mamar, please, continue to gather all the remaining Star Spirits to repair the Star Road and continue to grant everyone's wishes again," Skolar began to shine and spun to the air slowly. "Good luck Smashers! And please, keep fighting until the end!" And with a blink, Skolar disappeared in the sunset.

"Ahoy! I can't believe this all happened because of Bowser's doings!" Toadsworth announced to the crowd. "Well, it seems we have to end the festival of sports since the chaotic ending in the final track got us off-guard, fortunately, we managed to catch Bowser and his accomplices and brougth them to the dome!"

Toads carrying Bowser, Bowser Jr., Charizard and Dedede on rolling beds appeared from the halls and they stopped right in front of Toadsworth, apparently, they were fainted.

"...What happened to them?" Toadette asked.

"It seems they were stupid enough to jump to the lava and get themselves hurt...greatly..." Daisy said sweatdropping.

"..." The Smashers chuckled at this.

"So, today, we proclaim the YOSHI ISLANDERS AS THE WINNERS OF THE FESTIVAL OF SPORTS!!!" Toadsworth announced loudly and confetti began to rain down front the top of the dome, where Lakitus were throwing it happily, the spectators were cheering loudly and Yoshi got confused.

"B-but we didn't win the last part!" Yoshi said.

"Oh, you DID save all of us from the destruction, didn't you?"

"And you also deviced all those strategies to get Bowser into the punishment he deserved from the beginning!" Luigi said.

"...And we're sorry for not believing in you..." Peach said joining her hands together.

More Toads came from the hallway pushing a big platform on wheels, something big was below the big white sheet, they rolled it to the center, nodded to each other and uncovered the gift.

It was a sparkling, big trophy that made Yoshi's jaw to drop in awe, even his teammates were impressed by the details of the trophy and were amazed by the gold shining, reflecting their reflections.

Festival of Sports

Team: Yoshi Islanders

"For showing incredible skills and prowesses during the event, this trophy is sign of their victory as comrades and teammates for their hard efforts."

The trophy had this labeled on the base.

Yoshi walked slowly to the trophy and looked to his reflection, his eyes began to fill with tears and he jumped to the trophy, hugging it while he cried. "I'M...SO...HAPPY!!! PARRIPAPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Yoshi cried out as the crowd applauded to his team who waved at them, they all ran to Yoshi and the trophy, doing high-fives and some hugging each other celebrating.

"Y-Yoshi..." Birdo walked towards Yoshi, playing with her? fingers. "...I...wanted to say you...c-congratulations..." She? said blushing.

"..." Yoshi ran to Birdo and hugged her tightly, then he looked straight to her? in the face. "KISS ME!"

And both shared a passionate kiss...

...The whole audience blocked their eyes, Mario and the rest looked away blushing embarrassed, the Smashers doing the same with Chris's eyes very wide before Lucario blocked them with his left hand.

"...Ugh..."

The crowd stopped clapping, Yoshi and the rest looked to Bowser and the others slowly regaining consciousness, shaking their heads.

"...What...happened...?" Bowser asked.

Chris looked to Lucario who was burning up with aura. "L-Lucario! What are you doing?!"

"You promised me I could take them on after the festival ended, and I'm going to do that right now!" Lucario said growling with rage.

"...Toadsworth..."

"Fighting is allowed!" Toadsworth replied glaring at Bowser.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" Lucario lunged at the 4 who looked at him, screamed loudly and were pulled into a cloud of dust where they were screaming in pain as Lucario roared loudly inside.

"MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" Bowser and Jr. screamed in unison.

"OK! WHO WANTS TO BEAT THE STUPID CRAP OUT OF THEM?!" Jigglypuff asked inflating herself, all the Smashers, Geno, Mallow and Twink (except Fox, Olimar, Kirby and Chris) raised their hands with glares and joined the fight, even the crowd were cheering at this moment.

Chris blinked surprised at this moment as Kirby sat on his hands, standing there with Olimar and Fox in both sides. "...So..."

"...So..." Olimar repeated.

"...So..." Fox repeated.

"...So..." Kirby repeated.

"...What do we do now?" Chris asked.

"...Beat them up?" Kirby asked.

"OH, GLAD YOU ASKED!" Chris yelled with the others nodding in agreement and running inside the cloud, joining the crazy fight.

"Hahahahahaha!" Mario and Peach's team laughed heartily at this moment as the camera gets slowly away from the dome.

"And thank you all for watching the festival of sports folks! See you at Beijing for the Olympics!" Toadsworth announced as the crowd gave the final cheer to the players.

Entrance of the Peach Dome

"So, it's the Smash Mansion a great place to live DK?" Diddy asked walking besides DK and the Smashers.

"Yep! Lots of bananas are there in my room!" DK said laughing with Diddy.

"It's a shame how Diddy will react after Master Hand tells him that he is not a Smasher." Fox whispered to Chris.

"...I wouldn't be so sure..." Chris muttered embarrassed.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing!" Chris sweated moving his hands in front of him.

"Aw, I feel so good after slapping Bowser's face non-stop!" Jigglypuff said happily above Chris's head.

"Fighting never was this fun and curing before." Mallow said smiling.

"Yeah!" Twink flailed his little arms around.

"Charizard and Dedede will get away though..." Squirtle said.

"Rats! We forgot to catch Charizard!" Red said snapping his fingers.

"Too late, they were taken to the Subspace, I can't feel their auras again." Lucario pointed out and Red looked down in shame as Squirtle and Ivysaur tried to cheer him up.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!!!"

"Huh?" They all turned their heads to the dome where Yoshi was running to them with a worried look, he stopped right in front of them, panted, and looked to them.

"Yoshi? What are you doing here?" Geno asked.

"I-I want to go with you to the Smash Mansion!" Yoshi said trying to catch his breath.

"WHAT?!" Kirby, Jigglypuff and DK asked surprised.

"A-after you helped me to win the sports and being so nice to me...I...want to join you all right now!" Yoshi ducked, when he stood up, he had a baseball cap, a tennis racket and a glove. "Also, the Smash Mansion has better installations to train for the Olympics!"

"Oh yeah! The Olympics!" DK said.

"...Hate to say this to you, but Mario told me you can't participate for unknown reasons..."

DK's smile didn't fade and Diddy moved his hands in front of DK. "...Donkey? Donkey? Are you alright? Donkey?" Diddy asked.

Then DK fell backwards on his back with a thud and Diddy gasped.

"DONKEY!" Diddy yelled worried and slapped DK's face continuously.

"...So..." Yoshi began. "...Can I go with you?"

"...What do you think everyone?" Chris asked and they nodded smiling a little. "Welcome to the team, Yoshi!" Chris said doing a handshake with Yoshi, who closed his eyes happily.

NEWCOMER!

Yoshi joined your team!

"Yes! I can't wait to see everyone again at the mansion! And the new Smashers!" Yoshi said happily and they began walking away where Chris opened the portal to the mansion.

"Lucario! Lucario! Please take DK with you!" Lucario had to listen to Diddy and lift DK above him with ease, entering inside the portal.

"Yes, you 3 will enjoy the mansion, with no awkward happenings or events for sure." Chris said closing his eyes as they entered inside the portal and vanished with it.

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 3000 Smash Coins!

Yoshi's partnership level was filled!

Smash Mansion
Command Room

They all came from the portal but stopped with crazy Naruto faces, but Chris didn't since he had his eyes closed. "And here we are everyone! Everything went well afte-OH-MY-GOD!" Chris's face turned into the crazy Naruto face once he opened his eyes...

...After seeing all the Smashers dressed with pink versions of their clothes, even their weapons were pink.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Diddy dropped to the floor, laughing madly and rolling a little as the Smashers grunted at him. "THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN!!!" Diddy said happily as he laughed loudly.

"W-what the hell happened her-" Chris was tackled down by a pink Pikachu and a pink Pichu who covered his face with fear.

"WE DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER! WE DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!!!" Pikachu and Pichu screamed loudly.

"...Falco, what hap-" Fox was interrupted as well.

"We don't want to talk about it again." A pink Falco and a pink Wolf said in unison irritated.

"...I...was sure there were still crazy things happening here..." Yoshi trailed off recovering his face.

Fox looked to Diddy, a smirk grew on his face and looked at Master Hand. "Master Hand, tell Diddy he is not a Smasher."

"Why?" Master Hand asked. "Diddy is a Smasher, a new one to be accurate."

Fox's smirk didn't fade. "...Fox? Hello?" Ivysaur moved a vine in front of Fox's face, and Fox instantly fainted backwards on his back with a thud as DK, only this time with swirl on his eyes.

Wolf walked to him a kicked his head a little, then he glanced at Diddy laughing and a grin grew on Wolf's face. "This is gonna be fun...heh..." Wolf said chuckling, as we see Diddy still laughing as the screen pans out.

"Next time: Ta name is ol' man Raven with Thanksgivin'!" DK said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The Boss Battle theme and Yojimbo (the Summon Spirit who needs to be payed in order to attack AND the one who took Chris's money) are references of Final Fantasy X

-Burning Fighting Spirit and A Formidable Foe Stands in the Way are song references of Tales of Vesperia, along with the Victory Boss Battle Theme.

-Star Ocean 4 Battle Theme is a reference to the uncoming Xbox360 game, Star Ocean The Last Hope.

-Chris and Fox did the second high-five victory action as reference to Tales of Vesperia, Estelle and Rita's second one to be precise.

-Crazy Naruto faces of Naruto! XD

I hope the battle was good to all of you! Yoshi joined the team and won the event, also DK and Diddy join them as well! Fox got his badass moment using his amazing soccer skills of High School! ...But got the worse afterwards, poor guy, LOL. XD

Yes, a Thanksgiving special is coming up, with the best Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and Vesperia references ever! What will happen next time? Patience can always resolve things my enthusiastic readers and reviewers! ;)

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 91*: Ol' Man Raven

In behalf of my kindness, I'm sorry for not updating this chapter in Thanksgiving, and for the insanely long chapter, I should all this energy to write less longer chapters, so, from this day, I'll update with shorter chapters (less than 10,000 words) because this one is 20,000 words long! TT_TT

From RellyMaster: "Master Hand likes to defy the physics actually..." Works for me!
Guess Fox's got some awesome skills with soccer, doesn't he? So that explains why he wears boots...to hide his kicking power, right? XD I only know the move Jump from Kingdom Hearts 2.
"And what do you know, Fox finally had his badass moment coming for a while, didn't he?" Oh yeah! And Lucario has just gotten even more incredible than before!
Now STAY DOWN, SLPP!!
YAY!! THE YOSHI ISLANDERS WON!! ALRIGHT!
Aha! That was pretty stupid of the villains to drive into the lava. Talk about idiocy! Oh well, they had it coming! *snaps fingers twice*

From me: Yep, humor was well done here, hopefully, I hope you can understand the length of this one, I'll promise next chapter will come up in 2 or 1 day. :)

From ngrey651: Ah, an amazing boss fight, a cute yet kinda creepy kiss between Birdo and Yoshi, Fox will continue to be annoyed by Diddy, and best of all, Yojimbo kept ripping Chris off. He's worse than a timeshare.

From me: Yes, he is, but he kicks (BEEP) if you have pacience with him. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: stupid homework, has to get in the way of our social life, anyways, yes, those mutha[bleep] cheaters are finally beaten! sorry, in a bit of a bad mood cause of stupid rain. it's understandable that a desert needs rain, but i had to cross a river just to get to school! anyways, yay! the smashers have won the sports competion, three old smashers join, and this story brought my spirit back up! poor Fox and everyone that stayed at smash mansion,Falco HAD to accept that bet. hopefully, the thanksgiving break should help with the story. and a song suggestion, "run around" from digimon, no digimon arc, just this song

From me: I hope you didn't catch a cold, and about the song suggestion, I don't think so, but! There's an awesome song near the end of this chapter! Enjoy! ;)

From Wolfenpilot687: O_O; What the hell did just happened? Seriously, this chapter was to insane. FUNNY!

Thanksgiving chapter, hope there's turkey in there! *shakes fist* You know, turkeys are evil... *winks*

From me: "Me knows." XD

From Nintendogeek01: Phew... that was a long battle, but that was definately one of the most intense battles yet, I seriously enjoyed that one. Well done.

From me: I hope you don't lose hope because this chapter is probably the longest one (IT IS), but! The next chapter will be half shorter than this one, thanks! :)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Oh Boy that battle was a long, epic fight just how I like them.
The humor like always was hilarious and Red and several others being the comic relief for the fic had me laughing out loud the times you wrote the jokes in.

Anywho A nice finish to a great story arc eager to see what's the next story arc for the fic and continue the awesome work.

Peace.

From me: I have trouble with 3 arcs though...thanks! :)

From Mewtrainer: You, sir, are a super-mega-ultra-uber genious writer!! The story is funny, and I like that you used an Emperor's New Groove reference! What is "stage frightness"? :) I just have one complaint. Could you not use ship (change "p"), darn (change "r"), stuff like that? PLEASE!!

From me: Thank you! But unfortunately, I can't change the curses, so you'll have to endure that, my bad, it's just for humor purposes. :)

And so, we're here in the ToS2/ToV/Thanksgiving Special! In commemoration of the success of Tales of Vesperia, the released of Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of the New World and Thanksgiving! Enjoy this insanely long special! (I blame DianaGohan, she probably rubbed it off on me, just kidding Diana!)

Be warned, slight spoilers are here from both games, but they're small, don't worry.

Read, enjoy and review please! :) (Wonders where are his most frecuent reviewers.)

Chapter 91: Ta name is ol' man Raven with Thanksgivin'!

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

Both King Dedede and Charizard were above beds with casts all over their bodies with angry faces, their legs, arms (and tail in Charizard's case) were held up above in all directions. "So, you are telling me you deployed ALL the Subspace Bombs in the same place and failed to kill the Smashers?" Tabuu asked with fury in his tone.

"All dah fault is because of the dragon!" Dedede complained and Charizard grunted.

"Says the one who did it, fatty!" Charizard said angrily.

"Seriously, sending you 2 to a world deserves only failure to us." Ganondorf said crossing his arms.

"And it seems we only have 4 Star Spirits left, while they have 3 in their possesion." The Ancient Minister reminded them.

"Can I go agai-"

"NOT AGAIN, POKEY!" They all yelled to Porky.

"IT'S PORK-"

"DO YOU DARE TO YELL AT ME?!" Tabuu asked creating a tremble, making Poke-I mean, Porky shut his mouth with fear. "As I was saying before, we have to keep the Star Spirits away from them or else the wishes will be granted again."

"But as long as Exor holds his position in the city, we have a countdown before he uses all his forces to destroy the city." The Ancient Minister said.

"We need to wait a re-think our strategies to take over the worlds and take them out once and for all." Ganondorf said.

"Once and for all, once and for all, you can't be more original, can you?" Charizard asked rethorically frowning.

"We have to create more Subspace Bombs for the time being, try to recover you energies to be ready for tomorrow, that is an order." Tabuu said disappearing in the Subspace.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

United Oath

Several minutes passed after they all calmed down, but it seemed that Chris was interested of why were they wearing such ridiculous clothes, weapons and skin colors. "...Now that everything is alright, can somebody tell m-"

"We don't want to remember." A pink Ness said frowning.

"...You have been giving me the same response over and over again!"

A pink Lucas trembled. "W-we don't want to remember that event again!"

"...Nana, please, you know I can count on you to tell m-"

"Chris, that's Popo." The correct Nana said sweatdropping, since she already had something pink, nothing changed in her.

"...Oops...okay, okay, since nobody wants to tell me what happened here, I'm going to see the shop."

Smash Coins in hand: 2500

Jobs (New!) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Ionian Sargeant Oracle Knight Fon Master Guardian: 2500 Smash Coins

D: Having magic and great attacks using a doll haven't been this fun before, with the Ionian Sargeant Oracle Knight Fon Master Guardian you can cast dark magic and attack with your trusty doll to your enemies and resist great attacks using the very same doll!

"Ionian Sargeant Oracle Knight Fon Master Guardian?" Chris asked confused at the long name.

"It's one of those strong jobs, you should buy it! My jobs haven't disappointed you, right?" Crazy Hand asked.

"...I suppose then...okay, I'll buy it," Chris gave his last Smash Coins to Crazy Hand and once again as before he glowed before stopping, now he was wearing a light-blue shirt below a white X-shaped cross cape (the midpoint being his head, making upside-down V-shaped trails on his front and back), black pants, brown boots, white gloves and an oddly-shaped staff, he looked at his clothes. "...Well, it has a nice touch to it, I think."

"Hey, what's on the back?" DK (in his Brawl form along with Yoshi and Diddy who got his weapons and abilities) touched Chris's back and lifted a small doll, the doll had a rather wicked face with 2 buttons as eyes, but the left "eye" was a green "N," it also showed fake fangs and Chris took it from DK.

"Wuss, you play with dolls." Wolf said chuckling.

"W-wuss? How rude!" Chris placed the doll on the floor and found a note attached to the doll. "...This was here with doll, it says..."

Hello there! So, you must have taken one of my dolls, Tokunaga (the doll that you currently have in your possesion), anyway, you're wondering how a small doll like Tokunaga will help you correct? Well, just put him on the floor and wait for something incredible to happen, but don't ask me how it happened!

Love, Anise Tatlin, Fon Master Guardian XD (Hearts)

"Anise Tatlin? Who is she? Do you know her?" A pink Ness asked.

"I-I don't know her, but maybe I have the game where she appears...maybe..." Chris looked down to Tokunaga. "So how will "Tokunaga" help me in battl-"

"LOOK!" Mallow pointed at Tokunaga who trembled uncontrollably before he began to grow slowly, making the Smashers watch surprised as the doll surpassed Chris's height by centimeters.

"...THIS is amazing..." Chris said nodding and Tokunaga nodded too. "W-what the?! It moved!"

"It appears the doll mimics your moves." Mewtwo (pink tail) explained.

"Hmm..." Chris moved his right hand and Tokunaga moved his own, Chris jumped and Tokunaga jumped, Chris made a salute and Tokunaga did the same. "Okay, this really impresses me." Chris said nodding in a thinking position as Tokunaga did the same, looking at him.

"...If you can, control the doll to move around."

"O-okay..." Chris just stood there and Tokunaga walked to the pink Zelda and handshaked her hand.

"My, how polite is this doll." Zelda said as Tokunaga walked to Chris.

"...Be careful, it can get out of control if you don't focus enoug-" Mewtwo was interrupted before Tokunaga punched C. Falcon hard in the face and was sent to the wall.

"Oww! W-what was that for?!" C. Falcon asked.

"S-sorry! I didn't want to punch you!" Chris said moving his hands in front of him, sweating, as Tokunaga did the same action.

"Sorry Falcon, Chris didn't mean to punch you, he lost control of "Tokunaga" for a moment," Mewtwo explained as he looked at the pink Lucas and pink Pichu hiding behind Ness and Pikachu. "...He won't hit you 4, rest assured."

"Phew." Pichu and Lucas sighed in relief.

"So this doll, "Tokunaga," can fight?" Yoshi asked poking Tokunaga.

"Let me try to do some moves." Chris said as he started to swing his hands quickly, Tokunaga did a 3-hit combo with his hands before stopping. "So?"

"Quite basic." Mewtwo said.

"Okay, enough with the doll," Master Hand began. "We have other matters to do."

"Yes, like letting us wear our normal clothes again!" Etna peered from the hall, not wanting to show her pink outfit. "T-this is just too girly for my tastes! Can we end the dare now?"

"I don't see the problem," Flonne's voice was heard from the hall. "I like my pink outfit!"

"Flonne! That's your opinion! Most of us agree is not!"

"I have to agree with the demon." A pink Pit said.

"Geez, now you're starting to call me a demon again? I'm a good demon!"

"Say what you want, but that won't change my opinion."

Etan moved her left hand next to her head. "Whatever, I need to go back to the "666th" floor and see if the Prinnies are doing a good work on it," Etna took out her trademark megaphone. "PRINNIES! GET THE HELL BACK TO WORK!"

"COMING DOOOOOOOD!!!" A multitude of Prinnies covered the whole hall as Etna hid in them and avoid the Smashers to see her pink outfit as they went away.

"...There's a 666th floor here?" Red asked confused.

"Again, we don't want to remember," A pink Meta Knight said before Squirtle stared at him. "...What?"

"Of all the people in my head, you're the last person who would wear a pink outfit." Squirtle said chuckling a little.

"...I still have dignity, but I need to show my right as a good sportman person and accept a dare."

"A dare? You all made a dar-" Ivysaur was again interrupted.

"We don't want to remember." A pink Toon Link said.

"Actually, there's nothing bad in saying that," Wolf pointed angrily to Falco. "It was all the bird brain's fault that we got in this stupid dare!"

"Yeah, yeah, blame it all on Falco." Falco said frowning.

Jigglypuff blinked bored with small pupils and a bored look. "I kind of expected this to be one of Falco's doings."

"What?"

"Enough is enough!" Master Hand said getting their attention. "Now, as I was saying before, we have important matters to do."

"Like what? Wait until tomorrow and see if the army attacks again?" Kirby asked.

"Well, that, but I'm rather concerned about Nintendo City."

"Hey, that's right!" DK snapped his fingers. "I want to see what happened to the city, or else I won't play my music along with Diddy there!"

"I want to go there too, I'm getting rather curious too." Yoshi said.

"Oh boy, I got a bad feeling about this..." Olimar said playing with his fingers.

"Master! Master! I hear monsters began to appear outside just recently!" Crazy Hand said.

"Crazy, are you serious?!" Master Hand asked, appearing to be shocked.

"Monsters outside?" Pikachu asked tilting his head. "When did monsters begin appear outside the mansion?"

"From today it seems!" Crazy Hand replied. "It's strange, they're all roaming about but they apparently don't want to attack any kind of place where people live, like the mansion for example!"

"...I smell an RPG cliché here..." Popo said winking to Nana, who rolled her eyes.

"Pfft, who cares about monsters that don't attack?" Chris said moving his hands above his shoulders and frowning, Tokunaga doing the same. "If they don't want to bother anyone, then why should we?"

"Exactly!" Diddy said nodding.

"And besides, what do we get if we DO defeat them? There's nothing valuable to get from the-"

"You get Smash Coins fighting monsters." Crazy Hand said raising a finger.

An exclamation mark appeared above Chris's head (and Tokunaga's too). "...How much are we talking about?" Chris asked interested and the Smashers sweatdropped in unison.

"From 300 to 600!"

"Everyone, we're going in a killling spree outside, who's with me? We're also going to go to the mentioned "The Dojo" place that Parakarry told us about!"

"KILLING SPREE!" Popo cheered swinging his hammer crazily.

"Count me out, I'm not going out in THIS!" C. Falcon said pointing at his pink outfit.

"Okay, okay complainers," Crazy Hand snapped his fingers and everyone got their old clothes again with a poof of smoke. "There, happy? You guys are no fun at all."

"...Well, I'll go." C. Falcon said nodding.

"Nooooo! My pink outfit disappeared!" Flonne yelled from the "666th floor."

"Hurray!" However, Etna cheered at this.

Nobody cared in reality, since they felt like home once they got their clothes back.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be wearing my clothes!" Nana complained because she was wearing Popo's clothes and Popo didn't change.

"Oops! My mistake!" Crazy Hand apologized snapping his fingers and fixing their clothes again.

"Good thinking, you should start doing the sidequests that you have, who knows, you could receive Smash Coins, secret items, abilities, etc!" Master Hand said, ignoring the clothes's thing.

"Now that we're talking about sidequests..." Chris took his DS out.

Sidequests:
Wanted: Musicians

The Prinnies broke all the 258 music discs and Master Hand is looking for any kind of talented musicians to recover all the tracks, if this is not done, Brawl will never sound good again! Heheh, sound, get it? A pun!

Wanted: Laharl

Angel Trainee Flonne is looking for Laharl, the prince of the Netherworld, to assasinate him, but it seems Etna the leader of the Prinny Squad and the Prinnies themselves want to find Laharl and become their vassals, look carefully through all the worlds anf find Laharl! Or the Prinnies get it!

The Dojo

The Master and Jynx have opened The Dojo, a place where only dedicated fighters train to become stronger under martial arts style combats, if you think you have everything to clear this, then prove your skills of combat!

"...Wait, there are 2 more sidequests I didn't see here before..." Chris trailed off.

Sonic, Chris's real pain?

Ever since Chris set foot on Sonic's turf, he messed up the storyline and Sonic plans to visit Soleanna before Future City! If this can't be changed back, horrible things will happen around and Sonic's life could be in danger, convince the hedgehog and his party to stay in Future City!

"...I MESSED UP SONIC'S STORYLINE?!" Chris asked angrily to Master Hand.

"Remember? You're technically an extra character from the real world, ever worse yet, you have been taking the Smashers with you, making even more influence than before." Master Hand said.

"But that's because Chris is useless without us around to fight." Popo said.

"THANK YOU for the friendly reminder." Chris said trying to calm down his fury.

"Getting inside worlds with storylines can be disatrous when you go, and it seems you did several things that weren't meant to be said or weren't meant to happen." Master Hand said.

"...What do you mean?"

"For example," Master Hand pointed at him. "You made friends with Christopher and told him to be of help, and there's something in your mind where he decided to do that much, much later!"

Chris began to sweat. "Hey, the Sora-look alike character of Sonic needed to be strong! Sonic gets really ahead of himself many times!"

"Even so, that's not an excuse to do that!" Master Hand raised another finger. "The second thing would be reuniting all the teams in Sonic Heroes together earlier than it was expected, but you should have waited until the end where they DO team up!"

"But seeing Charmy and Cream together is unique to me..."

"Not an excuse again."

Chris sighed. "...Fine, I did screw up the storyline...HOWEVER!" He pointed at the Smashers. "These guys did WAY more things than me!"

"W-what?" Nana asked.

"No we didn't!" Pit argued.

"Actually, I have to agree with Chris in this one," Master Hand said. "You all influenced in all the other characters as well."

"Oh, really? Like what?" Pikachu asked sounding tough.

"Helping them."

They all did a series of bored looks. "...But that's the thing we need to do always!" Pichu argued.

"Not at all, thanks to you, Knuckles thinks he needs to wear clothes, Amy finds Shadow a little attractive, Big thinks he could be a pharmacian for something that I don't know and...Charmy the Bee has a phobia to...um...somebody who is Tails's evil cousin."

Chris couldn't help it but to chuckle to all those statements.

"...Did we do all those things?" Lucas asked.

"Apparently. But I didn't know Tails had an evil cousin."

"...Weird, I thought Fox was going to react at the evil cousin part again, speaking of him, where is he?" Falco asked.

"Fox? He's laying there on the floor." Diddy asked pointing at the still fainted Fox, who haven't recovered his consciousness.

"...Wait a minute, where is Link?" Chris asked looking around.

"We don't want to remember." Zelda said shrugging.

"But we could show you where is he." Master Hand snapped his fingers and the screen showed Link, Marth, Roy, Ike and the rest of the mercenaries (plus others who joined them) having a small celebration for a victory they had just a moment ago.

"Thank you so much for saving me Roy!" Mist said walking closer to Roy, who blushed and backed away from her.

"I-it was nothing Mist!" Roy said, before Mist leaned closer to him, kissed his cheek and walked off humming happily, Roy's eyes were wide and Link walked to him.

"Roy? Roy? Are you feeling okay? Roy!" Link waved a hand in front of Roy and the red-haired swordsman fainted, falling to the ground where he ate earth by accident. "Roy!"

"...So Mist kissed you for the 5th time for saving her, right?" Ike appeared from behind Link.

"I think she has feelings for Roy." Marth said appearing from behind Ike.

"...Not a chance." Marth, Ike and Link said walking away, leaving Roy in his place.

Back at the mansion. "...Ho-" Chris was interrupted.

"For the last time, WE DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!" All the Smashers who didn't go with him said angrily.

"...Fine, fine...the other sidequest..."

Smashing like the good old, second times

Master Hand is seeking all the Smashers to be reunited once again to fight the Subspace Army, it's up to you to gather them and gather the team once again, fight together, train together, spend time together, and most important of all, take down the Subspace Army to finish the menace!

"...My main mission that takes priority, right?" Chris asked.

Master Hand chuckled heartily. "Of course! Nothing would be more enjoyable than reuniting the-"

WARNING, the next sentence will sound very cheesy

"-The heroes that loves to fight and defeat evil for good in all the worlds, only love, courage, wisdom, power, just for the sake to become stronger and resuce endagered people who cries for the help of all of you, yelling SMASHERS! SMASHERS! WE NEED YOUR HELP! Only those who believe in themselves can overcome the troubles up ahead an-"

"STOP IT! JUST STOP!" Pikachu yelled blocking his ears.

"What?"

"I-I'm think I'm going to puke if you finish that stupid and cheesy sentence!" Ness said holding his mouth.

"My ears..." Chris complained.

"No more...no more please..." Popo appeared to be fainted as Nana shook him.

"Seriously, you went WAY too far with the love thing." Ness said frowning.

"Say, where is Meta Knight?" Kirby asked.

"He was here before Master Hand made his speech." Mewtwo said, then, mentioned character returned from the hallway and they looked at him.

"Where were you?"

"I...couldn't resist anymore and I went to the bathroom after Master Hand did his speech." Meta Knight said a little embarrassed.

"...See? Even Meta Knight couldn't resist anymore!"

"Alright, alright, nobody wants to hear Master Hand," Master Hand said frowning. "So, are you going to do the sidequests now? I wouldn't be mad if you the musicians one right now."

"...I'll do it once we return from The Dojo." Chris said walking away with all the Smashers outside. "...Somebody be of help and take Fox with us!"

Kirby ran back to the room, sucked up Fox inside his mouth and ran away as both hands sweatdropped.

"Okay Crazy, now that they're gone, we have to get prepared for the surprise!" Master Hand said.

"Right!" Both hands snapped their fingers and disappeared.

Outside

Once they were outside, Chris couldn't help but wonder why everyone was following him.

Creeps following me

"Alright, is there a reason of why all of you are following me?" Chris asked.

"Well, for the fact that we can't fight on the stages yet." Pikachu said.

"And for the KILLING SPREE!" Popo said cheerfully.

"...You're right on that," A question mark appeared above Chris. "But don't you all have other things to do? Personal ones?"

"In my case, that would be kill these 2 guys." Wolf said grinning.

Falco got upset. "Then my reason would be kill you."

"Stop it you 2," Zelda said with a bored look. "Sometimes, I'd miss Peach and Samus because they're the only people I can talk with."

"Master Hand doesn't want me to go to the kitchen today," Kirby said sadly. "The Prinnies didn't let me in too."

"DK promised me to show me Nintendo City!" Diddy said excited.

"Hmm, the weather is so gloomy today." Toon Link said.

"Yes, it's about rain," Yoshi said. "Quite weird to be cheerful like Diddy."

"I love being this way!" Diddy said before all they walked away.

Except for Chris who looked down disappointed. "...Wasn't this conversation about why were you all following me and not about the weather and Diddy though?" He asked to no one in particular.

New Smashers and Guests

"So, Olimar, Yoshi, DK, Diddy, Geno, Mallow, Twink, how do you feel being around with us?" Nana asked.

"I'm feeling weird, I wasn't this tall before and taking out Pikmins whenever I can it's kind of creepy...but I do enjoy being around for some reason or another." Olimar said.

"Feels the same way for me, but not like Olimar mentioned." Yoshi said.

"Aw, I missed these moments so badly...when the Subspace Clan wasn't around that is." DK said.

"DK, it's Subspace Army." Diddy said sweatdropping.

"Really? I thought it was clan."

"How about you 3?" Nana asked.

"To be honest, I'm waiting for the moment for Mario and Peach to return again like the old times." Geno said smiling a bit and closing his eyes.

"Geno!" Mallow called out a little upset.

"W-what?"

"She asked how do we feel, not who are we waiting for!" Mallow smiled. "Well, for me, it's very fun to know more people that Mario and Peach know about, I haven't been outside Nimbus Land in a long time either!"

"And for me, because I got dragged by Geno for the events." Twink said sticking out his tongue.

"Geez, thanks for pointing that out." Geno said with a bored look.

"A-anyway, it's good to be back." Yoshi said closing his eyes happily.

"Yep, nothing like good old times." DK said nodding.

"You say it DK!" Diddy said cheerfully.

"...Diddy, you weren't around here." Nana said sweatdropping.

"...Really?"

The group did a series of sighs.

Chris looked around their way to Nintendo City, but there weren't any monsters. "...Didn't Crazy Hand tell us that there were monsters around here?"

"Maybe they hid because it's about to rain." Jigglypuff said.

"EVERYONE!"

Toon Link got a little surprised. "T-that voice is from Quil!"

The Rito postman was flying towards and he landed in front of Toon Link. "Thank goodness I found you Link." Quil said.

"Is there a problem?" Toon Link asked.

"There is, Parakarry hasn't returned to the office after he went to The Dojo for 3 hours and I'm worried about him."

"So, you want us to go there and see if he's alright?" C. Falcon asked and Quil nodded.

"Yes, not only that, monsters began to appear around the woods and the main road between the mansion and Nintendo City, that's why I came here flying rather than walking." Quil explained.

"What a coincidence, we were going there right now." Pikachu said.

"All of you together?"

"Er, we don't have anything else to do in the mansion..." Ness said looking away embarrassed.

"Oh, I see, well, be careful on your way there then."

"Why? We're too many to be killed or something." Zelda said.

"No, not because of how many of you are, it's because I saw 2 girls and this man with a horrible stench and big coffin thing that he carried around going to The Dojo after Parakarry went there, I hid behind some trees to hear their conversation, and I must say this, one of the girls was a total sadist, but the other one seemed worried and preocupied, wondering where were they." Quil explained.

"...I get the feeling we met a sadist girl before..." Pit said thinking.

"Well, I'm off, please go there and see what happened." Quil said before he flew off to the distance.

"More reasons to go there then." Mallow said.

"I wonder who could the girls and the man be?" Chris asked wondering as they proceeded to walk. "Professor, do you know where The Dojo is?"

"Why yes! It's close to this place inside the small woods to the right, The Dojo should be at the deepest part." Professor Kawashima said.

"Hey, I found the road." Pichu said pointing to a road inside the forest.

"Then let's go and see what we can fin-" The recovered Fox was interrupted before they heard a scream from the same road.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! HELP ME!" A man in purple clothes, black hair with a rather chinese style, a bow and apparently somewhat old screamed appearing from the same row and he stumbled, the Smashers saw behind the man the monsters that Quil mentioned before...

"Wait a minute, those monsters are so familiar!" Mallow said as Geno took a closer look of the monsters.

"...They're...they're Smithy's subordinates!" Geno said making a serious face and running to them, same enemies were 20 hammers about to hit the old man.

"UAH! H-HELP ME!" The man pleaded running to Chris and hiding behind him, trembling as he ducked.

"C-Calm down! We're going to help you!" Chris said looking to Tokunaga, who nodded at him.

The More That I Try

All the Smashers went after the hammers as Chris and Tokunaga stayed behind, the Wolrd Traveler spun his staff above him and chanted a spell. "O twisted door of distortion, open wide!"

"Ha!" Zelda used Din's Fire on one hammer, pushing it to the air as the princess jumped and kicked it with a direct hit, sending it blasting off as she landed back on the ground. "They're weak."

"Works for me, Thunderbolt!" Mallow called forth thunderbolts shocking all the enemies and paralyzing them.

"No fair! I should be the one with an attack like that!" Pikachu complained as he used Thunder on 2 hammers.

"And what about me?!" Pichu asked spiralling using Skull Bash on one hammer, crashing into it.

Chris finished his spell, got above Tokunaga's back and pointed his staff at 3 enemies. "Negative Gate!"

A gate of darkness appeared in midair between the 3 hammers, damaging them constantly as Tokunaga rushed to them while Chris stood behind, doing some moves that Tokunaga did but with more complexity. "Dragon Surge!" Tokunaga 's right hand glowed and it jumped to the air with an uppercut, pushing the 3 hammers to the air before they crashed into the ground. "Soaring Blast!" Tokunaga raised and slammed his hands in the air, pulling and pushing the hammers who vanished. "Good job, Tokunaga!"

"GUUUUUARGH!" Lucario fired a charged Aura Sphere to one single hammer and killed it. "These monsters are surprisingly weak." Lucario said.

"Hey, you're far more stronger than they are Lucario."

Lucario blushed a little and looked away. "M-maybe...what are you doing standing there? Fight!"

"I was asking the same thing in my mind for you."

"..." Lucario groaned a little and ran to another enemy.

"Feel the hammer of light! (Heheh, made a pun.)" Chris chanted his next spell.

"Geno Blast!" Geno called forth pillars from the sky that crashed down and damaged all the enemies. "...We're done?"

All the enemies were defeated and they stopped fighting.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Won the Battle

"Heheh, that's done!" Chris said raising his staff in the air.

"But that was easy..." Mallow trailed off.

"Yeah." Pikachu said.

"Not even much of a problem." Pit said.

"...Wait, there are more coming this way!" Geno said finding even more hammers coming from the forest.

"Azure Heavens!"

"Huh?" Twink watched a frenzy of glowing arrows falling above the hammers that instantly took them all down with a single shot.

"Hey," Chris ducked and got up, holding a small bag. "Hmm...we got 100 Smash Coins, Crazy Hand wasn't kidding."

"But next time fight with less people please!" Crazy Hand's voice came from the sky.

"...So, who did that attack?" Fox asked confused. "Was it you Chris?"

"I don't have bows and arrows with me." Chris said.

United Oath

"The arrows were from me kid."

The Smashers got surprised looks and looked to the old man who was standing in front of them, with his bow on his right hand, the old man put his right hand on his chin and grinned at them. "Nice of you in helpin' me, but I had everythin' under control."

"(K-kid?!) B-but you were panicking just a moment ago!" Chris protested and got angry by hearing the word "kid" directed at him.

"Really?" The old man scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes. "Must've been somethin' I forgot along the way here."

The Smashers sweatdropped at this.

"...Anyway, who are you and what were you doing in the woods?" Ness asked.

"Oh, pardon me ladies and gentlemen," The old man opened his eyes to see them. "Ta name is ol' man Raven."

"Ta?" Lucas asked confused.

"Don't question an ol''s man way of speech, kid." Raven said introducing himself.

"So Raven...what were you doing in the woods?" Diddy asked.

"Are you blind monkey? This old man was running away screaming from those pathetic excuses for monsters that we defeated a moment ago!" Wolf said irritated.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, those guys got me surprised, that's all." Raven said calmly, getting on Wolf's nerves.

"You're the very relaxed type of men." Zelda remarked.

"Oh, thank you sweetheart."

Zelda could have sworn he was trying to flirt with her, but didn't.

"But you do have another reason to be running off, and it seems you were telling the truth about the monsters." Mewtwo said.

"I don't wanna remember!" Raven snapped out his calmly state and they got surprised. "I don't wanna! I don't wanna remember her again!"

"Her? Who's she?" Pit asked confused.

"Please! You gotta gimme some kinda refuge from that crazy girl!" Raven pleaded pointing at the woods he came from.

"W-why are you so scared all of a sudden?!" Yoshi asked.

"It's because I just ran away from the lady of hell!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDD MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!"

"ARGH! I CAN EVEN HEAR HER EVIL VOICE YELLIN' AT ME WITH FURY AND RAGE COMBINED!" Raven said as his voice turned somewhat high-pitched, panicking.

Geno looked around. "But nobody even yelled at you."

"PLEASE! YOU GOTTA GIMME ME SOME KINDA REFUGE! FOR MY SAKE, PLEASE!" Raven pleaded to Meta Knight, who just kept staring at him with some irritation.

"...This guy is nothing but blah blah bla-" Nana was interrupted.

"NOT THOSE WORDS! EVERYTHING BUT THOSE WORDS!" Raven was kicked away by Meta Knight, Nana wondered why he got even more scared when she said that.

"...Er...what do you guys think about Raven now?" Chris asked confused at the whole situation.

"W-well, Nintendo City is blocked so..." Lucas trailed off.

"Master Hand owns the mansion, ask him if he wants to." Mewtwo said.

"...Okay Raven, you can come with us." Chris said nodding.

"REALLY?! OH GOD, OH GOD, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" Raven said hugging Chris tightly (Raven was taller than Chris).

Raven temporaly joined your team!

"So...who's this person you were running away from?" Fox asked.

"..." Raven sighed disappointed. "Well..."

"My photo!" C. Falcon's photo was taken away from the wind and went towards Raven, who caught it and looked at it directly in front of his face.

"...Huh?" Raven eyed closed the photo as his eyes were shaking.

"Thanks for catching that photo for me, can you give it back?"

"...Oh..."

"...Raven? Is something wrong?" Nana asked tilting her head.

"...OH..."

"...Is he even listening?" Ivysaur asked.

"...OH!..."

"Hello? Raven?" Falco asked.

"...Oh yes! OH GOD, YES!!!" Raven's expression became dumb, his nose started to bleed like crazy and he fainted, releasing the photo from his hand.

"RAVEN!" Chris yelled worried and ducked to see his fainted expression. "Oh god, I think he passed out! I thought he was a little old but not that much!"

"Chris, calm down, he just fainted." Lucario said looking at the photo that fell on Zelda's feet, the princess ducked and took it.

"...No...you've got to be kidding..." Zelda trailed off (she got confused and even remembered the last part of her sentence a long time ago (de javu)). "...No, this must be some kind of misunderstanding!" She threw the photo away and Olimar took it.

"...OH FOR THE PETALS OF ROSY!" Olimar's eyes opened in shock and he quickly threw the photo away, that flew to Fox who caught it and looked at it.

"...OH GOD." Fox quickly blocked his nose and threw the photo away, that went to Yoshi who caught it and saw it.

"...HUH?!" Yoshi's eyes shrunk and he released the photo by accident, it flew to Lucas and he looked at it.

"...OH MY GOSH!" Lucas quickly looked away and Chris took the photo from him.

"Why are you all acting so strange? Seriously, you're even making me feel more intellig-WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING IN THIS PHOTO?!" Chris asked very surprised as C. Falcon took the photo from him and hid it in his pocket. "Captain Falcon! Was that Zero Suit Samus in the photo just now?!"

"I-er-um-w-well..." C. Falcon blushed embarrassed and looked away. "IT WAS FALCO'S PHOTO! HE GAVE IT TO ME, IT WAS HIS IDEA!"

"WHAT?! D-DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Falco got shocked and argued with C. Falcon.

"No...no no no no no no NO! T-that means Raven is a..." Zelda got shocked. "...He is a stupid pervert like you 2!"

"HEY!" C. Falcon and Falco said angrily.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh...baby..." Raven managed to say in his fainted state.

"...Oh, this is so going to be fun..." Chris said happily.

"What is so funny to have another pervert like Raven around?!" Zelda asked angrily.

"Only people like him are so freaking interesting." Chris said, he even said freaking.

"...Chris, you have changed a lot ever since we came here..." Lucario muttered.

10 minutes later...

We see the group with Raven walking inside the woods, however, it seemed that the group was walking a few feet away from the old man, they were even talking between themselves.

Ol' Man Raven, the mysterious guy with his reasons

"Ugh." Zelda shrugged.

"What is it Zelda?" Chris asked.

"It's...just...ugh."

"What's wrong?"

"Chris, I believe she is trying to mean Raven." Meta Knight said.

"I don't see anything wrong with him, he's kind of interesting to me."

"He is a pervert! Don't you see?" Zelda asked with irritation.

"Well, I don't really mind, besides, I just love to have weird people around me because they have interesting backstories, besides, he's an old man, pretty much like Wolf is."

"Hey! What was that kid?!" Wolf asked angrily.

"Nothing old man."

"I'm not that old to be called an old man, stop it before I slice down your throat!"

"And I'm not that young to be called a kid, pfft, the old man is getting angry, see? Old people get angry so easily."

"Grr! Hmph!" Wolf looked away as Falco chuckled at this, Chris finally had something to irritate Wolf with.

"Hey ya all, were you talkin' 'bout good ol' me?" Raven asked getting in the conversation.

"We were, how mysterious you are to us." Squirtle said.

"Oh, please, this already happened once with my buddies back in Dahngrest, ta city of guilds," Raven said making a rather mischievous look to them. "Hey, ya all are in a guild like me too?"

"A guild?" Pichu asked.

"Yep, a guild, a group of monster hunters or teams who do missions and such, I came from the guild Brave Vesperia."

"Brave Vesperia? Who came up with that good name?" Ness asked.

"...Well...a kid, Karol, Karol Capel, he made up the guild and got me and my friends in."

"So! This Karol kid is your boss?" Nana asked about to burst out laughing.

"...Yeah, yeah, he's technically my boss." Raven said quite annoyed as the young Smashers (plus Diddy) bursted out laughing, making Raven to frown and roll his eyes. "Yeah, laugh at good ol' me, I get the joke."

"Stop it guys." Chris said chuckling and the young Smashers stopped laughing. "But Raven, I'm curious, why did you run away from them?"

"I told ya already kid, it was all because of the demon of hell."

"And who's the demon of hell?" Zelda asked with curiosity.

"Etna?" Pit asked.

"Most likely not Pit." Chris said sweatdropping.

"The demon o' hell has a name...her name is Rita Mordio." Raven said.

A silence fell between them, who blinked normally with blank expressions, Raven glanced at all of them and sighed.

"...Fine, gotta tell ya all who's she, fine, I'll tell ya how did I get here and another reason of why I was in Dahngrest with 'em." Raven said as the typical flashback waves began to appear.

Flashback

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest
Inn

(By the way, we're not bothering how the characters were clothed, search for them and see if you find interest in their stories.)

"Man, he isn't around here either." Yuri said sighing in disappointment.

"I know!" Estelle said sadly. "How could Repede get lost?"

"He's very intelligent to get lost actually, Yuri, didn't you say he had an owner before you?" Karol asked as he sat on his bed.

"Yes, he had one, but this is just...stupid..." Yuri said.

"I hope he is fine..." Estelle said joining her hands together.

"Why do ya all need to be so depressed?" Raven asked as he was leaning to a wall. "The pooch's gotta show up shortly."

"Raven, Repede hasn't showed up in 1 week!" Karol said.

"...Has it been that long?" Raven asked confused.

"Yeah, that long." Yuri said a little annoyed.

"Ya're worrin' too much, the pooch's fine," Raven stood normally, put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the bathroom. "And now, let me be gone and do my personal bussiness." Raven said with a grin.

"...Raven, there's somebody in the bathroom, there is steam coming from the door!" Karol said.

"Yes, ya got that right." Raven said winking as he entered inside and closed the door silently.

"..." Yuri sighed. "Guess he will go all "Peeping Tom" on Judith again, because she isn't around here."

"That's weird, Rita is not here either," Estelle said looking around as she sat on her bed. "Where is Rita?"

"She went to go to the shop and buy some Apple, Orange, Pinneapple, Lemon Gels and Life Bottles with the money we got from the monsters we killed."

"Oh, here you are."

They looked at the person entering the room to be Judith, who was carrying a bag with gels.

"I got our inventory full, they were having a discount sale when I got there, so I went ahead and bought everything until our inventory became full." Judith said calmly.

"Wow! Things are looking better for our journey!" Estelle said happily.

"...Wait a minute, Judith, what are you doing here?" Karol asked confused.

"What am I doing here? I told you, I went to the shop to get Apple, Orange, Pinneapples, Lemon Gels and Life Bottles, remember?" Judith reminded them with a small smile and a bored look, but since it's her we're talking about, she was being her happy self.

However, Yuri, Karol and Estelle looked at the bathroom's door with shock, then they looked back at Judith. "...Uh-oh..." Yuri said.

"...You don't think the person taking a shower is..." Karol said hiding under the blankets as he trembled.

"...Rita?" Estelle finished confused.

Inside the bathroom, we see Rita Mordio, the genius mage, finishing her shower and grabbing her towel, wrapping it up around her chest as she dries her hair with another towel. "Aw, this is what I deserved after looking for that dog around, why did he get lost in the first place?"

"(OH GOD, IT'S RITA! I THOUGHT IT WAS JUDITH TAKIN' THE BATH! WHAT DO I DO NOW?! SHE'LL SKIN ME ALIVE!)" Raven thought in panic, the old man was hiding inside a door where towels were kept and when he saw Rita, he really got scared and wished that she didn't look inside his hiding place to be spying on women.

Rita sighed in relief. "Oh well, this bath couldn't make me feel happier." Rita began to walk away from the bathroom and Raven sighed in relief. "What the-who's that?!"

"(OH NO! WHY DID I SIGH FOR?!)"

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Rita demanded looking around the bathroom, Raven began to sweat bullets as the genius mage looked carefully around for him, wishing that Judith was the one since one time he did it on her, Judith wasn't all that angry with him, besides, she was rather alright and let Raven go away in some occasions.

But in other occasions, she'd feed Raven to his friend, Ba'ul, Judith's friend pet, Entelexeia and their main source of transportation for them, just for amusement and see how Raven could get as far as he could from him.

"(Don't look in the closet, don't look in the FREAKIN' closet...)" Raven thought in panic as Rita passed right in front of the door.

"...I swear if the person hiding is the old man, I'll go Violent Pain on him NON-STOP." Rita said fuming with rage.

Even worse for Raven, Rita liked to use Violent Pain (attack that calls forth 15 arrows of darkness around the enemy then crash together) repeatedly since it kills most enemies, or, she could use Meteor Storm.

The reason of why Rita could use repeatedly Violent Pain was because once she used her Over Limit, she'd need only to say "blah blah blah" then say out loud the spell's name, then do it again, and again, and again, and again, and over again.

What's worse, that could last her entire life since it's of multiple hits, filling the Over Limit gauge to the fullest, one could say Rita is a heavely broken-character.

Back with Raven and the killer Rita.

"(...OH...NO...NO...NO!)" Raven thought in panic as Rita began to approach the closet, the old man began to pray silently to the Entelecheas and hope for Rita to be good.

However, hell broke soon once Rita opened the door...

Furnace of War

"DAMN YOU, OLD MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!"

"GUAH! RUN FOR IT OL' MAN!!!" Raven quickly pushed Rita out of the way and ran away from the bathroom at full speed.

"GET THE HELL BACK HERE!"

"MAKE PATH! MAKE A PATH FOR ME!!!" Raven yelled screaming with his high-pitched voice and exiting the inn.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Yuri said hiding below the bed with everyone, except Karol who looked around for Rita.

"W-what is going on here?!" Karol asked before the words from the enraged and furious Rita were heard from a radius of 100 kilometers.

"I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HURT!!!" Rita yelled at the top of her lungs as she began to cast Violent Pain using her dances quickly with the rainbow aura covering her (she was even clothed in her usual clothes before Karol was badly hurten by her Violent Pain). "BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HUR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAI-"

And one could have sworn 6000 arrows (which should be usually 15, but the Over Limit kept being activated by Rita) of darkness chasing around an old pervert man around Dahngrest, the city was big for Raven for his advantage to hide, unfortunately, that wasn't even enough for the path of destruction that the arrows were making (which was on Rita's favor, because technically it counted as hits for the Over Limit gauge), the people were screaming and running away from the city in panic, Raven screamed and ran like never before for his dear life.

Then he decided to leave the city in a hurry in the vast forest, evading all the arrows trying to kill him off.

Back in Dahngrest, 80 percent of the city was destroyed by Rita's frenzy of Violent Pain, even the inn was left in ruins as we see the same beds where Yuri, Estelle and Judith hid being complete, unfortunately, Karol was in the way of all the attacks, because he was apparently dead.

"That...should...teach him...a lesson..." Rita said panting heavily as she stopped.

"Rita! You went too far!" Estelle said looking around in shame after people were seeing screaming and trying to repair all the damages.

"Meh, the old man had it coming, that's what he gets for spying on me." Rita said with a serious face that made Estelle to back away from her.

"Poor little Karol, he got in the way of the attack." Judith said dripping a Life Bottle on Karol's mouth, which instantly revived him as he got up in shock after seeing what was left of Dahngrest.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! RITA! WHAT DID YOU DO TO DAHNGREST?!" Karol said crying toon tears.

"Man, Rita, save that attack for Alexei next time!" Yuri said quite annoyed.

"THE DON'S HEADQUARTERS ARE EVEN DESTROYED!!!"

"Who wants to see that pervert old man again? If he ever shows up again, I'LL SWEAR I'LL GO METEOR STORM AND TIDAL WAVE WITH MYSTIC DRIVE ON HIM WITH A COMBINATION OF MY FISTS!!!" Rita yelled furiously cracking her fists.

"Aw, it's good to see young love giving birth." Judith joked.

"WHAT WAS THAT DRAGON FREAK?!"

"...I thought you weren't going to call me that again."

Yuri and Estelle looked around the destruction and sighed together in unison. "Estelle, did we choose the correct partners to travel with?" Yuri asked with closed eyes.

"I myself wonder that too many times Yuri..." Estelle said before both sighed in unison, as Karol panicked and went to help the citizens to rebuild and repair the damages done in the city, Yuri, Estelle and Judith went also to help the citizens of Dahngrest as we see Rita tapping her foot in annoyance.

"I better look for the dog and see if I can calm down my rage on the old man..." Rita said calmly as she walked away by the destroyed door of the inn, throwing the owner a bag full of coins (the owner backed away from her in fear) as she walked away very annoyed, before the inn collapsed as the people were shown panicking.

End of flashback

Music stops

Smash Mansion
Outside

"And that's my story, I got lost in the woods and somehow ended up here, it's weird, this area isn't displayed in any map, when I was panickin', those hammer monster things began to chase me around." Raven said happily.

But the group was very shocked at this instead.

"...Raven, you mean you ran away from 6000 arrows of darkness because of her?!" Chris asked and Raven nodded crying toon tears.

"Please, don't let me remember that moment again, they could be lookin' around for me as we speak right now."

"Lies and more lies," Wolf said. "Who's going to believe that a young girl like her destroyed almost an entire city using magic? I bet that was all just a big fat lie like you are old man."

Raven pointed behind him with his thumb above his shoulder. "Then tell all that to the trees that were once livin' here!"

Wolf rolled his eye. "Whatever, I don't see any tree behind you and...WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED HERE?!"

"OH MY (BEEP) GOD ARCEUS!" Pikachu said scared, cursing.

"This...is...hard to believe..." Mewtwo said quite shocked.

"Indeed." Meta Knight said.

We see behind Raven nothing but nothingness, we zoom out and we found the nothingness to be of at least 1 km, no, 5 kms, no, 10 kms, no, 20 kms, no! 40 kms of nothingness! A barren land, it looked like if a war just happened so fast, then we return with the Smashers.

"See now?! That girl is a demon! A demon lord or somethin'!" Raven said opening his arms at them while a tree falls to the ground behind him. "Lesson life, don't ever peek on Rita!"

"And that's why things like this happen!" Zelda said glaring at Raven.

"It's going to take like 100 years for the plants to grow back again..." Pit said shocked.

"L-Lucario, I'm scared..." Chris said hugging Lucario from behind.

"...I...have to agree with you, I'm a little scared of her..." Lucario said looking away embarrassed.

"Luckily though, they won't find me here for my luck." Raven said returning to his happy self.

"..." Lucas was dead, or fainted.

"..." Ness was dead, or fainted too.

That goes too for the younger Smashers except Pikachu.

"...So...who's Repede?" Red asked.

"Oh, the pup? He's Yuri's dog mascot, he became lost in the woods," Raven scratched his neck. "Hey, maybe I could ask ya a favor kid?"

"W-what is it?" Chris asked, stopping from hugging Lucario.

"I could ask ya to look for Repede? I think he's around here somewhere but maybe he got lost as well since this is a new hidden land."

"H-how does he looks?"

Raven took out a photo of Repede. "Repede's this pooch."

"...Wow, he looks so cool...he even uses a pipe to smoke..." Chris muttered and Lucario's eyes widened a little after managing to hear him. "Okay, I'll look for Repede."

"Wanted: Repede" sidequest was added to the sidequests list

"Thanks, now let's go to where ya wanna go." Raven said walking away.

"...Aren't we going to do something to this barren land?" Squirtle asked.

"Why should we bother? Nobody cares about this big piece of land." Yoshi asked.

"...And please somebody wake them up." C. Falcon said sweatdropping at the younger Smashers.

"I'll do it." Twink said.

The Dojo

"..." The Master had his eyes closed in complete harmony, with Jynx, Lee, Chan and Parakarry.

...Because the 5 were tied up.

"Aren't you going to do something to get us out?" Parakarry asked to The Master.

"..." The Master didn't say anything.

"...What about you?"

"Me? I'm just waiting for the moment to fight." Jynx said.

"The Master knows when to retaliate! Don't question his skills!" Chan (a green buzzy beetle) said with a serious look.

"Yeah! He knows the way to defeat these 3!" Lee (a blue sheet character that I forgot from what species he comes from) said determined.

"Shut up or Lady Alice will show you some manners!"

"Decus, shut up."

"Y-yes, Lady Alice."

"Now, Martmart, do you know where exactly are we?"

"I-I don't know Alice, but we should return where we came from as soon as possible."

"Why did Command Brute pair me up with you, the depressive Martmart and Dumbo-Decus?"

We see the 3 mysterious figures to be Alice, the same sadist girl the group met in Meltokio, along with Decus, the same odd-looking guy with good looks carrying his new iron maiden with the big sword that they also met.

However, we also see another new girl, she was cute, she had flowers on both sides of her head, long light-brown hair with an upside down-V shaped style that reached her legs, a spinner on her right hand and white vest with some customs, she was worried about something.

"B-because we should be gathering more members for the Vanguard when the 2 worlds were united." Marta, the girl that Alice called "Martmart," pointed out worried.

"Exactly!" Alice giggled. "But how did we end up here with these strange people?"

"Because, Alice, we got lost in the woods." Decus said doing weird moves.

"Oh, that's right," Alice glared at Decus. "And do you know who did this?"

"...It was me..."

"YES!" Alice hit Decus with her whip hard in his cheek with a demonic look on her face. "Why did you say you know the way to Palmacosta when you can't even remember where is it?!"

"A-Alice, I know it's my fault, I'm apologizing!" Decus said, oblivious that the fact Alice was mad with him.

"And..." Alice blocked her nose. "Why did you put on that horrible cologne?"

"Oh!" Decus took out a purple cologne from his pocket. "You mean "Eau de Seduction?" The cologne I ordered in mail-order that will make any girl to fall in love with me?"

"Y-you mean a girl who would faint 10 meters away from you." Marta said blocking her nose.

"I-it's horrible! Put that away from me!" Alice said irritated and Decus listened to her.

"...So, why do you 3 come here again?" Parakarry asked, then Alice pointed her whip at his nose directly.

"Oh cute little turtle with wings, this place will make a lovely headquarter for the Vanguard and Commander Brute will get happy at me!" Alice said happily, twirling a little.

"Y-you wouldn't dare! This place belongs to The Master and Jynx!" Lee said.

"Shut up."

"W-what?!"

"Lady Alice ordered you to shut up!" Decus said taking out his sword from his iron maiden and pointed it at Lee.

"Dumbo-Decus, shut up you too." Alice said annoyed.

"Y-yes, Alice." Decus said lowering his sword with a smile.

"Alice! Listen to me! We need to return to Palmacosta as soon as possible!" Marta said.

"Why should I listen to you? I'm in charge on any operations here Martmart, and I'm not going to let you order me around, got it?" Alice asked with her happy tone.

"...W-well..."

"Now, be a good girl or else," Alice's face turned demonic again. "I'll tell Commander Brute that you were disobeying my orders."

"N-no! D-don't tell him!"

"Then what is your answer?" Alice asked putting her hands on her hips.

"...I...will...listen to you..." Marta said looking down.

Alice got happy. "Of course!" But then, she looked away concerned and sighed. "Well...this is what I can do for now to be pleased..."

"A-Alice! Do you have anything to order me to make you happy?!" Decus asked kneeling to her.

"...It's just...remember those monsters that were traveling with the Chosen's group 1 year ago?"

"Right, those guys went too far and made you cry...I shall get revenge on them once I see them again."

"No, that's okay," Alice made a serious face to Decus and Marta. "I'll get my revenge instead."

"Lady Alice! Please, let me assist you in your revenge!"

"...Whatever, do what you want to do," Alice closed her eyes and stood in front of the door of The Dojo. "If I just only knew their location, I'd wait for them to show up front the very same door and try to capture those good looking monsters again..." She turned her back to the door and opened her eyes at Jynx. "Of course, that's not going to happen again...oh well, guess I should accept all the other monsters I've been capturing so far..."

...And that moment, the door opened, all the Smashers with Raven walked inside, making Decus to back away and Marta to get surprised along with Parakarry, but Alice didn't move from her place.

"...Oh please, not them again..." Chris muttered frowning.

"...That despicable and naive voice..." Alice muttered under her clenched teeth, but she smiled, closed her eyes and looked at all of them, then opened her eyes.

"..." A silence fell in, in The Dojo, as Chris, Lucas, Falco, Lucario, Pit, Fox, Ness and Wolf got a little shocked after seeing Alice and Decus staring at them in surprise.

"...YOU!" Mentioned characters before this sentence said pointing at each other's group.

"Heheheh!" Alice giggled happily. "See Decus? Martmart? I told you, they were going to be dumb enough and seek me just to be under my command again!"

"Lady Alice, you're amazing." Decus said bowing to her.

"...Shut up, Decus." Alice said annoyed before smiling at them. "And look! You went for the trouble to gather even more unique monsters just to give them to me! What a sweetie pie you are!"

"...Alice, you're being sarcastic again, aren't you?" Chris asked.

"Nope! Not at all!"

"Good thing she doesn't know our names or else she'd hunt us down to the ends of the earth..." Fox muttered.

And ironically, Parakarry took a closer look of them and smiled.

"Oh! Chris! Lucario! Yoshi! Pikachu! Pichu! Jigglypuff! Mewtwo! Red! Squirtle! Ivysaur! Those 2 guys! Kirby! Meta Knight! Zelda! Toon Link! Fox! Falco! Wolf! Captain Falcon! New guy! Ness! Lucas! Pit! Popo! Nana! Geno! Mallow! Twink and the old man! You're all here to rescue me!" Parakarry said happily without even panting heavily, what's worse, the entire group was from left to right and the 3 were able to memorize their names (save for the new guys and Raven).

Most of the Smashers facepalmed their heads. "PARAKARRY!" Most shouted angrily.

"...Do ya know her?" Raven asked confused at the situation.

"Of course! She tried to capture us in a cave once!" Pit said.

"Oh!" Alice giggled happily. "So, the monsters's names should be Lucaryn, Yoshilyn, Pikapy, Pichy, Jigglyn, Mewtwin, Squirtley, Ivysaury, Kirbylyn, Meta Knightley, Foxy, Falcy, Wolfy, those 2 monkeys, Mallowy and Twinky!" Alice said giving new nicknames to all mentioned characters. "And you!" Alice pointed at Chris, Ness and Lucas. "You are Risris, Nessness and Lulu!"

"..." Mewtwo was left speechless.

"You know, it makes sense to call you Mewtwin." Pikachu said.

"...Shut up or you will wake up inside a coffin."

"R-Risris?" Chris repeated confused.

"L-Lulu?!" Lucas repeated shocked as Popo chuckled at this.

"Why'd you repeat our names twice?" Ness asked.

"Alice likes to give names like the nicknames your monsters received just because she likes them," Marta explained. "And she only calls you 3 like that because she despises you...as well as me..."

"Martmart, you know I love you so much to have around with me, right?" Alice asked sweetly.

"...Y-yes..."

"Okay, now, Risris, hand over your monsters to me and I'll be good on you." Alice said smiling.

"I-I'll never hand over Lucaryn!" Chris said.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled at him angrily.

"I-I'm sorry Lucario! She confused me!"

"I'll get my revenge for Alice!" Decus said.

"Stop, that is enough."

"Huh?" Alice looked behind her to find The Master untied with his hands behind his back. "H-hey! How did you-"

"The ropes weren't tied up enough so I got out easily without problems." The Master said as the other 4 were shown without he ropes and glaring at them.

"Beat 'em but good!" Chan said.

"No, that won't be necessary." The Master said.

"What do you mean by that?" Lee asked.

"The honorable way to resolve arguments like this is by fighting."

"Honorable way Decus's cologne! You're not going to tell me what to do!" Alice said angrily.

"It would benefit you."

"...I'm ears."

"You 3 will fight against 4 of them in a battle of 3 VS 4."

"W-what? Why not 3 VS 3?"

"Because you tie me up."

"Darn it."

"If you win, I'll lend you The Dojo, but if you lose, you will leave, never visit this land and return where you came from."

"...Fine." Alice said smiling. "After all, we got a whole new set of moves to teach them all a beautiful but gorgeous lesson."

"...Well..." Chris looked at the Smashers. "It seems the situation changed very oddly, so...who wants to assist me in the fight?"

"Pardon me kid, but I'd like to participate." Raven said raising his hand.

"You want to fight?"

"Yep, ol' man needs a good exercise after runnin' from Rita."

Chris looked at Raven's bow. "...Fine, you can, who wants to fight?"

The Smashers that got the unluckyness in meeting Alice and Decus raised their hands. "I want to teach her another lesson." Falco said.

"Same here." Ness said.

"Me too." Fox said.

"And me even more." Pit said.

"C-can I fight her too?" Lucas asked.

"...Lucas out of you 4 can come, he hasn't fought yet in a long time." Chris said.

"I-I'll do my best, I swear!"

"And what about me?" Wolf asked with a glare.

"...Fine, you too, old man." Chris said sighing.

"Stop calling me an old man!"

"Your fur is grey."

"It's silver!"

"Whatever, you're in."

"Grr."

2 minutes later...

All the Smashers, along with the residents of The Dojo were sitting in their knees above small couches near the wall, while Alice, Decus and Marta were standing on side of the field and while Chris's party, Raven, Lucas and Wolf were preparing to fight on the other side.

"Tokunaga, I trust you in protecting me." Chris said to Tokunaga.

"Hmm, that doll...it looks like my image in my pouch." Marta said.

"Martmart! Concentrate or I'll tell Commander Brute!" Alice said.

"B-but I don't want to fight Alice..."

"Listen, I won't let them get away with this again, those unique monsters are at my reach now and nobody will interfere, not even Dumbo-Decus!"

"Yes, Lady Alice." Decus said preparing to fight.

"Now..." Jynx stood in the middle field and raised his hands to both teams.

Person Who Conceives Frenzy

"BEGIN!" Jynx said doing a backward somersault back to his couch and both teams ran at each other, however, Marta remained behind looking down at the floor in shame.

"Punishment!" Tokunaga spun around and extended his arms to attack Decus. "Soaring Blast!" Decus was pushed to the air before he was slammed into the ground, quickly recovering his position.

"Trombe!" Decus ran at Wolf, using Decus Trombe and spun around quickly to deal several quick kicks that pushed the vulpine away. "Get out of my way!" Decus complained.

"Ugh!" Wolf managed to do a backflip in the air and land on the floor safely.

"C'mon winds! Knock 'em around and cut 'em down!" Surprisingly, Raven was casting magic and Chris noticed that.

"Raven, you can cast magic too?" Chris asked.

"Yep, that's an ol' man's skills, Wind Blade!" Raven casted a quick green wind that sliced Alice with one hit.

"Ugh! So, you want a magic duel?" Alice asked before she began to cast. "Form a torrential vortex and engulf the evil spirits..."

"PK THUNDER!" Lucas casted PK Thunder, telling it to touch him to be propelled to Decus.

"Victory will be for Alice!" Decus said raising his sword in the air and a purple aura covered him, when Lucas made contact, Decus didn't stagger and used Decus Ausbruch, slashing Lucas 2 times before creating an explosion of purple fire, dealing a moderate amount of damage to Lucas.

"Tidal Wave!" Alice called out a huge stream of water that fell between Chris and Raven, creating a huge whirpool, damaging them constantly.

"Hey, that hurt!" Raven complained with his high-pitched voice before the torrent disappeared.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled worried.

"I-I'm fine Lucario, the attack was strong, but I-I'm fine!" Chris said twitching in pain.

"Don't worry, I have faith on the young warrior." The Master said.

"...You believe in him?" Lucario asked.

"Yes, of course, I know that he is the World Traveler."

"H-how did you know?"

"I know many things with my martial arts training and my knowledge." The Master explained coughing a little.

"Stone Hagel!" Decus slammed his sword in the ground, creating a barrage of earth that stroke Wolf.

"W-why you!" Wolf began to do a series of slashes that Decus kept blocking with his huge sword, then Wolf did a final push but Decus grinned.

"Die in my arms!" Decus proclaimed.

"Was that supposed to be a taunt or something?" Wolf asked irritated as he saw Lucas using PK Freeze to freeze Decus. "Keep him like that!" Wolf ordered as he used Wolf Illusion to strike the upper part, slashing the chunk of ice with his right claw to deal damage to Decus.

"Arise, o violent waters, surround my enemies!" Alice chanted.

"C'mon wind! Knock 'em around and cut 'em down!" Raven chanted.

"O twisted door of distortion, open wide!" Chris chanted.

"BLESSED DROPS!" A big drop appeared above Chris and Raven, it touched the ground between them and it began to spread several bubbles, dealing massive damage once they exploded.

"Wind Blade! OWW! Ugh! OWW! OWW!" Raven casted another quick wind that sliced Alice as he was being damaged.

"Negative Gate! OUCH! OWW! OWW! OUCH!" Chris casted a distortion of darkness that damaged Alice as he was being also damaged by the explosions of the bubbles.

"Do you wanna be my pet?" Alice asked using Exalted Flesh and Blood (Hearts), casting the same purple aura around her as Decus to avoid staggering. "Now, let's see if you can stop me, hahahahaha!" Alice ran at the 2, pointed her whip and shooting electrical waves that damaged both of them greatly, using A Season in Hell (Hearts).

"I...don't think I can't go on..." Chris said trying to stay standing, Tokunaga was also affected and tried to do the same.

"Grrr!" Lucario grunted with rage but Mewtwo put a hand above his right shoulder.

"Calm down, Chris is going to be fine." Mewtwo said nodding slowly.

"...Grr..." Lucario grunted again and returned to watch the fight.

"Heheh, nice moves Alice, but that ain't enough to stop ol' me." Raven said grinning a little.

"Shut up you old man!" Alice complained.

Raven raised his bow above him and shot 3 glowing balls that went to the 3's bodies. "Who loves ya baby?" Raven asked rhetorically, healing his allies's health by 15% percent.

"...Wow, Raven, you're incredible." Chris said.

"Heh, thanks kid, finally, someone appreciates good ol' me." Raven said grinning.

"Ugh, perverts..." Zelda muttered frowning.

"Ha!" Decus broke out of the ice as Lucas stopped using PK Fire on him. "Lawine!" Decus spun gracefully using Decus Lawine towards Wolf and Lucas, who got caught in the attack and were pushed to different directions.

"No way...I'm going to lose...to this weirdo!" Wolf said angrily with a snarl.

"Oh, what manners do you have furry? Once I win, I will declare my eternal love for Alice." Decus said doing weird moves.

"Decus, shut up and concentrate!" Alice yelled.

"Yes, Alice my dear." Decus said grinning a little.

"...I don't understand love at all." Wolf said frowning, making Decus mad.

"Oh, you didn't say that, Sturmwind!" Decus ran at Wolf and began to do a series of slashes on him.

"KID! A LITTLE HELP HERE WOULDN'T BE SO BAD NOW!" Wolf yelled.

Lucas ran behind Decus, charged his PK energy and released it as a powerful blast to the air. "Haa!" Lucas pushed Decus to the roof, then landed before getting up quickly.

"...What should I do..." Marta muttered to herself.

"...Hey, the chick over there isn't fighting." C. Falcon said looking to Marta.

"...Maybe..." Zelda got up and walked to her.

"Z-Zelda! Come back! Who knows if she's dangerous!" Toon Link said.

"What is so dangerous about her? Don't you see she is worried?" Zelda asked as she walked to Marta. "Is something bothering you?"

"Huh? No, it's nothing..." Marta said.

"Don't lie to me, I know that by your expression."

"...Fine, I'm worried about this place that Alice wants to take over, I want to return to Palmacosta."

"Palmacosta?"

"Yes, that place is a site for the Vanguard, the unit where I'm in with Alice and Decus, but we ended up here when we got lost in the woods and Alice wanted to have this place by her own, or for the Vanguard."

"...Then you shouldn't follow her, do what you think it's right and everything will be fine."

"...I know that...but I don't know if I can do that..."

"You're a strong girl, I can see it, if you want to get away from Alice and think things carefully, come with me and let's talk together." Zelda said with a small smile.

Marta looked to her with a smile. "Thanks."

"You know, I think you're not like Alice at all, you're very nice."

"I am a good person, but once I return, I'll get Ratatosk's core and quit the Vanguard to save Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, once the worlds were reunited, the weather began to change drastically, but I hear if someone wakes up Ratatosk, he will fis the whole thing."

"You have a mission that big?"

"Yes! It's for the sake of everyone!"

"Then come with me." Zelda asked with a smile, Marta nodded and chuckled heartily as they sat together.

Alice, seeing this, got angry. "Martmart! What are you doing with those imbeciles?!"

"Sorry Alice, but I forfeit the match, I'll wait until you and Decus finish!" Marta said.

"Ugh! This is why I hat-"

"Limited!" Chris casted a sacred light above Alice that crashed upon her.

However, she was under the effect of Exalted Flesh and Blood (Hearts), so she didn't stagger. "I'll get you for that!" Alice giggled and used The Red and the Black (Hearts) on Chris, slapping him across the face several times.

"Oww! Oww! Oww!" Chris moaned in pain and backed away from her.

"Nobody slaps Chris in the face!" Lucario said about to get up but Mewtwo stopped him.

"Why don't you listen? He is going to be fine!" Mewtwo said with a serious look.

"Get out of the way, he is danger!"

"Lucario! I'm going to be fine!" Chris said.

"B-but..."

"Oh my! See? You don't train Lucaryn so well, however, if you lend him to me, I'll be sure to be good!" Alice said sweetly.

"...Go and kick her around Chris." Lucario said sitting down.

"H-hey!"

"Gladly Lucario! Dragon Surge!" Tokunaga uppercutted Alice's back, sending her to the air. "Whoa!" Chris and Tokunaga shone instantly before stopping, learning a new ability. "Surge Breaker!" Tokunaga slammed his hands in the air damaging Alice, slammed them in the floor creating a small glyph, then, he spun his right hand around to charge it, when Alice landed back, a thunder fell on her and Tokunaga punched her, sending her straight to the wall where she crashed.

"Oww!" Alice crashed into the wall and fell on the floor, she got up dusting off her clothes and glared at Chris. "Okay, now you made me mad!"

"Alice is mad! You bastard!" Decus said angrily. "Strahl!" Decus did and downward then and upward slash using Decus Strahl, pushing Lucas to the roof and he ran to Chris.

"Your fight is with me!" Wolf yelled doing a 3-hit combo with his claws on Decus's back before kicking him to the floor.

"A-argh! You damn furry! Lawine!" Decus spun gracefully in the air and slashed Wolf continuously using Decus Lawine.

"...Ever wondered how weird is that guy?" Falco whispered.

"Hehehe!" Alice giggled and threw junk in the air, using War and Peace (Hearts), somehow, as ridiculous the attack seemed to be, it dealt a great amount of damage to Raven and Lucas.

"Oww! W-why do you carry junk around?" Lucas asked after a frying fell on him.

"Don't question me, ha-ha!" Alice used Thunder & Lightning (Hearts), slapping Lucas 2 times and sending him to the air.

"Azure Heavens!" Raven shot an arrow that turned into a rain of arrows above Alice, damaging her greatly.

"I hate old men like you, old man!" Alice complained stomping the floor. "Now let's end this!" Alice said closing her eyes and twirling her whip around, scattering crystalic sparks around, and a sudden frigid wind took place in the whole place.

"W-why did it become cold all of a s-sudden?" Pichu asked trembling.

"And fulfill your duty." Alice said touching the floor gently, then everyone except her, Decus and Marta were instantly frozen. "Filbumvetr!" Alice yelled doing one spin, creating a massive shockwave that shattered all the icicles around her, dealing massive damage to the entire party using her Mystic Arte.

"...Heeelp..." Lucas moaned in pain.

"Ausbruch!" Decus came from behind Lucas and slammed his sword on him, creating a purple explosion that was just too much for the PK kid to handle.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Lucas screamed in pain before he fainted.

"LUCAS!" Chris yelled, but got weak since the attack depleted his energies to the last point.

"Who loves ya baby?" Raven asked shooting 2 glowing balls at the air that went towards Chris's and Wolf's bodies, healing them 18 percent of their health. "Please, take this." Surpringly, Raven used a Life Bottle on Lucas to revive him.

"R-Raven, you have items too?" Chris asked surprised.

Tenacity

"I need to be prepared for the worst kid, oh, that reminds me, now we're gonna have so fun!" Raven casted his own rainbow aura that caught everybody's attention, using his own Over Limit.

"He can use the Over Limit gauge too?" Fox asked surprised.

"Scatter!" Raven said and he quickly began to shower Decus with arrows, what was surprising, he was doing all sorts of moves as he fired his arrows, he shot normally, shot leaning away, shot looking behind him without looking his enemy, shot below his leg, shot bending his back behind, shot from his throat, shot from his head in the same point where he was shooting all his arrows, and finally, he charged his shot. "Chaotic Garnet!" He shot a bright glow that crossed Decus's body.

"A-amazing! He did all those crazy moves in just 3 seconds!" Diddy said surprised.

"Zelda! I told you, he's amazing!" Chris said to Zelda.

"...Well...he may be right..." Zelda muttered embarrassed.

"Here goes my life!" Raven said touching his chest before raising his hand in the air, a big tower of light began to rise from him damaging Alice and Decus greatly. "Roar, o mighty being!" Raven called out.

"UGH! UGH! UGH! UGH! UGH! UGH! UGH!" Alice and Decus were constantly being damaged.

"BLAAAAAAST...HEEEEEARRRTT!!!" Raven released purple lights that spreaded to all directions, damaging all his opponents greatly, as Decus and Alice landed on the ground panting heavily. "Thought I was dead." Raven said simply panting a little.

"Raven, it's officialy, one of my buddies!" C. Falcon said giving Raven a thumbs up.

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Professor Kawashima said.

Raven looked around. "Where did that voice come from?"

"Raven, I'll show you my own secret attack!" Chris said very excited at this moment. "I'm bursting with fonons!" Chris raised his staff and both him and Tokunaga were covered in the same rainbow aura.

"O healing power..." Alice chanted her healing spell.

"Oh no, you won't!" Chris, knowing the chant, ran to Alice together with Tokunaga. "Soaring Blast!" Tokunaga was raised into the air and slammed Alice down the ground. "O ravishing tragedy!"

"(So he is indeed the World Traveler...)" The Master thought coughing.

"(It shall be an honor once we fight, World Traveler.)" Jynx thought.

"(Got everyone's attention, man, got new fans for good ol' me.)" Raven though sighing.

"(Damn that kid, I lost the chance to use my Final Smash...)" Wolf thought irritated.

"FINAL FURY!" Chris began to swing his arms around as Tokunaga was engulfed inside circle of light, slapping, punching, pushing and slamming Alice continuously while the was pushed.

"HEY! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Alice yelled.

"Let's finish this!" Tokunaga jumped to the air and did a strong slam on the ground, creating a huge force that pushed Alice even further in the air. "Not done yet!" Tokunaga jumped again in the air, he did a pose in front of the full moon that appeared on the background, then fell quickly to the floor damaging Alice again, then, his right hand began to glow intensely and pulled it back his shoulder. "Dying Moon!" Chris called out before Tokunaga propelled itself to the air doing a powerful uppercut on Alice's chin, the sadist girl went soaring through the air before she crashed into the floor.

"I...lost?" Alice muttered under her breath before she fainted.

"NO! ALICE!" Decus yelled furiously and he decided to USE his Mystic Arte, he pulled out a photo of Alice and began staring at it with love. "Hmm, hmm, hmm..." We see Alice's photo then being burned up by no reason, making Decus to get angry. "...Uh...UH-UAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Decus quickly stops right in front of Lucas and Wolf, then, he begins to slash them 4 times, spelling a letter each time, spelling L-O-V-E, after that, he clenches his fists and raises his sword in the air. "ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

His yell provoked purple shockwaves being sent to all directions, damaging all the party greatly and pushing them to edge to die.

"Man, talk about an intense battle." Chan said, glancing to Parakarry who was apparently eating popcorn. "...Where did yo-"

"What? The battle got interesting at the last moment." Parakarry said eating his popcorn, as Popo asked for it and ate with him.

"That's it, I'm pissed off!" Wolf said glaring at Decus and running towards him. "FIRE!" Wolf used Fire Wolf (an attack that he didn't even was covered in fire to begin with) to strike down Decus's stomach with a slam on his right kick to the floor, making Decus to cough out blood.

"PK THUNDER!" Lucas called his last energies to be touched by his own attack and was propelled to Decus, who tried to get up but the pain that he received was just too much, then, Lucas made contact with him, dealing a great amount of electricity through his body.

"AAAAAALIIIIIIIIIIIICEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Decus yelled out loud before he fainted.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Won the Battle

The 4 gathered together and did their victory poses strangely. "The time has come to say good bye." Raven said scratching his back before putting his right hand on his chin with a grin.

"Our weapons are love!" Lucas said, love being his favorite thing.

"Justice!" Chris said, justice being his favorite thing.

"SEXUALITYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEAH!" Raven said trying to sound "so macho" as he thought, er...sexuality being his favorite thing that made the Smashers to give him odd stares (C. Falcon gave him a thumbs up however).

"Stop it." Wolf said irritated.

"Good, for a second there I was goin' to remember that crazy girl Rita."

"No way...you defeated them..." Marta said impressed.

Chris looked down, ducked and got a bag of Smash Coins. "There are 1000 Smash Coins in here!"

"Raven's the coolest guy!" Ness said running to Raven with the younger Smashers (and Diddy), they ignored Chris, who was ran over by all of them as they surrounded Raven asking him so many questions.

"...I...hate...you...all..." Chris muttered in the floor, but Tokunaga got him and stood him up. "Thanks Tokunaga."

"...GRRRR!!!" Alice got up instantly from her spot and glared at them. "Y-YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOST TO YOU AGAIN!" But then, she sighed in relief and smiled. "Oh well, guess I can't win every now and then, heheheh!"

"...Alice, can we...go to Palmacosta now?" Marta asked.

"...Fine, Decus, I hope you didn't forget the way again..."

Decus instantly recovered. "O-of course not! Lead the way Alice!" Decus said storing his sword in his iron maiden and running outside at full speed. "Here kid, try my Eau de Seduction and see if women can fall in love with you."

"W-wait!" Chris got the Eau de Seduction from Decus, then, he ran away.

"Now," Alice approached to Chris and smiled to him. "You better take care of the monsters that I'm going to get very soon," Her face turned demonic. "Next time we meet, I'll take your monsters away from you." And with that, she left The Dojo, humming happily.

"Thank you so much for defeating them!" Marta said moving Chris's hands up and down, he even blushed at this.

"O-okay, it was my job I guess..." Chris said embarrassed.

"So your name is Chris, right? My name is Marta, Marta Lualdi." Marta said smiling.

"Martmart! We're leaving you behind!" Alice called from outside.

"C-coming!" Marta ran to the door, but then she looked at all of them. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I don't know why, but I think we will meet again in a near future, that way, we can talk again Zelda!" Marta said happily waving to all of them before she left.

"...That girl was cute..." Chris said tilting his head.

"Did you say something Chris?" Lucario asked.

"Nothing!"

"World Traveler," The Master walked to him coughing a little. "Well done in defeating them, I was impressed by your skills and enthusiasm in battle."

"D-do you know my position?!" Chris asked surprised.

"So do I," Jynx said walking besides The Master. "Your powers are infinite, but yet, your emotions are the only thing that makes you a little weak, not enough to defeat stronger enemies."

"...Oh..."

"...If you want, come here later and we will fight to see your power, Lee and Chan are weak against you, however, Jynx and myself aren't." The Master said bowing.

"Today is a gloomy day and we don't like to fight in this kind of weather." Jynx explained to them.

"Wait, is Chris going to fight alone?" Lucario asked.

"No, he shall fight along you all, but under some rules that is."

"Return tomorrow or in another day, we will be waiting." The Master said as he left to his room.

"Until then, get stronger." Jynx said leaving with Chan and Lee.

"...I'm weak?" Chris asked.

"Perhaps, those 2 possess great strength, they could be even harder to beat than all the enemies we've been fought before." Mewtwo said.

"But it's just an old man and a dwarf thing!" Falco said.

"Oh, they're strong, you haven't seen them in action..." Parakarry said, chuckling. "Anyway, thank you for rescuing me! But I gotta go and deliver more letters, bye!" Parakarry left The Dojo flying away.

"...That was fast..." Geno said.

"Yep." Mallow said nodding.

Smash Mansion
Outside

Raven, the clueless ol' man

"Raven..." Chris trailed off as all the group was there in the conversation.

"Yes? What do ya want?" Raven asked confused.

"You haven't...been wondering how all of us look ever since we met."

"That's all? Ya look very normal to me, heck, even kind, that's all." Raven said grinning as he walked ahead.

"...See? That guy isn't suspecting about us." Pikachu said.

"Finally, nobody calls us monsters." Fox said.

"Oh, by ta way," Raven stuck out his head in the screen and they all looked at him. "Nice costumes ya all got there."

THUD!

Everyone fell anime-style (without exceptions) at this unexpected response as Raven walked away humming happily.

Chris's pooch

"Raven, seriously, these are not costumes!" Pikachu said.

"Yeah, yeah, ya wanna be some kinda hero, everyone has their heroes and dresses up like 'em." Raven said.

"Okay, if you don't believe us, touch Lucario's face and try to pull it out." Chris said.

"...Fine." Raven sighed and tried to get Lucario's "mask" off, but he couldn't. "Guh! This...mask...got...stuck!"

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted because he was starting to feel pain.

"...Wait...no..." Raven backed away from Lucario. "Then...you're a monster?!"

"N-no! He's not a monster! Neither of us are monsters!" Pikachu said.

"...Wow, surprise after surprise, like your style people."

"I'm glad you understand, Lucario is my Pokémon." Chris said smiling a little.

"Basically, since he looks like a dog...he's your pooch?" Raven asked with a small grin.

"What?!" Chris and Lucario asked.

"Yeah, I see it, the owner and his pooch, man's best friend, mutual bond."

"Grrrr!!!"

"Call down your pooch kid or he's gonna bite my head off."

"...Raven, I think you should start running away as far as you can..."

"Why's that?"

"BECAUSE LUCARIO JUST TOLD ME HE'S GOING TO BITE YOUR HEAD OFF LITERALLY!"

"AAAAHHHHH!! GET THE BEAST OFF ME!" Raven ran away for his dear life as Lucario got him using Extremespeed and began to beat the crap out of him. "HELP!"

"B-BAD BOY! BAD!"

"CHRIS!" Pikachu yelled at him.

Chris blushed completely. "I-I'M SORRY! RAVEN CONFUSED ME! LUCARIO! STOP!" Chris ran to Lucario and tried to stop him.

Pikachu sighed. "Things aren't going to be normal anymore..."

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

All the Smashers with Raven (black eyes in both eyes) entered inside, Raven was impressed by the luxury of the mansion and looked around. "Man, ya guys know how to live the real life," Raven remarked. "I...think I'm gonna stick around for a bit, but I won't get involved in your matters, just to be safe from Rita."

Raven left your party

"...Oh, that's too bad..." Lucas said sadly.

"Hey, don't get depressed on me, I'll teach ya kids how to shot arrows like good ol' Raven."

"Sweet! I'll be an expert archer!" Toon Link said excited.

"Oh, you're here." Master Hand said appearing behind Raven, Raven got a confused look and looked behind him.

"UAH! IS A FLOATING-FINGERED HELL BEAST!" Raven yelled with high-ptched voice and hiding behind Chris.

"...I must remember why was he so amazing..." Nana muttered.

"Chris! Did you invite another guest to the mansion?!"

"M-Master Hand! Let Raven stay here! Please! He won't interfere with our matters, he just wants to take refuge from Rita!" Chris said.

"Rita?"

"THE DEMON O' HELL!" Raven called out.

"...I'm clueless about this, but...fine, Raven can stay here as long as he doesn't get in our way."

"...Phew," Raven returned to his calm state. "Thanks Floating-Fingered Hell Beast."

"...It's Master Hand..."

"Yeah, whatever."

Twink looked at the kitchen, which was closed as many Prinnies were cooking, even Etna and Flonne were inside running to everywhere. "Master Hand, what is happening in there?"

"Oh! It's a surprise, but first, follow me everyone, I need to show you the Music Room on the ninth floor." Master Hand said floating away to the stairs.

"...There was a Music Room here?" Popo asked.

"I-I don't know..." Olimar said.

"Raven, do you want to follow us?" Ness asked.

"Well, do I have another way to show know this mansion?" Raven asked with a grin.

Music Room

"This is..." DK wiped out a tear. "...Simply amazing..."

They all found the big, Music Room, a big place where many instruments for music were found, it was big and wide, like a theater, but only for music, red carpets were around the floor, seats, and even more instruments laying around.

Chris changed to his Musician job (and Tokunaga disappeared from his back). "Hey kid, how did ya change clothes so quickly?" Raven asked.

"...Er...I'll explain later...Master Hand!"

"Welcome everyone to the musically implemented, Music Room!" Master Hand said appearing in a poof of smoke.

"More like Music Theater." Diddy said.

"Now, in this room, is where all the Brawl music will be made, Chris, your task is to gather all the talented musicians you know to create the music discs the Prinny Squad destroyed, now, do you know any musicians?"

"...I don't know..."

"Is there somebody here that knows a musician?"

"Hey!" Toon Link snapped his fingers. "How about Medly and Makar? They play instruments very well, and I could be the ceremony's master with my Wind Waker!"

"I sing in my free time." Zelda said.

"Diddy can play the electric guitar like a professional!" DK said, taking out his bongoes. "And I could be the batterist!"

"But you use bongoes..." Geno said.

"Bongoes, batterist, they're the same thing!"

"I could use my harp to play music." Chris said.

"I could sing with Zelda too!" Jigglypuff said.

"I could get the Mike ability and sing too!" Kirby said.

"NO! EVERYTHING BUT THAT! Remember the last time you showed that thing to us?!" Pikachu asked panicking.

"He destroyed half of the mansion!" Pichu said remembering.

"I used to play the violin." Olimar said.

"No, we don't need all the Smashers to play, we need musicians, talented ones, like Toon Link mentioned." Master Hand pointed out.

"Then I'll call them soon to get working if Chris lets me go to Dragon Roost Island and Forest Haven!" Toon Link said.

"S-sure." Chris said nodding.

"But are we going to make the music again?" C. Falcon asked.

"Oh, it's easy, Chris will help a lot." Master Hand said.

"M-me?" Chris asked.

"Yes, your job not only lets you play the harp, all the instruments are at your use, just think the instrument you want to use and it will appear to replace the harp."

"...Like this?..." Chris concentrated his mind and in an instant, the harp was changed to a light-blue electric guitar. "...Wow..."

"See? The job was very expensive, Crazy and I worked so hard to make it."

"...Can we test this room now?"

"Of course, but we can't make the Brawl music now, however, we can use some kind of example if this room has its "magic" to make good music."

"...Hmm...who wants to play? I'm thinking of a song that needs to be singed."

"I will be the singer." Zelda said nodding.

"Well...I could be the second singer!" Jigglypuff said.

"I could be the guitarist!" Diddy said taking out his star-shaped electric guitar from his back.

"Me the batterist! Show me my instrument!" DK said excited.

"Alright, everyone else and Geno, Twink, Mallow and Raven, take a seat." Master Hand said as the lights turned off and everyone got in their seats.

10 minutes later...

"I wonder what song are they going to sing." Olimar wondered.

"I'll bet it'll be a bad one, this is the first time for them to do it together." Pikachu said.

The band appeared from behind the curtains, in their positions and ready to play their music, few of them applauded to them.

"Hello everyone!" Diddy greeted by the microphone. "Today, we're going to play Ring A Bell, a music we just came up a moment ago!"

"Please, enjoy it," Chris said smiling. "Zelda, I hope you memorized the rhythm and lyrics."

"Yes, I did." Zelda whispered as the band prepared to play their song.

"And 3! And 2! And 3, 2, 1, go!" DK said starting to play the battery.

Ring A Bell - Full Version

Falco began to go along with the rhythm and started to move his right hand up and down above his knee. "Hey, I like the beat."

Reaching up for no man's land
To take a breath and take a chance
I walk a thousand nights to chaaange the wooorld

Where to go? When to stop?
Who to trust? What to say?
I found them all, just need someooone to shaaaare

It's now in the duuusk every day tooo, eeeveryone
Ain't so strooong, I ain't so strong to go on

Living in theee past is not theee waaay to live
I wish you could heeeaaar, me say that I miss yooouuu

Why were we there baaack-to-back?
Why were we there faaace-to-face?
I must be the liiight wheeen you're in the daaark...

If you lose me sooomewhere, and your tears are iiin the air
I will ring a beeell uuuntil you feel me byyy your siiideee...

"This song ain't half bad." Raven said moving his head up and down.

"It's really...incredible..." Lucario said.

"Keep going!" Pichu said jumping happily.

"It's so sweet, I need to remark that." Nana said smiling and closing her eyes.

"And it's still going!" Olimar said excited.

Looking up into the skyyy, looking for the reason
Why I'm here, and why you caaan't be heeere...

Who's to hate? Who's to blame?
Who's to hurt? Who's to love?
Who decides? Why we can't we beeee the saaameee?

Trying to believe walking dooown theee looonesome road
Ain't so faaar, I ain't so faaar from you

Staying the way youuu aaare means sooolitude
I wish you were hereee, and shook off my feaaar

Why were we there baaack-to-back?
Why were we there faaace-to-face?
I must be the light wheeen you're in the daaark...

If I lose you sooomewhere, and I'm still hangiiing in there
I will ring a bell uuuntil you feel me byyy your siiideeee...

"Hey, look! The Prinnies are starting to gather here!" Squirtle said seeing the Prinnies filling up the seats.

"Dood! More! Dood! More!" The Prinnies cheered.

"They are doing it very well." Fox said.

"Go! Go! Go!" Popo cheered.

"I didn't like music before, but I'm making an exception to this one!" Red said enjoying the song.

What has been in the mix too looong?
There's the peace when you're at waaar
Heads or tails, you and I
Light and dark, ups and dooowns

What is there in the middleee? Whaaat's there to divide us?
If you're hurt, cry and say, "Can't you see you're my other haaaaalf?"

"Oh my god! She sings so good!" Flonne said with glithering eyes appearing somewhere as she enjoyed the song.

"It relaxes me..." Meta Knight trailed off.

"You gotta remark that good performance." Etna said appearing out of nowhere.

"Such sweet music can be created only in this place..." Master Hand said wiping out a tear.

"Who would know the kid got skills at the guitar." Wolf said, hiding a small smile and actually enjoying the song.

"This is so, good!" Twink said happily with Mallow.

"It feels somehow like magic..." Geno trailed off.

"Dear Zelda, I will Ring A Bell until you feel me by your side." C. Falcon said poetically, winking at Zelda who ignored him and kept singing.

Why were we there baaack-to-back?
Why were we there faaace-to-face?
I must be the light when you're in the daaark...

If you lose me sooomewhere, and your tears are iiin the air
I will ring a beeell uuuntil you feel me byyy your siiideee...

The band kept playing until the end, all the Prinnies along with all the Smashers began to applaude and cheered loudly, some even whistling for more, Chris seeing this, got very happy and leaned to Diddy. "We did it! They like the song!"

"Yes! My first performance on the stage was a success!" Diddy said laughing happily.

And both, along with the members of the band, played the last part that echoed, lights began to slowly turn on and Zelda bowed to all of them.

Soon, when it ended, everyone cheered loudly, Master Hand was even proud of his creation of the Music Room. "AGAAAAAIN! DOOD! AGAAAAAIN! DOOD! AGAAAAIN! DOOD!" The Prinnies cheered, whistled and wanted more.

"Thank you! We're looking forward to sing another song, until then!" DK said waving at the audience as the curtains covered the band.

Hallway

Who could say this little and small band got popular in a second? Because all the Prinnies tried to get autographs.

"I got mine! Dood!" A Prinny said walking away with Zelda's autograph.

"My, this wasn't so bad at all." Zelda said as she signed autographs.

"How did I do it Lucario?" Chris asked hopping up and down.

Lucario smiled at him. "You did very well, the song was very enjoyable."

Chris ran to him and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much Lucario! I feel really happy now!"

Lucario couldn't help it but began to wag his tail, licking Chris's face as they laughed together.

"Okay everyone, I have a big surprise in the kitchen, dinner is served." Master Hand said, Etna and Flonne nodded to each, walked to the doors of the kitchen and opened them.

"...I died and found the heaven..." Kirby said drooling a little.

"...That's a lot of food." Raven remarked grinning.

On the other side of the doors, lots of food were found all over the big table, there were pumpkin pies, corn, stuffing, etc. Even lots of roasted turkeys were there.

"...You know, this looks like Thanksgiving or something..." Chris said and Master Hand chuckled.

"Well, I did some investigation of your world and well, I felt a little too festive and decided to hold a feast for all of you for working so hard until this day!"

"Wait, does that means you don't know the Thanksgiving Day?"

"We celebrate Halloween and Christmas here, but your world has more festive days."

"Oh, then I'll be glad to explain the day of Thanksgiving to everyone here!"

5 minutes later...

Everyone was seated on their seats as Chris explained them the celebration of Thanksgiving. "And after we say our thanks in silence, we begin to eat."

"Sounds very easy." Ness said.

"Alright everyone, please join your hands and give thanks for all the good things you have received." Chris said doing the same action, everyone looked at each other, nodded and did the same action.

And thanks to Mewtwo's reading ming, we will see each one's thanks.

"(I give thanks for letting me know everyone here, this adventure couldn't be much better than it already is, and, thanks to Lucario for protecting me.)" Chris thought.

"(I give thanks for making my master happy and fight together with him.)" Lucario thought.

"(I give thanks for seeing everyone again.)" Yoshi thought simply.

"(I give thanks for getting free from Ash's hands again, heheh.)" Pikachu thought.

"(I give thanks for staying with Pikachu and the others again!)" Pichu thought.

"(I give thanks for singing that song a moment ago!)" Jigglypuff thought.

"(I...give thanks for staying in this longer.)" Mewtwo thought.

"(I give thanks for knowing even more Pokémon.)" Red thought.

"(I give thanks for beating the crap out of Charizard.)" Squirtle thought.

"(I give thanks for beating the crap out of Charizard.)" Ivysaur thought like Squirtle.

"(I give thanks for letting me play that AWESOME music a moment ago.)" DK thought.

"(I give thanks for everything!)" Diddy thought.

"(I'm going to give thanks once I eat the food!)" Kirby thought.

"(I give thanks for...I don't have a reason yet, but it would be letting me know that there are more skilled fighters than I am.)" Meta Knight thought.

"(I give thanks for be in this once again.)" Zelda thought.

"(I give thanks for knowing Raven, who will teach me how to shoot arrows like him!)" Toon Link thought.

"(I give thanks for participating in the tournament and for getting to know Chris better.)" Fox thought.

"(I give thanks for knowing more pretty women...heheheh...)" Falco thought.

"(I give thanks for finally knowing the place where Fox hid all the time, here, heh.)" Wolf thought.

"(I give thanks for women, yeeeeeaaahhh.)" C. Falcon thought.

"(I give thanks for...wait, didn't I lose many Pikmins already?... Whatever, I give thanks for being tall, I guess.)" Olimar thought.

"(I give thanks for recruiting even more allies in my team.)" Ness thought, somehow Pikachu gave him a glare.

"(I-I give thanks for knowing Ness, Pikachu, Pichu, and everyone else...)" Lucas thought.

"(I give thanks for being called here to assist in the fight against the Subspace Army.)" Pit thought.

"(I will give thanks once Popo gets smarter.)" Nana thought sighing.

"(Turkey! And I give thanks for this food!)" Popo thought happily.

"(I give thanks for reuniting the 3 first Star Spirits and meeting Mario and Peach once again.)" Geno thought.

"(I give thanks for being here!)" Twink thought happily.

"(I give thanks for meeting Geno, Twink, and everyone else here!)" Mallow thought.

"(I give thanks for meeting Etna and the Prinny Squad!)" Flonne thought.

"(I give thanks for getting someone as dumb as them to do my work in finding Lord Laharl.)" Etna thought.

"(Dood!)" All the Prinnies thought.

"(I give ya thanks for lettin' me get away from that crazy girl Rita.)" Raven thought.

"(I give thanks for making this third tourmanent.)" Master Hand thought.

"(TURKEY!)" Crazy Hand thought hyperliating.

"Now, let's eat!" Popo said raising his forks.

"Yes!" Most of them said grabbing their food.

?

Not knowing anything about very small machines spreaded across the mansion, they were being watched the whole time from an unknown group from another world.

"Colonel, what's the meaning of this?"

"I don't know Snake, this is very weird."

"But these cameras are from us."

"Mei Ling is right, the cameras spreaded all over this place are most likely from us, but, who are these people?"

"Snake."

"Yes Otacon?"

"Mei Ling took information regarding all of them ever since she found the transmissions coming from that mansion, if you want to know how to get there, just ask her and she will also tell you the necessary information to fight every single one of those guys if you find trouble with them."

"Be glad I used my free time to analyze their abilities Snake!"

"Fine, tell me the time to be there and find out why were the cameras spreaded all over the place."

"Hehehe! Okay, I'll do it."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

ALTERNATE ENDING!

"Now, let's eat!" Popo said raising his forks.

"Yes!" Most of them said grabbing their food.

...Or before, because a gust of wind began to manifest in the kitchen, the food began to fly to the west of the table and everyone watched all the food getting away in shock, even they didn't move a part of them, Chris's right eye twitched and somehow remembered this moment somewhere before.

"...No..." Chris muttered, then, they all looked at the far end of the table where all the food was going, it was because of Kirby, who used his sucking ability to eat all the food in one seating, the Star Warrior burped happily after eating the whole feast.

"..." Everyone blinked in shock at this.

"Oohhh, it was so good!" Kirby remarked rubbing his stomach.

"...WHO WANTS TO KILL KIRBY?! DOOD?!" A Prinny asked raising a pitchfork and a torch.

"US! DOOD!" All the Prinnies said raising pitchforks and torches, Kirby gulped after seeing all the other Smashers with same items (take your guesses who didn't) and he ran away from the kitchen from the hungry crowd of people that chased him around.

"...There is no more explanation to this." Mewtwo said frowning.

"We're surrounded by lunatics." Wolf said frowning.

"So it would appear." Meta Knight said frowning.

"...What am I doing here still?" Toon Link asked.

"Aahh, kid, ya don't know the meanin' of the "kill the monster who ate the feast" tradition." Raven said sighing.

Unfortunately, the alternate ending was the canon one with the strange people's conversation, sorry. : P

Happy Thanksgiving!

By know, you should be probably cheering, because it's quite obvious who were those people talking, yes, they've been watching all of them since chapter 2, now, he will appear very soon in the next 3 arcs.

I know, who is Raven? Will he help them? Technically, no, Raven won't even appear that much in later chapters until the next Mansion chapter, the Mansion chapters will be the key to see him in action, and yes, he gained more fans (The Young Smashers). XD

I wanted to make it up for the Alice and Decus fight in the ToS arc, I didn't know the name of the attacks (which are very weird "The Red and the Black(Hearts)), so, since ToS2 was released days ago, I decided to give them an appareance here, hope the fight was good in average to you, and Marta is the best character!

Too bad for the Smashers, they didn't get to eat the feast the Prinny Squad and Etna made (Flonne didn't help that much, sorry).

References:

-Tokunaga is a reference to Tales of the Abyss, Anise Tatlin's doll, several references were made for Anise as well through the chapter.

-Marta, Alice and Decus are from ToS2: Dawn of the New World, along with The More That I Try, Tales of Symphonia 2 - Won the Battle and Person Who Conceives Frenzy (Dances at the music). XD

-Raven, from Tales of Vesperia, as well with the song references, Tenacity, United Oath (according to the description the sexiest town theme ever).

-Yuri, Estelle, Karol, Rita, Judith and Repede are all characters from Tales of Vesperia.

-The skits, reference to all Tales of games.

-Ring A Bell, Tales of Vesperia's opening, sang by Bonnie Pink. :)

-The moment Kirby ate all the food was a reference to Kirby Right Back At Ya! (Probably the only good anime from 4Kids as I've heard).

And I have a problem, I can't decide of the next 2 arcs to use...

Sonic Riders arc:

Summary: Chris tries to convince Sonic to stay in Future City and also convince him of how horrible can be his adventure in Soleanna, also, it's mst likely that Sonic will join them FOR real this time, also, there's another second but romantic event with bird characters.

OR!

Partners in Time arc:

Summary: Mario's world is once again the target, but in the past! The Subspace Army wants to kill Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to prevent Mario and Luigi from staying alive, but what happens when the Smashers not only find them, but also their baby selves?

Please, review with your vote of arcs, the selected arc will appear, then, the other arc that didn't win will be the next one, then! A Metal Gear Solid arc as the last one! Snake could probably join them at that arc!

Read and review with your vote please! (People who just will vote and not review won't get their votes counted). :)

*Chapter 92*: The Return of Daddy Lucario?

Guess what? The homework got in the way and this chapter should have been posted yesterday. -_-

From ngrey651: Aw, the reasons for giving thanks were sweet...and Rita. WOW. Just...WOW. She was OFF-THE-HOOK. And that "Wake Up In A Coffin" bit reminded me of what Hiro did to Adam Monroe from "Heroes".

BTW, if you want my vote on what arc to do...I'd say Sonic arc. Mostly because I like seeing new characters joining up to help Chris.

From me: So is Rita the most, craziest girl ever? XD

1 for Sonic...

From tirmtabor: sonic riders and good chapter parrkay was hillarious

From me: Kind of a weak review, don't you think?

Anyway, 2 for Sonic...

From Anakin Mario Son43: Hello! I am back! good chapter. on thanksgiving, my family goes out to eat and none of us gets turkey. I always get a hamburger. Anyway, the arc I want is partners in time, because I want to see everyone as a baby.(especially meta knight!)

From me: Thanks for extra information about yourself. :)

1 for PiT...not Pit, PiT. XD

From hornedjolteon: Sonic can wait. GO PARTNERS IN TIME! I hope you send 9 characters. If this wins, the characters I would want to go would be (more to less and excluding Chris) Lucario, Kirby, Zelda, Wolf, Fox, Falco, Meta Knight, and Olimar.
Once again, GO PARTNERS IN TIME!

From me: Such enthusiasm must be appreciated, thanks, and most of them will appear as babies. ;)

2 for PiT...

From Wolfenpilot687: Well, Raven was confusing, so I had to do a little investigation (OH YES! OF GOD YES!). And, say, you exaggerated the Rita part.
MUSIC ROOM! YAY! Great song, BTW. LOL at Prinnies' and Crazy Hand's thanks.

I THINK MY VOTE GOES TO PARTNERS IN TIME.

From me: I didn't exaggerate it, see "BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAIN!" video on Youtube and you'll see I'm not! XD

3 for PiT...

From chrisworshiper: partners in time. long chapter very nice.

From me: Another weak review...

4 for PiT...

From Seitei: Well, update soon! I vote for the Partners in Time to be next.

From me: And here it is! :)

5 for PiT...

From Rellymaster: I'm crying for Raven since he's got the worst luck... Why can't Alice (Ms.**, excuse me) leave the Smashers alone?! Wow, Chris got confused multiple times. XD Ring A Bell is now the best song I've ever heard. Excellent! Simply excellent!
By the way, I think you should do the Sonic arc...no wait, the PiT arc...no the other one...Gah! It's hard to decide, they're both pretty interesting!

From me: FINALLY appreciates the song! Thanks! :)

Well, 2 votes for both arcs so... 3 for Sonic and 6 for PiT...

From Blaperile: Another pervert... (sighs) lol

Good chapter, Crazy Hand was serious?! What happened to the world?!

I would like to see Sonic's arc first, because I would like that we see him in 'Partners In Time'.

From me: He was, there are monsters outside roaming about. (Good for Chris, time to gather Smash Coins!) XD

4 for Sonic...

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: That was a nice little break This Raven character interests me thought hopefully He'll make a appearance in another chapter. But you should DEFINITELY do the Partners in Crime story arc mostly because of Snake and Mario nuff said. Also because I'm a big fan of the Mario & Luigi games they were fun!

So yeah great work on the filler chapter.

Peace.

From me: Partners in CRIME?! This isn't some kind of rap-movie! XD Just kidding, and I'm also a big fan and I'm waiting for the third installment. ;)

7 for PiT...

From Mewtrainer: That was a funny alternate ending! :D I like the sound of the Baby arc. May I please use your Smash Mansion and Hands Being Good ideas in an upcoming story?

From me: Use my Smash Mansion and Hands and I'll make sure to drop you in the pit of Sparta, where Rita will use Violent Pain non-stop, but actually the hands's personalities are for everyone but NOT my Smash Mansion version. Sorry. :)

8 for PiT...

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: a great thanksgiving special! forgot to mention this for my review for chapt 90, but if he thinks yojimbo can be frustrating, wait until he summons the magus sisters! and my vote will go to mario, reason? 1, 1 of the first known nintendo characters and 2, i wonder of the chaos that will comence with the smashers when they work with the mario bros who will work with their baby selves?

From me: Yes...I'll make sure he tolerates those sisters if he can. XD

9 for PiT...

From Mariko-ai-chan: "...That girl was cute..."
. say something dumb!Nice work Chris,two fantastic chappies!
Dusk:What's a batterist?
91 was my fav nya!And I just can't wait for the next arc which I hope will be...Partners in Time!!I love that game!I have that AND the first one nya!
And I give thanks for (Cheesy) my friends and family!
Dusk:I give thanks for you Mac!And tacos!
Aww!(Hugs Dusk)Viva la France!

From me: Should you know by now that you should separate words? Anyway, thanks. :)

10 for PiT...

From Avatar Fan 11051: Great story, dood :)

Hm...

Still thinking...

Sonic Riders.

Keep up the grat work!

From me: Thank you, but have more criticism please. ;)

5 for Sonic...

From Nintendogeek01: *pants heavily* Long... as... hell...

But still I like Chris' new job, and I certainly can't wait for future arcs. Good luck.

From me: ...I was actually kind of depressed, wasn't the chapter funny to you at least? Your review this time was...less descriptive...anyway, thanks! :D

From aquadragonsayian: O.O Wow... That was nuts!! Quiet literally. I have a question: Does Chris go back to the job he evolved from (example: Chosen of Mana) or he won't go back to it at all? It confuses me. Anyways, hope you can update soon, and whatever arc is good for me.

From me: No, like Pokemon, he can't, and thanks! :)

No votes for arcs then.

From Ultra Blader: Nice Thanksgiving chapter! I'm from Australia, and we don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here, so I only know so much about it, such as the reason why it is celebrated and so on. However, I really enjoyed. Good job.

By the way, that was a nice way to introduce Snake. I was wondering when he would turn up.

For my vote for either the Mario or the Sonic arc, it's a toughie. But since I think that it's about time that the Sonic arcs finally ended, I would have to put my vote in for the Sonic Riders arc. Besides, the chance to read about a Baby Sonic squeaking out: "You're too slow!" before running about hyperly around the Smashers would just be too funny to not have.

From me: The only person that is waiting for Snake is you it seems, nobody here took it seriously, thank you!

6 for Sonic...

And the final voting is...

Partners in Time: llll llll ll = 10 Sonic Riders: llll ll = 6

We have a winner! Enjoy the next arc!

And lookie here! We reached 400 reviews! Thank you so much everyone! Let's see if I can get this amount of reviews per chapter! :D

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 92: The Return of Daddy Lucario?

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Let me understand this," Tabuu began. "There are 2 ways, each one to get rid of Mario and Sonic?"

The Ancient Minister nodded. "Yes, it appears both of them have interesting affairs going on lately, Sonic is in his way to some place called Future City while Mario and Luigi are trying to prevent an invasion in the past, not only that, both found their baby selves and partnered up to fight against the Shroobs."

"Hmm, I see now, we have 2 different destinations to choose, but we should play our movements right and we will come up with a result."

"You give the order and we will begin preparations." Ganondorf said.

"Hard this isn't going to be! Prepared I am!" A dark figure said crackling evily.

"Eager to kill Mario again, I see?"

"And what happened to Charizard and King Dedede?"

"Both are still resting their wounds from the last invasion." The Ancient Minister said.

"Fine then, prepare the Subspace Bombs and decide what would be the next destination!" Tabuu ordered as he vanished.

"It appears it is my turn again, I will not fail this time again." Ganondorf said grinning as he disappeared in the darkness.

Once The Ancient Minister was alone, he called an hologram and looked at Mr. G&W being used inside tubes to create Shadow Bugs, there were even more copies of him all over the place to create even more Shadow Bugs, and infinite supply of the dark spores were created by every second it passed.

The Ancient Minister sighed in disappointment and began to mutter. "Should I escape and take him along with me when I select the replacement for this hideous look I have?"

"HEY! What did you say just now?!"

The Ancient Minister closed the hologram and turned to Porky. "Nothing of your business, Tabuu's orders, you don't want to make him angry, do you?"

Porky began to sweat. "N-no! O-okay, I'll be waiting until you call me then!" Porky said disappearing in the emptyness of the Subspace.

"(...Should I escape or not?...)"

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest (Destroyed)
A part that it used to be the inn

"..." Yuri stared at Rita in annoyance.

"..." Karol stared at Rita with even more annoyance.

"...What?" Rita asked with a small glare.

"You destroyed Dahngrest." Yuri said.

"You destroyed the Don's headquarters." Karol said.

"I told you, the old man had it coming." Rita said taking out a book about Blastia and their complex complexity.

"But that's not an excuse to destroy all the city in the process Rita!"

"Who cares? It's the old man's fault that my magic got in the way of the buildings, thank god nobody was killed."

"But I'm worried about Raven, he has not returned yet to us." Estelle said looking down.

"Don't worry, he will show up shortly." Judith said smiling a little, tilting her head.

"...But I have to say, Raven should have returned by now, this is not the only time Rita has beat him with her magic." Karol said.

"You got a problem?" Rita asked glaring at Karol.

"Uh-uhh..." Karol shuddered in fear. "I-I think I should go and look for him in the forest."

"Yeah, go Karol, go and get yourself eaten by a monster." Yuri said grinning a little.

"Y-Yuri! Don't try to scare me! I'm pretty strong by now! Okay, I'm off, I'll return shortly with Raven!" Karol said walking to the forest.

The group watched Karol returning back. "What is the problem?" Estelle asked.

"You better repair all the damages done to the city if I can't return, I feel like I'm not going to return for a while, I don't know yet, but repair the damages AND the Don's headquarters, got it?"

"Don't worry, we will do that." Judith said nodding to Karol, who walked to the forest.

"...Do you think he will be all right by his own?" Estelle asked.

"Karol is such a determined, coward and stubborn kid, he'll be fine." Rita said, not even looking at Estelle since she was still reading her book.

"Yeah, now, let's sleep and repair the damage Rita did to the city tomorrow." Yuri said laying on his half-destroyed bed.

"Thanks for letting me sleep in this complete bed, good night." Estelle said laying down in her bed.

"Yeah, whatever." Rita said rolling her eyes.

"I'll sleep on my bed as well, good night." Judith said laying down on her almost complete bed.

Smash Mansion
Raven's Room

We see the old man laying on his bed with his hands behind his head in the 9th floor, looking outside the window at the night, he closed his eyes and began talking to himself. "Man, these guys know how to live their lifes, their Blastia is weird, but hey, who's complainin'?" Raven grinned at the readers and opened his eyes blinking, breaking the fourth wall. "Do ya know what's true life? Not stayin' close to Rita, awwwwwwwwww..." And Raven fell asleep, snoring loudly with Zs above his head in a bubble.

Lucario's Room

Both Chris and Lucario were in the bed, Chris hugging Lucario from below his head with Lucario doing the same, but above him. "We didn't get to eat the turkey thanks to Kirby, but fortunately I managed to cook for you and me those steaks I promised to you." Chris said.

Lucario closed his eyes with a happy expression. "I never knew you cooked so well before."

Chris blushed a little. "Well...the Wonder Chef helped me..."

"Who?"

"N-no one."

"...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

"Why have you changed...so much?"

"What?"

"I mean, ever since we came here, your quite, peaceful and silent personality disappeared and you got a rather enthusiastic, crazy, somewhat maniacal and active personality."

"...Yes...I noticed that..." Chris said looking down. "...Is...there a problem with my new personality? Because I could change it just for you if you think my new one is annoying..."

Lucario gasped. "N-no! Don't change it! If you like it, I won't complain!"

"...Seriously, I can do that."

Lucario hugged Chris tightlier. "N-no, now that I think about it more carefully, I like the new you."

"What do you mean? Is there a difference between the old and new?"

"Yes," Lucario smiled and closed his eyes again. "The new Chris appreciates me even more than the old one did."

"Lucario!" Chris hugged Lucario tightlier (remember, he's not stupid enough to hug his spike...and he is not stupid for that matter). "Thank you!"

Lucario blinked surprised before he did the same action as before, but he licked Chris's face continuously for a while, making Chris to laugh heartily. "Did...I make you happy again?"

"As always! My warrior of the aura!"

"...Warrior of the aura?" Lucario asked stopping.

"...What? You don't like the nickname?"

"I-I like it..."

Chris smiled and closed his eyes. "Then, I hereby name you Lucario, the warrior of the aura!"

"...It has a nice sound to it..."

"Okay warrior of the aura, we have to rest and wait until tomorrow, so you can still protect me from the danger."

Outside

"And make you happy even more times?" Lucario asked.

"But of course!" Chris laughed heartily as Lucario did the same, licking his face as the screen zooms to the moon and pans out as well, but still, we can hear their laughs even with the screen all black.

One could see Lucario awakening much later just to lean Chris closer to his chest, where he hugged him once again, licked him one last time, and fell asleep wishing for a good morning to make his trainer proud of him.

The next morning...

"...Lucario!" Chris smiled to Lucario, who slowly opened his eyes and yawned showing fully his fangs.

"...What?" Lucario asked looking down to Chris.

"Nothing." Chris said chuckling heartily, obviously happy by Lucario for embracing him during the night.

Command Room

We see Chris, Flonne, Etna and 3 Prinnies watching Chris typing fastly in the computer, all alone without anyone there since it was very early in the morning.

"Have you found the location of Laharl?" Etna asked.

"Not yet, I'm trying to find the exact location, I tried searching for demons, demon beasts, demon animals, demon princes and overlor-wait..." Chris began to analyze a data when he looked around for overlords.

"Did you find him?" Flonne asked.

"I think I found a match!"

"Really dood?" The Prinnies asked.

"Yes doods," Chris said laughing heartily. "And here he is!"

"...Excuse me, but that's not Laharl." Etna said crossing her arms.

"...I'm pretty sure he isn't Laharl either..." Flonne said putting a finger close to her mouth.

"...Hey, there's a record of him, let's listen to it." Chris said playing a record.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'M A FREAKIN' OVERLORD, B(BEEP!)ES!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'M THE MOST, BADASS FREAKIN' OVERLORD OF THE NETHEWORLD YOU B(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!)ES!!!"

The World Traveler, the Angel Trainee, the vassal and the Prinnies sweatdropped at this subject that Chris quickly stopped the record.

"Oh my gosh! I haven't heard such profanity before!" Flonne said gasping.

"It says here he got turned into a book later...what an idiot he is, I bet he comes from another Netheworld, since this Netheworld isn't the same one where I came from by accident." Etna said.

"Then it's not him...fortunately" Chris said returning to the search option.

"Well, at least you tried."

"I'll be sure to look for him in another time, since you 5 are so desperate in finding him."

"Thanks! I'll appreciate your help!" Flonne said leaving, humming happily.

"...Seriously, what's so good in killing Laharl?" Etna asked rhetorically, frowning to herself as she left the room with the Prinnies.

"...Now that I have this computer at my disposal..." Chris played mischievously with his fingers and began searching for a site. "...Oh yes! Master Hand connected the internet of my house to the computers here!"

"Then what does it means?" Pichu asked jumping on his shoulder.

"Weird but funny videos on this site! Like this one!"

"Hey, when did Pikachu learn to move his hips like that? It's so funny! I need to tell the others about th-"

"On second thought," Chris turned off the computer. "Better not let them see this, or even worse, they could go there..."

"...Where is there?"

"A place called (blocked site's name), a place where drawings, most of them filthy, can be found about ANY kind of character doing...er..."

Pichu tilted his head in confusion. "Doing?"

"...You know Pichu, you're too young to know, once you evolve to Pikachu one of these days, I'll tell you, now, I need to leave, excuse me." Chris walked away from the room leaving Pichu alone.

"...Hmm..." Pichu wondered and turned on the computer, then, he typed the site's name, wrote a random character's name of the Smashers on it and...well... "...OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT IS HE DOING WITH HIM?!"

10 minutes later...

Chris came back drinking juice. "Aww...I just like to drink juice...PICHU!" Chris saw Pichu fainted on the chair and the World Traveler threw the glass away, for Chris's horror, Pichu's curiosity killed him since he went to that site and looked at the drawings of the random character he wrote. "...Oh my god, they're coming here!" Chris said panicking once he began to hear a multitude of footsteps coming to the same room, thinking quickly, he ran at the computer but...

THUD!

"OH GOD! WHAT IS MARTH DOING WITH ROY IN THIS DRAWING?! IT'S SO HILARIOUS!" Crazy Hand appeared in a second between Chris and the CPU, the World Traveler bumped into him and fell to the floor.

"CRAZY HAND! LET ME TURN OFF THE COMPUTER!!!" Chris yelled angrily at him, but Crazy Hand blocked his way as he typed quickly to see even more sick drawings, well, he was mentally sick of the mind anyway.

"OH! OH! OH! MARIOxPEACH PAIRING LOOKS SO HILARIOUS AS WELL!"

Chris started to panic once he saw the shadows of everyone coming closer to the room. "CRAZY HAND! PLEASE! TURN OFF THE DAMN COMPUTER!!!"

"I DON'T TRUST THE COMPURAR! OH MY! THERE ARE MORE GAY PAIRINGS AS WELL?! SWEET FOXxFALCO! I DIED AND FOUND THE HEAVEN AT LAST!"

"CRAZY!!!"

"Was that Crazy Hand's voice just now?" Popo asked in the hallway.

"Yes, it was, he said something about Fox and Falco apparently..." Pit wondered.

"OH NO, NO NO NO NO!!! CRAZY HAND! STOP IT!" Chris pleaded for mercy.

"NO! NO WAY! SWEET LINKxMARTH!" Crazy Hand said laughing maniacally.

"THAT'S IT!" Chris changed to his Ionian Sargeant Oracle Knight Fon Master Guardian (which we will refer as ISOKFMG), put (or slammed) Tokunaga on the floor to make him grow and threw Crazy Hand away with the doll's help. "DIE YOU FILTHY SITE! DIE! SURGE BREAKER!!!" Tokunaga called forth a lightning and punched the same computer to destroy it, missing Pichu by inches, then we see Chris panting heavily after such desperation the hand made to him. "That...should do it..."

"Chris!" Master Hand called out from the hallway after he saw Crazy Hand on the wall and Chris destroying the computer. "What's the meanin of thi-"

"SHUT UP! IT WAS FOR THE SANITY LEFT IN THEM!" Chris said pointing at the Smashers, panting heavily and even sweating.

"...O-okay...calm down..." Master Hand said calmly and Chris began to count to 10 and soon calmed down.

10 minutes later again...

"Please, let me see what new things you have." Chris said with a glare to Crazy Hand.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Taunt and Fill - 100 Smash Coins

Over Limit gauge will fill a little but faster if you use your taunts on an opponent

Items for everyone - 400 Smash Coins

Anyone can use the items once you get this ability

Hit, Smash, Punch and Smash again - 500 Smash Coins

Over Limit gauge will fill faster when attacking or doing continuous combo attacks

"Hmm, you're being nice with me with the prices for a chance?" Chris asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that, besides, it takes an eternity to fill that gauge, let's say, almost at the end where you're about to lose consciousness?" Crazy Hand asked.

"...I'll buy the 3 abilities at once...on the other hand, chaos would ensue if they were ever to use the items, so the other 2." Chris gave Crazy Hand 600 Smash Coins (most of them glared at him), and everyone shone before stopping.

"This should make things easier." Master Hand said.

"...But at the same time harder, I readed on a book that the enemy usually gets stronger once we get stronger..." Popo said winking at Nana.

"...Popo, you have to stop reading that cliché's book right now..." Nana said frowning.

"No items." Chris said and the insane hand nodded.

"Well, now we need to wait for the next invasion to a world." Master Hand said.

"...Have anyone seen Raven?" Toon Link asked looking around.

"The old man is snoring in his room." Mallow said.

"Better yet for us." Master Hand said.

"WARNING! WARNING! WORLD OF THE PAST IN DANGER! REPEAT! WORLD OF THE PAST IN DANGER!" The computer said alarming everyone from another invasion.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Current Status: Yoshi's Island of the past
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: Many
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Anything

"...Wait, why is Mario's world being the target again?" Mallow asked.

"And why in the past?" Twink added.

"It seems the Subspace Army is trying to kill both plumbers when they were just babies." Master Hand said.

"...Both of them had adventures when they were babies?" Olimar asked.

"Oh! Right! I was the one who took care of them when they were babies! Oh, I love to see them as babies again...I wonder what did they do after I delivered them to their fathers?" Yoshi wondered happily.

"If you want to go so badly, I'll take you with me." Chris said.

"Thanks!"

"Geno, do you want to come?"

Geno shook his head. "I'll let Mallow go instead of me for a change."

"G-Geno, are you serious?" Mallow asked and Geno nodded, both Mallow and Yoshi went to Chris.

"Lucario, I want you to come as well," Chris said and Lucario nodded and stood by his side. "Anyone else?"

"...Fine, I'll go." Wolf said a little irritated.

"If you don't want to come, then don't do it."

"No, anything's better to stay with these 2 around." Wolf said glaring at Fox and Falco.

"Then if you're putting it that way, I'll go as well." Fox said.

"Grr..."

"(Interesting not seeing the trio of Corneria together again would be something odd for sure...) Who else?" Chris asked ignoring both of them.

"I want to go this time." Meta Knight said.

"2 left."

Zelda raised his hand a little. "I'll go this time."

"1 left."

"I'll go too!" Pit said.

"...Be careful, one of you could be teleported to another place instead." Master Hand said.

"Why is that?" Mallow asked.

"The Shroobs, the aliens in there, made several changes with the technology and it could influence Chris's Wiimote, they put satellites and such."

Chris looked at his Wiimote in hand. "...I'll be fine."

"But be careful still."

The selected characters walked to Chris and he opened the portal. "Well, we're prepared, let's go then! I can't wait to meet Mario and Luigi as babies!" As so, the 9 entered inside and disappeared along with the portal.

"(Hmm...should I have told them about the possibility in finding their baby selves in the past? ...Well, it's possible but, Chris stepping inside could mess the storyline again...maybe, maybe not...)" Master Hand thought wondering.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

?
?

1 day ago...

"What do you mean 9 of the babies escaped?!"

"I-I swear Master Hand! They escaped past their bedtimes when we weren't looking!"

"Dammit! Now what I'm going to tell their parents once they're back in 2 days?! I'm so getting it right now!"

"Wait, I saw one of them interested in going to Yoshi's Island, where the Shroobs were seen around!"

"Then stay here Crazy, I'm going to that island and see if I can find them, you take care of the daycare center while I'm gone...and please, don't break anything, just follow the schedule and everything will be fine."

"Right, bruddha!"

Back in the present in the past...

Yoshi's Island
Shore

"Okay, now that we're HEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! OWW!" Chris appeared just above the shore, at a high height and fell to the sand. "...Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! W-what happened?! Hello?!" Chris looked around for them but didn't find the Smashers. "...Everyone? Where are you?"

"ACHOO!"

"Shh!!"

"W-who is there?! I-it's you Lucario?!" Chris asked looking some bushes close to him, he walked to them and stopped after hearing more sounds coming from them. "...Sorry everyone, but I happen to be he most expert at Hide-and-Seek, so I'm going to find you all...HERE!" Chris opened the bushes.

...But a moment of silence fell once he saw what was on the other side of the bushes.

He found all of them...

...In their baby versions...

"...Oh...god...you all...turned into babies..."

Yes, apparently, Chris thought they got there first but were turned into babies before he got there.

2 minutes later...

"OH MY GOD! YOU ALL LOOK VERY CUTE!!!" Chris said hugging Baby Pit, who kept saying his name over and over again.

Baby Pit was obviouslly a smaller version of Pit, but he had a pacifier in his mouth, as Baby Zelda who was clapping happily, there was also Baby Meta Knight, with his small mask hiding his face, and surprisingly, Chris also found Baby Mallow, a toddler with a pacifier, probably the mot cheerful of all of them.

"You 4 look so cute together! I can't resist it anymore!" Chris said happily as most of the babies giggled happily. "Wait, then that means we also have Baby Lucario, Baby Fox and Baby Wolf!" He looked at some bushes that were trembling. "And they right...HER-"

Though he didn't expect something once he found Baby Fox...

...Because mentioned baby was hugging Baby Wolf, both trembling with fear.

...Not only that, but their clothes were slightly different...

...Because they had clothes with the words "Best Friends 4 Ever" with a smile on the center of their mini-shirts.

"Go away!" Baby Wolf said taking out what looked to be a small version of Wolf's Blaster.

"...Okay, I know this is very strange, but the only way you 2 will ever be best friends forever would be by first dying in hell..." Chris said, before Baby Wolf shot at him. "Ouch! Hey! Stop it!"

"Bad adult! Bad!" Baby Fox said pointing at him.

"Bad?! Me?! W-what are you talking about?! Of course, I've could been somewhat bad towards you but that's not an excuse to shoot at me!"

Baby Fox could only respond by tilting his head together with Baby Wolf.

"...Whatever, where is Baby Lucario?"

"Riolu is there." Baby Meta Knight said pointing behind some bushes.

"...Wait...Baby...Riolu?!" Chris looked through the bushes in surprise.

002 - Putting Words Together

What he found was a sad Baby Riolu crying, sobbing silently, he also had a pacifier in his mouth, but Baby Riolu had his face covered in his legs, hugging them as he sobbed.

"Riiiiiiiii..." Baby Riolu sobbed.

"...Baby Riolu?"

"Ri?" Baby Riolu slowly looked at Chris and blinked with his tears running down his cheeks.

"(...I can't help it but...I feel sad...just by looking at him...)"

"Riiiii..." Baby Riolu buried his face in his legs and kept sobbing.

"...W-why are you crying? I'm here, you don't have to cry anymore..."

"...Riiiii..."

"...I wish I could knew why are you crying..."

"Baby Riolu sad for Baby Chris," Baby Mallow called from behind Chris. "Baby Chris somewhere lost in this forest, Baby Riolu got sad and cry ever since."

"Baby Riolu and Baby Chris are very close to each other, Baby Riolu has not left Baby Chris's side until now." Baby Zelda explained.

"...Y-you can talk?" Chris asked.

"That does not matter, Baby Chris is lost somewhere in this forest."

For more descriptions, Baby Zelda, Baby Mallow, Baby Fox, Baby Wolf, Baby Pit and Baby Riolu had pacifiers except for Baby Meta Knight because of his small mask, everyone's eyes were round a cute, sure, heads were a little bit bigger than their bodies, but that just made them look cuter.

"...Wait just a second...Baby Chris?!"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Baby Riolu broke into tears and Chris quickly looked at him.

"B-Baby Riolu! Please! Stop crying! I beg of you! Don't cry anymore!... I think I need to do this..." Chris went to Baby Riolu and took him in his arms, where Baby Riolu leaned to his chest and cried on him, Chris was almost going to cry but petted Baby Riolu's head. "...Don't cry...please...you're making me sad too...please...stop..." Chris whispered silently to Baby Riolu, all the babies looked at them in curiosity.

"...Rii...Chris...Rii..." Baby Riolu tried to stop his tears from running but couldn't do it and closed his eyes.

"You even know how to talk..."

"We're here to look for Baby Chris." Baby Zelda said.

"Baby Chris friend to us, we look for him!" Baby Fox said.

"Baby Riolu too sad for him, we don't want to see Baby Riolu crying!" Baby Wolf said surprisingly.

"Too sad, too sad..." Baby Mallow whispered trying not to cry as well.

"...So...you're all looking for Baby Chris? (...My baby self then...that means they're also the baby selves of them...)" Chris asked as he kept rubbing Baby Riolu's head.

"Yes." Baby Meta Knight said.

"We shall find Baby Chris! Palutena's orders are divine!" Baby Pit said taking out a small bow.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Baby Riolu began to cry loudly and Chris hugged him tightlier close to his face.

"I promise to you...I'm going to find him..." Chris whispered as tears began to stroll down his eyes.

"Who...are you?" Baby Meta Knight asked.

"...I'm...Chris..."

"Chris?!" The babies said surprised and Baby Riolu stopped crying and looked at his face.

"Ri?! Chris?! Ri?!" Baby Riolu asked looking straight into Chris's face, the baby Pokémon closed his eyes and started to glow a little with his aura.

"(W-wait, this Riolu can use his aura so early?)" Chris thought before noticing that Baby Riolu got happy after he stopped using his aura.

"Baby Chris! Riiiiiii! Found you! Riiiiiii!!!" Baby Riolu said happily wagging his tail quickly and hugging Chris's throat.

"...B-but...I-I'm not Baby Chris..." Chris muttered and Baby Riolu looked at him, blinking surprised.

"...Baby Chris...Riiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Baby Riolu broke into tears once again.

"(...What am I going to do with him and the other babies?... I need to find the others soon...)"

Baby Riolu, Baby Meta Knight, Baby Zelda, Baby Fox, Baby Wolf, Baby Pit and Baby Mallow temporaly joined your team!

Music stops

Village

"(RUN! EVERYONE! RUN! THAT MUTANT IS ATTACKING THE VILLAGE!)" A pink Yoshi yelled before a tongue caught and dragged him inside a monster's mouth, upon more inspection, it was a big, fat purple Yoshi with demonic eyes called Yoob, the mutant Yoshi walked aound the village and swallowed all the Yoshis he found in his way, after his rampage, he jumped away from the village and hid.

"...I-it's gone?" Luigi asked peering from a hut with Baby Luigi on his back.

"I think so, but we need to be careful." Mario said with Baby Mario hiding his face with his hat, Baby Luigi, seeing this, did the same.

"I haven't been this jazzed in a Blargg's age! I can see the headline now! "Monster Yoob from Shroob on Ravenous Rampage!" Tops!" Kylie Koopa said appearing close to them, already excited for making her scoop a total success.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned abou the Yoshis here?"

"Well, of course I am!" Kylie began to take photos around. "The scoop will bring peace for the Yoshis in the island as well! That's the job of an experienced reporter like me!" Kylie looked away. "And look at that light appearing out from nowhere! I found gold and that is called "award for myself!"

"...W-wait, that isn't normal!" Luigi said hiding inside the hut with the babies.

"...Why does my baby self act for his own?" Mario asked frowning a little.

"OH NO! THE ISLAND! THE HUTS! THE YOSHIS! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" We see the Smashers coming ou from the light that Kylie mentioned, and upon seeing the whole village destroyed, Yoshi panicked and ran around.

"E-everyone! What are you doing here in the past?"

"We came here because the Subspace Army is trying to take over your world as well, not only that, they seem to be looking for...your baby selves..." Pit said.

The babies peered from the hut and they looked at them. "...Aww, Mario and Luigi as babies, how cute." Zelda said ducking to Baby Luigi, rubbing his hat, making the baby to blush.

"...Hmm...they look almost the same...but Mario's rounder." Mallow said chuckling as Mario rolled his eyes.

"...Wait, we're missing someone here..." Fox said.

"...Where is the kid?" Wolf asked.

"Chris!" Lucario looked around his surroundings and tried to locate Chris.

Oh, wait, we still have Kylie with us so...

"Subspace Army?!" Kylie ran above her position and took out a notepad, then she looked at Mallow. "You! Cloud! Tell me! Who's this Subspace Army?! You must tell me who are those hooblas! NOW!"

"E-e-er-hm-um-er..." Mallow began to sweat.

"You kiddo ain't giving me answers huh?!" Kylie quickly ran to Pit. "How about you briefs boy?"

"B-briefs boy?"

"Briefs boy, heh." Wolf chuckled and Pit glared at him.

"You're even worse!" Kylie stated running to Zelda and jumping before talking. "Okay royalness of some sort, tell me who is this Subspace Army! My job's award depend on this scoop along with the "Monster Yoob from Shroob on Ravenous Rampage!", I'll call this "Subspace threat makes an army AND invades Mushroom Kingdom!"

Zelda, obviously the polite person she is, began to answer to all of Kylie's questions for about 5 minutes, non-stop.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH! I'm so getting my award now!" Kylie said twirling and giving a thumbs-up to the group, before taking snapshots of all of them.

Of course, the snapshots were weird, they either blinked confused, glared at her or either made peace signs (in Mallow's case), however, she took them all.

"Yes! Yeeeeeeeees! Okay, I'm running off to report this to the news! Before I go though, I saw a koopa entering that hut over there, rambling about something," Kylie hid inside her shell and began to spin. "See ya everybody!" And with that, she went away.

"...Good, she went away, finally." Wolf said frowning.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"...Was that cry..." Lucario wondered and ran inside the forest where the mysterious cry came from.

Of course, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi jumped off from their adult selves's backs and followed the Aura Pokémon in curiosity.

"BABIES!" Luigi panicked and chased them.

"W-wait! Why does this always happen?!" Mario asked as he chased Luigi.

"Mario! Babies! Green guy! Wait!" Mallow yelled running inside the forest.

"W-wait for me!" Pit yelled chasing them.

"Why do we always have to run somewhere?" Zelda wondered as he joined the run.

"We'll do a lot of running." Meta Knight said spreading his wings and chasing them.

And that only left the lunatic Yoshi, not lunatics Fox and Wolf behind.

"...Meh, chase them." Fox said running inside the forest.

"THE VILLAGE! THE YOSHI COOKIES!!" Yoshi panicked as Wolf frowned again and went inside the forest as well.

002 - Putting Words Together

We now see Lucario dashing through the forest, he was even farther that everyone by this time that he almost got to his area.

And then, he found the area, a shore, he carefully looked around for the source of the cries and used his aura to locate the source.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"W-where is that cry coming from?.... It feels familiar..." Lucario wondered before he found the source, he found a rock close to the shore, with a small white mantel covering its source, Lucario walked to it but grunted at it with rage, the aura that he felt from it was the same as Chris. "Is someone trying to steal Chris's aura? Grrrrrr..."

"UAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"Grrrrr..." Lucario put his right hand on the mantel and slowly uncovered the person inside. "...W-what?"

"...Huh?" Lucario found the face of a baby, the baby had a pacifier in his mouth, black hair beginning to grow from his head, sligthly black skin, he was wearing blue pajamas under the rest of the mantel, when he saw Lucario, he blinked with curiosity.

"...W-who are you?" Lucario questioned approaching his face to the baby's face, the baby continue to blink before he slowly touched Lucario's nose. "..." Lucario blushed after the baby started to rub it slowly.

"...Heheheh..." The baby chuckled and closed his eyes happily.

"...Hmm..." Lucario closed his eyes and his tail began to wag a little, he opened them back and started to sniff the baby all around the face, the baby giggled a lot before Lucario stopped and smiled a little.

"Riii! Riii!"

"...Riii?" Lucario questioned as the baby moved his hands up and down happily. "Are you...Chris?"

"Chris! Chris Chris Chris!" The baby nodded giggling, the baby was Baby Chris, though in height terms, he was 4 centimeters shorter than Baby Riolu.

"...Chris...you're a baby..." Lucario slowly took Baby Chris in his left arm and put him close to his face, Baby Chris got happy and rubbed Lucario's cheek. "...Did you were turn into...this?"

"Rii! Rii! Rii!" Baby Chris only replied giggling.

"..." Lucario closed his eyes and his tail wagged slowly.

"Baby!" Baby Mario said appearing from the jungle with his brother.

"Huh?" Baby Luigi looked up to Lucario and Baby Chris, both silent for the moment.

"T-there you are!" Luigi appeared from the forest and spotted the 4 standing there. "What are you doing?... Another baby?"

"Luigi! Babies!" Mario yelled from the forest, spotting the 5. "...Is that another baby?"

"Yes." Lucario responded as Baby Chris kept rubbing his face.

And the rest of the Smashers (and Mallow) appeared from the forest and stopped once they saw the baby Lucario was holding in his left arm.

"How cute, another baby." Zelda said smiling down to the baby who giggled and stopped rubbing Lucario's face. "...Wait..."

"Hmm..." Mallow jumped to see the baby, talking when he managed to see him. "That...baby...looks...like...Chris...doesn't...he?"

Baby Chris giggled after seeing Mallow's face appearing again and again. "Chris! Chris Chris Chris Chris Chris!" Baby Chris said happily.

"...Great, now we have to watch the kid's diapers..." Wolf said annoyed as the baby blinked at him.

...Though the only thing Baby Chris did was to stick his small tongue to Wolf and put back his pacifier.

"Why you little-" Wolf almost lunged at him but the baby hid his face within the mantel, giggling again.

Fox chuckled at this and looked at the baby. "It seems he knows how to retaliate, watch out, he might even humiliate you."

"Shut up Fox."

"..." They all looked back to the baby who looked to all of them.

"...Big!" Baby Chris said to Lucario. "Big!" To Zelda. "Big!" To Meta Knight. "Big!" To Fox. "Big!" To Mallow. "Big! And to Wolf too as he giggled.

"Why did he say big to all of us?" Meta Knight asked.

"...Hmm..." Lucario tried to read his mind. "...Wait...he said big to all of us because...he thinks we grew up all of a sudden..."

"Why though?" Mallow asked.

"...I...don't know the details, but it seems he knew us as babies..."

"I get it now." Meta Knight said.

"Get what?" Pit asked.

"If this baby is Chris, then that means babies that look like us are in the island as well."

"Wait, does that mean I have a baby self too?" Mallow asked.

"So it would seem."

"Riiiiiii!" Baby Chris said happily.

"And the reason of why he says that should be because..." Luigi wondered.

"...There is a baby self of me too." Lucario said blinking surprised. "...And the rest of all of you."

"Wait a minute, there's a baby that looks like me then?" Wolf asked pointing at himself.

"No, he doesn't look like you, is you!" Fox corrected him. "And...probably I have mine as well."

"Same goes for me, Meta Knight, Yoshi and Pit," Zelda began. "And speaking of Yoshi, where is he?"

"GUUUUUUUYS!" Yoshi came from the forest panting "H-here you are! I was worried because you weren't in the village anymor-"

"Yoshiiiiii!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi got very happy and began to jump once they saw Yoshi.

"Babies!" Yoshi ducked and put both babies on his back. "Aw, this brings back wonderful times..." Yoshi shook his head as both babies moved their hands up and down. "Anyway, is that baby Chris by any chance?"

They explained everything to him.

"Oh, don't be so stupid, I don't have a baby." Yoshi said laughing a little.

"What do you mean by that?" Mallow asked.

"Yoshis can grow very fast into adults if you feed them with 2 or 3 monsters or lots of food, and speaking of which," Yoshi looked around. "My past self should be inside that Yoshi mutant, Yoob."

"Yoob?"

"Well, that's what Kylie said to me when she returned, Yoob, a Yoshi/mutant/alien/something ate all the Yoshis."

"Oh, right!" Mario said snapping his fingers. "We're here because of the Shroobs, the aliens that invaded the Mushroom Kingdom and took Peach captive!"

Music stops

A record scratched at that moment. "Wait, she got kidnapped...again?" Zelda asked.

"...Weeeell...yes." Luigi said looking away embarrassed.

"...So, Fox, how many times until now?"

Fox took out a notepad from his pocket. "Hmm...10...no...15...er...I lost the count after 28..."

"S-she wasn't kidnapped that much!" Mario said.

"Admit it, she's very easy to kidnap." Zelda said.

"S-she isn't!"

"STOP!" Lucario yelled making Baby Chris to hide in his mantel. "We have to find Chris and the other babies!"

"Then why don't you use your aura already to locate him as you always do?" Pit said pointing out the obvious to Lucario.

"...Oh...sorry..." Lucario said blushing a little (even Baby Chris giggled under the mantel) and used his aura to locate Chris and the babies in the island. "..."

Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Baby Chris temporaly joined your team!

On the other side of the island...

Besaid Island

We see Chris carrying Baby Riolu on his arms, while all the other babies were being carried by Tokunaga above its head and arms (we're not going to bother to tell the oddysey Chris had to pass to convince the babies to ride on Tokunaga because they cried).

"So Baby Zelda," Chris began as they passed by a waterfall that the babies stared in awe. "You're a smart baby thanks to the Triforce of Wisdom, Baby Meta Knight studied to talk like you, Baby Riolu wasnt to find my other me, Baby Fox and Baby Wolf are best friends that never get separated, Baby Pit is very loyal to Palutena's teachings and Baby Mallow is a normal baby?"

"Yes, that is pretty much it." Baby Zelda said nodding.

"Riii..." Baby Riolu looked at the waterfall and wished Baby Chris was there to see it with him.

Chris rubbed his head. "Don't worry Baby Riolu, I'll find my baby self and you 2 will be together again."

"Ri?"

"I don't know what you just said but of course!"

"Riiii!" Baby Riolu wagged his tail happily as Chris put him close to his cheek.

"You're the cutest, baby Pokémon ever too!"

"Riolu happy again!" Baby Mallow said in Tokunaga's arms.

"Aw, it's so great to take care of babies like you all..." Chris got closer to the babies above Tokunaga's head (Baby Pit, Baby Fox and Baby Wolf). "Though it's cute to see you 2 together."

"That because Fox great friend." Baby Wolf said as Baby Fox giggled.

"...Though your adult versions aren't going to like this at all for sure...but who cares?" Chris asked laughing a little with the babies who giggled, the camera zooms out above the trees as everyone was passing below. "Thank you Tokunaga for carrying the babies around for me."

Tokunaga nodded simply.

"Find Baby Chris!" Baby Pit proclaimed taking his rather small dual-blades that looked like toys and the babies nodded in unison.

"Aw, such enthusiasm in babies like you, it inspires me!" Chris said.

"Where are we going?" Baby Meta Knight asked.

"Hmm..." Chris looked at the tallest point of the mountain in the island. "...I think we should climb up to the top, the others should be heading there as well...I hope we don't ran into Yoon though..."

"C-climb?" Baby Mallow looked up and trembled. "I hate heights..."

"Don't worry, there's a direct path to the mountain top from this side, everything will be fine."

"Be careful," Kawashima said from his pocket. "I sense monsters around here, hiding to ambush us."

"Pfft, yes, sure, don't believe in him." Chris said trying to ignore the situation.

Too bad, 2 Birdies appeared on their carpets and ambushed the group from the bushes.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Main Battle Theme

"Oh, great, native enemies from this island and oddly enough...from Mario's dream in that game..." Chris shook his head. "Babies! I need your help t-" Once he looked at Tokunaga, the babies were gone. "B-BABIES!"

Tokunaga motioned to the bushes where the babies were hiding.

"B-babies! Please! I need your help to defeat them!"

"Monsters scary!" Baby Fox said.

"Yeah!" Baby Mallow said.

"Not good Chris, the babies are scared from the monsters!" Kawashima said.

"...But they're just Birdies! They don't look THAT scary to me an-" Chris looked down where Baby Riolu was still on his arms. "Wait, I thought you ran away!"

"Ri, ri, ri!" Baby Riolu shook his head.

"...It seems he got confident and decided to fight alongside with you!" Kawashima said.

Chris saw the Birdies flying high above to later dive down on them, but Tokunaga stepped in front of them and blocked the attacks. "W-wait, then are the babies going to stay out of this?"

"Hmm, maybe if you grab another baby, he or she will fight too, I don't know, try it!"

"But first, Baby Riolu! Use Aura Sphere!"

"Ri, riii..." Baby Riolu looked down in disappointment.

"...Then you don't know how to do it?... Fine, then use Force Palm on them!"

"Ri, ri, ri."

"...Oh, you want me to approach them, right?"

"Ri!"

"Alright, Tokunaga, keep guarding us!" Chris ordered as he ran to a Birdie, the Birdie tried to get away from him but Chris reached him and Baby Riolu slammed his glowing palm on it, sending it blasting off. "...Baby Riolu! You also have brute force like Lucario!"

"Ri, ri, ri!" Baby Riolu closed his eyes and wagged his tail.

Chris saw the other Birdie about to dive down from the air. "Okay, Baby Riolu, I want to see if the other babies want to fight as well, will you allow me please?"

"Ri!"

"Thank you!" Chris ran to the bushes and let Baby Riolu go. "Okay, I need someone else to fight, who wants to?"

"...Me! Me! Me!" Baby Pit said flapping his small wings a little.

"Chris, do it but give him a piggyback!" Kawashima said.

Chris ducked and turned his back on Baby Pit, put his hands behind and carried the baby angel behind. "Well Baby Pit, can you attack from this range?"

"I can!" Baby Pit said enthusiastically, taking out his small bow with a blue arrow ready.

"Fire then!" Chris ducked his head and Baby Pit aimed his arrow to the remaining Birdie, the arrow went flying towards it and crashed into the birdie, who fell off from his carpet and got dizzied. "Dragon Surge!" Tokunaga uppercutted the Bidie with his right fist and defeated the monster. "Alright! We did it babies!"

"Not yet! There are more enemies coming this way!" Kawashima alarmed them as more Birdies came from the sky.

"We have to advance or else this will last forever!" Chris said to Tokunaga who went to the bushes and carried the babies above his head and on arms, running to the path to the top of the mountain.

"More Birdies coming this way!" Kawashima said spotting a swarm of them appearing and preparing to dive down into them.

"I need someone who can shoot them down!" Chris looked at the babies in Tokunaga and changed Baby Pit for Baby Fox. "Okay little vulpine, do you have a Blaster?"

"Bang!" Baby Fox took out a small version of the normal Blaster.

"Aim at them and shoot them down!" Chris ducked his head and Baby Fox tried to aim at the Birdies.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Baby Fox kept repeating happily as he shot the Birdies continuously.

"They're not going down with the weak shots, can you hold another baby with you?" Kawashima asked.

"Hmm..." Chris glanced at the babies and took Baby Mallow on his back with Baby Fox. "Baby Mallow, can you use Thunderbolt?"

"BZZZZZZZ!!!" Baby Mallow called out happily clapping his hands as small thunders crashed into all the Birdies from dark clouds, paralyzing them and falling from their current heights.

"Good, job!"

"Mallow big help! Mallow big help!"

"(If we keep going like this, we will reach the summit shortly...)"

Music stops

Meanwhile on the other side, we see the other group waiting for the babies to come out from some holes to a cave they could only get in to open the path of a warp pipe.

"Hmm..."

"Heheheheheh!"

"I'm going to be sick if he continues to do that." Wolf said irritated.

Ever since Lucario met Baby Chris, the 2 of them haven't been separated, and after a short while, Baby Chris wanted to play with his "big Baby Riolu" as he thought, Lucario had to agree and started to lick his face when they began to move to the top of the mountain, where Chris and the other babies were heading as Lucario mentioned before.

"But it's so cute..." Zelda said.

"Who cares if it is cute? He has no dignity left." Wolf said.

Lucario ignored that and kept liking Baby Chris's face.

"...Hmm..." Baby Chris said, tired of laughing non-stop and Lucario stopped.

"Finally, you're back with us from your trance." Yoshi said.

At that moment, the babies came out from the hole, having finished the puzzle and jumped to their future selves's back and resumed their way.

"Wait a minute," Luigi began. "I don't remember Yoshi being the one who saved us when we were babies, wasn't the other way around Mario?"

"Hmm...you mean..." Mario began to thought.

"What do you mean?" Yoshi asked.

"Well, it all started, when Mario, the princess and I went to Dinosaur World for vacation."

You should have guessed by now that the flashback waves began to play.

"Wait wait wait," Yoshi stopped the flashback waves from ending. "I saved you 2 from Bowser before!"

"Oh, that wasn't it!" Luigi said. "I got you from a block! Remember my nickname?"

"...Green guy?" Mallow asked.

"...Mama Luigi!"

"MAMA LUIGI?!" Mallow and Pit repeated to each other and dropped to the floor laughing and rolling.

"Mama Luigi?! HA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mario couldn't resist it anymore and joined the 2 with the babies laughing as well, even some of them chuckled at this.

"B-but you were the babies! Not me!" Yoshi said.

"Then who was that Yoshi?" Luigi asked ignoring the laughs and crossing his arms. (Baby Luigi wasn't in his back).

"Luigi, stop with the memories, we have to get to the top." Meta Knight said simply and most of them began to chuckle even more at this.

"That's Mama Luigi to yo-" Luigi was about to wheeze and finish the sentence but Zelda and Fox began to laugh loudly at this. "Oh, stop it! Please!"

"Shut up, Mama Luigi." Wolf said grinning, teasing Luigi.

"O-okay, stop now, I'm going to have a heart attack if this goes on." Fox said panting a little.

Mountain Top

After goin through all the enemies, Chris and the babies got to the top but hid behind some rocks, because they found Baby Bowser (who looked EXACTLY the same as Bowser Jr. by some odd reason) and Kamek standing by his side as he ate cookies.

"..." Chris looked at all the babies drooling a little. "...Oh god, you're all hungry?"

All the babies nodded.

"Here, milk, er...from an evil cow." Kamek said handing evil milk to Baby Bowser after he choke the cookies a little.

"Aw! Nothing like cookies and evil milk! I was a little creeped out at first, hanging out in this ghost town, but...then I realized there was no one to stop me from eating every cookie in sight! YESSSS!" Baby Bowser rejoiced laughing.

"Yes, I remembered that line...and that must mean I messed up the storyline AGAIN." Chris muttered angrily after not finding Mario, Luigi or the babies behind him.

Tokunaga poked his shoulder.

"What is it? Where are the babies?... THE BABIES!" Chris panicked when the babies were not in sight, yellow trails where they were supposed to be on Tokunaga blinked before disappearing. "Oh no, where are they?!"

"Y-you! Who's there?!" Kamek demanded looking at the rock Chris and Tokunaga were hiding, so both of them had to reveal themselves to them. "A kid and a big doll? Where did you hooblas appear from?!"

"(Oh...god...)" Chris saw the babies sneaking behind Kamek and Baby Bowser, when they were not looking, the babies began to munch down all the Yoshi Cookies silently. "...Er..."

"What is a kid like you doing up here?!" Baby Bowser asked before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I know why are you here! You're here to get the Yoshi Cookies back, right? Well, too bad! They're all mine! Not even you, your doll or those stinky babies will get in my way!" Baby Bowser took out 2 blue glittering shard pieces above him. "These are ALSO mine! This!" Baby Bowser pointed at his pile of cookies. "And THOS-"

A small group of silent burps came from the babies who giggled happily after finishing a great pile of Yoshi Cookies.

"...OH NOOOO!!!" Baby Bowser jumped in shock after his cookies were gone in their tummies. "STINKY BABIES! I HATE ALL BABIES! YOU ARE THE WORST BUNCH EVER!" Baby Bowser yelled furiously stomping the ground as Chris gathered the babies back with him.

"Cookies! More cookies!" Baby Mallow asked for more and Kamek sweatdropped.

"Prince Bowser, please, take it easy!" Kamek said taking B. Bowser to the other side.

"Hrmph...cookies..." B. Bowser muttered with clenched teeth.

"Babies! Don't disobey me the next time!" Chris said bending down to look at them.

"Leave this rabble to me. You just go walk it off, your Hungriness!" Kamek said.

"Grr! You punks got lucky, hear me? Stealing food? Who DOES that? You'll PAY for those cookies! Oh, all right, fine! FINE! Kamek, I'm counting on you to finish these snackaholics!" B. Bowser before he ran away to the other side of the mountain top.

"..." Kamek looked to all of them. "Well, I don't know who you guys are, but stealing the cookies of Prince Bowser is already crossing the line, in his territory, so, I'll have to make sure you don't mess with us AGAIN!"

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Main Boss Battle Theme

"Fine, I'll burn you all down!" Kamek said taking out her wand from her back and began charging it.

"Chris!" Baby Meta Knight held up a mini-cannonball and Chris took it.

"Hmm...wait," Chris took it and put it down the ground, then before their eyes the cannonball began to grow in size until it stopped.

"Chris! Put the babies inside to attack Kamek!" Kawashima said.

"...Oh babies? Who wants to jump REALLY high?" Chris asked as all the babies rejoiced jumping up and down, the World Traveler ducked and dropped every baby inside the cannonball, then he grabbed the rope. "FIRE!" Chris yelled pulling the rope to shoot all the babies high up in the air to attack Kamek continuously.

"Oh no, you don't!" Kamek said walking away to evade the stomps.

"Tokunaga, grab her and throw her to the air!"

"W-what the-DOLL! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Kamek demanded running from Tokunaga, the doll was faster than her and threw her to the air, where the 7 babies stomped on her and backflipped to the ground where they cheered at this by hopping.

"Ri ri ri ri ri!" Baby Riolu cheered as Chris held him behind his back.

"GRR!" Kamek landed down and fired at them a small flame that went along the ground to damage all the babies.

"Baby Pit!" Chris called changing Baby Riolu for Baby Pit, who instantly took out a huge shield and put it in front of them.

"Very nice try!" Baby Pit said happily as the flame was returned to Kamek once it touched the mirror, burning her alive.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Kamek panicked and ran to them as she was still burning up.

"Baby Meta Knight!" Chris called quickly Baby Meta Knight, after changing babies, Chris ducked his head and B. Meta Knight using Drill Rush on Kamek to stop her from approaching, the small baby knight went up and then flew to Chris's back to return with him.

"No wonder why Prince Bowser hates babies!" Kamek said as she summoned a big spiked ball that went to the air above all of them.

"Baby Zelda!" Chris called Baby Zelda who jumped to his back as B. Meta Knight jumped off, she called forth a diamond-shaped barrier above Chris that reflected the ball and crushed Kamek instead.

"This is too easy for me." B. Zelda said. (Now, we're going to use the "B." for abbreviating).

"ACK!" Kamek yelled in pain as the ball vanished. "Y-you all! I REALLY hate you all!"

The babies stuck out their tongues, except for B. Meta Knight. "God, you're all a bunch of mischief makers, aren't you?" Chris asked frowning.

Kamek backed away to a wall and began to charge her wand. "FINE! If all of you want to be killed, then so BE I-"

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

Music stops

An explosion sent Kamek out of the way and crashed into the other side of the wall, all of the babies hid behind Tokunaga in fear as the dust divulged entirely through the area, Chris coughed before he saw images in the dust.

"And basically, that Yoshi was another one you met."

"Oh, so now I get it!"

"Could you please shut up? You've been arguing about this the entire time, all the way to this place!"

"Oh no..." Chris muttered as he told Tokunaga to take the babies away to the other side of the mountain.

The dust cleared out, and the Smashers with Mallow looked around, finding Chris sweating with crossed arms behind his back. "Chris? What are you doing up here?" Mallow asked.

"H-hey everyone! I was just...admiring the view from this place! Yep! Only me and only me alone!"

"Ugh..." They all looked to Kamek who fell to the ground with a K. expression on her face.

"...And her!" Chris added nodding.

"...You had another reason, right?" Pit asked as the babies ran to the other side of the mountain.

"N-no..."

"Hmm..." Lucario was rubbing his cheek to B. Chris's cheek, ignoring the situation.

"Lucario! Snap out of it!" Chris said walking to Lucario, who shook his head nad looked to him. "...Is that baby on your arm..."

Lucario nodded with a small smile. "Yes, he is your baby self."

"Me! Me! Me!" B. Chris cheered after seeing his future self looking to him.

"...So...he is me..." Chris said rubbing his future self's head with care. "...Can I...carry him Luc-"

"No!" Lucario backed away from him. "I don't want to leave his side, he needs me, he needs someone to be protected!"

"I tried to carry B. Chris, but Lucario refused." Zelda said.

"I even wanted to carry him." Yoshi admitted.

"And me too." Mallow said, looking to Fox.

"...Fine, I also wanted to carry him...ONCE." Fox said blushing a little.

"Great, we got the kid and his baby now." Wolf said.

"...Mario! Luigi! You're here!" Chris said looking to the brothers.

"What are you doing here?" Mario asked.

"I successfully hid the babies from all of you because I didn't want to see you-" Chris blocked his mouth and the Smashers looked at each other before running to the other side of the mountain. "N-no! Wait! You're not going to like it!" Chris said running to them as Lucario followed them.

"Leave me alone!" B. Bowser said as all the babies and Tokunaga surrounded him in a dead end.

"You bad!" Baby Pit said.

"You tried to get rid of us." Baby Meta Knight said.

All of them started to heard footsteps and the babies looked back, where all the Smashers and Mallow catched up with them.

"...What the..." Meta Knight trailed off after seeing his baby self looking at him.

"...I have one?" Pit asked as Baby Pit stared at him.

"...No...this must be some kind of bad nightmare..." Fox said as he saw his baby self holding hands with Baby Wolf.

"...I'm...so...going to hate this..." Wolf said making a disgusted face after seeing his baby self not only holding hands with Baby Fox, but also because of the shirts "Best Friend 4 Ever."

"No! I tried to prevent you 2 fro-aw, screw it!" Chris said smacking his forehead.

"Babies! More of them!" Yoshi said happily as he went to the babies and ducked to see them closer.

"Hey! I have my own mini-me!" Mallow said holding B. Mallow on his hands, the baby moved his hands up and down in happiness.

"How cute, there is also another baby self like me." Zelda said picking up her baby self, who leaned her head on her chest and tried to sleep.

"..." Lucario looked at his baby self staring at B. Chris.

"Baby Chris! Baby Chris!" B. Riolu said wagging his tail, B. Chris looked around and got happy after recognizing B. Riolu's voice. "Riiiiiiii!!!"

"Riiiiii!!!" B. Chris replied back trying to find B. Riolu, the baby Emanation Pokémon jumped to Lucario and grabbed B. Chris on his arms, landing back to the ground where they looked at each other, cheering after finding themselves.

"..." Lucario sighed disappointed after B. Riolu started to lick B. Chris's face with care, both giggling happily. "...They got reunited again..."

"Lucario, I'm still here if that cheers you up." Chris said tilting his head.

"...It's good to have you back Chris." Lucario said without looking at him.

"(...Don't tell me he prefers B. Chris over me...)"

We now focus back to Mario, Luigi and their babies cornering B. Bowser. "GRR! You want your stinky shards?" B. Bowser asked raising the Cobalt Star shards above him, before he swalloed them whole, shocking the quartet. "Ha! They were SOOOOOO delicious! You won't get them back now!"

"Luigi, hold him!" Mario said nodding to Luigi and both held B. Bowser by the arms.

"H-hey! W-what are you doing?!"

B. Mario began to jump above B. Bowser's head to spit out the Cobalt Star shards, B. Bowser was coughing continuously as B. Luigi tilted his head in curiosity.

Back with the Smashers, most of them had their babies on their backs. "Wait a minute, why isn't Wolf carrying his baby self?" Mallow asked finding B. Wolf trying to get on Wolf's back, but the lupine simply walked away from him.

"Because I'm not a babysitter, and there's no way I'm going to carry him around with that ridiculous shirt." Wolf said glaring at them with disgust as B. Wolf's eyes got teary and blocked his eyes, before he sobbed silently.

"You sir are going to carry your baby." Zelda demanded.

"Hell no."

"You will you like or not."

"No!"

"...Everyone, leave him to me."

5 minutes later...

Wolf had a black eye and his cyber eye patch was almost going to break apart, he had many bruises around him as B. Wolf cheered happily behind his back. "...Never, make a woman mad who can turn into a freaking ninja to slash you to death..." Wolf reminded himself to the sky.

"That settles it." Zelda said to her baby self.

"Pretty much." B. Zelda said nodding.

"...I think that scene was T-rated for the babies though..." Chris said sweatdropping.

"This is not a movie." Mallow said.

The sounds of flying saucers were heard and they looked to the sky, where 2 saucers with the Shroobs's heads were looking at them before they flew away. "...What were those things just now?" Pit asked.

"T-those were the Shroobs!" Luigi said panicking as all of a sudden, the ground began to tremble for 6 seconds, the group looked around before looking down the mountain.

Down below, Yoob was trying to climb the mountain with his stubby arms, the Yoshi alien tried to go up but it slipped a little, they all saw the same saucers flying lose to it and fired a pink laser that electrocuted the monster, and in 2 seconds, Yoob grew insanely big enough staring at them with his red eyes.

"Uh-oh..." B. Luigi exclaimed.

Everyone froze after Yoob stared down at them. "...Don't move a muscle...start to walk to where we came from, don't do any brusque movements in the way and remain silent..." Meta Knight said as he kept staring at Yoob's eyes.

"...Meta Knight, there's a problem..." Yoshi said.

"...What?"

"Are the babies going to cry after seeing this thing here? Looking at us?"

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" All the babies began to cry loudly close to their future selves's ears (save for Chris and Lucario who quickly took their babies with them), making Yoob to roar at them for hunger.

"RUN, RUN, RUN!" Fox yelled running away from the pink monster who fired his tongue at them, barely touching anyone as they ran away from the mountain top.

"OH, NOOOO!!!" B. Bowser was caught by the tongue and was dragged inside Yoob's mouth, making the alien monster to roar for more.

"THE COBALT STAR SHARDS!" Luigi yelled panicking as the tongue got him and B. Luigi. "HEEEEEEELP!!!" Luigi screamed out with B. Luigi crying loudly, entering Yoob's mouth.

"LUIGI! OOAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Mario was also taken inside Yoob with his baby self as the Smashers watched this event with horror.

"WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Yoshi yelled.

"LOOK OUT!" Mallow yelled before all of them were touched by Yoob's tongue, tying all of them together by the tongue along with their baby selves who cried loudly.

"BE PREPARED, WE'RE GOING IN!" Pit yelled loudly as Yoob pulled back his tongue, everyone yelling loudly inside his throat, then, we see Yoob roaring, the screen entering inside his mouth and to his throat where it pans out...

Preview of the next chapter

"Hi past me!" Yoshi greeted.

"(Hi future me!)" Yoshi of the past greeted.

"All we need to do is to follow this route and we should be fine to escape from this...disgusting place..." Zelda said dodging a big drop of saliva.

"Guess we're bound to find more of those Shroobs things." Wolf said.

"Eggy-weggy monster approaching!" Mallow warned them as Sunnycide stomped the intestine with rage.

"It's possesed by the Shadow Bugs too!" Pit said.

"Babies, please, don't run away!"

"Finally! I found you!"

"MASTER HAND!?... OF THE PAST?!" Most of the Smashers said in unison surprised.

"Next time: Breaking the eggs inside Yoob!" Yoshi said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Inside Yoob
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Chris, Baby Riolu, Baby Meta Knight, Baby Zelda, Baby Fox, Baby Wolf, Baby Pit, Baby Mallow

I know the battles were a little fast-paced, but it was just an introduction of what is yet to come, so don't worry! There's still more cuteness of babies here!

References:

-The record Chris, Flonne, Etna and the 3 Prinnies heard was from the main character of Makai Kingdom, from the same universe of Disgaea...sort of...

-The blocked site's name was actually DeviantArt, no offense to users were made during this chapter.

-002 - Putting Words Together is a song reference to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2, it plays mostly during the Frimelda sidequest.

-Besaid Island is a music reference to Final Fantasy X.

-If you don't get the Mama Luigi reference was, shame on you for not watching YTP, also, you've discovered Luigi's running gag of the story! Congratulations! :D XD

Anyway, babies! I can't wait to see how this arc goes! I didn't like how the dubbers of the Pokémon anime dubbed Riolu's speech, he sounded like some sort of monkey, so, we're going to stick around with the "Riiiii!" calls, why? It's cuter. :3

Read and review!

*Chapter 93*: Yoob's Belly: Fat Alien Yoshi's Stomach

And here's the next chapter! (Which oddly wasn't reduced in words, sorry, I'll promise next one will be at least 3000 words less). -_-

From ngrey651: Aw, this was a sweet and touching chapter. Isn't it nice the way Baby Fox and Wolf are "best fwiends fo-eh-wah"? (Best friends forever) I had a feeling the site was DA. I've got an account myself. It's fun posting little comics that make fun of the SSB world up there. And...sadly...thanks to the "Browse" option I've actually SEEN some of the stuff you mentioned. YIKES. Some people are SICK-SICK-SICK!

From me: I don't know what's wrong with me lately, I've been those 3 quite a lot, even to the point to make their lifes miserable, hopefully though, they aren't real to shoot me down till I di- "Head gets almost shot by 3 red laser" wh-what the?! XD

Thanks anyway! :)

From Wolfenpilot687: Babies! Baby Wolf...Baby Wolf...Baby Fox...Baby Wolf! Nice chapter because the babies! Oh, and...DeviantART? What the hell was Crazy Hand thinking? Anyways, I love it...BABIES!

From me: Aw, somebody's in love with little grey lupine? Thank you. :D

From Mariko-ai-chan: "(...Don't tell me he prefers B. Chris over me...)"
I coulda told ya that!(Tail wags)I love babies!And this arc nya!Who doesn't like babies?If you hate babies,then pity for you man!!Nice chapter!Fox and Wolf as buddies?(Cat ears twitch)My gosh nya!An explination pending I hope.(Hint)
Dusk:MAC!!(Brings in Baby Dusk and Baby Mac)
...AW!I'm so cute!
Dusk:I know right?!Later Chris!
:Later!Later!(Tail wags too)

From me: For a second, I thought you were going to steal my idea. XD

And...I finally found out why do you say "nya!" a lot, you'll be surprised if you keep reading... ;)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Oops I put Crime instead of Time my bad anywho The PIT arc is really interesting with most of the cast becoming and with that teaser at the end has me really excited. So like always continue the great work. Peace.

From me: Thanks, nothing more to say. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Baby... fox...Baby... wolf...BEST FRIENDS!?!? The world is at an end man! That's just not possible! great chapter though. update soon!

From me: Please, the world's end is no- "sees huge meteor outside house" "shooks head" "meteor disappears forever" what the...I think I defied the reality for a second, thank you! :D

From Rabid Original: XD Man, I love your story. I started reading it a while ago, but it took me a fair bit of time to get all the way through.
Granted, your grammer needs some work, but the story more than makes up for it ^_^

A lot of people seem to be making random suggestions, so I suppose I've got one...
I think it'd be cool if you put the masked man from Mother 3 back in :3

From me: Grammar is barely left unnoticed by the readers, it's not a real trouble, the humor, however, pays so much for it. ;)

And for the villain suggestion, well...you'll have to wait, I'm just bringing back the villains from Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, who knows yet if I do the same with the others... "winks" :D

From Rellymaster: Guess curiosity killed the mouse in this case. Awkward. Wow, this chapter is just getting good now... Mama Luigi FTW! We all know the infamous, hilarious phrase: "That's Mama Luigi to you, Mario!" Now I know something weird is going to happen between the Smashers' past and future selves. So odd...

From me: Oddity is still abound, my friend! :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: whoa, back up! are non-nintendo characters going to be part of the subspace army now? main reason? this line,Hard this isn't going to be! Prepared I am!" it reminds me of a certain pair of twins. well, cute! baby smashers! poor wolf, should've listened to zelda b4 the massecre. and just to let you know, you kinda replaced a letter in my user name, here you replaced j with g, just thought you should know

From me: Only for a time before they get owned by the Smashers, when they appear, they die the next moment. XP

And who cares about little details? Oh well, I went and fixed that just for you, I like to make my readers happy (but not exaggerating either), thanks! :)

From Pyros Aves: Great story so far. I read the response on not doing a DBZ reference. Although, you did make an indirect reference when Falco was talking about his scouter having a power level indicater. Makes me think of a clip from the dubbed version ("It's over nine thousand!") where Vegeta scans Goku's power level. It's good your bringing Sonic into the team before doing one of the Megaman arcs. It will be interesting to see the interaction between the "Blue Blur" (Sonic) and the "Blue Bomber" (Megaman). I do remember seeing the Super Mario World episode with the Mama Luigi reference, but it's been years since I saw it. Keep up the good work.

From me: Oh, great eye you have there, yes, I did that reference in the Halloween special, but for the Sonic and Megaman thing, most likely not going to happen depending of the situation they're in, thank you again! :)

From Mewtrainer: Okay, thanks! I'll make it a Smash Castle then! Great job on the chapter! Baby meet Adult scene was hilarious!! XD

From me: ...I think I told you before that the Smash Mansion is commonly used amongst fan fic writers...oh well, it's your decision, thanks!

And we proceed to the next chapter of the PiT arc now!

Read, enjoy and review please! :D

Chapter 93: Breaking the eggs inside Yoob

Inside Yoob
Road

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Half an hour passed ever since they all entered Yoob's mouth, all the adults fainted after landing but the babies managed not to faint, however, after trying to wake up their adult selves, they started to get sad until everyone cried loudly.

"Riii! Riii! Riiiiiii!" B. Riolu was holding B. Chris on his arms, trying to calm him down, but B. Chris continued to cry nevertheless.

"BIG ME DOESN'T WAKE UP! UAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" B. Pit cried above Pit's back.

"...Ooooooohhh..." B. Riolu looked to Luigi who was able to stand up, the green plumber shook his head and looked to all the babies crying, making him block his ears. "BABIES! PLEASE! STOP CRYING!"

"UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! UUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"PLEASE! NO MORE!" Luigi said hiding his face using his hat, but suddenly, he got an idea and quickly looked through his pockets before holding his hands out. "Babies! I have cookies!"

"...Cookies?" B. Mallow asked sobbing a little. Every single baby looked at Luigi's hands and their eyes widened in unison after seeing fresh Yoshi Cookies on them.

"Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!" B. Chris said happily wanting to have cookies. B. Riolu wagged his tail and all the babies grabbed one cookie for each, eating them in silence and tasting them as Luigi sighed in relief.

"Phew...my ears were going to explode..." Luigi said glancing at everyone. "Everyone! Get up!"

Suddenly, a walking suitcase backflipped from Luigi and looked to everyone and the babies. It was Stuffwell, Professor E. Gadd's invention for the brothers. "Geez, you didn't call me when we got new babies and new adults with us!" Stuffwell said a little annoyed.

"S-sorry, a lot of things happened..."

"...Anyway," Stuffwell looked at the babies. "It seems we have a lot of babies with us, along with their adult counterparts that are currently in the dream world...GET UP!"

Stuffwell's yell provoked the Smashers and Mallow to slowly open their eyes, realizing where they were, they tried to get up until they did so and looked to the babies and Stuffwell.

"W-where are we?" Mallow asked, taking his baby self on his back.

"Well, we're inside that Yoob thing that ate us just a moment ago." Yoshi said.

"Too pink for my own pleasure..." Zelda said backing away from the pink wall that moved sometimes, taking B. Zelda in her arms.

"At least the babies are fine," Chris said ducking to see B. Riolu and B. Chris. "Who are good baaaabies? Who are good baaaabies?"

"Ri! Ri! Riiii!" B. Riolu wagged his tail happily as B. Chris giggled.

"Y-Young Master!" Chris noticed that Lucario was the only one left that was fainted, the Aura Pokémon got up and kneeled to see the babies. "...You're alright, thank god..."

"Grr..." B. Chris, surprisingly, made an angry expression to Lucario.

"...Why are you angry with me?"

"Ri! Ri ri ri ri ri ri, ri ri ri riii!" B. Riolu said.

"...He hates to be called Master as well?"

"Ri!"

"..." Lucario looked away disappointed.

"Sorry Lucario, you're not going to give my baby self the idea to be called Master so I can accept it, he hates it already," Chris said, before he took his baby self on his arms. "Alright, now I have my baby self with me!"

"Ri?" B. Riolu looked at Lucario, the baby Emanation Pokémon walked around Lucario noticing all his height, body, face and everything before stopping in front of him. "Ri ri ri?"

"...That if you're going to be like me someday?" Lucario asked looking up to him. "...Yes, you will evolve into a Lucario like me soon."

"Riiiiii!" B. Riolu wagged his tail and jumped to Lucario, giving him a hug which made Lucario's jaw drop a little.

"Aww, it looks like if Lucario was his father." Zelda said.

"Heheheheh!" B. Chris moved his hands happily.

"!!" Upon seeing the baby World Traveler getting happy, Lucario quickly took B. Riolu behind his back and carried him. The Emanation Pokémon peered from his appendages and closed his eyes in happiness, wagging his tail, making B. Chris giggle even more than before.

"Look! You're making him so happy Lucario!" Chris said approaching to Lucario. However, it seemed that Lucario focused his eyes on the baby ignoring Chris completely.

Even B. Riolu looked down to him and giggled.

"...Okay, you 3 are going to ignore me, I get the feeling now." Chris said sweatdropping.

"Stuffwell, do you know a way to get out of here and find B. Bowser?" Mario asked.

"Well, my radar indicates that there's an exit on the bottom sooo..."

"...Then the only way to get out of here is by using his butt..." Meta Knight said as B. Meta Knight nodded behind his back.

"...Eww..." B. Luigi said.

"...On a side note, I didn't know you had a soft side for babies Meta Knight." Mallow said.

"I do have some things against this. However, I find it curious to find a baby self of me."

"Uh-huh." B. Meta Knight said nodding.

Inside Yoob

"Anyway, we should get moving, there's a path across this wall." Stuffwell said glancing to a wall where a small opening was.

"Of course it is, along with another route down!" Kawashima said.

"Hey, I'm the one giving explanations here, who was that?"

"W-what the?!" Chris's DS jumped off from his pocket and jumped to Stuffwell.

"You there! I'm the main tutorial for them, don't get in my way!" Kawashima said.

"Well, I'm the personal tutorial for Mario, Luigi and the babies! So, don't get in my own way!" Stuffwell argued.

So, to stop this rambling, Chris gently took the DS and turned it off. "Things are going to be much faster without him around." Chris said.

"Great!" Stuffwell said smiling. "Now please, all of you with your babies, follow me!"

The group went to the other way and found a big room where a Yoshi was trying to push a Chain Chomp rock down the road they came from.

"Hey! It's me of the past!" Yoshi said. "I met him in the village when you were gone in the forest, I guess Yoob ate him as well."

"2 more gobblers..." Zelda muttered as Yoshi went to his past self, which looked A LOT like him, save for Yoshi in his Brawl form.

"Hi past me!" Yoshi greeted.

"(Hi future me!)" Yoshi of the past greeted.

"I hate to interrupt this somewhat unnecessary and not recommendable moment," Wolf said sarcastically. "But what I could listen so far from that second dinosaur was "Yoshi Yoshi Yoshi."

Yoshi scratched his head a little. "...Oops, I guess you can understand our language yet."

"And never will." Wolf added.

"...Right, well, I'll be you translator, so, past me, what are you doing?" Yoshi asked (we'd also like to point out that Yoshi told them what his past self said after his past self talked).

"(I'm trying to push this rock down the path to make a way down to the exit...but I can't do it alone.)" Past Yoshi said.

"Lucario, do us the honors." Chris said, Lucario nodded but Past Yoshi stopped him.

"(Though if you would be so kind, could you please look around the rooms for the other Yoshis? They're either slaved or being threatened as we speak.)"

"Great, now we have to look around for more big-nosed dinosaurs." Wolf said frowning, but his baby self was very happy at this. "Hey, who told you to be happy for them?"

"..." B. Wolf stuck out his tongue and his future self.

"...This is why I hate babies..."

"Well, there are rooms here so why don't we look around for the Yoshis?" Mario suggested and everyone nodded.

"I'll go to this room." Pit said.

"Hey, where is Fox?" Mallow asked.

"He is there, apparently, he's in some kind of concentration with his inner self or some sort of meditation, even his baby self is trying to get his attention." Pit pointed to Fox, who had his eyes closed, as his baby from the back tried to get his attention by waving a hand.

"Fox, hurry, we have things to do here." Meta Knight said.

"(Okay, I need to train from this moment, if I'm planning to be a father someday, I have to be prepared, so my baby self will be a good training before that happens and Kry-)"

KICK!

"OWW!" Fox opened his eyes quickly and dropped to the floor grabbing his knee in pain, but his baby self made fun of him and laughed at him.

"Stop dreaming in your own little world and get moving, the faster we get out from this disgusting intestine, the better I'll stop having thoughts of cleaning my cape." Meta Knight said walking away (being the one who kicked Fox).

"...Y-you..."

"Dorky!" B. Fox was able to reply giggling.

"...Shut...up...please..."

"UUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" B. Fox instantly began to cry and buried his face in his hands.

At that moment, Zelda walked back and looked to him. "Fox, if you treat your baby like that, you're never going to be a father someday."

"...Grr..." Fox grunted at this.

And back with the group, we see Pit and Mallow entering a room with spikes covering 60 percent of it, on the other side, there was a Yoshi trying to find a way to escape.

"Wait here, I'm going." Pit said.

"Well, you shouldn't." Mallow said.

"Why?"

"'cuz your baby self is already going there." Mallow said pointing at B. Pit flying slowly in the air, the baby landed on the platform and pressed a huge red button that called a bridge to the other side, the Yoshi who was there saw this and jumped happily.

"(Hey, how come I didn't see that button?... Nevermind, thanks anyway.)" The Yoshi said walking above the bridge and left the room as B. Pit flew to his future's self back and giggled after landing there.

"I got to love these babies!" Mallow said holding his baby self up and down as he left with him.

"Teamwork! Teamwork!!" B. Pit said raising his dual-blades.

Pit smiled to him. "Weird, did Palutena teach you how to be good?"

In another room, the moment got rather demanding, why? You should see by now...

"First, take your shirt off, it's embarrassing," Wolf said to his baby self. "Second, instead of being "best" friends with that idiot Fox, you should instead spend your time alone and find a way to kill him for good, and third, you have to look tough, not cry for god's sake!"

"Nuh-uh." B. Wolf shook his head.

"Yes-uh, take the shirt off!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Take. It. Off. Now!"

"Me love this shirt as Fox! It's good!" B. Wolf said defending himself.

"No, it isn't, take it off before I take it off myself!"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

SLAP!

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU?!" Wolf asked glaring at Zelda as he rubbed his cheek.

"Stop being rude to your baby, if he likes it, then leave his shirt on." Zelda said.

"You're not his adult self, and it turns out I'm HIS adult self, so I should be the one to teach him the correct way to live his life!"

"Even so, you would be against someone who were to tell you to stop your rivarly with Fox, am I right?"

"This is different!"

"Not an excuse."

"Grr..."

B. Zelda looked at her surroundings. "Should not we find the Yoshi in this room?"

"You're right, we need to focus and find the Yoshi here." Zelda said nodding.

"Big nosy-dino there!" B. Wolf said happily pointing at a Yoshi that was ducked, because an RC Shroober was controlling a toy to scare him and keep him away from the exit.

"...You have to be kidding me." Wolf said frowning at the Yoshi's fear.

"Let me finish this." Zelda said launching a Din's Fire with a small Din's Fire from B. Zelda, both attacks combined and exploded on the RC Shroober that stopped controlling the toy and pointed its antennae to call mini ships to fire lasers at them.

"Let me guess, lasers huh?" Wolf grinned as small lasers went after him, with a simple use of his Reflector that shielded him and his baby self (who got happy and clapped at the weird pink shields around them), the lasers bounced off from the shield and took the ships down, crashing on the RC Shroober that yelled in pain.

"#$&(#$&($#^*)$#(.!!!" The RC Shroober said as he vanished.

"...I think he cursed us off." B. Zelda said as the Yoshi who was trembling previously looked around and stood up.

"(Oh, thank you! I hate those aliens and their weird toys!)" The Yoshi said as he left the room in a hurry.

"Let's get a move on, meanwhile, take that stupid shirt off!" Wolf demanded and kept arguing with B. Wolf while Zelda and her own baby self sighed in disappointment.

In another room, we see the original quartet (Mario, Luigi and their babies) with Yoshi, Fox and his baby self.

"So, where is he?" Fox asked.

Yoshi leaned his (invisible) ear to the pink wall where he heard a Yoshi calling for help. "...There's a Yoshi here!"

"But how are we going to get him here?" Luigi asked as all the babies jumped off their backs and entered inside a small hole.

"Aww, they all look like a small troop ready for any kind of situation." Yoshi said tilting his head.

"...What's with you and your obsession with babies?" Fox asked.

"Yoshi likes babies so much since he rescued us." Mario explained.

"I miss that Yoshi." Luigi said.

"Yes, "Mama Luigi." Fox teased grinning a little.

"Oh, would you cut it out please?"

Meanwhile with the babies.

"Goo!" B. Mario found many colored buttons on the wall that he and B. Luigi started to hit to see them change colors, while B. Fox merely sat and clapped happily at this.

And back with the adults.

"Hmm..." Yoshi noticed the odd color pattern above the door that kept the Yoshi captive on the other side, the colors were flashing but stopped as more colors flashed and stopped, then he looked at the hole. "Babies! Did you find something inside?"

"Heheheheh!" B. Luigi replied.

"Wait! Let me guide you to open the door!"

Eventually as the babies and Yoshi worked together, they managed to open the door which disintegrated and the Yoshi walked out and cheered after he was freed.

"(Oh, thank you! I don't know how I even got there in the first place, thanks!)" The Yoshi said as he left the room while the babies returned to their adults selves's backs.

"Well, let's keep going, we're doing progress." Mario said nodding with the others as they left the room.

In another room with Chris, Lucario, Meta Knight and their baby selves, they found the last Yoshi being threatened by an RC Shroober that controlled a toy UFO to scare him.

"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!" B. Chris motioned at the Yoshi in danger.

"Grrrr..." Both Lucario and B. Riolu showed their fangs in unison and Lucario leaped to the RC Shroober, his palm glowing using Force Palm and colliding it with the RC Shroober who was sent blasting off to the wall, with his toy UFO that exploded with the impact.

"#&/?$)#&$#!?)/$!!!" The RC Shroober cursed before he vanished.

"(...Huh? I'm saved?! I'm saved! Thank you dog pair!)" The last Yoshi cheered as he ran away from the room.

"Rii! Rii! Rii!" B. Chris cheered happily as Lucario and his baby self returned to them, Lucario lowered his head and licked the baby's cheek with care, making him to giggle as B. Riolu wagged his tail.

"...Lucario, let me guess, my baby self told you to attack that Shroob, right?" Chris asked.

"Yes." Lucario responded before continuing to lick B. Chris's face.

"...B. Riolu, you too?"

"Ri!" B. Riolu said raising his little hand.

"This may come in handy." Meta Knight said.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"It seems Lucario is more devoted to protect your baby self than you and he will do anything to make him happy." B. Meta Knight explained.

"What he said." Meta Knight said agreeding.

"...Oh, I feel so offended now," Chris said with an annoyed look before he looked at B. Riolu, then at his baby self. "(...Well, Lucario probably wants this...) Lucario?"

"Yes?" Lucario looked to Chris.

"Since you're overly obsessed with my baby self, how about if we change babies?"

"Fine!" Lucario quickly gave B. Riolu to Chris and nabbed B. Chris instead of taking him, rubbing his cheek happily with the baby who giggled.

"What the-you jerk!"

"Riiiiii!" Chris noticed B. Riolu wagging his tail as he was in his arms.

"...Aww! You're so cute!" Chris said touching B. Riolu's nose slightly, making the small baby Pokémon to giggle.

"..." Meta Knight shook his head. "Let's move on."

Everyone gathered back in the room with all the 5 Yoshis trying to push the boulder, after watching the boulder starting to move, it began to roll down the path, creating an even longer way to another exit, all the Yoshis raised their hands in the air and jumped happily.

"(Yeah! We did it!)" A black Yoshi said.

"(Let's get outta here!)" A light blue Yoshi suggested as they all went down the path in a hurry.

"Anybody thought that was kind of easy?" Mallow asked.

"Lucario, do you sens-"

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Apparently, Lucario was STILL rubbing his cheek with B. Chris's.

"LUCARIO! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Chris yelled loudly, Lucario shaking his head and getting out from his temporary trance state.

"W-what?!" Lucario asked confused.

"Do you sense a stronger enemy down below, yes or not?!"

"W-wait..." Lucario sweated a little bit, glowed his eyes and closed them to concentrate (trying not to turn his attention to B. Chris who got happy after seeing his big baby Riolu glowing by no reason as he thought). "...There are 2 mysterious figures down below, and they seem to be waiting for us."

"I guess it's the Subspace Army again." Pit said.

"All we need to do is to follow this route and we should be fine to escape from this...disgusting place..." Zelda said dodging a big drop of saliva.

"Guess we're bound to find more of those Shroobs things." Wolf said.

"..." B. Wolf shivered at the thought.

"You! Be a man and stop getting scared!"

"...Uhhh..." B. Wolf was almost going to break in tears.

"Ugh! Ugghh! Hey! Stop it! Cut it out!" Fox twitched in pain as B. Fox pulled his ear, pointing at B. Wolf. "W-what?! You want me to get you close to him?! N-no!"

"Oh, what a bother." Yoshi said taking B. Fox with him and putting him close to B. Wolf, upon seeing his "best friend" raising his hand above him, B. Wolf's tail wagged a little and both did a high-five.

"Hey, you 2 should follow their example as well!" Mallow said suggesting.

"...ME?!" Fox and Wolf looked at each other. "BEST FRIENDS?!" Both shot nasty glares at each other. "OF COURSE NOT!" They both looked away with annoyed looks.

"Heheh!" Their baby counterparts giggled at this.

"That's enough with the friends' moment, we need to get out of here." Meta Knight said walking down the path with everyone else following him. (Fox and Wolf muttering curses along the way).

"So," Mario began. "The Subspace Army is inside Yoob as well?"

"Well, Lucario said that so it's most likely that they are." Pit said.

"I wonder why they're trying to take over the worlds..."

"Maybe because it's the typical evil villain's main goal?" Mallow asked.

"I don't know why there is another reason for that..."

"What another reason?" Zelda asked. "They're trying to conquer everything, they even dared to conquer our worlds as well, and of course, it's something that we need to resolve."

"And my world is the main target..." Chris trailed off but B. Riolu licked his cheek slightly. "Haha, your tongue is so tiny that it tickles, thank you B. Riolu."

"Ri!" B. Riolu hugged him.

"Your world the main target?" Luigi asked confused.

"...I haven't explained it to you, right? Well..." Chris began to explain them the Subspace Army's main objective. "And once they have enough worlds, they're going to try and target mine...but I can't let them do that! The people in my world are going to freak out if they see Tabuu creating destruction!" Chris looked down and closed his eyes.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine Chris."

Chris opened his eyes and smiled a little. "Thanks Lucario, I knew you were going t-"

"Er, Chris, I said that." Pit said raising his hand a little.

"...Then what is Lucario..."

"UUUUUAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" B. Chris began to cry all of a sudden and Lucario panicked for a moment.

"W-why are you crying? D-did I make you sad by accident?!" Lucario aske din shock.

"Ri! Ri ri ri riii!" B. Riolu panicked as well and jumped off from Chris's arms, the Emanation Pokémon hung from Lucario's neck and looked down to B. Chris, he looked carefully until his suspicions were true, B. Chris was crying because he let his pacifier go away from his mouth, reaching over the item that was about to fall, he took it and placed it back on B. Chris's mouth, the baby slowly calmed down and began to suck it slowly, before he fell asleep. "Riiiiii..." B. Riolu sighed in relief and jumped back to Chris's arms.

"...It looks like B. Riolu is protective and takes care of him." Zelda said.

"It seems that way." Pit said.

"...Young Master..." Lucario muttered as he looked down to B. Chris sleeping peacefully.

"(Riiiii...)" B. Riolu closed his eyes and remembered something from 1 month ago...

Flashback

"Ri ri ri ri riiiiiii!"

"What? You want to take care of him?"

"Ri!"

"...Alright, you can, but don't be rude on him as you have been with the others, if I see you picking up a fight with him, I'm going to punish you."

"Ri!"

"...It's weird, why did he decide to take care of B. Chris?"

"Aw, no fair! Riolu won't let us see Chris now!"

"All good things don't last for long!"

"Me want to meet Chris! No faaaaair!"

"Settle down babies, I think something will change very soon...and you all will have your opportunity to meet Chris without Riolu fighting you."

End of flashback

"B. Riolu, B. Riolu!" Chris called out and B. Riolu blinked confused, looking at him. "What's wrong? It's something bothering you?"

"Ri ri ri." B. Riolu shook his head several times.

"I don't know what you just said, but I think I understand a little bit."

"Ri-ri-riiiii."

"...As I was saying before," Mallow continued. "Having baby selves is so awesome! I'm teaching my baby how to speak! Mini-me! Say it!"

"Chocolate!" B. Mallow said happily.

"Good!"

"Why don't you try teaching something to B. Chris, Lucario? I know you'd do it just for him." Zelda suggested.

"Hmm...B. Chris." Lucario called the baby who yawned and looked to him, awakening. "Can you say "Lucario?"

"Lu..." B. Chris trailed off.

"Cario." Lucario added.

"Lu...ca...cio... Lucacio!"

"..." Yoshi chuckled at this. "The name sounds good, Lucacio!"

"Grr." Lucario grunted at him and tried again. "It's Lucario, not Lucacio, try it again."

"Luracio!" B. Chris replied giggling.

"No."

"Lucacio!"

"You already said it."

"Lucakio!"

"No."

"Cucakio!"

"No."

"Peekaboo!"

"That doesn't even come close to my name."

"Peek-a-boo!" All the babies said in unison giggling.

"Lutatio!" B. Chris tried giggling.

"No." Lucario shook his head again.

"Uaio!"

"No."

"Riolu!"

"Ri!" B. Riolu's ears perked up a little and wagged his tail happily, his trainer learned his name out of the blue.

"...Keep practicing." Lucario said closing his eyes before B. Chris rubbed his right hand on his cheek. "Hmm..." A small smile formed on Lucario's mouth.

As the group walked across the pink intestine, no enemy was in sight, for their own luck.

"...This is getting weird..." Mario whispered silently as only their footsteps were heard.

"We're inside a glutton monster, of course it's weird." Mallow said.

"I don't want to start smelling bad, I want to take a shower already..." Chris said.

"Riiiii." B. Riolu said closing his eyes.

"Hey, there's the pipe to take us further down, let's go!" Luigi said jumping above the pipe, everyone then followed him and were taken further down, close to the exit.

Factory

"Have you ever wondered what is a pipe doing here in this stomach?" Zelda asked curiously.

"You don't want to know..." Mario said shrugging a little.

Our group entered the next room, where a huge coveyor-belt above took weird purple eggs inside another machine, Yoshi took a closer look and he gasped.

"The Yoshi eggs! T-they're being turned into those eggs!" Yoshi said.

"(Help!)" A Yoshi shouted inside a machine, when he sunk inside the bubbles, a purple Yoshi egg with green polka dots appeared on the conveyor, transporting it to somewhere else.

"This is probably a factory hidden inside this monster." Pit said.

"But just for capturing the Yoshis." Mario said.

"B-but why are they turning all of them back to eggs?" Yoshi asked.

"Because into monsters they will turn!" A voice echoed from nowhere.

"W-what was that?" B. Meta Knight asked.

"Riiiii..." B. Chris hid his face in the mantel, trembling as Lucario growled furiously at the unknown character there.

"Where are you? Show your face!" Pit demanded until they all saw a skinny shadow atop the conveyor-belt, the character was skinny as we said before, but he had a cord connecting his throat and his tail, he had a wicked face with wide maniacal eyes, showing his teeth like if he was a clown, not only that, his body was covered by the Shadow Bugs the figure jumped from the machine and looked at them,.

Tales of Symphonia 2: Behind Us

"Here I am, Bowyer! Fourth Star Spirit kidnapper, nya!" The figure revealed to be Bowyer, or Dark Bowyer by the Shadow Bugs, the bow-look like enemy that Mario and Mallow quickly recognized.

"Y-you again? What are you doing here?!" Mallow asked.

"Prince cloud here too? What a nuisance you are! The doll guy is not here thankfully, nya!" Dark Bowyer said laughing evily.

"Not that guy with the weird speech..." Mario said frowning. "Anyway, how did you return?"

"To you it doesn't matter! To punish you 2 along with those numbskulls my reason that is!"

"A ridiculous guy like you mocking me? That is completely stupid." Wolf said.

"Fight you I can't unfortunately, nya!"

"...Why is that?" Zelda asked before another figure appeared behind the machine and she quickly glared at the figure. "You..."

"Zelda, my dear, you are here as well?" Ganondorf asked grinning evily. "It seems you brought to us the kid, his guardian, the crybaby cloud, the briefs angel boy, the dinosaur, the 2 worthless brothers, the vulpine and the weakling Wolf, what a gift, you should not have bothered at all."

"And you haven't changed at all."

"Why would I?"

"You..." Wolf gritted his fangs with fury and pointed his Blaster at Ganondorf. "You stupid backstabbing bastard."

"Says the one who lost trying to capture Mewtwo. It is not my fault you got degraded from the Subspace Army and joined this useless scum from over here."

"W-who are you calling useless scum?" Chris asked glaring at him with a worried face.

"Silence kid!" Wolf yelled. "I'm here to get revenge on you 3 for leaving me to die in that world full of deformed creatures!"

"Grr..." Lucario grunted at him.

"Shut it." Wolf said before glaring at Ganondorf.

"What a wonderful reunion this is, nya!" Dark Bowyer said.

"Bowyer, stop with your jokes." Ganondorf said before grinning at them as he crossed his arms. "Now, hand over the World Traveler."

"W-what?!" Chris asked backing away a little.

"Tabuu wants that kid dead to make his plans easier, he has been such a real pain for us that he needs to be killed."

"Grrrr!!!" Lucario growled furiously at him.

"...Thank you Lucario..." Chris muttered smiling a little. "...I-I won't let you get your hands on me! I want to stop this uselessness of your plans about taking over the worlds! I know this was a little too quick, b-but it's my duty to protect them!"

"Very same reason of Tabuu's wishes to kill you," Ganondorf said giving him a serious look. "However, we should be thankful for you to open more worlds for Tabuu to take over," Ganondorf pointed at him. "You, unfortunately, prevented us from taking them over!"

"Enough with the kid's talk!" Wolf snapped out. "Ganondorf, we need to fight and see if I can make a grave out of you!"

"Oh, is little babysitter Wolf going to stop me along with his babysitters's friends?"

Wolf looked back to his baby self who was hidden behind his head. "..." Wolf sighed and frowned. "I know, this is embarrassing, but that won't change the subject at all!"

"Looks like he takes up things very seriously." Mallow whispered to Pit.

"Looks like it." Pit whispered back.

"Anyway, Bowyer! Return the Star Spirit to us!" Mario demanded as Dark Bowyer took out a card with Muskular, the fourth Star Spirit that appeared above it with sparks of stars.

"Help! Please! I hate this prison so much that I want to be rescued already! Mario! Help me!" Muskular pleaded before Dark Bowyer hid the card behind his back.

"Nya! How funny the star is, nya!" Dark Bowyer said laughing evily.

"B-but I didn't laugh..." Luigi said trembling a little with his baby self.

"Unfortunately, we cannot fight you here, we have another henchmen waiting for you at the exit of this belly," Ganondorf smirked. "I should tell you to abandon your babies because he wants to eat all of them."

"UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" All the babies began to cry loudly after hearing someone trying to eat them.

"I HATE BOOGIEMAN! NOT BOOGIEMAN PLEASE!" B. Pit cried.

"...Hmm..." Zelda smiled and tilted her head. "And why are you doing with your baby self Ganondorf?"

"...What?" Ganondorf asked confused.

"Don't be stupid, your baby self is behind your back, B. Zelda told me that they came with your baby here too."

"...Ugh." Ganondorf pulled from his back a smaller version of him with a pacifier, but once they saw the baby, disgusted faces appeared on all of them.

"...Eww, Ganondorf haven't changed when he was a baby." B. Meta Knight said.

The truth was that B. Ganondorf's face was the SAME as his adult version, and it was ever worse because of the pacifier, the B. Ganondorf grinned mischievously as Ganondorf hid him behind his back, blushing in embarrassment. "This baby who does resemble me wanted to find the kid's baby as well with you, but I found him around the forest before I got here with Bowyer." Ganondorf said annoyed.

"...You had a horrible but sick childhood then..." Fox said disgusted.

"Silence you furry!"

"Furry!" B. Fox repeated giggling.

"That's so sad, your own baby self betraying you." Yoshi said.

"S-shut up!" Fox said annoyed.

"Stop we could? Nya? So stupid this has become! Nya!" Bowyer said.

"All right then..." Ganondorf grinned and snapped his fingers, and from the door from behind them, a lot of RC Shroobers came in with their UFO toys and dolls, surrounding the group. "Let us see if you can bypass this army that I personally gently asked to Princess Shroob."

"Wait, these things have a princess?" Zelda asked as the RC Shroobers took out their antennas and pointed them at the Smashers.

")"/&$#""(#$##/#$/=/&%$&#$!" The RC Shroobers yelled angrily.

"Bowyer! Retreat!" Ganondorf said stepping inside a dark portal.

"Later I see you! Kill you I will, nya nya nya nya!" Dark Bowyer laughed evily, jumping inside the portal before it vanished.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Popple and Rookie Theme

"YAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Luigi screamed as B. Luigi laughed at this.

"Ugh, we have to get through all of them to proceed?" Pit asked preparing to fight.

"Scaaaaaary!" B. Pit said trembling a little.

"M-my doll will do the honors!" Chris said taking Tokunaga from his back to make him grow and stand in front of him and B. Riolu. "Dragon Surge!" Tokunaga raised 4 RC Shroobers to the air with a strong uppercut.

"Hmm!" B. Chris uncovered his face and looked around for something in his mantel, he pulled out a doll that was very familiar to Chris.

"W-what the-that's another Tokunaga!" Chris said surprised as B. Chris giggled and threw his doll to the floor, where it grew up but not as big as Chris's Tokunaga, he was about Mario's height and used Dragon Surge in 2 enemies.

"Maybe he can use the jobs as you." Lucario said.

"Heheheheh!" B. Chris giggled happily as the small Tokunaga doll used Surge Breaker on an RC Shroober to strike him down with a lightning and later punch him.

"Hey!" Stuffwell backflipped from Mario. "You all should work together with your babies to get through this predicament!"

"Yes!" Luigi called out from the door behind them. "Y-you get fighting while I stay here to...er...rescue you in the right moment or something!"

"Grr..." B. Riolu jumped from Chris's arms and went to Luigi, the baby ducked to lift Luigi's feet and brought him back (struggling) to them by throwing Luigi to the floor, then he returned to Chris.

"I absolutly LOVE my super-powerful baby!" Chris said playing with B. Riolu who wagged his tail happily.

"Get moving!" Meta Knight said running to the crowd of RC Shroobers who began to order their UFO toys to attack the group with lasers.

We forgot to mention that there were 50 lasers.

"Leave it to me please!" B. Zelda said using Nayru's Love to shield Zelda from the lasers, who bounced off and took down the 50 lasers to the 50 UFO toys that crashed into 50 RC Shroobers. "Phew, that was close."

"It's always close when you use it." Zelda said giving a smile to her baby self.

"Hey, why are they twirling?" Mallow asked as 20 RC Shroobers twirled on their feet, before stopping and quickly firing their own laser guns at the cloud prince who stumbled backwards and evaded the attack clumsily. "W-whoa!"

"BZZZZZ!!!" B. Mallow called forth thunderbolts above their enemies, zapping them to paralyze them all for a short period.

"Oh, thank my mom you protected me!" Mallow said holding B. Mallow close to his face,

B. Chris saw an UFO preparing to fire a laser directly to him, which caused the baby to cry and hid in his mantel. "Riiiiiiii!!!" B. Chris cried.

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!!" Lucario's rage was awakened and the Aura Pokémon jumped to it and crushed the UFO in his hand, then he threw the crushed toy back to its owner, causing an explosion to kill the RC Shroober as he landed back. "Grrrr..."

"...Huh? Huh?" B. Chris uncovered his face, looked around and cleared his eyes to giggle after Lucario defended him. "Heheheheh! Ri-o-lu! Ri-o-lu!"

"...It's Lucario."

B. Chris closed his eyes happily, making Lucario to lick him yet again.

"Move it! Move it! There are so few of them in next room!" Mallow said casting Shocker-

SHOCKER!

...Casting Shocker on 4 RC Shroobers that blocked the way of the door, crushing them. "Go! Go! Go!" Yoshi yelled running inside the door with the others following him, the RC Shroobers panicked for a moment before chasing them down using a barrage of lasers.

"YIKES!" Luigi saw his hat being crossed by a laser gun.

"UGH!" Pit's left wing was shot by one laser and he lowered it. "C-can anybody shield us from those lasers?!"

"Me! Me! Please me!" B. Fox said raising his hand.

"Then I guess you have a Reflector with you, right?" Fox asked.

"Uh-huh!" B. Fox looked around his pockets and took out mentioned item.

"And how about you?" Wolf asked to his baby self who looked around for his Reflector.

"This?" B. Wolf asked taking his own.

"Use it!" Fox and Wolf said at the same time (annoyed by this fact too) and both baby selves protected both adults and the rest (because both were behind the group), shielding them from the laser attacks.

"$#/!O=/&/&#"$?#")$/=(#!" An RC Shroober said angrily.

"=%#"=$)?(?&¡/%$/?)&%/?¡&%)/%?)?!" Another RC Shroober asked.

"$"=&#=&/%#"(=%$)&!!!"

"/?(%)/?)(/=?()/?&)=?%=$#/(!!!"

"$%&?(?#"$#/=!=$)&(&/=!!!"

"%=#$"/(%/&#$/%)&#"$()$&!!!"

"Did anybody understand a word of what they said?!" Yoshi asked ducking from a laser attack.

"Who cares?!" Mario asked as they kept running from the swarm of Shroobs.

"Turn around here!" Mallow yelled turning to a corner with everyone, making the Shroobs to run straight, the group turned their backs to the way they took but gasped.

"I-It's a dead end!" Zelda said shocked, when they turned their backs, the RC Shroobers were preparing to fire they lasers at them.

"W-we have to do something to go through them!" Meta Knight said.

"Goo goo!" B. Mario took out a Red Shell from his back and Mario stared at it.

"Yes! We could use this to kick them out!" Mario said taking the shell and put it down. "Baby, go above!"

"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!" B. Chris motioned to the shell.

"...Don't tell me you want to do ride on it!" Lucario said shocked.

"Ri!"

"I-I'm sorry, I can't allow you to be hurt an-"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"P-p-p-p-p-please! S-stop crying! I-I'll listen to you! I'll listen then!" Lucario said panicking.

"Yay!" B. Chris cheered as Lucario walked to the shell and put the baby above.

"...He knows how to manipulate you." Meta Knight said frowning.

"GUUUUUUUUARGH!" Lucario kicked the shell hard and sent it rocketing to 3 RC Shroobers who were knocked out, the shell came back spinning crazily with B. Chris on the top.

"Kick it again!" Mario said.

"Hi-yah!" Luigi kicked back the shield to 2 RC Shroobers who were taken down as the shield returned to them.

"It's going to you, F-"

"HA!" Fox already kicked very hard the shell and sent it blasting off to 3 Rc Shroobers who were pushed out of the way with another RC Shroober, returning back to them.

Mario blinked surprised. "...I guess you have been into soccer lately."

"As always in my free time." Fox explained.

"Oh, you too huh? HA!" Wolf kicked back the shell getting the same "score" as Fox as it returned back.

"Yes."

"Wanna compete?" Wolf asked grinning.

"Why not!" Fox said grinning as both of them took this chase "personal" and kicked back and forth the shell to the targets that were the RC Shroobers.

"Oh, yes, soccer skills are really sooooo good." Mallow said.

"Stop dawdling and attack!" Meta Knight said as he saw Zelda and her baby self throwing Din's Fires to the enemies, Chris casting Negative Gate multiple times on the aliens, Yoshi launching eggs, Pit and B. Pit shooting arrows and Lucario launching Aura Spheres with one hand while he protected B. Chris, who was on the Red Shell.

"Please, Skolar, come and help us!" Chris prayed to the stars to call Skolar, the third Star Spirit appeared in a blink spinning a little as he descended.

"Hmm? Enemies?" Skolar asked.

"Yes, please, I need your help!"

"Stars! Come and attack them all!" Skolar called forth a rain of stars of different shapes from above that crashed into many of the RC Shroobers, dealing a great amount of damage before it stopped. "There, call me once you have more Star Power with you." Skolar said spiraling up above before vanishing.

"Meta Knight, aren't you going to do something?" Mario asked.

"I can't, close combat with my baby self would be too dangerous." Meta Knight said.

"But I can assist you." B. Meta Knight said taking his own Galaxia and jumping in front of Meta Knight.

"...Fine, let me see your own abilities." Meta Knight said as he flew to the RC Shroober who tried to shoot him down with his baby self flying besides him, when both made it to the center of the swarm, they began to slash all the foes who tried to approach them. "Hmm, not bad, you could be an expert very early."

"Thanks." B. Meta Knight said using Mach Tornado on an RC Shroober to take it down.

"O twisted door of distortion, open wide!" Chris casted spinning his staff. "...Negative Gate!"

A portal of darkness appeared on the swarm that damaged them constantly, taking at least 4 RC Shroobers down.

"#$)"$=&%)$/$#!&))/"($=)#&!!!" An RC Shroober yelled ordering the whole swarm to retreat and escape, but before the same Shroob could escape, he was taken down by the Red Shell which spun back to the Smashers and stopped right in Wolf's foot, who grinned to Fox.

Music stops

Inside Yoob

"Told you, I got more." Wolf said.

"That's not true! You forgot that I took down 2 more than you!" Fox argued.

"Loser!" B. Wolf said.

"W-what did you just say?!"

"The baby is right for once, admit it." Wolf said grinning.

"...My goodness, they even kept on track of how many did they take down." Zelda said surprised.

Mallow was shown wearing a whistler out of nowhere. "Yep, soccer fanatics are that dedicated, baby! Blew it!"

"BIIIIIIIII!!!" B. Mallow blew on the whistler happily.

"C-CHRIS!" Lucario almost forgot about the fact that Chris's baby self was still on top of the shell that he ran to it and took B. Chris on his left arm, the baby was very dizzied because his eyes were swirls. "A-are you alright?!"

"Riiiiiiii..." B. Chris said dazzled.

"Ri ri ri ri riiii!" B. Riolu giggled happily after seeing his eyes.

"Well, that worked out very well." Mario said as B. Mario nodded.

"T-thank god I survived..." Luigi said sighing in relief with his baby.

"Now that we got out of that trouble, we should proceed and see what we can find deeper inside." Pit said walking ahead with everybody following him.

"Here, your doll." Chris said giving B. Chris his Tokunaga down that shrunk, the baby took it and hid it somewhere inside his mantel as they proceeded further inside.

"There are the Yoshis." B. Meta Knight said spotting the Yoshis after they walked for a while, they were apparently on an uproar because there was a Toad with glasses blocking their way.

"Bold on, by boogity! I'll bust you outta there!" The Toad said to the Yoshis.

"(We want to get out of this hell hole!)" A red Yoshi said.

"(The pink here blinds you just by looking at it!)" Ironically, a pink Yoshi said.

"(What's worse, it smells sooooo bad!)" A black Yoshi said.

"Calm down, we can't move on because there's this huge, nasty THING in the back who's guarding the exit."

"(Then if you're gonna take us out, deal with it!)" A blue Yoshi said.

"(YEAH!)" All the Yoshis argued back.

Either the Toad knew their language or he just guessed it, because he understood them.

"Wh-what did you say? Me? Fight that thing? N-no!" The Toad said covering his head in fear.

"(This guy is such a pussy!)" Yoshi of the past said.

"(A pussy with glasses!)" Added the light-blue Yoshi.

The Toad looked at 6 Yoshi eggs (that were purple) moving in impaciently. "I-I hope we can find a way before these Yoshis are reborn as monsters..."

"Toadbert!" Luigi called out from the crowd of Yoshis with Mario and their babies.

"...Hey, hang on, who are you guys?" The Toad named Toadbert asked.

"Who are we? Toadbert, we're Mario! And Luigi! You're a Toad and you came here by accident with Princess Peach in the Time Machine from the Mushroom Kingdom of the present!" Mario explained to Toadbert.

"...What? "Toadbert?" Did you say my name's Toadbert? A "Toad" from the "Mushroom Kingdom?" "Princess Peach?" "Time...machine?" Toadbert repeated confused before he got hurt in the head. "Oww! The past is a total blank. It makes my mind hurt. No matter how hard I try, I can't remember a thing..."

"...Not even what happened yesterday?" B. Zelda asked as the other rejoined them.

"...Wait, no, I just lied." Toadbert said and B. Luigi smacked his forehead.

"T-then what do you remember?" Luigi asked.

"There is one thing," Toadbert took out a drawing that was covered in ink, there was the image of Princess Shroob about to attack Princess Peach in the drawing. "I drew this picture of the image. My "brain art." I honestly don't have a clue what that is. What I do know is that it scares my cap off. I think that's the reason my memory is blank. I can't bear to remember!"

"(Should I spoil the story and tell them there is another...no...I shouldn't do that...)" Chris thought shaking his head.

"Hmm..." Yoshi took the drawing and looked at it. "...It's too messy, all I can see is this ugly drawing with Peach on it."

"Then why don't we wipe it out?" Pit asked taking out a napkin.

"(Uh-oh...)" Chris thought as Pit cleaned the drawing.

When he was done, they all saw another drawing of Princess Shroob, apparently, she was afraid of something where the other Princess Shroob attacked Peach, who held up the complete Cobalt Star to shield herself.

"What is THIS?" Mallow asked confused.

"T-there's another Princess Shroob on it!" Luigi said trembling.

"Please, there couldn't be another one...or it could?" Mario asked confused.

"Sooo, are these Shroobs and their princess the hooligans who made all this mess with the Yoshis?" Toadbert asked and both nodded. "...I...can't remember a thing of what happened, I wish I could, maybe if I keep looking at my drawing..."

"Did you say there was a "nasty" thing on the other side of this door?" Fox asked.

"W-well, yes, yeah..." Toadbert looked at them and jumped a little. "...What? You're gonna take that thing out?"

"Duh?" Yoshi said confused.

"Are you out of your Christmas tree? It's big and scary! And it smells...really weird, man!" Toadbert said disgusted.

"...Christmas tree?" B. Wolf asked rather excited.

"It's not Christmas yet either..." Wolf said frowning.

"What do you mean by either?" Fox asked.

"We don't want to remember." Zelda, Wolf, Meta Knight and Pit said in unison, annoyed.

"...Seriously, what happened when we were gone?" Chris asked.

"Who ARE you guys?" Toadbert asked confused.

Skip introductions.

"Oh, I see." Toadbert said.

So the group decided to stop the thing that prevented the Yoshis from escaping.

Not before we see the Yoshi Rebellion.

"My brethen! We shall get out from this creature today! We shall reclaim liberty and freedom once I'm done with that monster! And we will then celebrate eating lots of tons of cookies with rejoice in the island like never before!" Yoshi said standing on a purple blob.

"(YEAH!)" The Yoshis said making a fist in the air.

"I will show that goodie-two shoes who's the boss around here! Never underestimate the power of the Yo-"

"Yoshi, if you're done with your rebellion/army thing, we should move on and prepare." Pit said walking away.

"...You guys are no fun at all..." Yoshi said sighing disappointed with all the other Yoshis.

However, something prevented Lucario from crossing the door, because apparently B. Chris didn't want to go.

"You don't want to go?" Lucario asked.

"Nuh-uh!" B. Chris said shaking his head, trembling with fear.

"But we need to advance or else we won't get out of th-"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"..." Lucario sighed in disappointment. "...Chris...I'll stay behind, you go on without me."

"B-but why?" Chris asked.

"Your baby self wants to stay here because he thinks it's scary to go and fight that monster...I hope you're not mad at me either."

"...Okay, I'll leave you behind with him."

"Ri!" B. Riolu jumped from Chris's arms and jumped to Lucario's back, where he wrapped his own arms around his neck and looked down to B. Chris, who giggled when he saw him.

"You too?"

"Riii!" B. riolu said nodding happily.

"Don't worry, we will go once you're done with that thing." Lucario said giving Chris a small smile.

"...I understand, but promise me you're going to make happy my baby self!" Chris said as he ran to the other side of the door.

"I will," Lucario said before he looked down to B. Chris. "...Hmm..." Lucario laid down B. Chris and he did also, but he put his hands above B. Chris's feet and his face above, staring at B. Chris's eyes, with B. Riolu peering from his ears.

"...Huh?" B. Chris tilted his head in confusion and Lucario instantly licked his face. "Heheheheh!"

"Riiii!" B. Riolu wagged his tail happily.

Sunnycide's Chamber

"...That thing is in charge of this place?" Yoshi asked after looking at Sunnycide.

The monster was a big purple egg with 6 eggs around him, he had green tentacles and 2 black eyes with red pupils, one of the eggs began to budge before it broke out, revealing B. Bowser who struggled to get out from the shell trapping his feet.

"YUCK! How did I get myself in this thing?! Somebody get me off this shell! OOF! You there!" B. Bowser pointed at the Smashers. "Get your hands on the star shards and you're DEAD! Dead I tell you!"

"Fine then, we won't get you out of the shell." Zelda said.

"...WAIT! NO! Forget what I said before and get me out! I-I promise I'll give back the shards!"

"W-what should we do Mario?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know, Bowser could've been as bad as he was a baby." Mario said rubbing his chin.

"Yeah!" Both babies said nodding.

"I-I PROMISE TO GIVE YOU THE SHARDS! GET ME OFF NO-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" B. Bowser was grabbed by Sunnycide and it threw him to the roof, where he became stuck in the intestine. "HMMMMMMRMHRMHMRMHRRMRHMRMR!!! HMHMRMRRMH!!!" B. Bowser yelled furiously, but Sunnycide got enraged at this.

"Eggy-weggy monster approaching!" Mallow warned them as Sunnycide stomped the intestine with rage.

"It's possessed by the Shadow Bugs too!" Pit said.

"Babies, please, don't run away!"

True to Pit's statement, Sunnycide's Shadow Bugs began to appear inside his mouth (that was the crack of his egg), pouring out like rivers that disappeared when they vanished while it roared at them.

"And here it comes!" Zelda warned them as Dark Sunnycide raised eggs on both tentacles as it roared, closing its mouth.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Main Boss Battle Theme

"Dodge it!" Pit yelled as Dark Sunnycide threw both eggs at high speeds to all of them, it missed Pit's left wing by mere inches making the monster mad.

"Bad monster! Bad!" B. Pit said angrily firing arrows while Pit moved, but when the arrows made contact with its body, it didn't do any effect. "W-what?"

"That shell must have been strengthened by the Shadow Bugs and normal attacks won't work on it!" Zelda said using Nayru's Love to return an egg to Dark Sunnycide, but the monster hit it back to Zelda at high speed, knocking her in the floor.

"Z-Zelda!" B. Zelda said worried.

"I-I'm fine, it only caught me off guard..." Zelda said managing to stand up.

"E-everyone! We have to break the eggs and free the Yoshis inside!" Yoshi said running to an egg Dark Sunnycide threw previously and began to hit it.

"For what? To cause more unnecessary distractions?" Wolf asked jumping over a rocketing egg, missing his head by mere inches. "That thing wants to cut off our heads!"

"OWW!" Luigi was hit on the head by an egg which caused him to see stars around his head. "I see staaaaars..."

"NO! NO! NOOOOO!!" B. Luigi panicked after Dark Sunnycide focused his aiming at both, B. Luigi tried to gather his courage and jumped off from Luigi's back, then he pushed Luigi to another side but Dark Sunnycide kept aiming at them before firing another egg. "OOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" B. Luigi cried out loud stopping his action.

"NEGATIVE GATE!" Chris was casting his spell and a dark portal of darkness appeared just in front of B. Luigi that captured the flying egg, constantly damaging it before it broke out and a red Yoshi came out, looking around confused as B. Luigi cheered at this.

"(W-where am I?)" The red Yoshi asked before looking back to Sunnycide. "(Y-you! Alright, this is for snarfing me in you!)" The red Yoshi ran away from the scene before he appeared high above pushing a Chain Chomp rock over the edge, above Dark Sunnycide. "(PUSH! PUSH! HUUUUUUUUUUU!!!)"

Yoshi, seeing this, got an idea. "We should break the eggs and free the other Yoshis to push that rock above that monster!"

"YOSHI! LOOK OUT!" Mario yelled pushing Yoshi out of the way from a rocketing egg in time.

Dark Sunnycide roared furiously and started to call more eggs that fell from above, the monster began a flurry of rocketing eggs attack that damaged the entire party non-stop, using 20 purple Yoshi eggs, 2 for each Smasher, every egg that managed to hit them all bounced back to Dark Sunnycide who kept doing the same action.

"O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OWW!" Mallow yelled in pain as every egg hit him in a quick succession, leaving his health in a extreme condition. "HEEEEEEELP!"

"E-E-E-ELDSTAR! COME AND HEAL MALLOW!" Chris was able to call Eldstar who appeared in a blink.

"I hope this is enough..." Eldstar said floating around Mallow to recover half of his health. "There, please be careful." Eldstar said before disappeared in the air.

"NO!" B. Fox yelled using his own Reflector to return the 2 eggs to Dark Sunnycide, the monster lost his focus and all the eggs bumped into him and rolled out to the floor, ark Sunnycide was stunned by this attack that its head twirled around.

"Good...work..." Fox said panting heavily.

"Break...the...eggs!" Yoshi said using Ground Pound on 1 egg to free a black Yoshi that ran to the help of the other who was pushing the rock off the edge, but they needed more Yoshis to attack.

"F-fine...let me...help..." Mallow said trying to cast Thunderbolt, but his energies were so low that he couldn't do it.

"BZZZZZZ!!!" B. Mallow was the one who casted the attacks, electrocuting all the eggs, but it only made little cracks on them.

Apparently, only the adults were damaged by the flurry of attacks, leaving all the babies to their normal status.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!" B. Wolf was shooting one egg with his own Blaster, the started to crack up before a white Yoshi jumped out and hurried to help the others.

"A-ha!" B. Mario left his adult self for a moment to break another egg by jumping on it before it broke and a green Yoshi ran to the other Yoshis to push the rock off the edge.

"I...can...still...move...ha!" Meta Knight approached slowly an egg to break it using one slash and the last Yoshi (who was a pink one) jumped out and ran to the Yoshis's help, Dark Sunnycide shook it's body to recover his conscience and looked up to see the rock about to fall above it.

"(PUSH IT!)" The Yoshis yelled in unison pushing the rock of the egg as they jumped, landing on the floor and leaving them alone by walking away (somewhere).

"We...got him!" Chris said as he saw the rock about to crush Dark Sunnycide...

...But...

Dark Sunnycide lifted its tentacles and managed to catch the rock in them, all of them gasped in unison as the creature prepared to crush Zelda with the rock, the monster pulled back the rock and then rolled it along the floor to the princess who tried to get up and save herself, but she received a lot of damage and was weakened.

"S-stop!" B. Zelda said stepping in front of Zelda and using Nayru's Love to reflect the huge rock back to Dark Sunnycide, but the creature slapped the rock back and B. Zelda couldn't cast another one in time, causing her to block her face with her hands and cry out loud.

"Z-ZELDA!" B. Wolf quickly ran in front of Zelda and used his own Reflector to return the rock to the monster, but it used the same action and returned it to them.

"D-DON'T!" B. Pit flew quickly in front of the 2 and took out his Mirror Shield, but once again the creature hit the rock and it went rolling to them again.

"S-STOP IT!" B. Fox rolled to them and used his own Reflector like B. Wolf did, returning the stone that managed to hit Dark Sunnycide, making the monster to stumble backwards and fell on his back.

"Tokunaga!... Can you move?" Chris asked to his doll who managed to stand up. "G-go and crush that thing's mouth!" The World Traveler ordered and Tokunaga rushed to Dark Sunnycide, the doll quickly jumped in the air. "Eagle Dive!" Tokunaga threw his arms up and descended with an impact on Dark Sunnycide's mouth, dealing a good amount of damage. "O...twisted...door...of distortion...open...wide..." Chris casted weakly as he threw his last 4 foods to Mallow, who quickly ate them and regained his health.

"T-thank you...hey, I think I can use...that ability to heal all of you...HP Rain!" Mallow called a happy cloud that floated to Pit and rained on him with drops that restored his body, when the cloud vanished, Pit's health was almost fully healed that he was able to stand up.

"Heheh!" B. Mallow also casted HP Rain which made Mallow to jump in surprise as the cloud went to Chris and rained down on him, restoring his health greatly.

"Negative Gate!" Chris was able to cast his gate of darkness on Dark Sunnycide that damaged him constantly as Tokunaga used Dragon Surge.

A chain rope appeared from the roof and Dark Sunnycide pulled it, making the room to be covered in darkness as the babies looked around in panic.

"...Hey, there's someone here..." Pit said before a Boo appeared and bit his face, the Boo laughed evily before vanishing. "O-oww! Y-you little..."

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Professor Kawashima said.

"Pit! Use your Final Smash!" Chris yelled.

"I-I'll do it!" Pit said nodding. "Holy skies, please lend me your force!" Pit unsheathed his dual blades and a rainbow aura exploded into him, gaining the power to use his Final Smash as he ran to Dark Sunnycide and jumped to him. "All troops!..."

The image of Palutena appeared in the roof and one by one, Centurions (not the Centurions of Tales of Symphonia 2, mind you) began to appear in the air preparing to shoot down the creature, waiting for Pit's orders.

"MOVE OUT!" Pit ordered as all the Centurions flew to Dark Sunnycide, slamming themselves to it and somehow dying, because even though the attack seemed stupid, it dealt a large amount of damage to the creature who roared in pain as Pit spun his blades a last time and the aura vanished from him. "Thanks...Palutena..." Pit said smiling to the roof.

"PIT!" Yoshi yelled before Pit was grabbed by one of Dark Sunnycide's tentacles and the monster lowered the angel inside its mouth, the monster began to chomp its shell fangs in a quick movement that scared Pit.

"SOMEBODY!" Pit yelled as he was being lowered.

"HP Rain!" Mallow casted HP Rain on Yoshi, recovering his health by a half and the dinosaur/lizard/thi-

"Would you please stop referring me like a dinosaur/lizard/thing now?!" Yoshi asked furiously breaking the fourth wall.

Fine, fine, the Yoshi ran towards Pit and jumped to him, pushing the angel out of the way of Dark Sunnycide's mouth in time before his feet could enter.

"Heheh!" B. Mallow casted another HP Rain on Zelda, recovering half of her health.

"AHEM...if you...would...HEAL ME!" Wolf demanded angrily on the floor.

"Okay okay, geez, you don't have to be such a grumpy guy always..." Mallow said rolling his eyes calling a cloud (out of annoyance) that rained down on Wolf' recovering part of his health as well as he was able to stand up. "There, happy?"

"Me up! Me up!" B. Wolf said trying to get on Wolf's back again.

"I refuse t-" Wolf's face got shocked once he saw Zelda glaring at him. "G-get on!" Wolf quickly took the baby on his back.

"Good." Zelda said nodding with a glare before using Din's Fire on the monster.

Dark Sunnycide was able to jump and stood up by itself, calling even more eggs from the roof as it roared and took 1 on each tentacle.

"And here we go again..." Yoshi said annoyed.

But a chain rope lowered from the roof and the monster pulled it, nothing seemed to happen at first but Mario, Fox, Luigi and Meta Knight disappeared.

"W-where'd they go?" Mallow asked before mentioned characters came from the roof and crashed down the floor, moaning in pain. "G-GUYS! W-what happened?!"

"A...hole...floor...took...us...above..." Mario said weakly as his baby self tried to cheer him up.

"H-hold on! HP Rai-"

HIT!

"OWW!" Mallow was attacked by a rapid egg that bumped into him.

"Heheh!" B. Mallow was the one who casted HP Rain on Meta Knight, healing his health by a half.

"Thanks." Meta Knight said standing up as his baby alerted him from a rocketing egg, he used Dimensional Cape to vanish and then appear a few feet away to evade the attack.

"HA!" Yoshi threw an egg to Dark Sunnycide but it didn't do any damage. "W-we need to break the eggs and call more Yoshis to help us!"

"SOMEBODY DISTRACT IT!" Chris yelled as he ran away from an assault of eggs that tried to crash into him.

"I wish I...could..." Fox said weakened on the floor.

"...Alright, alright! HP Rain!" Mallow said creating another cloud that...you should know by now.

"Thanks." Fox said as B. Fox jumped on his back, the vulpine quickly dashed to Chris and used his Reflector to shield him front the eggs, but it seemed that Dark Sunnycide was focused on Chris.

"T-thank you for saving me Fox." Chris said stopping on his tracks.

"There are more eggs scattered around here, break them!"

"R-right! Tokunaga, Dragon Surge and Surge Breaker!" Chris ordered Tokunaga to use Dragon Surge on 2 eggs that cracked up as they landed back into the floor, then Tokunaga called a thunder that cracked the same 2 eggs plus 2 more before sending a strong fist on the 4 eggs, breaking them as the Yoshis hurried and pushed another chain chomp rock to the edge above Dark Sunnycide.

"One more!" B. Meta Knight said.

"Here I go!" Luigi (now recovered by Mallow as Mario as well) said jumping on egg, but B. Luigi jumped on it as Luigi backflipped in the air to stomp on it, breaking the egg and letting the last Yoshi to help the others, the 5 new Yoshis managed to push the rock off the edge and fell above Dark Sunnycide, while the Yoshis left the place.

"It's going to grab it again!" Mario said alarmed as Dark Sunnycide raised its tentacles.

"BABIES!" Luigi yelled as he saw B. Mario and B. Luigi walking to the monster.

"Ahahahahaha!" B. Mario poked the monster's shell and the monster looked down to them, both babies giggled happily and the rock fell on its head, the babies created a distraction to let the rock fall on it as they returned to their adult selves.

"Oh, I see now." Zelda said before she and B. Zelda began to fire multiple Din's Fires at the monster, dealing damage overtime, all the others joined the attack and started to attack the monster continuously, some attacking using close combat skills and some using magic (Mallow and Chris).

"Keep on going and the Over Limit gauge should be full in no time!" Kawashima said.

"Really?" Chris asked.

"I think you shouldn't underestimate the powers of Master Hand and...surprisingly enough, Crazy Hand." Kawashima said sweatdropping.

"AH!" B. Pit screamed when Dark Sunnycide turned off the lights of the room, everyone stopped and looked around carefully.

"...There!" Meta Knight said using his Dimensional Cape to appear in a blink before Wolf, who was going to be attacked by a Boo, the Boo got instantly slashed and vanished, cursing Meta Knight off. "Be more careful next time."

"Who asked for your help in the first place?" Wolf asked angrily before both continued to attack non-stop the monster who roared in pain.

"...Er...everyone...we have a problem here..." Mallow said a little tired.

"What is the problem?" Yoshi asked as he shot Yoshi eggs from his back.

"I'm...so tired to cast any spell...and so does my baby self...please...avoid any damage because...I'm not going to heal for a long period of time!"

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Kawashima said.

"...I...have that problem too..." Chris said dropping to his knees after casting Limited. "I'm so...tired...to cast any other spell...sorry to disappoint you..."

"But getting tired and getting attacked are the same thing, right?" Luigi asked.

"Technically speaking, if a mage gets tired and not weakened, he or she will stop using magic for a time, so, frankly speaking, getting tired and getting damaged or weakened are 2 different things." B. Zelda explained.

"...You're such a smart child." Zelda said rubbing her baby self's head.

"Zelda...use you Final Smash!" Chris said trying to stay on his feet.

"Right," Zelda put B. Zelda down and she joined her hands together. "Triforce of Wisdom, give me thy dexterity!" Zelda called out as a rainbow aura exploded and covered her as her eyes glowed yellow with her body glowing in the same rainbow aura. "Go through my obstacle, LIGHT ARROW!" Zelda took out her long bow and shot a blinding Light Arrow, impaling Dark Sunnycide directly between its mouth, dealing massive light damage to it as she kept the bow. "That was...impressive."

"It is." B. Zelda said nodding.

Chris sweatdropped at this. "...God, when there isn't a pervert around, Zelda gets very focused and amused...I'm amused..." Chris said ironically amused.

"Psycho...path!" Mallow casted his last spell and lights shone on Dark Sunnycide. "...He's...almost out of health...we need to keep going..."

"Finally, I was getting sick of this thing." Wolf said as he continuously slashed the creature (with his baby self shooting from his shoulder and cheering at the same time).

"...On a side note..." Mallow continued. "...He likes to eat...us..." The prince did a double-take. "...US?!"

"US?!" Luigi repeated panicking before the creature wrapped its right tentacle on his leg and put Luigi above its mouth. "HEEEEEEEELP!" Dark Sunnycide was very hungry at the moment and dropped Luigi inside its mouth. "BABY LUIGI! SAVE YOURSELF! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Luigi was able to throw B. Luigi to the air before he was being chomped down repeatedly, screaming in extreme pain as the other who were hitting the monster with close combat skills backed away in shock, evading the chomps in time.

"LUIGIIIIIIII!!!" Mario yelled worried about his brother and ran to Dark Sunnycide, the monster spat out a fainted Luigi and threw Mario inside by quickly wrapping its other tentacle around his leg. "BABY MARIO! JUMP! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mario ordered his baby who jumped out of fear as Mario was being fatally damaged on the mouth.

"MAAAAAARIOOOOOOOO!!!" B. Mario cried as he landed right besides B. Luigi, who ran towards Chris and hid behind, trembling with fear and sobbing silently as Mario was spat out, fainted.

"Y-you monster! Stop biting them like crazy!" Chris demanded trying to cast Negative Gate, but his forces were very low and even Tokunaga became a lifeless doll and shrunk to its nromal size. "N-no! We have to do something!"

"What th-AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Pit's leg was wrapped up by another tentacle and he was thrown inside Dark Sunnycide, B. Pit managing to escape from the furious attack in time. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Pit was fatally wounded and Dark Sunnycide spat him out, making Pit to crash in the floor, the angel moaned a little before he lost consciousness. "I'm...sorry...everyone...ugh..." Pit managed to say before he fainted.

"PIT!" Zelda yelled worried before glaring daggers at Dark Sunnycide. "You monster...I'll...I'll kill you!" Zelda transformed into Sheik and dashed to Dark Sunnycide shooting a barrage of kunais into its mouth, a tentacle tried to get her leg, but she backflipped and slashed the same tentacle at the same time.

"B-be careful everyone! It's trying to chomp us down to death!" Mallow warned them.

"We know that already, once we're inside its mouth, we're dead meat." Wolf said looking around carefully for the other tentacle. "And speaking of dead meat...cloudy! Underneath you!"

"Wha-AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Mallow was thrown inside Dark Sunnycide but B. Mallow luckily jumped away before the tentacle pulled Mallow inside. "HEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Mallow yelled in extreme pain before the creature spat him out as well, Mallow even fainted as well as he moaned silently.

"BIG ME! UAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" B. Mallow cried out loud (creating a small rain outside Yoob).

"MALLOW!... FOX! BEHIND YOU!" Chris yelled loudly.

"Bang!" B. Fox was already shooting the same tentacle who backed away from his adult self.

"Phew, this is why you're so useful." Fox said rubbing his baby self's head, who giggled and wagged his tail happily.

"BEHIND YOU AGAIN THOUGH!" Chris yelled again as the tentacle that Shiek tried to defeat turned ways and went after Fox, getting his leg from behind as he was thrown inside Dark Sunnycide.

"G-GO!" Fox threw B. Fox in the air before he entered the very same crusher fangs who began to chomp him down to death. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" B. Fox cried as Chris catched him in time and backed away, they saw how Dark Sunnycide spat Fox out to the floor, rolling to them before seeing that he lost consciousness as well. "UAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" B. Fox cried out loud and went to his adult self.

"W-we're the only ones left behind, don't let that thing get to you!" Chris reminded Sheik, Wolf and Yoshi.

"Watch out!" Sheik yelled.

"UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" The babies cried in unison after a tentacle was rocketing to them.

"(W-what should I do? T-they're just babies and they can't survive that attack, but I-I can sacrifice and...I...hate this so much...) NOOOO!!!" Chris stepped in front of the babies and the tentacle got him instead of them.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"CHRIS!" Sheik yelled as she jumped to the tentacle and stabbed various kunais on it, but it wasn't enough to cut them down, but Dark Sunnycide slashed her down using the other tentacle.

"SOMEBODY PLEASE SAVE ME!!!" Chris yelled as he was slowly being dragged to the monster's mouth, who roared in pleasure and licked its shell lips.

"All the things I need to do for you kid." Wolf said as he leaped to the tentacle and slashed the same spot as Sheik, but as before, the other tentacle threw him away to a wall. "U-UGH...I can't...get to you..."

"Then it's my turn." Meta Knight said using Drill Rush on the tentacle, trying to extend the duration of the attack, however, the same tentacle grabbed his leg and slammed him down the floor. "UGH!"

"CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS!!!" The babies cried out loud.

Chris looked down below where Dark Sunnycide was slowly opening its mouth to eat him alive. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Back with Lucario and the 2 other babies, Lucario was juggling both babies using his tail as he was leaned to the wall with crossed arms, his tail was strong enough to hold both of them, B. Riolu held B. Chris on his arms as they passed Lucario to the right and to left, giggling in happyness.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!" B. Chris and B. Riolu laughed happily.

"It's good to see you 2 having fun." Lucario said smiling a little to them.

But apparently, it turned out that all the Yoshis were baby lovers, because all the Yoshis together with Toadbert were watching the Aura Pokémon juggling both babies around him.

"(Hey! No fair! We want to play with them!)" A white Yoshi said angrily.

"(You can't have all the fun just for you!)" A purple Yoshi said angrily.

"Back off, they're with me." Lucario said glaring at them as he growled.

"By boogity, calm down, first you're mad because we can't get out of this place and then you're mad because you can't play with the babies? What's wrong with that?" Toadbert asked confused.

"...Huh? Hmmm..." B. Riolu closed his eyes and focused his mind.

Lucario stopped juggling them and looked confused at his baby self. "What is it?"

"Riiiiiiiiiii..."

"...Hmmmm..." Lucario closed his eyes and his aura covered his body, trying to concentrate on whatever B. Riolu.

"LUUUUUUUUCAAARIIIOOOOOOOOOO!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!!!" Chris's voice was heard crying out loud, making Lucario to snap out of his concentration.

"CHRIS! GRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted in rage and ran at high speed to the chamber, leaving the babies behind who fell from his tail, but B. Riolu catched B. Chris in time and he giggled happily.

"Heheh!" B. Chris rubbed B. Riolu's head.

"Riiiii!" B. Riolu wagged his tail.

"...Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!"

"Ri?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Ri!" B. Riolu nodded and ran to the chamber as he other Yoshis decided to follow them.

"H-hey! Where is everyone going now?!" Toadbert asked running with the Yoshis.

Back at the chamber, Chris was about to enter inside the mouth, all the remaining Smashers were knocked out of cold and he buried his face in his hands, starting to sob silently. "P-please...Lucario...save me...I-I beg you..."

"CHRIS!"

Chis uncovered his face and began to cry once he saw the fangs closing slowly into his throat. "LUCARIOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Grrr..." Lucario's eyes began to tremble wih rage, his hands tightened into fists covered with his aura, his eyes turned beastly by shrinking sideways, his feet caught aura before his whole body erupted with aura. "GGGGGUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" Lucario yelled extremely loud to the roof creating a tremble inside the monster.

"Lucario! Lucario! Lucario!" B. Chris said happily as he and B. Riolu came from behind.

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Lucario roared furiously at the babies by turning quickly his back to them before shooting a nasty glare to Dark Sunnycide.

"Uh...uh...uuuuuhhhhh..." B. Chris began to tremble in horror after Lucario roared at him and B. Riolu, the baby got very scared and hid his face under the mantle, sobbing silently as B. Riolu backed away from his adult self, eyes trembling with fear.

"GUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" Lucario used Extremespeed to appear right beside Dark Sunnycide, taking action, he took both parts of its shell and separated them before Chris could enter inside him, the Aura Pokémon shot a devastating Aura Sphere to its tentacle, destroying it with a big explosion as Chris fell to the floor, still between Dark Sunnycide's fangs.

"...T-Thank you Lucario!" Chris said wiping out his tears.

"What are you waiting for, get out of here." Lucario demanded as Dark Sunnycide tried to close its mouth.

"...W-what do you mean by that?"

"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!!!" Lucario growled furiously.

Chris started to back away from the mouth with fear of Lucario, the World Traveler leaned to the wall, trembling scared, before hiding his face in his hands.

Dark Sunnycide roared furiously to Lucario, but the Aura Pokémon roared back at the monster and divided both shells using his brute force powered with his aura, the monster cried out in extreme pain, begging for mercy, but Lucario only responded by throwing both shells at the ceiling, then, he charged both hands with all his aura. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Lucario fired an extremely powerful Aura Storm from his hands destroying Dark Sunnycide to dust as the monster screamed in pain, vanishing once Lucario finished with the attack.

"...What...happened..." Meta Knight asked recovering his consciousness. "...You?"

"Grrrr.... Grrrrr... Grrrrr..." Lucario panted heavily as his aura disappeared from his body, he dropped to one knee and looked down the floor. "...That...should...end this..."

Music stops

All the Yoshis with Toadbert came from the door and relieved faces appeared on all of them once they saw the hole where Dark Sunnycide was once guarding completely free from it, then, from the roof, B. Bowser fell through the hole. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" B. Bowser yelled as he went down with all the purple eggs Toadbert was guarding.

"Everyone, down the hole!" Toadbert said jumping and one by one, every single Yoshi jumped to the hole and managed to escape from the intestine. "T-thank you so much for your help! You should come back to the village!" Toadbert said before jumping down.

"...You...defeated the monster?" Meta Knight asked trying to catch his breath.

"...Yes...when Chris called me I... Chris!" Lucario noticed Chris on the wall with his face buried on his hands then he ran to him and kneeled. "Chris, are you alrigh-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Chris said panicking.

"W-why? I-I saved you didn't I?"

"N-NO, YOU MONSTER! Y-YOU TURNED INTO THAT BEAST AGAIN!" Chris said hiding his face on his hands. "L-leave me alone!"

"B-but Chris! I-I didn't want to hurt your feelings an-"

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Chris yelled before he started to cry out loud, then all the babies joined him since they were also terrified by Lucario's power, hugging the World Traveler as they shook in horror.

"...No..." Lucario muttered looking down, then he turned to B. Riolu and B. Chris, who were staring at him. "...You're not...mad at me...right?"

"M-monster! Monster, monster!" B. Chris yelled hiding his face before he broke into tears.

"Riiiiiiii..." B. Riolu growled at him.

"...What do you mean you don't want turn into a beast like me? I-I'm not a beast!"

"Riiii!!!" B. Riolu growled before turning his back and tried to calm B. Chris down.

"Seriously...I'm not...I-I'm not...a beast..." Lucario said closing his eyes before tears strolled down his face.

"...Lucario, help me and carry everyone back outside..." Meta Knight said.

"..." Lucario went slowly to Sheik and carried her with the most characters Lucario could carry above him.

Yoshi Village

"Lucario, stay away from me." Chris said walking further away from Lucario, who tried to apologize him.

"...B-but..."

"No buts, you scared me, even you yelled at me and the babies, they don't want to see you anymore." Chris said as we see both babies above his arms, well, B. Riolu was being carried, who carried B. Chris and tried to prevent him to look at the beast.

"...Chris....you don't hate me...right?"

"..." Chris closed his eyes and sobbed a little, making Lucario to look down, clenching his fists with sadness.

"What...happened between you 4?" Mallow, who was trying to walk, asked.

"...Ugh..." Meta Knight was able to explain him and everybody else (who were in weak states but were able to walk around, all their baby selves got relieved and were on their backs). "...And that...should be all..."

"...You're alright...Chris?" Fox asked.

"...No..." Chris said walking up ahead with the babies.

"...Lucario, you should control your emotions harder next time...not doing it did this." Sheik said.

"...I'm already ashamed...isn't that enough?" Lucario asked.

"No, you must find a way to...apologize to them." Pit said.

"That is going to take...a long time..."

Chris came back with Mario, Luigi and the babies who were carrying with them the Cobalt Star shards. "Guess what? We got the shards from B. Bowser! The shards rammed into him and was blasted off to the sky!" Luigi said.

"Now we can return to the castle and see what is next to do!" Mario said as the babies giggled happily.

"But...where is Yoshi?" Mallow asked.

"VICTORY MY PEOPLE! VICTORY!" Yoshi's voice was heard in the center of the village before all the Yoshis cheered loudly, as Yoshi Cookies began to rain down by Lakitus, the babies got really happy at this that they began to eat all the cookies they could carry with them.

Wolf sweatdropped at this as a cookie fell on his head and was catched by B. Wolf. "...Somebody should tell that dinosaur some leaderism lessons..."

After some minutes, the group jumped inside the time hole and were transported to Princess Peach's Castle of the present.

But we see a floating figure going in as well...

Princess Peach's Castle - Present

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Mallow jumped out from the hole and looked around. "...Whoa, that was...awesome! Let's do it again!" Mallow tried to jump inside with his baby but Mario stopped him.

"No no no no, we need to go and see Professor E. Gadd." Mario said as Mallow looked down disappointed.

"So...where can I find a place to rest?... I'm exhausted..." Pit said weakly.

"Oh, I'll be happy to show yo-" Luigi was interrupted before a figure appeared from the hole and looked to all of them, they all stared back at the creature and their eyes widened in unison.

"Finally! I found you!"

"MASTER HAND!?... OF THE PAST?!" Most of the Smashers said in unison surprised.

"Uncle!" The baby Smashers said happily in unison, waving their hands at him.

It was Master Hand, but from the past, one could tell he was from the past because he was smaller than the original they knew about, he was half smaller than the older one.

"Okay, here's how we're going to do it," Master Hand of the past said tightening into a fist. "Give me back my babies, you baby-nappers!"

Preview of the next chapter

"Riolu had a very bad past, a sad one to be exact." Master Hand of the past said.

"...What do you mean?" Lucario asked.

"GRRRRRR!!!" B. Riolu got fed up and his fists were covered in aura.

"Baby Riolu! W-where are you going?" B. Marth asked.

"And welcome...to the hottest desert...Gritzy Desert..." Chris said panting under the heavy sun's rays.

"...Rain...I want...some rain..." Yoshi said weakly, sticking out his tongue.

"The crowd here hates us with passion!" Zelda said as the Shroobs raised even more signs.

"W-what do they have now?" Mallow asked.

"Next time: A sad story about a B. Riolu." Sheik said.

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Overwrite File?

Yes

Princess Peach's Castle - Present
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Chris, Baby Riolu, Baby Meta Knight, Baby Zelda, Baby Fox, Baby Wolf, Baby Pit, Baby Mallow

References:

-Behind Us is a song reference to Tales of Symphonia 2.

So, Lucario turned into the babies' living nightmare and that goes also for Chris, the Aura Pokémon is going to feel a lot of regret for turning into a sick beast for blood.

With Dark Bowyer around, do you think he will...nya?

And surprise, Master Hand of the past appeared! What will happen next? And why the title says about the past of B. Riolu?

Be prepared for a sad story of the little emanation Pokémon... (And eww, Ganondorf had the same face as a baby...)

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 94*: Baby Flashbacks

So, finals are coming, and this arc need to be finished before Monday hits in, wish me luck in the next chapter AND the finals, I wish you good luck as well! ;)

From ngrey651: EW. Baby Ganondorf. GROSS. But a very entertaining chapter! I found myself seriously worrying for the baby's sake. Only now, with young Master Hand angry, I'm worried about the others even more, since he can "uber-pwn" them with Hand Powers.

From me: Nah, he won't be that bad to them, trust me. ;)

From Mariko-ai-chan: I had no idea who Bowyer before this 's all I have to say unless you want me to scream at me,I can be NASTY nya.
Dusk:She can.
Mini-Mac:Gr!Meanie!!

From me: Er...no thanks, thank you not-Bowyer's language-user! :D

From Wolfenpilot87: *pukes* Oh, man! Not an intestinal story! At first I thought that "something nasty covering the exit" was...eww! Gross!

Anyways, I expected that from Lucario sometime. Now he's getting it... :(

P.S.: BABIES! BABY WOLF!

From me: You're so excited for the little lupine, aren't you? Thanks again! :)

From notfromearth7: This awesome! Baby-mania! At least they're under control...Or are they? (evil laugh)

From me: Who knows, thanks too. XD

From Anakin Mario Son43: (laughing out of control at authors comment, the calms down) wow! you are so powerful. Anyway, chris better have a witty explanation for past master hand!

From me: And the Smashers as well! Thank you! :)

From Rellymaster: Fox and Wolf are HORRIBLE parents! Remind me never to hire them as babysitters...DX Wow, Lucario really got distracted here, didn't he? But I understand him. I just noticed, but Bowyer talks almost like Yoda! Awesome! You brought up the Popple Battle theme!
Aw...B. Chris is protected by both Lucario and Riolu. (Cute and friendly to me! Guess I'm a sucker for friendship.)
But now, I'm extremely saddened about the end...I can't help but feel lamentable and slightly depressed now. That's so hurtful... I was even scared to press on. Don't worry, I'll still be a loyal reader...

From me: This chapter could bring tears to you so be warned. ;)

From Nintendogeek4: Aw... kind of a sad ending to that chapter. But still I am looking forward to how it gets resolved.

P.S. Lucario sure was eager to trade babies. lol.

From me: Of course he was! LOL! Thank you! I thought you were dead for a moment. XP

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: hmm, guess zorn and thorn won't be part of the subspace army. thanks for fixing that mistake, just didn't want people reading my user name and wonder why i would call myself a hog,well enough of that little detail, yuck! traveling inside a monster's intestines and fighting a hellish creature. oh dear, it's been quite a bit since i read about lucario's inner anger. so now we'll find out the past of lucario from past master hand. a arc suggestion and job, okami and celestial paintbrusher. reasons for okami is cause i want to see the human smashers go BeastOut,[basically turning into a beast form, don't take the word without permission from me!] so the pokemon and beast like smashers can go into a town since people of ameretsu's world are more intuened with nature, and it may be possible for lucario to find a way to control his inner anger in nippon. the paintbrusher considering that ameretsu's main power is the celestial paintbrush. and now, i have suspetion's about chris being from the real world now, since their is a baby version of him in the"smash daycare" and sorry for my mispelliation, forgot how to spell that one word and possible you can make a guest apperance of the mighty moshin emo rangers?

From me: ...The who of the what? Power Rangers? What?

Er, sorry, but Okami isn't that interesting to me and it would be hard to make an Okami arc, so please I hope you understand and I don't know who the hell are the mighty moshin emo rangers (funny name though). XD

And never, EVER, I'm going to make those 2 clowns subbordinates of Tabuu, thanks! XD

From powerseeker35: this is really cool! i love the way lucario was protective of , but he really needs to take a chill pill next time. wolf is very bad with childrens, you'd think wouldnt go near him. the whole thing was good but the ending was a bit sad though as chris hates lucario for turning into...the beast!

(dun, dun, dun!)

...okay, sorry for that. anyway, keep it up.

From me: Thank you, and it seems your suggestion will be taken in this chapter...you'll see...

From chrisworshiper: aloha it's me once more soory for not long revew last time i was in a rush
rush anywasy the best chapter yet I hink could I erhaps a future chapter is so i'd like to see a past smash bros game example: the n64 one or the gamecube one called super smash bros melle next time p.s. i hope you forgive lucario soon i don't like to see him sad.

From me: Nope, but, something like that will happen in the Kingdom Hearts ll arc. "wink" "wink". Thanks! :)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Wow lots of drama happening between Chris & Lucario. I think you have made Chris that is flawed like anyone else would be. But nonetheless that scene after the Smashers defeated the monster was so emotional. Props on giving Zelda her crowning moment of awesome thus far and just like Chris she's become a very good character in this fic(particularly the scene where she slapped Wolf that was pretty funny.) Like always the humor excellent and the drama keep that up but don't make Chris go emo now(lol). Peace.

From me: Zelda is that awesome, but Chris isn't emo, dammit! XD

Thanks to you as well!

From Ultra Blader: Great Chapter! Keep up the good work. I haven't played Partners in Time, although I have played the original Superstar Saga. (Dispite the fact it took me AGES to beat Cackaletta's Ghost.) Anyway, it's good to see that you've put in a bit of a spin with young Master Hand appearing. This is getting interesting! (Not that this story isn't interesting already!^_^)

P.S: Since there will only be six chapters before the big one hundredth, will there be a break between arcs? I mean, you would be able to fit the Sonic arc in with ease, but won't putting the Metal Gear Solid arc, as well as the more than likely Christmas chapter, which I'm almost sure you'll do, would be a bit of a squeeze. However, knowing you it shouldn't be hard to fit everything in.

Until next time:
Ultra Blader

From me: Don't worry about that, I have everything already planned for that, thanks. ;)

From Mewtrainer: That... is the longest character list I have EVER seen!! Actually, you told
me that the Hands' personality was usable by all, not the Mansion, although
you seem to be right about both... Sorry to be asking so much, but could I use
the "auditioning for Brawl" general idea? And what does nya mean? Or is it
just as in "nya nya, can't catch me!"?

From me: Aw, my little, clueless reader, "nya!" is just only how Bowyer laughs normally, since he is crazy.

And you can, but, not like that, you need to change EVERYTHING from top to bottom, I don't want to see an illegal copy of it, okay? ;)

So, here's the next chapter everyone, please, I want to make a special announcement and congratulate DianaGohan for her birthday! Happy birthday Diana! I hope all of you out there read her humoristic stories! ;)

NOTICE: It's highly recommendable to listen the right music to make the moments more realistic and touching, please listen to this!

Read, enjoy and review! : D

Chapter 94: A sad story about a B. Riolu

Princess Peach's Castle - Present
Library

"W-wait a minute!" Mario said. "We didn't kidnap the babies. They were already in the island and they followed us!"

"Yeah, right, like I'm going to believe that!" Master Hand of the past said as the babies jumped of their adults' backs and jumped to touch the hand. "Now now babies, uncle Master Hand is going to take you all out of here and back to the daycare center."

"...NO!" the babies yelled angrily returning to their adults selves, except for Lucario.

"W-what in the world did you tell the babies to stay with you?!"

"Haven't you realized who we are by now?" Sheik asked.

"...Hmm...wait..." Master Hand of the past looked at all of them. "...This person looks like B. Mallow...this one looks like a more rebel B. Wolf...this one looks like B. Chris...this one should be B. Meta Knight...and...OH GOD! You're all their adults selves!" Master Hand of the past said snapping his fingers.

"Finally, you realized it." Fox said rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"B-but what's the meaning of this? Care to explain it to me?"

"But first...let's take a rest..." Pit said suggesting.

1 hour later...

Throne Room

The group was gathered in Peach's throne room, where E. Gadd explained the situation to Mario, Luigi, and their baby selves as the Toads backed away in terror by Master Hand of the past.

"Okay," Sheik said, taking a sip of her tea. "That's all we can tell you for now."

"Oh, I see now...the babies marooned in Yoshi's Island then..." Master Hand of the past said.

"Marooned?" Mallow asked.

"Yes, one of them had the idea to go to Yoshi's Island, but I don't know who it was," Master Hand of the past explained. "However, what I want to know more is why they did it."

"Excuse me," Yoshi raised his hand. "But you said the babies came from a daycare center?"

"Oh, right! The Hands Daycare Center!"

"The Hands Daycare Center?" Most of them repeated confused.

"Well...how can I explain it...you see, I, along with my stupid brother Crazy Hand, opened up a transdimensional daycare center to raise funds for something big that we have planned for the future."

"A...transdimensional daycare center?" Fox asked confused.

"Isn't that a little bit too much?" Chris asked.

"No, of course not! It's the greatest idea ever!" Master Hand of the past said laughing heartily. "Gathering babies from other worlds just to spend time together for a time!"

"So, you opened a transdimensional daycare center...just to gather babies to take care of them?" Meta Knight asked.

"Exactly, it was stupid at first, but hey, do you know how much money do I get for taking care of B. Zelda?"

"Wait, MY PARENTS left me with you when I was a baby?" Sheik asked.

"Yes."

"Then how come I don't remember anything like that?"

"It's because I use my powers to erase the minds of the babies and their parents once they leave the daycare center," Master Hand (we're going to refer him like his normal name) began. "You see, we have a long hallway in the house with a lot of doors, each one connects each world together, and to the other side, there's a normal looking room that fits in each world that looks like a daycare center, that way we get people interested into lending their babies to us for a time."

"Wait a minute, wouldn't their fathers freak out to see 2 floating hands in charge of an establishment?" Fox asked.

"WE INFECT THEIR MINDS." Master Hand said as creepy music played and thunders fell in the background. "...Heheh, just kidding, once a parent enters the door, they see us as normal people, hand magic is so helpful these days."

"Hey, and what about me? I went to the daycare center too?" Mallow asked.

"Your parents left me with you just a while ago, 2 days to be exact, they went to some party in...hmm...Skyworld I think..."

Pit blinked in surprise. "Then I was left with Mallow as well the same day?"

"Yep."

"...Wait! Skyworld doesn't have parties, they were banned because some stupid idiot used the fountain as a bathroom!"

"...Oops...my dad told me he used a fountain as a bathroom somewhere..." Mallow said inching away from Pit.

"...Your father did WHAT?!" Pit asked before taking out his dual-blades.

"Calm down, that was a long time ago, you 2 knew each other but I erased your minds when you left an-" Master Hand saw Pit already chasing Mallow around the room as their babies giggled happily in amusement. "...Fine, solve it your way."

"IT WASN'T ME WHO POLLUTED THE FOUNTAIN, REMEMBER?!" Mallow asked in fear as Pit chased him around.

"But then that doesn't apply to me." Lucario said.

"You're right." Master Hand said.

"What?"

"You're right, B. Riolu isn't your baby self, he's different from you...a lot different to be exact..."

"W-what about my baby self? I'm from the real world." Chris asked.

"Well...your baby self comes from Sinnoh..."

"Phew, then it's alright."

"Why is B. Riolu different from Lucario?" Yoshi asked.

"Everyone...I think it's time for you to know a dark secret about B. Riolu that you should know, and the reason why he protects B. Chris."

"Oh no, here comes another flashback." Wolf said frowning.

"I'm a little curious about their past, if you would, please tell us." Shiek said.

"Riolu had a very bad past, a sad one to be exact." Master Hand of the past said.

"...What do you mean?" Lucario asked.

"Riii..." B. Riolu looked to B. Chris with sadness in his eyes.

"Is there something I can help yo-"

"Riiiiiiii..." B. Riolu growled at Lucario once he tried to approach him, the baby walked to Chris and hid behind him, still growling angrily as B. Chris hid his face in his mantle, shaking with fear.

"...Ugh..." Lucario looked down ashamed.

"Okay, I'll tell you all what happened when B. Riolu was born 1 month ago." Master Hand said as B. Riolu sobbed silently, close to B. Chris's face.

Flashback

Somewhere in Sinnoh

"All started when we took a "detour" in Kanto because B. Pichu's and B. Igglybuff's fathers moved there, we had a door in Kanto, but unfortunately, we realized we got lost and wandered all the way to Sinnoh instead, their parents already met us outside the door so they knew about us." Master Hand narrated as we see him and Crazy Hand of the past (half smaller than the "older" one) floating inside a forest where rain started to fall.

"Why did I listen to you? Now we're wandering around Sinnoh by no reason!" Master Hand argued.

"Because I looooove ice cream in this place!" Crazy Hand said covered in ice cream.

"...Crazy, that wasn't ice cream, that was mud, and you ate it."

"But it tastes sooooooo good..."

"Shut up will you? The babies will cry if we don't return to the house in time!"

"Then let's hurry and pick those Pokémon!"

"And why don't we teleport back to Kanto as we usually do?"

"..." Master Hand sweatdropped. "...I blame your crazyness for making me a little bit more dumber."

"Brother! Look over there!"

"More "ice cream" you mean?" Master Hand asked seriously.

"N-no! Look! Please!"

Master Hand looked at the direction his brother told him to look at and he gasped, there were some destroyed trees with fire on some bushes, the earth was scattered around and the hand floatd closed to the spot. "...What happened here?... Wait..." Master Hand glowed for a moment. "...There was a battle here...hunters were hunting 2 Pokémon...and those Pokémon got captured and taken away..."

"And this is going to be a perfect eggnog!" Crazy Hand said holding a Pokémon Egg.

"C-Crazy! W-where did you get that egg from?!"

"It was laying below you."

"...Oh, then...this egg probably was from the 2 Pokémon..."

"What are we going to do with it? Do some eggnog for the babies?"

"We're not going to use it for eggnog! We're going to take it with us, leaving a baby Pokémon to hatch here in this rain would be too cruel if we ignore it...and worse if their parents were captured, Crazy, let's get out of here!" Master Hand snapped his fingers and both hands disappeared in a blink.

"To make eggnog with the egg?"

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO EGGNOG WITH THE EGG, NOW SHUT UP!" Master Hand's voice said angrily.

The Hands Daycare Center
Living Room

The hands were shown putting B. Pichu and B. Igglybuff (because both were sleeping) on the couch and Master Hand placed the Pokémon Egg on the small but large table of the room, placing it above a red cushion. "Alright, now we have to call the babies here and announce our new baby," Master Hand said. "Any ideas Crazy?"

"BABIES! WE HAVE SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER! C'MERE!" Crazy Hand yelled loudly.

"Pagetti!" Many voices yelled from upstairs and many foosteps were heard there after.

"Oh, good idea for once." Master Hand remarked.

From the stairs, all the babies began to walk down with happy faces, one by one, they walked around the small table, sat down and waited for the dinner, but all they saw was an egg sitting silently.

"...Dinner?" B. Link asked pointing at the egg.

"Nope, that egg contains a baby, a baby Pokémon like B. Pichu and B. Igglybuff." Master Hand explained them.

"Stork! Stork stork stork!" B. Falco said happily.

On a side note about B. Falco, we also manage to see the very same shirt "best friends 4 ever" on him, not only that, the other 2 babies were sitting right to the next an-

"Oh no, no no no no no NO, the bird brain is also a stupid best friend of my own baby self?!" Wolf asked outside the flashback, angrily.

"I was surprised by that too, their minds were erased so many times but they just kept turning into best friends." Master Hand explained.

"...Kill me, please kill me." Wolf said giving his Blaster to Fox, who instantly smirked and aimed his head.

"OH, WHOA THERE!" Chris quickly took the Blaster from Fox and threw it at Wolf. "Let's keep listening to this story, it's intriguing me!"

"Alright, where was I?" Master Hand asked.

"...The egg is moving!" B. Marth said curiously.

"Babies, guess what? We're going to have another baby to play with outside!" Crazy Hand said as most of the babies cheered loudly at this.

"It's shining!" B. Zelda said.

"Ooooooooohhh....." All the babies stared in awe at the egg which shone instantly and blinded the whole room, the babies were anxious to see the new baby and meet him to play right away.

Final Fantasy lX - A Face Unforgotten

When the light cleared out, they saw a small pup-like baby with closed eyes where the egg once was, the baby was very cute when he was born, he slowly opened his crimson red eyes and blinked surprised at his surroundings, he was a young Baby Riolu, the babies blinked in curiosity as the baby Pokémon let out his first word with happyness.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" B. Riolu said happily to the roof with closed eyes, all the babies began to cheer loudly at him as the hands laughed and chuckled at this.

"Oh, just look at him! It's a baby Riolu, they're so rare to obtain in Sinnoh as I've heard before!" Master Hand said.

"...Ri?" B. Riolu looked around the room, looking to all the babies staring at him but something was distracting him from all of them. "...Ri ri ri ri?"

"Your...parents you ask?!"

"And ever since he asked that...sad events after sad events happened there after..."

"What kind of sad events do you mean?" Chris asked.

"B. Riolu got very depressed that day, when I told him that his parents were captured and abandoned him unexpectly, he began to cry out loud and the babies didn't like the loud cry that they also began to cry in unison, my brother and I were in such a trouble in calming all of them down, luckily, they got tired of crying for 20 minutes straight and only sobbed."

"I guess that was it then?" Lucario asked.

"...No...it only got worse..."

The next day...

Babies' Room

B. Riolu woke up in his bed, but late since all the babies were already playing outside the daycare center, the Emanation Pokémon yawned bored and jumped out from his bed, walking out to the halls.

Hallway

"Thank you my lady for leaving B. Zelda with us again." Master Hand's voice was heard behind a door.

"It is a great pleasure for me, I have a very important meeting in Hyrule with other lords and I cannot look after my dear child during the discussion."

"Oh, you'll do it just fine, B. Zelda will have a very fun time with us here."

"I am sure she will, I will return for her tomorrow if you do not mind."

"Better yet, so please, good luck in the meeting!" Master Hand then came out from the door with B. Zelda, who was giggling happily and both looked at B. Riolu.

"Riiiii..." B. Riolu growled at them with rage.

"...It's something wrong with him?" B. Zelda asked hiding in Master Hand's palm.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with him," Master Hand said before putting B. Zelda down. "Okay little one, go outside and play with the other babies, they already can't wait to meet a little princess like you, my cutie pie, are!"

B. Zelda blushed slightly. "Oh, you're embarrassing me! Fine, I'll go, thank you Uncle Master Hand!" And then she left to play outside, waving at B. Riolu who seemed to glare at her once she turned her back on him.

"Aw, the sweet words of those little ones calling me uncle..." Master Hand sighing with pleasure. "B. Riolu, why don't you go outside and play with all of them?"

"Ri!" B. Riolu shook his head.

"Why? You have to make friends sooner or later, and I'd say sooner, this day! C'mon, go outside and have fun!"

"...Riii." B. Riolu looked down and started to walk outside as Master Hand watched him getting away.

"How wrong I was when I told him that, that very same day, many of the babies were having a discussion that only angered him even more."

"What kind of discussion...was that?" A badly beaten up Mallow asked.

Playground

B. Riolu looked the playground, there was B. Zelda playing hide-and-seek with B. Nana and B. Marth, B. Fox, B. Falco and B. Wolf were playing tag around the place laughing as they tried to touch each other, B. DK was above 1 of the 7 trees of the place sleeping peacefully, B. Meta Knight was playing in the swings with B. Kirby while B. Marth was clapping hands together with B. Link.

B. Riolu passed through all of them and walked directly to a tree, the baby Pokémon inspected the tree before leaning to it, sitting on the grass as he looked to all the babies playing happily around, he slowly closed his eyes and tried to sleep, ignoring B. Ike who tried to play with him, but the Emanation Pokémon grunted at him, making B. Ike to walk away in fear.

Of course, this was the beginning of something bad after 10 minutes passed...

"My daddy is the best one there is!"

"My daddy best one in the air! So cool too!"

"My daddy orders people!"

"Mine's the best!"

"No, mine!"

B. Riolu was hearing some babies arguing about who's father was the best one.

"My daddy fly veeeeeryyyyyy high up!" B. Fox said clapping his hands. "I wanna be like him when I grow up!"

"I wanna fly that high!" B. Falco said happily.

"Riiiii..." B. Riolu growled angrily at this.

"Well, daddy is great swordsman!" B. Roy said.

"My daddy is best, greastest swordsman!" B. Link argued.

"No, mine is!" B. Marth said happily.

"Riiii..." B. Riolu growled angrily again.

"...Hey, Riolu mad?" B. Roy asked as they all looked to B. Riolu.

"I don't think so...so...my daddy's the best one!" B. Marth said.

"No fair! My daddy best one!" B. Wolf said.

"No, mine!" B. Roy said.

"Mine!" B. Fox said.

"Mine!" B. Link said.

"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" Those words continued to echo inside B. Riolu's mind, the baby Pokemon blocked his ears in pain and growled angrily at those words, his eyes opened up with an angry expression taking over his face, all the babies turned to him as they saw the Emanation Pokémon slowly walking to them.

"...Riolu mad?" B. Roy asked again.

"Face scary..." B. Link said trembling before B. Riolu began to growl silently, fury in each growl.

"...R-Riolu?... You o-okay?" B. Falco asked hiding behind B. Fox, who hid behind B. Wolf, who hid behind B. Marth, trembling with fear.

Master Hand's Office

"Aw, look at that brother, the babies are playing tag around as they yell out loud UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Crazy Hand said.

"Crazy, if I'm not mistaken, that is most likely a cry." Master Hand said.

"Oh well, seems B. Riolu is winning because he isn't crying on his massacre."

"Wait here, I need to get my coffee..."

Playground

"WHAT?!" Master Hand's voice yelled loudly.

Outside in the playground, many babies were crying out loud, holding their arms in pain while others tried to get away from a furious B. Riolu who used Force Palm on all of them, both hands came bursting out from the door and gasped at the situation.

"CRAZY! GET THE BABIES! I'LL GET RIOLU!"

"R-RIGHT! BABIES! EVERYONE ON THE CHU-CHU!!!"

Both hands were working like never before that day...

"Wait, B. Riolu, you attacked everyone?!" Chris asked.

"Riii...riii..." B. Riolu sobbed silently as B. Chris tried to calm him down by rubbing his head, then the World Traveler took them around his arms.

"...I'll calm you do-" Lucario was suddenly growled by his baby self with rage. "...U-ugh..."

"Please, continue with the story." Pit said.

Babies's Room

B. Riolu was on his bed, looking down with rage as Master Hand gave him a lecture.

"Look, I know you don't like the other babies, but that isn't a excuse to attack all of the other babies!"

"Ri! Ri ri ri ri ri!" B. Riolu said angrily.

"What's that? You hate them because they all have something you don't have?"

"Ri ri ri ri ri! Ri ri-ri!"

"Something you lost but they still "brag" about?"

"Riiiiiii!!!" B. Riolu growled at this before his eyes began to full with tears. "...Riiii..."

"He explained it all to me...the reason of why he hated all the babies..."

"What was it then?" Mallow asked.

"B. Riolu told me...that he was alone in the world..."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" B. Riolu began to cry loudly as Chris hugged him tightlier, with B. Chris trying to calm him down with tears strolling down, Lucario once again tried to get close but stepped back because B. Riolu would do the same thing.

"You're...alone in the world without parents to look after you?" Master Hand asked.

"...Ri, ri ri ri..." B. Riolu buried his face on his hands.

"...Poor little one..." Master Hand whispered, patting B. Riolu's back.

"Trying to calm down the babies when they saw him walking down the halls of the daycare center was really hard."

Hallway

"H-hide! Here he comes!" B. Marth yelled as he, along with B. Link and B. Zelda yelled when B. Riolu came from the corner, the baby got fed up with rage after he saw them running away from him, making him growl with fury.

"Riiiiiiii..." B. Riolu growled at this before he ran after them, hands glowing with his aura.

"It was like if B. Riolu hated every baby he saw close to him doing their own things, he wished to...kill them with his own hands..."

"WAIT RIGHT THERE!" Master Hand said appearing just in front of B. Riolu, he grabbed the small baby on his palm and put a grip on him as B. Riolu tried desperately to get free.

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!! RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" B. Riolu yelled with rage, trying to get himself free from Master Hand as he was dragged away to his room.

"OKAY, THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GROUNDED BAD BABY, THIS IS JUST STUPID!!!"

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"

"B. Riolu was very angry at the babies, all the days after that, it was the same thing, when he was pardoned, he would seek the other babies just to kill them, fortunately, I was able to stop all his attempts."

15 days later...

"But once all the attempts passed, there was something new that day that would change B. Riolu...that day, is when everything seemed to turn happy again..."

"O-OKAY! DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT MY LADY! WE WILL TAKE CARE OF HIS SON!"

"Thank you! Please, try to be good to him, once he is in peace, he will be a very cheerful baby!"

"I'M SO BETTING THAT! TAKE CARE!"

"It was the day when B. Chris came from Kanto, his mother came that day from Sinnoh, she was currently on a vacation with her husband in Kanto but B. Chris seemed to be scared of all the Pokémon that their parents showed him, and that day, their parents were going to a meeting in Sylph Co. and when they found out about my work, well, she decided to give B. Chris to the daycare just for the rest of the night."

"UUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"...However, she just told me that on their way to the establishment, B. Chris happened to see a Pidgey that he thought was very scary and cried ever since."

Living Room

"Alright, little hyperactive babies of funnyness," Crazy Hand said as most babies giggled at this. "Today, we're going to present you another new baby!"

"...I-i-it's not going to be like B. Riolu?" B. Nana asked as she glanced to B. Riolu sitting on a far away chair, growling silently at them.

"Nope! Not at all!"

"YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!" All the babies cheered loudly at this, ignoring all the furious growls of the baby Pokémon.

Crazy Hand heard his brother floating to them, but on his hand, there was B. Chris hiding in his white mantel, but crying very loudly and making everyone to block their ears, they couldn't even cry as well because the cry was just too much.

"UUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" B. Chris yelled loudly as the babies ducked by the loud noise he was causing.

"C-CAN YOU CALM HIM DOWN?!" Crazy Hand asked by yelling as Master Hand put the baby above the table where the babies were sitting.

"NO! HE DOESN'T SHUT UP! I TRIED EVERYTHING! FUNNY NOISES, THROWING HIM UP AND DOWN, NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK!" Master Hand yelled back.

"SHUT...UP!" B. Meta Knight yelled.

"Out of all the babies, B. Riolu seemed to be the most angered one again, his eyes turned very menacious and he slowly walked towards the table."

"GRRRRRR!!!" B. Riolu got fed up and his fists were covered in aura.

"Baby Riolu! W-where are you going?" B. Marth asked.

"That moment, I was distracted, because I was trying to find a way to calm B. Chris down, nothing was a very good idea, and it just happen that my stupid brother watched B. Riolu jumping above the table and walked slowly to B. Chris, ignoring the aura emanating from his hands."

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..." B. Riolu growled angrily once he looked down to the baby covered in the white mantel, the baby Pokémon kneeled and glared at the face hidden in there with only hatred, he knew B. Chris came with his mother, something that B. Riolu lost before he was born.

Not losing more time, B. Riolu hardly grabbed the upper part of the mantel where B. Chris's face was hidden, and with a strong pull, he quickly uncovered his face and B. Riolu raised his right fist in the air.

But...something prevented him from punching B. Chris...

Final Fantasy lX - Loss of Me

B. Chris took just a second to look to the person who pulled his mantel, his eyes were full of tears that he couldn't see B. Riolu about to punch him, but he cleared his tears and looked to the Emanation Pokémon, once he saw him, he blinked surprised.

"...Ri?" B. Riolu asked confused, his hand still burning with aura.

"..." B. Chris hid his face quickly in the mantel, even taking B. Riolu's hand with him.

"Ri-ri!" B. Riolu said angrily and pulled the mantel back to him, revealing B. Chris's face once again.

"...Heh." B. Chris chuckled a little and hid his face again, even all the babies stopped blocking their ears and looked to them with curiosity, the hands, noticing this, looked to them.

"Riiiii!" B. Riolu pulled back the mantel and glared at B. Chris.

"Heheheh!" B. Chris chuckled even more at this and B. Riolu growled at this.

"Ri!"

"Heheh!"

"Ri!"

"Heheh, heheheh!"

"Riiiiii! Ri ri riiii!"

This event kept going for seconds, the babies were looking at each other with even more curiosity and began to chuckle silently at this.

But something caught everyone's attention off guard, they heard a small chuckle coming from the last person who would ever chuckle at this...

...It was B. Riolu himself.

"Riiiii..." B. Riolu began to chuckle as he continued to pull and pull the mantel when B. Chris pulled it as well, the baby Pokémon began to close his eyes slowly and a happy expression, for the first time in days, came back to him.

"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!" B. Chris looked at B. Riolu's glowing right hand.

"...Ri?"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" B. Chris said nodding, B. Riolu looked at his hand and made his aura disappear, he slowly approached it to B. Chris, when the baby had the hand in his reach, he stood up, very little, to grab the hand, B. Riolu's eyes widened a little after B. Chris put his hand close to his cheek, the baby closed his eyes and giggled happily.

"...RiiIIIIIIiiii!" B. Riolu closed his eyes as well when he touched B. Chris's cheek, his little tail even wagged a little as everyone sighed in relief.

"Look at that!" Crazy Hand said surprised.

"B. Riolu good?" B. Link asked jumping on the table to see B. Chris closer, but once he was near, B. Riolu growled at him. "U-UAH!" B. Link backed away scared to his spot and the babies gasped as well, trembling as B. Riolu growled at them.

"Ri ri ri ri riiiiiii!" B. Riolu said happily to Master Hand.

"What? You want to take care of him?" Master Hand asked.

"Ri!" B. Riolu wagged his tail.

"...Alright, you can, but don't be rude on him as you have been with the others, if I see you picking up a fight with him, I'm going to punish you."

"Ri!" B. Riolu nodded giggling, using his forces, he took B. Chris on his arms (B. Chris was amazed at his strength and giggled at this) as both went to the babies's room.

"...It's weird, why did he decide to take care of B. Chris?"

"It was obvious, B. Riolu became B. Chris's guardian, he didn't like the other babies to get close to B. Chris even 2 meters away."

"Aw, no fair! Riolu won't let us see Chris now!" B. Ike said.

"All good things don't last for long!" B. Marth complained.

"Me want to meet Chris! No faaaaair!" B. Fox said trying not to cry.

"Settle down babies, I think something will change very soon...and you all will have your opportunity to meet Chris without Riolu fighting you." Master Hand said.

"So, everything went well after that?" Yoshi asked.

"Well..."

Gritzy Desert

Gritzy Desert

Flashback

"Remember," Master Hand said. "I need to get the babies back from you before night falls, B. Chris's parents are going to come and get him back, and please, get B. Ganondorf back as well!"

End of flashback

"And welcome...to the hottest desert...Gritzy Desert..." Chris said panting under the heavy sun's rays.

"...Rain...I want...some rain..." Yoshi said weakly, sticking out his tongue.

The Smashers were now back on track on their mission after listening to Master Hand's story, seeing Mario and Luigi learning a very bizarre move called the Bros. Ball, meeting both Toadsworths, E. Gadd (who tried to capture Master Hand for an experiment) and after the brothers completed a puzzle to go to the next location of the Shroobs, they all jumped inside a new warp hole to the past...

Though one would say the next place was some kind of imitation from hell, it was the burning sands of the Gritzy Desert of the past, a living frying pan of pure hot temperatures.

"Water...need...some water..." Mallow said weakly.

"Are...the babies...okay?" Luigi asked sweating.

"Hmm..." B. Chris muttered weakly as B. Riolu gave him some shade using his tail. "...Heheheh..."

"I just...love my giggler baby self." Chris said panting before someone gave him some shade. "..."

"...I-it's my duty." Lucario said holding his hand above Chris.

"...Fine, but nothing else."

Lucario stared at B. Riolu, who was glaring at him. "...I'm not going to do the same mistake, I swear it!"

"Ri." B. Riolu looked away.

Of all of them, Lucario wasn't all that affected, but he would be if he spent more time under the sun, because he was starting to sweat in his forehead.

"Oh...I see a biiiiiiig lake over there..." Mallow said spotting a big lake of water.

"...Mallow...don't be stupid...it's just sand...the sun's rays are creating mirages...just to confuse us..." Sheik said panting.

"Yes...she is right...because there is no way...Slippy and Peppy...are just over there...drinking lemonade..." Fox said pointing at 2 cactus.

If we see through his eyes, we could see Slippy and Peppy drinking mentioned drink, sitting below umbrellas as they saw them walking under the sun. "Yoooooooouuuuuu knoooooooow yooooooooou waaaaant iiiiiiiit, Foooooox!" Mirage Slippy said waving his lemonade with a smile.

"..." Fox's mouth began to drool.

"Eww..." B. Fox said disgusted and slapped his adult self's face.

"Phew...thanks..."

"Heheh!"

"Look!... I see a big...dome!" Luigi said narrowing his eyes to the Koopa Dome.

"Please...tell me that is not a mirage..." Wolf said weakly.

"It's not!" Mario said already touching the wall, the group found a big switch for 4 to stand (ideal for the brothers, but kind of awkward to the Smashers and Mallow with hs baby self). "There!" Mario, along with his brother and babies jumped above the switch and opened the entrance of the dome.

"Finally...some shade..." B. Meta Knight said as they all went inside the dark dome.

However, the readers couldn't see inside the dome, we were still looking from outside, where the darkness of the other side of the door only was as their voices were heard.

"Good thing we got inside this abandoned dome." Yoshi said.

"I don't know why am I forgetting something though..." Chris said.

"Shut up and let me find something to drink, I'm thirsty." Wolf said annoyed.

"Hey, I think I found something here." Mallow said.

"I-I think found something else here too." Luigi said.

"UA-Oww! Hey! Who put their foot in my way?" Pit asked.

"You know, I've got the feeling somebody is in here." Shiek said.

"I have that feeling too." B. Zelda said.

"...Me don't like this..." B. Wolf said.

"Me neither..." B. Fox said shuddering.

"Ri!" B. Riolu said hugging B. Chris.

"Uuuuhhh..." B. Chris hid in his mantel.

"...Grrr..." Lucario grunted.

"...Why do I have the feeling that when you grunt, something bad is going to happen right away?" Fox asked.

"...It is because we're in fact, surrounded..." Meta Knight said.

"...Mama mia..." Mario said before an insane amount of red glowing eyes opened in unison all around them, blinking in unison before yelling a not so understandable language...

"=$/&#)"&#&%=$#%/($=&()#"$%/#"(&%&(=$!!!"

The Shroobs were hiding from the Smashers.

Now, since the adults were a lot braver (Luigi couldn't be considered of this category (Luigi: Hey!)), they didn't yell or screamed.

...But let's say the babies weren't on that category as Luigi (Luigi: H-hey!).

"UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" All the babies ran out from the dome screaming in horror and fear.

"BABIES!" Luigi yelled worried chasing after them.

"OH MY GOD, GET THEM BEFORE THEY SCATTER AROUND!" Mallow yelled loudly as all the Smashers ran out and chased the babies, then a huge stampede of Shroobs chased after both groups.

"(%=/(&#"%$#=/&=%(/=&(%/=)!!!" A Shroob yelled pointing at the group getting away.

"BABIES!" Luigi yelled once again and motioned behind a long pillar where the babies hid quickly, then the green plumber told the group to hide there as well, hidng behind the pillar completly as the stampede of Shroobs ran to the center, to the west, the long stampede seemed to no end, but it ended with a last Shroob running away.

"God...they...really...want...us...dead..." Pit said panting.

In Luigi's eyes, he saw B. Mario and B. Luigi walking out their hiding spot and he panicked. "BABIES!" Luigi jumped in shock and went after the babies, stopping them on their tracks. "OH, NO! Don't do that agai-"

"#(=%"&$)/)&$/$)$#"=!!!"

"WAAAAAAHH!!!" Luigi got in shock after a Shroob came from behind them, then the 3 ran away as the Shroob chased them around, the babies and their adults selves got out from their hiding spot and looked around, though all the babies sat on the sand to wait for Luigi and the other babies.

"Ha! You saps are all wet!"

"I wish we would!" Yoshi responded before blinking confused. "...Hey, I know that voice..."

From behind them, a spinning pink shell came from underneath the sand and stopped spinning, before their eyes, Kylie Koopa appeared giving all of them her trademark thumbs up. "Waltz into the dome's front door and you're sure to get spotted and carted away lickety split!"

"We...got the misfortune...already..." Chris said panting.

"Geez, you're all sweaty! Why didn't you take a water holder like me?" Kylie took out many water bottles that they quickly took off her arms. "Whoa! You sure were thirsty!"

"Wateeeeer!" Yoshi rejoiced, as Luigi, B. Mario and B. Luigi being chased in the background by the Shroob, making the babies to laugh at this.

"What? Remember me, huh? Being the Koopa Kronicle's reporter doll again has gotcha all goofy, does it? That's right, Kylie Koopa's got your number!"

"So, are you here just by coincidence, or it's because you found another big scoop?" Mario asked and Kylie nodded, as Luigi was running away from the Shroob while both babies chased it with their hammers, making the other babies laugh even louder at this.

"Yup! Something big's gonna happen in that same dome!" Kylie took some random photos. "Here's the scoop, Princess Shroob's gonna be arriving here any minute now!"

"What?!" Yoshi, Mallow and Pit asked surprised (Chris already knew this part so he wasn't all that hyped up).

Then Luigi was shown running from the Shroob, who was being chased by both babies who were one above the other with a hammer ready to smack down the Shroob.

"Yeah, there's gonna be a big to-do celebrating the conquer of the Mushroom Kingdom! And that's just the fries, boys. Here's the burger! Some other princess type's coming too! My sources indicate this other damsel likes pink, and she MAY be royalty of some sort." Kylie said taking random snapshots.

"The other princess should be then..." Pit wondered.

"Peach! Princess Peach!" Mario said.

In the background, the babies blasted off the Shroob by spinning, using their hammer. However, Luigi was seen being hit because he was walking backwards without looking back to the babies. The green plumber also got hit and blasted off from the place as the babies went after him while the others giggled happily.

Kylie took out her notepad and began to write down. "What? Princess Peach? The doll they're bringing here is Princess Peach? Princess Peach came here and got pinched by Princess Shroob?"

"Well...that's about it." Fox said.

Kylie jumped. "I gotta get this straight. You're snooping about trying to the rescue of the adult Princess Peach?"

"And defeat the Subspace Army as well." Pit said.

"...Sounds like balloon juice to me, fellas...but what a scoop it'd be if you're on the level!" Kylie said giggling a little.

"(Please, somebody shut her up already.)" Wolf thought annoyed.

"But...how can we enter the dome if we get stormed out by the Shroobs?" Mallow asked.

"Alrighty then! You need to get into the dome so you can nab the princess, right? Well, word on the street is, there's suppose to be a secret entrance around here...word on the street ain't specific, though so I dunno about its whereabouts. You're not getting in through here, regardless, so you gotta find that secret entrance." Kylie said.

"Hey, bunch of idiots," Wolf called out. "Why'd we open the door when we just can double-jump to those windows of over there?" Wolf pointed to the windows above the main door of the dome and they sweatdropped at this.

"...Why didn't we think of that before?" Sheik asked confused.

"Beats me." B. Wolf said from the babies's place, returning to giggle at the event.

"I...can't double-jump, Master Hand took out my abilities when I left the mansion." Mario said blushing a little.

"Oh, OK then!" Kylie ran above her feet. "It's not trouble for you to get inside anymore! Alrighty! I'll see ya inside to see what are those fellas doing in there, this IS going to become the biggest scoop EVAH!" And Kylie quickly hid in her shell, spun on the sand and buried herself in the sand.

"...A rather scatterbrained friend..." Shiek said rubbing her chin.

"Anyway, we should jump to the windows and enter inside." Mario said.

"Babies! C'mere!" Mallow called out and all the babies walked to them. "...Wait, where's Luigi?"

"Oooooooooohhhhhhh..." Luigi just came spinning down the air and buried his face on the sand as the babies giggled happily at this, the adults, however, were puzzled about what was Luigi doing in the sky.

"I refrain from asking what was this...weirdo doing up there." Wolf said annoyed smacking his forehead as B. Wolf jumped to his back.

So, the group decided to double-jump to the windows (Chris told Lucario to take both brother above, and Lucario had to listen to him in order to be pardoned), however, Chris stopped Fox from jumping while his baby was behind his back.

"Hold on, you're not double-jumping there, are you?" Chris asked.

"Of course I will, I mean, how can I reach that place?" Fox asked.

"No, at the second jump, you're going to flip several times in the air, and what will happen to your baby? Puke, that's what he is going to do, and on you."

"Please, that is not going to happen."

Koopa Dome

Koopa Dome

Fox just came out from the bathroom inside the dome, looking annoyed to Chris.

"Eww..." Pit said backing away from him as B. Fox had a relieved face.

"Told you, he was going to puke on you." Chris said.

"S-shut up and let's move on!" Fox said walking further inside the dome.

The group walked around the dome, there were various golden statues of koopas around, a long red carpet covered the whole floor, the roof was green as a normal koopa shell and they examined everything.

"Please Chris, let me carry him again." Lucario asked again.

"I'm not going to let you anymore, you, Lucario, should be ashamed for growling at the babies! What the hell were you thinking?" Chris asked with a glare.

"I-I'm sorry...I was just furious because you were going to die there an-"

"And growling to practically everything that moved was also necessary?" Chris added, angry.

"N-no!... Please...let me apologize to them."

"Riiiii..." B. Riolu growled at him.

"You heard him Lucario, he doesn't want you to come closer to them, look! Even my baby self doesn't want to see you that he hid his face on his mantel again!... And he's trembling too..." Chris looked down to his baby self who was whimpering in fear.

"...Sorry..." Lucario whispered closing his eyes.

"..." B. Chris didn't respond and Chris gave something to Lucario.

"...What is this?"

"Guess it, a chill pill, Meta Knight gave it to me to control your unnecessary anger."

Lucario glared at him. "I'm not angry, Chris!!!"

"...See you later..." Chris said closing his eyes in annoyance and walked away with the babies as Lucario gasped at this, realizing what he has just done.

"..." Lucario swallowed the pill and continued to walk ahead.

B. Riolu looked to his reflection along with B. Chris on a golden statue and he began to remember what happened when he and B. Chris first slept together...

Flashback

The Hands Daycare Center
Babies's Room

Final Fantasy lX - Loss of Me

"Huh? Huh?" B. Chris looked around the bed and tried to find B. Riolu who just snuck below it and below him too, then, B. Riolu appeared from the other side from where the baby was looking.

"Riiiii!" B. Riolu said happily before hiding again, B. Chris quickly turned his head where he was but disappeared.

"Huh?"

"Riiiii!" B. Riolu appeared from the other side before hiding yet again as B. Chris turned his head to find him, but couldn't.

"...Huh?"

A moment of silence came by and when B. Chris turned his head, B. Riolu was on the other side and quickly licked his face with his small tongue, the new baby giggled a lot at this as B. Riolu kept licking his face happily. "Riiiii! Riiiii! Riiiii!"

"Heheheheh! Heheheheheh! Heheheheh!" B. Chris giggled happily as B. Riolu kept licking him non-stop.

The next morning...

B. Riolu was sleeping very close to B. Chris, all the babies who slept in the very same room tried to get near B. Chris, but B. Riolu sensed them even if he was sleeping and growled at them silently, the babies really wanted to play with B. Chris so much but they decided to play outside.

"Riiii... Riiiii..." B. Riolu said as he was sleeping.

Playground

"Ri ri ri riiiii!" B. Riolu showed the playground to B. Chris who was on his arms, the new baby looked around amazed and moved his hands around as he giggled, all the babies looked at him but looked away once B. Riolu glared at them. "Ri ri rii." B. Riolu walked to his favorite spot, the same tree where he once leaned into below the tree's shade, he sat and leaned to the tree, putting B. Chris to his side who had a happy expression on his face.

"...Hmmmmm..." B. Chris stomach grumbled and B. Riolu looked at him, he was thristy and wanted something to drink.

"Ri ri ri?" Riolu suggested.

"Hmm!" B. Chris somehow managed to understand B. Riolu's speech (or simply just guessed it) and nodded clapping his hands, B. Riolu's tail wagged a little and he went inside the house, directly to the kitchen to get fresh milk to B. Chris, the latter baby looked around the playground where the other babies looked at him once B. Riolu was gone.

"Hey! Chris alone! Riolu not here anymore!" B. Link said.

"See him!" B. Roy suggested as some of the babies walked to B. Chris.

"Huh?" B. Chris tilted his head.

"Hi! I'm Karbi!" B. Kirby said moving his hands.

"Heheheh!" B. Chris giggled at Kirby's name pronunciation.

"Me! Me! I'm Fox! Nice to meet you!" B. Fox said smiling to B. Chris, but it seemed that B. Chris was interested in something about them that he pointed at Wolf's tail.

"Me?" B. Wolf asked.

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"

"This?" B. Wolf grabbed his tail. "Oh, my tail, very fluffy and cute, do you want to touch?"

"Uh-huh! Ahaha!" B. Chris said nodding happily and B. Wolf walked closer to him and moved his tail to his face. "Heheheheheh!"

"Cute? Fluffy you say?"

"A-ha!"

"T-thanks!"

"N-no fair! I have fluffy tail too!" B. Fox said walking to B. Chris and moving his tail in front of him.

"Do you want to play with my boomerang?" B. Link asked taking out a small boomerang, which got B. Chris's attention.

"Aaahh!" B. Chris took the small boomerang and looked at it with happyness.

"You want to play something?" B. Roy asked and B. Chris's eyes glittered with glee as he blinked.

5 minutes later...

"Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck..." B. Roy was running around touching slightly everyone's heads trying to choose someone to play against him, the babies were sitting around a circle close to the tree since B. Chris hasn't learned yet how to walk around by his own, the babies were impacient as B. Roy decided who to choose.

"Heheheh! Hahahaha!" B. Chris giggled happily as he saw B. Roy running around.

"C'mon Roy! Choose now!" B. Ike said impaciently.

A very happy atmosphere was around the field, in fact, all the babies were playing the game, nothing could ruin this wonderful moment...

"...Riiiii..." B. Riolu growled angrily and silently, holding a baby bottle with milk inside for B. Chris, the Emanation Pokémon started to fill up with rage as he saw ALL the babies playing with the person he was trying to get away from them.

They? Of all people and not me? Playing at my back with the person I tried so hard to protect since yesterday? How can they be so stupid and dare to do that?... They deserve to die... At least that was what B. Riolu thought.

The babies didn't pay any attention to the furious baby behind them as B. Roy finally decided to choose his person to play against...

Unfortunately, he wanted to play against B. Meta Knight, but since he was so close to B. Chris, B. Roy missed him and touched B. Chris a little harder, yelling out: "You're it!"

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"

Every baby's eyes widened in shock after hearing that yell of pure hatred, they all turned towards the door of the house where B. Riolu dropped the baby bottle and panted heavily, glaring at them as his hands were covered with his aura.

"...RUN!" B. Zelda yelled out as the babies got up and ran around the playground in panic, however, B. Roy looked to B. Chris and then back at the baby Pokémon who was slowly walking to him.

"H-huh?! W-what are you doing?! D-d-d-d-d-don't hurt me again! P-please!" B. Roy said backing away behind the tree where B. Riolu cornered him. B. Chris tried to look behind the tree.

And of all the yells from the babies, B. Roy's yells and pleas for help were the loudest ones that B. Chris could hear behind the tree...

"UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!"

Koopa Dome

Koopa Dome

End of flashback

"...Ri." B. Riolu closed his eyes, trying to prevent his tears from coming out, but B. Chris rubbed his head slowly, making B. Riolu's tail wag a little as he giggled a little.

"Hey, there are some lights coming out from those windows..." Pit said poiting at the windows that were on the walls flashing constantly, they could even heard many voices roraring loudly.

"And here you are!" Kylie said appearing from the left side, taking snapshots of them.

"What the-how did you get here so fast?" Mallow asked.

"It's that important to ask fella? The Shroobs are just behind these walls! C'mon! Take a look at this!" Kylie looked through the windows and they all decided to look to the other side, where a group of gasps came from most of them.

Center of the Koopa Dome

"What?" Yoshi said surprised.

"T-there's too many of them!" Mario added.

The whole dome was filled with Shroobs from the top to the bottom, except for the small arena that was located on the center, a huge shadow came above the dome and all of them saw a big saucer ship with the Shroob's face on it, from the center of the saucer, the hatch opened and somebody descended to the arena, they all tried to take closer looks and finally saw the person clearly...

"It's that...Peach?" Luigi asked trembling a little.

"N-no, it's another person..." Chris said trembling with the babies.

"She looks like Peach but..." Shiek trailed off thinking.

"Oh, c'mon! Gimme a break! That's Princess Shroob! The very same ruler of the Shroobs!" Kylie said taking snapshots of the dome.

"She looks very happy with that evil expression of hers." Pit said.

"#(%=&%/$%=%$#(%$=)&($/=!!!" Princess Shroob said with a microphone she got from a Shroob and all the crowd cheered loudly at this. "=&%$/&&$%)/%)"!)=!#$=(#"(&%=!!!" She held out her clawed hand to the Shroob mothership saucer and they all saw Peach going down with a rope attached to her hands and waist.

"P-PEACH!" Mario and Luigi yelled after Peach was being descended to a pipe, all of them looked down to find Petey Piranha jumping to Peach, trying to swallow her.

"Oh, look! It's Olimar's friend!" Mallow said smiling.

"...His friend who eats his Pikmins actually..." Fox said.

"&%)/$)$)#(&(#($)&%==)?!" Princess Shroob asked the crowd, pointing her mic to them.

"()($)&%()&$()&!!!" The Shroobs yelled.

"$/=(&=$%&)=&)(%=!!!" The Shroobs yelled again.

"$)&$%&)$)=&!!!" The Shroobs yelled once more with more enthusiasm.

"=%)#&%($#&=$&(&)/%#($"=!!!" Princess Shroob snapped her claws and Peach was dropped inside Petey's mouth, where the creature swallowed her whole and the Smashers gasped at this as Petey wen away inside the pipe, while the Shroobs laughed in unison at this.

Bakc with the Smashers, they all looked to each other. "We have to rescue Peach and fast!" Mario said determined with B. Mario who nodded.

"Oh, well, let me tell Kylie and those Shroobs that look like they're kidnapping her that we're going to rescue Peach, hey Kylie, we're going to rescue Peach, you'll get your big scoop no matter wh-" Mallow was interrupted.

"MALLOW!" Most of the Smasher yelled as Kylie struggled to get free, however, the Shroobs rushed further inside, escaping from them.

"W-wait!" Luigi said before Pit stopped him.

"She'll be fine, we should save Peach and engage the Shroobs, then look for the next Star Spirit." Pit said.

"Whatever thing that keeps me away from that hyperactive media reporter is fine by me, I'd say kill those bastards until there's nothing left of them." Wolf said taking out his Blaster together with his baby self.

"Yeah!" B. Wolf said.

"B-but we should find a way to get further inside...." Chris said before B. Chris pointed at a pink door that leaded to the Shroobs's crowd. "...We sitll need to find a way to snea-"

"Uuuuuhh.....uuhhhhhh..." B. Chris's eyes got teary and B. Riolu growled at Chris.

"P-please! You have to understand tha-"

"UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" B. Chris broke into tears and everyone covered their ears, except for B. Riolu who apparently tried to punch Chris.

"O-okay! Fine! We'll enter and storm inside! But please, calm down!!!"

"Heheheh!" B. Chris giggled happily as they sweatdropped at this, as B. Riolu licked B. Chris's cheek with care.

"...Seriously, these babies know how to manipulate us." Meta Knight said.

"So," Fox took out his Blaster together with his baby self. "Are we ready to begin?"

All of them positioned in front of the door (Luigi refused at first, but the babies carried him back to them) and prepared to burst out the celebration. "At the count of 3, 3... 2-" Yoshi was interrupted.

"UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" B. Zelda cried out loud.

"F-fine! GO!" Yoshi yelled loudly as everyone yelled in unison and prepared to take down the door to attack the Shroobs...

Back with the Shroobs...

CRASH!

"&$(&%)&/#$()$?" A Shroob asked confused after he saw dust coming below the door.

"=%$&(=&$#=." Another Shroob said shrugging a little before they returned to cheer loudly.

Back with the Smashers, it wasn't a great idea to slam themselves into the door, because all of them crashed into the hard wooden door and fell on their butts.

"I told you Chris," Lucario said walking to them and looked down to Chris with crossed arms. "This door isn't that easy to take down."

"Y-you didn't say that befo-aw, screw it with slams to doors! Lucario! Use Aura Sphere!"

"...Fine."

Back with the Shroobs...

The door exploded and everyone on the dome looked at the cloud of smoke covering the most portion of the dome, they all heard footsteps running towards the arena and all the Smashers jumped out from the smoke and took fighting stances at Princess Shroob who was really confused at this (we see Luigi missing the jump a little and jumped all the way to the other side of the seats, where he crashed into some Shroobs as B. Luigi giggled at this while Luigi struggled out and fell to the arena, just above a Shroom that apparently died by Luigi's weight).

"...$)#=&($)#%=$#?" Princess Shroob asked confused before Zelda (who changed to her normal self since she thought that it would be a bad idea to present herself to the crowd as Shiek) pointed at her face.

"You, set Peach free, right this instant." Zelda demanded as the Shroobs gasped at this.

"=$%($#)&#&%)$%#=)?" Princess Shroob asked smirking.

"It doesn't matter, set her free because she doesn't deserve to be eaten by a plant."

"$#(=&(#$(%=$&$%/=$#)" Princess Shroob shook her head chuckling evily.

"...Can Zelda understand Shroobinish?" Mario asked with a new word he came up with to Meta Knight.

"Who cares." Meta Knight said.

"$(=#($=%$#)&%)%()&($))$!!!" Princess Shroob raised her claws to the crowd and the Shroob seemed to protest at this. "$#(%!=#$((%"=&($)!!!" Princess Shroob ordered an evolved Shroob with a big yellow lollipop came from above on a chain and stomped the floor once it roared at them.

"Yuck, another disgusting creature." Pit said disgusted before they saw Ganondorf and Dark Bowyer walking out a dark portal besides Princess Shroob, who smiled evily as they stood by her side.

"It seems you all are so persistent in getting in our way," Ganondorf made a fist. "Zelda, you will hand over the Triforce of Wisdom, that will be finally mine!"

"Typical villain's goal, that's an overused cliché, don't you think?" Mallow asked.

"Cloudy, shut up, nya!" Dark Bowyer said angrily.

"Never." Zelda said glaring at him.

"A-and give us B. Ganondorf...who is very ugly..." Yoshi said muttering the last part.

"Oh, sorry, I cannot do that...even if I hate him..." Ganondorf said muttering the last part embarrassed.

"G-give us the Star Spirit, you!" Chris said pointing to Dark Bowyer, who merely chuckled at this, snapping his fingers to call Shadow Bugs to take over the Shrooboid Brat (the name of the creature with the big lollipop), the Shrooboid Brat became possesed by the Shadow Bugs in a matter of seconds and it roared furiously, turning into Dark Shrooboid Brat (who we will call DSB). "...Oh, great..."

"&$#(&%$="%$#%(=$#&%=)=$&($#=!!!" Princess Shroob ordered and DSB roared loudly as Ganondorf and Dark Bowyer disappeared into the dark portal.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Cackletta Theme

"H-here comes another monster!" Mallow said as DSB roared before shooting his lollipop to him, breaking apart upon making contact with Mallow. "O-oww!"

"Me!" B. Mallow said worried.

"I-I'm fine, but that brat is reallyyyyyyyyyyyyy gonna get it! SHOCKER!"

SHOCK-

"Wh-what the?!" Mallow saw DSB taking out quickly another lollipop from its mouth and blocked the thunder stone from impacting into him using same lollipop before throwing the attack back to Mallow in a rapid hit. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Mallow let B. Mallow go before he crashed into the wall, falling to the floor and wiping out the dust in his face as his baby self rejoined him. "I-it's...strong." Mallow said weakly.

"RAH! RAH! RAH!" The Shroobs all lifted many signs with many golden "Zs" on them and a Fire Flower was thrown to DSB, who used it quickly on Zelda, burning her alive in a stream of fire with her baby self.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Zelda and B. Zelda yelled in pain.

"Z-ZELDA! Alright, that's it! Tokunaga!" Chris slammed Tokunaga in the arena and it grew up. "Surge Breaker!" Tokunaga called a lightning that crashed into DSB, who got staggered as Tokunaga punched it away with a charged punch, saving both princesses in time. "Everyone! It's just only a weaker monster, attack it! O twisted door of distortion, open wide!"

"Right!" Pit said running to DSB and started to deal a combo of slashes from his dual blades continuously, but the creature didn't seemed to stagger and pushed Pit out of the way using its lollipop. "U-UGH!" Pit managed to stay on his feet and glared at DSB. "B-be careful...that rod that it uses is very hard..."

"RAH! RAH! RAH!" All the Shroobs held up green "Ls" and threw an Ice Flower to dSB, who used it instantly on Luigi, who became frozen with his baby self.

"H-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-help m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-me..." Luigi called out from the ice cube, chaterring his teeth.

"RAH! RAH! RAH!" The Shroobs this time held up light-blue "Cs" and threw a Green Shell to DSB, using it instantly on Chris, kicking back and forth the shell on him.

"O-O-O-O-OWW!!!" Chris yelled in pain as he wasn't able to escape from the attack, the babies tried to do something but just couldn't do it.

"GUUUUARGH!" Lucario came from Chris's side and kicked the shell back to the DSB's mouth, shutting it for a moment. "Are you alright, Chris?"

"...I'm fine..."

Lucario blinked confused. "T-that didn't make you to apologize to me?"

"W-what the-Lucario! Did you save us just to get your apology?!"

Lucario gasped. "N-NO!"

"You're so low Lucario!" Chris said angrily before running away to another side of the filed to cast Negative Gate as Lucario looked down, ashamed.

"RAH! RAH! RAH!" The Shroobs held up many dark-blue "Ws" and threw a Red Shell to DSB, using it instantly on Wolf who got severly injured by the attacks in a quick succession.

"U-U-U-UGH!" Wolf tried to get away but the attack made him to stagger, preventing him from escaping.

"N-no!" B. Wolf jumped in front of him and used his Reflector to return the attack to DSB, attacking him continuously without moving. "...Ugh..."

"Heh, good work, now, keep him busy!" Wolf said grinning as he prepared his claws to dig into DSB's skin, but just before he could do so, Shroobs from the crowd jumped out, twirled about their feet and shot Wolf down with their laser balls. "UGH!"

"Somebody keep them busy!" B. Meta Knight yelled.

"That would be us." Meta Knight said using Drill Rush to push the Shroobs away from attacking Wolf.

DSB roared furiously and kicked the Red Shell away from it, throwing his lollipops at the group non-stop.

"LOOK OUT!" Chris yelled, stopping from casting his spell and jumping above a lollipop. "Somebody protect me while I'm casting!"

"Alright." Fox said stepping in front of Chris using his Reflector to return the lollipops back to DSB, who ate them to recover his health a little.

"Feel the hammer of light!" Chris casted spinning his staff with one hand as B. Riolu took B. Chris to a safe spot. "Limited!"

A holy glyph appeared above DSB and it shot down a strong light, impacting into it.

"The crowd here hates us with passion!" Zelda said as the Shroobs raised even more signs.

"W-what do they have now?" Mallow asked.

The Shroobs had many yellow "Ms" and they threw a Pocket Chomp, the monster held up the item and a Chain Chomp appeared, who started to chase Mallow around the arena. "U-UAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" B. Mallow cried as Mallow hurried to get away from the unchained dog.

"Baby!" B. Mario held up a Fire Flower, making Mario, Luigi and B. Luigi with himself to get fireballs on their hands.

"Shoot!" Mario yelled firing a barrage of fireaball into DSB, the monster used its lollipop to block off the attacks.

"NOW, YOSHI!" Luigi yelled as Yoshi jumped from behind DSB, shot his tongue at it and swallowed him whole, where Yoshi started to chomp him down.

"BLUA!" Yoshi spat out DSB disgusted. "T-that thing doesn't taste so good..."

HIT! HIT! HIT!

"AAAH!" Yoshi was hit multiple times by a furious DSB who complained to him as he smacked its lollipop continuously on Yoshi before throwing him to the wall wtih fury. "H-help..." Yoshi moaned as he fell to the arena.

"Negative Gate!" Chris was able to finish his spell and created a portal of darkness on DSB, who staggered and yelled out in pain. "Attack it while it's being hit!"

"Ha!" Zelda used Din's Fire together with B. Zelda to explode lights of fire on the Shroob's ally, then the crowd began to raise many red "Ms" and threw another Pocket Chomp, who instantly turned into another Chain Chomp (with a pink bow above it) and chased Mario and B. Mario around.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Mario ran in circles in the arena, joining up with Mallow and B. Mallow, who yelled as both Chain Chomps chased them around.

"M-MARIO!" Luigi yelled worried before DSB ran to him, smacked Luigi down several times with its lollipop and threw him away to the ground, where his face skidded along the floor in pain. "...O-Ooowww..."

"Baby Luigi!" B. Luigi said worried and tried to get Luigi up, struggling a little.

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Professor Kawashima announced.

Chris gulped once he saw DSB focusing its eyes on him. "M-META KNIGHT! USE IT!" Chris said screaming as DSB ran after him, Chris waited for Lucario to act, but the Aura Pokémon was still ashamed, looking down the floor. "LUCARIOOOOOO!!!"

"..." Lucario didn't want to listen and continued to look down with sadness at the worst moment.

"Hmph." Meta Knight called out simply doing a small swing with Galaxia and pointed it to DSB as a rainbow aura exploded in him, B. Meta Knight saw with awe as Meta Knight flew to DSB and hit it with his cape a little.

"W-what is happening?!" Luigi asked panicking as the lights of the dome turned off suddenly, everyone looked around the darkness before they heard Meta Knight, his voice echoing.

"Know my power..."

...

SLASH!!!

A long, fast and deadly slash sliced down the darkness, dealing a mortal hit on DSB, who seemed to be out of cold before it collapsed, not only that, both Chain Chomps were sliced down in halfs and they disappeared, along with the Shroobs who were about to jump down and fight, DSB roared out in extreme pain before it began to shine brightly, then, it exploded into rainbow stars as Meta Knight sheathed his sword.

"Never...underestimate me..." Meta Knight said rather coldly as the aura on him disappeared.

Music stops

"...My goodness..." Zelda said surprised.

"H-he sliced down all the enemies in a blinding speed that I couldn't even see clearly!" Pit said amazed.

"Duh, he turned off the lights." Mallow said rolling his eyes with B. Mallow.

"Alright, Princess Shroob, hand over Peach!" Mario said pointing at Princess Shroob, who only laughed evily as Shroobs began to surround the group. "...Something is wrong here..."

All the Shroobs suddenly took out hammers and slammed them into the floor where they were standing, it provoked an earthquake and a huge hole was created under their feet.

"...Ha! We can still escape by jumping!" Yoshi said grinning as he tried to jump over the abyss, however, the group tried to jump, but they couldn't do it properly. "U-ugh! W-what's wrong?! Why can't we jump?!"

"Surprise, surprise, nya!" Dark Bowyer appeared from the portal and they glared at him. "Cancelled button function to jump I did, nya! Special powers of mine, nya nya nya!"

"Button function to jump?" Zelda repeated confused as Bowyer took out 4 panels with the "A," B," Y," and "X" from his back, the "A" was in a black color than the other ones that were white, making Mario and Mallow to gasp at this.

"W-wait! He used that kind of magic like that time, right Mario?" Mallow asked.

"Y-yes he did, but I wonder why he can do that." Mario said.

"So, let me get this straight, that "A" button was canceled and affected us in some way, meaning we can't jump, correct?" Fox asked.

Chris sweatdropped in shame. "Correct."

"...Aw, fu-" Fox wasn't able to finish his curse before all of them with their babies fell in the hole, screaming and crying loudly as we see all the Shroobs laughing evily at this, then the screen goes inside the long hole before the darkness covers it completly...

Preview of the next chapter

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Lucario said falling into the ground as he began to cry silently. "I-I tried everything to apologize to them...and...I can't...do it..."

"Nya nya nya!" Dark Bowyer laughed evily. "End this, I will! Here, your journey ends, idiots! Nya nya nya nya!"

Petey roared agreeding with him.

"...Lucario...we...need you...forgive us..."

"...Chris...I...should be the one...apologizing..."

"Next time: Baby tears and good byes." Luigi said.

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Gritzy Caverns
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Chris, Baby Riolu, Baby Meta Knight, Baby Zelda, Baby Fox, Baby Wolf, Baby Pit, Baby Mallow

Aw, baby backgrounds, it was cute, wasn't it? :3

References:

- A Face Unforgotten and Loss of Me are music references to Final Fantasy 9.

-When Chris said "Somebody protect me while I'm casting!" That was a reference to Estelle, who says the same thing in Tales of Vesperia.

And there, chapter's done, sorry for the battle being so short, but this chapter was only for the babies's past (1 month ago) before this happened, I decided to break up B. Riolu's past in flashbacks and the next chapter will finish them by parts during the storyline, I may have used some original dialogue but that was just for a little back-up.

Will Lucario get Chris and the babies's appreciation in the next chapter? Will they rescue Muskular? Will they also rescue B. Ganondorf? (Eww.) And when will the vulpine and the lupine learn to be good parents for a chance? Geez! XD

Read and review please! :)

*Chapter 95*: Don't Leave Me Alone, Ever

And fortunately, this chapter got here before the finals, so please, understand this, I'm not going to update for a while because I'm going to study for those exams, don't worry though, I'll keep whenever I have time to. ;)

From Mariko-ai-chan: Mac is sorry she was mad darn pantomime goose stole my green beans nya!Anyway,this was good again!We're getting closer to the big one zero zero!~Happy~!I heard talk of a surprise and I can't wait to see it nya!

From me: Um...whatever? Thanks. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Chris should just accept Lucario's apology. I was not sad at all with the "supposedly sad" flashback. Also, yay for a Kingdom Hearts II arc in the future! Can Sora, donald, Goofy, or Riku join the smashers?

From me: Oh well, thanks. :)

And no for the last question, Smashers are going to be alone, nobody, ABSOLUTELY, nobody can join them in their quest, that would ruin the fic, and don't come up with "but Raven, Flonne, Etna, the Prinnies, Geno, Mallow and Twink joined them!", no, they're just guests that don't act that much, except for Geno, Mallow and Twink for mission reasons.

From ngrey651: Oh, poor little Riolu...being without parents can be so tough. If I lost the parents I have now I have no idea what I'd do. To me, ohana (family) is all!

From me: Thank you my Hawaian friend! :)

From Wolfenpilot687: GAWD.

*reads* Hmm...YAY! BABIES STORIES AND CRAZY STUPIDNESS! *reads more* Oh...sad... *reads even more* LOL, desert illusions... *reads more* Heh heh...funny battle...signs...

BTW, I thought Princess Shroob actually could speak.

Even, baby chappie, BABY WOLF! ^o^

From me: And this is the last adventure of the little vulpine to you! :D

From Rabid Original: Aw, the babies are so cute ^_^
That was awesomeness!

By the way, this fic inspired me to play Disgaea and Super Mario RPG, which I had but never got around to playing... Thanks!

From me: And you have now inspired me to ACTUALLY play Disgaea now...-_-. Thanks! :)

From Seitei: Forgot to review this arc.

I have to say, this arc is probably the best I've seen. Not just because of the babies (Fox, Falco, and Wolf BFF?), but with this new side of Chris.

No, he's not emo, but he has this inner rage that seems to pour out and lash at Lucario.

Just a question though:

How did Chris' parents go to Kanto? Aren't they from the real world? Do they know about the "other universes?"

Keep the updates going!

From me: B. Chris and B. Riolu both are manifestations of both older selves, Chris's parents never were from the videogames and basically, those babies just resemble them to fit in that world.

And thank you for the edited parts you sent me. :)

From DawnwolfnXhoj: grr, DANG IT! do you have the ff9 music soundtrack cause i can't find that song 'a face unforgotten'. cause if ya do, be careful of my sissy, she found out you had it, she'd unleash HER evils upon you, ff9 is her favorite of the final fantasy series[she'd be worse than rita]. well enough of her, you're doing a kingdom hearts 2 arc?! i have a number of arcs i'd like to suggest, but they most definetly wouldn't fit in with the story. now about this chapter, can't beleive it, poachers were responsible of riolu's past?! and now, MORE SUSPICIONS ABOUT CHRIS BEING FROM REAL EARTH and, when wil he be using the thief job? it may come into play when he runs out of mp to use healing spells, when mallow can't use hp cloud, and when he's out of healing items, he can just steal some items! hope chris and lucario make up soon, it may affect their next fight. and i'm kinda surprised you don't know who the emo rangers are, for someone who seems to go on youtube alot, they are people who made a parody of power rangers, doing everything by themselves. i do regret actually suggesting them, they definetly wouldn't fit with the theme of the story, unless you're going mad scientist and going to include them in some strange way. just as a question did my last review kind confuse you

From me: Rita is still worse than anyone else out there. XD

And the explanation of his parents in just above your review, thank you. :)

From Ultra Blader: Nice idea with using Bowyer's annoying blocking technique. I can't wait until the next chapter comes up! Keep 'em coming.

P.S: Any chance of a Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones arc after your done with the gigantic amount of arcs currently planned. Or perhaps a Pokemon Emerald arc, or even, heh, a Harvest Moon arc? (Although it would be the weirdest place to ever be invaded by the Subspace Army. They would have almost nothing they could do with the place, seeing as most of them don't need to eat or sleep, and the main character wouldn't be much help battlewise with the Smashers.) Just a thought.

Until next time:

Ultra Blader

From me: NO! NO NO NO, NO! I don't take arc suggestions anymore people! And not another Fire Emblem, I honestly suck at that insanely cast of characters that is hard to keep on if I didn't play the game!

"Sighs." Okay, no, sorry, but those stupid arcs can go to hell for what matters to me, I hope you understand. ;)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Boy the battle despite was good for but that the main part of this chapter (though I did like it when Meta Knight used his final smash and Mallow's response about it) as that belong to Riolu and it's suprising dark past (Well to me at least) And Chris & Lucario's strained friendship adds more to the drama department I don't why I like all of this drama I guess reading too much Naruto & Bleach(when they get into their wangsting moments). Anywho the cliffhanger was great once again keeping us on the edge of our seats. So yeah that's it for now. Peace.

From me: Thanks, that's all I can say to you. :)

From chrisworshiper: ... wow just wow i don't know what to type um... i know

lucario is really trusting hu i never be caught alive with a chill pill... and you said metaknight gave it to you where did he get it? o well . is there a limit to how big of a revew you will post if so plese tell me.

From me: It's a running joke to have characters get items out of the scenes, you know? This happens usually, they can take out an anvil if they want to, but I don't go that far, no way. :)

And there's a limit of 1000 characters per review, and Diana is good at that, so write your review as long as you want to. ;)

From Mewtrainer: Okay, it'll be as different as I can make it! :) Bowyer disables button functions?! How strange and annoying!!

From me: Yes, now play the game. :)

From Rellymaster: Highlight #1: I KNEW Chris was going to give Lucario a chill pill! I knew it! XD He SO had that coming!
Highlight #2: "...Seriously, these babies know how to manipulate us." So true. I'd call them the Mini-pulators (small manipulators. Crap name, I know).
Highlight #3: Meta knight is definitely powerful once he uses his Final Smash. I remember beating everyone in one hit in Brawl when I used him.
Hopefully, things can be made right again.

From me: Though there's a reason why it was so powerful on the Shrooboid Brat...

From powerseeker35: Wow. Such a sad story about Riolu. I feel so bad for him, I just want to hug him. The background past of the babies had a very good feel to it. Poor Lucario, I know that Chris will forgive him soon.

Man, I need to get back to my SSB fanfic. Keep it goin.

p.S.: Was it really necesary for Riolu to actually hurt the other babies? Though, I can understand a little from the aura pokemon's prospective...im not sure.

From me: B. Riolu thought B. Chris didn't have any parents, and he got scared and attacked the babies because he thought they could harm B. Chris in any way.

But hopefully, here's the next part of the flashbacks. :)

From Nintendogeek01: I don't mind it being shorter than previous ones, makes it easier to read. Nicely done, a very good back-story to the babies (Crazy Hand at a daycare... whoa... that's a scary thought), and a pretty decent battle. I can't wait for the next chapter.

From me: And it's here, please enjoy it. ;)

From chocobotamer137: sad chappie T.T. but good, pwease update soon:]

From me: ...Kind of a poor criticism from you...thanks?

And so, we move on to the last chapter of this arc, enjoy people!

And remember, I DON'T ASK FOR ARC SUGGESTIONS UNTIL I ACTUALLY ASK, and YOU WILL ONLY SEE THE ORIGINAL SMASHERS FOR THE REST OF THE FIC AND NOT OTHER STUPID SUGGESTIONS OF CHARACTERS TO JOIN THEM, anyone who stays in the mansion it's just a guest, but this is not going to be repeated that much if I want to.

Read, enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 95: Baby tears and good byes

Flashback

The Hands Daycare Center
Infirmary

"Now, now B. Roy... B. Riolu is locked up in the room, he won't hurt you anymore," Master Hand said giving B. Roy, who was sitting on a high bed, a lollipop, the small redhead swordsman took it and whimpered a little. "Hey... I know what it's going to cheer you up...or to be more precise, who."

Crazy Hand came from the door carrying B. Chris, who was happy to see B. Roy. "Aaaaaaaaaand here you go," Crazy Hand put B. Chris close to B. Roy, the new baby tilted his head worried as B. Roy sobbed silently. "Another job done by great me!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Heheh!" B. Chris giggled and B. Roy looked at him, clearing his tears.

"P-please...no Riolu..." B. Roy pleaded shuddering.

"Let's leave them alone for a while," Master Hand said leaving the room, before Crazy Hand left with him, but by breaking down the wall. "...And let's see if we can find a way to cure your unnecessary but stupid crazyness..."

"Hmm?" B. Chris tilted his head again.

"He bad..." B. Roy showed him his hand, it was bleeding a little. "H-he...he bit me...uhhh..."

"...Hmm..." B. Chris got a worried look and noticed that B. Roy was about to cry loudly by his injure, the new baby hummed to get B. Roy's attention and he looked at him.

"Y-yes?"

"Hmm, hmm hmm hmm!"

"Y-you going to talk to him?"

"Hmm!" B. Chris nodded smiling a little.

"N-no! H-he hurt me again!"

"Nuh-uh!" B. Chris shook his head, trying to reassure B. Roy.

"...You promise?"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Heheheh!" B. Chris nodded happily as he giggled.

"...P-please...no more..." B. Roy said closing his eyes scared.

"...Riiiiiiiii..."

"H-Huh?!" B. Roy noticed a shadow approaching to the infirmary below the door, it was B. Riolu, who was apparently hungry for more "revenge" and looked around for B. Roy, the small swordsman began to panic and looked around for something to hide. "N-no! P-please! H-help me!" B. Roy pleaded to B. Chris, who looked around for a hiding spot.

"...Hmm!" B. Chris pointed to a rather big door where medicines were kept.

"Y-yes!" B. Roy jumped out from the bed and ran inside the medicine's door, where he hid behind and hugged his legs to avoid making noise.

"Riiiiiii..." B. Riolu entered inside the infirmary, growling as he looked around the place.

"Heheheheheh!" B. Chris giggled happily, but B. Riolu wasn't focused on him and searched the room carefully. "...Huh?"

"Riiiiiiiiiii..." B. Riolu growled deeply, walking slowly around the place as B. Roy hid his face behind his legs in the darkness of the backside of the door. "...Riiii..."

"(H-huh?! H-he found me?!)" B. Roy thought scared as he heard footsteps coming towards him.

"...RiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIII!!!" B. Riolu glared at the door that B. Roy was using to hide from him, the baby Pokémon slowly reached the handle and prepared to open it with all his forces and leap to B. Roy.

However...

"UUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Ri? Ri ri ri?" B. Riolu snapped out of his rage and looked back to B. Chris, who began to cry loudly and moved around the bed, B. Riolu began to sweat and went to him by jumping to the bed, taking him above his arms and jumped down, the Emanation Pokémon looked at his face and licked his tears. "Riiiiii..."

"...Hmm..." B. Chris sobbed silently as B. Riolu wagged his tail.

"Riiiii!" B. Riolu got very happy and walked out from the infirmary with B. Chris on his arms, then, B. Roy came out from the door and sighed in relief.

"...T-thank you..." B. Roy said blinking surprised.

That night...

Babies Room

"Riii! Riii! Riii!" B. Riolu continued to lick B. Chris's face during the night, all the babies sleeping there wanted him to stop, but if they ever dared to stop him, they'll only get hurt severly so they tried to tolerate his "Riii!"

Although B. Chris was just pushed back and didn't even giggle at B. Riolu, the baby Pokémon stopped licking him and looked at him.

"Ri?" B. Riolu asked.

"Hmph." B. Chris stared at him with an angry look.

"Ri ri ri..."

"Nuh-uh!"

"...Riiii..." B. Riolu looked at the babies, who quickly covered their faces in fear below their bed sheets. "....Riii..." B. Riolu growled at them before B. Chris slightly slapped his face. "Ri!"

"Hmm! Hm, hm, hm ,hmm!" B. Chris said angrily.

"...Ri ri ri ri riii!" B. Riolu defended himself.

"Hmm! Hmph!" B. Chris turned his head to another way but B. Riolu tried to apologize to him.

"Riiii! Riiii! Riiii!"

Apparently, B. Chris was mad at B. Riolu for hurting all the babies the previous occasions, and even when he bit B. Roy in the hand that day, B. Riolu said that he was trying to protect B. Chris from those "insensitive" jerks with parents.

"Hmm! Hmm!!!" B. Chris said angrily and B. Riolu gasped.

"R-ri!" B. Riolu's eyes widened, he didn't realize B. Chris had parents all along and looked down in shame. "...Riii..." B. Riolu covered his eyes with his small hands and began to sob silently.

"...Hmph..." B. Chris decided to sleep and see if B. Riolu could get to a conclusion of this problem by tomorrow morning.

Gritzy Caverns
Below the Koopa Dome

Area: The Cave

End of flashback

"Uuhhh...uhhh..." B. Chris was about to cry after they fell through the hole, but B. Riolu licked his face for all the time to calm him down.

"...We're...fine...huh?" Lucario was the first one to woke up from his unconscious state, he was very distracted during the fight that he wasn't able to avoid the fall, he looked to all the Smashers who were unconscious, except for the babies who managed to avoid the fall by their adult selves's backs. "...Babies?"

"Riii..." B. Riolu growled at Lucario who stood up and walked slowly to them. "Riiii."

"L-look, I want to apologize...it wasn't necessary to scare you in that fight...please..." Lucario kneeled to them. "...Forgive me...I promise that won't happen again..."

"...Riii..." B. Riolu looked to B. Chris, who hid his face in his mantel. "Ri ri ri, ri!"

"N-no!" Lucario looked at them with a shocked face.

"Ri ri ri ri ri, ri ri ri, ri!" B. Riolu said angrily, turning his back on him.

"I don't understand anything..." B. Meta Knight said as the babies walked to B. Riolu and B. Chris.

"Me neither." B. Zelda said.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Lucario said falling into the ground as he began to cry silently. "I-I tried everything to apologize to them...and...I can't...do it..."

"Look! Big doggy crying!" B. Mallow said pointing at Lucario who buried his face in his arms, sobbing.

"I'm...sad..." B. Fox said looking down.

"I feel sorry for Lucario...but he big meanie to us!" B. Wolf said.

"B-but Lucario wants to be forgived..." B. Pit said.

B. Chris heard Lucario's sobs and the baby uncovered his face and looked to the Aura Pokémon, his eyes got a sad expression...

...But wait!

W-what are those...curious...things on Lucario?

Those...those...those....

...Those...those pink spots on his feet...they look like they're begging to be rubbed and tickled...

"...Riiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" B. Chris said blinking surprised after he looked at Lucario's feet or more specifically, the pink spots on them. "Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!" B. Chris pointed at Lucario's feet and the babies looked at them.

"...Look! Pink spots!" B. Pit said blinking in surprise, Lucario wasn't able to hear them talking since he was still crying on his arms.

"You know what am I thinking?" B. Meta Knight asked moving his gloved hands a little.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Smile - Marta

"TICKLE TIME! HEHEHEHEHEH!!!" All the babies said giggling, moving their hands and fingers in unison as they all leaped to Lucario's feet and started to tickle his pink spots.

"...Uhhh...uhhh...uh...ha...haha...hahahaha..." Lucario started to laugh silently as the babies giggled and tickled his feet. "...Hahahahahaha....hahahahahah, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! S-STOP! IT TICKLES ME! P-PLEASE! STOP! I CAN'T LET THE OTHERS SEE M-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"...Who the hell...is making all that noise..." Wolf asked grunting as he opened his eyes and looked to the babies on Lucario's feet, tickling them non-stop as Lucario cried out with tears and slammed his fists in the ground (making long cracks on it thanks to his brute force). "...What?"

"...Shut up...let me sleep...mhmhmhmh..." Mallow groaned before he slowly opened his eyes, seeing the babies tickling Lucario, he rubbed his eyes and blinked in surprise. "B-babies!"

"Baby Luigi! Baby! Yeah!" B. Luigi said giggling as he continued to tickle Lucario's feet.

"Who's...laughing that loud?" Mario asked grogily, rising his head a little to see the babies tickling Lucario's feet. "...What?"

"Exactly." Wolf said nodding.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"...It's that Lucario...laughing?" Chris asked shaking his head before looking at his own Pokémon laughing like never before. "...Um...what is wrong with you?"

"T-THE BABIES!!! T-THEY...HELP ME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lucario pleaded for mercy.

"...Oh...god..." Chris couldn't help it but he chuckled at this.

"P-PLEASE! HELP ME! I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"...But why should I?"

"W-WHAT?! N-NO!"

"This could be the perfect punishment for making the babies cry for your useless anger! Hahahaha!" Chris said standing up with his hands on his hips.

"...You, my friend, have very necessary and funny punishments." Mallow said winking at Chris as he stood up.

It was no longer before the rest woke up by Lucario's laughs, once they saw him laughing out loud and tears were literally strolling down his eyes, the cracks on the ground by his fists were also part of the loudest sounds that make them wake up.

"This is...amusing..." Zelda said amused at this event, all the adults were standing around Lucario as the babies continued to tickle his feet.

"Lucario was the last person to laugh for me." Meta Knight said.

"Really? I think you were." Chris said chuckling a little.

"...Shouldn't we do something to help Lucario?" Luigi asked.

"Oh, please! This scene is pure gold!" Mallow said chuckling.

"Though he deserved this...punishment for what he did." Mario said.

"Alright guys, we had our moment to enjoy, now, let's do something about this." Fox said crossing his arms.

"You're no fun, you guys are no fun at all." Yoshi said a little ashamed.

"Ba-bies!" Luigi called out and the babies looked at the adults, many happy yells were heard as every baby reunited with their adult self, except for B. Riolu who carried B. Chris to Chris.

"Finally...they stopped..." Lucario said panting heavily as she stood up, looking down the cracks he made in the ground. "...I'm very embarrassed now..."

"And has to be the perfect apology I've seen before!" Chris said smiling to Lucario.

"...Wait, that was my punishment?!"

"The babies are perfect persons to choose appropiate punishments, right baby me?"

"Ri!" B. Chris said nodding happily as Lucario gasped at this and looked down to him.

"Y-you're not scared of me anymore?" Lucario asked worried.

"Hmm!" B. Chris shook his head giggling as a small tear ran down Lucario's cheek.

"...I'm..."

"So happy?" B. Zelda added asking.

"...Yes..."

"Well, everyone, do you think he already got enough?" Chris asked.

"Of course!" Yoshi and Mallow said.

"It's a shame this didn't last too long...but yes." Zelda said chuckling a little.

"The babies are very happy so I guess so." Mario said.

"I should've done something to stop them...but I was laughing." Pit said.

"Fine by me." Fox said.

"My opinion isn't all that important by now." Wolf said grinning a little.

"I must admit, he got enough." Meta Knight said.

"At least the babies had fun with it, so yes!" Luigi said as B. Luigi giggled.

"Well," Chris looked at Lucario. "I forgive you Lucario, and it seems B. Chris wants to stay with you again."

Lucario looked down to B. Riolu. "...You're not mad at me anymore?"

"Ri," B. Riolu closed his eyes with a happy expression. "Ri ri ri ri ri, ri ri ri."

"...What the-what do you mean you're not going to turn into a beast if you know how to control your anger?"

"Ri ri ri ri!" B. Riolu giggled as his tail wagged, then Lucario got surprised when B. Riolu got B. Chris closer to him. "Ri ri riiii."

"I-I can carry him again?"

"Ri!"

"...Thank you..." Lucario slowly placed B. Chris on his left arm and the baby wanted to say something to him. "...What is it?"

"Lucario! Lucario! Lucario!" B. Chris said happily as Lucario's eyes trembled a little.

"Y-you...you learned my name!"

"Lu-ca-ri-o! Lu-ca-ri-o! Lu-ca-ri-o! Heheheheh!" B. Chris repeated before Lucario pulled him closer to his face and he started to lick his face slowly. "Riiiii!!!"

"(Thank you....Lucario...)" Chris thought.

Area: The Cave

"Chris, I sense high concentrations of Shadow Bugs further inside this cave, it must be Bowyer guarding the fourth Star Spirit, there's also another Subspace Bomb close to that monster!" Kawashima said.

"Then we should move on and disable the bomb, rescue Muskular and defeat Bowyer once again!" Mallow said as B. Mallow nodded.

"But what will we do if he cancels our movements again with his weird magic?" Yoshi asked.

"It's an issue, he could cancel every move of ours whenever he wants to." Mario said.

"Yeah, special moves, jumps, basic attack, even using items!" Mallow explained.

"That could be a really pain in the as-" Wolf's mouth was blocked.

"Not in front of the babies!" Zelda said angrily as Wolf snarled below her hand.

"And the babies, don't forget them." Mario reminded them.

"W-what about Petey Pirahna? H-he could eat us completely!" Luigi said shaking.

Meta Knight started to walk ahead. "I suggest we should see and experience his attacks first before we come up with a strategy to beat Bowyer, and if things get harder, about that piranha as well." Meta Knight said.

"Umm..." B. Chris hid his face inside his mantle.

"Don't worry, I won't let those 2 lay a hand on you." Lucario said.

"Okay, it's good to see my old Lucario back, so, let's finish this before the night comes!" Chris said as everyone nodded and decided to walk further inside the cave.

"M-Mario, where do you think Peach is?" Luigi asked.

"Inside Petey's belly, we saw Petey swallowing her." Zelda said remembering.

"Oh no! If we don't hurry, Petey's stomach will digest her!" Mario said running up ahead.

"W-wait up! Who knows what's beyond!" Mallow said running.

"Exactly!"

Everyone stopped for a moment after hearing a familiar voice close to them, in a room where a pipe with sand was located. "Please, tell me she isn't here..." Wolf said frowning looking up the pipe.

"For your information, yes, she's here." Yoshi said looking up with everyone else.

High above them, there was Kylie Koopa again, but she was very angry for the fact that she was tied up, hanging above the same pipe with sand, she was struggling to get out and when she looked down below where the Smashers were looking to her, she tried even more.

"Hey! What's the big idea? Unhand me, you clods!" Kylie complained.

"Whoa, she's very mad at us this time." Mallow said as B. Mallow nodded.

"Who's mad at you? I'm not! I'm mad at those Shroobs fellas!" Kylie shook her head. "Ace timing, fellas! Boogie up here and cut me loose, will ya?! Bust me out or I'm a snack for sure!"

At that moment, Petey Pirahna sprouted out from the very same pipe roaring loudly at them, the Smashers quickly backed away from the plant who tried to swallow them completely.

"That thing is hungry for more?" B. Zelda asked.

"We need to defeat him!" Mario said.

"C'mon! We're pals, ain't we? I gave you the dirt on the secret entrance, didn't I?" Kylie asked angrily.

"Actually, Wolf kind of did..." Fox pointed out.

"B-but what about Petey?" Luigi asked.

"Save me first I say!" Kylie yelled as 2 Shroobs walked to each side of her, carrying purple axes to throw Kylie down in Petey. "Now it's your turn to be good eggs, or it's curtains for me! C'mon, hurry up!"

The babies were scared of Petey that they hid behind their adult selves back and trembled with fear.

"W-what should we do?!" Yoshi asked panicking.

"Let the girl be eaten, she's annoying." Wolf said as a record scratched.

"WOLF!" Mostly everyone yelled annoyed, then, the Shroobs sliced the rope tying Kylie to the roof and she fell right into Petey, screaming as she was swallowed inside him.

"YOOOIKS!" Kylie yelled as Petey roared at the Smashers and dug his way in the sand, disappearing in a cloud created by the sand as the Shroobs laughed at this and walked away.

"...Now what? We need to rescue Kylie too." Yoshi said looking at the sand.

"Well, w-" Chris was interrupted before all the babies (except B. Riolu and B. Chris) jumped into the sand and began to play on it. "B-babies!"

"Sand! Sand sand sand! Heheheh!" B. Pit said as he tried to build a sand castle.

"Wait, you shouldn't play there, what if the sand is quicksand?" Zelda asked.

"...Huh?" B. Mallow noticed something moving below the sand and he looked down to his feet, that were starting to enter the sand slowly. "U-UAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"I-it's quicksand! The babies are in danger!" Luigi said panicking.

"Riii!" B. Riolu jumped off from Chris's arms and he quickly ran above the sand, picking one baby at a time as he crossed the pipe, every baby was being taken out from the sand and sobbed a little before the adult self calmed him or her down, when he was done saving B. Zelda, he sighed in relief.

"Thank you!" B. Zelda said kissing him on the cheek before returning to Zelda.

"...Riii..." B. Riolu blushed a little as Chris picked him up.

"Riolu! You're the babies's hero!" Chris said raising him above.

"Ri?" B. Riolu looked at the babies behind the adults who were moving their hands up and down as they cheered to him.

"Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! Riiiii!" The babies cheered in unison imitating B. Riolu's speech.

"Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! Riiiii!" B. Chris also cheered and made B. Riolu blush in embarrassment.

"....Riiiii!!!" B. Riolu's tail wagged a lot as Chris hugged him close to his face.

"That's why I love babies..." Yoshi said sighing in relief.

"What a relief, I thought the babies were going to sink in the sand." Pit said as B. Pit nodded.

"...Riii..." B. Riolu muttered as the group decided to go further inside the cave, where he began to remember the next part of his past.

Flashback

The Hands Daycare Center
Babies's Room

Final Fantasy lX - An Unforgotten Face

"Hmm...hmm...hmm..."

"...Ri!"

"Hmm...hmm...hmm..."

"Ri! Ri! Ri!"

"...Hmm?" B. Chris shook his head and woke up grogily, the baby turned to B. Riolu who was shaking him a little. "Huh?"

"Ri ri ri ri..."

B. Chris blinked surprised. "Huh?"

"Ri ri ri!" B. Riolu nodded.

"Ah!" B. Chris nodded happily and B. Riolu carried him in his arms to the playground.

Playground

"N-no!" B. Link said gasping, alerting the babies that B. Riolu got outside, all the babies didn't move as B. Riolu stared at them, blinking normally as he held Chris in his arms.

"Hmm!" B. Chris pointed to B. Roy, who was with B. Marth and B. Meta Knight playing in the sand box.

"P-please! Don't hurt me again!" B. Roy pleaded hiding behind B. Marth who glared at B. Riolu with B. Meta Knight as the baby Pokémon walked to them slowly.

"Get away!" B. Meta Knight said angrily.

"No fights!" B. Marth said angrily.

"...Riii..." B. Riolu looked down disappointed.

"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm hmm hmm, hmm!" B. Chris said to them.

"What Chris saying?" B. DK asked.

"I dunno." B. Ike said.

"...Riii..." B. Riolu took out a red lollipop to B. Roy and looked at him as his face was still down, but his crimson eyes still looking at him. "Ri ri riiii..."

B. Roy stared at the lollipop, then he looked at B. Riolu. "T-that for me?"

"Riiii..." B. Riolu said nodding ashamed.

"Hmm... Riolu apologizing?" B. Marth asked.

"Uh-huh." B. Chris said.

"Ri ri ri ri ri riiii..." B. Riolu said closing his eyes as he hugged B. Chris in fear.

"Hmm..." B. Chris rubbed his head a little.

"..." B. Roy was still staring at the lollipop, he slowly reached the candy and took it quickly from B. Riolu. "...Riolu not mad anymore?"

"Riiiii..." B. Riolu nodded.

"A-ha! Heheheheh!" B. Chris giggled happily.

"...Hey! Riolu not angry anymore!" B. Ike said smiling a little.

"Can we play with Chris from now?" B. Kirby asked curiously.

"Riiii!" B. Riolu said nodding as his tail wagged.

"Hmm!" B. Chris pointed at B. Riolu.

"Riolu wants to be friend with us?" B. Falco asked.

"Uh-huh!" B. Chris said nodding.

002 - Putting Words Together

"Yippie! No more fights!" B. Roy said happily licking his lollipop as the babies cheered.

"We can play together again!" B. Zelda said to B. Chris who nodded giggling with her.

"Rii! Rii! Rii!" B. Riolu said wagging his tail.

"Who wants to play tag?" B. Kirby asked and every baby raised their hands cheering at this.

Master Hand's Office

"B-brother! Look!" Crazy Hand called his brother who floated to the window and looked outside in the playground. "T-the babies! They're playing with B. Riolu!"

"I can't believe it...B. Riolu opened himself to all of them..." Master Hand said trailing off. "...But why? Why did he open himself to them?"

"I dunno, but I was eavesdropping the babies as I've been doing lately and I think B. Chris had something to do with it."

"You were eavesdropping on th-" Master Hand shook himself. "Nevermind that...then B. Chris changed B. Riolu's ways?"

"Yup, look! B. Riolu has it! Oh man, B. Fox now's in trouble!" Crazy Hand said excited.

"...I think B. Chris has a special talent...the talent to make friends understand and resolve their differences with each other...that baby is going to be a very strong young man when he grows up..." Master Hand said as a faint (invisible) smile formed in him as the babies laughed, giggled and ran around the playground.

End of flashback

Gritzy Caverns
Below the Koopa Dome

"Riii..." B. Riolu leaned closer to Chris and decided to sleep without making any noise.

"Riolu? Riolu? Are you wake?" Chris asked but B. Riolu yawned a little before he fell asleep. "...What happened to you?"

"I think he just got tired, he hasn't taken his sleep time in a while." Zelda said before B. Zelda got tired as well and rested. "And that goes for all of them..."

"Dreamy...dreamy...huuuuuuhhh..." B. Pit's eyes slowly closed as he fell asleep on Pit's back, every single baby, except for B. Mario and B. Luigi, fell asleep.

"I don't blame them, they're just babies." Mallow said.

"So, what are you all going to do once we return the babies?" Yoshi asked. "I'm asking you this because this is the last time we'll go around carrying them, and some of you've grown fond of them."

"I'm going to miss B. Riolu," Chris said looking to B. Riolu. "I love to have Riolus close to me, but he needs to return...it's going to be sad."

"I'm gonna miss you, big me" B. Meta Knight said talking in his sleep.

"...I think I'm going to do the same thing." Meta Knight said.

"You will?"

"..." Meta Knight chuckled a little. "It was very interesting to find my baby self here in this world, but once we part ways, try to be..."

"Strong?"

"...Yes."

"And you," Zelda said looking over her shoulder to B. Zelda. "Rule Hyrule with loyalty and defend yourself from Ganondorf."

"...Yes..." B. Zelda said smiling a little.

"(And speaking of Ganondorf, I wonder what is Link doing right now...I hope he returns.)"

"I've got to say, my baby was as funny as I am right now!" Mallow said chuckling a little. "...But it's ironic that we met again, doesn't it?"

"I'm going to kill that hand..." Zelda muttered angrily because she hated Master Hand to do things behind her back, and to her.

"And what about you?"

"Me?" Fox asked. "Well...I'm happy for using my own baby self as a test to see if I'm ready to be fath-"

"No, just no, forget it." Chris said.

"W-what? Why?"

"You're pretty much good without a baby, trust me, you're not, and absolutely, NOT prepared yet to be a father."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Like I care, I'm ready."

"...Whatever," Wolf said frowning. "Heh, I, myself, didn't grow that much with this baby."

"...Huuuuhhh..." B. Wolf yawned a little.

"...But then again, he got what it takes to kill Fox's baby anytime." Wolf said grinning at Fox.

Yoshi sweatdropped at this. "...Have you ever thought before you have a creepy obsession with Fox all the time?"

"The old man is strange, leave him alone." Chris said moving his right hand.

"Strange? Me?! Kid, I'm not strange!"

"Okay, before this discussion keeps going on questioning your gend-"

Wolf aimed his Blaster at him. "Finish that word and you'll be finished as well."

"L-Lucario do something please!"

"I...don't want to be separated yet from him," Lucario said looking down to B. Chris, who moved his head to get comfortable in Lucario's arm. "I want to spend more time with him..."

"Aw, Lucario wobby aboubby libbly baby?" Mallow asked.

Lucario blushed slightly. "D-don't talk to me like that!"

"Shh, you're going to wake up the baby!"

"...Y-you're right..."

"HEEEEEEEELP!" Chris was being chased around by Wolf, trying to get Lucario's attention.

"Chris, shut up! You're going to wake up your baby self!" Lucario said.

"WHAT?!" Chris ducked in time by 2 blasts. "H-hey! Your baby is ganging up on me?!"

"At least we share something in common!" Wolf shouted as B. Wolf giggled and tried to shoot Chris.

"Everyone, stop!" Mario said as everybody stared at him.

Music stops

"W-why?" Yoshi asked.

"We're here, that's why." Mario said pointing at the big door before them.

"...Hey...why am I feeling we traveled the whole cave in little time?" Chris said stopping in his tracks.

"Because all of you kept talking about what would you do when your babies return to Master Hand." Luigi reminded them.

"...As how stupid this sounds, we were ignoring many things as we talked." Meta Knight said.

"Oh, well," Mallow tilted his head. "Then let's end this oddysey and rescue Muskular for Geno!"

"You 2, on the weird blue panel, now." Zelda said staring at the 4-person only blue panel in front of the door.

"...G-geez, you're demanding..." Luigi said as Mario, the babies and himself jumped above the button and the door began to tremble, after 5 seconds of trembling and the lock opening between the door, however, a small, invisible door opened in the right side of the door.

"...Okay, that, was completely, unnecessary." Yoshi said sweatdropping.

"Agreed." Fox said nodding in embarrassment before they all walked inside.

Petey Pirahna's Chamber

"You 2, hit the purple block, now." Zelda said pointing at the purple block floating in midair above a pipe with sand.

"S-stop being demanding for a chance!" Luigi complained before he went to hit the block by jumping below it, oddly enough, it just went even higher. "...What?"

"Umm...something is not right here..." Mario said looking around.

"(And Mario wins a Fort 2300!)" Chris thought as the crowd cheered inside his head. "...I don't like how this looks anymore..."

He was really right, the sand began to shook violently and from below Luigi and B. Luigi, Petey Pirahna pushed them out of the way and ate the ? Block, before spitting it out to the wall where it made a crack and disappeared upon the impact.

"U-UAAAHHH!!" B. Luigi woke up crying as Luigi tried desperately to calm him down.

"T-there he is!" Mallow said gasping as Petey Pirahna roared loudly, awakening all the babies in the process.

"Everyone! I sense the Subspace Bomb on the other side of that wall!" Kawashima said alarmed.

"And Petey just happens to be in the way..." Chris said blinking bored.

"And me too, nya!" Dark Bowyer appeared from the portal, just besides Petey.

"Great, the weirdo who speaks weirdly is here too." Mallow said.

"Nya nya nya!" Dark Bowyer laughed evily. "End this, I will! Here, your journey ends, idiots! Nya nya nya nya!"

Petey roared agreeding with him.

"I-I don't think so!" Chris said stomping forward. "I-I hate people who says that to me just to ruin my fun AND adventure!"

"I hate people who doesn't agree either, nya!" Dark Bowyer said spinning his eyes madly.

"...He didn't talk weird now." Mallow pointed out.

"...NYA!" Dark Bowyer stomped the sand. "HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATE YOU I DO, NYA!"

Petey roared furiously at this as his stomach grumbled, then he started to dance sideways.

"...Why is he...looking at the babies?" Yoshi asked worried, odd thing because of the fact that Petey didn't have eyes to begin with.

"...Because he wants to eat them alive!" Luigi said panicking as the babies blinked in unison, looked at each other and hid behind their adult selves, trembling.

"Now," Dark Bowyer took out 3 arrows from his skinny back as Petey jumped slightly to float in midair flapping his hands. "HERE, YOU DIE! NYA!"

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Boss Battle Theme

"DIE!" Dark Bowyer fired his 3 arrows to the sky and Petey flew high up doing several backflips before falling to the ground, looking away, the Smashers backstepped out of the way in different parts to avoid the arrows, but some of them got attack by 6 boulders that jumped out when Petey sunk in the ground with the impact.

"UGH!" Yoshi backed away when the boulder broke on him. "W-where's Petey?!"

"YUUH!" Petey called from underneath Yoshi swallowing him as he rose up from the ground, starting to munch Yoshi inside his mouth.

"OWW! OWW! HELP!"

"Don't worry, I'll help!" Mallow said running to Petey and preparing to use Star Rain. "Star Rai-"

"Y function, OFF!" Dark Bowyer yelled cancelling the "Y" function to everyone, a spring sound came from nowhere and indicated that the spell was in effect.

"Um...how do I do Star Rain again?" Mallow asked worried and confused to his baby self who yelled as Petey spat Yoshi out directly to them, slamming the Yoshi on both cloud princes. "H-hey! Watch it!"

"S-sorry...he bit me to no end..." Yoshi said moaning in pain.

"Er, I don't know how to use this, anyone care to tell me?" Meta Knight asked holding Galaxia with confusion.

"STATIC E, NYA!" Dark Bowyer called out some sort of data/electrical attack that scratched all the party severly.

"U-ugh, how did he use that?" Zelda asked panting a little.

"I don't know, but what I do know is he is going down!" Wolf said rushing towards Dark Bowyer his claws ready to slice him up.

"A function, OFF!" Dark Bowyer called out cancelling jumps and normal basic attacks as he laughed maniacally.

"W-what? H-how do I attack with my claws?" Wolf asked looking at his claws, confused before Dark Bowyer shot a barrage of 10 arrows straight to him. "U-UGH!"

"We should split up and pick our enemies!" Chris suggested.

"Right." Zelda said running to Petey and used Din's Fire together with her baby self, the flash of fire went straight to Petey's mouth, the plant thought it was a candy and he ate it, before an explosion happened in his mouth that he began to blow his tongue.

"Lucario! Use Aura Sphere on his mouth!"

"GUUUUUAAAAARGGH!!!" Lucario fired a charged Aura Sphere straight to Petey's mouth, another explosion impacted on Petey and the creature fell on his back, the pirahna tried to get up, struggling with his tiny feet.

"He's down, do an all-out attack or something!"

"I have a better idea!" Mario said taking out a Green Shell and put B. Mario on it before kicking the shell to Petey's head, the shell went back to Mario and he returned it as it spun back to Petey. "I-I won't handle this speed for much longer!"

"Then let me help!" Fox said rolling to Mario, replacing him with the kicks and the vulpine began to kick hard the shell back to Petey, although after 7 kicks the shell broke and B. Mario went soaring the air over Petey and landed just in Chris's arms.

"Yay! Yay! Yeah!" B. Mario said moving his hands up and down.

"Aw, you're so cute when you're near!" Chris said hugging B. Mario with B. Riolu.

"YUCK!" Petey roared angrily and managed to get back on feet, slapping his face with his hands before looking at the Smashers. "BLUARGH!"

"...EWW!" Zelda squealed as Petey puked on Fox and B. Fox, covering them in a sticky, brown mud that they had to close their eyes.

"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Fox said as he wiped out the vomit on his eyes.

"Second time?" B. Fox asked embarrassed.

"Second time." Fox said nodding disgusted as he tried to move around, but slipped in the mud and fell on his face. "...This is just not my day...AGAIN." Fox muttered on the ground.

"LOOK OUT!" Luigi yelled as Petey jumped in the air and tried to crush Pit and B. Pit, but the 2 rolled out of the way in time and evaded Petey's weight.

"BLUARGH! BLUARGH! BLUARGH!" Petey began to puke all around him and goody mud covered most of the ground.

"Great, now we have to watch out not to slip and for that weirdo." Mallow said annoyed.

"Weirdo?! WEIRDO?! HATE YOU SO MUCH I DO, BOLT, NYA!" Dark Bowyer called out a fast but small lightning that crossed Mallow for a second before disappearing.

"YEOW! D-do you know how much I hate that attack?!" Mallow complained rubbing his head.

"I do of course! The times you cried out in pain I still remember, nya nya nya!"

"T-then stop it! Star Rain!"

"Sta Ra!" B. Mallow called out.

"Y-you wait! C-cancelled the B button I haven't-NYAAAA!!" Dark Bowyer yelled out as 2 big Starmans began to bounce 14 times each above him before mentioned attacks bounced off disappearing as Dark Bowyer raised his hand twitching in pain from the small crater he was. "...Hate babies...I do...nya..."

"Oh? That's all?" Mallow asked tilting his head with his baby self who giggled.

"...NO! ELECTRIC ORB!" Dark Bowyer's twitching hand fired an orb of electricity and it went crashing in both characters who were trapped in a rising wave of electricity, who cried out in pain and Mallow fell to his knees panting.

"...I guess...you're stronger this time..."

"Eldstar! Please come o-" Chris was interrupted as Dark Bowyer snapped his fingers, cancelling the "Y" button. "N-no! How do I call Eldstar out?!" Chris asked to B. Riolu who just blinked confused.

"....RiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIiiiiii..." B. Riolu said.

"...Apart that from being very cute, that didn't help."

"Ri." B. Riolu looked down.

"Aw, thank you at least for trying."

"Ri!"

"Yes, I know, hug me you little Ema-"

"RI!" B. Riolu pointed behind Chris.

"Wha-" Chris was suddenly attacked by 3 boulders that hit his back several times, making him back away in pain. "Ugh!... Now...you're so dead...stupid plant!" Chris said furiously slamming Tokunaga in the muddy ground and it grew up. "Go and attack that thing!"

Unfortunately, Tokunaga tried to run to Petey, but it slipped and fell on its back thanks to the mud, making B. Riolu giggled at this.

"Does somebody know how to get rid of the mud?" Zelda asked watching her steps.

"Unless we had something to wipe it out...is there any broom here?" Yoshi asked throwing several eggs to Dark Bowyer who kept shooting them down with his arrows.

"Or water?" B. Zelda asked.

"UA-OWW!" Luigi tripped in the mud and his baby self was so against him since he was laughing out loud. "W-why do you keep laughing at me?!" Luigi asked to his baby self who just pointed at him in amusement. "Noooooo-ho-ho-hooooo!!"

"Anything to make this vomit disappear would be good!" Wolf complained trying to shoot Petey, who slid through the vomit and slammed his head right into him, the lupine was about to crash into a wall but he managed to put his feet on the wall in time and jump back to safe ground.

"...Wait...Petey just sled in the vomit so...I got it!" Chris said snapping his fingers. "We'll slide around the vomit and attack while we're at it!"

"Like in the parties Luigi!" Mario said.

"Y-yes...like in the parties..." Luigi muttered in the mud.

"...Lucario, get Luigi." Chris said sweatdropping.

"Alright." Lucario nodded and jumped straight to Luigi (evading the arrows that Dark Bowyer tried to shoot him), he took Luigi's hand and pulled him back to feet.

"...UAH!" Luigi got scared once he stared at Lucario's eyes that made him back away to the wall as he sled.

"Can we just attack now?" Chris asked complaining.

"We can't, that monster blocked our attacks with those buttons!" Pit said, barely dodging Petey's vomit once again by flying a little in the air.

"X button, OFF!" Dark Bowyer cancelled the options to use items, and as an extra, block Chris's change of jobs.

"You're dead now! O twisted door of distortion, open wide!" Chris casted spinning his staff.

"Hmm!" B. Chris took out a small staff from his mantle and started to move it above him.

"Negative Gate!" Both characters pinted at Petey Pirahna and 2 gates of darkness appeared at the same time, dealing a great and large amount of damage to Petey who twitched in pain constantly.

"BLUARGH!" Petey said angrily as he quickly dug with his hands and disappeared below the ground.

"Be careful, he may sprout out below us at the worst moment to bite us to death!" Yoshi said jumping in the air to evade being bitten by Petey.

"Lucario, use your aura to spot him!" Chris ordered.

"Hmm..." Lucario glowed and examined the ground. "...Pit! He is going after you!"

"T-thanks!" Pit said nodding and rolled out of the way (getting covered in the mud) as Petey sprout out closing his fangs and glared at Pit for evading his attack that he quickly returned to the earth.

"Keep going Lucario!" Chris said as he casted Limited with his baby self.

"...Meta Knight!" Lucario yelled.

"Oh no, don't you? Nya? A button, OFF!" Dark Bowyer snapped his fingers cancelling the function to jump and do basic attacks.

"U-ugh, I can't jump...we need to defeat him!" Meta Knight before Petey sprouted out from the earth and ate him along with his baby self, biting them down as B. Meta Knight screamed inside his mouth.

"Somebody...save them!" Mallow said as he evaded Bolt from Dark Bowyer.

"I'm on it." Zelda said using Din's Fire, again, with B. Zelda to explode the flash in Petey, but the plant didn't stagger that much and kept munching both knights inside his mouth.

"Tokunaga! Use Surge Breaker with a slide effect!" Chris told Tokunaga who nodded its head and rushed to Petey, calling a thunder from above him and Tokunaga spun his right arm which glowed brightly as he slid to the plant and collided its fist right into his stomach, making Petey cough out both knights who struggled to get up.

"T-thank you..." B. Meta Knight said weakly.

"M-Meta Knight, are you feeling okay?"

"That creature almost takes me out...but I should be fine if I can evade his attacks." Meta Knight said taking out Galaxia to use Drill Rush on Petey's forehead, the plant screamed out in pain as Meta Knight landed back on the mud.

"He's hiding inside the earth again!" Mario said as Petey quickly hid inside, but some seconds later, his head sprout out and the earth began to shake.

"W-what now?!" Luigi asked panicking before he felt his feet sinking in the earth. "OH NO!"

"Q-quick! We need to jump to get out!" Fox yelled trying to jump from the sand, but unfortunately the effect of Dark Bowyer's magic was still on. "G-GRR! He's keeping us in!"

"NYA NYA NYA! AND FOR THE FINALE, ARROW RAIN!" Dark Bowyer shot a shining arrow to the roof before it exploded into dozens and dozens of orange glowing arrows that damaged the entire party severly, even the babies screamed in pain and held back their tears.

"GUUUUUAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Lucario got furious once an arrow touched B. Chris's face and launched a rapid Aura Sphere on Dark Bowyer, collinding with his skinny body and into the wall where he moaned in pain.

"...Angry...must you...be?"

"BLUARGH!" Petey prepared to bite them all as the quicksand pulled them closer and closer to his mouth as the babies screamed.

"We have to do something before we enter his mouth!" Yoshi said.

"Throw anything inside him!" Zelda yelled casting Din's Fire (again with B. Zelda) continuously to Petey's mouth as Yoshi tried to threw eggs inside as well, however, Petey struggled to resist the attack as they were getting near him.

"Ha! Ya! Ha! Ya!" Pit fired arrow after arrow together with his baby self into Petey, the arrows were at least staggering Petey who grunted in rage, however, it only made things worse and Petey accelerated the effect of his attack and pulled them all inside his mouth as the quicksand turned back into normal earth, we could say the mud was gone since it entered his mouth.

"OWW! OWW! OWW! OUCH! OWW! OWW OWW!" Many yelled inside Petey's stuffed mouth as he bit at all of them before spitting them out to various parts of the chamber, crashing into the walls and falling to the ground, panting heavily.

"...H-help..." Yoshi moaned trying to get up.

"Eldstar! Come on out!" Chris prayed to the stars and Eldstar appeared spinning above Yoshi.

"Oh god...fine, but be more careful." Eldstar said feeling sorry for the Smashers before spinning around Yoshi and recovering his health by a half as he vanished.

"T-thanks Chris..." Yoshi said as he stood up, shaking his head and glaring at Petey and Dark Bowyer who laughed in unison at them.

"B funtion, OFF!" Dark Bowyer cancelled defensive moves in that moment.

"Professor, it's the Over Limit gauge...ready?" Chris asked panting a little.

"No! You need to hit them more times!" Kawashima replied.

"Yay!" B. Mario took out something from his back and Mario looked at it.

"T-that's a Trampoline? W-where did you get that?" Mario asked as B. Mario gave him the item.

"Heheheheh!" B. Mario just giggled as a response before Mario threw the Trampoline in front of him, which instantly grew a little. "Luigi! Jump on it!" Mario said as he jumped separately with B. Mario to the Trampoline and high up in the darkness of the roof.

"W-wait for me!" Luigi said jumping on the Trampoline along with B. Luigi as they also disappeared.

"Where they are now?! Nya?!" Dark Bowyer asked looking above before B. Luigi stomped on his face, backflipped to the Trampoline and jumped high above again. "N-NYA! SO MUCH THAT HURTS, IDIOT-OWW!" B. Mario came stomping on his face, jumped back to the Trampoline and disappeared.

"YIUCK!" Petey was then stomped by Mario, then Luigi, then B. Mario stomped on Dark Bowyer again as B. Luigi stomped on Petey.

"Wait, both of them are very far away from each other..." Pit said wondering as he glanced at the Trampoline.

"Maybe..." Zelda wondered before all their babies (except B. Chris for obvious reasons) giggled, jumped off their backs and jumped into the Trampoline, pushing them high above where they joined to frenzy of stomps together with the brothers at a moderate speed that kept growing overtime.

"I've got it! Let's join 'em!" Mallow said jumping in the Trampoline as he disappeared in the roof's darkness, he later came stomping on Dark Bowyer before backflipping to the Trampoline and joined the stomp frenzy.

"...Fine fine, I'm going now," Wolf frowned. "...Such ridiculous way to get rid of them..." Wolf muttered as everybody jumped in the Trampoline.

"OWW! OOF! OWW! OUCH! OUCH! OOF! OWW! NYA! OUCH!" Dark Bowyer yelled in great pain as every single character kept stomping his face continuously in the insane speed that each one of them were falling, both Dark Bowyer and Petey Pirahna were being damage continuously and their healths were dropping greatly. "DO SOMETHING YOU, NYA!"

"YIUCK!" Petey struggled to get out and shot a small muddy goo to the Trampoline, the item went away and vanished as everybody landed back in the ground, somewhat dizzied but recovered their selfs once they shook their heads.

"Psychopath!" Mallow called out shining a spotlight on Dark Bowyer. "...Hmm...his health is still big, but we got half of it down!"

"Sykopa!" B. Mallow called out shining another spotlight in Petey Pirahna. "...Too! Too! Too!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright! We're doing progress now!"

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Kawashima said.

"The tables are...turning up for our favor." Meta Knight said.

"Meta Knight, think you can defeat them with one blow as you did with that Shroob?" Mallow asked.

"...I don't think so, I managed to kill that alien with one hit because the Shadow Bugs not only boosted its strange, but it boosted the tooth decay it had that made him weaker to my own Final Smash." Meta Knight explained.

"...Is tooth decay that bad?"

"Apparently so."

Leaving Meta Knight's knowledge aside and the fact that those monsters didn't have tooth decays (much for Chris's funny dismay), the group noticed Dark Bowyer firing another shining arrow that turned into a rain of orange arrows that spreaded quickly around the room, damaging all of them.

"No!" B. Wolf climbed Wolf's head a little and used his own Reflector to return some arrows to Dark Bowyer, who got surprised and attacked at the same time.

"Heh, good work." Wolf said.

"Yippie!" B. Wolf wagged his tail a little.

"I think it's time for you to use your Final Smash, Wolf!" Chris called as Petey ducked to bite him, but Lucario stepped in the way and used his hands to maintain Petey's mouth open and prevent Chris and B. Riolu (B Chris too because Lucario gave him to Chris quickly). "T-thank you Lucario!"

"Lu-ca-ri-o! Riii!" B. Chris and B. Riolu said giggling.

"You, get off me, this is something you shouldn't take part of yet." Wolf ordered his baby who got depressed but nodded, jumping off his back and running to Zelda. "...Yeah, go with the one who's supporting your back."

"SHUT UP AND USE YOUR FINAL SMASH ALREADY!" Chris yelled as he ran away from a shower of arrows from Dark Bowyer, trying to protect both babies too as the monster kept firing arrows to the air and try to land them of the Smashers.

Wolf rolled his eye before he put his right hand in front of his face and closed his eye. "Time to get gone," He opened his eye with a glare. "And out of my sight!" Wolf said making a motion in front of him like if he wanted to slice someone with same claw before an explosion took place on him and a rainbow aura covered his body, then he rushed towards Petey evading the arrows that Dark Bowyer tried to hit on him.

"X button, OFF!" Dark Bowyer snapped his fingers to block items and Chris's change of jobs usage as he focused his aiming at Wolf.

"Guard him! O twisted door of distortion, open wide!... Here comes a new spell!" Chris said shining for a moment before using a new spell he learned. "Bloody Howling!"

A stream of darkness sprouted below Petey and waves of negative thoughts and dark pulses pushed him into air as he was being constantly damaged by the new attack Chris casted on him.

"That was effective." Zelda said.

"Then let me use it again! "O hellion whose roar chills the very soul, resound!"

"UAAAAAAHHHH!!!" B. Chris screamed once he saw more arrows coming their way and hid inside his mantle, whimpering in fear.

"RiiiiiiIIIIIII!!!" B. Riolu got furious and used his steel plates on his arms to protect his trainer, the arrows made some pain in B. Riolu but he managed to block the arrows in time as Chris was able to finish his chant.

"Bloody Howling!" Chris called forth another stream of negative waves below Petey who was still being stopped by Lucario's brute force, once the Aura Pokémon saw Wolf almost close to Petey, he quickly backstepped out of the way doing 2 backflips, standing right besides Chris when he stopped.

"We're gonna have fun with this thing..." Wolf said dealing a strong uppercut in Petey's chin as he disappeared in the darkness of the roof before a huge, red Landmaster crushed Petey an-

Music stops

"WAIT! STOP!" The scene suddenly freezes like an old movie and Fox appeared by standing up and staring with an angry expression to Wolf's Landmaster. "What the hell is the meaning of this?! When can he use a Landmaster?!"

"Fox, Fox, Fox," Wolf appeared in the other side of the screen, with crossed arms, eye closed, and grinning too as he chuckled (much for Fox's annoyance since he grunted at him). "Your team isn't that hard to hijack."

"Hijack? Wait, were you the one who stole the Landmaster's blueprints from Peppy then?!"

"Affirmative, that wasn't part of my original plan to sabbotage the Great Fox, but hey," Wolf smirked at him as he opened his eye. "I had to admit, using your own technology against you is a dream coming true."

"You mean is a nightmare coming true to me."

"Have you gotten any sense of awareness, Fox?"

"I hate to interrupt the subject," Chris appeared upside down above them and they looked at him. "But right now, we have a fight to watc-I mean, end, so stop talking between sce-I mean, fights, please!"

Fox rolled his eyes with annoyance. "Tsk, fine, whatever, I'm going to let you go for this time, Wolf."

"You mean, Star Wolf." Chris pointed out chuckling.

"Chris, shut up." Fox said closing his eyes, gritting his fangs.

"Alright, alright, get on with the scene." Wolf said walking away as Chris glared at him.

"THIS IS NOT A SCENE!" Chris yelled. "Anyway, get off the reader's screen, they want a match to end, Fox."

"...Fine, as long as there is nobody else using a Landmaster, and probably NEVER, EVER used one before, it's alright with me." Fox said giving a small smile to Chris with a nod.

"..." Chris sweatdropped upside down. "...Er...you're really going to kill Falco..."

"Excuse me? What was that you just muttered?"

"GET ON WITH THE SCENE, MIKE!" Chris yelled before we returned to the scene of the fight.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Boss Battle Theme

Wolf's Landmaster landed just above Petey and the plant tried to get off, but the weight of the tank was just too much and it began to whimper in pain as Dark Bowyer gulped when the cannon was aimed directly at him.

With a cannon ready to open fire, the bow-like enemy gulped and wanted to say something before it could fire at him.

"...Oh, shi-"

And huge red blasts began to fire out the tank in quick succession.

"NYAAAA! NYAAAAAA! NYAAAAAAAA! NYAAAAAAAAA!!!" Dark Bowyer yelled in great pain as Wolf kept firing at him, inside, if somebody could see him, he was enjoying it since he was smirking, pressing the button again and again and again.

Chris noticed B. Wolf saying "Bang! Bang! Bang!" and even imitated the shots using his Blaster, not only that, B. Fox liked the attack as he did the same, but Fox? He wasn't all that hyped up. "...Fox?"

Fox's fists tightened as he closed his eyes with an angry expression. "...Don't...kill...him..." Fox muttered with gritted teeth as he panted heavily.

"...Kill Wolf?"

"He...stole...the blueprints..."

"Blueprints?"

"...Shut...up...Chris..."

B. Fox merely wagged his tail with a happy expression, contrary to his adult self who was utterly annoyed or pissed off or a combination of the 2.

"...Er...go and help him!" Chris said looking to his baby self. "Now, are you ready?"

"Uh-huh!" B. Chris said nodding happily.

"Ri!" B. Riolu nodded wagging his tail.

"Wait, Lucario!" Chris called Lucario who jumped next to him.

"Yes?" Lucario asked.

"You should carry your baby self too, leave mine with me." Chris gave B. Riolu to Lucario who quickly went to his back.

"B-but..."

Chris sighed as Wolf was still firing at Dark Bowyer. "Look, I know you like my baby self, but sooner or later, you'll have to let him and B. Riolu go away, besides, he's going to be alright with me, trust me in this one, Lucario."

"Riii..." B. Riolu said as Mario evaded some gunk shots from Petey while Sheik (because Zelda transformed into her) fired rapid kunais to the backside of his head.

"...I understand..." Lucario said unsure.

"Then go and attack Petey!" Chris said before he and B. Chris started to spin their staffs above them to cast another spell as Lucario ran to Petey to slam a strong Force Palm on his stomach, B. Riolu peered from his back and used another Force Palm that was a weaker. "O hellion whose roar chills the very soul, resound!"

"Now you're gone." Wolf said pressing a button inside his Landmaster and fired a red long beam to Dark Bowyer who screamed in extreme pain as he fell to his small knee, Wolf jumped out from his Landmaster that disappeared digitally as he grinned a little.

"That was wonderful! I used Psychopath on him to see how much health he has now and it's just a few more to defeat him once and for all!" Mallow said. "On a side note, he asked "What's up with these folks?"

"Nya..." Dark Bowyer gritted his teeth as he stood up slowly. "Irritable all of you are...the end however is now, nya! B button, OFF!" Dark Bowyer said furiously cancelling special attacks to all the party as he glared at them. "Double Arrow Rain!"

Luigi gasped as 2 shining arrows were about to reach high up and split into even more arrows. "W-WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING OR WE'RE DEAD!"

"Wait a minute, it's a projectile attack, why don't we return them back?" Sheik asked.

"If only I could reach that high and use my Reflector, I could use it to reflect all of them at once." Fox said.

"Me! Me! Me!" B. Fox said waving his hands.

"Calm down, let me thin-" A light bulb appeared above Fox (that B. Fox quickly destroyed with his Blaster) and he looked at B. Fox. "Wait, that's what you were trying to tell, correct?"

"Affirmative sir!" B. Fox said giggling and saluting.

"Alright then, are you ready?"

"Uh-huh!" B. Fox nodded as Fox double-jumped in the air as quickly as he could.

"NOW!" Fox took his baby self and threw him high up in the way of the 2 shining arrows, the baby giggled and used his own Reflector that returned the rain of multiple arrows to Dark Bowyer who gasped in shock.

"N-NO! NYA!" Dark Bowyer said backing away. "(Unless though...)"

"W-where are you going?!" Lucario asked furiously to Petey as the plant resisted the blows that Shiek kept doing on him and the plant ran towards Dark Bowyer and shielded him from his own flurry of arrows, Petey screamed in extreme pain as the arrows hit every part of his body before he fell to his rather small knees and fainted on the scene, while Dark Bowyer chuckled evily.

"What in the-he used his own ally as a shield?!" Mario asked shocked.

"Helpful servants they are, great shields for protecting myself too, nya nya nya nya!" Dark Bowyer said laughing maniacally as he kicked Petey's face.

"You're sick." Sheik said.

"What you want call me, it matters not! STATIC E!" Dark Bowyer called out a fast electric attack that damaged the entire party once again. "ARROW RAIN!" Dark Bowyer fired his shining arrow as they were still being damaged by the electric spell and yelled in pain. "BOLT! BOLT! BOLT! MORE BOLTS! NYA NYA NYA NYA!"

Every single one of them were struck down by multiple bolt attacks, the adults tried to save the babies from getting hurt but it was impossible to do so. "I can't...go on anymore..." Yoshi said panting.

"He unleashed...a flurry of magic attacks..." Lucario said dropping to one knee.

"And he's acting so wicked all of...a sudden..." Mallow said panting. "I don't think...I can't hold on any longer guys..."

"Can you cast...your healing spells?" Pit asked breathing heavily.

"I'm extremely tired...and damaged...what about you?" Mallow asked to his baby self who was trying to catch his breath. "...Not good..."

"NOW, YOU DIE IT'S THE TIME! NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA!!!" Dark Bowyer yelled maniacally as he fired more arrows to the darkness of the chamber and showered down on all of them who tried to evade them, however, something wrong was happening...

"UGH!" Sheik got struck by an arrow on her head and she suddenly stopped moving.

"...Hello? Zelda? Hello?!" B. Zelda waved a hand in front of her face but she didn't respond back to her.

"Wait...where did I see this...before?" Mario asked before an arrow struck down his head and he became immobile, without blinking.

"MARIO!" Luigi yelled running to Mario as the babies tried to move the red plumber, but he didn't even move. "NO! MARIO! MARIO!"

"LUIGI! LOOK OUT ABOVE!" Pit yelled before an arrow struck Luigi's head as he became immobile. "N-no...you sick bastard!" Pit aimed his arrow at Dark Bowyer and fired it to him, but Dark Bowyer took the arrow on his right hand and vanished it. "W-What?!"

"NEXT YOU ARE, BRIEFS BOY, NYA NYA!" Dark Bowyer laughed maniacally firing a fast arrow straight to Pit's forehead at a fast speed, Pit's eyes widened before the arrow got stuck in his forehead as he also became immobile.

"ME! ME! ME! ME!" B. Pit tried to get Pit back to his senses, but it was useless. "...Me...uhhh...uhhh..."

"OUT YOU WILL GET! NYA!"

"Hu-" B. Pit looked at Dark Bowyer before an arrow became stuck on his head as well and lost his control as Pit.

"H-hey! The babies are...out of this, don't...target them!" Chris said angrily as he breathed heavily.

"Oh?! Yes, to attack you Tabbu ordered me, nya!" Dark Bowyer said preparing to shoot an arrow to Chris.

"L-LUCARIO!" Chris yelled as the arrow was coming right to him, and since his gained many injuries, he couldn't move around to evade the hit. "W-WAIT! DON'T DO I-"

"UGH!" Fox came using his illusion attack and got the hit right on his forehead, his pupils shrunk before the arrow managed to hit him and he became an immobile statue in front of Chris as B. Fox tried to wake him up.

"NO! NO NO NO!" B. Fox said about to break out in tears and tried desperately to get his adult self back to his senses, however, the baby vulpine screamed once he saw another arrow directed at him.

"FOX!" B. Wolf jupmed in the way of the arrow and sacrificed himself to save B. Fox that he became immobile as well.

"We're just...a few left now..." Meta Knight right before another arrow struck his head.

"NOT YOU!" B. Meta Knight said astonished and tried to do the same action to wake Meta Knight up, but as soon as he turned his back, an arrow got stuck on the same place and the small knight lost his consciousness.

"We're just...me...Chris...his baby self...Yoshi, Mallow, his own baby self...B. Mario, B. Luigi...Wolf...B. Fox...and B. Zelda." Lucario said.

"Ri?" B. Riolu asked.

"And you too..."

"Grr, how are we going to...defeat him in this state?" Wolf asked grunting in pain.

"EASY, FIRST YOU ALL! NYA! NYA NYA NYA NYA!" Dark Bowyer laughed maniacally once again as he shot a flurry of paralyzing arrows to everyone except Lucario, B. Chris, Chris, B. Riolu, Mallow and B. Luigi. "THERE! MANY PESTS THERE ARE NOT LEFT! NYA!"

"This doesn't look good...anymore..." Chris said panting as B. Chris tried to cheer him up.

"Oh, right, to kill you especially Tabbu ordered me, nya! Die you should, despicable World Traveler! Nya!"

"Grrrrr...don't mock Chris!" Lucario said furiously.

"MOCKING?! ME?!" Dark Bowyer took out a shining arrow designed especially to deal a one-hit KO. "WHAT HAPPENS LET'S SEE, WHEN THIS ARROW IS SHOT AT HIS HEART! SHOULD I SAY, HEARTS IN THIS CASE?! NYA?!"

Mallow gasped a little with everyone else. "Y-you couldn't do it!"

"THAT WICKED I AM, CLOUDY CLOUD!"

"C-Chris! Hurry and get...out of here!"

"I-I can't! I'm so...tired to run..." Chris said struggling to run away, but once again the damage that he currently had was just too much for him.

"UUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" B. Chris cried out loud as B. Riolu growled silently at this together with his adult self.

"DIE! WORTHLESS KID!" Dark Bowyer yelled laughing maniacally aiming directly at Chris's chest together with his baby self and fired his arrow at full speed before the inevitable happened...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" Both World Travelers screamed out in pain as everyone's pupils shrunk in shock before Chris lost his balance and fell to the ground, where his eyes started to fill with tears as he held his baby self moaning a little.

"CHRIS!" Lucario and Mallow yelled out worried as they ran to him.

"RIIIIIIIIIII!!!" B. Riolu broke in tears once B. Chris was crying silently, B. Luigi ran to him and tried to speak with B. Chris, but unfortunately, it made B. Chris to giggled silently as B. Riolu licked his tears.

"...It's my fault Lucario..." Chris muttered.

"...What?" Lucario asked trying to stop his tears.

"It's my fault...B. Chris got hurt..."

"I-it wasn't...it wasn't!"

"...Lucario...we...need you...forgive us..."

"...Chris...I...should be the one...apologizing..."

"Chris! Please! Hang on! I'm...going to use HP Rai-" Mallow was suddenly interrupted as another arrow fell on his head, becoming immobile as his baby self on his back.

"No! No! Mamaaaaaaa!!!" B. Luigi cried out scared after seeing many of the adults not able to move anymore.

"NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA!!!" Dark Bowyer laughed at them. "FINALLY! DONE IS MY MISSION HERE! IS THAT HOW?! NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA!!!"

"Riiiii... Riiiiiii... Ri-ri-ri, ri riiiii..." B. Riolu closed his teary eyes and leaned his cheek close to his trainer's cheek as he remembered the day when he decided to be his Pokémon.

The Hands Daycare Center
Hallway

002 - Putting Words Together

"RI!" B. Riolu bumped into Crazy Hand, who was carrying a box of Poke Balls that rolled out in the floor.

"Oww! Sorry little baby!" Crazy Hand said picking up the Poke Balls, but with curiosity, B. Riolu picked up one and stared at it with B. Chris.

"Ri?"

"Huh?" Crazy Hand looked down to the babies and laughed a little. "Oh, that's a Poke Ball! It's currently empty, it's used to catch Pokémon like you Riolu! If someone were to catch you if they throw that Poke Ball to you, then you could be captured and be trained by the person who catched you!"

"...Riii..." B. Riolu looked at B. Chris who blinked in confusion.

"...You want to keep it?"

"Ri!" B. Riolu nodded.

"Okay, this is the deal, you can keep it but don't tell Master Hand or else he'll punish me! Understand little rascal?"

"Riii!"

"Fine! Have a nice day you 2!" Crazy Hand said floating away, humming happily as the babies stared at the Poke Ball.

Babies's Room

That night...

"Huh?" B. Chris tilted his head when B. Riolu put the Poke Ball right next to him, the Emanation Pokémon pointed at himself as his tail wagged. "Huh?"

"Rii! Ri ri ri!" B. Riolu nodded excited.

"...Hmm..."

"...Ri ri ri ri, ri ri ri ri riiii..." B. Riolu said looking down.

Apparently, B. Riolu decided to become B. Chris's Pokémon, the baby Pokémon decided that B. Chris needed someone to have fun since B. Chris hated other Pokémon (except the ones in the daycare), and it seemed that since B. Riolu was always happy to carry B. Chris around, he thought it was a good idea to be his first Pokémon.

"Ri ri ri?" B. Riolu asked waiting for an answer.

"...Hmmmm..." B. Chris began to thought, but some seconds later, B. Riolu started to sob silently and embraced himself. "Huh?"

And just for this time, we're going to translate what was B. Riolu saying.

"(Please...I want to go with you out of here...I don't want to stay alone...what if you go away from here and never return?... I don't want that... Your aura...is so kind and calm...I like it so much...and you're so happy all the time...it makes me very happy too...)" B. Riolu said sadly.

"...Hm..."

"(N-no! Don't leave me here! I beg of you! I'm alone! All alone! I don't want to be alone anymore!)" B. Riolu's tears began to stroll down his cheeks. "(I want to be...your Pokémon...I want a new family...I want to see if trainers are good and not bad as the ones who...hunted my parents...please...)"

"..."

"(I-I won't hurt anybody else here! I promise!)"

"...Ri?"

"(Huh?!)" B. Riolu looked to B. Chris who spoke using his own language.

"Ri ri ri ri! Heheheheheh!" B. Chris said giggling happily.

"(T-then?!)"

"Ri!" B. Chris took the Poke Ball and threw it directly to B. Riolu's forehead, when it made contact, B. Riolu was engulfed in a red aura before he entered the Poke Ball that shook several times in the pillow before it stopped, B. Chris slowly reached the ball and looked at it with curiosity, then, seeing the button of the middle, he pressed it and a very happy Pokémon came out wagging his tail.

"(Master! Master! Master!) Riii!!" B. Riolu said hugging his new trainer, however, he heard a small grunt of annoyance from him. "... (You don't want to be called Master?)"

"Hmph!" B. Chris looked away angrily.

"Riiiiiii!!!" B. Riolu cried out loud (waking up some babies) before B. Chris turned to him and leaned his head close to his chest. "...Riii..." B. Riolu blushed a little as B. Chris giggled.

"Huuuuuuuuuhhhhh..." B. Chris fell asleep on B. Riolu and the baby Pokémon licked his forehead happily.

"(Thank you...Chris...)"

Ever since that day an onward, B. Riolu didn't have someone in the world...

...But at least, there was someone who needed him to have fun with.

Living Room

The next morning...

"God, I can't believe this is all happening in the Mushroom Kingdom." Master Hand said as he, along with all the babies who were eating breakfast and Crazy Hand, watched the TV about some news showing the Mushroom Kingdom being invaded by the Shroobs.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm..." B. Chris got an angry expression once he saw the creatures and B. Riolu looked at him.

"Ri?"

"Hmm!"

B. Riolu looked at the hands a little worried before looking at him. "...Ri?"

"Ri!"

"...Ri." B. Riolu nodded.

Hallway

That night...

"...Ri, ri ri ri." B. Riolu muttered as he carried B. Chris to the door to the Mushroom Kingdom, both decided to sneak and escape to make an effort to save the kingdom of the Toads, because B. Chris hated to see others suffering that he told B. Riolu to sneak and escape from the daycare at night.

However, they were being followed by 7 other babies...

"Riiii..." B. Riolu growled at the darkness before B. Chris slapped his cheek a little to calm him down. "Ri!"

"Where Riolu going?" B. Mallow, the most recent baby of the daycare as B. Pit, asked curiously as the same babies from before revealed themselves.

"Hmm! Ahahaha!" B. Chris got happy once he saw them.

"Ri ri ri ri!" B. Riolu opposed to the idea.

"Hmph!"

"...Riii..."

"Can we...go?" B. Zelda asked.

"We want to help too." B. Ganondorf said.

"Bang enemies! All of them! Bang!" B. Wolf said taking out his Blaster enthusiastically.

"Bang bang bang!" B. Fox said agreeding with him.

"For Palutena, victory shall be ours!" B. Pit said taking out his dual-blades.

"They are scary, I want to get rid of them." B. Meta Knight said.

"Ri ri ri riii!" B. Chris said happily.

"Alright!" Many babies said happily but they lowered their voices after that.

The team of babies then decided to go to their location in the Mushroom Kingdom and help the Toads with the Shroobs...

Mushroom Kingdom - Past
Ocean

However, they wanted to go to the faraway island of the Yoshis in a boat they found, but in their way, there was a storm that moved the boat to all the sides violently, the babies ducked in the boat with fear as B. Meta Knight and B. Wolf rowed the boat through the waves.

"Hold on! This is getting dangewous!" B. Wolf warned them, since long words were still complicated to him, he didn't know the correct way to say them.

"UAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" B. Chris cried in fear as he hid in his mantle while B. Riolu tried to calm him down.

"NO!" B. Pit pointed at a huge wave that appeared before their eyes and it crashed down the boat while the babies cried for their lives.

The wave that hit them was just too much and the boat broke into pieces, all of them were separated in that point and marooned to Yoshi's Island by luck.

Although B. Chris, along with B. Ganondorf, got lost in the event, making B. Riolu cry once the morning rose up on the island, not finding his trainer anywhere.

Gritzy Caverns
Below the Koopa Dome

End of flashback

"Riii...riii....rii-iii..." B. Riolu cried above his fainted trainer as Lucario tightened his fists with rage.

"Grrrrr...grrrrr...grrrrrrr...grrrrrr..." Lucario's fists began to be engulfed with his aura as he slowly showed his fangs with pure rage as Dark Bowyer kept laughing.

Crash...

"Huh? Nya?" Dark Bowyer looked behind him, he could have sworn a sound came from the other side of the wall and an explosion took place, however, he shrugged it off and resumed to laugh.

"You...you...YOOOO-huh?!" Lucario looked down where B. Riolu was grabbing his right burning hand of aura. "W-what are you doing?!"

"Ri ri ri riiii!" B. Riolu said crying.

"W-what?! I-I have to use my aura to kill that bastard! Don't stop me or els-"

"...Riii..." B. Riolu looked down disappointed as Lucario began to think things over before he gasped.

"...No...I was...going to repeat the same mistake..." Lucario said as his eyes trembled and his aura disappeared.

"Baby?" B. Luigi asked tilting his head, stopping crying at the same time.

"...Yes...I was going to turn...into that beast again..."

"NYA NYA NYA NYAAAA!!" Dark Bowyer laughed maniacally and prepared to shoot another arrow, the same one he used to defeat Chris. "THE END THIS SHALL BE FINALLY! NYA!"

"Grrr...ugh..." Lucario dropped to one knee and B. Luigi began to panic.

"MAMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" B. Luigi cried out in panic.

"RIIII!!!" B. Riolu hid behind Lucario with fear, the only thing Lucario was able to do was to grunt and glare at his enemy.

"THIS...ENDS...NO-" Dark Bowyer was interrupted before a tremble took place in the cave and he looked behind him with head upside-down. "What?"

New Super Mario Bros. Theme

"BAAAAAABIIIEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!" From the other side of the wall, a huge black figure came blasting off towards Dark Bowyer at a crazy speed and slammed directly into him, the bow enemy blasted off to the wall together with the person and Dark Bowyer let out his final scream of pain.

"NYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Dark Bowyer screamed in extreme pain before the person floated away from him as he fell to the ground, sobbing silently as his body started to vanish. "Lord Smithy...forgive me please...do it I couldn't...uuuuuhhhhh...." Dark Bowyer sobbed before vanishing into the nothingness of the air together with the Shadow Bugs, who then took Petey's body and teleported him to the Subspace, not before Petey spat out a pink familiar shell out that stopped spinning.

"...What are YOU doing here?!" Lucario asked very shocked, he then looked down his feet and ducked to grab a card with the image of Muskular, proof that they defeated Dark Bowyer and rescued him.

Before their eyes, the person who killed Dark Bowyer was the very same young Master Hand, carrying B. Ganondorf and apparently Peach with a weird mask covering her face, how did he get B. Ganondorf? Well, Ganondorf abandoned him together with the Subspace Bomb because he thought he was annoying since he cried a lot when he was pulled into the Subspace, thus dropping him close to the bomb.

Gritzy Desert
Outside the Koopa Dome

"WHAT?!"

"That's right, I'm taking the babies with me now, it's already sunset and they have to return to the daycare!"

Master Hand was able to remove the arrows out of everyone's bodies and saved them from being statues, it was already sunset and the babies were happy yo move around again.

And for Lucario's fortune, Chris was able to survive that fatal blow thanks to Master Hand again.

"I can't believe you're the Hand of Healing in the past." Chris said astonished.

"Yeah, I know, sucky title if you ask me, I'm going to turn into the Hand of Destruction in some years." Master Hand said.

"Thank you for saving Chris." Lucario said bowing to him.

"And for destroying the Subspace Bomb for us and for healing us." Chris said.

"Aw, it was nothing, besides, you guys were in trouble with that wicked guy so, why not lend you a hand? Heheheh, hand? Get it? I'm a hand myself! Hahahahaha!"

Most of them, however, were annoyed at this. "So...basically, all we did here was for nothing." Yoshi said annoyed.

"Pretty much." Fox said annoyed.

"Tsk, I used my Final Smash for nothing." Wolf said annoyed.

"MY stolen Final Smash."

"Get over it, Fox."

"This, can't be happening." Sheik said annoyed.

"Agreed." Meta Knight said annoyed.

"Agreed too." Mallow said annoyed.

"Agreed 3." Mario said annoyed.

"And me too." Luigi said before the 4 previous characters glared at him. "W-what?"

"You broke the combo chain." Pit pointed out annoyed.

"...Oh."

"...Okay, let's start this over again..." Chris said annoyed.

10 seconds later...

"Alright! We rescued Muskular!" Chris said holding out Muskular's card above him.

Although the only ones who cheered were the babies, who were above Master Hand's back (except for B. Mario and B. Luigi).

"...Fine, I know, this sucks." Chris said sighing disappointed.

"Heheh, sorry, but babies are first." Master Hand said chuckling a little.

"Well," Sheik walked to B. Zelda. "I think this is a good bye, be good and just as an extra, train using Shiekah abilities, believe me, they will come in handy."

B. Zelda giggled. "Heheh, thanks, I will."

"Mini me, you better be good, or else no more chocolate!" Mallow instructed his baby self who nodded giggling.

"Be strong at all times and stay sharp, that is all what I can say to you." Meta Knight said to his baby self.

"I will take that on mind." B. Meta Knight said nodding.

"...We didn't have so much time together but..." Yoshi looked away.

"But?" B. Ganondorf asked.

"...Try to be...pretty for a chance..." Yoshi said walking away.

"...Okay!" B. Ganondorf said cheerfully.

"Now, remember, you have to protect my baby self and make him happy all the time, you got it, right?" Chris asked B. Riolu who nodded, jumped to his arms and licked his cheek before jumping to Master Hand. "Hahahaha! I'm going to miss you!" A tear strolled down his cheek. "...Really, take care..."

"Follow Palutena's laws and rights and you should do it fine." Pit said to B. Pit who nodded giggling.

"Palutena forever!" B. Pit proclaimed.

"Just like that." Pit said smiling a little.

"Beat Fox up." Chris sweatdropped after Wolf whispered to B. Wolf, of course, the baby shook his head.

"Beat Wolf up." Chris sweatdropped again as Fox whispered almost the same thing to his baby self, who shook his head as B. Wolf.

"Whatever." Both adults said glaring at each other as they walked away.

"...Wait, someone's missing." Master Hand said looking around.

"Oh!" Kylie was now back people! "You mean the dog who's hiding behind that pillar with that baby?!"

"SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled sweating as they all looked at him holding B. Chris on his arms.

"Lucario, give my baby back." Chris said walking to Lucario, who backed away from him.

"N-no! Stay away! Don't get closer Chris! I'm warning yo-"

You should know by now how Poke Balls were useful, because Chris returned Lucario to his Poke Ball, got his baby, gave him to Master Hand and called Lucario out. "There, problem solved."

"...N-no..." Lucario muttered as B. Chris waved at him from B. Riolu's arms. "He is...going away..."

"...Hmm..." Chris decided to scratch Lucario's ears and the Aura Pokémon's tail began to wag slowly. "So, are you going to miss him?"

"Yes...but at least..." Lucario looked at him as he cleared his tears. "I still...have you with me...right?"

"Aw!" Chris hugged Lucario as the Pokémon growled happily. "Lucario, thank you! That was so nice of you!"

"Okay, I think it's time to leave now," Master Hand "smiled" at them. "Thanks for being such great babysitters, you saved the babies in some way or another...look at the time! B. Chris's parents are coming! We must go and part ways! Babies!" Master Hand began to float away in the horizon as the Smashers waved at the babies who waved back at them. "Chu-chu time!"

"CHU-CHU!!! HEHEHEHEHEHEH!" The babies repeated giggling happily and laughing all the way as they disappeared in the sunset.

"...And there they go." Mallow said wiping out a tear.

"Yeah, too bad though, I was enjoying to play with them." Yoshi said wiping out a tear.

"So Mario..." Chris looked at Mario, Luigi and the babies standing besides "Peach" on each side. "...I think...we need to part ways again for now...are you sure you're going to be fine?"

"Yes! Of course, thank you for helping us, we appreciate it." Mario said handshaking everyone's hands with Luigi as the babies tilted their heads as they giggled.

"I-I promise I'm going to join you once we're over with this, besides, we don't have many adventures anyway." Luigi said smiling to them.

"(See you in Super Paper Mario, both of you, and probably Super Mario Galaxy, and probably the Olympics too.)" Chris thought. "Anyway, babies, take care please...what's this?" Chris took a Green Shell from the babies who giggled as they hugged him. "...Aw, thank you, I'm going to keep this with me."

"Yeah!" B. Mario and B. Luigi jumped happily as they returned with their adults selves.

"Well then, we need to return to the present and return Peach to Toadsworth." Mario said as he took "Peach's hand" on his right hand and walked away to the time hole with Luigi and the babies. "See you everyone! Say hello to Master Hand by my part!"

"A-and me as well!" Luigi said as the Smashers waved at the brothers getting away, jumping inside the time hole and disappearing.

Mario, Luigi and the babies have left your team

"Well!" Kylie began jumping a little, holding a huge key with the Shroobs's insignia on it. "This is really going to be the biggest scoop EVAH! So, fellas, thanks for rescuing me, you're the heroes of my dreams!... Although it was another Koopa, anyway! Thank you! Thank you! I'll make sure you all get a copy of the Koopa Kronicle! I'm gonna try and put that key to use! Which means it's time for me to say so long! Good luck, whiskers!" And Kylie instead of hiding in her shell, walked away to the dunes and in the sunset as she dreamed what awards would she receive by her biggest scoop.

"She's gone, she's freaking gone, finally." Wolf said grinning in relief...yes, you can grin with relief.

"...And I think it's time to say so long to this infernal place of the desert." Yoshi said as Chris opened the portal.

"I'm going to miss the babies, they were so cute..." Chris said walking inside the portal.

"Yes." Lucario said entering inside.

"So we end the truce." Wolf said entering inside the portal.

"Yes, at least we agree in something." Fox said entering entering inside.

"Good bye..." Sheik muttered before entering the portal.

"BABIES! I'M GONNA MISS YOU SO MUUUUUUCH!" Yoshi cried as he entered the portal.

"ME TOOOOOOO!!!" Mallow yelled to the sky as he entered the portal.

"And me as well." Pit said closing his eyes as he entered inside the portal.

Once Meta Knight was alone, he looked to the sunset and sighed. "...I'm probably going to be the one who is going to miss them more than all of you together..." Meta Knight walked to the portal but stopped midway and chuckled. "...Just probably." And with that, he entered inside and disappeared along with the portal.

And thus, they managed to save Muskular (who was still trapped inside the card), the fourth Star Spirit.

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2300 Smash Coins!

Smash Mansion
Outside

"...Okaaaay..." Karol looked around the city that was literally blocked by Exor's magic and turned his back, walking to the hill and looked to the Smash Mansion. "...I think Raven is in there, I wonder if someone is living there to begin with..." And the leader of Brave Vesperia walked to the mansion...

Suddenly, the old man felt goosebumps, something very bad that would reveal his hideout from Rita was coming to the mansion...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Tales of Symphonia - Smile - Marta was a song reference to the same game.

-Chris joke about questioning Wolf's gender was a reference to Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4 (planned arc in the future).

-Mallow suggesting an All-Out attack was a reference to Persona 3.

-Chris saying "Here comes a new spell!" was a reference to DU DU DUUUUUN, Rita Mordio from Tales of Vesperia! Whenever she has the required level and learns a new spell during battle! XD

-Chris yelling Mike...was a reference to my father-in-law, yep, a personal reference about me just once. :)

And...guess the fight ended with something random, in this case, Master Hand of the past, the Hand of Healing that later turned into the Hand of Destruction.

But anyway! I accept the end of this arc honestly, now let's see what happens in the Sonic arc, shall we?

...On a side note, I think Wolf has a creepy obsession with Fox, haven't you noticed how much he keeps talking about him everytime you find him in the games?

Read and review please! :)
*Chapter 96*: Sonic Steals More Screentime Than Etna

Whoa, guess the finals weren't that hard, so I decided to write this! (Fairly shorter chapter now that I see it). O_O

From ngrey651: Yes, Wolf and Fox seem to have a very obssessive rivalry. I'm certain that it's JUST a rivalry though.

...I HOPE it's just a rivalry...dear God let it just be a rivalry!

And it was really sad to see the others leave the babies. Oh well, they shall keep the memories of their good times with the little tykes in their hearts forever and ever and ever. :)

From me: Fortunately, yes for the babies, and...I hope it's just rivalry or else those sick pairin-

Thank you! XD

From Hyuzun: lmao xD freeze frame... Good chapter, I like the arguements from the two. Lucario is a bit attached to baby chris o-o Anyhow keep up the awesome stories xD

From me: Lucario just wants to protect his trainer..."sniff"...why am I sniffing?

Thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: Sorry 'bout that, pal...

Anyway, excellent chapter, just as always. Good cliffhanger, too. Raven is so dead.

Until next time:

Ultra Blader

From me: Raven is dead...in some form, you'll see, thank you! ;D

From chrisworshiper: aloha it's me once more i found 3 mistakes on is in the refrence you put keps insted of keeps only mistake i'll ever point out anyways glad that chris forgave lucario and lucario got his punisment and allmost blew iti'll mis the babies and i'd choose lucarios finial smash i'd think it'd be best tin the situation then it'd hit the two of em at the same time pity you won't be revewing er wrighting for a little bit o noz rita is comming is this the end of smash mannor will she smash the smash mannor ( thats a really bad pun) and gr i'm getting fustrated that mairo and luegi didn't join once more i miss link and marth with roy p.s. long revew pp.s in the audmishions for brawl with the shop keeper? and i can get the "holds up a sign that says randomness" out of my head o well next time adose amegos.

From me: ...Er...I don't understand ANYTHING about this review sadly, you need comas, periods, capital letters and pretty much everything to undertand your "hieroglyphics."

Sorry, but...thanks I guess? :)

From Anakin Son Mario43: Good Chapter! AW MAN! Babies go bye-bye! Could sora and friends join with them as an in world partnership? Just asking

From me: Well duh! That's what all characters do, right? Thanks! :)

From Rabid Original: Hahaha, I feel so bad for ...
So, everybody got arrow'd? Nice one. I kinda liked how Master Hand showed up because Lucario always seems to save them o.O

Keep it up! I'm always looking forward to the next chapter :D

From me: For your fortune, here it is, enjoy please! ;)

From Shining Riku: That was an enjoyable arc. I liked it alot, and all the interaction from the Smashers between their baby selves was hilarious. Fox and Wolf cracked me up!

I agree with you though, Wolf DOES have an obsession with Fox. Creepy. I'd love to know what split Fox, Falco, and Wolf up in the past. (Nice twist, having the babies being BFF! LOL!)

Uhm...No complaints! There was a few grammatical errors, but that's no big deal because it doesn't compromise anything. It's perfectly understandable.

Overall, I think it has just the right touch of drama, action, character interaction, and emotion. You're doing a mighty swell job, Wiiboychris, and I wish ya good luck with those finals of yours. Take care, and see ya next time!
-Shining Riku-

From me: Well, their memories were erased again and again and again again (yes, they were repeated in purpose), maybe they began to fight once their memories got erased the last time they left the daycare?

Thank you! :)

From Mewtrainer: Wow. Just, wow. You have left me amazed yet again! I can't play it, I have little video game access. :( Ah well. I wonder what's next...

From me: Too bad, you're missing something big here, thanks. :)

From Avatar Fan 11051: 'claps'

Well done! Great arc, great arc. So...

When's the KHII arc?

Well done! :D

From me: That arc is SOOOOOO far away, but the first game's arc isn't that far away...is far away. "Winks." ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: yay! three miracles in a row for me! 1, a new chapter of the story, 2, it actually snowed here in las vegas and 3, i had no school today cause of the snow! well enough of my real life, this is one of the more emotonal chapters of the story. can't beleive this is chris's 2nd near-death the bond with the others prevent his death. is there a chance you may make some reference of dead fantasy after you're done with the other final fantasy arcs? in case you don't know what it is[and i'm gonna be really shocked if you don't know about this]it's a combination of final fantasy and dead or alive with a great helping of fighting and action and is on youtube to watch. is sonic gonna join them in the NEXT ARC?!? he had 2 arcs so far and made a apperance in a few other chapters as well!

From me: I don't know what the heck is Dead Fantasy either, sorry.

And for Sonic? Let's see of my readers want him to join the Smashers, because I have lots of things in store for that fast coughnakedcough hedgehog! XD :)

From Nintendogeek01: That ending was... a bit of a dues ex machina (I think I've explained this before right.). It was a pretty good fight up until that point. Well good luck with exams.

From me: Aw, thank you, well, I wanted to do some kind of twist at the end, and remember that Dark Bowyer's health was almost going to disappear, right? Then that would explain why Master Hand killed him with ease. ;)

From Wolfenpilot687: Geez, how dare you to remark Wolf's obsession with Fox! Mine is enough! Oh,
and his Landmaster don't suits him, of course.

So, it was pretty large, but well, it's worthwhile.

Aww...the babies are gone...-_-; Gee, I'm going to miss Baby Wolf and Baby Fox...

Anyways, keep writing, *! :3

From me: The tykes will be in our memories...as the horrible persons they turned into once they grew up. Just kidding! XD

And thank you as well!

So the next Sonic arc and (probably the last one) is here! Let's see what is going to happen this time around. ;)

Read, enjoy and review please! :D

Chapter 96: Enter Sonic for the third time! And Karol Capel

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"It seems we have failed once again, Lord Tabuu." The Ancient Minister announced.

"Ugh, Ganondorf! Do you have something to say about this?!" Tabuu asked with rage as Ganondorf kneeled to him.

"I am sorry, the wickedness of Bowyer got the better of him," Ganondorf said. "But see our bright side, we managed to save Petey Pirahna from getting killed at he is now currently recovering his energies."

"It is true that Bowyer's crazyness caused him to die, but next time, they will meet probably the most, dangerous Subspace elite general, Ancient Minister!"

"Yes?" The Ancient Minister asked looking at him.

"It is Galleom ready to be deployed to Sonic's world?"

"Preparations for Galleom to be deployed are almost ready, should we give him a Star Spirit to guard? The very same remaining Star Spirits are acting unstable here that their forces recover overtime once they perceive your powers that we need to take them out here as soon as possible." The Ancient Minister explained as the Axem Rangers appeared. "Hand over Misstar."

"W-what?!" Axem Red asked. "N-no fair! We have 2 Star Spirits with us an-"

"GIVE US THE STAR SPIRIT!" Tabuu yelled loudly as the Axem Rangers hid behind Axem Red, who trembled with fear.

"H-here you go! D-don't kill us off please!" Axem Red pleaded giving the card to the Ancient Minister who nodded and floated above.

"Good, now get out of here and wait until I call you...or else..." Tabuu warned the rangers who quickly hid in the darkness of the Subspace. "How are Dedede and Charizard right now?"

"Both of them are almost ready to recover their energies, should we send them to Sonic's world too?" The Ancient Minister asked.

"...Ugh, we do not have another choice."

"You could always send me again, but this time, I will fight." Ganondorf said smacking his fists together with dark energy as he grinned.

"...Very well, this time, you 3 are going to some special business with this doctor," Tabuu showed him a virtual image of Dr. Eggman. "If we cooperate, we should be able to get rid of that despicable World Traveler and the Smashers."

"Understood, I will take my leave now." Ganondorf said walking into the darkness, disappearing.

"I will stay alone and think things over, Ancient Minister, give Galleom the Star Spirit and deploy him when it is the time." Tabuu said as he teleported away.

"(...Just a little more to escape from this place...but we need to wait even more then...)" The Ancient Minister said to an image of Mr. G&W inside a tube where Shadow Bugs were being distracted from him.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Here, Geno," Chris said giving Geno Muskular's card. "I don't know how to call him out, would you do it for me please?"

"Certainly." Geno said as he held the card above him as the item began to shine brightly, when the lights blinded the room, the fourth Star Spirit, Muskular, came out from the star spinning and stopped after 3 seconds, then he looked at the Smashers and grinned a little.

"Phew! I'm out of that stupid prison again!" Muskular said relieved.

"Muskular, I'm glad you're alright, everyone here rescued you, especially Chris, the World Traveler." Geno said bowing to him.

"Aw, Geno! So it's true that you were using a doll to fight with Mario before!" Muskular said grinning. "It's good to breath fresh air again, in fact, I'm glad I was rescued by such cool looking guys like you all!" Muskular jumped floating to Lucario. "Like you!" He jumped to C. Falcon. "And you!" He jumped to Wolf. "And look at you!" However when he jumped to Chris, his grin faded and a worried face appeared. "Um..." He jumped to Yoshi. "Er..." He jumped to Mallow. "Well..." He jumped to Sheik and grinned again. "Aw, much, much better..."

"H-hey!" Chris said annoyed.

"Oh! Pardon me, I got carried away, heheh," Muskular said floating to Chris. "So, you're the World Traveler, are you not?"

"Y-yes." Chris said blushing a little.

"Well, I expected you to be cooler that everyone else here but...no offense, but I was waiting for a very tough guy instead of you..."

"(...I'm going to kill this star when I have the time...) Lucario, lower your hand."

"Grr..." Lucario lowered his hand already charging an Aura Sphere that vanished.

"...Anyway!" Muskular chuckled a little. "Do you think I can lend my power to you?"

"Y-yes, if you would please." Chris said.

"Okay, stand still and I'll do the rest in...now!" Muskular began to spin around Chris with spores of light in shapes of stars, when he stopped spinning around, he gave his power to Chris.

Chris has learned Chill Out!

Chill Out decreases the strength of all enemies, caution, it may sometimes fail

"T-thank you for your support!" Chris said bowing to Muskular who chuckled and grinned.

"Heh, you're not too bad World Traveler, or Chris as Geno told me, so Geno! It's this the special elite of fighters you've been talking about?"

"Smashers" it's the correct term here." Master Hand pointed out.

"Yes, they are." Geno said.

"But..." Muskular looked at the young Smashers. "...You mean I was also rescued by kids? Geez, that's embarrassing."

"And babies." Mallow said a little annoyed.

"Well, it's embarrassing to be rescued by kids alri-" C. Falcon received a hard hit on the head by Ness's bat.

"What's embarrassing to be rescued now?!" Ness asked as he tried to hit him again, but Sheik stopped him. "H-hey!"

"Even I'll be glad to hit him many times, but this is enough." Sheik said.

"Oh, disfunctional family, I like that," Muskular said before taking out a Star Piece, a green one. "So, I guess I need to return to Star Haven and put this back to place to repair the Star Road, Geno, Smashers, World Traveler, I'm putting my own faith in all of you."

"Aw, we will save the other Star Spirits, don't worry!" Twink said cheerfully.

"You're still the same enthusiastic Star kid, Twink," Muskular chuckled before he started to spin around in the air. "Call me when you want my power to be used! Good luck and please save the wishes!" And with that, the fourth Star Spirit disappeared in a blink.

"...Master Hand, you created a daycare center and were you the Hand of Healing?" Chris asked as they all looked at Master Hand, most of them annoyed.

"Er...well...how can I explain this...I...LOOK!" Master Hand pointed at a random direction, however, they were not that stupid and Master Hand snapped his fingers as he glowed for a second. "Ha! Try to ask me anything that happened before the first tournament now! I erased my own memories about what happened back then!"

"...You really need to see a psychologist, and now." Nana said frowning in shame.

"That's so sad..." Lucas said ashamed.

"Indeed." Meta Knight commented.

"And..." Yoshi looked around. "Where's Crazy Hand?"

"CHAZAM!" Crazy Hand appeared in a poof of smoke in the counter and they looked at him. "Oof! Phew! I'm so worn out! I finished creating the other 4 new jobs that you requested Master Hand!"

Master Hand looked puzzled to him. "...I did that?"

"Well, duh! You told me that 4 hours ago!"

Mewtwo frowned at this and floated to Master Hand holding out his hand to him as it glowed. "It appears his memory got erased way too far that he wanted, he managed to erase what he mentioned, but it backfired and erased almost everything else."

"Who the hell are you guys?" Master Hand asked looking around the place, confused.

"Is he going to be fine?" Chris asked.

"Don't worry about that, I'll take him with me and reconstruct his memories back," Mewtwo then started to float away holding Master Hand with his psychic powers as he got out of the room. "Do something while I'm busy with him."

"...Crazy Hand, would you plea-"

"Certainly skippy!" Crazy Hand said nodding excited.

Jobs (New!) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 3400

Jobs

Scholar: 1200 Smash Coins

A huge amount of IQ will be added to your current one, this job excels in great wisdom with basic magic and it's also able to detect opponents's weaknesses, and as an extra, try to master this job until you gain the ability to double the effects on an item

Ninja: 1200 Smash Coins

Walking in the walls has never been so fun before, this job allows you to gain agility and sneaking type abilities, using a variety of kunais, shurikens and spell tags, destroy your enemies with ease!

Moogle Knight: 1400 Smash Coins

There's something this job says, and it's "Kupo!" Turning into a Moogle Knight has its advantages, use your wings to float together with your sword attacks, learn special abilities that are only available for a true knight of the Moogles, kupo!

Agent: 1100 Smash Coins

The Agent does it all for his pliege lady

"...Wow...the jobs are interesting now..." Chris remarked.

"But I'm a little worried about the "Agent" job..." Sheik said. "I mean, "The Agent does it all for his pliege lady"? Sounds like flirting to me."

"Anyway!" Crazy Hand said. "What do you want?"

"Ninja! Ninja! Naruto! I mean, Ninja!" Chris said giving 1200 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand.

And his clothes once again changed, now he was wearing a red japanese shirt, he got a red hood and a black mouth blocker (probably to protect him against poison gases), red pants, black boots, black fingerless gloves with a katana on a black sheath on his back. Under his red shirt, there was a thin black cloth with X-shapes covering his body, and on his black belt, there were small wallets with kunais, shurikens and spell tags.

"It feels...a little hot in here..." Chris muttered under his mouth blocker and hood, he took both of them off and looked at them. "So, how do I look?"

"The same cosplayer of always." Popo said chuckling a little.

"C-cosplayer?! I-I'm not a cosplayer!"

"But it's true! Once you change a job, you're either copying or cosplaying us!"

"T-that's not true! Right, Lucario?!"

Lucario sweated a little. "Well..."

"...My own Pokémon turns on me..." Chris said looking down as Lucario gasped.

"N-no! I-I think you're normal to me!"

"...Thank you Lucario..."

DK sweatdropped and chuckled a little. "Heheh, I guess Chris knows how to manipulate him."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Pikachu said sighing.

Main Lobby

We see Toon Link and Raven talking between themselves, or rather Toon Link hopping on his feet to make Raven teach him right now at that moment how to shoot arrows like him. "Please! Please! Please!" Toon Link said excited.

"Nah, kid, I have to take a break, besides, I'm pretty useless when I'm tired." Raven said closing his eyes in the sofa.

"B-but..."

"Tell ya somethin', if you wait, I'll promise what ya want." Raven said with a wink.

"R-really?!" Toon Link asked and Raven nodded with a small grin. "T-thanks! Oh man, this is so aweso-"

The door's ring bell sounded and they looked at the door. "Somethin' is wrong?" Raven asked.

"I think we have a guest, wait, let me go and see who it is." Toon Link walked towards the door and opened it, in front of him, a kid carrying a big brown bag with a funny hairstyle was there standing, it was Karol who got confused after seeing Toon Link's ears.

"(A Kritya? Here?)" Karol thought confused before Raven opened one eye to see him, before it got wide in shock as he quickly hid behind the sofa.

"Can...I help you?" Toon Link asked and Karol shook his head for a moment.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce my name, my name is Karol, Karol Capel," Karol introduced himself to Toon Link. "But I'm looking for a person right now, have you seen a guy with black hair, a little tall, complains about his age most of the time and it's very laid-back with almost a carefree attitude?" Karol asked.

"Oh, you mean Ra-"

"SHHHHH!!!" Raven said in shock behind the sofa.

"Excuse me?" Karol asked confused.

"Er, nothing, who's that person again?" Toon Link asked.

"His name is Raven, I've been looking for him all over this place and well, I got lost in the forest and ended up in this area, it's not even displayed on my map, how weird..." Karol began to think by himself and wondered a little bit. "And to make matters worse, Repede, Yuri's pet, got lost and probably got here as well."

"I'm sorry...but I haven't seen anyone like him around..."

"Oh, it's okay!" Karol said smiling a bit as Raven sighed in relief. "I'm gonna look for him around here!" Karol said closing his eyes with a happy expression as Raven gasped silently at this. "I'll stay in the forest and camp out, I need to find both of them and return to Dahngrest with the others waiting for me there," Karol began to walk away. "If you see Raven, tell him I was looking for him!"

"O-okay!" Toon Link said waving at Karol. "I-I'm Link by the way!"

"Thank you! Please, tell him that me, Yuri, Estelle, Judith and Rita are looking for him!" Karol said as he disappeared in the forest to the left side of the mansion as Toon Link closed the door.

"T-the kid's gone?!" Raven asked standing up.

"Y-yeah, but why were you hiding from Karol?" Toon Link asked as Raven shifted his eyes and looked at him with a freaked out face.

"Look, kid with long ears, if Karol ever finds out I'm hidin' in this place, he'll tell the others, right?"

Toon Link blinked normally. "My name is Link and yes?"

"What WILL happen if Rita gets to know my hidin' spot? Remember she's still with that revenge note on poor ol' me?"

Toon Link gasped. "Y-you're right!"

Raven grabbed Toon Link by the shoulders and shook him. "I'LL GO TO HEAVEN! HEAVEN I TELL YA, KID! RITA'S GONNA KICK MY SORRY BUTT IF SHE KNOWS WHERE AM I!"

"O-OKAY! B-BUT STOP SHAKING ME!"

Raven let Toon Link go and started to dream the possibilities. "Think of this, I'm seein' my grave now..."

Raven's daydream

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest
Outskirts

Raven's group was there, in front of a grave near a tree while Estelle was sobbing silently as her tears ran down her cheeks, holding a bouquet of red flowers.

"Estelle, calm down, you don't need to cry anymore..." Judith said patting Estelle's back.

"B-but Judith...Raven is...dead..." Estelle tried not to cry and blocked her eyes.

"Estelle, we need to give the old man his flowers, I'm sure he's gonna be relieved if you do that." Yuri said looking down to Raven's grave with a stone image of him, grinning with some words labeled in gold...

Ol' Man Raven
"Oldest Member of Brave Vesperia"
"Thy pervertness took thee to Heaven"

"Geez, Rita shouldn't have been THAT hard on him..." Karol said worried.

"Good thing she isn't here right now, or else she'd blow up his grave with her Meteor Storm arte." Judith reminded them as Estelle put the bouquet on Raven's grave.

"Here Raven...I wish you're having fun...in the Heaven...uuhhh..." Estelle stood up and cried on Yuri, who hugged her a little before looking to Dahngrest.

Repede whined a little and looked to Raven's grave, where he slightly licked his face (Repede doesn't lick that much), Repede whined again as Karol got closer to him.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss Raven, Brave Vesperia will miss him too, Repede." Karol said trying to hold back his tears. "WHYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Yuri sighed in disappointment "...Well, I guess that's all we can say about the old man, let's return to Dahngrest and see what do we need to do against Alexei, I'm sure the old man would have wanted it that way." Yuri said as they started to leave the grave with Karol sobbing along the way...

Wait, who's that hiding behind the tree?

"HERE YOU ARE!" Rita jumped out sideways from the tree and glared at Raven's grave, directly to his face. "Old man, you're even more than dead!"

And Rita's life defying skills were put into test, once she used her Over Limit, all she was able to yell was...

"BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH! METEOR STOR-"

Please multiply those words by 76 times with a bunch or way too many flaming falling stones from the sky, or in this case, meteors.

Once Rita finished, she was panting heavily at the devastated area she just created, Raven's grave was totally gone from Terca Lumireis, and surely his deceased old body as well.

"That...should teach you...for the eternity!" Rita yelled closing her eyes as she walked away, stomping on the ashes of the destroyed area, then we see Estelle's bouquet still intact, however, it got burned up very quickly in a comic way and turned into dust.

End of Raven's daydream

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Raven gulped as he sweated. "Man...that's one scary thought..."

"F-fine, I'm going to prevent them from finding you if you want." Toon Link said shrugging.

"Aw, thanks ki-"

"However though..."

"I knew it! You sly little devil!"

Toon Link grinned mischievously. "You'll have to teach me how to shoot arrows like you do!"

Raven groaned a little. "...Ya got that, it's a deal."

"Yes! Yes!"

Yoshi was shown walking outside with a racket. "What are you guys doing here alone?"

"N-nothing, hey, where are you going Yoshi?"

"I'm going to train for the Olympics, duh! After going to my first adventure, I want to have fun but my myself! So, see you!" Yoshi said closing the door as he walked to the right, both of them seeing Yoshi humming through the window he passed.

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest (Rebuilding rate of the city: 30 percent completed so far)
Almost completed inn

"...Karol hasn't come back yet." Rita reminded the group as she was still reading her book of Blastia.

"Yeah, I know, guess he got lost as well." Yuri said.

"D-don't say things like that! I'm sure Karol is doing his best to find Raven and probably Repede too!" Estelle said with a glare to Yuri.

"Okay okay! Geez, you don't need to get angry at me."

"Oh...sorry, I'm just a little worried about those 3 now..."

"Do you want me to go and see if they're fine?" Judith suggested raising her hand.

"W-wait, let me go instead." Estelle said standing up.

"No way Estelle, if we let you go alone by yourself, think what could happen if Alexei were to hear about you going alone somewhere." Yuri said.

"But Yuri, Alexei is still in his fortress waiting for us, so we can do anything for the time being, I'm pretty sure he wants us to meet him there."

"...Estelle, I'm thinking about your welfare, listen to me please!"

"No!" Estelle yelled and they gasped (even Rita). "I-I'm going to find Karol, Raven and Repede by myself! I'll prove you, I'm strong enough to fight alone!"

Judith sighed and smiled a little. "Well then, get going."

Estelle gasped. "Y-you mean it, Judith?"

"Yes, if you think you can go alone, then do it, we'll rescue you again."

Estelle blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm not going get kidnapped again! I swear!" Estelle walked to the door and looked at them. "Please, take care, I'll be back before afternoon."

"Just to point something out," Rita looked at her. "Here in Dahngrest is always sunset for some odd reason."

Estelle sweatdropped. "Oh...um...uh...oh well, I...guess I'll see you later...bye Yuri, Judith, Rita."

"...Just don't get hurt." Yuri said with a little grin.

"N-no I won't!" Estelle said before she left to the woods.

"Yuri, Estelle is pretty much dead by herself." Rita said.

"Well, once she has something in her head, she won't let it go until it's resolved, I say let her be." Yuri said as he leaned to the wall.

"You're gonna regret that later." Rita said rolling her eyes as she returned to read her book.

"...Like hell I will..." Yuri muttered sweatdropping.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Hey guys! What happened here?... Chris, why are you wearing glasses?" Toon Link asked.

Chris purchased the Scholar job, now he wore a dark-green coat with a brown jacket beneath and a white shirt beneath the brown jacket, he also wore black pants and brown boots, a pair of small lens were on his eyes (he had his eyes half-opened like he didn't have any interest in something), and there was also a light-blue book on his right hand.

"Oh, Toon Link, you're here," Chris said closing his book. "Well, Crazy Hand got new jobs and I bought 2 of them, and it seems this job gives even more IQ that the one I had before," Chris smiled a little. "And it appears I'm a little calmer than before."

"BOO!" Diddy jumped in front of him.

"UAH! G-GET AWAY!" Chris yelled backing away, holding his heart a little as they all sweatdropped. "...Er...well, I haven't changed that much." Chris said closing his eyes half-way.

"It's Master Hand okay?" Pit asked.

"By now, he should be." Meta Knight said before same hand appeared in a poof of smoke together with Mewtwo who appeared in a corner of the room.

"Phew, thanks Mewtwo for saving my memories." Master Hand said sighing in relief.

"It was not that much of a problem." Mewtwo said nodding.

"Anyway, Chris, you got 2 new jobs, good, we should wait for the next attack."

"Can I go this time? Pleeeeease?" Diddy asked.

"And what about me?" DK asked.

"And us?" Popo and Nana asked.

"And us?" Ness and Lucas asked.

"And don't forget to take me as well." Geno said.

"M-me too!" Twink said.

"I-I'll see if I can take you all with me, don't worry!" Chris said backing away as he looked to Lucario. "You're going again if you want."

"...Can I stay behind this time?" Lucario asked.

"W-why?"

"I want to...meditate and try to calm down my fury if it is possible."

"Then allow me to assist you." Mewtwo said floating to Lucario.

"You will help me?"

"I believe if we find a way to use your anger to our favor, the battles ahead will be easier to fight." Mewtwo explained.

"...I see," Lucario said nodding. "Chris, sorry, but I'm going to stay behind this time."

"It's okay," Chris rubbed Lucario's head a little (Lucario growled at this) and smiled a little to him. "I can always count on everyone's help without you."

"Then we shall leave, Lucario, come to my room." Mewtwo said floating away as Lucario followed him, waving at Chris before disappearing in the hallway (as a Prinny with 2 others looked at them and shrugged a bit).

"WARNING! WARNING! WORLD TARGETED BY THE SUBSPACE ARMY, REPEAT, WARNING! WARNING! WORLD TARGETED BY THE SUBSPACE ARMY!" The alarm blared out as the screen showed the next world to them.

Sonic Riders
Current Status: First encounter with the Babylon Rouges in success
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 6
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Race skills and electric skills

"...Sonic again." Chris said.

"Yep, Sonic again alright." Popo said.

"Who's that Sonic guy?" C. Falcon asked crossing his arms.

"Oh, Sonic is a new selected Smasher to participate and join us, he is also the fastest thing alive as I've heard from my sources." Master Hand said before C. Falcon gasped.

"What the-he's the fastest thing alive, and he's coming here to take MY spot as the fastest one to run around here?" C. Falcon made a fist. "That guy is going to get it for crossing my line."

"Excuse me, but you're not the only who can run fast around here!" Pikachu said angrily.

"A-and what about me? I can run really fast!" Pichu said angrily.

"Both of you are too slow, I'm the one who is the fastest." Fox said pointing at himself.

"Yeah yeah, look, hate to interrupt, but I'm the fastest here." Falco said pointing at himself.

"I think I'm the fastest here!" Pit argued.

"None of you are the fastest, I'm the fastest one." Sheik said with a glare.

"I'm the fastest one!" Popo argued as Nana glared at him. "I-I mean, we're the fastest ones here!"

"I can fly faster than running!" Jigglypuff said but however, most of them ignored that comment.

And a discussion soon broke out between many of them (not going to mention who argued and who not) as Master Hand, his insane brother, Chris, Diddy, Geno, Twink, Meta Knight, Mallow, Red, Lucas, Kirby and Wolf (dammit, I did it after all) were watching the Smashers arguing back and forth, sometimes the arguers would push other arguers right in the chest or glare at another arguer.

"...Anyone thinks this discussion is really unnecessary?" Mallow asked yawning a little.

"It's pointless in a time like this." Meta Knight said.

"Heh, everyone knows I'm the f-" Wolf was interrupted.

"The fastest one around here, heheheh." The rest repeated much like Wolf was going to say, all with chuckles included.

Wolf snarled a little at this. "Bunch of...ugh, whatever."

"Should we do something to stop them?" Kirby asked suggesting.

"Oh, I have the right idea," Chris said adjusting his glasses. "Everyone, we're going so, good bye."

"What?!" The arguers glared at Chris and he sweatdropped, somewhat scared.

"...I mean...who wants to go this time?"

"How about me?" C. Falcon asked grinning. "I'll teach that guy something he will never forget, besides, you need a racer."

Pikachu and Pichu jumped to his shoulders. "And we can use electricity!" Pikachu said gathering sparks on his cheeks.

"Yeah!" Pichu said gathering sparks as well.

"...I'm not completely sure why do we need electricity, but it's fine with me." Chris said.

"C-can I go as well?" Lucas asked raising his hand.

"And me!" Ness said. "Both of us can use electricity attacks too!"

"You're in, who else? Geno?" Chris asked.

"Fine." Geno said nodding.

"I-i'm going as well!" Twink said flying to Geno's shoulder.

"How about you Falco?"

Falco made a fist in victory in front of him. "Alright, time to get going, good thing I used to race with skateboards back when I was in High School."

"Really? Interesting." Chris remarked.

"You can take another one since Twink isn't a fighter." Master Hand pointed out.

"Hmm...can I take Popo and Nana?" Chris asked.

"Well...I think it's alright for them to go, let's see if the portal accepts them," Master Hand said snapping his fingers to call out the portal instead of Chris. "Be careful, I'm not sure why but I got a bad feeling about this..."

"Yes! We're going!" Popo said walking with Nana to the selected group.

"Time to go then!" Ness said running inside the portal with everybody else (Nana kicked Popo inside to see if he was going to get zapped, but nothing bad happened and she jumped inside) as the portal vanished with them.

"Raaaaaveeeeeen! Teach me now!" Toon Link said running away from the room.

Sheik frowned at this. "I hate that old man..."

"Pervert old man." Jigglypuff pointed out.

"Yeah..."

?

?
?

"So, you want me to kidnap the kid?"

"Exactly, he apparently knows a lot about this matter than the rest of the monsters and people living inside the mansion, it's the only way to get information out of him unfortunately, you're going right now, Mei Ling was able to locate one of those portals close to your current area."

"We'll give you information about how to defeat every single one of them if you were to get spotted, it's that alright with you, Snake?"

"I've fought worse battles than this."

"Snake..."

"Fine, I'll request help if I need it."

"Please be careful Snake, don't be too reckless."

"Got that, I'm off then."

Sonic Riders

Splash Canyon
Close to the finish line

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy were talking close to the next competition, we see Tails explaining some complicated complex about the Extreme Gears, boards that have the ability to hover over the ground, to all of them, because Knuckles was a little curious and decided to ask away.

"That's easy to explain. According to the Kutta-Joukowski Lift Theorem, the control surface flow is balanced by the inverse kinetics of the-"

Tails's high technological explanation seemed to get Knuckles instantly nuts because his eyes started to spin madly with an angry expression on his face as Tails kept explaining on and on and on and on and on and o-

"STOP!!!" Knuckles yelled as Tails gasped a little. "I get it, okay?! It just floats and that's good enough for me!"

"Leave Knuckles alone Tails, his brain is really too small to understand your explanations." Sonic said grinning.

"I'm going to let that one go this time, Sonic." Knuckles said grunting a little.

Amy's ears perked a bit and she looked to the sky. "...Huh?"

"What is it Amy?" Tails asked.

"I could have sworn there were some yells coming from the sky just now..."

"It's Eggman?!" Knuckles asked glaring at the sky as Sonic took a fighting stance.

"I don't think Eggman wants to cause havoc in his own competition." Sonic said as we zoom to the sky and 9 familiar figures were shown yelling and screaming.

"W-what's that?!" Tails asked scared as he backed away.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S GOING TO CRASH!" Amy yelled running away with the team as the 9 familiar figures landed in the bridge, falling above each other.

"Get...off...me..." Ness muttered below all of them.

"Guys! Geno!" Twink came floating down the sky shocked. "W-what happened?! Why did we fall?!"

"U-ugh! I have a better question, why are you asking that if we were the ones who ACTUALLY fell and not you?!" Nana asked trying to get off from C. Falcon.

"I think...there was another error...with the portal again..." Chris muttered above Ness but below the rest of them.

"...Huh?" Amy came walking and she looked down to them. "G-guys! You're here again!" Amy said smiling as she pulled Chris away from the pile, the others then managed to get off and stood up.

"Amy!" Chris hugged Amy and she giggled a little. "It's good to see you again!"

"Okay! Okay! Stop hugging me! You're making me blush!" Amy said blushing as Chris stopped. "So, what are you guys doing here now?"

"Hey, Amy!" Knuckles came from behind and looked at them. "...It's you guys!"

"What do you mean Knuckles?" Tails asked as he and Sonic came from behind and looked at them. "E-everyone!"

"Tails!" Pikachu, Pichu, Ness and Lucas ran to him and gave him a group hug as they laughed.

"Hey, I'm right here." Sonic said grinning pointing at himself.

"Uuuuhhhh..." The quartet looked at each other with bored looks.

"...It's something wrong?"

"No offense Sonic," Ness said. "But we haven't forgotten yet about you in that battle."

Sonic scratched his head a little. "What battle? I don't remember..."

"Oh!" Chris adjusted his glasses. "I think they mean when you-"

Flashback, back in chapter 65...

"W-WHAT IS THAT MONSTER?!" Lucas asked terrorized.

"Metal Sonic has a new ability, that ability consist of using all the destroyed machinery to fuse them all together with his body, creating a beast with unbelievable power." Dr. Eggman explained to them.

"And with the Shadow Bugs is even worse!" Pit said.

"Argh...if we had the Chaos Emeralds...there could be hope to defeat him!" Dr. Eggman said before he found all the 7 Chaos Emeralds in Sonic's arms. "N-no! Y-you gathered all the Chaos Emeralds?!"

"Along the way." Espio said.

"Then Sonic! Turn into Super Sonic to defeat Metal Sonic once and for all!"

Sonic smirked. "Of course...but! Let me wait for the exact moment to use them!"

"WHAT?!" Was the response of everyone, except the calm characters.

"YOU IDIOT! JUST USE THEM NOW BEFORE METAL SONIC GRABS THEM!" Knuckles said furiously.

"Don't worry Knucklehead, I'll use them just before he tries to grab them from me!"

"Sonic, this is by far the most, stupid, idiot and dangerous idea I've ever heard of!" Chris said, not trying to believe it.

"Relax Chris, nothing bad is going to happe-"

"LOOK OUT!" Rouge yelled before all of them were pushed away by Shadow Metal Overlord's tail, Sonic, by accident, released the emeralds from his arms and the robotic monster took them and ate them, then, an even stronger earthquake took place and his body glowed intensely, increasing drastically his power before he roared and many buildings across the area were instantly destroyed in a chain reaction effect, creating chaos and destruction.

Sonic stood up before he felt many nasty presenses gathering slowly behind his back, then he laughed very scared and turned to see them cracking their fists in perfect unison.

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC?!" They said in unison with so much rage in their voices.

"I...ah...well...you guys...well...don't need to be...so mad about...it...right?"

3 minutes later...

Sonic was very badly damaged, both of his eyes were black, there was blood coming from his mouth, much dust covered most parts of his gloves and arms, and one of his shoes had many scars. Even one of his teeth was missing.

End of flashback and back to current chapter...

Sonic sweatdropped and looked away. "I-I don't know what are you talking about..."

"Sonic, if I'm not mistaken, the sweating that is in your forehead must be there because you do remember the incident that you cau-" Chris's mouth was blocked by Sonic before a second could pass.

"I-I'm telling you I don't remember that!" Sonic argued as Ness crossed his arms in annoyance.

"(It's official, these guys can make my day.)" Knuckles thought grinning.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy temporaly joined your team!

"So anyway..." Sonic tapped his foot a little and looked at them. "Why are you here again?"

"The Subspace Army wants to take this world again." Pikachu said.

"You mean the same army that wanted to kill us?" Tails asked.

"And the ones who wanted to take Sonic from me?!" Amy asked taking out her hammer with fire in her eyes.

"A-Amy! You need to control your anger please!" Chris said backing away as Amy calmed down.

"Oof...okay...I'm calming down now..."

"Hey, you," C. Falcon looked to Sonic. "The name's C. Falcon, pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, I see now, my name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." Sonic said giving him a thumbs up with a grin and a wink.

"I heard you were going to join us very soon, and that you are the fastest thing alive."

Sonic raised his eyebrow. "Then I was MEANT to join you guys? Awesome!"

"Thank you for spoiling the surprise to Sonic." Chris said frowning, but C. Falcon ignored him.

"Finally, I can have a different adventure that beating the crap out of Eggman daily, I want to have something different! An adventure where I can fight something else than freaking robots!"

And Sonic went on and on about how great, wonderful, cool and awesome would be to have a different adventure...

Babylon Rouges's Airship
Jet's Cabin

There was a red blimp, or airship, flying far away from our group, it was the airship of the Babylon Rouges, thieves that were experts in the use of the Extreme Gears.

Inside the airship, in the cabin, we see a conversation being held.

"So!" A green hawk smirked to Dr. Eggman and the trio of the Subspace in a hologram. "You want me to take out Sonic and his gang, correct?"

"Exactly," Dr. Eggman grinned. "This time, I'm going to act like the true villain I am and take out Sonic once and for all!"

"Do not forget about the kid and the Smashers, they're a horrible nuisance to our plans." Ganondorf said crossing his arms.

"You bet! You have another deal Eggman! And you too!" Jet said making a fist.

"Then remember, I need to get the Chaos Emeralds and give Sonic a preview of something that I'm going to do once I build my special invention," Dr. Eggman smirked. "Let's just say it's a preview that his hidden "darker self" from the Metarex incident will take advantage to kill them if he ever joins them."

"Why isn't Red with them? I wanted to have fun with him." Charizard asked frowning.

"Eww." Dedede said grinning.

"W-what?! I'm not strange, you idiot!"

"Silence you 2," Ganondorf said before looking at Jet and a big white albatross whose name was Storm, Jet's right hand man and the muscle of the team. "Report to us once your mission is done, then, we will pay your services." Ganondorf said before Dr. Eggman closed the communication as jet crossed his arms at Storm.

"Heh! I think that means a better chance to beat that hedgehog again!" Jet said grinning rather evily.

"Boss, Wave is already on her way to sabbotage them." Storm informed.

"Excellent! Now we have to wait until she returns here!"

"Er...I was meanin' to ask something..."

"Spit it out then!" Jet said impatiently.

"Er...you know that Wave's boyfriend was such an...uh...ass to her?"

"Oh, you mean that freaky green bird that used explosives?" Jet asked with an angry expression. "The guy had it coming, and for a chance, it was stupid of him for turning her down."

"That's why we beat him up to a bloody pulp, right boss?"

"Duh! Of course! Wave was really sad and cried in her room for 3 days straight! I can't believe that wuss did that to her!"

"Then, can I ask you something out of...uh...curiosity?"

"Ask away!"

"What could happen if...she fell in love with another one?" Storm scratched his head. "I mean, if another idiot turns her down again and she...uh...falls in love with him?"

Jet smacked his right fist into his left palm. "We'll beat him up as well!"

Storm smiled. "R-right! I'm asking that because she is...already looking for another one right now..."

"...WHAT?!" Jet asked angrily and Storm ducked in fear. "She's looking for another boyfriend AT this time?! Right now?! In our mission?!?!?!"

"D-don't get mad boss! Think of your blood pressure!"

"GRRR!" Jet somehow was able to kick his rather big desk with his foot and was flung away. "If Wave EVER falls in love again with another, I'll going to kill her this time!"

"...If she doesn't kill you first, I mean, she's bossier than you when she gets angry." Storm pointed out as Jet calmed down with a shocked expression.

"...Well...let's see what happens and we'll do something!"

Splash Canyon
Close to the finish line

"...And Sonic wins!" Pichu said waving a checkered flag as Sonic finished the 3 laps by foot around the course in record time, while C. Falcon was still with 1 laps and a half completed.

"I told you! I'm the fastest!" Sonic taunted as his voice echoed.

"S-shut up! L-let me get there first!" C. Falcon shouted from very far away.

"YEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" They all looked above and Falco came doing a lot of maneuvers as he jumped down using Sonic's Extreme Gear, the expert pilot landed in front of them with a grin as he jumped to the floor. "Man, I haven't used those moves ever since the school!"

"Too bad though," Tails said as he took the Extreme Gear. "You're not a participant of the race, if you were, then we could have had a chance to win...maybe..."

"Are you still depressed that Fox didn't come?" Chris asked as he was sitting on a rock reading his book.

"W-what?!" Tails blushed. "N-no I'm not! A-and how did you-I mean, no!"

Nana stared at Chris and tilted her head. "You know, I find that job very useful to find out people's secrets."

"Oh?" Chris looked at her. "Like you weakness of handsome me-"

Nana blocked his mouth. "How did you-I-I mean, no!"

Popo chuckled a little. "I guess he found ou-"

Nana also blocked his mouth as she blushed. "Shut up, both of you!"

"Pikachu, did you record that?" Ness whispered to Pikachu who was holding his camera.

"Yep, recorded and safe." Pikachu said chuckling as he hid his camera behind his back.

"I think that's wrong..." Lucas said a little worried.

"Aw, come on!"

Not far away, there was a humanoid purple swallow, it was Wave, another member of the Babylon Rogues, sighing depressed, holding a small detonator on her hand, he was still depressed after her boyfriend turned her down (and got beat by Jet and Storm), she was still thinking if there was another person out there meant for her.

"...C'mon, Wave, you have to forget it anytime, sooner or later..." Wave muttered to herself as she then saw Tails explaining more about the Extreme Gears to the Smashers. "...Well...I guess it's time to put the plan into action, now get serious..."

"STOP IT ALREADY!" Knuckles said annoyed. "I told you I got that! It just floats and it's good enough for me!"

"(And if I'm not mistaking, Wave should appear right...now.)" Chris thought as mentioned character came behind them, laughing at the moment.

"Hahahaha!" Wave laughed as they all looked at her.

"Huh?" Knuckles said confused.

"Sorry, but it's just too funny!" Wave said stopping laughing as she eyed the Extreme Gear "(Let's see...)" She took it from Tails's hands and inspected it. "Huh? This gear's unusual..."

"Customized it myself." Tails said putting his hands on his hips.

Wave was looking the Extreme Gear from the underneath part as she thought. "Hmm... (This isn't half bad for an amateur. Still, you can never be too caref-)"

"Oh!" Chris said as Wave jumped scared, she didn't notice him and she quickly hid the small detonator behind her. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Chris, nice to meet you."

"Er...I..." Wave was left speechless and shook her head, glaring at Chris after she finished. "Hey, watch it jerk! You almost scared me!"

"...I see, sorry for being rude." Chris said chuckling a little, getting on Wave's nerves.

"(So this guy is the one that Jet told me to watch out for...)" Wave thought seriously. "(...He looks like a nerd to me, so why'd I get worried?)"

"It's bad to stare at people directly if you don't speak, you know."

"W-what?" Wave asked rudely. "I'm not interested in you! Now let me see this Extreme Gear!"

"Wow, Tails, she's interested in you." Twink said winking.

"W-what?" Tails asked blushing. "W-wait, I haven't asked for your name yet...and the other guy that looks like a puppet..."

"Oh, my name is Geno, nice to meet you." Geno said introducing himself.

Though Wave backed away and examined the Extreme Gear again as she thought. "(Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the bomb...I just need to put this little baby here an-)"

"I-I'm coming! I'm coming!" C. Falcon came running from behind Wave (getting her angry again as she hid the device behind her) and panted once he stopped. "I...I admit it, you're the fastest thing alive Sonic...whew..."

"Told ya." Sonic said grinning in triumph.

"CAN YOU PLEASE BE QUIET AND LET ME PUT THIS FREAKING B-" Wave shut her mouth in shock as they all stared at her.

"Can you finish that word again?" Amy asked.

"I...I wanted to say "put this freaking badge" in the Extreme Gear!" Wave said smiling scared as she took out a badge with the letters "Y-O-U S-U-C-K" on it in gold.

"...Why were you going to put that on it?" Knuckles asked with a glare as he crossed his arms.

"What? AH!" Wave threw the badge away and sweated. "J-just let me inspect it in peace!" Wave said inspecting the underneath part of the board. "(Finally...I can go along with the plan without interruptions...now...let's put this little, annoying baby here an-)"

"You guys!" Falco came with Pichu (Wave's anger was getting even bigger this time), the avian crossed his arms and grinned. "Do you know where I can find a "Chaos Emerald" thing to enter the race?"

"Wait, if you're going in, I'm going in too!" C. Falcon said before Wave got caught in her fire of rage and glared at the 2.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP BEING ANNOYING AND LET ME FINISH M-"

"...There's someone very mad this day." Falco said frowning.

"I agree heartfully." Amy said annoyed.

"Us too." Popo, Nana, Ness, Geno, Lucas, Twink, Pikachu and Pichu said nodding with bored looks.

"So, who's she? It's a new friend, Tails?" Falco asked as Wave just stood there staring at him.

"I...no...she just came here out of nowhere." Tails said.

"(...Hmm...those eyes...)" Chris thought as he looked at Wave.

There was something weird happening to Wave once she focused her eyes in Falco, her pupils shrunk instantly after she looked at him, she quickly felt butterflies flying inside her stomach, there was a small smile forming around her beak and through her eyes, she saw Falco in front of a glittering pink background with roses around him.

"(Oh my...he...he is so...so...so handsome...)" Wave thought dreamily.

"...Hello?" Sonic waved a hand.

"Hey, why are you staring at me with those eyes?" Falco asked getting closer to her.

"(He is looking at me...oh god...what should I say now?... I'm so embarrassed...)" Wave thought as she blushed a little.

"...Are you blushing?"

"(Oh no, what should I say now? Don't freak out, please don't freak...I really like his vest and bandana...it makes him look too hot...)"

Chris backed away from her. "...This is...really awkward..."

"...Are you feeling alright?" Falco asked.

"...U-ughh..." Wave took out the small detonator from behind her back, the others saw it as it went inside Wave's mouth who swallowed it while her eyes were still looking at Falco. "...I...um..."

"Yes?" Falco asked raising an eyebrow.

"...I need to...to go...sorry..." Wave said giving Sonic his Extreme Gear, the swallow turned her back without changing her expression and walked away from the scene.

...3...2...1...

BOOM!

After she was gone, an explosion came from the same direction she went and they sweatdropped.

"...Was she going to put that bomb in your board?" Lucas asked to Sonic.

"I think so...weird, I think I saw her somewhere before." Sonic said wondering, rubbing his chin.

"Oh that girl!" Amy said with a glare. "Who does she think she is?"

"A strange one, that's for sure." Falco said puzzled as he tried to know why was she lost once she looked at him.

"(...Aha...)" Chris thought with a small smile. "(A new pairing is soon going to be born...)"

Babylon Rouges's Airship
Jet's Cabin

Jet sat on his seat while he looked at his weird blue-transparent box with curiousity as Storm stared at the clock, his eyes reflecting the pointers of the clock moving around with every second.

"...It's she here?" Jet asked.

"No." Storm responded without looking to him.

"I hope she's participating in the race now...or else I'll k-"

"Awwwww..." Wave came from the door, she had a dreamy face (and was covered in black dust), the swallow sat on the sofa and sighed in relief. "I just met the most, handsome hunk in the universe..."

"Who cares?" Jet asked looking outside the window before he gasped. "Wait, what?!"

"I met the guy of my dreams...today, I'm have a new mission, and that is know him better..."

"Wave! I told you before not to hang out with more "boyfriends" again!" Jet said angrily.

"I must return and get changed, I sacrificed that bomb just to not hurt him...here I go..." Wave said sighing with pleasure as she went to her room and change to her new clothes...which were the same.

"...THE BOMB?! YOU, YOU "SACRIFICED" THE BOMB?! UGH!" Jet stomped the floor with rage as Storm sweated a little. "YOU!"

"Y-yes, boss?" Storm asked shifting his eyes in fear.

"Keep an eye on Wave and see who's this "handsome" guy she was talking about, once you find that guy, tell me! ASAP! NOW!"

"R-right, boss!" Storm said saluting Jet as he ran away comically to the Splash Canyon.

Jet frowned with fury and crossed his arms behind his back as he looked outside. "So, these "Smashers" want to stop me, huh?" Jet smirked. "There's no way I'm gonna let them get in my own way, oh no! Just you wait, Sonic the Dumbhog!... Geez, I'm bad at laughing at people and changing their names as well...oh whatever, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Splash Canyon
Close the finish line

"The race is about to begin, competitors please report to the finish line!" Omochao announced flying around as Tails was walking to the finish line with Amy, Extreme Gears on their arms.

"Wait, Amy, where did you get your Extreme Gear?"

Amy giggled a little. "I'm not going to tell you, Tails!"

"What? Tell me! That Extreme Gear looks really good! (Besides the pink color...)"

"Sorry, I'm not going to tell you even if you're my friend." Amy said looking away.

The Smashers and Sonic's group, meanwhile, were watching them from the cliffs were people (mostly robots) cheered at this.

"Talk about machinery going wild..." Pikachu said looking at the robots.

"It's a shame we can't enter the race." C. Falcon said as Sonic patted his back.

"Don't worry, something good will happen, sooner or later." Sonic said.

"Maybe."

"I find this interesting..." Chris said as he talked with Professor Kawashima. "You said the Subspace Bomb is moving around here?"

"It appears so, but it's strange, I sense some kind of hidden power in this one..." Kawashima said as Chris closed the DS.

"Chris, you should stop using that job, it changed you drastically." Nana said a little annoyed.

"But he got so badass when he was just about to reveal your weakness for h-mhmhmhmhmhmh." Popo's mouth was blocked by her sister.

"Not to mention you look like a nerd." Sonic commented and a vein popped out from Chris's forehead.

"Well! Since you seem to be so annoyed, I'm going to change jobs right now!" Chris said annoyed as she changed to his Ninja job. "Okay, how about now?"

"Tomato," Sonic said randomly and they looked at him. "...What? He made me think he was one with all those red clothes."

"...I understand, I DO look like a tomato in these clothes." Chris said blushing embarrassed.

Chris obtained the title, "Tomato Ninja."

Given by a hedgehog during your travels...now go and spread the healthyness of a tomato!

"Ah, Chris, I wanted to ask you something." Sonic asked crossing his arms.

"Yes?" Chris tilted his head confused.

"I was wondering if...you could let me go with all of you this time...it's fine with you all if I go?"

"(Well, let's see, you'll skip meeting Blaze in Sonic Rush and Marine in Sonic Rush Adventure and Silver and the alternate Blaze in Sonic 06, also he's skip the Secret Rings, or Sonic and the S(BEEP!)ty Rin-)"

"Wait!" Sonic smiled a little. "I had the idea to go to this city called Soleanna for a while, I think I'm going to go right now before joining you guys!"

"W-wait, what?!"

"I heard there's this festival that they're going to have!"

"OOHH, NO NO NO! You do NOT want to go that way!" Chris said shaking his head several times.

"It's my decision, sorry."

"Sonic, you do know I know what it's going to happen if you go there, right?"

"...I guess so?" Sonic said puzzled. "Alright, spit it and spoil me, I love spoilers!"

Chris sweatdropped (and had to agree with Sonic about spoilers). "...You're going to meet a silver hedgehog with psychic powers and bad voice that will kick you so hard that you will end in defeat everytime you fight him."

"Better yet."

"Dr. Eggman is going to have an horrendous look."

"To annoy him for all his life? Sweet."

"You will crash into a lot of walls."

"Pfft, like if that is going to happen."

"You will think the entire place feels like it's glitched or something."

"Cool, I want to see that."

"The entire story is stupid by itself."

"Not until I see it with my own eyes."

"Shadow acts even more emo than before."

"Suh-weet!" Sonic said rubbing his hands's palms together.

"Tails and Knuckles are not going to be of any help, because they're useless."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles's voice asked enraged.

"E-um, I mean, Knuckles is very strong that he could lift a mountain!"

"Nevermind then!"

Chris sweatdropped and went on, losing his sanity for a moment. "You're going to die by the EVIL FORCES OF EVIL!"

"I don't die, that's crazy!" Sonic said laughing to himself.

"You're going into a very crappy future where humanity didn't even do anything to prevent it."

"Then I'll help them out."

"They're dead."

"More time for me I guess."

"...Shadow saves your life from that hedgehog."

"Pfft, I'll save his own (beep!) anytime."

"(Dammit! Is there anything I can use to make him understand?!... Wait...)" Chris looked at Amy punching the air and Chris got an idea. "...You're going to fall in love..."

"With Amy? Not a chance."

"That's not the worst part!" Chris said shocked. "You're going...to fall in love..." Drums began to play thanks to Twink. "...With a human..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "...Come again?"

"You're going to fall in love with a human, a princess to be exact."

"...Why'd I do that?"

"Because she's the key to something very stupid, the very stupid thing will kill you with one blow and you'll die in a stupid, dramatic sequence where she cries over you without getting pinched by your quills in a crappy area where the grass is as plain as the newspaper and doesn't move by the wind, then the very stupid thing will laugh at you, wishing for eternal damnation to all humans as he turns into a very giant monster as a normal cliché in some kind of freaky dimension where you're still dead."

"...Oh well, it can't be helped."

"WHAT?!"

Sonic grinned as he crossed his arms. "Heh, this may be even a new experience! Alright! I can't wait to visit Soleanna and go through all those curious things an-"

Chris had enough and decided to lie one time to Sonic, just for his own and stubborn self. "...Did I mention you're going to make out with the princess?"

"W-W-WHAT?!" Sonic asked as his pupils shrunk and trembled in shock.

"Yes, and not only that..." Oh god, Chris was already going too far. "You're ALSO going to make out with Amy, you'll admit to Shadow that you're a mere faker and he's cooler than you, Knuckles will turn into Super Knuckles and defeat the main villain, Tails will say that you suck while you don't care, since you're still making out...with b-" Chris's mouth was blocked by Sonic who was utterly shocked.

"A-A-Alright! I-I get it! I won't get near that infernal place!" Sonic shuddered a bit as he unblocked Chris's mouth. "M-man, that's one scary thought...thanks Chris for making me understand the horrible future I was going to have...BUT MAN, that's insane and crazy!"

Chris smiled and chuckled. "Oh, you're welcome! Good thing I prevented you from going there! (IN YOUR NOT-SO PRETTY FACE, ELISE! GO AND CRY ME A RIVER! MWHAHAHAHAHAH-)"

"...Chris? Chris?" Sonic waved a hand in front of Chris's happy expression. "...I'm sure...this is the right option..."

"Look, it's the same girl we met!" Pichu said pointing down at Wave who rode her Extreme Gear and stopped in the finish line, staring at Tails and Amy.

"You're the same girl who tried to hurt my Sonic!" Amy said angrily.

"...Aren't you going to say anything Sonic?" Knuckles.

"Why?" Sonic lifted his hands above his shoulders with a bored look. "It's always the same thing with her, nothing can stop Amy, sadly."

"Shut up," Wave said as Amy pouted a little. "You, shorty."

A red toon vein popped out from Tails's forehead. "M-may I help you?"

Wave approached to his ear. "You do...know who was that guy? You know...the one with fierce blue eyes and red feathers around his eyes?" Wave asked blushing a little.

"Hmm...you mean Falco?"

"(Falco?! Oh my! That is such a-oh my god!)" Wave thought dreamily. "Yeah...that one...okay, I got that, thanks."

"...You're welcome?" Tails said confused as Wave got in her position.

"Oh," Wave turned to Tails. "By the way, don't tell him I asked you that...I want to...you know...um...nevermind..."

"What?" Amy asked.

"Y-you! Get on your own business!" Wave said walking away as Amy grunted at this.

"I'm going to beat you so hard that you're going to the earth's core! You hear me?!" Amy asked swinging her hammer madly while Tails backed away scared.

Seeing all of this from above, the only thing that Falco could wonder was: "(Who's that girl anyway?)"
"Sooo, this is blind love? It's blind love right?" Lucas asked to no one in particular.

Preview of the next chapter

"Wait, I sense some signals from the Subspace Bomb!" Kawashima said.

"Then let's look around!" Pikachu said jumping off from Chris's shoulder.

"B-boss!" Storm called out to his walkie-talkie.

"What?!" Jet's angry voice replied from the machine.

"I-I found the guy Wave was talking about!"

"Sweet! Now you can challenge me in the race!" Sonic said grinning to C. Falcon, who grinned back to him and shook hands...as they grinned rather evily to each other.

"...C. Falcon sure changes when women are not involved...pretty much like Zelda..." Chris remarked.

"A love letter? For me?!" Falco asked grabbing the love letter.

"T-that girl gave it to me and told me to give it to you." Lucas said playing with his fingers.

"Next time: Extreme races, lovebirds and an angry Jet!" Knuckles said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Splash Canyon
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy

References:

-The Ninja and the Scholar jobs are references to Final Fantasy lll DS.

-The Moogle Knight and the Agent jobs are references to Final Fantasy Tactics Adavnce 2: Grimoire of the Rift.

-Chris's "badass" attitude was a reference to Jade Curtiss, from Tales of the Abyss, by the way, you're going to see Chris doing that most of the time when he uses the Scholar job. ;)

-The boyfriend that loves explosives that Jet mentioned was...have you played Sonic The Fighters before? "Hint hint." ;)

-Chris's new title was a reference to Tales of Symphonia.

-Chris said a quote from our favorite but soon-to-die character Raven! XD

And the next arc begins! There's rivalry between C. Falcon (Mr. Slow for Sonic) and Sonic (Mr. Insanely fast for C. Falcon), Galleom is there? Will Raven stay on his toes from his own guild that is looking for him? (Go Estelle!) And will the FalcoxWave pairing be popular? (Yes, I know, but it happened, it had to because the arc needed extention). XD However, Sonic and C. Falcon are the protagonists. ;)

...And what does Dr. Eggman means with a preview, using Sonic's dark self? Hmm... I haven't forgotten that essential part of the anime...

So, I guess it's time to wonder if Sonic joins the Smashers, will he or not? Please god, knock out some sense to him before he decides what to do! XD

...WAIT...is Snake going to...oh no...er...go Chris the Tomato Ninja! XD

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 97*: Extreme Races, Lovebirds, And Angry Jet

Well, Christmas eve! My presents are almost begging to be opened! ;D

From ngrey651: Ooh, Chris is a liar...

Falco and Wave! Sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! I love this story more and more with each chapter. A Wave/Falco pairing is QUITE interesting.

From me: I know! I just LIKE to make original ideas for each arc, and this one is no exception, thanks!

From Wolfenpilot687: Master Hand erasing his own mind? Geez...
Nija Cosplayer, damn it I want to cosplay...
Raven's grave...I KNEW RITA WAS GOING TO HAUNT HIM TO HIS DEATH!
Snake can't kidnap Chris! "That is ilegal, you know."
SONIC? NOT AGAIN! MAN, I hate him TOO MUCH. I'm dying!
TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA, TOMATO NINJA!
I like this chapter bacuse Sonic is annoyed. *thumbs up*

From me: You like tomatos, I know that. XD

So anyway, well, to be honest, Sonic IS getting annoyed...but that's because I have something BIG coming to him that everyone's guard will be caught, just follow my lead, everyone! :)

From notfromearth7: ROTFL Tomato Ninja.

That is all.

From me: ...Um...thanks?

From Ultra Blader: Nice work putting in the four new jobs in. I didn't expect anything quite like them appearing. In particular, I was surprised by the Agent job, which reminds me of James Bond. The Scholar job wasn't quite what I expected, as I always considered scholars to be all: "Hmm... So this happened after that," and so on. Instead, we get a rather unkind alter-ego of Chris, whose ego is so big that it's big enough to take on Sonic's, Capt. Falcon's, and Falco's egos all on it's own, and most likely win.

Until next time:

Ultra Blader

From me: Chris will stop getting jobs once all the Smashers have their compatibility with him to make the Combinated Final Smashes, so please, don't say he's becoming all-godly, his clumsyness and fears greatly make him weaker...sniff...

Oh, and the Agent job isn't related to James Bond in any way (though you said it reminded you), you'll see when our favorite OC buys it. ;)

And that is ego then? I thought it was showing off your skills and talents, much like Sonic does.

And thanks. :)

From Anakin Son Mario43: Join them Sonic, JOIN THEM! I also have a Kingdom hearts related job for chris! The Keyblade master! It would be so cool for chris to have a keybalde! Wow, I like exclamation Points!

From me: Hello! But no! Because that would defy the prophecy! Sorry! Thanks! XD

From Hyuzyn: roflmao... Wave falling in love with Falco. And Pika is ebil.. keep it up! ^-^

From me: Original, 'nuff said, thanks. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: well, make sure to watch it! dead fantasy, i mean, once you've added the final fantasy arcs 7,8,X-2[if you're doing it] and kingdom hearts 2, could you might make some reference to it? well enough of that, ohh, is see a lovebird in the air! oh boy, eggman's getting chaos emeralds!? are those people insane!? he could possiblely use them to help out tabuu's army! oh boy, why can't charizard and deX3 just spare themselves from embarresment?[but i guess you need a comedian pair] is it possible you may be doing devil may cry 3 as a arc?the reason for 3 instead of 1 is cause, 3 explains dante's begining. and also, cause me thinks i'm on to something involving Auditions for Brawl, chapt 4, the apperance list. if ya can't i'll understand, it's rated M and, has a bit more blood than metel gear solid may have.

From me: I think I'm going too, by the way, can you please use spell check and punctuation? I can't understand your reviews at all...

And they'll go to the FF worlds, in order to get to KH.

And Devil May Cry May Kiss My (Beep!) Sorry, but no, NO ARC SUGGESTIONS...though you asked just for curiosity, so sorry.

Thanks! :)

From Mewtrainer: "Tomato Ninja"? So he's either candy or a tomato ninja with the new jobs... Are you hungry or something? Soo, what's wrong with Sonic going to Soleanna? And don't give me the "Chris told you already" thing. If that's true, then I'm a two-legged fish with feathers. XD Oh dear, being in love with the enemy is NOT good. A moving bomb? Oh well, I've heard of stranger things... like stewed ferrets. XD

From me: It was just a random thing about the title! XD

Sorry, but Chris told you already. XD Basically, Chris is trying to save Sonic from utter annoyance, but Sonic is thinking he's getting annoyed....how ironic.

A think about it, there's an enemy with a Subspace Bomb embedded, don't you remember? Thanks. :)

...Is this fic going down? Where are my frecuent reviewers? Well, don't panic, I understand their absense so, I hope you review this chapter as well! ;)

And so, we begin with another chapter everyone, happy Christmas eve, enjoy your gifts, and let's enjoy all together this chapter! Shall we? ;)

Read, enjoy and review! ;D

Chapter 97: Extreme races, lovebirds and an angry Jet

Splash Canyon
Close to the finish line

Splash Canyon

Wave was breathing silently as she thought about...you know who. "Okay Wave...you can get his attention...just concentrate..." Wave put her googles on and looked in front of her way. "Just stay focused and everything will be alright..."

"Weirdo, you talk alone." An Eggman robot said in a monotone voice.

"Shut up, you steel, ugly can! Ugh!"

"3..." Omochao prepared the countdown and the racers backed away. "2..." The racers stopped walking back. "1..." They all began to dash to the finish line and then... "GO!" They all jumped into their Extreme Gears and speeded across the track as the crowd got wild cheered loudly.

"So, that's how the race goes..." C. Falcon said wondering.

"Yeah, personally I like to run around, but hey, a new challenge is always good for a change." Sonic said.

"And mostly because you were "owned" by that bandit last night." Knuckles added as Sonic laughed sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, that's because he used the Chaos Emerald's power."

"Seriously, those things are always trying to kill us in some way..." Ness said remembering the Metal Sonic battle. "But nooooo, Sonic had to show off that time!"

"I ALREADY said I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Sonic said annoyed.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Sure, look Sonic, I don't know if it is a good idea to let you join us, you should reconsider it before doing a mistake."

"..." Sonic looked down depressed, though with a serious face.

"...Stop it guys!" Chris said and everyone looked at him. "It's not Sonic's faul-"

"IT IS SONIC'S FAULT!" Ness, Falco, Popo, Nana, Pikachu and Pichu said angrily, except for Lucas who was unsure about it.

Chris sweatdropped. "...Well...maybe it is...but you don't have to remind him those awful events! We're still living, right?"

"Technically yes..." Nana trailed off.

"And he just wanted to have some fun, yes, I know, his fun time almost gets our lifes, but he can't help it!"

"I think you just turned against him..." C. Falcon pointed out.

"...Oops... IT STILL DOESN'T MATTER! At least I accept his apology, and I trust that he will not make the same mistake again, that's right, Sonic?"

"...If you say so...I won't do it again." Sonic said giving him a small smile.

Chris smiled a bit. "Good! That's good enough for me!"

Twink wiped a tear. "Touching moment...small but touching moment..."

"(...What happened between them when I wasn't here?)" Geno asked mentally, confused.

"Hey, we should focus on the race." Popo reminded them as they all continued to watch the race.

All the competitors were now arriving at the rapids, where Amy was gaining the first place, followed by 2 Eggman robots, Wave and Tails, then 3 other robots.

"YAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Amy was pulled upwards by the cascade all everyone else were pushed high into the air doing several backflips in the air before landing and accelerating.

"(There, a ramp, time to use my skills and get his attention...please Babylon, please! Help me!)" Wave thought as she saw a ramp in her way, once she prepared to jump, she rocketed to the air and did a Heelflip, Kickflip and finally a Varial Backflip, before she landed and the crowd went wild. "Ha! Beat that shorty!"

"H-hey! I'm still new to this but I'm doing my best to learn!" Tails shouted from behind as they went inside a cave with a ramp, Tails accelerated and jump high up, doing a 720 and a Backflip, however, once he was about to finish it, he landed in the floor and failed. "Ouhh..."

"Oooh! He failed to land directly!" Omochao announced as Tails cursed a little under his breath.

"Was that really necessary to point out?!"

"Of course!"

"...Whatever..." Tails said frowning as he exited the cave from behind the waterfall as Amy jumped above him and accelerated to the finish line, clearing the first lap, however, Wave was in 1st place.

"Wow, that girl is really good." Ness said.

"I-I can't do those insane tricks she just did." Lucas said.

"Hmm..." Falco began to wonder.

Either Wave had a camera just to look at Falco or she had a very good ear, because she blinked surprised as she joined her hands. "(Yes! I'm getting his attention! Oh yes! I just need to win this race and then he will k-)"

CRASH IN THE WALL! O-OH WAIT, TOO MUCH INFORMATION ALREADY!

Wave wasn't that focused on the track and she crashed directly into the cave's wall.

"Looks like Wave is gonna have a serious scar for that!" Omochao said as many robots began to laugh.

"I'm a little bit impressed after she crashed." Falco commented as somehow Wave cried toon tears.

"(Nooooo! I'm losing him!)" Wave thought crying a little as she quickly got in her board and tried to regain the first place, since Tails was now in the lead.

"Hey, teacher, professor, whatever you are," Pikachu said searching in Chris's pocket and taking out the DS, then he jumped to Chris's shoulder. "Any trails of the Subspace Army, Shadow Bugs, Charizard?"

"How rude you Electric Mouse Pokémon! I'm not a whatever, I'm a professor!" Kawashima said.

"Hmm?" Sonic walked to them and took the DS in his hands. "Hey, how do you use this? It has videogames or something?" Sonic asked looking on the back and found the pen. "...So..." Sonic began to use the pen in Kawashima's face and the professor began to feel tickles.

"H-hey! Stop it! You're tickling me! Hahahahahahaha!" Kawashima pleaded laughing.

"...Good job Sonic, you found something to annoy the professor." Chris remarked.

"T-tell him to stop!"

"Hmm..." Sonic tapped the Sudoku option and a puzzle appeared, where he quickly began to play. "Hey, this isn't that hard..."

"Er, Sonic, I think you should stop playing with Kaw-" Chris was interrupted.

Ding!

Kawashima appeared on the top screen and blinked surprised. "Oh my! He finished the first Sudoku puzzle in 10 seconds!"

Chris blinked surprised before shaking his head. "F-fine! We all know Sonic can clear Sudoku challenges, now please, tell us if you detect the Subspace Army!"

"Gimme that!" Pikachu said taking the DS from Sonic's hands (who grunted a little since he was enjoying the game). "Now, search!" Pikachu said holding up the DS above him.

"...Can I try later?" Knuckles whispered to Sonic.

"Sure, I guess." Sonic said.

"Let's see now..." Kawashima said examining the area.

"I think I'm going to stay behind," C. Falcon said. "This race is something I don't want to miss."

"Hopefully, the next Star Spirit should be around here." Geno said.

"Star Spirit?" Sonic and Knuckles repeated confused.

"Oh, you haven't heard of them before, allow me to explain it."

2 minutes later...

It was the final lap and Amy was in the lead, trying to get away from Wave's dynamite attack to give it to her.

"I see, so that's why you're here too." Knuckles said rubbing his chin.

"...Ever wondered how the number "7" is overused these days?" Sonic asked.

"What do you mean?" Pichu asked.

"Look! 7 Star Spirits, 7 Chaos Emeralds, 7 Star Pieces, 7 of anything!"

Chris began to think. "...You're right... (Let's see, 7 Chaos Emeralds, 7 Star Spirits, 7 Star Pieces, 7 Dragonballs, 7 Super Paper Mario worlds, 7 wonders of the Glitz Pit, the 7 years event in Melee...)"

"Wait, I sense some signals from the Subspace Bomb!" Kawashima said.

"Then let's look around!" Pikachu said jumping off from Chris's shoulder.

"...Huh?"

"W-what is it?" Lucas asked.

"...This is strange..." Kawashima said trying to think. "...It's moving around at high speeds somewhere in the area, across the jungle... I didn't know the Subspace Bombs could wander around by their own before..."

"A Subspace Bomb that moves around by its own?" Lucas asked wondering. "...But...wait...why do I..."

"Huh? Lucas? It's something bothering you?" Chris asked.

"H-huh? N-no...it's just...I think I...n-nevermind, forget about it please."

"...Okay...if you say so."

"So, are we going or what?" Pikachu asked.

"Who wants to come?" Chris asked and Pikachu, Pichu, Ness, Lucas, Geno, Twink, Popo, Nana and Knuckles raised their hands. "Why are you 3 staying behind?"

"Same reason as before, duh." C. Falcon said.

"I wanna see if Tails can win this race." Sonic said pointing down below with his thumb.

"I'm a little bit curious as well." Falco said.

"Okay, then let's go and see if we can end this mission quickly." Ness said nodding as everyone except the 3 previous characters left the crowd.

Not too far away from them, there was someone using binoculars hidden in the bushes, it was Storm, who was looking around the place. "Let's see...who's that person Wave was talking about? Uhhhhh..."

With the team...

"Why'd a Subspace Bomb move around?" Pikachu wondered.

"Well, don't they use those weird robots to activate the bombs?" Nana asked.

"That's true, but they should move around but slowly." Ness said.

"Who cares?" Popo said swinging his hammer. "We'll smash that thing like before and presto! End of the mission!"

"Those things are hard to crush, just to let you know."

"...Maybe we can destroy them using our Final Smashes?" Chris suggested.

Pikachu remembered something and blinked surprised. "...The next Over Limit is mine! Period!"

Ness glared at Pikachu. "Oh no no no no, it's mine, mine should be enough to destroy it!"

Nana took out her hammer. "Oh, aren't you gentlemen? Let a girl do it first!"

Popo rubbed his chin. "I bet Pichu's one is bet-" Nana hit him with her hammer in annoyance.

"I-I wanna do mine!" Pichu said angrily.

"C-can I do mine, please?" Lucas asked raising his hand.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

They argued and argued until somebody else spoke.

"Mine!" Twink said angrily and they stopped to stare at him with angry looks.

"..." A moment of silence fell in. "...Mine!" Ness argued as everyone continued to argue.

"Are they always like this?" Knuckles asked.

"You don't know anything until you get to live with them..." Chris whispered shuddering a little.

"I don't care about their arguments," Geno said looking around the jungle. "What do I care is the location of the Star Spirit."

"Good! Somebody cares!"

"...I'm always caring about that, it's my job."

Chris made a bored look. "...Oh...right..."

"Mine!"

"Nana, shut up!"

And back to the race...

"This race isn't that hard to win." Tails commented as he and Amy were accelerating to the U-turn section.

"Yeah, but I wonder where is that girl again." Amy said.

"Isn't a little bit too weird, though?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"I mean, when I told her about Falco's name, she blushed a little..."

Amy began to think and then she snapped her fingers. "Oh my! Tails! I know why she blushed when you said Falco's name!"

"Y-you know Amy?"

"Of course I do! I'm an expert in this field! Look!" Amy began to explain as they entered the cave with a ramp. "It's very obvious! That girl i-"

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Wave yelled from behind accelerating to Amy and dropping something above her hands as Wave jumped high up to land in the highest platform.

"...What is this?" Amy asked confused as both her and Tails jumped high up as well.

"...AMY! THROW THAT OUT! IT'S A-"

BOOM!

An explosion came from the cave and Wave got out by jumping from the waterfall and landed on a downslope, where she quickly used her boost to accelerate and reach the finish line.

"Dynamite..." Tails finished by muttering, since the explosion caught him as well.

"...I'M GONNA RIP THAT GIRL'S HEAD OFF!" Amy yelled extremely loud as she began to accelerate to the exit of the cave.

However, that wasn't enough.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!!!!!!!" All the robots began to cheer loudly once Wave crossed the finish line in 1st place, Wave stopped with a turn and waved at the crowd, where she grinned.

"Shoot! They lost!" Sonic said snapping his fingers.

"Well, obviously, that girl had many skills at her favor." Falco commented.

Wave gasped and she quickly fainted.

"...What's the matter with her now?" Falco asked looking down to Wave.

"Hmm... Maybe..." C. Falcon rubbed his chin.

Not a second ago, a bush jumped close to them, Sonic looked the bush in curiosity but shrugged a little.

"Tails! Over here!" Sonic yelled to Tails and Amy who were just crossing the finish line, Tails grabbed Amy's hands and flew to them. "Sorry for that."

"I-it's okay, I'm still learning anyway." Tails said laughing a bit worried.

"But ugh! She cheated! I can't believe it!" Amy said gritting her teeth.

"Amy, we can use weapons to attack our opponents."

"...But she was behind me and..."

"Calm down, I'm sure that won't happen again." C. Falcon reassured her with a wink.

"Oh, why, thank you." Amy said giving him a bow.

"Anyway, we need to gather up with the others, they went to search for that bomb thing they mentioned." Sonic said.

"W-why they didn't tell me that before? I can disable those bombs this time without using substituters!" Tails said.

"Then let's get a move on!" Sonic said running away at high speed.

"H-hey! Can't you wait for me?!" C. Falcon asked as he tried to catch up with Sonic, but with no success.

"He doesn't know the word wait you know!" Tails yelled as he flew to them, but Amy got his hand and when Falco was away, she pulled him closer to her face. "W-what is it, Amy?!"

"I'm going to tell you why she blushed, I can't let this one slip off my hands." Amy whispered as she shifted her eyes. "This is it...that girl...is...in..."

2 minutes later...

"...Whoa..." Tails said, blinking surprised.

"(A-ha!)" The bush thought, overhearing their conversation.

"So anyway! Let's follow them!" Amy said giggling happily as she ran to the group.

"W-wait up!" Tails said using his tails to fly in the air with Amy.

Back with the mysterious bush, it moved and shook before Storm, who revealed himself to be the one spying on the group, took out his walkie-talkie to report the news to Jet.

"B-boss!" Storm called out to his walkie-talkie.

"What?!" Jet's angry voice replied from the machine.

"I-I found the guy Wave was talking about!"

"Really?!"

"Y-yeah! I found the buffoon she was talking about, his name is Falco, over!" Storm said saluting the sky.

"It's that so?!"

"Um...pretty sure boss..." Storm looked down where Wave was still fainted. "...Should I bring Wave to you? She's out of cold in the middle of the track, over."

"Hmph! Bring her here! I want to have a serious discussion with...wait, no! Don't do that! I'll join up with you 2 in a while, wait for me in the Splash Canyon, over and out!" Jet yelled angrily as he finished the communication.

Storm accidentaly threw the walkie-talkie away with a bored look. "Umm..." Storm looked down below and decided to carry her as he clumsily tripped all the way down.

And back with the group...

"TA-DA!"

"ACK!" Chris backed away. "S-Sonic! D-don't appear out of nowhere like that again! Y-you were going to make my heart jump out!"

"Oh, sorry for that." Sonic said grinning with an air of mischief around him.

"...Okay, now that you're here...where are the others?"

"They're trying to catch up here," Sonic put his hands on his hips and looked back above his shoulder. "The hero guy is coming."

"W-wait...damn you..." C. Falcon came panting heavily. "..."

"Oh, you're here!" Sonic said.

"Course I'm here, I did my...best to catch up...ugh..."

"Are you alright?" Twink asked.

"Just...let me...regain my energies..."

Ness sweatdropped. "...So, what were we doing again?"

"The bomb, the bomb!" Nana said annoyed smacking her forehead, then from the jungle, the other 3 came running or flying in Tails's case.

"We lost the race...sorry everyone." Tails said depressed.

"It's okay Tails." Sonic said.

"...Thanks, I think."

"Professor, can you please pinpoint the location?" Chris asked.

"Certainly," Kawashima called out. "...Hmm...it's just 50 meters away from here, follow the path of the north, beware, there are enemies around the bomb since it stopped."

"Lead the wa-" Sonic was grabbed by Chris by the shoulder. "Hey!"

"Sorry, nobody's going first, everyone goes always together to be safe."

"Pfft, yeah right, look, sorry, but this is how I work in a group."

A toon vein popped out from Chris's forehead. "Um...you should know the rules of traveling like we do, Ness!"

"Okay." Ness took out a paper from his backpack and gave it to Sonic, who stared it down in his right hand.

"...What's this?"

"Rules for traveling 101, read it if you want to come with us."

"...Alright...let me see..."

Rules for traveling 101, designed specifically for Sonic the Hedgehog

"Hey! This is just for me?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"Just keep reading, please! Complain later!" Chris said.

Rules:

You shall not separate from the group and wander off from your own, if everyone goes together to the same place, it will be safer that way

"Lame." Sonic commented.

You shall not confront an enemy alone

"Lame."

You shall not create an excuse just to wander around, alone

"Lame."

You shall not taunt the enemy either

"Lame!"

You shall not laugh at the enemy either

"Lame!"

You shall not use attacks at the moment you want, only when you have to

"Lame!"

You shall not disobey the current's leader orders

"LAME!"

You shall not work alone, did I mention this already?

"GRR!" Sonic ripped the paper in pieces and threw the pieces to both directions. "Sorry, but following these stupid rules mean not be myself! That's a bullsh-"

Ness blocked his mouth quickly. "Shh! There are kids here, like Twink!"

"Geno, what is bu-" Twink's mouth was quickly blocked by Geno, who glared at Sonic.

"This is really going to take a while for Sonic to understand." Chris said.

"You know Chris? I think I should "wander around" by my own first before I join you guys, sorry, I made my decision." Sonic said annoyed.

"(...Oh no, I did a mistake here.)"

"Tails, Knuckles, prepare, we're going to Soleanna tomorrow by morning!"

"Hey, who told me you're my boss or something?" Knuckles asked cracking his fists.

"I-I don't know what to say about this..." Tails said scratching his arm.

"..." Amy got an angry expression. "Hey! What about me?!"

And it was not long before the trio (except Tails) began to argue between themselves.

"Oh god, what did I just do?!" Chris asked grabbing his hair.

"Tell you what," Falco said with a grin as he talked like some sort of bigger entity. "YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE FIGHTS BETWEEN PEOPLEEEEEE!!!"

"OH GOD!"

Falco made a bored look. "...Chris, I was being sarcastic."

"...Oh!" Chris laughed half-scared. "I-I see! O-of course you were being sarcastic!..." Awkward moment of silence soon followed. "...You don't believe me, do you?"

"Guess." Falco said crossing his arms.

"Hey, sorry for interrupting, but we got 2 hedgehogs and whatever Knuckles is arguing." C. Falcon said.

"I'M AN ECHIDNA, THANK YOU!" Knuckles yelled out loud before returning to the discussion.

Chris felt someone pulling his shirt and he looked down. "...Yes, Lucas?"

"C-can you please stop them from arguing? I think I'm going to have nightmares with Sonic's glare..." Lucas said shuddering a little.

The World Traveler sighed. "...I guess I'm going to have the same nightmares as well...wait...STOP PLEASE!"

However, they were being spied during this whole time from even more bushes, yes, you may guess the bushes are the perfect places to hide for mediocre villains by this point.

And who were those mediocre villains?

The Babylon Rouges, those who.

"So, Wave," Jet asked glaring at Falco, who was conveniently with crossed arms. "That's the guy you fell in love with?"

"Yeeees...isn't he dreamy?" Wave asked blinking quickly with joined hands.

Jet rolled his eyes. "Yes, dreamily enough to be asking for a grave."

"Hey!" Wave glared at his younger brother. "What was that, gnome?"

"Hey! I told you a long time ago not to laugh at my height!"

Storm, meanwhile, was in his own world. "Boss? Wave?" Or maybe not at all.

"Yeah?!" Jet and Wave asked glaring at him.

"I-I think we should stop yelling out loud."

"So, you're gonna order me around?" Jet asked.

"N-no! It's not that! The bird is getting suspicious!"

"Hey, did you hear something?" Falco asked looking around.

Wave pushed Jet out of the way and spied Falco again. "O-oh! Look at those sapphire eyes! Aww..."

Twink looked at the same bushes. "I think it came out from those bushes over there!"

"Uh-oh." Jet muttered.

For their fortune, a random explosion came from the opposite direction and the Smashers and Sonic's team (who stopped arguing) looked in shock.

"W-what was that?!" Popo asked.

"An explosion, duh, let's go!" Sonic said disappearing in a blink.

"I told you, it's going to take a while to make him understand!" Chris yelled as he tried to use his ninja skills and jumped very high to a tree. "...AWESOME! Did you see how high up I jumped?!"

"Get moving and stop getting impressed!" C. Falcon yelled as he ran deeper inside the jungle with everybody else, as Chris went jumping from tree to tree (with Geno and Twink, who decided to go with him).

"...That was close." Storm said standing up.

"Aw! I wanted to meet him!" Wave complained glaring down at her brother. "This is all your fault, Jet!"

"Hey! I'm the boss here, you'll listen to me right now!" Jet said glaring at her before Wave grabbed his throat. "U-UGH!"

"YOU. ARE. NOT. GOING. TO. ORDER. ME. NEAR. FALCO!" Wave said trying to crush Jet's throat, before Storm decided to...

Hug them to death.

"Oh, brothers! I think we have our next member of the Babylon Rogues!" Storm said with a happy expression.

"WHAT?!" Jet asked shocked as Wave asked happily.

"Think of this boss, that guy has the looks to be with us!"

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MUSCLE-BRAIN!" Jet complained as Storm released both of them. "Ack! I need to catch...my breath...ugh...what do you exactly mean by that?"

"Oh, Storm!" Wave hugged Storm (for the first time in their lifes). "That is the most, greatest idea you've ever come up with!"

"Uh..." Storm blushed and touched his face with a finger.

"NO NO NO NO!" Jet yelled angrily. "The day I make that stupid wish I'll be the king of Babylon...a dead city by the way!"

"Jeeeeeeet?!" Wave cracked her fists.

"J-just let's follow that bunch of knuckleheads and challenge Sonic and his crazy team!"

Close to Egg Factory

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Behind Us

There was a big tank with Ganondorf, Dedede and Charizard, apparently, the trio were finishing some business they had back in the factory, probably they set up traps for the next race.

"The plan is simple," Ganondorf said. "Once the race starts, the traps will activate by themselves by detecting their boards and then..."

"They go to the air and yell in pain," Charizard said smirking evily. "Yeah, that should do it."

"Ya know, that plan is way too simple to get rid of 'em." Dedede commented.

"Oh, is that so?" Ganondorf said looking at the tank behind them. "If we were to fail such easy idea, then this will be enough to take them out." The king of all evil said smacking the tank a little with his palm.

"Oh, right," Charizard said grinning at the tank. "The "moving" Subspace Bomb or in the right na-"

"Say no more."

"Tsk."

"...We are not stupid kid, we know you are there trying to hide from us using that fake mantle tile."

Chris was hiding using a mantle to camouflage with the environment. "Wait, how did you see me?"

Dedede smacked his forehead. "Kid, we can see yer face."

True to Dedede's words, Chris's head was sticking out of the paper.

"And the thing you're using to hide doesn't even match with the grey pipe." Charizard pointed out frowning.

"...Crap! I used the other side instead!" Chris said cursing under his breath as a flamethrower almost burns him, but Geno quickly came from below and took him down before the flames reached the pipe. "T-that was close, thank you Geno."

"It's my job," Geno said before glaring at the trio. "If you hand over the Star Spirit, we won't fight you."

Twink came from the sky flailing his little hands. "Or better! Release all of them!"

The trio of the Subspace chuckled evily at this as the others joined the group. "Yes, ask the idea away, the one that will not happen." Ganondorf said.

"And ya can have the hedgehog!" Dedede said glaring at Sonic who was laying down above the tank, the hedgehog smirked and jumped back to the group as he grinned.

"Oh, look, it's the clone of my moves." C. Falcon said to Ganondorf.

"Clone? What a laugh, my skills are far more superior than yours."

"At least I have common sense!"

"Stop it, both of you," Nana said annoyed as she put her hammer above her shoulder. "We want to end this now, give us the star!"

"You wish," Charizard said. "We're just here to assist that doctor that doesn't even cure anything with a little project he has in reserve for that pesky hedgehog."

"...The dragon does have a point." Knuckles said rubbing his chin.

"Heh," Sonic smirked. "Bet that project he has for me isn't that hard to take down then."

"Again, you wish, it's the most, brilliant idea ever to use you as a tool." Charizard said chuckling.

"Charizard, that is enough," Ganondorf said as Charizard frowned. "Unfortunately, we have to get out of here and meet in another occasion."

"H-hey! You can't leave!" Pikachu said gathering sparks.

"And what will the cheeky-rat do? Zap us to death?" Charizard asked taunting.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"T-that's offensive, you know!" Pichu said a little angry as he gathered sparks.

"Silence, all of you." Ganondorf said.

"Hey! I have an idea, let's get outta here for real this time instead of losing our time here with 'em!" Dedede suggested jumping in the tank.

"You're not getting away this time, stay here!" Ness said.

"Aw, sorry big-headed kid, appointments and such are in our agenda currently."

"Want to know what is in my own agenda then?" Sonic asked pointing at himself with his thumb.

"(Sonic, no!)" Chris thought shaking his head.

"This!" Sonic said using a quick Homing Attack on Dedede, but the king quickly used his hammer to knock him out the tank, the hedgehog was pushed away to a near pipe but used his feet to spring back with a faster Homing Attack.

"Fire missiles!" Ganondorf ordered the tank to fire missiles at Sonic, the hedgehog turned back to normal, grinned and did a backward somesault to evade the missiles.

"Ha! What a bad aim you got there!" Sonic said taunting before noticing something. "...What the?"

There was a cloud of smoke in front of them that once it cleared out, the trio and the tank disappeared.

Music stops

"So that's why their aim was bad, it was to create a smokescreen with the missiles." Tails said.

"Damn, we couldn't do anything to stop them." Knuckles said frowning with shame.

"I-I was thinking what was the project they were talking about to use in Sonic." Lucas said.

"Who the hell cares what Eggman does to me?" Sonic asked rhetorically throwing his hands up. "I'll find him, fight him and break 'im up if I can."

Chris looked away and Pichu noticed his action. "(...Did I mess up the storyline again?... I'm worried about this...)"

Pichu jumped to his shoulder. "Chris? It's something wrong?"

"What? N-no, I'm fine Pichu, thanks for worrying about me."

Pichu wagged his tail a little. "Heheheh! No problem!"

"Were you thinking the same Amy?" Lucas asked.

"Of course!" Amy said crossing her arms and pouted a little.

"...I know, "I don't want anything bad happen to my dear Sonic", right?" Ness asked.

C. Falcon chuckled and decided to change the subject. "Anyway, I say let's wait for them to make their move and we'll attack as well, for now, let's focus in something maybe more important."

Sonic grinned and snapped his fingers. "Hey, that's right, the race!"

"Now you're talking, do you know how can I enter?"

"Well," Tails began. "You need a Chaos Emerald to enter, but Sonic, myself and Knuckles used our own emeralds to enter."

"And don't forget about me!" Amy said.

"Where did you get your emerald Amy?" Knuckles asked.

"A girl has her means to get anything."

"...Eww."

CRASH!

"WHAT WAS THAT AGAIN?!" Amy asked to the sudden red bump on the floor, maybe because of the hammer she was holding up with fire.

"NUTHUNG!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"FINE!"

Tails shrugged. "Er...that...doesn't matter...okay, as I was saying, you need a Chaos Emerald to enter, but seeing that 4 were given, then the other 3 were..."

"Given by us!" A voice echoed through the pipes.

"...OK, I know it's getting repetitive with the hidden echoing voices, but who's that?" Popo asked looking around.

It was not so late before they saw 3 persons riding Extreme Gears coming to their direction, the persons were the Babylon Rogues who appeared from behind them, jumped the Smashers, landed in front of them and took their Extreme Gears in their arms (for an odd reason, Wave tripped).

"Oww!" Wave complained.

Jet frowned mentally as he grinned at the Smashers. "Remember me?"

"Hey, you're the guy from last night!" Sonic said pointing at him.

"Impressed by my skills on the board, hedgehog?"

Sonic rubbed his mouth a little before grinning. "Not a chance, I've gotten better enough to take you out."

"Yeah, right."

"(And the battle of the egos has just begun, ladies and gentlemen.)" Pikachu said blinking bored.

Knuckles got out from the hole and glared at Storm. "You!"

"You!" Storm repeated stupidly.

"Was that necessary?" Jet asked.

"Umm, yes?"

Jet facepalmed and frowned. "Ugh, we're so out of it today, especially miss out of this world over here." Jet pointed at her older sister who was looking dreamily to Falco.

"...Miss out of this world?" Falco repeated confused.

"Aww..." Wave merely sighed with pleasure.

A wiltered ball plant rolled between both groups in an awkward silence.

"..." Jet shook his head. "...You're stupid, you know that?"

"What?" Falco asked crossing his arms.

"Jet!" Wave said glaring at her brother.

"...Can you please tell us why are you here in the first place?" Chris asked.

"That's obvious kid," Jet said pointing at Sonic's group. "We're here to demand a challenge with the hedgehog, the fox, the pink hedgehog and whatever the red mad dog is!"

"I'M A DAMN ECHIDNA!" Knuckles yelled furiously.

"Ooohhh, group quarrel, me likes it." Popo said as Nana facepalmed.

"So, are you up to the challenge? Sonic the Slowhog?" Jet taunted about to board his Extreme Gear.

Chris sweatdropped. "...If you think Sonic will get mad at the dumb nickname you gave him, then you're dead wro-"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Sonic asked furiously at this.

"(And officialy not all the things you know from your comfortable bed or sofa as you play a game are nothing but lies once you get to know your favorite characters in person.)"

"Hey! That's rude!" Amy said ready to smack them down with her hammer.

"Sorry, but we don't have time for these things," C. Falcon said. "Right now, we want to know how to enter the races."

"Yes, I'd like to partcipate as well, by any means if that's possible." Falco said grinning a little.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Off-Key

Wave gasped and she quickly grabbed Falco's hands. "Wait! If you want, I can convince the host to make you enter and your friend if you want again!"

"R-really?" Falco asked taking back his hands.

"O-of course! Don't worry, I can convince anyone just for you!"

Falco grinned at her and nodded. "Then that'd be very nice if you could do that."

"(Aww, he's so handsome when he grins...)" Wave thought dreamily.

"...It was true Amy." Tails whispered to Amy.

"And not only that! I'll design you the best Extreme Gear that I've ever created, to you and the weirdo in the superhero costume (C. Falcon: Hey!) I'm an expert in this field unlike shorty!"

"Hey!" Tails said angrily, but Falco ignored that comment.

"Wow, can you do that too?" Falco asked.

Wave nodded rather quickly as Jet tried to ignore the scene her sister was causing. "Y-yes! Just leave it to me!"

"Good, thanks!"

"A-a-a-a-aww..." Wave blushed a bit shade of red and instantly fainted in front of Falco.

"...You okay there?" Falco asked looking down to her before Storm took her on his right shoulder and walked back to Jet.

"Look, if you think she's gonna do that just because she thinks you're the best man there is, you're so dead wrong on that!" Jet said angrily.

"...What, come again?" Falco asked tilting his head confused.

"Oh, blind love, just wonderful." Amy said giggling as she muttered.

"What?"

"Oh, I get it!" C. Falcon said.

"W-wait, can anyone care to explain me?"

"Ugh! You're so useless, all of you!" Jet complained.

"STOP!" Chris yelled. "Look, what are you going to do now?"

"Beat the hedgehog!" Jet said boarding his Extreme Gear.

"Yeah!" Storm said taking Wave, her Extreme Gear above his own Extreme Gear.

"Alright! Action time!" Sonic said taking out his Extreme Gear and jumped above it.

"Bring it!" Knuckles said getting above his own Extreme Gear.

Geno shook his head surprised. "Wait, where did you take those?"

"W-wait again, are you going to race here right now?" Twink asked confused.

Music stops

Their moment was soon broken by a mechanical Chao that floated down between the 2 groups. "All competitors, please report to the finish line in Egg Factory! Repeat! All competitors, please report to the finish line in Egg Factory! Knuckles the whatever and Storm the Albatross, please report to the finish line in 20 minutes!" Omochao said.

"Knuckles the WHAT?!" Knuckles asked furiously.

"I-I think that robot was programmed by Dr. Eggman himself." Lucas said as Omochao flew away using his small jet-pack.

"Seriously! It's hard to remember the word Echidna?!"

"I haven't see any echidnas before, or ever heard of them." Twink said sticking his tongue out.

"Tsk!" Jet said. "Fine, Storm, go and kick the echidna's butt in the race, I'll take Wave to the airship!"

"Right!" Storm said putting the unconscious Wave above Jet's board along with her Extreme Gear and both went away at high speeds. "So, knucklehead, ready?" Storm asked cracking his fists.

"I'm sure as hell!" Knuckles said as both went away to the finish line.

"...Knuckles lost, that's all." Sonic said frowning.

"I know he's easy to get angry, but that is ridiculous." Geno commented.

"You don't know anything." Chris said with a bored look.

Close to the finish line

Egg Factory

All the competitors (which were lots of Eggman Robots of another line of series) and both headstrong rivals were getting prepared to race in the track around the factory, which was centered and focused only about magma and fire.

"This is...hell..." Nana said sweating in the scorching fire's steam.

"Need...to take out...gloves..." Popo said about to remove his gloves.

"Popo! Don't do it! Someone will see our skin!"

"O-oh! You're right!" Popo said pulling the glove back to his hand.

"Who thought it was a good idea to build a factory with magma?" Twink asked sweating.

"Eggman, that's who." Sonic said wiping out the sweat from his forehead.

Meanwhile in an area somewhere around the factory...

"What?"

"Make these 2 enter, now."

"What?

"Make these 2 enter, now."

"What?"

"Make these 2 enter, now."

"What?

"Make these 2 enter, now."

"What?"

"Make these 2 enter, now."

"What?

Wave got furious. "MAKE THESE 2 ENTER THE DAMN RACE, NOW!" Wave said pointing at some pictures of Falco and C. Falcon, where she got them was a mystery.

"W-who told you I'm going to listen you?!" Dr. Eggman asked with a glare.

"Okay, fine! I'll tell Jet that a lie, you were trying to sabotage us!"

Dr. Eggman began to sweat. "W-why would I do such thing?" O-of course I'm never going to sabotage anything!"

"Then?" Wave crossed her arms. "Are you gonna listen or not? Hurry! I need to design some Extreme Gears!"

"I-I-ah...w-well..."

"WELL?!" Wave asked pulling out a gun from her back.

"D-damn you! Fine! These 2 are entering, there!" Dr. Eggman said adding their names on his computer. "Happy?!"

"You bet I am! Thank you!" Wave said throwing the gun at the lava, running away to the airship as Dr. Eggman got very confused.

"...Thank you? Did I miss something?" Dr. Eggman asked scratching his head before shaking it. "That doesn't matter right now, I have to finish that machine to show Sonic his little surprise...heheheheh..."

And back again with the group...

"GO!" Omochao yelled signaling the start of the competition where the racers accelerated at full speed and jumped to the factory using the ramp.

"With this heat, Knuckles's temper is going to be even worse than before..." Amy said wiping out the sweat of her neck.

"Oh, can I have your attention, please?" Omochao asked floating to the group. "I'm looking for Mr. Falco and Mr. C. Falcon, do you know them?"

"That'd be me." Falco said.

"And me." C. Falcon said.

"Oh, I see, there have been some changes around here so, you 2 are officialy competitors for the next race in Green Cave for tomorrow in the night."

Falco smiled a little. "Wait, for real? Are you serious?"

"Well, the schedule says so, and if you excuse me, I have to make some arrangements for the next track, have a nice day sirs." Omochao said floating away.

"Aw, how sweet," Amy said joining her hands. "Isn't love great? Falco?"

"...What?"

"Oh, brother..." Pikachu said frowning at Falco's cluelessness.

Pichu looked bored somewhere else. "And he calls himself a casanova..."

C. Falcon made a fist. "Great, things are starting to look up."

"Sweet! Now you can challenge me in the race!" Sonic said grinning to C. Falcon, who grinned back to him and shook hands...as they grinned rather evily to each other.

"...C. Falcon sure changes when women are not involved...pretty much like Zelda..." Chris remarked.

"I have to get a warm-up before I challenge that Mario guy." Sonic said as the Smashers stared at him.

"Oh yes, Mario said he got a letter from Sonic during his festival of sports." Geno reminded them.

Sonic blinked. "Wait, you know that Mario guy?"

"Know him? We're friends of Mario." Twink said smiling a little.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, if you want to know about him, he's the nicest person in the universe," Chris began. "He cares about the people around him and likes to save his home from Bowser, a villain that keeps kidnapping Peach, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Amy raised her hand. "I was the one who found out about Mario, news spread too quickly to these parts."

"And Amy told Sonic about Mario and he decided to challenge him once he saw all the news about him over the newspapers...and internet." Tails added.

"Heh, then I thought the Olympic games were the perfect challenge to have a match with Mario and his pals," Sonic said grinning. "If he thinks he can out-run me in the running division, then he's so wrong on that!"

"Say, maybe we can invite you guys to participate as well."

"Hmm..." Popo began to think.

"Does it counts if I was the best of my school in athletism?" Ness asked.

"Don't worry about little details, we can invite you all to have a friendl-" Amy was interrupted.

"But fierce competition between rivals!" Sonic said making a thumbs-up. "What do you say?"

"I'm SO in!" C. Falcon said pumped up.

"Not another competition..." Geno said frowning. "I need to gather the Star Spirits..."

"Geno! For just one time, enter!" Twink said angrily.

"O-okay! Okay! I'm in!"

And the rest of the Smashers decided to enter as well.

"Good!" Amy said. "Now we just need to find our team and the Olympics will start soon!"

Lucas was unsure about this and backed away from the group who didn't notice him. "...I have to stop being a coward... I studder so much..."

"Pss!"

"UAH!" Lucas jumped in terror and looked behind him. "W-who is there?!"

"Pss, kid, you!" A voice called from behind a pipe.

"M-me?" Lucas asked.

"Yes! You! C'mere a second!" The voice said motioning to itself.

Lucas looked at the Smashers, then at the hand, then at the Smashers, then at the hand, and finally walked to it slowly. "W-what do you want?" Lucas thought something in his mind. "I-I'm warning you, I can make you suffer with PK Fire with PK Freeze if you attack me!"

"No!" The voice said annoyed. "Listen, I want you to deliver this letter," The voice gave Lucas a letter with a heart on the center. "To that handsome blue bird with fierce eyes."

"...You mean Falco?"

"Aww..." The voice said dreamily taking the letter back to it.

"...Hmm..." Lucas walked behind the pipe and found Wave, who gasped after the boy looked to her. "You're the sam-"

"Shh!" Wave blocked his mouth and shifted her eyes. "...Look, I want you to give him this letter...does he has a last name?"

"...Lumburdu." Lucas muttered under her hand.

"What?" Wave asked pulling her hand away from him.

"I-I think his last name was Lombardi..."

"L-Lombardi?!" If you thought she once again sighed in relief, then you were right. "Aww... Falco Lombardi... W-wait here!" Wave said tearing the letter apart, writing in another paper something, then put it inside another letter with another heart and gave it to Lucas in 20 seconds. "There! Now, please, go and give him the letter."

Lucas took the letter and tilted his head. "D-do I need to say yo-"

"Don't say my name to him!"

"I-I don't know your name!"

"Perfect! Now get out of here!!!" Wave said kicking Lucas away from her spot, where he went soaring to the sky and crashed into the floor, and ironically enough, next to Falco who looked to him, ducked to help the PK kid stand up and talked a little bit with him.

"What were you doing in the floor?" Falco asked.

Lucas looked where Wave was and she glared at him. "E-er... I was licking the floor! (STUPID LUCAS! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!)"

"...Yuck." Falco said before turning his back to Lucas.

"W-wait!" Lucas pulled Falco's hand.

"What now?" Falco asked a little annoyed.

Lucas showed him the love letter. "T-this is for you...a love letter..."

"A love letter? For me?!" Falco asked grabbing the love letter.

"T-that girl gave it to me and told me to give it to you." Lucas said playing with his fingers.

"(I'M SO GONNA KILL THAT KID!)" Wave thought furiously hiding in the darkness.

"Hmm." Falco opened the letter and began to read every sentence to himself.

017 - Adelle

Roses are your red flaming feathers,
Violets are your deep sapphire eyes,
Sugar is your enticing voice;
And so are your handsome self.

Meet me in the forest of fireflies;
to give you my most important present.

Sincerely yours truly:
Wave the Swallow

Although he only cared about the last part. "Oh, an appointment to get my Extreme Gear, thanks." Falco said with a nod before Amy sidestepped and took the love letter.

"...Oh my! I can't believe it! I was right!" Amy said hopping in excitement.

"Yeah, weird letter to tell me about where she wants to give me my board."

"Not that you silly!" Amy said with a glare before joining her hands. "This is absolute true love in the air!"

"Steam." Lucas pointed out because of their location.

"Whatever!"

"...Whoa, whoa whoa whoa WHOA!" Falco said shocked as his pupils shrunk. "W-what do you mean by love?"

"(Oh my... I-I need to get going now!)" Wave thought as she ran away from the darkness and to the airship.

"Isn't obvious? Geez, a person could tell a mile away, if that person wasn't you, of course!" Amy said angrily.

"Then..."

Amy smiled and put her hands on her hips. "You're understanding now!"

"...That girl...fell...in love...WITH ME?!" Falco asked shocked pointing at himself.

Amy rolled her eyes and pointed at the letter. "The poem gives it away, it describes your features in a romantic and poetic way!"

The blue avian blushed a little. "...Ouch...and I'm supposed to charm women when I'm unaware that they do the same thing under my nose."

"Beak." Lucas pointed out.

"Then, what're you gonna do, casanova?" Amy asked with a serious face.

"...Should I really do this? I mean..." Falco began to wonder.

"Ooooooooohhhhh! Falco is in lo-ve!" Popo came from behind taunting Falco, the pilot looked behind him to see that everyone else overheard their conversation.

"W-what the-you guys were eavesdropping?!"

"Duh, you were yelling." Ness said rolling his eyes with a frown.

"I can't help it, you're hitting on a girl, finally man!" C. Falcon said giving him a thumbs-up.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Pfft, what's so great about love? It just gets in your way..."

"Hmph!" Amy pouted angrily at this.

"Can I be the godfather then?" Popo asked before Nana smacked his face with her hammer.

"H-hey! Who said I'm in love with her?!" Falco asked blushing a bit shade of red.

"Well then! Your attempts to charm girls finally made roots!" Chris said.

"I-I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, DAMMIT! STOP TEASING ME, YOU GUYS!" Falco yelled, as we see Storm and Knuckles trying to punch themselves out of their boards as they were crossing the finish line to get the second lap.

"I'm not teasing anyone," Geno stated. "I'm just watching this for amusement."

Twink looked at him. "Ooohhh, Geno, I didn't know that side of yours!"

"U-ugh!" Falco crossed his arms and looked away.

"Ironic how the ladies that he tries to charm turn him down and the girls who charm him are turned down by him," Pikachu said. "...Wait, this happened before with Brock... Oh well."

"Come on, it's not that bad." Nana said.

"But I'm not in...whatever!" Falco said utterly annoyed.

"...Hey," Ness got an idea. "...I think we can use this for our advantage."

"Advantage?" Chris asked.

Ness nodded. "Yes, in reality, I readed her mind."

"You can read minds?" Sonic asked surprised.

"Of course...well, to be honest, this is the first time in a long time I ever use it...but something seemed fishy about the Babylon Rogues, and turns out they're working with Dr. Eggman."

"(I...should have said that since I know the storyline...)" Chris thought looking away.

"And that girl, Wave, knows a lot about his plans, on a side note, I hope Knuckles isn't being too reckless because they hid explosives along the track just to explode when h-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Sonic grinned and cleaned his right ear with his index finger. "Sorry, I didn't hear anything."

The group sweatdropped at this and went on. "O-okay, as I was saying, we're going to use this "romantic" plan to get Wave the plans we need to know!" Ness said as everyone talked between themselves, agreeding with the plan.

Let's say Falco wasn't.

"Hey! I'm not some sort of bait, I'm out!" Falco said.

"If I remember, she has the Extreme Boards." C. Falcon reminded him.

"Extreme GEARS!" Tails corrected him.

"Falco, please! We need to save Soni-" Pichu was interrupted.

"Like if I'm in danger." Sonic said crossing his arms.

"We need to save Sonic from that plan!"

"...What now?" Falco asked worried looking to the sky.

"You have to do it! It will benefit you as well!" Twink said.

"For the Star Spirits, do it." Geno said amused.

"For this world as well, remember!" Chris said.

"And for love!" Amy said, though many ignored her.

"...Guys..." Falco began closing his eyes.

"Yes?" Everyone asked getting closer to each other.

"...Firstly, I'm so against this idea...but..." Falco opened his eyes with a sigh. "But since you're the annoying bastards of my entire life...and mostly because Fox will kick my a-" Falco stopped after Geno glared at him, and because Twink wanted to hear the last word. "...M-my Airwing I mean...I'll give a shot and sacrifice myself to get it for the team... I'm so gonna kill you for this one day..." Falco said annoyed muttering the last part.

"YES!" Ness, Popo, Nana, Amy, Pikachu, Pichu and Chris said jumping in victory.

"All I have to say is," Sonic made a thumbs-up. "Go get her."

"Tiger!" Popo added motioning like a cat.

"Alrighty then," Amy grabbed Falco's hand and walked away with him (though Falco was being dragged). "I'll make you the most, handsome bird in the universe!"

"...Do I have another choice?" Falco asked rhetorically as they went away.

"...It's okay to force Falco?" Lucas asked curiously as a familiar red echidna yelled in pain.

"W-well, I-I was hesitating a little, so why not?" Ness asked.

"It may be good...wait, let me go with them, Twink, come with me." Geno said walking away to Amy and Falco.

"W-wait up!" Twink said.

"What are you going to do?" Tails asked.

"I'll tell him what he need to say to get the information we need." Geno said as he disappeared.

"...Wait a minute..." C. Falcon began and looked to Ness. "If you readed her mind, how come you didn't read the rest where the plans were?"

Ness could only blink in shock and he spoke after 3 seconds. "...Dammit!"

"Let's wish good luck to the good couple." Pichu suggested and they nodded.

BOOM!

"I HATE THIS PLAAAAAACEEEEEE!!!" Knuckles yelled at the top of his lungs.

"...Did anybody hear that?" Sonic asked.

"...We'll pretend we didn't." The Smashers said sighing in disappointment.

Preview of the next chapter

"Okay Wave...the man of your dreams is coming here...you can do this...just...be-"

"Hey."

"A-aww..." Wave fainted.

"Now Sonic," Jet said grinning. "Ready to beg?"

"I want to see that, but from you instead!" Sonic said smirking.

"Oh, brother..." Chris said.

"Heh, hey, you're very good at the board."

"R-really?"

"Yes, come to think of it, I think I'm starting to pick an interest in you."

"...Oh...my..."

"The Subspace Bomb! It's getting closer!" Kawashima alarmed them as the same tank from before came to the ruins.

"This," Ganondorf appeared from the tank with the other 2 and each one of them stood besides the tank, that slowly transformed into something. "Is your last warning, stop getting in our way and we will not use brute force!!!"

"Here they come, stay focused!" Chris warned the group as their eyes widened (except Sonic's) when they saw the tank finishing his transformation. "Oh...NO!!!"

"Next time: The Blue Birds Blues! Get the title?" Tails asked as he chuckled.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Green Cave
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy

I'm sorry for not giving you the extreme races part, but the last 2 chapters will, I promise!

References:

-Tales of Symphonia 2 - Off-key is a song reference to the same game, it plays when something stupid happens, like when you find Lloyd's "Tacky" Mask in the first dungeon. XD

-Pikachu saying about Brock was a reference when Brock was about to marry the girl named TeMaCu (TEddiursa, MArill and CUbone) during the Johto's journeys. XD

Okay, this chapter didn't have that much, but it sets the next part of the chapter, where many things will occur!

Will Falco fall in love with Wave?

Will the Smashers stop the trio of the Subspace and the mysterious tank in time?

Will C. Falcon win any race against Sonic?

Will Sonic join the Smashers now that the events have changed his mind once again?

I just love to make quarrels between teams, it's original in this fic!

And will Misstar be rescued?

And most important of all, what is Dr. Eggman planning to do with the Chaos Emeralds and the machine that he is building just for Sonic? Something isn't right around here anymore...

...And Sonic is the master of Sudoku? XD

The questions will be answered in the next chapter...

Read, enjoy and review! Happy and merry Christmas eve! ;D
*Chapter 98*: The Blue Birds Blues

So sorry for not updating in a while, it seems that getting Sonic Unleashed (the mystery of the chocolate that Chip gets out of nowhere still remains to me), Final Fantasy lV DS (personally I liked Rydia when she was a child when she called forth her summons) and Chrono Trigger DS (Marle, the princess who really likes suicide missions as her hobby) in Christmas takes up a great deal of your time. :P

Love is crucial during this chapter...and sometimes funny. :P

From ngrey651: For some reason, Sonic seems to be good at Sudoku in a lot of fanfics. He's obviously smarter than I thought he was. AND I'm impressed. You didn't do a single "OMG I'm Omachao I'm annoying" joke. This has been a nice Christmas present!

From me: Really? I thought I was the first one on the Sudoku thing, and what Omochao jokes are you talking about? I haven't seen any.

Oh, and by the way, I did MAKE a Christmas special, but as another side-fic, I amazed how many ignored it. T_T

Thanks! :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Merry Christmas! saved my review until christmas. anyway, wonder how falco will contend with Wave after he leaves? seems like he's getting a bit of intrest to her in the next chapt. hm, in the SSE in SSBB, their was only one mobile "bomb", but i ain't spoiling for the rest of the readers. wonder how they will take to fighting a normal enemy that couldn't use the power of shadow bugs. also, please tell me what you thought of dead fantasy!

From me: I'm...going to be honest, I couldn't find any information about that game, so sorry.

Anyhoo, thanks. :)

From Nintendogeek01: This is both funny and awkward... I love it! Good job.

From me: Thanks? :D

From Rabid Original: No Christmas Chapter? D:
Just kidding, though it would've been kawaii~ (cute :P)

Haha, romance. You're doing good with it, too. Nice work.
And yay, epic amounts of violence in racing! It reminds me of playing Mariokart XD

From me: There WAS a Christmas special that all of you missed! However, it's not finished yet (sadly).

And the violence should be part of Knuckles here, thank you. :D

From TARDISreviewer: Do you mind what jobs are parallels to which characters? (just so if I decide to make a suggestion, I can choose the character it would be most compatible with.

From me: Once we reach chapter 100, I'll tell you, I have all the jobs planned so no suggestions, thanks. ;)

From Scorch the Hedgehog: Not trying to be rude or anything, but it seems like Wave is acting like Hinata Hyuuga from Naruto. You know, with all the fainting and blushing. Anyway, could you maybe do something from Crono Trigger in any upcoming chapters? Not like a full arc, just a cameo or reference, ya know? Also, if Chris did buy the Agent job, would he become a womanizer like Al-Cid? That's all of my reveiw for this chapter, but keep writing, I like this story.

'Til next we meet:
Scorch the Hedgehog

From me: Well, it may seem, but it's not a reference, many girls act like that in many other ways or events.

And apparently, you either readed my mind or just guessed, I have planned a Chrono Trigger arc ever since I got the DS version (can you say "Chris is so going to mess the future?") XD

And about the Agent job, you have a nice eye for games my friend, Chris will in fact turn into a womanizer (sometimes), however, one that succeeds and doesn't fail at all, thanks. :D

From Ultra Blader: Good job. The mobile Subspace Bomb is one of your best ideas yet.

P.S: Just to set the record straight, an large ego is when you think of yourself as being untouchable, powerful and so on, whilst showing off quite often, be it economical power or physical ability. So, in truth, you were correct; Sonic's constant showing-off is linked to his large ego, due to his natural abilities, particulary in the speed department.

Until next time:

Ultra Blader

From me: Thank you for the explanation. I hope the mobile Subspace Bomb is a good idea, since everyone knows what is that bomb, do you? ;)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh, Falco is in for it. Wta prophecy do you speak of because I did go back to chapter 27 and re-read the prophecy, but it did't say anything about that

From me: I meant the prophecy of Kingdom Hearts and the Keyblades, not the World Traveler one. XP Thanks anyway! :D

From timrtabor: will cris have to gain red pokemon turst too or just thier trainer's if he dose have to I have final smash ideas.

From me: ...I can't understand this review, it's bad written, so...thanks?

From Mewtrainer: Funny thing about quarrels: they're a lot funnier in fics than in real life. :) Did you make up "Sonic the Slowhog"? Cuz that is too funny! XD I remember now, thanks! Wave is in trouble when they leave... and so are Jet and Storm, maybe.

From me: I did make that up, but that actually made you laugh? I thought it was just a part to show a lame joke. :P

They could be in trouble, or not? Thanks. :)

From Wolfenpilot687: Geez, more races, (Sonic had enough didn't he?) but still, I like how do you describe them.

"Will Falco fall in love with Wave?" HMM? IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE. Wave seems like a good match with Falco, even with his narcissism, I mean, they are very alike and...CHRIS! YOU'RE MAKING ME FALL ON YER-

From me: Yes my friend, more races indeed, with all the madness and love included. :D

We're reaching the magical number 100, the special it's almost here, the end of the arc is almost here but sooner, you all will find how everything turns out if you keep goind down as you read the romant-I mean, plot of this arc.

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 98: The Blue Birds Blues

Green Cave
Close to the finish line

In a farther area, far away from the Egg Factory, there was Wave doing her things to complete the Extreme Gears she promised before.

"Ugh...this...is for...him...you can do it..." Wave said wiping out the sweat from her forehead. "...There!" Wave finished the Extreme Gears and she stood up, panting a little as a smile of victory appeared on her face. "Phew, that was hard...but nevertheless," She picked up the blue and red Extreme Gear, which she named the "Air Slicer" and looked down to the "Blue Falcon" (which is kind of ironic for who it was). "These boards are masterpieces, now I'm totally going to win his heart!"

Behind some bushes, we see Geno and Twink spying the purple swallow closely but carefully. "So far, she's not saying anything..." Geno muttered.

"Just how wonderful is going to get Falco fall in love with her." Twink whispered.

"Where is Amy? She said she was going to finish her part with Falco."

"Well, it's hard to find appropiate clothes in a jungle so, she had to return to Metal City and go to a clothes shop."

"I'll never understand the mystery of a girl's mind."

"I kind of know, thanks to Peach."

"...Where are they? It's getting late."

Twink looked at the sky and the pyreflies flying around. "It's because it's night here, tomorrow the next race will start at night, right?"

"Yes."

Wave sat on a rock and she looked at the sky and sighed. "...Will this be okay? I mean, Jet is very angry for my decision...who cares about that little bastard! He needs to know and understand my feelings!"

"Looks like she got in a fight with her brother." Twink whispered.

"Shh, keep it down." Geno whispered.

"I feel lonely...and...I want to be loved for one time..." Wave said to herself.

Twink shed a tear. "...I didn't know she was that lonely..."

"It's that too much to ask? I also want the acceptance of my brothers!"

"Do you think this is...making us feel guilty?"

"Because we're using her heart in a plan that we're just going to execute in order to know the plans of Dr. Eggman, who may have information about the whereabouts of the Star Spirit and the plan that he wants to use in Sonic?"

"Exactly!"

"...I'm sorry, it troubles me, but there's not another choice."

Twink looked down disappointed and Geno blinked for a moment.

"...But, who knows, what could happen if they DO fall in love with each other?" Geno asked with crossed arms.

Twink looked up with a happy expression. "Oh! Do you think that can happen?"

"Haha, it's a possibility, but it could."

"Yay!"

Wave blinked surprised and looked around. "Hey! Who's hiding there?!"

Twink imitated the sounds of a cricket.

"...Oh, just a cricket, I think I'm overreating..." Wave said resting her chin in her hands.

"Good job." Geno whispered as Twink nodded with a smile.

"...There they are!" Twink said looking at Amy and Falco walking to them. "...Wow, Falco, you look good!"

"Hmph." Falco said as he crossed his arms, probably in annoyance.

Amy giggled silently. "I spent all the day choosing the right clothes for him, until I came up with this selection, behold the new Falco!"

Falco was now dressed with a blue jacket, a black shirt underneath, blackglasses above his eyes (not ON them), a black belt on his white jeans, with black shoes, we could also add that he was showing his chest a little to look more attractive. "Seriously, I think my old clothes were just fine, now I look like I want to dance or something." Falco said frowning.

"Rude, that's what a girl wants of her boyfriend!"

"I'm not anyone's boyfriend!... Well, at least for now."

"You're going to do this for us, if you don't want to do it, tell it." Geno said.

Falco sighed. "But for once I'm thinking seriously about the mission and not myself, but is this...necessary?"

Amy facepalmed. "Of course, I told you 6 times already."

"Not to mention it could benefit you." Geno added.

"Now go for her, grrr!" Twink said.

"...Fine, fine, I'm going..." Falco said walking out from their hiding spot.

"Wait," Geno stopped Falco and whispered in his ear. "...You have to ask her all thos things."

"Geez, that's a lot to remember! How am I suppose to remember all that?"

"Don't worry, with the first thing you ask you'll remember everything else, but try to be yourself, that should be enough for her to answer." Geno said as Falco frowned to himself and walked out this time from their hiding spot.

"Ooohhh, look at him! He's my masterpiece in romance!" Amy said dreamily. "Now, if Sonic could wear that kind of clothes for me..."

"For now, concentrate on this." Geno said as Amy grunted in irritation and hid in the bushed with the duo, to spy on the "couple."

Wave was still sighing to herself. "I wonder when is he going to come..."

"You! Over here!" Falco called and Wave quickly looked at him, coming closer to her.

However, there was something odd happening inside Wave's mind, there were little versions of herself squealing with glee and running around.

"Oh god, look at the way he's dressed!" A pink Wave with "love" on her cap said dreamily.

"It makes it so much better for his appearance!" A green Wave with "eyesight" on her cap said squealing.

"I wanted the old one though." A black Wave with "thinks better than the other Waves around this crazy mind" on her cap said leaning.

"Hush! You don't know what to love!" Pink Wave said.

"Yeah!" Green Wave said.

And back to reality with the swallow and avian...

"I was looking for you all over the place." Falco said with a grin as he stopped in front of Wave.

"U-um...here." Wave said giving Falco his Extreme Gear. "T-this is...the Air Slicer, I designed it just for you."

"Hmm...it looks very good... I'm going to try it out very soon in the next race."

"I-I'm glad you liked it." Wave said playing with her fingers.

Falco looked at the farther Extreme Gear for C. Falcon and walked to it. "Is this for C. Falcon?"

"Y-yes! It is! I-I worked much harder in yours though..."

Falco chuckled a little. "Well, that isn't so bad, I guess." Falco began to walk closer to Wave.

"Okay Wave...the man of your dreams is coming here...you can do this...just...be-"

"Hey."

"A-aww..." Wave fainted.

Falco looked down to her and ducked. "You okay there?"

"I'm...fine..." Wave said as her eyes were spinning around.

"Pss! Falco!" Amy called from the bushed and Falco looked to her. "Grab her in your right arm!"

"What?" Falco whispered shocked.

"Just do it, and say something to get her!" Amy said before ducking.

"...Ugh, fine." Falco said grabbing Wave's back with his right arm and looked to her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh?!" Wave asked shaking her head, and blushed a little when Falco's face was very close to her's. "Y-yes, I-I think I just fainted all of a sudden...heheheheh..."

"Hmm...so, what do you want to do tonight? (DAMMIT! I GOT TOO FAR WITH THAT!)"

Wave blinked in anticipation, stood up and grabbed Falco's hand. "W-well, do you want to eat? I-I prepared the food close to us here! In a special spot I chose!"

"(Wow, she's good at loving people and preparing the dinner just for Falco, I like her iniciative.)" Amy remarked.

"O-okay, can you lead the way?" Falco asked.

"C-certainly!" Wave said pulling Falco's hand and dragged him away from the spot.

"Shoot! They're getting away, let's follow them!" Amy said sneaking through the bushes with Geno and Twink.

The next day...

Our group gathered in the area as Amy was really, really excited about what happened yesterday.

"It was a total success!" Amy said squealing a little. "Everything worked out so well that night! It was soooooo romantic!"

"Please, shut up." Falco (now with his normal clothes on) said annoyed.

"But she was REALLY happy!" Twink said.

"And we got the information out of her," Geno said. "Though it was a shocker what we found."

"What is it then?" Tails asked.

"Firstly, Dr. Eggman is building a machine to use in Sonic, though it's not any kind of normal machine...she said it was a machine to transform the target into a...what was it, Twink?"

"I-I don't know, she didn't say anything else, only that the Chaos Emeralds were required to make the machine work." Twink said with a worried face.

"And that Ganondorf, the others and that tank that they're with are going to make an ambush at the "right moment" to capture Sonic and submit him to the machine."

"Did you hear that Sonic?" Knuckles asked (by the way, he lost the race with Storm, much for his dismay and anger). "...Hey, where's that idiot?"

"UuuuuuaaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhhh..." They all heard Sonic yawning as he was laying down on a tree's branch with hands on his back of his head.

"Sonic! Did you hear them?" Tails asked.

"It's not that important, don't worry!"

"But it could be, they could capture you!" Twink said.

"And I just could run the hell out of the way, nobody can catch me, remember?"

Ness made a bored face. "Someday, your attitude will get you, trust me."

"Whatever! Tails! Knuckles! Are you ready to go to Soleanna?" Sonic asked.

"B-but what about Dr. Eggman here? He has all the Chaos Emeralds!" Tails said.

"Not to mention you're not my boss!" Knuckles added.

"Tsk," Sonic jumped from the tree's branch and landed between them. "Well, since you 2 want to stay here, it's not my problem."

"(...It's my fault that Sonic is behaving like this?)" Chris thought worried.

"And what about that hawk guy?" Pikachu asked.

"All that matters to me is that he can go to hell." Sonic said waving a hand.

And suddenly, high up in a tree, there was Jet, Wave (somewhat not focused) and Storm, who jumped down using their boards and appeared in front of all of the-

"YOU!" Jet yelled angrily stomping the floor towards Falco. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!"

"Hey! I gave her her "special" night like she wanted, didn't I?" Falco asked with a glare.

"And how did you know it was Falco?" Amy asked.

"OH, YOU TELL ME!" Jet said pointing at her sister.

"Falco... Aww... Falco..." Wave said dreamily as everyone sweatdropped.

Pichu looked at Falco with a bored look. "...What did you tell her?"

"Well, I told her she was pretty, she was cute, she made really good french bread yesterday and..." Falco facepalmed. "Dammit! Why the hell did I need to listen to Amy with her whispers?!"

Amy giggled. "C'mon, you totally got her this time!"

"AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM!" Jet yelled furiously. "I HAD PLANS FOR HER TO CARRY OUT, AND ALL SHE COULD DO YESTERDAY WAS TO SAY YOUR HORRIBLY, STUPID, IDIOT AND DORK NAME ALL THE NIGHT REPEATEDLY!"

Falco crossed his arms and made a nastier glare to Jet. "What's that?"

"HORRIBLY, STUPID, IDIOT AND DORK NAME!" Jet yelled taunting shoving his face to Falco's face.

"OH, WANT TO TAKE IT OUT HERE?!" Falco asked cracking his fists.

"WHY NOT?! BRING IT!" Jet yelled before both birds began to fight in a cloud of smoke with punches, kicks, jabs, uppercuts and pretty much everything else as both groups watched the dispute.

"Um... Boss?" Storm asked getting closer to the cloud.

Jet's head stuck out and glared at Storm, before Falco took him back. "WHAT?!"

"It's really...um...necessary to fight here with that guy?"

"BUT OF COURSE! AAAHHH! NO LOW-HITS, YOU CHEATER!"

"W-Wave! Aren't you gonna do something?!" Storm asked turning to Wave. "...WAVE!"

"Falco... Aww... Falco..." Wave repeated dreamily.

Lucas and Ness looked away and looked to each other with not-interested looks. "...Ness...isn't this stupid?"

"She's off in her own little world." Ness replied.

Just then, C. Falcon came in with his Extreme Gear, stepped on the ground and looked at the fight. "Wait, are you betting? Because I want to bet on who's winning."

"This isn't a game, Falco is beating Jet up!" Chris said annoyed.

"Go! Right there! Yes! You got him!" Popo said punching the air as Nana faceplamed.

"Boss!" Storm's stupidity came at the worst moment. "You can beat him, he's just a wimp with good looks and actually dresses, not like you or me!"

"SHUT UP, YOU DUMBA-AAAHHH!!!" Jet yelled in pain before punching Falco in the face.

"Isn't fighting for the love of a girl just romantic?" Amy asked blinking with joined hands.

Nana looked at her. "I'm pretty sure it i-wait! That's not the point here!"

"And are you going to do something, Sonic?" C. Falcon asked.

"Why?" Sonic asked with a grin. "This is really entertaining."

"...My friend, you're absolutely right." C. Falcon said doing a high-five with Sonic as Ness frowned.

Twink went to Wave. "So, aren't you going to do something to your boyfriend?"

"I'M NOT HER BOYFRIEND!" Falco yelled angrily.

"...Aww..." Wave was still in her own little world.

"That's it!" Chris said changing to his Scholar job, where he began to flip the pages of his book and found a spell. "Fall, small bolt! Thunder!"

ZAP!

"AAHHH!!!" Wave yelled in pain after a small bolt fell from the sky and on her. "W-what the hell was that?!"

"Hello?! Jet is beating Falco!" Twink said motioning to the cloud.

"What the-JET! STOP THIS MOMENT AND LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Wave yelled to the cloud which kept ignoring her. "JET!"

"SHUT UP!" Jet yelled.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Wave yelled out loud and leaped inside the cloud, where it got bigger and more punches came from inside.

Pikachu looked to Chris. "Hey, I thought you weren't going to use that job again!"

"This is pissing me off!" Chris argued as he adjusted his glasses. "Besides, I cannot tolerate such attitude being displayed here!"

"Oh brother, he's starting to talk like a geek." Popo said.

"I am not a geek!"

"Then talk normally like you do!" Pichu said.

"Forget about him, what about Falco?" Ness asked pointing at the cloud.

Something that shocked everyone was that Jet crawled his way out of the cloud, very badly beaten up as he panted and wiped out the blood from his beak. "M-man...if you get in Wave's way you'll get punched and fataly wounded..."

Storm looked down at his brother and got him up. "B-Boss...if you are here...then who's punching the bird?"

Jet looked back at the cloud. "...Uh-oh..."

"AND TAKE THIS! AND THAT! AND THIS TOO, YOU WORTHLESS, PIECE OF CRAP!" Wave yelled inside the cloud as it slowly cleared up, everyone's jaws dropped a little after seeing Wave holding the unconscious Falco by his throat, also, she was almost going to punch his eye. "...OH MY GOD OF BABYLON!"

"Falco!" Chris ran to Falco and looked to his eyes, who were swirls at this moment. "A-are you alright?"

"Tell the marine to attack the patroon! Wohoo! I'm the biggest captain of the worrrrrrllllddddd!!!" Falco said dazzled as he fainted.

Most of them chuckled, unlike Popo, who rolled around laughing and of course, Wave who only blinked embarrassed.

"F-FALCO! PLEASE! ANSWER ME! I-I DIDN'T MEAN TO, I THOUGHT YOU WERE THAT BASTARD OF MY BROTHER!" Wave said shaking Falco by his shoulders.

"Hey!" Jet said angrily.

"...It's no use, he passed out for this stupid quarrel." Chris said knocking Falco's forehead a little.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, DAMMIT!" Wave yelled angrily as she lunged to her brother and...continued to beat him up.

"A-ARGH! ACK! S-STORM! YOU USELESS PIECE OF SCRAPPED METAL, HELP MEEEEE!!!" Jet pleaded.

"U-umm...." Storm began to think.

Twink got an idea and sneaked behind his back. "You know, he's been bad with you, beat him up." Twink whispered like a bad guy.

"Well..."

Twink went to the other shoulder and whispered: "I agree, beat him up."

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Storm yelled out loud before joining the fight of his brother and sister as Twink laughed at this.

"Twink!" Geno said angry.

"Heheheheh! Sorry! I couldn't resist anymore!" Twink said chuckling.

Sonic looked down to Falco. "...What now?"

"Oh, let me help, let's see..." Chris flipped through his book and found a spell. "Hmm, this should be helpful... Now... Heal the wounds... Cure!" Chris casted a white light on Falco and it recovered him a little, enough to make him recover his conscience.

"My head...everything is spinning..." Falco said shaking his head. "...What happened?"

"Jet and accidentaly Wave punched you to death."

"WHAT?!" Falco asked standing up quickly as Sonic pointed at the 3 brothers fighting with each other as the avian cracked his fists. "HE IS SO DEAD! AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Falco lunged to the 3 and another cloud appeared between the 4, now all the birds were fighting...though 3 were beating up the green one.

"Chris! Do something! I can't stand this anymore!" Pichu said burying his face on his hands.

And suddenly...

"(...Wait, in a time like this? Who is it now?)" Chris thought as his voice echoed.

"(H-huh? W-what's happening?)"

"(...Is that you, Pichu?)"

"(Chris?)"

"(Then... Pichu! We discovered your first Combinated Final Smash!)"

"(R-really? And first than Pikachu! Hurray!)"

"(Do you know how the attack goes, right?)"

Pichu looked worried. "(...B-but, it looks dangerous! It's not going to hurt me, right?)"

"(Not until we see it...let's hope it's not what you think...)"

"O-okay, I'm ready!" Pichu said jumping to Chris's right hand.

"Okay...now..." Chris chanted silently and focused his magic on Pichu, who put his hands close to each other and blue sparks began to gather around his body before he was covered in pure sparks, then Chris made a pitcher pose by preparing to shoot Pichu like a baseball...yes, awkward to imagine using the Scholar job. "Zap my enemy!"

"Spark Bullet!" Pichu added as Chris quickly shot Pichu like a rapid bullet to the 4 birds who got zapped and electrocuted severly with great lightning damage as they yelled in great pain. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Pichu yelled as he stopped after he traveled a certain distance, the small mouse blinked and then smiled. "It didn't hurt!"

"Yes! We discovered it!" Chris said putting his hands on his hips.

New ability learned! Spark Bullet!

Charges magic and turns it into electricity on the user, fires the user at blinding speed after charging up and deals moderate lightning damage to whoever gets in the path of the bullet

"...You know, it was weird to see a move like that for a bookworm." Popo said.

"I am not a bookworm!" Chris argued.

Pikachu got angry. "So Pichu gets his Combinated Final Smash and not me?"

"Jealous?" Pichu asked with a proud smile.

"I-I'm not jealous, no way!" Pikachu said looking away.

"L-lame..." The 4 birds said moaning in pain as sparks were still coming out from their feathers.

And in that moment, Omochao came down from the sky. "Competitors, please be ready for the next race in this very same spot, repeat, competitors, please be ready for the next race in this very same spot!" Omochao announced.

"But it's not the night yet!" Tails said.

"Oh, really?" Omochao asked pointing at the moon in the sky.

"...What the-I just could have sworn it was morning here a moment ago!" Knuckles said astonished.

"You all are such slowpokes," Omochao stated as everyone groaned in frustration. "Sorry, but you are! Anyway, we have important news, it seems there are some changes around here, Team Sonic will challenge the Babylon Rogues in the next 2 races, this one and the last one, with all their members, including Mr. C. Falcon and...where is Mr. Falco?"

"You mean him?" Knuckles asked pointing at the dead carcasses of the 4 birds.

"...Yeah...those 4 too...a-anyway!" Omochao shook a little. "Please, prepare for the next race, people are anxious to see this event now!" The robotic Chao said before he flew away.

C. Falcon walked to the 4 and kicked them a little bit. "...Chris, could you..."

"I'm on it." Chris said flipping the pages of his book to heal them. "Let's see... Hmm... Remove the bad omen!... Esuna!"

20 minutes later...

The 8 competitors were preparing to begin the race, as the other group was watching from paltforms attached to the trees, along the track, there were robots cheering loudly as well, though they were all on the Babylon Rogues's side.

"GO! GO! SO-NIC! GO! GO! SO-NIC! YAY!" Amy cheered throwing her pom-poms to the air as she cheered, close to where the others were.

"Ugh, please, not here..." Sonic muttered annoyed.

Although there was something or someone that would fire him up in a second.

"Now Sonic," Jet said grinning. "Ready to beg?"

"I want to see that, but from you instead!" Sonic said smirking.

"Oh, brother..." Chris said.

"This is going to be a race to remember...sadly." Nana said sighing with the young Smashers.

"And the same incident we had with C. Falcon it's repeating," Pikachu said remembering. "By the way, we're actually doing something, right?"

"O-of course." Lucas said.

We now see the teams, and both the avian and the racer, arguing sometimes with each other.

"You're not going to get away with this like last time, dork!" Knuckles argued to Storm.

"Ha! Little red mutt is gonna burst into anger again?" Storm asked with a smirk.

Tails quickly held Knuckles by the arms, but with no success because he was being dragged. "YOU CALLED ME A RED MUTT?! COME OVER HERE AND SAY IT TO ME!"

"K-Knuckles! Please, calm down! You're overreacting!" Tails said struggling.

"LET ME GO, DAMMIT!" Knuckles argued as he just kept walking forward.

"...Sooo..." Falco crossed his arms and looked at Wave, who was staring deeply to his eyes. "...Are you feeling okay?"

"Close to you, you bet your voice I am..." Wave said sighing with pleasure.

"...C. Falcon, do something to help me out." Falco whispered to the captain who was behind him.

"Oh," C. Falcon snapped his fingers and grinned. "Keep looking that way please."

"...Okay?" Falco said staring away from Wave as C. Falcon walked to Wave. "...What?"

"Turn around."

"Fin-mhmmmhm!!!" Once Falco turned his head, he accidentaly kissed Wave right on her mouth, because C. Falcon pushed her closer to him as she backed away with small pupils on her eyes, causing the blue avian to blush as he backed away from the spot. "B-BLUAAAAHH!!!"

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aww..." Wave blushed as she quickly hummed happily and went for her Extreme Gear.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR?! NOW SHE'S GONNA THINK CRAZY THINGS ABOUT ME!"

C. Falcon chuckled. "But hey, you should admit it, you liked that fast kiss."

"I-I DIDN'T!" Falco said blushing even more.

"Oh, my! Did you see that?!" Amy asked shaking Nana.

"I-I saw that, stop shaking me!" Nana said.

"Competitors, please, prepare!" Omochao said waving a checkered flag and everyone got in their positions.

Green Cave

"Finally, no more romance and actual action," Pikachu said jumping to Chris's shoulder. "Aw, if something Ash taught me really well was to get a great view from someone's shoulder."

"Aw, you look cute when you're closer." Chris said rubbing Pikachu's head.

"H-hey, stop that..." Pikachu said, although a hand rubbing his head was just too much as his tail began to wag.

"I-I want appreciation too!" Pichu said jumping to the other shoulder as Chris did the same with him. "Oh...yes..."

"Awkward." Ness, Lucas, Geno, Twink, Popo and Nana said with bored looks.

"You call me awkward? He does this with Lucario even more and you don't say that to him?!" Pikachu asked with a glare.

"Of course we don't, because he'll kill us in a quick but painful death." Ness said.

"A-and partly because he's scary when he's angry." Lucas added trembling a little.

"Ugly when he's angry." Popo added.

"...Whatever, who asked you anyway? A little more to the left, Chris!" Pikachu said as Chris listened him.

"3...2...1...GO!" Omochao said waving his flag as the 8 competitors accelerated at full speed towards the track...though someone was bothering Falco.

"Hey! Leave me alone, will you?" Falco asked trying to get away from Wave.

"Why?" Wave asked with a smile as her eyes turned into hearts. "I shall follow you to the ends of the earth if it is necessary, aww..."

"Somebody help me!" Falco yelled accelerating ahead with Wave following him.

We now see a heated battle between the green hawk and blue hedgehog.

"HA! See ya!" Jet said sticking out his tongue to Sonic, who made a serious face and used his boost to catch up with the hawk. "Oh no, you don't!" Jet said passing by Sonic's left side.

"Got ya!" Sonic said snapping his fingers as he used his Spin Dash to damage Jet several times, dropping his speed greatly as Sonic stuck out his tongue as a response.

"GRRR! YOU STUPID HEDGEHOG!" Jet cursed as he used his boost to regain his velocity.

Meanwhile, both Knuckles and Storm were fighting against each other rather than accelerating, though they were still on the track.

"DODGE THIS!" Storm yelled angrily as Knuckles evaded his right fist. "PESKY LITTLE MUTT, STOP MOVING AROUND!"

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY AND PUNCH FOR REAL THIS TIME?!" Knuckles yelled furiously as he tried to do the same, but Storm evaded all his punches.

"Man, can't you guys stop fighting?" Tails asked appearing from behind as he went further ahead. "This is a race, not an arena!"

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, SHORTY!" Storm yelled as Knuckles managed to land a punch on his face. "WHY YOU LITTL-"

A toon vein popped out from Tails's forehead and he made a glare. "Fine, I'm leaving you 2 if you excuse me..." And the 2-tailed fox did that.

"Heh," C. Falcon grinned as he passed the 2. "This race isn't going to be so hard with you 2 fighting, just 5 more and I'll win." C. Falcon said chuckling as he went away.

Both Knuckles and Storm stopped fighting and saw C. Falcon using a ramp, where he jumped a made his maneuvers. "...Truce?" Storm asked.

"Grr, truce, but only for THIS time!" Knuckles said accelerating to get away from the albatross...

...Albeit to say, both started fighting again in 5 seconds when they were close to each other.

"Jet is using his amazingly blinding speed!" Omochao said as Jet was using the rails to get ahead of the race, where Sonic was following him from behind.

"Oh? You want to see blinding speed?" Sonic asked with a grin (as familiar voices that came from the finish line yelled the negative of yes). "Here you got it! HAA!" Sonic used his Spin Dash on the rails and was blasted off with "blinding speed" as he went along the way, Jet noticed a sudden wind and looked behind before yelling in pain, the hawk yelled as he was pushed out of the rail and fell to the abyss. "Heheh! See you later!"

Jet came back to the track by...appearing on it again? "Just you wait until I smack you down with my fans!"

"FANS!" Ness yelled chuckling before many of them bursted out laughing out loud.

"W-WHO ASKED YOU FOR YOUR OPINION?!"

"Fans are for pussies!" Popo yelled as he rolled around the platform, clumsily rolling to the edge where he fell to the track, however, even the pain couldn't stop him from laughing.

"I'LL GET YOU LATER, BUT FIRST THE HEDGEHOG!" Jet yelled angrily as he used his full boost to catch up with the others, who were far away from him since he was dropped to 8th place.

"RAAAAAAAAMP!" Falco yelled loudly as he tried to get Wave away from him, but he was able to jump high and did 2 Kickflips and a Heelflip. "Yes! Now we're talking!"

"Wait for me my beloved!" Wave yelled from behind as Falco watched her rocketing to the air, surprisingly, Wave had all the time necessary to make a Varial Kickflip while she spun, doing a 1440 and landed, making the crowd to go wild. "Did you see that?"

"...I'm sure as hell..." Falco said nodding.

Just then, C. Falcon appeared from behind and grinned. "See? You're falling for the girl now, that's progress man, progress!" C. Falcon said as he accelerated.

Falco blushed and glared at the captain. "S-shut up! That's not true!"

"Wait until the day of our wedding." Wave asked leaning to him.

"UAH! G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" Falco said accelerating.

"The competitors are having a heated match this time in this track, Tails is getting lead as C. Falcon comes in 2nd place, then we see Sonic in 3rd, followed by Jet in 4th, Knuckles and Storm at 5th place both and the lovebirds, Falco and Wave at 7th!" Omochao announced as many aww'd at this.

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" Falco yelled.

"Pikachu." Ness winked at Pikachu who was holding his camera while Chris was still rubbing his head.

"Yep, everything safe and recorded, wait until we torment him with this beautiful and funny memory." Pikachu said as his tail wagged.

"...Popo! Get up here now!" Nana yelled to his brother who stopped laughing and climbed his way to the platform, before the 8 racers came from the other side and reached the second lap.

"Second lap," Chris said. "At this rate, I think either Tails or Captain Falcon will win."

Sonic's right ear twitched a little. "What did you say? I'm gonna win here!"

"Oh, shut up!" Jet said. "Who's the best at the Extreme Gear? It's me, obviously!"

"Who asked you? Besides, at this rate, you're gonna fall and trip on your own feet!" Sonic taunted with a smirk.

Geno looked at the others. "...If he ever joins us...do you think he will do that a lot with all our enemies?"

"There's a 97 percent he will...wait," Twink went to Chris who whispered in his ear. "No, 97.6 percent he will."

"...In some ways, I like Sonic." Lucas admitted.

"And in some ways, I want to smack him to death," Nana said as Amy glared at her. "It's my opinion!"

"Oh?" Amy called her Piko Piko Hammer. "Want to say that again?"

Nana took out her own hammer. "Bring it, girl! AAAAAHHHH!!!"

Both pink girls began to fight in a cloud of dust as we see Popo eating popcorn besides the cloud with Twink.

"Don't you love when your sister fights?" Popo asked.

"I don't have a sister, but yes!" Twink said.

Back at the race...

"Think you can do something with those 6 behind?" C. Falcon asked to Tails who looked behind, where Knuckles and Storm were fighting as they sometimes collided, Sonic and Jet fighting with their big egos and Falco trying to get Wave off him. "This isn't a race with just the 2 of us!"

"But people here are actually enjoying this much...how do you say it? Randomness?" Tails asked looking at the various trees with people cheering louder than usual at the 3 events. "...And come to think of it, the crowd is much more focused than the last race in the Egg Factory."

"Yeah, but I want my challenge! A true race! I didn't get this Extreme Board for nothing!"

"Firstly, it's Extreme GEAR, secondly, what do you expect me to do? If I tell Sonic to stop doing that, he'll ignore me, if I try to stop Knuckles, all I'm going to get it's a very black eye, and if I stop Falco from...well...technically, he is fine."

"I'M NOT! HELP!" Falco yelled as he used a ramp to do his maneuvers, however, Wave kept following him doing a lot of complicated maneuvers that caught Falco's eye. "...Hey, she isn't that bad with the board..."

C. Falcon got a lightbulb above his head. "...Now I see what can make him..."

"And then, what do you want me to do?" Tails asked noticing that C. Falcon was ignoring him. "H-hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Shh! Shut up fox boy, I'm trying to think." C. Falcon said thinking.

Tails glared at him. "How rude! I'm leaving you behind then!"

"No, wait!"

"What?"

"Don't you see it?" C. Falcon asked pointing at the 2 birds. "Falco appeared to be interested in her once she did all those crazy but awesome maneuvers in the air...now I know how to get those 2 closer to each other..."

Tails facepalmed. "Please, tell me you're NOT going t-"

"See you later!" C. Falcon said dropping his speed to get closer to Wave, Falco sighed in relief and went ahead to catch up with Tails. "Hey, you there."

"What is it jerk? Can't you see I'm busy?" Wave asked rudely.

"Actually, I wanted to give you a hint." C. Falcon suggested with a wink.

"Look, I'm not into superheroes, what do you think I am? 6? You can go away and save a cat from a tree."

"(Must...resist...temptation...to strangle...) A-anyway...want to know how to get my friend interested in you?"

At that moment, Wave pulled C. Falcon closer to her face and shook him violently. "TELL ME! TELL ME NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU! I'M CRAZY FOR THAT GUY!"

C. Falcon pushed her away as they simply jumped a ramp to get to the other side. "Okay, first, I saw him remarking your skills with the Extreme Board."

"It's Extreme Gear, you retard." Wave said with a bored look.

"Yeah, whatever this thing's called, it seemed that Falco remarked your maneuvers...you know where I'm getting now?"

"...No idea, freak."

C. Falcon sweatdropped. "...Falco likes your maneuvers in the air, if you keep doing that, he will fall for you in a matter of seconds."

Wave blinked in surprise and hugged the captain. "Oh, thank you superhero freak!" Wave said as she accelerated and went ahead.

"Would you stop calling me a superhero or freak or both things combined?!" C. Falcon asked annoyed as he used his boost to catch up with the others.

"Hey, Sonic!" Jet called from behind with 2 big fans.

"S-STOP!" Sonic said shocked before Jet did a hard spin with both fans and...oddly enough, Sonic's body became twisted and fell back behind as Jet stuck out his tongue. "See ya, dork! Mwhahahahahahahah-ack! Hahahahahahahaha!"

"...That effect is physically impossible to make," Chris said adjusting his glasses. "The odds of that happening have little percentages, but I assume the body of the target would boost the chances since Sonic is skinny in some ways."

"Oh, I see." Pichu said.

"...Nerd." Popo commented as he watched the girls's fight.

"...Shut up." Chris muttered annoyed as his glasses shone creepily.

Back at the race again...

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Wave said dropping a dynamite on Storm's hands, the albatross yelled loudly together with Knuckles who were very close to each other before the item exploded, then Wave catched up with Tails and Falco, the latter trying to get away from her.

"Please, please! Just leave me alone! All I want to do is to be alone!" Falco pleaded.

"(Okay Wave, time to get serious this time...just I hope I don't faint by thinking of his soft feathe-)"

"Yohoo! Hey you!" An angel appeared on Wave's left shoulder and knocked her head a little, the angel was actually a little version of herself, who looked annoyed. "Girl, you need to stay focused for REAL this time! Your behavior isn't helping at all if you want a serious relationship with that hot guy!"

A devil that looked like her appeared on the other side and crossed her arms. "Sadly, I have to agree with her, stop studdering, stop thinking of him, be yourself, be the genius Extreme Gear designer you are and he'll fall for you in a matter of-"

"Seconds!" The angel added at the end.

"I-I'll do that! Just give me time!" Wave complained.

"Great!" The devil threw away his costume, since he was trying to mimic Wave's appearance and now was dressed like a mini-pixelated kid with a cape and a gun...and she was an it like the angel. "Now let's go angel, we have to cosplay a weird kid who gets killed many many times in a creepy world of stupid deaths!"

The angel disguised itself as the kid. "Okay, but I don't wanna be that guy, ugh." And both entities disappeared in a blink.

"...Get away from her, she talks by herself." Tails suggested by whispering.

"I just want to have a good and normal race for once, with talented competitors! It's that all hard to ask?!" Falco asked yelling to the night sky.

"Okay!" Wave said putting on her goggles as the crowd gasped dramatically. "You want your race? I'll give you your race, turtle!"

"...Turtle?" Tails and Falco repeated confused.

"So far, Wave has miserably failed to taunt her opponents!" Omochao announced.

"Shut up!" Wave yelled as she saw a ramp, where she grinned and accelerated.

"We can't let her win!" Tails said accelerating together with Falco.

Amy peered from the cloud and smiled. "Yes! I can feel the love!"

"Eww." Twink said backing away from her as Nana stopped fighting with her.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Wave yelled loudly as she rocketed to the air and began to make complicated maneuvers, she did 3 Hardflips, 4 Kickflips, 5 Varial Kickflips, all together while she did a 1780, amazing the crowd, the competitors, and even Falco himself as she landed throwing a fist in the air.

"What's the score, guys?" Pikachu asked as everyone raised a big red "10" sign above them. "Yes!"

"HA!" Jet grinned at Sonic. "Can somebody of your team do that kind of spectacle in the race?!"

"You bet your beak I can!" Sonic said pointing at himself. (Many ignored these 2 characters, by the way).

"WAVE! WAY TO GO!" Storm yelled punching the air.

"Don't get too impressed, the race just started!" Knuckles said accelerating ahead of Storm.

"Finally, we can have a serious race this time!" C. Falcon said as everyone were getting closer to each other.

"...Whoa, that was crazy and at the same time impossible." Tails remarked.

"...She's really good." Falco remarked rubbing his chin as both did not-so complicated maneuvers to gain air.

"(Yes! It's working! It's working! I can't believe it! I can do this! I can!)" Wave cheered inside her mind as she focused on the race.

"Final lap!" Omochao said waving his flag, then the robot flew to the group and held up a mic. "You, kind sir."

"M-m-me?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, do you have any comments of this race between these 8 opponents? Most of them in teams?"

"W-what kind of comments?"

"Like, you know, who do you think is going to win or who has the better skills, etc."

"...Well, I think Tails is g-"

Omochao turned at the spectators. "There you got it! This kind sir thinks Tails is going to win the race, but he's not a speed type racer, how can he win? Let's watch this to the end!"

"UGH! GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY!" Knuckles yelled furiously punching Storm.

"I got a better punch!" C. Falcon said extending his right fist behind him, and behind Storm. "Falcon..."

"Huh? What do you want?" Storm asked before...

"PUNCH!"

"UAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Storm was sent blasting off to the trees where he crashed and saw birds flying around his head. "...Pretty...little...birds..."

"Yes! He's away! I can play the race normally now!" Knuckles said making a fist in the air.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" C. Falcon asked.

"Oh, riiiiight..." Knuckles grinned rather evily as he slowly approached the captain.

"...You okay Knuckles?"

"OUT!" Knuckles said throwing a fist to C. Falcon, who quickly dodged it and used his boost to get ahead. "GET BACK HERE!"

"Geez, you're the fighter type, aren't you?!" C. Falcon asked as he accelerated to get away from Knuckles.

"A-CHOO!" Jet sneezed of Sonic's face and gained the advantage. "Bye!"

"SHIE!" Sonic quickly used his Spin Dash to catch up with Jet, who got in the way of the attack and got severly injured by the dash that he dropped his speed as Sonic gained the lead. "See ya!"

"GRRRRR!!!" Jet used his boost again and continued to fight the hedgehog.

"HA!" Wave jumped very high with another ramp and she did grab moves, combined with flip moves and landed successfully and safely on the floor. "Yes! I'm me this time! I can win!"

"You there!" Falco came from behind and Wave looked at him. "Not bad, I've seen your maneuvers, and I got to say, you're very good."

"T-thank you, I do my best everyday to excel at this sport." Wave said nodding a little embarrassed.

"Heh, hey, you're very good at the board."

"R-really?"

"Yes, come to think of it, I think I'm starting to pick an interest in you."

"...Oh...my..."

Amy jumped on her feet making a fist in the air. "YES! YAY! IT WORKED!"

Chris adjusted his glasses with a small smile. "And we got ourselves a new pairing."

Falco blushed a little and glared. "H-hey, who said we're...I mean..."

"Ba-bye!" Tails said waving the birds with a smile as he went ahead.

"NO FAIR! YOU'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS MOMENT!"

"That's what you get for being clueless!"

"I'M NOT...you know what?! Forget it!"

"All the competitors are now about to finish this race!" Omochao announced as every spectator leaned to the edges of the platform in anticipation for the winner.

"(Wave, you did it! Now you just need to win this race and hopefully his heart!)" Wave thought as she used her boost to get ahead.

"Oh no, even if you impressed me, I'm still going to win this!" Falco said with a grin as he used his last boost.

Wave smiled a little to him. "Well, I'm not going to lose either, and even if it is you whom I racing against!"

"I like your new style, you're far more interesting than the last time I met you! Why can't you be like that around me then?"

"It's because you're the most handsome stud I've ever met!" Wave yelled as everyone around watching the race gasped surprised, the swallow looked around after that. "Yes people! I'm not afraid to say it anymore! I love this guy and he's only for me!"

"Awwww..." The Smashers said in unison together with the spectators as Falco's jaw (or beak) dropped a little in surprise.

The avian shook his head and grinned again. "Who cares? I'm as well going to say that I'm interested in her!"

"WHAT?!" Amy and Nana asked excited with each other, forgetting about the fight they had a moment ago.

"...THE HELL THEY'RE BLABBING ABOUT?!" Jet asked once he listened to their responses, accidentaly dropping the speed of his board.

"Isn't love beautiful?" Twink asked as Amy hugged him together with Nana.

"UGH! WAAAAAAAAVVVVVEEEEEEE!!! YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!"

"SAY WHAT YOU WANT, JERK!" Wave yelled angrily as she noticed C. Falcon passing through her. "Y-YOU!"

"I don't want to feel rather excited about your love, but I have to win this!" C. Falcon said snapping his fingers as Tails saw him getting ahead. "And that counts for you too!"

"They're coming here! All at once!" Pichu said watching the 8 racers coming to the finish line, though Jet was far behind with Storm.

"I have to win!" Sonic said.

"No, I have to!" Jet yelled.

"Let me win this!" Tails said.

"No! None of you, is either me or Falco!" Wave yelled.

"Or let me defeat that guy!" Knuckles yelled pointing at Storm.

"I'll smash you up, mutt!" Storm taunted.

"Or how about me? It's my first time doing this!" Falco asked.

"I'm the original racer here, let me!" C. Falcon yelled.

And finally...

"FINISH!!!" Omochao yelled waving his flag around as many cheers were heard...

...But the screen panned out...

Music stops

Babylon Rogues's Airship
Jet's Cabin

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Jet stomped the floor in rage as Storm shifted his eyes in the sofa, while Wave was leaning to it with a grin. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! WE LOST! WE LOST AGAINST THAT STUPID HERO-LOOKING GUY!"

"Admit it Jet," Wave said. "It's not the board who made you lose, after all, I designed it myself."

"Who said it was your useless board anyway?!"

Wave glared at him. "Hey! I created the boards for our team, it's not the board, it's you who suck at it!"

"WHAT?!"

"You hear me! S-U-C-K, suck!"

"Er, Jet, Wave," Storm called out and they stared at him. "Shouldn't we contact...um... Dr. Veggieman again?"

"It's EGGMAN you dumb bird-brain!" Dr. Eggman said angrily activating the communicator.

"Eggman! I want to get rid of those guys RIGHT NOW!" Jet demanded.

"You shall get what you wish," Ganondorf said as he appeared besides Dr. Eggman. "Everything is ready for the assault tomorrow at the ruins, the weapon to, let us say, "unleash" in Sonic is now ready."

"Together with the tank that we're using." Charizard said with a smirk.

"Excellent!" Jet said with a grin. "Tomorrow, that hedgehog and his bunch of imbeciles will pay for humiliating us!"

"Hohohohohoho!" Dr. Eggman laughed evil Santa Claus style. "Well well, I see you're already itching to see our weapon! Though if it succeeds, Sonic will be affected only duri-"

"Don't spoil dah surprise!" Dedede said.

"Oh, right, the surprise, yes."

The group was unaware that Wave was taking all of this in mind.

"So Jet, don't worry about the plan tomorrow, just win the race and the path to Babylon Garden will be finally open!" Dr. Eggman said as he lifted up his hands. "And together, we wil-"

"Wait, together we what?" Jet asked raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"I-ah-mean, you will uncover the secrets of Babylon by my help, yes, that's it! Mwhahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Please, ignore this wacko, his laughs are really weird." Dedede whispered to Jet as Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally.

"Let us meet tomorrow and prepare for the plan to carry out," Ganondorf made a fist. "The day that kid's life ends will very soon arrive, together with his group!"

"Everyone is acting so weird today, I swear..." Charizard said frowning as the communication ended.

"...You 2!" Jet called crossing his arms behind his back.

"Yes?" Wave and Storm asked.

"Better get prepared for tomorrow, got it?"

"Fine you little brat," Wave said getting up and walked towards the door. "If you excuse me, I have to tell Falco something very important I just heard a minute ago."

"What the-Wave! Stop right there!" Jet yelled.

"What is it?" Wave asked.

"You're going to warn them about the plan, am I right?!"

Storm carefully hid behind the sofa.

"So what are you going to do if I do that?" Wave asked.

"If you do that, I swear I'll kill that Falco with my bare hands!"

"Just try it! We know here he'll beat you up, he's very strong after all!"

"Wave, don't think about what you are going to do!"

"Make me!" Wave yelled running away as Jet ran after her.

"You're not getting away!" Jet's voice was heard as both left the room, and Storm with it.

Storm carefully and slowly stood up, then he looked around confused. "...Please lord of Babylon," Storm prayed to the sky. "Make my brothers and me a happy family again, I don't want more fights please, our fathers don't want us to fight between us...please...hear me out..."

The next day...

Sand Ruins
Altars

"Now, our race has reached its final stage. The remaining competitors are pacing, anxious for the race to begin. Only a few minutes left. Who will win this big event?" Omochao asked as the crowd cheered loudly at this.

"It's kind of cheating because of us." C. Falcon said.

"I say, who cares?" Falco asked.

It was the final leg of the race, the same competitors from the night were appointed to participate in the last race to prove who was the one who could be the winner of the tournament.

But Kawashima wasn't all that excited.

"You all have to be careful, something is really bothering me now..." Kawashima warned them.

"Why?" Chris asked.

"Something big is approaching at full speed to this location..."

Pikachu gathered sparks. "Then let's get serious this time."

"I totally agree." Nana said taking out her hammer with Popo.

"Isn't this ironic? Sonic said he was going to leave and yet he's here still participating." Pichu said.

"Well," Amy began. "Sonic isn't the kind of guy who leaves Dr. Eggman behind doing his schemes, in the end, Sonic would be no one without the doctor."

"True enough, Amy, true enough." Chris remarked adjusting his glasses.

"Sonic! Congratulations! I'll be over here, cheering you on!" Amy cheered from the seats as Sonic made a thumbs-up with a grin. "Aww..." Amy instantly fainted and Popo kicked her head a little.

"Yup, she's passed out." Popo said.

"Ugh." Sonic shrugged and walked to the altar with a Chaos Emerald in hand, to his left side, Jet came in and held his emerald as both glared at each other.

"And now," Dr. Eggman appeared on the television of the ruins and the crowd looked at him. "It's time for the final event! And it's set here...in Sand Ruins! The rules are still the same; anything goes in this extreme race! Although it needs no further explanation, the first one to reach the goal will win this race!"

"I bet he has something in mind." Ness said with a glare.

"I-I'm going to do my best." Lucas said with a serious face.

"So am I." Geno said adjusting his hand.

"Do not forget about me and my dexterity." Chris said adjusting his glasses.

"Change jobs, now." Everyone said.

"H-hey!"

"But remember," Dr. Eggman began raising a finger. "The prize will be won by the racer who's performed the best throughout this competition!"

"I bet Wave won the race," Falco said as mentioned character walked to him, but normally. "Hey there."

"Hi, it's good to see you again." Wave said with a smile.

"Wave!" Jet called from behind.

"Oh, shut up!" Wave yelled as Jet cursed and went to the altar, far from Sonic. "Falco, I need to tell you something important, it's really necessary."

"What?" Falco asked.

"Eggman and Jet, together with those weird guys are planning to do something with Sonic, Dr. Eggman made a machine that he's going to use in Sonic to transform him into something, what's more, the guys will bring a tank that will attack you and try to destroy you at the same time!"

Twink was conveniently around them and smiled. "I have to tell the others!" Twnik said as he flew to the group and informed them about the plan.

"I knew something was wrong around here." Falco muttered.

"...Falco, you didn't." C. Falcon pointed out.

"Shut up!" Falco said before smiling a little at Wave. "Anyway, thanks for the information, wish you good luck in the race," Wave quickly hugged him. "H-hey, no need to get all emotional..."

"...Oh," Wave stopped and blushed. "...Sorry..."

"Heh, don't get embarrassed, I enjoyed it."

"...Thanks." Wave muttered as she walked away, waving at Falco.

"Man, you got her this time." C. Falcon remarked.

"Well, I may as well accept a girl this time."

"Congratulations to you for that." C. Falcon said doing a high-five with Falco.

Jet glared at this moment, but then grinned at Sonic once they were in the altar. "Hah, you're lucky you got this far. It obviously wasn't due to your, "skills." Jet taunted with a smirk.

Sonic replied with a smirk. "Heh, I won't lose now."

Both of them put their emeralds in the altar, glared at each other and ran to the finish line.

"Hohoho! Get ready; it's time for the final race to begin!" Dr. Eggman announced as the crowd cheered while the 8 competitors prepared to begin.

"You lost already, hedgehog!" Jet taunted as he walked behind.

"I could say the same!" Sonic taunted.

"I'll get you out this time!" Storm taunted.

"Just bring it, bird-brain!" Knuckles taunted.

"Oh no, not another Wolf to deal with," Falco said frowning. "Anyway, good luck to you."

"Heheheh, thanks, you too." Wave said with a small chuckle. (Jet was pissed off at this moment).

"I'll be careful this time." Tails said with a nod.

"Just stay on the track, or better yet, watch me win." C. Falcon said.

"You do that." Tails said with a wink.

"3!" Omochao called and the 8 prepared to run. "2!" The spectators prepared to yell loudly as they were preparing to dash. "1!" The Smashers shifted their eyes in an unusual manner as the 8 began to dash. "GO!"

Babylon Garden

"YES!" Sonic said gaining the lead of the start, the crowd cheered loudly and the Smashers left the seats (Amy following them since she was concerned as well), walking outside the ruins.

The air of the sand was seen around the dunes, there were 2 roads, one for the track, and one for public use, they looked around their surroundings and took fighting stances.

"...This is...very calm..." Lucas said.

"Be on your guard, I don't like this silence." Geno said looking around.

"Sonic is informed of the situation," Amy said with hammer ready. "Tails gave me and him these small but important mini-walkie-talkies to stay in communication."

"Good, that is perfect." Chris said.

"Yes guys, I can hear you loud and clear!" Sonic called from Amy's communicator.

"Good luck, don't get distracted please!" Lucas yelled.

"Hey! I'm not going to get distracte-hey! Jet! Get over here!"

The group sighed in unison.

"...Oh no..." Pichu felt trembles coming from the sand. "...Something is coming!"

"The Subspace Bomb! It's getting closer!" Kawashima alarmed them as the same tank from before came to the ruins.

"This," Ganondorf appeared from the tank with the other 2 and each one of them stood besides the tank, that slowly transformed into something. "Is your last warning, stop getting in our way and we will not use brute force!!!"

"Here they come, stay focused!" Chris warned the group as their eyes widened (except Sonic's) when they saw the tank finishing his transformation. "Oh...NO!!!"

"That was a rather fast entry," Geno said. "But...what in the love of Eldstar is that thing?!"

"It's huge!" Popo commented.

"It's scary!" Pichu said trying to gather sparks.

"It's mechanical!" Pikachu said glaring at the machine while the villains chuckled evily.

"It looks like Donkey Kong in some ways!" Ness said gathering PSI energy on his right hand.

"(...But why is that familiar to me?)" Lucas asked in his mind.

"Prepare!" Charizard said smirking evily. "This machine it's probably the most, hardest Subspace enemy you have faced so far!"

"CODENAME, GALLEOM!" The machine said looking down at the Smashers, revealing its name. "SUBSPACE WEAPON, HOLDER OF THE FIFTH STAR SPIRIT, PERMANENT AND MAIN TRAVELING WEAPON, MASSIVE WEIGHT OF HEAVY METAL AND ASSIGNATED TO TAKE OUT OR KILL SMASHERS, ALONG WITH THE WORLD TRAVELER!"

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-me?!" Chris asked trembling.

"AFFIRMATIVE!" Galleom said standing up.

Ganondorf walked to it and pressed some buttons. "Next time, try not to yell."

"Understood, Lord Ganondorf."

"Ya guys are dead, dead!" Dedede said swinging his hammer.

"Surrender, we are far more stronger with all of us fighting against plagues like you!" Ganondorf said gathering dark energy on his hands.

"...E-even so, we'll fight!" Ness said determined. "We're many, that's a point!... Right guys?" Ness asked a little scared.

"I guess so," Nana said. "But all we can do now is plan our strategies well, and the Final Smashes as well, they're important!"

"L-leave that to me then," Chris said raising his hand. "I shall use magic and study the enemy's weaknesses!"

"Ya think yer hammers are better than mine?" Dedede asked taking out his hammer as the hammer wielders (Popo, Nana and Amy) glared at him. "Well, guess what, they ain't stronger than mine, nooooooo way!"

"Shut up and let me smack you but really good!" Amy said swinging her hammer a little.

"We'll freeze you, then-" Nana said.

"Smash you to bits!" Popo finished nodding with Nana.

"Good," Pikachu said glaring at Charizard who glared at him, both groups glared at each other before dashing. "ATTAAAAAAAAAACK!"

"CHAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Dedede yelled charging together with the 3 to the Smashers...

...But...what will happen next?

Preview of the next chapter

"What in the name of god is that?!" Knuckles asked.

"We can't get sidetracked, we need to finish the race first!" C. Falcon said.

"Hey, mind if I join the fight?" Sonic asked with a smirk.

"FOR MY OWN GOOD, PLEASE!" Ness yelled from Galleom's fist.

"U-UUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"SONIC! NO!" Chris yelled worried as Sonic lost consciousness.

"Hohohohohoho!" Dr. Eggman smirked evily. "Now, the hedgehog's DNA has been altered!"

"...What?"

"...My...head...everything..."

"...Chris? Chris?!" Sonic said multiple times before the World Traveler...

"The next chapter is: Galleom deployed!" Storm said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Sand Ruins
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy

And from today on, no bird and cat shall have a relationship! "Kills the FalcoxKat pairing FOREVAH." XD Just kidding.

References:

-The angel and devil disguising as pixelated kids with a cape and a gun is a reference to the stupidly, insane and frustrating game that has ever existed on the internet, guess what game is that. :P

The plot thickens! There's a race, a fight with 3 bad guys and a big-(beep!)ss machine, will the Smashers succeed like the last time?

...But what is that of a beast "unleashed" exactly? Has Chris screwed up the Sonic storyline so much that...

...Something is not right here...

...Read and review please. :o
*Chapter 99*: Galleom Has Artificial Intelligence

Yes, yes! 99 chapters done! Too close to get 500 reviews as well! Thank you everyone, and happy late New Year! :D

From ngrey651: Yes, Chris has screwed up the timeline of Sonic's realm. BUT...that is what makes the story incredibly addicting to read!

From me: Wow, thanks. :D

From TARDISreviewer: I'm... kinda expecting it to lead into Unleashed now...

And I knew it would be that thing.

From me: "Looks at hints." Seriously? XD

Well, in part, when I get a new game, I like to add some things with references of it, although this one will be a fun sidequest to read about. "wink wink." ;)

From SSBMercurious2: This story here is one of the best pieces of fanfiction I have ever read. It is well written, exciting, and always leaves me wanting more. I can only think of one other fanfiction that is on the same level as this one.

Though I now wonder something, It is clear what game Sonic will be experiencing next. Love the little hints you've thrown out. I got the game for Christmas and have enjoyed it thus far. What I am wondering is, will there be an arc for that game? It seems like there might be. But it also confuses me because earlier in the story you stated that no game that was released after Brawl would get an arc. But then again there is the fact that Chris messed with the Sonic storyline. I also have a question about that. Just how exactly did Chris mess with Sonic's storyline?

From me: Aw, thank you, you made me blush with your statement. ;)

And not an arc, but a long sidequest instead.

And where I can begin of the messed up things he did? Well...

1. Chris gave Chris (the Sonic X one) a goal that he WAS supposed to do in the Metarex saga, however, Chris (Sonic X one) decided to do it earlier.

2 Chris himself gave Sonic a rather mischievous nature that lead to big consequences, like the Super Shadow Metal Overlord fight, because Sonic thinks Chris is fun to ignore.

3. Chris reunited all the teams in Sonic Heroes earlier than expected, they should have been reunited at the end, not little by little.

4. We could also mention that Chris avoided a fight between Team Sonic and Team Rose, whereas they should have fought...without a reason to be exact.

5. The biggest one, Sonic turning into a paw for the Subspace, though we could blame Tabuu for that one and screwed up even more the SA2: Battle storyline at some point, with Sonic acting like normal in front of his friends.

And that's all, in fact, his "fanboism" screwed up many things that had bigger consequences, hope that made it clear for you. ;)

From Ultra Blader: And another Subspace enemy enters the fray. I should of seen that one coming. Also it was about time Pichu got his C.F.S. (Combined Final Smash). Also, considering what was in the preview, Chris has offically messed up the Sonic storyline. The one game untouched by change that Sonic has to go has finally been affected.

P.S: I also got Final Fantasy IV DS for Christmas. I showed it to a few friends of mine, and one of them was so impressed by the opening scene that he said it was up to the PS3's graphics quality. He became even MORE impressed when he saw the first cutscene... complete with voices. I don't think that any other game for the DS has that many spoken words. Most of them only have a couple of catchphrases spoken, after all. Anyway, that's enough rambling on for now. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From me: So, let's see what happens in the end, shall we? ;)

And prompts to you for choosing FF4 DS as me...you just entered the harder version of the game. -_- Trust me. ;)

From Mewtrainer: Oh. I had thought that angel and devil were from the New Groove movies. Jet sneezed in Sonic's face? EW! Cool Combined Final Smash! Why is Chris so annoying as a scholar, anyway? I figure Jet and Storm might be in trouble because she'll probably cry endlessly and irritate them.

From me: ...A-actually, that's where the idea of the angel and devil came from, I didn't want to mention that because it would be embarrassing. XD

And she won't cry...sort of. :l

From Hyuzyn: lmao... I liked the parts when Falco and Jet faught... the part i really like though is when Pikachu had something to torture Falco with... evil... xD

From me: You like Pikachut too much, thanks. XD

From Scorch the Hedgehog: Well, I did know about the Chrono Trigger arc, because I am Mentok, the Mind Taker!! *wiggles fingers around* Eoeoo...
Enough of that now. The unleashed beast is Sonic the Werehog, and I know Chris is going to mess with the future, but I'd really like to point out one thing in CT that I found ironic: When you rescue the queen, the chancellor in the past talks about a stricter justice system being made, which you are immediately screwed with in your time. Ironic, no?

From me: Yes, time traveling is very hard in question, leave a laser gun behind in the cave era and in the future, birds will have laser eyes. XD Thanks! :D

From Saiked: THIS CHAPTER WAS AWESOME.
wonder if wave is joining them or something.
the races was great but seriously that was a lot of ricks from wave whatever... so Nana is intersted in chris eh? now that is wierd

From me: Ah, the cluelessness of a new reviewer, no, ONLY SMASHERS WILL STAY TOGETHER and not anyone else.

Thanks. :D (Nana ISN'T interested a Chris a bit, where'd you get that from?)

From Anakin Son Mario43: I think chris made sonic just skip to Unleashed. Here comes sonic ... the werehog! Also, I went to a KH site and realised that you could give chris a keyblade without a keychain. Sora's keyblade has a keychain. The importance of the keychain? I don't know.

From me: So...basically, no in your answer.

To tell the truth, I've planned to have him use a Keyblade and be the compatible job for Meta Knight...

Guess what? Moogles are better and thus the Moogle Knight job was chosen! XD Thanks! :D

We're almost there, the special and 500 reviews!

The special will have an opening for the fic, with previews of arcs, the remaining Smashers to join the group, a special talkshow with the creator, myself, with how I came up with the story, clichés of other fics in this section with bloopers for all the arcs and more!

Let's enjoy this one to the fullest, read, enjoy and review! ;D

Chapter 99: Galleom deployed

Sand Ruins
Outside

Boss Battle Song 1

"There are not invisible force fields this time, right?!" Pikachu asked looking around.

"Crap, I forgot the force fields!" Charizard said snapping his claws.

"What?! Oh I'm so going to kill you now! CHAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Pikachu used Skull Bash to crash his head to Charizard, the dragon dodged it and slammed his tail on Pikachu, who yelled in pain. "AAAHHH!!"

"Now stay there while I burn you alive..." Charizard said gathering flames in his mouth.

"No!" Chris stepped in front of him. "I will not let you do such a thing!"

Charizard looked at Chris's look and smirked. "And what are you going to do? Hit me with your book, nerd?"

Chris looked at his book, then at Charizard. "...Correct?"

BANG!

"OWW! MY NOSE!" Charizard moaned backing away, holding his nose as Pikachu got up and gathered electricity.

"Ha! This book contains 500 pages despite its small size, learn how to judge first!" Chris said pointing at his book. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes..." Pikachu said with a small grin. "It's just a hit in the back, nothing else."

"Oh, you had me worried a second ago."

"LOOK OUT!" Pikachu tackled Chris and both evaded a swing of Galleom's fist.

"Insolent fools! You're only slowing your deaths!" Galleom said as he started shooting missiles from his backs.

"P-PK THUNDER!" Lucas called forth an electric ball that he used as a shield to explode the missiles in the air.

"Good thinking," Geno said ducking to evade a swing of Dedede's hammer. "But stop this nonsense, we want the Star Spirit now!"

"I am afraid we cannot do that," Ganondorf said using Flame Choke to grab Geno's throat. "Suffer the darkness..."

"UGH!" Geno's throat was attacked by an explosion of dark energy before Ganondorf slammed him to the sand with a strong impact.

"And die!" Ganondorf said increasing the grip's power.

"Off with you!"

"What? UGH!" Ganondorf was smacked away by Amy's hammer and the pink hedgehog looked down to Geno.

"Are you okay?! Please tell me he didn't do much damage!" Amy asked worried as Geno rubbed his throat a little.

"I'm fine...after all, my throat is made of wood," Geno said with a nod as he dodged a Flamethrower attack from Charizard. "Just be careful, we have 4 to deal with this time!"

"Roger that!" Amy said using her hammer as a shield from Dedede's hammer. "You think you have more power than me?! Don't underestimate a girl like me, never!"

"Ya should be making cookies instead of fightin'!" Dedede taunted pushing away with his hammer.

"You did NOT say that!" Amy said increasing her power to push Dedede away.

"We're here, resist!" Popo and Nana yelled in unison jumping to Dedede, however, Galleom saw them and quickly connected a fast punch, sending both of them to the wall, where they impacted into it and fell, moaning in pain. "...I hate...giants so much..." Popo muttered.

"Guys! What's happening over there?!" Sonic called from the communicator.

"We're fighting against 4, and things are not looking up because of Galleom!" Chris said flipping some pages. "Darn it, I cannot decipher the secrets of this book to use powerful spells, I need more experience!"

"Lower your guard and the enemy will kill you!" Ganondorf called from behind using Wizard Foot to attack the World Traveler from behind, sending him to the sand where he coughed and stood up.

"A rather coward and unexpected move...to attack me while I am doing my research..." Chris said adjusting his glasses. "However though, I will not allow such offensive get me again!"

"You are only talk kid, surrender now and we will probably spare your life." Ganondorf said smirking.

Chris's right hand glowed. "How about the negative? Burn the air, Fire!"

"UAGH!" Ganondorf was burned by a small fire that ignited his cape a little, but he managed to vanish it in time.

"That is why wearing capes is a bad idea."

"You are only provoking my fury!"

"Duh, that is the idea!"

"Galleom!"

"Affirmative lord!" Galleom said with a nod and grabbed Chris in his left hand, crushing him with a powerful grip.

"HELP! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Chris yelled in pain and pleaded for help.

"CHRIS! PICHUUUUUUUU!!!!" Pichu called forth a thunder that zapped Galleom's hand and let Chris go in time before he was crushed. "Ooohh...that was a strong one..."

"Heal the wounds... Cure!" Chris called a healing light that healed his damage and Pichu's, but only a little. "Pichu, thank you...but be extra careful when fighting that colossus."

"I know that..." Pichu said a little dazzled.

"Pichu!"

"W-what?!" Pichu asked shaking his head to recover his composture.

"That is better...YAAAAAAH!!!" Chris quickly grabbed Pichu and ran away from Galleom's right fist that was going to collide with them.

"ESCAPE IS FUTILE, SURRENDER!" Galleom yelled chasing both of them.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno fired a fast-rapid ring that crossed Galleom's body, unfortunately doing minor damage as the machine glared down at him. "Darn it, it wasn't strong enough!"

Charizard came from the sky and shot a Flamethrower attack to the puppet, who covered his face with his arms as Ness stepped in and used PSI Magnet to absorb the attack. "PK Thunder!" Ness called forth an electric ball that chased Charizard and took him down with a paralyzing effect, the dragon crashed into the sand and Ness looked at Geno. "You should stay away from Charizard or he'll burn you!"

"Thanks for the reminder, but I'll be fine." Geno said with a nod.

"Normally when someone says that they get severly injured the next moment."

"True, but trust me, I'll be fine."

"WATCH OUT!" Lucas yelled as both looked up and saw Galleom raising both fists to slam them down at them, the shy PK kid gathered his courage and focused his hands together to call a blast of PK energy that blocked the attack in time. "T-that was close."

"Lucas, if your attitude wouldn't get in the way, you could be a strong character." Geno pointed out.

Lucas blushed embarrassed. "W-well, I think so too, but I get scared of too many things..."

"Name 3 of them." Ness asked as Geno frowned at this unnecessary moment.

"F-for instance, darkness, then bigger monsters, then when the adults get angry at me for something I accidentaly did."

"Okay, thanks for the info, but there's a problem though..."

"W-what?"

"BEHIND YOU!" Ness yelled as Lucas was slammed by Dedede's hammer hard on the sand, where the PK kid screamed in pain.

"Heheheheheh!" Dedede laughed as he lifted up his hammer. "Ya kids should be playin'-"

"Nintendo, Nintendo, I know that, geez, why are adults and police officers very strict to me?! PK FIRE!" Ness shot a quick-bolt to Dedede who later exploded and formed a tower of fire, where Dedede became trapped inside as Ness used this opportunity to charge an attack using his bat, dealing a great amount of damage to the king who was sent away. "How's that now?!"

"Lucas!" Geno yelled getting Lucas up from the sand. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes...it's just an attack...I-I'm alright..." Lucas said trembling a little.

"Where are Popo and Nana?" Ness asked as Lucas pointed at them close to the wall of the ruins. "Hey you 2! Get up and help us!"

"We're...going..." Nana muttered raising a hand.

"That attack...was strong..." Popo muttered.

"Where's Chris and his healing abilities?!" Ness asked looking around, when he found Chris, he was running away from Charizard from kept using Flamethrower to burn him alive. "We have to help him before he ge-"

"UAH!" Lucas got up and used another blast of PK energy to block another slam attack from Galleom, who backed away and glared down at him. "Y-you're not hurting me and Red again! We're going to escape from these ruins an-"

"...Wait, what did you say?" Ness asked confused.

"Red isn't here." Geno pointed out.

"...B-but why did I say that?" Lucas asked confused as he looked up worried to Galleom. "A-and why is he familiar to me?"

"Go my minions!" Dedede called 3 Waddle Doos from his sleeve who ran at the trio and charged their ray attacks...

...However, once Chris was running besides the 3 enemies, he waved them. "Hello Rick, hello Daniel, hello Felix!"

"Hi King Chris! How are you?" The Waddle Doos waved at him with happy expressions.

"HEY! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOUR NAMES?!" Dedede asked stomping the sand.

"He bothered to give us all names, we're sick of being nameless!" Daniel the Waddle Doo said making a fist.

"SHUT UP AND ATTACK DAH KIDS!"

"...Sorry." The 3 Waddle Doos said with a bow before firing their rays at the trio, who blocked the attack smacked them away.

"I'm gonna rip that head, YAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Amy yelled charging at Ganondorf to whack him several times with fast hits before sending him to the wall, where he managed to get control of his movement and sprang back to Amy with a fist covered in darkness, the pink hedgehog gasped and ducked to resist the attack.

"YOU ARE MINE!" Ganondorf proclaimed as he yelled maniacally...

"Leave her alone! SHIE!"

"UuuuuUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Ganondorf crashed into the wall as Sonic came from the track and made a thumbs-up to the group.

"SONIC! THANK YOU!!!" Amy yelled waving at the hedgehog getting away.

"Then does that mean that they're finishing the first lap?" Pikachu asked as the other 7 competitors came and looked at the machine glaring at them (except the Babylon Rogues).

"What in the name of god is that?!" Knuckles asked.

"We can't get sidetracked, we need to finish the race first!" C. Falcon said.

"HA-HA!" Jet laughed crossing his arms as he passed the group, entering the ruins. "Good luck dealing with that thing, don't worry about your funerals, I'll arrenge them personally! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-OWW!"

"Serves you right!" Nana said annoyed after she smacked Jet in the face when he entered the ruins, the hawk grunted in irritation and accelerated to pass Sonic.

"I'll join the fight once I finish!" Falco yelled passing the fight.

"No! You're going to get hurt!" Wave yelled worried as she accelerated.

"Galleom!" Ganondorf yelled at the machine. "You lost the opportunity to catch the hedgehog!"

"I shall not make the same mistake," Galleom said pushing Lucas away to the sand. "However these pests are getting in my assignment!"

"Ya mean way, ya dumb piece of iron!" Dedede yelled as Galleom grunted angrily at this before transforming into his tank form.

"He's going to run away, stop him!" Twink yelled from the air, however, Galleom didn't seem to run away, rather he turned to the Smashers and its engine began to start up. "...What's happening?"

"Oh my GOD, RUN!" Pikachu yelled loudly before Galleom accelerated through the sand, impacting itself with all of them except its allies who backed away, the Smashers were pushed into the air and Charizard flew to them, using Flamethower to increase the damage as Dedede slammed his hammer on Pichu once he was close to the sand, many of them moaned in pain as they got while Galleom turned back into his real form.

"That was...cheap..." Chris said moaning in pain as he got up slowly. "Let me...cure our wounds and..."

"Not anymore!" Galleom yelled firing a barrage of missiles to the World Traveler who gasped and froze in place, his pupils trembling in fear as he shielded himself with his book.

"PI-KA-CHUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu called forth a strong thunder that crashed into Galleom, the machine felt sparks running through its body and grunted in pain, then Geno used Geno Beam to destroy the missiles, thus saving Chris from the attack.

"T-thank goodness, all of you!" Chris said sighing in relief. "...But as I have said before, I am going to study the enemy's weakness, STUDY!" Chris used his Study ability and glowed together with his book, focusing his mind into the book of spells as he searched around for something while he closed his eyes. "...His health is so high... So...that is it...everyone!" Chris said stopping his magic. "It seems Galleom is weak against electric or lightning attacks!"

"How...so?" Popo asked standing up.

"Simple, his circuits can reach an overheat level where he will feel a short-circuit, causing a chain reaction through its body and cease all functions t-"

"In english, please!"

"Electric attacks can do more damage to it!"

"Pichu!" Pikachu yelled trying to find Pichu. "PICHU!"

"HEEEEEELP MEEEEEEE!!!" Pichu yelled from above as Charizard tried to eat him alive. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Twink to the rescue!" Twink said flailing his hands before slamming himself into Charizard's head, letting Pichu get free as he fell to the sand screaming.

"YOU LITTLE DORK!" Charizard snarled angrily at Twink, who gulped and flew away scared.

"HELP ME AGAIN!" Pichu yelled as he was falling, Amy gasped and used her hammer to make a high jump and catched the small mouse in her arms in time. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!"

"Phew, that was close..." Amy said sighing in relief as she landed on the sand.

"Use lightning attacks to damage Galle-OWW!" Chris was pushed away by Ganondorf's arm and rubbed his shoulder. "Stupid lord of the darkness!"

"PK Freeze!" Lucas called forth a mist of ice that went quickly on Ganondorf and froze him instantly. "Y-yes! I did it!"

"GrrrrrRRRRRRR!!!" Ganondorf used his dark magic to shatter the ice where he was in and Lucas backed away, however, this time he was determined. "I will not allow such attack from a crybaby like you are!"

"I-I'm not a crybaby!" Lucas protested.

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Kawashima said.

"Anybody, use it now!" Chris yelled.

"Stay..." Pikachu closed his eyes and put his hands close to each other as a rainbow aura exploded in him (Dedede was close and was pushed away by the force) and the rodent opened his yellow-glowing eyes. "Yeeeeees, I feel the power..."

"It is a cliché to say that, but use your damn Final Smash!" Chris yelled as Galleom once again grabbed him with his right hand. "SERIOUSLY!"

"Pi-ka..." Pikachu turned into an electric-sphere that sent out electric shocks around as he flew around at an insane speed that he couldn't control. "CHUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu yelled speeding to every way possible, the villains all gasped as he got closer to each other and screamed in pain after feeling the big amount of volts shocking their bodies, especially Galleom, who released the World Traveler, who ran away from him to a safe spot.

"HIGH DAMAGE DETECTED, MUST RESIST!" Galleom yelled shielding itself with his arms.

"Fall, small bolt! Thunder!" Chris called forth a small bolt that electrocuted Galleom a bit.

"PICHUUUUU!!!" Pichu ran to Galleom and called a stronger thunder that made even more damage to the machine, who grunted in pain as Pikachu speeded to its chest, crossed it and spun in the air, ending the attack.

"...What's the name of my Final Smash?" Pikachu asked.

"Volt Tackle." Chris pointed out adjusting his glasses.

"...WHAT?!" Pikachu said angrily. "That's not Volt Tackle! I know how does it look like and you call that Volt Tackle?! That's so unoriginal!"

"B-but see the bright side, you damaged all of them!" Lucas said pointing at the 3 villains who slowly stood up and shook their heads.

"You little vermin... Dr. Eggman! Are you coming right now?!" Ganondorf asked to a small communicator.

"Yes, give me more time, this machine is heavy to transport from place to place!" Dr. Eggman yelled.

"The crazy egg guy is coming?" Popo asked.

"Great going jackass, they know about the plan!" Charizard said cursing.

"Who cares about their awareness? Attack and kill them!" Ganondorf ordered as the villains charged at the Smashers.

"They don't look all damaged to me!" Nana yelled as she charged at Dedede with Popo.

"Sorry, it's actually harder to control an attack I just used for the first time!" Pikachu complained as he gathered sparks on his cheeks.

"RUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Galleom yelled loudly as it jumped and stomped the sand around, it stomped all the way to the Smashers who backed away from his furious stampede, however they couldn't get that far and were crushed under its weight. "Targets have less health than before, awaiting for commands to capture them!"

"Oh, shut...up!" Chris said panting heavily as he flipped through the pages of his book. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

A small light surrounded everyone who recovered their healths a little.

"It's not...enough..." Ness said trying to stand up.

"Guys, hang in there a little bit longer!" Sonic yelled from the communicator.

"It's easier said than...done..." Pikachu said panting.

"Uaaaa-"

"Huh?" Pikachu turned his head behind him.

"-aaaaaAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Ganondorf was able to land a devastating Warlock Punch on the mouse's face, Pikachu yelled in extreme pain as he went rocketing to the wall, where he crashed into it making a hole and moaned in pain as he fell to the sand.

"...So...rry..." Pikachu muttered weakly as he lost consciousness.

"PIKACHU!" Pichu cried out worried as Dedede smacked him down with his hammer. "AAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Leave him...alone!" Nana yelled using Blizzard to froze the penguin, she looked up and gasped after Charizard slammed his hard-forehead into her, which made a huge impact and made her faint. "...Why...me..." Nana muttered weakly before fainting.

"NANA! NANA!" Popo yelled worried as he glared at the dragon. "Okay, this is not the time for being stupid, BANZAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!!!"

"Prepare for your departure." Galleom stated as he raised his fists above him to crush Popo under them.

"CHA!" Lucas came from behind Galleom impacting a PK Thunder into him, the PK user spun to the machine and crossed his body with a strong impact of electricity which made Galleom to stagger in pain, letting Popo to attack Charizard with rage in every hit.

"Keep it up...it's working!" Chris said adjusting his glasses.

"Do...something about our healths and the fainted ones." Geno said managing to stand up.

"Understood...but why am I always healing and curing most of the time?" Chris wondered as he ran to Pikachu. "...Though protection should be needed NOW!" The World Traveler screamed when Charizard dove down on him to smash his forehead into Chris's head.

"PI-CHUUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu quickly ran to Chris and called another thunder which fell on Charizard's back, the dragon yelled out in pain and crashed down into the sand. "Did I do it?" Pichu asked hopping to Chris, who ducked and took him in his shoulder.

"90 percent sure about that, thanks," Chris said petting Pichu's head. "I know, why do not you be my guardian to protect me from incoming attacks?"

Pichu wagged his tail a little. "Oh, can I? Can I?"

"...Sure?"

"Yay!... I mean, gladly." Pichu said blushing a little as Chris ran to Pikachu.

"Prevent dah kid from healin'!" Dedede ordered Galleom who nodded and turned to the World Traveler.

"Orders: Prevent healing magic from being spreaded in the field." Galleom said as he prepared to fire more missiles from his back. "FIRE!" Galleom yelled firing 6 missiles that had auto-aim and chased Chris and Pichu.

"Lucas!" Ness yelled.

"N-Ness!" Lucas yelled a little worried.

"Ready now?"

"I-I hope so."

"PK THUNDER!" Both PK users joined hands and called a stronger version of PK Thunder, a faster version though that went soaring the sky and crossed the missiles to destroy them in time.

"Tag team strategies, that's convenient." Geno remarked.

"Yeah, I told Lucas if we could combine some of our moves together to mix up our PK attacks." Ness looking to Lucas who played with his fingers. "...Are you alright?"

"What?" Lucas asked. "Oh, yes, I thought I just imagined Claus all of a sudden..."

"Who?" Ness and Geno asked confused.

"N-nevermind that." Lucas said shaking his head.

"They're coming back!" Popo yelled as he saw the racers coming back from the track, or from the air since they used large crossbows to land close to the ruins.

"Galleom!" Charizard yelled from the sky as he dove to Geno.

"You shall not pass through here!" Galleom yelled stepping between the entrance of the ruins and the path of Sonic.

"Heh," Sonic smirked. "Sorry, but fighting robots daily it's easy, and guess what? You're not an exception!"

"Do not fall for the words of his foul mouth!" Ganondorf ordered as he dodged Geno's beam.

"Begin!" Galleom yelled as he reached for Sonic, but the hedgehog used its arm to use it as a rail and jumped over its shoulder to jump towards the finish line as he stuck out his tongue and taunted the machine. "Second opportunity failed!"

"Worthless piece of metal!"

"I shall not fail next time." Galleom stated as the other 7 racers ran below him and crossed the finish line, Ganondorf stared at him with a glare. "...They slipped through me." Galleom said in his defense, shifting his eyes.

"Pss, get that thing's mechanism checked next time." Dedede whispered as he glared at the machine.

Back with the racers...

"This isn't good, they're having problems with those guys." Sonic said looking behind him.

"Sonic! Get your head back in the race!" Jet yelled angrily. "Who cares about those imbeciles?!"

"Hey, those "imbeciles" happen to be m-"

"Shut up! Don't dare to finish that sentence, you cheesy hedgehog!"

"Now you're on!" Sonic said accelerating using his boost as Jet did the same, both jumping far away using a ramp together with the others who tried to catch up as well.

"C'mon, we have to end this and fast!" Tails said accelerating.

"Great," C. Falcon said frowning. "Just when I want a race, something has to screw things up, do you think the same Fal-"

"How about if we make a honeymoon?" Wave asked as C. Falcon blinked surprised.

"Nah, I'm not into those things." Falco said with a wink.

"Oh, how about if I upgrade your Extreme Gear?"

"Much better then."

"Okay, upgrade your Extreme Gear then!"

"Hey, Falco, snap out of it for a minute!" C. Falcon said.

"What? I'm busy right now." Falco said.

"And they are as well, we have to finish this race and go help them!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, now leave us alone."

C. Falcon blinked shocked. "...Us?... Okay, you're not the Falco I knew anymore..."

"...What?" Falco asked as he muttered.

"OUTTA MY FREAKING WAAAAAY!" Knuckles came from behind the trio and pushed them to the sides as he fought Storm in another, stupid fight of punches.

"RED MUTT IS AN-GRY! RED MUTT IS AN-GRY!" Storm kept taunting as he tried to land his fists on Knuckles, who tried the same thing.

"Could somebody please stop those fights?" C. Falcon asked annoyed.

"Leave the dork of my brother alone," Wave said frowning. "This always happens a lot during our plans with Jet."

"...You know, that sounded a little bit worried just now."

Wave sighed and looked down. "...It's because we've been fighting each other instead of working as a team, our fathers wanted us to be the expert rogues we are and a family, especially a family above everything else, but lately, nothing has succeeded, I mean, look at Jet!"

"Hedgehog, stop getting in the way of the master of the air, me!" Jet was heard yelling at Sonic as they argued and argued.

"And Storm!"

"You can't punch me! You can't punch me!" Storm was heard taunting Knuckles.

"This is stupid... I miss my dad and mom, they knew how to stop these stupid quarrels between us..."

Falco blinked. "...What happened to them?"

"I'd rather not talk about that..."

"...I see."

"So, in few words, you wish to stop the fights that your brothers do all the time and get a family time?" C. Falcon asked as they used a ramp to reach the ruins.

"...Yes," Wave muttered. "And that's the reason why I've been searching for a man like Falco, because I wanted some kind of distraction to escape this cruel reality."

Falco's pupils shrunk. "...Wait, whoa there...you were using me as some sort of distraction from your family troubles?"

"...Not only you, but that other guy Beak as well."

"...Ouch." Falco and C. Falcon said at the same time.

"...You're not mad at me, right?"

"...Well..." Falco and C. Falcon scratched their heads as Tails slowed down to see what was happening.

"What's wrong you guys?" Tails asked and C. Falcon explained everything to him. "...Wow."

"Yeah." Falco said nodding slowly.

"...If Jet, Storm and I could be closer as brothers again... I'll be happy again." Wave said trying not to sob.

"What are we going to do about that?" Tails asked as both racers glared at him. "W-what?"

"Tails, we didn't say we were going to help he-" C. Falcon's whisper was interrupted.

"Would you please help me in this trouble?" Wave asked.

Falco began to think. "(If I don't help her, she will love me, but if I help her, they will be a family again and Wave will stop the interest she has is me...what to do...what to do...)"

"Well then?" Wave waited for an answer by tilting her head.

"...I..." Falco tried to say his words as C. Falcon and Tails watched surprised at this moment.

Back in the fight...

"Fall, small bolt! Th-"

"SHUT UP!" Charizard yelled stomping directly above Chris and dealt a great amount of damage.

"G-get off me you stupid fat lizard!" Chris complained as he twitched in pain.

"WHOAAAA!!" Ness came from behind using PK Thunder on him to ram directly into Charizard's back, the dragon was pushed away as Ness landed close to Chris. "Please, tell me you're still alive!"

"I am...fine..." Chris said standing up. "But at this rate...I am not going to hold for much longer..."

"...Where is Pichu?"

"Impudent rats!" Galleom said raising his fists above them. "Suffer the power of the Subspace!"

"...I think you just attacked it so hard that its beginning to say stupid things." Ness whispered as both yelled as Galleom lowered quickly his fists.

"PICHU!" Chris shouted to the small rat who managed to sneak and climb Galleom's body to call a thunder above his head, the machine grunted in pain and looked around for the mouse.

"WHERE IS THE DAMN NUISANCE?!" Galleom yelled angrily.

"PICHU! KEEP GOING, IT IS WORKING!" Chris yelled.

"PI-CHUUUUUU!!!" Pichu kept calling forth a thunder after thunder, rendering Galleom from attacking the group.

"Ness, please help Pichu in some way, I am going to cure Pikachu and Nana to return everything to normal again." Chris said as he ran to Pikachu, though he was still twitching in pain along the way.

"PK FREEZE!" Lucas charged his ice mist on Dedede, but the king dodged the attack and rolled towards Lucas, and used his Jet Hammer to slam the PK kid to the wall. "...Oww..." Lucas moaned as he fell, but then he slowly stood as he saw Dedede smirking down at him with Jet Hammer ready. "SOMEBODYYYYYY!!!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Amy came from the right side and began to hit continuously the king in the head, Dedede yelled in pain after each whack he received from the hedgehog. "RUN, OR HELP ME, QUICK!"

"O-okay! PK Fire!" Lucas shot a small bolt that exploded in a burst of flames on the king who was still being whacked by Amy.

"Geno Beam!" Geno fired his beam to Ganondorf, who jumped it. "Geno Whirl!" Geno shot a fast-slicing ring, but the lord rolled away in time. "Stop moving around!" Geno complained shooting bullets from his fingers as Ganondorf ran in circles to evade the hits, Geno didn't notice how close the lord of the darkness got and was attacked by a fast Wizard Foot on the face.

"Geno!" Twink yelled somewhere in the ruins as Geno was pushed to the sand, bouncing sometimes as he slid on it.

"The guardian of the stars is not that much of a menace," Ganondorf said slowly walking to Geno, who tried to get up but only managed to glare at Ganondorf, who slammed his right leg on his head, making the puppet yell in pain. "Suffer, SUFFER! SUFFER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"A-ugh!" Geno tried to get off from Ganondorf's torture but wasn't able to do it.

"Heal the wounds... Cure!" Chris casted a healing light on Pikachu, who regained his consciousness and slowly got in a fighting stance as he shook his head. "I am glad you are back... Thank goodness."

"U-ugh..." Pikachu gathered sparks once again and looked around. "Where is that bastard...of Ganondorf?!"

"Over the-HOLY COGNITOME!" Chris yelled worried as he saw Ganondorf trying to crush Geno's head, the World Traveler quickly looked around for a spell to save the guardian. "...Please, please, please, something to help Geno, quick!"

"I'll go and help him!" Pikachu said dashing across Galleom, who tried to reach for his to grab Pichu, the small mouse started to pant heavily ever since he kept using Thunder many times, Ness was being careful from Charizard's attacks, who changed constantly to confuse the PK kid, Amy and Lucas where fighting against Dedede as Popo shielded his fainted partner rom any attack until Chris cured her.

"...Please...something...anything!" Chris pleaded until his book shone and he adjusted his glasses who shone as well. "The decisive formula, now for the test!" The World Traveler pointed with his palm to Ganondorf and chanted his new spell. "Rise, o violent winds... Aero!"

"W-what th-uuuuUUUAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Ganondorf was pushed away by a sudden formation of winds that lifted and sliced him several times, saving Geno in time as Twink sighed in relief. "UGH!" Ganondorf fell on the rock track and twitched in pain.

"Just try that again and...you will see the consequence!" Chris warned him as Popo waved at him and went to help Nana.

"Geno, answer me!" Pikachu said as Twink quickly flew to them. "Can you stand?"

"...Bare...ly..." Geno said, although when he spoke it was almost a whisper.

"You need health, let me go and g-"

"HEADS UP!" Charizard yelled from the air as he threw a boulder from his back and towards the trio.

"HEL-"

The boulder crashed into Pikachu and it broke apart, revealing the electric Pokémon to be fainted again.

"PIKACHU!" Twink yelled worried flying above the Pokémon. "OH NO, NO NO NO!"

"Heal the wounds... Cure!" Chris healed Nana, who stood up slowly and rubbed her forehead before Popo hugged her.

"Nana! Thank god, I thought I was going to adopt a replacement for yo-"

WHACK!

Chris backed away once Nana buried Popo in the sand by her hammer. "What happened when I was fainted?" Nana asked.

"Things are not looking good here," Chris said as he looked to Galleom. "Pichu's energies will soon be depleted and if that happens..."

"...Galleom will crush us all." Nana added shocked.

"I...can't...do this anymore!" Pichu yelled from the head stopping his action as he panted heavily.

"Speaking of the damn devil..."

"THERE YOU ARE!" Galleom yelled grabbing the small rat and increased his grip on his left hand as Pichu cried out in pain.

"HE IS JUST A CHILD, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Chris demanded but Galleom chuckled evily, narrowing his eyes as Pichu cried out even more. "Okay, you asked for it! Popo! Nana!" The World Traveler changed to his Fake King job and both Ice Climbers (albeit to say Nana pulled Popo out from the sand and took him to Chris's right side) stood at each side with hammers ready. "GO!"

"HAAAAAA!!!" The trio jumped high in the air, lined up with Popo, Chris and Nana respectively in a vertical line and slammed their hammer with each other, rocketing to Galleom's head with a powerful impact using their Combinated Final Smash. "Whack it but good!" Popo said.

"Hammer Squash!!!" The trio yelled smacking the machine down, who yelled in pain as Pichu was released from his grip and slowly croutched away from Galleom.

"Tell me this is over!" Nana pleaded as Galleom STILL got energies to stood up. "...SH-"

"Not here, not now!" Chris said blocking her mouth.

"DIE!" Galleom simply said as he used a quick punch to send the trio crash into the wall.

"...I hutu thus." Popo said in the wall before they fell back to the sand.

Their eyes got wide once they felt trembles who were sounding and shaking the sand more and more, they looked up and froze in place to see Galleom ready to pummel them with both hands.

"GALLEOM, FINISH THE SCUM ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Ganondorf ordered loudly as he dodged a Skull Bash attack from Pikachu in time.

"KILL, DESTROY, CRUSH, ANYTHING!" Galleom proclaimed as he slammed his hands on the trio with a loud impact, creating a smokescreen with sand in the area, all the remaining Smashers looked shocked at the place just to see the trio out of cold with weakened states.

"Hurrah!" Dedede said pushing Amy away using a fast Jet Hammer. "Now let's get outta here and take dah kid!"

"Not if I have something to say!"

"...Oh god, that voice..." Charizard frowned as Sonic came from the rocky path and used a fast Spin Dash attack on Galleom's chest, he crossed to the other side and went rocketing to the finish line, where once he crossed it (and won the race as the others came back) he threw the Extreme Gear away and went to help the others as the racers were still crossing the ruins.

"NO! NO! WHY?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!" Jet yelled angrily stomping on his board with pure ang-

THUD!

...Though he lost his control and crashed into the wall while the others passed besides him, thus losing the race in last place.

"Hey, mind if I join the fight?" Sonic asked with a smirk.

"FOR MY OWN GOOD, PLEASE!" Ness yelled from Galleom's fist.

"How did you get in there so fast any-"

"JUST SAVE ME, DAMMIT!"

"Geez, okay okay!" Sonic said shaking his head before using his Homing Attack on Galleom's fist to release Ness, both landed on the sand and looked to each other. "Where's Chris?"

"...Well..." Ness pointed at the trio who were knocked out in the sand and Sonic narrowed his eyes at the Subspace creation.

"Now you went too far for that." Sonic said coldly...

...Before Amy rammed at him.

"SONIC! SAVE US! SAVE US PLEASE!" Amy pleaded literally crushing Sonic's back.

"AMY! STOP! GET OFF ME!" Sonic yelled pushing Amy away.

"GALLEOM! CATCH THE HEDGEHOG! I WILL CONTACT DR. EGGMAN TO GET READY FOR THE OPERATION!" Ganondorf yelled as he dodged Pikachu's attacks, while Lucas was seen on the background running from Charizard, who breathed out his Flamethrower attack.

"L-leave me alone and let Red catch you!" Lucas yelled. "(...Wait, this is too familiar for some odd reason....)"

"Ha!" Charizard stopped his attack and smirked. "Do you think I'm going to be someone's puppet and be ordered around, living inside a stupid ball on someone's belt?! Let me tell you something, no frickin' way that's happening to me!"

"But aren't you ordered around though?" Lucas asked pointing out something as Charizard fired...flames again.

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Charizard yelled furiously as he chased Lucas around.

"...I..." Pichu overheard someone muttering close to him and was shocked once he saw Chris standing up. "...I can...still...go...on..."

"Chris!" Pichu looked to Chris with a worried face. "You don't need to struggle!"

"But I need...to help everybody..."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Pichu ducked in fear as Galleom charged a fist into the 2, ignoring Sonic and Ness from behind.

"NO!"

Another smokescreen with sand exploded in the area and the dust cleared out, with Galleom chuckling evily as he looked down. "Mission accomplished!"

"Oh, really?" Charizard asked pointing at the top of the ruins with a finger, Galleom looked above and his eyes widened when he saw Chris, Pichu, Popo and Nana intact, with C. Falcon and Falco holding them in their arms.

"Wait..." Chris began as he looked at Falco. "...How can you carry me if you're smaller than me?"

"..." Falco felt a big weight on his arms and fell down by Chris and Pichu. "Oof!"

C. Falcon frowned at this as he put both Ice Climbers down. "Anyway, we finished the race, now we're ready to give a hand here."

"Just be careful..." Chris said pointing at Galleom as Falco stood up. "That machine can take anyone out...if you're not careful..."

"Got that." Falco said as he jumped back to the sand with C. Falcon.

"Hey!" Knuckles came from the ruins and cracked his fists. "Don't leave me behind!"

"Wave," Jet struggled to walk to the area. "Let me go! I have to finish some business with the hedgehog!"

"I won't let you!" Wave said. "I'm worried right now for your sake!"

"Yeah right, that imbecile really screwed up your mind, didn't he?!"

"NO! YOU JUST WON'T LISTEN TO ME!"

Storm was really confused at this point that he rubbed his chin with a finger.

"However..." Chris said as he changed to his Ninja job. "I need to...help as well...or else Sonic will..."

"I'm going to do what?" Sonic asked appearing right besides Chris. "You okay with the injures?"

"Sonic, listen to me...you need to be careful around Galleom and the others...they're planing t-"

"Whatever, let me be me and everything will be fine, see ya!" Sonic said leaping to Galleom to strike him again with a Homing Attack.

Chris made a serious face and covered his mouth with his blocker. "Well...if you keep insisting..." The World Traveler took a deep breath, closed his eyes to gather his energy and began to do slowly hand signs, at a slow rate since he couldn't do it faster with his injures.

"More scums?!" Ganondorf asked as C. Falcon dashed to him and used Falcon Kick, but the lord of the darkness used Wizard Foot and both attacks collided with each other, cancelling themselves as they backed away with a backstep. "Oh, look who is here, the clone."

"Ironic?" C. Falcon asked with a taunt.

"Why should I waste time with you?" Ganondorf asked with a grin. "Soon, our plan will be done here, the hedgehog will be altered, the kid will die and be taken to the Subspace, and our plans will succeed."

"Guess what?" C. Falcon asked. "None of that is going to happen as long as I'm here."

"Then fight!" Ganondorf said charging at C. Falcon with Flame Choke, but C. Falcon used Raptor Boost, cancelling both attacks again as both used Warlock Punch and Falcon Punch at the same time, however, when they cancelled each other, C. Falcon felt pain in his hand. "Ha, remember, I am the one with stronger abilities than yours."

"I know that, but..." C. Falcon said shaking his hand a little. "Even so, trying them out it's not a bad idea."

"Dragon!" Dedede yelled as he backed away by Amy's hits. "Go and attack dah kid! It's up above in the ruins!"

"Right!" Charizard said with a nod and evaded Lucas's PK Freeze, the dragon flew quickly and directly to Chris who was still trying to finish his hand signs.

"(Sorry...but the higher you are...)" Chris opened his eyes with a glare. "(The stronger the attack...will be...)" However, he couldn't resist to add something to spice up the chant as he stopped his hand signs. "Thunder style! Blitz Jutsu!" He pointed at the sky and quick thunderbolts fell on the field and every villain got struck by the furious attack, in Charizard's case, he suffered even more and began to fall down to the sand where he lost consciousness upon the impact.

"I...hate you...so much..." Charizard muttered weakly as he was knocked out.

"(Edge...)" Chris looked at the sky. "(...Thanks for letting me know that Ninjutsu ability...ugh...)" Although after he finished his thoughts, he fainted and was knocked out as well, laying down besides both Ice Climbers and Pichu.

"This is...why I hate kids...so much..." Dedede said angrily as sparks flew out from his body.

"Hello?" Falco tapped his shoulder, and once Dedede turned his head to him he was punched hard in the face and backed away, then Falco used Fire Bird to slam himself into his stomach, burning the king as he screamed in pain (Wave watched the whole thing behind some pillars with her brothers and she aww'd at her "boyfriend's" moves).

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Galleom yelled loudly and grabbed the PK kids on both hands and pressed them with a powerful grip that they screamed in extreme pain.

"LET THEM GO, DAMMIT!" Sonic shouted as he used a fast Homing Attack on Galleom's hand, however, Ganondorf used Dark Dive to grab the hedgehog in midair and pulsed dark magic into Sonic's body, making him scream in pain as Ganondorf finished with him with an explosion of darkness.

"You should be fighting me, not Sonic!" C. Falcon said running towards Ganondorf and slammed his elbow on his chest, pushing the lord of darkness away.

"And don't hurt him again!" Amy yelled jumping towards Ganondorf with hammer ready.

"INSOLENT HEDGEHOGS SHOULD DIE!" Galleom yelled furiously ramming Amy with both fists (with Lucas and Ness as well), sending the trio to the sands where they bounced and lost consciousness.

"GENO! GENO! GET UP! THINGS AREN'T LOOKING WELL ANYMORE!" Twink tried to cheer up the puppet who tried to stand up, but failed miserably. "GENO!"

"Twink...s...top...pushing me..." Geno muttered weakly as he looked at Pikachu. "...What...about him?"

Twink sobbed as he looked over Pikachu. "It's no use...he doesn't wake up..."

"What...about...the others?"

"Chris used his last energies to defeat Charizard and deal some damage to everyone else, Popo and Nana are both out of cold like Ness, Pichu, Lucas and Amy, not too long ago, Sonic, Falco, Knuckles and C. Falcon ended the race and joined the fight, and Galleom is making a rampage through the field!" Twink began to cry. "I don't want you to lose this fight! We're so close in rescuing the next Star Spirit to die!"

"You there!" Kunkcles walked to them. "It's something wrong?"

"Geno and Pikachu can't fight anymore, they're very weak right now!" Twink said stopping his tears.

"Rats, this isn't good at all..."

"What are you going to do?"

"The obvious," Knuckles said glaring at Galleom. "SMASH THAT THING! CHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Knuckles dashed towards Galleom and prepared to fight it with his fists.

"...Good luck!... Really..." Twink muttered worried about the outcome of the fight.

In the ruins, we see Tails ignoring the cheering crowd as he flew over the audience and towards the battle site. "I wonder what's happening over there, I heard many yells and explosions," Tails wondered to himself as he stopped far away from the battle. "What the heck is that machine? It's huge!... Huh? Isn't that..."

Tails was surprised once he saw Dr. Eggman descending from the sky with a ship carrying an enormous machine, with the 7 Chaos Emeralds located around a circle, inside tubes, the doctor looked over to where Chris was and floated to him. "Well, I guess you weren't able to defend yourself that much."

"Dr. Eggman!" Tails shouted flying to them and glared at him. "What are your plans this time?"

"Hohohohoho, glad you asked, Tails," Dr. Eggman pointed at the machine being placed down far away from the battle. "See that beauty of science over there?"

"...Yes?" Tails said tilting his head in confusion. "It's another beam to destroy things as you usually do?"

"Of course y-no!" Dr. Eggman said. "This, was created with the cooperation of that army, together, we built this to use it on Sonic!"

"...To destroy him?" Tails keep insisting.

"NO!" Dr. Eggman said angrily. "Instead of destroying him, why not use another different method to...let's say...alter his look?"

"...Then does that mean you built a machine of makeup?"

"AGAIN, NO!" Dr. Eggman as he grunted, not hearing the murmurs of the World Traveler who, surprisingly looked up slowly with half-opened eyes. "If you want to know, then let me catch Sonic and throw him inside!"

"...To destroy him?"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!"

Music stops

Ganondorf looked to the machine located away from them and smirked once he evaded C. Falcon's Falcon Punch. "Galleom! Now! Catch the hedgehog and throw him inside!"

"Understood!" Galleom said with a nod as he glared down at Sonic, who smirked at him. "I SHALL END THIS!!!"

"SHUT-UP!" Knuckles yelled jumping towards his face with a fist colliding into its mouth. "...AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Knuckles held his hand in pain and landed back to the sand.

"Idiot, this is hard metal for your fists to destroy!"

"Knucklehead, please leave him to me." Sonic said with a bored look as Knuckles, oddly, growled at him. "...Get a dog's collar for god's sake..." Sonic muttered embarrassed as he jumped high in the air to use Spin Dash on Galleom's back, once he was behind, he used a Homing Attack on its neck, though it didn't do much damage and Galleom quickly turned his head to him.

"Are you done playing?" Galleom asked coldly as Sonic landed behind him.

"...Hmm...nope!" Sonic with a grin.

Galleom glanced at Ganondorf and Dedede, and the trio nodded to themselves.

"I know that look, you 3 are planning to do something together against me." Sonic said pointing at himself with his thumb. "Come and get me, can't catch me!" Sonic taunted running below Galleom, the robot didn't do anything as Ganondorf ran to Sonic and used Wizard Foot, the hedgehog quickly backstepped away from the attack and ducked his head from Dedede's charged Jet hammer, Sonic rolled all the way to Charizard's back and smirked at the trio who chuckled evily. "Told ya, can't-catch-me."

"Oh, that's what you think."

"...Where did that voice come from?" Sonic asked looking around.

However...

CHOMP!

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

"SONIC!" Geno, Twink, Knuckles, Tails, Falco, and C. Falcon yelled shocked after they saw Charizard biting hard Sonic's right arm hardly, the dragon smirked at the hedgehog as he shook the hedgehog above him to increase the pain, Sonic was totally paralyzed by the pain on his arm and then he was thrown to Dedede, who used a charged Jet Hammer attack to push him to the air, where Ganondorf used Dark Dive to inflict even more damage and jumped away with an explosion of dark energy, after that, Galleom put a powerful grip on Sonic's body and threw him away at fast speed towards the machine, where it activated and captured him inside a force field using the Chaos Emeralds.

"HO-HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally as Chris blinked confused. "THIS," The doctor took out a button and pressed it, "IT'S SOMETHING YOU WILL NEVER FORGET!!!"

The machine started up and Sonic looked around confused at the situation, very soon, the machine started to shoot at him with various lasers and rays that paralyzed his body completely, the hedgehog tried desperately to get free, but with no success, the Smashers watched in shock as he yelled out in pain.

"U-UUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Sonic yelled loudly as the sparks constantly damaged him.

"SONIC! NO!" Chris yelled worried as he got up, Sonic couldn't hear anything besides his yells and screams of pain while the villains chuckled evily in unison, it was not long before the machine stopped and Sonic lost consciousness after 1 minute of extreme pain.

"Hohohohohoho!" Dr. Eggman smirked evily. "Now, the hedgehog's DNA has been altered!"

"...What?"

"What do you mean by that?" Tails asked as he looked at Sonic. "...I don't see any changes on him."

"...Crap!" Dr. Eggman said snapping his fingers. "Something must have failed during the process of alteration!"

"...Erhm..." Falco began. "...So, practically, nothing happened?"

"...Afraid so...dang it!" Dedede said facepalming.

"WHAT?!" Jet asked jumping sideways. "WE WORKED SO HARD ON THAT AND NOTHING HAPPENED STILL?! WHAT A BULLSH-"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT, DAMMIT!" Dr. Eggman yelled, almost falling from his...Koopa Klown Kar imitation? "YOU DIDN'T DO IT AS WE PLANNED IT!"

"Would you 2 shut up?!" Ganondorf asked shouting angrily.

"Over Limit gauge filled!" Kawashima said, but after that, something weird happened. "...What? It was used?"

"...By...who?" Chris asked weakly.

"Er...I...don't...know?"

"Falco! C. Falcon! Did...you...use...the Over Limit?"

"What are you talking about?" Falco asked confused as he dodged a hammer attack from Dedede.

"Someone else used it? Dammit!" C. Falcon cursed as he received an elbow blow from Ganondorf on his back.

"...This is weird..." Chris muttered as he saw Dr. Eggman looking at some reports.

"What could've happened with the machine?" Dr. Eggman asked grunting a little in frustration. "It should've acted up the next moment after it finished its functionality!"

"I guess you just overlooked something by accident?" Tails asked.

"That's impossible, everything was very well planned from the beginning and to the end!"

"(...Something is awfully wrong here... I know that...)" Tails said with a worried look to Sonic. "I'm going for him, please stay here." Tails said as he flew over to where Sonic was, ignoring the robots that took the emeralds and took them back at the ruins.

"..." Chris frowned mentally at his weak state.

"...You know what? Screw this! I'm going to go alone with my plans!" Jet said angrily as he ran inside the ruins holding his transparent cube.

"W-wait up, boss!" Storm panicked as he ran away.

"(...Ugh! That's it, I have to stop him once and for all!) Jet! Stop!" Wave yelled as she went after Jet and Storm.

Boss Battle Song 1

When the trio of Babylon crossed a certain part of the ruins, Wave looked to her right side and found 3 capes behind a pillar, what's more, there was a rainbow glow coming from them. "..." Wave shook her head and decided to follow her brothers.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled as he landed in the machine and dropped to his knees to check Sonic. "Sonic, can you hear me?! Sonic!"

"...U..." Sonic slowly opened his eyes and shook his head. "...Ta...ils?"

Tails sighed in relief. "I thought you just died a moment ago..."

"No..." The hedgehog slowly got up and looked around. "...But I feel weird..."

"...How so?"

"It's like...something inside me just...woke up..."

Tails made a worried face. "...I hope that's just you, but...are you going to fight again?"

"That's right!" Sonic said looking over the fight. "I need to help them and fast!" Sonic said as he accelerated towards the fight, leaving Tails wondering about what he's feeling.

"(...And what if the effect will show up in a certain time?)" Tails thought.

"Falcon..."

"Uaaa..."

"PUNCH!"

"AAAAHHHH!!!" Ganondorf's and C. Falcon's fists collided with each other and they backed away once again. "Do you not feel the pain now?!"

"I admit it..." C. Falcon said shaking his right hand. "I'm starting to get tired..."

"Heheheheh, that is wonderful."

"Will you shut up?!" C. Falcon yelled using Falcon Kick to slam his foot on Ganondorf's stomach, but the evil lord sidestepped, grabbed C. Falcon's foot once the flames surrounding it disappeared and lashed him with both hands on the rocky road. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Do not underestimate the Triforce of Power, fool." Ganondorf said coldly.

"And not me!" Knuckles yelled from behind as he sent a fast punch of Ganondorf's head, sending the lord of darkness away as he slid in the sand but got up quickly. "If I can't smash that metalic freak, then I'll do it with you!"

"Thanks man," C. Falcon said standing up, but twitched a little in pain. "I hope we can pull this out...somehow." C. Falcon glanced around at all the knocked out Smashers. "...But can we do it?"

"Of course you don't..." Charizard said in his weakened state close to them. "Galleom will destroy you to smitherins and everything will be over..."

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled from above using a Homing Attack on Charizard's back, taking revenge on the last blow and finishing the dragon Pokémon once and for all.

"Sonic, are you feeling alright?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, just a ray, nothing else new." Sonic replied with a smirk.

"...You idiot! You just were zapped and electrocuted with that machine, and you come here like it was nothing?!"

"E-xactly."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "...Who cares about you?" Knuckles asked angrily as he dashed over to Dedede, who was about to smack Geno.

"DESTROY...DESTROY..." Galleom repeated as his pupils shrunk in a menacing way.

"Something bad is going to happen now..." Falco muttered.

"DESTROOOOOOOOOYYYY!!!" Galleom yelled out loud turning into his tank and started his engines, Falco's eyes widened and he quickly took to another direction before being crushed by the tank in the rocky path, the tank ran around the field crushing everything on its path, C. Falcon tried to get away as well but Galleom was faster than him, Knuckles climbed the ruins using his hands, but Galleom crashed directly into the pillars, bringing down a big chunk of cement down, along with the Ice Climbers, Chris and Pichu.

"U-ugh! Don't think I'll fall down that easily!" Knuckles yelled jumping away from the collapse and flew down, right above Galleom.

"DIE!" Galleom yelled turning one side of his tank form into his right hand, who rocketed up and dealt a strong punch of Knuckles, who screamed in pain and went spinning in the air. "AND GO AWAY!" Galleom took the opportunity of his attack to turn back into his normal form and used both of his hands to slap them together in Knuckles, who couldn't yell or scream anymore as he fell directly on the sand, losing his consciousness as well.

"Great, Knuckles was taken down as well." Sonic said with a serious face as he wipped out whatever he got in his mouth by the attack and stood back-to-back with C. Falcon and Falco.

"And to make things worse," Falco looked around. "We're only the last ones standing, against those 2 and that abomination."

"What about me?" Twink yelled from Geno's spot.

"You can't fight, sorry!"

"Aww!" Twink groaned in frustration.

"Oh yeah!" Dedede preparing his Jet Hammer. "This time, we got ya all for real!"

"Targets are almost soon to be disposed." Galleom said

"Excellent, we just finish with them and the mission will be completed." Ganondorf said smirking evily.

"Hmm," Dr. Eggman began to wonder. "...Of course, the machine did work, but exactly in what way?" He looked to the sky. "Could it be that he will awaken at the right time once the alteration of Sonic's DNA occurs?"

"It's everything ready?" A voice that Dr. Eggman heard said somewhere around the ruins.

"Yes, I'm ready to use my attack once they're closer to each other." Another voice said.

"We'll give them a surprise." Another voice said with a chuckle.

"Just don't hesitate, pretty much everyone is down, Chris as well." Another voice said.

"Who said that?!" Dr. Eggman asked looking around.

"Shh."

"Hmm... Where is Jet and those birds?!" Dr. Eggman asked as he saw mentioned trio at the altar of the ruins. "Drats, I almost forgot about Babylon Garden!"

"Galleom, stop all this foolishness with these imbeciles!" Ganondorf ordered as Galleom lifted his fists and prepared to combine his attack with missiles.

"We're surrounded!" C. Falcon said as Dedede, Ganondorf and Galleom cornered them in one same spot.

Sonic grabbed their hands and jumped high up, barely evading Galleom's slam, the missiles were shot at them and the hedgehog jumped in one to another and another, jumping all the way to the ruins. "That was close or not?"

"For this time, thanks." Falco said.

"And for this time, RUN!" C. Falcon yelled loudly before the trio were grabbed by Galleom and it pulled them closer to the villains.

"HAAAA!" Galleom lifted up his head and the trio's eyes widened before screaming, Galleom impacted his hard skull on all of them, taking them out with one strong blow as he set them free, but fainted as well.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ganondorf laughed evily. "FINALLY! IT WAS THE TIME FOR THEM TO FEEL THE DEFEAT!!!"

"Nooooooooo!!!" Twink flew as quickly as he could towards Ganondorf to slam himself to him, but Dedede used his charged Jet Hammer to push the star away to the sand, where he groaned in pain and lost consciousness.

"O-oh man..." Tails muttered hiding behind a dune. "W-what am I going to do?!"

"Find the kid, take Charizard and let us get out of this hellish place." Ganondorf ordered, Galleom nodded and it walked to the crumbles of the ruins, he wiped out them with his hands until Chris was located besides the Ice Climbers and Pichu, the machine chuckled to itself and took the Wolrd Traveler on his right fist. "Brilliant," Ganondorf said as Dedede carried Charizard above him as a dark portal opened up. "Mission succeede-"

"I'm afraid not, Ganondork!" A voice called out.

"...Grrrr..." Ganondorf grunted in irritation after hearing a voice coming from the ruins. "That sick and irritating voice..."

"Targets located!" Galleom said narrowing his eyes at the ruins. "4 Swordsmen in ruins, ready to attack!"

"4?! Aww, crap!" Dedede said annoyed.

"ATTACK!" The other voice yelled out as 4 figures dashed out from the ruins and towards the villains, Dedede threw Charizard besides him and prepared to attack with his hammer.

"I'm sick of this!" Galleom said preparing his missiles to make a full assault of the fast figures. "All unknown forces will soon be TAKEN CARE OF!"

"However," A voice said as a figure jumped to his hand, slashed it and set Chris free from Galleom's grasp, the figure landed on the sand and grabbed him before he could fall in the sand. "You should pay more attention, Chris, wake up!"

"..." Chris couldn't respond.

"Hey, give him the Red Potion!"

"Wait just a bit!" The figure said as he slashed Ganondorf, the lord of darkness backed away with his arms protecting his face before the figure slashed his legs, Ganondorf grunted in pain and the figure dashed towards Chris and gave him some Red Potion.

"Stom movin' around!" Dedede complained trying to slam his hammer on 2 figures that easily evaded them, one of those figures was glowing with a rainbow aura and the king didn't notice that he was backing away to Galleom and Ganondorf, who were getting close to each other as the figures planned.

"Here, I hope this helps." The figure said pouring the Red Potion on Chris's mouth, who shook his head, coughed, groaned a little and slowly opened his eyes.

"...Huh?... Where...am I?" Chris asked weakly.

"Yes, he's alive!" The figure holding him said relieved.

"...What?" Chris blinked surprised after he was able to recognize the persons who saved him in time. "You?!"

"Now! Ike! Use it!" A figure yelled as the trio were close enough, the figure revealed one of them to be Ike, the same leader of the Greil Mercenaries, who was covered by the aura and ran to the villains.

"WORTHLESS IMPUDENT PEST, DIE!" Galleom yelled loudly raising his fists into the air to kill Ike.

...However...

"GREAT..." Ike slashed the air vertically and upwardly, lifting Ganondorf and Dedede high to the air together with Ragnell, Galleom was also hit but became stunned as Dedede and Ganondorf spun in the air, where flames flew around, damaging all of them as Ike jumped high up, grabbed his sword and began a furious combo of strong slashes on his enemies. "AETHEEEERRR!!!" Ike shouted out loud slashing his opponents with great amounts of damage, he pulled his sword up above the spinning villains before slamming it directly on them, descending to the sand and just above Galleom, who yelled out in extreme pain as Ike impacted his sword across him and the Subspace enemies yelled in extreme pain after a huge explosion of fire reached all of them together.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Galleom, Ganondorf and Dedede yelled loudly as they fell on their knees and fainted, Galleom making a tremble once his functions were disabled.

...And everything suddenly turned blurry and the scene changed...

Music stops

30 minutes later...

The group was gathered at the ruins, everyone was healed thanks to the Red Potions that the group who saved them took potions for all of them in time.

Not only that, Babylon Garden rose from the sands, causing great panic in the crowd that, surprisingly, ignored the whole fight.

"Thank you..." Chris muttered wiping out his tears. "You saved us in time before they took me into the Subspace..."

"I'm just glad we made it time." Ike said, glancing at the other 3 swordsmen, who were Link, Roy and Marth.

"And no more tears, please." Roy said with a frown.

"Y-yes," Chris said with a small chuckle. "Ike, then you decided to join us?"

Ike nodded. "I couldn't help it, but I wanted to take another challenge after we saved Tellius from Ashnard, I hope you don't mind my stance around."

NEWCOMER!

Ike joined your team!

Link, Marth and Roy have returned

"But how did you take all those funky potions?" Knuckles asked.

"We saw beforehand the whole fight first in the massion, so Master Hand told me to get Red Potions in Hyrule just in case, he was preocupied about Galleom and the other 3." Link said pointing at Ganondorf, Dedede and Charizard, who were fainted.

"...Can I ask something?" Chris asked.

"Yes."

"Why are Ike's eyes covered with that bandana?"

Roy looked at Ike, who had a bandana covering his eyes, and probably he fought with it. "...You don't want to know..."

"What?"

"N-nothing, don't worry."

All of them watched the Babylon Garden (except Ike for obvious reasons) and looked to Jet who was laughing maniacally at this.

Wave walked to Falco without losing sight of her brother and talked to him. "...Have you decided yet?"

"...Yeah." Falco said with a nod and walked towards Jet.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Jet laughed maniacally. "At last, Babylon Garden has been called! We will reclaim the treasure hidden withi-" Falco quickly grabbed his shoulder and delivered a punch right on his beak. "OWW!"

"WOULD YOU HEAR ME, YOU STUPID BASTARD?!" Falco yelled loudly as he glared down at Jet, who wipped out the blood from his beak.

"Hear you?! Why would I listen to you?!" Jet spat out angrily before Falco grabbed his shoulders. "Let me go you!"

"Listen!" Falco pointed at Wave. "Can't you see how bad has she been feeling all this time?!"

"...What? Her sad mood you mean?" Jet asked as Falco, Wave and Storm blinked in surprise.

"...Yeah?" Falco said confused as Jet smirked.

"I was planning ALL along about giving her the perfect gift a brother could ever give to her sister, and that is to let her see the treasure first and grab whatever she wants from it!"

"...HUH?!" The Smashers (and Amy) said confused (not the swordsmen, who were oblivious to this event).

"...You've gotta be kidding me..." Falco said as he glared at him. "You mean you played your role as a bastard, just to surprise her later with treasure?! What the heck is wrong with yo-"

"Oh, Jet!" Wave pushed Falco away and hugged her brother tightly. "I can't believe you cared about me all this time with that wonderful surprise! You're such the guy who likes to give susprises!"

"BROTHERS!!!" Storm yelled and joined the hug group. "Does that mean we're a family again?!"

"LET ME GO!" Jet complained and his brothers stopped the hugs. "We were a family from the beginning," Jet made a fist. "And we're going to be a family till the end," Jet pointed at the floating garden, not noticing Dr. Eggman taking the cube from his hands. "However, a RICH family of the rogues of Babylon!"

"...Jet," Wave narrowed her eyes at her brother in disgust. "Dr. Eggman just betrayed us and took the cube out from your hands a second ago."

"...GRRRRRRRRR!!!" Jet stomped the floor in anger and glared at the doctor, who was laughing evily as he went away to the garden. "Wave! Storm! Let's board the airship and chase that filthy traitor!"

"Roger!" Wave and Storm said and the trio ran down the stairs and ran away from the ruins.

"Wait, Sonic!" Chris said and Sonic looked at him. "You have to decide now, are you joining us? Or are you going to stay here a little bit...longer..."

Sonic wondered why Chris trailed off that part but began to think. "Well... Dr. Eggman is scheming something...so..."

Falco walked down the stairs with an annoyed face and C. Falcon, Amy, Nana, Geno and Twink went to him. "I can't believe she just played with me all this time...dang..."

C. Falcon put a hand on his shoulder. "At least you enjoyed your time with her."

"...I guess s-"

"Wait!" Amy smiled and looked behind her. "She's coming back!"

"What?" Falco asked as Wave came back and stopped right in front of him.

"Falco," Wave began as she smiled and hugged him. "Thank you for everything, now that Jet, Storm and I are back as we were before, we can do our plans together and find out about Babylon Garden's secrets... I hope you're not mad at this sudden change."

"..." Falco sighed and patted her back. "Whatever, if you're happy, then I guess I'm happy."

"And," Wave looked straight to his face. "To end this with a happy ending..."

Chris decided to change to his Scholar job and heal some parts of his wounds that remained, he was feeling weird, like something was making him feel sick...

...Although everyone looked at the birds...and...

...Saw their beaks kissing each other.

"Oh, my!" Amy said surprised.

"Amusing." Geno commented.

"Yes, man! You did it!" C. Falcon giving him a thumbs up.

Chris's glasses shattered a little after this moment. "...The forces are not happy, or instead, they are surprised..." The World Traveler commented changing his pair for another one.

"Eww." Sonic made a sick face.

"...Did I miss something?" Roy asked confused.

"...Eww?" Knuckles commented as well.

"Can I be the godfa-" Popo was smacked by Nana once again.

"..." Tails's eyes twitched.

Wave finished kissing Falco and she began to walk away, before starting to run. "Thank you for everything, good luck!"

"...Bye..." Falco said with a shocked face as Wave left the ruins and reunited with her brothers.

"That. Was. So. RO-MAN-TIC!" Amy squealed in delight.

"...But then again," Falco clossed his eyes. "...Girls are such a nuisance!"

"...What?!" The Smashers said surprised once again.

"They manipulate you behind your back for their evil deeds, like Wave just did! I can't believe I was being deceived by the thing that I like the most, dammit!" Falco made a fist. "From now on, it's just me, my damn Arwing and me only!"

"...Wow," Nana commented with a bored face. "And you realized it just now?"

Falco sweatdropped and closed his eyes in annoyance. "...Shut up, it's my moment now, not yours."

"True enough."

Amy was covered by flames and she took out her hammer. "THEN GUESS WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW?!"

"...Falco, you're screwed." Nana said simply.

"..." Falco sweatdropped and began to run away from the mad pink hedgehog after his response about girls, as the group merely chuckled at this.

"Hurray!" Chris said taking out a notepad and wrote something on it. "That's one thing down on my list!"

Pikachu jumped to his shoulder and took the notepad. "...What?"

Chris's notepad:

Make Mario wear Wario's clothes

Tell Zelda about not many more female characters in the tournament will participate and see if she kills Master Hand

Cuddle Pikachu (Checked)

Give gel to Roy's hair

Ask Yoshi to raise a baby Yoshi, preferably blue

Give Sonic some clothes to wear

Verify if Wolf is not gay for Fox

Same as above, but Fox first

Make Falco refuse the girls (Checked)

Do something about Marth's "girly" look and get rid of it

Give Crazy Hand sugar (Checked)

Catch a Mudkip using Pichu

"Chris, are these ideas you want to do?" Pikachu asked as Chris quickly took the notepad back.

"No?" Chris replied as he felt even more sick. "...So... Sonic?"

"...Sorry guys," Sonic said looking at the garden. "But I have to stop Eggman for whatever thing he's going to do, I can't let that guy run around like this."

"...I understand...don't worry...about it..." Chris said weakly.

"...Wait, something's wrong with you..." Knuckles said.

"He didn't say "do not", right?" Pichu asked worried.

"...Marth!" Link shouted.

"What is it?" Marth asked and Link pointed at the villains. "N-no! They're getting away from here!"

"And the scraps of the machine as well!" Geno said as he dashed over where Galleom was before the machine could leave through a dark portal beneath it, Geno couldn't make it in time and cursed under his breath once it was gone. "...Wait..." Geno ducked and took something out from the sand. "...The Star Spirit! We rescued it after all!"

The villains, who were unconscious, managed to get away by the same way Galleom did and Sonic couldn't reach them in time and punched the floor. "Dammit!"

"...Chris?" Pikachu asked as Chris began to tilt to the sides. "A-are you feeling alright?"

"...N-no..." Chris muttered as Pikachu jumped off from his shoulder and everyone looked at him.

"Stop tilting around or you're going to fall." Ike said, looking to the other direction by accident.

"...I...cannot..."

"Oooohhh, I'm worried now." Twink said as Geno walked to him and showed the card. "Geno! Look!"

"...Ugh..." Chris muttered weakly as he dropped to his knees and everyone walked to him.

"What? It's something bothering you?" Geno asked looking down to him.

"...My...head...everything..."

"...Chris? Chris?!" Sonic said multiple times before the World Traveler's eyes closed and...

...Collapsed before their eyes, everything fading out as well.

There were still voices calling from the darkness of the view, some of them agreeding to go to the garden, while the others decided to return to the mansion.

...And this is where...

...Everything will get harder...for the World Traveler and his allies...

...For the Subspace to become a much, harder threat for all the worlds...

...And the next part...

...Will soon come...

..............................

Do you want to save your data after the events from today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

..............................

END OF DISC ONE

START OF DISC TWO

References:

-Ness complaining about playing Nintendo was a reference when he first goes to the Police Station in Onett and a police officer suggest him to play Nintendo.

-Chris saying "The decisive formula, now for the test!" is a reference to your Genius Mage, Rita Mordio when she learns a new spell! XD

-The Blitz Ninjutsu is a reference to Edge, the prince of Eblan and ninja of Final Fantasy 4.

-The added chant was a reference to Naruto, because saying Blitz only would be boring. XD

...We made it...after probably an elaborated fight against Galleom, with the help from the 4 swordsmen who were absent from the whole event, the unexpected result on Chris and the ending of this part...we made it...

.....

...Read and review...

*Chapter 100*: END OF DISC 1: Endless Journey

Wow...the special is here..."takes deep breath"...WE REACHED 100 CHAPTERS AND OVER 500 REVIEWS!!! :D :D :D :D :D

From SSBMercurious22: Another great chapter and a magnificent way to end Disc 1. I like the reference you made to Edge, one of my favorite FFIV characters.

As soon as I read, "4 Swordsmen" I thought immediately Ike, Link, Marth, and Roy. Yes! I'm glad they're back. Now I just wonder about this bandanna covering Ike's eye. I've played the beginning of Path of Radiance and nearly finished Radiant Dawn and don't remember him ever covering his eyes. Hm...

Anyways, great job. I can't wait for the next arc. I also can't wait until you ask for suggestions again, because I have a few I think might be pretty interesting.

From me: The bandana is actually an original idea that you will soon see later in the next chapter.

And for suggestions, not accepting at the moment, sorry. :P

From Scorch the Hedgehog: Ah, Earthbound, one of my favorite games, and some of the most random crap you'll ever see. And, just cause I noticed this, how many discs are there, hm? 3? 4? Anyway, for that Chrono Trigger arc, are you going to do the same chicken bone thing for Crono not being able to talk?

From me: O_O ...I...er...well...the chicken bone part...well...um...thanks! XD

From Anakin Son Mario43: I KNEW IT! I knew you would give chris a keyblade! great chapter though. I want to see Kingdom hearts soon!

I just read chapter 99 reviews and realised something. I just assumed you would give chris a keyblade. But now that i re-read them I saw you chose the Moogle knight job instead. OOPS!

From me: No offense taken, don't worry. ;)

From Rabid Original: WHOO! YEAH! Chapter 100's next!
This story is SO awesome ^_^

So, Galleom, huh? Man, I HATE fighting him, he's my least favorite boss in Boss Battles. I'm glad you got him pwnd to the ground XD

On a side note, I just got to the end of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, so now I know what Decus actually looks like. I thought he would look different, for some reason...

Ahaha, I was rambling. Keep it up! Don't ever stop writing!

From me: Congratulations, you just me probably the most weirdest character of the sequel. XD Thanks!

From Hyuzyn: O_o a list... rofl... but I am either guessing this... when Lucario see's Chris... he might... go... Bankai... good work btw.

From me: 99.9 percent he does that...get furious or worried...

From powerseeker35: great chapter, as always. cant believe the next chapter is the 100th chapter. wow. but now im curious. why do i have a feeling that the machine did something to chris instead of sonic? anyway, this is really good.

From me: Were you blind? The machine affected Sonic, not Chris, unless it's radioactive. XD Thanks!

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: oh boy, looks like i missed a review. this will count for both chapters 98 & 99.
for 98,
1st, i should've mentioned that dead fantasy is ONLY a video on the internet, there are no games of it, only the games that the characters come from. to prove it, go here to http://finalfantasy./wiki/Dead_Fantasy. and o! falco has the hots! if you're doing a arc on the olympic games, PLEASE DO THE DREAM PLATFORM! IT'S THE BEST EVENT IN THE GAME!
for 99,
YES! The swordsman finally comeback and ike joins them! too bad for falco, was wanted and is now rejected. hope he won't lose his narcissisticness[if that's even a word}, it helps with the humor. and two more things. 1, didn't falco lose his arwing to zelda at some point? 2, please don't make a reference to haloid once i mention you to watch it, which would be now. SERIOUSLY, DON'T!

From me: He definitely lost that part of himself, believe me, and he lost his credit card, not Arwing. XD

From ngrey651: Only half done? Wow, but WHAT a HALF! And Chris gave the Waddle Doo's names! Aw, that's so CONSIDERATE!

From me: Who said I was half done? "Wink wink." ;D

From Ultra Blader: W00T! That must have been the longest fight so far. It did drag on a bit, but it remained fully detailed all the way through. That's something that most writers cannot sucessfully do, so congrats. You went one better on that respect, however, by weaving in the race whilst keeping the fight going at a good pace. Once more, good job.

This end-of-arc chapter stood apart from the others in another respect. At it's end, it didn't "wind down". Instead, you finished with a major cliffhanger: Chris' illness. This made the end of the chapter just as exciting and devestating as the battle itself. Great stuff. I hope whatever you have cooked up for your 100th chapter will be as excellent as the last ninety-nine chapters have been in the past.

From me: Thank you, I'd like to add unexpected things at the end just to get anyone impressed, but I hope everything turns out well. :D

From chrisworshiper: "end of disk one start of disk two that means that there are only 198 chapters or are there more disks? "...And this is where...

...Everything will get harder...for the World Traveler and his allies...

...For the Subspace to become a much, harder threat for all the worlds...

...And the next part...

...Will soon come...

..."

u forgot to add thats a refrence to pokemon blue rescue team i compeated it i know what will lucario do whenhe sees chris will he A: get mad/worried B: take on a vow of silence C: do nothing i'm betting on anwser A adeos amegos

From me: That wasn't a reference...

And you'll just have to wait. ;)

From Saiked: Really my bad on the last rewiev then well atleast i didnt screw up that bad right?... right?
this is actually the first story i find worthy on the whole database(oly of the ones i have read)that i want to review on youre the only one who actually manage to make it better than the best ones

great chapter i was wondering what happened to the bosses in the game but then again with so many chapters you cant have a boss fight every 2 chapters but this is really just a long way of saying: ABSOLUTELY EPIC, AWESOME.

From me: No offense taken, and thanks for your consideration as well. :)

From Nintendogeek01: Though having weird dashes of in-between fight conversation, that was an over-all intense chapter... with again the heroes being saved by some last-minute third-party(?) intervention. Still that's quite a cliff-hanger and a mystery you left for us. Looking forward to more.

From me: It was still intense, so that's what matters to me, thank you! :D

Well, the special is here! Before Winter Break ends as I've said before after all, so, enjoy it to the fullest!

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 100: Summary of an Endless Journey

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File 1
-Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Geno, Mallow, Twink

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Persona 4 - The Poem for Everyone's Soul

...There was once the story of a newborn hero...

This hero, was an unlikely one...

It was a hero who came, or hailed from the real world...

The hero was a kid, who despite his great wealth...

...He was alone, alone by himself in his life...

His father and mother had to work hard, but far away from their son because it was the only way to raise him...

The story of the past of the hero was never told completely, since he didn't want to remember that...

...He was the one who decided the way of his own life...

Ever since he was a young child of 6 years, he was alone, lonely, only the friends of his parents would look after him until he reached the age to be raised by himself and no one else...

The child had a sad background, he tried to forget all the sadness by distracting himself with something.

...That is where he came to hear about videogames...

The child was really interested and happy after playing his first game, he liked the characters, their settings, the plot, everything, it was pure fantasy of course, fantasy that he wished it to be real for he to experience it for himself...

But he faced the fact that it was only fantasy and nothing else, something that would never happen, ever...

Years passed and the child grew to a young man, reaching the age of a teenager, or almost when he turned 15 years old...

The day of summer vacation, his fantasies were soon born once he fell asleep during a thunderstorm, a thunder stroke down his console, and from it, someone came out, badly damaged by the carelessness of the child.

The child didn't panic, he was surprised at the event and to the person who came out fainted, without hesitating, he helped the poor soul in need and helped him recover...

The name of that poor soul was the Aura Pokémon, Lucario, whom the kid has looked like a hero to himself.

The child explained and answered all the doubts and questions of the Pokémon the next day, the Pokémon was very confused and scared about the new world he had just stepped into, and decided to stay with the only person who helped him upon his sudden arrival.

It was all of a sudden alright, but he had no choice whatsoever, the Pokémon had also his reasons to stay besides the child, the child had told him his life, his aura was very peaceful and kind, something that the Pokémon liked very much and was so evident.

Since that day, the child has never been alone, there was someone from his fantasies that remained with him forever, the Pokémon bowed to protect and stay with the child at all times, to enjoy their lifes together as a family.

Of course, there was the fact that the child had to go to school, but let us not bother with such personal matters...

Almost a year passed, the child and the Pokémon had grown very attached to each other, during this time, even the Pokémon himself liked to play videogames together with his new trainer, he was also impressed that there were many other worlds with many different characters, becoming just like the child in interests.

The fateful day where the gears of events for both of them began to move, setting their own adventure through another unexpected event where the hand of destruction and the hand of...whatever the hell Crazy Hand was.

Wait, ahem...

The hand of creation to be exact and the hand of destruction...his brother, came from a horrible event in game they just received from that morning, the hand was shocked to find himself and his brother in another world, the real world, and inside the house of a child with a Pokémon.

After many explanations by the hands, the child was doubtful about helping the hands and whoever they would meet in the world of games, the child had the opportunity to travel between worlds, together with his Pokémon, although the risk of losing his life would be at hand...

...His worries soon faded once he looked at the face of his friend, who gave him a nod full of agreedment, the Pokémon would risk his own life for the child's life.

And with the initial aid from the hand of creation, the child was granted with powers to use different kinds of abilities, that would reveal by themselves little by little until he gathered all of them.

Now, he was now what he wished to be, together with his Pokémon, or more accurately, his friend, set the beginning of their journey...

...And endless journey to defeat an evil army, which tried to conquer enough worlds to conquer the child's world, their goal to succeed...

During their journeys, they slowly gathered forces, the same forces that tried to defeat the army but failed miserably, some of them had to do their own business though, their memories were erased by the hands in a forceful attempt to escape from the leader of the Subspace, however, he made a mistake and everyone were taken back in time after the second tournament ended, the child and the Pokémon had to go through many menaces by that consequence as they protected the worlds from the Subspace.

The child, or the hero, knew something about a prophecy, his future was determined, he was the Legendary World Traveler, the human who would protect the worlds should they fall into the Subspace, not only he found out about his destiny, but the Pokémon was also destined to save the worlds as his guardian, according to the old sayings of the family that he found during the long journey, his strength was one main part of his power.

Now, the hero, the World Traveler, the child, whose name was Chris, is currently trying to protect the worlds alongside Lucario.

Along the way, they gathered the forces back by the kindness he displayed to them, only by getting their trust would unlock the secret power which resided in every single person, or Smasher in this case, Chris was really happy to befriend the Smashers, who in return gave their full trust, there are still some who are in doubts, such as the ones who are lone wolves or cold to other persons.

However, Chris is determined to gain the trust of everyone and become the hero of the worlds...

...But his journey...still is in progress...

"OWW!" Chris tripped and groaned.

...For he also needs to be a better person than he is now, because the worlds would be pretty much screwed then...

Of course, during his long journey...who said it was going to be a serious one 100 percent of the time by the mishaps of the World Traveler, the Pokémon and the Smashers themselves?

Tales of the Abyss - Karma (Japanese opening)

The scene suddenly shows a fast descend in the clouds, revealing little by little a mansion, on the top of the mansion, there was Chris in his Scholar job while he flipped through the pages, as Lucario sat by his right side in a meditating position, suddenly, Chris's DS blared out, taking a quick glance of it, a smile spreaded on his face and he quickly went inside the mansion as he chuckled, Lucario opened one eye to see him off, he smiled as he closed it again and joined the run as well, then we see the clouds floating away by the wind as the title of the adventure appeared, before vanishing completely as we then change to the inside of the mansion.

Chris was trying to run as fast as he could with Lucario, on their way, they saw Ness walking out from another direction, the EarthBounder noticed both of them running away and he then smiled before joining them, they also saw Toon Link looking outside with a bored expression, once he saw them however, he got excited and joined the trio.

They made it to the Command Room, where Master Hand and Crazy Hand greeted them and pinpointed worlds in danger from the Subspace, the four nodded in agreedment, the World Traveler quickly opened the portal and the 4 went inside as Master Hand wished for their welfare.

They found Ganondorf ordering the forces of the Subspace to deploy the bombs around the unknown area, the 4 took fighting stances and ran after him, the lord of all evil grunted in frustration and ran at them as well with his fists glowing with dark energy, starting a fight for the sake of the world.

Chris stood in the back row while the 3 fought Ganondorf, the World Traveler casted Thunder but the small bolt was blocked by Charizard, who happened to appear from the sky using Flamethrower, Chris snapped his fingers in frustration as Ness used PK Thunder on the dragon to paralyze him, Toon Link shot an arrow to his wing and the dragon went down, roared loudly as the 4 and flew above the ground to fight them in the ground.

We then see Chris in his Dragoon job as he ran in the field towards Charizard, joining up with Toon Link who had trouble with the claws of the lizard, the swordsman struggled to push away the Pokémon but then Chris came from the air using Jump to collide with Charizard, but the dragon backed away in time before Lucario used a quick Force Palm on him, nodding to Chris who smiled back at him with a chuckle together with Toon Link.

There were many unknown worlds in trouble as well as they fought, many Subspace Bombs were being deployed by the depths of the Subspace, the protagonists of each world tried to stop the forces as well.

On a world, there was Mewtwo standing in the center, being surrounded by Primids around him, the Pokémon opened his eyes and quickly teleported behind a group and slashed them using Psycho Cut with his fingers, a Sword Primid jumped behind him, only to be cut in half by Roy, who dashed by Mewtwo's side and both stood side by side before a thunder fell down close to them, they looked to that direction were a dizzied Pichu was, taking down almost 20 percent of the forces as he fainted.

On another world, Pit came from the sky to strike down a Roturret, who spun like crazy before locking-on the angel, just before he could fire, the Ice Climbers jumped from behind it and Popo used Blizzard to froze the enemy as Nana shattered it with her hammer, the trio looked at each other with chuckles before even more Primids came from nowhere, making them stand in fighting stances as they ran right besides each other to the army.

We see Chris in his Fonic Hymn User job running away from 2 Roaders who tried to run on him, the World Traveler stumbled and fell, but just before the Roaders could run on him, Jigglypuff came from the sky using Rollout to slam herself to a Roader as Pikachu ran across the field and used Skull Bash on the other Roader, who exploded by the intensity of the attack as Pikachu called out Chris's name, the World Traveler looked up and smiled at his rescuers.

The Subspace was shown with Tabuu floating in front of the Ancient Minister, Ganondorf, Charizard, Dedede and 2 other villains along with the bosses of the Subspace, with a swing of his right hand and an order, the villains chuckled and spreaded out in the darkness of the Subspace as Tabuu disappeared with evil chuckles as well.

On a different field, Roy was being attacked by none other than Galleom, the swordman dodged the slam of fists from the huge machine enemy, before it began to fire missiles at every single part, Roy gasped and began to run from his life before Marth used his Dolphin Slash to destroy the missiles as Ike dashed from behind Galleom and struck his sword on his leg, the machine grunted in pain and the 3 joined together and dashed towards Galleom, whose eyes shone and ran at them.

Lucas was running through the woods from a swarm of Auroros, they started to dove down on the PK kid, who closed his eyes and turned to them to send a blast of PK energy, sending them away in time, Lucas sighed in relief as he saw some bushes moving, from them, Fox and Falco came out, Lucas gasped and quickly jumped out from the way by the Fire Primids that appeared from the bushes and started to spread out fire as the 3 nodded to each other and dodged the attacks to get closer to their enemies before the fire could spread.

After many fights, Chris sat on the grass panting heavily with bruises all over his body, however, Lucario was panting as well but managed to stand up, unlike Chris, Toon Link and Ness who were exhausted, the Aura Pokémon looked down to his trainer who looked up to him, Lucario smiled a little and extended his hand to him, Chris chuckled a little after a small silence and took his hand with the others who decided to keep on and ran away from the scene to gather with the Smashers.

And after a long day of fights, all the previous mentioned characters were shown in the night, camping all together as they talked and enjoyed their time, discussing and planning strategies, meanwhile the World Traveler was sleeping not far away from them, with an accidental loud snore, the Smashers turned their heads to him and began to laugh while he grumbled and turned to the other side, dreaming about another fantasy.

Some time later, a full scale attack to the Smash Mansion was ordered with the Halberd being the main ship, on the top of the mansion during the sunset, Meta Knight spreaded out his wings and flew towards the ship together with Kirby using his Warpstar while in the ground, every single kind of enemy from the Subspace were running towards the mansion, and in the mentioned house, the current Smashers, along with the last ones, stood by each side as Sonic pushed Chris, in his Swordsman job, out from the line and the World Traveler panicked for a moment after seeing the whole army.

Chris gulped in fear but the others yelled out his name in annoyance, making him jump in desperation as he looked back and forth between both groups, he closed his eyes and tried to block his ears from the yells, until Lucario put a hand on his right shoulder, the World Traveler looked worried at him but Lucario simply nodded, Chris looked down in preocupation, but once Lucario told him to look at the Smashers, who were simply smiling a little to him, the World Traveler blinked for a moment before nodding with a sigh, many of them chuckled and waited for the order to attack.

The attack was ordered by Chris's sword and they all ran towards the enemy, with Sonic obviously being the one who was already attacking, we then see one Smashers after another who prepared to attack.

And for the last one, who was Chris himself, decided to attack using bombs, however when he took out his first bomb, he stumbled by accident and the bomb went soaring in the sky, and it was not a regular bomb, it was a Powder Keg that was ready to detonate, when it fell in the center of the field, Link gasped and shouted out loud, the Smashers took a quick glance at the bomb and yelled out as well.

Before...

BOOOOM!!!

A huge explosion engulfed the whole field, taking out every last enemy, and unfortunately the Smashers who got covered in soot by the explosion, they all instantly glared at a soot covered Chris, who looked at everyone and just said...

"...Oops...my bad?"

The Smashers just kept glaring at him before Popo bursted out laughing, causing everyone to chuckle at the event before laughing together while Chris sweatdropped and felt embarrassed, although after that he began to laugh as well...

...And after a while, they decided to take control of the Halberd, as we see Tabuu in the Subspace chuckling to himself, whose chuckles began to echo through the Subspace as the scene blackens out...

And only by the decisions of the World Traveler...

Shall change the destiny of his allies and beloved ones...

...Should they turn on him or stay together till the end of their journeys...

Music stops

And so, we made it to 100 chapters my loyal and enthusiastic readers! Man, I can't believe we have 100 written chapters in total, ever since the first chapter was written, many things were in my mind to use, well, let's see how this all came out like this today.

Firstly, since many had the idea to make an OC (Own Character for those who don't know about the initials), I decided to create my own, however, there was something wrong with all the OCs that I saw, they were either hated for being over-powered than the Smashers themselves and had a simple past that you could probably learn of in 10 seconds, that's why there was a prequel to the fic to make the ever so useful: "character development", which Chris was created along with Lucario, my favorite Pokémon and his.

Of course, I needed to think and write something useful, for example, my OC which is Chris, the World Traveler that can change abilities to fight, at first Lucario also was granted by the same ability, but since I thought it was stupid to see a powerful Lucario, that was already strong by his natural skills, use the same system as Chris so he had to abandon it since it was a distraction.

Another extra thing was the setting, which this fic has many of them, it's original and it's still being original, the Subspace Army, a threat that everyone knows full well that wants to conquer the worlds. However, just by saving the worlds of Nintendo wasn't enough, so, why not include other worlds from other franchises as well since Chris has the biggest collection of games because of his wealth?

Now, we move on to the characters, the Smashers themselves, aw, who can't resist to put their OC fight along with Marth?

...Let me tell you something, I'm one of those people, but one that has actual ideas with interacting parts.

There are many OCs that are pitted with a Smasher, however, I saw a problem there.

And that was not the necessary interaction.

Admit it, well, in my point of view, an OC should get along with the Smasher you like, although it seems repeated, it's the same formula.

But when we're talking about Chris, oh, the whole thing changes.

As Chris progresses through his adventure, he needs to gain the trust of the Smashers, just because he defeated an enemy that was going to attack one doesn't mean they will give their full trust to him, oh no, it's much harder and complicated than that.

Speaking of which, here's a list of the typical clichés I found in other fics with "Adventure" or other genre as their genres, they're not complains, I only find them amusing...SO amusing by the way and that I try constantly to evade to get a successful progress, some of them may even be under another category.

1. Coming through, make a path! (Sonic rule)
It's common to see a group of the Smashers fighting their way to the final boss of an area as quickly as possible, in such cases many unnecessary things happen that are repeated and overused.

2. Chords of Steel. (Apollo Justice rule).
In which the characters all were born with the strongest chords and like to yell many, many times during fights, of course, this is typically and usually recommended during all fights, but yelling too much outside fights and during conversations it's just sad and stupid at the same time.

3. "Sweetie, just remove your clothes and come with me to bed..." (Gay Marth rule).
It's not a surprise to see at least 5 fics of Yaoi in this section, so you came to the right place...sadly.

4. OC stands for Own Crap. (Mary Sue rule).
Admit it, you want to make your OC so powerful to take anyone out in one single blow, so those are Mary Sues, or Own Crap if they manage to disgust the readers unless the fic convinces you with an idea.

5. "There's too many of 'em!" (Genis Sage rule).
In which case the author goes too far and starts creating many OCs at a fast rate, for those stories who managed to convince their readers to know their OCs, congratulations, you just lost a lot of time with the 16th one, oh joy.

6. ...And the humor?
Some authors are oblivious enough to put a wrong genre together with the other genre, when they notice this little error, they say they'll be funny, with only 5 percent of the fic being funny, it's sad when it's a bad joke though.

(I'm going to be honest, humor was the second genre of this fic, but it was Adventure/Fantasy at first, once it changed to Fantasy/Humor, readers began to start reading the fic).

7. "Mommy, why can't they rest for 5 hours at least?" (Robo rule)
Start to wonder this after long conversations and fights, usually they begin to feel tired at the end of the fic, with lame excuse included.

8. "Stupid scum, why won't you DIE?!" (Bowser rule).
The Smashers will never faint or die during the fic, it's not a surprise to see this happening, they'll only get damaged a little and that's that, the enemy is pretty much screwed after that, the fact gets weirder if they recover in 2 seconds.

9. Holy plus Mario equals Plumber of the Church.
Sometimes, authors manage to squeeze through something in the characters that makes them feel a little out of character, for example, admire the guts of an author who makes Donkey Kong say superhero things.

10. And Diddy?
Sadly, he isn't that used in the fics so you won't see any fics starring him, unless those fics contain multiple characters.

11. ...And Pichu?
Neither you will have an opportunity with him.

12. ...And Popo and Nana?
Keep trying...

13. ...And Olimar?
Olimar who?

14. It's below 9000, sorry. (Meme rule).
Putting a meme means a Mama Luigi reference next, though the most unexpected character who says something like this is awkward and therefore, nuts. (See Holy plus Mario equals Plumber of the Church).

15. Naruto FTW man!
Just because an anime is popular doesn't mean you have to make the characters of that very same anime appear to help the Smashers in an "original" plot, for many which have an awkward mind to review these fics, you just lost common sense after Goku punched C. Falcon right in the stomach and wasn't killed, oh, did I mention Goku is in Super Saiyan 4?

16. TV is great for the mind.
You're officially nuts if SpongeBob should partner up with Sonic, sucker.

17. With a yell I'll gain a new power, (BEEP!)! (Super Sonic rule).
Common to see a character gaining a much stronger attack, however...

18. The Lame Name.
Once it comes to name the attack...

19. "U Phail" and I leave.
See above.

20. "I trust you so much because we're best friends forever!" (Naruto Shippuden second opening rule).
So, are you going to put some character development or what? We know Peach very well, but that's not an excuse for her to trust Snake THAT much...

21. "So that's why we say friendship things so much!" (Ash and Pikachu rule)
We all know Falco likes his friends so much, aww...

22. The Smash Mansion? Just follow that route and you'll get to Utah.
In an unexpected twist, the videogame world and the real wolrd merge together in an unexplained event that the author will not bother to explain, as long as he or she has yaoi in it to distract the audience. (See "Sweetie, just remove your clothes and come with me to bed..." rule).

23. And we put this HERE and move that THERE. (Luke Fon Fabre's box game rule).
Changing a villain to the side of the good guys should be original, but please, make him as look evil as possible, seeing Ganondorf protect his friends it's...just wrong.

24. Then we move that THERE and put this HERE as well.
You have enough courage to make a good guy evil.

25. "Where did I see that before?" (Tower of Salvation rule).
If somebody bothers to give and make a Smasher have a personality, it'd probably end up with the same personality as everyone else.

26. "Kids should stay in home and play Nintendo!" (Ness rule).
The young Smashers will never have a bigger role and will stay behind and leave everything to the adult Smashers or somebody else who has muscles, girls, just because somebody has abs under their fur doesn't make him a hero.

27. And...your Final Smash? (Master Hand rule).
You'll be lucky to see a Smasher use his or her Final Smash in an adventure fic, which will be mostly never.

28. Where did he come from?! (OC rule).
If you thought there were enough OCs already, wait until we get at the end.

29. "We never lose because we're the heroes!" (Sonic rule).
It takes a lot of courage to make your lame overpowered characters lose a fight.

30. "You hit an enemy that was going to kill me, so you must be my loyal partner." (Tails rule)
Probably the most repeated cliché, if a hero saves a character from another game that was going to be killed by the enemy, the character will instantly be a partner with a stupid excuse.

31. "My name is the great Luario"
Somebody had an issue with a character, so, why not remove a letter from the name? I'm sure they will not mind at all... Seriously, one important rule is never get the name wrong and bad written

32. Always the sacred relic for the end. (Cecil rule)
At the final battle, somebody will summon or take out from their backs a powerful item to make someone reach the "super" level and defeat the 100 feet tall monster, if that's not enough, then someone will be affected by the sudden will the ancient relic gained from nowhere and may turn Diddy into a godly-like character as well for the heck of it, just because the character likes him or her so much.

33. And everyone lived happy there after...
The usual aftermath after the "exhausting" battle it's not forgotten, though it should've been with all the characters, a line of dialogue for Lucas is not enough.

34. The Subspace Emissary...yawn...
Making a dialogued version of the story mode of the game is just so tempting that there are like 20, many have altered versions just to attract the readers, just to fail miserably at the first chapter and later forgotten. Oh, and it's a much bigger cliché when you mix at least 20 clichés listed here.

There are still many others, but just by remembering these are enough to make me feel amused.

Moving on with this special author's space...

I try so hard to evade these clichés from taking place during the fic, I don't want this fic to turn into yet another normal fic.

Now, the next thing, grammar and such, at the start of the fic, my grammar was horrible, I didn't know such rules at my first attempt that I learned little by little by the kind reviewers who saw...hmm...let's say "hope" in the fic and actually bothered to help me out, firstly, I'd like to thank those kind authors who taught me how to write well, if it weren't for you, this fic may as well be thrown to the horrible world of Yaoi... Imagine me shuddering at this moment.

We move on to the personalities, such beautiful word for my ears and yours as well, giving the characters personalities is a good move in a not-so-serious fic like this one (it contains humor), but honestly, I like to make serious moves to attract readers who are looking for not-your-typical-fic.

Let's point out the personalities of every single character, shall we?

Chris - Worried friend and kind person.
Lucario - Serious guardian.
Ness - Not-your-average-kid of everyday.
Wolf - Creepy obsession with Fo-I mean, lone wolf ironically, who tries to defeat Fox someday.
Samus - Normal adult woman with a weird sense of humor. (You'll see why later...).
Toon Link - Little hyperactive version of Link.
Mewtwo - Serious character with intelligence.
Roy - More modern than Marth.

Marth - A tactician.
Pichu - Scared character who sometimes gets serious and fights.
Fox - Grown-up adult.
Falco - Laidback character. (previously also a womanizer but changed due to obvious reasons).
Pit - Person trying to be normal with customs.
Popo - Retarded twin (Hahahahahahaha!... No offense, just for humoristic purposes) in many occasions via his point of view, and cares for her sister.
Nana - Girl with much more common sense than her brother.
Pikachu - Probably the first pimp Pokémon?
Jigglypuff - Singer...not much else.
Olimar - Old timer attitude sometimes.
Lucas - Scared kid, same as Pichu in some ways.
Sonic - SUPER laidback character with big ego.
Mario - The normal one between everyone else... XD
Luigi - Same scaredy cat.
Link - Creepy obsession with new swordsmen and weird hobbies related to his sword.
Zelda - A very focused young woman who can't tolerate pervs.
Sheik - Same, but faster...yes, I know, lame excuse.
Ganondorf - Old talking speaker without modern language.
Kirby - Innocent.
Meta Knight - Cold and loner.
Dedede - Pimp king. XD
Red - Enthusiastic boy.
Squirtle - Enthusiastic Pokémon.
Charizard - Evildoer.
Ivysaur - Somewhat-cool attitude.
C. Falcon - Perv. XD
Peach - Cheerful woman with the kindness attitude of them all together.
Bowser - Stupid villain.
Wario - Armed and fat with weird ideas.
Yoshi - "Your average everyday Yoshi...not."
Ike - (Hidden until next chapter).
Snake - (Hidden until next chapter).
Mr. G&W - (Hidden as well).
ROB - (Hidden as well).

A lot of personalities, right? I think they're pretty much interesting, once humor is mixed into this crazy "family", who knows what the results will be. ;)

Once they're in battles, their personalities may or may not change though...

Actually, the personalities came into mind once I saw what I consider great fanfictions, in this section and in others, such as DianaGohan's "Smashing Something New Every Day" or Hoogiman's "Crazy Crazy Mansion", the personalities were what made readers review their fics, but I had to be original and do some twist here and some twist there, until everything came together in the end.

So now we have the best feature (that is going to be taken much more in mind in later chapters) is the partnership level that Chris must increase with EVERY single Smasher, once he and the Smasher have reached a level of full trust, they can join up together and call out the Combinated Final Smash, Chris must have the appropiate job in order to do this and under special circumstances he and the Smasher will execute the attack together, to remind you, everyone has 3 in total, the level 1 being basic and not that strong as a normal Final Smash, the second level will be a much stronger, maybe even a little than a normal Final Smash, then the third level, which would be a devastating attack.

But can they reach the last level?

Another important feature would be the Final Smashes, which as you know by now, are the strongest attacks of a character, since the attack can only be done with a Smash Ball, well, let's change the formula a bit and instead put the "Smashing Abilities", which can grant the characters the benefit to use their Final Smash with the feature of the "Tales of" games called "Over Limit."

Not only that exists, there are also some other abilities to keep you excited as well, but not too many to stay on track.

On later chapters, once the necessary amount of Smashers are gathered, there's also another important feature in the real Subspace Emissary that you've seen not being used here. (Hint: Crazy Hand's shop).

TARDISreviewer asked me which jobs are compatible with what character, so, here's the list, and once Chris has all the jobs for all of them, he'll stop gaining jobs.

-Aura Apprentice - Lucario
-PK Kid - Ness and Lucas
-Swordsman - Link and Toon Link
-Space Mercenary - Fox and Falco
-Pikmin Captain - Olimar
-Summoner - Zelda
-Ranger - Ike, Marth and Roy
-Fonic Hymn User - Pit
-Fake King - Popo and Nana
-Racer - Captain Falcon and Sonic
-Monk (Can evolve) - Donkey Kong
-Dragoon - Yoshi
-Chozo Arts - Zero Suit Samus and Samus
-Musician - Jigglypuff
-Psychic User - Mewtwo
-Thief - Wolf
-Scholar - Pichu
-Ninja - Sheik
-Agent - "Hidden" "Hidden"
-Moogle Knight - Meta Knight
-??? - Kirby
-??? - Diddy Kong
-??? - Mario and Luigi
-Ionian Sargeant Oracle Knight Fon Master Guardian (Can evolve) - Pikachu or Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard
-??? - "One use for a special occasion and character"

-??? - ???

-??? - ???

(Note that future jobs are already chosen, so no suggestions, sorry).

I also wanted to give this fic some music as the 258 that are in Brawl just to "spice up" the battles, however, why not also put other great songs in the mix as well with the characters from other worlds? That way, people can get interested in those games and play them, everyone wins.

And presto, you have this! Possible an unique fic! : D

And there you have it, how this fic was born and it's still strong until this very day, I'd like to thank all my reviewers who have taken their time to enjoy all of this until now! Thank you very much!

Without further ado, lots and lots of previews from many arcs in the future, many which could happen or not, remember, they're all scrambled around so one might happen sooner than the other even if it is in last position, with humor included along with the Combinated Final Smashes, enjoy!

Persona 4 - Reach Out To The Truth - Instrumental Version

"Well," Chris looked around with a bored face. "Since we're trapped inside this cage...you know what this means, right?"

"No?"

"Too bad, because I know what," Chris crossed his arms. "Now, start saying "C'mon!" to me! Non-stop to fill the bar and call that tank of yours!"

"Fortunately Link told me that he never drinks beer, right Link?"

"Yeah...right...hic!"

"...Oh my god..." Chris said astonished.

"Um, where is my laser gun?"

"...Oops, I left that behind in the past, sorry." Popo said sticking out his tongue.

"You WHAT?!" Nana asked angrily.

"What the-UGH!"

"Oww!" The kid bumped into Chris and both fell. "Watch where you're standing, I'm in a hurry right now!"

"...Wait... Lan?! Lan Hikari?! (Dammit, we got in the wrong Megaman!)"

"Who dares to disturb the sleep of the great OVERLORD LAHARL?!"

"Us." Kirby said simply as Etna kicked him away.

"Shh! Shut up!" Etna whispered angrily.

"Mario, I can't believe you got arrested for this crime along with them too."

"But I didn't do it!" Mario protested.

"Neither do we!" Link said protesting.

Chris smiled a little. "I know that, that's why I hired the most professional lawyer of all times!"

"U-UGH!" Lucario held his stomach in pain and fell on the ground.

"Lucario? LUCARIO?! LUCARIO!!!" Chris yelled worried.

"C-Chris...something...is...attacking me...inside..." Lucario fainted before he could finish his sentence.

"A-AAAAAHHHH!!!" Ike held his stomach in pain and also fainted.

Not only those 2 suffered, but also everyone else in the group except for Chris who got shocked as they twitched in pain and fainted.

"Wait, what do you mean you're making us take the SeeD exams?!" Chris asked astonished.

"The students will say that you should receive the proper training since you all are going to stay here," Cid said as he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out fine."

Falco made a bored face. "Fox, get prepared for our nicknames..."

"Monsters, I know." Fox said closing his eyes.

"Isn't curious to see the twins getting along?"

"Wow, I didn't know you were interested in them." Link said.

"An old mage like me should see the progresses of young mages like them."

"Mario, stop being stupid, that Mr. L guy is Lu-"

"Of course, Count Bleck isn't satisfied with you around, that's why he ordered me to take all of you out from his way." Mr. L said interrupting C. Falcon.

"Would you stop with the interruptions?!"

"No! I like to be me!"

"No," Popo said with a chuckle. "It sucks to be you."

"We're almost there with Smithy," Geno said looking around. "...I can feel him."

"Eww." Mallow and Twink said.

"Not like that!"

"Hey, who left this dog here?" Pit asked ducking to see the dog, however he barked at him showing his fangs and Pit backed away by the growls he made.

"Wait... That dog... I remember Raven told me he was looking for a dog..." Chris said. "...That means he's Repede!"

"(Oh no.)" Lucario thought worried.

"The great justice is here, the hero of the movies, the man who's going to kick everyone's butt to save his precious girlfriend from the clutches of evil, and that person is..."

"...Speaking of Joe." Chris said sweatdropping as Joe fell from a tree.

"You just ruined my entrance!" Joe muttered on the ground pointing at the group as another figure jumped out from the tree, this figure was a young kid with a bored face, or rather annoyed by the antics of Joe himself. "Jr., say something!"

"...Junior?! C. Blue Jr.?!"

"...We messed up this world as well when we arrived here." Lucario said with a bored face.

"Luke, if you're thinking it was your fault that Akzeriuth fell because of your error and countless of people died..."

"Don't tell me you're going to turn against me as well..." Luke said looking away as Mieu looked worried at him.

"...Who said I was going to do that?" Chris said tilting his head a little with a small smile. "I know you're saying the truth and that you're sorry, remember? I told you I was going to believe you ever since Jade found me unconscious in the forest during your way to Coral Castle, and to be honest, I saw the whole thing."

Luke looked at him with a smile as his pupils trembled a little. "R-really?"

"Of course, you have my trust in you after all..." Chris looked down looking at Tokunaga. "...We're the same, both of us lost our memories at some point..."

"There's an intruder in the mansion then...that means...LOCK DOWN ALL THE WINDOWS AND DOORS COMPUTER! WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN THE MANSION!" Master Hand yelled out loud as alarms blared out through the entire mansion.

Snake cursed after this.

"Do ya think he's..."

"I'm sure as hell he's the wielder of the Keyblade, GET HIM!"

"...Wait, WHAT?!" Chris turned to both lunatics and they grabbed his shoulders. "H-hey! Let me go!"

"Never! You're the one with the Keyblade, you must follow us to the Gummi Ship!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"...Er...guys..." Toon Link pointed at the screen. "...Isn't that Mario's dead carcass floating in the space?"

"What do you mean by carcas-...OH...MY...LORD!" Yoshi shouted panicking. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"H-he's isn't suppose to die during his adventure in the galaxies!" Chris said burying his face in his hands. "No! I messed up something!!!"

"...No Olympics then?" Sonic asked.

"Aw, Samus, pleasure to know you better." C. Falcon said grabbing Samus's armored hand and kissed it.

"...What is wrong with him?" Samus asked confused.

Pikachu glared at Falco, who looked away whistling innocently.

"And you're the best dog someone could ever had Repede," Chris said rubbing Repede's head, the dog stared at him.

"...Chris..." Lucario closed his eyes in annoyance. "...Would you get him off from our bed?"

"Repede wants to rest close to me, sorry."

"But not BETWEEN us!" Lucario said annoyed as Repede grinned at this.

"The moon..." Sonic said as he looked the moon in the night sky. "...It looks beautiful in some ways..."

"Hahahahaha..."

"Who said that?!" Sonic asked looking around.

"It's about time I get to control your body again...hahahahahaha..."

"...Wait...that same feeling...I remember it when I fought the Metarex..."

"Weird, you look like Sonic." Ness said to Klonoa who stared at Sonic.

"...Er, I don't think so." Klonoa and Sonic said at the same time.

"Weird," Diddy said looking inside the blue house. "He's not here."

"But I wanted to meet those 2 so muc-"

"BANJO! BANJO! WHERE ARE YOU BANJO?!"

"Together, Lucario!"

"With our aura..."

"It's easier, right?"

"Chris!"

"Toon Link!"

"Arm-to-arm!"

"UAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Hahahahaha! Diddy!"

"Let's start the show?"

"You're absolutely right, hahahahahahaha!"

"After you, madam..."

"Oh, my... I'm flattered."

"Dance and dance in this romantic and gorgeous night, together with me, princess!"

"Heheheh! I'd like so!"

"Illusion after illusion, what goes at the end?"

"A hard and strong kick with us at the midpoint of the X."

"Then go!"

"Let's steal something even better than fortune itself..."

"The will to fight?"

"Kid, now you're talking..."

"It's a fist!"

"But not only that."

"They're a bunch!"

"Thy faithful servant, asketh for thy blessing, resplander of the..." Chris looked around confused. "...Huh?"

"What?"

"...Heheheh, I messed up, my bad!"

"WHAT?!"

"Suck them all!"

"Oooohhh, I'm hungry..."

"NOW!"

And there's much more to come as well...

Music stops

And to end this special, the bloopers, things that were "editted" out from the arcs such as errors and etcetera, enjoy!

Tales of the Abyss - Pleasantness

EarthBound arc

"This Hot Spring is very relaxing." Chris said with a towel above his head inside the hot spring, some Mr. Saturns were inside too. Lucario was near Chris.

"It soothens your soul and body, is very relax-"

"...What the..." Chris saw bubbles popping out from behind Lucario. "You're sick! Did you know that?!"

"W-what?!" Lucario asked blushing.

Below the water, we see a Mr. Saturn swimming just below Lucario, it made a happy expression as he kept making bubbles below the Aura Pokémon. "Stop that!"

"B-but it's not me!"

"BoINg!"

Super Metroid arc

"Can't let yo do that, Star Fox!" A voice shouted from somewhere.

"Star Fox? Since when this world was Corneria?" Chris asked confused, he started to inspect the room from the door, and the roof exploded making a hole in the process, and from it, a shadow cam- "Look out, there's a-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"...Magma pool below you..." Chris said sweatdropping as the figure struggled to get out, but later it stopped and was scorched. "...Whoever that was, I feel sorry for him..."

Wind Waker arc

"RED CHU JELLY A LA VAATI FOR TONIGHT!" Link shouted hiding below a barrel.

"But we just ate that yesterday!" A Moblin shouted as the barrels where the 3 hid sweatdropped.

"Er...it's...also...with...um..."

"Toasted Veran Bread!" Chris added.

"What else?!" All the Moblins asked.

"...Um...Evil Onox Milk?" Lucario added.

"HELL YEAH!" All the Moblins yelled running away.

"Evil Onox Milk?" Chris and Toon Link asked confused when the trio revealed themselves.

"...Don't ask..." Lucario said looking away.

Melee arc

"Quick! Follow me!" Pichu ran to the left and Lucario and Chris followed him, getting away from the fight.

"Wait," Chris said returning to the spot, spotting a Hammer that he threw to the other side of the building, where it hit Falco and passed out. "That's for making my life miserable with the Team Falco on Intense mode, you retard!"

"Chris!" Lucario yelled taking his trainer with him.

"LET ME GO! I HAVE TO FINISH SOME BUSINESS WITH HIM!" Chris yelled.

"...Who was that voice?" Fox asked confused.

"...Well..." Link looked down to Falco, whistled and pushed him off the edge of the stage, as Fox stared at him with a glare. "...What?"

"You tell me."

"...Seriously, you have to change that face someday, it creeps me out." Link said with a bored face.

"Stop changing the subject!" Fox yelled annoyed.

Mystery Dungeon arc

"I..." Chris was hoping in the ground as he tried to get inside a pond, why?

Because he turned into a Magikarp.

"Can't...breathe...ugh..."

GAME OVER...sucker...

Star Fox: Assault arc

"Halt! Hands to the air!" A voice shouted from the top of a building pointing a blaster to them. They turned their heads and saw Fox on top of it.

"GET OFF THAT BUILDING!" Roy shouted.

"What?" Fox asked confused before the building collapsed, along with him who went down and rolled all the way to the 5 who looked down at him, his face buried on the street's floor. "...Don't...say...anything..."

"I swear," Chris said looking away annoyed. "Just because you're the hero of this world doesn't mean you have to do a good entrance to impress your spectators."

"Agreed." Pichu, Mewtwo, Lucario and Roy said nodding in unison.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl arc

"O-ok...d-don't make any brusque move...w-we are just going to return to the cave..." Chris looked at the entrance of the cave they came from and there were a lot of Lucarios blocking the cave "...N-n-nevermind...w-w-we just wait for them to...k-k-kill us..."

Maylene blinked for a moment "W-w-wait...KILL US?!"

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Chris yelled and pointed at Maylene. "KILL HER! SHE TRIED TO START A REBELLION AGAINST LUCARIOS!"

"WHAT?!"

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!" All the Lucarios grunted in rage and they all ran after Maylene who tripped and then was attacked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Maylene screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Why did you do that?!" Riley asked with a glare.

"It was you or her!" Chris protested as Cynthia laughed amused.

Pikmin arc

"Look out Roy!" Pichu shouted to Roy, the red haired swordsman saw the big fire shooting Bulborb running at him, he gulped and he ran away from him, the black Bulbear was shooting fire balls at Roy, who fortunately evaded all of them, Roy looked around for something to hide, he was running inside the pond, the Bulbear was still following him, but when the Bulbear felt the water on his feet, he looked down and...he died?

"Huh? What happened?" Roy asked, he approached carefully to the Bulbear, he poked it with his finger on the nose and it didn't budge.

"Is he dead?" Pichu asked poking his eye.

"Looks like it, maybe his weakness was the water and he die-" Pikachu was interrupted because they saw the black Bulbear swallow Roy in a comic fashion before it died. "...Well..."

"WHY ROY?!" Pichu asked as he cried in agony.

"Meh, we have Link and Marth in all matters anyway." Pikachu said as Pichu glared at him.

Mother 3 arc

"Wh-Who are you?!" Lucas asked terrified, the masked boy didn't reply and he continued to watch Lucas, then he looked at Chris.

"Why don't you tell us your name?!" Chris asked angrily before Lucas felt sick. "What?"

"I-I gotta pee!"

"NOT HERE, THAT'S GROSS!"

"...Tough luck." The masked boy commented awkwardly as they stared back at him. "..." The masked boy raised his sword.

"OH NO!" Both Lucas and Chris yelled terrorized.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle arc

"We made it! We made it! We made it!" Both said singing.

"Alright, now we just need to hide them from the hedgehogs!" Chris said, Christopher nodded and he ducked to grab the Chaos Emeralds "Now we need to escape and the colony should stop from colliding with the Earth."

Chris and Christopher walked towards the long staircase but then...

"OH NO!" Chris said in shock after he saw a blue and a black blur coming from the other side of the big room, they passed right between Lucario and Jigglypuff and then they ran at high speed climbing the staircase and both were running towards Christopher, who was holding the 7 Chaos Emeralds. "...Oops?" Chris grabbed Christopher's shoulder, pulled him away and the 2 figures went soaring in the sky and crashed into the wall.

"...That was close..." Christopher said looking at Sonic and Shadow falling to the weird orange water. "Thanks."

"We, the kids with names starting with a "C", should help each other." Chris said with a proud smile.

"Heheh, maybe you're right."

Fire Emblem arc

Lyn was now ready to kiss Hector's lips, Serra was getting desperate for watching them approaching slowly to the other, Florina was also a little desperate, Guy's eyes widened a little and Erk couldn't resist but he looked at the scene.

As the lips of the other were almost closing in the other mouth, they closed their eyes to feel the kiss.

Until...

"OWW!" Serra was hit by a boot to her head.

"Huh?!" Lyn and Hector looked at the group. "What are you doing there?! Are you spying us?!" Lyn asked shocked as Chris, Roy and Marth ran to them.

"Roy, that's Lyn, not her!" Chris protested pointing at the fainted Serra (who had a dumb face).

"Well, what did you expect?!" Roy asked pointing at the couple. "They're perfectly in the center of the sun's rays! How could I throw the boot with perfect accuracy anyway if the sun blinded me?!"

Paper Mario: TTYD arc

Pit looked at the Bandit and he spotted something the buglar was holding in his hands. "Say, when did he get that gun...and that wallet, that credit card, that oddly shaped machine...and that filthy magazine?"

"...Actually, those are Falco's things." Ness said as they all glared at Falco.

"What?" Falco asked confused.

"Y-you read filthy magazines? Shame on you, shame on you!" Lucas yelled at him.

"Oh, shut up! GET BACK HERE!" Falco shouted raising a fist in the air and the Bandit ran away with Falco chasing him.

Twilight Princess arc

Wolf was now panting, this fight was so far the most dangerous to him, and who knew he was going to fight againts a wolf, what irony. "...Okay...now is time to get serious..." He said taking out his vest.

"YO-HOOOOO! YOU'RE SUCH A HUNK! Aww..." Nana yelled out loud as she fainted and rolled down the slope.

"...Okay?" Marth said confused.

"..." Wolf's eyes twitched and focused his sight on Link.

Tales of Symphonia arc

"Hey," Sheena looked around once they got to the Temple of Darkness. "Where are our friends with furs?"

At that moment, Raine came in with a satisfied smile. "Raine...don't tell me you..." Genis inched away from her sister who kept chuckling evily as she walked inside the temple.

Ness looked back at the entrance and gasped. "OH MY GOD, SHE DISSECTED THEM AFTER ALL!"

"...Can I have their Arwings? They look fun." Roy said as Chris facepalmed at this.

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror arc

"Nice to meet you Kirby," Chris said dropping to his knees to do a handshake to Kirby. "I'm Chris!"

"Hi! My name is Kirby!" Kirby greeted him, but then he narrowed his eyes at him. "...Hmm...you smell like cake...AAAAAAAAAAA."

"W-WAIT! NO!" Chris panicked as Kirby swallowed him inside his mouth. "HEEEEEEEELP!"

"...You still have issues with cakes's odors, don't you?" Nana asked facepalming with a frown.

Kirby spat Chris out. "But he tastes like strawberry cake..."

"...G-get away from me..." Chris said backing away.

Sonic Heroes arc

"E-everyone! What happened to you?!" Tails asked as he ran to them while he kept the green Chaos Emerald.

"Some lunatic used the huge pinball machine below to use us as the balls." Charmy said with swirl eyes pointing outside the window, Tails looked outside and realized that he accidentaly used all of them to win the emerald.

However, once he saw the counter, there was another different prize, it was a Turbo Engine 2500, with extra capacity to strengthen any kind of machinery in 3 seconds, with rechargeable batteries for all the life and eternity, oh yeah!

Tails smirked evily and walked to the group. "Oh...then too bad you all have to be the balls again..."

"...What?" Amy asked worried as Tails, with a simple kick, kicked them back down below in the machine as they screamed in horror while the 2-tailed fox played and played the pinball machine.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Tails laughed maniacally as thunders fell on the background, preventing anyone from hearing the screams of horror from the huge pinball machine.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen arc

"Well, I heard somebody yelling from over there, let's go!" Pikachu said and most of them stared at him in surprise. "...What?"

"...THAT PIKACHU JUST TALKED!" Maylene said surprised.

"Hahaha! Pikachu got busted!" Pichu said and he received the same stares. "...Oops..."

"THAT PICHU TOO!"

"Stop talking!" Jigglypuff said and received more odd stares. "...Oh no..."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"WE," The trio looked at her with big eyes. "ARE YOUR FATHERS!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Maylene fainted as the trio fell on their backs and began to laugh loudly at this.

"...They're my fathers?" Reggie asked pointing down at them.

"No!" Chris said annoyed.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes arc

"...I hoped it was a One-Hit KO, but it wasn't!" He glanced at Fox, Falco and Wolf. "And if they were helping us, this battle could have been easier!"

Wolf Kirby ran to them. "What If I suck them together in my mouth? I could get a random ability!"

"Do it!" Chris ordered and Wolf Kirby left his ability go.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

"UAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Fox, Falco and Wolf yelled loudly as Kirby swallowed the 3, then after 5 seconds, he spat them out and started to shine brightly. "...What the hell?" Wolf asked shocked as everyone saw Kirby shining brightly.

"Oh...my...god..." Chris said blinking surprised as the light blinded the entire room and...

...Kirby was there, blinking bored when it stopped.

"...Nothing happened?" Samus asked confused.

"No, eww..." Kirby shuddered. "They don't have a good flavor...they stink all together..."

"...Hey!" Fox, Falco and Wolf argued.

F-Zero GX arc

"How ironic, out there is the key word here now." Ness said crossing his arms, half-bored.

"Ask Marth! He maybe knows a way to get out of here!" Nana suggested and they looked at Marth.

"Hey, Marth, do you know how to get out of this annoying barrier?"

Marth scratched the back of his head. "I'm not good at technology, so I'm afraid I don't know."

"We're screwed."

"Totally." They replied in unison.

"...So..." Ness took out a hand of cards. "Want to play a game of cards?"

"I'm in." Popo said rubbing his palms together.

"So am I." Nana said sitting on the floor.

"C-can I play too?" Lucas asked sitting on the floor.

"Me too?" Pichu asked.

Link looked down at them annoyed as his cartoon self sat as well. "We're watching a fight for our lifes, and all you can do now is play a card game?"

"Yeah." The young Smashers replied as they focused their minds into the game.

"...Roy?" Link looked shocked at Roy who was playing cards as well.

"I-ah, well, it's the best thing to do now!" Roy protested. "Aw, crap! Now how am I going to get over that card?!"

Final Fantasy 9 arc

"Wait...if you know my name, did anyone name Sir Fratley told you?!" Freya asked shocked.

"Of course," Chris said simply. "Also, Fratley lost his memory in an unexplained event once Burmecia, that is in Cleyra right now since the original city was devastated, is now living on a tree, to sum that up, your screen time will not be so common that you will act like a supporting character after Cleyra is destroyed, not only that, you should assault Alexandria before it attacks Cleyra and steals the jewel of your king."

Freya couldn't help but stare at him in shock. "...What was all that you just said now?"

"I...don't...know..."

"...You suck, totally and to the core."

"I know." Chris said with a bored face.

Music stops

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance arc

"And we're here gathered today to say our farewells to Greil, leader of the Greil Mercenaries." Roy said as they buried Greil on his tomb close to the headquarters.

"Father..." Mist buried her face in her hands and Ike hugged her.

"May the blessing of Tellium go with him to the heaven." Soren said.

"It will..." Titania said looking down. "...It will..."

"I'm going to miss that guy," Popo sniffed. "He was my hero..."

"Popo, you didn't look him as your hero, your hero is a pumpkin." Nana said frowning.

"Oh right, Mr. Pump-em-up, he's awesome."

"Would you stop?" Marth said annoyed.

Tales of the Abyss - Pleasantness

Mario sports arc

"Wow, that was fast..." Yoshi trailed off as he shook his head later. "Whatever! Let's drink one last time to celebrate!"

"Alright! Twink, Geno, Lucario, Kirby, Olimar, drink up!" Jigglypuff said cheerfully as the team drank their drinks in unison...

...Before spitting it out between them, since they were in a circle as they coughed.

"OH, GOD!" Squirtle said shocked.

"I know! This soda has 0.1 percent proteins! You know how bad this is for my health?! I need even more proteins than this thing!" Jigglypuff complained.

"Wait..." Chris began to tilt. "...Whyyyyyy is everything spinning...hic?!"

"Yoshi...you idiot..." Fox muttered as he blushed awkwardly. "This is not soda...is beer...hic..."

"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh-weeeeeeeeeeeeet...hic!" The group said in unison hiccuping and giggling.

"Oooooooohhhhhh......sh(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!)t...hic..." Yoshi said giggling like an idiot.

Partners in Time arc

"Who's the cute little baby?!" Chris asked holding B. Riolu in his arms. "Who's the cute little baby?!"

"Ri!" B. Riolu raised his hand and both rubbed their noses together. "Ri ri ri riiii!!"

"You're the cute little baby! MOUTH-TO-TUMMY ATTACK!" Chris yelled placing his mouth on B. Riolu's stomach and he began to blow air at it, making weird but funny noises that B. Riolu was giggling happily.

"...Kid...you're sick..." Wolf commented with a disgusted face as he walked away, his baby self begging for the same action.

Sonic Riders arc

"...Who's that handsome guy over there?!" Wave yelled as she pushed Falco away. "Hello! My name is Wave the Swallow, nice to meet you, who are you? Can I have your phone number please please please PLEASE?!"

"...What?" Ike asked looking to another direction.

"..." Falco had his jaw wide open at this.

And for the end...the preview of the next chapter!

"...B-b-b-brr..." Estelle embraced herself as she looked to the sky covered in grey clouds during the night. "T-t-the climate is getting cold...so cold...it's going to snow I think..."

Not sooner she said that, snow began to fall quietly from the sky as she blinked.

"...I-I-I need to find some place to get warm...huh?" Estelle looked at the left side of the forest she just got out from and smiled a little. "T-t-that mansion probably has a chimney...b-b-but will the owners let me in for the night?"

And so...we continue to the next part of the adventure...only the disc 2...2 more remaining...

...Or...

...Are there 4 discs in total? Or just only 2?...

...Only you will find the truth...if you're aware of this adventure...

References:

-Persona 4 - The Poem for Everyone's soul and Reach Out To The Truth - Instrumental version are song references to Persona 4

-Tales of the Abyss - Karma (Japanese opening) is a song reference for the same game.

-The clichés were a reference to the RPG Cliché book's chapter...so..."goes back to read that." XD

And finally, your thoughts so far about this fic? Are you excited to watch the new arcs after we end with the Star Spirits quest? Are you okay with all the personalities? The abilities? The combinated attacks? The interactions? Everything?

You will just have to review and tell your thoughts, so...

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 101*: START OF DISC 2: Mission: Kidnap

This chapter should have been a little longer but school is back so...you know how it goes. -_-

From SSBMercurious2: Oh. My. God. Yes! I was reading through the previews of future arcs (or so I hope they are) and noticed some of the ones that I was going to suggest to you anyways! MegaMan, specifically the Battle Network version! I LOVE those games! Phoenix Wright! Magnificent games as well! Final Fantasy VI! My favorite Final Fantasy of all time!

Thank you for including them! Oh and on the issue of discs. I am predicting 3.

From me: With the arcs, they're not going to be so bad, with some twists on each one, you're going to enjoy all of them, though some that are really weird...well, let's say the city will be the setting for those ones.

And my goal is to do as many Final Fantasys arcs that I can, except 1, 2 and beyond the 10.

Thank you again!

From Hyuzyn: lmao! BTW gratz on the hundredth chapter that you made.. and Lucario getting jealous... oO that aint the first... i think...

From me: You'll just have to wait as always, thanks. :)

From aquadragonsayian: Hm... The second disc...

BRING IT ON! BRING. IT. ON! :)

Sklee! Update soon, and resume the madness!!

From me:

From brickthrower 21: good list of cliches you've good there. any chance of doing a professor layton arc?

From me: Please, refrain to review in the wrong chapter or else I won't answer your questions.

Just for this time though, no, there's a very small chance I'll do an arc of that game, sorry. But thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Oh my GOD, those clichés are so TRUE! BUT...you just succumbed to one!

31. "My name is the great Luario"

You put ROB in there TWICE! Before AND after G&W. Oopsie! But that's okay. An author can make a couple grammatical mistakes, those are the most minor of infractions.

From me: That's why an authot can always edit the chapters anyway, so that error disappeared...just don't ask why it has an extra space, thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: I was expecting the 100th chapter to be a massive story. Instead, it was a combination of the outline of the adventure so far, the jobs Chris has, and how to keep a OC from becoming a Mary Sue. Most of this was not what I really thought the 100th chapter should have been like. However...

I really liked the word-picture that you made at the start, and I greatly enjoyed the previews. Most of the games you referred to there I am familiar with, which always makes the story easier to understand. (In contrast, games that people are not familiar with can be extremely interesting as well, as it can seem like a whole new story all together.) Out of sheer interest, are the previews set in chronological order, or are they randomly placed. (Most likely they are randomly placed, since the Metal Gear Solid arc is supposed to be coming up next, but still...)

Finally, my thoughts on the story as a whole. I would consider it excellent. With brillant plot devices, as well as regular updating, something most stories never receive, has pulled your story through time and time again. All these elements combined makes this the best fanfiction story around, and you the best writer. Great job, Wiiboychris!

From me: Randomly placed, and than you very much for your review! Good criticism is always good here! :D

From Mewtrainer: Umm... No offense, but I prefer the storyline specials...

From me: Too bad. :P Thanks? :D

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wait... Who was dragging Chris to the Gummi Ship and WHY DID THEY THINK HE WAS THE KEYBLADE MASTER!?!?!? Update soon

From me: The answer should be "duh" now, but it's a long time before that arc comes, thanks. :)

From Dawnwolfxnhoj: wow, i was definetly not expecting this. so far, i've come to several possibilities of what's to come:unknown games,2 animes, and new jobs. i'm definetly intrested on chris's keyblade, IT WILL BE DIFFERENT RIGHT? there can't be 2 of the same keyblades, that much i know. TELL me link's going to ff8, i have to see his reaction to the gunblade.(he may call it the bomblade LOL, he is'nt familiar with guns after all, and it does sound like a bomb when it slashes) another point to bring up, will chris be earning ifrit on the SeeD test? i think it may be easier on his behalf. and if you wouldn't mind, could you might read my story if you have might miraculously have sometime from school and the story? sorry if i sound a bit desperate.

From me: Chris ISN'T going to use a DAMN Keyblade for the last time! It was just a misunderstanding that you will have to wait and see!

And about Link, probably, the latter question? Who said I was going to do the plot in that part? ;) Thanks anyway. :D (And for the last question, probably, I'm so busy with many things to keep on with this site).

From Rabid Original: Let me tell you...
I AM SO PUMPED for what's coming next.
I love this fic, because, simply put, it's epic. Very much so.
Your OC isn't a Sue (that would suck), and the character development and personalities are awesome.
And above all, I find you incredibly admirable for being able to write all this. I wish that I could hold my attention on a whole story this long, and if I ever do, it'll probably be because this story inspired me to do it.
The only flaw (which is overshadowed by the awesomeness) is the grammar, but then again, you have come a long way, and I'm a bit of a grammar Nazi.
Also, you have a surprisingly small amout of typos.

...In conclusion, GO YOU. :D
(long review...I'm not used to this.)

From me: If there is a word that I've been writing wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me, I'd appreciate it very much.

Thank you! :D

From Seitei: [Seitei changes job to Reviewer!]
[Seitei uses Sugar!]
[Seitei uses Brain!]

Congrats on your 100th chapter!

I'm definitely looking forward to the next arc (though Final Fantasy... yeah...).

As a milestone chapter, I'd like to applaud you on your originality. Not many other fics have sufficient character development, but yours is special. Another thing I liked was the video-game environment (though I have to say it kind of breaks suspended disbelief, but it works well, so kudos on that).

In fact, after the two fics I'm working on, and maybe after two in the future, I'll probably make an epic adventure fic. I've already got a few OCs in mind (though they're still Gary Stus...). Any tips (particularly on length)?

I must know how many discs there are.

Thanks for the bloopers; they made me laugh! Send everyone my regards, will ya?

Keep updating!

[Effect of Sugar has run out]

From me: Thanks, I try and think hard about many details and get the best idea I can create.

By OCs ideas, you should make a believable OC's past, I've seen fics with deep OC's development (like Michelle in Tales of yet another self insert here) and also, the personality should be taken in mind, please, for god's sake, don't make a laidback character, those are around and we don't need another one.

...So send regards to who again? XD Thanks! :D

From chrisworshiper: i'm upset just a bunch of spoilers i was expecting a christmas arc to heak with my closeing adeosamegos

From me: FOR THE LAST TIME, I made a Christmas special as a separated fic with all these characters! Oh god, just take your time to read my profile and see my fics please! And they're not spoilers, they're previews!... Thanks! :D

From timrtabor: sweet, galaxy arc and mario dies yes that sonic wana be.

From me: I sense a Mario hater now... Thanks? XD

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Whoa I had to finally beat my laziness to review this huge huge chapter(Sorry for review the other chapters) The Cliches section reminded me of (which is a website I recommend to you). Basically this summary of every single thing up to this point in the fic was a awesome way to thank the readers and was such an informative chapter so yeah. Oh and I liked the movie trailer like preview. Well until next time...

From me: Oh, no need to be sorry actually! ;D I'm glad you liked the chapter as well as everyone here, thanks! :D

So now, we begin the first chapter of the next disc, there are lots of surprises in here as well...and since Snake's games are quite difficult to me for understand, there isn't going to be a Metal Gear Solid arc, but instead, the "Snake arc" focused on this mercenary, and when is that arc you ask?

...Now...

Read, enjoy and review please! :D

START OF DISC 2

Chapter 101: Mission: Kidnap the World Traveler

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Ugh..."

"Lord Tabuu, you have been grunting over the loss against the Smashers again." The Ancient Minister said.

"I still cannot believe those 3, along with Galleom got defeated at the last moment just when we were going to get the World Traveler in our hands." Tabuu said grunting silently.

"They are currently in recuperation, Galleom itself needs to be repaired as well, the Shadow Bugs alone are not enough to build his weapons back." The Ancient Minister looked away. "...Perhaps it's time to plan a kidnapping on their own home?"

"We still have 3 of those guardians left."

"Are you talking about the other 2 who are guarding Kalmar?"

"Exactly, those 2 are now beginning their orders just as we told them before."

"...I see...should we send the Axem Rangers and kidnap the World Traveler while he's weak?"

"Wait, the World Traveler is weak?"

"It appears so according to the reports when we got our forces back," The Ancient Minister looked at him. "Galleom's internal memory managed to scan his status, and he's currently out of commision as we speak."

"Lord Tabuu!" Axem Red came from the darkness and kneeled to them. "We're ready to use the Blade and carry out our orders, it's about damn time we act after all, please give us a chance!"

"You're also going to use the power of Klevar just in case." The Ancient Minister said.

"Right...the Star Spirit...why didn't we think of using their powers when we were guarding them?"

"Because you'll only use it since we don't plan to give you 5 the Shadow Bugs."

Axem Red jumped in shock. "W-what?! T-then we're going there defenseless?!"

"Do you dare to question my plans?" Tabuu asked as energy gathered around him, Axem Red sweated and shook his head several times as the energy disappeared. "Good...now go and do not fail...or else..."

"Axem Rangers, MOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE OUT!" Axem Red commanded as voices were heard in the darkness of the Subspace before he disappeared.

"...Only 2 Star Spirits left...at this rate, we will not have any progress at all..."

"We'll just have to think about something...may I suggest, perhaps, some kind of upgrades?"

"Upgrades? What do you mean by that?"

"Somewhere around Galleom's data managed to get a look of their special abilities they obtained out of nowhere."

"Ah...yes, they do show some kind of special power...the Final Smash..."

"And since we have 3 minions that are of their kind, do you think you can grant them the same powers as them?"

Tabuu began to think. "...That is not a hard task to do, once they are healed, we will surprise them the next time they use their Final Smashes..." Tabuu said chuckling before he teleported away.

The Ancient Minister looked away. "...This is not the time yet to get out from this living nightmare...we need more time...curses..."

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest (Rebuilding rate of the city: 50 percent completed so far)
Soon-to-be completed inn

"..." Yuri looked around and sighed. "...It's too quiet now..."

"Well," Rita began as she closed her book. "Estelle, Karol and that pervert old man always are making some kind of mishaps to make some sort of fun, that's why everything is so quiet around here."

"I'm beginning to worry about Estelle though," Judith said rubbing her chin. "It has been a while ever since she left...do you think something happened to her?"

Yuri facepalmed and frowned. "Guess she got kidnapped after all...damn, she doesn't understand at all."

"If you want, I'll go and look for her, who knows? Maybe she's fine."

"Or either she got lost as the other 3." Rita said frowning rolling her eyes.

"...Fine Judith, go, but come back here with all of them." Yuri said with a nod as Judith chuckled.

"I'll be fine, remember, I'm quite tough in battles, even if there are many enemies trying to kill me." Judith said as she walked out of the inn, leaving the dark-purple haired swordsman and the genius mage alone.

"...What?" Rita asked as she noticed Yuri staring at her.

"Nothing." Yuri said simply with a sigh.

"...You better not think anything funny..." Rita said with a serious voice as Yuri blinked.

"Why me? I'm not the old man."

"But you're the magnet of troubles, even Karol agreed with that, I mean, you were imprisoned once and that Zagi gu-"

"Alright, alright, I'm a magnet of troubles, now, stop it." Yuri said annoyed looking away.

"Tsk, fine." Rita said looking away as well as a silence fell in the inn.

Smash Mansion
Outside

It was getting late now, or to tell the truth, it was almost night in the Smash Mansion, there were strong winds during the sunset that was almost going to disappear and call the night in. It was also very cloudy.

...Though there was something odd with the clouds covering the sky...

But for now, we focus our view to a girl with royal clothes (though they looked like for battle as well) embracing herself from the cold winds, it was Estelle, the same friend of Karol, Raven and Repede, she was walking out from the forest as she sneezed a little.

"...B-b-b-brr..." Estelle embraced herself as she looked to the sky covered in grey clouds during the night. "T-t-the climate is getting cold...so cold...it's going to snow I think..."

Not sooner she said that, snow began to fall quietly from the sky as she blinked.

"...I-I-I need to find some place to get warm...huh?" Estelle looked at the left side of the forest she just got out from and smiled a little. "T-t-that mansion probably has a chimney...b-b-but will the owners let me in for the night?"

The princess walked slowly to the mansion, which had lights on and she thought there were people living there.

"O-o-of course they're going to let me rest for the night, n-n-nobody can be upset during this c-c-climate if I ask nicely, r-r-right?" Estelle asked as she walked and walked towards the mansion.

Mewtwo's Room

"GUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

"Lucario, stop right now!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Mewtwo had a really bad time to control Lucario's anger, once their meditations began, the Psychic Pokémon had to be extremely careful from Lucario's aura, the Aura Pokémon has been very upset and furious that he tried to kill Mewtwo using Aura Storm whenever he got the necessary amount of power to call forth his devastating attack.

Luckily, Mewtwo enforced the walls to prevent the destructive streams of aura destroy the entire mansion, once they touched the walls, they would vanish once Lucario finished.

Unfortunately, strengthening the walls took a lot of Mewtwo's power, so he practically was left vulnerable to any attack as he tried to teleport from place to place.

Raven's Room

And more unfortunately, the attacks from the Aura Pokémon were strong enough to make trembles that shook the mansion from time to time, even reaching Raven's room all the way up.

We find the old man trying to sleep peacefully (after having a serious training with Toon Link and bows), but the trembles made him grumble a lot of times as he tried to find the perfect position to lay down on his bed.

Finally, after some shakes, he covered his head with the pillow. "Would you please let an ol' man like me get his beauty sleep?!" Raven yelled in the pillow annoyed.

Mewtwo's Room

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" Lucario roared furiously aiming his extremely powerful Aura Spheres to Mewtwo, who tried to teleport away in time from all the spheres that were trying to collide with his body.

"(It's no use...if this keeps going on...soon he will kill me and everything will be over!)" Mewtwo thought as he barely avoided an Aura Sphere, but that move managed to reach a part of his arm and he quickly felt a strong pain that he grabbed his arm and dropped to the floor on his right knee. "U-ugh...stop it..."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR...." Lucario found Mewtwo twitching in pain and he walked towards him, where he looked down to him and showed his fangs. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

"This is...stupid..." Mewtwo muttered as Lucario raised his right fist with intense aura covering it, Mewtwo's eyes widened for a moment before closing them.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGG-...huh?!" Lucario blinked confused and Mewtwo looked up with a surprised expression, the aura around Lucario began to vanish and the Aura Pokémon recovered his conscience. "...No..." Lucario muttered as he looked around.

"What is...it?" Mewtwo asked confused.

"No, Chris, his aura is very weak, where is he?!" Lucario demanded looking around the room as Mewtwo lowered the shields off the wall and glowed for a moment.

"...I presume he just arrived... (Thank god...)" Mewtwo said and thought respectively as Lucario ran out from the room, leaving Mewtwo behind as he stood up, recovering his energies after he vanished the shields. "...If we keep up with the training...then there is a high possibility that he will kill us all...after he is done with me..." The Psychic Pokémon shook his head. "No...such a thing won't happen here as long as we stop...maybe...Chris himself can calm down his anger...just a possibility..."

Command Room

"He's weak, he's barely breathing as well," Marth said putting his hand on Chris's forehead as C. Falcon carried him. "...I can't believe he has this temperature on his forehead..."

"Then that means he has a fever?" Pikachu said as he then looked annoyed. "That was it? He just suffered from a fever?" Pikachu jumped to Chris and put his hand on his forehead. "...Wow...this fever literally burns up your hand in 4 seconds..."

"Master Hand, can you do something about it?" Nana asked.

"Don't look at me, I can't cure fevers and I'm not some sort of doctor either!" Master Hand pointed out. "Besides, even Heart Containers won't heal him, they can only cure wounds, not sicknesses!"

"CHRIS!" Lucario's voice was heard from the halls, the Pokémon stopped right in front of his weakened trainer and took him on his arms. "Chris?! Chris?! Answer me!"

"..." Chris only moaned silently.

"...What happened to you?" Lucario muttered worried.

"I guess he got overexerted," Meta Knight as they stared at him. "You were fighting in the desert, am I right?"

"Now that you mention it..." Popo thought. "It felt kind of hot in there..."

"Says the kid who wears a parka all the time." Link said rolling his eyes.

"No, really," Ness said. "It felt hot in there, but we just ignored it during the whole fight."

"And you also failed to convince Sonic to join us." Master Hand pointed out.

"That's not important right now! I want him to be cured!" Lucario yelled angrily.

"Calm down you," Master Hand said. "First...since we don't want to mess up with Sonic's story...Crazy, time to use that!"

"Oh! Oh! We're going to use our extremely, powerful, magical, awesome hand powers?!" Crazy Hand asked floating towards his brother in excitement.

"...Okay, whatever you're going to do, please don't make any kind of error or something." Nana said.

"Bah," Master Hand said as both him and Crazy Hand glowed. "We're going to use our powers to...let's say, advance the entire adventures of Sonic in 10 seconds."

"You can do that?" Red asked.

"I'm certain they can, I mean, I haven't got the chance to see what they can do, rather than teleporting or such." Pit said.

"Once you fight them, you'll see." Yoshi said.

"Alright!" Master Hand said as the hands pointed at the screen where Sonic was racing against Jet in the garden, they all looked at the screen (except for Lucario who was staring down his fainted trainer) as both hands began to glow even brighter than before. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...begin."

Before their eyes, Sonic quickly finished the whole race, defeated the Babylon Guardian, went to Soleanna despite Chris's warnings (and C. Falcon gave him a thumbs-up after Sonic kissed Elise), went inside a book where he crashed and crashed and crashed, somewhere between those adventures he also met a purple cat with fire powers, until about 10 minutes (instead of 10 seconds), the entire magic stopped and the hands dropped to the floor as Master Hand opened a portal, panting heavily with his brother.

"...Someone...go there...and bring Sonic here...ugh..." Master Hand said panting heavily.

"I-I'll go if you don't mind..." Olimar said stepping inside the portal. "...Oh my! Carry him!"

"What's going on now?" Toon Link asked as Olimar came back from the portal, motioning his hands to him.

"Steeeeeeeady...steeeeeeady..." Olimar said as they all saw a very schoked Sonic (embracing himself as he tremble a lot of times) while the Pikmins carried him to the mansion, then the portal closed with his friends saying good bye to him...though they were studdering a lot as him.

...And just to make it official...

NEWCOMER!

Sonic joined your team!... For real this time!

"H-h-h-hey you guys..." Sonic said studdering uncontrollably waving at them in a slow pace.

"What's wrong with you?" Roy asked.

"E-e-e-ever feel that your life flashed through your eyes in 10 minutes at a very insane speed that I couldn't handle so w-w-w-well?"

"...No?" Kirby said confused.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-well...guess what?" Sonic asked as he stopped trembling, jumped off the Pikmins and stood up with his usual grin. "That had to be the BEST experience in my life before! Oh yeah! I want more already!"

"Too...bad..." Master Hand muttered in pain as Sonic looked down to him. "I'm...not a...tool...for your...fun..."

"...Who's that?"

"You could say he's our boss...sadly..." Marth said muttering the last part.

"..." Sonic shook his head and smiled a little. "So!" The hedgehog looked around at all the Smashers staring at him. "This is supposed to be my new home for now? Wow, lots of guys around here..." Sonic looked at Zelda, Jigglypuff and Nana. "...Well, mostly guys anyway."

"Ahahaha," Zelda smiled heartily. "Oh, don't worry, there are going to be more women around here shortly, just wait."

"But why do I have the feeling it's the opposite?" Nana whispered to Jigglypuff.

"...Hey, is he still down?" Sonic asked pointing at Chris. "I haven't seen you for a while now that I remember..."

"Yeah," Popo chuckled. "And we just saw you 20 minutes ag-"

SMACK!

"What was that again?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow.

"Heheheheh, don't listen to my brother, he has some nuts out from his brain..." Nana said chuckling as she sweated.

"...Wait," Falco looked to a destroyed computer, a very beaten one to be accurate. "What happened to that CPU?"

Roy looked at Ike, who was still trying to stay in the conversation. "...Let's just say Ik-"

"You have e-mail." A computer besides Ike called out.

"RUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ike quickly took off his bandana, grabbed Ragnell and smashed up the crap out of the very same computer, everyone backed away scared as the barbari-I mean, Ike the barbari-I mean, Ike continued to smash up the computer.

"Oh...come on!" Master Hand said annoyed. "Just how...many e-mails...from my cousin Glover...need to be...destroyed before I get the time to read them?!"

"It's the second time he destroys a computer." Meta Knight pointed out.

"When he came in before when you were battling, the computer just sounded with another e-mail and he went all insane on it." Squirtle pointed out as Ike panted heavily and shifted his eyes awkwardly.

"Must...destroy...startling...things..." Ike panted heavily staring at the other computers.

"...Sheesh, I was like that before?" Toon Link asked embarrassed.

"In a few words," Roy said closing his eyes with a bored face. "Let's just say Ike acts like a barbarian around technology."

"He will get used to it," Marth said. "I'll give him a hand."

"AHEM." Lucario coughed and they looked back at him. "Must I remind you all that Chris is not feeling well?!"

"Oh, right," DK said. "He should be resting for now..."

Diddy sneezed and embraced himself. "A-a-a-and to tell the truth, it's getting very cold here..."

"The climate changed really quick actually," Red said. "It's snowing outside right now."

"And it's not going to be great for Chris's fever either." Fox said.

"...No!" Lucario said as he ran towards his room with Chris together, who was coughing a little.

"...So..." Sonic looked at them. "That means no missions or places?"

"Afraid so." Pikachu said with a nod.

"Damn, I wanted so badly to go around a world."

"...Bu-"

"DON'T remind of the rules, please." Sonic said a little annoyed.

"Whatever." Roy said as he walked to Ike and patted his back. "Now now Ike, no need to destroy mor-"

"You got e-mail, don't destroy me. You got e-mail, don't destroy me." A computer said and begged with its monotone voice.

"RUUUUUUAA-"

"Oh, stop it!" Link said grabbing Ike by the arms and the blue haired swordsman struggled to get off.

"LET ME GO! I MUST DESTROY THAT!" Ike yelled trying to reach the computer.

"...As I've said before, I'm surrounded by lunatics..." Wolf said frowning.

"You!" Sonic pointed at him and used a quick Homing Attack that slammed Wolf to the wall. "Want more? Huh?!"

"You...stupid...hedgehog!" Wolf muttered on the floor as he glared up to Sonic. "I'm on this stupid team with all of these idiots!"

"...Oh, you should've said that before." Sonic said crossing his arms as Fox walked to him.

"Good job." Fox whispered as Wolf snarled when he got up.

"Yes man, good job." Falco said whispering to Sonic with a grin.

"Tsk." Wolf looked away with crossed arms.

Hallway

The scene now changes over the darkness of a corner, where we see a box...or more accurately, a cardboard box with someone inside, it began to move slowly around with the Prinnies not even caring about the little box going by its own. "I'm in, I made it to the mansion."

There was Snake inside the box, but maybe you saw that coming.

"Good," Colonel said. "Now do you need reminders of the mission?"

"Get the kid, bring him to the headquarters and interrogate him about this deal of worlds, the Subspace Army and the recordings of this entire crap." Snake said rolling his eyes annoyed.

"Snake," Mei Ling got in the transmission. "Just be careful, we're not the people that do kidnappings, but since this is an order from the Colonel, then we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

"Yeah, I know." Snake said.

"Remember," Otacon got in the transmission as well. "Don't get spotted, you could handle a fight with one of them, but if they're more than 2, then you're in for one hell of a nutshell, Snake."

"Hmph, I'm pretty well equipped for myself, thank you very much." Snake said sarcastically.

"Snake..."

"Don't worry about him," Mei Ling said with a chuckle. "With the special device to prevent him from being spotted by hidden cameras of security that you gave him, Snake should be pretty much fine alone now that he's equipped with it."

"...W-well, that's true but..." Otacon was interrupted.

"Stop it. Anyway, go on and good luck." Colonel said as the codec ended.

"Dood, I just heard this box talking, dood!" A Prinny said pointing at the box.

"Dood, you're stupid, boxes don't talk, dood." His Prinny friend said as they walked away.

"Idiocy," Snake said as he began to move. "Such scattered sickness..."

Lucario's Room

"..." Chris was laying on his bed, covered in mantles with a wet towel on his head as Lucario was kneeled right besides him, as the storm of snow increased in speed outside.

"...Master..." Lucario muttered taking Chris's right hand. "...Please...be fine soon..."

"...Lu...ca...rio..."

"Huh?!" Lucario's ears perked up a little and smiled a bit. "C-Chris?!"

"...You're...he...re...Lu...ca...rio?"

002 - Putting Words Together

Lucario's eyes began to tremble a little and he got closer to Chris. "Y-yes...are you feeling alright?"

"..." Chris slowly shook his head while he inhaled air and exhaled it.

"...I should've been with you there...but I didn't...ugh!" Lucario punched the floor with his left fist and closed his eyes. "Forgive me, please!"

"Plea...se..." Chris muttered as Lucario looked worried at him. "Don't...be...so...harsh...to...you...it...wasn't...your...fault..."

"But..." Lucario's eyes began to fill with tears.

"...I'm...just...glad...that...I'm...he...re...with..."

"...Y-yes?" Lucario asked getting closer in anticipation.

"..." Chris fainted back and Lucario gasped.

"...N-no! Please, don't leave me! I-it's stupid to die with a strong fever!" Lucario's ears perked up again and he grunted at the door to find a shadow standing there.

"U-um...p-pardon me, but fever can't kill anyone..." The shadow was Flonne, who was quite worried about Lucario. "...H-hi..."

"...It's you..." Lucario said before looking back at Chris, the Aura Pokémon tried not to sob in front of the Angel Trainee. "...Please...leave us alone..."

"B-but..." Flonne looked to Chris. "...He seems to be in a bad shaped...and...I wondered if you...wanted me to heal him..."

Lucario blinked in shock and stood up, looking directly to Flonne's eyes. "Please, heal him! I can't stand him being in pain in front of me!"

"A-alright! J-just let me concentrate!" Flonne said calling her staff and she pointed it to Chris. "...Prin-Prinny-Pan-PRINNYCA!"

A light went down to Chris and he glowed for a moment, but after it stopped, Chris was still fainted as he ihnaled and exhaled air in a fast pace.

"...It's no use..." Flonne said looking down. "...I'm not that experienced to heal wounds..."

"B-but the other day you healed him when I-" Lucario blushed and looked away, not wanting to remember the last time he crushed Chris. "...N-nevermind..."

"...If you were wondering why I healed him back then..." Flonne began to tap her shoes a little. "...It's because...it was pure luck..."

"Luck?" Lucario questioned.

"Y-yes..." Flonne closed her eyes slowly. "I was really happy when you all let me stay here until you found the place where Laharl is...and...maybe my emotions had something to do with it...it's just an angel's wishful thinking, don't mind me." Flonne said with a heartly chuckle, but then sighed.

"..." Lucario looked back to Chris. "...Even so...thanks for trying..."

"...You're welcome." Flonne said walking away to the door.

"...Wait."

"Yes?" Flonne looked at Lucario, who closed his eyes and wiped some tears from them.

"...If you want...I don't mind if you want to stay here..."

"..." Flonne smiled a little and blinked. "I'd like so." Flonne said chuckling as she sat besides Lucario.

"W-wait, don't get too close to me." Lucario said blushing.

"Oh, I just wanted to make an apology for shooting you with my arrows the other day."

"But not by invading m-" Lucario stopped when Flonne began to scratch his head, between his ears as Lucario got surprised. "W-why are you doing this?"

Flonne closed her eyes and giggled a little. "Well, I can't help it, you look like a dog in some ways to me, and...to be honest..." Flonne blushed a little. "...You're kind of cute."

Lucario blushed and looked away. "...T-that's not..."

"Oh, come on!" Flonne said before she hugged Lucario (which made him blush even more). "You have to make friends with anyone someday!"

"(...F-friends with anyone someday?!)" Lucario thought shocked as he looked to Chris again. "(...He told me to make friends sooner or later...and he wishes it too...) ...Flonne..."

"Yes?" Flonne asked.

"...Thank you for being so considerate to me..."

"...Oh, thank you so much! That made me so happy!" Flonne said hugging Lucario tightlier.

Lucario closed his eyes with a smile. "(...And to tell the truth...your aura is as peaceful as Chris's...)"

Music stops

Another hallway

There was another shadowy hallway where 5 figures were chuckling evily to themselves, they were the Axem Rangers, who managed to infiltrate the mansion by the windows. "Hahahahahaha!" Axem Red laughed. "Now, with the special devices that prevent us from being detected by any kind of security cameras, will make this even easier!"

"Shh." Axem Black looked annoyed to him. "Shut up, even if you're my leader that doesn't mean you have the authority to laugh out loud, remember, there are people living in this place."

"People that can kill us to be precise." Axem Green said.

"Oh, thank you, now you made my makeup get sweaty!" Axem Pink complained. "A girl should respect her own skin, I mean, look! I look like I, like, gained 2 pounds an-"

"Shut up!" Axem Red yelled angrily. "We have a mission, remember? Kidnap the kid who's been causing trouble for Tabuu and the whole army?"

"But I'm hungryyyyy..." Axem Yellow said rubbing his stomach.

Axem Red facepalmed. "Great, everyone has a complain, is there any other complain you want to say?"

"No." The 4 Axem Rangers responded.

"Good, now let's get going, the sooner we end this, the better we will be close to get a new rank in the army." Axem Red said as he began to walk along the dark hallway with his team.

"Oh, do you think they offer new makeup accesories for bigger ranks?" Axem Pink asked with her eyes shining a little. "Because I could like so totally use a new oil cream!"

"...People would be confused why do we use oil as cream...don't spread that around." Axem Black whispered.

"Hey...you guys..." Axem Yellow called.

"Yes?" The other asked.

"I'm hungry..."

"...You're always hungry!" The others yelled as they quickly hid in the darkness after more Prinnies came down the hall.

"Dood, I think I heard something coming from here, dood." A Prinny said.

"Dood, you're thinking...things, dood." Another Prinny said as they walked away, ignoring the 10 eyes looking at them.

"Penguins? What are penguins doing here?" Axem Green asked as they revealed themselves.

"Who knows, these "Smashers" may as well be crazy enough and have pets like them around..." Axem Red said before he shook his head. "Okay, no more interruptions, move on, to our target!"

"Roger." The others whispered as they walked through the halls.

Command Room

"A-CHOO!" Red sneezed and embraced himself. "I-i-i-it's getting so cold in here..."

"W-w-well..." Ivysaur looked up to him as his teeth cracked a little. "W-w-what did you expect? W-w-w-we're in the middle of a blizzard!" Ivysaur looked at Squirtle. "...H-h-h-how come you're not g-g-g-getting cold?"

"Duh, I'm a water type," Squirtle said with a chuckle. "Water types don't get all that cold."

"Aww..." Master Hand sighed with pleasure near a big pot of coffee. "It feels so nice after taking a sip of hot coffee..."

"But I thought you 2 were knocked out a minute ago." Roy said (standing besides Ike, tied up in a chair as he struggled to get Ragnell close to him).

"And how did you drink the coffee? I thought you didn't have any mouth?" Olimar asked confused.

"It's a mystery that we don't want to reveal," Crazy Hand said (trembling a lot because of the coffee). "So sucks to be you, suckers!"

"We don't care actually," C. Falcon glancing at Falco. "...Why's your color so pale?"

Falco was embracing himself as he sneezed every time he talked or either 10 seconds passed, his usual deep blue color became pale, along with his red feathers around his eyes. "W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-well, i-i-i-i-i-i-i-it's so c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cold in here...m-m-m-m-m-m-m-my f-f-f-f-f-f-feathers are s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-starting to g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-get cold... ACHOO!"

"Falco hates cold, that's pretty much it." Fox explained as Falco glared at him.

"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh, s-s-s-s-s-s-s-says the o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-one with f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fur...ACHOO!"

Wolf smirked. "Sucks to be a stupid bird right now."

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-shut u-u-u-u-u-u-up, y-y-y-y-y-y-you! ACHOO!"

"It won't be any good to stay here," Zelda said. "You should be resting in your bed."

"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-thanks...t-t-t-t-t-that w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-would b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-be s-s-s-s-s-s-s-so n-n-n-n-n-n-nice r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ight n-n-n-n-n-n-n-now..." Falco said trembling as he left the room. "ACHOO!"

"No wonder why's so easy to get him in an ice shard during the fights." Nana commented.

Just at that moment, a cardboard box happened to walk slowly in front of the command room, however, nobody noticed it getting across their sight.

"We may as well rest for today," Master Hand said. "I'm sure you're all getting cold as well."

"(Shoot, I took the wrong route to the kid.)" Snake thought irritated as he found the Smashers looking at Master Hand. "(...However, since they don't know about my presence, I'm so well-hidden.)"

Main Lobby

It the darkness and loneliness of the main lobby, we see the main door of the mansion opening up with snow getting inside, with a closer look, we see Estelle entering inside as she closed the door behind her, wiping out some snow from her head as she looked around.

"H-hello?" Estelle called walking through the darkness. "I-it's anybody in here? Hello?" Estelle walked around some more, not noticing that a security system alarm was going to be activated by her. "(Why was the door left opened? It's this place abandoned?) Hello?"

"Who's there?" Etna peeked her head from the kitchen and Estelle looked at her. "Are you around these parts?"

"Oh, I'm so happy to find someone in this place, I thought it was abandoned!" Estelle said joining her hands together in front of her lap. "Oh, sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Estellise Sidos Heurassein, or you can call me Estelle for short."

"...That's a pretty long name you have there..." Etna remarked with a bored face as Estelle sweatdropped. "...I'm Etna if you were wondering."

"Oh, I see now," Estelle said with a bow. "I was asking myself if I could stay here for the night because there's a strong snowstorm outside, would you mind?"

"Well," Etna cleaned one of her ears. "You can, but you need first to ask the hand of this place, he's the owner."

"...A hand? Like his hand runs the whole place?"

Etna blinked confused at her. "Er...you could say that...anyway," Etna stepped out of the kitchen and walked to her (Estelle was wondering if she was wearing a costume by the tail and wings on her back, but decided not to because she thought it would be rude). "If you want, I could ask him."

"Oh, thank you so mu-"

"INTRUDER SPOTTED, REPEAT, INTRUDER SPOTTED." The alarms blared out as Estelle looked around for the source of the voice.

"W-what was that just now?" Estelle asked.

"(Oh, brother, don't tell me this mansion has a security system and took her as an intruder...hey, come to think of it, why didn't the alarm activate when I infiltrated this place?)" Etna asked to herself rubbing her chin.

Command Room

"There's an intruder here?" Ness asked. "And since when did you install an alarm?"

"Not so long, like in the morning actually." Master Hand pointed out.

"So, you think that intruder is someone of the Subspace Gang?" DK asked.

"DK, it's Subspace ARMY." Diddy pointed out.

"And good thing you didn't replace Subspace with Smithy," Geno said looking away. "...That bastard must stop now..."

"Hey, whatever happened to the card you got?" Mallow asked as Geno held it on his right hand.

"You mean this? It's no use to call her out yet, she needs to see Chris and give him her power before she goes away to the Star Haven." Geno explained as he hid the card behind his cape.

"(Hmm...I might take information out of this people as well...)" Snake thought as he overheard the conversation. "(...Wait, but I thought the device would hide me from them...)"

"Who could that intruder be?" Pit asked.

"Maybe someone from the Subspace Army." Link said.

"There's an intruder in the mansion then...that means...LOCK DOWN ALL THE WINDOWS AND DOORS COMPUTER! WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN THE MANSION!" Master Hand yelled out loud as alarms blared out through the entire mansion.

Snake cursed in his mind after this.

The windows, the doors leading outside, everything closed with hard iron walls coming down every mentioned thing, the mansion's lights turned on and there was no escape from anyone inside.

"(...Fu-)" Snake cursed more but was interrupted.

"That was really fast." DK said.

"Pfft, not as fast as me." Sonic said rolling his eyes.

"Who asked you about your speed?" C. Falcon asked.

"You just did."

"Stop it," Master Hand said. "So now, you guys will find that intruder and bring him or her or it here."

"Wait," Roy began. "You installed an alarm for security, yet you didn't install any kind of defense?" When Roy finished, Snake facepalmed on his head.

"Well...I have you all here to be the defense, right? You're not lazy people anyway, right?"

"...You're just taking advantage of us because it would cost you money," Meta Knight said as his eyes shone a green color. "Or to be precise, Chris's money that you 2 have gotten from."

Master Hand backed away a little. "Er...I...don't! I'm not that heartless and swap him away from his money!"

"You say godly-like things and say things like "you suck" when we "reach" the Final Destination stage," Link said. "By the way, when are we going to start the matches again?"

"Once we get...hmm...let's say 5 more Smashers, the plumbers, the princess, the intergalactic bounty hunter and another one."

"And the last one's name is..." Ivysaur trailed off.

"...You know what? Go around the mansion and find the intruder first!"

Everyone stared with bored looks at the hand before they began to leave.

"Should we do it too?" Twink asked to Mallow and Geno, they were already in a group.

"We're living here for the time being so why not?" Mallow asked as they left the room.

Either Snake had luck or they were so blind that they didn't see him in a corner. "...Odd, they didn't see me..."

"Popo, let's go! We have to find that intruder!" Nana complained as Popo was shown walking to the same cardboard box where Snake was hidding.

"But I want to sit..." Popo said jumping to the box and sat on top of it. "I'm going to rest above this box until we catch that guy." Snake cursed a lot in his mind after Popo layed down on the box.

"...Whatever, I don't need you." Nana said waving a hand up and down before she walked away.

"(Great, I'm stuck with this kid.)" Snake thought irritated as he heard snores. "(...Even harder than before...dammit.)"

And so, the mercenary was left stuck in there, too bad.

Lucario's Room

"W-what's just happened?!" Flonne asked as she saw the window blocked by an iron wall.

"I sense some odd auras inside the mansion," Lucario said as he began to grunt. "Those auras have a bad feeling...what?"

"What is it?"

"The auras...just disappeared from my reach..."

"B-but what are you going to do?"

Lucario stood up and looked at Chris. "...I'm going to stay here and take care of him, I promised I wasn't going to leave his side."

"..." Flonne pouted a little. "Then if you're going to stay here, I'm going to stay here too!"

"You don't have to..."

"But I was having a good conversation with you!"

Lucario blushed. "...Really, I don't want to bring the incident with the comb again..."

"Oh, you just sit here and let's keep an eye on him, shall we?" Flonne asked offering Lucario to sit in a chair with a smile.

"..." Lucario sighed and sat down on the chair, both beginning to talk between themselves.

Main Lobby

"W-what happened?! Am I stuck here?!" Estelle asked running to the door, which was blocked by an iron wall as well as the windows.

"Wow, they have a pretty good security system here." Etna said looking around.

"Miss Etna, dood!" A bunch of Prinnies came rushing down the stairs and stopped in front of her boss. "We heard there's an intruder in the mansion dood!"

"An intruder?" Etna looked to Estelle, who was wondering why were the small people in front of Etna wearing penguin costumes. "...But c'mon, she isn't an intruder."

"Intruder?" Estelle repeated tilting her head a little. "B-but I just stepped inside and...oh sorry!" Estelle bowed to them. "It was rude of me not to knock on the door first, many persons don't mind from where I come from, we just walk in and they greet us!"

"...Girl, you have some weird places." Etna said with a bored face.

"Man, what the hell is the fuss abou-OH NO!" Raven quickly hid behind the wall of the stairs once he saw Estelle, who looked at his direction confused.

"Wait, that voice I just heard was from Raven?" Estelle asked. "Oh yes, I'm also looking for a person named Raven, do you know him by any chance?"

"Raven? You mean an old man with long purple coat and a laidback attitude?" Etna asked and Estelle nodded. "Well, not too long ago we got an old man by that name too, he lives here."

"(DAMN YOU, DEMONIC-LOOKIN' GIRL!)" Raven thought desperated, he comically leaned to the wall and began to walk away as he was leaned to it.

"Oh!" Estelle made a happy expression. "Then can I meet him please and tell him to return with me to Dahngrest?"

"Sure, I don't see why not, follow me please." Etna said walking to the stairs with Estelle following her from behind.

"Dood, what are we gonna do?" A Prinny asked as both girls went away.

"Dood, let's just rest in our rooms, dood." Another Prinny suggested.

"Yeah, they'll handle the whole situation anyway dood." Another Prinny said nodding with his friends as they went away.

Hallway

"Shoot, they spotted us after all!" Axem Red said looking at the lights turning on.

"I knew getting these annoying devices wouldn't help us that much!" Axem Green complained.

"Oh my, what are we going to do now?" Axem Pink asked.

"We'll just have to be careful and move around from place to place," Axem Black said taking out his small axe. "And if we get to fight them..."

"...Then we'll run, right?"

"...Sadly." Axem Black said.

"Wait, we're not chickens! We're the Axem Rangers!" Axem Red proclaimed lifting up his axe.

"...And?" Axem Green asked.

"And! We have a mission to get Tabuu's attention! And this is an important one!"

"But I'm hungry." Axem Yellow complained.

"You're always hungry," Axem Red muttered irritated. "So anyway, we need to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL now, lights are on, people are moving around this place, our escapes have pretty much been blocked and the kid is at our reach now!"

"...May I suggest to split up?" Axem Green asked.

"Oh, right! Divide and conquer! That always work!"

Axem Yellow's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh! Yes! That works too!"

"Weird, it's the first time I see you so excited."

Axem Yellow sweatdropped. "I-i-it's because I like to work alone...yeah, that's it..."

"I, like, so like that idea as well." Axem Pink said nodding.

"...Axem Rangers, SPLIT UP!" Axem Red commanded as the Axem Rangers disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Main Lobby

Final Fantasy Vlll - The Spy

We see a group walking in the main lobby, it was Olimar, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur and surprisingly Sonic (I bet this team wasn't that much seen either).

"So, do you know the mansion?" Sonic asked tapping his right foot a little. "I could use some pointers with all the rooms and such," Sonic knocked the iron walls a little. "And with this steel wall blocking my way outside, there's not much else to explore outside."

"We...er..." Olimar, Red, Ivysaur and Squirtle looked at each other. "...We don't know the mansion that well, I didn't bother to examine the place by my own." Red said.

"And I just know this place and some others as well." Olimar said.

"Well, then it's hopeless." Sonic said crossing his arms, making a bored look with closed eyes.

"Sorry if we couldn't help you that much." Ivysaur said.

"Nah, it's okay," Sonic looked at them. "I may as well run around at high speeds and just look by my own...u-ugh..."

"What's wrong?" Squirtle asked.

"It's just...I've been feeling really weird when night sets in...however though..." Sonic looked at the blocked entrance. "It's not that...strong to make me feel weird..."

"What? It's some kind of sickness?" Olimar asked.

Sonic shook his head. "No, it's like something inside me wants to take over my body and kill everything." The quartet backed away from him. "...But I'm fine! Perfectly fine!" Sonic said with a grin.

"Phew, I thought you were going to attack us now." Red said sighing in relief.

"When did you begin to feel that odd sensation?" Ivysaur asked.

"Ever since Chris fought that machine a long time ago, I was thrown into Eggman's weird machine that paralyzed me," Sonic closed his eyes. "Ever since that day, I've been feeling weird when night comes...however, it doesn't make any strong effect on me...for now at least."

"L-let's leave that aside and focus on what's happening now," Olimar suggested trembling a little. "Any idea where is that intruder?"

"Nope." The quartet said at the same time.

"...Okay, that's a progress now..." Olimar said scratching his helmet a little.

Another hallway

"Why did Master Hand build the mansion with so many floors?" C. Falcon asked as he, Link, Roy (apparently managed to calm Ike down for now since same swordsman was walking with them), Zelda and Marth were shown walking in a hallway as they examined the rooms.

"Because of the fact that we're too many?" Roy asked.

"Because of that exactly." Marth said with a nod.

"...What's that?" Ike asked.

"That's a lightbulb, it contains stored energy to make light." Zelda explained gently.

"And what's that?"

"That's a toilet, it's where you...do your business." Zelda said a little disgusted.

"Business like what?"

"...Marth, help me here." Zelda whispered to Marth.

"But why me?" Marth asked.

"I remind you that you were going to "give him and hand" am I correct?"

Marth sighed. "But if I do that, people will think I'm..."

"Oh please, everyone knows you're not a girl anymore."

"So what business is this?" Ike kept asking.

"Ugh, man, you have to keep on with technology," C. Falcon said as he hung his arm behind Ike. "Okay, do you want to know what kind of business is that?" Ike nodded. "Well..."

10 minutes later...

"...Eww." Ike said backing away.

"That's pretty much it." C. Falcon said with a grin, the others were utterly disgusted by now.

"...I need t-" Ike's mouth was blocked by Link.

"We don't WANT to hear that explanation again, thank you." Link said unblocking his mouth as the 6 resumed to search for the intruder.

Yet another hallway

"Nope, there isn't anyone suspicious around here either." Diddy said looking around.

"Great, now, would you please get off my head?!"

"What's the matter Fox? Annoyed by your new partner?"

It was another team, this time it was Fox, Diddy (on top of Fox's head), Wolf, DK and Pit.

"Seriously, what's your big idea anyway?" Fox asked annoyed after Wolf asked him with a smirk.

"Are you asking me or the monkey boy?" Wolf asked still with his smirk.

"Actually, BOTH."

"Oh, sorry Fox," DK said making a happy expression. "Diddy likes you so much, he thinks you're cool."

"Thank you for the remark," Fox said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Now, Diddy, get off, right now, in this instant."

"Aww." Diddy looked down and jumped off from him.

"...I just can't help but wonder why we met somewhere else before...it was near...a pond?" Fox wondered.

"I think I met you before too, and I think it was in a...jungle? I don't know exactly, weird, isn't?" Diddy asked with a smile.

"...Who cares." Fox looked away.

"Moving on, that intruder." DK reminded them.

"Tsk, why should I be looking around for an intruder in the first place?" Wolf asked frowning. "I should be sleeping right now."

"Because we're supposed to catch this person," Pit said raising a finger. "Who knows if that person is here to kill us while we sleep."

"I can wake up before the shortest knife stabs my throat." Wolf pointed out.

"Like you could do that..." Fox muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Stop it, not this again." Pit said a little annoyed.

And YET another hallway

There was Toon Link, Ness, Lucas, Nana, Kirby and Jigglypuff walking around another hallway.

Then they encountered Raven, who was shifting his eyes around.

"Raven!" Toon Link called out and the old man looked at them.

"Oh, it's you kids." Raven said sighing in relief.

"It's something wrong?" Kirby asked.

"Yes," Raven shifted his eyes one last time and ducked to whisper them. "There's a friend of mine lookin' for me in this place, she got inside and that girl with demon wings told her I'm here."

"Oh crap!" Toon Link gasped.

"Yes, that's the same thing I thought, anyway, I need to stay away from Estelle or else I'll be Rita's dinner in no time!"

"Well, it was your fault to peek on her." Nana pointed out.

"But that's not an excuse to murder good ol' me with her meteors! Or dark arrows! Or water! Anything it's too dangerous!"

"Meh, not our problem." Ness said.

"Please! I need your help to stay away from her!" Raven pleaded bowing, dropping to his knees.

"...It's too sad to see adults doing this..." Jigglypuff said with a bored look.

"Old man." Raven corrected as he continued his bows.

"...This is really awkward..." Lucas muttered.

And YET AGAIN another hallway

Our next group, Meta Knight, Pikachu, Pichu, Yoshi, Geno, Mallow, Geno and Twink were now examining another different hallway seomwhere along the many floors of the mansion.

"That guy's so dead once we find him." Pikachu said gathering sparks as he walked.

"We're pretty much too many so it won't be so hard." Mallow said.

"I presume we're going to use violence instead of questioning." Geno assumed.

"That would be the point." Meta Knight said shifting his eyes from side to side.

"Pure violence is always the answer if you live in this place." Yoshi said frowning.

Pichu sat on his back. "Sadly yes."

"Oh, then if you're complaining about it, why don't we question him, her or it?" Twink asked.

"That's an idea." Mallow said.

"But then again," Meta Knight began. "We should render the intruder from escaping."

"I'll shock the legs!" Pikachu suggested.

"I'll slap him!" Mallow suggested.

"I'll gulp him...ha! That's better than everything else!" Yoshi pointed out.

"Not before I get to zap someone!" Pichu said gathering sparks.

"(Sheesh, didn't they say they were going to question him instead of using violence?)" Twnik thought sweatdropping.

Falco's Room

While everyone was examining the whole mansion, we now see Falco on his bed, actually, he was enjoying his rest, because he had 10 mantles to keep him warm, the avian smiled a bit as he looked the other way.

"Ha, now how's the cold going to get me here?" Falco asked to no one as he sighed.

...But then he heard someone.

"Hey, who's there?" Falco asked looking around, albeit to say he only turned his head and didn't stand up.

"Shoot, he's not here either!"

Falco raised an eyebrow and hid on the mantles.

"There are only just a bunch of bed sheets over there."

"Where's the damn World Traveler kid?"

"(World Traveler?... Isn't that Chris's nickname?)" Falco thought.

"Well, like, shouldn't we look around somewhere else?"

"For food?"

"Not for food, you idiot."

"(...Where did I hear those voices before?)"

"Well, let's move it! C'mon! We have to end this or Tabuu'll have our heads! We have to kidnap the kid and bring him to Tabuu!... AND PLEASE, SPLIT UP! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DIVIDE AND CONQUER! REMEMBER?!" And the voices walked away as Falco uncovered his face.

"...Kidnap Chris?... Oh, something is so wrong here now...well," Falco stood up on his bed, but a quick cold breeze made him cover in the mantles in less than a second. "O-o-o-on the other hand, this cold is so irritating...then...SOMEBODY! COME OVER HERE!"

Command Room...or close to it

"..." Snake grunted in his mind after Popo snored even louder. "(Isn't there a way to get out from this stupid kid?)"

"Snake," Otacon called activating the codec. "You seem to be in a situation again, aren't you?"

"Yeah, there's a snoring kid sleeping above me, and if I move...well, you know what will happen next."

"Oh, that should be Popo, he's Nana brother and both are known as the Ice Climbers." Otacon explained.

"Snake, have you ever heard of a "blood bond"?" Mei Ling just entered the codec as well and asked.

"...Sure?" Snake responded.

"It refers to a bond between two people that's so strong they'd die for each other. The Ice Climbers have conquered frozen glaciers and dangerous mountaintops together. I think they've formed a bond that we can't even fathom."

Snake overheard Popo's snores. "...Though what happens when they're separated?"

"...Well...I thought they were always seen together..." Otacon trailed off.

"And I think Popo's IQ is really low, so Nana is the brain on the duo." Mei Ling said.

"...It's hard to believe this kid did all that with her... Then, does that answer my question about getting out from him?" Snake asked irritated.

"Oh, don't worry," Mei Ling said with a chuckle. "You can move and he will fall, he sleeps very deeply anyway."

"..." Snake moved a little and Popo fell, the Ice Climber grumbled and layed down on the floor. "...That was utterly easy."

"See? Now you can continue, if you're wondering about a Smasher's info, just don't hesitate to call me." Mei Ling said.

"Or me, I can be of help." Otacon said.

"Got that." Snake said ending the codec as he began to move, leaving Popo snoring.

And thus, the adventure of the mercenary starts here.

Snake moved slowly with his cardboard box (There's no lever to increase the speed on that thing anyway), he scanned carefully all the corners an- "Oh, screw that." Snake said standing and keeping his box...somewhere as he sneaked through the halls.

"Raven? Hello?" Estelle called from one corner and Snake quickly hid on his cardboard box, seeing the 2 girls walking in front of him. "Raven?"

"Mei Ling, I have 2 girls here, who are they?" Snake whispered to his communicator.

"Well...the one with pink hair is new here, I don't know anything about her...but the other one with demon wings and tail is Etna, she's the leader and boss of the Prinny Squad," Mei Ling chuckled heartily. "Those adorable little penguins are so clueless that it makes them even cuter."

"Mei Ling, snap out of it." Snake said.

"Weird, I thought he was around here." Etna said looking around.

"Maybe he's a little bit further ahead?" Estelle asked.

"Oh yeah, maybe." Etna said walking away with Estelle as Snake stood up and leaned to the wall.

"You should turn off the lights Snake," Otacon suggested. "That way they won't find you."

"You're right," Snake said looking to a lightbulb on the hallway and he destroyed it with a small pistol, then he began to move once again, destroying the lights on his way. "Otacon, you know where's the kid?"

"Right, he's some floors above, follow down the hall next to you, you'll get to the lobby, then go upstairs by one of the 2 staircases, go all the way to the left and use the stairs again, I'll give you more information once you get there."

Snake nodded and he sneaked his way to the main hall...where he found Sonic, Red, Olimar, Squirtle and Ivysaur, the mercenary quickly hid on his cardboard box and spied the 5, once Snake saw Sonic, he grunted in irritation.

"Snake, what is it?" Otacon asked.

"Something about that hedgehog rubs me the wrong way..." Snake trailed off as Sonic was shown doing a backflip on his own place, made a thumbs-up to the group who clapped at him.

"Wow, do it again!" Squirtle asked.

"Oh, you mean Sonic The Hedgehog?" Otacon asked.

"Shouldn't we find the intruder guys?" Red asked as Ivysaur glared at him.

"Shh, shut up, I want to find a way to be cooler than this guy." Ivysaur whispered angrily.

"But everyone loves Sonic. He's a big star. Do you have any idea how excited people are that he's here in Brawl?" Otacon asked and Snake looked a little confused.

"...Otacon, what people are you talking about?"

"Uh...well, I got that information in Chris's diary."

"The kid keeps a diary?"

"Uh-huh, there's a load of information on his diary...on the main topic, what do you think about Sonic?"

"There's something about him I just don't like." Snake said glaring at Sonic who grinned at the group.

"But...why? You must have some kind of reason."

"Watch me do this now!" Sonic said jumping to the wall, where he sprang to the wall, sprang from the wall to the floor and used Spin Dash to land and circle around, before making a pose with his usual grin and thumbs-up to the group again.

"...Nope, just don't like him." Snake said simply.

"Snake..." Otacon looked kind of sad by Snake's response.

"Okay, stop it with the poses, we need to do our task now." Red said walking away as Ivysaur groaned and followed him, along with the others as Sonic was walking ahead of them.

"...Hey, what's that box doing over there?" Squirtle asked pointing at Snake's box.

"(Oh, shi-)" Snake cursed in his mind.

"Who cares really?" Sonic asked. "It's just an old plain box..."

Snake sighed in relief.

"...That means there's something inside!" Sonic said with a grin as he walked over to the box.

Snake had many ideas to kill the hedgehog at this moment right now.

Preview of the next chapter

"Friiiiiiiidge..." Kirby drooled once he made it to the kitchen.

However, there was a yellow character already shuffling around the fridge.

"Raaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeeen?" Estelle kept asking for Raven, crossing a door where many characters were hidding from her. "This is so odd, I think there's someone hiding close to me..."

"(NO! NO! NOT THAT DEMON RITA AGAIN! PLEASE!)" Raven pleaded on his mind desperately.

"You're almost close to your location Snake," Otacon said. "Just a few more then the mission will be over."

"I'm prepared for anything now."

"And what about Lucario?" Mei Ling asked as Snake stopped on his trails.

...But there was a small grin on the mercenary.

"...We're not alone in this room," Lucario said starting to growl at the door. "Somebody who is not from here wants to enter here."

"W-what are we going to do? I-I'm scared!" Flonne said worried.

"Heheheheheheheh..."

"Those axe guys," Falco began. "The same axe guys we saw on Samus's world, they're here to kidnap Chris!"

"So they're the intruders..." Wolf said.

"...But the odd thing is that there was another suspicious guy sneaking around this place as well..."

"Who?" Diddy, DK, Fox and Pit asked confused.

"I dunno...but I heard he wanted to kidnap him as well an-"

It was not long before they all heard an explosion where Chris was healing and they looked to all the parts with shocked expressions.

""The Odyssey of Snake and the Axem Rangers...damn." Snake muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Final Fantasy Vlll - The Spy is a music reference to the same game, it plays in the Galbadia Missile Base.

Surprised? Sonic DID join them after all thanks to the hands. :D

But now, since this chapter wasn't that long, the next plot it's ready to begin.

Will the Axem Rangers kidnap Chris who is in a bad shape? Or will Snake do that before them? Will Raven stay away from Estelle (who made the plans of both teams get harder)? Will the Smashers catch both of them? How will Snake get away from Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Olimar and Sonic? Will Chris recover in time? Will Lucario protect Chris successfully with Flonne? Will all the teams get some kind of mishaps? XD

And just to let you know, there are Snake's codecs of all the characters (if I can do all of them) in the next chapter, so enjoy them with some small but funny changes. ;)

Read and review please!
*Chapter 102*: The Odyssey of Snake and the A Rangers

Oh, joy! I was so inspired to write this time and this chapter was done in 2 days! Lucky me! :D

From Double Dee Edd Boy: Wow! Nice! Raven is so busted now and everyoen is screwed with Estelle messing thins up!

I just thought of something! In the Fire Emblem anime (yeah, there was one but it only lasted two episodes), Marth's last name was Lowell, which by coincidence, is Yuri's last name. Just something to point out, and to think what would happen if MArth and Yuri met... just a thought.

From me: Oh, juicy information you got there, but sadly, let's see what happens since Estelle is not a major character here right now. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... MASTER HAND IS AWSOME! I WANT TO SEE MY LIFE IN 10 SECONDS! I am very confused about Kingdom Hearts, but I can wait. See Ya!

From me: That was 10 minutes actually, thanks. :D

From Ultra Blader: Snake finally makes his appearance. (Not including the Thanksgiving special.) This chapter was rather short (compared to other chapters within your story), I would have to agree, but it was still quite interesting all the same. Good job.

From me: I hope it's still interesting, thanks! :)

From TARDISreviewer: They've gotta find a away to keep Sonic from becoming the werehog, xD

(and those clues... well I've got Unleashed so it was moar of a dead giveaway. Eggman manages to do it THROUGH Sonic's super form in the game.

From me: So? Dr. Eggman could have done it without his super form right? And since the emerals were on the machine (here) Sonic's DNA was altered, so it's all the same...but question is, was that all Dr. Eggman did? Or there's more when he did his move on Sonic? Hint: Chocolate for the future. "Winks winks" :D

From ngrey651: Ooh, you're gonna do codecs of all the characters? Sweetness.

Also, I think I know why Snake doesn't like Sonic. The two have egos bigger than weather balloons, and there's only room for ONE overblown "expert" in the Mansion.

From me: At least I could do some of them, though they're still very funny to read, and Snake has a big ego? I didn't know that. Thanks! :D

From chrisworshiper: i like the chapter how will snake react to sonic?, how will kirby react to axe man yellow raiding HIS ( or everbodys depending on who you ask) fridge and i don't like the sound of this an explosion in chrises room? not good explosion has fire so thats might take out lucario fione same ( but shes not weak to fire ) chris... well chris is allready knocked out but i hope he gives sanke a hard time.

From me: All your answers are here, so enjoy the chapter. :D

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Oh yeah Sonic & Snake are now in the mix which means Disc 2 is getting exciting already and you've just finished one chapter of it. Most Impressive... As usual or what we always expect of you Nice Work. Can't wait to see the inpending battle between The Amem Rangers & The Smashers. Nuff said.

From me: I don't know the Amem Rangers sadly. XD Just kidding, but, who said the Smashers are going to fight the Axem Rangers? ;)

From Hyuzyn: LOL. Snake is gonna hurt Sonic... badly... That's an sad match up in brawl... but in this story... it probably be good. Snake hide in the box thing is handy for him... and Popo needs a brain surgery for a better one... nah.. good story btw. Keep it up. ^^

From me: All bow to the cardboard box! "Bows" XD

So now, here we are once again, will this chapter be so humoristic as the previous ones? I think hell yes! :D

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 102: The Odyssey of Snake and the Axem Rangers

Hallway

"Quick, Snake, you need to think of something, your cover will be blown up!" Otacon whispered.

"What the hell do you think I'm going to do now?" Snake asked irritated as Sonic grabbed the box. "Screw it, I'll paralyze them."

"...Okay, but you should take out Sonic first since he's faster and can alert everyone here."

Battle in the Base

"And here we g-UGH!" Sonic was grabbed quickly by Snake who sprang from the box and covered his mouth, the others gasped as the mercenary backed away.

"W-who are you?!" Red asked.

"You don't need to know," Snake said as he looked to Sonic who was trying to get off from his arms. "Now get a rest."

"MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMmhmhmmh...hmm..." Sonic was paralyzed by a tazer that Snake used on his back and the hedgehog fainted, Snake setting him free.

"That should do the job."

"Why did you do that? Answer me!" Ivysaur asked glaring at Snake.

"I don't have time to deal with a kid, 2 monsters and that fat-nosed man."

"T-that was insulting you know..." Olimar sniffing a little.

"Be a man, please!" Squirtle yelled as Snake ran to them, Squirtle charged his Water Gun and shot a stream of water to Snake, who dodged it quickly and passed them, grabbing Red from his back. "Hey!"

"HULP MUUUUUUU!!!" Red yelled under Snake's hand before the mercenary took him ou as well, the Pokemon Trainer fainted and layed down on the floor.

"You bastard! Stop that!" Ivysaur demanded using Razor Leaf, but Snake evaded the move by rolling away. "Okay, stop dodging everything, Olimar! Help us!"

"...I-I'm not a fat-nosed man...I-I'm not a fat-nosed man..." Olimar muttered in a corner extremely depressed.

Both Pokemon sweatdropped and looked to each other. "...Oh man..."

"Yes, it's sad to see him like this..." Squirtle said with a frown and a bored look.

However, this distraction was enough for Snake to paralyze Squirtle on his neck, then he used a quick chop of Ivysaur's neck, both Pokemon's eyes widened before they fainted as well.

Snake cleared his hands and looked at his fainted opponents. "Well, that wasn't that troubling at all."

Final Fantasy Vlll - The Spy

"What about Olimar?" Otacon asked before Mei Ling got in again.

"Snake, have you ever heard of the ancient Chinese story, "The Vain Ocean of Wealth and Splendor" from the Zhen Zhong Ji?" Mei Ling asked.

"I've been waiting for the movie." Snake as Otacon frowned.

"Basically, it's meant to express the impermanence of all things. You know, like even when Captain Olimar has lots of Pikmin with him, they could all be gone the next moment. Those poor little guys, they carry, they fight, they multiply...and they get eaten. Olimar might have lots of company one minute and be all alone the next. It's so sad.

Snake looked at Olimar who was...feeling kind of emo right now. "...What's he doing now?"

"I'm not a fat-nosed man..." Olimar kept saying very depressed, not caring about Snake at all.

"...Well...you kind of hurt his feelings Snake." Mei Ling pointed out.

"Tsk, like I care."

"Snake..." Otacon and Mei Ling said at the same time with a frown as the mercenary kept going onward, leaving 4 fainted characters and a fat-nosed ma-I mean, a depressed Olimar behind.

"I'm not a fat-nosed man..." Olimar kept saying depressed.

It was not long before Snake saw the pink puffball, Kirby, with a dazzled look on his face, Snake had to hide on his box as Kirby passed in front of him. "Snake! Watch out!" Otacon warned him, making Snake jump a little in surprise.

"For what? That pink marshmallow?" Snake asked rolling his eyes.

"That's Kirby, also known as "Kirby from Dream Land," Otacon explained. "He's from another planet, in other words, an extraterrestrial. He's got a powerful stomach that lets him swallow and digest anything. And he also has a "Copy Ability" that allows him to mimic opponents, steal their moves, and use those moves against them. On top of that, he has the power to fly around the stage, so once he's got you in his sights, there's no place to run."

Kirby was now drooling and Snake had to raise an eyebrow.

"Snake, did you even listen to me?" Otacon asked.

"...Huh? Yeah, got it. I'll keep an eye out."

Otacon "hmm'd" as Snake went deeper, getting pass the pink puffball

"Friiiiiiiidge..." Kirby drooled once he made it to the kitchen.

However, there was a yellow character already shuffling around the fridge.

"Oh boy," Axem Yellow said drooling to his weird and oddly-shaped mouth. "Turkeys, chicken, soups, salads, everything! It's heaven! But what can I eat first?! EVERYTHING IS SO FRIGGIN' DELICIOUS-LOOKING!"

Now Kirby was mad, there was an eater on his own territory, he could get in his way to grab all the food and leave nothing behind, the Star Warrior got really serious and an angry face took his expression, the puffball walked towards Axem Yellow who grabbed a strawberry cake, Kirby was gathering his forces to attack, this was now it, the moment of the truth for the little black hole wielder.

With a deep breath, Axem Yellow stopped on his trails, looked shocked at Kirby who then spoke his words.

"You idiot!" Kirby said angrily. "You don't start first with the cake, you start first with the chicken, then soup, then the cake!"

"Oh, right!" Axem Yellow said "smiling" as he put back the cake on the fridge. "I'm an idiot, such an stupid idiot, it's the chicken, then soup, then cake at the end!"

Kirby smiled and patted his back. "Yup, that's how it is, now, let's eat this feast for ourselves!"

"Oh boy, chinese rice!" Axem Yellow pointed at the rice and both of their eyes glittered with glee.

"That's EVEN better than the chicken!"

And both eaters began to eat the endless food together on the table, all alone without nobody else caring about them at the least.

Burps were only heard through the kitchen, somebody could even hear them far away, even in the Smash Mansion...and nobody cared whatsoever.

Hallway

There was a door that was occasionally trembling by itself, it was the broom room where the young Smashers and Raven were hiding.

"So Kirby basically ran off from us and went directly to the kitchen." Pikachu summarized as Jigglypuff nodded.

"He can't hold on that long apparently." Jigglypuff explained.

"Why couldn't you find another place with bigger space?" Raven asked sweating, since he was the taller one of the whole group, he was hidden behind the piled-up Smashers. "It's getting kinda hot in here."

"Sorry, this is the last place where somebody'd find you." Toon Link pointed out.

"Aw man, this sucks, this sucks in so many levels, so many levels that I could NOT get to."

Not long he said that, footsteps were heard from the hallway and they gasped silently.

"Can I ask something?" Lucas said a little bit annoyed.

"Yeah." Pichu said.

"Why did we decide to protect Raven again?"

"Because, blondy, he has superior bow skills that he could teach us any day, and if he gets away, then we'll be no impressive Smashers!" Toon Link said.

"W-wait, you're blonde too!" Lucas protested.

Raven grinned. "Aw, that's cute kids, protectin' your only teacher with superior bow skills, now you're even better than that Karol kid."

"Show off," Nana said annoyed. "We just cheered on you, Toon Link only wanted to know your skills and only him."

"It's LINK!" Toon Link said angrily.

"It's the same." Ness said.

"No is not!"

"Shh! Guys, someone's coming!" Pichu whispered desperated as they all stopped talking.

"Raven?" Estelle's voice was heard coming along with Etna from behind. "Where are you?"

"(Yep, that's Estelle for you, no doubt about it.)" Raven thought.

"Geez, stop asking for him every second please, it's the 58th time already." Etna said quite annoyed.

"Oh," Estelle bowed. "Sorry, but I'm so worried about him, ever since Rita...well...tried to do her things with him, I've been so worried about him ever since and I don't want him get hurt either."

"(Oh, Estelle, you're such a cutie pie.)" Raven thought with toon tears.

"Raaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeeen?" Estelle kept asking for Raven, crossing a door where many characters were hidding from her. "This is so odd, I think there's someone hiding close to me..."

"(NO! NO! NOT THAT DEMON RITA AGAIN! PLEASE!)" Raven pleaded on his mind desperately.

"Raven?!" Estelle kept asking as she walked away.

"...Is he her boyfriend or something?" Etna asked throwing her hands up as the others sighed in relief when they were gone, all of the tripped, opening the door as Raven looked to both sides of the hallway.

"Well," Pikachu got up cleaning his left ear a bit. "So much for that."

"Quick! We must hide now!" Raven said very preocupied.

"She's gone, everything's fine, relax." Ness said.

"Oh no, she doesn't give up on her matters, never! She won't be Estelle then!"

"...Oh brother, this is going to be a long night..." Nana said. "...Speaking of which, where's my brother or what is he doing now?"

Command Room

Crazy Hand had to drag the sleeping blue Ice Climber to the room and put him above a chair, where Popo was awkwardly laying down it, like a curled-up cat.

"And you...attack his weak point...for MASSIVE DAMAGE..." Popo said grogily as he turned to the other side and snored.

"You know," Crazy Hand said (still trembling by the coffee). "That's true, if you attack someone's weak point, it'll do MASSIVE DAMAGE."

Master Hand frowned at this. "Crazy, stop saying that please, it's somehow stupid."

"Crap, he's not here either!"

"Who's that?!" Master Hand asked turning his back, but he could only catch a blurry red color vanishing. "Who the heck was that just now?"

"Sonic?" Crazy Hand asked.

"No, Sonic's not red, he's blue."

"I thought he was the pink one."

"That's Amy." Master Hand said frowning.

Hallway (a different one)

Snake was shown running along the hallways once he climbed the stairs, not forgetting about destroying the lights along the way to get a proper cover, however, more problems came from ahead and he hid in the best spot in the whole world for high-level mercenaries like him.

His trusty and never-so-bad, cardboard box.

...However, this problem was just one, it was a green one with an axe, it was Axem Green.

"Otacon, there's a small green guy with an axe close to me, who's that?" Snake asked.

"No idea with that one, sorry Snake." Otacon replied as Snake grunted on his mind.

"If I were the World Traveler, where could I be?" Axem Green asked rubbing his chin. "Meh, I just need more of this "lurking" around and eventually I'll find him and bring him to Tabuu, now let's see if Axem Red can get the rank before me! Mwhahahahahahahaha!" Axem Green said laughing.

"...Wait, hold on, he's after the kid?" Snake asked.

"It appears so," Colonel said. "And he is accompanied by more allies, it seems."

"I'll be the new leader of the Axem Rangers, not even Axem Black will stop me, or Axem Pink, or Axem Yellow's butt, or Axem Red! He thinks he's the great deal and all, but nooooo, I'll kidnap the kid first and bring him to Tabuu!" Axem Green stated as he disappeared in a blink.

Snake got up and looked back him. "Seems I have some kind of competency for the prize."

"That pretty much sums up your troubles Snake." Otacon said.

Snake grunted. "Yeah, at this rate the kid will be gone."

"Then get a move on and STOP COMPLAINING for once."

"You're not my boss." Snake pointed out.

"I am." Colonel stated.

"You guys are mean." Otacon said ending the codec with a sigh.

Oh, wait just a minute there, Snake's troubles were now showing up again, because Diddy's team came walking down the other direction and guess what Snake did?

That's right, it's cardboard box time.

"...Oh god, first I have to deal with FOXHOUND...now ironically," Snake looked outside through the small hole, and found Fox standing just in front of the item. "I have a real fox in front of me...and it's wearing pants."

"Who shot the lightbulb?" Pit asked looking up the destroyed item.

"Who left this thing here?" DK asked glancing at the box.

"Who cares," Wolf said looking away. "Just a stupid box."

"Focus, the intruder, we don't need any other distractions, RIGHT Diddy?" Fox asked to Diddy, who was flipping his hat in the air.

"Huh?" Diddy asked as his hat fell perfectly on his head. "Right, whatever you say!"

"...Info about them, if you would..and first the fox one to end this." Snake said irritated, since his 3 comrades were somehow itching to explain EVERY single detail.

"His full name is Fox McCloud. He's the leader of the commando-for-hire unit Star Fox." Colonel explained.

"Does he even get money?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Just out of curiosity."

"...No, he forgets to get his payment from time to time," Colonel continued. "They're mostly active in a galaxy known as the Lylat System. Fox and his comrades pilot all-terrain fighter crafts called Arwings. His skills in combat can turn the tide of any battle. ...You seem to have a thing with foxes, don't you, Snake?"

Snake grumbled a little. "...Don't remind me. First FOXHOUND and now this guy... I'm sick of foxes."

"You and foxes have a long history together. You ought to be proud."

"DIDDY! STOP!" Fox said annoyed as Diddy kept playing with his hat.

"...This, however, makes up for it," Snake said as Fox was shown frowning. "Next up, the gorilla."

"Achoo!" DK sneezed. "Weird, did somebody say my name here?"

"No." Pit said.

"That's Donkey Kong. As you can tell, he's got strength to spare," Otacon explained. "He may be king of the jungle, but he lives in a house just like you or me. And he seems pretty smart, well, for an ape, anyway. The Donkey Kong who fought that epic battle with Mario was this guy's grandfather."

"Hold on a second." Snake interrupted.

"W-what is it?"

"That "epic battle" that you spoke of, and since I made my own research about Mario, along with all his adventures from the first to the last one...how in the hell can you define jumping over barrells, climbing odd-shaped buildings to save a forgotten lady that was never spoken of again, an epic battle?"

"...Mei Ling, did you order him to research Mario?" Otacon whispered.

"No, I did." Colonel said.

"The Colonel did it too, heheh." Mei Ling said with a chuckle.

"Well Snake...that...isn't that epic now that I see it..." Otacon trailed off.

"Told so." Snake said rolling his eyes as he listened to the conversation.

"You know," DK looked around. "I heard some weird voices from somewhere along these hallways, they were kinda new to me too."

"It could have been Sonic," Pit said looking at him. "He is the last new person in this mansion so you haven't been used to his voice."

Snake gasped. "Otacon, there's a kid with wings out here. Is he a mutant? Or is he just into costumes?"

"Into costume-I mean, that's Pit, Snake. Pit is an angel from Angel Land. He's the captain of Palutena's Army."

"Angels. Give me a break!" Snake said frowning even more, sure, there were anthros (especially foxes, much for Snake's dismay), weird extraterrestrials and other weird and odd monsters around, and now angels? What the hell is happening with this place? At least that's what Snake thought.

Pit glared at nothing in particular. "Someone is mocking me, I can feel it..."

"...Kids are just getting weirder everytime, I swear." Wolf said.

"I dunno, maybe he's from a different species. But those wings on his back and those mysterious weapons he has are the real deal. He may look young, but he's a veteran warrior. Watch yourself. He used to be a weakling, but countless trials over the years have toughened him up." Otacon explained.

"And by trials, you mean killing the (blocked for religious reference)?"

"Snake, the Nazis don't have their own religion."

"How do you know?"

"That sounded so random just now." Mei Ling remarked...or not.

"Give now information about the monkey," Snake grinned in hid mind...at least. "Who's the perfect weapon to annoy FOXHOUND."

"That's Diddy Kong. He's Donkey Kong's partner. Not only is he lightweight, he can use a wide range of weapons as well. He can fly using those barrel jets on his back, and he can shoot nuts with his Peanut Popgun."

"...Peanuts? As in the ones in the little shells? Are you serious? And where's that jetpack you mentioned?"

"I feel like showing you my own Blaster!" Diddy said taking out his Peanut Popgun. "Say hello to my gun!"

"...A wooden gun, how primitive." Fox said rolling his eyes.

"DUUUUUUCK!" Diddy yelled firing a fast peanut directly to Fox's left eye.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Fox covered his eye and began to hop in pain as the broken peanut fell on the floor. "YOU STUPID LITTLE CHIMPANZEE! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD IN YOUR OWN GRAVE!"

"Aw, don't feel bad Diddy," DK said patting Diddy's back. "I'm sure he's just upset."

"SHUT UP!"

"S(beep!)t like this makes my day." Wolf said smirking as he chuckled.

"Wait," Otacon told Snake to see the broken peanut. "Here's the best part. You see them lying on the ground after he shoots? If you pick up some of those peanuts, they'll restore your health a little."

"Hmm. Edible ammunition, huh... Times sure have changed." Snake remarked.

"Oh! Oh!" Diddy ducked and grabbed the peanut. "Fox, eat this! It will heal you!"

"Forget it! I'm not taking anything from you anymore and NEVER!" Fox yelled.

"...Oh well," Diddy munched the peanut and smiled. "Aw, it feels so nice..."

Fox pulled his hand away (revealing a red eye, at least around his green pupil) and glared to another way. "Now, let's get moving and kick the crap out of that guy."

"It's the little fox upset about his red eye?" Wolf asked taunting with a grin.

"You, shut up, now." Fox said annoyed.

"And lastly but not least, the wolf anthro." Snake whispered.

"You mean the fighter named Wolf." Colonel explained as Wolf's ears perked up a little and looked around.

"...This place gives the chills..." Wolf muttered, shuddering a little.

"Wolf." Real imaginative name..." Snake said.

"He's the leader of a ragtag team called "Star Wolf." They're the longtime rivals of Star Fox."

"Come to think of it," Wolf began with a smirk to Fox. "The monkey will take you down before I do, how amusing."

"Don't let me use my Final Smash and call the Landmaster to crush you." Fox warned him with a nasty glare.

"Yuck, you have serious eye sickness right there." Wolf taunted closing his eye as Fox gritted his fangs with rage.

"...Yeah, I see the rivalry now... Kind of strange for a wolf to have friends, isn't it?" Snake said and asked.

"Well, I don't think he works well with others." Colonel said.

"Duh." Snake said, remembering the moment from a second ago.

"I suppose they're more like hangers-on than actual comrades. But he's a remarkable pilot. And his ship, the "Wolfen," is no slouch, either."

"He doesn't look all that dangerous to me in a hand-to-hand combat, Colonel. He's out of his element."

"Careful, Snake. Those claws of his aren't just for show."

"Those are claws? They're just sharp nails anyway."

"...Sure." Colonel said sarcastically as Fox looked up ahead.

"Alright, let's go now."

"Okay!" Diddy said (somehow getting of Fox's nerves). "First, I'm going to lift this thing up 5 times!"

"...Wait, what thing's he talking about?" Snake asked before Diddy lifted up quickly the box 5 times, and covered Snake 5 times after each time before he ran off. "Shoot, that was insanely close, stupid chimpanzee."

"...Good, he's gone." Fox muttered with a satisfied grin as the group walked away, leaving Snake behind.

"Now, let's get serious and go on." Snake said standing up before he ran to the stairs.

"Huh?" Pit looked behind him but there wasn't nobody there, and the box was gone as well. "But...did that box disappear just now?"

"What are you talking about?" DK asked and looked at Pit's direction. "...Was that box a ghost?"

"No!"

Falco's Room

The helpless and somewhat frightened ace pilot was trembling from the cold, truth to be told, he was stuck in his bed during the snowstorm.

"SOMEBODY!" Falco yelled once again before he gave up. "Fine! I don't care if Chris gets kidnapped! It's his fault to get a fever anyway!"

"What was that just now?"

Falco quickly hid inside his bed as Snake passed just in front of his room.

"...Just a bed with a bunch of mantles...this is place is so odd honestly...now, where's that kid? I can't let that axe guy kidnap him before me."

"(...There's another guy trying to kidnap Chris as well? Who's that now?)" Falco thought.

"I must hurry, no more distractions."

"Snake, go forward and you'll see more stairs, once you go there, you should be closer to your location." Otacon said.

"You better say the truth or else." Snake threatened as he ran away.

Falco got really annoyed and stuck his head out. "...If somebody doesn't come here, they're really gonna regret that later..."

Another hallway

"Nope, there's nobody here either." Yoshi said exiting a room.

"Is there even an intruder here?" Mallow asked.

"The alarm was triggered, so yes." Pikachu said.

"Whoever that person is, he's very good at hiding away." Geno said.

"...Wait," Meta Knight stopped and looked around. "There is someone inside that room."

Meta Knight pointed at a very pink room, to the Smashers, it was not surprise for it to be Peach's Room, and there was someone giggling with glee, happily alone.

"Oh my! Like, this so goes with my axe!" A voice said.

"...Silently, follow me." Meta Knight whispered, motioning his hand at him and the others listened to him and went towards the door.

Peach's Room

The Smashers carefully peered from the door, that was a little opened, enough for them to see the person inside the room rummaging through Peach's belongings.

"Wait, Geno, isn't that..." Mallow trailed off as Geno glared with a nod.

"Yes, it's Axem Pink, one of the Axem Rangers." Geno said.

Axem Pink was enjoying her private time by taking all of Peach's perfumes, accesories and jewelry, Peach forgot to get all her things from her room that she left them behind, much for Axem Pink's fortune.

"A jewel over here, another sapphire over there, a gorgeous collar right here and...OH YES!" Axem Pink joined her hands when she looked at herself on the mirror. "Now who's the beauty queen?"

"Not her, that's for sure." Pikachu said shuddering.

"Shh!" Twink whispered as they overheard the ranger.

"Okay, now that I smell so like dandelions and roses, it's time to get like, so serious now," Axem Pink said rubbing her chin. "Like, where is that kid? That World Traveler kid?"

"World Traveler kid?" Geno repeated.

"That's Chris's nickname, isn't?" Yoshi asked.

"Tabuu is like so going to be mad at us if we don't like find him and bring him to Tabuu! He's gonna get especially really like mad to me!" Axem Pink said gasping.

"I wonder if she's alone in this..." Twink whispered but Meta Knight shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, I was able to see them in Samus's world," Meta Knight explained. "She was not alone either, there were other 4 persons that looked like her but had different shapes and colors."

"Then that means the Axem Rangers are all over the place, trying to find Chris." Pikachu said.

"Most likely, and they're trying to kidnap him!" Mallow said.

"Okay okay okay," Axem Pink said throwing the jewelry away...but then she went for them and stood in front of the mirror again. "If I don't get moving, Axem Red is so like going to be more red than before, I want to like be successful and get the kid first!"

"Time to attack?" Pichu asked.

"Hell yes." Pikachu said gathering sparks.

"But this jewelry, this room, I can't leave all of this behind an-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Mallow yelled opening the door quickly and the 8 quickly surprised the femenine axe wielder squealed scared.

"Oh, you're so like that stinky cloud and that ugly puppet!" Axem Pink said.

"Good that you remember us, but now it's time for you to leave this place." Geno said adjusting his hand.

"We overheard everything you said, and as a resident of this place," Meta Kight pointed his sword at her. "I ask you to leave, immediately."

"Like, sorry, but that's going to happen like either way!" Axem Pink said taking out her axe. "I thought that it was like going to be hard to fight many of you that once, but! As a matter of, like, fact, I have one little trick in, like, mind!"

"Makeup?" Pichu asked.

"No, that's like the second thing my mind."

"Jewels?" Twink asked.

"That's like the third one! I was like talking about this!" Axem Pink snapped her fingers (if she had) and rose petals began to fill the room.

Yoshi chuckled. "Aw, how sweet, you made petals fall all around Peach's room, she's going to like the new decoration."

Mallow's and Geno's eyes widened after remembering something crucial. "Wait, no! Not this attack!" Mallow said panicking.

"You're scared of petals?" Pikachu asked with a chuckle.

"No! You don't understand! If anybody knows this attack, then the result will b-"

POOF!

There were now 8 small mushrooms (one of them was floating) where the Smashers once were, Axem Pink looked at the mushrooms and giggled with glee.

"Ahahahahaha! My! You all like feel so mushroomy right now, aren't you not?" Axem Pink giggled.

"What the heck?! I'm a stupid mushroom!" A yellow mushroom (Pikachu) yelled hopping.

"Oh, so this is how it feels to be a mushroom." Yoshi (a Yoshi egg patern mushroom...a green one) said hopping.

"You're not suppose to know how it feels, don't be so impressed..." Meta Knight (a dark purple mushroom) said. "...You, however, should be embarrassed and humiliated."

"But I am!" Pikachu said annoyed as Axem Pink kicked him away. "WHOA! EVERYTHING'S SPINNING!"

"Like, I should be going, you can like enjoy the loneliness of this pinky room, ciao!" Axem Pink said giggling as ran away to the halls.

"...Okay..." Pichu (a pale yellow mushroom) began. "...This is so unusual..."

"...Geno..." Twink (the floating white mushroom) called out.

"Yes?" Geno (a deep blue mushroom) said.

"Does this...effect worn out after a time?"

"...Hmm...like in an hour..."

"...Crap then." Pikachu said over a corner.

"Damn straight." Mallow (a slightly dark yellow mushroom) said agreeding with a sweatdrop.

Another hallway

There was someone in the bathroom while everyone was scattered around, it was the curious Ike, and his team was waiting for him outside.

"How's it going in there Ike?" C. Falcon asked.

"I feel relieved, a lot actually!" Ike said as Zelda tried not to puke.

"Okay, see the paper at your side?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay, use that t-"

Zelda blocked his mouth. "Please, no more! This is just too much for me to handle carefully!"

"...Ike! Use it to wipe you-"

SLAP!

"Nevermind that!" Ike yelled already doing something inside.

"Oww..." C. Falcon rubbed his chin where Zelda slapped him.

"Why it had to be this the first thing in the first place?" Roy asked.

"Well, Ike was so curious and he just happened to need it." Marth said shrugging.

Link looked over to his side to find a cardboard box. "Who left this box here? It's from anyone?"

"Not me," C. Falcon said. "I have much better places to keep my things."

Snake, on the other hand, was impressed, he actually bothered to research some of them, and C. Falcon happened to be some kind of celebrity to him. "Hey! That's Captain Falcon, isn't it!"

"Good eye, Snake! He's F-Zero pilot number 07!" Otacon said excited.

"You know, seeing Captain Falcon here reminds me... We should do that thing we've always wanted to try..."

Otacon blinked surprised. "Oh yeah! That thing! Good idea!"

"Hey Ike!" C. Falcon called out. "Have you ever wanted to fight one of us?"

"I'm not sure, I just got here!" Ike yelled.

"Well, do you want to know how my moves are called?"

"Um, sure, why not?"

"OK, ready? Go!" Otacon said, activating the echo sound machine to make it more epic.

"Falcon Puuuunch!!" Snake yelled and everyone looked around confused.

"Falcon Kiiiiiiick!" Otacon yelled, managing the sound to go outside the box.

"Wow, your attacks sound very awesome with the echos, I can't wait to fight you later." Ike said.

"...Where did those voices come from?" Roy asked.

"Those voices are the gods who recognize my abilities." C. Falcon said with a grin.

"Dammit, we got too far with that Otacon." Snake whispered.

"Oops." Otacon replied as Ike got out.

"So, how do you do that?" Ike asked as he adjusted his belt.

"Er, well...it's my specialty." C. Falcon with another grin.

"You're full of surprises, I like that."

Zelda facepalmed. "Right..."

Snake glanced over to Link. "Otacon, who's the guy with the sword?"

"That's Link. He's the hero of Hyrule," Otacon began. "That blade in his hand is called the Master Sword, also known as the "Blade of Evil's Bane."

"It looks like it's just a plain sword to me." Snake commented.

"So Ike, are you starting to enjoy technology?" Link asked.

"I've got to say, I'm still a little frightened honestly, but once I got the guts to try it, it feels so good the next moment." Ike said.

Marth sweatdropped. "...But you're feeling because you just used the bathroom, it's much different with other stuff."

"And why do you need guts? Just use them." Roy said.

"He also has a whole arsenal of items at his disposal, bombs and arrows, a shield, a boomerang, and a Clawshot. He's a force to be reckoned with." Otacon explained.

"Gear is only useful when it's used at the right time and place. Just lugging a ton of it around doesn't do you any good...hey, where's this guy's equipment anyway? I can see only his sword and shield out."

"...Well...about that..." Otacon trailed off.

"...So?"

"...I...don't...know...all of them can keep and take out their things."

"...Somebody is defying the physics here, and a lot." Snake commented.

Command Room

"ACHOO!" Master Hand sneezed.

Another hallway

"...I, uh... I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Snake." Otacon trailed off, remembering something important about Snake's equipment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Snake asked a little irritated.

"You tell me, Mr. Utility Belt."

"Achoo!" Link sneezed. "Did...somebody just talk about me?"

"No." Everyone said, even Snake did it by accident and they looked around.

"...This is really getting spooky now...are there any ghosts here?" Roy asked.

"This mansion was built by Master Hand, ghosts aren't living here." Marth said.

C. Falcon and Zelda shuddered once they looked to Link. "...Oh no, that bad memory is still haunting us, Zelda." C. Falcon said.

"I...have to agree with you." Zelda said inching away from Link.

"(Heheheheheh...)" Link chuckled evily in his mind.

"Who's that girl over there?" Snake whispered.

"Snake, have you heard the saying "Politics makes strange bedfellows"?" Mei Ling asked.

"Don't tell me that's a Chinese proverb."

"Err, no... It means that when the going gets tough, you might need unexpected partnerships in order to succeed. Marth was a prince whose kingdom was usurped. He didn't even have an army to fight with him. But as he battled his way forward, he found new allies to fight at his side, and in the end, he was able to reunite the war-torn land of Altea."

"So he built his army from the ranks of his defeated enemies...wait, she's a he?"

Marth glared to nothing in particular. "...I've got the feeling someone said I was a girl again."

"Snake, Marth is a he, his name is even a name for a guy." Mei Ling said.

"But look at that tiara on his hair, even his hair looks girlish."

"He comes from an old age, remember, there were many persons with weird hairstyles, but in reality, that tiara belonged to her sister," Mei Ling continued. "Marth did his share of fighting, too. Even when he had an army, he was always alongside his men in the thick of battle. Then he was betrayed by one of his most trusted friends. I can't even imagine how that feels..."

"I can." Snake said simply. "...Wait, who betrayed him again?"

"I tried my best to investigate him but I couldn't find anything else, sorry Snake, I'm going to work harder on him next time."

"Don't worry about that."

"Aww, thank you Snake, you made me feel happy now."

"Now, who's the woman? It wouldn't feel right fighting someone in a dress, though."

"Don't underestimate her just because she's a woman." Colonel said.

For some odd reason, Zelda glared at the box. "...I just felt a sexism insult towards me coming from that box."

"Nah, probably not, it's just a box Zelda, you're overthinking," Roy reassured her as he lifted up the box. "See? It's just a plain box and..."

Battle in the Base

"...Curses." Snake muttered.

"...THE INTRUDER!" C. Falcon yelled before Snake ran to Zelda and grabbed her mouth by her back.

"Zelda!" Link yelled as Snake backed away.

"Lut mu gu!" Zelda yelled angrily before Snake pulled out his tazer and electrocuted her, Zelda screamed in pain before she fainted.

"You stupid bastard!"

"Sorry, but I've got no time to play with you." Snake said.

"Now you're going to pay!" Link yelled rushing towards Snake, the mercenary sidestepped out of the way and chopped Link's neck directly, the swordsman gasped before he fell unconscious close to Zelda.

"Link!" Roy yelled before Snake ran to the 4.

"He's coming, stay focused!" Marth warned them as he shielded himself with his sword, however Snake threw a grenade that fell on C. Falcon's hands.

"GET RID OF THAT!" Roy yelled as C. Falcon threw it...at Ike, who took a look closer to it.

"Why are you all so scared about this?" Ike asked getting closer to them.

"NO, YOU IDIOT! STAY AWAY FROM US, THAT THING IS GOING TO BLOW UP!" C. Falcon yelled as they backed away from Ike, who was still getting closer.

Ike looked down to the grenade. "...Wait, what?!"

BOOM!

An explosion covered the hall and smoke came out, Snake backed away and coughed, when the smoke cleared, the 4 were laying down the floor, unconscious as well for Snake's fortune.

Final Fantasy Vlll - The Spy

"...Funny thing," Snake said walking towards Ike. "His cluelessness about technology made everything easier."

"That's a blessing, I guess." Otacon said as Snake continued his way deeper.

"Wait, Snake," Mei Ling began. "I heard Chris is protected by his guardian."

"A guardian? You mean that oversized blue dog?" Snake asked.

"That oversized blue dog is Lucario, Snake, Lucario is among the strongest persons of the whole mansion."

"Hmm..." Snake thought as he ran in the hallways, shooting down the lights as he went further ahead.

"You're almost close to your location Snake," Otacon said. "Just a few more then the mission will be over."

"I'm prepared for anything now."

"And what about Lucario?" Mei Ling asked as Snake stopped on his trails.

...But there was a small grin on the mercenary.

"I have something in mind for him." Snake said as he disappeared from sight.

"...I have a bad feeling about this..." Otacon said.

Main Lobby

"An explosion?" Axem Green asked to himself. "What are explosions doing here? Are these guys bomb's lovers?"

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!!!"

Axem Green blinked for a moment and an annoyed face appeared after. "...Oh brother, don't tell me that fat hole is..." Axem Green glanced to the kitchen.

And he was right, his thoughts were right.

Kitchen

"BUUUUUUUURP!" Axem Yellow burped. "Man, that was one hell of a feast."

"BUUUUUUUUUURP!" Kirby burped. "Meta Knight wasn't here to stop me...now this is my vision of heaven..."

"You're a pretty nice guy, did you know that?"

"I'm a good guy, duh." Kirby said rolling his eyes as both laughed.

"YOU DORK!" Axem Green yelled entering the kitchen. "You're supposed to find the World Traveler and kidnap him! But instead, you're only making your stomach get even bigger than it needs to be!"

"But Axem Green, this was a fridge with turkey, turkey! Can you believe it?!" Axem Yellow said as Kirby blinked at the situation.

"Oh, sure, I believe it, I believe you were going to eat it for your own pleasure." Axem Green said facepalming. "Whatever, get back to your duty and find the kid!"

"...Wait," Kirby began. "You're here to kidnap Chris? Because he is the World Traveler."

"Uh-huh," Axem Yellow nodded. "I was supposed to find and kidnap him but instead I tricked Axem Red that I was excited to work alone, he fell for it and I was free to search the kitchen and eat everything I could eat! Pretty brilliant for someone like, huh?"

"Boy, that was brilliant, kudos to you." Kirby said waving a hand.

"..." Axem Green shook his head. "Stupid, I know there was something odd with you at that moment."

"You didn't expect my plan to work out like that, did you?" Axem Yellow asked with a happy expression.

"It's very easy to trick Axem Red alright bu-WAIT! Get moving you...you...YOU!"

"...You can't find the words to insult him, can you?" Kirby asked.

"...Sadly, no." Axem Green said before he shook his head. "You're coming with me, and this time, no more food for you!"

Axem Green grabbed Axem Yellow's hand and dragged him away. "Bye...it was good to know a guy like you!" Axem Yellow yelled waving at Kirby, who waved back at him.

"What a nice guy..." Kirby said smiling before he shook his head and got shocked. "...Did he say they were going to...OH NO!" Kirby jumped to the floor and ran away. "I need to alert the others and reunite with Chris!"

Hallway

"I'm not a fat-nosed man..."

"Olimar?" Kirby asked tapping Olimar's shoulder.

"I'm not a fat-nosed man..."

"But you're not a fat-nosed man, who told you that?"

Olimar quickly got happy and looked at Kirby. "Thank you! Thank you! You don't know how happy did you make me right now!"

"Um...you're welcome?" Kirby said confused as he looked at the fainted Smashers. "What happened here?"

"W-well...there was this old guy in a box and he, well, attacked all of us..."

"Old guy? Did he happen to be a small figure with an axe?"

"N-no, he was really mean to me..." Olimar said sniffing a little.

"...WAKE UP!" Kirby yelled loudly and for his surprise, everyone began to groan and got up, moaning in pain as they looked around.

"U-ugh...that guy is so gonna pay now..." Sonic muttered as he got up along with the others. "...Where'd he go?"

"I-I don't know anything..." Olimar said looking down.

"I swear, he was such a cheater!" Red said making a fist. "How could he attack me?"

"Because you can't fight and we do all the work?" Ivysaur asked raising an eyebrow.

"W-well...yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't retaliate, right?"

"...Give it up, Red." Squirtle said waving a hand with a frown.

"So, on the topic again, where'd he go?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know, I got here because someone axe guys want to kidnap Chris." Kirby said simply.

"...Someone wants to kidnap Chris?!" Olimar said shocked, opening his eyes.

"Damn, there's trouble now, Chris isn't in a good condition to fight." Squirtle said.

"Want me to alert the guys?" Sonic asked pointing at himself.

"Quick! Do it! Something doesn't look right here!" Kirby said.

"I'm on it!" Sonic said with a grin as he disappeared in a blink.

...But later he returned.

"What is it?" Red asked.

"Er, somebody knows where are they?" Sonic asked with a worried chuckle as the others facepalmed in unison.

Hallway (another one)

"Yes, yes, yes..." Axem Black said nodding. "It seems the Blade is ready to take off whenever we're ready to escape with the World Traveler, but...where's that kid? It's such a drag to look for him when we don't know the exact location."

"I know this is a problem," Axem Red called over a small communicator he gave to Axem Black. "But if we return with our hands empty to the Subspace, Tabuu will only get furious and...ugh, I don't want to know what's he going to do after that...huh?"

"What is it?"

"I found some Smashers over here, they're unconscious and some of them are damaged," Axem Red kicked Link's side. "Yep, they're fainted, something happened here."

"Like what?"

"Do you expect me to know? I don't know!"

"You and your anger issues."

"Shuddup!" Axem Red yelled. "Anyway, there's nothing interesting on this place, I'm outta this hallway! Any luck over there?"

"No," Axem Black shook his head. "I don't know where is he, or where are the others...but I sense some people close to me right now..."

"Get your butt out of there and fast! We're so close in getting the kid!"

"Roger that." Axem Black said as he disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Just then, Pit came to where he was and looked around. "Strange, I've could have sworn there was somebody here a second ago."

"Pit!" DK yelled from a door. "Did you find something?"

"No! I thought there was someone over here but there's nothing!"

"Then get back to your duties, I'm not having any luck here either!"

"R-right!" Pit nodded as he ran through the hallway. "(But, why are the lights destroyed? It's somebody destroying them?)"

Lucario's Room

"..." Lucario sighed after he looked to Chris. "Nothing yet...I'm starting to worry."

"I'm sure he's alright," Flonne said patting his back a little. "Come on, you have to cheer up!"

"But..."

"No buts!"

"What?"

"You have to put all your faith on him if you want to see progress, you don't need to lose your faith, I'm sure everything will be fine, trust me! I'm your friend remember?"

"W-well, that's true bu-"

"Here we go again with the buts, just believing in him! Does he believe in you?"

"I-in what way?"

"Like for example, you're protecting him, aren't you? Then he believes that you will protect him in this hard moment, right?"

"...Y-yes..." Lucario said kneeling to the bed as he took a closer look to his trainer. "...Please, get well soon..."

Flonne blinked for a moment and blushed. "...S-sorry, I think I got a little cheesy with my words... I-I just love the love and friendship and pretty much everything else..."

"No, it's okay."

"...Thanks." Flonne muttered smiling a little.

"(...Thank you for being so nice to me, Flonne...)" Lucario thought as he rested his head close to Chris's hand.

"(...Aw, both of them look cute together...)" Flonne thought joining her hands as she rubbed Lucario's head, which made the Pokémon growl happily. "(You're a dog, I knew it!)"

"Grrrr..."

"S-sorry!" Flonne said stopping.

"...Who told you to stop?"

"S-sorry again!" Flonne said sweating as she continued, but then, she got an annoyed look. "(Who's he to order me around anyway?)"

"...A-ha...so this is the room..."

Music stops

"Huh?!" Flonne jumped surprised and looked at the door, she could have sworn there was somebody trying to enter.

"A voice?" Lucario asked standing up.

"Finally, this will soon end after the mishaps of those cretins..."

"...We're not alone in this room," Lucario said starting to growl at the door. "Somebody who is not from here wants to enter here."

"W-what are we going to do? I-I'm scared!" Flonne said worried.

"Heheheheheheheh..."

Flonne gulped in fear as the door slowly opened up, Lucario glared at the figure that stepped inside, it was Axem Red, who was chuckling evily as he looked at the 2.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Behind Us

"So," Axem Red began glancing to Chris. "There's the kid, at last, we can end this mission of the kidnapping once and for all."

"Kidnapping?" Lucario asked before he glared down at him. "You're not going to kidnap my trainer if that's what are you going to do!"

"I'll be quiet if I were you, I wouldn't want disturb his rest."

Lucario gasped as he looked to Chris. "U-ugh...whatever, you're not going to do anything with him."

"Sorry, that's not gonna happen," Axem Red waved a finger. "It's a direct order from Lord Tabuu, he said specifically to kidnap the kid, bring him to the Subspace and then Tabuu will use him for his deeds of conquest that you imbeciles have been trying to stop, and let me tell you, he ain't happy about the results so far."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted as his aura covered his hands.

"You want violence? Inside this place? Where your "trainer" is recovering?" Axem Red shook his head. "You're not that protective."

"Shut up!" Lucario yelled.

"...U...u...ugh..." Chris moaned silently as Lucario gasped.

"N-no, please, it's not my fault, he made me do it!"

"Lucario, please, get a hold of yourself!" Flonne said.

"You over there, shut up and be nice to me." Axem Red ordered as Flonne pouted.

"And if I don't want to?"

"Too bad," Axem Red said as he disappeared in a blink.

"W-where did he go?!" Flonne asked looking around.

"...I can't locate his aura...I think he was using something to prevent anything to spot him..." Lucario said as he dropped to one knee.

"Lucario!"

"...I'm an idiot Flonne..."

"What?"

"I'm an idiot, I tried to use violence in here, where Chris was recovering without even caring...my rage is blinding me from protecting the person I like to be with..."

"T-that's not true!" Flonne said ducking to see Lucario. "You wanted to protect him so badly, that's not bad!"

"But Flonne, don't you understand?!" Lucario asked looking straight to her eyes. "If I went in a rampage again, I'd scare Chris and he wouldn't talk to me never again!" Lucario closed his eyes to prevent his tears from coming out. "...And I just...and I just...and I just got lucky for him to forgive me..."

"Please..." Flonne rubbed Lucario's head as the Aura Pokémon began to sob silently. "It's not your fault..."

"I wouldn't count on that."

"Huh?!" Flonne looked up and saw a shadow, it was Snake who walked to them. "N-now who are you?!"

"This guy is responsible for the kid to get ill," Snake said glaring down to Lucario, who looked up at him with eyes in shock. "It's his fault that he got injured."

"T-THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Lucario yelled loudly as Chris moaned more. "...N-no...that's not true...that's not true..."

"Admit it dog, your rage will only destroy everything in its way..." Snake pointed at Chris. "Even the kid, who's going to suffer in your own hands."

"Snake, I think you're going too far." Otacon said but Snake turned off the conversation.

"H-he's not going to suffer in his hands!" Flonne yelled back.

"That's what you think, the monster can't even fight without using his rage to injure greatly his opponent, but his owner as well, who is going to have a phobia against his own ally," Snake shook his head. "Maybe you should leave the kid's side and get away from here as soon as possible."

"B-but..." Lucario stammered as his tears began to stroll down. "H-he needs me..."

"Yeah, but from afar, he won't mind your decision as long as he's happy, am I right?"

"...Yes..."

Flonne's face darkened a little and she looked down the floor. "...Shut up..."

"Shut up about what?" Snake asked. "The kid is in this condition because of his so-called guardian, who ironically hurts him even more without even feeling remorse when he's a monster, oh wait, he's a monster already, a personal monster for the kid's fear."

"SHUT UP!" Flonne stood up and grabbed her magic baton. "You don't know anything about them! Who are you exactly to blame it all on poor Lucario?! You're just a very mean man that wants to crush Lucario's feelings!"

"Girl, I only spoke the truth," Snake said crossing his arms. "And besides, I know everything about these 2...ever since they came here."

"W-what?" Lucario asked confused.

"That's right, I've been spying this mansion ever since you and the kid came from the "real world," there's a small and well protected chip in your fur that you didn't even notice, not even water can damage that."

Lucario rubbed his fur around his waist and then he felt something at the side, he took out a small chip that he examined closely. "...This thing has a small camera...but how did you put this on me?"

"There were chips like this on my "room" that I have somewhere in this house, there are even cameras placed all around the rooms, halls and other places, I know everything about everyone here."

"Snake, you ask for information to us to whoever you see." Otacon said turning on the codec call, but Snake turned it off a little embarrassed.

"I know everything..." Snake pointed at Lucario. "Especially your attempts to protect your trainer from danger."

"Y-you saw all of them?" Lucario asked and Snake nodded.

"Now, it's time for your answer, do you think you've been doing a good job in protecting him?"

"...I...I...I...I..."

"Lucario! You know it, you've been doing an excellent job! Nobody can do that except for you!" Flonne said.

"...No..."

Music stops

Flonne's eyes trembled in shock. "...What?"

"It's all my fault...he got hurt all this time...and sometimes even because my rage did it...I'm hopeless...sorry...Chris...this was all for nothing..."

"Thought so." Snake said walking over to Chris as Lucario let the mercenary walk to the World Traveler, Flonne was looking back and forht between the 2, for one part, she should be helping Lucario, on the other part, she should try and protect Chris from being kidnapped.

"W-what are you going to do?" Flonne asked desperated to do something.

"I'll do the monster a favor and take the kid away from him, where he'll be fine from danger, I don't let my comrades get hurt." Snake explained as he looked down to Chris, who stopped moaning and breathing air. "Once I get this kid out of this place, everything will be more safe with me, so now..."

KICK!

"...I...hate...kids...so...much..."

Flonne's jaw dropped once Snake grabbed a private part of his body and fell twitching in pain on the floor, the mercenary tried not to scream loudly, but he managed to prevent that from happening.

What was the reason for this sudden event?

Well...ask the kid on the bed, who had his leg extended to where Snake was before.

"...Oh...my...lord of Celestia..." Flonne muttered shocked once she saw Chris with a happy expression, apparently, his fever was almost gone from him.

However, something broke the silence, it was Chrs himself who smiled and turned to the other side.

"And you...attack his weak point...for MASSIVE DAMAGE...cretin..." Chris murmured as he sighed in relief and fell asleep.

"...Well, that would be his weakpoint..." Flonne remarked with a giggle.

002 - Putting Words Together

"..." Lucario was still left speechless and Flonne ducked and gave him a warm hug. "Huh?"

"Lucario, you're the perfect friend and companion Chris could ever get, it's not your fault that he got sick, after all, he decided by his own and you respected his idea, after all, he knows how to defend for himself because you taught him that, you don't have to listen to what a mean man like him did, if you still like Chris, and if he still likes you, then you 2 make a perfect good match between friends."

"...It's that..." Lucario cleared his tears. "...True, Flonne?"

Flonne giggled. "Of course, I'm so sure about that."

"...If only Chris could be awake..."

"Lucario..." Chris called out from his sleep and Lucario's ears perked up a little.

"Y-yes?" Lucario asked turning to Chris who made a faint smile.

"Please...stay with me forever...we can have so much fun that way...just...don't leave me...I don't want to be alone again..." Chris managed to say before he fell asleep.

"...Master... Chris..." Lucario muttered with a small smile.

"...After all..."

"Huh?"

Music stops

"We won our own luxury hotel in that lottery from yesterday, we can swim in the pool with the others and have the best fun of the world...yeah..." Chris said before he fell asleep again.

"..." Flonne sweatdropped. "I think he was just dreaming, how ironic, isn't? Heheheheh."

Lucario made a bored face. "...Why do you like to humiliate me, Chris?"

"That's it!" Snake yelled as he stood up. "Screw hiding spots and break the emotional structures of the people! The kid's coming with me!"

"GRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted in rage.

"What's the matter dog? You don't care about your trainer anymore?"

"I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING, I DO CARE A LOT ABOUT MY TRAINER AND FRIEND, IF I THINK I'M DOING THE RIGHT THING TO PROTECT HIM, THEN I'LL DO IT AND STOP YOU!"

"Lucario!" Flonne clapped her hands. "That was so heroic!"

"Crap, now he's serious." Snake commented as he backed away to Chris.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lucario roared loudly (Chris didn't EVEN wake up) as he charged up an Aura Sphere.

"Yeah!" Axem Red said appearing just above Chris. "Leave him alone, because I'm taking him with me!"

Falco's Room

"..." Falco was still very annoyed that he couldn't move from his place that he began to talk to himself. "...Okay, first, after Chris gets kidnapped...should I make his grave or save him? If I make his grave, then I'll do a proper burial, but if I do save him, then he will admire me for the rest of his life..." Falco rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. "Yeah, that's has a nice sound to it... I need to imagine it, I'll have a fan from the real world...that's settles it! I'm going to let him get kidnapped for me to save him from the Subspace! Oh yeah, now I'm talkin-"

"Falco, what was all that you said just now?"

Falco sweatdropped once he turned to his right side and saw Fox, with crossed arms, tapping his foot and an annoyed look...with a red eye.

Falco chuckled. "Fox, what happened? Are you sick in the eye?"

"Don't ask." Fox said closing his eyes as the other entered the room.

"We're probably the only ones who haven't found a clue about the intruder." Pit said looking down.

"Wait, don't you mean intruders?" Falco asked, now remembering what he planned to say originally.

"Intruders? I thought there was only one." Fox said opening his eyes, but Falco chuckled. "...Fine, Diddy made this to me by ACCIDENT."

"I'm still saying I'm sorry!" Diddy's voice was heard, because Falco couldn't look at the small monkey.

"Shut up then!"

"Can I talk please." Falco suggested.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Those axe guys," Falco began. "The same axe guys we saw on Samus's world, they're here to kidnap Chris!"

"So they're the intruders..." Wolf said.

"...But the odd thing is that there was another suspicious guy sneaking around this place as well..."

"Who?" Diddy, DK, Fox and Pit asked confused.

"I dunno...but I heard he wanted to kidnap him as well an-"

It was not long before they all heard an explosion where Chris was healing and they looked to all the parts with shocked expressions.

"W-what was that just now?!" Pit asked.

"That came from where Chris was, wasn't it?" DK asked.

The group looked at each other before they ran away...

"...What are you doing here?" Falco asked.

"I'm not the kid's babysitter or something." Wolf said crossing his arms.

"Well, you're not going to let someone else get him, right?"

"Tell me a good reason."

Falco began to think. "...Because...as much as you hate Fox, you hate Chris as much as him and you want to defeat both of them someday...in your own hands?"

Wolf looked away and smirked. "...That changes the whole subject now..." Wolf said chuckling as he ran away.

"...Oh, right, leave me behind!" Falco yelled annoyed, he tried to get up, but failed miserably once the cold got him again. "Not this stupid crap again, dammit!"

Hallway

"An explosion!" Kirby said shocked.

Peach's Room

"Great, the action is starting without us!" Pikachu yelled hopping.

But it was not long before they all turned back to normal as Meta Knight flew away of the room.

"You said the effects would worn off in an hour!" Pichu said.

"...To tell the truth... I was fainted that time when Mallow turned into one, so he knew all along." Geno said looking away.

"My bad." Mallow said sticking out his tongue as they all ran away.

Toon Link's Room

"What should we do now?" Ness asked as they all overheard the explosion.

"Stay behind and protect good ol' me!" Raven yelled hiding below the bed.

"...Let's be lazy and protect the old man, after all, the others can do it all for themselves." Nana said.

"Agreed." The young Smashers said sitting on the floor as Raven sighed in relief.

Command Room

Master Hand sighed disappointed. "And that happens when you let them go and wander around Crazy, they wander until something blows up."

"Man, it must be hard to keep this mansion under control." Popo said trembling because he took a sip of coffee.

"Weren't you sleeping?"

"Nope, not anymore!" Popo said as his eyes grew and shrunk awrwardly.

"Aw, how much I love this kid." Crazy Hand said sighing.

"Crazy, stop being...you please." Master Hand said frowning.

10th floor

"...Hey you..." Etna called.

"Yes?" Estelle asked.

"I'm pretty sure nobody rests on this floor, we should be going down."

"Oh...right..."

Another hallway

"An...explosion..." Zelda muttered as she looked up. "Something is...happening..."

Lucario's Room

Flonne was very shocked, many figures ran in front of her when the explosion occurred, she couldn't see anything, she only found Lucario unconscious on the floor and a huge hole in the wall appeared, Axem Red, Snake and Chris were gone from the mansion, and now they were probably in the snowstorm.

"...W-why?" Flonne asked silently, dropping to her knees while her eyes trembled, dropping close to Lucario. "...Why did this happen?... Why?"

She could only catch sight of a ship going towards Nintendo City as it vanished through the sleet of the night...

Preview of the next chapter

"U-ugh...huh?"

"...Kid, wake up."

"And...that's all..." Flonne finished.

"This is not good, they're planning to take Chris into the Subspace through Exor!" Geno said in a serious tone.

"Guess we'll have to work together to get out from this junk."

"...I don't have another choice..."

"We're almost there," Axem Red said looking to Exor from very far away. "We just need to enter and Tabuu will be very pleased with our success! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"He's out of it now." Axem Green whispered.

"Second thoughts of a mercenary...why should I have second thoughts for?" Snake asked.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

The Blade
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The codecs themselves. XD

-Chris and Popo saying an internet meme, what? I promised I wouldn't say those that much, but at least Chris had a reason to say it, don't you think? XD

There's more mystery now, what will happen next? Will Snake get all the codecs for the rest of the characters? Will the Axem Rangers succeed in kidnapping Chris or Snake will do that before they do it? Will Lucario stay focused as Chris's guardian despite Snake's harsh words? Will Flonne be of support? Will Raven get away from Estelle? (Probably not).

Only the next chapter will answer all your questions!... So yeah.

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 103*: Second thoughts of a mercenary

I'm sorry for not posting, school really got in the way this time... I promise this won't happen again. ;)

From ngrey651: Chris. Kicking snake. In the groin.

Crowning moment of AWESOME. I've been waiting for somebody to show him up in SOME story for AGES! (Bows)

From me: Yep, I bet that was so out of the blue, anyway, Chris can protect himself EVEN in his really weird dreams... XD

From aquadragonsayian: OH NOES!! CHRIS GOT KIDNAPPED!! DID THE AXEM RANGERS GET SNAKE TOO?? And the MASSIVE DAMAGE gag. Nice one! ^w^ Update soon please!

From me: Thank you...and sorry for the updating. :)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Snake stole the show in this chapter with his fights & his words with Lucario. That's all I can so I'm moving on to the next chapter. Peace.

From me: Snake's the protagonist, isn't he? Thanks. :D

From timrtabor: hey do you know about a site called nsider2,I bet there fanfic borad could use a epic story like this(its pretty much dead besides a few living gems).

From me: ...Please, refrain from asking things of forums to me, there's a reason why do I love to post HERE.

From Anakin Mario Son 43: NO! CHRIS! Either Snake or everyone else should save him. Why do I have the feeling it will be Popo since he drank coffee? I bet he will be even more insane than usual! More crazy than Crazy Hand, if that is even possible.

From me: Partly Popo, you'll see. :D XD

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: GR, THAT DAMN SNAKE! how dare he use something as low as that against lucario! now i want to... no. no, NOW I'M BEING TIRED OF BEING MERCIFUL, NOW, I WANT TO LAUNCH HIM IN A RUSTY LITTLE SPACESHIP WHICH I WOULD LAUNCH TO JUPITER WHICH WILL CRUSH HIM TO A LITTLE BALL OF METAL AND WHERE HE WILL NEVER BE FOUND AGAIN WHILE COLD ENDLESS SPACE WILL DRIVE HIMM MAD! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA+slap+ sorry about that, that part just drove me to the point of pure anger. about the chapt, wonder how ike will cope with every other piece of technology and another point, snake must be another pervert, CAMERAS EVERY WHERE? KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SMASHERS? he must have been the one of the few who knew about samus being a girl. hopefully, the exam's half days will give you some time to write, after you may need to study

From me: Snake's a damn stalker, so you should blame Otacon, Mei Ling and Colonel for that, thanks. :D

From Rabid Original: Chris is going to be awfully surprised when he wakes up XD
Holy crap, there's a lot going on here...I love it. Lots of luls indeed. And mushrooms.

Have you noticed that I review every second chapter or so? I like even numbers :P

From me: Oh? You like to review even chapters? Aw, now I got depressed. :'( Thanks anyway. :D

From Ultra Blader: Great chapter! Full of humour and action. You finished with an outstanding cliffhanger too. Good job.

From me: I hope this gets you interested as well. :D

From Nintendogeek01: Hm... I'm very very impressed with the ending of that chapter. Emotional, strengthening of character, and one hell of a cliff-hanger. That was very well done.

From me: Thank you! I just hope that you like short battles that should have been longer...okay, that was confusing, but go ahead and enjoy the chapter as well. :D

From Hyuzyn: Axem Rangers = Moron of a team? o.O anyhow good story.

From me: They're morons alright, that will make serious troubles to this moron of a team as you've metioned before. :P

From qwyter: YEAH! I cought up! You're a great writer! My only complaint is your grammer. You seem to have trouble with gender specific titles, like how you use the word "fathers" where the word "parents" would be more aproppriate (sorry about the spelling, I'm having a brain fart), unless they're gay. Other than that, you could write novels! Oh, and I feel sorry for Marth and peoples ''mistakes''. I personally have had the same problem. o-O Anyways, *Hugs Lucario, accidently stabbing myself in the process, and gives you a cupcake* don't stop writing! EVER.

Over and out,
John

From me: Oh, thank you for that! I was really confused with those words...and to tell the truth, you don't have that good "grammer" either. :P

...And it's "temporarily" right? Why didn't anyone tell me about that detail that I've been missing for a lot of chapters?! If you have seen a word that I've been constantly misspelling, please, let me know! It helps my english please! :O

Anyway, back on the chapter, this got a little longer than the previous chapter, mostly because of school, and partly because I got Persona 4 for the PS2 (one hell of a kickass game to me, but be warned, it's a M-Rated game so careful with lots of cursing and tempting themes), and there's one song from that awesome game here, I assure you, you'll like the song. ;D

...Please, use that song, please! :'(

So, what will happen now?

It's up to you to read of course... XD

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 103: Second thoughts of a mercenary

The Blade
Cell

In the night of the snowstorm, we see Chris, who was unconscious thanks to the explosion in the room before, inside the cell where the Axem Rangers had thrown him in, mentioned characters were chuckling to themselves as Chris was immobile.

"We did it!" Axem Red said. "We managed to grab the kid out from those imbeciles! I'm a genius!"

"You should shut up for now," Axem Black said remembering the event in the mansion. "After all, thanks to my Spritz Bomb move to blow up the wall and kidnap the kid after I managed to get in contact with these idiots, it's me who should get the credit."

"Hey, like, that sounded like so mean," Axem Pink said annoyed. "I was like so focused in my task."

"Yeah," Axem Green said rolling his eyes. "I bet you went straight to a girl's room and try on some kind of makeup or jewels, I know you very well."

Axem Pink blushed and sweated. "I...ah...like..."

"I had the best feast in my life." Axem Yellow said burping.

"Wait, you what?!" Axem Red asked and Axem Yellow jumped in shock.

"N-no, I meant I had the best search in my life for the kid, yeah, that's it!... You believe me, right?"

"...Frankly speaking, no." Axem Red said as he shook his head. "Whatever, thing is, the kid's ours and we're now en-route to Exor, since it's the only way to get to the Subspace inside that sword's mouth for the Blade to enter."

"There's trouble with that though..." Axem Green said. "The snowstorm that isn't normal at all because you...well, you know, is preventing the Blade from accelerating."

"...What?"

"Like, afraid so," Axem Pink said. "We're going like at 5 miles per hour...meaning that, like, it's a long way to reach the city..."

"And considering the time of our arrival..." Axem Green thought. "...I'd say we'll make it in...5 hours to reach Exor."

"...You've gotta be kidding me." Axem Red said.

"Nope, we should have made it in 10 minutes, but the force of this storm is just...stupid."

"...Great, I hate delays," Axem Red said crossing his arms. "But what's the point for Tabuu to make this weather so unusual? He wants to let the climate go as it is, but it's slowing us greatly!"

"I heard he's hiding something high above the clouds that nobody wants to suspect," Axem Yellow said. "...Do you think it's the las-"

"Don't divulge information out," Axem Black said looking to Chris. "Even if he's sleeping, he could hear us out."

"Do you think like the Smashers will like come over here and like rescue him?" Axem Pink asked.

"Nah, those guys are far below from our reach now," Axem Red said walking away with his team. "The only way to get here is by using some kind of airship or a vehicle...but that's unlikely to happen fortunately."

"We'll just have to wait until we reach Exor." Axem Black said as the others nodded and left the cell, leaving Chris behind.

"Wait, whatever happened to that old man?"

"I bet he was blasted away by my bombs, don't worry."

Once they left the cell, however, someone was able to infiltrate the ship from the air ducts and dropped just in front of the cell, it was Snake, who had several bruises but was able to keep on, he looked to Chris once he found him.

"Wow," Otacon said. "Things have changed so fast all of a sudden, haven't they?"

"Yeah," Snake said. "I can't believe I let my guard down and got winded up in this ship."

"Good thing you got in," Mei Ling said. "Otherwise Chris could have been kidnapped and taken away by them."

"By the way Snake, we all heard what you said to Lucario." Otacon said as Snake looked away.

"So? It was my only weapon to use and render him useless." Snake said.

"But that was so heartbraking for him... I feel so guilty for what you did." Mei Ling said a little ashamed.

"Mei Ling, it was me, not you."

"But even so, that was really mean."

"Figures..." Snake said opening the lock of the cell and ducked down to get a closer look. "Now, it's time to wake him up."

"Wait, are you going to take him as he's awake?" Otacon asked.

"I'll have to threaten him to get help and get out of this...floating crap."

"Oh man..."

"...Kid, wake up."

"U-ugh...huh?" Chris blinked confused and looked around. "Where...am I?... Sonic!" Chris stood up and continued to look around. "Sonic, where are you? What is your decision then? Are you going to... What the hell?!"

"You're up, that's a relief."

Chris backed away from Snake holding up his book of magic. "W-what?! H-how did you get here?! Where am I?! Where is everyone?! W-where is Lucario an-"

SLAP!

"Oww!"

"Kid, I know you're confused about this whole situation, but you'll have to obey and listen to me if you want to see another place than this dump," Snake said pulling back his hand as Chris rubbed his cheek. "But it will be a long time before you get to see your frien-"

"FIRE!"

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Smile - Marta

"...Huh?...AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Snake's hair began to heat up as a flame took its place, the mercenary tried to pull out the fire with his hands panicking. "AAAAHHHH!!!" Snake was able to vanish the flame and glared at Chris. "Kid, I'll let that one slip out, but no-"

"FIRE!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Snake's head again burned greatly.

"Snake! I think you'll have to be the one under his command for now, you scared him a lot!" Otacon yelled.

"I'M GOING TO MURDER THIS KID, MELT HIS HELPLESS BODY INTO ACID AN-"

"FIRE!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"If you stop your threats against me, I will stop casting my magic on you!" Chris warned Snake as the mercenary got out from his problem.

"You're so dead no-" Snake's eyes widened when Chris's right hand was glowing with fire power as well as his book. "...Fine, I'll listen to you."

"Good." Chris said lowering his hand, stopping his magic from attacking the mercenary.

Music stops

"First, I have many questions in my mind," Chris looked around. "Where am I?"

"You're inside the ship of some freaky axe guys trying to take you to the "Subspace" thing." Snake explained.

"...Alright... I think those axe guys are...the Axem Rangers..." Chris tried hardly to stay calmed and went on with his questions.

20 minutes later...

"...All that happened when I was having a fever then?" Chris asked and Snake nodded. "...I am such a nuisance to them...they were trying to protect me from getting kidnapped and..."

"I may also say that this is Snake's fault as well, Chris." Mei Ling called out.

"...Wait, who was that?" Chris asked.

"Sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Mei Ling, I'm talking through Snake's communicator." Mei Ling with a chuckle.

"And I'm Otacon," Otacon called out. "Snake here tried to kidnap you when you were down."

"I'm Colonel, may as well introduce myself." Colonel said.

"...You all, were trying to...kidnap me?!" Chris asked in shock.

"Yeah, because you're the only one who can answer all our questions about this whole thing." Snake said.

"Questions? You mean all the things you saw through your hidden cameras around the mansion that you were using to spy on us?" Chris asked and Snake nodded. "W-what kind of questions are those?"

"The Subspace, the Smashers, why are our cameras in the mansion, and mostly," Otacon began. "The worlds, and the world where you came from."

Chris gulped. "Uh-oh..."

"Quite a shocker, right?" Snake asked. "We planned to kidnap you since if I went to the mansion and asked you, you'd refuse then."

"...Kidnap me?" Chris repeated looking down.

"Stop repeating the same thing before I'll do it the hard way."

"...All of you..."

"Yes?"

"All of you...ARE SUCH A BUNCH OF DORKS WITHOUT BRAINS!" Chris yelled angrily.

"What? Why?" Otacon asked confused.

"I would have responded to any questions from the beginning! I am a very kind person, the kindest person of the Smashers to be exact! Why kidnap me when you just could have asked nicely to me? I mean, yes, take me to your base sounded good, but for god's sake, I got into this mess because you were not able to ask me first? What is wrong with you?"

"...Wow, that was...all then?"

"Of course it is!" Chris said crossing his arms.

"...I told you guys," Mei Ling said. "The kidnapping was stupid from the beginning and you didn't listen to me even once."

"W-why are you blaming me?" Otacon asked. "If you want to blame someone, t-that would be Snake!"

"What?" Snake asked.

"Y-yeah! You said the kidnapping was a good idea, didn't you?"

"I-I didn't say that, it was the Colonel! He should receive all the fault then!"

"..." The Colonel was speechless but then he sighed. "...As the boss of all of you... I should accept all the blame."

"Guess so." Snake, Otacon and Mei Ling said rolling their eyes.

"So, are you going to take me back to the mansion with everyone else?" Chris asked with a serious tone in his voice.

"...Hold on," Snake interrupted. "Let's make a deal here."

"I am all ears now."

"If I help you return to your mansion, will you answer all our questions and doubts?"

"...I do not know..." Chris said looking away with a sarcastic not-caring expression. "I do not hear the magic word I wanted to hear from you..."

Snake grumbled in irritation. "...If I help you return to your mansion, will you be so kind to answer all our questions and doubts?"

"...Hmm... I do not know yet..."

"...Please?" Snake asked as his right eye twitched.

"...Heheh, that is more like it now." Chris said smiling to him with a nod. "Okay, I will, I want to see everyone again as soon as possible, and come to think of it, I want to see if Lucario managed to control his rage."

"...The dog I..." Snake shook his head.

"Wait, what were you going to say?"

"Nothing, it's nothing special."

"Oh? You mean all the insults that you said to Lucario?" Mei Ling asked.

Chris blinked. "...What insults are you talking about? I demand answers."

"Look kid, it's nothing important that you should know, what matters now is to get out of this thing." Snake said calmly.

Chris clenched his hands. "Sorry, but I need to know what did you say to Lucario, and if you said something that hurt his feelings, I am never going to forgive you, his feelings are still a little damaged, but an insult could break him apart in a second because he is very devouted to his beliefs."

"Well, that's what exactly Snake did." Mei Ling as Snake motioned to shut up.

"...Snake, tell me the truth, what did YOU say to Lucario?"

"...Ugh..." Snake grunted and looked away, Chris had him cornered where he wanted.

A silence fell in as the screen darkened...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"And then that black guy came in and threw bombs everywhere, blowing up the room apart and created a smokescreen, I also saw 3 other figures running to the hole the black guy made first, when the smoke was gone, Chris was gone, Lucario was unconscious and the axe guy along with the mean man disappeared..." Flonne explained as she was sitting on the chair, most of the Smashers were listening to her explanation, except for Marth's group who were still out of cold in the hall they were in.

"This is just all of a sudden." Squirtle said.

"Did you manage to see something else, Flonne?" Pikachu asked.

"Well... I caught the sight of a ship going to the city but...I don't know why they're going there in the first place..."

"Maybe it's the Blade, the Axem Rangers's main ship." Mallow said.

"All the city has is a barrier that prevents us from entering, right?" Pit asked.

"Yes, the barrier that Exor created." Geno said with a nod before he blinked surprised. "Wait...now I see why they're going there."

"And...that's all..." Flonne finished.

"This is not good, they're planning to take Chris into the Subspace through Exor!" Geno said in a serious tone.

"They're taking Chris to Exor?" Mallow said rubbing his chin. "But I thought Exor was the gate to Smithy's world."

"Well, Smithy can decide what world he wants to be in, so it may be a possibility that Exor is a gate to the Subspace and Smithy's world as well, depending of how Smithy operates the sword." Geno explained.

"It was...my fault..." Lucario said looking down, he was able to recover his consciousness.

"Lucario..." Flonne trailed off looking at him.

"In any case," Master Hand began. "We must rescue Chris from the Axem Rangers before they get to the Subspace or else, I don't want to imagine what Chris is going to experience, the Subspace is the most dangerous world to dwell, if somebody gets lost in it, there's no way out from that."

"But what about the snowstorm?" Ivysaur asked. "It's pretty strong out there right now...brrr..."

"That's another issue," Yoshi said. "I doubt someone could last in that climate for so long."

"Yeah, I mean, who can resist the cold like me and Nana?" Popo asked hopping several times from his seat due to the coffee he drank.

Everyone stared at Popo after that.

"...Popo, you idiot! You and Nana can handle the coldest weather, right?" Pikachu asked and Popo nodded with a chuckle.

"Duh, we're the Ice Climbers, what are you, stupid?" Popo asked rhetorically.

"But even with them alone it's not going to make that much of a difference," Meta Knight said as he looked away. "And I can't chase that ship by flying, my wings wouldn't resist that much."

"That also goes for me as well." Pit said.

"What to do..." Diddy wondered scratching his head.

"Well, we can't waste much more time, every second counts!" Sonic said crossing his arms. "The more we think, the more Chris will get away from our reach!"

"Sonic, go and get Nana, I'll try to think of somethi-" Master Hand said but Sonic was already gone.

"...Do you at least know where's Nana?" Fox asked and then, Sonic returned. "...You don't, right?"

"No idea, heheh." Sonic said chuckling as Fox facepalmed.

Toon Link's Room

The young Smashers were playing a game of the hot potato by this time, Raven was meanwhile sleeping deeply under the bed, making long snores.

"...When is he going to stop snoring?" Lucas asked covering his ears.

"Who knows, old men can snore for long periods of time," Ness said shuddering by the cold. "B-by the way, do you think something happened when that explosion occurred?"

"I don't know," Nana said throwing the potato away. "But something's worrying me though..."

"Raven?" Toon Link asked.

"Not the lazy old man! I mean something else!" Nana yelled as then the door opened, all of them looked and got a little shocked after Etna and Estelle were standing there. "...Um...hello?"

"Oh, sorry for interrupting, but have you seen an old man with long purple coat and funny hair around here?" Estelle asked with a polite bow as she noticed the snores. "...Is anybody sleeping here?"

Toon Link sweated as he looked below the bed. "Er...no? Nope! There's nobody sleeping in here!"

"But those snores are awfully loud and...they somehow feel so familiar..." Estelle said putting a finger close to her chin.

"T-there's definitely nobody snoring in here!" Toon Link shouted flailing his arms as the young Smashers made bored looks.

"...Wow, didn't know he was a fan of him." Ness whispered to Lucas.

"..." Etna made a bored look to Toon Link. "...I think he's not here either, c'mon, I'll give you your own room to rest for the night...but not telling to the hand, got it?" Etna said walking away as Estelle gasped and followed her.

"R-right away!" Estelle yelled running away as Toon Link sighed in relief.

"...Damn, that was close." Toon Link wiping out the sweat. "How come you guys didn't do anything?"

"Because of the fact that we're not the "Crazy Rabbid Raven's Fan Club's members" as you are." Nana said rolling her eyes.

"Well, you could've at least helped me!"

"Toon Link, we just helped you because you promised to us that you were going to give us each 1000 Rupees."

"...I did that Ness?"

"Hell yes you did." Ness said nodding.

"...Dang it!"

"You guys!" Sonic appeared in the door. "Where's Lala?"

"...You mean Nana," Nana said a little annoyed as she stood up. "What?"

"This is serious, Chris..."

Command Room

The young Smashers decided to join up the meeting, but left Toon Link behind with Raven since the old man was still sleeping deeply.

"Please, tell me you're not sending me and my brother alone, we're too few to save Chris!" Nana protested grabbing his brother's right hand. "And who the hell asked you to give him coffee? He gets a lot weirder than usual!"

"ButNanaI'mFine!" Popo said extremely quickly as he hopped up and down, pupils spinning madly at this moment.

"Oh, great, he's insane, now is going to be a headache to get him to sleep."

"But you can resist the weather outside, can't you?" Pikachu asked.

"Well, yeah, that's true, but we need more people before we go out, who knows if us alone is enough!" Nana pointed at Fox. "How about you for example? Where's your weird mini-battleship thing? It would be a LOT of help in this situation right now!"

"It's "Arwing" and second, I don't have it here with me." Fox said crossing his arms.

"...Yes, I knew you were going to say that," Nana said frowning as she took out her hammer. "Even so, we need people, and people who can tolerate the climate even a bit, who's coming with me?"

A cricket happened to pass by and chirped several times, nobody wanted to raise their hands as Nana stared at them with bored looks.

"...Who let that bug in?" Nana asked before she smashed the cricket. "Okay, who's coming?"

Another cricket (hidden somewhere) chirped as nobody did anything.

"...Seriously! This is not a joke, who's coming?"

The cricket stopped chirping and they just only blinked.

"...You know what? You all want to get Chris so screwed, fine! Be that way! I'm the only person who cares for him here?!"

"Lucario!" Flonne yelled loudly and Lucario shook his head in surprise, because he was still lamenting himself for what happened.

"Y-yes?" Lucario asked.

"Are you going to rescue Chris or not?"

"...I...I..."

"DECIDE NOW, QUICK!"

"...Yes!" Lucario said nodding.

"Good, Lucario is both a Steel type and Fighting type, he can handle the snow for long periods of time like Popo and Nana." Pikachu said. "...Wait, where's Mewtwo?"

"Right here," Mewtwo appeared in the room as he used Teleport. "I've been recovering my energies because of the training with Lucario." Lucario looked away embarrassed. "...But I managed to keep track of the events as well."

"Can you use Teleport to appear in the ship then?" Pichu asked but Mewtwo shook his head.

"I need first to get there to know the area before I can use Teleport effectively," Mewtwo said closing his eyes. "But I can't do that right now, the climate outside it's just too strong to use Teleport in a known area, it's discrupting my senses a lot."

"Then you're so useless as everyone else here," Nana said frowning turning to the hallway with Lucario. "Okay, you all wait here, after all, since nobody wants to save Chris, well, screw you, I'll get all the credit for this."

"AndWhatAboutLucario?" Popo asked pointing quickly to Lucario who was still ashamed.

"...Well, mostly him I think," Nana said as she shook her head. "...Whatever, let's go!"

And the trio ran to the main lobby where they left to the strong weather outside and closed the door.

"...I-I'm going too!" Lucas yelled running away.

"Heh, that kid got a dead wish." Wolf said frowning as he saw Fox running away as well. "...And him as well?... Damn then...fine, I'll go too...stupid kid..." Wolf muttered as he ran away.

"...Chris! Wait for me!" DK yelled running away.

"DK! Wait for me!" Diddy yelled following DK.

"I-ah-wait! I'm coming too!" Pichu yelled running away.

"Oh no, you're all trying to convince me into going too?... Then screw the snow!" Pikachu said annoyed as he ran away.

"Squirtle, Ivysaur, let's go!" Red said running away with Squirtle...and only him.

"Forget it, snow bad for Ivysaur, so bad." Ivysaur said in third-person, hiding below a desk as Sonic passed right besides him.

"See ya!" Sonic yelled running away at a high speed.

"...Oh boy..." Olimar shrugged as he "ran" away with them.

"...Er... I'm going too..." Ness said unsure as he walked away.

"...May as well go with them." Meta Knight said to Pit who nodded and both ran away.

"...I..." Yoshi looked to Master Hand. "...Can I look where is Link first?"

"Oh, right, he must be still somewhere, go and get him." Master Hand said as Yoshi nodded and ran away.

"Geno!" Mallow yelled startling Geno and Twink.

"O-oh, right!" Geno said nodding in shock as the trio ran away.

Master Hand cleared his throat once Kirby and Jigglypuff were the only ones left. "...So?"

"So what?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...Let's go..." Kirby said taking her hand as they walked away from the room.

"...Mewtwo?" Master Hand asked and Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at him.

"I hate the cold." Mewtwo stated crossing his arms.

"...But you shoul-"

"I HATE the cold." Mewtwo said glaring at him as Master Hand backed away trembling a little.

"See? He hates it as well, let him be," Ivysaur said smiling a little as he looked to Flonne. "And what are you going to do?"

"I...I want to stay behind and see where's Etna." Flonne said walking away calmly, she in reality was thinking to herself. "(Please, Lucario, it's not your fault, it's useless to lament for what happened...)"

The Blade
Cell

"...Snake, that was really unnecessary of you..." Chris said looking down. "How could you do that?"

"Kid, it was the only way t-" Snake was interrupted.

"I know, kidnap me, I still think that was really mean of you!" Chris said angrily with a glare. "Once we get back to the mansion, I want you to apologize to Lucario, and I want to hear an acceptance from him as well!"

"Like a kid is going t-"

"FIRE!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!! STOP IT!" Snake yelled, this time, the fire appeared on his butt and he cleared it out in panic.

"We have a deal now?" Chris asked crossing his arms.

"...Fine, deal, but no more fire spells on me..." Snake said grumbling a little.

"That settles it then," Chris said as he sighed. "...But the main problem is this place, I do not know how long is this from the inside, I did not see anything else before."

"Guess we'll have to work together to get out from this junk."

"...I don't have another choice..."

"Hey, I thought you were going to say "do not" again."

"People makes mistakes sometimes, I am not perfect anyway." Chris said walking out with an annoyed face as Snake followed him.

Snake temporarily joined your team!

Persona 4 - Secret Base

Both of them walked to the stairs and went up, the next room was just a bunch of old machinery scattered around the floor as they looked around.

"Machines," Snake began. "Something is going on in here."

"I agree," Chris said adjusting his glasses. "This is the ship of the Axem Rangers, is not it? I kind of...expected that they would have metalic things around I guess."

"Otacon, Mei Ling, can you both analyze the surroundings?"

"Sorry Snake," Mei Ling began. "I'm afraid we don't have a map of the complex that you both are currently in, so you'll have to explore until you find the exit."

"Everything is going down for the worse then." Snake said as Chris spotted various windows looking outside, the World Traveler blinked before he walked to them and looked outside.

"...This climate is very strong..." Chris muttered as his breath was seen as steam. "But if my calculations are accurate, this airship is not moving very fast."

"Why is that?" Snake asked.

"Technically, the whole ship is itself too heavy to move in the air, and the snowstorm outside renders its movement through the sleet," Otacon said. "Remember? Just like Shadow Moses Island, only specialized choppers can fly through."

"You mean any kind."

"...Yeah, pretty much." Otacon said with a chuckle.

"Anyway, the windows are too small to get out," Chris began finding more stairs. "I think we can advance further, let us go and hope for safety out of this place."

"Hold on." Snake said stepping in front of him.

"What?"

"I'm going in the front."

Chris made an angry look and put his book on his lap. "Just because you are an adult does not mean you have to be in the front."

"No, it's not that." Snake said shaking his head a little.

"Then what is?"

"Your safety over mine."

Chris could only blink in surprise but he shook his head a little with some trails of blushes. "Oh, I see now...fine, go on before me."

And both continued their way through the ship as they climbed the stairs, if they hurried in getting out from the ship, then there was hope to escape and get away if they could resist the climate outside.

"So, Snake..." Chris trailed off, looking down as they walked through a corridor.

"Spill it, I know you want to ask me something." Snake said.

"Well... I was wondering if you could...join us."

"...And why should I?"

"Because I did not bother to play yo-I mean, I did not bother to know your world very much and I thought it would be a bad idea to go to a world that I do not know about...and since you are here trying to find a way out...would you plea-"

"Sorry kid," Snake said looking away. "I have better things to do first."

"Like?"

"...Getting out of here."

"That is one, but what else?"

"...Nothing...nothing else." Snake said frowning.

"Then please, come with us, you are one of us too, that is also another reason why your cameras are all over the mansion, because you set them when..."

"When?"

"...I rather not talk about it right now...however, I would if you could do me that favor..."

"...Hmph, I don't make any promises."

"...I understand..." Chris said closing his eyes in shame.

Outside

The snowstorm was just too much so see something through, with a closer look, we see the Smashers running through as they covered their faces, most of them had to wear fur coats because either they didn't tolerate the cold or they just used them to avoid getting a cold, and since the weather was strong, they had to yell in order to stay in contact.

"Come on! We have to keep moving!" Nana yelled running through the covered road with snow.

"Lucario, can you sense something with your aura yet?!" Pikachu asked.

"I-I'm sorry, but I can't locate anything with the snow's force, it's discrupting my senses as Mewtwo's!" Lucario yelled as he clenched his fangs.

"Let's just hope we can find them and fast!" Mallow yelled.

"Meanwhile, IWillStareAtTheHugeShipMovingIncrediblySlowAboveUs!" Popo yelled insanely quickly.

"I-I-I didn't hear you, w-w-what did you say?! Achoo!" Sonic asked as he sneezed, he was so stubborn to get out without wearing a fur coat.

"...What did you say?!" Mallow yelled loudly.

"What?!"

"What?!" Pikachu asked.

"What?!" Pit asked.

"STOP!" Meta Knight yelled. "Above us, the ship!" Meta Knight yelled pointing at a shadowy ship above them, the ship wasn't moving too fast and they stopped their feet and looked above.

"...So basically, we ran 10 feet away from the mansion?!" Twink asked looking at the mansion, which was exactly 10 feet away from them.

"...Who cares!" Ness yelled looking at the ship. "We have to get in, but it's too high above! Who can jump that high?!"

"Lucario!" Pikachu yelled.

"I-I can reach the ship with my jumps, but I can take 2 at a time before I get back here!" Lucario yelled as Ness and Lucas grabbed his hands, the trio nodded and the Aura Pokémon jumped very high and reached the rear part of the ship, just behind the turbines of the ship, Lucario jumped back to the snow and got 2 more, after a while, everyone was now aboard the ship where they entered inside an air duct.

Axem Rangers's Main Room

"We're almost there," Axem Red said looking to Exor from very far away. "We just need to enter and Tabuu will be very pleased with our success! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"He's out of it now." Axem Green whispered.

"...Why isn't this thing going faster?!" Axem Red asked stomping the floor angrily. "We're never going to make it in time to get our new ranks!"

"Or mine!" Axem Green yelled.

"Or my food!" Axem Yellow yelled.

"Or, like, my expensive makeup!" Axem Pink yelled.

"Would you 4 shut up?!" Axem Black yelled as the 4 glared at him. "We don't much of a choice right now, we need to move at this speed sadly...and I need my new shades as well as your things."

"At least," Axem Green got a happy expression. "We got what we wanted after all! Tabuu will award us with the biggest present, and think about it, we're the only ones who have made progress on his deeds instead of the others!"

"And like, don't forget about Lord Smithy!" Axem Pink said squealing.

"We have 2 prizes for the exchange of 1, sweet!" Axem Red said spinning his axe above him. "We can ask for power, money, EVERYTHING!"

"Just let me take a look to the cell and see our hostage." Axem Green said walking over to the monitor where he clicked (if he had fingers to begin with), he began to see the security cameras. "...Well, look at that." Axem Green said pointing at a familiar card with a star.

"The Star Spirit, Klevar," Axem Black said rubbing his chin. "I forgot we had him concealed withing our ship."

"Yeah, like, it's the source for our weapon, right?" Axem Pink asked and Axem Red chuckled.

"Yep, if this was taken away, then we'll be screwed over by Tabuu or Smithy or both." Axem Green said shuddering a little.

"Hopefully, it's well hidden." Axem Yellow said as Axem Green kept looking the cameras, ignoring an important one at first when he selected the cameras from the cell.

"Oh, look, either my eyes are blind or the kid got invisible." Axem Red said rubbing his chin.

"Like, wow, now I know why Tabuu wanted him, like, so badly." Axem Pink remarked nodding.

"..." Axem Black frowned at his companions's idiocy. "...Guys, the kid's gone, the cell is empty, and also, Axem Green ignored a camera where the kid and that old man were walking."

"...Oh, you mean this?" Axem Green asked selecting the camera where Chris and Snake were walking through a solitary hallway. "Well, they're getting through our ship alright..."

A moment of silence fell as they looked at each other.

"CRAP! HE'S BACK TO NORMAL AGAIN!"

"This isn't good, this ISN'T GOOD!" Axem Yellow said panicking.

"Smithy or Tabuu or both will have our heads for dinner!"

"OH MAN, OH MAN, OH MAN! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING AWAY!" Axem Red panicked before Axem Black slapped his face. "Oh, thank you, I needed that... WE HAVE TO STOP KID FROM GETTING AWAY!"

"And like what about the old man with the tight butt?" Axem Pink asked.

"...Think Tabuu wants him as well?" Axem Green asked.

"...It could be a perfect excuse to save us from our delay." Axem Black said.

"...Then Axem Rangers, MOVE OOOOOOOOUUUUUUTTTTTT!!!" Axem Red commanded as the 5 ran downstairs, rather than teleporting swiftly around like they do.

However, they ignored the figures getting through the air ducts, which of course wasn't going to be so good for them at all.

Air ducts

"You know what's worse than rescuing a kid inside a ship with probably the most poor excuse of henchmen of another person?" Wolf asked.

"No, what is it?" Pit asked.

"Stare at your rival's butt through this small space," Wolf said looking in front of him. "Even worse, I think someone farted in here."

"Eww, Fox, youAreNasty." Popo said insanely fast as he trembled.

"Wolf, shut up," Fox said annoyed as all the group went crouching their way through the ducts. "The only last thing we want to hear is you complaining about small facts that aren't that frustrating."

"But it is very frustrating, I assure you." Wolf said.

"I have a better idea," Jigglypuff said. "How about if we all SHUT UP and stop complaining?"

"...Lucario?" Pikachu looked back to Lucario. "Are you okay?"

"...Yes..." Lucario responded with a nod.

"...Look, I've been in many situations like this with Ash and the others, and trust me, everything always goes alright in the end."

"...Pikachu..."

"Yes?" Pikachu asked with a small smile.

"...Don't get me wrong but...this isn't Team Rocket that we're talking about right now..."

"...Oops." Pikachu said sweatdropping with a chuckle. "...Wait, hold on, how do you know about Team Rocket if I didn't tell you about them?"

"I-it's because...that's not important right now..."

"...Okay?" Pikachu said as they all went further inside. "...But if it helps you...just be like you always are."

"A mindless person with pure rage?"

Pikachu sighed in disappointment. "Seriously, you have to get over it sooner or later...but SOONER, now."

"...I just can't...sorry..."

"...Chris will get worried you know." Jigglypuff said.

"..." Lucario just remained silent as Pikachu and Jigglypuff looked worried about the Aura Pokémon.

"Squirtle." Red called.

"Yeah?" Squirtle asked.

"Aren't you going to cheer him up or something?"

"I thought that was your job."

"W-well, maybe, but you're a Pokémon like him, so cheer him up!"

"I...don't want to do it, I mean, Pikachu is better than me..."

"I hate to interrupt," Geno said. "But I think Lucario needs to resolve this by himself for now, we must rescue Chris and get back to the mansion."

"While we're here," Mallow began. "Why not defeat the Axem Rangers in the process? They could, you know, have a Star Spirit in their hands."

"...The Star Spirit!" Geno said blinking surprised. "Yes, I forgot, every henchmen of Tabuu or Smithy always had a Star Spirit to protect from us, the Axem Rangers must be also in charge of the next one!"

"And if we rescue the Star Spirit, then we'll have one more left to rescue!" Twink said.

"Then we can enter inside Exor and challenge Smithy after finding him in his factory again..."

"...It's not the same without Mario and Peach, is it?"

"..." Geno shook his head. "But see the bright side, we have even more persons with us this time that we did years ago."

"Well," Twink smiled. "That's true."

"...Let's hope there's nothing dangerous ahead."

"...Wait a minute," Mallow looked behind him. "Where's DK?"

"Oh, DK?" Kirby asked. "He was too big to fit in so he remained outside with Diddy."

Outside

"...Why aren't there any doors outside?" DK asked to Diddy as they were sitting near the ducts.

"Because it would be useless to have doors near the turbines?" Diddy asked with a sigh.

"...And why are there air ducts below the turbines anyway?"

"Beats me," Diddy said throwing his hands up as a familiar figure was seen flying close to them. "Hey, aren't you that Paratroopa?"

The figure was Parakarry who seemed to be carrying something, the Paratroopa had a hardtime flying through the sleet that he got lost in the air. "Oh, DK, Diddy! What are you doing in this height? It's dangerous to stay here near these...turbines?! What's happening here?"

DK and Diddy explained everything to Parakarry, who nodded every 2 seconds.

"I see now...well, all I can do is wish you guys look good, this ship is going towards Nintendo City as you're here doing nothing," DK and Diddy looked at him annoyed. "...However," Parakarry glared at the clouds. "I've got this weird feeling about the climate..."

"What's strange? That's just strong?" Diddy asked but Parakarry shook his head.

"No, I mean, those clouds are so oddly familiar...and this snowstorm is familiar as well but...nah, it couldn't be, weird ideas from a Paratroopa like me, don't mind me, heheh." Parakarry said with a chuckle.

"Wait, before you go, can you take us to the upper part of the ship?" Diddy asked and Parakarry chuckled a little.

"Sure! I've gotten stronger all these years ever since I traveled with Mario, I can carry you 2 at the same time if yo-"

"Hop on!" DK yelled jumping to Parakarry's shell along with Diddy, the Paratroopa began to pant heavily and flew slowly above the ship, carefully evading the turbines in their way.

"O-oof!... W-wait...who's the fat one here?" Parakarry asked struggling to fly upwards.

"I'm not fat, I'm strong." DK said as a toon vein appeared on his forehead.

"Hmm..." Diddy tilted his head as he glanced upwards. "...Weird, there's like, I don't know, a dome over there."

"A dome?" DK asked confused.

Close to the central area

The World Traveler and the spy soldier were still navigating through the ship, not finding any kind of way out apparently and got even closer to the center of the ship instead without even knowing it.

"How can this ship be so big?" Chris asked looking around. "At this rate, we are never going to find the way out of here."

"Beats me kid," Snake said looking around as well. "This place is just like a maze to me, a maze that I don't even know that existed."

"That could include me in the same category." Chris said adjusting his glasses.

"Um, sorry for interrupting your moment but..."

Both of them stopped as Chris took out his DS. "Oh, Professor Kawashima! I forgot about you all along."

Kawashima made an angry expression. "Well, you could've asked me about the Axem Rangers's ship, I know the layout of the entire area and where's the exit as well."

"An interactive tutorial..." Snake said rubbing his chin. "Things here keep surprising me."

"Oh, oh! Can I examine that if you feel like bringing it to me?" Otacon asked.

"Sorry, but no," Chris said closing his eyes as Otacon groaned disappointed. "So, can you tell us where is the exit?"

"Actually...now that you're inside the ship of those weirdos, you should start looking for the next Star Spirit." Kawashima said shifting his eyes.

"The Star Spirit is here?"

"No doubt about it, it seems it's somewhere close to your location."

"...Well, tell us!"

Kawashima sweatdropped. "Forgive me Chris! The area around the Star Spirit is really blurry for me to examine due to something using the star as its source of energy, it shouldn't be too far from where you 2 are so, you should hurry up!" Kawashima said as he turned himself off with the DS.

"Kid, we're not going for some odd star just because you have to."

"...Too bad," Chris said as his book and right hand were glowing a red bright color. "Now we have another deal?"

"...This will only make me stay away from you, I'm warning you." Snake said with a frowned as Chris stopped his magic, both of them found another way and they decided to follow it, to another emptyness of darkness since the lights were off. "...Do you hear someone whimpering?"

"I-I-I am sorry but... I-I-I am afraid of darkness..." Chris said studdering.

"...Now I ask myself, how did I end up with some coward kid?"

"Snake, stop being such an ass." Mei Ling said a little irritated, caughing off-guard everyone, even the Colonel.

"...Wow, and I thought here she had good manners." Otacon said.

"...I need to stop being an insulter all the time." Snake muttered as both walked through the darkness.

"D-d-do you have something to illuminate this hallway?" Chris asked.

"Why don't you use that weird glow from your hand to make some light?"

"...Oh, you are right, sorry, heheheh." Chris said scratching the back from his head as his right hand glowed a red color, however he didn't want to cast the spell Fire, the World Traveler sighed as he heard something. "Wait, did you chuckle?"

"What?" Snake said stopping. "No, why would I chuckle in a moment like this?"

"...Wait a minute," Chris stared at his hand. "...I think I have figured out a way to be ready to cast a quick spell...yes! If I let my hand glow, I could cast a spell in less than a second for a surprise attack!"

"That's great and all, but keep moving." Snake said as Chris frowned.

"You do not seriously know the benefits, right? I need time to chant a spell before the spell acts by itself, but if I focus my energy and keep it at bay, I could chant the spell and use the spell in store."

"But then you wouldn't cast a spell in less than a second because you have to chant before yelling out that magic." Snake pointed out as Chris blushed embarrassed.

"O-okay, I made some miscalculations, people makes mistakes, did not I tell you before?" Chris asked.

"(...This kid is really something when someone has time to talk with him...now I see why everyone in that mansion enjoy their time together.)" Snake thought hiding a small smile.

"...I can detect it!" Kawashima called out.

Music stops

"What?" Chris asked stopping with Snake.

"The Star Spirit, is really close!"

Snake examined the darkness around, he could hear some echos around by their footsteps in the floor of steel. "...This place is kind of big."

"Spacious." Mei Ling pointed out.

"And enormous." Otacon added.

"Spacious, only that." Mei Ling said with a chuckle.

"I cannot illuminate much more here," Chris said shuddering a little. "I can only illuminate this small radius, sorry for disappointing you all."

"But I should be the one disappointed, instead!" A voice yelled from the darkness, both of them looked around to find the source.

"W-who is there?" Chris asked with his magic ready to attack.

Suddenly, lights began to turn on, and both found themselves inside a dome with a big field, on the other side of the field, the Axem Rangers were there glaring at the 2, standing in front of the same machine that they used against Mario, Geno and Mallow years ago, the Star Spirit in his card form inside a tube that was embedded to the machine.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Behind Us

Axem Red stepped in front of the group with his axe on his right hand, he tapped the floor slightly with it before speaking. "Look what do we have here, it's the utterly annoying nerdy kid with glasses that couldn't be a good kid and stay in his cell, and the weirdo that just happened to wind up in our whole kidnapping part!"

"No, you have it wrong, you interrupted my kidnapping." Snake said as Chris looked away.

"But guess what? This, it's the end of your line, we're going to take the kid with us you like or not!"

Axem Black stepped by his right side and put his axe above his right shoulder. "You 2 should get out from Smithy's way once and for all, even Tabuu has been upset with the kid's action against his army."

"B-but that is because what Smithy is doing right now i-" Chris was interrupted.

"Yeah yeah, wrong, but no, you have it all wrong, this is for a better universe."

"T-that is what you think at least!"

Axem Yellow walked to Axem Red's left side and his stomach grumbled a little. "Your food was so good, but as Axem Black said before, I won't fall behind to stop you from getting away and spoil me my future dinner as a reward!"

"And talk about pathetic..." Snake muttered with a frown as Axem Yellow glared at him.

"W-what's so pathetic about eating all what you want? You don't understand anything! Not even a pie!"

Axem Pink stepped by Axem Black's side and she made a "go away" gesture with her hand. "Like, you should surrender now, because like we're going to inflict so much pain in, like, your dear little bodies as you scream in, like, agony, like, yes!" Axem Pink squealed.

"Even if you are more than us, that does not mean we can't try, right?" Chris asked.

Axem Pink giggled as she glared at Chris. "Like, you don't understand, the more the allies are, like, there, the easier our task gets!"

Axem Green stepped by Axem Yellow's left side and swung his axe a little above him. "Don't underestimate us just because we don't have the Shadow Bugs to enhance our powers, we're not going to have too many problems with only 2 pests like an old man and a kid!"

"...I somewhat doubt that..." Snake said.

"What?" Axem Green asked glaring at him.

"I've heard of single men that fought battles against an entire army of soldiers, and surpringly, only a person with good strategies and tactics in battle can decide the result after the fight."

"Mei Ling, did you give him that book about wars?" Otacon asked and Mei Ling nodded with a giggle.

"Snake, that was really important coming from you." Chris remarked adjusting his glasses.

"Tsk." Snake looked away.

Axem Red continued to talk. "Ha! That's a laugh." Axem Red pointed at the machine behind him. "If we can't defeat you, then our machine will as hell end the job for us!"

"The Star Spirit will strengthen the Blade's power!" Axem Green said.

"You're inferior compared to the power of this magnificent piece of metal." Axem Black said.

"And you will like be so sorry about fighting us." Axem Pink said.

"Our reward is waiting for us...we came so far just to fail!" Axem Yellow said.

Super Mario RPG - Armed Boss

"We fight for evil!" Axem Red said swinging his axe and stepped a litte further ahead of the group.

"We live for disorder!" Axem Black stated doing 2 sideways swings of his axe, also walking a little bit.

"We like what we do!" Axem Green proclaimed lifting his hand in the air without moving.

"We struggle for chaos!" Axem Pink said throwing a kiss with a wink.

"We are..." Axem Yellow trailed off as he spun his axe and slammed it into the floor.

"The AXEM RANGERS!!!" The Axem Rangers yelled doing their actions again as they backstepped and ran to different directions to confuse their opponents.

"Snake, be careful, the mouse cornered in the alley could attack the cat at any time." Colonel said.

"...Right..." Snake trailed off as Axem Black ran to him.

"I've always wanted to do this," Axem Black said taking out a bomb that he threw to Snake, however Snake frowned, took the bomb and returned it quickly where it exploded in his target. "Ugh! What?!"

"I've been training self-defense a lot and a simple attack won't reach me." Snake said delivering a kick on Axem Black, the ranger yelled in pain as he bumped in the floor but regained his stance.

"That was really good, Snake." Mei Ling remarked with a giggle.

"Freeze them up, BLIZZARD!" Chris casted a small cold breeze on all the Axem Rangers, damaging them a little with ice damage.

"Oh, you think you're the best using magic? Think again!" Axem Green shouted concentrating his magic. "Solidify!"

A sheer of cold covered the field and froze up both Chris and Snake, before it shattered and they grunted in pain. "I-I admit it..." Chris said embracing himself. "T-that caught me off-guard but I will not...s-s-surrender now! M-m-my life is at risk!" Chris said focusing his magic once again before Axem Red teleported in front of him in midair.

"You're not going to know how much I'll enjoy chopping down your head off!" Axem Red yelled raising his axe, but just then, a grenade was thrown to his pipe-like mouth and the ranger blinked shocked before it exploded, sending him crashing into the floor.

"Thank you very much." Chris said with a nod to Snake.

"Oh like, that was so fast and mean at the same time," Axem Pink said as she got an idea. "Do you feel mushroomy now? Heheheh, Petal Blast!"

Petals began to appear around the field and Chris gasped. "No, I need to stop this attack and fast...wait... Burn in ashes, Fire!"

The petals were instantly ignited in small fire that made them vanish in thin air, Chris closed his eyes and resist the outcome but as his thoughts predicted, nothing happened and Axem Pink cursed under her breath. "Like what happened?! How did you, like, find out that there's a way to cancel my attack?!"

"AXEM PINK, SHUT UP, DON'T GIVE OUT IDEAS!" Axem Red yelled as Snake tackled him down with a quick move, Snake began to punch the ranger in the face but then Axem Yellow pushed Snake away.

"Meteor Blast!" Axem Green called out multiple bursts of stars that damaged both opponents considerably.

"I need to use something else instead of magic!" Chris said panting a little as he looked at Klevar's card in the machine. "...The Star Spirits! I forgot about them!" Chris joined his hands together and prayed to the stars, then, Skolar came out spinning and looked at Chris.

"Do you need my help?" Skolar asked.

"Yes, please strike all of them down!" Chris ordered as the Star Spirit nodded and called forth a cascade of stars that damaged every single one of them, after 5 seconds, the attack stopped and the Axem Rangers yelled in pain. "Thank you for your help." Chris said with a bow.

"Please, don't hesitate to call us again." Skolar said spinning before he vanished.

"Kid, I need help over!" Snake said as Axem Red, Axem Black and Axem Yellow tried to slash the soldier, then, Axem Black moved forward and made contact with Snake, making him yell in pain as the trio went all of him.

"Chris, I think a change of jobs would be good right now, magic isn't that effective!" Kawashima suggested.

"...Then I will use Ninjutsu skills!" Chris said changing to his Ninja job where he began to make lots of hand signs.

"Oh, like, no you don't!" Axem Pink yelled running towards Chris to slash him with her axe.

"Let's take him on then!" Axem Green said running together with Axem Pink as both jumpedand raised their axes to slam them at the World Traveler.

"(Got you,)" Chris thought as he stopped his hand signs with a last one. "Thunder Style, Blitz Jutsu!"

Lots of impacts from thunderbolts fell around the whole field and the Axem Rangers yelled in pain, Snake took this opportunity to make his 3 opponents trip by slidding his leg quickly, then he took out 3 grenades that later exploded once he rolled back, making a great amount of damage at the same time.

"Dammit, somebody stop him from using magic or whatever he uses on us!" Axem Red yelled as he stood up, not before Snake punched him 2 times, followed by a quick kick on the face. "I'm really getting sick of you SO MUCH!"

"Then..." Axem Green stood up once the attack ended and glared at Chris. "Elegy!"

"Elegy?" Chris repeated confused as a bell of light appeared above him, the bell began to play a sad music and notes fell around the World Traveler, Chris felt something extremely sad inside of him that he looked down depressed, when the bell vanished, it finished the effect and made Chris mute. "!!!" Chris tried to yell but it was useless, he was silenced and thus magic was out from his reach.

"Ha! And for the next magic, Static E!" Axem Green shouted as waves of electricity quickly damaged Chris and Snake, the World Traveler tried to yell but nothing came out from his mouth.

"Chris was silenced, you have to keep an eye on him!" Kawashima yelled from Chris's pocket.

"How about if I have some help over here?" Snake muttered as Axem Yellow threw a weird rainbow-colored ball at him that Snake easily dodged, but then Axem Red used Flame to burn him, after that, Axem Black used Spritz Bomb to explode bombs around Snake, the soldier yelled in pain after he rolled away from them. "This is not good...they're all ganging up on us..."

Chris only made an angry expression and jumped high in the air, he quickly took out from his belt many shurikens that he revealed by moving his fingers, after that, he threw all of them at the same spot, that was Axem Green's stomach, the ranger's eyes widened as every shuriken came in contact with his thin body that he yelled in pain, the World Traveler landed back and glared at him.

"For being silenced...you're strong..." Axem Green said standing up using his axe. "But...that doesn't mean...I need to stop either! Solidify!"

Another sheer of cold covered the whole field, but for Axem Green's surprise, Chris managed to dodge the attack in time but Snake wasn't that fortunate and got into a sharp ice needle that shattered after 2 seconds. "Now...I know why I hate magic..." Snake said panting heavily.

"B-but how could you dodge my magic?! Is unavoidable!" Axem Green yelled at Chris demanding for an answer.

"The Ninja job grants a high evasion to Chris, it's not going to be easy to land a hit on him, even magic can't reach him!" Kawashima explained as Axem Green stomped the floor angrily.

Chris tried to speak with Snake, but it was useless, no words came out and he looked ashamed before he pointed at Axem Green.

"What? You're mad at me because you can't talk anymore?" Axem Green asked and Chris nodded, but the ranger merely chuckled. "Ha, sucks to be you now! The only thing that can heal you is defeating the same person who put the spell on you an-" Axem Green sweatdropped as Chris took out 5 shurikens. "...AXEM PINK! HELP!"

"L-like, right!" Axem Pink said nodding desperated before she jumped and tried to slash Chris, but the World Traveler kept dodging her moves, getting her on her nerves. "Like, stop moving, I can't hit you!" Axem Pink complained as she missed 5 pointy objects going towards Axem Green.

"Look out! OH, DAMMIT, AAAAHHHH!!!" Axem Green yelled as the weapons made contact with him and dealt a great amount of damage to the ranger, who panted heavily as he tried to stay on his feet.

"Wha-like, AAHH!!!" Axem Pink yelled as Chris took out a katana from his back and slashed her several times before sending her to the air with an upward slash, then the ninja spun 1 time and jumped to hit her right in the stomach, Axem Pink yelled in pain as she bumped several times in the floor before she slid and stopped.

"I can't believe...he's taking both...of us down!" Axem Green said with a frown as he panted. "Axem Pink, recover me!"

"Axem Red!!!" Axem Pink yelled angrily after thinking he situation carefully.

"WHAT?!" Axem Red asked as he stepped on one of Snake's mines.

"My makeup's running!" Axem Pink yelled running towards the Star Spirit's card.

"TOO BAD!" Axem Red yelled as the mine exploded, sending him above in the air where Snake jumped and slammed his right foot on his head, the red ranger grunted in pain as he crashed into the floor before Axem Yellow's Poison attack.

"!!!" Chris tried to speak but it was useless until he looked to Axem Green and glared at him.

"Crap...my energies are almost gone..." Axem Green muttered before bombs fell around Chris and exploded, the World Traveler suffered a moderate amount of damage as Axem Black appeared in a flash before Axem Green.

"Leave him to me, meanwhile attack using magic as you always do." Axem Black said spinning his axe a little.

"Roger that...but I don't think I-"

"Shoot!" Axem Black said after Chris leaped out from the smoke of the bombs, quickly ran at the rangers and slashed Axem Green with a fast slash of his katana, the World Traveler closed his eyes before Axem Green yelled in pain.

"Axem Red!!!" Axem Green yelled angrily.

"What?!" Axem Red asked as Snake sent Axem Yellow crash into the wall.

"I have a headache!" Axem Green complained as he joined Axem Pink who was looking down, low in energies close to the Star Spirit.

"Get some pills!" Axem Red yelled back.

"...So much for that," Axem Black said glancing at Chris. "Well, don't think I'm going to be easy to take down, you're out of luck this time, to show you my apologies, I'll le-"

CRACK!

Axem Black's sunglasses broke a little from one side and the ranger looked at it, his anger inside began to build up until he lost his patience. "Axem Red!!!"

"What now?!" Axem Red asked as Snake put a grenade inside his mouth, which exploded after that.

"I broke my shades!" Axem Black complained running to the others, Chris just made a bored look and frowned with a facepalm.

"That's what you get for being cool!" Axem Red complained as he wiped out the soot and charged at Snake again.

"...A-ah..." Chris coughed a little and gasped. "F-finally! I can speak again!"

Axem Yellow appeared in a blink close to him and raised his axe. "Great, now I can hear your screams of agony 'cuz once I lower this baby, I'll get my dinner for tonig-"

GRUUUUMBLEEEE!!!

Axem Yellow blinked in shock as he stared down at his stomach, he lowered his axe to his side and yelled to the roof. "AXEM RED!!!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT NOW?!" Axem Red yelled annoyed as he managed to land a slash on Snake's left arm.

"I'm hungry!" Axem Yellow complained running with his team.

"Eat your air then!" Axem Red yelled angrily as Chris joined Snake. "Oh, let me guess, you're going to gang up on me, won't you?"

"Afraid so," Snake said cracking his fists. "I'm already sick of this crap anyway."

"Me too." Axem Red said pointing at them. "...That's it, you 2 win! Go and get the Star Spirit, happy?!"

Music stops with a scratch

"...What?" Chris, Kawashima, Snake, Otacon, Mei Ling and Colonel asked confused.

"That's right, you win, my team was screwed because we're just a bunch of weak meddlers, you know what? Get that frickin' star off from our hands and get out of my sight and from our ship!" Axem Red yelled angrily pointing at the star behind the Axem Rangers, who ducked trembling in fear.

"...That was easy..." Chris muttered.

"...Something's fishy around here..." Snake muttered narrowing his eyes.

"...Soooo...should we grab the star and go away?"

"...We don't have another choice, it seems." Snake muttered as both began to walk towards the Star Spirit's card, they almost crossed the ducked rangers and looked up to the star hanging in the tube of the ship's robot.

...However, the Axem Rangers snickered silently.

"I knew it, it's a damn trap!" Snake shouted glancing down at the rangers who quickly lunged and pushed down both of them, stood on their backs (2 rangers on each one) and moved their axes close to their throats, pinning them down to the floor as Axem Red came walking to them, laughing maniacally.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Axem Red laughed loudly together with his team. "Did you think we were going to give up the star so easily? It was all a trick to get you where we wanted!"

"I..." Chris struggled. "...I was...expecting that..."

"Then how come you didn't do anything before we got in this mess?" Snake asked angrily.

"Sorry..." Chris said trying to look away.

Axem Red raised his axe above Chris. "Screw Tabuu's orders! If I get rid of you right now, he won't mind the slightlest bit about a pathetic excuse for a "hero" like you, you've been a pain in the (beep!)ss for so long, you've been trying to screw Smithy's plans much for our dismay and my blood pressure is going to burst!" Axem Red made a nasty glare as he put a stronger grip on his axe. "SAY YOUR DAMN PRAYERS!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed out loud as Axem Red quickly dove his axe right above his throat.

A shocking sound was heard and the scenery got suddenly bright, after a small silence, the Axem Rangers were shocked to see Axem Red struggling to get up, they all started to sweat once they looked at his leader about to faint.

"GET...AWAY...FROM...MY...MASTER!!!" A voice that roared demanded loudly and the Axem Rangers looked back where Chris and Snake came from, in a blink, a fast curled blue ball sent Axem Green to the wall, a punch was delivered to Axem Black who backed away, 2 small bolts that exploded into flames reached Axem Yellow and somebody smashed his head into Axem Pink's face, who squealed in pain and backed away as well.

"...Crap." Snake muttered once he looked up from his spot.

"Did you miss me?" One of the figures asked tapping his right red shoe in annoyance.

"Chris! Chris! A-are you alright?"

The figures revealed to be the Smashers, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu, Red, Squirtle, Fox, Wolf, Kirby, Jigglypuff, Popo (still under the coffee's effect), Nana, Olimar, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Sonic, Meta Knight and Pit.

And of course, Lucario was also there, his fists burning with aura as he kneeled to see Chris.

"Lucario!" Chris said smiling as he slowly stood up and hugged his Pokémon. "...Thank you Lucario...you saved me..."

"...Ugh..." Lucario closed his eyes ashamed.

"...What's wrong Lucario? It's...something bothering you?"

"Can we beat the crap out of this guy? I've got a thing or 20 to discuss with him." Sonic asked with a glare as Snake stood up and glared down the hedgehog.

"...Hmph," Snake began. "Kind of ironic now, your whole group is now here to punch me to death."

Squirtle made an angry expression. "Oh, you know us really well, how sweet." Squirtle rolled his eyes with sarcasm.

"...Lucario..." Chris began as he grew worried. "...Are you still thinking all the things Snake told you before?"

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted silently towards Snake, who was being stared angrily by almost all the Smashers.

"Lucario! Listen to me now!" Chris demanded as he stood up, Lucario shook his head surprised and gasped. "It's not your fault again that I got sick over a thing I decided to do, it was my decision to begin with, not yours because you understand me, right?"

"...But..." Lucario closed his eyes as Chris sighed.

"...I think we should be better return to the mansion for now..."

"And eat this guy up," Kirby said grumbling a little, some of them had to raise their eyebrows because Kirby wasn't that serious most of the times. "I don't like him at all."

"Neither do I." Snake said as some of them took their weapons, abilities, sparks, or just plain glared at him.

"Guys, stop!" Chris said as he stood up. "Snake saved me from the Axem Rangers, he's not a bad guy!"

"Chris, do I need to remind you that he tried to kidnap you?" Fox asked as Chris blinked confused at him. "...What?"

"Fox, this is kind of unrelated but...are you sick in the eye?" Chris asked tilting his head as Wolf snickered a little, he earned a glare from Fox before the latter looked back at Chris.

"...Just...stay on topic..." Fox said through gritted fangs.

"...Well...I know he tried to kidnap me at first but....he doesn't want to do that anymore."

"...SUUUUUUUURE he doesn't want to." Ness said raising an eyebrow as his fingers glowed with PK energy.

"N-no! It's the truth, he doesn't want to do it anymore! Please, believe me!"

"...He says the truth." Lucario said and they looked at him. "...Believe in him..."

"...Thank you again..." Chris muttered with a small smile.

"...Well, wow, that changed the subject." Red said lowering his Pokeball.

"Why did you were holding the Pokeball if I'm OUT?" Squirtle asked with a frown.

Kirby walked to Chris. "Um...Chris...are you not feeling sick anymore?"

Chris shook his head. "No, that fever is gone now, it wasn't all that dangerous."

"Good," Meta Knight began. "Now let's get out of this place."

Geno looked at the machine with Mallow and Twink. "Wait, we should grab the Star Spirit before we escape."

"Oh, you're right, the Star Spirit is here," Twink said sighing in relief. "Somebody can fly over there and grab it?" Twink noticed that Mallow and Geno were staring at him with bored looks. "...Umm...coming!" Twink said sweating as he went over the Star Spirit.

Pit looked around and noticed that something was missing...or someones. "Wait, where are those axe people?"

Snake looked back where the rangers once were. "Letting guys like them scramble around without us noticing was reckless."

"Since when did WE were on the same team?" Jigglypuff asked pouting a little.

"Shut up, marshmallow."

"Hey!" Jigglypuff and Kirby said annoyed.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Axem Red appeared on the top of the machine and pushed Twink away using his axe, the other rangers jumped by his side and laughed rather maniacally as well. "Indeed, that was reckless of all of you and let us go away!"

"Dammit, can't you stop regaining energies for once?!" Chris asked annoyed.

"Give the Star Spirit back!" Mallow demanded making a fist as he pouted.

"It's enough with all of you around," Axem Black said looking away to change his shades for new ones. "So, since we're outnumbered, we're going to use the Blade's power along with the Star Spirit's."

"Wait, that's impossible to do." Geno said.

"Nope!" Axem Green said with a chuckle. "The Subspace Army made some changes around here and drain the power out from the spirit and strengthen the power of the Blade!"

"In a few words, you're screwed, and totally this time." Axem Yellow said.

"It's more easy said than done," Wolf said narrowing his eyes. "I want to see yours words true in all those things you just described."

"Like, be patience!" Axem Pink said with a giggle. "The Blade is like getting prepared to unleash it's real power...like more times, gorgeous!" Axem Pink squealed.

"BLADE! FULL POWER!" Axem Red ordered and the whole dome began to shake violently, everyone looked around and then above where the dome began to open, the blizzard began to land in the deck, which was actually the top of the ship, they all watched the head getting inside the ship as all the Axem Rangers jumped inside.

"EVERYOOOONNNNEEEEE!!!" Diddy yelled from above as DK landed, the monkey jumped from his back and ran to Chris. "Thank goodness, we were worried about you!"

"Uh, Diddy, I hate to differ a little, but right now we have something really really bad coming right now." Chris said sweatdropping as Parakarry flew to them.

"...Yeah so...bye!" Parakarry said with a chuckle and he disappeared in the sleet.

"What the-that's all he could say to us?!" Nana asked angrily as she looked to Popo, who stopped trembling. "Good, you're back to your senses."

"Am I what?" Popo asked.

"...Partly I mean." Nana said with a frown as the center of the deck began to open, everyone backstepped away from the abyss opening and from it, the same head from before rose up, however, that wasn't enough, the head now had a huge body of 15 feet, everyone's eyes widened at the height of the machine that almost got dark thanks to its height and for the night, including the snowstorm, on it's chest, there was the Star Spirit, Klevar's card, trapped as red energy came from it.

"...Oh, crap! This looks like probably the huggest rip-off of the Power Rangers so far!" Chris said shocked as everyone looked at him confused. "...Y-you'll see what I mean later!"

The machine was huge, it had purple, white and red colors spreading around its body, it had spikes on his shoulders, fists, legs and knees, missiles were installed on its back, its fingers could fire lots of bullets at high speed and it could also use magic because of the Star Spirit.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Axem Red yelled inside a control panel of the machine, the machine stared down at them who got into fighting stances. "SEE, THE DAMN TRUE POWER OF THE BLADE AND THE AXEM RANGERS!!!"

"Don't mind him, he lost his cool now." Axem Black called.

"Oh, now I can see my future feast ahead of me!" Axem Yellow said happily.

"With our height, power and magic, you're 150 percent dead now!" Axem Green said laughing maniacally.

"Like, enjoy your last breath, like, for the last time? Heheheh!" Axem Pink said giggling.

"We fight for evil!" Axem Red said swinging his axe and stepped a litte further ahead of the group inside the machine.

"We live for disorder!" Axem Black stated doing 2 sideways swings of his axe, also walking a little bit but being careful with the controls.

"We like what we do!" Axem Green proclaimed lifting his hand in the air without moving.

"We struggle for chaos!" Axem Pink said throwing a kiss with a wink.

"We are..." Axem Yellow trailed off as he spun his axe and slammed it into the floor, thought he almost hits the panel by accident.

"The AXEM RANGERS!!!" The Axem Rangers said doing a group pose inside as they laughed, snickered, giggled, chuckled or some other form to laugh.

"...Do we have a chance to win this?" Twink asked worried to Geno.

"...This could the hardest battle so far...but only a miracle could save us if we were to lose..." Geno trailed off closing his eyes worried.

"Heh," Sonic smirked. "I beat guys like that every day, bring it on!"

Pikachu, Ness, Pichu and Lucas made bored looks. "...Sure." They said sarcastically.

"...Maybe I should use..." Chris trailed off from behind Lucario who was still in doubts, he reached from his pocket for an item...

...The item he got was the Green Shell that Baby Mario and Baby Luigi had given to him.

Chris looked back and forth between the item and the machine and sighed worried. "...Please, help us!" Chris yelled slidding the shell along the snow, the Axem Rangers merely laughed maniacally and decided to make a step forward an-

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Oh, come on!" Pikachu and Jigglypuff yelled annoyed as the screen frozed, the Axem Rangers just about to launch their first attack to the Smashers.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

The Blade
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Sheik, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Snake

References:

-Persona 4 - Secret Base was a music reference to the same game, it plays normally during Naoto Shirogane's dungeon in the TV world.

-Super Mario RPG - Armed Boss was a music reference to the same game whenever you fight Smithy's henchmen such as Yaridovich, Bowyer or the Axem Rangers.

-Chris called the machine rip-off because ironically, the Axem Rangers are a real reference to the sentai series in japan, or the Power Rangers as many know.

Ha, Snake got owned by Chris, that was unexpected, never mess with a kid with an intelligence of a Mewtwo and his magic book again. :P

It is just me or have I been using the "Behind Us" music too much? Well, maybe because it suits villains so well...

So, you're asking why did I use a "TO BE CONTINUED..." part? Well, that's because I want to leave the next chapter a mystery with probably a battle with less interaction or something else that you didn't see coming, really, it'll surprise you so much. :D

Will the Smashers defeat the Blade's rip-off robot? Will Snake have his decisions? Will Lucario stop blaming himself for all the things Chris get hurt from? Will Fox get his sick eye cured? (Most likely) XD. Will the strange climate have some sort of secret or will they ignore that as just a normal weather?

The answers are...in the next chapter as always, obviously.

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 104*: Thinking of Everyone

Okay, maybe you'll see something unexpected in the last chapter of the Snake arc, well, I like unexpected things! :D

From notfromearth7: Good job!

From me: ...I kind of offended with this short review...thanks?

From Hyuzyn: Power Rangers Axem Rangers
lol they should be more original. xD
At least they don't have an intro song... oo;
anyhow good chapter! keep it up! ^^

From me: God forgive us if they ever had one, thanks. XD

From Anakin Son Mario43: DUDE! THIS IS SO AWSOME! Honestly, i do not know a thing about Power Rangers. Oh well.

From me: ...I'm amused, thanks. :D

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Um... just about everything in this chapter had just the stuff that makes you & the fic a success. The action, the humor, the damn cliffhangers we love so much & lastly character development. Nuff said. Anyways Great work It was worth the wait & like always can't wait for the next one. Peace.

From me: There's even more of that here, I hope it's alright though, thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Did Pikachu and Jigglypuff just break the fourth wall? XD

Also, the Axem Rangers are INCREDIBLY aggravating. They're twice as competent as Team Rocket and THREE TIMES as annoying! And they won't stop saying that stupid motto! I mean I like a good "Roll Call" as much as the next guy, but SHEESH.

From me: Dude, they only said their motto 2 times...but in a short period. Thanks. :D

From Nintendogeek01: That battle wasn't bad, and we had a decent cliff-hanger there. I'll eagerly await the next chapter.

From me: I hope it's alright again. :D

From SmashEd44: . . . AWESOME! I forgot to reply to the last few chapters, so I'll include that in this one. I loved how Olimar just rocked silently in the corner the entire time. Ah Olimar, your nose and the puns about it continue to amuse me.

Excellent chapter! I thought that Diddy and DK were going to land in the Blade and totally screw up the Axem Rangers plans. Oh well, But I can tell that the battle will be very climatic.

Or anti-climatic. I can see the Axem Rangers stepping on the shell, tripping, and falling on the ground, with someone saying:

"Wow. That's just pathetic."

Congrats on the 100 chapters by the way.

From me: ...Er...do you have the power to see the future or something?... Just asking... Thanks!

From powerseeker35: Haven't reviewed the last three chapters. Anyways, these chapters are funny, exiting, and...funny. I would believe that Snake is sometimes really thick headed, the Axem rangers sounds cool, oddly like the power rangers, like the way each character thinks and acts in situations.

Cant wait for the next chapter, see ya.

From me: Well, I'd say the next chapter will be the mansion chapter, you know, lots of funny moments and all that.

...How come there a less reviewers than the last time? Please, don't tell my fic is getting forgotten...

So we reached the last chapter of the Snake arc! But, what you expected to see will not happen at all...want to know why?

Then go down and scroll all the way to the bottom as you read, of course.

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 104: Thinking of Everyone

The Blade
Deck

Super Mario RPG - Armed Boss

"WE WILL END EVERYTHING FOR YOU TODAY, MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Axem Red laughed maniacally as foam began to exit his mouth, now he really lost his sanity and dignity at this point, the others, however, just frowned at his reaction and got serious.

"DIE!" The Axem Rangers yelled loudly as they stomped on the deck, just above the Green Shell that Chris just threw...

...However, something really unexpected happened the moment they stepped on the shell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" The Axem Rangers tripped on the shell that went somewhere else, out from the ship as the machine tried to regain its balance, it crumsily leaned to its front and back side, the Smashers quickly backed away from being crushed under the huge feet of the machine as they saw with confused looks the robot that was about to slip out from the edge.

"NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! WE CAN'T LOSE LIKE THIS! IT'S STUPID! IT'S PURE BLASPHEMY! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Axem Red yelled panicking as he tried to move forward, the robot itself sweatdropped scared as he didn't feel floor below and then...

...The robot went down to the nothingness, the Axem Rangers yelling and screaming as the whole robot disappeared in the darkness of the sleet.

Music stops with a scratch

"...Wait, that's it then?" Olimar asked looking around as everyone went to the edge and looked down, not able to see anything until they heard a huge explosion that illuminated the whole place.

"...But I wanted to fight!" Ness said angrily as another explosion came from below.

"...G-good, I was really scared of that robot..." Lucas said sneezing a little as another explosion came from below.

"Tsk, this is great, just great." Sonic said crossing his arms with a frown as another explosion came from below.

"Well...I think that was for the best, I mean, that robot was huge at it could take us all in one hit." Twink said as another explosion came from below.

"Sure, yeah." Sonic said rolling his eyes in annoyance as another explosion came from below.

"...I kind of feel sorry for them." Chris said making a worried look as yet another explosion came.

"Feeling sorry for the enemy? Kid, your brain has some nuts dropped somewhere." Snake said a little irritated as another explosion came from below.

"And to think I was finally going to fight." DK said looking down sadly as he saw another explosion.

"What about me?" Diddy asked as yet another explosion was seen.

"Why worry for such imbeciles like them?" Wolf asked crossing his arms as yet another explosion illuminated the whole place.

"...You're right on that one." Squirtle said crossing arms with several nods as yet another explosion came from below.

"Let's leave that alone and see what can we do now." Pikachu said with a bored look as another explosion came from below.

"...Just how many times it's that robot going to explode?" Fox asked confused as yet another explosion came from below.

"...Maybe because it was really very powerful and the engines inside were really strong as well, and even more with the Star Spirit?" Mallow asked as yet again another explosion came from below.

"Phew," Red sighed in relief as yet again another explosion came from down below. "Man, I thought I was going to get crushed by that humonguos robot."

"...A-anyway," Nana made an angry expression as yet another explosion came from down below. "We need to do something about this ship."

"And get the Star Spirit back as well." Geno said as they all saw another explosion.

"...Do you think they're alright?" Kirby asked glancing down to see another explosion.

"...By this rate they're probably dead." Jigglypuff said sweatdropping as another explosion was heard and seen.

"..." Lucario didn't say anything as he saw another explosion.

Meta Knight turned his back and walked away, not wanting to see the other explosion. "The bridge should be around here, everyone, get off the ship while I activate the self-destruct mechanism."

"You mean the self-destruct button?" Popo asked as they all saw another explosion.

"...Yes." Meta Knight muttered embarrassed as everyone saw yet again another explosion.

"..." Chris just stared at Lucario with a worried look as yet again another explosion came from below.

And that counts 25 explosions so far...oh god...

Smash Mansion
Outside

The Smashers saw the Blade exploding in the air while they were down below, they saw Meta Knight flying down and landed in front of them. "I was able to destroy the ship, and fortunately my wings let me get here as well."

"What a relief... I think." Pikachu said as everyone turned their backs to the huge scraps of metal of the robot, Geno came from behind one and showed them Klevar's card.

"Well, that means we only have one Star Spirit left, and that should be Kalmar," Geno said as he walked to Chris. "Also, this means that you need to form the pact with Misstar and Klevar at once too."

Chris nodded as he looked around. "Yes...but...where are they?"

"The Axem Rangers?" Mallow asked. "They're not around anymore so I guess that was the end for them...what's that?!"

"What?" Olimar asked pointing a 5 figures dropped in the snow, they were the Axem Rangers who seemed to be sobbing silently, they all ran to them and looked down. "Y-you're still alive?!"

"...Like...why..." Axem Pink sobbed as she looked up to them, tears strolling down her eyes. "We just...wanted to...be like...of use to...Lord Smithy...ugh..." Axem Pink fainted as she vanished in the snow, possibly because she didn't have energy left enough to live.

"That means...no feast for me...you're all...a bunch of...mean guys..." Axem Yellow sobbed as he vanished as well.

"But you did all this to yourselves, so no harm done to us." Snake said crossing his arms as Axem Green looked up.

"At least...we're not going...to see your ugly...face anymore...and not another face..." Axem Green spoke silently as he fainted and vanished.

Axem Black grunted as he looked up at them. "Let's see...if you can really...defeat Lord Smithy...(BEEP!)" Axem Black flipped off the whole group before his face hit the snow and vanished.

"...(Beep!)hole." Snake muttered with a frown as Twink wanted to ask what were those curses, but Geno blocked his mouth as they all stared at Axem Red, who seemed to be the most damaged of them all.

"...So..." Axem Red glared at them. "Finish me off...I don't have any purpose to live now...my whole team...my ship...my dignity...my pride, everything was crushed by you!" Axem Red said before he hit the snow with his face and began to sob. "...I want to...see you all...suffering...but I can't do that...anymore...how ironic...isn't?... I leave it all...to Lord Smithy and... Lord Tabuu...bunch o-" Axem Red's words couldn't go on anymore as he died and vanished as well.

"...Why do I feel sorry for them even more now?" Chris asked looking down with a worried look.

"It's useless to mourn about them, kid," Wolf said looking to the clouds. "After all, this happened because you threw that shell at them."

"...Now I feel guilty." Chris said sweatdropping.

"..." A moment of silence fell in as the weather somehow got weaker and now normal snow fell quietly and silently, everyone looked around after that.

"The Axem Rangers..." Popo muttered as Nana stared at him.

"What is it Popo?" Nana asked.

"The Axem Rangers...they were just a team of dorks, idiots, imbeciles, greedy people, chaotic, donkeys, scatterbrained fools..."

"...That's right...wow, you're right for once..." Nana said with a smile.

"But even so...they were still just a team of dorks, idiots, imbeciles, greedy people, chaotic, donkeys, scatterbrained foo-"

SMACK!

"Popo, it doesn't make sense when you repeat the SAME thing you said before!" Nana said irritated.

"...Oh yes!" Chris said smiling a little as he picked some snow. "It's snowing! I haven't seen snow for a long time back in my house! Right, Lucario?"

"..." Lucario was still speechless.

"...Lucario..." Chris muttered worried as he dropped the snow back. "...But it's so late to be playing now."

"Anyway," Sonic grinned at Chris. "Glad to have you back with us."

"Sonic!" Chris said surprised, not noticing Sonic the whole time. "So you did join us after all! I'm really glad to see you here since I fainted because of the fever back in the Sand Ruins!"

"...Wait, hold on," Sonic made a serious look. "I didn't join you when we were in the Sand Ruins, I joined after many things happened...which means..." Sonic narrowed his eyes at DK.

"...Why are you staring at me like that?" DK asked as most of them looked away.

After another moment of silence, Pichu came back carrying a familiar shell. "Look! The shell was left unharmed!" Pichu gave back the shell to Chris, who flipped it to see the Green Shell from below.

"...Wait, there's something written in here..." Chris trailed off. "Extremely Durable Green Shell, it will resist even 50 Goombas's weight."

"Oh, then that's a shell for all the life?" Red asked.

"It seems so." Chris said keeping the shell away.

"...I guess that's a mission complete, right?" Pit asked.

"...Well, yes, but that was...disappointing..." Ness said.

"Very disappointing." Geno added.

"And humiliating, but then again, those guys were so out of it this time around." Mallow said sighing.

"...Right now," Fox looked at Snake with a glare. "You need to pay for what you did back in the mansion, infiltrating, attacking, intent of kidnapping and don't forget ALL the lights you broke."

"Who do you think you are? The police?" Jigglypuff asked raising an eyebrow.

"Tsk." Snake looked away.

"Don't worry Snake," Chris said smiling. "I bet nobody will beat you up to a bloody pulp, I can make anyone understand your meanings, they always listen to me after all."

Command Room

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Off-key

"AND TAKE THIS! AND SOME OF THAT! AND THIS FOR THROWING A FREAKING GRENADE TO US! AND WHAT ABOUT THIS?! OH, DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME! I'M HITTING YOU HERE! LET ME STOMP YOU ON! OH, DID THAT HURT?! SORRY!"

Chris had his arms behind his back with a bored look as he, Lucario, Meta Knight, Lucas, Pichu, Mewtwo, Flonne, Master Hand and Crazy Hand all stood next to each other watching the huge cloud of dust in the center of the room, apparently Chris's statement proved to be false and Snake had to suffer lots of punches, kicks, electric attacks, fire attacks, stabs, slashes, and pretty much everything else you could use to harm a soldier like Snake.

And by this moment, Link, Marth (out of the fight as well), Roy, Ike, C. Falcon and Zelda ragained their senses but attacked Snake there after.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Snake yelled and screamed loudly inside the dust.

"Snake, Snake! Do you copy me?!" Otacon asked in panic.

"Snake! Please, hold on a little longer!" Mei Ling pleaded.

"Snake, get up and fight like a damn man!" Colonel said, sounding a little weird.

"Snake!" The trio yelled once again, not receiving any response. "Snake?!" They asked again getting worried as Snake screamed out loud. "SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!"

"SHUT UP!" Chris yelled blocking his ears, having enough of all the complains and yells. "WHY WON'T THEY SHUT UP?!"

"At times like these..." Mewtwo frowned. "...Violence is overused in this place."

"It even makes me feel smarter..." Marth muttered as Lucas and Pichu glared at him. "...Sorry."

"Geez, but that's not an excuse to kill Snake." Master Hand said.

Music stops

"Lucario, please, say something!" Chris said but Lucario was still looking down. "...Please, Lucario, talk to me!..."

"...Ugh..." Lucario closed his eyes.

"...I'm feeling sad right now..." Chris muttered and Lucario looked to him.

"...Just...don't cry..." Lucario said as he looked away.

"(That didn't work...)" Chris thought worried.

"(...Lucario...)" Flonne thought worried.

30 minutes later...

The Smashers were done with the punishment to Snake, the soldier now had both eyes black, blood came out from his nose and mouth, some parts of his suit were ripped off, and Chris could have sworn that a tooth was laying close to Snake...

"...Well..." Snake said as he wiped out the blood. "You're done with the punishment, now, I want some answers, and I demand them now."

"...Ouch, he's able to stand up after all that beating?" Chris asked surprised.

"Ahem."

"S-sorry..." Chris said blushing a little. "...Snake...to be frank, I don't think this is the appropiate moment to be asking."

"Kid, you're skipping the deal we had, I want the answers, everything, now." Snake demanded as he walked to him, but some of the Smashers stepped in his way and glared at him. "...You're being brave because you have your little army against me."

"N-no!" Chris said blinking surprised. "It's just it would be too fair to explain everything else to everyone, and that counts the Smashers that haven't joined us yet!"

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Geno said coughing a little. "But, if it's not much trouble, could you gain Misstar and Klevar's power right now before something else happens?"

"...If that's alright for Snake and leave him think about it again."

Snake looked away. "...Fine, do your business with those stars."

"...Geno, go on now." Chris said and Geno nodded, the puppet held up both cards in each hand and they began to shone brightly, in a few seconds, both cards turned into light that later turned into Misstar and Klevar, both Star Spirits spun around a little and they stopped, looking around their surroundings and the Smashers.

"...Ah," Klevar said smiling a little. "It's good to be back again."

Misstar sighed in relief. "I know, being inside a card it's not my thing."

"Misstar, Klevar," Geno kneeled to them and the stars looked at him. "It's an honor to see you gain."

"Geno?" Both stars asked surprised and Geno nodded. "...So that is the puppet you used a long time ago with Mario..." Misstar said smiling a little as Twink flew to them.

"Honorable Star Spirits!" Twink said smiling happily. "I'm so glad to see you well!"

"Twink, you also got in this trouble?" Klevar asked.

"Uh-huh, at first, we were just Geno and myself, but over time, we got the help of everyone here, including Mallow!" Twink said looking at the Smashers.

"...Oh, now I see." Klevar said with a chuckle as he and Misstar flew around. "...Yes, I do indeed feel power in everyone here, not only power though, wisdom as well."

"You're clever." Zelda remarked as Klevar stopped in front of her.

"Thank you kind lady." Klevar said as he flew back to Geno.

"Now Geno, which of all of them can use our power to fight? If Mario was here, we could give it to him, but we feel another person who can use it as well." Misstar said looking around.

"Indeed, that person was blessed by Eldstar, and if Eldstar's blessing was given to a person, then that person can use our power."

"Um... I'm that person." Chris said raising his hand and both stars flew to him.

"Oh, my, aren't you the World Traveler?" Misstar asked.

"Y-yes, I am, I'm Chris."

"Yes, you're the young man that has been protecting the worlds from the Subspace Army, aren't you?"

"...I guess you know because..." Chris trailed off.

"Because we know everything, even people's wishes." Klevar said.

"...Oh, right! I'm not the only one who's been saving worlds, everyone here did it too!" Chris said looking at the Smashers, then he made a happy expression. "And if I was just alone, I could've been dead...fortunately I've been saved many times because of everyone too."

"Then our blessings are with all of you," Klevar said as he looked at them, then at Chris. "Now, please stand still and let me give you my power."

"And me as well." Misstar said with a giggle, Chris nodded and both stars started spinning around Chris, spores that made stars touched Chris and after a while, they stopped right above him.

"There, now you have our blessings as well." Klevar said smiling a little.

"Please use them at the right moment." Misstar said with a small chuckle.

Chris has learned Time Out!

Call the clocks of time and stops the time of all the enemies, it may fail sometimes

Chris has learned Smooch!

Kisses an ally or the user with a sweet kiss, recovers 75 percent of the target's health

"Thank you." Chris said as both stars nodded.

"Now, before we go," Klevar began. "There's something that has been bothering me...it's about the location of the last Star Spirit, Kalmar."

"Yes, Tabuu has him in his hands now." Geno said but Misstar shook her head. "What?"

"Kalmar has been relocated somewhere already," Misstar explained. "They're maybe protecting him from us as we speak, somewhere, yes, he is around somewhere."

"Can you give us more information?" Mallow asked.

"...I'm afraid that my sources aren't that accurate," Klevar said. "Locating Kalmar is, as a fact, hard, they developed some kind of machine to prevent us from finding Kalmar."

"He could be anywhere in a few words," Misstar said as she made a serious look. "You have to rescue Kalmar as soon as possible, Exor is planning to make something awful to the city it fell on."

"...Like destroying the entire city?" Pichu asked.

"...There's a big chance he is going to do that." Klevar said a little worried.

"No, not Nintendo City..." C. Falcon said.

"But it's just a city, right?" Chris asked and mostly everyone glared at him. "...What?"

"Nintendo City is the best place to hang out!"

"And it's the biggest city of the whole universe!" Falco shouted from his room, somehow he managed to hear everything.

"...How big?" Chris asked.

"It's 500 kilometers long." Master Hand pointed out as Chris looked shocked at this. "Hey, it's a metropolis for something you know!"

"...God." Chris said astonished, for him, the city looked like a plain city, not something that big and long.

"Yes, it's quite shocking," Klevar said before he chuckled. "But, since you've rescued all of us, then looking for Kalmar it's not going to be that much of a problem."

"...Let me guess, you believe in all of us, our power and everything else, right?" Chris asked with a bored look.

Misstar blinked surprised. "My, you took my words off from my mouth, you're all special." Everyone except the Star Spirits frowned at this.

"Geno, Twink, everyone here and the World Traveler," Klevar began as he shone a little with Misstar. "We have to leave to Star Haven, we'll be waiting for Kalmar and when you're ready to confront Smithy."

Misstar began to spin as she slowly floated up. "Call me to heal your wounds, I'll be so glad if you do that!"

"Say hello to Mario and Princess Peach as well, good luck!" Klevar's voice echoed as both stars rose up to the ceiling and disappeared in a blink, leaving a trail of stars behind.

"...Now," Snake began as everyone stared at him. "I want the answers."

"...But..." Chris stammered a little, getting on Snake's nerves.

"Kid, I'm already pissed off, answer my questions right this moment before I decide to do something really, really harmful around here."

Everyone glared at him with nasty looks as Chris looked worried to Lucario, but the Aura Pokémon was still depressed. "...Please, I need something to make Snake understand, anything!"

"...Huh?" Master Hand saw the screen flashing a little. "...Samus?" The hand ordered the computer to analyze Samus's world, once it found her world, it focused on her receiving an odd-shaped suit above her armor and everyone looked at the screen.

"Isn't that Samus?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...Samus?" Snake muttered as they all saw Samus ran to the main deck, apparently, she was being instructed of some weird events on a planet called Bryyo, she made a salute to the Aurora Unit 242 before she ran to the hangar and boarder her Gunship, heading to Bryyo in the distance of the space...

"...Why did we watch that?" Ivysaur asked, still hiding below the table.

"To tell the truth," Master Hand looked at them. "I had in mind to recruit Samus, that's why I put a certain schedule on the computer and tell me when she was ready, however, I thought if someone helped her in her matters mid-way, then everything should be faster to make her join us."

"Hold on a second," Snake said as Kirby stared at him. "You're saying that Samus is one of everyone here, correct?"

"...Y-yes, but this is weird, why do you ask?"

"...Kid," Snake began. "I'm joining this."

"WHAT?!" Mostly everyone asked shocked.

NEWCOMER!

Snake joined your team!

"W-wait, why did you decide to join us just now?!" Chris asked as Snake looked away.

"...Because I have my reasons." Snake said simply as he walked away.

"H-hey, where are you going?" Pit asked.

"To my room and get some sleep, also, I need to be prepared for anything." Snake said as he walked away.

"...I wonder why'd he do that...that was fast." Roy said rubbing his chin.

"...U-um..." Kirby began. "I-I saw Snake's nose bleeding a little after he saw Samus...do you know why?"

C. Falcon blinked before he grinned. "Ooooooohhh, I get it! Snake is in love with Samus!"

Chris blinked in shock. "W-what?! Does that mean Snake has an interest in Samus and that's why he joined us?!"

"Snake, you sly little devil, I like your reasons and attitude!" C. Falcon said running away, probably to Snake's room.

"...Girl power for the win." Nana said with narrowed eyes and a proud smile.

Zelda facepalmed. "...You've got to be kidding..."

Link crossed his arms and made a confused face. "Weird, you said something very nostalgic and yet scarring..." Link shrugged.

"Snake! Man, I didn't know you liked Samus!" C. Falcon's voice was heard as they heard the sound of a fist colliding into a chin. "Oww!"

"I know you're a celebrity, but that's not an excuse to become friends with me...and for the girl, shut up." Snake's voice was heard as he walked away, C. Falcon returned rubbing his chin in pain.

"He got strength, I know that...in the painful way," C. Falcon said as Zelda chuckled a little. "Yes, laugh at me, go on."

"Ahem," Master Hand coughed to get their attention. "Firstly, I'd like to say congratulations for making it this far, you've been saving the worlds and rescuing the Star Spirits together to prevent another catastrophe, but, since we have a Star Spirit left to rescue, we should focus also to recruit the last members of the team."

"And those are..." Roy trailed off as Master Hand snapped his fingers, the screen now showed Mario, Luigi, Peach and Samus in different blocks. "Oh yeah, those 4 are the last ones."

"So THAT's the Mario guy!" Sonic said grinning. "He looks a little chubby to me, the olympics aren't going to be that hard after all."

"H-he's isn't fat!" Chris and Yoshi protested.

"SUUUUUUUUUUURE he isn't." Sonic said closing his eyes with a triumphant grin.

"..." Master Hand shook his head. "A-anyway, as I was saying before, these 4 need to be recruited as we try to find the last Star Spirit, so, your main priority is to make them join us, that's an order that I'm expecting to be fulfilled as soon as possible. Also, if we recruit those gu-"

"2 guys and 2 girls." Zelda corrected the hand.

"Right, 2 guys and 2 girls, then...okay, this is really going to get you all very excited." Master Hand said snickerinh rather evily.

"More than the time you made that weird strange man Tingle come to the mansion?" Link asked making a disgusted face as he shuddered.

"...Don't tell me he touched your butt too!" Toon Link asked appearing from the hallway.

"Nope, he slapped it with a frickin' giggle!"

"Toon Link, why are you here? Where's Raven?" Ness asked.

"It's LINK! And Raven is still dreaming under my bed." Toon Link said.

"...You let Tingle come here?" Chris asked confused.

"O-okay, maybe bringing the old man with the gender problem was a bad idea...but! This is even better!" Master Hand said raising a finger.

"Even better than the time you let Celebi use his time powers and make us all grow old?" Pikachu asked.

"Hey, at least that taught you to respect your elders."

"Even better than the time you let everyone here speak a foreign language like Marth and Roy do?" Zelda asked.

"Now I remember why saying "-kun" at the end of Mario was wrong..." Link said looking away embarrassed as Chris chuckled uncontrollably at this.

For those who don't know, in Japan, if you say someone's name with "-kun" at the end, you're addressing that person as a term of familiarity, however, it's mostly said towards men than women if a woman spoke to a man, a man that says that to another man is just so wrong in so many levels...so you may know why that sounds wrong.

"...W-well, you don't have to remind everyone about the events of the pas-" Master Hand was interrupted.

"Even better than the time you let King K. Rool be a Smasher, and he actually brought all the Kremlins inside the mansion and started a party with a riot?" DK asked.

"H-he came by his own! I swea-"

"Even better than the time you let Legendary Pokémon wander around the mansion, just to seek us out for capturing them?" Pichu asked.

"T-they were just pissed off that awful Wednesda-"

"Even better than the time you changed everyone's gender?" Yoshi asked as everyone shrugged.

"...Eww, you're really sick." Chris said making an ashamed face as he backed away from the hand.

"...Fine, is there someone else who has a complain?" Master Hand asked. "...Okay, now, on with th-"

"Even better than the time you made us all climb the Icicle Mountain to find the pressumed summit and we ended up jumping and jumping and jumping and jumping and over and over and over and over and again and again and again and again?" Popo asked.

"Oh! Now there's a clue for what I want to show you all!" Master Hand said nodding.

"...OH NO, you're not going to let us climb THAT thing again, are you?!" Nana asked making an angry look. "I know, Popo and myself are the Ice Climbers, but that's going farther away than the "extreme" word!"

"Okay okay, here's the thing," Master Hand began raising a finger. "What's the place where you always fought?"

"The stages, duh." Pikachu said.

"So, what's the thing that you haven't seen yet here?"

"...The stages to fight between us?" Ness asked.

"Now you know where I'm getting at?"

Everyone looked at each other before the Smashers that were on the previous tournament began to cheer loudly.

"Once we recruit these guys, all the stages are going to be ready to fight at! We'll also make a huge tour around the stages and let you know better the installments! There will be no exception whatsoever!"

"Yes! I wonder what our stage will be." Link wondered to Zelda.

"Probably from the new Hyrule." Zelda said.

"Wait, stage? What's that?" Toon Link asked and Zelda explained everything to him.

"Oh! Oh! Do I get my own stage as well?" Kirby asked.

Master Hand remembered something extremely vital regarding Kirby and Meta Knight's stage...the Halberd that was gone. "...Um...sure?" Master Hand responded sweating as Meta Knight stared at him with his menacing yellow eyes.

"Yes!" Kirby said.

"What about me?" Ness asked.

"You and Lucas will have your new stage," Master Hand said calming down. "To be exact, it's huge, that's all I can say...oh, and Lucas will probably remember that place."

"W-what place?" Lucas asked.

"You'll see." Master Hand said.

"Hey, what about us?" Roy asked pointing at him and Marth. "We don't want to share the music in Zelda's stage again."

"Oh ho ho ho, don't worry, you 2 along with Ike have their stage ready."

"I think it's a castle, I have that feeling." Marth said as Master Hand sweatdropped.

Yoshi walked to him playing with his fingers. "Do I...still get my own stage?"

"Yup." Master Hand said.

"...Sweet." Yoshi muttered.

"...Wait..." DK began.

"You and Diddy have a new stage as we-" Master Hand was interrupted.

"No! That was not what I meant!"

"...Huh?"

"I mean, there's someone missing besides Mario, Luigi, Peach and Semus!"

"DK, I think it's Samus." Diddy corrected him.

"Samus I mean!"

"If you mean Ganondorf and Bowser, then no, I have the feeling that Bowser will join the army as well." Master Hand said.

"I was talking about Mr. G&W!"

Everyone suddenly stopped talking between themselves as they noticed that Mr. G&W hasn't been seen around, nor they wondered where the weird flat black (not being racist by the way) guy was.

"Didn't we meet him on the Halberd in C. Falcon's world?" Ness asked remembering.

"Yes, he said fools to us." Marth said.

"Then he turned into Shadow Bugs..." Lucas trailed off.

"Then C. Falcon fought that guy that Toon Link totally embarrassed with the dance." Popo said laughing, some of them chuckled at the picture in their minds.

"Speaking of him, where does he live?" Link asked.

"In the flat world...who knows where's that world." C. Falcon said.

"Is that even a world? When we fight in that stage...well...it feels extremely weird." Roy said.

"Well...how can I say this..." Master Hand began, he didn't want to tell everyone about Mr. G&W's whereabouts, of course, Chris knew where the flat character was, but thought that the Smashers would turn against him. "...Mr. G&W disappeared, just like that, after he left the mansion, I've heard some sources, that I don't want to talk about, that he disappeared after he left, I even came to the conclussion that he got missing or kidnapped."

"...Poor guy." Jigglypuff said looking down.

"Then does that mean the Subspace Army kidnapped Mr. G&W after he left?" Fox asked.

"Wait a minute," Master Hand thought for a moment. "Then that means, if Mr. G&W was kidnapped after he left, then the Subspace Army has been around ever since the second tournament ended!"

"Tabuu has been living ever since we left the second tournament?" Pikachu asked.

"It's all clear now, Tabuu has been planning to kidnap Mr. G&W from the beginning!"

"But," Chris began as he thought. "That's weird now that you mention it, we don't know exactly how Tabuu came to live either or when, but..."

"You think there's some sort of Tabuu's meaning to live, am I right?" Mewtwo asked looking at Chris.

"Yes... (Wow, I feel like I'm a detective that wants to resolve a murder case!)" Chris thought happily. "...Well, the Subspace Army was created because of Tabuu, right? So, what if Tabuu existed when Mr. G&W came to the mansion?"

"Has Mr. G&W ever lived before the tournament to begin with?" Marth asked.

"No, I brought Mr. G&W personally from his flat world," Master Hand said. "I thought bringing in a bizarre character like him would be good for propaganda, you know, to convince people and make the tourney even better."

"And at the end," Meta Knight began. "He was kidnapped in order to..."

"That's the answer we want to find." Yoshi said.

"He was kidnapped because he has the Shadow Bugs in him," Mewtwo said as everyone looked shocked at him. "Master Hand hid the fact that Mr. G&W contained the Shadow Bugs, the source of Tabuu's army."

"I...well..." Master Hand sweated a little as mostly everyone glared at him.

"Mr. G&W can make as many Shadow Bugs as he wants, in short terms, he is an endless supply of Shadow Bugs that will never seize to stop."

"So, that guy can spam Shadow Bugs as much as Tabuu tells him to make?" Ness asked.

"...I don't know that much, sorry, that's all I had to hide." Master Hand said.

"Yes, you're saying the truth." Ness said as the hand noticed he was glowing.

"Mr. G&W is a...traitor then?" Pichu asked.

"Looks like it...maybe he searched for Tabuu and made a deal." Roy said.

Chris shook his head. "W-wait a minute! We're jumping to conclussions so fast, we need to know first the details even closer!"

"But if Mr. G&W had the power to make Shadow Bugs..." Zelda trailed off thinking. "Why he didn't use them before?"

"...Maybe we can find more clues as we fight the army?" Pit asked, trying to understand the events of the past (as Squirtle, Ivysaur, Wolf, Ike, Toon Link, Meta Knight, Diddy Kong, Olimar, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Flonne and Twink).

"That should be the most reliable source... I-I think that's it." Lucas said.

"Good!" Master Hand said. "Maybe if you all try to decipher the true meaning of Tabuu's origins, then you should unravel the mystery of the Subspace!"

Chris sighed in relief. "You know, it feels tiring, but yet so intriguing and exciting to find out the truth!"

"What if we work through our fights and find the meaning?" Zelda suggested.

"That sounds really entertaining." Pichu said as he wagged his tail a little.

"Hmph," Mewtwo closed his eyes as he grinned a bit. "Solving a mystery is, indeed, interesting to say at least."

Sonic yawned. "Whatever, anything that floats your boat is fine with me."

"The mystery isn't all that exciting for you, is it?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Meh, I'd rather chase down a criminal."

"This, is going to be an important duty to achieve now that I think about it," Master Hand began. "If we know all the origins of the Subspace and Tabuu, we may find out even more secrets as well."

"Hey, hey! How 'bout if we put this as another sidequest?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Hmm... Good thinking..." Master Hand said snapping his fingers, Chris noticed a small glow in his pocket and took out the DS, it now showed a new sidequest.

Seekers of the Truth of the Subspace

The Subspace even Tabuu himself hold many hidden meanings and secrets that must be discovered in order to understand their origins, try to decipher the mystery, solve the mystery and even fight the mystery! Only by thinking, you can get very far! This sidequest requires the help of all the Smashers in order to get all the clues together.

"I'll give something really good if you manage to find the origins and unravel the mysteries." Master Hand said.

"...Um..." Chris went to the hand and he whispered. "Did you even think about doing this before?"

"To be honest, no," Master Hand said. "All happened all of a sudden and well, there was no time to rest during th-"

"It's bad to whisper in front of the people." Ike called out and both chuckled nervously.

"Wait a minute," Chris looked at Sonic. "Wasn't there a sidequest about Sonic?"

"A "sidequest" about me?" Sonic asked confused.

"Oh, you're right, and since you managed to save Sonic that time, first, here's the money you adquired." Master Hand gave 2500 Smash Coins to Chris in a bag.

"Oh yes, now I'm feeling rich again like I do in my world." Chris said as he kept the coins.

"And, since you completed your first sidequest, you get a reward!" Master Hand said snapping his fingers as a small bow with the SSBB's emblem apeared floating between them. "Open the box, your reward will be activated once you open it."

Chris took the box and opened it. "...There's nothing inside!"

His statement proved to be false once a light came out and went floating around, until it spread to various directions and touched everyone's bodies until they stopped glowing.

"...You really like to show-off with the lights, don't you?" Nana asked.

"Nope," Master Hand said. "Anyway, you all got a new skill, the "Combinated Final Smash Lvl. 1's Accelerator."

Combinated Final Smash Lvl. 1's Accelerator

No matter the situation, now you can use the CFS even sooner than before, you don't need pressure anymore to activate the attack, also, increases the odds to find more combinated attacks with the correct jobs and characters

"Oh, so now we can use our combinated attacks more often?" Ness asked and Master Hand nodded. "...Chriiiiiis, we need to find our CFS sooooooon!"

"Hey, I want to find mine as well." Pikachu said.

"What about us?" Squirtle asked pointing at him, Ivysaur and Red.

"And me too!" Kirby said raising his hand.

"I may as well agree." Zelda said.

"Me too." Link said.

"I-er, me too!" Toon Link said nodding.

"Before anyone else speaks, I'll be more focused in getting all of them, but don't pressure me!" Chris said frowning.

"...Get mine, and fast." Wolf said pointing at Chris.

"...Oh, brother..."

"Good thing we don't have to ask for that, right?" Mallow whispered to Geno.

"Okay," Crazy Hand began. "I'll be really really really really really pleased if you Chris buy something from me today! I've been wanting to see what's going to happen once you buy the knight job!"

"Why is that?" Chris asked.

"Oh, you'll see... It's a surprise..." Crazy Hand snickered rather evily as Chris sweatdropped and approached his counter.

Jobs (New!) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

"You have new jobs again? When are they going to stop from appearing?" Chris asked.

"Once you have all the compatible jobs for everyone else." Crazy Hand said.

Smash Coins in hand: 3500

Jobs

Moogle Knight - 1400 Smash Coins

Agent - 1100 Smash Coins

Juggler - 1300 Smash Coins

The circus's came to town! But it left a juggler! This job lets you fight with small daggers as the Thief job, but in a more enthusiastic and happy mood, use balls to confuse your foes, berserk your allies to increase their powers or juggle your way to victory!

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

A simple job that lets you talk with the monsters and animals, with a hit of your whip or instrument as you like, the monster or animal will obey your orders until you lose your focus by a hit or if you decide to let it go

"...Why it's the description of the last job...not so...you?" Chris asked.

Crazy Hand yawned. "Aw, I made that out of the blue, I was running of ideas so why not put this worthless job in the shop?"

"You were going to sell me a worthless job?" Chris asked with a glare.

"AHEM! More money, more jobs! Get buying!"

"...Fine, I'll buy the Moogle Knight job, change my clothes!" Chris demanded handing over 1400 Smash Coins, and he instantly glowed and looked up to Crazy Hand once he stopped. "Now, how do I look this time?"

"Snrk..." Chris noticed that some of the Smashers were snickering or chuckling, he tilted his head in confusion and crossed his arms.

"...What's so funny?" Chris asked looking above to find a weird red pompom. "And what is that pompom doing over my head?"

Lucario decided to look at his trainer and his jaw dropped a little. "...Chris? Is that you?"

"Duh."

"...You...turned into...a Moogle..."

"..." Chris blinked normally as we see his appearance, now he was wearing a pale purple shirt with shoulder pads, black pants, a small light-blue sword on his right hand and small boots...

...Thought when he found out that he turned into a Moogle, now he had white fur all over him below his clothes (aside from the small part of black hair on top of his head), his eyes changed as well, he had also a small height (technically now everyone in the room surpassed his height, well, at least Pichu didn't since he was his height), he had a red pompom that was literally hanging from a string that connected it to his head, where the hair was, there were 2 small red wings on his back and 2 long white ears (the black hair was between) that reached his pompom...

"...KUPO!" Chris yelled blinking shocked as mostly everyone began to laugh loudly at him. "What the hell did you do to me?! I'm a freaking Moogle, kupo!... Dammit! I can't stop saying "kupo" either, kupo!"

"But now you're the cutest furried character ever!" Crazy Hand said as Chris began to pout a little.

"Oh, you tell me! I'm going to be like this if I use this job, kupo?!" Chris asked angrily as Crazy Hand nodded with some chuckles. "You did this to me because you thought it was going to be funny?! Because I'm not laughing, kupo!"

"Aw, you're so cute..." Flonne said ducking to hug Chris close to her.

"S-stop it!" Chris struggled from Flonne's arms and he got out by pushing her face away. "My god, how can I fight with this short height anyway, kupo?!"

"Use your sword, duh." Toon Link said chuckling as Chris flew to him and crossed his arms.

"Oh, you're acting so tough just because I'm way smaller, am I right, kupo?!" Chris asked angrily as he looked back to his wings. "...Although... Look! I can fly anywhere with these wings, they don't tire out either, kupo!"

"So, this is how you obtain your powers?" Sonic asked as Chris flew to them.

"Yes, it's the only way, kupo." Chris said as Sonic grinned with some chuckles. "...I was SO waiting for you to laugh at me as well...kupo."

"Want more jobs?" Crazy Hand asked as Chris flew to him and shook his head several times.

"Forget it, I'm not buying those jobs after you put me through this humiliation! Kupo!" Chris said angrily as more laughs came from behind him, now they were getting on his nerves. "Laugh even more and I'll call the Moogle Brigade! Kupo!"

"Please, no more!" Popo pleaded rolling as he laughed loudly.

"...What the hell is the Moogle Brigade?! Kupo?!"

"CoughyourFinalSmashcough." Master Hand coughed as Chris looked annoyed.

"I want to buy a Smash Ball, please, kupo!" Chris proclaimed as everyone stopped laughing and got shocked looks with some gasps. "...What? Kupo?"

Master Hand took out mentioned item as mostly everyone stared at it in awe. "Behold, the Smash Ball," Master Hand began as a spotlight shone above the floating glowing orb of power. "This item holds the ability to use your Final Smash."

"We just take it, right?" Roy asked, somehow, Master Hand didn't notice that many were preparing to do something with the ball.

"No," Master Hand chuckled. "You have to break it apart and the one who breaks the ball, will get its power, so, if you see this baby going around, I suggest you to BREAK IT!" Master Hand ducked in fear as many projectiles wanted to break the ball, though Chris looked fairly shocked at this moment that he hid behind the counter with Crazy Hand by flying over there quickly. "STOP IT, YOU BUNCH OF LUNATICS FOR POWER!" Master Hand yelled releasing the ball by accident.

"Oh...my...goodness...kupo..." Since you know who said that, we're not going to bother.

The ball flew around the room and mostly everyone (except Lucario, Meta Knight, Lucas, Mewtwo, Flonne and the hands with Chris) tried to break it by doing all sorts of attacks, it was like a corral with angered bulls trying to get the last meat first, chaos flew everywhere as Chris lifted his head up from the desk and stared angrily at Master Hand.

"You just HAD to show them that, hadn't you?! Kupo?!"

"I forgot they're all people who are hungry for power, my bad!" Master Hand yelled.

"Oh, dammit! They're all power hungry fools then, kupo?!"

Power Hungry Fool

"I WASN'T TRYING TO CHOOSE THE MUSIC, KUPO!" Chris yelled angrily as the music stopped with a scratch.

"Ha!" Everyone stopped fighting over the ball as they saw Sonic glowing with an evily smirk. "Yes... I FEEL THE POWER RUNNING THROUGH ME!"

"Oh, (beep!)t! He's not going to turn into THAT here, is he, kupo?!"

"HaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Sonic yelled extremely loud but, oddly, stopped glowing as the sound of someone farting was heard, everyone looked confused at this by now. "...What? W-what happened?! The power! Is gone!"

"YOU STUPID POWER HUNGRY FOOL, IMBECILEEEEEEEEE!!! KUPO!" Chris yelled angrily, flying towards to the hedgehog with a pissed off look, smacking Sonic hard in the face with his sword and the hedgehog went rolling all the way to the wall where he crashed on his back.

Sonic just ignored the pain as he blinked confused. "B-but, why? I thought I was going to something really devastive a moment ago..."

"Wait, Sonic uses the Chaos Emerals to turn into Super Sonic, but, nothing happened? Why is that?" Master Hand muttered. "Er, Sonic, may I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you by any chance holding the Chaos Emeralds?"

Sonic took from his back each emerald that were oddly very pale and threw all of them on the floor, everyone stared at the pale emeralds as some of them inspected them closer. "You mean these? Yeah, I have them with me, but they just recently lost their power, why do you ask anyway?"

"...Weird..." Master Hand muttered looking away.

"Ah," C. Falcon looked the pale Green Chaos Emerald. "This is some source of power?"

"Yep," Sonic said getting up (as Chris made a bored look because the hedgehog was still ignoring the pain). "If I use them, I'll turn into Super Sonic, the most extreme transformation of all the times! My strength, my speed and my power go up really high, not only that, I can fly around at extreme speeds too!"

"Isn't power and strength the same thing?" Lucas asked.

"...Oh...right..." Fox said throwing the pale Yellow Chaos Emerald to Sonic who caught it. "You mean the transformation that was going to kill us in that colony?"

Sonic chuckled nervously as he shifted his eyes. "I-ah, I-I was possessed that time, did you forget?"

"It was Tabuu's fault, so you have to let Sonic go in that one." Master Hand said as Sonic sighed in relief. "But, what I'm wondering now is, what happened to the emeralds?"

Sonic shrugged. "Beats me, all I can think is that probably Eggman had something to do with it...and think about it, I've been really weird ever since he used that machine on me, during the nights, I have thoughts of killing people, but also, I have the sensation to turn into something as well..." Sonic noticed that everyone was staring at him, some of them with shocked looks by the "killing people" part.

"...K-k-k-k-killing people, kupo?" Chris repeated studdering.

"...Wait, no! I don't want to kill anyone here!" Sonic said moving his hands around in some panic. "That's not me! You all know me very well, right?"

"A super egocentrical hedgehog that thinks about himself most of the times that also wants to show-off whenever he wants." Ness pointed out as Sonic made a bored look.

"Sheesh, you didn't have to say it that way."

Mewtwo was examining the pale purple emerald as his eyes glowed. "...It appears the emeralds were drained of their powers."

"Drained? Like taken away?"

"You could say that too," Mewtwo said as he lowered down the emerald. "There is no energy coming from them anymore, what's more, somebody took them as well."

"...Eggman, that bastard, he did it!" Sonic said with a serious look as he made a fist. "I bet he did something else with the emeralds with that machine!"

"Sonic, calm down, kupo," Chris began. "I'm trying to get a hold of myself this time, but, thinking about that dorky doctor isn't good right now, kupo."

"Ugh..."

"...I..." Ike began and everyone looked at him. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't understand anything so far, I'm clueless by now."

"There are so many things to keep track on, it's giving me a headache." Red said putting his right hand on his forehead.

"Sidequest time!" Crazy Hand said snapping his fingers as Chris's DS glowed again, now it had another sidequest...

Emeralds of no Chaos

The Chaos Emeralds have no longer their unbelievable power, but why is that? Maybe you should drop off to Sonic's world again when you have the time...

"Crazy, I didn't plan to make a sidequest out of that!" Master Hand whispered angrily as he groaned a little. "Whatever, too many sidequests already, anyway! Chris, I want you to do some of them by tomorrow morning."

"W-wait, but what if the Subspace Army attacks again, kupo?"

"They won't, because I have planned to give you all a day-off again."

"You mean by sacrificing some of your magic again like you did last time, kupo?" Chris asked as Master Hand went closer to him.

"Look, I also want you to spend the time with some of the Smashers that haven't reached the full partnership level yet, like Meta Knight or Wolf for example, I also think you could raise DK, Ike, Snake and a few others as well if you try." Master Hand whispered.

"...Are you kidding me, kupo? Spending time with Meta Knight is like resting with a serious person that will pull out a dagger and stab it in my throat, and with Wolf..." Chris shuddered as he looked to Wolf, and gave him a glare. "...I-I'd rather not think about what will that guy do to me if I turn my back...ever, kupo."

"Um, you're whispering in front of us again." Ike pointed out.

Master Hand ignored the barbarian and went on. "Also, it's snowing out there! I think it will continue to snow tomorrow, so go out and have fun, why won't you?"

"Hmm... I DO want to play out there... Kupo." Chris wondered rubbing his chin.

"Aw, man, then it's going to take more time to let me go to a world?" DK asked.

"Well, I want to know the mansion even more." Diddy said as he looked around.

"I'd like to do that as well if you don't mind." Ike said.

"I'll check this place out tomorrow!" Sonic said as he let out a long yawn. "And I'm very tired now...do you have a room for me?"

"Oh, right, Marth, if you would, could you please escort them to their rooms?" Master Hand asked.

"W-why me?" Marth asked raising an eyebrow.

"I think you're one of the most clever persons of the mansion that knows the place very well, so why not?"

Marth rolled his eyes, because he knew the mansion very well, we may add. "Alright, follow me you 4..." Marth said walking away with Sonic, DK, Diddy and Ike.

"H-hey! I'm want to see Ike's room!" Roy said running away.

"...You know you want to." Zelda said staring at Link who ran away as well.

"Oh candies in a leaf, look at the hour," Olimar said staring at his watch, where did he get it? Who knows. "It's really late and I should've been sleeping 2 hours ago, sorry and beg my pardons, but I need to sleep, good night." Olimar said with a bow as he walked away.

"...Candies in a leaf?" Ivysaur repeated confused with Twink.

"Of course, it's too late to be awake, you should all get some rest and enjoy the next day tomorrow, meanwhile, I'll rest once I finish with the magic, Crazy, hand magic time!" Master Hand said as he and his brother (who made a thumbs-up) disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Toon Link yawned and mumbled a little. "I can't see what is in front of me anymore...nah, I'll get my sleep, g'nite..." Toon Link said grogily as he walked away.

"Wait a minute," Jigglypuff began. "Isn't kind of risky to leave Snake alone?"

"Now that I see it, Snake could be still dangerous if someone doesn't watch his moves." Zelda said.

"And he could kidnap Chris in front of ourselves." Pit said.

"Then someone needs to keep tabs on him just in case?" Red asked.

"I rest close to his room," C. Falcon said. "Leave the guy to me, I'm also trying to be pals with him so it's going to be really interesting to know him more, and also, good night!" C. Falcon said before he walked away.

"...Now I'm really, REALLY worried." Nana said with a shocked look.

"Who cares?" Ness said. "He can't escape from here, after all, who of the adults besides him is a rabbid Samus's fan?" Ness asked with a wink.

Chris stared at Fox and Wolf. "...T-that was just because I got surprised!" Fox said with an annoyed look.

"And what about you, kupo?" Chris asked to Wolf.

"Tsk, I could say the same thing... Later." Wolf said walking away.

"Let's call this a night and rest," Lucas said. "I just want to sleep right now."

"Lucas, you surprised me, you didn't studder as you normally do." Pikachu said.

Lucas blushed and played with his fingers. "I-it's because it's snowing outside and if it continues, I'm going to play outside."

"Oh, yes!" Ness said snapping his fingers. "It's snowing, we forgot about that! We could play Extreme Snowball Fight!"

Pikachu made a tough look. "Haha, did you forget who was the winner last time?"

Ness cracked his fingers. "You, sir, are demanding a rematch."

"Bring it on," Pikachu said gathering sparks. "My electrocuted snowballs will make my path to victory!"

Chris shifted his eyes between them. "...Gosh, you're that violent, kupo?"

"Heck yes." Ness and Pikachu said nodding with grins as Chris sweatdropped before both walked away.

"Popo and I are the best throwers of snowballs...wait a minute, Popo!" Nana called his brother.

"Oh right! It's snowing, so we should make an igloo and rest inside!" Popo said taking out his hammer.

"Yep, now that's the brother I have...and love? Let's go!" Nana said taking her hammer and both ran away outside and made an igloo.

"And they're they go again," Zelda said with a sigh. "Those 2 can't stop loving ice and snow, can they?"

"What, they do that often, kupo?" Chris asked.

"Yes, they never stop when it snows... And it's getting late, so I should rest as well, good night." Zelda said with a polite bow as she walked away.

"So, I'm resting, good night!" Lucas said enthusiastically as he ran away.

"I better look for my scarf and be ready for the Extreme Snowball Fight." Pichu muttered as he walked away as well.

"What are you going to do, Mewtwo, kupo?" Chris asked.

"I'll take advantage of tomorrow and meditate for the time being... Chris." Mewtwo looked at Chris.

"Yes, kupo?"

"Maybe we could control your psychic powers as well, I may be able to take them under your control if you want."

"I-I'll think about it, kupo." Chris said with a nod and Mewtwo merely nodded before he teleported away.

"Can you sleep with me, can you, can you, can you?!" Flonne asked hugging Chris.

"N-NO! HELL NO!" Chris yelled pushing Flonne away.

"Aww... Oh well, maybe I'll have my chance tomorrow," Flonne said with a smile as Chris backed away from her. "I'll better rest for now so-AAAAAAHHHHH!!! OWW!" Flonne accidentaly tripped towards a computer and she fell on the floor, however, her fingers managed to type something and, oddly enough, the computer began to search and it found a result.

"F-Flonne! Are you alright?" Pit asked as he helped her to get up.

"Y-yeah...wait..." Flonne looked at the computer and she readed the information on it. "...The Netherworld...location of King Krichevskoy's son...OH MY! THERE HE IS!"

"What is there?" Jigglypuff asked walking to her.

"T-there he is! It's where Laharl's sleeping!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Etna's voice was heard from the 8th floor and she amazingly ran all the way down, rivaling Sonic's speed in some cases, in a blink she came followed by a long cloud of dust, pushed Flonne away and looked the computer. "Yes! Yes! Finally, I found Laharl! After all this time, I can go for him and get his throne back!"

"H-hey!" Flonne stood up flailing her arms. "I have to assassinate Laharl, remember?! The angels of Celestia will be mad at me if I don't accomplish my mission!"

"Nah-ah, you will not do such a thing!" Etna said closing her eyes with a grin. "Laharl needs to reclaim his throne back from Vyers that took it when his father died, I don't know exactly where did this Vyers guy came from, but if Laharl shows up in his castle, then the throne will be reclaimed, I'll get my salary for the Prin-I mean, I'll get my job as vassal back and everything will be as it should have been before!"

Flonne pouted a little. "B-but I have to kill him!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"Nah-ah!"

"Yes-uh!"

"STOP IT, KUPO!"

"Who's the new guy?" Etna asked as Chris got annoyed.

"Oh, screw it! I'll change jobs, kupo!" Chris yelled changing to his Chozo Arts job, in doing so, he recovered his normal appearance (much for Flonne's dismay). "That's where Laharl is then?"

"Yup, and we're going tomorrow morning!" Etna said putting her hands on her hips with a proud smile.

"...Hate to say this, but no one can leave the mansion tomorrow, Master Hand will close the paths to all the worlds, so practically you're stuck in there until the next day after tomorrow... I think." Yoshi explained.

"...Oh, great," Etna closed her arms and looked away. "To good to be true...damn...oh well, better spend the last day with all of you, huh?"

"I think so."

"...Fine, g'nite," Etna said as she extended her arms and yawned as she walked away. "By the way, I have a friend who's staying here, so not telling the hand about her!"

"What?" Chris asked as he shook his head. "I think I need to rest now...wait a minute, Master Hand! Where's my money for defeating the Axem Rangers?!"

"Here." Meta Knight said giving Chris a bag of coins.

"W-wow, thank you." Chris said looking inside the bag.

"I found it laying close to the self-destruct butto-I mean, the mechanism to blow up the ship, so I thought you wanted it."

"..." Chris shaked the bag upside-down and a coin fell down on his right hand.

"...Just one single coin?" Flonne asked staring at the coin.

You have gained 1 Smash Coin!

"...That's it?!" Chris asked making a fist as he kept the coin with him. "Why did I receive just a coin?!"

"Perhaps because of the excessive amount of us that wanted to fight those lunatics?" Meta Knight asked.

"T-they were going to kill us with one stomp with that huge machine! And all I get it's a stinking coin for that?"

"Hey, they happened to trip because of the shell." Squirtle said.

"B-but that could have counted as an attack, right?... Aw, forget it, I'm so tired to be complaining..."

"Even so, it's good to be saving little by little." Fox said.

"...Fox, don't make me punch you in your sick eye."

Fox made an angry expression and crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll be sleeping now, so good night." Fox said as he walked away.

"Drink some medicine for your eye before though!" Ivysaur yelled cracking up with Squirtle as Fox grunted angrily in the hallway.

"For the last time, it's NOT sick!"

"Oh man, that was a good one, good one there..." Squirtle said embracing himself to stop laughing.

Chris noticed that Kirby walked to him. "What is it Kirby?"

"Um, I was wondering if you could take me to a world next time..." Kirby said.

"Aw, of course, I can't resist to see you look down like that," Chris said as Kirby jumped to him and gave him a hug. "Oh, thank you!"

"You're absolutely welcome!" Kirby said jumping back and walked towards his room.

"...Hmm..." Lucario just kept looking at Chris after Kirby hugged him.

"Squirtle, Ivysaur, we need to rest for now." Red said walking towards the hallway.

"Coming!" Squirtle said walking away as both noticed that Ivysaur refused to walk with them. "Hey, come on, we have to rest."

"Nope, snow bad for me, very bad." Ivysaur said hiding further inside the table.

"...Oh man..." Red frowned as he put Ivysaur inside his Pokeball. "Now, are you better inside?"

Squirtle chuckled. "Weirdo, you talk to things."

"I-I'm not a weirdo!" Red argued as both walked away to their room.

"I shall enjoy my last day tomorrow, good night." Flonne said with a bow as she walked away, humming happily.

"Chris, can I ask you something?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Um, sure." Chris said.

"I was wondering if you could, you know, we could perform tomorrow again with another different song than the last time, you know? Everyone here enjoyed the last play so much, and it could be good to do that again, do you agree to do it again? Pretty please?"

"O-of course! I had so much fun last time, let's do that tomorrow again!"

"Sweet, thank you and good night!" Jigglypuff said happily as she walked away, humming happily.

"...If we go to the demon's world... Palutena will get angry at me...wait, did you hear that? D-don't mind me please, good night." Pit said walking away.

"Aw, with all this snow, it's going to be hard to train for the Olympics...wonder when are they going to be announced... I have this hunch that it will be very soon..." Yoshi wondered as he walked away.

"Rude, he didn't say good night." Twink said.

"Anyway, since it's almost time to fight Smithy, we should think harder about the whereabouts of Kalmar." Geno said.

Mallow groaned a little. "Geno, why don't we try to enjoy tomorrow as well? You need to relax and have fun, yep, that's what you need urgently." Mallow grabbed Geno's right hand.

"W-where are you taking me?" Geno asked as Twink followed them.

"Duh, get some sleep and try to relax tomorrow, everyone is going to do something fun to do, and we need to get sleeping as well, good night!"

"G-good night! Mallow, stop dragging me! Mallow!" Geno said from the hallway as both went away, with Twink laughing at Mallow's ignorance all the way.

"..." Chris stared at Meta Knight.

"...Good night." Meta Knight said simply as he walked away.

"...Oh, look!" Chris looked at Lucario. "It's just the 2 of us here now, just like you like it, right?"

"...Ugh..." Lucario looked down, still ashamed.

"Lucario..." Chris trailed off as he tried to do something for Lucario. "Oh, I know! We can eat dinner tonight if you want."

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to eat something..." Lucario said as Chris grabbed his right hand.

"Are you sure? I have something to eat that both of like to eat together, you know where I'm getting at?"

"...Wait, but I thought that was in our house."

"Nope, I asked Master Hand to bring some food here, and also he brought the instant soup!"

Lucario blinked for a moment before his stomach began to grumble, making him blush a little. "...Fine..."

"Then it's true the way to get someone's attention was through the stomach!" Chris said with a small laugh as both walked away.

"I thought it was to get to the heart." Lucario pointed out.

"...Well, it's almost the same thing."

Kitchen

Persona 4 - New Days

"...It's almost ready?" Lucario asked as he was sitting on a chair, there was another chair besides him with bowls, spoons and oddly, chopsticks.

"...Wait...okay, it's done." Chris said taking out 2 boiling cups of noodle soup from the microwave and poured both of them in the bowls, the steam's odor went towards Lucario and he smelled it, he let out a sigh of pleasure as Chris threw the empty vases to the trash can. "Oh yes, I missed to eat this back home, and it's even better with the climate out there."

"I also missed this as well," Lucario said grabbing the chopsticks. "But doesn't it feel awkward to eat the noddles with chopsticks?"

"Well, I just saw the chopsticks laying on the table in home when I was eating the soup, and I thought to use them instead of the forks," Chris said grabbing his chopsticks. "But you've got to admit, it's fun to eat the noodles as well like this."

"...That's fine but..."

"But?"

"Can we stop talking and eat the soup while it's hot?"

Chris stared at his bowl and chuckled a little. "S-sorry, I was just answering your doubt."

"It's fine..." Lucario said with a small smile as both started eating their soups.

The delicate texture of the noodles, along with the soup's flavor were just enough for them to make happy expressions, the Aura Pokémon and the World Traveler were enjoying their time together as they ate all alone.

"Lucario..." Chris began as Lucario opened his left eye as he continued eating. "Are you still ashamed for what happened?"

"..." Lucario stopped eating and looked away with a worried look. "...I...I don't know Chris..."

"But Lucario, you came to rescue me even if you were ashamed, deep down, you were still you."

"...I was still me?" Lucario asked confused looking at Chris.

Chris smiled and closed his eyes. "Yes, the same Warrior of the Aura that looks and protects me, you don't know how much I like that."

Lucario looked down. "But am I worthy to accept all the praise?"

"Because I got hurt when you weren't with me?"

"...Yes..." Lucario muttered.

"...You dork."

"Huh?"

"Remember, it was my responsability to make that decision, you accepted it if I recall, right?"

"Y-yes, but..."

"Lucario, don't give me the buts again, it was my own fault that I got hurt, it wasn't yours... I think I was thinking back then "I can do this without Lucario to shield me, I should start defending myself and not use the others's help" when I choose my final decision."

Lucario closed his eyes, still feeling regretful.

"...Maybe, just maybe, I need to stay more time with my favorite hero of all times..."

Lucario opened his eyes in surprise and blushed a little. "N-no, I'm not a hero..."

"You ARE a hero, Lucario!" Chris said raising his voice as Lucario blinked in surprise. "You've saved me countless of times before, you've also spent the time together with me when I was feeling sad in our house, you looked after me when I got sick in school days, you used your tremendous strength to help me fight against the Subspace Army and such, and not only that..." Chris blushed a little. "...You've been the greatest person in the universe for me..."

Lucario couldn't help it but he smiled a little.

"Seeing you fight in the battles it's the only thing that inspires me to be strong, I have many skills under my arsenal, but I admit it, I still have lots of troubles to get used to them, but I try hard enough every day just to get strong like you," Chris looked to the window where the snow was falling outside, he could see the Ice Climbers making the igloo they mentioned. "I sort of want to be enough strong to save you from an attack that could kill you, so after that I jump towards the bastard who does that and beat him to a bloody pulp...just to protect you of course."

"...I have the same feeling Chris..." Lucario muttered as Chris smiled a little.

"So, are you still ashamed?"

"Haha, not anymore, thanks to you, now I feel very honored."

Chris blinked surprised as his eyes widened. "U-um, honored? Isn't that going too far?"

Lucario chuckled. "No."

Chris chuckled after that and looked back to the window, to the Ice Climbers as well who looked at him and waved. "Of course, everyone here gives me the same thing as you, but...since we know each other very well, you give me more than anyone else here."

"...Do you know what I can't wait to do?"

"What?"

"Shield you from a bullet with my arms."

"...But isn't a bullet going to bounce off from your arms?"

"That's why I'll beat the bastard to a bloody pulp..." Lucario noticed that Chris looked worried. "...I-it's just a saying, not literally of course!"

"Phew, I thought you were serious for a second."

Lucario wrapped his left arm around Chris's shoulders and pulled him close to him. "I'd never do something to scare you, anymore."

"Thank you, Lucario..." Chris trailed off as Lucario liked his cheek a little. "...The soup!"

Lucario let Chris fall by accident and quickly continued to eat.

"You...little..." Chris muttered in the floor as Lucario glanced behind him, he gasped and decided to help Chris.

"Sorry... I was hungry..." Lucario trailed off blushing.

"I-it's okay...but, don't do it again..." Chris said moaning a little in pain, but Lucario once again licked his cheek as an apology. "You're like my tall dog."

"...Chris."

"Yes?"

"Please, don't ruin this moment."

Chris made an annoyed look. "Now I'm the one ruining the dinner?" Chris asked as both laughed together after that and continued to eat.

Several minutes later...

"Have you finished yet Lucario?" Chris asked swallowing his noodles.

"No, we talked too much." Lucario said.

"Duh, I finished mine some minutes ago." Kirby said as both gasped when they found Kirby sitting close to Chris, the Star Warrior burped since he finished his bowl.

"W-when did you appear?!" Chris asked.

"After Lucario let you fall."

Lucario looked away, sighing disappointed.

Lucario's Room

Both now where laying down in the bed as they looked outside, the snow falling during the night as Chris sneezed a little, but decided to look the snow again.

"...I can't wait for tomorrow and play outside." Chris said burying himself in the bed sheets.

"It's going to be very cold, right?" Lucario asked.

"Of course, I need to be careful and not get a cold...achoo!"

Lucario wrapped his arm around Chris's shoulder and pulled him closer to his neck. "Now, let's rest."

Chris blushed. "A-am I going to rest above your neck? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm protecting you."

"But from what?"

"From getting a cold, my fur is warm enough to get your head warm, isn't it?"

"W-well... I do admit that is warm..." Chris said as Lucario put a stronger grip on him. "Okay, okay, I'm sleeping now!"

Lucario licked his face and Chris chuckled heartily, the World Traveler decided to lean his face to Lucario's chest and the Aura Pokémon growled happily before he fell asleep.

Now, Lucario was happy again, Chris was very happy again, he was under his protection, and better than that, both of them were together once again, it was a cold night too, so the Aura Pokemón decided to keep his trainer warm for the rest of the night, it was Lucario's dream coming true, nothing would interrupt their peaceful sleep...

"...Grr..." Lucario growled silently as he put a stronger grip on Chris, the World Traveler slowly opened his eyes and looked to Lucario's face, the Aura Pokémon wasn't paying any attention to his trainer as he shifted his eyes around.

"(...Why is he growling?... Wait...)" Chris thought. "(...He's just worried about me, and that's why he wants to keep me closer under his arm... Lucario, you're the best... There's no doubt...)" Chris hugged Lucario as he began to fall asleep.

"(Huh?)" Lucario looked down to Chris, the World Traveler was smiling happily. "(W-why did he hug me?... I shouldn't be asking that right now... Thank you... Chris...)" Lucario said licking Chris's forehead a little as he fell asleep with a yawn, showing his fangs completely before falling asleep above his trainer's head.

"...And I tried to crush their bond..." Snake muttered from the slightly opened door, it was because of him that Lucario growled, the soldier just chuckled silently as he closed the door slowly. "I better keep an eye in the kid's progress."

"Snake, are you happy for being part of their team now?" Mei Ling asked.

"...Heh," Snake smiled a little as he walked away to his room. "Just maybe, this could prove to be interesting after all..."

"I think it's because of Samus." Otacon whispered.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing Snake, good night." Otacon said sweating.

"Yes, Snake, have good dreams." Mei Ling said ending the codec call with a chuckle.

Snake looked back at their room as he walked away. "...Good night to you 2..."

"...Chris?" Lucario called.

"...Yes..." Chris asked grogily.

"Where is the Smash Ball that you bought from Master Hand? Didn't you buy one?"

"...I'm going to kill that hand...good night, Lucario..."

"...Good night..."

Preview of the next chapter

"Okay, let's see, the short leg goes here then...aw, dammit! I can't believe I don't understand the formula anymore!"

"Ah, you mean you want to know how to get the hypotenuse of a triangle?"

"That's what I want to...wait, what are you doing here?"

"So Nana and myself will sing this song?"

"Yes, Zelda wanted to stay out for this time."

"Ugh, I hope everything goes well..." Nana said.

"Excuse me, but have you seen an old man in a purple coat, with a laidback and lazy attitude?"

C. Falcon's eyes widened after he saw, or thought when he saw the most sexiest person in the universe besides Samus, at least he thought, standing in front of the door.

"..." C. Falcon was left speechless.

"Fortunately Link told me that he never drinks beer, right Link?"

"Yeah...right...hic!"

"...Oh my god..." Chris said astonished.

"A Persona-lific break... Dammit, why am I saying the next chapter's name again? Idiots..." Snake grumbled.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Chris thinking that the mystery of the Subspace was like solving a case of murder, along with the Seekers of the Truth of the Subspace and Persona 4 - New Days are references to Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.

Yes, the idiocy of the Axem Rangers was just too much that they ended up dying...poor guys, they ACTUALLY had the power to kill the Smashers but Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's Green Shell appeared in their way, causing their comic demise...

Snake is interested in Samus? It appears nobody can't resist her "charms" after all.

Now that you think about it, isn't the origin of the Subspace mysterious to you? I mean, what if Tabuu had a complicated meaning that is waiting to be discovered? Doesn't that get you excited? So all you have to do is wait for the group to unravel the mystery along the way...

Chris the Moogle, now that's funny, kupo! :D

It's good to have Lucario back to his senses. :')

And so, we got to another Mansion chapter! This time, however, it's going to be a tribute for the release of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4! (Blame me and my new fanboism over the game), but of course, no characters from that game will be present, rather the whole chapter will make you laugh, get surprised and such by the aspects of the game, maybe, who knows, maybe I could spark some interest in you to see the game by yourself?

Warning though, that game is M-Rated, so there are many suggestive themes as well as lots of cursing.

And also, it's going to be educational, because we're going to see japanese meanings such as "-kun" and even more, just to spread out some japanese knowledge to your brains!

Will Snake be of help to the Smashers? Will Flonne and Etna spend their last day with the Smasher before going to their world? Will something interesting happen in the next chapter, with the humor you've seen so far?

Only by reading you'll get the answers you want to find.

Read and review, please! :D

*Chapter 105*: A Personalific break

Warning, my fanboism got too far and thus, this huge chapter was created, not making another chapter this long AGAIN. -_-

From Seitei: [Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!]

Grats on your latest chapter! Chris should also be a beastmaster, too!

I see you've pulled out Final Fantasy Tactics Advance jobs! I didn't expect Chris to turn into a moogle, though.

I would like to say this, though:

-kun is not only used for endearment. In Japan, the honorific system also tells people what status they hold in relation to others. -kun, for one, is commonly used with guys (though sometimes girls have been addressed with -kun). However, a superior may refer to his subordinate with -kun.

But keep the chappies coming! Chris needs to be in his Moogle Knight job more, kupo!

From me: Well, blame me, I got this from the instruction booklet itself. :D Thank you.

From ngrey651: Chris got a "Kiss" ability? Well, he wouldn't MISUSE it...would he?

From me: You do know Misstar does the smooch part? XD Thanks!

From Anakin Mario Son43: Horray! Japanese! Now I can understand animae in japanese. wow... I think SmashEd44 is physcic. That's creepy. Update soon! Oh yeah, how many more arcs until Kingdom Hearts? Just asking.

From me: Not all the japanese though, it's a long time before the Kingdom Hearts arc, once we finish the "Geno saga" if you know what I mean. Thanks!

From aquadragonsayian: O_o That was... completely unexpected. I feel sorry for the Axem Rangers though...

Anyways, great chapter! What sort of madness will take place in the next chapter? I'll betcha will mistaken Yuri for a girl. Anyways, update soon please! ^_^

From me: Wasn't Judith and not Yuri though? :l Thanks!

From Nintendogeek01: That was hilarious! That had to be one of the funniest defeats I had ever seen. Well not much else to say besides this chapter setting up the next chapter or so. Well keep up the good work.

From me: I hope it's good... Thanks!

From Ultra Blader: Sorry I couldn't review the other chapter. Still, this one was interesting, impressive and humourous: The trifecta of Smash fanfiction.

The next chapter has me interested. What does Pythagora's Theorm have to do with Smash, anyway?

From me: You'll see, keep reading.

From Iyan: Finally! Lucario is outta the dumps...Snake

From me: Snake...what? Snake what? Dude, you left me with doubts! XD Thank you...for the doubts?

From Rabid Original: Yay, I can't wait! I love mansion chapters :P
It's kind of depressing how the Axem Rangers died, but it still made me laugh for some reason...

Disgaea is coming up soon, right? :D

I think the sidequests are really neat. Sidequests are actually my favorite parts of a game, and it really adds something to this story.

From me: Yep, Disgaea is coming up soon, Chris shall do part of a sidequest today though, thanks. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: well, here's your two for one special, please respond to both. one, so the only other characters left to introduce should be Wario and R.O.B as newcomers, interested on what side Wario is going to be on. will you be doing a kingdom hearts chain of memories arc? and please, DON'T make any disney characters curse, only one character of disney has ever cursed, jimminy cricket(still, don't make any curse!). and just as a question from sometime ago, did you watch dead fantasy yet? that hasn't been answered yet as far as i can tell. two, man, that's the 2nd giant machine i've seen get beaten by a green shell(it was on the new episode of powerpuff girls, the guy in the machine was Mojo Jojo)! definetly interested on YOUR point of view of tabuu's reason of existence, why Mr. G&W has shadow bugs, and, who will win, Etna or Fionne or whatever it is, to get to that demon prince guy. and, I DON'T WANT GENO TO GO YET! WA!(don't worry, i'll be okay, but i don't him to go still!) the final question, how long until they go to a new world?

From me: 1) Wario...well, not going to say about him, there isn't going to be a Chain of Memories arc, only the first and "second" games.

2) Dead Fantasy didn't seem that good to me so, no, sorry, enjoy the Final Fantasy arcs instead. :P

3) After this chapter as always. XD

4) Thank you!

From SmashEd44: Another fantastic chapter. The ending was nice and warm, I love how Snake just snuck in there.

The beginning was just as I thought it might've turned out, but the explosion when each person talked was a nice funny touch.

You gotta love the Moogle Knight! I could ramble and praise the brilliance of this chapter for a long time, but I won't, due to the fact I'm writing the next Chapter of a story of my own.

Can't wait for 105, and the hilarity that will most definitely ensue.

From me: Oh, thank you so much. :D

From Mewtrainer: How...? That explosion thing is impossible! Then again, so's everything else! XD Those are interesting sidequests... Keep it up!!

From me: That machine was super strong for them, but insanity ended the Axem Rangers. XD

PLEASE, DO NOT SKIP THIS PART, IS IMPORTANT!

Okay, the next chapter will be Persona 4-themed, so listen well to this!

In the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games, the protagonist (which is unnamed and in this case is going to be Chris) needs to choose the right answer to proceed through conversations, should he answer with the right question, good things will happen for those he spends time with.

There are certain status that must be increased for the protagonist (Expression, Dilgence, Understanding, Knowledge and Courage) in order to do more extra curricular activities, so you're going to see them through the fic of today.

Japanese terms are used through the Persona games, for this chapter, same terms are going to be used just to teach you something in japanese, however, next chapters won't use the japanese terms anymore so be aware.

Enjoy the King's Game. ;D

Read, enjoy and review please!

Chapter 105: A Persona-lific break

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"..."

The Ancient Minister looked away. "...You may be angry by the result of the Axem Rangers..."

"..." Tabuu was still speechless.

"...And for the lost of the sixth Star Spirit as well..."

"..." Tabuu sighed in disappointment. "Another battle that we lose...curse them all..."

"I, as well, may report that the hands have sealed the path to the worlds again like the last time."

"...Then, we should take advantage of this little situation and prepare those fools from the incident with Sonic."

"Ah, you mean the power of the Final Smash that you want to bestow upon them?"

"It is the only thing I can do for now to make them stronger... For now, I shall think by myself again, however, I want you to keep in guard the last Star Spirit," Tabuu turned his back. "We do not want them to find that star, do we?"

The Ancient Minister shook his head. "Most certainly no, since the Star Spirit is right close to them without any kind of suspicions."

"That is enough."

"...Right."

The Ancient Minister watched Tabuu teleporting away, then, he looked around to be secure that he was alone, and quickly, opened the screen to see Mr. G&W again. "...We'll escape soon from here...just...give me more time for now..."

But there was someone watching from the darkness...

"Heheheheh...so, he wants to escape from this place? I'll tell Tabuu about that and I'll probably get whatever I want!"

The Ancient Minister merely turned and fired a beam to Porky, the beam paralyzed the machine that he was in and Porky shook his head as the Ancient Minister closed the screen. "Porky, you can't go and cause havoc when there are no orders, may I ask, what are you doing here?"

"I...well...what am I doing here? I just feel like a beam did something to my brain..."

"Don't be stupid and get away."

"R-right away!" Porky said stomping away.

The Ancient Minister looked at the darkness of the Subspace as he talked to himself. "I'm not that ignorant and let anyone know about my own plans, designing this mind eraser beam was a good idea after all..."

Smash Mansion
Igloo

Snowman

The morning came in the snowy paradise of snow, it was 5:00 AM at the time, inside the igloo, we see the Ice Climbers sleeping deeply in ice beds, ice pillows, everything was of ice while the snow fell gently from the sky.

Unfortunately, their peace was going to end soon for now...

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Someone was knocking on the door and Popo grumbled annoyed, the blue eskimo jumped off from his bed and walked towards the door, eyes still closed with grumbling noise from his closed mouth, Popo grabbed the ice-shaped doorknob and opened the door.

On the other side of the door, there was small imp creature, the creature had purple fur around his small body, except for the white oval from his stomach to neck, on his neck, he wore a necklace with a green crystal on the center, the creature also was flying with his small and rounded fairy-like wings, it had a white cream-shaped tail, as well as the white cream-shaped hair of his forehead, it also had a trusty but somewhat cartoony face and it appeared that the creature wasn't that affected by the snow at all.

"Hi there kind sir!" The imp called with a smile.

"Hmmmmmm..." Popo grumbled, still unable to open his eyes.

"Sorry for interrupting at this hour, but, you see, I lost something very important and I need your help!"

"...Hmmmmmm..."

"I lost my memory! My memory! Can you believe that? I lost my memory, everything, even my name!"

"...Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...."

The imp kept going on with his speech. "So I was wondering if you could help me and look for my memory because I think I had something really really really important to do an-"

"We don't accept credit cards, have a nice day..."

SLAM!

The imp blinked with his smile still on his face after Popo slammed the ice door in front of him and looked at the mansion, not that far away from the igloo. "...Well, I can always ask to anybody in there, I wonder if there is anyone there though..." The imp went to the door and knocked on it. "Hello? Is anybody in there? Hello?"

The door opened slowly and revealed Sonic on the other side, he was still yawning (and his eyes were still closed) from getting up so early and decided to eat a chocolate bar, somehow, the imp focused his eyes on the chocolate bar. "...Oh...hi there..." Sonic said grogily, eating his chocolate as the imp's eyes reflected the image of the dessert.

"Good morning sir, but, may I have your time?" The imp asked.

"...Sure..." Sonic said yawning.

The imp kept looking at the chocolate bar. "Um...well...you see...my...memory got...um...missing and I can't even...remember anything...so..."

Sonic opened one eye to look at the imp, but closed it after a second. "Oh...I see..."

"And I was...wondering if you...um...can I...eat that?" The imp asked pointing at the chocolate bar.

"...Sure...go ahead...Chip..." Sonic said giving the chocolate bar to the imp that he named Chip out of the blue.

"C-Chip?" The imp asked with wide eyes. "W-why are you giving me a name?"

"Is not obvious?... You like desserts...my chocolate bar disappeared once I gave it to you..."

The imp had a brown mud around his mouth as he blinked. "I DO like the chocolate, thank you so much si-"

SLAM!

The imp blinked with his smile as he turned his back to the door once Sonic slammed the door in front of him. "...Hmm... Chip... That isn't a bad name...from now on, I'll be Chip! Yeah!" The imp named Chip said making a fist in the air as he remembered something important. "Oh no! My memory! What can I do about that?! NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Chip began to run in the air, putting his hands above his head as he stared at the mansion once he stopped. "...Hmm...maybe there are more people in there besides that guy...oh well, I'll come later and ask." Chip said humming happily as he flew away.

Lucario's Room

Meanwhile, we see now the World Traveler sleeping peacefully, close to the Aura Pokémon who still had him under his arm, Lucario let out a long yawn (showing completely his fangs again) as he grumbled a little and stared down at Chris.

"...Lucario...your fur...is all fuzzy...heheheh..." Chris mumbled with a chuckle as Lucario blinked surprised while he blushed.

"...Chris..." Lucario muttered as he rested his head above Chris's head.

1 hour later...

Persona 4 - Your Affection

"It's sno-wiiiiiing!" Chris woke up happily by shouting, he looked outside and for his luck, the snow was still falling from the sky, his wish came true and the day was very good for him. "Lucario, wake up! It's still snowing!"

"Hmmmmmm..." Lucario grumbled.

"Lucario, wake up! I want to stand up!"

"..." Lucario set Chris free and the World Traveler got out from the bed, the Aura Pokémon opened his eyes slowly, letting out a long yawn again. "Good...morning, Chris..."

"Good morning, Lucario," Chris said with a heartily chuckle. "I can't believe it's still snowing out there, I can play in the snow after all!"

"...Good for you..." Lucario said turning his back to Chris.

"Oh please, you don't feel that excited as me today?" Chris asked and Lucario shook his head. "...Fine, it's rare to see you out of energy in a morning, you're usually meditating at this hour...whatever, I think I'm going outside."

"Go and have fun..." Lucario mumbled as he covered with the bed sheet.

Chris was about to leave the room as he looked to Lucario, then, he remembered something important. "Wait... I think I should stay behind."

"..." Lucario was now sleeping.

"Lucario, do I have homework to do?"

"...Yes, you do...you have a math homework that you left pending when you made the 2 of us get in this long journey..." Lucario mumbled as he returned to sleep.

Chris sweatdropped. "...Did you have to say it that way?"

Various minutes later...

For his suprise, Chris found his backpack below the bed, maybe because Master Hand moved by himself some things from Chris's house when Chris didn't notice.

Much for Chris's surprise, there was his Wii and PS2 under his bed as well, but why were those things there, along with all the accessories? There wasn't a TV to plug in the consoles...

He let that go for later and decided to do his homework on the desk of the room, he was being impatient because he wanted to play out in the snow so badly, though why did he ask himself to do his homework at that moment? Maybe because it was going to be boring and play outside all alone with everyone else sleeping.

On a side note, his Knowledge increased.

"...UGH!" Chris grabbed his head in frustration after he got in a problem for an exercise.

His Knowledge decreased...

"Okay, let's see, the short leg goes here then...aw, dammit! I can't believe I don't understand the formula anymore!"

"Ah, you mean you want to know how to get the hypotenuse of a triangle?"

"That's what I want to...wait, what are you doing here?"

Chris found Geno standing in front of the door, the puppet walked to him and looked at the notebook.

"It's very simple, to get the hypotenuse in this triangle of 90-60-30, you need to use this formula: Hypotenuse equals 2 by shortest leg, that is the side in front of 30 grades."

Chris stared at the numbers of the notebook and began to do the mentioned formula.

By thinking through, his Knowledge went up again.

"Basically, it's the double in short terms." Geno explained as Chris finished.

"Thank you, Geno, I didn't know you could do geometry of this level."

"We the stars need to be wise, you could ask Twink the same thing and he'll probably answer it as well."

"Twink can do geometry of this level?"

"He could assist the college if he wanted."

Chris couldn't believe that a young star like Twink could enter the college, now Chris felt embarrassed. "Oh... I see, maybe I could ask him to be my teacher."

Geno chuckled a little. "That's kind of funny."

"...Wait, what are you doing so early in the morning?"

"I wanted to inspect the mansion while everyone was sleeping, and I happened to stumble in this room when you were doing your homework."

"You're worried about Snake?"

"...Possibly, I mean, I can't trust him that well yet, and mostly everyone here as well."

Chris looked outside. "Yes, after all, he tried to kidnap me but decided not to at the end..."

"But I have to see bright side," Geno began. "You're here and that's a relief for everyone."

"Thank you."

"No problem, you seem to be an important part of this group."

Chris blushed a little. "T-that's just because I like to be kind to anyone that is a good guy..."

Geno chuckled. "Maybe that is your natural ability, have you ever thought about having a natural ability?"

"...Nope."

"Well, you have a natural ability, that is getting along with anyone."

Chris looked down. "...It's just because I didn't have many friends in my school and mostly because I didn't want to make friends once my parents left me alon...n-nevermind."

Geno raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to say something?"

Chris chuckled nervously. "N-no... I'd rather not talk about something I don't want to remember..."

Geno looked a little worried but smiled a little. "Okay, I need to inspect the mansion a little more, see you." Geno waved at Chris as he left the room.

"...Please, I don't want to remember that again..."

His Expression went up a little bit.

Chris thought now about what to do for today besides playing outside in the snow.

"Professor, can you show me my partnership level with all the Smashers?" Chris asked turning on his DS.

"Oh ho ho, certainly! You should work a little more on them!" Kawashima said showing Chris the list of all the Smashers living in the mansion.

Partner: Percentage Level
Lucario: 100
Yoshi: 100
Pikachu: 100
Pichu: 100
Jigglypuff: 100
Mewtwo: 65
Red: 80
Squirtle: 85
Ivysaur: 75
Donkey Kong: 70
Diddy Kong: 90
Kirby: 100
Meta Knight: 17
Link: 80
Zelda: 85
Toon Link: 85
Fox: 80
Falco: 100
Wolf: Basically he still hates you even after all the things you did, so 0
Captain Falcon: 70
Olimar: 70
Marth: 75
Roy: 80
Ike: 50
Ness: 100
Lucas: 100
Pit: 90
Ice Climbers: 100
Snake: 20
Sonic: 101

"...There are many questions circulating around my mind..." Chris said staring at some of the percentages. "...Why is Sonic 101?"

"Because it seems he just plain likes you so much." Kawashima said with a chuckle.

"...But even more than Lucario? That's creepy...but some of the percentages have been lowered as well."

"That's probably because you did something offending or haven't spend your time properly, the percentages won't stay at 100 all the time, you need to be careful when talking to one of them."

Chris raised a finger. "Give me one reason why is Fox's level even lower than before."

"You insulted him with his "sick eye" if I remember."

"Hey! I didn't know it wasn't sick, it looked sick to me!"

"Even so, you need to apologize to him."

"...Fine, should I get working on them now?"

Kawashima smiled a little. "That'd be great." Kawashima said as he turned himself off.

"...Maybe I should spend time with Mewtwo for now... I want to use psychic powers as him..." Chris muttered as he walked to the hallway and went to Mewtwo's room.

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest
It is almost completed...the inn I mean

United Oath

"..." Rita stared at Yuri as she readed her book of Blastia.

"...Fine, I'll go and get Judy." Yuri said rolling his eyes as he walked away from the inn.

"..." Rita somehow knew that people were watching her and glared at the readers. "Yeah, I know, I'll go for those guys after Yuri fails as well...you're still there?!"

Smash Mansion
Mewtwo's Room

Music stops

In a hurry for not getting pummeled by Rita's Violent Pain, we change the scene quickly to Mewtwo and Chris, both of them were meditating silently (because Chris was using his Psychic user job).

"..." Chris was glowing in a pink aura, along with Mewtwo.

Mewtwo slightly opened his eyes, and Chris seemed to do the same. "...Well done, now leave and wait until we get more training at the right time."

"...Understood..." Chris muttered as he walked away from Mewtwo.

"...Change your jobs before leaving," Mewtwo began. "Leaving this energy powered room will only cause destruction in your path, your psychic powers need more training and control."

"...Yes..." Chris muttered as he changed to a job and left the room, Mewtwo blinked as he was still glowing, but closed his eyes with a small grin.

"(I shall wait for our next training, it's hard to find a disciple like you around...)" Mewtwo thought with an echoing chuckle.

"...Dammit, kupo!"

Mewtwo stopped chuckling as he frowned, Chris chose the Moogle Knight job by accident. "...Whatever..."

Hallway

Persona 4 - Heartbeat, Heartbreak

"Ugh, now I'm back being a Moogle, kupo!" Chris said stomping the floor angrily.

"Oh, Chris!" Pichu came walking down the hall (wearing a red scarf around his neck) and went to Chris. "Good morning, it's good to see you in that appearance!"

"But I hate it, kupo!"
"Meh, it's the same...kupo."
"Why are you being so nice now, kupo?"
"Kupo?"

"Meh, it's the same...kupo." Chris said frowning.

Pichu shifted his eyes a little. "Well, it's still early, so everyone is still sleeping, what do you want to do?"

"I had in mind to spend time with some of them and raise the partnership level, kupo, but what can I do while they're sleeping, kupo?"

"Sneak into their rooms?" Pichu thought. "You know, I think Falco woke up early, so why don't we go and see him?"

"Okay...kupo." And both small characters went to Falco's Room

Falco's Room

Falco was still, unable to move out from his bed because it was very cold for him to walk out in the halls. "...Dammit, why it has to snow outside? For god's sake, it's still snowing out there!" Falco made an annoyed face. "At this rate, I'm not going to do anything besides someone entering if I can see someone first!"

"Hey Falco!" Pichu jumped quickly above Falco.

"UAH!" Falco screamed in fear as he almost got a heart attack. "D-don't do that again!"

"Sorry..."

"...What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, Chris and I wanted to visit you, because it's still early."

Falco looked around from his pillow. "And where is he?"

"Um...here, kupo." Chris said looking away embarrassed as he flew and landed besides Pichu.

"...Pichu, is that a Pokémon creature of yours?"

"P-Pokémon?! I-I'm Chris, kupo!" Chris protested pouting.

Falco rolled his eyes. "Okay, if you're Chris, tell me something both of us remember."

"You had an affair with Wave the Swallow, but ended up dumping you that made you change into a guy who doesn't like girls anymore, kupo."

Falco blinked shocked at this. "...You're Chris...right?"

"...Yes, kupo?"

The avian continued to blink as he tried not to laugh at Chris's appearance. "Snrk..."

"...Fine! Go ahead and laugh at me! I got this job of the Moogle Knight in the shop yesterday and I turned into this, kupo!"

"BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" Falco bursted out laughing as Chris crossed his arms with an annoyed face. "O-oh god, my funny bone! I can't stop laughing! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Grrrr... Kupo..."

Falco started to laugh even harder than before after a while, but then he panted heavily, wiping out a tear from his right eye. "M-man, this makes up for the annoying prison of cold this is!"

"Okay, okay, okay, we laughed at Chris because of his furried appearance, now, stop it, seriously...kupo."

Falco chuckled a little but calmed down. "Well, at least that was entertaining, thank you for coming here."

"...Pichu, let's go before he laughs at me again, kupo." Chris said annoyed as he flew away with Pichu following, of course, once they closed the door, they could hear Falco cracking up even more than before. "Hope you get into an iceberg, kupo!" Chris yelled annoyed as he walked away with Pichu.

On the hall, however, they found Marth holding a book on his hands.

"Oh, good morning." Marth greeted them as they stopped.

"What is that book you're holding?" Pichu asked.

Marth grabbed the book on one hand. "It's a special book that lets you understand the foreign laguage I use, for example, you can...well, you wouldn't understand its meanings, but I was planning to give it to Chris."

"Oh, thank you, kupo."
"Great, another book to look for, kupo."
"I don't want it, kupo!"
"Gimme! Kupo!"

"Gimme! Kupo!" Chris said extending his hands to Marth's book. "Hmm..."

"Well, I have some things to do today, so I'll be leaving you." Marth said walking away.

"Are you going to show Ike the mansion?" Pichu asked.

Marth scratched the back of his head as he went away. "...Yes, he still needs some pointers about the technology here." Marth said as he disappeared in the halls.

Pichu peered at the book Chris was reading. "So, this book will help us talk like Marth?"

"...Oh! Look at this! You can add these japanese termings at the end of each one's name to point out something, kupo!" Chris said reading through the book with Pichu. "...For example, I can call you Pichu-san."

"-san" Shows respect and deference, usually to one's elders or simply people one does not know very well.

Pichu raised an eyebrow as he readed through. "But it's not -kun?"

"-kun" is a term of familiarity, mostly used in address to males.

"Nope, kupo, it says here that women use this term to males, however, there are men that have been saying this to men, kupo."

"So what is the difference?"

"Well...let's stick with -san, okay, kupo?"

"If you say so...hey, there are more in here!"

"Like -chan?"

"-chan" is like "-kun" but mostly addressed to females.

"Oh! Oh!" Pichu hopped a little. "For example Jigglypuff-chan!"

Chris nodded. "Yes, but I think Jiggly-chan fits well, don't you think, kupo?"

Pichu rubbed his chin. "Hmm...it sounds good... Jiggly-chan!"

"Or Zelda-chan, kupo!"

"Or Peach-chan!"

"Or Nana-chan, kupo!"

"Or Samus-chan!"

Chris readed the book a little more. "Hey, there's even more in here, kupo."

Pichu got closer and readed along Chris. "Hmm, so we can use more terms?"

"Yes, for example -sensei, kupo."

"-sensei" denotes professional respect, such as to teachers or doctors.

"Dr. Mario-sensei then?" Pichu asked.

"Too bad we won't see that clone around...kupo." Chris said shrugging.

"I can't think on any sensei here..." Pichu said lowering his ears in shame.

"Blame Master Hand-sensei, he doesn't hire any professional here... Is Master Hand even a sensei? Oh, here's another one, -senpai, kupo."

"-senpai" is used to address senior or "mentor" figures; a relationship that is generally absent in America. The opposite of senpai is kouhai, the student or junior figure.

"What is an America?" Pichu asked confused.

"Er...I'll tell you later."

"Aww..."

Chris readed the definition again. "...Oh, I see, senior figures would be people who are older than us, kupo."

"Like Snake-senpai?"

Chris shuddered. "...Er...I won't call that guy senpai never, ever...pick another guess, kupo."

"Hmm... Like..."

"How come we can't remember seniors in here, kupo?" Chris said thinking.

"...Wait, isn't Mario a senior?"

"Oh, Mario-senpai, I like how that ends with, kupo."

"And isn't Pikachu a senpai too?"

"At least for you he's a senpai, but I'll use -san with him."

"I have another one! Fox-senpai!"

"Hmm, I like how that ends as well, kupo."

"Should we address them like that when we see them around?"

"Pichu, that has to be the most, interesting idea I've heard so far during this day, kupo!" Chris looked at the book. "And we got the last one, -sama, kupo."

"-sama" is a very high form of respect, used to address authority figures.

"I guess Master Hand falls on that term." Pichu said.

"Master Hand-sama... Master-sama... Kind of ironic, isn't it, kupo?"

Pichu chuckled. "Yes, master and sama are related."

Chris looked at the book again. "There are even more foreign terms as well, but let's look at them sometime later when we need to."

"But you know, I want a ko-tat-su table, it says here it's great for cold seasons, like this one we have today."

Kotatsu: A small table with a heater beneath the surface and an oversized blanket draped on top of it to cover the openings. It is used to warm oneself on cold winter days.

"I think I saw a kotatsu table in a channel on the TV," Chris said rubbing his chin. "Maybe someone here knows where is a kotatsu table, kupo."

"Nah, I doubt it, probably Marth or Roy, but nobody else knows about this." Pichu said.

"Let's find one, kupo!"
"And if we make one ourselves, kupo?"
"Screw differences, I want my hot table, kupo."

"Screw differences, I want my hot table, kupo." Chris said keeping the book in his inventory.

"But there isn't one here!" Pichu reminded Chris.

Chris sighed disappointed. "I know if we had one, everybody would try it once they see us using one, kupo!"

"Too bad that there isn't one here though..."

"...Want to wake up Jiggly-chan?"

Pichu wagged his tail. "Of course!"

Various minutes later...

The trio showed Jigglypuff the foreign meaning, and she apparently got interested in them as well.

"Haha, it's fun to address people with those funny sounding terms." Jigglypuff said as the trio were walking down the main lobby.

Main Lobby

"Everyone is still sleeping, right Pichu-san, kupo?" Chris asked.

"Unfortunately, it's 8 ó clock and we're the only ones awake." Pichu said.

"Hey, didn't Popo-san and Nana-chan mention that they made an igloo outside?" Jigglypuff asked.

"We could go inside the igloo they made!"

Chris walked to the door. "Okay, so let's go and visit Popo-san and Nana-chan to do something funn-"

When Chris opened the door, there was Chip again, the imp wanted to knock on the door but Chris opened it before he could do his move.

"...May I help you, kupo?" Chris asked.

"O-oh!" Chip laughed heartily. "Good morning sir, you see, I wanted t-"

Chris chuckled heartily. "Sorry, but we don't accept credit cards today, and possibly none of the 38 people and the crowd of Prinnies living in here, good bye, kupo!"

SLAM!

"...38 people? Then I'll keep coming here more often!" Chip muttered to himself as the trio walked away from the door.

"Okay, we can't get out because that credit card seller is outside, he could keep bothering us for all the days and, who knows, every single day...I have that feeling, any ideas, Chris-kun?" Jigglypuff asked.

"There should be anyone in here who's awake, kupo, but who?" Chris asked as suddenly a fast blue bur ran in front of them. "...That should be Sonic..."

"Hey you guys!" Sonic returned back and put his right hand on his hip. "Good morning, I was checking out this place, and it's completely awesome, there's even a GYM and pretty much everything else!"

"Yes, we thought you were going to wake up early." Jigglypuff said.

"(There's a GYM here, kupo?)" Chris thought surprised.

"So anyway..." Sonic scratched his left ear with one finger. "Nobody's awake now, it feels like a storm came through here and took all of them away, it's like a dead cemetery."

"...Cemeteries are supposed to have dead people, Sonic-san." Jigglypuff said with a bored look.

Sonic got confused about the "-san" part at the end of his name. "...Sonic-san? What's that? Some kind of new word?"

The group explained what it meant and Sonic grinned a little bit.

"I see now, it's a foreign term as the other ones you showed to me, right?"

"Yep, and it's fun to use!" Pichu said hopping a little.

"I thought you didn't like to learn something new, Sonic-san, kupo."
"Sonic-san learning something?! It's the apocalypse, kupo?!"
"I should call you Sonic-kun then, kupo...wait, nevermind."
"Wow, that's new coming from you, kupo."

"Wow, that's new coming from you, kupo." Chris said.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well...to be honest, I thought you were more hyperactive and didn't like to learn something like this before, but you impressed me, you did care about this, kupo."

Sonic chuckled a little before he yawned. "Maybe because I'm just plain bored, you know, kill the time and all that."

The trio sweatdropped at this with bored looks.

"...I knew there was something behind him." Jigglypuff said as Sonic sweatdropped.

"...What are you guys doing anyway?" Sonic asked crossing his arms.

"That's what we're trying to think," Pichu said. "We don't have anything else to do, maybe we should wait for everyone to wake up first?"

"There you are!" A voice called out and Master Hand appeared in a cloud of smoke. "Ah, Chris, I've been looking for you, come on, we have to do a sidequest I want you to do," Master Hand looked at the others. "If you want, you can follow us too."

"Alright, Master Hand-sama." Jigglypuff said as the 5 walked towards the command room.

"So you're learning foreign terms? Wow, there aren't many Smashers who use those foreign terms here."

"Knowledge is a dinner well served, kupo."
"Only because we wanted, kupo."
"We want to make a fad, kupo."
"Can you use foreign terms too, kupo?"

"We want to make a fad, kupo." Chris said as the others looked at each other with surprised looks.

"Hmm, a fad using foreign terms? That should be interesting to spread some culture around here." Master Hand said.

"...Wait, weren't you weak because you sealed all the paths to the worlds, kupo?"

"Pfft, I tricked Crazy and made him use all his energy instead of mine, he is now sleeping, dreaming with seahorses and singing something under the sea."

Chris shook his head. "...Nevermind, kupo."

Command Room

"Good morning..." Toon Link said grogily extending his arms a little bit.

"What are you doing here?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Master Hand wanted me for something so I came here and see what does he want." Toon Link explained.

"Okay, Toon Link, you said before that you knew 2 musicians, correct?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes, Medli and Makar, both can use instruments...wait, it's LINK!" Toon Link said angrily, but the hand seemed to ignore him.

"Chris, open the portal," Master Hand said simply, the World Traveler looked confused but opened the portal to Toon Link's world. "Now, Too-I mean, Link-san, I need you to go with those 2 and get them here."

"For what?" Toon Link stepping in front of the portal.

"Remember that those penguin things destroyed all the 258 tracks that we were going use in the stages? Well, I have a hunch that we're going to use them really soon and so we need the music to spice up the battles, battles here are not battles without some beautiful tracks to listen!"

"...I dunno if they're going to c-" Master Hand grabbed the small swordsman and threw him inside.

"Well, that takes care of that." Master Hand said chuckling.

Jigglypuff's ears perked up a little. "Oh! Can I sing and do some tracks as well? Pretty please, please, please?"

"Hmm...if your singing doesn't make anyone fall asleep, then yes."

Jigglypuff began to think. "That's...going to be hard, but..."

"You know, the Musician job has some hidden skills that affects some people, and in your case it could change your voice to get the right song correct."

"I-I can do that? Kupo?" Chris asked blinking surprised.

"Yep, that's another reason the job was expensive, but don't worry about tracks with voices, there aren't many."

"...Well, compose music is fun, kupo..."

Sonic yawned a little. "Are there any rock style music? 'Cuz I want to do some rockin' around this place, I'm good at the electric guitar."

Chris's right eye twitched. "(Oh, no, NO NO NO NO NO... Please, this can't be the Sonic from Sonic Underground, kupo!) S-Sonic-san, do you...have any brothers?"

Sonic made a confused look. "...None that I'm aware of, I'm glad that I don't have ones to begin with."

"Phew, kupo..."

30 minutes later...

"...How much until that guy gets here?" Sonic asked with crossed arms.

"Hey, it's hard to navigate through the ocean." Master Hand said.

"...O-ocean? T-the same ocean with water all around the distance?!"

"Sonic-san, you seem freaked out." Pichu said.

"It's because Sonic-san hates water so much that he wants to stay away from it, kupo." Chris said.

"Y-yeah, I-I mean, it's just a bunch of water in a big place where there's no land...u-ugh..." Sonic shuddered embracing himself.

"Coming!" Toon Link said walking out the portal with 2 familiar figures before it closed. "Sorry, but I had to travel in the ocean in order to get Makar." Toon Link said as Sonic shuddered even more.

The 2 figures were Medli, the Rito and Makar, one of the children of Forest Haven, the Koroks.

"H-hi," Medli said with a polite bow, her harp behind her back. "M-my name is Medli and...I'd like to make music to your hearts contents so...please, be kind to me." Medli said blushing a little.

"Hello!" Makar said carrying his leaf violin. "I'm Makar, and I'd also like to make music together with many other people as well, I'll give it my all just for you!"

"Don't worry Master Hand," Toon Link said. "They're used to see monsters so, they won't fear anyone here, or you."

"Well, that's great," Master Hand said. "Welcome to the Smash Mansion you 2, I hope Link explained everything to you."

Medli nodded. "Y-yes, he did, I was training with my harp on the island when he suddenly appeared, I really got happy after so much time it passed...and I got even happier when he was looking for a talented musician..." Medli looked down blushing. "A-and I accepted his request after saying good bye to the tribe...but Prince Komali looked kind of sad, but he will be fine, I trust him."

"And I was just playing below the waterfall when he came in, so why not making music with other musicians as well?" Makar stated simply with a chuckle.

"Ahem, Chris," Master Hand began. "We still need more musicians, and I'd like to have more around here in order to get all the tracks together."

Medli looked at the creature that Master Hand was looking. "...You're...Chris?"

Chris blushed and nodded. "Um...yes...long story, kupo..."

"Oh...then I hope you get back to your normal form soon...at least that is what I think..."

"No no no no, I can return to my normal form whenever I want, don't worry, kupo."

At that moment, the Ice Climbers came to the room and looked at them. "There are new guests here?" Nana asked.

"They're our first 2 musicians to get all the tracks, the 258 tracks that ETNA'S SERVANTS DESTROYED!" Master Hand yelled annoyed.

"I told you, it was an accident!" Etna yelled from her room.

"Dood!" All the Prinnys yelled before they fell asleep.

"258?" Medli and Makar repeated shocked.

"That is going to be the hardest work to complete!" Makar said.

"I agree...258 songs? That is a little way too much..." Medli wondered.

"Oh, did you buy any of that credit card's guy credit cards?" Popo asked.

"...We didn't, kupo." Chris said sweatdropping.

Nana frowned. "Seriously, that guy went on and on about something about his memory being lost and all that, but who's going to bother with him?"

"His memory got erased?!" Sonic asked shocked.

"...Er...that isn't that shocking, he probably just hit his head with a brick, you know, he even looks like he came out from some sort of cartoon, how creepy..."

"More music, less talk, more rooms, less words, more singing prowess, less credit cards, chop-chop!" Master Hand said.

Music Room

Music stops

Makar flew around the room as Medli walked to any part she could walk to, both of them were amazed of the space of the room that they got interested about working in such place only for music.

"My...this room is beautiful..." Medli said astonished as Master Hand laughed heartily.

"Aw, you're making blush, anyway, welcome to the music room, where the music shall be born with the most talented musicians of all times!" Master Hand greeted as some trumpets were heard in the background.

Toon Link looked at Popo holding a trumpet. "...You play the trumpet?"

"Meh, only in my free time." Popo said throwing the trumpet away.

"Now, I know this is kind of rushed but...I want to hear any kind of song or music today," Master Hand requested. "Since everyone is still sleeping, and I consider that rather offensive personally, I want to have a good music for this morning, would you please musicians do something like that?"

Medli grabbed her harp. "Maybe, I mean, I just got here and...I want to see an example if you don't mind..."

Makar flew and landed above Toon Link's head. "Yes, I want to see an example as well if that's alright with you!"

"Chris? Would you?" Master Hand asked as Chris sighed (in relief) and changed to his Musician job.

Medli blinked surprised. "Wow, you grew up!"

"...Master-sama, I want you to explain everything to them later, I don't want to explain something." Chris said with a bored look.

10 minutes later...

Chris, Popo, Nana, Jigglypuff and Sonic were behind the curtains, planning what to do for a song.

"Okay, let's see... I think this song should be enough to amaze the audience out there." Chris said handing some papers to Jigglypuff and Nana.

Sonic was fixing his electric guitar a little bit. "Yeah, let's rock on! This guitar wants to sound so hard right now!"

"Wow, he's pumped up already." Jigglypuff remarked.

Chris called an electric piano to make stylizing sounds. "Let's see again, are you okay with the arrangements?"

"So Nana and myself will sing this song?"

"Yes, Zelda wanted to stay out for this time."

"Ugh, I hope everything goes well..." Nana said.

"Wait, you asked Zelda? When?" Jigglypuff asked.

Chris made a bored look. "Hey, I do some things when nobody is looking...of course, they're not bad, so don't think sick things!"

"...You better say the truth." Nana said narrowing her eyes.

Popo made a solo with his drums. "Just how many instruments have you used before, Popo-san?" Chris asked.

"My brother does everything, heck, I don't even know what he does alone." Nana said sweatdropping.

"I play the drums, the trumpet, everything, just name it!" Popo said continuing on his solo, which was ACTUALLY really professional for someone like him.

"...Er...wow, so many here hide many things..." Chris wondered as the curtains opened, only Master Hand, Makar, Toon Link and Medli were sitting there on the chairs. "Um...hello everyone! We just came up with a song so...please enjoy it, Sonic, you start."

"Alright!" Sonic said lifting his right hand above him with a smirk, Chris prepared his fingers to play the electric piano and Popo stopped to go along, Nana and Jigglypuff were standing on the center with a microphone for both of them.

Persona 4 - Reach Out To The Truth -First Battle-

Master Hand began to hear the first beats of the music. "Hmm... Not bad..."

Chris looked to Sonic as he played his instrument. "Wow, Sonic keeps amazing me...or is it the room or my job that inspires them to do their part?"

Popo began to play once the song did 2 parts the same time again, it was beginning to get even enthusiastic over time as Nana and Jigglypuff prepared to sing.

Yeah, naked truuuth lies, only if you realize
Appearing in nobody's eyes, till they sterilize
Stop the guerrilla, warfare to keep it fair
Bro, change your rage to a smaaarter greater cause
You know the stake is high-star-dom is near
Those who sympathized, you die killers pass by
Do not waste your time in hating flirting guys
Use your might to AIs do justice to them all

Now I, face out
I hold out
I reach out to the truuuth of-my-life
Seeking to seize, on the whole moment to nooow, breeeak awaaaay!

Oh God let me out
Can you let me out
Can you set me free from thiiiis dark inneeer world save me, now last beat in the soooouuuul...

Chris's jaw dropped surprisingly after hearing the lyrics coming out from both girls. "What the heck?! T-their voices changed drastically!"

"Oh yeah! They got the talent for this!" Sonic said ignoring the effects as he rocked on the stage with Popo.

Medli was meanwhile getting happy at such performance that she began to clap. "Oh! So this is how it's done then? It's so fun!"

"I just can't wait to perform on the stage!" Makar said trying to hold his urges to play the violin.

A Prinny happened to pass by the music room and stopped on his trails once he saw the made-up band. "Dood! They're playing another song, c'mere everyone, doooood!"

The room began to fill up by all the Prinnies as they all cheered loudly at the band like the last time, it was crowded before Master Hand knew it. "Man, don't these guys stop multiplying?" Master Hand asked suddering as he returned to watch the band.

"That's it, I want to be the master of ceremonies and conduct the music here!" Toon Link said taking out his Wind Waker.

They didn't notice that some of the Smashers woke up and stood by the door, the music got so far to almost all the mansion by this time.

"Prepare, we have the grand finale coming, so don't screw up or else!" Chris reminded them as they nodded and went to the second part.

Yeah, naked truuuth lies, only if you realize
Appearing in nobody's eyes, till they sterilize
Stop the guerrilla, warfare to keep it fair
Bro, change your rage to a smaaarter greater cause
You know the stake is high-star-dom is near
Those who sympathized, you die killers pass by
Do not waste your time in hating flirting guys
Use your might to AIs do justice to them all

Now I, face out
I hold out
I reach out to the truuuth of-my-life
Seeking to seize, on the whole moment to nooow, breeeak awaaaay!

Oh God let me out
Can you let me out
Can you set me free from thiiiis dark inneeer world save me, now last beat in the soooouuuul...

"The final part is coming, Sonic, prepare to do your thing!" Chris yelled as Sonic gave him a thumbs up with a grin.

"They do music in here?" Link asked.

"Yes, last time it was a beautiful music..." Zelda said remembering the last time she played on the stage.

"Now!" Chris yelled.

Persona 4 - Reach Out To The Truth -Instrumental Version-

Sonic grinned and began to change the sound of his guitar with style as the crowd cheered even louder than before that lights of different colors began to shoot everywhere at each sound his instrument made, even Chris and Popo began to play louder than before while the 2 girls waited to sing once again, for the last time.

"Yeah, rock music, about time." C. Falcon said grinning as he leaned to the wall.

"I kind of like calmer music, but I think it's fine." Pit said smiling a little (not noticing that his right foot began to tap slightly).

"Well, they do play good so..." Olimar trailed off.

"Shh, they're going to sing again!" Pikachu whispered angrily.

"We know!" Squirtle whispered angrily.

Yeah, naked truuuth lies, only if you realize
Appearing in nobody's eyes, till they sterilize
Stop the guerrilla, warfare to keep it fair
Bro, change your rage to a smaaarter greater cause
You know the stake is high-star-dom is near
Those who sympathized, you die killers pass by
Do not waste your time in hating flirting guys
Use your might to AIs do justice to them all

Sonic began to jump and rocked on with style together with the others, the crowd continued to cheer nevertheless at the loud music that made them extremely pleased.

"Yes, yes! This is the true magic of the music room, just imagine all the tracks you'll make in here!" Master Hand said wiping out a tear. "It's...just so...amazing...sniff..."

"Yes... I can imagine such a thing..." Medli said as her eyes glittered.

"This is just too much! I DO want to make such plays all the time!" Makar said enthusiastically.

Chris blinked as he looked at the crowd that appeared out of nowhere, a small smile formed on his face. "Everything's working fine, keep on going, please!"

"Rock on!" Sonic yelled getting even wilder than before as the group smiled to each other (grinned in Sonic's case) as they reached the last part of the song.

"I've never used this kind of voice before, it's so good!" Jigglypuff yelled to Nana.

"Now let's see if Peach can beat us next time!" Nana said with an evily grin.

"...Oh god..." Chris muttered facepalming himself.

"YEEEEEEEEAAHHHHH!!!" Popo yelled crazily together with the crowd as he moved back and forth his head.

"You need to see a doctor, seriously and urgently!" Nana yelled angrily.

The group then reached the last part, the Prinnys began to cheer loudly as the lights came back on and applauded at the group who bowed politely at them, well, everyone except Sonic who made a sign peace, some of the Prinnys even held up signs with his name.

Music stops

"MORE, DOOD! MORE, DOOD! MORE, DOOD! MORE, DOOD!" The Prinnys yelled loudly with happy expressions as flowers began to be thrown at the stage, beginning to grow in a big pile of flowers.

"They love me... THEY LOVE ME!" Jigglypuff yelled loudly as she dove into the roses. "OWW!" Jigglypuff yelled in pain because she forgot the roses had thorns on them, her band even chuckled at this.

On a side note, Chris's Understanding went up.

Living Room

Some of the Smashers, along with the teamband, were enjoying a talk in the living room after the concert ended, a last Prinny help up a Nana's autograph in triumph as he walked away, humming happily.

Toon Link wasn't there because Master Hand told him to show Medli and Makar their rooms to stay in, even the hand had to go back to his room and take care of his brother...shocking, isn't it?

"You 5 were great out there, man, Sonic, I didn't know you rocked that hard before." C. Falcon said handshaking Sonic.

"Heh, just learn from the pro." Sonic said with a smirk and a nod.

"His ego just went up higher."
"(Won't he stop showing off?)"
"Was I good?"
"That was really fun."

"(Won't he stop showing off?)" Chris thought with a bored look.

"Was that music?" Ike asked. "The music I know was supposed to be more peaceful, you know, with girls singing an oath or something."

"Dude, you're far behind in the modern era, you need to keep on track of the last trends." Pikachu said.

"Otherwise everyone will make weird looks at you." Zelda said taking a sip of her tea.

"...Is that so? Well, hopefully I have Marth and Roy to show me that." Ike said crossing his arms.

"Good luck catching on."
"You're pretty far actually..."
"Ike is the modern man."
"Just...don't destroy machines."

"Just...don't destroy machines," Chris said with a worried look. "Zelda told me that you destroyed 2 computers when they sounded."

Ike sweatdropped. "Well, what I was supposed to do? They startled me!"

"Oh man..." Sonic said frowning as they heard the doorbell ringing.

"No! Don't go, that credit card guy could be still there!" Popo warned C. Falcon.

The captain just walked away. "Tsk, credit card guy, yeah sure, there isn't any company trying to sell anything in this weather anyway..."

As the captain left, Pikachu wondered why Popo called him Pikachu-san that Chris explained the details to the group.

Main Lobby

The doorbell kept ringing and ringing as C. Falcon walked even faster. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Geez, just give me time and open the door!" C. Falcon said with a frown as he opened the door. "Good, now, how can I...help...you..."

"Excuse me, but have you seen an old man in a purple coat, with a laidback and lazy attitude?"

C. Falcon's eyes widened after he saw, or thought when he saw the most sexiest person in the universe besides Samus, at least he thought, standing in front of the door.

"..." C. Falcon was left speechless.

It was Judith it you weren't wondering, the Krytia just smiled and tilted her head a little to the right as she put a finger on her chin. "Um...have you met somebody like him?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I..." C. Falcon was left speechless, staring at a certain part of Judith's body.

Of course, Judith liked to seduce people, just because she found it rather amusing instead of offensive.

"Hmm... You don't seem to remember, do you?" Judith asked.

"I... I do..." C. Falcon said gulping.

"Well..." Judith put her hands behind her back and got closer to the captain. "I'll be happy if you tell me where is Raven, I'm sure you know him well, right?"

"Y-yes..." C. Falcon said.

Toon Link's Room

"AAAAAH!!!" Raven got up (slammed his head on the bed since he was still resting below) and crawled out the bed in desperation. "Oh no, oh no, OH NO! Somebody, I know it, somebody revealed my location here, oh man, poor ol' me! I'm so dead in Rita's hands!"

"Hello?" Estelle's voice came from the hall and Raven did the unthinkable as he gulped worried.

"...Fine...a man should do the unthinkable to save his sorry butt..." Raven said with a serious face, turned his back, stared at the window and then...

CRASH!

He jumped out from the building by jumping outside, breaking the mirror in the process as he was heard screaming in pain as he landed outside, because he just jumped from the 5th floor.

"Hello?!" Estelle called out entering the room, where she found the window broken, the princess gasped in horror and ran to the window to stare down, but she found nothing, only snow with the image of Raven's body that it quickly got covered. "This is strange... I could've sworn I heard Raven screaming...but that image on the snow...no, I-I must be overreacting..." Estelle muttered to herself as she walked away with a depressed look.

Main Lobby

Moments before, Judith managed to hear a familiar scream from behind the mansion, then she smiled and stood up normally. "Well, I think I have to go now."

"W-wait!" C. Falcon grabbed her hand. "P-please, you mustn't stay out there in the cold, I mean, your skin is probably so delicated and could be ruined, you don't want that, right?"

Judith blushed a little, chuckled and got her hand back slowly. "Sorry, but I really need to go, so, good bye and thank you." Judith said waving to the captain as she walked away to the back of the mansion.

"...Dammit!" C. Falcon punched the wall. "I lost my chance to score with that hot girl an-"

"Hello there!" Chip appeared from above the wall and greeted C. Falcon. "Sorry for interrupting sir, but I-"

"WE DON'T ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS!" C. Falcon yelled angrily as he...

SLAM!

...Slammed the door on Chip.

"Maybe I should wear a costume and get help out of them..." Chip wondered as he flew away.

Garden (frozen and covered in snow)

We see Raven still screaming in pain under the snow, it managed to spread out through the backside of the mansion that he woke up some of the Smashers.

"Would you please shut up, dammit?!" Wolf yelled from a floor as he stared down at the snow with a glare. "I'm trying to sleep in this horrible weather, for crying out loud!" Wolf spat out with a snarl as he slammed the door of the window and returned back to his bed.

...Though it was 1:48 PM by that time.

"...Hello, Raven..." Judith said staring down at the snow, the old man's head got out quickly and spat snow out.

"...Oh...hell no..." Raven muttered as he looked up to Judith...but after thinking things, it wasn't so bad to look at Judith from below as Raven blushed with a perverted chuckle. "Hi there, Judith, missed ol' me?"

Judith chuckled as she helped Raven get up. "C'mon, everyone's worried about you, we need to go back to Dahngrest an-"

Raven remembered something very important and dangerous...her, the genius mage... "NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA RETURN! I DON'T WANNA, DON'T MAKE ME JUDITH HONEY!"

SLAP!

"Oww!" Raven rubbed his cheek.

Judith chuckled heartily. "Please, even Rita's missing you, it's not the same without you."

Raven pouted a little, crossed his arms and turned his back to Judith. "No, no, no, I'm not gonna go back and get good ol' me killed by crazy girl Rita, no way, NOOOOOO WAY."

"But is she even going to do that?" Judith wondered out loud.

"Remember that she's still pissed about the last time I saw her?"

"...Oh, right, now that I remember, she's been thinking ways to murder you during the night...slowly and painfully in her dreams, and she seemed to have fun saying that overused catchprase she uses frecuently to cast her spells very quickly."

Raven gulped as he began to sweat, despite the snow falling around them. "...No! Staying in this mansion has been the heaven I wanted to have, the guys there are the most incredible people to live with, instead of getting my freakin' (BEEP!) crushed by Rita's meteors!"

"Hey, Geno! What is an (beep!)?" Twink's voice was heard somewhere around the mansion as Geno's voice groaned out loud.

"Well, you do have a point there, she's very easy to get angry..." Judith said snapping her fingers. "I know, you can stay here a little more, but, it's not going to be late before she comes here by herself...then you're pretty much dead."

Raven made a bored look and looked at her. "You like to make my life miserable, don't ya?"

Judith chuckled heartily. "In a few words...probably."

Raven cried toon tears. "Oh, by ta way, Estelle's livin' inside and lookin' for me as well."

Judith looked at the mansion. "Oh, then she's here as well..."

"And that Karol kid came not long ago too, but I dunno where he went, probably in the forest over there."

Judith began to wonder. "I see...well, I'll better look for Karol then, I don't think he's fine all alone anyway and who knows, maybe I can find Repede around here as well...so, see you, if you see Estelle, then it's over, your game I mean." Judith said with a smile as she walked away to the forest and disappeared.

Raven blinked for a moment before he let out a depressed sigh. "Man...things aren't going to turn out good... I have that feeling..." Raven said as he walked inside from the back door.

Hallway

We see Chris walking all alone towards Wolf's room, apparently, he wanted to spend the time with the lupine, the World Traveler opened the door and entered inside.

Wolf's Room

Persona 4 - Who's There?

"Go away." Wolf said harshly on his bed.

"But I..." Chris stammered looking down.

Wolf took out his Blaster and aimed it at Chris's head.

But what was Chris going to do now?

Hold position.
Scream and run away.
Fight him.
Dude, he's aiming at your head, you love your life, don't you?

Chris gulped and held up his position, his Courage went up.

"Oh, you're planning to stay there then?" Wolf aske raising an eyebrow as he sat on his bed.

"Y-yes, I want to spend the time with you." Chris said gulping.

"Too bad though," Wolf put his claw in front of him. "You're just wishing to be dead."

The tension was rising all of a sudden...

What was Chris going to do now?

Hold the position, even if he seems threatening.
Run away.
Scream and fight him.
Try to reason with him.

...Chris gulped and held his position, his Courage went up again.

"...Hmph," Wolf grinned and crossed his arms. "You held your position even if I was threatening you, kid, I admit it...you do have guts to confront me."

Music stops

"Phew..." Chris sighed in relief.

"...However, I hate people who barge in and wake me up, I was awaken once but twice it's irritating...so...you know what am I going to do now?" Wolf asked smirking as he put his claw in front of him again.

"...Uh-oh..."

Sorry, we don't have many more options for you.

"(WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE OTHER OPTIONS?!)" Chris thought desperately as Wolf got closer to him with his smirk on his face.

"Before I slash you down," Wolf's smirk grew wider. "Come back here when I'm NOT sleeping, got it?"

"...Y-ye-"

Fox's Room

And Chris thus walked all the way to Fox's Room, several scars on his cheeks, his clothing a little bit ripped apart and his right eye black, very black to add to his badly beaten self.

THUD!

Chris just fainted above Fox's bed, the vulpine yawned out loud, got up with a bored look and stared down at Chris, who was laying close to him.

"...Let me guess, Wolf did this to you..." Fox said with a bored look as he yawned again.

"...Yeeeees..." Chris responded weakly as Fox sighed.

"Chris, the only way you'll get close to him is by being dead, nobody has ever befriended that bastard, not even Leon or Panther and never will for that matter." Fox explained crossing his arms.

"But I want to make a differenceeeeee..." Chris sobbed silently.

"...Then why did you come here?"

"Because you're the only person that knows Wolf very weeeeeell..."

Fox looked to another direction and frowned. "...Well... I don't have any tips so...sorry..."

"It's okaaaaay..."

"...Come on now," Fox patted Chris's back. "Cheer up, if that's what you want, just keep going."

"...Thank yooooouu..." Chris looked up (and Fox got surprised that his eye was very black). "That cheers me up when you say it, thank you...hey, is that medicine over there?" Chris asked pointing at a medicine close to Fox, above a table...for the eyes.

Fox blushed a little and closed his eyes with an annoyed expression. "...Let's just say I was actually sick in the eye and Diddy didn't do anything after all with his damn gun with peanu-" Fox began to hear chuckles coming from Chris and the vulpine grinned down at him. "...Don't make me punch you, I warn you."

Hold position.
Laugh at him and hold your position.
Laugh out loud and hold your position.

Chris held his position and broke out laughing, his Courage went up agai-

PUNCH!

Hallway

"You better listen to me next time or it'll be worse, got it?!" Fox yelled annoyed from his door as Chris walked out, now both of his eyes were black because of his actions as he slammed the door angrily.

Chris cried toon tears. "Now how am I going to get closer to that freaking wolf?!"

"Just give up on that!" Fox yelled.

"Oh, you shut u-" Chris remembered something important the moment he was going to finish that word and blocked his mouth in shock.

"You'll have to be careful with your mouth Chriiiiiiis... Or else they will hate yooooooouuuuuuu...." Kawashima's voice echoed in Chris's mind.

"...Professor, I know that didn't ring in my mind at all." Chris said with a frown as his pocket trembled a little.

"Oh, I'm bad at faking thoughts then..." Kawashima sighed. "Anyway, be careful Chris."

"What were you going to say?" Fox asked making an angry expression.

Chris could have sworn that some fists were being cracked and footsteps were heard coming from Fox's room...

Make a fast apology.
Beg for forgiveness.
Spend time with Fox.
Call Lucario and order him to kill Fox.
Number 1, 2 and 3 all together, after all, he can kick your sorry (beep!) anytime.

"I'M SO SORRY FOX-SENPAI!" Chris said bowing at the door quickly. "S-sorry for insulting you, and for everything, but please, I'm begging you, don't kill me, anything but the death it's fi-ine!!!"

Yoshi (wearing a fur coat by the weather) happened to be walking close, down the hall and looked down to Chris. "...Are you feeling well?"

"NO-OOOOOO!!!" Chris yelled as his face was on the floor.

"...Okay..." Yoshi said looking back at Chris as he walked away.

The judgement day came to Chris, the door in front of him opened up and he prepared to...

Say an apology again.
Hug Fox and cry.
Run away and scream.
Call him Fox-sensei instead.

"...Fox-senpai?" Fox asked confused as he looked down the World Traveler.

"U-um..." Chris cleared out his toon tears. "Y-yes, i-it addresses senior or mentor figures, yo-you're a senior and mentor, p-practically both things...SO PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, FOX-SENPAI!"

"...But why would I?" Fox asked raising an eyebrow. "I'd never do such a thi-"

This time, Snake came walking down the hall and looked down at Chris is his somewhat embarrassing position. "Kid, have you gotten any dignity left in you?" Snake asked.

Chris looked back and forth between the soldier and the vulpine before he quickly stood up and coughed a little. "Er, sorry for being like that, I was feeling an emotional breakdown just now." Chris said trying to sound smart.

"Tsk, really, I even wonder myself "Is this kid even worth it?" many times." Snake said with a frown as Chris gasped a little.

"W-well... I..." Chris couldn't find the words that he...

Remain silent.
Find something else to argue back.
Wait for someone to do something for you.
Sob.

"Okay, that's enough," Fox said crossing his arms as he stepped up in front of Chris and Snake. "In my point of view, he's worth it, no, he's more than being worth it, you can't judge him after all, he likes to be that way with everyone here and I don't have any problems with his attitude."

"(...I can't believe how happy am I right now...)" Chris said with a relieved happy expression.

"Like a furry is going to tell me "its" opinion." Snake taunted as Chris could have sworn a red toon vein popped out from Fox' forehead.

"(...Uh-oh...)"

Fox made his right hand a fist and grinned at Snake. "Oh, so I'm an "it" and a "furry" for you?"

"Yeah, pretty much both things." Snake said harshly.

"F-Fox-senpai, please don't fight him." Chris said worried as Fox looked to him with a smile over his shoulder.

"Nah, I won't do that, besides, I don't feel like fighting against hi-" Fox was interrupted.

"The furry is a pussy then?" Snake muttered with a snicker.

"THAT'S IT!" Fox yelled furiously as he lunged at Snake and both began a fist fight in the hall, now, the only thing Chris could do, after watching Fox biting Snake's right hand while Snake elbowed Fox's neck was...

Stop them.
Cheer on Fox.
Cheer on Snake.
Better yet, call Pikachu and his camera.

"PIKACHU! HEY PIKACHU!" Chris yelled loudly. "COME OVER HERE, YOU HAVE TO RECORD THIS!"

Pikachu, conveniently, appeared from the hall (wearing a small red fur coat) and looked to Chris. "What is it?... Oh, alright! Senior men fighting each other!" Pikachu said taking out his camera. "Oh yes, this is so going to the internet! Chris, I need back-up, say something that'd raise epicness!"

"R-right!" Chris said nodding. "Oh my god! Snake did that move on Fox? Wow! Fox made a comeback!"

"Yes! Just like that!" Pikachu said chuckling as both watched the fist fight.

"Pss!" Kawashima called out. "Good job, it seems you managed to get Fox's partnership level to its maximum, and Snake's went a little up as well!"

"Shut up! I'm trying to watch this!" Chris yelled excited.

"...Oh dear..." Kawashima said sweatdropping.

Chris's Expression went up after this event.

Lucario's Room

After watching the fight (that was still going on), Chris decided to see Lucario and if he was awake, but when he got in the room, there was Lucario laughing together with Flonne.

"Did I...just walk into a private conversation?" Chris asked confused and both looked at him.

"Oh, sorry, but I must be going now, bye Lucario!" Flonne said laughing heartily as she walked away from the room.

"Lucario-san, did you were having a conversation with her?"

Lucario smiled a little and nodded. "Yes, she cheered me up when you were...you know..."

Chris looked down. "...I see... I have to thank her sometime."

"And did you use a foreign term now?"

Chris blinked surprised and looked at Lucario. "H-how did you know?"

"Pichu came here and called me Lucario-senpai, and I asked him why did he say that and explained everything about foreign terms so..." Lucario looked away as he blushed. "...D-do I have to call you Chris-sama?"

Chris blushed embarrassed. "N-no! Please, no! That also means master but I-I don't want to be called like that!"

"Then how about Chris-senpai?"

"...J-just call me Chris-san, please..."

Lucario looked down disappointed. "I see... I was looking forward to use the term -sama with you... But if that's what you want..."

"B-by the way Lucario..."

"Yes?" Lucario said looking up.

Chris changed to his Aura Apprentice job. "I want to have the aura training again and I was wondering if we could do it outside..."

Lucario blinked for some moments before he smiled a little. "Of course, you still haven't mastered the Aura Sphere, I'll be glad to teach you agai-"

Chris quickly hugged Lucario. "Thank you, Lucario! I want to do something productive after Wolf and Fox punched me toda-"

Lucario started to growl menacingly. "...They did what to you?!"

Chris noticed that Lucario's aura was covering his whole body. "N-nothing! P-please, forget about that and let's go outside, ASAP if it is possible!"

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Cry.
Remind him about his rage problems.
Hug him tightlier.
You're not going to get back at those 2?

"Lucario!" Chris stopped hugging Lucario and looked worried to him. "I-I can't believe your rage is..."

Lucario gasped and his aura disappeared. "...Sorry...please forgive me..."

"..." Chris rubbed Lucario's head a little and the Aura Pokémon growled happily. "...It's okay... Someday you'll control it, I know that..."

"...Thanks..." Lucario muttered.

Outside

Persona 4 - New Days

The weather was peaceful as both aura holders were meditating above rocks, above the snow, Chris had to wear something warm but Lucario could resist the cold very well by himself, both of them were glowing with aura energy.

A time passed after a while before Lucario stood up. "Congratulations."

Chris opened his eyes and looked at him. "I-I did it?"

Lucario shook his head. "No, you completed the meditation, but now you need to hone your attacks as well, wait here please." Lucario said walking away to the young Smashers, they were playing the Extreme Snowball Fight that they mentioned yesterday.

"...I don't like where this is going..." Chris muttered worried.

10 minutes later...

There was huge pyramid of snowballs in front of Chris, who was standing various meters away from Ness, Lucas, Popo, Nana, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff, while Kirby was sitting on the top. "...Lucario, I don't like where you want me to get at..."

Lucario was standing besides Chris with crossed arms. "Be prepared, I told them to shoot all the snowballs you see there, you have to use Force Palm on every snowball, be careful, you must concentrate your aura even stronger because they could put some kind of extra attribute on them."

"W-what kind of extra attribute is that?" Chris asked as Ness threw a snowball in the air and used PK Thunder on it, it went down with electricity and it got in pieces once it collided with the ground. "...O-oh...that..."

"Begin." Lucario stated with a nod.

"W-wait!" Chris yelled as all the young Smashers began to shoot the snowballs at him, either Ness or Lucas infused their snowballs with electricity or Popo or Nana would put an ice shard on their snowballs, Jigglypuff and Kirby were the only ones who didn't add any effect to the snowballs while Pikachu and Pichu gave more electricity than both PK kids.

Chris noticed that the speed was going up after every second and he began to sweat, slamming all the snowballs he could hit.

"Chris, you're getting hit by almost all of them." Lucario said as Chris was shown running everywhere.

"H-how am I suppose to hit all of them in time?! I don't know Extremespeed like you d-OWW!" Chris was hit by an electrocuted snowball from Pikachu.

"Hey, we around here don't like pussies, act like one and be killed." Pikachu warned Chris with a smirk.

"S-shut up you! OWW! They're all ganging up on me!" Chris yelled.

"Resist all of them, endure the hits and destroy the snowballs." Lucario said simply.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Chris yelled loudly in utter annoyance...and pain.

Main Lobby

Various hours later...

It was hell for Chris, he couldn't enjoy this day at the fullest and now, he was partially attacked all the time, even Lucario didn't help as his trainer was all bruised.

"Well, we end the training for today, congratulations, if you keep on like this, it's not going to be late before you learn how to use Aura Sphere." Lucario said.

"It's easier said than done..." Chris said crying toon tears. "...I can't believe it's already evening, isn't there anything interesting to do here?"

Lucario looked away. "...Don't tell anyone but... I heard many are going to a bar from Flonne tonight so..."

"...Wait, hold on there, HOLD ON THERE..." Chris said shocked. "There's a bar in here?!"

"A-apparently so..." Lucario said closing his eyes.

Chris wasn't the kind of people who liked drunk people, he hated drunk people so much that he wished that they should be dead with shame upon drinking that horrible water.

"Oh no, no! I'm not going to let everyone here get drunk, let alone Lucas!... The bar doesn't accept kids, right?"

"It's open for all the public..." Lucario pointed out.

"...Lucario, get prepared, I'm going to do justice around here and close that pointless, worthless place, once and for all!"

"Chris, you just knew about the place and you're saying once and for all?" Lucario questioned as Chris walked away with him.

"Sorry, but I hate that kind of people and you know it!"

"Yes, I know that very well."

Bar

Persona 3 FES - Opening

It was the bar, just as Chris thought it would look like, it was big, long enough to hold all the Smashers, mostly everyone was there drinking but oddly enough, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, in fact, everyone was sober and nobody was drunk.

"Just as I thought, music that I remember from a game, looks like it's a little dark, red couches around with tables and drinks, yes, this is a bar!" Chris said angrily as he walked inside.

"...Should I go with him?" Lucario asked to himself, looking around. "...Flonne-chan wanted to see me in her room so...he'll be fine, nobody will attack him here." Lucario said as he walked away.

"Hey there!" Roy called from a table. "Chris-san, what are you doing here?"

The fad about the foreign terms spreaded around that now everyone knew about it.

"I'm here to stop everyone here from drinking alcohol!" Chris stated as Roy laughed heartily.

"Relax, nobody's drinking alcohol, in fact, these are just normal drinks as sodas or juice." Roy explained giving Chris what looked to be a normal-looking juice.

Chris drank the juice and he thought for a second. "Hmm...well, it is juice..."

"Come on, sit here and enjoy the music." Roy said as Chris sat besides him.

"It's just weird...why is this a bar even if there isn't any beer?"

"Because we don't want to remember what happened last time." Marth said appearing, holding a can of soda.

"What happened the last time?" Chris asked curiously.

"C. Falcon poured beer in all the drinks, even the juice and everyone went nuts after that, there was an o(beep!) in here so..n-nevermind that, forget that please." Roy explained, blushing embarrassed.

"Yes, I expected that from him."
"That bastard must die in oblivion...wait, an o(beep!)?!"
"Really?"
"Oh god..."

"Oh god..." Chris said frowning.

"Luckily, Master Hand banned the beer from here so, there's nothing to worry about." Marth said reassuring Chris.

"Thank goodness, I hate drunk people so much."

Link came from another part and chuckled. "Yeah, we don't want that happening again...oh yes, don't think I love beer, I hate it ever since that o-"

"Dude, we don't want to remember that, stop it!" Roy said shocked.

"Hey guys..." Ike came behind Marth. "This is a party? I thought they were much...peaceful than this."

Roy stood up. "You'll get used to this, it's fun because the music, the talks, th-"

It was not long before Popo appeared behind the couch and yelled loudly: "KING'S GAAAAAAMEEEEEE!!! EVERYONE, GATHER UP AND LET'S PLAY A GAME!"

C. Falcon came from somewhere and grinned. "Oh yeah! Let's play the King's Game! EVERYONE SIT IN THIS COUCH AND LET'S PLAY!!!"

"..." Chris made a confused look. "Are Popo-san and C. Falcon-senpai drunk?"

Marth blinked confused. "...But I thought the beers wer-"

"C'MON EVERYONE! LET'S PLAY!" Popo yelled loudly as everyone looked to each other confused.

10 minutes later...

In order from left to right, Chris, Marth, Roy, Ike, Link, Zelda, Popo, Nana, Toon Link (left Medli and Makar int the music room), Pikachu, Pichu, Fox, Yoshi, Sonic, Kirby, Jigglypuff, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur (surprisingly), DK, Diddy Kong, Olimar, Ness, Lucas, C. Falcon, Wolf, Pit, Mallow and surprisingly Snake were sitting in a circle-shaped couch, most of them were wondering what was the King's Game.

"Here!" Popo proclaimed as he came to the table on the center, putting down a cup with 30 chopsticks. "Now we can begin the's game!" Popo said stupidly due to his drunkness.

"...What is the King's Game?" Pit asked.

"Okay, see the chopsticks?" C. Falcon asked hiccuping. "The chopsticks have numbers on 'em, but one of them is red, if anybody here gets the chopstick with the red color, that person will be the King."

"And that King needs to give crazy orders to the ones holding the numbers, it must be crazy and there're no turning back for the one that the King orders to do!" Popo said chuckling stupidly. "But which person has which number is a secret until the King gives the orders, heheheheheheheh, he needs to give orders to the person with the same number he or she mentions!"

Lucas's jaw dropped a little. "I-i-is it that kind of game?"

"C'mon! Everyone draw!" Popo yelled grabbing a chopstick, everyone looked worried to each other and wondered why did they agree to play.

After a while, they all sat back.

"Okay, so...who's the King?!" C. Falcon asked and Diddy Kong got up.

And we forgot to mention, Diddy was drunk as well.

"Diddy's is red, REEEEED!!! Is Diddy the King?!" Diddy asked excited as DK blinked surprised at his overly happy behavior.

"We're doomed, somehow, I know we're doomed..." Fox said frowning.

"I! The King! Command thee to smooch me without delay!" Diddy yelled as everyone got shocked expressions. "Smoooooooooooch Diddy!"

"W-wait, smooch?!" Nana asked horrified.

"Please ape god, grant me Zelda-chan!" Diddy hopped as the princess hid behind Link, however, something was odd with Link as well... "Numbeeeeer 6!"

"DAAAAAH!" Squirtle jumped shocked once he remembered that he was number 6.

Diddy looked at the turtle and gasped. "...I meant number 18!" Diddy said shocked.

"Hey, you already said there's no turning back!" Red yelled pointing an accusing finger to Popo, who hiccuped as a response.

"Smooch! Smoooooooch!" Jigglypuff (also drunk as well) said waving her hands above her, Squirtle looked freaked out as Diddy stared at him.

"Oh, Squirtle-kun! So you were after my furry fur!" Diddy said making a childish smile, which caused Squirtle to back off scared. "Oooookaaaaayyy... But this is my first time... Beeee gentleeeeee!"

"W-wait!" Squirtle tried to get away from Diddy, but the chimpanzee moved his fingers weirdly and lunged at Squirtle, both of them went behind the couch and some of them looked behind.

"SQUIRTLE!" Red yelled worried as C. Falcon prevent him from calling his Pokémon.

"Aaaah! Quit that! DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU, DAMMIT!" Squirtle yelled from behind the couch they were sitting on. "AAAAH!!! NOOOOO!!! HEEEEELP!"

There was a long and passionate smooch which made everyone gulp in horror.

"...There goes one of my Pokémon..." Red said sadly as Ivysaur patted his back with his vine.

"Aren't you his uncle?" Olimar asked sweating to DK.

"Um... I...rather not stop Diddy right now..." DK said shifting his eyes.

"(Please, PLEASE, I don't want to do something that daring!)" Chris pleaded in his mind.

Snake was shown snickering a little. "Heh, this is getting fun all of a sudden."

"H-how could you be enjoying this blasphemy?" Zelda asked.

"Hey, people have something to be interested in, live with it." Snake said taking out a cigar that he lighted up.

"Ohooooo! Only the first round and the 2 of 'em dropped out already!" Jigglypuff said hiccuping.

"W-wait, what do you mean first round?" Pichu asked.

"You don't know? The next King will be choosen once the last one made his dare, it's time for the next King to take the throne." C. Falcon explained.

"On to round 2!" Popo proclaimed happily as everyone decided to change their chopsticks, then they picked a different one this time.

Chris picked the last one, and it was red, meaning that he was the new King for his diismay.

"Who's the King?!" C. Falcon asked drunkily.

Chris raised his hand as he gulped, which made Pikachu sigh in relief. "Phew, finally someone who's not sick of the mind, no crazy orders this time." Pikachu said.

C. Falcon waved a finger. "That's not how it goes! If the last King demanded a smooch, the next dare gotta be even more extreme!"

"Pikachuuuuuu-kun, don't be such a party pooper, heheheheh, hic!" Jigglypuff said.

Mostly everyone got shocked looks except for some who were drunk.

"...Now I'm so worried..." Chris said looking at everyone.

"Link-san...are you feeling well?" Marth asked tapping Link's shoulder.

"...Hey, Link-san is acting a little weird." Roy said.

"I'm not acting weird..." Link said.

"Fortunately Link told me that he never drinks beer, right Link?"

"Yeah...right...hic!"

"...Oh my god..." Chris said astonished.

"Kiiiiing!" Popo called out. "You have to make the orders now, or we'll decide for you!"

"I-" Chris was interrupted.

"Oh! I know! The King should order the first one to rest his or head on his lap!" Popo said and everyone gasped.

"Oh, oh! I know a better one! The 2nd one should sit on his lap!" C. Falcon suggested.

"Oh! Or the 3rd should have to hug him!"

"Even better than that! The 4th one should have a piggyback ride!"

"The 5th should have his or her stomach rubbed by the King's fingers, slowly!"

"The 6th should hug completely the King with a kiss!"

"The 7th should sleep with the King!"

"The 8th should swap foods with the King...using the mouth!"

"The 9th should swap clothes with the King!"

"The 10th should rub his or her cheek with the King's!"

"The 11th should let his or her hair be combed by the King!"

"The 12th should say something very gay to the King!"

"The 13th should say something very embarrassing to the King!"

"The 14th should lick the King's face!"

"The 15th should slap the King's butt!"

"The 16th should be the King's chair!"

"The 17th should be the King's bed then!"

"The 18th should act like a baby in the King's lap!"

"The 19th should eat the King's saliva!"

"NOOOO!!!" Chris yelled once he realized all the dares that Popo and C. Falcon chose for him. "I DON'T WANT TO DO THOSE DARES! NEVER!"

Most of them nodded quickly in fear, however, at this point there were many drunk people for some reason...

"Nope!" Popo said with a dumb smile. "You need to do it, sorry but you didn't say anything!"

"...Oh no..." Chris muttered gulping.

"C'mon King! Who's gonna do what?!" C. Falcon asked as Chris remembered all the 19 dares...

"Number 1 shall rest on my lap."
"Number 2 shall sit on my lap."
"Number 3 shall hug me."
"Number 4 shall get a piggyback ride."
"Number 5 shall get his stomach rubbed by me."
"Number 6 shall get a complete hug with a kiss."
"Number 7 shall sleep with me."
"Number 8 shall swap foods using the mouth."
"Number 9 shall swap clothes with me."
"Number 10 shall get his or her cheek rubbed."
"Number 11 shall get the hair combed."
"Number 12 shall say something very gay."
"Number 13 shall say something very embarrassing."
"Number 14 shall lick my face."
"Number 15 shall slap my butt."
"Number 16 shall be my chair."
"Number 17 shall be my bed."
"Number 18 shall act like a baby on my lap."
"Number 19 shall eat my saliva."

"...H-here goes nothing..." Chris said gulping as he...

We know you want to see all the dares, so, you shall see all of them.

"Number 1 shall rest on my lap." Chris said as Jigglypuff blinked in happiness.

"YEEES! I'M NUMBER 1!!!" Jigglypuff yelled happily as she quickly flew to Chris and rested her head on his lap.

"J-Jiggly-chan?!" Chris asked shocked.

Jigglypuff giggled. "Hehehehe! Chris-san's lap feels really warm, it's so nice..." Jigglypuff said resting on Chris's lap, muttering the last part in relief.

Chris could only blush in embarrasment, but his Diligence went up...

However, let's see what should've happened if he chose the other options.

"Number 2 shall sit on my lap." Chris said as Nana gulped.

"N-number 2?! W-why it has to be me?!" Nana asked blushing embarrassed.

"The King's orders is..." C. Falcon trailed with a wink to Link, who nodded with a dumb smile.

"Absolute! Hahahahaha!" Link laughed crazily as the Smashers gave him odd stares.

"...I hate you, I hate all of you! I HATE EVERY DRUNK PERSON IN HERE!" Nana yelled angrily as she walked up to Chris and both stared at each other, the pink parka girl gulped embarrassed and sat on his lap, but she didn't sit closer to the World Traveler, who was blushing embarrassed as well.

"C'mon! You gotta sit closer up!" Popo said giving a wink.

"P-Popo, shut up and be quiet!" Nana yelled and she looked down embarrassed.

"...This is scarring for life, isn't it?" Chris asked with a bored look.

"It is..." Nana said as both sighed disappointed.

Chris felt that the partnership between him and Nana went up...

But what could have happened if he chose a different one?

"Number 3 shall hug me." Chris said, realizing what he just said was stupid as DK looked at his number.

"3?! Why it has to be me?!" DK asked.

"Go DK-senpai...go..." Diddy muttered behind the couch as the ape sighed, went to Chris and...gave him a big hug.

"...Please, don't think bad of me." DK whispered crying toon tears.

"As weird as this sounds while you, a gorilla, is hugging me, don't worry, I'm going to kill Popo-san and C. Falcon-senpai later." Chris said crying toon tears with DK.

"Heh." Snake and Wolf snickered at this part.

The parnertship level between Chris and DK went up that day...

...Or not.

"Number 4 shall get a piggyback ride...a piggyback ride?!" Chris repeated confused as Pikachu got up.

"A-a piggyback ride?! C-can't I just ride on his shoulder?!" Pikachu asked.

"Nope!" Popo and C. Falcon said quickly.

Pikachu sighed as he and Chris got in front of the group and the World Traveler carried Pikachu behind his head, it looked kind of cute because Pikachu tried not to fall from that he had to put down his hands on his forehead.

Pikachu sweatdropped as some of them snickered. "...You had enough right, Chris?"

"U-um..." Chris was utterly embarrassed at this moment while he was looking down.

"Please, show some mercy to me!" Pikachu pleaded.

Their partnership level went up that day...

...Probably.

"Number 5 shall get his stomach rubbed by me...oh no, I don't want to do that!" Chris protested. "(Please, let it be Kirby-san, let it be Kirby-san for god's sake!)"

Roy looked at Fox's number. "...Hey, Fox, your number is 5, right?"

Chris saw the opportunity to protest together with Fox, fortunately, both would agree not to that. "Fox-senpai! Please, you know you don't want to do this, we both agree, right?!... Right, Fox-senpai?! Fox-senpai! Are you even listening?!"

"Something's not right with Fox..." Roy said as he looked that Fox was looking down. "Fox?"

"...Hic?" Fox responded looking up, and they were there on his face for Chris's dismay, the blushes that pointed out the drunkness he was in. "...Yeeees... I'm number 5..."

"...Please, no, please, no! I don't want t-" Chris was interrupted as Fox was already resting his head on his lap, staring directly at Chris. "Ack!"

"Oh, we forgot to mention, you have to rub his abs directly!" C. Falcon added as Wolf couldn't help it but let out a small laugh to the roof.

"Ha, now I have something to annoy Fox with, kid, do it now." Wolf said with a smirk.

"I-I don't want to!" Chris kept protesting as he looked down to Fox, who was, for his dismay, taking out his vest.

"Don't worry, Chris..." Fox said with a wink, his eyes at the point to be closed. "I have abs on my stomach."

"...Dammit! I didn't want to find out that in this way, and neither wanted to do it in the first place!" Chris yelled angrily, blushing. "Somebody help me!"

"I'll do it!" Popo said grabbing Chris's right hand and pulled it closer to Fox's stomach.

"Y-you littl-" Chris stopped when he felt something on Fox's fur...

"Now you know?... Chris-kun?" Fox asked with another wink.

Not only Chris found out that Fox had abs, but he found it the wrong way!

Dude, you're sick!

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

His Courage went up really high...

...Fortunately, that didn't happen.

"Number 6 shall get a complete hug with a kiss... Popo-san, you can stop there, Popo-sa-!" Chris was now being kissed by Popo.

That didn't increase his Courage at all, rather his Horror went up...

"Number 7 shall sleep with me..." Chris trailed off, wondering what he needed to do.

"I'm numbah 7!" C. Falcon stated happily.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Why he has to suffer this humiliation?" Zelda asked.

"Because, Zelda-chan, my dea-" Link was punched by Zelda once he wrapped up his arm around her neck.

Next event that could have happened.

"Number 8 shall swap foods using the mouth...who's number 8 again?" Chris asked as Kirby raised his hand. "...Well, I think he wouldn't do that..."

Much for his dismay however...

"Hic!" Kirby responded.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

His Courage went up.

Next event.

"Number 9 shall swap clothes with me, well, at least it's not that bad." Chris said sighing in relief.

"Er... I'm number 9?" Sonic asked confused.

"That means Chris-kun needs to get naaaaaakeeeeeed!" Link yelled laughing with the other drunks.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

His Dignity just went down in so many levels...

Next event.

"Number 10 shall get his or her cheek rubbed." Chris said as Olimar's eyes opened in shock.

"Olimar-kun, you cheater! Take off the helmet!" C. Falcon said angrily.

"N-no! I can't take my helmet off! It's bad for m-" Olimar protested but C. Falcon quickly took it off. "Oof! I-I...can't...breath...give it...back to me...please..."

"Oh Arceus-sama, Olimar-san is getting asphyxiated!" Ivysaur said shocked.

"Hmm?" Popo grinned. "You don't mean (beep!)phyxiated?" Popo asked cracking up together with Link.

...And Olimar died...

"...Olimar-senpai?!" Chris noticed that Olimar wasn't moving. "OLIMAAAAAAAR!"

"Dude, chill out, he's just resting." Fox said (drunk if you forgot).

"Shut up, you stupid drunk!" Chris yelled crying on Olimar. "...Olimar-senpai..."

His Expression went up...how could his Expression go up again?

Next event.

"Number 11 shall get the hair combed." Chris said as Link gave him a comb.

"Did I mention you have to comb every single hair?" Popo asked with a chuckle.

"...That isn't so b-" Chris noticed that Link's hands were going to his tights. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

His Courage went up, ironically if you know why.

Next event.

"Number 12 shall say something very gay." Chris said as Marth groaned.

"Nancy boy is going to say something very gay? Finally!" Link said cracking up with Jigglypuff as Marth muttered curses.

"Marth-senpai, you don't have to do it! Don't do it!" Chris pleaded but Marth looked away.

"...I'm sorry, but by the rules of Altea, if someone of my heritage accepts a dare, he or she needs to complete it in order to prove the loyalty...so..." Marth gulped. "...I once thought Ike looked sexy."

That was enough for everyone, without exception (well, Chris was an exception who had his jaw dropped), to crack up...

"Please, tell me that was a lie..." Chris said with wide eyes.

"...It is..." Marth whispered embarrassed.

"...What is the word sexy again?" Ike asked confused as Chris facepalmed.

His Understanding went up.

Next event.

"Number 13 shall say something very embarrassing." Chris said.

"..." Red looked down. "I once kissed my rival by accident in kindergarden..."

The drunks cracked up like never before as Ivysaur glared at them.

"..." Chris sighed disappointed.

Next event.

"Number 14 shall lick my face." Chris said as his eyes widened.

"...Number 14?!" Wolf said his number out loud.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

His Courage went up again...

Next event.

"Number 15 shall slap my butt...what?!" Chris asked in shock as C. Falcon pulled him out from the couch.

"I-I don't want to do it! Stop!" Zelda yelled as she was being dragged by Popo, Link and Fox, once the trio managed to grab her hand she...

SLAP!

"OWW!" Chris moaned in pain.

"S-sorry! I didn't want t-oh, the hell with this! DIE!" Zelda yelled using Din's Fire to burn the bar...

Everyone screamed in pain as the fire increased in size and covered the whole mansion under the snow...

Next event.

"Number 16 shall be my chair." Chris said confused.

"In other words, you have to sit on someone's lap!" Popo said.

"Then who is it?"

"...Me?" Pit asked confused as Link quickly grabbed Chris and put him in Pit's lap. "G-get off me, please!"

"I-I can't! Popo-san put some kind of glue in my butt!" Chris said struggling to get out from Pit's lap.

Popo threw the glue away. "This, is going to the album!" Popo said giggling as he took a photo of the 2 with embarrassed looks, trying to get off from each other.

"Heh, (beep!) like this makes my day." Snake and Wolf said snickering.

Next event.

"Number 17 shall be my bed...this isn't going well..." Chris said.

"Who's gonna be the bed?" Link asked as Falco's eyes widened.

"...Oh cra-" Falco was crushed by Chris because both Link and C. Falcon threw him at the avian, both of them went crashing in the floor until Chris lost his consciousness above the unconscious pilot, both of them had swirls in their eyes.

"My dignity...my dignity is being crushed..." Chris managed to say as the drunks cracked up.

"...How ironic..." Falco managed to say.

"Wait, Falco wasn't here before, was he?" DK asked.

"Who cares?!" Popo said.

Next event.

"Number 18 shall act like a baby on my lap." Chris said.

Yoshi looked at his number. "W-what?! H-hell no! I like babies, but I don't want to act like one!"

"Hmph," Snake said as he stood up, grabbed Yoshi and threw him at Chris's lap, the World Traveler was almost going to fall but was able to hold his position. "Now do your part."

"W-what th-Snake-senpai! Why'd you do that for?!" Chris asked.

"Because, this is something that I want to see personally."

Yoshi crossed his arms. "I refuse to do that though!"

"Here, some onions." Popo said scratching some onions under Yoshi's nose, the Yoshi began to sniff as soon as the odor went to his eyes and his nose began to run as well.

"Sniff...stop it guys...sniff..." Yoshi said clearing his tears.

The World Traveler couldn't help it but rubbed Yoshi's head.

"H-hey!"

"S-sorry, b-but you looked cute to me!" Chris protested.

His Expression went up.

Next event.

"Number 19 shall eat...my saliva?!" Chris said shocked.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, you shall eat the saliva of your next person!" Popo said as Mallow giggled, he was also drunk as well.

"Oh yeah, you're going to like this." Mallow said gathering something in his mouth as he went closer to Chris.

"N-no! Please! Stop! I beg of you Mallow-san! You don't want to do this!... LET ME GO!" Chris yelled trying to get away from Link and C. Falcon, who grabbed him by the arms. "SOMEBODY ELSE, HELP ME!"

"Get closer or else..." Popo aimed them with a gun. "...You die..."

"W-where in the hell did you get that gun from?!" Toon Link asked.

"MOMMY!" Lucas yelled crying as Popo aimed the gun at his face.

"P-POPO! STOP IT!" Nana yelled terrified with the others.

"I'M DAH MAN, DAH MAN, YOU (BEEP!)!" Popo proclaimed as Chris was shown screaming from the cloud prince, Mallow was now ready to do his action...

...But...

"Stop, that is enough," Meta Knight appeared from nowhere and slashed the gun, cutting it by half. "The bar is closed for today."

"Awwwwww!!!" C. Falcon, Link, Popo, Fox, Jigglypuff, Kirby and Mallow groaned.

"Stupid, party pooper..." Snake and Wolf muttered with glares at the knight.

"Also, I'd like to know why are you 6 drunk as well, no alcohol has been served here ever since when I came and took the bar under my care." Meta Knight said.

"W-wait, you were serving the drinks then?" Chris asked and Meta Knight nodded. "Why didn't you do something to stop these sickos?!"

"Because I thought no one would go this far and make you suffer in this pointless game, and it turns out they did."

Ness sighed in relief. "Thank Onett, that was insane..."

"...Then how did these get drunk in the first place?" Toon Link asked as the drunks had weird looks before they fainted in unison, falling on the table as well.

"I assume they were drunk just because of the atmosphere." Meta Knight pointed out.

"...We were drunk from the atmosphere?" Lucas asked confused. "I-is that possible?"

"It appears so," Meta Knight said. "Now, everyone must go back to sleep, the bar is closed for today, or else I'll report this to Master Hand."

"Dang it!" Etna appeared from the hallway, snapping her fingers. "I wanted to have some fun in here, good thing I'm leaving this place tomorrow!" Etna said cursing as she went away.

Everyone decided to go to sleep for the night as Chris sighed in relief, he noticed that he and Meta Knight were the only ones in the bar, the drunks have to be carried by some of the Smashers.

"...Idiots," Meta Knight began. "The bar doesn't have an hour to close."

"What?" Chris asked. "So why did you say the bar closed?"

"You were suffering a horrible humiliation." Meta Knight said looking away.

"...Meta Knight-senpai, you did this for me?"

"...To be sincere, yes," Meta Knight said looking at him. "It's not fair for you to drink someone's disgusting liquid just because some drunks told you to do it."

"...Thank you, Meta Knight-sensei." Chris said wiping out a tear.

Meta Knight let out a small chuckle. "Thank you for calling me your "sensei," and since we're the only ones left here, I'd like to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I'd like to train with you someday using our swords, of course, none of us is going to get injured."

"T-train with our swords? B-but I have 3 jobs with swords involved..."

"The job with the small creature."

"...The Moogle Knight job?"

"Yes, I noticed that once you transform, you gain wings and your height and weight lets you attack faster, I could also add that it almost reaches my skills as well," Meta Knight pointed out. "I'll be glad to fight alonside you while you use that form."

"...Hmm...fine, if that's what you want, I'll do it." Chris said with a nod.

"Very well then, now go and sleep, tomorrow is going to be a new day and fortunately, everyone is going to be sober than this awful night." Meta Knight said walking away.

"...Meta Knight-sensei, you really worry about me, don't you?" Chris asked to himself.

"Yes." A familiar voice echoed in the hall as Chris chuckled heartily to himself.

Lucario's Room

Music stops

"And Mallow-san wanted to giv-"

"Chris-san, stop it, I can't sleep..." Lucario muttered as Chris sighed, he told Lucario everything that happened during the day, both of them were lying down on the bed but Lucario wanted to sleep.

"And it turns out I suffered instead of enjoying the day, to make matters worse, I couldn't play outside in the snow!" Chris complained as he looked outside. "...I wanted to play outside..." Chris muttered sadly.

Lucario's ears perked up after he heard someone sobbing close to him...

"...Chris-san? Are you sobbing?"

"...Lucario-san..." Chris sobbed silently.

Lucario pulled Chris closer to him under his right arm. "Please, don't cry Chris-san, everyone has their bad day and this day happened to b-"

"I don't care Lucario-san... I want to have fun...but I couldn't get it..."

"..." Lucario looked outside, it was night and everyone was probably sleeping, it was cold outside for Lucario's misfortune. "...Chris-san...do you want to... I don't know...make a snowman outside...with me?"

Chris cleared his tears and looked up to Lucario. "W-what?"

Lucario blushed and looked away. "...If you want, we could make a snowman to make you feel better, I-I mean, you're looking depressed and we could do that..."

"...I don't know..." Chris said.

Lucario was thinking what to do now...

Be stubborn.
Agree with him.
Sleep.
Make the snowman anyway.

"No, we're going outside," Lucario said jumping out of the bed. "Put on a sweater and let's go outside."

"...Okay..." Chris muttered worried.

Lucario's Expression went up.

Garden

Snowman

"At first, I was against the idea, but now..." Chris smiled and closed his eyes. "This makes up for all the trouble I went through today! Thank you, Lucario-san, you know how to make me happy."

Lucario blushed and wagged his tail a little. "I'm glad you're happy, that is good for me to know."

Just then, Lucas came out from the mansion and walked to the duo. "H-hello you guys..." Lucas said.

"Lucas-san? What are you doing here so late?" Chris asked.

"W-well, I could ask you the same thing..." Lucas trailed as Chris looked away. "I-I was wondering if I could help you with the snowman, I saw you 2 from the window of the living room and it looked fun so I put my sweater and my scarf on..."

Snow fell on Chris, since the snowman was 2 times Lucario's size and snow began to fall out from its head. "Y-yes, we could use your help, achoo!"

Lucas smiled a little and picked up snow. "T-thank you! I was kind of disappointed for today's snowball fight, I ended up being hurt and nothing else but I wonder how can Ness-san and Pikachu-san resist so much..."

"Less talk, more snow." Lucario said as Chris chuckled awkwardly. "Why are you laughing?"

"Lucario-san, that was unexpected coming from you." Chris said.

"W-well...blame me, I was trying to cheer you up."

"Lucario-san!" Chris ran to Lucario and hugged him. "Thank you, I knew you were trying to make me feel happy again, I couldn't ask for more!"

Lucario made a happy expression and growled happily. "(It worked...)" Lucario thought happily as they continued to make the snowman.

It was not long before Toon Link and Kirby joined them, apparently they looked outside the window (Toon Link wondered why was his window broken) and found them making the snowman.

"It's getting bigger." Kirby pointed out.

"Yep, it is," Toon Link said as he took out a bucket. "Now we just need to put this on...but we need someone to fly up there."

"I'll do it!" Kirby said taking the bucket as he flew to the top, he carefully put the bucket on he head and descended just above Chris's head, the 5 looked up the snowman they just made and smiled to each other.

"Dunno why, but this looks good." Toon Link said rubbing his chin.

"It has been a long time ever since I made my last snowman in my house." Chris said.

"We couldn't do it during Christmas if I remember." Lucario recalled.

Chris looked up in the sky. "I hope it keeps snowing, we could make a bigger snowman tomorrow if we have enough time."

"Yeah, we could use with our arrows," Toon Link said taking out his bow. "That reminds me, I met a girl inside the mansion, I didn't know why was she there in a room, she was looking for Raven but I refused to tell her that I knew him."

"...A girl?" Kirby asked.

"Yes, the same girl from yesterday when you were EATING in the kitchen!"

"Guys, let's appreciate the snowman!" Flonne said joining her hands together.

"...Where did you appear from?" The 5 asked confused as Flonne laughed heartily.

However, 2 shadowy figures were spying the figures far away in the clouds, one looked like a big and enormous cloud, the other figure looked like a king of a frozen palace, the figures chuckled to themselves.

"Oh, so the kid wants the snow to keep going?" The king asked.

"Great for him, because that's the plan." The cloud said.

"They shall suffer the horrible and intolerating power of the ice, forever!"

"Grrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted at the sky.

"Lucario-san, what is it?" Chris asked.

"...I think there were people spying us from above just now." Lucario said.

"...From above?" Flonne asked looking at the sky. "But it's just the clouds."

"Maybe I was wrong?"

"Who cares, let's go to sleep." Toon Link as the 6 returned back to the mansion, not noticing the figure sleeping close to the door.

"...Must...get...chocolate...Chip...needs...more of that..." Chip said grogily, ignoring them completely.

Preview of the next chapter

"...Er...guys..." Toon Link pointed at the screen. "...Isn't that Mario's dead carcass floating in the space?"

"What do you mean by carcas-...OH...MY...LORD!" Yoshi shouted panicking. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"The Triple Riddle, huh?... It's me again? Stop that already!" Snake said annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The whole chapter had references to Persona 3 and 4, those games rock!

Chris has ever thought about starting a career as a professional musician? XD

The Triple Riddle? That doesn't good now, what will happen next?... I wonder...

Will Chris get a high rank with the rest of the Smashers? Will Lucario cheer him always? Will Etna and Flonne, along with the Prinny Squad, get Laharl and his castle back? Will Raven escape from the clutches of Rita Mordio? (Probably not).

And who is Chip, the imp? Are the Smashers ignoring something very crucial?

Just keep reading.

Read and review, please!

*Chapter 106*: The Tripple Riddle

There were lots of interruptions as I wrote the next chapter, school, lots of homework that GAVE ME a headache yesterday (literally), so sorry for not updating, this chapter should have been posted in Wednesday, oh well, I need to be more careful next time.

From ngrey651: Woah, those dares will HILARIOUS. I can't stop smiling! And I wish Chris the best of luck in gaining a high rank. ESPECIALLY with Wolf. Because it sounds like trying to become a better friend with him will involve LOTS of pain, and I know what THAT'S like!

From me: Let's hope not. XD Thanks.

From Iyan: O.o drunken bastards... lmao! This is why you shouldn't go into a drunken bar if your doing the dares... unless your just there to watch... wait a sec why didn't snake attend the game? o_o

From me: Snake DID attend, but Chris stopped the dares from coming out from those drunken bastards, so some of them weren't included at the end (because pretty much Chris's sanity would have been crushed), thanks! XD

From hornedjolteon: I know who Chip is, and yes, they are ignoring somthing very crucial. Also, would the king of a frozen palace be from a Mario world? Oh,and good luck with Mario's foating carcass in Super Mario Galaxy!

From me: Who said it's Super Mario Galaxy? :D The king? Well, they've been fighting the bosses from Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario so...you know now? Thanks! :D

From aquadragonsayian: UH-OH! Super Mario Galaxy time!! Wait... is it? Oh, and I noticed that mistake with the review last time. I thought it was Yuri that's gonna appear. My bad. Update soon please!

From me: Again, it's really Super Mario Galaxy? Hopefully, there's some Yuri-

"Hears man screaming."

NOT THAT YURI!

Ahem, Yuri has a small cameo in here, so enjoy. ;D

From Ultra Blader: I can safely say that you have written your weirdest chapter since the Halloween Special. Anyway, now Flonne and Etna finally leave the mansion! (Though we all know that their adventure does not go to plan, as was seen in the 100th chapter.) Those two have been around for the last, what, thirty chapters now? They've been minor characters, but all the same, I'm gonna miss 'em. However, that triggers an interesting question: What happens to the Prinny Squad?

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: The Prinnies? Aw, how ironic that you ask that, you'll see once you keep going down. :D

And yes, making weird chapters are pure gold for all of you. XD

From notfromearth7: Well, we saw death metal and drunks, making this the best chapter ever!

From me: I may get better, who knows if that's what you like. XD

From JapanManiac: So cool like always~

One of these days you should included the Assist! Especially since Lyn is one of the trophy so it ought to be funny~~!

From me: As characters to accept dares? Probably. Thanks. :)

From TARDISreviewer: Lol. MOAR Unleashed references.

Lol Sonic being above the maximum

From me: I don't think they're references, more like current events. Thanks. :)

From SuperShiningDonutLAActor101: Funny Funny Funny nuff said.

From me: ...Wow. XD Your reviews got shorter all of a sudden. Thanks. :D

From Anakin Mario Son43: That... was disturbing. Aw well! No japanese for me! I wonder who the two in the sky were. HOLY CRAP! MARIO'S GONNA DIE! NO!

From me: There was some japanese though! Thanks! ;)

From Mewtrainer: That bar scene was sick! XP Please, no more of that! Good otherwise!

From me: No more for Chris or else he'd die. :P Thanks. :)

From chrisworshiper: sorry i havent revewed in a long time i was hospitalised because of a car running over my waist and i'm now in a lower half of my body cast and i itch like crazy. back on topic your chapers where really funny can't wait for your next one chip is funny. i pity chris with the snowballs and with the the the truther or dare thing (shudders) o well i like the moogle knight job. ttfn se ya laiter (p.s. what can yaio stand for?)

From me: ...Dude, you got ran over by a car, you're still living, and more confusing yet, what were you doing? O_o

Hope you get better then and thanks! :)

From Nintendogeek01: Well, parts of the chapter were hilarious (namely trying to be friends with Wolf and the hellish training), others were really weird (the bar scene). But still the next chapter seems like it could be really good.

From me: I hope so. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: hmm, curious, very curious. for starters, who is this imp named chip, and if i'm not mistakened, isn't there 39 smashers, including chris? also, i think i've found another musician to help recover the music, the assist trophy Barbara from brawl. and holy shi, shi, shi-taki mushrooms! now i know something scary, drunken smashers! i'm definitely interested on the mega man arc, whether it is the anime, or if it's a game with the anime mega man characters. and also, do you remember that rule of the RPG book of cliches stating a sub-boss? the point i'm getting at, could you make chris and 2 smashers go up against the enigamant soldier(or whatever his name is) of kingdom hearts 2 final mix? he may not be tabuu, but he definitely can't be said as easy, he'd be a pretty formidable opponent, but unfortunately, you'll have to use vids from youtube as a source, if that's your decision though to do it. my final question, did you watch emo rangers yet? and also, i only asked if you could make some appearance of dead fantasy, like chris watching it, not for a arc. but maybe it is for the better good for the perverted smashers, can't let another major nosebleed accident happen again, since there are only girls in dead fantasy.

From me: Longest review so far for the last chapter! :D

Chip is a character from Sonic Unleashed, you should play the game. :)

Only 30 Smashers attended the dare, remember. (Though I think I miscounted).

Barbara? Hmm, maybe...

Possibly the game, but anime-looking, the frog-looking kids in the game weird me out... :P

Dude, I played KH2, but not THAT far, so there's a slim chance of that happening even with videos.

Emo Rangers shall be something I don't want to see because... I'm busy writing. :P

Dead Fantasy? Nope, sorry. :l

Thank you! :D

And here we are again, another arc!... But, what's this? It's a triple arc? Well, I'm going to make a challenge for myself and write for 3 arcs this time! Ironically, another Metroid arc is involved like the last double arc, don't worry, chapters will be the same length as the previous ones.

Japanese terms are not longer used anymore!

So for now, enjoy the triple arc! :D

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 106: The Triple Riddle

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Little by little, their forces keep growing," Tabuu said. "We must stop them from gaining the last forces before the situation gets worse for us."

"If I recall, you requested the entire army to kill the last 4... Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Samus." The Ancient Minister pointed out.

"Yes... I sent Charizard and King Dedede to take care of the mushroom citizens while Ganondorf sent off to get Ridley and kill Samus in the process as well," Tabuu explained. "Hopefully, they gained the same powers as the Smashers, so I am not expecting failures in this again."

"I also like how that sounds."

"In any case, how is the last Star Spirit?"

"Being guarded and hidden from their knowledge, the climate is still going strong and nothing seems to be stopping us from the planned invasions."

"Excellent, the barriers have been lifted, I presume?"

"It appears so for our luck, and it's not going to be late before Charizard and King Dedede take Mario out."

Tabuu chuckled evily. "...They just did a moment ago..."

"(...This can't go on...)"

Tabuu raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me, but did you think something?"

"N-no, my lord...you must be imagining..." The Ancient Minister said looking away.

"I demand an answer, are you hiding something from my back?"

"No," The Ancient Minister looked at him. "My loyalty will always lay in you and you only, why would I betray the wishes of my superior in a moment like this? If I ever try to do such a thing, then I would be dead."

"...Very well then..." Tabuu said disappearing in the emptyness of the Subspace.

"(...The longer I stay here, the worst my fate is going to be...)"

Nintendo City
Post Office from outside the barrier

The scene now shows the lonely post office, where Parakarry, Postman and Quil were staring at the sky, the snow was still falling from the clouds as they sat close to their recently made office for letters.

"This sucks," Postman said sighing. "I can't run through this field because of the snow, my legs will get frozen in a second!"

"Well, you tell me," Quil said crossing his arms. "You're not wearing pants, only shorts, unlike Parakarry and I."

Truth to be told, Quil was...well, wearing his normal attire as Parakarry was wearing a brown fur coat with a brown hat for the season.

"Something doesn't seem good..." Parakarry said glaring at the sky. "This cold...those clouds high above...they're very familiar to me for some reason..."

"How so?" Postman asked as Parakarry looked at them.

"The snow, the clouds, I know I've seen those before a long time ago...but I can't put my finger on the answer..." Parakarry said looking down.

"Maybe it'll hit you back someday?" Postman asked.

"But I must know now! I feel like something really bad is going to happen if I don't do something about this!" Parakarry said crossing his arms.

"Calm down," Quil said. "How can you be so sure about this harsh climate?"

"Because, my postman friends, this experience was once...experienced by me before, I know that!"

"...Sure." Quil and Postman said as Parakarry grunted in irritation and floated up in front of them.

"What are you doing now?" Quil asked as Parakarry began to fly outside, slowly.

"I'm going to see what's above the clouds, duh!" Parakarry said.

"You're only going to see the sun, and just that." Postman said.

"You think, but I'm going to find more, I know that, just..." Parakarry sighed and looked down. "...Just wait for me here, I'll be back shortly." Parakarry said with a nod before he flew upwards, leaving both postmen alone.

"...Is he going to be okay?" Postman asked.

"Who knows, that guy is always full of energy and probably will never tire out as far as I know him." Quil said as he sighed disappointed.

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

Dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood and more doods...

That was the popular word for the next day in the Smash Mansion.

"...Grrrr..." Lucario grunted in intoleration as he made the angry growl above his trainer's head, who was again around his arm.

"...Stop it... I can't sleep..." Chris groaned in frustration.

"Can I just go and kill every single one of them?" Lucario asked as he tried to sleep.

"I doubt you'll ever end killing those guys up, they won't stop multiplying and I don't even want to know how can they do that," Chris said covering his head with a pillow after hearing more doods. "You see one of them, turn your back on one, then turn it back and there are 7 the next second you turn your back."

"...Darn it..." Lucario muttered annoyed, trying not to say dood.

Hallway

There was an insanely long line of Prinnies with suitcases, the line extended throughout the entire mansion to be precise and it seemed that it didn't end at all, it was hell in that morning for the Smashers, but apparently it was good news for the penguins since it was the day they were going to serve the "Great Overlord Laharl."

"Dood! We're finally leaving after enduring this harsh weather, dood!" A Prinny exclaimed happily as all the Prinnies began to cheer with their catchprase.

Guess the word they said after that?

Lucas opened the door of his room and rubbed his eyes once he saw the line of Prinnies in front of him. "W-what's happening now?! W-where did you appear?!"

The Prinnies, for his dismay, kept saying their catchprase...

Of course, all the Smashers were woken up by this quick and insane event.

"Were they this many?" Olimar asked shocked with wide eyes.

"Oh my goodness!" Zelda gasped after she saw the line once she got out from taking a bath.

"H-how could they all live in here?" Squirtle wondered together with Red and Ivysaur.

"This must be a dream, yeah, some kind of sick dream..." Sonic said rubbing his eyes.

"Dood, dood, dood, dood." Mei Ling said over the codec conversation with some giggles.

"Otacon, dare to say that and you're pretty much dead." Snake warned as Otacon groaned.

"Why is my head...hurting so much... I feel like I had a hangover or some...thing..." Link stopped when he opened the door and saw all the Prinnies lined up. "...Now I'm seeing lots of penguins... I need to go back to sleep..." Link said closing the door slowly.

"..." Kirby drooled because he was hungry, he saw through his eyes lots and lots of turkeys for some reason...

"(...Stop...now...stop...)" Mewtwo thought irritated in his room.

"And to think this morning was going to be normal for a change..." Wolf trailed off as he was leaned by the door of his room, staring at the Prinnies who stared back at him.

"Dood?" A Prinny asked as Wolf frowned, grunted in irritation and slammed the door of his room.

"No, no, no!" Pikachu covered his ears. "Must...think...they're...Piplups...dood...NO!" Pikachu yelled loudly as the Prinnies kept saying their catchprase over and over again.

"And this one goes dood, and this one also goes dood..." Raven sang happily inside his room, being the only one of the whole mansion that enjoyed that word...until...

"Raven?" Estelle's voice was heard behind the door.

CRASH!

Raven quickly decided to dive into the snow outside as Estelle opened the door and found the window broken. "...Was Raven here?... Nevermind..." Estelle said looking down as she dared not to ask why there was an insane amount of people lined up, wearing penguin costumes besides her as she returned to her room and dared not to talk to anyone or even leave the room for that matter.

Command Room

We see Etna using a megaphone to order...the order in the Prinny Squad, she was also carrying a suitcase. "Okay, Prinnies! Today we're leaving this mansion so please get all your things, pack up and please wait until further advice!"

"Right, Miss Etna, dood!" All the Prinnies said raising their right hands in the air before they continued their conversations between them.

"ETNA!" Master Hand appeared in a cloud of smoke and looked down at the demon. "What the heck is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh?" Etna crossed her arms behind her back and grinned a little bit. "Well, all the Prinnies are leaving today, along with me of course, and it was expected that this was going to happen."

"B-but they're everywhere in my mansion! And I mean it, EVERYWHERE! The halls are crowded with them!" Master Hand yelled shocked.

"Chill out dude, this is the last day you're going to see us, besides, Flonne is coming too." Etna said pointing to Flonne, who was carrying a suitcase while she was sitting on a chair close to a computer.

"I-I'm going to miss this place...everyone was so kind with me..." Flonne said burying her face in her hands.

"C'mon, you're going to be back at your usual happy self once we return to the Netherworld."

"C-can I assasi-"

"Forget that part though." Etna said making a bored look.

"Aww!" Flonne pouted a little.

Twink came from above the crowd of penguins and looked around. "I can't sleep with all of them saying dood over and over again, do something about that, it's really irritating!"

"Complain that with Ms. Penguin Queen over here." Master Hand said pointing at Etna.

"You're just mad because they interrupted your beauty sleep." Etna said crossing her arms.

"Oh no, I'm happy actually, your little CD destroyer people will go away at last and my music will remain untouched, thank goodness we have dedicated musicians who are currently working hard to make music through this dood nightmare!" Master Hand said chuckling.

Music Room

"I can't concentrate with all of them saying dude!" Makar complained as there were even Prinnies lined up around the music room, both of the musician were having a hard time focusin in their instruments.

"I-I think it's dood!" Medli yelled covering her ears.

"Whatever!"

"Dood!" The Prinnies said in unison.

Command Room

"Yep, they're surely working through this issue." Master Hand said.

The hand saw Pit passing through the crowd of penguins and stopped to catch his breath. "M-Master Hand, w-why are there so many... Prinnies out in all the halls?"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh, it's my fault, okay?" Etna said throwing her hands up.

"...Right, you were going to leave today if I remember..." Pit said wondering. "That means I won't be living with a demon anymore."

"Hey, don't bring that up again, angel boy."

"Pardon, but my name is Pit."

"It doesn't matter to me actually."

"Please!" Flonne stood up. "It's not the time to be fighting, right now though..." Flonne picked up a Prinny and hugged him. "We need to enjoy our last time together for the goodness of love and friendship!"

"Dood!" The Prinny said making a happy expression.

"...When did you get so corny and sappy?" Etna asked, bliking confused at the Angel Trainee.

"I love the love and friendship so much, and so does everyone in the universe!" Flonne said giggling.

"Bleh, not me, I love money."

"...Okayyyy..." Flonne trailed off confused.

10 minutes later...

Let me through! Please, make space! Coming through! Hey, watch it! I need to pass, please let me through! There are too many of 'em! Stop multiplying for once! Shut up, just shut up!

Dood!

The Smashers had a horrible time in the flow of Prinnies once they managed to reach the command room.

Of course, Chris had to turn into a moogle again to fly above the penguins and reach the room easier, then he changed back to his Aura Apprentice job when he arrived.

"...Wait a minute, I forgot to take a shower...yesterday and today!" Chris said gasping as he turned back into a moogle and flew away to his room.

"Wait..." DK smelled the fur of his right arm and made a sick face. "Oops, I kinda forget that..."

"So do I...darn it." Pit muttered embarrassed as they all returned to their rooms...through the Prinny River of course, except for Zelda who did it earlier.

"Lucario, you're coming too, kupo!" Chris yelled from the crowd of Prinnies as the Aura Pokémon groaned and went inside the crowd as well...

50 minutes later...

The Smashers, once "swimming" through the Prinnies, returned back to the command room, now clean this time around.

"Why are there so many of them?" Ike asked.

"Hey, my Prinnies are sometimes a lot and sometimes a few, don't complain to me." Etna said crossing her arms.

"The question is," Nana began. "Were all of them sleeping in the rooms or somewhere else?"

Etna looked at her. "It's a secret that they won't spit out, if you ask them, even by threatening, they won't say anything about their whereabouts when they disappear."

"Hopefully they will disappear for the eternity this time." Toon Link said.

"CHAZAM!" Crazy Hand appeared over the counter wearing a blue hat that workers on an airline wear, the hand took out a megaphone and used it. "Okay, good morning everyone's favorite Prinnies, today it's the day you all return to your own world and better yet, no more doods around here!"

"Are you going to get money out of them? Because they don't have money." Etna pointed out as Crazy Hand threw both items away and groaned.

"And here I thought my dream to take vacations in Delfino Island was going to come... Oh well, sucks to be 'em!" Crazy Hand said. "Anyway, Chris, I want you t-"

"Fine, I'll buy another job out of you, but you better promise to me that I'm not going to transform into anything, and I mean it!" Chris said annoyed. "And that reminds me, Master Hand, the Smash Ball."

"QUICK!" Master Hand yelled throwing the ball quickly at Chris before some projectiles were going to break the ball, probably from the Smashers.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 1101

Jobs

Agent - 1100 Smash Coins

Juggler - 1300 Smash Coins

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Crazy Hand chuckled. "Pfft, dude, 1 Smash Coin? What's wrong with you? Saving little by little?"

"I got this coin of that fight against the Axem Rangers before, and since there were so many characters trying to fight the same enemy, I got a bag with this coin!" Chris complained and sighed afterwards. "...Whatever, the only jobs I can buy are either the Agent job or the Beastmaster one...wait, you have new abilities?"

"Yep, I made this one this morning."

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Items for everyone - 400 Smash Coins

Don't Trip And Follow Me! - 900 Smash Coins

When using the Racer job, follow Sonic's speed no matter how fast he goes around, to use this, you need to slowly run behind Sonic and the ability itself will activate over time, characters following from behind will also run at great speeds, be warned, Sonic must be first in the line, then the second person with the ability.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Like if all of you could keep up with me..."

"Well, it's the truth, this ability will sometimes be useful in those run-from-the-collapsing-dungeon-as-soon-as-possible events, so it's convenient to have this." Master Hand explained.

"That's way lame!"

"Nobody asked you for your opinion, you got to listen to my orders here, sorry, rules are rules." Master Hand said as Sonic crossed his arms and looked away.

"And for the heck of it," Crazy Hand began. "The list of items if you forgot."

Items
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Timer
Green Shell
Smash Ball

Stored items:
Maxim Tomato

"Get me the tomato," Chris said as Crazy Hand gave him the food. "And I want to buy the..."

"Hold on!" Crazy Hand interrupted. "Remember the Scholar job?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"It's not going to be so long before you learn Item Lore."

"Item Lore?"

Master Hand nodded. "Yes, now that you mention it, Item Lore doubles the effect on an item as I've readed in a book before, that I won't mention, basically if you use Item Lore on, let's say, Poison Mushroom, the effects will be even stronger and the target will shrink even smaller than before."

"Hmm... Hands, I made my decision." Chris said as both hands looked at him. "I'll buy the Agent job!"

"You littl-didn't you get what we were trying to mean?"

"...No?"

Master Hand frowned. "Buy an item to test Item Lore!"

"But I don't have that ability yet, do I?"

"...You have a point there..."

"Agent job then!" Chris said giving Crazy Hand 1100 Smash Coins (thus leaving him with 1 Smash Coin) and the job was instantly given to him...

In a flash, now he was wearing goggles on his eyes, long white pants, a dark pale green button shirt with a light blue shirt underneath, he also wore brown boots as a gun was inside his belt's holdster, not only that, he, by an odd reason, was carrying a rose on the pocket of his shirt.

"Say hello to Casanova Chris!" Crazy Hand said as Chris stared at him as he lowered his goggles.

"Hmm... I don't feel that casanova to be honest..." Chris said.

"Look at you, you have good looks and the girls will surely fall all over you." Master Hand said.

Chris made a bored look. "...Sure, and my name is C. Falcon."

"Yeah, his name i-hey!" C. Falcon said angrily.

"A-and I've never been flirting with a girl before! How do you think I'm going to flirt with one with this job?"

"Ohohohoho, you'll see..." Master Hand said snickering. "Even Zelda isn't going to resist that much."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Master Hand, he is a teenager and I'm a little older than him, there is absolutely no way I'm going to fall in love with someone younger than me."

"His flirting skills will be manifested once he gains enough experience in battle and you'll be flattered like you haven't before!"

"Sure...right..." Zelda said with various nods.

"Ahem," Snake coughed. "Hand, so what's the duty for today? I wasn't called here for nothing, I suppose..."

"Oh yeah, right," Master Hand said turning on the screen, showing the emptyness of the outer space as he looked at the Smashers. "There are several things that I want you all to do," Master Hand said as some of them noticed a familiar red plumber, apparently fainted, spinning slowly in the space. "Like for example recruiting Mario an-"

"...Er...guys..." Toon Link pointed at the screen. "...Isn't that Mario's dead carcass floating in the space?"

"What do you mean by carcas-...OH...MY...LORD!" Yoshi shouted panicking. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"H-he's isn't suppose to die during his adventure in the galaxies!" Chris said burying his face in his hands. "No! I messed up something!!!"

"...No Olympics then?" Sonic asked.

"...How can you think about the Olympics right now?! Mario is..." Yoshi trailed off as they all saw the plumber with bruises all over his face, there was even blood getting out from his mouth. "...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"MAAAAAARIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Twink and Mallow cried together as they hugged each other.

"...How..." Geno muttered horrified at the image on the screen.

Many of them gasped in shock when the plumber was apparently...dead in front of their eyes...

Persona 4 - Who's There?

"...B-but, I don't understand what happened here!" Chris said wiping out some tears from his eyes. "Mario's games are suppose to be E rated fo-"

Lucario blocked his mouth as many of them stared at him with confused looks. "(Chris, this isn't the time to say what are Mario's games rated, they could ask us many questions otherwise)"

"(...Oh...s-sorry, but seeing Mario dead...)" Chris talked to Lucario's mind, but then he noticed something odd with Mario apart that he was dead. "...Isn't Mario..."

"Wait," Pit interrupted. "Mario is in his...paper form?"

"Whoa, can he be of paper too?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow. "I knew it, this guy can turn into anything and that's why he's famous."

Ness sweatdropped. "...Sonic, Mario can't transform into anything, it's just...how do I put it for you?... Dang it, even I don't know that."

Mario was indeed, in his paper form when they noticed his appearance.

Meanwhile though, Snake turned his back, ducked and started a conversation with the Colonel, taking advantage of the situation to...

Remind him who was Mario.

"Snake, you know who that is?" The Colonel asked.

Snake rolled his eyes. "You're kidding, right? It's Mario."

"Mario made his first appearance in 1981, and since then, he's become a worldwide phenomenon. There's probably not a single person who doesn't know Mario. He's that famous." The Colonel explained.

"Good thing I survived long enough to meet him on the field of battle, huh."

"Technically, no, because he's in the screen an-" Olimar was ignored.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Snake. Now get out there and show him what you're made of. No regrets." The Colonel said making a fist.

"Got it." Snake said as he stood up, ignoring Olimar once again as the Pikmin captain frowned and looked down in shame.

The alarms suddenly blared out as the screen showed the bounty hunter, Samus, being attacked by the most disgusting creatures of the planet Bryyo as she ran as far as she could get, there were even some creatures that the Smashers could recognize...

"Primids?" Kirby asked.

"Damn, they're all ganging up on Samus, the bastards!" C. Falcon said making a fist.

"Wait a minute..." Roy began to think. "There's the issue of Mario being dead, and Samus is being attacked by the Subspace Army, there are 2 troubles right ther-"

"Hellooooooo?" Etna waved a hand and put her hands on her hips. "We need to go back to the Netherworld and get Laharl, don't you even dare and ignore us!"

"Mario is even more important to save! Even if he's dead, we need to do something!" Yoshi protested.

"Samus is going to get killed next, we need to save her, Mario's done for, admit it!" C. Falcon protested.

"We need an escort and make it to Laharl's place, we don't want to suffer the consequences in the way!" Etna protested.

"I have to see what killed Mario first and see if I can get the Olympics running without him!" Sonic protested.

"Girls should be rescued, so Samus's first and the plumber is the last of our worries." Snake stated simply.

"I-I have to kill Laharl!" Flonne protested.

"SILENCE!" Master Hand yelled at the top of his lungs as the 6 stared at him. "Calm down everyone, let's all take a deep breath and think of something before we move out!"

"B-but Mario..." Twink sniffed some tears with Mallow.

"Relax please, we can still save Mario from getting killed, there's nothing to worry about."

Music stops

"...But isn't he dead?" Geno asked.

"Yes...but in this time of course." Master Hand pointed out.

"In this time? What do you mean by that? We're going to go back in time and see what killed him?" DK asked.

"DK, sometimes, your brain really works to guess my meanings."

"...Really?"

Master Hand nodded as everyone looked at him confused. "Okay, ahem, today, we're really going to get busy, firstly, we have the issue with Mario's death, don't worry about that one, secondly, we have the other issue of Samus's life and thirdly and probably not so interesting..."

"Hey!" Etna and Flonne said angrily.

"The depart of all of the Prinnies and Etna." Master Hand finished.

"Let me guess, we're going to split up in teams." Ness said.

"...It is just me or everyone here has become very good at guessing all of a sudden?" Master Hand asked as he shook. "Look, that's right, Ness, we're going to split up in teams once again, however, I want the best 3 leaders for this triple issue... Chris, of course, will be one."

"W-why?" Chris asked.

"Because, you know what is in a world and technically you know everything about every single world out there."

"W-well, that's kind of true but in reality, I don't know all the worlds, for example, I don't know Etna and Flonne's worl-"

"Your team is going there then."

Chris's eyes widened. "W-what?!"

"What you heard, you're going there with your team, and since it's a world where the Subspace Army isn't attacking, then that means only you and 2 others are going there and secure that the army doesn't go there."

"...Why it has to be me..." Chris muttered looking down.

"We still need 2 leaders for Mario's world and Samus's world, meaning that 9 Smashers will be on each group," Master Hand said looking at them before he saw some Prinnies being flung away from the hallway by someone, the Prinnies didn't care whatsoever. "Oh no, don't tell me those guys can fly around, that's way too much!"

"Er...they don't know how..." Etna said as they all saw Falco coming through the line, apparently, he was looking very pale by the weather and sneezed on the spot.

"W-w-w-w-w-wait right there, ACHOO!" Falco sneezed. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I can't let you go while I'm in the bed, t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-there's no way I'm gonna stay there for the rest of the f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-freaking day, ACHOO!"

"...What's with you, dude?" Link asked.

"The c-c-c-c-c-cold! T-t-t-t-t-t-that's what!"

"...Leaving Falco aside..." Master Hand coughed a little. "We need the leader for Mario's world, who's offering to go there and assemble a team?"

"...I-" Yoshi was interrupted as Sonic stepped in front of him.

"I'll be the leader!" Sonic said grinning as Yoshi glared at him.

"...Not sure about this leader but...what the heck, Sonic, you're the leader for Mario's world."

"Yes!"

"BUT! No running around by yourself, understand?"

"Dammit!"

Master Hand sweatdropped and went on. "And now for Samus's worl-"

"M-OWWW!" C. Falcon's mouth was blocked by Snake's right arm.

"I'll be the leader for this one if you don't mind." Snake said as C. Falcon tried to get away from his grip.

"...Okay... Snake, you're the third leader," Master Hand said as Snake released C. Falcon. "Now, you all might be wondering, how are we going to save Mario? Well, to be sincere, there's a way to save Mario from that sudden fate he just got."

"By going to the past?" Nana asked.

"Exactly, watch this," Master Hand said changing the screen to Mario's dead body on the space, the hand glowed and in front of their eyes, the scene changed back to Mario talking to Merlon, there was also Peach and Tippi, a butterfly-like pixelated character along with the plumber as the hand back in the mansion fell to the ground panting. "...That...should do it..."

"Hurray! He's alive!" Twink said jumping happily.

"...But there isn't so much time left before the same event occurs...so I want Sonic to choose his team quickl-"

"I choose the 2 apes guys, the fox guy, the cloudy guy, the puppet guy, the star guy, the princess, the small dude with the long ears and C. Falcon as my team." Sonic said as everyone mentioned before except C. Falcon glared at him.

"Don't tell me you don't know our names yet..." Geno said frowning.

"Not to mention that was kind of offensive too..." Toon Link said.

"...Ugh..." Master Hand fainted.

"Oh yeah!" Crazy Hand said happily as he floated above Master Hand. "I'll be the absolute boss temporarily now!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" All the previously Melee characters yelled in shock as Chris tilted his head in confusion.

"Aw, c'mon, that incident the last time I was left in charge of the mansion won't happen again, you can't let that one go, can you?"

"...Am I the only one confused?" Chris asked.

"J-just let's keep going with the teams and forget about that incident, okay?" Roy asked sweating.

"...Well..."

"Snake! You! Choose! Now!" Crazy Hand said as Snake nodded.

"I'll take the 2 rat monsters, the bird guy, the wolf guy, the angel kid, the other dude with the long ears, the emo little guy and the dinosaur monster." Snake said as EVERYONE mentioned before glared at him.

"Won't you 2 learn our names?" Yoshi asked.

"Oh yeah, forgot to show the status for each world, my bad." Crazy Hand said snickering as he snapped his fingers.

Super Paper Mario
Current Status: About to enter Bitlands
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 4
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Anything

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Current Status: Investigating Bryyo
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 1
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Survival skills, knowledge about high-tech machines

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Current Status: Laharl's awakening
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 3
Level of danger: Low
Members allowed to dispatch: 3
Highly recommended abilities: "Anything that Great Overlord Laharl demands it's fine, dood."

"Wait right there!" C. Falcon yelled. "I want to go and see Samus again, I don't want to go to Mario's world!"

"And I don't want to be attacked by those creepy-flying-brain monsters...they're scary." Yoshi said as both looked at each other.

"...Change?"

"Change." Yoshi said nodding as they swapped teams.

"Well, Chris, you need to choose your team." Crazy Hand said.

"...I choose Kirby and..." Chris trailed off as Lucario gasped. "...Of course, you, Lucario."

"(Thanks...)" Lucario thought in relief.

"...Hold on!" Red said. "I want to participate as well, I don't want to be left out here!"

"A-and I want to go somewhere else if you don't mind..." Olimar said playing with his fingers.

"Know what? Screw the traveling rules!" Crazy Hand said glowing as he then crashed into the floor, moaning in pain. "...There...3 more people can go with Chris...u-ugh...the cake...the CAKE IS A STUPID LI-" Crazy Hand fainted at that moment and they sweatdropped.

"...I wonder myself if they think before doing something." Mewtwo said frowning.

"...You know..." Pikachu wiped a tear. "Those hands sacrifice their lifes just for us...they're the best of the best..."

"...SUUUUUUUURE, they do that a lot of times..." Link said rolling his eyes.

Pit raised his hand. "Sorry, but I don't want to go to that world, besides, I don't know any survival skills for that matter so..."

"Hey, we could change places if you want, I know something about high-tech stuff." Red said.

"...Very well." Pit said nodding, changing places with Red.

Chris coughed a little to get attention. "O-okay, Pit, Meta Knight and Mewtwo, you're coming with me too."

"That means I'm going to the demon world?!" Pit asked shocked as Etna glared at him.

"Nana, aren't you going to say something?" Jigglypuff asked.

Nana sighed. "Actually... I think I want to pass this time, someone needs to watch over the hands and the mansion, besides, don't you see something different with me?"

"No, but where's Popo?" Jigglypuff asked as Nana's hammer snapped in 2 after she spoke.

"I punished my brother for aiming a gun at us last night, of course, my hammer wasn't going to hold on much longer after all those smacks, he's completely knocked out of cold in our room."

Marth looked at Ike. "You're not going to say anything?"

Ike sighed. "Sorry, but I don't feel that ready yet, please forgive me."

"Don't worry," Roy said patting Ike's right shoulder. "You can watch how the whole group works from here, after all the screen will show us what are each group doing, then you can decide whether to go and fight."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll take that in mind seriously." Ike said with a small smile and a nod.

"G-good luck over there." Lucas said.

"That's all?" Ness asked.

"W-what did you want me to say? I don't know anything else to say now!"

"I thought you were going to protest."

"Nuh-uh, I want to do something else today so...excuse me." Lucas said walking away through the Prinnies.

"I may as well take care of the mansion," Marth said looking at the created teams. "Let's get a final decision with the groups before starting."

Team 1: Mario's World
Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno and Twink

Team 2: Samus's World

Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar and Link

"If anyone is wondering, I know lots of survival skills." Link said.

Team 3: Disgaea World

Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Mewtwo, Flonne, Etna and the Dood Squa-I mean, Prinny Squad

"Is everyone alright with the decisions?" Marth asked as everyone nodded. "Chris, if you would..."

"O-oh, yes, sorry," Chris said opening the 3 portals to the different worlds that each one was assigned to, all the teams stood by each portal as they looked at each other. "I'm worry about how is this going to turn out, but be careful, alright?"

"Heh, this will be easier than the time Eggman tried to conquer the world." Sonic said with a smirk.

"Or easier when Liquid Snake tried to kill me." Snake said.

"...Right..." Chris said as they all entered the portals and vanishe-

"HOLD ON!" Etna yelled loudly, stopping all the Smashers. "The Prinnies have to go in there first, so wait until all of them are gone!"

"Okay okay, but do it fast, now!" Link said as all the Prinnies began to run at their world in a hurry with their suitcases on their hands.

30 minutes later...

Most of the Smashers were tapping their feet in annoyance as the endless line of Prinnies went inside the portal. "...Are they done yet?" Meta Knight asked.

"Not yet, wait a little more." Etna said.

1 hour later...

"How about now?" Pit asked.

"Nope, wait please!" Etna said as the Prinnies ran inside the portal.

2 hours later...

"Do you have a 7, Chris?" Squirtle asked looking at his hand.

"Go fishing." Chris said as Squirtle cursed under his breath.

"Hello?" Etna waved at the 2. "They're gone, let's go!"

"Finally!" Squirtle exclaimed as all the teams (most of them were snoring but woke up) ran inside the portals and vanished along with them.

Ike looked at the screen. "And so, everything starts..."

"That's about it." Jigglypuff said.

Main Lobby

Lucas was now all alone in the lobby without nothing to do, he regretted not participating in a world this time once all the Prinnies left the mansion for good, luckily, Ness went to him at that moment.

"Nothing else to do, right?" Ness asked.

"Yes..." Lucas said looking down.

"Look, this place is as dead as Threed's graveyard is, so there's nothing else to do here," Ness sighed. "...And mostly everyone left, but I don't think hanging out with the swordsmen would be great."

"Maybe if we go outside?" Lucas asked opening the door. "U-UAH!"

"Whoa!" A hand reached Lucas's right hand in time before he could trip, Lucas sighed in relief as he got back on his feet. "Careful next time, you got me surprised."

"T-thanks mister..." Lucas said looking up at the figure who grinned at him.

"C'mon, no need to say mister, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Yuri, Yuri Lowell." The person revealed to be the purple-haired swordsman Yuri.

"N-nice to meet you, my name is Lucas."

"And mine is Ness." Ness said standing besides Lucas.

"Are you looking for something here?" Lucas asked.

Yuri closed his eyes. "...Yeah, right now, I was looking for some missing friends that got lost in the forest and then as soon as I noticed, I ended up in this snow wasteland," Yuri said pointing behind his shoulder at the snow. "But that doesn't matter, what matters to me right now is a friend of the guild I come from."

"...Guild?" Lucas whispered to Ness.

"Maybe the guild that Raven explained before to us..." Ness whispered back.

"Excuse me?" Yuri asked and both kids looked back at him. "I'm looking for a friend, he's quite lazy, laidback, wears a long purple-somewhat pink coat and likes flirting with women, he's an old man too, have you seen someone like him around here?"

"(Raven, that's who.)" Ness and Lucas thought, but also remembered how focused Toon Link was with the old man that they did the "right" thing.

"Nope, we haven't seen anyone like him..." Ness trailed off. "But, I think he may be around here somewhere, maybe in the forest?"

"Hmm, well, he should be there so, thanks." Yuri said walking away to the forest where he disappeared as both looked at each other.

"How many persons have come here looking for Raven?" Ness asked.

"I-I think like 3 or 4... I don't know really." Lucas said as a familiar imp (but wearing a police cap and blackglasses) came floating down.

"You 2, kids, yeah, you, I'm talking to you." Chip said.

"Yes?" Ness asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm here to request something, you see, my memory was lost so I-"

Both PK kids began to laugh and Chip made a confused look. "Look, we sure as hell don't want a credit card, that trick of disguising into someone else is old, what do you think this is, the hippie era?"

"...Yeah?" Chip responded confused.

SLAM!

"W-wait! I-I dunno what is a credit card! Hey! I'm not selling that to you, please, open the door!" Chip yelled from behind the door as both kids walked away. "...Oh, maaaaaaan..."

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"We've got urgent news, Lord Tabuu," The Ancient Minister said. "The hands used their powers once again and...they went back in time before Mario was killed, meaning that Mario is still living."

"What?!" Tabuu asked enraged.

"Sorry, but we shall make everything again... I'll contact Charizard and King Dedede, they're probably confused of the situation and their memories about this sudden event are not existing in their minds, I'll remind them of their missions."

"And I expect the Smashers already trying to keep our plans from succeeding again?"

"Yes, since the time was taken back, all of them splitted in groups and went to different ways, however, the World Traveler isn't going to our locations which is strange."

"...Ancient Minister, search for the World Traveler's whereabouts, this could be something that we should take advantage of."

"Understood." The Ancient Minister said as he disappeared in the darkness of the Subspace.

"...Those hands...they are going to suffer the consequences someday...then they will beg for mercy..."

Tales of Vesperia

Dahngrest (98 percent of the city has been repaired)
Inn (Repaired)

United Oath

The clock was heard in the inn, the silence was making the genius mage impacient, no soul dared to step inside the inn and face the cause of the destruction of the city ever since she arrived there, not even the manager dared to charge her for staying in the inn.

"...Okay..." Rita looked around, her companions gone, every single one of them who happened to get lost in the forest. "...Ugh, I swear, they're planning to do something behind my back..." Rita smacked her forehead in frustration. "And there's nothing else to do here, we've got full supplies so no shopping, we've got all the necessary materials but...they're not even here!" Rita grunted in frustration.

"E-excuse me young lady?" The receptionist peered from the door and looked at Rita as he sweated. "I-it's time to pay for the stance here s-so if you would..."

"Oh, right, give me a second..." Rita looked through her pockets, but for her dismay she didn't have gil. "...Darn it, Yuri always has the money with him..."

The receptionist gasped. "T-then maybe it's time for you to leave, w-w-we appreciate your presence here at the inn so...b-bye!" The receptionist said leaving quickly as Rita sighed in disappointment.

"...I guess I should go for them this time...wait," Rita stopped walking just when she was about to leave the inn. "If I find the old man first than everybody else, then there's a good chance I can use my magic to punish him for what he did the last time he dared to peek on me...yeah, now that doesn't sound bad at all..." Rita said as she left the inn, much for the receptionist's relief.

...However...

When she left the city, it began to cheer loudly after she left, the citizens were actually happy because the "demon" wasn't around anymore.

...Of course, once Rita turned her back and saw the people cheering, she didn't care at all...until she saw dolls that looked like her being burned in a pile by the same citizens...

So guess what she did?

"I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HURT! BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HURT! BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-I'M SO GONNA MAKE YOU HURT! BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-"

And thus the city of Dahngrest was once again destroyed by a girl with magic, Rita grunted in frustration as she left for the forest, leaving a huge catastrophe behind her.

Smash Mansion
Outside

"...Oh no..." Raven got out from the snow with a shocked expression. "...She's comin'...she's comin' for real this time..." Raven said in utter horror as he somehow climbed the wall, returning to his room where he decided to build a wall and prevent anyone from enter or leave his room.

Somehow, the "doomsday" was also going to come for the Smashers, you should say and add...

Disgaea

?

King Krichevskoy, the mighty ruler of the Netherworld...

His long reign came to an abrupt end as the news of his death spread throughout
the dark land.

Ambitious demons rose one after another to seize the opportunity, and thus
began the age of turbulence and anarchy.

Two years later...

The group was shown walking through some empty dark halls, ever since they appeared on the next world, they couldn't see a thing for their misfortune.

"...Lucario..." Chris said.

"What?" Lucario asked.

"Would you...illuminate this place? P-please?"

"Alright." Lucario said using his aura to illuminate the place.

"Phew, I feel much better when there's light, thank you."

"Wait a second..." Pit looked around. "And the Prinnies? T-they're gone!"

Etna waved a hand. "Relax, they just disappeared as they usually do, once I call them, they'll be back in a flash, but for now..." Etna looked up ahead. "Laharl is very close to this place, in fact, he's just some meters ahead."

"I feel a tremendous presence beyond," Mewtwo said narrowing his eyes. "I believe it is this person named Laharl."

Lucario grunted. "Yes, I feel that huge power of darkness emanating close to us, it's very strong."

Kirby gulped. "L-Laharl is that powerful?"

Etna laughed for a moment. "Yep, that's Laharl for you, he's not the Overlord's son for nothing, c'mon people! We have to keep moving!" Etna said running ahead.

"W-wait! I need to kill him!" Flonne said with staff ready as she ran behind Etna.

"I-I agree with Flonne, demons should be killed!" Pit said running with Flonne.

"This is going to be a long day..." Meta Knight said.

"...M-Meta Knight, i-is that really you?" Chris asked pointing at some red menacing eyes close to him.

"Yes, it's me, but why do you ask?"

"...Lucario, would you increase your aura to illuminate this place further?"

"Yes." Lucario nodded as more aura emanated from his body, once the room was even more illuminated, Chris let out a scream once he saw Meta Knight.

To be accurate, Meta Knight's appearance changed to a "darker" version of himself, his cape was black, his eyes were red, his mask looked darker along with many things, it was the "dark" side of Meta Knight.

"...I see now," Meta Knight said looking to his left, on a mirror. "My appearance turned kind of malicious once we arrived here, and it seems those small wings that you all got prove my point."

"What do you mean b-" Kirby looked behind his back, he now had small angel wings that flapped a little. "Ooooohh..." Kirby stared at his wings as he chuckled a little.

Chris looked behind his back and sure, there were small angel wings as well. "W-wow... I wonder why do we have wings now."

"But mine are..." Lucario looked behind his back, instead of small angel wings however, he got small demon wings, the Aura Pokémon looked at Mewtwo who also had small demon wings on his back, the Psychic Pokémon looked behind him and closed his eyes.

"...We shouldn't worry about little details for now," Mewtwo said floating up ahead. "First, we need to keep this world safe from the Subspace Army as we were told."

"But I don't like these wings..." Lucario said as his wings flapped a little.

"Personally, Lucario," Chris began as he looked at Lucario's wings. "They look good on you."

"R-really?" Lucario asked as he smiled a little. "Then... I'm going to use them as much as I can."

"I'm glad you like them."

Meta Knight frowned at this as he kept advancing together with Kirby (staring at his wings in awe) following him from behind before the other duo continued their path.

After a while passed, the group found a big room with torches, and there was a coffin in the middle of it, Etna walked closer to the coffin and stared down at it.

"Yep, he's here alright." Etna said with a proud smile.

"Can I?" Flonne asked raising her staff before Etna pushed her away.

"No! I've already told you that you can't kill him!"

"Awww!" Flonne pouted.

"We're going to be more safe that way." Pit said as Etna gave him a bored look.

"Look, I'm not listening to any angels this time, so, sucks to be an angel." Etna said looking away as both angels glared at her.

"Would you call Laharl and see how he looks like? Please?" Kirby asked.

"...Okay," Etna sighed, cracked her fingers a little and looked down at the coffin as the others were standing close to the hallway's entrance. "Wake up," Etna said, but nothing seemed to happen. "Wake up!" Etna said getting annoyed. "C'mon, wake up, will you?!" Etna demanded kicking the coffin.

"That's not how you wake up someone." Pit pointed out.

The demon girl kicked the cover away and looked inside the coffin, some of them wanted to take a look but decided not to. "Wake up!" Etna repeated again as she made a fist and an angry expression. "Why won't you little brat wake up already?!"

"And here I thought you gave respect to him." Chris said.

"He is sleeping then?" Pit asked as before their eyes, Etna took out a sledgehammer. "W-where did yo-"

"WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!" Etna yelled loudly slamming the sledgehammer inside the coffin with all her forces.

CRASH!

"W-wait!" Flonne ran to the coffin and looked inside to find a dark void on it. "You don't need that violence to wake someone up!"

Etna crossed her arms. "Oh, then do you have a better way to do it?"

"Uh-huh," Flonne said giggling a little. "I think this a better alternative..." Flonne turned her staff into a bow with a magic arrow. "HA!" Flonne shot the arrow towards the coffin, where it went jumping to the air before it crashed, the others coughed as the smoke cleared out, but nothing got out from the coffin for Flonne's dismay. "Uh-oh, it wasn't enough..."

"U-umm..." Chris backed away a little. "I-I don't think you 2 need t-"

"DEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEHDEH!!!" Etna, out of nowhere, took out a jackhammer and a helmet, the demon began to impact the coffin's inside continuously but even so, nothing seemed to happen as the demon snapped her fingers and backed away to think in something else..

"Then..." Flonne took out from her back dynamites and threw them at the coffin as she covered herself behind a shield.

BOOM!

Chris was hiding behind Lucario at this moment as the Smashers backed away from both girls. "D-do't you think you're going a little bit too fa-"

"HIU! HIU! HIU!" Etna took a spear out from nowhere and began poking the inside of the coffin, or rather stabbing it since she was smirking with mischievous eyes.

"HA!" Flonne took out her own sledgehammer and slammed it on the coffin with all her forces, but nothing happened still.

"And to think they were mostly peaceful..." Meta Knight said with a frown.

"Hmmm?" Etna took out a stinky and smelly sock as she put it in front of the coffin, she covered her nose with a funny expression, but even the smell wasn't enough as she threw it away.

"Their ideas are either getting violent or more stupid." Mewtwo pointed out with a frown.

"HAAA!!!" Flonne, this time, threw 2 spinning axes and threw them at the coffin, but nothing HAPPENED still...

"W-where are they getting those weapons from?!" Pit asked shocked.

"RESPOND TO ME, DAMMIT!" Etna yelled kicking the coffin as the Smashers's eyes widened and stepped quickly out of the way, because...

"Oh, Etna," Flonne said giggling...as she was shown riding a bulldozer. "This, will surely wake him up, so..."

Click!

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Flonne's bulldozer went with full speed ahead and crashed into the coffin.

EXPLOSION!... Yes, EXPLOSION!

Even with the bulldozer, the coffin was still immobile, both girls began to grunt in frustration as the Smashers returned to their positions.

"U-um...c-can you 2 calm down? P-please?" Kirby pleaded hugging Chris in horror.

"ALRIGHTY!" Etna backstepped with a furious expression as she took out a big rocket launcher over her left shoulder with 4 missiles ready.

"M-my god, t-t-these girls are scary..." Chris said hiding in horror behind Lucario.

"F-Flonne!" Pit said shocked once he saw Flonne with the same item as Etna.

"TAKE THIS!" Both girls yelled furiously (Etna would be the one furiously) and fired the rockets to the coffin at the same time, the rockets circulated around the room before they went down and impacted into the coffin...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Everyone in the room coughed after smoke came out from the explosion, Etna and Flonne were covered in black smoke as it cleared out slowly. "L-let me guess, that didn't work either..." Chris said coughing.

"...Wait..." Mewtwo said closing his eyes as he glowed. "...He is...awake..."

Suddenly, the coffin was revealed and a huge wave of fire surrounded it, all of them gasped surprised as a huge shadow grew on the wall, probably it was the shadow of Laharl, the shadow looked menacing, it was very muscular and huge, there was also a menacing antenna on his head while the shadow pulled back his big arms, the Smashers stood in fighting stances as the fire illuminated the whole room with rage.

"Who dares to disturb the sleep of the great OVERLORD LAHARL?!" An extremely menacing voice demanded as the floor shook with violence.

"Us." Kirby said simply as Etna kicked him away.

"Shh! Shut up!" Etna whispered angrily.

"WHO IS THERE?!"

Etna chuckled and walked forward as Flonne hid behind her with staff ready. "Hello, great Laharl, sorry to disturb you, but you're not the Overlord or ever were to begin with because your father died, sorry!"

"WHAT?!" The voice asked outraged as the flames, in a comical manner, vanished with a poof as the Smashers and Flonne blinked in confusion after seeing the supposedly powerful son of King Krichevskoy...

Instead of the previous description, they found a small boy with rather demonic-looking red eyes, it was very skinny instead of being muscular, he wore a long red bandana on his neck along with brown shorts and brown shoes, he had blue hair with 2 antennas, to be honest, the boy was a little smaller than Chris himself...

"...This is a joke, right?" Chris asked as the boy, who appeared to be Laharl, crossed his arms as he looked at them.

"What the hell is happening here?!" Laharl demanded.

After a long explanation by Etna, hearing that Laharl has been asleep 2 years and that his father died because he choked on a black pretzel...

"WHAT?!" Laharl asked outraged.

Etna nodded. "Yes, all that happened when you were sleeping."

"Then why the heck didn't you wake me earlier?!"

"Sorry, got lost in the way here." Etna said with a chuckle as Laharl facepalmed.

"Aren't you supposed to be the vassal of my father?"

"Well...yeah, but hey, people can get lost once you go to do some shopping."

Kirby blinked confused. "Wait, then you went to Nintendo City to do shopping and forgot the way back?"

"...When you put it that way, it makes me feel kinda dumb...but yes." Etna said making a bored look.

"It's hard to believe that such tremendous power of darkness comes from a kid like him." Mewtwo said as Laharl glared at him.

"Hey! Was that an insult?!" Laharl demanded.

"No, it's just hard to believe as I've said befor-"

"DIE!" Flonne yelled firing a charged light arrow to Laharl's chest, the demon merely looked at her when the arrow...just bounced off. "...What?"

"Okay, I'm bored, Etna! I need to make some arrangements around my castle!" Laharl stated revealing the place they were in.

Laharl's Castle
Coffin Room

"I want some dinner as well, I want to get this place as the place it used to be, you there!" Laharl pointed at the Smashers. "You will also listen to my orders since you're all my new vassals!"

"V-vassals?" Kirby asked confused.

"Since when did we agree to be your servants?" Meta Knight asked narrowing his eyes.

"Since the first day you stepped inside my castle, and that is today!" Laharl said (or yelled) crossing his arms.

Laharl, Etna and Flonne temporarily joined your team!... Or rather you joined Laharl's team...

"B-but why?" Flonne asked looking down. "I-I used all my strengths in that arrow and I couldn't kill you..."

"You think a feeble arrow like yours it's going to kill a powerful Overlord like myself? Ha! That's a laugh you got there!" Laharl said as he blinked and looked at Etna. "Hey, Etna! Who's this guy who has the title of Overlord you mentioned before?!"

"Oh, you mean Vyers?" Etna said crossing her arms. "Yep, that guy took the title as Overlord for quite a while, but if you were to appear, then the title should be yours again as the true heir to the throne of the Netherworld."

"Ha-ha!" Laharl laughed as he smirked. "Okay, we've got all planned, we're going to that Vyers's place and beat the crap out of his dumb skull, he think that he's so bold? We'll see that! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Laharl laughed maniacally as the Smashers turned their backs to start a private conversation.

"...Should we really listen to his orders?" Kirby asked.

"We have no choice but to do that for the time being," Mewtwo began. "We have to make sure the Subspace Army doesn't invade this world as well."

Chris looked to Laharl, who was still laughing maniacally. "...Won't that little brat just shut up with his maniacal laugh?"

"What was that?!" Laharl asked angrily as a dark aura covered him.

"E-um... I mean, Won't that Vyers rat just give up his false title?"

"Nevermind then!" Laharl said as he continued to laugh maniacally.

Meanwhile, Flonne looked away to the roof and sighed. "Am I really capable to kill a demon?... If only the happiness and love would help me..."

"UGH!" Laharl stopped laughing once he heard Flonne saying those words, for some reason, he felt sick in an instant and became pale. "W-why did you say those sick words?!"

"Huh?" Flonne looked at him. "Well, I like the love and happiness, what about you?"

"UUGGH!!" Laharl grabbed his chest in pain. "S-stop it! I demand you to stop it! I hate it! I totally hate such things, t-those corny things you just said!"

"...Love and happiness you mean?" Flonne asked as Laharl dropped to his knees as he nodded. "B-but, I think even a demon like you could handle them very we-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Laharl yelled in pain as Flonne made a worried look.

"B-but how? M-maybe I can teach you how to lov-"

"JUST STOP IT, DAMMIT!"

"...Okay..." Flonne said turning her back at him. "(A demon that can't understand love and happiness? Or either friendship? How can that be?... I'm going to stay here and see if Laharl can understand those feelings like I do...)"

The Smashers stared at Laharl twitching in pain on the floor before they looked at each other, while Etna gave the prince a towel that he threw away. "...I guess we just figured out his weakness if he dares to attack us." Meta Knight said.

"Somehow, I knew he had some kind of stupid weakness." Chris said making a bored look.

"I'm happy actually," Pit said. "Now I have something to torture a demon with."

"But if you use torture, won't you be acting like a demon?" Kirby asked as Pit's eyes widened.

"...Damn." Pit muttered as Kirby sighed and looked to the roof.

"I wonder what are the others doing now..." Kirby wondered.

Super Paper Mario

Bitlands
Chapter 3-1 When Geeks Attack

"Ahem! Today..."

"I'll tell you the story of the lost book of prophecies."

"This prophetic book was a mysterious tome full of stories of future events."

"Of course, many people craved this book, wishing to glimpse their futures."

"But no person, after obtaining this amazing book, ever found happiness."

"The reason? The book held frightful secrets not meant for people's eyes."

"That book came to be called the Dark Prognosticus and was sealed away."

"This...is the tale of that forgotten book's last owner. It is a tale of love..."

"...Or not for this twist of events..."

Bitlands

We change the dark setting, where around at the same time the previous team arrived before, there was nothing around, only a blank background and nothing else...

Suddenly, a line appears to draw a floor, then it spreaded quickly until bushes, flowers, earth and pipes were drawn, however, the whole place was rather pixelated with a blocky background of the sky, it all suddenly gets colored until a door appeared and opened, and from it, Mario, Peach and Tippi came out before the door could vanish, they were, obviously, in their paper forms as they looked around.

"Hmm..." Peach began to wonder. "This place sure feels...nostalgic for some reason, isn't, Mario?"

"Uh-huh," Mario said nodding. "I think it brought back some memories from a long time ago...remember?"

Peach giggled. "Of course, the first time Bowser kidnapped me and the first time I met you, those were horrible memories...but they weren't when you rescued me."

Mario blushed a little. "W-well, haha, yes, b-but let's get focused and go on."

"Aww," Tippi said. "Romance is still strong these days, isn't?"

"N-no! I-it's not what you think!"

"Sure," Tippi said sarcastically. "Anyway, shouldn't we start looking for the Pure Heart?"

"That's what I said before!" Mario said annoyed.

"Oh, you did?" Tippi asked as Mario made an annoyed look. "...Oops, you did, heheh, sorry," Tippi looked around. "That's odd... I can feel it nearby, but where could it be..."

Peach let out a small giggle. "Okay, then we should move on...huh?"

Both characters turned to her. "It's something wrong Peach?"

"Well...how do I put it?" Peach wondered. "Haven't we met those people over there somewhere?"

"Hmm?" Mario and Tippi said looking besides Peach ahead...

Several meters ahead of them, there were 10 familiar figures, those 10 familiar figures were Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno and Twink, who were, as a fact, turned into paper forms, everyone felt really odd when they looked around...

But the most freaked out was Sonic.

"NO! NO! NO!" Sonic said panicking as he realised something. "I DON'T WANNA RUN IN A STRAIGHT LINE! THERE'S THE BACKGROUND OVER THERE! WHY CAN'T I RUN AROUND?!"

"Dude, calm down!" Mallow said slapping Sonic. "If we're going to save this...pixelated-looking world, then we shouldn't complain about it!" Mallow looked at them. "Okay, this is out of the blue, but does anyone here know how this place works?"

Everyone looked at each other until Fox raised his hand. "I've experienced this before...and honestly I hate it." Fox said.

"...Okay, that didn't help too much, but...where's Mario?"

"Right in front of us." Yoshi pointed out as they all turned to Mario, Peach and Tippi.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're here again because the "Subspace Army" is trying to do something here...for the 4th time!" Mario said.

"And you guessed it." Geno said.

"Zelda!" Peach said joining her hands as she walked to Zelda. "It's been a long time ever since we last met, how have you been in Hyrule all these years?"

"(Must avoid any kind of women conversations with her or else she won't stop...)" Zelda thought as she shook her head. "It's been peaceful once Link and I defeated Ganondorf."

Peach giggled. "Oh, that Ganondorf, he doesn't stop, does he?"

"Ahem," DK coughed. "Anyways, what are the things we need to do here?"

"Find Kalmar." Geno reminded them.

The 3 first characters from the start of this world looked at each Smasher. "My, every time you go away, the group keeps getting new people...like this new Young Link." Peach said looking at Toon Link.

"Young who?" Toon Link asked confused.

"...I guess you're not Young Link?"

"Er... I'm young alright, but I'm Link, however, these guys get my name wrong and call me Toon Link instead." Toon Link said looking annoyed.

"Then nice to meet you, Toon Link!" Peach said handshaking the cartoony character's hand.

"Nice to mee-hey!"

Mario, Peach and Tippi temporarily joined your team!

Peach giggled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"If Master Hand is getting new people to fight in the next tournament, then I should start knowing them better," Mario said as he looked at Sonic. "Huh? Are you..."

"Yep!" Sonic said smirking a little. "I'm Sonic The Hedgehog, and you must be that Mario that accepted the challenge for the Olympics, right?"

"Of course!" Mario said nodding. "I didn't think you were also a new Smasher, it's a great surprise for me!..."

"..."

Both characters stared at each other's eyes and everyone looked at them.

"...Hello? Mario?" Tippi asked flying in front of Mario, who didn't move at all.

"Sonic? Sonic? Hello?" Twink asked flying in front of Sonic, but he got the same result.

"Wait..." Tippi looked at Mario's eyes turning into an unusual red color. "Are your eyes getting sick or something?"

"And what about you?" Twink asked as Sonic's eyes turned the same color.

"HAAAAAA!!!" Suddenly, both Mario and Sonic lunged at each other and began to fight with their fists with each other, the group made confused looks once they saw both of them fighting by no reason at all.

"MARIO! SONIC! STOP IT YOU GUYS!" Mallow yelled running on his own feet.

"Oh my! Somebody stop this unnecessary dispute!" Peach gasped covering her cheeks in horror as both continued to fight. "You!"

"Huh?" Diddy looked at Peach.

"Y-you must be Diddy Kong, right? Would you be so kind and stop them from...uh...killing each other?"

"Why me?"

"I-I don't know!" Peach said sweating as Sonic...bit Mario's nose. "B-but please, I don't like to see this!"

Yoshi looked at the 2. "Mario! Sonic! Stop, please! You're making Peach sad!"

Both didn't respond whatsoever.

"I can't take this anymore!" Peach yelled running to DK. "You, stop them!"

"B-but I don't know how..." DK said as Peach began to sob silently. "...Oh no, OH NO, please don't cry, everything but that, please! I don't want t-aw, screw it!" DK said lunging at the 2 fighters and grabbed both of them, separating them as he held them in separate hands, however, even separated both acted like rabid cats.

Twink made a worried look. "Why did they act like just now? Anybody knows?"

"M-Mario once saw Sonic's photo on a newspaper, but nothing like this happened before..." Peach began to wonder. "Mario?"

"Huh?" Mario shook his head and looked to Peach. "Peach? What happened?"

Sonic, at that moment, shook his head and got back to normal. "H-hey, why do I have all these bruises on me?"

"You 2 just looked at each other and began killing yourselves against the other," Zelda explained. "But why I ask?"

"..." Mario and Sonic looked at each other before they started again to act like wild animals until DK slammed each one of them with the other, snapping them out of their weird rage. "O-oww!"

"...Should both of them stay separated and not look at each other for the time being?" Peach asked confused.

"Talk about random..." Yoshi trailed off.

"S-sorry for changing the subject," Tippi began. "But who are they? Do you 2 know them?"

Mario and Peach looked at each other as they told everything to Tippi...

However, there was someone watching from the bushes nearby.

"Neeerrr! This is so high-technicaaaaal!" A shadowy figure said as his glasses let out a small glitter.

Fox's ears perked up a little and looked behind him. "Weird, I could've sworn there was someone spying on us..." Fox trailed off.

Everyone stopped talking as they looked at him. "Someone spying us?... Could it be the Subspace Army?" Geno asked.

"...Oh yes, a whole collection of figures of the famous "Ultra Knock Brotherhood" series is at my reach along with a super-rare pixelated butterfly to show at my friends in digibutter dot nerr forums, now it's not the time to let this oppotunity slip out from my hands, ner, this is so high-technicaaaaal!!!"

"Where did that voice come from?" Diddy asked.

"...LOOK OUT!" Geno yelled as a long tongue came out from the bushes and surprisingly wrapped DK, Diddy, Fox, Toon Link, Mallow and Geno, who yelled and were pulled inside the bushes, the others who weren't captured got shocked once they saw, the biggest geek in the whole universe, Francis, jumping out from the bushes. "HEEEEEELP!" Geno yelled inside Francis's stomach along with the others who tried to escape.

"Eek!" Peach gasped after she saw who it was as Mario, Yoshi and Sonic stood in front of the princesses (and Twink) and glared at Francis.

"You! Let them go before I kick you out!" Sonic warned as Francis merely laughed.

"Nope," Francis began. "I must bring them home. I can't miss this week's episode of "The Grodus Chronicles"! No way am I going to entrust my digital Recordmeow to tape an episode so epic. This is so hi-technicaaaaal!" Francis said happily.

"W-why are you going to take them to your house?! Are you some sort of pervert?!" Zelda asked shocked.

"Duh! They all resemble perfectly the "Ultra Knock Brotherhood" so well that I must have them in my collection, plus, I got this high-technical super-rare pixelated butterfly, what else could I get besides you all?... But now's not the time, since by cover was blown and you probably will try to stop me, I have to get back and watch my episode, see you!" Francis said as he instantly camouflagued before Sonic could land a fast punch, the hedgehog cursed under his breath when Francis disappeared out of sight.

DK, Diddy, Fox, Toon Link, Mallow, Geno and Tippi left your team

"No! He took them away from us!" Yoshi said.

"We need to get moving and rescue everyone then!" Sonic said as he looked up ahead and shrugged. "...Don't tell me this place is just flat, I hate this already."

Zelda quickly turned Mario's head the other way before he could see Sonic, to prevent another odd fight. "It is, I wonder myself why is like this though..." Mario trailed off.

"...Oh well," Peach giggled and they looked at her. "This sure is going to be a memory to remember, shall we get going and rescue Tippi with everyone?"

"Peach, you're in high spirits today, aren't you?" Twink asked as Peach nodded.

"How can she be so calm and relaxed in a situation like this?" Yoshi asked to himself.

"This is Peach that you're talking about, so it's not surprise, I know her that well." Zelda said...shuddering afterwards as the 6 decided to move on. "...No! Don't look at each oth-"

"DIE!" Mario and Sonic yelled as they began to fight in a second, the 4 sighed in disappointment as Yoshi looked at the pixelated sky.

"I wonder what are the others doing now..." Yoshi wondered.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo
Fiery Airdock

Bryyo

The scene changes once again to another world at the same time previous both teams arrived, instead, it was a normal one, however, it wasn't that normal because it was the fiery area of Bryyo, a place full of Fuel Gel that could be considered as lethal magma, with a closer look, we see Samus's Gunship landing as the bounty hunter appeared from underneath and looked around the area using her visor, scanning everything she could find...

These were the bits of information she got.

Subject: Pikachu

Electric small rodent Pokémon who can store larges amount of electricity in his body, it can discharge electricity once it stored enough power to attack its enemies.

However, she stopped scanning the next descriptions and got confused why did she get that information out of the blue.

"What? Why is my visor telling me this?" Samus asked confused inside her armor.

"It's because there are 9 people in front of you!" Samus blinked and changed to her normal visor, realising that Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar and Link were standing around her, Pikachu being the one talking to her. "And did I hear I was an "it" again?"

Samus backed away a little, she got really surprised when she found them there. "H-how did you all get here again?"

"Relax, we used the same method we used the last time." Falco said before Samus slapped him hard. "Oww! What was that for?!"

"You tell me, who were the ones who had a severe nosebleed when they saw the "real" me?"

Falco looked around. "Say what?... Oh, yeah, I remember, but not this time, I changed totally."

"...Sure..." Samus said sarcastically. "W-well...why are you here? Do you have some kind of business here? I doubt that... Huh?"

"Aw, Samus, pleasure to know you better." C. Falcon said grabbing Samus's armored hand and kissed it.

"...What is wrong with him?" Samus asked confused.

Pikachu glared at Falco, who looked away whistling innocently.

"What kind of manners do you have?" Snake asked with crossed arms as Samus looked at him.

"And who are you?" Samus asked as she got her hand back.

"Solid Snake, mercenary," Snake introduced himself. "We've got word that there are activities caused by the Subspace Army in this place so we came to give you a hand, you might say."

"I see..." Samus wondered. "Well, my name is Samus Aran."

"Yeah, recognized bounty hunter of this galaxy, I've heard a lot about you."

"It is my pleasure," Samus said with a nod. "And I see there are some new people with you, like him for example."

Olimar hopped. "O-oh, right, m-my name is Olimar, n-nice to meet you kind lady, these over here are my Pikmins." Olimar said pointing at 3 Red Pikmins.

"I have to say, using these plants as our way to get oxygen was ingenous, I saw them just as odd-looking gnomes myself." Wolf said.

"I take that as an insult," Olimar said as Wolf glared at him, the captain shuddered and backed away. "O-on second thought, i-it's alright..."

Link wiped out the sweat from his forehead. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"I was requested to destroy the Leviathan seed, it's a huge seed that spawns Phazon, the high radioactive substance that its extremely lethal to the planet's life," Samus explained. "I was on my way to investigate this place, but seeing you here means that the army is trying to do something else, right?"

"Exactly!" Pichu said nodding.

"...Then may as well tag along for the time being, also," Samus rubbed her "chin" as she looked at them. "I'm curious about what have you all been doing this time."

Samus temporarily joined your team!

Link chuckled as they all started to walk to the door. "I'd like to tell you everything."

Ivysaur looked to the Fuel Gel in shock before he shook his head. "S-Squirtle, could you douse this...magma, please?!"

"Sorry, can't do that," Squirtle said. "Magma can't be doused by my water, it's too strong."

"No, no no no no, this must be another nightmare, first, the cold, now the extreme heat?! I'm a Grass Pokémon for Arceus's sake!"

"Arceus?" Red asked curiously.

"...Ah...forget about it..." Ivysaur said running up ahead as Squirtle and Red looked at each other before following the group.

But there were 2 figures spying them from above, it was Ganondorf, but the other one looked like another bounty hunter with a cold appearance, the hunter was also covered in the Shadow Bugs as Ganondorf chuckled.

"So, they are here," Ganondorf said chuckling. "The mission got very interesting all of a sudden."

"I shall eliminate every last one of them," Rundas, the hunter, said. "With this newfound power and the Shadow Bugs combined, I'll put an ice age in this fiery inferno."

"I shall see...and fight." Ganondorf said as Dark Rundas jumped out from the platform along with Ganondorf as the hunter created an ice wave that both rode as they went away in the distance.

"I wonder what are the others doing now..." Pichu wondered.

"...Wow, I think they wondered the same thing." Kirby, Yoshi and Pichu wondered at the same time from separated worlds.

Preview of the next chapter

"Hey, Vyers guy!" Laharl yelled. "I've come here to demand my title of Overlord back!"

"Who is this brat usurping the great Overlord Vyers?" A voice asked from somewhere.

"My name is Laharl, the son of King Krichevskoy and I'm here to reclaim my title from you!"

"Master of dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am...Dimentio!" Dimentio said giving a smile. "My, what do we have here? More guests?"

"Hey, who's the clown guy?" Sonic whispered to Peach.

"And such rude people I see," Dimentio said chuckling. "Oh well, guess you can't please this crowd that well."

"Rundas?" Samus said surprised.

"Ganondorf..." Link said narrowing his eyes.

"Link, it is good to see you again after that coward attack in our last encounter," Ganondorf said crossing his arms. "However, I did not like that and I am here to get my revenge, along with my new servant."

"Samus." Dark Rundas simply said as both hunters glared at each other.

"H-HOT BABES ALERT! Must boot swoon dot exe to get a better conversation!" Francis said panicking as he took out his laptop.

"What th-" Zelda felt that something changed in the scene as she looked around...

"High-technically Francis, nerr! This is something I'm not going to like..." Zelda trailed off worried.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Laharl's Castle
Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Laharl, Etna, Flonne

Bitlands
Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Mario, Peach

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus

References:

-All the attempts to wake up Laharl were the same as the anime ones, those girls sure are desperate to wake him up. XD

And thus the challenge begins! A triple arc for...this arc! How is this going to turn out? You'll decide with those reviews! :D

Will Laharl get his title of Overlord back? Will Flonne teach Laharl about her "corny" things? Will Mario and Sonic stop fighting by no reason and why is the cause? Will Peach stop being such a side-character and spring into action because I forgot to do a Super Princess Peach arc? :P Will Francis tell what the heck is the Ultra Knock Brotherhood series someday? Will Snake gain Samus's heart or C. Falcon will? Will Ivysaur "pants heavily after writing so many wills" get over his fear of heat and cold? Will Samus join them? Will...will...will Mario get killed again?

What will Parakarry find in the clouds?

Find out the next time I update this thing. XD

Read and review, please! :D

*Chapter 107*: Hitechnically Francis, nerr!

I'm awfully sorry about the late update! My internet was acting like it died and it just got itself repaired... This chapter could have been posted the last Tuesday too, because the school got in the way as well. I just hope the chapter got successful... :'(

From Seitei: Yahoo! Super Paper Mario! Haven't played that game for a while. I loved . You MUST have that in there (gotta love Francis, neer~).

Keep updating, kupo!

From me: Of course, I couldn't forget that part of the game...but I hope all the possible changes I did to that it's enough for you. :)

From ngrey651: Hmm. Mario and Sonic punching each other out for no reason. : Moving along, I really enjoyed all the Disgaea stuff you placed within, dood.

DUDE! I mean DUDE! Darn it! Now the word's stuck in my head. At least they're all gone now...or ARE they? Please say they are.

From me: Be warned, the dood nightmare has just started... :D

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: Your story is probably the best fanfic I have ever read and only one thing comes to mind since I have been reading it. When will Chris be a Riolu again!? Will it be as a class or be like Sora's Lion form and be only for certain worlds? If so then I understand. But one thing still bugs me though. Are you going to do a Chrono Cross arc since your doing Chrono Trigger one, because Chrono Cross is the official sequel to that game. And I a suggestion for the Aura Apprentice job evolved form, Can it be something like Aura Guardian were Chris is in the same outfit as Sir Aaron from that one Pokemon movie and be able to use these powers in the Pokemon world if he goes there again as another arc?

From me: Aw, thank you for your praising. :')

Chris won't be a Riolu again as far as I know.

My friend, you just stroke gold, in fact, I have also planned to do a Chrono Cross arc that will have many emotional turmoils, just wait a little bit more. :)

No more evolved forms for the other jobs, I explained that before.

Thanks! :D

Moving on, are the people REALLY that attached to that Keyblade-wielder that much?

From Anakin Mario Son43: AWSOME! A triple arc in a single arc! Phew, I''m glad Mario probably won't die. Laharl is... strange. Update soon! Hopefully without school interfering.

From me: You'll see his true self. XD

From Ultra Blader: A triple arc, huh? That's a first. Anyway, interesting chapter, even though there was next to no action, scene with Laharl's coffin was pretty funny.

Until next time,
Ultra Blader

From me: Hope it's still funny for you all.

From JSandders: Hey wiiboychris!

This is the first time i'm going to review this story coz when i was reading the first chapter, you were just done with chapter 99.

Anyways, your story is my favorite story in the whole website. I congratulate you in making a solid story like this. I give you three thumbs up and a high-five to boot.

So far your story has gone through a lot of twists and turns and Chris's personality has dramatically changed from the first chapter (guess that's what happens when you boss is a floating glove and your surrounded by video game characters XD). Love your side quest idea BTW, and Ive got ideas for musicians:

-K.K. Slider (from Animal Crossing) GUITAR
-Axel (from Disgaea 2) GUITAR
-I-no (from Guilty Gear XX) GUITAR
-DCMC (from Mother 3) BRING THEM BACK!
-Phantom Ensemble (from Touhou Project)
-Frederic Chopin (from Eternal Sonata) PIANO
-Nikki (from Chrono Cross) GUITAR (Guitars are awesome!)
-Venus (from Earthbound) VOCALS
-Yurika Kurishima (from Rival Schools) VIOLIN
-The Gavinners (from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney)
-Any random Bard (from the FF series)
-and anybody else you can think of! :D

You'll hear more from me:
JSandders //

From me: Thank you for the ideas for musicians, but out of all of them I think K.K Slider it's the only one who could be accepted, since I want musicians from only Nintendo games (or from Snake or Sonic).

Thank you again! :D

From hornedjolteon: I can just imagine it! Zelda chooses other option. Options: Kick Mario into Sonic to inside Francis or Kick Sonic into Mario to inside Francis. Zelda chooses to kick Mario into Sonic to inside Francis. Sonic's spikes hits the inside! Mario and Sonic start fighting as Star-powered Mario and Super Sonic! Critical Hit! 9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9 Consecutive hits! Francis explodes! You WIN! XD Olbviously though, this won't happen :(:...

From me: How about if you read the chapter to foind out? ;)

From Iyan: O_o Wth... who knows where they get those tools... its practically Etna and Flonne... xD good chapter. ... and you got the word dood in my head now... curses _

From me: Here's something, a word of wisdom for you: Dood! XD

From dimentio713: opps I guess I didn't review for the right chapter so yeah... Dimentio is cool! Will he join the villians because that will be so cool he's a great villian and he would fit perfectly with tabuu and the other villians!

From me: If you have readed all the chapters until now, then somewhere around chapters 70 and 90 I told that only the "evil" Smashers were going to be the only henchmen of Tabuu, along with the bosses so, no. :) Thanks.

From chrisworshiper: good chapter kepp on typeing one question what is yaio ( ps about be being run over they don't call me the tin teen for nothing)

From me: I think yaoi means boy/boy relationship. I don't know really. XD

From Rabid Original: Whoo-hoo, you finally started Disgaea!
But you watched the anime, didn't you, cheater XD
The game is win, if you haven't played it.

And now, a random grammar lesson:
Various- Denotes variety, as in "There were socks of various colors and sizes."
Several- A few/ more than two, as in "There were several watermelons sitting on the counter."

...Was that at all helpful? I'm bad at explaining things :P
I have no idea why I was thinking about socks and watermelons, either.

From me: That was helpful, I have hard times with those words, thanks. :D

From Mewtrainer: Haha, go fish! This is another marvelous but impossible chapter! I mean, what's with the Prinnies? Don't tell me Red doesn't know Arceus?? Francis is weird!

From me: Well, Red comes from the era of the third generation of Pokemon so he doesn't know about the 4th generation, unless he gets to study. :D

So please, I apologize for the long wait and I hope this chapter makes your stomach hurt with laughs, at least that's what I hope so. :)

Read, enjoy and review, please! :D

Chapter 107: High-technically Francis, nerr!

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle
Throne Room

Disgaea - Lord Laharl's Hymn

Pit looked outside of the castle through the window, it was always dark in that part of the Netherworld, magma surrounded the castle with a narrow bridge that reached the other land, the angel made a worried look as he turned his back. "This place gives me goosebumps...can't we go now?"

Chris shook his head. "No, I'm afraid we're going to stay here for the time being, bad thing is I don't know how much and that could show a problem, Mewtwo, do you know?"

"...I think we're going to leave once somebody calls us, but that is what I suppose." Mewtwo said.

"The darkness in this world...is perturbing." Lucario said.

"A-and it feels rather scary for my tastes." Chris said shuddering.

"More perturbing is him." Kirby said pointing to Laharl, who apparently was thinking on his throne, the demon always had that "menacious" glare with him that it was hard to tell if he was happy or angry...

Wait, he could be angry all the time so...

"ETNA!" Laharl yelled. "Where's my breakfast?! Etna?!"

Etna peered from the door wearing a chef's hat. "Wait just a little bit, the Prinnies are doing their best to make your stomach feel satisfied, my Prince!"

"It doesn't matter, I want my breakfast now!"

"Geez, then why don't you eat your hand..." Etna muttered.

"What was that?!"

"I-I mean why don't you beat your anger!"

"...Hmm..." Laharl began to think as Etna took this chance and ran away to the kitchen.

"Wow, he is so naive." Pit said.

"That doesn't matter," Meta Knight said. "What matters now is what should we do here, the others are probably fighting as we speak."

"I'm sorry to say this but this is a gam-I mean, a world I haven't seen before...sorry again, I can't help here." Chris said looking down.

"It's not your fault Chris," Lucario said. "This kind of problem will start showing up again through this long journey."

"Then I'll be useless when trying to give directions."

"W-wait, don't get more depressed, please, I-I was trying to cheer you up."

Chris looked up and smiled a little. "Thank you, Lucario."

"AW, DAMMIT!" Laharl yelled. "ETNA! HURRY UP WITH THE FOOD OR I'M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE HERE!"

"His yells are that of a brat." Mewtwo said as Laharl decided to look at them.

"So, you're my new vassals, am I right?"

"N-not exactly," Kirby said. "We were requested to come here and protect this place from an arm-" Kirby's mouth was blocked by Pit before Laharl blinked and narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Laharl asked narrowing his eyes.

"H-he meant that we're your vassals, however, we're going to stay here for a bit and then we'll depart to somewhere else once you give us orders!" Chris said sweating.

"I don't see why you have to leave, you seem to be strong-looking vassals to me."

Chris blinked surprised. "W-wow, thanks."

"I wasn't talking about you, casanova!" Laharl yelled pointing at Mewtwo, Lucario and Meta Knight. "I was talking about those 3 over there!"

"...Somehow, I knew you were going say that." Chris muttered.

"Besides, who knows?" Laharl smirked. "You could be as well strong assets to my plans."

"You just picked them because they looked scary or evil, right?"

"Ha! Seems the casanova knows what am I talking about!"

"For the last time, in the second time actually, I'm not a casanova!" Chris said annoyed. "I have a name and is Chris!"

"Whatever! You're a casanova, don't deny it!"

"Stupid little brat..." Chris muttered.

"What was that?"

"Vivid cattle of rats!" Chris quickly said as Laharl looked at Flonne with a book.

"What do you want, weren't you trying to assasinate me a moment ago?" Laharl asked.

"Here." Flonne gave Laharl the book.

"What the heck is this?"

"It's a special book for you to read, I'm sure you're going to get interested by reading the title, read it!" Flonne said joining her hands, Laharl blinked confsued at her before he looked at the book.

"The Great Guide For Love And Friendship..." Laharl readed as his eyes widened with horror. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! IT BURNS!" Laharl yelled throwing the book away to the magma that was close to his throne.

"N-no! T-there are only 3 copies of that book! Why did you do that?!" Flonne asked shocked.

"You don't learn, do you?! I ABSOLUTELY HATE THOSE CHEESY WORDS AND FEELINGS!" Laharl yelled at Flonne.

"B-but, I think you have a least one of them..." Flonne played with her fingers. "...Who knows."

"Yuck!" Laharl crossed his arms. "A demon doesn't need to have those feelings!"

"In Celestia, they taught me all those wonderful feelings, why don't you..." Flonne trailed off before she realised something. "Didn't you were sad when your father died? When it was that?"

"...There's something going on between those 2..." Pit said.

Laharl looked away as he closed his eyes. "...You came all the way from Celestia for nothing. My old man died 2 years ago."

Flonne looked down and she began to sob silently. "...I'm sorry..."

Laharl noticed her sobbing. "H-hey! Why are you crying?"

"Your father passed away, right? You'll never see him again... When I think about that, it makes me sad..." Flonne explained wiping her tears.

"You're sad because his father died?" Kirby asked.

"But you didn't know him to begin with." Meta Knight pointed out.

"I know..." Flonne said looking at them. "But I think Laharl should've felt some sadness when he knew what happened..."

"Huh?" Laharl glared at her. "Are you crazy?! You came here to assassinate him, right? Why should you be sad?"

"Are you not sad?" Flonne asked.

"Me? I don't have that emotion, and never will for that matter." Laharl said simply.

Flonne shook her head. "That's not true," Flonne joined her hands together. "When you lose someone or something important to you, you cry, don't you? Your heart aches, doesn't it?"

"Hmph... I don't understand a word you're saying." Laharl said narrowing his eyes.

"...I think I know," Chris said. "She means that deep inside you should be sad for the death of your father."

"How come?" Flonne asked to Laharl once both listened to the World Traveler.

""How come?" Because I'm a demon, of course!" Laharl protested crossing his arms.

"Demons don't know sadness?" Flonne asked curiously.

"E-exactly! I've never experienced such an emotion in my entire life!"

"Oh, then demons only know how to get angry and do other sins?" Pit asked.

"Yes, that's right!" Laharl said.

"If that's true, then does that mean demons don't know love, either? Sadness is only possible because of love." Flonne explained.

"You're right," Laharl began. "Demons have no love, either!"

"That's..." Flonne looked down. "That's just...too sad..."

"Ugh!" Laharl looked away with closed eyes. "Everyone here, leave me alone! I want some solitude before Etna comes here with my dinner, leave! NOW!"

"...Okay..." Flonne muttered with a nod as she walked away.

"...What the heck are you waiting for?! GET OUT!" Laharl demanded to the Smashers.

"It's clear that demons have anger issues as well." Mewtwo said as he floated away from the room.

"This may be uncertain..." Meta Knight muttered as they walked to the door. "But something happened to Laharl that he doesn't want to remember."

"What?" Kirby asked.

"It's just a thought...but I hope I'm wrong." Meta Knight said as they walked away from the room and left Laharl alone, the prince embraced himself as he looked down.

"(...She sounds just like my mother.)" Laharl thought closing his eyes. "(How stupid! Love? What good is it? What's the point in having it?)" Laharl questioned himself.

The scene suddenly got black and his voice echoed.

"(...Love is the reason Mother is dead! I don't believe... I'll never believe in love!!)"

Hallway

"Huh?" Chris turned to the door. "...Weird..."

"What's his problem?" Pit asked. "Why did he get that angry to you for something you didn't do?"

"I-I don't know..." Flonne said looking down. "But there's something bothering me..."

"What is it then?"

"I think Laharl is hidding something from me... And I must know what." Flonne said making a determined face.

"You're only going to get yourself killed," Mewtwo said. "I wouldn't dare to reason with him in my life, I have yet to see his powers and what else he could do."

"Chris, you should be careful as well," Lucario said. "Laharl probably has the power to kill all of us."

Chris gulped. "Y-you know, you 2 scared me already... B-but I'll be careful."

"(If demons really don't know love, then it's my duty as a Celestian to explore the matter.)" Flonne thought as she looked away. "(I was ordered to assassinate the Overlord, but this must be a sign from the heavens... It has to be!)" Flonne thought surprised. "(Whether demons are pure evil or not... If they really don't feel love... I will bear witness to the truth!)"

"Flonne!" Kirby called from afar. "Stop looking at the wall and get here, the Prinnies finished with the feast!... FEEEEAAAASSSSSTTTT!!!" Kirby yelled excited as Flonne shook her head to snap back in reality.

"U-um? Huh? What? O-oh, right!" Flonne said running away.

2 hours later...

Vyers Castle

After the group finished eating, they set their destination to Vyers Castle, the castle where the supposedly guy who was the Overlord lived...

Once they got inside (because there were no guards whatsoever in the front door), the group looked around the rather flamboyant place, it looked dark of course, but it was decorated with fancy ornaments, and a bright red sofa on the center with a chimney close.

"Please," Chris closed his eyes. "Tell me the person living in here doesn't think he is the opposite gender, please!"

"Haha!" Laharl laughed. "Then there's no way a guy like him rules over the Netherworld!"

"...You love to laugh a lot, don't you?" Pit asked.

"He has been either yelling or laughing maniacally ever since we left the castle." Meta Knight said.

"Or both." Kirby pointed out.

"Or louder." Chris added.

"Or both of both things." Lucario said as Chris looked at him.

"That was a little confusing..."

"Shut up!" Laharl said annoyed. "I want to see the Vyers guy already, where is that prick?!"

"D-does that mean I have to fight?" Flonne asked holding her staff.

"But of course," Laharl said. "You're not one of my vassals for nothing, are you? All the vassals should obey my commands and not dare to complain back to me, never!" Laharl's long bandana then curled up as the demon moved his right hand on his back and inside the cloth, and from it he took out a huge sword with several squared-shaped holes on the sword's edge.

"Wow, that's a big(beep!) sword you got there, Prince." Etna said.

"Heh, thanks," Laharl smirked and closed his eyes. "Though the sword could be only my minor power, I have other spells and attacks that could tear down the ground, just wait and see, MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The Smashers literally saw lightnings falling on the background as the son of the Overlord laughed. "...Chris, I want to leave this place as soon as possible." Lucario said.

Chris nodded with a gulp. "I-I know, I-I'm ready to make something disgusting also..."

"...What?"

"Piss my pants in fear."

Lucario shrugged.

Etna decided to relax and sit of the sofa. "Heeeey, this sofa is incredibly soft, why don't we steal it?"

"Because we're not petty thieves, if we want to get something, that should be by getting something else bigger than this crap!" Laharl said.

"...Mind if I take this with me?"

"Sure, go ahead." Laharl said as Pit made a bored look.

"Well, where is this...Vyers guy anyway?" Pit asked.

"Hey, Vyers guy!" Laharl yelled. "I've come here to demand my title of Overlord back!"

"Who is this brat usurping the great Overlord Vyers?" A voice asked from somewhere.

"My name is Laharl, the son of King Krichevskoy and I'm here to reclaim my title from you!"

"S-should we be worried?" Kirby asked trembling.

"About Vyers? No. About Laharl? Yes." Meta Knight said.

"D-don't tell me you're scared as well."

Meta Knight shook his head. "No, but Mewtwo told me a lot of details about Laharl that have convinced me."

"...Like?" Kirby asked as Meta Knight whispered on his ear just to be careful of the demon kid. "...W-what?"

"Yes, be careful." Meta Knight said as a figure appeared in a cloud of smoke, over the stairs of the room they were in.

The smoke cleared out, and a tall, skinny demon walked down the stairs, his skin was a very pale purple color, he had pale purple hair thath reached his shoulders, he wore only a dark vest, dark pants and red boots, he had thin, long wings with the back side black and the front red, the figure was Vyers.

"But, I give you credit for your bravery," Vyers said running his hand through his hair, his voice pretty much sounded like a french guy or a british one, Vyers twirled a little bit before opening his hand to the roof. "Voila! ...Forgive moi, I must leave you in awe," Vyers chuckled as he put his hands on his hips. "My name is Vyers. I am the lord of this castle."

"(Ugh, he gave that image already...)" Chris thought.

"Vyers? Isn't he the demon that's been knocking off competition for the throne?" Etna asked as Laharl glared at her.

"Hey! You said he was the Overlord!" Laharl said angrily.

"Oops, my bad, I kinda forget that part, ever since there was no member of the family of King Krichevskoy to be the next Overlord, every demon in the Netheworld has been fighting over the title."

"Oui. That is correct, mademoiselle," Vyers said chuckling. "I am an aristocrat with both strength and beauty... They call moi the "Dark Adonis"....young man. I assume that you are the son of the late King Krichevskoy, are you not?"

Laharl smirked. "That's right. I'm Laharl, the heir to the throne."

Vyers made a surprised look. "The heir to the throne? Ha! That is history, dear boy. Your existence has long been forgotten..."

"F-forgotten?" Flonne repeated. "Oh, that is so sad too, poor Laharl..."

"Not that crap again, shut up!" Laharl said annoyed.

"Are you blind to the horde of demons lining up to fight for the throne?" Vyers asked grinning.

Laharl turned to him and crossed his arms. "So? I'm the heir. That's all that matters. If they've forgotten, then I'll just have to make them remember..." Laharl pointed his sword at Vyers. "The hard way, of course."

"I see. So you saw my potential and decided to strike first against moi..." Vyers opened his arms at the roof. "Such wonderful intuition... Well played, son of Krichevskoy!"

"I've never even heard of you. It's only a coincidence that we're here," Laharl put a stronger grip on his sword. "You're just a tiny stepping stone on my path to the throne."

"Everyone, be ready." Mewtwo warned them.

"For Vyers?" Chris asked.

"I meant Laharl..."

Vyers gasped and made fists. "H-how dare you! I am the Dark Adonis Vy-"

"Who gives a damn about you? Your new name is "Mid-Boss!"" Laharl said smirking as some of them chuckled.

"Mid-Boss, that was good..." Kirby said chuckling.

"Mi-Mi-Mid-Boss!?" Mid-Boss repeated outrag- "HEY! I AM NOT MID-BOSS! HOW DARE YOU OUTSIDE THIS CONVERSATION DEFY MY RIGHTEOUS AND MARVELOUS NAME?!"

Dude, admit it, your name is Mid-Boss and that is that.

"...Outside this conversation?" Laharl's group repeated confused.

"Oh?! So just because a little brat (Laharl: Hey!) like him addressed me with that you're going to call me as well?"

You're not supposed to break the fourth wall, the people reading this may get suspicious!

"MAKE ME!" Vyers yelled at no one in particular as a wilthered plant rolled between him and Laharl's party.

"...Okay, now he doesn't scare me, but he creeps me out as well." Chris whispered.

"Agreed." Etna, Flonne and Pit said nodding.

"...Damn it!" Vyers shook his head.

"Looks like you hurt his pride, Prince." Etna said snickering a little.

"Unforgivable..." Mid-Bo-I mean, Vyers said. "That is unforgivable!!!" Vyers took out his own sword and flapped his wings a little as he flew above and dove towards Laharl. "Nobody calls me Mid-Boss, NOBODYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

"HA!" Laharl flew (using his rather small wings) towards Vyers and both swords clashed into each other, both demons flew above the room and began to fight in a clash of swords as the group watched from below.

"Wait, you said Laharl was almighty and all that, didn't you?" Pit asked.

"...Don't tell him..." Meta Knight whispered. "But Laharl is playing with his foe."

"Huh?" Pit said confused as he looked up.

"What splendor!" Vyers said as both continued their attacks on each other. "You seem really worthy for being the son of Krichevskoy!"

"You know what, Mid-Boss?" Laharl asked smirking. "I think I had enough of your mouth, it's time to end this nonsence!"

"What do you mean? Are you going to do something to moi?" Vyers asked as Laharl flew away from and lifted his hands in the air, the demon closed his eyes and a dark aura covered his hands. "Ha! Stupid brat, you're only making yourself wide open for my attacks!"

"...No!" Mewtwo said and everyone looked at him. "He is going to use that here, we must escape at all costs before we end up dying!"

"W-what do you mean?" Flonne asked confused before the floor began to shake violently. "W-what's happening?!"

Lucario looked up and grunted. "I'm sensing a chaotic power just above the castle, we need to get out here before it crushes us!"

"Oh please," Etna put her hand behins her neck. "Laharl wouldn't be that evil with us..."

The shake suddenly got stronger and turned into an earthquake, Vyers looked around confused before the roof began to collapse. "My castle! W-w-what are you doing?!"

"I'M GONNA DESTROY THIS PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A CASTLE AND END THIS WORTHLESS ENCOUNTER!" Laharl yelled as heat began to rise inside.

"We're going, don't move!" Mewtwo yelled glowing and teleported all of them outside the castle.

Outside Vyers Castle

Everyone except Laharl and Vyers were teleported outside as they all looked the castle and gasped what they found.

They all recognized a huge flaming meteor appearing from a big purple glyph, the meteor was even bigger than Vyers Castle itself and it went slowly above it, everyone ducked and covered before the meteor impacted into the castle, creating a huge explosion of fire that incinerated the whole place, Laharl laughed maniacally as he looked from high above the castle, crackling evily.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Laharl laughed maniacally before smirking down at the explosion. "That's why you don't mess with the new Overlord of the Netheworld, Mid-Boss!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Vyers came spinning uncontrollably from an explosion of his castle and landed close to the Smashers, who looked at him freaking out. "MY CASTLE! MY BEAUTIFUL CASTLE! WHY?!?!?!?!"

The explosion stopped and they all stood up, looking down at the utterly shocked Vyers as Laharl landed and looked down on him, Vyers covered his head but then snickered.

"Heh... I have underestimated your skill. I took you for but a child," Vyers said as he stood up, albeit to say, he was crying toon tears with all his seriousness. "But, that was an error in judgement... I am too kind-hearted."

"...Are you being an ignorant fool?" Meta Knight asked with a frown.

"Of course not." Vyers said running a hand on his hair.

"Liar. You were serious just now." Laharl pointed out.

"How pathetic. Nothing's worse than a sore loser." Etna commented.

"B-but Laharl just destroyed his..." Flonne stopped once she saw another explosion coming from the destroyed castle, Vyers whimpered even when he was serious and the Angel Trainee decided not to talk anymore.

"Ugh! What repulsive little brats you are," Vyers said with a grunt as he turned his back on them. "I shall come to return the favor, so do not forget moi!!!" Vyers yelled as he flew away...but once he flew quite away from them, a chunk from his castle fell on his back and the flamboyant demon yelped and crashed into a nearby mountain.

"...That's what he gets for calling me a brat." Chris said.

"Alright, let's collect the spoils and head home." Laharl said.

"Hello? You just blowed up the entire castle!"

"Then too bad, let's go back!"

"Uh... Prince, I need to use the restroom." Etna said but she ran away before Laharl could say something.

Kirby looked behind him and found 3 Prinnies. "Since when did you get here?"

"We followed you ever since you entered the castle that is in ruins right now, dood." The first Prinny said.

"Whatever you weirdos," Laharl said. "You're going to carry all those bricks of the castle and find anything of worth."

"Dood, we're gonna hafta carry all this?" The second Prinny asked.

"Dood, we're Master Etna's vassals, not the Prince's..." The third Prinny trailed off making a worried look.

"Etna's vassals are my vassals. And my vassals do what I say," Laharl said as he narrowed his eyes. "Now, get to work."

"Doooooood..." The Prinny Squad "sighed" in disappointment.

"Now, now. It's only until the next red moon, right?"

"I guess you're right, dood. I'll get to work." The second Prinny said as they all went to Vyers's destroyed castle...

"...Wait a minute," Pit looked at the figure that appeared out of nowhere. "Who are you?"

Kirby looked up to the figure and smiled. "It's a big, pink Prinny!"

There was a big pink Prinny that stood out from the Prinny Squad, apparently she was a female and looked more focused than the Prinnies themselves.

"Oh, sorry," The pink Prinny said bowing. "Pardon for not introducing myself, my name is Big Sis Prinny, nice to meet you all."

"N-nice to meet you..." Pit said. "But were you here?"

"Aha, well, I'm always following the Prinny Squad around so you probably didn't see me."

"But you're the tallest one out of all of them." Flonne said.

"...I think you were blind." Big Sis Prinny said chuckling a little.

"What is the red moon event?" Flonne asked curiously.

"The Red Moon is an event where the Prinnies reincarnate to their human forms performing a ritual," Big Sis Prinny explained gently. "There is going to be one soon so I think there are some Prinnies ready."

"Reincarnate?" Chris repeated confused as Etna decided to explain the next part.

"The humans who have led a worthless life, such a thieves or murderers, have their souls sewn into the body of a Prinny upon their death," Etna explained. "For some odd reason, regular Prinnies will explode when they hit something with great force, for example when I throw them at something."

"You throw your own servants around?" Pit asked as Etna called a Prinny.

"Dood! What do you want Master Etna?" The Prinny asked looking around.

"FIRE IN THE HOOOOOOOLE!" Etna yelled loudly as she kicked the Prinny away to the sky, where he screamed (yelling dood) and exploded right when it crashed in the ground. "See?"

"H-how cruel!" Flonne said gasping.

"Y-you mean they were all thieves or murderers before?" Kirby asked and Etna nodded.

"Ahem, after being reborn, the newly created Prinny will serve as a soldier, slave, or servant in the Netherworld or Celestia." Etna explained.

"The Prinny remains until it has earned reincarnation by redemption through good deeds or earning enough money, and leaves its servitude in a ritual involving the Red Moon." Big Sis Prinny explained.

"Oh, I see," Flonne said. "Now that I remember in Celestia, Prinnies mostly act as maids and domestic servants. The good deeds they perform there lead to their reincarnation," Flonne smiled. "I have been acquainted with every single one of them."

"You knew about the reincarnation part?"

Flonne chuckled. "S-sorry, I guess I just remembered."

"In the Netherworld, depending on the lord they serve, they spend their after-lives doing excessively hard labor for very little pay, and are often thrown around just for the amusement of their lords, or me for example. The pittance of money they earn in the Netherworld goes towards their reincarnation," Etna explained the last part. "That's why my squad is always here, because of amusement or just because they don't work hard enough."

"...Interesting." Mewtwo remarked as Kirby looked at him with a surprised look.

"Shut up all of you and let's get back, now! And that counts you too!" Laharl yelled at everyone who got a little upset (at least the Smashers) and decided to return back to the castle.

"Hmm..." Meta Knight began to wonder. "Isn't there any way to get in contact with the others?"

"Like how?" Kirby asked.

"...Chris, maybe you could ask Kawashima for help?" Lucario suggested.

"Well, he is a personal tutorial so...professor?" Chris called taking out his DS.

"Oh, good morning," Kawashima greeted. "Do you want something? Like an explanation?"

"Actually... Meta Knight was wondering how could we contact the others, do you know a way?"

"Hmm..." Kawashima closed his eyes to think of something. "...Wait, I'd try and intercept some kind of high-tech communicator, even the smallest could be helpful, do you know someone who has something like that?"

"Anyone knows?" Chris asked as the Smashers looked at each other.

"...Oh!" Kirby hopped a little. "I think Fox and Falco have those scouters that they never use with them, they're always with them for some reason..."

"...Kirby, I'm going to ask for your help to state the obvious that's not visible next time." Chris said with a chuckle.

"Oh, right, those scouters that they never...nevermind, let me tr-you're now in a conversation with Fox in Chat Room A, you're entering!" Kawashima said chuckling. "Bless Pictochat!"

"...That was awfully fast." Meta Knight said.

"What are you waiting for? Talk!"

"O-oh right, um... Fox?" Chris asked confused waiting for a response.

"...Chris?"

"That was Fox's voice, no doubt about it." Pit said.

"How did you get in my scouter? Did you hack it or something?" Fox asked.

"That doesn't matter now, how are things on your side?" Pit asked.

"...Er...um...how could I put it?..."

"Fox, stop trailing off, what's happening over there?" Kirby asked.

"...You're not going to believe this but..."

"We're inside a freaking lizard's stomach, heeeeeelp!!!" Mallow yelled.

"UGH! Don't yell at my ear, yell at the scouter!" Fox yelled annoyed.

"Dude, we're inside a lizard's stomach, AND I NEED TO SEE THE LIGHT UNGENTLYYYYYY!" Mallow sobbed.

"Would you 2 shut up and let me talk?!" Geno's voice yelled.

"Watch it, you're yelling at my ear too!" Fox yelled annoyed.

"Oh, sorry," Geno said sarcastically. "Did you forget we're in a dark area and nobody can't see anything? Oh that's right, WE'RE INSIDE A STOMACH FOR ELDSTAR'S SAKE!"

"HEEEEEEEELP!" Diddy yelled.

"I can't punch our way out here, sorry!" DK yelled.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Tippi yelled loudly enough to make Chris's DS jump and shake. "...Finally."

"Inside a lizard's stomach?" Chris asked.

"And who was that?" Kirby asked.

"Ahem, sorry, the one who yelled was this pix butterfly, Tippi ...And yeah, that's pretty much it." Fox said.

"You said you're all inside a stomach, I presume only all of you, right?" Mewtwo asked.

"Yes, we got careless and this...geek lizard guy swallowed us and is taking us somewhere else, we don't know where though, but he said we were some kind of celebrities of some weird series."

"Geek lizard guy?" Chris repeated confused. "...Hmm..."

"Francis." Lucario pointed out.

"R-right, you should all be inside Francis's stomach, and if Tippi is there, then Francis is taking all of you to his castle."

"How long has it been when you were swallowed?" Meta Knight asked.

"Like 2 or 3 hours." Fox said.

"And any guesses about where you are?" Pit asked.

"Did you forget we ARE inside his stomach?" Fox asked annoyed and sarcastically.

"A-actually, I think I heard waves from an ocean just a moment ago...and I think we're inside an ocean." Mallow said.

"Don't worry about us here, what is your situation over there?"

"We're being ordered by a demon brat." Chris whispered as Laharl glared at them.

"Demon brat?"

"Hey! Did that thing insult me?!" Laharl asked.

Chris turned off the DS, ending the communication by accident. "N-no!"

"...Okay, move on." Laharl said as the Smashers went up ahead before we change the world an- "Oh hell no you won't!"

Dammit! What is it now?!

"You dare to take away my screen time?!"

Sorry dude, story regulations, you'll have to wait until the next new chapter.

"NO! I demand my screen time! I WANNA HAVE MY SCREEN TIME!"

Firstly, there isn't any "screen" time literally, you have your "read" time which should have ended some sentences ago! And secondly, wait until then!

"HA-HA! You're dealing with an Overlord, insolent fool!"

Oh, so I'm an insolent fool then?

"Right!"

So guess what am I going to do now?

"What?"

Super Paper Mario

Tile Pool
Chapter 3-2 Bloops Ahoy

"DAMMIT!" Laharl's voice echoed angrily.

Tile Pool

The scene changed to Mario's group swimming through the Tile Pool, so far, nothing out of the ordinary has happened for the luck, it was only them and the pixelated sea.

"Under the blue seeeeea," Yoshi sang. "Under the seeeeeeea!"

"Yoshi, would you mine stop singing?" Zelda asked.

"But I wanted to sing this time... Okay." Yoshi said sighing disappointed.

"Do you think the others are okay?" Peach asked concerned.

"They'll be fine by themselves, there's nothing to worry about." Mario reassured her.

"...Hmm...but Mario..." Peach looked behind her. "I think something bad is happening to Sonic..."

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Sonic yelled under someone's arm. "WATER! WATER! WATER! NO! GET ME OUT OF HERE, I'M GONNA DROWN AND DIE IN HERE!"

"SHUT UP!" Bowser yelled annoyed. "First I'm being nice for a change and take you under control, but then you're acting like a whiny baby, you don't have any dignity left in you?"

"NO! NOW LET ME GO!" Sonic yelled panicking as Bowser frowned.

Ever since they crossed the Bitlands, they (by an unexpected twist of events) joined up with Bowser on the way because the king of the Koopas found himself standing in the middle of nowhere with his troops, but then he found a castle that he reclaimed by his own...

Bowser temporarily (and unfortunately) joined your team!

"I can't believe Bowser is coming with us." Yoshi said.

"Well, we need his help so why not?" Mario asked.

"Mario, he has been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom for YEARS! And you let him in with us?" Yoshi asked shocked. "And I'm surprised that Peach agreed!"

Peach giggled. "Bowser is kind at heart, right, Bowser?"

"NO," Bowser said glaring at her. "I'm helping you dorks to rule the kingdom someday, and only that!"

"Sure..." Zelda trailed off remembering something. "You acted all tough on us when Peach set that bomb fairy in a red X that blowed up the entire building, you fell and challenged us to a fight...but you tripped with a rock, hit your nose in the ground and started to cry."

Bowser blinked shocked and glared at Zelda afterwards. "I-I wasn't crying! S-something got inside my eye, yeah, a little pesky piece of trash!"

"Sure." Yoshi said sarcastically as Bowser mumbled.

"At least be thankful I got an arm on this guy, man, he doesn't stop moving!" Bowser yelled pointing at Sonic who was trying to struggle out desperately.

"But how did you get him?" Yoshi asked. "He's a lot faster than you!"

"Well, little guy just stared down at the water in horror and didn't move, he started to scream and panic around until I got fed up by his whiny complaints and got him before he could run," Bowser snickered. "Although he didn't even move from his spot, that was the easiest part."

Mario wanted to look at Sonic but Zelda told him not to. "I don't want to know what's going to do in the Olympics if he needs to pass the swimming event."

Sonic stopped and looked freaked out...even more than he was actually. "NO! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FORCE ME, I'M WARNING YOU, I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"SHUT UP!" Bowser yelled smacking Sonic right on the head with his other fist. "Tell you what, if you don't stop your whining, I'll drop you to the bottom of the sea!"

Sonic gulped and looked down at the blocky water, there wasn't any floor down below and he began to pant heavily. "..." There was a "ding!" sound and Sonic instantly fainted with his tongue sticking out, his eyes (eye?) turned into Xs and Peach swam to him.

"...Hello?" Peach asked poking Sonic's forehead. "Are you feeling well?"

"Peach..." Zelda began.

"I-I know...poor thing..."

"No!" Zelda startled Peach. "I tried to mean that Sonic is completely hopeless right now, just ignore him until we get back to land!"

"...Okay, if you say so..." Peach said nodding.

"Besides, I doubt he's going to wake up." Toon Link said.

Yoshi looked at Sonic as they swam. "...Geez, this guy is hopeless, isn't he?"

"Somehow," Mario began sighing. "I feel sorry for him...a little."

"...He deserves it though," Yoshi said making an angry expression. "That's what he gets for not remembering our names."

"Who cares about him?" Bowser asked angrily. "I say CRUSH HIM NOW!"

SLAP!

"OWW!" Bowser rubbed his nose.

"Sorry," Peach began. "My hand moved by its own."

"...Suuuuuure it did..." Bowser said sarcastically.

"Dude, you have the girth I was looking for!"

Bowser pointed at Thudley angrily, the Pixl that looked like a trapezoid, ever since they found the Pixl in the pool, he haven't left Bowser's side ever since he was the one who opened the treasure first. Thudley loved Bowser's Girth so much that he decided to accompany him. "Shut up you weird polygon thing!"

"Sure do, girth master!" Thudley said happily as Bowser facepalmed with a frown.

"Aw, isn't Bowser kind to the Pixl?" Peach asked to Thoreau, a hand-looking Pixl.

"Sure heroine of the legend." Thoreau said nodding.

"...What's the matter with those weird-looking fairy things?" Yoshi asked pointing at Boomer, the bomb-looking Pixl. "Why are you a bomb to begin with?"

"Sss-BOOM!" Boomer said. "Because the vibes told me so sss-BLAM!"

"..." Yoshi couldn't understand well this Pixl that he swam a little further away from him, but the Pixl kept following him around.

To be exact, everyone had at least a Pixl.

"...And what can you do?" Zelda asked to Slim, the triangle-shaped Pixl.

"I turn you fatty in a thinner form of yourself to be ignored or somethin' more," Slim said. "Stay still and nobody will hurt you!"

"Oh, I see, that seems usefu-" Zelda did a double-take. "Did you just call me fatty?"

"No." Slim said simply.

Zelda narrowed her eyes at him. "...I'll be watching you, be warned."

"Creepy..." Toon Link muttered.

"And you figured it out just now?" Twink asked.

A moment of silenced passed before they realized something.

"TOON LINK?!" Everyone except for Bowser and Sonic said surprised.

The cartoony version of Link got angry. "It's Link for Din's sake!" Toon Link said angrily.

"H-how did you get here? Weren't you inside that lizard geek guy?" Yoshi asked as Toon Link looked down.

"I was dumped," Toon Link began. "Francis said I didn't have the "Cartoony Gilgamesh's Spinning Quadruple Sword Action Slash Move" or whatever the heck it's called."

"...The what again?" Mario asked confused.

"Who the hell cares?! I want to slice that guy's uvula down!" Toon Link said taking out his sword. "And I wouldn't mind slicing a giant tentacle like that in front of u-"

"GIANT TENTACLE?!" Everyone except for Sonic yelled as they all saw a big tentacle sprouting from the bottom, the water began to shake before many more tentacles rose up, everyone looked around for an opening but it was useless, there was no escape.

"Wait, that isn't a normal tentacle, it's a Blooper tentacle!" Peach said shocked before a huge white pyramid head appeared on the background, they all screamed once they saw Big Blooper's eyes staring at them, they all froxe in terror as the monster spoke.

Super Paper Mario - A Powerful Enemy Emerges

"BLUH-BLOOOOP!" Big Blooper yelled.

"HOLY SHOOTING STARS!" Twink yelled hiding behind Peach.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Bowser let out a girly scream that was heard around the water...however, nobody was able to laugh at this moment.

"O-oh my goodness..." Zelda said stammering. "T-that is a big squid..."

"W-wait," Yoshi said looking at the Blooper. "I-I know how to speak Blooperish, let me see what he wants."

Mario and Peach stared at Yoshi in confusion. "...Blooperish?" Mario repeated confused.

"Is that even a language t-to begin with?" Peach asked putting a finger close to her mouth.

"J-just let me talk to it!" Yoshi said as he looked at the big squid. "Bloo-bloo-bloop!"

"BLOOOOOP!"

Yoshi looked at the others. "She said "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" and she seemed furious..."

Toon Link made a bored look. "How the heck do you know it's a she again?"

"L-look," Zelda began. "Tell her we were just passing by without harming anything in our way her-"

"But what about the 29 Bloopers we defeated in our way here?" Mario asked.

"M-Mario, quiet!" Zelda whispered angrily before Big Blooper roared loudly.

"BLUH-BLOOBLOOP?!" Big Blooper asked enraged.

"Oh no, I didn't like the way she said that..." Toon Link trailed off.

"T-translation please?" Mario asked trembling a little.

"S-she said "SO YOU'RE THOSE BLOOPER HATERS SOCIETY THAT HAVE BEEN ERADICATING MY CHILDREN HUH?! SO GUESS WHAT?! I'M PART OF THE KILLER BLOOPER HATERS SOCIETY, A SOCIETY THAT KILLS LAME PEOPLE LIKE YOU BLOOPER HATERS!" ...What?" Yoshi asked confused.

"Oh, right," Twink appeared and smiled. "I'm part of that society as wel-" Twink's mouth was blicked by Zelda's right hand.

"W-we're not from such society! Those squids happened to be in our way and we had to defend ourselves!" Zelda protested as the Big Blooper roared.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT HEARTFULLY, BUT THIS WILL BE THE LAST PLACE WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO INHALE YOUR LAST WATER!" Yoshi translated.

"B-but we can inhale water without drowning and this guy over here thinks he's drowned, this proves how the physics in this place are completely ignoring the laws!" Bowser pointed at Sonic as Big Blooper roared again.

"...Bowser does have a point." Peach said as everyone rolled their eyes.

"DIE!" Big Blooper yelled (or Yoshi yelled translating) pointing her tentacles at them, the group screamed as began to swim away as soon as they could once the tentacles made an opening.

"OH MY GOD! SHE'S GOIN' TO CRUSH US!" Slim yelled panicking.

"LOOK OVER THERE!" Toon Link yelled pointing to a pipe. "THERE'S SALVATION INSIDE!"

"ENTER!" Mario screamed loudly as they all, one by one, entered the Warp Pipe before the tentacles could reach them, the tentacles got stuck in the pipe and the Big Blooper tried to pull them off.

"BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Big Blooper yelled furiously.

Music stops

The scene changed to the blocky land where the Smashers got out from the Warp Pipe, they all sighed in relief after escaping the nightmare of the Bloopers back in the Tile Pool, Yoshi looked at the pipe, hearing the Blooper's scream.

"DAMN YOU ALL! DAMN YOOOOOOOOOOOUUU!!!" Yoshi translated. "T-that's what she said."

"For a second there..." Zelda dryed her paper hair a little. "I thought we were going to be eaten, thank goodness that didn't happen..."

"...Sniff..." Sonic's nose moved a little and the hedgehog opened his eyes slowly. "...Oh no... Am I dead?!"

"Er...no?" Bowser said as he dropped Sonic on the floor.

"...But I'm still in this straight-weird-looking world!" Sonic complained crossing his arms as he looked the background. "Can't we just go there for example?"

"Look," Peach said walking to him. "I'm sure this is irritating for you, but you must endure this, I'm honestly feeling more safe this way."

"...Meh." Sonic said looking down in shame.

"Sorry."

"...It's okay, it can't be helped anyway."

"Ahem," Yoshi coughed a little. "Can we please move on? Who knows what is that Francis guy going to do with the others!"

"Put them inside a cage as far as I know."

They all looked to Geno, who was sitting above the Star Block which marked the end of the chapter, the pupper jumped down and walked to them.

"Geno? How did you get out?" Toon Link asked.

"Francis spat me out and complained that I didn't have the "Genorushiro Puppet's Cloacking Spy Tank Form Action Button" or whatever he meant by that." Geno explained.

"...The what again?" Mario asked confused.

"Who gives a damn?" Geno said angrily. "I have to give him a piece of my mind."

"...Sooo..." Twink trailed off. "What was that to put them inside a cage?"

Geno blinked for a moment before speaking. "Oh, right, sorry about my anger, Francis said he was going to pull us inside a cage, where he was going to take snapshots of us as long as he wanted... That's pretty disturbing if you ask me."

"...If he wants them inside a cage...then take snapshots...hmm..." Yoshi trailed off thinking. "...OH NO, he's not going to do some sort of sick photos with them, is he?"

Mario walked below the Star Block. "Then let's continue!" Mario said hitting the block, transporting all of them to the next chapter.

END OF
CHAPTER!

Somehow, the heroes had beached the Big Blooper and crossed the Tile Pool...and found out that the Big Blooper was a she thanks to Yoshi's translations. But before they could dry, they saw the imposing silhoutte of Fort Francis. "Sure, it's imposing." Twink said rolling his eyes. But when they looked up, they realized they were in the shadow of a huge tree. Mario, knowing in his gut this must be the way, set outward toward the great tree with the others, hoping to see their best friends. "Who hired this cheesy narrator?" Geno asked. Well my puppet friend, just keep going or else I'll burn you down to ashes...

The Dot Wood Tree
Chapter 3-3 Up, Up, and a Tree

Bitlands

The Smashers appeared just besides a huge tree made up of dots, they all looked how high the tree was, but couldn't find the top at all thanks to its height.

"You know," Sonic began. "This world is very creepy, I mean, we're teleported around by hitting those weird star blocks, we can't move in the background, we have to go straight and jump all the way around to finish these...levels?"

"I'm aware of that," Mario said. "It can't be helped."

Bowser grunted. "I'm feeling perfectly fine by me, thank you very much!"

"Nobody asked you." Geno said as Bowser grunted in rage.

"Shall we stop talking and start our long climb to the tree's top?" Zelda suggested.

"I've been wondering when you were going to say that."

They all looked above to find Diddy, who jumped out and landed in front of them.

"Let me guess," Yoshi began. "Francis spat you out because you didn't have something he was looking for."

Diddy nodded. "Yep, he said I didn't have the "Chimpanzeeporepan Rool's Spinning Tail-Of-Doom Action Whip Move" or whatever he mentioned..."

"...The what again?" Mario asked confused.

"I don't want to know!" Diddy said taking out his Peanut Gun. "I want to rescue DK and the others, they're still inside that guy's stomach!"

"Then let's not stop and start our way to the top of this tree." Twink suggested and they all nodded before each one of them began to jump their way to the top of the tree, in time rate, Sonic already made it to the top but waited for the others to join up with him, since the tree was infested by enemies, they couldn't move faster because the enemies would, obviously, attack them.

3 hours later...

"Finally, you're here!" Sonic said yawning.

"Well," Toon Link began making an angry expression. "What did you expect? We were getting attacked by those funny-looking flower monsters, they made us fall asleep for some seconds!"

"Pfft," Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sure, funny-looking flower monsters, like if there are such monsters."

Peach took out a Crazee Dayzee from her back and smiled at Sonic (the Crazee Dayzee). "I think he meant this monster."

"...Seriously?" Sonic asked chuckling with a grin. "That thing slowed you down?"

"Laaaaa, la-la-la-la-laaaa, la-laaaaa!" The Crazee Dayzee sang happily, shooting a rainbow colored musical note that hit Sonic, who yawned deeply.

"Ooooohhh... I...see now..." Sonic said stretching his arms before he sat on the floor and fell asleep on the spot.

Diddy took the Crazee Dayzee off from Peach's hands and threw it down the tree. "Well, shall we continue our way to the top?" Diddy asked.

"VIOLET!" Peach yelled screaming as she looked down the tree.

"...Violet? Who's that?" Toon Link asked.

"The flower monster Diddy threw down," Twink whispered. "Peach decided to name it...or her and Diddy didn't know about that."

"...Oh god! What did I do?!" Diddy asked shocked once Mario decided to calm down Peach, who was sobbing silently.

"...Quiet down..." Sonic muttered as he began to wake up. "I'm trying to sleep here..."

"...Violet..." Peach sobbed as Mario was able to calm her down.

After a moment of silence (because Peach wanted to give her condolences to her now dead Crazee Dayzee), they all looked above the tree.

"One problem," Bowser began. "Is there going to be anything good at the top?"

A record scratched and everyone looked at each other.

"...Why are we climbing this tree again?" Twink asked.

"Well, I thought this was the way so...yes, because I thought this was the way." Mario said embarrassed.

Bowser glared at Mario." Oh, great, the plumber made us all climb this pointless tree! Great going Mario, we lost valuable time by climbing this weird-looking tree, no, I lost MY valuable time getting here for nothing!"

"Calm down," Geno began. "Chris told me to climb this tree and ride the red wind."

"He told you? How?" Twink asked.

"When we were inside Francis, he called us a first time to see if we were fine through Fox's scouter, he called us a second time and gave out instructions about how Francis's path to his home is, I happen to remember all the steps to find his castle and if we climb this tree, we'll surel-"

"Is that so?" A voice spoke from nowhere and they looked around. "Well, it seems things are getting out of hand indeed after all..."

Zelda looked around. "Who is spying on us? Show yourself!"

"My, such impacient people," the voice said chuckling "You don't have patience, right?"

"Look, we just want to know who you are, that's all." Geno said before the voice laughed.

Dimentio Charming Magician

A small dimensional vortex appeared in the air and from it, a clown with a white and dark mask appeared, he was wearing violet and yellow figures of polygons, making up his hat and his cape that covered his body, he also wore black gloves and black pants that were somewhat odd-looking, on top of his hats, there were yellow squares that looked like diamonds, it was Dimentio.

"Sweet! It's a clown, clowns are awesome!" Diddy said clapping as Dimentio laughed again.

"Who ARE you anyway?" Twink asked as Dimentio spun on his same place.

"I am a humble servant of Count Bleck..." Dimentio said stopping.

"Count Bleck..." Mario trailed off remembering the last time he met the count.

"Master of dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am...Dimentio!" Dimentio said giving a smile. "My, what do we have here? More guests?"

"Hey, who's the clown guy?" Sonic whispered to Peach.

"And such rude people I see," Dimentio said chuckling. "Oh well, guess you can't please this crowd that well."

"A-are you in league with Francis?" Yoshi asked.

"Who?" Dimentio asked still with his smile. "No, I do not know who is that Francis you speak of, anyway, you guys have to disappear I'm afraid, Count Bleck, the penguin king and the dragon told me so..."

"Wait," Toon Link began. "Penguin king and dragon? You don't mean King Dedede and Charizard, do you?"

"Ah ha ha ha! You're so bold!" Dimentio said nodding. "Yes, in fact, I do happen to know those wackos, we were informed to take out all of you before you could, hmm, I forgot, hinder Tabuu's progress? I myself wonder why did Count Bleck agree to help that guy... After all, Count Bleck wants to end the world's existences with the Chaos Heart and the Dark Pronosticus."

"Don't tell me we have to fight that guy Bleck too!" Diddy said preparing his Peanut Gun.

"Oh ho ho ho, relax," Dimentio said. "Count Bleck wishes to fight the 3 heroes of the prophecy or see the plumber's death again."

"Again?" Mario repeated confused.

"Er...forget what I said, me and my charming mouth." Dimentio said laughing a little.

"Tsk," Sonic smirked and stood in a fighting stance. "Look Dimentirino, we're not going to let you get away with whatever you have planned, try me for example and you'll end up getting hurt!"

"Dimentirino?" Dimentio repeated chuckling. "Seriously, is that some kind of lame comeback line just to make me angry? No sir," Dimentio shook his head. "I never get angry whatsoever."

"Are you in league with Francis?!" Diddy demanded.

"I already told you I do not! How persistent you are! How about some...MAGIC!" Dimentio said snapping his fingers, teleporting all of them to a green-looking dimension, the Smashers looked around surprised as Dimentio laughed more. "And...voila. You are now in Dimension D, a dimension of my own creation. In this mind-bending realm, my attacks are 256 times more potent!"

"256 times?!" Twink asked terrified.

"That is correct, with a single raise of an eyebrow, you'll be begging for mercy like dogs begging for meat of a restaurant," Dimentio said chuckling. "Now, en-garde!"

Super Paper Mario - It's Showtime

As soon as the battle started, Dimentio snapped his fingers to disappear in his dimension, the Smashers looked around the place to fight back the magician of dimensions.

"Where is he?" Mario asked as unbestknownst to him, Dimentio appeared from behind him and slammed a pixelated attack on his back. "U-ugh!"

"My," Dimentio said appearing above them. "You're all very slow, did you know tha-"

"HA!" Sonic slammed himself into Dimentio using his Homing Attack, the clown went crashing into the floor before he quickly regained his control.

"Okay, that was a bit of a surprise, I must say," Dimentio said disappearing again. "But that won't happen again."

"You just try me!" Sonic taunted with a smirk.

"Either this fight will end with us defeating him or Sonic annoying him to death." Yoshi whispered to Peach.

"Aw, such fervor," Dimentio said splitting into 2 images of himself, charging their attacks of polygons. "But such idiocy!" Dimentio said frowning as he darted both attacks at Geno.

"Normally, when an enemy like you split into 2 with illusions, that means one of those attacks is an illusion as we-UGH!" Geno backed away once both illusional attacks hit him. "B-but why?"

"Let me explain it to you," Dimentio said appearing with a chuckle. "I am the master of the dimensions, and a magician as well, both things combined greatly give me the power necessary to crush little ducks like all of yo-"

"Sonic, it worked, attack!" Geno signaled to the hedgehog who used Homing Attack behind the right Dimentio as the other dimentio disappeared, the clown was about to counterattack as he tried to gain his control but was burned in fire by Zelda's Din's Fire. "Geno Beam!" Geno shot his blue beam at Dimentio to deal more damage.

Dimentio panted a little and began to fly up. "Ugh, distractions to get me out from my dimension, not bad at all."

"And here's another!" Sonic yelled from behind but Dimentio snapped his fingers and disappeared once again as Sonic landed back on the floor. "Dammit." Sonic muttered.

"Let's start the beautiful waltz, shall we?" Dimentio asked splitting into 10 images of himself, the images started to assault all the Smashers with polygonal attacks as everyone tried to evade the attacks in a hurry from the 10 Dimentios...

...Though a question was raised between the battle after Toon Link saw Peach covering with her umbrella, the attacks bounced off from, making Peach jump away as well.

"What is that umbrella made of?" Toon Link asked confused.

"I myself wonder that too many times," Peach said giggling under the umbrella. "But why not use it now? That way I'm going to get through unharmed."

"...That didn't explain a thing to me."

"Um... I guess it has a strong material or something like that?"

"...True enough." Toon Link said nodding before he was pushed away by one of the Dimentios's polygonal flashes.

"You know what?" Dimentio snapped his fingers and everyone was teleported to the Dot Wood Tree." Screw fights, no way I'm going to waste my time with a bunch of cheaters."

Dimentio Charming Magician

"Cheaters?" Sonic asked glaring at Dimentio.

"Uh-huh, for Count Bleck's sake, I was fighting 9 mindless rats inside the Dimension D against me alone, and for some random reason, your powers were increased as well, that's why we were equal." Dimentio explained as everyone looked away embarrassed.

"...Ouch." Diddy replied scratching his head.

"That was right in so many levels..." Yoshi trailed off.

"So, for no-"

"Wait!" Zelda interrupted.

"Oh, what is it long-eared lady?"

"We want to know if King Dedede and Charizard are around here somewhere, do you know?"

"Ha ha," Dimentio chuckled. "And you're waiting for an answer coming from me? Wow, and here I thought you weren't going to be a lot smarter...but I guess it's no harm."

Everyone looked at him surprised. "W-wait, what do you mean it's no harm?" Mario asked.

"Now listen well, I don't have much time left here anyway," Dimentio said. "Those wackos are planning an ambush somewhere in a world, but I won't tell you what world is that." Dimentio looked away to the sky. "I presume they want to kill Mario again like they did...somewhere, who knows actually? I myself wonder what happened, our memories were erased and...it's hard to explain but easy to understand, do you know what I mean?"

"No." Everyone replied.

Dimentio chuckled. "Yes, just like that but don't worry, we'll meet again very soon once you get the Pure Heart...and with that, au revoir," Dimentio said chuckling as he disappeared in his dimension. "Careful now, or the mustache guy will end dead!"

"...Mario? Dead?" Peach wondered.

"That's ridiculous, I never die," Mario said turning at the Smashers. "Or I do?"

"Well..." Geno looked away. "...No, why would you?"

Mario chuckled. "Thanks, I knew Dimentio was just saying negative feelings or something like that."

"(I wish those were just negative feelings.)"

"HELLO?!" Bowser called out raising his voice. "Get to the top of the tree? Help me conquer the world someday?"

"Alright, alright! We're listening you, geez!" Diddy said, but before he could jump, he looked to Bowser with a confused look. "...This is really strange, but haven't we met before?"

"Why would I know a stupid monkey-thingy like you are?" Bowser asked with a glare.

"...Then I guess it's a no." Diddy said shuddering as he followed the others to the top of the tree.

"(...But I have to say, that little stupid monkey-thingy DOES look familiar...hmm...)" Bowser thought as he followed the others in a much, slower pace.

Sonic, as usual, got on the top before everyone else and looked around (albeit to say he could only look either to the right or to the left) as the breeze (literally) passed in front of him. "Okay, so we need to ride this...red wind thing, right?"

"Of course!" Geno yelled from down below.

"Hmm...but where can I find something like a red wind?" Sonic wondered rubbing his chin as a red wind got him from below. "There's gotta be some kind of way...hmm..." Sonic thought harder as he was blindly being carried by the wind he was looking for, the others who looked at this frowned (most of them) and rode the red wings to a Warp Pipe.

Once they entered inside, Mario hit the Star Block.

END OF
CHAPTER!

"AHEM." Laharl coughed angrily.

We completely ignored him.

"HEY!"

We COMPLETELY ignored him.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo
Save Station

Theme of Samus Aran

"...Are you done yet?"

"Wait a bit more." Samus said to Pikachu.

The group so far went through a lot in their time on Bryyo, unfortunately, Samus was damaged severly so she had to recover in a "Save Station" as she called it, the group were waiting for her to heal, since the machines that cured her only repaired her PED suit and nothing else.

"Hot...too...hot..." Ivysaur said panting.

"Why are you still insisting in staying out of your Pokeball?" Red asked. "You're only getting more tired every second."

"Ivysaur wants to prove himself and resist the heat from this place," Squirtle began. "Though it's only tiring himself out."

"Shut...up..." Ivysaur said glaring at Squirtle.

"Water?"

"...Please." Ivysaur muttered as Squirtle sprayed him with Water Gun.

"She's done, let's move on." Snake said once Samus finished her repairs and the group continued their way through the Cavern Entry.

"INCOMING!" Pichu yelled spotting 5 Spaaks, appearing from the Subspace.

"More of those? Geez..." Pikachu frowned as the Spaaks turned dark.

"Be careful, they're charging their thunders." Samus alerted them.

"I don't have time for this," Snake said throwing a grenade between the 5 cloud enemies, exploding into bits along with the Spaaks. "With that out of the way, let's go."

"Show off." Wolf said as the group went forward to the Gel Cavern.

Ivysaur's eyes widened once he saw the gel falling from the ceiling on each pool of gel along the cave, the group stopped to see the stream of gel falling. "...Oh Arceus, this place is my living nightmare!" Ivysaur yelled.

"Would you stop whining about the lava here?" C. Falcon asked.

Ivysaur glared at him. "Look, I'm a Grass Pokémon and we hate fire and LAVA so much, one touch of that and I can kiss the ground!"

"Don't worry," Samus said as she saw the gel stopping from coming out of the ceiling. "It seems the gel stops for a brief time before it gathers more, every single stream of gel in this room will stop so in that time, we have to cross as quickly as we can."

"Hello? I can't double jump like all of you do!" Red said annoyed.

Falco snickered a little. "Sucks to be a background fighter."

"Hey!"

"Shut up and move, now." Snake ordered the whole group to jump across the gel pool (C. Falcon had to take Red with him since the Pokemon Trainer had the bad luck of not having a double jump (and he made a mental note about complaining to Master Hand)). "...Darn it, double jumping..."

Olimar looked at Snake from the other side of the pool. "It's something wrong?"

"Well, you all except for and the kid can't double jump."

"Didn't you ask Master Hand for your abilities like all of us did?" Link asked.

"I'd have asked if some of you have told me in the first place," Snake stated as the stream of gel began to pour down, blocking his way. "I guess I have to do it the hard way then." Snake looked at the small space where the gel wasn't covering and the soldier jumped to the wall and sprung to the other side.

"I wonder if I can do that like you." Link wondered.

"That was amazing to watch." Samus remarked.

"But you're not going to see it often once I ask the hand about my "abilities" that you're all talking about."

C. Falcon gasped once both Snake and Samus started to have a conversation. "Damn, Snake's good, he's already hanging out with Samus and I haven't made something to catch her attention."

"And why the hell are you whispering it to me?" Wolf asked glaring at the captain.

"Look, I need something to impress her, anything that's not embarrassing."

"And who told you I care about your ideas?"

"That's it!" C. Falcon saw the stream of gel leaking out from the ceiling and saw the small part that wasn't being covered by it. "I just need to something more impressive than Snake's action, I'll jump one time at the wall and then do this and that and...yes, I have everything planned, thanks!" C. Falcon said running at the wall as Wolf frowned to himself.

30 minutes later...

Temple of Bryyo

After Olimar had to call 3 more Red Pikmins to rescue C. Falcon inside the pool of gel (that he discovered it wasn't a pool, but an underground lake full of gel) since the captain's foot slipped on the wall (and he hit himself on the wall) and rolled down all the way inside the lava were he screamed and begged for help, the group (with a burned-to-death C. Falcon) made it to the Temple of Bryyo...or the tunnel before it.

"I can't believe you jumped straight into the gel," Samus said looking at C. Falcon. "What were you thinking?"

"That...gel was harmless..." C. Falcon said weakly.

"I already told you all before that gel is the most dangerous substance in this galaxy."

"Just be glad you were rescued before you could be burned down." Link said chuckling.

"But this utterly embarrassing moment shall be always in this camera." Pikachu said playing the tape when C. Falcon fell on the gel.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! MY HELMET! MY EVERYTHING! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" The record yelled as many of them snickered.

"Not to mention you were rescued by the plants." Wolf added snickering with a smirk.

"I hereby honor my Pikmins for a job well done." Olimar said.

"...Pikachu, where did you get that camera?" Link asked.

Pikachu hid the camera, but disappeared after he pulled back his hand. "What camera? I don't see any camera!" Pikachu said as Link facepalmed.

The group proceeded to the temple for real this time...and they found something very alarming.

Lots and lots of ATCs landing, deploying Space Pirates that seemed to be busy with all the machinery in the area, the group stopped and all the monsters looked at them.

"Be prepared," Samus said preparing her arm cannon. "The Space Pirates use shields to protect themselves from any attack, but if you pull the shields out from them, they'll be defenseless to any kind of attack."

"Easy." Snake commented with a nod.

Brinstar (Melee)

The Space Pirates charged at the group with the own guns ready, they all began to firing wildly at the Smashers who spreaded around the area (though Olimar noticed that he was standing all alone by himself, the captain yelped and ran to another direction after 2 Space Pirates decided to pick on him) and fought the pirates.

"Give me that!" Pikachu demanded lunging at one of the shield of a Space Pirate, the pirate got shocked and tried to shook the rat off. "Haha, I got you, I dont't want it after all!" Pikachu said grinning before he let out a discharge of electricity that electrocuted the Space Pirate greatly, it fell down on the floor as Pikachu ran away.

"U-um, Pikmins! Go and take their shields!" Olimar ordered panicking as his 6 Red Pikmins looked at each other and began to run after the Space Pirates, they all went after 6 of the creatures and jumped to their shields.

"They're distracted, you mouse, go." Snake instructed Pichu who looked worried at him.

"B-" Pichu couldn't finish his word before Snake took him and tossed him to a distracted Space Pirate. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! (W-wait, I have to take advantage of this...) HA!" Pichu combined the throw's power and his Skull Bask ability to collide straight into the pirate's head, it was too much for the pirate who screamed in pain and fell down.

"Sheesh, ganging up on me..." Falco said after he was surrounded by 4 Space Pirates.

"Here I...go...just wait..." C. Falcon pleaded as the pirates (and Falco himself) saw the racer walking slowly, since his injuries were slowing him down.

"..." Falco saw the 4 Space Pirates lowering their shields for a moment to watch the captain, the avian grinned an-

"Too slow." Wolf said thrusting his right claw into one of the Space Pirates, followed by a kick on the chin that the pirate backed away, accidentaly bumping into one of the other 3.

"Hey! That was mine!"

"Sorry, didn't see your name on it so I did it first."

"B-but!"

"Bird brain, behind you!"

"Wha-" Falco turned his back before the last Space Pirate began to fire several red rounds at him. "UGH!"

"Resist there!" Link yelled using his Clawshot to pull the shield away from the pirate, followed by his Gale Boomerang to stagger the pirate long enough for the Hyrulean to stab his sword in the creature's chest, the pirate let out a scream of pain as it died and fell down.

"Thanks man." Falco said dusting off his sleeves.

"Stop it with the greets, there are still enemies coming from above!" Samus yelled spotting 2 ATCs flying down, spawning more Space Pirates that charged at them.

"Think we should take those harriers down so the enemies won't come out?" Snake asked.

"Yes," Samus nodded firing several missile at the ship, Snake joined in...by throwing more grenades that exploded upon contact. "At this rate it won't explode, we need more backup!"

"The rats should use their electric attacks." Snake suggested as Pikachu and Pichu glared at him.

"Aw, forget it, Pichu!" Pikachu yelled to Pichu who nodded with him and ran below the ATC, they called forth their thunders above the ship Snake and Samus were attacking and blowed them up to bits.

"Keep going, we have to take down th-" Samus was tackled down by an Armored Pirate Trooper that appeared from nowhere.

"Damn, those ships are spawning those stronger pirates." Snake said once he saw several Armored Pirate Troopers jumping out of the single ATC.

"H-hey! What can we do?" Red asked standing besides Squirtle and (a frightened) Ivysaur.

"Stay out of the frontlines."

"What?! I came here to do nothing?!"

Snake looked straight to Red's eyes and the trainer gulped a little. "Look kid, I'm thinking what's best for you and what's best for us, you better stay out of our way at all costs or else we'll have a dead kid laying around, do you understand?"

"...Yes..." Red said looking down.

"And that goes for you 2."

Both Pokémon glared at Snake. "And why is that?" Squirtle asked crossing his arms.

"Water isn't going to help us in anything, the plant creature would do something if he wasn't afraid of some lava below this platform."

"H-hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Ivysaur asked trembling.

"You know what I mean perfectly, nobody wants and damn (beep!) around here."

"...A (BEEP!)?! Who the heck do you think you are to address me like that?! I'll show you and everyone here that I'm not afraid of that g-gel thing! BANZAAAAAAIIIIII!!!" Ivysaur yelled extending his vines, grabbing every single shield he could get to throw away.

"...You told that swear just to get him furious and attack everyone here, right?" Squirtle asked.

"Yeah, and because I'm giving the kid a job to fight."

Red blinked surprised. "O-oh, right! I need to command Ivysaur around!" Red said running away as a Space Pirate was about to crash where he was, the pirate was pulled by a familiar grapple then pushed by Link's foot.

"Follow your trainer and protect him," Snake said looking down to Squirtle, the Pokémon smiled a little and ran besides Red (although he slid by spinning on his shell). "Figures, a sliding shell that goes perfectly on a straight line, there are many curious things out th-" Snake was about to be slashed by an APT but the spy quickly turned and grabbed its throat, then stabbed it with a knife. "I'm not that stupid to let my guard down," Snake said removing the knife away as the APT died and fell down. "Just to let you know."

"I have some troubles over here if you mind." Samus said on the floor as the previous APT tried to slash her with its blades.

"W-wait! I-I'm coming!" C. Falcon said struggling to get to Samus, but Pikachu used Skull Bash on the APT and pushed it away as Samus rolled backwards and stood up. "D-dammit! I hate these...stupid injuries!"

"Says the guy who jumped straight into the gel." Pikachu said snickering.

"I-I slipped, alright?!"

"You better rest and protect yourself from anyone else." Snake suggested.

"O-oh no, I'm not letting you get away with Sa-I-I mean, with the victory over me!"

"You made no sense with that," Snake said crossing his arms as Samus and Pikachu went to separate ways. "We're all here in a group and if someone loses, everyone will lose as well."

"S-so? I meant about Samus! Y-you're trying to make her fall in love with you, aren't you?"

Snake narrowed his even-more narrowed eyes. "You're just saying random things, you better listen to me."

C. Falcon stood up normally, trying to overcome his wounds. "And what could happen if I don't?"

"That."

C. Falcon was crushed by an ATC that was destroyed by Pichu's Thunders and Link's Bombs, the explosion caused the captain to scream in pain. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"Great, even more scum." Wolf said once he saw 7 Armored Aerotroopers descending from nowhere, they started to fire at all directions and the lupine narrowed his eyes and used his Reflector to...duh, no more explanation for that move.

"Reflecting their attacks back won't do much damage, you have to reach them with something stronger." Samus explained as she fired missiles at the Space Pirates that Olimar's Pikmins previously took their shields off.

"Then how am I supposed to reach them? Using someone's help?"

"Exactly." Samus said before she ran away.

"..." Wolf looked at Squirtle and smirked. "Hey, turtle, come over here."

Squirtle walked to Wolf and realized something. "Wait a minute, why did I come here with you again?"

"OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Wolf yelled raising his right foot behind him to kick hard Squirtle's shell, the turtle Pokémon screamed as he hid inside the shell, but it was just as Wolf planned because the shell collided with the Armored Aerotroopers (at least 2 of them) right in their skulls, they went descending down before exploding into bits of disgusting parts of their bodies.

"T-that's it, I think you made Pokémon abuse right now!" Red said as Wolf glared at him. "...E-er, you know what? I'd better shut up..."

"Hey!" Squirtle called out within his shell once he landed back, the Water Pokémon peered out from the shell and saw Wolf running towards him. "...Uh-oh." Squirtle muttered as he managed to see Wolf about to kick him again.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" Olimar yelled as his run-the-heck-out-of here caught the attention of 2 Armored Aerotroopers, 3 Space Pirates and 2 APTs, who were all chasing him as they tried to land their shots.

"Wait a second," Link said looking around as an insane amount of ATCs landed and spawned out even more Space Pirates along with other versions. "We're getting completely surrounded, at this rate we're going to tire ourselves out!"

"Should I use the Hypermode..." Samus wondered as she was about to be tackled down by 2 Space Pirates, but were kicked away by Falco.

"Would you stop wondering things and help us out?" Falco asked.

"Well, excuse me, I'm trying to decide if using the Hypermode would come in handy in this situation."

"The hyper-what?"

Samus frowned. "I think I forgot to explain that part to you all."

Suddenly for no reason, Falco embraced himself and began to tremble. "W-weird, why it is getting cold all of a sudden h-here?"

"Cold? But the temperature here is...lowering?" Samus asked confused as her visor identified the temperature going down to a colder state.

Pikachu and Pichu stopped fighting and looked around. "...Why it's getting colder in here? I-isn't this supposed to be an inferno?" Pikachu asked studdering.

Music stops

Pichu's ears perked up and looked up at the sky. "...LOOK OUT EVERYONEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

"Huh?" Everyone looked above and gasped as they saw huge icicles being thrown around the temple, everyone ran out of the way of the collisions as the pirates screamed once they were being crushed by the ice, the Smashers looked frantically around for a way to defend themselves from the attack and saw the previous glaciers that looked strong enough to resist the other glaciers.

"W-what is happening?!" Olimar yelled from one of the pillars of ice.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Squirtle asked hiding besides Red and Ivysaur.

"First, it's the cold, then it's the heat, now both of them?! Can this get any more dangerous for a poor Pokémon like me?!" Ivysaur asked.

"Dude, you seriously need a therapist!"

"Shut up, Squirtle!"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Snake yelled angrily as they noticed the glaciers stopping from coming of the sky, they all walked around and found no sign of life of the Space Pirates, they were completely eradicated as far as the group could know. "...Well, it seems there are unexpected situations where someone could take advantage of." Snake remarked.

"I'm pretty sure is not that." Otacon called out.

"Shut up you too."

"Snaaaaake..." Otacon trailed off.

"ACHOO!" Falco sneezed. "O-o-o-okay who's the b-b-b-bastard who did t-t-t-this?"

"That would have been Rundas."

Everyone looked around confused at the sudden voice that Link quickly recognized, the swordsman looked at the glacier on the center that broke in shards in an explosion, finding Ganondorf and Dark Rundas inside.

"You..." Link trailed off, putting a stronger grip on the Master Sword.

"Rundas?" Samus said surprised.

"Ganondorf..." Link said narrowing his eyes.

"Link, it is good to see you again after that coward attack in our last encounter," Ganondorf said crossing his arms. "However, I did not like that and I am here to get my revenge, along with my new servant."

"Samus." Dark Rundas simply said as both hunters glared at each other.

"You're...infected by both phazon, and now the Shadow Bugs as well?" Samus asked.

"Correct," Dark Rundas said nodding. "My strength has been greatly boosted enough to destroy a scum like you, with everyone else in here."

"O-o-o-o-oh," Falco got annoyed. "N-n-n-n-now we have to f-f-f-f-fight an ice c-c-c-cube guy?"

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Ivysaur yelled pushing Red's leg. "GET ME INSIDE MY POKEBALL! I BEG OF YOU!"

"O-okay but stop pushing me!" Red said calling Ivysaur back to his Pokeball.

"Ganondorf," Snake began. "What do you exactly have planned for this world?"

Ganondorf chuckled along with Dark Rundas. "Simple, take it with the Subspace Bomb hidden in here, but, I could add that there is another thing as well."

"And that is?" Wolf asked glaring, taking his Blaster out of his holdster.

"Too bad you are not one of us anymore Wolf, or else I could have told you before," Ganondorf made a fist. "But here, it is where we end everything once and for all."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Typically when a villain like you says that means we're finishing this earlier, just for you to run away in defeat and challenge us another day."

"Heheheheheheh..."

"...P-Pikachu, I don't like that creepy laugh at all..." Pichu said trembling.

"So," Ganondorf began smirking. "You think you are the only ones who can use the Final Smash?"

"Let me guess, you can use it from now on, right?" Link asked as Ganondorf blinked surprised.

"What?"

"I think I know why," Olimar said taking a notebook from his back. "It says here that when somebody asks about someone else who has something that the person asked means that the "asker" has that same thing."

"...You are only confusing me instead of telling me a poin-"

"Ganondorf, let's not bother with such things and freeze them in an eternal season of cold." Dark Rundas said.

"Y-y-you won't get away with that...clone..." C. Falcon muttered raising a finger, since he was still laying down the floor where the ATC crashed into him.

"How in the world can he talk with all that damage he has?" Samus asked.

Snake frowned. "I'm reminding you something right now."

"What?"

Snake pointed at Dark Rundas jumping in the air to slide around using a wave of ice as Ganondorf ran at them. "The battle just started and we have to be careful of our surroundings, since the "icebergs" in here could present a trouble."

"...Alright." Samus said preparing her arm cannon as the Smashers prepared for the battle.

Super Paper Mario

Fort Francis
Chapter 3-4 The Battle of Fort Francis

"Mario, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Sonic, Geno, Twink, Toon Link and Diddy Kong had scaled the tree and defeated Dimentio...sort of anyway. The exhausted heroes were relieved to finally see the ivory towers of Fort Francis. Were Tippi, Mallow, DK and Fox safe? Was the next Pure Heart really waiting for them ahead? Their only answers were the strange voices carried on the wind from inside the fort...or yells or demands to get out from a cage actually."

Fort Francis

"So you think Francis is a... Greenish photo fanatic? Basically, a monster?" Carrie asked once he was freed from his cell.

"I said nerdy." Toon Link said.

"Well...imagine that!" Carrie said hopping in the air. "And of you and I feel the same way about him! We've got great harmony. Yep, I think we'll work perfectly. Together, nothing can touch us!"

"MINE!" Sonic said grabbing Carrie.

"What's up with you all of a sudden?" Yoshi asked as Sonic pointed at the spikes close to them. "...So what's your point?"

"I have horrible memories with spikes when I was younger," Sonic shuddered. "I don't want to revive 'em now, but with this fairy-thing (Carrie: I'll take that as an insult you know!) nothing will touch me!" Sonic used Carrie's skill to become a hovering platform that he rode. "Think you have a more extreme function?"

"Nope." Carrie said.

"...This sucks, oh well."

"A-anyway," Peach began. "I think we should find the other keys, maybe we could try to answer the questions those...robotic cats asked us."

Inside Francis's Room (or chamber, whatever you want to define it), the nerd/geek/lizard was taking photographs from the 4 characters (who were stuck in a small cage) dreamily, praising every "feature" of them.

"Would you stop taking those photos of us?!" Mallow asked angrily, his right foot sticking out of the cage.

"Oh hell no!" Francis said blushing in pleasure. "The guys at digibutter dot nerr forums will TOTALLY be jealous once I show them pictures online of perfect human-sized figurines of the Ultra Knock Brotherhood, so schweet and so HIGH-TECHNICALLLLL, NERR!!"

"For the last freaking time, WE'RE NOT THEM!" Fox yelled annoyed, left ear sticking out of one hole and left hand as well.

"Guys, it's useless," Tippi said, somewhere around DK's back. "We should give up hope for rescue and be his figurines..."

"Aw, don't get all depressed," DK began, being him the one who made the cage smaller in space. "Everyone will come and rescue us."

"...T-that's good and all, but I think I'm going to faint...you're too heavy, no offense."

"None taken."

"Rescue?" Francis asked lowering his camera as he chuckled. "Nobody can enter this place! Absolutely nobody except for me a hot babes can't enter this room, nerr!"

"...Okay, we can think of poses for snapshots from now on." DK said as the 3 glared at him.

"Besides," Francis blushed awkwardly. "There's a low chance a hot babe will enter this room, anyone else who dares to enter here is so high-technically burned down by my kitty-door, nerr!"

"Too bad," Mallow chuckled. "They're not so weak to be destroyed by your kitty-door, besides, what could they say if the-"

"MEEEEOOOOOOWW!!!" The Kitty Door meowed angrily. "YOU'RE NOT FRANCIS OR TOTALLY HOT BABES! You will die by my kitty-lasers of doom! MEOW!"

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNN!!!" Diddy was heard panicking as the Smashers yelled by the lasers that the door shot at them from outside the room.

"...Sorry, I didn't hear you, what'd you say?" Fox asked.

"...Screw my beliefs." Mallow muttered as Francis kept taking snapshots.

Though after 10 straight minutes of yelling (if you were wondering, Sonic wasn't able to escape from the lasers since, as you know, the world was straight forward, meaning he couldn't run very well), 2 persons finally crossed the door, they were Peach and Zelda who were identified as "totally hot babes" because they accidentaly ran inside, leaving the others screaming for dear life.

"Nerrrrr! Who are YOU?!" Francis demanded as both princesses walked to him with angry looks.

"Finally, we're going to be rescued." DK said.

"Though something is really bothering me." Fox said.

"That they're women? (Zelda and Peach: Hey!)"

"No," Fox twitched a little. "I-I think my tail squeezed out from one hole and... I-I'm feeling things I shouldn't be feeling because it's a little bigger than the hole so..."

"...Dude, you're sick!" Mallow said as Francis ignored they argues.

"You! Release them at once!" Zelda demanded.

"H-hey! What are you doing sneaking into my room, huh? Ever heard of p-privacy?" Francis asked annoyed as he walked closer to the girls.

"Oh, there you are, Francis! I've been looking ALL OVER for you!" Peach said angrily, but Zelda began to wonder something...

"...U-um... Peach, what you just said isn't good..."

"How so?"

"For...ME?" Francis asked, the princess could only tilt her head in confusion. "O-o-oh... O-oh my gosh... It's... It's 2 h-hot babes..."

"...WHAT?!" Peach and Zelda asked shocked as the lizard/geek/nerd began to sweat.

"HOT BABES IN ROOM! W-what do I... Oh man... 2 REAL girls in my room! This is so hi-technicaaaal! N-Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr... Must...ca-ca-calm...calm down... I'm get-get-get-get... Getting w-way too excited... Sweatles...forming... Can't talk to...girls... Must get...my...laptop...from...Frannypack... Must...also...use...Nerr2Babe interface...with real time...wooing..." Francis said sweating in desperation.

"Um... Zelda, what is he talking about now?" Peach asked.

"I think he is a pervert..." Zelda muttered.

"H-HOT BABES ALERT! Must boot swoon dot exe to get a better conversation!" Francis said panicking as he took out his laptop.

"What th-" Zelda felt that something changed in the scene as she looked around...

Super Paper Mario - Swoon dot exe

Before their eyes, something went awfully wrong, both princesses were inside a screen with Francis on the right side, the background had hearts going around, the princesses looked around confused as Francis started the conversation.

Francis (blushing):
"Welcome to my castle. How do you do? ...Nerrr."

Peach (panicking):
"What on earth is that?! What's going on here?"

Zelda (panicking):
"D-don't look at me! I'm as confused as you are!"

Francis:
"Nerrherr... I boot this baby up whenever it's time to talk to the...heh...laaadies. Schweeeeet. Time for my Swoon dot exe program to work its magic! (Where should I start?)"

Speak - Talk to hot babes

Francis (blushing):
"What are your names, ladies?"

Peach (confused):
"My...name?"

Zelda (glaring):
"Why should we tell you our names?"

Francis (chuckling):
"Because it's proper for a lady to say her name, nerrrrrr..."

Peach (staring blankly):
"You can call me...annoyed."

Zelda:
"...Wow."

Francis (shocked):
"W-WHAT?! O-okay, how about you sweetie pie?!"

Zelda (crossing arms):
"You can call me...verbally harassed."

Francis (CRACK!):
"OH MAN! THAT WAS TOO MUCH!"

"You received a straight answer. Francis's passion leveled SO UP!"

Francis (sweating):
"Oh, man... What do I do next?"

Look - Hot babes

Francis:
"You're so cute...like princesses straight out of an anime or video game! You 2 can be feisty, but I must say it...umm...adds to your charms combined."

Peach (blushing):
"You think I'm...charming?"

Zelda (frowning):
"Peach, don't fall for his responses..."

Peach (glaring at Francis):
"...You want feisty? I'll show you feisty! Lay it on thick like that, and you'll get it!"

From somewhere, Luigi appeared outside the screen and typed something for Zelda before he walked away, whistling.

Zelda:
"LOL."

Zelda (after talking, looking around confused):
"What is L-O-L supposed to mean?"

Francis (panicking):
"Eep! I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking! Oh...forgive me, my queens!"

Peach and Zelda (angrily):
"W-we're NOT queens, we're princesses!"

Francis (blushing):
"(Nerr herr... They're supercute when they get angry...)"

"Francis got yelled at! Peach and Zelda's charisma leveled up! Francis's passion leveled up!"

Francis (wondering):
"(What's my next move?)"

Inventory - Give Item - Pink Princess and Long-eared Princess Signed Posters

Francis (blushing):
"As a token of my affection, I'd like to give you 2 special presents."

Peach received the "Pink Princess" Signed Poster and Zelda received the "Long-eared Princess" Signed Poster.

Peach (looking at poster):
"Oh. Umm..."

Zelda (furious):
"LONG-EARED PRINCESS?! IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE ME?!"

Francis (panicking):
"N-no! Y-you're misunderstanding! P-please! Accept them a-"

Zelda (throws poster at Francis, right in the face):
"You better give me something better next time! Peach, what about you?"

Peach (trembling):
"U-um...here."

"Peach returned the poster (without harming you). Francis's satisfaction leveled up! Francis's passion leveled up!"

Francis:
"(Nerrr... What's my next move?)"

Think - About the future

Francis (smiling):
"Wow, we are like, so perfect for each other. It's destiny! We should get married!"

Peach (shocked):
"M-married?!"

Zelda (shocked):
"U-ugh! Th-that is so disgusting!"

Peach:
"So, how much do you make?"

Zelda (surprised):
"PEACH!"

Francis (chuckling):
"Like 100 coins a day."

Peach (realized something that she forgot completely):
"Hey! Who's picking these responses for me, anyway?!

Outside the screen, there was someone snickering evily as he chose the options for both princesses, with a closer look, the person was...what the heck are you doing here?!

"I told you I was gonna get my screentime by any means!" Laharl said. "MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Get out of here at once or else!

"Never! You won't catch me!" Laharl yelled laughing as he disappeared.

...But you did what I want you to do...oh, who cares about him, let's get on with this story.

Zelda (looking outside):
"...Strange, I think there was someone out here..."

Peach (glaring at Francis):
"I'm not marrying this dork! I shouldn't even be having this conversation! I came to save Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox! Where are they?!"

Francis (confused):
"Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox? Hmm... Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox... Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox..."

Francis tried to find the "Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox" option on his list, he looked around some more before he started to panic, the geek was getting really nervous and gave up.

Francis (sweating in panic):
"There's no Tippi, DK, Mallow and Fox command here! What is she talking about?!"

Zelda (bored look):
"I...highly doubt that there is an option like that...wait a minute, how do I know that?"

Francis (backing away):
"T-there's no need to get furious now, nerrrrrrr-"

Peach (furious):
"That's IT! I've had it! You'd better bring them out now!"

Pixls - Boomer

"Peach used Boomer! Boomer exploded!"

Zelda (freaking out and acting so out of character with this simple sentence):
"Oh crap!"

Francis (freaking out, panicking out, screaming and sweating):
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY GRAPHICS CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!"

The whole screen blowed into bits, the smoke covered the whole conversation, when it cleared out, there was Francis laying on the floor as both princesses glared at him.

"And so," Zelda said crossing her arms. "We end this for now."

Francis got up and cried toon tears. "T-t-that was the only known copy for the Nerr2Babe patch, and now it's gone forever! Nerrr... Real babes are scary!"

"Want a piece of me?"

"E-eek!"

"...Peach?" Tippi called from somewhere behind DK's back, both princesses smiled in relief and walked closer to the cage.

"Tippi! Oh, I was so...wait, where is she?" Peach asked.

"Oh," DK laughed a little as he blushed. "I guess she's somewhere on my back...sorry."

"...TIPPI!" Peach panicked. "Tippi! Can you hear me?! Tippi?!"

"I'm fine...Peach..." Tippi took a moment of silence. "...Who am I kidding?! Get me out front this cage at once! Save me from getting crushed under a gorilla!"

"And while you're at it," Mallow said annoyed. "Would you get us out as well?"

"A-a-and push my tail inside? I-I'm feeling sensations I shouldn't be feeling..." Fox said embarrassed.

Zelda gasped a little. "E-eeewwww!!!"

"W-wait, it's not like that, I swear it!"

"So..." Francis cleared his tears and looked at them. "So you've come to raid my fort and steal Francine and my human-sized figurines? W-Well... No! I won't let you!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, WE'RE NOT SOMEONE'S PERSONAL ACTION FIGURES! " Mallow, DK and Fox yelled loudly.

Francis chuckled as he blushed. "B-by the way, I came up with the name Francine on my own! Isn't it schweeet? At first I thought it was a little weird that you could talk and everything. But the forum reaction convinced me you were hi-technicaaal! You're my only...sniff...offline friend, Francine...so no one will take you away from me!"

"...Did he just forget about us?" DK asked annoyed.

"We're side-extras after all, Tippi's the main attraction." Mallow said annoyed.

"H-hey...someone...save me..." Tippi muttered losing her energies as Francis lowered the cage they were in, vanishing in the floor.

"Set them free at once, or else." Zelda said as her right hand glowed with fire.

Francis Battle

Francis only chuckled and camouflaged to be invisible, both princesses gasped and ran where the geek previously was. "Nerrr! Can't see me? That's 'cause my invisibility powers are totally hi-technicaaaaal! Little Francine is hidden, so you can't take her! Feel the wrath of the jilted X-Naut in the season finale of "The Grodus Chronicles!" Francis yelled from somewhere.

"I've had enough of his TV affinities, Peach, we need to defeat him to save Tippi and the others!" Zelda said.

"B-but what about th-" Peach was interrupted as both princesses heard the screams and yells coming from the guys, trying to save their lifes from the laser eyes of the kitty door. "...Oh my..."

"...I know, this isn't going to turn out well..."

Preview of the next chapter

"Eek!" Peach yelled as she was pulled inside Francis's mouth.

"Oh no, you won't!" Sheik said throwing her kunais at Francis.

"OH-MY-GOD!" Falco yelled. "THAT'S A FRICKIN' ICEBERG!"

"RUN! WE HAVE TO EVADE THAT THING!" Wolf yelled as Dark Rundas threw the enormous iceberg at them from high above.

"...Wait a minute..." Flonne said closing her eyes. "...Don't you hear something?"

"Hmm..." Laharl took a moment of silence. "...It sounds like many footsteps are coming from outside the castle..."

Chris looked outside the window and began to tremble. "...E-everyone..."

"Why Ivysaur Hates Rundas, isn't that obvious by now?!" Ivysaur asked annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Laharl's Castle
Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Laharl, Etna, Flonne

Fort Francis
Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Mario, Peach, Tippi

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus

References:

-Laharl attempts to get his screentime are references to...what he ACTUALLY does in every single Disgaea game that he doesn't starres in. XD

I'm sorry if some battles looked short to you, I'll try to make longer fights the next chapter. :)

Will Chris's group do something productive? Will Laharl reveal his feelings? (Possibly not). Who is Big Sis Prinny exactly? Will Sonic's team rescue the rest of the team? Will they also bother to find out about the Ultra Knock Brotherhood series? What does Dimention have planned in mind? Will Ivysaur, Falco and everyone defeat Ganondorf and Dark Rundas? Will Peach and Zelda defeat the geek Francis? Will Laharl get more screentime in a random moment?

Will I stop saying so many wills? XD

Find out the next time...you get a message if you bothered to have this in your alerts. XD

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 108*: Why Ivysaur Hates Rundas

I feel like this chapter got a little rushed, but my opinions will be cleared with your reviews. ;)

From ngrey651: Never before have I been more annoyed with a nerd than I have at interacting with geeky Francis.

"I don't get it. Why couldn't they just go AROUND him and get the guys?"

It's a two-dimensional ga-uh...I mean...it's more interesting if they face him head on! (Don't wanna break the fourth wall!)

From me: They'll have to suffer unfortunately. XD

From TARDISreviewer: I know what Sonic means by bad memories with spikesa ll too well...
particularly those spiked pillars of Marble Garden, or ANY group of spikes in Sonic 1. Not to mention the spikes on the top of the final boss of Sonic 3. (I kept hitting them. Missed the hands but hit the spikes. REPEATEDLY.)

From me: Okay, thanks for the bit of information crazy Sonic fan. :D Keep enjoying his mishaps. XD

From Shining Riku: Meh. I find Big Sis Prinny to be highly suspicious.
This chapter was excellent, but I don't have much else to say, other than that you did a great job. I'm sorry I haven't reviewed lately. I haven't been very active online...

Oh well! I hope your schoolwork doesn't drown you...stupid homework. It has to be done though, unless if you wanna be an idiot. I doubt that's the case.

See ya next time, wiiboychris, and good luck with your next chapter! (I loved how Sonic and Ivysaur were acting like chickens. They had to face their fears! Ha ha!)
-Shining Riku-

From me: Yep, she's suspicious because she is...of course, I'm not going to say what she is.

And don't worry, many have writer's block around here and I'm not an exception, thanks and good luck with your reborned fic. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: I personally haven't played Disgaea... but I've read about it and I must ask... Is Laharl really THAT powerful?

Questions aside... on to the review.

That was a funny chapter. I felt that was well pulled off by picking on the various quirks of certain characters. Very well done.

From me: Laharl is very powerful in terms of gameplay, heck, you can do lots of damage in the games of Disgaea and an Overlord is supposed to be a figure of great almighty power. Nobody can defeat them...under certain conditions that is.

And there are still many quirks. ;)

From Anakin Son Mario43: That was wierd... again. Actually this whole story has been wierd. But that's what makes it great! Also, about "That Keyblade master" yes a lot of people like him. Update soon.

From me: Weird is my second name. "Flashes title." Thank you! :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: sorry for missing a review, but i was horribly sick on thursday. i did stay home on friday but i got caught up in super mario RPG:LOTSS. even now i'm still kinda sick and woozy, but i should be okay next time you post this. well enough of my life, i'll get to my review for chapts 106 & 107 now. clever of you to make it seem like it was super mario galaxy was going to be used when it was going to be super paper mario all along. Oh dear, that poor city, destroyed yet again by Rita.[it was destroyed once right?] hmm, a paper charizard and Dedede, interesting, they hopefully can't cheat there. for 107, didn't Larharl ask Etna for breakfast earlier? why would he then say something about dinner? hmm, maybe Flonne has had a change of heart on demons. oh, a friendly tip if Larharl gets a tad out of control, threaten to erase him from the story. don't forget, YOU'RE the author, you have the power to erase. +shiver+ it must be horrifying to be in the possesion of a nerdy lizard. would like to talk more about the chapter, but i'm going to say too much , here is some of my usual blah,blah,blah.
have you played the internet flash game;
final finatasy sonix X 1-6 also,
i think i've found a few potential people to help recover the music,that one girl ghost from luigi's mansion that plays the piano, the zora band,the indigogos from majora's mask [though they may not work], if they could count your mii's, and finally, the singer Nayru from oracle of ages[she may not work either though] oh yeah, just to let you know, you could use final fantasy characters from 2-6 technically since it was first owned by nintendo.
well, best wishes and happy writing,[or typing]

From me: Long (beep!) review from you. XD

Oops, one little mistake there. I hope you don't mind. :P

That didn't happen at all, it was just for humor purposes. :P

AND FOR THE LAST TIME, NO! I DON'T KNOW ANY FLASH GAMES ON THE INTERNET BECAUSE THEY'RE FREAKING BORING TO ME!

...Phew, I let that out at last, but I hope you understand. :)

And actually, your list of people of musicians is interesting...thanks... ;) (Except Final Fantasy people).

From Iyan: YAY for crazy maniacal laughs from Laharl. Keep up with the work dude!

From me: More dood coming, dood! XD

From dimentio713: Well I gotta say great story even though Dimentio won't be a subspace villian... Though I would really like to see hem as a villian in a sidequest along with Marx from Kirby Super Star besides they both are evil jesters. Thank you and have a good day

From me: Keep dreaming. XD

From Mewtrainer: Oh. Yeah. I forgot about which gen Red was from... Poor Ivysaur! Will Laharl and "Bla bla bla Meteor Storm" girl fight? Sorry, don't remember her name. That would be interesting... Is Vyers really a Mid-Boss? CF has no sense, and has even less when it comes to Samus. Or Zelda. XD What the heck is the Hypermode? Fracis is even weirder than I thought... When does Laharl go back to his world??

From me: Both will fight. Vyers is called a Mid-Boss because Laharl says so. C. Falcon is a perv. Hypermode is a special function of the PED suit that Samus can use, play more Metroid Prime games! And Laharl IS in his world, you dummy. :P Thanks. :)

From JSandders: Everybody`s UBER something in your triple arc! Francis is UBER weird! (And whatever Fox is feeling with his tail, I don`t want to know!) Laharl is UBER powerful and he`s also UBER bossy! XD (Can`t wait to see which ending you`ll choose for the Disgaea arc! Probably the good one hwere Flonne will be you-know-what!) Capt. Falcon`s an UBER dork! (Snake does like Samus but he stays focused on the mission at hand, that`s why he`s UBER cool!)

And about the suggested musicians, aw... I like some of those musicians! They`re great! But I guess K.K. Slider is the only possible one joining. :(

From me: Did you forget I don't go through an entire's game plot? Just a portion? (Except the Sonic Heroes arc).

Maybe I'll see about the musicians later, just keep enjoying the fic. :D

I don't have many words to say, so enjoy the humor, fights and randomness. :D

Read, enjoy and review please! :D

(Note: I forgot that Francis says "Hi-technicalll!!!" without the "High," I'll correct that mistake later).

...

Oh wait, I do have something.

There have been some reviewers that review right after I post the chapter, and it takes usually 10 to 20 minutes (ouch) to finish reading the whole chapter. I get offended because some just skip parts. People, I've been writing this so hard, it's bad to just skip through!

And another note: I'm now secretly correcting mistakes from the prequel and the first chapters in order to attract more readers so many can enjoy the fic like it should be. Thank you everyone who helped me with my grammar, spelling and such. :)

With that aside, read, enjoy and review!

Chapter 108: Why Ivysaur Hates Rundas

Super Paper Mario

Fort Francis
Chapter 4-4 The Battle of Fort Francis

Francis Battle

"Peach, be careful, he could be anywhere." Zelda said preparing to turn anywhere and use Din's Fire to attack.

"I-I-m a little bit scared..." Peach said.

"...I know." Zelda said.

"I see you!"

"LOOK OU-UGH!" Zelda was attacked by Francis who appeared behind her and slammed his tongue at her back before he disappeared again.

"Z-Zelda!" Peach ran to her.

"I-I'm fine, worry about his abilities." Zelda said twitching a little in pain.

"Nerr, nerr, nerr..." Francis appeared, taking out his laptop.

"He's wide open, attack!"

"Meowbombs, go!" Francis called forth 3 Meowbombs from the ceiling and they walked around (the 2-D dimension) as the lizard vanished again.

"...The name states the obvious." Peach said as the robots began to walk towards her, flashing red in the process.

"Peach, be careful, they're going to blow themselves up!" Zelda yelled running away from a Meowbomb that exploded, Peach covered herself with her umbrella as got unharmed by the 2 other Meowbombs. "How in Nayru's name did that umbrella resist those explosions?"

"Heheh," Peach giggled as she uncovered herself. "I need to find out more about my accesories."

"I see yo-"

"THERE!" Zelda yelled spinning on her feet to make a quick turn, launching her Din's Fire at Francis who gasped before it exploded in flames, the lizard got stunned by this. "Peach, do something to follow up my attack!"

"R-right!" Peach said nodding as she called Boomer out and put him...behind her?

"Peach, what are you doing?" Zelda asked before Peach walked towards Francis. "No! You're just wishing to be hurt!"

"Francis..." Peach said.

"G-get away from m-" Francis got a blue ball from Peach. "...A present?"

"Yes." Peach said smiling.

Francis blushed. "O-o-o-oh my gosh..."

BOOM!

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Francis yelled as Peach ran towards Zelda.

"...I get it," Zelda said rubbing her chin. "He's still a pervert who thinks girls are cute."

Peach giggled a little. "I love to use my mind rather than strength in fights."

"I-I'll get you 2 for this!" Francis yelled from the smoke that Boomer made and shot his long tongue at the princesses, both of them gasped as the tongue wrapped itself around their waists and pulled them inside Francis's mouth.

"A-AAAAAAHH!!!" Peach yelled inside as she constantly got damage along with Zelda.

"L-LET US GO!" Zelda demanded as Francis was seen feeling sick.

"N-never!" Francis said turning purple. "I-I won't let you steal my figurines! The forums need to get vital proof, nerr!"

"Then you don't leave no choice!" Zelda yelled from inside as a bright light came from Francis's mouth, before Francis could act, something exploded inside his stomach and Peach came out in a poof of smoke with Zelda, who turned into Sheik.

"My stomach, nerr!" Francis complained as he camouflagued.

T-thank you, Sheik," Peach said making a worried look. "I don't want to be inside him again..."

Sheik nodded. "Better yet, we think the same."

"Meowbombs!" Francis called from a corner as the princess and Sheikah got distracted, more robots once again came out from the ceiling and walked towards the ladies.

"Wait," Sheik said. "Do you think we can use these bombs against him?"

"Then..." Peach called Thoreau and threw him at one of the bombs to grab it.

"...Peach, would you tell me why didn't you just grab the bomb instead of telling that Pixl to do it for you?"

"It's because is hard to pick them simply."

Sheik rolled her eyes. "Oh please, don't tell me you forgot about picking things up."

"...I did."

"W-what? That's ridiculous! Here, let me show you!" Sheik said walking towards a Meowbomb...but the only thing she could do was stare down at it. "...Umm...how do I pick it up again?"

"I told you so..." Peach trailed off.

Sheik got annoyed. "...Let me understand...not only this world is completely straight, but also you lose some simple abilities such as picking things up?"

"Well, Mario and I can pick items up for some reason..."

"...This SUCKS!" Sheik yelled as Francis appeared right beside her.

"Yah!" Peach threw the Meowbomb at Francis and it exploded upon making contact.

"YEEOOOUCCHH, NERR!!" Francis yelled in pain. "Please, no more explosions!"

"Got you." Sheik muttered.

"Wha-" Francis wasn't able to respond before Sheik strangled his throat a little using her chain whip, Peach gasped in shock as the lizard began to choke.

"S-Sheik! S-stop it!" Peach pleaded as Sheik looked at her.

"Peach, what do you mean by that? This guy is going to annoy us to no end if we don't...."

"But you can't kill him for that, please, don't do it!"

"Peach..."

"...Sheik, you know you don't want to do such a thing..."

Sheik closed her eyes in shame. "...You're too soft, Peach..." Sheik said releasing Francis...as he camouflagued again. "Dammit! What are we supposed to do then?!"

"Defeat him and not kill anybody!" Peach yelled.

"Then that's going to be hard..." Sheik muttered.

"What?"

"N-nothing, just be careful." Sheik said as they heard more screams coming outside the chamber. "For Eldin's sake, why are they being so useless today? They're just lasers!"

"MY CROTCH!" Bowser yelled as both girls shuddered.

"...Then again, they're guys."

"Ninja, wasn't that a little bit sexist?" Slim asked.

"...You're still here?" Sheik asked confused looking at the Pixl who has been following her around.

"You're mine!" Francis yelled as he revealed himself and stretched his tongue at Peach.

"Eek!" Peach yelled as she was pulled inside Francis's mouth.

"Oh no, you won't!" Sheik said throwing her kunais at Francis.

"Y-YIKES! NERR!" Francis yelled panicked as he camouflagued again.

"Damn that lizard, where is he now?!" Sheik asked cursing as she looked around.

"Nerr!" Francis appeared right besides her and spat Peach on her back, Sheik and Peach both stumbled along the floor until they stopped and moaned a little in pain before the geek camouflagued again.

"S-Sheik..." Peach muttered weakly.

"I'm not...weak yet..." Sheik said standing up. "I won't forgive him after all this stupid madness."

"R-right..." Peach said standind up as she wiped out some dust off her dress. "I have to fight him back...but how?"

"That's right, you don't have your abilities from the tournament here...what to do..." Sheik wondered as Francis appeared behind her and swallowed her completely. "OH, COME ON!" Sheik yelled inside Francis's stomach.

"Wait!" Peach called holding a Thunder Rage above her that instantly called forth a strong thunder, paralyzing Francis before he exploded from inside as Sheik appeared in a poof smoke right besides Peach. "Sheik, are you feeling okay?"

"Y-yes..." Sheik said panting a little. "I can...still fight back fortunately..."

"Will you bother to use me?!" Slim asked annoyed.

"Look, I'm not going to...use a fairy's help to do something I could do before."

"If you keep goin' like this, that Francis guy will defeat you both!"

"I do believe that he speaks the truth." Thoreau said, replacing Boomer as Peach's Pixl.

"I refuse t-" Sheik stopped once Peach grabbed her hand. "Peach?"

"Sheik...listen to them," Peach said giving a serious look. "They helped me once I got reunited with Mario, the Pixls's powers saved me a lot of times before and this is not an exception, so please...listen to them."

"Nerr nerr nerr!" Francis appeared right besides the door and typed on his laptop to call more Meowbombs that this time ran at them.

"...Ugh," Sheik frowned. "Fine, I'll use their help, happy?"

Peach giggled heartily. "Of course I am!"

"Go!" Sheik yelled throwing Thoreau to a Meowbomb, the robot began to sweat as Sheik took it above her, she saw the other 2 Meowbombs coming at them, that is when she got the idea to toss the one above her, it went bouncing from robot to robot and accidentaly, it hit Francis that was appearing on the track, the geek screamed as the explosion engulfed him. "...What do you know, it actually worked."

"Or maybe it was just luck?" Peach muttered.

"What was that?" Sheik asked annoyed.

"I-I'm getting sick of this, nerr!" Francis said annoyed as he ran at the girls, flailing his arms around.

"(Wait...maybe the Over Limit gauge is ready...but Chris isn't around here to tell me so... I have to put my faith into it...but I wonder, do we all share it together or do we have our own?)" Sheik though as she did a hand sign, closing her eyes. "Let the strongest Sheikah ability be your last blow." Sheik stated as an explosion of rainbow aura covered her, making Francis gasp as he was pushed away by the force of the aura.

"S-Sheik, you're glowing!" Peach said with her mouth a little bit opened.

Sheik nodded to her, her eyes glowing a yellow color. "Yes, but there's one problem," Sheik looked around. "That bastard went into hiding again, I need you to find him and use my Final Smash to finish him off."

"Final Smash?" Peach asked tilting her head confused.

"There's not time for explanations, you have to find him!"

"B-but how can I do that? As long as he's invincible, no attack can't harm him!"

Slim jumped a little. "Then I guess you both should use my power!"

Sheik looked a little annoyed but nodded. "Okay you, use whatever power you have now."

"Gladly!" Slim said spinning around the girls who...disappeared in plain sight sideways. "Done!"

"...That's it? We're just standing sideways!"

"Shh!" Peach whispered as a moment of silence fell.

...Several minutes later, Francis revealed himself and looked around confused. "Weird, where are those hot babes?... Are they hiding somewhere, nerr?...Aw, who cares!" Francis said as he called back the cage with the 4 characters inside, who looked basically pissed off at him. "I have you here to make some company!"

"Haaaaa..."

Francis got a confused look and turned his back, and an insanely fast stream of light crossed his body in shock (before that time, the light was about to caught the Smashers inside the cage as well, fortunately though, the light seemed to miss their crotches by some centimeters and looked freaked out).

"...NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!" Francis yelled loudly in extreme pain as he twitched a lot in pain before he fell down to his knees and fainted, Sheik had her bow out but hid it behind her back as she turned her back at Francis.

"Never, underestimate the Sheikah." Sheik stated closing her eyes as the aura vanished from her.

Music stops

Peach was clapping happily in amazement. "That was amazing Sheik!... So that is the Final Smash?"

"Yes," Sheik said nodding to Peach. "But it's weird, it's the same Final Smash as my other form, I wonder why..."

Peach blushed a little. "Do you think... I can do something like that?"

Sheik chuckled heartily. "I think so. For now just wait until that time com-"

"AHEM." DK, Mallow, Fox and Tippi (somehow the latter) called annoyed as both girls sweatdropped.

"Hello? We've been crushing ourselves up to death in this "sweet" period of time, so...WOULD YOU MIND GETTING US OUT?!" Mallow yelled angrily, trying to get out from the cage as they tried to get out as well.

...Odd thing was that the cage began to tumble by the sides as they tried to get out, Peach and Sheik (who turned back into Zelda) saw the cage tilting over the edge, falling down the floor where it simply broke off and the 4 layed down on the floor...utterly annoyed.

"...So let me summarize this," Tippi said, getting out from DK's back. "We were trapped for some time inside that cage, we tried and tried to get out to no avail but it didn't work, and in the end we just could have made the cage fall down the floor to shatter and set us free?"

Peach laughed worried. "I-it seems that way..."

"...Oh well," Tippi said somehow smiling. "I'm so happy that you came all the way here just to rescue me...you don't know how happy am I right now, I can't describe it..."

"...That sounded offensive to me," Mallow said looking up to her. "We were ALSO suffering the same thing as you, remember?"

"...Sorry for that." Tippi said as they all looked to Francis.

"...He's asking for a beating now." DK said cracking his fists with Mallow, but just before they could attack the geek, Francis got up and looked at both groups, who were glaring at him.

"Dammit! Dammit! This was horrible, nerr!" Francis complained. "This isn't so hi-technical as it used to be, no way! I'm not going to get my head handed to you all! The guys at digibutter dot nerr won't believe that I had some of the Ultra Knock Brotherhood series's human-sized figurines here!" Francis held up his camera, which snapped into 2. "That arrow killed my camera, now you've done it! I'm going to tell this to mom! MOMMYYYYYYYYY!!! NERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!" Francis yelled crying as he ran away from the chamber, through the kitty door who seemed to stop the attacks to the others behind the door, when they saw Francis running away, they quickly noticed that the door was left opened and entered inside in a hurry.

"...We were trapped by that guy?" Mallow asked making an angry expression. "He was such a wuss!"

The Smashers who were suffering the attacks of the kitty door came all bruised and even burned, Sonic touched his tongue with 2 fingers to douse the little flame on his tail. "M-man, I'm never gonna open a door that looks like a cat and fires killer lasers again in some time." Sonic said as the Smashers nodded quickly.

"Are you all okay?" Peach asked worried.

"Apart from being constantly chased by 2 lasers, that were preventing us from entering and from the obvious reason that we were almost exploded, we're pretty much okay." Toon Link said.

"...I sense sarcasm." Zelda said.

"You really know when I'm sarcastic and when not." Toon Link said annoyed.

Super Paper Mario - Pure Heart

Tippi looked at the Smashers (the ones who were bruised). "Mario... You guys came to save me..." Tippi said sniffing a little.

"But of course, I mean," Mario began. "You're one of us, right?"

"..........." Tippi became very silent for a moment before she started laughing heartily. "Thank you... Thank you, Mario! Thank you so much everyone! You don't know the trouble I went through the whole time!" Tippi ignored DK's whistles. "I'm so happy...really..."

"...There, there," Peach said hugging Tippi. "You don't need to hold back your tears, just cry."

"...T-thank you Peach..." Tippi sobbed.

"...Huh?" Geno tilted his head in confusion once they noticed something happening to Tippi. "...Is she glowing?"

"Glowing?" Peach asked staring at Tippi, who was in truth glowing.

"What...is THAT?!" Bowser asked surprised.

"...Wait a second," DK glared at Bowser. "What is he doing here?!"

"I-I'll explain later." Mario said as they saw Tippi floating above them as her shine grew brighter and brighter with every second, they were blinded for a moment before they saw what looked to be a yellow heart spinning between them. "Is that the..."

"The Pure Heart?" Peach added.

"A-ha!" Sonic said grinning. "So is this what they call the true power of love?..." Sonic shuddered. "T-then I don't want to do that."

"Sonic, shut up." Twink said and Sonic accidentaly didn't complain.

"The Pure Heart...? But...how..." Tippi trailed off thinking.

Peach got an idea. "It's like Tippi's heart just burst with happiness and released a Pure Heart! Or..."

"Bursted with happiness and released that?" Yoshi asked pointing at the heart as Tippi giggled silently.

"Mario... I was just so happy when I saw that you'd come to save me. Please... Take it." Tippi said giggling, offering the heart to Mario.

"...But we were the ONES trying to rescue you in that battle!" Zelda protested.

"...Oops." Tippi muttered as Zelda facepalmed.

"Well," Peach laughed a little. "Go Mario, we need to take it and return back to Flipside."

"Right." Mario said nodding as he held the heart high up, everyone watched Thoreau, Boomer, Slim, Thudley and Carrie (Sonic: Hey! Come back here!) standing besides Mario, doing what looked to be a dance where they were spinning and jumping to the sides, they got EVEN more confused when a different background appeared behind him, saying the words: "You got a Pure Heart!"

"...Okaaaaaay..." Yoshi trailed off as Mario was holding up the heart without moving, everyone was behind the background. "This world is so far scaring the hell out of me now."

"It already did to me actually." Geno confessed.

"Me too." Mallow said nodding.

"Me three." Twink added nodding.

"Me four." Toon Link added.

"Me five." Diddy added.

"Me too." Sonic added as the previous 5 glared at him, since he broke the combo chain.

END OF
CHAPTER!

"The fourth Pure Heart appeared in a dazzling flash of mysterious light. What made it appear? The group was WAY TOO puzzled by this and many other riddles. "...So you're not hurt?" asked Tippi, full of concern. Somehow, Tippi seemed different than before...or was she? Who knows, thing is she had started to change somehow. Mario simply shook his head and started the long journey back to Flipside with everyone...or simply took the lazy way and used the Return Pipe, lazy bum."

"By the way, Tippi complained a lot to DK for having pain in her pixelated back, DK was never the same from that day on...for 3 minutes actually."

"...Meanwhile, somewhere else..."

Castle Bleck
Count Bleck's Room

Super Paper Mario - Count Bleck's Plan

"Oh, Nastasia? It's time we set "him" on these pests." Count Bleck commanded as his henchmen, Dimentio, O' Chunks, Mimi and Nastasia listened.

However, upon more inspection, there were also Charizard and King Dedede besides the 4 previously mentioned.

"Yeah, um, I can take care of that for you, Count." Nastasia said adjusting her glasses.

"Lovely, exclaimed Count Bleck. Return to your posts, my dear minions." Count Bleck said, but nobody dared to listen to that order. "...Ah, Count Bleck saw your point for not going away, do speak up please."

"Count," Dimentio started. "Shouldn't we plan our "surprise" to those "Smashers" guys that Tabuu spoke about?"

Count Bleck rubbed his chin. "Indeed Dimentio, they are such ants inside my pants."

"Mimimimimimimimi," Mimi giggled. "Count Bleck, you're such a funny count."

"No need for such manners, Mimi."

"Hello?!" Dedede called out. "We have something serious to do about 'em! If all of you ain't goin' to help us out, then stop it!"

Nastasia got upset at this. "You! Manner your tongue at the Count!"

"And what will you do if I don't wanna?" Dedede asked smirking.

"...This." Nastasia stated simply as she adjusted her glasses a little bit with an odd glitter, in an instant, Dedede got zapped by something out of nowhere and when it stopped, his eyes were red, showing no emotion.

"King Dedede is at your service, my lady." Dedede said in a monotone voice.

Charizard chuckled. "Finally, somebody shuts him up."

It was time for O' Chunks to speak, he had something very important in mind that he wanted to share with everyone in there, the things he said sounded just astounding for everyone the moment he opened his mouth...

"(Hard-to-understand-and-write-language)." O' Chunks said.

"...What?" Charizard asked confused.

"I sai' wy no' ambus' 'll o' 'em at onc', everybod' in 'ere!" O' Chunks said.

Charizard facepalmed. "Please, it's too much with Dedede's pimp speech, and now I have to deal with your...whatever language you're using!"

"Ha ha ha," Dimentio chuckled. "I actually understood everything, you get used to this guy and you can guess perfectly what he says."

"Ye'! Dimentio 's 'ight!" O' Chunks said laughing.

"...Here between us," Mimi whispered. "I don't."

"Hmm... Count, O' Chunks does have a point there," Nastasia said. "A surprise attack, just like that."

"Bleh heh heh heh heh heh... That is an excellent idea, primitive, Count Bleck said, but effective nevertheless." Count Bleck said chuckling.

"Hey," Charizard began. "Who's that "him" again?"

"In time, he should reveal to yourself, although be aware of this, he's ours." Nastasia said.

"...Riiiiiight...could you get Dedede out of his trance?"

"Certainly." Nastasia said adjusting her glasses as the control on Dedede's mind disappeared, the king shook his head and looked around confused.

"Hey, what happened?" Dedede asked confused.

"In any case," Count Bleck began. "We shouldn't waste more time for those "Smashers" to help Mario, who knows what can they do if they're free to wander and find the Pure Hearts first," Count Bleck opened his cape, reading the Dark Prognosticus that opened shortly after. "A battle will be held on the odd space, so does the Dark Prognosticus say, bleh heh heh heh heh heh..."

"The odd space is where we're going to drop the Subspace Bomb," Dedede remembered. "I dunno why Tabuu wants to take over a space...but whatever he wants it's still a mystery to me."

"Me goin' 'ight 'ow!" O' Chunks said flexing his cubic arms.

"I may as well be on my way." Dimentio said chuckling.

"Mimimimimimimimi, I can't hardly wait to get my hands on that pupper guy, he looks handsome."

"...Ignoring that aside," Dimentio began. "I shall be going, au revoir." Dimentio said before he disappeared in his dimension.

Mimi simply flipped herself and disappeared. "...Say, how can she do that?" Dedede asked as O' Chunks used his amazing farting powers to blast away to the ceiling. "Yuck! Why not use the door instead?"

"...Count, I think we should leave for now, since we don't want to be harmed by the explosion." Nastasia said as she simply jumped away.

"You're very bold, Nastasia, said Count Bleck." Count Bleck nodded as he took the Dark Prognosticus with him.

Dedede and Charizard got confused and looked at each other. "What did they mean by explosion?" Charizard asked as the gas from O' Chunks's fart began to get closer to the floor.

Dedede looked down. "...Wait, don't they say that a gas is literally a gas and shouldn't be near any kind of flames?"

The gas was slowly reaching Charizard's flame tail, but he didn't notice. "Yes, why'd you ask?"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

"How big their brains are, wondered Count Bleck." Count Bleck said frowning somewhere.

Flipside
Merlon's House

Super Paper Mario - Flipside

The Smashers now were having a conversation with Merlon, the descendant of the Ancients in the odd town of Flipside, Merlon was quite surprised that there were so many heroes that weren't not mentioned before in the Light Prognosticus. Merlon also explained why they found the Pure Heart in Fort Francis by this moment.

"The 3 heroes shall be aided by 10 helpers, should the menace of The Void grow bigger and dangerous, for a brief period of time until their task is done," Merlon readed the book of light as he put it back to its table. "Yes, it was destined for all of you to come here. Quite the surprise if you ask me."

"The more, the merrier right?" Geno asked.

"Ahahaha, so true my friend," Merlon said. "Mario, you must look for the next Heart Pillar and head for the next Pure Heart, we have only 4 more to go before you can challenge Count Bleck!"

"I'll be on my way." Mario said nodding as he walked away.

"Hmm..." Merlon closed his eyes. "The Light Prognosticus also says that you all will have a hard time in the next world by 2 reasons that it doesn't want to reveal yet, but also, it says that you will return here to consult information regarding a riddle."

"It's just an old book of fortune telling." Toon Link said.

"H-how dare you disrespect the Light Prognosticus! It is not a book of fortune telling, it tells the future when it wants to!" Merlon said angrily. "I want you all to assist Mario as hard as you can, if the book says that you must help him, you WILL help him!"

"...Fine!" Mallow said angrily turning his back to the door. "If you love that book so much, then marry it!"

"WHAT?!"

"Mallow, I think you went too far with that honestly..." Geno whispered.

However, the cloud prince went on and on. "Better yet, make out with it!"

DK and Diddy looked at each other and began to laugh.

"...Make out?" Twink repeated confused.

"Thanks Mallow, now Twink is going to ask what is that to me." Geno said frowning.

"ALL OF YOU, GET OUT!" Merlon demanded.

"You know what? Don't put all the blame on me, I wasn't saying anything anyway." Fox said rolling his eyes as they left the house.

"Ugh," Merlon turned his back. "They will return shortly, I know that since the Light Prognosticus foretold it."

"Told you so, you're in love with that thing!" Mallow yelled from outside.

"Good one!" Sonic yelled as both of them laughed hysterically.

"Would you 2 stop it? It's bad to make Merlon mad..." Peach trailed off worried, but the duo just kept laughing, ignoring her completely.

"Through the fierce battle against Francis...whether that could be questionable, Tippi and the Mario gang grew closer. "Since when was this group called the Mario gang?" Bowser asked to no one in particular. Behind a fourth foor lay a whole new world that beckoned to them all. What awaited was vaster and stranger than anything they'd encountered so far...at least in Mario's perspective. In order to claim the Pure Heart, they would have to endure new, far-out trials..."

Super Paper Mario - Outer Space

Outer Space
Chapter 4-1 Into Outer Space

There was the white background, but then it began to be drawn slowly with many little stars from far away in the distance of the universe, then it got painted with many blue colors and such that you could find in the outer space. The door from Flipside began to be drawn as well and the Smashers stepped out of it before it vanished, they looked around the space as Tippi spoke first.

"Mmm, stars everywhere... I believe we're in outer space, almost certainly..." Tippi commented.

"Aw, space," Twink said sighing. "It's very close to the stars, yet so far."

"Like some kind of romantic setting, don't you think?"

"Yes! I was thinking the same thing!"

The Smashers somehow looked confused until they realised something very important. "...Wait a minute, isn't the outer space supposed to be a place without air to breath?" Toon Link asked.

"You actually bothered to read the book of geography I gave to you?" Zelda asked surprised.

"Meh, me and Raven couldn't do something else so...yeah."

The Smashers looked at no one in particular before their faces began to turn a shade of purple, trying to get air frantically.

"What troubles you, Mario?" Tippi asked as Mario tried to say something. "Ah... Yes, of course... We seem to be lacking air... You need that, don't you?"

"...OH MY GOD, HE'S RIGHT!" Twink said gasping as he saw the others having the same trouble.

Tippi stammered a little. "Oh... Oh, gracious me... What are we to do? Um... Well... Let me see... Um... Hrm... Urm... Hm... Then... Well... Well... But... So..." Tippi noticed that their faces turned very green, meaning that there wasn't much time left before they could...die. "NOOOOO!!!"

The scene suddenly got dark as Twink's voice was heard through the space's emptyness.

"GEEEEEENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The party has been completely annihilated...

Nobody was able to heard of them again...

Music stops

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle
Throne Room

"...Huh?" Chris looked around confused.

"What's wrong?" Lucario asked.

Chris looked down. "...I don't know why...but something really bad happened when we weren't noticing it..."

"..." Lucario closed his eyes. "...I see...that is a shame..."

"But I don't know why though," Chris said. "I think it's something that will be resolved in a second."

"...I think I hope you're right."

Chris smiled a little. "Thanks Lucario."

Lucario wagged his tail a little. "Anything to make you feel well."

Super Paper Mario

Flipside
Tower

"...Mario...Mario...Mario..."

"...Papa? Is that you?"

PUNCH!

"O-oww!" Mario opened his eyes after he got punched and looked around. "W-where am I?"

"In Flipside," Tippi said. "You're all right, aren't you? Oh, thank goodness..."

"All of you got out of breath and then passed out." Twink added.

"B-but how did we come here again?"

"That would be because of us," Geno said appearing to be unaffected, Mario looked to his left side and found Geno and Fox kneeled down to see him. "That was dangerous."

"And never call me your "Papa" again." Fox said annoyed.

"S-sorry...but if we ran out of air, how come you're alright?"

"Because I'm a puppet," Geno began. "Puppets don't need air to live, I'm an animated doll after all."

Fox grinned and pointed at the small helmet (if you could define that thing he has on the back of his head a helmet) on the back of his head. "This device gives air to my nose once I put it on, it creates oxygen through the mouth that I-"

"I-I think we don't want to know how can that thing give oxygen through the mouth, thank you very much." Tippi said as Fox rolled his eyes.

"...Because i-"

"Stop it!"

"I'M NOT WITH THE BLOOPER HATERS SOCIETY, DON'T KILL ME!" Bowser yelled waking up as they looked at him confused. "...I-I mean, ha! Take that you ugly...er...stupid, evil Boogieman..."

It got worse for Bowser because they began to snicker silently.

"...Me and my big mouth." Bowser said facepalming.

10 minutes later...

All the group regained consciousness and they remembered that Merlon said that they were going to ask for advice, and that is exactly what they did afterwards.

Merlon's House

"Hmm?" Merlon turned his back, seeing everyone back. "Oh, look who is here."

"Shut up, book lover." Mallow said.

Merlon rolled his eyes and frowned, deciding to give them his aid, you may ask why.

Why?

Because whatever the Light Prognosticus foretells, it is the law. Period.

1B

The group conveniently found a kid (that Toon Link questioned by his cubic look) after Merlon told them to seek a boy because he gave him some fishbowls that with...oddly enough if it could get any odder, 9 fishbowls with Captain Gills and his "group of henchmen of justice" that they had to look for a spot with enough water by the boy's request.

Though they only had single the option to drop them in dirty waters...

"Captain Gills, you shall wander these dirty waters and become a mutant if my fantasies can do that for you." Mallow said setting Captain Gills free.

"That was kind of..." Peach trailed off.

"...Wait a minute, where are the other fishes?" Toon Link asked staring at his empty fishbowl.

"Burp." Sonic burped.

"...Dude, when did you..." DK trailed off before his fish appeared alongside the others. "...They were hiding in the fishbowls? Then what did you burp for?"

"I ate a Mushroom on the way here...but it didn't taste good."

"Hey," Mario turned to Sonic. "Mushrooms are KILL!!!"

Both started to fight as soon as they looked at each other and everyone watched them fighting awkwardly.

"Somebody stop them, please!" Peach said covering her eyes.

DK looked at Mario biting Sonic's nose. "...I'll do it."

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo
Temple of Bryyo

Multiplayer (Metroid Prime 2)

"Watch out for the environment here, that guy turned everything here in ice." Snake said.

"I'm surely think that this isn't going to be so good..." Pichu said trembling.

"Oh, you think?" Pikachu asked pointing at Dark Rundas's ice shards, that he used like bullets and crashed into the floor several feet away from both Pokémon. "At least aim before shooting, you hear me?!"

"I'll most likely do that." Dark Rundas said firing his ice bullets as he slid along his path of ice.

"The Triforce of Courage will be finally mine!" Ganondorf yelled rushing at Link, who sidestepped and slashed Ganondorf on the back. "Nice try, but you need more than that to beat me."

"I know that full well." Link said glaring daggers at Ganondorf as both backed away.

"Hey, you!" Wolf called from behind an ice pillar before dashing towards Ganonodorf with his Blaster ready. "Stand still to cut down your damn throat!"

"HUUUUUUUAAA!!!" Ganondorf used Wizard Foot to land a blow on Wolf, but the lupine jumped above him and shot several impacts into his face as Ganondorf grunted in pain and looked at Wolf. "Y-you got me, but it will not be so easy."

"You're just spitting out words," Wolf said crossing his arms. "You don't have any cells on your brain left, it seems."

"Luckily, I have reinforcements if I were to fail..." Ganondorf said smirking.

"Reinforcements?"

"LOOK OUT!" Link yelled once he turned his back and rolled out of the way of a Greap's blades, unfortunately Wolf couldn't evade it in time and got slashed across the face. "Are you okay there?"

"I just got slashed, so, no!" Wolf said twitching a little in pain. This small period of time gave Ganondorf enough time to grab Wolf by the throat with a short dash, using Flame Choke. "UGH!" Wolf grunted in pain as dark magic exploded around his neck and was slammed down to the floor.

"Pathetic to see you ready for your deathbed," Ganondorf said raising his foot. "But now...it ends here!"

"BANZAIIIIIIII!!!"

"What? UGH!" Ganondorf was pushed away and fell down the floor by the most unexpected person who could ever attack him before...

...It was Red, who panicked once the lord of all evil glared up at him.

"U-um, y-yeah, take that..." Red said gulping as he ran away to the sealed door.

"A normal kid like him...pushing me to the floor?" Ganondorf asked breathing in and out in rage. "You are asking for your deat-"

"Stand still," Wolf said holding the knife of his Blaster mere inches away from Ganondorf's face, however, the lupine was still of the floor and crawled his way quickly to Ganondorf. "...And...don't move."

"...You little..." Ganondorf whispered.

Wolf smirked. "...Finally, I have you at my mercy."

"And so am I."

Wolf blinked in surprise once he saw Dark Rundas standing besides him with his hand glowing with ice power before shooting a strong blast of ice that captured Wolf inside an icicle of ice.

"One has been taken care of." Dark Rundas said.

"Don't move."

Dark Rundas looked at his right side where Samus was aiming her arm cannon directly to his head. "Sorry, but that won't do at all." Dark Rundas said as he quickly created 2 blades of ice in both arms and reached Samus's suit quick to inflict a small cut on it, the bounty hunter grunted in pain and backed away.

"...What the..." Samus gasped once he saw electricity getting out from the cut she received.

"Samus," Dark Rundas began. "My attacks have been greatly increased by the phazon and the Shadow Bugs combined," Dark Rundas showed her his right ice blade. "One more cut and you will die..."

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" C. Falcon rushed at Dark Rundas with Raptor Boost and pushed the ice hunter to the air by an uppercut to his chin, the hunter grunted in pain as he fell down the floor, C. Falcon doing the same since he was still injured.

"Thanks for the help," Samus said walking to him. "But now, you need to rest and leave the rest to us."

"...Can't do that..." C. Falcon muttered.

"You're going to get yourself killd otherwise." Samus said as Dark Rundas jumped to the air and rode an ice wave that he created to fly around.

"Heheheh...don't worry..."

"...Fine." Samus said dodging 2 boomerangs from 2 Boom Primids, C. Falcon saw a huge shadow behind and was slammed by a huge Bytan, the captain twitched in pain as he crashed into the wall and fell down.

"...At this rate... I'm going to get killed... I need...help..." C. Falcon said weakly.

"E-excuse me," Olimar said walking to his right. "I could offer you my assistance if you want."

"With those...weird plants?"

"Pikmins." Olimar corrected him.

"...(What did I do to receive this humiliation?)" C. Falcon thought as he shook his head. "Fine... B-behind you!"

Olimar turned his back and gasped when a Floow appeared from the sky and floated to him. "P-Pikmins! Jump at it!" Olimar ordered his 6 Red Pikmins to jump into the Floow, where they started to bang it continuously before the Floow blasted away as the 6 Pikmins jumped off and walked towards Olimar. "Good job."

"..." C. Falcon blinked in surprise. "...For being plants...they sure know...how to gang up."

Olimar laughed worried. "D-don't say it that way..."

"Pikachu!" Pichu yelled once 5 Glices were rolling around him, but with every second that passed, the rotating eyes were closer and closer to the electric Pokémon.

"I-I'm coming, attack them while I'm at it!" Pikachu yelled before a Roader ran over him. "...Okay, that's it! You're asking for it!" Pikachu said angrily charging his Skull Bash attack, the Pokémon went directly to the Roader and slammed his head directly, the Roader was sent blasting off as Pikachu joined Pichu in the fight against the Glices.

"I-I think I have an idea to take them out," Pichu said gathering sparks. "Let's combine our thunders to create a stronger attack...if it works."

Pikachu began to gather sparks. "Pichu, right behind me!"

"R-right!" Pichu said nodding with Pikachu as both Pokémon stood back-to-back and called forth 2 dark clouds that combined into a bigger cloud, shooting down a big thunder that exploded into the Pokémon and the Glices who blasted away. "Pichu?"

Pichu's eyes were spinning. "I-I'm fine... Just a scratch here and there...heheheheh...huuuuh..." Pichu said dizzied as he fell down his back.

"...Link!" Pikachu yelled once he saw Link using his shield to defend himself from the previous Greap.

"U-ugh," Link tried to push the blade away. "This monsters is strong, I've been stabbing my sword all over it but to no avail, isn't there some kind of weakpoint?"

"Try attacking its head, I remember that is its weakness!"

Link nodded and grabbed a bomb from his back with his other hand and threw it at the Greap's head, it exploded upon making contact and the swordsman sighed before jumping over the creature with a backflip and stabbed its head directly, the Greap disappeared in a small explosion of light as Link landed back. "Finally, it was annoying me so muc-"

"You're finished." Dark Rundas said exploding a blast of ice that he quickly fired at Link, the blast of ice froze the swordsman completely inside an icicle as Wolf.

"G-g-g-g-g-g-great," Falco said trembling from the cold. "A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-another o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-one w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-who g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ge-" Falco was interrupted as he was frozen inside an icicle by Dark Rundas.

"3 down and 8 more to freeze." Dark Rundas said looking down to Red, who gasped from the sealed door since he was giving orders to Squirtle who was dousing a Fire Primid's fire off.

"SQUIRTLE!" Red yelled as Dark Rundas shot another ice blast, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon rolled all the way to Red and shot a long stream of water to the ice blast, however once both attacks came in contact with each other, the water began to turn into ice and slowly went all the way down to Squirtle, Red thought fast and took the Pokémon away with him before the ice could freeze him as well, the stream of water turned into an ice pillar and shattered into pieces once it fell.

"Thanks." Squirtle said

"P-phew, that was too close..." Red said before feeling that the temperature around him got colder, his eyes widened once he saw a blade of ice right close to his throat.

"Indeed, that was close but this is even closer." Dark Rundas said.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Red yelled in horror.

"Now, die."

"Now, stay away."

"Huh?" Dark Rundas looked at his right and was tackled down by Snake, Red took this opportunity to run away from the ice hunter with Squirtle following, Snake elbowed Dark Rundas's armor and punched him right in the face, Snake felt pain on his hand and backed away from the ice hunter who go up. "Idiot, my armor prevents me from getting a lot of damage, that fist of yours didn't make any tickle whatsoever."

"U-ugh, I see now..." Snake said as Samus was shown shooting 2 Scope Primids close to Snake. "Samus, we have a problem here."

"All of us do," Samus said finishing the Scope Primids with a Charged Shot. "What is the problem?"

Dark Rundas jumped to the air and rode his ice wave to concentrate his attacks on them. "His armor is too thick to penetrate, got something in mind?"

"We could pull it off using my Grapple Beam," Samus explained. "But he said the phazon and the Shadow Bugs gave him more power, so that won't take it off...or not enough unless we find someone else with something of the sort."

Snake looked at the 3 frozen characters. "Damn, they got 3 of them."

"C. Falcon is being protected by Olimar, Pikachu and Pichu are fighting together and Red and Squirtle are trying to stay at a long distance to prevent any attacks from reaching them," Samus said. "But if I remember... Link had this grapple item, what was it again?"

"Clawshot," Snake said as he saw 2 Fire Primids wandering around. "And I think I have the perfect candidates to get those guys out from the icicles."

"Then go, I'll help the others with the enemies."

"Samus."

"Yes?"

"Careful with Ganondorf, you better look for him."

Samus nodded. "Roger."

Snake ran towards the Fire Primids and the creatures decided to follow him, charging up their fire breaths together, the soldier spy narrowed his eyes and grabbed one of the Primids. "Now go and get them out." Snake ordered throwing the Fire Primid at the icicle holding Wolf, the Fire Primid accidentaly released his fire breath and melted the ice, once it finished, Wolf was shown shaking his head as he got up.

"Ugh...damn bastard..." Wolf said grunting. "Where is he?"

"Hovering around like a f(beep!)ed up butterfly." Snake said pointing at Dark Rundas shooting ice blasts at Wolf again.

"That same trick isn't going to work with me again." Wolf said rolling out of the way of the blasts.

"1 out, 2 more." Snake said grabbing the other Fire Primid in time, tossed it at Link's icicle and melted it completely after the Primid finished, the swordsman twitched a little before getting up.

"T-thanks for the help." Link said rubbing his head.

"Okay, now go and find Samus, we'll attack that guy in unison." Snake said as Link looked confused.

"...Okay?" Link said running away as Snake decided to help Falco this time.

"Ganondorf, I know you're still here," Samus said looking around with a Charged Shot ready. "Come on out."

"Certainly." Ganondorf appeared right behind an ice pillar and used his Flame Choke to dash over Samus, the bounty hunter quickly spun on her feet and grabbed Ganondorf using her Grapple Beam, the lord grunted angrily before Samus threw him into the air, right below Dark Rundas who got careless and crashed into him, both of them grunted before crashing to the floor. "Y-you damn...girl..."

"Now, Samus!" Link yelled shooting his Clawshot at Dark Rundas's armor, Samus fired her Grapple Beam at the same spot and both began to use their strength to pull the armor off, Dark Rundas studdered from the last move he received and was pulled off from his armor.

"Go go go!" Pikachu yelled lunging at Dark Rundas with Pichu, both of them got stuck inthe ice hunter and began to discharge electricity directly to the hunter, Dark Rundas yelled in pain as the electricity ran through all his body.

"T-t-t-t-t-t-take this!" Falco (now outside the icicle) yelled firing several shots from his Blaster, however, half of them missed because the avian was still trembling from the cold. "D-d-d-d-d-dammit!"

"You bunch of filthy rats!" Ganondorf yelled as he got up. "I am not going t-UGH!"

Ganondorf was slammed down the floor by Wolf's right foot, the lupine before dashed behind him, jumped and slammed Ganondorf down using a strong downward kick in the air, Wolf smirked down to Ganondorf and increased the force on his right foot above Ganondorf's chest, since he pinned him down.

"Now," Wolf began smirking. "Who's gonna be begging for mercy?"

"That...would be you!" Ganondorf spat out grabbing Wolf's leg and pushed it away.

"Not so fast!" Link yelled jumping to the air, pointing down his sword directly above Ganondorf who gasped and rolled sideways in time before it struck down the floor.

"Ugh, where are the reinforcements?!" Ganondorf demanded looking around.

"We already took them out," Snake said. "However, most of them are focusing their attacks on both captains over there."

Red looked at Olimar and C. Falcon being surrounded by 4 Metal Primids who didn't stagger at the attacks of the Pikmins. "Squirtle, use...um...er..."

"Water Gun?" Squirtle asked as Olimar was screaming for help.

"No."

"Withdraw?" Squirtle asked as 2 Metal Primids began to kick C. Falcon.

"No."

"Surf?" Squirtle asked as Olimar yelled for help once his Pikmins were taken out.

"Yes, that, use Surf on them!" Red ordered as Squirtle ran as fast as he could to the Meta Primids.

"Somebody should go an aid them," Snake said as Pikachu and Pichu were both grabbed by Dark Rundas and thrown away. "You 2, go and help the other 4, we'll take care of the pale guy and the popsicle guy."

"Hmmmm, popsicle." Pichu said before both Pokémon ran away to help the captains.

Dark Rundas was finishing by recuperating his armor and jumped atop the ice pillar of the middle. "I think it is time to use my strongest attack that you won't survive though."

"Pfft," Snake rolled his eyes. "Like if you could pull out something better."

"Actually..." Dark Rundas began to concentrate his ice techniques creating mist above him, the mist began to create what looked to be a huge ice pillar that he easily spun around him, the Smashers gasped as the ice pillar grew in size.

Falco used his energies to talk normally as his pupils shrunk in horror.

"OH-MY-GOD!" Falco yelled. "THAT'S A FRICKIN' ICEBERG!"

"RUN! WE HAVE TO EVADE THAT THING!" Wolf yelled as Dark Rundas threw the enormous iceberg at them from high above.

An huge impact was created in the temple and half of the pillars were shattered into billions of ice shards, a huge mist of ice covered the whole area as Dark Rundas chuckled evily, the mist was slowly clearing out and the ice hunter found out that he took out Squirtle, Red, Falco and Snake with a single blow. The 4 previously mentioned had many bruises around all their bodies and got knocked out.

"Heh," Dark Rundas jumped back to the floor and looked at Samus, who was kneeling down after she rolled out of the way. "I should have used that attack before."

"You...imbecile..." Samus muttered.

"Now now, Samus," Dark Rundas looked down to her. "This was expected from the beginning, they put their feet in my path and this is what they had coming, it was not my fault after all...it was THEIR fault."

"Shut. Up." Samus said coldly.

Dark Rundas raised his right ice blade above her. "You won't get the pleasure to stay around here, unfortunately."

"...Now."

An explosion appeared on Dark Rundas and the hunter yelled in pain, Samus quickly stood up and ran away from the smoke, looking over her should as she ran, she saw Snake holding a remote on his hands, probably because he stuck a mine on Dark Rundas when he wasn't looking.

"...Thanks." Samus said as she turned her back and charged a shot to Dark Rundas who was still living.

"Hello? Hello? Somebody? Hello?" A voice called from Samus's visor. "Is anybody in there? Hello?"

"That voice...is that you, Chris?" Samus asked hiding behind an ice pillar that was still complete.

"Oh, Samus! I'm so happy to hear you!... Well, not exactly, I want to see you instead."

Samus looked around for Dark Rundas. "How did you get in the visor's transmission?"

"That would be because of me." Kawashima said.

"Anyway," Chris began. "I wanted to know what is your situation over there, is everyone alright?"

"...I'm afraid not, Rundas got possesed by the Shadow Bugs and his attacks have been greatly enhanced, he took out 4 of us already with an ice pillar he used."

"...(I hated that move when I was playing in Hyper Mode difficulty...) I see...do you think you can defeat him?"

Samus saw the smoke clearing out and Dark Rundas disappeared. "Them, Ganondorf is in this too."

"Oh no..."

Samus found Dark Rundas hig above the ice pillar and jumped down to her, ice blades ready to cut her down. "I'm busy right now, talk to you later."

"W-wait!" Chris's transmission ended.

C. Falcon saw that the Metal Primids were taken out due the ice pillar crashing on them, however, he looked up and gasped once he saw Ganondorf grabbing Olimar by the throat, the Pikmin captain struggled to get off but he was too weak to get off.

"H-help..." Olimar muttered weakly as Ganondorf smirked.

"L-let him go!" Red yelled charging at Ganondorf but he was pushed away by Ganondorf's right foot to the ground. "D-dammit... Sorry, but you have to help, come on out, Ivysaur!" Red threw the Pokeball in the air and called Ivysaur out, the Grass Pokémon blinked before his eyes widened.

"I-ICE!" Ivysaur yelled as he hid behind Red.

"Oh no, you're going to fight and that's that! I'm YOUR trainer after all!"

"A-a good trainer should protect his Pokémon (Olimar: H-help...anyone...) before him or her, if you're going to help me (Olimar: R-really...e-everything is getting...blurrier) then put me back in my damn (Olimar: N-noo...) Pokeball right this instant!" Ivysaur complained as Olimar was thrown above him and landed on the floor.

"Well sorry, but we're about to lose!" Red complained back.

"I'm about to die in this heat/cold nightmare!"

Red gasped once Ganondorf picked up C. Falcon by the throat and began focusing his dark magic on him. "Ivysaur! Quick, use Vine Whip!"

Ivysaur looked behind him and trembled a little. "F-fine." Ivysaur said, simply stretching his vines to Ganondorf's leg and pulled him down the floor. C. Falcon was set free and tried to get away, fortunately, he did it.

"Y-you..." Ganondorf said as he got up. "...YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!"

"...WantAnything?! No? OkayThanksBye!" Red panicked picking Ivysaur (Ivysaur: PUT ME BACK INSIDE MY POKEBALL, RED!) up and ran away from the slow runner lord. "Wait a second, where's Squirtle?! SQUIRTLE!" HEY, SQUIRTLE!"

Somewhere around the area, there were Pikachu and Pichu looking around for mentioned Pokémon, the collision of the ice pillar made them blast away to another direction inside the area, they found Squirtle laying unconscious on the floor close to pieces of ice. Both Pokémon remained in their current positions and thought about a plan.

"Dammit," Pikachu said. "If that hunter makes another ice pillar like the one before, we're going to get killed."

Pichu was trying to wake up the Water Pokémon. "B-but what could we do about that?"

"I-I don't know...if we could use our Final Smash t-" Pikachu did a double-take. "Wait, that's it! The Final Smash!"

Pichu blinked surprised. "I-I forgot completely about it! Do you think the gauge is ready?"

Pikachu crossed his arms and looked at Squirtle. "I'm not too sure, Chris and Kawashima normally announce when it's ready...but maybe we have separated gaues since we're separated in different worlds?"

"...I think so, but..."

Pikachu made a serious face. "We have nothing to lose for now, we've got to use it!"

"B-but who?"

"...Oh man..." Pikachu got in a thinking position. "We have to think this again, the right person to use the Final Smash should be..."

"It can't be you?"

Pikachu shook his head. "No, I want to, but... I trying to think of the others this time because I don't want to sound selfish. Now let me think who...hmm..."

Pichu's ears perked up a little and looked around. "O-oh no, someone's coming!"

"We have t-" Pikachu was interrupted as a foot covered in darkness kicked him away to an ice pillar, the Electric Pokémon yelled in pain as he fell down, making Pichu gulp in fear after Ganondorf walked slowly to him.

"S-stay back!" Pichu said gathering sparks. "I-I mean it, stay back!"

"Stupid maggots," Ganondorf muttered. "You think you can end this encounter that easy? Well, let me tell you something," Ganondorf glared at Pichu (who whimpered). "This has gone long far enough."

"W-why are you acting like a meanie to me?" Pichu asked.

"Insolent monster..." Ganondorf said.

Pichu began to feel something horrendous, he didn't know what is was, but something was wrong with Ganondorf, a dark energy began to cover himself and the Pokémon backed away with the fainted Squirtle, Ganondorf's eyes turned bright yellow as he chuckled evily. "H-huh?!"

"Triforce of Power," Ganondorf began. "...Bring damnation to these impudent fools!!!"

Everything seemed to be covered in darkness as a roar of a huge beast was heard, echoing through the area...

".....Ah-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle
Throne Room

Disgaea - Etna Boogie

Chris sighed out of the blue and decided to do something to get out from his boredom, and that was checking if the others were doing fine in the other worlds.

"This is Chris speaking, hello? Is anyone there?" Chris asked as Kirby appeared from the door and walked to him.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

There was a buzz sound coming out from the small speakers of the DS, Kawashima appeared on the screen with a confused look.

"Strange," Kawashima commented. "I can't seem to find any signals from the planet Bryyo."

Kirby made a worried look. "D-do you think something bad happened?"

Chris looked down worried. "...I hope not, I've got 2 bad premonitions today. I don't feel so good about this anymore..."

"Don't worry," Lucario called out close to them, the Aura Pokémon was leaned to the wall with crossed arms. "They'll be fine."

"...Please." Chris muttered.

"Hmm, let me see if there is any signal from Mario's world," Kawashima said looking around for some data inside the DS. "...Hmm...hmm...hmm......hmmmmmmmmmm.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmm-"

"Stop it!" Kirby said annoyed.

Kawashima laughed a little. "Ha ha, sorry, I was just kidding about that part honestly."

"Did you get a signal yet?" Chris asked worried.

"...Of course!" Kawashima said smiling. "You're now in Chat Room A with secret person number 1!"

"...Name please." Chris and Kirby said bored.

"You're no fun. You're speaking with Fox."

"Good." Chris said.

"You there Chris?" Fox asked.

"Yes," Chris sighed in relief. "For a second there I was worried because there wasn't a signal coming from where you are, what happened?"

"There are still so many things that I don't quite understand," Fox said making a bored look. "Do you think I know honestly?"

"I guess no." Kirby said.

"But in any case, everything is fine over here. We're currently navigating through the space with a...weird alien-squid guy we found in a lost ship, apparently he wants us to escort him to a place called... I forgot, but that's not so important."

"It's very important, Squirps!" Squirps called out angrily. "How dare you say those words to Squirps?! You're a big meanie, big ugly meanie I tell you, Squirps!"

Fox decided to ignore Squirps. "I can't wait to get out from this hellish place to be sincere..." Fox whispered.

"It has been a pain in there?" Kirby asked.

"Oh, where do I start?" Sonic's voice was heard. "First: this world is LITERALLY straight, so no running around, second: I had to go inside FREAKING water, third: for some odd reason I can't look at Mario directly because I'd get in a fight with him and finally, fourth: I WANNA LEAVE THIS PLACE!"

"...Fight Mario by no reason?" Chris, Kirby, Lucario and Pit (who came from the hallway) repeated confused.

"Helloooooo!" Peach called giggling. "How is everything over there? I hope it's good!"

"Peach!" Chris and Kirby said making happy expressions.

"...Out of everyone here, Peach has been the only one enthusiastic." Zelda said.

"Not me," Diddy said. "Going through here is actually fun. Right Yoshi?"

"Above the outer spaaaaaaaace," Yoshi was heard singing. "Above the outer spaaaaaace!"

"...What the heck? Is Yoshi singing?" Chris asked.

"I told you before," Fox said. "This world is by far the most, utterly and weirdest place I've ever been before."

"How's Mario?" Chris asked ignoring the statement.

"Here. I'm fine." Mario said.

"Phew, he's not dead after all!" Kirby said relieved.

"...What?"

"Mario?! Dead?! Where?! When?!" Bowser asked excited looking around.

"What are you talking about?" Mario asked confused.

"Er...forget he said that," Chris said. "Well, I'm leaving all of you. I'm going to call you the next time... I get bored with Laharl."

"ETNA!" Laharl yelled from the throne, ignoring the 4 talking to the DS. "ETNA! I WANT MY DINNER!"

"Geez, why don't you eat your shoe, my Prince?!" Etna yelled from the kitchen.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"I-I said why don't you eat your...um...d-dinner is almost ready, wait a little more!" Etna said sweating.

"...You better be!"

"Uh-oh." Kawashima said.

"Yes, I know. Somebody is going to get killed here." Pit said.

"That's not what I meant!"

Lucario walked to them and looked down to the DS. "Then what is it?"

"The transmission...it got stuck! I can't get out from the Chat Room A!"

Chris tilted his head. "...I forgot, is that supposed to be bad?"

"Are you still there?" Geno asked.

The 4 looked at each other before realising what Kawashima meant. "...Oohhhhh!" Kirby said nodding.

"It looks like the signal got stuck since this DS isn't supposed to stay connected with another different source of communicator," Kawashima explained as he chuckled nervously. "...That means you just got a transmission that will never, EVER, end."

"...Don't tell me MY scouter got CORRUPTED because of you." Fox said.

"...Er...look at the hour!" Kawashima said sweating. "Well, I'll leave you all alone, kthxbye!" Kawashima said shrinking until he vanished from the screen.

"...Chris..."

"Yes?" Chris asked.

"...Once we finish our missions...would you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Once we're back..." Fox began to pant heavily to calm his inner rage. "You're going to come with me... I will take that...DS thing off your hands... And I WILL stomp on it until it's destroyed... Then everyone will be happy... Got it?"

"...S-see the bright side of this!" Chris said laughing nervously. "A-at least we're going to stay in touch with each other!"

"C-Chris," Kirby began to tremble. "N-normally when Fox gets like this he..."

"Kirby, you're scaring me. What?"

"...WHAT THE HECK IS THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THAT?!?!?!?!?!" Fox yelled furiously, even the DS trembled.

"Turn that thing down!" Laharl demanded. "You've been irritating me for the last 3 hours after we came here!"

"THING?!"

"H-he meant the volume of the..." Pit realized something. "...Oh, I see."

"I'm going to turn it off," Chris said pressing the Power button. "...What the-it's not turning off!"

"I told you," Kawashima said appearing. "You can't exit this place until we're done with the worlds."

"...Well, fu-" Fox's voice was blocked to prevent Chris from hearing that curse. "I'll just have to stay here, listening to any talks then..."

Chris smiled a little. "This isn't going to last too long, besides, what could irritate you besides that we can talk and talk endlessly?"

Suddenly the floor began to tremble and from the hallway, tons and millions and billions of Prinnies came rushing in, carrying the dinner for Laharl along with tables, napkins, forks, spoons and such.

"Oh no, not again!" Pit yelled annoyed.

"Dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, dood, doo-"

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Fox yelled annoyed from the DS, which was above Chris since he tried to prevent falling into the lava pool because of the Prinnies. "I've had enough of this. I'm taking this thing off me!"

"W-wait!" Tippi called. "You said that helmet of yours give you oxygen, right?"

Fox was just about to take off helmet when he realized that he would run out of air and die in the space. "...I think I just got blackmailed of something...this sucks..."

"EVERY SINGLE PRINNY LEAVE THE DINNER BEHIND AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Laharl ordered harshly as the Prinnies began to panic and left the room, with a single table in front of Laharl with his cuisine. "Oh yes, an Overlord's stomach shouldn't be empty."

"But isn't your body so skinny though?" Kirby asked.

"What was that?!"

"I-I mean if your body is so empty though?"

Laharl smirked as he picked up his utensils and stared down at his food. "Hell yeah it is!" The Overlord said before pinning down his steak with his fork and began to devour it, ignoring Kirby who drooled at the food.

Chris put his DS back to his pocket and sighed. "...I want to do something, anything."

"Well," Flonne appeared from his back and the World Traveler backed away from her. "Would you help me with something?"

"What?" Pit asked.

Flonne looked down. "Lately after Laharl said that he didn't have any good emotion... I've been pondering to show him those very same emotions to him, so I wondered if you could help me out with my task," Flonne made a serious face. "It is a mission I want to fulfill for the good of everyone and for Master Lamington."

"Are you even serious?" Pit asked. "That demon is just, well, acts like a brat around us!"

"Whu wus thut?!" Laharl asked with a full mouth.

"I like a bat around us!"

"Nuvurmund thun!"

Chris sweatdropped. "...I'm staying out of this."

"W-why?" Flonne asked looking down sadly.

"I don't WANT to get killed by Laharl and his sword. Besides, I want to get curious and look around the castle. Lucario, would you come with me please?"

"W-wait!" Flonne grabbed his hand. "I really need your help or else I won't fulfill my mission!"

"..." Chris sighed worried. "...Fine, but if Laharl goes all furious on us, Lucario will stop him."

Lucario rolled his eyes with a frown.

"But that also means Kirby and Pit will help."

"O-okay... I don't mind." Kirby said trembling scared.

"Well," Pit began. "Maybe demons have emotions so...count me in."

Flonne joined her hands together and smiled. "Thank you!"

3 minutes later...

"W-why do I have to do this again?" Kirby asked as Flonne held him close to her neck like some sort of doll.

Flonne giggled. "I want to see if Laharl will rub your head," Flonne imagined the picture she wanted to see in her mind. "It's going to be really cute personally, and it happens that you are cute!"

Kirby gulped. "I-I don' like where this is going..." Kirby sighed as Flonne walked directly towards Laharl on his throne.

"100 years agoooooo, amore! I came in here to go, amore! So bored, so bored, amore! No toilet paper here, amore! I wait 100 yeeeears, amore! What for, what for, amore? Any paaaper, please, amore? Just a sheet for me, amore! Implore, implore, amore!" A voice said from the DS.

"We're going to look around for toiler paper?" Mallow asked.

"Great, from a number 1 final boss to a toilet paper finder." Bowser complained.

Laharl watched Flonne walking to him and he glared at her and Kirby. "What is it with you now?" Laharl asked crossing his arms.

"Here," Flonne put Kirby on Laharl's lap. "I hope you can be good at him, isn't he cute?"

"H-hiiiiiiiii..." Kirby said waving at Laharl, who glared down at him.

"Cute?!" Laharl repeated as his pupils shrunk. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!!! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU I SAY!" Laharl picked Kirby and threw him away, directly to Chris who was talking to Lucario and fell down the floor. "What are you trying to do?! Are you enjoying this torture?!"

Flonne shook her head with a small giggle. "Nope. I'm enjoying this because you finally have a chance to have love (Laharl: DAAAAAAHH!!!) and kindness (Laharl: DAMMIT!) and happiness (Laharl: IT BURNS, STOP IT!) and eternal peace (Laharl: SOMEBODY KILL ME RIGHT NOW!) for a change!"

"...Oooooooh, I see now," Pit said as Flonne went on and on about her emotions. "She is torturing Laharl instead of teaching him such emotions."

"This is Flonne we're talking about," Lucario said as he got Chris up. "She meant those things truthfully."

"...O-of course, I knew that."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Laharl yelled again as he blocked his pointy ears. "DAMN IT, STOP THAT CRAP!"

Flonne blinked, still being the oblivious and naive about Laharl's demands. "B-"

"Won't you listen to me for once?! I hate those emotions! I TOTALLY, BLATANTLY, HATE THEM!" Laharl yelled as his eyes turned yellow and his antennas pointed straight up to the roof, even the lava on each pool began to erupt in rage.

"Oh well," Flonne said smiling. "I'll see you later then." Flonne began to walk away from the hallway, thinking of another plan as Laharl panted heavily before he calmed down along with the lava (the group was shocked that his rage caused all that) as he sat down in the throne.

"That was..." Chris trailed off thinking. "...Very scary."

Big Sis Prinny sighed. "I guess some things never change."

Lucario looked at her. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, sorry for appearing out of nowhere," Big Sis Prinny said bowing. "I just happened to enter in here after Laharl made that tremble. Boy, he knows how to start a rambling."

"Do you Laharl that much?" Kirby asked as Big Sis Prinny gasped silently.

"I-I, yes, I know him very well..." The pink Prinny looked outside. "You might say since he was born..."

"You're here." Meta Knight called from the door and walked to them.

"Were you looking around the castle?" Kirby asked.

"Yes," Meta Knight nodded. "Nothing so far seems out of place, apart from all the "Prinnies" in here that is. Etna has been bossing them around the whole building."

"If it's Etna the person we're talking about, then most likely." Pit said.

"Besides," Meta Knight looked at Big Sis Prinny. "You stand out from all the Prinnies."

"O-oh, yes," Big Sis Prinny said sweating. "It's just my height and my color, nothing else."

"That is not completely true."

Big Sis Prinny sweatdropped. "W-what do you mean, sire?"

"Everyone," Meta Knight looked at them. "What is the word that a Prinny says commonly?"

Pit shrugged. "You mean "Dood"?"

Meta Knight nodded and a silence fell in.

"...If I recall," Lucario began. "She doesn't say that at the end of every sentence or at the beginning."

Big Sis Prinny gulped. "N-no, what do you mean, dood?"

Lucario glared at her. "You liar, you're using it now."

"A-ahaha, n-no, dood, y-you must have been mistaken myself."

"Grrrrr..."

"O-oh my, why is he showing his fangs at me?"

Chris raised a finger. "Lucario can find out whether you're lying or not by reading your mind."

Big Sis Prinny gasped and sweated even more. "O-oh, I-I see dood, w-wow, look at how hot this place got, I-I must report back to my duties in the castle dood, s-so, see you, good bye dood!" The pink Prinny began to run on her feet before running away, leaving a trail of dust as Laharl watched it disappear.

"Sometimes I even wonder how are all those weirdos my vassals, ugh," Laharl said shuddering. "Oh well, I'll have the most menacing ones for the best though, MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Hey, did you hear something?" Twink asked.

"No," Diddy began. "But I think someone in here can give us a toiler paper or something of the sort."

"That Prinny is reallyyyyyyyyyyyyy fishy..." Kirby said tilting his head.

Pit looked around. "Wait, where is Mewtwo? I haven't seen him ever since we came here."

"Mewtwo is trying to control and calm down all the dark energy this place emanates," Meta Knight explained. "He can't stand this amount of "darkness" being concentrated in one place that his psychic skills are being perturbed."

"But where is he?"

"I believe he is meditating in silence somewhere around the castle, but I don't know where."

Lucario glowed for a second. "...Mewtwo is some floors above, probably in the highest one."

"What do you mean by probably?" Chris asked.

Lucario stopped glowing and looked down. "...To be honest, I'm perturbed as well. My aura isn't feeling so well that..."

"...It decreased your power?"

Lucario nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, but right now I have the power of a normal Lucario."

"No wonder why you said that Laharl felt powerful." Pit said.

"Then does that mean if you had you-" Chris was interrupted.

"Even with my normal aura, Laharl could prove to be force to be reckoned with."

"Then... HELP ME! I'M GOING TO FALL!" Chris said leaning towards the floor, making Lucario gasp and ran as fast as he could to catch him, he managed to do it but he felt Chris a little bit heavier. "Thank you..."

"Don't. Do that. Again." Lucario said with a serious face as he helped Chris.

"...Uh-huh." Chris said a little scared.

Pit turned his back and walked away to the hallway (ignoring the long maniacal and evil laugh from Laharl) as the group kept talking between themselves.

Hallway

"Flonne?" Pit saw Flonne looking to another direction...

...But there was something in her mind that she remembered a long time ago when she was in Celestia...

Flashback

Celestia
Flower Garden

Disgaea - Eternal Melody

Celestia - a world where beings known as angels live. The Netherworld, Celestia, and the human world...legend has it that these worlds are connected. This is one of such nexuses, between the Netherworld and Celestia. However, it is sealed by a gate constructed by the angels of ancient times...

There was a beautiful flower garden floating in the holy clouds of Celestia, home of the angels and the one in charge, Seraph Lamington.

On a peaceful garden of flowers, there was Flonne picking up flowers as Lamington appeared behind her since Flonne wanted to talk about something regarding the Netherworld.

"Master Lamington." Flonne said as she stood up and faced the angel.

Lamington was always a very calm figure, no matter what, he never gets angry at anything. Lamington always showed his happy expression around Celestia, his pale purple hair was long, his wings were long and he wore ancient clothes from the previous rulers of Celestia.

"What is it, Flonne?" Lamington (or Seraph as Flonne called him, along with the title Master first) asked.

"The angels told me that the demons are all evil. Is that true?" Flonne asked.

"What do you think?" Lamington asked back with a small smile.

"Hmmmm..." Flonne wondered. "I've never met one, so I don't know."

"Haha..." Lamington put a hand on Flonne's shoulder. "Listen carefully, Flonne. There is no such thing as absolute evil or absolute good" Lamington explained as he looked at some angels flying away in the distance. "The angels assume that they are good and the demons are evil. That is an unfortunate misconception. Demons do have love. The angels...and in fact, most demons, just do not realize it. If we can guide them... If we can make them see, then one day..."

"One day?" Flonne wondered titilng her head.

Lamington chuckled a little. "One day...demons could show those emotions to us and prove the angels they're misunderstanding."

Flonne smiled. "Do you think I could do something like that?"

"Hahahaha, maybe, just maybe, that is something you must fulfill. Teaching demons such emotions would be very great indeed."

Time passed ever since Flonne had her last conversation with Lamington until the day of her mission started...

"Did you send for me, Master Lamington?" Flonne asked appearing from the sky, where Lamington was looking at the flowers blooming in the gardens.

"Yes, I did," Lamington said with a small laugh. "Here, Flonne. Have a look. The flowers are in full bloom."

Flonne looked at the flowers blooming and smiled happily. "How beautiful!"

"..." Lamington already knew that she was going to say that from the beginning, whether or not he was going to tell her.

Flonne giggled. "I love these flowers. They are simple, yet so bright and lively..." Flonne looked back at Lamington. "I want to be like these flowers..."

Lamington took a moment of silence to talk. "...Flonne, listen carefully to what I have to say."

Flonne tilted her head. "Yes?"

"As Seraph, I have orders for you, Angel Trainee Flonne."

It was finally Flonne's time to do what she wanted to do for a long time, it was the time where she was going to show the demons in the Netherworld the true meanings of love, friendship, peace, eternal love, eternal peace, love again. happiness, enthusiasm, concern, pity, good relationships, frienship again an-

"Go to the Netherworld and assassinate the Overlord, King Krichevskoy."

Music stops with a scratch

Flonne quickly turned white in shock as a shocked expression took form on her face, her eyes widened and turned white as well, and the only thing she could say from her shocked expression was: "Huh?"

Laharl's Castle
Hallway

Disgaea - Lord Laharl's Hymn

"Master Lamington," Flonne said joining her hands. "I will accompany Laharl for a little while longer. He is selfish, self-centered, and stubborn... And those aren't his only shortcomings," Flonne blinked as she smiled and closer her eyes. "But I have discovered a hint of kindness in his heart. It may be small right now... But I have great hope that he will learn to love. So, Master Lamington..." The Angel Trainee looked down with a happy face. "...Please forgive my digression."

"Flonne."

"U-UAH!" Flonne jumped in shock and fell on the floor. "O-oww..."

"S-sorry! A-are you alright?" Pit asked helping Flonne.

"Y-yeah..." Flonne said. "Sorry for you to look at me talking to myself, I was just remebering something important. Now you're wondering if I'm some sort of weirdo..."

"I-it's okay, don't worry about it."

"Thank you." Flonne said smiling.

Somewhere...

It was frustrating, horrible, unbeliavable...

"Flonne hasn't reported back for a long time after she left Celestia, why is she delaying so long?"

Vulcanus, one of the highest angels of Celestia wondered in irritation.

Vulcanus was one of Lamington's most trusted angels, but the first one always had his own ambitions that he kept in secret. Vulcanus has been frustrated that Seraph Lamington sent Flonne to assassinate King Krichevskoy, Vulcanus's clothing wasn't all that different from Lamington's, except that his face looked a little menacious, there was a brown mustache under his nose (some may say the mustache comes out from his nose) and the golden simple helmet on his head.

Vulcanus grunted as he appeared in the Netherworld. "...Still, this demon den is so filthy..." Vulcanus said looking around the inferno. "What I don't understand is why Flonne hasn't returned to Celestia," Vulcanus thought for a moment before gasping. "...Is it possible that she's trying to use the demons to gain control of Celestia?!"

"Most likely."

"That's it! That has to be it! There's no other explanation!!!" Vulcanus grunted in frustration. "I won't allow it! My plan shall not be interfered with...wait," Vulcanus looked behind his back and gasped once he saw a huge shadow, glaring down at him with its red glowing eyes. "W-who are you?! Some sort of filthy demon?!"

"Relax," the figure said. "I am here to help you in your plan."

"M-my plan?!"

"Yes," the figure nodded making noises of a machine. "Are you interested to accept our services?"

"Services? Of a demon?!"

"No," the figure shook its head. "We want to do something about the Overlord as well. Since we have almost the same goals, why don't you make a deal with us and we help you?"

"...Hmm..." Vulcanus wondered.

"Take your time," the figure said chuckling. "I must take revenge on that filthy World Traveler scum and the Smashers..."

Guests' Room

Evening...

"We're going to rest here for the time being," Toon Link said yawning. "We've been pretty much going around without stopping."

"Aw, how sweet, we're going to sleep under the stars." Peach said.

Fortunately for the Smashers in Laharl's Castle, there were many rooms for guests to rest in, apparently that is because Laharl's father liked to have important guests of the castle...or just build them because for the heck of it.

"Lucario, look," Chris said pointing at his DS. "There's an option to see what Fox's sees through his scouter, maybe we could see what he sees."

"Then use it, I know you want to," Lucario said as Chris clicked the option. "What is there?"

"...I don't know why," Chris said taking a closer look in the top screen. "But there's this big emerald/green-colored eye glaring at me and it's getting menacier with every second it passe-"

"Chris... I believe that is Fox's right eye staring at us."

"Would you mind putting the view the right way, please?" Fox asked narrowing his glaring eye.

"You have it backwards." Lucario pointed out.

"Oops, my bad. Sorry." Chris said chuckling nervously as he changed the view.

"Around the big planeeeeeet," Yoshi sang as he fell asleep. "Around the plaaaaaaaa...neeeeeeeeeet..."

"Squirps wants to cross the space!" Squirps demanded. "And it has to be now!"

"Sorry, first we need to rest then we'll help you." Geno said.

"...Okay, Squirps needs his beauty sleep, heheheh." Squirps said showing happily his teeth.

"Oh yeah," Mallow said looking at Chris. "Were you able to contact the others?"

"...No," Chris said looking down. "I'm not receiving any signals from Samus or someone else... I'm afraid something bad happened to them."

"They're fine," DK was heard snoring a little. "Just put some faith in them."

"I've put my faith 17 times in a row..."

"...L-look at the time, I need to sleep..." DK said yawning out loud.

"A-anyway, good night everyone." Chris said.

"Good night Mallow." Peach said.

"Good night Peach, good night Mario, good night Tippi, good night Geno, good night Twink, good night Diddy, good night Toon Link, good night Lucario, good night Bowser, good night Sonic, good night Chris, good night Fox, good night Yoshi, good night Thoreau, good night Boomer, good night Slim, good night Thudley, good night Carrie, good night Squirps, good nigh-"

"SHUT UP MALLOW!" Everyone yelled annoyed.

And Mallow shut up.

Simple as that.

And they went to sleep.

And Chris suffered all the snores coming from his DS, along with Lucario who blocked his ears with a pillow.

...The next day...

Throne Room

"EMERGENCY!" Etna yelled from the hallway as she opened the big double doors. "WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN THE CASTLE!"

"What?!" Laharl asked standing up as the Smashers (with Mewtwo and Big Sis Prinny) looked at her. "Where's that filthy imbecile?!"

"Gone."

Laharl fell anime-style and stood up angrily, antennas pointing up. "THEN WHY THE HECK DID YOU SAY THERE WAS AN INTRUDER?!"

Laharl began to hear sobs from the hallway along with the others, it was Flonne who looked a little pale and she fell on her knees, Pit, Lucario, Chris, Kirby and Big Sis Prinny ran to her worried and kneeled to see her closer. "F-Flonne, it's something wrong?" Kirby asked.

"Why are you looking pale though?" Meta Knight asked.

"M-my..." Flonne sobbed. "M-my pendant..."

"Pendant?" Lucario repeated.

Flonne nodded sobbing even more. "M-my pendant. The Seraph gave that pendant to me before I came to the Netherworld..." Flonne cleared some tears. "An Angel Trainee like me cannot stay in the Netherworld very long without that pendant..."

"Pendant...yes," Mewtwo said nodding. "I do remember you wearing a pendant."

"Wait," Pit said remembering. "You were always wearing a pendant now that I remember, that is special?"

Flonne nodded. "Y-yes, that pendant is blessed to protect angels in training like me from the Netherworld's curse... A-at this rate, I will lose all of my energy, and eventually die..."

"D-die?!" Chris asked shocked.

"...Yes... I'm sorry everyone... I was so careless." Flonne said sadly.

"Hmmmm, is that so? Well, that sucks." Etna said as Pit glared at her.

"Etna!" Pit said angrily.

"Prince, whatcha gonna do?" Etna asked looking at Laharl with a grin. The prince crossed his arms.

"Like I should care," Laharl said. "She came to assassinate my old man in the first place."

"That's our Prince," Etna said smirking. "Even capable of turning his back on such a helpless little girl."

"(But that is downright cruel...)" Chris thought.

"O-of course..." Laharl trailed off.

"L-Laharl..." Flonne began coughing a little.

"W-what? It's the truth, isn't it?"

"Laharl..." Flonne coughed a little more as Lucario managed to hold her in her arms, Kirby sitting on his shoulder to look at the angel. "I-if you can find my pendant, I will give you something good..."

"..."Something good", you say?" Laharl asked raising an eyebrow.

"(Stupid, greedy bastard.)" Pit thought.

"Hmph. If I wanted it, I'd just steal it from you." Laharl said.

"Y-you would use violence on weak little me?" Flonne asked.

Lucario began to growl at the prince. "If you are trying t-"

"Give it up, already! I'm a demon!" Laharl stated throwing his arms up. "It doesn't matter how you are! Even if you were old, maimed, or diseased!"

"...Fine." Flonne said closing her eyes. "Then, my gift will never be yours..."

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"..." Flonne didn't say anything.

"Tell me, dammit!" Laharl demanded.

"Would you stop being a brat around here?!" Pit asked taking his dual blades. "She's in a critical condition for Palutena's sake! Are you're yelling at her like that?!"

"What's all the commotion in there?" Fox asked from the DS. "We're currently in this... Whoa Zone place. I got lost in this freaky dimension... And my blood is probably going to my head because I'm walking on the ceiling!"

Everyone ignored that complaint as Flonne remained silent. "...Poor child..." Big Sis Prinny muttered.

"...Are you trying to provoke me?" Laharl asked.

"Laharl," Meta Knight began. "Maybe you should listen to her wishes for once and see what she wants to give you, it could be something of worth that you wouldn't get anywhere else."

"..." Laharl closed his eyes. "Hmph... Fine. I've got some time to kill."

"(But this...)" Lucario looked down to Flonne. "(...So sudden, why I couldn't detect that intruder?... This place, the darkness that shrouds it...)"

"Laharl..." Flonne said smiling.

"But!" Laharl raised a finger. "Let me make one thing clear. I'm not doing this for your sake! And when I find the pendant, that "something good" is mine! You got that?!"

"...Thank you...Laharl..." Flonne said weakly as she opened her eyes.

"You're an angel! You shouldn't be thanking demons. I do what I want, when I want!" Laharl looked away annoyed and angrily. "Remember that! Hmph!!"

"But who got inside the castle in the first place, dood?" Big Sis Prinny asked.

"I couldn't sense anyone," Mewtwo said. "I can't concentrate my powers very well here... Sorry."

"I-it's not your fault." Chris said reassuring Mewtwo.

"...Huh?" Fox was still confused at the whole situation. "Did something happen in there?"

The group explained everything to Fox, and much for his dismay, he was the only one of the whole group who got lost in the Whoa Zone because everyone else made it in time to the end, where Squirps waited impaciently for everyone to get reunited.

"So you're telling us that the Pure Heart is across that door?" Tippi asked.

"Yep, Squirps says so!" Squirps said...

But suddenly, a stomp was heard in the screen followed by many more. There were many chuckles and Chris looked at the DS.

"Hey, are you all chuckling?" Chris asked.

"Who are these people?" DK asked.

"Chris, something's wrong in this place. We're being ambushed by 6!" Fox said.

"Ambushed?! Who are they?!"

"...Wait, that guy over there, he looks like Lui-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!

"No!" Kirby flew to Chris's shoulder. "Did we lose the transmission?"

"Oh my!" Kawashima said appearing. "I'm afraid something discrupted the transmissions between each other. It's kind of like what happened to the others, but I can feel something jamming the call!"

"...This doesn't look good." Lucario said concerned.

"Who cares about them?" Laharl asked crossing his arms. "We have to find that pendant and get whatever this "Love Freak" wants to give me!"

"...You stupid little..." Lucario muttered in rage, but before he could do something, they all began to hear something.

"...Wait a minute..." Flonne said closing her eyes. "...Don't you hear something?"

"Hmm..." Laharl took a moment of silence. "...It sounds like many footsteps are coming from outside the castle..."

Chris looked outside the window and began to tremble. "...E-everyone..."

Kirby got shocked and gulped. "O-oh no...no...no no no no no..."

"What?" Etna asked peering out of the window and her eyes widened. "...P-Prince..."

"Yeah?" Laharl asked.

"...I-it looks like we've got company..."

"And lots of them!" Pit added.

Meta Knight looked outside the window and found something familiar that caught his eye. "Wait, isn't that machine over there..."

Chris gulped in fear. "Oh no...it's...it's Galle-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!

"Hello there everyone!" Etna's voice was heard showing some mysterious pictures. "Looks like the 3 teams are in for a surprise, the first team got disconnected from our reach, the second team ended in a twisted dimension and my kick (beep!) team is still standing against the next battle!"

"E-Etna, what are you doing?" Flonne's voice asked.

"Weren't you weak?"

"Nope, I'm perfectly fine in this preview section yo-"

"Will our heroes resist the sudden attacks? Will I get my own interesting sequel for this story? Will I get even more sexier than I am? Will Flonne give Etna the precious item she talked about?"

"W-when did I say I was going to give yo-"

"Next time on Sexy Extravagant Hyper Dimentional Spacial Demon Lord Etna: Etna's Time To Shine In Battle VS. The Beast Of The Ominous Space! Laharl's fear to the MAX!"

"E-Etna, isn't that title kind of long?"

"Well, it is, but hey, it raises drama, doesn't it? Heheheheh... I can see my name's letters in gold for the title of this entire story already, think about it!"

"...I will?"

"Yeah!"

"But you aren't the main protagonis-"

There was a sound of a bullet and someone fell dead.

"That should do it." Etna said kicking a girl angel.

TO BE CONTINUED FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE BECAUSE I SAY SO!

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Laharl's Castle
Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Laharl, Etna, Flonne

Whoa Zone
Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Mario, Peach, Tippi

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus

References:

-"I see you!" was a reference to a boss in Viewtiful Joe 2. You know which boss I'm talking about. ;)

-Etna interrupting the next chapter (leaving it in a mystery) is a reference to what she does in the same game.

Unfortunately, Etna's interruption leaves the next chapter a mystery...because I need to think hard about the next chapter. :P I mean, I want to do something big with Samus and the others. I think there's going to be a double encounter next time?

Like somebody said some time ago: You'll have to wait until my mind gets something. XD

Read and review please! :D

*Chapter 109*: The Last of Disgaea, Dood

"WARNING! HUGE CHAPTER AHEAD!"

I'm very, beary, I mean, very sorry for not updating in a while. My computer at home isn't working well with the internet but I had the idea to move this document to a disquet and upload it at school (my teacher likes me so much, fortunately).

From ngrey651: The chapter was funny and, of ALL people, RED managed to knock Ganondorf down!

But there were so...many...dods...(faints dead away, eyes going all spinny)

From me: I hope they don't show up here so often. XD

From Mewtrainer: Did you do all those doods to increase the word count, or just to add humor? Or both? This is getting even better! A team actually lost! (Should I be worried that I'm excited about that? XD)

From me: Add humor, I guess. But don't be worried. ;)

From Soldier of the Future: Wow this took me forever to read through! But it's an awesome addition. Dark Rundas returning with even more power just makes the story even better!

Keep up the good work.

From me: ...It's going to take you forever to read this one...sorry for the long chapter. :(

From Anakin Mario Son43: OH NO! FLONE! or however her name is read. That was cool and cold though... Joke about Dark Rundas not intended. update soon please.

From me: Here it is the chapter. :)

From Rabid Original: What? Some people actually skip parts? Blasphemy!

What the hell is Yoshi singing anyways? XD

Lots of fighting going on...good stuff.

Just out of curiosity, what WAS your first language? I seem to recall you saying that English was your second.

From me: Latin Spanish (not the OTHER one) is my first language. And Yoshi was...who knows. XD

From dimentio713: Dang that chapter was funny well this will be interesting...

From me: Hope it is still interesting for you. :)

From TARDISreviewer: ...what boss?

ugh, not him again... he nearly pwned the lot of the last time!

From me: He will this time too, sadly. :(

From JSandders: For something that you "rushed" it's pretty long! Anyways, good chapter as always!
I still think Francis is weird! But, then again, so is Squirps... lots of people in Mario's world is weird! (BTW, LOL on the part that they can't pick anything up! It's so true!)
Oh no! Ganondorf activated HIS final smash!! This is very bad for the Smashers on Bryyo! Hope they're okay...
Who talked to Vulcanus? I don't remember any shadowy, red-eyed person fighting Chris... other than... OH NO! What's he doing there?!

From me: Squirps is EVEN weirder here, I'm warning you. :D

From Saiked: great chapter srry for not being able to review lately was kinda busy with my own story great battle though(rundas corrupted by both phazon AND shadow bugs OMG) and that ice attack you know the one with the iceberg like thing kinda always hated it on thwew game. c falcon actually fought thats a first lol well continue writing this is the best chapter in my opinion in a pretty good while and whats up with laharl?(i havent played the disgeae games or wahtever it is.
sorry for all spelling wmistkaes i have made here i was in a hurry

From me: And I'm sorry for not updating in a while. Laharl is just a sicko. XD

From Nintendogeek01: The whole Rundas and Ganondorf encounter seems interesting. And the Laharl bit looks promising so I'll be waiting in anticipation of the next chapter.

From me: But please, try to review it (or read it) the day you read this message. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: rushed!? this definetly is a good chapter for being rushed with the action,humor, and excitement. but there are the few mistakes in here, but this was a good chapter none the less! but do you really hate the long reviews from me? }: well, you'll unfortunatly have to deal with it, now, onto my review! first "dood" then "nerr" and now back to "dood"! "nerr" was REALLY annoying compared to "dood", but it's over now, the nerd-guana is gone now, crying for his mummy, heh heh heh. oh boy, when used right, ice can definetly be powerful, and now they have to deal with ganondork[sorry, couldn't resist] in his dark beast form, MINUS MIDNA! hmm, maybe all angels are not pure, what could flonne's necklace be taken for. well, time for my usual
BLAH BLAH BLAH, BUT NOW IT'S, BLAH BLAH BLAH; TAROT EDITION!
just to put it in english, i'm trying to see what could be ahead for the smashers, so i'm using my sister's clow cards[i know, ridiculous, but it's all i have right now{to borrow}] to try and kinda predict their fate. there will be five cards, from the deck,shuffeled, and randomly chosen in a specific order, all the while not looking a what the cards are. well, here are the cards from 1st to 5th now: The Watery,[the ice palace in metroid?]The Big,[maybe BIG enemies] The Sword,[maybe the way to victory?] The Jump [possible tactic to use?] and the weirdest, The Earthy[sorry, no ideas] well, that's my first fortune. and the musician i have found for now, the one to have worn Majora's Mask, Skull Kid! instrument: flute. okay, MAYBE i didn't need to pick a specific skull kid, but this one actually has a specific role in a game! well, happy typing!

From me: That character actually seems good... Thanks. :) (Yes, I ignored the whole blabbling).

From powerseeker35: Cool chapter.

From me: ...Sweet, a short review. (-_-)

From Safire Ranmako: You have a really exallent Epic here.

I just want to ask is Dr. Mario going to be in this? I mean you said that you weren't going to put extra Smashers into this but Dr. Mario is a Smasher. And if you did put him in you would get a Team Doctor out of the deal.

As for a musical charicter maybe the flute boy from Link to the Past.

And will you use Cackletta and Fawful as revived villans. (Thier my favorite Mario villians.)

Keep up the good work.

From me: Dr. Mario will appear...but no as a separate Mario. He will appear later on. And for the 2 wackos...possibly.

I've noticed that I use to write lots of commas instead of the necessary periods, so I hope that doesn't appear so often here.

By the way, listen well! All the chapters from the prequel have been heavily re-written while I was at school, so please go there and read the chapters to know about Chris and Lucario's past. I know you're not going to regret it. ;)

And please, please! Try to read the chapter! I promise the next 4 chapters (that are ready to be uploaded) are going to be shorter than this!

And now...the usual intro for a chapter...

Read, enjoy and review, please! :D

Chapter 109: Etna's Time To Shine In Battle VS. The Beast Of The Ominous Space! Laharl's fear to the MAX!

...Or...

The Last of Disgaea, Dood

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle
Throne Room

Hidden Mountain & Forest

"-om!" Chris finished.

"WORLD TRAVELER!!!" Galleom yelled from the army of Primids and other creatures from the Subspace. "SURRENDER AT ONCE YOUR EXISTENCE, TABUU WISHES TO KILL YOU AND SEE YOU DEAD ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!"

"W-what?!"

"Hey!" Laharl glared at him. "Do you know who the hell are those guys?!"

Chris looked down. "Y-yes, I do. They're the Subspace Army that are trying to take over the worl-"

Laharl's antennas pointed straight up in fury as the demon crossed his arms. "WHAT?! They're here to take over the Netherworld, and more specifically MY OWN DAMN CASTLE?!"

A light bulb appeared above Pit's head. "O-of course! Not only they want to take over the worlds, but they also want to take this castle as theirs as well!"

"WHAT?!" Laharl asked as the lava rose up violently in the room.

Another light bulb appeared above Kirby's head. "Or they could take this castle and take it down since it's worthless for them."

"...GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Laharl grunted furiously. "So they want to take my castle but destroy it because it looks puny?! Who do they think they're dealing with?! I'm the Great Overlord Laharl for my own sake!"

Another light bulb appeared above Chris. "I'm guessing you're not going to do anything, am I right?"

Laharl pointed angrily at him. "Oh no, I'm going to cause havoc to those impudent idiots! Etna!"

"Yes, my Prince?" Etna asked making a salute.

"Gather all the Prinnies and make an order to attack those guys. What are you waiting for?! THIS IS A DAMN ORDER!!!"

"Alrighty! Heheheheh!" Etna said running away to the hallway.

"Vassals!" Laharl began. "Prepare for battle. We're going to fight every single one of them back and keep the castle safe! And that also includes the casanova, the angel boy and the pink marshmallow!"

Chris, Pit and Kirby looked at him annoyed.

"You there!" Laharl pointed at Big Sis Prinny. "You're coming with us and fight out there!"

"I-I'm afraid I can't my Prince, dood." Big Sis Prinny said sweating.

"WHAT?!" Laharl asked enraged.

Big Sis Prinny took out a broom and began to clean the floor. "W-who's going to watch over the castle in your absence, dood? Somebody has to stay behind and watch over it so those guys won't come in here, dood. (Oh please, let him understand that I can't fight out there...)"

"...You got a point there," Laharl said nodding as Big Sis Prinny sighed in relief. "Alright, everyone in here, listen well! We have a castle to protect until I become the next official Overlord, those nuisances out there aren't going to prevent that from happening if I haven't told them to do so! The Love Freak will have to stay here with the pink penguin and see what is her reward, understood?!"

"(Knowing Laharl, he's likely going to cast that huge meteor again.)" Pit said shrugging.

"(Why go outside since Laharl can kill all of them by himself?)" Kirby asked.

"We understand very well." Mewtwo said nodding.

"Alright then!" Laharl turned his back to the door and smirked. "They don't expect what they're going to get from me. I will rule over the Netherworld and destroy anyone who crosses in my path to become the Overlord! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-cough-cough-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA" Laharl laughed evily and maniacally as he floated above and flew to the hall...still laughing evily.

"Be aware," Mewtwo began as they looked at him. "My powers have been decreased as Lucario's. we have to be careful in every move we do or we could end dead."

"I hate this darkness..." Lucario said clenching his fists.

"Is it really that bad?" Kirby asked.

"Yes," Mewtwo said nodding. "Once we're done with Galleom and his army, we're going to return back to the mansion and see if the others made it alive."

Meta Knight took out Galaxia and turned to the door. "Then let us begin the war."

"W-war?!" Chris and Kirby repeated shocked as Lucario put Flonne down in the red mat.

"There's not enough time before they make it to the bridge of the castle, we must aid Laharl...sadly!" Pit said shuddering at the thought.

Though most of them shuddered and began their way down to the bridge.

However, Pit returned and looked down to Flonne who tried to stay alive by breathing heavily. "...Please, don't die on me... We're angels, weren't not supposed to die like this..."

"Do you care for your loved ones?" Big Sis Prinny asked.

Pit blushed. "I-I ah...um...y-yes, I care for my loved ones."

"Then go outside and give it all for Flonne," Big Sis Prinny made a happy expression. "I'm sure she will be truly happy for your efforts once you tell her."

Pti smiled a little but kept blushing. "T-thank you for your support. I will fight for Flonne...b-but don't think we're in love or something! I-I'm too young for that!" Pit said with a bow before he ran out, preparing his dual blades as he left.

Big Sis Prinny looked down to Flonne and looked around. "...I can't let a kind child like you die like this... I'm going to give you this," Big Sis Prinny ducked and poured some sort of medicine inside her mouth.

"G-gu..." Flonne slowly opened her eyes but Big Sis Prinny blocked them.

"(I can't let you know why I'm doing this or my secret identity would be exposed to Laharl...and I don't want that right now...)"

Several minutes later...

"Dood, what's wrong with her?"

"Dood, I don't know."

"Heeeeeeey!" Prinny number 35 called from the door as 2 other Prinnies stared down at Flonne who was regaining consciousness. "Lord Laharl wants us to attack the army trying to take the castle, dood, we have to help 'em out! Master Etna is EVEN out there, dood!"

The 2 Prinnies began to panic. "DOOD! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE, DOOD?!" Prinny number 2009 asked panicking.

"LET'S JUST REUNITE WITH EVERYONE, DOOD!" Prinny number 448 yelled panicking as the 3 Prinnies sprinted off the room.

"...H-huh?" Flonne blinked confused before gasping. "W-wait!" Flonne stood up and looked around, there wasn't anyone in the throne room besides her. "D-did you give me some kind of medicine to get better?! Hello?! Where's everyone..." Flonne put her hands on her neck and began coughing. "U-ugh... I-I'm still weak... Maybe I shouldn't be pushing myself so much..."

She began to hear explosions coming from outside until she realized what was happening.

"Oh no... There's the Subspace Army here... I-I need to go out there... If I can make it in time..." Flonne said weakly as she slowly began her way down the castle, leaving the throne room.

Behind the throne, there was Big Sis Prinny hiding and she peered out and looked at the door once Flonne was gone. "Phew. My job is done here for now... I hope Laharl results victorious in this battle..."

Super Paper Mario

Whoa Zone
Chapter 4-4 The Mysterious Mr. L

"Mario and his friends took the Space Byway (suffering the horrible and very strange world the 2-D dimension could be) and merged into the Whoa Zone. Known to some as the Space Graveyard, it was said to consume all who entered it. "Just a little bit longer... We'll be arriving soon," said young Squirps. "But I wanna get out of here!" Sonic whined though nobody cared about his complaints. With Squirps's unblinking eyes glimmering, he continued to forge onward (where they accidentaly got lost around the whacky space, at least Fox got more than all of them). Would Mario and his friends get their hands on the Pure Heart at long last?... Or would they end up in some kind of freaky sidequest that would take more time? Why did we talk about this random topic out of the space? Who knows actually? You are eager to see what is going to happen next still..."

Super Paper Mario - Mr. L Theme

The Smashers' way were blocked by 6 known figures (at least 3 of them were). Those 6 figures were 4 of Count Bleck's servants and 2 of Tabuu's army, Dimentio the magician of the dimensions, Mimi the shapeshifter, O' Chunks the...um...general of some army? Charizard, Dedede...and of course, the mysterious Mr. L.

"Heh heh heh..." Mr. L chuckled along with everyone. "Finally, you all arrived."

Yoshi made a bored look. "...Why is Lui-"

"Wh-who are you?!" Tippi demanded ignoring Yoshi's statement.

"Come to think of it, I think I saw him somewhere else before..." Mario said rubbing his chin.

Geno rolled his eyes and frowned. "Mario, I can't believe you don't recognize your br-"

"Oh, me?" Mr. L asked interrupting Geno's statement. "Just one of Count Bleck's more promising minions."

Mimi got an angry expression. "Hey like, that is kind of rude," Mimi said giggling afterwards. "I guess the Count just plain likes you. How creepy."

Dimentio chuckled. "I wonder myself what is his plan."

"Oh, hi there clown guy!" Diddy said waving at Dimentio.

"Diddy, he's supposed to be our enemy." Twink said.

"The Green Thunder..." Mr. L began and everyone looked at him.

"The Green Thunder?" Sonic asked.

Mr. L took a weird stance before spinning around quickly then he came at full stop facing no one in particular and raised his right hand to the air. "MR. L!!!" Mr. L proclaimed as green lights shone behind him.

"...That has to be the weirdest pose and entrance I've seen before in my life." Sonic said as Mr. L grumbled.

"Mr...L?" Tippi wondered slowly.

"Or more accurately, Lui-" Zelda was interrupted.

"Oh, I know why are you sich nuisances to Count Bleck," Mr. L said rolling his eyes. "The day where you're going to dig your own graves is here."

"'r we 'ather 'ut ou' al' 'n 'he 'raves 'urselves!" O' Chunks said laughing.

"...Did somebody understand a word he said?" Toon Link asked confused.

"A rather not." Peach said.

"Look, there's Bowser," Charizard said smirking. "C'mon Bowser, you know you're evil. you want to join the baddies, aren't you?"

"I'm evil... I'm evil..." Bowser kept repeating. "HOWEVER!" Bowser raised a finger. "I, sadly, must stay with Mario this time around to rule the world someday, that's why I don't want to join anybody else...yet of course!"

Dedede rolled his eyes and whispered to Charizard once Bowser was crying toon tears, "And here I was thinkin' about make 'im understand."

Charizard frowned. "Who cares? He'll be begging to be in once we're done with him."

Bowser glared at them. "Hey, you! Yes, you 2! You said I was an idiot?!"

Both villians stared back at the villain, rubbing their faces a little with their fingers. "...We did?" Dedede asked confused.

Bowser began to stomp his left foot on the floor furiously. "RUAARGH! That is IT! You 2 are asking for it now!"

"...And he's your main opponent?" DK asked.

"Pretty much..." Mario whispered.

"So anyway," Mr. L began. "You guys have to, sadly, disappear for good."

"Just who are you?" Mario asked as Fox facepalmed.

"Mario, stop being stupid, that Mr. L guy is Lu-" Fox was INTERRUPTED as everyone else.

"Of course, Count Bleck isn't satisfied with you around, that's why he ordered me to take all of you out from his way." Mr. L said interrupting Fox.

"Would you stop with the interruptions?!"

"No! I like to be me!"

"No," Mallow said with a chuckle. "It sucks to be you."

"SUCKS?!" Mr. L's right eye twitched. "Don't make me call my brother here! I'm warning you, once my brother and I join forces, there's no one who's going to stop us, NO DEAD FRICKIN' WAY!"

"Helloooooooo?" Mimi called annoyed. "We're supposed to take out all of them as a...ugh...team. So no getting the praise for you alone. I want some praise coming from the Count too!"

Dimentio chuckled. "Indeed. I also happen to get some praise as well if you don't mind. Yes, I'm that egoist, ha ha ha."

Mimi looked at him with a weird look. "You were being sarcastic, weren't you?"

"What do you think?" Dimentio asked.

"...Nevermind that."

"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" O' Chunks laughed proudly. "'he Coun' 's 'onna 'e 'appy 'fter I 'ummel al' o' ou' 'o 'he 'round 'ith 'o 'uch hamage!"

"What?" the Smashers asked confused.

"Er... 'ake 'hat damage...'ait!" O' Chunks glared at them. "On't 'ake me 'urt ou'!"

"So far the only things I was able to understand were "damage" and "me" from his odd language...it's making my head hurt." Yoshi said rubbing his head? Yes, that's right. I'm sure as hell he doesn't have a head above his eyes.

"Wait," Geno stepped forward. "Tell me something first."

"What?" Mr. L asked.

"Are you by any chance guarding a Star Spirit?"

"Pfft," Dedede rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, we're guarding...a Subspace Bomb!"

"It's just beyong that door," Charizard said pointing at the door behind the group. "I doubt you're going to enter in there though."

"But my question was if you have a Star Spirit, yes or no?" Geno asked glaring.

"Look," Dedede began chuckling. "We dunno about a spirit of a star. You can only find a Subspace Bomb about to blow up and take the whole place for Tabuu," Dedede took out his hammer and began to spin it. "Mah hammer will knock out some sense to ya!"

"Geno..." Twink trailed off worried. "I-I think I can't feel a Star Spirit here... Sorry to tell you this."

"...It's okay," Geno said looking down before putting his left hand above his right hand, prepared to fire bullets. "I guess we'll have to fight all of them and save this place becau-"

"Because Squirps demands it!" Squirps yelled appearing between the groups angrily. "SQUIRPS! How dare you kick me?! Squirps isn't feeling so well after that stomping, SQUIRPS!"

"You still conscious?" Mr. L asked raising an eyebrow. "Geez, you're persistent, aren't you?"

Squirps began to run on his tentacles. "The true power of Squirps will be manifested today, YAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Kick!

"Y-you know what?" Squirps asked as Mr. L kicked his head a little bit enough to make a bump on it. "Squirps will leave them to you, s-since Squirps is feeling a stomache right now after eating that delicious chocolate...you don't happen to have any with you?" Squirps asked with a grin before DK grabbed him...and threw him away. "SQUIIIIIIIRPS!"

"High-five for shutting him up," Mallow said high-fiving with DK. "Well," Mallow asjusted his pants a little bit. "We need to fight Mr. L right?"

Yoshi rolled his eyes with a groan. "Mallow...for the last time...he is Lu-"

"I don't need you to tell me it's a cool name," Mr. L said INTERRUPTING Yoshi who got annoyed. "I know it. Don't bother memorizing it. Why?" Mr. L stood in a fighting stance as the other 5 prepared as well. "Because we're about to give you a burial at sea... I mean, a burial in space."

"Oh, come-ON!" Yoshi said annoyed. "Mario, Peach, MALLOOOOOOOOOW! Bowser! You don't EXACTLY know who's that guy in green? Seriously?"

"Mr. L?" Peach asked confused.

"The Green Thunder?" Mario asked confused.

"A dude in a costume?" Bowser asked confused.

"An odd guy with a weird pose, weird clothes and uses a mask that makes his eyes look white?" Mallow asked.

"For crying out loud! That Mr. L guy is Lu-" Yoshi was...yes, you guessed it.

"Just because you're in red, pink, an idiot, a star, a fairy thingy, a dinosaur, cartoony, a furry, got 2 eyes that are creepily joined, ape, chimpanzee or spider monkey, long-eared lady, cloudy or shady fellow doesn't mean you're all strong." Mr. L commented addressing EVERYONE but his team.

"Okay, that's ENOUGH YOU!" Yoshi yelled glaring at Mr. L. "You damn guy. I'm going to reveal Mario and the other 3 that you're in reality Lu-"

"Have at you!" Mr. L yelled charging forward.

"Screw it then! You dress like an idiot!"

O' Chunks Battle - I'm Not Nice - Dimentio Charming Magician - Checker Knights...

...Or just...

Super Paper Mario - A Powerful Enemy Emerges

Everyone quickly separated and fought each 6 villians in groups of 2 in the odd world of the Whoa Zone.

"Finally, a fight for repayin' that fight in dah hedgehog's world!" Dedede said slamming down his hammer that missed Sonic (who grinned). "Hey, quit movin' around!"

"Why don't you catch me me first?" Sonic asked sitting on Dedede's hammer.

"You little!" Dedede spun his hammer as Sonic merely jumped awaya and used a fast Homing Attack directly on Dedede's stomach before rolling back. "A-ack! Damn you!"

"Hello?" Diddy asked tapping Dedede's shoulder. Dedede looked behind him and a banana was splattered on his face as Diddy fired several peanuts at the king. "I got him, attack now!"

"Roger that!" Sonic said spinning before slamming himself to the king using Spin Dash. Dedede was able to regain his stance and quickly used a weak Jet Hammer to push the hedgehog away from him as Sonic backflipped in the air and landed on his feet.

"Heheheheheheh!" Dedede laughed proudly. "Just keep attackin' me and you'll see my true abilities!"

"Saving the best for the ending, huh?" Sonic asked grinning.

Dedede grinned back as he raised his hammer. "You betcha, damn hedgehog!!!" Dedede yelled slamming down the hammer directly.

Using the hammer's shadow, the scene changed to O' Chunks's fist on the floor where Geno backstepped out of the way with Mario. "'ey! 'top oving 'round! Me 'ants to 'ive ya 'ome hamage!" O' Chunks complained stomping the floor.

"Mario, do you still have any idea what's this guy is blabbering about?" Geno asked as he charged his Geno Beam.

"No idea but be careful! If he grabs you he will toss you around!" Mario warned as he jumped straight towards O' Chunks, who gasped and received the hit as he charged towards Geno.

"Geno Beam!" Geno yelled firing his beam directly into O' Chunks's belly, the blocky guy grunted in pain and decided to jump in the air to reach Geno and grab him. "W-wait, stop it!" Geno demanded as O' Chunks began to spin Geno around him before tossing the puppet away, where he went crashing...somehow at the borders of the screen before crashing into the floor.

"O' 'eah!" O' Chunks said flexing doing some weird poses with weird lights as his background before stopping.

"...Dammit..." Geno muttered as he got up. "I won't let an attack like that get me again, Mario!"

Mario nodded. "Wait, why did I nod for?"

Geno facepalmed with a frown as O' Chunks charged forward to them as they sidestepped out of his fists' way. "Got you," Geno said firing several bullets under O' Chunks's chin, followed up by a fast (but weak) uppercut making the general back away as he grunted in pain.

"'amn ya!" O' Chunks complained angrily.

"Will somebody please teach him how to talk already?!" Geno asked. "He's already getting on my nerves!"

Mario looked at Mr. L who was motioning towards him. "...Just who are you?" Mario asked as he ran to him.

"Mimimimimi," Mimi chuckled as Zelda and Peach glared at her from another place of the same zone. "Why don't you just wait in some castle and be rescued by your princes my dears? Fighting isn't for you."

Zelda's right hand glowed. "Well, I'll take that as an insult."

"Do you?" Mimi said as she began to float above. "Well then! There's no time for talk, but time to use my rubees of death on you 2!" Mimi called forth a protective barrier of rubees floating around her as Zelda shrugged a little.

"R-rubees..." Zelda said shrugging.

"What's wrong with rubees?!" Mimi demanded angrily.

"T-they're were Hyrule's last money currency...but it didn't turn out so well and we had to use rupees instead."

Mimi glared menacingly at Zelda. "So you just threw the rubees AWAY from YOUR kingdom?!"

"O-of course!" Zelda yelled back. "Rubees are frauds for a money currency!"

"DON'T DARE TO MOCK MY MONEY! YOU SHALL SUFFER THE HORRIBLE TORMENT OF THE RUBEES!"

Zelda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Like rubees are going to kill, oh no. Look at me! Rubees are going to kill me!"

Peach looked back and forth between both girls. "U-um... Zelda. I don't think that was a good idea..."

Zelda looked at her confused. "Why?"

"TAKE THIS WILL YOU?!" Mim yelled firing several rubees to the air as they slashed both girls who yelled and twitched in pain. "FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!" Mimi ordered firing a barrage of big rubees at the princesses who ran away for their lifes, trying to think to counterattack her shots.

"Ha!" Zelda spun around using Nayru's Love to return back the rubees at Mimi. The shapeshifter gasped as 3 rubees went slashing her small arms as she flaied her arms around in pain.

"Owie golly!" Mimi yelped as she called forth more rubees that spun around her in the air. "My, you're very INTOLERANT stupid-heads!"

"Try shooting me with those "rupees" again and the same thing will happen." Zelda said.

"Oh?" Mimi giggled a little. "Then how about this?" Mimi asked getting closer to the floor where she began to spin the rubees around her in a fast pace before rushing at full speed towards Zelda and Peach. Both princesses gasped as Mimi collided her rubees at them as she floated above and giggled down to the girls. "Mimimimimimimi, you're not that hard to fight after all. Count Bleck will be surely pleased after I finish you 2!"

"Z-Zelda..." Peach trailed off.

"D-don't worry..." Zelda said getting up. "W-we won't lose to her..."

"Can't catch me," Dimentio said chuckling as he dodged DK's fist. "Not even here," Dimentio said appearing behind DK who quickly turned his back but failed to hit the magician who teleported out of the way. "Or even here," Dimentio chuckled disappearing before DK could land a fist. "Maybe I'm here," Dimentio said above DK who almost managed to uppercut the masked guy. "Maybe I'm over there," Dimentio chuckled behind DK's back as the gorilla tried to get him. "'round and 'round, Dimentio goes, where he'll stop, nobody knows!"

"Stop teleporting around!" DK complained as Dimentio simply appeared in front of him and slammed down a polygonal blast, making the kong back away. "U-ugh!"

"I've got him!" Toon Link said as he shot an arrow to Dimentio...but failed because he teleported away. "Curses!"

"Such "cleverness" that you both are supposed to have will only make everything harder," Dimentio said appearing several meters away from them. "I'll squash you down like 2 bees trapped in a jar of caramel."

"I'm starting to hate his mouth already." Toon Link said gritting his teeth.

"Why can't he stop teleporting around?" DK asked as Dimentio chuckled. "What's so funny now?"

"Your question," Dimentio said charging another attack above his finger. "The answer for that is so obvious that it makes me laugh."

"Watch out!" DK yelled as Dimentio shot the attack at Toon Link, however, the magician teleported away along with the attack before appearing behind Toon Link and slamming down the blast on him. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine..." Toon Link said making an angry expression. "But that guy is so asking for a stab on his pixelated look!"

"My," Dimentio appeared between them. "This battle sure looks promising after all. I wonder how much you 2 are going to last though."

"SHUT UP!" Toon Link and DK yelled trying to collide their attacks with Dimentio who just snapped his fingers and eleported away, making both receive the blow of the other straight in the face as they backed away.

"FIRE!" Bowser yelled firing a stream of fire to Charizard.

"MY FIRE IS BETTER!" Charizard yelled back using Flmaethrower to compete against Bowser's.

"Let me help, please please please please!" Mallow said running on his feet.

Bowser stopped his attack and Mallow gasped. "Look cloudy, this is MY own battle and yo-"

"RUN!" Mallow panicked running away as Bowser remember the Flamethrower from before who covered him in flames, the king of the Koopas yelled in pain as Charizard smirked.

"Told you," Charizard said chuckling. "My flames are better."

"DAMMIT YOU STUPID CLOUD THING!" Bowser yelled furiously at Mallow.

"Hey! I was just asking you nicely to help you out!" Mallow protested angrily.

Bowser raised a finger. "Rule number 1! No interrupting my business! Rule number 2-"

"Crisp the idiots in front of me!" Charizard interrupted using Flamethrower on the 2 who yelled in pain as the dragon kept firing his flames.

"T-THUNDERBOLT!" Mallow called out to the weird zone and soon thunderbolts began to fall down on the dragon who yelled in pain as Bowser and Mallow panted heavily. "H-he's going to get it now..."

"DUAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" Bowser charged at Charizard and slammed his skull directly on Charizard's head, the dragon felt a strong pain and backed away as Bowser stomped on his head and shot his trail of flames back.

"Keep him like that. SHOCKER!!

SHOCKER!

"UAAAAHHH!!!" Charizard screamed in pain as he quickly backed away from the 2 and glared at them. "D-damn you... (Just you wait...until I get to use my...special attack...)"

"Hey! Mr. Jumpallthetime! Take a load of this!" Mr. L called by simply jump and stomp above Mario who jumped back after he received the hit.

"Why do I think I know him?" Mario asked rubbing his head as he evaded another stomp from Mr. L.

"HA-HAAA!!!" Mr. L. took out a Thunder Bolt that fell down on Mario as the masked man stomped on him and laughed afterwards. "Man, for all the stories I've been hearing about, you're not THAT hard. Geez, and you're supposed to be the so-calle-" Mr. L stopped talking once someone tapped his shoulder. "What no-"

PUNCH!

"OWW! OWW OWW OWW OWW OWW! MY NOSE!" Mr. L backed away after Fox punched him right in the nose.

"Are you alright?" Fox asked to Mario.

"Y-yes, but there's something awfully wrong with Mr. L..."

Fox facepalmed and frowned. "Mario, don't you realize that "M. L" is actually Lu-"

"SUPER UPPERCUT OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled springing below Fox who was pushed to the air and fell down the floor with an uppercut from the masked man who went to the sky and then landed back chuckling. "Don't you DARE to do a dirty trick like that, Mr. Furriedface!"

"Dirty...trick?" Fox repeated as he got up and glared at Mr. L. "So you want to see a dirty trick..."

Mr. L motioned a hand towards him. "Bring it on you dork! Just. Bring. It!"

Fox grinned and began to focus closing his eyes, making Mr. L confused before the antro began to be covered in flames and was shot towards Count Bleck's servant who gasped and was burned as the leader of Star Fox stopped and looked over his shoulder with a satisfied grin. "Do you like that?"

"UGH! That's why I HATE animals!" Mr. L yelled angrily as he noticed a blue round object besides him and exploded. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Shh-BOOM!" Boomer called as he appeared besides Mario. "The vibes are just right here!"

"Good job," Mario said as he took out another item. "Thunder Bolt!"

A fast thunder fell on Mr. L who flailed his arms in pain (as odd as it sounds) and shook his head. "I hate being ganged up by 2 at a time!"

"I thought villains aren't supposed to follow the rules of a normal battle." Fox stated.

"Well yeah but..." Mr. L shook his head. "D-damn you! That's right. Damn you 2, really!"

"Got ya!" Dedede yelled slamming his hammer on Diddy who gasped and screamed in pain under the hammer.

"Not quite right with that!" Sonic called slamming himself in Dedede's stomach using Homing Attack as Diddy got out from the hole the hammer caused.

"SONIC!" Diddy yelled as Sonic was sucked up inside Dedede's mouth before the king shot the hedgehog back at Diddy who rolled along with him on the floor and stopped as Sonic was above him. "O-oww..."

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!" Dedede chuckled. "What? Are ya makin' out now? HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

"...D-damn it..." Sonic muttered as he got off from Diddy. "I can't fight that well in this kind of place...at all..."

"Then you'll have to...fight anyway..." Diddy said as he got up. "We'll have to wait until we finish here."

"But that sucks!" Sonic said. "He sucks!" Sonic said to Dedede. "This whole place sucks!" Sonic said to the floor.

"And he sucks." Diddy said nodding.

"Yeah!"

"I-I mean he literally sucks...you know what I mean?"

"No?"

Diddy opened his mouth as big as he could. "Now?"

"...Oooooooohh...no."

Diddy facepalmed. "That guy sucked you up!"

Sonic instantly glared at Dedede. "Hey you! Nobody sucks me. I don't suck either!" Sonic stated as he used Spin Dash to slam himself on Dedede who used Jet Hammer and pushed him back at Diddy who kept frowning.

"IMA CRUSHIN' 'OU!" O' Chunks yelled trying to stomp of Geno who rolled out of the way and fired his beam at him. "OUC'!"

"One more word and I'm really going to puke," Geno muttered as O' Chunks began to spin around extending his arms and went towards Geno who jumped and fired several bullets at his head then landed to use Geno Whirl which went at a blinding speed and damaged O' Chunks. "No weakness with that attack. At least it hurt him."

"AAA'!" O' Chunks yelled in pain. "Dam' puppe'! Sto' 'ovin' 'roun'!"

Geno made a confused look. "...What did you just say again?"

"I 'a'' ''op ''vin' ''oun'!"

"What?"

"I '''' ''o' '''in' '''un'!" O' Chunks yelled annoyed.

"What?!"

"Geno!" Twink yelled from above. "Stop questioning his already messed up language! Get fighting!"

"R-right..." Geno trailed off as O' Chunks tried to punch him.

"RUBEES HATERS!" Mimi yelled angrily as her rubees spun madly around her. "DIE!"

"How many I have heard that word to me?" Zelda wondered as she jumped out of the way of the attack and spun to use Din's Fire on Mimi who got burned and stunned, giving Peach enough time to call Thudley and stomp hardly on the shapeshifter.

"OWIE!" Mimi said. "Okie dokie. Time to give you something impressive! SHA!" Mimi began to gloe brightly making Peach shield her eyes and went it stopped, sombody else was there were Mimi was.

"...Zelda?" Peach asked confused as she walked to Zelda.

"Mimim-I mean, hehehehehe-I mean. Hi Peach." Zelda said chuckling heartily.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Please, do you think Peach will fall for an obvious trick lik-"

"Who are you?" Peach asked to Zelda.

Zelda facepalmed. "Peach, it's me, Zelda! Don't you remember me?"

"Remember the good times when we paced around the garden?" Zelda asked remembering.

"What? Those times were actually awful! She went on and on about Mario and Luigi and his Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom. Why did I get annoyed because? Because she says the same things the next day an-" Zelda noticed that Peach was glaring at her. "...Er...I mean... Peach, it's me!"

"Oh, I know who are you exactly!" Peach said angrily as she help up Boomer.

"Peach, put that pixl down..." Zelda said motioning her hands down.

"Fine!" Peach yelled dropping Boomer on Zelda which exploded and made her receive damage.

"OWWIE!" Mimi screamed in pain as she glared at Peach. "H-how did you know it was me?!"

Peach hopped up a little and looked back and forth between Zelda and Mimi. "Wait... I thought the other one was the fake Zelda..."

Zelda frowned and facepalmed. "I'm so confused now..."

"Who was who?"

"WHO CARES?!" Mimi asked calling forth her rubees that went after Peach who quickly put her umbrella in front of her to shield herself and Zelda.

"U-ugh!" Charizard struggled to push Bowser away with his claws as Bowser's claws tried to push the dragon away.

"Go go! Bow-ser! Go go! Bow-ser! Go go! Bow-ser!" Mallow cheered from behind as Bowser glared over his shell.

"Cloudy, shut the hell up!" Bowser yelled struggling.

"Aww..." Mallow looked down sadly as he sobbed...before he broke out crying. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

And then the rain came on the battlefield as everyone fought under the weather that appeared because of Mallow. Charizard quickly gasped and covered the flame on his tail before Bowser slammed his head (or more specifically the horns) on Charizard's stomach to push him away.

"...Hey!" Mallow said looking up (stopping his tears and the rain) as the weather stopped. "I did it!"

"Look at what have you done to my hair!" Bowser complained pointing at his small red hair that fell down instead of being pointy.

"...You look good though."

"WHAT?!"

"I-I mean, look out! He's charging at you!" Mallow yelled pointing at Charizard who came from behind Bowser and used Flamethrower...that vanished once it touched the wet floor.

"Dammit!" Charizard cursed as Bowser went after him with fists ready.

"O-o-o-o-oww!" Mr. L backed away after Fox continuously kicked him all around his body.

"Had enough yet?" Fox asked.

"...Nope!" Mr. L said taking a Shroom Shake that recovered his wounds. "Not even a bit!"

"W-what th-his wounds recovered?"

"That's what a Shroom Shake does," Mario began. "Not only they're healthy and highly nutricious but they also recover woun-"

"Did I ask for what the soda was made of?" Fox asked with a bored look.

"At least it's good to know." Mario said as Fox rolled his eyes.

"SPINNING GREEN KICK!" Mr. L yelled lunging at Fox with...a normal kick on his back as the vulpine was pinned down the floor while the masked guy grinned. "Hahahaha! Who's the master when it comes down with kicks?!"

"...Not me..." Fox muttered.

"That's r-"

"Or you!" Fox yelled by quickly rolling by the side (causing Mr. L to lose his balance and fell down), quickly kneeled and used Fox Illusion to slash Mr. L and escape from his grasp.

"Got you!" Thoreau said catching Mr. L as he was dragged all the way above Mario who held him up.

"W-what's the big idea?! Let me go!" Mr. L complained flailing his arms.

"Fox!" Mario yelled as Fox pulled back his fists and rocketed off to Mr. L using Fire Fox which made Mr. L to fall down and moan in pain.

"...I...still have more..." Mr. L muttered as he drank another Shroom Shake before he got up and laughed triumphaly. "It's going to take a lot a of time before you take out the Green Thunder! Or more accurately, never! Hahahahahahaha!!!"

"Damn that guy and his...sodas." Fox said cursing under his breath.

"Let's attack him before he uses one," Mario suggested. "He accidentaly indicates when he's in danger of losing."

"Oh wait," Mr. L said. "I have to take another soda because I'm weak so..." Mr. L looked through his pockets but he couldn't find mentioned item. "W-what?! W-where are my other sodas?!"

"'O'AS'!!!"

Mr. L turned his back and gasped once he saw O' Chunks drinking what looked to be 10 Shroom Shakes at the same time as he was shown recovering his whole health as he laughed. "YOU PIECE O-"

"Ahem."

Mr. L turned his back and saw Fox ready to send him a fist right on his face. "...Bring it!" Mr. L said in a fighting stance. "I'll show you!"

"(Why is he so familiar?)" Mario thought. "(And what are the others doing right now?)"

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle

Outside

"WORLD TRAVELER! I DEMAND YOUR PRESENCE HERE IMMEDIATELY!" Galleom demanded stomping on the ground as the Primids prepared their weapons.

The castle was located on the center of a big pool of magma and lava (or both things combined), although it was a big cliff where lava or magma (or both things) sprouted furiously upwards. The castle was on a cliff with a bridge connecting its entrance and the exit. It also was tall but had an odd design with multiple thin towers.

The Smashers (or more accurately Laharl's vassals) stepped out from the bridge and saw the insane amount of Subspace enemies surrounding the castle.

"Hmph," Laharl said putting his sword behind his back. "So is this some kind of lame welcome party?! What the heck are you taking me for?!"

Pit rolled his eyes. "This ISN'T a welcome party! This is an army ready to take us on!"

"(Should I leave everything to this brat?)" Mewtwo asked to himself with a frown.

"L-Laharl," Chris began as Laharl looked (or glared) at him. "We should take out their commander first, that way they'll retreat sooner an-"

"Why should I listen to you?!" Laharl asked.

"W-well, I've battled with them from experience so..."

Laharl smirked. "Why not have fun with all these fools first? I'm as sure as hell that we, or I can take all of them at once!"

Etna giggled. "My Prince, I think you should leave everything to your loyal army of Prinnies at your disposal. Why don't you do that first to see if we could participate in battle?"

"Because I don't see any of those chicken heads here!"

"Huh?" Etna looked behind the bridge and sure enough, there weren't any Prinnies in lines or something else. "...Those idiots are SO gonna get it..."

"Megaphone time?" Kirby asked.

"PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!" Etna yelled extremely loud to the castle with a megaphone (probably the one she always uses) and many Prinnies were heard panicking inside. "TAKE YOUR FRICKIN' (BEEP!)S OVER HERE AND LEND US A HAND, WILL ALL OF YA?!"

"WE'RE COMING MASTER ETNAAAAAAAAA!!!" Prinny 150 yelled as a stampede of Prinnies came rushing out from the castle as fast as they could and began to form a long barrier of themselves in front of Laharl's vassals. Sometimes they would trip and get up to create the long line which surrounded the entire abyss of laval until it stopped and the Prinnies confirmed that by saying: "Dood!"

Prinny 25 saluted Etna. "Master Etna, the front guard is complete and ready to take orders from your real highness and of course Overlord Laharl, dood!"

Etan grinned and narrowed her eyes. "Excellent. Now we can attack all of them with the same amount of subordinates."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Laharl laughed maniacally to the dark sky of the Netherworld. "Take that you stupid worthless scum! You will feel the wrath of the Great Overlord Laharl's army of...wait," Laharl narrowed his eyes. "Why in the world do I have such army of Prinnies and not monsters?!"

Etna laughed a little. "Well... King Krichevskoy had many different vassals but...they ran away and left the castle where you kept stinking in that stinky coffin...so yeah...."

"..." Laharl closed his eyes irritated. "Etna."

"Yes?"

"Remind me to hunt down those bastards and give them and piece of my mind."

"Right. Writing that down on the list of quests, dood." Prinny 150 nodded writing Laharl's wish.

"Ahem," Meta Knight coughed. "We still have enemies to take out. I advice you to do something about it."

Laharl smirked. "Normally I would yell back at people who order me around but your idea isn't that bad either."

"T-then can I suggest tactics?" Chris asked.

"Heck no! I'm the one giving orders to you casanova!"

A red toon vein popped out from Chris's forehead but hence that he kept smiling. "R-right, my great Overlord Laharl sir..."

"Ha!" Laharl laughed a bit. "Now THAT's more like it!"

"D-do we have a chance?" Kirby asked trembling.

"With Laharl. Yes." Mewtwo said.

"H-how come you're certain that Laharl will take all of them out?"

"Because he can. Simple as that."

Kirby looked around. "...I hope you're right..."

"Okay!" Laharl pointed his sword at the army of Prinnies. "Who's the imbecile in charge of this idiot excuse for an army?! Show yourself before me!"

Pit facepalmed. "Laharl, you're expecting Galleom to come out from his army and yell back at you?"

"...Actually..." Lucario began as Pit looked at him. "...He is coming right here..."

"DOOD!" 8 Prinnies were pushed out of the way as the machine came and glared down at them, who took fighting stances as Laharl simply crossed his arms and glared up at Galleom.

"You're the brat who has been daring to call the Subspace Army a pest?! How dare you disrespect Lord Tabuu's force?!" Galleom asked furiously.

Laharl pointed at him. "Because I f(beep!)ng say so! Nobody can beat me, the Great Overlord Laharl. Not even YOU Mr. Purple Skin!"

"Is this place populated by people who like to swear and curse a lot?" Kirby asked confused.

Galleom narrowed his eyes. "You little...cockroach..."

Laharl's antennas pointed up to the air, meaning that he got furious. "Cockroach?! Ha! Don't you dare again to call me like that or you're not going to see the darkness again!"

"H-he's so lucky then..." Chris whispered to Lucario.

"So," Laharl pointed his sword ar Galleom's face. "Mr. Giant Metalic (beep!), do you want to provoke me? I remind you that I'm going to be a nasty little "cockroach" to yourself if you dare to go on... C'mon! Say something before I crush you down!"

"Mwhahahahahaha!!!" Galleom laughed. "Such words coming from a cockroach are very hilarious to hear and listen!" Galleom glared down at them. "But I'm afraid this needs to end here and now."

Meta Knight rolled his eyes as a response. "If somebody says that then the opposite will most likely happen."

"What did you say?!" Galleom asked tigheting his fists.

"Hey, you!" Laharl called out as his hands glowed in a purple aura (that Lucario and Mewtwo considered malevolent). "We're suppose to have a "nice" talk between the 2 of us! Don't ignore me!"

Etna yawned. "My Prince...why don't you start and beat the crap out of him already? I wanna take a rest as soon as possible..."

"Hmph," Laharl smirked. "I was waiting for someone to say that. I was sick already of all this talking wi with Mr. Giant Metalic (beep!) here."

Galleom chuckled a little. "You're just a pebble in my way to capture the World Traveler... However, you can be kind and give him away..."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted as he stood in front of Chris who sighed in relief and glared at Galleom.

"How cute, a dog protecting its trainer." Galleom taunted.

"D-don't dare again to call Lucario and "it" again!" Chris yelled back. "But you can call him a dog if you want!"

"Chris!" Lucario looked at him annoyed.

"Well, it's the truth! You can't stop licking my face and wag your tail when I make you happy!"

"Enough useless information!" Galleom yelled raising his fists in the air. "Stand right there and be CRUSHED!!!"

"Bring it on! HAAAAAAAAA!!!" Laharl yelled lunging at Galleom with his sword ready.

Boss Battle Song 1

"CHARGE, DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" Prinny 25 yelled as all the Prinnies...took out what looked to be simple sticks and pebbles that they held above them as the battle for the castle and the Netherworld began.

"Sticks and pebbles? Are they being serious?" Pit asked confused as Etna took out her axe.

"The Prinnies are very dedicated to all what that they do," Etna grinned. "Leave 'em with their affairs."

Pit rolled his eyes. "Whatever..."

"DIE!" Galleom yelled slamming his right fist into Laharl who simply held his left hand above him and stopped the full attack, which astonished the robot. "W-what?!"

"Fool. Do you think your size and "looks" are going to crush me like an insect?" Laharl asked.

"U-UGH! JUST YOU...WAIT!" Galleom struggled to crush the son of Krichevskoy but wasn't able to do it. "I-I'n not going to be humiliated by a brat like you!"

A vein appeared on Laharl's forehead. "Hmph!" Laharl pushed away the fist and grabbed back his sword that appeared in his long bandana.

"M-my god, Laharl is extremely strong..." Kirby said shuddering as Chris embraced him tightly.

"T-then why don't you use your sword to fight?" Chris asked as Galleom prepared to ram at Laharl.

"Tsk," Laharl began frowning. "I like to make my foes feel humiliated by my force. I only fight with my sword when I want to train...but if they piss me off, I'll use my bare hands instead!"

"DAMMIT BRAT, SUFFER!" Galleom yelled running at Laharl to ram his metalic shoulder at him.

"STOP CALLING ME A BRAT!" Laharl yelled creating small energy ball of electricity on his right hand before it grew to his size and shot it at Galleom which created an explosion. "MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Pit sweatdropped and shuddered at the same time. "...D-don't tell me Laharl will come to the mansion because I absolutely don't want that happening!"

"Pit, for this time, shut up and don't spread out ideas." Chris said trying to stay calm.

"I agree." Mewtwo said simply standing besides the 3 with Etna, Lucario and Meta Knight.

"Hey, how come we are all here watching Laharl fighting alone?" Pit asked confused.

"My Prince can take anyone out in a matter of time," Etna said yawning as she sat on a beach chair. "Just leave everything to him."

"Where did th-" Pit stopped once he saw 3 Prinnies attending Etna. "...Nevermind."

Kirby made a bored face. "We're just going to watch from here and do nothing?"

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I believe we should save our energies in the meantime. We could need it for something else."

"And I don't think I have a chance." Lucario said as Chris went to him.

"If we're going to rest, then..." Chris started to rub Lucario's head as the Aura Pokémon growled happily. "Let's spend the time like this, do you agree?" Chris asked and Lucario nodded as his tail wagged a little. "Heheheheh."

"Ugh..." Galleom grunted in pain as the smoke from the energy ball cleared out and glared down at Laharl who was smirking with crossed arms. "You...filthy...brat..."

"Stop. Calling. Me. A. BRAT!" Laharl demanded shooting another electricity ball to Galleom who backed away from the explosion and prepared to fire his missiles at will. "Try any attack, it won't make any difference."

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Galleom yelled annoyed as he fired off his missiles that went towards Laharl who grabbed his sword and began firing slashes that literally were shot from his weapon and destroyed the missiles with ease.

"Are you done yet?" Laharl asked raising an eyebrow.

"Not quite!" Galleom spat back as he turned into his tank form and rushed at Laharl, however the demon put his hands in front of him and tried to let the tank go further as it stopped at 3 meters. "W-what the heck?!"

Laharl chuckled. "The only cockroach I see here is your giant metalic (beep!), HYA!" Laharl grabbed Galleom and threw him at the side where the Smashers saw the machine turning back into his real form. "What other tricks do you have? I dare you to show them to me!"

"Fine!" Galleom yelled pulling his right fist back as he ran towards Laharl before colliding it with the ground and tried to reach Laharl's chin.

"Come on, that trick is so overused..." Laharl muttered frowning as he simply sidestepped and evaded the uppercut as he threw his sword at Galleom's throat as it became stuck in the skin, which made Galleom yell in pain. "What's the matter? Feeling a sore throat all of a sudden? MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Galleom grunted as he took out the sword from his throat and threw it away as he raised both fists and slammed them down at the ground, however Laharl flew to the air and fired several green blasts from his hands as they exploded continuously on Galleom as the "Overlord" laughed maniacally. "I...HATE YOU!!!" Galleom yelled as he turned back to his tank form and ran away from the barrage before turning back to his normal form and flared up at Laharl.

"So you're still standing, how persistent and useless." Laharl said.

Galleom narrowed his eyes. "I can still stand up and crush you to bits!"

"So am I, but I'm a different level of danger."

Galleom chuckled. "Sure you are. You're going to get surprised once I show you all my special attack..."

"You mean the "run" ability?" Laharl asked smirking. "I suggest you to use it."

"Don't dare to mock me anymore!" Galleom yelled back as he shot several missiles that went in different directions of the air before targeting Laharl.

"This is the same lame trick you pulled off a moment ago! Now you're starting to piss me off!" Laharl yelled as he called forth his sword and began slicing down the missiles who exploded and created a smokescreen. "Just you wait until I..." Laharl stopped once the smoke cleared out showing Galleom nowhere on sight. "Where'd that machine go now?!"

"THERE!" Galleom yelled behind Laharl who turned his back and got a fist in the face as he crashed down on the ground before Galleom came from the sky and slammed both joined fists. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That wasn't that hard at all!"

"Hehehehehehehe..."

"W-what?!" Galleom said astonished as his fists began to tremble before raising themselves above the ground because Laharl lifted both of them with a single hand as he smirked. "Y-you!"

"You know," Laharl began. "I should better start fighting seriously instead of playing around with you."

"PLAYING AROUND WITH ME?!" Galleom asked furiously.

"Haven't you noticed?" Laharl asked chuckling. "Man, for being a giant machine you sure are dumb enough to get worked up."

"Oh god. I don't know who's ego is bigger: Sonic's ego or Laharl's ego..." Chris wondered sighing.

"YOU...DAMN...VERMIN!!!" Galleom yelled as he backstepped and came forward with a fast punch that Laharl easily evaded and dodged the next one easily.

"Prince!" Etna called out drinking lemonade as she put on her eyes some sunglasses. "You're hurting his pride like Mid-Boss!"

"That's what it makes it so interesting!" Laharl yelled back as Galleom tried desperately to knock him down. "Give it up! It's useless to confront the Great Overlod Laharl! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S USELESS!" Galleom yelled firing missiles, punching Laharl rapidly and tried to slam his shoulder at him...however all attempts failed before the Prince of the Netherworld stabbed his sword at Galleom's armor. "UGH!"

"No blood?" Laharl asked disappointed. "Dammit! I thought you had blood! What's the point of dealing with you if I can't see your blood spilling all over the field?!"

"You're not supposed to be a vampire!" Kirby yelled.

"What's the point of your ridiculous size and insane strength?!" Galleom asked irritated as he stopped. "It's completely stupid that a machine such like myself is losing to an impudent bra-"

"Dare to finish that world and I'm REALLY going to crush you down!" Laharl threatened lifting up his hands to the air.

"Make me!" Galleom taunted narrowing his eyes.

"Oh no, no no no no no!" Pit said shocked.

"Hell yes!" Laharl yelled shooting a purple glowing ring to the sky before it grew in size and opened up on the center, calling forth a huge meteor that he used before on Vyers's Castle that it slowly went down Galleom.

"Run!" Mewtwo yelled. "The size of the collision could reach us easily!"

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled scared as the Aura Pokémon grunted, grabbed him (struggling a little bit) and used Extremespeed to appear to a safe side as the others ran behind them (or teleported using Mewtwo's help) as they saw the meteor trying to impact on Galleom who gasped and ran away in his tank form.

"W-wait a minute," Kirby looked around. "Where's Etna?!"

"OH MY GOO-" Etna's yell was interrupted as the explosion of the meteor reached her and the Prinnies who were blasted off to the Smashers and fell on the ground.

Mewtwo went to Etna and closed his eyes. "My apologies. My powers weren't that strong enough to teleport many at once."

"You're...going to...pay for that..." Etna muttered angrily.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Galleom yelled as the explosion caught him and yelled in great pain as Laharl flew above the explosion with crossed arms before laughing maniacally.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Laharl laughed maniacally yet again. "FEEL THE TREMENDOUS POWER OF THE PRINCE OF THE NETHERWORLD: THE GREAT OVERLORD LAHARL!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Meta Knight rolled his eyes. "The day he stops laughing like that, I will be seen wearing a hat."

"(Cute...)" Chris thought.

"U-ugh..." Galleom panted as the explosion stopped as he was shown standing on one knee while Laharl descended in front of him. "Damn you..."

Music stops

"Okay," Laharl held out his right hand. "Give it back now."

"...What?"

"Don't act like an idiot before me!" Laharl yelled angrily. "You know what I'm talking about, the pendant that you took away from the Love Freak!"

"Pendant?" Galleom asked confused. "I don't know...anything about a pendant..."

"He is lying," Mewtwo said glowing as the Smashers reunited with the demon. "He knows about Flonne's pendant."

Laharl glared up at Galleom. "You were revealed. Now show it to me, no, give it back to me so I can get my reward from the Love Freak!"

"D-damn it..." Galleom muttered.

"...So that's it?" Chris asked. "Galleom was defeated that easily?"

"It seems that way apparently." Mewtwo said nodding.

"...God, now I know who to call when we get in trouble!"

"Now give it back!" Laharl demanded but Galleom chuckled. "What's so funny all of a sudden?!"

"Heheheheheheheheh..." Galleom chuckled evily. "Fools... I know about the pendant but somebody else has it..."

"..." Mewtwo stopped glowing. "Yes. There is indeed another person besides Galleom himself."

"And that is?" Kirby asked.

"...I can't go further with the darkness of this place...sorry."

"Then tell me-" Laharl was interrupted.

"Us." Pit corrected him.

"Whatever! Tell me where's that person so I can kick his butt around!"

"...Never..." Galleom said standing up. "I'll never say it..."

"Well then," Laharl said taking his sword. "I guess we're going to do it the hard way: my way..."

Etna looked around. "Seems the Prinnies are actually giving your army quite a beating."

Galleom looked around and sure enough half of his army was being defeated by the sticks and pebbled from the Prinnies (some of them even took out hammers). "This is...so humiliating..."

"It is," Laharl said. "Now spill it out."

"E-everyone!"

Everyone looked at the bridge where Flonne was shown walking slowly to them. Pit got shocked and ran to her if she was alright.

"Flonne! A-are you feeling fine?" Pit asked concerned.

"Y-yes..." Flonne said trailing off as she looked around. "My...have you beaten everyone already?"

"Laharl did." Kirby said walking to her as the trio reunited with the whole group.

"So..." Flonne trailed off looking at Laharl.

"Look Love Freak, I'm almost done with this and I don't want you get hurt."

Flonne blushed and blinked a little. "O-oh my...t-then..."

Laharl nodded. "That's right. Just a bit more till this guy surrenders!"

"I-I'm so happy!" Flonne said clapping her hands a little. "I can't believe you're in love with me!"

Persona 4 – Border of Insanity

"W-WHAT?!" Laharl asked as he grabbed his chest in pain.

"...Huh?" Galleom looked down at Laharl who was twitching a little.

"I can't believe you're in love with me!" Flonne repeated happily.

"UGH!" Laharl dropped to one knee and began panting.

"U-um, Flonne, would you...stop that pretty please?" Kirby asked concerned of the situation.

"Why?" Flonne asked oblivious of the whole thing. "Laharl was fighting because he loves me, right?"

"DAMN IT!" Laharl yelled clutching his chest even closer to the ground.

"What is happening?" Galleom asked narrowing his eyes at Laharl.

Pit began to sweat. "F-Flonne! Really! We mean it! Stop saying those things here!"

Flonne giggled. "Oh Laharl, you're so kind to me. I knew demons had love after all this time!"

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHH!!!" Laharl yelled in pain as he turned pale.

"Wait..." Galleom trailed off thinking.

"...Uh-oh..." Chris began to sweat with Pit. "Flonne, really, stop it before it gets worse!"

Etna smacked her forehead. "Look, everything will be so easy if you stop saying those corny things around Laharl, you got that?"

Flonne tilted her head. "Um... I don't know what are you talking about Etna..."

"For crying out loud Flonne!" Etna yelled. "I mean those corny things! You know?!"

"...Aaaaaah!" Flonne put her right fist on her left palm. "You mean love, peace, happiness, frienship, eternal peace, eternal love, kindness and pretty much everything single thing related to love, peace, happiness, friendship, eternal peace, eternal love and kindness?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Laharl yelled out in extreme pain before he fainted on the spot between Galleom and the Smashers.

"...Somehow," Meta Knight looked at Galleom. "Things aren't going to turn better..."

"That was it?" Galleom asked chuckling. "This brat went down because he hates hearing those corny things?"

Flonne glared up at Galleom. "H-hey! That's so rude mister!"

Pit facepalmed. "Flonne, this isn't the time for formalities...to the enemy!"

"Hahahahahahahahaha!!!" Galleom laughed evily. "With all the strength I have left in me...you all will die here in hell!" Galleom cracked his fists as the Smashers took fighting stances. "With the demon brat out of the way, this encounter will end sooner that I expected!"

"He is probably right..." Mewtwo said narrowing his eyes. "The darkness won't allow me to use my powers at full strength..."

"Or mine." Lucario said growling a little as Chris hid behind him.

Chris took out his gun (the Peacemaker) and aimed it at Galleom. "I-I hope we can defeat him again..."

Meta Knight took out Galaxia and glared at Galleom. "It was so long after I last fought, this will repay that time."

"I-I'll do everything I can... I think." Kirby said trembling.

"I have to be focused," Pit said taking out his dual blades. "I won't lose in this demon world. Flonne, return to the castle!"

"B-but why?" Flonne asked confused.

"Duh, you took out the Prince so easily as he did with Mr. Giant Metalic (beep!) here." Etna said as Galleom grunted in rage.

"...O-okay..."

"Besides," Pit looked at her over his shoulder. "You're weak, aren't you?"

"Y-yes, but a Prinny gave me a medicine..." Flonne trailed off thinking.

"A Prinny giving you a medicine?" Etna asked confused. "Prinnies don't carry medicines around. Don't be silly."

"B-but it's the truth! One of them gave me a medicine!"

"Who?" Kirby asked.

Flonne looked around to see all the Prinnies fighting the army. "U-um... I-I don't know. They're very alike..."

Music stops

"...True enough." Chris, Lucario, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, Kirby, Pit and Etna said in unison, sarcastically with a frown.

Persona 4 - Border of Insanity

"SHUT UP!" Galleom demanded as he cracked his fists. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU LITTLE RATS! I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU MY SPECIAL ATTACK ONCE THE TIME COMES!"

"Special attack?" Mewtwo wondered. "...No...he can't mean..."

"W-what is it Mewtwo?" Chris asked concerned.

"...It's nothing. Don't worry."

"DIE!" Galleom yelled as he ran at them.

"FLONNE!" Pit yelled before he ran towards Galleom.

"B-but!" Flonne said concerned as Etna took her hand.

"C'mon! We'll leave everything to them! We have to protect the bridge from anyone else!" Etna yelled as both girls ran away to the bridge.

"(But...)" Flonne looked back where Laharl was laying on the ground. "(...Laharl...)"

Super Paper Mario

Whoa Zone

Chapter 4-4 The Mysterious Mr. L

Super Paper Mario – A Powerful Enemy Emerges

Geno jumped away from the spinning O' Chunks before he panted heavily. "Damn... I can't to this guy who can't even say a word..."

O' Chunks stopped spinning and looked angrily at Geno. "'ey! 'a''s 'at ''p'o'ed 'o 'ea'?!"

Geno blocked his ears (if he had any) and looked down annoyed. "Shut up...shut up shut up SHUT UP!"

"'av' 'ou!" O' Chunks yelled grabbing Geno before tossing him across the place where he bounced (from an invisible force) and crashed back to the floor where O' Chunks began to do weird poses.

"What can I do...to beat him..." Geno muttered as O' Chunks enjoyed his poses of victory.

"Geno!" Twink yelled from above. "You need to use something else that you haven't used in quite a time! Think of something!"

"(...Wait... I think I can still use that ability here...but how come I didn't use it before?) You won't...get away with this..." Geno muttered as he slowly got up.

"Hu'? ''at's 'ha'?" O' Chunks asked angrily.

"...This!" Geno yelled opening his arms to the air chanting a spell he had forgotten a long time ago. "Geno Boost!" Geno yelled as red arrows began appearing below him that rose up.

"Ha'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a! 'o' 'car'! Re' a''ow'!" O' Chunks laughed as the arrows disappeared with an impacting sound.

Geno glared at O' Chunks. "I hope you enjoyed your time...but it ends here."

O' Chunks rolled his eyes. "'eah, 'eah. I hea' y'."

"Just to let you know, my attack and defense have been increased. And I think it's enough take you out." Geno said aiming his fingers at O' Chunks.

"Pfft! 'h 'ook a' me! ''m 'onna 'ein' bea'en 'y a 'upp't 'inger'!"

Geno narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay that is IT! FIRE!" Geno yelled fired a barrage of fast red bullets that went crossing the general which this time were stronger than before as O' Chunks yelled in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" O' Chunks yelled in pain.

Geno stopped and quickly charged his beam. "This one is even stronger than before. GENO BEAM!" Geno shouted as he shot his beam which glittered a little and crashed into O' Chunks who screamed in pain. "Not quite done yet. GENO WHIRL!" Geno yelled throwing his fast yellow ring that crossed O' Chunks as the other attacks as the puppet put his left hand on his right fist. "I hope this ends you. HA!" Geno fired his quick rocket punch to O' Chunks face as it exploded and created smoke.

"'OOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTT!!!!" O' Chunks yelled in pain as he fainted on the spot.

"...Finally..." Geno said putting back his right hand which layed close to O' Chunks.

"Okay," Dedede began as he missed Sonic with his Jet Hammer. "Time to show ya who's the boss around here!"

Sonic rolled his eyes as Diddy charged his Peanut Gun. "Please, you can't land a hit on me, what else can you do?"

"...I don't know why but something bad is going to happen." Diddy said shuddering.

Sonic rolled his eyes but with a frown this time. "You don't know how sick I am from hearing that sentence..."

"I'll send ya to SLEEP!" Dedede yelled raising his hammer above him as a familiar rainbow aura exploded in him.

Sonic yet again rolled his eyes. "Oh how creepy. Mr. Penguin is glowing in pussy colors."

Geno joined both of them and gasped when he saw Dedede smirking with the aura. "Wait, I thought we could only use that! How did you..."

"Surprised?" Dedede asked grinning. "Tabuu gave us dah same powers you all use. And I'm so gonna make you regret for hittin' me 'round!" Dedede said angrily as he whistled on his fingers. "ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"

Diddy began to hear drums from nowhere before he saw Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos raining from the sky as they landed and rubbed their rears. "...You called forth those guys?" Diddy asked.

"RAM AT 'EM!" Dedede commanded as all the creatures began to lung crazily at everyone (besides the first trio) by slamming themselves around each Smasher who tried to dodge as quick as they could.

"Such passion to defeat them," Dimentio said chuckling. "Quite the show indeed."

"AGH! UGH! OWW! OWW! OUCH!" Toon Link screamed in pain every single Waddle Dee rammed into him, plus a Gordo who pinched his back.

"DAMMIT, THEY WON'T STOP APPEARING!" Sonic yelled dodging the plethora of enemies before he tripped and 3 Gordos pinched him. "SSSSSSPIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!" Sonic yelled in horror.

"DA-DADA-DA-DADA-DA-RAM RAM RAM!" Dedede sang happily as Mario was flung above him. "DA-DADA-DA-DADA-DA-RAM RAM RAM!" Dedede sang spinning as Zelda yelled in pain. "DA-DADA-DA-DADA-DA-HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!" Dedede laughed happily as the plethora of Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos and Gordos stopped from appearing from nowhere.

"That's your Final Smash?" Charizard asked facepalming. "I hope mine isn't that ridiculous..."

Peach panted heavily as she slowly got up from the floor and looked at Mimi giggling. "How...dare you..."

"Mimimimimimimimi!" Mimi giggled as her rubees formed around her. "You're still standing up after that attack? My you sure are persistent my dears."

Zelda coughed a little. "That attack...was extremely ridiculous."

"Uh-huh. It was," Mimi rubbed her chin a little. "I wonder: can I beat you 2 ruby haters for good this time?"

"I...doubt that..." Zelda said panting.

Mimi got an angry expression and flailed her legs a little. "Okay, like that was sooooooooo uncalled for. My rubees will do the rest on you my dears I'm afraid!"

"Can we use...that Final Smash again?" Peach asked trying to recover.

"But I don't want to use mine...let another one use it..." Zelda said looking around where everyone was weak. "Can you still fight?"

Mr. L chuckled. "Man, what kind of stupid question is that?" Mr. L asked as he did his pose again. "Maybe you should all throw away the towels and die here!"

"That's...ridiculous..." Yoshi muttered as he shook his head. "Look... I can still do this!" Yoshi said as he extended his tongue at Dimentio.

"And then I will dominate this place to create a much better space an-" Dimentio (as odd as it sounds) was inconviniently talking to himself about the Whoa Zone as he noticed a tongue wrapping up on his waist. "Strange, where did this tonguUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Dimentio yelled as he was quickly pulled inside Yoshi's mouth where he began to bite him widly. "HEY! STOP IT! STOP IT! I CAN'T BE BITTEN BY YOU!"

"TOO BAD!" Yoshi yelled without opening his mouth as he furiously used all his energies to keep Dimentio inside his mouth. The magician was screaming in pain as he tried to get out from Yoshi.

Mr. L gasped. "What the heck were you doing Dimentio?! You let your guard down for a moment and this happens! What kind of henchmen are yo-" Mr. L noticed a finger poking his shoulder but he rolled his eyes. "That's the same trick again! Do you think I'm going to turn and fall for that?!"

"Fine," Fox said kicking Mr. L right between the legs (which wasn't that good for the masked guy since his white eyes widened in horror). "I'll just do this." Fox said simply as his foot was still between the legs and...

...Pulled it with force back to him.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!" Mr. L yelled like a young girl as he dropped to the floor twitching in pain. "Y-YOU STUPID...THING! YES! THAT'S IT! THING! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HIT ME WHERE IT HURTS A LOT!!!"

"Here." Mario said putting a familiar blue round object besides Mr. L, who stared at it.

"Shh-BOOM!" Boomer said happily. "Hi mister! Enjoying your day with your vibes?!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M ENJOYING THIS LOWER PAIN?!" Mr. L yelled.

Boomer rolled his eyes. "Er...no. SHA-BOOM!"

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Mr. L yelled in pain after Boomer exploded right into his face and returned to Mario. "Y-you...you will feel the wrath of the Green Thunder again one of these days!"

"Beautiful rubees," Mimi began as her rubees were raised to the air and aimed at the princesses. "POKE THEM TO DEATH!"

"I-I can't use Nayru's Love! I don't have that much strength left..." Zelda said dropping to one knee as all the rubees aimed at her directly. "...I'm sorry..."

"N-no!" Peach yelled as the rubees went straight to Zelda. "I won't...allow you die!" Peach yelled stepping in front of Zelda as she covered herself with her umbrella, making the rubees bounce off as Mimi flailed her arms angrily. "Phew..."

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Mimi yelled angrily. "Those were my most precious rubees! How dare you?!"

"(She's distracted,)" Peach thought as she looked down at Zelda. "Zelda...can you still fight?"

"...I think so. Thanks Peach." Zelda said as she got up.

"Do you have something in mind to beat her?"

Zelda closed her eyes and looked down. "...I think we can beat her if I..."

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!" Mimi grunted furiously. "Okay my ladies," Mimi called forth more rubees. "I hav enough of you 2 and your dislikeness towards rubees. I hope you enjoy being buried under all of them today!" Mimi noticed that both princesses were gone from their place which made her confused. "Just hold on a minute! Where'd they go now?!"

"Right here."

"Huh? WHAT?!" Mimi saw Peach and Sheik appearing in a poof of smoke right above hr as both girls extended their right feet at her. "Have you forgotten about my spinning rubees?! You'll get pinched by them, you silly donkeys!"

"Hey!" DK yelled angrily.

"She wasn't talking about you!" Peach reminded DK.

"BE PINCHED!" Mimi yelled as she simply held her position in midair but then she saw Peach putting her umbrella beneath their feet. "How original my peachy girl... Wait a minute..." Mimi began to think. "If your umbrella can't be harmed then...OH GOLLY!" Mimi yelled as she tried to get away but was pinned down towards the floor by Peach's umbrella who bounced off the rubees and crushed the girl below it. "OWIE!"

"Quick!" Sheik said as Peach nodded and got out from the way without her umbrella. Sheik then began by grabbing the umbrella as she set Mimi free but the young girl gasped before the Sheikah slammed the umbrella several times in her doing a long combo.

"OUCHIE! STOP IT!" Mimi yelled as she was being constantly pulled into the air.

"If you wish..." Sheik said simply as she slammed hard her last blow on Mimi's face who crashed into the floor and groaned in pain.

"...You...doodoo heads..." Mimi muttered as she fainted.

"What?!" Charizard said angrily. "How are we losing after Dedede used his Final Smash?! That's ridiculous!"

"Oh no," Mallow said opening his hands to the air as he struggled to cast his spell. "Ridiculous is being crushed under a big snowman which will explode."

Charizard chuckled. "Big snowman that will explode and crush me...you sure are stupid...and why the heck is this snow here?"

"SNOWY!" Mallow yelled before he fell on his back and called forth a blizzard that froze Charizard as a huge snowman crushed him, it blinked several times before exploding into snow that caused a lot of damage to the dragon. "That...should do it..."

"Ice...melting into water...at the last moment...that's cheap..." Charizard muttered as he shook his head. "I won't lose... I WON'T LOSE!"

"HEY!" Bowser yelled from above as he stomped on Charizard's head. "Forgot...about me?"

"You!" Charizard said gritting his fangs.

"I'm the king! I'm the king! Oh yeah!" Bowser said doing a weird dance which made everyone look at him. "...Well, they have poses and all that crap so..."

"Talk...about sad..." Diddy said as Bowser sweatdropped.

"...Feel this!" Charizard yelled slamming his forehead right into Bowser's head as the king of the Koopas backed away and shook his head afterwards.

"BLUUUUUAAAAAAA!!!" Bowser shot a stream of fire at Charizard who dodged it by jumping to the air and flew towards Bowser using Flamethrower.

Charizard dove right into Bowser and prepared to bite his arm but Bowser sidestepped and crushed Charizard's tail with his right foot making Charizard yelp before Bowser grabbed his tail and slammed the dragon to the floor. "D-damn it!" Charizard yelled as Bowser pinned his head down with his left foot.

"Now," Bowser smirked. "Who's the...better villain?!"

"...Ugh..." Charizard groaned in pain.

"I SAID STOP IT!" Dimentio yelled inside Yoshi's mouth before he got out as Yoshi fainted for forcing so much energy out of him. "Look at what have you done to me!" Dimentio complained as he wiped out the...bad liquid you can get from a mouth. "It's going to take some time before this gets properly washed!"

"There...you are!" DK yelled pulling his fist back.

Dimentio blinked confused and turned his back. "...Oh sh-" Dimentio couldn't finish his sentence as DK's charged Giant Punch collided right into his face and was rocketed across the air before bumping into the floor several times, but with all his damage he could still float. "...Ha ha ha ha...let my guard down again, didn't I?"

"You...sure did."

Dimentio turned his back again as was slashed across the face by Toon Link who kept slicing several times before taking out his Boomerang which he shot at Dimentio putting a bomb on it to cause an small cartoony explosion. "Ouch!" Dimentio yelled in pain.

"YIAAAH!!!" Toon Link used a quick Spin Attack which caused even more damage than before on the magician who backed away in pain and put a right hand on his face.

"...Such fervor...is defeating me..." Dimentio muttered weakly. "...At least I can still escap-" Dimentio was interrupted as an arrow struck down his chest and looked to Toon Link glaring at him with his bow aiming at him. "...Very clever... I like that..." Dimentio muttered weakly as he made a sad face and fell to the floor.

"..." Dedede looked around both sides as the remaining Smashers went closer and closer to him. "...Uh-oh...you're not mad after I showed you mah Final Smash...right guys?!"

"GET HIM!" Diddy and Sonic yelled as Dedede screamed, passed them quickly and ran away in a hurry to who knows where, dragging Charizard by the tail (Charizard: STOP DRAGGING ME AROUND!) as they disappeared in a dark portal to the Subspace before it vanished...wait, we know now where they went to.

Music stops

"Mallow!" Peach ran to Mallow and picked him up. "Poor dear. Are you okay?"

"..." Mallow didn't respond as Peach hugged him tightlier.

"Mallow..." Geno began as he made a bored look once he noticed Mallow smiling happily. "I know you're taking advantage of this situation..."

Mallow opened his eyes with an angry expression. "Geno!" Mallow said angrily as Peach dropped him back to the floor.

"Yoshi!" Peach ran at Yoshi and dropped to her knees to see if he was fine.

Mallow rolled his eyes. "The guy's just faking it."

"Actually..." Tippi flew down with Twink. "He's really fainted."

"...Oh come on!" Mallow said annoyed as he pouted a little and some of them chuckled.

"...'hey ain't 'ookin'..." O' Chunks muttered to Mimi, Mr. L and Dimentio.

"I need to...get these owies...out of me...owie..." Mimi whispered weakly.

"Don't...worry..." Mr. L muttered. "...I'll call my bro here...you guys can get the blame from Count Bleck and...leave me behind to settle things..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Dimentio muttered with his sad face. "...Not much of a choice...well then..." Dimentio slowly got up and snapped his fingers as 3 dimensional vortexes covered Mimi, O' Chunks and himself.

Sonic's ears perked up a little and turned his back to see the villains gone whic made him glare. "What the heck?"

Everyone else turned their backs and saw Mr. L slowly getting up. "My goodness. He can still go on?" Peach asked as she hugged Yoshi's nose.

...To be honest, Yoshi was INDEED faking it but he was more professional than Mallow.

"Hey! The guy just smiled!" Mallow pointed an accussing finger to the Yoshi who opened his eyes with a glare as Peach let his head drop down.

"Y-you won't beat me!" Mr. L proclaimed spinning around as he did his pose YET again. "I'm the Green Thunder: Mr. L! The Green of Justice who shall bring the baddies to their prison cells!"

"No way!" Sonic said wiping his mouth with a finger as he grinned afterwards. "The Blue of Injustice shall bring the heroes to their cages for animals!"

Everyone else made bored looks with frowns. "...Sonic, I think you tried to say that you were the justice guy who should fight the villains...am I right?" Twink asked.

"...Drats!" Sonic snapped his fingers as Mr. L sweatdropped.

"(...Do I look that ridiculous?)" Mr. L thought before shaking his head. "Anyway you wackos! It's time for you to meet my brother!"

"You mean Ma-" Diddy was interrupted as the masked guy opened his arms to the air calling forth a force that shook the entire place as they looked around confused.

"There's absolutely no way an earthquake can appear here! We're in the space!" Mallow said chuckling.

Before their eyes, the background got a hole and a big object came out as it rose up and floated down between the Smashers and Mr. L.

However they all made bored looks again as Mr. L jumped to it inside. "...I don't know what's more stupid..." Toon Link said.

"The fact that we're fighting "Mr. L" or the fact that we're going to fight a giant metalic head that looks like Lui-" Fox was once again interrupted.

"Behold!" Mr. L said interrupting. "This is my bro! Brobot L! Yeah, me and my brother share a special mutual bond."

"...Eww." Sheik squealed by muttering.

Mr. L glared at them. "Hey! Not that kind of sick idea. Mind you lady!" Mr. L pressed a button to make the robot's head hover above the floor. "Hopefully my bro and I will shut your mouths but for GOOD this time! Oh yeah! I can see your legs trembling with fear from this height of awesomeness!"

"Snrk..." Yoshi chuckled. "...Hahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"...What the heck is so funny now?"

"The fact that we're going to fight a big metalic head," Toon Link said chuckling. "Really, you don't know how overused is that?"

Super Paper Mario – Brobot Battle 1

"...No?" Mr. L responded confused as even more of them began chuckling. "H-hey! Stop laughing at me! I'm the Great Green of Count Bleck's henchmen! Fear me! Don't laugh at me! Yeah, I demand too much but that's because you're laughing at me! GRRRRRRRR! THAT'S IT!" Mr. L said irritated as he pressed a button to change the whole place into the space where they quickly put on their helmets. "Hey! Mr. Jumpallthetime! Ms. Alwayskidnapped! Mr. Dumbguywho'salways losingtoaplumber! And especially the hairy antros (DK, Diddy, Sonic and Fox: Hey!), monsters (Geno, Mallow and Twink: Hey!), whatever the heck you are (Yoshi: Hey!), mini cartoony swordsman and freaky ninja! (Toon Link and Sheik: That's rude!) Time to get killed!"

"SQUIRPS!" Squirps appeared between the Smashers and Mr. L. "You! You're the one who kicked me earlier!"

"Oh god not the mini octopus again!"

Squirps floated to Mario. "Okay now. Squirps needs to your help and you need Squirps's help too!"

"...Oh please no..." Mario muttered.

The plumber grabbed Squirps and aimed him at Brobot L. "Should we leave him to you Mario?" Peach asked.

Mario nodded as they nodded back and flew behind, leaving both the red plumber, the annoying little alien bastard named Squirps (Squirps (shifts eyes): Hmm... Squirps feels he was insulted...), the masked guy named Mr. L and his robot head.

"Hold on!" Mr. L said raising a hand as the robot got covered in a familiar purple aura. "Behold the new Dark Brobot L! Enhanced with Subspace technology to reach his maximum capabilities!"

"...H-he's right, Mario," Tippi said worried. "I analyzed his status and they were enhanced greatly... I suggest extreme caution when dealing with that crazy lunatic..."

"What?" Mario asked as quick rapid missiles went after him as he focused his aim (or force as Squirps described) to destroy the missiles which wasn't enough as he got attacked severly. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"SQUIRPS!" Squirps yelled in pain.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mr. L laughed. "Seems you can't fight that well in space after all. How sad! This fight will end so damn quickly before I get excited!"

"Mario! Catch it!" Fox yelled throwing his Reflector at Mario who caught it and put it inside his pockets.

"Pfft, a small device that will significantly do nothing at all." Mr. L said rolling his eyes.

"On second thought..." Fox came from behind Mario and took back his Reflector. "Who am I to leave everything to you?"

"Or me?" Mallow asked floating to Mario with everyone else.

"We're not that stupid to let you fight alone that possessed guy." Sonic said as he looked away from Mario's eyes.

"Yeah. Only the biggest idiots of some alternate universe would leave a final boss guy to a protagonist that isn't that protagonistic through a whole adventure at all," Diddy chuckled. "But we aren't like that at all."

Everyone looked at Diddy. "...Diddy..." Zelda began.

"Yes?" Diddy raised an eyebrow.

"...That was so out of the blue."

"...It was?" Diddy asked to DK who nodded. "...Well..."

"Enough of your business!" Mr. L yelled pressing a button. "BEHOLD THE MISSILES THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED BY ANY KIND OF REFLECTORS OF THE GREEN DOOM!"

Sheik made a bored face. "...Were you trying to make either myself as my other form or Fox use our techniques to get wide open for the missiles which could have exploded on us but you stated the obvious making the surprise not a surprise anymore?"

"And what's up with you naming your attacks with a lame title?" Toon Link asked tilting his head.

"..." Mr. L responded by banging his head on the controls as the dark missiles were shot at them.

"Missiles missiles missiles..." Bowser said gathering flames in his mouth. "They're very original!"

"Sure." Mallow said nodding.

"...Mallow. I think Bowser wasn't sarcastic just now." Geno said.

"...That guy has a messed up mind."

"BLUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!" Bowser breathed his fire out that spreaded to the dark missiles, but they weren't burned at all as they collided with Bowser who yelled in pain. "DAMMIT!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mr. L laughed maniacally. "Nothing can defeat THE MISSILES THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED BY ANY KIND OF REFLECTORS OF THE GREEN DOOM! It's impossible!"

"I can't help it but feel sorry for the guy..." DK said frowning.

"LASER THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED EITHER OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled firing a huge laser to DK who tried to get away but was attacked by it as Diddy glared at Mr. L's robot.

"Hey! That was...bad, yes! Bad!" Diddy said nodding as he aimed his Peanut Gun at Mr. L's cabin.

Mr. L chuckled. "My window of the green doom can't be penetrated b-" Mr. L was interrupted as a peanut made a hole on his window. "Yikes! SEEKER MISSILES THAT CAN'T YET BE REFLECTED OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L made Dark Brobot L call forth 8 dark missiles that went after Diddy.

"T-THUNDERBOLT!" Mallow yelled casting down blue bolts from the space that crashed into the dark missiles. "N-no! I can't destroy them!"

"They're getting weak," Sheik began as she took out her kunais. "Keep attacking them!"

"I think some of us should attack Mr. L while others could act as some kind of defense to protect the attackers." Peach suggested.

"...Peach, sometimes I love when you get strategies out like that," Sheik said. "Quick, close combat attackers get closer to the robot and attack when it's distracted, long-range attackers stay away by shooting and casting spells and other that can act using the defensive protect the attackers!"

"SQUIRPS!" Squirps yelled as he began to fire widly at Brobot who kept holding its position.

"Oh," Mr. L noticed that everyone was spreading. "You think a simple strategy like that will take Brobot and I out?"

"Yes," the Smashers said in unison.

"...Oh now you're REALLY going to suffer THE MISSILES THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED BY ANY KIND OF REFLECTORS OF THE GREEN DOOM! DUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mr. L laughed as he shot many missiles at Mario.

"Defensive, now!" Sheik ordered as Sonic gave her a thumbs up and quickly went above a missile which he grabbed from above and struggled to change its direction to the other missiles, once he got the right aim he set the missile free which crashed into one missile, exploding into bits creating a chain reaction that destroyed all the missiles.

"H-hey!" Mr. L felt a tremble underneath Dark Brobot L. "Who's hiding down there?!"

DK was seen banging constantly in the metal with his fists as Mr. L panicked for a bit. "Oh yeah! Now we're talking!"

"ACTIVATING ULTRA ELECTRIC SHOCKING FIELD OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled calling forth electric bolts that electrocuted DK greatly as the robot shook the kong to Diddy.

"DK!" Diddy said worried.

"I-I'm fine..." DK said shaking his head. "I think...I need to be careful with that."

"Keep firing at will!" Sheik ordered Mario and Squirps who kept firing constantly.

"LASER THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED EITHER OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled charging his huge laser.

"Peach, use your...unquestionably, durable an insanely hard umbrella to protect Mario...use it!" Sheik told Peach who nodded quickly and shielded Mario with her umbrella as the beam simply got blocked before it stopped.

"Should I have made the laser that can't be blocked either of the green doom instead?" Mr. L wondered.

"Hey!" Toon Link appeared on the window of the cabin with his bow ready.

"You're just getting yourself wide open dude. APPROACH OF THE GREEN DOOM!"

"...The what again?" Toon Link asked confused as Brobot quickly rammed Toon Link, Mario, Squirps, Peach, Sheik and DK with a fast forward rush as the robot returned to its position.

"Ha! Serves you right!" Mr. L said chuckling happily.

"Is everyone alright?" Tippi asked.

"That ramming attack...took a lot of my energy..." Toon Link said weakly.

"Not to mention all of you fought before this battle without resting..." Tippi looked at Mr. L laughing. "I really hate that guy so much..."

"We'll...just have to keep on with our strategy..."

Mallow came with a weird barrier protecting him as he was shown munching a chocolate. "Yeah, I mean, what else can we use to attack him?"

Everyone stared at Mallow. "...Mallow, where did you get that shield from?" Geno asked.

Mallow chuckled as he finished his chocolate bar. "This? You mean the bars that you guys have been ignoring?"

"Ignoring?" Toon Link asked as everyone noticed chocolate bars of different envelopes flying away through the space.

"Who's throwing all this stuff in the middle of the space?" DK asked confused.

Fort Francis

Chapter 3-4

"What do you mean by order of powered chocolate bars by ultra space delivery has been thrown out by accident, nerr?!" Francis asked angrily to the phone.

Whoa Zone

Chapter 4-4

"Who cares about that?" Twink asked grabbing a chocolate bar. "We should use them to our advantage!"

Sheik rolled her eyes. "They're chocolate bars for god's sake! There's no way they're going to give us some kind of special enhancement except extra calories and probably acne!"

"Are we worried that much about our weight?" Diddy asked as he was shown eating a red chocolate bar that made strange lights float around him that shot missiles at Brobot. "Burp."

"...Dude, I think this place is even more scary and creepy than before." Yoshi said shuddering a little bit.

Sonic grinned as he ate a purple one that seemed to enhance his speed. "I'm all the way good for this stuff!"

"There's no way you're going to convince me other way!" Sheik said crossing her arms.

"...They're mint-flavored." Sonic said with a wink.

"...They are?" Sheik noticed that everyone was chuckling. "...I like mint-flavored chocolate! Okay! I love them! Happy now?"

"Are you guys done chattering with each other?" Mr. L asked approaching his robot at them. "I hope you don't eat all the chocolate being thrown around here 'cuz the red ones give double strength, the purple ones give extra speed, the green ones give missiles, the blue ones will give a barrier and the yellow ones will multiply the little alien freak an-" Mr. L noticed that everyone stared at him with mischievous looks with grins. "...WHY AM I GIVING OUT CRUCIAL INFORMATION IN A PLACE LIKE THIS IN A TIME LIKE THIS WHEN I HAVE THE CHANCE OF WINNING?!"

"Sonic! Grab all the chocolate bars (as odd as it sounds) and give each one to everyone here!" Sheik ordered as Sonic grinned and went after the bars that easily reached quickly while Brobot L tried to shot him down but was unable to.

"Here Mario!" Sonic yelled throwing Mario a yellow bar that he ate, making Squirps split in 2 as they began to shoot wildly at the robot with rapid fire attacks.

"OH?! YOU WANNA HAVE A CRAZY BATTLE?! I'LL GIVE YOU A CRAZY ONE!!!" Mr. L yelled angrily as he fired as many dark missiles as he could to the Smashers which really throw them off guard with their strategy.

"What now?!" Toon Link asked as his hands trembled.

"Sonic! Give everyone green bars!" Sheik ordered as the hedgehog quickly looked round for mentioned bars which he found and tossed them at everyone who quickly ate the chocolate and got barriers that the missiles couldn't destroy.

"DAMMIT! MY MISSILES THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED BY ANY KIND OF REFLECTORS OF THE GREEN DOOM CAN'T PENETRATE YOUR CHOCOLATE POWERED BARRIERS!" Mr. L yelled panicking.

"Red one please!" DK asked for a red chocolate that Sonic threw one at him which he ate and felt a surge of power in him. "Hey, robot guy!" DK called going to the robot as he pulled back his fist. "Taste this if metal can!"

"AAAHHH!!!" Mr. L yelled as his robot was pushed back by DK's Giant Punch. "S-stop it! You're going to destroy Dark Brobot L!"

"That's the idea, genius." Geno said aiming his right hand at Mr. L.

"Rocket punch?" Mr. L guessed.

"Rocket punch with a red bar," Geno said nodding as his punch went rocketing to Brobot L which impacted, exploded and pushed back the robot as Geno got it back. "But I guess it's not enough to finish you off."

"Y-you're right," Mr. L said gritting his teeth. "You guys are getting on my nerves. I should just go all crazy with my missiles, beam and heavy artillery then! FULL ATTACK MODE O-"

"Of the green doom," the Smashers said in unison with bored looks.

"You got it right!" Mr. L said surprised (as everyone facepalmed) as he chose the full attack mode which was very insane since he called forth dark missiles, dark beams, dark missiles, dark rams, dark laughs, dark chuckl...wait, he laughed and chuckled but shot dark beams and dark he tried to ram at them. "MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! DESTROY! DESTROOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

"What's wrong with him?" Peach asked as she hid behind her umbrella.

"I-I don't know," Mario said hiding behind her. "But something seems really familiar..."

"FOR THE LAST TIME MARIO, HE IS LUIGI!!!" Fox yelled from afar.

"Who?!" Mario and Peach asked putting their right hands on their right ears.

"HE'S LUIGI FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Yoshi yelled as he swiftly evaded the missiles thanks to a purple bar.

"Who?!"

"THAT GUY IS LUIGI!" DK yelled as he blocked himself with his arms from the missiles.

"Who?!"

"MR. L IS LUIGI!!!" Sheik yelled angrily as she evaded the huge dark beam. "THE COLOR, THE SIZE, THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS ROBOT HEAD AND THE STUPID LOOK HE'S WEARING GIVE AWAY HIS REAL IDENTITY TO ANYONE!"

"ARE YOU 2 BEING COMPLETE IGNORANTS AS BOWSER?!" Geno yelled as Bowser glared at him.

"Who?!" Mario and Peach kept asking confused because they couldn't hear anything will all the noise of the missiles.

"Um..." Tippi appeared behind Mario alongside with Twink. "I think they're saying that we should attack Mr. L for now..."

"Oh." Mario and Peach said nodding, ignoring everyone who facepalmed and frowned at this.

"I want to murder those 2 right now..." Yoshi muttered annoyed.

"ULTRA SUPER MAGNIFICENT...um..." Mr. L thought for a moment. "Magnificent...er..."

"Can't think of a name?" Fox asked tapping on the window.

"Well yeah, they're pretty hard to make actually an-" Mr. L blinked as he realized something. "Wait a sec there!"

"Too late!" Fox yelled breaking the window apart with a charged kick as Mr. L panicked flailing his arms around.

"Okie dokie you damn animal," Mr. L said grumbling. "That's the last time you break something apart from my dear Brobot! He will need huge repairs because o-" Mr. L stopped once Fox had enough and grabbed him by the collar with both hands. "MERCY MERCY! PLEASE I MEAN!"

Fox grinned. "So who's the one begging for mercy now?"

"(Got him,)" Mr. L thought mischievously as he pressed a button from his back. "I mean GET THE HELL OUTTA MY SIGHT!"

"You're just worsening things u-"

"Fox! Behind you!" Mallow yelled as what looked to be a missile with a hand grabbed the vulpine by behind and threw him away directly to the beam's way where he got severly injured as he yelled in pain. "Oh no!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Mr. L laughed as he sat back on his seat and grabbed the levers. "I'm the most baddest of the baddest here kids! Don't forget the Green Thunder: Mr.-"

"SHUT UP!" Mallow yelled casting Thunderbolt at Mr. L who dodged quickly the bolts and focused all his dark missiles at the cloud prince who gasped and began moving around the space frantically. "SOMEBODY!"

"Got you!" Sonic said grabbing Mallow's hand as he swiftly crossed the dark missiles that tried to explode on them but impacted with each other as the prince hugged Sonic. "H-hey!"

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Mallow said rubbing his cheek with Sonic's cheek.

"D-does he always get like this?" Sonic asked to no one in particular.

"WHATEVER THE HECK THIS ATTACK'S NAME IS OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled pressing a button that began creating sparks around Dark Brobot L before dicharging them everywhere which managed to land on every single Smasher who yelled in pain. "Suh-weet! That's gonna teach you all a lesson for real!"

"...Yoshi?" Peach asked as she saw Yoshi in a weakened state. "...Yoshi, are you okay?"

"..." Yoshi didn't spoke.

"...Oh no..." Peach muttered shocked. "Yoshi...no...please...no!"

"Yoshi!" Mario yelled worried as he went after Yoshi. "Please, wake up! Yoshi!"

"..." Yoshi continued his silence.

"...M-Mario..." Peach began to sob silently.

"...Mr. L..." Mario muttered as he glared at Dark Brobot L. "I'm... I'm going to end this!"

"BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser laughed. "Plumber! This kind of situation should be better off with a guy like greatest me!"

"Oh well then," Mr. L said approaching to Bowser who gasped back. "Guess you'll die first! LASER THAT CAN'T BE REFLECTED EITHER OF THE GREEN DOOM!" Mr. L yelled maniacally as the entire beam made a direct hit to the king of the Koopas who screamed in pain before he passed out of cold. "Let's see now..." Mr. L looked around the space. "The furry is out, the dumb dinosaur is out and the supposedly king is out as well. Heh, everything is getting better for greatest me!"

"W-what?" Peach asked as she looked at Fox who was apparently knocked out. "N-no!"

"I'm afraid yes my dear!" Mr. L said (not noticing the puppet, the hedgehog and the cloud prince going behind Dark Brobot L). "I'll use the WHATEVER THE HECK THIS ATTACK'S NAME IS OF THE GREEN DOOM to finish all of you at once!"

Sheik narrowed her eyes as she panted. "Bring it...on...we'll resist it as well..."

"You sure about that?" Mr. L asked smirking as he held a finger pointing down at one button. "With a single push you will all be finished for!"

"Geno Boost." Geno whispered as his attack and strength increased.

Sheik grabbed several kunais and hid them behind her back. "Use that discharge again."

"S-Sheik!" DK said shocked shaking his head.

"Red chocolate bar." Sonic whispered giving Geno the chocolate that he ate.

"By the way, can you taste the chocolate at least?" Mallow asked confused.

"I wished for having the sense of taste and I got it." Geno whispered.

"...Sure, you wish came true." Sonic said rolling his eyes.

"G-guys..." Toon Link trailed off as Mr. L began to move down his finger. "D-do something!"

"Fine fine, I'll do it." Sheik said throwing her kunais at high speed to Mr. L's hand which got pinched quickly and made the masked guy yelp in pain.

"SQUIIIIIIIIIRPS POWEEEEEEEER!" Squirps yelled as Mario began to fire directly at Mr. L who couldn't reach for the controls as he backed away inside Dark Brobot L.

"We have him cornered!" Diddy said as he began shooting peanuts at the cabin.

"S-stop it!" Mr. L complained as he blocked his eyes. "W-what kind of strategy is this?! I can't continue my frenzy of dark beams and dark missiles if you keep staggering me!"

"That's the damn idea!" DK yelled from behind Peach.

"YIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Mr. L charged at the controls and pressed the discharge button that created several sparks around Dark Brobot L. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! START TO BEG FOR MERCY SCUM!"

"E-everyone!" Peach yelled putting her umbrella in front of her. "Hide behind my umbrella!"

"As stupid as it sounds...hide!" Sheik ordered the rest of the Smashers (as DK reached Bowser and Fox and pulled them behind the group as Mr. L laughed evily.

"YOU STUPID SCOURGE!" Mr. L yelled furiously as he laughed maniacally afterwards. "FEEL THE ULTIMATE WRATH OF DARK BROBOT L AND HIS BROTHER, THE GREEN THUNDER, THE GREEN BLOOD, THE GREEN OF DOOM, THE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL: MR-"

"Geno..."

"...Huh?" Mr. L looked behind by turning the direction where Dark Brobot L was looking and found Mallow, Sonic and Geno in a triangle formation. "Oh there you are! I was wondering where were you guys!" Mr. L grabbed the levers. "Finally! Count Bleck will define me as his biggest and greatest underling that has never been before on his Top 5 favorite an-"

"SHUT UP!" Sonic and Mallow yelled angrily.

"Nobody shuts the Green Thunder's mou-" Mr. L did a double take once he glanced over Geno. "What's the puppet guy doing with that yellow ring in hi-"

"WHIRL!" Geno yelled firing at full speed the glowing yellow ring that crossed Dark Brobot L directly on the middle as Mr. L blinked shocked and looked around.

"...Did it work?" Twink asked concerned.

"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Mr. L laughed maniacally YET again. "Seems you ran out of luck woody! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaha...ha...a...er..." Mr. L noticed something besides Dark Brobot L

"...What's that besides him?" Diddy asked pointing at a yellow star that had "9999" on it.

"W-well..." Tippi trailed off. "Those odd stars with numbers usually appear when Mario or Peach damage an enemy so I guess that's the total damage Mr. L received..."

"..." Mr. L made an annoyed looked. "Oh, you have to be SO kidding m-"

BOOM!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Mr. L yelled panicking as Dark Brobot L began exploding everywhere. "DARK BROBOT L! ANSWER ME! DON'T DIE ON ME! NO NO NO NO NO! WE CAN'T LOSE LIKE THIS WITH THESE IDIOTS IN A TIME LIKE THIS! BRO?! BROBOT?! HELLO?! OH NO!" Mr. L screamed as the whole space shook violently (if that was physically possible) while the Smashers looked around confused.

Music stops

Boom!

They found themselves back in the normal Whoa Zone as they looked around confused at the whole situation. "...Say, what happened just now?" Mallow asked.

"I-I don't know..." Peach said putting her right hand on her chin as she looked up. "I wonder if defeating Mr. L had something to do with it."

"Duh." Twink and Diddy said rolling their eyes.

"Hey you 3!" DK yelled at Bowser, Fox and Yoshi who were still unconscious. "Wake up! Everything's fine now!"

"...WHAT?!" Bowser asked getting up. "T-the battle's over and I didn't help that much?! What's the point of fighting then?!"

"My god, he recovered so fast." Tippi said surprised as Peach chuckled a little bit.

"That's the Bowser we know and love." Peach said smiling a little.

"...We do?" the Smashers, Geno, Mallow, Twink and Tippi asked very confused.

"...Well...maybe not that much...and now that I think about it, me neither." Peach said giggling nervously.

Yoshi opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the sky where he saw a small dot growing in size. "...Huh? What's that in the sky?"

"yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!! OWW!" Mr. L came from the sky and crashed into the floor as he groaned in pain.

Super Paper Mario - Mr. L's Theme

"Oh no, he's still alive!" Twink gasped.

"O-of course I'm still alive!" Mr. L said getting up as he glared at them. "L-look at what have you done to my precious bro! He's gone for now and forever from my life! Did you know how big and strong was our mutual bond?! Huh?!"

"Look," Tippi began. "We know you liked so creepily enough that "poor" robot but the thing is that we need to proceed and get the Pure Heart."

Mr. L sniffed a little. "Y-you guys...YOU GUYS SUCK! TOTALLY! YOU GUYS SUCK SO MUCH THAT A GOOMBA DIED OF YOUR SUCKINESS! THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA GET MY REVENGE ONE OF THESE DAYS AT YOU!" Mr. L yelled crying as they glared at him. "YOU GUYS SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA-"

Boink!

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! MY EYE!" Mr. L yelled in pain as a peanut from Diddy's Peanut Gun pinched his right eye. "Y-YOU WON'T GET AWAY THE NEXT TIME WE MEET! I SWEAR I'LL CRUSH YOU DOWN... WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Mr. L cried loudly as he ran away from the scene and to Count Bleck's Castle.

"...Everyone..." Geno began as they looked at him. "...Um...how do I put it?... If I could've used the Geno Whirl at the start of the battle... I could've defeated Mr. L faster without the weird chocolates and my magic...my apologies..."

"...Meh," Sonic grinned a little. "What's done is done anyway."

"...Come to think of it," DK smiled a little. "We just need to deactivate the Subspace Blast here and we're done with this world."

"It's Subspace "Bomb," DK..." Diddy corrected him.

"...Come again?" Sonic asked interested.

"We just need to deactivate the Subspace...Bomb here and we're done with this world," Dk repeated. "...Hey! Where's Sonic?"

"As soon as you repeated that he already crossed the door over there." Tippi said pointing at the door leading to the last room of the Whoa Zone as Squirps walked to it.

"Squirps!" Squirps said happily. "Squirps thanks you space cowboys for taking Squirps here back in home! Oh moooooooommyyyyy?" Squirps asked happily as he went inside.

"...The Subspace Bomb!" Sheik said. "We need to see how much time we have left before it blows up!"

Queen Squirpina's Room

Super Paper Mario - Pure Heart

The Smashers quickly reached the other side of the door and found something surprising besides the Subspace Bomb...

A big trophy of Squirp's mother: Queen Squirpina that ornamented the simple green floor.

"Look there!" Mallow said running at the Subspace Bomb. "We have 10 minutes left until it blows up!"

"...You know," Sonic asked appearing from behind the bomb. "It's too odd to see so much time left conveniently for us to do something. It would make much sense if the timer wa-"

Diddy quickly blocked Sonic's mouth. "Shhhhh! Don't give out ideas, stupid. They could be around here..." Diddy whispered.

The Smashers got closer to the bomb and examined it. "...Nope, no clue about how to deactivate it." Yoshi said disappointed.

Toon Link noticed something odd from the bomb. "...Say, those robots at each side of the bomb..."

Peach looked at the 2 R. looking at the Smashers and walked to one of them. "Hello there..."

"..." the first R.O.B simply stared at her.

"Aren't your hands..." Peach looked at the R.O.B's hands stuck in the bomb. "...Aren't they stuck in there?"

The R.O.B simply nodded as it closed slowly his eyes at the floor. Somehow Peach felt worried for the robot.

"You're not going to...escape?" Peach asked as the robot shook its head. "...But why are you hands in there?"

"..." the R.O.B didn't dare to speak because he couldn't express how troubled and his partner were.

"...Everyone..." Peach turned at the Smashers. "I have a strange feeling..."

"Strange feeling?" Mario asked confused.

"Yes..." Peach looked at the R.. "This situation...those robots..."

DK and Diddy rubbed their chins in unison as they examined closer the robots. "DK...isn't this somehow familiar to you?" Diddy asked.

"...It does...but..." DK eyed the second R.O.B. "...Why do I remember something important?"

Diddy spun his head slowly as he have gotten a headache. "Ugh... I'm trying to remember something but I can't do it..."

"Stop it," Sheik said. "We need to deactivate the bombs as soon as possible before it blows up. Anybody knows how to do so?" Sheik looked at the Smashers who shook their heads.

"...Well..." Tippi began as she flew at the bomb. "I could examine it and give out instructions."

"Please do."

"But be warned," Tippi said looking at the R.. "Once we deactivate this bomb...they might get deactivated as well permanently."

"W-what?" Peach asked shocked. "B-but can't they just leave the bomb alone?"

Tippi shook herself. "I'm afraid not. The robots did this by their own will...but I wonder why though..."

"Less talk and more instructions," Sheik said as Peach looked at her worried. "I'm sorry Peach, but this place is in danger and we must do it for the better."

"Besides," Toon Link made a bored look. "You hardly knew those robots anyway..."

Peach looked down ashamed as Sheik went to the bomb. The princess felt horribly ashamed of herself for not helping the R. who looked down sadly at this decision.

"Okay," Tippi began. "First you need to cut down that wire but be careful, you need to stay aware of the little conductor of electricity."

Sheik looked the Smashers over her right shoulder. "I need help over here if you don't mind."

"I'll do it." Fox said nodding as he kneeled to get a closer look.

"Next..." Tippi went on as both Smashers began working to deactivate the Subspace Bomb as fast as they could.

"...I'm sorry..." Peach whispered to the R. sadly.

Sonic yawned a little and folded his arms behind his head. "What should we do for the time being?"

"Oh oh!" Squirps jumped happily. "I should tell you about my secret heritage and lineage since I'm the prince of this place and son of my mother over there!" Squirps showed his teeth happily. "Behold the beginning of the Squirps's Dynasty from 3000 years ago!"

"Oh god, somebody shut him up!" Yoshi yelled blocking his ears.

"It all started when Squirlone and Squirpaul gave birth to their first child that was going to turn into the first prince of the dynasty. The prince first had to find a secret fruit hidden within the mountains of the crazy eel people who's bodies could gave the attacker a horrible case of diarrhea with a single touch, which could last 5 whole years in a normal basis. You might ask how Squirlone and Squirpaul were the king and queen, right? Well the thing is they created a strict politic system which was said to involucrate the precious food," Squirps took out a chocolate bar as he showed his teeth happily. "That's right. You guessed it. The special involucrated food was this beauty here! Now, they obtained this blessed food as a gift of the sacred gods of the dish washer tha-"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Twink yelled looking away. "HIS DYNASTY IS NOT MAKING ANY SENSE! SHUT UP!"

"Then the crazy tortilla people came to the village where they lived, and both of my grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the Smashers (except Mario, Peach and Tippi) yelled utterly annoyed by Squirps's story that didn't make any sense to them...

...At least Sheik and Fox were able to continue their job in deactivating the bomb. Though they couldn't tolerate Squirps at all...

...Unfortunately they learned all about the obscure pasts of Squirps's dynasty so well that it probably wasn't going to be forgotten no matter how hard they tried to forget it.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle

Outside

Tales of Symphonia – Fatalize

"I'll send you all to hell!" Galleom proclaimed raising his fists above the Smashers.

"T-technically we're in hell s-" Chris was interrupted as Lucario grabbed him and jumped out of Galleom's fists that were going to crush both of them. "T-t-thank you so much, Lucario!"

"Ayayayaaaa!" Pit rushed towards Galleom and spun his blades quickly, using Angel Ring to cause minor consecutive damage to the machine who simply ducked and grabbed him in his right fist. "U-UGH! ...Let...me...go..."

Galleom snickered. "As you wish, filthy scum!" Galleom yelled slamming Pit to the ground as the angel yelled in pain.

"Focus..." Mewtwo muttered as his hand glowed towards Galleom. "...I need...more...concentration to...remove that beast..."

Chris looked worried at Mewtwo. "M-Mewtwo...are you feeling alright?"

"..." Mewtwo closed his eyes and shook his head. "...No...the darkness is just too strong... Psychic types like me...can't stand...dark type attacks...but that could aslo include the atmosphere here..."

Chris made a serious face and rushed towards Galleom with the Peacemaker ready on his right hand. "Chris! Where are you going?!" Lucario asked running besides the World Traveler.

"I'm going to save Pit for the passion of love!" Chris said with a wink.

"...Passion of what?" Lucario asked confused as he stopped.

"Hey, you there!" Chris called Galleom who glared at him and left Pit groaning in pain. "I'm going to dedicate this bullet to my dear Miss Etna if you don't mind my friend..."

"...What's with Chris all of a sudden?" Kirby asked confused.

"His job..." Mewtwo said slowly as he stopped glowing. "His job is giving him that attitude of a flirting man..."

"...Then he's a C. Falcon?"

"...I would guess no..." Mewtwo said shrugging.

"Hey," Etna called from afar. "Did he say he was going to dedicate his bullet to me?!"

Chris looked at Etna and nodded with a small grin. "That's right my beloved beauty. Dedicating a fight for a lady is truly," Chris opened his hand at the ominous air. "Such poetry of love..."

"DIE YOU WORTHLESS KID!" Galleom yelled as Chris aimed his gun at his face. "Do you think a mere gun is going to hurt me?!"

"Actually, yes," Chris said chuckling. " This is no ordinary gun, it's the Peacemaker, an elegantly designed gun that is beautiful enough to hang in a gallery," Chris closed his eyes and he put the gun closer to his forehead. "Yet so effective, it'd be a shame not to use it," he looked at Galleom and aimed it back. "That's why I'm going to use my Flourish to give you some sense."

Flourish

Why just attack, when you can attack with a flourish?

Galleom narrowed his eyes at Chris as he made a fist and pulled it back. "Such stupid gun an attack won't be enough to stop me from doing THIS!"

"Bang." Chris said simply as he pulled back the trigger of the Peacemaker.

BANG!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Galleom yelled in pain as an insanely fast bullet (that pushed back Chris to the ground by the force) impacted his forehead and backed away as Pit took this advantage to escape.

Deals more damage for each female party member in the team.

"M-my god..." Chris said blinking surprised as he slowly got up. "T-that impact was strong enough to push me away... That, my friends," Chris said looking at the Smashers. "It's the true way to get to a lady's heart."

"...Ooooooohhhh..." Kirby said nodding.

"...Such quick change of personalities..." Mewtwo said frowning.

"Y-you..." Galleom grunted as he rushed at Chris. "YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!"

"Get back!" Meta Knight yelled using Drill Rush directly on Galleom's forehead (where the bullet previously landed) and inflicted more pain to the machine. "Kirby!"

"O-oh, sorry!" Kirby apologized by flying to Galleom, using Stone when he was above the machine to land an impact on the head.

"Attacking one point isn't going to be enough," Mewtwo explained. "Concentrate your blows in another area of his body to exploit a weakness."

"Should I use my Flourish again?" Chris asked running a hand in his hair.

"...Better yet, change jobs."

Chris stared angrily at Mewtwo. "Hey, how am I suppose to make the girls fall in love with me if I can't us-" Chris noticed that Mewtwo's glaring eyes were inches away from his face.

"You will change jobs now..." Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "Or else I'll do it myself..."

"...R-right away sir!" Chris said he changed to his Fonyc Hymn User job. "H-happy?"

"A lot." Mewtwo said sarcastically as he charged his Shadow Ball.

"...Maybe..." Chris trailed off as Pit was some meters away from him. "Pit!"

"Y-yes?" Pit asked a little weak.

"Do you want to use our CFS?"

Pit thought for a moment before nodding. "Y-yes, let's use it and fast before he spots us."

"STUPID DOG!" Galleom yelled trying to slam his fists at Lucario who kept using Extremespeed to evade the punches. "STOP TELEPORTING AROUND!"

"I'm not teleporting around," Lucario stated as he disappeared before appearing right besides Galleom's head with a glowing hand. "I'm just dodging your attacks to do...this."

"UGH!" Galleom grunted in pain as Lucario slammed his Force Palm right on his shoulder as the Aura Pokémon jumped out of the mahcine and rolled backwards in the ground before standing on his right knee.

"Lucario, that was incredible!" Chris yelled happily as Lucario blushed and looked away embarrassed. "Pit!"

"Chris!" Pit yelled flying from above as the machine glared up.

"Whack-whackity-whack!" Chris called forth spinning his staff as Pit's dual blades started glowing before they turned into squeaky red hammers.

"POW RING!" Pit and Chris yelled in unison as Pit rushed towards Galleom and hit him several times with his hammers who squeaked back before he leaped above the machine and dove both hammers at his head which caused moderate damage.

"DAMMIT!" Galleom cursed as he shook his head while Pit backstepped out of his way. "How can I be hurt with such stupid weapons?!"

"That's magic," Chris said. "Magical hammers."

Galleom turned into his tank form and quickly went after Chris who gasped before Lucario appeared and extended both hands in front of the World Traveler to the machine. "Are you aware that your strength has been decreased?" Mewtwo asked from afar as his Shadow Ball kept getting bigger..

"...Yes...but I need t-"

"WATCH OUT!" Chris yelled as Lucario quickly put more force on his hands (using his aura) as Galleom collided with both went soaring to the sky and fell to the ground. "...L-Lucario..."

"...I was an idiot..." Lucario muttered as he helped Chris to get up. "Sorry..."

"...You did what you thought was best..." Chris smiled a little as he coughed. "I'm so happy for tha-"

"Will you 2 stop talking?!" Meta Knight asked appearing because he used Dimensional Cape as Galleom turned at them and returned to his original form. "We've got our hands full and this is not the time to be wasting time for greetings!"

Chris looked down ashamed as Lucario closed his eyes. "I-I'm sorry..." Chris said.

"..." Meta Knight glared at Galleom who jumped and stomped on the floor to crush the Smashers. "Be more careful next time."

"HAA!" Mewtwo threw his Shadow Ball at Galleom who received the hit but kept going towards Chris, Lucario and Meta Knight. "I know...it will take more to destroy him..."

"BE CRUSHED!" Galleom yelled hovering above the trio who ran at different ways before Galleom crushed the ground underneath his heavy metal weight. "You're only slowing down your deaths!"

"Yadda-yadda-yadda..." Chris said annoyed as he chanted a spell. "O holy spears, run my enemy through!"

"FIRE!" Galleom yelled firing 4 big missiles towards Chris who gasped and stopped his chant to run away from the explosions. However he accidentaly tripped and 3 missiles caught him as he yelled in pain. "He's down. Now it's my chance to capture him!"

"SURPRISE ATTACK OF SEXY VASSAL ETNA!"

"What?" Galleom looked up at the sky as Etna came from it and slammed down her axe on Galleom's right eye which made him yell in agonizing pain as the demon backed away from the big metalic monster and griined triumphaly.

"E-Etna?!" Pit asked surprised.

"Surprised?" Etna asked putting her left hand on her hips. "I couldn't just stand there watching a poor angel's butt getting kicked around so I said why not help him out as well as the others?"

"B-but where's Flonne?" Kirby asked as Etna pointed at the bridge where Flonne had her hands joined with a worried face.

"She told me a lot of her corny things again...and well that's partly another excuse to come here."

"U-ugh..." Galleom grunted in pain as he uncovered his right eye. "T-that's why I hate you all...BEGONE!!!" Galleom yelled pulling back his fist as he ran at Pit, Etna and Kirby who ran to different directions.

"O-OH NO!" Kirby yelled as he saw Galleom chasing him around. Unfortunately he was very slow compared to Galleom's speed and was about to receive a raising fist from his back but...

"Don't forget about me..." Meta Knight said coldly as he appeared right in front of Galleom's face using Dimensional Cape to land a fast slash on the machine across his helmet. "Kirby, hurry and get an ability!" Meta Knight ordered as Galleom tried to slam down his left fist on Meta Knight who flew out of the way.

"Where am I going to get an ability?!" Kirby asked looking around frantically.

"An ability?" Pit asked as he reunited with Kirby. "Like what?"

"..." Kirby looked at Pit dreamily. "...Pit...can you enter my mouth?"

"What?"

"OOOOOOAAAAAAAHHH-" Kirby sucked Pit inside him and spat him out as the pink puffball doned a small crown with wings behind him. "Hurray! Now I got 4 angel wings!" Kirby said flapping his 4 wings (since he had the previous ones once he arrived).

"T-that's creepy..." Pit shuddered before he shook his head and went after Galleom who was busy with Meta Knight.

"O holy spears, run my enemy through!" Chris chanted as a holy light covered himself. "Holy Lance!"

A holy glyph appeared underneath Galleom and 4 lances of light appeared in 4 different points before stabbing the machine directly which caused a lot of pain as Meta Knight took the opportunity and used Drill Rush on Galleom's chest, followed up by Pit and Pit Kirby's Palutena's Arrows barrage that weren't enough to stagger the beastly machine who grunted angrily.

"(The time has come... Now I will show them...)" Galleom thought evily as he spun around with extended arms to hit Meta Knight who got pushed down the ground and rolled backwards to evade more damage. "This is the time! Now... I WILL FINISH YOU ALL!!!"

"W-what's he talking about now?!" Chris asked confused as Mewtwo narrowed his eyes after he threw a charged Shadow Ball at Galleom who sidestepped out of the way.

"He is going to...NO! EVERYONE! SPREAD AROUND!" Mewtwo ordered quickly at the Smashers as Pit and Pit Kirby went closer to Galleom but stopped after Mewtwo gave out the order.

"W-why?" Kirby asked confused as Galleom stomped in front of them and embraced himself.

"Hahahahaha.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!" Galleom laughed maniacally as an explosion of a familiar rainbow colored aura exploded in him and both angels (though Kirby was an exception) were pushed away by the unknown force and crashed into the ground.

"W-wait...that aura..." Lucario said narrowing his eyes as he charged an Aura Sphere. "Galleom is...is using the Over Limit?"

"Indeed," Mewtwo said nodding. "Galleom waited for the perfect moment to unleash his secret technique."

"And that was our Over Limit?!" Chris asked as he prepared a new spell.

"No..." Mewtwo shook his head. "I guess Tabuu gave his subordinates the same benefits, not only Galleom but Dedede, Ganondorf and Charizard as well."

Chris blinked to realize something. "Oh no...do you think the others are fine?"

"I'd be more worried about us for now."

"...Come forth, O illumination of life!"

"Etna!" Pit yelled around as he tried to find the demon vassal. "Etna! Where are you?!"

"I hope you like this!" Etna yelled slicing Galleom's right hand with her axe before slamming it to the ground where a yellow shockwave crashed into the Subspace boss. "...Say, I forgot why is he glowing..."

"Fools..." Galleom said chuckling as his eyes glowed a bright red color. "...I...I WILL PERISH YOUR LIFES!"

"(He won't stop yelling...)" Chris thought irritated. "Healing Circle!"

A sacred glyph of holy light shone above Meta Knight who looked up and began to feel healed as he looked his wounds disappearing slowly until he was cured. "Thanks." Meta Knight said with a nod.

"What was that of than-"

"Thanks." Meta Knight said with a lower voice that scared Chris.

"Try to stay away from Galleom and attack using long-range attacks!" Mewtwo ordered as he threw another charged Shadow Ball which impacted on Galleom who grunted in pain.

"U-understood," Chris said nodding as he prepared his next spell. "O healing power... First Aid!"

A green light shone on Pit Kirby who got recovered as he smiled happily. "I think I can go on again... Thank you." Pit Kirby said happily.

"Let myself begin..." Galleom muttered as he turned into his tank form and began to rev up his engines.

"What now?" Etna asked narrowing her eyes. "I've got a bad feeling guys..."

"RUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Galleom yelled loudly in his tank form as he started by doing a quick start and run directly at the Smashers around the field.

"No, he is going to slam all of us and gather us in the same place to use his Final Smash," Mewtwo said as he stopped charging his Shadow Ball. "We have to stay out of his way or else we'll regret it greatly..."

"A-and speaking of which, HE'S COMING RIGHT HERE! RUN!" Chris yelled as he ran away from his spot with Lucario following behind. Mewtwo quickly realized that Galleom was after him and the Psychic Pokémon used Teleport in time to appear behind Galleom who ran at his previous direction.

"REVERSE!" Galleom yelled.

"Reverse?" Mewtwo wondered before Galleom's tank turned his path before a second could pass and slammed right into Mewtwo who was pushed back to the ground and struggled to get up. "...Y-you..."

"OH NO!" Pit Kirby yelled as he tried to get away from Galleom but was fastly slammed before Galleom accelerated and hit Pit Kirby back to Mewtwo as both crashed into each other. "S-sorry... Mewtwo..."

"Huh?" Lucario noticed Galleom going after him and his trainer who tried to cast a spell. "Chris! We have t-"

"P-please do!" Chris panicked as Lucario grabbed his hand and ran away using Extremespeed in time.

"N-no..." Lucario muttered as he stopped and panted heavily.

"Lucario!" Chris kneeled to Lucario. "Lucario?! A-are you feeling alright?!"

"...No..." Lucario said giving a weak look at Chris. "The darkness here...is too strong for me to go on..."

"...Impossible..." Chris muttered shaking his head slowly.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! BOTH OF YOU!" Meta Knight yelled from afar but was interrupted as Galleom came from behind both Smashers and pushed them with force to the ground where the tank accelerated ahead of them and pushed them back at Mewtwo and Pit Kirby where they moaned in pain. "Bastard..." Meta Knight muttered as he narrowed his eyes at Galleom who quickly turned his way and went after him.

"What's this guy's problem?" Etna asked floating above using her wings.

"...I see," Meta Knight said extending his wings to hover above the air. "Galleom can't reach anything that flies. Good idea."

"...Er...yeah!" Etna said sweating. "Pretty good idea right?"

"Pit!" Meta Knight yelled to Pit. "Get in the air! Galleom can't reach airbound opponents!"

"I..." Pit blushed a little. "I-I'm not that prepared enough to fly in the air freely!"

"What do you mean?"

"My Wings of Icarus can't fly that well! I can only reach the highest height and...I'll fall down back to the ground!"

Meta Knight frowned. "And you call yourself an angel?"

"LOOK OUT!" Etna yelled as Pit turned his back and was pushed by Galleom who stopped and turned back to his normal form as the angel went rolling sideways to the other 4 who were close to each other. "Oh snap, he got all of them!"

"...No!" Meta Knight yelled as Galleom stomped the ground furiously and chuckled down at the 5 who weakly opened their eyes to see Galleom preparing to attack.

"This...will be your last blow," Galleom said as he began spinning with arms extended to the sides as electricity began to spark around him that pulled all the 5 Smashers around the machine that kept spinning, dealing electric damage as they screamed in pain. "Explode my adversaries and KILL THEM," Galleom said as his voice echoed through the Netherworld before his speed accelerated which caused even more damage to the whole group. "MEGIDOBANG!!!" Galleom yelled loudly as a bright explosion took place on him as he did a pose. Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Pit and Pit Kirby were extremely injured that they all went to different directions and crashed to the ground. Galleom was seen completely unharmed as he snickered evily.

Megidobang

Cause damnation to your foes with spinning arms, followed by a small but massive explosion. Deals massive damage to the enemies

"...Why...me..." Chris muttered weakly as he fainted. The last person he saw was Lucario who couldn't continue anymore with the fight as well as the others.

"He blowed himself up?!" Etna asked shocked.

"No..." Meta Knight trailed off. "His Final Smash must have protected himself from the explosion he made. Galleom can still fight...and to be honest," Meta Knight looked away. "That Final Smash is tremendously powerful enough to take us out with one blow even if we have a full health."

"N-no!" Etna said putting a stronger grip on her axe. "I don't want to fight that thing alone!"

"If you forgot," Meta Knight looked at her. "You still have me to fight."

"Geez, that sure is relieving." Etna said rolling her eyes as Galleom glared up at them. "U-uh-oh...he's staring at us!" Etna whispered scared.

"Heheheheheheheheh..." Galleom chuckled evily. "Only 2 more to go and I'll finish my mission!"

"You won't accomplish that," Meta Knight said as he pointed Galaxia at Galleom. "I'm going to be your opponent to finish you off."

"Ha!" Galleom chuckled. "That is the same thing you said to me a long time ago!"

Persona 4 – Who's There?

"What?" Meta Knight asked landing back to the ground with Etna behind him. "What do you exactly mean by a long time ago?"

"You imbecile..." Galleom said glaring down at the Star Warrior. "You along with 2 other swordsmen fought against me which resulted in my defeat. Have you forgotten?"

"But I don't understand," Meta Knight said. "I don't remember ever meeting you nor had a fight."

"The hands must have erased your memories from that encouter when you, stupid Smashers, escaped from your ultimate defeat."

"Master Hand erased my memories?" Meta Knight asked confused. "When did that happen?... Unless...wait..." Meta Knight muttered as he looked up to Galleom. "I'm having some kind of memory left... Yes... This does feel familiar..."

"Now," Galleom began. "Do you remember?"

"...I have this blurry image in my mind, "Meta Knight explained. "An image of a huge robot that wanted to kill me, and there are 2 other people fighting alongside me as well...but I can't still remember."

"That huge robot is me, you fool!"

"...I'm still with this doubt," Meta Knight said. "I don't think I-"

"DIE!"

"Hu-" Meta Knight was quickly kicked right on his mask as he went soaring in the sky and descended to the ground where he rolled painfully before stopping as Etna gasped and gritted her little fangs at Galleom (though her legs were trembling).

"I-I'm not afraid of you!" Etna said with her axe ready on both hands. "I can fight alone!"

"Foolish flat-chested girl," Galleom taunted. "How is a girl like you going to kill me?"

Disgaea – Etna Boogie

"..." Etna narrowed her eyes at Galleom before looking down. "...Flat-chested, huh?"

"Yes."

"...You know..." Etna began as she was still looking down. "Normally the people who define me as "flat-chested" don't live that enough..."

Galleom slowly walked to her, cracking his fists. "How ironic, your life is going to end soon."

"...So then!" Etna smirked at Galleom and pointed at him. "I won't let a damn bastard like you get away with it!" Etna looked around and grinned triumphaly. "Ha! Have you noticed something?"

"What?"

"Your little army," Etna said snickering. "They're gone."

"WHAT?!" Galleom asked shocked as the whole field didn't have his army of the Subspace, but instead it had many Prinnies who slowly walked to them.

"Sheesh you sure ask a lot, don't you?" Etna asked snickering as the Prinnies surrounded her and Galleom.

"Army obliterated, Miss Etna!" Prinny 121 said saluting Etna. "What are your orders this time, dood?"

"Prinnies! Take 'em away to Flonne!" Etna said pointing at the bridge. "Everyone else: stay here until I give another order!"

"Right, Miss Etna! Dood!" several Prinnies said saluting Etna as they all carried the Smashers back to the bridge.

"And don't forget about our Prince either," Etna said pointing at Laharl several meters away from them. "He needs to rest."

The Prinnies nodded and carried Laharl back to the bridge as Etna tightened her fists once she looked up at Galleom. "An army of stupid penguins defeated part of the Subspace Army?! How is that possible?!" Galleom asked.

"Don't underestimate us, dood!" a Prinny yelled from the crowd of Prinnies as they made angry expressions.

"We work so hard for Miss Etna until the Red Moon comes, dood!" another Prinny yelled.

"We don't get paid enough but still..." another Prinny trailed off as Etna glared at him. "...It's worth it, dood!"

Etna smacked her palms together. "Now you little runt," Etna began as she smirked. "It's time for you to get going."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Galleom laughed as he glared at the Prinnies and Etna. "A flat-chested girl is going to shut me up for good?! That is so hilarious and stupid!" Galleom cracked his fists as he ran after Etna who narrowed her eyes and shifted her eyes around.

"(Okay, there are a lot of 'em to finish this fool off...)" Etna thought as a purple aura began to shine beneath her as she smiled and closed her eyes.

"LEAVING YOURSELF WIDE OPEN?! Galleom asked running at Etna. "YOU REALLY WANT TO DIE, AREN'T YOU?!"

"Prinny-praid and Prinny paraides, PRINNY RAAAAID!!!" Etna yelled showing her palm at the sky as all the Prinnies (which were 500) began to tremble uncontrollably as purple rings appeared on every single one of them.

"THAT'S ALL?!" Galleom asked laughing maniacally.

"....Oh...uh...hm...uummmmmmmmmmm..." the Prinnies began to mutter in unison as the oddest thing happened...they all fastly rocketed off to the sky because their feet turned into engines of fire which confused Galleom as he stopped on his trails. "DOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!"

"What the heck is going on now?!" Galleom demanded as the Prinnies circulated through the air.

"Feel the wrath of Sexy Vassal Etna!" Etna proclaimed laughing at the sky as she pointed at Galleom. "Prinnies, FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" the Prinnies yelled as one by one, they dove right after Galleom who narrowed his eyes and put his fists in front of him.

"Collisions with your...subordinates? Are you stupid?!" Galleom asked as he began to punch the Prinnies out who exploded right after the other with every punch Galleom threw.

"To be honest..." Etna smirked as she folded her arms behind her. "I'm just playing around with you."

"What?" Galleom asked before several flying Prinnies exploded on his back which caused moderate damage. "U-UGH!"

"PRINNIES! START OFFENSIVE ATTACK DELTA: FORMATION X!" Etna ordered.

"ROGER, DOOOOOOOOOD!!!" the Prinnies yelled, as this time many dove in groups to every single side of the machine who got constantly attacked by all sides as he yelled in pain.

"FOOLS..." Galleom struggled to spin his arms around. "YOU WON'T DEFEAT ME WITH...THEM!!" Galleom staed furiously as he began spinning around with his arms to prevent the Prinnies from reaching him.

"Geez, why won't he stop saying relating things to death?... Wait a sec..." Etna noticed that Galleom was taking a while to stop the Prinnies as the vassal looked back at the bridge where Flonne was panting heavily. "(Damn, Flonne isn't going to last for much longer... I have to find that pendant or else I won't get the reward!)" Etna thought as she looked around the field in hope to find the missing pendant.

Meanwhile with Flonne...

"(...I need to do something...)" Flonne thought panting as she looked at the fainted Smashers. "(...All of us...will die if I don't...do something...)"

"Oh, my!" a voice spoke from behind Flonne, she turned and found Big Sis Prinny shocked affter she saw the conditions in which everyone was as she ran to Laharl. "Lahar-I mean, Overlord Laharl, dood, what happened?!"

"...I'm sorry..." Flonne said looking down. "I'm responsible for this..."

"You are responsible for this?" Big Sis Prinny asked.

"Yes... Etna said something about stop saying my "corny" things and Laharl...just dropped death..."

"...I see..." Big Sis Prinny said as she looked at the Prinnies exploding on Galleom who kept spinning. "...That foul beast...dood..."

"I-if we don't do something fast the castle will be..."

Big Sis Prinny began to walk towards the battle as Flonne gasped. "W-what are you doing?!"

"I have the feeling that your pendant is somewhere around here, dood," Big Sis Prinny began. "...It's power is radiating..."

"...What?" Flonne asked shocked. "H-how can you tell that?... I could've sensed it but my energies are...almost gone..."

"...Don't worry, dood," Big Sis Prinny said as she ran away. "It's somewhere..."

"...Ohhh..." Flonne wasn't able to hold on any longer and she fainted on the spot.

"..." one could see a Smashers opening his eyes slowly. "...Flonne... I can't...let you...die...here... I can...use...my Over Limit...professor?"

"Uh-huh," Kawashima said nodding from the DS. "It's ready anytime but...can you move?"

"...I'll try..."

It was Chris who very slowly got up coughing blood as he changed to his Agent job.

"...After all...a lady needs to be protected..."

Outskirts

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Vulcanus laughed as he held up Flonne's pendant. "Such an easy task to infiltrate the castle and grab Flonne's pendant while she was sleeping! Indeed, it was a brilliant idea to accept the help of that demonic machine to annihilate Laharl and his vassals."

As Vulcanus laughed, the lava from the place shot upwards.

"...But this place..." Vulcanus said looking around. "...It's very hot. I can't stand this heat... Curse you, Netherworld..." Vulcanus stared back at the pendant. "Well, I may as well return to Celestia and report this item as "lost" since Flonne apparently died by the hands of the Overlord's son. Yes, that plan is perfect," Vulcanus said as he grabbed the pendant and clutched it on his right hand. "Very soon... Huh?" Vulcanus's right hand turned a bright red color. "AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! MY HAND! S-STUPID PENDANT! IT GOT HEATED UP BY THE LAVA!!! OH CURSES!!!" Vulcanus accidentaly let the pendant fall to the lava where it sank as the angel panicked. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

A moment of silence fell in as Vulcanus stared at the ominuos clouds. "...Great...just great. The pendant is gone for good... Maybe... Maybe I should return to Celestia, Master Lamington must be looking for me..." Vulcanus said to himself as he glowed and teleported away.

Persona 4 - Traumerei

Down in the lava, the pendant was shown floating along the stream of harmless lava that went down a river...of lava again where there was someone mourning sadly.

With a closer look, it was Vyers who whimpered after he lost his castle and a fight against Laharl. The Dark Adonis looked sadly at the stream of lava. "Why must moi suffer this humiliation?! Why?! I had the title of Overlord so close until that damn cursed brat came in and blowed up my entire castle!" Vyers yelled crying toon tears. "I want something! Some kind of consolation prize to be...consolated! Yes!" Vyers yelled angrily to the sky.

And for his fortune, there was something that shone a little in the river of magma tht caught his attention. The Dark Adonis looked down at the stream and ducked to grab a familiar pendant that he stared closely.

"Huh? A pendant?" Vyers asked as the pendant shone a little which made him smile a little. "A gorgeous pendant! A pendant that was sent by the gods to please moi!" Vyers ran a hand through his hair a chuckled triumphaly. "Oh my! Just look at how it shines!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT, DOOD!" Big Sis Prinny yelled from above some stalagmites as she jumped all the way down and panicked. "T-that's an important pendant that I was sent to recover! Please, give it to me, dood!"

"...Why?" Vyers asked confused.

"It is a pendant from an angel trainee, she needs it in order to live!"

"A pendant that protects its user from dying?" Vyers wondered. "Now that you mention it mademoiselle... I think I know what this pendant is...it's supposed to burn the foolish and cursed people or demons... But look!" Vyers held up the pendant. "The pendant accepted my heart and it didn't harm me at all!"

"T-that is true but see... I need it back..."

"...And who's this angel trainee?"

"Flonne, she's a very kind young girl angel that wants to show my...wants to show Overlord Laharl to be nice and kind. I have faith that can accomplish such hard task."

"Laharl?!" Vyers asked shocked.

"Yes. That pendant must be returned to Flonne before she perishes! Please sir, give it back!"

"..." Vyers sighed disappointed. "Well... Since this pendant accepted my heart...it must be some kind of reason...take it. "Vyers said giving the pendant to Big Sis Prinny.

"A-are you sure?"

Vyers nodded. "I DO believe in good manners... Not all the demons are bad, just to let you know."

"(...That is most certainly true...)" Big Sis Prinny thought. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"Vyers." Vyers said turning his back on her.

"Okay Sir Vyers. I must make haste and return to the castle. Maybe we could see each other again."

"No," Vyers said looking at the sky. "Please go away. That angel must need the pendant as soon as she can breath."

"R-right. Thank you." Big Sis Prinny said nodding as she ran away before the Dark Adonis looked at her and grinned a bit.

"Just you wait Krichevskoy's son," Vyers said. "One day I shall reclaim my right to rule over the Netherworld... I, the Dark Adonis will rule someday! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Outside

"Flonne..." Chris whispered as he kneeled to see Flonne who opened her eyes and coughed a little. "Flonne...are you feeling alright?"

"N-no..." Flonne whispered weakly. "I...don't have...much longer... I don't...." Flonne's eyes began to fill with tears. "I dont want... I don't want to disappear... I'm scared..."

Chris made a worried face. "(...Is she...scared of dying?... That is so...so cruel and the same time...sad...)"

"Please...find my pendant..." Flonne pleaded as she closed her eyes. "I want to... I want to fulfill my task before...before I die..."

Chris clenched his right fist as he looked at Galleom who appeared to be finished with the Prinnies who layed above each other as the machine from the Subspace glared at them and began to walk to the castle's bridge. "That monster...he must pay for hurting a lady like you..."

"...H-help me..." Flonne whispered weakly.

"...Flonne?!" Chris asked shaking Flonne. "Flonne?! FLONNE?! DO YOU HEAR ME?! FLONNE!"

"...Thank you...for everything..." Flonne smiled sadly. "I really... I relly enjoyed my time with all of you... You were so kind to me...and..." Flonne looked over at Lucario. "...Please...please tell Lucario that I'm so sorry for...trying to kill him when I misjudged him..."

"N-no..." Chris looked down as he sobbed. "Please Flonne...don't die..." Chris cried silently.

"S-sorry..." Flonne whispered weakly. "...I will be living...eternally in a place...a place where the flowers...will never wilt..." Flonne giggled. "You know...that will be so beautiful and pretty..."

"Flonne!" Chris yelled. "Stop saying such things! You're...you're about to die and you're happy about it?!"

"...In some ways..."

Chris made a horrified face.

"I will watch over all the people from high above...but I'm scared..." Flonne whispered weakly as she coughed. "I-I don't know where I'm going to end...but don't worry for me... So please...just...keep fighting them..."

"...For you?" Chris asked covering his googles with his right arm.

"..."

"...Flonne... FLONNE!" Chris yelled shaking Flonne who seemed to pass out. "P-please, Flonne... Don't die...please!"

"World Traveler..." Galleom spoke once he reached Chris who glared at him with fury. "It's the time for you t-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU SON OF A..."

Galleom snickered. "Son of a what? Can't you finish what you want to yell on me? Hahahahaha... You truly are pathetic."

"Y-you bastard... WHY DID YOU KILL FLONNE?!"

"The angel?... But it wasn't me who killed her. To be honest, I didn't do anything to begin with."

Chris slowly reached for the Peacemaker as he saw Etna looking frantically around for Flonne's pendant, unaware of the whole situation. "What do you mean by that?!"

"I requested the help from a secret source who happened to be in my way to this place. He received my aid by going to the Subspace, enter inside the castle through another portal and stole the "thing" she wore on her neck," Galleom explained as he chuckled. "In return he gave me the directions where the castle was. I didn't know the way truly but he helped."

Chris aimed the Peacemaker at Galleom's forehead. "I will... I WILL... I WILL FINISH YOU OFF YOU SON OF A-"

"FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Music stops

"What?" Chris stopped once he saw Big Sis Prinny running in a hurry below Galleom who simply stared at her and ducked to see Flonne closer.

"Oh no..." Big Sis Prinny muttered as she quickly put the pendant back on Flonne. "Did I do it too late?"

"She..." Chris sniffed a little. "She died...didn't she?"

"AND ALONG WITH YOU!" Galleom yelled raising his fists above the Prinny and the World Traveler as Big Sis Prinny yelled scared.

...But...

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – Companions that Surpassed their Tribe

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Chris yelled as he joined his hands. "Misstar, please lend me your aid..."

Misstar appeared spinning and descended down to Chris. "Did you call me?"

"A Star Spirit?!" Galleom asked stopping.

Chris nodded. "Yes, would you give me...the kiss of recovery to heal my wounds?"

Misstar giggled and she slightly kissed Chris's left cheek where he glowed in a pink light as his wounds disappeared. "There sweetie. I hope you can finish your troubles." Misstar said giggling a little as she disappeared in a blink.

"W-WHAT?! YOU'RE RECOVERED?!" Galleom asked as he noticed that the World Traveler chuckled. "Y-YOU INSOLENT...DIE!"

"My mademoiselles shall beg for my heart, my friend!" Chris proclaimed with a grin as a rainbow aura pushed back Galleom's fists while the World Traveler chuckled to himself as the machine almost lost his balance. "Now, let us begin with this wonderful night of romance!"

"T-the hell are you saying?!" Galleom yelled as Chris ran away to another direction which prompted Galleom to follow him. "Running away from your allies?!"

"Why don't you ask yourself the same thing?" Chris asked as he was running. "You pretty much abandoned your army who were defeated by the Prinnies."

"YOU LITTLE RUNT!" Galleom yelled as he pulled back his fist and collided it along the ground and reached the World Traveler from behind.

"Why are you in a hurry?" Chris asked as he dodged the fist quickly in a blink of an eye and quickly fired (using Flourish) at Galleom's body who got pushed back a little.

"What the...WHY DIDN'T MY ATTACK HIT YOU?!" Galleom demanded as he glared down at Chris, who took out a rose from his back.

"My annoying sir..." Chris said smelling the rose. "Looks like you didn't see my Final Smash, am I right?"

"I haven't and neither did you!" Galleom pointed out. "You're still glowing with that light!"

"Wrong actually," Chris said chuckling. "My Final Smash was activated as soon as I called forth the power," Chris threw the rose to Etna who simply got slightly hit by it in the face and fell above her right hand. "My Final Smash for this job is called Dance Of Grace."

Dance Of Grace

Slightly enhances the user's strength and massively increase evasion with fast dances that'd reach the inner women' hearts. Attack the enemy each time when the user dodges a blow which will result in a fast Flourish to the target.

"Funny, isn't it?" Chris asked grinning. "The attack's initials would be "DOG," such animal can be feral and dangerous when it's cornered," Chris pointed at Lucario. "Like my best Pokémon you see over there: powerful and yet at the same time full of grace in his moves and skills. Truly...remarkable."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Galleom grunted in raged as he began slamming down his fists at Chris who chuckled and dodged every single one by doing short but fast dances that he in return (gracefully) shot Galleom many times which greatly decreased Galleom's health. "D-DAMMIT!!!"

"Weak now?" Chris asked tapping the ground. "The rage on a machine is incoherent, yet foolish," Chris chuckled a little. "Such a way wouldn't get a woman's heart at all."

Galleom's pupils shrunk menacingly with a glare as he panted heavily. "YOU'RE BEING THE ANNOYING LITTLE RAT THAT I'VE BEEN IMAGINING THIS ENTIRE TIME!!!"

"Whoa," Etna walked towards Chris with a satisfied grin. "Not bad you kid, you got this guy right where you wanted."

"Simply because I can't be seen losing to a gorgeous lady like you are," Chris said putting his hands on his pants's pockets. "Or can I?"

Etna blushed a little and looked away. "Aw, c'mon..."

"DIE!" Galleom yelled firing missiles at will to both of them. Etna gasped shocked before Chris took her hand and dodged the explosions (gracefully) that didn't even reach them at all. When the missiles seized, the casanova was standing in front of a surprised Etna with the Peacemaker aimed at Galleom. "WHY AREN'T MY ATTACK-"

"Shh," Chris whispered. "Let's see now... How many missiles where there again?"

"30!" Galleom pointed out as he realized something. "...No... NO!"

Chris nodded with a laugh. "So sir..." Chris pressed the trigger slowly. "It was such a pleasure to know you. But... I got the lady first I'm afraid."

Etna simply giggled slightly as the trigger was pushed back...

Music stops.

CLICK!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Galleom yelled out in extreme pain as every single metal part of his body was broken to pieces by each of the 30 shots that the World Traveler shot at will. Galleom's yells soon turned into cries of agony as he couldn't stand up to all the shots and got deactivated, seizing his functions as he grabbed his metalic-shattered chest and fell slowly on his back, creating a small tremble on the area as Chris stopped glowing.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – Victory!

"Mwhahahahahahahaha..." Chris laughed as he put the Peacemaker back on his holdster. "Fighting, is like romance," Chris turned to Etna with a chuckle. "Such a way is the only path to victory my dear."

"Okay okay, I get it," Etna said rolling her eyes. "However... I was just acting all the way to the end."

Music stops with a scratch.

"WHAT?!" Chris asked shocked as his goggles fell down to his neck.

"Please, did you really think I was being flattered?" Etna asked as she walked to the bridge (by stepping on Galleom who simply escaped by a portal underneath him while both of them didn't seem care). "No way Sexy Vassal Etna is going to fall for a "man" like you, kid! Keep dreaming because that's the only thing you can do for now!"

Chris turned white in horror as he sobbed. "...Why must the ladies be so harsh on a guy like me?"

"WOULD YOU STOP TALKING LIKE THAT?! SHEESH!" Etna yelled annoyed.

"Y-yes, Sexy Vassal Etna!" Chris nodded terrified as he ran back to the group.

"(...Phew!)" Etna sighed mentally. "(One second there and we would have had date... Man, what was I thinking when he said those words?)"

30 minutes later...

"Flonne..." Chris whispered sadly as he, Etna and Big Sis Prinny were staring down at her. "...Dammit...she didn't deserve this... She was just an innocen-"

"Corny." Etna added.

"Innocent angel who just wanted to be happy around everyone here..."

"Dood," Prinny 448 shook his head. "It's no use Master Etna. Flonne isn't responding to the first aod kit's help."

"Poor child..." Big Sis Prinny sobbed as some Prinnies patted her back.

Chris looked at the Smashers, changed to his Fonyc Hymn User job and stood close to them as he chanted a spell. "Come forth, O Illumination of light!..." the World Traveler waited a moment before finishing. "Healing Circle!"

The wounds of everyone were slowly healed as they all began to grunt and moan as they opened their eyes and looked around. "...What...happened?" Pit Kirby asked.

"Where is Galleom?" Meta Knight asked.

"Oh crap!" Chris looked back where Galleom once was. "I let him get away by accident!"

Meta Knight rolled his eyes. "And that's why we shouldn't leave you alone."

"FLONNE!" Lucario yelled as he quickly went to Flonne and kneeled to her. "Flonne! What happened to you?!" Lucario asked as he glowed for a moment. "...No...your aura isn't responding to mine... I need... I need to give you my own."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Flonne, Lucario and myself were disturbed greatly by the darkness of the Netherworld," Mewtwo explained. "She happened to be weaker than us and couldn't resist anymore. Lucario and I are stronger and that is why we were able to fight."

Lucario took one of Flonne's hands and closed his eyes as he glowed more. "If I give her my own aura... She can be revived..."

"...OH HELL NO," Chris said glaring at Lucario. "We don't WANT that same event like the movie. There's absolutely. No. Way. That you're going to sacrifice your life for her!"

"Then what the hell do you have in mind?!" Lucario asked standing up as Chris trembled in fear.

The World Traveler however glared afterwards. "Lucario...do you remember that important rule about yelling at me?"

"...I-I'm sorry! P-please, forgive me! I-I was furious because yo-"

"Lucario." Chris said in a low tone as the Aura Pokémon gulped and closed his eyes in fear as he kneeled scared. "...I'm not in the mood to do that to you now. You're lucky."

"(...What a relief...)" Lucario thought as he sighed in relief.

"I-I don't get it. What is that that you mentioned?" Pit asked confused.

Mewtwo chuckled. "Chris was going to pull Lucario's appendages at the same time with a foot on his back to increase the pain. Lucario can't stand the pain if Chris is the one doing it."

Pit Kirby looked at Lucario. "You mean those 4 black eggplants?"

"They're not eggplants!" Lucario yelled angrily as Chris chuckled.

"Calm down everyone..." Big Sis Prinny said sniffing. "If you forgot, Flonne is..."

They all looked at Flonne who was still dead. "...Flonne..." Pit Kirby whispered as he sobbed silently after 5 second of silence.

"...Return this soul from the abyss of death!" Chris chanted as a holy light flew around him. "Resurrection!"

A light that came out from the clouds came down on Flonne as it shone brightly on her.

There was something odd with the light that Chris seemed to know...

"Wait..." Chris trailed off thinking. "The spell isn't that powerful...or looks like that..."

"What do you mean?" Pit asked.

"Normally the light of life would just come out above the target at a short height...but..." Chris looked to the clouds with everyone else. "Why is it coming from all the way up?"

"Because this light is probably coming from Celestia," a familiar voice spoke as everyone looked at the source. "But I wonder myself who did this..."

"...FLOOOOOOOOOOOOONNE!" Pit Kirby, Chris and Pit jumped at Flonne and hugged tightly as the trio laughed while many of the people in there sighed in relief.

"H-hi everyone! It's good to be back again!" Flonne said laughing with the trio of the Smashers.

"Thank goodness!" Big Sis Prinny said using a napkin to clear her nose. "I-it's such a miracle that you managed to survive... I'm so happy..."

"(I am as well...)" Lucario thought with a small chuckle as he blushed a little.

"Dood!" the Prinnies celebrated. "Flonne is back! That means more private massage lessons for us, dood!" Prinny 25 said happily.

Etna shook her head surprised. "What the hell? What she doing that to every single one of you when you aren't working?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrr...dood." the Prinnies responded as Etna put a stronger grip on her axe that she called from behind her back.

"A happy atmosphere fell in the Netheworld..." Mewtwo muttered chuckling a little as he closed his eyes. "Who would've thought..."

...

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB MY SLEEP, YOU (BEEP!)HOLES?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Everyone quickly got terrified and looked behind them to see their nightmare coming back...

"Man, what happened here?" Laharl asked as he was shown to be completely fine without any scratch as he crossed his arms. "Did that guy ran off because he was scared of losing?"

"(Oh Palutena no! I was trying to forget about Laharl!)" Pit thought crying toon tears.

"(Why do we need to be tortured and yelled at so much?!)" Pit Kirby thought crying toon tears.

"(WHY IS LAHARL STILL LIVING?!)" Chris thought crying toon tears. Actually making a valid point.

Entrance to Laharl's Castle

"You WHAT?!" Laharl asked furiously after Chris explained everything to him. "You, a puny looking casanova, defeated him?!"

"T-that's right," Chris said trembling with fear. "You were totally knocked out so w-"

"SHUT UP!" Laharl yelled angrily as the lava of the whole abyss came up and reached high up in the air as the Prinnies panicked. "I can't believe it! I was knocked out and YOU of all the demons! UGH!"

"(Partly though, you don't deserve the credit...but then again, you weakened him so much)."

"...But I'm also astonished."

"Huh?" Pit said confused.

"Heh," Laharl grinned mischievously. "Come to think of it, maybe I underestimated your abilities as one of my vassals."

"(I'm-being-congratula-ted! I'm-being-congratula-ted!)" Chris sang happily.

"...But!"

"(I'm-being-)... What?"

"There's no way in hell I'll have someone like you guys around here just to steal the credit away from me!" Laharl pointed at the Smashers angrily. "YOU'RE ALL FIRED! GET OUT OF MY CASTLE!"

"(...Hurraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...)" Chris thought depressed.

"(This is the first time in a long time I've felt relieved...)" Meta Knight thought.

"(Finally, no more Netherworld...)" Pit thought.

"(I'll finally get rid of this perturbance in the air...)" Mewtwo thought.

"(Well said.)" Lucario thought nodding.

"(I want to eat something...my stomach's hurting...)" Kirby thought as his stomach gumbled.

"Okay!" Laharl turned to Flonne. "Give me my reward! Now!"

"...If you say so..." Flonne muttered as she walked to Laharl...and simply put Laharl's right hand on his chest.

"W-what are you doing?!" Laharl asked.

"Put your hand to your heart..." Flonne explained as she closed her eyes while Laharl stared at his hand. "...Can you feel it? The warmth inside your heart... You faced great danger to find this pendant."

"In a point, he did." Pit commented.

Flonne went on. "You pretend to be only evil, but there is definitely kindness in your heart..."

"Coughyescough." Kirby coughed sarcastically.

"To give you the opportunity to realize kindness... That is my reward to you."

Chris blinked surprised. "...That was...good?"

"..." Laharl stepped back before his eyes widnened in horror. "A-a-a-are you insane?! How can you say something so crazy?!"

"Hello? She's Flonne..." Etna said rolling her eyes.

"Kindness is love," Flonne explained with a heartful smile. "The day is near when you will awaken to love." Flonne giggled.

Mewtwo merely chuckled and closed his eyes at the mention of that word.

"Unbeliavable!" Laharl yelled angrily. "I've been tricked by an angel! Dammit! I'll remember this!" Laharl proclaimed at Flonne as he turned the other way.

Etna walked to Flonne and whispered, "Deceiving the Prince, huh? Not bad at all." Etna smirked.

"Really?" Flonne asked smiling.

"You look happy." Etna said blinking.

"Yes, I am," Flonne closed her eyes and sighed. "I now know that there is love within Laharl's heart. And if there is love inside him, that means there is love in all demons," she opened her eyes and looked at Etna. "One day, angels and demond could be friends. I couldn't be happier."

"Well..." Chris smiled a little bit. "I think that's a good goal if you ask me."

"It is, right?" Flonne asked with a chuckle.

"...Boy, that theory is a bit out there," Etna began. "You really are a Love Freak. But, you're bound to be disappointed if you keep expecting things to turn out so cheery. Most demons would choke you from behind without a second thought."

"I can imagine that..." Pit said shuddering.

"Hmm. Are you like that, Etna?" Flonne asked curiously.

"Maybe... You'll find out soon enough." Etna giggled.

"And..." Flonne turned to the Smashers. "Are you returning to the mansion after you helped us here?"

"Yes," Pit Kirby nodded. "It was really nice to meet you, Flonne."

"Aww..." Flonne ducked and hugged Pit Kirby tightly, as the puffball hugged her back. "Thank you so much for being so nice to me."

"Please," Lucario began. "Take care."

"And you too, please!"

"I will," Lucario looked at Chris. "Chris is always reminding me that."

Chris blushed and looked away. "O-oh please..."

"Both of you," Flonne looked at Mewtwo and Meta Knight. "Please fight for love."

"...We will..." Meta Knight muttered embarrassed.

"...Or possibly and most likely no." Mewtwo muttered.

"F-Flonne..." Pit blushed and looked down his feet before he hugged Flonne quickly, who returned the hug. "It was nice to have another angel in the mansion besides me."

"Heheheh!" Flonne giggled happily. "I'll never forget you, Pit! Angels need to be together after all!..." Flonne sniffed. "...I'll... I'll miss everybody too..."

"...Don't cry..." Pit muttered as he patted Flonne's back with care.

"...I won't..." Flonne muttered with a giggled as both stopped hugging, then they smiled at each other. Flonne looked at Etna with a smile and the demon frowned.

"Alright, alright," Etna rolled her eyes. "I'll miss you guys, you were so awesome, the Prinnies are grateful, blah blah blah, fight for justice, blah blah blah, we'll miss you so much, blah blah blah, etcetera etcetera etcetera."

"That is so you..." Pit said with a frown.

"You know me perfectly." Etna said with a snicker and a grin.

Everyone laughed heartily (save for Meta Knight and Mewtwo who only chuckled)...as the "Overlord" took the laughs like if they were directed at him and grunted furiously at them. "LAUGHING AT ME, HUH?! WELL," Laharl opened his hands to the air as he shot a purple ring to the clouds where it grew in size and called a huge meteor. "LET'S SEE IF YOU CALL STILL LAUGH IN THE AFTERLIFE!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"NOT AGAIN!" Pit Kirby, Pit, Chris, the Prinnies and Etna yelled screaming as they all ran away from the castle for their lifes.

"I-IT WAS A BIG MISUNDERSTADING!" Pit yelled.

"SURE!" Laharl yelled sarcastically.

"AT LEAST WE'RE NOT GOING TO SEE YOU AGAIN! THANK GODDESS PALUTENA!"

"OPEN THE DAMN PORTAL!" Mewtwo yelled at Chris who tried to open the portal.

"I-I CAN'T! IT'S NOT RESPONDING!!!" Chris yelled pressing the button as many times as he could.

"W-WAIT!" Flonne stopped everyone who groaned frustrated. "A-are you all leaving for good?"

Pit looked high up where the meteor was coming slowly to the castle. "Y-yes! We're not coming here anymore and we already said our good byes to each othe-"

Flonne hugged every single one of them (for 10 long seconds, much for their dismay as the meteor came even closer and closer) and cleared some tears. "I-I enjoyed my time with all of you... The Smash Mansion, the people who were so kind to me back there, especially Master Hand and Crazy Hand wh-"

"WHYN DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE?!" Chris asked in panic.

"HURRY UP FLONNE!" Etna yelled panicking. "SCREW IT! I'LL FLY AWAY!" Etna yelled flying away from the bridge as the Prinnies ran past the Angel Trainee who smiled happily (despite the Smashers' hurry to get out from that world).

"S-something else to say before we DIE?!" Chris asked running on his feet.

"Hmmmmmmmmmm..." Flonne put a finger close to her mouth and she thought...for 40 long seconds. "Oh!" Flonne said smiling again. "I enjoyed my time with all of yo-"

"YOU ALREADY SAID THAT!" the Smashers yelled panicking as the extreme heat of the meteor reached them.

"...I did?"

"YES!"

"...Oh well," Flonne giggled. "I guess you can leave for now. It was a pleasure to spend the time with you as I've said before, especially you, Lucario. P-personally I think you're the cutest person for looking like a dog an-"

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled.

"NOW!" Chris yelled opening the portal as the Smashers quickly left as Flonne giggled happily...watching the castle getting destroyed by the meteor that apparently didn't cut down the bridge where she was.

"Etna," Laharl crossed his arms annoyed from the other side of the bridge. "My castle fell down. Fix it, okay?"

Etna was eating some fruits as she layed down on a big skull, eating using her tail. "Eeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr...no."

Laharl grunted angrily. "Ugh!"

"You're the one who destroyed it so why don't you fix it yourself?" Etna asked with a grin as she ate a grape.

"Shut up! You're my vassal and you'll listen to what I have to say to you, got it?!"

"..." Etna sighed disappointed and looked around before she took out her megaphone. "C'mere, Prinnies!"

A moment of absolutely nothing happened as Etna took out a dagger and smirked at no one in particular. "Now, you guys are going to make me angry, aren't you?" Etna threatened as the whole ground began to tremble.

"WE'RE COMING, MASTER ETNAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Prinny 150 yelled from the big crowd of Prinnies who quickly crossed the bridge, holding up many carpenter tools that they carried all the way to the big empty spot of the cliff where the caslte once was.

"And so," Etna narrated as Flonne was shown looking at the clouds with a smile. "The guys left us with Laharl in the Netherworld. Flonne changed her point of view about demons and today she's trying to spark some emotions to Laharl. Laharl is still being the annoying bra-I mean, the Prince he is by leaving the castle frecuently and punish his other vassals who betrayed King Krichevskoy."

"(Master Lamington...)" Flonne thought as she joined her hands and closed her eyes. "(Did you were the one who brought me back to life?)"

"Love Freak!" Laharl called besides Flonne along with Etna who folded her arms behind her head. "You're helping with the repairs for the castle. I want my castle to be like it used to be 2 minutes ago! C'mon! Get moving!"

"R-right!" Flonne said ducking before standing up as she wore a yellow helmet and a jackhammer before she ran to the Prinnies, laughing all the way as she looked up to the sky.

Celestia

Flower Garden

Lamington was there with opened arms to the holy skies of Celestia as he looked down and chuckled. "(Flonne...you must keep trying and show me the real nature of the demons... I'll be watching closely)." Lamington thought with a chuckle as he shone and disappeared in the clouds.

"But will the Sexy Extravagant Hyper Dimentional Spacial Demon Lord Etna recover her memories once again? Will I be an Overlord? Will Flonne be corny all her life? Will Laharl show love or just get sick of it and kill Flonne someday, which I personally look forward to? Will I get my own fic?! Guess you'll have to wait and find out in the next chapter of Sexy Extravagant Hyper Dimentional Spacial Rebel Gorgeous Beauty of the Netherworld Demon Lord Etna: Th-"

WORLD COMPLETED! (-_-);

You have gained 2200 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Smash Channel

Disgaea - Lord Laharl's Hymn

"Hellooooooooooooooooooooo every single fan of pretty me!" Etna waved at the camera as Flonne sat by her left side (worried looking away) with Laharl sitting on her right side with crossed arms and a satisfied grin. "Welcome to the somewhat forgotten Smash Channel section: where the characters that aren't in SSBB have a chance to express their thoughts regarding topics about it that will probably (or most likely) get you interested!"

"HULP MU!" Chris yelled from a chair since he was tied up from legs to head.

"You didn't see anything!" Etna said smiling happily as she got in front of the World Traveler.

We're currently experiencing technical difficulties, please wait...

(Image of a chibi-Lucario who had 2 appendages stuck in an elevator's door with a shocked look as a chibi-Chris got shocked and put his hands on his chin in shock).

"AHEM," Chris coughed as Etna crossed her legs above the table with Laharl annoyed and Flonne blushing embarrassed. "As Etna said before: welcome to the SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH CHANNEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!" Chris greeted as the audience applauded. "Today we're having a special talkshow with our next guests after Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, Vivi and Freya from FF9," Chris opened his hand at the Disgaea gang. "And they are..."

"Great Overlord Laharl," Laharl introduced himself. "That one of these days will rule over the Netherworld AND Earth right where you live! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"...Whatever!" Chris said as Laharl grunted annoyed.

"And I'm Sexy Vassal Etna," Etna said trying to seduce you (XD). "Clearly the protagonist that you wish for Disgaea..."

"Suuuuuuuuuuuuure..." Laharl said giving a glare to Etna who sweated and chuckled. "I'm the REAL protagonist here so don't forget about it."

"...Right, my Prince..." Etna muttered rolling her eyes.

"M-my name is Flonne," Flonne said waving a hand shyly. "I-I'm an Angel Trainee that wishes to be a real angel someday s-so I'm glad to be here."

"What a lively cast of characters!" Chris said giving a bored look. "Now, each one of you will have to respond a personal question that you must answer, ready?" Chris asked and the Disgaea gang nodded. "For Laharl: who do you think it's the strongest character in the Brawl roster?"

"Myself."

"B-but you aren't i-"

"MYSELF." Laharl responded glaring at Chris who gulped as a dark aura covered the demon.

"...F-fine, it's you... Etna!" Chris said smiling. "Who do you think it's the sexiest character out of the poor selection of females in the Brawl roster? It has to be either Zelda/Sheik, Peach, Samus or her other form, Jigglypuff or Nana!"

"Myself of course!" Etna said giggling.

"...I HAD to let C. Falcon decide the question...er, anyway. Flonne!" Chris said smiling to the angel. "What d-"

"WOULD YOU STOP?!" Laharl asked irritated as he broke the table with both fists.

"W-why?!" Chris asked.

"NOBODY GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THIS STUPID FORGOTTEN TALKSHOW!" Laharl yelled pointing at Chris who backed away. "THE AUDIENCE WANTS TO SEE ME RIPPING ALL OF YOU "SMASHERS" TO DEATH AND DIE IN OBLIVION AND BEAT THIS TABUU'S (BEEP!) SO HARD THAT EVERYONE WILL REMEMBER ME FOR THE ETERNITY!"

"L-look Laharl," Chris said panicking a little as Etna snickered. "Y-you weren't in Brawl at the end s-"

"And all of you suck so much that my grandma died of so much suckiness!" Laharl yelled smirking. "Especially when she saw that horrible mutated dog with a stupid appearance Poke-something of yours!"

"...OH," Chris said nodding with a glare. "So Lucario is a mutated dog with a stupid appearance..."

"Yeah!"

"...Okay Laharl..." Chris said closing his eyes with a grin as he took out a card from his back with a question. "I didn't want to do this...but you don't leave me another choice but ask away..."

Laharl rolled his eyes and looked away annoyed. "Fine. Go ask the Love Freak."

"(With so much pleasure...)" Chris thought with gritted teeth. "Flonne."

"Yes?" Flonne asked smiling.

"Who of the Brawl roster do you think is your most favorite character?"

"Oh!" Flonne spoke up with a smile. "Actually, I like everyone there! Like Kirby, he's so cute and pinky!"

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Laharl yelled in pain as he kneeled painfully.

"Who else?" Chris asked smiling down at Laharl.

"And Pikachu! He's very cute too!" Flonne said giggling.

"DAMMIT!" Laharl yelled coughing.

"Who else?" Chris asked with a mischievous look to Laharl.

"How about Jigglypuff? Her eyes are so gorgeous that would make someone giggle with glee!" Flonne said happily oblivious of Laharl's pain.

"DAMN YOU!" Laharl yelled laying on the floor.

"Who else?" Chris asked grinning mischievously at Laharl who looked at him with a shocked but glaring look.

"Okay, here's an interesting one: Fox." Flonne said.

"...Really?" Chris and Etna asked raising their eyebrows as Laharl tried to get up.

"What's cute in him?" Chris asked as Laharl dropped down the floor.

"Uh-huh," Flonne closed her eyes as she joined her hands. "I once rubbed his tail when he wasn't looking at it was soooooooooooo fluffy and soft. I wonder myself how is he able to maintain it with so much softness!"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" Laharl smacked his right fist down the floor in pain.

"...Who else?" Chris asked smirking down at Laharl.

"Peach is so cute too!" Flonne said. "Oh! And Mewtwo somewhat looks cute too!" Flonne said as Laharl yelled out in pain. "And Toon Link! His cat-looking eyes are very pretty!" Flonne said as Laharl yelled again in pain. "How about Pichu? He's very adorable!"

"DUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Laharl yelled in etreme pain as he slowly looked at Etna. "ETNA! SHUT HER UP OR BETTER YET, KILL HER!"

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... No," Etna chuckled as Flonne went on and on. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime so sucks to be you, my Prince."

"WHAT?! HOW IN THE HECK DARE YOU TO DO THIS TO ME?!"

"Because...for amusement?" Etna asked with a grin.

2 long painfully hours after repeating every character 5 times...

Laharl was apparently dead on the floor as Flonne finished her long list of praises to the Smashers. Both Chris and Etna couldn't believe the Angel Trainee who went that far for so long.

"...So you basically complemented EVERY single character with EVERY single corny word and EVERY single feature..." Etna summarized as Flonne nodded giggling. The Demon Vassal kicked Laharl's side and sure enough he was completely out of cold. "Guess we'll have to look for another Overlord... Oh well, he'll be back in 3 days."

"...A-anyways, thank you so much for appearing in today's Smash Channel special!" Chris said happily as he "accidentaly" stepped on Laharl's back. "This section will start to be more popular because very soon the next different worlds will start to show around here! I'm Chris (last name blocked)!"

"Sexy Vassal Demon Lord Etna." Etna said trying to seduce the audience...and you.

"Great...Overlord...Laharl..." Laharl muttered weakly on the floor.

"Angel Trainee Flonne," Flonne said taking out her bow. "Who shall punish the dark ones in the name of love!"

"...Suuuuure..." Etna and Chris said in unison.

"See you in the next chapter!" Chris said waving happily with both girls as the screen blackened out.

"And don't forget to get Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for the PS2 and know about pretty me. Or better yet, you can grab Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP and play the mysterious and yet rejoicing Etna Mode where you'll play as sexy me!" Etna yelled.

"W-wait!" Flonne yelled. "W-why don't you get Disgaea DS for mentioned system?! It has a lot of features and the Etna Mode as well!"

"Dood! Just remember that the DS and Prinny are not included with the game! Both are sold separately, dood!" Prinny 448 yelled.

"YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO PLUG-INS!" Chris yelled angrily...as the loud sounds from a revolver were heard.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers

Whoa Zone
Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Yoshi, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Mario, Peach, Bowser, Tippi

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus

References:

-Zelda not accepting the fact that Mimi uses "rubees" to attack is a reference to one of Zelda's early reincarnations...the Zelda CD-i where she and Link possibly experienced together...which was actually a very awful memory for both Hyrulians. XD

-"Persona 4 – Border of Insanity" is a music reference to the same game. It plays when a boss goes crazy and transforms into a grotesque monster or when really shocking events happen.

-Galleom's Final Smash was loosely inspired by the devastating ability in Persona 4 called "Megidolaon," and attack in which Naoto calls forth 3 bright shiny lights that merge together in the center of the battlefield and explodes with a radiant light, damaging enemies greatly. However, there's another greater attack than Megidolaon itself.

- "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – Companions that Surpassed their Tribe" and " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – Victory!" are song references to the same game.

-The ending of the chapter "loosely" (somewhat) is a reference to the anime english trailer for Disgaea, same trailer didn't have most of the things shown there.

-The whole arc had some actual script from the game with little changes to enable the Smashers get some "read" time.

-Prinny 25, 150 and 448 are all Pikachu's, Mewtwo's and Lucario's numbers in the PokeDex.

2 of the 3 teams have completed their missions successfully...but what about the other team in Bryyo?

....Something is not right here at all...

And we bid farewell to Etna, Flonne and Laharl for good! We shall miss those characters so much (Laharl probably not that much though). XD

Read and review, please!
*Chapter 110*: M, S & C: At the Olympic Games?

Okay, everyone, I think it's enough time to upload another chapter. :D Yayz for chapters! :)

From Mewtrainer: ...Mewtwo is #150... EXCELLENT CHAPTER! What happened to whatshername, meteor storm girl, and Laharl fighting?? Didn't you say that it would happen? Or is Laharl coming again in the future? Prinnies are stronger than they look...where's the catalog? XD "Crony words"? Laharl and corny words LOL! I like how you (or the game) points out that dark isn't always bad, and light isn't always good. I'm using that in my own fic. Or will once I get to it. If bosses have FS's, I don't want to see Tabuu's...*shivers*

From me: Rita, you mean? She's coming...right now...

Yep, every single boss here has at least one Final Smash. I bet nobody thought about that before. ;D

And yes, I corrected those mistakes as well. Thank you. :)

From ngrey651: Worth the wait. I was simply blown away by how much content was included here, and I couldn't stop smiling at the part where they kept trying to say that Mr. L was Lui- (Sneezes)

...okay God, you've had your fun. You can STOP now.

From me: Dude...you read like, so fast. O_o

And stop about what?

From Anakin Son Mario 43: Wow... Longest chapter ever. Finally no more etna, floone, or laharl. But more importantly, NO MORE PRINNIES AND DOD! I wonder how the dudes on Bryo are doing?

From me: The answer for that question is here. Enjoy. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: oh man, no more flonne,etna, and prinies! must suck for the smashers, no more room service., this was definetly worth the wait. but now i'm worried, what about the party in samus's world? so, my fortune has no effect whatsoever on the story right? just as a question, is it possible for reinforcements to come in to help them out? and a ability suggestion, Data Drain, fom dot hack. it could help chris out a bit, and get him free items. and could i borrow your music idea? and a musician, happy mask salesman, piano

From me: I don't take abilities suggestions. Sorry. :P

From Soldier of the Future: *sees stars after reading extremely long chapter*
Bleh, I might need to get some eye refresheners after this lol
Anyways well done. I liked the exta tidbits you placed in the end though.

From me: I hope this one is funny enough for you. :D

From Rabid Original: Ok, ok, I'm writing a review for an odd-numbered chapter. I'm so OCD XD
This chapter one one of my favorites! It made me remember just how tank Laharl is :P
And the battles amused me greatly.

I'm so happy that you finally got this up and running again. I was getting worried -_-

From me: Here's the next chapter. 3 ready to be uploaded anytime (meaning that I have a complete arc ready).

Okay, for the people who didn't listen to the previous announcement, please listen the next time AND PLEASE, write your review about chapter 109 to answer your reviews here (because I don't know how to erase reviews), along with the review of this chapter. Thank you very much. :D

So now, enjoy!

Special mention to DianaGohan for being the 700th reviewer! We're now waiting for the 800th, which could be very soon! :D

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 110: Mario, Sonic and Chris: At the Olympic Games?

Subspace

Deep inside the Great Maze

"What do you mean by that?" Tabuu asked narrowing his eyes at the Ancient Minister.

"We haven't found our target yet," the Ancient Minister said. "Its technology that was incorporated to its body is designed specifically to prevent hunters from tracking it down."

"...I see," Tabuu said turning his back. "May I know about Ganondorf?"

"Yes," the Ancient Minister began. "Ganondorf has successfully taken out the Smashers who went to Bryyo. It appears Ganondorf and the help of a hunter defeated the Smashers in there... However..."

"However?"

"...However, Dedede, Charizard and even Galleom and the whole army were defeated by the other 2 groups," the Ancient Minister looked away. "Count Bleck was a little furious after hearing that we couldn't fulfill his tasks and thus he decided to leave us alone in our business."

Tabuu grumbled as he looked at the Subspace. "...At least we managed to stay on our feet in Bryyo," Tabuu turned to the Ancient Minister. "Things are going well, I presume?"

"Yes, indeed. The hunting to find "it" it's still in progress. Rest assured, Lord Tabuu."

"Very well then," Tabuu looked away. "Since we still have more plans to do... Order Porky or Petey Pirahna to invade another place..."

"And that place would be?"

"After Mario managed to stay alive... I happened to get a little bit of information of another event that he is holding..."

"...Ah," the Ancient Minister nodded. "You mean the Olympics that are going to be held by Mario and Sonic along with all their known people?"

"Exactly. If we drop the Subspace Bombs while all the people is in there with some kind of unexpected tactic, we could take everything to the Subspace."

"Good thinking, Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister said nodding. "I hope this works as well... Should we deploy the Halberd? It hasn't been used in quite some time."

"Please do," Tabuu said nodding. "But remember, I am leaving everything to you under your command."

"...May I ask why?"

"Because I need to prepare something with Smithy regarding Exor. Now get moving." Tabuu ordered as he disappeared.

The Ancient Minister looked at the darkness. "Porky, I summon you."

"ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Porky yelled appearing from the darkness. "So what is my mission? Kill pupies? Kill Ness and Lucas? Kill cats? Kill Ness and Lucas again? Kill rats? Kill monsters?... Kill Ness and Lucas again?"

"Your personal interests are such a pain for Lord Tabuu and myself to tolerate," the Ancient Minister said as Porky grumbled annoyed. "This is not the time to be fooling around. You are to be sent to this coordinates and begin the operation when it's instructed to you."

"Will I get to have my own army?"

"Yes."

"WOHOO!"

The Ancient Minister stared blankly at the old kid. "...You need to board the Halberd and from there, the operation will begin. Wait for more orders until I instruct you. Understand?"

"Completely!" Porky said snickering.

"Now go," the Ancient Minister ordered with a nod as Porky quickly stomped away to the Halberd.

"Ancient Minister," a voice spoke from behind the minister who turned his back and found a R.O.B. looking at him. "I have the reports that you requested about the last Subspace Bomb we sent."

"Tell me."

"Yes. As expected, the last Subspace Bomb was deactivated and so did the other R.O.B.s units that..."

The Ancient Minister looked down with a small nod. "...I know."

"...Sorry for getting you depressed."

"It's fine. Now return to your duties or else Tabuu will get suspicious," the Ancient Minister ordered the R.O.B. who nodded and went away. "...You're not away."

"It's because... I've been wondering something that I was meaning to ask." The R.O.B. said.

"Make it fast. What?"

"Well...about the Subspace Bombs, they need to be activated by using ourselves...but I think that i-"

"Please...speak about something else."

"...I have something...it's about the Isle of the Ancients..."

The Ancient Minister looked away. "The Isle of the Ancients is where we have been living for centuries, it's as simple as that."

"But why do I have this odd feeling?"

The Ancient Minister looked back at the R.O.B. "Odd feeling?"

"Yes... Honestly speaking, I don't think we're from the Isle of the Ancients at all..."

"Are you defying our existence?"

"N-no..." the R.O.B. thought for a moment. "But isn't it strange to you? Why do we live in a floating island?"

"Because we were granted the freedom to live peacefully somewhere where we could not be disturbed."

"But...do you still call this peace and freedom?"

The Ancient Minister gasped in his mind.

"What if there is a real origin to our lifes? It's possible that we were created by someone... I don't know."

The Ancient Minister looked down. "...Please, return to your duties."

"...Understood." The R.O.B. said with a slow nod as he went away.

Tales of Symphonia 2 – Behind Us!

"(...It makes sense... Why are we living on a floating island? What is our real origin? Why do we need to sacrifice ourselves in order to blow the Subspace Bombs? Why is Lord Tabuu so fixiated in taking over the worlds?)" the Ancient Minister kept asking as he looked an hologram with Mr. G&W as he was being drained with countless of Shadow Bugs. "(...And...is really necessary to escape from this place? Why is everything...so confusing?... I need to think more...)"

Smash Mansion

Command Room

Music stops

"Dammit..." Marth muttered.

"Hurry up, Marth! We need to get a clear of view about the others with Samus!" Roy said as Marth tried his best to get a contact on a computer.

"Hey," Ness came in with Lucas. "What's all the ruckus here?"

"The guys that went to Samus were...w-we don't know what happened but the signal ended as soon as something there happened." Roy said.

"Like what?" Lucas asked.

"We don't know anything about it..." Ike said wondering.

"Oh boy..." Jigglypuff said worried. "I-I'm having goosebumps... I have a VERY bad feeling about this..."

"Like all of us here," Marth said as he typed fast. "I think there's something going on in Samus's world that we didn't see at all."

"Well that's your opinion," Roy said. "Anyway, what about the others? Are they fine?"

Marth nodded. "The others managed to complete their tasks, fortunately."

"And I think Chris and the others will get here soon," Ike said and just as he said that, a portal appeared in the room and Chris, Lucario, Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Pit Kirby and Pit came out sighing in relief. "Speaking of the demons."

"It's speaking of the devils." Jigglypuff corrected.

"WHERE?!" Chris asked looking around in panic.

"Calm down you guys!" Roy said chuckling. "No more demons, Prinnies or angel-" Roy saw Pit glaring at him. "I mean... no more demons and Prinnies around here."

"I'll miss Flonne though..." Pit Kirby said as Chris held him up.

"Why are you still with that ability?" Chris asked.

"...BURP!" Pit Kirby burped and he let the ability jump out as a star and disappeared.

Chris chuckled. "That's was random and yet so funny," he looked behind his back. "Aw, I lost my small angel wings!"

Everyone who returned lost their wings except for Pit by obvious reasons.

Kirby simply smiled and Chris put him down. "Um...are the others back?"

Ike shook his head. "They haven't returned yet from their places. But Sonic's team is ready to return back."

"What about Snake's team?" Pit asked.

Roy looked away. "...We don't know what happened there. We lost the signal after...well... I don't know that either."

Mewtwo looked at the screen where it was extremely blurry to get a picture. "...I see..."

"What?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I just said that I see the screen." Mewtwo said with a frown as Jigglypuff looked away blushing in embarrassment before he turned to the hallway and floated away.

"W-wait! Where are you going?" Pit asked.

"I have to rest for now," Mewtwo pointed out as he stopped. "My energies need to be recovered for wandering so long in the Netherworld. Lucario, you need to do the same."

Lucario looked at Chris. "...But I want to stay here."

Mewtwo looked back at the hallway and floated away with a frown.

Chris smiled a little. "T-thank you, Lucario. But don't strain too much, okay?"

Lucario nodded with a small smile. "Yes."

"So in other words we can't reach Samus for now," Meta Knight said as Marth nodded. "...2 other swordsmen..." Meta Knight muttered.

Marth made a confused face and stopped typing. "It's something on my face?"

"...No, I was just thinking about something personal."

"..." Marth shrugged and continued typing.

"Well..." Pit began. "Now what?"

"I guess we should wait for the others to come." Ike said.

Kirby looked around. "And where are Master Hand and Crazy Hand?"

Roy looked at the hallway. "They're supposed to be fine after using their magic. I wonder if they're going t-"

"APPEAR!" Crazy Hand yelled appearing in a poof smoke with Master Hand.

"...Appear." Roy finished as they all looked at the hands.

"Phew," Master Hand sighed. "A good day's rest is always good for hand powers," he looked at them. "Oh some of you guys are back? How did it go?"

"Go-" Pit stopped talking.

"Wait," Master Hand looked around. "You got rid of all the Prinnies? Every single one of those freaking penguins?"

"...Yes?" Kirby responded.

"Finally! No more of those deadly CD destroyer creatures!" Master Hand cheered. "And now that we're talking about CDs, Makar and Medly are working just fine in the music room. In fact," he held up a CD. "Behold! This is the "Hidden Mountain & Forest" track!" Master Hand said inserting the track inside a computer where he played it.

Hidden Mountain & Forest

"So western-like music, huh?" Master Hand asked.

"I like the style," Roy said before he shook his head. "Wait, we're supposed to be worrying about the others!"

"Sonic's team finished." Ike pointed out as Master Hand chuckled.

"Oops, my bad. I need to open the portal for them if they want to return." Master Hand explained chuckling a bit as he opened a portal with a snap of his fingers.

...However, as soon as he opened the portal, they saw Sonic kissing the floor.

"M-my god! When did he get here so fast?!" Nana asked shocked.

"Nana? Where you here before?" Kirby asked.

Nana rolled her eyes. "I just came in from the music room," she listened to the music. "And maybe you're wondering how 2 musicians did a track with some extra instruments."

"Now that you mention it..." Roy rubbed his chin. "Only with a harp and violin alone can't do something like this..."

Nana smiled a bit. "Fortunately though, Popo found something where he's useful."

Music Room

"NO! NO! NO!" Makar yelled angrily. "You need to play this part with more feeling and sound! Not with opposite things!"

Popo looked at him angrily from the piano he was using. "Well fine, Mr. Violin. I'll just follow the notes as they are here in the script!"

Medli sighed. "E-everyone...can we just continue and see how it turns out?"

Command Room

"Sweet, sweet 3-D world! How much have I missed you!" Sonic yelled happily as he continued kissing the floor as the other made disgusting looks.

"Sonic is EVEN weirder than before..." Pit commented.

Sonic glared up at Pit. "Hey, you don't really know the pain I had to suffer! I was in a straight path! Did you hear me? A straight-freaking-path!"

"C-calm down, please..." Chris muttered.

Sonic grinned a little bit as he stood up. "I AM calmed down and I'm even happy."

The Smashers saw the others returning from the portals (with their normal looks) before it vanished. "We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack," Mallow said sighing as he walked up to Chris. "Hey, did you know that the Squirpines were the ones who founded the kingdom of Squilipina?"

"...What are you exactly talking about? I don't know anything about that at all!" Chris asked and responded confused.

Mallow made an angry expression. "Well, that's very good for you. That guy Squirps "infected" us with every single damn detail about his long generations of princes and what not!"

"And he didn't stopped either!" Diddy complained. "Who'd have thought that the Squolornians invaded the frantic city of the Toast People!"

"S-stop it!" Roy complained. "That doesn't make any sense at all!"

"Toast people..." Kirby rubbed his stomach as Pit sweatdropped.

Geno coughed a little. "Anyway, we deactivated the Subspace Bomb in there...but the Star Spirit wasn't there."

"Just as Misstar and Klevar told," Twink began. "They're somewhere in a place where we don't expect Kalmar to be."

"We couldn't find anything in the Netherworld either," Pit began. "We just found Galleom and an entire army ready to kill us but we defeated everyone there."

Kirby shuddered. "B-but we could say Laharl and the Prinnies did all the fight for ourselves..."

Lucario closed his eyes. "And we don't want to remember that whole ordeal."

Chris chuckled a little bit. "Really? My presence there was enough to beat Galleom," he took out a rose. "Let's say Galleom didn't have what it takes to gain a woman's heart."

Nana made a bored face. "Geez, what Master Hand said about flirting was true..."

Chris threw the rose away. "...You know what? I don't want to use this job very long so I'll choose a random one..." thus he changed...but..." Dammit, kupo!"

Toon Link chuckled. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, you shut up, kupo!" Chris (in his Moggle Knight job) said annoyed.

"Stop," Master Hand said chuckling. "Anyways, how did it go?"

Zelda (who turned back to Zelda from Sheik) looked at Master Hand. "Everything went well. The Subspace Bomb was deactivated, Mario was saved and we defeated..." she shuddered. "...Some weird people."

"Like the obviously obvious Luigi?" DK asked with a bored look.

"Oh right," Chris began. "Mr. L, kupo."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Pss, that guy wasn't that hard."

"I need to whack Luigi so hard the next time I see him." Yoshi said holding a bat.

"...Isn't that Ness's bat?" Jigglypuff asked as Ness took his bat back and grunted a little.

"...Anything important you found?" Master Hand asked.

"We found something...but I don't know if it is important." Geno said.

"Whatever you have, please tell us."

"Remember the Subspace Bombs?"

"Yes."

"Well, we saw these strange robots attached to them and they seemed to be stuck in them."

"(The R.O.B.s...yes...)" Master Hand thought.

"They didn't want to leave the bomb alone for some reason and they were deactivated as well." Zelda explained.

"But why are they used?" Mallow asked. "Why use robots to activate a bomb? Can't they just...move a switch up or something?"

"Come to think of it," Roy began. "The whole thing about using robots to use the Subspace Bombs is odd."

"...It IS odd," everyone said with bored looks.

"(Oh yes, things that weren't that detailed explained in the website. Nothing can stop me from unveiling something very big and crucial, absolutely nothing...or someone!)" Chris thought happily.

"Should we think for another time?" Fox asked. "I was thinking about what happened to Falco and the others with Samus."

"(I hate you now, really.)"

"They..." Roy trailed off.

"Finally!" Marth said. "I got lead!"

The screen quickly displayed...an ice wall as Popo came back from the music room and looked at the screen.

"Sweet! We're going to an ice world? I'm so in for that!" Popo said happily.

"We're NOT going t-wait," Master Hand looked at the screen closer. "An ice wall?"

"What is an ice wall doing in a world?" Sonic asked.

"Why is an ice wall being a world?" Nana asked.

"What is an ice wall with Red inside doing in a world that could possibly be a world that could be an ice wall with Red that is in fact a world?" Twink asked as everyone looked at him utterly confused.

"...Ice wall with Red inside a world," Geno said rubbing his head. "Let's leave it like that."

"Agree." Everyone said nodding.

"...AHEM!" Jigglypuff coughed. "That ISN'T an ice wall if Red is inside! It's a chunk of ice that froze Red!"

"Wait," Marth said as he looked at the computer. "I can move the view."

The Altean Prince moved the view and some of them got shocked after Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Link, Olimar (apparently running to 2 Pikmins' ghosts), Falco, Wolf, Snake, C. Falcon (trying to run to Samus) and Samus were all trapped inside several stalagmites of ice from an unknown location.

Music stops

"Well duh," Crazy Hand said close to the same computer where Master Hand inserted the track. "I had to turn off the music for this situation."

Nevertheless everyone completely ignored the lunatic hand and were focused in what did matter.

"My god..." Zelda muttered. "W-what happened?"

"Ice nightmare, that's what." Popo said.

"They're so lucky to be inside chunks of ice," Nana said. "You don't know how fun it is."

"Yeah," Popo chuckled. "It's totally a wonderful way to spend the time."

Mostly everyone looked at the Ice Climbers. "...Both of you are so creepy." Toon Link said.

Ness rolled his eyes. "Meh, they like ice to the point of enjoying every single thing related to ice."

Nana glared at him. "That's an insult, you know!"

"Stop!" Master Hand said.

"Right, focus..." Yoshi said nodding. "So far we know that I'm not going in there."

"Did we know that from the beginning?" Lucas asked.

"...No," Yoshi pointed out. "Now you know." Yoshi smiled a little and closed his eyes.

"Neither do I," Sonic said shaking his head. "Water is clearly related to ice and what happens if there are lots and lots of ice walls in there that could, you know, melt?"

"They'd get freed?" Lucas asked.

"...Besides that."

"They're icebuuurgs." Popo said dreamily.

"H-hey!" Marth was pushed away from the computer by Crazy Hand who seemed excited for some reason. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" Crazy Hand whispered. "I have to watch my special show and who knows, maybe someone in here will get interested!"

"Show?" Marth asked frowning. "Why are you thinking about a show when we have to rescu-"

"Oh yeah!" Crazy Hand yelled as he changed the view of the screen to what seemed to be a big stadium. "It's starting! IT IS STARTING TODAY!"

The screen showed a big stadium where many people filled all the seats and cheered loudly as they let ballons go away in the night's sky. There were many Toads, Piantas, Nokis, other people from Mario's world with Flickies (which were long forgotten if you think about them) from Sonic's world.

Sonic looked at the screen and gasped. "Oh no! The Olympics! I forgot completely about 'em!"

"A better reason of why I'm not going i-w-what?!" Yoshi asked shocked. "I-it is the time now?!"

"The Olympics?" Master Hand asked before he gasped. "Crap!"

"Why are you cursing for, kupo?" Chris asked confused as Master Hand gave him a letter. "A letter? Kupo?"

"Read it."

Chris looked back at Master Hand and read the letter inside the mail...

To: Everyone living in the Smash Mansion (Hearts)

From: Princess Peach (Hearts)

Hello there! (Hearts) Thank you for opening this letter! (Hearts)

I'm sending you this letter because you're all officialy invited to the Olympic Games at Beijing where you will participate against other athletes (us) in a friendly competition to show which team will win in the various events we're holding! (Hearts) I can't hardly wait to see which team you will form, since there are way too many of you. (Hearts)

So please, accept my invitation and let's have fun all together! (Hearts)

From Princess Peach herself while a random Toad wrote this letter (Hearts)

P.S: I really love to write hearts. (Hearts)

P.S.S: More space for more hearts! (Hearts) (Hearts) (Hearts)

P.S.S.S: By the way, Peach didn't tell me to write the hearts down. I did. (Hearts)

"We're invited to the Olympics?" Ness asked.

"Well, yes," Master Hand. "I figured that it'd be good propaganda to let you guys participate in the Olympics."

"Since when did we agree to be used as propaganda?"

"The contracts that you all signed once you got in this mansion, duh."

"Ha! I didn't sign one and neither did Lucario, kupo!" Chris said.

Master Hand laughed for a bit. "Of course you 2 did!"

Chris made a bored look. "Since when, I ask, kupo?"

"Ever since you 2 set a foot in this place."

"T-that's completely ridiculous! Kupo!"

Master Hand snapped his fingers and 2 contracts appeared with Chris and Lucario's names on them. "Papers don't lie."

"...But we di-"

"AHEM."

"...Ugh, kupo! That's unfair! Kupo!" Chris pouted crossing his arms.

Flashback

Lucario's Room

The first day both came in the mansion, both hands appeared holding what looked to be the same contracts.

Crazy Hand glowed making their rights hands lift up a little while some pens appeared in midair. The lunatic hand made the hands grab both pens as Master Hand glowed and levitated the contracts close to them where the hands exactly signed with their handwriting.

"That should do it." Master Hand whispered as Crazy Hand nodded before they disappeared with everything they brought in.

Command Room

End of flashback

"But Chris...those signed names have our handwritings." Lucario pointed out.

"B-but I don't remember signing up a contract! Kupo!" Chris complained.

"(They're so naive.)" Master Hand thought as he disappeared both papers. "Anyway guys, I already told Peach that some of us will go there and participate in the events."

"I'm going to be more careful to what I sign next time..." Roy muttered.

"But of course," Master Hand began. "We can send 9 more people to Samus's world and see what happened in there since they're in danger to be killed, which gives us an advantage."

"So the people who are going to Samus's world are not going to the Olympics?" DK asked.

"Anybody can go anywhere to your advantage."

"I'll go to Samus," Zelda said. "I need to rescue Link."

"Hey! Rescuing people is my thing so I'm going too!" Toon Link said.

"But didn't you fail to save Aryll the first time we found her? Kupo?" Chris asked.

"S-shut up! I-I was distracted that time!"

"Nana?" Popo asked raising an eyebrow. "Do you know what am I thinking?"

"We'll go there." Nana said taking out her hammer as Popo jumped happily.

"Count me in." Jigglypuff said jumping off from her seat. "I'll sing if it's needed."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the Smashers (except Lucario, Ike, Pit, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink and Meta Knight) yelled disagreeding.

"Too bad!" Jigglypuff said taking out her microphone. "I'm so prepared to sing this time!"

Ness took the microphone and threw it away (where Jigglypuff glared at him before running for mentioned item). "I'm going as well. How about you, Lucas?"

"W-what? O-okay...but I'm not too sure about this." Lucas said nodding.

"May I go as well?" Ike asked raising his hand and Master Hand nodded. "I think I'm prepared to understand what is happening here."

"I'll go." Fox stated simply with a nod.

"You'll need fire to get through so I'm going." Roy said.

"That makes up a whole team of 9," Master Hand said looking at the remaining Smashers. "I need at least 8 Smashers and represent the Smash Mansion besides Yoshi and Sonic, who are supposed to have their teams waiting for them."

"Olympics!" Yoshi and Sonic yelled glaring at each other with fire in their eyes.

"Buuuuuuuuuuurn!" Mallow yelled making a fist. "Can I?"

"...Technically you're not a Smasher...but what the heck, they may get the hint." Master Hand said as Mallow cheered a little.

"I'm going." Geno said.

"Geno? Are you going to participate?"

"...I'm against it but...I want to see Mario and Peach again..." Geno said blushing a little.

"Aww! Geno misses Mario and Peach so much that he wants to stay with them again!" Twink teased.

"S-shut up!" Geno said annoyed.

"I'm going as well!" Twink said happily.

Master Hand looked at Pit who jumped a little. "W-wait, you're not thinking about sending me there, are you?" Pit asked as Master Hand nodded. "...Fine..."

"Don't think about it." Meta Knight threatened as the hand shuddered.

"Kirby?" Master Hand asked.

"Hmm..." Kirby wondered.

"I hear there's exotic food in there."

"I'm in! I'm in!" Kirby cheered as many of them frowned.

"...Fine! I'm going! Kupo" Chris said rolling his eyes once Master Hand looked at him.

"...Me too?" Marth asked as Master Hand nodded. "But I...I understand I guess..."

"Ooh! Me me me!" DK said raising his right hand. "I'm going to do some sort of revenge after they turned my offer down. How about you, Diddy?"

"Hmm... I'll go." Diddy said chuckling.

They all looked at Lucario who looked at all of them.

"...What? Do I have too?" Lucario asked.

"If you don't want to..." Chris trailed as he looked down the floor. "...It'd be a shame..."

"W-why?" Lucario asked worried as Chris kicked the air slowly.

"I really wanted to see you winning the events so the people could know how perfectly were you raised...but if you don't want that..." Chris sniffed a little as Lucario got a shocked look.

"N-no! Please Chris, d-don't cry!"

"A-are you going? Kupo?" Chris asked making a sad look to Lucario who nodded smiling worried. "T-thank you...kupo..."

Ike made a bored look. "...Was that really necessary to do?"

"...No," Chris said as Lucario groaned. "I want you to come so no backtracking now!"

"Besides I doubt Mewtwo would agree to go after I said no." Meta Knight pointed out.

"Great!" Master Hand said excited. "All of you have your own locker room where the things you need to use are located."

"L-locker room?" Geno asked.

"Sorry but you'll have to wear something to represent us."

"I-I refuse!" Geno said angrily. "I'm perfectly fine like this!"

The others seemed to agree because they glared at Master Hand as they nodded.

"Geez you people..." Master Hand said frowning. "No good sportsmanship, huh?"

"Hello?" Mallow asked running on his feet. "Time's running out, you know!"

"Wa-it!" Crazy Hand interrupted. "First you have to buy something before you go somewhere!"

"But make it quick, kupo." Chris said.

"Oh, right," Toon Link took out a bag of coins. "This appeared when we came back."

Chris took the bag and there were 2100 Smash Coins in there. "Thank you, kupo."

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 4301

Jobs

Juggler - 1300 Smash Coins

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Items for everyone - 400 Smash Coins

Don't Trip And Follow Me! - 900 Smash Coins

Healing Hit – 3000 Smash Coins

When knocking down an enemy with a critical hit, heals a party member from any kind of status ailment using a hit that cures anything. (Note that the job user won't have this advantage. A party member must knock down an enemy, then the ability can be used).

"A healing hit? What's that? Kupo?" Chris asked.

"There was this really weird world with teenagers fighting monsters that were some kind of shadowy creatures before, and one of 'em knocked down this one. There was another teenager that was a girl that couldn't speak because she tried yell something until the first teenager that knocked down that creature came close to the girl and hit her in the head very hard, which actually healed her ailment!" Crazy Hand explained. "Bad thing was that I wandered all the way there by accident from my room to the bathroom, those kids saw me and..." Crazy Hand turned his back and there were 4 arrows stuck. "Let's say the girl got scared and she went all nuts on me and shot these hard-to-reach arrows on my back..."

"Crazy! What the hell were you doing between our room-" Master Hand shuddered at the thought of their room. "-and the bathroom?"

"You know I like to do really odd random things so well! Why asking?"

"A healing hit? Kupo?" Chris wondered.

Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Timer
Green Shell
Smash Ball

Maxim Tomato

Stored items:
None

"Oops, I didn't use the Smash Ball at all. Kupo." Chris muttered embarrassed.

"Whatcha gonna buy, my moogle boy?" Crazy Hand asked.

"A Pokeball!" Chris said giving 800 Smash Coins in exchange for a Pokeball he bought. "A Bumper!" Chris gave 500 Smash Coins in exchange for a Bumper. "And the Juggler job, kupo!" Chris gave 1300 Smash Coins to the crazy hand and he glowed instantly...

"Here it comes..." Roy said. "I think he's going to have another weird personality."

"I want to see a juggler." Diddy said hopping a little.

"I want to see a watermelon." Kirby wished.

"I want that glow stop right now." Zelda said covering her eyes until they all saw Chris with a different set of clothes...or this time a costume.

The World Traveler now wore a clown hat which had a red tail and a black tail with small white pompoms on the top of both of them. He also wore a long but small suit which was black on one half and red on the other side as the hat, small brown shoes...

But what was surprising is that Chris now had a painted face which was white, except for the blue oval on his right eye with a red line crossing it vertically. His mouth was underlined with a red line.

On a last note, he was still a moogle so he had the small demon wings behind his back.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness – Jovi's Theme

"Hello hello hello! Everybody! Kupo!" Chris greeted folding his arms behind his back with a small grin as he closed his eyes. "I'm the amazing of the surprising, the funniest of the craziest, the jester of the circus! The Juggler: Chris! Kupo!"

Everyone looked at each other with confused looks...while Diddy seemed to be excited because he clapped at the juggler.

"And to think we had enough with jesters like that Dimentio guy..." Yoshi trailed off.

Chris took out a round ball behind his back (that was the size of a normal moggle's height) and twirled it above a finger. "It's good to have such a weird audience like all of you to admire the wonderful show I'm going to make for all of you today! Kupo!"

"What show? Tell me!" Diddy asked hopping a little in excitement.

"C-Chris?" Lucario asked a little shocked as Chris looked at Lucario and chuckled a little.

"Don't worry, my Pokemon. I'm still me...but!" Chris threw the ball away (to Diddy who jumped it and rolled above it in the same position with talent). "It's me but with more enthusiasm, crazyness, charisma and happier than even before! Kupo!"

"Yes!" Crazy Hand said triumphaly. "This is my biggest masterpiece of all the jobs so far!"

"OUR masterpiece." Master Hand corrected him.

"And I happened to do actual research about this job as well!"

"Please do tell!" Diddy said laughing as he rolled on the ball.

"The juggler can inflict damage using odd abilities, and also he can give status ailments as well with his various tools such like the Ball!"

Chris chuckled and took out a same ball like the one from before. "Yep. This ball right here can, for example, confuse anybody because IT'S the Ball."

Roy rolled his eyes. "And how can you confuse anybody with a ball?"

"Like this!" Chris yelled throwing the ball quickly at Roy's head where it made a whack sound as it disappeared in midair. "Now who are you?"

"My name is the great Nolegar," Roy said as his eyes were spinning. "And I shall rule over the people of the other street! SHIA!"

"W-watch it!" Ike yelled dodging a slash from Roy.

"...Oops," Chris muttered. "Forgot to tell that the Ball can make an enemy or ally turn against their own allies."

"Well, do something about it and fast!" Ike yelled as Roy tried to kill him.

"You won't escape from my stick of doom!" Roy yelled laughing maniacally.

"U-um, sure. J-just give him a weak hit on the head and he should be back! Kupo!" Chris panicked for a little as Lucario noticed something.

"Chris, your voice seemed to be the same when you were a knight." Lucario pointed out.

"...It did? Kupo?" Chris asked.

"I especially love the sudden change of personalities," Crazy Hand chuckled. "You don't know when he's normal or not."

"That explains a thing." Kirby said nodding.

"There!" Ike yelled punching Roy on the head as he stopped and looked around.

"O-ouch...what happened?" Roy asked. "First Chris was throwing me a ball then everything got blurry..."

"You were attacking me, o great Nolegar." Ike said rolling his eyes.

"Nole-what?"

"Just forget it..."

"Portal time," Master Hand said snapping his fingers as 2 portals appeared. "See? I opened them instead of you. That's clearly a sign of true friends."

"Wait, were you thinking I was lazy? Kupo?" Chris asked putting his hands on his hips in annoyance.

"You weren't?" Master Hand asked as Chris stared at him in annoyance. "I...look, you guys go to your appointed worlds and fast! But before you, Sonic, go..." Master Hand snapped his fingers as Sonic changed to his Brawl look. "I forgot to give you and Snake your Brawl forms so sorry about that."

"Hmm..." Sonic looked himself. "...Not that different to be honest."

"You can take a spring out when you want."

Sonic made a confused face as he took out from his back mentioned item that he put down the floor. "Suh-weet!" Sonic said jumping on it which propelled him high to the ceiling where he touched it and landed back.

"Everyone should use the spring for an advantage in battles to-." Master Hand was going to point out but was interrupted.

"LAST ONE WILL BE A-" Sonic couldn't finish his sentence because he zoomed past them to the stadium at "Beijing" as Yoshi followed him from behind.

Chris flew over Lucario's head and hung up on the top of his head. "Lucario? Will you do the honors for me?"

"Once you get down my head." Lucario said crossing his arms.

"...K-kupo..." Chris sobbed.

"O-on second though, hang on please." Lucario said as he entered the portal.

"Crocodile tears." Marth frowned as he entered with the others.

"And for the second team," Master Hand snapped his fingers as the second team glowed for a moment. "There. I gave you the ability to breath in the space since most of you can't breath without oxygen...and since there are signals of large amounts of phazon, I may as well give you protection to that highly radioactive substance." Master Hand said snapping his fingers again as they glowed for a second.

"And you didn't give this to Snake's group?" Zelda asked.

"...Oopsie?" Master Hand answered as Zelda frowned.

"Now," Ike took out Ragnell. "Let's go."

"Ike, not like that!" Roy yelled as some of them chuckled.

"What?"

"It looks a bit cheesy and that will just embarrass yourself!"

"O-oh, I see. Then let's just go." Ike said walking inside the portal as the others chuckled even more.

"C'mon, you guys!" Roy said annoyed.

"S-sorry," Ness said chuckling. "I-it looked so stupid..."

"Alright, let's go." Fox said as everyone went inside the portal (just before it could close, Jigglypuff came back and rushed in) which disappeared.

"...But he said the same thing and nobody chuckled!" Crazy Hand pointed out.

"Ike saying it is just random...and let's say that is natural that Fox says it," Master Hand said as he looked at Meta Knight. "You still here?"

Meta Knight looked at Master Hand. "Sorry. I was wondering something that troubled my mind."

"Like?"

The Star Warrior turned his back and walked to the hallway. "Something you shouldn't know...by now."

Master Hand rolled his "eyes" and looked at the screen. "Well, go ahead and leave us alone."

"In the bed?" Crazy Hand asked with a sexy woman's voice.

"NO!"

Main Lobby

Meta Knight was walking upstairs until the bell rang, making him turn to the door as he walked to it. "(Who wants to visit the mansion during this harsh weather today?)" Meta Knight thought to himself as he turned the doorknob and found a old woman (it was Chip with lens and a pudding-looking white hair) floating in front of him. "..."

"Young sir...achoo!" Chip sneezed. "W-would you be so kind and listen to what I have to say?"

"..."

"W-well... I know this guy w-who lost his memory and he needs to recover it back as soon as possible and I was wondering if y-"

"Not interested."

SLAM!

"Oh, come on! You're not going to say that I'm a credit card seller or something like tha-I mean, p-please kind sir, help my husbaaaaaaaaaaaan-I mean, this guy, please! Achoo!" Chip begged as he knocked several times on the door, accidentaly changing his voice to an old woman's one or his normal one before he groaned and flew away.

Just as Meta Knight got to the top of the stairs, the door rang again as the knight rolled his eyes and walked all the way down to the floor and to the door. "(If it is that idiot, I'm going to slash him to death.)" Meta Knight thought irritated as he opened the door again.

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

"..."

Meta Knight saw a young girl with goggles on hr hair, flipping pages in a book she was reading. Apparently the same mentioned was the last member from the Brave Vesperia's guild...

...It was Rita Mordio: the Genius Mage.

"Good afternoon." Meta Knight said simply as Rita looked up from her book (because she touched the bell without even looking), looked around and then looked down at Meta Knight where she got a little surprised.

"W-what?" Rita asked as she glared at "it." "H-hey! Don't sneak on people like that, especially me!"

"My apologies," Meta Knight said sarcastically. "But you weren't paying attention when you rang the bell."

Rita rolled her eyes in annoyance. "(First I was reading my book then this thing shows up and gives me a sarcastic comment. My day couldn't get any weirder.)" Rita thought.

"Do you have any business in this mansion?" Meta Knight asked as he slowly tried to close the door while Rita narrowed her eyes at him. "If you don't, then I'll ask you to leav-"

Rita stomped her right foot before the door could close and opened it back. "In fact, I have something important to do here."

"And that is?"

"Well," Rita began as she closed her book and pulled it behind her back as she closed her eyes. "I'm looking for some people who got stupidly lost in a forest. And there's this old man guy who is totally and utterly annoying."

Meta Knight quickly figured out that the annoying old man was Raven...since he thought the same as Rita.

Rita crossed her arms and looked away, not interested at the least. "Geez, I swear... Those guys can't get a little time of peace before they wind up in some kind of trouble, winding up me as well."

"The feeling is mutual," Meta Knight said nodding. "Trust me, I wind up in so many troubles with the people living in here. But somehow I manage to windstand everything."

Rita grinned a little bit and looked back at Meta Knight. "Good! Somebody understands my own problems, that's a good point."

"So were you looking for someone?"

Rita nodded. "That's right, You don't happen to know an old man with an annoying attitude, do you?"

"To be honest..." Meta Knight trailed off.

"NOOOOOO! DON'T MAKE GOOD OL' ME RETURN BACK TO DAHNGREST WHERE THAT DEMON GIRL RITA WILL KILL ME! I BEG YOU!" Raven's voice rang inside Meta Knight's mind.

"...I don't know." Meta Knight finished as Rita rolled her eyes.

"Figures..." Rita said before she turned her back and walked away. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to look for him and the others. Thank you anyway."

"Mask dude," another not shown time where Raven talked to Meta Knight rang inside his mind. "I bet ya're hiding somethin' behind that mask of yours. Wonder if ya're really a female. Heheheheh..."

"Wait," Meta Knight called out as Rita stopped and looked over her right shoulder. "I happen to know someone like him as you've described before."

Rita smiled a little and walked back to Meta Knight. "Oh yeah?"

"...But he comes to the mansion from time to time."

"When?" Rita asked tilting her head to the side.

"He might come in 3 hours and ask for food."

Rita nodded. "Yeah, I figured he'd go so low and ask for food doing some kind of act."

"If you want, you can wait for him in here." Meta Knight offered.

"Nah, it's okay," Rita said walking away. "I'll come back shortly so tell me when is that old man going to show up here."

"Certainly," Meta Knight said nodding as he closed the door.

Hallway

A time passed as Meta Knight wandered around the mansion, trying to find the library to read a book.

Library

Meta Knight found it and sat on a sofa for one person where he readed a book called "How to recover heavy-armored ships from evil organizations."

"This book is horrible," Meta Knight commented as he went for another book and sat back on the sofa. "This is better." Meta Knight said sighing silently.

"...Oh my!"

Meta Knight lowered his book and looked to his right where he found a girl (Estelle) looking shocked because she didn't notice the Star Warrior sitting besides her sofa because she was also reading a book. "When did you get in here? I thought nobody else was here."

"M-my apologies," Estelle said giving a small bow from her seat. "(A masked creature that can talk?)"

"It's bad to stare at people like that." Meta Knight pointed out as Estelle hopped up a little from her seat.

"S-sorry," Estelle said. "I got surprised that there was someone...like you here."

"..." Meta Knight raised his book and readed it.

"...M-my name is Estellise Sidos Heurassein."

"..."

"...Y-you can call me Estelle for short if you want. My friends call me like that."

"...Meta Knight."

"Meta Knight?" Estelle asked tilting her head. "That is an...interesting name I suppose?"

Somehow, Meta Knight figured out that this was going to be a long time in the library.

Sky

Tales of Symphonia 2 – Behind Us!

High above the white paradise of ice, there was a familiar Paratroopa who seemed persistent on his task as snow fell on his goggles.

"UGH! Ugh! Ugh!" Parakarry was shown trying to get through the clouds by slamming his shoulder against them but somehow he couldn't. "W-why I can't get through these darn clouds?!" Parakarry asked gritting his teeth as he continued arduosly his goal. "C-come on! Let me through! I know there's something hidden in there that somebody doesn't want to reveal! Ugh!"

The view slowly panned out as the Paratroopa struggled...

Music stops

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games

Beijing?

Inside the stadium

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games – Menu Screen

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!!"

"K-Knuckles! Please calm down!" Tails said lowering and raising his hands.

"How am I suppose to calm down if that idiot isn't here?!" Knuckles asked irritated. "The Olympics can't start if our supposed team leader isn't here!"

Amy giggled. "Knuckles, you ended your rants with the same thin-" Amy noticed that Knuckles was glaring at her. "...Oh...sorry."

Knuckles threw his hands up and frowned. "Whatever. Today it's not my day at all."

"You tell me that!" Vector said irritated. "I can't play here because Sonic isn't here either!"

"...How did we decide to let Vector join our team again?" Amy whispered to Tails.

"Because we needed to get 1 last member at last minute and he happened to be walking outside the stadium with Espio and Charmy...so yeah." Tails whispered back.

"By the way Vector," Amy began. "Where are Espio and Charmy?"

"Those 2 wackos are gonna be the scorers," Vector explained grinning as he crossed his arms. "Along with that weirdo mask guy and that dude with glasses on a smiling cloud."

"But I wanted to participate!" Charmy complained appearing behind Vector with Espio.

"Look Charmy, I'm the boss of our team and who knows, if all the people in here admire my uber skills, the Chaotix Detective Agency will get so famous that every single people in the world will be begging for our services!" Vector's eyes turned into money signs with the usual "ching!" sound. "Oh yeah, I can see my gold desk already!"

Espio frowned and facepalmed. "Yeah, they're only going to know how stupid you are."

"Hey!" Vector glared down at Espio. "I'll prove it to all of you here about my strength with the hammer!"

The original trio ignored the rants of the other trio as they looked around. "Oh man... Sonic, you have to come here." Tails muttered.

"Oh yeah," Amy said remembering something. "We also have to tell him that something strange happened to our world."

Tails looked at Amy. "The continents...you know, torn apart?"

"I forgot about that," Knuckles began. "Damn, I know Eggman is behind all this..."

"I hear that!" Dr. Eggman yelled from behind the trio. "I don't have anything to do with this whole thing of the continents being torn apart from our world!"

"...Why is HE in our team again?" Amy whispered.

"Don't tell Vector but I actually asked Mighty to come here but then I received a call that he got sick so I had to..."

"But HIM of ALL PEOPLE?!"

"D-don't blame all on me!" Tails said panicking a little.

Amy's right eye twitched. "But Tails! There are many people out there who could've come in here that we know! What about Nack?"

"I heard rumors that he went treasure hunting somewhere."

"Bean?"

"He was going to come but then just about I was going to hung up, an explosion came from where he lives and I haven't heard of him ever since."

"Bark?"

"I heard Bark started a fish company business..."

"Omega?"

"Destroying Eggman robots while Eggman is here." Tails whispered.

"The Babylon Rogues?"

"Nope."

"That Ulala girl we met?"

"Fighting space creatures in her show."

"How about Aiai?"

"Rolling in a jungle."

"And NIGHTS?"

"Dreaming somewhere."

"Rouge?"

"She came in here but then she went away to hunt down jewels in Egypt."

Amy sighed. "I see..."

"B-but cheer up!" Tails said smiling. "Fortunately I went for the trouble and asked someone else!"

"Who?"

Just as Amy asked, fire and flames began to appear from nowhere as they circulated and made a person of fire, however the fire seemed to lower with every second it passed until a purple cat walked out from the fire...and fainted on the grass.

"Oh my goodness! Blaze!" Amy gasped as she kneeled to see the pyro cat. "Blaze! Are you okay?!"

"Y-yes..." Blaze said shaking her head. "I guess I used too much fire power in my entrance..."

"But for what?" Tails asked. "The ceremony hasn't begun yet!"

"...Rats." Blaze muttered as she got up. "Well, at least I made it in time."

"...Say," Amy smiled and folded her arms behind her back. "Those you have on look great on you."

Blaze smiled and blushed a little. "W-well, I thought I had to dress up for the occassion...but it was mandatory?"

"No, but they look on you." Amy giggled. "Look! I even bought these shoes for the 400m event!"

"They look good on you." Blaze remarked.

"Tails, I didn't know you were able to get Blaze here!"

"H-huh? What do you mean?" Tails asked. "I didn't ask Blaze to come here. I asked another person besides her."

Blaze nodded. "To be honest, Sonic asked me to participate in the Olympics when I was about to leave to my world. He practically begged a little and I agreed."

"...Then who did you ask?" Amy asked confused.

"That would be me."

"Eek!" Amy jumped from her spot and looked behind her to see nobody else than Shadow staring at her. "S-Shadow?!"

Shadow crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Being the same, I see."

Amy pouted a little. "H-hey! That's rude!"

Tails chuckled nervously. "I-I happened to find Shadow in some mountains when I was testing one of my aircrafts and I had to ask him because he was the last person."

"But didn't you say Vector was the last one?" Knuckles asked.

"D-don't laugh but I thought with only Sonic, you, me, Amy, Shadow and Eggman were enough until I found out that we needed to be a team of 7 members. Then when we came here I asked Vector...until I found out that we needed another member...then Blaze came out from her world and then...this." Tails explained.

"Tsk," Shadow frowned. "Don't think weird of me but I happened to be just bored without anything that I had to agree about participating here."

"Aw, is Shadow looking to see Sonic again?" Amy asked as Shadow looked annoyed at her.

"You could say it was pure luck...that I gathered 4 unexpected members." Tails said rubbing his head as he chuckled nervously.

"Anyway," Knuckles turned to Eggman. "Spill it, you're behind the whole thing about the continents being torn apart."

"For the last time you stupid echidna, I don't have anything to do with it!" Dr. Eggman said irritated. "Why'd I have to take the continents apart for? I want to conquer the world! Not destroy it for my grandpa's sake!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes and cracked his fists before he leaped at Dr. Eggman.. "Yeah, like I'm going to believe tha-"

"I'm heeeeeeeeee-WHOA!"

"YOU!"

CRASH!

"Oww..." Knuckles moaned in pain after a portal appeared out from nowhere and Sonic came rushing from it and accidentaly crashed into Knuckles as both stumbled on the grass and layed on top of each other. "You...little..."

"SONIC!" Amy appeared in flash besides Sonic and hugged him to death. "I knew you were going to come after all! (Sonic: AMY! L-LET ME GO!) Goodness, you really had me worried for a second there! (Sonic: Can't...breath...anymore...)."

"...A-Amy..." Tails began worried. "I-I think you're killing Sonic..."

"Oh, no!" Amy yelled as she released Sonic (who appeared to be knocked out of cold) and fell to the grass. "Sonic! Sonic! Please, forgive me! I don't know the strength I have within me!"

"Now you're being a little poetic," Knuckles frowned as he got up and saw the Smashers coming out from the portal. "It's you guys!"

"Yes!" Chris cheered as he looked all the people in the stadium from Lucario's head. "I have the perfect audience for my next show! Kupo!"

"Chris," Lucario muttered as he grabbed Chris by his back and dropped him on the grass. "It's not the time to do that."

"Hmm...kupo." Chris "hmm'd" disappointed.

"You said he's Chris?" Amy asked looking down at the moggle. "He doesn't look like him at all..."

"Er...it's really me," Chris said getting up. "I have a new job and that's why I look like this, kupo."

Amy blushed. "Aw, come here you little cutie." Amy hugged Chris.

"H-hey, stop it please, kupo!" Chris said pushing Amy away from him. "I think I need to be careful when I'm around girls, kupo."

"Hey there," Knuckles grinned chuckling. "Good to have you back, shorty."

"S-shorty?!" Chris asked annoyed. "W-why you! I'm going to throw you inside a cage of Coeurls and see how you fare against them, kupo!"

"I don't know what the heck is a Colelur though."

"I think it's Coeurl," Blaze corrected him. "Not a hard name to remember."

"Blaze!" Sonic smiled a little. "You came after all!"

"W-well... I thought it was going to be interesting so I came here." Blaze said blushing a little.

"How's..." Sonic shuddered. "...Marine doing?"

"She's here."

"What?" Sonic and Tails asked.

Not as soon Blaze said that, flames began to gather besides her before they formed a person in fire who quickly shook off the flames and there was a raccoon standing besides her, that raccoon was the scatterbrained Marine the Raccoon.

"Yer here, mates!" Marine greeted smiling.

"Oh my god, she's here Sonic." Tails whispered.

"That's so right, mate!" Marine said happily. "So, Olympics huh? Sounds like yer're going to have a rough time in these events. Tis is it, mates!"

"Hi there," Amy said to Marine. "You must be Marine the Raccoon, the friend Tails told me about, right?"

Marine nodded rather quickly. "Yep! The same Marine from the sea, mate!" Marine looked around. "Ooooooh, such big audience, mates!"

From then on, Amy and Marine began talking between themselves.

"Oh god," Chris said giving a mischievous smile. "Is there anyone else out there who wants to come here? Kupo?"

Blaze's ears perked up a little once she heard footsteps coming from behind her, she turned her back and found Cream and Cheese looking at her with some tears strolling down their eyes. "Cream..." Blaze muttered.

"B-Blaze!" Cream cried hugging Blaze. "Y-you're back, Blaze!"

"Y-yes... It's good to see again..." Blaze muttered blushing.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said happily as Blaze looked at him.

"I'm back, Cheese. You don't have to cry anymore."

"Chao..." Cheese hugged Blaze who gave a small smile.

Mallow and Kirby wipped out some tears. "I-I love this kind of moments too much..." Mallow said sniffing.

Twink sniffed. "Napkin?" Twink offered a napkin to Mallow who took it and blew his nose (if he had one) on it as Geno rolled his eyes.

"...Say..." Tails looked at all the Smashers...but it seemed that he tried to find someone of importance to him as Chris walked to him and rolled his eyes.

"Fox is not here, kupo." Chris said.

"I-I see..." Tails said disappointed.

"(Is it just me or do these 2 act like younger and older brothers? Kupo?)"

Tails blushed embarrassed. "D-do you know where is he?"

"He's in another world trying to rescue some of us as we are here, kupo."

"What? Who?"

Chris explained everything to Tails.

"Well... I hope he can rescue Falco...can you tell him that?"

Chris smiled and nodded. "Of course. Don't worry, kupo."

"T-thanks." Tails said smiling a little.

"Are the Olympics ready to begin?" Yoshi asked.

"You guys are participating?" Vector asked.

"We're here to represent the Smash Mansion," DK explained. "And because Mario didn't accept me or Diddy to participate."

"Oh right," Yoshi nodded. "Where's Mario?"

"You mean the somewhat fat, red man?" Knuckles asked.

"H-he's not fat!"

"Suuuuuuuuure he isn't." Sonic and Knuckles said chuckling.

"A-anyway! Where is he?! Do you know or not?!"

"Relax," Amy said chuckling. "I think he and his team are in their own lockers. Follow that hallway from over there and you should find the room they're in." Amy pointed at a hallway not far away from them and the Yoshi ran in a hurry through it.

"What's up with that matey?" Marine asked.

"He's very excited for the Olympics." Geno pointed out.

"...Wait," Knuckles trailed off. "Didn't we have something to tell Sonic about?"

"Oh yeah!" Amy said. "Sonic! Something horrible happened to our world!"

"What?" Sonic asked raising an eyebrow.

Amy opened her arms. "The continents, all of them were torn apart from it!"

"Huh?!" Sonic asked shocked at this (though the Smashers weren't that shocked).

"They just happened to float away from the core of the planet," Tails explained. "Just as simple as that and nothing that catastrophic happened afterwards."

"What do you mean by nothing that catastrophic?"

"They're currently floating over the core," Knuckles explained. "They stopped from going away to the outer space. The citizens of all over the world panicked at this and even some of them...can't fly over another continent since they think it's dangerous to fly above great abysses with lava...but the thing we perfectly know is that Dr. Eggman is behind all this!"

Sonic glared at Dr. Eggman. "Alright, Egg(beep!). Time to confess everything!"

"Egg(beep!)?" Twink and Cream wondered.

"Not again, damn it!" Geno cursed.

"Meh," Amy giggled a little. "Cream knows about those bad words from a long time ago anyway."

Cream nodded with a giggle. "Yes. My mother taught me that I don't need to say such words as Mr. Sonic does."

Sonic felt stupid for a moment but he continued glaring at Dr. Eggman.

"W-why do you think I'm responsible for such event?" Dr. Eggman asked annoyed as everyone looked at him with suspicious looks. "It wasn't me! I swear my laboraties that it wasn't me this time!"

"Grrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted angrily.

"I'm 110 percent not guilty for that!"

"...I don't want to believe him...but I think he says the truth," Tails said. "We'll just have to wait until something that proves that he isn't the culprit shows up."

"Good. Somebody believes in me."

"Attention, all participants!" Toadsworth called from the speakers all over the stadium as everyone looked at several directions. "Today is the great event for the Olympic Games at Beijing, right where we're standing!"

"Chris..." Lucario trailed off.

"Yes? Kupo?"

"If this is Beijing...does that mean we're in your world?"

"..." Chris thought for a moment. "...Is this place Beijing at all? Kupo?"

"I don't have any clue unfortunately..."

"Neither do I, kupo..."

"We'd also like to mention the special guests for today's event as well! In a previous sports' event in the Mushroom Kingdom, we had mentioned guests back then who participated and showed their skills at sports flawlessly. Please give a round of applauses to the Smashers from the Smash Mansion!"

Lights shone on the Smashers who looked around and some of them waved at the audience who cheered loudly.

"D-don't get scared..." Chris muttered. "T-they're the audience that you've been waiting for ever since you got this job, ku-kupo..."

"How ironic." Marth pointed out.

"Alright!" Sonic said smirking triumphaly. "Time for these events to get rolling!"

"Oh," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "By the way, you need to swallow these."

Sonic looked at Dr. Eggman giving some pills for him and Shadow.

"Pills? Are they filled with poison?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"No," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Why'd I give Shadow the same pills?"

"He maybe has a point..." Shadow said swallowing the pills inside his mouth.

Sonic lifted his shoulders and swallowed the pills before grinning. "Ha! I don't feel that weird at all! So what did you do to me? I'm going to have bad nightmares? Gastric problems? Deadly headache? Feeling all dizzy? Tell me."

"Actually..." Blaze began. "I ate the very same pills because they were sent to me."

"Same here." Knuckles said.

Mostly everyone nodded except for the Smashers.

"If you're thinking about participating, then you should swallow the pills too." Dr. Eggman said giving every Smashers the pills that they stared before swallowing them.

"For what are the pills though?" Tails asked.

"The sponsor of the Olympics asked me to make those pills specifically," Dr. Eggman said shuddering. "That sponsor was kind of crazy though, he sent guards to watch me and be sure that the pills were exactly as he ordered them to be."

"So what do the pills do if someone swallows them?" Twink asked.

"They almost equally put the skills of someone at a "reasonable" level." Dr. Eggman said chuckling.

"What do you mean by equally and reasonable?" Vector asked.

"...Oh, I think he means that everyone in here will be almost equally matched because the pills reduce some of our original attributes and put them almost at the same level of the average person." Tails explained as they all looked at each other.

"...So you mean...my speed...went down for so many levels?!" Sonic asked panicked.

"Then for mine as well." Shadow said frowning.

Sonic ran around but not as his usual speed, his current speed was just a little bit faster than a normal person as he looked like he was going to yell very loud at the night's sky.

"...Sonic..." Marth began. "Don't panic...you don't have to yell or curse out..."

"Listen to Marth," Diddy said. "Nothing good will come out from yelling besides that everyone will see you as a freak."

"But isn't he a freak because he's going to yell despite all that you said?" Twink asked as the Smashers glared at him.

"He is doing it," Pit said. "He is going to."

Sonic inhaled as much air as he could hold and looked up to the sky before he...

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo

?

Kirby Super Star Ultra – Crystal Area

"Huh?" Fox's ears perked up a little and looked up to the orange sky after he managed to hear a faint yell from somewhere.

"Fox? Is something wrong?" Lucas asked.

"...Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That faint yell...like someone was yelling in horror or something like that..."

"Y-you must be hearing wrong things because I didn't hear anything like you described."

"...Maybe is was just me." Fox said shrugging as the group walked forward.

It was hard to locate the area where they were in. There was nothing else besides many ice walls, stalagmites made of ice and the phazon that leaked out from the ice as they went through an ice cave.

"Where are we exactly?" Ness asked looking around.

"It's hard to tell," Zelda said. "There is nothing but ice and that phazon substance that Samus told me about."

"I have this awesome feeling that we're going to be frozen as the others up ahead." Popo said smiling.

"What's so awesome about being frozen?" Roy asked.

"You don't know now after you try it." Nana said.

"They're both agreeding for once?"

"So? What's your point?" Popo asked.

"Maybe it is awesome." Ike wondered as the others chuckled. "Okay, what did I do wrong?"

"Maybe you should shut up and just fight..." Roy suggested with a bored look.

"No, tell me now."

"...Things that hurt are not good and things that don't hurt are not bad. Now you get the point?"

"..." Ike facepalmed at this.

"Anybody got an idea of what is waiting for us up ahead?" Toon Link asked shifting his eyes at each side with his left hand ready to take out his Master Sword.

"An enemy which uses ice as its primary weapon?" Nana responded rolling her eyes.

"In which case we should use fire attacks," Zelda said smiling to Roy and Ike. "Fortunately we have fire users with us here. I could use Din's Fire as well."

"Hey!" Ness called out. "I can use PK Fire. Don't forget, please."

"I-I can use PK Fire too." Lucas pointed out.

"(Because you're my clone.)" Ness thought irritated.

"My bombs could be the fire." Toon Link said taking out a bomb from his back as he threw it at an ice wall which exploded in bits.

Fox made an annoyed look and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to spam Fire Fox that much just because that's my only attack which uses fire."

"Anybody's going to spam fire attacks if it's necessary?" Jigglypuff asked as pretty much everyone who used fire attacks raised their hands except the vulpine.

"6 out of 1. You have to follow the strategy. Sorry, Fox." Roy said.

"Who said this was a voting?" Fox asked.

"Check this out guys!" Popo yelled pointing down the midair they were on. "Ice slope time!"

"...Ice slope?!" everyone asked shocked as they stared down at a very long ice slope which was going down.

"...Okay..." Fox began. "Nobody move a muscle...let's return slowly to safe floor...and then we look around for another way..."

"But technically we're going to move muscles because we're going t-" Ike stopped once Fox glared at him. "N-nevermind..."

Kirby Super Star Ultra - Tunnel

Toon Link looked behind him and he noticed that they accidentaly walked out from the floor and ignored the laws of physics for a brief moment, enough to make them walk above the air and directly above a hole where the ice slope was. "OH HOLY CRA-"

"LINK!" everyone yelled annoyed before Popo and Nana fell down.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Popo yelled excited as he fell down first with Nana before everyone yelled as they all went down the long ice slope.

"WHERE IS THIS SLOPE TAKING US?!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"AND DO YOU THINK I KNOW?!" Ness asked irritated as they all jumped over a gap with an abyss.

"THIS IS SO FUN!" Popo and Nana yelled excited as everyone glared at them. "OH, WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" Nana asked irritated.

"I-ICE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled.

"ICE SPIKES?!" everyone repeated in shock as down the slope, spikes of ice were attached to an ice wall as they yelled loudly.

"T-THERE MUST BE SOME KIND OF ALTERNATE ROUTE SOMEWHERE AROUND THE SPIKES!" Zelda yelled looking around.

"N-NOT GOOD! I CAN'T FIND ANY!" Roy yelled as they all screamed.

"(Wait,)" Ike thought as he raised Ragnell and pointed it down at the ice slope where it began to be covered in flames. "(Maybe I can destroy the ice with this....)"

"WHAT IS IKE DOING?!" Toon Link asked.

"HUUUUUUAAAAAAAA!!!" Ike yelled as he slammed down Ragnell right on the spikes which were shattered and opened up a hole which all of them entered quickly.

"HURRAY!" Jigglypuff cheered.

"MORE ICE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled.

"OH, GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!" Jigglypuff yelled annoyed as even more spikes (that were this time too many) blocked their way.

"(If Ike did it...)" Roy thought as he raised his sword above him which got covered in flames by every second. "(Then...) UUUAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Roy yelled slamming down his sword which caused a big explosion of fire in front of him, enough to shatter the spikes and creating another hole which they all went in.

"PLEASE, TELL ME THERE AREN'T ANYMORE IN FRONT OF US!" Lucas yelled blocking his eyes.

"T-THERE AREN'T!" Nana yelled.

"Phew..." Lucas sighed in relief.

"THERE ARE ABYSSES, THOUGH!" Nana yelled pointing at a very thin path where it had bottomless abysses, the path was way dangerous because it was curved first to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to the right, then to the le-

"THEY GET THE POINT. STOP IT!" the Smashers yelled annoyed.

"QUICK!" Toon Link yelled as he tried to get up and slide using his feet. "WE HAVE TO USE OUR FEET TO MOVE THE RIGHT WAY!"

Everyone struggled to get up but fortunately they all managed to do what they wanted and narrowed their eyes at the thin path.

"RIGHT!" Popo yelled as everyone accidentaly fell down the abyss since they were supposed to use the right path. (-_-);

"POPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" everyone yelled furiously as they all went down the abyss and fell down the darkness...but soon they found out that they abysses weren't bottomless because they hit the ice floor with their rears as they groaned and moaned in pain.

"...Okay...nobody get distracted or do something brusque..." Zelda said slowly standing up. "Things can't get much worse than they currently are..."

"...Where's my sword?" Ike asked looking around as his sword came from above and got stuck in the ice floor...making a small crack that it got bigger and bigger overtime. "Oh, there it is...uh..."

"Don't tell me we're standing above a thin floor..." Jigglypuff asked as the crack extended over all the floor before it broke up and they all once again fell down another long ice slope. "OH, COME-ON!"

"ICE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled horrorized before Roy quickly used Flare Blade to shatter the spikes. "MORE ICE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled again before Ike slammed his sword using Eruption to shatter the spikes. "EVEN MORE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled in terror before Ness used PK Fire and melted the ice with the tower of flames. "EVEN MANY MORE SPIKES!" Lucas yelled once again as Toon Link quickly threw 4 bombs that exploded a made another path. "THERE ARE EVEN MANY MOR-"

"SHUT UP!" everyone yelled annoyed as Zelda used Din's Fire to blow up the next series of spikes that they quickly went through.

"ANYBODY KNOWS HOW LONG IS THIS THING?!" Roy asked.

"SO LONG TO KEEP ME EXCITED!" Popo yelled enjoying the moment. "THESE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES KICK (BEEP!)!"

"SOMEBODY PLEASE SHUT HIM UP!" Toon Link yelled annoyed.

"THIS WILL STOP IN A FEW MINUTES!" Fox yelled trying to calm down all of them.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"

"TRUST ME, I KNOW IT WILL!"

30 minutes later...

"YES, ANYTIME NOW!" Fox reassured the group.

1 hour and 30 minutes later...

"ANYTIME SOON..." Fox said making a bored look as the others were getting annoyed once again.

2 long hours of agony later...

"PLE-E-EASE!" Lucas pleaded crying as they all were shown utterly annoyed. "THIS HAS TO STO-O-OP!"

"I DON'T FEEL MY REAR ANYMORE!" Jigglypuff complained.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAALL!" Nana yelled pointing at an ice wall.

"WAIT, FOX! YOU HAVE TO USE FIRE FOX NOW!" Zelda yelled.

"WHY?!" Fox asked back.

"BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T USED IT!" Ness yelled as Fox quickly went in front of the group and concentrated to be engulfed in a harmless fire, closing his eyes as he pulled back his fists before glaring at the wall before h-

Music stops

Underground Ice Tunnel

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

...Sadly though, the vulpine didn't have enough time and he, followed by Roy, Ike, Zelda, Toon Link, Jigglypuff, Ness and Lucas crashed right behind each other on the hard ice wall.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand NOW!" Nana yelled stomping her 2 feet right on safe floor with Popo as their shoes for climbing got stuck (because they had spikes underneath that got stuck in the ice) to stop right on ther feet as they seemed to cheer at this long and painful event.

"I haven't had so much fun in the ice before!" Popo commented as he high-fived with Nana.

Lucas was the first one who fell on his back with a normal look on his face as he blinked. "...Well...at least everything is over now." Lucas said as the others moaned in pain and got up from the ice.

"...Uh-oh." Toon Link muttered once he saw Fox knocked out. How did Toon Link know? The vulpine had swirls instead of eyes. "I think we shouldn't have crashed into him..."

"That's what he gets for not accepting our strategy." Ness said as Fox shook his head and glared at him. "Well, you know it's true!"

"Here." Ike offered Fox a hand and helped him to stand up.

"Thanks." Fox said as he looked around. "Now where are we?"

"Probably in some kind of underground tunnel," Nana said. "We could as well be very deep under the earth."

"I have to thank the guy who made this awesome slope." Popo said smiling.

"I have to KILL the guy who made this bothersome slope." Zelda said with a serious face.

"I have to remind my friends that there's a path right besides us." Ike said pointing at a tunnel of ice with phazon leaking out from small holes.

Step: The Cave

"...Brrr..." Ness shivered. "I-I can sense something..."

"M-me too..." Lucas said shivering. "I-I sense a strong presence...no...2 presences ahead..."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Geez, now you 2 are using your telepathy or psychic abilities after not using it when we came here?"

"Well, excuse me!" Ness said annoyed.

Zelda somehow shrugged. "P-please, don't bring back those awful memories."

"What awful memories?" Nana asked confused.

"L-look, just forget about that." Zelda said walking up ahead. "(Please Link...hang in there...)"

"I think Ganondork is here," Roy said. "I know because I'm getting this odd feeling when I'm around him."

"That bastard," Zelda said making a serious face. "He must have attacked Link when he fought him."

"Probably because he's trying to get his hands on Link's triforce?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Most likely. When is he going to learn is beyond me."

"When he assists the school?" Popo asked.

"She didn't mean it like that..." Nana said.

"...Wait..." Toon Link stopped. "Shouldn't we hurry?"

"Why is that?" Ness asked.

"Because...who knows...they could take them to the Subspace and then..."

Everyone's eyes widened before they ran in a hurry in the deepness of the ice cave, hoping to find the others safe and fine.

"Dammit, we were acting all that calm without realizing the important facts!" Ness yelled taking out his bat. "Once we find an enemy, I'll be prepared and whack the heck out of it!"

"Hurry! Every second counts!" Roy yelled rushing through the cave with the others.

"(P-please, let them be safe...)" Lucas thought worried.

"W-wait...you guys..." Jigglypuff said panting before stopping as Toon Link backtracked and picked her up above his head....upside down. "At least turn me the right way!"

"O-oops!" Toon Link replied chuckling as he turned Jigglypuff the right way.

"Hang in there, Link!" Ike yelled as the group went deeper and deeper through the dark-icy-phazony (if that is even a word) underground tunnel...

"(Dammit,)" Fox thought as he rushed through the tunnel. "(Falco may die under the iceberg he's in. I have to hurry up or else he...)" Fox grunted as the camera approached his red bandana until the view was all red...

Mario and Sonic: At the the Olympic Games

Beijing?

Inside the stadium

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games – Menu Screen

Then the camera went away from Diddy's red star-shaped shirt as he looked around the stadium. "Have you ever had that sudden feeling that you just were used to show another location through clothes and such?" Diddy asked to DK.

"What do you mean?" DK asked.

"Who knows." Diddy said shrugging.

Sonic and his team left the Smashers because they were getting prepared for the ceremony as the Smashers decided to wait for further instructions while the crowd cheered and chattered.

Chris looked at the digital clock in the main screen of the whole stadium that indicated "August 8, 7:00 PM of the 2007."

"...Er..." Chris trailed off confused as Lucario looked down on him.

"What is the matter?" Lucario asked.

Chris looked up to Lucario. "Isn't weird that this gam-I mean, event started 1 year earlier than the actual date of the games at Beijing? Kupo?"

"...We shouldn't worry about little details." Lucario said shrugging.

"...Maybe you're right. I think Sega isn't going to make another mistake with something related to Sonic in a near future, right, kupo?"

Lucario closed his eyes. "Why do you have to mention the company where Sonic is right now?"

"Just using game analogy, I think, kupo."

Lucario opened his eyes and chuckled. "Then maybe I could do the same."

"Hahaha, that's right. You've been studying about the greatest game companies I told you about, haven't you? Kupo?"

Lucario nodded. "Yes. I'll wait for the right moment to show you how much have I learned."

Chris flew to Lucario's face and hugged him by Lucario's left side as the Aura Pokémon growled happily. "You're exactly the ideal Pokémon for me, Lucario. A Pokémon that understands what his trainer likes."

"Thanks." Lucario said hugging Chris...with his brute force by accident.

"U-UUUUUUUUUGH!!!" Chris struggled painfully. "Y-YOU LITTLE:..LUCARIO! R-RELEASE ME!!! KUPO!!!"

Lucario gasped once he realized his mistake and let his moggle trainer go as Chris panted heavily. "S-sorry..."

Chris stared at Lucario. "F-for a moment there... I was seeing...a light...kupo."

Lucario got a shocked look.

"B-but...thank goodness you released me in time...kupo..."

Lucario sighed in relief.

"Hello there!"

"Mario!" Mallow and Twink said happily as they went over Mario and hugged him.

"It's good to have all of you here today." Mario said as he hugged Mallow and Twink for some seconds before stopping.

"Well," Pit crossed his arms. "Master Hand pretty much told us to participate...or we were forced."

"Forced." Marth said nodding.

"And who might this person be?" Mario asked looking at a juggler moggle.

"It's me, Chris. Kupo." Chris said nodding.

"Kupo?" Mario asked confused.

"Yes, kupo..." Chris said blushing a little.

"...It's not a decease or something I should worry about, right?"

"N-not at all, kupo."

"..." Mario looked at the clock and gasped. "Oh right! You should all prepare for the opening ceremony before it starts!"

"Are Sonic and his team ready?" Twink asked.

"Yup. They're ready...by the way, don't ask why Luigi has 2 black eyes."

"Why?" Kirby asked.

"I told you not to...whatever. Apparently Yoshi took revenge on him and beat him up with a towel after he attacked us when he was Mr. L a long time ago."

"But we just came from your wor-" Diddy's mouth was blocked by Pit.

"How did Yoshi give 2 black eyes to Luigi with a towel is beyond me though... I don't want to know at all."

"Neither do we." Geno said.

"...We'll beat him up as well. Remind me that." DK whispered to Diddy who nodded and made a serious face.

"Okay okay," Mario said moving his hands in front of him. "You better get ready because the opening ceremony is going to start in about...1 hour and 8 minutes."

"We're not going to wear shirts to represent the mansion, right?" Geno asked.

"No. Why?"

"What a relief..."

Mario got confused but looked at Chris. "Master Hand told me that you're going to be the leader."

"W-what?! Kupo?!" Chris asked shaking his head. "Oh no no no no no no! I can't be the leader! Not in front of so many people...birdy people! Kupo!" Chris said pointing at the Flickies.

"Aw, don't worry. I'm sure you're going to do a fine job as a leader." Mario said laughing a little as he walked away.

"See the bright side," DK said chuckling. "You'll have the audience' attention for sure now."

"H-how come this job doesn't come with an anti-frightess ability for an audience? Kupo?" Chris asked looking down in shame.

1 hour later...

"Welcome, everyone, to the great, magnificent, marvelous and wonderful Olympic Games in Beijing!" Toadsworth annouced over the mic as the crowd cheered loudly at this. "Today is a historic day where 3 fierce teams from different parts will duke themselves out during the several events for today in this beloved stadium. Who will be the one to grab the trophy and take it back home?" Toadsworth asked with a chuckle as the crowd cheered even louder at this (raising different flags with several characters on them). "Firstly though, I would like to narrate how this great day came to be from a long time ago..."

Hallway

As Toadsworth told about the first Olympic Games, the 3 teams were getting ready to march outside as many of them flexed legs, arms and even tails (in Bowser and Vector's case).

"Alright!" Sonic said extending his legs at the sides with a grin. "The great day is here!"

"Wasn't he panicking a few hours ago?" Kirby asked.

"He got over it after I gave him a chili-dog." Tails whispered.

"Hmm..." Kirby rubbed his stomach.

"WAAHAHAHA!" Wario laughed as he crossed his arms several times in front of him. "Once I win this whole thing, I'll grab the trophy and sell it for a greater fortune!"

Peach giggled. "Sorry, Wario, but the trophy is ready to leave the stadium and directly to a museum in the Mushroom Kingdom where it will be kept for security where many people could watch and know about this event at home."

Wario's jaw dropped. "W-what?!"

"It was in the script I gave you."

Wario took out out (from inside his pants) a note where he readed it too fast until he found mentioned rule. "Ah, dammit!"

"But look at the bright side!"

"I'll win money anyway?"

"Nope," Peach giggled. "People will ask you for autographs."

"With money on 'em?"

"...No... I think..."

"Bah..." Wario frowned as Peach walked away.

"Ha-ha!" Daisy laughed pointing at Kirby. "You don't have those 3 cheaters with you anymore so you can win the events more easily!"

Kirby looked down. "They're...um...it's not...good to laugh about Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur because..."

"They're cheaters!" Daisy added laughing.

Kirby looked up as his eyes got teary. "N-no, that's not what I-"

"Admit it, pinky!" Daisy said turning her back on Kirby. "Those 3 were absolute cheaters the moment they stepped in the last event of sports!"

Kirby began to sniff silently as Pit looked down to him and glared at Daisy.

"What is your problem?" Pit asked as Daisy turned to him. "Our friends are right now in danger to die and you're laughing at them?"

"Wha-wha-what? Danger to die?" Daisy asked confused.

"That's right!" Pit said opening his arms. "They're right now about to die in another place while a rescue team is going for them. Red, Squirtle and Ivysaur happen to be one of those who are going to..." Pit closed his eyes. "Look, just stop saying things that aren't true or else..." Pit said as he walked away with Kirby.

"...Maybe..." Daisy looked down. "Maybe I was a little too hard and hyperactive than usual?... Oh man..."

"Y-you can do this, Chris..." Chris said trying to balance his big flag with the emblem of the SSB in white and green. "Y-you can windstand the audience pretty well...kupo..."

"Here." Marth said grabbing the flag with his right hand.

"Phew... Thanks Marth, 5 more seconds and I could've fallen, kupo."

"Are you nervous?"

Chris looked outside before looking up at Marth. "Y-yes. Turns out I get scared when a big public is watching me, kupo."

"If you have problems with that, just think you're standing alone in a big empty field."

"...B-but I hate to be alone..."

Marth looked at Lucario who somehow managed to start a conversation with Blaze. "Then think you're alone with Lucario."

"Kupo!" Chris flew above happily. "Now that just cheered me up completely!" Chris juggled 2 daggers in front of him. "I have the power to take on any public which will be amazed by my superb juggling skills."

"I-I see but would you please get those daggers away from me?" Marth asked backing away with the flag. "They're very close to me...and you too."

"Oops," Chris said chuckling as he threw both daggers behind his back (that almost stabbed Waluigi who fortunately ran out from the daggers' way). "Sorry. Kupo." Chris said as both saw Luigi close to them.

"...Hi there." Luigi said.

"..." Marth stared at Luigi's black eyes. "...I'm not going to ask."

Luigi nodded with his sad look. "Please don't. Besides that DK and his nephew beat me up with 2 towels."

"DK!" Chris yelled at DK who whistled innocently and threw a towel away with Diddy, who was doing the same.

"S-say..." Luigi played with his fingers. "I-I'm sorry for causing you guys so much trouble when I was "Mr. L," I didn't realize it until Dimentio told me that...so... I want to j-"

"Attention all participants that are in Mario's, Sonic's and the Smashers' teams!" Toadsworth called out. "You may all begin marching out in perfect synchronization out from the hallway but out to the stadium with their assigned flags! Please be sure that you have your flag and team members ready!"

Everyone in the hallway looked at each other before they all formed lines with their assigned leaders with their flags.

"Mario." Sonic began as he looked outside.

"Yes?" Mario asked.

"Good luck...to both of us."

"Same here." Mario said nodding.

"What about me? Kupo?!" Chris asked as he glared outside.

"You too." Mario and Sonic said nodding as Chris tried to balance the flag.

"You do know that you have to raise it when we get to the center, right?" Twink asked.

"...Dammit, kupo." Chris muttered lowering the flag.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser laughed as mostly everyone frowned. "I'll crush the stupid competition today and steal the trophy!"

"Hey!" Vector called out angrily. "I'll be the one crushing your pathetic excuses for spikes, dino!"

"What was that? Long-nosed dork?"

"This is MY mouth. Mind you!"

Dr. Eggman frowned at this. "Well well, this may be interesting after all. I do wonder how long though..."

"Enough to tire me out." Mallow said giving a bored look.

"I'll give it my all!" Amy said pumping up her fists as fire literally covered her. "I'll show my lovely Sonic who's his girl!"

"My," Peach giggled. "I love your passion of love so much."

Amy's fire vanished as she giggled. "Well, thank you."

"(Yuck.)" Sonic thought with a bored look.

"I shall be of help during the events," Blaze said nodding. "I won't let you down."

"I'll make her get down." Waluigi muttered chuckling with Wario as Blaze gave them a glare.

"I won't disappoint you, Chris." Lucario said with a serious look.

"...My god," Chris said with a bored look. "Are you that determined? Kupo?"

Lucario closed his eyes and nodded. "I need to make you feel proud of me, don't I?"

"...Okay...kupo."

"I hope I don't mess up," Marth said rubbing his head. "This is my first time so who knows."

"At least we're 2." Pit pointed out.

"Not us," DK said as Diddy nodded. "We're ready for everything."

"I'm even more ready though." Yoshi said with a serious look.

"Hmph," Tails pouted a little. "I'll be careful out there for anything."

"Tsk," Shadow frowned. "We may as well get over this as soon as we can... This is boring."

"Says the guy who actually agreed," Knuckles said rolling his eyes as Shadow glared at him over his right shoulder. "Hey, I'm just telling the truth."

"Is there any food as a prize?" Kirby asked tilting his head.

Luigi looked at Kirby. "Are you so fixiated for the food still?"

"Luigi," Mario began. "Kirby wouldn't be Kirby if he didn't think about food all the time."

"...Oh," Luigi said. "That was a stupid question the-"

"IS THERE ANY FOOD, YES OR NOT?!" Kirby demanded as Luigi trembled in fear while got a surprised look.

"N-no! Please, don't kill me!" Luigi pleaded covering his face.

"Oh well," Kirby said smiling. "I can still eat during the break, right?"

"R-right." Luigi said nodding scared.

"Participants may be marching outside NOW!" Toadsworth ordered over the speakers as everyone began marching inside the stadium as the lights turned off and other lights shone on the 3 teams.

Inside the stadium

"(Y-you can do this...stop thinking you can do this...)" Chris thought with a serious face as the 3 teams walked all the way to the center while the crowd cheered and yelled loudly for them, releasing balloons and such to the night's sky.

Sonic looked up to the moon where he smiled at it. "(Why is the moon so...so pretty and beautiful tonight?)"

"Heheheheheheheheheh..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow as he looked around after he could have sworn that an evily voice echoed from somewhere.

"Sonic?" Tails asked by whispering. "Is something bothering you?"

"Didn't you hear that creepy echo?"

"Echo? What do you mean, Sonic?"

"That echo that somewhat sounded like my voice but creepier..."

"...That must be only you."

"I hope..." Sonic whispered as the teams made it to the center while more lights began to turn on around the stadium.

"From the Mushroom Kingdom: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi and Bowser!" Toadsworth announced proudly as the people who came from the Mushroom Kingdom cheered and whistled loudly. "From...either Mobius or a place that closely resembles Earth: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Dr. Eggman, Blaze and Vector!" Toadsworth annouced as all the people (Flickies and the like) cheered and whistled loudly.

"(Now us...kupo...)" Chris thought gulping.

"Representing the Smash Mansion of the Smash Brothers: Chris, Lucario, Geno, Mallow with their little friend Twink, DK, Diddy, Marth and Pit!" Toadsworth annouced as the crowd cheered louder at the group.

"That's right, worship me!" Mallow demanded smiling, motioning at the crowd.

"Mallow..." Geno facepalmed and frowned.

"Teams now may raise their flags!" Toadsworth said as the 3 leaders nodded and lifted up their flags in th-

Music stops

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" the crowd gasped in shock as silence fell in the stadium. The members of each team looked around confused.

"W-why did they just gasp?" Amy asked.

"...OH MY GOODNESS!" Blaze yelled putting her hands close to her mouth as she pointed at the flags.

"...What the?!" Sonic asked in shock as he saw that his flag was replaced by another obscene image of him murdering Mario while Mario's flag was him murdering Sonic. "W-wait, hold on a sec! W-why'd I use such flag like this one?!"

It looked like half the crowd (who were from the Mushroom Kingdom) grew angry at Sonic's team while the other half of the crowd (who were from...Mobius?) grew angry at Mario's team.

"...Phew," Chris sighed. "At least our flag isn't that...humiliating..."

"...Chris..." Lucario tapped his shoulder and pointed at the flag where it readed "Support the Nazi people."

"OH MY! KUPO!" Chris said panicking as he quickly lowered the flag and slashed it in half with 2 daggers as the crowd got even furious.

"H-hey, hold on. We're not anything like that!" Knuckles yelled.

"T-this must be some kind of mistake!" Daisy yelled.

"I swear for my unlimited closet with the same clothes that I'm INNOCENT!" Luigi yelled ducking in fear.

"...You," Marth said glaring at Bowser. "You did something, right?"

Bowser chuckled. "What makes you say that?"

"You're chuckling, that means you're behind this."

Bowser chuckled even longer. "Sorry, but it wasn't me this time."

"...You better be." Marth said looking back to the front and Bowser snickered.

"B-but I swear I checked the flag and it was my face!" Sonic yelled.

"Besides," Mario turned (Yoshi, Geno, Mallow, Twink DK and Diddy: NOOOOOOOOO!!!) to Sonic. "Why'd we fight and kill each other for no reas-DIE!!!"

"RUAH!" Sonic leaped into Mario and both started fighting between themselves as the 3 teams watched shocked (save for Shadow, Bowser, Wario, Waluigi and Dr. Eggman) as the 2 fought each other.

"W-w-what the hell?! Stop fighting you 2 now! Kupo!" Chris tried to calm both down but it was useless as they continued fighting by rolling around the grass, even the crowd grew furious and in 5 minutes, the residents from the Mushroom Kingdom filled one half of the stadium as the Flickies filled the others half, staring at each other in anger. "W-why are they fighting so suddenly? Kupo?"

"Probably because since Mario is from Nintendo and Sonic is from Sega," Lucario explained. "You said both companies were rivals when it came down between those 2, right? So it's possible that their rivalry is being manifested in this form."

"...I don't know if I either need to congratulate you for being so damn smart or tell you that is not necessary to say that in this situation, kupo..." Chris said with a bored look.

"...Can't you do both?"

"...I guess," Chris said flying to Lucario as he hugged him tightly on his face. "It's not the time to say that, Lucario!" Chris said angrily as he hugged Lucario.

"...That was very awkward..." Lucario muttered as Chris jumped off.

Amy turned to Shadow. "Shadow! Aren't you going to do something to stop Sonic?!"

Shadow grinned. "Why would I ruin this fun?"

Amy took out her hammer. "Because I damn say so."

"...Whatever." Shadow rolled his eyes as he simply went to Sonic and grabbed him by the legs. The blue hedgehog struggled to fight Mario as the plumber was dragged away from DK over his shoulder.

"...Holy sh-" Vector jumped surprised as Marine appeared right behind him.

"Tis not too good, mates! The whole people are in quite a war today, mates!" Marine said pumping up her fists.

"B-but that's because someone replaced the flags!" Luigi said as he rubbed his chin. "But who?"

"Hmmm..." the group turned to Dr. Eggman who chuckled rather evily as he folded his arms behind his back.

"You're behind this too?" Kirby asked tiltitng his head.

"No," Dr. Eggman said chuckling. "Why would I humiliate my team? I'm just laughing because Sonic is fighting that fat man."

"M-Mario isn't fat!" Yoshi protested.

"Suuuuuuuure he isn't." Dr. Eggman said chuckling.

"Please, calm down everybody. There is no need to start a war during such event," Toadsworth said from the speakers. "Our sponsor wouldn't want to see many fights in the newspaper for sure, do we?"

The whole crowd fell in silence as Toadsworth cleared his throat.

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games – Menu Screen

"As I was saying before, welcome to the Olympic Games everyone!" Toadsworth announced as a few people clapped. "...I...guess we should be moving to the events right away, right?" the whole crowd's nods were heard. "...Without further ado, let the games begin!"

The stadium erupted into cheers as somehow the enthusiasm was brought back to all the people while most of the 3 teams sighed in relief.

"Here, Mr. Mario, Mr. Sonic and Chris," Cream said as 6 Shy Guys gave the teams' flags to their leaders who lifted them up. "I hope the event goes as planned, because I don't want to see any fights again...but why was Mr. Sonic fighting Mr. Mario?"

"Should I?" Lucario asked as Chris quickly shook his head.

"We dunno either," Sonic said looking away from Mario. "By the way, no hard feelings by this small mistake, right?"

"No," Mario said looking away. "I saw your right flag with you a moment ago but...why were they changed and when?"

"I hav-" Pit was interrupted.

"I have a bad feeling about this." The Smashers finished his sentence.

"...That is pretty much it."

Twink looked around and hmm'd. "Something wrong, Twink?" Mallow asked.

"Do we have some people cheering on us at least?" Twink asked worried.

Mallow chuckled. "Of course we do! Like those very white Toads with pointy helmets from over there!"

The Smashers looked at a bench of the public where at least 50 pure white colored Toads with pointy helmets were chuckling evily as they nodded.

"...Are they Toad Nazis? Kupo?" Chris asked shocked.

"Chris..." Lucario began.

"Yes? Kupo?"

"Sometimes is better not to know certain things in life or even bother with them..."

"...You're so right on that, kupo."

"Anyway!" Diddy looked around. "The Olympics are starting and soon we're going to run around at the 100m event!"

"The next event is the 100m event!" Toadsworth announced as the crowd cheered.

"Suh-weet!" Sonic said rubbing his palms together. "I'm gonna run 'round and beat anyone here!"

"Do I have to remind you that your speed drastically fell?" Blaze asked as Sonic got a shocked look before he inhaled a lot of air before looking up at the sky where h-

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo

Underground Ice Tunnel

"..." Fox stopped and looked back. "There's that faint yell again..."

"Fox, stop wondering and get moving!" Roy yelled as Fox grunted and continued running further inside with the others.

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games

Stadium

Inside the dome

DK's eyes widened at this moment. "...God, he can yell that loud?"

"Looks like it." Yoshi said nodding.

"...Hm?" Lucario looked around the stadium.

"What's up with you?" Diddy asked.

"...I don't know why...but I felt something coming out from somewhere...and it may be heading here..."

"The Subspace Army?" Marth asked.

"...Probably, but stay alert."

"They are," Geno said. "It's always them and we know that very well."

"Kind of repeated and overused." Mallow said with a bored look.

Chris shuddered. "I have the feeling that this struggle is going to last until the end of our days...kupo."

"So true." Pit said nodding.

"Or not." Lucario reassured.

"Who knows really?" Twink asked.

And so the team wondered what to do right now...of course someone who was kind enough told them...

"Hey!" Waluigi called from the tracks. "You losers need to get over here! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

And that was Waluigi's only line in the whole chapter. Very brilliant, right?

Preview of the next chapter

"I can do this..." Chris muttered as he looked the hurdles alongside the track. "Time to prove what I can do, kupo."
"Something very unexpected will happen," Pit said. "I know that somehow."

"It is a pleasure to have you here, Zelda."

"Well," Zelda's right hand glowed. "It is also a pleasure to have you here...where I'm going to finish you off."

"I-is there any way to stop that demonic beast?!" Ike asked.

"SURRENDER AT ONCE, ALL OF YOU!!!" Ganon yelled loudly as he roared.

"NO NO NO NO NO!!!"

"Dammit!" Vector grunted. "You're going in there you like it or not!"

"Popo Likes Rundas, Ivysaur Doesn't. But I DO like ice!" Popo said happily.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Beijing?
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Marth, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Yoshi, Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Mallow, Geno, Twink

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus, Zelda, Roy, Ike, Jigglypuff, Ness, Lucas, Ice Climbers, Toon Link, Fox

References:

-The place where teenagers were fighting shadowy creatures that Crazy Hand mentioned is a reference to Persona 3. The hand EVEN wandered all the way to Tartarus (for those who have played Tales of the Abyss, is not the landship) and was even shot down with arrows by Yukari Takeba, the girl he mentioned who fell ill during battle and was recovered...with a hit. XD

-The Healing Hit isn't necessary a named ability that is found in Persona games who are being referenced. This ability is activated once you spend enough time with a character.

- "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness – Jovi's Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It plays mainly when Jovi (your sister) has something in mind such as a mischief or her good feelings.

-Amy saying all the names to Tails were references to some characters that previously appeared in older Sonic games but never returned afterwards.

- "Kirby Super Star Ultra – Crystal Area" and "Kirby Super Star Ultra – Tunnel" are song references to the same game, the former which plays in the second level of The Great Cave Offensive and the latter that plays always during a minecar track for the same mode.

-Zelda shrugging after she heard Nana's talking was a reference...to another time and era where she and Link lived once and was as awful as the CD-i one. XD

-Mallow saying that the people should worship him is a reference to Salsa from Eternal Sonata (for the Xbox360) where she says the same thing after she ends a combo attack.

So many references in one chapter...

E-er, anyway, a team is participating in YET another sports event, while the other will try and rescue Snake's team in Bryyo.

I decided to do some changes here and there to add Marine, who isn't going to be that controversial for the plot, but rather a little bit of comedy. :P

Will the Smashers win the Olympic Games? Will the second team rescue Snake's team? Will Sonic and Mario stop fighting each other by Lucario's company theory? (XD) Are the Nazi Toads responsible for the change of flags? (XD)

Why is the Ancient Minister concerned about the past of his race? Is there any explanation for that? (This means there's going to be character development, so cheer). :D

And why is Parakarry trying to get through the clouds, which became solid?

These questions will be answered the next time. :P

...And are they REALLY in Beijing?

Read and review, please! :D

*Chapter 111*: Popo Loves Rundas, Ivysaur Doesn't

From Mewtrainer: That flag thing sounds like Charizard...but he's not here... ? How big are Sonic's lungs, again? XD Black eyes...with a towel?? Ah, there's Rita (a lot shorter than meteorstormgirl XD). Chip and Rita? Wonder what that's about... All in all another marvelous chapter!

From me: Who is the culprit? That is the crucial question for this arc.

About the towels...well, I'm not making Luigi a pussy. Instead, he'll be filled with lots of humor. XD

Chip and Rita are 2 total different characters, remember that. XD

From ngrey651: This was a very funny chapter thanks to Chris's transformation into a juggler. AND I enjoyed how everyone kept enduring harsh icy terror over and over.

And of course, Sonic's horror at his speed being tampered with. The horror. The horror.

From me: It's pure horror for Sonic. XD

From Seitei: Sorry I haven't reviewed in quite a while. Theatre performing drove me away from the computer for a while.

I just wanted to say congrats on your conclusion of the Super Paper Mario arc and Mr. L who's really Lui-

The Juggler job always amused me. Good job adding that in!

Waiting for your next update!

From me: I hope it amuses you more. :)

From TARDISreviewer: I didn't review the last chapter due to having reviewed the notice. SO I'll do both now.

Epic battle. tank got NUKED.

Lol them STILL fighting.
I think both Bowser and Eggman were lying... THEY SWITCHED THE FLAGS!
lol nazi toads. but they must die. *Loads Shadow Rifle and shoots them dead*
I assume that "No no no no no!" in the preview is Sonic before a swimming event?

Why doesn't he seriously change to something else if he hates that particular one so much? (you knwo full well what I mean)

and lol Sonic overreacting about the spikes last chapter.
(and they come back to haunt him in Unleashed)
why not have him explain why he hates spikes so much? It'd allow you to do a bit of the earlier games.

From me: But did they really change the flags? ;)

Probably I'll do that explanation later.

From Anakin Son Mario 43: Another sports arc... whatever. I just read the sports arcs for the fights and sillyness. update soon!

From me: OH NO, you'll read the bits of every single sport...next chapter. You'll know why. XD

From Soldier of the Future: Well, this took me forever to get through. I think I'm starting to run out of compliments for this story!
So yeah, I guess I'll say the usual:
Keep up the good work!

From me: Why not complimenting about the parts you enjoyed the most? You could also ask questions. ;)

From JSandders: Sorry about Chapter 109, but I was going CRAZY! Literally! Good thing you finally uploaded Chapter 109, made it worth the wait! So here's my review for that chapter:

It was good but the length kinda bothered and eventually bored me a bit (not like the previous long chapters which I didn't mind). Lots of grammatical mistakes but that's okay. I laughed so hard when Mr. L was always interrupting the Smashers when they were saying Lu- XD

Review for Chapter 110:

Better chapter than the last one! This made up for the length of the last chapter. I totally agree with the Ice Climbers that ice slides are awesome! So it's finally the Olympics, huh? Funny way to start it! XD FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Mario wins by burning Sonic's tail with a fireball! (reference to my story)

From me: Grammatical errors...such as? :D

Though here it's more fight than sports. :)

From Ultra Blader: Yes! You're back! Great couple of chapters (This one and the one before). Seriously, I don't think you have ever updated so quickly before. Anyway, are we going to get a chapter a day now, or at least for a while? You are the guy writing this, so it's your decision. Anyway, great job, and it's great to have you back.

Ultra Blader

From me: That's right, worship me! XD Just kidding.

About the chapters, I'll upload the next one once I see the people who waited for the chapters to review and confirm they're still reading this fic. I want to make sure I have everyone here before uploading the next chapter, so please wait. ;)

From shadow-dog18: Finally I'm done reading all 110 chapters of this story and it only toke about 8 days to read them awesome story and i loved read 't wait to read the next chapter too read what will happen and keep up all the hard work you do when you wright this story.

From me: You should've review at least one though. -_- Thanks anyway. :)

And Wright? It's still too early for that arc. XD

From Naten2007:

From me: It's a long way until the end. :D

Please, the people who reviewed before? Return to me! I know you still want to read this fic! I don't want to go insane without my loyal readers! :'(

Maybe I'll go insane.... O_O

Oh yes, I forgot to say something, it's already one year after this story was published. I'm so happy that so many people kept reading this until this chapter! I'm so sorry for not updating the day of the anniversary, but let's keep enjoying this long fic! (And speaking of which, this is the only fic that surpasses every single one in length). :D

And so, we continue! I'll wait for the old reviewers to appear and enjoy the fic, nevertheless!

(I'm also sorry for the length again. It won't happen again after the end of this arc).

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 111: Popo Loves Rundas, Ivysaur Doesn't

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games

Beijing?

Stadium

Target Smash!!

"Now," Toadsworth began. "Here's how we are going to follow the rules. The Olympic Games must be played including all the events, from running a simple track to the hardest event where the team who has won many events win the trophy and the Olympics!" Toadsworth explained as the crowd cheered loudly.

"Are there any rules that we should know about?" Amy asked by yelling.

"Of course," Toadsworth said nodding. "We're going to get through each one of them with only one chance, so that means that you musn't screw up in an event or it will cost you the point for your team! However, be aware that some events will go normally without these rules."

"It's all on one try for each event then." Diddy said.

"The let's be careful for what comes." Marth said.

"I-I hope I don't screw up though...kupo." Chris said shuddering.

"And in front of so many people..." Mallow trailed off. "If you were to fail then the only thing that you're going to get is total humiliation..."

Chris's pupils shrunk in horror.

"And it will be displayed through the media and the newspapers. It could also be mentioned through the history books where the people who live in the future will laugh at your lame attempt..."

Chris hugged his legs and sat on the floor.

"That's not all," Mallow continued. "Who knows if aliens are watching us from the space and could see your humiliation being spreaded around the planet. The aliens could also laugh and tell their friends about what they fou-"

PUNCH!

Mallow was punched right in the eye as he fainted on the spot. "And that's how I do poopy, mommy..." Mallow muttered.

"If you keep going on," Lucario narrowed his eyes at Mallow. "I'll make sure to send you to the heaven."

"...Right-o...sir..." Mallow muttered.

Lucario kneeled to Chris. "Don't listen to what Mallow says, he is just sick of the mind."

"And you just figured that out?" Geno asked rolling his eyes.

Chris stopped hugging his legs as he hugged Lucario instead, who hugged him back with his right arm. "Thank you, Lucario. Kupo."

"Now," Lucario stood up and walked to his position on the track. "I need to get prepared because I'm next."

"You go Marth, you too Diddy." Chris said to mentioned characters who nodded and went with Lucario on their positions.

"Welcome to the first event of the games! The 100m event!" Toadsworth announced as the crowd cheered loudly. "For this event, participants must run a simple track of 100m to the finish line! We have 3 members from each team ready for this competition!"

First Event: 100m

Participants (in order): Mario, Sonic, Lucario, Peach, Knuckles, Diddy, Wario, Amy, Marth

"I'm always cheering for you, Lucario! Kupo!" Chris yelled from the benches as Lucario looked down and smiled.

"The key to win this event is by having a good start with a good sprint," Toadsworth explained. "But careful, you also have to be careful from the start to the the finish line when you're sprinting in order to stay out from getting tired."

"Heh," Sonic smirked and wiped his mouth with a thumb. "This will be easy."

"(If I win, Sonic will get humiliated because I'm going to be the one who is going to win against him.)" Knuckles thought with a grin.

"Knuckles," Cream began from behind the echidna who looked at her over his shoulder. "It's bad to say your thoughts out loud."

"Knucklehead, stop thinking impossible things please." Sonic said with a chuckle as Knuckles grunted angrily at him.

"...Wait..." Chris grinned as he rubbed his chin. "I see a pattern here... Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucario, Mario, Wario, Lucari-"

"Would you stop?" Pit asked irritated.

Mallow chuckled as he had a patch over his black eye. "But look! I can make a poem out of them!"

There was this man named Mario,

Who had a nemesis called Wario,

But better and not related was the last man called Lucario.

"It rhymes!" Mallow said.

"This one is better. Kupo." Chris said.

There was this man named Mario,

Who wasn't nothing intolerating.

He had a nemesis called Wario,

Who was really and utterly annoying.

But better and not related was the last man called Lucario,

Who with his trainer was really enjoying.

"Oh yes." Mallow said nodding as Pit sweatdropped.

"On your marks..." Lakitu said lifting a gun as all the participants kneeled to the floor. "Get set..." the participants hung on their left legs and put force on the floor as they prepared to sprint out at full speed. "GO!"

Lakitu shot the bullet indicating the start of the event as everyone narrowly were almost at the same distance.

"Then it was true," Tails said rubbing his chin. "Everyone now is equally matched."

"Sounds fair to me," Yoshi said shuddering a little. "I don't want to think about running against Sonic if he had his normal speed..."

Tails chuckled. "Sonic is going to be most likely snoozing in the start line as you run, and when you're about to reach the finish line, he will be there in a flash grinning at you."

"And possibly show off."

Tails looked away. "...Yeah...that too."

"What the hell?!"Sonic noticed that Peach was getting ahead of him. "H-hey! This is not fair at all!"

"Sorry!" Peach yelled looking back. "I'm just doing my best, that's all!"

"S-so am I but this is ridiculous!" Sonic yelled as he began panting heavily and pretty soon everyone got ahead of him and crossed the finish line. "D-dammit!"

"The results are in!" Lakitu announced.

1st - Peach

2nd - Vector

3rd - Marth

4th - Lucario

5th - Knuckles

6th - Wario

7th - Mario

8th - Diddy

9th - Sonic

"Peach wins the 100m event for Mario's team!" Cream stated happily raising a flag as the Mario team cheered happily (together with the people of the Mushroom Kingdom as the Flickies glared at them).

"Sorry." Lucario said once he returned to Chris.

"But you did well, Lucario," Chris said flying in front of Lucario. "I bet your actual speed could've defeated them so easily."

"Thanks." Lucario said nodding.

"Dammit!" Sonic yelled punching the floor. "I can't believe I lost!"

"To me?" Knuckles asked grinning as he crossed his arms.

"(Grrr...) Huh?" Sonic looked up in the sky, or more accurately the moon itself as he suddenly smiled. "You know Knuckles...looking at the moon actually calms me down for some reason...maybe it's because it looks really nice."

"...Huh?" Knuckles asked confused as he looked up. "...Um...yeah...whatever you say..."

"It shines so bright..." Sonic muttered.

"Heheheheheheheheheh..."

"T-there it is again." Sonic said looking around.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"You didn't hear it?"

"Hear what?"

Sonic looked down. "...Maybe it was just me...forget what I said."

"Sonic?" Tails asked as he went to the hedgehog. "The next event is about to start. We should get prepared."

"R-right." Sonic said standing up.

20 minutes later...

"Welcome to the next event in this night!" Toadsworth announced over the speakers. "The Long Jump event!"

Second Event: Long Jump

Participants (in order): Luigi, Tails, Pit, Daisy, Shadow, Kirby, Waluigi, Blaze, Geno

"Geeeeeeeeenoooooooo!!!" Twink yelled moving a flag with Geno's face. "You can do iiiiiiiiiiiit!!!"

"...Twink..." Geno began. "It wasn't necessary to yell because I'm 1 meter away from you."

Twink stared at Geno who was indeed 1 meter away from him as the star child chuckled. "...Oops."

"Are you sure you'll reach a long jump, Kirby?" Marth asked.

"So long if there's food as a prize." Kirby said.

"...Is it just me or are you thinking about food a little bit too much than usual?"

Kirby stared at Marth's head who was a blueberry through his eyes. "Nope, big blueberry. I'm definitely not thinking about food all the time."

Marth backed away from Kirby who seemed to follow him. "...Just go to your position and...do your best, please."

"Obey the blueberry..." Kirby said in a monotone voice as he ran to his position.

"...Wait a minute, mates," Marine said over from the benches. "Tis place has 9 tracks for 9 people, mates?"

"That's right!" Toadsworth called. "A true fierce competition would require special changes around here, like the 9 tracks you see before you! The 9 participants will indeed start at the same time and jump the longest they can!"

"I-I'll do my best." Tails said getting ready.

"On your marks..." Lakitu said aiming the gun at the sky as the participants kneeled. "Get set..." the participants stood on their left legs. "GO!"

The crowd cheered loudly as the 9 competitors sprinted off from their positions and ran as fast as they could to the line where they prepared to jump and see how long could they reach. It was such a simple and short event as it finished as soon as it started.

"The results are in!"

1st – Shadow

2nd - Pit

3rd - Tails

4th - Daisy

5th - Luigi

6th - Geno

7th - Blaze

8th - Waluigi

9th – Kirby

Marth crossed his arms as Kirby came like nothing happened. "...What?" Kirby asked.

"..." Marth sighed as he frowned. "Nothing, Kirby..."

"Phew." Kirby sighed as Marth rolled his eyes.

"Shadow is the winner of the Long Jump event for Sonic's team!" Lakitu announced raising a flag.

"Hmph. I'm the best." Shadow stated as many in the crowd rolled their eyes but nevertheless cheered.

"Pit, are you sure you didn't use your wings to gain a little altitude?" Mallow asked as Pit made an angry expression.

"How rude! I'm a good angel that follows the rules like Goddess Palutena taught me to!" Pit explained.

"...Really sure you didn't?" Mallow asked as Pit kicked him away.

"I'm wasn't born with an ability to pass these kinds of events," Blaze began. "I'm very good at gymnastics."

"So am I," Amy said. "But I think we'll have to wait until then."

DK noticed that Sonic was leaned to the wall as he smiled at the sky. "Sonic, what are you doing?"

"Enjoying the night," Sonic said as he was still staring at the moon. "Ever felt that staring at the moon empties your mind of any kind of problems?"

DK looked up at the moon. "...Not really to be honest..."

"Well, it does to me," Sonic said with a chuckle as DK shifted his eyes before walking away. "Nobody appreciates how good it looks..."

"Heheheheheheheheh..."

"Okay," Sonic glared and looked around. "Who's the creepy guy with those annoying chuckles?"

Dr. Eggman came to Sonic and adjusted his glasses. "What's wrong?"

"Hearing those weird chuckles...nobody else except for me hears it."

"(So he might start with his work very soon...)"

Sonic raised an eyebrow at the doctor. "Why are you staring at me like that, Egghead?"

"Oh ho ho ho, it's nothing." Dr. Eggman said shaking his head as he walked away.

"...Why do I think...naaah..."

"Everyone please prepare for the next event," Toadsworth announced. "The Hammer Throw!"

Third Event: Hammer Throw

Participants (in order): Bowser, Knuckles, DK, Wario, Vector, Lucario, Daisy, Dr. Eggman, Mallow

"Alright!" Bowser yelled laughing maniacally as the whole crowd of the Mushroom Kingdom frowned. "You all will feel the wrath of the lord of the Koopas in this puny event!"

"The only thing we're going to feel is your big scaly stomach, fatty!" Chris yelled as everyone in the crowd laughed in unison. The king of the Koopas grumbled angrily and grabbed Chris by his pompom and approached him near his face as the moggle folded his arms behind his back.

"You little hairy thing..." Bowser said panting heavily. "Make me feel humiliated and next time you'll wake up in a stove."

Chris rolled his eyes as Lucario showed his fangs at Bowser. "Right-o."

"Good." Bowser muttered as he let Chris go from his claw and walked to the hammer throw area where he spotted the hammer and grabbed it.

"This event will be played normally for safety reasons," Toadsworth explained as he saw a hammer being thrown in the air, which went soaring in the air until it landed far away as Espio and Charmy went to check its distance. "That was fast..."

"98.06 yards!" Charmy yelled as Espio raised a sign with mentioned distance as the crowd cheered loudly while Bowser laughed evily...making them stop.

"Hey!" Bowser said angrily as he stomped his way out from the area as Vector grabbed a hammer.

"...Wait," Espio narrowed his eyes as Vector tried to signal something through his eyes. "Vector is trying to say something with the wink code."

"Wink code? Isn't that code the ridiculous one he invented 5 days ago?" Charmy asked as Espio looked away. The bee chuckled as he closed his eyes. "Don't tell me you went through that trouble and learned the code because I as hell didn't!"

"...I didn't have anything else to do so..." Espio muttered as Charmy began to laugh. "...Whatever."

"Okay okay," Charmy said clearing his tears. "What's he saying then?"

"You-can-always-lie-about-my-record-and-add-some-points-to-my-score-anytime..." Espio translated. "..." Espio winked back at Vector.

"Forget-it-you-stupid-brainless-idiot... ESPIO!" Vector translated and yelled angrily.

"If you could please begin then we wouldn't be impacient." Toadsworth said from the speakers as Vector sweatdropped and began spinning until he threw the hammer and went soaring in the air until it landed and both scorers went to it.

"91.01 yards!" Charmy announced while the Flickies seemed to be not that fine with the result as Bowser laughed triumphaly.

"ESPIOOOOOOO?!" Vector called out angrily as Espio chuckled, grinned and winked back at him. "I-did-add-some-points-at-your-score-....01-....ESPIO!!!"

"Vector, may you please leave the throw area and let the next competitor get the turn?" Toadsworth asked as Vector grumbled and walked away angrily.

"Okay," Knuckles said grabbing the hammer. "Time to show that dinosaur/monster thing about what is true strength."

"You may start." Toadsworth said.

Several moments after Knuckles spun the hammer around him, the hammer went soaring to the air and landed in the grass where Lakitu and Shy Guy went to see how far it reached.

"99.78!" Lakitu yelled as Shy Guy raised the mentioned number, making the crowd of Mobius(?) go wild as Knuckles grinned triumphaly and walked back to his team where he high-fived with Tails.

"D-DAMN YOU, RED MUTT!" Bowser roared angrily.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU CALLING RED MUTT?!" Knuckles asked enraged as Tails tried to held him back but with no success.

5 not so important competitors later...

"Hey!" Wario, Daisy, Mallow, DK and Dr. Eggman said angrily as Lucario went for the hammer.

"Lu-ca-rio! Lu-ca-rio! Lu-ca-rio! Ku-po!" Chris cheered as he floated in the air using his wings.

Lucario blushed and looked away. "(...I think the job made him like that because before he just said good luck...)" Lucario thought as he narrowed his eyes at the long distance before he spun the hammer and threw him with a roar, which went soaring in the air until it hit the grass.

"How did she get hers so far again?" Twink asked looking at Daisy who was hopping in excitement. "She got 105.68!"

"Daisy has a secret strength inside her," Peach whispered. "I hear she has been training secretly in her kingdom."

"...110.86!" Charmy stated happily.

1st – Lucario – 110.86yds

2nd – Daisy – 105.68yds

3rd – Knuckles – 99.78yds

4th – Bowser – 98.06yds

5th – Vector – 91.01yds

6th –DK – 90.55yds

7th –Wario – 86.43yds

8th - Mallow – 83.05yds

9th – Dr. Eggman – 80.96yds

"The Smashers' team win the Hammer Throw event!" Lakitu stated.

"DAMMIT!" Daisy yelled angrily as she grabbed Luigi and threw him away.

"H-hey! Why did you do that?!" Luigi yelled as he crashed into the floor. "O-oww..."

"...But then again, she has a quick temper." Peach said giggling worried.

The audience didn't do any kind of cheer to the Aura Pokémon who glared at them, but he received the sounds of someone coughing while the only cheers he received were from Mallow, Twink, Diddy, DK and of course, Chris.

"...My," Amy said looking around. "Everyone went so silent all of a sudden. You can even hear echos."

"Good job, Lucario! Kupo!" Chris said hugging Lucario's neck as the Aura Pokémon hugged him like before.

"Maybe my brute force wasn't that weakened after all." Lucario said.

"Even so, you did well like I presumed it! Kupo!"

"...Are you sure you're being honest?" Lucario asked.

"But of course, kupo," Chris said looking at Lucario. "You're my Pokémon so I should feel proud of you, right, kupo?"

"(...I guess I better enjoy it while it lasts.) Thank you." Lucario said hugging his trainer tightly.

"...Hello?" Toadsworth asked as his voice echoed through the stadium. "...The next event is the 110m Hurdles!" Toadsworth announced as the whole stadium erupted with cheers.

Fourth Event: 110m Hurdles

Participants (in order): Mario, Sonic, Chris, Waluigi, Tails, Pit, Luigi, Blaze, Marth

"..." Chris just remembered that he was up next in the next event, and something really made him worried. "...H-how am I going to jump over the hurdles if they're TALLER than me?! Kupo?!"

"I-I don't know..." Lucario thought for a moment. "...Believe in yourself?"

"Say that again and I'm going to throw you my...money! Kupo!"

"...Should I feel scared?"

"...Yes? Kupo?"

Lucario shrugged as Chris rolled his eyes and frowned.

"In this event, participants need to run, jump over the hurdles and reach the finish line first!" Toadsworth explained as Chris gulped.

"I can do this..." Chris muttered as he looked the hurdles alongside the track. "Time to prove what I can do, kupo."

"Something very unexpected will happen," Pit said. "I know that somehow."

"You think?" Marth asked looking away.

"On your marks..." Lakitu trailed off.

Chris gulped.

"Get set..."

Chris sweated.

"GO!"

The sound of the bullet was heard and the 9 competitors went running to the hurdles as fast as they could...and Pit's suspicions were right.

"KUPO!" Chris yelled as he accidentaly bumped into the first hurdle and fell down in th track.

"Oh my...star..." Twink muttered embarrassed.

"K-kuPO!" Chris crashed in another. "KUPO!" in another. "KUPO!" in another one. "KUPO!" and another one. It went like that for the other hurdles as well while the whole crowd laughed at the moggle.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" Lucario roared furiously at the crowd who quickly stopped laughing as the Aura Pokémon grunted.

Not only that event embarrassed the World Traveler a lot but it also ended very soon.

"The results are in!" Lakitu proclaimed.

1st - Waluigi

2nd - Marth

3rd - Pit

4th - Luigi

5th - Mario

6th - Tails

7th - Blaze

8th - Sonic

9th - Chris

"I share the defeat with you," Sonic said patting Chris's back. "Really, I do."

"...Get away from me, kupo..." Chris muttered embarrassed as he walked away from Sonic.

"Waluigi is the winner! Mario's team win the 110m Hurdle event!" Charmy stated happily as the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdow cheered loudly while the Flickies made bored looks.

"Hey," Mallow turned to Lucario who was glowing with his aura. "What are you doing now? Wait, you're not about to explode, are you?!"

"Don't be stupid," Lucario said irritated as his aura disappeared. "Hm..."

"Then what were you doing?"

"I asked Lucario to see if he could use his aura to locate the enemies," Geno explained. "So what did you find?"

"I can sense them," Lucario said nodding. "But it's odd...they don't seem to be going to the right direction where we are."

"I wonder why is that..." Marth said rubbing his chin. "They couldn't think about dropping bombs outside the event because they always try to blow up the bombs in populated areas."

"Let me think, let me think, hmm..." Diddy thought for a moment. "...Maybe they got lost?"

The Smashers looked at each other before they broke out laughing (except Lucario, Marth and Geno who simply chuckled) as Diddy made an annoyed look.

"Y-yeah, sure. They really are lost somewhere," Mallow said wiping a tear. "Look, they're intelligent enough to appear anywhere. Besides, we should enjoy the event to the fullest!" Mallow ran on his spot and feet. "I can smell the trophy already!"

"Waiting is the only option for now." Marth said.

Chris walked up to them in shame. "...Sorry... I humiliated myself in the whole process...kupopopo..."

"..." Lucario kneeled to Chris and hugged him like before. "Even so, you did your best and I'm happy for it."

"...Kupooooo..." Chris trailed off happily as he hugged back his Pokémon who licked his face a little bit.

But wasn't Chris's face covered in fur since he was a moogle?

"...Yuck." Lucario said spitting white fur as Chris rolled his eyes but chuckled a little bit.

"By the way," DK began. "Can't you contact the others?"

Chris stopped hugging his Pokémon and took out his DS. "Professor, I want to talk with Fox if you would..."

"Certainly, my adorable walking moggle plushie." Kawashima said chuckling as he tried to get a signal (while Chris pouted angrily).

"The moon..." Sonic kept saying as he smiled at the moon. "It shines so bright and yet it's so afar in the space..."

DK looked at Sonic. "It's just me or have you gotten an affinity to the moon?"

Sonic looked at DK and crossed his arms. "Well, sorry, but I can't help it. The moon somehow seems so peaceful and quiet."

"Heheheheheheheheheh..."

"Oh, dang it! There's that voice again!"

"What voice?" Tails asked.

"The voice I can only hear. It appears from nowhere after I stare at the moon for some reason..."

"Hmm..." Tails wondered. "Maybe because you're going to turn into a werewolf?"

Sonic couldn't help it but he rolled laughing on the floor. "Hahahahahahaha! Tails, that has to be the most funniest thing you've ever said before! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Tails chuckled worried. "Y-yeah... I think so..."

"Got a signal!" Kawashima said.

"Who's this?" Fox asked through the speaker.

"Hi! You're now talking to the Juggling Moggle Circus's service. You may ask for a show anywhere you like as long as there are many people in the are-"

"Chris..." Marth trailed off as Chris sweatdropped.

"O-oops, sorry.... Anyway, Fox, how are things on your side? Kupo?"

"First we went down a really long-(beep!) ice slope that took all of us some kilometers underground and we're currently rushing to find and see if they're at the end of the tunnel we're in." Fox explained.

"Nothing out of the ordinary yet?" Marth asked.

"Besides the ice and phazon leaking out from the ice?" Zelda asked. "No."

"I think we're pretty close though." Roy said.

"I-I hope they're okay." Lucas said worried.

"Wait," Chris began. "I want to see a view of their location," the World Traveler selected the option to see through Fox's scouter. "...Huh...weird, kupo. All I can see is a big glaring emerald circle staring at me with pure rage, like it's going to punch me somehow. Kupo."

"Dare to say another insulting thing about my eyes and the next time I'll see you, I'm going to grab that pompom and lash you down on the floor with all my forces." Fox threatened narrowing his already glaring eye at Chris, who grabbed his pompom from his head.

"N-no! Mr. Fluffy Furry doesn't want to be grabbed and be used like that on poor juggler me, kupo!" Chris said panicking.

"Good...good..."

"Why didn't you defend me?! Kupo?!" Chris whispered to Lucario as the World Traveler chose the right view.

"Because you deserved it." Lucario said crossing his arms.

"...I hate you sometimes, kupo."

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo

Underground Ice Tunnel

"By the way," Ness began. "How are things going in your festival where-we-don't-get-to-get-our-butts-scratched-by-ice?!"

"Pretty good actually," Mallow said chuckling. "We're trying to win the big kahuna."

"Kahuna?" Ike asked.

"He meant trophy," Geno said. "But it's possible that the Subspace Army is here, however they don't seem to find where we are now... I wonder why."

"Well, then," Jigglypuff began as she was being carried by Toon Link. "Good luck in the Olympics!... What is Sonic doing though?"

"He's panicking because his speed went down for so many levels, kupo," Chris explained as Sonic was heard yelling. "Quite amusing if you ask me, kupo."

"I wish I could see that," Popo said chuckling. "That'd be so awesome after Nana conquered the italians by herself."

"When did I do that?" Nana asked.

"Or was it Polar Bear?"

"..." Nana facepalmed. "Just leave my insane brother alone and mind your business..."

"...Er...look!" DK said. "The next event is starting! Best wishes to you guys, life full of lots of children, happy romance, blah blah blah blah, kthnx, bye!" DK said turning off the DS by himself.

"Great going," Toon Link said annoyed. "You scared them away."

Popo looked at Toon Link as the group was still dashing through the ice cavern. "But it's the truth! Polar Bear conquered the italians once!"

"And when was that?" Nana asked.

"...I think he was dreaming that time."

"Ugh, I shouldn't have asked..."

"Geez, was I that immature when I was a kid?" Fox muttered as Toon Link, Jigglypuff, Popo, Nana, Ness and Lucas glared at him. "What?"

"We heard what you said, Mr. Furry." Popo said with a glare.

"So you think we're immature huh?" Ness asked glaring at him. "Well, excuse us for not being a damn anthro like you!"

"H-hey, I didn't mean to insult any of you in the first place." Fox said.

"Leave him alone, guys," Jigglypuff said. "After all, he's almost going to get through midlife crisis since he's in his thirties."

Fox made an angry face. "What was that again?"

"Guys, stop," Zelda said. "We're not interested about Fox's midlife crisis at all in this moment. Right now we have to rescue the others."

"Yeah, what she sai-hey!"

"Speak no more." Zelda said simply as Fox grunted.

"Oh no, you're making me," Fox began. "I'm not that old. I act like every normal person does and lastly, I'm not dammed."

"...But even so, you're old." Popo said.

"Stop it!" Zelda said. "Leave the serious, cocky and shy Fox alone!"

"Pointing out his 3 personalities isn't helping at all!" Ness protested.

"A-and who said I was shy?" Fox asked annoyed.

"I have my sources," Zelda explained. "Many of them to be exact."

"...Do you know Krystal and she told you all those false things about me?"

"Know her? Fox, you don't know how many people I meet when you're not looking. I pretty much know everyone out there."

"Hey, Roy," Ike whispered as the young Smashers, Zelda and Fox argued betweem them. "Since when this mission was about questioning Fox?"

"Actually," Roy shrugged. "This kind of situations happen a lot so it's usual. You'll get used to it in no time by how it looks."

"...I see..."

Not far away from their location where 2 familiar figures were having a conversation as they looked at at frozen ice wall with 10 familiar figures inside. The whol area had several ice pillars and frozen floor, along with several icicles on the ceiling.

Tales of Symphonia 2: Behind Us!

"They haven't found it yet." Dark Rundas said as Ganondorf grunted and crossed his arms.

"What is taking them so long?" Ganondorf asked frowning. "They just have to locate that flying reptile and take a sample of its DNA. With its DNA, we can use it to recreate another one."

"Its armor is very hard and thick to control over," Dark Rundas explained. "Shadow Bugs can't seem to make an effect on it, but I hear some parts of its body have its real blood, enough for us to make a clone."

"But Tabuu ordered enough DNA to create 2 of it." Ganondorf said.

Dark Rundas looked at the scraps of cement of a big statue that was infused with phazon. "Still, I can't believe we were able to destroy the abomination dwelling inside the Leviathan."

Inside the Leviathan

"Although the place looks perfect to hide," Ganondorf said chuckling as he looked inside the frozen ice wall where the Smashers were trapped. "These fools received the punishment they deserved."

"You mean your transformation into th-"

"Shh..." Ganondorf whispered as he began to hear voices. "...Damn it, the scum is getting here."

"I'm sorry," Dark Rundas said. "Remember the tunnel I made? I think I let it wide open for someone to get in."

"You what?!" Ganondorf asked enraged. "You left a long route right into this blue bug?!"

"My apologies," Dark Rundas said. "I was busy transporting them here and the fact that we both fought the statue. When are you going to take them into the Subspace?"

"I want to give Tabuu these 10 pests and the DNA sample, all at the same time to pay for Dedede and Charizard's defeat. Those 2 idiots know how to get on Tabuu's nerves."

"Ah," Dark Rundas nodded. "You want to be the prefered one, aren't you?"

Ganondorf chuckled and not answered back before he turned at the weird organic door. "They are here."

The weird organic door opened and from it...came 8 arguing Smashers as both villains got confused. "Admit it!" Popo argued angrily. "You're an old guy disguising as a fox!"

By now you should be thinking, "what the hell is Popo saying now?"

"Look," Fox said glaring at Popo. "Nothing so far that you've said made ANY kind of sense, and to be honest, I have thoughts about killing you RIGHT this instant."

"Would you please ignore my brother?" Nana asked annoyed. "You're an idiot for listening to his arguments!"

"So now I'm an idiot?" Fox asked with a glare.

"Well, you sure as hell look like one!" Ness protested. "Mr. Furry!"

"Y-yeah!" Lucas protested (albeit he was trembling). "You should be ashamed for discriminating kids like us...or me!"

"Who said I was discriminating you all?" Fox asked crossing his arms. "You're just a bunch of kids with weird powers that can't stop whining about my true facts."

"...Okay, that was ENOUGH!" Toon Link yelled lunging at Fox as all the young Smashers piled above the vulpine as the latter fiercely attacked each one of them. Sometimes they would either pull his ears or his tail.

"...Ganondorf..." Dark Rundas muttered as Ike, Roy and Zelda glared at them.

"Yes? Is something troubling you?" Ganondorf asked without looking at Dark Rundas.

"...Are they really a threat?"

Ganondorf shook his head.

"...Can you give us a moment?" Zelda asked with a glare.

"...Certainly, but only for this time."

Several minutes later...

After one hell of a slap-fight (that even scared both villains), all the arguers were punished by Zelda as they were shown glaring at the villains (many of them who had black eyes).

"Good. This is how it should be." Ganondorf said nodding with Zelda.

"AHEM." Jigglypuff coughed.

"...Oh...right..." Ganondorf and Dark Rundas turned their backs, facing at the ice wall as the Smashers outside looked at each other and moved 1 step ahead, which was a signal to start a usual conversation before a fight. Why you ask? Ganondorf was sometimes honorable.

"...So," Dark Rundas began as he turned his back to the ice wall and faced them. "You're here."

"Yes," Popo said chuckling. "And thank you for making that AWESOME ice slope from the surface and inside this ominuous place!"

"We've never been so pleased before," Nana said bowing. "It was truly very fun."

"..." Dark Rundas shook his head and decided to ignore that compliment. "You're all here to be frozen like your comrades behind us?"

"Why not you?" Roy asked taking out his sword. "I'm sure you're going to enjoy being inside an ice cube. Mr. Iceman."

Popo glared at Roy. "Hey! No nicknames for us, ice wielders?"

"Keep ignoring him." Nana whispered annoyed.

"I enjoy the ice," Dark Rundas stated as he pointed at them. "When it's piercing your thin bodies."

"Ooh! Ooh! Pierce me! Pierce me!" Popo asked raising his hand as many of them frowned ashamed.

"Gladly." Dark Rundas said creating ice blades.

"Ganondorf," Zelda began. "Set Link and the others free right now."

"I am afraid I cannot do that," Ganondorf said chuckling. "Once I take Link to the Subspace, I am going to take off the Triforce of Courage and fuse it to myself. After that, I will take your piece of the Triforce as well."

"Good thing he doesn't know that I hold the Triforce of Courage too." Toon Link whispered to Ness.

"That also goes for you, little Link."

"Dammit!" Toon Link cursed.

"And for the rest of you," Ganondorf said as his hands were covered by darkness. "You are going to be perfect trophies for Tabuu, where you will live a cursing and harmful life in the Subspace."

"Sorry but," Ness began as he took out his bat. "I'm not going to go inside that place, never."

"A-and me neither!" Lucas said taking out his stick. "I-I hate fighting with you...but I have to fight and end this or..."

"Or we'll go to the Subspace," Nana said putting her hammer above her shoulder. "Which I don't want to visit anytime."

"Unless it has ice." Popo said raising a finger.

"...Possibly." Nana said nodding as both siblings stood next to the other with hammers ready.

"Please, let Pikachu and Pichu go!" Jigglypuff yelled pouting. "I don't want to lose them inside a big chunk of ice!... But Falco's pretty much dead by now."

Fox ignored that comment as he took out his Blaster. "Alright then, is everyone ready?"

"W-wait," Ike interrupted. "I haven't talked yet."

"Well, make it quick."

"Okay...hm..." Ike thought for a moment.

5 minutes later...

"Are you done thinking?" Fox asked annoyed.

"I got it," Ike said nodding as he took out Ragnell and glared at the villains. "I'll set them free from your clutches, because I fight for my friends!"

"..."

A long moment of silence followed after Ike's speech before everyone (without exceptions) broke out laughing madly as their laughs echoed inside the Leviathan.

"H-hey! What did I do wrong this time?!" Ike asked as Roy held his sides in pain.

"D-dude, we don't say such cheesy and corny things to our enemies like that," Roy said wiping out a tear as he chuckled. "B-but think about it, you could be the most loved character for kids."

"...I think that's good." Ike said before they laughed even louder. "S-stop it, you guys! I'm new in this, remember? I'm trying my best to fit in this group!"

"Well, please don't try and just fight." Zelda said stopping.

"But I have to try or els-"

"Enough with that!" Ganondorf demanded as he stopped laughing with Dark Rundas. "We shall eliminate you and your lunatic (Ike: Hey!) new force right here and now!"

"Let's just stop talking and start the fight," Dark Rundas said sharpening his ice blades. "I can't wait to see the blood dripping from the tip of these icicles."

Molgera Battle

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Popo yelled loudly with his hammer pointing at the villains who rushed at the Smashers, who also rushed at them before starting the fight against them.

However, Fox backstepped out of the way and thought about something as he clicked his scouter. "This is Fox. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Boss!" Chris was heard saying.

"...Don't tell me you changed to that job again..."

"Well," Chris chuckled. "Thanks to this job I was able to win the Tripple Jump event. I can't believe I almost reached your blinding speed too, Boss! You're so amazing!"

Fox grinned but then shook his head. "E-enough about that! Chris, I'm calling you because I want to know something."

The sound of cheers were heard. "Yes, Boss?"

"I want to know if the Over Limit gauge is separated between groups."

"Of course," Kawashima said. "Forming separate groups can divide the gauge equally so that both groups can use it when it's necessary. Do you want me to tell you when it's ready?"

"If you would, please do."

Kawashima chuckled. "Certainly. To see if it's ready, just see the little flashing red point in your scouter and inform the others as well. That spot will tell you when it's ready."

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Boss!" Chris said happily as he accelerated a little bit about what he had to say next. "I wish you good luck in your battle, and please do tell me about all the details because I'm anxious about the outcome of the battle will b-"

Fox stopped the communication as he grinned a little. "Why do I think he's more appreciative when he uses that job?" Fox asked sarcastically to himself as he chuckled a little bi-

"If you would," Nana said annoyed. "We're dealing with Mr. Bad Hairdo and Mr. Frosty over there and your help would be REALLY appreciated."

"...Oh, sorry." Fox said dashing towards the fight as Nana followed him.

"Yia!" Zelda tried to slash Ganondorf with her magic but the lord of darkness dodged the attack. "Ha!" Zelda tried blasting a small explosion of light in her hand which reached Ganondorf, then the princess used the time he staggered by hopping up a little from the floor and hit him with a focused and strong blast of magic in the tip of her right heel.

"UGH!" Ganondorf grunted in pain as he backed away.

"NOW!" Zelda yelled to Toon Link who rolled around Ganondorf and did a Parry Attack behind Ganondorf's back with a raising slash as the cartoony Hyrulian quickly used a Spin Attack to deal even more damage.

"GAH!" Toon Link yelped as Ganondorf grabbed him by the throat.

"You puny...HA!" Ganondorf grunted as he used Dark Choke on Toon Link's throat.

"STOP! PUFF!" Jigglypuff yelled hitting Ganondorf with Pound as the lord of darkness spun a little in the air and rolled backwards to gain his stance. Jigglypuff's Pound also set Toon Link free before the darkness could explode on his throat.

"Rundas!" Ganondorf called out. "Stop fooling around and lend me your aid!"

"I'm trying to!" Dark Rundas yelled as he tried to slash Popo. "But this annoying kid is bothering me!"

"Can't hit me," Popo taunted as he dodged a slash. "Can't reach me," Popo taunted dodging another slash as he ducked and swung his hammer to Dark Rundas's feet which made the hunter fall down as Nana came from behind Popo and slammed her hammer on him. "Yeah! Today we're fighting so well!"

"I've got to say," Nana said smiling at Popo. "This small demostration of teamwork between the 2 of us is finally getting its fruit."

"Don't leave yourself open!" Dark Rundas yelled slashing Nana's back which made her yell in pain before the ice hunter grabbed her and threw her at Popo who tried to save her. "Too slow," Dark Rundas said dodging Ness's PK Fire by quickly turning and grabbing the PK kid by the shirt's neck. "Now you die!"

"PK FIRE!" Lucas yelled from behind Dark Rundas as he shot a small bolt from his hands that bursted into flames while Ness took advantage and backed away from the hunter. "Ness! Are you okay?!"

"Don't worry about me!" Ness said reassuring Lucas. "We can take this guy out if we think about a strategy!"

"Go with fire on him!" Roy commanded. "That must be his obvious weakness!"

Dark Rundas gasped. "H-how did you know?!"

"...Hello? You're made of ice."

"...I-I knew that..."

"So who's smarter now?" Ike asked slamming his sword on the floor, using Eruption behind Dark Rundas who yelled in pain and quickly jumped above an ice pillar. "Come back here!"

"You wish," Dark Rundas said gathering ice mist that created a big ice pillar that circled around the air. "I guess I should jump to the most destructive skills I have."

"L-look at the size of that thing!" Lucas said.

"We have to dodge it. I don't think we can resist something that big!" Roy warned them.

"Me me me!" Popo said hopping from his spot. "Throw it at me!"

"Popo," Nana whispered. "We don't enjoy being crushed under ice if it doesn't freeze us!"

"HAAA!!!" Dark Rundas tossed the gigantic ice pillar at them who quickly ran at different directions.

"W-where to now?!" Lucas panicked looking at the sides as the ice pillar went down on him and shattered into a million of pieces.

"LUCAS!" Ness yelled worried as the ice dispersed and Lucas was nowhere to be found. "Oh no, Lucas!"

"He's fine," Fox called out, holding Lucas under his right arm. "I got him using my illusion."

"T-thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lucas said hugging Fox who pushed him away.

"HUUUUA!" Ganondorf used Wizard Foot on Zelda who got kicked hard in the stomach before the lord of darkness grabbed and used Dark Choke which sent the princess down on the floor, panting heavily. "Just a little more before I obtain the Triforce of Wisdom, my dear Zelda."

"C-call me dear and you're going to regret it..." Zelda muttered as she rolled out of the way.

"Why the bad manners?"

"Because you're irritating! HA!" Ike yelled using Quick Draw and dealt a strong impacting slash on Ganondorf's back and followed his attack slashing the air with Ragnell and on the villain, dealing moderate damage as Ganondorf managed to land on his feet and glared at the swordsman.

"D-damn that insanely heavy sword of yours..." Ganondorf muttered gritting his teeth.

"Thanks," Ike said putting Ragnell on his left shoulder. "This sword was blessed by the gods and it's one of the heaviest swords around."

"Do I care about the pathetic background of a meaningless sword?"

"Now you're going to die for that."

"Same with YOU!" Ganondorf yelled using Wizard Foot which Ike counterattacked with Counter. "UGH!"

"(This guy isn't that hard,)" Ike thought. "(Why is everyone struggling to defeat someone like him?)"

"Ike, you're quite a professional when it comes to fighting." Zelda remarked with a small smile.

Ike blushed. "T-thanks. I appreciate i-"

"Do not dare to lower your defense!" Ganondorf yelled using Warlord Punch on Ike's face as the Ragnel wielder went stumbling on the ice floor and slid all the way to an organic wall.

"I-I won't..." Ike muttered in pain.

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Toon Link yelled shooting a barrage of arrows at the villain who ducked, sidestepped and jumped out of the arrows' way and slammed his fist on Toon Link's head and crashed his shoulder on Toon Link's stomach. "GAH!"

"PUFF!" Jigglypuff slammed herself using a weak Rollout that pushed Ganondorf out of the way. "Toon Link!"

"I-I'm fine. He just got me surprised." Toon Link said nodding.

"AH!"

"JIGGLYPUFF!"

"HA!" Ganondorf used Dark Choke on Jigglypuff and she was slammed hard into the floor before the lord of darkness kicked her away to an ice wall. Toon Link quickly dashed towards Ganondorf and slashed him across his armor befoe taking a bomb which he threw and exploded in a cartoony smoke. "I am still able to stand and fight you." Ganondorf stated panting.

"I...I already fought a Ganondorf before," Toon Link said glaring at Ganondorf. "You're not different than he was!... Save for the fact that he used 2 swords."

"Sword?" Ganondorf asked as he remembered that he had a sword with him. He chuckled evily as he took out a glittering sword from his back as Zelda gasped.

"T-that's one of the sword of the sages!" Zelda said surprised.

"Yes, now I remember," Ganondorf said closing his eyes. "I stole this sword from those sages who tried to kill me and throw me inside the Twilight Realm. But they did not count he fact that I was blessed with the Triforce of Power which aided me to kill one of them."

"Pfft," Toon Link rolled his eyes. "I bet you just were acting weak."

SLASH!

"UAAAAAAHH!!!" Toon Link grabbed his right shoulder in pain as Ganondorf chuckled.

"Be careful," Zelda began. "That kind of swords are highly dangerous since they're blessed with sacred light directly from the gods themselves!"

"A-and now you're saying it?!" Jigglypuff asked as she gasped and sidestepped out of one slash from the sword.

"What is the matter?" Ganondorf asked chuckling. "You do not have that spark of courage a moment ago?"

"I still do!" Ike called from behind Ganondorf and tried to slam down his sword, but Ganondorf quickly spun and blocked it using his holy sword. "U-ugh."

"A blessed sword," Ganondorf muttered as Ike tried to push it away. "That sword of yours is a blessed sword as well."

"Funny you say that," Ike began. "I thought you didn't care about the "background" of Ragnell at all."

Ganondorf moved one step closer ahead as Ike struggled. "That is not important because I will end your life here."

"HA!" Zelda appeared behind Ganondorf and used Nayru's Love to slash the lord of darkness using the crystals circling around the biggest one, then she ducked and tripped Ganondorf with his leg, followed by Toon Link who jumped twice in the air and went rocketing down with the Master Sword pointing at Ganondorf.

"Not this same move again!" Ganondorf yelled grabbing his sword back and pushing the Master Sword in time before it could reach his chest, grabbed Toon Link and threw him at Jigglypuff who gasped before both rolled on the floor and grunted. "That was very close, but it is not enough to finish me yet...where is Zelda?!"

"LINK!" Zelda yelled using Din's Fire to melt the ice where Link and the others were. "Hang in there, I'm here to get you out from there!"

A hand reached Zelda's shoulder and she looked at Ganondorf. "Trying to save that dammed hero, I see."

"You won't stop me." Zelda muttered glaring at Ganondorf.

"I beg to differ," Ganondorf said pulling Zelda back, spun on his feet and tried to stab his sword at her. Zelda gasped and covered her with one hand but before the sword could reach her, Toon Link rolled between them and blocked the stab with the Master Sword. "You puny little swordsman!"

"I-I'm not puny!" Toon Link yelled back as he used his left hand and threw his boomerang at Ganondorf's face.

"You're mine," Dark Rundas said as he clashed his ice blades with Roy's sword. "I enforced this ice specifically to resist your sword of fire."

"Have you forgotten about the others though?" Roy asked with a grin as a tower of flames trapped Dark Rundas inside while Lucas quickly ran at Dark Rundas and charged a strong blow using his stick. "A stick?"

"H-hey, it's a Good Stick," Lucas said blushing. "It packs a lot of power."

"But seriously," Roy crossed his arms. "Why a stick?"

"...Because it hits hard?"

"LOOK OUT!"

"U-UGH!" Lucas was frozen inside an icicle by Dark Rundas who chuckled as Roy glared at him.

"The kid is out of the way," Dark Rundas said putting a blade, crossing his face in front of him as it reflected Roy's face. "One more kid to go."

A toon red vein popped out from Roy's forehead. "Who are you calling a kid?!" Roy demanded as he rushed at Dark Rundas who remained still and slapped Roy's sword to land an X-cross slash on the red-haired swordsman. "AAAHH!!"

"Getting on someone's nerves is actually very helpful," Dark Rundas said as he kicked Roy to the ice floor. "And you're not that different."

"H-hold on Lucas, I'm here to melt that ice!" Ness shouted using PK Fire to melt the icicle in which Lucas was before Dark Rundas shot several ice shots at the PK user who backed away in pain.

"It's inevitable to save someone inside my ice," Dark Rundas began. "And it's also impossible to melt it since it's very strong."

"Why is it very strong?!" Ness demanded.

"The ice around this place can only be destroyed by strong blows and not actual fire," Dark Rundas explained. "Of course, fire can hurt me since my weakness isn't that efficiently protected even with the Shadow Bugs."

"So it's going to take a lot of time to melt the ice because it only can be destroyed by a strong impact?"

Dark Rundas nodded. "Exactly."

"Then why did you tell me that?"

Dark Rundas chuckled. "Because I doubt any of you can actually make a crack on it."

"Oh," Ness took out his bat. "Let me show you." Ness charged his attack before hitting the ice where Lucas was, albeit to say it only caused a strong tremble on Ness who shook violently. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I hate this!"

"And I hate you." Dark Rundas spoke from behind Ness who turned his head and got kicked towards an ice wall as he noticed the ice hunter rushing at him to stab him with both blades.

"Wait!" Popo yelled stepping on Dark Rundas's path. "Stab me! Stab me! I want to know how it feels!"

"Very well." Dark Rundas said nodding as he rushed at Popo who raised his hands above.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand trick ya!"

"What?" Dark Rundas asked confused as Popo swung his hammer directly at his face with a jump, making the ice hunter back away as Nana jumped from behind and swung her hammer on his head. The process went on as both Ice Climbers kept jumping and swinging their hammer back and forth.

"This is easy," Nana commented. "Who knew that double teaming a single opponent could be this easy?"

After she said that, Dark Rundas somehow managed to grab both Ice Climbers by their throats as they struggled to get free. "And who knew grabbing kids at the same time to stop an annoying strategy could be this easy?" Dark Rundas asked as he crashed both Ice Climbers on themselves before slamming them on the ice floor while he sharpened his ice blades. "Stabbing them is also very easy."

Before Dark Rundas could stab both Ice Climbers, Fox came from above and gave hima hard kick right on his chin, followed by a slash with Fox Illusion. "Acting slow is also very reckless." Fox added as both Ice Climbers got back on their feet.

"Thanks man." Popo said.

There was a beeping sound coming from Fox's scouter as he looked at it. "The Over Limit gauge is ready."

CLAP!

Fox quickly looked at the Ice Climbers already glowing with the rainbow aura as they clapped hands together and called forth a huge iceberg (which ironically was called Iceberg) that rose up from the ice floor and filled the entire area as everyone was forced to slide down it. "What the heck? How did you 2 use your Final Smash so fast?"

"As soon as that beeping sound came in," Nana said slidding down the iceberg with Popo. "But we thought we were going to call huge icicles from above instead of an iceberg."

"Which is pretty cool," Popo said climbing the iceberg. "We have our own huge mountain to climb any time!"

Fox facepalmed. "And what is a huge iceberg in the middle of this place going to do to them?"

"It freezes them," Nana pointed out, pointing at Dark Rundas and Ganondorf who were constantly frozen and attacked by the ice mist that the iceberg had. "While we're perfectly fine."

"UGH!" Ganondorf grunted in pain as he was flung away as an icicle before he broke out and was attacked once again. "DAMMIT! THIS THING IS ANNOYING! RUNDAS! DESTROY IT!"

Apparently, Dark Rundas was frozen and attacked constantly. "I-I can't!" Dark Rundas yelled as he was frozen and got back at the iceberg. "This ice is...is hurting me!"

"And he's ironically of ice," Popo pointed out chuckling. "Seriously dude, how stupid is that?"

"SHUT UP!" Dark Rundas yelled firing several ice blasts at Popo from the air, albeit to say Popo raised his hands as Fox quickly stepped in front of him and used his Reflector to return back the shots at the ceiling.

"You party pooper!" Popo complained as Fox frowned and hand-chopped his head a little. "Hey!"

"Thank you," Nana said nodding. "You don't know how much that made me happy."

"My work I guess?" Fox asked.

They all felt an earthquake as the iceberg went down and disappeared into the floor as both villains landed on the ice floor and panted heavily. "I can still...fight, Ganondorf." Dark Rundas said panting.

"So am I..." Ganondorf trailed off.

"I think we're doing good progress this time," Roy began. "We have them on the ropes now."

"Let's see who is going to be on the ropes then." Dark Rundas said jumping in the air as he rode an ice wave that he created and shot several ice blasts around the room.

"Look out, those ice blasts can freeze you inside an icicle!" Zelda warned them.

Fox looked behind him and saw Popo, and even Nana inside an icicle. "Oh, come on! I thought you 2 were lying about being inside one!"

"It feels so good." Popo and Nana said in unison inside the ice.

"Good for you but bad for us."

"Then sucks to be you," Popo said simply as Fox grunted and tried to shatter the ice with a charged kick. "Try to reach me, you stubborn little animal. It is impossible to kill me inside here!"

"Popo," Nana began. "Just shut up and let's enjoy this time."

"How can they even talk if their mouths are frozen?" Fox asked confused as Ness walked to him.

"Who knows," Ness shrugged. "It's like the ice became part of them. They even can move their eyes."

"Those 2 are really creepy..." Fox muttered.

"And you figured that out just now?" Ness asked before he was frozen inside an icicle. Fox looked up and saw Dark Rundas riding above them before the vulpine rolled away from several blasts.

"Look!" Popo yelled looking at Ness standing inside the icicle. "Ness wants to become like us, or me!"

"(Would you shut up, please?!)" Ness asked irritated in their minds.

"(P-please, someone! Get me out of here!)" Lucas pleaded from his spot.

"(You should've talked with us telepathically!)" Ness said.

"(And why didn't you do it before?)" Lucas asked as Ness got speechless.

"Why talk in a time like this?" Dark Rundas questioned as he tried to freeze Fox who was running along the floor. "That only slows your reaction time."

"But my reaction time is far faster," Fox said spotting an ice ramp than curved right into the air as he grinned. "Taking me out alone is going to be a pain for you."

"How so?" Dark Rundas asked as he saw Fox running all the way up to the ice curve where he appeared upside down before using Fox Illusion on Dark Rundas, however, the attack was somehow altered because the vulpine combined it with a fast kick that served like a meteor smash and pushed the ice hunter down the floor. "I... I should've predicted i-UGH!"

Fox used Fire Fox right on Dark Rundas's back from above as he rolled away and grinned. "Predicted what? All the attacks you received from me?"

"I...officialy...hate cocky guys like you..." Dark Rundas muttered as he got up and shook his head.

"Heh, who knows, maybe I like being cocky."

"10 extra cool points for that, Boss!" Chris called from the scouter.

"What the-what are you doing now?" Fox asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm on a break now. The events here are very exhausting so I wondered why not contacting you, Boss?"

"L-look, everything here is going well. You can leave me alone here if you would."

"Ooh, but I wanted to have a talk with you, Bos-"

"This is a direct order from your superior! Do you dare to go against my orders and keep pestering me?!"

Chris gasped dramatically. "N-no! I-I didn't mean any of that if that annoyed you! I-I shall do pushups if yo-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Fox yelled loudly.

"R-right away, Boss! Good luck!" Chris panicked as he left Fox alone.

"...Maybe I was little hard on him?" Fox asked worried before he received 3 slashes on his back as he gritted his fangs in pain before backing away from Darn Rundas.

"You bastard!" Roy yelled raising his sword above him as he failed to land his Flare Blade. "Dammit!"

"Too reckless," Dark Rundas said quickly grabbing Fox's foot (since the vulpine almost succeeded in finishing his surprise attack) who gasped and was thrown at Roy who sidestepped out of the way. "Fury isn't the way to defeat an opponent."

Roy closed his eyes. "I-I won't let you distract me with that!"

Dark Rundas motioned a hand to him. "Just try."

Roy put a strong grip on his sword as he rushed at Dark Rundas.

"U-ugh..." Toon Link was trying to shatter the ice that trapped the others inside. "It's...useless..."

"We have...to keep trying..." Zelda said panting.

Toon Link looked at her. "...Wait, who's fighting Ganondorf again?"

Zelda pointed at Ike and Jigglypuff who were guarding both of them from Ganondorf who tried to stop them from hitting the ice.

"...I'm...a little bit surprised that Jigglypuff is actually giving a fight to Ganondork..."

"My name is Ganondorf!" Ganondorf yelled angrily as Jigglypuff used Rollout to slam him to the wall. The lord of all evil quickly sidestepped from Ike's sword in time as he backed away from the 2.

"Maybe she is fighting for real this time?" Zelda asked. "Back then she used to use Rest a lot."

"Rest in the middle of the field?"

Zelda shook her head. "No. She has this move where if she sleeps right next to an enemy, her opponent will be sent flying high up."

"...That doesn't make any sense at all!"

Zelda shrugged. "Tell that to Master Hand, he was the one who came up with the idea," the princess looked at the ice wall. "We shouldn't stop talking. We need to save them from this ice prison."

"Bombs?" Toon Link asked taking out a bomb..

"Mhmhmhmmh!!!"

Both Hyrulians made surprised looks as they looked back at the ice wall. "Link?" Zelda asked.

"Mmhmhmhmhmhmhmh!!!"

"LINK!" Zelda put her hands on the ice. "Link, are you still alive?!"

"MHM!!!"

"My god..." Toon Link muttered. "...Link's soul is trying to make contact with us!"

SLAP!

"Oww!"

BOOM!

"OWW!" Toon Link realized that he had a bomb on his hand which exploded before.

"Link, can you still resist in there?" Zelda asked.

"Mhmhmh!!!" Link responded.

"We don't speak icysh language!" Toon Link yelled as he blocked his face if Zelda was going to slap him again.

"Hang in there," Zelda said using Din's Fire. "We can't stop now."

"That's why I'm using these," Toon Link said with many bombs on his arms. "If Tetra taught me something is that if you can't break something with force, then you'll have to use the explosive force instead!"

"...Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the bombs flashing red?"

Toon Link looked at the bombs which were indeed flashing red as he gasped and tossed all of them at different directions of the ice wall that blew up, creating a cartoony smokescreen which made them cough.

Zelda coughed. "Was that...enough?"

"...Huh?" Toon Link looked back at the ice wall which had several small cracks on it. "I think it's working! Quick! Help me with the bombs!"

Toon Link tossed several bombs at Zelda which yelled a little and caught all of them on her arms and began putting them around the wall. "Princesses like me are not used to this kind of work."

"Will whiny princess stop complaining and help me out?!" Toon Link asked irritated (barely dodging a Din's Fire) as they worked to destroy the ice wall.

Ganondorf and Ike clashed swords together as Jigglypuff was kicked away by Ganondorf's foot. "I wonder myself who's sword is going to break the other." Ganondorf said through gritted teeth.

"Not mine," Ike responded through gritted teeth. "Ragnell won't fall against a glowing sword like yours."

"CHAAAAAAA-" Jigglypuff was kicked away before she could leap herself at Ganondorf.

Ganondorf went forward as Ike backed away. "My Triforce will give me the necessary power to break yours in 2."

Ike went forward as Ganondorf backed away. "And my courage and power of the friendship will boost mine!"

Music stops with a scratch

Everyone in the room stopped fighting and began to laugh loudly at this while Ganondorf laughed maniacally at Ike's sappy line. Even Popo, Nana, Link, Ness and Lucas started laughing inside the icicles.

However, the swordsman grinned a little as he saw Ganondorf throwing his sword on the floor with his guard down since the "sappy" line was part of a plan he formulated.

"I'll take this, thanks," Ike said grabbing Ganondorf's sword and tossed it away where the lord of darkness wouldn't reach it. "And next...HAAAAA!!!" Ike charged Eruption quickly to deal a big amount of damage to Ganondorf who grunted in pain as everyone stopped laughing.

Molgera Battle

"You little..." Ganondorf muttered in pain.

Ike chuckled. "You didn't see that coming at all, did you?"

Jigglypuff chuckled. "But Ike, why did you say that?"

"Because I knew one of the lines I was going to sa-I mean, discarded was going to cause this annoying result," Ike looked down at Ganondorf. "And since he was going to laugh at me, the plan was going to work." Ike saw Dark Rundas landing close to him as trails of fire were seen.

"And the fact that this guy lowered his guard down was the perfect chance to attack him with a fully charged Flare Sword," Roy said twitching a little in pain. "Though...the explosion kind of hurt me a little..."

"I can't...believe I let my guard down...for a second..." Dark Rundas muttered painfully.

"...Rundas..." Ganondorf muttered as he got up. "I think it is time...to use all our attacks on them like we did...with the others..."

Dark Rundas chuckled. "You mean..."

"Yes... Indeed..." Ganondorf chuckled evily.

Although both of them were talking, the Hyrulians were trying to shatter the ice wall as fast as they could. "Even if the cracks aren't getting that big, we have to keep trying!" Toon Link yelled as more smoke came from the bombs.

"...Wait..." Ike saw that Ganondorf gathered dark energy around him while Dark Rundas jumped on a pillar in the center of the room. "I don't like where this is going..."

"Hahahahaha..." Ganondorf chuckled evily.

"Now what is so funny, Ganonidiot?" Roy asked with a glare.

Final Fantasy X – Enemy Attack

"Triforce of Power," Ganondorf began as an explosion of rainbow aura pushed Ike away to the air where he flipped and landed on the ice floor. "Bless me with your entire holy might!!!"

Jigglypuff looked above where Dark Rundas was circling ice mist that turned into a big ice pillar. "E-everyone...something is awfully wrong here..."

The ice floor began to tremble violently as they saw the lord of all evil covered in darkness as they heard a loud roar that came from him. Ganondorf's shadow began to grow in size as they all gasped and watched a big, enormous figure growing until it stopped and roared loudly at them.

"...No..." Zelda muttered. "Ganondorf...h-he...he turned into..."

"Stop trailing off and tell us what!" Nana yelled inside the icicle.

"Ganondorf turned into Ganon when he fought Link and Midna inside my castle!"

"THAT IS RIGHT," Ganon began. "TABUU HAS BEEN WATCHING ALL OF YOU USING THE FINAL SMASH AND HE DECIDED TO DEVELOP THE SAME GIFT WHICH HE GAVE TO US."

"W-what?" Roy asked shocked.

"WHAT YOU HEARD, PUNY LITTLE SWORDSMAN," Ganon laughed. "I DOUBT ALL OF YOU WILL RESIST THE RAMPAGE THAT I HAVE HERE."

Roy gulped as he put his sword in front of him. "E-even so, trying to fight an oversized pig like you isn't going to stop me fro-"

"ROY!" Ike yelled as he saw Dark Rundad tossing the ice pillar at Roy who quickly turned his back and got instantly crushed under the big chunk of ice.

"...Dammit...they got me..." Roy muttered weakly on the floor.

"Hang in there. I'm coming for you!" Ike yelled before he saw Ganon raising a foot which went down on Roy as the red-haired swordsman screamed in extreme pain. "ROY!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Roy screamed loudly in pain.

"For the love of the sages, stop!" Zelda pleaded as Ganon raised his foor and Roy was shown out of cold. "ROY!"

"SAD BECAUSE YOU LOST A FRIEND?!" Ganon asked roaring. "WELL, LET US SEE IF YOU CAN DEAL WITH THIS!" Ganon stomped the floor furiously with a long roar at the ceiling before he rushed at the Smashers at full throttle.

"I-is there any way to stop that demonic beast?!" Ike asked.

"SURRENDER AT ONCE, ALL OF YOU!!!" Ganon yelled loudly as he roared.

"RUN! RUN FROM THAT THING!" Toon Link yelled loudly as all the Smashers dispersed through the room. Toon Link gasped when a shadow appeared below him and rolled out of the way from Dark Rundas's ice pillar. "W-what the heck?!"

"We were once cornered like this with those fools," Dark Rundas explained as he gathered more ice mist circling around him. "But then we used our last tactic, this one, to eliminate them quickly."

"And you're using it on us?!"

"Duh!" Popo and Nana said frim the icicle.

"Correct," Dark Rundas said as he finished the ice pillar. "And we won't be cornered like this again since you're about to DIE!"

"UAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Toon Link ran away from the shattering ice pillar that was thrown at him. "OH MY GOD!"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Ganon yelled as he lowered his head and rushed at Toon Link to slam him to the wall. The cartoony swordsman screamed, blocked his face with the Hero's Shield and waited for the part where he was supposed to be crushed.

"NO!" Fox yelled using Fox Illusion to grab Toon Link in time before Ganon could ram at him.

Toon Link shifted his eyes with panic. "P-please, don't tell me I died!"

"You didn't." Fox said sighing in relief as both turned to Ganon who stopped and looked at them.

"I KNEW LETTING A DAMN ANIMAL LIKE YOU LIVE WAS A BAD IDEA FROM THE BEGINNING!" Ganon roared angrily.

"Stop talking!" Ike yelled from above he slammed Ragnell on Ganon's skin, but the only thing Ike got from his attack was that even Ragnell couldn't inflict damage on the beast. "What?"

"HAVE AT YOU!" Ganon yelled swinging his own head at Ike who got pushed hard to the organic wall of the Leviathan as he fell down and twitched in pain.

"Ike! Are you feeling alright?!" Jigglypuff asked as she saw Dark Rundas throwing an ice pillar Zelda who quickly used Farore's Wind to teleport away from the impact.

"I was...attacked by a hard head...how do you think I am now...huh?" Ike muttered in pain as he saw Ganon stomping towards him.

"Damn it, he's going to get crushed like Roy was!" Toon Link said.

"Wait," Fox noticed a path of ice towards Ike and used Fox Illusion to reach the swordsman in a flash as he took Ike away before the beast slammed himself at the wall and shook his head. "Do I have to do all the rescue parts here or what?"

"Looks...like it..." Ike muttered painfully.

"WATCH OUT!" Toon Link yelled as Fox quickly grabbed Ike's hand and slid through the icy floor before a huge ice pilllar could crush both of them. "Phew..." Toon Link sighed once both were close to him.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Ganon roared furiously. "I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I SEE YOU LAYING DOWN IN YOUR DEATH BODIES!!!" Ganon yelled as he charged at the Smashers which gasped and tried to run away from the beast.

"Wait!" Zelda yelled. "He's trying to have all of us running together so that guy on the pillar can throw an ice pillar at the right place!"

"EXACTLY!" Dark Rundas yelled lunging a huge ice pillat at the 3 who were running away from Ganon as they were all crushed beneath the tower that shattered into a million of pieces.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Zelda yelled worried as the 3 were picked up by Ganon's mouth and were thrown away at different directions.

"...Damn...those bastards..." Fox muttered through gritted fangs as he coughed some blood. "I...won't let...them...get away...and kill Falco like this..."

"Don't push yourself too hard, Fox!"

"But I...can still fight...and stand...see?" Toon Link asked trying to stand up using his sword as a support.

"..." Ike wasn't able to speak about anything but he was able to stand up as he coughed blood.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ganon laughed maniacally. "IT IS A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE ALL OF YOU DIE IN THIS CURSED PLACE WITH ALL OF YOUR COMRADES!"

"That is also a fact," Dark Rundas said circling ice mist around the air. "I can't hardly wait and see if I can make ice sculptures with you inside them."

Zelda narrowed her eyes at the ice hunter. "You know what... Link can take the ice very well."

"HMMHMHMHMHMHH!!!" Link yelled angrily as Zelda shone and turned into Sheik.

"First things first," Sheik said doing a handsign. "Take down the bastard using the ice."

"On you!" Dark Rundas yelled lunging the ice pillar at Sheik who quickly used Vanish, appeared above the ice pillar and jumped straight to Dark Rundas. "What?"

"You're too slow." Sheik stated as she grabbed 3 kunais between her fingers and slashed Dark Rundas who responded with a fast block using his ice blades.

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games

Beijing?

Break Room

"ACHOO!" Sonic sneezed.

"Sonic, do you have a cold or something?" Tails asked.

"No... I feel like someone said something that I use usually to taunt my opponents..."

Tails shuddered. "Y-you're sometimes weird."

"Heh," Sonic grinned. "I like being weird then."

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Bryyo

Inside the Leviathan

"This surprise was quite indeed a shock," Dark Rundas said as his face and Sheik's were close to each other. "However, it's not enough to reach me."

"Set Link free..." Sheik muttered as Jigglypuff was seen being slammed to a wall by Ganon below the pillar both combatants were. "Or I'll kill you here..."

"Better yet," Dark Rundas said. "I'll set you free in hell where you will meet him and live there for the eternity, because I know you hate the ice here, don't you?"

"...That is IT!" Sheik yelled kicking Dark Rundas down the floor who grunted in pain and managed to land on his feet as he saw Sheik leaping right at him. "I've had enough of your damn mouth, you annoying talking ice cube!"

"And I've had enough of all your mouths too," Dark Rundas said. "I've had enough of all this whole problem, and that's why you must be killed right this instant!" Dark Rundas yelled as he jumped right above the pillar and circled ice mist again.

"Oh no, you won't!" Sheik yelled doing a handsign while she narrowed her eyes.

However, Dark Rundas didn't know that Sheik was distracting him from attacking the others.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Toon Link screamed as he held Jigglypuff above him while he ran away from a rampaging Ganon that tried to crush both of them under his feet.

"Stop...running around...and do something!" Fox yelled trying to stand up.

"IT'S EASIER SAID THAT DONE!" Toon Link yelled back.

"Dammit...isn't there any way...to stop that pig?"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"...Who is it this time?" Fox asked clicking a small button on his scouter.

"Listen you, damn fox!" Pigma was heard saying. "Another insult to me and I swear I'll murder and cut down your furried head this time!"

Fox got angry. "And...who called you here?"

"I knew you were going to say an insult to me the moment you opened your damn white mouth so I personally spoke my mind to you!"

"Listen...you," Fox narrowed his eyes and tried to talk without stopping. "How the heck did you get in my scouter? It's so easy to hack it or something?"

"I won't tell you how!" Pigma yelled as he ended the communication (it was most likely that he flipped Fox off).

"(I need to get this thing checked with Slippy sometime...)" Fox thought annoyed as he looked back at the fight. "Just...stab his head!"

"Already tried..." Ike said raising his hand from the ground. "...And failed miserably..."

"I can't... I can't stop now after we have them close to lose...but..." Fox noticed that the path that Ganon was stomping was being destroyed. "...Wait..." Fox noticed something else, it seemed that Ganon's huge weight was heavy enough to shatter the hard icicles that he stomped on. "...Strong force...heavy weight...that's it!"

"WHAT IS IT?!" Toon Link running with Jigglypuff.

"Link! Go over there quickly!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"Hear me out! Do you want to end this fight, yes or no?!"

"Y-YEAH, I GUESS SO, TOTALLY!"

"Then go there as fast as you can!" Fox ordered as the cartoony Hyrulian turned ways and ran to the direction he was told to follow. Ganon slid in the ice a little and snorted as he went after Toon Link and Jigglypuff again.

"It's... It's catching us!" Jigglypuff yelled blocking her eyes.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Toon Link screamed loudly as he ran pass Popo and Nana's icicle.

"Good thing we're not you guys out there," Popo said chuckling. "Being inside ice is just too damn go-"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Nana yelled once Ganon stomped all his way to them and shattered the ice that both were in as they rolled back to the wall. "...Oh no! The icicle!"

"Crap!" Popo exclaimed. "Why'd you that for? I was enjoying so much the last part!"

"It's because..." Fox muttered as he approached them. "...It's because that's a part of our plan..."

"Plan? What do you mean?" Nana asked.

"He is...heavier than before...right?"

"Oh, I get it!" Popo said putting his right fist above his left palm. "Ganondorf's weight is a very strong force enough to break the ice!"

Both Nana and Fox stared at Popo in surprise. "...He actually used his mind this time around..." Fox trailed off.

"Or does he have a mind to begin with?" Nana asked.

"yyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhh!!!" Toon Link and Jigglypuff ran pass them as they all looked at Ganon and gasped before getting out of the way (Popo quickly carried Fox above him as Nana ran to the opposite direction), evading the furious stomps from the oversized pig.

"Toon Link!" Nana called out. "Run to Ness and Lucas!"

"WHY?!" Jigglypuff asked.

"JUST DO IT FOR THE SAKE OF IT!"

Toon Link quickly turned at Ness and Lucas who were inside the icicles as Ganon followed both small fighters without knowing that he accidentaly crushed and shattered the icicles, setting both PK user free from the ice prisons. "A-achoo!" Ness sneezed. "D-damn that guy..."

"S-s-s-see the bright side..." Lucas shivered. "A-a-at least we're out...achoo!"

"AAAHHH!!!" Dark Rundas fell close to the both of them as Sheik landed on top of him with a strong downward kick. "I... I won't let you kill me!"

"I have the opposite idea in mind," Sheik said taking kunais between her fingers. "Now stay still an-"

"Never!" Dark Rundas said grabbing Sheik's leg and tossed her away as he got up and tried to jump back at the ice pillar in the middle of the room.

"PK THUNDER!!!" Lucas yelled calling forth an electric sphere that he circled through Dark Rundas, who got electrocuted constantly.

"UAAAHH!!!" Ness also used PK Thunder but the difference was that he used it on himself and went rocketing to Dark Rundas's chest, dealing a strong impact as the kid of Onett crossed his body and landed on his feet.

"Little...pests..." Dark Rundas muttered weakly. "I can... I can... I CAN STILL TAKE YOU ALL OUT FROM MY SIGHT!!!"

"Shut up!" Sheik yelled grabbing Dark Rundas by the throat with her strong chain from behind.

"U-ugh..."

Sheik put even more pressure into the chain as the ice hunter tried to get free. "I've had enough of this encouter, enough of this long struggle, and the fact that you tried to kill Link along with the others with your freaking ice."

"You're...not capable to finish this fight...like this...are you?" Dark Rundas asked coughing.

Sheik narrowed her eyes. "...To be honest..."

CRIUSH!!!

Dark Rundas slowly moved his arms down as Sheik let the chain return to her. The ice hunter gasped for breath as he fell on his knees and collapsed on the floor. "...I'm very capable to finish this in this way."

"...Damn you...all...ugh..." Dark Rundas said fainting as he got knocked out.

Lucas walked to the ice hunter with a gulp and looked down. "...It's...over?"

"No," Ness said looking at Ganon grabbing Toon Link and Jigglypuff with his mouth. "We have to stop Ganondorf from killing us!"

"You guys..." Roy called from his spot as he coughed blood. "You have...lure Ganondork...to the ice wall...where the others are..."

Sheik looked back at the ice wall with the trapped Smashers. "...I see now. Ganon's size is enough to shatter down this."

Ness chuckled. "You know, I have the perfect way to lure that animal."

"And that is?" Sheik asked raising an eyebrow.

Toon Link and Jigglypuff were thrown at the trio as Ness looked down at the swordsman. "Perfect... Lucas." Ness whispered.

"Y-yes?"

"Would you use something?"

"What?"

"NOW..." Ganon looked at Ike and Fox struggling on the floor while Popo and Nana tried to help them. "I THINK I SHOULD EAT BOTH OF YOU INSTEAD OF CRUSHING YOUR BONES OUTSIDE MY STOMACH."

Ike's eyes widened. "N-no... I can't let him...do that..."

Ganon scratched the floor with his right front foot and blew out smoke from his nostrils. "U-ugh..." Fox supported himself with his left foot and right knee. "I can't...move anymore..."

"Suck it up!" Popo said. "You're just acting all weak to surprise him, aren't you?"

"...Popo..."

"Yep?"

"Shut the hell up..."

"RUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Ganon roared loudly at the ceiling as he stomped the floor before rushing at the 4 who yelled and closed their eyes for their inevitable defeat...

...Or was that evitable?

"SHEIK! TOON LINK!" Jigglypuff yelled as Ganon stopped and turned his head at them. The lord of darkness saw Sheik and Toon Link fainted close to the trio. "NO! YOU CAN'T DIE HERE!"

"So...sorry..." Sheik muttered "coughing" a little. "...It was...just too much..."

"Y-yeah..." Toon Link muttered "weakly." "I think... I used my Triforce...too much..."

"There's a way...to keep on living..." Sheik muttered.

"...How?"

"We have...to release our Triforces..."

"RELEASE THE TRIFORCES?!" Ganon asked furiously before he chuckled. "YES, YES! RELEASE THEM!"

"But I don't... I don't think that's a good idea... Ganondorf could rule...over the entire universe...if he grabs the Triforces before we release them..." Sheik muttered as Lucas "sobbed" silently.

Ganon started to stomp the floor as he prepared to crush all of them.

"Maybe...maybe we should keep them and take them with us..." Toon Link muttered.

"OH, THE AGONY!" Ness yelled blocking his eyes. "Y-YOU CAN'T DIE, TOON LINK!"

"For the last time, it's Link!" Toon Link whispered angrily through gritted teeth.

"WE HAD THE BEST SWORDSMAN IN THE YOUNG SMASHERS: THAT WAS YOU!... You can't..." Ness "sobbed" silently.

"...Really?" Toon Link whispered with a smile.

"No. You suck more than Link does." Ness whispered through his blocked face as Toon Link grunted.

"I'm going to..." Roy began weakly. "...I'm going to tell Link that..."

The floor shook violently as Ganon rushed at the 6 who narrowed their eyes, and once Ganon was close to them...

"YOU FELL FOR IT!" Ness yelled quickly running to another direction as Sheik quickly got up and took Toon Link, then Lucas grabbed Jigglypuff and ran away to the opposite direction as Ganon's eyes widened, but then he chuckled evily.

"FOOLS! THAT IS ONLY ENRAGING ME EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE!" Ganon laughed evily. "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE FROM YOUR INEVITABLE DEATHS THAT ARE GOING TO COME VERY SOON TO YOU-" Ganon stopped once he noticed that he slid above an icy floor that made him go towards the ice wall while the tried to get off from it. "W-WHAT?!"

Music stops

CRASH!!!

Mist made of ice came out from the ice wall that Ganon crashed into as small bits of ice flew everywhere around the room. The Smashers covered their eyes as the floor shook violently after the big collision occurred.

Ness looked over at Lucas. "Yes, it worked!"

"Using Lucas's PK Freeze to freeze the floor and secure that Ganon would crash into the ice wall was very simple and yet very effective," Sheik explained. "And come to think of it, I think everything is going to get easier from this moment on."

"Please...please tell me our plan worked!" Jigglypuff pleaded as the mist.

"A-ACHOO!"

"...Pikachu?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...J-Jigglypuff?"

"B-b-b-b-brrr..."

Fox's ears perked up as he recognized that voice. "...Falco?"

"I-i-i-i-i-i-is that you? F-F-F-F-F-Fox?"

"M-man...those guys went all ape(beep!) on us..."

"Snake?" Sheik asked.

"...You're here?"

The ice mist cleared out and revealed the 12 Smashers who were imprisoned walked out from what remained from the mist, some of them even shivered after staying too long inside the ice wall.

"Link!" Sheik yelled as Link came out shaking his head.

"Phew... I thought I was going to die in there..." Link muttered weakly.

"Thank goodness you're alright..." Sheik whispered.

Lucas looked at her. "...Was that a silent sob?"

"N-no..." Sheik said wiping out something from her eye.

Lucas blinked for a moment before he smiled a little. "I'm glad Link is fine, and you?"

"...Yes...me too..."

"My head..." Pikachu complained as he walked out with Pichu. "I have a horrible headache now..."

"M-me too..." Pichu said moaning a little as Jigglypuff ran to them.

"I was so worried...about you 2..." Jigglypuff said weakly as she closed her right eye.

"What's wrong with you?" Pikachu asked.

"I fought this big pig..." Jiglypuff explained.

Olimar sobbed as Roy looked up to him. "Why...are you sobbing?"

"My...my Pikmins..." Olimar sobbed as Roy saw 2 Pikmins' ghosts going high up before they vanished in thin air.

"...Oh." Roy said with a bored look.

"Samus!" C. Falcon panicked as he looked around the big chunks of shattered ice. "Samus! Where are you?! Samus!"

"You okay down there?" Snake asked to Samus who extended her hand at him.

"I think so..." Samus muttered with a nod as she got up. "Letting my guard down for a second caused all of this anyway."

Snake chuckled a little. "Hmph. Same here."

"...Oh, dammit!" C. Falcon yelled punching the floor.

"N-no more ice..." Ivysaur muttered weakly. "Please..."

"R-relax..." Red said trembling. "W-we won't be trapped like that again..."

Squirtle rolled his eyes. "I hope so..."

Wolf wipped his nose a little. "Now where is that guy in the ice cube? I've got a thing or 2 to discuss with him."

"A-a-a-a-a-a-and I've g-g-g-g-g-g-got 10 things h-h-h-h-h-h-h-here..." Falco muttered embracing himself.

"I made in time..." Fox said walking slowly to Falco. "Good to...have you back..."

"Wait..." Wolf trailed off and crossed his arms. "We were saved by you and the others?"

Fox nodded. "You don't know...what odyssey that was..."

"..." Wolf turned his back and looked at the ceiling. "...Heh. You have a little bit of my gratitude, Fox... But don't get that cocky either."

Fox chuckled. "Yeah yeah..."

"Glad everyone is alright..." Ike said walking to them. "...But I have an important question to ask..."

"What?" Popo asked.

"Where is Ganondorf?"

The entire group looked at each other before looking back at the chunks of the ice wall. "Crap... I forgot about him!" Toon Link said.

"...Dammit..."

"There he is!" Nana yelled pointing at Ganon, or more specifically Ganondorf who slowly stood up from his place and glared at the 22 Smashers.

"The Final Smash...it ended so soon..." Ganondorf muttered weakly. "...Damn you all...you stopped my most chaotic transformation yet..."

Fox looked at his scouter and sure enough, the Over Limit gauge was ready as he grinned. "You know what, Ganondorf?" Fox asked.

"What do you want now...damn animal?!"

"If you want to fight all of us here, then we're not going to hesitate and kick your freaking (beep!) around for a little while."

"...Ah," Link nodded. "You mean we can use another Final Smash to defeat Ganondorf?"

"Exactly."

The Smashers stared at Ganondorf who looked around. "...No...there is no way I am going to let you all fight me in this weakened state!"

"Sorry to hear that," Link said running at Ganondorf. "But I think I need to end this myself!"

"You lower that filthy sword of yours, now!"

"Triforce of Courage..." Link muttered as he put the back of his hand at Ganondorf while he ran at him. "Don't let me down now!" an explosion of rainbow aura covered Link as he glowed while Ganondorf gritted his teeth in pain.

"I... I need to escape...before h-"

"Time's up," Link said as a light emanated from his Triforce and crossed Ganondorf as the Hyrulian quickly rushed at Ganondorf and trapped inside a prison that formed 3 triangles that created the Triforce as Link constantly slashed the prison with the Master Sword as the Smashers watched the flurry of slashes. "HEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ganondorf yelled in extreme pain as he went soaring to the ceiling where he crashed into the icicles that made a strong intolerating impact on his back before he fell down to the floor and crashed. "...You...all of you...are not going...to get away...with this again...the next time...we meet...ugh..." Ganondorf muttered in pain after he coughed and fainted on the spot.

"...Finally..." Link said as he fell down on his left knee. "Ganondorf was defeated..."

"For the 12th time in a row." Sheik added before rubbing her chin. "Or was it 15th?"

"Who cares..." Ike muttered coughing. "Right now I want to rest and recover..."

"Thank you so much for your help, guys." Samus said.

C. Falcon grinned. "Meh, it was our work and job after all, dear Samu-"

"Wait..." Samus looked around. "Where's Rundas?"

"...Sa-Samus..." Rundas, who was freed from the Shadow Bugs muttered on the floor close to them as she ran and kneeled to check him. "...Thank you..."

"I know..." Samus said. "...You were freed from the Shadow Bugs...but I don't deserve your thanks," Samus looked at the Smashers. "After all, they were the ones who did the fighting here. I'm sorry for not being that helpful."

"No need for apologies," Snake began lighting a cigar. "You were quite skillful back there."

Samus chuckled as she looked back at Rundas. "So...are you conscious about the overuse of phazon in your PED suit?"

"...Funny you say that..." Rundas muttered coughing. "...I didn't use the phazon that much when I was controlled..."

"What?"

"Yes... Those bugs relied on their own powers rather than the phazon itself..." Rundas chuckled. "They were ignorants about that fact."

"Rundas..." Samus whispered. "You're not going to..."

"Afraid so..." Rundas said coughing. "...It's sad that I'm not going to confess you my..."

"...The feelings that we had for the other?"

"WHAT?!" everyone in the room asked in shock and utter surprise.

"...Samus is now making progress." Sheik remarked.

Even Snake let his cigar fall down the floor as his eyes widened...for at least .1cm. "...Wait, no. You're not saying that you're i-" Snake was interrupted.

"You're in LOVE with a guy like him?!" C. Falcon finished. "But he's a...a..."

"Suh-weet!" Popo said making a fist in the air. "The SamusXRundas pairing will spread smoothly around!"

Snake slowly walked to Popo, grabbed him by his neck, twisted his throat and made him faint as Nana stared back at Snake. "You didn't have to do that, you know." Nana said.

"It was needed." Snake said.

"So Samus..." Rundas continued. "Sorry for not telling you...earlier..."

"...It's okay..." Samus said nodding. "I'm happy that you're glad."

Rundas nodded slowly. "So am I..."

"...It's time?"

"...Sadly...yes..."

Samus grabbed Rundas's right hand. "Rundas...before you go... I have to tell you my feelings..."

"You know..." Squirlte began. "This is romantic and yet very shocking."

"Fortunately, I don't understand love at all." Red commented.

"...You idiot." Sheik said frowning.

"Then..." Rundas coughed. "Can I do...the same?"

"Yes..." Samus got closer at Rundas's face.

"Samus..."

"Rundas..." Samus sobbed a little. "...I love yo-"

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" Rundas yelled in extreme pain as Samus backed away from her spot.

"W-what's happening now?!" Olimar asked panicking.

"E-everyone! Look at that!" Ike pointed at a shadowy figure that looked like Samus. It looked ominuous and it floated in front of both hunters as somehow it was draining Rundas's body.

"W-what is that thing?!" Lucas asked hiding behind Ness.

"You..." Samus muttered with fury as she aimed her arm cannon and began shooting at the shadow that resembled her. "No... I won't let you take Rundas away!"

"That shadow is absorbing the guy's body," Snake said. "And it's transparent so attacks can't reach it."

"D-dammit!" Samus spat angrily as the shadow managed to absorb Rundas's body completely as it flew to the ceiling and disappeared. "...Rundas..."

"...Sorry..." Pichu said sadly.

"...It's fine..." Samus said looking down before looking at them. "Thank you so much for helping me out..."

"What was that shadow?" Pikachu asked.

"It was Dark Samus... That thing is still around after I defeated it in Aether."

Ike raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I didn't know Aether was also a place, because with Ragnell I ca-"

Everyone looked at the ice pillar in the middle of the room exploding all of a sudden as they covered their eyes and found a strange glowing item floating on the middle of the floor.

Ivysaur looked at something that was laying where Rundas once was. "Hey, what's that floating thing over there?"

"It's..." Samus trailed off as she reached the item, which made her arm cannon glow with ice energy as she shot an missile covered in ice. "Ice Missiles..."

Ivysaur rolled her eyes. "Oh great, now you're going to have that bothersome ability as a memento for that annoying guy?"

BLAST!

Ivysaur was frozen inside an icicle as Samus looked at her arm cannon. "...Hey! Why'd you do that for?" Red asked.

"Thanks Rundas..." Samus muttered as she walked to the glowing item that sh-

1 hour later...

"My...head..." Samus muttered weakly as she opened her eyes and found the 21 Smashers looking at her. "What happened?"

"You touched that thing, then yelled, then screamed in pain, then fainted, then we waited, then Red set Ivysaur free, then you woke up." Nana explained.

"...I see... Anything else?" Samus asked.

Popo chuckled. "Besides the fact that we're letting Ganondorky escape to the Subspace behind our backs?"

"...Wait, what?" Link asked looking back as he managed to catch a glimpse of Ganondorf's right hand entering a portal to the Subspace beneath him. "Damn that guy!" Link said taking out his Hero's Bow and shot a fast arrow that couldn't land at the lord of darkness. "Dammit again!"

"Popo, why didn't you say anything before?!" Nana asked.

"I thought it was part of our awesome plan to finish his existence an-" Ivysaur grabbed Popo with Vine Whip and tossed him to a pile of icicles. "Sweet! The ice is piercing me!... Oh...wait... No! Nevermind that! It feels good!"

"Was that really necessary?" Red asked.

"Anyway..." Snake began. "I think we're pretty much done here for the time being."

The spy helped Samus to get up. "As I've said before, thank you for your help." Samus said nodding.

"Well," Toon Link began. "It's time to return, isn't?"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Fox grumbled. "That better not be Pigma again..."

"Pigma?" Wolf asked.

"That guy somehow hacked into my scouter and he complained to me about an insult I said to Ganondorf. But now that he's calling me again... I'm going to discard all my rage on him right this instant. You don't mind?"

"Heh," Wolf looked away. "I don't care for that filthy traitor anymore. Go ahead and do whatever you want to do with him."

"It is my pleasure." Fox said as he inhaled air and clicked the button.

"...F-F-F-Fox..." Falco studdered by the ice. "I-I-I-I-I don't think P-P-P-P-Pigma is t-t-t-t-talking wit-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME YOU GREASY FAT IDIOT, LEAVE ME ALONE OR ELSE I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU, GOT THAT LOUD AND CLEAR?!"

Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games

Beijing?

Inside the stadium

"You know what, Fox," Chris began (he was using the Racer job) with an angry face. "You can go to hell as much as I care. Thank you very much, you heartless foolish jerk!"

"...W-wait, Chris! No! I-I didn't mean any of that to you! I-I thought you were Pigma for a second there an-" Fox was interrupted as Chris closed the DS, thus ending the communication.

"I swear," Chris said closing his eyes. "I can't understand grumpy guys like him at all. They first befriend you and before you know it they're yelling at you by no reason at all."

"What did he say to you?" Lucario asked.

"He called me a greasy fat idiot."

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "Can I kill him the next time I see him?"

"...That'd be great," Chris said rubbing Lucario's head. "Thank you for your help, Lucario."

Lucario growled happily as he hugged Chris with his right arm and licked his cheek.

"Hahahaha. Please, stop Lucario! Hahahahaha!" Chris laughed as Lucario continued and chuckled.

"Welcome once again to the next event, everybody!" Toadsworth announced as the crowd went wild. "The 100m Freestyle!"

Sixth event: 100m Freestyle

Participants (in order): Peach, Amy, Marth, Daisy, Blaze, Diddy, Yoshi, Sonic, DK

Sonic gulped and shifted his eyes nervously. "P-please tell me you're joking..."

"Nope," Vector began putting his hands on his hips. "Since I'm a nice guy, I'm letting you take my spot in this event and see what you've got!"

Sonic backed away from Vector. "Y-yeah... Look, I don't like w-w-water since i-it's bad for my skin and all that crap so I-I-I..."

Vector narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Ah, now I see where you're getting at..."

"...Seeya!" Sonic said quickly as he ran away from Vector who chased after him.

"You're not that fast anymore!" Vector reminded Sonic. "And you'll get tired eventually!"

"Y-you won't catch me!" Sonic yelled back as he accidentaly bumped into Lucario and fell down (Sonic fell down), making Lucario growl down at him. "L-listen please, i-i-it was an accident so I-"

"Chris..." Lucario trailed off glaring at Sonic.

"Sure do. Go ahead." Chris said simply closing his eyes as Lucario ducked and grabbed Sonic.

"H-hey! What's the big idea?! Let me go now!" Sonic begged for mercy above Lucario's right shoulder as the Aura Pokémon gave the whiny hedgehog at Vector.

"Here. You let it go for a moment." Lucario said.

"HEY! I'M NOT A DOG!" Sonic complained as Vector nodded and walked to Sonic's assigned area.

"Oh, there you are, my dear Sonic!" Amy said stopping her routine before the event could start. "Are you ready to do some swimming in the deep and calm swimming pool?"

"NO NO NO NO NO!!!"

"Dammit!" Vector grunted. "You're going in there you like it or not!"

Vector tossed Sonic high up in the air above the pool as the hedgehog wished that he could run in the air, since he was literally trying to run, however, law physics were not helping him at all as he fell down in the water and flailed his arms in panic. "HELP! HELP! HELP! I'M GONNA DIE IN HERE! HELP! SOMEBODY!!!"

The crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom broke out laughing as the crowd of Mobius(?) frowned embarrassed at this.

"..." Tails noticed that Amy was staring at him. "Y-yes?"

"Aren't you supposed to help him?" Amy asked.

"...W-wait! Hold on, Sonic!" Tails said flying over Sonic to get the hedgehog out of the water.

"BLUA!" Sonic spat water out from his mouth. "T-thanks, buddy..."

"Here," Tails said giving Sonic...floaties for the arms. "You should use these if you don't want to drown in there."

Sonic stared at annoyance to the floaters as he took them and put them on his arms. "...I feel ridiculous like this..."

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!" Wario was shown laughing and rolling in the other side of the pool as Sonic grumbled annoyed.

"...This is lame, and it sucks too..." Sonic muttered embarrassed.

"On your marks..." Lakitu began as everyone went to their spots. "Get set..." Lakitu trailed off as Sonic gulped several times. "GO!"

2 minutes later...

Sonic was sitting on a chair, with a towel wrapped up around his back and front as he sneezed a little bit. "I-I'm so sorry, Sonic!" Tails apologized.

"We didn't know that the floaties had holes on them!" Amy added.

"BLEA-CHOO!" Sonic sneezed and shivered. "I-I tell you guys...somebody in here wants to kill me so badly... I'm even starting to have hallucinations..."

"Hmm. What kind of hallucinations?" Blaze asked.

"That the sponsor of this event has a dead wish against all of us and wants to have revenge or something like that."

"...You're really delirating a little bit too much," Knuckles said. "...Or a lot, actually..."

"Oh, who asked you, Knucklehead?"

"Want to be inside the water again?" Knuckles asked narrowing his eyes.

"...O-on second thought...ACHOO!"

1st – Amy

2nd – Peach

3rd – Blaze

4th – Daisy

5th – Marth

6th – Diddy

7th – Yoshi

8th – DK

9th – Sonic

It was clarified that Sonic's team won the event nevertheless thanks to Amy.

"At least we won the event," Amy said giggling. "Thanks to my superb skills, that is!"

"I'm honest," Blaze began. "I did everything I could give out there."

"How's Sonic?" Mallow asked walking to them.

"Wet..." Sonic said sneezing.

"I'm proud to say that I didn't cause any of this to the hedgehog at all." Dr. Eggman stated laughing.

"...I have my suspicions though." Knuckles said glaring at Dr. Eggman.

"Even so, it wasn't me." Dr. Eggman said.

"Please," Toadsworth began. "Be ready for the next event in a few minutes: the Individual epée event!"

"Isn't that the one where you use a thin sword?" Chris asked curiously.

"It's epée," Marth corrected him. "It's not that much used but I hear it requires grace and such when you want to fight someone."

"Grace and such..." Chris wondered.

"W-wait, hold on please!" Toadsworth called once he looked at the watch. "It's 2:32AM right now. The Olympic Games are going to stop for today and continue at 12:00PM to continue the long list of events that we have planned for tomo-I mean, today! Competitors, please proceed to your assignated VIP hotels here in Beijing to recover your energies!"

The crowd let out a final cheer as they slowly began to leave the stadium while some members of each team wanted to talk.

"Phew," Luigi sighed. "I thought he wasn't going to say that. I'm so exhausted for staying up so long..."

"See the bright side," Geno said. "We have reservations to rest."

"And no ordinary reservations," Twink continued. "VIP rooms! I've never been in one of those before."

"Do you think they have mini fridges?" Yoshi asked curiously.

"I heard in a magazine that they have the best drinks in those mini fridges." Daisy commented.

"Oh boy." Yoshi said excited.

"Hmmmhm! Mini fridges!" DK thought happily. "We need to have one of those in the Smash Mansion, Diddy."

Meanwhile with another group.

"I want to participate in that event with the epée," Chris said. "It's not going to hurt me, right?"

"No," Marth said. "You have to trust the epée forward and land 15 touches at your opponent in order to win the event. It's not that hard in reality."

"Then I'm in for it." Chris said nodding.

"But be careful," Marth continued. "You have to be careful and evade the attacks."

"...You know, Marth."

"Yes?"

"Since this little conversation made me get interested in yo-" Chris noticed that Marth backed away. "Not that way!"

"...Oh." Marth said walking back.

"Anyway, since this little conversation made me get interested in you..." Chris changed to his Ranger job. "I want to represent your skills with honor in tomorrow's event."

"But isn't that job resembling Ike's skills though?"

"...Technically yes...but it must be compatible with you, right?"

"I guess so."

"Then that's that." Chris said nodding with a small smile.

Lucario looked down at this. "I wish you good luck, Chris..."

"...Oh," Chris mde a worried face. "You're right. I haven't used the Aura Apprentice job that much with you..."

"It's fine," Lucario said apologetic look. "I don't mind that at all..."

Chris blinked several times before rubbing Lucario's head. "I promise I'm going to use it the next time in battle."

"...You promise?" Lucario asked.

Chris nodded with a small chuckle. "Y-yes, I'm eager to see if I can do those high athletic moves you do when you fight, Lucario. Those moves of yours are really something...no, they're so amazing when you use them!"

"Like?" Lucario asked.

"Like those backflips, frontflips, somersaults, backward somersaults, everything!"

Lucario closed his eyes before opening them with a small smile. "Then... I'll be glad to show you how."

"Now I'm so excited to do that!" Chris said happily as Lucario's tail wagged while both chuckled heartily.

"Heeeey!" Diddy called from a hallway with DK, Geno, Mallow, Pit and Twink. "We're leaving you behind! Hurry up or you're not going to get a room!"

"Mini fridges!" Mallow cheered with Twink.

"...I want to rest...now that I remember..." Chris said closing his eyes hallway.

"Then let's go." Marth said simply as he walked away...

...5 seconds of walking later. Chris was about to fall asleep but Lucario offered to carry him on his arms. The World Traveler blushed a little but later laughed with his Pokémon as the 2 went to their rooms that peaceful night...

3:00AM

In the darkness of the stadium. Sonic was shown laying down on the center of the field with folded arms as he stared up at the moon while he sighed. "I can't help it... The moon is and will be always beautiful, shining high up the stars..."

"Heheheheheheheheheh..."

Sonic made an angry expression and turned to the left with closed eyes. "Maybe I should ignore that annoying voice in my head and sleep for now..." Sonic yawned for 3 seconds. "G'nite..."

"Heheheheheheheheheh..."

"Whatever..." Sonic muttered as he fell asleep.

And so the hedgehog fell asleep in the middle of the stadium...

...Not feeling that his teeth grew 2 small fangs that later turned back into normal teeth while the voice chuckled evily in his mind...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Beijing?
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Marth, Pit, Yoshi, Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Mallow, Geno, Twink

Bryyo
Snake, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Pichu, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, Link, Samus, Zelda, Roy, Ike, Jigglypuff, Ness, Lucas, Ice Climbers, Toon Link, Fox

References:

-"Final Fantasy X – Enemy Attack" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays during ambushes by Sin or boss battles throughout the whole game.

I bet you didn't see the SamusXRundas pairing at all! The first time I saw Rundas I thought he would be a perfect match for Samus. Yay for my crazy mind. XD

So the rescue team managed to rescue Snake's team, but what is the thing Ganondorf was looking for in Bryyo? Did they really made progress in their rescue?

Maybe it's Rid...nah, it couldn't be.

And why is Sonic so fixiated on the moon? The next chapter will resume the Olympic Games arc.

All the answers will appear on the next, unknown chapter of this fic as always. :D

Unknown because I want to add suspense and annoy you somewhat, just kidding! XD

Read and review (old reviewers) please! ;D
*Chapter 112*: Of Events, Sabotages and Porky

From ngrey651: Turning into a werewolf! Gee, where have I heard THAT before? XD

Another great update. Also it was a fine showdown between Ganondorf and Dark Rundas. I did so enjoy seeing tall, dark and spooky getting his hiney handed to him.

From me: But honestly speaking, Sonic won't turn into a werehog soon. The place is just "boosting" his transformation. :)

From dimentio713: Wait... so there's a RundasXSamus Pairing... Cool!

Well anyhow Marine is in the Olympics! Why?
Hmmph, well anyways wil there be Dream events? Cause I could see everybody hitting Sonic cause he's too slow! see ya and have a nice day wiiboychris!

From me: Marine is there just because she wanted to go, and because I want special characters there. ;)

And I just managed to do a Dream event, so I hope you're not mad.

From saphirarubius: I wonder what Link was trying to say when he was in the ice...

Time for giant rant:

It's not fair that they only have epee and not foil or saber. Not only that, but that's not how you fence epee. You are suppose to stop and reset after each point. It is possible for both players to get the point-it's called a double touch. And finally when dodging a parry it's not called a feint but a disengage. There's a bunch of things they did wrong and I know its hard to make fencing a videogame but at least get the disengage right... And if it is going to be epee at least make the characters look like they are holding an epee sword and not a foil...

...Giant rant over. There's more to complain about but I'll end here.

Marth better fence and win. He uses a rapier so it's similar to an epee. Using Ike's style of swordsmanship is a bad idea. It doesn't matter how many times you whack the opponent, you still won't get the point if you don't hit with the tip. And whacking the guy unconscious would probably get you disqualified. ;)

As for Sonic, I don't know what's worse. Making him into a werewolf or giving Shadow a gun... -.-'

From me: Please, don't bring your hatred for the Sonic franchise here. I'm sick of people complaining a lot for Sonic. -_-

And since I haven't played the game (despite having it) I just see and learn. But I hope this is enough. :)

From Anakin Mario Son 43: What...The...Heck? RundasXSamus? Okay then... That's wierd. Uh Oh! I think Sonic is going Unleashed now! Update Soon! Hasta!

From me: Nope, he is not going unleashed for now. ;)

From JSandders: Great, Chris! Another tense chapter! *Clappity, clappity, clap* I applaud you!

Your clues aren't hard to figure out though, I already know why Ganondorf went to Bryyo and what's happening to Sonic! It will be interesting to see how you add Rid... I mean "Ganondorf's mission" into the mix and how Sonic will affect the Olympics! Keep typing, I'll be anticipating!

From me: I make easy clues so it's easy for you, the readers, to understand. And I will keep typing too. :D

From TARDISreviewer: I suppose he's happy now he's picked something more suitable?

and EPIC battle... EPIC.

and... that's a bad sign at the end... The werehog's starting to take control...

From me: Not for now at least. The Smashers will deal with that much later.

From Dawnwolfnxhoj:

Here I am again, TYPING UP MY THIRD FREAKING REVIEW WHEN THE WEBSITE DID SOMETHING TO MAKE R#2 DISAPEARR! *breath* luckily, my sister saved part of it, so all is not lost. but I wanna kill something now!
aw,am i really that important as a old reviewer? but don't take it in a wrong way. sorry that i missed the last review, i did complete my last review, but unfortunatly, i fell asleep, and my sissy's laptop died out. i wasn't able to submit it and failed to recover it, i just fell so devastated, i just couldn't type another one, till now at least, you'll be having a 2,4,1 deal.
for chapter 110: a superb chapter for the revival of the story! crazy did give chris all 6 pokeballs right? from what i read around there, it said "a" pokeball, not 6. i'm suspicous of those pills, they might lower their fighting strenght as well as their normal stats, yet the biggest mystery at the moment would be, who changed the flags, porky is too big and can't get out from his robot and the bad smashers are recovering, and i can't think of any weapon beast that is still alive, a mystery. hmm, to be honest, i thought that the smash bros flag should have been yellow, since the symbol appears on the trophy stand, which is yellow
well, here is a
BLAH,BLAH,BLAH, QUESTION EDITION! just as it says, lots of questions
will there be a naruto arc considering how much chris and lucario likes it? and if so, the anime, or one of the games? Other than Mario enemies, will their be other game villains being resurrected, my personal want is Koume & Kotake from OoT. Can I borrow your music and reply to reviewers idea(your style)? about how many musicians will you be used from the reviews? did you ever get my brawl invite? and lastly, will you have time to read my story?

for chapter 1: another great chapter as always! thank goodness for snake's group! i thought they might have not made it! but, i think zelda should have gone to the olympic games, it could have triggered another flashback of the last subspace attack. to be honest, i haven't played sonic unleashed yet, but the werehog doesn't seem good, a traitor within a ally maybe? well, time to wrap this up with
BLAH,BLAH,BLAH, REVEALING EDITION! here, i'll reveal the main reason why it took so long for me to review this chapt
i'm typing my own story at the moment, kinda based on yours, but with my style. what's sad is that i'm still at chapt 1, i'm still thinking of what i should do for chapt 2, but it'll be done eventually.
until next time, happy typing!

From me: God, you do like to write a lot to make decipher all of it...

Let's see... He only received 1 Pokeball, so this is NOT the anime. No Naruto arc, I believe I told all of you a long time ago about no anime arcs (don't say anything about the anime arcs I did before. I did them because they were from the games). The pills are just an excuse that the status in the actual game don't mean their supposed skills.

No, you can't borrow my style. I don't read other stories of adventure that much, since they could mess up my thoughts in some way.

And yes, you're important like everyone else here. :D

No comment for the next review. Please, write LESS reviews with good grammar. :)

From Mewtrainer:

Maybe Pigma switched the flags...this is a chapter of awesomeness! Ike is weird, but Popo's weirder. Popo's really, really, REALLY weird! 'Ganonidiot'? 'Ganondork' sounds a lot better. Did Chris get a poet job? XD

From me: Pigma just appeared out of nowhere. No, Chris didn't. :D

From SlasherMask: Hello.

I'm annoyed that you don't allow anomyos reviews. So i joined this site. Well any way i'm gonna do full review later but for now im gonna say that because you are gonna soon include ridley to the story, I have to ask if you have read whole Metroid Manga. It's same as E-Manga but longer.(i don't know if this is true but i heard it was published by Nintendo). You can read whole manga in site called One Manga.

(you better write Ridley very well because hes awesomest villain ever(well except Dark matter, Ganondorf, Vaati,Eggman ,uh and those other guys whose names escapes from my head.

From me: Sorry, I don't accept annonymous reviews because I fear people who hate the fic say harsh things to it.

It's better to track them down if someone reviews harshly.

And you don't worry about that boss. I do my best to portray them well. And no comment about any manga, which I consider really confusin (and most of the time stupid, I mean, the Pokémon manga doesn't make any sense...).

(I hope the others come back...)

And now, we continue with the Olympic Games. More odd things happen during all the events and the Smashers try to find out who is the culprit. Can they find the culprit before things get out of control?

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 112: Of Events, Sabotages and Porky

Beijing?

Hotel

The sun slowly rose over the city of Beijing(?) and set the mark of the new day for the next leg of the Olympic Games.

"...Guuuooorrrgghhh..." Lucario yawned as he slowly woke up from his bed once the sun's rays touched his face from the glittering window. The Aura Pokémon sat on his bed and looked at Chris over another bed. The World Traveler seemed to be enjoying the soft pillow that he used to lay down his head. "...Good morning..."

"...Hm..." Chris muttered covering his head with the bet sheet.

Lucario looked at the time that was 9:00AM, meaning that the games would start in 3 hours. "Chris..."

"...Hm?" Chris asked with a mutter.

Lucario looked outside the window and to the the city of Beijing(?). "...Do you want to spend the time in the city?"

"What are you waiting for?" Chris asked from the door as he adjusted his boots. "I can't hardly wait and know the city's surroundings!"

"B-but you, and I, a-and you were..." Lucario looked back and forth between the bed Chris used and the World Traveler himself.

"Who's going to do what?" Chris asked.

"...Let's just go..."

Shops' sidewalks

Mario Party 7 – Pagoda Peak

Many people were walking through the streets of Beijing(?) during the morning. The sidewalks were mostly being walked by different kinds of people that walked away and went to their destinations.

In a particular area, we see all the girls (Peach, Daisy, Amy, Cream (with Cheese), Blaze and Marine) wearing kimonos as they all walked together through the shops.

"This city is really very famous," Cream commented. "It's exciting to know new people that we haven't met."

"Tsk," Amy looked away annoyed. "I know this is a different place to be but c'mon..."

"Is something bothering you, Amy?" Cream asked.

"This...thing!" Amy said pointing at her pink kimono. "It's so hard to walk with the part of the towel being wrapped up very tight in your waist. How can women walk with this thing on?"

"It's actually pretty comfy," Peach remarked. "I like the style they have here."

"No little towel is gonna stop me from walking," Daisy said nodding. "It's just a towel that squeezes your stomach so what?"

"I feel rather uncomfortable," Blaze said. "It's not very common to wear this in my world, so I thought it would be fun to try it for once... But now that I think about it..."

"Chao?" Cheese asked.

Blaze nodded (if she somehow understood what Cheese said). "Yes, it feels very tight."

"Yer just complainin' a little bit too much, mates!" Marine said making a fist. "Even with tis towels and the fact that we're naked under the damn clothes, it's still fine with me, mates!"

"Naked?!" every single guy walking the sidewalks stopped on their tracks and looked at the girls with interested.

"Oh, please! You live here so you should know!" Amy yelled angrily before noticing that the crazy people creeped closer to them, which made Amy take out her hammer. "WANT A PIECE OF ME?!"

"U-uah! Run! It's a crazy platypus!" a man yelled from the crowd as everyone ran away in panic while Amy pouted angrily.

"C-crazy platypus?!" Amy asked as her eyes twitched in fury.

"P-please, Amy..." Cream said sweetly (as much as she could do to calm Amy down). "V-violence isn't necessary in this moment..."

"But they called me a crazy whatever the heck is a platypus!"

"A platypus is a rare species of monotreme that lives in Australia," Blaze explained reading a book that she took out her back. "The males are especially dangerous since their claws are poisonous."

"...Did I ask you for info?"

"I thought it was going to be a good idea so I went ahead." Blaze said as Peach sighed.

"Girls...please, let's just go to a restaurant and order breakfast." Peach said calmly.

"I'm so hungry that I could eat a whole whale." Daisy commented as the girls stared at her in surprise. "...What? I'm really hungry. Seriously!"

Ramen Restaurant

We're not going to mind Wario, who was eating a whole bunch of ramen bowls as we change the view to find Marth, Pit and Yoshi eating ramen, sitting close to each other.

"One more here." Yoshi ordered as Pit lowered his bowl.

"Yoshi, isn't that the 12th bowl you've eaten?" Pit asked.

Yoshi looked at Pit. "But I'm not full yet. I want to take advantage of the food they serve here," Yoshi looked at his next bowl sliding to him as he took it. "Besides, I need to be prepared."

"He is taking advantage of the "All-you-can-eat" promotion for the competitors of the Olympics here, isn't he?" Pit whispered to Marth.

"I'm quite surprised though." Marth said.

"Why is that?"

"I'm surprised because you didn't see that tower over there." Marth pointed at 3 towers of empty bowls where DK and Diddy eating ramen together. The tower of bowls increased in size as DK simply threw the noddles along with the soup inside his mouth as Diddy gave him more bowls.

"...At this rate, he is going to have a serious gastric problem with his stomach." Pit said.

"Don't mind," Marth said taking a sip of his tea. "He can handle it very well."

"...Does this restaurant serve tea?" Pit asked staring at Marth's tea.

Marth looked away embarrassed. "...Actually... Peach gave me this with tea on it..."

"..." Pit shrugged.

Not far away from they were sitting, Mario, Luigi and Tails were talking between them.

"And where is Sonic?" Mario asked.

"Who knows," Tails said making a bored look. "He does this kind of things quite a lot when he gets the chance to know a new place where he can run around."

Luigi was focused in a commercial on the TV of the restaurant.

"And it's alright with you?" Mario asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I think you're his best friend, am I right?"

"U-um, yeah..." Tails said looking down. "But I understand his motives perfectly. I even spend most of my time making machines in my lab."

"I see."

"So yeah," Tails said eating his ramen. "It doesn't bother me at all. I bet that he's right now relaxing on a tree, enjoying the wind as he drifts off to sleep."

"And today's news," the reporter began. "There was a report of a blue bur racing around one of the tracks here during another national Grand Prix besides the Olympic Games. Local authorities couldn't identify the blurry object since it was...very fast."

"...Blue bur?" Luigi asked.

"...Wait," Tails began. "Sonic's speed was reduced so how come there was a blue bur there?"

"Because the sponsor said so," Dr. Eggman said appearing behind Tails. "The pills that you all ate have some sort of mechanism that alter some internal organs that will be altered once you step inside one of the areas where the events are being held."

Tails looked at Dr. Eggman. "Wow, I didn't know there was a kind of technology like that."

"I'm even amazed," Dr. Eggman said looking at the roof. "That sponsor guy must have been studying very hard since he gave all the details and the necessary procedure to make such pills...but at the same time, it makes me mad!"

"W-why?" Luigi asked.

"How could a random guy from nowhere create such advanced technology far greater than mine?!" Dr. Eggman grabbed his head. "Grrr! The security he sent to watch me even kept a close eye on me to prevent any kind of suspicious moves that I'd have done! The smallest piece or a sample of those documents could have helped my research greatly!"

"Conquer the world?" Tails asked.

"...Yes," Dr. Eggman said nodding. "But something seems fishy with this sponsor though..."

"You're maybe thinking too much." Mario commented.

"Maybe. I'm probably too stressed today."

"You always are." Tails muttered rolling his eyes.

Dr. Eggman sighed. "Meh..."

"Wait," Luigi shrugged. "W-what did you mean by mechanism? I-it's not going to give us a disease, right?"

"No," Dr. Eggman shook his head. "It will wear off after the events conclude."

"Thank goodness..."

Park

"O-oh my god..." Chris muttered scared. "T-there's Shadow over there..."

"Where?" Lucario asked. Chris pointed up ahead and Lucario found Shadow leaning to a tree with arms crossed. "So what is your point? He is not doing anything bad."

"I... I think I got surprised, that's all," Chris said sighing. "But sometimes I wonder why is he still alive... I mean, with all that trouble of the clones of the real himself, it's hard to tell if the Shadow over there is the real one."

"I'm the original." Shadow said.

"And I'd have also expected that from hi-AH!" Chris quickly hid behind Lucario as Shadow stared at both of them. "D-d-don't you know what's privacy to you?!"

"How ironic, since you 2 were talking about me." Shadow said narrowing his eyes.

Chris knew those eyes, the eyes that meant... "R.I.P CHRIS."

"S-sorry, we were just wondering some things a-"

"About me." Shadow finished.

"Y-yes..."

"What Chris was trying to say is that we didn't mean to interrupt your own privacy." Lucario said calmly.

"I see," Shadow said closing his eyes. "Now please, leave me in peace."

"...Sure do..." Chris said nodding walking away as Lucario looked back and forth between Chris and Shadow before following his trainer.

"...I'm the true me..." Shadow muttered. "...There's no doubt about it..."

"Oh yes," Chris was heard saying. "One more thing to see if you're the true you!"

Shadow opened his eyes. "What?"

"...Chris, you're not going t-" Lucario was interrupted.

"M-A-R-I-A! Maria!" Chris spelled and yelled.

Shadow's eyes widened a lot as his pupils shrunk, before both characters knew it, the black hedgehog was already yellin-

Inside the stadium

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Mallow, Geno and Twink looked around the empty stadium as they heard an agonizing echo...echoing.

"Somebody here sure had a bad dream." Twink said chuckling.

"I bet he took drugs or something..." Mallow said rubbing his chin.

"Would you refrain from saying those bad influences around Twink?" Geno whispered. "The Star Spirits wait for him to become a worthy star and they also put all the responsibility to me."

"Wow, Geno!" Mallow said surprised. "So in other words, Twink is your little kid?"

Geno blushed. "O-of course not! Twink and I met a long time ago...well...that was a long time ago and I don't remember about it!"

Mallow rolled his eyes. "I knew that being friends with a doll was bad, because you don't remember any of that."

"I-I do..." Geno trailed off thinking.

"Of course Geno knows," Twink began. "We met like 6 years ago. Back then I was still the same old me while he worked to fulfill the wishes of everyone living in the entire universe tha-" Twink stopped once he saw Geno looking down.

"...I've forgotten about my real job..." Geno said. "I'm a star that is supposed to fulfill the wishes that are sent to the Star Haven... But ever since Smithy and Exor came back..."

Mallow looked down. "The Star Road was broken along with the Star Haven as well..."

"...And we only have the last Star Spirit, Kalmar, hiding somewhere with the Subspace Army..." Geno added.

"Thus putting the entire population of stars in a big trouble," Twink said sadly. "I miss my friends up there. Ever since Geno took me down the realm, I haven't been thinking about my friends at all..."

"I think they're alright," Mallow said. "We've rescued 6 Star Spirits so far, haven't we?"

"...Yes," Geno said smiling a little. "Eldstar is probably working hard to fix the road and the realm with Mamar, Skolar, Muskular, Misstar and Klevar."

"They're the highest starts in charge of the whole Star Haven after all," Twink said smiling a little. "My friends are probably up there."

"...Guys..." Mallow looked down.

"Yes?" Twink and Geno asked.

"...What are we going to do after we end this?"

"What do you mean?" Geno asked.

"Once we finish with Smithy and his gang...isn't that going to be the time where we're going say good bye and depart to our homes?"

Twink gasped before looking away. "...I don't... I don't want to think about that... The Smashers have been so kind with us in retrieving the Star Spirits."

Geno closed his eyes. "Sadly, we must return to our homes and leave the rest to them. The Subspace Army was firstly their main enemy to defeat and we happened to be involved in all this madness."

"It was fun though," Twink said sniffing a little. "We've got a second home, a BIG second home with all of them. We even met some new people along the way."

"The Smashers themselves, Etna, Flonne, the Prinny Squad..." Mallow smiled and wiped a tear. "It was sure a wonderful experience..."

"...Why are we talking like we're going to go right now?" Geno asked.

"S-sorry... I was just...remembering..." Mallow said sniffing as clouds gathered above the stadium.

"...It's okay, Mallow," Geno said patting Mallow's back. "Cry and let out all your turmoil if you have it."

"T-thank you..." Mallow muttered as he hugged Geno and began crying on his shoulder while the rain fell down the dome.

"(...I have to enjoy the time I have left before this ends...)" Geno thought.

Not far away from them, there were Espio, Charmy and Vector spying the trio from a hallway.

"Weird," Charmy said looking up. "The forecast didn't predict any rain today."

"Maybe it was the cloud kid?" Vector wondered as Espio frowned.

"Vector, there is no proof that a kid like him called the rain." Espio said giving his leader a bored look.

"But I know it's true!" Vector protested as fire covered him...but was disappeared by the rain. "My intuition isn't failing today!"

"Yeah yeah, and I'm Sonic's lost cousin."

"I knew it! You 2 are very alike!"

"...I refrain from saying an insult this time around." Espio said closing his eyes with a frown.

Locker Room

"YIAH!!!" Knuckles punched hard a sandbag that was hanging with a rope from the ceiling. "Damn, I can't even destroy this yet..."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser came from behind him and cracked his fists. "You red mutt can't even take this thing down? That's pathetic!"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Then why don't you do it yourself?"

"Gladly!" Bowser said punching the sandbag with his right fist, but it didn't destroy it. "...What the heck?!" Bowser continued to punch madly the sandbag several times before he got tired and panted a little.

"What were you saying then?" Knuckles asked with a grin.

"Oh, you shut up!" Bowser complained with a glare as he stomped away from the room and slammed the door.

"...Isn't this supposed to be my team's own locker room where nobody else can enter?" Knuckles asked to himself.

"Don't look at me," Kirby said sitting besides Knuckles, eating rice. "I saw the door open and I found this rice here."

"..." Knuckles stared confused at no one in particular. "...Where'd you find that?"

"BURP," Kirby burped. "It was inside that locker."

Knuckles looked at the locker with Sonic's name labeled in gold.

"...Well done." Knuckles said nodding as Kirby looked up at him, confused.

And so the day went on without leaving anyone else behind.

"What about me?!" Waluigi asked.

Nobody gives a damn about you.

"Aww!!!" Waluigi groaned.

"...Would you get out of here, creepy skinny guy?" Knuckles asked annoyed after Waluigi appeared out of nowhere and talked to no one in particular.

Inside the stadium

It was 12:00PM, meaning that the event could resume its games as all the 3 teams gathered in the center of the stadium while the crowd cheered loudly. The difference was that the interior now had several equipment for different activities that were commonly used in events like the Olympics.

"Now I can prove my real skills in gymnastics." Blaze said.

"Welcome back, everybody, to the next leg of the Olympic Games!" Toadsworth announced with a smile as many went wild and waved flags with the participants' faces on them.

"..." Chris blushed once he saw his name in several flags. "O-oh god... I-I have fans?"

"I'm proud of you." Lucario commented.

Chris blushed even more. "P-p-please! S-s-stop that!"

"Stop what?" Lucario asked.

"...Forget it..."

"Without further interruptions, let's begin the next event! The Individual Epée!" Toadsworth said. "In this event, opponents have to prove their abilities with the epée and land 15 blows to their corresponding competitor!"

"I heard this event was going to be sorted out with 3 matches, where 2 members of each team are going to duke it out with 2 different members." Yoshi said.

"As an additional mention, there are going to be 3 matches with these participants."

Seventh event: Individual Epée

Mario VS. Knuckles

Chris VS. Waluigi

Sonic VS. Marth

"This is how we're going to play: Teams need to win at least 2 matches with their respective members to win the event. For example, if Mario and Waluigi were to win their matches, then that'd mean the event was won by Mario's team. Did you get what I'm trying to say?"

All the members nodded.

"Marth? You're going to participate?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Marth said nodding. "The epée was actually one of my secret weapons in routines whenever I get tired to fight as a swordsman."

"So you get sick of your sword... Falchon-something?" DK asked.

"It's Falchion," Marth corrected him. "To be sincere, yes, I sometimes get tired to fight using a sword that I like to test out new things."

"Like me," Sonic said thrusting an epée forward. "Hey, I've got this cool idea to use a sword and combine it with my speed to destroy enemies on my way."

"...Why am I thinking you're going to do that in a near future?" Chris asked closing his eyes with a bored look.

"I also like to try out new things," Sonic said with a grin. "As long as I can handle it, there's no way I'm going to get bored of it!"

"...Knowing you," Yoshi began. "It's most likely that you're going to enjoy it to the fullest."

"Yep."

3 minutes later...

Target Smash!!

Chris swung his epée several times before looking at Waluigi, laughing at him for no reason at all as both stood on a thin line as Marth, Mario, Knuckles and Sonic. "I... I won't lose this one..."

"Too bad," Waluigi said chuckling, showing his teeth like Wario always does. "Kids aren't supposed to play this around someone like me."

"H-how rude!" Chris said glaring at Waluigi. "Just for that you're going to get severly injured!"

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Just try! I dare you!" Waluigi laughed taunting Chris.

"Sorry if his behavior is troubling you!" Mario yelled from his spot. "Sometimes I wonder why did I let him join my team in the first place!"

"Hey!" Waluigi called out angrily.

"Sonic," Marth began putting his epée in front of his face. "Best of luck to both of us."

"You'll need it more than me," Sonic said with a grin. "You are going DOWN," he narrowed his eyes and smirked. "...Nancy boy."

"...Nancy boy..." Marth muttered narrowing his eyes. "...Now you've done it..."

"Ooh, look at me! I'm so scared! Nancy boy's gonna take me out!" Sonic taunted Marth several times.

"Sonic's really going to need some education one of these days," Knuckles said frowning. "He likes to show off a little bit too much...or a lot."

"Hey, I heard that Knucklehead!" Sonic called out pointing at Knuckles. "Back when I was younger, I used to teach little children about sexual harassment and many other things, like smoking and alcohol!"

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Chris yelled blocking his ears. "I KNOW THAT PEOPLE WHO TOUCH ME IN A PLACE WHERE I DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE IS NOT GOOD! DON'T REMIND ME ANYMORE!"

"Funny you say that!" Sonic said grinning. "That was my favorite lesson to teach the children! Want me to say to everyone in here?"

"NO!" Chris yelled back.

Sonic smiled at the crowd. "Hey! There's noth-" Sonic's mouth was blocked by Tails who quickly flew at him and blocked it.

"S-Sonic," Tails began. "Please don't make me remember those weird times... I mean, everything back then was so weird now that I think about it."

"Like?"

"Like the sausage people."

"Oh," Sonic closed his eyes. "I always wanted to eat 'em."

Tails's eyes widened after this. "...S-sure..."

"Sausage people? Hmm..." Kirby's mouth drooled a little as Pit frowned.

"On your marks..." Lakitu began as the participants prepared for the event. "Get set..." the 6 put their epées in front of them and looked forward. "En garde!"

"GO! SONIC!" Amy cheered loudly as the event started and the 6 were either backing away or waiting for the right moment to attack and touch their opponent.

"Ha!" Sonic thrusted his epée forward but was blocked by Marth's. "What?"

"Shia!" Marth thrusted his epée forward and touched Sonic.

"H-hey! I'm just getting warmed up!" Sonic said smiling as he jumped back and forth.

"Sure. Let's see if you can last a little longer." Marth said with a nod.

"MUUAAAHH!!"

"Aah!" Chris yelled once Waluigi swiftly landed a hit on him. "(D-dammit, I can't let him win on me...)" Chris looked at Lucario from afar who was leaned to the wall with crossed arms. "(Please, cheer me, Lucario!) Aah!"

"Stop looking away!" Waluigi said laughing.

"That's it, dork! That's how you humiliate a kid!" Wario yelled laughing together with his brother(?).

"Oh, you want to humiliate me then?" Chris asked glaring at Luigi's creepy skinny alter-ego. "Fine! Go ahead!"

"Right!" Waluigi said thrusting his epée forward that qas quickly blocked by Chris who quickly took a step ahead and touched Waluigi. "W-what?!"

"This is far from over you idiot! I need 14 more to win this!" Chris said backing away.

"Y-you!" Waluigi said, gritting his teeth as both fought the other fiercely through the match.

"YIIEEEHH!!!" Knuckles trusted forward but Mario blocked his attack.

"Ha!" Mario simply trusted his epée and hit Knuckles.

"Damn! How come I didn't land a hit on you?!"

"Mostly because you need to calm down your rage?" Mario asked.

"I'M PERFECTLY CALM!" Knuckles yelled thrusting forward that was quickly blocked by Mario, who retaliated with a fast touch at Knuckles's shoulder. "DAMMIT!"

"KNUCKLEHEAD!" Vector yelled raising a fist. "GET YER NERVES DOWN AND CALM DOWN!"

"Who's asking you?!" Knuckles asked angrily as Mario took this advantage and landed another hit on the echidna who got furious.

"Yer?" Blaze questioned.

"That crazy friend of yours kinda interested me." Vector said looking at Marine from the crowd who waved back at him.

"Vec-tor and Ma-ri-ne! Sitting-on-a-tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Charmy taunted from the other side of the stadium. "And K-I-S-S-I-N-G Cream's mo-" Charmy was suddenly taken down by a big chunk of floor that made him get a face with swirl eyes while he layed down on the floor as Espio looked back at Vector.

"..." Espio noticed that Vector was blushing a shade of red as part of the floor besides him disappeared.

"Cream's...what?" Cream asked tilting her head at the side with Cheese.

"Chao chao chao?" Cheese asked.

"...No... I don't think he said that..." Cream said shuddering a little.

"(Got to love young, sweet naive girls like Cream.)" Espio thought with a small chuckle.

"En garde!" Sonic said jumping over Marth's epée. "Ha!"

"Ugh!" Marth backed away as the hit made him twitch. "I-it's not supposed to hurt me, only touch me!"

Sonic cleaned his ear. "Sorry. Maybe I forgot that part."

Marth narrowed his eyes. "...You didn't make it on purpose, did you?"

"..." Sonic grinned as he narrowed his eyes in a mischievous way. "No?"

"YIIIIAAAHHH!!!" Marth went and thrusted his epée forward as Sonic tried to block it but got hit by it on his arm as he gritted his teeth.

"U-ugh..." Sonic looked at Marth and grinned (again). "N-now...we're even..."

"True," Marth said nodding. "Now, en garde."

"Heh, with pleasure, my friend." Sonic said as he thrusted his epée forward at the Altean prince.

"Can't hit me!" Chris said dodging a hit from Waluigi as he touched him back. "Can't hit me!" Chris dodged another thrust as he thrusted his own epée at Waluigi. "Can't hi-" Chris stopped once Waluigi tricked him to go forward where the creepy brother landed a hit on his forehead. "H-hey! Not there!"

"Who cares?!" Waluigi asked laughing maniacally, getting on Chris's nerves.

"(I OFFICIALLY hate guys like Waluigi...)" Chris thought with irritation.

"Don't let him get to you!" Mallow yelled. "He's using mind games against you! Use the same if you're in trouble of losing the match!"

"I-I'll take that in min-OWW!" Chris was thrusted on his leg as Waluigi chuckled. "Y-you stupid... HAAA!!"

"WHAA?!" Waluigi backed away as Chris landed a hit on him.

"What you heard!" Chris responded angrily.

"SHIA!" Knuckles thrusted his epée forward at Mario who gasped and got hit on his neck while the crowd from Mobius(?) cheered at this. "Heh, now I'm getting better at this crap!"

"...Was cursing this event really necessary?" Mario asked.

"...Hmm... Yeah!"

Mario rolled his eyes as he merely touched Knuckles on his head.

"RUUUUUAAHHHHHH!!!" Knuckles yelled enraged as he charged towards the red plumber.

Chris and Waluigi fiercely blocked each other attacks as they backed away and thrusted their epées forward to the other. The match between them grew even more intense as the crowd that didn't seem to cheer on the Smashers were, this time, getting all curious about the World Traveler.

"Ha!" Chris thrusted the epée to Waluigi's head, which he missed. "Yah!" Chris thrusted his epée into Waluigi´s right arm as he was able to touch him. "(This is my chance...) YAH!" Chris quickly took the small twitching in Waluigi as he pushed him back to his side.

"Wow," Yoshi blinked. "He's actually very good at the epée."

"Who would've thought." DK commented.

"Bad thing is, I'm not interested to play in this event. "Diddy commented.

"HEY! YOU!" Wario yelled. "DON'T LET THAT PESKY RAT DEFEAT YOUR DAMN (BEEP!), GOT THAT?!"

"Look who's talking!" Waluigi yelled back as he blocked Chris's thrusts. "I-I'm not going to hold him for much longer!"

"WHAT?!" Wario asked enraged as he stomped the grass. "DON'T BE SUCH AN ASS AND GET MOVING!"

"AND WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?!" Waluigi yelled loudly.

"Bad choice!" Chris yelled touching Waluigi on his chest as their scores were 14 – 9.

"N-no! I-I won't let you!" Waluigi yelled blocking himself with the epée as Chris tried to break his guard.

"Touch!" Mario yelled evading Knuckles's thrust with a light hit on his forehead as the echidna showed his fangs in fury.

"DAMMIT!" Knuckles yelled angrily as he rushed at Mario.

"...Hmm..." Mario ducked and waited for the moment to jump over the echidna. When the opportunity came, the red plumber jumped above the echidna who glared up at him and was lightly touched on his nose as Mario landed om Knuckles's position and looked at the score.

15 – 1

"Mario is the winner!" Lakitu announced as the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom cheered loudly at the plumber who waved at the audience while Knuckles grunted in frustration, tossed his epée away and stomped his way back to his team.

"Great going, Knuckles," Vector said frowning. "You get a little angry and the next time I see you, you're already murdering someo-"

PUNCH!!!

"...Owie..." Vector twitched in pain after Knuckles delivered a powerful punch on his stomach as the crocodile fell to his knees before falling to the grass, as Knuckles grunted and walked away from him. "...Told ya..."

"Grrrrrr!" Knuckles grunted angrily.

"Touch," Marth touched Sonic, despite the hedgehog's effort to evade him. "Touch," and again. "Touch," and again. "Touch," and again. "Touch," and lastly...

"N-no way!" Sonic said panicking as Marth thrusted his epée forward.

"Touch."

15 – 3

"Marth is the winner!" Charmy annouced raising a flag as some people clapped and even whistled.

The Altean prince sweatdropped. "...Geez...not so many fans..."

"That means either Mario's team or the Smashers' team could win at the outcome of the next match!"

"Oh man, I could've done better." Sonic said frowning in shame.

"Next time," Marth began. "Don't dare to call "Nancy Boy" again."

"...You got a deal." Sonic said shaking hands with Marth.

"That's better." Marth said with a nod.

"Come on, Chris!" Diddy cheered. "You can show that creepy guy wh-"

HIT!

"UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Waluigi yelled dramatically in slow-motion...by a simple touch from Chris's epée and fell down the small platform, making the crowd go silent as the sound of Waluigi's fall echoed through the stadium while the Luigi alter-ego closed his eyes slowly and fell defeated.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Wario yelled as he ran at Waluigi...in slow-motion as well.

"..." Cream merely passed by the oddly slow Mario alter-ego, walking at a normal speed as she cleared her throat. "Okay. The winner for this match is Chris!"

Some people clapped silently as the World Traveler blinked several times embarrassed. "...Hurray?" Chris asked raising his epée while he returned to his team.

"The Smashers' team win!" Cream announced as her voice echoed. "...Um...applause?"

The spectators began to applaud without that proof of excitement as some of the Smashers congratulated Chris for his victory.

"That was good," DK said giving him a thumbs up. "I'll be careful with you."

"B-but I just played normally..." Chris said playing with his fingers.

"Nonsense," Pit said chuckling. "You did really well out there."

"If I get interested, can you teach me how to play?" Diddy asked.

"E-er..." Chris looked away embarrassed.

"I watched the whole encouter," Lucario said. "You were great to me."

Chris blushed and smiled happily. "T-thank you, guys!"

"May I get your attention, please?" Toadsworth asked as he cleared his throat. "We shall announce the points for each team so far in order to keep track of how's everyone doing."

Mario's Team: ll

Sonic's Team: ll

Smashers' Team: lll

"We're annihilating the competition!" Mallow said high-fiving with Diddy.

"Can the Smashers keep on going with their score? Or will the other teams surpass them in the next event?" Toadsworth asked. "Well, let's see how everyone fares in the Trampoline event!"

Blaze blinked several times before smiling. "Finally, an event where I can show everyone my true abilities."

Eight event: Trampoline

Participants (in order): Peach, Amy, Diddy, Daisy, Blaze, Mallow, Wario, Dr. Eggman, Geno

10 minutes later...

"Stop!" Lakitu yelled as Blaze stopped and flipped back to safe floor. "Very well done, Blaze! Your performance so far is the greatest of them all!"

Blaze smiled as she walked back to her team "Thanks."

"Wow, Blaze. I didn't know you were that good!" Amy said surprised as she gave the pyro cat a bottle of water.

"Thanks. I like to train in athletic activities every so often," Blaze said as she looked at Dr. Eggman going to the trampoline. "He is going to do it?"

Sonic chuckled. "Why is Eggbutt going to participate? We all know he only knows how to fail at everything he does."

"I heard that, you pesky hedgehog," Dr. Eggman said above the trampoline before pointing at him. "I'll show you what I can do here! I'm quite profession in this!"

"Sure, you are..." the whole Sonic gang said with bored looks in unison as the doctor(?) ignored them.

"On your mark..." Lakitu began. "Get set..." Lakitu aimed his gun at the sky. "Go!"

Chris looked away in embarrassment. "What can Dr. Eggman do above the trampoline? He doesn't have graceful moves."

"..." Lucario looked at Dr. Eggman and his jaw dropped a little.

"Huh? What's wrong, Lucario?" Chris asked confused as the Aura Pokémon pointed at the trampoline. Chris made a confused face before his jaw dropped a little like Lucario's jaw as he saw something really unexpected...

Super Mario Galaxy – Comet Observatory 1

There was Dr. Eggman doing very graceful moves in the air as he descended and jumped high in the air. The crowd from Mobius(?) were speechless at the beautiful performance that the doctor(?) was making.

The entire Sonic gang dropped their jaws a little in surprise as the doctor(?) kept doing fast backflips, frontflips, and many other kinds of acrobats.

"What." Sonic began.

"The." Tails added.

"Heck." Knuckles added.

"Is." Amy added.

"Going." Blaze.

"On." Shadow added.

"Here?!" Vector added in utter shock and surprise.

Geno made a surprised face as he raised an eyebrow. "That is...sure a surprise."

"To be sincere," Mallow began, smoking a pipe that blew bubbles out. "His moves are full of grace and beauty that could enchant even the most silent of the women around the world. That, my doll friend, is proof that the doctor who doesn't make any medicine can show the true performance of definite charisma and charm...such style...such grace...such moves!" the prince cloud said dramatically.

"When did you become an aristocrat or someone like that?" Twink asked confused.

"The pipe has powers." Mallow simply added as he blew bubbles out.

"Don't mind him, please." Geno said sweatdropping.

"W-what?" Blaze asked surprised. "H-how is he able to do such fast and swift moves better than me?"

"Maybe that's his second hobby?" Tails asked wondering.

"Heh," Sonic crossed his arms and grinned. "Eggman really impressed me for real this time around."

"Stop!" Lakitu said wiping out tears as Dr. Eggman landed back gracefully.

Music stops

"T-that was such a beautiful and graceful performance!" Lakitu blew his nose on a napkin that the Shy Guy accompaning him gave to him. "Dr. Eggman is the winner! 1 point for Sonic's team!"

Mario's Team: ll

Sonic's Team: lll

Smashers' Team: lll

The Mobius(?)'s crowd cheered loudly after the result was clarified while the people from the Mushroom Kingdom got disappointed. Dr. Eggman merely grinned evily as he walked to his team, which was a little skeptical after he participated.

"My god," Amy began. "I didn't know you had that talent before."

"Well, thank you," Dr. Eggman said chuckling. "The Robotnik family has been well known for being champions in the art of athletism, and that counts me as well."

"Then how come I didn't hear any of your family' achievements before?" Knuckles asked.

"Because you're a damn, caveman echidna who loses his entire time guarding a big glowing crystal in a stupid, forgotten floating island which is insolated from even a simple toaster."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles asked enraged as Amy and Tails held him back from murdering the doctor(?) who chuckled at this.

"Talk about surprising," Pit said. "Dr. Eggman did really well on the trampoline."

"C-can't we stop talking about him?" Chris asked. "I don't want to know what else he does with his free time besides his plots about conquering the world."

"I agree." Lucario said shuddering.

"We move on with the next event in today's schedule!" Toadsworth began. "The Singles event!"

Ninth event: Singles

Tails VS. Yoshi

Pit VS. Vector

Bowser VS. DK

"This event will go as the Individual Epée event," Toadsworth explained. "Participants must defeat their opponents with 11 points as they each try their best to score the point they want! It's very simple to understand this event!"

Mentioned members from each team went to their tables and picked up their paddles. The teams spreaded around the barricate with the 3 tables with the 6 participants in each one square.

"Hmph," Tails glared at Yoshi. "I'm very good at this. Just to let you know."

"Hmph," Yoshi glared back at Tails. "Same here."

"I've never played this before," Pit said holding the paddle upside down. "Is this how you hold it?"

"(Heheheheheh...)" Vector smirked. "Of course, my little angel boy."

"..." Pit walked over Vector and smacked him on the head.

"OWW!" Vector yelled in pain as Pit returned back to his place and held his paddle right.

"Don't try to trick me!" Pit said pointing at him. "I've been watching many people for ages and I know exactly how to play this!"

"T-then why did you ask?" Vector asked with a grunt.

"I wanted to see if you were of trust, which you failed miserably!"

"Oh, yeah?" Vector asked putting a stronger grip on his paddle.

"Yeah," DK said showing his teeth. "I've been waiting to challenge in you something."

"Hmph!" Bowser crossed his arms and smirked. "You're just all talk and no damn action!"

DK made a confused a face and rubbed his head. "Er..."

"Look, I know you're irritated because I stole the spotlight from you so many times, but guess what? I enjoy it very much!"

"...What?" DK asked confused as Bowser laughed to the sky.

"You won't take the spotlight away from me! For I am Bowser! The king of the Koopas! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!"

DK sweatdropped and shifted his eyes around. "...Um...sure?"

"He's just sick of the mind!" Daisy yelled. "Don't mind what this guy's saying!"

"O-okay! Thanks!" DK yelled back.

"Ready?" Lakitu asked raising his flag as Yoshi, Bowser and Pit prepared the balls. "Go!"

Kirby Super Star Ultra – Gourmet Race 1

"SHIA!" Pit delivered a fast serve to Vector who accidentaly tripped and let the ball bounce away.

"Point for Mr. Pit!" Cream said happily.

Pit blushed. "I-I'm not that old yet to be called mister..."

"Hey!" Vector called out as he served. "Keep your eyes on the ball!"

"Y-yiah!" Pit hit the ball back at Vector as the scene changed to Tails and Yoshi.

"Yah!" Yoshi hit the ball strongly as Tails quickly sidestepped and returned back the ball at the Yoshi. "U-uah!"

"Point for Tails!" Charmy said raising a flag to the 2-tailed fox as the crowd from Mobius(?) cheered.

"Heh," Tails grinned. "Have you had enough?"

"Why?" Yoshi grinned back, narrowing his eyes. "This is just the first point for you. I'm not saying that this could be over."

"Good," Tails said nodding. "Now, c'mon!"

"YIAH!" Yoshi served again as both continued with their match.

"Those 2 are for some reason trying to defeat the other." Marth said.

"I somewhat like Yoshi's determination." Kirby said sitting above the barricade.

"Then does that mean you're going to participate seriously?"

"...Is there any food included?"

"...I have a pie..." Marth trailed off as Kirby smiled and nodded happily. "...In the mansion..." Marth added as Kirby made an angry expression and shook his head.

DK and Bowser were probably the ones who were hitting the ball back and forth with all their energies as they both quickly gained points for each fast victory. DK got 5 while Bowser got the same amount.

DK panted heavily. "You...are...good..."

Bowser chuckled as he panted. "Not bad...for a chump...like you..."

"DK!" Diddy yelled close to Chris. "Don't let that guy get to you! Show him what you've got!"

"It's just me or does everybody here is acting too excited?" Chris asked.

"It is the Olympic Games after all." Geno said.

"But I wanted to play this one..." Luigi said looking down.

"It looks fun to me...but..." Chris looked around. "I think I'm going to wait for the next event."

"...Uh-oh." Geno said.

"What?"

"They're starting to insult each other."

Chris looked at Bowser and DK who were now arguing with each other as they played the game. With each insult they said, the ball was hit back to the other opponent.

"Your daddy likes to kiss the pillow!" Bowser argued.

"Your daddy likes to leave you alone!" DK argued!"

"Your mom plays cards in HELL!"

"Your mom plays cards with the DEMON!"

"Your brother got killed yesterday!"

"Your brother is cursing you!"

"Your sister pukes on you during Fridays when you're sleeping!"

"Your sister likes Mario!"

Mario fainted at that moment (which got Peach surprised as she ducked to see him) as Bowser narrowed his eyes at DK. "Oh, you did NOT say that!"

"I did!" DK said smiling with a chuckle. "Your troops are EVEN dressing like Mario!"

Bowser returned the ball back as he narrowed his eyes even more.

"Your children are acting like Mario!"

Bowser narrowed his eyes even more.

"Your best child watches TV shows with Mario on them!"

Bowser grumbled.

"You're single!"

Bowser grunted angrily.

"Nobody likes you!"

"That's a fact!" the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom yelled as Bowser showed his fangs a little.

"Even worse," DK said hitting the ball with all his forces. "I'm better than Mario!"

Besides getting an angry grunt from the king of the Koopas, the crowd went furious on the kong and began to yell angrily at him.

"DK!" Diddy yelled. "I think you went too far with that last insult!"

"Y-you think?" DK asked, accidentaly ignoring the ball crossing the table.

"Point for Bowser!" Lakitu announced as the king laughed evily.

"I should watch my mouth from any stupid insult if I were you!" Bowser yelled as he laughed in victory.

"(At least I know how to be good to my opponent,)" Pit thought as he got a point. "(However, I have my doubts about Vector.)"

Vector smirked and moved his tail at the sides. "Never gonna give this up, never gonna give this dooowwnnn!" Vector sang as Pit blocked his ears with some of the participants.

"Ah! Not that horrible singing again!" Pit complained.

"Hey!" Vector called out angrily. "Don't hurt my feelings, you little angel briefs boy!" Vector cried a crcodile tear. "Y-you don't know how to treat a poor detective like me..."

Espio facepalmed and frowned at this. "The first second he was the "greatest detective" and the next second he is the "dumbest detective"... How pathetic can he get?"

"I dunno," Charmy said folding his arms behind his back as he looked away with a smile. "Vector has a really twisted mind...which I like so much!"

"Or does he even have a brain to begin with?" Espio asked.

Charmy saw a small fly inside Vector's headphones (and probably inside his ear) as it came out from the other side of Vector's head. The crocodile didn't feel the little insect flying around him for what Charmy could tell from his spot. "...You'll be surprised..." Charmy trailed off.

"...I thought as much." Espio said closing his eyes.

"Oww!" Yoshi got hit on his nose as Tails receive another point. "N-no fair! He cheated!"

"What?" Tails asked a little angry. "Your nose is so big that anyone can hit it!"

Yoshi glared at Tails. "Oh no, no no no no no! You didn't insult my nose just now!"

"But it's true!" Tails protested. "Your nose is insanely BIG!"

"That's IT!" Yoshi yelled back as he tossed the ball high in the air and slammed it down at the table, where Tails quickly retaliated as he flew above since the ball bounced very high and slammed his paddle on the round object while Yoshi used the barricades and jumped high to return the ball.

Sonic watched impressed as the whole match between the 2 went on and on. "Tails! You're doing so well! Keep going!"

"What do you think I'm doing then?!" Tails asked angrily.

Sonic blinked several times before grinning. "Man, Tails's now on hot fire."

"Literally." Knuckles pointed out as he saw fire covering the 2-tailed fox, along with the Yoshi.

"Well," Amy chuckled. "Tails is a little bit younger than all of us, right? It was time for him to get angry."

"The next time we notice," Sonic began looking at Knuckles. "We're gonna have Knuckles Jr. hanging around with us."

"What was that?!" Knuckles asked enraged.

"Snrk," Chris chuckled. "Knuckles Jr.... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"GRRR!!!" Knuckles grunted angrily at the World Traveler.

"Grrr." Lucario grunted back at the echidna.

Blaze sweatdropped. "...It was really a good idea for me to be here? Everything seems to be...a little out of control."

"I ask that to myself many times during the whole day." Shadow said looking away with a frown.

"I like seeing people getting their brains out by no reason." Dr. Eggman commented with a small chuckle.

"You like that so much and we know it very well." Shadow and Blaze said in unison.

"So...who asked you 2?!" Dr. Eggman asked frowning.

"O-oh no!" Yoshi gasped as he quickly lunged at the ball which was going to leave the table from the left edge, since the Yoshi was located on the far right (and even out from the table). "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Out the ball was.

"Point for Tails!" Cream announced, raising Tails's score to 10 as the 2-tailed fox chuckled with a grin.

Yoshi looked at his score and he was 2 points behind his opponent as he grumbled. "Y-you just were lucky! That's all!"

"What's that?" Tails asked as his grin grew wider. "Are you intimidated?"

"Of course not!" Yoshi spat back. "I-I'll show you who's intimidated!"

Marth chuckled a little. "Who would've thought that Tails could get this confident with a match like this...wait..." Marth narrowed his eyes as he somehow found...Fox where Tails was supposed to be. "What the hell?" Marth shook his head and saw Tails back on his place as the Altean prince looked around. "Kirby, is Fox here?"

"I don't know," Kirby said eating a rice ball. "But what I know is that this rice ball is so goooooood..."

"Nope," Twink said. "He ain't here, mate."

"...But what was that just now?" Marth looked at Twink. "And why did you talk like that?"

"'Cuz Marine was given permission to come with us, mate!" Twink said as Marine appeared behind his back.

"I couldn't stay sittin' over there much longer so I asked for permission to be down here with all of ya! Mates!" Marine said happily.

"WHAT?!" DK's voice was heard as they all saw his paddle shattering into pieces as the ball crossed his table.

"Point for Bowser!" Lakitu announced. "Bowser wins!"

"RuuuAAAA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser laughed in triumpt as the kong stared at his paddle.

"B-but I didn't use too much force on it! Why'd this happen anyway?" DK asked.

"Look," Bowser began raising his fingers. "I won, you lose, I got victorious, you went down, end of the argument!"

"...But..."

Sonic's ears perked up a little. "I know why that happened..."

"You know?" Peach asked.

"Yeah...it's because the sponsor did it!" Sonic said.

"The...sponsor?" Peach asked confused. "But he was very nice and decided to give us the necessary funds to play in the Olympic Games."

"But he did this!" Sonic protested raising a finger. "The sponsor is trying to sabotage the events! I know it!"

"Listen you!" Daisy began. "There's absolutely no way that a guy like him did something so stupid like shattering DK's paddle by no reason! Besides, how could he have done this in the first place if he isn't even here?"

"Hmm... Now that I think about it..." Peach wondered. "I never met the sponsor in person..."

"Neither do we." Dr. Eggman said.

"This is really weird..." Sonic muttered as he heard another sound of something shattering, it was Pit's paddle who instantly shattered into pieces as the ball crossed the table.

"Point for the idiot o-I mean, Vector!" Charmy announced. "Vector is the winner!"

"W-what?!" Pit asked. "Can't you give me a spare paddle?"

"Sorry," Charmy said. "But we don't have spare paddles since these ones are the only ones left."

"Ha-ha!" Vector laughed proudly. "You lost!"

"D-darn it!" Pit cursed as he felt a shiver on his back and looked up to the sky. "G-Goddess Palutena! I-it was an accident, I swear!"

"Is Pit...praying or something?" Diddy asked as Pit was doing some weird prays to the sky.

"I heard his goddess is keeping a close eye on him since she is worried that "bad" influences could "contaminate" his mind," Marth explained. "I know because he told me that."

"...Ooohhh... So he'll get punished for saying curses and swears?"

"Pretty much." Marth said nodding.

"...Er..." Geno trailed off. "Aren't they getting a little bit...too extreme?"

"Who?" Diddy asked as Geno pointed at Yoshi and Tails. "...What?"

Apparently, both competitors were running to the sides as fast as they could since they returned the ball with very hard points to reach that each one managed to reach. The Yoshi and the young fox were jumping, flying, moving, hitting, running, panting, sweating, grunting and every single thing again.

"Go! Go! Tai-ils! Go! Go! Tai-ils!" The Mobius(?)'s crowd cheered waving flags with Tails's face on them.

"Yo-shi! Yo-shi! Yo-shi!" The crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom cheered, doing the same as the other crowd with flags showing Yoshi's egg.

"You're good," Yoshi muttered grinning (rather evily). "But I'm-"

"Who cares how good you are?" Tails asked angrily as he slammed the ball on the table (even the ball got covered in flames...literally), prompting Yoshi to flutter in the air and reach the ball as he charged his shot.

"THIS IS THE EN-"

CRACK!

"Huh?!" Yoshi looked at his shattered paddle as the ball rose his cheek and went directly to Toadsworth who ducked in fear and saw the ball crossing the wall as he sweatdropped at the hole it made.

"...Tails...won?" Cream asked raising a flag (scared a little bit from Tails) as the crowd from Mobius(?) erupted in cheers of victory. "Sonic's team has won the Singles event!"

Mario's Team: ll

Sonic's Team: llll

Smashers' Team: lll

"It seems that Sonic's team is now ahead of the games!" Toadsworth announced.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Yoshi yelled loudly before he fell down on his back, his eyes even changed into swirls as Tails jumped happily.

"He was mad a second ago and now he's acting like himself again." Amy said.

"That's my buddy." Sonic said grinning with a chuckle.

"Your somewhat assassin buddy." Mallow pointed out.

Sonic smirked. "Okay, it's time for the next event! Alright! Now I'm ready!" Sonic said punching the air.

River

Tenth event: Single Sculls

Participants (in order): Sonic, Wario, Mallow

"SOMEBODY GET ME OUT FROM THIS THING!" Sonic yelled in panic from his skiff.

"But you said you wanted to participate!" Mallow yelled from his skiff. "I bet you're just acting like a dork in order to get cooler the next second!"

"I WANNA GET OUT OF HERE! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Sonic yelled in panic (again) as the people from Mobius(?) frowned in embarrassment.

Knuckles sighed. "What am I thinking this event was going to torture Sonic to death?"

"Well..." Tails trailed off. "He couldn't refuse because he was already choosen before he said he wanted."

"Today's just not Sonic's day." Knuckles said chuckling.

"So here we are!" Toadsworth announced. "The Single Sculls event! In this new competition, only 1 member from each team will participate and row to the other side, where the finish line is located just along the river!"

"..." Pit looked at Wario's skiff.

"What?" Wario asked with an angry expression.

"(I thought the skiff was going to sink by his weight...) N-nothing..." Pit said shrugging as he walked away.

"...Meh." Wario rolled his eyes as he took a hold of his paddles.

"YOU THERE!" Vector yelled from inside the river (since he thought the water was going to relax him a bit) and looked at Sonic. "You better row all the way to the finish line or else I'll squash you down...in the water!"

"NO! NO!" Sonic shook his head in panic. "I-I'LL PLAY THIS! REALLY!" the hedgehog gulped. "I-I'm gonna row all the way along the water...a-and the event should be over, right?"

Vector nodded with a grin. "Now yer gettin' what I'm talkin' about!" Vector spoke before diving down the water...where he was attacked by pirahnas as bubbles came out and yelled when they bursted, "UAH! HEY! NOT THERE! AAHH! SOMEBODY! OUCH! OWW! AAHH! EEHH!!!"

Chris looked at a nearby sign that read:

"No Swimming in the water. Deadly Beijing Pirahnas under the water."

"T-this river is full of pirahnas?!" Chris asked as he saw a 2-feet tall pirahna jumping close to him.

"Well," Toadsworth began. "The destination was here so we had to choose this location or else that'd go against the rules of the games."

"A-are you crazy?" Daisy asked. "They might die!"

"D-do we really care about Wario that much though?" Luigi asked.

"...On second thought, it's fine! Nevermind!" Daisy yelled laughing a little.

"Aw," Mallow looked down at the water where pirahnas looked up at him. "C'mere, cute fishes. Touch uncle Mallow's hand..." Mallow put his hand inside before lifting it, having several scars that quickly appeared in the time he put his hand inside. "...It's this...supposed to be bad?"

"Yes!" Twink and Geno yelled.

"...Oh well, AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"On your marks..." Lakitu said as the trio grabbed their paddles. "Get set..."

Sonic looked inside the water where the pirahnas seemed to wear napkins around their necks as they showed their fangs, which made the hedgehog gulp in fear as he looked in front of him and grabbed his paddles. "I'm going to die... I'm going to freaking die..."

"GO!" Lakitu yelled shooting at the sky with a bullet as the trio began to row all their way up the river while the crowd went wild.

"Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well. "Yea-"

"SHUT UP!" Waluigi yelled annoyed as the Mario alter-ego grumbled angrily...

"Yeah!" Wario taunted as he successfully rowed well while the Luigi alter-ego facepalmed.

Though something weird happened during the whole event...

"Hurray!" Sonic cheered as he successfully rowed well.

"Yahoo!" Mallow celebrated as he successfully rowed well.

"Yeah!" Wario said as he successfully rowed well.

"Hurray!"

"Yahoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurray!"

"Yahoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurray!"

"Yahoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurray!"

"Yahoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Hurray!"

"Yahoo!"

"Yeah!"

DK blocked his ears. "W-why can't they shut up and row normally without talking?"

"Hurray! Yahoo! Yeah! NO! They got inside my mind!" Diddy yelled worried.

"I-I can't hold on!" Chris said blocking his ears. "I can't...tolerate...all those...overly repeated...cheers..."

"Hmph." Lucario went to Chris and blocked his ears with his black hands as the World Traveler blinked in surprise.

"...I don't hear anything... I don't hear anything!" Chris cheered happily while Lucario growled happily...but later twitched a little after hearing the cheers again.

"ARGH!" Bowser yelled angrily. "SHUT UP, YOU NUMBSKULLS!"

"Hurray!" Sonic cheered happily as the trio went along the river and towards the finish line at a good pace. "The finish line!" Sonic smiled as he looked over his shoulder and spotted the line which could free him from the skiff.

Music stops

"...Huh?" Mallow found a spot that made water in front of his skiff. "What? A hole?"

It was not soon enough before many holes began to appear one by one around the skiff as the crowd gasped (dramatically to be specific) as the cloud prince looked around in panic.

"H-help! My skiff is sinking!" Mallow yelled worried as he tried to stir the skiff back to land, but the force of the river prevented him from doing so. "Help! I don't wanna be eaten by pirahnas!"

"Huh?!" Sonic saw 3 holes appearing in the skiff before even more holes began to sprout water out as they appeared. "OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"Wahahahahahahaha!" Wario laughed as he crossed the finish line. "I'm the winner! Yes!"

Mario's Team: lll

Sonic's Team: llll

Smashers' Team: lll

"Mario's team is the winner?" Charmy said confused.

"T-this is not the time for that!" Luigi said panicking.

"Oh my goodness!" Peach gasped as she saw Mallow's and Sonic's skiffs sinking, where the pirahnas gathered around and prepared leap at the 2. "Mallow! Sonic!"

"They're gonna be 4-stars dinner for the fishes, mates!" Marine said panicking. "Yeh have to do somethin', mates!"

"Pit!" Marth began. "Fly over there and help them!"

"I..." Pit looked down. "I can't... My Wings of Icarus can't make me stay in the air very long, only by some seconds before I fall."

"Dammit..." Geno muttered. "Mallow and Sonic are going to be killed if their skiffs sink."

"Lucario!" Chris said but Lucario shook his head. "W-why?"

"Remember the pills?" Lucario asked. "They reduced my steel defense, and if I go inside...the pirahnas could eat me alive."

"And can't you fight them back?"

"I'm afraid not... I'm sorry..." Lucario said looking down in shame.

"(Oh no...)" Chris looked at Sonic and Mallow almost sinking inside the dangerous river. "(How are we going to save them?... If I could fly or...)" the World Traveler looked around for something...and looked at Kirby holding a red pompom above his head. "..."

"Peach gave this to me," Kirby said rubbing his face with the pompom. "It feels so soft..."

"...Wait..." Chris stared at the pompom until he got an idea...although he disliked it. "...I guess it's up to me then..." Chris said sighing disappointed as he changed to his Moogle Knight job and flapped his wings that made him fly above the grass. "Hang in there! Kupo!" Chris yelled flying as fast as he could to the 2 on the water.

"ALLELUYAH!" Sonic yelled jumping towards Chris where he (somehow) grabbed the obviously small Moogle's hands, making Chris struggle as he gritted his teeth. "H-hurry! Take me to safe land!"

"Oof!" Chris lowered a little. "W-why can't you stop eating t-those useless c-chili-dogs?! Kupo?!"

"Less talk and more land!" Sonic yelled as Chris moved the hedgehog back and forth to throw him back to his team, but Sonic jumped before Chris could throw him as he landed safely on safe land as the crowd from Mobius(?) sighed in relief.

"...Mallow!" Twink yelled and reminded Chris who quickly gasped and went after the cloud prince who flailed his arms around until the Moggle grabbed his hands and flew to the other side of the river as the skiff was about to sink.

"Wait!" Mallow yelled. "My legs and pants! They're on the skiff!"

Chris looked back at the skiff and sure enough, Mallow's legs and pants were still inside as he looked down and saw Mallow...only being a cloud. "Oh, dammit! Kupo!" Chris cursed as he tossed Mallow at Geno who catched him while the Moogle went after the legs and pants (which sounded awkward in many ways), which he managed to get before a pirahna could bite his hands.

The crowd cheered at Chris's "heroic" effort as he returned, sweated and gave Mallow his legs and pants back.

"Phew..." Mallow said adjusting his pants. "My mom could've killed me if I were to lose my lucky pants."

"Those pants didn't give you lucky!" Twink protested sniffing. "I... I thought you were going to die there..."

"Whew..." Chris sat on the grass as he panted. "My life for Kupo Moxi...kupo..."

"That was good," Marth said. "You saved Sonic and Mallow from being eaten alive."

"At least I did...what I had to do...kupo..."

"Well done, Chris." Lucario said smiling a little as Chris looked up at him and flapped his small wings happily.

"What was that just now?!" someone in the crowd asked.

"Sonic was going to die!" someone else yelled in the crowd.

"Was Mario's team responsible for this?!" someone else yelled angrily as the crowd grew violent.

"W-wait!" Peach began. "We didn't do anything bad! We've been participating as the good participants we are. The accidents occurred because... I don't know, but we are innocent!"

"Yeah, right!" a Flicky pointed at her. "I bet you're acting so sweetly because you're hiding your cheating self!"

"W-what?" Peach asked looking down.

"C-calm down, everybody," Toadsworth began. "Accidents happen from time to time. This is no different at all."

"You're acting like that because you're from the Mushroom Kingdom yourself!"

"Buuuuuuuuurn!" Bowser yelled laughing as some of the Smashers glared at him.

"...Wait, Vector!" Charmy yelled worried as he looked around for the crocodile. "Vector! Where are you?!"

"Wasn't that honza inside the water, mates?" Marine asked as she looked at the river, where conveniently enough, Vector crawled out in a weak state (it was obvious because he had several bandages around his jaw).

"Never..." Vector began. "Never...enter inside water...with pirahnas inside..."

"Wow," Espio said a little bit surprised. "He actually resisted his long stance in there?"

"'Cuz I ate one of 'em," Vector said burping. "And its friends got scared of me...but man, that didn't taste so good..."

Kirby looked at the crowd which was getting more violent as they argued. "I-I don't like this... It's scaring me..."

Inside the stadium

Persona 4 – Deduction

The event seemed to stop for a short break as the crowd talked by themselves. The Smashers were reunited close to a bench where they were discussing some things.

"About the games," Marth began. "Doesn't it look a little odd to you all?"

"You mean the weird things?" Diddy asked.

"Correct. I think something is going on that we haven't taken into matter."

"It could be anything," Chris said raising a hand (above Lucario's shoulder since the World Traveler was still a Moogle). "But I forgot what were those strange happenings. Kupo."

"The flags," Geno reminded them. "The paddles that broke out of the blue and the skiffs sinking by no reason by the holes."

"Wait," DK rubbed his head. "Isn't weird that the last competition was in a river full of pirahnas?"

"Now that you mention it..." Pit thought as he put a fist close to his forehead. "It looks odd that the event was held in such a dangerous place."

"The question is, why?" Mallow thought. "Somebody here wants to get rid of us?"

"That would be the point," Lucario began. "It's possible that somebody is hiding in plain view, or probably in front of our eyes...and why are you all staring at me like that?"

Twink blinked surprised. "Wow, that was a change there."

"A change?" Lucario asked confused.

"Because the only thing that only seems to get out of your mouth most of the time is something related to Chris and nothing about something else that bothers you." Geno pointed out as Lucario coughed and closed his eyes.

"P-please, I'm always worried abou-" the Smashers gave bored looks to the Aura Pokémon who glared at them. "Is it really bad to protect my trainer?"

"Er..." Kirby looked away. "N-no..."

"Then don't complain about it...or else I'll-" Lucario's hands glowed with aura as Chris slapped his cheek, making the aura disappear. "C-Chris!"

"Calm down, you! Kupo!" Chris said pouting a little. "They have a point about you there! Kupo!"

Lucario looked down. "...I'm sorry..."

Chris sighed and rubbed Lucario's head a little. "It's okay. You wanted to give it a shot in this small investigation, anyway. Kupo."

"But what Lucario said was true," Marth began. "Someone we know is behind the scenes and is trying to kill us all."

"And I have the perfect culprit!" Mallow said pointing an accussing finger to Bowser, who was with crossed arms several meters away from them as he shifted his eyes. "That guy!"

"It could be," DK said narrowing his eyes. "There's always something up with him."

Diddy narrowed his eyes. "I bet he did all those things so he could win."

"Or how about Dr. Eggman?" Pit asked pointing at Dr. Eggman, standing several meters away from them. "Knuckles told me that their planet got separated in floating continents and that he assumes that Dr. Eggman was responsible for the whole thing."

"Wait..." Chris looked down with a serious face. "I've heard Amy saying something about their world being separated into floating continents... Kupo."

"But that's besides the main point," Marth said. "Firstly, we have to find the culprit behind the sabotages in the events or who knows what that culprit could do to us in an unexpected moment."

"You guys thinking about the next event?" Sonic asked walking to them with Blaze and Tails.

"Nope," Mallow shook his head. "We're thinking about the odd happenings."

"Ah," Blaze nodded. "The mysterious changes, you mean?"

"I was a little bit curious myself," Tails said. "I thought the same once Sonic nearly got killed by those pirahnas."

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "C'mon, I'm not tasty enough for little fishes."

"Little fishes with sharp fangs each, which could devour you in 1 minute." Diddy pointed out as Sonic shrugged.

"A-anyway," Sonic began changing the topic about his fear. "I was thinking about the sabotages too, and I think I know who did this..."

"Who?" everyone asked.

"...The sponsor!"

Everyone frowned and ignored that answer.

"Leaving Sonic's stupid answer," Geno began coughing a little to get their attention. "It couldn't have been Mario or the others since they like to play fair."

"Always." Twink added.

"To be honest," Sonic began. "I thought the second person on my list was him."

"Mario's not fat!" Yoshi was heard yelling.

"Suuuuuuure he isn't." Sonic said with a mischievous grin as the Smashers looked up at the sky annoyed with a frown.

"He didn't talk about his weight!" Kirby yelled back as Yoshi said, "Oh. Nevermind."

"We have 2 culprits," Pit said. "Bowser or Dr. Eggman."

"Wait," Kirby pointed at a person. "And him?"

They all looked at Wario (arguing with Waluigi in gibberish) which they blinked at.

"...Possibly too." DK said nodding.

"So now...we hav-"

"Or Waluigi." Diddy added.

"We have 4 possible culprits," Pit said. "Dr. Eggman, Bowser, Wario or Waluigi."

"How about him?" Kirby asked pointing at Vector (arguing with Espio...in gibberish).

"Fine... 5 people counting Vector." Pit said sighing.

"Heya! Mates!" Marine greeted the group as she walked to them. "Strange things have been happenin' here a lot, ain't it, mates?"

"We were thinking about that, kupo." Chris said.

"Lucario," Marth began. "Can you use your aura and see if the Subspace Army is here?"

"Let me see." Lucario said as he closed his eyes and glowed with aura as Chris smiled.

"You know," Chris said still smiling as Lucario's aura circled around his small body. "When you're so close to Lucario's aura, it makes you feel so relaxed and happy. Kupo."

Lucario chuckled and smiled a little bit. "Thanks. I'm happy for that."

"I'm going to hang on your shoulder more often from now on then, kupo." Chris said flapping his wings happily as Lucario's tail wagged a little.

"Found anything with your chakra?" Sonic asked as Lucario glared at him.

"It's aura," Lucario corrected him as he stopped glowing. "And...I found something."

"Then what is it? Are they here?" Twink asked.

Lucario shook his head. "No, they aren't. Technically they are here but far away from this place."

"I guess they got lost?" Mallow asked.

"Nope," DK said shaking his head. "They're not that stupid to get lost in their way here."

"Besides the stadium being so big and spacious." Diddy pointed out.

"But it bothers me..." Pit said moving his head with his right hand. "It's giving me a headache everytime I try to think too hard."

"Maybe we should stop thinking for now and see what happens next before we reach a conclusion." Marth suggested and they nodded.

"I'll try to help if you need my aid," Blaze said. "I'm concerned about what might happen today."

"We all are." Tails said.

Music stops

"S-sorry for the delay," Toadsworth called out. "But the games are back to continue with their usual schedule!"

The crowd seemed to have lost their anger and cheered loudly again as always. Sonic, Blaze and Tails returned back to their team.

"Ahem," Toadsworth coughed. "We know move on to the next leg of the Olympic Games!"

"I wonder what could it be this time..." Diddy wondered.

"The Pole Vault event!"

Target Smash!!

Eleventh event: Pole Vault

Pariticipants (in order): Daisy, Blaze, Kirby, Peach, Amy, Marth, Waluigi, Sonic, Geno

"Oh, Pole Vault," Marth said smiling a bit. "I'll participate this time."

"But now with this though," Twink said taking Marth's cape off. "There. We don't want your cape stuck in the high pole and strangle you."

Marth sweatdropped. "W-well...you're right on that."

"That's why I left my dream to wear a cape!" Twink said happily. "Capes can kill you!"

"Exactly, mate!" Marine (who has been standing there besides the group) said making a fist. "Back at my place, I used to run 'round and 'round with a cape until that bonza got stuck on the edge of the table and pulled me back to a pile of knives. Yikes! That was scary!"

"Pile of...knives?" Pit asked raising an eyebrow in horror.

"I used to play with 'em, mate."

"...Y-you're really sick," Chris said nodding. "R-really, really sick. Kupo."

"Many've said that to me but I ain't caring about bad opinions, mate!"

Several not so important characters later...

Marth grabbed the pole and looked straight to the crossbar positioned several feet away from him. The Altean narrowed his eyes as the signal for his start began and he quickly ran to it.

"Hey," Mallow chuckled. "Marth looks kinda funny when he runs with that big pole."

DK chuckled. "You're right. He does."

The Altean struck down his pole and prepared to be propelled high enough to cross the crossbar and land on the big blue couch. Many watched the pole bending a little with every second as they grew curious.

"..." Pit blinked in confusion. "Wait, something is not right here..."

"...The pole!" Diddy yelled as the pole suddenly broke in 2 (even if it wasn't that very bent) and Marth hopped backwards and fell on his back with a pain running through his back as Kirby, Pit and Chris ran to him.

"W-what just happened?!" Pit asked.

"The pole just...snapped..." Marth said as Chris helped him to get up. "I...can't tell why though..."

"This is..." Toadsworth trailed off. "Unexpected! Why'd Marth's pole snap in such an unexpected way?"

"Don't give me this again!" a spectator from Mobius(?) yelled angrily. "I bet Mario's team is responsible for this like the last time!"

Bowser chuckled. "Funny to see everyone here thinking that we're the villains."

"But you ARE one!" Daisy said angrily.

"And yet, I'm not guilty of this. Hahahahahaha!" Bowser laughed as Daisy grunted.

"W-we haven't done anything like that!" Luigi yelled. "We want to have a friendly competition with Sonic and his friends today s-"

"SHUT UP!" the crowd from Mobius(?) yelled angrily at the green plumber who disappeared in a blink of an eye as a trail of dust went all the way behind Yoshi, who was oblivious of the whole thing.

"Calm down, everybody!" Toadsworth tried to calm down the crowd. "Unfortunately, I need to come with the decision that, if the equipment from the Olympics were to be broken, the participant will get a penalty for his or her own responsability."

The crowd didn't like this at all once they saw the order from the better and to the worse participant in the Pole Vault event.

1st - Daisy

2nd – Blaze

3rd – Amy

4th – Peach

5th – Waluigi

6th – Geno

7th – Sonic

8th – Kirby

9th – Marth

"Oh, how convenient!" a Flicky from you-know-where said angrily, rolling his eyes. "Turns out one of Mario's team is on the top of the chart after the nancy boy failed to do his turn!"

"Nancy boy?" Marth asked narrowing his eyes.

"You gotta let that tiara go one day, man." Mallow said with a frown before Marth facepalmed.

"Listen," Toadsworth began. "The rules, according to the sponsor, clearly explain that, so I can't do anything in my power to change that."

"See there?" Sonic asked crossing his arms. "That sponsor guy is the culprit!"

Knuckles frowned. "For the last time, Sonic, he didn't do any of this!"

"But I know he did!" Sonic protested. "The sponsor is behind all this!"

"Who is really behind all this useless blabbing is you, however!"

"Meh, who cares about your opinion?" Sonic asked looking away.

"And without further ado..." Toadsworth added the point for Mario's team as the crowd from Mobius(?) yelled angrily while the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom seemed confused.

Mario's Team: llll

Sonic's Team: llll

Smashers' Team: lll

Kirby looked down. "We're...losing now..." Kirby sniffed.

"We don't care about that!" Pit said. "We care about what made Marth's pole break all of a sudden!"

"But what?" DK asked with a worried look. "I'm starting to think that a mastermind is trying to defeat, or kill us in some way."

Chris shuddered as he returned to Lucario's shoulder, where the Aura Pokémon rubbed his cheek with his. "I'm worried... Kupo..."

"Me too, Chris," Lucario said. "...Me too..."

"...Aw, c'mon!" Mallow said running on his feet. "It's just a little event that we happened to lose! Nothing to be worried about! It's not like many odd things as sabotages will occur while we're around!"

How wrong was the cloud prince...

12th Event: Long Jump

"AAHH!!!" Bowser tripped above a hole that suddenly appeared and rolled all the way to the wall where he crashed, making the crowd from Mobius(?) laugh madly as the king's eyes spun.

Mario facepalmed at this...

...While Sonic cheered.

Mario's Team: llll

Sonic's Team: lllll

Smashers' Team: lll

13th Event: Vault

"Haaaaa..."

CRACK!

"BLAZE!" Cream, Marine (and even Cheese) yelled once the table that Blaze used to jump high broke and made her hit her back on an edge as the rabbit called the medics. The crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom cheered and laughed.

Sonic facepalmed at this...

...While Wario and Waluigi cheered.

Mario's Team: llll

Sonic's Team: lllll

Smashers' Team: lll

14th Event: Archery

Chris smiled and aimed his arrow at the far away target. "A Moogle Knight knows how to aim arrows too, kupo!" Chris said happily as he let his right hand go from the arrow...

...That somehow shot backwards (very fastly) as it nearly hits Kirby who was eating a watermelon on the bench. The puffball's head was about to be crossed by the pointy arrow as the whole crowd laughed at this, while the World Traveler felt extremely embarrassed and looked down in shame as he returned to his team, where Lucario patted his back.

Marth facepalmed at this...

...While Bowser cheered (and got an Aura Sphere on his face by you-know-who).

Mario's Team: lllll

Sonic's Team: lllll

Smashers' Team: lll

15th Event: High Jump

Amy gracefully backflipped above the crossbar...

...Before she hit her head really hard on it, and her feet got stuck on the crossbar as she fell down with a hard landing.

"Was the crossbar that high?" Twink asked while the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom laughed madly.

"I...don't...know..." DK trailed off thinking while Tails facepalmed...

...As Mallow cheered (and got a hit on the back of his head by Geno).

Mario's Team: lllll

Sonic's Team: lllll

Smashers' Team: llll

16th Event: 4 x 100m Freestyle

Sonic, unfortunately, had to participate and thus he drowned upon being thrown inside by Vector.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened though...

...As Daisy cheered at this.

Mario's Team: lllll l

Sonic's Team: lllll

Smashers' Team: llll

17th Event: 400m Hurdles

As soon as Geno tried to jump a last hurdle, it moved suspiciously away and the puppet accidentaly tripped on it and fell off-track as the whole crowd laughed madly.

Mallow and Twink facepalmed...

...As Vector cheered.

Mario's Team: lllll l

Sonic's Team: lllll l

Smashers' Team: llll

18th Event: 400m

Shadow was able to dodge the invisible holes along the way to the finish line...

...Until a hand(?) grabbed his foot and made him trip face-first, making the whole crowd (it turned out that the residents from Mobius(?) hated Shadow) laughed madly.

Dr. Eggman facepalmed...

...As Chris cheered.

"You're supposed to be thinking about what happened! Not cheer at it!" Pit said as Chris chuckled worried.

Mario's Team: lllll l

Sonic's Team: lllll l

Smashers' Team: lllll

19th Event: Skeet

Bowser aimed his rifle at the airborn targets flying in the distance...

...As somehow the rifle shot the bullets at the 3 teams who gasped and ran away from the spot. Chris tripped and gasped as he covered his head in fear, but a big shadow covered the poor Moogle World Traveler from being shot.

"Lu-Lucario! Kupo!" Chris flew happily after Lucario shieded him with perfect accuracy using the spikes of his arms as the Aura Pokémon hugged his trainer with his right arm and licked his face.

Even the crowd aww'd at this...

...While Pit cheered, receiving bored looks from Chris and Lucario.

"S-shouldn't you be angry at Bowser?" Pit asked sweating as Bowser was seen stomping on the grass behind the angel.

Mario's Team: lllll l

Sonic's Team: lllll l

Smashers' Team: lllll l

20th Event: Dream Platform

High above...somewhere in an airship. Still in Beijing(?)

Mallow looked down the 10,000m of height from the airship and the ocean as he chuckled. "Pfft, please, my dreams have 100,000m of height than this!"

"It's that really true?" Twink asked.

"Nope."

"..."

"Anyway," Geno began. "Good luck out there."

Mallow nodded with a chuckle as he walked to his position, looking the other 2 participants who were Bowser (probably because he wanted to repay that incident earlier) and Dr. Eggman.

"Well," Marth began as the other members were on the airship. "Bowser was sabotaged as well so he was telling the truth back then."

"But Dr. Eggman haven't been," Pit pointed out. "I bet he is behind all this."

"I heard that!" Dr. Eggman said twisting his hips a little. "I'm 110 percent innocent!"

"Not until we have actual proof!"

"Whatever!"

Pit glared at the doctor(?).

"Ready?" Lakitu asked raising a flag as the 3 raised their hands. "Go!"

Mallow, Bowser and Dr. Eggman dove to the ocean as their teams went to the edges of the airship and cheered on them.

"Good luck!" Kirby yelled as he almost fell down but Chris grabbed him by his back.

"He needs to do acrobats in midair to score up points," DK began. "But is he one?"

"I doubt it." Geno said rubbing his wooden chin.

"...So..." Diddy began as the 3 went down. "There has been a lot of odd things ever since Mallow said that nothing wouldn't happen."

"But Bowser was already proven innocent since he got sabotaged," Chris said on Lucario's shoulder. "Maybe Dr. Eggman will get untouched in this event, then we'll prove he was the one wh-"

It was not long before the blue sky turned red as a huge explosion, followed by a scream of agony, came from down below that the group easily recognized and gave bored looks to each other.

"...I take my words back. Dr. Eggman is innocent, kupo." Chris said sweatdropping.

"...Well," Kirby began licking a popsicle out of nowhere. "He probably tried to feel sabotaged and that's why he did that."

The group ignored another explosion with a cry of agony that yelled something about a back.

"By the way," Lucario turned to Blaze, who had some kind of plate behind her back to make her back straight. "Is your back feeling fine?"

"I guess," Blaze said as her right eye twitched. "The pain is annoying, but I should be fine if I take rest."

"I'm glad."

"Ooh, Lucario," Chris made a mischievous look. "It was a long time after you fell for a girl, kupo."

"I-I haven't!" Lucario protested blushing.

"Admit it," Chris waved a hand. "You like to hang out with girls rather than boys, kupo."

Lucario blushed even more as Blaze blinked confused. "A-at least they're more sociable tha-"

Chris gasped. "D-don't tell me you're ga-"

"Dare to finish that word and I'll send you to hell." Lucario threatened narrowing his eyes at his trainer...

...Who whimpered, sniffed and covered his eyes in fear and horror as Lucario realized his mistake and hugged his trainer tightly.

"I-I didn't mean to scare you!" Lucario said worried as Chris sobbed on his chest. "P-please, don't hate me! I-I beg of you!"

"...You 2 are total weirdos..." Blaze commented backing away to her team, which Lucario blinked shocked.

"Ku-kupo..." Chris sobbed as Lucario rested his head above Chris's head.

"So in a few words," DK began as the same cry of agony came from down below with another explosion. "Eggman wasn't responsible either."

"I have other suspects." Diddy began.

"Who?" Marth asked interested.

"We have the crowd," Diddy said showing them a picture of the crowds from both places. "They seem rather shady if you ask me. Why are they blaming the other crowd? I smell rivalry..." Diddy shifted his eyes around.

"...Next."

"We have the strange Nazi Toads," Diddy said showing them a picture of the Nazi Toads from the previous time, giving creepy smiles. "They look even shadier! The color of their faces...yuck!"

"But they've been nice to us because they've been cheering on us!" Twink said.

"Oh, I wonder why, kupo..." Chris said rolling his eyes.

"Next." Marth said.

"We have...her," Diddy showed them a picture of Marine. "I heard from Knuckles that Marine wanted so badly to participate but couldn't at the end."

"That's like so right, mates!" Marine called appearing right behind Marth (who jumped away from her in shock). "I asked to be in this but nooooo, those honzas said I couldn't enter, mates!"

"A-ha!" Twink glared at her. "So you're behind all this!"

"Mwhahahahahahaha!" Marine laughed. "Yes, that's right!" the others blinked confused before glaring at her as she looked mischievously. "I'm all behind...tis!" Marine showed them a picture where she was shown trying not to laugh because she painted Sonic's little tail red with a brush. "Serves 'im right for stealin' mah hot-dog, mates!"

Kirby looked at Sonic's tail and it was, indeed, red. "Heheheheheh..."

Sonic's ears perked up and looked at them. "Something's wrong?"

"N-nope, ku-kupo..." Chris said chuckling.

"...Hmph." Sonic turned the other way.

"So," Marine started tilting her hips at the sides with folded arms behind her back. "That's all? Mates?"

"...Y-you can go," Marth said with a nod as th raccoon walked away. "Next if you have more."

"These 2 knuckleheads." Diddy said.

"WHAT?!" Knuckles yelled from behind DK who jumped away from him in shock.

"D-did I even call you?" Diddy asked as Knuckles looked at the picture.

"...Oh," Knuckles rubbed his head embarrassed. "Sorry for that... Later guys." Knuckles walked away.

"Charmy and Espio?" Kirby asked and Diddy nodded.

"Yep. These guys wanted to enter as well. Charmy being the one who wanted so badly." Diddy explained.

"And my plan hasn't work yet!" Charmy was heard saying as the Smashers looked at him, talking to Espio. "My plan to...my plan to..."

"Your plan to?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

"...My plan to sabotage..." that made everyone get interested. "...My plan to sabotage Vector for taking away my videogame!"

Espio frowned at this. "Charmy, that game was burning many cells inside your mind...if you had a mind to begin with."

Charmy pouted. "B-but it was Wonder Boy in the Monster Land!"

"Even so." Espio said as Charmy threw his hands up.

"...Put an X on them." Twink said as Diddy threw the photo away.

"Then," Marth began again. "Nobody here isn't the culprit?"

"It seems that way," Pit said. "But it's still strange that everyone here seems so innocent."

"But I DO know who it was!" Sonic said walking to them. "It's the sponsor!"

The Smashers ignored that as usual, leaving Sonic grunting in frustration.

"Grrr! Guys! I'm serious! The sponsor is behind all this!" Sonic said opening his hands.

"Listen you!" Chris said flying close to Sonic's face. "There's absolutely no way that a guy that we haven't met is the culprit of all the sabotages! Kupo!"

"But my intuition is telling me the answer!" Sonic protested. "C'mon, you gotta believe me!"

"Sonic..." DK sighed. "I think your idea, or answer, isn't that intelligent at all..."

"The sponsor isn't the culprit, and that's final." Marth said as Sonic looked down.

"...OK, OK... I understand...damn..." Sonic muttered the last part.

An explosion with a cry of agony that they recognized from Vector came from down below.

"And that proves Vector isn't the culprit either." Diddy said, throwing a picture of Vector away..

"Was he another suspect?" Kirby asked.

"Well, he seems shady all the time with that weird look on his face!"

"But it's not him!" Sonic said angrily.

"And neither the sponsor! Kupo!" Chris protested.

"C-calm down!" a voice yelled from behind the group. The Smashers turned their back and found Luigi playing with his fingers. "Y-you've been yelling for quite some time a-and I wanted to stop that...so...yes..."

"...Excuse us," Pit said embarrassed. "W-we were talking about the happening today...and I guess we got sidetracked."

"Oh?" Luigi asked confused. "You mean those bothersome and sudden happenings? Because I was wondering that myself for a time ago."

Geno blinked surprised. "Wait, you know who was the guy who did all this?"

"It is the sponsor?" Sonic asked.

"...N-no..." Luigi rubbed his hat. "I-I'm sorry but I don't know yet...b-but that's besides the point."

"Besides what point?" Diddy asked.

"W-well...you see..." Luigi kicked the air a little bit. "Remember when I was under Dimentio's mind and was Mr. L?"

DK and Diddy narrowed their eyes. "Oh yeah. You were very annoying back then." DK said.

"D-don't hurt me..." Luigi said backind away a little. "I-I want to apologize to you after what I did under that...scary alter-ego...a-and I...hm...h-how do I put it?"

"What are you trying to say exactly? Kupo?" Chris asked as he felt Lucario hopping up a little (but very little). "What is it, Lucario? Kupo?"

"Luigi is thinking about...joining us." Lucario said looking away as the Smashers gave surprised looks at the green plumber.

Luigi blushed and looked away. "H-how did you...w-whatever... The point is that...I-I don't have anything else to do after the Olympics end and since you're all here and represent the Smash Mansion... I-I want to return to the mansion and see what's new and such."

"...Hahahahahahahaha!!!" Sonic broke out laughing and fell on his back. "Y-you?! A guy like you joining us?! A-are you being serious?!"

Luigi looked a little bit annoyed. "Y-yes! I-I can fight too!"

"Buahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Sonic laughed even louder. "F-fight? G-gimme a break, pal! Y-you've gotta be kidding me!"

Luigi trembled a little. "Y-you're going to regret that after I use my Super Fire Punch on you!"

"...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Sonic laughed even louder as Wario and Waluigi looked at him like some sort of maniac before looking down the airship.

"Oh, please!" Luigi said making an angry expression. "I-I can fight very well!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Luigi..." Marth trailed off.

"Y-yes?" Luigi looked worried at the Altean prince.

"Didn't Master Hand remove your abilities when you left with Mario, Peach and Bowser?"

"..." Luigi looked down embarrassed. "Y-yes, he did..."

Chris walked to Sonic and kicked his side. "Sonic! Stop it! Kupo!"

"I-I'm fine," Sonic said wiping a tear. "I'm fine now...but what did he say a moment ago?"

"That he was going to join us?" Kirby asked before Sonic broke out laughing madly.

And so the day went on...

Music stops

Mario's Team: lllll ll

Sonic's Team: lllll ll

Smashers' Team: lllll ll

It was decided that the 4 X 100m Relay was going to be the last event for the night after Mallow won the Dream Platform event, Blaze (which was a surprised with the condition she was in) won the Dream Race event and Kirby (EVEN more surprising) won the Dream Table Tennis. The Dream Fencing was decided to be dropped out of the schedule since Toadsworth told the team that they were in a tie, and was impossible to consider the previous mentione event suitable since the 4 X 100m Relay was worthy to be the last event.

Inside the Stadium

Lights shone and illuminated the night sky. The teams were getting prepared for the last leg of the games because everyone was going to participate in the 4 X 100m Relay (Toadsworth even called the event 8 X 100m Relay to give a good final).

"The moon..." Sonic trailed off as he stared at the moon.

"What's up with you and the moon?" Knuckles asked.

"What?" Sonic crossed his arms. "Can't a guy like me enjoy it in peace?"

Knuckles grunted. "You better not act weird or something because of it."

Sonic chuckled and grinned afterwards. "So what?"

"Nevermind," Knuckles sighed. "It's useless to talk with you."

"Since this is the last event..." Marth looked down to Kirby. "You need to run as fast as you can."

"First," Kirby made an angry expression. "I want motivation."

"Certainly," Marth said taking out 3 Rice Balls that Kirby swallowed and burped a little. "Now?"

"Yeeeees." Kirby said dreamily.

DK was punching the air. "Yeah, last event. I can do this."

Diddy seemed to punch DK from several centimeters. "Act tough, act strong, act like you."

"Who do you think you are?" Mallow asked. "Bruce Lee?"

"Whoever that is, yes." DK said determined.

"OH YEAH!" Daisy yelled loudly. "We can do this, team! We-can-do-this! I'm so pumped up to grab that trophy!"

"G-geez," Luigi shuddered. "Y-your enthusiasm sometimes scares me."

"C'mon!" Daisy slapped Luigi's back. "You gotta be excited like I am!"

"W-well...true..." Luigi said playing with his fingers.

"If you run fast," Chris said to Lucario who looked at him. "I promise I'm going to treat you a steak. Kupo."

"Hmm..." Lucario closed his eyes happily.

"Yep, I want to spend the time with you with a good reward," Chris rubbed his Pokémon's left ear a little which made the Aura Pokémon's tail wag.

"Snrk," Bowser chuckled. "You his dog or something? Hahahahahahahaha!"

A red toon vein popped out Chris's forehead as he raised his sword, which glowed in a green light. "Shut up, you! Moogle Lance!" Chris swung his sword and sent 3 air slashes that sliced Bowser down.

"O-ouch..." Bowser muttered on the floor.

Sonic was flexing his legs by stretching them at the sides...as the reflection of the moon was reflected on his eyes. "OK... Last event... One where I can run..."

"At least the effects of the pills are going to wear out soon." Tails said.

"Too bad I didn't have the chance to research them." Dr. Eggman said, sighing disappointed.

"For what?" Amy asked. "To use them against us?"

"...To be honest...yes."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, figures."

Mario shook his head. "Sorry but, I can't join you guys yet."

"Why?" Pit asked.

"I still think I have something else to do here after the Olympic Games end...but I don't what it is." Mario explained.

"I see..."

Mario smiled a little. "But don't worry! You have Luigi! He already told me he was going with you."

Pit looked at Luigi who was trying to back away from the overly excited Daisy. "...One question."

"What?"

"Can he fight?"

"Yes," Mario said nodding. "He probably is a... I don't want to say it but you know what I mean. He probably is a you-know-what in your eyes but he's almost as good as me when the time is right."

"Give me an example."

Maio rubbed his hat. "I...I can't tell you an example because you need to find it."

Pit rolled his eyes. "I kind of assumed you were going to say that... Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

"This is odd..." Pit got in a thinking position. "Why do I get the feeling that we met before?"

"Met before? But we just met." Mario said.

"...Maybe is my imagination."

"Finally," Espio began. "This thing is going to be over."

"But why?" Charmy said sniffing. "I liked the games..."

"It's back to our old and poor job after this," Espio said with a chuckle. "As always...sadly."

"I guess it can't be helped... Wait."

"What?"

Charmy pointed at the Smashers. "Do you think...we can go and visit them sometime? They seem to be fun."

"Hmm... I'll ask Vector about that."

"Hurray!"

"Well," Geno began. "Soon we're going to leave after we play the last event."

"I'm going to miss Mario and Peach." Twink said sadly.

"What about Bowser?" Mallow asked.

"...Who?" Twink asked with an annoyed look.

"...A-anyway," Mallow looked at Geno. "There wasn't any kind of attack here."

"It's good to know but..." Geno thought for a moment. "I don't think we're going to leave yet."

"Why is that?" Twink asked.

"...We better be prepared for anything,"Geno narrowed his eyes. "Something will happen now. My intuition isn't lying."

"Okay." Mallow said nodding.

"Hey!" Sonic called out. "How come you believe in his intuition and not mine?!"

The trio ignored him.

Chris yawned and mumbled. "I want to return now... I feel so tired, kupooooo..."

"...?!" Lucario felt a presence and looked around.

Chris looked at him with a tired look. "What is it?"

"...They're here..."

Chris's eyes widened. "W-what?! S-seriously?! Kupo?!"

Lucario nodded and showed his fangs. "They're coming here! Everyone!"

The Smashers quickly looked at Lucario. "Really?" Diddy asked.

"There is no doubt about it..." Lucario closed his eyes and glowed with his aura. "...I sense...an enormous airship coming to this very location."

"Airship..." Marth thought for a moment. "You don't mean..."

It was not long before the sky began to fill with purple clouds as the crowd stopped chattering and were silenced by the huge shadow above the stadium. "What the heck is that?" a resident from Mobius(?) asked pointing at the sky.

"Lucario..." Chris trailed off as Lucario stopped glowing and looked up.

"Yes..." Lucario nodded.

"...It feels like the intro of the game."

Lucario facepalmed. "No videogame analogies right now."

"Oops, kupo." Chris said chuckling a bit.

"Hm?" Toadsworth looked up. "It's the weather in Beijing so different than ours?"

"...Huh?" Kirby looked up and narrowed his eyes a little bit. "...The Halberd!"

Super Mario Bros. 3 – Airship Theme

"The Halberd?!" the Smashers repeated surprised as the huge battleship descended from the clouds and the crowd gasped in shock at the size of the airship.

"I knew it," Geno said putting his right hand above his left hand. "They wanted to come here as well."

"But...why so late?" Mallow asked before the sound of a speaker coming from the Halberd blared out.

"DUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Who's that?" DK asked.

"Glad you asked, ape! My name is the great Porky!" the speaker yelled as the crowd talked to each other. "And we've come here to bring the destruction and panic!"

"Oh yeah?" a resident from Mobius(?) (who was probably the same one) asked. "How?"

"That's simplier than the rules to park a car!" Porky laughed for a bit. "We're gonna drop some bombs around here and you people need to be civilized and stay there in your seats. Doing otherwise will get you all a serious punishment!"

"How so?"

"...Argh! Just panic or something because we're gonna deploy the bombs!"

Diddy made a bored look. "...And what does he think the public will do?"

The whole crowd looked at each other before panicking and running towards the exit. The 3 teams looked up and saw the Halberd landing inside the stadium where it opened the hangar and R.O.B.s began to carry out the Subspace Bombs.

"Oh no!" Yoshi yelled. "The bombs! They're going to take the stadium with all of us here!"

"But the people managed to escape, right?" Twink asked as the screen showed the people who appeared to be trapped inside a force field just when they were about to leave the stadium. "F-force fields?!"

"DUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Porky walked down the hangar with the help of his Spider Mech, along with Petey Pirahna. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Porky! Ready to break havoc and punish guys like you all!" he said pointing at the 3 teams who were gathered in the same place (with Cream, Charmy, Espio, Cheese and Marine).

"W-what's happening here?" Cream asked as she hugged Cheese in fear.

"The Subspace Army is trying to blow up the bombs here!" Mallow said.

"Wait!" Sonic interrupted. "Were you 2 responsible for this?"

"For deploying the bombs? Hell yeah!" Porky said laughing.

"No! I was talking about the sabotages!"

"...Whatever you mean? Blue porcupine?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "...Blue porcupin-I mean, you didn't do any sabotages here either?"

"The only sabotage I made in my entire life was to put a needle on my kindergarden teacher's seat when I was little and handsome!"

"...I feel sorry for the teacher..." Peach said looking down.

"Peach," Yoshi began with a bored look. "You're extremelt late to feel sorry for someone..."

"So they didn't do any sabotages at all?" Tails asked.

"Aha! It was the sponsor guy!" Sonic said.

Music stops

Crickets jumped close to the hedgehog and chirped several times before they jumped away.

Super Mario Bros. 3 – Airship Theme

"...Just ignore him." Shadow said with a frown as the blue hedgehog glared at him.

"...Wait," Luigi looked around. "W-where are Bowser, Wario and Waluigi?"

"They were here a moment ago." Yoshi said.

"...And they're there." Geno said pointing that the screen where the trio were trapped along with the crowd inside the force fields, because apparently they tried to run away as well.

"Force fields?" Porky asked confused. "When did we set force fields?"

"Hyuck?" Petey answered.

"I didn't get what you said," Porky turned at the teams. "But what I DO get is that you all need to be annihilated right here and now!"

"The Halberd," Pit began taking out his dual blades. "We have the Halberd standing in front of us."

"Meaning that we can retrieve it if we get those 2 out of the way."

"What Meta Knight just said seems to be what w-"

"META KNIGHT?!" the Smashers yelled in shock as they found the Star Warrior ready with Galaxia in hand.

"I came here as soon as Master Hand told me that the Halberd was here," Meta knight explained. "And I need to retrieve it myself."

Reunited with Meta Knight

Chris pouted and flew besides Meta Knight with his sword ready. "I told you before that we're going to retrive it together, right? Kupo?"

"...You didn't."

Chris sweatdropped. "W-well, we're going to! Kupo!"

"...Fine by me." Meta Knight said as he glared at Petey and Porky.

"H-hey!" Tails called out. "W-what about the bombs?!"

"You Tails can deactivate it," Sonic instructed. "You did it last time and it wasn't that hard, right?"

"Well... I guess I can do it again, but I need help."

"I want to do something worthwhile." Espio said raising his hand.

"Yeah!" Charmy took out a wrench from his back. "I'll give you my help!"

"If you don't mind," Cream said smiling a bit. "I'd like to help you out as well."

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said happily.

"Leave it to me, mates!" Marine said happily. "If repairing a boat is an easy task to me, dismantling a bomb isn't gonna be that hard either, mates!"

"...Those 2 things are unrelated...but thanks." Tails said with a nod as he ran away with the 5.

"Wait!" Daisy yelled. "I wanna help out!"

"You?" Peach asked.

"I-I can't fight those 2 over there, duh!" Daisy said as she ran away to Tails.

"...Me neither..." Peach said as she ran with Daisy.

"I don't think we're going to be of much help with out abilities," Mario said as Luigi stood behind him. "So we're leaving the fighting to you."

"I understand," Marth said. "But please, try to dismantle the bombs as well."

"We'll do." Mario said as he ran away with Luigi (who tripped but then got up).

"Mwhahahahahahahaha!" Dr. Eggman laughed as he took out 2 wrenches from his back. "If I dismantle these bombs, then I can get a sample of their mechanisms and use it agains-"

"You're not going to do such a thing," Shadow stated crossing his arms. "Because I'm going to watch you closely."

Dr. Eggman sweated a little. "I-ah... Oh, dammit! Fine! Come with me!" Dr. Eggman said as he ran away with Shadow...

...Then Vector followed them. "You need my strength if you want to break things up!" Vector yelled.

"Amy, go with them!" Sonic said.

"W-what? But I want to stay here and fight!" Amy protested as Knuckles stepped in front of her.

"If you stay here you're going to get in our way! Leave!"

WHACK!

Knuckles was now buried in the floor as Amy stepped on him. "No! I said I'm going to stay here!"

"Just let her be," DK said. "I think she's going to be great with us."

Amy blushed. "Oh ho ho, thank you."

"Anything for a little miss."

Sonic shuddered. "And where is Blaze?"

"Over here!" Blaze called from a bench. "I'm going to stay here because I want to recover from my back!"

"...Er...sure!"

"I'll fight," Yoshi said narrowing his eyes. "I want to play the last event and win like the last time."

"Wait..." Diddy began. "How come you didn't show up here sooner?"

"Because we got lost on our way here," Porky explained. "We ended up in some place called Mesiko where all the people were wearing those sombrero things on ther heads. Their nachos were awesome though and after that, we ended up in Purape or something where the french bread was also awesom-"

"So basically you got lost around the world, kupo?" Chris asked.

Porky sweated a little. "N-no! I-it's not like my curiosity got the better of me or something!"

"...Sure..." DK said with a bored look.

"So everyone's ready?" Mallow asked as Chris, Meta Knight, Marth, DK, Diddy, Kirby, Lucario, Sonic, Knuckles (who got out from the hole), Amy, Pit, Geno, Twink (hidding behind Geno) nodded with serious looks at the 2 villains who chuckled.

"You don't even have a chance against pretty me," Porky said chuckling. "You better lay down and die before we lay you down and kill you!"

"HYUCK!" Petey said nodding.

"They could be keeping Kalmar inside the Halberd," Geno muttered. "I'm not going to let them escape... Not now..."

Preview of the next chapter

"The show is about to start very shortly!" Chris said chuckling. "And I need you, Diddy! Kupo!"

"R-really?" Diddy asked excited.

"Remember," Lucario began. "Follow my example if you want to do it."

"I'll listen to whatever you want to teach me." Chris said as Lucario's tail wagged a little.

"We're almost done here!" Knuckles yelled dodging the missiles. "We can't fail now!"

"And would you please shut up? Knucklehead?" Sonic asked annoyed.

"Who will reach the finish line?" Toadsworth asked. "Who will take the trophy back home? Who shall be victorious? The result is almost here, everybody!"

The 3 ran as fast as their feet could took them as they neared the finish line...

"The Clue to a Star... So that means I won't rescue Kalmar yet?" Geno asked worried.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Beijing?
Chris, Lucario, Kirby, Meta Knight, Marth, Pit, Yoshi, Sonic, DK, Diddy Kong, Mallow, Geno, Twink

References:

-Sonic saying that he would like to combine his speed and attack with a sword is a reference to Sonic and the Black Knight.

-Sonic saying that he taught children good things to prevent themselves from getting in trouble was a reference to AoStH.

-Mallow saying that DK was Bruce Lee was a reference before you get to fight Bowyer in the Forever Forest.

So Porky isn't the culprit either? Who is behind all the mysterious sabotages then? Will the Smashers defeat the 2 bosses and resume the Olympics? (Judging by the preview, most likely).

Will Sonic stop his assumption about the sponsor being the culprit? And will the transformation appear soon?

Read (wait) and review, please! :D
*Chapter 113*: The Clue to a Star

Hey guys, just dropping by that I got Pokémon Platinum and I'm deleting this fic forever.

...

Ha! Like that is going to happen after all the hard work! Even with a new game in hands, the next chapter is always ready to be uploaded once you read this one! :D

From Rabid Original: XD
Ok, the extreme ping-pong was the best thing ever.

Hahaha, reading this made me hyper. Way to go.

From me: Once I saw Tails and Yoshi glaring at each other, I thought they were going to do their combat that you just saw. XD

From ngrey651: The Pipe has Powers. BRILLIANCE! XD

And at this point, I'M beginning to think the sponsor's up to all of the sabotages too!

From me: Puh-lease! There's no way he did it! :l

From SlasherMask: *reviews in middle of reading chapter*

0_0... YOu actually mentioed Lucario's obession...

Hes actually in my opinion most annoying(well expect Porky) characker in this fic. I mean he has no other personality but act angry when someone insults Chris, act fluffy when Chris compliments him, hes almost always talking about Chris...

And about Chris... I'm neutral about him... Beacause i'm not very good reviewer i'm not sure wether he is Gary Sue or not... But i know that he has view Gary Sue traits: hes pretty much author avatar, he is capable of having skills of every charachters with his jobs, and one character from the game is his best friend.

Well anyway sorry for bad english.

*goes of to read rest of chapter*

From me: Sorry for telling you this, but everyone accepts Chris as not a Gary Sue, since he tends to fail in battles many times. He may have all the powers from everyone, but he isn't exactly a professional since he needs to fight and gain experience. Lucario? Everyone likes his personality since the lone wolf attitude (that was pointed out by ngrey65 in the second Metroid arc if I remember) is so overdone in all fics. Both of them are just fine, right, readers? :D

From Soldier of Future: Augh, literally took me forever to read all the way up here.
Good job btw

From me: Good! You're one of the "lost" reviewers. I'm happy you continued to read this fic. :)

From Blaperile: Porky isn't the one?! Who, can it be? (Maybe it's Crazy Hand :o... wait he won't hurt the smashers... or would he?)

Luigi is joining?!

Hurray!

Yahoo!

Yeah!

Not that one! XD

Good chapter like always!

From me: That culprit is going to appear in this chapter...and we'll kill him off. :(

From JSandders: I know who was doing the sabotages! It was the BUTLER! It's always the butler! XD

Anyways, good chapter, it was exciting from start to the end! So they're fighting Pokey (Porky: It's PORKY!) and Petey again, eh? Can't wait to see who wins the Olympics! Are you also making a Winter Olympics arc? I can't wait for another mansion arc, and I also can't wait for the other future arcs! Keep updating, your story's great!

From me: There wasn't any butler though. XD

I'm not going to do that arc if I ever feel like it. We'll see how and when with other though. ;)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... Next Chapter looks like it will be awsome. Why do I get the feeling Sonic IS correct? Does this mean the Geno arc will end soon and you will show Kingdom Hearts II soon? KINGDOM HEARTS TOTALLY RULES MAN! UPDATE SOON! HASTA!

From me: Nah, Sonic isn't always correct. Why do you think that? :l

The KH 2 arc is so far away, but the first one is getting near but not after the "Geno saga." Sorry.

From Ultra Blader: Whoa. That chapter took forever to read. Good job. Plenty of humourous anecdotes all round. Just one thing: The Platypus really comes from Australia, not Africa, and is a monetreme, not a duck. A monetreme is a mammal that lays eggs. Just clearing things a bit. Apart from that, that was an excellent chapter.

Ultra Blader

From me: I knew there was something wrong with the platypus part. Thanks, I'll correct that error and thank you for pointing that out. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: heh, yeah, my avatar kinda tells that i like to decipher things like that, but i have no idea why i would feel a bit offended by writing less(seriously, i don't). so i can't borrow your music and reply to reviewers idea right? well, on to the actual review, a excellent chapter filled with action and a good question, who is responsible for the sabotages? my 1st opinion is the werehog, it might've happen during the pause in between chapters. the 2nd is the sponsor, sonic could be about the pokeballs, i'm just saying that he was cheated with 1 pokeball to 6 he should've received. well, time for
BLAH BLAH BLAH, QUESTION EDITION basically, more questions
so will the suggested musicians be coming to smash mansion? when will a level 2 final attack come in? will the smash tournament finally start? can koume and kotake, or twinrova, be part of the tabuu's army? final question, when will Duon be introduced? well, happy typing!
p.s. i did this on the wii, so don't blame be if there is grammar mistakes

From me: I don't know what the heck is Death Note and I don't want to know. XD

The suggested musicians will come much, much later. I don't know when I'm going to show a lvl. 2 FS yet. There ISN'T a tournament, Master Hand just says tournament as an expression and the others say that too. No. Duon will be introduced much later.

And I don;t blame you at all. ;)

The Olympics end with a double fight and of course, the last main event that I hope you all will enjoy. This also brings the conclusion to the Olympics Games arc and start a new one; a new one that I just LOVE writing for. ;D

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 113: The Clue to a Star

Beijing(?)

Inside the stadium

Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise

"You guys've been a very pointy rock in Tabuu's shoes!" Porky yelled as he charged at the group with Petey. "It's about time I have the honor to take you out of 'em!"

"Then we'll continue to be a pointy rock," Marth said charging at the 2 villains with everyone. "Until we end the plans of Tabuu, that is."

"Hyuck!" Petey said angrily, showing his fangs.

"That's right!" Porky yelled calling Porky Bots out that ran at the group. "I hope you enjoy the last time you walk the earth, 'cuz I won't hesitate to exterminate you pesky bugs!"

"We'll exterminate you instead," Sonic said grabbing a Porky Bot that he threw back at Porky, who sliced it in 2 as it exploded. "Then I'll be the chance to be a hero again!"

"Sonic, just shut up with your cheesy lines...and don't let his words get to you either. Kupo." Chris said with a bored look as he used Moogle Lance to send 3 air slashes at Porky.

"Ooh, what do we have here? A tiny little rabbit?" Porky asked chuckling.

"That is it, you're not going to call me a rabbit anymore. Kupo!" Chris yelled annoyed as he flew towards Porky who prepared to slash him. However, Meta Knight appeared above the window and slashed it several times before Chris dove down and struck down his sword as both swordsmen jumped away and landed on the floor. "T-thank you, kupo."

"Same here." Meta Knight with a nod before he took Chris using Dimensional Cape to evade a Porky Bot's explosion.

Petey tried to slap Amy away but the pink hedgehog jumped at him and swung her hammer hard on his face. "Don't judge me just because I'm a girl."

"HYUCK!" Petey replied back by vomiting on her.

"...YUCK! EEEEHHHH!!!" Amy yelled disgusted at the muddy goo. "M-my shoes! Look at what you did to my shoe-"

"AMY!" Sonic yelled as he tackled Amy down from a headbutt of the piranha as both hedgehogs tripped on the floor. "P-phew, I made it in time..."

"Oh, Sonic!" Amy squealed with glee. "Thank you for rescuing me as always an-....wait, how come you didn't take me much sooner?"

Sonic helped her to get up and looked down. "...Because my speed isn't the same as long as we stay inside the stadium."

"...Oh...right..." Amy made a worried look. "I forgot about that..."

"LOOK OUT!" Marth yelled as he stepped in front of the 2 and received a hard slap. "Ugh!"

"Nancy boy!" Sonic yelled.

Marth grunted a little as he shook his head. "Don't dare...to call me like that...again... Didn't we have a deal?"

"We did?" Sonic asked with a grin as Marth glared at him. "...Oh yeah, I remember."

"Will you 2 stop talking?" Knuckles asked as he backed away from a headbutt attack. "That plant is going to take advantage of your unnecessary arguments if you don't stop arguing!"

Sonic wiped something from his mouth with his thumb. "Fine. Bring it on, you...strip wearing plant!"

"I thought that was a white polka-dotted underwear." Amy said with a confused look.

"AHEM." Knuckles coughed.

"Oops."

"Here it comes!" Marth yelled as Petey tried to crush them by tripping, but they easily dodged that move and attacked the plant while he was laying down.

"Attack it with everything you got!" Amy yelled banging the plant as suddenly Petey spun and made a tornado that covered him and flung the 4 away from him while he got up and chuckled...then he did a weird dance with his hands.

"Tornadoes?" Knuckles asked.

"So if we stay attacking him for a long period of time if he were to drop down on us," Marth began. "He will use a tornado to push us away."

"But hence that we need to keep attacking him, correct?" Amy asked as she put a stronger grip on her hammer.

"Right."

"Hey!" Kirby yelled as he was shown wearing a blue hat. "Can I help you?"

"Where did you get that hat from?" Sonic asked as Kirby took out a bomb from behind his back and carried it above him.

"I ate that tasty robot that looked like a kid and I got this." Kirby explained as he tossed the bomb at Petey, who slapped it to the sky and exploded.

"Then it's going to be helpful." Marth said with a nod as Kirby smiled happily and decided to help the 4 against Petey Piranha.

"Moogle Lance!" Chris yelled firing 3 air slashes that Porky slashed in half and went stomping after the Moogle World Traveler who shielded himself with his sword and was grabbed by Lucario who rolled to him and took him under his arm, evading Porky by several centimeters. "T-thank you, Lucario!"

"I could've been faster but...those pills..." Lucario trailed off.

"I forgot about them... But you can still fight, right?"

"Yes." Lucario said as his hands glowed with aura. "I still can do everything."

"Nah-ah-ah!" Porky said grabbed Lucario and Chris in separated claws from behind them before slamming both at the floor. "Don't get that overconfident!"

"D-dammit, kupo..." Chris moaned in pain as he slowly got up.

"He is now going to pay." Lucario said gritting his fangs as he quickly charged up an Aura Sphere and blasted it to Porky's window, creating a blue blast as Geno jumped high and fired his Geno Beam at full potency at the spider mech that quickly stomped away in time.

"Hold on!" DK yelled with a completely charged Giant Punch that he collided on the machine's back as Diddy jumped from his back and fired several peanuts at Porky before landing and rolling away from the claws that wanted to cross him.

"I hope you don't mind this!" Pit yelled as he slashed one claw 2 times with his dual blades before another claw pushed him away.

"It's not going to be that easy to get rid of me!" Porky yelled as he saw Meta Knight trying to aboard the Halberd. "Oh no, you won't!" Porky pressed a button and the hangar closed up, making Meta Knight curse under his breath as he glared at Porky.

"You imbecile," Meta Knight said darkly. "You're not going to escape with a battleship that is not yours."

"Sorry to remind you this bu-"

"SHOCKER!"

SHOCKER!

"AAAAHHHH!!!" Porky yelled as a heavy bolt of lightning fell on him and electrocuted his death body inside the mech as he backed away. "Y-you!"

Mallow grinned. "Like that?"

"Yes, but I'd have liked that if you were the one receiving THIS!" Porky yelled madly as he jumped high in the air and hovered along the air before shooting an electrocuting red bolt at Mallow who screamed in pain before being stomped by the spider mech as the cloud prince landed several meters away, moaning in pain. "DUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Wheeeeeeeeeeee!" Diddy came from the air and crashed his jet pack on Porky with an explosion as the chimpanzee followed up by throwing banana peels to the floor and taunted Porky to get him.

Porky looked down and laughed. "I'm not that stupid and fall for the oldest trick on the book!"

"I have ice cream here."

"GIMME!" Porky demanded as he went after Diddy but then tripped above the 2 banana peels and fell down on his back. "DAMMIT! DON'T TRICK ME!"

Meta Knight appeared above him using Dimensional Cape and stood on the window. "Prepare." Meta Knight simply said as he started and furious frenzy of slashes on Porky who tried to shook him off but failed.

"FIRE MISSILES AT WILL!" Porky yelled, firing missiles from the sides of the machine as Meta Knight looked them about to crash into him and flew above. Porky didn't think that the missiles were so slow and exploded right on him. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"His idiocy will only make him fall." Meta Knight commented as he looked down on Porky.

"I can still fight, you know!" Porky yelled as he used his claws to jump above and stand up. "Now where is that blue mutated dog?"

"Right here." Lucario said appearing above Porky with Extremespeed before he started to punch down the window several times with Force Palm, creating very small cracks on it as Porky panicked.

"Y-you guys won't stop to try and break this thing down, huh?!" Porky asked angrily as he rolled by the side while Lucario jumped in time to evade the claws. "Guess I'll have to go crazy!" Porky yelled before calling out 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Porky Bots from his back that ran across the field madly (and stupidly) toward the Smashers.

"There are too many of them!" Twink yelled from above. "You'll have to evade them or els-"

"AAAHHHH!!!" Chris was attacked by an explosion from a kamikaze of the robots as he went to another and exploded as the Moogle Knight fell on the floor in a weak state. "I... I won't fall...kupo..."

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted in fury as he used Extremespeed and banged the machine several times with Force Palm, then following them up with a fully charged Aura Sphere that exploded and made Porky back away.

"Chris!" Professor Kawashima yelled from his pocket. "You have an ability that lets you recover without getting tired! Use it!"

"R-right...kupo..." Chris closed his eyes and put his sword in front of him in an horizontal line as he concentrated. "Moogle Aid!" Chris yelled as his body was covered in a shiny green light that recovered his wounds by a half. "Phew... I'm feeling fine now. Kupo."

"What a relief." Lucario said sighing in relief.

"Ayayayaaa!" Pit used Angel Ring and continuously slashed Porky's mech from behind and backed away in time for 2 missiles that exploded right in front of him. "I think we can defeat them without having to lose someone in battle!"

"You don't know how much I want that... Kupo..." Chris commented.

"UAH!" Knuckles was slammed to the floor by Petey's headbutt as the plant backed away and crushed him with a stomp. "AAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Leave him alone!" Amy yelled as she jumped and spun her hammer in the air to create a tornado that went after the piranha who create another tornado and collided with the first one, cancelling each other in the process. "Oh, come on!"

"Amy!" Sonic yelled.

"What?" Amy asked as Petey grabbed her and ate her. "SAVE ME!"

"Hang in there!" Sonic yelled as he ran (as fast as he could) to the pirahna who pulled back his head and spat Amy out after he moved in back at Sonic, which made both hedgehogs collide with each other. "Oof!"

"S-sorry..." Amy apologized.

"J-just get off my back...please..." Sonic said with a weak look.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Bomb Kirby tossed 3 bombs at Petey's back as they each collided, making Petey growl furiously as he jumped high in the air and went after Bomb Kirby. The bomb wielder made an angry expression and tossed 2 bombs at the plant who got shocked and was pushed to the ground with the explosions.

"Now!" Marth yelled as he used Dolphin Slash to consecutively deal multiple hits, followed by a fast slam by Amy's hammer and Sonic's Homing Attack on the head and a downward punch by Knuckles, right on the stomach as the 4 backed away from the plant who spun and got up...dancing.

"Why is that monster dancing?" Knuckles asked confused.

"It's because he acts like that all the time!" Bomb Kirby yelled as he blinked confused. "...H-how come I know about him? I-I never met him before!"

"Hey! Watch out!"

"Hu-" Bomb Kirby was eaten whole by Petey who laughed and chomped down the puffball before spitting him out to the floor with a quick shot. "O-oww..."

"You know what," Amy said pouting. "I have a better idea."

"And what would that be?" Marth asked as Amy simply put a stronger grip on her hammer and tossed it quickly at Petey's head and impacted into the plant, who almost lost his balance and slapped his head to remain conscious.

"Who told you I only had one?" Amy asked as she made another hammer appear on her right hand and tossed it again at Petey, who yelled and was pushed to the floor again as he tried to get up.

"W-what the..." Marth stared at Amy.

Amy looked at Marth. "What? I have a special power with hammers."

"I-I see."

"And stop staring at me!" Amy pointed at Petey. "We have a monster to kill!"

"CHIIIIIAA!!" Knuckles jumped towards Petey and slammed his right fist on his stomach making Petey growl furiously as he spun and pushed the echidna away.

"See?!" Amy asked angrily as she yelled and rushed after Petey.

"Geez, women are scary..." Marth said rubbing his head before he followed Amy.

"Hey, Chris!" Professor Kawashima called out. "You should try and look for Combinated Final Smashes with the others here!"

"Who? Kupo?" Chris asked.

"Hmm... Oh!" Kawashima got something. "The Juggler job must be compatible with Diddy!"

"...O-okay, kupo." Chris said nodding as he changed to his Juggler job, and he smiled. "I think it's the perfect time to do a show here. Kupo!"

Diddy walked up to him. "Oh yes! You're in that costume again!"

"Well, of course!" Chris said cheerfully as he balanced a dagger above his index finger. "And I have to tell you something important, kupo."

Diddy tilted his head. "What?"

"The show is about to start very shortly!" Chris said chuckling. "And I need you, Diddy! Kupo!"

"R-really?" Diddy asked excited.

"But of course, you could be considered a proficient acrobat in my eyes," Chris chuckled. "Have you tried passing daggers, for example?"

"...No..."

"Good!" Chris smiled. "That should be good enough to start you on that! Kupo!"

"A hand wouldn't be so bad right now!" Geno yelled as he was tossed away above them.

"Right, right," Chris said nodding. "This performance could be dangerous though... Are you ready for it? Kupo?"

Diddy thought for a moment before nodding.

"That's excellent! Kupo!"

But suddenly, both felt a strange feeling and looked around.

"(...Diddy...are you there? Kupo?)" Chris asked.

"(Yes...but what happened?)" Diddy asked.

"(This proves that we can really DO our Combinated Final Smash together. Kupo.)"

"(Soooooo, it's like some kind of sense that tells you when and how?)"

Chris shrugged. "(...I guess so...kupo.)"

"(...Sweet! Let's do it!)"

"I couldn't agree more than that, kupo." Chris said with a smirk.

"Why do I think you're going to annoy Porky?" Pit asked rolling his eyes as he found the 2 staring at each other.

"Away with you!" Porky yelled as he grabbed Lucario with 2 claws and slammed him on the floor.

"Ugh!" Lucario grunted in pain as he rolled away and stood up.

"You're not going to inflict more damage! Kupo!" Chris said stepping in front of Lucario with Diddy.

"Chris?"

Chris looked at Lucario over his shoulder and smiled. "Everything is fine. Don't worry."

"...I suppose..." Lucario said worried.

"Now," Chris looked at Porky. "Do you like the circus?"

"Ooh, ooh!" Porky hopped childishly. "I like the circus! It's like the carnival!"

"Good!" Chris said as he ran at one side while Diddy ran to the opposite side. The Moogle took out 4 daggers, 2 on each hand as he laughed for a bit. "Because we're going to give you one!"

"Yes!"

"Hahahahaha! Diddy!" Chris laughed.

"Let's start the show?" Diddy asked excited.

"You're absolutely right, hahahahahahaha!"

"...Talk about utterly happy..." Pit commented.

"And so, the show begins!" Chris said closing his eyes with Diddy while Porky (stupidly) stood between the 2 before Chris tossed 2 daggers at Diddy, who catched one on his right hand and one with his tail.

"So now what?" Diddy asked.

"Start!"

Both jugglers started to toss their daggers at each other (and through Porky's spider mech) and throwing them back in perfect synchronization before the daggers turned blue and slashed the mech several times as both laughed, spun to throw them back faster with every second until they were practically spinning and throwing their daggers back forth, dealing moderate damage to the mech.

"Dagger-to-Dagger!" both jugglers yelled as they threw the daggers one last time and a last slash made the mech fall down.

New ability learned! Dagger-to-Dagger!

Execute this move with 2 jugglers and throws 4 daggers at one enemy continuously and towards each juggler. Deals moderate damage

"Ugh!" Porky's claws fell down as he tried to get up. "I-I should've know that was a dirty trick...like yourselves!"

"Heheheh," Chris chuckled mischievously. "I admit that was entertaining while it lasted, don't you agree? Diddy?"

"Uh-huh." Diddy said nodding.

"Y-you..." Porky struggled to get up and managed to do mentioned action. "I can handle you all by myself...that's a fa-"

"Geno Whirl!" Geno threw his glowing ring at blinding speed, but it didn't do an exaggerated damage as Geno wanted it to be. "So it's no use against him."

"THAT ONLY MADE ME FURIOUS!" Porky yelled as he joined 2 claws together and shot a fast red lightning at everyone who got electrocuted until it stopped 5 seconds later.

"B-but still..." Chris shook his head. "The show needs to continue! Kupo!"

"Oh no," Porky chuckled. "The show needs to end now!"

"Your show, that is. Kupo." Chris said rolling his eyes, getting on Porky's nerves.

"I guess I should better get rid of you first," Porky said as he took out 4 laser beams, making Chris's eyes wide. "Surprised? This baby was enhanced with all kinds of enhancements for this occasion!"

"Use as many jobs as you want, Chris!" Professor Kawashima called out. "The more experience you get during battle, the better! Why don't you try the Scholar job and try to learn Item Lore?"

"...Okay, kupo." Chris said changing to his Scholar job as he turned back to a human and adjusted his glasses. "Shall I study the enemy's weaknesses?"

"Study this!" Porky yelled, firing 4 red beams that exploded on the ground close to the World Traveler who was pushed away and fell to the floor.

"My..." Chris moaned in pain. "You sure are ruthless towards anybody..."

"Here." Lucario helped Chris to get up.

"Thank you," Chris said with a nod. "Now please try to shield me from that pig."

"I'M NOT A PIG!" Porky yelled as he stomped the floor furiously and rushed towards the duo.

"Not so fast." Meta Knight said slicing one of the 6 claws down.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Porky yelled dramatically. "My precious Roberto! He was one hard claw!"

"...Excuse me? Roberto?" DK asked confused.

Porky sniffed. "M-my claws are very precious to me. They help me to get around and 'round and do whatever I want them to do... YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

"Make me." Meta Knight taunted.

"GRRRR!!!" Porky stretched every single claw out and fired electricity around as they damaged every Smasher greatly.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Diddy yelled.

"DIDDY! ARE YOU OKAY?!" DK asked worried.

"I-I'm fine! T-the attack is just s-AAAHHH!!!"

"DIDDY!" DK struggled to move in the electricity as he slowly walked to Porky.

"Try to attack me, ape!" Porky yelled. "I'll continue to discharge all this electricity until everyone here is down!"

"U-ugh..." DK panted. "I... I won't let you hurt...Diddy..."

An egg seemed to be thrown at Porky who gasped and backed away from the egg, thus stopping his attack on everyone as he saw Yoshi tossing a Yoshi egg up and down his right hand.

"What's the matter?" Yoshi asked with a glare. "Didn't you say you were going to continue? Don't mind my eggs."

"Eww..." Mallow commented.

"Not like that!" Yoshi said annoyed.

"Where were you, anyway?" Twink asked.

Yoshi blushed and stopped tossing the egg. "I... I went to the locker room and changed my shoes," Yoshi pointed down at his blue shoes. "They look good, right?"

"...You went to your locker room during this crisis...just to change your shoes..." Chris trailed off as he adjusted his glasses.

"T-these are for running." Yoshi responded.

"...Quite interesting." Chris said nodding as Diddy facepalmed with a frown.

"Okay," Tails began as he pulled some cables from a bomb. "This cable should be here and this one over there..."

"Hello, mate!" Marine said to one R.O.B.. "Why are yah here? Mate?"

"..." the R.O.B. didn't talk back.

"Hey, honza!" Marine knocked its head a little. "I'm askin' yah a question! Be a gentleman and answer me, mate!"

"..."

"Huh?" Tails looked at the R.O.B.. "Weird, I didn't notice that robot attached to the bomb...wait, why is it attached to the bomb in the first place?"

"How should I know? Matey?" Marine asked. "He just happened to be stuck."

"Stuck? Can't it deattach itself?"

"Hmm... Honza! Can't you get out?" Marine asked and the R.O.B. shook its head in shame. "...Are you feelin' sad? Matey?"

"It's...stupid..." Tails said as he continued to deactivate the bomb. "Robots don't have any kind of emotions so it's useless to make them understand, unless somebody programs them correctly...but that's just me."

Marine made a worried look. "Somehow...I feel that they do have emotions, mate..."

"Marine, stop saying such things and help me here!" Tails yelled as Marine shook her head and ducked to help the 2-tailed fox.

In another side, there was Cream and Cheese watching Espio and Charmy trying to deactivate a bomb by doing the same actions as Tails.

Cream and Cheese looked at the robots and walked to them. "Mr. Robots," Cream began. "Why are your hands inside the bomb?" she said but didn't get a respond. "...Are you...stuck in there?"

"Not that one, Charmy!" Espio yelled as Charmy sweated and grabbed another cable inside the bomb. "Cream, what are you doing?"

"Um..." Cream looked at the R.O.B.. "Mr. Robot can't get away from the bomb because his hands are stuck in it."

"Hmm..." Espio walked to the robot and tried to pull it away, but it seemed that the R.O.B. was completely stuck and couldn't move. "It's no use. The robot itself could be part of the bomb as well if my thoughts are correct."

"W-wait..." Cream looked at the R.O.B. worried. "D-does that mean if the bomb is deactivated...the Mr. Robots are going to..."

Espio looked at the R.O.B.s and looked down. "...I know you befriend someone very fast but...that seems to be the case..."

"...No..." Cream muttered as she hugged Cheese tightly. "They can't..."

"I think I found something in here!" Charmy yelled as the countdown stopped. The bee came out from the bomb and made a fist in the air after the countdown was stopped. "Yeah! I did it!"

"...Mr. Robot?" Cream asked worried as she tapped its head a little, but the head slowly looked down until the young rabbit looked at its eyes, that were closed...forever. "..."

"C'mon! We have to deactivate the next one!" Charmy said as he flew away to another bomb. Espio looked back at Cream.

"...Sorry, Cream...but it had to be done..." Espio said with a frown as he followed Charmy.

"...But...why?" Cream questioned. "Why do they need to..."

"Chao..." Cheese trailed off worried.

"Marvelous!!!" Dr. Eggman exlaimed as he pulled some cables.

"No investigations." Shadow said as he leaned to a robot with crossed arms.

"...I hate you," Dr. Eggman said as he deactivated the bomb. "There."

Shadow looked at the countdown and nodded. "It seems that wasn't that hard to you, doctor."

"It was hard to be exact," Dr. Eggman said as he got out from below the bomb. "I just happened to figure out how it worked."

"...I hope that gets forgotten later on."

"Wait," Dr. Eggman looked at the R.O.B.s. "Something that caught my attention was these robots..."

"They're just robots. Now go to the next bomb before we get killed."

"Fine, fine, grumpy hedgehog." Dr. Eggman said grumbling as both went to the next bomb.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!" Vector yelled as he constantly banged a bomb. "This thing won't stop with the annoying beeping of the countdown!"

"Aaaaaaaand there." Peach said simply as she got out from the bomb and stopped the countdown.

"...How the heck did you do that?" Vector asked.

Peach giggled. "I studied a little bit of heavy machinery a while ago and I wanted to see if I could put it into test with the bomb."

Vector gave a shocked look at the princess. "And what book are we talking about again?"

"It's a secret of the Mushroom Kingdom's Royal Library." Peach said as she walked away.

"...My god, she's unreal!" Vector said surprised as he followed the princess (with hearts instead of eyes).

"Say, Mario," Luigi began as he played with his fingers while Mario was trying to deactivate the bomb. "Do you know how to make this bomb stop?"

"Yes," Mario responded. "Tippi taught me how to deactivate one when she was with us. It was weird because she knew how to do it and never did it once before."

"M-maybe because she has a special ability to give out important information?" Luigi wondered as the countdown stopped and the red plumber came out. "Done?"

"Yes." Mario said as he ran to the next bomb.

"...A-are you going to be fine without me once I leave?" Luigi asked as he followed Mario.

"Totally," Mario chuckled as they arrived to the next bomb. "You can take of yourself alone very good like me."

"Y-yes..." Luigi said looking away.

"...And would you help me here?"

"R-right! Sorry!" Luigi said quickly as he joined his brother.

"HYUCK!" Petey vomited on the floor around him.

"Why does he do that again? It's gross!" Amy said disgusted.

"Who cares?" Sonic asked with a grin as he ran at Petey...but slipped on the vomit and was crushed by a headbutt on him. "...I think I know...why now...ouch..." Sonic said from under Petey's head.

"You leave my dear Sonic alone!" Amy yelled as she lunged at Petey and slammer her hammed on the back of his head...which crushed Sonic even more by accident as he yelled in pain. "O-oh no! What did I do?!"

"You crushed him! You bastard!" Mallow said gasping.

"H-hey!"

"But it's the truth!"

"Mallow," Marth began. "What are you doing here?"

"Geno told me to help you guys with this one."

"Oh."

"HIYAH!" Knuckles uppercutted Petey from the ground where the echidna appeared, setting Sonic free as the hedgehog rolled back and stopped. "Hey there! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for the help back there!" Sonic yelled before he was slapped by Petey and pushed away.

"If only Sonic could use his real speed..." Marth wondered as Bomb Kirby took out a bomb.

"How I miss calling Poppy here," Bomb Kirby said before he tossed the bomb inside Petey's mouth. "He was very helpful with the bombs."

"But didn't Crazy Hand have a ability that lets you call your friends back?"

"...That's right!" Bomb Kirby said. "I need to ask Chris and convince him to get that ability!... But I should warn you something first."

"What?"

"Many of my friends like to say puns according to their abilities, so please don't get annoyed by them."

"...As long as they help..."

"PETEY!" Bomb Kirby yelled as he threw a bomb at Petey's head, making the piranha grunt in rage as he slapped the air hardly and created a tornado that went after them as it quickly pulled the puffball and the Altean prince to the air and crashed on the floor. "O-ouch... Oww..."

Marth got up and glared at Petey. "I hate so much when enemies like him pull off some kind of unexpected and not related move out of the blue."

"But you can't help it," Sonic commented nodding with crossed arms. "They like to do this a lot of times when you most forget about it."

Mallow chuckled. "Yeah, for example, he's starting to glow."

"Glow?" Marth asked confused as he saw Petey, who was glowing with a rainbow aura. "...Oh no! Petey can use a Final Smash as well?"

"What?!" Sonic asked in shock.

"He's just glowing," Knuckles said grinning. "Just ignore that little detail and leave it to me."

"You don't understand," Bomb Kirby said. "That glow means that he can use his ultimate attack on us!"

"...Ultimate what?"

"LOOK!" Amy yelled as Petey chuckled and put his right hand in front of him and the other hand behind him before he slowly spun and increased over time. The 6 watched as 6 huge tornadoes spun around the piranha and quickly went after them.

"OH MY GOD! RUN!" Mallow yelled as the 6 turned their backs and tried to run away from the whirlwinds that quickly caught up with them and sliced them inside many times before sending them to crash into the ground. "...My...everything..."

And probably you want to know the name of the attack so...

Rude Whirlwinds

Creates as many tornadoes depending the number of foes and chases after them to bring them inside and slash them. Deals a moderate amount of damage

"...That attack was...strong..." Knuckles moaned in pain, trying to get up.

"If only I could obtain my normal speed back..." Sonic muttered as he panted.

"This plant..." Amy got up and put a strong grip on her hammer. "...Needs to be seriously burned..."

"Over Limit gauge ready!" Kawashima said.

"Ooh, me me! It's my turn!" DK said excited.

"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment and adjusted his glasses. "...It should help so...go ahead."

"Yes!" DK said before grinning at Porky, who looked at him.

"What do you want now? Ape?" Porky asked.

"BANANAAAA-"

A record scratched and Chris made a shocked look. "W-wait, no. Donkey Kong cannot be serious!... T-then that means that TV show was...canon?!"

"SLAMAAAAA!!!" DK pounded his fists on his chest as a rainbow aura covered him with an explosion of force that pushed Porky's spider mech back.

"AAHH!!! IT SHINES! IT BUUUURNS!" Porky yelled.

DK merely blinked. "...It doesn't shine that brightly..."

"AHEM." Chris called out.

"Oh, right! Diddy! Come over here!"

"Yes?" Diddy asked.

"I need you to clap along with me!"

Diddy made a happy expression. "So we can be ready for our next hit in the city?"

DK took out his bongos and performed his theme alongside Diddy. The kong clapped in perfect sychronization and sent big sound shockwaves in the air that consecutively damaged the spider mech that backed away with every shockwave.

"Where is the rest of the music coming from?" Blaze asked from the bench as she looked around.

"I do not know..." Chris shuddered. "I suppose it follows Donkey Kong anywhere..."

CLAP!

"AYEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Porky yelled in pain as DK's bongos vanished in thin air, along with the aura as both kongs cheered.

"Yeeeaaah..." DK said flexing his arms while Diddy clapped behind him.

"...I'm happy I don't have such ridiculous Final Smash..." Lucario muttered.

Chris chuckled and rubbed his Pokémon's head with care. "Yours has a stronger degree of potency. I am glad for that."

"Guuooorrgghh..." Lucario growled happily.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Porky grunted in rage. "I hate when you pull out that annoying Final Smash!"

"...But it is the first time Donkey Kong has ever used his." Chris pointed out.

"I don't care for the ape whatsoever!" Porky yelled angrily. "I care about the graves that you all are going to be!"

"Did you at least buy them?"

"...No..."

"...Figures..." Chris said with a bored look.

"...Oh, you shut up!" Porky yelled as he stomped the floor furiously and charged at Chris, who quickly stopped rubbing Lucario's head and flipped through his pages to search for a spell.

"Burn... Fire!" Chris casted Fire on Porky who stopped and yelled. Lucario took advantage of this and jumped high to descend and slam his Force Palm on the old brat as the Aura Pokémon jumped away, back to Chris. "That was absolutely flawless."

"Hmm." Lucario made a happy expression and wagged his tail.

"Hahahaha," Chris chuckled and folded his arms behind his back. "I love when your tail expresses more emotions than yourself."

Lucario blushed embarrassed and grabbed his tail to stop it. "P-please... Don't say that again..."

"...Professor?"

"Yes?" Kawashima asked.

"How much until I learn Item Lore?"

"...Hahahaha, you need to hit Porky with another spell and it shall be yours to use."

"Thank you," Chris said with a nod as his hand glowed while he chanted a spell. "Rise, o violent winds!... Aero!"

"AAHH!!" Porky yelled after a circle of winds sliced him a little.

"There! You've learned Item Lore!" Kawashima said.

Chris took out a Pokeball and flipped through his pages while Lucario stood in front of him to offer protection. "Hmm... Let's see... O forbidden magic, cast thy blessing on this device... Item Lore!" a bright light shone on the Pokeball before it faded. "...Hmm... I feel some sort of change..."

"Throw it." Lucario said.

"Will do." Chris said as he tossed the Pokeball...

...And Jirachi came out happily.

"Aww!" Chris squealed with glee. "It is Jirachi! Look how cute he is!"

Lucario made a bored look. "...This is not the time to love another Pokémon..."

"Jirachi!" Jirachi exclaimed happily as he went to Chris. "Jirachi!"

"...What is that? You are going to grant me a wish?" Chris asked and Jirachi nodded. "Yes!" Chris closed his eyes. "For my first wish I wan-"

"...Chris..."

"...He escaped, did not he..."

"...Yes...but Jirachi left something on your hands..."

Chris opened his eyes and saw 5 different stickers on his hands: one with Squirtle, another one with Toad and Toadette, another one with Fox's old (and cubic) look from the N64, another one with Meta Knight with a long flaming sword and cape...

...And the most rarest of them all...

...A Bidoof sticker...

Lucario chuckled at the Bidoof sticker.

"...What the heck?!" Chris called out angrily as Diddy crossed the air above them. "There is not any Bidoof sticker in the whole Sticker Album! That Jirachi tricked me!"

Lucario chuckled even more. "But see the bright side; you have a rare sticker that can't be found anywhere else."

"...I already looked it on the book and it DOES NOT exist at all!" Chris said flipping the pages. "Do you think I care about such meaningless sticker like this cursed Bidoof?!"

"...If you want, you can put it on your book of magic."

"..." Chris sighed disappointed...and for some reason, he listened to Lucario and sticked the sticker on the cover of the book. "...I am doing this because I wanted some decoration on the cover, only that."

Lucario chuckled. "Yes."

"Will you stop that?"

"S-sorry..." Lucario said looking down.

"A-anyway," Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "I want to learn how to use my aura properly so..." the World Traveler changed to his Aura Apprentice job and smiled a little at Lucario. "Will you please teach me? Master?"

"...M-master?" Lucario asked blushing.

"W-well..." Chris looked down embarrassed. "You're technically a master of the aura and it makes sense to call you my master..."

"...So you can call me master but I can't call you master..."

Chris looked angrily at him. "But that's because I'm not a master in teaching things that you don't know about! I even don't know about many things!"

"...Fine." Lucario said rolling his eyes.

"Hey, Geno!" Pit called. "What are Chris and Lucario doing?"

"They are losing time and letting us get killed by Porky!" Geno yelled as both aura users shook their heads and looked back at the fight.

"...Oops..." Chris said embarrassed.

"...We should return back to the fight." Lucario said and Chris nodded.

"R-right..." Chris looked at Lucario. "Can you tell me what do I have to do?"

"Certainly," Lucario nodded. "You must channel your aura with all your body parts in order to increase the damage."

"Hmm..." Chris concentrated and his hands began to emanate with his aura. "I think I can channel them just fine."

"Remember," Lucario began. "Follow my example if you want to do it."

"I'll listen to whatever you want to teach me." Chris said as Lucario's tail wagged a little.

"E-er..." Lucario stopped his tail by grabbing it.

Chris chuckled heartily. "I love that tail a little bit too much."

"S-stop. Please..."

"Geno Beam!" Geno yelled as he fired his blue beam at Porky who shielded himself with his claws and slammed them down at the puppet who twitched in pain.

"You're the puppet that wants to rescue the last Star Spirit, aren't you?"

"Y-yes..." Geno muttered under the claws.

"Oooooooohhh..." Porky nodded. "Tabuu has been very mad because of you."

"I-I don't care..." Geno muttered.

"That's bad," Porky said, lifting up his claws. "Because that only makes him furious at us, and I hate that so much as well!"

Geno managed to stand up with the help of his right hand and glared at Porky. "T-tell me...where is Kalmar?"

Porky laughed. "Like I'm going to tell you of all people!" Porky said. "I better get rid of you befo-"

"GUUUUUUAAAAAARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Lucario interrupted by leaping at Porky to slam down his Force Palm on the window. "NOW!"

"YAAAAAAAH!!!" Chris yelled as he (somehow) was able to mimic Lucario and slammed down his Force Palm, close to his Pokémon as they jumped back to the floor at the same time from the spider mech. "H-how did I do it?"

"Very well." Lucario said.

"Y-you!" Porky grunted.

"You don't know how much do we hear that everyday." Geno said rolling his eyes.

"It's always about killing us, defeating us, murder us and pretty much everything." Pit said with a frown.

"And that irritates me." Meta Knight said appearing, using Dimension Cape.

"Did you go anywhere?" DK asked.

"I went to see the people trapped in the force fields after I tried to enter the Halberd by the air...but there was force field that prevented me from going inside."

"Hahahahahaha!" Porky laughed. "That was the only force field I put up!"

"It still brings the question about who is the real culprit." Diddy said.

"The sponsor?" DK asked.

The Smashers shook their heads...

...As an egg collided on Porky.

"Oh, c'mon!" Porky said annoyed to Yoshi, who was standing several feet away. "Won't you come here so I can kill you?"

"I rather be alive!" Yoshi yelled.

Chris made a worried look. "...Why do I think Yoshi is..."

Yoshi looked down. "I... I don't want to..."

"(Why isn't he helping us instead of attacking from afar?)"

"...I dunno what the heck do you want to say," Porky said. "But who really cares? We all know the outcome of this battle!"

"And very well." Pit said nodding.

"...Ugh! I've had it with you!" Porky yelled angrily as he deployed 10 Porky Bots that went after them.

"Chris," Lucario began. "If you use Force Palm at the right moment, you will grab them to push them back."

"Force Palm can do that?" Chris asked surprised.

"...It doesn't...but being here gives it a different effect rather than landing it directly," Lucario shook his head. "Once one of those robots get close to you, quickly use Force Palm and push it away with your aura."

"...I think I understa-"

"NOW!"

"YAH!" Chris yelled in panic as both aura users grabbed 2 Porky Bots with Force Palm, and pushed them away to Porky with a small but strong blast of aura that made them exploded right on the spider mech successfully. "...The aura is..."

Lucario nodded with a chuckle. "Ours."

"...You know..." Chris smiled a little. "We should do a victory pose together with those words."

Lucario closed his eyes. "The aura..."

"...Is ours..." Chris added.

"...Yes..." Lucario smiled a bit. "It does sound good..."

"And besides it's true."

"WOULD YOU 2 STOP TALKING AND HELP US OUT?!" Geno yelled from behind the duo who blinked in shock and nodded.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled as he evaded a slap by rolling backwards. "How's everything over there?"

"It's good!" Tails yelled from a bomb. "At this rate it's possible to deactivate all of them in time!"

"Great going!" Sonic yelled with a grin before Petey slapped him away.

"But you be careful too!"

"I-I'm doing that!" Sonic yelled back.

Petey went after Marth who narrowed his eyes and remained in his position with his right hand on Falchion's grip. "HYUCK!" Petey yelled as he pulled back his head to slam it down at the Altean.

"MARTH!" Bomb Kirby yelled as Petey slammed down his head on Marth...

...But...

"(Not understandable foreign laguage)" Marth replied using a strong Counter that pushed Petey back to follow it up with Dolphin Slash, then he quickly used a small charged Shield Breaker and thrusted Falchion at Petey's stomach, which made the plant roar in pain.

"Please..." Chris prayed as he joined his hands. "Help me, Skolar!"

"Did you call me?" Skolar asked as he appeared in front of the World Traveler

"I want you to do some damage to both of my enemies, but quick!"

"Certainly," Skolar turned at the villains. "You 2 should have more respect for this people!"

Stars came from above the sky and crashed down into both villains who yelled in pain after every star impacted on them.

"There," Skolar looked at Chris. "Call me when you need me."

"Uh-huh." Chris said nodding as Skolar spun and vanished in thin air.

"Look!" Sonic pointed at Petey who was apparently dizzied after the stars fell on him. "He's dizzy!"

"Take this chance to attack!" Knuckles yelled as he smacked his fists together and rushed towards Petey to land a 3-hit combo, followed by an uppercut that made the plant back away in pain.

"He's mine!" Amy yelled as she ran behind Petey and made an upward hit to Petey's head, followed by jump with a spinning hammer as the pirahna roared and fell face-first on the floor.

"Snowy!" Mallow called out the blizzard from the sky that covered the plant completely and was crushed by a huge snowman that blinked before exploding into more snow, causing even more damage.

"Hyu!" Petey said with a smile as he spun to get back up, slapped his face several times before dancing.

"What the heck is he doing with that weird dance?" Knuckles asked.

"I-I don't want to know." Bomb Kirby shuddered as he took out a bomb and tossed it at Petey's head.

"Please..." Chris prayed. "Help me, Klevar!"

"Ah, it is about time for me to help." Klevar said with a chuckle as he appeared in front of Chris.

"I need your help this time."

"Very well, then," Klevar looked at the villains. "The clocks of time will define your flow of time."

"What? I hate when smarties like you make up those hard to understan-" Porky stopped once he saw several clocks appearing all around the field as they suddenly stopped. "..." Porky was stunned by the move and couldn't move with Petey.

"Great," Geno said. "You're using the Star Spirits more than you did before."

Chris blushed. "I-I should've used them more when I had the chance."

"Attack while he is immobile! Now!" Pit yelled as he ran at Porky and used Angel Ring to deal consecutive slashes.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!" DK yelled as he ran close to Porky and used Hand Slap to continuously pound the floor, creating trembles that damaged the spider mech.

"Hmm..." Diddy ducked and put 2 banana peels under 2 different claws.

"GUUUUUAAARRGGGHH!!!" Lucario threw a fully charged Aura Sphere at full force that made an explosion on Porky.

"...I want to do that..." Chris muttered as he concentrated his aura between his hands as it began to form a small sphere...but it later exploded and made him fall down. "Aah!"

"Chris!" Lucario kneeled to see his trainer. "Are you feeling fine?"

"I-I think so..." Chris said as his Pokémon helped him to get up. "But you think I don't have enough experience to use Aura Sphere?"

Lucario shook his head. "That seems to be the case."

"...I see..."

"But don't worry," Lucario smiled a little. "I know you will learn it very soon if you keep trying."

"Thanks." Chris said with a nod.

"SHIE!" Sonic yelled as he used Homing Attack on Petey's immobile stomach, combining it with Spin Dash right above it to cut the plant several times as the hedgehog jumped away from 2 bombs that Bomb Kirby threw. "Where'd you get those bombs from?"

Bomb Kirby made a serious face. "I like to keep my own attacks a secret."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, I heard you."

"They're returning back to normal." Marth said as the time began to pass like before to both villains who grunted in pain.

"Status ailments, huh?" Porky asked with a chuckle. "How convenient. I happen to have a new function which is THIS!" Porky tried to walk towards Meta Knight but he tripped by Diddy's banana peels under the claws. "DAMMIT! LAUNCH PORKY BOTS!" Porky yelled as he called 4 Porky Bots.

However, those Porky Bots seemed to be different once one exploded into Pit, who covered his face with his blades as he coughed...then stopped.

"!!" Pit tried to yell but something seemed to silence him from doing so. "!!! !!!"

"What?" Diddy asked. "I can't hear you!"

"!!! !!! !!!" Pit yelled silently (literally).

"Pit was silenced?" DK asked.

"Yep, that's right!" Porky said proudly. "If the other 3 Porky Bots manage to explode on you, you're going to be silence and unable to use special attacks!"

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled as he pushed Chris out of the way from one of the Porky Bots who tripped towards Lucario and exploded.

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled worried as he got up and found Lucario coughing for a bit before he was unable to speak.

"!!!" Lucario tried to talk but couldn't do it.

"Oh no, you can't use your abilities?"

Lucario tried to make an Aura Sphere but his aura didn't react to his orders as he looked down.

"Duahahahahaha!" Porky laughed. "You're helpless without your abilties, aren't you? Hahahahahaha!"

Lucario showed his fangs in fury but he couldn't grunt as long as he was silenced.

"Yes, yes! Keep trying to no avail! That effect will last for some time, enough time to make me kill you!"

"Hmph." Meta Knight used Dimensional Cape to teleport away from a Porky Bot who exploded before he quickly turned his back and slashed down the last one.

"Oh well," Porky said. "With 2 who can't use their abilities is enough."

"Please..." Chris prayed. "Help me, Eldstar!"

"You don't have to tell me what to do." Eldstar said with a chuckle as he appeared in front of Lucario and healed him from his wounds a little, but also healed him from his illness.

"Ugh..." Lucario shook his head. "I can...speak again. Thank you."

"If you want," Eldstar looked at Chris. "I can heal the angel as well. You have 2 star bars left."

"Please do!" Chris said as Eldstar nodded and went towards Pit. However, Porky stepped on his way and the Star Spirit gasped.

"Leave Eldstar alone!" Twink demanded angrily.

"Geno Beam!" Geno fired his beam at full potency as Porky backed away from the force, making a path to Eldstar who went to Pit, healed him a bit and cured his illness.

"My task here is done," Eldstar said. "Please, call us when you have to."

"I'll do it." Chris said as Eldstar vanished.

"Damn you all!" Porky yelled angrily. "You're not gonna do the same thing after I do this!"

"Shut up," Meta Knight said simply as he used Drill Rush behind the spider mech to try and break the backside, but Porky was able to slash the Star Warrior with an odd-looking claw that made Meta Knight grunt in pain. "U-ugh... Wait...this feeling..."

"Correct!" Porky said. "You've been poisoned by my claws of poison!" Porky lifted up 3 claws that were glowing in a purple air. "These beauties ain't stopping from giving one hell of a hard time to you all!"

Meta Knight twitched in pain. "This pain...is...horrible..."

"Not only poisoning an enemy can make continuous damage," Porky began. "But it also can make them weaker when attacking!"

"U-ugh..."

"Eldstar!" Chris quickly called Eldstar who went to Meta Knight and healed him from his wounds and illness. "I'm sorry. All the star power was depleted completely."

"Then we'll be careful with that guy." Geno said.

"HYUCK!" Petey vomited on Bomb Kirby who gasped as was covered in muddy goo.

"...?!" Bomb Kirby tried to speak but was unable to. "!!!"

"What?" Marth asked. "That monster can inflict illnesses too?"

Petey merely nodded with a wicked smile as he pulled back his head and rolled it all the way to Marth who was pushed away to the floor and got up as he wiped some blood from his mouth.

"KIRBY!" Amy yelled as Bomb Kirby looked behind him but was crushed by Petey's head with a headbutt. The puffball tried to yell in pain but the illness he got prevented him as a star came out from him and took away his Bomb ability.

"RUUUAAAHHH!!!" Knuckles jumped towards Petey with a fist ready but the Pirahna Plant slapped him down the floor and shot a fast ball of goo to his face. "U-ugh!!!"

"Knuckles?" Mallow asked worried. "A-are you okay?"

"I-I don't feel so good... S-something is hurting me from the inside..."

Mallow gasped. "Y-you're poisoned then! Your face is turning a little bit pale!"

Knuckles's face turned a bit pale as he coughed and closed his eyes half-way. "B-but I'm feeling okay..."

"...A-" Mallow wasn't able to yell as Petey rammed his head at them and pushed them away to the floor, rolling before stopping.

"I have so, so much fury!" Porky yelled raising his 3 claws. "And heck yeah! Showtime!"

A rainbow aura covered him as a force pushed Pit, DK and Diddy back to the air where they were able to backflip and land on their feet.

"W-what?" Chris asked shocked. "H-he can use a Final Smash?"

"Hell yeah!" Porky yelled as his claws glowed in several colors. "And you're gonna love this. Check this out!" Porky began to stomp the floor furiously as he charged at the Smashers who ran away in different directions. "Oh no, you don't!"

SLASH!

"!!!" Diddy tried to yell but he got silenced by the claws, and also he was poisoned as well.

SLASH!

"UGH!" Meta Knight twitched in pain after his arm got sliced, leaving a serious cut that glowed with poison.

SLASH!

"GUARGH!" Lucario roared in pain as a claw reached his back and inflicted a new kind of illness since his body turned a little more blue than usual as Porky stopped glowing and laughed maniacally.

"Like my Piggy's Claws move?" Porky asked snickering.

Piggy's Claws

Inflict several and different status ailments to foes. It may inflict 2 illnesses at a time with moderate damage

"Lu-Lucario?" Chris asked worried. "A-are you okay?"

"U-u-ugh..." Lucario panted and shook his head. "N-no... I-I'm feeling exhausted..."

"'Cuz you got the illness Exhaustion, ironically speaking!" Porky explained. "I went for the trouble to do some research and you got that fortunately! It's a status ailment that makes you hurt every time you use a special attack, and it not only does that, but it also decreases defense!"

"W-what?" Lucario asked between breaths as Porky walked towards them with claws ready.

"Time to put these babies all on you," Porky slammed his claws on Lucario, but the aura Pokémon quickly stood up and punched the 3 claws away with great force. "W-WHAT THE HECK?! You're supposed to be in a bad shape!"

"S-since my aura is reaching a critical level..." Lucario coughed as his hands glowed with intense aura. "It's giving me more strength..."

Porky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. And I'm Ness's dad."

"Can you still go on though?" Geno asked and Lucario nodded slowly as he looked at Chris.

"Chris...it's time to use it..."

"...But I hope it goes perfectly well..." Chris and Lucario stared at Porky as both aura users leaned backs to each other. "Our auras will channel together..."

"OH HECK NO!" Porky yelled angrily. "No more of those attacks!"

"And form an even greater force." Lucario added as both quickly ran to opposite directions and turned slowly towards Porky with Force Palms ready. "GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

"AURA FISTS!!!" Chris yelled as the aura users slammed their Force Palms at each side and created an internal tremble on the machine that greatly paralyzed it while Porky tried to move between grunts.

"GRRR!" Lucario felt exhausted and kneeled weakly.

"Lucario!" Chris ran to Lucario and ducked to see him. "D-don't tell me that illness is hurting you so much..."

"...It is..." Lucario muttered with closed eyes. "I should be...resting now...but I don't want to...leave you alone...in this battle..."

"...Then I'll be the healer again, just for you." Chris said with a serious look as he changed to his Musician job.

"!!!" Pit tried to talk to Chris.

"...I didn't get one bit about what you said, but I'm going to heal you both from your illnesses," Chris said as he calmly played Soul Etude as a happy atmosphere felt on the 3, healing Pit and Lucario from their status ailments and cured them a bit from their wounds. "Dammit! I forgot Meta Knight!"

"No," Meta Knight spoke behind him. "You didn't. I got here in time to recover my poison. Thank you."

Chris blushed. "E-er, shouldn't you 3 be attacking Porky while he is paralyzed?"

"DK, Diddy and Geno are doing that." Pit said as he pointed to the kongs and the puppet attacking the spider mech from all sides using Giant Punches, peanuts and bullets from Geno's fingers while Porky grunted in pain.

"How much health does this machine have?" Geno asked annoyed.

"T-the necessary to crush you all!" Porky yelled as he was freed from being paralyzed.

"Wait!" Diddy looked around. "Where is Yoshi? I haven't seen him!"

Chris looked around the stadium and Yoshi was nowhere to be found. "Yoshi! Yoshi! Where are you?"

"Hey!" Porky called as he narrowly missed Chris from slicing him, thanks to Lucario from grabbed his trainer in time. "Pay attention to beautiful me!"

"Where is that Yoshi when we need him?" DK asked.

"..." Chris looked down before he looked at the screen and found Yoshi, standing close to the trapped crowd where he was...sitting on the floor like he didn't care about anything. "Yoshi?... Why are you..." Chris closed his eyes before opening them. "I'll go for Yoshi. Lucario, you stay here and fight."

"Are you going to be fine?" Lucario asked worried.

"I'll be fine. I need to know something about Yoshi first... So please, defeat Porky for me!"

Lucario gave a serious look and nodded. "I'll do it."

"Thanks!" Chris said as he ran away to a hallway as Lucario backstepped from a missile in time.

"Oh, gimme a break!" Sonic said annoyed as he glared up at Petey, who roared pleased. "Why won't you die already?!"

"Because he's a boss, and bosses are supposed to have lots of health," Mallow explained raising a finger. "Back when Geno, Mario, Peach, Bowser and I fought Smithy, we had a long battle against that guy because he kept changing his heads."

"...Er...okay...whatever..."

"Seriously!" Mallow said running on his feet. "We couldn't stand that guy for so long!"

"Look out!" Sonic tackled Mallow from a slap of Petey, who roared angrily as he slowly went after the 2.

"Take...this..." Knuckles said weakly as he weakly punched Petey's stomach. "...Da...mmit..."

"Hyu!"

"UUAAHH!!" Knuckles yelled after Petey slapped him away to the floor and rolled all the way before he lost consciousness.

"KNUCKLES!" Tails yelled from a bomb.

"H-he's fine!" Mallow lied. "J-just keep deactivating those bombs!"

"A-alright, but be careful, please!" Tails yelled worried as he got underneath a bomb.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man..." Mallow shook Knuckles a little. "I don't have healing magic that revives someone... Speaking of which," Mallow got a confused look. "How does fainting relate to death anyway? HP Rain!" Mallow called forth a happy cloud that rained down on the echidna, but it didn't do any effect before the cloud vanished. "...Damn those physics of life!"

Hallway

Yoshi sighed disappointed as the people tried to ask him for help desperately in panic, but the Yoshi ignored their pleas. "Why?" Yoshi asked looking away. "Why I can't fight back with the others?"

"I tell you why," a resident from Mobius(?) began. "Because you haven't helped us yet!"

Yoshi ignored him. "I don't know what's happening to me right now..."

"Yoshi!" Chris called as he ran to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hello..." Yoshi said looking down. "I guess you want me in the fight, right?"

"Everyone needs you to be exac-" Chris shook his head. "T-that's not the point. You have to come with me and fight!"

"...But I just can't..."

Chris got a confused look. "...Why is that?"

"Because...I-I just don't know..." Yoshi said closing his eyes in shame. "I don't have that passion to fight like all of you do..."

"A passion to fight?" Chris repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

Yoshi looked away. "I don't know... I just don't know... It's so confusing..."

Chris thought for a moment. "...But nevertheless, you need to come with me!"

"I can't!" Yoshi yelled. "I want to know why do I have this problem that doesn't let me fight!"

Chris backed away. "B-but that's ridiculous! You simply need t-"

"What?!"

"..." Chris looked away. "...I honestly...don't know..."

"...Figures..." Yoshi muttered sadly. "Maybe I should...leave you?"

"What?" Chris asked worried. "O-of course not! You're important for the whole team!"

"In what way if I can't fight?"

"....L-look," Chris ducked and looked at Yoshi. "If you want, I can help you out and resolve that...internal turmoil you have that prevents you from fighting if we come back to the mansion."

"...Whatever..." Yoshi stood up, followed by Chris. "I don't have anything to lose so...I'll go."

Chris gave Yoshi a worried smile and nodded. "Thank goodness I managed to convince you... Well, let's go back and help the others."

"After you if you don't mind..." Yoshi said playing with his fingers as the 2 ran away outside...

...Leaving the somewhat angry crowd that yelled after the World Traveler came to the Yoshi.

Inside the stadium

"YAAAAHH-OWW!" Amy landed hardly on the floor as she opened her right eye and glared at Petey. "W-why won't this guy stop?"

"Boss?" Mallow responded.

"...I..." Kirby gulped. "I can do...do this!" Kirby yelled, making a serious expression as he ran at Petey who grinned and tried to slap him, but the puffball rolled at the right, making Petey gasp surprised before Kirby lunged at him and did a 4-hit combo with his feet, followed by 2 strong swings with a hammer he took out as Petey roared in pain.

"Kirby..." Marth said surprised. "That combo was good."

Kirby smiled a little. "I-it was?"

"Sure. You could defeat many if you put effort into it."

"Hmm... Effort..." Kirby wondered as he looked at Petey...and flew above him as he used Stone to fall quickly on Petey's stomach that made the plant cough in pain, then Kirby turned back to normal and used Final Cutter to slash the plant upwards then slam his blade with a shckwave that cut Petey severly...and exploded as it roared in pain and fainted on the spot.

"...What was that just now?" Mallow asked confused.

"He...exploded?" Marth asked confused.

"But how?" Sonic asked. "I know plants don't...explode like that..."

"Kirby..." Amy looked at Kirby who turned at her. "Did you do that explosion with that shockwave?"

Kirby shuddered. "N-no... I just...sliced him, but he didn't split in 2..."

"Weird..." Marth trailed off before he shook his head. "A-anyway. We defeated him now."

"That went smoothly for a change." Sonic said with a grin.

"Ahem..." Amy coughed to get the blue hedgehog's attention and pointed at the ill echidna, laying on the floor close to them.

"...So what's your point?"

Amy glared at him.

"O-okay. It didn't go smoothly then..."

"I can tell Chris to revive him with his healing magic later," Marth said as he looked at Porky throwing the kongs away to a wall. "We should help them out now that we finished our own "boss" as Mallow said."

"Hey!" Chris called as he appeared from the hallway with Yoshi. "We're back!"

"AND READY TO BE MURDERED?!" Porky asked, laughing like a maniac as he fired missiles at the incoming duo. Chris gasped but Yoshi quickly swallowed him and ran away from the missiles that exploded close to them, then he spat Chris out.

"...Y-yuck..." Chris twitched as he wiped some saliva from his forehead. "I-I guess you had not option left..."

"Sorry..." Yoshi said disappointed. "I ran out of ideas."

"I-it's okay though..." Chris got up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome..." Yoshi said as he sounded bored at the same time.

"...Geno!" Chris yelled as Geno was lashed to the floor and bounced a little. The World Traveler moved his fingers along the harp. "...What the... A new song?" Chris asked as he shone for a second and played a different tune. "Angelsong!"

A happy atmosphere fell on Geno and the puppet felt that his wounds were recovering little by little after the World Traveler ended his chant. "Hm?... My wounds are healing slowly..." Geno said as Porky walked to him.

"And I'll kill you slowly!" Porky yelled as he joined 2 claws together and shot a long red laser that electrocuted the puppet greatly. "Missiles!" Porky yelled as he fired 2 missiles that reached Geno, who was staggering from the previous attack as he was sent to the air and crashed on the floor.

"You won't...take me out..." Geno said as his wounds healed. "My wounds are still...recovering from your attack..."

"Just how long are you all going to last, anyway?!" Porky asked irritated.

"After we finish you off." Marth said as he joined the others.

"Oh great," Porky looked at the 13 characters. "13 against 1... Dammit!" Porky called 10 missiles that stuck out from his back. "Guess I'll have to go crazy and fire missiles, lasers, whatever my mind thinks of and DESTROY EVERYTHING IN MY F(BEEP!)NG SIGHT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Hm?" Twink got confused after the curse as Geno facepalmed.

Porky began to fire missiles, lasers and Porky Bots crazily that created some kind of war that went in all directions, making every fighter roll and evade the crazy assault of attacks from the Pig King. Many of them were not careful and got severly injured.

"U-ugh..." DK remained standing with his hands. "H-he's going nuts..."

"At this rate, he will kill us off in a matter of time!" Amy said. "We can't give up now!"

"Chris!" Kawashima called out. "I think you need to cooperate with Marth and discover the next attack!"

Chris got worried as he tripped but evaded a laser. "D-do you think we can find it now?"

"It's possible. Just try it out!"

"...Okay..." Chris muttered as he changed to his Ranger job and looked around for the Altean, who conveniently enough was running behind him. "Marth! Marth! Here! Please come over here!"

"Huh?" Marth stopped on his tracks and ran towards Chris. "Did you call me?"

Chris nodded while Yoshi rolled behind him using Egg Roll. "We need to see if we can use our Combinated Final Smash to defeat him...because I'm really, REALLY sick of his huge ego."

"Hmm..." Marth wondered a little b-

"There is no time to wonder now! We have to see if we ca-" suddenly, Chris stopped once he felt the same sensation. "(There it is again...)"

"(Looks like it.)" Marth called back.

"(You already know this?)"

"(Yes. Jigglypuff told me about this feeling.)"

"(What were you doing with Jigg... N-nevermind. Are you ready to do it? It could bring us something nice out of it.)"

"(If it does, then my answer would be yes.)"

"Then let's hope this is the final strike..." Chris trailed off worried.

"It will," Marth said, putting Falchion in front of him. "I know it will."

"DIE DIE DIE DIE!" Porky yelled madly as he continued to land a hit on the fighters. "YOU HAVE TO DIE SO I CAN BE PREPARED TO KILL NESS AND LUCAS!!!"

"...Shouldn't we make some kind of distraction before, though?" Chris asked.

"That would be good..." Marth thought for a moment. "Everyone! Can you hear me?!" Marth asked yelling.

"Y-yes! What is it?!" Pit asked as he rolled away from a Porky Bot.

"We need to stop Porky so Chris and I reach him and use our attack together!"

"But how?!" Yoshi asked from afar. "There's no way to stop a frenzy of attacks like this one!"

"A-and besides..." Meta Knight coughed. "One of t-those robots tripped on me and gave me more poison again..."

"And pretty much everyone else is so busy with all the artillery and robots, especially the robots that inflict illnesses. Kirby was silenced too!" Amy held Kirby up as the puffball made a sad look and tried to speak.

"...Wait..." Chris took out a familiar item. "The Timer... I forgot about it..."

"We could use it to slow down the attacks." Marth said.

"...Wait a minute!" Chris said brightly as Marth blinked surprised.

"W-what?"

"I think I know how to increase the effect of the Timer..."

"GUUAAAAAARRRGGHH!!" Lucario threw a big Aura Sphere due to his huge amount of damage that exploded on Porky but the attacks were still being launched everywhere. "I-I couldn't defeat him..."

"OF COURSE NOT!" Porky yelled. "I'M SO DAMN AWESOME, TOUGH AND GOOD LOOKING TO BE DEFEATED THAT EASILY LIKE THAT PLANT OVER THERE!" Porky pointed at Petey, who was laying down the floor, fainted.

"I hate this guy's ego so much..." DK muttered weakly.

"His ego is bigger than Sonic's ego." Diddy pointed out.

"Yeah, his ego is bigger than min-hey!" Sonic yelled.

"YOU-WON'T-STOP-ME! YOU-WON'T-STOP-ME!" Porky taunted all of them with snickers. "YOU-WON'T-STOP-M-"

"Put the hands of time at full stop..."

"YOU-WON'T-STOP-M...huh?!"

Music stops

"TIMER!" Chris (in his Scholar job) help up a glowing Timer that vanished and showed a stronger effect on the field as everything (except the Smashers) came at full stop and even Porky himself. Pit even saw that one missile was going to explode on him but it stopped 3 centimeters away from his nose. "It seems...that the formula was a success." Chris said.

"Good," Marth nodded as the World Traveler changed to his Ranger job. "Are you ready for it?"

Chris nodded with a chuckle. "Yes."

"Attack him while he can't move in the meantime, everyone!" Marth instructed as everyone went all-out to the spider mech with their attacks.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno fired a fast ring that crossed the old brat.

"Star Rain!" Mallow called forth a huge Starman that bounced on the machine 13 times before vanishing.

"YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" DK leaped at the machine and slammed his joined fists hard at the mech.

"You're not getting away from this either!" Amy yelled as she followed the kong's attack by a strong slam of her hammer.

"Receive this!" Pit yelled firing multiple arrows at will from a distance.

"I...hope this makes you...understand." Meta Knight struggled as he continuously slashed the mech from behind.

"Ah!" Diddy kept charging his Peanut Popgun several times to fire peanuts at full speed which...surprisingly dealt damage.

"HIU-AH!" Kirby followed the attack by 2 spinning attacks with his hammer in midair.

"SHIE!" Sonic slammed himself into the machine with Spin Dash and crossed one claw through.

"D-don't forget about me!" Yoshi yelled from some meters away as he tossed a Yoshi Egg at the machine, which broke upon contact.

"...I..." Lucario gritted his fangs as he charged a big Aura Sphere. "I...need to...keep fighting... GUUUUUUUUAAAAAARRGGHHH!!!" Lucario fired the big Aura Sphere at full speed as it made an explosion on Porky.

"Now it is the time..." Marth called as his voice echoed. Chris standing behind him with his sword ready.

"I hope this is enough." Chris said as he closed his eyes and put a stronger grip on his sword before Marth dashed at the spider mech with Chris following from behind.

The Altean prince seemed to use Dolphin Slash as his first strike, but suddenly when he landed the first blow, Chris swiftly appeared in front of Marth by making a quick turn with the prince and slammed his sword quickly, then Marth came in and slashed Porky, then Chris simply swung his sword and slashed the mech...

...But the speed they were using was slowly increasing with every hit until they landed 19 slashes: 10 from the World Traveler and 9 from the Altean prince.

"It is the end." Marth said as both stopped and stood next to each other.

"Whale Cleave!!!" Chris and Marth yelled in unison as they jumped high and slammed their shining swords at the same time on the spider mech, the last hit adding one extra hit to the previous 19 hits, creating a tremble once their swords crossed the mechs and slammed to the floor beneath him.

New ability learned! Whale Cleave!

An enhanced version of Dolphin Slash. Continuously slash the enemy with 2 swordsmen and deal a strong last blow at the same time. Deals moderate damage to a single enemy

Time seemed to run back as normal as both swordsmen backed away from the mech which seemed to shoot out small bolts of electricity before it fell down on its back. Porky seemed to breath slowly in pain as the machine seized its functions.

"...No..." Porky muttered. "Not like...this... Uuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhh..."

"...It's over..." Blaze said.

Yoshi made a bored look at her. "You don't say anything. You didn't do anything."

"So did you."

"...Don't remind me." Yoshi said ashamed.

"...Phew!" DK sat on the floor and wiped sweat from his face. "He went down at last..."

"It seems that way..." Diddy sat besides DK. "We can finally return to our things."

"...Wait!" Mallow looked around at the Subspace Bombs. "The bombs! Have they been deactivated yet?!"

"Don't worry, you guys!" Tails called from afar as he deactivated a bomb. "We managed to stop all the bombs from blowing up!"

"Sweet! Good work, Tails!" Sonic said, giving him a thumbs up.

"...But..."

"Huh?"

5 minutes later...

All the characters were gathered in front of the Halberd (Meta Knight tried to enter from above again, but the force field that shielded it was still there) and were wondering something. Chris was able to heal all of them through using many Soul Etudes with his Musician job (he even was using it right now).

"When a bomb is deactivated," Tails explained. "It seems that the robots attached to them deactivate as well."

"So that's why the bombs are activated?" Geno asked.

Tails nodded. "Correct. The Subspace Bombs can be only activated by "sacrificing" those robots."

Cream looked down sadly. "Please...don't say that..."

Tails made a worried look. "I'm sorry...but I don't know another way to put it exactly."

"Hmph!" Marine pouted a little. "Sacifin' lifes to blow bombs? Who's the honza behind all tis? Mates?"

"Tabuu..." Lucario responded trailing off.

"Who?" Knuckles asked.

"We don't know how Tabuu looks like," Marth began. "But we know he is behind all this."

"Hm..." Tails wondered. "But why sacrifing robots?"

"Who cares right now?" Vector asked, crossing his arms. "Thing is that the whole audience is coming back!"

"What?" Kirby looked at the screen where the force fields that imprisoned the spectators disappeared and they all ran back to the stadium to find out what was going on.

But suddenly, the sound of a big engine started to be heard and they all looked at the Halberd...taking off slowly from the stadium.

"W-what the heck?!" Amy asked in shock.

"B-but I thought there weren't any more guys like those...2... Uh-oh..." Yoshi's eyes widened.

"What is wrong with you?" Pit asked.

"...They're gone! The old kid and the plant are gone!"

The groups looked where Porky and Petey once were and they weren't found anywhere.

"W-what happened?! T-they were just laying down on the floor a minute ago!" Twink said.

"Unless..." Marth wondered. "Tabuu called them back using the portals from underneath them."

"Hello?" Sonic asked annoyed. "There's an airship taking off!"

"Meta Knight!" Chris said. "Maybe Meta Knight is starting the Halberd!"

"No," Meta Knight appeared behind them. "I couldn't board the Halberd...because of that person over there. Just maybe."

"Person over there?" Charmy put his hands above his eyes to see the Halberd. "Who are you talking about?"

"...Wait..." Lucario narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that..."

"...Huh?" Kirby stood on the tips of his feet. "...Mr. G&W?!"

Mr. G&W watched from the top of the Halberd (on the tip of the front area) at the Smashers, then Porky appeared besides him and laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You lost your chance to recover this ship OR the Star Spirit hidden high above the clouds! DUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"…Hidden high above the clouds?" Geno asked confused.

Porky realized what he just said and cursed under his breath. "…OH, DAMMIT!" Porky yelled as the Halberd slowly took off to the sky and disappeared in the purple clouds that vanished and revealed the night once again.

"Hidden high above the clouds…" Geno wondered.

"You mean above the purple clouds of a moment ago?" Twink asked.

"…I don't know…but we should remember that clue if we need it."

"It may be crucial to find the last Star Spirit." Marth said.

"Who was that...flat guy?" Knuckles asked.

"Mr. G&W," Mario explained. "Some of us know him from the past tournament."

"But what was he doing on the Halberd?" Marth asked confused.

"If I remember," Chris looked at Marth. "You met him on the Halberd before, right?"

"Yes... But why is..."

They were all interrupted by the loud cheers of the crowd that were grateful after their actions as they all looked around.

"Well, well, well!" Toadsworth called out. "It seems this event was once again saved by the Smashers like the last time in the Festival of Sports! And not only some normal event, the Olympic Games!"

Diddy blushed and scratched his head a little. "Heheheheh..."

"On behalf of all the people in here... Thank you so much for your assistance." Toadsworth said with a heartly chuckle as the crowd cheered loudly.

"...We're heroes again?" Twink asked.

"Yup," Mallow chuckled. "Seems that way. Good for me."

"C'mon, people!" Daisy said, making a fist in the air. "We have an event to finish up!"

Chris looked at Marth with a worried face. "Why are you looking at me?" Marth asked.

"Well..." Chris trailed off.

Marth blinked for a moment before chuckling a little bit. "I see," Marth shook his head. "Don't worry, we'll discuss this with everyone back at the mansion. Let's play the least event for now."

"...Okay." Chris said smiling a bit.

Final Event: 8 X 100m Relay

Participants: All

Wario, Blaze and Pit were getting ready to run with their batons on right hands, while the others team members were waiting for them 100m away from their position.

The crowds from both places seemed to be no longer angry with any team since they were themselves targeted at the same time, meaning that neither Mario's or Sonic's team were responsible for the sabotages at all.

Or the Smashers for that matter.

"This is it," Toadsworth began. "The final event of the Olympic Games will finally begin in a minute! Everybody is ready to give it their all and work together in this last and exciting event, where the true winner will be revealed!" Toadsworth chuckled heartily. "Question is: are you ready?" Toadsworth asked and the crowd erupted with cheers. "Alright! That's the enthusiasm I was talking about! Lakitu! Cream! Charmy! Please, say the words!"

"On your marks..." Lakitu lifted a gun to the air.

"Get set..." Cream lifted a flag.

Super Sonic Racing

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Charmy shot a firework at the center of the stadium that exploded, marking the beginning of the event as the 3 runners ran as fast as they could with all their energies.

"You 2!" Wario laughed. "You're so going to lose today!"

"Oh, please," Blaze rolled her eyes. "That line is so well known to be extremely boring."

"What?"

"I have to agree," Pit said nodding. "You don't have good lines to insult us."

"GRR! Who asked you 2, anyway?!" Wario asked annoyed as the 3 ran at their team members (Waluigi, Dr. Eggman and Marth respectively). "Hey! You better not trip!"

"Aw, shaddup!" Waluigi yelled as the next trio began to run and sprinted to the next trio after the previous trio handed them the batons.

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" Dr. Eggman panted as he ran.

Marth seemed to be ahead of them by 1m. "Hmph. I'm not one of the fastest for nothing."

"Quit your words to yourself!" Waluigi yelled annoyed.

"W-wait..." Dr. Eggman slowed down. "I-I'm not into running..."

"C'mon!" Amy yelled from her spot (Daisy and Geno standing on each side of her). "You have to run fast!"

"I... I'm doing it..." Dr. Eggman muttered as he reached Amy and handed her the baton, but late because Daisy and Geno were already ahead of her.

"Oh, no!" Amy made an angry expression and began to run faster. "You won't get away from me!"

"What?" Daisy saw Amy slowly catching up with her. "Oh no, no no no! You won't pass me!"

"Just watch!" Amy said angrily as Geno passed both girls. "Hey! Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to give this to Mallow," Geno said as he gave Mallow his baton, stopped and saw the cloud prince running away to the next member. "Hurry up."

Amy grinned. "You don't have to tell me twice!" Amy said as she gave the baton to Vector, while Daisy gave the baton to Bowser.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Bowser yelled angrily.

"NO WAY!" Vector yelled with a glare. "YOU FIRST!"

"Oh, come on!" Mallow yelled from several meters ahead of them. "You can't stop arguing with each other, can you?"

"NO!" Bowser and Vector yelled angrily.

"...I should've thought..." Mallow thought as he saw DK ahead.

"GO AWAY!" Bowser yelled.

"YA FIRST, AGAIN!" Vector yelled as he spotted Shadow and Bowser saw Yoshi.

"Faster!" Yoshi yelled as he began to run. "Faster!"

"HERE!" Bowser slammed the baton on Yoshi's right hand as the Yoshi began to sprint and catch up with DK.

However, Shadow came from between them and passed both of them as DK looked surprised at this.

"H-hey! Wait up!" DK yelled.

"Like I'll listen to you." Shadow responded with a frown.

"I thought he was going to say that." Yoshi said as he spotted Peach after Shadow gave the baton to Knuckles.

"Here you go, buddy!" DK said as he gave the baton to Diddy (who grabbed it with his tail) and sprinted to the next member, 100m ahead of him.

Knuckles saw Peach running faster than him and the echidna made a surprised face before glaring. "Grrr! Why the heck is she going faster than me?! Stupid pills!"

Peach let out a small chuckle as she spotted Luigi ahead of him. "Luigi! Run fast, okay?"

"You too, Tails!" Knuckles yelled as he gave the baton to Tails and Diddy gave the baton to Lucario.

"Kirby..." Meta Knight (who decided to stay behind on a bench with Kirby) looked at Kirby.

"If you're wondering," Kirby said smiling. "I wanted to stay here and not participate in this event because I don't run that fast. Besides..." Kirby took out a ramen bowl. "I wanted to eat this!"

"...Yes..." Meta Knight said with a frown as he looked back at the competition.

"Lucario!" Chris called from his spot (with the Racer job).

"What?" Lucario asked as he dashed pass Luigi and Tails.

"I know you can run faster than them! Get here, quickly!"

Lucario smiled a little with a serious face as he accelerated.

"H-hey!" Luigi called out. "I-I need to run faster!"

"If you don't talk, then you could run faster!" Tails yelled as he accelerated

"C'mon..." Sonic looked impacient as Tails was getting closer. Chris was already running up ahead at the last 100m while Mario was waiting for Luigi. "GO!" Sonic yelled with a nice start as he passed Mario, who made a serious face and ran faster to catch up with the 2.

"Chris! Chris! Chris! Go! Chris! Chris! Chris! Go!" Kirby, Twink and Mallow cheered together.

"Sooonic! Sooonic! Sooonic! Sooonic!" the crowd from Mobius(?) cheered at the blue hedgehog.

"YOU CAN DO IT, SONIC!" Amy yelled, throwing uppercuts to the air.

"Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o!" the crowd from the Mushroom Kingdom cheered along with Mario's team (except Wario, Waluigi and Bowser who just wanted to have the trophy).

Chris began to pant as he lost speed. "...My...legs... I...can't...run...like...this..."

"What's the matter?" Sonic asked as he ran besides Chris with a grin. "Can't catch up?"

"Just try to run faster!" Mario encouraged Chris. "You can make a difference with more effort!"

"(...Mario...you sure are very kind...)" Chris thought in surprise as the trio spotted the finish line up ahead.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled. "Run! Run!"

"(Lucario...)" Chris closed his eyes and he began to accelerate.

Sonic looked at the finish line and grinned. "This ending will be one for a photo!"

"I know!" Mario yelled back as the trio neared to the finish line. The crowd, the teams, everyone went silent for a moment after only 10m were remaining from the final competitors and the line, where the winner of the Olympic Games was going to be decided.

"(Please...)" Chris thought. "(Let me win... Let me win!)"

Just when they were about to reach the line...the entire screen shone brightly before the first one who crossed the line was shown...

Mario Kart Wii - Ceremony

10 minutes later...

"And now," Toadsworth began as the crowd cheered. "The conclusion for the Olympic Games here, in Beijing, has come to an end! We congratulate everyone here for coming all the way from their homes and witness the grand finale!"

"We're so happy to announce the third, second and first places for each team that managed to get their place, by working hard in each event!" Lakitu said as he held a bronze badge and a bronze trophy. Cream and Cheese were holding a silver trophy and a silver medal respectively while Charmy and Espio were holding a golden medal and a big golden trophy respectively.

"For the third place...please, give a round of applauds to this tough team: the Smashers' Team from the Smash Mansion!" Toadsworth announced while Lakitu flew over to Chris (who was with his team, standing above the right platform which was numbered "3") and gave him the medal that the World Traveler put on his neck and grabbed the trophy.

"Thank you for your participation, everyone." Lakitu said with a nod as Chris held up the trophy above them, making the crowd go wild.

"Well..." Chris trailed off. "We didn't win the second or the first place...so sorry."

"Please," DK smiled. "You did well out there."

"And look!" Twink grabbed the trophy. "This is going to be a memory to remember our participations here!"

"But you didn't participate." Geno pointed out.

Twink made a bored face. "And you have to ruin my fantasies because?"

Geno merely chuckled.

"Also," Toadsworth began. "We'd like to thank all of you for saving Beijing from utter disaster, like you did back at the Mushroom Kingdom's Festival of Sports. Give more applauds!"

Chris blushed embarrassed as the crowd let out a loud cheer, but Lucario pulled his trainer under his right arm and licked his cheek happily, making Chris laugh while the others laughed a bit as well.

"And for the second place...we have the team who had the idea of this wonderful way to express the passion for the sports: Sonic's Team from Mobius!"

"I'm so happy for all of you," Cream said as she put the silver medal on Sonic's neck as Cheese gave him the silver trophy. "Thank you so much for taking me here!"

"Yeah," Sonic winked at her. "Thanks for accepting the invitation."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Sonic!"

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese cheered.

"Hey guys!" Sonic held up the trophy. "We won the second place! That's good news!"

"Alright!" Vector took the trophy as money signs appeared on his eyes. "Now, let's sell this thing!"

"Nah-ah-ah!" Amy took back the trophy. "We're gonna put this in a place where everyone can see it!"

"May I suggest my lab?" Tails suggested.

"...We'll think about a good place!" Amy said as Tails frowned.

"And lastly..." Toadsworth began as the crowd went silent. "We'd like to thank Sonic and his friends for being so considerable to us, the residents from the Mushroom Kingdom," he chuckled. "Please, do call us for another interesting bout!"

The crowd cheered loudly at the team from Mobius(?) after that.

"And now!" Toadsworth stopped the cheers. "For the last team who was able to reach the first place, the team who showed skills, grace and talent throughout the games, the team who has won fairly...by not answered causes that we all had to suffer mysteriously," the crowd talked for a bit about the true culprit, as well as the teams. "The team who has won the Olympic Games is..." drums began to play as Charmy chuckled and went for the team above the highest pedestal between the 2 other teams, with Espio following him. "...Mario's Team from the Mushroom Kingdom!!!"

The crowd went wild while Charmy put and have the medal and Espio the trophy to Mario, who stared at his rewards in awe with his teammates as Bowser took the trophy and held it up high in victory...then Wario and Waluigi tackled him down and chuckled evily after taking the trophy...then Bowser pushed both of them out of the way and grabbed the trophy back as this continued until Daisy grabbed the trophy after the trio were fighting between each other, making many laugh at them.

Confetti began to fall down the sky as the Smashers and Sonic's team congratulated Mario's Team with applauds. "And so! We end the Olympic Games with a big celebration at one of the biggest and best places to hold parties here in Beijing! Thank you for watching the whole event from your seats or for those watching this at home! Thank you very much aaaaaaaaaaaaand good night and good bye!"

Music stops

1 hour later...

The stadium was left empty. Nobody was there at that time because many were celebrating at another place in Beijing...

...But with a closer look, there were Mario's and Sonic's teams (without Wario, Waluigi, Bowser and Dr. Eggman) looking at the Smashers, who were about to enter the portal back to the mansion.

"Luigi..." Mario trailed off. "Are you sure you want to go with them?"

"You're going to miss the Star Festival," Peach began. "It's going to be in 2 months and who knows when you're going to return."

Luigi shook his head and looked down. "I...I made my decision," Luigi smiled a little at them. "I know what I'm doing after all."

"He's going to be just fine," Mallow said with a chuckle. "We'll watch his back and we'll try to keep him away from ours."

"...Hey!"

"Just kidding!"

"Alright, then," Daisy began with a smile. "I hope I get a chance to drop by and visit that mansion someday."

"We let visitors come anytime," DK said. "You can come whenever you like."

"Sweet!" Marine said. "I'll try to give ya all a visit there, mates!"

"But then she'll have to ask me first." Blaze said with a chuckle.

"Sonic..." Amy wiped some tears. "A-are you going with them again?"

"What about our world?" Tails asked. "It's in a critical condition right now as we speak."

"Meh," Sonic grinned. "Don't worry, I'll try to find a solution to that once we're done with something else."

"The last Star Spirit and the defeat of Smithy." Geno said.

"Yeah, that."

"Meanwhile," Knuckles began. "We'll try to find the solution by our own. It's not like we need you all the time to fight something."

"And we'll help!" Vector said with a grin as he rubbed his index and thumb together. "It'll cost you some money thoug-"

"We will help if they need us." Espio said as Vector gave him a glare while Charmy chuckled.

"We're gonna have lots of fun together like the last time!" Charmy said to Marth, who shrugged.

"I'll miss the food here," Kirby sobbed. "It was delicious..."

Chris ducked and hugged Kirby as he stood up. "I think we're going to meet each other again very soon."

"Really?" Mario asked. "Good. Maybe Peach and I could join you all at last."

Shadow coughed. "Well, don't expect to see me again."

"Why?" Diddy asked.

"Because I won't let you convince me to participate in this crap again."

"...Sure..." Diddy looked away.

"Wait a minute," Pit wondered. "Anybody knows who was responsible for the sabotages?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Neither Bowser, Wario, Waluigi or Dr. Eggman were the culprits." Pit said.

"Or Porky." Yoshi added.

"Who cares?" Sonic asked with a grin. "The important is that the games ended and that guy is going to leave us alone from now on."

"...Maybe you're right..." Tails trailed off.

"Let's not worry for that." Lucario suggested.

"Anyway!" Mallow smiled. "Let's go back and see if the others were saved!"

Chris nodded. "Thank you for letting us participate."

"We'll invite you next time." Peach said with a small giggle.

Chris blushed. "P-please do...I'll be glad."

"Hidden high above the clouds…" Geno muttered in a thinking position.

"Geno…" Twink made a worried face.

"Now let's go back." Meta Knight said as he walked inside the portal first, followed by all the Smashers before the portal vanished.

"...And there goes Luigi..." Mario said sighing as Peach patted his back.

"He'll be okay. I know Luigi will be safe."

"...You're right."

"But I can't stop thinking," Daisy hit her forehead slightly. "I can't stop thinking about who did all those sabotages..."

In another, unknown, dark area

"Why?" Cream asked as a camera focused on her face. "Why would somebody do such things to us?"

Vector's stomach grumbled. "Ya know, what I want now is big, plate of that takoyaki they are serving in the party!"

"Yeah!" Charmy said nodding, sticking out his tongue. "Let's celebrate for now!"

"Fools..." a person on a chair said with joined hands. "All the sabotages: the different flags, the floaties with holes, the shattered paddles, the skiffs with holes, the weak pole, the hole, the weak table, the high crossbar, the moving hurdle, the reversed rifle, the explosive blocks and the force fields were all because of me!" the person turned the chair and revealed himself to be what looked to be a monkey-looking boy in a red suit. "The sponsor of the very same event: Alex Kidd! The great mascot!"

Alex Kidd jumped out from his chair. "That fool of Sonic was able to live through my ingenious plots, but those Smashers got in the frickin' way to let me gain my so deserved spotlight! But noooooo! They interrupted my schemes every single DAMN time! Not even my awesome schemes were enough to kill all of them!" he looked away. "Even those weird guys from the ship almost succeeded in doing my work, but they happened to be weak! How annoying and frustrating!"

"A-HA!" a voice spoke from behind a door.

"W-what?!"

BANG!

The door was destroyed by a large figure with 2 other figures that stepped inside the mysterious room as they glared at Alex Kidd.

"W-who the heck are you 3?!"

"I'll tell you," a figure that…okay, it was Vector, Charmy and Espio, began. "We're the Team Chaotix Detective Agency, and we're here to punish you for your crimes!"

Charmy took out a recorder and played what Alex Kidd said. "Yep! We have you where we wanted!"

Alex Kidd took a step back. "I-impossible! How could you 3… I mean, how did you 3 find out that it was me…IF YOU WEREN'T SEARCHING FOR ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"

"Simple," Espio said with a grin. "The sponsor is always inside the stadium, watching from a private room with an obvious sign. We were looking for you after Chris told us."

"Yeah," Vector nodded, crossing his arms. "We like to work when nobody is looking… That's why we went several times to the bathroom and discuss our findings there."

Charmy made a bored look and pointed at a sign, laying down on the floor where the pieces of the door were. "C'mon, "This place is Off-Limits because the sponsor is in here"? What kind of sign is that?"

"…Curse my genius…" Alex Kidd muttered.

Vector cracked his fists. "Guess we'll have to bring you by force!"

"Filthy rat." Espio said, doing a handsign.

"Lemme pinch 'im!" Charmy said with a fist.

Alex Kidd backed away to a wall as the 3 got closer and closer to him. "N-no! Y-you won't take me alive! You won't take me ali-"

"Shut up." Espio said.

PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH! PINCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! MY AWESOME SUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

NEWCOMER!

Luigi joined your team!

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 1900 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Marth saying that women were scary was a reference to Guy Gailardios from Tales of the Abyss.

-DK begging for his turn to use the Final Smash was a reference to Chie Satonaka from Persona 4.

So it was the sponsor, Alex Kidd, after all? Oh my god, Sonic was right all this time. You never saw the supposed first mascot of Sega trying to get rid of Sega's main mascot at all, did you? I wondered if Alex Kidd would get so mad at the Sonic gang for stopping his franchise and I figured out that he would get so far as to kill everyone there. Yes, this mean Alex Kidd knows about Sega while Sonic doesn't (or doesn't give a damn, to be honest in a funny way). XD

I hope the names for all the Final Smashes were good enough for you, especially Marth's one.

And Luigi joins but Mario doesn't? You'll love the Mario Bros., separated or joined. Pure hilarious moments can be found with Luigi, trust me. :D

So what is the next arc? Will it be related to Geno's clue about Kalmar's whereabouts?

Only the time will tell as always.

Read, enjoy and review! :D

(BTW, no comments about Platinum in your reviews. That is a different thing...but I got a Riolu as a starter by trade).
*Chapter 114*: Rosalina: The Princess of the Galaxies

From Mewtrainer: Sorry about not reviewing last time! Got interrupted halfway through and forgot to read the rest...until I saqw this chapter. BOTH VERY EXCELLENT!

From me: Oh, thank you so much. : )

From TARDISreviewer: I suppose if you're running through Sonic's fear of spikes, that COULD be a mansion chapter?

From me: No. :P

From dimentio713: So it was the sponsor! gasp! Well great chapter anyways! Luigi's time to shine! Bye-bye!

From me: ...I demand a better review next time...but thanks anyway. :D

From Anakin Mario Son43: I knew Sonic was right! But... Who's Alex Kidd again? (Alex Kidd: Hey!) Well, Luigi is better than nobody. I personally think he sucks! Update soon please! Hasta!

From me: Nobody sucks in the whole Brawl roster. That counts Luigi too.

Alex Kidd comes from his own game. I believe I explained that in the previous chapter?

From ngrey651: ALEX KIDD? I did NOT see that coming. Genius! I take my lack of hat off to you. Keep up the great work!

Sincerely...

Nick

From me: Okay. I understand. :P

From Soldier of the Future: Another extremely long chapter that took me an entire eternity to get through...lol.
Keep em coming! (I'm running out of compliments to say XD)

From me: But this one is even shorter. I thought it was going to be longer. :P

Why not compliment the parts you enjoyed?

From JSandders: What the hell, Chris?! Alex Kidd?! Are you kidding me?! Wow! But I knew it, it WAS the butler! Because Alex is MY butler! XD

Anyways, review time. Porky and Petey are annoying and the Smashers are dumb for letting Tabuu's minions escape again! Oh well, "High above the clouds", huh? I think what Parakarry is trying to do is more important than he thinks! Finally, one of the Mario Smashers comes along to join the party! Smart move to make them the last recruits, makes the readers anticipate for future chapters!

Overall, another great job, Chris! Can't wait to see what the next arc will be because you didn't add any previews! Keep typing!

From me: Alex is your butler? Weird...

You'll enjoy this arc. I hope so. :D

From Korean Boren-Paper Stars: Hi, I've been reading this fic for a while and only now decided to review. While you have a lot of chapters and most of them are long, the story's so funny that you can't help but read as much as you can! I wonder if Mario and Sonic will ever get over their wanting to kill each other every time they see each other thing. Chris is one of the few original characters I can stand. You write his character very well and he's much more tolerable than most OCs. By the way, have you heard of the game The World Ends With You? It would be funny if you made an arc based on it because a main theme in that game is trusting your partner. Anyway next chapter is going to be great!

From me: Thank you for the compliment about Chris. I work hard to make an enjoyable OC. (Take that, stupid author from another fic I do NOT dare to mention here about OCs!)

Ha, it's funny you ask that about TWEWY. Firstly, I thought making an arc from that game could be hard to do since I don't own that game. But I think I could buy it since a friend is a fanatic of that game (to the point he ruined me the ending) and I got interested. However, it's not confirmed yet so you'll have to wait until then. ;)

From SlasherMask: No! I should have know it was Alex Kidd. Speaking about that i should check if virtual console has Alex Kidd games...

Anyway you are right that Lucario as lone wolf is overused(i personaly think that hes monk or martial artist(or simply jackal who walks)) but, so is Captain Falcon as pervet.

Sorry if i insulted you.

From me: There is a game of Alex Kidd, I think.

Thank you for understanding the changes about some characters. If you're interested, there was a prequel to this whole main fic and you could find out about Chris and Lucario's past there. ;)

From Blaperile: O yeah, Luigi joined! Can't wait for his funny moments!

I'm wondering if a Luigi's mansion arc is coming... I shouldn't hope too much. XD

Alex Kidd was it?! :o

Didn't saw that one coming... :D

It was a very good written fight!

From me: Yes, you shouldn't hope since that game could've been somewhere around chapters 30 or 40, but it's too late now.

But Luigi's wackyness will keep you entertained for sure. I hope. ;D

From Ultra Blader: Awesome finish to the Olympics arc! Great battle dialog, which is one of the key factors in any fic with action in it (but of course you would know that already.) Luigi finally joins the Smashers, as well! Just a couple of questions to ask:

1: When will the Final Fantasy IV and Phoenix Wright/Apollo Justice arcs begin?

2: Refering to the Phoenix Wright/Apollo Justice arc, which game is it set it? The original Phoenix Wright, it's sequel, Justice for all, Apollo Justice, or the up-and-coming (I think) Trials and Tribulations?

3: Have you been writing these chapters ahead of time, so you can post them at a good, orderly pace, or do you write them right before you post them?

PS: A Riolu as a starter? Hm... I wonder why. ;)

From me: Thank you for the battle dialog compliment.

On to the questions...

1: I think the FF4 arc could appear after the "Geno" Saga for the first "round" of 3 arcs. The PW/AJ arcs? Much, more later.

2: I think I'm going to make an arc after the events of PW: TaT, but Maya and Pearl are going to be in it. And you're wondering how am I going to an arc that doesn't involve fighting? Because there's no fighting involved! The arc will also (just to let you know) happen in Nintendo City. Until then, it's unclear how am I going to do the plot. All of you will enjoy it once I get to craft a case or drop the arcs altogether And how will they act around all the people? You'll see. :D

3: Yes, but lately, school (and even Platinum) have slowed me down in the chapters. Funny thing is that this chapter was already....ready to be uploaded but I decided to pass the time a little until I received your reviews. :P

4: Of cou-wait a second, you broke the rule. Don't do that again, please. :l

From Nintendogeek02: Well it was a good fight, but the main thing that had me on the edge of my seat was the Baton pass. Good chapter overall.

From me: ...You seriously like other things than the fights themselves, don't you? XD

From Rellymaster: -Porky (or whatever name the idiot has) is so annoying! I'm glad he got handed to again!
-So Luigi finally joins the party, huh? That'll be interesting.
-Alex Kidd reminds me of how jealousy can oftentimes land someone inte trouble. (Aha! So it was the sponsor after all!)
-I don't get why Bidoof is mocked by everyone. Meh, I must not be in the know.
Okay, this had to be one of your most touching yet hilarious chapters yet. I have nothing more to say.

From me: He'll get handed so many times.

It is going to.

It was. O_O

And I didn't mock Bidoof. That was just a small reference to that meme in the whole internet about them. Which brings up the question: why do everyone mock that beaver so much?

It has been enough for you all to suffer, but here it is, the next chapter of the next arc! You'll figure out what arc is the next one so quickly (or you either read the summary).

By the way, a friend of mine pointed out that "readed" is not even a word. Would you all please tell me which words are bad written for a long time? I'm secretly correcting the earlier chapters from this fic (meaning that there are new scenes and even a funner version of the EarthBound's battle system) and I want to know which words are bad written...

...

...If you do this, I'll make a reference to a fic of yours. (Sees people reading) Oh, come on!

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 114: Rosalina: The Princess of the Galaxy

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister began. "I have great news."

"Besides the fact Porky lost against them, the Subspace Bombs were all deactivated and the fact that his somewhat not quite mouth gave vital information about the location of the last Star Spirit?" Tabuu asked with irritation in his voice.

"Honestly speaking, yes."

"What?"

"The scout that was sent to Samus's world managed to find the monster we were looking for, and they were able to get a sample of its original DNA."

Tabuu's eyes widened a little. "Ah... Very well..."

"And right now as we speak, we're trying to create the former 2 subjects we lost last time when they invaded our stronghold."

"Yes... Yes... It is so good to hear that we are making progress to recover everything we lost in the last war."

"I'm glad you're being optimistic about all the events that happened a time ago. This time, your forces will be stronger and more intelligent if I presume well."

"Then please, do continue," Tabuu turned his back. "How are the others?"

"Ganondorf is still in great pain after the last encounter, but Charizard and King Dedede are available to any mission. They seem to be mad after they lost though."

"Send them to the galaxy."

"And what galaxy are you speaking of?"

"Mario is on a quest to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. The King of the Koopas can be easily found and I know he will not object about giving him our aid, since it will be beneficial to his plans and ours as well."

"I see..."

"And also," Tabuu continued. "There are many perils in the galaxy that Master Hand's forces will not overcome so easily."

"Shall I begin the preparations then?"

"Of course. Meanwhile, I will see other important matters."

"May I know about your matters?" The Ancient Minister asked.

"If I were to tell you...you would die," once Tabuu said that, the Ancient Minister gasped in his mind. "Please, start everything. This is another mission where you are going to be in charge of. Do not fail me." Tabuu said before he vanished.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Behind Us!

The Ancient Minister looked away. "About 15 bombs which were activated by 30 of my brethren some moments ago were deactivated...along with them... I must know how to stop this...but is escaping from here a good option?" The Ancient Minister wondered as he looked at the darkness of the Subspace, which he went forward and disappeared.

Nintendo City
Post Office from outside the barrier

It has been quite a while after the persistent Paratroopa went to see the clouds that his fellow friends were starting to worry about him.

"When is that stubborn Paratroopa going to get down?" Quil asked, crossing his arms. "He's going to get frozen inside an ice cube if he doesn't return right now."

"But you have to agree," Postman began. "He has determination."

"Coming from a determinated postman who rushes to every single person with mail pending." Quil said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, we postmen are that dedicated in our labors. You should do the same someday." Postman suggested.

"That day my feathers will fall off because I'll act like an idiot."

"Whatever you say..." Postman trailed off.

"But..." Quil looked outside. "It's stupid..."

"Stupid what?"

"That the climate is getting somehow...stronger for some reason..." Quil noticed that more snow was falling outside. "It's snowing even more than it used to. Remember the storm 2 days ago during the night?"

"Yeah," Postman remembered. "It was very strong from what I can recall."

"Call this a crazy assumption...but I think this storm is man-made..."

"Crazy assumption." Postman said nodding.

"It is not!"

"Well, you said I could call it a crazy assumption!" Postman looked outside. "Hey, Parakarry! Tell Quil he has a crazy assumption!"

"It's not that crazy, right Para..." Quil looked fairly shocked after both postmen found Parakarry...trapped inside an icicle. "PARAKARRY!"

"Oh man! He decided to get ice power but it rejected him!" Postman yelled.

"Stop being an idiot and help me to carry him back inside, close to the chimney!"

Several minutes later...

"ACHOO!"

"Here," Quil gave the almost-unfrozen Parakarry (since his hands and head were out as the ice was melting) hot coffee that the Paratroopa took slowly before sighing. "What happened to you up there?"

"2 shadowy figures attacked me!" Parakarry said angrily. "I was banging on the clouds for some time before a hole opened, and above the hole, 2 figures chuckled rather malevolently and froze me inside this icicle!"

"Banging on the clouds?" Postman asked confused.

"2 figures?" Quil questioned.

"Yep. The clouds up there are as hard as walls," Parakarry explained. "Nobody can get through without force, but mine wasn't all that strong enough."

"But did you manage to see who were those figures?"

"Hmm..." Parakarry wondered as his right leg was able to get outside. "...The attacks felt familiar though...oddly familiar...like if I knew who were the ones who attacked me..."

"Hey," Postman began. "Maybe you should get some rest and see again?"

"Just for him to get inside another icicle and fall down all the way here?" Quil asked with a glare. "Be glad there was a big pile of snow out there that saved him from being shattered!"

"Sorry, sorry. No need to get grumpy either."

"What?!"

"Guys, GUYS!" Parakarry yelled. "Calm down! I know what to do right now with this issue!"

"...You do?" both postmen asked.

Parakarry nodded. "Yep. I know who to ask and help me out."

"Us out." Quil corrected.

"Yeah, that too...but first, since I'm in this condition..."

Quil looked at Parakarry's mug empty as the Paratroopa moved it by the sides. "...Fine, I'll fill it again for you." Quil said with a sigh.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: Grimoire of the Rift - Pub

Some time passed after the 3 groups managed to return to the mansion, and Luigi was being given his Brawl form (along with Snake) as the plumber looked at his gloves.

"I feel the same." Luigi commented.

"But you got 2 new taunts," Master Hand pointed out. "The weirdest though."

"...I don't want to use them, then..." Luigi shuddered.

"Okay, okay," Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "Excellent job with your assigned duties. Our plans haven't been stopped fortunately."

"I'm so glad everyone is okay," Chris said sighing. "It's good to see everyone safe."

"Aw, he worries about us. Hug him." Pikachu snickered.

Chris got annoyed. "H-hey! I'm saying the truth!"

"I-I-I-I-I would've l-l-l-l-laughed," Falco sneezed with a big scarf on his neck. "B-b-b-b-b-but I can't do it with t-t-t-t-this cold..."

"Oh yes," Master Hand began. "Forgot to tell you something."

"What?" Ness asked.

"While Meta Knight was left behind, he happened to show me a person who, in some time before, entered the mansion that he found in the library."

"And who is that person?" Mallow asked.

"U-um, that would be me."

They all blinked confused at the voice coming from the hallway. They saw a gloved hand waving at them that later was pulled back before the princess from Zaphias, Estellise Sidos Heurassein, stepped out while she blushed, joined hands in front of her waist and also looking down in embarrasment.

"M-my name is Estellise Sidos Heurassein, princess from Zaphias and candidate to the Imperial throne. I-I've been secretly living here without anyone knowing of my presence, except for Etna, who happens to be away right now," Estelle said shyly as she closed her eyes afterward. "I'm really, really sorry for sneaking in when that horrible storm came in!"

"(Princess?)" Zelda thought surprised.

"Sneaking in?" Snake wondered. "So you're the cause of my cover being blown up."

"I-I don't know anything about that, but please, forgive me for being rude and take refuge in your humble abode!" Estelle said utterly embarrassed.

"Calm down, calm down," Zelda said as she walked to Estelle. "We don't mind guests at all."

"...Really?" Estelle asked as she looked at Zelda, who chuckled a little.

"Yes."

"...Oh, thank you, princess that looks like a Kritya!"

"...A what?" Zelda asked confused.

Estelle gasped. "O-oh, you're not a Kritya? Sorry for misjudging you. Kritya usually have long ears so I thought you were one..."

"...I let that somewhat insult go."

Estelle blushed embarrassed as sweat drops were jumping off her head. "N-no! I wasn't trying to insult anybody! I-it was such a small mistake! I swear!"

"I knew girls like her are easy to get desperate." Popo said.

"Stop it!" Zelda snapped out. "She needs a time to get calm. Estellise, would you breath air for a moment?"

Estelle looked somewhat worried. "O-okay... Let me relax a little..."

Several minutes later...

"Now?" Zelda asked as Estelle regained her composure.

"Yes... Thanks." Estelle said with a polite bow.

"So anyways," Roy began. "What brings you here?"

"I came here 2 days ago after that strong storm came around. I happened to find the mansion through my search for Raven and some other friends that got lost in the forest."

"(Raven?!)" Toon Link thought shocked.

"He has been missing for quite some time so I started to look for him," Estelle looked down. "But I wasn't successful so far. I'm starting to worry about his welfare so much..."

"We happen to know Rav-" Link was interrupted by Toon Link tackling him down. "H-hey! What's the matter with you?!"

"No! We don't know anyone named Raven at all!" Toon Link yelled as everyone watched him. "We-don't-know-any-Raven!"

"...Oh," Estelle got depressed. "I thought you knew him..."

"But we kno-" Marth was tackled down by Toon Link.

"Yes, he i-" Mallow was tackled down by the cartoony swordsman.

"Excuse me? Why are you all acting so strange?" Estelle asked.

"Link is acting strange," Ness began. "We don't."

"But why is he tackling everyone down?"

"Because he doesn't want to tell that Rav-" Ness was tackled down by Toon Link. "Okay, you got 5 seconds to get off my back before I burn you down."

"Traitor, you promised me that you weren't going to say ANYTHING about Raven." Toon Link whispered.

"He's not my idol," Ness replied with a bored look. "And honestly speaking, I hate that old man."

"You've got to keep it a secret!"

"...I'm not dealing with people who don't throw any reward."

Toon Link rolled his eyes. "I let you use my Wind Waker."

Ness narrowed his eyes and grinned a little bit. "And what else?"

Toon Link groaned. "And I'll let you use my Master Sword."

"...What else?"

"YOU LITTL-"

"Hey," Nana called out. "Everyone is staring at you."

Ness and Toon Link glanced around at all the characters who were looking at them, laying down on the floor before they got up and coughed awkwardly. "S-sorry for that." Toon Link said with a nervous chuckle.

Estelle sighed. "Maybe I should leave this place and continue my quest alone..."

"Wait," Zelda interrupted. "Why go out there when you can stay here?"

Estelle's face brightened as she joined her hands. "C-can I really stay here, for real?"

"We don't mind guests." Red said.

"I do." Master Hand said.

"We don't care that much since you always agree afterward." Yoshi said.

"...Fine, Estelle can stay here as long as she wants. Just keep her away from our matters."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Estelle said happily. "I never thought I'd meet such interesting people like you all in my life before! Being surrounded by all of you, who wear such interesting costumes, is quite a memory to remember!"

"...But we're not wearing costumes," Fox said. "We are like this because we were born this way."

"...You're speaking the truth, right?" Estelle asked.

"I'm 100 percent myself." Wolf added.

"Me too." Kirby said.

"Us too." DK and Diddy with a nod.

"And us too." Sonic, Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Lucario said in unison.

"...My god..." Estelle trailed off. "H-how can I see you're not lying?"

"Here, try to pull out my "mask" and see we're not lying." Pikachu jumped to Estelle and she tried to pull his "mask" but was unable to.

"..." Estelle blinked quite shocked.

"So what?"

"...Amazing!" Estelle exclaimed as she put a hand close to her mouth. "Now I'm even more interested in all of you!"

"She gets so easily interested in a second." Link said.

Estelle blushed as she let Pikachu go. "W-well, it IS a shocker, b-but to think I would meet such people like you all...it's a sign that my journey was going to be so full surprises after all! I can't wait to tell Yuri and the others about this!"

"Wait," Chris made a confused face. "Your friend is some kind of sick japanese meaning?"

"Whatever you mean by that?"

"...Oh, maybe I'm wrong..."

"Okay, okay," Master Hand began. "Now that you completely believe in all of us, could you go to your room?"

"But..." Estelle trailed off. "I'm so anxious to know everyone here..."

"Tell you what," Zelda began. "I'll go with you and we'll have a nice chat."

Estelle smiled a little. "Oh, would you do that?"

Zelda nodded. "I'd like to show you the mansion if you want."

Estelle joined her hands and smiled happily. "I'd be so thankful then!"

"Right. Follow me." Zelda said as she walked away with Estelle.

"I'd like to meet all of you later!" Estelle called from her shoulder as the 2 went away.

"There goes Zelda," Link said. "The princess who likes to talk with other high authorities."

"And she says she doesn't like to talk to Peach." Marth added.

"...So..." Luigi trailed off. "She's a new Smasher?"

"No," Master Hand said. "She happened to sneak in and be accepted by Etna, meaning I'm letting people live in my mansion for free because all of you need to show hospitality."

"Hey, she's pretty." C. Falcon said with a devious grin.

"...There he goes with that grin." Yoshi said with a frown.

"I-I'm not going to do that sort of thing!"

"But you always give in anyways," everyone (who knew him) said in unison.

"T-that's not true!" C. Falcon argued.

"...Oh no...don't tell me you went that far because that has to be the most WRONG thing ever." Chris said shocked.

"N-no!"

"...Well...I don't see proof so..."

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand yelled. "Stop talking about Estelle and C. Falcon's temptations! We have things to discuss here!"

"Like the Subspace Bombs?" Pit suggested.

"Actually...no," Master Hand snapped his fingers. "Since I'm sick that Samus isn't ready to join us, I'll resort to use my magic hand time powers to accelerate the process and get her here right now."

"Wait," Sonic rubbed his chin. "Time powers? Why do I think I was affected by something of the sort?"

Master Hand sweated. "Er...no... You must be crazy like Crazy."

"Yee-haw!" Crazy Hand responded as his brother glowed while the Smashers saw the screen, showing Samus's world, as she fought every single enemy at a very fast (and stupid) rate until it stopped and showed her flying to the distance after saluting the general of the Galactic Federation.

"...There..." Master Hand said panting. "It was easier than the last time....because I didn't go through a lot of different storylines like I did with Soni-" Master Hand noticed that Sonic looked annoyed. "...Okay, fine! I did it on you!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me do the honors!" Crazy Hand called as he snapped his fingers and made a portal in front of the screen, where Samus (in her Power Suit) walked out several seconds before the portal closed. "Hello, shemale!"

Samus quickly shot the hand down with a Super Missile. "I told you before that I'm not a man!" Samus said annoyed with a groan.

"(Oh yeah, she is here.)" Snake thought.

"Oh..." Samus noticed everyone looking at her. "It's good to see everyone again. So many new faces and old on-" Samus stopped once she realized that Fox's face wasn't the same. "...Well, you're older than the last time."

Fox rolled his eyes as a response.

"No need to get that sympathetic either," Snake began. "Glad to have you here with us."

"Thanks. I appreciate the welcome so mu-"

"Samus!" C. Falcon yelled as he appeared quickly besides Samus. "So, how are you doing?" he asked with a wink.

"...I knew there was a good reason to be mistaken as a man." Samus muttered as she pushed C. Falcon's arm away.

"Have you decided to join us?" Master Hand as he wiped the sweat out with his psychic powers.

"Yes." Samus said with a nod (while C. Falcon cheered behind her).

NEWCOMER!

Samus joined your team!

"After all the trouble with Dark Samus and the Space Pirates, I'm ready to fight the army with everyone." Samus explained.

"Would you fight in that suit?" C. Falcon asked.

"The Power Suit? Yes. The other one? Only if it is necessary."

"Oh, so you know where I'm getting at..." C. Falcon said with a wink.

"Would you stop the freaking innuendo?" Pikachu asked irritated.

"What is he getting at, Geno?" Twink whispered.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Geno replied with irritation.

"Hmm..." Chris began to wonder.

"What are you thinking?" Lucario asked.

"I just realized that we need only Mario and Peach to complete the whole team."

"What about Bowser and Wario?"

Chris gave him a bored look. "The day I let those 2 in I'll be crazy. I know they're going to join the other side so why bother to look for them?"

"...Maybe you're right..." Lucario said with a nod.

"ACHOO!" Falco sneezed and shivered. "For my A-A-A-A-A-Arwing's sake, when is t-t-t-t-t-t-this freaking cold going to g-g-g-g-g-g-go away and leave me alone?! ACHOO!"

"Ah," Pit wondered. "The snow from outside you mean? Now that you mention it, it has been out there for quite a while, right?"

Falco nodded. "Y-y-y-y-y-yeah. T-t-t-t-t-the next time we need t-t-t-t-t-t-to go to a w-w-w-w-w-world, I'm going to g-g-g-g-g-g-g-go no matter what y-y-y-y-y-y-you say!" Falco tried his best not to shudder. "A different place is better than this prison of ice! We went through enough ice already and I'll be glad to see actual magma or lava around! Heck, I'd dive in for that matter! ACHOO!"

"Sucks to be bird brain." Wolf snickered as Falco glared at him.

"O-o-o-o-o-oh, you shut u-u-u-up!"

"Sadly," Master Hand began. "It's too soon for another world to be invaded, so let's explain everything to Samus."

"Explain me about what?" Samus asked.

1 hour later...

Samus was now in her Brawl form (that she thought shrunk the Power Suit a bit) as she caught on with the current events. "So Geno, Mallow and Twink are here to recover the Star Spirits..."

"Yes," Geno nodded. "We're down to the last one, but we have a clue about Kalmar's location."

"Hidden high above the clouds." Twink said.

Persona 4 - Deduction

"Well," Marth began. "The only place close to that description would be..."

"The clouds that followed the Halberd in Beijing?" DK asked.

"Most likely," Pit said. "Those clouds looked suspicious to me."

"It would make sense," Diddy said, rubbing his chin with a finger. "Considering that they're guarding it, the clouds that followed the Halberd could be the perfect match," Diddy looked at Chris, who stared at him with surprise. "What?"

"N-nothing," Chris shook his head. "It's just that you're acting intelligent now than usual."

"..." Diddy blushed and looked away. "Let's say I like to act hyperactive and serious when I want to..."

"(Yeah, right.)" Fox thought annoyed.

"Hey, I have another assumption," Sonic began with a grin as he raised a finger. "The clouds outside the mansion."

"Why the clouds outside? The weather is just strong." Roy said.

Sonic shook his head. "I bet something else is behind all that..."

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I agree," Falco said raising a hand. "I kinda think the weather outside is not normal a-a-a-a-a-at all. ACHOO!"

"If Sonic is assuming, then he is crazy," Mallow chuckled. "Remember the whole sponsor thing?"

"I tell you guys, it was him! That sponsor sabotaged the Olympics but you don't believe me!" Sonic argued.

"I don't believe it." Lucario said.

"Or me." Chris added.

"Or us." Marth and Pit added.

"Or neither us." DK and Diddy said.

Sonic groaned. "Whatever. Nobody can change your minds...but the day I'm right, you're gonna apologize to me right away."

"Suuuuuuuure." Twink said with a chuckle.

"Whatever..." Sonic said, giving up.

"The Subspace Bombs are activated through the robots," Marth began. "The question is why though."

"Blowing the bombs by themselves makes more sense," Fox got in a thinking position. "But why use the robots in order to explode them?"

"Maybe because they all have some sort of material that is required to make the desired explosion?" Pit asked.

Everyone looked at each other as if they found something.

"Wait..." Roy thought for a moment. "...I may be wrong, but what if the robots have something else in their...complicate systems...that is required to create that kind of explosion?"

"(A-ha, they found something important right there.)" Master Hand thought with a nod.

"Hmm..." Samus wondered. "Why, that seems to be the case. The Subspace Bombs could be lacking some sort of important circuit that only the robots have."

"Wow, Samus, you caught on so fast." Ness remarked.

Samus chuckled. "I like to be informed of everything. Knowledge is my greatest weapon."

"What about your inner beauty?" C. Falcon asked with a wink.

"Stop-the-innuendo." Ness said annoyed.

"And if the bombs lack that mechanism..." Meta Knight trailed off. "...The robots poccess something that can't be obtained elsewhere in order to activate mentioned bombs."

"Like some sort of hard-to-find item?" Pichu asked.

"Yes..." Pikachu nodded. "Now it's starting to make sense."

"Robots that are needed to activate bombs...but that have something else to get the effects they want."

"...Er..." Chris got confused. "Wait, doesn't that bring up another question?"

"What question?" Red asked.

"What is exactly the thing they have?"

Music stops with a scratch

"...So close, yet so far..." Link said with a bored look.

"Agreed." Squirtle said nodding.

"But see the bright side," Nana smiled a little. "We got one step closer to the truth."

"And I actually see a good point with all your assumptions," Master Hand said. "Never I'd thought that you all could decipher this complicate mystery by your points of view."

"See Nana? I'm smart." Popo said with a proud smile.

"Popo, don't make me knock that empty head of yours right now," Nana threatened. "Speaking of which..." Nana tossed a bag of Smash Coins to Chris, who gasped but managed to catch it. "Here. We got this after we rescued the others."

Chris peered inside the bag. "1500 Smash Coins... Not bad."

"...How come you didn't say anything about all this?" Toon Link asked to Snake.

"Because I'm trying to figure out if your assumptions are correct," Snake said. "Hopefully I have backup to see if it does make sense."

"It does." Otacon and Mei Ling said in unison through the codec.

"Then it makes sense."

"...Oh..." Toon Link said with a bored face.

"...Aannnd our cue." Popo said with a smile and happy expression.

"What do you mean by our cue?" Nana asked.

"WARNING! WARNING! WORLD...OR SPACE INVADED BY SUBSPACE ARMY! REPEA-" Master Hand stopped the alarm as most of them looked surprised at Popo.

"...What? I have other powers besides ice." Popo said shifting his eyes with evil chuckles.

"...He's just bluffing." Nana said with a sigh.

"On the topic," Ivysaur began. "What world is next?"

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a world where you WILL t-t-t-t-t-t-take me! ACHOO!" Falco sneezed angrily.

They all watched a new world...

?

?
?

"What is that place?" Mallow asked.

"By the surroundings, I could tell that is the space." Twink said.

"Hey, look over there," Yoshi said. "Isn't that Mario?"

"...Huh?" Geno tilted his head. "Wait, I know that person in front of him..."

Chris blinked surprised. "Geno, you know..."

"Hmm..." Mario grumbled annoyed.

"I know it is frustrating to you that we cannot access Bowser's main location," a voice that echoed in front of Mario said. "We were supposed to have 60 Power Stars, but it seems some kind of evil is taking Bowser's location much further away in our reach."

"But why do I need to get 60 more? It's going to take much more time and effort." Mario said.

The voice chuckled. "Don't worry. For our luck, more comets have appeared and unlocked new ways to new stars so we can reunite them all. And also, every single path to every single Power Star are now available for you to explore."

"I wish I could receive help..." Mario trailed off.

The screen focused on the person with the voice, and for some it was obvious from who it was. "It could be a test for you," Rosalina, the owner of the voice, said with a chuckle. "The Lumas and myself will support you on."

"I guess that makes me a little bit happier," Mario smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Rosalina."

"The pleasure is all mine." Rosalina said with a chuckle.

"Anyway," a black Luma floating besides Rosalina began. His name was Polaris. "Mario, tell me when you're ready to start the looooooooong hunt for the Power Stars."

"Okay. I hope they're not tedious to obtai-"

"Oh, by the way..."

"Yes?"

"Remember the new comets?"

"Yes," Mario nodded. "What about them? Do they require me to find something?"

"Multiply that something for 100, on each galaxy"

"...What..." Mario asked with a mutter as his pupils shrunk.

"You need to gather 100 Purple Coins in order to obtain the Power Star."

"...Ooooooohhhhhh..." Mario's eyes spun a little (but very slowly) as he fainted and fell on his back.

"I see," Polaris said. "Mario suddenly needed a rest."

Rosalina was only able to sigh.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Some kind of evil taking Bowser's location away..." Link wondered.

"The Subspace Army," Toon Link said. "For some reason that alarm was activated."

"Well," Master Hand began. "Let's see the status."

Super Mario Galaxy
Current Status: Mario was about to challenge Bowser, but the SA could be behind the delay
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 2
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Even if any kind of race can go, only those who are related to the endless space are allowed to go

"Uh-oh," Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "We have a shortage of those here."

"Hey!" Pikachu called out angrily. "Pokémon are from space!"

"That's just a theory," Master Hand said. "And it hasn't been proven yet, so sorry."

"Hmph!" Pikachu said angrily.

"That means I can't go with you." Lucario said depressed.

"...I'll be fine," Chris said. "I'm always getting out from troubles all the time."

"Okay...oh, wait a minute," Master Hand wondered. "I think we do have enough people."

"We do?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Master Hand chuckled. "Buuuuut, I let Chris figure it out for himself."

Chris looked annoyed. "Wow, I didn't know you were so evil..."

"Blame me," Master Hand chuckled again. "Once you see me in Final Destination, you'll get nightmares with my super-creepy voice... And speaking of stages..." Master Hand looked away. "If you can bring Mario and Peach over here, then it's going to be the time where we will finally see the stages for each one of you."

Ness's eyes trembled in surprise as his jaw dropped. "No frickin' way..."

"Oh ho ho, yes frickin' way," Master Hand chuckled. "I think it's enough suffer and wait for you to ponder, wonder, and think. I have also another important thing to give you all in order to get even stronger."

"The stickers?" Lucario asked.

Master Hand looked annoyed. "That's it. From now on, I'll block my mind from you pesky mind readers."

"Stickers..." Snake frowned. "I knew this place was weird, but not that crazy..."

"Oh, quiet you!"

Several minutes later...

Many Smashers were talking in groups while Chris was talking to Master Hand. "What do you mean I should ask one by one to see if they want to come?" Chris asked.

"Well, you see, it's kind of rude to just name the people who are going with you without them saying if they want or don't want to," Master Hand raised a finger. "But if you talk to one, then another, you could raise the partnership level a little to get closer to complete it."

"Hmm... That doesn't sound too bad..." Chris wondered.

"Who knows," Master Hand continued. "You could get secrets out of them."

Chris blinked. "Like their pasts that weren't shown in their games?"

Master Hand nodded. "Exactly. You're a professional when it comes down to spend time with them. It won't be a hard task to you."

"Then thanks for the good advice." Chris said with a nod.

"Anytime, kiddo. Now go and buy something from my mentally-challenged brother."

"...Will do..." Chris shrugged as he went to Crazy Hand. "List please."

"Will do!" Crazy Hand said.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 5101

Jobs

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Items for everyone - 400 Smash Coins

Don't Trip And Follow Me! - 900 Smash Coins

Healing Hit – 3000 Smash Coins

Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Smash Ball
Maxim Tomato
Bumper

Stored items:
None

"I'll buy the items ability one..." Chris whispered.

"Oh, I see," Crazy Hand whispered. "You joining the mafia. I like that."

"I'm not joining the mafia!" Chris yelled as he gave 400 Smash Coins to the sick hand. "I'll buy the Sonic one," Chris gave 900 Smash Coins. "And the Healing Hit, since we had so much trouble with those illnesses." Chris gave 3000 Smash Coins as he glowed 3 times. His current amount of coins reaching 801 Smash Coins.

"What else, mah boi?"

"Don't make me kill you," Chris said with a bored look. "I think I'm going to buy the 2 different mushrooms."

"You think?" Crazy Hand crossed his fingers, like if he had arms.

"...Fine." Chris gave 800 Smash Coins and got the 2 different kinds mushrooms.

"You have only 1 Smash Coin left," Crazy Hand chuckled. "I know saving money is good, but only 1? Pfft."

"S-stop annoying me!" Chris said annoyed.

"Alright, stop the bickering," Master Hand said. "Time for you to get some help. Think careful first before deciding who will go."

"Why don't you tell me who can and who can't?" Chris asked confused.

"Because, my friend, I love to see actual wisdom coming from someone else rather than me."

"...Okay..." Chris muttered as he looked at everyone talking with each other. "Let's see, this one seems easy..." Chris walked to Samus.

Oddly enough, she started the conversation.

"My first time here and now it's time for me to work." Samus commented.

"I know," Chris thought for a moment. "To be honest, when Link and Zelda arrived, they didn't participate in the next world."

Samus chuckled. "It must have been annoying to them."

"I don't think so," Chris said. "They understood very well."

"I see," Samus said with a nod. "So, you taking me?"

Chris nodded. "You're possibly the person who is more related to the space, besides the fact that you're a galactic bounty hunter."

Samus chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment. Tell me when everything is set."

"I'll do." Chris said with a smile. "(This way to choose is actually very enjoyable...)" Chris walked to C. Falcon.

"Hey, I saw you talking with Samus," C. Falcon said. "I presume you're taking her along, right?"

"Uh-huh." Chris said.

"Then you have to take me too!"

"I also presumed that by the look of the situation." Chris said with a bored look.

"Besides," C. Falcon grinned. "Snake can't go to this one."

"And you can?"

"Yep," C. Falcon nodded. "I come across many intergalactic matters all the time: from races to travels."

"Master Hand!" Chris called out. "C. Falcon can come with me?"

"Yes!" Master Hand called out. "He comes across many intergalactic matters all the time! From races to travels!"

Chris blinked confused since Master Hand repeated the same thing. "...You're in."

"Alright! Tell me when you're ready to go!" C. Falcon gave Chris a thumbs-up as the World Traveler ignored him and went...to Olimar.

"U-um... I-I do a lot of travels since I work for a company that gives me tasks to deliver many products."

"Like when Louie ate all the shipment by himself and he said that the rabbits attacked him?"

"...Huh?" Olimar got confused. "Wait, why would Louie do that? He knows perfectly that eating requested shipments is against the..."

"What?"

"...He didn't do that. Louie knows how to follow the rules."

Chris frowned in shame. "...A-anyway..."

"You want me to go?" Olimar asked.

"If you want."

"...I'll go," Olimar said. "I want to know Mario a little bit more. Tell me when everyone's ready."

"That's good and I will" Chris remarked as he went to Sonic.

"Take me!" Sonic said with a grin.

"...That's all you're going to say?"

"Well, I want to see Mario again."

"No no no no no!" Master Hand appeared. "Sonic isn't related to the space in any way. Sorry, Chris, but you failed with him."

Sonic glared at the hand. "Hey! I AM related to the space!"

"Give me one relation."

"I had like 2 to 5 fights in the space!"

"They don't count."

"What?"

"They don't count!" Master Hand repeated. "You need like, 8 to 9 adventures in the space!"

"Aw, c'mon!"

"Even if you're allowed to go to any world, the recommendations contradict your free pass. Even Meta Knight and Kirby can't go since they have that free pass like you."

"...Tsk," Sonic crossed his arms. "Fine..."

"...I'm sorry." Chris said ashamed.

"Nah, it's okay," Sonic gave him a smile. "I'll be ready the next time you need me."

"Thank you." Chris said with a nod as he went to Geno.

"Rosalina," Geno began. "I know her."

"You do?"

"Yes, I know her too," Twink said. "We stars have many connections outside the Star Haven."

"The Lumas are always wishing the most purest wishes of all," Geno explained. "We even pay visits to the Observatory from time to time."

"Rosalina is the sweetest person we have ever met besides Peach," Twink smiled. "Both of them have the same level of kindness."

"Then you 2 want to come?" Chris asked.

"Of course," Geno said with a nod. "We haven't seen Rosalina in quite some time."

"And it's a perfect opportunity to see her again!" Twink said floating up and down in excitement.

"Okay." Chris said.

"Tell us when we can go." Geno said.

"Yes. Just let me finish with the rest." Chris said as he walked, but then stopped and wondered. "Er...I-I don't know who else can come..."

"O-o-o-o-o-o-oh," Falco, who was sitting close to him, glared at Chris. "Hello? A-a-a-a-ace s-s-s-s-s-spacial pilot over h-h-h-h-h-h-here?!"

"...Are you really feeling well?"

"H-h-h-h-h-hell no!" Falco said angrily. "Y-y-y-y-y-you have to take me with you and out from this i-i-i-i-i-i-ice prison! BLE-CHOO!"

"...Anywhere but this place, right?"

Falco nodded with a grunt.

"...You're in."

"T-t-t-t-t-thank you," Falco shivered. "T-t-t-tell me when as always."

"This is the first time I talk personally with every single one of you."

"W-w-w-w-well, you get what I mean! ACHOO!"

"..." Chris backed away and walked to another way.

"H-hey!" Luigi walked to Chris. "I-I think I can go..."

"Hmm," Chris wondered. "Well, you're originally from that world so it makes sense. Alright, you're in too."

"Thank you," Luigi said with a smile. "I can't let Mario do all the things by himself all the time," Luigi made a fist. "I will help him!"

"Like the time you saved him from the ghosts?"

Luigi got a confused look. "Wait, I don't remember telling you about my own private mansion before..."

Chris sweated. "M-Mario told me."

"...It makes sense." Luigi said nodding. "A-anyway, tell me when."

Chris walked away...but then walked back to Luigi. "Wait, does that mean you still have that mansion?"

Luigi nodded. "Yes, but I gave it to Peach as a present for one of her birthday parties."

"And what did she do to it? Does she have it like it was before?"

"She turned the mansion into a new castle..." Luigi shuddered. "I don't know why she likes to have many of those castles...but actually..." Luigi shed a tear. "S-she demolished the whole mansion and then ordered a new castle..."

"...Weren't you mad that your ultra-deluxe mansion got demolished?"

"N-not at all," Luigi said. "I'll miss that small tent..."

"...But you just said you had a mansion."

"T-to be honest, it was a small green tent. But Peach took advantage of the terrain... B-but that's in the past right now. Tell me when we can go."

"(...Somehow, I feel SO MUCH sorry for Luigi than any other character here...)" Chris walked away.

"Sniff..."

Chris walked away faster after hearing that sniff. "Okay. I got Samus, C. Falcon, Olimar, Geno, Twink who doesn't count as a fighter, Luigi, Falco... 2 left..." Chris looked around. "But who else?"

"Not me." Wolf said crossing his arms.

Chris noticed that Wolf was in front of him. "Okay... Why though?"

"I'm rather tired by the moment so I want to recover my energies," Wolf frowned. "Being inside an ice wall isn't exactly the best place to relax."

"It is!" the Ice Climbers yelled.

"You shut up." Wolf replied with a glare.

"Okay...wait..." Chris wondered. "Falco is almost the same as Fox so..."

"Go with him," Wolf closed his eye. "You don't have another choice after my decision. Besides, I don't want to see their faces here for a small time."

"You'd rather kill them off, right?"

Wolf smirked. "You're talking my language, kid. I like that."

"N-no way I'm going to kill them with my own hands though..."

"Better yet, more fun for me."

Chris backed away from the psychotic "killer" and went quickly to Fox.

"You know," Fox wondered. "If I go again, then that would mean that I've been busy the entire day."

"That also would mean that you're a hard worker, don't you think?" Chris asked.

Fox chuckled. "I think so. I like how that sounds. So, do you want my help?"

"The more, the merrier, so yes."

"In your case," Fox closed his eyes and smiled. "It's the more, the better I'll stay alive."

Chris blushed. "H-hey! I-I don't want to die!"

"That's why I'm going to give you my help." Fox smiled to Chris.

"...On second thought, thank you for that." Chris smiled a little.

"You're welcome."

"Now..." Chris walked away. "I should think who else..."

"...Can I go?" Yoshi asked, playing with his fingers.

Chris looked at Yoshi. "Oh yes. That problem with you not being..."

"I-I'll try to get interested in some way or another," Yoshi said with a nod. "I don't want to look like I don't care for what could happen to the worlds... Everyone here could hate me if I don't show interest..."

"...If it helps, Yoshi..." Chris said. "...I won't hate you for your decision."

"...Really?" Yoshi asked, blinking in surprise.

"It's your own decision, after all," Chris closed his eyes. "Everyone respect each other's decision. Why hate someone who has a different one?"

"...You're right," Yoshi nodded. "I think I might find that interest that I'm looking for."

"I can help you if you want."

"T-thanks then!" Yoshi smiled.

Chris smiled. "I love to see people getting happy for my offers. You're no different at all."

"You're making me feeling much better. I couldn't be more thankful for that." Yoshi said with a happy expression.

"(I don't want to tell this to Yoshi or anyone...but I'm extremely happy.)" Chris thought.

Lucario, who was seeing Chris all along, chuckled and closed his eyes. "(You're starting to make a big change with your conversations from what I've seen from you, Chris... I should do the same very soon to learn.)"

"...Okay," Chris walked away from Lucario. "You're ignoring me so..."

Lucario opened his eyes in shock. "W-wait! I-I wasn't ignoring you! W-what were you going to say to me?"

"I was going to say that I'll be back."

"..." Lucario felt dumb for a moment. "...Oh..."

"So please, wait for me."

"...I'll do as always. Good luck."

"Thank you." Chris said with a nod. "Everyone, preparations are ready!"

The selected Smashers walked to Chris (Falco had to ask Fox for help) as the World Traveler opened the way. "W-w-w-w-w-warm atmosphere," Falco began. "H-h-h-h-h-here I come..."

"Push him inside so we can stop hearing his complaints." Samus said.

"L-l-l-l-l-like Fox is going t-"

"Sure." Fox nodded.

"What?!" Falco asked before Fox pushed him inside. "...Oh god! It feels warmer here! It feels great!"

"...Can somebody here order a chimney in Falco's room for the sake of his mind?" Nana asked.

Everyone ignored that as the Smashers went inside and vanished with the portal.

"Wait, where is Popo?" Nana asked, looking around for his somewhat mentally-challenged brother.

"Crap!" Master Hand said. "I forgot to make you listen to this new CD track the musicians up there finished!" Master Hand clicked a button.

Tal Tal Heights

"This music is for TL's stage." Master Hand said.

"Hmm, the tune is cheery. I like it." Toon Link said.

"TL?" Ness, Lucas, Nana, Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff repeated.

"I like how the letters sound to call Toon Link like that." Pikachu said.

"W-wait, you guys aren't going t-" Toon Link was stopped.

"You're TL." Pichu said.

"TL has some kind of good sound." Ness said.

"It does sound good." Lucas added.

"It's easier to identify you from the other Link." Jigglypuff said.

"It's settled then," Nana nodded. "You're TL from now on."

"It's LINK! L-I-N-K!" Toon Link spelled.

"TL," the younger Smashers said in unison as TL (had to use the abbreviation) grunted in annoyance.

"TL." Link teased with a snicker.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!" TL lunged at Link and both started fighting with their fists. Weird thing was that Link was losing.

"Why do I need the most insane characters in this tournament again?" Master Hand wondered.

Main Lobby

"Look, dude with the crazy costume," Popo began with a chuckle. "I know very well that you're not a clown, but a credit card seller disguised as a clown."

"B-but I'm telling the truth!" Chip (in a clown costume) said. "I-I'm not a credit card seller or whatever that is, but I'm a clown who lost his group from the circus!"

"We don't accept cards even so. Sorry dude." Popo said with a smile...

SLAM!

...Before he slammed the door at Chip.

"You WILL let me in some of these days! Mark my words! I WILL enter this place and get the help I need!" Chip called out with a fist as Popo hummed the Legend of Zelda's main theme while he walked to the kitchen.

Command Room

"Though we need more musicians. Medli and Makar can't handle all the music by themselves." Master Hand wondered. "But where are we going to get more?"

"DK," Diddy whispered to DK.

"Yes?" DK lowered his head to hear his nephew.

"How about if we invite those guys over here? Remember? They use instruments so technically they're musicians..."

"...Oh, right!" DK snapped his fingers. "Master Hand!"

"Yes?" Master Hand asked.

"Diddy and I happen to have friends who are musicians."

Master Hand rubbed his fingers. "Oh, I'm all ears, my dear ape friend."

"Kong." DK and Diddy said, correcting MH.

Super Mario Galaxy

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

Mario was shown being poked by the nose by Polaris. "Mario? Hello? Are you still sleeping?"

"My head..." Mario muttered as he got up and shook his head. "Oh, what did I faint for again?"

"About gathering 100 Purple Coins in order to get a Power Star?"

"Oooooooooohh..." Mario's eyes spun a little as he began to fall back...

Polaris gasped and quickly stopped Mario by floating quickly under his back. "No no no no no no! There's no time to rest right now! You need to get going and work harder for Princess Peach! Isn't she the main reason about why you're doing this?"

"..." Mario realized this. "You're right. Peach is still in danger and she needs me."

"Awwwww."

"Who said that?" Mario asked, turning his back before he found the Smashers. "It's you guys!"

"INTRUDERS!!!" Polaris yelled as all the Lumas in the observatory hid away. Even some Lumas hid inside Mario's hat.

"Intruders?" Rosalina repeated as she floated besides Mario. "Are you from Bowser's minions?"

"Rosalina," Geno began. "It's good to see you again."

"And who might you be?" Rosalina asked.

"It's me, Geno." Geno closed his eyes in annoyance. "...You know, the star with the hard to pronounce name that traveled with Mario?"

"Oh, I know you," Rosalina chuckled. "Sorry. It's just too hard to recognize you with your doll form."

"But I know you know me well." Twink said floating besides the princess.

"Twink, of course I know you," Rosalina rubbed Twink's head. "You're hard to forget with your appearance."

"(Even though there are many of his kind in his town.)" Chris thought.

Twink blushed. "Aw, please, stop. Don't embarrass me in front of them!"

Rosalina looked at the Smashers. "Since you arrived with Geno and Twink, that should mean that you're not in alliance with Bowser, correct?"

"Nope." Yoshi said.

"It's okay, everyone. You can come on out. These people are not bad people." Rosalina said as every single Luma got out from their hiding spot (even from Mario's hat) and talked between each other. "I'm sorry for the misjudging. We are currently in a big problem."

"We kno-" C. Falcon's mouth was blocked by Samus's right hand.

"Quiet. We don't want them to think we're stalkers." Samus whispered with annoyance in her voice.

"What kind of problem?" Yoshi asked (he knew but he had to ask and not sound suspicious).

One explanation later...

"I see." Yoshi said nodding.

Mario suddenly got an idea. "I know! You should all help us in recovering the Power Stars we need to find Bowser!"

"Do we have another option?" Geno asked.

"Besides, we came here because the Subspace Army is here as well." Twink said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know that army." Rosalina said.

Another explanation later...

"I suppose they're the cause about Bowser's new location." Rosalina said with a nod. "Very well then, I shall let you wander the observatory from your own will. But please do be careful with the Lumas, they might get shy and even scared for some of you."

"We'll keep Fox and Falco away from them." Samus said.

"Hey!" Fox and Falco said annoyed.

"Good." Rosalina said.

"Hey!"

"M-my apologies. I got carried away..."

"Sure." Fox and Falco said with bored looks.

"Great!" Mario said. "I'll be so thankful if you help me with my tasks!"

"So long as we don't get 100 Purple Coins, then it's fine with me." Chris said.

Mario shook his head and closed his eyes before looking at Chris. "I-ah...n-no... I-I'm not talking about coins. What makes you say that?"

"...A feeling?"

"...Makes sense." Mario said.

Mario temporarily joined your team!

"So," Fox began. "How many times was Peach kidnapped again?"

Mario looked somewhat annoyed. "O-oh, please! Don't start that again with me!"

It was sure going to be a long mission for this time for the Smashers...but this doesn't mean the chapter ended here.

"My name is Polaris," Polaris introduced himself to the Smashers, who were apparently getting to know the observatory. "And this place is our lovely home, the Comet Observatory."

"I prefer the Great Fox." Falco commented.

"Too bad." Polaris whispered.

"What?"

"Over here is the garage," Polaris pointed at the garage, which was being occupied by the Toad Brigade. "These guys are using it though."

"Wait a minute," Mario began. "Luigi, what are you doing here?"

"W-what do you mean?" Luigi asked. "I-I'm here to help you, right?"

"That can't be right!"

"W-why?"

Geno looked to another way and his pupils shrunk.

"Because how can you be here...if you're right over there?" Mario asked...pointing to another person that looked like Luigi...

"...OH MY GAWD!" Luigi gasped as he spotted the other Luigi.

"W-what?" the other Luigi walked to Mario. "M-Mario, who is that guy who looks like me?"

The Smashers dropped their jaws in shock at this.

"...You know what this means, Geno?" Twink asked.

"What?" Geno asked.

"A Luigi paradox!"

"...That's it," C. Falcon said. "I don't know Mario or Luigi anymore. I want to keep my mind safe from unbelievable things from now on."

"W-wait," Samus began. "L-let's calm down and think again about this."

"That there is another Luigi standing in front of us, while we have another Luigi with us?" Twink asked.

"...This doesn't make ANY kind of sense..." Chris said with a bored look.

"Then again, this is Mario's world. What did you expect?" Falco asked, crossing his arms.

"Mama mia!" the Luigis said in unison.

"...Luigi in surround mode." Yoshi said.

"T-that's not true!" the Luigis said in unison.

"See?"

"...Oh, scallops." Olimar commented, twirling his head to the sides. "I don't know what to believe right now..."

"...Er..." Polaris sweatdropped. "I-I don't know but we need to continue with this little tour if you don't mind..." Polaris floated away.

"...We'll see what we can do about this." Samus said.

Chris looked at the Luigis, staring at each other. "But I-"

"WE'LL SEE what we can do about this."

"Bu-" Chris stopped once Samus aimed her arm cannon at him without looking. "S-sure do!"

After the tour...

"...And the Toad Brigade will help you guys in any way with their ship," Polaris finished as they came from the library area. "Now, I have bad news."

"What?" the Luigis asked (they followed the group ever since they met. Twink told them not to touch each other as a warning, but they asked why although the Star Kid didn't respond).

"The Launch Stars can only send 4 people with Mario at a time, so Mario should decide who to take."

"That isn't going to be a problem," Mario said. "I'll dispatch the 9-"

"10" the Luigis said in unison.

"9," Mario said, since he thought the Luigis counted as 1. "I don't think that's going to be bad."

"CoughSubspaceArmycough." C. Falcon coughed.

"But if I need more, I'll call them." Mario said with a nod.

"Okay," Polaris nodded. "I'll be ready to prepare the Launch Star. May the Stars shine down on you all."

"That is what I say to Mario." Rosalina said.

"W-well, it seemed good and I always liked to say it so..."

"It's fine." Rosalina said with a chuckle.

"So what are our missions?" Fox asked.

"Get 60 Power Stars."

"How do we get them?" Olimar asked.

"Doing a lot of different things."

"Do you know where are they?" Samus asked.

"Yes."

"And how to get them?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes."

"And how hard is to get them?" Falco asked.

"Not a problem."

"What's our first mission?" Twink asked.

"Catch a Star Bunny."

"What?!" the Smashers, Geno and Twink asked surprised.

"Catch a Star Bunny," Mario repeated. "With 5 of us it shouldn't be a problem."

"But a rabbit? Are you making fun of us?" Fox asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, you'll SEE what I'm talking about." Mario said with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"I know this isn't going to be hard," Chris said with a smile. "I mean, what can be much harder than catching a cute little bunny?"

"3 Star Bunnies actually." Mario corrected him.

"Oh well, what can be much harder than catching 3 cute little bunnies?"

Snow Cap Galaxy
Star Bunnies in the Snow

Super Mario Galaxy - Bunny Chasing

"THOSE 3 DAMN BUNNIES ARE SO GOING TO HELL!" Chris yelled angrily as he panted heavily with the others.

It has been a long while with Mario, Chris, C. Falcon, Geno, Twink and Fox to catch 1 of the 3 Star Bunnies. The 6 were at the border of insanit-

Persona 4 - Border of Insanity

Not the literal song!

Super Mario Galaxy - Bunny Chasing

That's better.

The 6 were at the board of insanity since the bunnies were ACTUALLY smarter than them.

Fox (who had a black eye for crashing into Geno) narrowed his eyes as they hid behind a snowman. "There is one of those bastards."

A Star Bunny was scratching its left ear as it looked around.

"Geno, you go for it." Mario (who had a patch on his nose) whispered.

Geno (who lost his weird shaped nose) nodded as he slowly walked towards the Star Bunny. "You're mine... This will be over... I'll make stew out of you..."

The Star Bunny's ears perked up and it jumped away.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Geno yelled loudly as he started to chase the damn bunn-I mean, the Star Bunny around the capsule-shaped planet. The other 5 just saw the doll and the rabbit going in circles around, with the doll apparently being pissed off to the extreme.

"Geno! Calm down! They're just playing with us!" Twink yelled (apparently being the one not insane).

"That is what YOU think!" C. Falcon (with several scratches over his helmet) said. "They're pissing us off!"

"aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!" Geno passed in front of them.

"Look, what I really want to do is to eat those bastards alive." Fox said with a glare.

"And I want to play a horrible tune to their ears!" Chris (hair pointing to all sides) said with harp ready. "Those rabbits passed from cute to stupidly annoying in my mental book. They MUST di-no, they HAVE to die!"

"There's one over there!" Mario yelled.

"HE'S MINE!" Fox yelled as he started another chase.

"How does he know is a he?" Twink asked.

"I dunno," C. Falcon said, narrowing his eyes to another direction. "But what's the point of saying that if THERE'S ONE OF THOSE NON-CASTRATED ANIMALS OVER THERE?!"

"Get that one!" Chris yelled as the 3 (except Twink) gave chase.

Twink sighed. "What I don't understand is..." Twink floated to a hole. "Why won't they lure the bunnies in this hole? The bunnies don't seem to jump that high, this place seems deep enough and they always jump straight..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the Smashers yelled in fury as they continued to chase the Star Bunnies around.

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"So you failed to get the rabbits." Samus said.

"Yes..." the Smashers who went there said in depression.

Samus sighed as she went all by herself.

Several minutes later...

"She's done," C. Falcon said, polishing his helmet (without taking it off). "She probably is going nuts trying to catch those bunnies from hell."

"If that's the case, then I'm so sorry for her." Geno said.

If was not long before Samus came from above and landed back, holding a Power Star above her right hand as the 5 looked at her in surprise.

"B-but how did you catch those creatures all by yourself?" C. Falcon asked.

"Simple, I asked them to handle the Power Star, with some rubs at their heads," Samus explained. "They could tell I was a woman and they looked kind of cute to me."

"Right," Fox rolled his eyes. "They DO look cute."

Mario took out a notepad. "Let's see, Snow Cap Galaxy...checked. 1 Power Star obtained and 59 more to go."

"So long as there are no bunnies, it's fine with me..." Chris said sighing.

"Don't worry. With your help, the Daredevil Comets aren't going to be that hard anymore!"

Chris's eyes spun a little before he fainted.

"...He also needed a rest." Polaris said.

Yes, it was going to be one hell of a mission for the Smashers, Geno, Twink...and probably the Luigis, too.

Preview of the next chapter

"Pfft, a touch and you get killed?" Fox rolled his eyes with a frown.

"Yes," Mario nodded. "You have to be more careful than ever with that rule in mind."

"Olimar?... Where is he?" Geno asked.

Yoshi spotted a small red light sinking in the sand. "OLIMAR!"

"Enter...Bee Falco?" Chris chuckled.

Falco stared at him in annoyance. "I'm going to get rid of this ridiculous costume VERY SOON."

"...Oh no..." C. Falcon slowly shook his head. "...I must...think about something else!"

"Too bad," Samus said. "If you thought 2 Luigis were weird..."

"Smashers VS. The Galaxies of HELL. Am I the only one thinking that this isn't going to be enjoyable at all?" Samus asked.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Comet Observatory
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Talking to everyone (almost all of them) is a reference to Persona 4. You can talk to any character before going to a dungeon and see what they think about it. This feature is going to be shown for the remainder (long remainder) of the fic to enjoy the personal conversations. :D

Looks like Estelle got discovered after Meta Knight found her in the library. Does this mean she's going to be the replacement for Etna, Flonne and the Prinnies?

Chip...he won't stop, will he?

And is the Star Spirit hidden in the galaxies since the galaxy could be high above the clouds? Or did Parakarry find something useful that he will tell next time to the Smashers?

How are we going to deal with 2 Luigis? That bothered me a little when I saw the other Luigi...but I'll have something surprising the last time we get to see him. (I know that part of the game wasn't canon. However, I wanted to put this Luigi in).

And the Super Mario Galaxy arc begins! I can tell Mario and Peach could join them at last after Samus (by Master Hand's magic (you should all love that hand by now)) joined them.

Oh, this also means we're going to see 60 different missions with all of them splitting up to complete this ardous job. Though I think they will all look like small oneshots. :P

How will this arc progress now? Only I have the answer. XD

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 115*: Smashers VS The Galaxies of HELL

I just noticed that when I get distracted by school or games, chapters aren't shorter but longer instead. (-_-)

From JSandders: I am anticipating for your next chapter! Great job, again!

Mario Galaxy, huh? Finally! The next arc your planning will be a difficult one to make! 59 more missions of torture for the poor Smashers! (BTW, the small black guy's name is not Polaris, it's Polari!) You cheated Samus to join the Smashers like you did Sonic, but that's okay! (BTW, can't wait for Chip to become REALLY important in the story! I love the Sonic arcs!) Haha, Luigi paradox, I wonder how this will work!

All in all, it's one of the best stories on FFNet! Can't wait for funniness, future arcs, more musicians (especially K.K.! I want to see how his drifter personality will play when he arrives!), and Mario to come!

From me: Just wish I get K. K.'s personality well. I don't know the AC games that well since I didn't play them. Anyways, thanks. :D

From Ultra Blader: Sorry 'bout that. I won't put any more Platinum references in anymore. Not that I've gotten it yet, since I tend to get games a couple of months later after they come out. Anyway...

Brillant chapter, nice Luigi paradox and all. I'm interested on how that's going to turn out.

Until next time

Ultra Blader

P.S: Thanks for answering my questions.

From me: I finished the gam-wait, you made me say it now. X_X

You'll be pleased. (At least this is what I hope). ;D

From ngrey651: TWO Luigis? Well THAT'S weird. I feel a lot more sympathy for him after hearing of his "mansion's awful destruction". The guy can't get a break, can he? XD

Nice job once again.

Sincerely...

Nick

From me: Luigi will suffer a lot of times. What about now? Keep reading and you'll find out. ;)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Hahahahahhahahhahhah! You put the play as luigi cheat in there! Get every star as mario then fight bowser again, then start a new game in the same file and play as luigi! There are then 2 luigis in the galaxy! I for one hate hand magic! It is most definitly not natural! Wow... I think that THIS is my longest review EVER! Update Soon! Hasta!

From me: For you, it is. For me? Scroll down and you'll see what I mean... XD

From SlasherMask: *Darth Vader no* Luigi doesn't want to try his new taunts? Those were most awesome taunts ever...

Yuri is name also.(though i think you know that)

Aww i would have wanted to see beastmaster job...

I feel sorry for Chip... Why does everyone think he looks like credit card seller? Don't they have business suits?

There is reason why i like manga version of Ridley so much. First i like explanation for his healing(though he hadn't really died in that point of manga, just fatally injured in ship explosion(and i think most of metroid fans probably like cloning choice better(but i think it's too simple) and i liked the way that chozo insulted him.

From me: Luigi will use them later. Don't worry.

Yes, I know Yuri.

Who knows exactly. Chip will do anything to get their attention.

Don't talk about mangas since they're not known to me.

From Blaperile: 2 Luigi's?! Can't stop... I'm going... CRAZY! XD

I have enough with one favorite character thank you. :P

I'm wondering, is there also going to be Super Luigi Galaxy, or not? Probably not, because the smashers will go INSANE insane then. XD

LOL, Luigi's mansion given to Peach. :D

Umm, what else can I say... Samus joined!

...

Totally random. XD

Is it just me, or is it already a long time ago Olimar went with them?

From me: Technically, both games of Mario and Luigi merged together. Thanks. :)

From Rellymaster: I guess I could understand why Mario and Chris fainted from having to get 100 Purple Coins. Sounds like the missions are going to be difficult.
TL really does work for Toon Link. Also, it's going to be a while before Chris can get rid of that 1 Smash Coin, right?

From me: I hope they look difficult to you. :)

It is for that little coin. XD

From EmerMarie: You know, Chris (am I referring to you or the character? ...Or is it a self-insert? Bah, I don't care...), I've been reading this entire crazy story since you published the first chapter, but I just never get much of a chance to review. This gives me tons of laughs, so much that I actually read this whenever I have a bad day, since this story's been bound make me laugh enough for me to forget my troubles. So I have to thank you for that, therefore, thanks for the endless laughs!

Bwahaha! This chapter was hilarious to almost no end. Poor Falco for that cold he had in the snow (shouldn't he try flying South next time? Heh heh heh...), and poor Sonic for everyone thinking he's insane (even though he was right all along about the sponsor thing). Why am I getting the feeling that Sonic is right once again about those clouds outside the mansion? I have to admit that Sonic does seem to be a little out of character here... ...But I don't care! He's too funny (especially during the Olympics arc earlier)! So keep him that way!

There are a few grammatical errors, but I'm aware that English isn't your mother language (is it?). Yay for bilinguals! (In case you didn't know, a bilingual is a person who can speak two languages) I might as well list the "correct" versions of the parts that I've spotted (I've only spotted three)...

"Can I know about your matters?" - Ancient Minister (when he was talking to Tabuu). In that line, even though it's correct in a way, a more appropriate term would be "May I know about your matters?" Because if one uses "Can I... (insert question)?", that would mean as if they're saying "Do I have the ability too... (insert question)?" If someone were to ask "Can I... (insert question)?", the person might say "I don't know, CAN YOU?" in response.

"I let that somewhat insult go." - Zelda (when Estelle mistook her for a "Kritya"). For that one... that should've been "I'll let that somewhat small bit of an insult go..." If it were like that, it would make more sense to most people (though your version is good enough for me to understand).

"You'll rather kill them off, right?" - Chris (when talking to Wolf). That should have been "You'd rather kill them off, right?" Because "You WILL rather kill them off..." doesn't make much sense, for "You WOULD rather kill them off..." does.

Oh right, and the reason why the Pokemon (I don't have that accent for the "e", sorry) Bidoof has become a frequent topic of ridicule, is because of its appearance and the fact you can often find them (and sometimes Bibarels) around the first half of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. Not only that, its name is derived from the word "doofus" (meaning that it's an idiot). I think this was boosted even more when it was discussed in the Pokemon forums (even I'm not a member in any of those) and the fact that it was referred to as the "Vender Trash" Pokemon from the guest comic that was posted in VGCats (short for Video Game Cats, it's a web comic, you can look it up if you want).

I don't have anything against Bidoofs, in fact, I like them since they're funny and cute looking, wouldn't you agree? It's not everyday you get to see a Bidoof almost defeat a Palkia on PBR Wi-Fi, go to YouTube and find LordPenguin7's (he's the one who made the video with his Bidoof for fun) video and you'll see what I mean. I think you'll be able to find it if you type down "Battle Revolution Bidoof" on the search list...

A Super Mario Galaxy arc? About time, I loved that game! ...But I HATE those screwy rabbits (Bugs Bunny reference)! ...Have you ever noticed that those rabbits look a lot like the stuffed animal that Rosalina had with her in the story book? For it made me think that she actually CREATED those crazy rabbits who are obsessed with playing Tag...

Sorry if my review is so long, I just have a lot to say. And I'm not doing this for the reference thing, I just wanted to point out those errors (and answer your question about Bidoof) so it can help you make your story easier to read. Oh yeah... I forgot to ask, does your computer have a spell check? It'll help you out. Until then, keep this coming! I'd love to see what mishaps Chris (once again, am I talking about the character or you?) will get himself into now! Hahaha!

From me: Longest review after DianaGohan's ones. :D

Okay... Sonic could be a little out of character, but then again, he acts almost like this (or all the time). XD

English is in fact my second language.

Thank you for "teaching" me those mistakes. :)

Thanks for the info about the Bidoof. :)

They do. Rosalina ISN'T that crule though. XD

I have firefox so yeah. Thanks. :D And you're talking to me, the author. :)

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: I want to get Super Mario Galaxy but I haven't been able to. College keeps me from getting Wii games (not DS games since I can just bring a DS or GameBoy to college). Do you really have to do a mission where you collect 100 purple coins? Sounds horrible, and poor guys and the bunny incident. That must be annoying. Waiting for the next chapter.

From me: Yes, it does. :l

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Sorry for reviewing late, AGAIN. I've been feeling depressed for quite a bit, and I'm starting to act, unusual (you already took weird, so unusual is mine) and I've been playing WiiMusic to cheer up, and it's been working
Another 2-4-1 deal, but I'll help with any noticeable grammar mistakes I may come upon
For 113:
Wow, what a great chapter! Full of action, suspense, and teamwork! Unfortunate that they couldn't get the halberd, but wasn't it destroyed in the last subspace invasion? But why Mr. Game and Watch, why? How did that mutha*BLEP* tabuu draw you to his side, why? Never heard of Alex the Kidd though, but I'm glad someone of the actual mushroom kingdom is with the smashers now! And you may not believe this, but I found a few more musicians! They are from Wiimusic and I'll list them below,
Sebastian Tute, Natelie Tute, Peter Tute, Bob Tute, Pedro Tute, J.J. Tute, and Susie Tute Instruments: nearly everything! and here is a
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, QUESTION EDITION!
Will there be a "The Legend of Dragoon" arc? when it was released, it was considered the rival of Final Fantasy 9. You're not still planning to include "Sly Copper" in any way are you? Will Final Fantasy 5 be in? Will there be other enemies of the subspace army that are not from Mario's world and the original army? Is the correction doing and reference thing real?
for 114:
unexpected, I only realized now that we are going through 3 Mario arcs; Super Paper Mario, Olympic Games, and now galaxy! And I made my avatar the world's greatest detective, shame on myself! so both ridley and meta-ridley are coming in the picture now, hm? beastmaster is one of the last jobs right? oh boy, i wish the smashers who gone to Mario's world good luck. oh, about Chip, does he really wear all those crazy costumes in the game? and two luigi's? that is litterally messing with the space-time warp. well, happy typing

From me: That game may as well be not mentioned here again since it's not that popular...or never heard of. (It's a PS1 game, for god's sake!)

I'll see what I can do for that thief.

No. (Probably, haven't played that game).

No.

Yes, they are real. :D

From Nintendogeek01: For once I didn't wait several chapters! lol.

I laughed very hard at the rabbit chasing scene. I'm definitely looking forward to this story arc. Good luck.

From me: Hope it gets you to laugh hard. XD

From Mewtrainer: Two...Luigis...PARADOX! 1010101...
Star Bunnies? What kind of silly minigames does Super Mario Galaxy have?? Marvellous as always!!

From me: I presume you don't have the game, right? Thanks. :)

From Rabid Original: Mario has a lot of games doesn't he?
...And two Luigis? One was more than enough! XD

By the way, I had always assumed this took place BEFORE SSE, so I was all "o.O" when it turned out that it was after. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention...?
I should seriously re-read the whole fic, but it'll take me forever XD

From me: Mario does. That's why we all love him. ;)

Dude, you noticed this already? XD

Phew! We get back at the usual people who review! (Though thanks for the new people, I really like to look at your profiles when I have the time). It seems that I should've made this mission about 40 or 50 Power Stars, since it took me a little bit longer than expected.

Expect to see a bunch of oneshots (they look like oneshots to me) and lots of songs for you to listen. The songs may have a wrong title, but I looked around for the right ones in the end.

With that being said, enjoy while I'll write the next chapter. :D

Read, enjoy and review! ;D

Chapter 115: Smashers VS. The Galaxies of HELL

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"Alright, listen up!" Mario began as most of the Smashers were sitting or standing. "We have 59 Power Stars left, and we need to get them by separating into groups from 1 to 3!"

"Question!" Twink asked.

"Spill it out!"

"How are we going to get separated?"

"Simple, my Star Kid friend!"

Good Egg Galaxy
Luigi On The Roof

There was Luigi and Yoshi landing in the Starting Planet. "Luigi and Yoshi must go there and find Luigi." Mario explained as the 2 looked around.

"Wait, Luigi needs to find himself?" Olimar asked.

"Actually," Mailtoad walked to the group. "I received a letter that Luigi got lost in the Good Egg Galaxy after he wanted to help you guys."

"...But he was here a second ago..." Samus pointed out.

"Beats me how could Luigi get lost so fast. At least Luigi is going for Luigi."

"Luigi is going for Luigi?" Chris asked confused.

Honeyhive Galaxy
The Honeyhive's Purple Coins

Chris and Falco were shown in the next galaxy, finding lots of Purple Coins floating over the whole place as Falco merely frowned and Chris chuckled. "Chris and Falco must gather the Purple Coins in the Honeyhive Galaxy."

Loopdeeloop Galaxy
Surfing 101

Olimar peered inside the floating water with his Blue Pikmins in the middle of...the space while Samus was shown talking to Coach, the coach to ride Mantas. "Olimar and Samus will go to the Loodeeloop Galaxy and surf with a Manta."

"Hey! Why didn't you send me with them?!" C. Falcon asked.

Flipswitch Galaxy
Painting the Planet Yellow

C. Falcon was shown, looking down in depression since he was the only soul in the whole (weird) galaxy with the first Super Mario Bros. background, which really was out of question. "C. Falcon will try to turn all the switches in here to yellow. This mission isn't going to be that hard to complete now that I think about it."

"Then why did you ignore that?" Geno asked.

"Because I merely went to the galaxies with more Power Stars than the individual ones." Mario explained.

Space Junk Galaxy
Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance

Geno and Twink landed on the wooden planet that looked like a big Yoshi head, with many Goombas wandering around that later glared at the puppet and made dark auras around them. "There are some reports that unusual dark spores have been wandering around this peculiar galaxy," Polaris explained. "So please, do be careful."

"G-Geno..." Twink hid behind Geno.

Geno prepared his right hand as the Dark Goombas surrounded him. "Stay behind me. I won't let those things hurt you."

"T-thanks..." Twink said hiding inside Geno's cap.

Battlerock Galaxy
Topmaniac's Daredevil Run

Super Mario Galaxy - Speedy Comet in Orbit

"And lastly," Mario said as Fox and himself were shown underneath the Topman Planet, upside down. "Fox and I will take on Topmaniac, with the precaution of the Daredevil Comet over there." Mario pointed to the red comet, circulating around the galaxy.

"Pfft, a touch and you get killed?" Fox rolled his eyes with a frown.

"Yes," Mario nodded. "You have to be more careful than ever with that rule in mind."

Fox spotted a Spiked Topman, which looked up to the vulpine. "You there, touch me."

Mario gasped. "F-Fox! What are you doing?!"

"I'm proving you that this stupid rule about being touched one time is, in fact, stupid."

"N-no! D-don't let it touch you!"

Too late, Fox's right leg was touched with a simple touch by the Spiked Topman who jumped away as Fox grinned at Mario, who was worried.

"..." Mario was left speechless.

"See?" Fox closed his eyes as his grin grew wider. "There's nothing to worry abou-aaaaahh..." Fox suddenly fainted and probably was killed.

Mario rubbed his chin. "Let's see...according to Polaris, the Shadow Bugs should be possessing the boss here..." Mario looked down at Fox. "And since Fox got stubborn by my warning, and considering that I have...hmm...54 lifes left and the boss should be taken down by both of us to win..." Mario stared at no one in particular with a bored look. "I guess I should lose too so we can restart the mission...so...h-hey! Touch me too!"

One life lost later...

"I hope you learned the lesson this time around," Mario said. "Hopefully, this is going to teach you what you should be aware of."

"Look," Fox looked at Mario in annoyance. "Let's just beat this guy's butt and get out of here. Being upside down is taking all my blood to my head."

"That's impossible," Mario wondered. "The gravity here is the same as all the other planets. Besides, you seem to be perfectly well."

"And my little pinky toe goes waaaaaaaaay up and doooooooooooown."

Mario shook his head. "...U-um...Fox? Are you okay?"

"So fine as a damn tomato." Fox replied as his eyes spun (not in synch, actually one going counterclockwise than the other) a little.

"..." Mario grabbed Fox's right hand and both walked up to the upper part of the planet. "Maybe this is also the work from Bowser..."

Good Egg Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy - Good Egg Galaxy

"So where is your clone?" Yoshi asked.

"Ooooooooveeeeeer heeeeeeeeeeeere!" the other Luigi yelled above the house in the planet they were in.

"Why don't you get down?" Yoshi asked as he and the first Luigi walked in front of the house.

"I-I can't! You need come up here! I have something important to give you!"

"You do know that you're like 7 feet away from the ground?"

"No! I don't! It looks too high from up here!"

"...Are you this...pathetic?" Yoshi asked to the Luigi that he was traveling with.

"N-no!" Luigi said.

The pair, after finding out that the door of the house was locked, decided to explore underneath the planet, where they found a pipe leading to...a freaky dimension where they chased a long line that seemed to play a nostalgic tune to Luigi and even Yoshi before they came from the pipe that the other Luigi was close to.

"T-thanks goodness you came here!" the other Luigi said. "I can't believe I was rescued...by me! It's so weird!"

"May I ask why were you up here?" Yoshi asked.

"S-some Goombas tried to eat me down there, then I ended up here..." the other Luigi peered down. "A-and just look how tall the height is from here!"

Yoshi gave the first Luigi a bored look. "...You're going to get coward too?"

Luigi sweated. "N-no, why would I get scared of t-this small height, away from the ground?"

Yoshi sighed as the other Luigi showed them a Power Star. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it in this place," the other Luigi said.

"...I wonder why was this laying here around..." Yoshi said as he took the Power Star.

You Got a Star!

Yoshi, the first and other Luigi shook their heads once they heard some kind of music coming from somewhere. "...Can we go away from this place?" Luigi asked.

"Pleeeeeeease?" the other Luigi asked trembling.

"...Hey! I'm not your dad or something!" Yoshi said, crossing his arms as the screen panned out.

Honeyhive Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy - Purple Coin Comet

"How many do you have collected?!" Chris asked from down below as Falco peered from the highest part of the Starting Planet. "I have 35!"

"55!" Falco yelled. "I don't know where are the others, though!"

"Come down here!" Chris yelled as Falco jumped off, flipped 1 time in the air and landed close to Chris. "I think the walls have them on small cliffs."

Falco stood up. "Then how are we going to get them without falling?"

Chris spotted a Bee Mushroom nearby. "...Have you ever wanted to be a bee before?"

"...I'll tell you right now...no, hell no." Falco said, narrowing his eyes.

"...Okay," Chris went for the Bee Mushroom and he got a bee costume (that Falco considered extremely ridiculous). "If Mario is Bee Mario...then I'm Bee Chris...but that sounds stupid."

"Ironic you say that," Falco said with a chuckle. "The costume looks stupid."

"I-it does not! Look at my amazing flight abilities!" Chris's small wings flapped a bit as he...got above the ground 2 feet before he landed back. "..."

Falco looked about to laugh madly.

"...D-did you see how long did I stay above though?" Chris asked with a worried smile.

Falco blocked his mouth and looked behind him. For his luck, the pilot found a risk with 10 Purple Coins, 1 on each cliff, floating above. "Hey, look, I found the other coins."

Chris saw Falco walking to the edge. "W-wait, you're not going t-"

"Afraid yes, my friend with the ridiculous bee costume." Falco said with a grin and a nod.

"B-but you should let me go for them!" Chris said.

Falco rolled his eyes, stared at the coins and used Falco Phantasm to reach the first cliff...not, since the small cliff broke apart.

"UUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Falco fell inside a black hole that pulled him inside, thus teleporting him back to the Comet Observatory as Chris looked down and slowly shook his head in shame.

"Foolish fool..." Chris said with an apologetic look. "He foolishly fell in the black hole, thinking he could stand on the small cliffs by himself... Ah well, I guess it can't be helped for someone who doesn't understand the power of the bees." Chris said before he hovered slowly to the cliffs and did all the work by himself. Luckily, he was able to obtain all the coins, despite Falco being out.

And yes, he got a Power Star.

Loopdeeloop Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario Bros. 3 Nostalgia

"Slow...slow...SLOW!" Olimar pleaded to Samus, who was riding the Manta at full speed, hitting the floating waves constantly, much for Olimar's dismay (and stomach).

"Quit whining!" Samus yelled as she crossed the finish line for the second time. "Don't distract me or else we're going to fall off course!"

"...O-off course?" Olimar asked as he looked off the track, to the big abyss of clouds that made him gulp in fear...then he spotted his 3 Blue Pikmins falling off and were killed when they weren't seen anymore. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"SHUT-UP!" Samus yelled annoyed.

Sweet Sweet Galaxy
Rocky Road

Chris decided to change teams with Falco for Yoshi (thus Falco joined with Luigi, which he considered...quite a bit...er...well...seeing this pair is actually...odd to be sure...). Both World Traveler and Yoshi stared at the big pieces of cake and cookies that created the whole galaxy.

"Yoshi, do you know what this means?" Chris asked (hoping to cheer up the Yoshi from his depression).

"What?" Yoshi asked.

"This means we're in Kirby's fantasy!"

"...Yes..." Yoshi said with a nod.

"(...That didn't work so well...)" Chris thought in shame.

"...Hey..." Yoshi's eyes shrunk.

"What?"

"Isn't this long platform like...going too fast?"

"Huh?... W-what the heck?!" Chris found the long platform to the Power Star strolling down at them at an insane speed. It was possible that even Sonic couldn't outrun the insane speed that the platform had. "B-b-b-but this isn't supposed to happen!"

"Now that I remember..."

"Huh?"

"It flashed purple before speeding up like this..."

"...The Subspace Army..." Chris said. "They're altering the missions here..."

"I thought the same thing." Yoshi said with a nod.

"...So..." Chris stared at the platform. "...Want to run on it?"

"Are you crazy?" Yoshi asked with a glare. "One step and we're going to be pulled back, and out from the platform to who-knows-where down below!"

"...You're right..." Chris wondered. "If only we could fly over it..."

"...Hmm... Why don't you turn into that creature again?"

"You mean...a Moogle?"

Yoshi nodded. "Yes. Turning into that gives you wings, right?"

"...Well, that's true, but I hate the job... Oh well, I guess I have no choice left..." Chris sighed as he changed to his Moogle Knight job and looked at Yoshi. "Now," Chris flew above Yoshi and sat on his back. "Let's go, kupo!"

Yoshi blinked a few times. "I thought you were going to carry me, not the other way around."

"...Are you crazy?" Chris asked. "I'm so small like this! I won't be able to carry your somewhat big body for a long time! Kupo!"

Yoshi looked at the cakes further away from them. "What if you carry me to the cakes? We could use them as platforms to move."

"...Okay..." Chris sighed and got down, then he walked to the edge. "Alright," Chris flew above and grabbed Yoshi's hands. "Hang on tight, kupo."

Several painful minutes later...

"Uah!" Chris fell on the last platform, panting heavily. "R-remind me about not carrying you again... You weight like DK while I'm in this form...k-kupo..."

"Sorry," Yoshi said simply as he spotted the Power Star...and the Toad Brigade. "Wait, what are you guys doing here?"

"We came to find the Power Star!" the leader said.

"And why the heck didn't you use the Starshroom to lift us all the way here?! Kupo?!" Chris asked angrily.

"...Look! We found the Power Star!"

The duo groaned as they obtained the Power Star.

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"How many Power Stars do we have now?" Yoshi asked to Polari.

Polari looked at Chris, Yoshi, Olimar and Samus. "Well, you all have been doing quite an admirable job. We got 4 Power Stars so far."

C. Falcon came from above and landed on his feet, showing them a Power Star. "Here." C. Falcon said as he gave the Power Star to Polari.

"5..." Polari said with a nod.

Geno (who was badly injured) and Twink came from above and Twink gave Polari a Power Star. "We're so sorry for being late. Geno had to fight Goombas that were possessed by the Shadow Bugs and they had a powerful ram attack." Twink explained.

Geno panted a little. "I need...to recover my energies..."

"Oh," Polari flew to Geno. "It's not hard to heal someone like you. Please remain still," Polari flew around Geno and the puppet glowed for a moment before healing completely. "There, that should be enough." Polari said as Geno got up and looked at his hands.

"Thanks." Geno said with a nod.

"Okay," Polari nodded. "We have 6 now..."

"The only ones missing are Mario, the Luigis, Fox and Falco," Samus said. "What is taking them so long?"

"AHEM..."

Everyone looked behind them and found Mario and Fox, holding a Power Star that Polari took. "Sorry for making you wait," Mario began. "We had a lot of trouble with the Topmaniac."

Fox grinned. "But luckily, I ended the fight by calling my Landmaster when the Over Limit gauge was filled."

Mario sweatdropped. "But you crushed it after you called the tank... It almost crushed me, too!"

Fox got annoyed. "Hey, what's important is that the weird top is gone, right?"

"...I guess..." Mario said with a frown.

"Now..." Olimar sniffed (probably after losing his Pikmins). "W-where are the twins and Falco?"

"They're fine," Twink chuckled. "I mean, it's not like the next Galaxy is that horrible or anything like we've been through so far."

Rolling Green Galaxy
Rolling in the Clouds

"HOW DO YOU CONTROL THIS THING?!" Falco yelled as the trio (dumbly) rolled Star Roll with the Power Star that kept going to the edges but managed to keep the ball in safe green...but it wasn't that easy for them.

"MAMA MIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA!!!" the Luigis yelled in utter horror as Falco facepalmed but later gasped as they crossed a bottomless hole.

Comet Observatory

Mario looked away. "I just hope they aren't trying to complete the one with the ball, because that's the hardest one for me."

"...uuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-UGH!"

They all blinked surprised as Falco and the Luigis fell from the space and landed on top of each other (at least Falco was in the bottom).

"Guys..." Falco slowly opened his eyes and looked up to them. "These galaxies...are trying...to freaking kill us off..."

"Did you get the Power Star?" Polari asked.

Falco glared at him. "Oh, so the mouthless stars are more important than our own safety then? Wow, I didn't know you "Lumas" things were that unrespectful."

"Oops..." Polari chuckled nervously. "S-so sorry for that... Anyway, you got the star?"

Falco dug his right hand into his pocket and took out a Power Star that grew in size and stopped. Polari nodded and took it with him. "Here's your star that was so utterly annoying to get. Who in their sane mind creates a galaxy with golf as its theme?"

Polari seemed to ignore Falco's rant. "Good! We have now 8 Power Stars gathered!"

"At this rate, we may find Bowser's location, right?" Mario asked.

"Of course, of course," Polari said nodding. "But...something is not right with the galaxies..."

"What would that be?" Samus asked.

"It seems that several areas around the galaxies have been...how do I put it...gotten harder to pass if you know what I mean..."

"Like the Goombas being possessed?" Twink asked.

"Right," Polari nodded. "The "Shadow Bugs" that you spoke of are creating lots and lots of troubles in each galaxy. I should recommend that the groups dispatched to each area increase to...hmm...3 to 4 members at least."

"I-I like how the idea sounds..." Olimar said, playing with his fingers.

"...I should warn you all about something troubling and alarming..."

"What?" Falco asked (after he got up from the Luigis, who got up as well and off from him).

"I don't know why, but there was something...a monster flying around the galaxies that's been roaming about..."

"A monster? Kupo?" Chris asked.

"Yes, it looked like, I don't know, some sort of big, flying dinosaur? I don't know what it's called..."

"Big flying dinosaur?" Mario repeated as he wondered. "...I don't remember any dinosaur, except the Dino Pirahna..."

"(...)" Samus thought and looked away.

"Hmm?" Yoshi looked at Samus. "Is something bothering you or are you thinking about that monster?"

"Huh?" Samus turned at Yoshi.

"So?"

"...Nothing..." Samus said.

"..." Yoshi shrugged.

Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
Shrinking Satellite

Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario Bros. 3 Nostalgia

"UAH!" Mario was almost going to fall off after he stepped on a green platform that quickly shrunk and disappeared. "W-what is happening here?"

"The Shadow Bugs," Geno said. "They're here and they made everything much harder for us to complete."

"I don't like this anymore." Twink said with a worried look.

"...Leave it to me, guys." C. Falcon said with a serious face.

"Wait, are you going to do this all by yourself?" Mario asked.

C. Falcon nodded. "Yes. I'm the only one who can run as fast as possible from all of us."

Geno nodded. "It seems we don't have another choice but let C. Falcon do this one for us."

"...Well," Mario smiled a little. "You need to grab those rainbow notes and try not to fall off to the black hole. If you hurry, then you can grab the Power Star."

C. Falcon nodded and prepared to jump to the next platform. "Alright, I'll do this."

C. Falcon jumped to the farther platform and started running as fast as he could, dashing across the vanishing panels and grabbing the notes (that played a theme for some reason).

"...Huh?!" Twink spotted dark portals opening that spawned Feyeshes that spotted the captain running along. "C-C. Falcon!"

"Oh no..." C. Falcon said as the Feyeshes floated towards him, with their tentacles discharging electricity.

"If they manage to at least stop him for a second, he'll fall!" Mario said as he turned to Geno. "Use your bullets to shoot them down!"

"That's not hard at all." Geno said as he opened his fingers and shot a barrage of small bullets that hit the Feyeshes straight on their eyes, making them blast off as the racer managed to jump to a planet full of notes before sprinting to grab all of them.

"...There are more this time!" Twink gasped when a flock of Auroros appeared from a dark portal and flew towards the captain. The Auroros looked down and pointed their beaks at the captain.

"Dammit, I can't reach them from this long distance..." Geno muttered as the Auroros prepared to dive down. "...Wait, Mario, do you think you can swing me at the planet?"

Mario blinked surprised. "But that could send you right into the black hole, and my lifes are shared with everyone here!"

"That doesn't matter!" Geno said with a serious face. "I'll sacrifice myself in order to obtain the Power Star. You must toss me at them so C. Falcon can obtain the star!"

"...Alright...but please, don't get angry at me later..."

"(Beep!)" C. Falcon cursed once he saw the flock of Auroros diving down towards him at great speed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Geno yelled as he was flung to the Auroros, where he turned his back and launched his rocket fist that exploded close to the flock and destroyed all of them as he fell directly to the black hole. "Damn... Get all the notes!"

"Already done!" C. Falcon yelled as the black hole that Geno was going to fall into disappeared and in its place, a Power Star appeared.

"...Phew..." Geno sighed as he reached the Power Star.

Now they had 9 Power Stars gathered.

"Mario..." Twink made a worried face. "Don't you think this is getting...a little bit too dangerous?"

Mario chuckled. "Why would it get hard? It's not like there are impossible missions to do. I'm sure the others are doing everything just fine."

Beach Bowl Galaxy
Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone

Super Mario Galaxy - Fast Foe Comets

The Thwomps and the Toy Boxes were going to an insane speed, stomping and moving around like they were in a hurry.

Chris, Fox and Olimar watched in horror as the first Thwomp kept pounding the floor 10 times in a second before repeating the process. It even looked like the block tried to destroy the platform it was located.

"...So, Fox, I heard you were the fastest in the whole tournament..." Chris said, taking several steps back.

"I-I'm a little bit old myself so..." Olimar took a steps back (lying, of course).

"So we leave this all to you." Chris and Olimar said with nervous chuckles.

"..." Fox stared at them with bored looks. "We're going to get through this, together."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Chris asked. "Those Thwomps are so going to crush us to death! There's absolutely, no, way, that we're going through those blocks of death!"

"B-besides, I-I don't want to die so young..." Olimar said (contradicting what he just said a moment ago). "...Oh, salty crackers..."

"..." Chris shook his head and sniffed. "I-I don't want to die like thiiiiiiiiiii-ii-iiis!"

"..." Fox facepalmed. "You 2, tell me something."

"Whaaaaaaat..." Chris sobbed.

"Have you forgotten that we can cross over the gaps with our double jumps?"

A record scratched and both sobbing characters looked up before looking at each other. "...Somehow, I feel humiliated and relieved at the same time..." Chris said.

"Indeed... Indeed..." Olimar muttered embarrassed.

Fox grinned. "That's more like it. Now let's go and grab that star."

This little and obvious statement enabled them to clear the mission with ease. Nothing was lost during their way to the Power Star...

...Okay, that's a lie. Apparently, Fox got crushed under and Tox Box and Chris wasn't looking at a Thwomp that stopped and tricked him to step below it and crushed the World Traveler. Olimar, who was fairly terrorized, was able to grab the star with the help of his Pikmins.

10 Power Stars and only 50 more to go...

Ghostly Galaxy
Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run

Super Mario Galaxy - Kingfin/Bouldergeist (Fast)

"DAMMIT!" Falco yelled once he was merely touched on his back and fainted on the floor. Samus cursed under her breath as she barely dodged a fist from Bouldergeist who roared in fury as the hunter glanced at the Red Comet hovering around the galaxy.

"I'm starting to hate this special rule..." Samus muttered. "This doesn't make everything easier, but harder..."

"OUT OF THE WAY!!!" Yoshi yelled as he pushed Samus out of the way from Bouldergeist's fists as the 2 slid on the rocky floor and glared at the abomination of rocks.

"Okay, this has gone far enough," Samus said as she prepared her arm cannon. "We need to take that thing down for good."

"But how?" Yoshi asked.

"...I've got it," Samus looked at Yoshi. "Can you swallow its rocks and spit them back at it?"

"Well, it's easy but I tried that already."

"What?"

"It noticed me and it almost crushes me with the rocks..."

"...Then I'll be the decoy."

Yoshi blinked several times at her. "B-but what if something happens to you?"

Bouldergeist roared angrily and it called forth several rock pillars from the floor, trapping both of them before Samus opened a way using a missile. "Quick! That's your chance to start the plan!"

"Uh-oh," Yoshi saw Bouldergeist ready to shoot its fists at the 2. "T-then I'll do whatever I can... Okay, I'm ready."

"You didn't sound that interested to me, to be honest." Samus said.

Yoshi gasped. "I-I did... It's just..."

"LOOK OUT!" Samus yelled as she pushed Yoshi out of the way before she got hit one time and was pushed away from the platform, directly to the black hole located underneath the platform.

"S-SAMUS!" Yoshi yelled worried as he turned his head at Bouldergeist, who laughed darkly as Yoshi closed his eyes in shame. "I... I couldn't think fast and Samus wa-"

A roar interrupted the Yoshi before he got crushed under a fist...

Music stops

"..." Yoshi's pupils shrunk at the extreme blow that knocked him out of cold before the screen panned out...

Comet Observatory

"Hmm..." Falco grunted annoyed as he thought hard about his "performance" in the last battle as some Lumas were staring at him in curiosity.

Meanwhile, close to where he was...

"..." Yoshi didn't talk after Samus looked at him. Yoshi was sitting on a step, close to where Rosalina was.

"So, you didn't attack it." Samus said.

"...No..." Yoshi said, looking down ashamed. "I'm... I'm so sorry... I couldn't do anything after you were pushed away..."

"...Yoshi..."

"...Yes?"

"...What you just said...I didn't feel any kind of interest..."

Yoshi's eyes widened. "W-what?! I-I was interested! H-how could you tell I wasn't interested?!"

"Yoshi, the way you say your words isn't giving any kind of mood. It's like you're not expressing yourself that well..."

"B-but I am!" Yoshi protested. "I'm interested!"

"No," Samus said, shaking her head. "You're not interested."

Yoshi's eyes began to fill with tears. "W-why are you being so mean to me?! Why?! Why, Samus?!"

"Pardon me," Rosalina said as she walked to the 2. "I'd suggest that you should lower your voices because there are Lumas trying to sleep close here."

"We're sorry," Samus said. "We were talking about something here an-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!" Yoshi yelled as he stood up and ran away from both girls.

"..." Rosalina blinked several times before looking at Samus. "May I know what is wrong with Yoshi?"

"He doesn't seem to show any kind of interest lately." Samus said.

"Interest? In what?" Rosalina asked.

Library

Not interested...

Those were the words that made Yoshi shudder in fear and horror.

The Yoshi looked at the chimney, close to the books where many different stories to tell the Lumas were organized. Yoshi looked straight into the fire and sighed as he cleared his tears.

"I don't sound interested?" Yoshi questioned himself. "But I'm here... I'm here to help everyone out. That is a clear proof of being interested...right?" Yoshi asked to the roof. "...Why did I even join the tournament? I was 1 of the first 12 that accepted the deal...but why, though?"

"Because you were interested," a voice spoke from behind Yoshi, who turned his back and found Rosalina, holding a book on her right hand. "You were interested at first, but later you got bored of everything."

"...You're right..." Yoshi sighed and frowned. "At first, I thought it was going to be good, but I later found that everything was...well..."

"Rude? Not exciting?"

"What's exciting about fighting against other people?" Yoshi asked. "I think it's fun when it's friendly, but..."

"Yoshi," Rosalina frowned. "You know very well why is your boredom troubling you. Maybe if you remember why did you join Mario before in the past, then you could grasp the truth you want to find so badly."

"...I honestly... I honestly don't remember why did I join this..." Yoshi put his hands on his head. "I don't know why did I join the tournament in the first place..."

"I see."

"...But I need to find some kind of inspiration to get interested..."

"Maybe I could suggest you what."

"Like?"

"The people you love the most?"

Yoshi thought for a moment. "...No. It's too used..."

"The places you like to go?"

"Not at all..."

"The events that happen around you?"

"Uh-uh..." Yoshi shook his head. "..." Yoshi sniffed and covered his eyes. "I... I don't have anything to be interested... I don't have nothing to keep going on... And... And..."

"And?" Rosalina tilted her head.

"...And if I tell the guys about this...they're going to hate me so much... I-I don't know what to do... The thought about hearing them saying, "Yoshi! Why are you so heartless about this?!" is just too much..." Yoshi began to sob silently before Rosalina petted his head a little. "H-huh?"

Rosalina smiled a little. "There, there. There is no need to get sad, Yoshi. I know very well that this isn't something you want to be part of."

Yoshi sniffed. "B-but then why did I come with them when they helped me during the Sports Festival?"

"Boredom."

"What?"

Rosalina nodded. "Because you were bored from the beginning."

"..." Yoshi looked down sadly. "...Yes... It was all because of boredom..."

"...Yoshi..."

Yoshi cleared some tears. "Y-yes?"

"Right now, are you sad?"

"...Totally..."

"Then...would you please listen to something I want to narrate to you and the Lumas?"

Yoshi blinked confused. "What?"

"It's the nap time for the Lumas and they want to hear a tale about one of my favorite books, here in the library. I'd like you to join us to our lecture if you want."

"..." Yoshi looked down. "I guess I don't have anything else to do..."

Rosalina chuckled. "Thank you. You don't know how happy the Lumas are going to get with you here."

Several minutes later...

"Mama! Mama! Tell us a story! Please, Mama!"

The library became full of cheers from the Lumas that sat on the floor or sat together with Rosalina on the small, red chair. Yoshi was the most confused for something that he didn't get that well.

"Mama?" Yoshi asked.

Rosalina chuckled. "I know you're confused at that. If you read the story, then you could find the meaning."

"Mama," a blue Luma began. "Can you start? Pretty please? I know this story is a good one!"

"Please! Mama! Tell us!" the Lumas pleaded happily.

Rosalina chuckled as she opened the book. "All right, then. Let's see what this book has to tell us for this night. Please, stay silent and listen to this."

Yoshi blinked several moments as he sat down, close to a red Luma.

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 1

-The Celestial Duo-

Page 1

Our story beings a very, very long time ago with a young girl. One day, this
girl spotted a rusted spaceship holding a small star child.

Page 2

"What's your name? Are you lost?" the girl asked the star child.

"I'm Luma, and I'm waiting for Mama. She's coming for me on a comet!" said the star child, who had been waiting day and night.

Page 3

"Don't worry. I'll wait with you," the little girl promised Luma.

Page 4

At nightfall, the little girl borrowed her father's telescope and peered into the sky. She looked and looked, but she saw nothing. Hours turned into days and then years, but still the sky revealed nothing. Finally, the little girl sighed and said to Luma, "If we stay here looking much longer, I'll be an old lady soon." But then she had an idea. "Why don't we go out there and find your mother ourselves?"

Page 5

The girl and Luma fixed up the rusty spaceship, and then the two set sail into the starry sky. And this is how the search for the celestial mother began.

By that time Rosalina closed the book, Yoshi noticed that the Lumas were all sleeping deeply as he stood up while Rosalina did the same. "Did you like this chapter?" Rosalina asked.

"Well...I have one question..." Yoshi wondered. "Who was that little girl in the story? Her name wasn't told in this chapter..."

"..." Rosalina closed her eyes. "I'll let you guess it by yourself."

"Huh? But why?" Yoshi asked puzzled.

"I only tell this story to the Lumas here once I see the Power Stars gathered," Rosalina opened her eyes. "It gives my inspiration to narrate the way I do. The Lumas understand very well when is the story exciting, sad, or suspenseful."

Yoshi blinked for a moment. "So if I gather Power Stars, you'll let me listen to the next chapter?"

Rosalina nodded. "Yes, for that, I need you to get 5 more Power Stars in order to see the next chapter."

"...5 Power Stars..." Yoshi nodded. "Okay, I'll look for the stars if you promise me that."

Rosalina nodded and chuckled. "Always for you, Yoshi..."

And with that, the Yoshi left the library.

"..." Rosalina closed her eyes. "Maybe this is going to teach him something really important..."

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

Yoshi saw Mario, Chris (in his Swordsman job) and Olimar landing from the space, handing over a Power Star to Polari who nodded with a chuckle. "H-hey guys!" Yoshi called as he walked to them. "Where did you go?"

"We went to the Bubble Breeze Galaxy," Mario said, shuddering. "A force that I couldn't find pushed me around with the wind."

Chris shuddered. "That was rather...weird..."

Olimar shuddered and nodded. "I don't want to see spooky things again..."

"Oh," Yoshi rubbed his chin. "How many stars do we have now?"

"11," Polari pointed out. "As you can see, we need 49 to go."

"(4 to get a new chapter...)" Yoshi thought. "Well, shall we go to the next galaxy?"

Not sooner he said that, Geno, Twink and C. Falcon arrived from the space and gave another Power Star to Polari. "12!" Polari said.

"The Buoy Base Galaxy was successfully completed," Twink said smiling. "But we didn't find a normal star because we found a green one!"

Polari noticed the Green Power Star. "Oh, quite rare. But since the Trial Galaxies were unlocked, I guess this has no value...for a Green Power Star, that is. It values as a normal one."

Mario shuddered. "Whatever you do, DON'T go to those galaxies. We're going to save them for last."

"...Okay?" Geno said confused.

"Where are the other 6?" Yoshi asked, looking around.

"The Luigis, Fox, Samus, C. Falcon and Falco are trying to defeat Bouldergeist with the Daredevil Comet in that galaxy," Polari explained. "They decided to fight it with many of them in order to pass the mission. In the meantime, why don't you go to the next galaxy?"

"Come on," Mario said, walking away. "We need to get more Purple Coins."

"...Wait just a minute!" Chris interrupted. "6 people went to the same galaxy and you said only 4! Why is that?"

"...The mysteries of the galaxies?" Polari responded.

"..Of course...it makes sense..." Chris rolled his eyes and walked away.

Gusty Garden Galaxy
Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube

The group of 4 (5 with Twink since Olimar decided to stay behind) landed on the Puzzle Cube and they found a lot of Purple Coins floating around the cube-shaped planet.

"Alright," Twink said. "We have to gather 100 Purple Coins to clear this mission, right?"

"Yes," Mario nodded. "Nothing so far seems weird."

"..." Yoshi saw the coins flashing purple as they began to spin madly. "Er...is that part of what they do?"

"No..." Mario said. "They don't usually do that..."

Chris gulped. "Oh please, don't turn them all into monsters..."

The Purple Coins started to spin faster and faster and faster...until they stopped and vanished in thin air.

"..." Mario's jaw dropped. "...Uh-oh..."

"...They're there..." Twink said. "...But even their shadows were turned invisible..."

"And we have a time limit to watch before we gather the necessary coins..."

"But how are we going to get them now?" Geno asked.

Chris sniffed before he buried his face on his hands and cried silently. Yoshi walked to him and patted his back a little as he sniffed. "Why...why...why do they do this to us?!" Chris asked crying.

"They hate us." Geno said with a bored look.

"With passion." Twink added with a bored look.

"And that's not all..." Mario began. "...We have only 40 seconds..." Mario added.

"...OH CRAP!" everyone yelled before they scattered around and tried to find the invisible coins around the cube.

40 seconds later...

"Ya-hooooo..." said a tired Mario who dumbly back flipped to the Power Star and grabbed it...then he fell down on his back.

Yoshi was shown laying down on the ground with the others. "Please...water...need...water..."

"I'm..." Chris began. "So going...to own those guys...for this..."

"Agreed..." Yoshi said, raising a finger.

Comet Observatory

Music stops

"...Look over there..." Yoshi said (or muttered) as the group saw the other group...apparently tired as well while the first group landed and gave the Power Star to Polari.

"That's 14," Polari said. "Good job, everyone."

"Shut...up..." C. Falcon said, sitting on a step as he fell on his back and sighed.

"So..." Chris began. "What ordeal did you all went through?"

"Boulders..." Samus said panting. "Trying to push, crush or kill us..."

"Dodge...dodge...dodge...dodge..." Luigi said panting.

"And dodge...dodge...dodge...dodge..." the other Luigi said panting.

"What...about you..." Falco muttered (his face on the floor).

"Purple Coins..." Yoshi trailed off.

"Turning invisible..." Geno trailed off.

"Time limit reduced..." Mario trailed off.

"That's it," everyone began at the same time. "The galaxies are out to kill us all for good...or annoy us to no end..." after that, they all sighed in depression.

"...You know what..." Chris began. "...Screw galaxies in order... I know something bad isn't going to happen if we go to any kind of galaxy..."

"It'll be the same result though..." Samus warned him.

"Whatever... Let's get this done..."

"Wait..." Fox interrupted. "Why don't you...heal us with your music?"

"..." Chris turned to Fox with a bored look on his eyes. "It cures wounds, not heals laziness..."

"We're not lazy..." Falco said, raising a finger. "We're just...tired..."

"I can't do that still..." Chris sighed. "...Screw it, I'm going to faint if you don't mind..." and fainted the World Traveler did.

"...Who's joining him? It may recover our energies..." Twink asked.

"..." everyone raised their hands before they all fainted and fell asleep.

"Hey guys!" Olimar came whistling. "I'm ready to go to the next galaxy! I decided to be more optimistic to cheer up the situation so I went ahead an-"

"SHUT UP!" everyone yelled from their spots as the captain took a step back.

Olimar shuddered. "O-okay... I'll be myself like I always do so..." Olimar played with his fingers before walking away.

Dusty Dune Galaxy
Blasting Through the Sand

Super Mario Galaxy - Dusty Dune Galaxy

Geno (without Twink), Olimar, Yoshi and Samus were shown on the disk-shaped planet as they looked around for the Power Star.

"Be warned," Samus said. "My visor is detecting several Shadow Bugs gathering down below this ring."

"...Olimar?" Yoshi asked, looking around for the captain.

"Olimar?... Where is he?" Geno asked.

Yoshi spotted a small red light sinking in the sand. "OLIMAR!"

Samus grunted and used her Grapple Beam on Olimar's helmet to pull out the helpless captain back to safe floor, where he looked fairly shocked. "S-sorry..." Olimar said with shocked eyes before they turned back to normal.

"What were you trying to do in the quicksand?" Samus asked.

"M-my Pikmins sank by accident and I wanted to rescue them, but..." Olimar sniffed. "They're..."

"...Moving on," Geno said. "Let's go."

However, something made them stop as they heard the screech of a beast echo through the galaxy. They all covered their ears and looked around for the source that disappeared.

"...W-what was THAT just now?" Olimar asked, trembling with his Pikmins.

"It sounded like a screech of a big monster..." Geno wondered. "But what monster is that one, though?" Geno looked at Samus, who was rubbing her (metalic) chin. "Do you know?"

"...What?" Samus asked as she noticed Geno.

"That screech. You know about it?"

"...N-no..." Samus said with a shudder.

"..." Yoshi merely looked down before walking to the other side of the planet with the others following him.

"(That couldn't been...)" Samus thought. "(...Impossible...)"

"...U-uh-oh..." Olimar took a step back once they stopped and found something that could prevent their way. "...T-they're here!"

The Scope Primids, Fire Primids, Boom Primids and normal Primids hopped a little and spotted the 4 looking at them before they all ran to them.

"This is going to get harder," Geno warned them. "Get ready. They're getting even more violent than before!"

Olimar was the only one who remained behind as he thought something. "(Okay, Olimar... You have to fight even more than you used to...although I haven't fought that much in my life before. Oh, I need to write this in my journal if I get the time...)" Olimar looked ahead and nodded to his Pikmins. "If you die, I'll pay my respects to you."

The Pikmins tilted their heads (as a Fire Primid was shown sinking into the sand) and looked at each other...before comitting suicide by sinking into the sand.

"W-WAIT!" Olimar's eyes opened in shock and he stood near the edge while a Scope Primid was pushed away by Samus's Charged Shot. "Y-you don't have to commit this kind of answer! I-it's not really necessary! Suiciding isn't an option and ignore me from fighting!"

"Olimar!" Yoshi yelled as he ran to him. "You have to come! Those creatures are appearing from everywhere!"

Olimar sniffed and pluck out 6 new Pikmins from nowhere. "O-okay... I have new Pikmins so that should make me happy..."

Yoshi blinked several times. "...Right..."

"...Yoshi..."

Yoshi stopped and looked at Olimar. "Huh?"

"Don't get upset but...when you yelled at me...it didn't sound like you were interested..."

Yoshi's eyes shrunk before he covered his head and screamed out in horror as Olimar hopped a little while the Yoshi ran to the battle.

"W-wait!" Olimar yelled as he followed Yoshi with his Pikmins. "I-I didn't mean to be rude either! Please, forgive me!"

"Geno Whirl!" Geno shouted as he sliced a line of Scope Primids with his ring that dealt massive damage and blasted them off. "The path is clear. Move!" Geno yelled as the 4 ran to the other side of the ring and found a path full of tornadoes.

"There are so many of them," Samus said. "And it seems the sand sunk the platform."

"Then...should we use the tornadoes themselves to cross to the other side?" Yoshi asked (now calmed down).

"It seems that way." Geno said simply as he jumped into 1 tornado and got thrown high to the air before he went to another tornado. The others looked at each other and jumped to the tornadoes as well.

Olimar's stomach grumbled. "Ooooooohh... I don't feel so good..." Olimar muttered.

"Don't you dare and puke." Samus said.

"I-I'll try..."

Yoshi's eyes widened. "U-uh-oh..."

"What?" Geno asked.

"They're here!"

Floows appeared simply from nowhere and flew to the group...and remained still in the air.

"...Nothing happens?" Yoshi asked confused.

The Floows suddenly released their screams of horror that damaged the entire group as they were pushed back to the quicksand.

"WE'RE GOING TO SINK!" Olimar yelled in horror.

"But not now!" Samus yelled as she used her Grapple Beam and quickly grabbed everyone and tossed them back to the tornadoes. Samus looked at the small edge where they came from and struck it with the grapple to pull herself back, where she put her right foot on the edge and jumped to land on the platform and jumped back to the tornadoes.

"You're not doing the same thing again!" Yoshi said angrily as he was propelled high into the air and used his flutter kick to give an insane amount of hits to 2 Floows that blasted off and vanished.

"Behind you!" Geno yelled as a Floow prepared to scream, but Olimar came from below and literally flipped a Yellow Pikmin on it that caused electric damage and defeated the Floow. "Good work."

Olimar blushed. "W-well, I wanted to help out more this time..."

"There's another hole up ahead!" Yoshi yelled.

"..." Olimar saw a circle in the middle of the area and decided to go once the others went to the other side of the planet. The captain walked to the area and sat down with his Pikmins before he took out his journal.

Day ??

Dear Diary, how have you been? This is the first time in a long time I write to you during a fight to get something precious. It's been really exhausting to hunt down these Power Stars that my friends and I are looking for. But that is not hard at all, because we all work harder and harder in each mission. I can't explain how happy I am to do this sort of thing, besides finding parts for the company... You know, the earth beneath me is trembling all of a sudden and...what the?! I was taken above a platform and...look at that! A Power Star! I probably activated a secret switch to it or maybe the others did something underneath the planet... Oh well, I guess I should grab it... There!

15 Power Stars were collected...meaning...

Comet Observatory
Library

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 2

-Star Bits-

Page 1

Days passed with no sight of the comet, or even a single planet. Instead,
asteroids extended for as far as the eye could see. "If I had known it was
going to take this long, I would have packed more jam," said the little girl,
above the rumble of her belly.

Page 2

Before they left, she had packed all the essentials: telescope, butterfly net,
stuffed bunny, bread, milk, jam, and apricot-flavored tea, but...

Page 3

"I forgot to bring water!" At this, Luma burst into gales of laughter, and the
girl began to pout.

"As long as I have Star Bits, I'll be fine," said Luma.
"Want some?" The little girl couldn't stay mad after hearing this.

Page 4

Luma continued to laugh, and the girl couldn't help but join in. "Alright,
maybe just a nibble."

Page 5

Leaning far out of the ship, the pair began to collect Star Bits with the
girl's net. They almost fell out a few times, but they kept on collection.
The Star Bits tasted like honey.

The Luma fell asleep once again as Yoshi stood up and walked to the princess.

"Say," Yoshi began. "Star Bits are those rainbow-color pieces that fall sometimes around the galaxies, right?"

Rosalina nodded. "Yes, they're very important for any Luma since they have different uses."

"Like food?"

Rosalina nodded again. "Yes, it may not look like food, but if you taste one, you'll find out." Rosalina took a yellow Star Bit. "Here."

Yoshi took the Star Bit. "...So I lick it or something?"

"Yes."

Yoshi looked puzzled but then he licked the Star Bit a little before he felt something good. "...Wait...this has a lemon with strawberry flavor...and I was thinking about that too..."

Rosalina chuckled. "Star Bits can contain the wishes of the people sometimes. If you think really hard about something you want to eat, the Star Bit will try to turn into what you want."

"...Hmm..." Yoshi continued to lick the Star Bit as Rosalina chuckled to herself while the silent snores of the Lumas were heard.

Honeyclimb Galaxy
Scaling the Sticky Wall

Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario Bros. 3 Nostalgia

If we think about it, the galaxy has 3 walls, so why only 1 sticky wall? Plothole time.

Er...

The screen focused to a Bee Mushroom that flashed purple for a moment before Chris, Falco and Fox landed in the small platform of the whole galaxy. Chris went to the mushroom and doned a bee costume. "Sorry, Falco, but you'll need the mushroom this time."

"Then tell me why." Falco said, crossing his arms.

"The Bee Mushroom lets you stick into the honey and climb it..." Chris pointed at the Power Star far away from them. "And reach the star over there."

"Wait," Fox began. "So if we use those mushrooms..."

Falco nodded. "Yeah. We'll be wearing ridiculous bee costumes."

"..." Fox frowned to himself.

"Well, excuse me!" Chris said annoyed. "Sometimes you need to be a little childish and wear this to pass something and reach something else crucial!" Chris noticed that Fox and Falco were looking at each other. "So what's your final decision? I need your help too!"

1 minute later...

"Enter...Bee Falco?" Chris chuckled.

Falco stared at him in annoyance. "I'm going to get rid of this ridiculous costume VERY SOON."

"So am I." Fox said, wearing the same costume but a little, but very little smaller since Falco was some centimeters taller than him.

"Aw, please," Chris chuckled. "You 2 look very good in those costumes. Right, Bee Fox? Bee Falc-" Chris sweatdropped once both pilots aimed their Blasters at him. "I-I mean, you look horrible in them. We should start climbing and get rid of these damn clothes." Chris walked to the wall, stared at it for a moment and stuck himself on it. "..."

"So?" Falco asked.

"...You know guys..." Chris started. "...This honey here..."

"Yes?" Fox raised an eyebrow.

"...This honey...is...so...DELICIOUUUUUUUUUUUUUS!!!" Chris yelled in pleasure as he started to lick madly the honey wall while the 2 backed away from the drops of honey that fell around the platform.

"...I knew these costumes were bad..." Falco said nodding. "Just look at the way he's licking the whole wall!"

A small drop of honey managed to touch Falco's lips. He licked it, closed and opened his mouth very little before his pupils shrunk.

"...Falco?" Fox waved a hand in front of Falco. "Hey, Falco, are you listening?"

"...HONEY!" Falco yelled in pleasure as he rammed himself into the wall and started to lick the honey madly while Fox watched horrified at the whole event.

"Falco! Chris! Both of you, stop it!" Fox yelled but it seemed like the 2 "bees" weren't listening to him at all. The vulpine gasped once he saw a rain of honey drops trying to touch his lips as he covered his mouth. "Ugh! I can't believe this at all..." Fox looked ahead of the wall. "...Guess I'll be the only one in this..." Fox sighed as he covered his mouth with one hand and stuck himself on the wall to go all the way to the next Power Star.

Several minutes later...

Fox came back with the Power Star in hands as he looked somewhat annoyed. "Those mechanical bug things tried to bite me, but they deserved the kicks anyway... Are you 2 done?"

"Burp," Chris and Falco replied, laying down on the floor as they rubbed their stomachs.

Fox looked at the wall that was completely empty of honey. "Looks like you 2 had a feast with the honey." Fox chuckled as Falco stared at him annoyed.

"You...shut up..." Falco began. "I'm not going to...use this costume...ever again..."

"Same...here..." Chris said, raising a hand.

Now they had 16 Power Stars.

Toy Time Galaxy
The Flipswitch Chain

Super Mario Galaxy - Toy Time Galaxy

Samus, C. Falcon, and the 2 Luigis found themselves in the planet that had 2 squares that crossed each other by the centers. The only thing that bothered them was the fact that, even if there wasn't any Fast Foe Comet, the Tox Boxes were rolling around insanely fast, but not as fast as before.

"The switches all over the place look suspicious," C. Falcon said. "Maybe we should step on 'em."

"That's the idea," Samus said. "But those boxes could easily crush us before we step on the switches."

"W-what if we touch the switches with a finger and then we pull it back before the boxes reach us?" the other Luigi suggested.

"I-I agree." Luigi said with a nod.

"...Hmm..." C. Falcon rubbed his chin. "That could work..."

"And since you're a gentleman, you're going first." Samus said.

C. Falcon grinned. "Yeah, that's what I'm here, right?" C. Falcon said as he went to the nearby flipswitch.

Luigi looked at Samus. "Did you just say he was a gentleman?"

"I used flattery," Samus pointed out. "It was that to see him crushed."

"...Sometimes," the other Luigi started. "You're scary..."

"Thanks."

"...T-that wasn't a compliment," the other Luigi shuddered.

"There!" C. Falcon yelled as he swiftly touched the flipswitch before the Tox Box could crush his hand. The captain walked to Samus and gave her a thumbs-up. "Mission accomplished!"

"Not quite," Samus shook her head. "We need to press the other switches an-"

"Oh no, look at that!" Luigi yelled as the Tox Boxes flashed purple and suddenly grew up the double of their sizes as the group watched surprised at this.

"A-AAAAAAAH!" the Luigis screamed.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" C. Falcon made a pun. "Why did they grow up?"

"...No!" Samus looked at both of her sides. "They grew up because they won't allow us to pass them!"

"Oh, snap!" C. Falcon snapped his fingers. "With them this big, we can't even jump over them with a double jump!"

"...U-um..." the other Luigi started. "M-maybe we could use that..."

The group looked at what looked to be a Spring Mushroom.

"Hmm..." Luigi touched the Spring Mushroom and he gained a spring that covered his whole body, except for his head. "..."

"...You look stupid in that." C. Falcon said.

Luigi made an angry expression. "H-hey! Mushrooms always help in a way or another! Mind you!"

"So what can that mushroom help us?"

"Hmm..." Luigi thought for a moment before he jumped the floor with his head and then with his feet, then back and forth as they watched the green plumber jumping around. "This feels...weird...really weird..." Luigi said as he continued to jump.

"...Luigi," Samus began. "Do you think you can jump high enough to pass over the boxes?"

Luigi stopped and looked at the Tox Boxes. "...I-I guess. Let me try...HIIIIIIIII-YAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Luigi jumped high using his head as he rocketed pass a Tox Box and landed on the other side. "I-I did it! I got here!"

"Now go for the others switches!" C. Falcon yelled.

Luigi blinked and gulped. "H-huh?! W-why?!"

"You're the only one who can cross and touch the other switches! Go!"

Luigi gulped and looked down. "O-oh well... H-here I go... Wish me luck..." Luigi muttered as he went jumping away.

"...Phew," C. Falcon sighed. "We didn't have to use that in order to clear this."

"I must say," Samus began. "I rather die before using that weird costume."

The other Luigi looked at them. "H-hey! I can't believe you tricked the other me into doing this all by himself! H-he's going to get hurt because of you!"

"If you shut up now," C. Falcon's right fist burned with fire. "I won't Falcon Punch your head off."

The other Luigi gulped scared. "O-on second thought...nevermind..."

"(I'm going to apologize to Luigi later though...)" Samus thought.

After a time passed, Luigi came back with the Power Star and Samus told him everything.

"You 2 did WHAT to me?!" Luigi asked in shock.

17 Power Stars were gathered as of now.

Deep Dark Galaxy
Ghost Ship Daredevil Run

Super Mario Galaxy - Kamella Battle

Yoshi, Chris, Mario and Falco (irony in this group since...wait, this Yoshi wasn't the same one) appeared above the Ghost Ship where the laughter of a big, purple clothed Magikoopa came from a hole as mentioned character came down and laughed even more.

"So! Mario! You recruited some imbeciles just to get more pummeled than before? What a dumb man you are! That only will cause more problems for Lord Bowser!" Kamella said.

"Hey," Falco began. "Maybe we could ask her some questions."

"Good idea," Chris said. "Hey, you! Tell us if the Subspace Army is helping Bowser!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Kamella laughed. "Well, if won't hurt to tell you. Yes, in fact, they're helping us to get rid of all of you and conquer the galaxies once and for all!"

"That should clarify everything." Mario said.

"Give us the Power Star so I can get to see another chapter!" Yoshi yelled.

"Chapter?" Mario, Chris and Falco repeated confused.

"...Oh..." Mario remembered. "I know what."

"SILENCE!" Kamella yelled as she raised a purple barrier around the ship. "Time for you all to DIE!" Kamella yelled as she shot a fast fireball to Chris, who was pushed away by Yoshi in time. "Oh, the dodgy type, I see! Well, let's see how well you all fare! HEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

"The first time I get to meet her and she already is annoying." Falco said.

"When she calls Green Shells, use them to throw them back at her." Mario whispered.

"I'll give support using my songs." Chris whispered.

"Hmm..." Falco stared at his Reflector.

"GO!" Kamella yelled as she called forth 2 Magikoopas that chuckled before calling forth fireballs that went after the Smashers.

Yoshi swallowed a fireball and spat it back at a Magikoopa that got pushed back and vanished. Chris snuck from behind the other one and...his harp suddenly took a form of a baton and he did a 3-hit combo before the magician vanished. "W-what? A baton?" Chris asked confused as he looked at the baton.

"Dodge THIS!" Kamella yelled as she made a green mist that turned into a Green Shell and went slowly around to slam the Smashers, but they were able to dodge it. Mario grabbed the Green Shell and went after Kamella who appeared inside the barrier.

"Ha!" Mario tossed the Green Shell at her, but she quickly teleported outside. Mario landed on the ground but gasped when the Green Shell that he tossed bounced back from the purple shield and crashed into him, taking him out in the process. "Oooooooohhh..." Mario moaned in pain as he fainted.

"Mario!" Chris and Yoshi yelled as they ran to him.

"Chris! Can you revive him?" Yoshi asked.

"L-let me try!" Chris said as he changed to his Fonyc Hymn User job. "Return this soul from the abyss of de-"

"You WON'T do such a thing! Die!" Kamella interrupted as she called forth 3 fireballs that went after Chris and Yoshi, who gasped and covered themselves in fear. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA! You won't survive these attacks after they land on you!"

"Oh, you think?"

"What?!" Kamella asked angrily as she noticed the fireballs being reflected back at her. This surprise attack made her back away to the wall where she screamed in pain. Back on the ship, Falco was shown grabbing his Reflector that he kicked to Chris and Yoshi to return back the fireballs at the magician as he grinned in triumph.

"I was waiting for the right moment to reflect back the fireballs," Falco explained as he walked to them. "I hope you're alright."

"Oh, thank you so much..." Chris said sighing in relief.

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!" Kamella grunted angrily. "I should've watched out for you, stupid bird brain!"

Falco rolled his eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are now? Wolf?"

Kamella pointed her Magic Scepter (which had the Power Star) at the group. "Come and get me!" Kamella yelled as she went high above the ship.

"Return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!"

A sacred light touched Mario's body before he got revived. "U-ugh... W-what happened?"

"I'll tell you later once we get rid of her." Yoshi said, pointing to Kamella about to call more Magikoopas.

"I'll bring you down to HELL once I finish you all off!" Kamella yelled. "There is absolutely no DAMN way you're going to defeat me! I swear I'm not going to use fireballs or Green Shells anymore! Ha!"

20 seconds later...

Music stops

"No...way..." Kamella muttered painfully above the ship. "How did you...defeat me...if I didn't use my fireballs on you?"

"To point something out," Mario raised a finger. "You did call more fireballs, even you went to your usual strategy."

"And I went badass and reflected them back." Falco said with a grin.

"And you kept making Green Shells." Yoshi pointed out.

"B-but why?!" Kamella asked confued with rage.

"2 words," Chris raised 2 fingers. "Game-Engine."

The other 3 looked at Chris with weird faces but shrugged after looking at each other.

Kamella started screaming. "DAMN YOU AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Would you just blow up before yelling for so long?" Yoshi asked with an angry expression.

Kamella stopped and rolled her eyes before she exploded (which was scientifically impossible) as her Magic Scepter struck the floor and let the Power Star go to Mario, who got it and held it up in triumph.

18 Power Stars. Sweet.

Matter Splatter Galaxy
Watch your Step

Super Mario Galaxy - Peaceful Stars

Nothing.

Only the darkness and some pillars floating around the whole galaxy were the only things Samus, Twink, Olimar and Fox were able to see.

The Shadow Bugs changed the laws of the galaxy by preventing the spotlights from giving them the paths to the star.

"..." Olimar stared down into the nothingness with his Pikmins. "...H-hello?"

"Yes?"

Olimar's eyes opened while the others got shocked looks and looked around.

"Okay..." Fox began. "Who the hell was that just now?"

"Should we even bother?" Twink asked. "We're here to get the Power Star."

"But how?" Samus asked as she used her visor. "The darkness of this place prevents my visor from finding a platform to walk on."

"A-and we're here, trapped in a very small platform that is so thin." Olimar shuddered.

"Not to mention that creepy voice." Twink shuddered.

The Pikmins looked at each other...before comitting suicide again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Olimar yelled as his Pikmins turned into ghosts when they disappeared. "W-why are you all trying to comit suicide?! D-dying is not an option!"

"...That actually gives me an idea..." Fox wondered.

"Me too." Samus said nodding.

"I even think I got the same idea." Twink said smiling as the trio stared at Olimar.

"...W-wait, why are you all staring me like that?" Olimar asked.

"You can call more Pikmins when you want, right?"

"Y-yes, so?" Olimar was getting really nervous.

"So, why don't we use them to see where is a path to the star?" Samus asked.

"...OH NO," Olimar shook his head. "There is NO way you're going to use my Pikmins as "path-finders" to die if they don't step on a floor!"

"Then we'll use you instead." Fox said (that actually sounded like a threat since he narrowed his eyes).

"..." Olimar looked back and forth between the darkness and the Smashers. "...I...I...I..."

"So?" Twink asked.

"...I'm really going to hate this so much..."

Dear Diary

Today is probably the most saddening event in my entire life. My friends, the very same friends I made before, used my Pikmins to find these invisible paths to walk on. I can't believe I lost 200 Pikmins who fell into the nothingness for this! The horror! The agony! My Pikmins! MY PIKMINS WHO ALSO COMMIT SUICIDE BY THE LOOKS OF THE SITUATIONS!!! ...Sniff... Finally, I let the sadness out of my system... I must press on and continue after we obtained another Power Star... However, if they ever ask me to let them use my Pikmins...I'll be dead since I need more experience to fight them...

P.S: (This is completely unfair... Sniff...)

Sea Slide Galaxy
Faster than a Speeding Penguin

In the first time for a long time, there was a yellow foot in sight that revealed to be none other than King Dedede, who was grinning as he held a Koopa Troopa inside his shell. "I know those guys are gonna come here and use a shell to race, but they're gonna get surprised once the shell turns back into a turtle and attack them before they reach the finish line!" Dedede chuckled. "Yeah, perfect plan to stop them!"

Several hours later...

Super Mario Galaxy - Bunny Chasing

"You are SO going down!" a tough-looking blue penguin said to Mario, who was inside the river with the other penguins as he used a Green Shell (the same Green Shell that Dedede put down).

"A-and they..." Olimar sniffed as he told Chris what happened before as the 2 sat on the beach with the Toad Brigade. "T-they sacrificed 200 Pikmins..."

"(...My god, they're that heartless?)" Chris thought. "I-I'm so sorry for your loss..."

"Big loss," Olimar sniffed. "A big one..."

"..." Chris noticed Olimar burying his helmet (as odd as it sounds) on his hands and sobbed a little before the World Traveler hugged him and patted his back. "There, there. I know your Pikmins are enjoying the afterlife."

"...That's what worries me the most..."

Chris felt defeated. "...At least you can call more, right?"

"Just to comit suicide?" Olimar asked. "Yes..."

"(...This is really going to take a time for him to recover...)" Chris thought with a defeated look on his face.

From a nearby rock, there was Dedede spying on the group as he smirked. "Heh, now that the plumber is holdin' that turtle, he's gonna get surprised once it attacks him before he reaches the finish line. Nothin' can go wrong this time!"

"Hmm?" a Koopa Troopa with a blue shell and a red hankerchief walked to Chris and Olimar. "Hey, isn't that man in the water the same Mario?"

Both of them looked at him (and stopped hugging/sobbing respectively). "Um, yes. Why do you ask?" Chris asked.

"So he IS Mario! I haven't seen him in a long time!" the Koopa said with a happy expression.

"Pardon me, but who are you?" Chris asked.

The blue Koopa chuckled. "Oh! Sorry! I forgot to tell you my name. My name is Kooper and I was once traveling with Mario before in an adventure to rescue Princess Peach!"

"...Kooper?... Oh right!" Chris said nodding. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere!"

"Wait, you know me?"

"Mario told me about you." Chris lied.

Kooper looked at Mario. "Oh... So, what's he doing nowadays?... Oh wait, I remember Peach was kidnapped by Bowser yet again when I was in the Star Festival."

"Hmm... Do you want me to call Mario? The race hasn't started yet."

Kooper smiled. "Really? Well, I have a better idea because I'm in the mood to help him out!" Kooper said as he dove inside the water and went to Mario. "Mario! Old pal!"

"Kooper!" Mario smiled at Kooper. "I saw you in the festival but how did you get here?"

"I was hanging on to the rocks that lifted the castle and well, I got here after I woke up because I fell down the space and found myself here."

"Are you stranded?"

"Stranded? Well, sort of."

"I can tell the Toad Brigade to take you back to the Mushroom Kingdom if you want."

"Really? Oh, thank you!" Kooper said nodding. "So anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

Kooper hid inside his shell. "Use me as your shell to win the race!"

"(What?)" the Koopa that Mario was holding thought in shock.

"Sure!" Mario said as he kicked the Koopa Shell away (and outside the river that actually led it outside the water and the river) and grabbed Kooper's shell.

"This brings a lot of good memories! Sweet, sweet memories!" Kooper said happily.

With the Koopa that was falling down...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

With Chris and Olimar...

"Why do I think that the shell had a Koopa inside?" Chris asked confused.

"I-I don't know..." Olimar said. "...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Could you use that job that lets you use Pikmins?"

"Why? (Now that I remember, I haven't used that job in a long time...)"

"B-because seeing more Pikmins could cheer me up and put me back in the mood."

"...Okay." Chris said as he changed to his Pikmin Captain job and pluck out 6 Pikmins that joined Olimar's Pikmins and chanted something with their murmurs. "Look, they're trying to cheer you up."

Olimar sighed in relief. "Aww, that's why I love my Pikmins..."

Chris looked at Olimar with a shocked look.

"...In the good way."

Chris sighed.

With Dedede...

"DAMMIT!" Dedede kicked angrily the rock that he was using to hide but got severely hurt in the foot as he jumped and grabbed his foot in pain.

And 20 Power Stars were gathered after Mario won the race thanks to Kooper, who used the help of the Toad Brigade and returned back to the Mushroom Kingdom (wishing Mario and the others good luck). This also meant...

Comet Observatory
Library

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 3

-The Comet-

Page 1

A beam of light pierced through the ship's window. Thinking it was the morning sun, the girl peered through the window, only to find a turquoise blue comet shimmering at her. The little girl shook the sleeping Luma awake and shouted excitedly, "We HAVE to get that comet!"

Page 2

The pair descended on the comet and found that it was made of ice.
They looked high and low, but Luma's mother was nowhere to be found.
Exhausted, the little girl sat down with a flop, utterly unable to take
another step. "Look!"

Page 3

Peering down at the icy ground where Luma was pointing, the girl suddenly noticed clusters of Star Bits encased in the ice. "Pretty good, huh? Finding Star Bits is my specialty!" said Luma, beaming. "There's ice here, but it's so warm, I'll bet there's water here too." The two decided to stay on the comet for a while. Riding the turquoise comet, the pair continued their search for Luma's mother.

"Isn't this chapter a little bit too short?" Yoshi asked as the Lumas were sleeping.

Rosalina closed her book and looked at Yoshi. "The length doesn't matter as long as you see this through, little by little for it to unfold properly."

Yoshi looked at the Lumas. "Are the chapters shorter because..."

Rosalina nodded with a small laugh. "Yes. A much larger chapter would make them fall asleep before getting further."

"...I see..." Yoshi said with a nod. "I'll go back and gather more Power Stars."

"Thank you." Rosalina said as she waved at the Yoshi who exited the library and left Rosalina and the Lumas alone.

Sand Spiral Galaxy
Choosing a Favorite Snack

Super Mario Galaxy - Bigmouth Galaxy

"O don't loke thos ot oll." Yoshi said.

"Whot?" Chris asked.

"O don't loke thos ot oll!"

"O don't ondorstond you. Whot?"

"Nothong!"

For Chris, Yoshi, and the 2 Luigis, this was sure the oddest mushroom. What mushroom? The Boo Mushroom that turned them all into big floating-ghostly faces with their tongues sticking out.

And oddly enough, it was so hard to pull their tongues back to their mouths. That even raised the question about why Boos can talk with their tongues sticking out.

"Look!" Luigi yelled as he evaded a fireball from a Magikoopa. "Oh mo god!"

"SOMOBODO SOVO MO!" the other Luigi yelled.

"Shot op!" Chris yelled. "Ot's hord to ondorstond ovoryono horo olroodo!"

Yoshi floated upwards as he evaded another fireball, that grew him angry. "Thot's OT!" Yoshi said angrily as he reached a Bee Mushroom and doned a be suit. "You come over here!" Yoshi taunted the Magikoopa before he shot his tongue straight into the magician and swallowed him to turn the Magikoopa into an egg that he carried on his back.

"You know?" the other Luigi began as he looked at Yoshi landing on a platform inside the tunnel. "Boong o boo os o good odoo."

"Whot?" Chris asked confused.

"..." the other Luigi motioned at the Bee Mushroom and Chris got the idea.

Sometime later, the quartet found a big spiral with the Power Star on its middle after they got out from the tunnel as they looked around. "...This is so simple..." Yoshi said.

The spiral flashed purple and its speed rose up at a very insane rate, to the point stepping on it could cause someone to puke.

"..." Chris and the other Luigis took a step back.

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "We're still using the Bee Mushroom so why don't we just fly all the way there?"

"...Phew," Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I should've thought about this when I played this game."

"Game?" the others questioned him.

"...I-I mean...let's go!" Chris said as he slowly flew to the Power Star and took it, stopping the spiral from spinning in the process as the 4 sighed in unison. "...You know, Yoshi, you look good with the bee suit o-"

Yoshi decided to swallow Chris after the "rude" comment about the suit he hated. The Luigis looked at Yoshi with shocked looks. "What? Are you going to say the same or what?"

Luigi trembled a little. "B-but I like the suit..."

"M-me too..." the other Luigi said, playing with his fingers while Yoshi frowned.

"Get me out!" Chris yelled inside the egg. "Seriously! I hate small places, but not as much as Sonic does!"

21 Power Stars. Good progress.

Freezeflame Galaxy
The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr

Super Mario Galaxy - Freezeflame Galaxy (Ice)

Falco sniffed and wiped some tears from his eyes.

His eyes reflected the inferno of lava that floated in the galaxy. That big rock of heat was going to be heaven for him...

...But those tears weren't of joy...

Those tears were of sadness...since he, Fox, Samus and C. Falcon were stuck in the mountain planet with what Falco hated the most: ice.

"WHY CAN'T W-" Falco's mouth was blocked by C. Falcon's hand.

"Shut up," C. Falcon shifted his eyes. "You could cause an avalanche and bury all of us under snow. You want that?"

"...Okay, man..." Falco sighed slowly. "...I have to stay calm...and endure this... We just need to...get to the top...melt that ice thing with the crown...and we get out of here...right?"

Fox patted Falco's right shoulder and nodded. "Right. We're going to finish this one faster."

"...Thanks." Falco said with a sigh of relief.

"By the way," C. Falcon looked around. "Where's Samus?"

"You mean her?" Falco asked as he pointed at an icicle...with Samus inside. "S-Samus!"

Fox walked to the icicle. "What happened to her? Why is she trapped in the ice?" Fox asked as he examined the ice.

Not long after he said that, Brrr Bits appeared and slowly floated to him. "I bet those guys did this to Samus!" C. Falcon said with a fist.

Falco rolled his eyes (and somehow was able to go back to his "cool" state quickly) and crossed his arms. "These monsters can't even freeze someone that fast. Don't think this is going to be some kind o-" Falco was cut off as the Brrr Bits merely spat 2 drops, each one at C. Falcon and Fox who just remained there...and got instantly frozen before the bits obtained a shadowy aura that Falco quickly recognized...

...But that wasn't important to him for now...

"...Crap..." Falco muttered as he backed away. "Those things got Shadow Bugs and probably..." Falco gulped. "T-they can freeze anyone with their icy saliva..."

The Brrr Bits got even closer to Falco and the avian looked around for something to attack back. The only thing he found was...

...An Ice Flower...

Super Mario Galaxy - Power Ups

"..." Falco looked at no one in particular. "...Better sooner than later, I guess... I'm going to hate this even more than the bee powers..." Falco said as he quickly reached the Ice Flower and turned him into Ice Falco (these 2 definitions didn't go together at all) and he looked at his transparent ice self. "...Hmm..." Falco touched the water and it froze to make a path. "...Wait..." Falco began to slid quickly around the ice as he then thought that being of ice wasn't such a bad feeling as he grinned. "Hey! This ice isn't even that cold at all... It feels so good!"

The Brrr Bits seemed to chase the avian as he looked over his shoulder and taunted them to get him. The Brrr Bits shot ice mist from behind in anger and they chased the pilot around until Falco jumped from the water and made them all crash into the wall, and into pieces as Falco landed back on the floor and chuckled.

Falco looked at his hand and made a fist while he chuckled and walked to the water, where he made a path. "...Nobody will make fun of me anymore with the ice..." Falco punched the air above him with his fist. "Because the ice is afraid of me since it's my servant and slave! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-"

Music stops

His small evil speech was interrupted as he saw himself turning back into normal and remained in the same position without even moving. The Ice Flower's effect stopped and vanished.

"..." Falco looked down...at the very cold water after the platform vanished and the fact that he was far away from safe land. "...SHI-" Falco fell down inside and he flailed his arms around. "HELP! HELP! T-THE WATER IS SO COLD! S-S-S-S-SOMEBODY GIVE ME BACK MY ICE POWERS! I-I-I-I-I BEG OF YOU! H-H-H-H-H-HEEEEEEEEELP!"

Back to the icicles, the one where Fox was inside suddenly began to melt before the vulpine broke out using Fire Fox and landed back on his right knee and looked around. "...Falco?"

The icicles with C. Falcon and Samus began to melt as well as C. Falcon used Falcon Kick to push himself out while Samus shook herself a little. "Good thing this suit contains anti-freeze capabilities so it lets me survive if I get frozen." Samus said.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"...How did he get over there?" C. Falcon asked confused.

After getting Falco out...

"ACHOO!" Falco sneezed.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Ice powers, yeah, right."

"B-but it's the truth!" Falco said. "I had ice powers before and they didn't feel cold at all!" Falco pointed at the Ice Flower. "That thing over there! It gave those powers!"

"Falco..." Fox frowned and walked Falco to the edge of the planet. "I think you need to rest for now. The cold is really getting to your head."

"...Fox..." Falco shook his head slowly as he looked down to the black hole. "...Y-you're not going t-"

"Bye."

KICK!

"I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO THAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaattttt...." Falco's voice echoed as he was pulled inside the black hole and appeared in the observatory.

"That was the only way to cure him," Samus said. "I thought his hate about the cold was just a joke, but I didn't think it could be so bad..."

"Who cares?" C. Falcon asked rhetorically. "Samus, use your grapple and let's climb this mountain."

Samus aimed her gun upwards. "I'd like you to be this focused for once."

"If I do this more often there's a possibility that you're going to fall in love with me and go on a date?"

"...We'll see."

"(Yes!)" C. Falcon thought triumphaly as the trio used Samus's Grapple Beam at full advantage to clear the mission.

With a Falcon Punch of fire to Baron Brrr and some Fire Foxes, they got the 22th Power Star.

...But why wasn't Baron Brrr possessed like the Brrr Bits?...

Boo's Boneyard Galaxy
Racing the Spooky Speedster

Super Mario Galaxy - Bunny Chasing

Mario, the Luigis and Geno were trying to beat the Spooky Speedster in a race downwards...using the Boo Mushrooms.

"Horro! Ho's gottong owoy!" Mario yelled.

"Whot?!" Luigi asked.

"Oh no! Wo'ro goong to loso!" the other Luigi gasped as the Spooky Speedster descended quickly through the tunnel.

"Thos os tho worso goloxo ovor!" Geno complained.

"Whot?!" Luigi asked.

"Forgot ot!"

"Whot?!"

"DOMMOT!" Geno cursed as the quartet descended slowly and tried to catch up with the Spooky Speedster as fast as they could...float down.

"Heheheheheh!" the Spooky Speedster chuckled. "You guys won't beat me in this! No way! I just hope you don't use the shortcuts to the finish line!"

"..." the 4 looked at a hole that went all the way down to the finish line that also included a strong wind current, fast enough to take them quickly. The 4 entered inside the hole and instantly reached the finish line, where the Spooky Speedster gasped once he saw them waiting for him.

"B-but no!" the Spooky Speedster said as he sniffed. "T-this is the 47th time I got defeated like this! I-it's not fair!"

"Moybo of you stop tollong tho pooplo aboot thoso shortcots thon you coold won." Geno explained.

"S-sniff..." the Spooky Speedster sniffed. "M-maybe so... I need to being an idiot and keep my mouth shut..."

Mario went to him and patted his back. "Thoro, thoro. You loornod your losson now. Wo'ro oll cloor now?"

The Spooky Speedster wiped some tears and nodded. "Y-yes... I-I guess so... Hey!" he smiled. "I feel so much better after resolving that problem out of my troubles! Thank you, you guys! Here!" he took a Power Star from his back. "Take this as your reward for winning the race, but most important, the invaluable lesson you've taught me today!"

"Oll roght!" the Luigis cheered as they took the Power Star from the happy Spooky Speedster.

23 Power Stars were gathered.

Battlerock Galaxy
Battlerock's Garbage Dump

Super Mario Galaxy - Battlerock Galaxy

The Gearmo was crying after Chris, Samus, Twink and Geno saw the huge pile of trash that almost covered the whole platform they were in. "A-and those purple creatures just came out from nowhere and t-they dropped all this garbage on my garbage!" the Gearmo complained as it buried its face into his hands. "I-I don't know how am I going to clean all this mess!"

"...Hmm..." Samus looked at her arm cannon and she fired a Super Missile that exploded 10 percent of the pile.

"Tell you what," the Gearmo began as it quickly returned back to normal. "I'll give you a star if you destroy the garbage in less than 5 seconds."

"Hey!" Chris glared at the Gearmo. "That's not fair with the time limit!"

"Why is it not fair?" the Gearmo asked annoyed. "It's good to challenge unusual people like all of you into doing something like destroying all this garbage!"

"But the galaxies are in danger!" Twink said. "We need the star!"

"Not my problem. That is YOUR problem and not mine."

"Can we just steal it from him?"

Geno shook his head. "No. We accept the challenge."

"Great!" the Gearmo said happily as the countdown started.

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted. "There's no way we can finish all of this i-"

"GENO FLASH!" Geno yelled as they all noticed that he turned into a cannon and shot a small fire that quickly grew in size (that blinked) before expanding, creating a big explosion that cleared the platform from the garbage before the countdown could end. Geno backflipped and turned back to normal.

"...That had to be the most, awesome attack ever..." Chris said surprised.

"Sweet!" the Gearmo exclaimed happily. "You didn't use the bombs that I forgot to provide you!"

"Yes, that hopefully will teach yo-hey! You cheated!"

The Gearmo ignored Chris and gave Geno the Power Star. "Here! Thank you for cleaning out the garbage for me!"

"Thanks." Geno said with a nod.

"...Wait," Chris wondered. "There's a similar mission in the Dreadnought Galaxy so... Geno."

"Yes?"

"Do you think you can do that attack again?"

Geno nodded. "I have enough energy to do 9 more. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could..."

Dreadnought Galaxy
Dreadnought's Garbage Dump

"GENO FLASH!"

A large explosion vanished the other big pile of dump (that Chris predicted well since the same happened in this galaxy as the Battlerock Galaxy) while another different Gearmo cheered.

"Oh, thank goodness! I didn't want to clean it myself!" the Gearmo said with a happy expression.

"..." Chris closed his eyes in annoyance as Samus got the Power Star from the Gearmo.

They gathered the 24th and 25th Power Stars...

Comet Observatory
Library

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

-The Dream-

Page 1

One night, the girl dreamed about her own mother. "Where are you going?" she asked her mother's retreating back.

Without turning, her mother replied, "Don't fret, dearest. I'm not going anywhere. I'm always watching over you, like the sun in the day and the moon in the night."

Page 2

A wave of sadness washed over the girl. "What about when it rains, and I can't see the sun or the moon?" Her mother thought for a moment before responding.

Page 3

"I will turn into a star in the clouds and wait for your tears to dry."

Page 4

When she awoke, the girl's face was damp with tears. "You have Star Bits in your eyes!" said Luma to the girl.
Wiping her face, the girl replied, "These
are tears, not Star Bits. I'm crying because I'll never see my mother ever
again!"

At this, Luma began to cry too. "Mama, oh, Mama... Waaaah!"

Page 5

The pair traveled through the starry skies, and though they encountered many other comets, not one of them held Luma's mother. Luma was despondent. "Now, now, Luma. the rain clouds won't go away if you keep crying," the girl said, giving Luma a squeeze. "I'll give you a present if you stop." The girl closed her eyes and said gently, "I'll take care of you." With these words, she felt a small spark in her heart.

"Her mother...was..." Yoshi trailed off.

Rosalina nodded. "...Yes... Her mother wasn't walking the earth anymore... The girl was really sad by this that nothing could make her happy again..."

"But what could happen if she says that her mother is de-"

"Only the book can tell you that."

"..." Yoshi made a worried face.

Rosalina closed her eyes. "Maybe this story won't end in a sad ending..."

"...I'll keep gathering more Power Stars to see what's next..." Yoshi said as he slowly walked away from the library.

"..." Rosalina opened her eyes and looked at the chimney, before looking at the sleeping Lumas. "...I must revive this saddening moment of my..." Rosalina shook her head slowly. "...In order to make him understand what I'm trying to teach him..."

Good Egg Galaxy
Purple Coin Omelet

Super Mario Galaxy - Purple Coin Comet

Now, all the Smashers had in mind to gather all the Purple Coins from all the Galaxies. There were still some galaxies with Power Stars not involving the coins.

Right now, the Luigis, Fox and Olimar were facing a new diffculty...

...The Purple Coins were constantly moving from their easy track that used to have all of them lined up.

"Dammit!" Fox cursed as he failed to grab a Purple Coin before he landed on the Egg Planet. "Those coins won't stop moving!"

His voice echoed through the galaxy that reached the others, who were trying to grab their coins as well. "We have to calculate the time the Launch Star blasts us at the right moment to grab the coins!" the other Luigi yelled from the Rock Planet.

"I-I just hope this doesn't take too long!" Olimar yelled as he was shown flying through a track of moving coins as he noticed that he missed one. "Oh, eggs inside pants!"

"T-that's a sick innuendo!" Luigi yelled.

Olimar gasped. "W-wait! F-forget what I mean!"

Space Junk Galaxy
Purple Coin Spacewalk

"Oh, come on!" Chris yelled annoyed. "How can we grab the coins if they're constantly teleporting around?"

In fact, the coins were teleporting from place to place, and it seemed to be actually hard for the World Traveler, Geno and Twink.

"Hurry! There's a countdown too!" Geno yelled as the 3 proceeded to grab the fast-moving coins.

Battlerock Galaxy
Purple Coins on the Battlerock

"SHI-" C. Falcon dodged a fast cannonball from one of the many cannonballs from the galaxy.

"JUMP!" Samus yelled as she used a double jump to get over an electric fence.

The difficult of the galaxy dramatically increased as the cannonballs shot even faster than before, while the electric walls moved around, creating confusion between the 2 Smashers.

"FRENZY!" C. Falcon yelled as he and Samus ran below the moving platform they were on and evaded a crazy barrage of cannonballs.

"WALL!" Samus yelled as both jumped high over the electric wall.

"...Uh-oh..."

"W-what?" Samus asked panting.

"...How the heck are we going to get through THAT?!" C. Falcon asked in shock as he pointed to a huge electric wall that covered both sides of the platform and even there was no way to evade it. "Shoot!" C. Falcon almost lost a Purple Coin from getting away.

"Darn it..." Samus muttered as she looked around for something to jump to. "...Wait..."

C. Falcon looked at her direction and spotted a meteor that was going to cross where they were, but it was also out of the range of the electric wall and they also noticed that they gathered all the Purple Coins. "USE IT!"

"Grab on!" Samus yelled as she quickly used her Grapple Beam to pull herself (and the captain who managed to grab her foot in time) to the meteor as they looked back and managed to evade the electric wall. "Quick! Jump!" Samus yelled as she quickly jumped to the platform with the Gearmo waiting for them. C. Falcon acted quickly and jumped along with her before the meteor could take them to a black hole.

"Congratulations!" the Gearmo said happily. "You managed to collect all the coins without me taking a life out of you inexplicably!"

"...Say what?" C. Falcon and Samus asked in unison.

"Here's your reward!" the Gearmo said as he pulled out a Power Star and gave it to them.

"...By the way, what are you going to do with the Purple Coins?" C. Falcon asked.

"You don't know? Many people around the galaxy carve for these since they have a value of $1,000 Mushroom Coins each!"

C. Falcon noticed that the Gearmo was holding the coins. "...Hey! You stole a fortune out of us!"

"Does it matter in this moment?" Samus asked. "It's better to save the universe than getting a fortune."

"Saving the universe?" the Gearmo asked and both of them explained everything to them. "Why didn't you say that from the beginning? I could've give you the star without the coins in the first place!"

"..." Samus seemed to get angry at this since she aimed her arm cannon at the Gearmo's face as C. Falcon blinked surprised.

26 Power Stars, but what about the others before them?

Beach Bowl Galaxy
Beachcombing for Purple Coins

"Aw, c'mon!" C. Falcon groaned as he saw the ENTIRE amount of Purple Coins "flipping" above the water, imitating fishes..big ones, since all of them made a perfect big fish that looked real.

"Look!" a penguin said to a whole public of young penguins like him. "Those coins really know how to swim!"

Samus frowned. "I'm going to question why all the residents of the galaxies are a little bit clueless about the danger they're ignoring..."

"Little?" C. Falcon asked. "Too much would be my comment."

"Anyway," Samus looked at the Purple Coin Fish (new name) doing a flip in the air as it dove down the water. Both Smashers ran to the water and dove down. "There it is." Samus said.

C. Falcon nodded simply as he swam towards it...but suddenly, the Purple Coin Fish swam to them and actually gave the captain a slap with the coins as he crashed into a wall.

"C. Falcon!" Samus yelled.

C. Falcon just gave her thumbs-up, indicating that the damage wasn't that severe. The captain then gasped a little and pointed at the fish, which it looked at its tail and seemed to be in shock...

...Because, since coins are automatically gathered when somebody touches them, they disappear. The fish looked shocked and decided to swim away from the 2.

"I see..." Samus nodded. "It can't attack since we'll gather the coins with each hit it lands on us."

C. Falcon nodded before both of them went after the fish.

Good Egg Galaxy

The group, after going through a stressful oddyssey to get all the coins, found one last Purple Coin. However, this one was the hardest one since it went insanely fast to all directions from the path of one of the Launch Stars.

"Here's the plan," Fox began. "We're going to enter the star one after the other to get a close chance to grab the coin."

"W-what if we fail like the other 57 times?" the other Luigi asked. "That's the last coin that we've been trying to get for the last hour..."

"Hour and a half." Olimar pointed out.

"Just go in there! I'm starting to sweat a lot more than I do during my trainings!" Fox complained, before one after the other, entered inside the Launch Star and were blasted off to the coin...which somehow earned life and laughed at them. "What the fu-" Fox wasn't able to finish his curse as the 4 failed to grab the coin, which turned to them and laughed insanely...crazy. "The hell is wrong with that thing?"

Olimar's eyes opened in shock. "O-oh my... It got a life?"

"Is that even possible?" the other Luigi asked.

"Scientifically?" Luigi added.

"This is mentally...scarring..." Olimar said, grabbing his helmet.

"..." Fox looked at the Pikmins that turned into ghosts since they couldn't bear the "pain" to land in the Egg Planet. "...Olimar..."

"...OH NO," Olimar shook his head. "You're absolutely NOT going to use my Pikmins to do something where they can die like you did last time!"

Dear Diary

I ended up sacrifing 500 Pikmins (500 PIKMINS! THE HORROR!) for the sake of the Power Star. My eyes couldn't believe the pandemonium that the Pikmins went through. My helmet reflected their poor, helpless souls disappearing into the nothingness of the space... I'm going to learn how to get revenge after I get more Pikmins...

...That are going to be sacrificed later if my assumptions are correct...

P.S: I just remembered that I could've saved them using my whistle to call the first 6 back to me, ignoring what distance they're in. That discards the idea of revenge since it is my fault that they died... Sniff... But still...this is not fair...

P.S.S: I officialy think that the Purple Coins are evil, EVIL with capital letters...

27 Power Stars were gathered at this point.

P.S.S.S: I need to get revenge and k...k...k...ah, I don't have the courage to write that strong word in you, Dear Diary!

Space Junk Galaxy

"Time is running out..." Geno panted as Chris tried to grab 10 Purple Coins that teleported around. "We need to get those coins..."

"...Hmm..." Twink floated away and Geno gasped.

"No! Twink! Come back! It's too dangerous!"

Twink merely floated towards the Purple Coins, that remained in their place, and the Star Kid floated around them before taking every single one as a Power Star appeared in front of him. Twink smiled a little and took the star with him as he returned back with Geno. "Done."

"..." Geno was left speechless as his pupils shrunk. "...Tell me something..."

"Yes?"

"You were able to finish this from the very beginning...but you didn't... Why?"

Twink chuckled. "Sometimes, I love to see you all working hard to get your goals. Isn't that thoughtful of me or what?"

"...No..." Geno glared at him. "It IS annoying and irritating..."

"...Oops." Twink stuck out his tongue.

"U-um...hello?" Chris called from very afar, standing above the black hole because the platforms turned invisible at the most unexpected time. "...HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! LUUUUUUUUUUUUUCAAAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"..It is just me or..." Twink looked at Geno. "Or was this already planned for Chris himself?"

"...We better rescue him before he falls..." Geno said.

"B-but..."

"We'll think about that later." Geno said.

28 Power Stars were gathered by this time.

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" C. Falcon called from above as he and Samus landed with the Power Star that flew to Polari. "We got this one down on the list!"

"Great!" Mario said as he looked the notepad he had. "We should be able to recover all the Power Stars at this rate!"

"But can we rest more...please?" Chris asked as he layed down on the floor.

"We know we're doing great...but seriously, has anyone noticed that the missions are getting...just a little bit harder than before?" Falco asked.

"They probably reserved the "better" for the end." Geno said.

"Then I don't want to know what is much better at the very end..." Yoshi said.

"Mama! Mama!"

Some Lumas yelled in panic as the Smashers looked at the Lumas, trying to get Rosalina to listen to them. Of course, she listened.

"What seems to be the problem?" Rosalina asked.

"There were some weird dark things hiding around here!" a blue Luma said.

"...Dark...things, you say?"

"Yes! We're so worried about what could those things do if we don't act quickly!" a red Luma said. "I'm so scared, Mama! I don't want anything bad to happen here in our home!"

"Don't worry," Rosalina chuckled as she looked at the Smashers. "I'm sure our new friends will help us in this situation."

C. Falcon made a bored look. "Seriously, even if you're a beauty...why use u-"

Samus blocked his mouth. "We will give you our help if you need us."

"Thank you," Rosalina nodded. "I was scared if you were to refuse our favor."

Rosalina floated away with the Lumas as the Smashers looked at each other. "Dark things? Whatever they meant by that?" Twink asked confused.

"M-Mario!" a green Toad with a pickaxe ran to Mario with a blue Toad wearing glasses. "Mario! You need to hear this!"

"What?" Mario asked confused.

"N-not long ago," the blue Toad began. "W-we were walking around the observatory, a-and then we found some black spores moving around in the d-darkness!"

"T-those spores are up to no good! W-we know that!" the green Toad said. "I-I'm afraid something bad could happen if we don't do something about this!"

Yoshi blinked confused. "But what kind of black spores are you talking about?"

"H-hey!" the blue Toad called out. "Just because I wear glasses doesn't mean I know absolutely everything out there!"

"But you do give me a lot of advices." Mario pointed out.

"It's when the missions don't seem dangerous, then I bother to look for a way to help you, Mario! It's for the sake of the princess as well!"

"...Hmm..." Mario rubbed his chin. "...Why not some of us go for the next Power Star? I think there was another one in the Freezeflame Galaxy."

Samus nodded. "Right. I'll go for this one."

"W-wait!" C. Falcon stood up. "I-I'm going with you."

"Figures..." Samus muttered as the 2 walked away.

"Wait for me!" the Luigis yelled in unison as they joined the pair to the bedroom and blasted off to the previously mentioned galaxy.

"...Surround mode..." Twink said. "Surround mode..."

"Meanwhile," Mario looked at the others. "We should look for those black spores."

"...Oh, shi-"

"Do NOT dare to say that filthy word around Twink." Geno glared at Fox.

"OR the Lumas!" Chris said as 3 Lumas passed by.

"S-sorry..." Fox shook his head. "Guys, I think I know what those black spores are."

"...So?" Yoshi asked.

"...The Shadow Bugs..."

Music stops

"...Wait..." Yoshi wondered for a little bit. "Black spores...dark things..."

Every single Smasher rolled their eyes (except for Mario) and frowned at Yoshi. "Duh!" they replied in unison.

Super Mario Galaxy - Speedy Comet in Orbit

"Cr-" Falco was about to curse but decided not to (by the angered Geno). "We have to find those things and get rid of them before something happens here!"

"Like what?" Yoshi asked.

"I don't know..." Falco stopped and rubbed his chin. "What could they be doing here?"

"They only serve to possess anybody to increase their powers, right?" Olimar asked. "So they're here to take someone, right?"

"But who?" Fox asked. "Obviously they're not trying to take any of us..."

"...Unless..." Chris continued. "...The Shadow Bugs aren't exactly trying to possess someone..."

"What do you have in mind, Chris?"

"Call this stupid, but the Shadow Bugs usually appear out of nowhere and possess anybody...but this is just random thinking...what if they can...who knows...take somebody else away?"

"..." Mario shook his head. "We don't know until we see it from our own eyes. We have to find the bugs and defeat them!"

"Why not kill them?" Falco asked.

Mario facepalmed. "Great going. The Lumas over there are starting to wonder what is kill."

Falco looked over his shoulder where some Lumas were talking between each other about what the word "kill" meant. "...Oops..."

"...AHEM," Fox coughed annoyed. "Shadow Bugs? Trying to do who-knows here? Somebody in danger?"

"...SCRAMBLE!" Olimar yelled as the Smashers ran at different directions around the observatory.

Freezeflame Galaxy
Frostic Cosmic Luigi Race

"...Oh no..." C. Falcon slowly shook his head. "...I must...think about something else!"

"Too bad," Samus said. "If you thought 2 Luigis were weird..."

"Hey!" the Luigis complained before looking at what looked to be a transparent version of themselves that had a cosmic background that covered its whole body.

The Cosmic Luigi...flipped them off.

C. Falcon glared at it. "Okay, he's asking for a beating."

Samus looked far away from their place as the Cosmic Luigi pointed at a Power Star far away from ice platforms and lava platforms in the middle of the ice mountain and the lava planet. "My guess is that it wants us to compete against it to grab the Power Star first."

"Too bad you were slow."

"What?" Samus asked as she saw Cosmic Luigi already running after the star as the 4 looked at each other and began the chase for the star.

"Wait for us!" the other Luigi said.

"We want to make a trio of Luigis!" Luigi said.

"You 2 must not be serious about that." Samus said as the 4 ran on a long ice path that pulled them upside-down.

"Why?" the other Luigi asked. "Having 3 Luigis could be a blast!"

"That other Luigi gave us the finger!" C. Falcon said annoyed as they were pulled back to normal floor and saw Cosmic Luigi getting away. "And you want that thing with us? Forget it!"

"We thought it was a good idea..." Luigi said disappointed.

"...Hey!" C. Falcon saw Cosmic Luigi using a long jump to ignore the normal path and reach the star first. "That guy's cheating!"

"Or rather he is intelligent." Samus remarked as the 3 looked at her. "...What? I was just giving my opinion."

"Oh no!" the Luigis yelled in unison. "Our twin is going to reach the star first! We're not gonna make it!"

"...Gonna?" Samus and C. Falcon repeated confused.

"...Oops, I forgot I don't have that Yoshi here anymore..." Luigi sniffed.

"Yes," the other Luigi sniffed. "I'll miss that Yoshi..."

"Pss," C. Falcon whispered to Samus as they crossed over a magma tile by jumping over it. "These Luigis are going to drive me nuts."

"I'll have to admit..." Samus trailed off. "2 Luigis is just a little bit too much..."

"OH NO!" the Luigis yelled as they saw Cosmic Luigi about to reach the Power Star. "That's it! We lose!"

The screen showed Cosmic Luigi slidding above the ice path as it jumped gracefully over the holes that had black holes below. Cosmic Luigi chuckled darkly as it saw the star very close to it...

...But...

BOOM!

The ice below it shattered into a million of pieces as it stopped in midair and looked down to the black hole. Cosmic Luigi looked back and forth between the Smashers and the star before it took out a sign from behind his back that read: "I hate when this happens."

"...!!!" Cosmic Luigi "yelled" as it went rocketing into the black hole as the Luigis and C. Falcon looked down to it before looking at Samus, who had smoke coming from her arm cannon.

"I used a Super Missile to blow up the floor below that doppelganger," Samus explained. "Nobody said we could also cheat in a way. However, this was for the sake of the universe."

"...Way to go, Samus!" C. Falcon said as he high-fived with Samus. The Luigis cheered (in perfect synchronization) while Samus merely nodded before they went for the Power Star.

30 Power Stars were gathered...

Comet Observatory
Terrace

"Where are they?!" Chris panicked as he looked through the telescope. "Hmm... I can see the place where the festival of the sports was held... I-I mean, where are they?!"

Fountain

"Nothing out of the ordinary here!" Polari said to Falco, who grunted in frustration as he ran away.

Kitchen

"..." Olimar was there, sitting down close to the turkey that was being burned in the fire with his Pikmins. "...What is that? Bogly?" Olimar asked to his Purple Pikmin named Bogly. "...Oh, bellies in flans!" Olimar gasped before running away with his Pikmins.

Bedroom

"H-help!" Yoshi yelled from inside the bed...almost. "M-my nose got stuck in here! Help!" Yoshi's nose was stuck underneath the bed since it was the last big thing that he tried to get out, because the Yoshi was trying to pull it off.

Engine Room

"My sensors indicate that there are no such things as black spores roaming inside the engine," the Gearmo told Fox who nodded and ran away.

Gateway Galaxy

"...Geno..." Twink began as he looked around. "...I think we went too far..."

"...Great..." Geno frowned to himself as they returned back to the observatory.

Garden

The puppet and the Star Kid looked around the silent scenery for the Shadow Bugs once they reached that area of the observatory. "Do you think they're here?" Twink asked.

"I don't know..." Geno said. "But we need to be careful..."

Unfortunately, they weren't able to see some small spores leaking out from one of the formations of rocks that exited the area.

Library

Music stops

"..." Rosalina looked at the chimney as the Lumas fell asleep before she could tell them the next chapter. The princess sighed and looked down. "...Somehow...I don't feel so good..." she looked around slowly. "There is an evil force lurking around here...but the Lumas shouldn't know about them or else they would panic..."

Black spores began to lurk around the books of the library as she closed her eyes.

"I fear something bad is going to happen to me..." Rosalina muttered. "...But what could that be?"

The spores began to crawl down, just behind the sofa she was sitting on.

"...Maybe...maybe I should take a walk and see what can distract my thoughts..."

The black spores turned out to be the Shadow Bugs as they slowly climbed the backside of Rosalina's sofa as she blinked several times before looking around.

"...Strange..." Rosalina muttered. "...I can feel them... They are getting closer..."

The Shadow Bugs reached the top of the sofa and began to grow in size to drop down on her, but Rosalina stood up and she walked away from the sofa. The Shadow Bugs quickly dropped to the floor in silence as they crawled silently towards the princess. Was their plan to take Rosalina?

The Shadow Bugs carefully sneaked through the sleeping Lumas and toward the princess. They waited for the right moment to attack Rosalina...

...If it weren't for the green Luma that woke up all of a sudden and found the darkness close to him.

"...MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" the green Luma cried loudly.

Rosalina quickly turned her back and her eyes shook before the screen focused on her right eye, reflecting the image of the Shadow Bugs lunging at her...

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA!!!"

Every single place the Smashers in the Comet Observatory were in

"That came from the library!" the Smashers said in unison before all of them ran to the library and see what happened.

Bedroom

"...A-anybody?" Yoshi asked as he tried to pull his nose out, but without any result.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Comet Observatory
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Chris saying that Falco was a foolish fool was a reference to Franciska von Karma from Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, where she says fool a lot to almost all the people she meets.

-The plothole part was a reference to a little fic I made about the SSE in s short summary (literally).

-Kooper comes from Paper Mario.

-The Luigis talking about another Yoshi was a reference to their adventure in Dinosaur World for vacat...you know what I mean. XD

I bet you were shocked once Rosalina got attacked. There is this special bond between her and Yoshi that seems to be very interesting to me. Do you like the development in Yoshi?

Power ups, coins, Shadow Bugs, god, they're suffering big time here this time.

What will Yoshi do? Will Olimar suffer more deaths? Is there another annoying thing they're going to face next? What was that screech that Samus felt worried about? What is EXACTLY going to happen in the unknown chapter? (Since it gives me more ideas).

You'll find out the next time for sure.

Read and review, please! :D

And no characters were hurt during the making of this chapter. "Sees 700 Pikmins' ghosts flying by and ignores them" No MAIN characters were hurt. XD
*Chapter 116*: Lumas' Babysitters

I was distracted again, so, very long chapter again. -_-

From SlasherMask: *sniff* Nobody knows Olimar's pain of losing pikmin... They surely haven't played pikmin. Only thing sadder is Pikmin extinction(which can happen). Friendship between Olimar and Pikmin is summed up greatly in song "Ai no uta"...

Aren't most bees females?(yes that haven't got any relating subject at all)

Considering how crazy is Mario world it's hard to believe that they can't believe story about ice mushroom.

From me: I don't know about bees.

And of course they don't know about Ice Mushroom, since it was an Ice FLOWER. My bad. -_- That was corrected.

From ngrey651: WOW Luigi SUCKS...and lookit all the dead Pikmin. Lots and lots of 'em. Makes you feel really sad for them.

"Do you think there's an afterlife? That our lives have meaning? Maybe there will be...cake?"

"God, this couldn't get any wor-"

"Hi guys, I'm gonna throw you at a big monster to knock him out but he'll probably just eat you. HYUP!"

"You had to open your big mouth!...maybe there will be cake."

"Shaddap!"

From me: Luigi DOESN'T suck. He's just having a bad day. :P

What was the dialogue for?

From Mewtrainer: You assume correctly about SMG. Isn't 'foolish fool' redundant? Maybe 'foolish bird' or 'foolish Falco'? (hey, alliteration! XD) Based on the Smashers's general reaction to the minigames, I'm never playing Super Mario Galaxy! XD The galaxies are in danger and it's not the Gearmo's problem?? Weirdness...
"Those coins can't stop moving!"
How about "Those coins WON'T stop moving!"
Poor Yoshi, Olimar, and Pikmin! XD
You exceed expectations yet again!

From me: That was a reference I forgot to point out about the fool part. It was added.

I don't think so with the "won't" part. It sounds good to me in my own opinion

And thanks. ;)

From dimentio710: Why did have a feeling that Rosalina will be possesed, Cosmic Luigi is very rude, Pikmins are one of the funny things, and that when Cosmic Luigi fell he kinda acted like Wile E. Coyote

From me: Because it was an actual reference I didn't want to point out. You know, it would be embarrassing to do a reference like that to a TV show. Hopefully nobody does that! "Looks at DoubleDeeEdBoy" ABSOLUTELY no one does that. XD

From JSandders: Luigi saving Luigi? Garbage on my garbage? 700 dead Pikmin? Another Luigi? Yoshi's big nose stuck in the bed? What was going through your MIND when you typed down this chapter?! XD BTW, I don't think there's an Ice Mushroom but there IS an Ice FLOWER.

Anyways, thanks for giving Polari his real name (even though on the start of the chapter, you still called him Polaris). About KK's personality, it's just like that of a lone-wolf musician who cares for peace, simplicity and all that other care free stuff. Can't wait to see who Samus chooses for her alleged "boyfriend", Capt. Falcon/Snake rivalries are funny! Great funny story, keep it up! Luigi rocks!

From me: I know I made a mistake about the Ice Flower, so I corrected it thanks to you. ;)

Polari's name was also corrected.

And thanks for K.K.s personality. ;)

From Rellymaster: -I feel even sorrier for Olimar than I did with Luigi...
-You know, I wasn't that surprised when I found out who the Shadow Bugs were going after. I knew all along.
-I'm pretty sure that the Lava Spire Daredevil Run would be an absolute terror to the Smashers. And I think the galaxies had entered a mode I call, "Cheapo Killer Mode."
-I wonder what's running through the Luigis' minds.

From me:-I know. T_T

-Witch. XD

-They entered that mode?! Oh crap! XD

-Thought surround mode. XD

From shadow-dog18: I'm sorry I never read or comment on the last few chapters I have been busy then I got in to that new Pokemon game that came out I'm sure you know the game I'm talking don't worry I read them all and they are still awesome to read anyways keep add more chapters,this time I'll try to read/comment the new chapter.

From me: I'm just glad you're still reading this fic. That's what matter to me. :D

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: "Luigi ... you must find yourself ... literally!" It reminds me of those martial arts-like movies where the character must "find oneself," but in Luigi's case ... literally! Three Luigi characters is a bit too much, especially since it's Luigi!

The galaxies are so out to kill them all. I don't know who I felt the worst for ... but my favorite parts were when Fox got touched by that thing and died ... and Mario decided to lose a life and told the monster to touch him too! And Yoshi and Chris at that spinning platform and Moogle Chris lifts Yoshi onto a platform.

Shadow Bugs are in the house! What's going to happen? Only the author knows ...

From me: I know. XD

From Blaperile: Ok, let's see...

1 Luigi: Favorite character!

2 Luigi's: I have enough with one favorite character, thank you.

3 Luigi's: You're kidding me right?! XD

Wow, I'm so glad Cosmic Luigi didn't join. :P

Bee Chris and Ice Falco FTW!

Stereo Luigi... XD

MAMA!

Random again...

Come on Yoshi, you can show interest if you want, try it!

"Don't you see I'm doing that?!"

Sorry... XD

Not much else to say... O yes, you didn't answer my question before: Is it just me, or is it already a long time ago, Olimar went on a "mission" to a world?

From me: 3 Luigis are enough, indeed. XD

From Nintendogeek01: Oh snap!

lol, the attempts at grabbing the Power Stars was funny, and this has to be one of the best cliff-hangers in the story yet. Very well done here.

From me: This one takes a bit darker tone, but the humor is still strong...I think. I hope you laugh here as well.

From EmerMarie: Oh yes, the dreadfully yet insanely fun Daredevil Comets... Oh man, and going up against the Bouldergeist is annoying (yet fun) enough. I love it when you hurl those black Bomb Boos at the Bouldergeist like a rope tied to a lasso (well, sort of...), that's always the fun part (for me, that is).

Wahaha! I can't believe that possibly everyone (except Fox) had totally forgotten about the Double Jumps, even I did! (I bet that I'm not the only one) Arr... those weird little Toads in the Toad Brigade (or so they claim...), make me wonder WHY can't THEY also try going out to get some Power Stars without actually CRASHING their Starshroom before causing any mishaps (and possibly carrying any Shadow Bugs in the process). Meh... must be in their weird fantasy worlds...

Those two Luigis are crazy, makes me wonder if they should each go on a separate mission when they get the chance. Then again, not as much hilarity would ensue when we see both of them scream out in sheer terror. I wonder if one of them has Shadow Bugs? Meh, if that were the case, then the other Luigi would be possessed with an obviously evil-looking purple-black aura with glowing yellow eyes, THAT would sure give them away... Heh heh heh...

Those crazy costumes in Super Mario Galaxy always makes me laugh. The Bee Costume is silly, but useful; the Ice Flower is awesome, you get to walk on WATER, baby (I bet Sonic would treasure that one before it wears off)! The Fire Flower's still fun to fling with; Boo Mario's hard to control, along with Spring Mario (but they're both still fun). And the Flying Mushroom is always fun to play with. Hmm... I wonder if Chris should wield a Star at some point? Hopefully he won't cause any seizures for anyone...

Hmm... I wonder how everyone (except Lucario and possibly Master Hand and Crazy Hand) will react when they find out that they're actually video game characters in Chris's world. I'm glad that he doesn't reveal that, for doing so is too cliche (once again, I don't have the accent for the "e") if you ask me.

And of course, I've found only one spelling error just to help you. (Not counting the times when the dialogue was screwed up by the "o's")

"Just to comit suicide?" - Olimar (when talking to Chris during Bunny Chasing), there were suppose to be two "m's" in order to spell "commit". This was also in Olimar's diary entry shortly after he was talking with Twink (the error was in All Caps).

Keep this going, Chris (which one, the character or you?). Let's see what Rosalina will go through. And rest in peace for the at least 700 Pikmins that were K.I.A. (killed in action) under an unwilling Olimar's command.

Once again, sorry for the long review. You don't mind, do you?

From me: The Fire Flower isn't featured here. I forgot that one. T_T

And..."sweats" O-of course, Chris is not going to tell them that they're videogame characters. That promise with Snake was false...right?

...Right?

I learned my mistake so I corrected it. Thanks.

And please, do shorten your reviews. They take a whole page. -_-

From Anakin Mario Son43: Why did you have to kill so many pikmin? why did rosalina have to be over taken? Did the subspace recreate ridley and meta-ridlet? Update soon! Hasta!

From me: You'll find out once you read this.

The last part to gather the Power Stars is finally here. What kind of mishaps are going to happen? Are they going to suffer (yet again)?

What happened to Rosalina?

Read, enjoy and review, please! :D

Chapter 116: Lumas' Babysitters

Comet Observatory
Library

The Smashers reached the library where they saw a big blob of darkness that vanished right after they came while the Lumas were panicking. The blob of darkness only left a book that fell down on the floor, which was the same book that Rosalina used the last time. "N-no!" Mario said as he walked to where the blob was. "T-they..."

"Oh, dammit!" Chris cursed. "I was just joking about the kidnapping part, but they took it literally!"

"I bet it was just a coincidence..." Twink trailed off.

"But...why?" Olimar asked. "Why kidnap her and not us?"

"What's all the rambling in here?" Polari asked as he flew inside. "Why are the Lumas crying?"

"Rosalina was..." Mario trailed off.

Several minutes passed before the scene changed to where Rosalina usually stood in the observatory as the rest of the Lumas were wondering what happened in the library. They even were wondering where was the princess as Polari coughed.

"A-as you can see, Rosalina isn't here right now," Polari said. "There is no need to worry for her."

"Where's Mama?!" a green Lumas asked.

"W-we don't know exactly where did she go so I-I'm afraid she got..."

"..." the Lumas blinked in confusion.

"...K-kidnapped..."

"..."

The Lumas seemed to be clueless about what kidnapping meant.

"...What's kidnapped? It's food?" a red Luma asked.

"Kidnapped is when someone takes you away to another place when you don't want to go." Polari explained.

"...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" all the Lumas cried loudly as the Smashers blocked their ears from the loud sobs and cries from the Lumas that flew around in panic.

"Good job!" Fox yelled annoyed. "The idea was to prevent them from crying!"

"I'm sorry!" Polari yelled back. "It's bad to keep secrets to the Lumas and so I went ahead!"

"It's becoming not so enjoyable!" Chris yelled as he saw Yoshi walking back to them with what looked to be a red line mark that ran across one side of his nose to the other. "And what happened to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Yoshi yelled.

At that moment, C. Falcon, Samus and the Luigis came back but quickly blocked their ears (though Samus wasn't affected) in pain. "W-what did you guys do now?!" C. Falcon asked.

"Hey!" Falco yelled back and walked to him. "We didn't do a thing to let all these stars cry like this!"

"U-ugh!" Chris dropped to his knees. "Somebody has to shut them all up! You over there! Do something!"

"I-I can't!" Polari yelled back. "When this happens, Rosalina always know what to do to calm many of them down! And I'm not her!"

"Oh, holy keys in trees!" Olimar yelled. "I won't hold on for any longer! Please, I beg someone to stop their cries!"

"We'd like to hear actual IDEAS, thank you very much!" Geno yelled.

"W-wait!" Yoshi yelled. "I know what to do to calm them down!"

"Then do it!" Chris yelled.

"EVERYONE! IT'S TIME TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER!"

All the Lumas seemed to stop their cries and slowly floated to the group, or more accurately Yoshi.

"...Amazing..." Polari said. "...You managed to calm all of them down..."

"Mama is going to read another chapter?" a yellow Luma asked.

Yoshi shook his head slowly. "N-no... I-I'll read it instead of her..."

Super Mario Galaxy - Sad Story

"B-but...Mama...where is Mama?!" a green Luma asked.

"Mama is...not safe..." Yoshi trailed off as the Lumas prepared to cry. "B-but this is not the time to be crying!"

"Mama isn't here anymore! We're all alone again!" a blue Luma yelled as he sobbed.

"Alone again?" Yoshi repeated confused, but the Lumas refused to tell him what he wanted to know. "L-look, Rosalina is safe. Stop crying please!"

"M-Mama..." a yellow Luma sniffed. "...W-we don't know how to take care of ourselves without her..."

"Mama is extremely kind and so happy when she is with us..." a red Luma said. "...She never leaves us...b-but..."

"I know she was kidnapped..." Yoshi closed his eyes in shame. "I know you're all so happy around her... I know you love her as much as she loves you all back... I know that she cares for all of you at the same time without even tiring herself out...but...whatever you think..." Yoshi opened his eyes. "She is fine... That's something I know for sure... I hope..." Yoshi muttered the last part.

"...S-sniff..." a blue Luma sniffed. "M-Mama..."

The Smashers were a little bit puzzled at what was happening between Yoshi and the Lumas that they got very confused.

"W-wait," Falco began. "Mama?... Yes, I remember them calling her like that..."

"But how do you know that much about all of them?" C. Falcon asked.

"..." Yoshi turned to them. "...It's because...I was...I..." Yoshi closed his eyes. "S-sorry, I'm afraid to say why that you could get angry at me..."

"Angry for what exactly?" Luigi asked.

"..."

"..." Chris closed his eyes and he tried to understand the pain of the Lumas about losing someone beloved...

...The Lumas were always happy with Rosalina...

...Rosalina was a real mother to them...

...Chris could relate her with her own mother...

...Chris's mother was away with Chris's dad in a long business trip ever since he graduated from Kindergarden...

...And the Lumas were about to face the sorrow about being alone without a parent that Chris have faced for so long...

"...Stop it!" Chris yelled. "Rosalina is fine! You don't have to cry anymore for her!"

"M-Mama..." a blue Luma sniffed before Chris hugged him tightly and looked at the others.

"Please, you all have to understand that your mom is fine," Chris closed his eyes as the blue Luma looked up to him. "Believe me...I've been through a very sad childhood when my parents left me all alone to live in my house..."

"...Care to explain?" Olimar asked.

Chris went on. "They left because it was for the best in order to be successful, and they wanted me to live a happy life that I..."

...Chris seemed to skip a part he didn't want to tell...

"...I had to rely on my parents' friends to raise me...but I was very sad that my parents weren't the ones that looked after me..." a tear strolled down his left cheek as he wiped it away.

"...Chris..." Yoshi muttered.

Chris sniffed. "...I don't want this..." Chris muttered as he began to sob silently. "...I don't want children so young like you all go through the same thing I went through... Seeing people like you about to experience what I've experienced..." Chris opened his eyes, which were full of tears. "...It's just...too painful... I can't let this...happen... Nobody should go through something...something horrible like this..."

"..." Samus looked down and walked to Chris. "...Even if kidnapping and having an explanation to stay away from a child are not the same terms...I can relate that with me as well..."

"...You do?" Chris asked as he stopped his sobs.

Samus nodded and rubbed the blue Luma's head. "My parents were killed by Ridley before...and I grew up with the Chozo that trained me to become a Bounty Hunter...but still..." a faint sniff came from inside Samus's helmet as Chris's eyes widened. "...I felt sorrow...complete sorrow after I knew the truth about them..."

"...Samus..." Chris muttered worried.

"...A horrible sorrow that I wanted to leave...but it just kept..." Samus remained silent for a moment. "...It just kept coming back...time after time...I looked at Ridley..."

"...Then...it's not revenge what you're seeking?"

Samus shook her head. "It's not revenge that I'm seeking... I want to finish Ridley because..."

"It reminds you that it killed your parents," Fox began as he crossed his arms. "Looking at that monster only makes you remember what you went through..."

"...Exactly..." Samus nodded. "...Ridley is a bad omen that laughs at me when it appears and tries to kill me...like it did to my parents..."

"...Samus..." Chris wiped some tears. "I-I'm...I'm sorry..."

"...It's fine..." Samus said. "...I just wanted to explain something that I wanted you all to understand...a meaning about Ridley...and because...we're alike, Chris..."

"Because our parents left us alone, by dying or because it was needed to make progress..."

"...Exactly..." Samus muttered.

"...I should be happy, but right now...is not just the time..." Chris sniffed a little as the blue Luma whimpered silently.

"(...I've got to admit...)" C. Falcon thought as he looked at the space. "(...She can be so serious when Ridley is mentioned...)"

"And because I'm not planning to let all these babies suffer either..." Samus looked at the Lumas who were sniffing sadly. "They don't need to go through this horrible event...a very cruel event for them..."

"That we try to overcome..." Chris added as he released the Luma. "...I think I can relate your sorrow and mine, Samus...but perfectly..."

"...It somehow makes me happy..." Samus muttered.

"...Huh?"

"...It makes me happy that a person like you can understand me so well, since you went through the same sorrow..."

"Different reason...but same sorrow..." Chris said as closed his eyes and prevented some tears from running down.

Samus touched Chris's cheek and wiped a tear from him as the World Traveler looked at her. "Please, you don't need to cry...or myself anymore...not in front of all of them..."

The Luigis were crying some tears, even Olimar was hugging a Yellow Pikmin that seemed to be sniffing silently. Mario closed his eyes in defeat as if it was his fault. Yoshi also did the same like Mario did along with Falco, who crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Geno was consoling Twink, who was crying silently.

"Samus..." C. Falcon put a hand on her shoulder. "You feeling okay now?"

"...Yes..." Samus nodded. "...I'm feeling well..."

"Good," C. Falcon said with a nod. "We have to do something about this or else the Lumas aren't going to have Rosalina anymore."

"Lumas!" Polari began. "These people just told all of you that your Mama, our very beloved Mama, is safe! We can't think about negative things about what could happen to her if we don't wish for her safety!" Polari pointed at the Smashers. "They're strong enough to rescue her from that Bowser who also kidnapped Mario's girlfriend!"

"H-hey!" Mario blushed embarrassed.

"...Mama is...fine...right?" a yellow Luma asked.

"She is because we're wishing for that," Geno said with a nod. "I'm a star myself and this wish won't pass unnoticed as long as we're on the watch."

"Y-yeah!" Twink said forcing a smile while his tears ran down his small cheeks. "Come on! We don't need to be sad like this for any longer! Rosalina is waiting for us to be rescued and returned to this place!"

"Our home!" a red Luma yelled.

"Mama is going to be fine!" a green Luma yelled.

"We're going to wish for her safety!" a blue Luma yelled.

"We're not going to cry anymore!" a yellow Luma yelled.

"We're going to cheer you all for our Mama!" the Lumas yelled cheering.

"...Geez, they put all the work on u-" Falco's mouth was blocked by Yoshi.

"We're going to rescue Rosalina..." Chris closed his eyes before opening them again. "...And we're going to do it so no one else suffers sorrow..."

Music stops

"Wait," Samus began. "The Lumas are always being cared by Rosalina. Somebody needs to act like a babysitter and take care of them."

"..." Polari was staring at the Smashers. "I spy with my little eye 10 babysitters..."

C. Falcon noticed that Polari wasn't looking at Mario. "Hey! Not fair! Why Mario can't?"

"Because, duh, he's trying to save the princess and Rosalina! You're all here because the missions got harder!" Polari explained. "So for now on, you're going to take care of the Lumas between missions."

"...Well..." Yoshi began. "...I can do all that by myself..."

"...Are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Y-yes..." Yoshi closed his eyes. "...Rosalina happened to help me during a hard time...that I'm still going through...and this is the perfect opportunity to show her what can I give her in return..." Yoshi took out the storybook from his back and showed it to them. "Besides, I want to read them all this and finish it myself."

"...The storybook..." Mario trailed off before nodding. "...Then go ahead and take care of them."

"But are you sure about leaving the work to us?" Chris asked.

"I'm very sure," Yoshi opened his eyes and smiled a little. "I'd do anything for Rosalina to the end."

"Very touching," Samus remarked. "It's good to see someone of us doing this for the others."

"H-hey, I can stay behind an-" C. Falcon was interrupted.

"You're coming with us." Samus responded.

"Aww..."

"Okay, everyone!" Yoshi yelled at the Lumas. "We're going to see the next chapter! Who wants to come along?"

The Lumas cheered happily as they all followed Yoshi to the library while the Smashers looked at them walking/floating away.

"...He knows he's taking like 80 or 90 of them inside a room for 20, right?" Twink asked.

"...Huh?" Chris looked at Fox, who was looking away. However, there were some odd sounds that sounded like mutters from the vulpine. "...Fox?"

"H-huh?" Fox seemed to rub something off his face and turned to see Chris. "Yes?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm feeling okay."

"...Hmm..." Chris wondered for a little bit as he turned his back to Fox.

Fox clenched his fists and looked down. "...I can..." Fox began silently. "...I can relate that same sorrow to me..."

Persona 4 - Backside of the TV

"Alright," Mario began. "We need to get ourselves back into the track and think about what we're going to do next."

"The question is this," Samus began. "Why kidnap Rosalina?"

"To turn her against us?" Chris asked before his pupils shrunk. "...O-oh no... I can't imagine that horrible thing!"

"Relax!" Polari said. "Rosalina can't be harmed in any way possible!"

"Why?" Falco asked.

"Rosalina has the power and soul of the galaxies. She has the protection of the galaxies that gives her protective shields," Polari looked annoyed to Mario. "Which brings a question about you. Why did you jump over her?"

Mario looked away. "...Curiosity?"

"...Sure..."

"Back on topic," Geno continued. "Why'd they kidnap her?"

"Hmm," Twink wondered for a second. "Well, Rosalina can't fight at all because she wants protection over strength."

"And they wouldn't kidnap her just to make the Lumas feel alone..." Chris looked down but Samus placed her right hand on his shoulder. "...You're right... Thanks."

Samus nodded. "Continuing with Chris's point of view, I don't see why was she planned to be kidnapped."

"Well," Polari chuckled. "Rosalina has the power to move the observatory to any part of the universe. Kidnapping her would mean that we're stuck in here to prevent us from reaching Bowser...and...I...just..."

"...What?" Luigi asked confused. "She can move the whole observatory?"

"...Uh-huh. Rosalina is basically the pilot of the whole observatory when it needs to move around, and since we need Power Stars to move and her to use them..."

"...We're stuck in here..." Fox began as he realized what it meant. "...And even if we obtain all the Power Stars..."

"...We're not leaving this place?" Olimar finished a little confused.

"Oh no," Polari said. "That was their plan all along...kidnap Rosalina so we can't rescue both princesses and save the entire galaxy!"

"But then how can we go to Bowser and kick his a-" C. Falcon was interrupted by a glare from Geno. "H-his butt around, I mean?"

"There are no other ways..." Polari said sadly. "...Rosalina is herself an important part of the rescue since she had the power to take us there...and without her..."

"...No," Chris shook his head. "There's got to be a way to get there..."

"Impossible," Polari shook himself. "Taking Rosalina away is pretty much like taking the main platform that holds the entire building standing."

"Oh," the blue Toad with glasses was walking close to them. "You mean you want to know another way to get to Bowser?"

"...Do you happen to know?" Mario asked.

"As surprising as you could presume, yes," the Toad said.

"...You REALLY do?" Twink asked.

"I ABSOLUTELY do, in fact."

"...Just how do these guys manage to pull out the answers like that?" Fox whispered to Chris.

"Either they exchanged strength for extreme dexterity...or cheated." Chris whispered back.

"How?" Polari asked.

"That's very easy," the blue Toad pointed at the Starshroom. "We need that to "merge" it with the Power Stars that are gathered in the center of the observatory, but first, we need all the Power Stars first in order to do this quite difficult process."

"Wait, merge?" Polari asked.

"That's what I said," the blue Toad said.

"You're not going to leave it like that, right?"

"Depends...I mean, no. Just for this time, we're going to use this method."

"And how do you exactly are going to merge it with the observatory?"

"Look, just wait until we get the remaining 30 Power Stars that you guys need to gather!" the blue Toad said.

"I have an idea," Chris began. "We'll have to accelerate things a little bit and gather the Power Stars even faster."

"Splitting up?" C. Falcon asked.

"...Great, somebody said what I was going to say..."

"Sounds good," Samus said with a nod. "The missions are going to be insane to pass for only 1 person...but there's no choice left."

"O-oh boy," Olimar trembled. "Things are getting harder and harder..."

"But I'm willing to do this for the Lumas," Chris said. "I'm willing to do this for them... I want to stop this event from happening."

"So am I," Samus said. "We'll have to be extremely careful... By the way, before we continue, does anybody have any objections for this plan?"

"No," Mario said. "I can handle a mission all alone."

"Don't involve ice and that's all fine with me." Falco said with a grin.

"D-don't kill my Pikmins a-and I'll cooperate..." Olimar said nodding.

Fox cracked his fists. "I'm prepared for whatever comes this time."

"I'll use my jobs even more than before." Chris said.

"..." Luigi looked at his other self.

"...Let's separate this time..." the other Luigi said.

"...Okay..."

"Since Rosalina is an important friend to us," Geno looked at Twink before he nodded. "I'm ready as well."

"I'll protect Samus," C. Falcon said before everyone stared at him with bored looks. "...Fine! I'll go by myself! Geez, you people...can't let me enjoy a single scene alone wit-"

"WE know," Twink said. "By the way, I'm going with Geno. I'm not going alone to who-knows-where."

"Then it's settled," Samus said. "We're all going to separate ways from here on."

"One question." Falco said raising a finger.

"What?"

"Why are we losing the time here when we're supposed to be going out?" Falco asked with a grin...before Samus hit his head with her arm cannon. "Oww! That was just a joke!"

"...Oh..." Samus chuckled. "Heheheh...a joke..."

The other made confused looks while Samus kept chuckling uncontrollably. "...Samus? A-are you feeling fine?" Chris asked.

"W-what?" Samus asked as she stopped. "Y-yes, I'm fine."

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeird..." Twink said.

"We'll be waiting for you all to gather all the Power Stars and set course to Bowser's location!" the blue Toad said as he ran off to his team.

"I'll keep an eye on the Lumas." Polari said.

"Let's disperse now that we're starting this then." Mario said before they nodded and ran to different areas of the observatory.

Library

Music stops

"..." Yoshi looked at the usual Lumas that were always listening to Rosalina in the library as he shifted his eyes a little. "...W-well..."

"S-to-ry! S-to-ry! S-to-ry!" the Lumas demanded.

"W-why are you acting so angry?"

"We want to listen to the next chapter!" a red Luma yelled.

"Chapter! Chapter! Chapter!" the Lumas demanded.

"F-fine! Okay, okay, okay! Let me get started!" Yoshi opened the book and sat down on the sofa as he looked for the right chapter to read them...

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 5

-Home-

Page 1

"The kitchen will go here, and the library will go over there," the girl said
busily to herself. "We'll put the gate here." Ever since the girl took Luma
under her care, she'd been bustling about at a feverish pace. "It's a lot of
work, but it's worth it to make a happy home." it turned out that Star Bits
weren't the only things buried in the ice. There were tools and furniture
unlike any they had ever seen, and the girl used them to build a home.

Page 2

Looking at the complete house, Luma remarked, "Don't you think it's awfully
big for just the two of us?" With a library, bedroom, kitchen, fountain, and
gate, it was certainly spacious, but still, something seemed to be missing.

"If only my father, brother, and mother were here," the girl said wistfully.
Indeed, the house was too large for its two small residents.

Page 3

That night, clutching her favorite stuffed bunny close to her heart, the girl
fell asleep in the starship.

Music stops

"..." Yoshi noticed that the Lumas were still looking at him. "...It's not the same, right?"

"...No..." the Lumas said before looking at each other. "..."

Gold Leaf Galaxy
Purple Coins in the Woods

Super Mario Galaxy - Purple Coin Comet

Chris stopped on his tracks and looked at the sky. "...Strange...I could've sworn that somebody broke out crying...and loudly..."

The place now showed Chris (wearing the bee costume) as he flew above some platforms that were connected to a tree's back before he used the small Launch Star to get to the top. "Alright, things are looking good so far. The Purple Coins from below to here were gathered and I just need to grab that one over there." Chris looked at a Purple Coin, standing between fountain of water that could take Chris's ability out.

The World Traveler carefully flew across the water and grabbed the coin. Chris smiled in victory as he landed back on the wooden platform, out of the spikes.

...But something was wrong...

"...Huh? Where is the star? It was supposed to appear right after I got the last coin..." Chris wondered for a moment. "...OH, HECK NO!" before he gasped and turned all white. His eyes didn't have their pupils as the background was drawn with lines going down. "Unless..."

The World Traveler peered from the pillars of the top of the tree and looked down. Right where he started, there was the last coin.

"...Dammit! Why'd this happen like that time again?! Grr! I hated that moment of this mission!" Chris looked at the pillars. "...But I guess I can just fly over them..."

His wishes were soon shattered once he found something odd...

There was an invincible wall that prevented him from going out and down as his jaw dropped after he landed on the floor.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT THIS AGAIN!!!" Chris yelled before the time ran out and killed him as he fell on his back and his eyes turned into swirls. "I hate those...invincible walls...so much..."

And thus he lost a life from his last one...technically since he only had one last chance to survive...

Dusty Dune Galaxy
Purple Coins in the Desert

...Not...

Mario suddenly trembled and he embraced himself. "...Somebody lost and took a life out of me..." Mario looked around. "I just hope they don't take out all my lives because I could die..." he shook his head. "No! I don't need to get distracted. I need to get the Purple Coins in...what? 10 seconds?"

The red plumber (questionable job) gasped as he started to run to get the Purple Coins.

Ghostly Galaxy
Purple Coins in the Bone Pen

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Luigi was screaming as he was being constantly launched inside the bone formation with meaty bones acting as bumpers that pushed him everywhere. "I-I don't understand! Who is launching me around?!"

Close to where he was, on the planet, there was Spooky Speedster using what looked to be...a Wiimote...

"...What?" the Spooky Speedster asked before smiling (or he was already smiling). "I DO have other hobbies, you know!"

The Boo kept "playing" around with Luigi.

Until Luigi got the Power Star, although the green plumber (questionable work again) was completely dazzled.

"But also," the Spooky Speedster continued. "I have a good heart for helping people out."

The Ghostly Galaxy finished with the Boo giving a wink to no one in particular as he forgot to save Luigi from going inside a black hole.

Oh well, they now gathered 31 Power Stars.

Toy Time Galaxy
Luigi's Purple Coins

If Chris was there, he could've cursed a lot ever since he suffered a lot of deaths in this stupid galaxy OF INFINITE HE-

Olimar was there with his 6 Pikmins, looking at all the 150 Purple Coins.

The captain knew what to do once he saw the Dark Matter and a Pikmin dying for one mere touch.

Olimar sniffed...

5 minutes later...

Olimar was sobbing silently after he got the Power Star. A Red Pikmin was humming a war song that usually played when a war ended. Why was it doing that, you ask?

Dear Diary...

...

Olimar couldn't write anything after ordering 100 Pikmins to die by the shrinking platforms and the Dark Matter...

...Actually, make that 300. 1000 Pikmins died during the whole mission to this world.

"..." Olimar sniffed more before the Red Pikmin patted his back.

32 Power Stars were gathered.

Dreadnought Galaxy
Battlestation's Purple Coins

"Are you kidding me?"

Fox was having a hard time in probably the hardest version of what Samus and C. Falcon went through before. The cannon were shooting cannonball extremely fast, the electric fences were moving up and down, many platforms were either upside down or at the sides...

Not to mention the Scope Primids that were shooting from the cannons.

...And the Fire Primids.

"..." Fox merely narrowed his eyes as the moving platform began its course. The vulpine saw the first electric fences and he flipped carefully between them. The cannonballs were pretty much like the fences, but harder. If Fox used his Reflector, that only would cause a chain of explosions that couldn't be reflected otherwise, so he jumped over them.

As expected, Thwomps were pounding the platforms insanely fast. However, out of luck, Fox's Fox Illusion was a little faster and he managed to collect the trail of Purple Coins from below.

Lastly, after admirably dodging pretty much everything behind, he gathered the last Purple Coins from a Jumper, used the nearby Launch Star and grabbed the Power Star...

"..." then Fox passed out. Trails of sweat around some parts of his vest and even from his boots.

After all, who can't dodge all that without breaking a sweat? Fox broke like 30...

...33 Power Stars gathered...

Freezeflame Galaxy
Purple Coins on the Summit

This mission was better off with Samus, who had her abilities and equipment to the fullest advantage possible. If Falco went there, he would be a popsicle.

Samus looked up to the summit. "...This is going to be tiresome..." Samus commented as she went ahead, finding Brrr Bits coming out from the frozen lake as she quickly fired missiles at them and shattered into pieces. "They don't have anything harder than this?"

Just as she asked, Dark Brrr Bits appeared from the lake and spawn ice mist out.

"...But I had to ask..." Samus muttered as she prepared her missiles.

Sea Slide Galaxy
Purple Coins by the Seaslide

There was an annoyed Bee Falco hovering through the long river of water as he looked very pissed. "...My kingdom for a better thing than this crap..." Falco muttered annoyed.

Either the Subspace Army didn't do anything to make his mission harder or they thought the embarrassment was greater.

Yes, it was embarrassment.

"At least nobody is looking at me." Falco said with a sigh of relief.

"Hey!" the same tough-looking penguin from the previous race yelled from below on the beach and pointed at Falco. "Look at that wuss wearing the pussy bee costume!"

"Yeah! Let's all laugh at him!" another tough-looking penguin said before everyone erupted into laughter.

"..." Falco made a mental note about beating the heck out of them as he went from cloud to cloud.

Comet Observatory
Library

Music stops

"...Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh..." Yoshi muttered with the book covering his head (or eyes) as the cries of the Lumas were still going. "...Uuuuuuuugh, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!"

The Lumas stopped their cries and looked at Yoshi. "M-Mama is back?"

"No!" Yoshi yelled angrily. "She's not coming back! Never, ever! I'm trying here to at least cheer all of you up but you keep crying like there was no tomorrow or something stupid like that!"

The Lumas sniffed.

"She's not coming back unless you behave yourselves like the "good" children you are as she thinks about you! Now, do you love her or do you just plain think she's done for?"

"..."

The Lumas remained silent as they looked down in shame. Yoshi made an angry expression but later he blinked several times before he sighed. "Please," Yoshi began with a calmer tone. "Just let me read the next chapter so we can be a little bit happier, okay? I want to see the next one too as "much" as you do!"

"...Okay..." the Lumas replied in unison before they sat down inside their small cradles and looked at Yoshi, who opened the book and read the next chapter.

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 6

-Friends-

Page 1

Then one day, while the girl sat sipping tea, a tiny apricot-colored planet
appeared on the horizon. From the planet, another Luma of the same color emerged. "Do you two know each other?!" the girl asked the two Lumas gleefully. Despite the girl's excitement, they seemed uneasy.

Page 2

The two Lumas neither drew closer nor backed away from each other. Instead,
they just stared. Then one Luma broke the silence. "My mama!" At once, the
apricot Luma parroted back, "My mama! My mama!" "My mama!" "My mama!" The two
Lumas began to dance around the girl frantically, and neither showed any sign
of stopping. The girl was so charmed by this adorable scene that she couldn't
help but laugh. And that's when something very strange happened.

Page 3

Suddenly, more Lumas began to pop out from the apricot planet. They were all
different colors, but they all shouted the same thing. "My mama!" "My mama!"
The sight of all the shouting Lumas only made the girl laugh harder. "What am
I going to do with all these children?!" The Lumas just stared blankly as she
doubled over laughing. "I guess we'll have to name each and every one of you."
Tomorrow, once she had finished naming them all, she would begin moving all
the Lumas into the new house.

Yoshi closed the book with both hands and looked angry. "And I hope you all are satisfied because I didn't have the same mood I had befor-" Yoshi stopped once he heard small snores coming from the cradles. The Yoshi peered down and found the Lumas sleeping deeply and peacefully. Yoshi actually managed to make them fall asleep.

"...Mama..." a yellow Luma muttered. "...Please...be fine..."

"Don't go..." a blue Luma muttered. "...We know you're okay..."

"..." Yoshi seemed to calm down.

"We love you, Mama..." a green Luma muttered. "You love us..."

"I wish for your safety..." a red Luma muttered. "...Mama..."

"..." Yoshi blinked several times before he sniffed and shed a tear. "...Y-you..." Yoshi sniffed another time before sitting back on the sofa, then he opened the book and found the chapter he was reading to the Lumas. "...I want to read this again... I didn't have that enthusiasm before..." Yoshi said as he pulled closer the book to his eyes and started to read it again in silence.

Deep Dark Galaxy
Plunder the Purple Coins

Super Mario Galaxy - Purple Coin Comet

100 Boos were laughing at C. Falcon, who apparently was pissed they hid 1 Purple Coin each. The captain was doing his best to reach them out but they turned invincible and he passed through them. "God, stop doing that!"

"Hell no!" the Boos replied before snickering evily.

"We've been doing this annoying cycle for the last hour, dammit! The universe is going to be in danger if you don't give me the damn $100,000 worth coins!"

"...Nope!" the Boos denied him before laughing madly.

"Grr... I wish there was some way to make them listen...or else I'll beat the hell out of t-"

"That is not going to be necessary!"

C. Falcon got a confused look and turned his back to find a bigger Boo with a helmet and orange goggles. "Oh no, not another one of those freaky things!"

"Relax!" the big Boo said. "I'm the Spooky Speedster, and your friends helped me to realize something awful before!"

"...Really?"

"Hell yeah!" the Spooky Speedster said before looking at the Boos. "And since you're trying to save the galaxies, I'm going to help you and get those coins faster than usual!"

C. Falcon crossed his arms. "Well, I'd like to see you give it a shot."

"Heheheh, it's not going to be that hard," the Spooky Speedster flew to the Boos, who stared at him. "Everyone! I have very good news!"

"Get lost!" the Boos replied.

"Okay, fine," the Spooky Speedster turned his back but "grinned" a little bit. "It's a shame Lady Bow isn't going to find the ideal man of her dreams..."

A record scratched and the Boos looked at him. "What did you say?!" the Boos asked in shock.

"It's true," the Spooky Speedster looked at them. "Lady Bow has requested a contest to see who's her ideal Boo of her dreams and the entries just opened!"

"Dude!" a Boo began. "Lady Bow is like, the hottest Boo there is!"

"Not to mention she's super rich!" another Boo commented.

"And super cute!" another Boo added.

"And sexy!" another Boo added.

"And smexy!" another Boo added.

The 99 Boos looked at him. "This isn't a chatroom, you dork!"

"Oops..."

"So what are you guys gonna do?" the Spooky Speedster asked.

"What else!" a Boo began. "I'm going to win her heart!"

"Oh, really?!" another Boo glared at him. "She won't love you, because I'll win her heart first!"

"Pfft," another Boo rolled his eyes. "Give me a damn break. I'm the most handsome here!"

"Yeah, right," another Boo began. "You can't even lift a rock and you call yourself handsome?"

"In both of those things!" another Boo commented proudly.

"No, you aren't!" yet another Boo said angrily.

The Spooky Speedster sweatdropped once he saw the Boos arguing with each other...before they broke out fighting in a floating cloud of dust as C. Falcon gathered the Purple Coins that fell out of the cloud, thus gathering all of them.

"Hey, thanks for you help," C. Falcon said with a grin. "Making them fight over a female of their own who isn't holding a contest was the greatest idea."

"...E-er...actually..." the Spooky Speedster chuckled. "I-I didn't plan this outcome..."

"What?"

The Spooky Speedster nodded. "Yeah, I thought they were going to go to the contest that Lady Bow is REALLY holding, not fight each other to death...since they're already dead."

"..." C. Falcon shook his head. "Okay...but even though, thanks."

"You're welcome," the Spooky Speedster said as the fight between the Boos went on and on.

It looked like they gathered 36 Power Stars by now...

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"Well done!" Polari said. "The Purple Coin Comet has left the galaxies, meaning that no more Purple Coin missions are left!"

"Finally!" Mario said with a sigh. "I was starting to hate all that by myself... Thank you, you guys."

"Er, one question." Chris began.

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't we...I don't know...be working instead of celebrating?"

"I've got to say," Samus began. "Calling all of us here just to celebrate that the dammed coins are gone is pointless."

"Let's celebrate AFTER we defeat the army." Falco said with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"..." Mario facepalmed and frowned.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaail!" Mailtoad began as he ran to Mario and gave him one of Peach's letters. "This already came today, and it's from the princess!"

"...Wait..." Olimar began. "Isn't Princess Peach...kidnapped?"

"Why'd she send a letter?" Luigi asked.

"Or how did she send the letter?" the other Luigi asked.

"..." Chris closed his eyes and buried his face on his hands.

"...You okay, Chris?" C. Falcon asked.

"No-o-oo..." Chris sobbed. "Nothing here...nothing here makes sense at all..."

"...You're right on that..." C. Falcon said as he looked at the other Luigi, then the mail.

Bowser's Galaxy Reactor
Princess Peach's Castle

Super Mario Galaxy - Bigmouth Galaxy

Very far away from their location, a castle (that you know which was it since you probably saw the description) that was floating in the middle of the space, close to a huge magma planet with holes was shown. On an airship, there was Bowser grabbing Rosalina's arm while King Dedede and Charizard were there. Bowser Jr. was steering the ship to land close to the door of the castle where Peach was being held.

"Bah!" Bowser complained. "Why can't the stupid Shadow Bugs take over your body?!"

"Because I'm protected by the galaxies," Rosalina replied without even looking at Bowser. "Those Shadow Bugs only managed to break apart my shield, but they cannot control me since I have the galaxy's eternal protecti-"

Bowser pushed Rosalina into the castle, where the doors opened, after hearing her explanation before they closed as the king of the Koopas looked at the Subspace villains with anger. "You! You said it was going to work on her!"

"Well, excuse us!" Charizard said with a glare. "How we were supposed to know that she can't be controlled?"

"I'm talking to the guys that are with that Tabuu guy!"

"Don't dare to make my Papa angry!" Bowser Jr. threatened them. "My Papa knows when to rant and when to MURDER someone." Bowser Jr. said, making the murder part sound deeper.

Dedede rolled his eyes. "Hey, they ain't comin' here without her. At least those bugs did somethin' good."

"Yeah..." Bowser crossed his arms and nodded. "Rosalina has the power to move the observatory, and without her, they're pretty much useless even if they gather all the Power Stars."

Charizard smirked. "All in all, everything is fine."

Dedede lookd at the Subspace Bomb located inside the huge magma planet. "The bigger the bomb, the longer the countdown." Dedede said.

Charizard looked at the bomb, that was big enough to be a small planet. "36 hours with 34 minutes? Too stupid..."

Dedede grinned. "They ain't comin' here."

"True enough..."

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser laughed maniacally. "Finally! A chance to beat Mario has finally come! It was about time I got what I rightfully deserve!"

"You're dah man! Papa!" Bowser Jr. said wiping a tear. "I-I wish I could be so awesome like you..."

"Aww, c'mere, jr.!" Bowser hugged his son tightly as the other 2 looked disgusted.

"...Remind me why he has to join us after this again..." Charizard whispered to Dedede, who nodded with a worried look.

Meanwhile, inside the castle as the airship flew away...

"..." Rosalina looked outside the window just to catch a glimpse of a shooting star. "..." Rosalina closed her eyes in preocupation.

Super Mario Galaxy - Sad Story

"Hello?... Who are you?"

Rosalina heard a voice from behind her and she turned his back to find none other than Peach, looking at her confused.

"I didn't know there was another princess before..." Peach said.

"Oh," Rosalina began. "You must be Mario's special one. Mario told me about you."

Peach blushed a bit but tried to ignore that compliment.

"Mario..." Peach looked down. "I've been sending letters to him to tell him that I'm fine..."

"Have you been thinking about Mario all this time?"

Peach looked at her. "It's...the only person I can think of...to save me from this same danger."

"Same danger?"

Peach nodded. "Bowser has been doing this a lot of times in the past, and I'm getting bored of this repeated move..."

"I see," Rosalina nodded. "But Mario is always rescuing you."

"Yes," Peach nodded. "I know he isn't going to fail this time..."

Rosalina chuckled. "Yes, he isn't going to."

"O-oh," Peach felt embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry for not asking you who you are."

"My name is Rosalina," Rosalina introduced herself. "I'm the Lumas' mother and one of the residents of the observatory."

"Lumas?" Peach repeated before recalling something. "Yes, I forgot. I wanted to give Mario a Luma before all this chaos started."

Rosalina chuckled. "That Luma is right now helping him."

"W-what? You know Mario?"

Some time later...

Rosalina explained everything to Peach several hours later. Both were sitting in a nearby sofa for 2 or more as Peach tried to understand the whole problem that Rosalina was explaining to her. "And they're currently trying to get here as soon possible to rescue you and save the galaxy." Rosalina finished.

"..." Peach closed her eyes. "Then...all hope is lost?"

"No," Rosalina shook her head. "There is still hope. I know there is another way to get here and they will find it."

"And you don't know?"

"I certainly not...but I do believe."

Peach blinked. "...So, everyone else joined Mario to rescue me and save the galaxy."

"Yes. It was very fortunate that they came to help during our time of need."

"I hope they don't get hurt that much along the way..."

Rosalina chuckled. "Don't worry, I have complete faith in them that they will succeed."

"...Thank you for cheering me up..." Peach said with a small smile.

Rosalina smiled a bit. "You're welcome, Peach."

Peach noticed that Rosalina sighed once she looked outside the window. "What's wrong?" Peach asked tilting her head at the side.

"I'm...I'm quite worried about the Lumas...because they don't know how to take care of themselves yet."

"They're just little babies, right?"

"Yes," Rosalina turned to her. "I don't want to think about what could they do when I'm not around. They could get very sad and cry all the day for me..."

"They must love you very much..."

A tear strolled down on Rosalina's righr cheek as she nodded. "I wish...they're safe now..."

"..." Peach closed her eyes. "If I was thinking that Mario was done for, and you cheered me by saying that he was going to success...I should do the same with you and tell you that they're fine."

"..." Rosalina chuckled a little and nodded. "You're right...they can go through this..."

"Besides..." Peach put a finger on her chin and looked up. "Aren't the others there? They could be taking care of them as we speak right now."

"Yoshi."

"Yoshi?" Peach repeated.

"He has been with me and the Lumas for a time, and he most likely is taking care of them."

"Why?"

"Because he was eager to know what the next chapter of my favorite storybook contained. Yoshi has a trouble about getting interested in problematic troubles that he wants to help with."

"I see..." Peach nodded. "...You're trying to spark an interest in him with the storybook..."

Rosalina smiled a little and nodded. "Exactly. That was my task to do for him," Rosalina looked away. "...Hahaha..."

"What is so funny?"

"Knowing Yoshi..." Rosalina looked at Peach. "He could be reading the book for the Lumas."

Peach chuckled. "I think you're right."

"Oh," Rosalina began. "What do you do when you're kidnapped like this?"

Music stops

"As funny as it sounds, I'm always relaxing with a cup of tea," Peach took out 2 tea cups from her back. "And having someone to talk with could be more enjoyable. Do you want to join me?"

"Gladly." Rosalina said as she took the cup of tea. "...Hmm...how did you get that tea out from your back?"

Peach seemed to ignore that question as she took a sip.

"...Peach? How did yo-"

Peach took another sip.

"..." Rosalina merely chuckled and joined Peach before they started to become even closer to each other.

...However...

A loud screech suddenly was heard across the castle as everything shook slightly before stopping. Rosalina gasped a little and looked outside to see where did the screech come from.

"What was...that roar?" Rosalina asked.

Peach put her tea cup on a near table. "Ever since the penguin and the dragon came here, they brought some kind of pterodactyl with them," Peach thought for a moment. "But I think I saw it before...and its name...I think it started with an "R"...I think Samus told me but I don't know anymore..."

Rosalina suddenly got worried.

"...But everything should be fine." Peach reassured her.

"...Yes...it will..." Rosalina said with several slow nods.

Rolling Gizmo Galaxy
Gizmos, Gears and Gadgets

Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario Bros. 3 Nostalgia

It was the time.

The time to get through the hardest missions.

The Trial Galaxies.

The galaxies that would put someone's courage into test.

The galaxies that would put extreme dexterity.

The galaxies that would scare the heck out of someone.

The galaxies that were created just to piss someone off to the extreme.

And that someone happened to be the other Luigi.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAA MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" the other Luigi yelled as the Star Roll (that was a bigger one, making everything harder) rolled insanely fast across the loops (extra ones). For his dismay, he was literally being rolled around the ball, helplessly crushing himself 5 times every second it passed. The Star Roll was rolling around like crazy and never before and...

...Wait a minute...

...The Star Roll just accelerated insanely fast on a loop and it went soaring to the skies, just towards the hole where it fit and released the Power Star out. The other Luigi managed to complete the mission...

...Now, the only thing he needed to do was to get out from under the Star Roll...

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" the other Luigi yelled.

Loopdeeswoop Galaxy
The Galaxy's Greatest Wave

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

"TO THE RIGHT! TO THE RIGHT!"

"THIS THING ISN'T LISTENING!"

If you think getting educated by Goombas during Summer Vacations was stressful, then think again, riding a Manta is even worse.

Geno and Twink were riding on the previously mentioned animal as it dangerously swam around the edges of the narrow water. Either the Manta wasn't obeying Geno's orders or Geno just plain sucked at surfing.

Or was it Twink?

"LEFT!" Twink yelled.

"That's IT!" Geno snapped out and stopped the Manta by pulling its antennas before glaring down at it. "Listen, I've been losing every single life out of Mario-" Geno lost 30 lives out of Mario. "-because a stupid sea animal isn't doing a good job at surfing."

"E-er, Geno, I think it's not the Mant-"

"Tell me something," Geno began as he aimed his fist at the Manta. "You want to keep on living, right?"

The Manta seemed to get shocked and it nodded quickly.

"Good. Now, or YOU take us to the finish line..." Geno prepared his rocket punch. "OR I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WAKE UP ON A GRILL, WHERE THE PEOPLE WILL EAT YOUR BRAINS OUT OF YOU!!!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!"

"..." Geno and Twink looked at each other. "...Did it just yell?" both asked confused.

The sound of a motor was heard before both looked down at the Manta who instantly accelerated and went swimming across the course. Geno was hanging on for dear life from the Manta's tail while Twink was holding his cape to stay close. The penguins and the Coach that watched from the anti-gravitational platforms were utterly amazed at Geno's amazing (reckless) surfing skills as they cheered loudly.

"SLOW! SLOW! SLOW!" Geno yelled.

"SLOWER! SLOWER! SLOWER!" Twink added.

Several seconds later...

"For clearing the course in a galactic record of 0:25:29..." the Coach began as he took out a Power Star from his hand (scientifically impossible and questionable). "I hereby grant Geno the Power Star!"

"..." Geno just remained on the top and the middle of the first, second and third places as he just extended his hand to get the Power Star...before he fell behind without even having any kind of emotion as he left the galaxy without even screaming as he disappeared in the clouds from down below.

The penguins and the Coach looked down the long fall with amused looks. "Say," the Coach turned to Twink. "Is your friend going to be fine?"

"After he gets over the Manta trauma and the Surfing trauma..." Twink wondered a little bit. "...I guess yes..."

"...Marvelous!" the Coach exclaimed happily. "We can't wait to see another performance from the Great Surfer Geno!"

"..." Twink gave him a bored look with a sigh.

Bubble Blast Galaxy
The Electric Labyrinth

Super Mario Galaxy - Space Junk Galaxy

"..." Mario was shown, getting through the Bullet Bills that tried to make him fall as the bubble that he rode merely evaded all of them. Inside the plumber's mind, he was thinking about Peach and Rosalina while he looked at the emptiness of the space. "(...I hope we can defeat Bowser...)" Mario thought simply as the bubble was moved around by an unknown force. "(...Peach...Rosalina...hang on a little longer...we're almost there...)"

Comet Observatory
Library

Around that time, the Smashers were able to gather 40 Power Stars and the Lumas were excited to read the next chapter of the storybook.

Yoshi opened the book and the story thus continued its track...

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 7

-The Telescope-

Page 1

After seeing their 100th comet, a sudden thought popped into the girl's head:
"I wonder if my home planet is still as blue as it was." That's when she
remembered her father's telescope.

Page 2

Peeking into the telescope, a tiny blue dot floated into sight. It was smaller
than a Star Bit. "How strange... It's so far away, but it feels so close."

Page 3

She twisted the knob of the telescope, and the blue dot grew until she could
make out a grassy hill dotted with flowers. It seemed very familiar to her.
Zooming even closer, a terrace on the hill came into view. "I used to go
stargazing there when I lived on my home planet."

Page 4

She remembered rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she followed her father
up that hill to look at the stars...

Something along those lines made Yoshi uncomfortable...

Page 5

She remembered how she and her brother would sled down that hill...

The Yoshi knew that this wasn't going to end well for the chapter...

Page 6

She remembered having picnics with her mother on that hill on bright and windy
days... And...

"...!!!" Yoshi gasped as the Lumas got confused.

"W-what is wrong? You can't read?" a yellow Luma asked.

"..." Yoshi, nevertheless, kept reading...

Super Mario Galaxy - Sad Story

Page 7

"I want to go home! I want to go home right now!" The girl burst into tears,
and the Lumas didn't know what to do. "I want to go home! I want to go back to
my house by the hill! I want to see my mother!" The girl was shouting now, her
face wet with tears. "But I know she's not there! I knew all along that she
wasn't out there in the sky! Because...because..."

The Lumas and even Yoshi were starting to sniff in silence after hearing (or reading) the girl's pleas for her mother...

Music stops

Page 8

"She sleeping under the tree on the hill!" The girl's cries echoed through the
stars, and a hush fell over the area.

"...No..." a green Luma muttered. "S-she...she lost...she lost her..."

"..." Yoshi, somehow, was able to understand something about the girl in the book. "...H-huh?" Yoshi wiped some tears. "I-it's something wrong?"

"She lost her mama too..." a red Luma muttered with some sniffs. "...And...just like us..."

"..." Yoshi felt horrible after the chapter made everything worse for the Lumas. "...I told you before that you haven't lost Rosalina yet!"

"A-and...what about her?" a green Luma asked.

"..." Yoshi looked at the chimney. "...Let's take a nap and we'll see what is next in the next chapter..."

"..." some Lumas started crying silently, making Yoshi feel sad before he stood up and picked some of them to put the Lumas on his back (at least 3 sat behind while he held one).

"There, there..." Yoshi whispered. "I know you're all still little babies, and I like babies, so please, don't cry because I don't want to see you cry..."

"..." the Lumas sniffed sadly as Yoshi tried to calm them down, thinking about Rosalina all the time.

Bonefin Galaxy
Kingfin's Fearsome Waters

Super Mario Galaxy - Kingfin/Bouldergeist (Fast)

"H-how the heck am I going to defeat that Shadow Bug possessed dead fish?!" Chris asked in panic as several robotic fishes from Dark Kingfin chased the World Traveler around the water. "AIR! AIR! I NEED AI-aw, thank god...SHI-"

BOOM!

Chris was knocked several feet away in the water by 1 of the robotic fishes that reached him and exploded. The World Traveler twitched in pain and looked at Dark Kingfin swimming like nothing around the water. "Okay..." Chris changed to his Pikmin Captain job. "If you want pain, then I'll give you pain... H-hold on, aren't you already dead?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!"

"...Yes, thought as much..." Chris sweatdropped before he swam to the ground inside the water and pluck out the Pikmins. "...OH NO!" Chris noticed that the Pikmins weren't Blue Pikmins and thus drowned the instant they were pulled out. "Dammit!" Chris saw the robotic fishes going slowly after him ad he accelerated the process to call Pikmins...

1 by 1, they all died. Chris changed from Pikmin Captain to Pikmin Murderer.

"DAMMIT! MY LIVES FOR A BLUE PIKMIN!" Chris yelled angrily before he took out a Blue Pikmin and tossed it to the robotic fishes with all his forces, causing an explosion as he sighed in relief...then he saw that the Blue Pikmin died. "SCREW IT!" Chris yelled angrily as he changed to his PK Kid job. "PK FREEZE!"

Bad idea.

At the moment he called the ice mist, it instantly froze and made an ice cube that floated all the way up to the surface. Chris was really getting out of it all by himself before Dark Kingfin appeared from behind him and decided to eat him.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled in panic as he started a mad escape from the bone fish that tried to chomp his legs off.

If somebody could see the 2 (Chris and Dark Kingfin), they could be seen as small dots swimming all around the planet at a fast rate.

"WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Chris yelled at the dead fish without even slowing down his pace. "A BIG PAC-MAN?!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!"

"WAS THAT A YES?!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!"

"I NEED HELP! SOMEBODY!" Chris yelled crying in panic.

He was dead. Nobody was going to rescue him since the others were doing their own missions on their own.

"..." Chris sniffed. "...I'm done for...I know I'm just going to take one of Mario's lives but the pain is going to be brutal..." Chris looked back at the big boss that kept chasing him. "...I better write a will..." Chris took out a sheet of paper that got instantly wet. "Dammit!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!"

The World Traveler turned his head to see Dark Kingfin's mouth about to reach him and the teenager screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

"...Huh?" Chris looked behind him and it seemed that there were shards from a Green Shell that apparently struck Dark Kingfin who roared in pain. "...Have the angels heard my pleas to survive?" Chris asked with joined hands to the sky.

"If those angels were foxes..."

Chris blinked confused before turning his back where he smiled a bit.

"I'd be one of them." Fox finished with a grin as he came down and joined Chris.

"Fox!" Chris said happily. "Thank you for saving me from my horrible and painful death!... Wait, how did you know I was in trouble?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Fox crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I was going to give you my help and here I am, saving you."

"..." Chris stared at him with a bored look.

"...Fine, I got here by accident and forgot you were here."

"..." Chris sniffed and...hugged Fox who opened his eyes with a shocked look. "I knew you were going to save me..."

Fox shifted his eyes around and blushed a bit. "I-er...C-Chris...you can stop hugging me now..."

"Tell me one good reason."

Fox pointed at Dark Kingfin and Chris looked at it, roaring in fury. "I think he got pissed after I kicked that Green Shell to him so..."

"Okay then!" Chris yelled from afar as Fox noticed that he instantly appeared behind a stone pillar. "Since you're so badass with the shells, I'll give you my full support..." Chris looked around. "...From over here!"

Fox rolled his eyes. "Tsk..."

"..." Chris shyly swam over to Fox. "F-fine, I'll fight too."

"That's more like it." Fox said with a nod.

Several minutes later...

Music stops

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!" Dark Kingfin roared in extreme pain as it began to evaporate until it vanished. A nearby treasure chest opened up and it shot a Power Star to both of them.

Chris (having a scar on his right cheek and missing his left shoe with some ripped parts of his stripped clothes) smiled at Fox. "Wow, I didn't know we could take it down by ourselves so well by putting the Green Shells at specific locations to then kick them at it where it didn't expect them at all!"

Fox (who had one sleeve lost and some scars on his mouth) grinned. "Heh, you're forgetting that you're talking to the leader of Star Fox, who happens to be a professional strategist for air, ground and even water battles."

"Amen for that, Fox," Chris high-fived with Fox. "Amen for that."

Fox grabbed the Power Star and looked at Chris. "Now let's go ba-"

"...Fox?" Chris moved a hand in front of Fox, who apparently wasn't doing any kind of expressions with his face. "...Are you okay? Fox?"

Fox simply made the death pose and floated all the way up to the surface.

...But that death pose wasn't fake at all...

"..." Chris looked at his air meter. "...OH HOLY-"

Ding!

Chris fainted and went all the way up, where he joined the vulpine and floated on the surface before the screen panned out. Both were so distracted in the fight that they forgot about their air meters completely.

Be glad they at least got the Power Star before it could vanish.

Comet Observatory
Library

Slowly, 1 by 1, they all gathered more Power Stars. By this time, they have gathered 45 Power Stars, and also, Yoshi was able to calm the Lumas down after some time, a silent time to be exact.

"You're not going to cry, right?" Yoshi asked to the Lumas.

"N-no..." a yellow Luma said. "I'm fine..."

Yoshi carefully put the Lumas back to their cradles, he returned to the sofa and took a seat to open back the storybook. "Okay, what do you say if we see the next chapter?"

The Lumas looked at each other before they nodded. It seemed that the happy mood was slowly coming back to them as Yoshi chuckled and read the next chapter...

Super Mario Galaxy - Prologue

Chapter 8

-The Wish-

Page 1

Though usually quite cheery, one day the girl became sad again. Luma drew close and tried to comfort her. "Mama, you still have me!" "And don't be sad about your mama, because she's a part of you! That means she's always close by! It's like me. I love Star Bits because they remind me of my mama."

"No...no..." the girl said, unable to stop the tears.

Page 2

A lonely look flickered across Luma's face, but it was soon replaced by a wide grin. "I have an idea! I will transform into a comet, a soaring comet that can carry you all on this journey!"

Page 3

With that, Luma, trailing bands of white, soared high into the sky and just as quickly started to plummet back down. KABOOM! KABLAM! The ground shook, and a bright light poured out of the crater that the Luma had created.

Page 4

The bands of light twisted together to form a comet tail. And then Luma
emerged, reborn as a comet.

Page 5

The girl could scarcely believe her eyes. "But...how?" she kept asking.

"Our destiny as Lumas is to transform into different things," said a red Luma who had suddenly appeared. "Stars, comets, planets... We can become all of these things!"

"When I grow up, I want to become a star that makes someone special
smile," said a green Luma.

A blue Luma chimed in, "That Luma turned into a real cutie of a comet, didn't he!"

Page 6

All of the Lumas together said, "No more crying, Mama!"

"Thank you..." said the girl in a whisper, and she pulled the Lumas close and hugged them. From that day on, Star Bits no longer feel from the girl's eyes.

Page 7

The comet set forth for the girl's home planet, its long tail blazing proudly
behind it.

Music stops

"...That's true!" a green Luma began. "We can become into anything! Stars, comets and planets!"

Yoshi looked at the Lumas.

A blue Luma made a happy expression. "I liked this chapter because it helped me to be happy again!"

"Yeah!" a red Luma began. "The girl got happy again with the help of the Lumas!"

"Like we do with Mama!" a yellow Luma said happily.

However, they all looked at each other before looking down in shame. Remembering Rosalina put them back into a sad mood.

"..." Yoshi suddenly got an idea. "It's too sad..."

"Huh?" the Lumas said in unison.

Yoshi looked away. "Your Mama is going to be sad after she comes back and she will feel disappointed after she gets to know that you were wishing the unhappy things..."

The Lumas gasped.

"After all..." Yoshi looked at the Lumas and smiled. "Very soon, she's going to return."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A long moment of silence soon followed after Yoshi said that.

"...Well?" Yoshi asked confused.

"...She will return..." a yellow Luma said.

"She is going to return..." a red Luma said.

"She is coming back..." a green Luma said.

"Mama is returning! Mama is coming back!" a blue Luma cheered.

"Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!!!"

It was a miracle. Yoshi managed to cheer the Lumas with his idea after all. The Lumas were now floating around the library as they chanted together her beloved mother around. The cheers even went all the way outside that made Polari come to the library.

"Wow, what is the sudden change of mood here?" Polari asked to Yoshi.

"I think I," Yoshi blushed a little bit. "I think I gave them hope about Rosalina being fine."

"Oh," Polari nodded. "Saying such positive things about Rosalina's safety was a good idea for these tykes," Polari looked at the Lumas cheering. "...Yoshi..."

"Yes?" Yoshi asked confused.

"You perfectly fit for the role to be their father."

"Yes, I believe that to-" a record suddenly scratched before Yoshi's eyes widened. "Wait, say what again?"

"You perfectly fit for the role to be their father!" Polari repeated. "Just think about it! The Lumas are going to enjoy the idea to have a mother and a father here!"

"N-no!" Yoshi blushed embarrassed. "I-I mean, I like Rosalina but n-not that much! B-besides, we're different people!"

"Aw, who really cares about species these days? You 2 look cute together!"

The Lumas looked at Yoshi, who then gasped. "Uh-oh!" Yoshi yelped.

"Papa?" the Lumas said in unison.

"Oh no!"

"Papa!"

"OH NO!" Yoshi covered his eyes.

"Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa!!!"

The Lumas flew around Yoshi, who was covering his head in utter embarrassment as Polari laughed happily at this.

"That's my Yoshi!" Luigi said from over the door.

"I'm not that Yoshi!" Yoshi yelled back.

Gusty Garden Galaxy
The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows

"I believe I told you to go back."

"No."

Samus was annoyed once C. Falcon followed her to the galaxy of winds. "Ugh, I better be frank with you so you stop bothering me."

"Being frank about what?" C. Falcon asked before Samus raised a finger.

"1, I'm not looking for a boyfriend. 2, you were interesting but then got annoying so quickly and 3, get out of here."

"Um..." C. Falcon scratched his helmet a little. "...How do I go back now?"

Samus pointed at the black hole close to them.

"...Isn't there another less painful way?" C. Falcon asked.

Samus shook her head.

C. Falcon looked behind her. "...Oh hell no, there's another bunny from hell over there!"

Samus turned her back and found a Star Bunny trying to jump away from some kind of creature that was moving along the ground. She charged a shot and fired it completely charged at the moving creature that then roared in fury and got out. It was Major Burrows who was covered in the black aura of the Shadow Bugs as it fixed its eyes on the captain and the bounty hunter who took their stances.

Eternal Sonata - Leap the Precipice

"Great," C. Falcon began. "You made it angry."

"That thing was pursuing an innocent bunny," Samus said. "I hate cruelty to animals."

"Cruelty to bunniesthatmakeyouchasethemaroundandtireyoualotsayswhat?"

"What?"

"Exactly."

"Ugh, I knew you were annoying..." Samus said with a frown before Dark Major Burrows dove into the ground. "Oh, that reminds me, this mission has a Daredevil Comet."

"Told you," C. Falcon said as he jumped over Dark Major Burrows. "This place is just annoying!"

"As much as I hate to say this," Samus said as she charged a shot and filled it. "You're right on that for once."

Dark Major Burrows growled in fury and chased after Samus who sidestepped out of the way to let C. Falcon use Falcon Kick and pull the big mole out. It began to panic and ran away from both of them who seemed confused.

"...Why is it running away from us?" C. Falcon asked. "I thought the Shadow Bugs made it stronger..."

"My guess is that its original form wasn't that suppressed and it retained its normal traits...but it is stronger."

C. Falcon frowned and used Raptor Boost to deal an uppercut to the big Monty Mole, who got knocked unconscious but then growled furiously and burrowed its way to the ground. This time, however, it became red and its velocity got boosted greatly.

"Crap!" C. Falcon yelled as he was pushed away to the air and landed on the ground, twitching in pain. Samus looked at the dark creature charging towards her but she turned into her Morph Ball and dropped a bomb that exploded...and was stupidly enough to make the dark creature sprout out and run away in a hurry.

"Die." Samus said simply as she fired a missile to Dark Major Burrows, who gasped, stopped on its tracks and was pushed back. It then burrowed its way to earth and began to accelerate even more to them. "C. Falcon."

"Yeah?" C. Falcon asked.

"Would you mind if you use your punch when I tell you?"

C. Falcon grinned. "Not at all."

"Then please go over there." Samus pointed at the tree that was located in the center of the planet and the captain ran to it. Samus, meanwhile, looked at Dark Major Burrows charging at her, making her use her Morph Ball and roll towards the tree. "(If I'm correct, this monster should be a lot dumber enough to do this...)"

"FALCON..."

Samus quickly ran towards the tree and rolled out of the way as the Monty Mole took a peek outside but gasped once he saw C. Falcon about to land his punch on his face.

"PUNCH!" C. Falcon yelled as a blazing phoenix collided with Dark Major Burrows, who got punched out from the ground and ran away in panic. "It's all yours! Attack!"

"Already doing that." Samus said as she fired a Super Missile that exploded right into the monster's stomach, creating a lot of smoke as Dark Major Burrows yelled in extreme pain, its eyes turned into swirls and fainted before vanishing.

Music stops

"Boing!" the Star Bunny from before jumped to Samus. "Thank you for getting rid of that nasty monster! Boing! Here!" the Star Bunny took out a Power Star that Samus got. "Thank you very much! Boing!"

"Why we didn't kill the bunny first to get the star if we knew it had it all this time?" C. Falcon asked before Samus kicked him on his waist and fell on the ground.

...

"...What?!" Samus quickly turned her back to see a black figure flying away, which it made a loud screech that even made C. Falcon block his ears (even though they were inside his helmet), the Star Bunny even put his ears on its face. "...That screech again..."

C. Falcon got up. "Screech?"

Samus explained everything to him.

"Oh...but it's kind of funny..."

"Why is it funny?" Samus asked.

"I think I remember hearing the same screech and long time ago...but..." C. Falcon put a hand on his helmet. "It makes my head hurt for some reason..."

"...Strange..." Samus muttered as she wondered and looked at the figure getting away.

Comet Observatory
Library

There were around 50 Power Stars gathered by this point.

"...Hmm?" Yoshi looked at the storybook. "...We're in the final chapter?"

"Really?" the Lumas asked.

"Yes."

"Read it, Papa!"

"...I'm not your..." Yoshi recalled the 30 times he tried to stop them from calling "Papa" but ended up in failures. "...Okay. Let's see the last chapter..."

Super Mario Galaxy - Epilogue

Final Chapter

-Family-

Page 1

With its many Lumas and telescopes, the comet was quite a sight to behold. The girl and the Lumas were proud to call it home. At a welcoming party for a new Luma, the girl gathered everyone in the kitchen and said in a louder voice than usual...

"All right, everyone! Let's make a cake! A cake sprinkled with Star Bits! Then it will be a star cake!" The Lumas excitedly began to gather the ingredients.

Page 2

As she watched the Lumas scurry about, the girl smiled and thought to herself, "This is my family now, and I will stay with them until they're ready to leave the nest. And when they do leave, I'll see them off with a smile."

"Because that's what makes a mother happiest."

Page 3

That night, when the girl lay down to sleep, a soft light enveloped her and
reminded her of the blue planet she once called home. "But it would be nice to return home once every one hundred years to nap in my favorite sleeping nook."

Page 4

The comet carrying the Lumas and the girl continues on its journey to this
very day. With more "family members" in tow than can be counted, it's said that the comet visits the girl's home planet once every hundred years, its proud white tail glittering in the sky.

Page 5

-The End-

"...So that's it..." Yoshi said as he closed the books.

However, he found the Lumas sleeping deeply with silent happy murmurs. Yoshi couldn't help but he smiled and closed his eyes with a silent chuckle.

Yoshi looked back at the storybook. "I was wondering who was the girl in the whole story but..." Yoshi blinked several times before he opened the book again and looked at all the pictures of the girl. "...Wait...oh god... Now I feel stupid..." Yoshi took a closer look at the girl's image. "...She looks like a younger version of Rosalina..." Yoshi looked at no one in particular. "Because she is Rosalin-" Yoshi closed his mouth once he looked at the Lumas sleeping.

"Mama..." a yellow Luma murmured.

"Because she is Rosalina!" Yoshi yelled with a whisper. He then flipped through the pages. "Yes, she is her... The storybook is basically telling her past when she came to know the Lumas, the observatory, the comets an-"

Music stops

"...What the..." Yoshi felt a thick page that was apparently after the final chapter. Yoshi looked at the other side and there was nothing, save for the other cover. He narrowed his eyes at the thick page. "Why is this page too thick?..."

With a closer look, Yoshi found something...

The thick page was, in fact, a bunch of new pages that he separated. Each new page contained what looked to be texts for a diary.

"Is this...a secret section for a diary?" Yoshi asked confused. "...Maybe there's something else in here. Hmm..."

Drip Drop Galaxy
Giant Eel Outbreak

Super Mario Galaxy - Beach Bowl Galaxy

A trail of 6 Blue Pikmins was seen and on the front, Olimar was swimming through the water with all the peace he wanted.

"..." Olimar just remained silent through his little time with his Blue Pikmins.

"Hey!" a penguin shouted from an island. "I thought you were going to get rid of the eels down there! We can't play if they're around!"

However, something was different about Olimar. He told his Blue Pikmins to pick a Green Shell each and hide somewhere. Olimar found the eels (that were possessed by the Shadow Bugs) and found him as well before they began to swim after him. Olimar merely remained in his place and whistled loudly. The Blue Pikmins' leaves perked up and they all kicked the Green Shells at the eels, each one receiving 2 hits that made them vanish into Shadow Bugs that vanished in the water.

"Hurray! The eels are gone! We can play again!" the penguin from before told his other friends that cheered before entering the water, swimming happily around. "Thank you, mister! Thank you and your plants!"

"Pikmins," Olimar corrected with a nod. "Blue Pikmins."

"Okay, then!" the penguin pointed at the sunken ship that was close to them. "I think you were looking for that!"

Olimar looked behind him and found the Power Star he was looking for. His Pikmins swam to it and took it back to him. "Yes." Olimar said.

"Again, thank you for getting rid of the eels! Even though your "Pikmins" did all the work!"

"Lazy bastard!" another penguin said smiling.

"..." Olimar just swam away, wondering what was so exciting to make the penguins smile for his work that the Pikmins did for him.

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"AND THEY CALLED ME LAZY BASTAAAAAARD!" Olimar cried.

Chris hugged Olimar who hugged him back. "We're almost done here. You suffered a lot this time... I'm sorry..."

"S-sniff..."

Chris cried toon tears. "(Why is this place so fixated to make us feel humiliated?!)"

Library

They were almost finished in the gathering of the Power Stars. Only 1 remained at it was laying in the Melty Molten Galaxy.

Yoshi was shown snoring loudly as the storybook acted like a hat on top of his head (eyes) while the other Lumas were also snoring silently. "H-huh?" Yoshi opened his eyes. "...Oh god...I think I fell asleep... Well," Yoshi grabbed the storybook. "This happens when you don't sleep..."

It looked like Yoshi finished reading the secret pages but felt asleep afterward.

The Yoshi stared at the storybook. "...Should I tell the others about the diary I found or..."

Yoshi decided what was best now...

Read the whole storybook again since he can! Then tell the others.

Melty Molten Galaxy
Purple Coins on the Lava Spire Daredevil Cosmic Race

"Hurray..." Twink said bored as heated meteors fell from the space. "We're in Falco's fantasy."

"Hey," Falco glared at him. "I liked the heat only when I got here 1 time, not 3 times."

"4 times." C. Falcon corrected him.

"Wait..." Chris looked at the others. "Why were all here again?"

It seemed that everyone except Yoshi were now working on the last Power Star as Mario's request. The Daredevil Comet and the Purple Coin Comet were circulating around the galaxy of magma.

"Because Polari said that a very strong lecture revealed that this galaxy had big changes." Mario explained.

"On top of that," Samus began as she pointed forward. "We have our own clones."

They all looked to where she pointed to find what looked to be...their cosmic clones, along with Cosmic Mario and Cosmic Luigi.

"There's that guy." C. Falcon said pointing at Cosmic Luigi.

"A-and also," the other Luigi went on. "We only have 1 health to survive..."

"A-and also," Olimar went on. "We have to gather the Purple Coins again..."

They all stared at Mario with annoyed looks. "...What?" Mario asked.

"You said we were done with the Purple Coins." Geno said.

Mario chuckled nervously. "Y-yes, but I guess this one slipped by my mind...so yes..."

"..." everyone just frowned and looked at their cosmic clones.

"Aw, look!" Twink pointed at a cosmic clone of himself. "They think I'm a threat so they did a clone out of me!"

"And that's good because?" Fox asked with crossed arms.

"...I guess it's not..." Twink said, sticking out his tongue a little.

Either the cosmic clones took this little action as an idea or they just did it for the heck of it. The cosmic clones stuck out their long tongues that almost touched the original's faces before they sucked their tongues back with several high-pitched chuckles.

C. Falcon looked at the long trail of Purple Coins going to the volcano, then almost everywhere. The trail itself went to the little spheres hovering above the volcano, then Pull Stars that were located around miniature suns, then to a Launch Star that was directed towards the Lava Spire, where more Purple Coins were located. "...Man, ain't this looking hard..."

Mario looked at the clones. "I guess we should run our way through this unscathed..."

The cosmic clones stomped the floor in front of them and toward the Smashers with high-pitched grunts.

"...Why do I think they're not here to race us?" Falco asked, rolling his eyes.

"...Because..." Chris trailed off before the cosmic clones charged at them.

Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario Bros. 3 Nostalgia 2

"THEY'RE HERE TO KILL US!" Chris yelled before they all began to long way towards the last Purple Coin while evading the meteors, the lava and whatever thing decided to stop them.

They all arrived at a sinking platform where it began to slowly awfully fast because of all their weights combined. The Smashers quickly double jumped to reach the other side in time...

...Before a cosmic Grapple Beam latched on Samus and tossed her out of the planet.

"AAaaaaaaaaaaahhh..." Samus yelled as they noticed that Cosmic Samus chuckled evily with its high-pitched chuckles.

"...That wasn't a scream..." C. Falcon commented before shaking his head. "I mean, hey! They tossed her out!"

At that moment, Cosmic Samus vanished into nothing.

"A-ha," Geno said. "Once they eliminate their original version, they'll disappear."

"Funny, I though they were going to get rid of the Luigis first." Falco said.

"Wait just a minute," Chris glared at Falco once the Luigis looked down sadly. "That sounded a little bit like a bully."

"H-hey, why are you walking to me like that?" Falco asked backing away.

"You need to learn that not because someone looks cool, older or very focused on something doesn't mean that person is going to die first! I really hate that!"

"C-Chris! S-stop! You're pushing me to the edge!"

"That's the idea!"

"What?"

KICK!

"I REALLY HATE YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUU!!!" Falco yelled before he sank into the magma down below.

"...Was that really necessary?" Fox asked once Cosmic Falco chuckled and vanished.

"Sorry," Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "But he had to learn the hard way and I hope he did, because I'm not going to go easy on him next time. You're not like that, are you?"

"Of course not..." Fox put his hand on Chris's right shoulder and grinned a little bit to him. "Good job, Chris."

Chris made a happy expression. "Oh, thank you, Fox!"

"Bleh." Fox responded.

"What?"

Fox fainted and fell inside the lava as Chris found Cosmic Fox extending its index finger to where Fox once was. Cosmic Fox chuckled and vanished. "H-hey! That's not fair!"

"HURRY!" C. Falcon yelled as Chris barely dodged a bomb from his cosmic version (that was apparently using the Swordsman job as him) and quickly climbed the wall close to them.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm..." Chris hummed happily as he used several wall jumps. "I just LOVE when these jobs give me other abilities."

"Enter! Enter! Gather Purple Coins! Enter!" Mario instructed the remaining 7 to enter the small Launch Star that shot them inside the volcano before shooting them back to the little capsules with the Purple Coins. they quickly dispersed around the planets before the cosmic clones came from below and chased them.

"NoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Chris yelled once a cosmic arrow struck down his back before fainting. Cosmic Chris chuckled evily before vanishing.

"Leave him here!" Mario yelled once he found the Pull Stars that used their powers to pull him at them. C. Falcon, Olimar, the Luigis, Geno and Twink soon followed him with their cosmic clones as well.

"Wa-wa-wait!" C. Falcon yelled once a Pull Star inexplicably tossed him to a minature sun where he screamed in pain before fainting. Cosmic C. Falcon snapped its fingers in frustration since it didn't get to kill the captain by itself before vanishing.

"We need to move faster!" Geno yelled looking back. "They're catching up with us!"

Luigi looked behind him and gasped once Cosmic Luigi chuckled evily and extended his hand to him. "N-NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Pikmins!" Olimar yelled as the Pikmins quickly formed a chain using themselves to reach Luigi and pull it to the Launch Star nearby, thus saving him from being touched as he was blasted off to the Lava Spire with the others following.

"Oh no!" Mario gasped. "There are more Purple Coins but they are going downwards!"

"..." Geno closed his eyes and ran to the opppsite way for the other Purple Coins.

Mario shed a tear. "H-he was just like this when we faced Yaridovich too..."

"AHEM!" Twink reminded Mario about the other trail of Purple Coins going upwards.

The remaining 5 quickly ran upwards around the Lava Spire before Cosmic Twink appeared from below, scared Twink and licked his face a little.

"Y-yuck!" Twink said disgusted. "Oh, right, bleh." Twink's eyes turned into Xs and fainted with a thud sound. Cosmic Twink chuckled evily and vanished afterward.

"...M-Mario..." the Luigis began in unison as they trembled.

"Yes?" Mario asked his brothers (yes, it was weird).

"THE SPIRE IS SINKING FASTER!" the Luigis yelled in unison as the red plumber noticed that the spire was indeed sinking faster than before. The plumbers and Olimar quickly accelerated their pace around the spire, climbing a wall before running to the opposite direction as they grabbed the Purple Coins.

"O-oh, petals in a soup!" Olimar cursed once he looked behind where a Purple Coin was about to enter the lava. "I-I'm sorry but I'll have to sacrifice myself!" Olimar yelled as he changed directions and went after the Purple Coin...where Cosmic Olimar was standing between him and the coin. "Y-you won't stop me!" Olimar yelled as he used his Pikmin Chain to push Cosmic Olimar out of the way and into the lava.

The captain reached the coin and suddenly got an idea. "...What if I try to think about what could I do with the Pikmins even more in fights?"

He looked down and found lava already sinking his feet.

"...Oh boy..." Olimar said simply and he sunk inside with his Pikmin dying.

Olimar lost 1006 Pikmins now.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the Luigis yelled in unison as their cosmic counterparts leaped out from the top and touched them on their noses. The Luigis fell on their backs and then fainted as the Cosmic Luigis chuckled evily and fainted.

"..." Mario glared at his cosmic clone that was trying to touch him. "Oh no, you won't stop me!" Mario yelled as he jumped over the stones while his clone followed suit.

The spire was almost going to sink totally as the Marios were reaching the top. Mario was about to forget a coin but he quickly turned, jumped quickly to it and used a fast wall jump to rocket back to his position while Cosmic Mario snapped its fingers in frustration.

"Almost...there..." Mario panted heavily. The heat of the place was tiring him out slowly.

Music stops

"!!!" Mario wasn't able to reach the last Purple Coin because Cosmic Mario landed a small touch on his back. The red plumber's eyes widened before he fell down as his clone chuckled and vanished in thin air.

Their efforts were useless after all...

...

"...There it is!"

A figure took the last Purple Coin and the Power Star appeared on the top. The figure quickly ran to it and took it on his hands, stopping the spire from sinking down.

The figure held the Power Star up in triumph as it shone brightly, blinding everything in sight...

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

"HURRAY!" Chris and Twink cheered as the World Traveler hugged Geno tightly.

"Bless the holy salt waters!" Olimar said happily.

The figure that grabbed the Power Star was no one else than Geno, who, as he explained before, climbed the sinking rocky wall that was close to his location. The puppet climbed as fast as he could to the summit and he managed to accomplish his objective to grab the coin and the Power Star in time.

"That was sure risky but admirable," Samus remarked. "Well done."

"Thanks," Geno said before Chris released him. "Luckily, I was able to do it in time."

"How is the merging process going?" Mario asked to the leader.

"Very smoothly," the leader said holding a blueprint. "However, we need the last Power Star before we can go to Bowser."

"...Huh?" Mario looked at his list. "...Oops."

"You forgot a star, right?" C. Falcon asked.

"...Yes..." Mario sweatdropped.

"Oh, please," Luigi pleaded. "Tell me it's not somewhere dangerous. Somewhere were we can relax because I'm so tired and pretty much scared to my last hair!"

Samus backed away from him.

"I-I mean, the hair on my head."

"...Okay, that left a disgusting image in my mind," the other Luigi said trembling.

"Y-yes..." Chris shrugged.

Gateway Galaxy
Gateway's Purple Coins

"MAAAAAAAARIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!?!?!?" the Smashers said utterly annoyed.

"Okay, okay! Fine! I'm sorry! I forgot about this one as well!" Mario yelled annoyed.

Super Mario Galaxy - Gateway Galaxy

Chris sighed. "If you want, I can go around the planet because there are no enemies around... I'll let you all relax while I go by mys-" Chris noticed that everyone was already laying down on the grass, watching the Star Bits falling through the galaxy. "...Well, fine! I'll get the Red Star by myself!" Chris said before grunting, then he walked away.

"Did you hear something?" Luigi asked.

"No," the other Luigi replied by a mutter.

Close to where they were laying down, Chris was climbing the stairs to the mini castle and found Red Luma there. "Oh, you must be one of Rosalina's friends. She really trusts all of you so much."

"Really?" Chris asked.

"Yep, she likes everyone she meets if they're good that is."

The Red Luma made a snapping sound and Purple Coins appeared around the planet.

"You need to gather all the Purple Coins to get the Power Star. Here, I'll provide you my aid to let you use the Red Star," the Red Luma turned into a Red Star that floated above the ground.

"...This is something I'm really going to enjoy FOREVER..." Chris said as his eyes reflected the Red Star's image.

Super Mario Galaxy - Power to Fly

Luigi let out a long yawn before he slowly opened his eyes. "...Just 2 more minutes..." Luigi muttered.

Luigi saw Chris flying just above him. The World Traveler waved a hand at him before flying away.

Luigi smiled a little bit and closed his eyes...before he opened them back and sat up to see the World Traveler flying around with a red version of his clothes, but his hat was black along with his sleeves and pants.

"Chris?" Samus (being the only one that was just sitting down without sleeping) asked surprised.

"Hello!" Chris said from afar. "You guys can relax while I enjoy my time in the air. You won't believe how GREAT is to fly around wherever you want to go!" the World Traveler said happily. "So please, just rest and leave me all the fun for me!" Chris said with a chuckle before he flew off.

"...H-hey!" Luigi stood up. "I want to fly too!" Luigi then ran to the castle.

"M-me too!" the other Luigi said as he stood up and ran to the castle.

It was not long before the Luigis and Chris were flying around the planet, grabbing the Purple Coins along the way. Even some of them joined in.

"..." Fox slowly opened his eyes with an annoyed expression. "Who's making...all that noise with laughs?"

"I dunno," Falco said as he looked Fox upside down. "Ask the guys floating around."

Fox looked up where Falco was wearing a red version of his clothes. "What's up with you and sudden change of colors?... And why are you floating in midair?"

"Because I just found the most awesome ability so far than the mushrooms and flowers," Falco flipped 1 time slowly. "The Red Star."

"Red Star?"

"An item Chris found in the castle," Mario explained as he flew to them. "He seemed to have fun and some of us joined him."

"I-I want to sleep if you don't mind..." Olimar said, laying close to them.

"So," Falco grinned. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep in midair." Falco folded his arms behind his head and slowly directed himself to fly away.

"..." Samus saw Falco hitting his head with the nearby house. "Stupid..."

"Why do I have to have this?" C. Falcon asked as he looked his back and found the emblem of Blood Falcon. "Seriously, what's up with that guy's emblem on my back?"

"That's something you'll have to ask Master Hand." Chris said as he flew to him.

C. Falcon grinned. "Hey, Chris, check this out," C. Falcon flew away and charged his fist with fire. "FLYING FALCON PUNCH!"

"Hmm..." Chris rubbed his chin. "I think we can use that little change for an attack..."

"Yeah! That's what I was talking about."

"But..." Chris made a bored look. "Remove the "flying" word so it doesn't sound stupid..."

"Okay. Got that."

Geno (wearing a red version of his clothes) looked at the Star Bits before he sighed. "What's wrong? Geno?" Twink asked.

"Nothing..." Geno said. "I was thinking where Kalmar was..."

"Then you were doing something."

"Twink..."

"Oh, sorry."

"As I've said before, I hope Kalmar is being held captive with Bowser because I'm going to get worried if that wasn't the right location for "hidden high above the clouds"..."

"...You know, Geno..." Twink looked away.

"Yes?"

"This is just random talking, but..." Twink looked at him. "I think there's another place for that clue to fit."

"There is?"

"But...I don't know. I thought there was another location... I hope I'm wrong..."

"...I hope that too..." Geno muttered worried.

"Aaaaaaaaand there!" Mario said as he grabbed the last Purple Coin that called out a Power Star on the top of the castle. The flying Smashers looked at the Power Star and then flew to it before Mario grabbed it and held it up in triumph while the others cheered.

"120 damn Power Stars in the damn bag." Falco said with a nod.

"Now we can fight Bowser and save this place." Twink said.

"Galaxies." Geno corrected him.

"Okay," Mario nodded. "Let's go back to the observatory!"

Everyone looked at each other. "...Why don't we relax and rest here?" C. Falcon asked as he looked around. "This place looks nice to sleep."

"I agree." Chris said.

"Me too." Geno said.

"Me three." Twink said.

"Us 4 and 5." the Luigis said.

"I agree." Falco said.

Mario yawned. "Well...I'm glad you decided to sleep here because I'm so tired as well..."

The flying Smashers nodded to each other and decided to sleep, but since they were flying, why not sleep in the air just for fun?

Even Chris chuckled once he turned his back and found Fox about to touch the Red Star. Fox blinked shocked for several moments before he laughed for a bit.

Then, Olimar came along and decided to sleep in the air as well. The captain looked a little depressed so he took out a scroll that Luigi blinked confused at.

"...What is that scroll for?" Luigi asked.

Olimar sniffed. "T-this contains all the courageous 1006 Pikmins that died this day..." Olimar opened the scroll which slowly grew longer and longer until a long trail of paper was shown in the planet. Olimar sniffed againas he took out a pencil. "Let's see... Loky, Rudy, Bobby, Lucky, Charlot..."

"Isn't Charlot a girl's name?" Luigi asked.

"S-some of them are females, but I can only tell which is one..." Olimar sniffed.

"(Time to console the poor guy...)" Chris sighed and went to Olimar.

They all rested through the entire day afterward...

Comet Observatory

Super Mario Galaxy - Comet Observatory 3

The next day...

"Preparations for take off are complete!" the yellow Toad said.

"Engines are running at full potency!" Mailtoad yelled.

"Starshroom's merging is complete too!" the blue Toad said.

"Good sandwishes...taking over bee kingdom...ready..." the green Toad sleeping in a small hill muttered.

"Alright!" the leader said proudly. "We're ready to engage Bowser! And when I say we, I mean all of you!" the leader said pointing at the Smashers who frowned in shame.

"All the Lumas, please enter an area and remain there until new advice!" Polari ordered the Lumas who were all talking between themselves before entering the areas across the observatory.

"At last," Samus began. "Time to end this nightmare."

"At least for this world," Chris said disappointed. "After this, it's a new world full of dangers..."

"And we're worried because?" Falco asked. "We've been in so many battles and we always win. This is no different."

"Being overconfident will only make you fall in defeat." Geno said.

"Pfft, this is me, okay?" Falco said with a glare.

"Just ignore him." Fox said.

"Hey!"

"Enough!" Twink said. "This is not the time to be fighting between ourselves!"

"Because we should be fighting Bowser." C. Falcon said.

"Oh, remote controls on grass," Olimar played with his fingers. "Something very bad is coming..."

"It'll come if we don't act quickly," Mario said. "But luckily, we're so many to fight Bowser."

"But what if he brings someone else to help him?" Luigi asked.

"He will," Mario said closing his eyes. "If the Subspace Army is helping him, then there's no mistake he'll bring someone."

"(I hope it's not it...)" Samus thought worried.

"G-guys!" Yoshi called from the library before he ran to them with the storybook on his hands. "Guys! You won't believe what I found!" Yoshi reached them and panted a little before looking at them.

"Find what?" Mario asked.

"This," Yoshi showed them the storybook. "The storybook that Rosalina used to tell the Lumas a story."

"...Hurray, yayz for kids' stories..." Falco said, rolling his eyes.

"N-no! You don't understand!" Yoshi opened the book. "I found something in the last pages. Something that looks like a diary written by Rosalina."

"Yoshi, you do know it's bad to read other's private writtings, right?" Samus asked.

Yoshi glared at her. "I know that, but this is something you need to listen! It's about her past. The whole storybook is Rosalina's past in short terms!"

Chris looked away embarrassed. "(...Maybe I should say what is going to happen in a game...but wait, Snake and I made a promise that...)"

"Look, we're busy right now because we're ready to fight Bowser," Fox said as he took out his Blaster. "We're sorry but we don't have time to read someone's diary."

Yoshi got angry. "Oh, I didn't know you guys were that heartless to Rosalina. Shame on you."

"...Ouch." C. Falcon said.

"...He totally got us..." Falco said.

"So why not listen to what she wrote here?" Yoshi asked as he held the book out to them.

"...Alright, tell us, Yoshi." Mario said with a nod.

Yoshi flipped through the pages and found the secret entry. "This is something better to understand her better than the story itself. Please, listen carefully."

Super Mario Galaxy - Sad Story

Page 1

Diary

It has been a long time ever since I found the Lumas.
The Lumas have been perfect children to me, and they are so happy and cute when they are happy, together with me.
I miss the family I used to have back in home. I always remember them everytime I go to sleep. My tears can't stop running once I drift off to my dreams, where I used to dream about them.

About my brother, my mother and my father...

Page 2

By this time, they're no longer living above the earth. This only makes me feel sad to the bottom of my heart. My heart aches with so much sadness that I can't hold back, along with my tears.

I try hard everyday to forget about that with the Lumas.

Page 3

The Lumas are my children, who try so hard to make me happy, which they do successfully. However, I always hide my inner pain everyday so hard that is such an impossible thing to do. I can keep my sadness hidden through the day, but my tears appear every time I sleep.

The Lumas don't enter to my room when I cry in my dreams, luckily...

But unfortunately, I don't have someone to comfort me...

"...My god..." Chris muttered.

"...U-ugh..." Samus clenched a fist after hearing that.

"Rosalina has been suffering every night about her family?" the other Luigi asked.

"But she looks perfectly fine when she's around here." Fox said.

Yoshi closed his eyes. "I think I can understand her sadness very well...but this isn't the end of the diary. This is just the entry she made when she was 14. There is more about her. Please, listen."

Page 4

It has been so long after I last wrote in you.

The pain that has ached my heart is long gone.
After I reached adulthood, after traveling the space for hundreds of years and visit the Mushroom Kingdom where the grave of my mother was on the top of the hill, under the tree that we used to visit, I always came back to visit her and tell her how much I loved her and my father and brother.

Page 5

I always told her all the mishaps that some Lumas used to do and that ended up in laughs if happiness. I always laughed about that so much to the point where I continued laughing for long periods of time. The Lumas are very funny and cute to live with.

As a mother, I can't be much happier than this...

"Hundreds of years?!" the Smashers repeated in shock and surprise.

"But she looks like a super-hot model!" C. Falcon said.

PUNCH!

"Shut up! It's not the time to talk like that about her!" Chris said angrily.

Yoshi rolled his eyes and read the same part again.

After he did...

"Hundreds of years?!" the Smashers repeated in shock and surprise.

"Oh, I can explain why she looks like that." Geno said.

After a very complicated theory of time and space (not about Dialga and Palkia, mind you...)

"So..." Samus trailed off. "She is the mother of the Lumas."

"That visits the Mushroom Kingdom every hundred years." Chris added.

"To visit the grave of her mother." Mario added.

"Without aging that much and just normally, according to Geno." Mario said.

Yoshi nodded. "But that's not all. Here's the last entry she wrote before Bowser attacked."

Page 6

The next Star Festival is going to begin tomorrow.
I can't wait to see my mother's grave again and tell her how much happy I feel.
Protecting the cosmos and the Lumas have been arduous and hard tasks, but Polari always helps me during the hard times.
I cannot explain how excited I am to visit the Mushroom Kingdom again.
I want to see the home I used to live, and my family...
...My dear family...

"There are some trails of drops on this page..." Yoshi pointed out.

Page 7

Mother...father...dear brother...
...I'm almost there to see you again, and tell you about my life again...
...Nothing is going to stop me from visiting and all of you...

Page 8

...Oh no...the pages end here...

...I...I must not cry...not after all this time...

...The only thing I know for sure is...

...That these tears that are falling on you are not of sadness...

...These tears...

...

...

...Are made from happiness...

"..." the Smashers looked down to the floor in shame.

Chris closed his eyes and covered them with his right arm. "...I...I forgot Rosalina also lost her parents..." Chris sobbed silently.

Samus patted his back and there were some faint sniffs coming withing her helmet. "I know... She went through the same sorrow as well..."

"...Dammit..." Fox muttered in shame.

"Dammit!" Falco punched the floor. "And I called the Lumas heartless. She probably heard that and didn't tell anything about the insult!"

Twink sniffed. "S-she always was happy, just to hide how sad she was..."

"Rosalina..." Geno muttered in shame.

"...Mama mia..." the Luigis and even Mario muttered in unison.

Olimar hugged a Purple Pikmin that was sobbing. "...I don't know what to say..."

"Damn..." C. Falcon shook his head. "I feel horrible for some reason..."

"All of us feel horrible..." Samus began. "It happens when you listen to a sad tale like hers."

Yoshi closed the storybook and cleared some tears from his eyes. "Rosalina was sad before when she was little. She wasn't sad when we came here."

"But even still..." Mario began. "...Insulting her without actually trying to is very bad and so wrong, after all she went through..."

"...Then..." Chris cleared his tears and made a serious look. "...It's settled..."

"Yeah..." Samus nodded.

"Absolutely." Geno said with a nod.

The other Smashers looked at each other and made the same serious looks before nodding.

Super Mario Galaxy - Power to Fly

"For Rosalina." Mario said.

"For Rosalina!" the Luigis said in unison.

"For Rosalina." Samus said.

"For Rosalina." Olimar said.

"For...Rosalina." Chris said.

"For Rosalina." Geno said.

"For Rosalina!" Twink said.

"For Rosalina." Fox said.

"For Rosalina." Falco said.

"For super ho-" everyone glared at C. Falcon. "Rosalina!"

"For...Rosalina..." Yoshi said with a nod as he closed his eyes before opening them. "We have to rescue her and bring the Lumas' mother back!"

"Then," Mario pointed at the galaxy. "Set course to Bowser!"

"Affirmative!" the leader said. "Everyone, off to Bowser, where the princesses are being held captive!"

"Roger!" the Toad Brigade responded as they activated the Starshroom underneath the observatory that was merged, starting a big engine that shot a big flame. The observatory suddenly turned into a big spaceship and then into a blazing blue comet that slowly accelerated to the deepness of the space.

"...Wait," Chris began. "Aren't we going to the opposite direction that Mario mentioned?"

The leader facepalmed. "Turn the other way!"

"Roger!" the Toad Brigade responded as they turned the comet to the other way. The Smashers were looking at their direction, determined to rescue Rosalina and Peach.

"...How do you know that Bowser is this way again?" C. Falcon asked.

"...A hunch?" Mario responded confused.

The Smashers facepalmed and wished they went to the right direction.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Grand Finale for a Dear Mother. Sniff, this is just...great..." Twink sniffed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Comet Observatory
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi (2), Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Persona 4 - Backside of the TV" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you choose party members and dungeons.

-"Eternal Sonata – Leap the Precipice" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when fighting normal enemies.

-Luigi saying that Yoshi was his Yoshi was a reference to the other Yoshi he used to have.

Sorry, needed to use the "TO BE CONTINUED" part again. :P

Sniff, writing this chapter (while I was ironically wearing my Super Mario Galaxy T-shirt with Mario and Luma) was too emotional for me...a least. Was it sad to you?

We shall also mourn for the 1006 Pikmins that died during this arc. So long, Pedro, Letty, Bobo, Bermudas, Lolo...

Will they rescue Rosalina? Will they fight and win against Bowser, Charizard and Dedede? What was that screech that Samus heard? Will the YoshiXRosalina fandom born out of this? Yoshi will be called Papa? Why was the Red Star only available only in the Comet Observatory and the Gateway Galaxy only?

The next chapter promises to finish this arc, though it's going to be half the shorter than this.

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 117*: Grand Finale for a Dear Mother

I was so excited to write this chapter. :)

From dimentio710: A perfect combination of humor (C. Falcon's pervertness and yhe galaxies), happiness (Yoshi's comfort to the Lumas), and sadness (The story of Rosalina made me cry!) This was a perfect chapter, now for my questions

1. Mario and Peach will join right?

2. Will Bowser join the villians?

3. After this chapter will there be an Animal Crossing arc (I remember one of somebody's review that there will be an Animal Crossing arc?

4. FINALLY!

The question that I always wanted to ask,

I kind of want to do a story kinda like this one (like with Subspace villains and going through worlds plus a Pokemon partner), but there will be differences (Dedede not willing to be part of Subspace (but will be possessed) Dimentio is one of the Subspace villains, a different type of hero (my character will be kinda an anit-hero since he steals), 3 OCs! other worlds, and an evil being within my character (Hint: will pop out at times of massive pain) and finally Although Lucario will be one of the first people to join the Smashers the one that is kind of like the Lucario in your fic is gonna be a Monferno!) Also there won't be jobs just one weapon but, with different abilities! So the only question is... can I do the fic I want to write cause this fic inspired me the fic I want to write... And I'm done with this incredibly long review so TTFN (Ta-ta for now) wiiboychris!!!

From me: 1) Yes.

2) Yes.

3) Not now, but there is going to be one.

4) Do that and I'll kill you. :( No, seriously, don't do that. Do something very different than that. Thanks. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh No... Will rosalina DIE?!?! If she does have Yoshi stay with the Lumas for all eternity. That is, if he wants to. Rosalina's diary was so sad. Update soon! Hasta!

From me: I hope Yoshi doesn't do that...or Rosalina getting killed...

From SlasherMask: Oops...(i haven't played galaxy so i didn't notice mistake sorry)

I really like what you did with Rosalina's diary. (can't really imagine how smashers are going to get tortured in next chapter.(then again it seems that humor point ended))

P.S. ...Do you get my messages? I can't tell if no ones reply.

From me: Thanks. I'm glad you liked her entry. Humor ending? There are small bits of it here...heheheheh...

P.S: Don't talk about personal things here again. Yes, I did. End. :l

From Blaperile: Wow... great written... I have no words... to sad...

Let's go to the happy mood!

We have: Mama Rosalina, Mama Luigi and Papa Yoshi now. Who's next? XD

Where did Peach get those cups from?! :P

Mama Mia!

From me: I'll tell you who's next: Uncle Meta Knight!

...

...Nah. XD

And for Peach...well...who knows exactly?

From ngrey651: Hmm. First there was "Mama Luigi". Now "Papa Yoshi". You're setting new standards for tropes AND making for an amazing and interesting story. Can't wait to see more!

Sincerely...

Nick

(PS: Poor, poor, little Pikmins...:( )

From me: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one as well.

From shadow-dog18: you don't need to worry i'll keep reading this story until you get to the this chapter was sad to read but i still enjoyed reading it.

did you know that they have a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game coming out called Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Sky,and in this there is 5 new pokemon to start out as which are -

Vulpix

Eevee

Phanpy

Shinx

Riolu

i bet i know which one you'll pick to be,i'm going to be Eevee for a change cause its my fave if you want to know more about Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Sky go to /dungeonsky/ and they have other info about it.

From me: Oh, thank goodness. :)

Thanks for reminding me the game I hate the most. Don't talk about that and even more if it doesn't relate to the fic at all.

From Miss Jigglypuff: Who knew could be such a perv? Also, I am dying to know what happens!

From me: DIE!... "Snickers" XD

From Ravid Original: I was totally spacing out when I was reading this, so I kept on thinking things like, "USE A PHOENIX DOWN!" (when Chris was fighting the giant dead fish) XD

By the way, Chris' parents left him alone since kindergarten?! What kind of parents do that?!

I liked Rosalina's story...that was awesome.

One of life's eternal mysteries is where Peach keeps her tea. Seriously o.O

From me: Let's not use that wonderful item on that and give it to Aeris to...wait, game mechanics don't apply to cutscenes... :(

Oh, did I spark some interest about Chris's past? You'll have to wait, but their parents didn't leave him...

Thanks. :)

Her back...or not...

From JSandders: Took me a long time to review this! Had no time in between doing school work and doing FFNet work!

Emotional chapter. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose your parents... (even thought they really aren't your parent) Sad diary entries. What kinda made me happy, though, was the Red Star (I love that item!) and the fact that Yoshi had now been dubbed "Papa Yoshi"! I can't believe you're inventing the Yoshilina (Yoshi x Rosalina) pairing! XD Which two random people are you pairing next?! LOL!

Can't wait for the next chapter when the introduction of the "Pterodactyl" might be shown! When is he gonna become "Meta-Pterodactyl"? I'm guessing it's still a long ways ahead.

What's the next arc? You've got excellent chapters coming, Chris! You're story's awesome!

From me: The next arc is an original setting. You'll see. ;)

From Nintendogeek01: Long chapter with a wide range of emotions. It had semi-decent action, and a little humor, nothing terribly special though.

From me: ...WHAT?!

Oh, wait, people will and won't like a chapter in special, so I respect your opinion. "Throws tazer away" I hope you like this one though. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: i must apologize i was in a state of depression that really messed up my brain, making me careless of my values and despireted. but i'm okay now.

onto a double review again

for 115: oh dear, poor smashers. those galaxies must be more than hell. i especially have empathy towards the ones who had to get the purple coins and do the boss fights. quite unfortunate that nobody beleives falco of his ice powers, i'm very envious to know how it's like. i can't beleive them, being so heartless and cruel hearted to those poor innocent pikmin, shame on them!

oh, i have a suggestion for a summon creature for chris; Raffaello, element:darkness, game: Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo's Dungeon for Wii

for 116: *sniff* so sad! i felt real emotions as i read the diary and story parts, but i guess those emotions can't get in my way for the next chapter.

my final question as of now, is there any more weapon beasts from mario's world still?

i'm sure that someone named joe told me that there was one more main member at least, and a bunch of minor ones

if there are more, are they appearing in the future?

hope the next chapter is up soon, happy typing!

p.s., there is one last question above, have fun looking for it ^-^

From me: 115) If they could believe in Falco... XD No for the summon I don't know about.

116) I don't know? :P

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: This is a pretty crazy chapter ... so with Rosalina out of the picture, Mario and the group has no choice but to collect all the stars in that galaxy. Poor Mario, he keeps on forgetting the stars that they need to get and ends up having the others frustrated at him. Not to mention that Falco seems to get kicked into black holes a lot. The Lumas sound crazy, like hyper little kids. It's going to be an interesting last chapter for this arc!

From me: I just HOPE it is for you all. :)

And so, we reach another end for another arc. 2 fights will be displayed with the "epilogue" of this world. Are Mario and Peach going to join them?

Stay tuned, if you can for a chapter anyway.

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 117: Grand Finale for a Dear Mother

Bowser's Galaxy Reactor
Airship
The Fate of the Universe

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Rowdy Rumble

"Lord Bowser!" a Magikoopa yelled in panic as he appeared above the airship that Bowser, Charizard, Dedede and Bowser Jr. were riding on. "I-I have alarming news!"

"Unless it's about your cut of salaries for blowing up Jr.'s playground by accident, then go on ahead." Bowser said (while Bowser Jr. shed a tear).

"Mario! That bastard, he's coming here!"

"..." Bowser facepalmed and frowned. "Why is it that EVERY damn time that I block Mario's path he always finds a way around it?"

"Maybe because you don't plan your ideas that well." Charizard said.

"Sucks to be you." Dedede said with a snicker.

"Hey, cheer up," Charizard smirked. "They're not going to pass all the planets that are in the way here."

"GRRRRRR!!!" Bowser grunted. "Jr.!"

"Yes, Papa?" Bowser Jr. asked with a grin.

"Go and get the princesses! We shouldn't allow them to rescue them behind our backs and I want you to secure them!"

"Just as you say!" Bowser Jr. said with a snicker as he jumped to his own mini-airship and flew off to the castle.

Bowser looked to the front, where he spotted a small blazing comet going towards them from afar. "Soon...soon I'll end your life, Mario..."

Princess Peach's Castle

"YOU!" Bowser Jr. yelled once he opened the doors of the castle. "Both of you, come with me!"

"Why should we?" Rosalina asked as she stood up from the sofa.

"Because if you don't, I'll have to use force instead!"

"Rosalina..." Peach stood up. "We should listen to him."

"...You're right..." Rosalina nodded. "We know how this is going to turn out after all."

"I hear you both!" Bowser Jr. said. "It's inevitable that the galaxies are going to be Papa's properties for the rest of the eternity, which is going to be forever!"

Both princesses walked towards the small version of Bowser and boarded the airship. "Hold on, 'cause Papa will marry one of you and he doesn't want to lose one because she fell off!"

"M-marry?" Rosalina repeated.

"Don't listen to what he says," Peach whispered. "Believe me."

"...Okay..." Rosalina whispered concerned.

Airship

"Papa!" Bowser Jr. called as he flew to the bigger airship. "I've got the 2 of 'em!"

"Good work!" Bowser yelled. "Now, keep them away from here and from Mario until they're finished!"

"What are you saying?" Jr. asked as he hopped to Bowser's airship as he snapped his fingers and the airship he was using flew away with both Peach and Rosalina. Bowser Jr. then took out what looked to be the Magic Paintbrush. "I went ALL the way to that stupid island resort just to be ready to confront Mario myself!"

"W-what th-Jr.! Where'd you get that from?"

Bowser Jr. chuckled. "There was this weird black guy with the stupid pink plant people costume that was using my paintbrush as some sort of lance. Of course, once I found him, I stole it, or more accurately, recovered it from him!"

"..." Bowser crossed his arms, closed his eyes and nodded. "Well, I could use your help so...fine! You're in!"

Bowser Jr. chuckled evily before spinning his paintbrush. "You're not going to be disappointed, Papa!"

"Those 2 share a close relationship that makes me sick." Dedede whispered.

"Stop talking about them!" Charizard complained. "We have other matters to attend to!" Charizard pointed at the comet that was slowly getting to them.

"Incoming!" the Magikoopa yelled.

"The Shadow Bugs will take care of them in they dare to get through all the planets first."

"...Er...maybe, maybe not..."

"Why is that?!" Bowser asked angrily.

"Because...well...how do I put it?"

"Speak up!"

"I...suggest you to see this for yourself..."

Bowser opened his eyes and they grew in shock. "...OH NO, THEY'RE NOT CHEATING LIKE THAT!"

Apparently, the Comet Observatory didn't stop once it reached the location where it was supposed to drop Mario and the others. It destroyed everything in its path towards the 4 villains at a slow rate, barely dodging the magma planet.

"...Shouldn't we...I don't know..." Dedede wondered sarcastically. "GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE?!"

"FULL SPEED AHEAD! DAMMIT! I SAID FULL SPEED AHEAD!" Bowser yelled at the Hammer Bro (sleeping inside the airship) that quickly woke up in panic and directed the airship away from the path of the observatory.

Then it stopped.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"

"We ran out of fuel, Lord Bowser!" the Hammer Bro yelled.

"IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO REFILL THE TANK EARLIER THIS DAY!"

Charizard and Dedede looked at each other with bored looks. "...Why do I think he's gonna end up blowing the Subspace?" Dedede asked.

"I don't want to think what is Tabuu going to do with him..." Charizard said before they noticed the heat suddenly rising up. "Oh yeah, heat."

Dedede sweated a little. "W-wearing this coat today was such a bad idea...but why is the heat risin'?"

Charizard looked at the comet...that was 30 feet away from them.

The 4 villains' eyes widened as the comet came closer, and closer, and closer, and much closer, then even closer than before.

Then, they all yelled, "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

Burn!

The comet barely touched the airship, but it was enough to burn the 4 together as they blinked quickly before turning to the comet.

Comet Observatory

"TURN THE OTHER WAY!" the leader yelled.

"I-I can't! It's hard to steer this thing!" the yellow Toad yelled.

"We're so close in getting the princesses back! Return!"

Airship

"Look, they're turning here again." Bowser Jr. said.

"I hope THIS time they stop where I want them to be!" Bowser grumbled.

"...We better move out..." Dedede said with a bored look...

Before the comet passed close to them and thus burned them even more than before. The airship was now a black version of a normal one.

"...Let's all just jump to the top of the tower and wait for them." Charizard suggested and they all nodded before jumping to a tower close to them. The airship remaining there in the same position.

Back with the princesses...

"They found the way," Rosalina said with a sigh of relief. "Now, we just need to wait and see what happens..."

"...Mario..." Peach whispered concerned.

Comet Observatory

Music stops

The entire Toad Brigade were shown covered in soot after the forceful landing, close to the pathway to the 4 villains as the Smashers stood at the first step. "Well, sorry for all the trouble this thing caused," the leader apologized. "But at last, we're here to save the princesses!"

"And when he means "we," he means you!" Mailtoad said to the Smashers, who responded with frowns.

"Please, be extremely careful against Bowser," Polari said. "Make sure you return with Rosalina or else the Lum-"

"I know," Yoshi said nodding. "I'll rescue her."

"Aww..."

Yoshi blushed. "S-stop that!"

"We're going to put an end to Bowser once again," Mario said. "And the galaxies are going to be just fine."

"..." Samus looked away.

Chris looked at her. "Is something bothering you?"

"...No..."

"..." Chris made a worried look.

"Okay, backtrack the observatory!" Polari yelled as the observatory began to move away from the pathway. "Good luck in the battle and please, rescue Rosalina and Peach!"

"For the last time, we will!" Twink yelled.

The Smashers turned to the pathway, where the 4 villains were waiting for them with crossed arms. "There they are..." C. Falcon said.

"I have a very bad feeling about this..." Chris muttered. "I think I need to choose the right job to fight..." he looked at Samus. "...And I know which one." Chris changed to his Chozo Arts job and grabbed his Paralyzer. "I want to see which combinated Final Smash do we get."

"I see," Samus nodded. "I'll help you out."

"Thanks." Chris smiled a bit to Samus.

"Then, here we go." Mario said as they began to climb the stairs.

Back with the villains...

"They're they come, Papa." Jr. said.

"Yeah," Bowser narrowed his eyes. "Even if they succeed in defeating us, we have it waiting for them at the planet of the Subspace Bomb-" Bowser looked at the big magma planet that had a big Subspace Bomb as a planet in the inside. "-where they'll die for sure."

"...Papa."

"Yes?"

"Mario's grabbing the Life Mushroom."

Bowser looked at Mario gaining more life. "Dang it!"

"Not to mention the other green mushroom."

"Double dang it! I knew putting you firing cannonballs was more productive than not doing it!"

"Hey! You said I could fight with you!"

"Because you recovered the paintbrush I didn't get to hear about!"

"Would you 2 just shut it?!" Charizard asked angrily. "They're already here, glaring at us like they always do!"

"...Er..." Dedede blinked shocked. "...Give us 2 seconds..."

The villains turned their backs to the Smashers and looked at the space.

"...Talk about pathetic..." Falco whispered.

"It's Bowser," Geno whispered. "What'd you expect?"

"SO!" Bowser stomped the floor and all the villains turned to the Smashers. "You're all her-HOLY CRAP!" Bowser ducked from a Charged Shot, several red and blue Blaster shots, paralyzer shots, beams and some Red Pikmins that returned back. "H-hey!" Bowser stood up. "What's the big idea about interrupting my spee-"

"SHUT UP!" the Smashers yelled angrily.

"W-what's the sudden fury at me?!"

"You made us go through a lot just to get here!" C. Falcon yelled.

"Have you went through a crazy feast for honey in your life?" Chris asked.

"I-" Bowser was interrupted.

"Have you ever sink inside very cold water?" Falco asked.

"Well, 1 ti-"

"Have you seen you entire life flash in a second as you ride a crazy Manta?" Geno asked.

"At least I-"

"Have you been licked by a clone of yourself?" Twink asked.

"N-n-"

"Have you lost 1006 Pikmins that you cared for so much?" Olimar asked with a sniff.

"I-I hav-"

"Have you been killed by a single touch on your leg?" Fox asked.

"N-nev-"

"Have you met people who don't care about the universe?" Samus asked.

"W-well, that tim-"

"Have you been rolling above a big ball downhill?" the other Luigi asked.

"What the fu-"

"Have you been meeting yourself 2 times?" Luigi asked.

"Why are there 2 Lui-"

"Have you been called Papa like 489 times in a single day?" Yoshi asked.

"O-one time whe-"

"Have you chased bunnies from hell?" C. Falcon asked.

"W-will yo-"

"Have you ever stopped doing the same thing, all these years?" Mario asked.

"OKAY! OKAY! SHUT IT! FINE! I'M ANNOYING, ALRIGHT?!" Bowser yelled out. "Still, that doesn't matter! What matters now is that you're all here to witness my supreme dominion over the entire univers-"

"With Tabuu ownin' 40 percent of it." Dedede pointed out.

"We agreed it was 20 percent of it!" Bowser glared at Dedede.

"And I was told to have 30 percent of it!" Jr. said angrily.

"And I asked for 5 percent of it." Charizard said with a grin.

The villains went arguing back and forth about who owned the most part of the universe while the Smashers looked fairly confused at this.

"...Is this what we came here?" Luigi asked.

"No..." Mario trailed off.

"...Rosalina! Peach!" Yoshi yelled to the princesses which were several feet away from the tower. "Thank goodness you 2 are okay!"

"Yoshi!" Peach yelled. "It's good to see you again!"

"Don't worry! I'll rescue you both! Just wait right there!"

"...But don't we have another place to go?!" Peach asked.

"I-I guess not! My bad!" Yoshi looked at Rosalina. "And for you, the Lumas are fine! I took care of them when you were gone!"

Rosalina blinked several times before smiling a bit to Peach, who smiled back to her.

"They behaved like they do around you. We even finished reading the storybook!"

"Thank you!" Rosalina yelled. "Thank you so much for you aid, Yoshi!"

Yoshi blushed. "I-it was nothing! Just hang in there a little bit longer!"

"We will! Take care of yourself in the meantime!" Peach yelled. "Tell Mario I wish him good luck!"

"I will!" Yoshi yelled before turning to the Smashers. "Did you hear?"

"Yes," Mario nodded. "We need to stop Bowser-"

"And the other ones." Geno added before all of them nodded to each other and prepared to fight.

"Hey! Numskulls!" Twink yelled. "We're ready!"

The 4 stopped arguing and looked at the Smashers before chuckling in unison. "Well, well, it was about time we started this crap." Bowser said before he snapped his fingers as he took everyone to small planetoid of metal which and landed on (albeit to say, Chris tripped but then got up). The planetoid itself had several spiky bushes around.

"I hope you're prepared," Dedede put his hammer above his shoulder. "'Cuz if you DO manage to defeat us, there's a big surprise waiting for yo-"

Charizard hit his head. "Shut up! Don't spoil it!"

Dedede rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

"If things get rough," Charizard smirked. "We have many underlings ready to appear from nowhere and aid us in this fight against you all."

"However!" Bowser Jr. continued. "I doubt you're even gonna reach the surprise, since by that time, your dead carcasses are going to float into the magma, where your bones are going to disintegrate to nothing!"

"Yeah, that's my boy!" Bowser said proudly before everyone (except Jr.) stared at him with odd looks. "...So what? He's my son so I expected him to be this evil like me!"

"(...Bowser is really, really and very stupid in person...)" Chris thought with a bored look.

"I'll provide information whenever you want." Kawashima said.

"Thank you." Chris said.

"It's time for our revenge back at the Sports Festival," Bowser cracked his fists. "This time, I'll do the work myself."

"Good," Geno adjusted his hand. "I was thinking about beating you up for that again."

"So am I," Fox said. "I won't let an idiot like him defeat me in any way."

"Oh, look at me, I'm shaking!" Bowser Jr. chuckled. "Fur face is gonna teach me a lesson. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"

"That's it, you're going down first."

Bowser Jr. spun his paintbrush. "Ha! Just try it! I dare ya to hit me with everything you've got."

"Oh," Fox grinned. "The pleasure will be all mine."

"...Since when did you have a rivalry with him?" Falco asked but Fox didn't even look at him nor he answered.

"Bowser..." Yoshi began before glaring at Bowser. "You're not going to take Rosalina away from the Lumas, because I'm going to do everything to stop you from doing such horrible and stupid thing!"

"Listen here, dino," Charizard began. "She needs to be captive all the time we want," Yoshi seemed to get shocked at this. "And Tabuu is so going to enjoy taking her mind..."

"...N-no!" Yoshi snapped out. "The Lumas need her so badly!"

"Do we care?" Bowser asked. "We're bad dudes. This is what we're meant to do."

"...You nasty little..." Samus muttered with anger.

"...Bastards..." Chris muttered with lesser anger.

"So you don't care what could happen to the Lumas then?!" Yoshi asked. "That's very mean! They're just babies who need a mother like Rosalina!"

"Oh, don't be so worried..." Dedede smirked. "We'll return her shortly..."

"...Really?"

"Of course!" Dedede opened his arms. "Once she turns evil when Tabuu gets to know her! Then we'll return her to those pipsqueaks just to be hurt and maybe even possessed! After all, she could be a very important part for us! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!"

"..." Yoshi gritted his teeth (if he had any). "...THAT'S IT! I HAD IT WITH YOU!"

Bowser stomped the floor and roared. "Alright! Let's start this ENCOUNTER!!!"

"O-oh boy..." Olimar backed away. "P-please, don't let my Pikmins get killed again..."

"Then just leave." C. Falcon said.

"N-no! I have to fight!"

"Good enough for me."

"...Phew..."

Super Mario Galaxy - Bowser's Final Battle

"Here they come. Stay alert at all moments and remember that Bowser can do several new things alone!" Kawashima warned them. "Oh, the Over Limit gauge is ready to be used at any time! Speaking of which, be aware that they can use their Final Smashes against you!"

"I got that," Chris said as he ran towards Bowser with Chris's Plasma Whip ready. Bowser instantly jumped and rocks began to gather around him before he turned into a big boulder. "What th-"

"DIE!" Bowser yelled as he crushed the World Traveler underneath the weight of the boulder that went rolling away.

"...U-ugh..." Chris saw blood coming from his mouth and shivered a little. "I-I need to be careful with that..."

"I'll gladly help you." Samus said as she stood close to him a fired a missile in front of her. The missile stopped in midair where Bowser was going to come and it exploded right on his face (since his head was out the boulder) and the king yelled as he spun above his shell, around the planetoid.

"Let me do this!" Mario said as he used a Star Spin on the spinning Bowser who then got pushed to the air and fell on the floor, dazzled by the spin.

"It's our chance to land an attack on him!" Chris yelled as he charged at Bowser, but then Charizard came from the right and slammed his head directly into the World Traveler's arm, pushing him out of the way as he screamed in pain.

"No attacking allowed!" Charizard yelled before he chuckled.

"Pay more attention!" Yoshi yelled as he swallowed Charizard and spat him out. Charizard grunted before using Flamethrower to burn Yoshi. "AAAAAAHHH!!!"

Geno dashed towards Charizard as he fired bullets from his fingers, making the Pokémon back away in pain before the other Luigi...

...Wait a minute, where is the other Luigi?

There was the other Luigi back at the tower where they were before, ducking in fear. "I-I'm going to help them at the most desperate situation! I swear!" Luigi yelled.

Back at the fight.

"SUPER FIRE PUNCH!" Luigi yelled as he used a flaming uppercut that sent Charizard to the air before landing back on the floor. Luigi, however, was falling backwards before landing on the top of his head before standing up.

"That had to be strong, but at the same time ridiculous..." Geno commented with a bored look.

"That explains why he didn't join Mario before." Twink said with a bored look.

"A-at least I gave him damage, right?" Luigi asked.

"That's exactly why I'm biting your arm off!" Charizard yelled from behind Luigi as he ducked his head and bit Luigi's right arm. The green plumber screamed (in agony) as the dragon shook him several times before tossing it to Yoshi, who gasped and was pushed back.

"Geno Beam!" Geno yelled as he fired a blue beam that crossed Charizard.

"Ugh! You damn wooden puppet!" Charizard complained as he prepared his Flamethrower.

"Attack order!" Olimar whistled to his Pikmin to charge at Dedede, who simply remained in his position and crushed the Pikmins with his hammer. "Oh, please! Stop killing them!"

"Like I'm gonna hear ya!" Dedede yelled before he charged at Olimar as he "accidentally" tripped on Olimar and dealed a good amount of damage.

"G-GET OFF ME!" Olimar yelled underneath Dedede.

"FALCON KICK!" C. Falcon came from the left and kicked Dedede out of the way with his blazing kick before looking down. "You okay?"

"Y-yes..." Olimar shook his head. "Oh, that penguin is so going to pay..." Olimar grabbed the leaf from a Purple Pikmin and ran towards Dedede, who merely chuckled.

"Oh, I'm scared, little dude's gonna hit me with that thi-"

"BANZAI!" Olimar yelled as he leaped to Dedede and began banging the Purple Pikmin on him...

...Which was dealing WAY too much damage in fact.

"AAAHH! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!!!" Dedede yelled and screamed.

"WHO'S BEGGING FOR MERCY NOW?!" Olimar asked rhetorically before he kept banging the Purple Pikmin on Dedede.

"AWAY!" a Waddle Dee yelled as it (he) slammed to Olimar and pushed him out of the way.

Dedede panted several times before glaring at both captains. "You're all gonna pay for what you did!"

"Too slow!" Jr. taunted Fox who tried to land a kick on him, but the small Bowser used his staff as a shield. "Nope!" Jr. blocked a kick to his legs. "Not even up here!" Jr. blocked a hit to his head. "C'mon! Are you gonna go easy on me you 'cuz I'm a little ruffian?"

"Grr," Fox grunted. "(This guy is actually hard to fight against...)"

"Wide open!" Jr. yelled as he quickly turned and slammed the paintbrush on Fox's face, making the vulpine back away in pain with trails of paint on his face. "Hehehehee! Nothing like showing you what it takes to deal with me!"

"Would you pay more attention to the others you're fighting?" Falco asked behind Jr. and brought down his slicing hands...that Jr. quickly blocked as well. "H-hey!"

"Take this!" Jr. yelled as he quickly ducked and pushed Falco's stomach using the tip from below the paintbrush. "And this!" Jr. yelled as he slammed his spiny shell at Falco's body. "And this too!" Jr. slapped the paintbrush on Falco's face which made him back away as well.

"Geez..." Falco panted. "Can't believe Bowser's kid is this strong..."

"Just keep attacking him," Fox said. "There's always an opening that we don't see clearly."

"Like hell you'll find something like that!" Jr. said with an evily snicker. "I'm invincible! Surrender and accept that fact!"

"Just like that, Jr.!" Bowser yelled from afar as he spew fire from his mouth to Samus and Mario who dodged the attack. Bowser was then hit on his head by Flip Kick from Chris who appeared from his back and landed in front of him.

"...My god! I did that?" Chris asked surprised.

"Yeah!" Bowser said before he grabbed the World Traveler. "And I did this!" Bowser began to bite the World Traveler several times before Samus fired a Charged Shot to the king of the Koopas and saved Chris, who landed on the floor, panting heavily.

"T-thanks..." Chris muttered in pain.

"Just be more careful," Samus said. "Don't try to use close range attacks if you know that he'll grab you like he did before."

"...U-understood..."

"Hello?!" Bowser called out as he punched a spiny bush that slammed into Samus and pushed her back. Chris quickly ran to Bowser but the spiny bush from before didn't return but then it did, stricking his back before he fell to the floor. "Mwhahahahahaha!!!"

"...At...this...rate..." Chris panted heavily while he was on the floor. "...I'm...going...to...die..."

"Say your prayers!" Bowser said as he lifted a foot above Chris.

"God, please bless my friends, especially Lucario because he is totall-"

"NOT LITERALLY!" Bowser yelled as he put down his foot...that missed Chris because he was grabbed by a grapple that came from Samus.

"Are you sure you can keep on?" Samus asked.

"Definitely..." Chris said breathing heavily. "I won't...be a burden...I promise..."

"...Fine." Samus said before she quickly pulled Chris to her to evade Bowser (who turned into a big boulder) and rolled around the planetoid.

"Now's our chance!" Mario yelled as he used a Star Spin on a spiny bush that blasted off to Bowser's face and made him spin on his shell around.

Though that affected everyone's fight as well...

Charizard was shown stopping Yoshi's stomach before gathering flames in his mouth. "BURN!" Charizard yelled.

Then...

"UAH!" Charizard yelled once Bowser slammed into himself and made him all back, thus setting Yoshi free.

Luigi (from nowhere) came using Luigi Tornado to land only 1 hit, followed by a stronger one that pushed Charizard to the air. "...You're ACTUALLY fighting now?" Geno asked surprised.

Luigi blushed and played with his fingers. "Y-yeah?"

"LOOK OUT!"

"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Luigi screamed once Charizard used Flamethrower behind him as the green plumber was being burned.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno shouted as he fired a slicing ring that crossed Charizard...but it didn't do massive damage. "Rats, it doesn't work on him."

"You'll pay!" Charizard yelled as he dashed to Geno. The pupper blocked his face before Charizard used Fly to deal an uppercut of fire with his head, pushing the puppet away.

"I've got him!" Olimar yelled as a Blue Pikmin was grabbing Dedede from escaping.

"How the heck is this little goofball grabbin' me?!" Dedede asked as he looked behind him and found C. Falcon about to land a Falcon Punch on him. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"PUNCH!... Damn!" C. Falcon cursed as he hit Bowser instead.

Bowser just spun between the king and the pilot that punched him in the right moment. Bowser felt extremely dizzy as he went away, spinning like crazy before Dedede kicked the Pikmin away, hit Olimar with a small charged Jet Hammer and kicked C. Falcon away. "Phew, I was almost dead... Don't do that again!" Dedede demanded.

"Ha! Heh! Ha! Ha! Yah!" Jr. struck his paintbrush down and kicked both Star Fox members away by spinning around and using them as floors. "C'mon! Are you even going to try and land a hit on me?" Jr. taunted.

"Damn..." Falco panted. "There's not a single opening we can find..."

"Keep...trying..." Fox breathed heavily. "I know there is something that we're ignoring completely..."

"Ha! That's a laugh!" Jr. said. "Nothing is going to let you attack me at all. NOTHI-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Bowser came from nowhere and slammed right into his son, pushing Jr. to the floor as he hopped several times along the floor before his face remained on the floor.

"D-dammit..." Jr. muttered before he looked up. "I won't let the mistakes of my dad distract me from this figh-" he was interrupted as Falco grabbed him from the neck. "H-hey! Let me go!"

"After this," Falco said before he hit Jr.'s stomach several times using his right knee. "And this." Falco tossed Jr. to the air where he was shot 3 times by Falco's Blaster.

But the attack didn't end there. Fox jumped 2 times to reach the small Bowser and started to land a 5-hit combo while he spun and kicked Jr. away, but Bowser Jr. quickly flipped and landed on the floor, panting heavily as he put his little mask over his mouth.

"What were you saying?" Fox asked raising an eyebrow with a grin.

"You..." Bowser Jr. panted. "Once I...put this mask on...you're going to tremble in fear! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Jr. yelled as he charged at them.

"Huaaah!" Mario used a Star Spin to knock Bowser away, stopping all the mad spinning on him but by hurting him. "We're doing great. Keep it up like that!"

"Speak..." Chris panted. "For...yourself..."

"...Oh, sorry."

"It's...okay..."

"Damn you 3!" Bowser yelled as he did a high jump and stomped the floor, creating a red shockwave that paralyzed Mario, except for Samus and Chris who jumped in time. However, Bowser kept pounding the planetoid several times, damaging everyone else who didn't evade the rings of electricity. "MWHAHAHAHAHAHA! How'd you like that?!"

"IDIOT!" Charizard and Dedede yelled.

"We were on the way of those lasers!" Charizard grunted.

"P-P-P-P-Papa!" Jr. yelled. "W-w-w-why'd you do that for?!"

"Crap!" Bowser cursed before a Super Missile exploded on his back. "Hey! Don't cheat like I do!"

"Duh!" Chris said annoyed as Samus chuckled a little bit.

Everyone recovered their composures and regained their movement.

"You know," Samus began to Chris. "You should change jobs and train that one later, just to be safe."

"...I...guess..." Chris said as he changed to his Monk job.

Now, this was a job that he haven't used yet. Chris was now wearing a blue gi with a white shirt underneath with long sleeves. He wore black gloves, black pants and sandals with a black belt on his...belt. He even was wearing a blue bandana on his forehead.

"..." Chris looked at himself. "...I feel like a little amount of strength got into me..."

"Good," Samus nodded. "Because here he comes."

"What?" Chris asked before Bowser rammed himself at the 2 and crushed Chris underneath him. "H-hey! S-stop the crushing thing on me!"

"Away!" Mario yelled as he used a Star Spin on a nearby spiny bush to push Bowser out of the way. "Chris, are you still fighting?"

"O-of course..." Chris twitched in pain. "I can fight..."

"Oh, sure," Bowser chuckled. "One more attack until you go down, kid."

"...Kid?!" Chris repeated angrily. "Okay, I'm so pissed off right now. You're really going to regret that! YAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Chris charged at Bowser, who merely chuckled and remained at his position.

"Pfft, if you're going to lift me then go ahead, because it's not going to happen." Bowser said nodding with closed eyes.

"To be sincere," Samus began. "He is lifting you, in fact..."

"..." Bowser looked down where Chris was struggling a little bit to hold him. "Put me down!"

"W-with pleasure!" Chris yelled as he tossed Bowser down to the floor with a bit of force, dealing a good amount of damage.

"AAHH!" Bowser yelled before glaring at Chris. "Y-you littl-"

Bowser was interrupted as Samus used her Screw Attack behind him, pulling him inside a spinning ball that sliced his stomach several times before landing back on the floor.

"...Grrr..." Bowser grunted angrily as he looked up. "Time to change places!" Bowser yelled as he stomped on the floor and pulled everyone to a close planetoid. This planetoid contained sling plants and not much else. "Try this!" Bowser yelled as he jumped high and got covered into 2 big spiky shells that struck the floor and rolled around.

"O-oh no!" Mario yelled as he was crushed under the spiny ball.

"It's easy to dodge him like that," Samus said as she sidestepped out from Bowser's way. "What th-"

Bowser quickly turned towards her and crushed the bounty hunter under his weight as he continued his path around.

"S-Samus!" Chris yelled worried.

"We're...fine..." Samus muttered weakly.

"UGH!" Geno grunted as Charizard shook him with his fangs entering his wooden arm. "S-stop this!"

"Yeah!" Twink said as he flailed his little hands and slammed himself on Charizard's head, releasing Geno in the process before Charizard shot a nasty glare to him. "Y-yikes! He's ugly with capital letters!"

"BRUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!" Charizard roared.

"!!!" Twink gasped and quickly hid inside Geno's cape.

"Such heartless soul shouldn't be allowed to wish." Geno said with a glare to Charizard.

Charizard crossed his arms. "He was annoying, so why not?"

"Heheheh, funny you ask that..."

"Wha-HEY!" Charizard's eyes widened once he was pulled inside Yoshi's mouth. Yoshi then turned the dragon Pokémon into an egg that shook several times before Charizard broke out, fairly disgusted.

"He was annoying, so why not?" Yoshi asked as Charizard grunted.

"Y-you stupid excuse for a dinosaur!" Charizard said angrily.

"I'm a YOSHI." Yoshi corrected him.

"Aren't Yoshis technically dinosaurs?" Luigi asked.

"...Er...we're Yoshis!" Yoshi protested.

"Who in their sane mind cares about that?!" Charizard asked before he spew a long trail of flames out from his mouth. "Heheheheheheh..." Charizard chuckled, stopped his attack and smirked evily. "ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Charizard roared loudly as a rainbow aura exploded on him, giving him the power of the Final Smash.

"Oh no..." Geno shook his head slowly. "...This isn't going to turn out well..."

Charizard concentrated a big deal of fire inside himself as many little flames began to get out from his mouth before he roared to the sky with a huge formation of fire that covered the whole planetoid. The Smashers stopped fighting and looked above before the flames of the Fire Pokémon descended quickly and burned them all greatly, yelling in extreme pain as Charizard grinned evily.

Blast Burn

Engulf your enemies with the strongest heat of an inferno. Deals great fire damage to all enemies if they get caught.

"UGH!" Charizard dropped on his knees and panted heavily.

"...I..." Luigi muttered. "...Can't fight...anymore..."

"Be...strong..." Geno muttered weakly as he managed to stand up. "It looks...like...he weakened himself..."

"Indeed, he did," Kawashima began from Chris's pocket. "Using Blast Burn is very risky, since it tires the user out. Serves him right for not being one of Red's Pokémon like he should and use that attack as his Final Smash."

"...S-so?" Chris asked weakly.

"...I don't think Charizard is going to last for much longer..."

"...Then it's an advantage..." Geno said.

"H-how's everyone else?" Samus asked.

"Burned..." C. Falcon and Olimar replied.

"I'm...okay..." Fox responded.

"Me...too..." Falco responded.

"..." Chris couldn't manage to speak but he was able to stand up.

"I'm...fine..." Yoshi said panting.

"I can...still...fight..." Geno muttered.

"I don't feel so good...but I can keep on..." Mario responded.

"Fine under cape!" Twink yelled perfectly fine from Geno's cape.

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!" Dedede laughed proudly. "We're almost gonna win against ya! I bet you didn't expect that, did ya?! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

"Heeheeheeheeh!" Jr. chuckled and pointed at Fox and Falco. "I betcha you can't even breath anymore!"

"Admit it..." Charizard panted. "...This is...your end..."

"...No..." Chris muttered weakly as he changed to his Fonic Hymn User job. "...I'm going to...to use this...to turn the tables...at our favor..."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Bowser laughed evily. "Yeah, right! Like a stupid kid like you is going to turn the tables on us!"

Now, Chris really got pissed.

"DIE!" Bowser yelled as he transformed into his rolling shell and charged towards Chris.

"Chris! Get out! You won't resist the damage anymore!" Mario yelled.

"(...I...)" Chris thought as Bowser dangerously rolled towards him. "(...I can...turn the tables...)"

"NOW, DIE AS I'VE SAID BEFOR-"

"That's enough!" Chris yelled as a rainbow aura covered him while it pushed Bowser away with a force that appeared once the aura appeared on the World Traveler. "U-ugh... Q-quick..."

"Grrrrrr!!!" Bowser grunted annoyed before turning back to his spike ball form. "Now this is it!"

"Hope you have fun in hell!" Jr. said as he raised his paintbrush above Fox and Falco, who looked down and closed their eyes.

"Little pipsqueak is gonna di-ie!" Dedede chanted happily as he lifted his hammer above Olimar and C. Falcon, who were laying down painfully on the floor.

"...U-ugh..." Charizard slowly gathered flames in his mouth as Yoshi, Geno and Luigi gasped at this once they couldn't move for the damage they received.

Bowser dangerously rushed after Chris, who panted heavily every second as he concentrated his magic.

"T-t-t-thou who wouldst take revenge, c-c-c-c-carve here thy holy seal... ECLAIR DE LARMES!!!"

Chris successfully made a holy glyph underneath Bowser that shot out slicing lights that stopped him and damaged him.

"Begin..." Chris said closing his eyes. "O light that rains down on heaven and earth, bring my enemies to their destined annihilation!"

The time seemed to stop for everyone except for the World Traveler. The villains only managed to turn their eyes at the extreme shining lights that appeared above and underneath the planetoid.

"FORTUNE ARC!!!" Chris yelled as streams of light crossed the whole planetoid, damaging all the villains who screamed in pain.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Charizard let out a last roar before he fainted, defeated.

"At least..." Bowser twitched in pain. "This...is over..."

"Oh, really?" Samus asked as she looked over to Chris, who wasn't finished with his Final Smash as he put both hands on his neck before opening them back, releasing healing and damaging waves of light that healed the Smashers, but damaged the villains with more damage than before.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Bowser yelled in pain with Dedede and Jr..

"And grant us the divine protection of thine brilliance!" Chris chanted with an echoing voice before the glyphs disappeared and everything went back to normal as he stood normally. His wounds were almost gone completely.

"D-dammit..." Dedede muttered in pain. "N-now I know why is that kid so dangerous..."

"Hellooo?" C. Falcon tapped Dedede's shoulder.

"What?" Dedede asked annoyed.

"Go, get him!" Olimar yelled as he tossed several Pikmins to the king(?) and started to bang him around his body, making Dedede scream in pain as he tried to get them off.

"That was an excellent comeback," Samus said to Chris, who blushed a little. "Well done."

"T-thanks," Chris nodded embarrassed. "T-to be honest, I had this Final Smash for an emergency...but I can't use it again..."

"Huh? Why?"

"Allow me to explain," Kawashima began. "Only 1 Final Smash per person is allowed to be used. Chris used his Final Smash but he can't use another one with the Over Limit gauge anymore, but you all can," Kawashima shifted his eyes. "However though, you can use your Final Smash again if you have a Smash Ball..." the professor whispered.

"...Riiight..." Chris said nodding. "I still have that Smash Ball..."

"Then use it when it's necessary." Samus said.

"Be careful, a Final Smash doesn't mean you'll kill the boss with one hit, just damage him even more than normal," Kawashima explained. "Oh, but Samus can use hers twice."

"...Why twice?" Samus asked.

"Oh ho ho ho, you'll see." Kawashima said with a wink.

"...You're creeping me out."

"GRRRR!!!" Jr. stomped the floor several times annoyed. "C'mon, people! We're about to win...and you're about to lose?! What the heck is wrong here?!"

As the little Bowser continued to rant, Fox and Falco noticed something very vital that was so blatantly obvious to the smart people who....you 2 stop glaring at me! You're supposed to be fighting!

...

That's better.

"Say, Fox..." Falco wondered as he narrowed his eyes at the Magic Paintbrush. "What if we take that off from him? Won't that make him more useless?"

"That was exactly what I was thinking." Fox said with a nod. Both nodded to each other and carefully walked to Bowser Jr..

"We're almost gonna win! You better make my Papa proud of you or else I'll tear you down to shreds...and..." Bowser Jr. noticed that his paintbrush was gone. "M-MY PAINTBRUSH! W-where is it?!"

Falco whistled and Bowser Jr. looked at him with shocked eyes. "Oh, you mean this?" Falco asked sarcastically with a grin before Bowser Jr. went after him, but, since taller people are, as a fact, taller, Bowser Jr. couldn't reach his beloved paintbrush since Falco kept him away.

"MY PAINTBRUSH!" Bowser Jr. flailed his arms to no avail. "GIMME MY PAINTBRUSH! I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WAAAAAAAANT IIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

Falco rolled his eyes. "(Stupid, whiny, little, Bowser...)"

"GIMME BACK MY PAINTBRUUUUUUUUUUUUSH!!!" Bowser Jr. cried loudly.

"U-ugh..." Bowser grunted in pain as Mario, Samus and Chris (in his Pikmin Captain job with 3 Pikmins) had him cornered. "You're not...going to take me ou-"

"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Bowser covered his ears (if he had any) from the loud cry from his son. "JUNIOR! STOP CRYING, I'M BUSY!"

"THEY DON'T WANNA GIMME MY PAINTBRUUUUUUUUUUSH! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" Bowser roared annoyed.

"(M-my goodness...he has a very strong voice...)" Mario thought while he blocked his ears.

"PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Do it, Fox!" Falco yelled (twitching from the loud cries).

"Shut-up!"

"H-HUH?!" Bowser Jr. stopped his tears and looked at the right side before he was hit very fataly on his head by a fully charged attack by Fox's kick. The small Bowser blasted off to the sky before he fell all the way down where Bowser was cornered. He sat up and blinked several times, finding a small tooth close to him that he took it.

"Finally..." Bowser sighed.

"...UUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Bowser Jr. cried EVEN louder than before.

"D-DAMMIT! WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!"

"THEY BROKE A FANG FROM ME!!!" Bowser Jr. showed his dad a small fang that fell off from his mouth. "AND IT WAS MY SHARPEST ONE!!!"

"H-how dare they!!!" Bowser said utterly enraged.

"GET THAT FUR FACE!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Bowser did what he needed to do...

Several minutes later...

Back where the airship holding the princesses, Bowser Jr. was there with tape covering his mouth as he sobbed silently over the loss of his fang.

"...Poor thing..." Peach said as she rubbed Bowser Jr.'s head.

"(...So, that is the kind heart you have...)" Rosalina thought with amusement.

"Hmmmmmm..." Bowser Jr. cried some tears.

Back at the planetoid...

"Now, where were we?" Bowser asked, dusting off his hands. "Oh, yeah... U-ugh..." Bowser stood up with his right leg. "You're not...going to defeat me... I will...rule the galaxies!"

"Well..." Mario rubbed his head. "You're done for as of now"

"Huh?! Why?!" Bowser asked furiously.

Mario simply pointed at Dedede, who apparently was himself VS. Olimar, C. Falcon, Yoshi, Geno, Luigi, Fox and Falco, and obviously, he wasn't winning.

"OWW!" Dedede complained after Geno shot a beam to his stomach. "Y-you imbeci-OWW! S-st-OOW! Attackin' m-OOW! Like tha-OWW!"

Music stops

"...Curse my ideas..." Bowser muttered once Dedede fell on his back, defeated as the others rejoined the 3 and cornered Bowser all together. "...NO!" Bowser stomped the floor. "I can't lose like this! Not against you!" he pointed at Chris, "a stupid kid who cosplays," he pointed at Mario, "my eternal rival," he pointed at Samus, "a man-armor."

"I'm a woman inside a suit!" Samus yelled annoyed.

Bowser pointed at C. Falcon, "a pilot perv," he pointed at Geno, "that puppet guy," he pointed at Twink, "that little star that foiled my plans once," he pointed at Yoshi, "that dinosaur thing," he pointed at Olimar, "that random Mario clone."

"H-hey!" Olimar said annoyed.

"And mostly..." Bowser pointed at Fox and Falco. "Those 2 imbeciles, who not only broke a fang from my dear super cool awesome son, but also stopped me from turning themselves and the monkey without pants into trophies for Master Hand, because the stupid bird brain appeared out of nowhere and knocked the Subspace Gun out from my hands!"

Tales of Symphonia 2: Behind Us!

"...What?" Fox and Falco asked confused.

Chris wondered for a moment before gasping silently. "B-Bowser, y-you don't happen to know..."

Bowser rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Pfft, don't tell me you all forgot what happened during the whole Subspace thing! Geez! Do I have to remind you everything?!"

"Wait," Samus began. "What do you mean that you have to remind all of us what happened about an event that we didn't even take part of?"

"Pss, Chris..." Kawashima whispered.

"Yes?" Chris whispered back.

"I-I'm not sure if they should learn what happened during the SSE...you know, the whole mind-erasing part that Master Hand put on all the Smashers before returning them to their worlds after the Melee tourny ended?"

At this, Luigi's eyes widened. "MASTER HAND ERASED OUR MINDS!!!"

"Oh, great going, jackass!" Chris said annoyed. "You HAD to say that where Luigi was near!"

"S-sorry! I-I didn't see him! You don't know what I can't see from here!" Kawashima said as Luigi ducked in confusion.

"Wait...ugh..." C. Falcon fell on one knee and put a hand over his helmet. "I...I think I...remember something..."

"Ugh..." Samus fell as well. "My head...is...trying to reveal something to me..."

"Are you...alright?" Fox asked.

"No..." Olimar spun his helmet around himself, on the floor. "My head suddenly had this headache..."

"...Ugh!" Falco grabbed his head with his right hand. "I...I'm trying to...remember something vital..."

"M-mama mia..." Mario ducked once he saw Yoshi. "...Why do I...have this vision...about a fight I had...before?"

"Oww oww oww..." Yoshi ducked as well. "Something is...trying to reveal itself...inside my head..."

"...What IS happening here?" Geno asked confused at whole situation.

"I-I don't know!" Twink said worried. "T-they just dropped to the floor, and it looks like they got headaches!"

"...How come Fox didn't get one?" Chris asked as he looked at the vulpine.

Fox lifted his shoulders a bit, indicating that he didn't know...

...Then he randomly looked at the airship...

...Where Peach and Rosalina were, along with Bowser Jr....

"...Phew, I thought something was going t-" Chris was interrupted.

Not only Fox looked at the princesses, but he looked at something that Peach was holding delicately...

...A cup of fresh tea with a mini-plate below that somehow looked STRONGLY familiar...

"Ugh!" Fox put a hand on his forehead and fell on his right knee.

Chris looked at Peach. "Peach! Why are you doing with that cup of tea at a time like this?!"

"S-sorry!" Peach yelled. "I-I thought it was a good time to take a little sip!"

"Aw, please!"

"So..." Bowser continued. "...You all remember?"

"...I..." Yoshi began. "I don't... I can't..."

"...Pfft," Bowser rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I was the only one who remembers the whole thing!"

"Wait," Chris looked at Bowser. "What do you mean you remember something that..." Chris stopped and thought again. "...That they didn't take part of?"

"Oh, I...know it all...or remember it all very well..." Bowser said as he stood up. "Everyone here, except for you, the puppet and the star, took part of the Subspace invasion, where many of us opposed."

"...Can you go on?"

"I'm afraid I can't!" Bowser said as Chris saw Dedede and Charizard walking to Bowser as they put their hands on his shoulders. "You're going to die in that oversized magma inferno that I created, where I'll reign the universe with iron fist!"

"...But you can't fight anymore!" Geno said. "We pretty much defeated you!"

The trio of villains chuckled evily. "Oh, you defeated us, alright..." Charizard said.

"But..." Dedede continued. "...You haven't defeated it yet..."

"...What is it?" Chris asked confused.

Bowser pressed a button and everyone except the trio were trapped inside Launch Stars. "W-what are you doing?!" Twink asked.

"We're sending all of you to fight it, who is so going to own you big time for what've you done so far to us!" Bowser explained as he laughed evily, then, everyone's Launch Stars spun before blasting all of them inside the magma costellation that had a Subspace Bomb as a planet.

"MAAAAAAAAAAARIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Peach yelled worried.

"(Please...let them be safe...)" Rosalina thought worried.

The Smashers were being blasted off inside the magma planet by one of the 3 gigantic holes from it. Everyone managed to open their eyes before they all, one by one, bumped into the planet, rolled above it and stopped as they panted and breathed heavily.

Music stops

Subspace Bomb Planet

"..." Mario sat up slowly as he rubbed his hat. "...What was that about?"

"I...don't know..." Yoshi said confused. "...But...did we really take part of something in the past?"

"Impossible..." Fox said. "We don't remember anything like that...but..."

"Yet..." C. Falcon continued. "...I have some kind of memory forgotten..."

"S-something that we really forgot...a-and Master Hand erasing our minds? I-is that real?" Luigi trembled.

"I-I just hope that was just random talking..." Olimar said, doing the same as Luigi.

"But I have to ask..." Falco looked at Chris. "...Why were you acting a little bit weird when Bowser said all that to us?"

"..." Chris gulped. "...I-I think I was a little bit worried..."

"..." everyone stared at each other before standing up.

"Okay..." Geno dusted off his cape. "The main question for now is..." he looked around. "...Where are we?"

"Inside a costellation of magma," Samus said, scanning the area. "We're trapped here, unfortunately..."

"It's...hot..." Twink panted before looking down. "...A-AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Everyone looked down at the big countdown of the Subspace Bomb (that was the planet itself) and gasped in unison. The bomb was set to explode in 1 hour and they looked around and found 2 R.O.B.s stuck as well.

"O-oh no..." Twink gulped. "Y-you don't mean..."

"If this thing blows up," C. Falcon began. "We're going to die if we stay here!"

"...Actually..." Mario rubbed his hat. "...I don't think this is going to kill us... I have a feeling that this isn't a normal bomb..."

"...Now that you mention it..." Samus began. "...I kind of know something else."

"I haven't seen an actual explosion by these bombs before, to be honest," Fox explained. "But still, something feels awfully familiar all of a sudden..."

Chris shook his head several times. "L-let's not get sidetracked by such details like that. I know that was just Bowser being stupid and all that."

"..." Fox narrowed his eyes at Chris.

"...S-something is on my face? Heheheh..."

"You know, Chris...I think you're hiding something from us..."

"N-no!" Chris shook his head. "W-why would I hide something from all of you?"

"...Maybe is just me..." Fox closed his eyes and sighed.

"(PHEW!)" Chris let out a big sigh inside his mind.

"...W-wait..." Olimar looked around. "...I-I can hear something..."

"Hear what? Apart from the lava that makes those brewing sounds?" C. Falcon asked.

"...N-no..." Olimar focused even more. "...I think...something big...is coming here..."

Everyone looked at each other before remaining in perfect silence.

"...Yes..." Geno whispered. "There's definitely something coming to us...and it's big."

"That faint sound sounds like...wings flapping..." Mario said.

"...And the air is making sounds as well..." Yoshi said.

"...B-but what could it be?" Luigi asked. "The robots?"

"The robots," Falco repeated as he looked at one to a side of the planet, its arms attached to the bomb. "Those machines are the mystery of how they activate the bombs."

"Because they must have a material that can't be found anywhere el-" Samus was interrupted.

They all suddenly covered their ears as a extreme screech sounded inside the magma costellation. Most of them dropped to the floor and gritted their teeth in pain before the screech came to a halt.

"Now that thing is closer than before." Geno said as he opened his eyes...and found a big shadow.

"Huh? A shadow?" Mario asked.

They all turned around...

...And they found it.

"...You..." Samus muttered with anger.

"...I-it can't be! What is that monster doing in here?!" Chris said.

"I-it's a monster!" Olimar yelled.

"Big!" Yoshi commented by ducking.

"A-and it's purple!" Luigi yelled.

"..." everyone noticed that what Luigi said didn't make any sense whatsoever and looked at it.

"...So this is the origin of those screeches earlier..." Samus said as she prepared her arm cannon. "...Ridley..."

VS. Ridley

The pterodactyl and Space Pirate leader, Ridley itself, screeched in response as the Smashers gasped but then took fighting stances afterward.

"T-that monster was the one who did those screeches?!" Yoshi asked with a gulp.

"Not only Ridley was doing those screeches, but it was also spying us from some of the galaxies." Samus said.

"For what?" Chris asked sweating.

"To attack at the appropiate moment, but it wanted to do it when we were alone without anything else bothering us."

"Or maybe..." C. Falcon wondered. "Ridley was trying to take Samus out."

"U-ugh..." Samus stammered a little but then motioned at Chris. "Chris, let me use that."

"W-what's that and why is the people not mentioning what they mean this day?!" Chris asked.

"The Smash Ball. I know we can use items whenever we want." Samus said as she took out mentioned item, which everyone looked surprised and then glared at Chris.

"...Oh, you know perfectly why I didn't tell you, so don't blame me!"

"Can I use it?" Samus asked as Ridley roared furiously. "I need to take that thing down once and for all."

"You know, it's not going to go down "once and for all" since it'll be bac-" Geno stopped once Samus aimed her arm cannon at him without even looking. "Seriously, why you people tend to use violence to resolve anythi-"

Geno was blasted off by a super missile on the face.

"...Geno?" Twink asked worried.

"...Never...make a girl mad..." Geno muttered. "...Oww..."

"Screw it," Samus said as she shot a Charged Shot at the Smash Ball and gained its powers. "It's time to end this."

Ridley let out a huge roar before Samus's Power Suit began to shine brightly before a huge beam of energy came out from her arm cannon and covered Ridley completely at full force. It roared loudly in pain as Samus stopped and dropped to one knee, panting heavily.

"Samus!" C. Falcon yelled.

Something seemed to overload Samus's Power Suit and it shone brightly...

Music stops

...And you guessed it. Her suit was gone, but now she wore the Zero Suit.

"M-MAMA MIA!" Luigi blocked his nose for some reason.

"HOLY..." C. Falcon blocked his nose as well.

"...Oh boy..." Olimar commented with wide eyes.

"..." Yoshi couldn't speak more.

"Twink, look another way!" Geno said as he turned Twink to an opposite direction, though the star didn't have anything weird.

"Why?" Twink asked.

"...Oh, you people!" Samus said ashamed.

(And since writing ZZS or Zero Suit Samus is kind of long and useless, we're not going to say that and write her name only).

"I can't believe you all!" Samus said.

Fox (blocked nose) glared at her. "Hey, who decided to hav-"

"Dare to finish that sentence and I'll lash you down." Samus said coldly.

Fox grumbled, then looked at Chris and Falco...perfectly fine. "...How come you 2 aren't affected?"

Falco rolled his eyes. "I told you, I'm not interested in girls anymore! I let that part of myself out."

"And he totally did," Chris said nodding. "Oh, and I'm not interested in girls. That's why I'm not affected."

"WHAT?!" C. Falcon asked. "W-what kind of teenager are you?! Teens like you should be drooling over he-OWW!"

Samus prepared another paralyzer shot. "Please, don't make me hurt you."

"A-as I was saying, you're supposed to like girls ESPECIALLY at your age!"

Chris pouted a little. "Hey! I'm not like the normal people at my school who can't even stop kissing girls every time I turn around!"

"You should be like that!"

"WHAT?!" Chris asked enraged. "T-that's IT!" Chris changed to his Scholar job and looked through the pages as he held a Super Mushroom. "I am going to crush you down at TRIPLE size for saying such a horrible and disgusting personality trait I detest so much!"

"Wait," Mario interrupted. "Why don't you use that on Ridley?"

"Ridley?" everyone repeated before Ridley (apparently pissed off for being ignored) roared loudly, thus also telling that he was still living.

"N-no!" Samus said. "That beam was supposed to defeat it!"

"Maybe it was not enough..." Chris said.

"I told you," Kawashima rolled his eyes. "Your Final Smashes aren't 1-hit KOs! You have to fight it normally!"

"...Okay." Chris nodded with a serious face.

VS. Ridley

"...What the?!" Chris looked shocked once he found the pages to use Item Lore on the Super Mushroom, which he decided to store it.

"Hey! You should've used it on me!" Falco complained.

"I-I cannot!"

"Why you "cannot"?"

Chris flipped many pages. "I-it says here that I should have more experience in order to unlock certain items to be used with Item Lore...meaning that I cannot multiply the effects of the Super Mushroom!"

"...What else is in there?" Yoshi asked.

"Not good..." Chris flipped many pages where he couldn't read the complicated spells. "Many items are not available to be used with Item Lore... Only the most pathetic items can be used with that... The Banana Peel, Timer and...why a Mr. Saturn?" Chris asked utterly confused as he changed to his Pikmin Captain job. "Sorry... I guess we should fight it normally."

"Good." Mario said simply.

"...That's all? Why?"

"IT'S FIRING ITS LASER!" Mario yelled as everyone looked back at Ridley, who shot an enormous energy beam that collided with the Subspace Bomb and pushed them around it. Samus hit her head with 1 of the R.O.B.s and Yoshi accidentaly hit his arm with one of their heads.

"...Do we...have a chance?" Yoshi asked as he stood up and rubbed the spot where he hit himself by accident.

"Not if we don't have a strategy..." Samus said.

"Strategy..." Chris wondered.

"You have one?"

"No!" Chris said in panic as he grabbed a White Pikmin out. "I'd say go all-out on it!"

Ridley roared furiously and flew away from the planetoid.

"I kno-"

"Shoot it down!" Fox yelled as the ones who had long-range weapons began to fire (or throw in Olimar's case) projectiles.

"H-hey! I was going to say tha-aw, screw it!" Chris tossed several Pikmins to Ridley...which didn't reach it, since it was far away. This also meant that Olimar was useless as well.

"W-we should wait for it to get closer..." Olimar said to Chris.

"Dammit!" Samus cursed. "My Paralyzer's shots can't reach it. The shots can't even go further than 4 feet..."

"It's useless for me," Fox said as he put his Blaster back to its holdster. "My shots can't go that further either."

"My bullets can reach it." Geno said as he fired several bullets at the pterodactyl.

"So that's my area as well then." Falco said with a grin as his shots were able to reach Ridley.

"But at least land one on it!" Yoshi complained as every shot failed to touch Ridley.

"Oh, I'd like to see you do it better than me." Falco said as he rolled his eyes.

Yoshi did the same thing, walked to Falco, ducked to see his Blaster and simply moved it further to the left as Falco fired a shot and landed on one of Ridley's wings. "There." Yoshi said.

"...I hate you." Falco muttered.

"...U-uh-oh..." Luigi backed away.

"What?" Chris asked.

"I-I don't think it liked that shot..."

"Why?"

"LOOK!" Luigi yelled as Ridley was shown flying to them with its claws pointing at them.

"It's going to grab one of us! Get out of the way!" Samus yelled as everyone quickly dispersed.

However, Ridley shot a fire blast that exploded right next to Samus, which made her back away before one of Ridley's claws grabbed her and took her away from the planetoid.

"SAMUS!" everyone yelled before Geno and Falco returned to fire their shots at it.

"UGH!" Samus twitched in pain as the claw increased its grip on her, slowly crushing her body.

"We have to help her or else she'll die!" Mario said in panic.

"Long-range magic, Chris!" Kawashima suggested.

"R-right!" Chris changed to his ISOKFMG (insane long job's name) and called forth Tokunaga before he spun his adquired staff that appeared on his right hand, above his head. "O twisted door of distortion, open wide!"

"Hurry!" Kawashima said in panic. "She won't resist for much longer in that suit!"

"NEGATIVE GATE!!!"

A twisted portal of darkness appeared on Ridley's way and it began to suck the pterodactyl inside.

"Yeah...it's working!" deja vu for Falco, I-I mean, Falco said.

"...Oh no!" Mario said.

Chris got annoyed. "What is it, Captain Panic?!"

Chris looked at Ridley dodging the twisted portal as he spun around it and kept increasing its grip.

"HELP!" Samus cried out in pain.

"THE HELL, MAN!" C. Falcon yelled angrily at Chris. "DO SOMETHING FAST!"

"S-stop yelling at me!" Chris said angrily (as Tokunaga did or motioned the same thing).

"She's going to die! Oh man oh man oh man oh god!" Luigi panicked.

"Quick!" Fox hasted.

"I-I'm doing the best I can do!" Chris said as he spun his staff as magic glowed beneath him.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno threw a fast yellow ring that went soaring the air towards Ridley, but the monster dodged it. "Damn it!"

"Huh?" Chris said confused as he shone a little before a second could pass. "I'll smash you with a giant hammer!"

"Then do it!" Yoshi yelled.

"MIRACLE HAMMER!!!"

A big hammer of light appeared and spun above Ridley before it slammed itself hard on its head, causing Ridely to roar in pain as it released Samus, who got caught on C. Falcon's arms in time.

"Samus!" C. Falcon called. "Samus, tell me you're still breathing!"

Samus coughed some blood, but she wiped it out and go off from C. Falcon's arms. "I'm...not feeling good..."

"Don't worry!" Chris said as he changed to his Fonic Hymn User (thus disappearing Tokunaga). "I'll heal yo-"

"WATCH OUT!" Luigi yelled as Ridley came from below the planet and sliced Chris's face with its claws.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH----------!!!"

"...Huh?" Yoshi looked at Chris, who was apparently screaming in pain as several cuts appeared on his face. "...Chris, you're not yelling at all..."

"!!!" Chris tried to yell but he couldn't do anything.

"...Oh my god..." Kawashima began. "...Chris was silenced...with Silence?"

"Silence?" Twink asked worried.

Kawashima nodded inside the DS. "Silence is an ailment that prevents you from using your mouth, thus cancelling magic attacks from being used. If it is used on some on you, your special attacks won't be used unless you're cured."

"Like my Falcon Punch?" C. Falcon asked.

"Exactly."

"!!!" Chris tried to cast a spell to heal Samus, but the magic that once appeared didn't appear. "...!!! !!! !!!..." Chris tried and tried, but he couldn't speak. "..." Chris looked down sadly.

"And if Chris is silenced...he won't change jobs as well." Kawashima finished the explanation.

"..." Chris seemed to sniff.

"...My god, this isn't looking so well..." Yoshi said worried.

"Isn't there any way to cure him?" Geno asked.

"There is," Kawashima said. "Chris bought a special ability that lets anyone, that is not him, heal status ailment when you knock down an enemy with a critical hit."

"And what else?" Twink asked.

"When you do, your right hand should glow a little, then you have to run to the one you want to cure and hit him with all your forces to heal him."

"...That sounds actually stupid," Fox said with an annoyed look. "Why hit Chris when we want to HEAL him?"

"Look, I didn't make these rules, Master Hand did."

"...But how are we going to knock Ridley down?" Yoshi asked as Ridley flew around the planetoid to prepare another attack. "That monster is just too big..."

"...Unless we lure it to one of us and land a hit." Falco suggested.

"Oh, gaining a critical hit is hard to achieve, since it'll only has 10 percent of happening. Depending how well you do, the healing hit will appear faster otherwise."

"...Just great." Mario said worried.

"We're officialy screwed and done for." Falco said with a frown.

"Oh, another thing," Kawashima went on. "Multiple hits have more chances to land a critical hit, so keep hitting Ridley until you knock it down."

Ridley roared loudly as it charged at them, with a wing ready to slice them. "H-hurry! It's coming!" Olimar yelled.

"Multiple hits..." C. Falcon wondered.

"MOVE OUT!" Yoshi yelled as everyone rolled out of the way from Ridley as it flew forward but then turned at them. "It's coming back again!"

"D-damn that monster..." Samus muttered as she coughed.

"Don't strain yourself..." Twink said worried.

"I'm...fine..." Samus said with a weak nod.

"Wait," C. Falcon looked at Samus. "I think I have an idea."

"...Huh?"

"Samus, can you use your Paralyzer gun to stun Ridley for a moment?"

"...Yes...but I don't know if it'll work, whatever you have in mind."

"Trust me. You have to land a small shot on Ridley to stun it long enough for me to land my fast-punches on its deformed body."

"Ridley is not immune against stun attacks," Kawashima explained. "It isn't weak against electricity, but to be stunned, it is."

"See? We have to give it a try to get you and Chris healed! Or do you want to lose against the monster who killed your parents?!"

"..." Samus closed her eyes.

"...That was pretty deep." Geno commented.

"And not so good." Yoshi added.

"Y-yeah..." Luigi nodded.

"..." Samus opened her eyes with a glare towards the pterodactyl, who roared furiously as it went after them again.

"It's coming back as always. Stun it!" C. Falcon said.

"..." Samus quickly stood up and charged at Ridley.

"The hell is she doing?!"

"She's going to get close to Ridley to then paralyze it?" Twink asked.

"Just as you said." Geno said.

Ridley roared enraged as it extended its claws from its feet to Samus. However, the bounty hunter used her Flip Kick and jumped high above the monster to struck down her right foot on its neck.

"No! You had to paralyze i-" Mario was interrupted as they all gasped when Samus pulled out her Paralyzer gun and struck it on Ridley's neck, electrocuting the flying dinosaur as it roared in pain and landed hard on the planetoid.

"Hurry!" Samus grunted as her weapon kept releasing electricity. "It won't hold on for much longer before it overcharges!"

"We have to attack it with everything we have. C'mon!" C. Falcon yelled as everyone charged at Ridley and soon enough, began to attack him around its body continuously without stopping.

"Keep attacking it!" Fox yelled as he grunted, kicking Ridley's left wing continuously. "We have to heal Chris so he can heal us back!"

Chris, who was standing several feet away, looked at everyone hitting the monster that he blinked several times as his eyes trembled in surprise.

"NOW!" C. Falcon dealt a fast and last punch on Ridley's face that the monster felt that it got pushed slightly. C. Falcon noticed a glow on his right fist as he clenched it and ran towards Chris. "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

PUNCH!!!

"OWW!" Chris yelled in pain as he backed away. "Thank you so much!"

"...Ouch," C. Falcon commented. "That hit was actually very strong, and you're still feeling fine?"

"Of course not!" Chris yelled angrily before he shook his head. "...Wait, why did I thank you like that? I was supposed to be angry but...the words just went out from my mouth..."

"Er..." Kawashima shifted his eyes. "...I think it was a small glitch that it got along the ability."

"...I'm so going to yell at that hand later..." Chris muttered angrily.

"LOOK OUT!" Olimar yelled as Ridley flapped its wings to push everyone away with the force of the wind, roared loudly and flew upwards.

"Hurry and cure Samus!" C. Falcon said.

"R-right!" Chris nodded as magic glowed below him. "(Why did Ridley silence me?... Ridley doesn't have that at all...unless...) Come forth, o illumination of life!... Healing Circle!"

A circle of holy light appeared under Samus and she slowly, but greatly, recovered her life back as she sighed in relief.

"That was so close..." Chris dropped to his knees. "...I'm exhausted..."

"Sadly," Yoshi said. "We haven't defeated Ridley yet..."

"...Where'd it go?" Geno asked before they all looked above and found Ridley entering inside the magma. "...Is it nuts?"

"It killed itself," Falco chuckled. "That was stupid."

"...I don't think it killed itself..." Mario said worried.

"W-why?" Luigi asked.

They managed to see a small, flaming dot that got increasing in size before they noticed that Ridley covered itself with magma while it roared furiously.

"Wait, the magma didn't kill it?" Yoshi asked confused.

"...We have to move out!" Samus yelled.

"Why?" C. Falcon asked.

"It got covered in magma just to drop it all on us!"

"...Okay..." Olimar began. "...Now that sounds like an awful idea..."

"...Isn't magma too hot and bad for us?" Luigi asked.

"Yes..." Twink said.

Ridley quickly dove at them but them came at full stop to push out the magma that leaked out its body and rained down on everyone, who yelled in pain as the hot liquid touched many parts of their bodies and twitched in pain before Ridley shot a charged blast from its mouth and fired it at Mario, who screamed in pain as his body bumped several times on the floor and stopped.

"...U...ugh..." Mario twitched in pain.

"Mario!" Luigi, Geno and Twink yelled worried.

"Chris, quick, see me!" Kawashima called out and Chris took him out, where the professor showed him what looked to be many meters with their names on the top of every single meter. "Everyone's life health is at a critical condition. If you get attacked, let's say, 4 more times, it's game over!"

"(...G-game...over?)" Chris thought as a shiver fell down his back. "T-then we're in danger to d-die?"

Kawashima nodded. "Or you attack or you get killed. That's your decision."

"R-Rosalina..." Yoshi muttered weakly as he slowly stood up. "...I...won't die...here..."

"I can't believe we're getting our heads handed to it..." Falco said as he grabbed his right arm. "I knew there was something wrong with this..."

"I suggest to use the items," Kawashima wondered for a moment. "Try to find a strategy to counterattack Ridley and exploit a weakness...which it doesn't have."

"Any other...advice?" Luigi asked.

"Oh yeah," Kawashima said. "Why not use your Combinated Final Smashes? Surely, they will come in handy..."

Chris looked at Olimar, who took a step back. "...I'll try to find new ones..." Chris said as he changed to his Pikmin Captain and pluck 3 Yellow Pikmins. "Olimar..."

"...O-okay..." Olimar played with his fingers. "...I-I'll fight again..."

"...Where is Ridley?" Mario asked.

Suddenly, the planetoid shook before Ridley came from down below, grinding its claws along the floor as it slammed itself to the Smashers, who yelled in pain as they were pushed back while Ridley took out to the air and roared in triumph.

"I...hate that monster..." Samus muttered in pain.

"...That does it..." Chris said. "Everyone, I have a strategy."

Everyone looked at Chris. "You do?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes," Chris nodded. "The only way to defeat Ridley is by taking it down, where we are going to go all-out on it."

"Okay," Mario nodded. "What do you have in mind?"

"Simple. Now, listen to me..."

Once Chris told them about his strategy, they all spreaded out around the planetoid.

"It's coming right to you, C. Falcon!" Chris yelled. "Try to latch on its neck!"

"Roger that." C. Falcon said as Ridley extended its claws at him.

"Use its legs as platforms to reach its neck!"

C. Falcon nodded and quickly jumped to Ridley's legs and used Raptor Boost to deal fire damage right on its neck. Ridley seemed to be fine after the attack and it slap the captain down, where he rolled to prevent the damage and stood on his left knee.

"I forgot a detail..." Samus said as she panted a little. "Ridley is strong against fire attacks..."

Chris facepalmed. "...Oh well, that's just a little detail."

"It's turning to us again!" Mario yelled as they saw Ridley turning towards the planetoid again.

"(Let's see. Think fast. Ridley is accelerating greatly this time...) Fire at will and slow it down with shots!" Chris ordered as Fox and Falco used their Blasters on it. "Olimar, start throwing Pikmins after I-"

A sudden feeling appeared...

"(...Olimar?)"

"(O-oh no, we're dead?!)" Olimar asked.

"(No... This sudden feeling indicates that we can use our attacks at the same time...)"

"(H-how does it work?)" Olimar asked confused.

Chris explained everything to Olimar.

"(H-hmm...)" Olimar nodded.

"(Incidentally, you know how, right?)"

"(I-it's funny, because I happen to know what to do...)"

"(Good... Do you want to try?)"

"(I-is this going to get rid of that monster?)"

"(...)" Chris gulped. "Let's find out... I'm worried, but we have to try."

"FALL BACK!" Mario yelled as Ridley kept descending to grab one of them with its claws.

"Wait, it's slowing down!" Falco yelled as Ridley's speed began to decrease.

"Olimar!" Chris yelled before Olimar ran to him.

"I-I'm ready, but please, LET'S DO SOMETHING!" Olimar panicked.

"One by one," Chris said as Olimar ducked and began to pluck Pikmin after Pikmin which he tossed above to let Chris grab them and toss them at Ridley, who roared as it stopped in the air and tried to shook them off. However, the Pikmins seemed to be stuck on its body as they banged all over it while the 2 Pikmin Captains tossed Pikmins like if there was no end. "Hit and hit!"

"It's...getting covered by them..." Yoshi said as they all saw Ridley getting covered by Pikmins of all the 5 known colors while the Space Pirate roared in pain.

"L-last one. H-here!" Olimar said as he tossed a Purple Pikmin to Chris, who quickly grabbed it by its leaf and tossed it with all forces to the beast.

"Pikmin Plethora!" Chris and Olimar yelled in unison as the Pikmins (that were 100) banged and banged the pterodactyl continuosly before Ridley flapped its wings and killed them all.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Olimar yelled in agony.

New ability learned! Pikmin Plethora!

Enables 100 Pikmins on the field and tosses them to a single enemy. Deals a great amount of damage (it can deal higher damage if the enemy refuses to shook them off).

"1106 Pikmins..." Olimar sniffed while Ridley roared angrily and took off.

"What about the other Pikmins with the battle against Bowser?" Chris asked.

"1158 Pikmins..." Olimar corrected himself as Chris patted his back.

"..." Chris remembered something. "Ridley is still living?! The hell is wrong with it?!"

Ridley screeched again as it dove down above Olimar, because it wanted revenge for what he did.

"It's going after Olimar!" Yoshi yelled.

"Geno! Your beam, on that creature, now!" Chris yelled.

"Right." Geno nodded as he fired a big beam from his hand that collided into Ridley and stopped him from diving down.

"Over Limit gauge ready!" Kawashima yelled.

"Good, that's going to give us an advantage..." Chris wondered. "Now, who shall we..." he looked at Luigi. "...Luigi?"

"NO NO NO NO!" Luigi yelled in panic as he ducked and trembled. "I-I don't wanna!"

"Wanna what?"

"T-to hit Ridley! I-it's scary!"

"...But you don't have to! You have to use your Final Smash on it!"

"..." Luigi looked at Chris over his shoulder.

"I'm letting you do it because I think it's going to help us a lot."

"Why can't I use it instead?" Falco asked annoyed.

"Because Fox would hate you otherwise."

"What? Why?" Fox asked.

"Luigi!" Chris ignored the previous 2. "Gather whatever ounce of courage you have left and show that thing who's...er...courage you have left?"

"..." Luigi looked up and made a serious face with a nod, then he adjusted his hat (blocking his eyes so Chris adjusted it for him) and stood up.

"Okay..." Chris told Luigi to move ahead. "Stand there."

A record scratched inside Luigi's mind. "H-hey! Y-you're not going to use me as bait, r-right?!"

"(Hell yes.) Of course not!" Chris shook his head. "I'm having you stay there so you can activate your Final Smash at the right moment. When I give you the order, once you activate it, run at Ridley and use it!"

"...Maybe you should change strategies." Twink suggested.

"Why?"

Twink pointed up where several energy blasts came at full speed at them and pushed them back as some of them fell on the floor in pain. Most of them looked up to see Ridley firing many blasts of energy.

"Ridley is..." Samus began as she coughed. "Trying to demolish our plans... It's an intelligent...lifeform after all..."

"Dammit..." Chris muttered. "Is everyone...alright?"

The World Traveler looked around and found some of them fainted.

"O-oh no!" Chris ran to C. Falcon. "P-please, get up!"

"..." C. Falcon didn't respond.

"W-we need reflective skills, s-so..." Chris also found Fox and Falco without energies left, thus they were fainted. "...This isn't going to turn out well..." he looked around. "O-Olimar!"

"..." Olimar didn't respond as well.

"I-I'm fine..." Mario said as he slowly walked to Chris.

"M-m-me too..." Luigi said trembling in horror.

"We're...fine as well..." Geno said weakly while Twink seemed to get hurt as well.

"O-ouch..." Twink moaned in pain and hid inside Geno's cape.

"I'm...can't fight...but I...have to..." Yoshi muttered weakly.

"..." the World Traveler lost 4 out of 10. Their strategies were being shortened little by little as the Space Pirate defeated them one by one. "...We can't...lose... Not like...this..." Chris said weakly as he dropped to his knees. "I'm...too tired...and I won't...be able to use...magic to cure...anymore..."

"Use the Maxim Tomato!" Kawashima said. "It'll let you cure at least one more person, besides curing your wounds!"

"..." Chris took out the mentioned item and bit it slowly until he finished it...well, it instantly vanished in 1 second after he bit it. "...What the hell? I-I just did one small bite and it disappeared!"

"Good! You recovered your health a little!"

"It seems...so..." Chris said before he changed to his Scholar job and flipped through the pages. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

A small blue light circled around the remaining Smashers as they recovered their energies a little before Chris fell on his knees again.

"...Impossible..." Chris muttered. "M-my body cannot...let me cast...more magic spells..."

"I-it's coming!" Yoshi yelled as Ridley roared and dove after them.

"L-Luigi!" Chris yelled. "It is your time!"

Luigi gulped before he stood where Ridley was coming (after Samus) and he closed his eyes. "...May as well consider me dead..." Samus muttered ashamed. "This is...embarrassing..."

"T-that's not true!" Luigi yelled as he looked up to the Space Pirate. With a gulp of preocupation, he started to do it.

"HURRY!" Geno yelled.

"L-Luigi time!" Luigi proclaimed with a fist in the air as a force pushed back the monster with a roar of pain. A rainbow aura covered Luigi as he looked at his hands, glowing with the ability.

Chris narrowed his eyes as he saw Ridley falling on the planetoid by the force. "It is down...LUIGI! Run to it and use your Final Smash!"

"(Gulp...)...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Luigi gulped worried as he ran to Ridley with a yell of war as the others watched him calling forth...

"...What is HE doing?" Yoshi asked.

A twisted dimension (that Twink considered it to be the hippie world) surrounded the pterodactyl and the green plumber, who was dancing weirdly around with the oddest moves ever.

"Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh...uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhh...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Luigi said (apparently echoing).

"...Look!" Mario said as they all saw Ridley standing up, but it seemed that the weird atmosphere that Luigi called forth made it feel utterly weird and plain confused. Ridley, then, roared before it began to bang its head (on the nearby R.O.B.) and roared in pain everytime it hit its head until it seemed to fall asleep with open wings as the (hippie) atmosphere shrunk and shrunk until it was gone as Luigi finished his dance and blinked.

"...W-wow..." Luigi shrugged as before he looked down at Ridley. "WAAAAAAAAH!!!" Luigi screamed and ran to Mario's back.

"Wait, isn't that..." Yoshi trailed off as a flower was on Ridley's head.

"Random status ailments!" Kawashima yelled. "It seems Luigi inflicted a whole lot of status ailments: drastically reduced attack power, greater launch distance when hit, increased likelihood of slipping, steady increase in damage percentage, flower growth on head, dizziness, uncontrollable taunting, sudden sleepiness and decreased movement speed!"

"..." Samus looked at Luigi as she got up. "...That's a whole bunch of illnesses..."

Luigi blushed. "W-well, I-I'm Luigi, a-and I showed it who's boss, r-right?" Luigi asked.

Persona 3 FES - Mass Destruction

"Hello?" Twink called. "We have a downed beast that's sleeping with a bunch of bad status ailments!"

"Right," Samus took out her Paralyzer gun. "It is now or never..."

Chris coughed before he got up, changed to his Thief job and took out his dagger. "Everyone...listen well...attack it just as I say...Mario!"

"Hmm?" Mario looked at Chris, who took out the Super Mushroom and tossed it to Mario who grew the double of his size. "Huh?"

"Star Spin!" Chris ordered. Mario blinked several times before he ran after Ridley and used a stronger Star Spin to push it high into the air. Ridley roared in pain but it couldn't manage to move quickly, since its speed was reduced and began to fall down.

"Hurry!" Kawashima yelled. "The ailments won't last for much longer. You have to take advantage of them!"

"Alright..." Chris nodded as he looked at Ridley about to fall on Falco. "O-oh no, you won't!" Chris quickly ran after Falco (apparently, Chris's speed was increased thanks to the job) and managed to grab Falco on his arms (though the bird was heavy, even if Chris was taller...but then again, Chris didn't have much strength) before Ridley fell on the floor.

Chris (accidentaly dropping Falco like he didn't care or minded) gave out more orders. "Yoshi, Egg Roll on its head!"

"Humph!" Yoshi nodded with a grunt as he turned into a rolling egg and rolled towards Ridley's head, hitting it with a strong slam that pushed it back along the floor.

"Luigi, charged Green Missile!"

"(I-I can do this... I can...do this!)" Luigi thought desperately as he ducked and concentrated to charged his missile, but then, he went blasting off to Ridley's right wing that it burned a lot, making Ridley wake up in pain.

"A random boost?... Phew..." Chris sighed. "Everything is...going according to the plan..."

"Thank god Luigi's Final Smash weakned Ridley's resistance to fire..." Kawashima said. "...Say, why don't you steal an item from Ridley?"

"An item? Does he...have one?"

"It may not look like, but bosses occasionally carry items without them even knowing about it."

Chris gulped as he focused his eyes on Ridley, who slowly got up and tried to escape from their range of attack. Suddenly, an electric whip wrapped around Ridley's neck and it roared in pain as it tried to take it off with its claws, but it failed as the whip eletrocuted them.

"You won't..." Samus muttered as she narrowed her eyes and put a strong grip on her Paralyzer gun. "Get away and live..."

"Your cue!" Kawashima said.

Chris nodded and dashed along the floor before leaping on Ridley's back, where he looked around for an item that he considered imaginary...

...But he found a Beam Sword that he stared in surprise with his jaw dropping a little bit.

"...The hell?" Chris asked confused.

Samus looked up as she gritted her teeth. "I have an idea, use it on its wing!"

Chris looked at Ridley's right wing and looked at the sword on his hands. "...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" Chris leaped to the wing and struck down the sword on the yellow-glowing skin that passed through it, then the World Traveler went down as the sword's beam cut the wing quickly, making Ridley roar in extreme pain as it tried to fly, but its damaged wing prevent it from flying.

"Yes! It can't fly anymore!" Mario said (now back to his normal size) smiling a bit. Ridley began to charge a laser from its mouth. "...Oh no..."

"...Isn't that getting bigger?" Luigi asked as the energy gathering in Ridley's mouth grow in size. The flower that hung on its head fell off.

"The illnesses are gone. Be careful!" Kawashima yelled.

"We're in its range. Move!" Samus yelled.

However, an egg was tossed right into its mouth and Ridley choked on it and grabbed its throat in pain as the energy ball vanished.

They all looked at Yoshi holding a Yoshi Egg on his right hand as he panted heavily. "...Hope...that teaches you...not to mess...with us...and me..."

"It's not down yet..." Geno said.

"Time to move on." Samus said as she nodded at Chris, who nodded back.

"Geno, boost Samus's strength and defense!"

"Roger that." Geno concentrated his magic and several red arrows that appeared around Samus went up before disappearing. Samus felt a little bit stronger and put a stronger grip on her gun as Ridley choked even more.

"Now, Geno Beam at its stomach! Samus, stop grabbing its neck," Chris changed to his Chozo Arts job and took out his gun. "Let's attack it together, and when I mean together, I mean everyone here!"

The Smashers nodded as Geno fire his beam at the monster's stomach, making Ridley yell in pain as it backed away and seemed to pant.

"NOOOOOOOOOW!!!" Luigi yelled as the 6 (plus Twink) ran to Ridley and started their attacks.

"Its tail is going to slam us away!" Twink yelled as Ridley moved its tail towards them.

"Star Spin, Mario!" Chris yelled loudly and Mario ran towards the tail and used a Star Spin which pushed the tail back to Ridley's body and pushed itself back more.

"Its claws a-are going to slash us!" Luigi yelled.

"Not...today!" Chris yelled as he fired a small shot that paralyzed the right claw from moving. Samus narrowed her eyes and shot a paralyzer shot at the other claw as it got stunned.

"W-watch out!" Mario yelled as Ridley moved its head back with a roar and dove it to Geno.

"Yoshi, egg to throat, now!"

"Yah!" Yoshi tossed a Yoshi Egg to Ridley's throat, which upon impact broke in pieces and dealt damage to the monster, who roared again in pain and decided to fall on them with opened wings and arms.

"Its tactics are getting easier to predict and evade..." Samus said as they rolled in time from the crushing impact while Ridley roared furiously.

"Luigi!" Chris yelled.

Luigi gulped.

"Super Fire Punch on its...wait, it won't work..."

"...Can I go and see how are the others?" Luigi asked.

"...Sure..." Chris gave him a small smile. Luigi chuckled happily as he ran to the other fainted Smashers.

"It looks like Ridley won't hold on for much longer," Kawashima said. "Finish it!"

"Yes..."

And there was the sudden feeling again.

"(We shall kill that bastard.)" Samus said.

"(...That was a fast response...)" Chris sweatdropped.

Samus ran to Ridley's right side as the monster roared angrily. Chris positioned on the other side before Ridley focused its yellow right eye on the World Traveler, who gulped in response but made a serious look as he held the Paralyzer close to his face.

"Try us." Samus said coldly as both ran towards Ridley, who roared and tried to slash them. However, both used their Flip Jumps and gracefully used its claws as platforms to jump even higher as they spun above.

Both reach Ridley's neck as they were still spinning and landed 2 kicks at the same time on each side that made Ridley feel a big pain, then, both used their electric whips to wrap them around the throat and landed back on the floor as they pulled back their guns, hurting Ridley as several sparks flew off while it tried to take it off.

"A little more bloody..." Chris said as both clicked several buttons on their guns, and blue scythe-looking plasma objects formed on the tips of their whips.

"With..."

Music stops

"A simple deadly, mortal pull..." Samus finished...

CRIUSH!!!

"YIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!"

...As both suddenly pulled with all their forces their whips to make them return, and as they pulled them back, the scythes that formed sliced Ridley's throat greatly while they spun around its throat many times before they returned back to the guns.

"Scythe Whip." Chris and Samus said simply in unison.

New ability learned! Scythe Whip!

Use 2 Flip Jumps to cross the enemy from above to wrap the electric whips with small scythes around a specified area of the body, then pull them back to slice the enemy down. Deals a big amount of damage to a single enemy

It was the end...

Ridley screeched as many times as it could and tumbled to the sides. The monster was now suffering a lot of pain that was inflicted upon it as the Smashers backed away from the Space Pirate leader that let out a loud roar of defeat before it fell down and fainted.

"...Allow me to use this..." Yoshi said as he picked up the Beam Sword. The Yoshi stepped on Ridley's back, struck down the sword and spun it on its body. "Hmm-hmm-hmm..."

Ridley roared in extreme pain for a last time before its head slammed on the floor, thus fainting.

"...Hmm..." Yoshi pulled back the Beam Sword and gave it back to Chris.

"...For what was that act of sick violence for?" Chris asked.

Yoshi smiled. "To free my inner rage on it."

Victory! - Samus (Metroid)

"And..." Twink smiled. "You...did it! You defeated it!"

"...Thanks..." Samus muttered before she fell on her knees, which made them gasp.

"S-Samus!" Chris said worried.

"...Thank you..." Samus said as she looked up to Chris with a small smile. "...Ridley was...defeated...thanks to you all..."

"..." Chris wiped a tear. "...You're welcome...Samus..."

Samus chuckled heartily as the Smashers looked at each other and chuckled as well.

"E-everyone!" Luigi called from where Olimar was, the second character waking up as he shook his head and moaned a little. "T-they're coming back!"

The other 3 grunted in pain and managed to wake up from their states before slowly standing up.

"...Did we...win?" C. Falcon asked.

The 4 looked at Ridley, defeated on the floor and not moving anymore.

"...Finally..." Fox sighed. "That monster is gone..."

"And that means...this world was saved..." Geno said before looking down. "...But...Kalmar wasn't here... I was wrong..."

"...Geno?" Twink asked. "...Why are you not looking up?"

"...The countdown!"

The Smashers' eyes widened as they looked down at the coutdown they forgot for the entire battle.

"5-5 minutes?!" Olimar pointed out in panic.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no..." Chris looked around. "W-we're trapped in here!"

"No!" Falco clenched a fist. "This is...just...stupid...grr!!!"

"After all, w-we're going to get killed?!" Yoshi asked in panic.

"It sadly looks like it..." Samus said ashamed.

Airship

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!" Bowser laughed maniacally. "They were already done for after they stepped on my new galaxy. Those imbeciles had it coming!"

Dedede smirked. "And it's about time we win."

Bowser nodded. "Yeah. They won't get the Grand Star, because it's hidden in Peach's Castle and not where I originally planned it to be."

The trio looked at an enormous sun that was located close to them. Several rock platforms were all around it.

"This, my friends, is where my new galaxy will be born." Bowser said with a smirk.

"Remember the deal," Charizard said. "Don't forget."

"..." Bowser merely frowned.

Peach and Rosalina looked at each other with concerned looks as they sighed disappointed. "...Mario..." Peach muttered.

"..." Rosalina wasn't able to speak, but she thought about Mario, Yoshi and the others before she closed her eyes in sadness.

"...Huh?" Peach spotted a blink in the space. "...What is that?"

Rosalina opened her eyes and looked at the blink that apparently got bigger and bigger. The princess then looked at Peach's Castle with a big hole on its back. "Peach, why is your castle damaged?"

"Huh?" Peach looked at the hole in the wall. "W-well, I don't remember exactly why is that hole there...but the shape of it...it looked like a big Starman..."

"A big...Starman..." Rosalina wondered for a moment. "...You don't mean..."

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The princesses blinked in confusion as a familiar yell came from the same direction of the blink. Both of them edged closer to see the small object that was also screaming in utter terror...

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCHHH!!! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOSAAAAAAAAAAALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"...That voice is familiar, but..." Peach turned at the costellation of magma. "...He should be trapped in there..."

"...No..." Rosalina shook her head and smiled a little as Peach tilted her head, confused. "...There are 2..."

"...2?" Peach repeated confused.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The trio of villains (who then were reunited with Bowser Jr., who recovered his paintbrush) looked behind the airship. "...The green dude?!" Bowser said enraged with clenched fists and a grunt.

Super Mario Galaxy - Good Egg Galaxy

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" the other Luigi yelled as he tried to hold the Grand Star as long as he could.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the villains yelled in panic as the Grand Star dove down and impacted the ship with a loud crash. The villains were sent blasting off to the big sun while the other Luigi managed to catch the princesses, who held on to the star as it flew around.

How did the other Luigi get the Grand Star?

Flashback

"O-oh no..." the other Luigi said as he saw the Smashers being blasted off inside the costellation. "...M-me, please be safe..." the other Luigi looked around. "...Well...I said I was going to help them in the most desperate moment so..."

There was the castle, several feet away from the tower that he was in. The other Luigi jumped to the doors, he opened them and stepped inside the castle, where he noticed a strong glow coming from one of the rooms. "Huh? Isn't that where the storage room is?" the other Luigi asked as he went further.

After going through a long hall and opening a door, the other Luigi gasped when he found the Grand Star inside a big container, where a button was located that had a note right next to it.

"..."Please, do NOT touch this button to release the Grand Star. Otherwise, you will end in a very harmful punishment my Lord Bowser. Signed, Goomlo"..." the other Luigi read and stared at the red button. "...Hmm..." the other Luigi lifted his shoulders and pressed the button.

Upon releasing the Grand Star, it went a little bit out of control and began to spin around the room, scaring the other Luigi.

"N-no! D-don't go around like that and come here with me!"

The Grand Star stopped and it looked down at the other Luigi.

"...Wait, you can look and understand me?" the other Luigi asked surprised.

The Grand Star, surprisingly, blinked and moved back before...

CRASH!

"UUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

It pushed the other Luigi outside the wall in an attempt to escape as it flew away from the galaxy, taking the other Luigi who tried to stay on the Grand Star as much as he could before disappearing in the distance.

Dedede (who looked behind) blinked. "...What the heck was that?" Dedede asked but Bowser and Charizard were busy talking about the domination of the galaxy, making Dedede shudder and forget about the star.

End of flashback

"A-another Luigi?!" Peach asked confused as the trio tried to stay on the Grand Star.

Once Rosalina moved forward, the Grand Star stopped. "Good," Rosalina nodded and sighed in relief. "The Grand Star can feel my power and it's willing to listen to me."

"T-thank goodness..." the other Luigi sighed.

Peach was questioning herself in her mind about the other Luigi, but she shook her head and looked at Rosalina. "Excuse me...but could you take us to Mario and the others?"

"Yes," Rosalina nodded. "That is what I was thinking."

"S-save the other me!" the other Luigi pleaded.

"I will." Rosalina said as she commanded the star to get inside the costellation.

"...I hope they won the fight..." Peach hoped.

Music stops

Subspace Bomb Planet

"Ugh...ugh...ugh!" Chris was shown flying upwards (using the Moogle Knight job), but then he became tired and stopped his wings as he began to descend fastly, but Yoshi caught him on his back. "...Kupo..." Chris muttered weakly as he changed back to his Chozo Arts job. "...It's useless..."

"...Damn..." C. Falcon shook his head. "...This can't be the end..."

"..." Mario scratched his right arm and looked down. "...I'm sorry...I'm the one who dragged you all into this..."

"It was our job..." Geno looked down. "...But it ended like this..."

"...Then..." Yoshi took out a paper. "May as well tell my will before we die."

"What?" Twink asked.

"A will?" Olimar asked confused.

"Y-you have that with you all the time?" Luigi asked confused.

"Chris, I always thought you were cosplaying us." Yoshi read.

"I-I'm not cosplaying anyone!" Chris protested.

"C. Falcon, you're a pervert to me and you will always be."

"Duh," everyone except C. Falcon (who grunted) said.

"Mario and Luigi, both of you were good guys to me."

The Mario Bros. smiled a little (albeit everyone thought it was not fair).

"Olimar, you're probably Mario's lost cousin because of your nose."

Olimar looked at Mario and he looked back at him before shrugging.

"Fox, the first time I saw you I thought your face went through a heavy plastic surgery."

Most of them chuckled and blocked their mouths while Fox glared at them, then Chris stopped with a gulp.

"Same goes for Falco."

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" Chris broke out laughing, despite Falco glaring at him.

"Samus, to be honest, I always thought you were a girl."

"At least someone thought right..." Samus said with a sigh.

"And..." Yoshi stopped and sniffed.

"Not to be rude, but that will sounded more like a "Things I wanted to say to the people I always see to piss them off, but I couldn't tell them" list." Falco said annoyed.

"..." Yoshi closed his eyes and tears began to run down his cheeks.

"...You okay?"

"...Rosa...Rosalina..." Yoshi sobbed and put the paper close to his face. "...I'm sorry...I failed you and the galaxy...I couldn't stop this..."

The others looked at each other with worried looks and looked down.

"...Please...forgive me...I did everything to protect the Lumas while you were abscent...I...I hope..." Yoshi looked up without opening his eyes. "I hope you're happy for the last action I did for you..."

"And I'm happy for that. Thank you so much, Yoshi..."

"...Huh?" everyone looked up and Yoshi opened his eyes.

Super Mario Galaxy - Good Egg Galaxy

"R-Rosalina!" Yoshi said clearing his tears as the others approached the Grand Star.

"Hurry!" Peach yelled. "The bomb is going to explode if we don't escape!"

"Jump to the star!" Mario yelled as everyone quickly jumped on the Grand Star that Rosalina commanded to fly away from the costellation.

"Me!"

"Me!"

"It's good to have you back!" the Luigis said happily as they laughed.

"...I thought he was dead..." C. Falcon muttered.

"Rosalina..." Yoshi sniffed, but Rosalina bent to rub his head (eyes) and smiled a little bit.

"Thank you, Yoshi..." Rosalina said. "Thank you for taking care of the Lumas for me..."

"..." Yoshi sobbed one last time before hugging Rosalina, who hugged him back as everyone looked them and smiled a bit in relief.

"We did it..." Mario said as he leaned to Peach. "We saved Peach, the galaxies, and Rosalina as well... I couldn't be much more relieved than this..."

"...Er..." Olimar looked back.

Comet Observatory

"Mama is coming back!" Polari yelled as the Lumas go out from the areas around the observatory and cheered as they saw Rosalina and the Smashers coming back on the Grand Star.

"Mama! Mama! Mama! You're back, Mama!" the Lumas cheered happily.

"Welcome party..." Peach said.

"Yes." Mario nodded.

Once the Grand Star landed, the Lumas surrounded Rosalina and cheered happily in unison as some of them went to hug her in happiness, while the Smashers watched from the big energy mass of Power Stars as Mario returned the Grand Star to it, which made it bigger and complete.

"...Wait..." Mario trailed off and turned to them. "Aren't we forgetting something?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Music stops

They all stopped talking and looked far away to the big sun that had Bowser and Jr., walking slowly to a dark portal that Dedede and Charizard used to return to the Subspace before it vanished.

"My...galaxy!" Bowser yelled as Jr. fainted. "My...reign! Everything is going down!... Why...WHY?!"

Then...it happened...

Inside the costellation, where they left Ridley behind, a huge sphere of nothingness began to grow massively until it covered the whole magma and remained there, floating silently in the space.

"...NO!" Chris yelled. "The Subspace Bomb...it...it blowed up!"

"...Wait a minute..." Mario stepped forward. "...That sphere...I can't...seem to forget this one..."

"I remember I saw it...somewhere before..." Samus said.

"...Ugh..." Fox put a hand on his forehead. "Something else is trying to...make me remember...an event I forgot..."

"..." Chris was left speechless and looked down worried.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Bowser yelled a last time before the rocks that he was on with his son began to sink down the magma and eventually sunk them down.

"...Oh no..." Rosalina shook her head. "...It's happening..."

"About the sphere or Bowser?" Geno asked.

"...The galaxy is going to..."

The space suddenly began to shake violently as they saw the big sun trembling before it began to turn into a huge powerful black hole that started to suck everything in sight with a strong force. The platforms floating around were being sucked in as the observatory shook violently, making the Smashers drop to the floor.

"W-what's happening now?!" Falco asked.

"That black hole that just formed after Bowser sunk is pulling everything inside!" C. Falcon yelled.

"O-oh boy, I don't want to die!" Olimar panicked.

"PANIC MODE!" the Toad Brigade yelled and panicked as they ran around.

The Lumas (and even Polari) started panicking as well as they flew around the observatory before they were pulled towards the black hole, crying loudly along the way with the Toad Brigade as well.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Yoshi yelled as he held out his hand to the black hole. "DON'T TAKE THEM!"

Yoshi's tears began to stroll down as he jumped out from the observatory, which made everyone gasp and ran to him.

"YOSHI!" Mario yelled as he jumped to Yoshi and grabbed his feet. "DON'T DO I-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Mario started to feel the gravity pulling him away from the floor.

"M-MARIO!" Luigi grabbed Mario's feet. "UUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" then he was pulled as well.

"OH NO!" Chris grabbed Luigi's feet. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" but the same happened to him.

"G-GOT YOU!" C. Falcon grabbed Chris's feet. "DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

This kept going on until all the Smashers (and Peach) tried to pull Yoshi back to the observatory, but they all slowly were being pulled to the black hole that sucked everything around it.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!!" Twink yelled as he hid inside Geno's cape.

"THIS IS NOT GOING TO END WELL!" Samus yelled.

"G-GRR!!!" Geno looked at the observatory and gasped. "ROSALINA!!!"

The Smashers turned their heads and gasped. "NO! SHE WAS SUCKED IN!" Fox yelled as he cursed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Yoshi yelled loudly.

They all turned to the black hole and started to yell as loud as they could, hanging on to each other's feet as long as they could before the Luma that Mario was using came out from his hat.

"W-what are you doing?! C-come back with me!" Mario yelled.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Chris yelled as the Smashers were all quickly separated and were spun around the black hole before entering. The Luma that Mario let go by accident chirped one last time before it made a trail of light inside the destruction of the observatory, the castle and everything else...

?

...Nothingness...

...There was nothing else after the destruction...

"..." Mario slowly opened his eyes...

...A baby was crying somewhere in the nothingness...

"...Hm?" Mario looked around and he found the Smashers floating close to him. "...E-everyone..."

All of them began to wake up, to the point where some shook their heads and looked around the space.

"...We're...dead?" Luigi asked.

"If this is heaven..." Yoshi looked around. "...Then I demand more floor..."

"Heheheheheheh... You're funny, Yoshi..."

"...That voice..." Yoshi blinked surprised as everyone looked up to find Rosalina...

...As a giantess?

"HOLY CR-" C. Falcon's mouth was blocked by Samus's hand.

"Rosalina!" Yoshi made a happy expression. "You're fine...and big..."

"...Question." Falco began as he kept looking at Rosalina.

"Yes?" Chris asked.

"How."

"Uh-huh?"

"Did."

"What else?"

"She."

"I'm listening."

"Become."

"Yes?"

"This."

"Hmm?"

"Big."

"Luigi paradox syndrome." Chris responded.

Falco nodded, failing to get the answer.

"M-my goodness..." Peach and Olimar said in unison.

"Rosalina..." Mario began. "...What happened to the Lumas?"

"Are those cries..." Yoshi looked around the space. "...Them?"

Rosalina chuckled. "Do you hear the baby stars?... These newborns will grow up to become galaxies someday."

"...Yes..." Yoshi nodded. "...The storybook said that..."

"...Thank god..." Peach muttered.

Rosalina went on. "When stars die, they turn to stardust and scatter across the cosmos," she closed her eyes. "Eventually, that stardust reforms to create a new star... And so the cycle of life continues..."

"Cycle...of life?" Peach asked.

"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment. "...Does it repeat the same cycle?"

Rosalina shook her head and opened her eyes. "The cycle never repeats itself in quite the same way. So you'll see..."

There was a blinding light that began to grow in size, but Yoshi went forward.

"R-Rosalina!" Yoshi yelled.

"Yes?" Rosalina asked.

"W-where are you going?!"

"To the stars," Rosalina responded. "It's time for me to go away."

Super Mario Galaxy - Sad Story

"...B-but..." Yoshi sniffed. "...I don't want you to go away..." Yoshi covered his eyes and sobbed silently as the Smashers went to him and looked up to Rosalina.

"...Sorry, Yoshi..." Rosalina went on. "But I must return to the observatory to travel the space and protect the cosmos, because you all helped me to recover the Power Stars... I couldn't be happier than this...but you..."

Yoshi looked up with some tears.

"...You were so kind in taking care of the Lumas while I was gone... I also accomplished my mission..."

"Mission?" Yoshi repeated.

"Yes," Rosalina chuckled. "I gave you the answer you were seeking: interest."

"But I..." Yoshi looked down. "I don't have an interest to help everyone..."

"Don't think you didn't find it, because you did the moment you listened to the first chapter of the storybook..."

"..." Yoshi's eyes widened.

"The first time you listened to the chapter, what did you ask me?"

Flashback

"Well...I have one question..." Yoshi wondered. "Who was that little girl in the story? Her name wasn't told in this chapter..."

"..." Rosalina closed her eyes. "I'll let you guess it by yourself."

End of flashback

"...I did..." Yoshi said blushing.

"A simple question made you interested in something," Rosalina smiled a little. "The storybook itself was your interest."

"...But how is that going to help me to fight?" Yoshi asked as everyone looked at him.

Rosalina closed her eyes. "You fought, in fact..."

Flashback

"Huh? But why?" Yoshi asked puzzled.

"I only tell this story to the Lumas here once I see the Power Stars gathered," Rosalina opened her eyes. "It gives my inspiration to narrate the way I do. The Lumas understand very well when is the story exciting, sad, or suspenseful."

Yoshi blinked for a moment. "So if I gather Power Stars, you'll let me listen to the next chapter?"

Rosalina nodded. "Yes, for that, I need you to get 5 more Power Stars in order to see the next chapter."

"...5 Power Stars..." Yoshi nodded. "Okay, I'll look for the stars if you promise me that."

Rosalina nodded and chuckled. "Always for you, Yoshi..."

End of flashback

"I was able to discover that interest you were seeking," Rosalina opened her eyes. "The interest to see what lies at the end of the battles. In my case, it was the ending of the storybook that was your interest. Now, think about the interest you're seeking for the normal fights."

"...The interest to see what lies at the end of the battles..." Yoshi repeated before he played with his fingers. "...You guys...I'm sorry for not fighting seriously the other times... I wasn't inspired or interested before...but..." Yoshi looked at Rosalina, who nodded at him before Yoshi looked back at them. "I'm ready to give it my all and see what is waiting for us after all this..."

"...So, that was it?" C. Falcon asked.

"Huh?"

"We're seeking the same thing, as you just thought about," Fox explained. "We don't fight because we want to, we fight because we want to see true peace."

"True peace..."

"True peace that I fight for as well," Chris nodded. "I want to see what happen...after this."

"I fight Bowser just to rescue Peach," Mario looked at Peach, who smiled back at him. "However, I want to stop anything evil from destroying anything."

"I-I'm here because of that too... I like to think that I'm some sort of hero sometimes..." Olimar said.

"In truth, Yoshi," Geno nodded. "You found the same interest as all of us."

"Fight for a better future." Twink said.

"We're not angry at you," Samus said. "We respect your decision, whether or not you want to fight."

"..." Yoshi smiled and closed his eyes. "...Thank you so much..."

"...It's time to leave now..." Rosalina said before the light shone brightly.

"...NO!" Yoshi yelled. "DON'T LEAVE!"

It was too late...

Music stops

Toad Town

"...U-ugh..." Yoshi found himself laying on the ground before sitting up. "...Rosalina!" Yoshi yelled as he looked around. "Rosalina! Where are you?! A-answer me!"

"...Quiet down..." Luigi muttered as he woke up, close to Yoshi. "...Huh?" Luigi sat up. "W-where are we?"

"...Huh?" Peach opened her eyes and looked around once she sat up. "...We're back in Toad Town?"

"...Look!" Luigi pointed to a hill with a tree.

"What?" Peach asked confused. "It's just a tree..."

"...I-it can't be!" Yoshi said as he ran to the tree.

The others groaned slowly as they woke up and sat up, shaking their heads and looking around the scenery.

They were now back in Toad Town. The castle was even there without a single trace of destruction. The houses were intact and butterflies were flying around the patches of flowers while the birds were singing.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Peach asked.

Chris seemed to shrug at this.

"...Yoshi?" Mario asked as he saw Yoshi, close to a tree that he examined closely. "Yoshi, what are you doing?"

"...This is it..." Yoshi trailed off. "...This is...the tree...that Rosalina used to visit..."

Chris got up and walked next to Yoshi. "So...this tree is the same one Rosalina told you in the storybook?... Huh?" Chris found something on the tree's bark. "...Oh..."

"..." Yoshi smiled a bit and wiped a tear. "...She...did this..."

On the tree's bark, there was a drawing with a little girl with long hair that was playing with several Lumas around the little hill with the tree that was also on the bark. A small smile was on the girl's face while the Lumas had happy expressions as they twirled about.

"..." Yoshi sniffed.

The World Traveler glanced to Yoshi, closed his eyes for a moment and patted his back slowly before opening them back. "...You found your interest at last, right?"

Yoshi nodded and looked at Chris with a small smile. "...Yes...and I'm happy for it... I'm so happy..."

"But and Rosalina?"

Yoshi blinked several times before looking up to the sky. "...I have a feeling that...she is going to return very soon... I don't know when, but it'll be soon and we'll have fun together..."

Chris wondered what could bring Rosalina back, until he remembered something.

"I-ah..."

"Huh?" Chris and Yoshi turned their backs to find Bowser and Bowser Jr. being cornered by the Smashers, who were ready to fight them all at once.

"Look," Samus began. "Or you surrender or we kick your shells out of you."

Bowser shook his head. "N-never!"

"Yeah!" Bowser Jr. said. "Never!"

"Get them." Samus said simply.

"JUNIOR!" Bowser yelled.

Jr. saluted and he jumped high, where a Magikoopa came flying from the sky and picked him as Bowser chuckled while a dark portal appeared.

"Heheheheheheh..." Bowser chuckled as they watched shocked to the portal. "If my plan to dominate the galaxies wasn't enough, then I'll resort to rule the worlds along with Tabuu!"

"Tabuu'll rule the worlds and we'll be just leaders." Dedede said as he stuck out his head from the portal.

Bowser grumbled. "Fine! Jr.! I leave the use of my castle to you, so plan a good strategy to take Mario out!"

"You got it, Papa! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!" Bowser Jr. laughed as the Magikoopa flew off and away.

"Catch that bastard!" Yoshi yelled as they all ran to Bowser, who quickly ran inside the Subspace and vanished before they could reach him.

"No..." Mario trailed off.

"...It's okay..." Peach said as she put her hands on Mario's shoulders. "Everything is back to normal and I couldn't be this happy, thanks to all of you," Peach looked up. "And a new galaxy was created, but is still the same."

"But there are some changes around." Geno added.

"Yep," Twink smiled. "Small changes no one can see."

Peach smiled. "Thank you, everyone."

"..." Chris smiled. "Somehow, Peach can make someone smile with that sweet voice of hers..."

Peach giggled. "Oh, thank you. I-I'm a little bit flattered."

Chris blushed. "Y-you're welcome..."

"Pss, Mario, you should be careful because Chris is planning his moves now." C. Falcon whispered with a chuckle.

"H-hey!" Mario blushed. I-it's not like that at all!"

The Smashers laughed for a bit before they stopped.

"...Hey, look!" Chris looked above. "...The sphere that the bomb left...is gone!"

Everyone looked above and they didn't find the sphere.

"...The galaxies were reborn, and thus the black hole eliminated the sphere as well..." Mario explained.

"...Phew..." Yoshi sighed. "It's good we came out victorious..."

"Thank goodness..." Peach said.

Then Luigi helped the other Luigi to get up, making Twink gasp.

"O-oh no!" Twink said. Y-you 2 touched each other!"

"H-hold on," Peach interrupted. "Why are there 2 Luigis?"

"That's something we don't want to bother finding out," Geno said before the other Luigi, as incredible as it sounds, started to glow. "...What the?"

"You have witnessed the reality of your minds," the other Luigi said as he glowed intensely while his voice echoed. "I am just an image of your imagination that was created purely to help you all out. Your minds combined have given birth to me, and I cannot express my thanks more than I am doing right now."

"...The f(beep) is happening now?" Fox asked.

Twink was cursing (not at the bad level) as he saw the other Luigi.

"You, my other me, have been very nice to talk with me. I cannot be more thankful than I already am, especially to you, since your strength is far greater to understand than anybody here can grasp well."

"..." Luigi sniffed and shed a tear.

The glowing Luigi turned at the Smashers. "Now, it is time for me to leave and wander the universe at my own free will. We shall meet again in the next 2,483,580,203,274,189 years light...or just in 1 year to be honest and precise."

"..." every Smasher's jaw dropped, even Peach did.

The other Luigi began to rise up to the air before he looked and said, "Farewell, and godspeed to you all!!!" and in a blink, the other Luigi vanished with an intense light before disappearing for good and from their lifes.

"..." Geno looked at Twink. "...You knew this was going to happen?"

"...Noooooooo..." Twink stuck out his tongue. "I thought something less surprising was going to happen. I guess I was wrong."

"...Dude..." C. Falcon began. "...We're..."

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Off-Key

"..." Falco walked to a nearby wall and he began to hit his head. "UGH! DAMMIT! UGH! WHY IS, UGH! THIS WORLD, UGH! SO STUPIDLY, UGH! NOT MAKING, UGH! ANY KIND OF, UGH! FREAKING SENSE!? UGH!"

Chris grabbed Falco's shoulders and stopped him. "S-stop it! W-we just need to forget that we saw that weird Luigi who was obviously out of this world!"

"I want to return to the mansion AS SOON AS POSSIBLE right now..." Samus said shuddering.

"...He's amazing..." Luigi muttered as he took a napkin and blew his nose with it.

"...What just...happened?" Peach asked, utterly confused.

"...Peach..." Mario trailed off. "...Sometimes, it's better to think that we have only 1 Luigi...ONE...Luigi...as my brother..."

"...But what abou-"

"ONE...Luigi...Peach..." Mario repeated.

"...Bu-"

"ONE...Luigi..." Geno repeated.

"...Hit me," Olimar said to Yoshi. "Hit me. I want to forget this."

"..." Yoshi slammed his head on Olimar's helmet, but Yoshi ended up on the floor, knocked out.

"...Oh, frogs inside boxes..."

"...Oww..." Chris put his hands on his head.

"What is it?" Twink asked.

"I've been trying to find a good explanation for all these inexplicable happenings...and I got a headache for thinking too much..." Chris moaned a little. "...I want to rest..."

"...G-good bye...me..." Luigi sobbed happily. "...You were...amazing!!!"

"Oh!" Peach remembered something. "Since all of you fought so hard to save the galaxies...why don't you stay for a while and celebrate the Star Festival?"

"I'm willing to eat mushrooms just to forget all of this..." Mario said. "Who's in?"

The Smashers looked at each other.

Several hours later...

Grand Finale Galaxy
The Star Festival

Super Mario Galaxy - Star Festival

The celebration that once was interrupted continued. The Toads around the town were very happy that Peach got rescued (again) from Bowser's clutches, thanks to Mario, and from the help of the Smashers themselves. Even many residents across the galaxy arrived just to celebrate the salvation of the galaxy.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmmmmmmmm..." Yoshi was humming happily as he picked up some familiar coins on a road to the castle...

Meanwhile, as for the Smashers, they were...not enjoying the event as most of them put their chins above their hands on a table that was located on a terrace of the castle or some even layed down their heads on it.

A Star Bit fell on top of Geno's head. "...Anyone is tired as of now?"

"Uh-huh..." everyone else replied.

Olimar looked at Yoshi from the town as he spoke to everyone in his way to the castle. "...Why is Yoshi looking so energetic?"

"Because those Purple Coins from HELL followed us," C. Falcon explained as he hit his face on the table. "It's out punishment for being here..."

"And Yoshi is now very excited to see "what lies at the end of the battles" as Rosalina said before..." Chris closed his eyes. "I don't find that interest so..."

"Interesting?" Mario asked bored.

"...Yes..."

A Star Bit hit Samus's head. "..." Samus glanced to the town slowly as many Star Bits rained down the galaxy. "...When are those shards stop from coming down?"

"Until tomorrow..." Mario responded.

"Hmmmmmm..." they all groaned in boredom.

Luigi, who was not bored, sighed as he looked at the stars, away from the others. "...Me...I hope you're doing well..."

"I dare you to STOP reminding us about that...thing..." Fox said.

"H-he was me! An awesome me and you all know it! He saved our lifes, after all!"

"I want to think that our minds saved us and just that..." Falco said. "What HAPPENS in this wacky universe STAYS in this wacky universe..."

"Let's see something else that won't remind us the horrible hell we went through..." C. Falcon said as he turned his head to the door that opened as Yoshi walked inside. "...OH, HECK NO!"

"Look, you guys!" Yoshi called out as he held up something. "I've got a Power Star!"

Power Star! Power Star! Power Star! Power Star! Power Star! Power Star!

There were not 120 Power Stars...

...There were 121 Power Stars instead!

The Smashers' minds echoed with those 2 words before they all looked shocked at the 121th Power Star and groaned out loud. "T-those stars want to piss us off! Ugh! Toss it away! Toss it away!" C. Falcon motioned at the lake.

"Climb the tallest mountain! Defeat this guy with weak health! Kill this guy off too! Run like hell! Collect 100 (beep!) Coins around the WHOLE galaxy! I can go all the day!" Falco complained.

"Huh?" Yoshi tilted his head. "But I thought it could be a good souvenir to remember Rosalina..."

"NO," Falco walked to Yoshi, snatched the star off his hands and tossed it inside the lake before grinning in triumph, as he dusted off his hands. "Aw, that feels so much bet-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Yoshi pushed Falco out of the way and dove inside the lake. Falco didn't care about that action as he fell down defeated.

"..." Chris shed a tear. "...His interest is too much for me to tolerate..."

"A-absolutely rubbish, princess!"

Everyone turned their tired heads to the door of the balcony, where Peach was carrying 2 suitcases as Toadsworth begged her to stay in the castle. "Hello, everyone!" Peach said cheerfully. "I'm ready to join all of you in this new experience!"

"NO!" Toadsworth shook his head. "You just came back, and now you want to fight in that tournament of barbarians? P-pure blasphemy, princess! I can't allow you to go with THEM," Toadsworth pointed at the Smashers who blinked bored. "Look at him!" he pointed at Olimar. "His face clearly says that he is a bandit!"

"Dear...Diary..." Olimar muttered as he took out his diary. "I was...mistook...for a bandit...zzzzzzz..." Olimar fell asleep.

"Master Mario is just perfect to go!"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." Mario snored on the table.

"But you?!"

Peach giggled. "Don't worry about me. I leave the kingdom in your hands while I'm away."

"N-no!" Toadsworth said. "J-just because my leadership to give orders is high, it doesn't mean that you have to go!"

"Nevertheless, I made up my mind," Peach walked to the Smashers who stared at her with bored looks. "Everyone, I'm ready to help all of you in the new adventure!"

Ba-ba-ba-ba! Ba-baaaaaaah!

NEWCOMER!

Peach joined your team!

"No!" Toadsworth said.

Peach left your team

"I'm going." Peach said.

Peach joined back your team!

"No!"

Peach left your team

"I'm going."

Peach joined your team!

"Absolutely no!"

Peach left your team

"But I'm going. You have to understand!"

Peach joined your team!

"NO!"

You know how this rolls now...

Peach and Toadworth kept contradicting each other as Chris looked at them with a bored look. "...You know, I want to return and lay down on my bed..."

"That's a very good idea..." Mario said. "...I'm joining now for real..."

NEWCOMER!

Mario (finally) joined your team!

"Hurrayyyyyyy..." the Smashers said bored.

"...Don't get offended, but I'm not in the mood to say, "Yes! Mario finally joined us!" for now..." Chris said bored.

"...I understand..." Mario said yawning.

"..." Chris's eyes widened once he looked another way.

"..." Fox looked up to Chris without turning his face at him. "...What..."

"..." Chris didn't speak.

Fox turned his head at the same direction. "What is it... It's not like there's something horribl-OOOOOOOH GOD!!!"

The Smashers turned their heads at the same direction and most of them gasped in panic...

Because...

There was a hellish Star Bunny moving its hands a little on the terrace!

"NO!" C. Falcon stood up as everyone else did the same. "T-those rabbits are here to "play" with us again!"

"Boing!" the Star Bunny said as it slowly jumped to them.

"KIDS AND WOMEN FIRST!!!" Olimar yelled as he screamed, ran to the edge of the terrace and dove inside the water.

"T-those rabbits are NOT going to piss me off again!" Samus said.

"Wait, what?" Geno asked.

"In reality, those rabbits were ticking me off as I tried to catch them. They even tossed snowballs at me so..." Samus looked away embarrassed. "...I hope you don't mind 3 dead bodies..."

"..." they all looked at each other before focusing on the bunny.

"...RUUUUUUUUUN!" Chris yelled as everyone quickly dove inside the water.

"Wait!" Peach yelled as she jumped to the water with her parasol. "I'm coming!"

"PRINCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESS!!!" Toadsworth yelled as a light shone on the water, and nobody else came out after that (even Yoshi). "...No-ooooo..." Toadsworth sobbed as the Star Bunny looked at him and rubbed his head with its ears.

(HELLISH) WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2500 Smash Coins!

Gateway Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy - Gateway Galaxy

High above the Mushroom Kingdom, there was a lonely figure with several Lumas, looking at the kingdom from the castle as she sighed. "...Yoshi..." she trailed off. "...We will meet again...in a long time... Thank you so much for your help..."

"Mama, is Papa going to visit us?" a yellow Luma asked.

"..." Rosalina chuckled at the word. "...Yes..."

"Hurray! Yay!"

Rosalina closed her eyes. "We'll just wait a long time after that, though..."

"Roooosaaaliiinaaa!" Polari called out as 2 Lumas were carrying a tight suit that appeared to be very good for races on motorcycles...and for Rosalina. "The Lumas already finished with the clothes for the race in the Mushroom Kingdom in 2 years!"

"..." Rosalina blushed and looked away, even sweatdropping. "...I...o-okay... I understand..."

"Good!" Polari said. "We'll visit them sooner than expected! Lumas, take it away and keep it clean!" Polari told the Lumas who nodded and flew away.

Rosalina blushed a little, but then, she chuckled as she walked back to her house. "...Good luck... I'll be watching you from beyond the stars..." Rosalina said with a wink to no one on particular as she entered the house and closed the door with the Lumas.

After a while, Rosalina stepped on the observatory and she raised a force field that covered it as it began to move slowly towards the space before it began to fly away as a shiny comet. Rosalina's chuckled were echoing before they stopped with a blink of the traveling observatory...

...Close to where the house was, there was a wrecked Starshroom inside a cracked old place with green bricks. Inside of it, there was the Luma that Mario used to use the Star Spin. It blinked slowly and waved happily before the screen panned out with a happy giggle.

Music stops

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"Kid," Snake began as he looked down at Chris. "It's time."

"T-time for what?" Chris asked.

"Time to reveal everything," Snake crossed his arms. "Your world, and of course...the Subspace."

"H-huh?!" Chris sweated. "W-what are you talking about?!"

"Don't act stupid anymore," Snake continued. "Everyone here knows what happened."

"...What?" Chris looked at Link. "I-is that true?!"

Link only nodded. "Snake told us everything. Master Hand was even cornered and he didn't have another choice but to speak up."

"Sorry," Master Hand said. "Snake caught me off-guard."

The Smashers looked at Chris with stares. The World Traveler looked at all of them but he took a step back. "I-is it really the time? I-I mean, shouldn't we focus on the Subspace Ar-"

"Okay, that's IT!" Fox said, glaring at Chris. "It's enough, Chris! I've had enough of your evading nonsense of the main point! You're going to explain everything and EVERYTHING right now or else I'll make you spit everything out!"

"B-but explain about what?!"

"The Subspace," Marth began. "Your world, and how you know a lot about us."

"B-but I thought Master Hand told all of you that the real world existed!"

"He said that," Samus began. "And that only. Not much more information came after that since he didn't know...but you..."

"You know everything about us for some reason, and we want all the answers." Snake said.

The World Traveler looked down...

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Dearly Beloved

Chris looked at all the Smashers...

Ness, Lucas, Popo, Nana, Diddy, Pikachu, Kirby, Pichu, Red, Squirtle, Toon Link, Twink and Jigglypuff had concerned looks as each one blinked worried...

Link, Marth, Roy, Luigi, Pit, Sonic, Mallow, Ike, Geno, Ivysaur, Olimar, Yoshi, Master Hand and Crazy Hand were just staring at Chris...

Snake, Fox, Falco, Wolf, C. Falcon, DK, Mewtwo, Meta Knight and Samus were narrowing their eyes at Chris...

Mario and Peach...were confused at the situation and couldn't find anything else to say...

"..." Chris closed his eyes and looked down.

Lucario walked next to Chris and put his left hand on Chris's right shoulder. "...It's time, Chris... I'll stay close to you just in case..."

"...I know..." Chris muttered looking up with an ashamed face, before looking at Snake and the Smashers. "...Everyone..."

"..." everyone kept staring at him.

Outside

The blizzard raged on outside as their voices were able to be heard. "...It's time I tell you all about...the real world...the Subspace...and all of you..."

"...Tsk..." Snake said. "Finally..."

The blizzard grew stronger before the screen got white and more white until it was completely gone...

...

"Where Everything Began..." Chris closed his eyes in shame.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - Rowdy Rumble" is a song reference for the same game. It normally plays when battling Old Pete, the Hyenas, the escape from Hades and whatever the names of the 3 devil kids were, along with some others.

-The deja vu for Falco's talk was a reference to Star Fox 64, where he says the same thing if you manage to hit a boss in its weak point.

-"Persona 3 FES - Mass Destruction" is a song reference to the same game. It plays only during "The Answer" as a slight remix of the original battle theme (if you can consider it a battle theme, that is...)

-Peach saying that it was beautiful to see the birds singing was a reference to a Zelda CD-i cutscene. XD

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - Dearly Beloved" is another song reference to the same game. It plays always in the Main Menu screen to select a new game.

Yes, Ridley survived after all...

This arc ended with something troubling...

...How it will turn out? Did the fights were good enough for you? Will Yoshi see Rosalina again?

...What happened to that other weird Luigi? Was that just a product of your imaginations combined, and how is that even possible? (I couldn't find a good explanation for "it" after all). XD

The next chapter...Chris re-visits his world...with everyone...

...

Read and review...
*Chapter 118*: Where Everything Began

School is now getting more harder since it's giving more homework. I'll try to update more often regardless. (I'm an A+ student so I guess this could work).

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Sorry for not having reviewed your last few chapters. Still trying to figure out how you make them so damn long.

Ooh, can't wait to see how the Smashers are going to take the news. I am eagerly waiting for your next chapter.

...and I'm still trying to get over the 2 Luigis thing.

Ta-ta for now! Keep updating!

~Seitei switches jobs to Reader~

From me: Oh, good! You're back! :D

Ahem...

I do them long because I get distracted and ignore the length, whereas it should be the other way around. _

Hope you enjoy the chapter, and beware if you see 2 same people together. XD

From SlasherMask: Sorry, i just HAVE to ask...*cowers in box in bottom of ocean in secret base of doom(with death traps)*: Why do you hate Pokemon Mystery Dungeon(too lazy check if you have answered it in older chapters)? Do you hate it for storyline(it has more story than normal pokemon games...), gameplay(well that can be frustrating), because it has no humans(it's pokemon game where you play as pokemon(which is awesome in my opinion)), because it's spin off(people rarely like them), characters or something else.(then again everyone hates something...But i can't imagine what could you hate so much that you can't talk about it...)

If Galleom(big robot transformer thing) can speak, then why not Ridley(intelligent pirate leader guy, who is flying space (zombie) dragon thingy)?

Somehow when smashers started to complain about Mario's world, i got their headache.(in my head)...It hurts a lot.

Negative zone is powered by Luigi's jealousy of Mario isn't it? That means that many bad things will happen to Luigi...(hes butt monkey(name of trope) of Mario games...)

I get feeling that whatever other Luigi was, next time they end up in Mario's world it will show up again.(then again i doubt that in fic time story will continue over year...)

*forgot what was the funny moment i was going to comment about...*

Well anyway: sorry again...

From me: Because Ridley is a dragon that doesn't speak and it makes sense for Galleom to speak.

You got their headache? Wow. :O

From TARDISreviewer: I just can't wait for the reactions xD.

(especially to the more well known characters, Sonic for example)

From me: You'll see.

From Blaperile: Wow... best ending ever...

Is the next chapter going to be Chris his story only?

The other Luigi... what the hell was that?! XD

Finally Luigi's final smash! Funny as hell! *everybody stares* Not that hell! :P

O yeah Luigi, the hero of the galaxy!

...

Wait, it was the strange other Luigi... who cares?! XD

The fights were perfect. Let's see the smashers who didn't join them (or yet): Wario (Where the hell is he?!), Mr. Game and Watch (Needs to be free), R.O.B (Needs to leave subspace), Bowser (Villain), King Dedede (Villain), Charizard (Villain) and Ganondorf (Villain). 7 Remaining...

You're the best writer ever...

P.S: Noticed, I didn't put you with my favorite authors yet. XD

From me: Wario is still somewhere, everyone else, well, you know.

And Luigi is, in fact, so weird and confusing. XD

From ngrey651: Wow, amazing. Yoshi's touching goodbye to Rosalina was really sweet, and I liked how quickly Chris started kicking butt when he changed to "Monk".

And of course, now comes the question "What lies in store next now that Chris has to spill the beans"? Will the others be upset? Furious? Only time shall tell.

So tell!

Nick. :)

From me: All answers are always found in here. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Uh OH! Looks like Chris is in trouble now! Wait a minute... I FORGOTE THAT LUCARIO WAS EVEN THERE! I FORGOT THAT THERE EVEN WAS A LUCARIO! DON'T KILL ME! Update Soon! Hasta! P.S. I wonder how the rest of the smashers(plus geno and twink) will react to chris's world. Also, will the Subspace dudes invade Chris's world?

From me: For crying out loud, Lucario was in the beginning of the whole fic!

If you remember, Tabuu wants to take over many worlds before get to Chrs's real world. Tabuu needs to gather enough energy from the wolrds and...the explanation is in here if you keep reading.

From notfromearth7: Awesome! I can't wait to hear about Chris' story.

From me: I ask for more feedback, please. :l

From Rabid Original: Normally I don't review twice in a row, but that chapter just won so hard XD

Too bad Bowser couldn't be a GOOD guy for once...but at least Bowser Jr. is in there :P

The fight scenes were epic, along with the gratuitous use of Final Smash. They were really neat too, great job making them up.

And finally, the "real world" is revealed! I knew Chris couldn't keep it a secret forever XD

Can't wait for the next chapter!

From me: The wait is done. Get going and enjoy. :D

From JSandders: Chris, if I could favorite this story again, I would! This chapter was PHENOMENAL! This was the perfect chapter and end to the Mario Galaxy arc! There were fights, insanity, panic, emotions, paradoxes, Yoshi x Rosalina pairings, Kingdom Hearts references, and mysteries! These kinds of chapters are the reason why I keep coming back to FFNet to publish or to read!

So the truth is finally gonna be given to the Smashers, huh? Finally! They all will visit the real world and they shall soon find out the horrible truth of video game characters! I forgot how Snake knew the truth before Chris told everybody, can you please explain to me. Can't wait for the next chapter! This story is getting HOT!

Also, Mario and Peach finally join them! What about Wario? I haven't heard of him yet in your story. When is he coming?

Now that you have brought almost all the characters in, you will probably work on the non-related games to Super Smash Bros. right? Great! Can't wait for KH and KH2! Everyone's waiting for those!

BTW, who in the Smashers is compatible with the Beastmaster job? When is Chris gonna get that job? What are the other jobs? Is there another Moogle job in the future?

Wow, this is my longest review to you! It's all because of your great chapter! You must write like this more! I praise you, Wiiboychris! I'll be waiting!

From me: Wario is most likely going to appear very soon, but not now. The Beastmaster job? Wait even more. :P Not too many jobs are left. No. There, responded. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Wow, what a stupendous finale for such a great arc! the fights, the smashes, and the dialoge worked very well in this chapter, but now i feel suddenly worried, how well will the smashers accept their place in our world and most importantly, the person who created them? why do i have a feeling their will be major chaos in the real world, concerning chris's parents and his friends? and i hope chris has a major plan when they go to his world, or at least hope that there is a major nintendo convention in town. well, that's it for now, happy typing!

From me: Just read, because I don't know how to respond to this. XD

From aquadragonsayian: Oh snap. This probably won't end well.

Btw, awesome chapter! I laughed my ** off with this arc! So after the next chapter, what arc are you going to do next? I can't wait!! Update soon please!!

From me: I think the next arc is going to be an original one. Thanks. :)

From Rellymaster: Chapter 116:-I feel so sorry for everyone. Their parents were taken away from them by circumstance...

It makes me grateful that I have a parent that is still around. I really hope things get better

for them.

-Purple Coins...Lava Spire...Daredevil...Cosmic Race?! That's sheer madness! The ultimate challenge!!

-I think the YoshixRosalina pairing is interesting, to say the least.

Obviously I don't mean it in a twisted way.

-This chapter gets (b^.^)b d(^.^d) (four thumbs up) for its highly depressing mood.

Chapter 117:-Mario FINALLY joins the party! It's about time he did!

-TWO battles in a row PLUS the Galaxies of HELL equals way too much energy spent.

-The ending is really suspenseful. It's got me as excited as I would get when I'm about to play an awesome video game! Looks like it's time to break it to them.

-"Luigi paradox syndrome." Nice disease name.

-As usual, your story never ceases to amaze me.

From me: Warning: Luigi paradox sydrome may rub on your eyes. Start panicking after hearing weird CD-i voices in your head. XD Thanks for the review. :)

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: This story has really picked up the speed in the Super Mario Galaxy Arc. Kind of makes sad as I loved seeing the characters tortured by what Mario has to go through all the time Princess Peach is kidnap. And the title for the next chapter also makes me wonder if the Smashers are really going to Chris's home. Or maybe he is just going to explain about it. Either way this chapter may be the one I hope you update soon. I also hope you finsh the Xenosaga (Doesn't Geno sound like Xeno?),heh. Anyway sorry for my little brother's "copy" of your story. I only set up this account to review your story and allow him to post his fanfics. Though he has lost that privilege. Anyway sorry for updating so late I've been playing Breath of Fire IV. Which brings to mind if you are going to write an arc on that series? Then again the games themselves made little sense to me. The battles are fun though. Probably the only saving grace for this series.(Though the minigames are just as bad as the Super Mario Sunshine collect the eight red coins mission.)

Sean Kratos the Lucario

P.S. I hope you do the Tales of the Abyss arc soon. I really wonder how Chris will lose his memory and how he will react to seeing Lucario or the rest of the Smashers.

From me: Who is your brother exactly?

I've played Breath of Fire II but only that. I didn't get that far in the game because the difficult was a little bit insane. You'll have to wait for the TotA arc even more. :P

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Well, I suppose that Bowser can be called annoying and repetitive in some respects and the galaxies sound annoying beyond comprehension as well so I can't say that I blame the Smashers for being so mad at him.

Secret's out, huh? Chris needs to explain everything he knows. How did Snake know about Master Hand and Chris knowing this?

From me: Go back and read chapters 101, 102, 103 and 104 to understand. -_- Thanks. :)

From Mewtrainer: Time take your medicine, Chris! Mehehehehe... Sorry about missing #116, internet connection was acting up. Mario and Peach joining...was expected. Bowser joining the SA...sorta expected... Yay for very splendiferous chapters such as these!

From me: I'm glad you liked it. I hope this one as well. ;)

Well, it's time for Chris to tell all the truth so he doesn't get killed by all of them. Before you read though, there are several genres mixed as well...

...

...That wasn't even a warning now that I think about it. :P

Oh well, enjoy. :)

Read, enjoy and review! :D

YOU MUST PLAY THE SONGS IN HERE IN ORDER TO GET THE FEELINGS OF THIS CHAPTER, OTHERWISE YOU WON'T AND THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE RULE TO ENJOY ALL THE CHAPTERS TO THE FULLEST! :)

Chapter 118: Where Everything Began

Smash Mansion
Zelda's Room

"A-achoo!"

"Here."

"T-thanks..."

The blizzard that raged outside the mansion somehow got stronger. Zelda and Estelle were talking between each other for a time ever since they both met. Zelda and Estelle were sitting on the bed.

"M-my goodness..." Estelle looked outside. "T-this weather is getting so harsh, isn't it?"

"Yes," Zelda said as she looked outside. "This blizzard is quite suspicious though..."

"I also thought the same thing," Estelle nodded. "Knowing that Repede is suffering from the cold with the others is just..."

"...You're not planning to leave outside, right? It's dangerous to go."

"...Well..." Estelle wondered for a moment. "...I don't want to end up getting a cold... Fine, I'll stay here."

"(But still,)" Zelda thought as she looked outside. "(Something is bothering me...)"

Command Room

"..." Chris kept looking down. "...This is going to be so hard to understand and believe for you..."

"It doesn't matter," Snake said. "What matters is everything you're willing to say and share."

"...Ugh..." Chris closed his eyes. "I wanted to evade this before...but I guess I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't tell you..."

"Just start explaining yourself and we won't hurt you." Ike said.

"...Wait, what?!"

"Ike! We're not going to do that sort of thing!" Roy said shocked.

"S-sorry! I-I got a little carried away by the atmosphere here!"

"...Should we really listen too?" Mallow asked concerned.

"It's something we should know, I guess..." Geno whispered.

"But I'm not too sure about this..." Chris said. "How did you all get interested about all that?"

"Simple," Mewtwo began. "When you 2 came, you slowly met every single one of us."

"And even some of us asked where'd you come from, but you said something that seemed to be weird." Pikachu explained.

"Remember the first time we met?" Samus asked. "I asked you 2..."

Flashback. Back in chapter 7...

"...I'm a kid-" Chris's forehead made a vein after he got tired from hearing the word "kid" to address himself. "-that can use many different abilities to fight and Lucario has the power of the aura to deal damage too. We're currently trying to fight a much, bigger menace than the Space Pirates."

"Hard to believe."

"Huh?"

"Hard to believe someone saying such things," Samus said. "How can I know you're not lying?"

End of flashback

"You then said because the commander requested you to come, but something was odd," Samus wondered. "Why'd the commander let you accompany me? I know children aren't allowed to come to any Space Federation ship."

"I was about to ask where'd you come from too..." Toon Link said. "I was about to ask that, but Tetra came in and she made me forget the question. When Snake reminded me, then I thought about asking you again."

"I..." Pichu looked down. "...I just cared about meeting you, but that question came to my mind too..."

"Same here." Roy said.

"Don't forget me," Fox began. "I was about to ask the same things, but I got interrupted before I could go on the first time we met."

"And when Lucario knew about Team Rocket, I wondered why did he know that..." Pikachu said.

"D-don't look at me..." Olimar said. "I just remembered the moment we met too, and I didn't ask that many important questions either..."

"You said you knew a lot about me..." Lucas looked down. "But how? I-I wasn't even famous in the island so..."

"..." Sonic closed his eyes. "Y'know, you knew some things about me as well. First, I thought you were a fan, but later it kept...getting weird..."

"I guess I could say the same..." Mario said.

"Too distracted to ask that," Link said. "When you guys came with the others, I thought you were normal people...but when I came here with Zelda, things got really suspicious about you and Lucario..."

"I..." Kirby looked down. "...I just wanted to know you a little, b-but that's all..."

"Now that I remember..." Ness wondered. "I asked you about visiting new different worlds, and you said that you had many games to go. I was excited that day that I didn't think what you meant by that..."

"I-I-I-I-I-I still remember t-t-t-t-t-the day at the s-s-s-s-spa..." Falco (now pale from the cold) said. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I forgot to a-a-a-a-ask you the same thing..."

"Enough," Snake interrupted. "Kid, you've been suspicious this entire time about the worlds and all that crap. You also said things that didn't have anything to do with a certain topic, and when someone asked you what did it mean, you evaded that a lot of times by saying that you didn't know," he crossed his arms. "Irony, you knew about something, then you forgot it."

"...Ugh..." Chris grabbed his left arm. "...You're right... So..." Chris looked at the Smashers. "...What do you want me to explain first?"

"How do you know all of us," Link said. "It's been troubling me."

"...And the hardest one..." Chris muttered to Lucario, who nodded. "...Okay...where do I start explaining..."

"Chris," Master Hand pointed to a drawer on the front desk. "Look inside the drawer where the boxes are."

"Boxes?" Chris asked before remembering. "...Oh, right..."

The World Traveler walked to the drawer and opened it. Inside, there was his entire collection of videogames on top of each other. He took another glance at the Smashers before taking out one. "Okay, you see this?"

"...That's..." Peach trailed off. "...Mario with FLUDD, isn't he?"

"Yes..." Chris nodded. "This is not a normal box, it's a box containing this..." the World Traveler opened the box and he took out a small disc. "What I'm holding right now is a videogame."

"A videogame?" Mario asked. "But why a videogame with me?"

"Because..." Chris looked down. "...All of you...every single one...are not real in my world...because..."

"Stop trailing off," Snake demanded. "It's annoying."

"...Because all of you, and all the other people we've met so far...are just...videogame characters..."

A silence fell in as everyone kept blinking confused.

"..." Chris sighed. "...Now you know..."

"Videogame..." Roy trailed off.

"...Characters?" Jigglypuff finished.

"...That has to be the most stupid lie I've ever heard about you." Meta Knight said.

"W-what?" Chris asked. "B-but it's true! Everyone in this room except for me is a videogame character!"

"Kid," Snake glared at Chris. "So far, you're not making any sense at all with the whole lie you said. Videogame characters my (beep!)"

"He is telling the truth," Lucario said with a glare. "I accept that I'm a videogame character as well, but it's hard for you to understand it."

"You're saying that because you like him so much." Ivysaur said.

Lucario shook his head. "No. I saw it by myself when I got to his home and lived there after."

"That's enough," Mewtwo interrupted. "I can't find a good proof about being something like a character for a videogame."

"Then why don't you read my mind?" Chris asked.

"Because you have to say it yourself in order to trust you."

"And as of now," Fox clenched his right fist. "You're just making everything worse."

"We're videogame characters? What kind of truth is that? It's just...so stupid!" Nana said irritated.

"...What is wrong with all of you?!" Chris asked angrily. "I'm telling you all the truth I know, but yet, you keep saying I'm lying when I'm not! What proof do you want to get out of me?!"

"Chris, calm down." Lucario said.

"...It's just..." Chris closed his eyes. "I can't believe they won't accept the proof..."

"But I have something in mind to make them understand. A place to be exact."

"...A place?" Chris asked confused.

"Our room."

"Here in the mansion?"

"No," Lucario closed his eyes. "Our room in the real world, where they will understand everything."

"The "real" world?" Yoshi asked.

"All of our worlds are real, but defining your world "real" is going too far." Snake said.

Kingdom Hearts 2 - The Afternoon Streets

"..." Chris sniffed silently. "...Fine! If you all want to understand all of this in this way, then, Master Hand!"

"Yes?" Master Hand asked.

"I want to return to my world and let them in!"

"...I'm not sure..." Master Hand thought for a moment. "If we go, time will continue its way. However, if we return here, time will stop for your world again. Please, take in mind that nobody can't go from your house and that you won't change jobs or have any powers."

"Do it," Chris said with a serious face. "I'm going to explain everything there."

"...Okay," Master Hand nodded as he snapped his fingers and made a portal appear to the real world. "The path to your room is beyond."

The World Traveler stared at the portal as he smiled a little. "...After so long..." Chris muttered. "...I'm going to return and see my world again..."

"Our world." Lucario corrected him.

Chris smiled a little and wiped a tear. "I just...became homesick..."

"Stop losing time and let's go." Snake said coldly.

"We get to see his world at last," Ness whispered. "What do you think we could find there?"

"Whatever seems exciting." Pikachu whispered.

"...Before you all come," Chris interrupted them. "...Lucario and I want to enter first and let you in 1 minute later, just to check if everything is right."

"...Fine," Snake said. "But make it quick. The faster, the better."

Chris nodded once before he turned to the portal with Lucario before both walked to it and appeared somewhere else...

Real World
Chris's Room

"...We're..." Chris looked around. "...Back at last..."

"Yes..." Lucario smiled a little. "I feel right at home again..."

Both of them appeared in Chris's room. The room had many posters of many videogame characters on the walls. Chris's game collection was there as well. The date of the calendar clearly said that it was still March 9, Saturday morning at 11:30 AM.

"This is where the whole adventure started, right?" Chris asked.

"...Yes..." Lucario nodded. "That decision you made before, I still remember it very well."

Chris rubbed Lucario's head as the Aura Pokémon growled happily. "And you kept your promise."

"Protect you." Lucario said before Chris stopped rubbing his head.

"...They're going to come through the portal..." Chris smiled a little and looked down. "I should be happy that my favorite characters are going to appear here...but right now is..."

"I know," Lucario nodded. "The moment isn't right."

"..." Chris looked at the bed. "...Let's sit over there."

Chris and Lucario sat down on the bed and looked at the portal.

The World Traveler looked at his clothes, and they were the same he wore the day he bought Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "..." Chris held his hand out and tried to make it glow, but it didn't. "Master Hand said the truth..."

"Chris..." Lucario trailed off.

"Yes?"

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Everything," Chris began. "From my story to the Subspace."

"Then you may as well explain everything here, now that you have the chance."

"...I guess that's the right thing to do now... But do you think they'll understand?"

"What I expect is that they will get the truth... That is what I hope, though..."

"..." Chris looked down concerned.

"They won't hurt you," Lucario said. "I'll protect you from any of them. I can take them all on by my own."

"..."

"...Chris..." Lucario muttered worried.

Both of them stared back at the portal where it began to take every single Smasher out. Chris smiled a little after his room kept getting 1 by 1 of them, but he looked down depressed afterward.

"...Sooooooo..." Diddy looked around and jumped to the bed. "This is your room?"

"N-nice room." Lucas said with a small smile but with a worried look in his eyes.

"T-thanks..." Chris said with a nod.

"...What?" Kirby looked at a poster of him and the other 3 Kirbys, coming from the Amazing Mirror. "I-is that me?"

"Wait," Link found a poster of him riding on Epona as Twilight creatures tried to attack him. "W-what is the meaning of this?"

"..." Luigi's jaw dropped once he found a poster of Luigi's Mansion with him screaming.

"The hell?" Snake found many videogames' cases on a desk.

"Hey, check this out!" Sonic said with a grin as he looked at a poster of Sonic Advance 2. "I'm right here with Tails, Knuckles and Cream!"

"Sonic, that isn't the main point." Twink said.

"But I've got to admit," Mallow rubbed his chin. "He looks good."

"...Mallow..." Geno frowned.

"..." Falco kept staring at a poster of Star Fox: Assault with Fox, himself, Krystal and Slippy.

"Huh?" Wolf found a strategy guide of the previous mentioned game and he looked through the pages. "...This is..."

"Wait, hold on!" Pikachu picked up a DVD with Ash and his Pokémon. "W-what is Ash doing in this DVD?"

"H-hey..." Yoshi was holding a box of Mario Kart: Double Dash. "...Isn't this..."

The Smashers kept looking around the room with many different things telling about all of them. Chris and Lucario kept looking to all of them.

"They're beginning to understand..." Chris muttered. "...Right?"

"It seems that way..." Lucario muttered.

"..." Samus found the biggest poster that had the starters of SSBB posing inside small squares designed for all of them. "...What the..."

"..." Chris stood up. "...Now, do you believe me? All of you are videogame characters in reality. I just...hope you can believe me for real because what you're looking at is the whole tru-"

Persona 4 - Border of Insanity

"No!" Fox yelled with a glare that made Chris back away in fear. "Y-you made up all of this when you had the time, didn't you?!"

"All of the boxes and pictures of all of us look so real..." Nana said. "...But this isn't true at all! This is just random trash with us on all of it!"

"Will you please STOP complaining?!" Lucario asked as he stood up. "Admit it! Everything here is telling you the whole truth you don't want to believe in!"

"B-but..." Peach looked to the Super Paper Mario's box. "S-something here is wrong..."

"NOTHING IS WRONG!" Lucario yelled angrily. "Chris is telling the truth, and you don't trust him!"

"That's it," Snake said as he glared at Lucario. "I've had enough of this bull(beep!) for a long time. If the kid is not willing to say the truth, then I'll use force to make him say it."

"If that's the only way, then let's do it." C. Falcon said.

"Everyone, please!" Master Hand yelled. "Calm down! We're not here to fight in his room!"

"Oh, you tell us!" Ness said. "You're on his side, aren't you?"

"I'm in nobody's side, except all of you!"

"Then make him say what we want to hear!" Wolf demanded with a glare. "There is no damn way about this whole crap about me that says I'm a videogame character!"

"I'm not somebody's toy!" Pikachu yelled.

"P-please, don't fight here, p-please..." Pichu whispered worried.

Chris looked down and he silently walked to his Wii while the others argued with Lucario.

"This is stupid!" Ness complained. "We're real and not videogame characters for this world!"

"Seriously," C. Falcon began. "Everything here is just made-up evidence."

"Made-up evidence that made me furious and irritated," Fox pointed at the SSBB poster. "And that one over there is the biggest one yet!"

"C-can we stop arguing with each other?" Luigi asked. "I-I don't like where this is going anymore..."

"I'll gladly tell you," Snake said. "We're going to use force to make the kid say the truth."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted furiously.

"...Wait a minute..." Squirtle looked around. "...Where is he?"

"Chris?!" the Smashers called out as they looked around the room.

They all found Chris inserting a disc inside the Wii.

"Oh, now you're going to play a game and ignore us?" Falco asked irritated.

"...Everyone..." Chris muttered. "...Shut up..."

"What?" Red asked.

"Shut UP!" Chris yelled as he quickly choose the game. "I hope this is enough for you to understand!"

Many of the Smashers grunted in frustration and rage. Master Hand kept trying to calm them down but to no avail.

But then, peace seemed to come after the intro of SSBB played...

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Main Theme

"...What the..." Pikachu trailed off as the starters from Brawl were shown on a cliff, looking at the sunset.

"...I'll just go ahead." Chris said as he pressed the A button and went directly to the main menu. Once he got further from the Group option and the Brawl option,the character select screen appeared.

That is where they all gasped.

"...No..." Pit said as he looked to his icon. "...This can't...be real..."

"...It is...real..." Chris said as he chose Pit and 3 random CPUs to start the game in the Hyrule Temple.

The CPUs were Link, Kirby and Fox, who appeared on the stage with their intros before the game started. Chris, using Pit, quickly rushed to the CPU Link to fight him s the other 2 fought against each other.

"..." Kirby blinked. "...We're..."

"Fighting while Chris is controlling us..." Link finished.

"..." Chris kept his focus on the game as it went on, until the time ended and Chris was announced as the winner before he was returned to the select screen. "...So? Now do YOU all believe me?"

"...I-I can't still believe any of this..." Samus said.

"Okay then!" Chris yelled angrily as he stood up and walked to the Wii to change discs once he turned it off. "I guess I'll have to go through every single game that all of you appear in! So sit down and just watch!"

The Smashers talked with each other in silence before they all sat down around the room.

The first time, Chris showed Mario, Peach, Luigi and Yoshi the game of "Super Mario Galaxy," which shocked them as the CPU Mario used a Star Spin on a Goomba.

"Waah!" the CPU Mario exclaimed while he did a Star Spin, shocking the 4.

After showing Link and Toon Link about "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," the swordsmen made shocked looks.

"HEYAH!" the CPU Link yelled as he stabbed a Bokoblin, making Link take a step back.

And it kept going like this for each one of them.

"Oh...my..." Jigglypuff trailed off after watching a Pokémon battle in Pokémon Battle Revolution with Pikachu against a Piplup.

"Huh?" DK tilted his head after seeing Donkey Kong Country with him and Diddy in a side-scrolling level.

"Tallon...lV..." Samus trailed off as she saw herself landing on Tallon lV in Metroid Prime.

"The Sargasso Space Zone..." Fox said.

"My turf..." Wolf said as both watched the base of ruffians in Star Fox: Assault.

"T-that's..." Ike trailed off after seeing the kingdom of Crimea in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

"Look at that!" Popo pointed at himself climbing Icicle Mountain in Ice Climber. "That's me!"

"..." Nana looked away worried before her brother looked at her and then got a worried look.

"...Oh..."

"M-my...Pikmins..." Olimar trailed off after seeing himself with 100 Pikmins following him around the Landing Site.

"..." Meta Knight was left speechless once he and Kirby saw themselves competing in the Green Meadows of Kirby Air Ride.

"Sweet!" Sonic said with a grin as he saw himself racing a big truck of G.U.N in the City Escape level of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. "Check out my spe..." he noticed that everyone was glaring at him. "...Oh...I-I mean..."

"Mute City..." C. Falcon trailed off after seeing the Mute City track of F-Zero GX.

"B-but..." Ness trailed off when himself, Paula, Jeff and Poo were walking around Summers.

"T-the Underworld?" Pit asked when he saw himself shooting demons in Kid Icarus.

"...Shadow Moses..." Snake trailed off after seeing Shadow Moses Island in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

"...That's not all..." Chris said.

The World Traveler showed them the first installment of Super Smash Bros., then he showed them Super Smash Bros. Melee and after that, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

"All of us...are there...in all the tournaments..." Mario said.

"All of you, are in fact, videogame characters," Chris explained. "All of you were created by Nintendo, a very popular videogame company, except for Sonic and Snake, who are third-party characters from Sega and Konami respectively. This world, my world, is called Earth. We're in Los Angeles, California, in the United States of America."

Lucario pointed to a map of the continent. "That is the map of America. Right besides to it, there is the world map of the whole planet."

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl happens to be a very acclaimed game for many fans around the world. All of you are the main characters of the game, a simple knockout game with an easy formula to play and a story mode, the Subspace Emissary."

"In reality, we're videogame characters in this world...where we were created..." Lucario trailed off.

"Millions and millions of people know a lot about you because you're all famous here, and I happen to be one fan..."

A moment of silence soon appeared as everyone tried to do their best to comprehend the situation.

"...Videogame characters..." Roy trailed off.

"...We're simple...videogame characters..." Peach trailed off.

"Videogame characters...for the amusement for millions of people..." Mewtwo trailed off.

"..." the word "amusement" rang inside Chris's mind. "...Now you all know..."

"..." Samus stood up. "...I think...I understand all this..."

"...You do?"

"We're not real..." Squirtle got up. "We're just a bunch of fantasy characters of several videogames..."

"T-that's not true!" Chris yelled. "Sure, you're not real, but look! Aren't you breathing and visiting my own house right now, where the real world is?"

"Yeah, but..." Fox stood up. "To think our lives were...ugh...how do I put it again..."

"Created just to amuse people..." Snake trailed off with a grunt.

"...Correct..."

"It's like every single person in this world is stalking us while we don't notice them at all..." Marth trailed off.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Master Hand said. "I knew there was this world in the beginning, but I didn't go that far to investigate a little."

"...And you played every game with us, right?" Pit asked.

"...Yes..." Chris nodded. "I know everything about all of you," he turned to Mario, "I know you took a vacation in Isle Delfino that was getting attacked by Bowser," he turned to Link, "I know you left your village to rescue Illia and the other children," he turned to Kirby, "I know you defeated Marx," he turned to Pikachu, "I know Ash, Misty, Brock, Todd, Tracey, Gary, May, Max and Dawn," he turned to Samus, "I know the Metroid Prime," he turned to Fox, "I know the adventure in Sauria with Tricky," he turned to Yoshi, "I know you rescued Mario and Luigi when they were babies," he turned to DK, "I know the many fights with King K. Rool..."

And his knowledge about all of them kept going until he finished.

"...That's all..." Chris looked down. "I'm...basically a big stalker..."

"..." the Smashers looked down in depression.

"...I know what you're thinking now..." Chris began. "...You're thinking about "He's lying again! We should beat him up and make him say the REAL truth because there's no way I'm a puppet for someone's fun time!", right?"

"...We understand now..." Marth nodded. "...But violence isn't necessary at all right now..."

"...I'm so scared for your next reactions..." Chris muttered.

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Missing You

The World Traveler backed away to a wall where he sat down and embraced his legs as he sobbed. "I'm...I'm so...but so scared..."

"Why?" Diddy asked.

"So scared...about what are you going to do next to me... I already said everything that your forced out of me through threats of violence... I'm not lying this time..." Chris started to sob even more. "...I'm not lying now! And I won't lie anything from now on! But...b-but...but all of you wanted so badly to hurt my feelings and myself just to get a stupid truth that you won't realize, right?! Wasn't that your way to get the truth?! Huh?!"

"L-look, w-we didn't want t-" Toon Link was interrupted.

"SHUT UP!" Chris yelled, making everyone blink in shock. "If that's the way you threat a friend, a friend that only wanted to know his favorite videogame characters become real, then I may as well forget everything and leave you all alone! You're just a bunch of brute people who only care about yourselves and not the others!"

Lucario walked to Chris and knelt to put his right hand on Chris's left shoulder. "If you want to leave them, then do it if that is going to make you feel better. Only experiencing this made you feel much sadder than before yo-"

"..." Chris only looked down in depression as he cried silently.

"..." Lucario looked down in shame.

"...What the hell were we doing..." Ivysaur trailed off with a look of shame.

"We technically wanted to hurt someone in order to get a truth we don't want to believe in..." C. Falcon said ashamed.

"I-i-i-if I knew we were going to do this to someone innocent...t-t-t-then I shouldn't have done this..." Lucas said, covering his eyes as he sobbed. "W-w-w-what's wrong with me?!"

"Lucas, Lucas! Stop crying!" Ness yelled. "...I'm the one who acted like a bastard after all..." Ness covered his eyes. "T-this is just wrong..."

"P-P-P-Pikachu..." Pichu walked to Pikachu and looked down before he sobbed. "...Is this how we are?"

"...N-not at all..." Pikachu said before Pichu hugged him and cried.

"...W-why didn't I say anything to stop this?" Jigglypuff asked. "W-we were going too far..."

"...P-Popo..." Nana muttered with sobs. "...P-please...hug me..."

"..." Popo silently walked to Nana and hugged her sister as she cried on his shoulder. Popo closed his eyes and sobbed afterward with her.

"...Man..." Red looked down. "...Finding the truth in this way...is just too wrong...and it feels horrible once you realize it..."

"G-Geno..." Twink cried some tears before he hugged the puppet. "...This is real...how we are...right?"

"...I'm afraid so..." Geno responded as he patted Twink's back.

"..." Mallow sobbed several times, and almost at the point of crying, but his powers weren't being manifested in the real world like they used to in the other worlds. The cloud prince went over to the puppet who hugged him in shame.

"Dammit..." Roy muttered. "This isn't the way we act..."

"I know..." Marth looked outside. "...The feeling is horrible..."

"I'm trying to understand this...b-but..." Ike closed his eyes in shame. "...But I should be more aware of my actions on people more than anything else..."

"...O-oh, tears of eyes..." Olimar sniffed. "I-I didn't talk to express my concerns...and this happened..."

"..." Kirby sobbed silently before Meta Knight walked to him and patted his back a little.

"I have the same reaction as well, Kirby," Meta Knight said. "I can't express it, but believe me, I do."

"...Y-yes..." Kirby said with a nod.

Pit looked down a wiped something from his eyes. "I-I'm suppose to be an angel of peace...and I let this go like nothing bad happened..."

"M-Mario..." Peach hugged Mario slowly. "...T-this isn't me...a person who just sits behind and doesn't stop an event like this go and end sadly...right?"

"...No, Peach..." Mario said ashamed. "...We're not like that..."

"..." Luigi was ducking as he sobbed before his brother patted his back.

"..." Yoshi sobbed several times. "Why...why did I do this?"

"Should we do this again and hurt someone else?... Of course not..." Squirtle said ashamed.

"...Donkey..." Diddy looked down as he rubbed his right arm on his eyes.

DK hugged Diddy and both sobbed in unison.

"..." Sonic crossed his arms and frowned to himself. "...I'm a filthy bastard too..."

Fox walked to the poster of Star Fox: Assault and he glared at his picture. "...This is what I really am...but I don't accept the way I acted to get to what I wanted to know..."

"It's normal that you'll act like this to get a truth," Wolf said as he crossed his arms and frowned in shame. "I feel a bit ashamed myself, but that's all..."

"Damn..." Falco muttered with a frown of shame.

"...I acted like a filthy bastard, didn't I..." Samus asked.

"...We all did..." C. Falcon responded in shame.

Mewtwo was only able to close his eyes with a frown of shame. "...A shameful knowledge only gained through violence..."

"..." Snake looked down. "...Guess I went a little bit too far..."

"W-wait just a minute," Roy glared at Snake. "You! You made us act like this all along!"

"You convinced us to make Chris say the truth through threats? I can't believe you! How can you be so cruel?!" Nana asked with tears.

Every single Smasher glared at Snake, and the soldier just stared at them.

"Damn bastard..." Ness muttered. "You really like to mess up with a person's friendships a lot, don't you?!"

"Hey," Snake began. "It's not my fault that you ac-"

"Shut up, just shut up!" Pikachu yelled as he pointed at Chris, still crying silently while Lucario remained in his position. "He is like this because you convinced us to do this sort of thing!"

"A-a sort of thing we don't do!" Pichu added angrily.

"And don't act all innocent either," Marth said. "You were the one who said about using force to get the truth, right?"

"...I did..." Snake said looking down. "I did say that, but I didn't care that much about the kid..."

"H-how could you be saying that horrible thing?" Peach asked. "Chris is just as important to me as he is important to all of us!"

"But Peach..." Yoshi trailed off. "...You didn't spend much time with Chris..."

"...I know..." Peach looked down. "...But we did once...during the festival of sports..."

Flashback

"Where is Mallow going?" Peach asked appearing from the group.

"He...um...went to look around for a coin he lost in the way...hey, are you Peach?"

"Yes, I am, and you're Chris, right? Mario told me you and the others helped him in Rogueport before."

"Um..." Chris blushed a little. "Y-yes, it was very fun to help him out."

"I wanted to thank you for doing so," Peach smiled a little. "If it weren't for you, I would be captive in the moon forever!"

End of flashback

"After that, we became fast friends..." Peach sobbed one time. "What I cared about him is that he helped Mario to rescue me from Grodus... I care about the people who help Mario a lot because they have good hearts and spirits..." Peach closed her eyes. "...But hurt them to get a truth?... Why anybody here didn't ask nicely instead of acting like this? He isn't an enemy...but a dear friend...right?"

"...I guess we forgot that..." C. Falcon said ashamed, even more than before.

"And Chris didn't want to be anyone's enemy," Lucario said as he stood up and looked at them. "The first time we got to visit a world, he said..."

Flashback

"...Chris..." Lucario looked away.

"What?"

"Was this...alright?"

"What? Stop making me asking you."

Lucario closed his eyes. "Well... I was talking about your decision to do this adventure."

"Well, I wanted to have something different."

"But do you really think that this is the right decision?"

Chris looked away. "...I just don't know sometimes... I really wished to have an adventure with you, Lucario..."

Lucario blinked. "Ah...yes, you said that before."

"And to be honest," Chris chuckled. "I was thinking about meeting all the characters from Brawl with you. I could make interesting friends if I get to talk with any of them."

"Like?"

"Like many people," Chris closed his eyes.

End of flashback

"And that didn't end there." Lucario continued.

Flashback

"...Lucario, do you think we can save everyone from the danger?"

"As long as we have faith in each other and everyone, we will."

"But, what if we can't?"

"Chris, stop thinking about negative things. If you do that we won't go forward."

"...You're right, I won't think about the bad side. I'll be enthusiastic as I am."

"You got the point, I'm glad." Lucario smiled a little bit.

End of flashback

"An enthusiasm you all destroyed intentionally," Lucario said looking down. "Chris's only main purpose to do this adventure was just to know and be friends with all of you. He used to tell me that if he was able to meet me, then there was a chance to meet you all as well."

"..." Lucas looked down.

"But after he saw all this..." Lucario looked at Chris sobbing. "...I think he got scared of everyone...or he did... He had a very strong belief for the fantasy to become real, and look at yourselves standing right in his room," Lucario pointed at them. "You already stepped here, in the real world. His fantasies became real as well as yourselves, videogame characters...like I did first..."

"...This is just wrong, guys..." Toon Link said. "I, for one, don't care about being a damn videogame character. I'm already living, right? Living outside a videogame and Chris is being the witness, right?"

"If we hurt people, then we're videogame characters with set personalities..." Marth began. "...But if we apologize, then we could have a chance to be pardoned..."

"A-and we could still be friends..." Pichu looked at Chris. "...With Chris as we like to do..."

"..." Roy chuckled. "...Now I remembered that he wanted to help me with my father and mother...but I kept telling him no... Man, was I being a bad person..."

"...I have to say..." Ness played with his fingers a little bit. "...I enjoyed the time we spent because he was funny... I didn't care about anything else..."

"I felt right at home when he wanted to help me, too." Pikachu smiled a little as he wiped some tears. "...Why hurt someone who is really nice with you?"

"Exactly..." Pit said nodding as he wiped his tears. "Happiness is the biggest thing that can describe Chris..."

"It's his trait, alright," Mallow said as he did the same action. "Remember when he was excited to meet me?"

"If I remember..." Geno wondered for a bit. "He was excited as well with me..."

"...Then...we're all clear that we accept this reality?" Sonic asked.

"Not until Snake feels remorse." Samus said as they looked at Snake.

"...What's that?" Olimar asked as he spotted something on Snake's face. "Is that a tear I see?"

"Stop saying stupid things," Snake said as he wiped it out. "I don't have feelings for the kid."

"You may as well lie all you want," Wolf grinned. "I'd say the same, but I'm honest about enjoying the time with the kid...just a little, of course."

"Besides," C. Falcon went on. "He said all the truth, so why don't you?"

"...Tsk..." Snake looked away. "...You people sometimes irritate me so much at the point to strangle you all..."

"Then you do." Mario said.

"..." Snake nodded very slightly.

"So, does everyone here accept the fact about being videogame characters?" Ivysaur asked.

"...Heh," Falco chuckled. "I'd say to hell with it. I'm proud to say I'm a videogame character that is walking in the real world."

"Actually, we're not videogame characters any longer," Mewtwo began. "Technically, we're real to someone who once believed we were part of a videogame."

"Yet we're here," Geno said. "The real world, where many people know about us."

"We're not part of a videogame anymore," Fox smiled a little. "We're part of the real thing."

"...Shouldn't we apologize now that we accepted it and feeling utter humiliation and shame with the remorse?" Nana asked.

"Yes," Master Hand nodded. "You all should."

"...Wait, why didn't you feel remorse?" Link asked.

"Well, because my dear long-eared friend, I accepted that fact the moment I came here first with Craz-" Master Hand looked around. "...CRAZY?!"

"Yep?" Crazy Hand asked from under the bed sheet.

"...Nevermind..."

All of them looked at the sad World Traveler.

"...Apology time..." Sonic said.

"I want to enjoy this with him so much now..." Jigglypuff said.

"...Let's just hope he can forgive our irrational behaviors..." Marth said.

They all turned to Chris once again...

...But there was someone already apologizing that they didn't notice because Lucario didn't let them see him...

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Laughter and Merriment

"And who cares about being a videogame character?" Pikachu asked as he stood on Chris's knees. "I accept this and I'd like you to forgive me for being a damn bastard."

Chris sniffed and wiped some tears. "Are you...being honest?"

"Hell yes!" Pikachu moved his tail to the sides for a moment. "You want only to have fun, right? So I'm going to give you lots and lots of fun! And while we're at it, why don't you let me tell you about my past life? I'm sure these DVDs with my adventures with Ash don't have true facts."

"...I..." Chris sniffed and wiped his tears before smiling a little to Pikachu. Lucario noticed the faint smile and he smiled a little in relief. "I'd like to do that with you..."

"Thank you, Pikachu," Lucario said with a nod. "You're the only one of those imbeciles who apologized to Chris and made him feel better."

Pikachu blushed and scratched his head. "Hey, hey, I'm a friend, am I not? I'm supposed to be like this."

"Thank you...thank you so much..." Chris muttered as he made a happy expression. "I knew I could count on you."

"That's what I'm here foOOOOOOOR!!!"

Chris looked up where Fox was grabbing Pikachu's head with his right hand. The vulpine looked down at Chris and gave him a sarcastic happy expression. "Sorry for interrupting, buuut, would you wait a minute?" Fox asked nicely.

"..." Chris only blinked confused before he nodded.

"Oh, thank you." Fox said sarcastically as he dragged Pikachu to the others. "Stupid damn traitor..." Fox whispered through gritted fangs.

"Getting the credit all for yourself, huh?" Ness asked with his bat ready.

"W-wait, you guys..." Pikachu gulped as many of them prepared to attack him. "I-I accepted my own fault faster than a-all of you did, so d-don't kill me for that!"

"Oh, sure," Jigglypuff pouted a little. "We know you very well."

"And you like to do this in order to screw us over." Roy said with his sword ready.

"Prepare to die, my friend." Ike said.

Pikachu gulped one last time after Fox put a hand below the Electric Pokémon to make sure he couldn't run away. "F-Fox, y-you're touching my a-"

"...Chris..." Lucario began.

"...Yes?" Chris asked.

"...Can I block your eyes? You shouldn't see what is coming next..."

"...Oh, do tell me..."

"They're going to murder Pikachu."

"..."

"...In our room."

"W-WAIT!" Chris yelled as he stood up and made everyone about to kill Pikachu look at him. The World Traveler took the Electric Pokémon off from Fox's hands. "Y-you can't fight in my room, let alone murder Pikachu! A-are you nuts or what?!"

"Oh, thank Lord Arceus there's someone who CARES for my welfare!" Pikachu said crying toon tears.

"...I-I wasn't going to! You all know that!" Peach said worried.

Music stops

Several minutes later...

Everyone was sitting down like they did before as they stared at Chris. Lucario was standing close to him as the World Traveler gulped and looked ashamed. "...So...what's your conclusion?"

"...We're sorry..." DK began with an ashamed look. "...We're sorry for acting like that and we accept what we really are..."

"It was a truth that was too much to believe in..." Peach looked down. "My whole life is just..."

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Friends in my Heart

"No..." Chris said. "I originally didn't think of any of you as characters to amuse me. I...just like to play videogames...but when I first went to the videogames, I started to believe in my fantasies much more than before."

"...That doesn't change the fact that the people like you here can change our destinies whenever they want to..." Samus said.

"...Although..." Master Hand began. "I broke that part."

"What?" Twink asked.

Master Hand nodded. "Yes. Think about it, when I came here, I officially broke the ties that decided everyone's path of life. You all here are witnesses that our continuities were broken apart after you left your own worlds and joined this tournament. However..."

"Those broken paths became united, and thus we all walk the same reality." Mewtwo finished.

"Exactly..." Master Hand nodded. "And I must ask something: Chris, now that we all are working to stop something that wasn't originally a set plot of a videogame, do you really think this is a videogame, after all you've experienced?"

"...No..." Chris responded. "Because each one of you have different stories that weren't explained in the videogames and the fact that all of you are here, in my own world..."

"..." Snake wondered for a moment. "...Then I'm glad I was able to get off from that path."

"...You're not angry anymore?"

"...To be honest, yes," Snake said but Chris looked down. "However, knowing that true reality became, as ironic as it sounds, real, is good enough for me."

"...Yeah..." Nana nodded as she wiped some tears. "We're videogame characters that are walking and living in this world, your world, Chris."

"This is where we were created," Mario said as he looked outside. "And come to think of it, this world looks so peaceful and quiet."

"T-this is just a normal neighborhood. The city is much louder..." Chris said blushing.

Yoshi looked around the room. "I'm happy I became part of this."

"At last, your lies were exposed, and we all accept our own realities." Ness said.

"...Shouldn't we like, apology now?" Roy asked as he looked at Chris with a depressed look. "If we can still make up for what we were going to do, then we should at least apologize."

"If Chris promises to tell all the truth himself with no lies." Diddy said.

"...Everyone..." Chris began as he wiped some tears. "...From now on, I promise I won't hide any lies. I want to be honest and sincere because I want to be friends with everyone here."

"Good luck trying that with me." Wolf said.

"Oh, don't listen to him," Fox said. "He'll be begging to be on your side. You'll see."

"Want to repeat that again?"

"Will that piss you off?"

"A lot."

"He'll be begging to be on your side. You'll see."

"...Tsk." Wolf looked away as Fox chuckled a little.

"..." Kirby walked to Chris, then he jumped to him and gave the World Traveler a hug while he cried some tears. "I'm so sorry, Chris. Please, forgive me..."

"Thank you, Kirby..." Chris whispered as he sobbed a little. "Thank you so much, really..."

"...Er..." Ike backed away a little. "...Why don't we say our apologies at the same time? Giving a hug is just too much for my tastes..."

"That sounds tolerable for me." Falco said shrugging.

Popo looked at everyone, who in turn looked at him and nodded. "And a 1, and a 2, and a..."

"We're sorry for acting so hard on you. We promise that we're going to be good and enjoy this adventure together. As long as you say and don't hide the truth, we're going to give you our full support. If there are difficulties ahead, then we may as well get rid of them and continue on, because that's our main objective as a whole group," everyone said at the same time.

"Because we feel so much better after accepting the truth." Yoshi said with a happy expression.

"T-this is something I'm going to really enjoy..." Lucas said as he wiped some tears.

"10 hurrays for Chris!" Kirby suggested happily.

"W-wait! D-don't go that far eithe-" Chris blushed embarrassed but everyone decided to go on ahead.

The room became more lively after each Smasher (save for Snake, Wolf, Meta Knight and Mewtwo) cheered for Chris loudly. Many of them raising fists to the air, while some of them jumped in excitement. Chris was only able to watch all the cheers without doing anything, because, after all, they all cared for him after he told the truth. Once everyone stopped and looked at World Traveler...

"..." Chris closed his eyes while some tears strolled down his cheeks as he smiled a little. Lucario walked closer to him and put a hand on his left shoulder. "...Thank you, everyone, thank you so much for being so nice to me..."

"Hey, that was the least we could do for you." Toon Link said.

"You became part of this crazy insane family, after all." Master Hand said.

"That sounded so insulting right there..." Link said.

Master Hand chuckled. "Well, that's true! Just look at all of us! Humans, anthros, Pokémon, cloud people, puppet people, star people, heck, we have everyone!"

"...Crazy family..." Chris muttered before he chuckled. "...Maybe this is the family I was wishing to have..."

Lucario chuckled. "Wasn't one of your wishes to have a family with different people?"

"...Yes..." Chris said with a nod.

"Um, wait..." Pit looked around. "We're in your house so...where is your family?"

Music stops

"...My...family?" Chris asked slowly with a concerned look.

"Didn't you say your parents left you alone here before?" Fox asked.

"...Y-yes...but..."

"You didn't explain fully that part in the observatory, did you?" Samus asked.

"I remember you stopped talking about them too." Mario said.

"...Please...don't hate me for this..." Chris said with an ashamed look. "...But...I just...I just can't tell you what happened here... I don't want to remember why did my parents leave me..."

"Here we go with the same (beep!) again..." Snake said with a frown.

"Stop!" Peach yelled. "If Chris doesn't want to tell us something that it hurt him during his past, then we shouldn't just barge in and revive a horrible event of his life!"

"...You're right..." Samus nodded. "The same sorrow, I can understand that."

"...Me too..." Fox muttered ashamed.

"...Thank you for understanding..." Chris said. "...You really are my friends after all..."

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Laughter and Merriment

"Ouch," Falco grinned. "Sappy line."

"Who are you? Ike?" Nana asked.

Ike glared at her. "H-hey! What was that supposed to mean?"

"Y-you guys are!!" Chris clenched his fists, but then, he chuckled before laughing for a bit. "You guys are...so amazing..."

"So true," Pikachu nodded as he crossed his arms. "So damn true..."

"...Where's Kirby?" Pichu asked.

It was not long before they all looked at the TV, where the Super Smash Bros. Melee game started with Kirby using Mario in Classic Mode. They all watched Kirby playing against a CPU Roy before the game started and Kirby played it.

"...Oh, right..." Chris said nodding. "It's a videogame after all."

"...You know..." Sonic tilted his head as he walked to Kirby and looked at the TV. "...This thing looks interesting..."

"...Have to admit it, but yeah, it seems fun to play..." DK said nodding.

"GAME!" the TV announced as Kirby won the first match.

The next match was against a CPU Luigi and the game started.

"T-that's me!" Luigi said shocked.

"Hell no, another Luigi." C. Falcon said with a frown.

"..." Kirby tilted by the sides as he tried to defeat the CPU Luigi. However, the Star Warrior decided to drop the mode and go directly to the multiplayer option, where most of the Smashers were displayed there.

"...Damn, Fox," Wolf said with a snicker. "You looked SCARY in that game with THAT face..."

"Then your face DID undergo a plastic surgery." Yoshi said surprised.

"..." Fox looked at his Melee version, then at his Assault version. "...The people here like to change our looks so much and mess around a bit, don't they?" Fox raised an eyebrow with an annoyed look.

"H-hey, t-that's what happens when companies leave Nintendo and new ones get involved." Chris said blushing embarrassed.

"Then, can you express them your opinions and make us look like we should?" Pit asked.

"...N-no... I don't speak japanese or chinese..."

Marth blinked. "So, those were supposed to be my languages... I can speak to them."

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Chris shook his head. "Remember? Videogame characters plus real world plus getting seen equals madness?"

"I don't see why not." Mario said.

"Are you all nuts or what?"

"No. Why can't we?" Ness asked.

"Because there are so many people wanting all of you out!"

"...I don't see what's bad with that..." Ike said.

"If you go outside, fangirls are so going to rape you." Chris said simply as Ike gasped a little with some others.

"Chris!" Lucario said shocked.

"Well, that's true!" Chris went on. "Many of you are so wished for fangirls that they'd go so far to keep you all for themselves!"

"...Just what could those "fangirls" do to us males?" Fox asked.

"Oh, many things," Chris raised several fingers. "From raping you, to...you don't want to know..."

"Oh, we want," Red said. "You're not going to hide anything, right?"

"...Let me show you this site and you'll know... I'm warning you beforehand though. This isn't going to be so good..." Chris said as he went ot his computer...

...And thus, they all knew about what evils dwelled in Deviantart...

Several hours later. 1:30 PM...

"...So?" Chris asked after showing them the site. Most of them were blushing in utter embarrassment and humilliation.

"...Mama mia..." Mario said with wide eyes.

"...I...can't say anything bad to describe what I just saw..." Peach said utterly shocked.

"Nice butt in that pic, thoug-"

"AAAAAHH!!!" Peach accidentally kicked Popo away in fear.

"..." Nana wasn't even going to speak after she saw everything in that site.

"...W-what the heck was all that about?" Wolf asked.

"Well, the FoxXWolf pairing recently was born like 1 month ago s-" Chris was interrupted.

"S-stop it!" Fox yelled closing his eyes with an angered expression, even to the point where he clenched his fangs. "T-that site is just saying horrible lies! And I know those ARE lies!"

"At least we know those are real lies...ugh..." Chris shrugged.

"What the heck? I-I'm not in love with him!" Falco yelled, pointing at Fox, who shrugged.

"The FoxXFalco one is much more popular thoug-"

"SHUT IT!"

"...O-okay..." Chris nodded.

"Can you...um...erase all that?" Marth asked blushing.

"I'm not the one in charge of the site!"

"B-but all those pictures..." Ike shrugged. "...W-what is the people here thinking about us?"

"They picture you as gays." Popo said chuckling.

"Can I beat the snout out of him?" Roy asked.

"The MarthXRoy one was so cute." Peach commented.

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Didn't you just say those pictures were awful?" Geno asked with a shocked look.

"...W-what? I-I thought it looked cute..." Peach said.

"...They were...laying down...on the bed..." Pit trailed off.

"...N-naked..." Lucas finished in utter embarrassment. "...I-if my mom was here, she'd slap me so hard and punish me for my entire life..."

"..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...Want to see it again?"

"NO!" Pikachu yelled disgusted. "T-that filthy website is full of sins and twisted variations of all of us!"

"...Huh?" Chris looked at Kirby, who was shown playing with Ness, Toon Link and Luigi in match in Melee.

"Ha, you missed." Ness taunted using himself against Toon Link's Young Link."

"Ha, I didn't now." Toon Link said as he landed an arrow on Ness's Ness.

"Y-you won't beat me!" Luigi said as he barely dodged a Bom-omb from Kirby's Mario.

"...Oh, right, I forgot about that videogame..." Pikachu said before shifting his eyes. "...The first one to lose hands the controller to me!"

"Wait a minute, I want to play too." Roy said.

"Will you wait? I want to check out my abilities in the game." C. Falcon said with a grin.

"No, you both can't." Sonic said.

"Oh, so you're thinking about other things at this momen-"

"Cause I'm going first!"

"You little..."

"I want to play if I get the chance." Marth said.

"No, you won't. I'm going first." DK said.

"All of you will wait because I'M going first and you will go so down, that includes you, Nana." Popo said with a triumphant smile.

"...Everyone's welcome to gang up against my brother in a match!" Nana offered.

And thus, every single videogame character wanted to play videogames.

"..." Chris watched all of them talking between themselves as he, Mewtwo, Snake, Meta Knight, Lucario and Master Hand watched. "...Ironic, videogame characters playing videogames of themselves... Wait, why aren't my things here? I thought they were in the mansion..."

"I made copies of all of them," Master Hand explained.

"Oh, thank you. I thought I was going to get confused."

"Hmph," Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I don't have anything else to say after this."

"Neither do I," Snake said lighting a cigar. "I'm glad the kid finally cleared my doubts."

"..." Chris looked away.

"No need to get sentimental anymore."

"...I know." Chris said with a small smile.

"490 Pokémon?" Pikachu asked as he played Pokémon Diamond. "Chris, you caught all of them?"

"I-ah-got some from the GTS."

"...My full respect to you, man," Pikachu said nodding. "This is what I've been expecting Ash to achieve, but nooooooo, he lets all the Pokémon go like nothing happened. You are different from him."

Chris blushed. "...T-thanks?"

"Have you ever considered to be a Pokémon Master before? I bet you could be one faster than Ash."

"T-thanks, but I don't want to."

"Aw, that's a shame," Pikachu said. "...I need to play this even more."

"Soooo..." Ike trailed off as he saw himself in the box art of his game. "...This is me, right?"

"Yes." Chris nodded.

"...Can I see more about this?"

"Until they're done playing." Lucario said.

"What the hell?" Falco asked irritated as he read an instruction manual of Star Fox: Assault. "You can only play as Fox all the game but not anyone else?"

"W-well, he's the main character and you get to shoot...a few times to the bosses, but you can play as yourself in multiplayer."

"That's not fair. Why he can and I can't?"

"...Ask that to your creator..."

"So where is he or she?"

"I-I don't know where he or she lives! But if this makes you feel better, you can play against either Fox or Wolf because they both can be played in multiplayer."

"Wait, you can use me?" Wolf asked raising an eyebrow.

"...There's a part of the game where you get beaten by Fox in the story mode..."

"...Talk about nonsense..." Wolf said with a frown.

"How come I haven't seen my "videogame" here?" Pit asked.

"Your game has a hard difficult and besides, I bought it from the VC. I don't have the real box here."

"...Oh well..."

Master Hand chuckled. "Well, thanks for letting them know what they are."

"I wanted to evade it because I feared to mess up their continuities...but I guess nothing bad happened." Chris said.

"Yes!" Red proclaimed happily. "I won!"

"You won because you used the Hammer! That's cheating!" Nana said angrily.

"Nah-ah. I just picked it up with Pikachu and you came too close with Popo, so there!"

"Will you 2 shut up?" Ness asked.

"Yeah. It's my turn to test out my game after all." Fox said as he held his game.

"Oh, heck no!" Link said. "We all know my game is much better than any of yours!" he held Twilight Princess on his right hand.

"M-mine could be..." Luigi said with Luigi's Mansion.

"I-I want to see where did I leave my wallet in mine..." Olimar said, holding Pikmin.

"Sure," C. Falcon rolled his eyes as he held F-Zero GX. "I suggest my own videogame."

"...I find this interesting..." Lucario began. "They want to play themselves."

"..." Chris chuckled. "I know. It looks weird but at the same time so ironic and so peculiar."

"I hereby proclaim that you will all play my OWN game!" Sonic said grinning as he held Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

Music stops

4 hours later... 5:30 PM

After playing through all the afternoon the videogames, everyone was sitting on the floor, talking between themselves about the games they just played.

"So, we're all good?" Chris asked and everyone nodded.

"That was so fun back there." Diddy said.

"Yes. Did you see how Sonic was showing off that nobody could out-run him with Amy, but Peach proved him otherwise?" Toon Link asked.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Excuse me. I was distracted in that game."

Peach giggled. "But that was fun."

"For you, but not for me."

"Oh well."

"Okay. Enough about videogame talk." Master Hand said.

Fox looked annoyed. "You're saying that because somebody didn't blow up your Arwing 7 times straight."

Wolf smirked. "It's not my fault you suck at your own game, McCloud."

"You're enjoying this so much, aren't you?"

"If that has me owning you, all the way until the end."

"Tsk..."

"Enough about kiddy games," Snake interrupted. "Let's move on with more important matters."

"The Subspace." Marth said.

"Right."

"And Chris knows." Geno said.

"Better yet," Chris looked at Master Hand. "Master Hand knows much more than me."

"...Okay, you got me there." Master Hand coughed a little.

"You admit you erased our memories about that event?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, I do. I guess it's better to release that memory out so you can remember everything."

"Didn't you say you erased our minds a moment ago?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Well, yes, but not totally. There are small fragments in your minds that were preserved just in case."

"...Then go ahead and remind us." Mario said.

"Will do." Master Hand said with a snap of fingers.

Everyone in the room blinked several times before looking at each other.

"...W-whoa..." Red took a step back. "...I remember...everything now..."

"The Subspace...how Tabuu looks like...the whole battles..." Samus trailed off.

"...I remember I was walking peacefully on the Halberd when..." Peach looked at Fox.

"...I fired at you without even caring...and Zelda owns me an Arwing..." Fox added.

"Yeah..." Snake nodded. "...Everything makes sense now."

"We fought Tabuu...but we lost..." Pikachu said.

"O-oww..." Olimar moaned. "M-my head hurts after that fight..."

"...Strange..." Pichu looked around. "I don't have any memories of that fight..."

"Or myself." Mewtwo said.

"Or me." Roy said.

Master Hand sighed. "Okay, guys. Let's go back to the mansion where I'll explain everything about the Subspace."

"..." Chris looked down.

"Don't worry, I'll stop the time here once we're back."

"...I'm going to miss my room for a while..."

"Me too," Lucario said nodding. "Me too..."

Master Hand called forth the portal and everyone began to enter it. Chris stopped for a moment to look at his room but then, he sighed disappointed.

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

"I'm really going to miss my room..."

"E-excuse me..." Lucas interrupted. "B-but...I'd like you come here and stay sometime..."

"Huh?" Chris said confused.

Lucas smiled a little. "I like this world and I want to stay here if we can get back... What do you say?"

"...Thank you, Lucas," Chris said with a smile. "You cheered me up with that."

"...I'm glad." Lucas said with a nod before the trio entered inside the portal and vanished.

The clock that was in the room suddenly stopped, indicating that the time there stopped as well.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

All the Smashers were talking between themselves after remembering what happened in the battle against Tabuu while Master Hand coughed to get their attention.

"Alright, alright. You all know what happened, right?" Master Hand asked.

"Everything, to where we planned our assault on his own world." Mario said.

"Wait, planned?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Master Hand nodded. "In the beginning, we all here planned the attack against Tabuu. Although it didn't look like an attack, but rather a decoy to take them out..."

"And the new Smashers weren't involved before." Link said.

"Oh, about that...they were involved, remember?" Master Hand asked.

"Let's remember how did this happen again, little by little." Samus said.

"Flashback waves time!" Crazy Hand said as the previously mentioned action began to happen...

A long, long time ago...

Final Fantasy VIII - SeeD

A long time ago, in the same room, there were Master Hand and Crazy Hand with all the Smashers (without the villains) as they discussed something...

"Okay, everyone's here, right?" Master Hand asked and everyone nodded. "Okay, let's begin the meeting."

"The Subspace Army is an army that plans to take over all our worlds." Marth said.

"Yes. The army is leaded by Tabuu, the embodiment of the Subspace." Master Hand explained as he showed them how Tabuu looked like.

"He looks like Link's uncle." Ness said.

"Will you stop?" Link asked.

"What? This is the first time."

"Enough," Master Hand interrupted. "As I was saying before, this is Tabuu."

"He loo-" Ness noticed that Link was glaring at him. "Looks like a virtual character."

"Whatever he looks like doesn't matter," Master Hand said. "Anyway, let's continue. The Subspace Bombs..." the screen showed them a Subspace Bomb. "This is what they use to create the Subspace."

"It looks too basic to me." Zelda said.

"Oh, it's not," Master Hand pointed at the screen that showed 2 R.O.B.s. "Using these robots of the Isle of the Ancients, they can activate the bombs and blow them up, creating a big sphere that leads to the Subspace."

"So, our main objective is to raid that floating isle, right?" Falco asked.

"Exactly," Master Hand showed them the Isle of the Ancients close to an ice mountain before it expanded, showing a big terrain with different areas. "This place is where they manufacture all the Subspace Bombs. If we destroy this place, then they will stop from creating more areas for the Subspace. If that happens, then Tabuu will roam everywhere and create destruction."

"Hmph," Lucario (Riley's one) crossed his arms. "It's close to that mountain over there."

"Leave that to us," Nana said. "Ice mountains are our thing. We're the Ice Climbers after all."

"And we climb all the way up then go rolling all the way down." Popo said.

"...Ignore what he just said."

"Okay, let's give everyone's area." Master Hand said as the screen showed them the places where they were going to be located.

"Stadium..." Peach read. "We're going to draw them with the Midair Stadium..."

"You, Mario, Kirby and Zelda will go there," Master Hand ordered. "The fake tourney will fool them to get out from their place. This will most likely trigger their plans to take over the Smash Bros. universe."

"Smash Bros. universe?" Chris asked outside the flashback.

"Well, you're in the Smash Bros. universe...but...you can define this universe as just a simple random place." Master Hand said.

"Tell me that my ship is going to be retrieved." Meta Knight said.

"We're going to do everything in our hands to retrieve the Halberd." Master Hand said.

"The Subspace Army began to appear after the Melee tournament ended. Kirby told me then that Dedede managed to find Meta Knight's ship and he stole the Halberd from Meta Knight. My guess is that the villains were acting like they should be." Master Hand explained.

"They were already sneaking around our worlds to get vital equipment to get themselves protected so they could have an advantage against us." Snake said.

"I remember they stole the blueprints of our technology with the Reflectors in the Great Fox..." Fox wondered.

"I hope you speak the truth," Meta Knight said. "Once we're done with this, I'll leave."

"Sure, sure..." Master Hand nodded. "Lucario, Popo and Nana will go to this mountain, where the base is located close."

"I can't reach it from there. Would that be some kind of "meeting point" to infiltrate the base?" Riley's Lucario asked.

"Correct. That's where Fox and Falco come in with their Arwings and the Great Fox."

Falco snapped his fingers. "Why didn't you say that before? I didn't take my Arwing here!"

"Or neither the Great Fox." Fox added.

"We only have his Arwing and not mine!"

"Relax and calm down," Master Hand said. "The operation is going to start tonight. You still have time to go and get your Arwing and the Great Fox in order to attack."

"...Shoot..." Falco wondered for a moment. "...You all go on ahead. I'll meet up with Fox at some point with everything ready and set."

Fox grinned and nodded. "Then go and don't forget anything."

"Roger that." Falco said with a nod before he ran away inside a portal to his world that Master Hand made.

"Crazy, I hope you open a portal big enough for the Great Fox in my absence. Don't YOU dare to screw this up." Master Hand warned.

"Will do, bruddha, will do." Crazy Hand said nodding.

"Moving on," Master Hand pointed at the map. "...Where is Yoshi?"

"Lost somewhere with my sword," Link said annoyed. "I told him to go to this blacksmith, but he hasn't returned yet from his trip."

"...I guess you should get going and look for both Yoshi and your sword."

"Only my sword. He deserves to get lost." Link said before he ran off.

"Aahh..." Master Hand sighed before going on. "Okay, my sources tell me that Snake already infiltrated the Halberd."

"Why did you call that guy here anyway?" C. Falcon asked.

"Propaganda purposes, or this threat since I've heard he was an expert to infiltrate anything," Master Hand shuddered. "If you're a big floating hand, be careful if you go to his base. Snake's gang went all nuclear warhead on me until I explained them the situation. Luckily, they understood at the end and agreed to help us out. You won't regret his help at all."

"I see..." Samus said.

"Rats, Samus! You should go there now!"

"But I don't like the idea about letting them steal my Power Suit just to drag them out." Samus said.

"Sorry, but it's the only way to get there...besides..."

"...Pikachu and Pichu were captured..." Jigglypuff said sadly.

"..." Master Hand shook his head. "And don't forget Mr. G&W, he was also kidnapped."

"At least Luigi didn't," Roy said before looking around. "Speaking of him, where is he?"

"He said he went on a journey to prove himself or something like that..." DK wondered.

"Didn't he just started that yesterday though?" Ike asked.

"...He did..." Mario said a little embarrassed.

"Let's sort everything out again." Master Hand suggested as he gave everyone their areas.

"I guess Pichu, Roy and I were somehow killed and we were taken directly from the Melee tournament because of Chris, right?" Mewtwo asked.

"...Yes..." Master Hand said.

"B-but how? D-did we lose or something?" Pichu asked.

"It was...horrible...but let's continue with what happened here."

"Is it okay for you to enter the Subspace alone?" Toon Link asked.

"I want to know why Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, Wolf and Dedede are doing this whole nonsense," Master Hand said. "Besides, Tabuu wants me and my brother to open up a special portal."

"Special portal? What could that portal be?" Marth asked.

"...Y-you shouldn't know..."

"Why'd Bowser and the others join them?" Mario asked.

"Duh, they're stupidly evil enough to achieve world domination or something like that. You know, a cliché." Squirtle said.

"I remember that I just had Squirtle and I was chasing Ivysaur and Charizard... My memory is all fuzzy but that's how I went to capture them." Red explained.

"In the meantime, Red will catch Ivysaur and Charizard so he can join us later on." Master Hand explained.

"This is going to get tough and hard... I-I mean, I just started my adventure as a Pokémon Trainer and I don't know the basics at all..." Red adjusted his cap. "But I'm ready for anything. What about you, Squirtle?"

"Meh, I guess." Squirtle said.

"Ness," Master Hand looked at Ness. "You know Pokey came back, right?"

Ness looked at Lucas, who shivered a little but nodded. "Yes. Tabuu called him back, didn't he?" Ness asked.

"And many other enemies as well."

"I-I just hope we can defeat Porky..." Lucas said.

"What? Did he change his name illegally? Because that would be so him..." Ness said with a bored look.

"W-well, I met him as Porky so I don't know."

"I see."

"DK, Diddy," Master Hand looked at both Kongs. "Your area is the jungle."

DK nodded. "Yep, the jungle is our turf alright."

"I heard they stole our bananas." Diddy said.

DK's eyes widened. "Oh NO! They DIDN'T do that!"

"...E-er, you're not going right no-" Master Hand saw both Kongs already leaving. "Seriously, these guys... Okay, C. Falcon and Olimar will use the Falcon Flier and get to the Isle of the Ancients."

C. Falcon nodded. "Investigate whatever is outside their base, right?"

"B-but why do I have to go with him?" Olimar asked.

"Because he doesn't have more backup, that's why." Master Hand explained.

"Let's get going then." C. Falcon said before walking out with a worried Olimar.

"...Many of you are so going to change our strategies so much, I swear..."

"Excuse me," Mario interrupted. "But I haven't seen Sonic here..."

"Oh, him? Sonic sent me a message saying he was occupied with a "forced" date with Amy," Master Hand explained. "I hope he does something in this, at least."

"Then should we prepare?" Nana asked.

"Yes. Everyone, move out and let's begin the operation. We have to get in this area where they operate their tactics. Please, don't FAIL or else your universe and this one are going to be doomed forever if Tabuu achieves what he wants."

All the Smashers nodded before walking out.

"But things really got out of hand after that... Our strategies were constantly changed by different circumstances along the way. So many happenings changed our movements a lot...then, the fight against him ended in defeat for all of us..." Master Hand explained as then the screen showed the fight against Tabuu.

Subspace
Tabuu's Lair

"Impudent fools..." Tabuu said as all the Smashers were grunting in extreme pain, on the dark floor of the Subspace. "I have managed to push you all to the risk of dying. Sonic was not able to weaken me enough, which in turn gave you your fatal destinies."

"B-bastard..." Snake muttered.

"Y-you..." Master Hand muttered painfully. "...What are you...going to do?"

"Simple," Tabuu raised his left hand where a red energy ball began to form. "First, I am going to get rid of you, hand."

Master Hand gasped. "N-no! You can't do this to me!"

"I will do it," Tabuu threatened with a snicker. "And I will enjoy it."

"No, stop!" Mewtwo yelled as he got up and ran in front of Master Hand.

"Y-you can't kill him! T-that's so cruel!" Pichu yelled as he ran in front of Master Hand.

"I-I...still have energies...to fight you..." Roy muttered as he coughed blood and walked to the duo.

"Fine," Tabuu grinned evily. "You 3 dare to step in and save the hand's life. Since all of you have more energies than the others, I guess I may as well kill you all NOW!!!" Tabuu yelled furiously as the energy ball went towards the 3 and exploded in a big blast of red colors that blinded Master Hand, who got pushed back from the force of the impact.

Music stops

"...And after I looked around..." Master Hand looked down.

"...We were killed..." Roy muttered in shock.

"But only our "future" selves did," Mewtwo explained. "We're taken from the past, thus allowing us to fight again."

"Tabuu..." Squirtle looked down. "...He defeated us with his red rings. I can only remember that he used some rings that depleted our healths at the point of dying."

"After that," Master Hand continued. "I quickly wondered after seeing that we had no hope to win..."

"...U-ugh..." Master Hand got up and floated. "You...idiot...killing those 3 was unnecessary!"

"Wasn't it?" Tabuu asked with a chuckle. "It is better to crush someone to get rid of my problems rather than let them fight another day."

"Let them fight...another day..." Master Hand wondered as he looked at all the fainted Smashers.

"Of course, such a thing is not going to happen."

"...You think?" Master Hand asked before snapping his fingers. "Crazy! Come here!"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Crazy Hand said enthusiastically as he appeared and made Tabuu gasp. "The pleaser o-"

"Shut up!" Master Hand yelled. "Hurry! We need to erase everyone's minds first!"

"Like brainwashing their brains?"

"...Something like that. Let's do it! We have to do this fast!"

"What are you 2 hands insinuating?" Tabuu asked narrowing his eyes.

"Hand powers lvl. 9!" Crazy Hand yelled as both hands glowed intensely and snapped their fingers. Many glows began to appear on the Smashers' heads before vanishing.

"Good, their memories were erased." Master Hand said.

"Why erasing their memories, I ask?" Tabuu asked. "Still it does not matter. I will kill you 2 now."

"Hand powers lvl. 4!" Crazy Hand yelled as many different portals appeared underneath the Smashers and disappeared inside. "Whew..." Crazy Hand crashed on the floor. "That was...awesome..."

"No!" Tabuu yelled. "W-what did you do to them?! I was about to seize their existences!"

"Simple, virtual freak!" Master Hand yelled. "I returned them to their own worlds right after the Melee tournament ended so you can take off your hands on them!"

"W-what?! B-but how could you do that if I am sure I weakened you?!"

"I was acting up," Master Hand said. "I was waiting for the right moment to help, but I guess it didn't turn out well..."

"...You...insolent..."

"Which reminds me..." Master Hand looked at Crazy Hand. "We should make our escape as well."

"If you think you can escape with everyone, then you guessed wrong. You missed your opportunity! You do not have nowhere to run off to!" Tabuu said as his wings sprouted.

"Not quite," Master Hand explained. "We have the real world...the mansion as well, but the real world sounds more convenient."

"...The real world?!"

"Yes! The world you so wanted to invade! My stupid brother and I can go there if we concentrate our powers! This may as well be the only time you get close to it!"

"Ha! You will not escape there!"

"Obey Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister said. "You don't stand a chance against him."

"R.O.B...we couldn't rescue him...and Mr. G&W was captured once again after the battle ended..." Master Hand said.

"Once R.O.B. got to Tabuu, the bastard convinced R.O.B. to join back to his army after he threatened to destroy his race." Samus explained.

"...But his race was erased when all those bombs blowed up." Olimar said.

"Tabuu had the power to return the Isle of the Ancients," Master Hand explained. "He did it in order to regain R.O.B.'s help."

"Oh, we sure will!" Master Hand said. "We're going to get prepared for the next encounter! I promise you that your evil schemes will end!"

"Do not make me laugh," Tabuu said. "You do not have anyone else to help you. You will not escape because I am going to finish you 2 OFF!!!" Tabuu yelled as he charged at them.

"Crazy, pounding time!"

"Yippie!" Crazy Hand said before he quickly made a fist and slammed Tabuu down the floor, making the Subspace leader grunt in pain while Master Hand glowed to escape to the real world.

"R.O.B.!" Master Hand yelled as he created the portal. "You have to come with us! Tabuu is only going to hurt you even more!"

"B-but...my race is here..." the Ancient Minister said sadly.

"...Tabuu..." Master Hand muttered as his brother was pushed away by Tabuu's wings. "...You will regret everything you've done to us."

Then, the portal opened.

"FOOLS!" Tabuu yelled angrily. "YOU ARE NOT GOING ESCAPE FROM HERE!"

"Hello!" Crazy Hand said to make Tabuu turn at him before slapping him away. "Festival, here I go!" the insane hand exclaimed stupidly before charging at the portal.

"W-wait! Stop! You're charging at m-" Master Hand was interrupted as he was slammed against the portal by hiw brother's action before it vanished.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!" Tabuu yelled furiously, the Subspace shaking violently in rage as the Ancient Minister looked down.

"...Are you feeling well?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"...I am fine..." Tabuu muttered as he floated above while his wings disappeared. "Those hands are going to wish for their deaths once we cross paths again..."

"..." the Ancient Minister looked at Riley's Lucario. "It looks like they forgot about him."

"..." Tabuu glared at the Aura Pokémon. "...His powers were not full enough to teleport all of them back. It looks like his memory was left intact."

"...Should we use him?"

"...Yes, for a future mission should we need his help. The Shadow Bugs will possess his body and he will not break free so easily."

End of flashback

Command Room

"...And we met you 2, in the real world." Master Hand said.

"You almost crushed me." Chris said annoyed.

"That was Crazy's fault, not mine."

"..." Chris looked down.

"Yes, all of that happened the day you got the game. It was sure a surprise to see another Lucario living with you, but I guess that was an advantage for our growing plans."

"That reminds me," Link began. "We never bothered to investigate what were they."

"Yes, we only wanted to defeat them and save this universe." Ness said.

"But finding the origins of Tabuu and the Subspace were slowly getting more interesting." Fox said.

"...I've been meaning to ask something..." Pit began. "...Why haven't Tabuu invaded Chris's world?"

"Oh...I guess I should explain that too," Master Hand cleared his throat. "You see, Tabuu's main objective was Chris's world from the beginning."

"So he wanted to take over his world too?" Mario asked.

"Exactly," Master Hand nodded. "By gathering enough areas with the Subspace Bombs, Tabuu grows stronger."

"And he has more freedom to move around." Snake added.

"Correct," Master Hand nodded again. "He can go to any of our worlds...except for Chris's world, since that world is the real one, where we were created in some form."

"Videogames..."

"Yes, again. He first needs to take over many worlds as possible in order to create a portal to the real world."

"However, he didn't when he took some areas from where we found his base." Pikachu said.

"That was because it was just a preparation for the main plans."

"...Our own worlds..." Meta Knight said.

"...First, I thought with the areas he already took was enough for him, but I guessed wrong. Tabuu saw the opportunity to take over the other worlds once he was about to get rid of us."

"Then you acted quickly and teleported everyone else back to our times when the Melee tourney ended." Roy said.

"Correct. By erasing your memories from the event, it was going to be easier to let you stay and "recover" in your worlds, because I know you guys don't hesitate to fight for revenge."

"..." Peach looked down ashamed.

"Things went from bad to worse when Chris got mixed into this," Master Hand looked at Chris. "His videogames actually allows Tabuu to take over many worlds enough to feed the Subspace to its maximum."

"...And if he takes them over..." Lucario trailed off.

"...Game Over...for every person living in any world, even Chris's world," Master Hand explained as many of them shrugged. "If Tabuu does manage to get to the real world, that's it, we lose and he wins."

"...We won't let that guy do that, right?" Toon Link asked with a serious face.

"Well, duh!" Master Hand responded. "Everyone in here has to do their best and defeat Tabuu's army before they even lay a hand on a world! I'm just glad the galaxies in Mario's world were reborn again and that piece of the Subspace got erased!"

"T-that was so weird...b-but yet good..." Luigi shuddered.

"Then...Chris, Lucario, Pichu, Roy and Mewtwo, you all know how did this happen and where it's leading if we don't stop them in time." Master Hand said.

"..." Pichu looked depressed and Chris picked him up.

"I think I can imagine that very well," Chris said. "In the story mode, you all were supposed to defeat Tabuu, but this is completely different."

"We got our butts handed to him," Sonic said with angry expression. "Grr, my Spin Dash wasn't enough to bring him down when I arrived there. Maybe if Tails could've been faster to bring me there, then..."

"No," Master Hand shook himself. "You didn't make that much of a difference, even if you did or didn't arrive quickly."

"I remember you flipped us off when you "rescued" us." Nana said irritated.

"N-no, I waved a finger at you. That's how I am." Sonic said with a grin.

"Nah, that was definitely the middle finger." Toon Link said.

Chris blinked confused at this. "...Moving on, that's how everything started then?"

"Pretty much." Ike said.

"And when did the newcomers arrive?"

"They all arrived...just a few days before the "tournament" could start," Master Hand explained. "We had to make everything quick so yeah."

"We didn't even get a chance to see the stages to fight in our matches." Yoshi said.

"...Oh!" Master Hand moved up a little. "I forgot! Chris! You did it!"

"Yes! I did...what exactly?" Chris asked confused.

"Look around!" Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "You've gathered the good guy-"

"CoughWolfcough." Falco coughed as Wolf glared at him.

"Good guys at last! That only means something..."

"...You're going to show us the stages we're going to fight in?" Pit asked.

"...Okay, stop telling everyone what I think," Master Hand said annoyed. "So, anyway... Congratulations! Chris! You gathered all the good guys back!"

Confetti and balloons began to fall down from the ceiling around Chris as the Smashers looked at him (with odd looks, probably for the confetti).

"...Do I get something?" Chris asked.

"Yes. We can now visit the 41 stages that are ready to be used and start the matches that you wanted so badly!"

"...Super awesome announcement so far..." Ness muttered with a shocked look.

"...Finally..." Link looked at Marth. "We can clash swords again."

"...You mean we can do some kind of tour and see each one, one by one?" Chris asked.

"Yup," Master Hand nodded. "We'll make a tour around them so you get the chance to know the terrain."

"...Hmm..." Chris wondered.

"...I want to visit Spear Pillar..." Lucario muttered.

"And another thing," Master Hand raised his index finger. "Since you managed to gather everyone, a new and special accessory is going to be available after we get to know the stages you're going to fight in."

"What item could that be?" Yoshi asked.

"Let me read his mind." Mewtwo said.

"Oh no!" Master Hand interrupted. "I locked my mind from you, mind stalkers!" the hand pointed at Mewtwo, Ness, Lucas and Lucario.

"Way to ruin the fun." Ness said.

"Shut up, you! You don't even use your psychic abilities that much!"

"...You do have a point there... Maybe I should start using them more..."

"W-wait, since I'm a Smasher...d-does that mean I have to fight everyone some time?" Chris asked sweating.

"We have a schedule," Master Hand took a paper. "Everyone follows the schedule for the matches. You won't escape out from this one. Sorry, tourney regulations and all that."

"Yes! We could spar sometime then!" DK said cracking his fists.

"S-spar?! W-with you?!" Chris asked shocked.

"Why the shocked face? You can change powers all the times you want. You have an advantage on me."

"Actually," Master Hand interrupted. "Chris can only choose a job in our official matches so he doesn't cheat."

"But he screws up sometimes...or a lot." Roy said.

"...THANK YOU, ROY, I know you're a friend now." Chris said sarcastically.

"S-sorry."

"I can hardly wait to announce, "THE WINNER IS...CHRIS!" when that time comes." Master Hand said.

"I thought you contracted an announcer that we're not allowed to meet in person." Jigglypuff said.

"I did, or I didn't."

Chris noticed that some of the Smashers were staring at him. "...W-why are you all looking at me with those faces?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Pikachu smirked rather evily as his cheeks let out sparks. "Just can't wait to KO you in a match."

"..." Chris looked at Pichu. "Y-you too?!"

"I won't run away this time," Pichu said in a dark tone. "You will lose this time."

The World Traveler backed away from both Pokémon and looked back. "...Oh no..."

"Heh," Wolf smirked. "Can't wait to annihilate you and Fox either."

"...Oh, come on!" Chris said annoyed as he looked away. "You too?!"

"Don't worry, think of this as a "friendly spar" between friends." Fox said grinning...rather evily, along with a chuckle.

"...When he says friendly spar, he means match to the death." Link whispered, which made Chris gulp.

"So no more recruits! We're complete!" Master Hand said, ignoring the conversations.

"W-wait, aren't we missing Mr. Game & Wa-" Luigi was interrupted.

"But! Since we've been doing so many things today." Master Hand said.

"And "we" doesn't include you that much." Pikachu pointed out.

"I'll let you guys get a good night's rest before tomorrow...and..." Master Hand shivered. "I-is it just me or is the climate getting a little bit colder today?"

"N-now that you mention it..." Lucas embraced himself. "I-it's getting a little bit cold in here..."

"Aw, don't worry about that," Master Hand said as he snapped his fingers and the heater turned on. "There, fresh hot air."

"C-c-c-c-c-c-c-can y-y-y-y-y-you increase it a l-l-l-l-l-l-little bit more?" Falco asked as he sneezed.

"If I do that, you'll end up burned."

"T-t-t-t-t-t-that's not so b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bad actually..."

"No," Master Hand pointed at him. "Serves you right for being a parrot."

"I-I-I-I'm a-"

"Enough!" Master Hand said. "You all need to sleep well tonight and see where the heck is the last Star Spirit!"

"...High above the clouds..." Geno muttered.

"It wasn't in the galaxies after all." Twink said.

"But...dammit..." Geno clenched his right fist. "Where could Kalmar be? If it's not in the galaxies, where is high above the clouds, then where?"

"Hmm..." Mallow rubbed his chin. "...The clouds in here?"

"..." Geno wondered.

"So, good night and don't make any disturbances or whatever you guys do here." Master Hand said, teleporting to his room with Crazy Hand.

Persona 3 - Want To Be Close

"...I have some things to discuss alone." Snake said before walking out.

"I bet he's going to his chatroom with his lovers." Popo said.

"Shut up before I twist your little neck again." Snake's voice was heard.

"Bed..." Chris said smiling happily. "We need to get together again."

"You mean me?" Lucario asked.

"I was talking about the bed! Weren't you listening?"

"Oh, my mistake." Lucario said with a nod.

"...Er..." Chris put his hands on his pockets. "Where is my DS?"

Red walked closer to him, but it seemed that he was hiding something from Chris. "Bulbasaur is 1, Ivysaur is 2, Venasaur is..."

"You give me back that!" Chris said as he snatched his DS back and looked at it. "...A-ha, you were going to study the Pokémon using my completed Pokedéx from LeafGreen!"

"I-I found that while we were in your room s-so I kind of...you know what I mean." Red said blushing embarrassed.

"...Red..."

"Y-yes?"

Chris took out a strategy guide of the complete Pokedéx guide with every Pokémon that he gave to Red. "Why steal something instead of asking me for the guide? It contains all the Pokémon and their moves. You can keep it until you know every single one of them."

"W-wow..." Red looked through all the pages. "T-there are so many Pokémon in here..."

"(And he is supposed to be a Pokémon Trainer. Cruel irony...cruel irony...)"

"T-thanks! I'm going to spend all the night studying this!" Red looked at the guide. "Solarbeam? Hmm..."

"I can do that." Ivysaur said.

"R-really?"

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you my moves."

"I have Hydro Pump," Squirtle put his hands on his hips (shell). "Much better than a beam of the sun."

Ivysaur glared at him. "I can beat you with my moves, I'm warning you."

"Pfft, I use Withdraw and things will change. What do you think, Red?"

"Deoxys seems good to have in my tea-" Red looked at his Pokémon who glared up at him. "I-I mean, yeah! Sure!"

The trio walked away to their room as Chris watched them walking away.

"...I think I like everyone here to accept what they are," Chris commented. "It's much easier to get conversations out of them. What do you think, Lucar-"

"Close Combat seems to be goo-" Lucario was holding another guide before he noticed Chris glaring at him. "W-what? C-Close Combat is a powerful move, don't you think so?"

"Either way," Chris took the guide back. "Your current moveset is fine with me."

"...Fine..." Lucario said disappointed.

"Um..." Peach began. "...I think Master Hand forgot to give us our moves, didn't he, Mario?"

"You're right..." Mario wondered. "Maybe we should ask him tomorrow."

"And in the meantime," Peach picked up her suitcases. "I'm going to make myself at home in my room."

"Me too." Mario said.

"I-I'm going too." Luigi said before the trio walked away.

"I'm just happy everyone got here at last." Chris said.

"W-what about Wari-"

"EVERYONE got here at last." Chris interrupted.

"I'm going to do some arrangements in my room as well," Samus said. "I'm going to prepare another Power Suit."

"Wait, I thought you only had one." Chris said confused.

"The Chozo gave me several copies should my suit be destroyed. I have some of them here and many more in my gunship."

C. Falcon seemed to snap his fingers at this as he walked away.

"Besides, I hate to be seen using the Zero Suit around."

"Oh well, whatever suits you is fine with me." Chris said.

"Thanks. Good night." Samus said before she walked away.

"...Chris...don't tell this to them but..." Lucario looked away.

"Yes?"

"Many took the strategy guides from your room when you weren't looking..."

"..." Chris looked at Kirby with something in his mouth. "Spit it out."

"Hmmmm." Kirby spat a guide of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland.

"...What the heck...take it with you. After all, you at least deserve to know what happened in the game."

Kirby smiled and took the guide. "Thanks! I want to see how was my game here!"

"If you want, I can lend you my GBA and let you see for yourself. It's a pretty fun game."

"Really? Oh, thank you!" Kirby jumped to Chris and hugged him tightly.

"(MUST...RESIST...CUTENESS...)" Chris thought before Kirby walked away happily with the guide. "So, what do you think of your own game?" Chris asked to Link.

"I did know I could distract Ganondorf with the fishing rod..." Link shrugged. "But why? He isn't interested into fishing..."

"...Link...I only have one answer that you'll understand very well."

"What?"

"Beats me." Chris shrugged.

"I guess. You don't mind if I take this with me?" Link asked as he held the guide of Twilight Princess.

"Go ahead. You should explain everything to Zelda as well."

"Yeah, you're right. Well, good night." Link nodded and walked away.

"Just don't let her get all shocked!" Chris yelled before looking at the trio of Fire Emblem. "What do you guys think after finding the truth?"

"I'm even more confused than technology before." Ike said.

"I...think I am as well." Roy said embarrassed.

"To think our lifes were controlled from the real world all along... It's really shocking." Marth commented.

"I'm sorry for that," Chris looked down depressed. "I kept lying because I didn't want any kind of chaos."

"But we didn't...though we were kind of going to." Roy said.

"...At least I prevented it," Chris looked up. "I'm so happy everyone knows this. It took me a great weight out from my back."

"This made me realize something." Ike spoke up.

"What?"

"...I want to know more about my "videogame" or whatever the game is called."

"Videogame," Chris reassured him. "And I'll gladly tell you when we have the time."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Ike said with a nod.

"While we're on that, could you explain to me more as well?" Roy asked.

"...It's going to be hard because..."

After a long explanation of some Fire Emblem games only in Japan...

"...Where's Japan though?" Marth asked.

"I'll tell you that later as well." Chris said before the trio walked away.

"Do you think you're going to make them addicts to their own videogames like you are?" Lucario asked.

"You know, it's pretty bad when you define me as addicted to videogame-"

"Do I have to remind you that you kept playing Final Fantasy X until 3:40 AM?"

"H-hey, it's not my fault Blitzball was so addicting once you obtain Wakka's World Champion."

"You mean before." Lucario corrected him.

"...Fine, I'm addicted. However, they won't turn like that, ever."

At that moment, Wolf walked to them with a grin.

"What's with you? You look kind of happy." Chris said.

"I wanted to ask you a favor." Wolf said.

"...Yes?"

"Fox and Falco both challenged me to another match at our game."

"(...The hell is wrong with them?) And?"

"I was wondering if you could bring that machine over here so I can kick their a(beep!) again."

"..." Chris remembered the 7 straight matches that the 3 had before, and all of them came out with Wolf being victorious. "...I'll think about it..."

"The faster, the better." Wolf said with a chuckle before walking away to his room, as an annoyed Fox followed with a sneezing and pale Falco.

"Aren't those 3 in their thirties and isn't Wolf a little bit older?" Chris asked.

"I remember you said age didn't matter in videogames." Lucario said.

"...I guess you're right," Chris looked down at Ness and Lucas. "What did you think?"

"That my videogame got lost somewhere." Ness said.

"Sorry, but I lost that game of yours and it's not on the VC yet."

"Meh, it's okay," Ness looked at Lucas. "Did you bother to find yours?"

"Lucas's game was released in Japan though."

"Japan?" Lucas asked.

"A place with funny language." Chris resumed.

"...Oh..." Lucas yawned. "I need to sleep now so...good night."

"G'nite." Ness said before walking away with Lucas.

Pikachu and Pichu jumped to Chris's shoulders. "Pokémon Master, Chris, remember well." Pikachu said with a wink.

"Be my traine-I mean, Pokémon Master." Pichu repeated.

"...Fine! I'll think about that too!" Chris said annoyed.

"Sweet! If you need help catching Articuno, give me a call." Pikachu said before walking away with Pichu.

"Can I play Mario Kart again?" Yoshi asked.

"...Sure, when I have the time?" Chris responded.

"Thanks. I enjoyed that game so much." Yoshi said before walking away.

Chris chuckled. "You know, this is more fun to explain."

Lucario smiled a little. "Before you know it, everyone is going to have a DS."

"Then we're going to trade Pokémon like crazy all the day." Chris chuckled.

"..." Olimar looked down depressed as he walked to the 2. "...Louie did eat the..."

"...I told you, but you didn't want to believe me." Chris said.

"...It's okay..." Olimar looked up as a Red Pikmin stood close to him. "Thanks to him, I got to see my Pikmins again."

Chris thought for a moment. "In a way...yes, he made you go back to reunite with your Pikmins again."

Olimar nodded. "So, I think I'm going to say thanks to him."

"When you have the time, right?"

"Of course," Olimar began to walk away. "Good night, and thank you for showing me the world where you came from."

"Y-yes! I'll show you more around some time!" Chris said a little excited.

"Hey," Sonic called from behind the World Traveler. "I wanna see more of the real world."

"If you mean by going outside, then no." Lucario said.

"Aw, c'mon! Nobody will see me at all! You know nobody in Chris's world didn't find me when they wanted my help, right?"

"...Well, those crazy fans of yours never found you so..." Chris wondered for a bit.

"So?" Sonic raised an eyebrow with a grin.

"...Ugh, fine." Chris gave up.

"Sweet! I'm so gonna enjoy running through Melito!"

"Mexico!" Chris corrected annoyed.

"Whatever it's called! See ya!" Sonic said before leaving a trail of dust behind to his room.

"There goes the somewhat-hyperactive hedgehog."

"Sonic isn't hyperactive," Lucario corrected. "He is just...him."

"..." Chris shuddered looked at Mewtwo. "What did you think?"

"I'm not interested at least." Mewtwo said, narrowing his eyes.

"..."

"But I became interested in something else," Mewtwo called a book about the history of the U.S.A. as Chris sweatdropped (because it WAS in his room). "The history of your nation. The World War I wasn't productive for Germany at all, likewise was World War II. The Mexican Revolution, now, for exampl-"

History lessons approaching, Chris! Quick action!

"Y-yes, go and read all that in your room. I-I'm lending you my book of history for all the time you wan-"

"The Pig War was, as a fact, pointless." Mewtwo went on.

"Seriously! Go and read all that by yourself and tell me everything that wasn't necessary!" Chris said as Mewtwo floated away as he found many mistakes that humanity did before like no other Psychic Pokémon could possibly find. "Phew..."

"Now that is going deeper into details." Lucario commented.

"I hope he doesn't correct any kind of error in humanity, because knowing him..." Chris shook his head once he saw Geno, Mallow and Twink. "Was the truth really shocking?"

"Nope," Mallow said smiling. "There's a brighter side to this."

"...What exactly?"

"Since so many people knows about us," Twink made a happy expression. "That means we're superstars in your world!"

"Oh, I can see it," Mallow put on some sunglasses as he grinned. "Mallow, superstar of the real world."

"Mallow..." Geno frowned.

"What?" Mallow tossed the sunglasses away. "At least it's good to think about bright things, right?"

"I guess, but that's going too far."

"Not to mention they would r-" Twink's mouth was blocked.

"Don't dare to say that or else Eldstar is really going to punish me." Geno warned with an annoyed look.

"...Oh, dammit!" Chris cursed. "I didn't use the Star Spirits that much in the previous fight!"

"You know," Twink looked at him. "Mario used to use their help to the fullest when he rescued them himself."

"I know..." Chris said ashamed. "I should do the same as well and not forget about them."

"I can remind you." Geno offered.

"Me too." Mallow said.

"...Thanks." Chris nodded.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Geno began as they walked away. "We're going to figure out where is Kalmar."

"We've been looking for him everywhere, but he's harder to find than Carmen Sandiego." Chris commented.

The trio turned to Chris. "Who?" they asked in unison.

"...Real world people"

"...Oh," they said before walking away to their rooms.

"Who is Carmen San Diego?" Lucario asked confused.

"...I didn't tell you about her at all before, right?" Chris asked and Lucario nodded. "Well, she i-"

Chris was interrupted as DK grabbed him with his big right arm and hugged him tightly. "So! The tour Diddy and I planned is a game! Huh?"

"D-DK..." Chris panted for air. "I-I can't...breathe..."

Lucario went to DK and released Chris with an annoyed grunt. "Oops, sorry for that." DK apologized.

"Whew..." Chris sighed.

"And not only that, but 2 games!" DK took out both Donkey Konga games. "Maybe I should see what songs are in them to rehearse a little!"

"L-later for now." Chris said.

"...Oh," DK kept the games. "It's okay."

"By the way," Diddy interrupted. "We invited some new musicians here while you were away."

"Really? Who?" Chris asked.

"Weeeeeeeeeeell...they haven't arrived yet. I think it's because of the bad weather outside," DK shivered. "S-speaking of which, I need to sleep in my bed."

Diddy yawned. "I ask for the upper one..."

"Sure do, pal," DK said as both Kongs walked away. "Sure do..."

"..." Chris looked at Lucario. "They didn't tell who were they, right?"

Lucario nodded and Chris frowned in embarrassment.

"Isn't there any game where I sing?" Jigglypuff asked as she walked to them.

"Well...no." Chris responded.

Jigglypuff pouted a little. "So who in your world thinks I'm a good singer?"

"I-I can't respond to that, but see the bright side."

"Which bright side are we talking about?" Jigglypuff asked, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes.

"Everyone likes you for your cute appearance."

Jigglypuff blinked a few times before blushing. "...Do you think I'm cute?"

"(Yes.) Er..." Chris looked at Lucario (at even motioned at him while he wasn't looking).

"Do you think I'm cute?" Jigglypuff asked to Lucario, who blinked confused.

"I..." Lucario looked away. "...Guess so..."

"Oh, thank you!" Jigglypuff jumped at Lucario and hugged his head before walking away as she hummed happily.

"...W-why did you do that?" Lucario asked, blushing a little.

"I-I thought Pokémon talking between each other was a better idea so..."

"...Please, don't do that again."

"Hmph."

Chris felt a shiver down his spine and turned around to see Meta Knight. "A-and what did you think?"

"..." Meta Knight looked up at Chris. "They better not mock me behind my back, or else."

"O-of course not. The people in my world thinks you're...very cool..." Chris muttered the last part.

"..." Meta Knight chuckled. "Flattering me isn't going to work."

"T-that wasn't flattering and I wasn't trying to!"

"Sure." Meta Knight said before walking away.

Toon Link walked in as he blushed embarrassed. "D-don't tell me the people saw me doing certain...embarrassing moments as well..."

"Like when the Din's Fire statue blew up and pushed you several miles away to the Tower of the Gods where you crashed into the wal-"

"Don't remind me that!" Toon Link interrupted.

"S-sorry for that."

"...Meh," Toon Link threw his hands up. "Whatever. It's not that of a big deal...as long as they didn't watch other things."

"Like when you fought Orca?"

"S-stop it!" Toon Link said annoyed. "Okay, I'll talk to you about this later. Good night."

"Are you going to see Medli?"

"...Yeah, I think so." Toon Link said before walking away.

"..." Pit walked to them as he looked down.

"...If you're depressed about the truth, then I'm sorry." Chris said.

"No...it's not that..." Pit shook his head.

"Then what is?"

"Well...when I was there, I spotted some kind of big book wit-"

"W-wait just a minute..." Chris took a step back. "Y-you didn't take a peek inside the big book with articles, right?"

"...I did and..."

"OH NO NO NO NO NO," Chris pushed Pit towards the hallway. "E-everything you saw in there is just a different view! Really!"

"...Phew..." Pit sighed as he walked away, waving at Chris with a smile of relief.

"I-am-famous, I-am-famous, I-am-famous," Popo repeated in triumph. "I'm a famous figure for you world, worship me."

"Y-you wish." Chris said annoyed.

"Pfft, you don't recognize true awesomeness when you see it." Popo said before walking away.

"Don't mind him," Nana said. "He has some screws loose in his brain."

"...By the way, I don't think Popo is acting stupid in reality." Lucario said.

"...What do you EXACTLY mean by that?" Nana asked as she crossed her arms. "I've been living with him in my entire life and I know him very well."

"Something doesn't seem right with him at all... It's just my opinion."

"..." Nana looked down worried. "...I don't think something is wrong, except for him being stupid..."

"...Don't worry about it too much."

"...I should. Good night then." Nana said as she walked away. However, Chris could tell she was worrying about something.

"...How do you know that?" Chris asked.

"I take my own time to read other people' minds when I feel like it," Lucario said. "...But don't tell anyone I do this often either."

"Your secret is...safe with me." Chris said unsure. "We should go back to our rooms. Nobody else is here besides us."

Lucario looked around. "...You're right. Let's go and rest."

The World Traveler and Aura Pokémon walked away from the command room as the lights turned off.

And, at last, the truth was revealed and Chris was very relieved to be honest with everyone. The World Traveler never felt so relieved before, and ironically, he was very happy after they listened him from every detail about them.

Nevertheless, Chris was relieved, much for Lucario's own relief as well.

Music stops

Master Hand's Room

"...Um..." Master Hand looked at a control panel. "The security cameras got frozen by the climate outside...how bothersome..." the hand yawned. "Aw, but who cares? Nobody is going to enter here during this weather anyway."

"Crazy veggie people..." Crazy Hand snored on a nearby big bed. "Hands off my little friend, Rocky..."

"..." Master Hand grunted in annoyance as he went back to sleep.

Outside

The blizzard outside raged on with much more force than the last time. Snow was falling everywhere in a crazy tempest of ice, and there was someone walking to the mansion...

...Wait...who is that walking to the mansion?

"B-brr!" the figure shivered. "H-hell no, I'm not going to spend the night inside a cave or something like that..." the person said before spotting the doorknob of the mansion. "G-good, I found the mansion where that masked guy is..." the figure stopped. "W-wait, this is going to be a little bit rude..." the figure thought for a moment before rolling the eyes. "W-whatever, I'll explain my situation and whoever lives here is going to understand me pretty well...or else..." the figure took out a book of Blastia.

And you know who was that person.

"B-because I'm not going to go down without a fight if they don't listen." Rita said as a warning before she slowly entered inside and closed the door slowly while the blizzard raged on.

"...H-huh?!" Chip woke up close to the door. "N-no! S-somebody got inside and I-I didn't! Curses!" the small imp yelled before he flew around the mansion to see an opening.

Of course, he didn't find a single one.

Mother 3 - F-F-Fire!

Many feet away from the mansion, there was Parakarry struggling to get to his destination as the blizzard grew even more violent.

"Y-YOU WON'T STOP ME!" Parakarry yelled as he flew onwards. "I-I'M GOING TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOU 2!"

The Paratroopa gasped when several icicles fell down from the sky and barely crushed him.

"HA! I KNOW WHO YOU ARE NOW! THIS IS SO STUPIDLY FAMILIAR TO FORGET!" Parakarry yelled loudly as he gritted his teeth and flew onward. "I-I'M GOING TO STOP THIS NONSENSE OF THE WHOLE STRONG WEATHER! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Many icicles rained down from the sky and tried to crush the Paratroopa, but they all failed as the scene got covered with more ice while Parakarry kept going forward into the furious snowstorm...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Ice Nightmare of the High Skies, where I'm going to put an end to this weather!" Parakarry yelled angrily.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - The Afternoon Streets" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you control Sora in Twilight Town.

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - Missing You" is yet another song reference to the same game. It normally plays in events where a friend is missed.

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - Laughter and Merriment" is yet another song reference to the same game. It normally plays when "goofy" events happen.

-"Kingdom Hearts 2 - Friends in my Heart" is YET another song reference to the same game. It normally plays sometimes after Missing You or when relief is found at last.

-"Final Fantasy VIII - SeeD" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when SeeD students prepare a plan to attack.

-"Persona 3 - Want To Be Close" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you're in school.

-Chris commenting that Kalmar was harder to find than Carmen Sandiego is a reference to...herself. Nobody is EVEN able to find Carmen Sandiego...as a fact. XD

-"Mother 3 - F-F-Fire!" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when the Pig Mask army start a forest fire near Lucas's village, Tatzumi Village.

The truth has been exposed, and Chris was pardoned for his crimes. Your Honor? Your verdict?

"GUILTY!"

W-why?

"For lying all the time!"

But he said all the truth at the end!

"...Oh, really? Well, not guilty then."

...Whatever...

Ahem...

Who is trying to stop Parakarry? What is going to happen now that they all know they're videogame characters...that are real? What is Rita (of all people) going to do now that she went inside the mansion like she didn't care? Or Chip?

....Brrr....

It's time for an original setting that I hope you all will enjoy.

Oh, for a last note, my profile has been updated with achievements I've made in Pokémon Platinum at the Battle Frontier. Check the videos if you have the game. ;)

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 119*: Ice Nightmare of the High Skies

Aw, shorter chapter. :P

From Linesofreading: Wow, this chapter was just so, how to put it... emotional. It was the first story chapter in a couple of months to put me close to tears. Yet, through all the anger and happiness, you still managed to keep me interested in reading that part. (I'm usually too weak-hearted to read points where like those.)
Anyways though, good story, and I think you'll stay strong. Even though most stories seem to just degrade after a big reveal, I would put most of my money on the fact that you won't let this story fall from greatness.

From me: It did? Wow. Don't worry, I'm aware of bad things that usually destroy a fic (a whole lot of OCs, romances, yaoi, yuri (ESPECIALLY YURI), unnecessary fanboism) and others). ;)

From Blaperile: Cool... just amazingly... cool...

This was such a perfect chapter! :D

So, they finally know it... everybody attack Snake! XD

I don't have anything else to say in fact, but keep this best story ever going Chris! You're the best!

From me: Oh, thank you so much. I hope you keep reading. ;)

From Mewtrainer: So...the whole thing was a decoy...quite an interesting take on it. The reactions (after the apologies) were quite funny. Oh no! Rita! ...By the way, where's Laharl? I recall you said there'd be a fight between them, sooner or later.

From me: I'm glad the decoy part was understandable. Thanks. : )

Laharl? Oh, heck, forget about him. XD

From ngrey65: Yes, when confronted with that sort of truth, a lot of sane people would be understandably upset. I'm just glad it didn't come to blows. And I noticed how QUICKLY they started to enjoy their notoriety once they saw they were all videogame superstars!

I guess having a big enough ego CAN be good for you. It'll help you get over ANYHING. XD

From me: They don't have a bi-

"Looks at Sonic"

Aw, crap. O_O Thanks. XD

From Anakin Son Mario43: Finally now everyone knows about the real world. Why do I get the feeling that MH will bring chris's systems to the manshion. Why do I get the feeling that they will become fat vidoe game addicts? Now everyone go high in the sky to find kalmar! Update Soon! Hasta!

From me: Oh no! They won't turn like that! What are you thinking exactly? XD

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Ah, I guess I must have forgotten about a few details in the earlier chapters. I'll have to look over that when I have time. Your version of the Smashers reacted rather realistically, more so than some other people have video game characters react when they find their way to the real world. Naturally they'd be mad at first and making them game addicts is an interesting twist, denying being a video game character and now you can't stop playing. The next chapter sounds ... interesting. Falco should be happy ...

From me: I love the irony as you do. XD Thanks. :)

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: This was a very touching chapter. I got to see a side of Chris I didn't know existed. Anyway, I hope all the smashers can survive the rage of Rita if she finds Raven. And to answer your question about my brother he is an avid Halo fan and Super Smash Bros fan. He is also a fanboy for Chrono Trigger. And he has problem keeping up with his grades.*Sigh* Well anyway I just remembered something that might be interesting. I read in the FFTA2 miniguide that moogles hate water. It is just something I thought you might find interesting.

Sean Kratos the Lucario

P.S. Keep writing this story. You have a great talent with showing another side to our favorite video game characters.

From me: ...I meant what's his username here...

And I thought Nu Mous were the ones who hate water. Well, I find their hate interesting so thanks. :)

From Rabid Original: Oh, Chris really got his head handed to him there...
He's kind of a crybaby :P

Seriously, playing Brawl as yourself would be SO messed up.

From me: It's weirder when the 36 blocks with each character turn to Mario and only him, then you'd say "CHOOSE YOUR MARIO." XD

And well, I'm sort of a crybaby too. It works for an OC well. :)

From ArcanaJudgment: Wow, I must say, this chapter was... just AWESOME! I was like laughing, crying, smiling, ...more crying! XD I really loved the scene with the house and how they all eventually came to except the reality! I thought the scene in the house (the sad part with Chris crying) was exceptionally well done! I literally almost cried! And, OMG finally someone acknowledges Parakarry! THANK YOU! He's my favorite Mario character but like nobody knows him! And it looks like he's in the next chapter! :DAnyways, amazing chapter and I can't wait for the next one!

From me: Hope it's very good. Your character is a star in here. XD

From SlasherMask: I liked this chapter best of those i have read.(especially were characters wanted play their own games)

Carmen San Diego isn't "real" person.(right?)

There are worse things than yaoi pairing.(i would say example, but i can't remember:P(well only thing i remember is varitation of same thing(the fan girls who believe those are "true pairing" despite what series say.(like AshxGary fans(they have some kind of bizarre explanation how Gary is mean to Ash because of some sort of love thing(which, luckily i can't remember(and they believe its canon)(then comes shipping wars...)

From me: Oh, sure, Carmen Sandiego is so real. She could be hidding in your closet, stealing a baseball bat that was made from the last tree of the rock era. XD

...Seriously, Carmen Sandiego is an expert thief from an educational computer game system that later was turned into a children' educational cartoon show (the same company who did the Super Mario Bros. 3 Adventures also did the cartoon).

Ironically, since there are so many shipping wars at the Pokémon section...well...read ahead. XD

From Avatar Fan 11051: Cool 8)kingdom hearts... kingdom hearts... kingdom hearts...
Hey, how about a job, where Chris becomes like Master or Crazy Hand?
Just a thought.

From me: ...That's uber, so, forget it. :l

Your KH order is still too far. Keep waiting. :D

From Rellymaster: I often thought about how awkward it would be to see game characters playing their own games. I like how the mood went from totally depressing (*glares at the violent Smashers*) to totally amazing. Oh and look at that, the truth has finally been revealed! Must've been difficult to explain that to them.

Why does Chris have SO MANY strategy guides?

From me: Because of the fact that there are so many evils dwelling in all the games that you must get the official strategy guide (that isn't from Prima Guides) to obtain everything... Now that I think about it... "Goes to GameStop to find and buy a Pokémon Platinum guide." XD

Yes, thank you for your review as always.

So, here's an original setting an arc that I hope all of you will enjoy. We reached over 800 reviews and I think 900 reviews aren't that far, considering how you love this fic as much as I do.

Come to think of it, this fic became the longest written fanfiction of the whole section with probably the longest amount of reviews yet! Ha! And it's not even on its half yet as well!

So...do I rule the adventure/humor/fantasy genres so much or what?

...Okay, enough of that. Enjoying this fic makes me laugh. XD

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Since this fic has reached over 1,000,000 words, I'm going to resort dancing Caramelldansen or the Funky Monkey Dance...

...What should I choose first?...

...The hell with it. Both at the same time.

"Starts dancing for what appears to be the whole chapter"

Chapter 119: Ice Nightmare of the High Skies

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Hmm..." Bowser looked at his Brawl form as he wagged his tail a little. "Scaly, but thick. I like this stuff."

"It is a pleasure to have you and your forces again with us, Bowser," Tabuu said. "However, I am mad that the Subspace Bomb's objective did not go as planned since the events of the galaxies changed my plans."

"Pfft," Bowser rolled his eyes. "Like you can't do more of 'em."

"Well, it is true that I can order to deploy more bombs, but this is not important right now," Tabuu narrowed his eyes. "I have received reports that an unusual, insignificant pest managed to get information about the location of the last Star Spirit and it was heading to the mansion."

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes. "Do not tell me it was leaked out..."

"Fortunately, he could not manage to reach the mansion in time. The ones in charge of the Star Spirit stopped the pest from getting to them."

Charizard sighed. "Good... Here I thought they were going to succeed..."

"However," Tabuu went on. "I am concerned about this that I am planning to send 1 of you to guard the path to the Star Spirit."

"Mememememememe!" Bowser pleaded.

"I was planning to send Ganondorf to make up for his failure."

"Aww!" Bowser groaned and mumbled in frustration while Dedede and Charizard chuckled.

Ganondorf bowed to Tabuu. "I am ready to start this."

"Excellent. You may go now." Tabuu said as Ganondorf nodded and walked away into the darkness.

"What are we gonna do in the meantime?" Dedede asked.

"Patience," Tabuu said. "You 3 will rest to recover your energies from the previous battle. Bowser, you need to assemble your troops and organize them properly whenever I command you to invade a world. Do you understand well my ideas?"

Bowser nodded. "As long as you give me all those power ups and crap, I'll be pleased to help you."

"I assure you that Mario, Luigi and the princess are going to be killed in your claws."

"Only the plumbers, not Peach."

"Fine." Tabuu said as the king of the Koopas walked away, chuckling evily.

"Well, why don't we plan our own strategies against them?" Charizard suggested.

Dedede winked at him. "It gotta have me bashing the puffball."

"Only if I get to bash the dumb trainer." Charizard said with a smirk.

"Hmm-hm." Dedede nodded before the 2 walked away.

"..." the Ancient Minister looked away.

"It is something bothering your mind?" Tabuu asked.

"...It's nothing," the Ancient Minister turned to him. "Nothing is bothering my mind."

"Hmm..." Tabuu wondered before he teleported away.

The Ancient Minister looked away to the darkness of the Subspace. "...It's not too long before I decide what to do..."

"I hear that!" Porky said walking to the commander.

The Ancient Minister just shot a beam to Porky to erase his mind without even looking.

"What was I doing again?"

"Doing odd things."

"Oh, that's so me." Porky chuckled as he walked away within his spider mech.

The Ancient Minister sighed in depression.

Smash Mansion
Raven's Room

It was the next morning in the Smash Mansion.

"UAH!" Raven woke up, panting heavily as he looked outside at the snow falling slowly, though there was a lot of snow this time around. "...M-man...for a second there I thought crazy girl Rita got inside this mansion... Must've been a bad premonition or just random thinkin' though..."

The old man decided to sleep even more as he hit the pillow with his head and fell asleep, with loud snores following.

Kitchen

Tales of Symphonia - Off-Key

"..."

"...I know..."

Ness and Toon Link were quite confused after they decided to have breakfast in the morning. Apparently, when both of them made it downstairs and into the kitchen. The microwave seemed to have...disappeared.

"Who in their sane mind would steal the microwave?" Ness asked.

"Beats me," Toon Link lifted his shoulders. "Kirby is the closest person I can think of."

"Nah, I don't think he goes too far," Ness said shrugging. "Screw it, I'm not going to go "microwave-hunting" or something. I'll just have a normal bowl of cereal."

Toon Link seemed to get confused at this. Who would steal a microwave?

"..." Toon Link saw Kirby walking into the kitchen, wearing a sleep cap. "Kirby, did you steal the microwave?"

"Hmm?" Kirby tilted his head grogily.

"The microwave is gone.... Did you take it?"

"..." Kirby looked around. "...No..."

"...Are you saying the truth?"

Kirby nodded.

"Really sure?"

Kirby nodded again.

"Really, but really sure?"

Kirby nodded with an angry expression before walking towards the fridge.

Music stops

"..." Kirby looked at the lobby where Meta Knight glanced to him. The Star Warrior "hmm'd" and decided to have 3 waffles and walked to the masked knight. "Why are you up so early?"

"Because something has been bothering me," Meta Knight responded as he looked outside to the snow. "This weather doesn't seem natural at all."

"Why'd you say that?"

Meta Knight pointed outside where many icicles were inside piles of snow.

"..." Kirby's eyes widened.

"Those chunks of ice out there, for example. They're not common in a weather like this, correct?" Meta Knight asked, despite him already knowing the answer.

"Y-yes..." Kirby nodded as he bit his waffle.

"...I'm going to discuss this with the hand," Meta Knight walked away. "If there isn't this kind of weather, then we should worry."

"...I-I don't have a good feeling..." Kirby responded shuddering.

"Neither do I." Meta Knight said.

Lucario's Room

"B-b-b-b-brr..."

Lucario slowly opened his eyes and pulled Chris towards his chest, where the World Traveler rested his head on. "Chris, are you...feeling fine?"

"N-n-n-no..." Chris responded without opening his eyes. "I-i-i-i-it's getting so cold in here..."

"Hmm..." Lucario looked outside the window where snow was falling. "It has been 3 days straight with this, right?"

"...I-I-I guess so..." Chris responded as he shivered a little.

"...Are you feeling cold?"

Chris nodded slowly.

"You should wake up and take a hot shower to feel better."

Chris slowly opened his eyes and got outside the bed while Lucario watched. "I-I'm going to take one and wake up because I don't want to f-f-f-feel this all the day."

"And catch a cold." Lucario added before Chris nodded and walked away to the bathroom.

"A-and you should take one after me."

"...I'll do it, don't worry." Lucario said before Chris entered the bathroom.

...

"...Was there a bathroom here before?" Lucario muttered confused after finding a bathroom's door in their room.

"Master Hand just put them up early this morning," Pikachu said from the door with a red coat on. "He can make those doors and bathrooms with a simple snap of his fingers. Crazy Hand can but...last time he did, the whole mansion blowed up and we had to sleep outside for 5 days until Master Hand's magic was filled."

Lucario sweatdropped. "...I see..."

Pikachu moved his tail a little. "Anyway, it's not long before everyone wakes up and reunite in the command room. Do something you want to do before we make another conference or what we do every day."

"Thank you. I'll do that."

"Meanwhile, I'm going to take a small stroll outside for the heck of it." Pikachu said before he walked away, whistling.

Outside

"HOLY CRAP!" Pikachu yelled once he made it outside.

"HOLY...wait, why are we saying crap out loud again?" Popo asked near a pile of snow where he was playing in.

Nana popped out from the pile of snow. "Oh, good morning. We decided to sleep outside because it's soooooooo relaxing to have a good ice dream inside this wonderful pile of snow."

Popo chuckled. "Heheh, ice dream, get it?"

Nana chuckled. "Of course not. Pikachu doesn't bother to find out what we do."

"...It's times like this where you 2 creep me out when you get along FOR ONCE." Pikachu said with a bored look.

"Don't think I'm going to do this often though." Nana said with a bored look.

"Besides, she's so going to do that." Popo said with a bored look.

"...That line Popo just said did make sense this time." Pikachu said.

"...Pebbles!" Popo yelled before digging inside the snow.

"Maybe that was just me..." Pikachu shrugged as he tried to remember something. "Oh, where was I? Oh, yeah... HOLY CRAP!"

Pikachu found a lot of huge icicles around the snow plain that Nana noticed with a confused look.

"Oh, these chunks were here the moment we came outside to sleep," Nana crossed her arms. "But I don't know why these are all around here."

"So, you didn't do it." Popo said as he stuck his head out from the snow.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Of course not, and neither did you."

"I know, but you did what?"

Nana facepalmed. "Okay, stop it before I smack you down."

"Why don't you smack him instead?" Popo asked as he took a Paratroopa's face out from the snow. "He looks so KO'd enough to get even more KO'd."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Nana screamed in horror as she smacked the Paratroopa into the snow with her hammer. "P-Popo! W-what were you doing with that dead carcass?! D-don't tell me it was inside this pile!"

"Well, duh!" Popo rolled his eyes. "I told you 30 times but you didn't listen!"

"We were sleeping very close and you didn't say anything, you retard!"

"Then I guess you didn't notice the goggles stuck behind on your back, because you were sleeping on him."

Nana looked her back. "What are you talking abou-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Nana tossed some goggles away. "Y-you dork! W-why didn't you say anything?!"

"I told you 30 times!"

"N-no, you didn't!" Nana yelled scared to death.

"S-stop it!" Pikachu yelled angrily. "What's important now is what are THESE icicles doing outside the mansion!"

"Weird," Popo chuckled. "I thought you were going to say something about Parakarry over there," the blue Ice Climber pointed at the knocked out Parakarry. "He doesn't look that well though. I wonder if the icicles had anything to do with him."

"..." both Pikachu and Nana stared at Popo.

"...What?"

"Popo, I'm impressed. You're starting to stay on something more important for once." Nana commented.

"Duh."

"Then again, I might be wrong." Nana sighed in depression.

"...Um, hello?" Pikachu called out. "Parakarry's dead carcass? Laying close to the mansion? Police could suspect us as the murders? Popo's just stupid?"

"...R-right," Nana shrugged. "I-I think we need to take him inside and see if he's still alive..."

"I found another thing!" Popo yelled as he held up a mailbag. "More things you slept on!"

"You little damn VERMIN!" Nana yelled loudly as she raised her hammer above her.

At that moment, the door of the mansion opened and Sonic (who for once was wearing a red coat) walked out and looked at the 3. The hedgehog noticed the dead carcass of Parakarry close to where Nana was going to hit Popo as Pikachu looked at him a little bit shocked.

Sonic already knew what happened in there. "...I'm so going to call the police on you now..." Sonic said before he closed the door.

"...CRAP!" Pikachu and Nana yelled as they quickly dragged Parakarry inside in a hurry while Popo carried the mailbag and the goggles.

Main Lobby

"ACHOO!" Parakarry sneezed, close to a chimney that Master Hand just put. "B-brr! T-this is the second time I got frozen...or instead, attacked by ice! Seriously! The heck is wrong with those 2 over the clouds?! When I get my hands on them, oh, they're going to regret attacking m-ACHOO!"

"Oh, please. Quiet down," Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sky doesn't attack people."

Parakarry looked at him with an angry expression. "You tell me! I'm seriously going to sue someone for what happened outside an-"

"Wait right there," Pikachu stopped. "Did you say the sky...attacked you?"

"Duh!" Parakarry replied annoyed. "I was going to arrive here yesterday during the night but they got pissed and attacked me with those big (beep!) chunks of ice! My legs were going to be freaking cut in half! You hear me?! Freaking-cut-in-half!"

"...But, the sky attacking you?" Nana asked confused. "Why'd would it do something so random and...odd like that?"

Parakarry shivered as he took a sip of his cafe. "...Okay...got to calm down... I can explain this very well if I find something t-" he looked at Popo holding a small ice cube. "GIMME THAT! I NEED TO CRUSH THAT THING!"

Popo backed away. "Leave Mr. Icy Cuby alone! What do you say, Cuby?" Popo looked at Mr. Icy Cuby melting slowly. "CUBY! NO! HANG IN THERE, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU CPR AND MORE IC-"

Pikachu, annoyed by the blue Ice Climber, used Thunder to electrocute him and faint him. "There... He was going out of control...and also he drove me nuts..."

"Phew..." Parakarry sighed in relief. "At least you got rid of that worthless piece of ice..."

"Can you tell us what exactly happened to you?" Nana asked.

"...Okay..." Parakarry sighed again. "You guys are the main reason why I'm here..." Parakarry looked at them. "But, shouldn't I explain everything to everyone in here? I think this is something you need to take care on..."

"Sonic, will y-" Pikachu didn't find Sonic anymore. "...He's already telling everyone, right?"

"Hi there!" Sonic said quickly appearing with a popsicle that he licked. "Missed something?"

"GET YOUR FEET WORKING AND WAKE UP EVERYONE!" Nana yelled.

Command Room

Master Hand sneezed and checked the temperature. "...G-goodness...t-the temperature is dropping really fast today..."

"I-i-i-it's the frozen era again!" Crazy Hand shivered.

"C-C-Crazy, don't say things that don't make any kind of sens-ACHOO!" Master Hand sneezed. "G-geez, I-I don't think this climate should be THIS cold either... C-c-come to think of it, there's no way the temperature could drop at -17!"

"Isn't it 71-?"

"...N-no..." Master Hand replied with a low tone before they saw Zelda walking inside with a shocked expression. "G-good morning."

"My life...is just...a lie..." Zelda muttered as she sat down on a chair.

"...Oh, I guess somebody explained everything to her," Master Hand said. "Hey, we're not "lies" or some crap like that anymore. Chris had a good point abo-"

"My kingdom...has been stalked...by millions of strangers..." Zelda went on with her shocked face. "...And I...didn't...notice..."

"...God, she is in a heavy trance," Master Hand frowned as he floated to her. "Look, emo princess, you weren't yesterday with us and you could've understood what we all agreed at the en-"

"I...don't know...what to believe in... Is everything...real in front of me?"

Apparently, the princess was ignoring the hand.

Master Hand groaned. "Fine, if you don't want to listen the good way... Crazy, do it the hard way."

Crazy Hand floated above the princess and made a fist. "Ooh! Ooh! Do I get to hurt people this time?"

"Afraid so. This is the only way to get her back to us."

"Yippie!"

The insane hand began to move up and down above the princess who didn't seem to react to whatever was in front of her. Just at that moment, Link came from the hallway, letting out a long yawn before talking. "G-geez, the climate in here is getting so cold, I swear..." the Hero of Twilight noticed the event and gasped. "ZELDA!"

Link quickly ran at Zelda to "save" her from Crazy Hand, who lowered down his fist (or himself) just when Link was about to push Zelda, thus crushing both residents from Hyrule.

"...Uh-oh..." Master Hand said as he chuckled nervously. "I think this wasn't the best idea we've had so far..."

Crazy Hand moved himself up and looked down at the 2 KO'd elf-looking characters. "Sweet! A small bonus with hero included!"

Master Hand sighed in shame as he turned to the hallway and found Snake (wearing a special vest for stealth missions during cold weather). "Since when did you wake up?"

"Enough to see you kill them," Snake said as he pointed at Link and Zelda. "I won't be obliged to the same punishment, am I right?"

Master Hand explained everything to the soldier.

Snake rolled his eyes. "Violence isn't the best way to get someone out of a trance. Use freaking therapy."

"Yes, I know," Master Hand said with a bored tone. "Look, this was the best way to get Zelda to understand this."

"What you gave her was a trip to the hospital, not to mention the elf boy."

"Pfft, nothing like 2 Heart Containers can help," Master Hand snapped his fingers as 2 Heart Containers floated down on the Hyrulians...but only touched their backs before falling to the floor. "..."

"...This isn't Valentine's Day either." Snake commented.

"Oops, I guess they need first to take them...though they can grab food and recovery items on the ground if they lay close."

"I beg to differ," Snake said as he looked down at them. "But it seems your brother went too far on them. I can even see some parts of their arms bending the wrong way."

"What do you exactly mean by wron-OH, HOLY DAMN!" Master Hand gasped.

Chris walked in (using the ISOKFMG job with Tokunaga holding on behind his back). "W-why don't you turn on the heater a little bit...more..." Chris looked down at the Hyrulians. "...Sorry if I'm a little rude...but we have 2 dead people with their arms...I don't know...bent the wrong way? Oh, I forgot, WE DON'T EVEN HAVE DEAD PEOPLE HERE!"

1 hour later...

Link and Zelda were staring at the hand with angry expressions. "I hope you understand violence isn't the best way to reason," Zelda pointed at Chris. "Fortunately, he was much nicer to take me back on track, but you..."

"That was my brother, not me!" Master Hand protested.

"Even though you told him to do it for you." Snake said.

"H-hey!" Nana called from the hallway as she came running in with Popo and Parakarry. "W-we have some very good information to share with everyo...where is everyone?"

"Still snoring?" Link responded.

"But Sonic was supposed to wake them up! Where is that pesky hedgehog?"

"Nana, you're starting to sound like Dr. Eggman..." Chris said shuddering.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Maybe I know why he gets irritated by Sonic. Anyway, where's Sonic?"

Raven's Room

"Ahem," Toon Link said annoyed. "I'd like to begin the promised bow lessons you promised to teach me, remember?"

Raven uncovered his face from the bed sheets. "Kid...is so cold out there and I'm bound to faint my poor soul out."

"Nope, your robe is long enough to keep you fine from the cold."

"...Aaaaaaahhh..." Raven sighed exhausted as he sat up. "Fine, fine, kid. We'll go out and start those lessons..."

"Good," Toon Link said smiling a bit. "After so much time of snoozing, I get the training."

Raven rolled his eyes and stood up where he grabbed his bow nearby and put them behind his back. "Then let's get outta here and start. Better finish this sooner before you keep pullin' me 'round."

The small swordsman nodded and began to walk away outside while Raven walked slower with a bored look.

Hallway

The old man stopped on his tracks when he found Sonic licking a popsicle. "Oh, hi, bluish hedgehog." Raven greeted.

"Hey there," Sonic said as he finished his popsicle and tossed the stick away. "I'm here to relax a bit from the cold."

Raven shivered. "And crazy youngster's tryin' to pull me out by my ear. I can't understand how kids have so much energy."

"Hey, I'm a teen," Sonic grinned a little. "That's how we and kids are."

"Man, I wish I had those good ol' days of my younger days," Raven rubbed his chin. "Guess you can't go back in time and change that though."

"My better days where when I was younger..." Sonic smiled a bit. "I used to teach kids good things."

"Really? How?"

After many teachings later...

"...That sounded kinda weird." Raven commented with a shrug as he walked away.

Sonic made an annoyed face. "Blame me. They were at least grateful and...wait..." Sonic looked at no one in particular. "What was I doing again before?"

Command Room

"What is the postman doing in here?" Master Hand asked.

Parakarry cleared his throat. "I have very crucial information about something alarming I found in the clouds up there. I came here to tell all of you about what I found because I'm sure as hell this weather isn't natural, but monster-made!"

"...Monster-made?" everyone in the room repeated.

Parakarry closed his eyes annoyed. "Look, I need everyone here to explain myself! Call them all here and snap them out their dreams!"

Master Hand sighed. "Times likes this call for desperate measures..."

"What do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

Master Hand pressed a button. "I officially declare the stages open for all the public..." he said on the mic that blared out around the mansion.

The floor began to shake quietly before the World Traveler looked shocked at the hallway where a cloud of dust spreaded out into the room and covered it completely.

"...Tomorrow." Master Hand finished as many groans came from the Smashers, who apparently woke up quickly and rushed to the room in a hurry.

"..." Mewtwo floated quietly into the room with Lucario following from behind. "Seriously, that was the most pathetic trick you all fell on."

"Well, excuse me," DK said. "I was so excited to enter one of 'em."

Chris was utterly surprised that everyone was ready to come in here in such small time. "W-what...h-how did you get here so fast?"

"I was already awakening." Yoshi said.

"B-but I could've sworn you were sleeping! Who isn't here anyway?"

Falco's Room

"..." Falco couldn't even open his mouth (beak) to speak. The cold got so low and kept him perfectly inside his bed. "(WOULD SOMEBODY STOP THIS WEATHER?!)"

Command Room

"...Ugh, that doesn't matter for now..." Chris said before he saw Meta Knight walking in. "But people like him makes sense and not come here in such a rush..."

"...Mario? Princess?" Parakarry asked surprised as he went to both characters. "Oh goodness! It IS you 2!"

"Parakarry!" Mario and Peach said as the trio greeted. "How have you been doing?"

"Heheheh, pretty well, if you ask me." Parakarry said with a happy expression. "So, it was time for you 2 to join every single weirdo in here, right?"

Some grunts came from some Smashers. "Yes. I'm so happy to be here again." Peach said.

"...I just wonder how can the princess fight... I'm kind of worried about her welfare."

"I'm..." Peach looked down. "...I can fight well..."

"...Anyway!" Parakarry turned to Mario. "It's good to have you here, because I can count on someone with something I need to explain!"

"Now I feel offended all of a sudden..." Roy trailed off.

"What do you have to explain?" Mario asked.

"Well, you see, I was peacefully minding my own business on a quite Saturday morning in Petalburg to deliver some mail, where I suddenly met this weird disco-french guy that greeted me and said all sort of things about women and al-"

"That wasn't it!" Nana interrupted. "Or do I have to remember you with..." Nana took out a small ice cube from her back. "This?"

Horrifying music played as Parakarry looked shocked at the ice cube. "D-dammit! That hellish thing from the tundra is here to torment me again!" Parakarry walked to her, snatched the cube and tossed it to the floor where it shattered. "Phew, I feel much better..."

"NO! THAT WAS MR. ICY CUBY'S SISTER!" Popo yelled as he scattered to recover the shards.

Nobody didn't even mind.

"Much better after breaking an ice cube with...a name? Why is that?" Twink asked.

Parakarry turned to them with several pants. "Okay...I think I'm on track now..." he cleared his throat. "Let me recap...oh, there it is! I remember now! Everyone, I have some alarming news. It's about the weird climate out there. Those clouds...those aren't even natural clouds!"

"The clouds aren't natural?" Lucas asked.

"Exactly! Because those clouds are monster-made!"

"...Wait..." Geno wondered for a bit. "...You don't mean..."

Pakakarry made a serious expression. "I guess I should tell everything from the start to end. Okay, let me tell how did I get to find this out..."

1 day ago...

Sky

Tales of Symphonia 2 – Behind Us!

High above the white paradise of ice, there was a familiar Paratroopa who seemed persistent on his task as snow fell on his goggles.

"UGH! Ugh! Ugh!" Parakarry was shown trying to get through the clouds by slamming his shoulder against them but somehow he couldn't. "W-why I can't get through these darn clouds?!" Parakarry asked gritting his teeth as he continued arduously his goal. "C-come on! Let me through! I know there's something hidden in there that somebody doesn't want to reveal! Ugh!"

After a while, however...

"Who dares to interrupt our plan to freeze th-"

"Shut up! Don't reveal important details to a stranger!"

"But isn't this stranger a friend of Mario?"

"Oh, yes."

Parakarry stopped banging on the clouds after he heard the voices coming from the other side. "...Did the clouds just speak?"

"Technically speaking, a cloud did."

"So it says the guy with mist as body, and mist is part of the clouds.

Parakarry got annoyed. "Would you show your faces?"

"Certainly," the voices said in unison before an opening to the sky opened up to reveal a big brown cloud with a robe with a floating ice crown and glowing eyes.

"...Wait just an hour!" Parakarry said with an angry expression. "You 2! You're supposed to be dead...or kissing the earth! Weren't you defeated by, I don't know, Mario and myself here?"

"Tabuu brought us back from the dead," the robe spoke. "And it's rude not to bow to me, the Crystal King!"

"..." the big cloud looked at him with a bored look. "It's obvious he's not going to bow down to you, genius."

Crystal King glared at him. "I expected that from you because you didn't bow down either!"

"Will you just shut up? We have the Paratroopa glaring at us."

Crystal King turned to Parakarry. "So, what is your business to stop us from doing our own business? Haven't you had enough pestering us?"

"No," Parakarry glared at him. "I'm so utterly annoyed by this weather because my wings can't tolerate the cold. They're freezing and I need to fly up high to deliver the mail!"

"Like we're going to listen to you," the big cloud said.

"Well, you should!" Parakarry spat back. "If you 2 guys don't stop this, I'll have to be forced to use...force! Yeah!" Parakarry moved by the sides with fists ready.

"To think we lost to this loser the previous fight," Crystal King commented. "Huff N. Puff, will you freeze him?"

Huff N. Puff's cloud turned blue with ice power. "Fine. Since I have mastered the ice power as yourself, and because I have henchmen with ice powers, then I should do the honors and get rid of him."

"Wait 2 hours now!" Parakarry interrupted.

"You're not even making the slightest sense, Paratroopa." Crystal King said.

"Shut it! I want to know something! Are you 2 responsible for this weather?!"

"...Yes, yes we do," Huff N. Puff said. "In fact, since you're about to die, I'll tell you everything."

Crystal King mistpalmed (because he didn't have a face). "We're really going to regret this in some way or another..."

"Tabuu brought us back from the dead and gave us another chance to defeat Mario and some other guys called Smashers. Using Crystal King's powers to merge them with me have let me take control of the clouds and use them at our favor. This endless climate of cold isn't going to stop until we die. Of course, such a thing won't happen because we're so far away from the ground and nothing can reach it." Huff N. Puff explained.

"Huff N. Puff doesn't have enough strength to make snow so I volunteered to spread the power all over the clouds." Crystal King explained.

"Our plan is to keep this," Huff N. Puff held a card with Kalmar on it. "The Star Spirit away from those Smasher guys."

"H-hey! T-that's Kalmar, the seventh Star Spirit! What are you doing with him?!" Parakarry asked angrily.

"Tabuu gave us 2 orders," Crystal King made an ice bit a number "1." "Keep them away from the Star Spirit and guard it," a "2" floated close to him. "Freeze the entire land before Exor destroys the city."

"...Say WHAT again?"

"That's right," Huff N. Puff nodded. "Our powers aren't still fully prepared to accomplish our main mission: freeze the entire land to an ice era with everyone down there!"

"So, if I defeat you 2, this weather is going to stop, huh?" Parakarry asked.

"Yes, but you won't accomplish something that ridiculous!" Crystal King raised his sleeves. "We're going to get rid of you for real, and once and for all!"

"You know, when someone says "once and for all," it won't mean the end." Parakarry commented.

"Shut up!" Crystal King yelled as he fired an ice bolt that froze the Paratroopa. "There."

Huff N. Puff looked at him annoyed. "Why'd you do that for?! I was going to finish him off!"

"Who was the idiot who told him about our plans?"

"Who was the real idiot who followed the original idiot's explanation?" Huff N. Puff thought for a moment. "Wait, no! I wasn't supposed to say like that! You made me do it!"

"Heheheheh..." Crystal King chuckled as he walked away.

"Wait! What could happen if that Paratroopa manages to be alive?"

"Don't be such an idiot," Crystal King turned to him. "Once he hits the ground, the ice will shatter and he will as well." Crystal King explained as he disappeared.

"..." Huff N. Puff looked down. "But didn't we piled up enough snow to...whatever," the cloud shrugged as he floated away, closing the small opening.

Command Room

Present

"...So, you see..." Parakarry explained. "After I was able to survive by a pile of snow I luckily landed on, the guys getting me out from the icicle I was frozen, the cocoa coffee that refreshed me, the second cocoa coffee I was given again, I made my way here..."

"But why were you dead inside the snow?" Nana asked.

"Didn't I explain that part? I guess not. I was dead there because those 2 knew I was going to tell you all about their plans so they began dropping those icicles on me!" Parakarry made a fist. "I want to show them a thing or 10 if I can!"

"So Kalmar is there!" Twink said. "High above the clouds, the clouds above the mansion!"

"We must rescue Kalmar so we can enter Nintendo City, defeat Exor and Smithy and repair the Star Road." Geno said.

"But question: how are we going to get that high?" Ness asked.

"I can't fly that high... I'm sorry." Pit said.

"I could reach it, but my wings won't tolerate the cold." Meta Knight said.

"Oh, by the way, the clouds are so thick that nothing can go through them," Parakarry explained. "Banging on them wasn't enough and I doubt they're going to open them again. Unless we have some sort of heavy fire power or...someone to go through, then we're stuck in here."

"By do you mean by "we" exactly?" Snake asked.

"I'm joining you guys to defeat those 2 again!" Parakarry made an angry expression. "These last 3 days have been getting colder and colder and I'm not going to stay behind and see you beat their ice butts! My wings can fight back but they won't anymore if I don't do something!"

"You can come." Mario said.

Parakarry got happy. "And I knew Mario was going to be so nice enough to let me in his group again!"

"More like Mario was going to and not us..." C. Falcon said.

"Okay, here's the problem again," Mallow began. "The clouds are supposed to be thick and nothing can go through, right?"

"Yep." Parakarry nodded.

"So we need heavy artillery to go through, you think?"

"At least that's what I think."

"...Okay, you got me." Mallow lifted his shoulders. "I have no idea whatsoever."

Many of them sweatdropped.

"...Any idea how?" Squirtle asked to Chris.

"D-don't look at me! T-this is an original setting and I don't know how!" Chris said.

"Original setting?" Parakarry asked. "Whatever he means by that?"

"Long story." Mario said.

"Oh, I can understand it very well if that comes from you, Mario." Parakarry said with a happy expression.

"...Those 2 creep me out." DK muttered.

"All of you creep me out." Snake commented.

"Likewise," everyone said before glaring at each other.

Several minutes later...

Persona 3 FES - Living with a Determination

Everyone was talking between the others as Chris talked to Master Hand regarding the problem.

"Okay, do you have any idea how to get through?" Master Hand asked.

"Hmm, why don't you do it?" Chris suggested.

"Well, I can't," the hand explained. "If Tabuu knows I'm in a world, he won't hesitate to capture me and my brother to open the portal to your world."

"Wait, that was the reason why Tabuu had you?"

"Afraid so," the hand nodded. "I only have the power to open the portal to your world along with my brother. Tabuu can't do it by himself so...you could refer me and Crazy as "the keys" to your world."

"And I can't go there by myself?"

"No," Master Hand said. "You can only go to other videog...worlds and not yours. That was something I modified."

"Modified?"

"If Tabuu were to capture you if you had the power to go to your world, he'd kidnap you in an instant. Quick thinking of me, isn't?"

"...I guess..." Chris looked down. "I don't want the people of my world get shocked to see Tabuu and...so much chaos would happen."

"Hey, don't get so depressed. We need to work through this together for a better future."

"...Thanks." Chris said, looking up.

"Anyway, back to our main problem."

"W-wait," Parakarry interrupted. "I have something else that you should listen to."

"What is it?" Master Hand asked.

"I have a friend that could take us through the clouds since ironically, he commands one."

"...Who?" Chris asked.

Parakarry chuckled. "Oh, a friend me and Mario used to travel with. You'll see who is he."

"..." Chris wondered for a moment. "Well, I should be thinking about the upcoming battle and who to choose, right?"

"Excellent start." Master Hand commented.

"Remember," Parakarry said. "I'm in this fight as well."

Parakarry temporarily joined your team!

"I know," Chris turned to Master Hand. "Since I know Crystal King and Huff N. Puff, I should take with me people with fire elements or attacks."

"Fire isn't going to affect Crystal King that much," Parakarry said. "But for Huff N. Puff it will. The king has a fire resistance so he has no weaknesses."

"Thank you," Chris said. "How many should I take?"

"Take 8-"

"9 with me!" Parakarry interrupted.

"9 with you since they're above the mansion and in a place where anybody can go," Master Hand said. "I think Geno, Mallow and Twink want to go there so ask them."

"First, the shop." Chris said as he looked at Crazy Hand, who nodded.

"Another little itsy bitsy of information," Crazy Hand interrupted. "We're so close in getting all the jobs purchased so, don't hesitate to buy them all!"

"...If I get enough money." Chris muttered.

Jobs (New!) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 2501

Jobs

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Black Mage - 1100 Smash Coins

The highest spells will be yours to use. The Black Mage is allowed to use ra-spells alongside a big repertory of many magic spells. A simple yet effective job.

Hacker - 1300 Smash Coins

Hacking computers is an otaku's dream, but here is totally different. The hacker can possess an extensive knowledge of machinery, weapons and even own weapons. The hacker can also modify weapons of allies (if they are made from technology) to make them even more powerful.

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Poison Mushroom
Bumper

Stored items:
None

"I'll buy 2 Superspicy Curries." Chris said.

"...You what do what?" Crazy Hand asked confused.

"I want to try out something with those if you don't mind."

"...Okie-dokie." Crazy Hand took 600 Smash Coins and gave the 2 items.

"Next, I'll buy the Hothead," Chris gave 200 Smash Coins for mentioned item. "And lastly, the Black Mage job," the World Traveler gave 1100 Smash Coins to the hand and he glowed for a moment.

Now, Chris was wearing a long blue robe that reached his heels. There was a pointed hat above his head and he also wore blue pants with brown boots. A staff also appeared on his right hand.

"..." Chris looked himself on a mirror and gasped. "M-my face! I-it's gone!"

"Relax," Crazy Hand said. "It's just what comes with the job. Your face totally black like a nig-"

Chris's face was shrouded in darkness...literally, since the only things he was able to see were his yellow eyes without pupils shrouded with darkness. "...I look like Vivi's older brother or something now..." Chris shrugged as he took off his hat. "...What the..."

His face returned to normal once he removed the hat.

"..." the World Traveler slowly put the hat back and half of his face hid completely in the darkness while his eyes were half yellow. Chris moved it to the side and half of his face horizontally was covered in darkness. "...So this is why their faces are black. The hat is magic." Chris said as he put the hat back on.

"Can I call you ni-" Crazy Hand got interrupted.

"No!" Chris yelled annoyed.

Master Hand looked at Mario and Peach approaching. "Oh, right."

Master Hand snapped his fingers and both Smashers were given their Brawl forms as they looked at themselves.

"...Hmm..." Peach put a finger close to her mouth as she ducked and took out a Turnip. "...I still have this...odd ability..."

Mario looked at the Turnip with the (O_O) face. "...It's just an ability." Mario commented.

"You think so?" Peach asked as she took out another Turnip with the (-.-) face. "This is weird..."

"Sorry," Master Hand commented. "That was the only ability I could think of. Besides, nothing that odd could..."

Peach took out a Turnip with the (AIDS) face. "AAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Peach tossed the Turnip away where it hit Olimar, who fell down on the floor.

"...P-please, tell me that was just a joke... That wasn't even a face to begin with..." Chris shuddered.

"R-relax," Master Hand sweated. "I-I know that was just a joke because Olimar seems to be fine..."

"...I CAN'T FEEL HIS HEART BEATING!" Mallow yelled as many Smashers stopped talking and looked shocked at Olimar.

"MY GOODNESS!" Luigi yelled.

"..." Olimar simply sat up. "B-boy, that was really weird..."

Many of them sighed in relief and continued talking.

"..." Peach looked at Master Hand with a concerned look.

"...I'm going to fix that little mistake, I swear." Master Hand said.

"..." Chris looked at Mario. "Mario, I was wondering if you were fine to come."

Mario nodded. "I want to put a stop to Crystal King and Huff N. Puff if you don't mind."

"Okay, will do," Chris nodded and looked at Peach. "What about you?"

"I..." Peach looked concerned again.

"...If you don't want to come, I won't force you."

"...Ask Luigi instead if you don't mind." Peach said.

"Oh well." Chris walked to Luigi. "Luigi, do you want to come?"

"Y-yes. I want to fight even more than I did back at the galaxies."

"Your fire attacks are going to be of help too."

"Y-yeah!" Luigi said nodding. "I'm going to shine even more in battle!"

"(Is his jealousy towards Mario this big?) Be ready until then."

The World Traveler walked to Geno, Mallow and Twink.

"You have to take me." Geno said.

"Is it just me or I'm going to do it anyway?" Chris asked.

"Well, I'm supposed to be a star from Star Haven."

"And it's our duty to rescue the Star Spirits ourselves." Twink said.

"And I'm just an extra." Mallow said with a small smile.

"...You want to come as well, right?" Chris asked and the prince cloud nodded.

"Anything to be with Mario and Peach like the good old times." Mallow said.

"Bowser should be too but...due to his current movements..." Geno wondered for a bit. "I think you make a good replacement for the group of 5, Chris."

Chris blushed. "I-I wished I'd be there a long time ago."

Geno chuckled. "Yes."

"Okay then, I'll tell you when as always."

"And then after we rescue Kalmar..." Twink thought for a moment.

"Exor and Smithy are next at last." Mallow said.

Chris thought for a moment. "...If you don't mind, Geno, I'd like you to be the leader when we go after them."

"...Because it's my mission." Geno added.

"Yes... It would make sense if you were the leader."

"Very well." Geno nodded before Chris walked to Roy.

"You need fire to counterattack those ice monsters, correct?" Roy asked.

"Yes, and you are the perfect guy to ask that."

Roy chuckled. "Just don't abuse too much of my Flare Blade because it takes energy out of me...not to mention it hurts."

"O-of course I'll have that in mind. Don't worry."

"I'd worry about yourself."

"H-hey!" Chris said annoyed.

"Haha! Just kidding."

"..." Chris rolled his eyes and walked away. "I have 6 people ready, 3 more to go... Why am I stuck deciding who again?"

"I'd like to go this time." Pit spoke behind Chris.

"Why?"

"Because, since the mission is above the clouds, I thought it was good to feel the air."

"You're an angel of Skyworld so living high above is heaven for you, right?"

Pit nodded. "Walking on the earth is good, but being somewhere high above, where the air feels so refreshing is something I want to feel again. It would remind me my home back at Skyworld."

"Oh... I see then, you're in."

Pit smiled a bit. "Thank you for understanding."

Chris walked to Meta Knight this time.

"..." Meta Knight looked up to Chris with his yellow eyes as Chris stared down at him with his yellow eyes.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...I need to fight in the air to remember how I fight using my wings." Meta Knight said, breaking the silence.

"Then you'll come?" Chris asked.

"What was the purpose to talk to me then?" Meta Knight asked.

"...Nevermind. I'll tell you when."

Meta Knight merely nodded as he saw Chris walking to Kirby.

"Do clouds taste like cotton candy?" Kirby asked curiously.

"I-I don't think these clouds taste like the candies in Candy Constellation though..." Chris shrugged.

"...Oh," Kirby looked down. "I was hoping they could."

Chris knelt and rubbed Kirby's head. "When I was younger I used to think the same thing, did you know that?"

"Really?" Kirby asked, looking up.

"W-well, yes..." Chris blushed. "I-I acted a little hyper because sugar used to make me go wild..."

Kirby chuckled heartily. "Sugar doesn't affect me that much."

"...The black hole in your stomach does though..."

Kirby laughed for a bit. "Black hole, like I have that inside me."

Chris sweatdropped. "(...Then why is his stomach always empty?) A-anyway, leaving the black hole thing...will you come?"

"If that can clear my mind about clouds being cotton candy, then yes." Kirby nodded, smiling a bit.

"(Don't hug him, don't hug him! He looks to cute when he's happy!)" Chris struggled mentally and twitched after he walked away. "...Oh no, I forgot about you."

Lucario looked down but then looked back at Chris. "I-it doesn't bother me, just go."

"Y-you're not angry at me, are you?"

Lucario shook his head. "I'm fine with your decisions..."

"...You can tell me what you think."

"...I guess I'm a little bit concerned when I'm not protecting you."

Chris wondered for a moment. "...Why don't you ask someone who is going to come with me to make sure I'm fine?"

"I'd ask Meta Knight, but since he is...you know..."

"...I'll be fine. I promise." Chris reassured Lucario.

"...Don't overdo it." Lucario suggested.

"I know what can make you feel better." Chris said.

"What?"

"When I return, we're going to train you outside."

Lucario blinked several times. "R-really?"

"I want to see that brute strength of yours lifting a tree like nothing, Lucario!" Chris put a grip of his staff. "I really want to see your strength so much like we used to in our world!"

Lucario blushed and smiled a little. "...It's not going to be that hard to do..."

"Were you showing off your strength?"

"...A little bit..."

"..." Chris walked to Lucario and hugged him by the shoulders. "You don't know how excited I am to see you train."

"...Guuooorrrrrgh..." Lucario growled happily with a happy expression.

"I just LOVE when you're happy. A happy Lucario isn't that common, you knew that?" Chris asked with a chuckle.

"Yes." Lucario nodded.

"Then please wish me good luck."

Lucario nodded again. "I'll be waiting."

"..." Chris looked at Master Hand. "...Where do we EXACTLY have to go?"

"Outside," Parakarry said. "Follow me and I'll take you to a more accurate location."

"People, gather up!" Chris yelled as the selected Smashers walked to him and Parakarry. "Just one more until we enter...god, I remembered we need to enter inside a sword's mouth after this..."

"Let's worry about that later," Geno said. "Right now, worry about Kalmar."

"And use the Star Spirits." Mallow reminded.

"Then, here we go." Mario as everyone nodded and walked towards the exit of the mansion.

"Speaking of which," Ness began. "Have anyone seen a runaway microwave?"

"Runaway microwave," Samus rolled her eyes. "I knew there were some things I never forgot about."

Ness glared at her. "Oh, then you know where did a stolen microwave go?"

"...No, because it doesn't run." Samus replied with a bored tone.

Ness looked around where nobody didn't care. "...Why do I think the thief is dangerous?"

"What makes you say that?" Jigglypuff asked.

"A very bad feeling actually..." Ness shivered.

Outside

Target Smash!!

Just outside the mansion, there were Raven and Toon Link standing besides a target as the old man explained marksman ship to the cartoony Link.

"We're going to hit this target without facing it from the front?" Toon Link asked.

Raven nodded. "Yep, we're gonna hit it from this angle."

"You mean like this?" Toon Link asked as he aimed his arrow to the side of the target and stuck it on the wooden circle's side.

Raven frowned. "No, no that way," the old man aimed at the trees nearby. "See the trees?"

"Yes. I'm not blind."

"Good," Raven looked forward. "Now, watch and get amused."

Raven shot a fast arrow that went soaring through the air at high speed that hit the tree, but then, it began to bounce on tree to tree until it went directly on the center of the target. Toon Link's jaw dropped.

"See that?" Raven asked with a grin and closed eyes.

"I SO totally saw that!" Toon Link said surprised. "How do I do that?"

"Okay, listen up," Raven knelt to point at the trees. "Ta trick to this is to aim the angle in which the trees face each other. Also, take in mind ta trayectory of the arrow and its long-range reach. Add more force to it so it shoots fast."

"Hmm..." Toon Link shot an arrow that got stuck on a tree. "..."

Raven sighed. "No, your arrow wasn't that strong and fast to bounce 'round."

"I know, I know..." Toon Link said as he took another arrow that then got stuck in the same tree.

"Ta speed was fine, but the angle was bad."

"Okay, okay." Toon Link shot another arrow.

"Trayectory, velocity, good. Angle, didn't."

Toon Link looked mad and looked at Raven.

"Okay, gotta show more examples." Raven quickly prepared an arrow that went soaring through the air at high speed that bounced on all the trees' barks before it hit the target right on the middle.

"Hmm..." Toon Link rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. "I want to study this a little bit more to understand the bounce part," the little Wind Waker user ran to the trees. "Think you can bounce it close to where I am to check its power?"

Raven sighed relieved. "Kid, that's easier than kick Zagi's butt 'round."

"Who again?"

Raven shrugged. "Crazy hyper dude I don't wanna be reminded of."

Final Fantasy VIII - The Salt Flats

While the 2 were practicing, the Smashers got out from the mansion and began to walk on the road to Nintendo City as they looked at all the icicles around that Parakarry mentioned.

"Just look at the size of the ice..." Roy said. "They're so big."

"Around our height." Geno commented.

Parakarry made a fist as he flew forward. "I swear this is going to stop very soon."

"By the way, how are we going to reach the clouds up above? Didn't you say they were so thick and nothing can go through?" Mario asked.

"Well, not a thing...but a person can," Parakarry said as he stopped on his tracks, stopping everyone else. We need to get through the big hill and call those 2 lovebirds over here."

"Lovebirds?" Kirby asked.

"You'll see soon enough who." Parakarry said as they continued their way.

The paradise of snow was slowly getting bigger and bigger with every second it passed. The Smashers had to walk slowly to the hill as they raised their feet through the snow while it continued to get taller and taller.

"I-I-I-I should be happy that s-s-s-s-so much snow is gathering," Chris said. "B-b-b-but is not the time, r-r-right?"

"I'm afraid so," Geno nodded. "Twink."

Twink appeared some feet away with snow on his head. "Yes?"

"Stop playing and stay close to us. Smithy's subordinates could be somewhere around here."

"We're almost reaching the top of the hill," Parakarry pointed out. "On there, we shall ascend the sky."

"But how?" Pit asked. "Meta Knight and I can't go that high, let alone carry any of you."

"I believe he has some kind of trick under the sleeve." Meta Knight said.

"Or inside my mailbag," Parakarry chuckled. "Get it?"

"Yes," everyone replied with a normal tone of voice.

"...You guys are no fun." Parakarry said with a bored tone.

Once they made it to the top of the hill, they all found the big barrier that covered Nintendo City. It was very big and long, and it was covered in thick snow, making it look like a big dome without entrances.

"..." Luigi sniffed. "...T-the city..."

"...It's sad that nobody is inside right now..." Roy commented.

"I used to take a walk around but now that this happened..." Mario frowned in shame.

"...The restaurants..." Kirby sniffed and hugged Chris's leg.

"(The villains who made Kirby hug my leg and cry because they're keeping his restaurants away...)" Chris sniffed and ducked to calm Kirby down.

"...Look," Geno pointed at a very far object that was located on the center of the big city. "...That small building over the distance must be Exor, where Smithy is inside."

Mallow made a serious face. "Because of him, this is happening."

"We just need to go up and fight for Kalmar."

"Alrighty then," Parakarry pointed up to the sky. "Our mission starts here, but over there."

"...Then how do we go?" Meta Knight asked.

"Easy as a Goomnut," Parakarry chuckled and put his hands close to his mouth to shout something. "Hey, Lakilester! Yes! You! Come over here you little cloudy fool!"

Mario tilted his head. "Why Lakilester? I thought he was at Petal Meadows with Lakilulu when w-"

The Smashers suddenly heard a loud voice yelling from somewhere and they looked around the area, the voice was shouting "DAMN YOU, PARAKARRY!!!" so loudly that even some snow from some trees fell down.

They all saw a small figure over the horizon of snow that made its way through the snow, riding an angered cloud with a face that seemed to be acting like its owner's current mood. The Smashers were able to recognize a Lakitu with blackglasses and green hair when he stopped just in front of Parakarry and Mario.

Paper Mario - Lakilester

"You!" the Lakitu pointed angrily at Parakarry who was apparently smiling happily. "I told you so many times before about my name! It's Spike, SPIKE! S-P-I-K-E! SPIKE, DAMN IT!"

"Relax, Lakilester," Parakarry said. "I knew you were going to yell at my face in a hurry just to correct your real name as usual."

"Not only you," Lakilester pointed at Mario. "But Mario as well! He said it, didn't he? You can't lie to me because I hear it very well from over Petal Meadows!"

"...Wow, you came all the way here from Petal Meadows?" Twink asked surprised.

"Duh! I can't forgive the people who can't remember my name!" Lakilester made fists. "You 2 should be really aware of that!"

"But I like Lakilester better than Spike." Mario commented.

"You! But not me! Besides, Mario, who else calls me Lakilester without even listening?"

"Ahem."

Lakilester hopped up and turned to find Lakilulu with crossed arms. She was a little bit mad but her pink cloud looked normal. "...Oh, you're here too, Lakilulu."

"Lakilester," Lakilulu began. "What did I tell you about running off and correct your name to people angrily at their faces?"

Lakilester floated back a little. "W-well, you know my real name, right?"

"Lakilester."

Lakilester floated back while a vein popped out from his forehead (as well as the cloud he rode on) without even disappearing the smile. "Y-yeah, that's my real name."

"Oohohoho," Mallow chuckled. "Boy's getting bossed around by his girl."

"Y-you s-" Lakilester looked back at Lakilulu. "I-I mean, yeah. (I'm going to rip your head off from your pants, smarty cloud)."

Lakilulu giggled and floated to them. "Excuse Lakilester for being so rude. He can't hold back his anger to people who call him by his name."

"Spike!" Lakilester yelled from the other side where he was floating.

"I swear I'm going to throw him a Spiny if he doesn't accept his name."

Lakilester floated besides her. "Now, now, sweetheart. You don't need to get this angry at me."

"Loverboy is apologizing now." Mallow chuckled.

Lakilester ignored him. "S-so, no Spinies at my head, okay?"

Lakilulu thought for a moment before she nodded. "Well, if you apologize first."

"...Sorry guys," Lakilester said. "I think I went too far with my rants."

Parakarry noticed the Lakitus floating slowly away. "Hold on a second! I called you here to help us out!"

The Lakitus turned and floated to them. "What? Besides calling me Lakilester?"

"Hush!" Lakilulu said annoyed.

"I-I mean, what?"

Parakarry pointed up at the clouds. "See the clouds up there?"

"If I weren't wearing my glasses, then no."

Parakarry rolled his eyes. "Okay, I need you 2 to take us up there."

Lakilester looked at the Smashers and gasped. "O-oh my gosh! Y-you're the Smashers from the Smash Mansion! Oh god! I-I'm a huge fan of your fights!"

"...What?" Chris asked as he looked at Roy.

"You didn't know? Our fights are broadcasted all over our worlds...well, in mine they're just newspapers in scrolls since we don't have technology." Roy explained.

"Pikachu's world doesn't," Kirby said. "Because he doesn't want his trainer to find out the truth."

"Roy!" Lakilester said floating to Roy. "Man, I watched that fight between you and Marth and boy, you were awesome out there!"

"But he won in that one." Roy said.

"Bah! Who cares if that nancy boy won. You were so great in that one!"

"...If I have a match...is going to be broadcasted to many people?" Chris asked shocked.

"Over 700 billions of people." Mario said.

"...WHAT?!"

"The channel where Master Hand broadcasts it it's watched by so many people around the worlds," Mario took out an autograph. "If you walk to the Mushroom Kingdom, you're bound to sign at least 1000 a day."

"...B-but what if I embarrass myself in one?"

"Then you're going to be completely humiliated around everywhere nationally, internationally and universally, not to mention spacially and dimensionally."

"...When you say it, Mario, I know you're being so specific with the information..."

Chris looked at Kirby. "The day Bowser lost to Pichu almost all the people laughed their butts off." Kirby said.

"G-glasses everywhere were shattering apart." Luigi shrugged.

"Oh yeah!" Lakilester laughed for a bit. "Pichu, the same one who won against Bowser in a 3-stock match without even losing a life? God, Bowser SO had it coming for showing off!"

Parakarry interrupted the laugh. "Okay, okay. Now, can you hear my favor?"

"A-anything to help these guys." Lakilester said, wiping out his tears.

"You see, the clouds up there are so thick to get through and we need to get up and fight Crystal King and Huff N. Puff."

"Huff N. Puff?!" Lakilester and Lakilulu asked, shocked in unison.

"I-I thought Lakilester got rid of him! W-what is he doing here?!" Lakilulu asked.

"A very evil guy brought him back and he's causing all this snow, along with Crystal King to freeze the land." Parakarry explained.

"If we don't do something, the last Star Spirit is going to stay up there forever!" Twink said.

"H-hold on, Star Spirit? Were they kidnapped again?" Lakilester asked.

The group explained everything to the Lakitu couple.

"Hmm," Lakilester turned to the city. "So that sword thing is causing all of this."

"Lakilester," Lakilulu joined her hands. "We need to help Mario again! Huff N. Puff shouldn't be allowed to cause another mischief with the weather like he did to Petal Meadows!"

"...Geez, being the drama queen like usu-" Lakilester noticed Lakilulu looking for something inside her cloud. "I-I mean, sure, sweetheart!"

"It's great how girls rule over men." Mallow said.

"I rule over them." Geno said.

"Weren't you missile'd on the face by Samus?" Chris asked before Geno glared at him.

The 4 previous sentences didn't take place at all for some reason.

"Well, I kind of have some revenge against him so..." Lakilester turned to the Smashers. "Okay, I'll help you guys out."

Meta Knight rolled his eyes. "I feel like something was meant to happen here."

"..." Chris shrugged.

"So, how are you 2 going to take us up?" Mallow asked.

"Easy," Lakilester looked at Lakilulu and nodded before looking at them. "We just do this..." Lakilester's cloud touched Lakilulu's cloud and both combined before both Lakitus seemed to walk to each other before their clouds grew wider and made a platform. The cloud seemed to get a little pink because of Lakilulu's cloud and it had both faces of both clouds while the Lakitus were standing (without their feet seen) close to each other. "And presto."

"How convenient." Mario commented.

"Well, hop on! We're taking you all up. Your weights aren't going to be problem." Lakilulu said as every Smasher stepped on the cloud before it began to rise up to the air.

"..." Meta Knight looked down at the cloud.

"What is it?" Twink asked.

"It seems both clouds are talking with each other."

"So, baby, what've you been doing around these skies?" Lakilester's cloud asked with hearts on his eyes.

"Teeheehee." Lakilulu's cloud giggled while she blushed.

"Weeeeird..." Twink shuddered.

"...D-don't you feel is getting way colder than before?" Luigi asked as he embraced himself.

The Lakitus looked up. "Well, the temperature is really getting colder." Lakilester said.

"You don't think they're going to attack us, right?" Kirby asked worried.

Chris picked Kirby and looked up. "I hope not..."

Lakilester looked at Chris. "So, you're a new Smasher or what, kid?"

"...I'm a teen..." Chris muttered.

"Teen, kid, whatever. You're Smasher, I believe?"

"...Y-yes."

"...You don't look that tough," Lakilester looked at Meta Knight. "Be like that guy over there! He looks strong for some evil reason."

Chris looked down at Meta Knight, who gave him a chuckle, which got Chris annoyed. "I-I'm strong in like, 20 ways."

Lakilester rolled his eyes. "Pfft, 20 ways."

Lakilulu looked up. "We're almost going to reach the clouds."

"Just a little more until we gather all the stars." Geno said.

"Then...this whole adventure for us..." Mallow looked down sadly.

Geno patted his back. "I know, but there isn't any other option."

"..." Mallow looked concerned.

"So let's do everything we can do so they remember us onwards."

Mallow looked at Geno and smiled a little with a nod.

"Besides, Mario's here! Like the old times, right?" Twink asked.

"We just need Peach and Bowser, then old times will come back." Mallow said.

"Bowser isn't like he used to be though." Geno said.

"He's still stupid." Mallow and Twink said in unison.

"But evil as always."

"True enough." Mario and Luigi said in unison.

"...Er...question," Pit asked. "How are we going to get through the clouds? Do you have some sort of spell?"

Lakilester and Lakilulu chuckled. "Lakitus can go through any clouds since we mastered the ways of the air." Lakilester explained.

"I heard somewhere that Lakitus are like Koopa Troopas." Luigi said.

"You wouldn't understand how hard is to get your own cloud." Lakilulu said.

"One way to be is if your parents were Lakitus." Lakilester said.

The cloud stopped once it was about to reach the enormous cloud. "I have a bad premonition. Be alert." Meta Knight said.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Duh."

Meta Knight glared deeply into Roy's eyes.

"...I-I mean, yeah! T-thanks for the tip!" Roy said quickly.

"Okay, so..." Chris looked at the Lakitus. "How do we get through?"

The Lakitus nodded to each other and held out their hands at the cloud. "DEUX EX MACHINA!!!" they yelled, making a tremble in the cloud before it made an opening.

"..." Chris was left speechless after the cloud began moving up. "...Tell me what you said a moment ago wasn't that true..."

Lakilester chuckled while Lakilulu giggled. "No way. Holding out our hands was enough to open it."

"We wanted so much to say that deux thingy." Lakilulu giggled.

"Amen, sweetheart, amen." Lakilester said before the cloud fit in the opening.

Heaven's Paradise

"..." Parakarry looked around the big field of clouds. "...My goodness..."

Right on the distant, there was a tall tower of clouds where it was located several miles away from them. Many clouds surrounded the tower as they all looked up.

"Oh my, that's the biggest cloud tower I've ever seen." Lakilulu commented.

"This is the first one we see." Lakilester pointed out.

"...So, they're high up there?" Mallow asked.

"You're a cloud yourself! You should know!"

"AHEM!" Parakarry interrupted. "We should make haste and kick their misty faces so this weather stops! C'mon! We're moving onward!" the Paratroopa flapped his wings angrily before he began to fly away fast.

"God, he's more energetic than he used to be when we were traveling together," Lakilester looked at the Smashers. "Okay, here's the thing. When you're done with Crystal King and Huff N. Puff, the latter a huge bastard, call us to pick all of you up to take all of you down. We could go buuuuuuuuut I need to take care of Lakilulu here." the Lakitu looked at the female Lakitu, who blushed and giggled.

"Will do." Mario said with a nod.

"To the big (beep!) tower!" Mallow proclaimed as he ran away to the tower.

Twink looked at Geno adjusting his hand. "Oh, ready to kick some butt?"

"Yes," Geno nodded. "But Mallow's one once I catch up with him."

"Why?"

Geno grunted annoyed as he gave chase to the cloud prince, followed up by Meta Knight hovering as he used his wings.

"Well, if we defeat those 2, the weather is going to stop, right?" Roy asked as he ran together with the others following.

"Yes. Falco is going to like this so much." Pit said.

"But Popo and Nana won't." Kirby said.

"Besides," Chris began. "Who else can enjoy the cold weather?"

Outside

Back where the snow paradise was, there were 4 young trainers (2 boys and 2 girls) walking through the forest of snow. They all wore sweaters to stay warm of the cold temperature as they made their way to...well, who knows where since they became lost.

Though one of them wasn't wearing a sweater, because he wore a long-sleeved shirt instead. However, this blond boy was rather energetic with a confident grin.

The other 3? They weren't that amused, but rather annoyed as they followed the blond boy from behind.

"If Candice was here, she would rest in the ice the entire day, and I doubt she'd get a cold out of it," the boy said with a bored tone.

"I swear," the girl spoke with irritation. "Following Barry's directions to get to the Survival Area from the Resort Area was a bad idea."

"I know," the boy rolled his eyes. "But we were supposed to reach the Pokémon Center and rest there, then we could've continued our way to catch a Diglett," he took out a Pokedex. "We only need..."

"259 Pokémon..." the girl sighed. "Seriously, with all the Pokémon we've seen and some of them captured for the Sinnoh Dex was enoug-"

"But see the bright side!" the blond boy responded as he turned to them. "There are 490 Pokémon out there waiting to be captured!"

"I know your excitement...but catch all of them?" the girl sighed again.

"Hey, cheer up," the boy smiled a little. "Not only we get to see many Pokémon and help Professor Rowan with his research and Professor Oak, but we also get to catch them all."

"...I think so."

"Heheh," the blond boy put his hands on his hips. "Do not worry, my friends! Because I, the Pokémon Master, Barry, will be the first one to get them all!"

"This isn't a contest," both trainers replied bored.

"Oh, who're you? I thought you were Lucas and Dawn, the friends who should cheer on me!"

Dawn looked straight to him. "Barry, will you keep your mouth shut for a moment? I think I'm going to pass out after all the so cheery things you've been saying for the last 3 hours! Sheesh!"

Barry rolled his eyes. "Bah, whatever. We should find somewhere to rest."

"That's our main problem," Lucas said. "You made us all get lost."

Barry looked at the girl walking behind them without even a single trail of emotion on her face. "How 'bout you, Marley?"

"..." Marley stared at him in annoyance.

"...Okay, I know," Barry lifted his hands and shoulders. "I don't know why did you tag along with us to begin with."

"Shaymin..." Marley responded.

"And how do you expect us to find Shaymin anyway?" Lucas asked.

"I have my reasons..." Marley responded.

"...You're weird." Barry shuddered as he pointed forward to the main road. "My senses are tingling! There's a mansion over there!"

"My senses, however, are telling me that I need to strangle your throat." Dawn said.

"Oh, seriously!" Barry looked at her. "I know this time for real! A mansion is waiting for us at the edge of the forest to Snowpoint City!"

"We got lost close to the Resort Area, genius!" Dawn yelled irritated.

"We did? I guess I forgot..."

A muttering grunt came from Marley.

"Anyway!" Barry began to ran above his same position. "I gotta go and ask for hospitality in that mansion I can see in my mind! See ya!" Barry began to spring very fast towards the exit of the forest.

"...Should we follow him...I'm worried if he crashes into another trainer...for the 20th time..." Marley said.

"...We should," Lucas got a shocked look. "If the trainer is close to another street and if Barry bumps into him while there is a car..."

Dawn gasped. "O-oh no! I-I'm not going to pay another $100,000 Pokeyens for a broken leg or give away a Pokémon from mine! It's your turn, Lucas!"

Lucas gulped. "F-follow that hyper trainer!"

The trio began to run after Barry...

...And what looked to be towards the Smash Mansion...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Barry's Busting Out All Over Here Too! Yeah! My biggest debut in something so big!" Barry yelled in excitement.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Heaven's Paradise
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Parakarry

"Stops dancing"

References:

-"Tales of Symphonia - Off-Key" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when obvious/stupid events happen.

-"Persona 3 FES - Living with a Determination" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays during the episode "The Answer" while you control Aegis to take the party members you want to use.

"Final Fantasy VIII - The Salt Flats is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you travel through The Great Salt Lake in order to get to Esthar.

-The 4 sentences that didn't take place was a reference...to a dear friend of mine of this section that I don't want to tell her name. She pointed out the many "girl hits guy" moments so much (because she hates them all) and I didn't even notice at all. :P (Oops, I gave away her gender). :P

-The Heaven's Paradise location is a reference to Persona 4, where the same name is shown for every floor in Nanako's dungeon called "Heaven."

And we introduce Lucas, Dawn, Barry (especially this one) and Marley to blend them into the mix! The reason why did these 3 appear was because:

1) This arc seems a little bit short (3 chapters) but with the inclusion of these 4, the arc is going to receive an extra Mansion chapter before we continue the Cloudy Clouds arc (the name I gave to this arc), starring Red and other Pokémon.

2) They just climb over the tower, fight Ganondorf, fight Crystal King, Huff N. Puff and...wait, that's going too far so I'd spoil it to you. XD

And also, these 4 come directly from Pokémon Platinum (the game and not the anime). However! I'd like to say that the Battle Frontier isn't open here yet, but they already experienced Giratina's Origin Forme and all the Team Galactic's plots. Since Platinum is the last version of the 4th generation, it was more reasonable to use the final version and not the other 2 (2 Dawns were going to be really weird anyway). You understand, right?

The one who stole the microwave actually is crucial, because some technology from the mansion disappeared... It couldn't have been R...

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 120*: Barry's Busting Out All Over Here Too!

Weird, I thought this chapter was a bit longer...

From ngrey651: Well, I think Zelda took finding out the truth about her world pretty...er...realistically? I can't find a nice term for "had a mental breakdown on the spot". Sorry. :(

Another fine job. I salute you!

Sincerely...Nick

From me: Oh, don't worry. She didn't go so she didn't go through the whole thing. XD

From notfromearth7: LOL Racist Crazy Hand!

I'm sorry, but did we already do an FF7 arc? I just want some Cloud/Sepiroth battle action, sorry. And if you do decide to do it, it should probably be the second-to-last arc (before Subspace), because it's so epic.

From me: How about the second-to-never arc? I consider a Bidoof VS. Mudkip much better... Okay, no. I don't see that epic at all. But if it helps, I have a better place for him in a later chapter. ;)

From Dimentio713: Wait is Barry gonna do the Barry dance if he does... heck ya! Wait are the called Pokedollars or Pokeyens? interesting Marley doesn't talk! Wait how the heck did they get there? Anyways yesterday was my Birthday! (By the time I review this) Anyways see ya later wiiboychris

From me: Well, I thought they were Pokeyens... Screw it. Remember about characters who find their way to that universe or by getting lost (in some kind of part like a forest)?

Oh, and Happy Birthday. ;)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Black mage job? Oh, Chris is just going to be kickass right there.

I have to say, for your last chapter, the characters turned out well (they reacted (a bit too much) but the story still flowed). Wonder what the epilogue will be like...

As for the Deus Ex Machina [sic], that was just... unexpected.

Keep the updates up!

From me: I hope so too. XD

What do you mean by a bit too much? Yes, the Deux thing was just something to tell all of you I learned how to use it. XD

And I will. ;)

From JSandders: Sorry for not reviewing last chapter, I was very busy this week! :P

On last chapter, that chapter was very emotional and I have to congratulate you on the realism of the Smashers' behavior upon learning the truth! I know that I would act the same if I were a in their shoes! Very good chapter indeed! In the real world, isn't it Sunday there? Doesn't that mean that he has to go to school once he comes back to reality?

On this chapter, They finally go up to look for Kalmar! And afterward, the snow will be gone and Falco will be happy (yes, I like playing as Falco in SSBB but I prefer Fox XD)! New jobs, too (I know where the Hacker job is compatible)! Also, Geno's story is almost ended, but it seems that the Tales characters and the new Pokemon characters will fill in their role (I wonder what Red will think of them once the other trainers come to the Mansion?)!

Overall, both chapters were great and I can't wait for this arc to unfold and future arcs to come! This story's definitely one of my Top 3 Favorites! Keep up the good work, Wiiboychris!

JSandders

From me: I remember Brawl came out a Saturday?

Oh, let's see what the trainers do here. :)

From SlasherMask: Aww...(was hoping to Chris choose beastmaster job...(call me Kirby ability is second behind i would want...))

I say, how therapy is going to work if one does not understand what other is saying?(unless therapy includes needles...)

I laughed at Peach's turnips...(i worry for Olimar...That turnip sound very... "dangerous"...
I also chuckled at deus ex machina.(is stating things in reviews useless?)

P.S.: To be nit picky... Technically Exor is portal to Smithys world so Smithy wouldn't be "inside" Exor...

P.S.S: Barry sounds weird... But there really isn't better name when you think about it...

P.S.S.S.(i forgot what P.S. meant...): If Rita got inside the mansion then why nobody has noticed her?

From me: Oops, I meant Extreme Therapy. XD

Oh, really? Well, it's technically a portal but it's a portal INSIDE Exor...you understand, right?

I named him in my game bi-...just kidding. XD

Read previous chapter, several dialogues before Rita got inside.

From Chef Colette: Another great chapter.
Very well written as well.
I like the newcomers.
Also,I have requests for newcomers and arcs,if you want to.
Newcomers:
-Tails
-Shadow
-Soren(Fire Emblem)
-Krystal(Star Fox)
-Plusle and Minun
As for arcs:
-Sonic Rush/or Sonic Rush Adventure
-Pokemon XD:Gale of Darkness
-Sonic and the secret rings(I prefer Sonic and the Black Knight,but it was released long after Brawl,so I suggest the first game of the "storybook" series instead.
-Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn(Just the arc with the Dawn Brigade(Micaiah's group) will do.)
Anyway,I can't wait to read what will happen next!

From me: Oh, I have a better idea.

"Tosses all those suggestions to Ifrit's fire"

Nope, I don't need any of those. And Fire Emblem? Hell no! I found out I don't like the series but just the characters!

So please, understand. :) (I just noticed you returned, so welcome back).

From Blaperile: Good chapter like always!

Cloudy Clouds arc... XD

LOl at the Lakitu clouds, hilarious. :D

Could the one who stole the microwave be R-, no... it can't... Or can it? XD

Keep it up,

Blaperile

From me: You'll see. ;)

From Mewtrainer: Sonic...ate a popsicle...at -17 degrees?!? Weeiird...
Nana has a point about Sonic...
I'll take your word for it on the trainers, I don't have Platinum.

From me: ...Whoops, I forgot about the detail with Sonic.

So? No harming done with it. There are small spoilers for the game but if don't plan to get it, then go ahead. However, if you're planning to, I suggest you to skip this chapter for some of the spoilers. :)

Oh, and also because to let people who don't have Platinum to get it. I'm not forcing anyone either.

From Anakin Mario Son43: Finally, they figured the high in the sky thing out! Soon, Geno's quest will be over and kingdom hearts will be here soon(Hey, in a fic like this, 50 or so chapters is soon). Update soon! Hasta!

From me: Updated.

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Got it! I finally got to reading this chapter. I've been interrupted at least once while I was trying to read this. Anyway ...

The weather's gone insane! But at least there's a reason behind it. Parakarry really doesn't like ice storms ... a second Falco perhaps? Hey, I guess we'll find out next time.

From me: Yes, we will.

From Rellymaster: -Crazy Hand might get smacked later for knocking out Zelda and Link. He got carried away with that and the hilariously stupid thing he was about to say.
-I feel really sorry for Zelda. She just couldn't handle the "insane" truth. I guess I wouldn't either if I found out my life was a lie.
-So THAT'S the name of the blond, impatient rival. Is he greedy as well?! If he was a librarian, everyone would be broke!
-A short chapter simply sets up for a bigger one. Nice addition of the Platinum team to the story.
-The final showdown finally approaches! I hope Chris gets respected a little more. Then again, everyone should already know this: Just because you don't look tough, it doesn't mean you aren't tough. The judgementals will pay for that.

From me: Barry is...himself. "Shrugs"

Well, as always, school got in the way and this chapter resulted a little bit shorter than usual than the one I expected.

But then again, you wanted shorter chapters. However, I'll write a little bit more next time.

So read, enjoy and review, please! :D

Chapter 120: Barry's Busting Out All Over Here Too!

Smash Mansion
Outside

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Route 216 (Day)

On the road, far from home, these trainers didn't feel alone. Barry felt brave and strong and together they could be, it was their desti...

...The sentence you just read suddenly made you shudder...

Now, probably you're wondering who are these guys? Well, here are their bios.

Meet Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer researcher and...well, trainer from Sandgem Town. Lucas is your typical under-the-scary-professor-aide who dedicates his life to fill the Pokédex so it helps Rowan's research about the evolution of Pokémon. Lucas has a little sister that watches so much TV but is able to tell what Pokémon are on which route...so the rivals of his brother defeat or humiliate him (even Dawn or Barry) since she hates him secretly behind his back. Maybe it's the fact that both of them share the same room and Lucas has snores issues? Who knows.

Lucas has achieved the completion of the Sinnoh Dex and now he's very devoted to complete the National Pokédex that Professor Oak requested (to himself, Dawn and Barry).

When he met Dawn and Barry for the first time while on a field research with Rowan, the 3 agreed to travel together through Sinnoh and overcome whatever difficulty could arise before them. They defeated them all though. Lucas could be also referred as the voice of reason between the bickerings of Dawn and her insane childhood friend, Barry.

Lucas owns a Chimchar that for whatever reason it didn't evolve. Well, he knew Pokémon battles very well so he knows how to handle them very well anyway.

Now, meet Dawn. She is your typical loli trainer from Twinleaf Town. Dawn is friends with Barry, a childhood friend that apparently is hyper in so many times and ways. Dawn wanted to be a trainer...because Barry forced her too or else he'd fine her $1 million Pokeyens, but mostly she wanted to be one after choosing her own Pokémon, Piplup. Dawn's mother, Johanna, was an expert Pokémon Coordinator at her age, so Dawn aims to be one.

Dawn has successfully completed the Sinnoh League, and she is currently trying to be a top coordinator while she works to complete the National Pokédex as Lucas and Barry.

Dawn knew her friend Barry very well for being rather energetic (hyper) from her own childhood. Because of Barry, she went through a lot of mishaps (not to mention catastrophic ones, along with Lucas there after) where she apologized to whatever person Barry made a mistake on. The blond trainer shows off a lot before he gets defeated and thinks the same anyway, much for Dawn's dismay.

Dawn owns a Piplup that she newly got from her Empoleon that bred with a...Ditto? Why the heck a Ditto?

Meet Barry, a very enthusiastic trainer who started his adventure with several THUDs with Dawn. Barry is very optimistic about his goals that he tends to act very oddly around his friends (that sadly, are with him). Barry doesn't care what the other people thinks about him so he's carefree. He goes by his own motto, "Hakyni Matata," which meant the perseverance of a Hariyama, the "legendaryness" of a Kyogre, the toughness of a Nidoking, whatever good trait a Magikarp had, the horns of a Tauros (which he didn't have or owned), and the cuteness of a little Taillow.

For some reason, he got sued by this motto and so he stopped using it.

Barry has (somehow) successfully "owned" the Pokémon League and proved himself worthy to participate at the Battle Frontier, which his dad, Palmer, works for. Barry also works harder to achieve the completion of his National Pokédex with his friends. After this, he's going to scam people out of their minds and time (if that's even scamming) once he works with his dad since Barry thinks Palmer scams people out with their battles.

Speaking of Palmer, he is a very "hero" type trainer that commands the Battle Tower. Dawn once met him...or his chest since the rather hyper trainer ran into her before Barry could tackle his dad down (Dawn thinks Barry bumped into him) in happiness. Dawn thinks that this facility is evil since she couldn't achieve 48-wins to face Palmer since a trainer showed up and beat her very badly. It is believed that the facility is evil, and now it was going to be even more since it closed so it could become the Battle Frontier that was going to open in a year. That's right, more Frontier Brains were coming to torture the trainers' mind (but Dawn thinks their brains could explode by listening to Barry's own mind, except his dad, who's very proud).

Back with Barry, he has achieved...even more accidents than a retarded Slowpoke could do. Barry's mom can't believe that both her son and husband are such "distracted" people. The question about why Dawn (and unfortunately Lucas) are traveling together with him remains in a huge mystery to a Dunsparce's mind. Their journey together as friends, maybe? Heh, I'd like to see that.

Barry currently owns a Turtwig that he bred with a Ditto like Dawn did with her Piplup. Barry actually acted evil towards Dawn so he offered the loli trainer to choose her Pokémon first and get an advantage with his super effective side over hers. Sadly, he's lost every match, despite his older Turtwig evolving to a Torterra...because Dawn taught Empoleon how to use Blizzard.

Meet Marley who...tagged along since she thought they could find Shaymin, a Legendary Pokémon that it alters its body to another form. Marley is your typical emo girl that actually acts cool (in some creepy way). Marley is...from somewhere, since she doesn't like to let people know about her own personal matters. Marley is rather unspoken and she tends to be serious as she trails off.

The butterfly-ribbon-wearer girl is owner of an Arcanine, Weavile, Crobat, Electrode and Ninjask that, unlike the previous trio, are in her possession as a whole strong team of 5.

Marley is an expert at Pokémon battles so, no pissing her off or else you'll get the "...You suck so bad..." by her.

Now, onwards with their massive, amazing adventure in the Sinnoh region to collect all the Pokémo...

...Oh, wait, they are here instead of over there.

"Will you stop running like that?!" Dawn yelled to his childhood friend as she gave chase for him.

"Relax! I can see the mansion!" Barry yelled over his shoulder as the trio climbed a big hill that was close to a weird big dome of ice that they didn't bother to inspect at all, or maybe they ignored it.

Barry stopped on his trails as he reached the top before the other 3 reached him and watched shocked (though Marley just blinked a little amused) after spotting the sight of a mansion over the distant.

The blond boy grinned and closed his eyes. "Dawn, my $1 million."

"I'm giving you only 1 million slaps by my Piplup." Dawn said with a pout.

"Well..." Lucas scratched his hat. "Since we're here, why don't we ask for some rooms? I'm sure if we act nice the person or people who own the mansion could give us a room."

"...There's a 10 percent of that happening...but my skirt is getting wet of all the snow..." Marley commented as she slowly wiped some snow off her skirt.

"Then off we go!" Barry proclaimed as he ran through a path of snow that were somehow familiar and leaded to the mansion itself. "Hurray! The gods put a path towards my better destiny!"

"...Follow him as always..." Dawn muttered as they continued their way.

Music stops

Right on the other side of the long path of snow and close to where the entrance was, there were Red and Squirtle talking between themselves while Red sat on the small step and Squirtle stood besides him. Ivysaur wasn't there for the cold climate and the trainer decided to put him inside his Pokeball.

Red sighed depressed. "Squirtle..."

"Yes?" Squirtle looked up.

"Don't you think something is missing in our lives?"

"What do you mean?"

"After I spent all the night studying Chris's guide, it told about many trainers that I was supposed to fight against..."

Squirtle blinked before looking down. "...I know..."

"I-I don't feel like the Pokémon Trainer I was supposed to be..." Red looked down. "I mean, sure, fighting to save all the worlds is a big important task, but there are no trainers to battle."

"W-well..." Squirtle shifted his eyes. "There's always the path back to our world."

"...I'm sorry, but I don't want to go back..." Red looked at him. "I've already decided what I wanted to do...but..."

"...You want to fight trainers..."

"N-not only fight them because who knows, I could become friends... Pikachu told me that his trainer, Ash, met many trainers that he got acquainted with."

"Hmm..." Squirtle wondered for a moment. "...Isn't Chris and trainer because he has Lucario?"

"...But he doesn't do that much for Pokémon battles. He fights alongside Lucario."

Squirtle glared at Red. "Nonsense! You fight alongside us, too!"

"But what gives?" Red asked. "So far, I haven't done anything big yet in a fight. Remember that we got frozen inside an ice wall?"

"...W-well..." Squirtle played with his fingers. "...Y-yeah..."

"Then..." Red stood up and adjusted his hat. "...I want to think about something very crucial and I need you to help me think about it."

Squirtle forced a worried smile. "O-okay, just don't let it be that shocking."

"...I won't." Red said before both walked inside and closed the door.

"Make sure you put a good lock on it." Squirtle spoke from behind the door.

"O-oh, sure." Red said as he put a lock on it.

Just at that moment, a blond trainer came from the path of snow and stopped while he stared at the door with several pants before he smiled. "Y-yeah, I made it! Here we are, guys!"

"W-wait..." Lucas panted heavily as he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "S-stop...running like that...during this temperature..."

"Pfft," Barry crossed his arms. "You guys need to chill it out, seriously."

"...You're an idiot..." Marley commented with several pants.

"Whatever," Barry looked at the door. "Now, we just need to enter inside and find a room."

"Hold on a moment!" Dawn called out.

"I thought you were tired?"

"We're going to ask for a room, not just barge in and rest like nothing happens!"

"If you remember, people don't mind us to get inside their homes, and whatever is dropped on the floor is ours to take," Barry explained with a snicker. "Seriously, they're so stupid. What the heck happened to their common sense?"

"...I wonder where you left yours...everytime I see your face..." Marley said, making Barry sweatdrop.

"...E-er...so, what'd you say, Lucas?"

"...As much as I hate to say this...we should enter and do whatever we want."

"Onwards then!" Barry exclaimed happily as he tried to open the door. "...Stupid door won't open..."

"Like the one at Canalave City," Dawn said. "...Wait a second, it's still bad to just barge in!"

"We'll enter from the windows!" Barry said as he pointed at the windows...closed. "Grr, this is pissing me off now. Lucas! Take out Chimchar and order him to break the windows down!"

Lucas looked at him. "I'm not a thief, nor a home wrecker!" Lucas protested.

"...You, on the other hand..." Marley trailed off as she looked at Barry.

"Oh, right!" Barry snapped his fingers (as the others sweatdropped minus Marley) and tossed his Pokeball high up where Turtwig came out...and bit his leg. "AAAHH!! TURTWIG! STOP IT!"

"How come all the Pokémon you caught seem to crave for your leg?" Lucas asked.

"Karma." Dawn responded simply as Turtwig let go of Barry's leg.

"Okay, you little Pokémon with a twig on his head, Tackle on the window!"

"Wig!" Turtwig nodded and he rammed to the window...before he got pushed back to the snow where he got knocked out. "Wiiiig..."

"...Hmm..." Barry inspected the window. "Unbreakable windows, not many have one of these here."

"Ahem, your Pokémon?" Dawn coughed.

"Oh, you're right. TURTWIG!" Barry ran to Turtwig and picked him up. "Turtwig! You little bastard, come back to your senses!"

"Why do I think Frustration is a good move for Turtwig?" Lucas asked with a frown.

"..." Marley merely walked away from them and to another window that was further to the left, where she peeked inside and found a big kitchen. "...They have food in there..."

"Really?!" Barry asked as he put Turtwig back to his Pokeball and tripped by an ice block. "Oww! Stupid ice block!" Barry picked the ice block (and couldn't see that it had a mauve imp (Chip) inside) and kicked it to the sky. "There! Go annoy Cyrus if you can!" Barry shouted before he ran to the mirror with Dawn and Lucas following.

They were asking themselves what was inside the ice, but forgot about it later.

"...Hmm..." Marley ducked a little to stay looking inside the big kitchen.

"Wow, look at that! There's a huge kitchen for a restaurant in there!" Dawn said amazed.

"...Huh? Wait, duck a little more. I think there's someone walking inside." Lucas said as the 4 ducked.

"...I spy with my little left eye a Slaking." Barry said, narrowing his eyes.

"..." Lucas took out his Pokédex. "...Nope, it says that gorilla isn't a Slaking."

"...The tie looks cute on him..." Marley remarked.

"...Wait a minute, what is a gorilla doing inside a mansion?" Dawn asked confused.

"Duh, it's the owner, genius." Barry said.

Dawn hit him on the head. "I'm not stupid!"

"Don't hit me!" Barry spat back as he hit Dawn on her own head.

"H-hey! What are you doing?! You're not supposed to hit a girl!"

"Screw women' rules! I'm changing them for good!"

"...Oh, then..." Marley took a Pokeball and Arcanine came out before it stomped Barry's poor little body.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Barry yelled after Arcanine wanted to bite his face off.

"M-Marley, don't you think you're going too far on Barry?" Lucas asked terrorized.

"...Frankly speaking...no," Marley smiled a little. "...I like to make him suffer...a little bit..."

"Well, that's kind of going far."

"...Fine...party pooper..." Marley called her Arcanine back and Barry sighed in relief before quickly returning to the window. "...You're okay?..."

"..." Barry grunted annoyed and kept staring inside. "...Now I spy with my little trainer eye...a Sandshrew!"

"As far as I know, Sandshrews aren't blue and...humanoid-looking?" Lucas answered confused.

"...You're thinking too much..." Marley said. "...Nothing can prove that the hedgehog inside is humanoid..."

"...He's talking with the ape?!" Barry asked shocked.

Dawn leaned her ear to the window. "...Oh my! T-they're using English like humans!"

"Seriously?!" Barry asked as he leaned his ear on the window. "...Holy Gulpin's crap! It's true!"

"Well..." Lucas looked miffed. "I don't find it too interesting...unless Pokémon could talk, that is."

"Hey, I have some sort of crazy but awesome idea!" Barry spoke up. "What if those animals inside are undiscovered Pokémon?"

"Like the time you thought Volkner was one?" Dawn asked with a bored look.

"It wasn't my fault the guy liked Electric Pokémon so much and almost looked like one for me!"

"You hit him with a Pokeball, and I think he also fell inside the big gears of the Gym..." Lucas shrugged. "Nobody could challenge him for at least a month, thanks to you."

"Then you got an "earful" by him." Dawn added.

"That earful was more like a grunt to me." Barry said, crossing his arms.

"...Back to the "undiscovered" Pokémon..." Marley interrupted as they all focused their views inside.

"Oh, there's a Vulpix in there too." Barry said.

"...I don't believe that's a Vulpix. I don't see its 6 tails or red fur...this one is well..." Lucas thought for a moment. "...Humanoid as well. It's talking with the gorilla and the hedgehog."

"An Eevee then!"

"...He looks handsome..." Marley blushed a little. "...I want to rub his tail a little..."

The 3 looked at her with shocked looks before shaking their heads in unison and then looked inside.

"...I like cute things..." Marley commented with a small glare.

"Screw this," Barry took out a Pokeball. "Let's catch them all before they run away!"

"W-wait!" Lucas interrupted. "T-there are even more of them now!"

"I spy with both of my eyes a Slakoth, a Poochyena, a Cranido-ooh, it's shiny! A Hitmonch-"

"That one is human." Dawn interrupted.

"Whatever!" Barry yelled as he stood up and grabbed the window from below. "It's hunting time!"

And for their shock, the blond trainer raised up the window and everyone inside stopped talking and looked at the trainers.

"S(BEEP!)T! THEY'RE LOOKING AT YOUR SKIRT, DAWN!" Barry yelled.

"W-what?!" Dawn asked embarrassed.

"Oh, god! Let's get out of here while we can!" Lucas yelled as the quartet quickly closed the window and ran away.

Kitchen

"...Who were those guys just now?" Diddy asked confused.

"Kids who don't have nothing better to do except bother us." Wolf responded with an annoyed grunt.

"Aw, too bad. The girls were so young." C. Falcon said.

"...You seriously are returning to your pervert side again..." Yoshi said with a bored look.

"Hmph." C. Falcon looked away.

Outside

Pokémon Platinum - Encounter! Officer Looker!

"This is all your fault, Dawn!" Barry yelled behind some trees.

"E-excuse me?! M-my fault?! W-who was the one who opened the window?" Dawn asked irritated.

"They weren't going to look at us if it weren't for your short skirt! Seriously! What the hell is wrong with that thing?!"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "And here we go again in another amazing quarrel, imaginary ladies and gentlemen..."

"...I was expecting this..." Marley responded.

"Anyways!" Barry stopped arguing with Dawn as the latter crossed her arms annoyed. "Our main mission is to get inside the mansion and catch them all!"

"Geez, you sure are so energetic and dedicated today." Lucas said.

"Like he isn't the previous days before this one." Dawn said.

"...But I'm not too sure, guys..." Lucas wondered for a moment. "...Are they Pokémon at least?"

"...I was hoping the chimpanzee and the fox could be...oh well..." Marley sighed.

"...They were wearing clothes." Dawn muttered.

"Maybe they have cold, like us outside!" Barry said. "Pokémon are not retards, for crying out loud."

"And that reminds me about getting a room inside." Lucas said.

"...Maybe they're wearing disguises?" Dawn asked.

"Their tails and whatever other thing they had moved very realistic," Barry said. "Times like I wish to have my Heracross."

"I took my Piplup, Staraptor, Luxray, Krickectune, Rotom and Banette with me." Dawn said.

"And I took Chimchar, Cherrim, Gliscor, Bronzong, Gabite and Vileplume." Lucas said.

"...What th-we promised we weren't going to use 6 Pokémon for our research!" Barry said.

"And let ourselves get defeated by those strong Pokémon out there? Forget it, I'd rather stay prepared for anything than you." Dawn said.

"...You were the only one who took a Pokémon...dork..." Marley said.

"...J-just you wait here!" Barry said angrily. "I'm going to return here with my Pokémon and we'll catch those Pokémon inside! And when I mean us I mean myself!" Barry yelled before he ran away inside the forest.

"...Let him get lost..."

"Agreed." Lucas and Dawn said in unison.

30 minutes later...

"I'm baaaaaaaack!" Barry yelled as he rode his Rapidash before stopping close to them and calling his Pokémon back to his Pokeball. "Phew, I'm back from the Pokémon Cent-" he noticed that the trainers were glaring at him. "...Oh, don't tell me Marley said something to make you mad at me now."

"You knucklehead!" Lucas yelled angrily. "You're saying you came back from the Pokémon Center and didn't get lost?"

"Well, duh! That's what I did!"

"Then why didn't you tell us before? W-we could've had returned to the Resort Area by now!" Dawn yelled.

"Excuse me, but I didn't have my team of awesome Pokémon, didn't I?"

"...May I suggest a slow and painful death?..." Marley suggested.

"...Later..." Lucas sighed and tried his best to calm down. "Okay, Barry, lead us back home."

"I kinda forgot the way back," Barry looked at the trail of snow with a chuckle. "Freaking snow erased it."

"LET ME KILL HIM! LET ME KILL HIM!" Lucas yelled as Dawn held him back from murdering Barry.

"Oh, wanna fight, huh?" Barry put his fists in front of him and jumped to the sides. "Then fight, man! I want to see some intense fist action!"

"..." Marley walked to Barry and hand-chopped his head.

"Oww!"

"...You deserved it..." Marley responded with an annoyed look.

"Ugh," Lucas closed his eyes annoyed as Dawn let him go. "Okay, enough about the quarrels. We need to actually ask the people in there for a room."

"Then we catch them? Wow, dude! You're seriously a genius!" Barry remarked with a grin.

"We're not catching any of them, for the last time!"

"Then you suck! We have to!" Barry pointed at one window. "Or else that Mewtwo over there is gonna get away!"

"...Mewtwo, you say?" Lucas asked with a bored look as the smarter trio looked at the window 3 floors above. "You're not convincing me with...oh god..."

"..." Marley's eyes seemed to get wider by at least .1cm.

"T-that's Mewtwo! N-no doubt about it!" Dawn said surprised. "I've heard Mewtwo escaped from a Pokémon Lab a long time ago, b-but he's inside the mansion!"

"And he's ours to take!" Barry proclaimed. "We need to infiltrate the building!"

"..." Dawn sighed. "...If you can't defeat them..."

"Join them." Lucas added with a frown.

"...Then kill them when they don't expect it..." Marley added.

"So, my fellow Pokémon Trainers, are we clear about our mission?" Barry asked.

"Get the information of Mewtwo." Lucas said as both girls nodded.

"NO! We're gonna catch that fat tail Pokémon and rule over the world!"

"For some reason we got rid of Team Galactic, remember?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, because their hairstyles were for queers."

"...Besides that!"

"They were all looking the same as all the Galactic Grunts?"

"B-besides that!"

"The fact Cyrus was such an emo, and he was young despite looking old?"

"B-b-besides that!"

"Stop!" Lucas interrupted. "We should get going now!"

"Right, weaken it so I can catch it." Barry nodded.

"How about point our Pokédexes at it then go away? I've heard Mewtwo possess heavy psychic powers." Dawn suggested as the trio walked towards the mansion from the right side.

"...If it attacks...throw Barry at it...so we can escape..." Marley suggested.

"I'll toss you instead!" Barry yelled annoyed, which Marley replied by rolling her eyes.

The quartet carefully ducked and walked underneath the windows.

Then, from one, came a big explosion that shattered the glass.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Barry yelled out as they quickly sneaked further ahead.

?'s Room

Somebody was coughing inside the room where the explosion took place. Smoke flew everywhere as a hand tried to move it away from the window.

"D-damn..." the voice spoke. "T-this Blastia was sure weird...because it had weird mechanisms on it... What a pain, I wasted it totally..."

Surprise, it was Rita Mordio, who messed around with a familiar microwave.

"Talk about annoying..." Rita sighed. "Oh, well, I guess that's what I get for messing around with it," she made an annoyed expression. "The fact I was the one who destroyed it makes me mad, though... Ugh, I'm not going to make the same mistake again if I find another Blastia inside this mansion."

...Wait, why is she going towards the door?

"To hell with it, I'm going to look for another Blastia and check out what functions it has." Rita said before she left the room.

Red's Room

"It Takes Mewtwo to Tango?" Red read on the guide.

Squirtle and Ivysaur (wrapped up in bed sheets) chuckled. "Mewtwo doing tango. I can picture that very well." Ivysaur said.

"Hey, check it out, it says here what items are."

"Nobody uses items." Squirtle said.

"But I'm going to," Red looked back at the guide. "Hmm... So, Brock has these Pokémon with him..." he looked at his Pokémon. "And I have a big advantage..."

"Didn't you say you weren't going to go back?"

Red blinked before looking down. "...Yeah, I know."

"...Look, Red, we can go back if you want."

"N-no!" Red stood up from his chair. "We still need to catch Charizard, remember? We were supposed to be together in a team, all the 4 of us!"

"...But he's kind of a...I don't know...jerk?" Ivysaur asked with a glare.

"Just because you're a Grass type, it doesn't mea-"

"Grass types hate Fire types, simple as that." Ivysaur dug his chin inside the bed sheets.

"Yet you want to get warm." Squirtle pointed out.

"Hey! We Grass types need to stay neutral between cold and heat!"

"I can handle both very well."

"Show off..." Ivysaur closed his eyes annoyed.

Red chuckled before looking back at the guide. "...I wonder...I wonder if we can meet real trainers like me...or am I a trainer?"

Squirtle rolled his eyes. "Oh no, we're not jumping from "I want to meet trainers!" to "I'm a real trainer?" here."

"O-oh, sorry."

"Apology accepted." Ivysaur said before digging his head inside the bed sheets where he sighed in pleasure.

Command Room

"What? Kids?" Master Hand asked.

Yoshi nodded. "There were some kids trying to enter the kitchen by the window but they got scared when we all looked at them."

"Hmm..." Master Hand looked away. "Weird, there shouldn't be anyone out there since the city is blocked..."

"They looked like this: one was a boy with a funny red hat and white scarf, another one was a girl with a short skirt, even though she was wearing a sweater, another girl looked kind of depressed but she was oddly staring at some of us for long periods of time, and the last one was this boy with blond hair and very hyperactive mood."

"...Nope, no idea who they are," Master Hand looked at Yoshi. "Did they get scared?"

Yoshi nodded. "A lot. The blond boy yelled very loudly and I twitched a little."

"Are those kids around the mansion?"

"Er, who knows."

"...Well, do tell the others about them. The last thing we want is to call their parents."

"They looked kind of mature to me," Yoshi rubbed his chin. "Though the blond one wasn't for who knows how many ways. What if they enter the mansion?"

"Snake's face will scare them off."

"I heard that." Snake said as he walked from the hallway with a grunt.

"It is." Master Hand said.

"Totally." Yoshi nodded.

Outside

"Stop," Lucas whispered as he stood up and took out his journal. "Journal time."

"Oh, right," Barry got up and took his own journal. "Write down what we've achieved so far."

"...Well...I agree." Dawn said as she took her journal out.

"..." Marley took her own out as well.

Lucas's Journal

Obtained a Spearow at Route 227.
Stopped Barry from breaking and Old Lady's back for calling him sugar boy.
Went on a hunt to get Diglett's data.
Got lost by blond idiot somewhere.
Dawn is slowly noticing my feelings for her.
Found mansion with probably new Pokémon. (Damn you, Barry...)
Almost got attacked by new Pokémon.
Going on a hunt for Mewtwo's data.

Dawn's Journal

Tried teaching Piplup how to speak. I failed, obviously.
Lost Coal Badge.
Found Coal Badge besides Barry's Coal Badge.
Hit Barry again.
Got lost to who knows where because Barry did it.
Found a mansion with probably the best costumes I've ever seen before.
Going on a hunt for Mewtwo's data.

Marley's Journal

...Failed to kill Barry...
...Again...
...Again...
...Again...
...And again...
...Found a cute fox, but it wasn't a Pokémon...bummer...
...Going a hunt to get Mewtwo's data...which I don't see that exciting...
...Planning to toss Barry at Mewtwo if he annoys me...

On Barry's Journal, on the other hand...

Barry's Journal

Attempted flying, but got hit on the head by a Geodude, who then punched me.
Tried cutting Turtwig's little twig, then got attacked by own Pokémon.
FOUND A PENNY! XD
Penny turned out to be something brown and stinky, gross.
Went to Snowpoint's evil twin road.
Found mansion full of new Pokémon.
Got beaten by Marley's Arcanine for the 6th time today.
Got reminded about kicking Marley's butt sometime by previous entry.
Trying to catch Mewtwo and then take over the world.
Dawn is noticing my feelings for her. Bump on head clearly clarifies it.

"There," Lucas said as they all put their journals away. "Now, let's go."

The quartet ducked and sneaked close to the wall and the windows...then Barry opened on.

"Barry!" Dawn whispered angrily.

Barry stuck his head out. "Relax! This is what we were going to do anyway!"

"...For once, he is right..." Marley responded.

"Everybody in..." Lucas said in a bored tone.

Ganondorf's Room

"...U-um...g-guys..." Barry backed away once they all entered in.

Surely, finding blood around the walls with images of a swordsman and a princess (with their faces cut in half) and pretty much everywhere wasn't a pretty view, right?

"I-I think I'm gonna piss my pants 4 times..." Barry whimpered.

"...I like the style..." Marley said, smiling a little as she ran a hand on the bloody wall.

"W-what kind of girl are you, anyway?" Dawn asked as she embraced herself. "O-oh, the cold isn't getting into me, i-it's the creepy atmosphere in here!"

"S-sure," Lucas nodded gulping. "L-let's just get over that door and go through it..."

The trainers decided to walk over a pit full of spikes that laid down between the door and themselves. Surely, Ganondorf had a weird taste of violence, even at the point to make his room a small dungeon with all sorts of traps...and spill blood all over it.

"...E-er, so, Lucas! I heard you were such a brave man...screw it. GO! OPEN IT!" Barry yelled.

"Quiet! They could hear us!" Dawn whispered in shock. "C-can we leave this place already?"

"Cross the pit!"

"Y-you first!"

"...Can we stay here?..." Marley asked, sitting on a dark chair.

"NO!" the trio yelled back.

"...Idiots..." Marley muttered in annoyance.

And so, they crossed the pit...or just got around it.

Hallway

The trio (except Marley) sighed in relief and sat down on the floor.

"W-what kind of mansion is this, anyway?" Barry asked, looking around.

"Full of weird Pokémon?" Lucas asked.

"...Wow," Dawn looked around. "...This place is...so gorgeous-looking..."

"...Hmm." Marley said as she shifted her eyes slowly at the sides.

"Hey! I have a better idea!" Barry stood up and made a fist. "Let's own this place for ourselves!"

"I-I don't think the owner is going to like that at all." Lucas said sweatdropping.

"Bah! The owner my butt. If we catch those Pokémon here, then nothing or nobody is going to stop us from achieving our plans!"

"...If they have law suits...you're dead, Barry." Marley said.

"Law suits, yeah, right," Barry rolled his eyes and adjusted his scarf. "C'mon! Exploration time!"

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Eterna Forest

"If I were an odd Pokémon, where could I be?" Barry asked, crossing his arms.

"Far away from you." Lucas and Dawn said at the same time.

"...Well, that doesn't help too much..." Barry said.

"...It does." Marley added.

"Who ASKED you?" Barry asked irritated. "Look, just follow me and we'll eventually find our precious loot of Pokémon!"

"You promise you're not going to get us lost again?" Lucas asked.

"I swear it for my dad's extra Cresselia that I'm not going to!" Barry said.

"...For once, he made an important point," Dawn wondered. "If I remember, didn't he have a Regigigas too?"

Lucas made a bored look. "The fact we saw one at Snowpoint Temple and that he owns one is really confusing. Remember what Candice said before?"

A cloud formed above Dawn's head as Candice, the Gym Leader from Snowpoint City, appeared with a cheerful smile. "Oh, and please, watch out in there! There's the only known Regigigas of the entire region of Sinnoh! Absolutely no one else owns a Regigigas as far as I know because it's like super rare. Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody!"

The cloud disappeared.

"Nobody!" the voice rang inside their heads (except Marley's head).

"My dad owns one 'cuz he's awesome...like me and my Pokémon!" Barry said proudly.

"Hey, Dawn." Lucas whispered.

"Yes?" Dawn whispered.

"Did he hit his head when he was a baby?"

"Many, but many times."

"Oh."

"ONWARDS!" Barry yelled as he began walking soldier style, further deeper into the hallway while the others decided (or didn't have another option) to follow him.

"Shh!" Lucas whispered. "Don't go yelling everywhere or else we're bound to startle someone..."

"Who's someone?" Barry whispered. "I bet they don't know we're here."

"We got inside without anyone seeing us." Dawn reminded in a bored tone.

"I thought someone did," Barry said as they continued walking down. "...'Kay, no idea where they are."

"...I don't know why did I come here again." Marley said.

"Me neither." Lucas and Dawn said in unison with a sigh of disappointment.

"If I remember, quiet girl wants some animals." Barry said.

"..." Marley looked away.

"Friends want data from super-rare Pokémon."

"...Ugh." Lucas and Dawn said at the same time.

"Cool trainer wants Mewtwo." Barry pointed at himself.

"Stupid trainer wants to get pummeled." Dawn muttered.

"What?"

"Friend wants to conquer the world, while we don't agree with you."

"Sweet! Just like that!" Barry said. "Now, if just Master Wake could be here to see how awesome I've gotten..."

"Didn't he kick you out from his Gym when you got inside and set up a camp?" Lucas asked.

"Because he wanted to give me his strong kick of acceptance!"

"...Somebody, please find Barry's brain at once." Marley said.

"And somebody replace Marley with Cheryl. Cheryl was much nicer with everyone and pretty me."

"She's a little bit naive." Dawn commented.

"Not as naive as Barry, that is..." Lucas muttered.

"...Odd Pokémon." Marley said.

"What?" the trio asked before they turned their heads forward and found an "odd Pokémon" staring at them.

"Y-you're the guys who tried to enter before...and you're in here!" Yoshi yelled as he pointed at them.

"BANZAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII!!!" Barry tossed a Pokéball at high speed that hit Yoshi's head so hard that the Yoshi passed out and fainted, falling face-first on the floor with Xs on his eyes. "Dammit! It doesn't get inside the Pokéball!"

"Of course not!" Lucas yelled.

"Right!" Barry took out an Ultra Ball. "Ultra Balls are way better that crappy Pokéballs!"

We also noticed the difference between names so now we're correcting that and write "Poké Ball" right.

Dawn facepalmed. "Y-you dork! A Poké Ball is the same as all the other Poké Balls! Y-you just killed it!"

Barry got annoyed. "Fine!" the blond trainer tried to tore open the ball with both hands. "I'll make it enter instead! Ugh! Stupid thing won't open!"

"Will you stop that?" Dawn pointed at the knocked Yoshi. "Y-you killed him!"

Lucas checked Yoshi's pulse while he pointed his Pokédex at him. "...Nope, it's still living. No new Pokémon eithe-"

At that moment, Barry slammed the Ultra Ball on Yoshi, but it just bounced off and made a bump on Yoshi's head.

"I told you this isn't a new Pokémon!" Lucas yelled, looking up at Barry.

"Whoops, I thought it was a Digimon but they're supposed to look more evil instead of this...though they look soooooo cool when they grow into beasts." Barry said.

"...A what again?"

"No clue." Barry shrugged.

"...You don't make any sense." Lucas said before he stood up.

"If this wasn't a Pokémo-"

"Digimon." Barry interrupted Dawn.

"Pokémon, then does that mean the others here aren't as well?"

"Blasphemy, Dawn!" Barry yelled proudly. "They must be Pokémon!"

"...I have my hopes then." Marley smiled a little.

"Barry." Lucas reminded Marley, who then disappeared her smile.

"So then," Barry stepped on Yoshi's back and pointed to some stairs close to them. "We'll climb up those stairs and reach the Mewthree!"

"MewTWO." Lucas corrected.

"Whatever, Mewfour then!" Barry said with a chuckle before they all sighed and followed the trainer.

"Where's a REAL Pokémon to show Barry how wrong he is?" Dawn asked.

"...There..." Marley pointed forward.

"...Pfft, big deal," Barry rolled his eyes. "A Pichu."

"!!!" Pichu gulped and sweated.

"OOOOOOOOHH!! HOW CUTE!" Dawn squealed with glee.

"..." Marley blushed a bit.

"...C'mon! We don't have time for a Pichu!" Barry yelled. "Besides, what's so great about it?"

"H-hey!" Pichu spoke. "I-I'm a very special Pichu! M-mind your manners!"

Big error.

"...Pardon me...but did it just..." Lucas pointed slowly at Pichu.

"...It? I'm a mal-" Pichu blocked his mouth and gasped once the 4 stared at him with surprised looks (not counting Marley who just looked at him). "...I-I mean...Pipipi? Pi-chu?"

"..." Barry turned to them. "...You know what this means, right?"

"..." Dawn slowly took out a Luxury Ball. "...That Pichu is so mine..."

"(W-what?!)" Pichu thought with a gulp.

"...This means we can FINALLY understand Pokémish!" Barry exclaimed happily as he called out his Heracross. "Dude! I ALWAYS wanted to have a nice talk with you!"

"...Hera?" Heracross tilted its head.

"..." Barry called back his Pokémon before turning at Pichu with a serious face. "...Okay, everyone wants that rat, right?"

"If it helps Professor Rowan's research, then yes." Lucas said with a serious face as he took out a Nest Ball.

"..." Marley pulled out from her back a Premier Ball.

"Here's the deal," Barry began. "Whoever catches that Pichu is theirs to take and nobody will complain. We're clear on that, right?"

"But no harming the little thing!" Dawn said. "I think we can easily catch it with just throwing our Poke Balls at it."

"(O-oh Arceus, I-I didn't want to be captured this way! W-what are the others going to say?!... A-are they even going to ask me?!)" Pichu thought worried.

"...Go and catch it... I'll start." Marley said.

"(AAAAAHHHHH!!!)" Pichu yelled mentally.

"Then!" Barry exclaimed. "We'll start the hunting after 3!" the trainer turned to the Pokémon. "3...2...1............................"

"...It's gone..." Marley pointed out as a cloud of dust that had Pichu's image vanished.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Oreburgh City (Night)

"...DAMMIT, DAWN! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Barry yelled.

"M-my fault?! E-excuse me?!" Dawn asked angrily.

"GUYS!" Lucas yelled as he interrupted both Twinleavians. "A talking Pichu just escaped and it's not too far from our reach! We have to catch it in order to contribute the Pokémon science!"

"Heck no!" Barry interrupted. "I'll make money out of his voice! Think about all the fortunes and money we could gain!"

"A-are you nuts?" Dawn pouted a little. "I'm going to take it to a Pokémon Contest and we'll rule the stage!"

The trio turned to Marley...

...She was gone.

"...FOLLOW AND CATCH THAT MICKEY!" Barry yelled as the trio gave chase to catch Pichu.

This little event was the start of a horrible one.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! I MEAN, PIIIIIIIIIIIIICHUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu yelled loudly as he ran through the hallway of the mansion. Before the Pokémon, there was Marley running after him, but then Barry got in first place (second if you counted Pichu) and after them, Dawn and Lucas followed.

"COME BACK HERE!" Barry yelled.

"PICHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu yelled.

Several meters away from them, a door opened up and Pikachu came out from it. "What's the big problem here now?" Pikachu asked, looking around.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Pichu ran past in front of Pikachu.

"...Pichu? Why are you running?" Pikachu asked before he looked at the direction where Pichu came from and was ignored by Barry and Marley. "...Were those trainers just now?... Oh...you've got to be kidding me..."

"H-hey! Look!" Dawn yelled. "A Pikachu wearing a cute red coat!"

"(D-DAWN?!)" Pikachu thought with a gulp as Dawn went after him. "P-PIKACHU, PIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" Pikachu yelled as he joined in the chase.

"Come back! I'm here to take you to a better home!" Dawn yelled.

"NEVER! I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK TO YOU!" Pikachu yelled before he got a shocked look. "P-Pikachu! Chu! Chu!"

"Sweet! It talks like Pichu!" Dawn said happily.

"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" Pikachu yelled loudly.

The whole group ran around the mansion and even to all the floors. They climbed and they went down the stairs all the way as they tried to catch any of the 2 Pokémon that later got closer.

Barry, however, was the one who was in the lead, followed by Marley, then Lucas and Dawn following.

"ISN'T THERE ANYBODY IN HERE TO HELP US?!" Pikachu yelled.

Several meters away from them, close to the stairs to the 5th floor, Olimar sat idly with a White Pikmin.

"What do you think the others in the sky are doing?" Olimar asked.

The White Pikmin merely stared at him.

"Oh, right." Olimar nodded with a chuckle.

"MAKE A PATH!" Pikachu yelled as both he and Pichu jumped over both characters and ran upstairs.

Olimar looked up. "W-why are you 2 running like that?"

"THEY WENT UP HERE!" Barry yelled as he stomped the first step (killing the White Pikmin) and pointed up. "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

"M-MY PIKMIN!" Olimar yelled.

"Huh?" Barry noticed a big white spot on his shoe. "Eww..." Barry brushed his shoe on the step to wipe it out as he then continued his original purpose while the other 3 ignored Olimar and went up.

"M-my...Pikmin..." Olimar moaned. "...W-why everybody doesn't care about them?... I-it's not fair...r-really..."

Back with the group of trainers.

"ANYONE! PLEASE! DAWN WANTS TO CATCH ME!" Pikachu yelled as Pichu dodged a Luxury Ball. "YIKES!"

"I-I don't want to have a random trainer yet!" Pichu yelled.

"TOO BAD!" Barry took out 2 Great Balls. "YOU ARE SOOOOOOO MINE!"

Several meters away, another door opened up and Marth came out, looking around. "Geez, why is there so much noise today?"

"GET AWAY!" Pikachu yelled as both Electric Pokémon ran in front of the Altean and away from him as he scratched his head in confusion.

"...Why that attitude?" Marth asked confused.

"Out of the way, girl!" Barry yelled as he passed in front of Marth.

"...G-girl?" Marth twitched.

"...Passing...coming through..." Marley said as she came running.

"...W-what is going on in here?"

"Sorry!" Dawn yelled as both she and Lucas passed. "W-we didn't mean to barge in but you don't know Barry that we..."

Marth couldn't hear Dawn once they were gone.

"...Hmm..." Marth wondered. "...Were they the "kids" who tried to enter?"

And back again with the group of Pokémon Trainers...

"Screw it!" Barry raised both Great Balls. "I'll catch 'em at the same time! GO!"

Both Pokémon turned their heads at the Great Balls and gasped. Both yelled and closed their eyes in shock.

Before the Great Balls could land on them, however, a door opened right between the mouses and balls, and the person who got out got hit twice on the head before fainting.

"CRAP! NOT A POKÉMON EITHER!" Barry yelled as he stepped on DK's dead body and took quickly his Great Balls from the floor.

"..." Marley stepped on his head as well.

"W-will you slow down and let us catch up with you?!" Lucas asked as he and Dawn jumped over DK.

"...Diddy..." DK muttered. "...Our bananas...turtle people...stealing them...smash them up..."

"Why isn't anybody trying to help us?!" Pikachu looked back as he ran. "They're trying to capture us! I-I don't want to see Ash again!"

"I'M GONNA PUT YOU IN MY SPECIAL BOX!" Barry yelled in excitement. "I'll earn lots of money with both!"

"...AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" both Electric Pokémon yelled.

As before, several meters away from them, another door opened up and Fox came out.

"What's up with all the noise?" Fox asked confused.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!!!" Pichu yelled as he and Pikachu passed, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"...Wh-"

"OUTTA THE WAY!" Barry came just behind the other side of the door (since Fox's door didn't let the vulpine to see the trainer) and slammed it hardly before running after both Pokémon.

The door opened back up and Fox dropped fainted on the floor with a KO'd expression.

At that moment, Marley passed but then walked back. The unspoken trainer smiled a little and ducked to rub Fox's tail a little. Marley stood up, dropped the Premier Ball on Fox's head and it just rolled (after bumping his head) away a little.

"..." Marley's smile faded as she ducked and looked at the vulpine with an annoyed expression. "...Bummer..." Marley muttered before she saw Lucas and Dawn passing as she joined back.

Since Fox's room was technically next to Falco's room...

"S-S-S-S-S-S-SHUT UP!" Falco yelled from his room. "S-S-S-S-STOP YELLING! I CAN'T SLEEP!"

"Oh!" Barry came back and stuck his head from the door to look at Falco. "Staravia's hidden evolution! Sweet!"

"...W-w-w-w-w-w-what?" Falco asked before his face met a Net Ball. "..." Falco got knocked out as Barry quickly went for it and ran away.

He yelled "Evolve into something who CAN be captured!"

"...T-t-t-t-t-t-things are getting so w-w-w-w-w-w-weird..." Falco muttered before letting out a groan as he fainted.

Back with Pikachu and Pichu.

"Jigglypuff!" Pichu yelled as both spotted Jigglypuff. "Run! Trainers are in here to capture us!"

"Trainers?" Jigglypuff asked confused.

Pikachu stopped to point at them.

"...TRAINERS!" Jigglypuff yelled as she jumped on Pikachu's back and joined in the chase.

"H-hey! Why don't you run like us?!" Pikachu asked.

"I can't run that well! You 2 can!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"Aw, a talking Jigglypuff!" Dawn yelled happily. "So much better than a Pikachu!"

"Phew!" Pikachu sighed.

"But I want them both!"

"CRAP!" Pikachu yelled as the trio of Pokémon yelled loudly.

"Hey!" Sonic appeared from besides as he ran along with the 3 (2 without Jigglypuff) with a grin. "Wanna have a race with me?"

"SONIC, THIS ISN'T A RACE! WE'RE TRYING TO SAVE OUR SOULS FROM GETTING INSIDE POKÉ BALLS!" Pikachu yelled.

"B-but I thought you were already owned by someone!" Pichu yelled.

"Well, yeah! But I need to keep Dawn away from me or else she'll tell Ash!"

Sonic ran backwards and looked at the trainers. "Wow, they sure are fast."

"That isn't the point!" Jigglypuff yelled. "We need to get away from them!"

"I have an idea!" Pikachu spoke up. "Sonic! Take us all somewhere away from those 4!"

"Gotch-"

Just when Sonic was about to give them a thumbs-up, Barry tossed his Ultra Ball so hard at the hedgehog's head and made him faint as he was stepped on by the 4 trainers. Barry picked up his Ultra Ball and managed to catch up with the 3.

"...I KNEW THIS WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!" Pikachu yelled.

"W-wait!" Pichu stopped and panted heavily once he found a door. "Let's enter inside this door!"

"A-are you nuts? H-he's going to rip our heads off if we interrupt his privacy!" Pikachu yelled.

Jigglypuff pointed at the 4. "What's better? Being captured of being killed?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Oops."

"...Enter!" Pikachu yelled as the 3 entered inside in a hurry.

The 4 trainers stopped running and they looked at the door. "Finally...they're cornered..." Barry panted with a smile.

"I can't wait to show these Pokémon to Professor Rowan once we catch them..." Lucas said as he panted.

"...Enter..." Marley panted a little and turned the doorknob.

"...I have a bad feeling now..." Dawn muttered as she backed away a little to let the 3 enter first inside the almost dark room.

Mewtwo's Room

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Old Chateau

"..." Mewtwo slowly turned to them and narrowed his eyes.

"Bingo!" Barry exclaimed happily. "Those 3 idiots leaded us to Mewtwo! Man, I was waiting for this moment!"

"...E-er..." Dawn gulped as Mewtwo stared at them coldly. "...I-I think we made it a little mad..."

"(...Imbeciles...)" Mewtwo thought.

"...Okay..." Lucas took out a Poké Ball. "Guys, we have t-"

"Wait, Lucas! I thought you said we weren't going to capture Mewtwo!" Dawn interrupted before Lucas quickly put his Poké Ball away.

"I-I'm sorry, b-but Barry got me carried away..." Lucas laughed nervously.

Dawn sighed. "Well, for now we ju-"

"Heeeeeey...I feel like something is taking us..." Barry said.

"..." Marley looked down below his feet and they were levitating above the floor, then she looked forward to see Mewtwo holding out his hand at them. "...We're done for..."

"...Oh, thank you SO much, Barry!" Dawn yelled. "I wanted to have a GOOD life with Pokémon but noooooooooooo, I had to listen to you!" her eyes began to fill with tears before she broke out crying. "Waaaaaaaah! I wanted to become a Pokémon Coordinator! Not to mention beat Barry's dad!"

"Nobody can beat pops!" Barry proclaimed happily.

"U-ugh..." Lucas tried to reach his Pokédex but he couldn't due to Mewtwo's Confusion. "...Dammit...I can't..."

"Duh." Barry rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't have entered here and interrupt my privacy," Mewtwo spoke before he glared at them. "I detest Pokémon Trainers so much that I want to kill you all, right here."

Dawn stopped crying. "W-wait! W-we'll leave you alone if that's what you want! R-really!"

"...Or we can offer you Barry..." Marley offered.

"...Oh, thank you, Marley," Barry glared at her. "I knew you were trying to kill me from the very beginning."

"...Wasn't it obvious?" Lucas asked with a bored look.

"It was?"

"SILENCE!" Mewtwo yelled irritated and the quartet looked at him. "I've had enough of Pokémon Trainers and all of you are NO exceptions. You must be killed in order to let me get peace."

"Kill Barry! He's the one who did all of this and dragged us as well!" Lucas yelled.

"Wait, what?" Barry looked at him. "Dude! All of you agreed from the beginning! If someone should be killed, it's Marley!"

"...Can you tore his brain out?" Marley asked.

"I have something better," Mewtwo began. "Compress your bodies."

"...BARRY! I HATE YOU!" Dawn yelled.

"...Or..." Mewtwo opened a window. "Just throw you outside and learn about this."

"Y-yes!" Lucas nodded as he sweated. "T-throwing us outside is so much better than compressing our bodies!"

"...W-wait!" Dawn interrupted. "M-Mewtwo, can I ask you 2 little and small favors?"

"Quick." Mewtwo said.

"C-can we obtain your data?"

"..." Mewtwo made their 3 Pokédexes float out from their pockets to examine him before they all returned to them.

"Sweet data...thank heavens..." Lucas sighed in relief.

"Done. What is the other favor?" Mewtwo asked, narrowing his eyes.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Barry. "If you can read minds, would you see what is Barry thinking? Just for curiosity..."

"..." Mewtwo grunted. "Fine."

"H-huh?" Barry noticed that Mewtwo was entering his mind...

"...UGH!!!" Mewtwo grunted in extreme pain as he almost fell to one knee, but managed to stay up as he twitched a little.

"...What seems to be the problem?" Marley asked.

"I-I..." Mewtwo staggered. "I-I haven't wandered inside a mind where the thoughts are so insane and utterly scrambled... H-his thoughts can make someone's head get a horrible headache..."

A record scratched and Barry glared at him. "Hey! My thoughts are perfectly ordered! They aren't utterly scrambled!"

"...We thought as much..." Lucas, Dawn and Marley said in unison with bored looks.

"...You guys su-" Barry was interrupted.

"BEGONE AND LEAVE MY MIND ALONE FROM YOURS!" Mewtwo yelled as he quickly motioned his hand at the window and the 4 were tossed outside while they yelled (again, except Marley, who was a little bit amused). Mewtwo let out a small grunt as Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff came out from a dark corner of his room.

"Mewtwo, are you feeling okay?" Pikachu asked.

"..." Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I haven't read such an altered and twisted mind ever in my life before... I hope his was the last one..."

"...Y-you're not hurt, right?" Pichu asked concerned.

"...N-not that much..."

"Hey, Mewtwo, I wanted to ask you if you knew how to use Metronom-" Red came from the door with Squirtle and Ivysaur (wearing a small coat that was specifically made for him) and looked at the Psychic Pokémon dropped on one knee on the floor. "...What happened here?"

"Trainers got in here and tried to capture us!" Jigglypuff said shuddering.

"...Wait..." Red blinked one time before looking shocked. "...You mean Pokémon Trainers...were inside here...a moment ago?"

"Yes..." Pikachu rolled his eyes. "The blond one was a lot scarier than the other 3."

"...Red..." Squirtle looked up to his trainer. "...Do you think they're still outside?"

"...Dammit!" Red cursed as all the Pokémon looked at him. "I've got to meet them before they go! Squirtle, Ivysaur, let's go! Quick!"

Red ran away from the room in a hurry as both his Pokémon looked at each other and ran after him.

"...What's the matter with him?" Jigglypuff asked.

"If he's thinking about meeting them...THEN call them here..." Pikachu's cheeks began to release sparks. "I'm having 5 toasted trainers."

"Why didn't you attack them so we could get away from them faster?" Pichu asked.

"...Aw, fu-"

Outside

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Route 201

"..." Barry took out his head from a pile of snow and breathed deeply. "S-stupid Mewtwo! Stupid talking Pokémon! We were so close guys!"

"I know..." Dawn sighed as she stood up and wiped out snow from her scarf. "I was so psyched about Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff..."

"We all were," Lucas said as he stood up. "But I guess entering inside is a death wish now."

"...Barry, you go inside." Marley said.

Barry glared at her. "Hell no! I'm not going in and get killed!"

"...You sure know how to ruin my fun..." Marley commented annoyed.

"Well..." Dawn looked around before looking back at the mansion. "...I'm not sure, but we should get going..."

"Say WHAT again?!" Barry asked.

"We may as well leave and forget about them," Lucas said. "I don't want to die too."

"B-but what about the Mewtwo?!"

"Funny, I thought you said you weren't going in again."

"O-only for today! T-tomorrow we can think of another pla-"

"We're not demolishing the mansion." Dawn interrupted.

"Aw, Dawn! Don't skip my ideas!... And how did you know I was going to do that?"

"Because you said the same thing at Pastoria City's Great Marsh," Lucas began. "You promised to demolish the whole place because you couldn't catch a Wooper."

"And ironically, there was a BOMB accident in there by Team Galactic," Dawn gave him a bored look. "And who was the one who wanted to stop that?"

"Master Wake, you, Lucas and m-" Barry shook his head. "T-that's not the point right now! We have to think about a plan!"

"...Screw it..." Marley said as she began to walk away to the forest. "...I'm done with you."

"H-hey! Come back here!" Barry shouted.

"...You're not my mother..." Marley responded as she continued.

"I-I-ah, well, we need your help, Marley!"

"...And I need to stay alone and look for Shaymin...a thing you 3 haven't done that yet." Marley said as she turned to them.

"Remember?" Lucas pointed at Barry. "Barry here made us get lost. It's his fault."

"F-fine! I admit it! I made all of us get lost!"

"...What else?" Marley asked.

Barry groaned. "It was my fault we almost got discovered by the Pokémon who weren't real Pokémon at all."

"...And?"

Barry groaned again. "It's my fault we almost got killed by Mewtwo."

"And?" Dawn asked.

"It was my fault for hitting you."

"And?" Lucas asked.

"It was my fault I burned Eterna Gym's by accident with Ponyta."

"And?" Lucas and Dawn asked.

"It was my fault Gardenia got a trip to the hospital."

"And?" Lucas, Dawn and Marley asked.

"It was my fault we got in a lot of problems around ALL Sinnoh. There! I admitted all my mistakes and ideas!" Barry crossed his arms and looked away. "You guys just don't recognize my mind!"

"For better, of course." Dawn muttered.

"..." Barry sighed. "...Fine, let's hit the road and return to the Resort Area..."

"At last..." Lucas sighed.

The 4 Pokémon Trainers got closer to each other and started their way back to the Resort Area, through the paradise of snow that layed down on their path.

"WA-WAIT!" a voice shouted from the mansion.

"Guys, don't turn your backs now," Barry whispered as he walked. "They're probably trying to lure us inside where they're going to eat our..."

The blond trainer noticed that his friends weren't paying him any attention.

"...Ugh." Barry turned his back and looked back at the mansion where a Pokémon Trainer ran towards them with a Squirtle and an Ivysaur.

"Finally!" Dawn exclaimed. "A person who is a REAL trainer and not in a costume!"

"W-wait..." Red panted heavily as he stopped in front of the 4 with Squirtle and Ivysaur. "I-I wanted to see you..."

"...Oh, how cute." Barry joked as he rolled his eyes.

"Shh!" Dawn whispered angrily. "A-anyway, who are you?"

"I..." Red looked up before standing straight up. "I'm sorry for interrupting your path, but I wanted to meet more trainers like you and well..."

"...Wait," Lucas pointed at the mansion. "You mean you live in there?"

"Huh?" Red looked at the mansion. "Well, yeah."

"!!!" Barry gasped. "D-don't tell me you have Mewtwo in your possession as the Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff in there!"

"What are you talking about?" Red asked confused. "I don't have those 4 with me because they don't want to."

"...Okay, reunion time," Lucas said as they walked several steps away from Red and formed a circle between them. "So, this trainer came out from the mansion and wanted to meet us."

"The same mansion with the same people living in there." Barry whispered.

"Hey, you!" Lucas shouted to Red. "Are you the owner of the mansion?"

"I'm no-" Red was interrupted as Ivysaur pushed his leg a little. The trainer looked down and saw Ivysaur shaking his head, giving him a different answer. "Y-yes! I am!"

"..." Lucas looked at them. "...This is getting weird..."

"Why did you say that?" Ivysaur asked.

"I-I'm not going to scare them away by saying "Oh, the owner is a big floating hand" or anything like that. This is an opportunity I've been waiting for, guys!" Red whispered excited.

"You just had that idea yesterday!" Squirtle whispered angrily.

"So, your point?"

"..." Squirtle frowned.

"Hey!" Barry called out. "How many people live in there with you?!"

"Er..." Red looked at Squirtle, who shook his head. "Only Pokémon! My Pokémon along with Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Mewtwo! They live here because they like the mansion!"

"..." Barry narrowed his eyes. "Oh, thank you!" he turned to the others. "Liar, liar, pants of Monferno's fire, guys."

"Okay," Dawn rubbed her chin. "He's lying to us, but why?"

"Marley, what do you..." Lucas noticed that Marley was gone. "...Where did she..."

"Look!" Barry pointed at a trail of foot marks going to the forest before it disappeared by the snow falling from the sky. The hyperactive trainer ducked to find a note that Marley left behind. "Hey, check this out."

To Lucas, Dawn and Reckless Idiot:

Honestly speaking, it was fun to travel with you for this short period of time. I, however, hate the idiot who also happens to be Barry and your supposed friend. You (Lucas and Dawn) were so nice to me for trying to find Shaymin, but problems came after that and I don't want even more because of you (Barry). Therefore, I don't want to travel with either of you (Lucas and Dawn) just to get close to Barry. I'll look for Shaymin on my own with Professor Oak from now on. At least I'm going to get professional help this time.

Don't worry, we will travel together some time when I have some tolerance towards Barry.

Sincerely,
Marley

P.S.: If you decide to kill Barry at last, call me.

P.S.S.: If you can catch some Pokémon inside the mansion I like, don't hesitate to show them to me.

P.S.S.S.: Barry, I honestly want to wish you a life full of trouble, problems so you can go to hell, where you rightfully belong to and where my Arcanine will go and eat your guts out. Yes, I'd like to see that happen with my own eyes.

"...Wow..." Barry commented.

"...That was...so her..." Dawn said embarrassed.

"...I know..." Barry looked at them and threw the note away. "...She didn't write her long periods without saying anything."

"And great going," Lucas rolled his eyes. "That's the first trainer who has so far rejected us just because of Barry himself."

"Marley couldn't resist my awesomeness." Barry said.

"Shut up, will you?" Dawn asked irritated.

"Hey!" Red called out. "Are you going to stop talking between yourselves or what?"

"Wait just a minute!" Dawn yelled before turning to his friends. "So, he could be hiding something that we don't want to know because of the people in there..."

"...They want to conquer the world?" Barry asked.

"That's Team Galactic." Lucas corrected Barry.

"Kill the Bidoofians?"

"That isn't even a religion."

"Just don't let Barry say something else," Dawn waved a hand up and down, making Barry grunt. "So...why would he lie to us?"

"You know," Barry crossed his arms and nodded while he closed his eyes. "I'm smelling some kind of conspiracy that they're hiding from all the people. Some sort of secret like, who knows..."

"..." Lucas looked at Dawn. "...I'm a little bit curious myself..."

Dawn looked worried. "But what about our Pokémon research hunt?"

Just then, a baby Diglett popped out from the snow, close to them and it looked at them as they did the same. The Diglett made a happy expression before it got inside the snow and went away.

Barry looked further away to some trees where a (real) Slakoth was hanging on a branch.

Dawn looked behind her and found a Snorunt peering from a tree before hiding.

Lucas looked above where a Delibird was seen flying while it looked down and waved at them happily.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Route 210

The 3 Pokémon Trainers smiled and looked at each other. "Hey, I have an idea," Barry began. "Why don't we ask him for some rooms? Surely he won't say no."

"Besides," Dawn continued. "There are many Pokémon around this area and we can go out and catch some of them."

"Or get their data for Professor Rowan." Lucas added.

"...And..." Barry looked at Red. "Shall we?"

"Hey!" Lucas called out. "Can we ask you something?"

"Um, sure?" Red said as they all ran to him.

Dawn joined her hands. "Would you give us a room to stay? We want to stay here for a little while and get the data of some Pokémon around these parts!"

"P-Pokémon around thes-" Red noticed Squirtle with a serious expression before he nodded. "O-oh! You mean that...er...what is it's name again? Mudlet?"

"Diglett." Lucas corrected.

"R-right," Red nodded before scratching the back of his head. "W-well, I can let you stay but..."

"But?" Barry asked.

"...You promise you're going to listen to me when you get inside?"

"...Sure?" Dawn responded.

Red sighed in relief. "Well, my mansion (I'm so going to get killed for this) has many rooms and you can stay in there as long as you want to. Don't worry, just don't try to capture the Pokémon in there because they don't want to."

"Sure," Lucas nodded. "So, would you take us inside?"

"Follow us then!" Red said as he walked back to the mansion with Squirtle and Ivysaur, as the trio followed them from behind.

"Red, psss!" Squirtle whispered.

"Yes?" Red looked down with a worried look.

"We're going to get punished for this because you wanted to meet trainers!"

"What is Master Hand going to do if he finds out?" Ivysaur whispered.

"We'll be dead Pokémon meat if you don't do something!"

"And also, what if the others find out about them as well?"

"I...I'll think of a way," Red whispered. "I'll be careful and nobody will know."

"We have a sweet opportunity to catch Mewtwo now," Barry made a fist. "I'm going to reserve that space on my boxes just for it and it only."

"But I'm curious," Lucas rubbed his chin. "Why did he lie to us?"

"Something is afoot..." Dawn whispered. "But let's just have somewhere to rest for now."

"OWW!" Barry bumped into Red's back by accident and Red fell on the snow while Barry fell on the snow with his butt.

"...Yeah," Dawn chuckled. "Some things never change."

"You're happy because you're not the person who got bumped." Lucas said.

"Likewise."

The screen began to move up to the clouds as the trainers talked between themselves.

"So," Barry began. "What's your name, dude?"

"My name...is Red." Red said.

"...What kind of name is that? Seriously?" Dawn asked with a chuckle.

"Oh no, not this again!" Red yelled. "S-stop it! Stop laughing at my name!... Squirtle! Ivysaur! Not you too!"

Heaven's Paradise

"..." Chris stopped once they were about to reach the tower of clouds.

"What is it?" Mario asked.

"...Have you ever felt that we were like...left out for some reason?"

"...No." Mario answered.

"...Then it was just me..." Chris shrugged.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Riding on Clouds of Fights. Hey! It doesn't have me anymore?! H-how come?! This sucks like a freaking Lvl. 100 Magikarp!" Barry yelled.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Heaven's Paradise
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Parakarry

References:

-The small dialogue in the intro of this chapter was a reference to the intro of the anime. And still, I don't understand the flame wars of 4Kids TV at all.

-Barry saying that Digimon were almost like Pokémon was a reference to the same anime. Don't ask me how did he know them. "Shrugs."

If you're thinking you're going to see these 3 again...well, no. These are going to stay there without any of the Smashers knowing about their stance in the mansion by Red. Consider them as "ghosts who will eventually appear much later at some point in like 20 or 30 chapters, where Red is going to get killed."

I have the feeling Barry is going to blow up the mansion for some reason... Dawn, Lucas, stop him if he does. We don't want mansion-less Smashers. XD

And why did I add Marley? Because she's awesome to fight with at the Battleground.

But! Our story continues on the clouds.

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 121*: Riding on Clouds of Fights

School, you didn't stop me this time!... Star Ocean: Till the End of Time did (meaning I recently got the game. Oh, Roger S. Huxley rocks). -_-

From Blaperile: And so, we have a second Lucas. XD

I have a feeling they still will try to catch all of the "Pokémon".

Lol, main characters left out. XD

You're doing good like always,
Blaperile

From me: Thank you. I don't have anything else to say to you. : )

From ngrey651: Barry reminds me of every overly-crazy trainer that ever existed in the many Poke-fics I've read. The fact that "Take over the world" is on his to-do-list cinches the deal.

I kind of wish Mewtwo had killed him. This makes me think I'm a bad person. :(

From me: Oh, don't worry. Barry is going to get what he deserves (if he ever pisses them off). XD

From Saiked: you know what i was kinda dissapointed with that chapter ('cause barry didnt die:() hope you kill him off later lol :)poor mewtwo. also it was a great chapter (excluding barry) and was a great mansion chapter i cant wait too see what fox, falco, piakchu, pichu, jigglypuff, and the other fainted guys are gonna do to him

im still reading i didnt quit :)
*goes to fetch an executor for barry*

From me: Barry ISN'T going to die. The fact nobody dies here except minor enemies is clear.

"Sees executor"

Leave Fayt alone! XD

From Anakin Son Mario43: OK WHAT THE HECK!?!? I WANTED TO SEE A BATTLE WITH TH BOSSES AND CHRIS FINALLY RESUE CALMAR OR WHOEVER THE STAR WAS! JUST FOR THAT, I AM NEVER READING THIS FIC AGAIN! YOU HAVE MADE EVERYTHING HORRIBLE! GOOD-BYE! Hahahahahhahaha, just kidding! I can wait! UPDATE SOON! HASTA!

From me: ...I was utterly disappointed because I don't see a small bit of a good review here. This fake rant was unnecessary...so please, give me a real REVIEW the next time. -_-

From JSandders: LOLZ!! This chapter was funny! I thought that would happen with the Smashers and the Trainers!

Barry is one of my favorite characters now because he's so retarded that Mewtwo has a hard time reading his mind (He'll be good at keeping secrets from psychics)! I'm not hating on Barry like everyone else, I think he's awesome (sees him blow up a random village full of Bidoofs)! Barry and Lucas both like Dawn? How cliche! Too bad Marley left, it would have been interesting to see how she would interact with the other emo smashers and Fox! XD Everybody wants to touch the tail! How Red will explain everything 20-30 chapters from now is up to you and I can't wait for that time! Also, isn't it true that in Pokemon Gold and Silver, Red was considered the hardest and most powerful Pokemon trainer that you would ever meet? It would be great to see him be like that in future chapters!

Rita is still going around the mansion without anyone knowing she's there and without her meeting anyone yet? Weird...

BTW, I laugh that the credit card salesman... er... Chip is now frozen! How sad for the little mauve imp! I guess it's not only Falco and Ivysaur who can't tolerate the cold! XD

Speaking of the cold, I can't wait to see how the Smashers fight with Crystal King and Huff N. Puff! Heaven's Paradise seems like a nice original place. :)

On a side note, I was reading your profile and I noticed that you didn't have a personality for Chris's Scholar job. Just thought that I might let you know.

That's all for now, my fingers hurt from earlier and I can't type anymore! :PKeep typing, it's a good story!

From me: I don't think that was Red. That trainer tried to resemble Ash since he had a Pikachu and not a Raichu, apart from his team full of fully-evolved trainers.

And the small info about the Scholar job got added, thanks to you. ; )

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Smash Mansion + Pokemon Trainers + Smashers = one heck of a screwed up day.

That guy Barry is insane ... he reminds me a bit of two of my friends from high school ... only they weren't that crazy. Guessing that this is the Dawn from the series, with Pikachu knowing her? Poor Pikachu and Pichu ... and Jigglypuff, too, with the four trainers after them. Let's just say that must've not been their best day. Truly insane. The Pokemon trainers now out of the way, getting back to Mario and Chris?

From me: This Dawn is from the games, not the anime since Lucas doesn't appear in the anime at all (like Green and Brandon).

And yes, we're back with the 11 again. : )

From dragonite123: Hey Chris, I've been reading this story for a while now, but I've been on earlier chapters so this is my first review!... actually I reviewed a earlier chapter that wasn't the most recent... anyways...

1) NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER do a part like that bar part EVER again!

2)(AIDS)* May seem obvious, but you DO rule this section!

3)I FOUND A PENNY!

4)You forgot to update your (AIDS)* profile with Mario and Peach.

5)I kinda have an idea for a job that could take (insert job with really long name's name here)'s place as Red's compatable job, but I'm not sure if you may like it, even though it's not über.

6)UN DEUX (AIDS) MACHINA!(spelt wrong)

7)YOU ROCK!

8)poor Olimar (AIDS)*, he loses pikmin he cares so much about, AND he got knocked out by the (AIDS) turnip. Maybe the next pikmin will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Sorry for the long review, but this is an awesome story, this is Drew, signing off!

(*= Peach's ability is really odd)

From me: 0) Oh, a reviewer that returned! Thank heavens!
1) Blame Persona 4. XD
2) S-seriously? I hope so but that's your opinion...
3) Save it.
4) I will later about their bios.
5) If you forgot, Red's job was already chosen a long time ago. See profile and no, no changes to it.
6) Really? I think I wrote it right...
7) Paper!
8) He gets the pain in a funny way, but hopefully I don't bash him.
9) That was just an error committed by Master Hand. XD

From SlasherMask: Marleys goth not emo;_;(they are COMPLETELY differents things...Emos complain about how their life suck and Goths... Are just Goths...(people with Gothic style?)

Anyway i wonder how those three are going to avoid getting killed by smashers for throwing poke balls at them...

P.S. I happened to read your responses to other reviews... And i gotta say that i like(or atleast don't dislike...aka i'm neutral about(example: Neutopia(it's so zelda clone) almost all games i have ever played.('cept gran turismo 2 and military madness(just those i can remember))

From me: Oh, I thought she was emo since she didn't show many emotions. To be honest, I don't know what's an emo. T_T

Well, good for you and Gran Turismo. : )

From Lucario star: More please!

From me: I was very impressed that you caught up with everyone...but will you put a decent review, 2 or 3 more sentences long? You're demanding rather than reviewing...

From Rellymaster: -Barry is such an idiot! He's definitely the pure example of cluelessness.
-Marley's vendetta against Barry is kind of creepy...
-"Hakyni Matata." I see what you did there.
-The quartet definitely got lucky when Mewtwo offered them a choice.
-This is the first chapter I've seen where Chris had nearly no role.

From me: -Oh, then how does he act in the game? XD
-Meh, I can picture it perfectly.
-No, you didn't. "Eats bug"
-Aw, Mewtwo is such a nice Pokémon...when not pissed.
-...WHAT DID I JUST DO?! XD

From Rabid Original: Reading all those reviews, it cracks me up how rude you are to people sometimes XD

So we took a little break from the main event to have some "fun with pokemon"...That was random.
Barry wins. Everything. Ever.
Now I want to watch the pokemon anime randomly :P

Can't wait for the next chapter! (As always!)
It better be epic...but I have no doubt it will be :)

From me: Well, I might seem rude because some people here ignore some important details and well, that makes me a little mad. I hope they understand and forgive me...

I hope it's epic enough.

At first, I had trouble about this arc, but then I got a creative idea...

...Use the enemies from the Subspace in solo matches! So, I hope you enjoy all the mini-fights with every single enemy from the Subspace. If this chapter isn't that funny to you, then at least you're going to remember all their names.

Oh, and I hope it's funny as well in some parts.

(Another thing: I may make a Star Ocean arc some time in the future if it appeals to me...and of course, all of you).

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 121: Riding on Clouds of Fights

Heaven's Paradise

Persona 4 - Heaven

The tower of clouds remained still as the Smashers saw an entrance to it. Mallow stepped forward and looked up at the big building of what he was made of. "...Too cloudy..."

"They're obviously on the top," Parakarry glared up. "Grr, I don't like this at all."

"We're not going to fly up, right?" Pit asked.

"Going through this tower from the inside seems to be safer." Meta Knight said.

"Because they could attack us from the outside with flying enemies." Roy said.

"...At least that's what I think so too..." Chris shrugged.

Caaan't get my miiind, of those memooooriiiies
Now time to tell them, don't take my dreeeeeeaaam
Still music keeps, on turning me, from the words that hurt-my-soul
Removing doubts from my miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind...

Those long days passing by from that door, like late summer they slow-ly fade away
Finding ways through the favorite tune play-all-daaaaay, with my eyes clo-osed
Those long days passing by from that door, like late summer they slow-ly fade away
Finding way through the favorite tune filling meeeee, with tho-ose so-ounds!

"Are we going to stare up all the day?" Kirby asked.

"No," Meta Knight as he walked inside the tower. "Let's go and reach the top."

"...I hope my magic is of use..." Chris muttered as the team walked inside the tower.

"...W-wait a minute..." Luigi trembled. "S-something is not right here..."

The clouds began to tremble and the Smashers remained close to each other. The floors began to change shapes and the wall of clouds shrouding the tower vanished as each floor separated by leaving long stairs that took at every single floor, one over the other.

"W-what's happening?!" Mallow asked.

"It seems the tower itself changed and in its place..." Geno looked at the new shape of the dungeon of the skies. It was now very long with long staircases to different floors. The Smashers looked around and found a long staircase to the next floor that was far away from them. "...This was formed..."

"..." Mario looked up. "...I can't see the top now..."

"There are so many clouds with floors, preventing us from seeing the top..." Twink said.

"Pfft," Parakarry rolled his eyes. "Great deal. C'mon!" the Paratroopa flew to the staircase that leaded to another floor. "We'll start from here and reach the top where those 2 will PAY for altering the climate!"

"Being the over-energetic Paratroopa of always..." Twink sighed.

"I'm not over-energetic," Parakarry made a serious face. "I hate those guys so much for making my job much harder than it already is!"

"You fly slow though." Mario pointed out.

Parakarry sweatdropped. "...W-well...y-yeah, I did say that..."

"So much for that." Roy said.

"P-poor guy..." Luigi commented.

"..." Parakarry turned his back and began flying slowly to the stairs. "...If you guys need me, I'll be on the top fighting those guys alone..."

"What a laugh."

"Yes, what a laugh." Mallow nodded.

"...Who was that just now?" Geno asked.

Mist suddenly began to gather at the center of the cloud floor and everyone blocked their eyes at the sudden breeze that circulated in a small place before a blue robe with an ice crown appeared as well as the glaring yellow eyes before it chuckled.

"Welcome..." the figure said. It was Crystal King who appeared before them. "Welcome, my uninvited guests, to Heaven's Paradise!"

"GET HIM!" Mallow yelled as everyone charged at the king.

Crystal King chuckled. "Fools, I'm just a mere hologram just to inform you th-"

The villain got instantly attacked by everyone who began attacking him from all the sides. Crystal King yelled in pain as every attacked landed on him while he tried to get away but with no success at all.

"STOP IT!" Crystal King demanded as everyone stopped their attacks as he panted. "S-seriously! Why don't you let me talk before we EVEN start fighting?! The nerve of all of you, filthy peasants!"

"Shut up," Geno glared at him. "Now, hand over Kalmar now."

"You've been saying the same thing at least 5 or so times and they aren't going to listen." Chris said with a bored look.

"Oh, okay," the king said as he walked and gave Geno the card containing Kalmar on it. "There."

"..." Kirby shifted his eyes. "...This was...too easy..."

"...Should we leave now?" Pit asked.

"...NO!" Parakarry and Crystal King yelled in unison as the king ran to Geno and quickly snatched the card back.

"F-fools!" Crystal King yelled as he hid it inside his robe. "Stop tricking me like that or else I'll freeze you to your deaths!"

"Give us Kalmar back right this instant!" Geno demanded.

"It was you who let him get Kal-" Chris looked away once Geno glared at him.

"Would you PLEASE let me speak before you raise weapons on me?!" Crystal King asked.

"...Go on..." Roy said.

"Thank you," Crystal King coughed. "As you can see, welcome to Heaven's Paradise! The only place where the seventh Star Spirit can be rescued!"

"GET HIM!"

"STOP!" Crystal King yelled and everyone stopped from attacking him. "Good... As I was saying before, you won't get the Star Spirit until you get to the top flo-"

"GET HIM!"

"SILENCE!" Crystal King yelled as he shot an ice bolt to Roy, where he got frozen inside an icicle as the others watched with caution. "Dare to STOP my speech or else you will end like the red-haired idiot over there!"

"O-o-o-o-okay..." Luigi gulped.

"..." Crystal King frowned and continued exactly where he left on. "-or, where Huff N. Puff and I are waiting for you to get there."

"Heaven's Paradise?" Pit looked around. "I'm not showing off or anything, but Skyworld is much more of a real paradise than just floors because it has fountains, temples, Palutena's shrin-"

"Who asked you?" Crystal King asked with a glare.

"Why don't we finish you off here?" Meta Knight asked as he drew Galaxia out.

"Because it's rude and imprudent," Crystal King explained. "Screw this," the king made a snapping sound with his right sleeve before he disappeared. "Now, this way you won't attack me." Crystal King said as his voice echoed.

"What is your deal with us now?" Geno asked.

"Let me get there!" Crystal King demanded. "We want to play a little game with all of you now. Are you interested to hear and listen?"

"...Yes?" Twink responded.

"Good. Take a good look at the cloud floors around the vicinity." Crystal King ordered and the Smashers looked at all the clouds connected to each other with the staircases.

"So? They're just floors." Parakarry said with a glare.

"Oh, ho ho ho, that's not quite true," Crystal King went on. "On each floor, there is one of the many Subspace Army's enemies that you will face on a match. There are 50 floors with 50 different enemies altogether."

"...I get it," Chris began. "We have to defeat them all in order to advance, right?"

"Of course," Crystal King chuckled. "But, not like the way you all do."

"What way?" Kirby asked as he swallowed a cloud.

"The "run forward until we reach the boss" way. Oh no, you'll have to advance slowly until you get on the top. But, there is a condition you must listen to," Crystal King pointed at them. "There is a certain amount of enemies of the same type on each floor, but you can't fight them all as a group."

"Are you forcing us to fight a group with just one us then?" Mario asked.

"Dammit, I wanted to say that but I guess you get what I mean now," Crystal King nodded. "Correct. Each floor contains a certain amount of the same strong enemies that one of you must defeat alone."

"And what happens if that person fails to defeat the group?" Mallow asked.

"The clouds underneath you will disappear and form a big hole back to the earth where you will return to. If you manage to survive the fall, then you can go back and face the challenge again from the beginning," Crystal King chuckled. "I expect you to lose at some point because these enemies are very strong, indeed."

"...What do you say?" Mario asked to the others.

"Well, I wanted to run through but...I think it's interesting." Roy commented.

Mario looked at the icicle where Roy once was and looked back at the swordsman. "...Nevermind... So?"

"If this is the only way to reach Kalmar, then we have no choice." Geno said.

"Y-yeah, whatever they said..." Luigi gulped worried.

"If each cloud have a different flavor, then I'm not complaining," Kirby said smiling. "This cloud had a blew flavor..."

"Hmph," Meta Knight grunted a little. "Fine by me."

"Alrighty!" Parakarry punched the air. "Ready for some fights alone!"

"...I-I'm not so sure... O-okay." Chris nodded preoccupied.

Mallow cracked his fingers. "Right on!"

"I agree as well," Pit nodded. "Surely this could be considered like small fights, right?"

Mario nodded and looked at Crystal King. "We decided. We want to do it your way."

"Brilliant!" Crystal King chuckled. "Don't worry about us. We won't set up any traps to make you lose. Every fight will be fair for you, except for the amount of enemies, that is..."

"Then let's go!" Parakarry said determined.

"Hold on," the villain interrupted. "There is an extra floor before our floor where a special challenger will fight one of you alone. That challenger will decide who will fight."

"Extra challenger?" Twink asked.

"I bet either Dedede, Charizard, Bowser or Ganondorf." Roy said.

"Close, but decide which of the 4." Crystal King hinted before he disappeared in a swirl of winds.

"So..." Mario walked to the stairs. "Shall we?"

"The faster, the better." Geno said as they all proceeded to advance.

They reached the first floor, which was just a plain cloud with another staircase. However, the staircase was all covered by a force field that was also shrouding the whole path of stairs and clouds.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Crystal King laughed from the top cloud. "Welcome to the first floor! Now, you must face this powerful enemy!"

5 clouds appeared on the cloud they were in and from them came...

...5 Goombas who tried to roar.

"...Oh my god, save us. Goombas want to...kill us... Call the NAVY or someone else, please..." Chris joked as his yellow eyes made a bored look.

"That is right," Crystal King was heard saying. "Goombas! Mario's horrible enemies! Mwahahahahahahaha! Now let's see if you can defeat them all!"

"...I'll go..." Mario as he stepped forward and a force field prevented them from walking ahead.

"Be careful, Mario!" Parakarry yelled. "I don't like the look on those guys' faces!"

"(Maybe there's something weird with them?)" Mario thought.

Mega Man 8 - Tengu Man

"Oh no," Chris shook his head once the Goombas charged at Mario. "There's something really weird here! I don't like it at all!" he jumped behind Pit, who looked at him confused. "Prepare to hold me before we fall!"

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Mario simply stomped all of them with simple jumps as he simply landed and blinked confused.

"NO!" Crystal King yelled. "H-how did you defeat all of them?! T-they were supposed to defeat you ins-I mean, hahahahahahahaha! So! Mario! You defeated them all as I expected after all!"

Many of the Smashers sweatdropped.

"Very well!" Crystal King made the force field to the next staircase disappear. "You can go to the next cloud, where another new enemy is waiting for one of you! Advance now!"

"...Chris, would you stop grabbing my shoulders?" Pit asked.

Chris took a long step to the right and chuckled. "O-oops, I got a little bit worried there... S-sorry..."

"...Yeees..." Pit shrugged as they all went forward.

"And welcome to the next floor!" Crystal King greeted them from the top cloud of the whole place. "Here, you shall face this enemy!"

4 Puppits came from above and they all fixed their eyes on them.

"Puppits! Their claws will get the most unfortunate's heart out! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'll go for this one." Pit said as he stepped forward.

"BEGIN!" Crystal King yelled as the 4 Puppits slowly went after Pit with their claws ready to slice him down.

Pit ducked as 2 tried to use their claws as drills and the other 2 simply approached and sliced him 2 times each before giving a last slash, making him back away as he twitched.

"Pit!" Kirby yelled.

"I-I'm fine..." Pit muttered as he looked up at the 4 Puppits' eyes that shone red, indicating that they were going to fire lasers at their own will. "...Oh, you lost now..." Pit said as he simply took out his Mirror Shield and reflected back the lasers that instantly blasted the Puppits away.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Crystal King yelled. "I was waiting for your being sliced up, not the other way arou-mwahahahahaha! Go on and proceed to a worse dead, insolents!" Crystal King laughed maniacally as the next staircase was unblocked.

As the Smashers were walking further above...

"..." Kirby yawned. "Why do I think this is going to repeat?"

"Because the fact the idiot gets shocked by the Subspace enemies being defeated or the fact he's going to do the same thing over and over again?" Roy asked.

"I-I think the latter one..." Luigi shrugged.

"Welcome again!" Crystal King greeted them as they made it to the next cloud. "Now, your next fight is against these guys..."

10 Mites appeared from 10 different small clouds as they looked around in confusion.

"Mites! Their sizes will annoy you to no end!"

Mallow coughed and walked forward. "Me thinks it's me turn."

"Speak correctly..." Twink said annoyed.

"BEGIN!" Crystal King yelled as the 10 Mites charged at Mallow, who merely cracked his throat (if he had one) and held out his hands above.

"Thunderbolt!" Mallow called out a powerful rain of thunders that electrocuted every single Mite and killed them all, in record time. "Done."

"W-what?!" Crystal King asked outraged. "T-these clouds are betraying us! You there! Explain yourself!"

"H-hey, it's not my fault the clouds don't listen to me." Huff N. Puff said with a chuckle.

"W-well, do something about i-proceed forward to your DOOMS!" Crystal King yelled as the next staircase opened, before he laughed maniacally as someone's grunt came from where he was.

"Now I want to murder them rather than defeat them." Roy said.

"And I want my candy cloud." Kirby said as they climbed the staircase and arrived at another cloud.

"Welcome blah blah blah blah, meet your enemy." Crystal King said annoyed.

4 Primids came from the clouds and adjusted their hats, if those were hats.

"Oh, let me do this one." Chris said as he stepped forward.

"Blah." Crystal King said before the 4 Primids charged at the World Traveler, who then focused his magic on the top of his staff.

"Shock them for greater good... Thundara!" Chris called forth 2 thunders that impacted the Primids' side and dealt a good amount of damage.

"They're still alive!" Twink yelled before the 4 Primids tripped and pushed Chris back a little.

"Ugh," Chris said annoyed as he focused more magic on the tip of his staff. "Burn them to black ashes... Fira!"

A big flame appeared right in every single Primid before they turned into Shadow Bugs and vanished in thin air.

"Too easy. No problem." Chris commented with a chuckle.

"DAMN YOU ALL! ESPECIALLY YOU, LITTLE BASTARD, SON OF A BI-don't worry, the next one is going to be a lot more dangerous than this!" Crystal King laughed maniacally as they proceeded to the next floor.

"..." Meta Knight sighed. "To think getting the last star was going to be like this... I expected something harder..."

"But solo matches are better...I think." Pit commented.

"Then if this continues like this, let me face an enemy that seems competent enough."

"Enemies."

"Better yet."

"You know what? I'm not bothering introducing anyone this time." Crystal King said as 4 Bucculus appeared on the ground.

"I-I'll go. Wish me luck!" Luigi said determined as he stepped forward and walked to the 8 red spots on the floor. "...Hmm..." Luigi made a bored look and ducked to see them closer.

Bad idea.

The 4 Bucculus jumped and stuck their lips on Luigi's head as the green plumber screamer in horror and ran around the cloud in panic, flailing his arms frantically.

Mario frowned embarrassed. "Luigi, pull yourself together!"

"I-it's easier said than done!" Luigi screamed.

"Use your damn cyclone, dammit!" Chris yelled as almost everyone stared at him. "...What? It's the only way to get free from them and he was getting a little bit on my nerves..."

"AaaaaaaaaaaAH!" Luigi used Luigi Cyclone to get free of the Bucculus, who got pushed away and bounced on the floor.

"Attack them." Meta Knight suggested.

"H-how?"

"DO IT!" Mallow yelled.

Luigi gulped and he ran at 2 Bucculus to...advance, flailing his fists in panic as they actually made decent damage. Luigi used Green Missile to charge a little and rocket off to the same 2, who then got pushed away and disappeared. Luigi quickly turned and tripped (evading the other Bucculus who lunged at him) then accidentally used a low kick to push them away. He later used Luigi Cyclone to go quickly over the lip monsters to defeat them as he panted heavily.

"...So far, Luigi has made more effort." Geno said.

"OH NO! Y-you?! D-defeating those powerfu-ha! You got luck! That's all!" Crystal King said as the Smashers went to the next cloud.

"You need to stop gasping like that, seriously." Huff N. Puff suggested.

"Leave me alone, creepy fat cloud!"

Huff N. Puff sniffed. "Y-you crossed the line, man..."

"Sorry, man."

Twink got a little bit scared. "Is it just me, or are they turning into..."

"No," Geno shook his head. "They're not turning into gangsters."

"Funny you say that," Chris looked at Geno. "Who was the one who said "Yo'! Smithy!" when he found Smithy? I thought he was going to turn into one."

Geno blushed. "I-I was a little bit excited to get rid of Smithy at last..."

Chris's eyes made a happy expression. "Aw, it feels so much better to say these kind of things now that you know I played the game you were in."

Once they reached the next cloud, 3 Buckots appeared as they propelled above the air.

"This one is for me." Roy said as he stepped forward.

The 3 Buckots fixed their eyes at Roy and they quickly hovered above him. The red-haired swordsman looked as the 3 dropped fiery trash that Roy evaded easily as he backstepped, jumped towards them and used Blazer, which wasn't that effective since the Buckots only got pushed back a little.

"Look out!" Kirby yelled as the Buckots dropped more trash on Roy as it all hit him constantly. The red-haired swordsman grunted in pain but then rolled away to jump at them again. This time, Roy used Double Edge to use an aerial attack of 4-hit combo at the enemies before they got pushed down with a meteor smash and disappeared.

"Phew..." Roy landed back and looked at them. "That went well."

"FOR YOU AT LEAST!" Crystal King yelled as he opened the next staircase for them.

After they climbed the stairs...

A Paratroopa was floating above the floor. Parakarry glared at him and went to his enemy. "Look, pal, there's space enough for only one Paratroopa here."

"Oh, okay," the Paratroopa said. "I was getting tired anyway."

The Paratroopa flew high above and then disappeared out of sight while Parakarry kept glaring upwards. The Smashers looked confused at this simple and short moment.

"...That's it?" Geno asked.

"Er...what was all that about?" Chris asked confused.

"W-WHAT?!" Crystal King asked furiously. "T-the nerve of tho-go ahead and please, get killed!"

The Smashers walked further ahead to the next set of stairs, leading to another cloud.

2 Shaydas appeared spinning and they stood above the cloud. Meta Knight grunted and walked forward with Galaxia ready.

The Shaydas slid on the cloud without even moving and towards the masked warrior who waited for them. The blades on their arms were raised and they sliced Meta Knight, only for the masked warrior to use Dimensional Cape to teleport behind them and slice their backs.

The Shaydas turned and quickly raised their blades above, but Meta Knight used Drill Rush to pierce their red spheres on their chests...

...Killing them after he used his sword against them for 3 seconds.

"Fearsome enemy with pathetic weakness." Meta Knight commented.

Chris yawned and closed his yellow eyes. "And you...attack their weak points...for MASSIVE DAMAGE..."

Kirby looked up at the sleeping World Traveler while Crystal King cursed. "Chris? Hello?"

"Huh?" Chris shook his head and looked down to Kirby. "Oh...sorry. I got a little bit sleepy...because I'm getting a little bit bored..."

"Oh."

"Let's go ahead." Mario said as they all walked to the next cloud.

A Jyk appeared and Kirby went forward with a serious expression as he took out his hammer and slammed it on the Jyk, but Kirby got electrocuted for a moment and was pushed back.

"I-I can't hurt him!" Kirby yelled.

"That's right," Crystal King said. "The Jyk is itself invincible and that means you can't win against it! Mwahahahahahaha!"

"Technically speaking, the Jyk thing won't as well." Geno said.

"Why is that?"

"Because it's not moving. It's just remaining in its same place," Geno pointed out. "And since it can't fight unless someone touches it, it's useless, right?"

"...Yes..."

"And since Kirby made the first strike, he basically fought it, but the Jyk didn't do anything except remain there."

"That counts as an action," Meta Knight continued. "That is a rule of battles. Kirby won the moment he tried to attack it, and by default."

"...W-well...i-it's true...b-but...I-I..." Crystal King studded before grunting annoyed. "Fine, you can go forward."

"Yes!" Kirby said happily before the Smashers went to the next cloud.

"Behold." Crystal King said as 3 Bombeds appeared.

"I'll go this time." Geno said as he stepped forward.

The 3 Bombeds ran at Geno and tossed their heads at him, which he dodged by jumping towards them (and over the bombs). The Bombeds jumped in shock as Geno put his left hand over his right hand and shot a rocket punch that collided with one and destroyed it.

The other 2 Bombeds recovered their heads and they quickly turned and tossed them at Geno. The puppet received 2 explosion in which he got pushed to the air, but then he flipped to use Geno Beam on the 2 Bombeds, who got severely injured by the beam and vanished.

"NO!" Crystal King yelled. "Go forward and get killed this time!"

"How about no?" Roy asked as they all went to next cloud.

"Now please, for this time, lay down and DIE!" Crystal King yelled as 4 Spaaks appeared, floating around.

"I'll go." Pit said as he stepped forward.

The 4 Spaaks floated towards him and released 4 balls of lightning that he countered with his Mirror Shield. However, once the balls hit them back, the clouds turned black and they all flipped in the air before releasing 4 lightning bolts that struck Pit.

"UGH!" Pit twitched in pain and dropped on his right knee.

"Pit! Are you feeling alright?" Roy asked.

"I'm fine..." Pit said as he stood up. "I'll be more careful..."

"Reflecting their attacks back is a bad idea. It doesn't work that well." Geno said.

"Thanks... I'll take that in mind." Pit said as he flapped his wings and flew above where he dove for the 4 clouds. The Spaaks flipped and tried landing 4 bolts at the same time, but Pit flew at the sides to evade them in time before he took out his dual blades and slashed 2 Spaaks across.

The 2 Spaaks crashed into the floor but were able to survive. The 4 Spaaks flipped again and shot 4 bolts of lightning that Pit quickly dodged by rolling towards them. The angel slashed 2 times the 2 previous Spaaks and ended up killing them.

"Only 2 more!" Mallow yelled as the 2 Spaaks seemed to stop, because they were recharging their attacks. Pit took advantage of this and shot several arrows at them. The Spaaks tried to use their attacks but Pit kep stopping them quickly and soon enough, they were blasted away.

"Dammit!" Crystal King cursed as the next cloud's path was unlocked.

"You can still walk, right?" Twink asked.

"Yes... Let me rest for a bit and I'll be ready." Pit said with a nod as they went to the next cloud.

"Next ones won't be so easy." Crystal King said as 2 Armights appeared laughing, crossing their swords.

"Ooh, swords." Roy said as he stepped forward.

The 2 Armights quickly went over the red-haired swordsman and quickly slashed him across, then landing a last blow that pushed Roy back. Roy grunted and charged at them to use Double Edge constantly.

"Keep going like that. They can't move!" Parakarry yelled as Roy slammed his sword on the Armights. The enemies with whiskers grunted in annoyance, flipped around in the air and shot their swords at him. However, Roy used Counter to make the swords unless once they touched him.

"Now..." Roy said as he ran along the cloud and behind the Armights who tried turning quickly, but were defeated by Roy's Flare Blade, which was a small charge enough. "There."

"GRR!" Crystal King grunted as the Smashers went to the next cloud. "I hope this one can defeat you!"

2 Hammer Bros. appeared and looked around. "Hey, we were just playing a game of baseball. What are we doing here?" the first asked.

"Who knows," the second one replied. "Oh, Mario's here. Maybe we should fight him."

"Or me." Kirby said as he stepped forward.

"Hmm..." Chris tilted his head. "Such simpleness to step forward, and from Kirby."

"Sometimes, he likes to fight." Meta Knight said.

The Hammer Bros. remained in their places and tossed their hammers at Kirby, who swallowed them all and turned into Hammer Kirby.

"Hammer!" Hammer Kirby said happily as he raised his hammer and went after the 2. The Hammer Bros. seemed to twitch for something.

"H-hey! How come we can just jump and throw our hammers?!" the first one asked as he jumped and tossed hammers at the Star Warrior. "T-this doesn't make any sense to me!"

"Y-yeah!" the second one said as he saw Hammer Kirby pushing the hammers away with his own hammer. "H-he's gonna hit us! Save me!"

"BAM!" Hammer Kirby slammed his hammer down on the first Hammer Bro. who got killed.

"BROTHER!!!" the other Hammer Bro. yelled before glaring at Hammer Kirby. "Y-you'll pay for killing my brother! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

He simply jumped. Hammer Kirby walked down below the hammers, charged his hammer with fire and slammed it on the Hammer Bro.'s face, making him collide with the force field before he disappeared.

"...Now, if Kirby was this powerful in battles..." Chris wondered.

"Oh, damn you all!" Crystal King cursed as he opened the next path to the next cloud. "Please, don't do anything this time. Seriously, we want to see dead bodies here."

10 Auroros appeared from above and flapped their wings.

Chris chuckled. "Oh, I know how to deal with them," he said as he stepped forward.

"No! You're going to get killed!" Luigi yelled worried.

The 10 Auroros flew above Chris and dove their beaks down. Chris just took a long step back as every single Auroro's beak became stuck on the cloud as they tried to get out. The World Traveler simply walked and quickly pulled them out, then tossed them away where they got instantly defeated without any effort.

"...You must be kidding me..." Crystal King muttered in annoyance as the next path got open.

"So if they become stuck in the ground, they become items once you grab them?" Mario asked as they all climbed the staircase.

"Yes. The Auroros can be defeated like that or by killing it normally like an usual enemy," Chris chuckled. "Courtesy from the DOJO on the official site."

"...The DOJO?" Luigi asked confused.

"Er, the official site of the game... I-I'll show you that place soon." Chris said as they reached the floor.

"Get...killed...please..." Crystal King panted as 3 Boom Primids appeared.

"Just stop exploding in fury like that." Huff N. Puff suggested.

"I know, but these idiots keep making me mad like nothing happens!"

"You're exploding in fury again..."

"So?!"

The Smashers were ignoring all this as Mallow stepped forward.

The Boom Primids tossed their boomerangs at the prince who jumped over them and used Shocker to crush the weapons. The Boom Primids remained confused of what to do as Mallow jumped out from his pants and called forth a big Starman that bounced 14 times on the Boom Primids before disappearing as Shadow Bugs.

"...With 4 bounces was enough..." Mallow said a little bit disappointed.

"And with a single defeat you could've gone down!" Crystal King yelled as the path got open for the Smashers before they walked to the next cloud.

Hammer Kirby looked down, where the enormous cloud that caused the strong weather was floating over a big portion of the sky. "W-we're getting farther away from the sky..."

Luigi looked up. "A-and we're getting closer to the...space?"

"It's not high enough to reach the space," Geno said. "It's a lot farther away from where those 2 are."

"These will do some serious damage to you." Crystal King said as 5 Borboras skipped around happily.

"...Who skips these days?" Mallow asked.

"Seriously..." Roy frowned.

Geno stepped forward and the Borboras stopped and blew a powerful wind that prevented the puppet from advancing.

"(Hmm...)" Geno looked around. "(If there's a force field covering this cloud, then...) GENO WHIRL!"

Geno shot a blinding yellow ring that bounced around the whole force field and into the Borboras multiple times as they were unable to even blow wind out from their heads, then they got instantly defeated as the force field went down.

"...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Crystal King yelled loudly.

"Take a stupid chill pill for once!" Huff N. Puff suggested as he then chuckled. "Heheh, chill pill..."

"That was quick thinking." Mario remarked.

"I have to use all the advantages of the field as much as I can, shouldn't I?" Geno asked with a chuckle.

"T-the next one is for me..." Luigi said.

"Luigi, are you serious?" Roy asked.

"Y-yes..."

"...Huh?" Crystal King said confused as they reached the next floor. "T-the green man is fighting? T-then HAHAHAHAHAHA! You're not going to get through once you fight..."

3 Poppants appeared and Luigi yelped in horror. The 3 Poppants jumped scared and they all ran to the force field, where they banged on it before it somehow broke and they all ran off the edge and downwards where they got killed once they landed on the enormous cloud.

Some of the Smashers chuckled at this before Luigi got up and looked around with a sigh of relief.

"...You fight...these..." Crystal King trailed off as the next path got open for the Smashers. "..."

Huff N. Puff patted his back. "There, there. I bet they will die very soon."

"..." Crystal King sobbed for around 2 minutes.

"I feel sorry for the guy..." Roy said as they climbed the staircase. "Working like this surely is painful."

"I hope he doesn't get possessed by the Shadow Bugs..." Pit shrugged.

"...Right," Crystal King said as he chuckled evily. "Alright then! You won't defeat this enemy either!"

A Red Paratroopa appeared looking around and Parakarry flew to him.

"Take a hyke, man." Parakarry said with a glare.

"Huh?" the Red Paratroopa looked at him. "Oh, I was planning to. Appearing here randomly is just so wrong and...random," the Red Paratroopa said as he flew high above before he disappeared.

"..." Crystal King inhaled a lot of mist. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

When the staircase's force field disappeared, the Smashers climbed it while Crystal King kept yelling in fury.

"Yes," Mallow nodded. "His job must suck if he hates us this much."

"Or he hates his job much more than he does to us." Twink said shuddering as they reached the next cloud.

Crystal King stopped yelling. "That is IT! I'm just going to watch and not do ANYTHING else whatsoever!"

4 Bullets Bills appeared. The Smashers gasped and ducked before they could explode on them and the bullets went far away into the distance, where they never returned.

"..." Crystal King tried but he let out a small sob as the Smashers simply went to the next cloud.

"...I've been meaning to ask something..." Pit interrupted.

"What?" Mario asked.

"If these are the enemies of the Subspace...how come we were suffering a lot because of them in our previous plan to infiltrate the Subspace?"

Mario shifted his eyes. "...I now feel very embarrassed..."

Pit, Hammer Kirby, Meta Knight and Luigi nodded.

"Wait, you too, Meta Knight?" Chris asked.

"Just because an insane amount of enemies surrounded me when I most didn't expect it." Meta Knight explained.

Once they reached the next cloud, 3 Roaders appeared and prepared their wheels to ram at the first Smasher who wanted to challenge them.

"My turn." Meta Knight said as he stepped forward with Galaxia ready.

The trio of Roaders revved up their wheels and ran towards Meta Knight. The masked warrior charged his attack and slashed them all at the same time.

"This is not going to last much longer that it needs to." Meta Knight said as he used Mach Tornado to quickly fly to the wheel enemies and trap them inside the yellow/orange tornado, which sliced all of them many times before Meta Knight landed the last slash, blasting all of them away as he stopped and sheathed Galaxia. "Pitiful..."

"(...That was SO badass...)" Chris thought.

"You know," Huff N. Puff began. "Maybe the way they do to reach a boss could've been a much better ide-"

"SHUT-UP!" Crystal King yelled annoyed as the Smashers went to the next cloud.

"Meta Knight!" Chris interrupted, excited. "Can you teach me how to be...well...strong as you?"

"Hmph," Meta Knight said. "You should do many trainings and regimes to achieve my current status as a swordsman."

"Show off..." Roy muttered before Chris stomped on his right foot without even looking. "O-oww!"

"What kind of trainings and regimes?" Chris asked curiously.

"..." Meta Knight looked at him. "First, you must wake up at 3:00 AM and practice using your sword on hard objects. You also need to calculate the time in which you slice them all down. It won't count if you can't slice through them and you'll have to start from the beginning until you succeed. However, once you succeed, you should take in mind the time you did it and compare it with another record if you succeeded 2 times. There are also other kinds of regimes I usually do daily but that would be knowing my style of fight."

"...(...Frankly speaking...I'm not going to be like him ever...)" Chris shook his head. "I-I understand...b-but I like to wake up at 6:00 AM or later..."

"...It's a shame," Meta Knight commented. "Here I was hoping you could do it."

"We're here." Mario said.

6 Cymuls appeared, floating around the cloud as Geno stepped forward.

"This should do." Geno said as he fired several bullets at all the Cymuls, but all of them spun around wildly and reflected back the bullets at Geno who yelled in pain and backed away.

"Geno!" Twink yelled worried.

"Just how many...of these enemies are there waiting for us?" Geno asked.

"27 plus these," Roy said. "Don't try to use projectiles because they'll reflect them back at you!"

"I got that clear," Geno said as he flipped and turned into a cannonball. "GENO FLASH!"

"Did he just turn into a cannonball?" Roy asked as Geno fired a small flame that stopped and grew in size in the middle of the Cymuls.

"Geno is that amazing." Mallow said.

"I don't even know how he does that." Mario said.

"The world may never know..." Twink trailed off as an explosion of fire took place in the cloud as the Cymuls disappeared while turned back to normal.

"Complete." Geno said.

Kingdom Hearts II - Working Together

"Must...restrain...fury...towards...idiots..." Crystal King muttered as the next staircase opened and the Smashers walked to the next cloud. The enormous cloud below was now getting farther away from their feet.

"If we keep going like this, we'll reach the top in no time." Mallow said.

"Let's hope this remains easy." Mario said.

3 Koopa Troopas waited for them and Mario stepped forward. He simply jumped above them to make them hide inside their shells. But something then happened.

Mario looked around. "...How do I get rid of them if they're hiding inside their shells?" Mario asked confused.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Crystal King laughed. "What's this, Mario? You can't defeat these now? And here I was thinking you could!"

"Hmm...wait! I know how!" Chris said. "Heat them with your fireballs!"

Mario nodded and he began to shoot several fireballs at the shells which them turned bright red and the Koopas jumped out in pain with several screams. They all ran around in panic and Mario noticed the shells were not protecting them. He proceeded to slam a small fireball on his hand on one of them before continuing with the other 2, thus defeating them all.

"...Hurray, you did it. Now advance..." Crystal King cheered sarcastically as the Smashers went forward to the next staircase.

A Gamyga sprouted out from the next cloud and it stared at no one in particular, before another Gamyga sprouted out and did the same.

"Oh, would you please let me?" Pit said as he stepped forward.

The Gamygas' bases began to rotate a little as they closed their eyes and fired lasers at Pit, which he simply reflected back and caused severe damage to the masks above the bases.

"Hmm..." Hammer Kirby wondered for a moment.

"What is it?" Twink asked.

"Isn't it spooky that those monsters never stare at us but at the same time they attack us? I don't know if they're staring at someone else..."

Chris shrugged as Pit finished them without taking away his shield since the Gamygas could only fire lasers that they couldn't reflect back.

"Easy..." Pit said with a bored look.

"Afraid so...afraid so..." Crystal King said as he opened the path.

"The only thing that tires me out is the long staircase," Roy said. "They keep going up and up with no end..."

Luigi sighed. "M-my legs aren't going to hold on for much longer."

"Then you should better fight the next enemy since your energies are depleting." Parakarry said.

"H-huh?... W-well, if you say so..."

A Mizzo inside a glass was waiting for them.

Music stops

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris, Hammer Kirby, Luigi, Parakarry, Mallow and Twink yelled scared.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-save me..." the Mizzo said. "K-k-k-k-kill me..." it muttered.

"W-what is that monster?!" Luigi asked as he hid behind Roy.

"I-it's some kind of sin?!" Pit asked as he carefully drew his blades out.

"...Hmm..." Meta Knight stepped forward. "I remember this monster being inside my ship..."

"K-k-k-k-k-k-kill me...p-p-p-p-p-please...I-I-I-I beg you..." the Mizzo muttered in pain as it moved around the strings that supported him.

"...Such unfortunate soul that was born from the Subspace..." Meta Knight said as he drew out Galaxia. "It is my duty to send this to a better place."

With a charged slash, Meta Knight sliced the machine in half and it exploded, along with the Mizzo who was no more around the clouds as the path opened.

"...Let's go." Meta Knight said as he walked ahead.

"...I think that wasn't necessary..." Chris said as he looked down. "That enemy made me feel bad."

"And Meta Knight destroyed it without holding back..." Hammer Kirby shed a tear and wiped it out. "...W-why?"

"..." Meta Knight turned to them. "Because it wanted to be killed."

"Isn't that bad?" Pit asked.

"No," Meta Knight shook his head. "Sometimes, dying is better than living for some creatures. And if they're begging for their deaths, then we should give them what they want as an act of generosity."

"I still feel bad for it." Mario said.

"So do I, but it can't be helped." Meta Knight said as he climbed the staircase.

Mario Party - Mario's Rainbow Castle

On the next cloud, 5 Trowlons flew above the air as Luigi stepped forward.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Luigi yelled loudly as the 5 Trowlons chased after him along the cloud. Luigi decided to jump and use a quickl drill kick (which, firstly, wasn't even close to the Trowlons).

"Luigi, stop panicking around!" Mallow yelled.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Luigi yelled as one Trowlon pulled him above its back and began rising up slowly. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!" Luigi yelled as he quickly got off (except the Trowlon who went high up and disappeared from the scene).

"That gives me an idea," Geno said. "Luigi! Step on their backs and get off them quickly! That way they'll rise up and won't come back!"

"O-okay!" Luigi shouted as he turned to the Trowlons, gulped, sweated, adjusted his hat, his trousers, his shoes, hi-

"DO IT!" Parakarry yelled annoyed as the green plumber jumped on each back of the Trowlons. The airborne enemies began to rise up into the air but didn't notice that Luigi wasn't on their backs.

Luigi sighed in relief as the Trowlons disappeared high into the sky. The path was open once again and they all climbed the staircase.

"Why do we have the most pathetic enemies?!" Crystal King asked in irritation.

3 Glices appeared and rolled around the cloud. Chris stepped forward.

The 3 Glices rolled towards him and prepared to open themselves to release a freezing mist. The World Traveler was busy trying to cast fira but the 3 rotating enemies opened themselves quickly and froze Chris inside an icicle.

"Chris!" Pit yelled.

The icicle broke and Chris shook his head, but then a Glice opened itself and froze him again.

"Oh no, he's constantly being frozen!" Mallow said.

The icicle broke out but another Glice froze him again.

"At this rate, his energies are going to disappear." Meta Knight said.

"He needs to think of something before he dies!" Roy said. "Chris! Do something to stun them!"

The icicle broke out and Chris quickly backstepped from a Glice. The World Traveler closed his yellow eyes to cast a quick spell. "Burn to ashes, Fire!"

Fire began to melt the inside of a Glice and it vanished as well. The 2 Glices rolled towards the World Traveler but he closed his eyes again as the top of his staff began glowing.

"Burn them to black ashes... Fira!"

A big flame shrouded the 2 Glices who instantly got their internal ice melted as they shrieked a little and vanished. The path was open once again and Hammer Kirby walked to Chris, who was looking weak.

"Are you...okay?" Hammer Kirby asked.

"I'm fine...almost..." Chris said.

"Hmm..." Hammer Kirby got a worried look as they proceeded to the next cloud.

3 Glires were now rolling about. Mallow stepped forward and the rolling enemies went after him.

"Snowy!" Mallow called out as a sudden blizzard began to cover the cloud before a big snowman fell down. It blinked several times in confusion before exploding into a lot of snow, causing severe ice damage to the Glires who vanished instantly. "Ha! Take that!"

Chris grunted.

"Why are you grunting?" Mario asked.

"I feel humiliated after Mallow just used one attack to defeat them all and I got frozen at least 4 times."

"Somebody is always better than you. I can say the same thing to me."

"Now you got me worried...and jealous."

"Sorry."

"Pfft," Crystal King rolled his eyes. "Like your ice powers outmatch mine."

The path opened and they all climbed the staircase.

3 Glunders were now rolling the cloud while they let out small sparks. Hammer Kirby stepped forward and as the previous 2 kinds, they rolled towards him.

Hammer Kirby jumped into the air and spun his hammer upwards with a spin of 360 degrees that pushed a Glunder back. The other 2 Glunders rolled behind Hammer Kirby and they let out their shells to release strong sparks that electrocuted the Star Warrior. Hammer Kirby backed away and put his hammer in front of him to defend himself.

"Kirby, spin your hammer around you when you run at them." Meta Knight said.

"H-huh? R-right!" Hammer Kirby said as he ran at the 2 Glunders and spun him hammer around himself, slamming it to the Glunders who jumped into the air and shook themselves. However, Hammer Kirby came again with a spinning hammer that defeated both Glunders. The last Glunder tried to sneak behind him but Hammer Kirby quickly turned with a serious expression and slammed hard the hammer on the Glunder, who disappeared as Shadow Bugs.

Hammer Kirby sat down with a sigh as the next path opened.

Chris ducked to grab the hammer wielder and rubbed his head a little. "Can somebody be this cute and strong? Yes, Kirby can."

Hammer Kirby made a happy expression as they all walked to the next cloud.

4 Sword Primids appeared and moved their swords (that looked like Beam Swords) around as Roy stepped forward.

All of them ran at him and instantly thrusted their swords forward rapidly. The red-haired swordsman couldn't evade the fast thrusts that he resisted the blows and backed away. "Ugh..." Roy grunted in pain.

"They used to ambush a single one in order to gain an advantage." Meta Knight said.

"I'd really hate if they did it on me..." Chris shrugged.

Roy quickly ran at them to deal an upward slash to pull 1 of them above in the air before he used Blazer to slam it away to the force field. The 3 Sword Primids ran underneath Roy and used their swords as drills when they jumped towards him.

"Not today!" Roy yelled as he used a downward slash to push the 3 away to make a safe landing. Roy quickly charged his Flare Blade to slam it on 2 Sword Primids, who got blasted away by the small intensity of the blow. The first Sword Primid ran at Roy but tripped, accidentaly slashing him but giving a chance to use Double Edge at the downed Sword Primid who got blasted away.

"The last one is right above you!" Pit yelled as the mentioned Sword Primid used his sword as a drill downwards to the swordsman, but Roy used Counter to counterattack the blow and when the Primid got on the cloud, the swordsman made a simple slash that slammed it down. The Sword Primid was disappeared afterward.

"DAMMIT!" Crystal King yelled as the path got opened as always.

"Hey," Roy pointed at 3 Roturrets in midair without moving. "Don't those guys rotate to fire?"

"Pit, I think you need to go and just use your shield. You'll win very easily." Chris suggested.

"Okay." Pit nodded and he stepped forward, where the Roturrets activated themselves and fixed their turrets at the angel, who pulled his shield out.

...But nothing seemed to happen as they aimed at Pit but didn't shoot.

"..." Pit peered over his shield. "...Aren't you going to attack?"

"They CAN'T speak, genius." Crystal King said.

Pit put his shield away but then the Roturrets fired 18 shots at him. The angel gasped and ran away but half of the shots landed on him as he was pushed back to the force field and crashed.

"PIT!" Luigi yelled.

"They're smart," Crystal King said. "If you put some kind of guard, they won't shoot until you take it away."

Pit coughed a little before 9 more shots were fired at him as he yelled in pain.

"Pit! Use your arrows!" Mario yelled.

"Q-quick..." Pit muttered as he got up and fired several arrows as quickly as he could to disrupt the Roturrets who spun madly.

"Keep going! They won't attack if you keep doing that!"

After a barrage of blue arrows from Pit's bow, the Roturrets blasted away and vanished before the path opened for the Smashers (with Crystal King cursing).

A Red Koopa Troopa was waiting for them with crossed arms.

Parakarry flew to him. "Take a break, you."

"Never!" the Red Koopa Troopa said angrily. "I want some action because appearing out of nowhere isn't exactly what I was planning to do!"

"Oh," Parakarry blinked. "Then do you want a ride back home?"

"..." the Red Koopa Troopa thought for a moment. "...Hmm...well, if you would."

"Hang on." Parakarry carried the Red Koopa Troopa upwards where he passed the force field and let the Koopa fall. "If you keep going down, you'll eventually find your way back home!"

"Thanks, my friend!" the Red Koopa Troopa yelled as he disappeared in the long depth of clouds before Parakarry returned to the cloud and the force field disappearing once again.

"...How did you get outside the force field?" Crystal King asked.

"Because his enemy gave up the moment he decided to return back home." Meta Knight explained.

"...I curse Lord Bowser's minions..." Crystal King muttered as the Smashers advanced to the next cloud.

4 Feyeshes appearing, fixing their eyes at the Smashers.

"Oh, I know how to deal with these." Geno said as he simply stepped forward, shot several bullets at their eyes an-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" the Feyeshes yelled.

"...Did they just speak?" Parakarry asked.

"D-dude! Why did you do that for?!" one Feyesh asked with its eye turning red while they all cried.

"Our eyes are everything for us! Y-you're so mean!" a second Feyesh said as it tried to wipe out all the tears from its lower eyelash.

"Why do you treat us like this?! W-why?!" a third Feyesh asked while it cried and sobbed.

"Y-you're very rude, mean and not to mention heartless to our kind!" the fourth Feyesh cried. "That's it! We're getting out of here! We don't care what Tabuu does to us because we like our eyes very much! C'mon, guys! Let's go find our paradise!"

The 4 Feyeshes nodded and they all floated up before disappearing.

Geno blinked confused before turning to the Smashers, who most of them were glaring at him. "...Oh, please! They were our enemies!" Geno defended himself.

"You're mean, dude." Mallow said simply before Geno glared at him.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh..." Crystal King sighed in utter disappointment as he opened the next staircase for them.

2 Towtows were sleeping peacefully as the Smashers reached the cloud.

"...Luigi?" Mario asked.

"...W-well, they look cute..." Luigi said as he stepped forward and walked all the way to the Towtows. "...H-hell-"

The Towtows suddenly woke up and roared loudly, releasing sparks that made Luigi scream and back away in fear as both creatures lunged at him. Luigi used Super Jump Punch that didn't turn into a Super Fire Punch as it only made a simple hit (and coin come out) on the Towtows, making them even angrier.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!!" Luigi screamed as the Towtows chased him around the field.

"Dealing with him in a match isn't going to be that hard." Meta Knight said before Chris whacked his head slightly with his staff. "And why the hit, I ask?"

"For acting superior when you're not." Chris said with crossed arms.

"Hmph."

"I-I have to strike back!" Luigi yelled as he slid along the cloud and saw the Towtows lunging at him. The green plumber gasped but since he was still sliding, he tripped and the Towtows passed over him and directly to the force field where they yelped in pain, grunted and looked at each other's nose.

There was blood coming from them and they yelled in horror before stupidly running into the force field where they vanished.

"...I-I did it?" Luigi asked as he looked back. "...I-I did it! I did it!"

"Well...was that a way to win?" Roy asked.

"Even the most clever can make a horrible mistake." Meta Knight said.

"Oh, so that applies to you." Hammer Kirby said.

"...Shut up." Meta Knight muttered as the force field lowered.

"D-did you see how did I-" Luigi was interrupted as they climbed the stairs.

"Er, Luigi, I think you did very well. N-now we need to advance so don't show off that much either..." Chris said as he sweated.

"...Okay..."

A Bytan waited for them. It took out another Bytan out of its eye and then the 2 took 2 more, then 4 more, then 8 more, then 16 more, the 32 more, then 64 more, then 128 more, then 256 more.

"..." the Smashers simply watched all the Bytans overflowing the cloud where they were and accidentally broke the force field and fell off the cloud in a rain of themselves, thus killing themselves by multiplying.

"...Huff..." Crystal King sobbed. "W-why do we have such stupid underlings?! T-this isn't fa-a-a-a-a-aair!!!"

The Smashers went ahead to the next staircase as the 2 villains tried to stay under control, or Crystal King even more.

3 Autolances were rolling around the cloud as if they were guarding it. Meta Knight took a step forward with Galaxia ready and the 3 Autolances quickly turned and fired several lances at him, which he quickly evaded using Dimensional Cape and appearing behind one of them, pushing its helmet out to reveal an emergency light.

"Why would they need an emergency light? They don't seem to be the Subspace Army's emergency vehicles to me..." Roy trailed off.

"Aah, the mystery!" Twink said as Meta Knight took a step back from a thrusting spear of another Autolance. The masked knight used a fast charged slash to push the helmet away before using Shuttle Loop to pull the remaining Autolance's helmet away.

The 3 Autolances quickly aimed at him flying around and fired their lances. Meta Knight simply moved to the sides with ease as he descended upon the Autolances to land a severe slash on the 3, right on their emergency lights that caused their defeat as Meta Knight landed and sheathed Galaxia.

"...That was very entertaining." Pit remarked.

"I remember fighting these enemies before, and that knowledge about their weaknesses is valuable." Meta Knight explained as the next path opened. "We must go."

"Why don't you go back instead?" Huff N. Puff suggested. "Pleeeease? Crystal King is in a mental state because of you."

"No." Mario said.

"Sugar on the top?"

"No."

"With candy?"

"No."

"With cherries?"

"No."

"How about lemon ice cream?"

"Hmm." Hammer Kirby and Chris "hmm'd" at the same time. "Lemon ice cream..."

"You like lemon ice cream?" Chris asked.

"And all flavors." Hammer Kirby said.

They all reached the next cloud and 3 Big Primids appeared from the air and stomped the cloud like sumo-wrestlers.

"Leave them to me." Mario said as he stepped forward.

The 3 Big Primids ran at Mario and tripped to crush him, but the red plumber rolled to the right and jumped straight to them to land a fist on the first Big Primid. It bounced a bit before spinning with a jump towards Mario that made some damage to him.

"Look out! They're charging their attacks!" Parakarry yelled as the other 2 Big Primids raised their fists with engulfing flames before slamming all of them on the plumber, who got pushed to the floor in pain.

"Oh no, Mario!" Chris yelled worried.

"I'm fine!... A bit hurt but I'm fine!" Mario shouted as he coughed.

"If by little hurt he means a bloody nose..." Geno trailed off as Mario didn't notice half of his nose bleeding badly. "...Then I'm worried."

Mario jumped straight towards the second Big Primid and pushed them away with both feet before using several Fireballs to debilitate them even more. The Big Primids adjusted their "hats" and ran at Mario who landed and used a headbutt to push them upwards.

"Was that a headbutt or did he slam his fists with his head?" Chris asked confused.

The 3 Big Primids charged their fists in unison but Mario took out FLUDD a shot a stream of water to the fists who got wet, making the Big Primids get shocked.

"I know that WASN'T fire technically." Pit said with a bored look.

And with a sliding kick, Mario slid underneath the 3 Big Primids and used a Super Jump Punch to get coins out from them. The plumber got unable to move but with a quick fall, he was able to recover, and enough to use another headbutt to blast the 3 Big Primids away.

"That was very impressive," Chris said. "Mario, you're really a natural fighter."

"Oh, thank you," Mario nodded. "I train normally without showing off my abilities."

"Suuuuuure." Roy said.

"You don't believe me?" Mario took out a list that Chris took once they walked to the next cloud. "See who shows off in there after winning a match."

"...Mario...pretty much EVERYONE except you, Luigi and Peach are here...and the date for this is 2001, when the Melee Tournament took place." Chris pointed out.

"I think they still do that." Mario said.

"Well, in that case, I pity the guys who really like to show off after a match ends."

Chris was pitying Bowser, Captain Falcon, Falco, Fox, Ganondorf, Link, Ness, Pikachu, Roy, Dedede, Sonic, Wario and Wolf.

"I pity the guys who don't use swords." Roy said.

The red-haired swordsman didn't pity Marth, Ike, Link, Toon Link, Meta Knight, Pit and Chris if he used his Swordsman or Moogle Knight job.

"I pity the "fighters" who don't show any bravery during battles." Meta Knight said as Luigi forced a glare that later turned into a shocked face.

Meta Knight pitied Luigi, Lucas, Pichu and Olimar.

"And I pity the guys who can't eat a whole feast in one minute like me!" Hammer Kirby said with a happy expression.

Kirby just pitied everyone else except himself.

"We're here, "pities." Mario called out.

"And clean your nose." Pit said as he took out a napkin from his back.

"Why?" Mario asked before Pit used his Mirror Shield to reflect Mario's reflection. "...Oh."

"Quick. I hate to use these sacred items as every-day accessories." Pit said.

4 Scope Primids appeared and Pit decided to participate again to reflect their shots backs, which the Scope Primids didn't evade as they received stupidly their shots, thus killing them.

"Hurray for reflectors." Roy said as he high-fived with Pit.

"Hurray for dead Smashers!" Huff N. Puff yelled while Crystal King sobbed.

On the next cloud, 3 Fire Primids appeared, rubbing their stomachs where they stored fire to be prepared for the next fight.

"Don't worry," Chris said as he stepped forward. "I know what spell to use."

The 3 Fire Primids ran at him and pulled back their heads to shot a stream of intense fire.

While the fire enemies were about to release their stream of fire...

"Douse and drown them down!... Watera!"

A big splash of water came underneath the Fire Primids, which they swallowed accidentally, dousing the fire inside their stomachs to nothing as they seemed to panic.

"Since they're wet... Shock them for greater good... Thundara!"

2 powerful bolts of lightning crashed into the 3 wet Fire Primids, which electrocuted them greatly before blasting away to the force field where they vanished as Shadow Bugs. The force field was removed and the Smashers went to the next cloud.

"I was wondering," Geno began. "Why don't you use that combination with an enemy? They seem to get more damaged with water and lightning combined."

"Hmm..." Chris wondered.

The next cloud had 3 Tickens walking around slowly. Parakarry decided to fight this time.

"You 3, get out." Parakarry said with a glare.

"This isn't going to work this time." Mario said.

"Oh, really?" Parakarry asked before the 3 Tickens raised their spikes upwards and pinched the Paratroopa as he was pushed back. "Y-you little!" Parakarry flapped his wings angrily and hid inside his shell, where he aimed at one of the Tickens and used Shell Shot to slam himself to it.

The Ticken suddenly trembled and it released a small chick that flew upwards and disappeared.

"Was he fighting a little chick and was it controlling the armor?" Mallow asked.

"Sometimes it's better not know." Twink shrugged as he saw Parakarry hiding inside his shell to slam himself on another Ticken, who released another little chick that flew away.

"Ha! I'm far stronger than before. Fear me!" Parakarry proclaimed as he used Shell Shot on the last Ticken, who released another little chick that flew away to the distance.

Hammer Kirby sniffed. "W-will they find their mothers?"

Chris picked him up and rubbed his head. "T-they will..." Chris shed a tear. "I'm sure they will..."

Meta Knight shook his head in shame (for Chris and Hammer Kirby) as they all advanced to the next cloud.

The next cloud had 2 Shellpods and Roy stepped forward.

The 2 Shellpods quickly ran towards Roy, who charged his Flare Sword quickly to release a devastating blow. When the 2 Shellpods lowered their horns to raise Roy to the air, the swordsman slammed his sword hardly on them to create a big explosion, causing some damage to him and the Shellpods whose shells got broken.

The 2 Shellpods (without shells) let 2 high pitched bellows before Roy used Double Edge, the dance inflicting 3-hits followed by a last slam that blasted them away. "That's more like it!" Roy said with enthusiasm.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!" Crystal King cried out before sobbing out loud, opening the next staircase to the next cloud.

"We're causing a mental breakdown in his mind." Geno said.

"Meh, the more severe, the better." Mallow commented.

3 Metal Primids appeared and they adjusted their hats a little as Hammer Kirby stepped on the field.

The 3 Metal Primids, as their previous comrades, ran at Hammer Kirby who charged his hammer behind him before raising it with a devastating force that pushed 2 of them to the air before landing back. The other one got behind Hammer Kirby and kicked him 2 times.

Hammer Kirby gasped once his ability bounced away from him and disappeared once it touched the force field.

"H-he lost his ability!" Twink said in shock.

"Relax," Mario said. "Kirby can use another one."

Twink looked back at Kirby who pulled out another hammer from behind his back and slammed it on the third Metal Primid, who got pushed away a little before Kirby leaped to him with 3 spinkicks that managed to blast it away.

Kirby looked back where the 2 Metal Primids charged at him and tripped to crush him with both of their weights combined, but Kirby flipped back on the floor and then rushed at them by spinning with his hands and feet, before splitting his legs apart by spinning them to push them at both sides of the force field, where they vanished and opened the way to the next cloud.

Then Kirby did the Kirby Dance, which Chris considered very cute.

On the next cloud, 4 Floows appeared and floated slowly to the sides. Luigi, with some courage, stepped and made a ridiculous fighting stance.

"Luigi, don't humiliate yourself even more..." Roy said with a frown.

"T-this is how I fight, okay?" Luigi said with some tone of annoyance.

The 4 Floows floated to Luigi and they remained close to him without even doing anything. Luigi took advantage of this opportunity to use a Super Fire Punch in a chain-reaction manner to all the Floows, who got pushed back as their tiles moved at the sides.

"I remember them very well," Mario said. "Luigi! Attack them before they recover!"

"R-right!" Luigi said as he ducked and charged up his Green Missile to blast himself towards a single Floow, who got blasted away as the other 3 recovered their healths and floated to Luigi before releasing terrifying screams of agony that damaged Luigi severely. "YEEEEEEEEEH!" Luigi yelled his own scream of agony.

"Luigi, you need to counterattack their attacks!" Pit yelled.

"I-I want to see you doing it!" Luigi yelled as he quickly used Luigi Cyclone to push the 3 Floows away. "P-phew..."

"C'mon! Attack them now!" Twink yelled trying to cheer on Luigi as the green plumber looked up to the Floows recovering. Luigi jumped straight to one of them to use another Super Fire Punch to blast it away with success. Luigi quickly landed (on his head) and tried to get up quickly to jump at another recovering Floow.

"Isn't Luigi changing his ways to fight now?" Mario asked.

"He sure is." Roy said with a nod after Luigi used 4 karate chops on the second-to-last Floow, blasting it away.

"F-fear me!" Luigi yelled at the last Floow who floated to his way and tried to release its scream of fury and agony, but Luigi used a fast headbutt to stun the Floor for a moment before the green plumber used a flip kick to finish it off. "Y-yeah!" Luigi said, jumping in excitement.

"Damn you, green man!" Crystal King yelled as he opened another path to the next cloud.

"Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Luigi! Lui-"

"Luigi! We're going to leave you behind!" Mario yelled from the staircase.

"...Huh?" Luigi turned to Mario and sighed in depression. "N-nobody appreciates me..." Luigi muttered in shame as he slowly walked to them.

"...I do." Chris said, standing from behind Luigi.

"...O-oh, thank you." Luigi said with a small smile.

The next cloud had 2 Greaps that rolled around the place.

"I had horrible nightmares with those monsters before," Pit said as he took a step forward. "I won't let them torture me again."

"Their weak points are their heads, remember." Mario said.

"I will." Pit said as the Greaps rolled towards him and raised their sickles above, which Pit took the opportunity to roll behind them.

"It looks like a baby carriage to me." Twink said.

"It exudes both creepiness and cuteness..." Meta Knight trailed off.

"Ooh, Meta Knight saying cuteness?" Parakarry teased.

"You want your head on the floor?"

"N-nevermind, sir." Parakarry nodded in shock.

"Yiah!" Pit jumped behind one Greap and used a forward slash with both of his blades to make it jump off the ground a little. Pit proceeded to spin his blades quickly to slash his head several times before he used a downward slash to blast it away.

"Watch out!" Geno yelled as Pit got attacked by the other Greap's sickles, which slammed into him and pushed him to the force field. Pit grunted in pain and he ran at the Greap while he yelled. The Greap raised its weapons again and Pit made a risky move and jumped to his head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Kirby yelled in slow motion as the Greap slowly moved its sickles on Pit while the angel moved his blades forward.

The first attack landed, and the enemy got pushed back.

"..." Kirby opened his eyes and saw Pit dropped on the cloudy floor.

"...Oh my god..." Chris muttered. "...Pit...he isn't..."

The Greap rolled towards Pit and it raised its sickles again.

"...Huh?" Crystal King said confused. "...He's dead?... He's actually dead?"

"It appears so..." Huff N. Puff said.

"...YES! FINALLY! VICTORY IS OURS! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

He was interrupted as a familiar Greap was shown blasting off outside the force field that disappeared once it was defeated.

"..." Crystal King looked to where Pit was, and the angel was shown holding the Palutena Bow with a small smile and weakened eyes. "...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"PIT!" Mario and Roy yelled worried as they all ran to Pit.

"Pit, can you move?" Roy asked as he knelt to Pit.

"I can..." Pit muttered weakly as he slowly got up. "I'm...a little bit...tired..."

"Don't push yourself like that," Meta Knight said. "You're going to become a burden if you do that."

"Meta Knight!" Chris yelled.

"I merely said the truth."

"..." Chris looked at Pit. "If you want, I can heal your wounds."

"...Thanks..." Pit nodded as Chris changed to his Fonyc User job and healed Pit's wounds while they got to the next cloud.

The next cloud had 3 Nagagogs playing tag, and Geno stepped forward.

The 3 Nagagogs ran to Geno, who jumped to the air and fired several bullets at them. However, the Nagagogs rubbed their stomach and they grew up in size, before growing to big red versions of themselves, beating Geno's own height as the puppet's eyes widened in shock.

"RUN!" Twink yelled as the huge Nagagogs ran after Geno. The puppet, while he ran away, used Geno Beam to make them back away. Geno noticed that one Nagagog was gone before it slammed its fist on him, pinning him down to the cloud while some of the Smashers gasped.

"Oh no, not him too!" Mario said worried as Geno struggled to get off from the Nagagog's hand on him.

"You...won't..." Geno clenched his mouth (since he didn't have teeth). "...You won't...stop me...from saving Kalmar... Take...THIS!" Geno pulled out his right hand and fired a charged beam to the Nagagog's face, which made it back away before it was blasted away to the force field.

"Come-back! Come-back!" Mallow and Twink cheered as Geno got up and rolled away from the other Nagagogs' fists. The puppet quickly held out his hands to the sky where he shot a light and slammed his hands on the floor, calling forth several lights from the sky. "GENO BLAST!" Geno yelled as the Nagagogs were constantly damaged before they blasted away and vanished.

"I'll provide healing," Chris said as he went to Geno and made his staff glow. "If this continues like this, we're going to have problems."

"I know..." Geno nodded. "But we're so close to Kalmar now. We can't fail."

"Exactly." Mario said with a nod as they proceeded to the next cloud.

Music stop

"...Oh no..." Pit muttered.

"...It's..."

There was a R.O.B. Sentry waiting for them. Mario, Pit, Kirby, Luigi and Meta Knight felt nostalgic about what happened during the invasion of the Subspace Army.

"...Now..." Kirby began as he looked down sadly. "...I wonder what happened to R.O.B...."

"That's right..." Chris said. "You fought alongside him for a short time, didn't you?"

"Yes," Pit nodded. "If I remember, R.O.B. couldn't forget something tragic about himself..."

"R.O.B. was involved greatly as Tabuu's Ancient Minister," Meta Knight explained. "He was a very depressed character to begin with. Nobody could make a conversation out of him, ever if we tried."

"He only wanted to stop Tabuu from hurting the other R.O.B.s, but at the same time, he was very frightened to face Tabuu himself." Mario added.

"I tried to cheer him...but it was useless..." Kirby said sadly.

"So, who's this R.O.B. guy?" Mallow asked.

The 5 Smashers explained everything to the others.

"I can't believe his race got imprisoned by Tabuu..." Twink said worried.

Tales of Symphonia 2 - Behind Us!

Chris turned to the R.O.B. Sentry and made a serious face. "(Wait...a race? It's stupid to me... Robots are not considered a race. They're...um...artificially created by people so, they're technically machines. Calling them a race is going a bit too far to define them... Which brings a question...)" the World Traveler put his right hand on his chin and looked down. "(If robots are created by people...and since they're not a race like humans, anthros, Pokémon, elves, half-elves, featherfolk, felinefolk, menodixes, and other races...)"

"Chris?" Pit turned to Chris.

"(If robots are created by people...who made the R.O.B.s?)"

"Chris!"

"Huh?" Chris turned to Pit. "O-oh, sorry. I was thinking about something regarding the robots."

"Well...why don't you share what you think to us?"

"...Later..." the World Traveler turned to the R.O.B.. "Right now, we need to advance."

"I'll be fighting it." Roy said as he took a step forward.

The R.O.B. Sentry quickly went towards Roy and it tried to slap its hands on him, but Roy used Counter to push it back. The R.O.B. Sentry went after him again but Roy used Double Edge to defeat it easily as the path opened again.

"..." Roy looked down. "...After you told me everything about R.O.B...I feel guilty for destroying one that looks like him."

"Let's just go." Meta Knight said as they went to the next cloud.

And there was a R.O.B. Blaster waiting for them.

"...I'll go." Mario said.

The R.O.B. Blaster pulled back its head and shot a fast and strong laser that Mario reflected back using his cape. The R.O.B. Blaster got pushed back but regardless, he shot another laser that Mario reflected back. Its own laser was just too much for the robot that he exploded into bits as the path opened again.

"...Sorry..." Mario muttered in shame as they advanced to the next cloud.

There was a R.O.B. Launcher ready to fire a missile. Mallow stepped forward and he called an impacting lightning bolt (Shocker) to crush the R.O.B. Launcher. It wasn't enough and it shot a missile that slowly flew to Mallow. The cloud prince jumped over it and took out a stick that he slammed on the robot, making it explode into bits.

"..." Mallow looked down in shame as the path opened.

"Just 2 more clouds to reach them." Geno said.

"...Yeah, but..." Mallow shook his head.

"...I know...the robots..."

There was an Armank waiting for them.

"I TOLD YOU TO CALL FORTH 2 OF THEM!" Crystal King yelled.

"You forgot to remind me the 3 previous fights!" Huff N. Puff yelled.

"I'll fight it." Meta Knight said as he stepped forward.

The Armank slowly went after Meta Knight and when it was close, a big arm sprouted out from the top and it spun to shoot a big energy ball that Meta Knight dodged by a long backstep. The masked knight jumped to the arm and used 3 slashes to cut it down.

The interior of the Armank opened and between the chassis and the lower part, a blob-looking creature looked around in panic before the masked warrior used Shuttle Loop, combining it with a strong slash that pushed the Armank back.

It was going to close the chassis but Meta Knight used Drill rush to pierce through the middle of the enemy to make it explode once he landed on the other side.

Thus, the second-to-last cloud was at their reach, while the bigger cloud that contained Crystal King and Huff N. Puff was closer that before.

Music stops

Kirby looked down where the enormous cloud was. "...We're pretty far from the ground now..."

"And very close to get Kalmar back." Geno said as they climbed the next staircase.

"..." the Smashers stopped walking once they reached the next cloud, but nowhere was there waiting for them.

"...Wait," Pit looked around. "Something is going to appear here. It's a guess, but I'm sure of it!"

"Thinking back where we were attacked 50 times, it's no surprise." Chris said as he rolled his eyes.

A dark portal appeared between the next staircase and the Smashers. From it, a foot took a step out before it slowly showed them the person walking outside of it with several evil snickers.

"...You..." Roy muttered as he slowly reached for his swo-

"W-wait," Chris interrupted. "Roy, what is the name of your sword? I know Marth's sword is Falchion and Ike's sword is Ragnell, but what's the same of yours?"

"Sword of Seals." Roy muttered.

"Oh, thank you."

"So," the figure that spoke in front of the Smashers. "You're here at last."

"Shut up, Ganondork!" Roy yelled.

Ganondorf glared at Roy. "Why must the young swordsmen always have to be this disrespectful to me?!"

"Wait," Huff N. Puff interrupted. "Didn't we forget the big Goomba and the big Bytans?"

Crystal King, having seen the Smashers wiping out his forces this entire time, got utterly furious and yelled "SON OF A-"

Preview of the next chapter

"You shall not pass through here!" Ganondorf demanded.

"We shall pass through here!" Mallow yelled.

"Make me!"

"I will!"

"Crystal King's Issues. Only a small preview? But the title pretty much says that we're going t-" Mallow was interrupted as a random Snorlax fell on top of him.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Heaven's Paradise
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Parakarry

References:

-Some enemies' info were said by the Smashers, meaning that the info of their trophies were used.

-"Persona 4 - Heaven" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays during Nanako's dungeon of the same name.

-"Mega Man 8 - Tengu Man" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during Tengu Man's stage. Such enthusiastic theme for a "jewish" robot, if you get what I mean. XD

-"Kingdom Hearts II - Working Together" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays during a normal fight in Twilight Town as Sora.

-Chris mentioned some races that can be found in the Star Ocean series.

So, the next chapter is the last chapter of this arc.

An important question rose up to my mind when I wrote for R.O.B.. The fact that he has a "race" of his own seemed pretty weird to me, and the Isle of the Ancients was weird as well. I thought there was this deep and complicated connection with his "race" and then...

...Why do I think R.O.B. has a past?...

...Something I truly want to get writing for! :D

Will they defeat Crystal King (who has an emotional breakdown) and Huff N. Puff? Will they defeat Ganondorf (who likes to make their lives a hell)? Is Luigi going to prove himself by being a coward? (No bashing to Luigi either).

Well, all I have to say is...stay tuned in this section. :P

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 122*: Crystal King's Issues

I'm so sorry for updating yesterday (because I accidentally pressed the wrong button. I was supposed to correct a mistake in chapter 120) and late as well. There were some exams at school so you know.

Sophia: Shame on you!

Who invited you here?

From Dimentio713: Hi! This is me! Typing from my new computer! I got this from my dad! anyways to the review!

I feel sad for the R.O.B. ... they didn't need to die... Tehehe Ganondork I really like the songs too! though some were really sad like the last one...

Well anyway I like this fic a lot

Can't wait for next chapter wiiboychris

From your semi-faithful reviewer,
Dimentio713

From me: Oh, thank you. I'm glad you got a new computer (it made me want one now (uses Windows2000 Pro). :)

From DianaGohan:

wiiboychris: Oh, hell no! I'm not going to put all that!

"Uses flamethower and burns parody"

wiiboychris: Phew... Now, on to the REAL review.

From DianaGohan: You know I do mock it but it's not like this was a bad chapter despite it just being in the words of final fantasy "still more fighting". Really that's the only way you could think of the advance the arc any? Endless battles? Eh at least this will probably mean less subspace enemies appearing. Besides there were some funny moments in the battles (like the easy won battles) and some good strategies used. And a couple decent hints at future chapters to do with talk of R.O.B's story and stuff. So really there was actually some good stuff here. Besides it's nice to finally get shorter battles since a lot of the ones in the later chapters could drag on for quite awhile. And I also give props in this storyline for it being a rarity to have so many one on one battles like this.

GRADE: BB.

From me: Yes, it was necessary, unless you want puzzles. And you do mock many times. Well, so do I. "Laughs maniacally, coughs, then laughs maniacally again"

...Seriously, I can.

As for the Subspace Enemies, well, they'll appear more often but obviously not every kind at the same time.

And battles dragging on? Oh, excuse me, I forgot that huge chapter in the NOTW where it was mostly a Were-Fox VS. Were-Wolf fight than the Red VS. his werefied Pokémon, so there. You drag on as well (remember the Were-Snake VS. Were-Snake battle?). : P

(Bad thing is I don't know how your grades work with repetitions, pluses, minuses and all that).

From SlasherMask: How tengu man is jewish?(its more japanese...)

I think that robots can be considered race...(especially robots that nobody has created(transformers!:D(mechanical lifeforms))

Now that i think about it... You don't like Fire Emblem games(because its turn based strategy?) so you have done research RIGHT?

Aww... Crystal King is being melodramatic...

P.S. Technically if race can't be race if it have been created... Wouldn't that include every race which believes that they have been created by some kind of god?

P.S.S. Its general rule of universe to "beware the cute ones"(Kirby is coolest!(only pink thingy i like!))

From me: Tengu Man ISN'T technically jewish. Many have said he yells "jew" when damaged, but just as a joke.

Robots as a race? If they were created, no. If they weren't created and were born that way, yes. (You'll see what I mean later...I hope so for me as well).

Yes...I don't like FE that much. I like the characters but not the games. Sorry for the FE fans reading this. Of course, I write a lot for them, don't I?

Well...ouch, hard question. I don't want to go into religions now here so let's not get further into that for our own sake.

Amen to Kirby. :)

From lucario cat star: Will tails doll appear or metal sonic? Or Ituko? Or Sora? Or a big giantic cookie that will appear after this sentence?

From me: ...I thought you read all the chapters, and I mean EVERYTHING on them. I don't know who the heck is Ituko either...sorry.

And for the cookie? Please, go to Kirby's dreams. :P

From Blaperile: Hey,
Poor Mizzo...
Also poor R.O.B's.

Anyway, I can't wait for the next chapter! Great going!

Even though it were little fights, they were still very good written (just like everything else ofcourse).

Keep it up,
Blaperile

From me: I can't say more other than thank you, so thank you. XD

From ngrey651: You know, for some reason I found the Crystal King's slow but sure breakdown over losing so many of his troops to be hilarious.
And that Mizzo's moment saddened me. I honestly felt bad for it.

Sincerely...Nick

From me: Too bad that Mizzo was an enemy that was made wrong. Oh well, in times like this, a hacker can do wonders...oh, wait, DON'T HACK THE GAME, PLEASE! XD

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh... Honestly, I am extremely sorry and to make it up to ya, I will do a double review!(Insert confetti here)
Last chapter was funny with those trainers trying to catch every pokemon. Thank you mewtwo! Oh, red will get it!
This chapter Wow all these fights were awsome! Why do I get the feeling that roy will fight ganondork? I myself am now utterly curious about said r.o.b.s past. Again, I am utterly and sincerely sorry for my disrespectful review last chapter. Forgive me please! UPdate soon! Hasta!

From me: Oh, I'm glad you apologized.

...Roy fighting Ganondorf? That is an idea... XD

From Rellymaster: -Finally, an instant attack happens! Instead of being caught off guard, they went right to the fight. That overdone thing has finally stopped! (at least, for now)
-The Crystal King must be bipolar if he's mad one time and okay the next.
-Meta Knight must be extremely dedicated to improving his sword skills with that regime. That sounds extremely tiresome to me.
-Geno pulled off a "Bully Move"? Well, that's unexpected, but it got the job done. Still, I can't help but feel sorry for the "victims."
-Very good question about R.O.B. Too bad I don't have an answer for it.
-Poor Crystal King...He needs therapy.

From me: -Hurray for that, my friend. :)
-He's nuts.
-Meh, I saw it coming. I think being forced to fight him with a sword that does little damage is annoying, but hey, it tests your skill to defeat him. ;)
-Geno's such a bully when he doesn't know. XD
-I do have the answer...maybe. ; D
-Ice Therapy! "Audience laughs at pun"
...Okay, bad pun. My bad. : P

From chrisworshiper: i'm back great chapters sorry i havent revewed in a bit but it sliped my mind so sorry. please keep on readind so i can keep on wrighting err wrighting so i can keep on reading. and hurray for me i have 90% on subspaceeminsinary or what ever you call it. anyways i think chtis should rake lucario on more adventures. can't wait for next chapter

p.s. thatnks for rewrighting the start of thih sereys

From me: God, this review was confusing, but I was able to decipher it.

Finally, someone reads and tells he read the editted version of the prequel. : )

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

I have to say, this was a great pseudofiller (takes up quite a lot of space but necessary to the plot) chapter.

I found this chapter to be useful; it gauged their fighting prowess against many Subspace creatures and displayed the Crystal King's blatant incompetence. In fact, what probably made this chapter really good was Parakarry. He only had to actually fight once.

Keep the updates up!

From me: Fortunately, the Paratroopa gets more action.

So, you're staying with the Reviewer job? XD

From JSandders: Wow! A lot of stupidly easy fights at the start and ridiculously deadly fights in the end make for a good sequence of events for the Smashers to experience! I feel sad for some of them though, like the Mizzo and the ROBs. Robots can kind of be races though... there are robot-making robots that exist, so I think that you're safe from any problems in the plot line about the Isle of Ancients.

Parakarry was the most awesome fighter, he just told everybody he fought to get lost! XD Luigi was great too, I just adore the Guy in Green, the Master Ghost Catcher, the King of Second Bananas! The way he fights is just funny as hell and his Final Smash is priceless! XD He's too under-appreciated, he should get some more love from his fans!

I have a feeling that next chapter, Ganondork and Roy will be the one's who will fight. Can't wait to see their one-on-one! When they reach Crystal King and Huff N. Puff, do they still have to fight him with one character or can they all fight? Can't wait!

From me: Let's hope I can pull off a good backstory for R.O.B.. I think this idea was never written before here.

I don't know the "King of Second Bananas" part at all, sadly. : P

Er...n-no, who told that about the fight? XD

From Mewtrainer: So...was that every enemy except for Big Goomba and Big Bytan? *Whistles in appreciation* Chris thinks very little of the Goombas...XD. Poor Crystal King...not! XD Yay for the Smash DOJO! Wait... Anyway, what's a 'blew' flavor, and you said three Buccolusses (or however they're spelt XD), and then you said four right after. Might want to look into that.

From me: Yes, those were all the enemies (did it help you to remember them outside the game? I hope it did).

Blew flavor? Basically tastes awful. Say blew yourself in a bored tone.

And that little mistake was the same one that I chose the wrong button for the update. (T_T) So sorry for that one.

From Korean-Born Paper-Stars: The Crystal King really does have issues! I almost feel sorry for him ... obviously he thought that the Smashers would easily be defeated by the Subspace Army ... but honestly, those guys aren't too tough. Don't know why, but this chapter was hilarious! Most likely because of the Crystal King and how the Smashers easily beat everything between them and oh-whatever-they-fight-for. Next fight is with Ganondorf? Easy fights come to an end ...

From me: I just wonder why do we get our butts handed to a swarm in the game (in higher difficulties, that is). Do we suck that much? T_T

Yes, easy fights do come at an end.

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: Interesting. I never thought what R.O.B.'s backstory was. I wonder how that will turn out? And that 50 floor trail thing reminded me a lot of those extra mazes in games that have you battle a lot of enimies. I am also surprised you are just now playing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. In my opinion it is a really fun game and I will give you this warning when you finally react the bonus dugeons(I think that is how it is spelled). THEY WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!! Anyway, will you do an arc on it and have you played Tales of Legendia? I highly recommend it as it is a good game and has quite a great cast of characters *Cough*Norma*Cough*.

From me: 50 floor reminding you about dungeons? We don't have games like those... coughPokémonMysteryDungeoncough...

Oh why should they tear me to pieces? I can always count on little Roger with Maria and Peppita. : P

I'll most likely to an arc for Star Ocean if I can get people to read it. I need to write their personalities (normal ones, of course) well so the people reading this like the characters.

Never played Tales of Legendia before, sorry. :(

Oh, and thank you. :)

From Saiked: right crystal king with an emotional breakdown, priceless i do hope that barry will pay in some painful way(just remembered him from pkmn diamond)*goes to fetch a screaming Luigi that barry can listen closely too*

great chapter hope you never quit writing your stories are too awesome too stop lol

From me: I hope so too. ;)

We reach the end of this original arc! At last, we'll move to the...wait, how do we know they get out of this alive? Scroll down, people. : P

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 122: Crystal King's Issues

Heaven's Paradise

Tales of Symphonia - Zelos's Theme (Serious Arrangement)

"..." Twink looked at Geno.

"...Yes, he finished." Geno said as he unblocked Twink's ears after the king of ice ended his long sentence with curses.

"You have arrived," Ganondorf said as he crossed his arms. "At last, another chance to get rid of you."

"But aren't we going to fight you with only one of us?" Mallow asked.

"True, but you will fall to your deaths if that person dares to fail."

Chris looked at Luigi. "N-no! Not me!" Luigi said as he shook his head quickly in panic.

"Hmph," Ganondorf chuckled. "Do not worry, I will not fight such a pathetic vermin like the green man."

"W-why can't anybody remember my name?" Luigi asked.

"I do." Mario said.

"B-but because you're my brother!"

"We do," everyone said.

"B-but just because I live with you!"

"I do not." Ganondorf said with a glare.

"B-but just because you hate pretty much everyone but yourself!"

"Please, we are not jumping to bonds with people," Ganondorf smacked his right fist into his left palm. "Enough about this. I want to see this cloud with blood spilled all over it."

"I'll make sure that blood is from you!" Pit said as he took out his dual blades.

"...Wait..." Chris stopped Pit from stepping forward. "Ganondorf, I want to ask you something."

"...Very well." Ganondorf nodded.

"Do you know what is R.O.B. doing?"

"..." Ganondorf closed his eyes. "That fool is serving Tabuu as his high officer commander, who instructs everyone to deploy the Subspace Bombs around all the worlds. I do not know more about that piece of metal."

"H-hey! You were worried about him before!" Mario yelled.

"I did?" Ganondorf asked with a smirk. "I do not care about anyone else rather than myself. The day I become a "hero" I am going to be very bad at it and make a fool of myself saving the naive princess and the coward idiot."

"...I don't know guys...but I think he's saying the truth about that." Chris said as he looked away.

"Good, somebody understands me." Ganondorf said with an evil smile.

"That's more like a smirk to me." Parakarry said as he looked at no one in particular.

Shh!

"Oh, sorry."

"With who were you talking to?" Kirby asked.

"N-nobody..." Parakarry shuddered.

"Ganondorf," Meta Knight began as he took out Galaxia. "Step aside and let us pass to finish the imbeciles on the cloud."

"You shall not pass through here!" Ganondorf demanded.

"We shall pass through here!" Mallow yelled.

"Make me!"

"I will!"

They all saw Roy stepping in front of the group as the force field appeared and trapped both challengers inside.

"Roy, are you serious?" Geno asked.

"Like hell I am!" Roy said as he looked at them over his right shoulder. "I always wanted to fight Ganondorf myself just to show Link that I can defend very well against him. Don't worry, I won't lose because we're sure don't want to fall at this height."

Kirby looked down at the insane height they were in. "...I can float down."

"And I can descend slowly." Pit said.

"And I can...turn into a moogle and descend slowly too..." Chris looked down in shame.

"To me, that job seems very useful." Meta Knight commented.

"Really?"

"SILENCE!" Ganondorf yelled as he took his right foot behind him and glared at Roy.

Tales of Vesperia - Fury Sparks

"Swordsman! You shall die by my hands!" Ganondorf yelled as he rushed at Roy.

"I'm also doing this because Link made a bet with me!" Roy said as he rushed towards Ganondorf. "If I can stab my sword at his heart, Link will lend me his Master Sword for a week!"

"I hope Zelda doesn't get a word of this." Mario said.

Ganondorf rushed with his arm ready to slam it at Roy, who jumped over him and slashed his head one time before landing behind the lord of darkness and thrust his sword to his back. Ganondorf grunted in pain as he was able to turn at Roy and use Wizard Foot to push him away as black flames radiated from the red-haired swordsman before vanishing.

"Roy, remember, Ganondorf has strong moves but he's slow." Mario said.

"I know..." Roy said as he shook his head as charged at Ganondorf, who smirked and used Flame Choke to grab the swordsman by the throat and slam it using the dark energy down to the floor. "Ugh..."

"Die!" Ganondorf yelled as he raised his right foot right above Roy's face. The swordsman gasped and rolled to the right to evade the stomp in time before quickly getting up. "Hmph, making your time to die come later?"

"At least I'll make yours faster. HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Roy rushed at Ganondorf with his sword ready as he thrust it forward with great speed, stunning Ganondorf with the blow for a moment, enough to use a small charged Flare Blade to inflict a good amount of fire damage.

"Ha!" Ganondorf slammed his fist into Roy to stun him a little before using Wizard Foot, pushing the swordsman to their before the lord of evil used Dark Dive to raise himself towards Roy, grabbing him by the shoulders as Ganondorf transferred electricity to Roy's body before pushing him away with an explosion of dark energy.

Roy rolled sideways along the cloud and stopped with his face on the floor as he twitched in pain. "...You won't...kill me...Ganondork..." Roy muttered as he stuck his sword on the cloud to stand up before regaining his composure.

"Phew..." Parakarry sighed in relief as he wiped out some sweat from his head. "One second there I thought he was done for..."

"Heh," Ganondorf chuckled. "Well, can you still stand up?"

"Yes..." Roy muttered weakly. "Enough to...push you down...to the clouds..."

"Sorry," Ganondorf said as he began running to Roy with his fists glowing dark energy. "But I will be the one pushing you out!"

"(Closer...)" Roy thought as Ganondorf was about to smack both fists on his face. "THERE!" Roy used a quick Counter to retaliate quickly at the lord who gasped and grunted in pain once a fast attack with fire slashed him across his armor. "Not even done!" Roy yelled as he quickly stepped in front of Ganondorf and used Double Edge to land 4-hits, the last one being a small fire slash that pushed Ganondorf back.

"U-ugh!" Ganondorf took several steps back and shook his head. "T-this is why I hate people like you..."

"And you're the main reason...why I hate creepy green guys..." Roy said as he panted.

"Then does that mean Ganondorf is an alien?" Kirby wondered.

"No, Kirby," Chris ducked and smiled to Kirby. "Ganondorf has a horrible face sickness that only seems to work on him."

"Ooohhh..." Kirby tilted his head.

"...Really?" Luigi whispered to Mario.

"No." Mario shook his head.

"I will kill you this time..." Ganondorf muttered as he ran at Roy, but then jumped in the air to slam his feet down on the swordsman. Roy gasped before he was pushed to the air straight as Ganondorf jumped and used a flip kick to push him away to the force field, where he crashed and landed on the cloud in pain.

"...U-ugh..." Roy stuck his sword on the cloud once again to regain his stance. "J-just...a little more..."

"Triforce of Power," Ganondorf began. "...Bring damnation to these impudent fools!!!" the lord of darkness yelled loudly as an explosion of rainbow aura covered him while he chuckled darkly.

"...Now that's bad." Roy said with shocked eyes.

"Pit," Chris began as he grabbed Pit's right hand. "Prepare to carry me."

"W-would you cheer on Roy before we fall?" Pit asked.

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Ganondorf yelled loudly as he started to grow in size, transforming into Ganon with the same darkish aura in flames that emanated from his body. Roy's eyes widened while his pupils shrunk once the beast stomped the cloud in fury and fixed his eyes at the swordsman. "PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM, PUNY SWORDSMAN..."

Pit rolled his eyes. "Meet your doom...that expression is so overused in you."

"SHUT UP!" Ganon yelled at Pit.

"Now, Roy." Mallow whispered to Roy once the swordsman saw the opportunity to sneak underneath Ganon, where he thrust his sword on his stomach before the beast roared in pain and slammed his stomach on Roy to crush him.

Ganon proceeded to push Roy with a big foot to slam him to the force field as the beast chuckled darkly. "I MUST BE AWARE OF WHAT YOU IDIOTS DO TO ME. TABUU ALTERED MY FINAL SMASH SO I CAN STAY LIKE THIS FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, BUT I EXCHANGED INVINCIBILITY FOR MORE TIME, ENOUGH FOR ME TO CRUSH ALL OF YOU DOWN!"

"I was starting to wonder that," Chris said. "Your Final Smash should've only been a stomp to bury your enemies to the ground before ramming at them."

"I ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR WISDOM," Ganon said as he chuckled. "TOO BAD I CANNOT HURT YOU TO STOP YOUR STUPID MOUTH FROM LEAKING OUT INFORMATION ABOUT ME."

Chris gulped once Ganon glared at him, narrowing his white eyes. "Y-yes, i-it's a shame y-you can't kill me r-right now..."

"AW, THE KID IS GOING TO MAKE AN ACCIDENT ON HIS CLOTHES, BELOW?"

Kid.

"..." Chris put a stronger grip on his staff. "N-no, I-I'm not going to do a dirty thing like that..."

Roy slowly walked towards Ganon from his back and tried charging up a Flare Blade to deal a massive blow.

"HMPH," Ganon stood on his front feet and pushed Roy quickly with his back feet to slam the swordsman to the force field, where he yelled in agonizing pain as blood began to stroll down his mouth. "PATHETIC TRIES TO GET ME DAMAGED."

"ROY!" Pit yelled worried.

"SO," Ganon looked at Chris and narrowed his eyes. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE, KID?"

Chris put a stronger grip on his staff and shook his head. "N-no. W-why?"

"BECAUSE IT SEEMS I COULD ENJOY YOUR CRIES IN THE DARKNESS VERY WELL," Ganon explained as Roy tried to move from the back. "YOU ARE A CRYBABY, ARE YOU NOT?"

"Stop scaring him! He's not fighting you!" Mario yelled with a glare.

"If somebody should get hurt here, that's Roy!" Mallow said.

"Mallow, quiet!" Geno whispered angrily.

"AH, SUCH TASTE OF VICTORY..." Ganon licked his lips a little. "I WAITED FOR THE MOMENT TO KILL THE SWORDSMAN, AND THE TIME IS NOW!" Ganon jumped to spin in the air and turn to the weakened swordsman. "NOW, WHAT ARE YOUR LAST WORDS?!"

"...Go to hell...and fu-" Roy was interrupted.

"NO curses." Geno interrupted as Twink tilted his head confused.

"YES," Ganon nodded. "THAT IS WHAT THAT IDIOT LINK USED TO TELL ME WHEN I ALWAYS HAD HIM CORNERED LIKE THIS. HOWEVER, I HAVE YOU IN HIS PLACE!" Ganon laughed maniacally. "AND HE ALWAYS USED TO COME UP WITH A LAST STRATEGY TO DEFEAT ME. I HATED SUCH IDEAS OF HIM WHEN THAT HAPPENED. IF IT WERE NOT FOR HIM, I COULD HAVE HAD HYRULE UNDER MY REIGN!" the beast stomped the cloud. "BUT YOU ARE DIFFERENT, BECAUSE THIS IS NOT YOUR DESTINY TO DEFEAT ME, IT IS MINE!"

"U-u-ugh..." Roy sat down on the cloud as he leaned his back to the force field.

"AND NOW..." Ganon began. "LET ME CRUSH YOUR BONES TO NOTHING!"

Ganon began to stomp the cloud madly as he rushed towards Roy, who only opened his right eye to see the beast about to crush him under his weight. Roy smiled a little and he was about to faint...

...Until...

"HOLY LANCE!!!"

4 spears of light appeared from below Ganon and they all impaled him across all the sides, making the beast roar in pain as Roy watched surprised at the sudden magic appearing out of nowhere.

Back to the Smashers, there was Chris pointing his staff at Ganondorf with a serious face before he blinked a few times and got a surprised face. "...W-what did I just do?"

"Your magic hurt him," Pit pointed out. "B-but I thought we couldn't help someone in these fights!"

"Oh, I understand now." Meta Knight said with a nod.

"What do you understand?" Parakarry asked.

"We can't physically enter to aid whoever is fighting," Meta Knight looked up to Chris. "But magic, on the other hand..."

"...Now I get it..." Mario rubbed his chin. "Magic can trespass the force field because it appears inside randomly."

"Since it doesn't go through like a missile or a bullet, it can appear like a portal." Geno added.

"Correct," Meta Knight nodded. "All this time we could've had used magic to rely others in their fights from the very beginning."

Chris blushed. "S-so basically I was able to help any of you?"

"Oh, let me try something," Mallow cracked his fingers and held his hands to the sky. "SHOCKER!"

"UGH!" Ganon grunted in pain as a huge bolt fell on his back and disappeared.

"A-ha!" Mallow put his hands on his hips in triumph. "I can trespass the force field with my own magic!"

"WHY?!" Crystal King cried. "W-why must our plans need to fail like this?! W-we had everything planned very well!"

"Maybe we forgot some details..." Huff N. Puff said embarrassed of himself.

"I HAVE NOT FAILED!" Ganon yelled to the cloud.

"S-should we support Roy with magic?" Luigi asked.

"..." Chris looked at Mallow, who nodded with a small smile. "...Mallow, let's support Roy with our magic. Ganondorf won't attack him if we keep interrupting his attacks constantly."

"Okey-dokey." Mallow said with a chuckle.

"T-that's my own line!" Luigi protested, but Mallow ignored him.

"Roy! Can you still go on and fight?" Pit yelled.

"WHERE IS THAT SWORDSMAN?!" Ganon demanded as he looked around the cloud. "THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE. THE TERRAIN HERE IS PLAIN!"

"Time to fool the fool," Parakarry whispered to Twink, who nodded. "Oh my gawd! Roy is flying?!"

"WHAT?!" Ganon asked as he looked up and tried to find Roy. "WHERE IS HE?!"

"RUUUUUAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Roy yelled on the top of Ganon's back with a fully charged Flare Blade, which caused a big explosion on the back of the beast as it roared in pain. Roy quickly jumped back to the floor but twitched in pain. "D-damn, that attack weakened me...even more..."

Roy coughed several times before Ganon slowly turned to him with some deep grunts. "YOU-WORTHLESS-SWORDSMAAAAAAAAAN!"

"It's Roy...stupid Ganondork..." Roy muttered with a chuckle.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Ganon roared loudly in fury as he prepared to slam his body down on the red-haired swordsman.

"Thou who wouldst take revenge, carve here thy holy seal... ECLAIR DE LARMES!" Chris created a cross underneath the beast which rose up and cut his stomach with light energy, making Ganon take several steps back in pain.

"Psychopath!" Mallow called out as 2 spotlights focused on Ganon and made him confused. "Hmm...his health is still too big... He likes to live in the darkness and also kill swordsmen, something I was expecting from him." Mallow pointed out.

"R-Roy! Attack him!" Kirby yelled before Roy nodded and wiped the blood off from his mouth and put a grip on the Swords of Seals. The swordsman then charged at Ganon and slashed him across the face before the beast roared and moved his front feet in pain while he stood up.

"This is my chance..." Roy muttered as he looked at the bright scar on Ganon's stomach and used Double Edge, successfully doing a 4-hit combo before slamming his sword at the thick stomach.

"Y-YOU!" Ganon yelled as he almost crushes Roy by standing with his four feet.

Roy quickly rolled backwards and stood on his right knee with his sword ready as Ganon made like a bull and shot smoke out from his nostrils. Roy motioned towards himself and some of the Smashers gasped.

"H-he's not going to stand there and get crushed against the force field, is he?" Twink asked worried.

"We can only watch and wish for what is best..." Meta Knight said with a frown.

Ganon began to run slowly towards the swordsman, stomping the cloud with force and making it tremble with every foot he lowered down. Roy narrowed his eyes and put his right hand's palm facing Ganon.

"I-I don't know what is going to happen...b-but Roy, don't die!" Chris yelled.

"I...won't..." Roy muttered with a cough.

Once Ganon was about to pin Roy to the wall, the swordsman's palm touched Ganon's face and he quickly pushed himself to the left side and Ganon took a quick look to Roy's grin before he ran to the force field and yelled in pain.

"Heheheh..." Roy chuckled. "You're Ganondork, alright... Stupid enough to ram yourself...into the force field."

"Yes," Meta Knight nodded. "As I've said before, even the most clever can make a horrible mistake." Meta Knight repeated.

"Oh, so that applies to yo-" Kirby gulped once Meta Knight stared at him directly with his eyes. "I-I didn't say anything..."

"...Good." Meta Knight said before turning back to the fight.

"DAMN YOU, IMBECILE!!!" Ganon roared loudly as he shook his head and went after Roy.

"D-damn..." Roy fell on his right knee and panted heavily. "I-if this keeps going on like this..."

"Oh no, he won't!" Mallow yelled as he held out his hands. "Star Rain!"

"HUH?!" Ganon looked up where a giant Starman appeared and crushed him 14 times with several bounces before it jumped away and vanished. The beast was laying down on the floor but he shook his head and slowly got up. "YOU ARE LUCKY I CANNOT GO OVER WHERE YOU ARE AND EAT YOU ALIVE!"

"Eat this!" Chris yelled as closed his eyes and focused more energy to his staff. "O melody beckoning toward the abyss..."

An echoing voice of a woman was heard and everyone looked around for the source, before focusing on Ganon who found several bubbles coming from underneath him, exploding continuously as they somehow made him confused without moving. "S-STUPID..." Ganon said as he tilted his head by the sides.

"W-where did you call that voice?" Luigi asked confused.

"Er..." Chris turned to him. "I-I honestly don't know, but it usually appears when I do those kind of spells..."

"Ahem." Mallow coughed.

"Oh, sorry."

"Wait," Mallow snapped his fingers. "I have an idea to help Roy."

The cloud held out his hands towards the sky and closed his eyes to call forth a small cloud with a weird smile that floated over Roy and made rain. The rain that fell all around Roy suddenly began to heal his wounds by a half before it disappeared.

The swordsman stood up and shook his head a little. "...Why didn't you do that before?"

"Oops." Mallow stuck out his tongue.

"GRR!!!" Ganon shook his head to recover his composure and glared at Roy. "YOU ARE RECOVERED?! FINE! I AM GOING TO ENJOY CRUSHING YOUR BONES A LITTLE BIT MO-"

"Thundara!" Chris (using the Black Mage job) called forth 2 thunders that impacted Ganon from both of his sides. "Now! Attack!"

"Thanks for the help!" Roy shouted before running to Ganon's face and raising his sword to charge it up.

"Quick!" Pit yelled as Ganon moved himself back to ram at Roy. "Stop him!"

"SHOCKER!!!" Mallow yelled out.

SHOCKER!

"UGH!" Ganon grunted in pain as a big lightning fell down on his back. The beast noticed that Roy was very close to his face as he began to shine brightly with a shiny red color. "N-NO! YOU WILL NOT LAND THAT ON ME!" Ganon yelled as he jumped above Roy and slowly fell down to crush the swordsman.

"Magic won't push him away now," Meta Knight said. "Roy is in serious danger now."

"Trap my enemies in the coldest ice... Blizzara!" Chris yelled as a big icicle sprouted out in front of Roy and impaled Ganon on his glowing scar.

The beast was stopped in the air and Ganon looked down, where the icicle that impaled him disappeared, letting him fall down on Roy. "DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!"

Music stops

"OOOOAAAAAHHHH!!!"

An explosion of fire covered the area where Roy and Ganon were. Most of the Smashers dropped their jaws a little in shock, while Meta Knight watched without a single trail of emotion. Smoke almost covered the whole inside of the force field.

"...Did he..." Twink muttered worried.

"Please...tell me Roy didn't die..." Chris muttered worried.

"..." Mario's eyes trembled as the smoke cleared out...

...And both Roy and Ganondorf were knocked out.

"N-no!" Parakarry yelled.

"...I-idiot..." Roy muttered as Ganondorf couldn't respond back. "...I-I told you...you're an idiot..."

"...Roy!" Kirby yelled happily as the force field lowered down and the Smashers ran at Roy. They all saw Ganondorf entering inside dark portal, leaving the cloud and everyone.

"T-thank goodness..." Chris sighed in relief as Pit helped Roy to get up. "I-I thought you were going to die."

"...Heh..." Roy smiled weakly as he wiped some blood. "At least...he's out of the way now... T-too bad I lost the bet to Link though..."

"C-come to think of it," Luigi began. "Defeating Ganondorf was very fast this time."

"Because we discovered the flaw of those force fields." Pit said.

"T-thanks, guys," Roy chuckled. "If it weren't...for you...I could've died..."

"And now," Chris changed to his Fonic Hymn User job. "Your reward is a big recovery, by me, of course."

"T-thanks..." Roy nodded with a chuckle as the World Traveler healed the swordsman.

5 minutes later...

Everyone stood in front of the final staircase and to the big cloud that had Crystal King and Huff N. Puff.

"..." Parakarry flew to the front and looked up. "Those dorks are so going down after I ram my shell at them," he turned to the Smashers. "Okay, everyone! It's time to bring the beautiful spring back because I'm sure as hell we don't want an eternal winter forever, right?"

Mario nodded. "I haven't been that long to experience what you did, but I'll fight to end it."

"And to rescue Kalmar," Twink began as he looked up. "We need to defeat them. Just that."

"But we should be careful," Geno warned them. "They could be hiding something to surprise us the moment we step on that cloud."

"L-like?" Luigi asked worried.

"I don't know what. Either way, precaution is necessary."

"You worry too much," Meta night frowned. "After how the king reacted at the fall of every single enemt, it's clear that this won't be very hard to deal with."

"So that's his weakness?" Kirby asked.

"Perhaps, perhaps not."

Chris shuddered. "S-something very bad is going to happen after we climb these stairs..."

"You're thinking too much." Roy said.

"I'd be careful," Geno said. "Who knows what awaits with those 2."

Mallow rolled his eyes. "Just climb those stairs and let's fight those guys! They're REALLY going to be so dangerous after we reach them!"

Meanwhile, on the top cloud...

Mario Party - Mario's Rainbow Castle

"My mother was the best ice ruler," Crystal King said as he laid down on a cloud bed with Huff N. Puff using a notepad and wearing glasses. "S-she always used the most deadliest punishment upon those who dared to oppose her," he sniffed. "I-I admired her as my father. Both of them were the best of the best."

"Uh-huh," Huff N. Puff nodded before pointing his pen at him. "Any good memories besides that one?"

"..." Crystal King thought for a moment. "...Icicle Cream?"

"..." Huff N. Puff nodded as he wrote it down.

"Icicle Cream was much better than ice cream itself," Crystal King sniffed. "My father used to give me one of those. The icy aroma was incredible..."

"And what happened to that Icicle Cream?"

"T-the ice vendor...melted..." Crystal King sobbed. "W-what's worse, he was the only one of the whole mountain who knew the recipe, s-so that wonderful dessert was forever lost! LOST!" Crystal King cried loudly as several ice cubes fell down his yellow eyes.

Huff N. Puff nodded as he wrote it down. "(To think a guy like him was this troubled from the inside, if he has an inside that is...)" he shook himself. "Anyway, don't worry."

"W-why?" Crystal King asked as he looked at him with several sobs.

"We're in charge to protect the last Star Spirit. Tabuu gave us another chance to live so why not be happy for it?"

"...I don't see why the happiness is needed..." Crystal King looked away. "Our forces were slowly destroyed one-by-one and they're probably about to reach this place."

"We're here, in fact." Mario called out.

Huff N. Puff looked at him as Crystal King went on without noticing them. "In short, my childhood was horrible. I used to freeze the bed when I slept, freeze my dog, freeze the bathroom, freeze the enjoyable cold water, my dog again..."

"Y-you should stop now." Huff N. Puff suggested.

"But I'm not done yet," Crystal King looked at him. "I was about to explain the time my mother gave me a spat on my misty butt whe-"

Crystal King stopped once he saw the Smashers blinking confused at him.

"...T-that was what my friend Dennys told me about all his sucky childhood!" Crystal King said cheerfully as he jumped off from the bed cloud. "He sure had a very sucky past because the look on his face of mist was priceless! Yes! I also think his life sucked!"

"We're not idiots," Meta Knight said annoyed. "You, however..."

"...You don't believe me, do you?" Crystal King asked with a bored tone.

"No," everyone said.

"..." Crystal King sobbed one last time. "D-Dennys, w-why did you have that bad childhood..."

"They're NOT believing you anymore!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he tossed the pen, glasses and notepad away.

"Fine!" Crystal King yelled in fury. "Now you know how my past sucked so much! I hate it! I want to rewrite that history to correct the errors I did along the way to become a better person, but I don't have that kind of power and NEVER, EVER will!"

"Then, can you please give Kalmar back to us?" Mallow asked.

"Oh," Crystal King took out the card from his robe. "Here."

"NO!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he snatched the card and hid it somewhere inside himself. "Stop being such a pansy and get yourself together! We have company," he pointed at the Smashers. "And a bad one!"

"B-but I..." Crystal King staggered.

"Will you act like the usual villain you are for once?! You were one of Mario's most difficult enemies, for your ice crown's sake!"

"...Y-yes..." Crystal King sniffed as he adjusted his ice crown. "I-I'm fine now... I-I can do this..."

"Yeah," Huff N. Puff nodded with a chuckle. "Remember, you have the ice power with you."

"I have the ice power..." Crystal King repeated.

"You can freeze anyone..."

"I can freeze anyone..."

"You can recover at the last moment to annoy them..."

"I can recover at the last moment to annoy them..."

"You're a king, despite not ruling your own kingdom or nothing else."

"I'm a king, despite not ruling my own kin-wait, what is that supposed to mean?!" Crystal King asked angrily.

"You don't make any sense with the "King" part of your name!" Huff N. Puff argued.

"You will bow down to me RIGHT now, this instant!"

"Ha!" Huff N. Puff laughed. "I won't, because you're not my boss!"

"Neither you are!" Crystal King yelled. "I'm the one who came up with the idea to cause this weather, remember?"

"That was Tabuu, actually..."

"Oh well," Crystal King rolled his glaring eyes. "But I gave more contribution than you!"

"I MADE all the clouds in here! You gave me a boost of ice power!"

"And I came up with the idea of our forces against them!"

"Oh," Huff N. Puff chuckled. "You mean the one where you failed miserably?"

Crystal King gasped and grunted afterward. "Y-you take that back!"

"Nah-ah," Huff N. Puff tilted by the sides. "It's the pure and honest truth. Admit it, your ideas suck."

"You didn't DO a thing if I recall correctly!"

The 2 of them continued arguing as the Smashers shifted their eyes between both of them. Twink yawned along with Mallow as the villains argued between themselves.

"Anybody thinks they're going to destroy each other if they keep going like this?" Roy asked.

"Apparently so..." Chris shuddered (using the Black Mage job).

"HEY!" both villains turned to them. "We're not killing each other!" they yelled.

"Then would you start the evil speech before a fight as we're forced to listen in a daily basis?!" Pit yelled.

"...You know, when you put it that way, it makes me feel rather useless for having to fight bosses like them with the evil speech part..." Chris said with an ashamed look.

"Or feel ashamed." Meta Knight added.

"Meh, it works, it sells and it pays off pretty well." Mallow said with sunglasses on, that he later tossed away.

"Okay, got to return to our evil senses," Huff N. Puff said. "Oh, so you finally arrived! We were tired of waiting for you but it seems you were strong enough to defeat everyone in your way up here."

"The solo fights was a bad idea for you 2." Geno said.

"Told you." Huff N. Puff whispered to Crystal King.

Crystal King frowned. "I expected all of you coming here to confront us. Gathering the previous 6 Star Spirits was an easy task."

"But," Huff N. Puff chuckled. "We're not idiots like the previous 6 keepers. We're a lot smarter than all of them combined."

"Yet, the mist dude cried the entire day." Mallow pointed out.

"S-shut up!" Crystal King yelled. "You just put me on my icy nerves! You won't do such a thing to me now that we have you where we wanted!"

"And I have you there as well!" Parakarry yelled. "Because of you, my job is much harder to do! Do you think my wings are going to hold me up for much more time? What the heck are you 2 thinking?!

"...Freeze the land in an eternal ice era?" Huff N. Puff responded in confusion.

"Hell no!" Parakarry flapped his wings angrily. "I'm here to give you 2 a piece of my mind! After that, my shell is going to give you one!"

"Leave the guy behind so he does all the work for us." Mallow whispered.

"No." Geno whispered.

"Parakarry, I think you should calm down a little bit..." Mario suggested.

Parakarry turned to him. "Nope. Mario, I'm not listening to you this time. This job of a postman is everything for me! I want to say the usual thing I always say when I lose a letter!"

"Another letter, duly delivered. A postman's job is never done?" Mario asked.

Parakarry nodded. "Yep, that same one," he turned to the villains. "Time to get you 2 to leave! I'm prepared for anything you throw at me!"

"...I told you it was a bad idea to freeze him and not do anything else after that." Huff N. Puff whispered.

Crystal King mumbled angrily.

Music stops

Chris's staff glowed red. "Fire magic should put you 2 out."

Both villains chuckled evilly.

"W-what is funny?"

"Tabuu told us about you," Huff N. Puff said. "He warned to get rid of the kid with the different powers to make everything easier."

"Why can't ANYBODY see that I'm a teen?!" Chris asked to the Smashers, but many looked away. "Y-you guys! Y-you're unbeliavable!"

Mist began to gather around the place as Crystal King moved his sleeves in circles. "Stand aside from the kid."

"Teen!"

"It doesn't matter." Crystal King said as the mist began to close in to the World Traveler.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Chris asked worried as the circle of mist began to shrink.

"Quick!" Geno yelled. "They're going to do something to him. We need to stop them fro-"

"Not today!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he slammed his hands on the cloud and created an earthquake on it, causing the Smashers to stumble back.

Meta Knight was shown jumping to the air, before diving towards Chris. "Stay right there." Meta Knight said.

"That's what you think!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he lifted his right hand to the masked knight and a tower of thick clouds rose up from the floor and pushed him away.

"I-I need to stop him!" Chris said as he closed his eyes and focused his magic on Crystal King. "Burn them to black ashes... FIR-"

A loud sound was heard and the mist collided with the World Traveler, all around him. The Smashers saw Chris and gasped once that his body turned blue with several glitters around.

"W-wait, did they...freeze him?!" Luigi asked in shock.

"Yes," Crystal King nodded. "But that's not all."

Huff N. Puff began to grunt as sparks began to be released out from him, pulling his fists to him before raising them to the air, calling forth a strong lightning bolt that impacted on the frozen World Traveler and shattered the ice, setting Chris free but leaving him extremely weak.

"...I'm...so...sorry...everyone..." Chris muttered weakly before he collapsed by the right side and fell on the floor.

"CHRIS!" Kirby yelled worried as he ran to him and shook him a little. "Wake up! P-please! Wake up!"

"..." Geno ran to them and ducked to examine Chris. "...Not good, he was knocked out."

"N-no..." Kirby sobbed a little.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Crystal King laughed maniacally. "1 out! That's a nice comeback for us!"

"Bastards..." Roy muttered with a glare.

"This isn't good..." Pit shook his head. "If Chris is down, then that means we can't do our combined attacks."

"I presume he will be fine once we finish this fight." Meta Knight said as he took out Galaxia.

"You? Finish this fight?!" Crystal King laughed for a bit to the sky. "I want to see the impossible happening!"

"We had enough of all of you!" Huff N. Puff yelled before looking at the king. "It's time now!"

"But of course," Crystal King said. "It's time for us to...merge!"

"Merge? The 2 of you?" Twink asked.

"Wouldn't use the Shadow Bugs be better?" Pit asked.

"For what?" Crystal King asked. "We're pretty strong if we merge together. The Shadow Bugs corrupt someone's mind and we don't want to take any risks. Tabuu himself told us to do it our way and he agreed."

"(But he said about us regretting it...)" Huff N. Puff thought. "So, shall we?"

"Exactly!" Crystal King yelled before pointing at the Smashers. "Behold! This merging is going to be your true nightmare!"

Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! - Boss Battle

The atmosphere around them turned a little bit blue as the cloud where they were on began to shake violently. Crystal King and Huff N. Puff chuckled evilly a clouds began to slowly cover both of them. The Smashers backed away a little from the gathering of clouds where the villains were standing.

"B-be on your guards," Meta Knight shouted. "We shouldn't underestimate these imbeciles!"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!" 2 voices from the cloud laughed evilly. "Now, this place is going to be your final resting grave!"

Geno took a step back. "Be prepared!"

"Right!" Mallow and Twink nodded.

When the clouds stopped gathering around the 2 villains, a new villain floated in their place...

...But something was wrong.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" both of them yelled. "BEHOLD OUR ULTIMATE TRANSFORMATION! We're now Crystal Puff: the Ultimate Subspace Army's Keepers of the Star Spirits! Now, you won't get the Star Spirit out from us so easily because our powers have increased to a new level, a level you won't resist for the first 4 minut-"

"It's just the crybaby king standing above the big cloud..." Parakarry pointed out with a bored look.

Back to where the "new" villain was standing, there were Crystal King standing on top of Huff N. Puff's head. Nothing else changed apart from Huff N. Puff in his icy blue color.

"...So much for that entrance..." Meta Knight said with a frown.

"Not to mention the stupid names combined..." Roy commented with a bored look.

"S-shut up!" Crystal Puff (both of them talking in unison) yelled angrily. "You don't comprehend our powers combined! For that, you'll die here!"

Parakarry quickly grabbed Luigi by the shoulders from escaping. "Oh no! You're staying here to fight those guys!"

"N-no!" Luigi yelled as he struggled to get off from Parakarry's hands. "I-I don't want to die! I-I'm allergic to death!"

"Nobody's stupid enough to be allergic to death. Now stay here!" Parakarry yelled as he pulled Luigi in front of the Smashers.

Luigi shed a tear and stood up. "A-alright...we can do this...we ca-"

"Say, who's going to look after Chris?" Mallow asked.

In an instant, Luigi appeared right besides to knocked out Chris and ducked with a bored look. "I-I can stay behind and let you guys fight them. I-I'll stay here and keep Chris safe."

Mario nodded to his brother. "Thanks, Luigi."

The others, obviously, frowned at Mario's over-confidence and naiveness towards his own brother.

Luigi made a happy expression. "W-well, get fighting! T-those 2 aren't going to stay glaring us the entire day, right?"

"...Let us leave him behind..." Meta Knight said with a frown as they turned to Crystal Puff.

"Wait right there!" Kawashima was heard from Chris's pocket. "I want to remind you all that Chris bought 2 Superspicy Curries and a Hothead. We also have a Green Shell, Poison Mushroom which is not effective against bosses and lastly, a Bumper. You can use them whenever you want but think carefully about when!" Kawashima explained. "Useful tip: Crystal Puff has gained back his weakness against fire so exploit it to the fullest."

"Useful info is always good." Mallow said with a nod.

"Oh, please take care of Chris too. I'm inside his pocket so if he gets crushed or anything...well...it's Game Over for me as well."

"I-I will..." Luigi shuddered as he dragged the World Traveler close to the staircase.

"STOP IGNORING US!" Crystal Puff yelled as he raised his 4 hands. "Ice, freeze them to their deaths!"

Mist began to circulate beneath everyone's feet and they all sidestepped out of the way as 8 icicles sprouted out before disappearing.

"Hmph, evasive actions..." Crystal Puff grunted.

"Attack with fire!" Roy yelled as mostly everyone ran to Crystal Puff.

"Begone!" Crystal Puff yelled as he waved a hand quickly in front of him to launch a strong wind, pushing them all back. "Hahahahahaha! Reaching us isn't going to be so easy ei-"

"Shut up."

"What?!" Crystal Puff looked up where Meta Knight went swiftly through the air and slashed the villain across both faces before landing close to him (them) and using a fast Shuttle Loop to slash them again, before thrusting his sword at Huff N. Puff's face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Crystal Puff yelled loudly. "H-how dare you, filthy knig...where did he go now?!"

"Very slow." Meta Knight commented as he appeared behind the villain (villains) using Dimensional Cape with a slash attack from behind.

"Our turn!" Pit yelled as he flew above a little to dive down on Crystal Puff and use a downward slash on Crystal King himself.

"U-ugh!" Crystal Puff backed away. "Freeze!" Crystal Puff raised both hands above and several ice bolts fell down the sky.

"D-dam-" Pit couldn't finish his sentence before an ice bolt down on him and froze him.

"Pit!" Roy yelled before glaring at Crystal Puff. "You're going to pay for that!"

"You do!" Crystal Puff yelled as he called forth several stalagmites of ice under the swordsman, slashing him across his body as Roy screamed in pain before the ice shattered.

"I-I'm not going to be pushed to the brink of death again..." Roy said as he coughed a bit.

"Too bad Ganondorf couldn't stop you," Crystal Puff said with a chuckle. "But we have the honor to do it."

"I thought you 2 were combined so technically you're one now?" Twink asked.

This little mistake was going to cause several confusions to everyone (the Smashers, and the figures stalking them every day behind the fourth wall, and probably beyond a screen on many rooms across a big, big world).

"...Shut up!" Crystal Puff responded as he raised his hands up and brought down an ice bolt on Twink, but Geno quickly pushed Twink out of the way and he got frozen.

"GENO!" Twink yelled before he tried to shatter the ice. "P-please, hold on!"

"Freeze you too!" Crystal Puff yelled as they (we told you it's confusing) called forth another ice bolt.

"Thin lollipop!" Kirby yelled excited as he quickly aimed his mouth at the ice bolt and jumped over Twink to save him from getting frozen as the puffball ate the ice bolt and started to shine brightly.

"W-why is Kirby shining like that?" Parakarry asked.

"Since the lightning had ice and electricity combined, I guess both were fused together but Kirby's ability recognized both as separated," Meta Knight explained. "And when he eats 2 different abilities..."

"He gains a random one." Mario added.

When Kirby stopped shining, he wore a jet cap on his head as he hovered above the floor a little with a mini-jetpack inside his hat, smiling a bit. "Jet Kirby prepared to take off, VROOM!"

"Take off but away!" Crystal Puff yelled as he inhaled a lot of air and blowed it to Jet Kirby.

"Storing Mach 5 engine!" Jet Kirby said as he used Store Power to, ironically, store power inside his hat as he pulled his left foot behind. After enough power was store, he used Jet Dash to blast himself towards Crystal Puff at an insane speed before releasing all the stored power's energy out by using Jet Cracker, creating strong shockwaves that damaged both enemies greatly. "VROOM!" Jet Kirby said happily.

"D-dammit!" Crystal Puff yelled in pain. "H-how can a puny marshmallow have this power?!"

"I wonder myself that too many times," Meta Knight commented before receiving a glare by Jet Kirby. "Finally, you defend yourself with a glare for a change."

"Vroom..." Jet Kirby grunted.

"Actually, he obtains a more serious personality when he copies a power from us." Mario said.

"If he had that personality without an ability he would be feared otherwise." Meta Knight said.

"Will all of you stop talking?!" Crystal Puff asked angrily as they called forth several Ice Puffs from the floor. There were 4 of them grinning with their bluish eyes staring at the Smashers.

"Want us to freeze them?" one Ice Puff asked.

"Yes. Go forth and kill them all!" Crystal Puff ordered before the 4 Ice Puffs floated towards the Smashers and gathered winds inside themselves.

"I'm not going to be frozen again..." Roy muttered as he used a small charged Flare Blade. Surprisingly, the small charged sword with fire was enough to blast one of them away.

"DAIHOOOOOOOOO!!!" the Ice Puff that Roy blasted away yelled.

Mario looked behind him where an Ice Puff blew an icy wind that froze him completely.

"MARIO!" Luigi yelled worried before the same Ice Puff turned to him and grinned. "...U-uh-oh..." Luigi muttered as the cloud enemy went towards him and the knocked out Chris. "S-stop!" Luigi yelled as he stood up and took a ridiculous judo fighting stance. "I-I can use fire!"

"Really?" the Ice Puff asked.

"Y-yeah!" Luigi said as he shot a small fireball that attacked the Ice Puff.

"AAH! IT BURNS! HELP!" the Ice Puff yelled in panic as it floated away to another Ice Puff that was trying to freeze Mallow.

"...P-phew..." Luigi sighed in relief and sat down by falling.

"UGH!" Parakarry held his hand up in pain after an Ice Puff froze him. However, when the Paratroopa fell down on the floor, the ice shattered and he was released instantly. "Y-you'll pay for that!" Parakarry demanded as he flew back and extended his feet to the ice cloud, using Sky Dive to push the cloud to the floor. "HA!" Parakarry accelerated to crash his feet on the cloud, making the enemy yell in pain before it vanished.

"My chance to get a raise!" an Ice Puff said cheerfully while gathering wind inside. At that moment, Geno broke out from his frozen state and aimed his fist at the cloud. "What? Gonna rocket your fist at me?"

Geno's fist began to shoot out steam before it went rocketing on the Ice Puff's face directly, causing a critical hit on the enemy.

"NO!" the Ice Puff yelled before it disappeared by the impact. Geno's fist turned back to him and the puppet caught it in time to put it back on his wrist.

"That's what you get for freezing me." Geno said before Twink floated to him and nodded.

"SHELL SHOT!" Parakarry yelled as he hid inside his shell and got himself blasted towards Crystal Puff at a high speed, colliding with the king above.

"AAAAAAAHH!!!" Crystal Puff yelled in pain before they shook themselves. "Hurting a king is against the laws of a kingdom, sick dork!"

"Yell whatever you want to yell back at me!" Parakarry yelled. "I'll yell it back to you until you're down without breathing air again!"

"Fool!" Crystal Puff yelled angrily as he seemed to gather electricity. "We hope you die with this!"

Both villains opened their arms as they shot down an ice bolt below themselves and to the floor, where it spreaded and froze everyone's feet with some damage.

"I'm F-L-Y-I-N-G, you know!" Parakarry yelled with a glare.

"...Great going," Huff N. Puff said as he looked up to Crystal King.

"Y-you, quiet!" Crystal King whispered angrily.

Pit slashed the ice from his feet to get released from it. "This little trap isn't going to stop us that much."

"But it does hurt..." Roy said with a cough as he got his feet out from the icy floor.

"Then try to get close to me!" Crystal Puff demanded.

The swordsman put a stronger grip on the Sword of Seals and he ran towards the villains, but on his way, he tripped and slammed his face on the floor, followed by a moan of pain. "O-oww..." Roy moaned in pain.

"The floor got frozen," Crystal Puff pointed out. "You can't see where is frozen because the mist covering your feet can't let you see well. Imagine the desperation to know which part isn't frozen!"

Mario was shown shooting fireballs around him as steam came from almost everywhere. "I imagine the desperation to freeze everything again."

"DAMN YOU, MARIO!" Crystal Puff yelled angrily. "Ice bolt, fall down upon him!"

An ice bolt fell down from the sky over the red plumber, but he quickly rolled behind to evade the bolt before charging at the cloud enemy.

"GRR! This is why I hate guys like you, bothersome guys!" Crystal Puff yelled as he created 2 ice saws between their (confusion again) hands and shot them at Mario.

"Thunderbolt!" Mallow called out as several lightning bolts impacted on the saws and disappeared them into bits of ice.

Mario jumped straight towards Crystal Puff and slammed a fist downwards on Crystal King, while Huff N. Puff shook in pain before shaking even more after Mario used a headbutt.

"Geno Blast!" Geno yelled as he shot a light to the sky and called forth several towers of light that slammed down into the 2 enemies, who yelled in pain.

"VROOM!" Jet Kirby used Jet Dash to cross the combined enemies and land on the floor before looking back at them.

"Oh no, you won't gang up on us like that again!" Crystal Puff yelled, gathering electricity on himself.

"Attack!" Roy yelled as he jumped straight to the enemies.

"N-no!" Mario held out a hand to Roy before the swordsman touched Crystal Puff and got severely electrocuted, pushing him away to the floor where he grunted and twitched in pain while some sparks flew out.

"NOW!" Crystal Puff yelled as he released a strong ice bolt on the floor and froze everything on it.

"RED DUDE!" Parakarry yelled as Roy got frozen totally since he laid down on the floor after the push.

Not only that, the ice almost reached the World Traveler and the green plumber, who managed to pull Chris away from the frozen floor.

"UGH!" Crystal Puff twitched in pain after Meta Knight used Mach Tornado to trap them both inside. "BEGONE!"

"Hmph," Meta Knight stepped out of the way by a slam of Huff N. Puff's hands. "You're not worth the trouble." Meta Knight said as he then used 2 upward slashes to deal damage to the stomach.

"HA!" Crystal Puff yelled as he bounced on Meta Knight 3 times to stun him before shooting down an ice bolt to freeze him. "Out of our sight!" Crystal Puff yelled as he slapped the masked warrior out from the cloud.

"M-META KNIGHT! VROOM!" Jet Kirby gasped as he used Store Power to used a downward Jet Dash to get Meta Knight in time before crashing on something.

"Not good," Geno looked at Crystal Puff. "We're 6 against 1 now."

"2." Twink corrected.

"1!" Crystal Puff yelled, lifting his hands above to call forth several ice towers that pulled everyone above the air. "Freeze, ice, freeze!" Crystal Puff chanted as he called forth several ice bolts from the sky and from everyone before they all fell to the floor and were released once the ice shattered. "Mwahahahaha!"

"G-great deal..." Mallow muttered as he got up. "T-that combo wasn't that strong..."

"Your arm is bleeding." Geno pointed out.

"DUAH! HP RAIN! HP RAIN!" Mallow panicked as he called forth a small smiling cloud that rained water down on his arm and healed him. "Phew...that was very close."

"To what?" Twink asked (being the only one who for some reason didn't get attacked).

"...Y-you know what I mean..." Mallow said with a bored look.

"T-too bad I was in the air..." Parakarry coughed. "The bolt from the floor didn't touch me but the one from the air did...ouch..."

Pit embraced himself. "B-brr...his attacks are getting colder as well..."

"Be impaled!" Crystal Puff interrupted as he raised an ice tower on Pit and pushed him into the air before he crashed into the ice floor and yelled in pain.

"T-this ice floor...i-it hurt my wings..." Pit twitched in pain as he got up.

"Well then," Crystal Puff floated towards Pit and looked down to him. "It ends here, forever."

"Oh, no!" Mario yelled from behind as he shot several fireballs that melted the ice and bounced all the way to the ice cloud, who twitched once the fireballs reached him.

"S-stupid plumber!" Crystal Puff yelled as he turned to Mario and made a big iceball that he tossed to him.

Mario quickly pulled out his cape and reflected back the attack, which hit Crystal King and pushed him out from Huff N. Puff.

"..." Geno made a bored look. "See? He was standing on top of him after all..."

"S-silence!" Crystal King yelled as he got up and shook his crown. "Huff N. Puff! Take me on top of you!"

"That pretty much gives it away..." Twink said with a bored look.

"W-well, don't underestimate us still!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he reached for Crystal King.

However...

"VROOM!" Jet Kirby came back from down below and used Jet Cracker and sent several aerial shockwaves that pushed Huff N. Puff on Crystal King and crushed the king.

Pit looked behind him where Meta Knight slid above the ice floor and charged a slash attack that made a severe cut on Huff N. Puff, causing the cloud to yell in pain while Crystal King struggled to get out from his partner.

Meanwhile, with Luigi...

"O-oh man..." Luigi looked to Chris. "I-I need to do something to help them...b-but what?"

The green plumber looked for something behind his back and took out a Superspicy Curry.

"..." Luigi looked at the item before looking back at Chris. He took out a spoon from his back and wondered something. "(Maybe this dish can revive people...)"

"STOP!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he spun to make a whirlwind and pushed Jet Kirby and Mario away to pick up the king and put him on his head. "There. We've merged together."

"You just put him above your head!" Twink yelled angrily.

"SHUT UP!" Crystal Puff yelled as he tried to slap the Star Kid away, but Geno pushed him out from the slap and got pushed to the ice floor, where it shattered before the puppet looked weak.

"G-Geno! A-are you alright?!" Twink asked worried.

"B-barely..." Geno muttered as he got up and coughed weakly. "I-I promise they won't do this again..."

Twink made a worried look before looking at Luigi dripping something in Chris's mouth. "Why is Luigi feeding Chris with that dish?"

Geno coughed before looking at them. "I-I don't know...but let's not get distracted and fight those guys..."

"You go," Twink said as he floated to Luigi and Chris. "I'll cheer you so I don't get in your way."

"...Good idea..." Geno nodded before he adjusted his right hand and ran towards the 2 villains.

"Hey," Twink called as he reached Luigi. "What are you doing with that?"

"I-I thought if I feed him with this curry, something good could happen..." Luigi said as he continued to put more and more curry inside Chris's mouth. "B-but nothing happens..."

Twink rolled his eyes and took the plate off from Luigi's hands. "You're doint it wrong," the Star Kid said before he floated over Chris's mouth...and dripped all the food inside without missing a small bit. "This is HOW you need to do it!"

Luigi gasped in shock after the Superspicy Curry's plate got empty after Twink tossed the plate away. "W-what did you just do?!" Luigi asked as he grabbed his hat.

"Duh, I fed him everything," Twink said. "At your pace you wouldn't finish soone-" the Star Kid looked down where steam began to come out from Chris's mouth (and even nostrils). "...Uh-oh, I guess I went too far..."

Luigi saw Chris's face turning bright red and he took several steps back. "I-I think we should step back for no-"

Then the flames of hell came out from the World Traveler's mouth as he opened his shocked eyes and quickly got up, shooting fireballs from his mouth.

"WATER! WATER! WAAAAAATEEEEEEEER!!!" Chris pleaded as he grabbed his throat and ran around, making Twink fly higher up to evade the fireballs. "WATER! WATER! PEPSI! SODA POP! MUSHROOM SHAKE! ANYTHING! WATER!!!" he yelled loudly before he ran towards the other Smashers, melting all the ice on the floor on his way.

"The Superspicy Curry acted like some sort of reviving item, b-but it caused this like how it should be!" Kawashima yelled as he explained.

"W-what?!" Crystal Puff said after he saw the World Traveler rushing at him. "I thought we got rid of yo-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"W-what's happening now?" Parakarry asked confused as Chris remained close to Crystal Puff, where he shot a stream of fireballs from his mouth without even doing it on purpose.

"G-GET YOUR FREAKING FIREBALLS OFF ME!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he blocked his face from the fireballs, only to get his hands burned constantly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OWW!!!" Chris yelled in pain as every fireball was shooting out from himself, though he took advantage of this and tried to attack both villains using the mentioned effect as much as he could.

He motioned to the others to attack the villains.

"T-they're stunned, we must attack!" Pit yelled as the 7 Smashers ran to Crystal Puff and began attacking them (confusing again) from all the sides.

"OOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Roy slammed a fully charged Flare Blade, creating an explosion of fire that damaged the "merged" characters greatly. The swordsman latet twitched and dropped on his left knee.

"S-STOP IT!" Crystal King yelled before several fireballs were shot at him.

"VROOM!" Jet Kirby used another Jet Cracker to send several aerial shockwaves, causing the king to be pushed off from Huff N. Puff again.

"H-healing!" Crystal King yelled as he used magic to recover 20 percent of their injuries, seeing after the fireball died down. "F-finally..."

Chris stuck his tongue out with jaw hanging down a little as he used his hand as a fan. "I-I'm back...i-in a painful way..."

Huff N. Puff went to him and raised his hands above. "N-now, it's time for me to crush you down!"

Chris gulped and took out another Superspicy Curry, which made the cloud gasp in shock, waving his hands in preoccupation.

"N-no...p-p-put that dish down...a-a-and I won't hurt you..." Huff N. Puff muttered, moving his hands down a little to the floor.

Chris sniffed...and put the dish down on the floor.

Huff N. Puff sighed in relief, wiping out the sweat from hi-

Oh wait, Chris took the dish and ate it after all.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Huff N. Puff yelled in pain after many fireballs were shot at him. The cloud tried to get away from the World Traveler, who apparently was running behind him to stop the extreme heat from coming out.

"S-stay back and away from me!" Crystal King yelled as the 2 were getting closer to him.

Both the cloud and World Traveler turned to another way and Crystal sighed.

"I hope you like this. OOOOOOAAAAAAHH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Crystal King was pushed to the air after a sudden explosion from Roy's Flare Blade. The swordsman was now panting heavily after draining many of his energy.

"W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WATER!!!" Chris pleaded as he kept running behind a panicked Huff N. Puff.

"Closer..." Mario muttered as the cloud didn't bother to open his eyes to see the red plumber jumping straight to him. Mario used a fast Mario Tornado (despite his move being replaced) and extended both fists to push Huff N. Puff above.

"Attack pattern!" Parakarry yelled as he hid inside his shell and began slamming himself to the cloud several times at insane speeds, using Air Raid before flipping back and finishing his move.

"S-Star Rain..." Mallow muttered as he called forth a huge Starman that bounced several times (6) on Huff N. Puff before it bounced away and disappeared.

"Yiah!" Pit, who was charging up his attack, dealt 2 strong slashes just in front of Huff N. Puff's face, causing the cloud to yell loudly in pain as he ran around frantically from the World Traveler's fireballs.

"AAAAAAAAAAA...huh?" Huff N. Puff looked around confused once the fireballs stopped from coming behind him. After he looked behind him, he lowered his hands in pain as he panted. "N-no fair...you kept firing those fireballs at me...a-and they're my new weakness because of my new ice powers!"

Chris (using his magic hat as a fan to his mouth) made a weak expression. "W-w-w-well, t-t-t-try to eat 2 Superspicy curries in a row and see how bad it is..."

"Good to have you back..." Geno said with some coughs.

Chris stopped using his magic as a fan and put it back on his head, where his face got covered in pure darkness. "P-please, if I ever eat t-those dishes again...stop me...and I mean it..."

Geno sweatdropped. "It was your fault you got into that."

"Yes, bu-"

"SILENCE!" Crystal King yelled as he shot an ice bolt from his sleeves. Geno gasped and quickly tackled Chris out of the way, evading the attack. "GRRR! THAT IMBECILE! WHY IS HE BACK?!"

Chris looked to the king from the floor with a glare. "B-because an idiot froze me and kept me from fighting!"

"That was SUPPOSED to be the idea!"

"Well..." Chris got up and made his staff glow. "I-"

"Chris, Star Spirits, use them, now." Geno reminded Chris.

"...Oops," Chris stopped his staff from glowing and prayed to the skies. "Klevar, show me your dexterity and lend me your aid..."
Klevar appeared besides him with a happy expression. "Ah, addressing me in such a manner. I'm here and what are your orders?"

"Stop the time for those 2!" Chris said as he pointed at Crystal King and Huff N. Puff.

"If...it isn't the same stupid Star Spirit I was guarding a long time ago..." Huff N. Puff said panting.

Klevar glared at him (without opening his eyes). "Hmph, I wanted to teach you a lesson myself. Clocks of time," he called forth several clocks that surrounded the field.

"We can't be stopped, remember! Trying this is futile!" Huff N. Puff raised his hands. "Now, it's time t-"

"Stop."

The clocks stopped and the time for both villains stopped all of a sudden. The background even got dark.

"I like when I add my variations of words to others," Klevar chuckled and looked at Chris. "Please, try to use us more."

Chris blushed embarrassed. "I-I will."

"You have enough Star Power. Keep fighting! We want Kalmar back to us!" Klevar said before he spun and disappeared.

"GIVE EVERYTHING YOU GOT ON THEM!!!" Mallow yelled loudly as the 10 characters (with Luigi deciding to join the fight) started to attack the stopped villains.

"Burn to black ashes..." Chris chanted.

Roy stood behind Huff N. Puff, charging his Flare Blade.

"...W-wait!" Chris interrupted before he prayed to the skies. "Misstar, please, show us your cuteness and appear!"

Misstar appeared with some giggles, just besides the World Traveler. "Did you call me?" Misstar asked.

"I want you to heal Roy. He's exhausted if you look at him." Chris said as he pointed at the red-haired swordsman, who blinked confused (after he stopped his charge) as the Star Spirit floated close to him.

Misstar closed her eyes and gave Roy a light kiss on his cheek. The swordsman blushed embarrassed before his wounds glowed for a moment and healed by 75 percent.

"W-why can you raise your hands and shoot magic to me instead?" Roy asked.

"Because I like to kiss, and to men like you." Misstar said simply with a giggle.

Roy backed away from her before she spun and disappeared in a blink.

"Burn to black ashes..." Chris chanted.

"O-oh," Roy shook his head. "I almost forgot..." he began to charge his Flare Blade to deal a powerful blow from behind.

A blink in the sky appeared. The blink got bigger before it revealed to be Parakarry (carrying Pit from below), diving at a high speed to Huff N. Puff. "AIR FORCE DELTA ATTACK!!!" Parakarry yelled.

"We didn't give this combination a name!" Pit yelled.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME GET EXCITED!" Parakarry yelled angrily. Pit sighed with a frown and took out his blades to stab them hard on the cloud.

Geno took a step back and charged his beam with a cough. "Let me take part of this...as well..."

Chris nodded as he was about to finish his spell.

Then...

"FIRA!"

"OOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"AIR FORCE DELTA ATTACK!!!"

Pit frowned as he stabbed the cloud with a strong impact.

"GENO...BEAM!!!"

The 4 attacks combined and a big explosion of fire occurred on the field. Smoke flew everywhere, making the 5 cough uncontrollably before it cleared out.

"...Damn! He's still alive!" Roy cursed.

"Er, no," Kawashima began. "The time stopped so once he gets his time back, he'll faint if he was damaged so badly."

Geno sighed and looked at the stopped Crystal King being ganged up by Mario, Luigi, Jet Kirby, Meta Knight and Mallow. "We must help them...now."

"...Wait, hold on," Chris stopped Geno from advancing and prayed to the skies. "Eldstar, please come and..."

Eldstar appeared and looked at Chris. "And?" he repeated.

"...S-sorry, I couldn't think of anything."

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima announced. "Use it when the right time comes, you got that?"

"Y-yes." Chris said with a nod.

Mario used several fireballs on Crystal King before he rushed at him and used a sliding kick to push the king a little to the air, where he got stopped and remained in midair.

"SHOCKER!" Mallow called out a big bolt of lightning that fell down on the stopped king of ice, pushing him back to the floor.

"Die! D-die, please! D-die!" Luigi pleaded as he used the tip of his hands to stab the king several times, albeit slowly...so slowly.

Meta Knight simply stood below the king, slashing the air continuously and his enemy as well before Jet Kirby grabbed the king and used Jet Blow to push him even higher to the air. "VROOM!" Jet Kirby exclaimed happily.

"Ha!" Meta Knight used Shuttle Loop to deal a strong slash upwards as he flew in a circular motion and stabbed his sword behind the king's robe, landing on the floor with a grunt.

The time seemed to return back to normal and an extreme yell of pain came from behind them.

Huff N. Puff blocked his face and yelled loudly.

"W-why?!" Huff N. Puff asked. "W-why do I have to be defeated this way?! Y-you're all a bunch of cheaters! Y-yes! That's what you are!"

"You know what..." Chris made his staff glow as his yellow eyes made a glare. "I'm very sick of this climate that I'm to stop..."

The World Traveler looked over at Geno.

"...Go ahead." Geno said with a nod.

"I'm going to stop it, once and for all!" Chris yelled.

Parakarry crossed his arms. "No fair! I wanted to be the one to say it!"

The World Traveler looked at Parakarry and blushed embarrassed. "O-oops," the glow on the staff disappeared. "W-why don't you deal the finishing blow the-"

A fast ice bolt was shot to him and froze him totally.

Twink looked back where Crystal King was. "O-oh no!"

"That is...ENOUGH!" Crystal King yelled furiously. "I'm on my nerves because...this is just...useless! Worthless! And useless all over again!"

"..." Parakarry rolled his eyes and used a fast Shell Shot on Huff N. Puff.

"...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Huff N. Puff yelled in pure agony before he exploded several times (into many Ice Puffs) and vanished from the place.

A big tremble occurred on the clouds. Jet Kirby peered down where the clouds seemed to move up and down. "Vroom, the clouds are moving."

"U-ugh..." Crystal King shook his head. "Now that...Huff N. Puff is gone...I won't be able to control the weather all along by myself..."

"...Lucky!" Twink said as he floated to where Huff N. Puff was and took out a card from the cloudy floor. "I-I've got it! Geno!"

Geno looked at Twink as his eyes widened. "T-that's...Kalmar's card...isn't it?"

"W-what?!" Crystal King looked around his robe. "D-dammit! I put the card inside Huff N. Puff but I forgot to grab it back!"

"Then...we're leaving?" Mario asked.

"YOU WON'T!" Crystal King yelled as made an ice ball and tossed it at Chris, who got free from the ice and fell down on the floor, defeated.

"H-hey! That's not fair!" Jet Kirby pouted. "He was already defeated once, vroom!"

"Kirby," Meta Knight began. "We're dealing with a villain. Such a thing like this is expected."

Crystal King panted heavily. "I'm...I'm going to...kill you all...even if it is me alone...I'm going to...kill you all!!!"

The king of ice began to cast ice bolts down from the sky, raining around crazily as the Smashers gasped and tried to evade the ice bolts.

"N-no!" Twink yelled once an ice bolt fell on the defeated World Traveler and froze him. "B-but why did he lose this fast?"

Geno was running around from them as he dodged some ice bolts. "Because he forgot to...heal himself early. If he...recovered earlier, then this wouldn't have happened at all."

"Freeze...everything...freeze...everyone...freeze...THEM!!!" Crystal King yelled loudly before laughing evilly and maniacally to the sky, while many ice bolts fell around the cloud.

"UAH!" Luigi yelled as an ice bolt crashed down on him and froze him completely.

"What are you waiting for?!" Kawashima yelled from Chris's frozen pocket. "Use your Final Smash on him! He won't resist for much longer!"

Parakarry was flying around as fast as he could and glared down at the king. "U-ugh! I knew bosses are supposed to reach madness, but i never thought you woul-" he stopped once an ice bolt froze him, making him crash down on the floor where he got free, albeit he received more damage after that. "...Darn..." Parakarry muttered.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Crystal King laughed maniacally. "Nobody shall leave alive from here! I WILL rule everything! I WILL rule the peasants! I WILL rule every single place and then freeze everyone into their oblivion!"

"(I have to...stop him...)" Mario thought as he hopped up a little with a fist to the air. "Let's-a go!" Mario yelled as a rainbow aura covered him, his eyes turning yellow with the power of the Final Smash as he tried to get closer to the king.

"BEGONE!" Crystal King yelled as he fired an ice bolt from his sleeves and froze the plumber with the Final Smash.

"M-Mario!" Mallow yelled. "C-come on, I need to have something here to help him..." Mallow tried to look for something behind his back...then he took out a Hothead. "...What was this doing with me?"

"Ahem." Kawashima coughed to remind Mallow. Then, a bolt of ice fell on Chris's pocket and froze the DS even more.

"Oh..." Mallow thought for a moment (while the ice bolts seemed to fail in hitting him). "Hmm..."

"W-would you just throw that thing somewhere and see what happens?!" Roy yelled before an ice bolt froze him.

"Q-quick!" Pit yelled as he rolled backwards from 2 ice bolts. "If he freezes us, it's over!"

"H-hey! Ice dude!" Mallow yelled as he held up the Hothead. "Hope you melt your crown this time!"

Crystal King stopped laughing and glanced to Mallow with a cold glare. "Fool! My crown neve-"

"HA!" Mallow tossed the Hothead at high speed to the ice king, who gasped before he got hit and pushed back to the floor, stopping the rampage of ice bolts while the item started rolling around, melting the ice patches that the ice bolts left behind.

"...Good idea..." Meta Knight said as he panted. "The item's temperature is...enough to melt the ice..." he saw the item running above Luigi, who was able to shake the ice off after the item went over him. "And it's enough to defrost anyone on its path..."

Parakarry used his hands to look up and see the king laying down on the floor. "T-this is my chance!" Parakarry yelled with a twitch before he flapped his wings to pull himself up to the air. "Boots to the head!" Parakarry yelled as he pulled himself back before he extended his feet to the king's face (of mist) and descended.

"He doesn't have..." Meta Knight was interrupted as Parakarry's attack made the king yell in pain. "...I hate when physics aren't applied here..."

Mario, once the Hothead rolled over him, was set free and shook his head. "P-phew...I was about to get a cold in there...maybe..."

"Should I suggest...your Final Smash?" Pit asked as Crystal King got up and raised his sleeves to call forth more ice bolts. "That trick is already ol-"

"HA!" Crystal King lowered his sleeves down and he froze the cloud entirely. "Please, PLEASE! DIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!"

"Geez..." Mallow muttered with a frown. "Everyone out there wants us dead..."

"Typical..." Geno muttered as he tried to move. "...Great, he froze our feet."

Mallow looked behind where the Hothead vanished. "And our source to melt the ice disappeared...just great..."

"Then," Pit took out his bow. "I'll use long-range attacks."

The angel began to shoot several arrows at the ice king, who then made an ice wall to protect himself from the attacks.

"Darn it!" Pit cursed.

"Bow time." Mallow raised a finger.

Pit gasped and began to pray to Palutena.

"Do it ANOTHER time, will you?!" Geno asked angrily.

"Multiply!" Crystal King yelled as he made several copies of himself and stood next to the middle one. "Heheheheh, let's see if you peasants can guess the real one."

"The middle one, vroom?" Jet Kirby guessed.

"No!" Crystal King yelled. "The left one! Darn it, why can't you be more intelligent than-"

"..." the Smashers blinked with bored looks.

"...Like, you got screwed yourself," the middle copy said.

"S-shut up! You're not allowed to talk!" Crystal King yelled angrily.

"T-time for me to save the day...with a cool move! Haiyah!" Luigi, in an effort to make a cool move...shot a green fireball to the real king and made the others disappear once the attack made the ice king yell a little. "Yes!"

"Wow," Roy rolled his eyes. "That was...so cool..."

"I know!" Luigi said with a happy expression before he blinked confused. "...W-wait a minute, were yo-"

Meta Knight interrupted once Crystal King...seemed to disappear. "Wait, our enemy is gone."

Music stops

"Vroom?" Jet Kirby tilted his head. "I thought he was over there a moment ago, vroom."

"W-well..." Parakarry flew to Pit. "I saw him hiding inside the cloud we're on..."

"...Tell me something." Pit began.

"What?"

"You're the only one flying...and who has his feet free from the floor..." Pit's eyes made a bored look.

"..." Parakarry looked away.

"...So tell me...WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING?!"

"Pit, calm down," Mario began. "Parakarry sometimes gets distracted so is not his fault."

"Aw, please!" Mallow groaned. "It was his fault tha-"

"Huh?" Meta Knight saw a small part of the cloud, behind Luigi, that was sprouting out mist. "Behind you!"

"Wha-" Luigi tried to turn around but a sleeve reached to his throat and pulled him on the ice floor, where he gasped and screamed when Crystal King appeared with an ice blade coming out from his right sleeve. Mostly everyone gasped at this and tried to move.

"D-don't you dare to move!" Crystal King yelled as he held close to ice blade above Luigi's throat, freezing his hands and legs from moving. "One move...and this maggot...is done for..."

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!!!" Luigi let out a girly scream.

"Man, pull yourself together...and be a man!" Parakarry said.

"SHUT UP!" Crystal King yelled. "I-I've had enough...of this crap...and you..."

"So do I," Meta Knight spoke. "There is no other option, sadly."

"Yes...indeed..." Crystal King glared down at Luigi. "Who knew with one person as a hostage...was very helpful?"

"Leave Luigi alone!" Mario yelled.

"In heaven? Or hell? Oh, right, this is Heaven's Paradise," the king chuckled. "He's already in heaven...so I'm bringing him down to hell where he belongs..."

"Aaaaaah..." Luigi fainted.

"...Hey, wait a second, vroom," Jet Kirby interrupted. "You can use ice blades?"

"Yes, so?" Crystal King asked.

"And you can multiply yourself into 3 copies, right?"

"Yes..."

"And you can also cause a rampage of ice bolts, right?"

"Yes... Why do you ask all those meaningless things?" Crystal King asked with rage on the tone of his voice.

"...Why didn't you use that a lot time ago when the fight firstly started?"

"Because I-" the king made a shocked expression. "...I...I..."

Roy facepalmed. "So basically...you had all the power to beat us from the beginning...but you forgot about them..."

"...A-apparently so..." Crystal King responded.

Luigi opened his right eye and looked at the king, sniffing silently.

"W-why?" Crystal King asked before he broke into tears. "W-why nothing I think of works like the way I want?! WHY?!" Crystal King asked as he withdrew the ice blade back into his sleeve and fell back with open arms (sleeves) on the floor.

Luigi sat up before getting up, walking slowly over to Mario, where he hid behind his glowing brother.

"T-this isn't fair! NO! THIS ISN'T FA-A-A-AIR!!!" Crystal King began to hit the floor with the end of his sleeves. "I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING IN LIFE, B-BUT I NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO DO IT! I...I HATE MY LIFE! I HATE IT SO MUCH! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Ugh," Meta Knight frowned as he took his feet out from the ice floor by using 3 slashes around them. "Mario, finish him."

"B-but..." Mario looked at him.

"...It's for the best..." Roy scratched his right arm. "If he hates life so much...then it'd be the right thing to kill him now..."

"Vroom..." Jet Kirby looked down sadly. "I-I'm so...but so sorry for him...vroom..."

Geno closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why do some of them have to act like this before dying before us?"

"The Axem Rangers did the same, right?" Mallow asked.

"Yes..." Twink nodded. "Kind of feels bad when they do this..."

"The Mizzo thing repeats itself again..." Parakarry frowned. "But, I'm not complaining. Finish him off so the weather returns to good ol' spring, Mario."

Mario looked at Crystal King before he opened his hands and pulled them back. "...Forgive us..." Mario muttered before he made a glare and his hands glowed with fire power. "Oh-yeah. UUUU-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A huge stream of fire began to spread out to all directions with huge fireballs circling with an extreme heat. Crystal King stopped flailing his sleeves on the floor before he sat up and screamed.

"N-NO!" Crystal King yelled as he blocked his face with his sleeve (if he had a face). "NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!!!"

Then the stream got him and pushed him along the air, off from the cloud he was once in as the fire continued to push him out to the sky.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! DAMN YOU AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!" Crystal King screamed in extreme pain before the fire began to burn his crown and everything he wore (even his eyes) before nothing was left, causing the stream of flying fireballs to seize and disappear.

"..." Parakarry's jaw dropped. "...What a way to finish a guy..."

Mario panted a little. "...Wow...so that's a Final Smash..."

"Amazing power, isn't?" Roy asked. "I want to use it again in the future."

"...This means..." Parakarry looked at them with a happy smile. "The weather is no more! It's gone! It's leaving! It's disappearing! It's vanishing! We did it and I landed the finishing blow on the cloud monster...like I did again! Oh my gosh, this is a dream coming true to me!" he tossed several letters out from his bag. "Hurray!"

"Don't you need those though?" Mallow asked.

"...Crap!" Parakarry cursed as he began to pick up the letters from the floor.

Luigi peered down and he saw the enormous cloud trembling violently before it began to move up and down, separating and creating holes. "Y-yes! Look!"

The Smashers walked to the edge of the cloud and saw the event happening, far away from their feet. "...I'm glad this is over as well." Meta Knight said.

The cloud that they were on began to shake as they felt the floor softer and softer.

"...Uh-oh..." Roy said. "...S-since this tower was made up by them, along with the weather and the cloud far below..."

"...Everything they made is disappearing." Geno finished.

"..." Luigi gulped. "...T-that means..."

"THIS PLACE IS GOING TO MAKE US FALL AT THIS HEIGHT!" Mallow yelled out loudly before the cloud began to vanish, along with the 50 clouds and the staircases they climbed.

"OH NO!" Luigi yelled as they all began to fall down at the huge height they were.

Pit, Meta Knight, Twink, Jet Kirby (using jetpack) and Parakarry, however, were descending slowly since most of them had wings.

"...Vroom..." Jet Kirby looked down. "W-what is going to happen to Mario, Luigi, Roy, Mallow and Geno?!"

"Relax," Meta Knight said. "We have 2 people waiting for them."

Meanwhile with the other 5...

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Luigi yelled in terror.

2 clouds descended close to them and they all looked at the 2 Lakitus (Lakilester and Lakilulu) laughing together.

"W-what is so funny?!" Mallow asked.

"W-well, we played a game and loser had to make or suffer something," Lakilester said as he was shown with his face covered with kisses. "B-but let's say I lost so many times and I had to be kissed wildly. Man, that was...awesome!"

"Teeheehee." Lakilulu giggled while she blushed a little.

"Aw, romance," Mallow made a happy expression before making it a glare. "HELP US, WILL YOU?!"

Lakilester rolled his eyes. "Hmm, fine. Alright, alright," he touched Lakilulu's cloud with his own cloud to extend it and floated down faster to get everyone on it. "Everyone, board the Lakitu Express."

"Baby, nice to meet you around these skies again." Lakilester's cloud said with hearts as eyes to Lakilulu's cloud, who giggled with some blushes.

"Phew..." Roy (ignoring the clouds) wiped the sweat out as the flight members descended and landed on the cloud. "I thought we were going to fall down."

"So!" Lakilulu spoke. "You defeated the 2 of those baddies?"

"We sure as hell did!" Parakarry said happily. "Finally, I can deliver mail like I was supposed to!"

"B-but isn't Nintendo City without anyone and...shielded with a barrier so you can't deliver?"

"Rude," Parakarry glared at him. "There are more than one city outside the biggest one, remember?"

"Oh," Mario nodded. "Yes. There are other cities out there. Unique like Nintendo City."

"...U-um..." Pit looked around the cloud. "...G-guys?"

"Yes?" Geno looked at him.

"...A-are we all here?"

The Smashers and the Lakitus looked around the cloud. "Yeah," Lakilester said. "Why'd you ask?"

"Because I swear we're missing someone here..." Pit wondered.

"..." Jet Kirby's eyes widened in horror. "CHRIS!!! VROOM!!!"

Roy looked down below and found a small spot going down at a high speed. "D-damn! He's falling down faster!"

"I-I almost forgot," Twink began. "He got frozen but he didn't get out from that!"

"That is bad..." Meta Knight shook his head. "Since he got frozen, he gained a little more weight."

"We have to get him before he dies!" Pit yelled as he jumped off from the cloud.

"C-can we catch up with him?" Jet Kirby asked worried.

"It's better to try rather than not doing it," Meta Knight looked away. "However, I fear the worse will most likely happen if we don't hurry."

"GO!" Parakarry yelled worried before the flight members jumped off from the cloud and dove down as fast as they could.

"Sorry," Lakilulu shook her head. "We can't go down faster."

"Meaning you have to wish for the best." Lakilester added.

"...Twink." Geno began.

"Yes?"

"Do you have it?"

"...Oh," Twink took out Kalmar's card. "Here."

Geno took the card and stared at it. "...Very soon...this will..."

Mallow made a worried face and looked down sadly.

Smash Mansion
Outside

Chris already crossed the clouds after they dispersed. The flight members passed the clouds 5 seconds later and dove down as fast as they could to catch up with the falling frozen World Traveler.

"HURRY!" Pit yelled as he pulled back his arms behind. "IF THE ICE IMPACTS, HE WON'T SURVIVE!"

"VROOM!" Jet Kirby used a fully charged Jet Dash to go down faster but he lost speed and made a worried look. "I can't go down faster!"

Meta Knight narrowed his eyes and extended his wings on his back to increase the speed, but he couldn't reach him. "Darn it..."

Parakarry tried to go down faster, but he was the only one going at a much slower speed. "I can just fly high but not descend that fast! If I had someone like the angel then I could!"

"I'm PIT!" Pit yelled annoyed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Jet Kirby yelled loudly.

The other 3 looked down and gasped when the World Traveler was 30-feet away from the ground.

Jet Kirby blocked his eyes, Pit closed his eyes with a grunt, Parakarry pulled his helmet to his eyes and prevent seeing the crash and Meta Knight kept looking forward, but with a grunt of shame.

"..." Meta Knight found a fast spot moving through the ice field, going towards the World Traveler. "...I wonder who is that..."

"Huh?" the trio opened (raised his helmet in Parakarry's case) their eyes and saw a fast spot jumping towards the World Traveler.

Close to where the ground was, a figure quickly jumped high up to catch Chris in the air. The person then landed back on the ice field and looked down at the frozen character with a weak expression.

"...Be glad I was worried..." the figure spoke before it raised a blue glowing hand, placing it on the ice to shatter it with a small push, setting Chris free from it. "...Wake up... Please, wake up..."

"...H-hmm...ugh..." Chris shook his head as he wiped something from his yellow eyes. "...I-I'm...living?"

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Air Harmony

Suddenly, something licked his face.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Chris laughed. "T-there's only one person who does that without feeling embarrassed of himself!"

The figure blushed and looked away. "W-why do you have to say it like that? Now I do feel embarrassed this time..."

Chris slowly opened his yellow eyes and looked at the person holding him on its arms. "Lucario!"

The Aura Pokémon smiled and looked down at Chris without turning his face to him. "W-welcome back."

The World Traveler was put down safely on the snow before he stood up and took off his hat, the darkness disappearing from his face. "L-Lucario! W-what happened? H-how did I end up here?"

"You were falling from the sky," Lucario explained. "I was meditating close to where you went to the sky."

"F-falling?" Chris asked before he looked up and then looked at Lucario. "And how did you..."

"Your aura," Lucario began. "It alerted me."

"...Yes..." Chris looked down with a worried look. "You said before my aura alerts you if I'm in trouble..."

"That is a good thing, isn't?" Lucario asked.

Chris looked at him and smiled. Then, the World Traveler hugged his Pokémon by the shoulders, closing his eyes. "But of course! You're like my guardian angel, you know that?"

Lucario smiled a little. "If you are in trouble, you know what I'll do."

"Save me from danger, no matter what." Chris added.

Lucario nodded and looked up to the sky. "Everyone is here."

The World Traveler opened his eyes and looked at the flight members landing in front of them. Several seconds later, the others came back as well and the Lakitus separated their lover clouds.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Lakilester's cloud yelled.

"Oh, you shut up! There are plenty of moments for that later anyway!" Lakilester said before sighing in relief. "Heh, whaddaya know? Mario, everyone, you did it!"

Lakilulu pointed at the sky. "The clouds are disappearing. Look!"

Everyone looked at the sky where the clouds were, indeed, disappearing, stopping the snow that was falling down.

"Good thing you were close," Geno said to Lucario. "To think we almost lose Chris."

Chris looked down in shame. "I'm so sorry for getting knocked out twice in battle..."

"You got knocked out?" Lucario asked. "So that is why you were frozen."

"I'm afraid so..." Chris said before he looked at Lucario and smiled a little to him. "And, since you tend to do this to save me from the "suicide moments" or like I like to call them, I should take you more with me so I can be safe."

"Thank you for understanding." Lucario said with a small smile.

"...Hey..." Chris narrowed his eyes. "Did I just say I was weak alone?"

Many of them chuckled as the World Traveler looked at them annoyed.

"Y-you guys are unbelievable!" Chris yelled annoyed.

Back where the Smash Mansion was...

Popo and Nana were playing a snowball fight between the 2 of them, throwing snowballs from forts they made as they laughed. The Ice Climbers then looked up where the snow stopped from falling and the clouds slowly disappearing as well. Light shone down the multiple holes from the sky.

Both of them looked at each other and gathered air inside their mouths...

"Awwwww!!!" they groaned out loud in annoyance.

Behind the mansion...

"Hmm?" Raven looked up were light began to come out from the clouds. "...So, weather's goin' away."

Toon Link stopped firing arrows and looked up. "...Hey, I saw them going up so...they did it!"

"What?" Raven asked confused.

"Er...nothing..." Toon Link shook his head. "Hey, watch this! I can do it!"

"Really?" Raven raised an eyebrow.

The small swordsman shot an arrow to the trees, which bounced the arrow around.

Raven grinned a little bit. "Seems you learned the trick... Oh no..." his eyes widened.

"What?" Toon Link asked confused.

"W-where did you shoot the arrow again?"

Toon Link pointed at the tree he used the arrow on. "That one on that parth of the bark, why?"

The arrow came back and hit Raven's crotch.

Back with the Smashers...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A familiar yell was heard echoing and they looked around.

"What the heck was that just now?" Lakilester asked.

Mallow shrugged. "Do we want to know?"

A bag of coins fell down and Chris picked it up. "...2100 Smash Coins."

"The way those coins appear out of nowhere bothers me..." Lucario commented with a worried look.

"But," Chris kept it. "See the bright side."

"Which one?"

"I get rich quickly...then I get poor quickly..." Chris looked down. "...My life sucks here rather than my other life in my own world, right?"

"Totally," Roy said before he was blasted away by a big Aura Sphere. "Oh, come on! You're not crushing my ribs again!" he yelled from afar.

"Grr..." Lucario grunted, showing his fangs.

"...Then again," Chris chuckled. "This one is much better and interesting."

"Amen." Mario, Pit, Mallow, Geno, Twink, Jet Kirby, Parakarry, Lakilester and Lakilulu said in unison.

"Oh," Jet Kirby tilted his head. "Wasn't there someone who wished for this weather to disappear as soon as possible in the mansion, vroom?"

Falco's Room

The windows to Falco's room opened and the pilot looked outside with crossed arms. Falco looked up where the light began to touch the ground and everything in sight.

With a sigh of relief, the avian grinned and said "About damn time for the sun to kick in."

WORLD...WAIT, WAS THAT A WORLD OR NOT?! WHO CARES! WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 2100 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink, Parakarry

References:

-"Tales of Symphonia – Zelos's Theme (Serious Arrangement)" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when Zelos acts...serious? What the hell? XD

-"Tales of Vesperia - Fury Sparks" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when you face Flynn only with Yuri at the second battle against him at...where is that place again? : P

-"Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! - Boss Battle" is a song reference to the same, unreleased game. It plays against...oh, I don't know, bosses maybe? : P

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Air Harmony" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during your stance at Surferio. It worked for the last scene, didn't it?

Farewell, Crystal King... You really had issues...

Oh, wait, the arc ended!

Anyway, now it's the time to work on the last arc for the Xenosag-I mean, Geno Saga. I think the next chapter is going to be a mansion chapter, then the next arc after that.

And after that saga...we start with different worlds that are from Nintendo games and not even from Nintendo! That time is where the fic will shine the most (if I can have the people who review this with me when that time comes, that is...)

What will happen next?

Only my fingers knows. : P

Read and review, please!
*Chapter 123*: Afternoon of Warnings

Thanks to an illness we all know it's almost mortal, my school closed down for one week and NOBODY say what's the illness unless you want to be banned from this fic. I don't want to listen to death things here.

Well, at least this chapter was done sooner. We reached over 900 reviews and our 900th reviewer for this time is Hyuzyn! Congratulations! :D

From lucario cat star: =Starts bowing down to story= I am not worthy. I am not worthy.

From me: ...Dude, what the hell are you doing? Will you have some brain and leave a REVIEW please? I can't stand people (and I mean it) who don't make sense with their reviews...and dare to do the same thing and I'll ban you from here. :l Sorry, but you won't understand and I'm sure others would agree if they like good criticism of scenes and the such.

From Anakin Mario Son 43: To tired for actual sentence. Chapter good. Yay, geno saga over. Kingdom hearts 2 come soon now. Too sleepy for enthusiasm. Update(yawn) soon!Hasta(yawn)!

Hi, me again. Um, in my review for 122, I saide geno sga over. I was very tired at the time and forgot that the smashers had to beat smithy. I hope ffn makes a review editor soon, so people don't have to use older chapters to change something. Update soon(again!) Hasta!

From me: I didn't understand the fanfiction bit but thanks. :P

From SlasherMask: Crystal King made me depressed... Anyway good chapter...

From me: You're not the goth now, are you? XD

From TARDISreviewer: ...no idea for where to go next...

But... epic in a way...

From me: What do you mean by that?

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: FINALLY! I'VE FINALLY HAVE CAUGHT UP WITH MY REVIEWS! I'M NOT DEAD YET! The basic reason why I haven't is somewhat usual, busy typing up my story, playing games, and *cough* messaging my emailing buds.
Well, here is a quadruple review for the past chapters I've missed plus this chapter. And latest news, I've have a Nintendo DS now, though I have to share with my sissy Ellenaj, but it's worth it! Well, let's get onto my review already, shall we?

For 118: very emotional, the music selection was very excellent, but I'm surprised that the smashers PLANNED the entire subspace attack. Hmm, so that's why the melee three aren't in brawl. tabuu, may you never rest in peace once chris destroys you and the subspace, for good.

For 119: very informational, AND HE GOT CHEATED AGAIN! He's supposed to pay only 300 coins for 2 curries isn't he!? He payed double that! Hmm, very interested in the hacker job, is that an original job you thought of, or is it based on someone? But do you really need to use the original final fantasy jobs?

For 120: very funny! I can't believe those trainers thought the SMASHERS were Pokémon! Barry, he really reminds me of my friend, Htes, yet my friend is even crazier and stupider (no offense to him though)! Believe me, he is. Reading a sentance wears him out, if he even looked at your story, he die. now let's go back to the rest of my review, shall we?

For 121: hmm, sure lot of fighting here, not much to say about this chapter other than laughing at the crystal king's suffering and the fact that you bought star ocean till the end of time. it's quite a good game, especially the bonus dungeons. oh, there is a particular music artist that i like for you to listen to, his name is, Nobuo Uematsu, try listening to his music.

For 122: wow, words can't really describe that battle very easily. but now i'm sad! it's just about 1 more arc until Geno has to go! well, i'm not going to press on in that subject, at least it's spring at smash mansion now! well, since i haven't done 1 in such a long time, here's a...
BLAH BLAH BLAH, RANDOM EDITION! just random, random stuff, questions basically!
is FF tactics advance a possible Arc, or too much OCness?
is billy hatcher and the giant egg good, or bad for a future arc?
Will you also be doing arcs for the Assist Trophy characters if possible?
What has teeth but doesn't bite? (it's a riddle, in case you may get confused)
Between the Emo Rangers and the Axem Rangers, who do you think would win?
well, happy typing!

From me: A DS but not the DSi? Wow, that's being original to a new level. :P

Anyway, on to the review. I probably will make a FFTA2 arc. Billy? No. No for the Assist Trophies. I don't know riddles in English. Dude, give it up, I'm not going to watch those weird rangers. :l

Wow, that was very easy. XD Thank you.

From Blaperile: Hey,

So it looks like the Geno arc is almost done.

Lol,at Luigi's judo stance! XD

I didn't thought Lucario would come. I thought someone else would save him. Nice!

O yes, in JSandders review, you wondered what 'King of Second Bananas' was. That's how the colonel calls Luigi in Snake's codec about Luigi.

Keep it up, you're doing great!

Blaperile.

From me: I know where the bananas thing came from but what does it really MEAN?

Thank you. :)

From ngrey651: You honestly wouldn't think it possible for a villain to have that many issues...in pace requiescat. (Bows head respectfully)

And where DO those coins come from? Is somebody just CHUCKIN' them off a cloud above somewhere?

From me: Ask them to every single monster in your typical JRPG. (Japanese Role-Playing Game for those who don't know).

Thank you. :)

From notfromearth7: Geez Chris, that was an amazingly long chapter of amazing amazingness! I meant to say this last chapter, but the 50 enemies thing last chapter resulted in the longest laughing fit (by me) ever! Chris, I have to say that this is an awesome story! You've certainly improved on your fight scene writing.

From me: W-well, that's what you think of course. Thank you.

From DianaGohan:

wiiboychris: Sorry, but we already agreed with the parodies thing before, sooo...I won't use the flamethrower.

...

I'll use Sophia instead! Sophia! Use Thunder Flare on the review!

Sophia: *Enters* Thunder Flare! *Electrocutes the entire review* Too bad is not always like this.

wiiboychris: It is if you mean Diana.

Sophia: Okay. *Leaves*

From DianaGohan: You know what is it with you commenting that if it weren't for luck/villian incompetence the heroes would be screwed over? Yeah obviously that works for some cases but it's not something that should keep being implied. Also I think it would of worked better to for once have seen Chris not fight one of the seven star spirits at all but I'll give you credit for the save with curry even though like I said that comes from a really bad Naruto filler. And there were some nice fight combos and chuckle worthy moments (especially Raven getting hit in the crotch at the end with the bouncing arrow) and it's generally good to be done with this bad weather plot since you wouldn't want it to end up being forgotten about and changed like the day fo fury. (Refrence to Knuckles comic book BTW).

From me: Er, I didn't try to make a hidden reference to Naruto at the least. That's what you think but for me it wasn't.

Sadly, I don't know the Sonic manga at all. I think that manga is the most heavily altered and please, PLEASE, don't dare to mock me with this, EVEN with the slightest hint or else, you shall suffer the ban button. I think you should stop mocking me that much with my mistakes...unless I mock the "you're" and "they're" from you, the very same ones you don't want to change. :-D Again, this isn't a warning but a friendly reminder.

From JSandders: Well, well, well! Another great boss fighting scene! I loved how incredibly stupid Crystal King and Huff N. Puff thought that standing on top of the other would be considered a fusion! XD And what kind of a name is Crystal Puff? That's a girl's name! XD

Also, everything that Luigi did in this chapter was HILARIOUS! He's truly one of my fave characters! Oh yeah, and about the "King of Second Bananas" thing, check out Blaperile's review! :)

So, you're finally ending the Geno Saga! I'd hate to say it because I'm afraid that all the Geno fans will beat me up after this review, but it's about time that he left! He has gotten enough spotlight and it's about time that he gave that to someone else!

It's spring in the Smash Mansion! Too bad for Popo and Nana and spectacular for Falco, Bulbasaur, and Chip (who will now unfreeze and continue to be a credit card salesma... um... never mind)! You know what that means, right? The Smashers have to figure out how to bring down the force-field and get to Smithy. I want to see how you think of that! Also, yay for the non-Nintendo arcs that will come soon! Here's hoping for Kingdom Hearts, Megaman, and Phoenix Wright!

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us next, Wiiboychris! Keep typing! *suddenly sees Geno fans running towards me with weapons* GOTTA RUN! SEE YA!

From me: Aw, those very same games will receive their arcs soon. I hope everyone here gets interested in some of them or just follow this story as usual. Resorting to anime? Oh no, I don't want to lure people with that here. Thanks. :)

From Mewtrainer: It's weird. Every time you have someone do something that makes no sense...the story becomes all the funnier! Does Roy's Flare Blade actually damage him? Or was that just creative licence on your part? Yay for Superspicycurry! And when will Ganondorf realize that he can use his sword? XD So you're going to do non-Nintendo worlds, eh? It'll be interesting to see what you have in mind...

From me: You didn't play Melee, right? In fact, Roy's Flare Blade inflicts some pain back to him if he reaches the full charge. Ganondorf using his sword? I think he (or me) forgot about that. I already have many worlds in mind and only games that were popular. ;)

From dimentio713: To bad the Cystal King died *Sigh* finally Spring! *Tosses flowers into the air* Yeah!
anyhow! *Sneezes* Crap allergies, I'll let my automated voice recorder review say my review! Achoo! *turns on A.V.R.R*
A.V.R.R.: This chapter was really good and funny! Wonder what'll happen next! Falco is happy again yea! Can wait for the next chapter and the Dramatic ending to the Geno saga! See later! *turns off*
Ach-oo! Bye
e(sneezes)e!

From me: Such crazy reviewers...make me go crazier. : P Thank you. :)

From Rellymaster: -Ganon's basically a really obese fatty, huh? He needs a diet. And a life.
-The final Star Spirit is finally obtained! Finally!
-Superspicy Curry just adds to the heat of a battle, doesn't it?
-Yep, goodbye Crystal King. More like Issues King...
-How could the Smashers forget about Chris?! Good thing Lucario was there to catch him!
-Yay, the winter finally ends!
-I'm...just speechless after that arrow hit the wrong target...I swear, I said nothing more after that for 10 minutes. Did that castrate him?

From me: -Ganonpig. New name there (why do I think the pigs in Wind Waker are a warning for Toon Link?) XD
-Yayz.
-Curry does.
-He shall live...somewhere else.
-Hey, not always the heroes will remember everything...
-Time for flowers. : P
-Ouch. XD

Thank you. :)

From Korean-Boron Paper-Stars: This was the weirdest chapter in a while ... and I mean that in a good way. There's Roy fighting Ganondorf (Roy? That was a little unexpected, but makes sense if he made a deal with Link) and since Roy couldn't beat Ganondorf alone last time it makes sense that magic users saved him from getting defeated.

Crystal King and Huff. N. Puff form ... Crystal Puff? And all they did was put one on the other's head? These villains have problems and it's rather obvious from the therapy scene ... Good idea having it so that Chris is mostly out of the battle, the others need a chance to shine as well. I can't wait to see what'll happen next time.

From me: Everyone shines equally, don't they? I don't know that well honestly...

Hopefully, you'll see it now. ;)

The mansion chapter is here, but is not that funny...rather it adds an important side-quest.

You know how RPGs tend to have side-bosses apart from the main storyline, that sometimes are even stronger than the final boss, right? Well...you shall see them here...but they're not as strong as Tabuu, of course.

I hope you like this chapter as well. ;)

On a side note (not that important), I change my avatar from my profile daily. We have Arle Nadja from Puyo Pop Fever this time for today! Expect to see a new one tomorrow.

Read, enjoy and review! : D

Chapter 123: Afternoon of Warnings, Preparations and New Challenges

Smash Mansion

Main Lobby

On the small sofa located in the lobby, there was Snake lighting a cigar to smoke it. The special undercover agent shot a stream of smoke out of his mouth as he glanced down at his can of soda on the nearby table.

It made a small drop jump out, and to the mat.

"..." Snake raised an eyebrow before he felt a tremble coming from above. "...Now what the hell is happening here..." he said with a bored tone.

"S-STAY BACK!" Master Hand's voice was heard as several explosions were heard from where Snake was. "D-DAMMIT! STOP IT! STAY BACK! CRAZY!"

"Doing my best over here! Oww!" Crazy Hand yelled in pain.

"C-close them before they get out and beat the crap out of our gloves!"

"Right-o!" Crazy Hand yelled as the sounds of doors closing were heard. "Wow, that was such an awesom-"

"Shut up! Don't you dare say anything else! I almost lose a finger because of that levitating-cape guy with the "Dhaos Laser" or whatever the hell he yelled at me!"

"Oops, my bad. Heheheheheh..."

Snake frowned. "Somehow, I think I'm going to regret asking this..."

The elevator (located after climbing the stairs) opened up with smoke coming out. The hands then floated out and coughed. They were all covered in soot as they went to the lobby, where Snake turned his head to face them from the sofa.

"May I ask what is going on now? I'm sure this isn't something we should take part of." Snake said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh," Master Hand shook himself to wipe out the soot. "Just adding a little floor. You know, some changes here and there."

"I want more details. Why add another floor when the f(beep)ng mansion is already big enough to hold an infantry camp for 5 nations?"

"Never, EVER, curse my mansion," Master Hand warned. "And since you want more details, then you'll have to wait until everyone is here."

"You mean those stages you wanted to show us?"

"Nope," Master Hand shook himself. "It was a request that Link asked me to."

"What would the elf boy ask you to make?" Snake asked.

"Allow me! Please please please!" Crazy Hand started in excitement.

Master Hand grunted and looked at his soot covered brother. "Fine. Start the flashback waves."

Snake rolled his eyes in annoyance as mentioned waves began to move on the screen.

Flashback

Command Room

Several hours before, around the time Chris's group went out and the trainers got inside without anyone seeing them, there were Link (sitting bored on a chair), Master Hand and Crazy Hand (talking between themselves) in the command room. The Hyrulian sighed and looked up to the ceiling.

Link folded his arms. "Man, this is boring..."

"And why is that?" Master Hand asked, appearing from behind Link.

"U-uah! S-stop it! D-don't do that again or I'm going to attack you by accident!" Link yelled as he held his hand close to his heart.

"Well, talking with my brother can cause several brain cells to explode in my brain," Master Hand shrugged as his brother made a thumbs-up from the counter. "And I figured out that talking with a person, normal person, like you could be interesting," he explained. "So, why are you bored?"

"Guess."

"Because you were defeated the last time?"

"No."

"Because you weren't chosen to go with the others and clear out the weather?"

"No."

"Because Zelda isn't for you?"

"NO." Link said with a glare.

"Because Illia dumped you?"

"NO."

"Or how about Saria?"

"NO."

"What about Romani?"

"NO!"

"How about Ruto?"

"NO!"

"And Kafei?"

"HE'S A GUY, YOU IDIOT!"

"Then that means you have an engagement with Zelda, Romani, Ruto, Saria and Ilia at the same time? Wow, you're such the womanizer guy right there."

"W-would you stop talking about the girls I met? I was talking about how easy this is!"

"Oh, right," the hand took out a schedule. "Normally, keeping the Ultimate Chimera in its cage is a daily problem, but not that much ever sin-"

Link grunted. "Let me talk, please. If I let you guess then you won't guess it."

The hand tossed the schedule away. "Fine."

Link put his elbows on his knees and put his chin on his hands. "I was wondering why we don't have difficult battles."

"Difficult battles? But everyone gets almost alive from every encounter with the Subspace Army. I don't see what's wrong with that."

"What I mean is...why isn't there a battle where we are totally screwed?"

"What do you mean by totally screwed?"

"Stupidly hard."

"Like?"

"Oh, like everyone in a group dies in a fight and...I don't know, the fight is over and we lose?"

"Look," Master Hand raised a finger. "The way we work things here is fine. Why do you want to increase the difficulty?"

"Because I want a challenge," Link stood up. "A challenge where we are put into the brinks of death."

Crazy Hand quickly floated behind his brother to listen to the speech.

"A challenge where we are the pushovers and not the other way around, a challenge where we meet the most dangerous enemies that ever took a step on the field of battle, a challenge where we develop the most complicated strategies to defeat our common enemy, a challenge where our current skills can be put at test, a challenge where we can sweat everything out from ourselves, a challenge where we can celebrate for after beating that enemy, a challenge where we can grow stronger out of it," Link said determined. "I want to have something like that here."

"Cruel Brawl," the hands said in unison.

"...A-a little bit less dangerous, that is..."

"Hmm...heheheheheh..." Master Hand chuckled evilly as the room began to get darker. The swordsman put a grip on his sword from his back to stay prepared. "So, you want to have a real challenge where...pretty much all the things you said before?"

"Yes," Link nodded with a glare to the hand. "Amuse me. I want that here and now."

"Mwahahahahahahahaha," Crazy Hand laughed. "You won't get the key in my room for the pigs. I warn you, puny boy, step right ahead to my room."

The room suddenly returned to normal and a record was heard with a scratch.

Master Hand looked at his brother. "Don't ruin the atmosphere like that again! Geez, I want to make a good impression here...or trying to!"

"Oh," Crazy Hand chuckled. "My bad. Go on then."

"Fine," the sane hand said before the room quickly got dark as he stared down at Hero of Twilight. "A challenge is what you will get."

Link made an evilly grin. "Heheheheh, that is going to be interesting."

"Mwahahahahahaha, you shall see true evilness unfold upon you, and everyone you just took with you, too." Master Hand said with an evil snicker.

"Bring it on," Link muttered. "I'm sure they will agree to this."

"NO!" Pichu yelled away from the dark atmosphere, standing in the hallway.

The trio ignored him.

"We shall see..." Master Hand nodded. "We shall see..."

"Yes, we will... Yes, we will..." Link said with slow nods.

"Mwahahahahahaha..." Master Hand laughed.

"Mwahahahahahaha..." Crazy Hand laughed.

"Mwahahahahahaha..." Link laughed.

"Mwahahahahahaha..." the trio laughed evilly.

"Say," Ness came from the hall and watched the trio inside the dark atmosphere that covered the whole room except the hallway. "What are they doing?"

"...Who knows?" Pichu asked before they walked away. "You know how those 3 are."

"True enough."

End of flashback

Main Lobby

"And so," Master Hand began. "We took Link's request into test by using our original minds."

"I heard from the kid's world that some of the guys here are "clones" because of y-"

"ALMOST original minds," Master Hand interrupted with a frown. "By using our ALMOST original minds, we created something to make Link happy."

"Of course," Crazy Hand began. "Something that he will regret for the rest of his life. Mwahahahahah-"

"We're done with the evil laughs, you know. Save those for the Final Destination."

"Oh, okay."

Master Hand turned to Snake. "You guys want to be and get stronger, yeah, that's so overused these days so what? Anyway, I took Link's request into mind and thus I ended up creating a new floor where...ha! I'm not going to tell you until everyone arrives!"

"...Well, at least I expect it to be worthwhile." Snake commented.

"Coughforevercough." Crazy Hand coughed.

Snake rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the spoilers."

Master Hand grunted. "Nothing can seem to escape from his mouth at al-"

The doors to the exit suddenly were opened by a fast slam as the Ice Climbers came out with annoyed looks. "And you HAD to stop the weather." Nana said annoyed as the Smashers that went to the sky came in.

"W-well, excuse me!" Roy yelled. "Those guys wanted to make an ice era in here and roughly everyone but you 2 would disagree with it!"

"That could've been nice!" Popo yelled. "You don't understand what we like, do you?"

"Duh!" Roy frowned. "You 2 live in mountains where the ice really got inside your own minds!"

"Okay," Nana turned to him. "We don't want to hear anything more from you! If you'll excuse us, we're going to plan the domination of all the lands with an eternal winter of our own!"

"...You're not going to do that, right?" Chris asked worried.

"...No..." Nana said. "...Ugh, it couldn't be helped so...well...spring is good, I guess..."

"Yeah," Popo nodded. "At least my TV commercials will be back on."

"Popo, the city's people escaped and nobody is at the TV Station anymore."

Popo's eyes widened in horror. "O-one bad thing after the other!"

Nana facepalmed. "Why do I even bother teaching him..."

"Your cue." Snake said to Master Hand.

"Welcome back," Master Hand said as he went to the Smashers. "I presume all ended well, right? Oh, look at that, the sun is back and the snow is gone."

The Ice Climbers grunted annoyed before walking to the stairs.

"Who are those 2?" Master Hand asked as he looked at the Lakitus.

"Oops," Lakilester began. "I think this is as far as we can get for now."

"Seems that way." Lakilulu said.

The male Lakitu turned to Mario. "Mario, everyone, good luck in saving the city. We need to return to Petal Meadows and live a very happy life there."

"Sweet, sweet, happy life." Lakilulu said as she blushed.

"Aw, you're going?" Mallow asked.

"Don't fear!" Lakilester said. "We'll drop by and visit all of you sometime in a near futur-"

The Lakitu suddenly stopped and Lakilulu looked at him.

"...Uh-oh..." Lakilulu muttered.

"What?" Pit asked.

"He's going to. So, good bye everyone," she smiled at them. "I hope you can save your city, and I'll wish for your success."

"But can you tell us why did Lakilester stop talking all of a sudden, vroom?" Jet Kirby asked.

"I HEARD THAT!" Lakilester yelled as he pointed outside. "WATT, I KNOW YOU SAID MY FAKE NAME! IT'S SPIKE, YOU HEAR ME?! SPIKE!!!" Lakilester yelled before his cloud made an angry expression, pulled itself back and flew away at a high speed to the horizon.

"...But Kirby said Lakilester just now..." Luigi trailed off.

Lakilulu giggled. "He seems to let you call him by his real name. I think he's happy about it, which for me is kind of considerate," she started to float away outside as she waved at them. "And it's time for me to go as well! I need to stop that man before he murders anyone. He gets like this and I get defensive like usual."

"Good bye then." Mario said as he waved his hand at her.

"Oh, thank you! Good luck everyone!" Lakilulu yelled before her cloud pulled back and flew away at a high speed to the same direction where Lakilester went.

"There goes a friend of mine." Mario said with a small smile.

"Let's hope Goombario drops by." Twink said.

"And..." Parakarry looked around his bag and gave several letters to Chris.

Obtained Garnet's Letter!
Obtained Laharl's Letter!
Obtained Kylie Koopa's Letter!
Obtained Soren's Letter!
Obtained Birdo's Letter!
Obtained Wave's Letter!

"6 letters, duly delivered," Parakarry made a happy expression. "A postman's job is never done."

"..." Chris took a big letter. "Why is...Laharl's Letter so heavy and big?"

"I don't go further into other people' mail, I'm afraid!" Parakarry said cheerfully as he flapped his wings faster. "Aw, the good feeling to fly in the blue skies and delivering people their mail, something I wanted to see at last!" the Paratroopa began to fly outside. "Well, this is my cue t-ah, wait!"

The Paratroopa gave Chris a small box with holes around. Something seemed to move slowly on the inside.

"What's this?" Chris asked.

"This girl Kumatora wanted to deliver this to Lucas, so be sure to give it to him when you see the boy," Parakarry said before he continued in his path. "That's all for me for now! I'll be happy to deliver you all the mail you need to get your hands on."

"Where are you going now?" Mario asked.

"To the blue skies where my freedom is located! Although it's practically everywhere, but who cares? I'm back to my job!" Parakarry yelled before he began to fly high up to the sky. "See you so much later! Thanks a lot for getting rid of this weatheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...."

His voice began to fade before Jet Kirby closed the doors.

"...I'm going to read the letters later..." Chris said as he kept the letters.

Parakarry has left your team

They all looked to Master Hand.

"Getting help from people is pretty nice and considerate," Master Hand said. "I can't hardly wait to see who else helps us."

"Weren't you going to say anything to them?" Snake asked.

"Oh, right," Master Hand made a megaphone appear. "Everyone in the mansion, please report to the main lobby! We have a special announcement right now so get your FREAKING BUTTS OVER HERE, OVER!"

Snake rolled his eyes. "I presume you tend to yell at them like that."

Master Hand tossed the megaphone away and chuckled. "Well, they won't listen the good way. They're sometimes nice to me but most of the time so rude," he sniffed. "I-I just want more love from them..."

Chris made an apologetic look and patted Master Hand's glove wrist. "There, there. I think you're pretty awesome."

"R-really?" Master Hand asked with a sob.

Chris nodded. "You're hand with magic and no body. What's more impressive than that? They don't know your potential but I know it very well."

Master Hand sniffed and hung his pinky finger above Chris's shoulders. "T-thank you. You're the only one out of all these...Smashers who appreciate me like this."

"Just be glad you're very good to me."

"Yes," Master Hand floated above a little. "Good thing this isn't an altered dimension."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I've had some visions where...well...I get severely punished..." the hand shrugged. "But here, I'm pretty much safer."

Chris looked at Lucario. "What do you think about Master Hand?"

"I...think...he is very good?" Lucario responded.

"...Well, that didn't sound that honestly...but it's a first."

Several seconds passed before a worried Red came from the hallway with Squirtle and Ivysaur following.

"S-so, you guys stopped the weather?" Red asked.

"Yeah," Mallow nodded. "Yes, we did."

"Why are you looking kind of worried though?" Geno asked.

"Heheheheheh...n-nothing to be worried about... Nope! Nothing!" Red said with a nervous chuckle.

Lucario narrowed his eyes at him.

Squirtle gasped. "W-will you believe in him before scanning his mind?"

"No," Lucario shook his head. "I want to see if he isn't hiding somethi-"

"Lucario, stop." Chris ordered.

"B-bu-"

"I told you before you can't go into other people' mind like that because it's rude. Stop now."

"Y-yes..." Lucario closed his eyes embarrassed.

Ivysaur chuckled. "Aw, little blue doggy is getting disciplined?"

"S-shut up..." Lucario muttered.

"(Phew!)" Red sighed in his mind before he made a relieved look.

"Hm-hmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!" Falco came from the stairs, extending his fists upwards before putting them inside his pockets. "So, winter is gone and spring is back, huh?"

"Pretty much so," Twink said. "That made you happy, right?"

"100 percent," Falco said with a grin before crossing his arms. "I really missed the times where I was outside the bed the entire day...and not the other way around," he shrugged. "Oh well, at least it's finally over."

"For the winter, yes," Geno said. "For Smithy, very soon."

"The caaaaaaaaaaaard..." Mallow said, moving his hands around.

Geno took out Kalmar's card and looked at Mallow with a bored look. "Would you wait until everyone gets here?"

"Hi!" Sonic said, appearing in a flash. "Did it go well?"

"Why are you..." Roy trailed off as he pointed at Sonic. "...All stomped over?"

There were several foot marks all over the hedgehog. Sonic shrugged. "Some kids stomped on me..."

"Kids?" Master Hand frowned. "The only kids we have here are the younger Smashers."

"I-I'm pretty sure I saw some older ones in here before..."

"(G-gulp...)" Red gulped in his mind. Surely, Sonic didn't mean the trainers, right?

"...Maybe my imagination though." Sonic said, throwing his arms up.

"D-definitely." Red said.

"NO READING MINDS." Chris said to his Pokémon, who was almost going to glow as he looked at Red.

"F-fine..." Lucario said.

Several minutes later...

As Peach walked down the stairs, everyone was already reunited in the lobby, talking with each other. "I hope I don't..." Peach muttered worried but she shook her head once she walked to Mario. "Everything went well, right, Mario?"

"Yes," Mario said with a nod. "The weather is back to normal and we have the last Star Spirit with us."

"Oh, Lucas," Chris walked to Lucas (the PK kid, not the trainer) and gave him the box. "Parakarry told me this is from you."

"Me?" Lucas asked confused before he slowly opened the box, revealing a small containter with several branches inside. "...Huh?"

"Lucas!" a voice shouted from inside the box and a red snake peered from a branch. "Lucas, good to see you again!"

"Rope Snake!" Lucas said with a small smile, opening the cover of the box where Rope Snake got out and jumped to his shoulder.

"H-hey, my name is Snake Rope, not...oh, who cares," the snake frowned. "I'll be Rope Snake for you if you want."

Lucas put the box down. "S-so, how's everyone in Tazmily?"

"Good," Rope Snake nodded. "If you were wondering how did I get here, Kumatora found me in my house and she asked me to go to you. She put me inside that box and she found a weird mailbox where "anything that put inside will be delivered to the person you want to deliver your mail, objects, presents, etc." and that's how I ended up with you here!" the snake smiled. "And goodness, only 1 person! I can only handle your weight all the day!... No more, right?"

"N-no...if situations aren't that hard..." Lucas shifted his eyes.

"...Oh well!" Rope Snake said cheerfully as he embraced Lucas's neck with his tail. "I'll be hanging on you aaaaaaaaaaaaaall the day long."

"U-ugh..." Lucas's face turned purple.

"Whoops," the snake pulled back his tail. "Sorry about that."

"Ahem," Geno coughed to draw everyone's attention to him. "It's time to release the last Star Spirit. Everyone," he turned to them. "Please, start thinking about what will we do next with the Star Spirits."

Geno held the card above him and it began to shine brightly. Everyone watched carefully as the card let out a small light that later turned into glitters and were combined together to form Kalmar, the seventh Star Spirit.

"..." Kalmar looked at the smashers (without even opening his eyes). "The great feeling of freedom is back to me. It's very good to float around like this."

Geno knelt to him. "Kalmar, it's good to see your presence again."

"Geno? So, that is the doll you used to fight with Mario," the star turned to Mario and Peach. "I was rescued by Mario again? Times surely don't change and you had to rescue me again, didn't you?"

"Well," Mario began. "I didn't do it alone."

Kalmar raised an eyebrow and looked at all the Smashers. "Hmm...you must be the special elite of fighters known as Smashers, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"...I don't like to sound rude, but the nickname "Smashers" sounds a little bit...too unusual to me."

"Oh, what do you know?" Master Hand asked annoyed. "Everyone here likes that nickname, right, guys?"

Everyone shook their heads with annoyed looks, mostly everyone.

"..." Master Hand grunted annoyed.

Kalmar flew to Chris, who blinked. "I sense the power of the Star Spirits bestow upon you, is that right?"

"Y-yes, sir," Chris said with a nod. "Eldstar gave me his blessing to hold your abilities."

"Well," Kalmar hopped a little. "You must be the World Traveler, then."

Chris's eyes widened and he nodded once more. "T-that's right, too."

Kalmar chuckled. "I can see how kind and considerate you are just by looking at your face."

"M-my face is hiding in darkness," Chris pointed out. "How can you tell?"

"...Okay, I was lying about that," Kalmar chuckled. "I can't see that clearly or not, but I guess you're kind and considerate, right?"

Chris nodded with some grunts.

"No need to be annoyed!" Kalmar said as he continued chuckling. "Well, before we get dragged away from the main point..." the star held up his hands and several glitters flew to Chris and gave him a new ability. "My power is yours to use now."

Chris has learned Up & Away!

Turns all the enemies in the field into stars to fly them away.

"T-thank you." Chris nodded.

"Now," Kalmar turned to Geno. "All the Star Spirits were gathered, I presume?"

Geno nodded. "That's right. Thanks to everyone here the Star Spirits were rescued."

"Then this calls for a reunion," Kalmar said before he made a snapping sound. "Eldstar, Mamar, Skolar, Muskular, Misstar and Klevar, come to us here!"

The lobby began to be filled with Star Spirits who appeared above the Smashers and flew to the center of the lobby, where Geno, Twink and Kalmar were.

"A-ha!" Muskular spoke with a grin. "Everyone is finally together, like it should be!"

"Yes," Mamar nodded. "It's a good thing to hear."

"Indeed," Skolar said. "Our little "committee" is back."

"Ah," Klevar began. "The mere thought makes a smile on me."

"You're always smiling." Misstar pointed out.

"I'm always happy. What is wrong with that?"

"Stop," Eldstar said. "It's not the time to start a small argument. We have much more important matter to deal with now."

"Smithy." Twink began.

"Correct," Mamar nodded. "We shouldn't let that person do what he wants with Exor trying to destroy the city."

"If we repair the Star Road with Exor and Smithy around, then they could destroy it again." Muskular said.

"That's why we must make haste and defeat Smithy and his gang." Geno said as he stood up.

Eldstar nodded. "Correct," he looked at the Smashers. "Using your help combined will make this easier than we thought."

"But how do you plan us to get through the barrier they set up?" Mallow asked.

Eldstar closed his eyes. "...You can't cross the barrier. Our powers aren't that powerful to break it. Exor's power has been enhanced by Tabuu himself and nothing can go through."

"However," Skolar adjusted his glasses. "You can literally go and walk on the barrier as a big floor."

"But is Exor outside the barrier?" Twink asked.

"The main part of his body is," Misstar pointed out. "His face is out while his entire sword's edge is inside."

"Although there is the problem of how far he is," Marth began. "Since the city is 500km long then Exor would be 250km away from any side of the barrier, because he is on the center."

"Actually," Skolar began. "Exor is not that far away. He's 10km away."

"It's still a little far away." Mallow said.

"Heh," Sonic crossed his arms and grinned. "Let me handle that part."

"Why?" Ness asked. "It's not like we can all run as fast as you."

"Nope," Sonic closed his eyes and shook his head. "You can."

"...You're not making any sense." Pikachu said with a bored look.

"Remember? Didn't Chris buy something to let anyone behind me to run fast?"

"...Oh!" Chris blinked surprised. "Y-yes, I did buy an ability like that before... Wow, Sonic, you're intelligent for once."

Sonic chuckled. "Am I not?"

"No," mostly everyone said.

Sonic's ears lowered a little as he made a bored look. "...Whatever."

"Problem solved," Geno said. "What else should we take in mind?"

"Hmm..." Misstar thought for a moment. "...Ah! When are you going to start this mission?"

"That's right..." Geno wondered for a moment. "We should agree the time to start and also...how many people will go."

"Why can't you help us a bit?" Link asked to Master Hand.

"Me getting out plus Subspace Army equals kidnapped hand," Master Hand explained. "That's why I don't go with you to a world or else is my funeral."

"Oh."

"And as for people..." Master Hand thought for a moment. "...Geno should take half. If they try to send some kind of surprise attack, which they probably won't do after all this time, to the mansion, then having half here would be for the best."

"O-oh, that's right," Chris nodded. "I told Geno that he was going to be in charge of this mission... That makes me a partner rather than the leader."

"You know," Yoshi looked at him. "In some worlds you should be the leader...but not all of them since we know how to get aroun-"

"Disgaea."

"...I didn't go there."

Pit shrugged. "I-I agree with Chris..." the angel said and Yoshi rolled his eyes. "...Then again, he didn't know that much."

Chris blushed embarrassed. "But I remember how well you took my advice that time."

"T-that's becau-"

"Stop!" Master Hand interrupted. "Geno's the leader and that's that!"

"Good!" Eldstar spoke. "Geno would make a good leader for this since he went inside Smithy's dimension before with Mario, Mallow and Peach."

Geno nodded. "I'll be honored to be the leader."

"Show off..." C. Falcon muttered.

"World Traveler," Skolar spoke and Chris looked at her. "We'd like to bestow upon you the Star Beam."

"Star Beam?" Chris asked. "B-but nobody is using the Star Rod."

"Oh, that doesn't matter," Kalmar began. "It's good to get rid of those enemies who use a boost of power with this beam."

"Like Shadow Bugs and the like." Klevar explained.

"E-even Shadow Bugs?" Olimar asked.

"Well, we're not that sure, but it's worth a try." Misstar said.

"How about upgrading it to the Peach Beam?" Twink as he flew to Peach. "I bet her wishes can help."

"I..." Peach looked worried. "...I...well...o-okay..."

Twink made a confused look. "Something's wrong?"

"N-nothing..." Peach shook her head.

"Hmm..." Twink got worried.

"So, then," Eldstar spoke. "World Traveler, stand between all of us here."

"...Okay..." Chris walked to the center of the Star Spirits and Twink flew to the center. Peach walked to them with a concerned look but then joined her hands together as several sparkles flew to the Star Spirits.

"Hmm-hm!" Muskular grinned. "Pure wishes! Alright!"

"Everyone," Misstar began. "Commence!"

All the Star Spirits began to spin around the World Traveler as Twink hopped a little and shot a small light to Chris, which made him shine a little as more and more sparkles touched him and made him glow brighter before they all stopped.

"Phew..." Eldstar wiped out some sweat from his forehead. "Done. You have learned the Peach Beam!"

Chris has learned Peach Beam!

A beam made out of pure wishes and love. Able to remove enemies' buffs permanently and possibly Shadow Bugs.

"How the heck can you do that?" Squirtle asked to Peach.

"The Star Spirits told me that my wishes are the purest wishes of them all and that they make them feel stronger," Peach explained. "I need to be in a fight though..."

"Now," Mamar smiled. "How do you feel?"

"...The same..." Chris said with a normal look.

A record scratched and Muskular made an annoyed look. "Dude! Mario said he felt strong when we gave him that but you can't feel it? What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Please, calm down," Eldstar began. "You musn't be this harsh on the World Traveler."

"Tsk."

Chris sighed. "Thank you for understan-"

"Now what makes you say that after I gave you my blessing?" Eldstar asked with a glare. "For crying out loud, each one of us gave powers to you and you say that you don't feel anything but the same? Mario was nicer than you were!"

"...Never in my life I waited to see Eldstar getting angry..." Geno said a little shocked.

Mario whistled innocently and Chris's jaw dropped, although the Star Spirits ignored the whistles.

"(H-he didn't lie...did he?)" Chris thought shocked.

"Now, now," Mamar said as he pulled Eldstar back (who was panting). "There's absolutely no need to be harsh on him."

"D-don't be harsh on me either." Chris trembled.

Mamar giggled. "I won't. Eldstar is just a little bit grumpy today. Now, Eldstar, breathe and count to 7."

The Star Spirit did and sighed.

"That was good for one's being." Eldstar said.

"When are we starting this, though?" DK asked.

Geno wondered for a moment. "...Let's start this...tomorrow...during the night."

"During the night? Oh, I see. We can sneak through the darkness and to the city from a point." Samus said.

"But Exor could spot us even if it is night," Twink said. "Then we go directly and make a frontal assault?"

"...I think so." Geno said with a nod.

"The Star Road is going to be repaired very soon after Exor and Smithy are no more," Misstar explained. "Wishes sure are pilling up as we speak. I expect you working there, Geno."

"...Yes..." Geno looked down with a frown. "I need to enjoy the time I have left here..."

Mallow patted his back. "I'm sure we're going to...r-right?"

"..." Geno nodded silently.

"Hmm..." Peach made a concerned look.

"Well, then!" Eldstar spoke. "Be sure to be ready for tomorrow, because this isn't going to be very easy at all. Geno, Twink, you 2 make sure to enjoy what is left here before you return to the Star Haven."

"...We will." Geno said.

"World Traveler, Smashers, do everything what you can do to defeat Smithy and his gang. We'll wish for your victory."

The Star Spirits began to shine brightly. "Please, call us when you need us. Let me stop the time when the time comes!" Klevar said before he vanished.

"Make me make some guys weaker!" Muskular said with a grin before he disappeared...but then he reappeared and quickly floated over Sonic. "Aw, pure, pure coolness," the Star Spirit said before he disappeared.

Sonic grinned and closed his eyes, showing off.

"I'll make everyone fall asleep...if I can." Mamar said with a giggle before disappearing.

"If you're injured, please, call me." Misstar said with a wink before she disappeared.

"I'll teach some of them a good lesson with some meteoric stars by me." Skolar said before he disappeared.

"Good old Star Heaven," Kalmar said. "Let me help you by turning enemies into stars. Of course, I don't guarantee it but give it a try," he said before he spun and disappeared.

"Making small puns to their abilities..." Eldstar chuckled. "They're all the same."

"We know you're going to." Geno and Twink said in unison.

"...Call me if you're tired or ill. Until then, good luck and may the stars bless you." Eldstar said with a sweat drop before he spun and vanished.

"...The final mission is close..." Geno said to Mallow. "We need to be careful when that comes."

"Too bad this isn't the showdown against Tabuu," Roy said. "But meh, it's the same altogether."

"And we're done here," Meta Knight said before he turned to the stairs. "That is my signal to lea-"

"OH NO!" Master Hand interrupted as he put himself between Meta Knight and the stairs. "We're not done yet here!"

"I'm very sure we are." Wolf said as he walked towards the hallway.

Once he was gone, Master Hand went after him and he returned, pushing him from his back as the vulpine glared at him with crossed arms and stopped when he pushed him to the Smashers. "Nope, I have another thing to announce here and nobody will go away."

Diddy blinked. "The stages?"

"Close, but no," Master Hand shook himself. "It's about a little floor I recently added. Didn't anyone feel the small tremble of the explosions?"

"Oh," Zelda began. "You mean the same tremble that made my invaluable Snowpoint Dynasty Vase drop and break?"

Link glared at the hand. "H-hey! Do you know how much time did I spend to find that for her?"

Several "awws" were heard from many of them. Then, some snickers came there after.

Link blushed. "I-it's not what you think!"

"Stop!" Master Hand interrupted the snickers. "Please, all you need to do is follow me to floor 7th and you'll find out."

"T-that's the same floor where my room is!" Ike yelled.

"I ADDED, not DESTROYED," the hand turned to the stairs and floated over them. "Think before speaking, got that?... WAIT!" the hand turned to the Smashers (who didn't even move at all) and looked around. "We're missing someone here."

At that moment, the door from the exit opened and Toon Link came, carrying Raven underneath his right shoulder before the doors closed. They wondered why was Raven moaning in pain.

"Oww..." Raven moaned. "W-why did you have to aim ta arrow there?"

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Toon Link apologized with annoyance. "I said sorry 16 times! Why don't you understand?"

"D-don't be so harsh on an ol' man like good ol' me, kid..." Raven said with weak look on his eyes.

"May I ask what happened?" Zelda asked.

"K-kid hit me with an arrow...to my...prides and joy..."

Zelda's jaw opened but Link quickly blocked it. "D-don't say those sick innuendos here." Link said with a sigh.

"Prides and joy?" Twink asked in curiosity.

"Aww!!!" Geno groaned out loud.

Toon Link held an arrow on his right hand. "This is wha-"

"Ugh," Master Hand snapped his fingers and a Maxim Tomato fell close to Toon Link. "Make Raven eat that and he should be fine. In the meantime, we need you to follow us."

Toon Link made an angry expression. "For what?" he let Raven fall to the floor and looked at the hand. "We're in the middle of an important training! What's more important than that?"

"My...survival..." Raven muttered as he slowly reached for the tomato.

"Well...I didn't want to say this...but..." Master Hand coughed. "...We have a special floor of very, but VERY hard battles."

All the Smashers that had the unluckiness to be in the Melee Tournament (including Chris and Lucario) took a step back.

"It's NOT Cruel Brawl, I swear!"

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Hmm..." Toon Link kicked the tomato closer to Raven and looked at the hand. "Fine, but make it quick."

"And everyone MUST follow me." Master Hand said as he went to the stairs with the Smashers following behind...

"...Hmm..." Raven sighed in relief after he ate the tomato, regaining his energies as he stood up. "Man, magic tomatoes..." the old man turned to the kitchen...

...And voila, there was her who appeared from the other side.

"!!!" Raven gasped and quickly made a swimmer jump to the sofa. "(No, no no no, no no no, NO NO NO! S-she can't be h-here, right where I-I am!)" Raven thought in shock as he grabbed his hair.

Kitchen

"Huh?" Rita looked at the main lobby, where she could have sworn a person looking at her. "...Weird, I thought somebody was watching me just now...oh well," she took the toaster before she grinned at it. "Time to bust this Blastia wide open."

The Genius Mage began to walk away to her room (that she stole) with the toaster as she hummed what looked to be Dahngrest's theme as she walked to the right side of the hallway across the kitchen...

...Then, several seconds later, Barry came from the other side of the hallway and quickly rummaged through all the food in the refrigerator.

"Turkey!" Barry exclaimed happily as he took out a piece of turkey. "I hope this isn't a Psyduck 'cuz they have headaches and I don't wanna have one so..." the blond trainer took out more food. "Of course, Lucas and Dawn would like some food as well."

The trainer closed the refrigerator with his right foot and walked away to his room, where the other 2 were. Barry was humming what looked to be Oreburgh City's night theme.

...Wait, what's he singing instead of humming now?

"I wanna be, the very best!" Barry sang.

Main Lobby

Raven peered the half of his head from a cushion and shifted his eyes. "(Gotta make an escape while I can...)" he thought before he quickly jumped off from the sofa and ran to the hallway from upstairs, where he used the stairs to get to his room.

From the other side of the hallway, Estelle appeared and looked around confused.

With some blinks, she looked confused at no one in particular, put a hand on her chin and said "Why do I think I just missed something big in here, as well as someone else, too?"

???

The elevator opened in a mysterious and dark room, where only the light of the elevator shone a small portion of the place as the Smashers stepped out from it (if you were wondering, the elevator could hold up to 50 people).

"..." Chris embraced himself and shuddered. "T-this place is so dark..."

"And it's going to become even darker." Mewtwo said.

"Why?"

The elevator closed and it also took the lights with it, making the whole room be covered in darkness as their eyes were the only things that were visible.

"Hey," Popo began as he blinked. "Do our eyes have lights inside or what? I can see everyone here by just looking at your eyes!" he walked to some green eyes that looked down to him. "Especially this guy. This guy has the biggest eyes I've ever see-"

Fox kicked him away. "Another insult and it will go lower this time."

"..." Popo looked above behind him. "Never mind you! These are the biggest!"

Jigglypuff pouted and used Pound on Popo to push him away. "Don't insult me either!"

Chris made a bored look and rolled his eyes. "Yes, the producers definitely messed up with your looks."

"Weren't you scared a moment ago?" Ike asked.

Chris's pupils shrunk and he ducked. "T-tell me there's a switch here or something!"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" a voice laughed from somewhere in the darkness and they looked around. "Welcome, foolish mortals, to your bigge-"

"We know it's you, Master Hand," everyone said with bored looks (except Chris who looked up and blinked).

"Ruin my fun, why don't you?" the hand asked with a frown as then torches began to be ignited, revealing a long, spacious hallway with a lot of doors with several texts besides each one. A long red carpet (like the other floors) passed in front of each door. The ceiling had a darkish purple while some doors had different patterns that looked like they were modeled after some bloody related thing.

The Smashers looked in front of them where a big screen was on the wall to show them whatever the text below said.

"Watching the death from here only brings you closer to it. Mourn and bid farewell to your beloved ones from here..."

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Pichu asked as he hid behind Chris.

"That anyone that enters here turns into a goth, or emo, or both," Sonic said. "Goth-emo."

"Perhaps," Master Hand said as he appeared in front of everyone. "Or perhaps not. Welcome!"

Lucas looked around with Rope Snake. "T-this isn't a new floor to move and live here, r-right?"

"I wish, I mean, no!" Master Hand shook himself. "I welcome all of you to the..." a light shone below him to make look menacing. "THE BAAAAAAATTLE FLOOOOOOOOOOR!!!"

Battle Floor

Pokémon Platinum - Battle Arcade

"The...Battle Floor?" Ivysaur repeated.

"That's right!" Master Hand said cheerfully. "After Link asked me to have real challenges to complete, I came up with the location where the most dangerous battle can be found, right here!"

Link smiled a little. "So you took my request after all."

"Yep, I did," the hand nodded. "Ahem, before you start asking, I'm going to explain everything about this special floor."

"I-it creeps me out a little..." Ness shrugged. "The floor, I mean..."

"Okay, here's the deal," the hand pointed at the right side. "Over there, you'll see doors..." then he pointed to the left. "And even more over there. Each door contains an ultimate boss battle that is insanely hard to pass. You could say every door has the difficult Intense on each one."

"So, behind all those doors, lie extremely powerful enemies?" Pikachu asked.

"Exactly. Each door connects to a certain dimension, or world, at a specified time where an ultimate boss is waiting to be challenged."

"W-wait," Toon Link gulped. "W-what if those bosses manage to kick our sorry butts like nothing and we die?"

"Then all of you are a bunch of pushovers compared to them."

Mostly everyone glared at the hand.

"I-it was Link's idea, not mine!" Master Hand protested.

"I meant what if we die?" Toon Link asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that. If you were to die or be defeated in there then you'll return back with full health right here," Master Hand explained. "The humiliation is the only thing you can gain by that though, mwahahahahaha..."

Wolf rolled his eye and crossed his arms. "Ultimate side-bosses my a-"

"AHEM." Geno interrupted.

Wolf smirked and went on with his swear.

"Geno?" Twink asked.

The puppet groaned.

Wolf went on. "The only thing I care to see is actual development of my skills after those battles..." he wondered for a moment. "...Which in this case doesn't sound that bad..."

Pikachu gathered sparks on his cheeks and grinned. "You know, this idea of ultimate bosses doesn't sound that bad at all. We've been defeating bosses all the time and these ones aren't that different."

Master Hand snickered evilly. "Oh, that's what you think..."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Believe me. I bet those bosses are the real pushovers here."

Meta Knight rubbed his chin (or mask from below). "Testing our skills against the strongest enemies... Completing those fights could make us earn more dexterity as well."

"I-if they don't take our brains out first..." Lucas closed his eyes as he trembled. "I-I honestly think this isn't a good idea...b-but I guess everyone is going to disagree with me..."

"Totally," Ness said as he took out his bat. "If Gyigas could've been harder without Paula's Prays, then these guys should be as hard as Gyigas without Paula's Prays."

Nana rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I think we can defeat those bosses if we put our minds into it."

"I want to find a challenge as well..." Lucario trailed off as he looked at Chris. "I want to see if I'm strong."

Chris looked away and blushed a little. "I-I know you want to prove that to me."

The Aura Pokémon opened his mouth and looked away embarrassed. "I-I didn't mean that."

"Oh, you did," Squirtle said with a sarcastic smile. "Nothing makes you feel better than making Chris proud of yo-"

"S-shut up." Lucario interrupted as some Smashers rolled their eyes.

"Great!" Master Hand spoke. "Then everyone agrees! Alright, let me go to the next part of the explanation. Follow me."

The hand began to float to the right side and everyone looked at each before deciding to follow Master Hand. They all saw different texts hanging besides the doors with shadowy images of what looked to be the bosses for each door.

"See the descriptions hanging besides each door?" Master Hand asked as he stopped in front of a door (that was modeled with several spikes and black iron).

"Hmm..." Mario took a closer look of one. "...It mentions here some of our names."

"Right," Master Hand nodded. "Each door tells which characters need to go and confront the boss inside. To tell the truth, Chris needs to go to each boss."

"W-why do I need to have more chances to die and go to hel-I mean, heaven?" Chris asked as he tried to hide behind his staff.

"Because, my n(beep)a frien-" Master Hand was blasted away by a big Aura Sphere from a furious Lucario. "O-oww..." Master Hand moaned in the floor as Lucario slowly walked to him.

"O-oh no!" Chris pulled Lucario back to him. "Y-you're not going to kill him just because he..." he thought for a moment. "...Then again, I'm not so black. Kill him."

Lucario looked at him with a small smile. "Really?"

"Did you ACTUALLY believe that?" Chris asked with a frown before Lucario's small smile faded into a worried one. "You're not into killing people! I believe I taught you that!"

Lucario saw some of the Smashers snickering at his discipline lessons. "C-Chris, would you punish me when nobody is looking?"

The World Traveler rolled his eyes as the hand got up from the floor and floated. "No. This is your punishment: humiliation."

"Lit-tle-do-ggy-get-ting-dis-ci-pli-ned-by-his-trai-ner! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Squirtle, Pikachu and Ivysaur sang before they rolled on the floor, laughing out loud as the Aura Pokémon glared at them with an angry growl.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled with closed eyes.

"U-ugh...fine..." Lucario said ashamed.

"Phew..." Master Hand sighed. "Thank you for disciplining your do-I mean, Lucario."

"DOG! DUA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the Pokémon laughed loudly.

Lucario tried his best to ignore the laughs.

"As I was saying before," the hand pointed at Chris. "Chris can only use the jobs related to the characters selected for each door so he can discover more combinations with the Final Smashers. I know this is a little bit bad at some instances, but you'll have to agree with that."

"...Okay." Chris nodded, unsure of this.

"Read that one over there."

DK went to a text where he read it.

"Queen of pure, ethereal light. Let your eyes gaze upon the heaven...and be taken there as well."

DK shrugged. "W-why is this one a little bit...I-I don't know...scary?"

"Oh," Master Hand chuckled. "Don't worry about those small descriptions...each one is pretty much the same."

"With something related to our deaths?" Yoshi asked with some trembles.

"Pretty much that," Master Hand said simply as some shrugged. "Hey, I had to put those scary things there to add the atmosphere here."

"This looks like a dungeon to me." Link commented.

The hand pointed at the same text that DK read. "Okay, see that image in the background, or shadow?"

There was the shadow of a princess with open wings in the background of the red description.

"It may provide a hint about how does the boss look like."

"We don't have a small clue, though..." C. Falcon said.

"Chris might."

"No." Chris said.

"...Okay, do research then," the hand frowned. "Now please, follow me back to the screen."

The Smashers and the hand walked back to where they entered the floor and looked at the screen that turned on, showing everyone' icons with bars above them.

"Why are our faces inside icons with bars above showing in that screen?" Olimar asked.

"This," Master Hand began. "Is the screen where it shows how strong a person currently is. The higher the bar, the stronger the Smasher is."

"...But every single bar is at the same height...which it says 5 percent for everyone..." Peach pointed out.

"...Last time I checked, I was meant to be stronger than Fox." Wolf said, narrowing his eyes at his own icon.

Fox rolled his eyes. "I thought it was the other way around."

"Oh, no! Don't start a fight in here, you 2!" Master Hand interrupted.

"Hey, how come everyone's equal to anyone?" Roy asked. "Why is Ike at the same level as me?"

"Why is PICHU at the same level as mine?" Pikachu asked.

"H-hey!" Pichu pouted a little.

"Why is mine...so low than it was supposed to be?" Lucario asked.

"Hey!" mostly everyone called with some grunts.

"Lucario, you're not exactly a god here, just to clarify you that." Chris said with a bored look.

"...S-sorry..." Lucario said ashamed.

"Relax, relax," Master Hand said calmly. "There's a way to be stronger."

"Defeating those guys?" Link asked.

"No," Master Hand chuckled. "Let's just say you need your "Trophy Stands" and some "Stickers" to be stronger than you are. It's a faster way to grow stronger."

"...Trophy Stands...Stickers..." Snake repeated with a bored tone. "I thought this place was retarded...but not this retarded."

"The only retarded thing I see is you." Nana said.

"Say that to me on my face. I dare you to do that."

"Nope," Nana looked away with a grin and bored eyes. "I don't want to get scared by that face."

"Would you stop arguing with each other?!" Master Hand asked annoyed. "Seriously, let me get to the point before you go "oh, the hand is telling us stupid updates that we shouldn't bother to listen" on me."

"That was exactly what I had in mind." Mewtwo commented.

"I'm interested." Chris said.

"Aw, out of all of these hand haters, you're the most appreciative to me," Master Hand said with a sigh. "...W-wait, let's not get further into your hatred towards me."

The hand snapped his fingers and a small Trophy Stand fell from the ceiling. It had Pichu's name on the back side and the mentioned Pokémon picked it up.

"Is this a Trophy Stand?" Pichu asked.

"Yes. That Trophy Stand belongs to you," Master Hand explained before he made a sticker (Mario holding a bat) appear. "Stick that on the top part and see what happens."

The small mouse Pokémon made a confused look but did the order. The sticker was nicely stuck on the top side.

"Pichu," Master Hand began. "I engage you to a battle!"

"W-what?!" Pichu asked in panic before a Home-Run Bat appeared on his mouth. "H-how did this get here?" Pichu asked with the bat on his mouth.

"That's the sacred power of the STICKER!!!" the hand said with an echoing voice. "Thanks to that little thingy, the effect was triggered once the fight starte-"

Pichu leaped to the hand and started hitting him with the bat while mostly everyone chuckled at the hand being attacked by him.

"O-ouch! S-stop that! T-this is a fake battle, not a real one!" Master Hand yelled between hits.

"...Oh." Pichu said as he jumped back to the floor.

Master Hand took the Trophy Stand and made it disappear, also taking the Home-Run Bat from Pichu. "There are several Stickers that increase someone's attributes depending of which Sticker you use on the Trophy Stand."

"Can I have mine back?" Pichu asked.

"Not right now."

"Using "Stickers" to make us stronger...is really disturbing." Yoshi commented.

"Not to mention stupid." Snake commented.

"Look, you guys will feel like gods or something once," the hand sang the next part. "You have the poooower," he shook himself to get his normal voice back. "With the Stickers."

"...Like shooting laser eyes?" Popo asked.

"...Yes, Popo," Master Hand said sarcastically. "There are Stickers that let you use laser eyes."

"Really?" Toon Link asked.

"NO! I can't believe you believed that! There are Stickers that enhance your punch, arm, kicks, explosive, indirect, direct attacks and many more attributes. There are NO laser eyes whatsoever!"

"Then," Mario held out his hand. "Give them to us."

"...I'm afraid I can't."

Mostly everyone glared at the hand.

"Then for what did you show something that we CAN'T use yet?" Roy asked.

"Because, if you want to get these stands, you need to prove yourself worthy of them by going through..." the hand turned away before looking at them again. "THE CLASSIC MODE! Where I'll await for the chosen warrior to fight m-"

"And me!" Crazy Hand said as he appeared besides his brother.

"Both in a fight to the death at Final Destination!"

"Sweet, are we going there?" DK asked.

"No."

Link's eyes widened in fury as he put a grip on his sword. "Dammit! What the heck do we have to do to participate in that mode to obtain the Trophy Stands from you 2?!"

"We need music, and lots of it," Master Hand explained. "Music puts a good feeling when you fight and don't deny it. You guys even sing the music while you're beating someone. We need at least one track for each stage before I can let you go and fight to the top."

"Gimme a little bit more time," Diddy said. "Our friends should be on their way here to cooperate with the music."

"Just be glad there are musicians out there. Chris, I need you here." Master Hand said.

"I-I don't know many musicians." Chris said.

"...Goodness, you're usel-" the hand sweated once Lucario narrowed his eyes at him. "V-very useful when you know, of course."

Chris gave a whack on Lucario's head. "C-Chris, he was insulting you!" Lucario protested.

"And you wanted to murder him." Chris said, crossing his arms.

"Ye-I mean, no!"

"Got you."

"Ugh..."

Master Hand frowned. "Anyway...nobody can play until we have at least one track for each stage."

"That sucks," Fox commented. "I wanted to challenge Chris."

"Me too." Sonic said.

"Me three." Pikachu said.

"I'll be honest, me too." Snake said.

"...Say WHAT again?" Chris asked with shocked eyes.

Master Hand got closer to Chris's right ear. "I'll tell you now. These guys love to fight between each other so much that they practically want to see their opponent dead or beg for their forgiveness. You're not an exception and didn't they mention they wanted to fight you before?" he whispered.

"I thought they forgot it!" Chris whispered.

"Pfft, of course they don't. Nobody here forgets a match and you'll have to agree with my schedule."

"...Sometimes, I hate you." Chris whispered as toon tears strolled down his cheeks.

"Sometimes, I love your reactions." Master Hand whispered with some chuckles as he floated in front of them. "I think that's pretty much it. Any questions?"

"Can we see what's inside each door?" Marth asked.

"HELL NO!" Master Hand yelled. "If you guys go in there without an agreement, you're most likely going to get yourself killed the moment you step inside! Those bosses inside won't wait a second before they kill you!"

Lucas gulped. "I-I'm not going to..."

"Good," the hand sighed. "Okay, I'll let you see for yourself all the doors but DON'T dare to open them. You can read the descriptions but that's that."

The Smashers nodded before many walked to each side of the hallway and inspected the descriptions.

Chris (being the one left behind to see the screen a little) walked to the left and found Sonic wtih crossed arms, leaning close to a text with a door that had a lot of claw marks all over it with blood.

"The lunar howls of the Werehogs shall be the last roars you hear before you die a fast, but painful death."

"Chris, what's exactly a Werehog to you?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow (if he had one).

"Were...what?" Chris asked, utterly confused.

"Werehog," Sonic repeated. "It gives me this bad feeling. I don't know what exactly that is, but it may be bad."

Chris shuddered. "I-I don't want to know what that is either if it gives that bad feeling..." the World Traveler took a closer look at the shadow on the text's background. "...W-what the hell?"

"What?" Sonic asked as he looked at Chris.

"...Wolf!" Chris yelled. "Can you come over here for a moment?"

"What do you want, kid..." Wolf asked annoyed with crossed arms.

The World Traveler looked back and forth between the shadow and Wolf himself. "..."

"Well, what are you staring me for?" Wolf asked, narrowing his eye.

Sonic decided to look at the shadow. "...Dude, the shadow looks like you."

"What nonsense are you speaking of now?" Wolf asked as he looked at the shadow. "...Hmm..."

"So?"

"...Call that hand over here." Wolf muttered.

Sonic tilted his head but decided to listen. "Hand! Come over here!"

"It's "Master Hand" for you," Master Hand said as he floated to the 3. "What did you call me for?"

Wolf pointed at the text. "Tell me something. Is that supposed to be my shadow?"

"...Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Master Hand said. "That door is...how can I say it? Very different than all the others here."

"Why's that?" Sonic asked.

"This door doesn't lead to any ultimate boss from a known game or world. This door is the portal to a very crazy dimension where...I-I don't know, heavily altered beings live."

Chris gulped. "D-don't tell me this door has the hardest boss from every other one."

"Hardest boss?!" Master Hand repeated before he broke out laughing. "Ha! That's a big laugh right there! Ahem. No, this door actually contains a much easier boss than any other here. See the difficult over the text?"

The difficult was at "Very Hard" rather than "Insane".

"I think you guys can handle that boss very well without the Stickers."

"That doesn't explain why my shadow is there." Wolf said.

"Well, who knows? Maybe there's some sort of guy there who happens to look like you except...stronger?"

"A faker."

Sonic rolled his eyes and imitated someone's voice. "Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Hah! You're not even good enough to be my fake."

Chris chuckled. "You know, that was a very well done imitation of Shadow's voice."

"I try to mimic that guy during my free time," Sonic said with a chuckle. "He'd be pissed off if he ever heard me."

Wolf frowned. "Even though that mimic was supposed to be related to this, I'm pissed that there's a guy around who's stealing my own identity."

"Identity issues..." Master Hand frowned. "Look, just don't go in there without the selected characters or else you're going to regret it."

"It says here that me, Wolf, Sonic, Toon Link, Popo, Nana, Red, Ivysaur, Squirtle and Yoshi can go..." Chris looked at Master Hand. "This is a very weird team if you ask me..."

"Blame that universe or altered dimension... But, you know what?" the hand began. "I think we're going to feel so bad if we take a small glimpse of that world so..." he took out a button. "Ask me to destroy that door just in case."

"After I rip off that faker's heart out, then destroy the door." Wolf said.

"Good. Why don't you try this boss first so you can understand how the mechanics work here?"

"Better yet."

Chris decided to walk some doors to the left and found Mallow, Geno and Twink reading a text where a door with an angelic-look.

"Traitor to Heaven."
"This worthy opponent can take out an entire army with a blink of an eye. No other boss deserves a title like this one."

"Too bad we're not going to be around here once we finish with Smithy." Mallow said.

"Sorry," Geno shook his head. "But I'm sure your parents want to have you back and well..." he looked at Twink with a concerned look. "We need to go back to Star Haven and resume the wishes."

Twink nodded. "Y-yes, but I'm going to miss everyone here."

"If I remember..." Chris interrupted. "Geno didn't talk with many here."

"I did," Geno said. "...With Mario and Peach."

"That's because you know them." Twink said.

"Yes, but what else could I do to get a talk with someone else? Nobody here understands the complication of my own matters." Geno explained.

"We just make wishes come true!"

"...Or I didn't want to socialize."

"True." Twink and Mallow said with several nods.

"Chris, what do you think of me in general?" Geno asked.

"W-well...you're a puppet star that can fight. I think that's very interesting. Your personality is also good as well. Out of everyone here, you focus a lot in your goals."

"..."

"...What?"

"...I'm done for if I ever try to socialize." Geno said.

"D-don't say that! Y-you can make progress in this little short time!" Chris said, trying to cheer up the puppet.

"That's what you think."

"I'm trying to help here..."

"...Thanks," Geno nodded. "I need to my mind into it and then I could get progress. However, with who?"

"...Lucas?" Chris suggested. "He was the first one who found your doll, right? He seems to be a nice person to me."

"Lucas..." Geno looked at Lucas and Ness reading a text besides another door. "...I'll try. With just one person is enough for me."

"I-if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see the other doors." Chris said as he left the trio.

He read a text.

"One Winged Angel."

He quickly stopped and gulped at the shadow on the background. "...O-oh no..." he muttered.

"What?" Marth asked as he walked next to the door. "There's no need to get worried about this one."

"How do you know that?" Ike asked. "Angels are supposed to be strong, right?"

"Can I question Pit then?" Roy asked.

"Hey!" Pit called out angrily from the other side of the hallway.

"Y-you don't want to know who is that winged angel anyway..." Chris said as he walked further away and left the 3.

"The Mistress of Blood will lick your wound's blood."

The World Traveler made a grossed-out face before he looked at Peach.

"I-I don't like how this one sounds at all..." Peach said worried.

"Are you going to fight? The text says you can."

"...W-well...I-I'm not sure..."

"...Do you have fear?"

"N-no," Peach shook her head. "I'm just worried about who is the mistress of...you know."

"(Maybe I should encourage her...) What if I say I'm going to protect you? (Oh, great, that really is going too far...not to mention my life in danger)."

Peach blinked. "Would you do that for me?"

"(No! Don't give me that face! I refuse to say no to THAT face!) Yes. (DAMMIT!)"

Peach joined her hands and made a happy expression. "Thank you very much. I was worried to fight that boss alone."

"A-anything for you. (I had to have a weakness to sad expressions...)" Chris thought in shame before he walked to the next door.

"Distortional monster that lives only to see its own dimension engulf those unlucky souls."

"W-why do I have to fight that one?" Pichu asked.

"Hey, pretty much our same people can go as well." Pikachu said.

"Like Mewtwo." Jigglypuff added.

"And Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Lucario," Pikachu added. "If all of us come from the same kind of world, then I think there's a boss from our world."

"Rayquaza?" Pichu asked.

"...Last time I saw Rayquaza it wanted to eat me alive." Pikachu shuddered.

"When was that?" Chris asked.

"Meh, in my dreams," Pikachu shuddered again. "Pretty much I dream with Legendary Pokémon wanting me dead or eaten by them. Weird, isn't?"

"H-how can you act normal knowing those Pokémon want to eat you alive?" Jigglypuff asked.

"It's a "dream" and you can do anything there. I want to be big enough and I grow to stomp them...many times."

Chris backed away from the Electric Pokémon. "Pikachu...you scare me sometimes."

"I CAN STARE AT YOUR SOOOOUUUUL!" Pikachu yelled with wide eyes.

"...Now that ruined the mood."

Pikachu sighed. "Well, at least I tried."

Several minutes later...

The Smashers gathered in front of the screen as Master Hand was talking to them.

"So, no getting inside before you think it's right time," Master Hand warned the Smashers. "If you want suicide, then go right ahead."

"C-can we leave now?" Olimar asked. "I-I can't tolerate how scary this place is."

"You're fighting too if you were wondering."

The captain fainted.

"...I'll carry him..." Yoshi said with a sigh as he put Olimar on his back.

"Oh, have anyone seen Popo around?" Nana asked.

Just then, a door opened from the left side and everyone quickly looked at it where Popo came out, closed the door and walked next to Nana with a normal look on his eyes.

"...How the heck did you get out unscathed?" Master Hand asked. "And what were you doing there? I told you not to go in there if you wanted to be killed!" Master Hand said.

Popo chuckled. "Relax! I just went to the bathroom with some people that looked STRONGLY and UTTERLY familiar like all of us in a mansion that looked STRONGLY and DIFFERENTLY familiar like this one, 'cept they had fur all over and were a little bit muscular and bigger, not to mention they were very grumpy with a lot of altered personalities that I rather not mention because the mere thought makes me laugh so hard like I did a moment ago!"

"...What?" Ike asked confused.

"..." Wolf looked at the door. "...He came out from the door I was talking about."

"...You know what?" Nana frowned. "I bet he's lying. There's no way he could get out from that door without any scratch with all those stupid lies."

"But it's true!" Popo said with a chuckle. "Man, there were lesbians in there as well!"

"Lesbians?" Twink repeated before Geno facepalmed.

Chris's jaw dropped. "W-what the heck are YOU talking about?"

"This is Popo, remember?" Nana asked with a bored look. "He's always making up insane lies."

"Very true." Ness and Pikachu said nodding.

"Hmm," Popo lifted his shoulders and frowned with a smile. "You guys will believe once me cross that door," he went to the doorknob of the same door and opened it. "Follow me!"

"CLOSE IT!" Master Hand yelled and Sonic quickly slammed the door to close it. "Like I said before, that dimension is so twisted! We don't want that boss in here!"

"Aww!" Popo groaned. "You're losing all the fun!"

At a corner from a hallway, Crazy Hand looked at no one in particular. "Don't worry, faithful people who stalk us every day! This story isn't getting off the track just because Popo's retarded mind is saying lies. We're taking just another step to greatness!"

Back with the others...

"We're losing our butts getting ripped, that's the point," Master Hand said. "Well, let's go back to our usual activities and be prepared for tomorrow."

"Can I open it though?" Link asked.

Music stops

"THAT'S IT!" the hand snapped out and his fingers to teleport everyone to the main lobby.

Main Lobby

They all appeared in the lobby and looked at the hand.

"That floor is going to be temporarily closed until we finish with Smithy and save Nintendo City! Challenge those guys once you're stronger enough to face them, got that?!"

"..." the Smashers nodded.

"Phew," Master Hand sighed. "Well, leaving you here so, enjoy the afternoon."

The hand disappeared and the Smashers decided to go wherever they liked to go.

"Raaaaaaven!" Toon Link shouted. "Raaaven, come on! We have to resume our training!" the cartoony swordsman yelled to the stairs.

Raven's Room

"Raven?" Toon Link asked once he made it to Raven's room. "Hey, are you hiding under the bed sheets? I didn't think you hated our trai-"

"Shhhh!" Raven stuck his head out. "Kid, we've problems here...or a big one right now."

"What?" Toon Link asked.

Rita (stolen)'s Room

An explosion occurred again and the Genius Mage coughed.

"Dammit! Another bites the freaking dust!" Rita cursed loudly as she put her goggles up and wiped the soot on her face. "This Blastia is as useless as the last one!"

Raven's Room

"...Oh man..." Toon Link muttered with shocked eyes.

Dawn's Room

5 floors above from Rita's room (the "666th" floor), 3 rooms were close to each other (and away from the Smashers).

"Aww..." Dawn sighed as she looked outside where some Starlys were flying to the horizon. "It looks like it's not cold anymore..." she went to her bag to get her other clothes. "It's time to get a change here before I sweat more than I need to."

"Daaaaawn!" Barry slammed the door open. "What are we gonna today?"

"Settle in...and make you stop acting like that." Dawn said with a bored look.

"Whatever," Barry rolled his eyes. "Red's gonna call us to have a Pokémon battle outside in the garden. Be sure to be there."

"A Pokémon battle?" Dawn repeated as she did her hair with a comb. "Well..."

"I'll be the first one!" Barry said as he took out a Poké Ball. "2-on-2 is weird, but he doesn't have many Pokémon anyway. That guy is sure dead after Torterra pummels his Pokémon."

Dawn made a bored look. "Abusing your fully evolved Pokémon like always..."

"You do that too."

"Ah!" Dawn yelled and tossed a shoe to Barry, who quickly closed the door. "D-don't say that! I don't do the same wacky things you do!"

"But you still do!" Barry teased with several chuckles.

And from that moment and onwards, the entire day passed like nothing new happened...

Geno's Room

It was night and Geno stared at the small figure that was Exor in Nintendo City with Twink floating close to him. The puppet closed his eyes and looked down. "Very soon this is going to end," he said before looking at Twink. "And we'll depart from here and return to our normal duties."

"Yes," Twink made a sad look. "I hope we can do it..."

"Of course we will," Geno reassured him. "We defeated all those bosses and Smithy is not going to stop us either."

"I-I have a bad premonition and feeling..."

"What do you mean?"

"...What if Smithy is not waiting for us but another person instead?" Twink looked down. "Not always the same guy is going to wait there, right?"

"Twink," Geno shook his head. "Smithy is the one behind all this and not someone else. There's no other way."

"...I guess you're right..." Twink smiled a little. "W-will you take me with you?"

"...It's too dangerous..."

"(Here we go again with those annoying words.)"

"But, since I've heard many people saying the same words, and they disagreeding for what they don't want to hear...you're coming."

Twink gasped. "Really?"

"Only if you promise to stay close to me."

"Always!" Twink floated closer to the puppet. "Getting separated only asks for my death!"

"...Don't put it that way either..."

"Whoops," Twink stuck out his tongue. "Why don't you decide who are you going to take for tomorrow night?"

"Maybe I should think who..." Geno wondered. "Good thing you said that. If we can defeat Smithy, then that's going to help all of them with a problem taken out of the way."

"Right!" Twink nodded cheerfully. "There's no way another problem is going to show up after we leave. ABSOLUTELY no problem!"

Sonic's Room

"...Hmm..." the hedgehog crossed his arms and looked outside. "...The moon..." Sonic said as he looked the moon in the night sky. "...It looks beautiful in some ways..."

"...Hahahahaha..."

"Huh?" Sonic looked at the door, but it wasn't open nor it had a person on the door. "Who said that just now?" Sonic asked, looking around his dark room.

"It's about time I get to control your body again...hahahahahaha..."

"The only time I get controlled is when I eat a mouthful of chili-dogs. I go crazy the-"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME DO MY THING!" the voice yelled, echoing from somewhere that only Sonic was able to hear.

"Just who are you and what are you doing in my room?" Sonic asked with crossed arms.

"Rude fool. I am not inside your room."

"Outside?"

"Cold."

"Inside the room?"

"Still cold."

"My mind?"

"Getting warm."

"My subconscious?"

"How the heck do you know that word? I thought that was complicated for...I mean...hot."

"B-i-n-g-o." Sonic spelled with a grin.

"Enough about foolish games," the voice said. "Let me ask you something: do you feel weird?"

"There's a voice talking to me from somewhere, genius."

"DON'T DARE TO TICK ME OFF OR YOU'LL PAY!"

"With?"

"UGH! Silence! I dare you to look at the moon directly!"

Sonic looked outside and to the moon where he grinned at it. "So? What's your point with that?"

"Manifest my control on you."

"What?" Sonic asked confused before he suddenly felt a headache. "U-ugh! W-what is happening to me? W-who are you?!"

The voice chuckled evilly. "Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, don't you remember those chuckles back at the "Olympic" games?"

"Y-yeah, I do..." Sonic said as he put a hand on his head.

"And don't you remember the time where you went on a rampage to save your friends with the use of...I don't know..." the voice chuckled. "Those fake Chaos Emeralds you accidentally landed on?"

Sonic rubbed his chin. "...Care to remind me?"

"No."

"...Oh," then he remembered. "...Wait...that same feeling...I remember it when I fought the Metarex..."

"Congrats, you deserve a medal for being a complete and utter jackass," the voice congratulated. "That's right. I am that same feeling."

"Your voice...sounds like mine..." Sonic said weakly and he fell on his right knee.

"Geez! You figured it out just now? No wonder Eggman calls you an idiot!"

"S-shut up..." Sonic muttered. "W-what do you want from me and w-why are you here?"

"Simple," the voice began. "I'm going to possess your helpless body."

"H-how?"

"Let me get to the point! Anyway, soon, I'm going to take control of your body thanks to the power of the full moon."

"I-it's still a normal moon up there..."

"I KNOW! STOP INTERRUPTING ME!" the voice demanded. "As I was saying before your stupid mutters, the power of the full moon should transform you into a being where I will take as mine to have a body."

"T-transform?"

"You obtained an affinity to the moon after Eggman shot you down with some beams, right? Well, that affinity isn't normal. It's going to drag you all the way to the transformation."

"A-answer me!" Sonic looked up from the floor with a glare towards the ceiling. "What the heck is that transformation?!"

"Oh, why spoil it to you?" the voice chuckled. "Nobody likes spoilers, that's for sure. However, I can grant you a little preview."

"Pre...view?" Sonic repeated weakly.

The voice made a snapping sound and Sonic's teeth suddenly and slowly began turning into fangs.

"W-what the heck?!" Sonic said as he touched his newly formed fangs. "H-how did these get here?!"

"Mwahahahahahaha," the voice chuckled. "I can only show you this little preview. The full "preview" is going to appear once the full moon appears. When that happens, you're going to change completely...where I will take your body as my own with that very same transformation."

"Y-you won't do that t-" Sonic noticed that his voice got deeper and menacing. "S-stop playing with me!"

"I love amusement. What can I say? Once I take your body, I'm going to start an era of chaos and destruction against anyone, even the people you live with."

"You won't do that if I'm around!"

"Of course you won't," the voice chuckled. "Because I'll be you then."

"W-who are you?!"

"I'm Dark Super Sonic!" the voice revealed itself. "The other you! The same presence that tried to kill the Metarex but failed once Eggman stopped me from going nuts and kill everything in sight!"

"D-damn you..." Sonic muttered. "I thought I got rid of you..."

"You still have that radiation from the fake Chaos Emeralds. Oh, that doesn't mean I'm a fake," Dark Super Sonic explained. "I'm real, 500 percent real."

"Get away from me!" Sonic yelled.

"Tsk," he chuckled. "I don't have any choice left. But mark my words."

"W-what?"

"I can listen to everything you say and listen to, even the mission you have planned for tomorrow. And just look at this! It's during the night!"

"T-there's no full moon!"

"There isn't going to be a full moon tomorrow...but in 2 days from now on. What will you do once I show you another preview tomorrow? How are you going to hide it from them?"

"I-I won't hide it!"

"Too bad," Dark Super Sonic frowned. "If you don't, the hand is going to push you out from the mansion."

"W-what? That's not true!"

"Believe me, he will. Nobody likes a freak turning into a monster."

"...Heheheheh..."

"What's so funny?"

"If that's how you want to play...then I'll play your game," Sonic stood up and grinned with his fangs sticking out from his mouth. "I'll hide your "previews" from everyone. It's not going to be so bad and hard at all."

"Fine," his evil version said. "Be that way. It's going to be so fun anyway."

"Will you leave me alone and let me relax for tomorrow?"

"I don't have anything else to say...so yeah. See you tomorrow."

"We're not friends!"

"Duh." Dark Super Sonic said before he vanished from Sonic's mind, taking the fangs as well.

Sonic looked down worried. "...What if something else happens tomorrow?... I better be careful..." he yawned. "Time to hit the pillow..."

Hallway

"..." Rita gave the door a serious look where Sonic was. "Someone was talking to himself just now...but I rather not see who and just think nobody else lives here," the Genius Mage began to walk away. "I'll see more Blastia tomorrow. For now, I'm going to take a good nap."

Preview of the next chapter

"They're here, DK!" Diddy yelled from the lobby. "They're here!"

"Really?" DK asked as he peered his head from the hallway. "About time they made it!"

"Are preparations ready?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes," Geno nodded. "My team is assembled."

"Good. The other half of us is going to remain here if they try to attack."

"It's beginning, Lord Smithy."

"I will have their heads soon."

"Entering the Realm of Factories. The showdown..." Geno trailed off.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Barry was going to sing the first opening of Pokémon.

-Sonic was mimicking Shadow's line when they first fought in Sonic Adventure 2.

And yet another peril shows up before the current is about to be finished...

If you ever watched Sonic X, there's a chapter where Sonic falls on fake Chaos Emeralds that radiate their corrupted energy and causes Sonic to gain Dark Super Sonic. However, the producers never went that far with that dark hero and dropped out the anime after it ended.

Then I wanted to solve this with my own variation, mixing it with a wolf-thingy as well. I hope you like it. ; )

And so, we have the Battle Floor! The place where the ultimate bosses await to be challenged! (I'm not going to add that many bosses either and don't suggest bosses unless I ask for them).

Speaking of which, that door, the same one Popo entered...is a future and original boss battle that I have in mind...thanks to the collaboration of a dear friend of this section.

I'm not going to go further into detail until we reach the chapter before that future chapter. You'll have to wait until then.

Anyway! We stick with the main points for now and leave those dangerous bosses for later. They won't cause any trouble...before the Smashers challenge them.

Nothing else to say but wait the first chapter of the next arc: The Smithy Arc!

Oh la ti da! Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 124*: Entering the Realm of Factories

The Smithy Arc begins...

From lucario cat star: Wow that was a long chapter. Sorry for my last review i was kinda hyper.

From me: Yes, you were hyper...in all the previous reviews you gave. I hope you're not hyper again. XD

From shadow-dog18: this is a awesome and funny chapter to read.

From me: Thank...you... :l

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches to Reviewer!~

Just finished my latest chapter for one of my fics. Read plz?

Anywho...

Wow, the Battle Floor? Interesting addition. It's sad to see Geno's leaving us pretty soon.

There hasn't been a lot of action this chapter, but I feel I'm going to get some in the next. Keep updating!

From me: Maybe I'll read it, maybe not. I have to read the first chapter so I can catch up...and that could take away my fic's time as well... I'll see what I can do.

I hope it does. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: actually, that line's from when they first fight, NOT when they first meet. They meet after City Escape/Radical Highway, and that line's from fighting after White Jungle/before Green Forest.

From me: Thank you for pointing out my "cluelessness" sense for a game I have! Now...where is the...oh, you should know what I'm talking about. :l

From DianaGohan:

wiiboychris: Well, since you asked to see more ways to get rid of your parodies... ROGER!

Roger: *Walks in* What?

wiiboychris: Shield & Cannon on that big wall text!

Roger: *Sees parody* E-evil wall text! *Uses Shield & Cannon to launch several cannonballs to the parody, destroying it to bits* Phew...

wiiboychris: Phew. Thank you.

Roger: When are ya going to make the Star Ocean ar-

wiiboychris: *Kicks Roger away* C-classified info! Don't mention that here! Ahem...

From DianaGohan: By far one of my favorite chapters so far. In addition to the hinting of the Geno arc and of the arcs of several of freeloaders in the mansion (I joke about it but I really do love all the hinting for events fairly far away. shows you bother actually planning out your story that some actually paid to think of stories writers don't bother doing) we also get the talk of battle rooms. Which sounds like an excuse for some super hard battles but i'm sure they'll be great. Like the one with teh one winged angel, and the mistress of blood. Though for some reason that werehog door intruges me the most. I wonder why heh heh. But yeah great stuff man.

GRADE: AA

From me: FINALLY! I see better grades! *Wonders when I'm going to receive an A plus for a non-Sonic arc*

Thank you for responding to my message about the mocks. Don't be that harsh or else...

Roger: *Walks in unscathed*

I had to level you to lvl. 61 so you could resist my kick!

Roger: You haven't reached lvl. 255, just to let you know.

S-shut up and go!

Roger: *Mutters* Stupid lummox... *Walks away*

From SlasherMask: *read this time all review reply*

I think that she was talking about archie comics(which are not manga) sonic... Then again those might give you nightmares when you think how differents they are from game...(before you say anything NO i don't like those comics...(BTW real sonic manga...Its because of its description from wiki i never even bothered trying to check it...(its...Very comedic...))

...Is there really any other (than saying it straightly) that something hit you in between of legs than innuendo?

...Some of those boss descriptions sound familiar...(if over half of them are from RPGs i think that you need more games :D(as in different kind of))

P.S... From my time of fighting Smithy... I had heard he was easy, but since my party constituted of Mario,Geno and Bowser(aka could only heal with items) he was little challenging(still did not die:D).

From me: Yes, she already explained that it was comic instead of manga...though it's totally altered in every single page. :l

No. XD

I mentioned some but not all of them. ;)

Peach brings miracles. ;)

From ngrey651: A BATTLE FLOOR? Yikes. This has a lot of potential...and I'm a LITTLE spooked of those creeply plaques on the door. And the One-Winged Angel?

YIKES. :O

From me: Your typical RPG cliché has come to life here. XD

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: I think the mansion chapters are always some of the funniest ones because everyone is together and everyone interacts. Anyway, looks like Master Hand brought some of the strongest bosses from various games, I guess. Only one I recognize is "One-Winged Angel," though, I'm afraid I haven't played a great variety of games. And let's see if I'm even thinking about the right thing!

What's wrong with Sonic? Is he cracking up? And what'll happen in the next chapter. Guess we won't know until next time.

From me: Sonic isn't cracking up. Haven't you watched the Sonic X anime? You should understand once you saw all of it...

From Anakin Mario Son43: And so the battle with Exor and Smithy is at hand... MASTER HAND! Sorry, couldn't resist. Somehow, the battle floor sounds like both the Battle Frontier in Pokemon, and Event mode. Update soon! Hasta! P.S. Sorry about THE ILLNESS MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

From me: Yes. I modeled the Battle Floor after the Battle Frontier but not the Event Mode... I should make an Event Mode chapter sometime... XD *Slowly reaches for ban button on you and waits for your reaction* :l

From JSandders: Why do you keep changing your profile pic? Just curious. Anyways, onto the real review:

The Battle Floor? That's an awesome idea! I have no idea who the other bosses are, but I'm looking forward to see Chris fight "The One-Winged Angel"! That would be SO killer! Your original boss door will also be kinda interesting, I think. But why would you choose "Werehog"... unless of course if Sonic... nah! I must be thinking of crazy stuff. ;)

Wow, Chris! You've got a lot of extra people in the mansion that no one even knows are there! That was a pretty funny part of the chapter when they all just walked around without noticing each other! XD

And there are more letters (and a big one from Lahral just because he wanted to be the main character in the next game XD)! Can't wait to see what they say in them!

Dark Sonic? I thought it was his hairy, beastly, bigger, arm-extending form from his latest major game that was talking to him. Well, I can't read minds so being wrong makes sense once in a while. :P

What does "second banana" mean? Well, it's a person who serves in a supporting, secondary, or subsidiary capacity like an assistant. So, now that I have said that, I have to really feel bad for Luigi. Most characters in the game forget his name, he will always be the second character when choosing between the two brothers, and he'll always be known to Mario-kind as Mario's taller, twin brother. The only major role he had that I can think of was when Luigi's Mansion came out! Poor guy. Well, at least he isn't a hopeless romantic, being that Daisy's his girlfriend and all!

And the final battle with Smithy has come. Since you told us that Geno's arc will end on the next chapter, I'm guessing that the entire encounter with Smithy will be in the whole chapter, from introduction to defeat. So, good luck on that! Very smart, BTW, to think of using Sonic's speed and Chris's smashing ability to get into Exor!

You're a great writer, Chris! Your story's one of the best! Oh yeah, before I forget, what's the arc after the Geno arc? That's all! Keep typing!

From me: I change it to show the people who don't have avatars in their profiles to fill that unnamed face in there. ; ) It helps me show what games I know as well.

Ha! Just wait until I make a chapter for Rita! XD

Oh, that Overlord will try to get here with every single way possible. XD

No, I don't think that as a Werehog he was possessed.

Oh, at last, an explanation to second bananas. Thank you. :)

No, er...you heard wrong. I said Smithy ARC at the last part. XD

Thank you! :D (Remains unknown about the next arc).

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: So the Final Hour has arrive, huh. That was pretty interesting adding that Battle Floor. And Master Hand adding another floor? What is he the Creator from Final Fantasy Legend who created a huge tower only to mess with the minds of the heroes who reach the top?! He must die for his insults to the only good OC in fanfiction and for cheating in Very Hard mode by summoning his brother after I got him down to 50 HP! Ahem, anyway I hope that all the Smashers can handle Sethiropth, Kratos(again), and maybe the Time Devourer?(that one description sounded like that creature.) And I hope they also survive the fight against Smithy's two forms and finally Culex(Who is still hard for me to defeat even after playing Super Mario RPG for the 25th time. It is a good game. So don't say anything.). The only thing I have left to say as a warning for the Smashers is to beware of the Crystals!!

From me: I don't understand the HP part. And what is telling you that Kratos is behind one of those doors? Pfft, you're seeing things... *Sweats for a moment*

*Stops sweating*

Ha, Culex. He's not related to any of this at all. Maybe as a side-boss but not the actual storyilne. Thanks. :)

From Dimentio713: All right! A new floor, the beginning of a sidequest, and the Smithy arc! This is gonna be awesome! I kinda expected it to be Dark Super Sonic however... I know a few of the doors but not a lot... Wait when did Chris buy the job with Sonic? and isn't there a Pikmin optional boss too? Will you include it to? Oh well see ya!

From me: He did somewhere before the Galaxy arc or before Crystal King I believe. Hey, don't give that look. I remember my chapters. :l

Possibly for the Pikmin thingy? I don't know... Thanks.

From Mewtrainer: I've played Melee, I just don't see Roy's fully charged Flare Blade much. Anyway..no offense, but I didn't enjoy this chapter as much as the others. It didn't seem storyline-related and I didn't find much to laugh about. Sorry. I guess Laharl isn't done yet...

From me: That's okay. *Throws Golden Gun away* People like some chapters and some don't.

No, he isn't done. XD

From Blaperile: Hey,

I'm wondering how the next "previews" of Dark Super Sonic will be. :)

I couldn't find what it actually means King of second bananas.

Wow, Luigi had but one sentence this chapter... oh well! XD

I can't wait to see the boss battles and the changing of Sonic. Also the fight with Smithy! :)

Keep it up!

Blaperile

From me: Expect a lot of those things here, my friend. ;)

From Rellymaster: Wow, Lucario gets humiliated a lot here. Very surprising, since I seldom see such a Pokemon suffer a rep-wreck.
-Battle Floor? Reminds me of the Battle Zone.
-A few unopened letters won't cause a penalty, will they?
-Dark Super Sonic sounds like a stalker.
-None of us are stalkers, Crazy Hand!!:(

From me: -Legendary and very serious Lucario? Yeah, right... XD
-I thought it reminded the Battle Frontier. :l
-They're read here. :)
-Oh, he is one.
-Maybe, maybe not. (Disgaea anime reference)
-Thank you. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: What? is that such a bad thing? the two main reasons that we(me and my sissy) got it was 1, we're on a budget and 2, we have a bunch of GBA games and the R button for our GBASP isn't working, well, let's go onto my review now, shall we?
Hm, this chapter does reveal a lot, but I don't feel the usual things like the action and humor as much as the past other chapters have, but it could just be me, my new pic could explain a bit if you're wondering. And about some of those secret super bosses, are they from other games OTHER than the ones used for the story? Also, you didn't beat star ocean TTEOT yet did you? One of the boss descriptions, it reminds me of, never mind, I'm not going to spoil it. Now, time for a…
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, QUESTION EDITION!
Did you listen to Nobuo Uematsu yet?
Umm, I meant Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 1, will you?
Will there be a Golden Sun arc, if so, 1 or 2?
The answer to the riddle was "Comb", was that your guess?
Why you'd skipped the letters? Did you know that GF Eden from FF8 was the first official summon creature to pass 9 damage in all the past final fantasies?
How's Spectrobes as a arc?

From me: Oh, love for your GBA games then. I understand that. :)

Dude, it's a vampire...taking his head out as a screw?

Yes. Most of them are from other games but some are from their games as well. I DID beat Star Ocean 3! *Cheers* But...oh my...the hell I'm going to go through once I reach the Maze of Tribulations...and all of those floors at the Sphere!

Of course I know Nobuo! He made music for all the FF games and the intro of SSBB. :)

Possibly no. Marche doesn't sound that good for a protagonist since he's very serious and not that fun. :l

I'm most likely going to do a Golden Sun arc...for both games.

Check previous response in the previous chapter. _

They're read here. Yes, I know. (That was random)

Er...no. That guy on the box reminds me of Edward Elrich from Full Metal Alchemist for some reason...

...

Thank you!

HOLY CRAP! 16 reviews!... They don't surpass the 19 reviews from the Persona 4 chapter. Ha! I made people review that so much! XD But thanks to all of you as always! : D

The Smithy Arc begins. The final arc for Geno, Twink and Mallow is here now. Many things will happen. How long is this arc going to be?

The necessary. You'll see. :P

(This time as an avatar, we have Joe and Silvia taking a stroll in...their city). :P

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 124: Entering the Realm of Factories

Subspace
Deep inside the Great Maze

"Where is the Ancient Minister?" Tabuu questioned. "He was supposed to be here and tell the report of Exor."

"Calm down," Bowser said with a frown as he held some papers and read them. "Says here Exor is ready to destroy Nintendo City today during midnight. When that happens, Smithy's going to leave with Exor so they can torment another big city. Why do they have an affinity to destroy big cities now? Well, that's not my problem but stil-"

"Well, that sounds good," Tabuu interrupted and nodded. "But that does not explain where the Ancient Minister is."

"I haven't seen that guy that much yesterday either," Charizard said. "I wonder where he went."

"If he does not show up, I am going to make one of you 4 the new minister...but I think you are not to the task."

"Who wants to be on a floor giving orders all the day?" asked a recovered Ganondorf. "I rather be out and fight."

"My thoughts and expectations exactly," Tabuu nodded. "But I want to see where the Ancient Minister is. He is usually issuing all the commands I tell him to do."

"Today is very important, right?" Dedede asked. "The city's gonna get destroyed."

"However, they gathered all the Star Spirits and since they did not go directly to attack yesterday, I presume they will today." Ganondorf said.

"Oh, for the love of you, let me go this time!" Bowser said.

"...I will consider your suggestions...just wait until I get word of the Ancient Minister." Tabuu said before he disappeared and left the 4 villains.

"This is a mission of high priority and we must NOT lose this time." Ganondorf warned them.

"Like you aren't going to screw up," Charizard rolled his eyes. "You failed the last time, remember? You're not that superior."

"S-silence..." Ganondorf said with an annoyed look.

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

The morning came...and that meant the time to read the letters.

From Garnet Till Alexandros.

I've decided to write a letter to you. Remember me? We traveled together for a short period of time. Right now, it's a bad time to be writing a letter because we're escaping to the Outer Continent where we...I don't want to tell what happened here. Zidane is telling me to stop writing this.

In short, I hope you're doing well. Please do drop by if you can find us. I can't tell you where we are because that could tell a "bad guy" our location.

Sincerely,
Garnet Till Alexandros.

P.S.: Please, tell Zelda I'm doing well. The reason why I wrote this letter for you is because I was a little nervous to talk to her.

"...Suuuuuuuure..." Chris said as he put away Garnet's letter and read Laharl's letter.

From Overlord Laharl.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You thought you weren't going to hear of me again, didn't you?! Well, guess what, you're remembering now! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

My evil plan to get a little more screen time worked after all. I knew mailing this stupid thing was a good idea. It wasn't the Love Freak's idea for sure, but whatever...

...

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

The World Traveler noticed that the letter wasn't a letter, but a long, long big scroll that was an insanely long evil laugh by Laharl himself.

"...Oh god..." Chris frowned with a disgusted face. "I can't believe he wasted so many trees into this... I'll just go to the last part."

From malevolent Overlord,
Laharl.

P.S.: Now that His Royal Highness is gone...p-please, mercy for me, dood...

Chris made a bored look. "...I knew he wasn't up to the whole writing... Poor random Prinny..."

From Kylie Koopa.

Biggest scoop EVAH!... Okay, I was little hyper there, so what?

Hi there, you little hoopla! I've been doing so well after all these years! Heck, I even remember all of you when those Shroobs-thingies wanted to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. I made out a book out of it! "Fungicide: The Epic Battle for the Mushroom Kingdom" is now on sale in a store close to you!... Whatever, I'm going to send you a copy sometime!

By the way, old pal, I think I'm gonna hit Nintendo City. I heard there are not a single newspaper and just radio. The Koopa Kronicle's staff is so going to enjoy the open city for us! Be sure to drop by and maybe I'll make an article out of all of you!

Your Top-Star Reporter,
Kylie Koopa.

"I think she forgot the P.S. part..." Chris said.

From Soren.

This is very rare for me to write a letter to you, from all the people. But I think you have a closer connection with Ike than the other ignorants.

Let us get down to the main point. How is Ike doing? I hope he is not doing any sort of reckless affair or something like that because that would dishonor the Greil Mercenaries for a lot of honorableness and the such. Well, personally, for a person like him, it's not that common, am I right?

Lastly...well, good luck with whatever you have to do in your life.

Soren.

"Why do I think he hates me?" Chris asked with a worried face.

From Birdo

"...Why is the letter full of pink circles rather than...wait..." the World Traveler took a closer look to the letter to find something.

To my dearest greeny watermelon boyfriend...

From you sweety pinky strawberry girlfriend.

"..." Chris, with a disgusted face, tossed the letter away with a shrug. "W-why does it say that?!... Unless..." he took the letter and inspected it more. "...OH! Yoshi... This is his letter then, not mine. What a relief... I-isn't Birdo a gu-"

From Wave.

If you're wondering why I'm sending this letter to you and not Falco...w-well...let's just say I'm just a little bit embarrassed to send him a letter after what happened...

Anyway, how's it going? My brothers and I are doing very well. It seems Jet agreed to be closer us as the brothers we're supposed to be...if I made very good Extreme Gears for him, though...

...Wait a second...he isn't tricking me, right? If he is, then I'm going to make the best Extreme Gear...but with the best explosion when he comes close to the finish line. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy that.

Oops, I already wasted the whole letter with this. You pardon me, right? Okay.

From Extreme Gear designer,
Wave the Swallow.

P.S.: Is Falco still single? Heheheh, just a joke...

...

IT'S A JOKE, YOU GOT THAT?!

Chris put the letters on a nearby table before Lucario came out from the door of the bathroom. "Clean?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Lucario rolled his eyes. "Did you finish?"

"Taking a shower and the letters? Like usual," Chris nodded. "Today is the day, right?"

Lucario nodded. "The day we go to fight Smithy."

"Well...Geno hasn't selected who already..." he looked outside. "And it's still very early in the morning. What do you want to do in the meantime?"

"Hmm... Eat breakfast?"

"...Meh."

Main Lobby

As the 2 made their way to the main lobby, there was Diddy sitting on the sofa, tapping his fingers on the edge of the ornament in annoyance.

"Diddy, why are you here?" Chris asked as both stopped.

"Waiting for our friends to come," Diddy said as he looked them from the other side. "They're almost here. I know that."

"That's just random thinking," Lucario said with a frown. "What makes you believe they will come today? It's dangerous if they do because as you kno-"

"Yeah, yeah, mission," Diddy rolled his eyes. "Look, mission or not, they're coming now."

"I want to see that."

RING!

"...You were owne-" Chris was interrupted.

"I know." Lucario said with closed eyes.

Diddy opened his mouth in surprise and went quickly to the door and looked through the small hole of the right one. "...Oh my god!"

"What? Enemies?" Chris asked worried.

"No!" Diddy said with a frown. "They're here at last!"

Chris looked at Lucario...and he was already in the kitchen. "Lucario! Aren't going to meet them?"

"I rather not!" Lucario yelled from the kitchen.

"Why?"

"Just because?"

"...Oh, brother..."

"They're here, DK!" Diddy yelled from the lobby. "They're here!"

"Really?" DK asked as he peered his head from the hallway. "About time they made it!"

"Will you open the door?" Chris asked as he walked closer to Diddy.

Diddy grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. "Chris, I want you to me-"

"I know every single Kong in the family."

"...But you haven't met them in person, right?"

"N-"

Diddy opened the door. "Meet my distant cousin, Lanky!"

The first Kong that entered was Lanky Kong (walking with his hands). The Sumatran orangutan walked inside and greeted Diddy with some handshakes.

"Diddy! Oh monkey god, it's you!" Lanky greeted before he looked at Chris. "Who's that? Distant family member?"

"You wish," Diddy shook his head. "He's Chris. He lives here with me as well."

"Oh, nice to meet you!" Lanky walked to Chris and extended his long right arm to him, which the teen grabbed his hand to do a handshake. "Lanky's my name. Diddy already introduced you to me, right?"

"U-um, yes," Chris nodded. "(Now what do I say?) Er..."

Lanky kept handshaking his hand as Chris tried to think of something to talk.

"...Well..."

"..." Lanky blinked. "...Oh well! Not many people talk to me anyway," he took out a long trombone. "Ready to make music. I haven't done this in a long time but hey, there's always another chance."

"Now, next," Diddy looked outside where a tall female Kong with 2 ponytails walked. "Meet my fiancée's younger but tall sister, Tiny!"

"Diddy!" Tiny ducked to hug Diddy. "Oh, it's so nice to see you again!"

"(My god, why did they have to make her taller?)" Chris thought.

Tiny stood up and looked at Chris. "Are you Chris?"

"Y-yes, I am. Did Diddy tell you?"

Tiny smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh. Diddy emails me of all the people he meets."

Diddy blushed and looked away. "W-well, just because Dixie lives with you and you share the same email address."

"So," she took out a saxophone. "My old saxophone from the same adventure we had. Don't worry, I still remember how to use it. Let me see."

Tiny played her old small theme with the same tone and rhythm. It even made Chris's and Diddy's feet tap the floor.

"Oh yeah!" Tiny raised her saxophone with her right hand. "That's more like it."

"Good! You're going to be great!" Diddy remarked as she walked behind him and looked at the last Kong walking inside...though this one was embracing himself as he shivered. "...What happened to you now?"

"N-nothing..." the Lowland gorilla said with some shivers. "I-it's just that..."

"Oh, relax, will you?" Tiny said with a frown. "You don't have to get scared because I got a growth spurt!"

"B-but..."

Diddy rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you liked her more when she was smaller and you juggled her in the air for fun, right, Chunky?"

Chunky nodded and sniffed. "T-those were good times! Very, VERY good times!"

"Not always is the same," Lanky said with some chuckles. "Changes are goooooooooood."

"For yooooooooooou at least..." Chunky muttered.

"Meet Dixie and Tiny's cousin, Chunky." Diddy presented Chunky to Chris.

"(Yes, he's taller than DK but smaller compared to Tiny...)" Chris thought before shaking his head. "Nice to meet yo-"

Chunky quickly hugged (or strangled) Chris with a powerful hug as the big gorilla sniffed. "I-it's always good to have a new friend!" Chunky said happily.

Chris's eyes twitched like never before. "I-i-i-i-i-it's always good...t-t-t-to have...a-a-a-a-air...d-d-d-daily..." he muttered.

"Chunky! Chunky! Stop! You're killing him!" Diddy said.

"..." Chunky looked at Chris's face turning yellow. "Whoops," he said embarrassed before he let Chris fall (knocked out). "S-sorry, I don't know my own strength... Answer me!" he grabbed Chris and shook him several times. "I killed my bunnies this way by accident too! D-don't tell me you're dead as well!"

"STOP!" Diddy interrupted before Chunky let Chris fall again. "If you leave him alone, he'll come back to his senses!"

"BUAH!" Chris let out a loud sigh (if you could consider "BUAH!" a sigh). "W-why did I forget about his strength?"

"That strength saved us from King K. Rool!" Lanky said proudly. "Chunky's packs 5 punches instead of 1!"

Chunky blushed. "Oh, please, don't embarrass me like that!" he took out...a metal triangle which he rang with a small stick of iron. "I-I'm ready to make music!"

"(With that?)" Chris thought with dot eyes, indicating that he didn't believe that Chunky's instrument would make a CD.

"D-don't give that look..." Chunky said unsure. "I was able to defeat that scary Rool guy with this..."

Tiny made a bored look. "I still remember how you defeated King K. Rool though..."

Flashback

There was a huge Chunky Kong (using Hunky Chunky to be bigger) on a side of the ring while on the other side, King K. Rool charged at him with a furious roar.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chunky let out a girly scream before slamming a huge fist on King K. Rool's face, knocking him away to the spectators and on the seats before the bell rang, indicating his victory.

The other 4 Kongs watched this before shifting their eyes around. "...I think we're going to remember this for the rest our of lives..." said the past Tiny Kong.

"Uh-huh," the other 3 said with several nods.

End of flashback

"Thought as much," Diddy said before looking at the hallway. "Weird, DK was standing there a moment ago."

"Because I went to call Master Hand!" DK called from the other side of the hallway, walking towards the Kongs and Chris. "Lanky! Tiny! Chunky!"

"DK!" the mentioned trio said cheerfully before all of them ran to him and greeted the Kong with hugs, handshakes and pats on the back.

"The good ol' gang, back again to make another debut!" Lanky said happily.

"No fat crocodile with laryngiti-" Diddy was interrupted.

"Wasn't it a tic?" Tiny interrupted.

"Laryngitis to beat around!"

"Um...yeah, exactly!" the other 4 said with confused looks.

"...Soooooo..." Chris looked to the right with crossed arms behind his back. "...What are you going to do now that you're reunited?"

"Theme song!" DK yelled as he took his bongos.

"Yeah!" the other 4 said as they took out their instruments (with Diddy taking out an electric guitar).

"Not today!" Master Hand interrupted before the 5 could even begin. "Aw, more musicians."

"BIG CREEPY TALKING MOUTHLESS FLOATING WHITE HAND!" Chunky yelled loudly before he hid behind Chris in a hurry (albeit to say, due to Chunky's brawny size, Chris could only block at least 30 percent of the Kong's body).

Master Hand frowned. "Not another guy who yells the same at me the first time someone meets me."

"Everyone does that to you?" Diddy asked.

"Well, not exactly," the hand explained. "So, 3 more musicians?"

DK nodded. "Ready to make some music."

"Theme song!" Lanky yelled.

The 5 (even Chunky) quickly stood next to each other and began to play thei-

"NOT TODAY!" Master Hand interrupted.

"...Theme song!" Lanky said again.

"NO!" the hand snapped his fingers and everyone' instruments disappeared. "If you want to make "some music" then go to the room where there's MUSIC, okay?"

"Hey," Lanky looked around. "Where did you take my instrument?"

"Mine's got to be fine, or else I'm putting some lawyers on you." Tiny threatened.

"Your instruments are waiting for you in the music room," Master Hand explained. "Your rooms are ready as well once you go to the music room. You're going to meet 2 other musicians there so I hope you enjoy the time making music."

"Sweet! We got our own rooms already!" Lanky said.

"DK, Diddy," the hand looked at the 2. "Would you show them the way?"

"Sure. C'mon." DK said as he lead the 3 upstairs.

"Diddy," Master Hand whispered to the monkey. "I need to ask you a favor."

"What?" Diddy asked.

"Since today is you-know-what, you and Donkey should stay behind and make sure the musicians don't get a word of this mission."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sure as hell your pals are going to help ourselves. I don't want to take any risks either if they become dead."

"Hmm..." Diddy wondered.

"...If you do my favor, I'll let you 2 be part-time musicians as well so you can do your theme song. We also need the DK Rap."

"Hmmmmmmm..."

"...And free bananas daily."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm..."

"And banana juice."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-"

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?! I don't give a 5-star dinner to anyone, ever!"

"Deal!" Diddy shook Master Hand's finger before he ran up and left to the Kongs.

"I think he thought you were going to give him a 5-star dinner..." Chris said.

"Oh no, he won't make himself the idiot and believe I'm going to give him all the things I said." Master Hand said.

"...I thought the first 2 were true."

"Y-yes, they are..." he looked at Chris. "Well, it's early so go get your breakfast. This day is very important to us and pretty much everyone who used to live in the city."

"W-wait," Chris interrupted. "What could happen if the city does get destroyed?"

"..." Master Hand looked away. "The city itself is a great center of trades for economy of all the worlds from the guys here. Should the city get destroyed, then the economy would go down for so many levels and people won't come to a destroyed city at all. It once used to be so lively with many different people."

"From everyone here?"

"Yes," the hand nodded. "Not only that. From time to time, different people who find their way to the city are the most important since they don't belong to any of the Smashers' worlds. If a person gets lost in a cave or forest, that same person could end up in this universe until he or she walks the way back where he or she got lost."

"And if the city gets destroyed..."

"...Let's not think about the negative things here. Go and enjoy the sweet and peaceful morning before you fight the cruel and death-assured night."

"...Shouldn't you CHEER me instead of SCARING me?"

"Hey, I'm neutral when it comes down to the good side or the bad side. I'm a good guy so don't worry!"

Kitchen

When the World Traveler walked inside the kitchen, he found Lucas (the PK kid, not the trainer)...not moving at all from his seat after he stopped eating his cereal.

"What is wrong with you?" Chris asked confused.

"G-Geno told me to go tonight i-into that sword..." Lucas trembled. "I-I'm so scared about that, b-but I couldn't refuse the mission!"

"Embrace yourself!" Rope Snake called from Lucas's little pocket (this also meant that the physics in this world were so altered and screwed). "You've got to be strong, my dear psychic blond boy!"

"T-that's easier to say than done!" Lucas said as he covered his head. "I-I don't want to die today!"

"(Oh no, here goes the same Peach's face....wait, it doesn't work for him!) I'll protect you if you want. (DAMMIT!)" Chris cursed in his mind.

"No!"

"...What?"

"N-no! Y-you heard me!" Lucas said. "M-my dad told me to be strong and do your business alone. I-if I want to be prove I'm a real grown up, t-then I need to go this time!" he got off from the seat and looked at Chris. "I-I'm sorry, but I want to do this my way..."

"...Weeeeeeeell..." Chris looked away. "I-I'm scared as well..."

"Did he tell you to go too?"

"No."

"Chris," Geno called from behind Chris. "You're coming tonight."

The puppet walked away and to the main lobby, where he went to the hallway.

"...That was awfully fast..." Lucas said before he shook his head. "You're scared, right? But you always get out victorious for all the fights you go in!"

"(...I'm an idiot if I say I didn't notice before.) I didn't notice before. (OH, FOR THE LOVE OF...)"

"H-how can I do that?"

"Do what?" Chris asked.

"Get victorious like you do?"

"(Does he think I'm a winner or what?) ...Rely on the others? I always rely on them and they rely on me and back and forth..."

"..." Lucas stared at Chris. "...Rely? T-that isn't that hard, right?"

"No, it's not hard."

"With who?"

"I don't know," Chris said sarcastically. "Everyone?"

"L-like?"

Chris pointed behind Lucas, and the boy turned to find Mewtwo.

"UAH!" Lucas hopped scared.

Mewtwo frowned. "I'm not going with you. You don't have to think I'm scary either."

"I-I didn't think that!"

"You did," Mewtwo frowned. "Your mind said so."

"(W-why does he have to invade my mind?)"

"(Because people like you think odd of me and I don't like that at all.)"

"S-stop it!" Lucas said.

Mewtwo made another frown before he floated away with crossed arms.

"The day I see him using his feet to walk I'm going to make a discovery." Chris said.

"S-so with who?" Lucas asked.

Chris pointed across the long table, where Falco was shown eating bacon.

"...L-less scarier, please..." Lucas whispered.

This time, he pointed behind Lucas where a motionless Pichu was.

"...He choose you?"

Pichu nodded with a gulp. "H-he said I was smaller than Pikachu. But I'm perfect for sneak attacks..." he looked at them. "P-problem is I don't know any sneak attacks!"

"Just make sure the enemy doesn't see you." Chris said.

"You try it!"

Chris was left speechless. "...What if we rely each other?"

Lucas and Pichu looked at each other before looking back at Chris. "...Fine..." they said.

Command Room

When the World Traveler made it to the command room...he found Ike measuring his sword with Link?

"Not only the sword needs to be thin and strong," Link said as he took a closer look to his own sword. "It's got to be actually thin and strong."

"What's the difference with that?" Ike asked.

"You'll understand once you have done it 30 times."

"Please, make sense to me."

"30 times or else you won't."

"Hmm..." Ike continued to measure his sword.

"...Pardon my interruption..." Chris interrupted. "But why is it important to measure a sword?"

"Because every single inch counts as part of the sword," Link explained. "If you break a small part, the sword's efficiency will be forever lost."

"I-I doubt the Master Sword or even Ragnell could break..."

Link rolled his eyes. "That's what you think. You know how many items I use, right? Not all of them are unbreakable."

"Really?" Ike asked.

Link nodded. "Yeah. The adventure I had when I turned instantly into an "adult" wasn't a walk in the park or something stupid like that."

Flashback

There was Link holding a Megaton Hammer, where he waited for Volvagia to come out from one of the holes.

When it did, Link raised his hammer and yelled "Die, you stupid magma snake!"

Then the Megaton Hammer's head fell behind him. Link made a confused look before looking back and saw the head.

He then turned to Volvagia, charging a ball of magma. "OH SHI-"

Another different time, Link was shown holding the enhanced Hookshot to pull out Morpha's brain out from its transparent tentacle.

When he aimed the item at it, he yelled. "Die, you wasted Zora's intestinal liquid!"

The item instantly was thrown across the enemy once Link pressed the trigger, taking the chain along with it where it sunk in the bottom of the water.

Link made a horrified face before Morpha slowly reached for him. "OH SHI-"

In another time, there was Link holding an arrow with his Fairy Bow and Lens of Truth at the drumming hidden monster, Bongo Bongo.

When he aimed at it, he yelled "Die, you idiotic bad rhythmic ghostly monster!"

Then the lens broke into pieces, preventing Link from damaging the monster. He thought (with a horrified face) that they broke because he held them too close to his eye.

He looked at the hands raising above him before they came down quickly on him. "OH SHI-"

End of flashback

"...Not like in the game..." Chris said with an ashamed face.

"How was it in my game?" Link asked.

"In the game, nothing like that happened at all. If you ran out of ammunition, there was always a way to get more in the same room with the boss."

"Can you define my Megaton Hammer as ammunition?"

"...No..."

"Oh, great..." Link facepalmed. "My adventure sucked so badly..."

"At least mine was normal," Ike said. "Oh, I almost forgot..." he took out a copy of Radiant Dawn. "I accidentally forgot to put this back in your room, but it looked so weird becau-"

Chris quickly took the copy and hid it inside his robe (since he was still using the Black Mage job). "E-everything you saw in there, and in the instruction booklet are PURE lies! T-this game was defined as non-canon and you don't get bulkier with armor at all!" Chris said in panic.

"Really?" Ike rubbed his chin. "Because I heard there was going to be another war if several problems of the states weren't resolved quickl-"

"Okay, Ike," Chris closed his yellow eyes. "In who do you believe? In a random copy of a false future...or me?"

"Random copy of a false but true future."

"...Oh god..."

"Sorry," Ike lifted his shoulders. "I already went to the in-the-net."

"Internet." Link corrected.

"And Roy checked for me if this was real or not."

"...It is." Chris admitted.

"...Well..." Ike scratched the back of his head. "This game also came out before "Brawl" right? So how come I'm not the one in my "sequel" at all?"

Chris was utterly surprised that the swordsman went that far to research the origins of both games.

"...Wow, Ike, you raised a valid question just now..." Chris wondered for a moment. "Well, I think it is becau-"

"There you are," Geno called from the hallway with Twink floating close to him. "I finished with the preparations for tonight."

"Really?"

Geno nodded. "Choosing between 34 peopl-"

"35 counting you but excluding me." Twink interrupted.

"Was no easy task." Geno finished.

"You're taking 17?" Ike asked.

"Yes. You 3, for example."

Chris looked at Link. "You were chosen?"

"I'm not measuring my sword for nothing." Link said with a small grin.

"I thought you were going to stay behind and protect the mansion. You would have another rea-"

"Stop!"

"Ahem," Geno coughed annoyed. "You 3, Pichu, Lucas, Ness, Pikachu, Mario, Peach, Mallow, Kirby, Fox, Marth, Snake, Sonic, Lucario and Jigglypuff. The other half is staying behind."

"Are they all awake?" Link asked.

"Yes. We should wait a little before they come."

Chris looked away. "(But I'm worried about Peach... She said she had to come with us because the Peach Beam wouldn't work without her.)"

"I was having some problems convincing Peach," Geno said. "I had to be frank with her and she ultimately accepted the task."

"(...I better do what I promised her... Curse my weakness to her faces...)"

Several hours later...

Persona 3 - Living With a Determination

Everyone gathered in the command room after the hours passed. They were discussing what to expect of Smithy and the Subspace Army while Chris went to the hands.

"Nervous?" Master Hand asked.

"A-a lot..." Chris shuddered. "What we do in the city will decide what will happen to it, right?"

"Yes," Master Hand nodded. "A small screw up from all of you and the city is totally done for."

"Can you encourage instead of saying those things?"

"What else can I say rather than, "Good luck! I hope you get out unscathed"?"

"You don't say that," Chris raised an eyebrow. "You say more simple sentences than that."

"Well then. Good luck! I hope you get out unscathed!"

"...Never mind..." he said with a frown before turning to the insane hand. "You know what I want to do now."

"Yippie-o." Crazy Hand said with a nod.

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 2701

Jobs

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Hacker - 1300 Smash Coins

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

Revitalizer - 1000 Smash Coins

Adds a restorative effect for recovery items to revive downed party members. Very useful when your main healer is downed as well.

Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Pokeball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Poison Mushroom
Bumper

Stored items:
None

"If the time where recovery items should have been reviving items, it is now. I'll buy the new ability." Chris said as he gave 1000 Smash Coins. He instantly glowed after the insane hand snapped his fingers.

"What else?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Food."

"Oh, every piece revives a character if you give the food to him or her...to the mouth, that is. Note that the character revived only gets 1 to 5 percent of the health recovered." Master Hand explained.

"Well, it's still useful. Besides, it's like 10 Phoenix Downs." Chris said as he gave 400 Smash Coins to the hand, reducing the amount to 1301. "Next...the Hacker job!"

"Here you go, novice engineer!"

When Crazy Hand snapped his fingers, after receiving 1300 Smash Coins (thus pushing Chris back to bankrupt), the World Traveler glowed and his clothes changed again...

...To be precise, Chris now wore a black uniform for Japanese schools. Black pants, black shirt with buttons. He also wore some orange headphones that he hung around his neck.

"..." the World Traveler took out 2 wrenches from behind his back and looked at them.

"Behold, the wrenches! Your main weapons!" Crazy Hand said.

"...What are wrenches supposed to be related to a hacker?" Chris asked.

"You literally hack things with those."

"Crazy, it's more like fix big screws," Master Hand explained. "I thought you were going to give him an electric wire."

"Nah, wrenches are more useful," the insane hand said. "Shock enemies? Bluah. He'll need those to change, or hack weapons to turn them to stronger weapons."

"...Oh well," Chris said as he kept the wrenches. "I can understand the most complicated machine at least."

"A hacker must now what he does," Crazy Hand said. "By the way, not always when you change weapons into stronger ones will result successful. You could fail and end up disabling the original weapon."

"I'll...be aware of that." Chris said with a nod.

"Listen to some good music with your headphones!" Crazy Hand suggested. "It has good internal memory to hold up to 1000 songs!"

"..." Chris put the headphones on and he began to listen to something. "...Wait, this song is the Rawest Song of the Forever Forest."

"Lemme hear!" the insane hand said as he took the headphones and put them on his...head as finger? "...Super Ma-ri-o R-R-P-G!"

"ACK!" Master Hand took the headphones and gave them back to Chris. "Listening to my brother singing is even worse than his snores! Somebody forgives me if I hear him!"

"You don't respect you singer brother?" Crazy Hand asked.

"I don't respect that drama voice you make."

"Oh, you mean this one? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

A very high-pitched scream echoed through the room and many computers' screens broke, making everyone stop talking as they covered their ears.

"SHUT HIM UP!" Chris yelled as he put the headphones on his ears.

Master Hand slapped his brother to snap him out. "One more again and I'll block that mouthless mouth from you!"

"Aww..." Crazy Hand said in shame.

"Well..." Master Hand noticed everyone with annoyed looks at his brother. "At least we've got the attention of everyone."

"Geno." Twink whispered.

"Yes," Geno nodded before he walked in front of the hands and looked at the Smashers. "Okay. It's time to start the mission right now."

"But it's not night yet," Pichu said. "It's 1:26 PM."

"I know," Geno said. "I have a plan before we begin."

Link nodded. "Don't worry about it. I have my item prepared."

"Item?" Zelda asked.

Link winked at her. "It's a very useful item you gave me when we were kids."

"...Oh," Zelda smiled a little. "I remember which item was that."

"Save that for later," Geno said. "Anyway, the reason why we're starting now it's because we're going to wait to attack and raid Exor the moment night comes. I told Link to bring his item with us to start the mission."

"Where are we going to start the way to Exor?" Ness asked. "A frontal attack?"

"No. A frontal attack is dangerous. Since Exor faces the Smash Mansion from his location, we'll have to go around the barrier and through the forest that surrounds it in order to reach a place where he can't see us. It could be possible that enemies can appear while we get to the main point," the screen turned on, showing a map of the Smash Mansion, Nintendo City, Exor's facing the mansion and the whole landscape of the surrounding area. "Here..." Geno pointed at the left area of the forest, right from the mansion point and left to Exor's point. "Is where we have to be."

"Shouldn't we go a little further than that?" Chris asked. "I think it's a little bit of a difference because Exor could face us from the point."

Geno shook his head. "Going further away would mean getting farther and father from Exor. This point is the closest one."

"I can reach even further in no time." Sonic said.

"Even so, the area of the forest is too thick and I doubt we could run through without crashing into the trees. We don't want that, right?"

"Pfft."

"My thoughts exactly," Geno said. "Once we reach Exor, it could be possible that Smithy could send an army to the mansion so half og the group that's staying here will remain to protect the mansion. After all these missions, I don't want this place to be destroyed."

"We lived here..." Twink sniffed. "And this is the last day we're staying here..."

"..." Geno closed his eyes and opened them back again. "(It can't be helped...) Any questions?"

"What is inside Exor? His stomach?" Jet Kirby asked.

"...When are you going to let that ability go?" Jigglypuff asked.

"BURP." Jet Kirby burped and a little star with his ability jumped out from his head and vanished, turning him back to a plain Kirby.

"...Ew..."

"E-er, no, Exor has no stomach," Geno shook his head. "Exor has a portal that takes anyone to Smithy's dimension. His dimension is a foul place filled with purple winds and a factory where his henchmen manufacture enemies endlessly. Deeper inside, Smithy resides, making his own weapons."

"If we reach Smithy and defeat him, that would be the end of that freaking sword, right?" Snake asked.

"Yes. Smithy himself operates the whole place like he likes. I'll assure you all that this is going to be the last request I ask you, to repair the Star Road without Smithy knowing and get rid of Exor again so the city gets saved."

"If the city does get destroyed, I'm going to sue somebody." C. Falcon said.

"Just because that filthy bar is also in the city doesn't mean you have to hide it from everyone here by saying city." Roy said.

"I-I'm no-"

"You are," mostly everyone said.

"Oh, please..."

"Leaving that aside," Geno continued. "We should begin now... However..." the puppet closed his eyes. "I need to say something first."

"(There he goes...)" Twink thought.

"I-"

"If you're going to say something about our help to rescue the Star Spirits, save that for later." Master Hand interrupted as a record was heard being scratched.

"W-will yo-" Geno was interrupted.

"Sorry. Time's running out so we may as well start this."

"Y-you little...ugh, fine, I give up," Geno turned to the Smashers. "So please, the ones I selected take a step forward and let's go outside and start the mission and get over with..."

"...That didn't sound that good." Yoshi commented.

"Because THIS hand stopped me from saying my speech, that's why!" Geno said angrily. "I could've said that with more impact but no, he interrupts me at the most important part of my speech!"

"Yadda-yadda-yadda," Master Hand said with a frown. "This mission is very important and crucial, right? Well, get going! We're going to make our preparations here as well should they decide to attack the mansion from all the sides."

"(U-uh-oh...)" Red thought. "(I can't let Barry, Dawn or Lucas or all of them to get a word or even a small glimpse of this... I need to keep them distracted from getting ou-)"

For his dismay, a small head with blond hair peered from the hallway and waved a hand to him. It was Barry himself who noticed Red except the others but they didn't notice him either.

Red made an angered expression and tried to tell Barry to get away with his hands.

Barry thought Red was playing charades with him so he imitated a Magikarp with his mouth.

"VINE WHIP!" Red yelled to Ivysaur who got a shocked expression and used Vine Whip to push Barry away from their view, without even seeing the trainer, much for Red's fortune.

"Hey," Wolf turned and glared to the trainer. "What's the meaning of that yell?"

"I-I-I..." Red gulped. "I-I was practicing my yell's orders in battle..."

"...Practice but when there's a real battle. Do that again and I'll claw that throat out from you."

"Y-yes, sir..." Red said sweating before the lupine turned around and looked back at Geno. "Guys, we have to leave for now." Red whispered to his Pokémon.

"Oh, right," Squirtle nodded. "The battle we didn't have with Dawn yesterday because Peach was outside in the garden."

"No!" Red whispered angrily. "We have to make sure they don't notice this whole mission. We have to distract them!"

"...Oh," Ivysaur nodded. "Let's get out of here silently and carefully."

The trio nodded to each other and left the room silently.

Geno looked at the 17 characters that were going with him and nodded to them. "Please, let's do our best and don't fail if you can."

"I'll be more worried about this guy," Snake said as he looked at Sonic. "I don't like him."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Then I don't like you either."

"Sounds good to me."

"Don't start a fight here now..." Mario frowned. "Focus on this, then fight to death."

"My god...that sounded not-so-you." Chris said.

"Sorry," Mario lifted his shoulders. "I know which people you should surrender to and which not."

"Well, don't surrender now," Ness said as he put his bat on his right shoulder. "That city is in trouble and you know it goes."

"Save it because that's the hero's hometown," Chris said as he raised a finger. "...It's not mine but this is a second home to me."

"For all of us," Marth said. "It gets destroyed and we lose."

"W-we'll come out victorious, right?" Lucas asked with a gulp.

"Just don't run away once an enemy spots us." Pikachu said.

"I-I'm not running away...n-not now..."

"I rather stay here...but going right to my death is better to prove I'm something, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Would you stop?" Mallow asked. "Nobody is going to die here. If somebody is going to die here is you."

"...That didn't help." Lucario pointed out as Jigglypuff made a shocked look.

"And you're not helping either." Ness pointed out.

"Neither you are." Pikachu said.

"Neither you." Mario said.

"Or you." Kirby pointed out.

"Or you at least." Marth pointed out.

"O-" Sonic was interrupted.

"Stop!" Geno yelled. "Wishes are in trouble, they don't get true, you lose your dearest wishes, Smithy rules the whole land, we're in a big trouble, everything is unhappy, blah blah blah, I summarized everything, now let's start before this goes out of control!"

"You're going out of control." Fox pointed out.

"...Sorry," Geno frowned. "This is very crucial to me and I'm getting stress out of it."

"If it helps..." Chris began. "I'll be glad to listen to your commands."

Lucario had to follow his trainer's example. "Me too."

Everyone else nodded.

"...Thanks, you guys." Geno said.

"Are preparations ready?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes," Geno nodded. "My team is assembled."

"Good. The other half of us is going to remain here if they try to attack."

"Everyone, let's do this." Geno said before they began to walk away to the hallway.

...Leaving a still shocked Jigglypuff behind.

"You're leaving the singer behind!" Popo yelled.

Pikachu came back and grabbed Jigglypuff to put her above him before running away.

Outside

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View

The long path that connected the city with the mansion was slightly covered with snow from the previous weather of yesterday. Geno looked straight to the road where he could imagine Exor with his malevolent face, and even Smithy laughing maniacally.

"We're almost there with Smithy," Geno said looking around. "...I can feel him."

"Eww." Mallow and Twink said.

"Not like that!"

"And how can we be almost there if we just took a step out from the mansion?" Pikachu asked. "We still need to run 10km towards the sword, enter, see whatever that world inside that sword is and find Smithy."

"It's figurative language," Geno said annoyed. "We'll go into the forest from here."

"Let's hope there are no enemies in the way..." Peach hoped. "You're going to protect me, right, Mario?"

Mario nodded. "Always."

"(It's incredible how Mario is so sincere, yet he denies that love.)" Chris thought. "Let's go then. I'll try to my best in the upcoming fights."

"You're sounding too sure of yourself this time around," Marth said. "I wonder why, though."

"I've been like this all the time! I'm sure this will go very we-"

"He's acting like that because he has his loyal Pokémon to protect him." Fox said with a grin and a frown.

"Y-you little... T-that's not true!" Chris protested while Lucario looked away embarrassed.

Pikachu jumped to his right shoulder and patted his head 2 times. "Admit it and don't deny it. I surrender when Ash is mentioned."

"I-I thought you hated Ash!"

"Nope," Pikachu shook his head. "I hate the fact he starts from zero and loses every big league. Outside of that, I pretty much like him."

"Yet you escaped from him." Ness said.

"H-hey, you know why I'm here."

"To surprise the masses," Jigglypuff said. "Like pretty me."

"We're leaving you behind!" Sonic called from afar, almost entering the forest. The 4 got back to their senses and ran to them.

On the other side of the mansion...

"Okay," Raven nodded. "Since we have demon girl Rita with us in an unexpected turn of events, we hafta be extremely careful and not bump into her."

"Why don't we tell Master Hand about her?" Toon Link suggested.

Raven made a worried expression with closed eyes. "Because I fear the poor ol' hand gets annihilated by her Violent Pain. I know you guys are something but Rita can beat your sorry butts in a blink of an eye, even with combined forces."

"(If whatever he says about her is true, then that means she can defeat Tabuu quickly?)" Toon Link thought. "Then no seeing her all the day?"

"And the rest of our lives if it is possible," Raven added before opening his eyes with a bored look and very small pupils. "Good for you, kid, because that means staying outside with long hours of training."

"Alright!" Toon Link said cheerfully as he took out his bow and shot a fast arrow to the nearby trees.

However, the arrow went deeper and deeper into the forest and disappeared...

"...I don't know where the heck ya sent the arrow this time..." Raven scratched his neck. "I guess there's nobody in its way."

The sound of an arrow hitting a tree was heard and a familiar nanc-I mean, swordsman, after the arrow was about to hit his head, was heard saying "We better be careful. They're expecting us."

"Ouch," a cloud prince said. "They do want us dead right away."

"Okay," Raven nodded and rubbed his chin. "Let's practice again. I'll see where ya aim that arrow."

Toon Link shot an arrow to the trees and it bounced back...to Raven's crotch.

"Not again!" Raven yelled as he jumped over the arrow. "Phew... Kid, ya hate me or somethin'?"

"N-no!" Toon Link said. "I-I didn't want to repeat the same mistake from yesterday!"

"Well, be sure from not castrating me again," Raven shrugged. "Ya think I can resist...oh, forget it. Try again."

Toon Link shot another arrow...and it almost hits Raven's right arm. However, it passed right below his armpit.

Raven's eyes got a shocked look. "K-kid, you're tryin' to freakin' kill me with your arrows but unintentionally, which makes it even worse in some ways!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Toon Link apologized continuously as he began firing fast arrows at the trees, bouncing around which made Raven feel uncomfortable once he saw all of them...going after him.

"INCOOOOOOOMIIIIIIIIIIN'!!!" Raven yelled before he ran away from a flurry of arrows that were meant to shoot him down.

"H-hey, stop trying to kill my tutor!" Toon Link yelled to his arrows before running after Raven.

A window opened and Rita peered from it. Looking around the empty side. "...Why do I think the old man was here...and yelling for his life?" Rita asked before she shook her head. "Whatever..." she took out a small Smart Bomb that she grinned at it. "This Blastia is begging to be analyzed!" she said cheerfully before slamming the window down to close it.

The Dojo

"...More over here...more over there..."

"These need more, too."

"Oh, right."

In the remotest part of the forest, Lee (the blue body shifter) and Chan (the green Buzzy Beetle) were watering some plants from outside with watering cans.

"You know," Lee began. "The air around has become...more evil in many ways."

"Oh," Chan looked at him. "Of course it did. Just look at that part of the forest."

The Buzzy Beetle pointed close to him where a part of the forest was unusually darker than the other parts.

"Well..." Lee trailed off. "That's because the city is that way, right? I heard from the Paratroopa that it's because of someone called Smithy."

"Yes," Chan nodded. "I heard of him from one of Mario's stories against his enemies."

Some punches were heard inside the Dojo and they looked at the wooden cabin. "How many times is he going to challenge the Master and Jynx?" Chan asked.

"Until he surrenders, which will be never." Lee said.

The sound of footsteps were heard and both quickly turned to the north with fighting stances. However, they blinked once they found the group of Smashers coming from the Smash Mansion's direction.

"Oh," Lee stood normally. "It's you guys. How's it going?"

"Look!" Chan jumped. "It's Mario!"

"What the hell, man!" Lee said happily. "It's the very same person who defeated Jynx AND the Master in battle!"

"It's good to see you 2 doing well." Mario said.

"Aw, don't compliment us. We're the same old guys. We're a little bit stronger this time around so...wait..." Chan's eyes widened. "A-are you here to take on the Master? Because he has gotten a lot stronger than before!"

"No," Geno shook his head. "We're busy with other matters."

"We're going to Exor and defeat Smithy." Mallow explained.

"..." the 2 looked at each other with concerned looks. "...You're kidding, right?"

Snake shook his head. "Not at all. All of those weird idiots just end up getting defeated, mostly because of their incompetence."

"Oh no," Lee shook his head. "I meant all of you."

"What do you mean by that?" Ness asked.

"W-well...y-you're not going to like this bu-"

"YEOWCH!!!"

Many punches were heard inside the Dojo and someone came rolling out from the front door before laying down on the ground with face down. The Master and Jynx came out and looked down to the small opponent. "You're not strong enough to defeat any of the 2 of us." Jynx explained.

Their opponent was a small baby Koopa that looked like it was born not too long ago. He had 2 parts of the egg he came out (one on top of his head and the other above his small legs). Although his small height suggested a weak look, he was actually strong but not strong enough to defeat the 2.

"J-just you wait!" the young Koopa said as he pointed an accusing finger to the 2. "O-one of these days, I'm gonna smack the skull out of you!" he stood up. "Or my name is not Jr. Troopa!"

"Give up," Jynx shook his head. "You're too young to defeat us. We've been explaining that to you every single day, even after the Dojo first opened its only door."

"GRRR!!!" Jr. Troopa growled. "Y-you shut up! SHUT UP! I don't wanna hear your stupid comments about my own strengt-DAMMIT! There's Mario!"

"...Oh no..." Mario muttered as Jr. Troopa rushed towards him and pointed an accusing finger to him. "I thought you returned to your playground close to Goombario's house."

"Of course I did...NOT!" Jr. Troopa yelled. "Maybe I said I gave up to defeat you. But when I heard you were doing "oh so great against every guy you fight against" I thought it was time to make a COMEBACK for the next round!"

"...Dude, you look puny. No offense." Mallow said.

"P-PUNY?!" Jr. Troopa yelled before he sprouted bat wings behind his back with a spike that formed on the top of his egg's shell. "Does this look puny to you?! I'll show ya who's PUN-"

"Stop," the Master interrupted as he walked slowly to them. "You can't defeat them either."

His wings and spike disappeared and he looked at the Master angrily. "For the love o-STOP SAYING I'M WEAK!"

"Train more and we shall see." Jynx said simply.

"...YOU GUYS SUCK!" Jr. Troopa yelled. "FINE! I'll train even more and all of you here will see how STRONG I am!" he pointed at Mario. "Especially you, Mr. I'm-So-Great!"

The newborn Koopa raised a hand to the air and ran away with a trail of dust leading to nowhere.

"Ha, he's going at your speed, Sonic." Pikachu teased and Sonic looked at him annoyed.

"...5 bucks he returns tomorrow." Lee bet.

"Okay. Dammit! I accepted another stupid bet!" Chan yelled. "But I will win this time!"

"Enough," the Master said.

"Yes, sensei..." Lee and Chan said.

The Master looked at the Smashers. "Are you here to challenge us?"

"No," Marth shook his head. "We're going to Nintendo City to save it from Smithy."

"Oh, is that so?" the Master asked, raising an eyebrow. "...I should tell you this now. Someone else is waiting for all of you in your united path. Your current strength...is not enough."

"W-what? We've been fighting his forces all these times and they all were defeated." Chris said.

"Yes, that is true," the Master said.

"...Wait a minute, you don't even know if we defeated them or not." Fox said.

"Actually," Jynx began. "The Master and I can tell by your looks, strength and even your faces if you defeated a foe. We know all that with just a small glimpse."

"Another thing why this universe freaks me out." Snake muttered.

"The Master is just that awesome," Lee said. "Never underestimate the Master! He'll pummel you down with his first breathe!"

"Stop the compliments," the Master said. "You're not strong enough to face this new evil air."

"I think the opposite." Sonic said.

"I think the opposite of your opposite," Jynx said. "Besides the air that controls that huge sword, there's another and much, MUCH stronger evil air that engulfs the world that the sword leads to. You guys...well, no offense. Comparing you to that air, you're very puny."

"Let's go," Fox said fairly annoyed. "They don't know what they're talking about."

"Be that way," the Master said. "But remember that we warned you."

Chris gulped. "T-they already scared me..."

"I can shield you all the time from anyone." Lucario said.

"Oh," Jynx began. "You're puny as well."

"Can we leave this place now?" Lucario asked with a glare to Jynx. "I'm sick of these stupid comments."

"..." Chris gave him a bored look. "Right, right..."

"Before you go," the Master began again. "I need to tell you something."

"Does it contain the word "puny" as well?" Jigglypuff asked.

"That is something Jynx says a lot."

"Hey!" Jynx said angrily.

"The evil air that you want to confront has engulfed this part of the forest with an evil energy. It turned the forest...into a maze."

Super Mario RPG - Forest Maze

"Sweet, sweet nostalgia..." Geno said sarcastically with a frown. "...Let's go. They were preparing everything after all."

"Ha, a maze?" Link chuckled. "No problem. I can deal with one of those."

"Because you have experience with the maze in the Kokiri Forest?" Chris asked.

"Your knowledge about what we did before creeps me out...but yeah."

Chris began to hum the theme of the Forest Maze.

The group began to walk inside the evil forest as the 4 of the Dojo watched them getting deeper into the forest.

"This is a warning!" Jynx yelled. "You're not up to battle! Return and train more!"

"SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled annoyed.

And Chris then got scared and hummed the theme scared.

Forest Maze

The ominous air that surrounded the previously nameless forest created and darker atmosphere as they went deeper and deeper, through all the dark trees that blocked the sight of the sky and even the sun. It looked like it was night.

Chris took out his wrenches and shifted his eyes around. "N-no need to panic... N-no ghost is going to appear here... S-stay focused..."

"Boo."

"YEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris quickly jumped to Lucario's arms and hugged his head tightly. "SAVE ME! SAME FROM THE EVIL GHOST!"

Sonic began to laugh loudly. "Ha! Making you yelp like that made my da-" he barely dodged an Aura Sphere before grinning at Lucario. "Too slo-ow!"

HIT!

"O-oww! Hey!" Sonic looked annoyed to Fox.

"That should stop you from doing childish things." Fox said with crossed arms.

"T-tsk..." Sonic looked away in annoyance.

"Sorry, but you deserved that." Marth said

Several minutes later...

"...H-haven't we passed through this place already?" Lucas asked as he found their feet' marks on the ground."

"Damn," Geno cursed. "I thought the right way was pass that tree."

Ike looked at the several paths. "Well...they look the same to me."

"Everything here looks the same." Snake said with a frown and closed eyes.

"And too confusing..." Twink said with twirl eyes.

"Don't worry," Link said. "I'll take all of you out from here. By doing...this."

The Hyrulian made an X on a tree's bark.

"If we wind up here, then that means we came back from where we started. I'm going to do some kind of guide with marks on every tree so we can find the way out."

"Good idea." Ike remarked before they walked in a straight line formation and deeper into the forest.

Several minutes later...

"Aaaaaaaaaand..." Link looked at a new tree's bark. "We found the way out!"

Kirby tilted his head and walked to the other side of the tree. "...There's the same X you made 10 minutes ago."

Link walked to the other side of the tree and his jaw dropped. "H-hey! I was sure this was the right way!"

"We thought the same," Ness rolled his eyes. "I have a much better idea."

He put his bat down and drawn a line with the ground.

"Let's use this to keep a track of our way." Ness suggested.

And they decided to use that method.

More minutes later...

"..." Ness was shown finding a familiar line on the ground as the others came from behind him. "..." he ran and followed the line. After several seconds passed, he returned behind the group and looked pissed at this.

"D-don't get angry..." Lucas said. "Y-you did your best."

"This "best" you say didn't do a thing!" Ness yelled angrily. "I'm getting sick of this forest!"

"Maze." Mallow pointed out.

"Whatever the heck it is doesn't matter!"

"Now this is a problem..." Marth said before he began to think by himself.

"Lucario, can you use you aura to find the way out?" Chris asked.

Lucario glowed for a moment but then stopped and shook his head. "The energy emanating from this place is distracting my own aura. One path can take us here like the previous occasions."

"B-but one of them is the true way out, right?"

"I...can't tell that. I'm sorry." Lucario said ashamed.

"...Oh, okay," Chris nodded. "At least you tried."

"And it's my turn," Fox said as he took out a small floating device from the pocket of his vest and floated in front of them. "This will tell the real way out by keeping track of our movements."

"High-tech stuff always works in situations like this," Sonic nodded. "Tails said so."

"Thank Slippy because he made all the equipment that I use," Fox said with a grin. "Now, let's go."

Even more minutes later...

???

"...We're out?" Peach asked as she looked around.

"See?" Fox asked as he crossed his arms with a grin. "I told you before, didn't I?"

"Hey guys!" Lee called from the Dojo's small garden.

The Dojo

"Glad to have you back!" Chan called out. "So, are you going to train even more?"

"Your f(beep)d up device took us all the way back to their wooden house." Snake said with a pissed look.

"...What the hell?" Fox asked confused. "It was supposed to work..."

"And it doesn't look too good either." Twink said.

"What do you mean?"

The device that he used suddenly began to fly around crazily before it exploded in a small explosion and into small bits.

"Wow, it couldn't handle the insanity of the forest like us." Mallow commented.

"And the recording of our track thus got destroyed as well..." Mario said ashamed.

"...Too much for that... Tough luck." Link said.

Fox made a fist and looked at him. "Do you have something better, o great X mark guy?"

"I don't see any progress from you, either." Link said with crossed arms.

"Oh god, don't start an argument then a fight afterward here!" Ness said. "Why don't we go straight to the city from the main road?"

"It's dangerous," Geno said. "We'll stick to the plan. If we go around the barrier and right in front of it, then that could draw even more attention."

"And where's Sonic?" Ike asked. "He was here some seconds ago."

At that moment, Sonic came from the main road and shook his head. "Bad news, they're creating a barricade across the hill." Sonic said.

"Another reason to go into the forest." Geno said.

"W-well, they can't be waiting for us at the other side, right?"

"I checked the area around the barrier and it touches the forest without an open field for them to attack freely."

"...Everyone to the forest again..." Mario said with a yawn as they walked inside.

"Dude," Lee looked at Chan. "They're begging to die in there."

"Of boredom or annoyance?" Chan asked.

"Both things actually..."

"Oh."

Forest Maze

MANY MORE minutes later...

Chris looked around. "...I'm starting to think about using a gamefaq like the song in the internet said to get out from this forest."

"It's not the same forest." Lucario pointed out.

"Really? T-this will suck for the rest of my gaming life!" Chris said crying toon tears.

"Your method didn't work either!" Sonic yelled. "Going straight took us to where we started!"

Kirby's eyes began to fill with tears and he looked down.

"Sonic, he's a child," Chris said as he picked Kirby up and rubbed his head. "Have more respect to him."

"I-I tried my best, right?" Kirby asked as he looked at Chris.

"Aw, of course you did," Peach said as she hugged Kirby. "Yours was better in my opinion."

"Suuuuuure, it was..." Link, Ness and Fox said sarcastically.

"No, I mean it," Peach pointed at the barrier. "I can even see the barrier in front of us."

There was the barrier that blocked the city. They ignored the barrier all the time until now.

"...Okay, what the heck happened here?" Geno asked fairly irritated. "We went straight like I did last time and THIS didn't happen!"

"Didn't you choose the right path instead of the straight one?" Pikachu asked.

"Nah, he took the left one." Ness said.

"Really? I thought he used the right path, the left path, then the straight path." Lucario said.

"Wasn't it left, left, right, right, up, down, up, down?" Chris asked confused.

"No, you're doing it wrong," Link shook his head. "It was up, up, down, down, right, left, right, left."

"You didn't make sense there," Pichu said. "It was right 8 times passing each tree, then up 4 times."

"It was up, right, right, left, left, up, up, then right." Marth said.

"All of you are saying pure lies," Snake shook his head. "It was left, then right, then down, then up, then right and after that it was a straight path...to the entrance."

"It was right, right, up, up, left, left, down, down, then straight path to the city." Sonic said.

"Wasn't it down?" Ike asked.

"No," everyone said.

"STOP IT!" Geno yelled. "It doesn't matter what I did before. I was planning something even better than all our plans combined!"

"What?" everyone asked.

"Deforestation, but that could draw a lot of attention."

"Not to mention you could be labeled as tree hater." Jigglypuff said.

"...This part of our plan was successfully...or annoyingly completed." Geno said with a nod.

"Time to sit down and wait for the night to come." Twink said and everyone looked at each other before sitting down on the ground.

"..." Mario looked at a watch on his right arm that had a mushroom shape. "It's 3:32 PM. What are we going to do in the meantime?"

"Listen to my magic friend here," Link said as he took out a glittering blue ocarina. "Say hello to my Ocarina of Time."

"Oh, I remember that," Chris said. "It served to open paths and the such, right?"

"Correct," Link nodded as he put it close to his mouth. "I'm going to play the Sun Song and call the night now."

Marth nodded. "That would be good to start the plan."

"Let me see if this was the real song though..."

Link played a song...

And a funny-looking scarecrow sprouted out from below Kirby. The Star Warrior looked down to it and the others looked at it.

"Dude, that's like, so awesome!" Mallow said very excited. "Can you make other things sprout out too?"

"Whoops," Link said embarrassed. "Wrong song."

"Please, play the right one," Geno said with a frown. "I didn't choose you to make scarecrows out."

"Well, just a reminder," Link interrupted. "The song basically moves the time not only for the sun and moon, but also for us. Take that in mind."

At that moment, 4 hammer enemies appeared from some bushes and looked angrily at them.

"There you are!" one of them yelled. "Smithy is aware of your movements. Don't play dumb because we know!"

"Yeah!" the second one said. "We're here to annihilate you all!"

"Finally, some action," Snake frowned. "I was getting tired o-"

"UAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the hammer yelled once they looked at someone in particular.

"O-oh no, a-a-a-a-a scarecrow!" the third one yelled at the funny-looking scarecrow.

"...You don't say you're scared of it, right?" Ike asked.

"H-hell no!" the fourth hammer said. "We're allergic to it. Very, but very allergic! Achoo!"

"We had to be brothers and share the same allergies!" the second one exclaimed. "It's its wood that makes us allergic!"

"RUN!" the third one yelled before they jumped back to the bushes.

"And I didn't stand up... How pathetic." Pikachu said with a frown.

"Tell me Smithy isn't this pathetic..." Fox trailed off with a bored look.

"Nah, he's a lot nastier and scarier," Mallow said with a chuckle. "He can put a very good fight so don't worry."

Chris buried his face on his hands. "This couldn't get any worse, could it?"

Lucario looked behind some bushes and looked at Chris. "...It will."

"What? Why?" Chris asked as he looked at him.

The Aura Pokémon pointed behind the bushes and Chris peered from his spot. He found a Goomba and a Koopa Troopa several meters away from them, talking between each other.

"So?" Chris asked. "How could it get any worse?"

"Hey," the Goomba began. "Have you heard about that Mario guy?"

Chris's eyes widened and looked at Link. "Play that song, and fast! Quick!"

"Why?" Link asked confused.

Then they all began to hear the song.

Super Mario RPG - Rawest Song

"What the hell is that music?" Sonic asked.

"Where is it coming from?" Marth asked looking around.

The World Traveler looked back at the 2. "Yeah, yeah, I know him, I know him," the Koopa Troopa nodded.

"Yes?" the Goomba asked before smirking. "Okay, hey check it out!"

"PLAY IT!" Chris yelled.

Link, confused, began to play the Sun Song as a tower of light appeared on him.

Looking back to the sky, the sun began to move faster and faster before the sunset came and then the night once the moon was shown, slowly rising from the mountains of the west.

Albeit to say, once it was night, however...

Super Mario R-R-P-G!
It is the only one just for me.
When I play the game, I get looost in a phase.
Theeen I find out I'm stuck in Geno's Maze!

Chris looked back at the 2, apparently listening to someone singing. "Dammit, you said the time would affect all of us as well!"

"Weird," Link looked around. "It shouldn't be like this or maybe I forgot something of it... But where is that song coming from?"

Gimme Frog Coins!
Gimme Mario!
Gimme Frog Coins!
Gimme Mallow!
Gimme See Ya!
Gimme Geno!
Gimme Cookies!

"...The hell?" Mallow asked confused.

Of course, we will get you that Mario

We need to mute that stupid voice
I need to get those damn frog coins!

"M-Mario..." Peach looked worried.

"I-I don't curse like that and that is not my voice!" Mario protested.

There are many secrets in-this-game!
Maaany of which drive some peeps in-sane!
Why we try to cheat in a reeeally good game?
Just sounds like crap and it makes you look lame!

"...I'm out of words..." Ike said.

Exiting the forest is super simple:
All you do is follow these path tuuurns!
For the reeest ooof yooouuur gamiiing lifeee...

"You know," Sonic began. "I think we did do the path turns instead."

"Shut up!" Geno yelled annoyed.

Gimme Star Eye, gimme Cookies, gimme See Ya,
gimme Great Guy's Casino gimme everything i need

Wait, wait, wait, who are you?

Hahahahaha.

"E-Exor?!" Geno looked around. "I-is he here?!"

"NO!" Chris yelled annoyed. "A-and that's not his voice!"

"But it is." Mallow said.

"...Oh god..."

My name is Exor, I'm the rappers angel.
Travelling Blade with the Axem Rangers.
Why should lamers like Mario with his Party of.
A bunch of retarded Joes.
Fix a Star Road, I don't think so.
(Geno: Geno Whirl!) I don't blink slow (Geno: Let's do this!)
Cause every time I drive and rhyme a rhyme I
damage my right eye more than nine times ninety nine!

"I-I didn't understand the 2 voices insulting each other." Lucas said.

"Neither did I." Chris said with an ashamed look.

Lately's been a boredom and lack of interest.
Little cats call us fags and incestuous.
Italian guy, gotta buy some time to blast right past.
Rescue the captive princesses.
Koopas and Goombas, them I just laugh at.
I'ma hit "A" to raise the level of attacks.
Don't fight the poverty, but hey! Kids that are lonely can
drop it and play my game to get their bodies to act glad!

"W-what?" Fox asked.

Gimme.
My name is Croco.
Gimme, gimme.
Wallet.
Oh, hello!
Gimme.
Wallet.
Oh, it's a little creepy up here.
Gimme, gimme.
Yea, it is.
In the end of the game.
I'm a little low on hit points.
Gimme.
Okay?
Items.
You have any refreshments?
Gimme, gimme.
Yea, you can take this mushroom.
Something rare.
BUT IT'S ROTTEN!!

I am just a princess, please help meee!

Booster is scaaary.
I've heard rumours he's taking me to Marrymore,
but I don't wanna marry more, I wanna marry Ma-ri-ooo...

Everyone looked at Peach, who was blushing a little bit of red. "I-I'm not planning to marry Mario yet...I-I mean, no!"

Gimme Frog Coins!
Gimme Mario!
Gimme Frog Coins!
Gimme Mallow!
Gimme SeeYa!
Gimme Geno!

Gimme my fryiiing paaan and pa-rasoool...

There are many secrets in-this-game!
Maaany of which drive some peeps in-sane!
Why we try to cheat in a reeeally good game?
Just sounds like crap and it makes you look lame!

Exiting the forest is super simple:
All you do is follow these path tuuurns!
For the reeest of yooouuur gamiiing lifeeeeeee...

DI-DI-DI-DI-DING!...

Music stops...obviously

"Yeah," the Goomba said. "That's how it goes."

Both of them walked to the darkness of the forest while, back with everyone, looked utterly...amused.

"That was...interesting to say at least." Pikachu said.

"Very weird..." Twink trailed off.

"And so odd." Geno added.

"That explained a lot." Ness said.

"In a very creepy way." Mallow shrugged.

"But in a very twisted variation...that came out as a pretty good song." Jigglypuff remarked.

"It was good." Mario said with some nods.

"Aw, please! Don't tell me you liked that song!" Chris said.

"To be honest...I kind of liked the beat." Fox said.

"And even if Mario doesn't say such things it was enjoyable." Peach said.

Snake didn't want to say he enjoyed it too.

"I wanted rock more than that one though." Sonic said.

"And why didn't you want to listen to it?" Ike asked.

"...Ugh," Chris sighed. "I better tell you now..."

Several minutes later...again...

"What are Newgrounds?" Ike asked.

"STOP!" Chris said quickly. "If you want to know let's first go into Exor then return to the mansion."

"Right," Geno nodded as everyone stood up and looked at the barrier. "From here and on, the mission is going to get harder. We need to climb the barrier first."

"Action time!" Link yelled as he used his Clawshot to the upper part of the barrier.

"How will that hook up with something? There's nothing above the barrie-" Pikachu was interrupted as a sound of something getting stuck above the barrier was heard.

Link tried to pull back the claw and he smiled a little. "Bull's eye!"

Pichu looked through the barrier and he found a building that managed to stick out from the barrier by the top floor. "Oh, it's because this building didn't get covered below the barrier that its top floor got out."

"Lucky," Mallow said as he looked at top. "Start climbing! I wanna put a stop to Smithy now!"

And so they began to climb the barrier...

Exor
Deep inside the Factory

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - A Shadow Lurking

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..." there was Smithy (with Shadow Bugs) creating monsters with his hammer and banging it on the liquid that came out from the Smelter. "...It is the time now..."

4 figures appeared from the factory and looked at him. "Lord Smithy, we have reports that there are people climbing the barrier," a person in a yellow armor and helmet said.

"Thanks, Clerk," Dark Smithy nodded. "Now that the Star Spirits were gathered, it was to be expected their assault in my beloved factory of machines."

"The production is so far going good," Manager (a person in blue armor and helmet) said. "It's better than the last time."

"And so far the defenses are ready to take them on," Director (another person but in red armor and helmet) said. "We-I mean, you will succeed this time around."

"Even the entrance to your lair is well-protected," the Factory Chief (a small black ninja-looking person) said with a nod. "Nothing shall go through, not even Mario."

"Or Geno." Clerk added.

"Or Mallow." Manager added.

"Or Princess Toadstool." Director added.

"Peach," the Factory Chief corrected.

"And Mack? Is he preparing the attack on the mansion?" Dark Smithy asked.

"Mack is already on his way to storm it," Manager explained. "He should be going by now. Though it should have started like 4 or 5 hours ago but the sun...I don't know...moved so fast and the night came? What the hell?"

"That doesn't matter," Dark Smithy said. "What matters is THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS PITIFUL CITY AND THE PREVENTION OF THE STAR ROAD'S REPAIRS! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The other 4 laughed maniacally with him before an alarm blared out.

"So, it is the time?" Manager asked.

"It seems so." Dark Smithy said.

"It's beginning, Lord Smithy."

"I will have their heads soon."

"...Won't that be a little bit disgusting? We don't exhibit heads here in the factory," the Factory Chief said. "The place has sanitary regulations, remember?"

"I DO WHAT I WANT TO DO!" Dark Smithy yelled angrily. "But we must follow regulations. If their heads are on the floor, please use Headororic 2100 for those dirty floors with blood."

"Already going for it..." Clerk said as he walked away.

Dark Smithy frowned. "I don't wanna get my factory dirty. We must follow our good ol' rules here. Isn't that right, boys?"

"Yeah!" Director, Manager and the Factory Chief said before the 4 laughed to the far away ceiling.

Nintendo City
Above the barrier

"You know, this is so ironic." Mario said.

"Why is that?" Mallow asked.

"The city is called Nintendo and ironically we were created by the company of the same name."

"Ha, that's irony for you," Chris said. "It's funny, right?"

"Stop," Snake interrupted as he looked around the building's top floor that they got into. "There's the freaky sword over the distant."

They looked at Exor's left side, facing the Smash Mansion with the malevolent look.

"I don't think he will see us from here," Geno whispered. "We have to start running to Exor and enter the realm."

"...Oh no. Look," Peach whispered as she pointed at the barricade that was somehow moving to the Smash Mansion. "Wasn't that the same barricade Sonic mentioned?"

"Why is it moving to the mansion then?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...That wasn't a barricade. Instead, it's an army that plans to go the mansion while we're on our way to Exor!" Twink said with a shocked look.

"...Too bad," Geno shook his head. "We're already on the barrier and we should get moving."

"The others can handle them very well." Ness said.

"That's because I left some strong Smashers behind." Geno said.

"...Hey..." Pichu glared at him. "You took me because I was weak? Were you going to choose Mewtwo over me?"

Geno looked away embarrassed. "N-no. W-what makes you say that?"

Pichu pouted and crossed his arms.

"Let's start the show then!" Sonic said with a fist above. "This is where I shine the most and...u-ugh..."

"You thought I was going to forget it, right?" Dark Super Sonic said in his mind. "Oh no, the preview starts here..."

Sonic quickly blocked his mouth to prevent them from seeing the fangs that took the place of his teeth.

"Sonic?" Link began. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah..." Sonic said (noticing the sudden change of his voice's tone that he tried to change). "J-just a little bit tired here..."

"..." Mallow frowned. "You're a weirdo."

"A big one." Ness added.

"R-right..." Sonic said. "W-well, Chris, get changing jobs then! W-we need to get moving as fast as possible!"

"...O-okay..." Chris changed to his Racer job. "Let's go out and stand in a straight line behind me and Sonic."

All the group went outside the building and stood in a straight line to Exor.

Geno (behind Chris) nodded. "It begins here and ends inside Exor."

"Oh, wait!" Chris looked at Geno. "Geno, there is a faster way to get inside Exor."

"How? We need to defeat him to get in."

"Well..." Chris whispered something to Geno. "And that's how you defeat him faster."

"...I see...thanks." Geno nodded. "Okay, Sonic, start running."

Sonic Unleashed - Spagonia - Rooftop Run (Day)

Sonic put his fingers together and cracked them in front of him. The hedgehog lowered his right knee and put his hands on the barrier to prepare his slow start and gradually gain speed for everyone behind him.

"He's going to show off, isn't he?" Pikachu said with a bored look.

"HERE WE..." the voice of Sonic echoed and they quickly prepared to run from each one of their spot as the hedgehog raised his knee and looked straight to Exor. "GO!!!"

The group began to run slowly before their speeds began to rise up with every second. Sonic looked behind him (with a hand blocking his fangs) to see everyone catching up with his speed. "Y-you guys are running like me? I-it's working!"

"Amazing..." Fox looked at his feet. "I'm running like I always do, but at the same time it doesn't look like they're running at an insane rate...but it's fast."

Pichu looked behind him where the building started to get smaller in the distance. "W-wow, I-I didn't know we could reach this speed!"

"I could run as fast like this with Extremespeed though..." Lucario muttered.

"Lucario, shut up and run!" Chris yelled annoyed.

"I-if you say so..."

Soon, they noticed they were on a barren place of the barrier before looking at Exor over the distance.

"There's the damn sword!" Link yelled.

"Run!" Geno yelled. "It'll be all over once we reach him!"

And so, the group ran like never before and towards the sword as they disappeared in the darkest night...as it began to fill with dark clouds in time with several thunders' sounds from them.

"(Can I go like this?)" Sonic thought as he ran. "(Can I really prevent them from finding out this?)"

"No." Dark Super Sonic said with a chuckle.

"(Y-you, stay quiet and shut up!)"

"Make me."

"(I-I will somehow...)"

"Pathetic fool..."

"(D-damn you to hell...)"

"Likewise."

"(Ugh...)"

Preview of the next chapter

"Don't dare to fail me now!" Dark Mack yelled. "Everyone else failed but I won't tolerate the smallest mistake! I shall prove my strength this time!"

"...Oh my..." Postman shook his head. "...I-I must inform them before they get there!"

"Dude, like..." Barry began. "The sun died and the moon came out."

"W-what?" Red asked as he looked outside. "W-what the heck happened?"

"This is as weird as Barry himself..." Lucas said with a confused look.

"Twisted World of Evil Machinery. Just a little more..." Geno said with closed eyes.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Nintendo City
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-The Hacker job's look is actually the same outfit Yosuke Hanamura uses during school days and battles. He isn't a hacker but I think he looks like one. He also fights with wrenches but at the start of his first appearance in battles.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when you go from Arias to Peterny or Peterny to Aquios.

-"Super Mario RPG - Rawest Song" is a reference to the same game. It doesn't play anywhere in the game but in the incredible world of...Newgrounds? XD

-Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - A Shadow Lurking" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when suspicious events happen.

Ha, I put Rawest Song in there after all. It took me 20 minutes to figure out what parts (between Mallow, Geno and that clown guy and Croco) to put their conversations right. Yes me. :)

So, the mission starts with Sonic trying to prevent his previews from everyone else. Can he handle that or will he lose?

What will happen next? The Smash Mansion is getting attacked? Will Dark Smithy get his floor cleaner or is he going to suffer the pain to wipe out the blood from his beloved factory?

By the way, Dark Smithy is NOT a pathetic boss.

So, what now?

Let my fingers do wonders in the next chapter. ;)

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 125*: Twisted World of Evil Machinery

Was this rushed? It's your judgment...

From SlasherMask: Where is Jinx's apprentice?...(that koopa whos name i don't remember...(toward end of review i checked it up... Hes called Jagger..)

I think that rawest forest is from Newgrounds not youtube...(everyone just post everything they can find to youtube)

Hmm this chapter is building up to arc finale...

P.S... Will we learn mystery of Mack(the Knife)? The whether he is that red devil thing or pogo sword/knife stick thing?(it has eyes)

From me: Jagger? I think I can make him appear.

Corrected. Thank you. I've never been in Newgrounds before. :P

I analyzed various articles and Mack is a guy riding the pogo-sword. Question answered. Enjoy the chapter. ; )

From TARDISreviewer: the what?

From me: ""Hmm's" Moshul style and approaches ban button" :l

From DianaGohan:

wiiboychris: Oh god, another one. "Sarcastic frown" I have a better idea this time...

Heavily Hacked Bidoof: "Enters"

wiiboychris: Deux Bidoof Judgement Ex Machina!

Heavily Hacked Bidoof: "Eyes glow unusually red and huge destruction destroys parody"

wiiboychris: Go away.

Heavily Hacked Bidoof: "Nods and strolls away"

From DianaGohan: You should watch Sonic the Runaway Series and The Newgrounds Brawl taunts vids. Though even if you don't there was some good funny material in this, the letters content, Smithy wanting a clean factory, the infamous Rawest Forest rap, the DK Crew coming to play for the mansion, Geno's speech getting interrupted, everyone getting trapped in the maze and Sonic showing off. And the plot was good with setting up how they're going to get into Exor some more and of course all the subplots you've continued turning. Not quite as good as 123 but in truth that was more of a nice interval set up chapter while this was a first part introduction set up chapter which did do a great job of making me see how the rest of the arc would be set up. It just didn't have 123's oomph though I'm sure the fights starting in 125 will get that back.

GRADE: B++ (which is higher then a B+).

From me: Sadly, I can't watch videos at Newgrounds with my Wii's Internet Channel so I don't know (or if it works...)

I just wonder what "oopmh" of chapter 123 was (coughwerehogdoorcough). Thank you. :)

From Saiked: YAY RAWEST FOREST LOVE THE SONG i do wonder when they will try to take suicide(matter of speech.. kinda) in the new floor though bosses sound awesome.

i can see what the hacker job could do to exor(srry if i spoiled anything) also why did chris stop geting jobs from thw worlds themselves like... the pk kid job?

what happened to the items that they could find like the headband for the monk job that also was in the earlier chapters?
srry for the big block of text GREAT STORY lol

From me: Chris stopped getting jobs...because Master Hand had something to do with it. That is going to be explained later (and Chris probably won't like that at all...)

Oh, those? I discarded that idea for the Stickers. After thinking about them, it didn't make sense but since the Stickers could be considered as armor...well...continue reading this and you'll find out. : P Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Poor Sonic, I got a bad feeling he's going to get a LOT hairier very, very soon.

I thought the song was funny. But now it's stuck in my head. YARGH!

From me: I can't imagine what could happen if that happens. "Shudders"

"For the reeest ooof yooouuur gaming lifeee..." XD

From Anakin Mario Son43: AIE! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON"T BAN ME! I LOVE THIS FIC A LOT!DON'T BAN ME!
Now for a review(insert Confetti here)
Uh Oh! I hope the idiots at hte mansion actually protect it! And soon , Exor and SMithy go buy-buy! Update Soon! Hasta! AND PLEASE DON'T BAN ME! THIS FIC IS AWSOME AND I WANT TO KEEP REVIEWING! Sorry for my insane moment.

From me: Good boy... You know when to apologize. : ) Thank you, but don't respond with capital letters that much either. :l It looks weird to me.

From Blaperile: Hey,

Nice like always!

And preview of Dark Sonic arrived! :D

The incredible world of... Newgrounds. XD

Also, the Link parts were very funny. Always ending on OH SHI-! XD

Also lol at the maze. ;)

Blaperile

From me: I got lost in that maze after I recruited Geno. Don't make fun of it. T_T XD

From hornedjolteon: So you've seen it too? :DThat was a great (and hilarious) idea, putting THAT song in.

From me: Well, I had to use comedy like that in here. XD

From Mewtrainer: Laharl...is really weird. And so was the maze. Who's this Jr. Troopa again? And what is with TL's arrows? XD Chris STILL has that one Smash Coin? XD Anyway, this chapter was better than the last one in my opinion...yay for the musicians! And one last question: what's a Golden Gun?

From me: Jr. Troopa is a constant enemy you face in Paper Mario after Mario looked for a hammer in his playground. This little brat keeps showing up with stronger weapons throughout the game.

Yes, Chris does have only that same coin left. What is he going to do with it? XD

If you haven't watched 007, I pity you. The Golden Gun is a weapon that can kill anyone with a single shot, anywhere.

Thanks. :)

From Rabid-Original: Hehehe, things are warming up.
Looks like the next battle is going to be exciting :)
Though it's too bad that Geno and co. are going to be leaving...

Geez, all the "endless mazes" in games drive me up the wall.
I mean, why does it always have to be a forest?!

Now that I think about it, there's an awful lot of random people hanging around the mansion now XD

From me: Not always is a forest. Sometimes it's a castle altered with magic.

Yes, but so far nobody is complaining since they don't affect the fic that much. In fact, everyone here likes their misadventures. XD

From JSandders: I'm sorry that this review will be a bit "not me" because I'm rushing on a lot of things right now with my personal life.

Overall, it was a good chapter, where my favorite parts were the letters (especially Laharl's), when Link was measuring his sword, Toon Link's arrows chasing "the ol' man", everyone trying to figure out which way Geno went when going inside the maze, and the Rawest Forest Song! That song rocks and has one of the funniest raping styles I've ever seen! XD

Also, nice job adding more musicians! I can't really think of any musicians in the games but I hope you take my suggested musicians from past chapters into consideration because those guys are awesome! I'm also waiting for the Battle Floor boss fights! :)

Keep typing, Wiiboychris! I gotta run now... see ya!

From me: I hope there are many more musicians I can remember... (NO SUGGESTIONS UNTIL I ASK FOR THEM). Thanks. :D

From Rellymaster: -It's official, slang corrupts everything. I'm shutting off slang from my language knowledge for a while. :C
-I just lost my sense of direction...(tries to get the room to stop spinning)
-Blood-hungry, aren't they? I say this because all the villains want them totally dead and destroyed.
-The addition of Lanky, Tiny, and Chunky make this chapter even better.

From me: -Why?
-Try the one in Tales of Symphonia 2 (after clearing the game) and you'll see the true definiton for bothersome. X_X
-Everyone out there is pretty much wishing for their deaths so badly, aren't they? At least the good guys don't...Laharl, on the other hand... XD
-Oh, thank you. ; )

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hm, you haven't read the manga or watched the anime of Naruto Shippuden, haven't you? the "Screw-headed Vampire" is Sasori, either read Naruto volumes 29,30, and 31 for full info on him, if curious. since you've heard of Nobuo, i suggest you watch this anime, "Ah! My Goddess", he wrote the intro song for it. and my final suggestion, watch the movie called, "Kung Fu Hustle", it's full of laughs, fights, and great chinese music, BUT MAKE SURE TO WATCH IN ENGLISH AUDIO!(watch on Youtube)/ now, let's get to my review already, shall we?
Hm, much better, just like the other chapters of old. so musicians have finally started to arrive huh, but i wasn't expecting chris's weapons as a hacker to be wrenches, more like a changing laptop(ex.a RAG{Rocket Ammunitated Gun} form) ,but i guess it's alright, you're the author after all. so now comes the battle with smithy soon, good luck everyone! hm, i feel bad for both groups though, geno's group cause they have to deal with a dumb maze, and mansion group cauze they don't have much to do. question in particular, did you beat the Urssa lava cave in Star Ocean 3? and here's the main part that i need to mention, YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR, BADLY! i know it's not right for me to say that, but it NEEDS to get done. to help you, i'm asking some of my friends to help you! well, happy typing!

From me: NO! I haven't read any manga but I have watched Naruto Shippuden.

No for the anime, sorry.

Er...yeah, I beat Crosell.

Really? I thought it was good to me... Point something out from this chapter so I can see which thing I need to improve, okay?

Ugh, to tell you all the truth, writing fighting scenes are the most complicated things to me for the entire fic. I try harder to decide what to write so it looks above average. Have all the fights so far been above good to you? I want you to respond to this in your reviews as well.

Anyway...

The fights start here. Pretty much every single Smasher will fight in this "war" for the city's liberation. It's a little long way to go to Smithy but we'll eventually reach that part very soon...if they can survive, that is...

I encourage readers to read and review if you would like to do so. :)

Chapter 125: Twisted World of Evil Machinery

Nintendo City
Exor's Area

As the Smashers ran at Sonic's speed, the cloud prince noticed that they were soon going to reach the big sword. "He's getting closer to us!" Mallow yelled as they towards Exor.

"Geno, do it when you think it's time!" Chris yelled.

With Exor...

"..." The sword blinked bored "Staring the damn mansion for all these days is just boring and bothersome... I suffered the harsh winter as well."

Exor began to hear many footsteps coming from the west.

"...Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" Exor tried to turn around and look at the direction of the footsteps, but since he was stuck on the lower ground and the barrier preventing him from moving, he struggled and struggled to move but to no avail. "Great, just great, I had to be a huge sword and stay still forever until someone stupid enough shows up and demand a fight with m-"

"Geno Whirl!!!"

A fast glowing ring sliced Exor's upper part and it fell down on the barrier. Exor stared at it in boredom and managed to see the Smashers stopping to run just in front of him.

Exor sighed. "Well, so much for that."

And it seemed that his mouth, right eye and left eye got new life.

"So he figured out our weakness," the right eye said.

"Yeah, pretty much," the left eye said.

"Too bad," the mouth said before the whole sword glowed with dark energy of the Shadow Bugs. "Even with the Shadow Bugs, our weakness didn't get covered at all."

"That's so sad actually," the left eye said as it shook its only pupil. "But on the bright side, we're going to see something else that a mansion with a road."

"Finally, it was about time this happened at last," the mouth and right eye said.

The three 'looked' at each other and 'nodded' in some way.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" the 3 yelled before the mouth opened by a lot and the eyes turned into swirls. The Smashers saw the mouth creating some kind of portal inside of it and looked at each other.

"Wow," Link said. "That was so fast."

"The speed we used or how Geno defeated Exor so easily?" Twink asked.

"Both." Sonic said (with blocked mouth).

"..." Peach stared at Exor's mouth. "...Do we have to?"

"Sadly, yes." Mario nodded.

"Don't think Smithy is right inside that portal," Geno said as he took a step forward. "There's a world of pure darkness inside."

"O-oh, thank you for reminding me that..." Chris shrugged.

"Should we get inside now?" Ike asked.

"The faster, the better," Snake said. "I want to get over with this so I don't have to see anything freaky again."

The group nodded and started to walk inside Exor's mouth, where they walked towards the portal and jumped down through a dark hole. Once they fell down on some decrepit floor, they saw that they were in an entirely different world of dark winds and abysses...

Exor
Gate

Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory

The dark winds covered everything in their sight, except for the only floor they were. It looked like the completely dark world was just the platform they were on, but it was a much longer world that the winds covered.

"...W-where are we?" Lucas asked, his voice echoing through the winds.

"This is Smithy's world," Geno said as he stood near the edge of the platform. "It's just like before."

Mario walked to a small black rock formation that was an arc and once he crossed it, a new floor appeared on the other side. "Yes, it's the same."

"Smithy must be hiding in the deepest part, correct?" Twink asked.

"Always," Geno nodded. "There could be a lot of enemies waiting for us after we cross that arc over there..." The puppet walked to a floating box with a rainbow star and a rainbow S. "...Weird. This box is still here as well..."

"..." Chris walked to the box and touched it. For him, it was easily to recognize that the floating box with the rainbow 'S' was something important. "...This is the Save Point to save the file of the game."

The puppet looked miffed at Chris. "...Your world creeps me out, and a lot," Geno shrugged. "…Let's be careful. Every enemy ahead has many different attacks that could take one out very easily."

"I'd worry about that once we're deeper," Fox said.

"Precaution is always needed," Geno explained. "Well, let's get going inside and finish this."

Smash Mansion
Outside

Along the main road towards the Smash Mansion, an army of...Shy Guys on pogoes (called Shysters) with a guy on a pogo-sword with Shadow Bugs were jumping all the way towards it. The person on the pogo-sword was Mack...or Dark Mack to be precise.

"It's about time my turn came," Dark Mack said as they jumped all the way to the hill. "Everyone failed to guard the Star Spirits. But I'm certain we're going to do something better than them."

"Hey," a Shyster began, "why did we start the operation so late?"

Another looked up to the moon. "I thought it was the afternoon a second ago... Weird..."

"I don't care for the screwed physics of time here," Dark Mack said. "I heard the Smash Mansion is the home of Mario and Peach, right? They must be there, waiting to be annihilated by my magic."

"Mack!" the same Poundette (that went to attack Geno's party) returned from the forest and stopped in front of the pogo-guy. "M-Mario and his group climbed the barrier and they're getting to Smithy!"

"...It's LORD Mack to you!" Dark Mack yelled. "And Mario is going to Smithy and not to the mansion? What a bunch of bull!"

"Peach, Mallow, and Geno also went there."

"…Wonderful!" Dark Mack said sarcastically. "That seriously makes everything better!"

"I thought it shouldn't," the same first Shyster said.

"SHUT UP!" Dark Mack yelled. "Well, we can't hold back now since orders are orders. We must reach the Smash Mansion so it can be destroyed by our assault!"

They were crossing a familiar but small post office that didn't have anyone in there.

"...Shh..." Quill whispered (underneath the window) to the other two postal workers.

"This is how we will attack," Dark Mack began, "we'll attack from all the sides and some will go in there to break havoc like we did in the Mushroom Kingdom before. Once we're inside, we'll make the mansion a base for Smithy and of course me!" he laughed. "Yes, I'm just plain evil!"

"I thought all of us were," another Shyster said. "Right?"

"I'm even more," Dark Mack said with a cough. "Also, don't you dare fail me or else someone will have their pogo banned!"

A Shyster gulped and stopped hopping. "B-but I love Pogy. S-she's awesome..."

"Quiet!" Dark Mack yelled. "Mistakes are not tolerated when you're under my command!"

The Postman decided to peek from the window, but the other postal workers tried to pull him down.

"Don't dare fail me now!" Dark Mack yelled. "Everyone else failed, but I won't tolerate the smallest mistake! I shall prove that I'm the most competent of any of those idiots!"

As Dark Mack continued talking, Postman shook his head at this. "...Oh my..." Postman shook his head. "...I-I must inform them before they get there!"

"No way," Quill said as he pulled Postman back. "You can be seen while you run and they could either chase you down or think the others are preparing to attack."

"Oh, please!" Postman begged.

"No," Quill shook his head. "Parakarry, can you do that weird teleport thing you did last time to appear in the mansion?"

"What teleport thing?" Parakarry asked.

"You said you got there by...a drawer, right? Can you do that again?"

"Well..." Parakarry played with his fingers. "I forgot how to do that..." he looked around. "Oh, wait, I remember now!"

"Well, do it, man!" Postman said. "You have to do it now!"

"Eeeeeeeerrr..." Parakarry scratched the back of his head. "I need you to look away though..."

The postmen stared blankly at Parakarry before they looked at each other and turned away.

"So, do it," Quill said.

"Eeeeeerrr..." Parakarry looked at no one in particular. "I need you to turn away as well..."

Main Lobby

Popo and Nana were walking down the stairs and they stopped in front of a drawer.

"Popo..." Nana trailed off.

"Yeah?" Popo turned to her.

"Can you tell what exactly did you see in that weird door?"

"What weird door?"

"That door you went inside yesterday," Nana said. "You know, the same door with the ultimate side-boss person?"

"Oh, gladly." Popo said as a think cloud popped out from his head, which Nana looked surprised.

"H-how the heck did you..."

She was interrupted with his brother explaining. Everything that he explained projected in the think cloud as badly drawn environments and people with himself with a stupid smile.

"So I was like, minding my own business in that so dark world. I grabbed my you-know-what and walked around the area. I found like, several werewolves fighting each other like they the strength of Hercules or something because one stomped the ground and it made this huge crack in it...and then howled to like, the moon and it like, was really loud. Good thing I like, totally brought earmuffs or else I would have been like, "Oww, stop screaming you furry thing! Some people are like, trying to go to the bathroom here!" and then like, went further down the road."

"...Right..."

"So then like, I found this mansion that looks JUST like ours, only different. I knocked on the door, nobody responded because like, there were voices coming from the other side, and I like, got fed up and just opened it. And then like, I walked inside and found many of those werewolves...talking and planning something-something. They saw me with like, confused looks but I lifted my shoulders and like, walked to the stairs and found my way to the bathroom."

"...Go on..."

"And then like, I came out of the bathroom feeling so like, relieved and I walked down to the lobby, where like, those werewolves were staring at me surprised. Then like, one of them walked to me and asked, "Popo? Why aren't you a werehog like the rest of us?" and some other like, things. So then, like, I respond to him, "Because I ain't no hairy beast like all you dogs are. Go lick you hairy b(beep!)s somewhere else and probably make out while you're on it I don't know how but you can do it. Trust me, my boy!" and then like, walked outside that mansion with an annoyed look. Also like, I saw this girl-wolf wearing some sort of like, white dress who was like, crying about not being able to save some "Zesu" girl she liked doing stuff with, which like, included making out."

"...Continue please..." she said.

"So then I was like, walking all the way back to the hidden door in the forest and where I came from. Those guys like, followed me from behind at very insane speeds and asked me even more like, questions like, "Where are you from?" and "What are you doing here?" and they thought like, I wasn't Popo but like, Popo cause they said their Popo like, died even though I'm like, myself. I got fed up, tried like, beating their skulls out," he took out a broken hammer. "But then like, my hammer got broken when I tried like, bashing one of their skulls in. Then like, they didn't mind and that guy I hit just kept asking me more things, to where I like, respond, "Look, freaky iron-heads, go and make out somewhere else! I don't wanna see your babies!" and then like, walked away annoyed and found the door without them following me. I heard them say like, they had better things to do than chase after me and went back to their like, mansion which is so rude you know!"

The think cloud vanished and Nana looked at him.

"...And you came back unscathed." Nana said, looking utterly bored.

"That's about it." Popo said with a happy expression. "I gotta say they may have been furry freaks, but their bathroom was like, awesome."

"...Popo...do you want to know what I think of your explanation when you went inside that door?" Nana asked as she grabbed Popo's broken hammer and replaced it with another one that he kept.

"That I'm a genius?"

"No," Nana shook her head. "Thank you for taking 3 minutes away from my lifespan. Seriously, who's going to believe all that? And lesbians? What the hell is wrong with you, Popo?"

"Well, like, fine!"

"Stop talking like that!"

"Don't believe me!" Popo yelled as he walked to a nearby drawer. "I'll take a photo from that place and you'll believe m-"

"THANK YOU!" Parakarry's head came out from the drawer.

"KYAAAAAHHH!!!" Popo made a girly scream (with Nana) and jumped on Nana's arms before he hugged her head. "SAVE ME FROM THE EVIL HEAD!"

"Y-you again!" Nana yelled as Parakarry came out from the drawer. "W-what are you doing here again and how did you get in that drawer?!"

"Look, physics here are so screwed but that's not the main point to argue here!" Parakarry said as he landed on the floor and closed the drawer. "The point is: army heading here to invade your home! Call your own army here!"

"Zoh my gosh!" Popo yelled dramatically. "Expected things were meant to be expected after all!"

Nana frowned at this and let his brother fall on the floor. "So, what army is this?"

"Big one!" Parakarry said alarmed. "They had killer pogoes!"

A record scratched.

Music stops

And the music stopped.

"...Killer...pogoes?" Nana repeated.

Popo sat up with a shocked face. "I knew pogoes were going to turn against us! I blame my own one!"

"Yeah!" Parakarry said. "Those pogoes looked fierce with those sword tips!"

"...Are you kidding me or you're trying to?" Nana asked irritated. "There are NO killer pogoes with those tips! Unless they have spikes on the main part of it, then they are killer! Did they have those on their lower tip?"

"Yes," Parakarry said as he nodded his head. "But there was this one that was a big pogo-sword!"

"...Pogo-sword my ignorance to you," Nana frowned. "Pogoes and swords do NOT combine."

"They do now, apparently."

"..." Nana sighed in depression and turned to the hallways. "Master Hand, come over here, please!"

At that moment, the Hand of Creation warped close to them and looked at Nana. "Yes?" he asked.

"Killer pogoes with sword tips coming here. That's an army of them as well."

"...Damn," Master Hand muttered. "An attack is coming here. I need to alert everyone before those pogoes stomp the mansion to death."

Nana looked at the hand in pure disbelief. She didn't believe he was going to take It a bit seriously. "Oh, please, don't tell me you believe pogoes are killer!"

"Nana," Master Hand began, "in this wacky world, everything is possible: from the screwed physics to pogo-swords."

The Paratroopa looked at Nana without facing her. "Told you I wasn't kidding," Parakarry said.

"Ugh!" Nana tossed her hands up and crossed her arms annoyed.

Dawn's Room

Meanwhile, in probably the calmest room of the mansion...

"Okay," Dawn called out from her room, as she put down her comb on her desk, "ready to start the day!"

"Finally!" Lucas (the trainer) opened the door and walked inside with a nervous Red with Ivysaur and Squirtle following. "Why does it take you so long to fix your hair?"

"Well, excuse me," Dawn looked away annoyed. "I slept on the wrong side of the pillow and my hair just couldn't fix itself with the comb. Sorry for taking so much of our time today."

"Ha, that's what you think!" Barry said as he came from the door. "Girls are like this anyway."

"Oh, what do you mean by that?" Dawn asked with a glare.

"They talk about boyfriends, their hairs, their dresses, what is so fashion, what is so old, all that crap." Barry waved a hand at her. "You're no different, Dawn."

"Q-quiet you!" Dawn said annoyed as she looked outside. "At least I finished earlier before the day could...what?"

Lucas looked a bit confused at Dawn's reaction. "What is it?" Lucas asked.

"...I'm so sorry, guys!" Dawn said in embarrassment before she turned to face them, bowing a few times. "It looks like it DID take me so long to fix my hair! It's already night!"

"That's not possible..." Lucas looked at his Pokétch. "...9:56 PM? What the heck?"

"Dude, like..." Barry began. "The sun died and the moon came out."

"W-what?" Red asked as he looked outside. "W-what the heck happened?"

"This is as weird as Barry himself..." Lucas said with a confused look.

"Yeah, as weird a-hey!" Barry glared at him.

"..." Red turned to them. "I don't have any idea of what is happening here either."

"Oh no," Dawn said as she shook her head. "Don't tell me Cyrus did this!"

"Nah, that guy is forever lost," Barry said. "He didn't control the night and day."

"That's kind of true..." Lucas rubbed his chin. "But still, what is happening?"

Red looked helpless at this. "I-I myself don't know anything," Red said as he shook his head.

"SMASHERS!" the voice of Master Hand was heard from the speakers that they just noticed hanging above the ceiling on the corners. "PLEASE, REPORT TO THE MAIN LOBBY ASAP! REPEAT! PLEASE, REPORT TO THE MAIN LOBBY ASAP!"

"...Smashers?" Dawn, Lucas and Barry repeated in confusion.

"(Come on, think of something… Y-you have to make them forget that now…)" Red thought in panic. "D-dammit, that fake alarm is blaring off again! I better go down and check if that alarm needs to be turned of-"

"RED, SQUIRTLE, AND IVYSAUR, PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN LOBBY! REPEAT! RED, SQUIRTLE, AND IVYSAUR, PLEASE,REPORT TO THE MAIN LOBBY! YOU GUYS ARE THE ONLY ONES LEFT TO COME HERE! THANK YOU!"

The trio of Sinnoh blinked at the speakers before looking at Red and his Pokémon, all of them looking a bit desperate.

"...Pardon me if I'm rude for asking this...but did that alarm just call you?" Lucas asked.

The trainer of Pallet Town shook his head. "Y-you must be hearing things," Red said. "I-ignore it, will you?"

Of course, none of them was stupid (Barry was a completely discouraged person in this exception). Dawn noticed that Red's nervous expression was hiding something "...Red..." Dawn smiled at him and crossed her arms behind her back, "would you step out and let us 3 talk about organizing an expedition to get more Pokémon?"

"We're planning one?" Lucas and Barry asked confused.

Dawn winked at them with a glare before smiling at Red. "Yeah, would you?"

Red looked confused at this but shrugged with a nod. "...Okay... Squirtle, Ivysaur, let's go," Red said confused to his Pokémon who nodded at him and walked out the room to the hallway.

Once the door closed, the Sinnoh girl whispered something. "...He's gone?" Dawn whispered.

Lucas leaned his ear to the door, where on the other side, Red and the other Pokémon were leaning their ears to it as well. "...Looks like it," Lucas said.

Dawn interlaced her fingers. "Okay, reunion time," Dawn said as the three looked at each other. "As you may have noticed, something is going on here."

"And that rat is hiding it from us," Barry said with a serious look. "That Red, who does he think he is to be doing what rats do?"

"He's not a rat, Barry..." Lucas said as he frowned.

"But he's hiding something from us!" Barry said. "All those Pokémon we saw, for example!"

"And that speaker sounded weird as well," Dawn said with a nod. "Smashers? Is that what all of them are called?"

"And...Red and his Pokémon are as well?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Barry said while he nodded. "I bet that's that."

"But I don't know..." Dawn bit a nail of her right hand. "This is too confusing..."

Lucas thought for a moment. "...Should we go to the main lobby and see what the speaker mentioned?" Lucas asked.

From the other side of the door, the three Smashers looked very shocked. "(Please, don't do that!)" Red and his Pokémon yelled in their minds.

"...Or should we play along and see if Red is going tell us when the time is right?" Dawn asked.

Barry took out some Ultra Balls and shifted his eyes around. "We're NOT capturing them!" Lucas said.

"Aw, man!" Barry said in defeat as kept the Ultra Balls in his pockets. "I was already thinking of that!"

"No," Dawn said as she shook her head. "We need to think of something else rather than walking there."

"I suggest what Red is going to do to keep us distracted," Lucas suggested.

"Good idea, man," Barry said with a grin. "If that guy doesn't want to show us the Pokémon, then see him failing to keep us away would be the best thing here."

"...For once, you use your brain," Dawn said with a bored look. "Okay, let's do that."

"Right," Lucas and Barry said.

The Pallet Town trainer looked worried at this. "(Oh no... They know about them...but how?)" Red thought behind the door before he, Squirtle, and Ivysaur got up and knocked the door. "Hey, guys! Can we enter?"

Dawn gasped and chuckled nervously "O-of course!" Dawn said cheerfully as the door opened and the trio walked inside. "We finished talking. W-what do you want to do now?"

"I-I don't know," Red said nervously as he recalled their talk. "What do you want to do..tonight?"

"CATCH NEW CREATURES!" Barry demanded as he took out many Ultra Balls.

Lucas hit Barry on the back of his head before smiling at Red. "W-why don't we trade Pokédex info and talk about...er..."

"Bidoofs in general?" Barry suggested.

Lucas looked annoyed at Barry. "(Why do we have to talked about Bidoofs?) I-yeah! Bidoofs in general!"

"Lame, I wanted Feebas," Barry said disappointed.

"S-shut up, you!" Lucas whispered through gritted teeth. "S-so, do you want to do that?"

"...Okay!" Red closed the door and sat down where he took out his Pokédex. "I want to have my own Pokédex filled wi-"

"Hey, hold on a sec," Dawn interrupted as she sat down and looked at Red's Pokédex, "that Pokédex is so old. You need a newer version than that one."

"Really? Well, I-I didn't know..."

The four trainers started to discuss things about their information. However, each one of them didn't forget about what to do in order to catch Red where they wanted him to be, and Red was going to everything he could to stop them from revealing themselves to Master Hand.

Main Lobby

The others waited for the trio to appear and Master Hand was getting desperate that he decided to ignore them. "Alright, since our clueless trainer and his Pokémon don't want to show up, then let them get attacked without a previous announcement."

"Would you just forget about them and tell us about the attack to this place?" Zelda asked.

"And why aren't DK or Diddy or both coming? They're not here," C. Falcon said.

"Because those guys are making sure our musicians don't get involved in this," Master Hand explained.

Music Room

There were Medli and Makar sitting on the seats while the Kongs did the DK Rap with flashlights, movements, somersaults and almost everything. What worse, it was very loud for the inside of the room and not outside of it (because the doors were soundproof so any sound couldn't disturb anyone outside).

"O-oh, please!" Makar pleaded. "H-how many times are you going to do this rap thingy? M-my ears are going to bleed!"

"W-we need to resist!" Medli shouted. "If working with more musicians means enduring this trial, t-then we must resist it!"

"If I knew that sooner, then I should've spent my time in the Potion Shop instead!"

Main Lobby

"I bet they're alright," Master Hand said before he coughed to get the attention of the other Smashers. "Okay, here's the deal."

"Finally," Roy said before he frowned.

"As expected, an army is coming right here to, most likely, destroy and annihilate the mansion with all of us here. Yeah, typical cliché but we can't do anything about it and just follow the flow of life."

"God, stop talking like some sort of guru or something," Yoshi said as he rolled his eyes.

"You heard me," Master Hand said. "Well, our main strategy for our own barricade is...beat their skulls till they can't stand up."

"Barbarian strategy?" Nana asked.

Master Hand nodded. "Like all of you do when you fight against each other."

"I find that insulting," Mewtwo said. "I do use some insights to fight rather than mindlessly sending Shadow Balls everywhere.

"Whatever., it doesn't matter. It works and it pays off."

Wolf frowned and crossed his arms. "So all can go to their own way," he said.

"Exactly."

"Heh, freedom in fights is much better than strategies if I do say so myself," Wolf said. "I don't like to be ordered around that much."

"But when you're kicked around so much..." Falco trailed off as he grinned at Wolf..

"...Shut up, bird brain."

"Okay, okay," Master Hand interrupted. "Everyone, try to fight around the mansion by making a frontal barrier. After that, be barbarians!"

"I'll be myself, thanks," Samus said.

"Just GO out there and BEAT them up!"

All the Smashers frowned and decided to walk out the lobby and outside

At that moment, Toon Link and Raven came out from the kitchen (with the old man having eight arrows on his back with a painful look on his face).

"Wow, what happened to him this time?" Master Hand asked.

"F-freakin' kid's arrows tried to murder me..." Raven muttered as he fell on the floor. "N-need to teach him which direction to hit, t-though..."

Toon Link made an ashamed look. "I-I'm such an idiot. All my arrows seem to hit Raven and not the target I want..."

"...Perhaps because Raven was the target?" Master Hand asked.

Raven looked up to him. "...Oh, that makes everything better..."

"No, you don't understand," Master Hand shook himself. "What if Toon Link kept thinking about you, since he seems to be a rabid fan of yours and he thinks about you all the day that he forgot to focus on something else and hit you instead?"

"..." Raven thought for a moment. "...Although that sounds incredibly embarrassing...y-ya got a point there..."

Toon Link looked at him. "W-wait, does that mean I passed this training?"

"Y-yeah..." Raven muttered weakly. "I-I told ya to focus on ta first thing ya had in your mind and find ta right angle to bounce the arrow along and hit your target... I-it's a special technique that I developed... b-but it seems ya mastered it..."

"...T-then that means..."

...Afraid so... Ya passed the test...and I had to receive all the punishment..."

Toon Link blinked a few times before his face formed a growing a smile. It was a matter of time before he began to jump up and down while yelling "...YIIIIIHAAAAAAAAAAWW!!!"

"...That was the first test though..."

"-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-huh?" Toon Link stopped dancing.

"T-there are many more ya must learn... T-they could be easier....harder...whatever ya see 'em by yourself..."

"...Oh," Toon Link said.

"...Now..." Raven pointed at the arrows on his back. "Could ya take off these?... B-blood will start to come out if ya don't..."

"...Crap!" Toon Link yelled before he began to take out every single arrow in the quickest way possible, hurting Raven with every arrow taken out.

"...T-t-t-t-thanks..." Raven muttered with less energy.

"Fine," Master Hand snapped his fingers and a Heart Container fell down, close to Raven. "Take it and your energies should replenish for...a lot."

"..." Raven touched the item and he instantly got up, completely unharmed. "Ya know, everything here doesn't make any kinda sense to me."

"It's a wacky world," Master Hand said. "Well, you little swordsman need to go outside, now."

"Why?" Toon Link asked.

Master Hand looked at Raven. "...Will you leave to your room?"

"Well, night came so earlier today and well...bed doesn't sound so bad..." the old man said before he walked up the stairs and left the two.

"A battle is going to broke out soon out there. You need to go outside and fight for the security of this mansion with everyone," Master Hand explained.

"Oh," Toon Link said before he rubbed his chin. "Can you summarize everything for me? Because, you know, the night came as Raven said before..."

Several minutes later...

"And that's the gist of it," Master Hand explained. "Go outside an-"

"Can I tell you this before?" Toon Link interrupted.

"What?"

"W-well...Raven told me not to tell you but..."

The swordsman went to Master Hand and whispered something about a familiar Genius Mage.

"And if you do find her, don't tell Raven is in here!" Toon Link said.

"...You know what?" Master Hand began. "I'm getting sick of all these people barging in here like this was their mansion. I'm going to find that girl and put her in her place right this instant!"

"NO!" Toon Link yelled. "R-Raven told me she's dangerous with her magic!"

"Pfft, my magic owns hers anytime," Master Hand frowned. "Just be glad we don't have even more people who came in here and took a room without me noticing. If I knew that, I'd kill someone here to let my rage out!"

"N-not on me, right?"

"Of course not," Master Hand shook his head. "Now, go outside and fight. I'll solve this with my own means."

"...Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Master Hand grabbed the little kid and tossed him through the window. "And make sure the enemy is not standing up after the beating!"

The hand sighed and went to the hallway. But he stopped and looked at no one in particular as he thought something.

"(At least I got more attention than all the days...today...)" Master Hand thought.

Then the sound of footsteps was heard and...

...Rita walked right behind Master Hand with the Smart Bomb on her left hand while she made a virtual screen over it.

"Amazing," Rita said astonished. "This Blastia seems to be made with the most destructive, unknown materials ever made befor-"

"NOT TONIGHT!" Master Hand yelled as he turned quickly and stopped Rita.

"...What the hell..." Rita muttered as she narrowed her eyes at the floating hand before her.

For Rita, it was the first time to see such a rare monster...talking to her while she was busy with her Blastia and abilities.

"Excuse me?" a voice called from the other end of the hallway and a familiar princess was shown walking to the 2. "An alarm sounded and it scared me a lot and..."

"..." Rita stared at the familiar princess she recognized.

"..."

"..." Master Hand was left speechless.

"...Es..telle?" Rita blinked confused.

"...R-Rita?" Estelle asked in surprise as she put a hand in front of her mouth while her pupils shrunk a little.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Exor
Gate

The group walked across the arc and sure enough a floor made itself visible...

However...

"...Hey, what are all of them doing here?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic..." Kirby trailed off. "Why is your back getting...furrier?"

Sonic gasped and blocked the sudden fur that covered part of his back. "Y-you saw nothing!"

Back to where Sonic was mentioning...

There were strongly familiar enemies that decided to appear before them. On the same floor they were in, three different paths lied on each direction: north, west and east. The enemies were black, white and grey...and they were all standing behind a counter with several skull-shaped forms around on the front, close and together.

Super Mario RPG - And My Name's Booster

"...Didn't we defeat all of them before?" Fox asked.

"These are Machine Mades," Geno explained as he pointed at the enemies that didn't move. "Machine Mades are basically copies of the guardians we fought before."

"But wow," Twink commented. "These look very familiar."

"YOU MUST BE THE SMASHERS, NYA," the Machine Made (that looked like Bowyer) said in a monotone voice. "LORD SMITHY HAS BEEN EXPECTING ALL OF YOU, NYA."

"...Weird," Geno said with an odd look. "They didn't talk before... I guess Smithy upgraded the production."

Lucario narrowed his eyes at the Machine Mades.

"YOU CANNOT GO AND MEET HIM NOW," a Machine Made (that looked like Huff N. Puff) said. "YOU MUST ACTIVATE THE SWITCHES IN THE PATHS THAT LIE ON EACH SIDE OF THE NORTHERN PART THAT IS IN FRONT OF YOU AND BEHIND US."

"There isn't any door below the stupid arc." Snake pointed out.

The Machine Made (that looked like Yaridovich) snapped its fingers and a door closed the arc. "NOW THERE IS," the Machine Made said.

"So...now we have to go and activate switches?" Peach asked.

Mallow made a worried look. "This wasn't here before nor it did look like this at all."

"Maybe Smithy thought that a new layout was better to stop us?"

"GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAARGH!" Lucario, without any order, fired a fully charged Aura Sphere that went towards the door. Smoke flew out from the blue explosion...but when it cleared, the door was left unharmed. "Dammit..."

"YOU MUST ACTIVATE THE SWITCHES TO OPEN THE DOOR. NOTHING CAN DESTROY THE DOORS," a Machine Made (that looked like Red Ninjakoopa (hard to see if that Machine Made was red at all)) said. "DO NOT BE SUCH STUBBORN PEOPLE AND ACTIVATE THE SWITCHES."

"Has he ever made clones of the Koopa Bros. before?" Mario asked.

"No clue." Link said.

"Or Crystal King," Kirby pointed out. "Should we...go for the switches?"

"BY THE WAY," a Machine Made (that looked like Lava Piranha Plant, except smaller) interrupted. "EACH PATH CONTAINS A BOSS FOR YOU TO DEFEAT. BE WARNED, THOSE BOSSES HAVE SHADOW BUGS WITH THEM AND NOT LIKE US, INFERIOR MACHINE MADES."

"Looks like we should split up so we can proceed to Smithy faster," Geno said. "We're 18 without counting Twink as a fighter. We should have 9 on each group."

"As much as I hate to say this..." Chris shivered as more dark winds ragged on. "W-we should divide."

"And conquer." Ike added.

"Leaders or without leaders?" Marth asked.

"Since Peach, Mario, Mallow, and I know about the place, some 2 of us 4 should be a leader and choose who is going with whom," Geno explained.

"B-but can we trust them?" Lucas asked as he pointed at the Machine Mades. "I-I don't like where this is going..."

"Neither do I, but it can't be helped." Geno said.

"...D-damn..." Lucas muttered.

Several minutes later...

"WILL YOU DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO MEET YOUR DOOMS?" a Machine Made (that looked like Axem Black) asked irritated.

"Yes," Mario said with a nod. "So, Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Peach, Lucas, Marth, Sonic, Kirby, Jigglypuff are coming with me to the west."

Geno nodded. "Mallow, Twink, Ness, Fox, Snake, Ike, Link and Pichu will come with me to the east. Let's meet up here when we've reached the switches."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Pikachu asked. "Why not going with everyone to the same part?"

"I don't like any delays," Geno explained. "Who knows if Smithy is ready to take out the city in any minute? We need to do this quickly and carefully before the worst happen. We don't want that, right?"

"No," mostly everyone said.

"Then...good luck and stay alert for anything." Geno said to Mario's group who nodded to his group and parted ways to the west, whereas Geno's group went to the east.

...

"..." The Machine Mades shifted their eyes once the groups were gone from the vicinity.

"...ARE THEY GONE? CAN I STOP TALKING LIKE THIS?" the Machine Made (Crystal King) asked.

"Yeah," the Machine Made (Red Ninjakoopa) said and nodded. "They fell for our trap, alright."

"Oh, like," the Machine Made (that looked like Axem Pink) began, "they did fall for our disguises."

"Obvious disguises."

"So," the Machine Made (that looked like Green Ninjakoopa) began as it grabbed a bucket of water, "can we change colors...to our real colors now?"

Everyone else nodded and grabbed buckets of water that they took from underneath the counter. They all put them above them and dropped the water on themselves. Once the water wet all of them, the Machine Mades looked at themselves.

"...The paint isn't coming off..." the Machine Made (Huff N. Puff) pointed out.

"Dammit!" the Machine Made (Red Ninjakoopa) cursed. "Black, you said these were not waterproof at all!"

"Heheh," the Machine Made (that looked like Black Ninjakoopa) chuckled. "I did a mistake."

"A WHAT?!"

"Heheh, you heard me."

"Oh, brother..." a Machine Made (Axem Green) face palmed and took out several paint cans. "Start painting yourselves. Good thing I brought there with us just in case."

Red Ninjakoopa looked at him. "Wait, if you did take these here, does that mean you did know the paint we have on us was waterproof?"

"Oh, yeah, I did know that," Axem Green said. "Why, I saw the buckets of paint we used and they said they were permanent."

Yaridovich frowned at this and muttered "You…idiot…"

A while later...

After using the paint Axem Green had brought for the group, they soon finished painting themselves with the almost exact colors. It turned out that most of their colors either were brighter of darker than the real deal. Red Ninjakoopa looked at himself. "God, I have brighter colors instead of the normal ones."

"Meh, at least we're fine now," Green Ninjakoopa said.

"So," Yaridovich began, "care to remember how did we get back here?"

"Tabuu revived us, but not as Machine Mades," Axem Black explained.

"We begged and begged and begged, and he said, "If you shut up right now, I will not have the necessity to harm you in the most brutal way possible" before the portal here opened," Yellow Ninjakoopa said.

"Revived," Bowyer, Yaridovich, LPP, Crystal King, and Huff N. Puff said in unison.

"Well, like," Axem Pink began, "what do we do, like, now?"

"Wait for them to get killed by the 100 ton anvils that are set to fall on them if they manage to defeat the bosses protecting the switches, and then press the switches," Yaridovich said. "Primitive idea if you ask me. Good thing it wasn't my idea."

"Anvils?" Axem Green said. "I thought you said the switches should open the door, then drop an anvil across the same door!"

"...You IDIOT!" Crystal King yelled. "That was supposed to end them! How can they be ended if the anvils are across that door?!"

"Relax," Huff N. Puff said. "The anvils are going to disappear and not block their and our way to Smithy, right?"

"...Don't tell me the anvils will disappear once they touch the ground..." Red Ninjakoopa trailed off with a frown.

"...Well, in here, anvils are made out of magic, and magic appears for a short time before it vanishes completely... So yeah," Axem Yellow said.

"...Thank goodness we can at least have a chance to beat them, nya," Bowyer said.

"But curse out because we don't have Shadow Bugs this time," Yaridovich said. "Tabuu hates to waste Shadow Bugs on 'failures' like us because we used them the wrong way and we ended in defeat."

"At least our deaths weren't that pathetic," Axem Green said.

"We exploded like, 27 times on our super-powerful-giant-robot because like, a Green Shell was in our way to stomp them," Axem Pink pointed out.

"But fortunately," Red Ninjakoopa began, "we have another chance to prove our worthiness to both Tabuu and Smithy themselves. I don't know you guys but they're surely going to pass those bosses easily before returning here and FIGHT us...at the same time...AGAIN!"

"Shouldn't you wish for their demises rather than their success, then the fight against us?" Axem Black asked.

"Okay, perfectionist, you say it!"

"No," he said and shook his head. "I rather not speak at all."

"That sounds good to me," LPP said with a nod.

"Yeah," everyone else said.

...A moment of silence passed as the dark wings ragged on...

"...Staring at the nothingness is completely boring," Axem Yellow said with a yawn. "Can we eat something?"

"Or do our nails?" Axem Pink asked.

"NO!" Red Ninjakoopa yelled. "We'll wait for them and do nothing!"

The Axem Rangers walked to a corner and began to polish their axes. "A good polished axe begs for lots of blood on it," Axem Red said with a happy expression.

Yaridovich sighed in depression.

Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory

Meanwhile on the west door...

Lucario looked back where they came from and tilted his head.

Chris walked to him. "I-is something wrong?"

"Those Machine Mades...I don't think they're Machine Mades at all..."

"B-but they looked like that to me."

"My aura was perturbed once I looked at them. We should be careful."

Chris nodded and embraced himself (as he used the Thief job). "I-in the meantime, can you stay close to me? T-the darkness and these currents of air are annoying me...or scaring me..."

Lucario smiled and walked closer to Chris. "Whatever you want, I'll do it for you."

"T-thanks, Lucario…" Chris nodded as they walked to the group.

Mario and Peach were confused...about something…

"Mario..." Peach began as she looked around, "doesn't this look familiar to you?"

"N-not at all..." Mario said as the group proceeded to walk on some stairs to another new floor. "I don't see the screws, the narrow paths or enemies around like before."

"I thought the same," Peach said. "B-but what if something is really waiting for us?"

"They already said the bosses were waiting for us," Marth pointed out. "I doubt they were lying about it."

"C-can it be a lie?" Lucas asked as he embraced himself.

"No," Pikachu said.

"Aww..."

Kirby looked at Sonic with a nervous look. "Sonic?"

"What?" Sonic asked (with blocked mouth).

"Why are you blocking your mouth?"

"Because I fear I may puke from seeing all this crappiness around me," Sonic said with a frown. "I bet you're like me too, right?"

"No," Kirby said. "I'm hungry."

"...Just don't ask me anything."

Kirby shrugged and looked forward.

"Heheheheh," Dark Super Sonic chuckled. "Enjoying my previews?"

"You bet your a(beep) I'm not," Sonic responded harshly. "Stop annoying me and go away!"

"Never," he responded. "Making fun of you is too much fun... But I'll listen."

A snapping sound was heard and Sonic's fangs turned back into teeth while the fur on his back disappeared.

"...Really?" Sonic asked surprised.

"Ahahahaha, hahahahaha, hahahahahahaaaa.... No."

Another snapping sound was heard and Sonic got a big eyebrow above his eyes with white and blue fur.

"(AAHHH!!!)" Sonic yelled in his mind.

"Now, try to fight without them seeing anything, you freak," Dark Super Sonic said before leaving Sonic.

Sonic blocked his eyebrow and looked forward with a nervous look.

Pikachu walked to him and gave him a paper.

"What the hell is this?" Sonic asked.

"Dunno," Pikachu said. "It was on my hand when I noticed and it had your name as its direction."

Sonic looked at the paper. And it said...

I know what you're going through.

Sonic's eyes widened in horror and he quickly ripped the paper into bits. "W-who gave you this?!" Sonic asked.

"I don't know!" Pikachu yelled. "It was on my hand when I noticed!"

"What were you doing when you weren't looking at your hand?!"

"Thinking about what we'll face today."

"Yeah, yeah..."

The group noticed another arc at the end of the stairs and they passed right beneath it...

Meanwhile, with the other group...

Geno's group was walking through a series of arcs that leaded to a new floor to the deepest part of the whole dark land. They were looking around the repetitive set of arcs with skulls on them.

"Follow the long and grey road," Twink sang as he shuddered. "Follow the long and grey road..."

"If this is trying to scare me, it already did," Snake said, breaking the silence.

"Wow, I thought you were the bravest man. Why, because of the arcs?" Link asked.

"No," Snake responded. "Because how stupid this is getting."

"Boring to me," Fox yawned a little. "If nobody here is going to do anything to stop us, then I'd rather not be here."

"But it looks like we don't have any choice, right?" Ike asked. "The "city" depends on us."

"At least there's an enemy for you, violent people, to beat around," Geno said with a frown.

Pichu shivered. "I-I'm not violent... Ness is."

Ness rolled his eyes. "To think a little boy like me got considered as violent."

"You beat me when you guys punished me," Snake said.

"Well, for getting in the mansion like it was for public use."

Mallow ran up ahead. "Mallow, get back here, separating isn't an option!" Geno yelled.

"We're here!" Mallow yelled.

Link grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Is there an enemy to beat around?" Link asked.

"Got you," Geno said. "You like to beat enemies so much that it became an addiction."

"...Whoops."

The group ran ahead and they crossed the last arc. When they stepped on the other side, Mallow walked to them. "This place gives me the creeeeeeeeps."

The floor had a darker atmosphere with several pillars around the dark abyss. A long, but long stone tail was wrapped up around all the pillars as it all connected to a big statue of a snake. The ceiling was ornamented with long, red curtains that hung around the pillars. Geno, Twink and Mallow walked to the statue while the others inspected the place.

"...Geno..." Twink trailed off.

"...I remember this..." Geno said as he put a hand on the statue. "There were these 2 guys who could animate this statu-"

"Wasn't it a dormant snake but not a statue?" Mallow asked.

"Statue," Geno said. "...Where are they? They were supposed to show up."

"Meh," Mallow said as he looked at a switch in the middle of the place. "Look over there!"

"The switch? That was easy..." Geno muttered.

Mallow ran to the switch while everyone else walked to the center of the weird floor.

"So, that's it?" Fox asked as he crossed his arms.

With the others...

They found a door full of remains of failed machines piled up around the edges of the spacious floor. They were looking at the switch that was located in the middle of the room and walked to it.

"So, that's it?" Sonic asked as he crossed his arms (but later blocked his eyebrow).

"Pretty much so," Jigglypuff said. "I'm glad that was all."

Pikachu went to the switch. "Ha! They were just bluffing. This was sooooooooooooo easy."

"Really?" Lucas asked with a small smile.

Pikachu chuckled and slowly reached for the switch...

On the other side...

Mallow chuckled and slowly reached for the switch. "With a little press, the door will open."

Pikachu pressed the button. "That does it nicely."

Mallow looked at them and made a fist in the air. "So, upwards and onwards!"

"We need to regroup with the others."

"They surely found the same thing as us!"

"Smithy is so wishing to get zapped."

"Nothing."

"Absolutely nothing."

"Can go wrong."

"Yeah."

"So, let's get moving."

"If we don't."

"They'll get upset for getting late."

"Besides."

"No enemies appeared."

"…Except."

"For the…"

"Enemies..."

"That..."

"Just fell."

"From the ceiling..."

"Surrounding us."

"Oh..."

"…Crap."

"…I knew."

"…This looked so…"

"…Suspicious."

"…I saw it."

"…A mile away."

"Anyway…."

"…What do we do?"

"…Any suggestions?"

"…To get out from this…"

"…One?"

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against a Stronger Monster

As the two characters from two different places previously stated, both groups were surrounded by a lot of enemies that suddenly fell from above (or the ceiling in Geno's group's case).

There were Ameboids (blue mushroom enemies), Doppels (floating green ghost enemies), Glum Reapers (ghost enemies with scythes), Hippopos (whatever the heck the blue monster under the fairy was), Li'l Boos, (Boos, except pale), and finally Puppoxs (doll-with-X-above enemies).

On Mario's side...

Mario adjusted his cap as the others made a circle formation on the center of the other big circle of enemies that slowly walked/floated to them. "Hmph, something was fishy here."

"T-that is a very bad thing," Peach said as she trembled and walked closer to the switch.

"I HATE when this happens," Chris said as he hid behind his serius Lucario. "When there's an easy path, you're bound to find something really bad at the end."

"That doesn't happen," Marth said.

"Oh, you tell me! What did just happen just now, then?"

"Ahem," Ness interrupted. "If you haven't noticed, there are monsters trying to...I don't know...do the same thing they always want to do to us?"

"Kill us?" Jigglypuff responded.

"Lovely," Ness said with a sarcastic smile. "What do you say if we ACTUALLY GET FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES?!"

On the other side...

The difference between both ambushes was that 2 familiar figures appeared alongside the enemies that Mallow and Geno quickly recognized. Both figures were levitating (since they didn't have legs). They also had Shadow Bugs as well.

One of them looked like a clown with stripped-vertical lines (patterned with just 2 lines: one with blue color and the other one with yellow) as he held up a sword on his right hand and a shield on the other hand. He had a white mustache while a weird hat floated above his head. This one was called Cloaker (or Dark Cloaker).

The other one had a purple cape covering his face, but his eyes were somehow able to peek. He had vertical-patterned lines (of only yellow and purple colors). He had his hands opened as they were raised. This one was called Domino (or Dark Domino).

"Geno, Geno, Geno..." Dark Cloaker trailed off.

"Marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow..." Dark Domino trailed off.

Dark Cloaker looked at him. "It's just Mallow, stupid," Dark Cloaker said.

"Oops, my bad."

"You made it after so much time!" Dark Cloaker turned to the Smashers. "We were so bored without anyone paying a visit here!"

"Rude," Dark Domino added.

Ike looked serious at them. "Look, let us walk away and we won't bother you," he offered.

"That question is so easy to respond for them," Link said bored.

"I know. Good start, huh?"

"No, you retarded swordsman," Snake said. "Asking those questions to enemies like them is useless."

"Why?" Ike asked.

"Because we're not letting you go! Why don't you understand?" Dark Domino asked with irritation. "Geez, stupid people like the guy with the stupid cape are, well, stupid!"

"...Is my cape that stupid?" Ike asked.

Link shook his head, but everyone else didn't.

"..." Ike looked down. "What's so bad about my cape, anyway? It's a sign of leadership…"

"Well, are we going to start or what?" Dark Cloaker asked.

Link took out the Master Sword while the others prepared to fight as well. "Bring it on," Link said with a glare.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Dark Domino yelled loudly as the circle of enemies ran after the Smashers.

On the other side...

Chris quickly changed to his ISOKFMG and slammed Tokunaga on the ground to make it grow bigger. "T-Tokunaga, try to shield me as I cast spells!"

Tokunaga looked at Chris and nodded.

"O twisted door of distortio-" the World Traveler noticed the doll looking down. "(W-what are you doing?!)"

Chris was suddenly attacked by a Hippopo's Mega Drain. Even if the attack was going to drain something, it was only a pink beam that moved by the sides and sliced Chris across his back, stopping his chant as he fell forward on his knees.

"GUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!" Lucario fired a fully charged Aura Sphere to the Hippopo to blast it away from Chris as the Aura Pokémon went to him. "Are you feeling fine?"

"Y-yes..." Chris stood up. "B-but I don't know why Tokunaga stopped from shielding me..."

Lucario looked at the doll. "...It appears it only fights when you're not casting spells," Lucario pointed out.

"Oh, that's great..." Chris frowned. "W-well, would you shield me?"

"That's obvious."

Chris sniffed. "T-then go and beat them while I get attack-"

"I meant the other way…"

"…Oh, I see." Chris rubbed Lucario's head between his ears. "Thank you."

Lucario looked bored. "...Yes..."

"Come on!" Pikachu taunted some Ameboids as he gathered sparks on his cheeks. "Leap on me!"

The Ameboids looked at each other and created mysterious vortexes that covered Pikachu, who perked his ears up as a terrifying sound made him shudder in fear...and got the status effect called Fear.

"E-e-e-e-e-e..." Pikachu embraced himself. "I-I-I-I-I don't want to fight anymore..." his ears lowered. "I feel so useless and weak..."

The Ameboids nodded to each other and leaped to Pikachu to kick him.

Suddenly, they were all being pulled by a strong wind that sucked them away from Pikachu. The Electric Pokémon looked at the source and found Kirby swallowing all of them before stopping and sitting down with a weak look. "D-d-did they attack you?" Pikachu asked in depression.

"No..." Kirby's eyes turned into swirls. "They tasted like toilet water..."

"...Y-y-you don't drink that...unless..." Pikachu shuddered.

"Oww!" Jigglypuff backed away from a Glum Reaper's attack with its scythe. "You're begging for it. Ha!" She leaped to it and used Pound to slap it away, but another Glum Reaper appeared from behind her and used Lightning Orb.

A ball of electricity was flung to her and it disappeared upon contact, but it came back as small rising waves of lightning that pushed her above and made her crash back to the floor.

"T-that was just a surprise attack..." Jigglypuff said as she stood up and closed her right eye before rolling herself on the floor, then slamming herself on the previous Glum Reaper to slam it away with Rollout.

"O twisted door of distortion, open wide!" Chris chanted while Lucario use Force Palm to push some Li'l Boos away. "Negative Gate!"

A gate of distortions appeared close to some Doppels that were constantly attacked by it and were destroyed.

"My magic seems to work well on them... Peach?" Chris found Peach still standing in the middle of the whole floor. "Why aren't you..."

"O-oh," Peach took out a teacup to take a sip of it. "I-I'm just waiting for the right moment to attack."

"B-but how did you take that out?" Chris asked confused at the teacup.

Peach smiled nervously. "I-I always have a pair," she took out another one. "D-do you want some?"

"...No..." Chris shook his head as Marth fought a Puppox in the background. "...I know what you're doing."

She looked away while Mario jumped several times above a Hippopo's head in the background. "N-no, it's not what you think it is… What makes you say something like that?"

Chris blinked while a scared Pikachu looked at the sides. "Because you don't seem to fight at all and you're acting nervous about it."

Lucas was running away from some Li'l Boos while Sonic ran after them. "O-of course not..." Peach responded.

Lucario used Double Team to disappear from a Glum Reaper's scythe and attack it from behind with a flying kick. "But I know what you're doing now! You can't deny it, Peach.... You're scared of fighting, right?"

The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom knew she couldn't lie even more against that. Sighing, she decided to say something. "W-was it obvious?" Peach asked as a Willy Wisp from a Glum Reaper was shot to Marth. "I'm...very embarrassed of this... Really, I do..."

"(I feel embarrassed because I'm not fighting...)" Chris thought while a Lightning Orb flew above his head and to Kirby, who back flipped to evade it. "...I knew you didn't want to fight at all from the beginning, Peach."

Peach looked down ashamed while a Li'l Boo barely missed to bite her face. "...I'm pathetic, right?" She sighed depressed. "I'm not good enough to fight back against any enemies… I mean, I'm just good to rule a kingdom, not fight for it…literally…"

"..N-no!" Chris yelled while a Doppel appeared behind him, only to be pushed away by an Aura Sphere of Lucario. "You're not!"

Meanwhile, on the other side...

"BOLT!" Dark Domino called forth a fast lightning from the sky that fell down on Ike, but he dodged it by taking a quick step back. "FLAME STONE!"

A meteor of fire fell on Ike's back and he was pushed to the floor.

"HAHA!" Dark Domino laughed. "Stupid gets what he most deserves!"

"Idiot's begging...for what he most needs..." Ike spat back as he stood up and ran to him.

"Whoops," Dark Domino said as he floated above to evade a slam of Ike's sword. "Missed me."

"THERE!" Ike yelled as he tossed Ragnell to Dark Domino to spin it in midair and slash the sorcerer several times before the swordsman jumped to his sword and slammed Dark Domino down to the floor.

"D-damn!" Dark Domino quickly got up and floated. "Blizzard!"

"Oh, forget that! Snowy!" Mallow called out his own blizzard that collided with Dark Domino's blizzard, canceling each other from dealing damage. "Grr!"

"This didn't happen before," Dark Domino said as he chuckled. "Back then, you used to kick me, but now our attacks are equally matched!"

"Like irritated people tend to say to people who like to say that, DON'T COMPARE ME TO YOU!" Mallow yelled as he ran on his feet.

"Slash!" Dark Cloaker yelled as he used a downward slice on Link, who blocked it with the Master Sword. "Dice 'im!" he used several cross slashes that Link blocked with his shield, though this time he was being pushed towards the edge of the floor. "Push 'im!"

"S-shut up!" Link yelled as he quickly pushed the sword away and tossed a bomb to Dark Cloaker's face, which exploded and made him back away. "Heyah!" Link jumped towards him and used Spin Attack to push the clown swordsman away.

"Very good, indeed!" Dark Cloaker remarked. "Such fervor isn't so common around these parts!"

"I only care about finishing you off," Link said as he put his sword close to his face while he pointed the tip of it to his enemy. "That way, I don't get to hear your voice."

"How insolent!" Dark Cloaker proclaimed. "You need discipline...but in the bad way!"

"Geno Beam!" Geno yelled as he fired a long beam that hit Dark Cloaker on the back.

"You need discipline as well, Geno!" Dark Cloaker yelled as he raised his sword.

Snake had a bad time with Glum Reapers who tried to slice him from all the sides. The undercover soldier narrowed his eyes and tossed a mine on the air to explode it in a group of ghosts. When he thought he ran out from mines, he was able to take out another from his belt. "...Otacon." Snake called as he back flipped to evade a Li'l Boo's bite. "Otacon, you there?"

"Copy, Snake," Otacon called. "What's wrong this time?"

"The hand modified myself and made infinite mines," Snake said.

The hacker grumbled a bit. "God, everything is so weird in that universe, that's for sure," Otacon commented.

"Well, I'm having my weird time here. Many ghosts are trying to scare me to death, which they really fail at doing. Any suggestions for this fight?"

"You're doing it well from where you ar-" Otacon was interrupted as many sounds of sparks were heard from his location. "...Snake? You there?"

"Yeah," Snake said after he received several lightning attacks. "Got zapped by 8 of them with freaking magic."

"…Ouch... You okay?"

"..." Snake tossed a grenade on his right hand several times. "Pretty much."

"Well...good luck?"

"Always," Snake nodded as some Doppel went after him. "Come and get me, f(beep)d ghost."

"Snake..." Otacon trailed off with a sigh before he ended the codec.

Ness stopped running and he looked at a swarm of Doppels closing in above a frightened Pichu. The PK kid noticed a Glum Reaper floating towards him, whereas the kid narrowed his eyes and took out his bat. "Closer..." Ness muttered as he calculated the ghost's destination. "Closer..."

"H-heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" Pichu yelled in horror as he ducked and covered his head.

The Glum Reaper was about to use Deathsickle on Ness when suddenly...

"THERE!" Ness yelled as he dealt a strong hit on the ghost, blasting it off towards the swarm of Doppels that were trying to scare Pichu to death. All of the ghosts bumped into each other and fell down on the floor as the Pokémon's ears perked up and looked up to see a clear view of the ceiling.

Pichu sighed as Ness went to him. "T-thank you for your help."

"Can you fight at least?" Ness asked.

Pichu gathered some sparks on his cheeks. "Y-yes."

Ness wondered for a moment as he took out his yo-yo. "...Pichu, do you want to try something new?"

"What?"

"Thunderbolt!" Mallow called out several lightning bolts that electrocuted some Hippopos. "Snowy!" he called forth a blizzard that created a huge snowman that blinked and exploded into more snow. "Shocker!" a strong lightning crushed the group of Hippopos before the cloud prince began to feel weak. "O-oww... U-using magic constantly is a really bad idea..."

Geno back stepped and used Geno Whirl on two Puppoxs. "You need to balance out magic and physical attacks."

"I know," Mallow said as he was about attacked by three Li'l Boos, that were suddenly kicked away by Fox who ran at them afterward. "I think coming all the way here drained my energies."

Geno used Geno Beam on two Ameboids to push towards the edge. "I feel the same but not much as you."

"Duh," Mallow said as he rolled his eyes while Link was pushed into the air by Dark Cloaker, who then proceeded to slash him continuously. "You're a doll or puppet."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, it does," Mallow said as he raised a finger while Twink was shown hiding behind the curtains. "You don't have blood inside that thing or a brain. You're a little star."

Geno turned to him. "Can you please help us in the fight?"

He was suddenly crushed by a stone of flames that came from the ceiling.

"G-Geno!" Mallow yelled before Ike was pushed away by Geno's side because of Dark Domino, who floated to them with several chuckles.

"Hahahahahaha!" Dark Domino laughed. "I can't believe Smithy had a bad time hearing that the Star Spirits were rescued by such puny guys like all of you! I can blink and stab one 5 times with icicles if I want to!"

"T-that didn't make sense to me," Ike said as he got up. "M-magic isn't everything."

"For me, it does," Dark Domino said. "I doubt you can get through it."

"I don't need to," Ike said as he aimed Ragnell's tip to his enemy. "I have something better here."

Mallow noticed that Ike was waving a hand behind his back.

"That ridiculous heavy sword?" Dark Domino asked before he laughed and closed his eyes. "My, what originality you have the-"

"SHOCKER!" Mallow yelled as a big lightning crushed the dark enemy, pushing him to the floor where he almost lost his balance.

"N-NO!" Dark Domino yelled as he noticed Ike slamming Ragnell on his face with a strong blow, pushing the magician even further on the ground, where he got stuck. "Damn you and that heavy sword of you-"

"Prepare yourself."

"What?"

Ike raised Ragnell again before slamming it again on the helpless magician who yelled in more pain as he became more stuck on the floor.

"Want any help?" Mallow asked.

"I can take him on," Ike said between slams. "He'll be out in not time. Go and help the others while I deal with him."

"OWW!" Dark Domino yelled.

"Okay." Mallow nodded as he ran away...before returning where Geno was unconscious. "Oops... Here, I'll help you out. HP Rain!"

"Final Thrust!" Dark Cloaker yelled as he thrust his sword to Link, who got pushed away even if he used his shield to protect himself. "Hmph, that shield of yours is such a pain. Here, I'll take it away."

"Oh well," Link said as he gave Dark Cloaker his shield.

"..." Dark Cloaker looked at him with a glare. "Is this some kind of joke? Do you actually think I'm going to fall down for such a trick?"

"No. Take it," Link said with a smile. "It's obvious to see that you're the best swordsman out of the 2 of us. I'm giving you this so you can improve your swordsmanship."

Dark Cloaker stared at the shield before he took it "...Oh, well, heheheheh, I like when people listen to m-" Dark Cloaker stopped talking once he saw the back of the shield full of bombs that were attached by their little cords wrapped up on the small leather holders. "OH, HOLY MOTHER O-"

A big explosion was the only thing Link saw before he looked up at his shield that was tossed to the air and fell right on his hands. The shield looked completely unharmed and he put it on his right hand. "The best shield in all Hyrule. Nothing can break through it, not even explosions."

The smoke cleared out and Dark Cloaker was looking up with a weak look on his face before he shook himself and glared at Link. "You and your equipment! Use your sword only, dammit!"

"Then can I suggest you something?"

"What?"

"Shave that mustache."

Dark Cloaker's mustache was pointing to all directions due to the previous explosion. "MY MUSTACHE! Oh, now you crossed the line, then the line before that one!" he yelled before raising his sword and bringing it down on Link's shield.

On the other side...

"So," Chris (in his Agent job) began took a sip of his tea while he and Peach were sitting on the middle of the battle, "you fear to fight because you hate violence?"

"Y-yes," Peach said and nodded while an explosion came from behind her, but didn't mind to look. "I think violence isn't necessary to resolve anything."

The World Traveler pointed at her with his teacup. "Well, I originally thought about that as well, but nobody here wants to listen with words," he said before he took a sip. "Such people can't deny a peaceful talk, the nerve of all of them..."

Either he wanted to say it like that or the job was changing his attitude.

"I-I always thought that too," Peach said as Lucas was shown banging his branch on a Puppox. "J-just nobody listens to me at all. I even hate to fight in the stages with another person..." She got closer to Chris. "And let me tell you something. Some people are scary to me when they look at me with those eyes..."

"Oh, that's correct," Chris said as he put his cup down. "You mean the eyes that carve for anyone's blood? Yes, such disgusting water shouldn't be wasted in battle. You're a delicate rose waiting to be torn apart by a brute dog."

Peach looked down as she barely dodged a Lightning Orb. "W-when you put it like that...I feel like I don't belong here..."

"Neither do I." Chris put his right hand on his forehead and frowned. "Destiny is so cruel sometimes, isn't it? Nobody can escape the hands of fate that wraps us to our paths. It's cruel, but its cruel paths lead to endless fights."

Pikachu walked to them as he trembled. "C-can you guys help me?"

"We're in the middle of a lovely discussion," Chris said as he shook his head. "By the way, why are you embracing yourself?"

"I-I don't want to fight anymore..."

"…Uh-oh," Kawashima began, "Pikachu has been infected by the Fear status… This isn't good…"

Pikachu shivered and Peach rubbed his head.

"The Fear status halves the attack efficiency of the target. It also makes the target decide whether or not stay and fight. If it's not cured soon, that character could leave the party and return to the mansion automatically…"

Chris's goggles slipped to his nose and his eyes widened. "...Wait, return and leave us here?"

"Exactly," Kawashima went on. "He or she will get lost in the vicinity and that same person will return to the mansion, where the status ailment will disappear once the person reaches the mansion."

"...Holy roses!" Chris exclaimed as he saw Pikachu trying to walk away to nowhere. Peach tried to hold him off and sparks began to gather in Pikachu's cheeks to get off from her.

The World Traveler quickly changed to his Musician job and used Soul Etude to create an enthusiastic atmosphere.

Pikachu stopped gathering sparks and his ears perked up again. He looked around with a confused expression. "W-what? What happened?"

"You were trying to leave us and return to the mansion by an evil illness…" Peach said as she let him go.

"...Return?" Pikachu repeated before he looked at the swarm of enemies. "Well, I've got to be more careful next time. At least you 2 fight with us, okay?" Pikachu asked before he left the two and continued to fight the enemies.

Peach looked down. "See? Everyone here expects me to fight like all of them."

Chris sat down and changed to his Agent job. "Hmm…such a hard decision for you to decide, right?"

"Y-yes..."

"...Maybe you need inspiration."

"I already heard what Rosalina said to Yoshi, but it doesn't work on me," Peach explained.

"Protection?"

"N-not even that can help me..." she said before she sighed. "...I'm not used to fight even a small fly."

Despite what she said, a small fry flew to her cheek and she slapped it.

The agent looked bored at her. "...You just killed a fly," Chris pointed out.

"..." Peach looked at her palm and brushed the green spot away, sighing while doing so. "I don't know what to do, still."

"...Oh," Chris said before he smiled a little and took her right hand, where he began to walk to an Ameboid that was deciding who to attack. "You there, attack her."

Peach gasped before looking back at the Ameboid. "W-what?"

"I want to see if there's a warrior inside that blinding pink dress you wear," Chris said.

Peach took a step back.

"N-not literally!"

She sighed and took a step forward. Then she realized what she was going to do so she took a step back again.

"Oh, look!" Chris folded his arms and the Ameboid leaped at Peach. "Here it goes!"

"U-UAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Peach screamed as she took Toad...out from her back…

"(...The hell is that Toad doing behind her back?)" Chris thought.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" the Toad yelled as he received the slam and...created strong currents of air that made the Ameboid be pushed back to the floor.

"..." Peach looked at Toad. "I-I'm so sorry for calling you out again!"

"I-it's okay, princess..." Toad said with a weak look. "D-don't use me that often, though..."

"..." Peach pulled him back to her back and disappeared once he wasn't visible from where Chris was. "N-none of my attacks make any kind of sense, either... I can take out infinite Turnips, for example," she ducked and took out a Beam Sword, "a-and sometimes this, making not any sense as well."

Chris took the Beam Sword and kept it in their inventory. "Blame the hand of all that doesn't make sense. If my memory doesn't fail," he pointed at Mario shooting fireballs from his hand, "he should use a Fire Flower to do that, but he can do it anyway."

"That doesn't have to do with what I'm going through..." Peach looked down.

Chris made a worried expression as Marth passed right behind him, pushing 2 Doppels away with Shield Breaker. "Hmm..."

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima said. "Actually, both sides have their Over Limits ready as of now."

"...Just say it," Peach said before she closed her eyes. "I'm pathetic at fighting."

"Such a woman like you shouldn't say those awful words to yourself," Chris said. "Determination is the key word here. You need more determination if you want to figh-"

"Done here."

Music stops

"Wha'?" Chris asked confused as he looked at Sonic with a grin.

Both of them noticed that the field was completely empty, like if nothing happened.

"...I'm sorry…" Peach looked down. "I distracted you from the entire fight."

"Lazy dude," Sonic said to Chris with a snicker.

"Oh, you shut up, big eyebrow hedgehog…" Chris muttered.

Sonic blocked his eyebrow. "Heheheheh, what big eyebrow again?"

Jigglypuff looked at the arc that they crossed and a force field appeared. "H-hey, that thing wasn't there before..." Jigglypuff said worried.

"Didn't they say a boss was waiting for us here?" Pikachu asked.

"They did. I didn't believe that," Lucario said.

RIIIIIIIIIIING!!!

They blocked their ears once the sound of two bells were heard, ringing through the dark winds.

"U-ugh!" Mario twitched. "I-I remember that awful sound before..."

They all looked behind them...

And a leaned big table on the floor that had a big clock was there behind them. On the top of the big clock, there were 2 bells that seemed to be the clock's only mouths. The monsters were called Ding-a-Lings while the clock was called Count Down.

"It's Mario!" the first bell rang.

"And he brought company this time!" the second bell rang.

"WE BETTER GET RID OF THEM BEFORE THEY GET FURTHER!!!" both bells rang angrily.

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against an Armed Boss

"...A big clock?" Lucas asked.

"..." Lucario blinked for a moment before he showed his fangs and grunted at them.

"W-what is it?" Chris asked.

"They're using Shadow Bugs…"

Count Down and the Ding-a-Lings began to glow with dark energy before they turned into Dark Count Down and Dark Ding-a-Lings.

"Look," Mario began as he stepped in front of the others, "these enemies are easy because they can't move around. They're sitting on that leaned table. All we have to do is attack the clock's arrows so it can't heal itself. After defeating the arrows, go for the bells."

"All-Out attack, then?" Jigglypuff asked.

Mario turned to the clock and nodded. "Give everything you've got on that clock's arrows!" he yelled loudly as he jumped at the arrows and smashed them with a downward fist.

Everyone else nodded and surrounded the big clock (except for Peach who stayed behind), where they began a crazy frenzy of attacks on all sides of the clock and to the arrows.

The arrows moved.

"Flower Time!" the Dark Ding-a-Lings yelled as petals began to fall down the sky.

"Aw, you've got to be kidding m-" Chris couldn't finish before the Smashers turned into mushrooms that laid around the clock.

The arrows moved.

"Water Time!" they yelled.

Explosions of water began to appear around the area before it rained and many more explosions of water appeared, pushing the mushrooms above to the air before a huge blast of water made a lot of damage to the mushrooms that fell down on the floor.

The arrows moved.

"Break Time!" they yelled.

Nothing happened.

The arrows moved.

"Ice Time!" they yelled.

Several crystals came floating above Mario's mushroom and they impacted and shattered on him. The red plumber returned to normal but he fainted after the attack devastated his energies.

The arrows moved

"Break Time!" they yelled.

Everyone turned back to normal and Peach gasped once Mario was knocked out. "Mario!" she yelled as she ducked to see him.

"Aw, I hate this boss so much!" Chris cursed as he pointed at the clock. "I hated so much when it used Petal Blast to turn everyone into mushroo-"

The arrows moved.

"Light Time!" the bells rang.

A floating yellow orb came from the sky and it circled a huge beam that pushed them back, yelling in pain before it went up and disappeared.

The arrows moved.

"Break Time!" the bells rang.

"W-what kind of boss is this?" Sonic asked as he panted. "H-he's such a big weirdo with those attack patterns of his!"

"A clock?" Jigglypuff said sarcastically.

"Here, give this to him so he can revive," Chris said as he gave Peach a pizza. "Don't ask me how he is going to eat it, just give it to him!"

Peach nodded, and when the pizza came close to Mario's mouth, it instantly vanished and Mario began to open his eyes slowly. "...I-I'm sorry for not mentioning certain atta-"

The arrows moved.

"Sleep Time!" the bells rang as they used Aurora Flash.

Several blue and white lights came from above them and they suddenly fell asleep while standing up. Since the attack damaged them a little, Mario was knocked out again.

"I'm the only one here who gets to pull someone to sleeeeeeeeeeeee..." Jigglypuff tumbled by the sides before falling asleep.

Somehow, this group was trapped in an ending cycle of magic attacks that kept repeating repeatedly...

On the other side...

Most of the enemies were being annihilated by the Smashers themselves while Dark Cloaker fought Link with a clash of swords.

"Missed," Link said as he leaned back from an horizontal slash from his opponent. "Close," he said before he leaned to the right as he evaded a vertical slash. "Ooh, close too," he taunted as he ducked from another horizontal slash.

"GRRRRRR!!!" Dark Cloaker grunted angrily before he tried to slash Link. "Will you stop evading my blows?!"

"Geez, I don't know," Link said sarcastically as he back stepped from several slashes. "No?"

"DIE!" Dark Cloaker yelled as he thrust his own sword forward.

"(Right where I wanted you,)" Link thought before he slammed his own sword on Dark Cloaker's sword and pushed it away to the floor.

Dark Cloaker gasped. "M-my sword! I need it!"

"That's it," Link said as he snapped out from his calm state. "Somebody, help me and let's gang up on this guy!"

"Oh," Ness appeared behind him, "need my help?"

"I-I meant Fox..." Link muttered. Ness glared at him and made his hands glow with fire. "B-but you're okay too!"

"Good," Ness said as his hands stopped glowing and Pichu appeared behind him. "We made our own combined attack. Want to see it?"

Link kicked the sword away and Dark Cloaker gasped. "Do it and on him."

"Pichu!" Ness yelled as he took out his yo-yo and slammed the cord around Dark Cloaker to wrap the long cord around himself. The swordsman tried to get out but he couldn't once the entire yo-yo's cord stopped from wrapping him up.

Pichu saw Ness closing his eyes, where a small glitter appeared in front of his fingers, where he was grabbing the cord. "O-okay!" Pichu said as he walked closer to the cord and grabbed it. The Electric Pokémon began to gather sparks to engulf himself in blue electricity and conducted the electricity from him to the cord.

Dark Cloaker saw the cord conducting the electricity and towards him before he was engulfed in a strong light of blue electricity. His mustache began to point to all directions as he screamed loudly in pain while Pichu struggled to continue.

"How can you 2 do that?" Link asked.

"Simple," Ness turned to him as the attack continued. "Using the steel cord of the yo-y-"

"The cord is of steel?" Link interrupted.

"What? This yo-yo isn't common in Onett!" Ness said. "Ahem. I made a small barrier in front of my fingers to protect myself from getting electrocuted by Pichu's electricity. The steel cord acts like a conductor towards the main part of the yo-yo. Anything that is in its way gets severely electrocuted until Pichu tires himself out."

Pichu struggled to continue his attack. "I-I won't hold on for any longer!" he yelled.

Link took out his bow and aimed it at the enemy. "Let me offer you my help, then!"

He started to fire several arrows at high speed to Dark Cloaker while the trio did their best to defeat the subordinate of Smithy.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Cloaker yelled loudly before he exploded and disappeared from the yo-yo's cord. Ness smiled a little and pulled back the cord to wrap it up around the yo-yo.

"Ha!" Ness said proudly of himself. "I should develop my own combined attacks because nobody had this idea before."

Pichu stopped from discharging electricity and panted a little. "W-we did it, right?"

"Hell yes," Ness said. "Another step for our group to the ultimate victory."

"Group, yeah, right..." Link rolled his eyes.

The trio saw three Puppoxs being blasted away by Geno's Geno Flash. They also noticed that the floor was clean of enemies.

Except for a stubborn Dark Domino, who managed to push Ike away with a fast slap and floated up.

"Y-you're unbelievable!" Dark Domino yelled angrily. "You killed everyone in here and that knucklehead of Cloaker too!"

"Wait, I thought you 2 were comrades," Mallow said.

"Comrades?" Dark Domino rolled his eyes. "That guy never kept his mouth shut about how great was his mustache and how stupid Mario's mustache looked like. My ears, my poor ears were going to bleed from all his complains!"

"But Mario's mustache looks unique," Mallow said. "I mean, that guy has the best mustache eve-"

"If you'll excuse me, we're not here to discuss mustaches," Fox said as he aimed his Blaster at Dark Domino and glared at him. "We're here to beat the heck out of this guy, then Smithy afterward."

"Grr!" Dark Domino tossed his arms down in frustration. "Nonsense, nonsense, NONSENSE! I'm going to show all of you my true strengt-"

"And with that, he means he's going to fuse with that statue!" Twink yelled from the curtains.

"Stop spoiling my surprise-"

"TAKE HIM DOWN!" Pichu yelled as the Smashers who could use projectiles began to fire many of them to the magician, who gasped and dodged every attack in panic as he got closer and closer to the statue's head.

"Stupid cockroach," Snake muttered as he tossed a grenade that Dark Domino dodged. "He won't die that easily."

"Of course!" Dark Domino yelled as he put his...whatever he used to float on the statue's head, creating an earthquake that shook the place as he laughed maniacally.

The entire part of the statue began to gain color with all the tail that was wrapped around all the pillars. The Smashers saw the statue turning back to a big, purple snake that later obtained Shadow Bugs and roared loudly with a shriek. Dark Domino's fusion made the snake gain life as he crackled evilly above it.

"Meet your deaths!" Dark Domino yelled. "I'm not Dark Domino anymore, but Dark Mad Adder! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Crazy guys with 'a lot' of power become crazy when they reach that kind of power..." Link shuddered. "Well, we've got to stab this snake to death, right?"

Geno nodded as the Smashers prepared to fight it. "That's true. We need to take it down and go back to where we're supposed to reunite with the othe-"

BZZZZZ!!!

The start of the battle was suddenly interrupted by a blurry image that can could seen in any TV without cable before it turned off and left a screen only filled with a black background.

Lucas peek his head from the left side of the screen and he walked nervously to the center while he played with his fingers. He gulped and looked around if he was alone.

"O-okay..." Lucas began, "t-the motive of this sudden interruption is because we reached the limit of this chapter. W-we can't proceed because a strong force that gives us directions from another alternate universe needs to put in the next chapter four fights: the next part of these two, the resistance back at the mansion, and a new fight against a new boss...or bosses? I-I don't know..."

He gulped even more and looked around.

"S-so, please, don't kill me...I-I mean, wait until the next chapter gets done... T-that force out of this world is also planning to make 6 chapters for this special arc... W-we have 2 so far...a-and we need 4 more until this ends... T-that same force promises to make good fight scenes...funny moments "as always" as it says...whatever Sonic is going through...and character development with some of the Smashers as well so the fights can be interesting... S-so anyhow...s-see you!" Lucas waved his right hand quickly before running off. "…C-Claus?! …A-are you here with Mom? …Claaauuus!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Return of the Retarded. Aw, don't tell me we're going to fight a retarded enemy this time...again..." Ness sighed.

"The damn title says so, idiot," Snake interrupted.

"...PK Fire!"

"You do know you're getting a beating after this, do you?"

"Heheheheh..."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Exor
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-Fox and Ike commenting that they didn't have any choice but to fight there was a reference to one of Peppita Rosseti's lines when she is obliged to fight a strong enemy in Star Ocean 3.

-The added effect of the "fear" status is a reference to Persona 4, where the same ailment if found but can make a party member get paralyzed with fear or run away from battle.

Who from the Smashers knows about Sonic's ordeal?

Even when a 'war' is at hand, some of the extra characters must do their best to figure out the happenings.

The trio of Sinnoh is suspicious of Red, but Red is suspicious of them as well...so this means they are lying to each other to see which side falls first?

Shocker, Rita was found at last, and by Master Hand and Estelle no less. How are those 3 going to...well...who knows?

...

100 Zenny that Rita Violent Pains'd Master Hand to death. XD

The previous keepers of the Star Spirits...are back. These clearly say that stupid people won't die that easily. I wonder how this is going to turn out...

I hope this chapter was okay for you...and ignore everything Popo said about that door. We all know his mind is so upside down...or not?

Only the time and my fingers will tell. :P

I encourage people to review so you can express how much you liked this chapter. :)
*Chapter 126*: Return of the Retarded

Last entry before I leave to study for my finals.

From TARDISreviewer: Moar. This is getitng moar epic all the time.

From me: To me, that sounds more like a demand than a review so... "Gets closer to ban button" :l (Seriously, many people are asking for it). :l

From ngrey651: One thing I like about Super Mario RPG: it was a VERY creative game. Nice work on this chappie! (The song's no longer in my head, BTW.)

From me: Well, it was made by Square (later Square-Enix) and they always know how to be creative.

Are you sure it's not inside your gaming life anymore? XD

From Mewtrainer: Thanks for the explanations! How on Earth did Parakerry...never mind. XD Poor Nana! XD Pikachu's paper...huh? What was that about? Link's shield XD! What happened to the good old days when the Mario enemies made some kind of sense? XD Wow, Ness had a very good idea! Why does Lucas break the fourth wall? Oh well, it was funny! Great chapter! No, a splendiferous chapter!

From me: We have Goombas as Mario's enemies. XD

Lucas didn't break the fourth wall. Remember the screen got black? He was just a messenger.

Oh, thank you. : )

From lucario cat star: luv this chapter. Are there gonna be anymore crossover like I don't know Harry potter? Or somthing?

From me: Only if I'm drunk, retarded, stupid, rabbid fan for that mage and pretty much every dumb thing in the dictionary.

No. If I do that, everyone here would probably leave and won't do something that stupid. Sorry. I only accept videogames and well-known videogames only.

From SlasherMask: LOL that happens when bosses aren't immune to one-hit kills.

I was at first actually confused how Smithy could have create machine versions of non machine characters...

Aww... I was hoping double team by Domino's Mad Adder and Cloaker's Earth Link...(you got their names mixed up.)

P.S. I think that Jagger is wearing helmet(he was after all lieutenant in Bowser's army(and koopas in Mario RPG had helmets(at least i think they were helmets...)...).

P.S.S. Nu WHY Peach WHY?! WHy you had to kill such important character as Mr. Random Fly, WhY you couldn't have killed less important character like Mario?!!?(jk : P)

From me: Yes, I fixed those names. :P

Really? Well, that helps. Thanks.

She's fine. Because I wanted to. Oh, you little... Thank you. :P

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Sorry I didn't review the last chapter. I've been busy this week with midterms and whatnot.

Again, this chapter was very odd, I have to say. First there's Peach and Chris who are sitting in the middle of battle sipping tea, of all things but Peach does it anyway in the actual Subspace Emissary. Dawn, Barry, and the other Lucas are still there I see. Wonder when the Smashers will find out about them and how much trouble Red will get into. Once more, Sonic ... is turning into something ... wonder if the others will catch on.

From me: Oh, don't worry about that. I understand. ;)

Much more suspense is good for writers here, I see. ;)

From Blaperile: Hey,

Good chapter like always. I'm wondering if what Popo said about the door is true... maybe... or maybe not. XD

Nice returning of the previous Star Spirit keepers!

Lol at Sonic's eyebrow! XD

And yeah, all the fight scenes are very good. :)

Keep it up!

Blaperile.

From me: Someone here bother to mention the door thing! Good, because that door will lead to something special...

Ha, I knew it would work. XD

Shave it!

Phew, thanks. :)

From Anakin Mario Son 43: Wow... That was awsome! Also, thank you for not banning me and I am not a dog! Update Soon! Hasta!

From me: Good. Thank goodness you learned your lesson. :D

From chrisworshiper: 75zenny on rita useing voilent pains and esttela trying to protect him/her/it (masterhand) and 10 zenny on mh getting his rear whoped and 25 zenny on rita getting thrown out of the mansion. I pity sonic i know what he is going through (gag sonic gag unleashed gag(water please)) and the people that know what he is going through is anyone who was turned into a wolf in a prevous chapter more than likely chris. i'm glad lucario came. i think chris's wrenches hold seacretes more then you or i know.

From me: When you learn how to use capitals and how to write right, then I'll respond you back. ; )

Let's see... "Deciphers"

Who is that person who knows aboutn Sonic's condition? Creepy...

They don't hold secrets. :P

From Rellymaster: -Seems like you kind of "buzzed out" on this one.
-Physics? What physics? There's physics?
-Mustache talk = annoying. Besides, Luigi has the best mustache!
-Ike = the noob of the group.
-Rita vs. Master Hand. Hmm...my bet's on Rita owning Master Hand.
-Raven should be lucky that Toon Link didn't shoot Fire and Ice arrows.

From me: -What's buzzed out?
-Er, I think so...
-Probably. : P
-I like Ike's personality. XD
-She would own Tabuu and probably Chuck Norris in the process. XD "Monsters don't hide from Rita, Rita tells them to" XD
-Ouch. X_X

From JSandders: Well, the other reviews are short-ish and it's kinda sad. Here's a relatively long one for you made up of different phrases and sentences pointing out different events in the story! :)

Let's start with the fighting scenes... Are you joking about them? Your fighting scenes are some of the best fighting scenes I've ever seen in any fanfic I've ever read on this sight! You make awesome fighting scenes, Wiiboychris! Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine!

The "Fear" ailment isn't exactly originally started by Persona 4. It's basically the status ailment Daze (or it could be Paralysis or Stop) combined with another ailment called Homesick (a status effect that was first introduced in Earthbound). Fear, then, can be considered to originate from Earthbound, not Persona.

I feel really bad for Sonic now that he's having a harder time hiding everything from the Smashers (except, of course, for the guy who knows. Who could it be?) That's why it's always best to tell the truth so you won't end up getting in trouble or end up causing the trouble. This also applies to Red. I wonder when Barry and the others will get found out... I guess I'll just have to wait!

Rita and Estelle are discovered! What will happen? I don't know, but I'm eager to find out what happens to the Hand and the Ol' Man! XD BTW, I'll take your bet and raise it to 200 zennies that Master Hand will be beaten up badly by Rita before something deus-ex-machina-like will save him!

Wow... you brought back THOSE guys? And they were painted black, gray, and white so that the Smashers would think that they were Machine Mades? That's just SO stupid! lol "God, I have brighter colors instead of the normal ones." XD

Oh yeah, Domino's version of the snake is Mad Adder. Earth Link is Cloaker's version of the snake. You got them mixed-up or something.

Quit dissing Popo! He's one of the most awesome characters because I like characters with his goofy personality! Those kinds of characters make me laugh so much!

I laughed so much on the part of the story where Link gave his shield to Domino! That was awesome!

Ness wants to try to do Combination Smashes? Looks like Chris isn't the only one who can double-team against people! :)

What is with Mario characters and mustaches? XD

Why do I have a feeling that Chris is trying to flirt with Peach with the Agent job? XD XD XD Oh, and how did the fly get in there? lol

Overall, it was a great chapter and it made me smile widely! Keep typing the goods, Wiiboychris! I need to laugh more!

From me: Hurray for this review! :D

Ahem...

Oh, thank you for telling me your thoughts about the fights. : )

Is not from that game? Well, I based this one from Persona's status then.

Sonic and Red are so going to get busted someday...very soon. XD

Estelle was already discovered. Rita? No... And I don't think someone or something can save him...or is he going to win on her? We shall see...

Yes, I did. :P

Already corrected. Thanks. :)

Appreciate Popo's stupidity. :P

Who said a normal fight has to be that normal? XD

At least they're not strong as the real deal...or are they?

Hey, his mustache is so good-looking, I mean, look at those stylish curves! :P

The Agent job basically is Al-Cid Margrace's attitude. Too bad it got rubbed off on Chris.

Thank you. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Okay, i may have been too ** you, you did say english was your second language, so i can't be SUPER angry(but doncha have spellcheck?). can i guess it's my fault that you don't want any musician suggestions in particular yet? and to help you destroy DianaGohan reviews, i've suggesting these two characters in particular with powerful and destructive skills, Kamen Rider Torque from "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight" and The Landlady from "Kung Fu Hustle". AND I DEMAND PUNISHMENT FOR MYSELF! I DIDN'T THE URSSA LAVA CAVE, I MEANT THE URSSA CAVE TEMPLE! *deep breath* if you don't know where this is, it's located in the Northeast part in Crossell's Lair, and home to, THE REJECTS! well, let's get to my review, shall we?
Hm, this was definetly rushed, but this chapter was excellent, none the less. the unfortunality with it, too many grammar mistakes. and of course the fighting parts are great! how dare you even ask such a question to your reviews! *prepares a R.A.G* ask such a question again and you'll taste the powers of my imagination! *puts R.A.G away(for now)* now, i can't beleive the nitwits of that the smashers defeated are back, and i was wondering how Smithy was able to make machine made copies of organic characters. speaking of villains, is the evil side of sonic the same evil sonic from the first sonic arc? well, happy typing! and try spellcheck to correct the grammar mistakes!

From me: Firefox helps but it doesn't say anything about grammar at all. :l

No, don't suggest anything. I'll do that part myself. :P

The Rejects? Is that what they're called? I didn't find anything like that when I went there... Maybe in my second playthrough...

Dude, will you calm down? You're going more insane than you normally do and that worries me.

No, it's from the Sonic X anime. Watch the last saga and you'll see.

I hope you give me a HINT of grammar mistake like I asked you before.

Well, here's the next chapter. Sadly, this is the week for my finals so I won't write that much and probably the next chapter could be done by Sunday.

Oh well. Your thoughts in your reviews will cheer me up for sure.

Enjoy the mini-battles!

(And oh yes, we're so close to achieve 1000 reviews. Give me good criticism because I like the reviews that are actual reviews, because, how am I going to know if I'm doing a good work as a writer if somebody doesn't give good criticism?)

(For today's avatar, we have Kyle Hyde looking at a suspicious cardboard box. I wonder who's inside of that thing...)

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 126: Return of the Retarded

Exor
Gate

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against an Armed Boss

Back to where we previously left...

Geno nodded as the Smashers prepared to fight it. "That's true. We need to take it down and go back to where we're supposed to reunite with the others."

"You won't such a thing! Thanks to these delicious Shadow Bugs, I've obtained even more powers than before!" Dark Mad Adder roared (since Dark Domino fused with it, it used his own voice to speak). "I'll devour those delicious fleshes of yours and if I can't, then I'll poison them!"

"Well, snakes are supposed to be poisonous...some of them." Ness said.

"We have our own snake who doesn't give poison." Mallow said.

"Really? Who?"

"Snake."

Snake narrowed his eyes at the cloud before glaring up at the snake. "Stop the chit-chat and let's get over with."

"Wait," Fox interrupted as he saw a small light blinking on his scouter. "The Over Limit is ready to be used."

"Oh, please!" Ness interrupted. "Let me use my Final Smash!"

"No way," Fox shook his head. "I'll use mine to crush that thing and blast it afterward."

"Can I use mine again?" Ike asked. "I want to see how I did it last time with Gulluom."

"I think it was Galleom though..." Twink said.

"If somebody here is going to use the Final Smash, that's me." Link said.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's my turn." Ness said.

"B-but I want to test mine out!" Pichu protested.

"Will you stop that and focus on the figh-" Geno was interrupted.

"LIGHT BEAM!" Dark Mad Adder yelled as it formed a big bubble that flew towards them. Snake, Geno and Mallow backstepped from it before it made a normal pop between the other 5.

Ness, Fox, Link, Ike and Pichu blinked confused before they fell asleep as they were all standing up.

"Fear my new magic!" Dark Mad Adder (or DMA for short) proclaimed. "With this new fusion, I've gained more magic than before! Mwahahahaha!"

"Dammit, wake up!" Mallow yelled at the 5 sleeping Smashers. "Wake up!"

"Until they're hit they won't wake up. It's useless," Geno said as he aimed his rocket punch at DMA. "Or after a while, they'll come back to their senses."

"Ha! Thank you for the little tip," DMA said. "Now, 3 more scum to kill! I hope you enjoy this!"

Geno fired his fist to the top of the creature and to Dark Domino's body. The big snake quickly extended its fangs towards Geno and used Carni Kiss, dealing considerable damage to Geno's right arm as he grabbed it while DMA pulled itself back and snickered.

"Like my improved attack?" DMA asked.

"N-not at all..." Geno muttered. "M-Mallow, you're in charge of healing us!"

"Right," Mallow nodded. "HP Rai-"

"Diamond Saw!" DMA yelled as it called forth 2 saws shaped like big snowflakes that flew on each side before slicing Mallow and pushing him to the air before he fell on his back and moaned in pain. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Snake was holding a small remote with his right hand after he triggered some explosions around the snake. "Next time, be aware of everyone or you'll suffer the consequences."

"Poison!" DMA's eyes twirled around and Snake instantly got poisoned.

"...This world doesn't make any f(beep)ng sense now... Instant poison my...ugh..." Snake felt the poison paralyzing him from the inside. "J-just a poison...I can resist to that..."

"Yes, right. Ice Rock!"

A floating mass of ice came floating from outside and it stopped right above Snake. The soldier twitched in pain by the poison but he quickly lunged away to evade the crash of the mass of ice.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno threw a slicing yellow ring that crossed DMA's body and dealt minimal damage. "N-not a boss weak against that attack..."

"Of course," DMA said with a nod. "BOLT!"

Several sparks rained around Geno before he was covered inside a sphere of electricity that paralyzed him from the inside and yelled in pain before the orb disappeared.

"Geno Beam!" Geno was able to retaliate quickly and deal a direct hit to Dark Domino's body from the top of DMA's head. The snake grunted angrily and looked down to Geno.

"This is WHY I hated you!" DMA yelled before spinning his eyes. "Diamond Saw!"

"(Not again...)" Mallow thought as he ran towards Geno and pushed him away from the slicing snowflakes that barely sliced the cloud prince. "Y-you alright?"

"Yes...thanks to you..." Geno said before both of them got up. "We'll have to resort to buffers. Snake, can you be the main offensive?"

Snake barely dodged Carni Kiss from the big snake. "As long as I have some suppo-UGH!" he grunted in pain after the snake used Carni Kiss on his left arm and pulled itself back. "D-definitely..."

"Mallow, you'll be the healer while I'm in the defensive." Geno explained.

"Then I'd rather do something now," Mallow said as he put his hands close to each other and held them out to Snake. "HP Rain!"

While the cloud with the smile rained on the soldier, Geno opened his arms to the sky. "Geno Boost!"

Several red arrows appeared around Snake before they disappeared and made a loud crash, indicating that Snake's attack and defense increased as he recovered from his wounds.

Although the poison persisted.

"Well...you..." Snake trailed off as he took out a grenade. "Come and get me."

"Right!" DMA yelled as he tried to use Carni Kiss on the soldier, but Snake moved away and let go of the grenade in the air where it got inside the snake's mouth and exploded, making it feel dumb with a confused expression.

"Attack!" Geno yelled as he used Geno Beam to DMA's face.

"Physical attacks now..." Snake muttered as he ran to DMA, jumped to its face and began to kick it 4 times with a strong knockback at the fourth kick. "UGH!" Snake was caught in the air and was quickly bitten by DMA's fangs before he was slammed on the floor with a big impact. "D-d-damn that...monster..."

"Snake? Snake? Do you copy me?" Otacon asked from the codec.

"..." Snake didn't respond.

"Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAKE!!!"

"Wow," Mallow blinked. "That yell echoed."

"LOOK OUT!" Geno pushed Mallow from a Bolt attack from DMA. The 2 rolled on the floor before managing to keep their composure and stare at the monster. "We lost him now..."

DMA fixed its eyes on the sleeping Smashers. "Right, I forgot about them. BLIZZARD!"

Snow began to rise up from the floor and pushed all the Smashers away, where they fell on their backs as they were sleeping deeply.

"SOLIDIFY!"

A sheer cold of temperature froze everyone in the field, inside stalagmites of ice before they shattered and dealt strong ice damage to everyone.

"BLEA-CHOO!" Link sneezed before he shook his head and found himself laying down on the floor. "W-what happened?" he asked as he slowly sat up.

The others began to moan a little before they slowly woke up and rubbed their heads in confusion.

Pichu glanced to Snake. "O-oh no...he didn't faint, right?"

"...He did," Ike shook his head, looked down and put a hand on his chest. "May the gods guide him throu-"

Fox punched his head. "He's not dead. He's fainted so stop that ridiculous pray!"

"S-sorry..." Ike apologized as everyone stood up and noticed DMA. "Don't tell me that monster is stil-"

"DIAMOND SAW!" DMA yelled as 2 slicing snowflakes appeared in front of it and went after the Smashers.

"D-dodge it!" Geno yelled as everyone quickly sidestepped from the saws of ice.

"(I-it's now or never...I need to do it...)" Pichu thought worried as many sparks gathered around him. "I-I can do it!" he yelled loudly as a force emanated out as he got covered in a rainbow aura that made everyone look at him.

"(Damn, he did it before me...)" Ness though.

Pichu glared at DEL and pointed at him. "Y-you're going to regret this!"

"Me? Regretting this?! Hahahahahahahaha!" DMA laughed maniacally. "You're very puny by that small appearance. Just die and let me b-"

"ZAP CANNON!!!" Pichu yelled loudly as he put his hands close to him and gathered a big amount of sparks that covered himself in blue electricity before he released a big beam of pure lightning that crossed DMA's body as it yelled loudly in pain. It also pulled back in pain and got instantly paralyzed by the strong blow.

"...Good move." Ike remarked.

The aura on Pichu disappeared. He looked at Ike and blushed a little. "O-oh, thank you so much for that remark..."

Zap Cannon

Gathers a big amount of sparks to release them into a beam of lightning. Deals great electric damage to the enemy and guarantees a paralyzing effect (even if there are immunities) after it hits the opponent.

"...Wait a minute..." Geno narrowed his eyes at the big snake. "It's paralyzed. We must attack with everything we have!"

"I suggest a combo!" Mallow raised his hand.

"Right. Let's see..." Geno started to get ideas. "Link, arrows to the body, Fox, multiple kicks in the air and to the snake's head, Ike, try to cut through its skin, Pichu, call as many thunders as you can from underneath the head, Mallow, Star Rain on it, Ness, use fully charged PK Flashes to deal strong blows and finally..." Geno raised his hands to the air where he used Geno Boost to increase Ike's attack and defense. "I'll give buffs to everyone. Attack it! There's no much time left before it moves again!"

Everyone nodded and quickly tried Geno's strategy out as the puppet himself gave buffs to every single member.

"(Right,)" Geno nodded once he looked at Snake...moving a little. "(Good, he can still move so recovery spells will work well. I need to tell Mallow first.)"

"P-paralyzed?!" DMA asked in rage. "I-I'm not supposed to be paralyzed!"

An arrow hit Dark Domino's face.

"AAHH!!! W-who threw this at m-" he was able to see Fox jumping towards him. "What's a little animal going t-"

"Haaa!!!" Fox began to spin around as he did several kicks in midair. The snake was being pushed back by every hit as it yelled in pain.

"S-stop that!" DMA demanded before Fox jumped towards it again.

However, Dark Domino looked down to see several arrows appearing around Fox and even disappearing with an impacting sound. The vulpine began to do the same thing but this time, the kicks were even stronger than before as the snake looked helpless.

"PI-CHUUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu called forth a strong thunder from underneath the head and it passed right through it. "M-more...I can call...more..."

He yelled out his name again and another thunder struck DMA's head again.

"A-ARGH! STOP THAT!" DMA demanded again before a heavy object was slammed on his stomach. "YEOWCH!"

"Ha!" Ike raised Ragnell again and he slammed the sword hand on DMA's stomach, creating a small rupture that was a wound. "It's working. Let's keep it up!"

"W-what is that?" DMA asked as a green flash flew above his face and exploded into a green firework that made it scream out loud. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

A grenade was tossed to its throat and it exploded inside, creating a severe sore throat as the snake's eyes twitched and tried to look at a recovered Snake, who was tossing another grenade above his right hand.

"Hope you enjoyed the time when I was out," Snake said before he tossed the grenade inside its mouth. "Enjoy the blows."

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" DMA yelled in pain as the explosion caused even more damage inside itself.

"Star Rain!" Mallow yelled out.

"OH, HECK N-AAAAAAH!!!" DMA yelled in even more pain as a big Starman came from the ceiling and started to bounce above it 14 times before it jumped away. "STOP THIS STUPID NONSENSE!!!"

"Geno Blast!" Geno sent a light to the ceiling where he then slammed down his hands to the floor and lights from the sky rained down above the big snake that yelled in extreme pain as every light crossed its body.

Then, an impacting sound was heard and all of them stopped with their attacks.

Music stops

Dark Mad Adder's body began to tremble violently and its tail around the pillars began to disintegrate as the snake's mouth opened wide to the ceiling. "Why?! WHY?! WHY WHY WHY?! T-this can't be it! NO! ABSOLUTELY...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Domino yelled in extreme pain as the snake roared a last time and slammed its head into the floor, creating a big crack that made the Smashers take a step back as they watched the monster turning grey and to a statue.

"..." Mallow walked to the statue, touched it, and everything that was connected to the statue began to shatter into bits, creating a cloud of dust that covered the entire floor and made them cough uncontrollably before it vanished.

"...Well, that's 1 out of the way," Ness said. "Didn't we fight better this time?"

"Because this one wasn't that hard to defeat," Link sheathed the Master Sword. "I feel good though."

"Attacking it by all the sides and doing all those attacks was...very predictable," Fox nodded. "The strategy was very simple in short words."

A vein popped out from Geno's forehead while Twink floated down to his side. "Be glad at least I pointed that out." Geno said irritated.

"EKAAAAAAAAAANNNNNSSSS!!!"

"Otacon, stop that." Snake said with a frown.

"Heheh, Ekans." Pikachu and Pichu chuckled.

"Sorry," Otacon chuckled. "You were fine after all so I literally yelled backwards your name just for the fun of it."

"It wasn't fun to me." Snake said.

"Ekans..."

"Your name from now on is Ekans," Pikachu proclaimed. "If you train enough, we'll call you Kobra, or Arbok."

"Please," Snake took out a grenade. "Don't."

Pikachu gulped and nodded.

"Hey," Ike began. "Shouldn't we return and see if they did it?"

"Right," Geno nodded and began to run to the path of arcs. "Let's go then."

Several minutes later...

The group made it to the point where the "Machine Mades" and everyone once were. They looked around to find the Machine Mades but they weren't there.

"Huh? Where are those machines guys?" Pikachu asked.

"They were standing behind that counter just a moment ago," Twink said as from behind the counter, many paint cans were dripping small amounts of paint that they didn't notice. "I wonder where they went..."

"Let's forget about them for now an-" Geno saw Ness running to the west gate. "W-where are you going?"

"To help them!" Ness yelled. "Something wrong happened!"

"What? How do you know that?" Link asked.

"I used my telepathy to establish a communication with them but...I-I can't find a single mind!"

"Damn, something did happen to them..." Fox trailed off. "We must go and see what happened."

"Duh," Snake said and everyone looked at him with glares. "What? You guys are so stupidly close to each other."

"Yet you follow us." Twink pointed out.

"Orders from the Coronel. Right, Coronel?"

"La Le Lu Lei Lo," the Colonel was heard saying. "La Le Lu Lei Lo."

"...Colonel?" Snake repeated as he put his right hand on his right ear. "Colonel, what the heck are you saying?"

"La Le Lu Lei Lo, La Le Lu Lei Lo, La Le Lu Lei Lo."

Snake's eyes widened for around 1cm of height. The Colonel had never acted like this before. He was always a focused person with dangerous events like the one Snake was facing. Why would he started to say something so stupid as...that?

Snake narrowed his eyes.

And something struck his mind with the truth...

...That the Colonel was an impostor from the real one...

...Or the Colonel hit his head very hard, obtained extreme stupidity for the codec and somehow was able to contact Snake.

"Colonel, what's happening? Colonel? Colonel?!" Snake took a deep breath and yelled "COOOOOOOLOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!"

...

A moment of silence took place as the dark winds ragged on. The Smashers were looking at Snake with confused/disgusted/odd looks before they took several steps back from him.

"I-I don't know him," Ness began as he looked at them. "Y-you guys know now!"

Link rolled his eyes and they decided to follow the west path as Ness explained before.

"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!" Snake yelled as he remained in his place.

Link came back and hit Snake's head to make him snap out from his state. The soldier shook his head after the hit and looked at Link. "I don't say this too much...but thanks. I don't know what got into me."

"Meh, it happens." Link said with a nod before they followed the others from behind.

Several minutes later...

Geno's group made it to the area where Mario's group was and most of them gasped when they found everyone but a weakened Lucario fainted on the floor. The Aura Pokémon kept glaring at the clock with Shadow Bugs before the right Dark Ding-a-Ling formed a star (Dark Star) with its own stars and called forth a big black Starman that crashed on Lucario and jumped away.

"G-grrr..." Lucario grunted in pain as his aura flared up. "I'm...sick of you...bastard..."

"Lucario!" Pikachu yelled from the other side as the Smashers went to see if the others were fine.

"My Nayru, what happened here?" Link asked.

"T-that clock..." Lucario muttered as he pointed at the clock. "I-it used many different attacks that kept us from attacking it... T-their auras are still emanating from their bodies...meaning they're still alive..."

"Oh no," Mallow shook his head as he looked at Dark Count Down. "I hated this thin-"

The arrows moved.

"Break Time!" the bells rang.

"Q-quick!" Lucario yelled as he coughed. "Attack the arrows and defeat them!"

"Fear Roulette," the left Dark Ding-a-Ling said (or DD-a-L for short).

A red crystal began to move around everyone's heads before it stopped on Ness, crashed down on him and took him out with one blow.

"NESS!" Pichu yelled worried.

"T-those bells can attack on their own as well...but the clock does much more than them..." Lucario muttered before he fainted.

"Quick!" Geno yelled as he pointed at the big clock. "Take down the arrows before they move!"

The arrows moved and Geno cursed.

"Water Time," the bells rang.

And like the same time, the Smashers in there suffered many explosions of water that resulted into a bigger one, pulling them to the air before crashing to the floor.

"I-if we don't stop those arrows..." Mallow muttered. "I-it will continue to do this..." he put his hands close to each other before yelling out "Star Rain!"

His own Starman came from the sky and crashed on the arrows to disrupt them for a bit. The DD-a-L, however, weren't that happy.

"S'crow Bell," the left DD-a-L rang as a bell formed above Mallow, rained musical notes on him and turned him into a scarecrow.

"Oh, dammit!" Mallow cursed as he tried to move. "I liked the scarecrows but not when I'm the scarecrow!"

Link frowned before glaring at the clock as he took out a bomb. "Let's go and get that thing down."

The arrows moved and they took a step back.

"Break Time!" the bells rang.

"...Why does it say break time every time it attacks before?" Ike asked.

"It's like that," Geno explained. "It attacks, it takes a break, it attacks, it takes a break, it attacks, it takes a break, and the same process goes on."

"With the bells interrupting sometimes." Twink added.

Fox noticed the same blinking light in his scouter. "Weird, the Over Limit is ready...but why?"

"Because they had their own ready," Kawashima was heard from Chris's pocket. "But since you took over their fight, it got to you."

The arrows moved.

"Light Time," the bells rang.

A yellow glowing orb floated down the center of the field and it began to circle a beam around the whole place, pushing everyone back 3 times before it went upwards and disappeared.

"You know what?" Fox asked with irritation. "Screw it, let's use the Final Smash so we can deal some damage to those thin-"

He stopped talking once he saw Snake glowing with a rainbow aura.

"(And somebody else took my chance...)" Fox sighed mentally.

"Hell no," Snake shook his head as he ducked and called something. "I'm not going to say that useless line."

"What did he mean by that?" Ike asked to Link, who lifted up his shoulders.

"Focus on the clock while Snake's at it!" Geno reminded them.

The others saw him jumping upwards where he disappeared somewhere around the dark winds.

"H-hey, where did he go?" Link asked.

It was not long before they saw a chopper's roaring engine while Snake came down from the dark winds (and out from the reach of the floor) as he held his position on a rope ladder with a grenade launcher on his right arm.

"Yeah," Snake nodded before frowning. "This place doesn't make any sense..." he aimed the grenade launcher to the clock and the bells. "But who cares as long as those freaky "monsters" get the f(beep)k out from my sight?"

"Is ANYBODY of all of you who doesn't say a curse in front of young kids like Twink around?" Geno asked with irritation as Twink looked miffed at the curse.

Pichu raised his hand.

"Good..."

The arrows moved.

"And I got pissed." Snake said (probably breaking the fourth wall) as he began to fire several grenades at the clock, creating some explosions that hit hard the item as the Smashers watched.

"Geno Blast!"

That simple line reminded the distracted Smashers to go forward and attack the clock and bells with everything they had in reserve.

"Keep going like that!" Link yelled to Snake as the grenades kept hitting the items. "It's stunned and attacking it now it's the best idea!"

Lights from the sky rained down on the clock and bells as Geno looked at them. "The arrows! Focus your attacks on the arrows to take them down faster!"

"RUUAAAHH!!!" Ike yelled as he tossed his spinning sword to the arrows, slashing them as the grenades kept hitting the clock before the swordsman jumped to take his sword, spun several times and slammed it hard on the arrows before he slid down since the clock's face was leaning back from its position.

"Damn," Snake cursed after the grenade launcher ran out from grenades. He turned to take more ammunition to it before repeating the same process. "Bless the unlimited grenades."

"Nope," Kawashima called from the pocket. "Your Final Smash will end after you run out from that second round."

"Well, crap," Snake commented as he started to fire the grenades at the arrows. "Doesn't matter a bit. After this empties, this fight will end."

"Ike!" Link yelled to Ike, who looked at him over his shoulder and nodded. The latter swordsman let go of his sword (making a crack on the floor), joined his hands and let Link's right foot to step between the hands as Ike raised him to the air, where the Hyrulian jumped twice to gain a lot of height before taking out his sword and used a down aerial to stuck his sword directly on the arrows.

That's when something came to his mind.

No matter how much the arrows tried to move, they were stuck because the sword went through both of them. Link grabbed the hilt of it to keep his stance and looked down to the others. "The arrows! They can't move anymore!"

"Why?" Pichu asked as he was about to use Thunder.

"My sword went through the longer one and it became stuck in it. The other arrow can't rotate as well!"

He saw one of Snake's grenades shattering the left DD-a-L into pieces while the chopper that carried Snake went up and pulled him back, where he returned back to the floor and next to Geno.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the other DD-a-L yelled (or rang) in horror. "That is it! Doom Reverb!"

A bell appeared above Link and it rained several musical notes on him. The swordsman then saw several Xs falling around him before he got in a depressed mood and looked down.

At this, Ike stopped from slamming his sword on the clock and looked at Link. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I can fight," Link said (albeit to say, he didn't sound depressed at all). "But I don't know how to use a bow anymore."

"...Creepy..."

"How's that going to do help you to win this fight?" Twink asked to the DD-a-L directly.

"TWINK! Come back here!" Geno yelled as he fired a beam to the stuck arrows.

"Get out!" the left DD-a-L demanded as it tried to attack the Star Kid, but it couldn't and just moved to the sides.

"Ha-ha," Twink tilted to the sides. "You-can't-hit-me," he taunted.

"Dark Star!" DD-a-L yelled furiously as a big black Starman (with the evil look) went after Twink.

"Uh-oh!" Twink said sarcastically. "I'm gonna die!"

"TWINK!" Geno and Mallow (the scarecrow) yelled.

The Star Kid, however, turned his back and stuck his tongue at the bell. "Idiot, I can just go behind the clock and let that star crush the arrows," he said before he flew behind the clock.

The left DD-a-L realized what Twink meant and saw his own attack coming down upon the clock. "RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" it rang loudly before the Starman bounced 3 times on the clock, damaging it greatly before it jumped away.

Pichu noticed Fox was grabbing him. "W-what are you doing?!"

"I'm going to toss you to the arrows where Link's sword is," Fox explained. "Use his sword as a lightning rod to damage the clock from the inside."

"Inside?" Pichu asked.

"Not you, but the electricity. It'll go through through the sword as a conductor and discharge everything on the tip."

"...Oh," Pichu nodded. "Then do i-"

He noticed he was already on the sword's hilt with perfect balance.

"B-but how did I...never mind." Pichu frowned before he put his hands closer to him and began discharging as much electricity he could produce. The sword began to act as the conductor of electricity and all of it went down and inside the clock, where it got attacked from the inside with Pichu's electricity before he stopped 10 seconds later and rolled and the way down in exhaustion.

Mallow (who recovered from his transformation) ran to him and grabbed him in time. "You okay?" Mallow asked.

"A-a-a little bit tired..." Pichu sighed. "Too much energy...spent today..."

They saw a small rocket going slowly to the arrows, where it exploded...

...And that same impacting sound was heard, making everyone stop with their attacks on the clock.

"NO!" DD-a-L rang in pain. "I'M DONE FOR, AND MY BROTHER TOO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Ahem," Geno coughed. "You're still alive but the arrows aren't."

"..." DD-a-L shook itself, trying to tell it "facepalmed" in its own way. "Well...that's a relief."

He saw Fox running above the clock and towards it before he leaped to it and used a fast hard kick on the right side of it, making it ring madly as the vulpine backstepped from it and landed back to the floor.

"Oh no, now I'm dead!" it said before ringing crazily. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Music stops

Several explosions came around the big clock and it began to explode even faster. The Smashers looked down at the group who was moaning a little in pain but managed to see the clock blowing up. They all saw a huge explosion that caused a lot of smoke before it vanished by the dark winds.

Unfortunately, Twink was a little bit too close to the clock's explosions (since he was hiding behind it) that he got covered in soot and floated to Geno. "...This is the last time I assist someone in battle."

"Y-you..." Marth muttered as he slowly got up by Ike. "D-defeated it?"

"Of course we did," Mallow said. "You guys were biting the dust for who knows when and we came here to save your but-"

"Mallow, that's enough," Geno said as they helped the others to get up from the floor. "You had a hard time with it, right?"

"Hard time?" Sonic (blocking his eyebrow) repeated in annoyance. "That big countdown didn't let me move when I wanted!"

"A-and mostly..." Chris coughed. "Because it turned us into mushrooms and then..."

Peach shrugged. "I-I don't want to remember that again..."

"Well," Link looked at the injured team. "You should recover from your wounds."

"And us as well," Snake wiped the sweat from between his eyes. "We're already worn out."

"Chris..." Mario said as he panted a little. "C-can you heal us?"

"I-I'll try...but it could take a while." Chris said.

"Meh, I'll give you a hand." Mallow offered.

"Good idea," Geno nodded. "Since we pressed the switches, that door should be unlocked by now. But right now, we need to heal ourselves first before we proceed further...to Smithy's factory..."

As Chris changed to his Fonyc Hymn User job, he looked down in depression (something that Lucario noticed). "I feel bad...after we were defeated like that..."

"I'm sorry..." Lucario looked down. "I should've acted faster to deal the first attack..."

"N-no, it's okay..." Chris said before forcing a small smile at him. "This is going to teach us both a lesson...right?"

"...Maybe..." Lucario said with a nod while Chris's staff glowed.

Lucas looked up to the dark winds and made a worried expression. "(How are the others doing right now? Are they doing something else than fighting like us?)"

Smash Mansion
Outside

A creepy wind brushed the grass around the mansion while the lonely 15 figures were standing in an arc formation in the front of the mansion's entrance.

"..." Popo got bored and turned to the mansion.

Nana grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "Oh, no, you won't go inside and take a nap." Nana said.

"But Nana!" Popo began. "We've been staring at that lonely hill to the city and look!" he pointed up where the clouds were gathering thunders. "It's gonna rain!"

"With rain or not," Samus began as she put a hand on her arm cannon. "Protecting the mansion is our first priority."

"Can my bed be the first one?" Popo asked.

"That's like the 2389th, Popo." Nana said with a frown.

"That low? Then what's the 2388th?"

"Look, it doesn't matter!"

"They're coming," Mewtwo began. "Be prepared."

"At last," Wolf frowned. "I was about to leave this place."

Far away on the hill, they saw small figures hopping along the other side of the hill before they all revealed to be a band of Shysters and Dark Mack.

C. Falcon made a confused look. "...Are they...riding..."

"Pogoes?" Yoshi finished.

"And the stupidity finally came around," Falco frowned. "Seriously, what the heck do they think they will do with pogoes?"

"POGOES!" Popo yelled in horror (causing everyone else to frown in shame) and hid behind her sister. "N-Nana, they're riding pogoes! You must embrace yourself an-"

"We'll embrace ourselves but TOGETHER, you got that?!" Nana asked in fury as she pulled her brother in front of her. "I'm getting sick of that stupid attitude of yours! You didn't use to be like this THAT much..."

Popo looked down for a moment in depression.

"...(Hang on a second...Popo, getting depressed?... Did I hit something in him?)"

"I-I-ah, killer pogoes! Protect me from them!" Popo yelled scared.

"Oh, brother..." Nana frowned.

"They're coming here," Pit said as he took out his dual blades. "We shouldn't underestimate them."

"Exactly," Roy nodded as he unsheathed the Sword of Seals. "Underestimating them isn't a good option now."

The Shysters came hopping all the way to them on their pogoes, with Dark Mack using his big pogo-sword in the center of their own arc formation. When they were 10 feet away from the Smashers, they all stopped except for Dark Mack who jumped in the front and stopped.

"So, are you the oh-so dangerous guy of this army of...whatever they are?" Toon Link asked.

"Shy Guys on pogoes." Luigi pointed out.

"Shysters!" Dark Mack yelled angrily. "You're those imbeciles who've been a real pain to Lord Smithy, aren't you?"

"Sadly, for you," Zelda said as she put a hand on her forehead. "I was waiting for someone else more...threatening than yourself. No offense."

"WHAT?!" Dark Mack pointed at her. "How dare you address me as not threatening?! I am the most dangerous lieutenant of the Smithy Gang!"

"You're riding a freaking pogo, for the love of god..." Nana said with a frown.

"Pogoes are awesome," a Shyster said. "They help you jump so high!"

"How high?" Yoshi asked.

"4 feet!"

Yoshi blinked before he used a double jump and reached 15 feet. The Shysters, who were all hopping stopped their hops in surprise as the Yoshi landed back and looked at them.

"..." they all began to retreat.

"COME BACK HERE!" Dark Mack yelled loudly. The Shysters gasped and hopped quickly to their previous positions. "Just because there's someone who doesn't use a pogo to jump that high doesn't mean we're far outmatched!"

"W-we don't have Shadow Bugs as you, Lord Mack!" a Shyster said.

"You can still show them who's better!"

"I'm starting to get sick of this waiting," Meta Knight said as he took out Galaxia. "Prepare to fight or else we will start the first strike."

"Oh no," Dark Mack shook his head with a chuckle. "We'll start like this..."

He snapped his fingers and before their eyes, many Shysters appeared around the woods surrounding the mansion. They looked around before the sounds of glass shattering was heard.

"Damn, they're entering the mansion from the back side!" C. Falcon said. "We should get inside an-"

Explosions began to appear inside the mansion and the screams of agony from the Shysters were heard.

"...Is Master Hand dealing with all of them?" Olimar asked as he looked at the bright lights coming from the main lobby.

"What do you know, he's doing something." Roy said.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter," Dark Mack said. "You still have my own army to deal with. They're pretty strong, I warn you."

The Shysters seemed to sweat when his boss wasn't looking at them.

"I've had enough of this conversation," Mewtwo said as he opened his hand at them while everyone else prepared to fight. "Let's end this."

Kingdom Hearts II - Working Together

"Shysters!" Dark Mack held out his right hand to the Smashers. "Attack and don't leave any remains left!"

"Y-yes, Lord Mack, sir!" the Shysters nodded in panic before they hopped towards the Smashers, who ran forward to initiate the battle.

"Go away, freak!" Nana yelled as she slammed her hammer on a Shyster's face and blasted him away easily. "What the...was that all?"

"Hey," Popo stepped besides her. "Those guys are not that hard in reality!"

"Duh! They're riding pogoes!"

"O-oh my..." Olimar muttered as 3 Shysters were hopping around him. "L-leave me alone!" he yelled as he pluck out several Pikmins that he tossed at the Shysters. The Pikmins began to bang on the Shysters' heads and they screamed and fell off from their pogoes. Olimar looked around in confusion as the Shysters (or Shy Guys) tried to get the Pikmins off. "...Yay?" he cheered in confusion.

Samus shot a missile to 2 Shysters. When the missile exploded, the Shysters screamed in pain and were pushed away from their pogoes and vanished upon making contact with the grass. "...They're not giving that much of a problem..."

"Look out!" Popo yelled to Pit as a Shyster jumped high and went to crush Pit's head. The angel blocked his head before the pgo-sword touched his arms...but he didn't feel nothing. He felt a small scratch that couldn't be defined as attack as the Shyster hopped back to the ground. "Oh no! You got attacked!"

"...But it wasn't that strong..." Pit said before taking his bow and shooting an arrow to the same Shyster, who yelled and tried to escape but he got hit and pushed away from his pogo, where he disappeared when he touched the ground. "And my arrows are the weakest attacks I have..."

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!!!" Luigi was running away from 4 Shysters that chased after him.

Meta Knight frowned and used Drill Rush to push them all away from the green plumber. Every single Shyster yelled in pain before they vanished with their pogoes. The Star Warrior stopped spinning forward and looked at a somewhat frightened Luigi. "Please, don't degrade yourself even more that you are right now. It's embarrassing."

Luigi gulped. "B-but their masks are scary..."

He looked at Meta Knight's mask and got the true definition of scary.

Luigi gulped. "N-not like yours, of course..."

"There is one behind you."

Luigi turned around and made a ridiculous fighting stance. "I-I can see your soul! F-fight me!"

There was no one behind him at all and he turned to look at the knight.

"...W-why did you trick me?"

Meta Knight took a closer step to him and Luigi backed away. "Dare to show that attitude when I'm around and I'm going to kill you."

Luigi's pupils shrunk and he trembled with goosebumps. "K-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kill me?!"

Meta Knight nodded...but then shook his head. "No. Just fight and stop turning into a big coward."

"I-I'm not a coward!"

"Good." Meta Knight said before he went after more Shysters.

Luigi gulped and tried to find a lonely Shyster.

"F-fear the lordship of Lord Mack!" a Shyster proclaimed as he was jumping back from Wolf, who got closer and closer to him. "F-fear me as well!"

Wolf quickly grabbed the Shyster, pushed the pogo away and shoved the mask wielder's face to his. "I've got something here for you."

"W-what, s-supreme fighter?" the Shyster tried to beg for mercy by complementing the thug.

Wolf raised his right claw sideways and the index claw shone for a second towards the tip. "My claw."

The Shyster gulped. "P-please! I-I'll join you!"

"I don't accept freaks with masks."

The Shyster removed his mask (and for some reason, the screen looked from behind the Shyster as Wolf narrowed his eye at him). "T-there! No mask!"

Wolf, ignoring that he was the first person who had ever seen a Shy Guy's face (or second to Luigi at the second tennis tourney), punched the small enemy to the grass where it vanished (with mask) as the thug crossed his arms and frowned. "Nobody is worthy to be called an enemy these days..."

"Ha!" Zelda slashed 2 Shysters with her palm's magic and they were sent blasting away before vanishing. "I'm not putting my best effort and they're so easy to kill."

"These guys are not even worth it," Falco said as he held a Shyster by his neck and delivered a strong punch to send him away. "Heck, I bet a pebble can defeat them."

"Oh, let me try that!" Popo said as he picked up a pebble and tossed it to a Shyster, who was sent away before vanishing after the pebble touched him. "Score!"

"..." Falco facepalmed and decided to use his Blaster to eliminate most of them even faster. He yawned out loud. "I can imagine how the others are doing inside that sword in the city."

Dark Mack watched all his group getting annihilated and obliterated by every single Smasher. Very soon, he would be the last remaining from the entire army of weak enemies. "D-didn't you say you were stronger this time?!" Dark Mack asked irritation.

He felt a presence behind him and hopped to turn, where he found Mewtwo with crossed arms.

"Your fate is so easy to predict now," Mewtwo said as he glowed a little. "Prepare to die."

"I'm very different from these idiots!" Dark Mack yelled as he raised a hand to create a big flame that he tossed to Mewtwo, who used Confusion to re-direct the attack back.

"Too easy." Mewtwo said with a frown.

"BURN ALIVE!" Dark Mack yelled as he waved his hand towards Mewtwo to re-direct the flame back, but with a faster speed that caught Mewtwo off-guard and was hit by the scorching flames.

"U-ugh!" Mewtwo twitched in pain and backed away a little.

Dark Mack held a small flame on his right palm. "I can control any kind of fire here. Reflecting them back will just make them even stronger and faster for you to evade and resist respectively!"

"I-I should've predicted that from the beginning..." Mewtwo said as he stood up and narrowed his eyes at him. "Anyone who has the Shadow Bugs proves to be a danger."

"Exactly!" Dark Mack said as he noticed that his army of Shysters was gone while the Smashers ran towards him and stopped around the pogo-sword wielder. "Oh, lovely! Everyone's here to gang up on me? How cliché!"

"Get him!" Yoshi yelled as everyone rushed towards Dark Mack.

"FLAME WALL!"

A scorching wall of flames surrounded himself and burned everyone greatly before vanishing into small sparks and leaving all of them damaged. "D-damn, this guy is pretty different than those idiots..." Roy muttered.

Dark Mack laughed. "Hahahahahaha! Fear my power, impudents!"

"Don't get distracted in front of your enemy!" Pit yelled as he ran towards Dark Mack.

"Too slow!" Dark Mack taunted as he jumped over Pit but then struck down his pogo-sword on his back. Pit felt a strong pain running through his back as he crashed into the ground while Dark Mack jumped several feet back.

"U-ugh..." Pit moaned in pain. "B-be careful of that...toy... I-it's not...weak...like the others...were..."

"Hahahahaha!" Dark Mack laughed. "I'm up against 15 people and they can't even land a proper hit on me!"

"Oh yeah?" Falco asked before his began to shoot the enemy with several shots of his Blaster. However, Dark Mack evaded them by jumping at the sides, moving forward towards Falco.

"Out!" Samus yelled as she shot a big Charged Shot. The pogo wielder, as he evaded Falco's shots, jumped high over the shot and above Falco. The pilot looked up and quickly flipped back to evade a crash of the sword tip.

"Uah!" Falco yelled after a shockwave from the crash was sent around Dark Mack, pushing everyone close to him back.

"How annoying..." Mewtwo said as he charged a Shadow Ball.

"Flame!" Dark Mack yelled as he shot a scorching ball of flames towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo didn't have another choice but to launch the Shadow Ball that collided with the ball of flames, but it persisted after the crash on the Shadow Ball and went impacting on Mewtwo, who grunted in pain and backed away. "Even with that is useless..."

"Try my new trick!" Dark Mack yelled as he jumped above his pogo-sword and it extended quickly the tip to Mewtwo's chest. The Psychic Pokémon's eyes widened after the harsh hit landed on him and he started to cough some blood while the tip quickly returned back to he pogo and Dark Mack, who got above his pogo and laughed. "Feeling a burning pain now?"

"U-ugh..." Mewtwo knelt and panted heavily.

"You'll pay for that!" C. Falcon yelled as he rushed to Dark Mack.

The pogo wielder made flames on each hand and shot them at the captain, who sidestepped from the blow and continued to rush to him.

"Oh no!" Dark Mack said as he made another flame and quickly turned his back to shot the fast ball to Meta Knight, who got pushed back but landed on his feet. "Let's not forget about you too!" he yelled as he hopped over C. Falcon and impacted the tip of his pogo by extending it down on him.

"UGH!" C. Falcon was sent away to a tree where he hit with his back and slid down to touch the ground.

"Useless pests," Dark Mack muttered as he made another flame on his right hand. "You should be burned for much as I care!"

Toon Link saw that Dark Mack was close to the trees and he suddenly got an idea. "Hey, pogo-dork! Get this!" he yelled as he aimed his arrow at him.

"An arrow? That's the best you have?" Dark Mack asked with a laugh before shooting the flame to Toon Link, who then shot his arrow narrowly missing the flame and the cartoony swordsman sidestepped to evade the blow.

Dark Mack remained in his position as the arrow passed right above his shoulder. "Have a better aim next tim-" he got interrupted when the same arrow returned back to him and hit his neck. "UGH! W-what the heck?! H-how did this thing hit me from behind?!" he asked as he turned to the trees, finding no one. "Why?!"

"Pay more attention!" Roy yelled as he quickly stopped behind Dark Mack and used Double Edge to push the pogo wielder 4 times.

"He's staggering. Now's our chance to deal some blows!" Nana yelled as the Smashers rushed to the enemy.

"N-not falling off..." Dark Mack muttered and he almost stumbled back. "Not falling of-"

"Idiot," Wolf muttered as leaped to Dark Mack and dug his right claw on his mask before taking it by scratching his mask downward. "Did that hurt? I hope so."

"A-away!" Dark Mack yelled as shot a small flame to Wolf and pushed him away. The pogo wielder saw a Charged Shot about to crash on him...oh wait, it crashed on him. "AAHH!!!"

Then an egg crashed on his mask as well.

"Stop throwing those things at me!" Dark Mack yelled before he was pushed back by Yoshi from above as he used Yoshi Bomb and crashed on the ground. "There you are!"

"What about me?" Toon Link asked behind Dark Mack before slashing his sword 2 times on the sides of the tip of the pogo. Dark Mack almost lost balance but managed to hold on.

"Flame Wall!" Dark Mack extended his hands at the sides and spun them doing arcs of flames that pushed Yoshi and Toon Link to the air. "Try this! Hahahahaha!" Dark Mack jumped to the ground, but his hands remained on the handle of the pogo and he quickly aimed the tip to Yoshi before extending it rapidly to his stomach. Yoshi felt a big pain and he tried to resist it before he crashed on the ground.

"I-I'm not feeling so well..." Yoshi said as he grabbed his stomach in pain.

"Flame!" Dark Mack yelled before shooting a ball of flame to Yoshi. The Yoshi couldn't move after the hit but then he was grabbed from the neck by a fast arm before the flames exploded on the ground.

"P-phew... Thank you..." Yoshi thanked Sheik.

"Be glad I was close to you or else you could've been burned badly." Sheik said.

"Who wants some more?" Dark Mack asked. "I have plenty of energy and flames here to burn anything down to the ground!"

"Then let's try flames." Falco said as he pulled his fists back and got engulfed in flames.

"Fool!" Dark Mack held his hands to the avian and Falco suddenly felt his own flames burning him instead of helping him.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Falco yelled in pain before the flames ceased and he fell down to the ground with several burn marks on his feathers. "D-d-dammit... I-I should've remembered..."

"Another one who wants to try fire with me? I'll only make your own fire betray you so you can suffer the consequences!"

"L-listen to him..." said a weakened Mewtwo close to a tree. "He can control the fire and make it burn even more... Don't use any fire attacks or you'll regret it..."

"Oh," Dark Mack turned to him. "I forgot about you. Only one more hit and you're out to the loser's bench..." he made flames on his hands. "Nah, make it the burned bench of burned losers! Mwahahahahaha!"

"Stop!" Popo and Nana yelled as they jumped towards Dark Mack and used Blizzard to try and cool down the flame balls.

"Dorks!" Dark Mack yelled as the Ice Climbers landed on the ground before he used Flame Wall to push them away to some trees. "My flames can't be cooled down either! Water can't as well!"

Thunders began to roar in the dark clouds of the night.

"Don't even think the clouds will help you either!" Dark Mack said before he noticed Olimar walking towards him. "Pfft, this guy is the best or what?" he held several flames above his hands. "Hope you get roasted inside that helmet of yours!"

"G-go!" Olimar yelled as he flung 3 Red Pikmins to the pogo wielder.

"Ha!" Dark Mack fired his flame balls to the Red Pikmins. However, the flames only went through them without burning them and they latched on his mask before banging on it. "OWW! OWW! G-et off me!" he tried to burn them by covering himself with fire, but they kept banging and banging. "GET-OFF-NOW!"

"K-keep going!" Olimar cheered to his Pikmins. "He can't retaliate witho-"

The Pikmin Captain gasped when Dark Mack stuck his pogo-sword in the ground, pullet himself back and went forward to shake the Pikmins off to a tree, where they were killed once they touched it.

"M-my Pikmins! Nooo!!!" Olimar yelled.

"Shut up!" Dark Mack yelled as he jumped back to the ground, pointed his pogo at Olimar and extended the tip to him quickly, dealing a very strong blow that made Olimar's eyes open in pain as he embraced himself.

"O-oww..." Olimar moaned.

The tip pulled itself back to Dark Mack and he jumped on the top of the pogo. "And no more Pikmins things at my mask, got that?!"

He saw Sheik lunging at him with kunais between all her fingers. "Let's see if my kunais can pierce that mask of yours." Sheik said as she tossed the kunais quickly.

Dark Mack waved a flaming hand to create a small wall of fire that made the kunais bump and fell down to the ground. "Projectiles are useless as we-" he stopped once Sheik kicked right to his mask and was pushed away from the pogo-sword. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!! H-how dare you?!"

Sheik grabbed the pogo and looked at Dark Mack. "You're useless without this, right?"

Dark Mack made flame balls on his hands. "I still have my fire magic with me. Give me that or else you'll suffer!"

"You want it?"

"Yes!"

"You really want it?"

"YES!"

"You really, really want it?"

"YE-" Dark Mack's neck was suddenly slashed by a fast claw that dug itself on him. He yelled in pain and tried to look behind him where Wolf was, a smirk on his face. "T-TAKE THAT FILTHY CLAW OFF MY NECK!"

"With pleasure." Wolf said as he took the claw out by first closing it and pulling the pogo wielder to the ground.

"Got you!" Roy and Pit yelled in unison as they jumped towards Dark Mack and raised their weapons up before pointing them down to his mask.

"BEGONE!" Dark Mack yelled as he used Flame Wall to push the 2 away. He quickly got up and looked around for his pogo. "Where did that ninja go with my pogo?!"

"Oww!"

He heard a yell coming from some trees where Yoshi was rubbing his tail while Toon Link had the pogo laying down on the ground. "Can't you break it?" Toon Link asked.

"I-I can't break this..." Yoshi said. "E-even with Yoshi Bomb...it's too hard..."

"GIVE IT BACK TO ME!" Dark Mack yelled loudly as he shot several flame balls to the trees. The 2 gasped as the trees ignited and they ran away from the trees with the pogo.

Unfortunately, they ran to Dark Mack without seeing him.

"You're MINE!" Dark Mack yelled before he used Flame Wall to scorch the 2 greatly. Toon Link let the pogo for a moment, giving Dark Mack enough time to grab it and stand on top of it. "Aw, sweet deadly weapon. How much did I miss yo-" he was interrupted as he lost his pogo again by a weak Falco, who was charging a kick in front of him to push the pogo on its blade. "DAMMIT!"

"H-hey," Falco began as he grabbed the enemy with his right hand on his neck. "T-this is for making my own fire damage me..."

He started to hit him with his right knee on his mask. Dark Mack grunted more and more before he made a flame ball behind his back and pushed it to Falco's face, causing a severe burning attack on the pilot who yelled in pain and backed away.

"I had enough!" Dark Mack yelled as he ran at Falco, pulled hands back that had flame balls and pushed them towards Falco's chest.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Falco screamed in severe pain as an explosion of fire engulfed him and Dark Mack. Some of the others gasped as smoke came out from him before he fell down and dropped defeated.

"You..." Dark Mack panted. "This...happened...because...you were...annoying..."

"You shall pay."

"Who said that?!" Dark Mack asked as he turned around before getting a strong slash across his mask. "AAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Meta Knight, who did the previous slash, grabbed Dark Mack and hit him with the spikes of his wings. The masked warrior pushed Dark Mack into the ground , stood above him and attacked him with the tip of his purple boots at an insane rate before crashing them down to push Dark Mack away.

"U-ugh..." Dark Mack panted as he picked his pogo nearby and stood on it. "I-I'm not defeated yet... I can still fight and...burn you all...to the ground..."

"Try that," Samus said. "We dare you."

"W-we?" Luigi asked from behind a tree.

"You there! Come here and fight!" Nana demanded.

"Stay focused, because I'm not done yet!" Dark Mack yelled as he created more flames and shot them at them while the fire of them covered the screen.

Exor
Gate

Super Mario RPG – Weapons Factory

The infiltration team walked towards where the Machine Mades previously were. They were all completely healed thanks to Chris (who was in his ISOKFMG) and Mallow's healing magic.

"Where did they go?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Who cares?" Mallow asked as he pointed at the door. "Our sweet path is right passing that arc!"

"B-before we go...Lucario?" Chris asked to Lucario.

"Right away," Lucario said with a nod before he glowed and inspected the area past the arc. "..."

"Did you get something this time?" Pikachu asked.

"...Grrrrrr..."

"I don't like that grunt at all..." Pichu shuddered.

"I sense some familiar presences nearby..." Lucario said before he stopped glowing and opened his eyes. "There are 13 of them."

"Can you see who or how do they look like?" Ness asked.

"...I can't tell," Lucario shook his head. "The winds here blow many dark energy and it can't let me see clearly the person in another area. Only in this area I can find people."

"Is your aura fine?" Chris asked concerned.

"Don't worry. My aura is at its normal level. This is not like the Netherworld."

"We better get prepared even more for anything ahead," Geno said as he began walking to the arc. "If this is the main path to Smithy, then it's most likely the forces that he has are going to be more dangerous this time around."

"We already beat 2 legless idiots, a big snake and a f(beep)d up clock with annoying bells," Snake said as Geno turned and glared at him for his curse. "Next time you'll see a freaking tea cup sipping hot tea on the floor to burn our feet."

Peach gasped and she looked at the tea cup she was holding delicately on her right hand.

"Peach, is not your tea cup..." Mario trailed off.

"Phew..." Peach sighed in relief and Snake frowned.

Lucas gulped and took out Rope Snake. "W-watch over me, okay?"

"You watch over me!" Rope Snake said.

"W-what?"

"I-I mean, yeah! Sure! Good old Rope Snake will watch your back!" he hid inside Lucas's pocket. "...From over here, of course."

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-"

"What are you trying to say?" Ness asked.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-aw, I can't curse to him!" Lucas said with an ashamed look.

"At least there's somebody here who can't curse..." Geno muttered as they proceeded below the arc.

The next floor was big. It looked very wide and there were several piles of failed Machine Mades on the edges. The Smashers looked around the place and they found a big iron wall with some double doors.

"...." Mallow went to the wall and leaned his right ear (if he had one) to listen to something on the other side of it. "...I hear machines...conveyor belts moving...machines being made...gears moving..."

"Smithy is past that door," Geno said. "Or more accurately, deeper in that factory."

"So, we have to break down these doors?" Link asked.

"They seem big to me..." Ike trailed off unsure.

Geno used Geno Beam to destroy the doors, but it only remained touching it before it vanished and didn't leave any marks on it. "And very resistant." Geno added.

"Now this is a problem..." Fox crossed his arms and closed his eyes to think of something.

"Should we use a Final Smash?" Kirby asked.

Meanwhile, close to the arc, there was Sonic trying to communicate with Dark Super Sonic. "You bastard, you hear me there?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"What do you want now?" Dark Super Sonic asked inside his mind.

"Get rid of this stupid eyebrow, now."

"Why should I?" he chuckled. "It looks so good on you."

"It doesn't!" Sonic yelled (but the others didn't hear him). "It looks worthless, useless and stupid. Get rid of it!"

"No," his voice turned more menacing. "I won't listen to you...nah, make it never."

"Too bad," Sonic said. "I'm the one in charge here and you're just a pest inside my mind. Get out before I make you go away."

"How?" Dark Super Sonic (who suddenly appeared in a reflection of Sonic's mind on his forehead, but only his mouth and part of his neck) asked with a smirk. "If you knew how, you should've done it for quite a while. I like this place, or should I say your mind? Heheheh..."

"(D-damn you...)"

"I can still read your mind and your thought as well. Basically, my dear slave, I can see anything you see, or think for that matter."

"Look," Sonic's glare narrowed. "Get out, leave me alone, get rid of the eyebrow, and I'll be good."

"Sort out those demands first."

Sonic grunted. "Get rid of the eyebrow, get out, leave me alone, and I'll be good."

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell..."

"So?" Sonic raised his eyebrow and later cursed under his breath.

"...No."

"DAMMIT!" Sonic's voice turned deeper by Dark Super Sonic. "YOU BETTER LEAVE MY MIND BEFORE I SMACK YOU ONE BUT HARD!!!"

The hedgehog stopped yelling, blinked with small pupils and noticed everyone looking at him with confused looks.

"...I knew something was wrong with you the first moment I saw your face for the first time, hedgehog." Snake said.

Sonic gulped. "I-I was just cursing because I hate this place so much like all of us do..." his voice seemed to turn back to normal.

"...But don't go that far..." Geno shook his head. "I hate it so much but I don't express my thoughts like that."

"Or never." Twink said.

"W-well..." Sonic chuckled and smiled worried. "L-let's put our minds together and open that door!"

"..." the others simply turned their backs to him and Sonic sighed before turning to the arc.

"Thank you. Now they think I'm a freak." Sonic muttered with a glare.

"Oh, you're welcome," Dark Super Sonic said with a smirk. "Freak."

"Grrrrr..."

Sonic didn't notice that his eyebrow disappeared, but his fangs returned and some fur was sprouting out from his ankles.

"Well, enjoy my new previews," Dark Super Sonic said with a chuckle. "Can't wait for the full thing, though."

"I'll find a way to get you out," Sonic threatened. "When that happens, you'll be sorry."

"We'll see who's sorry first. For now, I gotta go and wait for tomorrow's night. Full moon will be around the sky's corner and I don't want to miss that."

"...Huh?" Sonic sensed that his dark self disappeared. "Dammit, he went away... And now I have fangs and hair out from my shoes..."

The hedgehog frowned and walked to the others, making sure his fangs didn't stick out or his fur as he pulled the cloth up to cover both ankles.

Then Pikachu went to him and gave him another paper.

I know what happened just now. Mwahahahahahaha...

Sonic ripped the paper. "Let me guess, you weren't looking and that odd note was there in your hand."

"Heheheheh..." Pikachu chuckled embarrassed. "Pretty much..."

"...But who in their sane mind would write down the evil laugh?" Sonic asked.

"And I'm supposed to know?" Pikachu asked with a bored look before turning his back to him.

"...(Who could it be?)" Sonic thought.

"...Nope, not a single clue how to open these doors," Link turned to the arc. "The city's done for. Let's go bac-"

Geno grabbed Link's right shoulder and pulled him back. "No surrendering."

"Then fine!" Link threw his hands up. "Do you have an idea then?!"

Lucario blinked before he glared up to the sky. "Here they come!"

Everyone looked above and found several figures dropping down. "Dammit, I knew there was a trick behind all this!" Ness said before he made a green flash come out from his head. "PK Flash!"

The fully charged explosion exploded and the PK kid noticed Snake tossing 3 grenades upwards, where they exploded and created a bigger explosion above their heads.

The Smashers noticed 13 figures spreading to the floor...where they crashed with soot marks around themselves.

"Huh?" Fox felt something biting his boot and he looked down, where a familiar Piranha Plant didn't move. "You again?"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" it yelled before it dug itself back to the floor and appeared besides one of the 14.

"W-why do you STILL wear those heavy and hard boots around?!" the same Piranha Plant asked with tears coming from somewhere of its head. "M-my poor fangs, they're shattering apart again!"

Super Mario RPG – Here's Some Weapons

"Dammit!" a figure stood up and cursed. "Our entrance got ruined because Red Ninjakoopa said it was going to work!"

"My fault?!" another figure asked. "It was YOUR fault last time I checked, stupid Axem Ranger!"

"Stop!" a figure...you know what? Let's say their names already. Yaridovich stood up and walked to Axem Red and Red Ninjakoopa. "You better stop arguing right now. Now it's not the time to be bickering!"

"Like, right!" Axem Pink stood up and took out a napkin to clean herself. "Like, our plans should be working by now, but yelling isn't one of them!"

"No! Our magnificent entrance got screwed over!" Axem Green said. "Why must our awesome entrances be ruined like this?"

"Give me a break!" Green Ninjakoopa frowned. "We know we're awesome, but the fault is all yours!"

"Ours?!" Axem Green repeated before glaring at him. "You should be the one apologizing and feel the utter failure along with us!"

"A-and pray for a better tomorrow..." Axem Yellow looked up with closed eyes.

"Guys, GUYS!" Yellow Ninjakoopa yelled to calm all of them. "Put yourselves together! Today should be our best day ever!" he looked at Black Ninjakoopa. "Black! Say something smart for once!"

"Heheh, stop..." Black Ninjakoopa chuckled.

"...Main point given!" Yellow Ninjakoopa said. "Yeah, that's our smart...er...smart Black!"

"Smart, nya?" Bowyer asked as he pointed down at Black Ninjakoopa (or Black N. For short). "Sum 1 plus 1 he can't do at all, nya! You call that smart?"

"Heheh, smart..." Black N. Repeated with a chuckle.

"Mind never, nya!"

"Mind never? You're the retard here!" Axem Red said angrily.

"Red, let's not get angrier." Axem Black suggested.

"Shut your mouth! I'm the leader here and you can't give me orders!"

"I'm just suggesting what's best, and it is the best thing we should do."

"Shut up, shut up!" Axem Red covered his ears (if he had any). "I don't want to hear anything!"

"I want to have my fangs back!" LPP cried out.

"I want to fight here!" Yaridovich yelled.

"I want like, to clean myself from this ugly-ugly thing! It makes me feel like, u-g-l-y!" Axem Pink cried out.

"I want food!" Axem Yellow yelled.

"I want my entrance!" Axem Green yelled.

"I want respect!" Red N. yelled.

"Heheh, laugh..." Black N. muttered.

"I want attention!" Green N. yelled.

"Fight I want, nya!" Bowyer yelled.

"I want somebody to hear my best suggestions!" Axem Black yelled.

"Shut up, all of you!" Yaridovich yelled with irritation. "This stupid entrance thing put us off the track. If somebody should get punished for this, that somebody should be the stupid axe wielders!"

"Rude, we have names!" Axem Green said with a glare. "Heck, we come from the same place, work with you in the same area and you don't know our names?"

"I rather not!" Yaridovich spat back. "I can't believe you're a higher rank than mine!"

"Or mine, nya!" Bowyer said angrily.

"Shut up!" Red N. yelled. "I don't know how we ended up with a bunch of retards like you, machines!"

"Yourself speak for, nya!" Bowyer yelled. "Better than you, a machine can do, nya!"

"Ugh!" Yellow N. blocked his ears. "I-I've had enough of that twisted language of yours! Who do think you are?"

"A higher autority, nya! Than these guys, I'm better, nya!"

"You? Better?" Axem Black frowned. "You're a freaking bow with a distorted language and very sick eyes!"

"I-in the same group, we are, nya," Bowyer said. "More respect, give me, nya!"

"You're the second worst machine than all of your species!" Green N. yelled.

"Then how's the first one?" Axem Red asked.

"Irony." Red N. said with a bored look.

"...Oh, you DIDN'T address me as the worst, did you?!"

"Ha! I did!" he shoved his face to Axem Red. "Wanna make something out of it?"

"Heck yeah!" Axem Red spat back. "I have my pals here who can own your pals! Isn't that right?"

Axem Yellow was rubbing his stomach before Axem Red slapped his face. "Y-yeah! Whatever you say!"

Yaridovich took out his spear. "I have a better idea. Why don't we shut the other's mouth forever and see who gets to fight the Smashers?"

The Axem Rangers (except Axem Pink) took out their axes, Bowyer took several arrows out while the Koopa Bros...took out ninja weapons.

Kingdom Hearts II - Rowdy Rumble

It seemed that the Axem Rangers, the Koopa Bros., Yaridovich, LPP and Bowyer were arguing like complete retards/idiots/dorks/stupids by no reason at all. Crystal King and Huff N. Puff, meanwhile, were watching all the unnecessary madness from the edge of the wide floor, where the big iron doors were.

"...I'm surrounded by idiots..." Crystal King muttered.

"You're an idiot too." Huff N. Puff said.

"S-shut up!"

"No, you shut up!" Huff N. Puff yelled back.

And with that, every single villain was either yelling or cursing out loud at each other.

The Smashers, completely confused and utterly speechless, where watching all of them...doing whatever they were doing.

"...They're back?" Lucas asked.

"Looks like it..." Ness frowned.

"And sadly..." Snake frowned. "They're even more stupid than they used to be."

"They're not stupid..." Mario trailed off. "They're....miscomprehended."

"Isn't that for babies?" Twink asked.

"It applies to them as well, it seems..." Link sweatdropped.

"I feel so bad for them..." Chris closed his eyes in shame. "They looked more menacing in the games they were in...but in person they're at the point to break up in rage."

"...I want to ask something." Ike asked.

"What?" Pichu asked.

"If we defeat them...are the doors going to open?"

"...Well," Sonic began. "If my world, if you defeat a big enemy, something opens or gives you something to open something else."

"Really?" Peach asked. "That happens in my world too."

"Weird. In my world, that happens too." Link said.

"E-er, that happens in a lot of games and your worlds are not so different." Chris said embarrassed.

Marth looked at all the villains arguing with each other. More seconds passed, and they began to fight between each other by punching, using magic or with whatever thing they used to fight (except for Axem Pink, who was busy cleaning herself from the soot, and LPP, who was moaning in pain for his shattered fangs).

"...Are they ignoring us?" Marth asked before he looked down, where Fox was sitting down with crossed legs and chin resting on his right palm with a bored look. "What is it with you now?".

"I was asking for a challenge this time...and we got them from all the people." Fox said before he yawned. "Enemies these days shouldn't be considered enemies anymore to me..."

"That is sad..." Lucario agreed with a nod.

"Definitely," Geno agreed as well before shaking his head. "T-that doesn't matter! We need to defeat them!"

Ness sat close to Fox in the same position. "Why? They're destroying each other as we speak."

"Can't we just...I don't know, watch them kill themselves?" Pikachu asked as he jumped to Chris's shoulder and extended his little arms on it before yawning. "I want to get a little rest here if you don't mind..."

"No," Geno shook his head and pointed at Axem Pink. "She's out from the arguments."

"Not now." Mallow said.

"What?" the puppet saw a flame going towards the same Axem Ranger before she got burned, thus covering her in more soot than before.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Axem Pink squealed in horror. "M-my makeup is running up so much! H-how dare you?!" she yelled before she took her axe and went after the villains.

"...Well..." Geno looked at LPP crying in an edge. "What about him?"

"M-my world is not my world without my fangs!" LPP yelled loudly before he looked down to the abyss. "I'll suicide myself!" he yelled loudly as he dove down to the dark abyss...but he forgot he was forever tied to safe ground and the only thing he did was hang on from below the floor. "Dammit! This is my hell!"

"..." Twink saw Yaridovich using Water Blast on Axem Red and Green N. before Axem Black tackled him down, before Bowyer shot an arrow on his back, before Axem Pink banged her axe on the bow guy, before Axem Black tossed several bombs (using Spritz Bombs) on Crystal King, before Yellow N. lunged at him, before Huff N. Puff blew wind angrily, before Axem Yellow tossed a disgusting bubble to him, before Red N. used Shell Toss (passing below the cloud but hitting Axem Red).

Then before Axem Black chuckled and before he heard LPP lamenting.

"...This is so sad..." Twink shook himself. "So, but so sad..."

"...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwww..." Chris yawned out loud. "How did we get worked up when we fought them again?"

"They had Shadow Bugs before...but they don't anymore." Lucario pointed out.

"Oh, so true."

"But why?" Pikachu asked grogily.

"Simple," Snake began. "His boss saw how stupid they were with the Shadow Bugs and he decided to take the bugs away from them, forever."

"Well, that's good news," Jigglypuff said as Axem Red and Red N. were punching each other without using their weapons. "Besides the fact they're doing the work for us."

"TAKE THIS!" Axem Red yelled as he delivered a punch to Red N.'s nose. "SNEEZE!"

"ACHOO!" Red N. sneezed...on the Axem Ranger.

"YEW!" Axem Red backed away in disgust before Red N. pinned him down with his hands.

"Like, taste steel!" Axem Pink yelled as she slammed her axe on Bowyer.

"Nya!" Bowyer twitched in pain from the attack on his stomach before he aimed at her with 2 arrows that he shot.

"Like, that hurts!" Axem Pink yelled as she tumbled back before she regained control and jumped at Bowyer.

"Wanna eat?!" Yellow N. asked as he pinned down Axem Yellow and delivered a knee attack on his gut. "Wanna eat?!"

"Y-yes!" Axem Yellow yelled. "I-I wanna eat!"

"BANZAI!" Green N. lunged at Yellow N. to pin him down to the floor. "DIE, DIE, DIE!"

"Y-YOU I-IDIOT!" Yellow N. yelled between punches as he managed to stop his companion. "IT'S ME, YOU NUMSKULL!"

Green N. stopped punching him and scratched his neck in embarrassment. "Whoops, I thought you were the other green dud-" he stopped because Axem Green lunged at him with his axe upwards. Yellow N. got up and he was tackled down by Axem Yellow.

"Boulder!" Yaridovich yelled to call forth a rain of boulders that fell on Huff N. Puff. The cloud twitched in pain as every boulder landed on him before he managed to cast down a thunder on the floor to electrocute the spear weapon. "Ugh! Y-you filthy cloud!"

"Rust spear!"

"Gas cloud!"

"Stick!"

"Fat!"

Huff N. Puff gasped before he cried and lunged at Yaridovich in rage.

"Freeze!" Crystal King yelled before exhaling a blizzard from his mouth to Axem Black, who got frozen instantly before breaking out and using Spritz Bombs to call a small rain of small bombs that exploded around the king. "Damn you!"

"Likewise," Axem Black tossed his axe at the king, who sidestepped to evade the hit. "This is going to be a while..."

"Ice bolt!" Crystal King raised his sleeves and an ice bolt fell down on Axem Black, freezing him again before breaking out.

"Heheh," Black N. chuckled close to the Smashers. "Hello."

"You're missing a fight over there." Sonic said.

"Heheh, I know..."

Kirby sighed, took out his hammer and slammed in on Black N.'s head.

"O-oww!" Black N. yelled. "W-what the hell, dude! What did you do that for?"

This little event surprised some of the Smashers.

"...Excuse me?" Link asked. "Why are you sounding...smarter all of a sudden?"

"Smarter? What do you mean by that? I was always myself!" Black N. said with a glare. "I dunno what happened to me before but I feel like I've been saying very, but VERY dumb things," he looked at Geno. "You there! You know what happened to me before? Ever since I drank that weird Koopa Tea a month ago, my mind has been all fussy!"

"Er...you were always chuckling by no reason and you always spoke nothing very smart at all." Geno explained.

"Is that so?" Black N. asked. "Man! I've been missing a lot, haven't I?"

"U-um...yes." Twink said.

"So, anyway," he looked at his companions. "Why are they fighting between each other? Did Yellow N. break Red N's favorite action figure again?"

"...Pretty much?" Mallow asked.

"Oh, he better not!" he glared at his companions. "Because that action figure happens to be MY favorite action figure. You're gonna pay, pals!" Black N. yelled before he ran to the fight and began fighting the villains.

"...And the common sense of all of them here thus got lost," Ness sighed. "I feel like I'm not providing some good advice."

"We don't care for them." Snake said.

"Well, that's true, but..." Ness trailed off.

"...Should we watch how they beat each other more?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Let's," Peach said as she sighed. "Who wants tea?"

"Peach, I don't want to," Chris sighed. "And we're going to do something about your trouble."

"What trouble?" Fox asked, trying to focus on something else to stay out of the boredom.

Chris didn't want help, but then he remembered something. "Do you want tea?"

"Er...I rather not." Fox shrugged, shook his head and looked back to the fight.

"Good," he turned to Peach. "Now, first we have to..."

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Red N. yelled to encourage his brothers.

"SLICE THEM TO DEATH!" Axem Red yelled to encourage his companions.

"Beat this bastard!" Red N. yelled before he spun inside his shell and slammed himself on Axem Red.

"You know what? F(beep!) it," Snake took out a grenade. "Let's beat them even more while they're distracted."

"Finally! Somebody here provides a good idea!" Sonic said.

"O-kay, warm-up time!" Mallow said as he cracked his fingers forward.

Chris and Peach stopped talking. "Aw, please..." Chris frowned.

"I'll have to agree with them as well. I'm sorry, Chris." Lucario said.

Geno facepalmed and frowned. "I knew all of you always had this bad habit of violence. But can't we sit down and plan for something as they kill themselves?"

"What can we think of?" Link asked as several boulders rained down on Axem Pink and Green N.. "We haven't fought Smithy before. Only you, Mallow, Mario and Peach did."

"That's true," Geno nodded. "But I didn't say I could explain how Smithy attacks."

Many sparks flew out from Bowyer to Crystal King. "What if he has another set of moves?" Ike asked, trying to raise a point. "He should be possessed by the Shadow Bugs, right?"

Petals fell behind Lucas as some villains turned into mushrooms. "Y-yes, he should be. I don't like the attacks he will have..."

Geno sighed while explosions of water pushed Axem Yellow and Black N. from behind. "I know that very well. That's why we need to formulate our tactics, formations and strategies."

"Formations? That's going a little bit too far..." Mario trailed off while snow fell behind him, and on Axem Red and Yellow N.. "Strategies and tactics."

"Aren't both the same things?" Twink asked while an axe was flung away.

"No," Marth shook his head as a yellow shell rolled behind him with a shell-less Yellow N. running for it. Peach gasped and blocked her eyes. "A tactic implements a specified mission to achieve a specified objective, whereas a strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked."

Kirby almost had mental short fuse as an ice bolt passed behind him. "C-can you explain that in shorter words?"

"Yes," Marth nodded. "How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy."

"...Oh," Chris nodded as Yellow N. ran behind him and tackled Bowyer down. "Both are almost the same, but they play a role in the same fight."

"Correct," Marth nodded while Green N. spun in his shell to hit Crystal King. "You can ask me more about that when you have the time."

"I-I know about those 2 as well so don't hesitate to ask me as well." Ike said while a boulder covered in flames fell down on Crystal King.

"That little info was...good, I guess." Pichu said with a sweatdropped while a bolt fell down on Axem Black.

"For me is completely unnecessary, though." Fox said while 2 axes were tossed away behind him.

"Strategy then!" Jigglypuff said.

"Can't we sit down and relax with sweet tea for once?" Peach asked.

"I like coffee better, so no." Snake said.

Peach gasped.

Mario grabbed the tea cup from Peach's hand and took a sip of it. This little action made Peach smile a little. "Are you going to join me, Mario?"

"Sadly, no," Mario shook his head. "We have to, and you know that. I'm sorry."

"..." Peach looked down.

"Hey," Chris (who changed to his Agent job) began. "We'll see if there's that lovely fighting spirit in you. I'll help you out while you do it."

"R-really?" Peach asked.

"But of course!" Chris knelt to her and everyone looked at him, holding Peach's right hand. "I wouldn't be a gentleman otherwise."

"...Is Chris...flirting with her?" Pikachu whispered to Mallow.

"Yeah, he is," Mallow nodded. "...And he's not bad, not bad at all."

"O-oh, then, thank you." Peach blushed a little.

And that feeling came again.

"(Oh, is that feeling again...)" Chris said.

"(Feeling?)" Peach asked confused.

"(I forgot. You don't know anything about this. I better explain this to you if you're willing to listen.)"

"(W-well...please, go ahead. I want to know what this feeling is...)"

A while later...

"(I...think I can understand it very well...)" Peach said, unsure of herself.

"(Your words, they sound worried.)" Chris said.

"(I-it's because...)"

"(Peach, listen to me,)" Chris began. "(There was once a woman who didn't decide whether to battle or not, and she was in the middle of a battle. That woman didn't like to fight at all, no matter how much she wanted. She saw her loved ones fighting to protect her. However, something horrible happened to that very same woman.)"

"(Why are you telling me this?)" Peach asked.

"(Because this is the only way to make you understand the circumstances here. Let me continue with this tale.)"

"(O-okay...)"

"(Let's see. That woman suddenly noticed a monster that wanted to eat her. She gasped and tried to run to her friends, who were still fighting the monsters in the area. She kept yelling and yelling to them so someone could come to her and save her from the monster.)"

"(What happened to that woman?)"

"(Just as one of her friends noticed her please for help...that friend leaped to the monster and raised his sword to stab the monster's heart... And a rose...withered that day.)"

"(...She...died?)"

"(No...she didn't die...but...her friend...he didn't have a pleasant fate...)"

"(...W-why did he...)"

"(Simple. Her friend managed to stab that monster, but it managed to bite his sides so hard that... It was very horrible for her... Whatever came from his friend was nothing more than something she didn't want to see...)"

"(B-bloo-)"

"(Stop. Such a word is so hideous...even for me...)"

And probably you wondering something. This conversation was probably the longest one between Chris and a Smasher. So, what were the others doing?

Geno tilted his head as they watched Chris holding Peach's hand without even moving at all. "They're not moving...and it's taking them so long to finish."

"Quiet," Lucario said. "If they're like this, then that means they're about to discover another Combined Final Smash."

"That explains it." Sonic said.

Jigglypuff looked at Sonic. "...Why are your ankles..."

Sonic gasped and he covered his fur. "Y-you saw nothing! Nothing!"

"O-okay! I-I saw nothing!"

Back with Chris and Peach...

"(So, let me ask you this, Peach.)" Chris began.

"(W-what?)"

"(If you don't want to fight...and if you're in risk to die...but a friend of yours steps in to protect you...but that friend ends up dying because you didn't want to fight...what will you do if that happens?)"

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – 002 – Putting Words Together

"(...I'm...so afraid... I'll be so afraid...if that happens...)" Peach said sadly with a sob. "(I-If I can't fight...if I can't fight...h-how will I be useful?... I-I'm not worth to be a fighter at all...)"

"(Nobody is really worthy of that.)"

"(W-what?)"

"(Fights are just made so barbarians can get rid of something they don't want to see anymore through physical violence. It's a cruel world out there. Talks are not taken seriously anymore and thus, fights born from them. Everyone has to fight to express what they want to tell....and mostly because they want to protect people.)"

"(...)"

"(Why do you think we are fighting? True peace, that's right, but we also fight because we want to protect our loved ones. You love and care for many people, right?)"

"(...)"

"(And you're not alone in this cruel road to violence. Remember that there are people who will come along and protect you as well. But do fight because, otherwise, it will lead to unwanted results.)"

"(...I'll...fight...)"

"(What was that?)"

"(...I'll fight...to protect my loved ones...for the ones I care the most...and everybody else...)"

"(...Are you sure?)"

"(I made up my mind... Letting all of you fight while I sit down and try to evade the conflicts won't help me at all...not even a bit. I'll hate this for the rest of my life...but...will you promise me something?)"

"(As long it's not bad...)"

"(Would you...help me when I get in trouble during fights?)"

"(...Hahahahahaha! Definitely! Such is the true way of love!)"

"(You do know I'm not in love with you, right?)"

Music stops with a scratch

"Look at him," Twink said as toon tears began to stroll down from Chris's goggles. "He's crying very weird."

Lucario frowned to himself and made a mental note about fixing that attitude from his trainer.

"(Y-yes...I-I know that very well...)" Chris said with a somewhat-sad tone.

"(Oh, then we're clear.)"

"(Ouch...)"

"(Who said that?)"

"(N-no one! A-ahem, so, do you want to try this out?)"

"(...Please, let's do it.)"

"(Alright, sweethea-I mean, Peach.)"

Both nodded to each other and the Smashers noticed this motion. "Welcome back from Mind World. What do you want to do now?" Link asked.

Chris and Peach grabbed each other's hands. "Dance," they said in unison.

"...Mario, do something about this. Chris is getting even farther away." Jigglypuff whispered.

Mario looked at him with an annoyed look. "W-would you stop that? W-we're not like that at all!"

"Why won't you stop breathing for once?!" Axem Red yelled as he choked Red N. while the latter also did the same while they rolled around.

"After you, madam..." Chris began as he knelt to Peach.

"Oh, my... I'm flattered." Peach blushed a little.

"Dance and dance in this romantic and gorgeous night, together with me, princess!"

"Heheheh! I'd like so!" Peach said cheerfully.

"So," Ike began. "Are you 2 in love?"

"W-why did you have to remind me those awful things?!" Chris asked.

"That's it," Lucario said, having enough of that attitude. "You will speak normally before I do something about it."

"Sorry, that won't do."

"...Curse those weird jobs..." Lucario muttered.

The Smashers saw both...dancing so suddenly?

Super Mario Galaxy – Comet Observatory 3

Chris and Peach were dancing slowly but gracefully as they chuckled and laughed at some moments, as they got closer and closer to the fighting scene between the villains. The Smashers made confused look at this sudden movement.

"...Why isn't Mario doing it with her instead?" Pikachu asked.

"S-stop that!" Mario yelled annoyed.

"...They're doing it very well, though." Marth remarked.

Jigglypuff tilted her head. "Aw, that's so cute..."

"And sick," Snake frowned. "The kid got issues with his "job" things."

"...W-wait, look at that!" Lucas said surprised.

"Huh?" Bowyer saw Chris and Peach getting closer to him. "Oh, forgot about you I did, nya! Prepare to b-"

"Ha." Chris said simply as he spun and slapped the bow.

"O-oww!" Bowyer backed away. "For what was the slap, nya? Pay, will you, nya!"

The bow weapon prepared to shoot several arrows at them but the "couple" kept dancing. Bowyer released the arrows and they went at a high speed to them. Just as they were going to hit Peach, she laughed and spun herself around, creating a force that reflected the arrows back to Bowyer, who gasped before he got hit and yelled loudly.

"NYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA!!!" Bowyer yelled loudly. "SUPPOSED TO BE THIS STRONG MY ARROWS SHOULD NOT BE NYA! W-WHY, NYA?!"

"Graceful..." Chris trailed off.

"Yet deadly." Peach finished.

"Dancing never was this gorgeous and lethal before."

New ability learned! Ballet of Romance!

Such dance should be defined as romantic and strong at the same time. Instantly attacks an enemy by dancing and reflects projectiles back with an added 1.5X percent of potency. Magic will also be reflected as well.

"We invite you to dance as well, or perhaps you hate to dance?" Chris asked.

"HATE IT I DO, NYA!" Bowyer yelled before he released many sparks (using Static E!) to both of them. When the sparks touched them, they seemed to shot back at Bowyer, electrocuting him with even more damage than before. "NYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA!!! SO MUCH IT HURTS, NYA!!!"

"...Oh, so that's the dance's effect." Mallow nodded.

"...Wait, both are fighting but we aren't?" Pikachu asked.

"That's not fair," Sonic shook his head with a chuckle. "They seem to have fun."

"And I don't want to miss that fun too." Fox said with a grin as he took out his Blaster.

"...Wow, you 3 are going to dance together? I didn't know you were like that at all. That's very impressive." Mallow remarked.

"No!" the previous 3 before Mallow yelled.

"Oh, it looked like that to me."

Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! - Mario & Luigi's Battle Theme

"...So, let's go then!" Link suggested and everyone nodded before running to each villain.

"Shocker!" Mallow yelled as he called forth a thunder that crushed Green N., who yelled in pain under the bolt of lightning before it disappeared.

"Keep dancing," Chris said as he let Peach spin around him. "Nothing can stop this at all."

"Oh, yeah?!" Huff N. Puff asked as he released a thunder to the floor, where it spreaded out to them. However, the shockwave of electricity stopped from spreading out once it touched the dancing duo and it backtracked all the way towards the cloud by concentrating all the electricity beneath him and shot a pillar of electricity upwards. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Told you so." Chris said with a chuckle.

"Roll, roll, roll, roll..." Jigglypuff kept repeating as she charged her Rollout to Axem Pink, who was busy fighting Black N.. The Singing Pokémon was sent quickly to the pink axe wielder and collided her, making Axem Pink go all the way to the wall where she screamed before hitting it. "Ha! I hope you shut up that mouth full of makeup!" Jigglypuff taunted.

"Like, my makeup was already...like...wasted..." Axem Pink muttered in the wall as she tried to get out.

"GUUUUUUUUUAAAAARGGGGGGH!!!" Lucario leaped to Crystal King with a glowing hand of aura (or Force Palm) to slam it hardly on the king. Crystal King yelled in pain as he was pushed 9 feet back before stopping.

"U-useless dog! Don't interrupt my fight! Freeze!" Crystal King shot an ice bolt to Lucario, who remained in his place and received the bolt. Crystal King later gasped when the bolt just made Lucario close his right eye. "T-the heck? Why didn't you freeze?!"

"Because I'm a Steel type and a Fighting type," Lucario explained. "It technically hurts me but not that severe. To be honest, I felt a tickle."

"A-a tickle?! H-how dare you call my ice magic inferior?!"

"I didn't."

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Crystal King gathered ice mist inside his robe and shot a blizzard to Lucario, who ran at him without receiving that much of damage or even freeze before he grabbed the king by the robe's neck and shot a fully charged Aura Sphere inside him, creating a blue explosion that pushed the king back to the floor as he rolled and stopped. "T-this is why we need the Shadow Bugs..."

"And," Lucario began as he made a glowing fist of aura and pointed it down at the king, whose yellow eyes widened in horror. "This is why I hate people like you."

"N-NO! PLEASE, DON'T!"

"Did you freeze Chris in your last fight with him?"

"The kid? Of cours-"

The only thing Crystal King was able to feel afterward was an extreme pain that was caused by Lucario slamming his fist down on him.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Crystal King yelled loudly as ice mist came out from his robe and vanished along with his crown and robe.

Lucario sighed, frowned and decided to help the others.

"Hell-o." Pikachu said behind Red N.'s back.

"W-what the hell?! C-can't you see I'm fighting?!"

"No," Pikachu grinned and sparks began to be released out from his cheeks. "Ready to burn?"

"...Uh-oh."

And the Electric Pokémon discharged many electricity that flew into Red N.'s body. The Koopa yelled in pain as his skeleton was seen through the torrent of sparks. "CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu yelled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Red N. yelled more.

"W-what?!" Yaridovich asked as he saw the Smashers interrupting everyone's fights. "Why are they interrupting us?! We're in the middle of th-"

"Hey, you there."

Yaridovich blinked confused and he turned to find Marth and Ike. "Y-you!"

"We didn't have the chance to fight that time," Ike said as he unsheathed Ragnell. "But we can do it now."

"I agree," Marth nodded. "We'll end this here and now."

"U-ugh!" Yaridovich put a stronger grip on his spear. "Fine. I'll settle this with you 2."

"Charge!" Ike yelled as both swordsmen charged at the spear weapon.

"It won't be that easy. Water Blas-"

"Sheiah!" Ike yelled as he used Quick Draw and slashed the spear across his thin body, causing him to lose his focus in his magic.

"My turn." Marth said as he thrust Falchion on Yaridovich before he used Dancing Blade to execute several hits on his enemy before slamming down his sword.

"W-well, that was well played. B-but I won't let yo-" Yaridovich was stopped once Ike jumped to the air and towards him to slam down his sword directly on his face. "AAAHH!!!"

"Now!" Ike yelled as he landed back and Marth figured a good range to slash the spear weapon down. When the Altean hit the spear, the tip connected at it caused even more damage. Yaridovich twitched in more pain and he began to pant heavily.

"I-I shouldn't have fought those idiots... My energies are...so low..." he said as he knelt down and looked down to the floor. "My...demise is at hand...if I don't do something..."

"True."

Yaridovich looked up where Ike was engulfed with fire as well as Ragnell, just above Yaridovich. "....THIS IS WHY I HATE SWORDSMEN SO MUCH!"

"HA!"

And Ike brought Ragnell down, using a fully charged Eruption that created a big fire shockwave on the spear weapon that screamed and yelled in extreme pain. "S-SPEARMEN ARE MUCH BETTER THAN YOU! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Marth saw Yaridovich vanishing as Ike took his sword out from the floor. Nothing else remained of Yaridovich and both looked at each other. "Thankfully, he was weakened." Marth said.

"How about if we help the others?" Ike asked.

"Good idea for now."

"Nya!" Bowyer spun his eyes with a glare. "Pesky Smashers, I hate, nya! Destroy Smashers must, nya!"

"Ahem."

Bowyer made a confused look before he was pushed to the floor by a hard kick on his neck. "D-did that who, nya?!" he turned around. "Y-you, nya!"

Fox cracked his fists. "I still remember how much hell you put us through, and I won't let you do that again here."

"H-ha, nya!" Bowyer got up and pointed at Fox. "Defeat me you will never, nya! Alone you are, nya! Stupid move of yours that was, nya!"

"Oh," Fox grinned and held his right hand up. "Backup you mean?" he snapped his fingers.

"NYA!" Bowyer was pushed 12 feet back by a spinning blue ball that collided quickly on his back. The spinning ball later turned into Sonic who grinned after he saw the bow weapon down. "Oww...nya..."

"Want some more?" Sonic taunted.

"...Wait, are those fangs?" Fox asked.

Sonic gasped and blocked his mouth. "N-no, they aren't!"

"NYYYAAA!!!" Bowyer used Static E! to release a torrent of fast electricity that electrocuted both of them.

"...You know..." Sonic looked at himself. "That attack wasn't that...deadly at all..."

"It used to be before..." Fox said before glaring at Bowyer. "But that made me remember painful and horrible events."

"Yeah, me too." Sonic said with a glare to Bowyer.

"...You didn't fight with us when he fought us."

"Really?"

"SHUT UP, NYA!" Bowyer yelled as he fired an arrow to Fox.

"Why are you putting yourself in danger?" Fox frowned as he simply activated his Reflector and reflected back the attack, multiplying its force by 1.5 to deal even more damage to Bowyer himself.

"IS IT THAT, NYA!" Bowyer yelled angrily as he started to shoot arrows to the air at a crazy rate.

"Run at him!" Sonic yelled to Fox, who nodded as both rushed to Bowyer while the arrows narrowly landed on their heads. Fox used Fox Illusion to slash the weapon to stun him for a moment to let Sonic grab him and kick to the air, where the hedgehog quickly jumped to the weapon and spin to drill Bowyer with the quills of his head (though they remained in the same place).

As the hedgehog came back down. He noticed Bowyer falling back to the floor.

"This is it." Fox muttered as he ran to the bow weapon, stood close to him to let the vulpine split his legs back and forward to push Bowyer away. The bow enemy was getting stunned every time he wanted to counter the attacks. However, just as he was going to stand up completely, Fox came from behind and used a fast backflip kick just as he was about to touch him. "All yours!"

"GO!" Sonic yelled as he curled, rose up a little to the air and shoot himself to Bowyer's back.

And he finally got beaten.

"NYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Bowyer yelled loudly before he crashed into the floor and vanished into dust. Sonic landed in front of the dust and kicked it to let the dark winds carry it to the nothingness.

"Good job." Fox said with a nod as he walked to Sonic.

"Heh, we should make this later sometime." Sonic said.

"Last tap." Chris said to Peach as they got close to Axem Black.

"A dance? Are you kidding me?" Axem Black asked.

"Yes!" Peach said cheerfully as she took his hand.

"W-what the..." Axem Black got confused at this before Peach pulled him between her and Chris.

"Now, dance!" Peach said as she spun Axem Black between the 2 dancers. The Axem Ranger mumbled words as he spun between them before the princess grabbed his hands again and extended him in the air to stop the spin. Then, Peach pulled him back to Chris who grabbed his hand and extended him to the air by his side.

"Ah! Stop this! You're causing my bones to stretch unnecessarily!" Axem Black yelled.

"Oh, okay." Peach said as he took the hand of the dazzled Axem Ranger...then she tossed him upwards.

"Last hit!" Chris yelled as he aimed his revolver at the Axem Ranger before shooting a deadly bullet (using Flourish, which got stronger because of Peach and Jigglypuff) and went through the small axe wielder.

"T-the hell is this?! N-no! W-why do I have to be defeated like this?! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Axem Black yelled loudly before he turned into dust while in the air.

"And that, Peach," Chris moved his right hand back and bowed to Peach as he grabbed her right hand and kissed the back of it. "Is how battles should be played."

Peach blushed. "W-we're not..."

The World Traveler suddenly sat down, embraced his legs and felt the world falling down on him. "Why the cruelty though..." Chris muttered in depression as Peach let out a small laugh.

Once he stood up, he was using his Musician job and looked around confused. "...What just happened?" Chris asked.

"U-um..." Peach got confused. "...You were...flirting with me?"

"...Flirting? ...With you?" Chris raised an eyebrow before he blushed and shook his head. "I-I don't think so. W-when I changed to the Agent job...something took over me and I couldn't remember anything that happened...only the fights between villains."

"...I don't know about your abilities but..." Peach put a finger on her chin. "Does your attitude change when you change?"

"...I guess so..."

"You!" Huff N. Puff yelled as he flew at the 2. "Thanks to you, this problem appeared and now we're at our worst situation here!" he began to gather sparks. "I better finish you off!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Peach yelled and she jumped to Chris's arms.

"Y-you're a little bit too heavy for me!" Chris yelled as he tumbled at the sides.

"Man, you're worthless." Snake said as he appeared right behind them.

"W-would you stop him from delivering a thunder on us?!" Chris asked as he tried to point Huff N. Puff.

Snake took out a remote control. "A click and that cloud is as good as dead."

"What?!" Huff N. Puff asked.

A shot of his back was shown, covered with mines that Snake planted himself when the cloud didn't notice him.

Huff N. Puff looked bored at this. "...And I electrocuted all of them myself..."

"The click is not necessary then..." Snake tossed the remote control away...

...And Huff N. Puff exploded into clouds that vanished upon spreading out.

At that moment, Mario came running from behind the trio and he looked at Peach being carried by a tumbling Chris. "Um, why don't you put
Peach down?"

"She's yours!" Chris yelled as she gave Peach to Mario.

Mario began tumbling at the sides.

"...Hey!" Peach said, sounding a little angry. "I'm not a thing to be carried around!"

"You jumped on his arms." Snake said, pointing at Chris.

"Geno Blast!" Geno opened his arms to the sky where he shot a light, before he slammed his hands down and many towers of different colors of light rained down on Yellow N. and Axem Yellow.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" both yelled loudly.

"I'm not done yet with that. Geno Whirl!" Geno tossed a fast blinding ring that crossed both yellow characters and made them back away. "Feel this," Geno shot his 2 fists forward to them where they turned into rocket punches and exploded upon contact with each one. "Lastly, Geno Flash!" he backflipped to turn into a cannonball that shot small burning flame.

"H-hell no!" Yellow N. yelled as he grabbed Axem Yellow and put the Axem Ranger above him.

"H-hey! Put me down!" Axem Yellow yelled.

Yellow N. struggled to toss the Axem Ranger before he managed to do what he wanted and tossed him towards the small burning flame. When Axem Yellow collided into it, he got engulfed in a growing flame that later resulted in a big explosion of fire.

"MY FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" Axem Yellow yelled loudly before he landed back on the floor defeated. He later began to rust before he turned into dust in the air.

"I..." Yellow N. took a step back when Geno got closer to him. "S-see you!" he yelled before running behind Red N..

"Ugh! Ugh! UGH!" Axem Pink got her head out from the wall and she shook her head. She took out a hand mirror and looked at her face covered in dust. "AH! MY FACE! MY CUTE FACE!"

She felt someone tapping her shoulder.

"Huh?"

And a hammer came directly on her face before it came back and hit her twice, and back to the wall where she screamed in pain.

"W-WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?! LIKE, I DON'T BELIEVE THIS AT ALL!!! UAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Axem Pink screamed as she turned into rust and later turned into dust.

The one who attacked her was Kirby, who held up his hammer in triumph with a happy expression...

...Wait...

...Kirby killing someone is not common at all...

"Mwahahahahaha..." Kirby laughed evily before he chuckled heartily.

Axem Green gasped as he and Axem Red were were the only ones standing from their group. "T-this doesn't look good. W-what do we do? Retreat?"

"No!" Axem Red yelled as he held his axe above him. "W-we're the Axem Rangers!"

A spotlight shone on him and Axem Green looked surprised.

"We fight for evil!" Axem Red proclaimed as Pichu, Pikachu, Ness and Link got closer to them. "W-we live for disorder!" the Smashers prepared to attack both as Axem Green looked freaked out. "W-w-we like what we do!" they got even closer, at the point of cornering them. "W-w-w-we struggle- for chaos! C-c'mon! Say it with me!"

Axem Green gulped as he raised his axe. "W-w-w-w-we're...w-w-we're..."

"THE AXEM RANGE-"

"GET THEM!" Link yelled as he lunged at Axem Green and slashed him across the face. Pichu climbed behind Link's back and used Skull Bash to send himself towards the Axem Ranger.

"(I hope he can resist this...) PK Thunder!" Ness yelled as he called out an electric sphere that went after Pichu and collided behind him. The Electric Pokémon. The attack combined with Skull Bash turned Pichu into a sparking bullet that transferred the voltage to Axem Green, greatly electrocuting him as he yelled in pain.

"F-FORGIVE ME!!!" Axem Green yelled loudly before he fell on his knees, fell face-first and turned into rust to later turn into dust in the air.

"...R-retreat!" Axem Red yelled and turned to run. When he tried, however, he bumped into Lucas who fell down to the floor. Axem Red also fell down with him and he shook his head.

"I..." Lucas gulped as he tried to think of an attack to Axem Red, who looked shocked at this. "I...won't let...won't let you...get away!" Lucas yelled, putting a serious face as he took out his branch and lunged at the Axem Ranger to bang on his head continuously. "Why?! Won't?! You?! Leave?! Us?! Alone?! We're tired of you!!!"

"...Is Lucas cursing him?" Link asked.

"Leave him alone. He's doing progress." Ness said.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucas raised his branch a last time and dealt the final blow on Axem Red, who shook his head in panic before he received the harsh blow on his face.

"L-LORD SMITHY, F-FORGIVE US!!!" Axem Red yelled as he passed out, turned into rust and later turned into dust in the wind.

"...I...I did it..." Lucas sighed in relief.

Music stops

"Phew..." Jigglypuff sat down. "We...we defeated them..."

"Not quite." Marth said as he pointed at the arc, where a badly hurt Red N. was sweating in nervousness.

"Weird, I thought they were 4." Ike said.

Just after he said that, the other 3 brothers peered from Red N.'s back and looked badly hurt as well.

"W-well, you guys already had fun beating us around." Green N. said as he trembled.

"W-we don't need to die here...yet." Yellow N. said as he shook in fear.

"Y-yeah. W-we'll leave you and we'll live normal lives in Koopa Village as we used to before." Black N. said.

The brothers didn't notice the sudden change that Black N. had and they ignored this.

"A-and as the leader..." Red N. began. "...LET'S SCRAM!!!"

The Koopa Bros. raised their hands to the air and screamed in terror as they ran below the arc and disappeared in the darkness of the dark winds. The Smashers were able to hear the yells before they slowly faded and ultimately stopped.

"...We did it." Ike said.

"Yes," Link nodded. "They're gone."

"And forever for good." Mallow said.

"So much stupidity is enough for me." Snake frowned.

"I'm glad everything turned out just fine." Peach sighed.

"...Wait, this means the doors will open, right?" Twink asked.

The floor beneath them began to shake a little and they turned to the big metallic double doors. They slowly opened and steam came out from the small openings, covering the whole floor with steam that later got pushed away by the dark winds.

Geno stepped forward to the double doors and he was able to see what the inside looked like...

Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory

Inside, many conveyor belts were located above, at the sides and further away as Machine Mades were being transporter somewhere. Many cranes were moving around the complex as chains moved upwards and downwards. It was difficult to see a wall through all the steel and iron that surrounded the main platform.

"...This is it..." Geno said as he turned to them and nodded. "Smithy's factory."

"Oh Eldstar, he's producing countless of those machines." Twink said astonished as he saw the machines.

"So that's how it looks like." Marth said.

"Well, it didn't look like this before. You could say is an improvement." Geno said.

"I'm...not feeling so well after seeing all those machines." Kirby said worried.

"But you've got to admit, I see like 10 machines being dropped down inside those tubes every 3 seconds." Fox said.

"Why though?" Mario asked.

"...If my assumptions are correct..." Geno closed his eyes before opening them again. "We must make haste and infiltrate this facility."

Sonic grinned. "Time to destroy some metal around."

"Are tho-" Jigglypuff was interrupted.

"N-no!" Sonic blocked his mouth.

"..." Chris looked worried at the factory before Lucario put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll protect you. Let's go inside." Lucario reassured Chris.

"...Thank you." Chris smiled a bit to Lucario before the group decided to proceed.

When they were about to enter...

"Chris..." Peach began.

"Yes?" Chris asked confused.

"...Thank you for what you did earlier."

"What?"

"Er...forget about it." Peach said with a chuckle while the World Traveler tilted his head in confusion.

"...Hello?" LPP asked from beneath the floor. "Is somebody there? Hello?"

Preview of the next chapter

"So, you've arrived as we expected." Clerk said with a nod.

"Would you stop all these machines from being deployed?" Mallow asked.

"Weird, you spoke to me in that same harsh tone a long time ago. Bad nostalgia to me."

"Bad memory to me as well. Now, would you step aside?"

"Huh? You're here?" Manager asked.

"Are you in charge of these sick machines?" Snake asked.

"Partly. I only command one portion of it," he took out his axe. "But that won't matter at all."

"...You're here." Director said.

"S-stop this! Y-you need to stop the machines!" Peach yelled.

"Why would I?"

"B-because this is...wrong..."

"...I knew there was going to be an answer like that."

"Ha! Nice to see you here!" the Factory Chief said.

"Step aside and let us go to Smithy." Geno said with a glare.

"Oh, that won't do at all," he shook his head before hitting the machine behind him. "Remember this beauty?"

"...Not that bothersome machine again..."

"Quadruple Blockade Before Smithy. We're closer now. We have to get through this a little bit more..." Geno said concerned.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Exor
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Kingdom Hearts II – Working Together" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when you fight Heartless in Twilight Town or outside/inside Merlin's Tower.

-"Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! – Mario & Luigi's Battle Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It will be normally played when you get in a fight using the brothers.

...Yes, this chapter seemed weird to me for some reason...

Okay, summary time.

Did you like Pichu's Final Smash? I thought that attack would be good for him.

Dark Mack seems to be a force to be reckoned with. Who knew a pogo-sword was that deadly? What will the Smashers in the mansion do about him?

Ha, the machines ended up beating each other. That's true definition of the word "Retard" for you. XD

No comment about Chris flirting with Peach. I think I did that part of himself weird (even to the point I hated some of his lines (meaning I suffered for you). Poetry is a little hard to me) because I'm not very good at romance in my opinion (not even the sick pairings)...but what are your thoughts?

Smithy is getting near with every second...or chapter.

So, here starts my break from writing because this is the final week for my school year...but curse out because I need to go to Summer School and obtain my credits...but bad thing is I missed a year of school the previous year...so I need to enter the damn school of summer the next year as well. T_T

...Sniff...

...Please, don't comment about this... (A LITTLE SMALL JOKE AND YOU'LL MEET MR. BAN BUTTON. NOT EVEN A SINGLE HINT OF IT, I'M SERIOUS!)

Ahem...

It won't stop me from writing, of course. ;)

So read and review, please. :)
*Chapter 127*: Quadruple Blockade Before Smithy

I'm so sorry for updating so late! Please, forgive me!

...

Phew, that's better...

From SlasherMask: Dunda dun!

...Anyway... Shysters... Aren't they mechanical?(Smithy mass produces unpainted, strongest version of them during his fight)And doesn't that include all of weapons?(How can Axem Black have bones?... Then again How could Smithy has blood pressure.(but one of smithy's final form's heads...Well i think you figure what i mean without explaining...))

...That tea must be VERY strong, if it makes person act like complete moron...

...Axem Rangers are higher ranking than Yaridovich?(i though they were the guys who pilot escape vehicle...)

P.S... Peach and Chris? *creepy laugh/giggle* I though that Chris only had crushes on RPG innocent flat girls.(relax, i'm only kidding on the PeachxChris one)

p.s.s... Mack's pogo has eyes... Do you think that its alive or are they like eyes in hills/clouds/stars/mushrooms/every Mario thing?

From me: Well, I think Shysters are Shy Guys in reality. I don't think Smithy made all the Shy Guys in the world.

I don't know those machines' anatomy at all. : P

Hmm...

Well, at least they are in power, I think...

W-what? O_O

Hmm, you gave me an idea there... Thanks. : )

From ngrey651: Great chapter! But summer school? BUMMER, man. You've got my condolences. (Pats Chris on back)

From me: Luckily, it's just one month. Thank you. : )

From lucario cat star: NO!... I can wait.

From me: "Gets DANGEROUSLY close to the ban button"

From TARDISreviewer: EPIC!
OK, some of the characters sure are resourceful.
And I lol'd at the enemies killing each other.

I'm a little worried about Sonic though...

From me: You'll get to see constant previews of Sonic's dark side here as well... "wink, wink"

From Mewtrainer: ...the Smashers really need to stop arguing about the Final Smashes. XD Zap Cannon was a really good idea for Pichu! Ekans XD! "La Le Lu Lei Lo"...wasn't that what the Colonel was saying at the end of Luigi's codec? And what does it have to do with anything? "I'm not going to say that useless line." Didn't he just say a useless line? XD Are Shysters really so weak that they can be beaten by a pebble?! I'll bet that it's Dark Super Sonic doing the papers! "They're even more stupid than they used to be." Snake speaks the truth! XD Interesting Combined FS with Peach and Chris! Dark Mack IS much stronger than you'd think... and the Chris and Peach thing seemed fine to me, so I think you're doing fine romance-wise. Anyways, now that one of my longest review has been left with you, farewell until the next chapter!

From me: The Smashers are Power-Hungry Foo-not the song. Thanks. Catch it. Yes, it is. Just random. Probably. Play the game and you should see. Yes, right... All the time. Thanks again. Ha, I know. What? Thanks again as well.

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: A very weird chapter, I must say ... what is it with the Mario villains and stupidity? They were basically killing each other and themselves, and the Smashers were able to finish them off with no problem. Good for Chris and Peach, though, because otherwise they would have been dead if they were just spacing out.

Popo is weird, and the pogo army too. I'm surprised how the boss is giving them so many problems though because the army itself didn't. What's going to happen there?

The beginning with Geno and the others was interesting too. Good thing that Pichu used his Final Smash!

From me: Well, about the army thingy...you'll see that in the next chapter (probably).

Glad you liked the Final Smash. (I can say a fic that died some time ago inspired me to have that attack as his Final Smash... Best wishes for that forgotten author...)

From Blaperile: Hey,

Good like always!

Well, the romance part was very good, I must admit! Great job!

Finally Luigi had some lines again... (sighs) XD

Keep it up and hope to see you soon! Good luck with your finals!

Blaperile

From me: Hey,

Why do you always start with "Hey" in your reviews?

What? It was?

Dude, you keep a serious watch under the green thunder...or at the side of it/he.

The finals went well, thanks. : )

From dragonite123: hey Wiiboychris, sorry i don't review much, i have what you could call "reviewers block". but great story, I can not express how epic this is. anyways, in my last review, i wasn't trying to say you spelled deux ex machina wrong, I was saying I did. your fighting scenes are top notch, and if I talked as smoothly as chris in his agent job,I would have 7 dates to prom, and I'm only in the 6th grade. oh, and the part " "are those..." jiggilypuff was interupted" would look better if it was "are those..." jiggilypuff started, then say "sonic interupted" after what sonic said. (I'm too lazy to go back and check). and if you show this to your english teacher, she'd give this an A, hands down. well I'm off to youtube to watch super mario RPG videos because I can't get the game! *cries*

From me: Okay, I got all that. Be sure to get the game, because you're losing a great game of the old era. : )

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... soon now, Geno will leave and KH II will(eventually) be here! DIE SMITHY! Update Soon! Hasta!

Oh ya, hope ya get 10 reviews soon! Maybe sooner than you think.

From me: For the last time, KH II has a long way to come (a very long way...). You can expect to have the first one...first.

I hope so...

From Dimentio713: Wow! All those "machines" beating each other up was hilarious well they all are gonna go to the Underwhere now... And What not well i wanna ask you this who are the Clerk, Manager, Director, and Factory Chief? Plus that idiotic Dark Super Sonic torturing Sonic... (Bleep) him! Anyways, Dancing seems to be the most random combined Final Smash... Well see ya later wiiboychris!

From me: Okay.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Clerk, Manager, Director and the Factory Chief (with a machine) are the 4 "bosses" that you get to fight before you get to Smithy. All of them are responsible for the distribution of weapons around the Mushroom Kingdom, with Smithy being the head director of the whole production.

Dark Super Sonic is the evil entity inside Sonic that appeared in the anime, in the third saga called "Metarex." Since this Sonic (although Chris thinks he brought the wrong Sonic) came directly from the anime, that dark side is still inside him (and the anime will never explain more about it as far as we know...or will never bother).

END OF SPOILERS!!!

Yes, dancing is random...but graceful.

From chrisworshiper: spellbot 50 "the following words are incorrect" can. in "I'm up against 15 people and they can even land a proper hit on me!"
change into
"I'm up against 15 people and they can't even land a proper hit on me!"
chriswhorshipper: prevous revew corrected.
75 Zenny on Rita useing Voilent pains and Esttela trying to protect him/her/it (Masterhand) and 10 Zenny on mh getting his rear whoped and 25 Zenny on Rita getting thrown out of the mansion. I pity Sonic I know what he is going through (gag Sonic gag Unleashed gag(water please!)) and the people that know what he is going through is anyone who was turned into a wolf in a prevous chapter more than likely Chris. i'm glad Lucario came. i think Chris's wrenches hold powers more then you or I know.

new review: good chapter with snake and the detonater i at first thought that he was holding a T.V. remote ttfn

(ta ta for now)

From me: Fixed.

And that review is still...weird.

A TV remote? Pfft... Thanks.

From Rabid Original: O.o
Wow, a lot of stuff just happened XD
Seriously, it's amazing how you can keep track of everything that's going on.

CHRIS FLIRTING WITH PEACH IS JUST WRONG. ;_;
He has a major attitude shift with his jobs, huh? Hey, does he ever just be "normal" Chris without a job? I can't remember... XD

And Lucas killed someone? o.O
So did Kirby...

Love it how the bad guys started fighting amongst themselves.
You'd think it would happen more often XD

From me: I have a list here to say on track of every character. ; )

Check the job list in my profile to see which jobs affect his attitude (or mind) and which not.

(There's a person here who agreed with me and the romance part...)

Killer kids, run! XD

Ye-ah. For some reason, all the fics I've seen have very serious bosses. Well, it was time for me to mix something different into the mix of battles to get this funny outcome. ; ) Thanks.

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: It seems that Chris has become another Brock/Miroku(the monk from Inuyasha). At least he isn't a pervert. And I reviewed story and could find nothing wrong with any of the text though some people would disagree. Anyway, since you only do well known games does that mean that you do the .hack games and before you say it was suppose to be an anime it wasn't. It was first meant to be game and later the Anime was started as a way to fell in the gaps. Anyway keep writing.

Sean Kratos the Lucario

P.S. I just finish my first TF story called Flammie and the Crystal on paper and now all I have to do is type it up so look it up once I finally post it. (It is not based on shadowlugia249's Flammie and Glory series but inspired by it and the Secret of Mana of game I finally bought though later stories may just use some of the characters from the Flammie and Glory series if I get permission to use his characters.) Also you should give Zelda the legendary subspace hammer that all girls use on perverts or not.

From me: Good thing he doesn't have a freaking black hole in his hand. XD

No mistakes? Phew...

The ".hack" games? Oh, I've heard of those...but there are so many of them, which prompts me to ignore that game totally even if it wasn't anime first. Sorry. (And pretty much every single game is a twisted variation of the previous one, at least that's what I think...)

Don't know about that fic at all.

If I EVER give Zelda that, DianaGohan would hate me forever (because according to her, she doesn't like the "pissed girl bashing boy" thingy that much...rather backwards). Thanks.

From Rellymaster: Yup, these villains were definitely retarded. It takes one (Axem Red) to make many (the other villains). Lucky (or unlucky) for the Smashers, they didn't actually have to fight them.
So, are the Koopa Bros. finally gone for good? If I were one of them, I would be traumatized for life.
Flirty Chris? Interesting personality. Nice job with those lines.
I think those villains took the wrong pills. That factory is full of too much disgusting stuff.

From me: Well, they fought them all at the end, didn't they?

...Why do I think those brothers are going to come back...

See the real deal in the game...but then again, here it could be worse. XD

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: You have finals this week? i'm taking mine around the first week of june. and about grammar help, i'll send it to you through p-mail.
hmm, i'll try, i'm insane whenever i have too much stuff in my head. i'm trying a new avatar picture, does it give a feeling of calmness and serenity to you? also, which two party members did you leave behind in star ocean 3? and a WTF clue to that dungeon,
esoht ohw evah neeb tfel dniheb era ruoy seof ot thgif, i'm staying true to Wakka of Okami, and referencing to a part in Megaman Battle Network 4, Red Sun. Speaking of Megaman, you're using zennys for a bet, does that mean the Megaman arc is coming soon!? and personal updates, i bought tales of symphonia for the gamecube! and i also put a down payment on the kingdom hearts coming out on the Nintendo DS! well, let's get to my review, shall we?
Excellent! the fighting scenes were very exciting and funny when the part arosed. pichu's final smash is interesting and that was CLEVER about snake's name backwards, i havn't even thought about that! both me and Ellenaj agree on that. the fight with mack is interesting, and yet there's still one more weapon beast after him, and luigi needs a serious lesson in courage! i can't beleive that the previous star keepers are fighting amogst themselves when they should be fighting the smashers!(they don't even do petty fighs like that!) chris flirting with Peach,(*shudders*) that is very disturbing. what are you doing TALKING about the sick pairings!? umm, good luck with summer school, anyone who teases you about that is f(bleep) up. and will you be using the super dramatic music soon, like "KK2FM Rage Awakened","KK2 Sinister Showdown" and "KK2 Desire For All That Is Lost"? well, happy typing!

From me: I don't know which way to look at the new avatar at all...

I'm having Roger all the time! Screw Albel...but Nel rocks.

...OH NO...

The Zennys part was just a joke, not an actual hint to anything. Sorry.

Thank my Mexican Club Nintendo magazine for telling me about Ekans.

(Second person who agrees with me about the romance part...)

It's okay... (And I mean it's NOT okay...)

Er...not, not that music...

Thanks. : )

From JSandders: Okay, I have absolutely little time to review this chapter since me and my band are constantly practicing for a gig we're doing a week from now called "Arts in the Park". This will be quick and be in list form, so don't hate me:

-Pichu's Final Smash was perfect.
-Mack's Shadow-Bugs-induced version kicks butt.
-The Star Spirit Keepers are dumb as doorknobs.
-You could have done better with the flirting parts (I could help you if you need, just PM me or reply to this review if so).
-Can't wait for the Smithy fight.

That will be all. Now, I have to get back to banging on the drums. I'm using my friend's computer right now and resting is done. Keep on typing, Wiiboychris!

From me: Oh, good luck with that (or did that happen already?) band in the park.

No, I won't hate you. I understand (but you can do it again if you want).

-Thanks.
-Ouch.
-Yes.
-No, thanks.
-It's just this chapter and then... "squeals"

I will. Don't worry. ; )

So, we're back again with the chapters! I hope I can the next one soon before Friday... I could blame summer school, but it's actually very good.

And before we continue, be aware that you'll see small fights between the Smashers and the worker (but the last worker will make you laugh for a bit).

(For today's avatar, we have the sweet and caring Ms. Accord, from Puyo Pop Fever).

...

Oh, right! The chapter!

Read, enjoy and review! : D

Chapter 127: Quadruple Blockade Before Smithy

Exor
Factory

Chrono Trigger - Derelict Factory

Conveyor belts, Machine Mades being carried away, cranes moving around, walls of moving chains, steel floors leading to a straight path that later turned ways with darkness that disappeared if someone walked through it, tubes that leaded to nowhere and...

Those were the things that made the entire factory.

The Smashers walked further inside as they watched the conveyor belts moving with the machines they saw. All the Machine Mades resembled Mack, Bowyer, Yaridovich and the Axem Rangers.

"They move, move and move..." Kirby commented with a yawn. "Can't this be a cake factory?"

"I'd have wished that for a long time ago if that was even possible." Geno said.

"Aw, we have a lot in common." Kirby said smiling as Geno frowned at this.

"...Why don't we destroy the conveyor belts?" Mario asked as he stopped to see one.

"Because we can't," Geno turned to him. "Try moving your hand to it and you'll see why. Do it slowly though."

Mario got confused and moved his hand forward. The red plumber began to feel static building up in the air as he moved his hand forward before he pulled it back and looked at the doll. "There's a force field of static?"

Geno nodded. "That static is dangerous. If you step on the conveyor belts, you'd receive at least 100,000 volts."

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"B-because I learned it the hard way..." said a black Ness that had his hair sticking out from the bach hole of his cap.

"He stepped on the conveyor belt?" Jigglypuff asked.

"No. He tried to touch one and he got himself zapped like this." Mallow said.

"Well, that'll help us to stay away from them." Link said.

Ness glared at him. "Thank you for your compassion towards me. It was very lovely," he said sarcastically.

"Idiot..." Snake muttered.

"Lucario," Chris began (as he decided to use the Hacker job) while Lucario was glowing with aura as they walked further inside the complex. "Do you sense something?"

"Definitely," Lucario said as he stopped glowing. "There are enemies using Shadow Bugs inside this factory. I managed to locate Smithy as well."

Mallow stopped and looked at Lucario. "Wow, for real?"

"However..." Lucario continued. "He is very far away from here. The path is easy to follow, but on the way to him, there are the enemies I mentioned."

"And how far away?" Geno asked.

"...I don't know. I barely made contact with his aura."

"Great," Sonic frowned. "A long walk before we get there... Unless..." he smirked.

"Oh no!" Chris held Sonic from his shoulders to stop him from running away. "We won't let you go alone!"

"But I'm sure I can beat those guys alone!" Sonic protested.

"They have Shadow Bugs, remember?" Link reminded him. "Stronger, probably faster, you know."

"So?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "It's not like we have to fight a single enemy in a group."

"If you haven't noticed, we always have problems when we're alone against an enemy with the Shadow Bugs. Fighting with a group is easier to defeat the enemy." Pikachu explained.

Ness waved his cap to clean it from the soot. "Don't think we defeated those guys a moment ago because we were a few fighting some of them. We also worked together to eliminate them."

"Bah, I'm sure the guy waiting for us isn't that hard to beat. Before he blinks, I'll be already pushing him to all directions." Sonic said as he pointed at himself with his thumb...

...Showing his fangs to EVERYONE accidentally.

"A-AAAAAAAH!!!" Peach screamed as she stood behind a surprised Mario.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Y-you have fangs, freaking fangs!" Ness said a little shocked.

"T-they want to bite me. They want to!" Pichu said as he trembled close to Pikachu.

Sonic got confused at first...before he finally noticed his mistake and quickly closed his mouth to cover the fangs. "I-I can explain it! D-don't panic!"

"Nobody is panicking except you." Fox pointed out.

"...I-if you're wondering why I have fangs is because..." Sonic tried to think of something to make them believe something else. "...B-because...t-that's how us hedgehogs grow! Yeah!"

"...Hedgehogs do that?" Kirby asked confused.

"Y-yeah!" Sonic lied. "F-first, we grow out fangs in our teeth. T-they normally stay forever, see?" he opened his mouth...

...And there weren't any fangs in there anymore.

"...Hedgehog...you don't have those fangs with you anymore." Snake pointed out.

"...Huh?" Sonic raised an eyebrow and he touched his teeth. "...T-they're gone! Phew..."

"...But didn't you say the could last forever?" Lucas asked.

"I-I didn't say that!"

"Grrrrrrr..." Lucario growled at Sonic.

"Lucario, don't start hating people now." Chris said with a frown.

"I can tell he is saying...huh?" Lucario blinked confused. "...What's this?"

"What is what?" Ike asked.

"...I can't see if he's lying or not... His mind is...hard to read for some reason..."

Sonic sweated even more before he came up with another lie. "Y-you don't know, do you? H-hedgehogs have very complex minds that can't be read, even by the most talented mind readers like you!" Sonic said with a chuckle.

"..." Lucario looked confused at this and shrugged. "Whatever is keeping me from your mind...it must be very sick and disturbing."

"...Yeah?" Sonic responded with a worried smile.

"...I should've known..." Lucario said.

Sonic sighed. "...So, you see...I'm perfectly normal..."

"...Suuuuuuure you are..." Mallow said before the group continued their path.

The hedgehog looked down at his ankles and the fur disappeared from them. "(...I know you did this to me. I can listen to your laughs.)" Sonic thought with a glare.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You should've seen the look on your face! Priceless! Marvelous! Absolutely priceless and marvelous again, and at the same time!" Dark Super Sonic laughed madly.

"(So, jackass, what's your next preview?)"

Dark Super Sonic stopped laughing and he chuckled evilly with a smirk. "Since you're anxious to see what it is, I'll give it out to you right now."

The sound of fingers snapping was heard and Sonic noticed something swelling behind his back. He looked back and saw fur sprouting out his tail. "(W-what the?!)"

"Like that tail? More lunar power and you should rival the vulpine's tail. Heheheheheh..."

"(Oh, great. Now how am I going to cover this little patch of fur?)" Sonic thought.

"It's small, stupid. Not so appropriate and good enough for me as a preview, but meh, it looks good."

"(For me, it doesn't.)"

"You'll like the day, or should I say night? Yeah, night. You'll like the night when the full transformation comes...then the real fun will start..." he snickered evilly.

"(...Go away, now.)"

"Hmph. Fine, I'll leave you alone for now. Hope to see more lies to keep me amused." Dark Super Sonic said before he disappeared.

Sonic looked down worried before Pikachu walked to him and gave him a note.

You think you can fool me with your lies? You're not that good at lying. Heheheheheh...

Sonic's eyes widened in utter fury as he ripped the note in pieces. Then, he looked at Pikachu. "You didn't see who gave you that either?!" Sonic asked.

"I was looking at the cranes... They looked fun to me." Pikachu said with a chuckle.

"..." Sonic narrowed his eyes at him. "...You're the one then!"

"What?"

"You're the one who knows!"

"K-knows what?"

"Don't lie to me. I know you're the one!"

Pikachu backed away from the hedgehog who looked down at him with a glare, showing his teeth as he breathed out air. "S-Sonic, you're creeping me out now..."

"You're not going to escape..." Sonic said between breaths. "I'll prevent you from leaking out what you know..."

"..." Pikachu turned his back to Sonic to start running back at the group. However, he forgot Sonic was faster and thus, he got grabbed with an embrace.

Back with the group...

"So," Twink began as yellow lights with buzzing sounds came from behind them that lasted around 2 seconds. "What're we going to do if we find a minion?"

"Since we don't have much time left..." Geno trailed off as an electrocuted Sonic joined the group while a pissed Pikachu walked besides Pichu, Lucas and Ness. "We'll do this strategy."

"I'm all ears." Ike said.

"Listen well," Geno began as they walked. "There's a good chance that we'll see those 4 again."

"Those 4?" Mario repeated.

"You know, those armor guys and that ninja that didn't look like the "Factory Chief" or something like that." Mallow said.

"Oh," Peach nodded. "I remember them."

"Correct," Geno nodded. "If we find them on the way to Smithy, we'll have to separate and drop 4 of us behind to fight that opponent."

"Then..." Pichu thought for a moment. "4 by 4 equals 16. There are 4 of them and 4 of us will fight one of them so the others can proceed further inside?"

"Exactly," Geno nodded again. "However, we're 17 without counting Twink as a fighter. I decided to grab a team of my own. That team is going to be of 5."

"Who?" Mario asked.

"You, me, Peach, Mallow..." he looked at Chris. "And you."

"W-why me?"

"There's a good chance that they'll use the Shadow Bugs as Lucario pointed out before. You possess the power to use the Star Spirits, which you need to use more as a reminder, who will help out by using Peach Beam."

"...Ooooooohh..." Chris nodded. "You're worried about the last person out of the 4."

"Because I know the last guy gave us more trouble than the other 3," Mallow rolled his eyes. "Seriously, those guys were pushovers. I wonder why they decided to fight though."

"But Shadow Bugs can increase their powers greatly," Link said. "And since we're running out of time, separating to defeat all of them faster would be the best way."

"A-as long as they're not that deadly..." Lucas gulped.

"Pfft, they're as deadly as the fly in my room." Mallow said.

"Flies aren't deadly." Ness said.

"You tell me! That fly in my room is very sneaky!"

Peach seemed to be the only one interested of this. "Why?"

"Oh, thanks for asking. That fly sneaks out from its hiding spot and buzzes around my room all the night. It even sneaks inside my nostrils!"

"E-eww..." Peach said disgusted.

"I know!" Mallow said. "It's even worse when it sneaks inside my ears and goes directly to my brai-"

Twink blocked his mouth. "W-we're sure we don't want to listen to that disgus-I mean, story right now."

"Oh well," Mallow smiled a little. "I'm planning to make it my little pet."

"Catch it first." Jigglypuff rolled her eyes.

"I know! First, I need to zap it with Thunderbolt! But my mom says no magic inside the castle or else I'll get grounded."

The group couldn't stop the cloud prince (questionable rank) from telling them about his life in the clouds, and inside the castle. They didn't have the idea to stop him from talking because that would mean that he would tell more stories about his daily life as a prince.

Until Geno gave up, that is.

"Mallow, stop." Geno said with a little bit of irritation in his voice.

"Sure do. I was getting tired." Mallow said. "...Which name should I use, though?"

"I'll give you one." Snake said.

"Wow! You're going to suggest me one from all the people? You're amazing, dude! So, which name is that?"

"Mr. Shut-your-mouth-before-a-grenade-gets-inside-your-mouth McMouth."

"Hmm, that's a pretty long name. Any other, shorter suggestions?" Mallow asked interested.

"E-er, before irony occurs, p-please, stop." Marth interrupted.

"You're not funny, dude!" Mallow said angrily as he pouted a little. "Not-funny!"

On the distance, a very long distance, there was Clerk watching the Machine Mades being carried out on the conveyor belts.

"..." he looked up to the ceiling covered in darkness. "Soon, all the machines will be deployed out...or are they being already deployed? Damn, I need to keep on with the schedule."

A Mad Mallet (a hammer with red hands) was right besides him with another Mad Mallet on the left side of Clerk. "Sir, production is going pretty well!"

"The machines are already taking care of the distribution," the other Mad Mallet nodded. "Pretty soon, the city will be destroyed."

"Hmm...very well," Clerk nodded. "We can't fail to Smithy now. After Bowyer, Yaridovich and the Axem Rangers were defeated by Mario's group, we can't afford to make another mistake."

"Yeah," the first Mad Mallet nodded. "Lord Smithy was mad after he got the word."

"Words sure spread so fast in this place..." Clerk sighed. "Well, we have cameras outside so that's why."

"Oh," the second Mad Mallet started. "What are we going to do once they arrive here?"

"Fight and prevent them from getting to Smithy," Clerk explained. "After so many defeats at their hands, I'm not going to let myself down and fall down in battle. Last time they were able to push me out of the way, but this time...it will be different."

"We shall follow you!" the first Mad Adder said. "You shall get Smithy's acceptation!"

"Thanks," Clerk nodded as he folded his hands. "Good minions at my favor to fight. You guys should be powerful with the Shadow Bugs."

"Shadow what?"

"...You don't have them?"

"I-I'm afraid to say this but...Tabuu didn't give more after he gave out to whoever he thought they would use them to get a good result in battles. W-we were inferior compared to you so..."

"...I should've expected that," Clerk shook his head. "They're probably going to tear you up to pieces the moment I start fighting."

The Mad Mallets looked down.

"...I'll try to do something about it, though."

They looked up with happy expressions.

"...They're coming!" the second Mad Mallet said. "I can hear their footsteps!"

"O-okay, don't panic... You can do this..." the first Mad Mallet said as he inhaled and exhaled air. "I-I have you, right?"

"...Of course..." Clerk shook his head.

The hammers and the yellow armored person turned to the south, where they saw the Smashers coming from the darkness of the way to the entrance of the factory. Upon finding Clerk, most of them glared at him.

"So, you've arrived as we expected." Clerk said with a nod.

"Would you stop all these machines from being deployed?" Mallow asked.

"Weird, you spoke to me in that same harsh tone a long time ago. Bad nostalgia to me."

"Bad memory to me as well. Now, would you step aside?"

"No," Clerk said. "I can't allow any of you to go further inside and bother Smithy. Last time that happened, it didn't end so well like Smithy told me."

"It was very pleasant to me," Geno said as he slowly reached for his right hand. "Knowing that he was no longer living was good news to all of us."

"Too bad for you that he is alive," Clerk said. "And he will live forever."

"No," Geno shook his head. "Today, he will fall to his so deserved demise."

"Ha! How ironic you say that!" Clerk laughed a little. "I was thinking the same..." he took out his axe. "But all of you instead."

"Yeah, we pretty much knew that from the very beginning..." Pikachu said with a bored look.

"Everyone really wants us dead: from the Sentret of the fourth tree..." Jigglypuff trailed off.

"To the trash can with flies." Ness said.

Everyone (even the hammers and Clerk) stared at him.

"...Trash can?" Ike asked.

"W-well, what else can I say?" Ness looked at them. "My enemies weren't exactly like yours at all! I had mushrooms with legs, angry cockroaches, hippies, angry fat women with purses, trees that somehow had hatred in their hearts and burned themselves to hurt me after being defeated, signposts, dinosaurs with goofy faces and above everything else, the creepy crows that live near my house!"

"...Your world is the only world out there that is so..." Snake began.

"...I know, stupid," Ness frowned. "Nobody here understands the pain I had to go through..."

"I-I understand very well." Lucas said.

"...Oh, right, you're the boy of the future where mermaids where chimeras...and they were males that kissed you in order to have more oxygen inside the water."

Lucas blushed. "A-at least you didn't fight an opera ghost..."

"...What kind of guys are you?" Clerk asked before he shook his head. "Still, that doesn't matter...or even was important at all. what I'm trying to say is that none of you shall go further!"

"ATTACK!" the Mad Mallets yelled and lunged at the Smashers.

With an Aura Sphere and a slam of Ike's sword, they were already soaring through the air before crashing to the chains, where they vanished.

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against a Stronger Monster

"...So much for them," Clerk said before he shook his head. "Whatever!" Shadow Bugs began to cover himself before he glowed with a dark aura. "It's time to take the non-machines out of the way!"

"Go!" Link yelled as he, Ike, Ness and Lucas stood in front of the group. "We'll take care of him for now."

"We'll catch up once we're done with this guy." Ness said as he took out his baseball bat.

Lucas gulped. "E-embrace yourself...embrace yourself..."

"Fools!" Dark Clerk yelled. "What part of "you can't pass" didn't you understand well?"

"Run!" Mallow yelled as everyone else except the previous 4 Smashers ran towards Dark Clerk.

"Stop right there!" Dark Clerk yelled as he raised his axe.

"Now, Ike!" Geno yelled.

The group that wanted to cross the armored executive separated by the sides and a fast Ike (using Quick Draw) slashed Dark Clerk across his helmet. The yellow armor enemy was pushed back as the group passed by the sides and ran to the darkness of the factory. "Y-you little..."

"Say your prayers!" Link yelled from above as he prepared to stab his sword on Dark Clerk.

Dark Clerk moved out of the way as Link got his sword stuck in the floor before taking it out. The 4 stood next to each other and faced Dark Clerk.

"Only 4 of you?" Dark Clerk frowned. "Seriously, why not fight with everyone? Then you might have a chance to defeat me."

"We're wasting so much time here so that's why we need to finish this as soon as possible." Ness explained.

"Rushing things only lead to desperate and unwanted results," Dark Clerk pointed his axe at them. "Well, I'm a proof myself! You know why?"

"B-because we're 4 instead of 18?"

"What about me?!" Twink was heard yelling.

Dark Clerk ignored the Star Kid. "Correct. Now, prepare yourselve-"

"Hold on!" Chris interrupted as he, Geno, Peach and Twink stepped out from the darkness. The World Traveler joined his hands to pray and call the Star Spirits. Peach also did the same, giving glitters that went to the Star Kid, who floated up and smiled. Twink went up where the Star Spirits appeared around him and looked at Dark Clerk.

"Hmm, let's try out this!" Muskular said with a grin.

The Star Spirits and Twink flew above Dark Clerk and he looked up.

"What's this? Are you letting yourselves be captured agai-" Dark Clerk was interrupted as a pink beam rained down on him and between the Star Spirits. Stars flew everywhere and the beam stopped, causing every Star Spirit to disappear while Twink went back to Geno.

"It worked?" Geno asked.

"...AAAHHH!!!" Clerk yelled. "T-the Shadow Bugs are gone! B-but how?!"

"Geno!" Eldstar called from behind the doll, who turned and looked at the star. "I have bad news."

"What?" Geno asked.

"The beam succeeded to take out the Shadow Bugs, but unfortunately, it will only last for a while before they come back again."

"Now that is bad..." Geno muttered. "Everyone! Take him out before it's too late!"

"Peach! Hurry!" Chris called to Peach who nodded and ran away together with him.

"Try to defeat him before the bugs return!" Geno yelled before he rushed back to the others.

"Grrr!" Clerk grunted angrily. "Letting myself fall down like this is just..."

"Get him!" Ness yelled. "PK Thunder!" he yelled again to cast an electric sphere that went behind his back and made him blast away to the factory worker, who got electrocuted severely as Ness collided and transferred all the electricity to him.

"Uah!" Clerk yelled in pain. "If you want it this way, then I'll have to increase my strength and defense... Vigor Up!"

A red light came from below him and increased his strength.

"Valo-"

"Stop right there!" Link yelled as he shot an arrow to Clerk's helmet. The armored enemy stopped his spell and sidestepped out of the way.

And to Lucas with a branch.

"A branch?" Clerk asked before he chuckled. "What is a branch going to do to me?"

"T-this!" Lucas swung hard the tip of the branch right to the helmet's right side. Clerk felt a strong pain going through his head as Lucas rushed to him and waved a trail of PK energy that pushed him back.

"How can a kid like you posses-" Clerk was interrupted as a baseball bat hit his helmet, causing even more pain to his head. "What the hell?! Why are everyday-items so ridiculously strong?!"

"Because they're different than that," Ness explained. "PK Fire!"

A small bolt erupted into a small tower of flames that trapped Clerk inside for a small moment, enough time for Ike to use a fully charged Quick Draw to push the armored enemy away to the conveyor belt.

"I-I should've raised my defense first..." Clerk said as he panted heavily. "...Huh?" the same black aura of the Shadow Bugs came back to him and he laughed maniacally. "Ah, the surge of evil power!... But my energies were depleted for almost a quarter... Well, let's see if you can resist my full power..."

"Darn it, it didn't last that long..." Link put a a stronger grip on his sword's hilt. "Let's be more careful now!"

Back with the other group...

The Smashers were running as fast as they could after they turned left (but Sonic wasn't allowed to run at his maximum speed because Chris told him so).

"Please!" Sonic pleaded. "Lemme go first!"

"For the last time, no!" Geno said irritated. "We must go all together and not endanger someone else's life!"

"For crying out loud, I can keep the next guy busy!"

"Hedgehog," Snake began. "You better shut up or else I'll blow that mouth of yours."

"Like you could do that to me."

Snake took out a grenade. "Want to see?"

"Stop!" Geno grabbed the grenade and tossed it to the abyss where it exploded. "We have to accelerate and defeat Smithy as soon as we can!"

Sonic grinned and began to accelerate.

"And when I mean we, I mean everyone without exceptions."

Sonic made a bored face and slowed down to keep up with the others, which he totally hated.

"...Why is your tai-" Kirby was interrupted as Sonic covered his own tail in frustration.

Many meters away from them, there was Manager (the blue-armored worker) standing between 2 Pounders (hammers with blue hands) in front of a conveyor belt.

"Yes, yes..." Manager nodded. "Production last time was horrible, but now, it's almost perfect."

"Yeah," the first Pounder nodded. "It was a total disaster the last time."

"And look at this!" the second Pounder made a happy expression. "It's totally improved and much better!"

"It's a shame, though," Manager shook his head. "We're here to destroy a city and not conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Seeing all these machines deployed only to be...well, you know, it's a real shame."

"But what can we do?" the first Pounder asked. "These are orders from Lord Smithy and Tabuu."

"MOSTLY Tabuu," the other Pounder added.

"See the bright side," Manager said as he looked at them. "Once we're done with the city, Lord Smithy will transfer Exor to another location, where we can do whatever we want."

"Lord Smithy is thankful for Tabuu because he brought all of us back to life, right?"

"Yes," Manager said. "We couldn't be more thankful than achieving one of Tabuu's main goals."

"Oh," the first Pounder began. "Say, are those guys coming here?"

"The cameras outside the factory told us so," Manager explained. "Smithy was enraged that the machines...began to destroy each other out of stupidity, along with those henchmen of Bowser."

"Meh, I blame the resurrection part," the second Pounder said. "That part surely didn't bring their brains back."

"...Maybe," Manager said with a sigh. "And it looks like they're coming here... I suppose they passed through Clerk. Do you 2 have Shadow Bugs?"

A moment of silence soon fell and both Pounders looked at each other.

"...I thought as much," Manager frowned and turned to the conveyor belt. "Let's wait for them."

And from the darkness of the east, the Smashers came out and most of them glared at Clerk.

"Huh? You're here?" Manager asked.

"Are you in charge of these sick machines?" Snake asked.

"Partly. I only command one portion of it," he took out his axe. "But that won't matter at all."

"...You want to fight that fast?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Well, what else can I say?" Manager asked. "I must get rid of the added garbage from the factory. Smithy has a very strict policy of keeping this place clean...and you don't WANT to know how hard is to keep this place clean without a sanitary system."

"...That was really uncalled for." Pikachu said.

"I agree..." Kirby shrugged.

"...Er..." the Pounders looked at each other. "...DIE!"

They lunged at them to slam their heads at them.

And Pikachu used Thunder to impact a heavy bolt that pushed the 2 hammers off the floor and to the abyss.

"...Henchmen these days become more and more useless, I swear..." Manager shook his head before he called forth his Shadow Bugs. "Now, shall we begin?"

"Time to shine." Jigglypuff said as she, Pikachu, (a terrified) Pichu and Kirby stood in front of the group.

"That's the best you have? They're so small and I don't want to waste my time with little tykes."

"T-tykes?" Pichu repeated before he forced a glared. "I-I'm not a tyke!"

"Last time I checked, you were 1 year old." Pikachu pointed out.

Pichu got closer to him. "S-shut up, don't let them know my age... I-it's so embarrassing... But aren't you 3?"

"...This conversation never happened, okay?" Pikachu dropped his eyebrows hallway. Pichu nodded.

"Okay, you guys can go on ahead," Pikachu said as he gathered sparks and looked at Dark Manager. "That guy needs to be zapped so badly."

"And SLAPPED around." Jigglypuff said.

"A-and zapped around even more." Pichu added.

"And EATEN." Kirby added.

The previous 3 looked at him.

"Understand the way of the food and you'll gain ultimate victory." Kirby explained.

"...Um...yeah..." Sonic nodded before the rest of the Smashers rushed at Dark Manager.

"Wait, weren't the tykes going to fight me? Oh well, I guess I can have even more fun with all of you instea-" Dark Manager was interrupted.

"Star Spirits! Heed my call!" Chris chanted as the Star Spirits and Twink went quickly over Dark Manager while Peach prayed to give more power to the stars, causing a pink beam from above to rain down the armored enemy. After the Star Spirits left and Twink went to Geno, Manager had no Shadow Bugs anymore.

"W-what's the meaning of this foolishness?!" Manager asked as he looked at himself.

"Out of the way!" Mario yelled as he jumped to Manager and pushed his feet forward to push the armored enemy to the floor, letting the Smashers to run at the sides and further inside the factory. "Good luck!" Mario yelled as they disappeared into the darkness.

"U-ugh..." Manager got up and noticed Pikachu running at him. "Why do I have to deal with tykes?"

"Cheer the young folk, jackass!" Pikachu yelled before he gathered sparks and latched on Manager. Pikachu proceeded to discharge a lot of electricity to his body.

"Get off me!" Manager yelled as he grabbed Pikachu and tossed him away. However, he later was slapped across the helmet by Jigglypuff.

"Wait, did it really hurt you?" Jigglypuff asked as she landed on the floor.

"Of course it did!" Manager yelled.

"...And they said a slap couldn't hurt steel."

"Taste it."

"Wha-AH!" Jigglypuff was slashed across the face by Manager's axe.

"H-here I come!" Pichu yelled as he closed his eyes, gathered electricity and used a fully charged Skull Bash to be blasted off to Manager's helmet, which he came into contact and dealt a fair amount of damage. "Oww..." Pichu rubbed his head after he landed back.

"Spritz Bomb!" Manager yelled to call forth 5 small bombs that rained down on Pichu and exploded around him, sending the Electric Pokémon away by 3 feet.

"Hu-uah!" Kirby lunged at Manager with a swinging hammer that pushed the armored enemy back by some meters. Kirby proceeded to take out a blade which he pulled to the air and slammed it on the floor to create a shockwave (using Final Cutter) that went through Manager, cutting him to deal more damage.

"Ugh..." Manager stood up. "It seems I underestimated all of you for a bit..."

The 4 stood next to each other and glared at him. "Feeling remorse?" Pikachu asked.

"Not at all," Manager shook his head. "I'd feel remorse if you were to die..." the Shadow Bugs came back to him. "Which is not that far from happening."

"O-oh no..." Pichu gulped. "H-he has the Shadow Bugs back..."

"...So?" Jigglypuff asked as she pouted a little. "He's going down. We can make him step aside or surrender."

"Ha, that's overconfidence," Dark Manager chuckled. "Death awaits you all if you're overconfident."

"It always does, every single day..." the 4 said with bored tones before Dark Manager rushed at them.

And back again with the others...

"We only have 10, counting me as well," Geno said as they ran forward through the darkness that disappeared once they made a step ahead. "This means the next one will have to fight 5 of us."

"So, in other words," Mario began. "The team that went to Smithy plus Chris will face the last blockade?"

"Exactly," Geno looked at Chris. "We need the Star Spirits' powers to subdue the Shadow Bugs."

Chris gulped. "A-are you sure Lucario can come?"

"I originally planned that," Geno said. "But, since we're the 5, excluding Bowser, who fought against the Smithy Clan before, then it should be easier for us to fight the last one because we remember exactly how to fight them all."

"...Wait, that meant Peach fought as well?" Chris looked at Peach.

"I...had my mind into it back then...not like this time, though..." Peach said.

"I'll support you." Mario said with a nod.

"...Thank you, Mario."

"(Oh, that simpleness between those 2... I like that so much...)" Chris thought with a happy expression.

Many meters away from them...

"If those 2 didn't stop Mario's group from coming here, then Smithy is seriously going to put a heavy punishment...to all of us, including me." Director (the red armored worker) said as he stood between 2 Poundettes (hammers with pink hands).

"Smithy's punishments are so scary..." the first Poundette shuddered. "R-remember the last time someone broke one of the unlimited amount of chains here?"

"H-he made us all make sure that every single inch of the factory was ordered, clean and shiny...even down below...where nobody returns..." the second Poundette shrugged.

"Good thing you get to do that," Director said. "He only seems to apply those punishments to you."

"W-well, that isn't pleasant, that's for sure..."

"...In any case," Director looked to the south. "Our main concern now is Mario's group... Funny, it's the same thing that happened a long time ago."

"And Mario looks the same," the second Poundette added.

"Nobody cares about how messed up the aging of some people around the world is," Director said. "What matters now is..." he folded his arms. "...Them."

The Poundettes stared at the darkness.

"...Um...sir...nothing's happening," the first Poundette said.

"...Weird, I thought they were going to arrive here."

"But what about Clerk, Manager and our fellow mallet brothers who are vigorously fighting all of them as we speak?"

Too bad the Poundettes didn't know the fate of the other hammers at all.

"I'd admit that those 2 could hold their ground...but not for so long." Director said.

"You have the Shadow Bugs, don't you?"

"Yes, and you?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Oh, every dialog meant the faces of each other changing back and forth.

"...Nope," the second Poundette said in shame.

"...Nice knowing you." Director said.

"...Hey!" the Poundettes called out angrily as Director laughed.

"Hahahahahahahaha...seriously, nice knowing you."

"B-but how can you be so senseless?"

And Director slammed his axe on him.

"S-SISTER!" the second Poundette yelled as the first one vanished.

"Dare to insult me and this will happen to you as well."

"B-but she was my sister!"

"...Aren't you supposed to be genderless?"

"Well, we want to be what we want to be! You can't tell us what should we be, can you?"

"...I guess..."

"That's just cruel!"

"And that voice, that isn't hard to recognize, should be from..." Director trailed off as he turned and found the 10 Smashers (and Twink) glaring at him.

"The last dude, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Actually, he's the third out of the 4." Mallow pointed out.

"...You're here." Director said.

"S-stop this! Y-you need to stop the machines!" Peach yelled.

"Why would I?"

"B-because this is...wrong..."

"...I knew there was going to be an answer like that."

"That isn't going to work for guys like him," Snake said with a frown. "Or the future ones for that matter..."

"But it's always nice to ask," Peach said. "What if someone has a change of heart?"

"Peach," Chris began. "In all my years as a student and gamer, I have heard the same speech from 500 or more bosses, and guess what happens after that is said?"

"...They give in?"

"...You wish. They're set to kill you for good...and the eternity...before they get defeated by you," he whispered the last part.

Peach looked very concerned.

She looked at Fox.

"It happens all the time." Fox said simply.

She looked at Marth.

"That happens so many times." Marth said simply.

She looked at Sonic.

"Need I say more?" Sonic asked simply.

She looked at Twink.

"...How am I suppose to know that again?" Twink asked simply.

Peach sighed in disappointment.

"Stop," Director said. "I suppose the rest of your pesky group is fighting Clerk and Manager, right?"

"And my fellow brothers, right?" the second Poundette asked.

"Your brothers? You mean the hammers? They were taken out the moment they lunged at us." Mallow said.

"...I'm brotherless and sisterless!"

Snake tossed a grenade to the Poundette. The Poundette exploded.

"...You know, that was somewhat cruel." Mario said.

"And this whole conspiracy to destroy the city isn't cruel?" Snake asked.

"Yes, but what about the hammer?"

"Didn't the others try to kill us?" Sonic asked. "This one should have had the same thing in mind, right?"

"...I guess so..."

"Buuuuuuuuuuurned!" Mallow said with a chuckle.

"Well," Director began. "It's time to take out all of you."

"How? By fighting?" Peach asked.

"Has somebody EVER told you that you ask so many obvious questions?"

All of the Smashers, except her, raised their hands.

"Good enough," Director said. "And now," Shadow Bugs began to cover his body before he glowed in a dark aura and raised his axe. "I hope you enjoy this last minute of your lives."

"Heck no," Snake said as he tossed a flash grenade to the armored worker. "Cover your eyes."

Everybody blocked their eyes and a sudden flash came out from the grenade, making Director go blind.

"Go now!" Fox yelled as he, Snake, Lucario, Marth and Sonic stepped forward. "We'll take this guy down!"

"Move!" Geno yelled as the remaining Smashers ran by Dark Director's sides and to the darkness.

"..." Lucario looked down.

Out of a cue, Chris came back and rubbed his Pokémon's head. Lucario blinked surprised and growled happily.

"Motivated?" Chris asked as he folded his arms.

"A lot." Lucario nodded.

"Good luck. And please, defeat him."

"Thank you."

And with that, the World Traveler ran behind the blinded worker and prayed as Peach and Twink came from behind to call forth the Star Spirits, who, along with Twink, used Peach Beam on Dark Director to suppress the Shadow Bugs for a moment before the Star Spirits, the 2 Smashers and Twink left.

"Ugh," Director shook his head. "Now this is a problem... Well, it doesn't matter. With or without Shadow Bugs," he looked at the 5. "It's the same."

"Or, really?" Sonic asked before he used a Homing Attack to slam himself on Director, who simply slashed the curled hedgehog across to push him back. "Hey!"

"Fools, I'm not like Clerk or Manager at all. I went ahead and studied every single move by each Machine Made you destroyed."

"Then it's good we're 5 against 1." Marth said.

"You may have an advantage... Valor Up!" a blue light came from below him that increased his defense. "Vigor Up!" then a red light came after the blue light vanished, increasing his strength as well. "This could make now a dif-"

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

Director didn't notice that Lucario sneaked from behind him and tossed him to the air with one hand. The Aura Pokémon shot an Aura Sphere that exploded upon contact with the worker. since he was still in the air, Snake double jumped and used several kicks in the air to push the worker even further away, where Marth rushed at that point and thrust his sword upwards to deal even more damage, as Fox jumped to Director and used a drill kick to push him down, where the vulpine split his legs to make Director trip, but he rolled backwards and stood up.

"T-that was a good tactic..." Director panted. "G-good thing I raised my defense to resist every single hit..."

"But next time, let me cooperate..." Sonic muttered in annoyance, being the one who didn't do that much.

And the Shadow Bugs came back.

"Damn," Fox muttered. "The effect didn't last long."

"See the bright side," Marth began. "If we can continue with those tactics, then this battle isn't far to be over."

"Ha, you wish," Dark Director said. "Spritz Bomb!"

Instead of a small rain of bombs, huge bombs rained around everyone and made a huge explosion that pulled every single Smasher to the air, before Dark Director jumped to Marth and slammed his axe above his chest, causing a severe pain that made Marth yell before he was slammed down to the floor as Dark Director landed back and while the others managed to flip in the air to land on their feet.

"N-now it's dangerous..." Marth muttered weakly as Lucario offered to help him to get up.

"I'm quite interested about the outcome of this fight," Dark Director said. "Shall we?"

"Bring it on," Sonic said with a grin. "I bet under that helmet is a dumb guy."

"And I bet you tend to say irrational things."

"Ha! That's not true, right, guys?"

The others shook their heads.

"...Which side are you with again?" Sonic asked with an irritated look.

"Now, let me test that combined strength of yours!" Dark Director yelled as he charged at them.

And back again with Geno's group...

"...Huh?" Mallow spotted a door at the end of the long floor. "Hey, there's a door over there."

"I think the last worker is behind it," Mario said as they stopped in front of the door. "And after the worker..."

"...Smithy..." Geno muttered before he shook his head. "Well...we're almost there, and to get there, we need to get rid of the last one behind this door."

"But..." Peach looked down. "Wasn't the last one not alone?"

"Hmm..." Chris wondered. "I remember that he had a machine..."

"Oh no..." Geno looked at the door. "...Either way, we must press on."

"For Eldstar's sake." Twink said as Geno twisted the doorknob and walked to the other side with the others.

"A little adjustment here, another adjustment over there..."

A voice was heard before it stopped from talking and walked to them in front of a machine. The figure was the Factory Chief (the black ninja) who seemed to be busy before they arrived.

"Ha! Nice to see you here!" the Factory Chief said.

"Step aside and let us go to Smithy." Geno said with a glare.

"Oh, that won't do at all," he shook his head before hitting the machine behind him. "Remember this beauty?"

"...Not that bothersome machine again..."

"That's right," the Factory Chief said with a chuckle. "I modified it so it can harness the power of the Shadow Bugs into...well, power, of course, to let all of you taste it!"

"Depends!" Twink interrupted.

"Why?"

"What flavor is it?"

"Pain flavor!"

"That had to be the worst line ever...and it didn't make sense to me at all." Chris said with an ashamed look.

"Oh, what do you know, bothersome kid?"

"Why can't anybody tell here that I'm 16?!"

"You look like a 10-year old to me. No offense...wait, with offense."

"Oh, that is IT!" Chris took out a gun. "I'm so going to shut that...mouthless...mouth of yours for insulting me!"

The Factory Chief laughed. "Oh, no! Look at him! He's holding a gun! What are you going to do? Shoot a single shot?"

"SCATTER BEAM!" Chris yelled as the single shot that he shot divided into 7 rays that hit the Factory Chief and pulled him to the air (although only 3 rays managed to hit him due to Chris being far away).

The Factory Chief landed on the floor on his feet and grunted. "Well, it seems I underestimated you...kid."

"SCATTER BEAM!"

And the chief was once again pushed to the air, where he flipped and landed back.

"Kid."

"SCATTER BEAM!"

After the landing...

"Kid."

"SCATTER BEAM!"

This "lovely" moment kept going on for about 5 times until the Factory Chief and even Geno decided to stop it.

"STOP!" the Factory Chief and Geno yelled in unison.

"Geno!" Twink yelled angrily. "What did you stop him?!"

"Because this pointless conversation was delaying our time!" Geno said.

"But he was killing him before he started the machine!"

"..." Geno facepalmed.

"Grrr!" the Factory Chief grunted. "Thank you so much for the little info," he walked to the machine (that was called Gun yolk) and he made it glow in the Shadow Bugs' purple aura. "And now, face Dark Gun Yolk!"

"Hellooooooooooooooooo, world!"

Everyone made confused looks after they heard a weird voice coming from somewhere.

The Factory Chief tilted his head. "Strange, I don't remember a voice like that here...unless..." he looked up to Dark Gun Yolk's pit of energy.

From the small pit, a protoplasm head (that was still merged with the energy inside the machine) with some fangs came out. Peach screamed and hid behind a surprised Mallow.

"W-what the heck?" Mallow asked.

"Oh, hello there!" the protoplasm said with a smile, as its fangs stuck out. "The name's Gun Yolk! But look at this dark energy! I should be Dark Gun Yolk or something but call me Yolk for short because, well, some people like me more with that short name instead!"

"...This didn't happen in the game at all..." Chris muttered as he stared at it.

"H-hey, who do you think you are?" the Factory Chief asked and Yolk looked at him, his smile still intact. "What ARE you for that matter?"

"Stupid, I'm Gun Yolk! Or Yolk for short..." it chuckled. "I'm the energy itself that helps to move this machine! And boy, it feels gooooooooooooooooooooood..."

"...You're quite the buffoon here..."

"Thanks!" Yolk said dumbly. "I like to be the humorist guy around here and I do a hard and good work at it!"

"Will you attack them?!" the Factory Chief asked as he pointed at the Smashers.

"...Er...sure thing!" Yolk said with a nod. "Heck, I was bored to be inside this!"

"...Here it comes..." Geno said utterly confused.

"ATTACK!" the Factory Chief yelled.

Yolk turned at him. "Oh, so you're the bossy type?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Yolk chuckle and leaned his head to the chief, who then screamed in extreme pain before he vanished before their eyes. The Smashers made shocked looks as Yolk grinned and chuckled. "Aw, much, MUCH better..."

"W-why did you do that?" Peach asked, utterly horrified to see a machine...protoplasm thing rebelling against its owner.

"Because, little missy, I like to work alone!" Yolk said with a chuckle. "It was good for him to make me, but that doesn't give him the right to boss me around, while I'm the one with the muscle here! Isn't that right?"

"...Yes?" Mario responded.

"See? I'm a genius!" Yolk said happily. "But! Since I'm between Lord Smithy's path and yours, I should incinerate you all to ashes!"

"...But didn't you say you didn't like to be bossed around? Smithy is...technically your boss and high-superior, right?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, he has the right to control over all the machines here, including pretty me, boy!" Yolk said happily. "However, I must burn you all or kill you, or actually both things at the same time since I like to mess around with people like you!"

Twink's eyes were swirls at this time. "You already made me feel confused..."

"Haha!" Yolk laughed. "Thanks! Now, let me begin the process of incineration before we get sidetracked! ELECTROSHOCK!"

Sparks rained down the Smashers before a dome of electricity was created and damaged every single one of them. All of them yelled in pain as the electricity was raised to the air and disappeared, leaving them in pain as some of them panted.

"T-that didn't burn me..." Mallow said.

"See? I'm full of awesome!" Yolk said happily. "Breaker Beam time, baby!"

A beam that looked like a sandstorm came out from the machine and it struck everyone, receiving a moderate amount of damage that also caused everyone to gain the Fear status.

Peach embraced herself. "I-I-I don't feel so good..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for not mentioning this earlier!" Kawashima said. "The Fear status also halves defense! Chris, you must heal everyone here before that sick machine strikes back!"

"G-g-good idea..." Chris shuddered as he changed to his Musician job. "C-c-c-c-come, joyful tune..."

An enthusiastic atmosphere fell on the field and all the Smashers were healed and cured a little of their status ailments, causing a big relief to Geno himself.

"Thanks..." Geno nodded before they all focused on Yolk. "That thing is more irritating than it used to be."

"I call for a good smashing." Mallow said as he cracked his fingers.

"Peach, I'm sorry to tell you this...but you need to fight with us or else..." Mario trailed off.

"...I'll fight," Peach nodded before she forced a glare on Yolk. "I became a little irritated by that...thing and I want to do something about it..." she took out a frying pan and everyone stared at her. "...W-why are you staring at me like that?"

"Why a freaking frying pan from all weapons?" Mallow asked.

"If I remember, wasn't that her best weapon?" Mario asked.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" Yolk yelled. "T-that frying pan of death of the last time! Alright, time to get serious! UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" he tried to focus on something...before someone in there farted...or Yolk was the one in truth. "Ah, feels better..."

"Eww..." Peach said, pinching her nose.

"It was better when that thing wasn't alive..." Geno frowned. "To think something like that is pushing us to the edge..."

"Oh, you know what?" Yolk asked happily.

"What?"

"Mega Drain that doesn't drain at all!" Yolk yelled as he circled a pink beam above and slashed all of them with it, causing everyone to back away. "It didn't drain, did it?"

"W-who does he think he is? Popo?" Chris asked as he wiped his face.

"I-I like Popo better..." Twink said weakly.

"You better hide somewhere before that thing strikes." Geno suggested.

"G-good idea..."

"...Oh, wait a minute!" Chris said as he stood up and prayed to call forth the Star Spirits together with Peach, who forced Twink to go above Yolk, who looked up and prepared to shoot fire at the stars.

"Oh no, you don't!" Geno yelled as he used Geno Beam to push the protoplasm back.

"Dude! That hurts!" Yolk said with a smile before a pink beam covered the whole machine and got rid of the Shadow Bugs. "Aw, man! Now I don't have any muscles!" he said before the Star Spirits quickly disappeared while Twink hid somewhere.

"You never had muscles to begin with." Mario said.

"Well, I like to think I have, what of it?" Yolk asked as Mario and Geno lunged at him. "Hmm, battle time, I guess. Let's do this thing all together like a big, dysfunctional family, people!"

Back with the swordsmen and kids with psychic powers...

Dark Clerk tried to slash Lucas, but the PK kid gasped and tripped, evading the attack by accident as he quickly went forward and slammed a small amount of his energy on Dark Clerk, who was pushed back a little. "D-don't try to slash me!" Lucas pleaded.

"Cheer up!" Rope Snake said as he appeared from his pocket. "That guy is holding back until he shows you his real power!"

"Y-you're supposed to cheer me, not scare me with the future!" Lucas said trembling.

"Whoops," Rope Snake said before turning at Dark Clerk. "Uh-oh!" he hid inside his pocket and Lucas yelled once Dark Clerk tried to slash him.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Lucas screamed and covered his face.

"Not so fast!" Link stood between the 2 and tried to block the attack with his shield. Lucas looked up and saw his opportunity to run back. "U-ugh..." Link struggled. "T-there's no way you're going to kill me..."

"That is the plan!" Dark Clerk yelled as he pushed Link's shield away and slashed him across his chest. Link yelled in pain before Dark Clerk charged at him to slam his shoulder and push the Hero of Twilight away. the worker quickly put his axe above to shield himself from Ike's sword. "Well, well, well, another swordsman."

"What of it?" Ike asked as he tried to slam his axe on Dark Clerk.

"They're so many of them out there. And now, I have to fight 2 who can't even push my axe away! How do you think you can resist my attacks?"

Ike smiled a little. "Because I'm not alone."

"What?"

A green flash got behind Dark Clerk...

And it created a big explosion that made Dark Clerk yell in pain.

Ness smiled a little and circled his glowing finger around. "Ha, I like to use this attack more than the others."

"Poison!" Dark Clerk yelled.

As ridiculous as it sounded, everyone got instantly poisoned as their bodies turned an unusual color...

"Why is my body slightly pink?" Link asked and Ness tried not to laugh, but then he coughed after the poison began to hurt him.

"Since my powers have been increased..." Dark Clerk began. "My magic has been increased as well. I was only able to poison one enemy, but now, I can poison anyone!"

Ike coughed. "Still, this won't stop us from attacking..."

"I'll accelerate your fates though!" Dark Clerk yelled as he rushed at Ike and tried to slam down his axe on him, but the swordsman put his sword above and across to stop the attack. The poison in Ike was slowly depleting his energies as he twitched. "Does it hurt? The poison, I mean?"

Ike twitched and he lowered his guard, causing Dark Clerk to slam his axe on him. "UGH!" Ike twitched in pain.

"Now..." Dark Clerk raised his axe. "Time to finish you..."

"PK FREEZE!!!" Lucas yelled loudly in hopes for the ice mist to stop Dark Clerk. For the Pk kid's fortune, the ice mist exploded and froze Dark Clerk inside an icicle that was flung above.

"C'mon, boy!" Rope Snake cheered. "You have to do it!"

Lucas made a serious look and ran underneath the icicle, which prompted him to concentrate his PK energy into a huge blast coming from his hands.

"Ha!" Dark Clerk got out from the icicle and looked down below. "Don't try to make me even more mad!"

"HA!" Lucas released a big blast of PK energy that collided with Dark Clerk and pushed him even further above as he yelled in pain.

"Vigor Up!" Dark Clerk yelled to increase his strength. "Down to the earth!" he yelled as he tossed a spinning axe to Lucas, who gasped and rolled backwards to evade the impact that made a crack on the floor.

"Attack!" Link said to Ness who nodded and created an sphere of electricity out of his head to Dark Clerk while Link prepared a barrage of arrows that went towards the yellow worker.

"Ugh!" Dark Clerk twitched as the projectiles came in contact. Before he noticed, a spinning sword slashed him several times before Ike jumped to it and slammed it on Dark Clerk, making him crash on the floor before pushing Ike out of the way and reach for his axe.

Then, the poison struck everyone at the same time.

"My chance!" Dark Clerk yelled as he used an upward slash to push Ike to the air, before Dark Clerk tossed his axe at the immobilized swordsman to deal severe pain on him.

Ike yelled loudly before he fell on the floor and laid down in pain while Dark Clerk went to recover his axe to slam it on the swordsman. "Now, you die!" Dark Clerk yelled as he held his axe above him and tried to slam it down on Ike.

"Yiah!" Lucas came from behind Dark Clerk, completely covered with electricity that crossed Dark Clerk and electrocuted him several times before he was pushed away from Ike. Lucas landed on the floor and panted a little. "I-I made it in time..."

"That's my boy!" Rope Snake said.

"I-I'm my dad's boy, not yours..."

"It's was an expression, geez..."

"T-thanks..." Ike thanked Lucas as he stood up.

"Fools!" Dark Clerk yelled as he rushed at them with his axe ready. "W-what?!" he noticed a yo-yo's string wrapping up himself to stop him from running at the 2.

"Pull!" Ness said to Link (since both were grabbing the yo-yo's string) and pulled the yo-yo back with all their forces to make Dark Clerk spin uncontrollably before he stopped and walked in circles.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy did I leeeeeeeeeeeeeeet myseeeeeeeeeeelf get intoooooooooooo this?" Dark Clerk asked dazzled.

"N-Ness!" Lucas yelled as he ran to Ness. "W-we have to combine attacks!"

"H-hey..." Ike walked to Link. "W-why don't we do the same as well?"

Ness twitched after the poison struck them again. "M-maybe that's the best thing to do..."

Link closed his right eye after the poison struck him and nodded. "I-I agree..."

Dark Clerk twirled his head around as small Shysters were jumping around his head. "Nooooooooo more fooooooolishnesssssss... Blu-ru-ru!" he shook his head to push the Shysters away. "Bleh... Y-you fools, don't try to provoke me even mo-"

"NOW!" Ness and Lucas yelled in unison as both used PK Flash and PK Freeze respectively, merging their attacks together so they became a green mist that went quickly to Dark Clerk and burst out into many icicles that froze the worker and pushed him to the air, with Link shooting multiple arrows to start a combination with Ike...

But the poison was getting even worse.

"U-u-ugh..." Ike fell on his left knee and the others looked at him.

"Ike!" Link said as he knelt to Ike. "Are you feeling okay?"

"N-n-not at all..." Ike coughed. "T-the poison...i-i-it's trying to kill me first..."

"That's because you got severely injured by his axe...wait, that's it!" Ness said. "His axe is his only method and weapon to attack us! We have to get rid of the axe!"

They heard ice shattering and Dark Clerk grunted furiously at them.

Lucas gasped. "B-but how do we take it off?!"

"Think of something..." Ness muttered to himself.

Dark Clerk was rushing at the group with axe ready.

"W-we have to run!" Lucas yelled.

"And what about Ike?" Link asked as Ike coughed even more.

Dark Clerk was getting closer.

"Dammit!" Ness snapped out. "I don't have any ideas!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Clerk yelled loudly as he continued to get closer to them.

"OH MY GOD! WE HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING!" Rope Snake yelled as he came out from Lucas's pocket.

"..." the others (especially Ness) stared at him.

"...Why is the kid who looks ALMOST like Lucas staring at me like that?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Clerk continued his barbaric yell as he was about to slash them all with his axe.

Ness made a serious look, got struck by poison again, but it wasn't enough to stop him because he grabbed Rope Snake's tail (Rope Snake: NOT THERE!), glared at Dark Clerk, yelled loudly and slammed Rope Snake's mouth on the small space of the axe's handle and pulled the axe to the right with the remaining forces he had left, closed his eyes (or clenched them) and yelled "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Music stops

An impacting sound was heard and everyone blinked in confusion.

"..." Ness was looking down after he pulled the axe to the right. The PK kid felt that Rope Snake was trembling like if he was in fear. He looked up and gasped after he saw what he did...

The axe didn't leave Dark Clerk...

Instead of pulling it away to the abyss across the conveyor belt...

It crashed right into Dark Clerk's helmet, causing a huge crack on it as the worker dropped the small shield he had on his left hand (that he didn't use at all), dropped his little arms below and was kept on his feet since Rope Snake turned white of fear after being so close to the crack.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-" Rope Snake stammered as he let the axe's handle go off from his mouth, causing Dark Clerk's diseased body to fall back and lay down defeated as his helmet turned to the right and didn't move afterward.

Ness was utterly speechless after he did that action by accident on Dark Clerk that even caused everyone to stay in surprise and shock.

Lucas went over to Ness to get Rope Snake back. "...N-Ness..." Lucas began and Ness slowly turned his head at him. "...Y-you''re a freaking psycho killer!"

"P-psycho-killer?!" Ness asked shocked (without eve realizing that Lucas said freaking) as Lucas pointed at Dark Clerk, whose Shadow Bugs left his body and vanished. "...Oh my...7 Melodies..."

"..." Link noticed that their bodies were turning back to normal after they defeated Clerk, making the poison disappear. "...That was...good?"

"I-I think so..." Ike coughed. "G-good and quick thinking..."

"..." Ness was utterly shocked after he saw what he did.

"...Ness?" Link waved a hand in front of Ness. "Hello?"

"..."

"..." Lucas grabbed Ness's hand and looked at the swordsmen. "U-um...s-should we reunite with the others now?"

"...Right..." Link said as he put Ike's right arm above his shoulders to help him walk. "I-if we can, maybe we could ask either Mallow or Chris to heal all of us..."

Lucas nodded and they started the long way to the others, while the blond PK kid managed to make the shocked Ness walk to his direction while he grabbed his hand.

Back to Pikachu's group...

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - Battle! Team Galactic

"Jiiiiiiglyyyyypu-oww!" Jigglypuff rolled backwards after she was interrupted by Dark Manager's axe.

"When you want to sing, you're asking to be hurt!" Pikachu yelled.

"Oh, what do you know?" Jigglypuff asked irritated.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" Dark Manager asked as he blocked Kirby's hammer with his axe and pushed the puffball away. "I need to make sure that the machines don't come out as trash."

"But the machines here do all the work and you just watch with folded arms! They come out like those retards we defeated a moment ago!" Pikachu explained.

"Fool, I need to work here and you must get out," Dark Manager said as a Yaridovich's Machine Made that was on the top of Mack's pogo-sword passed above the conveyor belt and behind the worker. Pikachu sweatdropped after Dark manager ignored the weird machine. "If one of those machines ever get out, Smithy will apply a severe punishment for not following his designs."

"...You just ignored one."

"..." Dark Manager looked back and frowned. "See? This is why I need t-"

"YAH!" Pichu lunged at Dark Manager's back and latched on it so he could discharge electricity. Once he started, Dark Manager grunted in pain as his body became electrocuted.

Kirby made a serious expression and lunged at the worker to swing his hammer 2 sides to his helmet. Dark Manager grunted as he was pushed away, also letting Pichu land back to the floor where he shook his head from discharging electricity without stopping.

"Well, if I can't damage any of you with my axe, then I must resort to magic," Dark Manager said before he held out a hand to the dark ceiling. "Spritz Bomb!"

Many bombs appeared from the ceiling and the Smashers looked up just to gasp in shock. They tried to run away but there was no enough space to do what they wanted to do before the bombs fell on them, causing the young Smashers to be pushed to the air.

"Spritz Bomb!" Dark Manager yelled again as more bombs came out and exploded on the 4. "Spritz Bomb!" and again. "Spritz Bomb!" and again. "Spritz Bomb!" and again. "Spritz Bomb!" and again. "Spritz Bomb!"

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" everyone yelled annoyed before the explosions caused them to crash down to the floor, where they moaned in pain.

"Aw, the sound of moans of pain... Too bad they're still here because that means you're not dead." Dark Manager said.

"W-why is it that everyone out there wants us dead?" Jigglypuff asked as she panted. "We're the good guys here! We're fighting for a noble cause!"

"Because it's backwards. We're the good guys here while you're the bad guys."

"T-that's not true. You want to cause utter annihilation, destruction, damnation, total dictatorship and worst of all, you want to kill pretty me, which is even worse than all the other things combined!"

"Ha, that's what you think. We don't want to destroy anything here. What makes you think that?" Dark Manager asked.

"Because the fact you're creating countless and countless of machines, and the fact that you're planning to destroy the city ever since you came here?" Kirby asked as he tilted his head.

"...Spritz Bomb!"

"AW, PLEASE!" they groaned out loud as more bombs came out from the ceiling and exploded when they fell down on them. The Pokémon and Kirby were panting heavily after the attack.

"I-I need food..." Kirby groaned.

"W-we need to defeat him..." Pikachu said as he stood up and glared at Dark Manager. "B-but there must be something we're missing..."

"..." Pichu took out a Beam Sword.

"...W-where did you get that?"

"F-from our inventory..." Pichu said.

"We have one?" Pikachu asked before he took out a Bumper. "O-oh, Chris surely bought that ability to let us use the items as we-"

"Spritz Bo-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU FUZZBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG!!!" Pikachu yelled enraged as he tossed the Bumper at a high speed, colliding right into Dark Manager's helmet, causing him to be blasted off across the conveyor belt, where he fell between the rising chains into the deep dark abyss.

"...W-wait, what just happened?" Kirby asked confused.

Pikachu's jaw dropped. "...Oh my Arceus...w-we did it! The frickin' bomb bastard is gone! GONE! Oh my goodness, we did it!" Pikachu ran to the Bumper and tried to hug it, but he was pushed away. "I don't care if you bump me. I frickin' love you!"

"Phew..." Jigglypuff sat down. "T-that was close... I thought I was going to die..."

"B-but I wanted to use this!" Pichu said angrily. "I-I didn't get the chance to swing this sword across his face!"

"Pichu," Pikachu stared at him with a bored look as the chains from across the conveyor moved. "In this world, when you have the chance to push the guy who keeps calling bombs to explode you, you must use it before you regret it."

"..." Kirby tried to tell Pikachu to look behind him.

"Besides, see the bright side!" Pikachu said smiling as a familiar figure rose up from the abyss by grabbing the rising chains. "We're alive, so that's good, right?"

"No."

"..." Pikachu made a miffed look before someone jumped and landed right behind him. "...The bastard is still alive, isn't he..." he asked with a bored tone and turned his back around. "...Aw, shi-"

"Begone," Dark Manager said as he pushed Pikachu with his axe and to the trio. "That was incredibly...unexpected. But I warn you."

"W-what?" Kirby asked with a gulp.

"That attack made me more furious than I was before."

"...You don't look like you're furious to me." Jigglypuff said.

"Spritz Bomb!"

"CAN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING ELSE THAN THAT?!" Pikachu asked as he sat up before he saw the bombs coming at them. "You know what? Screw it!"

Once a bomb was going to explode right to him, he used his tail to hit and direct it to Dark Manager, who gasped before the bomb exploded on his helmet. "UGH!"

"It's time for a little change here!" Pikachu yelled as the others were pushed to the air by the other bombs, prompting them to crash on the floor.

However, they were able to see what Pikachu did.

"Y-you hit a bomb to him?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...Oh, now I see what we have to do..." Pikachu said.

"...A-ha, it's so simple now!"

"...Yes, it's easy..." Pichu nodded.

"...Hmm..." Kirby wondered.

"Spritz Bomb!" Dark Manager called out.

"Everyone, there they come!" Pikachu alerted everyone who nodded and ran at different sides.

"Ha!" Pichu swung the sword to make them go to Dark Manager, Pikachu hit another with his tail, Jigglypuff slapped one and Kirby jumped to 3 and kicked them all to the worker as well.

"Fools!" Dark Manager yelled as he raised his shield and blocked all the explosions. "Don't think I didn't see what did there. I'm going to keep casting my own attack to see which one of us gets tired so I can deliver the last blow! Spritz Bomb!"

"W-what?" Pichu asked worried as more bombs came from the ceiling.

"Ha! I'm not getting tired after I found this tactic!" Pikachu yelled as he prepared to hit another bomb. "There's no way I'm going to let a fuzzbag like you get away with it that easily!"

"Neither am I," Dark Manager as he raised his shield. "I dare you all to explode another bomb on me!"

The group tried their best to hit all the bombs back to Dark Manager, who kept his shield raised to stop all the bombs from trespassing his defense.

This moment kept repeating again and again as each one tried not to get tired by their tactics against the other. The young Smashers were getting exhausted by their misfortune and Dark Manager seemed to be almost unscathed.

"Hahahahaha!" Dark Manager laughed. "You can't pass my shield at all, can you?" he asked.

"(N-no...)" Jigglypuff was getting tired after she slapped a bomb. "(I-I can't lose now... Not when everyone else is doing their best... I-If I drop out...)" she closed her eyes. "(What else can we use?... W-wait...m-maybe...b-but that virtual guy isn't here to tell us if that's ready or not... W-well...I don't have anything else to lose...)"

"K-keep going!" Pikachu yelled as he hit another bomb. "W-we're almost there!"

"Why won't you stop?!" Dark Manager asked irritated. "The same result is going to keep happening if you don't think of something else!... Huh?" he noticed a small crack on his shield. "...W-wait..."

"Hu-uah!!!" Kirby yelled as he hit a bomb with a strong swing of his hammer, causing it to rocket right to Dark Manager's shield. The worker grunted and tried to block himself, but when the bomb collided with the shield, it broke into pieces.

"W-what?!" Dark Manager asked in shock as his shield broke apart. "N-no!"

"Yes! Attack him!" Pichu yelled as they hit the last bombs back to Dark Manager. The worker gasped once around 7 bombs were tossed right to his face and exploded when they came into contact. If attacking the young Smashers in close range wasn't effective, and the fact that his shield was broken and thus his bombs could explode on him, what else was Dark Manager able to do?

Kirby noticed that Dark Manager was looking down. "...We did it?"

"...SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB! SPRITZ BOMB!!!" Dark Manager kept yelling out to call forth an insane amount of bombs that began to cover the whole ceiling. The young Smashers looked up and gasped.

"B-but why is he calling so many of them?" Pichu asked as he trembled.

"P-probably because that the only way to get rid of us is by sacrificing himself as well!" Pikachu explained as the bombs began to fall down. "AW, WE'RE SCREWED NOW!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Manager raised his axe and ran towards Kirby, who gasped and made a shocked look.

"KIRBY! RUN!" Pichu yelled.

"B-but to where?!" Kirby asked as he looked up at the bombs falling down.

"Dammit! We can't step on the conveyor belts without getting zapped!" Pikachu yelled.

"SAY YOUR LAST PRAYERS, PUFFBALL!!!" Dark Manager yelled as he lunged at Kirby to slam down his axe.

Kirby blocked his head to resist the attack, but then, Jigglypuff sidestepped in front of him and twirled. "(It's now or never...) Your diva singer, is right here!"

A rainbow aura covered Jigglypuff as a force came out as well, pushing the falling Dark Manager to the floor.

"Y-YOU!!!" Dark Manager yelled enraged as he charged at Jigglypuff.

"(Time to sing an enthusiastic so-)" Jigglypuff's thoughts were interrupted as she inhaled air...and began to grow big in size. The young Smashers made confused looks at Jigglypuff's Final Smash before they decided to get out of the way of the growing Pokémon as they screamed for their lives.

"HA!!!" Dark Manager slammed his axe on the puffball Pokémon, but when the axe came in contact with Jigglypuff's body, it was instantly flung away to the pipes where it became stuck on a very high height. Dar Manager gasped when he crashed on the floor, his back facing a conveyor belt as Jigglypuff kept growing. "S-stop! I don't allow people to grow like this between the conveyor belts!" Dark Manager demanded as he backed away to the conveyor belt.

He was being crushed by Jigglypuff's size until...

Music stops

"JIGLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

PUSH!

A mighty force pushed Dark Manager towards the pipes (all the bombs that were going to fall on them were also pushed everywhere, creating destruction to all the pipes), where he yelled in extreme pain as his helmet destroyed and passed every single pipe that was on his way to the dark abyss underneath the platform. The worker's yells faded once the sounds of the conveyor belts and the cranes moving around replaced the yells of agony.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh..." Jigglypuff panted before she shrunk back to her normal size and laid down on the floor.

"...W-what the heck was that?" Pikachu asked as they walked to Jigglypuff.

"I-if that was my Final Smash, which doesn't involves me singing at all..." Jigglypuff said weakly. "...I-I'm so going to put a heavy lawsuit on Master Hand..."

"...W-well, it didn't look like that should be your Final Smash to me..." Kirby admitted.

Jigglypuff looked at Kirby and smiled a little. "Aw, thank you for understanding me..."

Pichu helped Jigglypuff to get up and she shook to clean herself from the soot of the bombs' explosions as the others did the same.

"W-whew..." Pichu sighed. "H-how do we know we beat him for real?"

"Didn't you notice his yell?" Pikachu asked. "That yell surely was the one that meant "Oh noez! My energy depleted totally! I can't move anymore! Save me!" for sure."

"...You need to get more creative with that." Kirby said.

"...What th-that didn't sound like you at all."

"Maybe the bombs affected his mind..." Jigglypuff said before she noticed several bombs around the floor. "YEEEEEEEEH!" she jumped to Pikachu's arms. "BOMBS! MORE OF THEM! GET RID OF THEM! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MORE!"

Kirby made a serious look and opened his mouth to eat all the bombs, turning him into Bomb Kirby, with the usual light blue hat on his head. "Aw, much better..." Bomb Kirby said as he rubbed his stomach.

A record scratched and Pichu tilted his head. "W-wait, if Kirby inhaled all those bombs in 1 second..."

"...You've got to be kidding me..." Pikachu looked at Bomb Kirby. "You were the solution for the bombs and you DIDN'T say anything about it? What's wrong with you?! Answer me!"

"Hey," Bomb Kirby juggled 2 bombs that weren't ignited. "Your panic was distracting me."

"W-what?! Oh, that's it you little smarty-pinky-puffball, get over here!" Pikachu tried to punch Bomb Kirby, but Jigglypuff and Pichu grabbed him from his back. "Let me go! I need to teach him a lesson! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"Hmm." Bomb Kirby simply said as he looked to the south.

And from the darkness, Lucas, Ness, Ike and Link appeared. Link ran to the 4 and looked at the pissed Pikachu trying to reach Bomb Kirby. "What's wrong with him?" Link asked.

"No idea." Bomb Kirby said as he kept the bombs.

"Oh, well. Hey, you guys defeated someone here like us did?"

"Yes!" Pichu yelled as he tried to restrain Pikachu.

"NOT THANKS TO HIM!" Pikachu yelled angrily to Bomb Kirby.

"...Huh?" Ness regained control. "W-what's happening?"

"Wait, there's no time for bickerings now!" Link said as he grabbed Pikachu and put him above his shoulder. "We have to go forward and see if the others are fine!"

"Can't we sit down and rest?" Jigglypuff asked as she sat down. "I'm tired..."

"No." Ness said.

"...This sucks."

And with that, the 8 began to run to the north...

"Can you put me down, though? It's not comfortable up here!" Pikachu yelled to Link.

Back with Sonic's group...

Star Ocean: Till the End of time - Bitter Dance

"Hmph, bring it," Dark Director taunted Sonic. "With a little bit of information about your attacks, the battle will be easier."

"Ha, you wish," Sonic said before he curled up and used a Homing Attack that tried to crash on Dark Director, but the worker simply slashed the attack with his axe to make Sonic turn back to normal before Dark Director charged at him with his shield to push him away. "Tsk..." Sonic landed on his feet anf glared at the worker.

"See now?" Dark Director asked. "Calculating where the right spot to stop your attacks is can result in cancelling your attacks."

"I'll use my speed then!" Sonic said as he ran quickly to deliver a punch on Dark Director, who simply raised his shield to make the hedgehog collide with it to later use his axe and cut Sonic across the face. "AAAAAHH!!!"

"Begone," Dark Director said as he pushed Sonic away and raised his shield up to block a kick. "I have eyes everywhere, you know."

"Don'r try to make me angry," Fox said with a glare before he flipped back to the floor and rushed to the worker. "It's going to be even worse for you if you do that to me."

"We shall see," Dark Director said as he blocked a flurry of kicks from Fox with his shield. The worker quickly sidestepped out of the way from a grenade that went to the vulpine and exploded. "Trying to double team me isn't a good option either."

"Would you think before tossing those things at me?" Fox asked irritated to Snake.

"I don't listen to foxes," Snake replied as he noticed Dark Director running at him. "Well, come over here."

"Vigor Up!" Dark Director yelled to raise his strength even more. Snake narrowed his eyes and backstepped from a slam of the axe before running back to Dark Director and tackle him down. The soldier quickly put a mine inside his helmet and got off from him. "What a dirty trick..."

"Now." Snake said simply as he clicked the button.

"Wait, don't!" Marth yelled before an explosion that came from Snake's back pushed him away. "He tossed the mine back at you when you didn't look!"

"U-ugh, but in just 2 seconds without looking at him? That's...stupid..." Snake frowned.

"I'm a force to be reckoned with, am I not?" Dark Director asked before he put his shield behind him to stop an Aura Sphere. "When I'm distracted is when I'm focused."

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted angrily as he ran to Dark Director.

The worker noticed Marth running from the other side. "And here we go again... THERE!" Dark Director yelled as he slashed the air with his axe, stopping Sonic from doing a surprise attack above him. The worker then focused back on the 2 who tried to attack by the sides. "Now, what do I do here..."

"GUUUUUUAAAAARRRRRGGH!!!" Lucario raised his right hand, glowing with aura to slam it on Dark Director.

"Useful..." Dark Director muttered as he waited for the 2 to reach him. When they did, Dark Director quickly tossed away his axe to Snake, who dodged it, but only for the worker to grab Lucario's glowing hand and slam it on Marth, causing severe pain on the Altean who yelled while Lucario gasped as he pulled back his palm.

"I-I'm sorry..." Lucario apologized. "H-he was too fast for me..."

"N-no hard feelings..." Marth said as he closed his right eye in pain.

"UGH!" Lucario was pushed to the floor by Dark Director's shoulder.

"Time to get even more serious than before. Spritz Bomb!" Dark Director yelled as he called forth many huge bombs that rained down on the field and exploded upon contact, causing everyone to be pushed to the air before crashing down to the floor. "Maybe fighting 5 at the same time isn't that hard at all..."

"S-shut up..." Sonic muttered as he coughed before curling up to use Spin Dash.

Dark Director ran to his axe and grabbed it. "The same thing? You're not original," he taunted as Sonic was about to crash into him.

The worker slammed down his axe...on the floor because the hedgehog turned ways to the side and quickly slammed himself into Dark Director, who grunted in pain as the hedgehog flipped in the air and landed back on the floor with a satisfactory grin. "Who's getting hurt now?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not going to get defeated or be enraged that easily either..." he put his shield behind his back to block another kick from Fox. "You and your repetitive kicks. Don't you have anything else than that?"

"I do," Fox said as he grinned, pulled back his fists and began to get covered in flames before rocketing himself to the worker with fire, burning Dark Director for a bit as he crossed him. "Aaaaaand that's not all either." Fox said as he used Fox Illusion to slash the worker as the vulpine crossed him again, only with a longer range.

"Well, that was original for change..." Dark Director panted a little. "Valor up!" he yelled to increase his defense. However, just as he was raising his defense, a strong palm slammed down on his helmet and he grunted in pain before he saw Lucario landing in front of him. "T-the dog learned a new trick..."

"Don't dare to call me a dog." Lucario said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Funny, that kid gave the first impression to me."

"He is NOT a kid!" Lucario yelled enraged as he rushed at Dark Director with Force Palm ready.

"Lucario, don't let him get to you!" Marth yelled as he ran besides Lucario.

"If he insults Chris, he is insulting me as well and that's not good for his life!" Lucario yelled.

"But with rage you won't accomplish anything. He will dodge every single attack if you're enraged." Marth said as he stopped Lucario.

"...Maybe you're right..." Lucario said as he looked down. "UGH!" an axe struck his shoulder and he grunted in pain, showing his fangs completely before Dark Director pushed him with his shoulder, grabbed back the axe and slashed Marth across his chest to push him away.

"When are you going to understand?" Dark Director asked. "Getting distracted for a small time can result in a severe punishment... A punishment that I'll personally create," he turned his back to see an explosion from a small missile pushing him back. "...A-And I need to stay more focused as well..."

"Heh," Snake kept his Nikita and grinned (a small grin that was just .5cm of height...) "Losing your focus?"

"Not at all," Dark Director shook his head. "I hope this ends sooner so I can get appreciation from Smithy."

Snake started to run at him. "Too bad," he used a fast tackle to push the employee away. Snake then pulled out a mortar, that, for some reason, pushed Dark Director to the air and got attacked by a raising grenade that exploded right into his armor before Snake took out an RPG-7 rocket launcher to shoot down a strong missile to Dark Director's feet, causing strong damage that made Dark Director yell a little in pain. "Feel my annoyance to you."

"H-has somebody ever told you that you carry a lot of things without actually carrying them around?" Dark Director asked as he panted.

"I blame the hand for that one." Snake said.

"I blame the whole universe we got in." Mei Ling said over the codec.

"Heh, we think the same. Got a Japanese haiku for that?"

"Hmm, let me see...oh, look out!"

"That doesn't sound like a haiku to m-AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Snake yelled after Dark Director slammed his axe on his back, causing a severe pain going through Snake's back.

"Away," Dark Director pushed Snake away by using his shield. "Get during conversations again and you'll be sorry."

Marth quickly ran to the worker and stood in front of him.

"...That's all? You're pathetic..." Dark Director frowned as he prepared to slash Marth, but the Altean quickly put his sword across him to let it receive the slash before retaliating with a strong slash (while Marth said something in Japanese) on Dark Director, who grunted in pain. "I-I should've expected that as well..."

Marth proceeded to use Dancing Blade to deal 4 hits on Dark Manager before finishing with a strong thrust that pushed the worker away.

"G-good..." Dark Director panted. "T-this fight is even more interesting than the one I had with Mario..."

"I'm glad to hear that," Marth said before he narrowed his eyes as he put his sword in front of him. "But I'll more glad once I stop hearing that voice of yours."

"Isn't this funny? We think the same of each other," Dark Director chuckled. "(I can hear that hedgehog coming right behind me...) THERE!" he turned his back and slashed the air, but he was able to catch a glimpse of a blue blur flipping sideways before Sonic used Spin Dash to push the enemy to the air before splitting his legs in the air and hit him with an upward kick from down below.

"Now, attack him!" Sonic yelled as he landed on the floor with his head. "O-oww..."

"This is for that insult a moment ago!" Lucario yelled (making Marth facepalm with a frown) as he jumped straight to Dark Director and delivered a series of punches and kicks charged with aura. "GUUUU-AAAARGGH!!!" he slammed down a Force Palm on Dark Director's armor, making him go down to collide with the floor.

"(Now's my chance...)" Fox thought as he narrowed his eyes and quickly ran underneath Dark Director to do a fast backflip kick (calculating the spot where he would slide a little beforehand) to push him back to the air. "Let's keep him in the air!"

"My turn." Snake said as he jumped towards Dark Director and slammed his right kick on Dark Director's helmet. The worker yelled loudly in pain as he was pushed down to the floor where he crashed but rolled backwards to stood up.

"W-well, i-it seems things aren't going well for me anymore..." Dark Director coughed. "B-but that doesn't mean I'll escape either... SPRITZ BOMB!"

Many huge bombs rained down from the ceiling and the 5 looked up.

"Isn't there a way to evade all those bombs?" Sonic asked.

"Unless..." Snake muttered before he took out his missile launcher and shot a small missile that went to the bombs and exploded upon contact, causing a chain reaction that made every single bomb explode above them. "So that's the trick..."

"Ugh," Dark Director grunted. "And throughout the whole battle, you all grew a little wiser...enough wiser to find the flaw in my attacks..."

Fox saw his scouter beeping. "The Over Limit is ready."

"Now I'll show yo-" Sonic was just about to use his Final Smash but the Chaos Emeralds simply appeared and dropped to the floor. "Aw, man! Not this again!"

The vulpine looked back at his scouter. "What a relief. It's still intact..."

"GUUUUUUUUAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Lucario roared loudly as the rainbow aura covered his body with a force pushing Dark Director back for a bit. "I'll make sure you die a fast death." Lucario said as he narrowed his glowing eyes.

Dark Director simply prepared.

"GuuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Lucario joined his hands together before shoving them forward, releasing a big stream of pure aura energy that went towards Dark Director.

...However...

Dark Director jumped above the beam and Lucario gritted his fangs in fury as the worker chuckled. The Aura Pokémon tried to move the beam up but he couldn't do it as it faded. "Damn it!" Lucario cursed.

"That's a Final Smash wasted right there..." Marth said disappointed.

"Mine could have taken that guy out." Snake commented.

"Mine would." Fox said with a frown.

"Or mine...if it could have worked..." Sonic commented.

"Would you 4 stop commenting about your Final Smashes being "superior" right now?!" Lucario asked enraged.

"Hey, we're not the dude who wasted his Final Smash."

"GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Sonic shuddered. "C-chill out! It was just a joke..."

"UGH!" Lucario was distracted after the 4 accidentally commented about his Final Smash being wasted and thus he got hit in the head by Dark Director.

"Too bad this dog didn't do a good job." Dark Director said.

"I'm not a dog!" Lucario yelled as he gritted his fangs.

"Then tell that kid to stop making you act like one."

Lucario was utterly enraged after those comments.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" the Aura Pokémon's right fist covered with a glowing light of aura that he tried to slam on Dark Director, who simply moved away. "STOP MOVING!"

"Why would I?" Dark Director asked. "It's not my fault you were not trained well."

"YOU...YOU!!!"

Sonic stepped up in front of the 3. "Hey, we have to go and help him!"

Marth shook his head. "No. I think Lucario can handle him alone. If we interrupt, that only will cause him to attack us as well."

"But didn't you tell him not to get furious?"

"I did. But now, I can tell that this rage is going to increase his strength greatly."

"What's the difference between this rage and the other one from before?"

"That this one is enhancing his strength, while the previous was onl-"

"Pissing him off." Snake interrupted.

"...You could put it that way..."

"Ha," Dark Director taunted as he dodged a fist. "What? Doggy's getting angry? It's a shame."

"SHUT UP!!!" Lucario growled furiously as he tried to land a fist on the worker.

Dark Director backstepped but Lucario followed him as his aura covered his whole body. "Fool, your rage is only making easier for me to evade every hit of yours."

"You know, I don't know why is easier to evade someone's attacks when he or she is furious." Fox said confused.

"Hmph, I don't know that either..." Snake muttered.

"I do." Mei Ling called from the codec.

"Care to explain?"

"Now's not the best time, though."

"Missed," Dark Director said as he evaded another fist. "Missed," and again. "Missed," and again. "Missed," and again. "Missed too," and again.

Marth slowly reached for something behind his cape and Sonic looked at him.

Dark Director shook his head as Lucario showed his fangs (that apparently were thirsty for blood). "You're such a poor shame. Even with that rage, you can't land a single hit on me."

"Grrrrr..."

Something was heard being tossed to the floor.

"..." Dark Director turned his back to see a Green Shell going to him. "That had to be the most pathetic excuse to attack me. What is a Green Shell going to do to me? I'll just jump it an-"

Music stops

CRASH!!!

Marth, Fox and Sonic gasped after Dark Director was interrupted in his little speech.

What was shocking was that, when the worker was distracted, a glowing fist passed right through his helmet and crossed the other side.

And that fist belonged to a furious Lucario, who growled furiously as he tossed Dark Director's dead body to the conveyor belt, where it got electrocuted greatly, shooting sparks everywhere before it exploded into bits and left nothing else behind. The Aura Pokémon showed his fangs in rage before his aura faded and he calmed down with a sigh.

"..." the 4 were speechless...well, except for Snake, who took out a cigar and ignited it to smoke it.

"...Well, that was a good ending." Snake commented.

"...But, that was kinda..." Sonic tried to think of something. "...Extreme..."

"...I agree..." Fox nodded.

"...Well, he got rid of him, right? So, we have to be happy for it." Marth said.

"Dude, we just watched a do-I mean, whatever he is passing his fist right through the enemy's head, and you're not shocked if he does the same to you if you dare to piss him off?" Sonic asked.

Marth shook his head. "No, because I won't do the same mistake as he did."

"You, however..." Snake trailed off as he looked at Sonic.

"Oh, f(beep) off..." Sonic frowned.

The 4 walked to Lucario.

"Well, your rage got that guy killed. Happy?" Snake asked.

"..." Lucario looked away with a grunt.

"No need to get grumpy either," Marth said before he thought of something. "But, we honestly think you're not a dog and Chris is not a kid."

"He's not a kid?" Sonic asked before Lucario grunted at him. "I-I mean, of course not!"

"..." Fox's ears perked up and he quickly took out his Blaster, turned his back and aimed at the person behind him.

"Yeah, aim that to me because I sound like a bad guy." Link said with an annoyed look.

"Oh, sorry for that." Fox apologized as he put away his Blaster in his holster.

"Let me guess," Pikachu began. "You guys fought an armored guy who kept annoying you to no end."

"To Lucario at least." Marth pointed out.

Pikachu frowned. "And if we're lucky, then the others could be fighting ANOTHER one of them as well..."

"...Well..." Ike looked at everyone. "Since we're done with our fights, why don't we advance forward and see if they need our help?"

"That's the best thing for now." Jigglypuff said.

Ness went to the Green Shell that Marth tossed and kept it. "If we keep to be standing here in the middle of probably nowhere in this factory, then we should get running to the other end instead!"

And lastly, the last team...

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Poople & Rookie

"Soooooooooooo good!" Yolk said dumbly as Mario and Geno lunged at him. "Oh, what's with people these days who jump to guys like me in that way? Seriously, the nerve of some of them... Oh, right," he noticed the 2 were about to attack him. "Echofinder!"

Sound waves came out from his mouth and they stroke both Mario and Geno, who were pushed back to the floor, also losing their abilities to use skills and magic respectively.

"Like that?" Yolk asked with a toothy grin. "Guess you did, since you seem to be so worked up after you got it, and played with it around!"

"Aw, god, I hate this guy..." Chris said as he grabbed his head. "Why does he need to talk like that?"

"Because of the fact that he probably doesn't have a brain?" Mallow asked as he focused to make magic.

"Mainly that..." Peach said unsure.

"Oh, I forgot about you 3!" Yolk said happily.

"Eek!" the trio gasped.

"Hmm, so, who's the first one on my list?"

"H-he wants to!" Mallow pointed at Chris.

"W-what?! Y-you little cheater...traitor!"

"Oh well!" Yolk said happily as he inhaled air. "How do you want yourself? Crispy or burned?"

"Neither!" Chris yelled scared.

"Aw, c'mon, man!" Yolk said. "You've got to choose one option or else how am I going to defeat you?"

"B-because I don't want to die!"

"You can meet death people if you die, famous people, even the most funny!"

"W-what the heck do you have in your mind?!"

"Almost nothing, 'cept pure awesome materia!" Yolk laughed.

"O-oh no, you're not going to burn m-"

"Burned then!" Yolk said happily as he shot a magma ball to Chris, who yelled in a high-pitched tone and rammed himself to the side to evade the explosion. "Dude! Stop moving around!"

"Y-yiah!" Peach jumped to throw a Turnip (OoO) that was ignited upon contact with the protoplasm.

"..." Yolk looked miffed. "Hmm, it had an odd taste. What else do you have, missy?"

"W-what?" Peach asked confused.

"The turnip, girl! I meant the turnip!" Yolk said with a smile. "Have something with a lemon-apple flavor?"

"M-my turnips don't have flavors..."

Yolk got pissed. "What?! Then that's so bad, that I'm going to stick my head to yours!"

As the protoplasm got his head closer to the princess, who screamed for her life as she ran away from the stretchable head of magma, a fast slicing ring cut the protoplasm in half before Yolk was seen emerging from the machine.

"Dude, like, that didn't feel so good!" Yolk said.

"It's because it didn't have to." Geno (now recovered from his status ailment as Mario as well) said with a glare.

"Oh, the puppet! Good times in that past fight, man, good fights, aw yeeeeeeeah..."

"..." Geno sweatdropped and used a rocket punch to explode it right in front of Yolk's face.

"Ouch!" Yolk yelled in pain. "Hmph! How rude of you, sir! I guess I need to get eve more serious than-heeeeeeeeeeey, who're you?" he asked to a familiar Star Spirit that floated in front of him.

"Mamar," she said. "And it's time to get to bed."

"Why's that?" Yolk asked before a wave of musical notes flew out from Mamar and hit him. "And I yelled to the cabby aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..." he fell asleep and snored out loud.

The 5 gathered as the protoplasm continued to snore loudly.

"Well, thank you for calling me." Mamar said before she vanished.

"Okay, that monster or whatever the heck he is it's getting on my nerves," Geno said. "Somebody has a plan?"

"W-we could wait to use the Final Smash..." Peach suggested.

"But for that, we need to land many hits." Mario said.

"Evil sandwishes...getting to my spacecraft...save 'em, mommy..." Yolk snored.

"..." Chris shook his head. "I-I can't stand that idiot anymore! The person I can stand with that...insane level of stupidity is...Popo..."

"Neither of us can stand him at all," Geno said. "We must think of somet-"

"Aaaaaaand cue from the bird!" Yolk said as he woke up. "A-ha! You guys were planning to do something on poor little ol' me, huh?"

Mallow shifted his eyes. "N-no, what makes you think that?"

"I'm no idiot!"

"You are!" Mallow and Chris yelled.

"No, I'm not! Look at yourselves! You look like that creepy stance for those people who like to plot the demises of their enemies!"

The 5 quickly separated from each other.

"Ha! That makes it more obvious!" he inhaled air. "Breaker Beam!"

"JUMP!" Mario yelled and everyone followed his order to evade the beam that came out from Yolk's mouth.

"Got ya! Mega Drain!"

"DOUBLE JUMP!" Mario yelled and everyone quickly used a double jump to evade the slicing beam.

"Electroshock!"

"TRIPLE JUMP!"

"We don't have that one!" the others yelled before sparks came from above them that created several domes of electricity, greatly electrocuting every single character before the domes disappeared.

Yolk chuckled as the 5 crashed down to the floor. "Heheh, you fell from the sky...laughing out loud here, dudes!"

"M-Mario..." Peach muttered weakly. "C-can we win this fight?"

Mario coughed as everyone tried to get up. "W-we can if we're positive about it..."

"Thinking right now...hurts..." Chris muttered as he slowly stood up. "T-there has got to be some way to deal damage to him..."

"N-nothing here can help us..." Mallow muttered as he shook his head. "W-what else besides the fact that he's connected to the machine is there?"

"...W-wait..." Geno narrowed his eyes at the machine. "I-If I remember, the chief was the one who made it, right? S-so, there must be a way to retaliate with that idea in mind..."

"..." Chris changed to his Hacker job. "M-maybe I can find something of matter if I check the machine..."

"...We don't have nothing else to lose here..."

"What about us?" Peach asked.

"...B-besides us, that is..."

"So!" Yolk spoke up. "You guys gonna fight me or somethin'?"

"...Mallow, Peach, listen up," Geno whispered. "You have to create some kind of distraction as Chris gets to the machine."

"W-why us?" Peach asked.

"Because I know you're not going to fight at close-range, right?"

"W-well..."

"...Let's do it," Mallow whispered to the princess. "These 3 can be the offensive while we're the defensive. If there's only one way to get rid of...it, then I'm willing to do it. What do you say?"

"...Okay..." Peach nodded.

"D-don't worry," Mario coughed. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't hurt you..."

"B-but don't get hurt as well, okay?"

Mario smiled a little. "You can count on me."

"T-thank you..."

"(Yes, it's love...)" Chris thought with a frown.

"BREAKER BEAM!" Yolk yelled loudly.

"GO!" Mario yelled loudly as the 5 evaded the beam by jumping.

"Mega Drain!"

"Geno Whirl!" Geno interrupted as he stopped the protoplasm from using his beam by slicing him in half before he emerged from the machine.

"You sir, need to get BUUUUUUUUUUUUURNED!!!" Yolk yelled angrily as he extended his head to Geno.

"Back off!" Mario yelled as he pulled FLUDD out and shot a stream of water that made Yolk back away.

"W-water? That's not cool, dude! NOT-COOL!" Yolk yelled stupidly before he inhaled air.

"Scatter Beam!" Chris yelled as he took out his gun and shot 7 rays that hit Yolk (only 5 this time hit him) and interrupted his attack.

"'Kay, you guys are so pissing me off now..." Yolk said with a pissed look. "You need to...what's the word? Oh yeah, DIE IN OBLIVIOOOOOOOON!!!"

"Those are 3 words, you retard!" Mallow yelled from afar.

Yolk looked at him. "Oh, to me, it looked like 1...or was it 7? Heheh, I forgot. Oh yeah, DIE!" Yolk yelled as he shot a fast magma ball to the prince.

"HP Rain!" Mallow called out a smiling cloud above the magma ball that doused it by its water as Peach stepped in front of Mallow and took out Toad.

"YEEEEEEEEEEE-OUCH!" Toad received the attack before shooting air waves out. "P-princess, next time, don't put me in front of a rock bigger than me..."

"S-sorry..." Peach apologized before he kept him behind her back.

"My condolences to him..." Mallow said with a bow, making Peach blush embarrassed.

"...Hey, you guys hear that clackity-clank sounds?" Yolk asked confused before he looked below him to the right side to spot Chris looking (or messing) around with his machine. "Hey, dude, whatcha doing to me?"

Chris gulped and looked up. "E-er...hmm...f-fixing you?"

"..." Yolk smiled happily. "Oh, good! I have these weird tickles in my crotch lately these days, so, can you fix that?"

Chris tried to shake off the sick image in his mind.

"...Wait a minute..." Yolk grinned and narrowed his eyes. "You're not thinking about disabling me, are you?"

"N-no..." Chris sweated.

"...Good!" Yolk said happily.

"P-phew..."

"But I'm not stupid!"

Chris gasped.

"You are!" Mallow and Peach yelled from afar.

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

The World Traveler took this time to look for something to stop the machine.

"Hey!" Yolk looked down at Chris as Mallow and Peach tried to distract the protoplasm. "I didn't forget about you!"

"SOMEBODY!" Chris yelled as Yolk pulled back himself to slam his head down on the hacker.

Mario jumped above the machine and shot a faster stream of water as he used FLUDD to make the protoplasm back away.

"Okay, your tricks got old to me," Yolk said before 2 rocket punches collided on his face. "And the puppet's attacks got old as well! You guys need a serious punishment this time!" Shadow Bugs began to cover himself. "IT'S KILLIN' TIME!"

"THERE!" Chris found something in the machine and slammed his right fist on a button.

Music stops

"..." Yolk made his mouth a small dot. "...Not feeling the same right now...wait, I feel the same..." he looked around as he turned red, while the Shadow Bugs left the machine. "...Hmm..."

"..." Peach, Mallow, Mario and Geno walked to Yolk and looked up to the protoplasm.

"..." Chris looked up before looking down on the keyboard that was connected to the machine and typed something. "Now, if I input this code to the hard drive..."

"Wait, it has a hard drive?" Mallow asked.

"You have a computer?" Twink asked as he came down from the dark ceiling.

"The best one in Nimbus Land there is." Mallow said proudly.

"..." Geno walked to Chris. "What are you exactly doing to him?"

Yolk looked down to the 2 with a normal expression as a face. "I'm trying to change some statistics to him..." Chris said as he typed on the keyboard. "This shouldn't take too long..."

"Hmm..." Yolk "hmm'd" confused.

"Why isn't he attacking anymore?" Peach asked.

"I put a code to stop him from attacking us. Right now..." the World Traveler took out some small glasses and adjusted them. "He's at what I call "Confused Mode" so he can't attack us."

"...Oh."

"..." Yolk turned blue. "Sooooooooooooooooooooo, what're you guys going to do now? I feel right into the grooooooooove right nooooooow..."

"...U-um, we're going to fight Smithy?" Mallow responded.

"Like, that's awesooooooooooooome..." Yolk said with several nods.

"Why the heck is he like that now?"

Chris chuckled. "Just testing this job out..."

Geno chuckled. "Well, make the machine step aside so we can go to Smithy."

"Aww... Oh well," Chris typed on the keyboard. "I'll see what else I can do with it."

Yolk turned green. "Anybody into the retro age, where hippies used to rule the world we live in?"

"Chris!" Geno yelled.

Chris laughed for a bit. "Okay, okay! I'm on it!"

"I was having fun too..." Peach muttered...

...Before the wall with the door behind them exploded, creating a big smokescreen that made most of them cough.

"W-what now? Another enemy?" Geno asked as he put an arm in the front to block his face.

"Okay!" Sonic came out from the smoke with a glare and fists ready. "Show me that guy to give him, her, it, gay or whatever a good punch, right on the face!"

The other Smashers stepped out from the smoke and also, they looked prepared to fight anything else in their way before Pichu looked up to Yolk.

"U-uah! There's one!" Pichu yelled.

Snake took out a grenade. "Time to explode this thi-"

"STOP!" Chris yelled at them and they looked at him. "I-I have everything under control here s-so don't do anything!"

"..." Snake rolled his eyes as he tossed the grenade away and exploded. "Good..."

"Wait," Pikachu made a glare. "So you didn't go through the same hell we did?"

"This guy's a wacko." Mallow pointed at Yolk, who turned pink.

"Me llamo Luis Sedra," Yolk talked in Mexican. "I used to be a tree."

"AHEM." Geno coughed.

"Okay, okay..." Chris frowned as he typed another code.

The Aura Pokémon walked to Chris and looked down to him. "Chris..."

"Yes?" Chris asked as he didn't look at him.

"Somebody called you a kid, and he also called me a dog..."

"No wonder why I felt that annoying feeling some minutes ago. I hope you gave that guy his well-deserved punishment, preferably death."

Lucario smiled a little. "Y-yes, I did that."

"Good! I knew you were going to defend me."

Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "What? That's it? He's happy to be a killer?"

"Either way, I don't care." Pikachu frowned.

"..." Geno walked to Chris. "Are you typing the code now?"

"Just a second," Chris said. "It's easier said than done for you..."

"..." the doll looked away. "I wonder how the others are doing with the army sent to the mansion..."

"Why worry?" Twink asked. "I'm pretty sure they're doing just fine."

"I wished I had that same confidence as you, Twink."

"Not that hard to have for me."

Geno sighed. "Well, I guess you didn't understand what I tried to me-"

"Done!" Chris said happily as he stood up and looked at them.

"So?" Rope Snake peered out from Lucas's pocket. "Is that thing going to disappear or what?"

"...My god..." Chris looked at the other Smashers. "You look...very hurt to me..."

"O-oh, right, can you heal me?" Lucas asked before he coughed.

"Gladly, just let me change jo-"

"I'm gonna go boom now." Yolk said.

Everyone looked at him before the machine began to be covered with Shadow Bugs again. Everyone gasped as the machine began to shine brightly before a huge explosion engulfed the whole place...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Wait, that's it? We lost like that?" Geno asked irritated.

"Geno!" Twink yelled.

"R-right... Um... Oh, here. Fight Against Smithy. So, does this mean we survived?"

"Nope."

"What do you mean no?"

"It says here that another group is coming to fight in our place."

"W-what? G-give that piece of paper!"

"...Whistle...whistle...whistle..."

"...Twink?"

He stook out his tongue.

"Twink!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Exor
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Chrono Trigger - Derelict Factory" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when you visit the first factory along with Robo in the future.

-Chris seems to have learned some of Maria Traydor's skills from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time...making the Hacker job really odd...

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bitter Dance" is a song reference to the same game. This techno song plays when you fight very serious fights against enemies (such as Biggs and the Vendeeni soldiers).

Finally! Another chapter up!

Ahem...

So, with all the workers down...they now will face Smithy...

...But...

That messed up machine (Gun Yolk (or Yolk as it wanted to be called)) exploded right before they could continue... Time to focus back in the fight to save the mansion.

But, didn't I just say the next chapter was about Smithy? Oh boy, what will happen now?

Time will tell (and it's anti-Epoch. No cheating with that ship of time).

Read and review, please! : D
*Chapter 128*: Fight Against Smithy

Whew! Finally, it is completed...

From Killer yet friendly Tails doll: Fine... Just block me. I deserve it.

From me: We already talked about this, so I hope you understand how it works, right? :)

From Blaperile: O yes (I wonder why I always said hey),

Good chapter like always! All the fights were perfect and now ended with a mystery (what happened when Yolk exploded) :D

Also Yolk was very funny although he was a boss! XD

Keep it up!

From me: You already noticed? Wow. :)

From Mewtrainer: I had forgotten about that Power Hungry fools gag- *Power Hungry Fool* Great, now it's happening to me. XD Cake factory? If it was a cake factory, why would they even bother to go fight him in the first place, Kirby? XD
How on Mobius did DSS see the look on Sonic's face? 'Sentret of the Fourth tree'? Huh? Ness's games must be REALLY strange if he fights trash cans. Pichu's 1 and Pikachu's 3? That's interesting... "Understand the way of the food and you'll gain ultimate victory." ...Kirby has strange philosophies. 'Pain flavor'? I agree with Chris, that made no sense whatsoever. Scatter Beam moment XD!
PK Flash+PK Freeze needs a name...PK Fleas, maybe? XD Yay for Team Galactic music! Oh dear, Jigglypuff's gonna kill MH! ...are you selling tickets for that? XD Yolk could use a brain implant, as I'm sure you've noticed. Is Mexican even a language? I always thought that Mexicans spoke Spanish...
You can tell that the chapters are getting better in my mind at least, because I'm leaving longer reviews! Anyway, 'till next chapter!

From me: That's good. Really, that's good. Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: At last, the final showdown against Smithy!

Y'know, Sonic's bein' dumber than usual. If he just TOLD the others what was happening to him, then they'd probably be able to help. Then again...that could go HORRIBLY wrong.

"The truth is, I'm actually being-ARGH IWANTYOURBLOD!"

...hmm. Decisions, decisions...

From me: Things are really going to go crazy once the "change" comes... I'm worried. :(

From SlasherMask: Hm, i gave WHAT idea?...You can't be talking about...

Well Lucario doesn't give good imago of himself. He acts like dog(Loyal), has too much temperament AND tells like everything(whats word for that?(doesn't only like little kids(and me)do that nowadays?)) to Chris...(did Chris really need to know that someone insulted him? These villains insults everyone)

P.S... Do you agree that MarioxPeach is so...(can't figure correct word...Boring?)?

From me: Meh, maybe, maybe not.

I think it's a little bit boring... "Covers with a shield from arrows" Okay, okay! It's not boring! Geez... XD

From Saiked: yay new chapter, really good and you could add the "die in oblivion" or whatever it was as a reference(probably not an intentional one though) but there is an xbox 360 game named oblivion

great chapter as always and seriously what the hell was that machine it was... er... the pinnacle of hippies... or something :D great

From me: It wasn't a reference to that game I don't know about.

It was just insane. Period. XD

From Anakin Mario Son43: O.K. I don't want to know what would happen if Yolk was somehow revived and placed in a locked room with Popo. I shudder at the thought. Oh, I hope the idiots live! Update soon! Hasta!

From me: Me neither. "Shudders"

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: What did happen to the Smashers when Yolk exploded? I'm guessing that Chris didn't program him to explode since the Shadow Bugs took over him.

Lucario's rage is ... scary, to be honest. He seems to have anger management issues. But at least they defeated the bad guy, right? Link, Ike, Ness, and Lucas' fight was hilarious too, and when Lucas freaks out at Ness at the end of the fight it was rather random. Plus, the Pokemon and Kirby fight was cool.

Sonic ... is not doing well. Wonder when the others will know that something's not right.

Final note. That Yolk guy is crazy! He's a lot like Popo for sure!

From me: Maybe he screwed up? You'll see...

And Sonic...just tell them!

From Dimentio713: *Sigh* Didn't make it to the elective I wanted oh well to my review, Yeah Yolk is really stupid and annoying he made me laugh and then when Chris started making him say those random things man that was hilarious! It defiantly made my day *smilies* Plus man Kirby could of sucked the bombs well I'm not the type of guy who likes the easy way out, also you should of made him say quotes from famous movies and stuff oh well see ya! Peace out and whatnot! Bye-bye!

From me: What elective?

Movies and stuff? I don't go that far (for now). Thanks. :)

From Rellymaster: I wonder what the payload would be, considering the amount of near-deaths the group experienced. I'd imagine it to be extremely high.
Man, if Kirby had done that from the start...it would have been over for Manager...
Poor hammer minions. So weak, so underappreciated. :C
I think DSS (Dark Super Sonic) is a *add AWKWARD word or phrase here*.
I think everyone failed the eye exam if they can't tell that Chris is a teen. They need 2 sets of contacts on their eyes PLUS glasses to see that.
Yolk= an evil version of Popo.
Director pushed his luck and paid the price. Oh well to him. I have to hand it to him, though. He actually used his enemies' forces against them, something I've done in the past.
Nice twist on one of the points in the game.
Wait, Lucas actually said freaking?! And no one noticed?!
Too bad you can't actually fight a retard (the idiotic form, not the illness). It just complicates things.
What a way to lose...defeated by self-destruct. Shameful...:P

From me: Well, they failed the exam alright. But Chris will be forever be called...the kid. XD

And did they lose? You'll see that as well...

From DianaGohan: I think the problems with this round of battles was that at first the four were a bit too similar to each other (especially manager and Clerk who were pretty much the same) and it was harder to be interested in the battles. But by the time director showed he could anticpate attacks and Yolk took over the fights started getting good. The ending of each were all very well done and once again I always have to congralute you on being able to do good team melee battles better then well anyone else I've seen really. So yeah defintley more high quality stuff even if the opening was lackluster. The end was defintley one booming surprise though that I wonder how it will effect 128.

GRADE: B++

Oh and check it out: This is the One Thousandth Review Of This Story! Heh, For All The Parodies I Did of this I should get the special 1-0-0-0 mark, admist other things heh heh heh...

From me: In truth, the first 3 "bosses" are almost the same...so, I hope you enjoyed the battles at the least.

And yes, you're the 1000th reviewer. Congratulations for helping this fic achieve over 1000 reviews, making it the biggest reviewed fic in this section! : D

From JSandders: I like the fights in this chapter but the way you made the four bosses was kinda weird!

First of all, Clerk and Manager had practically no differences but the ways that they were defeated were pretty intense! I still can't believe they killed Clerk by accident in such a hardcore way and that Lucas swore! The way Manager was defeated was funny! I always thought of Jigglypuff's Final Smash to be weird. Director was a good opponent (though the way was also kinda scary of you... fist through and through his head?! What made you think of that?!) I find Chris to be kinda sadistic to congratulate Lucario in killing someone only because that guy called him a kid and Lucario a dog! Particularly, the Dark Gun Yolk fight was hilarious and how he was defeated and played around with was priceless! As I had told you before, I like Popo's character, therefore I think that Yolk was an alright character. I thought that Chris would have reprogrammed him to fight Smithy instead of turning him off... or in this case blow up! I wonder what happened to the Smashers...

Nice cliffhanger, great chapter, awesome story, update soon!

From me: I know they didn't have differences (this also happens in the game as well).

Your wonders will be answered today. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Umm, did I say something wrong? I'm sorry if I offended you in some way. PLEASE DON'T BAN ME! I'M SORRY! I'M SORY! *SLAP*, sorry, again, trying to impersonate ritsu from Fruits Basket a little bit, and saying sorry. And please don't say sorry for updating late, you did say you had exams to study and do. oh, did you check out the Urssa cave temple yet, and if you did, what three characters did you need to fight(minus fayt)? okay, one last thing before I start my review, when do you plan on reupdating your profile again? From what I can see on it, it's hasn't been updated since, Super Mario Galaxy arc at the least? Well, onto my review
Hmm, the fights were great considering that they were all the same in some way, except Yolk of course. A creative way to use jigglypuff's final smash, but i can't beleive kirby didn't think of swallowing the bombs, especially when he said he was hungry! man, lucario's as scary as my sissy when provoked! he's going Corupted again! as for gun yolk, he was defintely intresting considering that he's supposed to be a machine only. well, here's a
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! QUESTION EDITION!
will you be using the music i suggested at some point in the story?
Will ther be a trauma canter arc considering one of the previews match it to a extent?
do we readers need to say goodbye to geno in, the next chapter?
well, happy typing!

From me: I won't ban you, don't worry about it. :)

And don't I need to beat the Maze of Tribulations first, or where I can level up faster with lvls. 65? ...Oh, please respond to this with an email.

With that away...

I'll update my profile very soon when I get the time. Wait a little more. ;)

I could use that music...sometime, of course.

That arc is still planned, but not like you think it will be. ;)

Possibly? You'll see...

And, we're almost done with the Smithy arc! I hope you enjoy this fight as I did. :)

Congratulations to DianaGohan for being the 1000th reviewer! Thanks a lot to everyone who made this dream of reviews become true as well! Continue to enjoy this until the end!

(Our avatar for today is...Fox getting his wish to annihilate a certain wolf dude). XD

Read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 128: Fight Against Smithy

Exor
Factory

...Complete silence...

...The bodies of the Smashers laid down on the steel floor...

All of their bodies...covered in soot...with burn marks, severe burn marks above their skins...

...They were so close to get to Smithy, but an unexpected event happened and thus ended their lives...

...The world was thrown to chaos because of their loss...

...And for Geno...it was such an enraging thought...as he now was in heave-

"A-CHOO!" Geno sneezed as he got up. "What the heck was that all about?"

All of the Smashers moaned in pain before they all got up and shook their heads.

"I-I think we know who to blame here..." Link looked at Chris.

"H-how was I supposed to know the wacko would explode instead of disappearing?" Chris asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Fox rolled his eyes. "Who was the guy who was clicking, typing and writing on the machine?"

"(Lying isn't going to get me out from this one). W-well, it was me..." he looked down. "Maybe I should have checked something else in there before running the program..."

"Kid," Snake began. "Next time, ask an expert."

"Like me." Otacon said.

"Get over here then."

"I can't. You know why, right?"

"Hmph, lucky guy."

"Snake..."

"B-but what was that explosion about?" Sonic asked.

"..." Mario looked at himself. "...That explosion didn't hurt any of us... It just shoot a lot of smoke."

"And we probably fainted for inhaling so much of it." Marth explained.

"...I kinda expected that from the Yolk guy here..." Mallow said.

Peach cleaned her dress from some smoke as she coughed a little. "S-so, what do we do now?"

Mallow looked forward where Yolk once was. He saw 3 tall pipes that were leading to somewhere in the deepest part of the factory itself. "We go in there and we should get to Smithy."

"...Through those?" Ike asked. "I-I'm not sure you guys, but I think it's not a good idea..."

"Oh, what do you know, medieval dude?" Sonic asked. "If there's a shortcut to get to that Smotha, then we should take it!"

"Smithy," Twink corrected before coughing. "W-wait, isn't anyone here a little bit tired?"

Everyone looked at themselves.

"...I'm a little bit tired myself," Lucas said. "Can we...um...rest a little before proceeding? I-I don't think going forward without our full energies isn't such a good idea..."

"...You're right," Pikachu nodded. "How can we fight someone in these conditions?" he snapped his fingers. "Hey, you 2, cloud and cosplayer dude, heal us."

Chris glared at Pikachu before he changed to his Musician job. "I'm going to let that little comment go off for now..."

"But I won't." Lucario said as he showed his fangs.

"Back off."

"Y-yes..." Lucario nodded depressed.

"Ha-ha, owned." Pikachu teased.

And as Chris started his slow recovery magic, Geno looked at the 3 pipes with Twink. "It's going to be over in a moment..." Geno said before he looked at Twink. "When that happens, what are you going to say when we return to Star Haven?"

"..." Twink looked down. "I-I'd like to say my last words to them when we're over..."

"...Maybe that's the best thing for now..." Geno patted Twink's back. "Just...don't cry."

Twink sniffed. "I-I won't..."

Geno sighed as he shook his head, while the screen got farther and farther away from their location...

Smash Mansion
Outside

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against an Armed Boss

Now, outside wasn't exactly what would some people call the paradise with roses. Oh no, it was all the contrary. It was night, thunders were created in the dark clouds that made rain, falling everywhere. And close to the mansion (or actually some feet away of it) a battle still was ensuing...

"Behind you!" Toon Link shouted.

"Right," Samus said as she jumped twice and slammed her arm cannon on a rushing Dark Mack, who yelled in pain after the hit attacked his head. "When are you going to stop bothering us?"

"After you stop breathing," Dark Mack said. "I took out the weird bird with the funny accent, and almost took out the psychic cat, the dinosaur, the weird nosy guy and the iron nipples captain!"

"D-don't dare to call me a cat again..." Mewtwo called out from a tree that he was leaning to as he tried to resist the pain.

"So you're right there," Dark Mack said. "I'm going to enjoy cutting down that throat of yours!" he yelled as he jumped above the pogo, pointed the tip to Mewtwo and extended it at an insane speed.

"UGH!!!" Mewtwo received a harsh blow on his chest before he lost consciousness and fainted on the scene. Some of the Smashers gasped at this while the tip of the pogo-sword quickly went back to Dark Mack, who chuckled after seeing the Psychic Pokémon out.

"Mwahahahahaha, I am evil," Dark Mack said. "Smithy will give me a raise for this for sure."

"You...filthy bastard!" Toon Link yelled.

"Aw, the little kid is mad? How cute."

"GRRRRR!!!" Toon Link made an angry expression and began to dash towards Dark Mack, who chuckled as he made flames above his hands.

"Well, it's a pity your life will end so easily!" Dark Mack yelled before he shot the flame balls to the cartoony Link.

But then a fast missile came from nowhere and blocked the way of the flame balls, making Toon Link take advantage of the smoke that came out and jumped straight to it, just to cross the smoke and deal a strong slash across his mask.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Dark Mack yelled loudly before Toon Link landed back to the grass and used a fast Spin Attack to pull the pogo-sword in and push it away from the pogo wielder. "D-damn you little punk..."

"YAAAAAAAA-" Toon Link stopped his barbaric yells before looking back. "Wait, what got in the way of the flames?"

"P-poor me..." muttered a weak Luigi.

"Just how did you end up sacrificing for me?"

"I-I failed to use my missile skill at the wrong time... I-I was trying to aim myself to him b-but I got into this instead... O-oww..." Luigi fainted.

"...Poor guy..." Toon Link shook his head. "He didn't get to fight that mu-" a severe burning feeling came from behind Toon Link before he exploded into flames. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Toon Link yelled loudly before he fell defeated on the grass, close to the fainted Luigi.

"Fools..." Dark Mack said coldly. "You must burn down...to ashes..."

"Now he took out 3 of us..." Pit said as he prepared his dual blades. "I hope he doesn't get the chance to do that with us as well."

"Wait, where's the pogo?" Roy asked before they found the pogo-sword laying on the ground. "There it is! Go for it!"

"Right!" Pit said before he ran towards the pogo.

"BEGONE!" Dark Mack yelled as he ran to his pogo, with flames burning in his hands.

"Stop right there," Wolf said as he came from the side and delivered a kick right on Dark Mack's mask. The pogo wielder grunted in pain before the lupine quickly slashed his stomach across with both claws, following his combo with Fire Wolf to push Dark Mack along the ground and ending it with a pushing kick. "Not so tough without that toy, huh?"

"What?" Dark Mack asked as he stood up. "Oh no, sir, you're getting me wrong. Even if my weapon is in your hands, I can be quite a real pain in your neck...or ALL you necks!" Dark Mack yelled as he made even more flames on his hands.

"If you play with fir-" Wolf was interrupted as Dark Mack slammed down his burnings hands on the ground, creating a shockwave of fire that went to all directions and pushed the lupine away, close to some trees as he greeted his fangs in pain and frustration. "N-never underestimate a dork..."

"HAAAAAAA!!!" Dark Mack jumped towards Wolf wit burning hands (again). The lupine coughed before rolling sideways to evade the slam before using Wolf Flash to slice the masked enemy across the mask and to appear from the other side. "A-and I almost had you... You're good..."

"Heh, thanks." Wolf said with a grin.

"However," Dark Mack gathered flames as Wolf frowned. "That's not going to help you at all!"

"Behind you."

"Wha-OWW!" Dark Mack was sent blasting off towards Wolf, who calculated the exact time to kick the pogo wielder right behind his back so Dark Mack slid in the mud.

"Thank you for the small distraction," Samus said as she nodded. "Let's continue with this."

"Tsk, I didn't do this for anyone here." Wolf said with a glare.

"Not the cooperative type, I see..."

"Do it!" Pit yelled.

"OOOAAAH!!!" Roy slammed a fully charged Flare Blade on the pogo. Smoke came out from the hit and both coughed for a moment before they looked down at the toy. "D-dammit! It's still intact!"

"Why is this toy so hard to break apart?" Pit asked. "It's just...so ridiculous."

"I-I know," Roy twitched after using his fully charged attack. "B-but we've got to destroy it. Without this, that weird guy isn't going to that much of a threat to us..."

Pit made a concerned look. "I hope you're right..."

The angel looked down at the sword and made a confused face.

"...Er...Roy..."

"Yes?" Roy asked.

"Does this toy have eyes?... C-creepy..."

"..." Roy looked down at the sword. "...Oh god...they're looking at us..."

"...S-should we smash them?"

"I-I think so... Here, let me do i-"

"YOU 2, GET OUT!" Wolf yelled from afar before Roy was pushed away by Dark Mack, who then shot a small but fast flame ball to Pit in order to get back on top of his pogo-sword. "Were you talking when this idiot was around? What the heck were you thinking?"

"I-it's not our fault..." Roy muttered before he felt the ground trembling.

"You wanted to destroy my weapon, huh?!" Dark Mack asked enraged. "Why don't you let my weapon do the destruction part but ON you?!"

"S-stay away from me!" Roy yelled.

"Go to hell!" Dark Mack yelled as he jumped high up to the air and extended the tip of the pogo down to Roy, who closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

"Begone," Meta Knight appeared above Roy (using Dimensional Cape) to slash the tip away, barely missing Roy's right side as it became stuck on the ground while the masked warrior landed close to the swordsman. "I made it in tim-ugh!"

"Ugh!" Roy and Meta Knight were pushed away as the upper part of the pogo came down with Dark Mack, creating a shockwave that pushed them away.

"Even if you evade my attacks," Dark Mack began. "I can still attack by other means!"

"Now, Popo!" Nana yelled from behind the pogo wielder as she was thrown to Dark Mack and smashed herself on him, pulling a rope over her shoulder to pull Popo to the air as he fell down after being pulled. "Quick! Blizzard!" she yelled as she exhaled a cold air from behind, trying to freeze the tip of the pogo.

"I-I'm going, going, going now!" Popo yelled as he quickly ran to the other side of the pogo to start exhaling a cold air out from his mouth. The tip began to freeze and Dark Mack grunted in frustration before the tip shone brightly in a red light and made an explosion that pushed both Ice Climbers away. "So cheap!"

"I told you before," Dark Mack continued. "There's no point in freezing my weapon or my flames!"

"N-never surrender!" Popo yelled as he stood up and pouted a little. "I'm gonna smash that mask of yours!"

"Ignore his cheesy lines!" Nana yelled from the other side. "My brother is as insane as a crazy machine that suddenly took life!"

"SILENCE!" Dark Mack turned to her. "Did I even bother to ask yo-"

"NOW!"

"YAH!" Popo yelled as he jumped straight to Dark Mack and smacked his hammer right on his head, causing the pogo wielder to almost lose his balance from the toy.

"Uah!" Dark Mack tried to avoid falling off his weapon. "Y-you 2 are making me mad no-OWW!" he was pushed to the ground by Nana who came behind him after the pogo wielder tried to look for Popo. He even slid his face on the mud.

The pogo-sword fell down to the ground as well.

"Break it apart!" Nana yelled to Popo.

"How?" Popo asked.

"Your hammer, dork!" Nana frowned as she ran to the toy with her brother.

"Flame Wall!" Dark Mack yelled, shooting a trail of flames from his hands that blocked the Ice Climbers from reaching the toy from either side (and mostly because the walls were big, preventing Popo and Nana from jumping over them). The stubborn enemy got up and ran towards his weapon as the walls of flames prevents the Ice Climbers from crossing over them. "W-what?!"

Dark Mack found Meta Knight between him and the sword. The masked warrior was preparing to attack him. "It's a pleasure to see you here."

"H-how did you get here? Did you use that odd cape of yours?!"

"You responded your own question." Meta Knight said before he spread out his wings and hovered along the ground to stab the enemy. Dark Mack jumped over him, but the masked warrior used Shuttle Loop to make an upward rising slash that pushed Dark Mack through the flame walls and crashed to the ground.

The flame walls disappeared and the Ice Climbers went to the pogo-sword, which they began to bang their hammers on.

"Nana," Popo began. "This toy looks so weird."

"Like you," Nana said as she hit the tip. "I know why is weird. It's weird because it's being used as a weapon."

"And for the fact that it has eyes."

Nana stopped and looked at the pogo-sword. "...Okay, this is creepy..."

"Ha, told you!" Popo stopped banging. "If this sword has eyes, then there's a good a chance it will come to life an attack us in the most unexpected moment!"

"...Popo, can you wish something good for us that doesn't include someone getting hurt?"

"But it's hard for me to think about something so complicated!" Popo said angrily. "My mind goes boom."

"Sure, it does..." Nana frowned.

"May I have this back?"

Both raised eyebrows before they looked at their side and gasped. Dark Mack was standing there, tossing a fainted Meta Knight close to them.

"B-but how? M-Meta Knight should hav-" Nana was interrupted.

"Never underestimate an opponent that has control over fire," Dark Mack explained. "If I couldn't take him out physically, then I used magic. Very simple, isn't it?"

"B-but how did you defeat him?"

"Capes."

"..." Nana looked at Meta Knight's back and his cape was just a charred piece of purple cloth. "H-how did you burn him? Because it's still raining!"

"Didn't I explain myself?" Dark Mack asked. "My flames can't be doused! They can burn all the forest around here for much as I care!"

"Isn't he swift?"

"Used to," he chuckled. "My Flame Wall caught a bit of his cape and he couldn't shake the flames off."

Flashback

"Flame Wall!" Dark Mack yelled (as in the background, Popo and Nana were arguing while they bashed on the toy) and created a circular wall of flames. Meta Knight used Dimensional Cape to appear right behind Dark Mack and slash him. "Ugh!"

"Your attacks are getting more and more repetitive," Meta Knight said. "Don't you have another new attack?"

"Grr... (Huh?)" Dark Mack noticed a small flame on Meta Knight's cape. "...Mwahahahaha..."

"What is so funny?"

"Your cape is about to be burned, and along with you."

"..." Meta Knight looked at his cape and found the small flame. He shook the cape but the flame didn't fade and it then began to grow in size as the masked warrior tried to douse it off. "T-this is..."

"Great!" Dark Mack said as he held out his hands to Meta Knight's cape, where the fire began to increase in size before it engulfed the Star Warrior as he grunted in pain. "Mwahahahahaha! Burn! Buuuurn! Burn to ashes, foolish dork!"

"UGH!" Meta Knight grunted in pain as he fell down to the mud, causing the flames to disappear as Dark Mack decided to.

"One out..." he looked at the Ice Climbers as he grabbed Meta Knight's small burned piece of his cape. "And 2 more to go..."

End of flashback

"Was it REALLY necessary to explain us through a flashback?" Nana asked as thunder illuminated the whole place.

"I don't care!" Dark Mack yelled as his hands began to be covered in flames. "And now, since you were so careless to let me get close to you, I'm going to burn those arms of yours!"

"They're covered with my parka's sleeves!"

"Better yet, you're going to burn even more in those!"

Nana looked behind her where the pogo-sword laid down on the ground, then she looked at Dark Mack. "Ha, I'm so close to your precious weapon," she lifted her hammer above it. "Get those filthy burning hands on me and I'll bring my hammer down on that."

"Ha! My weapon can't be destroyed!" Dark Mack laughed. "What a foolish girl you are!"

Nana gulped, but she was serious about what she promised to do. "And if you try to burn me, I know that my somewhat stupid brother will come to rescue me!" she looked behind her. "Isn't that right, Pop-"

"Hey, Nana, check this out!" Popo looked down to the fainted Meta Knight and looked at his eyes. "This dude's eyes turned off! I knew he was a machine after all!"

A bright red flash, along with a girl's scream, came from behind the blue Ice Climber.

"Think we can disarm him to see if he has a heart? This guy ain't the talkative type at all." Popo turned around while he was holding Meta Knight's dead carcass.

"...Did you just notice I burned your sister?" Dark Mack asked as she pointed at the burned and fainted Nana, laying down on the mud.

"..." Popo looked back and forth between the 3 (Dark Mack, the burned and fainted Nana, and the burned and fainted Meta Knight). "...That's kind of bad, right?"

"...YES, IT IS!" Dark Mack yelled with a frown. "I mean, killing your friends isn't bad enough?!"

"Going around naked is even more bad..." Popo thought for a moment. "...But, meh, I think this is bad as well, soooooooo... META KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!" Popo hugged Meta Knight as he cried out loudly.

"WHAT ABOUT YOUR SISTER?! Isn't she first because, I don't know, family stuff and all that?!" Dark Mack asked infuriated.

"Oh, my gawd! You're right!" he quickly ran to Nana and hugged her tightly as he yelled out to the sky, "DAMN YOU, BECKYYYYYYYYY!!!"

"My name is Dark Mack!" Dark Mack yelled.

"MACKYYYYYYY!!!"

We all know this looked (and very) pointless (since it was Popo) and well, Dark Mack kicked the Ice Climber away out of fury.

"My god, is everyone in the mansion this insane?" Dark Mack asked as he looked around for the others. "Wait, where'd they go now? ...Let's see, I need to defeat the man inside the armo-"

"I'm a NOT a man, dammit!" Samus yelled from a tree as a fast and fully Charged Shot impacted on Dark Mack, who yelled in pain as he struggled to stay on the pogo-sword.

"W-well, at least I found where you are," Dark Mack said before he wondered something. "But still, I need to find the angel and the swordsman... Then we have the bothersome lupine...and..." he looked around a figure ran through the trees. "I forgot the ninja..."

A whip chain quickly got wrapped up around his neck before he was pulled back to the mud. The pogo-sword fell down as well and the enemy saw Sheik trying to choke him with her chain. "If this is the only fastest way to kill you, then I'm willing to do it." Sheik said.

"U-ugh..." Dark Mack gasped for air before he waved his hand in front of him to raise a small wall of fire to Sheik, who backflipped to evade it. "I-I won't fall defeated by such a dirty trick..." he looked down at his weapon. "Well, once I'm on the top of my weapon, the battle will en-UGH!"

A claw was dug on his neck and he cried out in pain before it was pulled back. Wolf saw Dark Mack being pushed back to the mud before the lupine stomped his foot on Dark Mack's stomach, making him cough. "Not so tough while you don't have that toy, huh?" Wolf asked with a glare.

"F-flithy animal, begone!" Dark Mack shot fire balls to Wolf, who quickly sidestepped to evade the flames, letting Dark Mack to stand up. "W-why are you all attacking me all of a sudden? Were you hiding in the bushes? If so, it was such a bad idea to let you other comrades get killed by me!"

"They're not killed," said Pit, close a fainted C. Falcon. "They passed out of cold, that's all."

"And we were trying to think of a tactic," Roy explained. "But unfortunately, we couldn't tell the others out because that would blow up our cover..." he looked down and frowned. "I'm going to apologize to them after this..."

"Is that so?" Dark Mack asked as he gathered more flames. "Then I should burn them to ashes...LITERALLY!!!" he shot a huge flame that went to Pit.

"(This is so risky...)" Sheik thought as she watched from a tree. "(If we do a wrong move, somebody could die...)"

"Hmmmmm..." Pit narrowed his eyes at the flame. The angel tried to find the best moment to do something...and when it did, he took out his Mirror Shield and reflected back the attack to Dark Mack.

Dark Mack laughed evilly. "Fool! I'm going to return this back to you with MUCH more force and speed! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Thunders raged on as the enemy slapped the huge flame to make it stronger and faster. Pit got worried for a moment before he used his shield to reflect back the attack.

"What? How stubborn are you?!" Dark Mack asked as he slapped the flame, making it even stronger and faster than before. The flame even grew huge, huge enough to destroy at least 2 complete floors of the mansion.

"(Quick, my shield won't reflect an attack with such magnitude...) NOW!" Pit yelled as Zelda appeared by using Farore's Wind, then she followed her fast appearance by spinning several crystals and covering herself in one for a brief moment (using Nayru's Love) to reflect back the attack.

"You idiots!" Dark Mack yelled as he prepared to hit the huge flame back. "Only I can hurt you all with such intense fire!" he hit the huge flame back to make it stronger and faster.

In a flash, Wolf appeared in front of the 2 by using Wolf Flash to later use his Reflector, pushing the huge flame back as the lupine looked at his device emanating some sparks. "Tsk, this thing won't reflect back another attack because of its force..."

"HA!" Dark Mack pushed back the flame, repeating the same enhancements.

For his surprise, Samus used her Grapple Beam to grab Falco's Reflector inside his left sleeve and activated it when she pulled it in front of the 3, just in time to reflect back the huge flames.

"Dammit!" Dark Mack yelled as he slapped the flames back as fast as he could.

"Everyone, together!" Roy yelled from behind Dark Mack.

Dark Mack turned to him and grunted furiously. "What do you want now?! Oh, right, you want to get burned!" he raised his burning hands to the sky...

...

"NOW!" Roy put his sword in front of him (positioning it like a shield).

"Wh-" Dark Mack remember the flames he made before...

And in flash...

Music stops

A huge explosion of flames hit his back, engulfing 30 feet of the terrain as the fainted bodies of the weakened Smashers were pushed back to the trees, where they moaned in pain as the rain and thunders raged on.

The reason why the flames were reflected back was because Zelda, Wolf, Pit and Samus stood quickly in an horizontal line and activated their reflectors at the same time so they could create a big reflective barrier.

Roy, who didn't have some way to reflect the attack, decided to distract Dark Mack for a moment so he could let them reflect the flames back to him at full potency...

"Why...WHY?!" Dark Mack asked as his image was seen in the explosion of fire. "M-my own fire...it betrayed me! Why did this happen to me?! Answer me!!!... OOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he yelled loudly when the thunders made loud crashing noises as the explosion slowly faded, along with Dark Mack who got incinerated by his own attack before he was gone.

"..." the 4 sighed in unison as Zelda looked forward.

"...I hope Roy was..."

"...F-fine here..." muttered a weakened Roy on the mud.

"It worked after all then!" Zelda said in relief as the 4 ran to Roy.

Wolf knelt down to see him. "Hey, you kid, get up."

"Geez..." Roy looked up at them with several cuts on his face (as well as mud). "What a way...to ask for me..."

"I didn't ask you at all, nor did I want to."

"...Tsk..." Roy frowned as Pit decided to help him to get up. "I-it worked, didn't it?"

"Yes," Samus nodded as she looked at Falco's Reflector. "It's a good thing you used your counter attack to make the explosion not that lethal to yourself."

"B-but it still affected me..." Roy coughed some blood. "I-I better rest for now..."

Zelda looked at all the fainted Smashers around the area in front of the mansion. "We should take them all in before they get ill."

"I agree," Samus nodded and then looked at Wolf. "That means you'll carry some of them as well."

"Tsk..." Wolf frowned.

The 5 decided to carry all of the remaining Smashers inside the mansion while heavy rain fell down from the dark clouds with thunders.

Splash...splash...splash...

"...Everyone, stop," Samus instructed. "Something is approaching..."

"What?" Pit asked.

"Shh, I can hear something moving... Just listen to that sound through the rain..." Roy whispered.

"...Oh no, what is it this time?" Zelda whispered.

"And I should know right away?" Wolf asked.

"You're an animal, and you should suppose to have a good hearing since you're a wolf, and wolves are close to dogs."

"Be glad you're a girl because I'm not an animal." Wolf said with a glare.

"(Either I contradict and die or I just punish him later...)" Zelda thought.

"...Can you hear it now?" Roy asked.

...Splash...splash...splash...

"...Yes..." Pit whispered with a nod.

"...It sounds like steel..." Samus whispered as she looked around through the rain. "...Whatever it is, it's coming right towards us..."

"But what could it be?" Zelda asked differently.

"...DOWN!" Wolf pulled Zelda to the mud and both fell down, right as something thin but fast was about to stab them from their backs. "Dammit, there's another one out there!"

"What the..." Samus trailed off after she saw the thing that was going to cut the 2. "...Is that guy still living? His toy was about to attack you both!"

"...What the heck?" Roy asked confused as he saw the tip of the sword returning to the pogo.

"What? Is that bastard alive?" Wolf asked as both he and Zelda (cleaning her dress a little) stood up.

"...Guys, you're not going to believe this...because it's so insane..."

"Oh Palutena, what is the meaning of...that?" Pit asked utterly shocked.

They all focused their views to the one wielding a familiar pogo-sword. Their looks were surprised after seeing the owner of the deadly toy. It was someone they didn't expect at all...

"...But there's nobody on the pogo, and it's standing like nothing happened!" Roy yelled.

Indeed, for their surprise, there was nobody on the pogo-sword, but it was motionless as it stood still, facing the 5.

"Neheheheheheheh..."

"Where did that laugh come from?" Pit asked.

"Stabbity-stab-stab," someone said with a chuckle. "You sure don't believe what you're seeing in front of your eyes, do you?"

"It's impossible for someone to talk, because we're only 5 of us and everyone else got taken out from the fight..." Samus wondered for a bit.

"...Unless..." Zelda trailed off as she looked at the toy. "...The toy itself got a life and became animated..."

"..." Wolf facepalmed as he grunted angrily. "You know what? In my own turf, nothing like this kind of s(beep) didn't happen at all."

"But we are not in your turf, so you're bound to find these kinds of abnormalities around here... But seriously, the pogo talked?" Zelda asked.

"Duhtily-duh-duh!" someone said annoyed. "Of course it was me, you bunch of dorks!"

They all looked at the sword which was blinking with its glaring eyes.

"Hello, my name i-" the pogo got interrupted.

"Yes, it was the pogo alright..." Roy frowned. "...Wait, are you alive?"

"Of course I'm alive!" the pogo yelled. "I have freaking eyes, for crying out loud!"

"...See, Roy?" Pit asked. "I knew there was something odd with those eyes!"

"...I bet nobody here saw it coming." Roy said with a sigh.

Absolutely NO ONE saw that weapon coming to life.

"And here I thought the Mack guy was joined to the pogo...before we pushed him out, that is." Samus said.

"Neheheheheheh!" the pogo laughed evilly as the Shadow Bugs shone on it. "Thank you for getting rid of my owner. Now that he's gone, I was granted new life so I can have a second try in stabbing you poor hearts out!"

"Why can't this night end?!" Roy asked to the roaring sky.

"Because, puny swordsman, I said so!" the pogo said with a chuckle. "Well well, shall we, like, start the stabbing on your chests?"

"Ugh," Zelda frowned to herself. "I think I have enough energy to fight this last...toy."

"POGO-SWORD!" the pogo yelled angrily.

"Whatever the heck you are, it doesn't matter," Wolf said coldly. "I want to end this as soon as possible before I hit the pillow. Do you really think I'm nocturnal or some crap like that?"

"Nope, because I don't care either!" the pogo yelled. "Shall we begin? Okay? Yeah, LET'S START!"

The pogo-sword began to stab the floor madly as it quickly went towards them.

"Everyone, get prepared!" Roy said with his sword ready. "Take it down and this whole nightmare will end!"

And another fight, during the raging rain, started...

Exor
Factory

After a so much deserved rest to recover, the Smashers were ready to face Smithy.

"Finally..." Geno said as they stood in front of the 3 pipes. "Smithy is just down below those pipes..."

"So, this is it? The final boss? The dude behind the wheel?" Pikachu asked.

"Well..." the doll looked at them. "For me he is the final boss, but for you he is a boss."

Mallow looked down in depression before looking up at the pipes. "...Shall we then?"

Peach shrugged. "I hope my dress doesn't get me stuck like the last time..."

This little memory made the cloud prince chuckle. "Her dress got stuck in the way down, and Smithy agreed to help us to get her down because it would produce a lot of smok-"

"C-can we forget that embarrassing memory now?" Peach asked with some blushes.

"Yes, let's," Geno nodded. "Well, let's go through the pipes and then, you'll meet the imbecile behind all this. Chris, remember to use the Star Spirits. Smithy will surely be caught off-guard if you use them."

"I-I just hope the status ailments work on him..." Chris gulped. "Peach Beam should be enough, right?"

"Oh, it didn't stop the Shadow Bugs from coming out after you did that." Ness pointed out.

"Then true hell came after that." Jigglypuff shuddered.

"...Abuse the beam?"

"Sounds like cheating, but who really cares about that now?" Geno asked. "For now, let's go in and fight that bastard."

"And he goes boom." Bomb Kirby said, holding a bomb.

"I-ah, save that bomb for later though."

"O-kay..."

"...I can hear something coming from the pipes..." Pichu said with a gulp. "I-is that..."

"Afraid so," Mallow nodded. "A hammer being banged on hot liquid metal over steel."

"Smithy must be creating more machines by his own..." Geno looked at them and nodded. "Without further interruptions, let's get in."

Smithy's Main Office, Where He Controls Pretty Much Everything In The Whole Factory There Is. Pretty Awesome, Is Not It?

Super Mario RPG - Here's Some Weapons

A lonely big figure with his back turned to the steel table (which where the figure stood between 2 tables of iron and steel) was banging on the table, where an orange slime came out from a weird-looking pipe that...was not connected to anything (and it was called Smelter).

Every time the figure banged on the slime, it would produce out a weapon enemy that jumped to a conveyor belt down below the platform that was hanging on with 4 chains on each edge of the big spacious floor.

The big figure was Smithy, who continued his arduous work to produce weapons endlessly.

His solitude wasn't being interrupted after he sent the 4 workers out to defeat the Smashers. Smithy was himself enjoying his free time...

...Until 18 figures and a Star Kid came from above, through the 3 different black pipes...

Those figures were...

...

You know, why the hell am I bringing this whole pointless suspense about them if we know who they are from the beginning? We all know these guys were the Smashers themselves. If it not, then it would have been lots of Yaridovichs above pogoes, who didn't appear at all.

...Oh wait, it did happen sometime before, right?

Oh well, back with the plot...

"...You..." Geno said coldly as he glared at Smithy. "We meet again..."

"..." Smithy ignored Geno and continued to do his work.

"Being the silent type, huh?" Mallow asked as he put his hands on his hips (and twirled them around). "Well, we ain't gonna let you ignore us."

"..." Smithy continued working.

"Wow, so this is Smithy?" Ness asked as he looked at Smithy's back. "He reminds me of..."

Lucas gulped. "A-an evil Santa..."

"Christmas things aside, we're here," Link said as he took out his sword. "Let's not get distracted a finish this guy off now."

"Smithy!" Twink yelled angrily. "We're here to put an end to your so-evil schemes! Turn around and face us if you're a man-machine!"

"That blood pressure thing is eluding me though..." Mario said confused.

"..." Smithy kept working.

"Wow, now I know why you guys hate that guy so much," Sonic said. "He's bad at greeting people."

"Sonic, that's something I don't care about," Geno said before turning to Smithy. "But what I care now is his attention."

"Technically, you contradicted yourself in some way," Ike said before the doll glared at him. "...Or...maybe not?"

"Smithy!" Geno yelled. "Turn to us and face us! I didn't come all the way here just to be ignored by the likes of you!"

"..." Smithy kept working.

"...Something is not right here..." Lucario said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious." Chris said with a bored look.

"R-right..."

"Okay," Geno looked at Smithy's back again. "Smithy, would you turn around and see all of us for the last time?!"

"He's getting angry now..." Fox whispered. "It's easy to tell."

"I heard that!" Geno yelled angrily without turning to the vulpine. "Smithy! Can you listen to me one last time before I kill you?!"

"Hey, then why are we here if you're going to kill him yourself?" Link asked.

"I think you should leave him alone for now..." Twink whispered.

"Smithy!" Geno yelled as he walked towards Smithy. "Why the hell won't you turn around? I've been waiting for this moment from the very beginning of your whole pointless plan to destroy the Star Road to tell you a piece of my mind, ever since you..."

The doll stopped talking once he looked at Smithy from the other side. Geno's glared turned back to a normal expression as he blinked normally.

"...What?" Marth asked.

Geno made fists inside his cape, and rage wanted to come out very soon as he saw Smithy working with all the weapons that he was creating endlessly...

"...You've got to be kidding me..." Geno muttered with a tone of anger. "...SMITHY!"

Smithy didn't respond...

For he was sleeping on the job.

Music stops with a scratch

"This imbecile is working while he's sleeping!" Geno yelled loudly. "For Skolar's sake, why did he do this to me?"

Mallow walked to Geno and looked at Smithy. Sure enough, Smithy was working while his eyes were...opened.

"...Wow, so this is how you sleep with open eyes?" Mallow asked. "'Cause this is awesome."

"Awesome?" Geno asked enraged. "Look, this is just...ugh, I can't explain how furious I am right now!"

Some of the Smashers walked to them and looked at Smithy. "Yep, he does look like an evil Santa Claus to me." Ness said.

"G-Geno, I think you should calm down for a bit..." Lucas suggested.

"Calm down?" Geno repeated. "How the heck am I going to calm down, Lucas? I've been through a lot and THIS is how expects me to see him? Sleeping?"

"Geno, I think should calm dow-" Mario was interrupted.

"Mario, everyone, don't try to calm me down," Geno said. "First, I'm going to tell all of you why I'm angry."

Everyone looked at each other before the doll began to talk.

"Ever since the Star Road broke for the second time, I've been doing a lot of trips to every single place where the 7 Star Spirits were held," he closed his eyes. "I'm going to say everything..."

"Oh Eldstar..." Twink frowned.

"Seeing the only road where the wishes of people go day by day destroyed by a sword, go down to the earth and find help from the "Elite" of fighters, which are just a bunch of violent people."

Peach looked down, but Fox glared at him.

"I went to a festival to hunt monsters where I almost got this doll bitten by 3 monsters, I went to a medieval world where somehow it was boring to me."

"There are no modern stuff there, just to let you know..." Ike said ashamed.

"I took ANOTHER entry in a festival, but of sports this time, where I almost got burned by lav-"

"I got to a world where babies ruled!" Mallow interrupted.

"It was the past and they didn't rule anything." Mario whispered.

"Oh, right."

Geno went on. "I went to a world where I kept waiting and waiting for something until it happened at the last race."

"It's not my fault you didn't wait, desperate guy!" Sonic said.

"If I recall, you hate to wait." Chris said.

"Y-you, shut up!"

Geno went on. "I had to tolerate the Axem Rangers."

"We agreed in something for this time..." Snake frowned.

"I had to go to a world full of weird penguins and a very angry "broken" kid that wanted to kill me, even if I was helping hi-"

"That was actually and sadly me." Pit said.

"Weren't you in love with Flonne though?" Bomb Kirby asked.

"S-shut up!"

Geno went on. "I mean, I went to a world that was just a linear path."

"LITERALLY." Sonic shrugged.

"I took part of ANOTHER competition, where I had to participate."

"That competition took away my speed!" Sonic yelled with another shrug.

"I met Rosalina again, but endured the galaxies that were a real manifestation of hell itself...not to mention I suffered the most in those planets!"

"D-don't bring that up..." Mario muttered.

"I fought more fights above the clouds, where a king with personal issues froze us to death."

Chris looked down and Lucario patted his back.

"I had to tolerate a cruel reflection of the Forest Maze to get up the barrier, where we went inside Exor to fight some annoying defenses, counting the guardians we already defeated, I infiltrated the factory and where to I finally reached this place..." he looked at the sleeping Smithy. "TO FIND THIS IMBECILE SLEEPING INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR ME TO COMPLETE THIS WHOLE ORDEAL!!!" he yelled very loudly.

His yell echoed through all the factory. The Smashers kept staring at him as the doll panted heavily after his long rant to his most hated nemesis. The doll could only sigh and close his eyes after he let his rage out.

"...Phew..." Geno sighed. "Well, I think I'm calmed."

"Just a problem, though..." Lucas began.

"What could it be?"

The blond kid pointed at Smithy, who was still sleeping through open eyes while he worked.

"I'm impressed," Ike began. "After all that long and loud rant, that guy is still sleeping. I wonder how he does that..."

"..." the Smashers could see Geno trembling all of a sudden as he stared at Smithy with his eyes becoming wider and wider. His hands became fists and he wanted to open his square-shaped mouth to yell out loud one last rant to the blacksmith.

"...I hope he doesn't turn red now..." Mario muttered.

"Shh, I think it's best not to talk now." Link whispered.

With a long deep breath of air, Geno faced Smithy and yelled, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" before he leaped to the evil Santa Claus and pulled his long beard. "YOU DAMN BASTARD! RESPOND TO MY RANTS, RESPOND TO THEM! GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT STUPID SLEEP NOW!!!"

This scene looked weird to some, but amusing at the same time. The doll who always was under control was now with a wish to rip Smithy's head off rather than defeating him. The Smashers could only watch the doll trying to pull the long beard off from Smithy's face.

"..." Twink flew behind Peach. "I-I don't think I'm allowed to see this kind of event right now..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Geno yelled loudly as he tried to cut the beard.

"Insane doll is insane," Ness said before frowning. "I knew he was going to lose it."

"Lose what?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Forget what I mean..."

Sonic, who got fed up by all this nonsense, decided to do something. "...So, what do we do?" he asked.

"Let Geno attack Smithy all by himself?" Chris asked.

"For what?" Marth asked. "I think he can kill him now."

"...Hmm?" a grumble was heard and they turned to Geno's direction.

"Wait, was that grumble a little bit deep?" Pikachu asked.

They looked at Smithy's eyes, who decided to look down at the doll who tried to cut his beard.

"...G-Geno..." Pichu whispered. "I-I think he's awake now..."

Geno, who have been trying to...well, you already know, decided to look directly to Smithy's eyes. "So NOW you're awake!" Geno yelled.

"Geno!" Smithy yelled. "Get your wooden hands off my beard!"

"Not until you pay for everything you've done to the people's wishes!"

"BEGONE!" Smithy slapped Geno away to the Smashers, who fell to the floor on his back and slid to them.

Geno looked to them with a glare. "Thank you for preventing my fall. It was nice."

"You're welcome." Pikachu said sarcastically as the doll got up.

The Smashers remembered that the blacksmith was awake and they quickly ran to the other side, where most of them glared at Smithy as he turned around to face them with a glare. He didn't stop banging on the hot liquid metal that came out of Smelter.

Super Mario RPG - Here's Some Weapons

"What is the meaning of this?" Smithy asked with a grumble. "I was working very well during my sleep before I find 18 cockroaches and a star interrupting my production!"

"It's because the likes of you need to be stopped." Geno responded.

"...Wait, I remember you defeated all my employees through the factory, did not you?" Smithy asked.

"Yeah, and we didn't like them one bit." Ness said.

"They were just plain annoying..." Jigglypuff said with a shrug.

"Hmph," Smithy grunted. "Well, you're responsible of the destruction of my weapons, who were keeping the Star Spirits away from your filthy hands, correct?"

"Well, not all of them were machines." Mario said.

"Silence!" Smithy banged his hammer on the steel table while more hot liquid metal. "I can't forgive those who dare to step in in my factory and cause destruction upon their path. And I'm talking about all of you!"

"Dude, whatever you're doing here it's most likely not going to be sweet for all of us," Mallow said. "I mean, don't you the ordeal we had to go through because of you?"

"I know," Smith snapped his fingers and a virtual screen appeared to his left, where it showed several wrecked parts of the factory where the Smashers fought the workers. "Just look at the whole mess you did! The pipes are cut, the floor is covered in soo-"

"The bomb guy did it." Pikachu said.

Smithy glared at Bomb Kirby.

"Not this bomb guy!" Pikachu yelled.

Smithy went on. "The pipes are cut, the floor is covered in soot, the chains are falling apart, the floor looks like it's going to break and worse of all," another part was shown. "These cockroaches who caused all of this mess in the first place!"

"...That's a screen showing us and you." Twink said.

"Well, I made my point," Smithy snapped his fingers so the screen could disappear. "Incidentally, you plan to destroy my beloved factory, right?"

"Duh," Snake responded. "I don't care what happens to this place as long as there are no more of those f(beep)d up machines around."

"Oh, speaking of machines," Fox began before he crossed his arms. "Can you tell us why were the conveyor belts transporting so many of them?"

Smithy snapped his fingers to make the same virtual screen appear. It showed the city where many Machine Mades were walking around like an army of soldiers, to every single building where they looked out through the windows and remained there.

"...Why are they in the city?" Pichu asked.

"Because the conveyor belts lead to an exit that was the only accessible point of Exor's blade," Smithy explained. "The Machine Mades are just the first part of the plan."

"What plan?" Peach asked.

"Simple. All of them have been deployed through the entire city all these 7 days. The production was so much better than the last time, and thus, I managed to create tons and tons of them. Good thing there wasn't an error with a single machine," just when he said that, the same Yaridovich above Mack's pogo was shown in a window before passing to another. "I'd kill one of my workers if that happened!"

The Smashers decided to ignore that little error from reaching Smithy's ears.

"But why are they being deployed through the whole city? Shouldn't they be already in every part by now?" Marth asked.

"This city is freakin' huge," Smithy said with a grumble. "Never in my life wished to see a city THIS big. But whatever, once all the Machine Mades reach their areas, they will...explode."

"...Explode?" Sonic repeated.

"That's right. The purpose for this is the annihilation of the whole city through a big chain of explosion throughout the whole area. Once it's done, Exor will be lifted up by my orders and then from there, I will roam the worlds and cause the same plan over and over again until my weapons fill everything! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!"

"...Wait a minute..." Chris spotted a familiar penguin looking around the place. "...Isn't that a Prynn-"

"That's a ridiculous and insane plan right there," Geno said with an interruption. "I can't believe you want to do this."

"The cake shop I go daily is going to be destroyed as well?" Bomb Kirby asked.

"...Yes, it will." Geno frowned as he looked up.

"And I can't believe I have cockroaches who can destroy the factory!" Smithy yelled. "Seriously, watch it getting destroyed is painful!"

"Because it was meant to be destroyed." Lucario said with a glare.

"And it's going to be destroyed very shortly," Geno continued with a nod. "If we defeat you, will those machines disappear and leave the city alone?"

"In a way..." Smithy trailed off.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you do defeat me, which I think it's not possible, the machines might vanish...or not."

"Care to explain that?" Ike asked.

"Oh, why don't you find out?" Smithy asked.

"Fine!" Jigglypuff pouted as many prepared to fight. "Since you're oh-so-kind to us, we're going to give you 18 pieces of our minds!"

"Smithy..." Geno glared at Smithy.

Music stops

"...Be that way..." Smithy closed his eyes. "After all this time...after breaking the Star Road so wishes can't interfere with my plans of world domination...and the destruction of this worthless city...along with your deaths...I'm going to do something myself," he looked at them with a glare. "If you're complaining about my work and creations, then we must settle this again..."

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against Smithy

Shadow Bugs began to cover Smithy's body before he grunted angrily with glowing eyes. "Since we must fight to end our differences and views of a future..." he banged his hammer on the table. "I MUST END THIS BY CRUSHING ALL OF YOU!!!"

"Be careful, the battle starts now!" Geno warned the Smashers who ran after Smithy.

"Meteor Swarm!!!" Smithy called forth a long rain of rainbow stars that fell on the entire floor, damaging every single character who backed away in pain. "Well, this was just the start. I hope you enjoy what's next!" Dark Smithy yelled.

"Chris, use the Star Spirits!" Geno yelled.

Chris joined his hand. "O Star Spirits, aid us!" he prayed to make them all appear.

"If isn't Smithy!" Muskular grinned. "Heh, we've got to stop this guy's power supply, huh?"

"Everyone!" Twink flew to them. "Let's do this!"

"YOU SHALL NOT!" Dark Smithy interrupted. "SLEDGE!"

A huge black cylinder fell down from the dark ceiling and crushed all the Star Spirits down below. They all yelled in pain before it was raised and disappeared.

"ELDSTAR! TWINK!" Geno yelled as he saw the stars trying to get up.

"Twink, are you alright?!" Peach asked concerned.

"I-I'm okay..." Twink muttered.

"I-I'm so sorry..." Klevar panted. "H-he caught us off-guard..."

"But we must persevere and do what we were told..." Mamar said as they all flew up and stared at Dark Smithy. "We must do this for the sake of everyone's wishes!"

"I shall prevent that!" Dark Smithy yd. "METEOR SWAR-"

"GUUUUUUUUAARGH!" Lucario interrupted Dark Smithy's call big shooting a fully charged Aura Sphere that made Dark Smithy stagger in pain.

"Good job. Now, please go!" Chris ordered the Star Spirits who went quickly above Dark Smithy.

"Damn you all, stop pestering me!" Dark Smithy yelled as he raised his hammer.

"PUFF!" Jigglypuff jumped to Dark Smithy and slapped hard his face with Pound.

"Get out of MY WAY!" Dark Smithy yelled as he pushed Jigglypuff away with his hammer.

However, he forgot about the Star Spirits and Twink who summoned the beam and fell down on Dark Smithy, who yelled before he noticed that the Shadow Bugs disappeared. The Stars Spirits flew above where they disappeared as Twink returned to Geno...or flew away to stay safe.

"Great," Smithy grumbled. "My boost of power is gone...but that won't change a thing!" he banged on the hot liquid metal several times to create a Machine Made that looked like a Shyster, but it was a Shyper who jumped out from the table and looked at them.

"...A dude in a pogo?" Pikachu asked. "Should we fear him?"

"Ah!" the Shyper began as it moved by the sides (it was a male) before holding out his hands at them. "Sword Rain!"

As the name suggested, glowing swords began to rain down on the entire field, causing a lot of damage to the Smashers who yelled in pain.

"Answer..." Sonic muttered on the floor. "Yes...we should..."

"Hahahahahahaaaaa!" Smithy laughed. "Fear my creations! They won't stop until you lay down and DIE!"

"We have to take down the machine producing it!" Geno pointed at Smelter. "If we do it, then it won't leak out more liquid to create more machines!"

"I won't let you do such a foolish thing!" Smithy yelled before he saw Sonic dashing towards Smelter. "Begone, hedgehog! Mega Drain!"

A pink beam came out from Smithy's hammer before it tried to slice Sonic, who grinned and jumped over the beam and towards Smelter, where he used a scizzor-kick attack to deal damage to it. "Ha! Can't catch me!" Sonic taunted before he prepared to attack Smelter.

"Grrr-UGH!" Smithy forgot about the other Smashers, who decided to focus on him. The one who attacked him was Ness with PK Flash. "Haven't you seen the rule? The factory doesn't allow kids inside!"

"Weird, I thought it didn't allow weirdos like you as well." Ness said with a glare.

"Rothen child, get out!" Smithy raised his hammer and tried to crush Ness, who rolled at the side to evade the impact to later use PK Fire as he stood up, cauing a tower of flames that staggered Smithy. "Ugh!"

"He's staggering. Now's our chance to attack!" Marth said as he and Link towards Smithy.

However, the tower of flames didn't last long enough and they came at full stop once the blacksmith glared down at them. "What were you 2 going to do to me?"

"This!" Link took out the Hero's Bow and shot a fast arrow to Smithy's right eye.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Smithy yelled in pain before both swordsmen began to slash him across his body, making the blacksmith yell in pain.

"Wait a minute," Pikachu looked around. "Where is that Shy Guy?"

"Ah!" the Shyper was heard from above some pipes of the ceiling. "Sword Rain!"

Glowing swords began to rain down the field and everyone got caught on the rain.

"T-there's the bastard. Get him!" Mallow yelled as he, Pikachu and Pichu ran towards the Shyper.

"Heheheheheh!" the Shyper laughed as he hopped to another pipe to call forth more swords. "Sword Rain!" and he did, causing more damage to everyone on the floor.

"S-stop him..." Pichu moaned. "W-we can't let him spam his magic..."

"That's why I'M going to do this. Shocker!" Mallow called out a big thunder that crashed on the Shyper, also causing the Shyper to fall down to the floor.

"Now, let's finish h-" Pikachu was cut off as Mario jumped right above the trio and slammed down a fist on his face. The Shyper yelled in pain before he vanished. "Hey, that's not fair!"

"But you were letting that machine attack so I went ahead." Mario said.

"Look," Snake appeared in front of them. "Or you can talk and go away, or you can give a hand here in the fight."

"Snake, don't be that rude, please." Mei Ling said.

"Mei Ling, you know what they should do now."

"...Okay..."

"Point made," Snake said before noticing Smithy creating another machine. "Let's get this job done before I think bad things."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Pichu yelled loudly as he ran to the new Shyper.

"How amusing. He started first than you 3."

"L-let's just attack!" Pikachu yelled.

"Come back to me!" Smithy yelled as the Shadow Bugs appeared. "SLEDGE!"

The fast black cylinder was going to fall on Chris, who looked up and yelled. Lucario noticed the cry for help and he quickly appeared right in front of the World Traveler and stopped the cylinder from falling on him by using his hands.

"U-ugh..." Lucario struggled.

"What?!" Dark Smithy asked. "That dog is ACTUALLY stopping my attack?!"

"Y-you won't hurt him as long as I say so..." Lucario muttered through gritted fangs as he continued to stop the cylinder.

Chris smiled a little. "T-thank you, Lucario."

"What are you doing here?" Lucario asked as he looked at him over his right shoulder. "I-I won't hold this up for much longer. Get away!"

Chris gasped and he ran away from the cylinder before it crushed Lucario. "L-Lucario!" he yelled worried before the cylinder was raised, disappearing into the ceiling. "Lucario!"

"I'm...fine..." Lucario said as he shook his head and stood up. "T-that attack was stronger and it got me..."

"Even with your brute force is not enough," Chris said. "We-"

"Chris, use the Star Spirits!" Geno yelled before he was pushed away by Dark Smithy's hammer.

"R-right! O Klevar, come to us!" Chris called forth the clever star, who appeared right in front of him and looked at Dark Smithy with a small smile.

"Clocks of time, stop now." Klevar said as many clocks appeared around the floor before they all stopped.

However, Dark Smithy didn't feel anything and he used a fast Mega Drain to shoot down the star.

"O-oh no!" Klevar yelled as he crashed on the floor.

"Klevar!" Geno yelled as he ran to the Star Spirit. "Klevar, my apologies, but are you still breathing?"

"I-I can barely use my magic..." Klevar coughed. "That attack was just too strong...and cruel as well..."

"...Please, tell me we can still use Peach Beam!"

"Y-yes..." Klevar floated up. "I'm so sorry for getting attacked like th-"

Geno's eyes widened in horror as a rain of swords came from above and struck Klevar down to the floor, where the doll watched terrorized after the Star Spirit didn't move anymore.

"...KLEVAR!!!" Geno yelled before the Star Spirit vanished.

"O-oh my god..." Chris trembled scared. "I-I told him to get here and..."

"This is not good..." Eldstar appeared behind Chris. "Klevar was severely damaged and without him, we can't start the attack."

"T-tell me there's a way to heal him!"

"I'll try to heal him," Eldstar said with a nod. "Right now, try to fight Smithy. You can defeat him even if he has the Shadow Bugs."

"GET DOWN!" Geno tackled Eldstar down in time to evade another hit from Dark Smithy's Mega Drain.

"Eldstar, I-I think you need to get away from now!" Chris yelled as Dark Smithy glared at his direction.

"Y-yes..." Eldstar said before he disappeared.

"You bastard..." Geno stood up and glared menacingly to Dark Smithy. "You'll pay for hurting Klevar!" he yelled as he ran towards the blacksmith.

"And you'll pay for making my life a complete hell for myself to bear!" Dark Smithy yelled as he tried to cast Meteor Swarm.

However, he was interrupted as a heavy sword was slammed on his back. Dark Smithy yelled in pain before turning around to find Ike above the steel table, and with a glare. "You dare to say more things related to our deaths and I'll smash that back of yours." Ike threatened.

"What if I smash your back instead?" Dark Smithy asked as he raised his hammer before it was pushed away by a grenade. "What the hell?!"

"Surprised?" Snake asked. "I figured out that the hammer was annoying, so I took it away."

"Dork," Dark Smithy said as he pulled another hammer. "I have an unlimited supply of hammers. Don't take me for a fool like you."

"Maybe you're thinking something right now."

"Yes," Dark Smithy said. "Why did you do that if I can pull out hammers endlessly?"

"Because for that fact I didn't want to hit you at all."

"...What?"

"I'm just a distraction so the guy behind you can kick your face."

Dark Smithy turned around before red iron met his face with a strong kick that made him grunt in pain. The blacksmith noticed that the one who did it was Fox, who landed back to the floor. "Who let the animal get in? Somebody take it out!"

Fox glared at him. "Call me an animal and I swear I'm going to do something."

"What?"

"Nothing." Fox chuckled.

"You're not making any sense to me! What's your purpose then?"

Fox pointed behind him with his thumb. Dark Smithy looked to the front before a Turnip (X_O) crashed to his face. But he didn't feel anything but a small pain. "So?"

"...And that was strong because..." Dark Smithy turned to Peach.

Peach blushed embarrassed. "I-if I just had that same spirit I used to have a long time ago..."

"Why apologize though?" Fox asked. "You did well."

"And why's that?!" Dark Smithy asked enraged before a portal of darkness appeared right on him and began to attack him several times. "UGH!"

Chris sighed in relief after he used Negative Gate. "Phew, thanks for distracting him..."

Pikachu went to him. "You know, I think this job is very useful."

"...You think?" Chris looked at Tokunaga, who looked at him. "W-well, having a big doll to fight is good, I guess."

"I mean because it lets you attack from afar. You're a bit far away from that guy." Pikachu pointed out.

"I can let Tokunaga strike him from here. Watch." Chris ordered Tokunaga to move forward to Dark Smithy.

"A doll? Oh for the love o-can anyone here stop bringing dolls with powers?!" Dark Smithy asked.

"Last time I checked, we defeated everyone in here." Sonic said with a grin, laying down right above Dark Smithy with his left eye opened.

"UAH!" Dark Smithy grabbed Sonic and tossed him away, where he flipped in the air and landed on his feet. Sonic was merely a distraction so Tokunaga could reach the blacksmith. "Get awa-" he got interrupted as Tokunaga used Dragon Surge (a glowing uppercut) under Dark Smithy's chin before it used Eagle Dive (a fast fall) to make a combo before using Surge Breaker (a thunder slam with a whirling glowing fist) that made Dark Smithy grunt in pain. "AAHH!!!"

"See? That's actually pretty sweet." Pikachu remarked.

Chris chuckled and grabbed Pikachu to put him above his right shoulder. "Aw, thank you so much."

"No problem," Pikachu said with a small wag of his tail. "What else do you have?"

"Hmm... Oh! This!"

Pikachu suddenly felt something...

"SPARK WAVE!!!" Chris and Pikachu yelled loudly.

Dark Smithy suddenly felt waves of electricity forming right inside him before a sphere of volts appeared and electrocuted him greatly with several hits. The blacksmith yelled loudly in pain before the sphere disappeared.

New ability learned! Spark Wave!

Sends waves of pure volts through a floating sphere of lightning. Deals a great amount of lightning damage to enemies nearby it.

"..." Chris and Pikachu looked at each other.

"...Did we just..." Chris trailed off.

"...I'm sure as a Pinsir's butt we did..." Pikachu nodded. "I mean, I discharged electricity to your body all of a sudden..."

"..." Chris looked at his hair. "Oh, that explains why my hair is pointing everywhere..." static went up through 2 spikes. "Weird, I didn't feel anything..."

"...You know what this means?"

"That we found your first Combined Final Smash?"

"...No..." Pikachu looked at Ness, who was being chased around by a Shyper. "Hey, Ness! Guess who found his Combined Final Smash first?"

"Dammit!" Ness yelled as the Shyper tried to use Sword Rain, but Sonic came from behind and pushed it away.

"Ha, thanks," Pikachu looked at Chris. "I beat Ness at getting the CFS first."

Chris sweatdropped. He couldn't get the idea that Pikachu didn't care about the fight as long as he defeated Ness in their little challenger. "...You're welcome?"

"That's why I like this spot," Pikachu rested on his shoulder. "Makes me remember home."

"Ash's shoulder?"

"...Pretty much. Dawn's good s-"

"What?!"

"I-I mean it in the good way!" Pikachu blushed a little.

Then they were crushed under Dark Smithy's Sledge move before it was raised again. Both were laying down on the floor with their faces resting on them.

"I want to know where Lucario is...oww..." Chris muttered.

"...Chris?!" Lucario ran to his trainer and picked him up. "Chris, are you all right?"

"...Why didn't you save me?"

"US." Pikachu corrected from the floor.

"S-sorry. I had my mind somewhere else...and I was close as well..." Lucario blushed a little in embarrassment.

"..."

While the World Traveler was still speechless, a flying Mallow went above them.

"...In what, exactly?" Chris asked.

"...I can't tell you."

This little comment made Chris give up.

"...Put me down..." Chris said. Lucario gasped and he put Chris down.

And back to the fight...

Chris and Lucario (along with Pikachu) focused back on the fight.

"Boom!" Bomb Kirby said happily as he tossed several bombs at a fast rate to Dark Smithy, who kept pushing them away with his hammer. "Blow, blow, blow! Boom!" he sang happily as he kept pulling out bombs.

"Grr, stupid marshmallow..." Dark Smithy grunted angrily before a sword slashed him 4 times on his back. "Who's the idiot behind this?"

"Well, I'm behind you, literally." Marth said as he stood on the steel table behind the blacksmith.

"You little... DIE!" Dark Smithy raised his hammer above him but it was pushed away by an explosion. "Not again!"

"It wasn't me though," Snake said from Dark Smithy's left side as he took out his RPG-7 rocket launcher that he aimed at Dark Smithy's feet and fired a rocket that hurt the blacksmith greatly. "Now it is me."

"BEGONE!" Dark Smithy yelled before a bomb exploded on his face. "Dammit, who keep shooting those bombs at me?"

"The pink marshmallow did," Snake pointed at Bomb Kirby, who tossed another bomb that Dark Smithy pushed to Snake, who yelled in pain and backed away. "Me and my big mouth..."

"This big?" Bomb Kirby asked as he opened his mouth wide.

"It was an expression..." Snake frowned.

"Away!" Dark Smithy yelled as he swung his hammer sideways to push them away. "Now, let's mass produce enemies!"

Many blobs began to come out from Smelter, who dropped all of them on Dark Smithy's table before they all were banged on against his hammer, creating many Shypers that hopped to the floor.

"This is bad..." Geno said as the Shypers moved at the sides.

"Oh, hell no!" Chris yelled as he joined his hands. "Kalmar, please, come!"

Kalmar appeared in front of him. "Well, what do you wis-"

Chris quickly pulled Kalmar down so he could evade a beam from Dark Smithy's hammer. "Up & Away on those enemies!"

"Right," Kalmar said as he went to the Shypers, where he raised his small hands to the air and turned them into stars that flew all the way to the ceiling where they disappeared. "That's done," he said before he disappeared.

"GRRRR!!!" Dark Smithy grunted angrily. "This is why I hate the Star Spirits!"

"Geno Beam!" Geno shot a blue beam to Dark Smithy's face. "Attack him while he's staggering!"

"Does this idiot has a weak point?" Snake asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure." Mei Ling said.

"HE DOESN'T!" Geno yelled angrily.

"Tsk..." Snake frowned before he ran to Dark Smithy and tossed a grenade to the beam, where it exploded and made the blacksmith yell in pain. Snake took this little time to jump to his face and give several kicks to it, finishing his combo with a missile that he (slowly) shot but eventually exploded.

Mario looked at Peach, who was very unsure about fighting. "Peach, do something, please." Mario said, trying to sound as nice as he could to convince Peach to attack.

"Like what?" Peach asked worried. "I don't have something good in mind..."

"...Use that attack..."

"..." Peach blushed and looked behind her. "...I-I don't want to. It looks so embarrassing when I use it..."

"But it's strong, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, but..."

"Then use it!"

"S-some of them are going to laugh at me and I don't want that!" Peach said.

A Shyper hopped to them.

"AAAAAH!!!" Peach yelled in fear before Mario made a small but strong explosion of fire in his hand that blasted the Shyper away.

"Peach, weren't you decided to fight?" Mario asked.

"B-but this is different. We're fighting against Smithy again!"

"But you did it very well the last time!"

"That's because I was the healer and not an attacker. But I can't heal anymore because...I-I don't know, I just do!"

"Weird, I lost my ability to shoot big fireballs as well... That's odd." Mario commented.

"Mario, Peach," Geno called from afar as he aimed his fist at Smelter. "Everyone is doing their best to attack and you 2 aren't doing anything! Do something! Every single second is important for our survival and victory!"

"Geno seems to be more serious than he used to..." Peach pointed out.

"Well, it is more frustrating to him now," Mario explained as Jigglypuff crossed them from above. "I can understand the motive of his rage."

"W-well, I think I can fight now..."

Mario smiled a little. "Oh, really?"

Another Shyper came from somewhere.

"YAAAAAAAAH!!!" Peach yelled, but this yell didn't contain fear but it contained a yell of battle since she jumped to the Shyper with a frying pan ready before she started to...beat the crap out of the machine as Mario watched surprised.

Not soon she defeated the Shyper, another one appeared and the princess quickly lunged at it to start her continuous hits as she screamed.

"...That was a big change..." Mario commented before he shook his head and decided to fight as well. "Wait..." he stopped running and looked at another Shyper that went to Peach. "There weren't that many of them before...unless..."

Dark Smithy, who was being attacked by many of the Smashers, kept working arduously as many orange blobs came out from Smelter. The blacksmith had in mind to cover the whole floor with Shypers so they could use an endless barrage of Sword Rain. "N-no matter what you do to me, I'll keep making weapons till I get tired, which will never!" Dark Smithy yelled.

"Dammit, he isn't staggering even one bit!" Mallow yelled as he used Shocker.

"Shypers!" Dark Smithy ordered. "ATTACK!!!"

For their dismay, they couldn't get rid of the great amount of Shypers who were hopping around the whole floor. They all moved by the sides before holding out their hands...

And that's when true hell came from above.

An insane amount of glowing sword began to rain down the ceiling. Everyone gasped before they were all heavily damaged by the rain of swords that many began to yell loudly in pain as it seemed that it wasn't going to finish. Everyone tried their best to resist the insane barrage until it disappeared, leaving them extremely weak, and to the point where they could faint.

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Dark Smithy laughed. "Shall we end this with another round, boys?"

The Shypers nodded as they hopped on their pogoes.

The Smashers were laying down on the floor in pain before looking up to the machines. "D-damn them all..." Ike coughed.

"L-lame..." Sonic muttered as he tried to get up, but couldn't.

"W-we need to hurry or else that's it!" Geno yelled before he coughed weakly.

"...Oh my god, this is a relief," Kawashima said. "Over Limit ready! USE IT BEFORE YOU GET KILLED!"

"B-but who?!" Chris asked as he looked around for the only person who could have a suitable Final Smash.

For his dismay, many who had a destructive Final Smash couldn't even move that well after the attack. Chris himself couldn't use any as well as he felt very weak...

...But why was Peach perfectly fine?

"...PEACH!" Chris yelled.

"Y-yes?" Peach asked concerned.

"H-how did you survive that attack just now?"

She took out Toad, who had a lot of scratches around his face and arms. "N-never get in the way of a rain of swords..." Toad muttered before she kept it behind her, where he disappeared.

"W-what else can I do?" Peach asked concerned as the Shypers prepared to attack once more.

"Use your Final Sm-" Chris coughed. "Final Smash!"

"H-how?"

The Shypers were raising their hands.

"Say a special sentence that will give you power!" Twink yelled from behind some tubes.

"NO!" Dark Smithy yelled. "The princess shall die today!"

"Oh no... I forgot about him..." Chris muttered.

"P-Peach..." Bomb Kirby muttered on the floor. "Y-you can do it..."

"H-how?" Peach asked very worried at the situation. "W-what can I do to use it?"

"SLEDGE!" Dark Smithy called out.

The princess saw a shadow underneath her before she looked up, where her eyes widened in horror as a huge cylinder fell down from the dark ceiling.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Peach yelled loudly...as she took out Toad and put him above her in defense.

Of course, we all knew he wasn't going to make it THAT easily...

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!" Toad yelled as he blocked his already beaten face with his hurt arms.

"O-OH NO!" Bomb Kirby yelled as he closed his eyes from preventing the crushing of the princess (and her poor friend as well).

"...What?!" Dark Smithy asked enraged.

"..." Peach opened her eyes to find a glowing Lucario holding the cylinder above her. His aura was shining brightly as he held up the pipe with ease.

"Hmph..." Lucario closed his eyes. "S-since my aura increased, my strength did as well... Holding this thing is not hard at all for me any longer..."

After he spoke, the cylinder rose up and Dark Smithy grunted angrily.

"T-thank you..." Peach said.

"Oh my holy mushrooms, thank you!" Toad said before Peach kept him.

"..." Lucario's only action was a fainting one, since he fell down and fainted.

"..." Peach looked down to the Aura Pokémon. "...I'm sorry for causing this trouble for you..."

"SHYPERS!" Dark Smithy yelled. "ATTACK!"

"DO IT!!! ...UGH!" Chris yelled loudly before he lost consciousness.

Peach closed her eyes before opening them with a serious expression. "I...I!!!"

The simpleness of this little sentence made a rainbow aura cover her completely as a force pushed out from herself.

"...I will stop this!" Peach said as she raised her arms and joined her hands together.

"ATTACK HER!" Dark Smithy yelled.

"We were going to annihilate everyone at once," one Shyper said in a monotone voice. "Why should we change attacks?"

"JUST DO IT!!!"

"..." the Shypers hopped towards Peach.

But their slowness was just a mistake for Peach to use her Final Smash...

...

A rain of healthy peaches! How ironic since her name is a fruit!

...

No, really. Your eyes are not deceiving you. She literally called forth peaches that covered the whole floor with a graceful dance she did...

And, as 2 of herself appeared as artistic pictures from someone's perspective, a wave of drowsyness emanated out from Peach and it hit every single Shyper, including Dark Smithy who blinked confused at the sudden exhaustion got received as well as his machines.

"Why do I feel so tired now? ...I...must...make...weapons..." Dark Smithy muttered before yawning out loud as he fell asleep on top of the steel table, along with the Shypers who snored loudly.

As Peach finished her dancing, she noticed the whole floor covered in peaches as they also were above the Smashers themselves. "...Whoopsie." Peach said with a giggle.

"..." Snake opened an eye and spotted a peach in front of him...

...Then, with a swift move, he ate it and said, "Tasty!"

"...Excuse me?" Peach asked confused.

After several peaches, Snake stood up and looked at her. "Nothing."

"B-but you sai-"

"Nothing." Snake's tone grew more menacing.

"...Okay..." Peach was confused at this weird Final Smash of hers. She looked around where some of the Smashers were awakening thanks to the small but necessary recovery effects of the peaches. "..." she looked down where Fox had a peach half-eaten in his mouth.

"..." Fox looked up to her before he ate it completely and stood up. "You didn't see anything."

"..." Peach nodded.

"Wait, everyone's sleeping?" Geno asked as he looked at the sleeping Shypers, and even Dark Smithy. "This is our chance to turn the tables to our favor."

"We have to do it before they wake up ad beat our a(beep!)" Sonic said.

"..." Geno closed his eyes in frustration after letting the hedgehog say a curse in front of a young star named Twink. "...That doesn't matter..." he muttered.

"I-I have an idea..." Lucas spoke up.

"You have one?"

"I-instead of beating all of them..."

Several minutes later...

Many Shypers were shown falling off from the floor and they disappeared in the abyss down below the hanging floor because Sonic pushed all of them off with his speed.

Sonic cleaned his hands and looked around. "Yep, no more of those guys."

They all focused on the sleeping blacksmith...before they looked at Smelter. "That thing must go down before Smithy." Mallow whispered.

"And since it doesn't have Shadow Bugs, it's going to be very easy to shut it down if we focus our attacks on it." Geno said.

"ALL-OUT ATTACK ON THAT THING!!!" Sonic yelled loudly.

"SHH!!!" the Smashers whispered angrily as they looked at Smithy.

"I-I mean..." Sonic whispered. "All-out attack on that thing..." he whispered slowly.

"..." the Smashers frowned before they all went after Smelter, ignoring the sleeping blacksmith who grumbled.

And this meant everyone had to something good on it.

Pikachu and Pichu were the first ones who attacked. Both electric Pokémon ran below the pipe and used Thunder to create a strong lightning attack. This, however, wasn't very good for Pichu since he fainted from the combined attack.

"Whoops..." Pikachu muttered as he dragged Pichu away.

Next up was Bomb Kirby and Snake, who started to throw many explosives inside the pipe's mouth. Once they filled the mouth, it exploded and dealt severe damage to the insides of Smelter.

Snake wasn't over, since he took out his rocket launcher and directed a small rocker inside to let it explode. "Just to add more damage." Snake said simply.

Ness and Lucas decided to do the same thing they did on Dark Clerk by combining PK Flash and PK Freeze together. The green mist went all the way inside Smelter and it exploded, but deep inside. "That should do it." Ness said.

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"Just you wait and you'll see."

"..." Lucas just nodded.

"Chris. Hey, Chris!" Sonic called. "Can we do that?"

"You mean our combined attack?"

"Yeah, that one. C'mon! Let's do it!"

"..." Chris nodded and changed to his Racer job. Both he and Sonic ran underneath the hot liquid metal pipe and nodded to each other.

And very soon, Sonic yelled, "FIRE HEDGEHOG!" and was raised quickly underneath the pipe with a fire version of Spin Dash. The hedgehog's curled form soon turned back to himself with a satisfied grin as he came down.

"Hmmmmmm..." Dark Smithy grumbled.

"I wonder why he is that sleepy..." Geno muttered.

"I think it was because I was very close to him and...well...my skill got a stronger effect." Peach tried to explain.

"Maybe..."

"SHOCKER!" Mallow called down a heavy thunderbolt that crushed Smelter. "Star Rain!" then a big Starman came down and bounced on it several times before it jumped away and disappeared.

"UAH!" Dark Smithy woke up with a yell. "Dammit, what happened?! Where are my weapons?!"

"Guys, he's awake!" Link yelled and everyone quickly turned their backs to the blacksmith.

"So, destroying my source of my productions?! How DARE you do that?!" Dark Smithy asked enraged. "Smelter! More!"

"Oh no..." Mario muttered as they turned to Smelter...

...

...

...

"...Why is nothing happening?" Marth asked.

"...Wait, look at that." Fox pointed at Smelter, who was shaking violently before it turned red.

"What is the meaning of this stop?" Dark Smithy asked as he narrowed his eyes at Smelter...

"..." Ness remembered. "...Oh, it's working... Wait a minute..."

Smelter began to overheat with smoke and they backed away.

"O-oh my goodness, it's going to explode!" Pichu yelled.

"Get away from it!" Link yelled and all the Smashers retreated from the shaking red pipe.

Dark Smithy made an annoyed grunt as he walked slowly to Smelter and banged his hammer on it. "Stupid thing. Why won't you work and give me the material I need to make my beloved weapons?!"

Smelter answered his question...

...With a huge stream of hot liquid metal that was blasted off from its mouth, and directly to the blacksmith's face who yelled loudly in pain as an extreme burning feeling touched his whole body. They all watched Smelter shooting an extreme amount of hot liquid metal that even reached behind Dark Smithy and fell down to the abyss like a waterfall.

"Ha!" Sonic said with a grin. "That should outta take care of the guy!"

"But why?" Ike asked.

"Because of us," Ness said as he looked at Lucas. "We combined attacks together and created a stronger version. This version was a combination of PK Flash and PK Freeze, creating an instant explosion of ice that freezes anything."

"But the liquid was very hot, wasn't it?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess...but maybe our attack freezes anything but doesn't melt. Instead, that person of monster needs to break out."

"...Hmm...maybe." Pikachu nodded.

"Well, we did shut the pipe down," Geno said before he saw Smelter stopping. "...But the damn bastard is still alive."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Dark Smithy grunted in rage (and pain as well) as he focused his face to the Smashers. "YOU...STOPPED MY MAIN RESOURCE TO MAKE WEAPONS..."

Some of them began to chuckle as they looked at the blacksmith.

"AND ALSO..." Dark Smithy continued as the screen pulled back and revealed... "I JUST HAVE HALF OF MY BEARD ON WHILE THE OTHER HALF WAS BURNED BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS!"

"You know what, Smithy?" Geno asked.

"What?"

"I don't care about your rants now. What I care about is your own demise. I want to finish this now... And after you hurt Klevar...I promised myself something..."

"What would that be?"

"Kill you in a quick painless death."

"Puppet, he can't die without getting hurt." Snake said.

"Better yet, I guess," Geno glared at Dark Smithy. "This will be our last move on you before we save the city and the Star Road."

"...Come on, then." Dark Smithy taunted all of them as he raised his hammer high up, indicating that he was ready to go all-out on them.

"Listen, I want everyone to listen to my orders once he makes the first move. I don't promise our victory, but I can assure you that this is the best option so far... So please, pay attention." Geno muttered without facing the others, who nodded as they stared at Dark Smithy.

"SLEDGE!"

The shadow came from above and they looked to the ceiling. "Not the same trick. Lucario, stop it!"

"U-ugh..." Lucario raised his hands and stopped the attack from crushing them. The Smashers quickly got out and ran towards Dark Smithy. "UGH!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Dark Smithy laughed. "I'll kill the dog first!"

"Afraid not." Geno said.

"What?"

"Geno Boost!"

"GUUUUUUUAARRGGHH!!!" Lucario roared loudly as his strength and defense was increased, He started to push the cylinder upwards before it raised itself up, preventing from crushing the Aura Pokémon who ran to the others.

"Seriously, was the roar necessary?" Chris asked.

"I-I felt like it..." Lucario said embarrassed.

"W-what?!" Dark Smithy asked before he shook his head. "Meteor Swarm!"

The rainbow colored stars began to appear above them. "I'm afraid this attack will disappear as well." Geno said.

"My turn then!" Mallow said as he held out his hands. "Snowy!"

A blizzard came from the opposite direction of the stars and they all were frozen by the glacial snow that stopped all of them from impacting the Smashers before a big snowman fell on top of Dark Smithy. It blinked several times before exploding into snowflakes that caused ice damage on the blacksmith.

"Just great!" Dark Smithy yelled as he looked around. "This place is getting wet... I can't let you do what you want in here. I have a strict policy about sa-" he was suddenly attacked by a Homing Attack from Sonic, who landed above his steel table and stuck his tongue out. "GRRRRRR!!!"

"Can't hit me," Sonic taunted as he evaded a slam of the blacksmith's hammer. "Nope," he evaded another. "Close," he sidestepped. "Ha-ha," he sidestepped again. "What's wrong with you now?" he asked before he evaded several hits continuously.

"S-stupid hedgehog! Stop moving around!" Dark Smithy yelled in rage before a bomb was tossed to his face. "Where's the bomb marshmallow?!"

Several bombs fell down from above the blacksmith and he covered his head from them. Smoke flew out from it, causing Dark Smithy from seeing anything else.

"Boom-kata-boom." Bomb Kirby said happily over the air as he floated down.

A barrage of 99 shots suddenly went through the smoke and they all hit the blinded blacksmith. Dark Smithy yelled in pain as a charged shot collided with his face and exploded.

"Heh," Fox grinned as he put his Blaster away. "Hope they hurt you."

"A lot." Chris added as he put his own Blaster away, before changing to his PK Kid job. "Lucas!"

"U-um, y-yes." Lucas nodded with a gulp as both ran to the blacksmith, who grunted annoyed.

"Mega Drain!" Dark Smithy created a slicer beam that went towards them.

"Geno Whirl!" Geno interrupted as he shot his ring across the beam, cutting it in half as it vanished.

"Geno, stop sticking your weird nose where it doesn't belong!"

"PK Detonation!!!" Chris and Lucas shot a fast bolt of fire that, once it got inside Dark Smithy, exploded in a burst of flames that hurt him greatly.

"UAAHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled in rage. "That is it! I will do something about this nonsense on me! METEOR SWARM!"

"Snowy!"

This only caused the same effect and the blacksmith was crushed under another snowman, which exploded into snowflakes.

"...Hey!" Dark Smithy noticed Marth and Chris (in his Ranger job) above the steel table. Dark Smithy raised his hammer and brought it down...

"Whale Cleave!!!" both swordsmen yelled loudly as they started swiftly hits by turning around and then returning back before slamming their swords down on his stomach.

"DAMMIT!" Dark Smithy grunted in pain before he began to pant. "You...won't...do this...again..."

"I am afraid it will," Chris (in his Scholar job) said as he adjusted his glasses. "I must ask you to surrender while you can."

Pichu jumped to his shoulder.

"Never!" Dark Smithy said.

"Hmph," Chris frowned as Pichu jumped to his right hand and started to get covered in electricity. "Fine. Be that way as you like...but, however..."

"Spark Bullet!!!" Pichu yelled loudly as the scholar pulled back his right hand and tossed the small electric Pokémon at an insane speed that crossed Dark Smithy and electrocuted him greatly.

Bomb Kirby quickly went to the other side and jumped to catch the electric Pichu, who was grabbed by the bomb wielder and sighed. "I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiine..." Pichu said with swirls as eyes.

"(If this keeps going like this...)" Dark Smithy grunted. "(I won't hold for much longer...) AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" he yelled in pain as an arrow struck his right eye.

Link kept his Hero's Bow and unsheathed his sword. "Prepare for this," he said as he ran to the blacksmith, jumped over the table and struck down his sword on Dark Smithy's head as he tried to resist the pain on his eyes. "YAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly in pain.

"GUUUUUUAAARGH!!!" Lucario jumped to the air and shot a fast Aura Sphere that exploded right on the blacksmith's face.

"STOP THIS!!!"

"We won't after you did all of this mess!" Mario yelled as he jumped straight towards Dark Smithy and delivered a downwards punch.

"DAMMIT!!!" Dark Smithy was getting more enraged by each hit he received.

"Y-yiah!" Peach tossed a Turnip (:-)) to his face.

"UGH!!!"

"Here...I..." Jigglypuff muttered as she flew high up and started rolling. "G-go!" she yelled as she began to charge her Rollout attack that went quickly to Dark Smithy's forehead, causing eve more pain than before.

"N-NO!!!" Dark Smithy yelled in pain.

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu climbed all the way up to Dark Smithy's head and called forth a lightning bolt from a dark cloud that struck Dark Smithy down as he yelled out.

"PK Thunder!" Ness jumped to the air and struck himself on the back with PK Thunder, causing him to rocket down to Dark Smithy's stomach, delivering a strong electric pulse that electrocuted the blacksmith even more than before.

"Aether!" Ike tossed his spinning sword above Dark Smithy, where he reached for it with a jump and slammed it hard on the blacksmith's head.

"..." Snake, who didn't have better attack in midair, decided to charge up his RPG-7 rocket launcher on Dark Smithy's feet to deliver a very strong explosion that caused the evil leader to yell out loudly.

"And lastly..." Geno said as he turned into a cannon with a backflip, shot a small orb of fire to Dark Smithy that later started to grow bigger into a flashing face that later inflated itself and the explosion of fire, causing even more pain to the blacksmith...

...

Music stops

...Who yelled loudly for one last time.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Dark Smithy yelled in extreme pain. "I...I...I...I don't believe this! ...Not like this! ...W-why?! WHY?! WHY, WHY, WHY?! ...UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The Smashers saw as Dark Smithy lost consciousness before their eyes as he fell on top of his steel table. A small quake was produced once he fell and they were able to blink at the whole event.

...But he managed to mutter some words, nevertheless.

"This is...completely...unbelievable..." Dark Smithy muttered before he sighed and fainted.

"..." Mallow walked to him and poked his head. "...No doubt about it now..."

"..." Twink came down from the ceiling and looked at Geno. "So...does this mean..."

Geno nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, at last, we're done with him."

"That's it?" Sonic asked. "Man, I thought he was going to give us more pain in our necks."

"Idiot..." Dark Super Sonic chuckled.

And his gloves suddenly felt tight.

"O-oh man..." Sonic began to back away from the Smashers as he tried to stop the ripping sounds from his gloves.

"...Phew..." Chris dropped to his knees. "We're done...we're finally done..."

"So, can we return home now?" Peach looked around concerned. "I'm...not liking this place anymore..."

"...Wait," Fox looked around. "How do we get out now?"

For their dismay, there was absolutely nothing like an exit or a new path. The only thing they had was that big hanging floor that was slowly lowering down and trembling...

...

Wait, lowering down and trembling?

"U-um, everyone..." Jigglypuff shook with the floor. "I-I don't think..."

"..." Geno looked at the fainted Dark Smithy. "...Wait, his Shadow Bugs aren't gone yet..."

"...Didn't we forget something vital this time?" Mario asked.

"What?" Peach asked.

Then, it suddenly hit her.

"...Oh no..." Peach muttered.

"...OH, HELL NO," Chris shook his head. "I do NOT want to fight THOSE heads..."

"Kid, bunch of mushroom lovers, explain." Snake demanded.

"Well," Mario began as the floor began to shake violently, causing most of them to tumble at the sides. "There was this last form tha-"

But his words were interrupted as the floor...fell rather fast to the abyss.

BUT, they didn't fall. They remained standing in midair along with Dark Smithy's fainted body.

"...This isn't a cartoon or something." Link said.

"Wait, you watch cartoons?" Chris asked.

"AHEM." Geno coughed.

Then, the laws of gravity weren't exactly on nobody's sides and thus, they all fell down to the unknown, along with Dark Smithy's fainted self as they screamed loudly.

"Phew..."

Peach, however, used her parasol to stay in the air as she sighed in relief. "...I'll reach the floor sometime..."

"Yes..."

Peach looked up where Bomb Kirby was sitting down on her parasol. "Oh, you too?"

Bomb Kirby nodded. "I'm too light, so I can sit down up here, right?"

"...Yes..." Peach said as she looked down at the abyss they were falling to. "(Mario, everyone...)"

HELL

...

There Is No Other Way To Describe This...Hell

"...yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-OWW!" Ness landed on his head and fell down above some red skulls.

The PK kid groaned as he sat up and looked around...

This place was surely a nightmare. Ness trembled a little as he saw the ominous red skull heads with weird shapes of a demon machine. The entire place was completely red like blood itself. It was like a cave but without exits and entrances.

"W-where am I?" Ness looked around. "Where's everybody?"

His answer was responded with everyone falling on top of him, creating a big pile themselves that groaned in pain as they tried to struggle and get out.

Chris, however, wasn't inside the pile, since Lucario grabbed him with his arms and landed on his feet after they fell down.

"P-phew..." Chris sighed as he smiled at his Pokémon and rubbed his head. "Thank you so much for preventing my fall, Lucario..."

"Guuuuuorrrgh..." Lucario growled happily as he set his trainer down.

"..." Chris's eyes widened as he looked at his surroundings (and the Smashers getting out from the pile they did by accident). "...Lucario..."

"...Yes?" Lucario asked.

"...Prepare for the worst..." he pointed up where Dark Smithy fell on the skulls and broke them in pieces.

"...Yes, I knew this was going to happen..." Geno said as he stood up and looked at Dark Smithy.

"...You..." Dark Smithy muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. "...You...won't get away...with this..."

"Ha!" Sonic said with a grin (with his hands suspiciously behind his back). "Try that! I dare yo-"

"Sonic, instead of asking for another fight, will you shut up?" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"Damn, is he still standing after all that?" Link asked.

"Looks like it..." Ike said unsure.

"Just when the hell is he going to die and leave me alone for once?" Fox asked annoyed.

"...And where in the hell are we, anyway?" Snake asked as he looked around.

"One word: HELL." Mallow responded, looking worried.

"SILENCE!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly as all the Smashers turned to him. "This is...outrageous! I'm sick of this whole thing! Geno! You're the responsible for all of this!"

"And what if I did?" Geno asked with a glare. "You're pretty much done. Why do another fight here?"

"Because...I won't let you go away alive..." Dark Smithy said as he closed his eyes. "...I will...show you all...my...my..."

"...Grrrrrr..." Lucario grunted, showing his fangs as he prepared for something.

The others took this as a signal and faced the blacksmith with glares.

"...My..." Dark Smithy muttered as a tower of light appeared from beneath him, blinding the Smashers who blocked their eyes as the whole cave was illuminated.

"W-what is happening now?" Twink asked as he hid behind Geno.

"Not the same thing again..." Geno muttered as he uncovered his eyes and glared at the light. "When we defeated Smithy, he destroyed the floor we were just on and took all of us to this place... When he was cornered, he...he..."

"...Changed forms..." Mario added.

"My..." Dark Smithy continued as they saw the light tower vanishing.

What they found instead of the blacksmith was a creepy head with the Shadow Bugs. The head resembled all the skulls around the whole cave (and the biggest one in the background). It later was raised at the same height Dark Smithy was before, only that its body had the hammer and a gun hand to shoot bullets. The head spun a little and they prepared for the worst...

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming

"MY FINAL FORM!!!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly as he laughed maniacally. "Geno, every single cockroach in my domain, prepare to be destroyed by the power of the machines of my factory! With that being said, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!"

"H-he's become more nuts than before!" Lucas gulped in fear.

"Dammit, I don't want to fight anymore..." Geno shook his head before he glared at Dark Smithy. "Fine. If he wants this, then I won't hesitate to give it all this time around."

"...Are you happy now?" Chris looked angry to Fox.

"What? Why?" Fox asked.

Chris pointed at Dark Smithy. "There's your wanted challenge that wants us dead, right in front of us! Now, get fighting before I DIE again!"

"So? This is completely different."

"..." Chris looked down depressed.

"...Sorry..." Fox apologized.

"...Thanks." Chris nodded.

"DIE!!!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly as he fired bullets at them.

"Everyone, this is the last request I ask you to do," Geno said as he ran to the lunatic blacksmith. "Let's take that maniac down and finish this long struggle, for the Star Spirits and the city as well!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming. And after this, my task will be done at last..." Geno sighed.

"Let's do this, shall we?" Mallow asked.

"...Yes, let's."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Exor
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

- Spark Wave is a reference to Anise Tatlin, who can cast this spell instead of Negative Gate if she's standing inside a circle of lightning fonon. It can be said that Pikachu was used as the lightning fonon to change the effect of the attack.

Okay, then...

Well, they survived after the explosion...of smoke, and the Smashers outside are still fighting against...a toy? Nobody saw that coming (or maybe just one person).

Smithy isn't dead yet. They must defeat his final form before they can save the city. But will they win this last fight?

...And what was that about the machines not stopping even if Smithy could be gone?

Mysteries, mysteries...

...The final battle for Geno, Mallow and Twink is coming very soon...

...

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 129*: Fight Against Smithy, Who Transforms

I'm so sorry for updating so late again! I had many distractions along with Summer School...but at least this got finished...

From SlasherMask: :3 SO THATS the idea you got from me...

It actually makes sense to Smithy work while sleeping, that way weapon production doesn't get stopped!

Smithy's true forms body is little bigger than his normal one(at least hammer is)

I personally think that those smithy heads are his failed mass produce attempt of himself.

P.S.S... YAY! I saw the Pogo-Knife-Sword coming!

From me: Well, let's see how they fare with that guy here. ;)

From ngrey651: Geno has definitely proven himself, along with Mallow and Twink, to be great allies. I'll be sad to see them go...

I did NOT see the "evil pogo" thing coming. ALIVE, maybe, since it had eyes, but EVIL? YIKES.

From me: Sadly, the fight with the pogo couldn't be put in here, but maybe in the next chapter...

From Mewtrainer: They were KO'ed...by SMOKE?! Yeesh, what kind of self-destruct is that? XD I was wondering what had happened to the Dark Mack fight! Meta Knight beaten...because he couldn't put out his cape? That must be a humiliating way to go...
'Duhtily duh duh'? That pogo's even weirder than Popo! And that's saying something! Hmm...pogo, Popo...there's only one letter's difference...hm...
'Smithy's Main Office, Where He Controls Pretty Much Everything In The Whole Factory There Is. Pretty Awesome, Is Not It?' #1: That's the longest place name I've ever heard! #2: I think you mean 'Is It Not?'. How in the Mushroom Kingdom does Smithy work while he's asleep? XD How come there wasn't that weird period during Pikachu's Combined FS? Just wondering. See you next chapter! *Waves cheerfully* Oh, and don't get yourself killed by Dark Smithy, who likes transforming! XD

From me: Well, isn't breathing smoke bad? I heard that's the cause why people faint during fires.

The fire wasn't unable to douse out and that's why Meta Knight got defeated.

No, they're not the same. XD

I'm pretty sure the way I wrote the place was right...

Because they felt it right away...or I didn't want to write theirs. : P Sorry.

Thanks.

From Midnight Rebel Spy (or previously known as lucario cat star): Wow that chapter was long I got dizzy halfway through.
Anyway, Will ash or the Tails doll appear? Just wondering.

From me: I told you before they won't.

Thank you for your review. :D

From Anakin Mario Son43: Aww, come on Smithy! Can't you just die? Also, goodbye mallow, twink, and uhh... The other guy, what was his name? Oh ya! Geno. Oh ya, could you please try to update this before 11:00 at night? Update soon! Hasta! P.S. The eleven at night thing is because I take an hour to read this and durring summer I go to bed at midnight.

From me: I can't, sorry. Maybe you'll have to wait until the next day and read it unless you have an excuse. :)

From notfromearth: Geeze, kind of a short chapter mate. If I can make a suggestion, stop posting the reviews, it's just more crap I have to scroll through

From me: I consider this almost a rant...but no. It doesn't hurt to move the little bar a little. : P Thanks. And this chapter is larger.

From Rellymaster: Wow, Smithy can sure take a beating!
Geno has definitely got some issues to work out. He must genuinely hate Smithy.
I wouldn't complain about the physics of a fantasy world. The ability to hold lots of items in a hammerspace is useful.
Psycho Pogos? What has the world come to?!
You really had me going at the start!

From me: I hope I can have you going again. XD

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: So Chris did program Yolk to explode! I guess he should have been more careful.

The separate fights against Dark Mack and Smithy were hilarious. It was odd how Dark Mack was so powerful that only about five of them remained conscious at the end of the battle. Is he really that tough? Looks like their battle's not over yet though. I can't believe the pogo stick came to life. Didn't Popo make a reference to that in this chapter? Speaking of Popo, he's unconscious? Wasn't he just kicked away by Dark Mack though?

Could the battle with Smithy get any more hilarious? It was a rather interesting fight with Peach using her Final Smash and everyone eating peaches and taking advantage while the bad guys were asleep and Chris and Pikachu's combined final smash.

From me: Popo was...well, where is he?

I just hope this fight is funny as well as exciting... Continue down, please. :D

From JSandders: Great chapter!

First of all I have to say that the two fighting scenes were awesome. Like I said before, you write fighting scenes pretty well! I laughed when Geno found out that Smithy was sleeping! I did not expect that! Also, about the Dark Mack fight, I kinda knew that you were going to do something different with that "toy" of his!

I laughed when I figured out that Yolk exploded only because Chris was not thinking when he reprogrammed the robot! LOL!

I also laughed when Pikachu was bragging about beating Ness in finding his CFS first! I like their rivalries, their hilarious!

And so, the Smashers have to deal with the ever annoying Smithy with his changeable heads... I can't wait for this fight! I want to see him using his tank head again, that was funny! Also, that head which he uses for magic is also funny! Heck, ALL of his heads are funny! XD

I'm curious as to what you mean by production not stopping after Smithy's defeat... I want to see what happens in Nintendo City after they defeat Smithy. I also want to see that Yaridovich on a pogo again! That machine is priceless! I also want to see what the deal with the prinny was... Is Laharl coming back again?! AWESOME!... but not for the Smashers, though. :)

I won't say that I will miss Geno; but I WILL say that it was a pleasure to have him joining the Smashers! Actually, Geno was one of the Mario characters that I want to be added into the next Super Smash game!

Overall, I really liked this chapter (I couldn't stop laughing!) and I can't wait for the next ones to come. Keep typing, Wiiboychris. You're the best!

From me: Laharl will not be coming, but the Prinny is special in some way...

Thank you for your thought about the different scenes. Thanks. :)

From aquadragonsaiyan: LOL, Geno cracked from rage! And when the pogo stick came to life, I was like "What the?" with an eyebrow raised and a weird-out expression. Anyways, kudos to this chapter! I'll betcha that Emil will become Chris's rival to win Marta's heart when they go to TOS2: DotNW. Or perhaps not. Update real soon please!

From me: Answer to you ToS question: No.

Here it is, enjoy it. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Okay, but if you want to talk, you'd be better off talking with me through yahoo messenger; I'd prefer that than just exchanging e-mails. Oh yeah, did you watch the E309 conference yet? If you want details on the new games, use the same method as above. If you do that, I'll be more than glad to tell you about strategies to use for Star Ocean 3. Last thing, did you correct those errors I found in previous chapters yet? Well, onto my review...
Oh wow, they were scared of a humongous amount of soot and ash. Oh boy, I'm sorry that Geno suffered from smithy's dumbness, yet he has decent battle skills, but is still worthless without smelter giving him materials for soldiers. Mack was interesting considering he was the first boss, yet is pogo-sword may prove a different challenge for them, and it was surprising to see it come to life. Smithy is definetly going to be interesting to watch fight, considering he is in his second form. well, time for a,
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! QUESTION EDITION!
hmm, considering the amount of fights they have been doing, when will you show the friendship gauges again?
Will you consider doing Ratchet & clank and Dark Cloud arcs?
well, happy typing!

From me: I'll show the gauges sometime later.

From .love: -

From me: I don't care what you say. Go and make out with your Xbox360 and see if you can have Halo 3 babies. (No offense towards Xbox360 users. I like some of its games but I don't want to have it). : )

Neither of those games will receive arcs mainly because I'm sure most haven't heard from Ratchet and Clank or Dark Cloud (I hate that game. Stupid breakable weapons...).

I'm happy tipping. )

The final fight with Smithy is here at last... My fingers are burning after so much typing... So, I hope you enjoy this to the fullest. ;)

So, anyway, read, enjoy and review! :D

Chapter 129: Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming

Exor
HELL

There Is No Other Way To Describe This...Hell

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming

"Evade the bullets!" Geno yelled as he jumped over the bullets.

However, something caught his attention once he looked back at them...

"Why isn't anybody trying to move?"

"We're exhausted..." Pichu muttered. "We can't fight like this..."

"Oh no... Please, don't tell m-" Geno was suddenly attacked by a fast missile that pushed him away, making him crash to the skulls that made him yell in pain.

Dark Smithy chuckled as he had a tank as a head. "Foolish Geno, and all of you too! My energies were recovered because I AM a machine, not like any of you who have the burden to walk the earth as non-machines!"

"Great..." Marth muttered as he tried to regain his energies. "Not only he got a new form...but he also thinks humanity should die..."

"Oh, heck no..." Mallow struggled to move. "I'm...going to...do something...about it..."

"C-Chris..." Ness twitched. "You have to heal us..."

"B-but I'm afraid I can't..." Chris said depressed. "If I use the Musician job with Soul Etude...it won't heal anyone because you're not hurt..."

"This just HAD to happen...right?" Link asked before they looked forward to Dark Smithy.

"Oh, what is the matter?" Dark Smithy asked as he banged his head with his hammer and turned it into a magician with a creepy face..on its stomach rather than the face itself. "You can't move because you're tired? How ironic that you feel that because I was also feeling so tired of you..." he raised his hands that made sparks. "But I'm afraid I hate you all for being a bunch of pesky humans in MY factory that you should DIE! BOULDER!!!"

A huge avalanche of boulders began to fall down from nowhere and it hit everyone who yelled in pain as every boulder bounced and crushed them alive.

"This is not the end, I'm afraid!" Dark Smithy raised his glowing hands. "SPEAR RAIN!!!"

Glowing spears began to rain down on everyone, making them yell loudly as the rain of spears seized...

"...I'm...sorry...everyone..." Ness muttered before he collapsed.

"N-Ness!!!" Lucas yelled worried before he fell to his right knee in pain.

"This ends here!" Dark Smithy yelled. "ARROW RAI-"

"Geno Whirl!" Geno quickly sliced Dark Smithy's magician form to prevent him from casting his spell. The attack wasn't that strong enough, but it was enough to stop the evil magician. "Dammit, I need your help! You have to gather your energies and fight back!"

"T-there's NO way I'm letting him attack me as his will..." Link struggled to move until he finally started to run at Dark Smithy. "I-I can do this... I need to hold on..."

Dark Smithy banged his head several times before it turned into...a big treasure chest with eyes. His new head opened its contents and several lights came out, illuminating everything in sight before many scarecrows appeared where the Smashers once were. "Now you don't have a way to attack me!" Dark Smithy laughed.

"Ugh..." Ike moved his hands up and down in his form. "This is just ridiculous..."

"You tell me!" Sonic moved his hands (from behind) up and down. "I hate to be standing still!"

"EVERYONE has the same idea in mind..." Pikachu said.

"Sweet, we're soul mates."

"..." The Smashers tried to get away from the hedgehog scarecrow but they couldn't since they were above sticks that they used to hold on.

"This didn't happen in my usual stealth missions..." Snake sighed as he saw Dark Smithy's head turning into the tank.

"MAGNUM!!!" Dark Smithy yelled as he blasted off a fast missile that instantly hit and exploded on Ike's scarecrow.

"Uuuuuuuuuuhh..." Ike, surprisingly, returned to normal. However, since he received the missile attack, he was only able to collapse down to the skulls.

"Ike, Ike! Answer me!" Link turned around and looked down at the downed swordsman.

"Not good, he's out of cold..." Fox moved his head at the sides.

"Smithy!" Mallow yelled as he raised his hands a little. "Magic is still at my command, so prepare to get hur-"

"MAGNUM!" Dark Smithy yelled.

"Oh sh-" Mallow was interrupted by a fast missile that exploded on him, making him return back to normal but in a very weakened state that made him collapse and fall down on the skulls.

"He's taking out every single one of us!" Pichu yelled worried. "H-hurry! We must do something!"

"Try to break the spell, but it will be impossible!" Dark Smithy laughed. "Since I have enhanced powers, the effects status ailments are going to stay with you forever! They won't wear off in 1 minute like they used to!"

"..." Chris tried to make an angered expression as he glowed for a moment. When he looked at his right, there was a harp on his wooden hand.

"Now, who's next of my shooting game?" Dark Smithy aimed his main gun to the World Traveler, who gasped in shock as he froze his hands from playing a tune. "Oh, where'd you get that harp? Is not going to heal them, is it?"

"I-I-I-I..." Chris's words couldn't get out from his mouth from the sheer terror he obtained just now.

"GRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted angrily.

"You know..." Pikachu turned to Lucario's scarecrow. "It's quite funny to see you grunt like that...in that form..."

"Grrrrrr..."

"And I knew you were that violent as well..."

"O-oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." Chris gulped as he tried to touch his harp, but his fear of a missile hitting him was sounding very scaring. "I-I need to do it...or I'm d-dead..."

"Stop shuddering and do it!" Sonic yelled loudly.

"MAGNUM!" Dark Smithy yelled.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Sonic yelled loudly. "(That's it. I'm forever trapped in this stupid form for the rest of my life!)"

"...Wait a minute!" Dark Super Sonic yelled angrily. "If you're gonna stay like this and die, then I'm gonna die along with you as well! That's not going to sound good for my future plans on you!"

"(Oh, now that I think about it, dying right now doesn't sound that bad...)"

"...Do you remember you're gonna stay in that form and die?"

"(...NOOOOOOOO!!!)" Sonic yelled loudly in his mind as he knelt down and banged the skulls in disbelief. "Why?! Why?! Now I'm never going to run through the open fields! I can't believe this!"

"You know what else I can't believe?" Mario asked.

"Whaaaaaaaat..." Sonic moaned as he covered his face.

"That you haven't opened your eyes to see you're back to normal."

"..." Sonic opened the small opening between his fingers to see his legs. They were not a stick, but normal humanoid (possibly humanoid) legs. "...Yahoo!" Sonic jumped on his feet. "Yeah! I'm...I'm myself! ...Wait, how?"

"I managed to do it in time..." Chris (in his normal form as a musician) sighed. "I-it was because of her..."

Sonic found Peach close to the World Traveler. "I-I'm so sorry for coming here so late..." Peach apologized.

"...Say, how did you help him?" Sonic asked.

Flashback

As Sonic was agonizing in his mind about being a scarecrow for the rest of his life, Chris blocked his wooden face with his hands from hte missile before an explosion took place where he was.

"No!" Marth yelled. "Chris, you have to be alive! Don't die now!"

"...I'm...not...dead?" Chris said confused as he unblocked his face and saw Peach standing in front of him. "...Oh no, Peach! Y-you didn't sacrifice yourself for me, right?!"

"...No..." Peach said as she turned around, holding a "toasted" Toad on her hands. "B-but..."

"...Poor guy..." Pikachu muttered at the fainted Toad.

"P-princess..." Toad muttered. "...W-why a missile this time? ...I-I'm not invincible, you know..."

"I-I'm so sorry!" Peach apologized before she kept Toad behind her. "W-well, would you start your magic so everyone can come back to normal? Smithy won't wait for another minute otherwise..."

"...You're right." Chris nodded as he began playing his harp, causing an enthusiastic atmosphere to fall down on everyone who suddenly returned back to normal. Their wounds were also healed for a bit as well as they looked at Sonic banging on the skulls.

End of flashback

"...Phew..." Sonic wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Thanks, buddy. Thanks for healing me."

"...D-don't call me buddy again..." Chris said completely feeling uncomfortable with his nickname.

Sonic looked at Lucario, who glared at him. "Okay..."

"AHEM, we have a dude with a changing head in front of us!" Mallow reminded all of them as he pointed at the evil blacksmith.

"And the princess HAD to stop me, hadn't she?" Dark Smithy asked irritated with a grumble. "Well, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going to keep attacking until you lay down and die!"

"Die, die, die, die...die..." Pikachu frowned. "Do you know another word besides that one to use on us?"

"No!"

"...Figures..." Pikachu sighed.

Dark Smithy started to hit his head to change it into...an iron head protected with hard steel. "I'll watch and see if you can even run here, try it." Dark Smithy taunted.

"I...I can move..." Lucario said as he started to run to the evil blacksmith.

It was no longer before everyone else joined in. Dark Smithy blinked inside his iron head before he began to shoot several bullets at all of them.

"Don't even think about it," Fox said as he used his Reflector and reflected back the shots to Dark Smithy's head...but it didn't do any kind of damage. "I should have expected that..."

"Those bullets of mine didn't even tickle me at all," Dark Smithy explained. "My armor is just that ha-"

"Psychopath!" Mallow called out several flashlights that shone on the evil blacksmith. "Hmm...ice is his weakness?"

"...Well, it makes sense to me," Marth said. "His head is inside that steel cage so it can be frozen inside of it... Wait, weren't you fainted a moment ago?"

"Er...nope. The missile just hit the ground and not me. It just pushed me to some skulls... Besides, I think the scarecrow's effect wasn't that eternal as he said." Mallow stuck out his tongue before glaring at Dark Smithy. "Okay, then, Snowy!"

A blizzard suddenly came from nowhere and froze the evil blacksmith inside an icicle. Dark Smithy's grunts could be heard as the snowman that was created exploded into snowflakes.

"Ugh," Dark Smithy grunted in pain. "Although that attack managed to inflict some pain in me, it wasn't enough to cause a yell which is very pathetic."

"Geno, boost me up!"

Geno rolled his eyes and used Geno Boost on Mallow, who instantly used Snowy on the blacksmith.

"The same attack won't do anything on me," Dark Smithy said before a grenade exploded on his caged face. "Okay, either you were ignoring me or you're just so stubborn."

"I wanted to toss it inside that small space where your face is peering out," Snake said. "But I guess my aim was very bad...UGH!"

He was suddenly attacked by several swift bullets that impacted to his stomach and made him back away in pain.

Smoke came out from Dark Smithy's fingers. "I have a main defense up here and secondary offensive right beneath my defense. Nothing can pierce through my head! Give up and get out of my sight!"

"Coldest ice, freeze my enemy... Blizzara!" Chris (in his Black Mage job) used Blizzara on the iron-headed blacksmith with a big pillar of ice from underneath that later sprouted several ice spikes out that shattered upon reaching their highest point. "Did that do it?"

"Barely," Dark Smithy said. "Its strength was equal as the idiot's snowman magic."

"...Oh, please, when are you going to stop this?" Chris asked worried.

"AFTER I SEE YOU DEAD!" Dark Smithy shot several bullets at Chris who gasped and covered his face with his staff. However, the World Traveler didn't feel anything before uncovering himself and finding Lucario with crossed arms in front of his face so he could block the bullets.

"L-Lucario, are you alright?" Chris asked.

"I-I'm fine...." Lucario coughed. "At least I made it in time..."

"Please, tell me you're not hurt badly..."

"I'm not, don't worry," Lucario said as he charged an Aura Sphere. "But that imbecile is going to pay for that attack towards you..."

"Stupid dog, get out!" Dark Smithy shot several fast bullets at the Aura Pokemon, who kept his stance as he struggled to charge his orb of aura.

"(He is falling for my trick...)" Lucario thought as his Aura Sphere grew larger and larger.

"Stop charging up that thing!" Dark Smithy yelled as many of the Smashers tried to hurt him using projectiles that proved useless against his defense. "Damn you all, filthy scum!"

Geno stopped his rocket punch and looked at Lucario receiving the bullets to himself as the Aura Sphere grew larger and larger with every bullet. "(Now I know why he is doing that... But I suppose I can give him more power). Geno Boost!"

Lucario suddenly felt his strength and defense increasing before he thought it was the right time the shoot the big Aura Sphere at full force to the blacksmith, who was still busy with the others trying to damage him.

"What th-UGH!" Dark Smithy grunted in pain as the sphere of aura made a big blue explosion that pushed the heavy-armored villain back for a bit. "Y-you managed to hurt a great deal of life out of me... Impressive..."

"And I'm afraid that wasn't the last one." Lucario said with a glare as he started charging another Aura Sphere.

"Oh, you won't do that again!" Dark Smithy looked at the Smashers before banging his head with hammer to change to his magician form. "Oh no, this form doesn't have a good defen-" he was interrupted as the projectiles' strength started to grow gradually on him.

"Wait, I forgot his magician head has the weakest defense of all his heads..." Geno trailed off. "We must attack that head to cause a lot of damage! He'll go down faster if we keep attacking that same head!"

"Roger that," Marth said as he ran to Dark Smithy (who was being paralyzed by the electric Pokemon attacks) and slashed his sword across the belly of the face (using Dancing Blade) before thrusting his sword forward, causing Dark Smithy to grunt in pain. "I hope that changes something in this battle."

"That only is increasing my rage, though!" Dark Smithy yelled angrily. "ARROW RAIN!"

"What? He managed t-" Geno stopped talking once he saw a flurry of glowing arrows falling from the sky that damaged everyone and made them back away from Dark Smithy before the rain of arrows ended.

"..." Peach, however, had to use Toad again to protect herself from the attack.

"...I'm so demanding a raise for this job..." Toad muttered weakly before the princess kept him behind her back, where he instantly disappeared.

"I-I'm so sorry, but I had to do it..." Peach whispered concerned as she looked at the others struggling to attack back. "Shouldn't we try to heal?"

"W-when?" Geno asked as he coughed. "There are no exits out of this place and Smithy can attack from anywhere and reach us with ease with his magic... But I know there's a chance to defeat him."

"Ha!" Dark Smithy laughed. "Geno, you and your crazy wishes to defeat me are just priceless to hear! What else do you have in that wooden head of yours?"

"...More wisdom than you will ever have in your life... Oh, I forgot, you're a machine who can't learn a new thing since you were practically born as a machine with a mind already set."

"Take that back!" Dark Smithy raised his glowing hands to cast another spell.

"SHIE!" Sonic came from behind the blacksmith and used Homing Attack on the top of his head. Dark Smithy grunted in pain as the hedgehog later trusted his foot downwards and dove right on Dark Smithy's magician form.

"PK Freeze!" Lucas directed an ice mist that went right to Dark Smithy and exploded into a burst of ice that hurt the blacksmith a little. "I-I won't let you kill me!" he looked down to Ness and closed his eyes quickly. "Y-you did this to him..."

"So? What's your point?" Dark Smithy asked. "Kids like you should be staying at home where I will take over with machines! I don't allow pesky kids like you in here and that's why I took that imbecile out! You're next as well!"

"Run, my boy, run for your dear life!" Rope Snake yelled to Lucas.

"U-uah!" Lucas gasped and he started to run away from Dark Smithy who used Dark Star and called forth a big, black, angry Starman that crashed right above the PK kid, who yelled loudly as the star bounced several times before disappearing. "...Huh?"

"Hey, you okay?" Sonic asked as he held Lucas above him.

"S-Sonic? O-oh, thank you for..." Lucas made a confused face. "...Wait, why do I feel your hands a little bit too big?"

Sonic quickly hid his hands behind him (and accidentally let Lucas fall down the ground made of skulls). "B-big? What are you talking about? They're not big, don't be silly..."

"B-but I coul-"

"Nah-ah!" Sonic shook his head with a worried smile. "Nothing...to be...worried...about...here!"

"..." Lucas just got up. "W-well, thank you for saving me from tha-"

"DARK STAR!" Dark Smithy interrupted both of them as the same Starman crashed on both and bounced away, leaving the 2 dropped on the floor as they moaned.

"W-why didn't you run away?"

"(B-because I don't want anyone to find out about my hands... They're harder to hide...) B-because I was distracted..."

"...I-I see..." Lucas muttered in pain.

"Damn you!" Dark Smithy yelled in pain after Bomb Kirby tossed a bomb at him. "Little puffball, begone!" he banged his head several times before he turned it into a tank.

Bomb Kirby gulped and he tried to run away. Dark Smithy narrowed his eyes and shot a fast missile that exploded on the puffball who rolled away in the air as he lost his Bomb ability before crashing on the floor with a moan.

"K-Kirby!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"..." Kirby just lifted his hand before lowering it back to the ground made of skulls.

"That ant is still alive? Blasphemy..." Dark Smithy muttered with a frown before he prepared another missile to finish Kirby.

When he shot the missile, it exploded right inside him and he yelled in pain because of this.

"What happened?!" Dark Smithy asked before he looked at Snake. "What are you doing tossing that mine above your hand?"

"I took the opportunity to throw a mine inside that main gun so you could end exploding inside," Snake explained before he twitched a little. "Although I have to watch out for my own safety..."

"Snake, you can do this," Otacon said. "Don't stress yourself too much."

"Thank you for the little tip," Snake said sarcastically before he noticed the main gun directly aiming to him. "Oh, and thank you for distracting me. I'm going to die now."

"Pathetic human..." Dark Smithy loaded the missile. "Get away!"

"GUUUARGH!!!" Lucario shot a charged Aura Sphere inside the main gun and it made another explosion inside the blacksmith who yelled in pain.

It was much worse for the blacksmith because Snake quickly took out his RPG-7 rocket launcher and attacked Dark Smithy's body.

"Dammit!" Dark Smithy yelled before he banged his head and turned it into an iron cage with his head peering out from a small space. "It's time to recover the damage done on me..."

"Wait, stop him before he does!" Geno yelled.

"But we can't pierce through this thing!" Fox said as he dealt a strong kick to the cage. "Not even a strong hit..."

"Recover!" Dark Smithy yelled as he glowed green before stopping. "Aw, it feels much better now..."

"Oh, great," Geno frowned. "If he keeps going like this, at this rate, we will never end this fight."

"Then blast it, Lucario!" Chris ordered his Pokémon who nodded and ran to Dark Smithy with a glowing palm.

"Ha!" Lucario thrust his palm to Dark Smithy with great force to cause a strong hit inside of his head. The evil blacksmith grunted before he used his hammer to push the Aura Pokémon away to the air. Dark Smithy then proceeded to fire several bullets at Lucario who grunted and gritted his fangs in pain before he crashed down to the floor. "Y-you're just asking to get hurt even more..." Lucario muttered as he slowly got up.

"Recov-" Dark Smithy was interrupted as several spikes of ice sprouted out from beneath him and stopped him from recovering. "That kid and his annoying ice magic are getting on my nerves!" he banged his head quickly and turned it into a tank. "MAGNUM!"

"A-ah!" Chris gasped as he looked around for a place to hide.

"Fool! My missile can go through anything in sight!"

"T-then how come it doesn't pierce someone's heart through?"

"Because...I...um...er...well...BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Dark Smithy yelled before firing his missile at the World Traveler, who didn't have another place to run and was severely hurt by the attack that he dropped to the floor.

Chris breathed in and out in pain. "M-my energies...t-they're almost gone..."

"GRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario growled angrily at the blacksmith as his aura flared up with rage.

"What? Want to have some as well? Well, fine! MAGNUM!" Dark Smithy fired another missile...that Lucario blocked with one hand. "What?!"

"GUUUUUAAAARRRRRRGHHH!!!" Lucario shot a big and fully charged Aura Sphere that rocketed towards Dark Smithy, causing a huge blue explosion with smoke that made the blacksmith yell in pain. "GRRRRRRR..."

"W-why's this dog's strength so much stronger than it used to be?" Dark Smithy questioned before looking up at Lucario leaping at him from the air. "Oh no, you don't! MAGNUM!"

A fast missile was sent to Lucario who simply pushed it back to Dark Smithy and made it explode. The blacksmith grunted in pain before the Aura Pokémon descended and started to send a flurry of Force Palms on his tank head, making Dark Smithy yell in pain as Lucario grunted in rage with every single hit he landed.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!" Lucario growled loudly as he continued to deliver Force Palms continuously to the blacksmith.

Dark Smithy tried to move from his situation but he couldn't once one hit paralyzed him. "W-what?! T-this dog is depleting my energy so quickly!"

"Look!" Pichu pointed at the blacksmith. "There are sparks coming out!"

"He must have been paralyzed by Force Palm..." Pikachu wondered. "Should we go and help him?"

"I-I'm afraid not..." Chris said weakly as Marth helped him. "O-once Lucario gets in that fit of rage, he won't hesitate to kill anybody who is in front of him..." he coughed. "I-I want him to get out from that state, though..."

"And we shouldn't interrupt either," Marth suggested. "He can defeat him like he did with that worker..."

"..." Fox narrowed his eyes at the Pokémon. "...It's going to end too soon, though."

"W-why?" Lucas looked forward to find Dark Smithy's gun hand slowly aiming at the enraged Lucario before it began to fire a barrage of bullets that made the Aura Pokémon growl in pain. "L-Lucario!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Lucario roared loudly as his eyes closed. He suddenly fell to his knees and fell down to the ground at the right side, his aura also disappearing as Dark Smithy panted heavily.

"...D-damn that dog..." Dark Smithy muttered. "M-my body can't move because he disabled it...and on top of that, I can't move my head around because I was..." sparks flew out. "Paralyzed..."

"LUCARIO!" Chris yelled loudly.

"He won't heard you anymore!" Dark Smithy yelled. "B-but good thing he's out of cold!"

"Psychopath!" Mallow yelled as he held his hand to the blacksmith, where several spotlights shone on Dark Smithy again. "...Hmm...well, Lucario did well. Smithy has 1/8 less health than before..."

"But considering the fact that he landed too many hits with his "aura" thing raising his strength..." Snake wondered.

"...Crap, it's going to take a whole lot more to take Smithy down." Pikachu said depressed.
"But he's paralyzed!" Peach said. "I-I think we can take advantage of that..."

"How?" Link asked. "It's not like we can weaken him or something lik-"

"Wait," Geno closed his eyes to remember something. "...Weaken him...that's it!" he opened them up and looked at Chris. "Chris, call the Star Spirits. Klevar must have been healed by now."

"Oh, I see what you have in mind," Mario nodded. "Since Smithy attacked Klevar when he was moving, he won't have a chance to do it again because of his paralysis."

"Exactly," Geno nodded. "Call them, quick!"

"R-right..." Chris said weakly as he prayed to call the Star Spirits.

"Let them be okay..." Peach muttered as she joined her hands and focused.

"...Please...please..." Geno muttered as he looked up...

...And his wish came true.

"Ah!" Klevar appeared and looked around as the other Star Spirits came with him. "It's good to be flying again."

"Klevar!" Geno said.

"Oh, sorry to worry all of you," Eldstar said. "I managed to heal Klevar. Now we can use our attack again."

"Honorable Star Spirits!" Twink flew down from the ceiling. "Let's do it before Smithy moves!"

The stars looked at the paralyzed Dark Smithy trying to move. "Hmph, he's so going down now," Muskular said. "Hurting one of us is against our sacred law."

"We don't have that secret law," Misstar said. "Neither more laws to begin with."

"Well, you get my idea. Go!" Muskular yelled as all the stars flew above Dark Smithy.

"Y-you!" Dark Smithy looked above him. "D-dammit! I can't move!"

"Duh," Muskular said as he flew in circles. "Thank you for reminding us that. Come down to him!"

"UUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled as a pink beam descended from the ceiling and landed on the blacksmith, who yelled loudly as the Shadow Bugs disappeared. "N-no! My power is gone! No!"

"Serves you right." Mamar said before the Star Spirits disappeared as Twink made his way to the ceiling in order to hide.

"Yes!" Sonic said as he looked at the normal Smithy. "Now's our chance to attack him with all we've got!"

"Quick! We have to do this before the Shadow Bugs come back!" Geno yelled as most of the Smashers charged at the paralyzed Smithy. "But before that... Geno Boost!"

Mario felt his strength and defense increasing as he dealt a headbutt to Smithy, who grunted in pain before Pikachu and Pichu jumped above him and used 2 Thunders to make a big impact of electricity before they leaped out (with a dazzled Pichu).

"W-why you..." Smithy muttered before Snake and Fox leaped to him and dealt several kicks to the main gun, making it spin around Smithy's head as Lucas used PK Freeze to freeze the head inside an icicle. "D-dammit..." he muttered inside the frozen block.

"Geno Boost!" Geno yelled as he increased Jigglypuff's strength while she used Pound to hit the head several times in the air. "If we keep going like this before the Shadow Bugs return, there's a chance of defeating Smithy after all..."

"Yeah," Sonic said as he was sitting down besides Geno. "I heard ya."

"...Sonic, may I ask what are you doing here?" Geno asked a little bit irritated.

"Chillin' out."

"...Chilling out?" Geno repeated angrily. "You're "chilling out" during this fight? What is wrong with you?"

"(A lot of things are wrong with me...) Nothing." Sonic said with a smile (that looked nervous).

"Sonic, go there and fight for the future of the city!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeer..." Sonic shifted his eyes. "...Nope."

"What do you mean by "nope"?!" Geno asked irritated.

"T-thing is..." Sonic began to sweat. "...I don't wanna."

"You...don't...want to...fight..." Geno trailed off in utter irritation. "...Okay, get up!"

"No!" Sonic yelled with wide eyes.

"You'll get up this instant or else I'll make you!"

"I don't want to!" Sonic yelled as Geno ducked and tried to pull him up. "Leave me!"

"No!" Geno yelled. "You'll get up and fight!"

"D-don't you understand?! No!" Sonic yelled as he tried to sit down.

"Get...up...you...stubborn...hedgehog!" Geno said as he grabbed Sonic's arms.

That's when Sonic began to panic.

"G-get off me!" Sonic said as he stood up and backed away from the doll. "I-I don't want to fight!"

While this argument went on, the others were fighting against Smithy with all their forces...

...But this argument seemed more interesting, so...

"Sonic, go there and fight, now," Geno demanded. "And pull your hands out from your back as well!"

Sonic was getting more panicked. "E-er, my hands want to stay behind me, thank you very much..."

"...What?" Geno asked. "Sonic, your hands are NOT alive."

"...They are now..."

"THAT'S IT!" Geno aimed his fist at Sonic. "You will fight Smithy you like it or not before I punch that face of yours!"

Sonic waved his hands in front of him. "N-no! D-don't do that!"

"..." Geno's eyes widened once he saw Sonic's hands.

Sonic's hands were big, they had blue/black fur, they also had big claws, and above everything else, they ripped Sonic's gloves.

"...What?" Sonic asked with a worried smile...before he noticed the error he did. "OH NO!" he hid his hands back.

"...Sonic..."

Sonic closed his eyes. "Y-yes?"

"Pardon me if I'm rude...but...were your hands big a moment ago?"

"...N-no..."

"And did they have black-blue fur all over them?"

"N-no..."

"And did you have long claws as well?"

"N-no... What makes you say that?"

"The fact that your hands are at the sides now."

"..." Sonic looked down to find his hands at the sides. "...Aw, dammit!"

"Sonic!" Geno yelled. "Your hands have...they have turned into..."

Sonic blocked Geno's mouth with his huge right hand. "Look, nobody else except a guy who doesn't want to reveal his identity know about this. I don't want ANYONE else know about this little problem I have."

"Prublum?" Geno asked under his hand.

"Yeah, problem," Sonic looked behind them to see the others busy with Smithy. "They don't know but one of them does... So, please, don't let anyone get a word of this little problem..."

Geno pushed Sonic's big hand. "...I don't understand why you're going through this...but if you want to keep it a secret, that's fine with me."

"..." Sonic smiled a little. "Thanks."

"Now that we're clear about this, go to battle."

"Can't do that, sorry."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Geno leaped to Sonic and started to smack the heck out of him before he stopped and held and badly hurt Sonic. "YOU GO THERE WITHOUT ANYONE SEEING THIS, GOT IT?!"

"Y-yes, sir..." Sonic said with swirls as eyes before the doll tossed him to the battle, where Sonic regained motion and flipped to land on his feet to run at Smithy (while hiding his hands from the others).

Then Kirby walked to him with a paper.

"What's this now..." Sonic asked bored.

I'm aware of your obvious movements. You can't fool me, hedgehog.

Sonic tried to rip the paper, but since Kirby wasn't aware of the situation he was in...

...The hedgehog ate the paper and looked shocked to Kirby's expression. "I-I thought it looked...tasty..." Sonic said in his defense.

"...Oh," Kirby smiled. "Me too."

"..." Sonic shrugged and ran away to the blacksmith.

"Chris!" Pikachu jumped to Chris's shoulder. "Let's do it!"

"R-right. Let me see if we can..." Chris changed to his ISOKFMG and prepared the spell.

Pikachu closed his eyes and he began to shine with electricity (that also went over to Chris).

"Hammer of lightning, make them tingle... Spark Wave!!!"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu yelled loudly as a sphere of electricity appeared on Smithy and started to electrocute him greatly. The others took this opportunity to strike the blacksmith even more.

"UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Smithy yelled as he was unable to move. "M-my health! It's disappearing! It's leaving me!"

"...Seriously, tingle?" Pikachu asked to an electrocuted (but unharmed) Chris.

"W-what?" Chris asked blushing. "I-it came with the spell..."

"That's the purpose, numskull!" Mallow yelled to Smithy (ignoring the 2) as he used Shocker.

"UGH!" Smithy twitched after the bolt crashed on him.

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima announced. "Good job! Landing so many hits raised the gauge very quickly!"

"Somebody! Use an effective Final Smash!"

Sonic grinned. "Heh, leave it to m-" he remembered his hands. "...Nah, I'll pass..." he said bored.

"Weird, that's not like you." Kirby said in front of him.

Sonic backed away from Kirby. "H-hey, why are you walking to me?"

Kirby seemed to be sniffing something in the air. "I smell...meat..."

"(...W-wait, he's not someone who eats hands, r-right?)" Sonic thought worried.

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" Dark Super Sonic asked. "If he does, then run away!"

"(You're helping me?)"

"Only because I get dragged to hell along with you if he DOES eat you...alive," he narrowed his eyes. "Dammit! He's getting to you!"

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeat..." Kirby said dreamily as he stared up at Sonic, who started to back away.

"K-Kirby!" Lucas yelled as he ran to Kirby. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm planning to eat Sonic." Kirby stated.

This little sentence caused many (even Sonic and Lucas) to see Kirby in a MUCH different point of view...

"..." Sonic looked freaked out.

Lucas did as well.

Kirby was simply smiling at Sonic's taste...

...That he decided to swallow him.

"SONIC!" Lucas yelled as Kirby looked satisfied. "O-oh no, you ate Sonic...alive!"

"Get me out!" Sonic demanded inside Kirby. "Get me out!"

"Oof!" Kirby copied Sonic's ability and he turned into Sonic Kirby while the hedgehog came out from somewhere of Kirby. "Haha! Catch me if you can!" Sonic Kirby taunted as Sonic landed on his hands.

"...Phew..." Sonic sighed.

"...W-wait, maybe I can use my Final Smash..." Lucas smiled a little. "Maybe I can finish this battle..." he thought for a good comment. "Hmm..." he closed his eyes and wondered. "What could I say?"

"See ya!" Sonic Kirby taunted as he ran at the speed of light!

...Or simply his normal speed. He just copied Sonic's Homing Attack, got that?

"Puff!" Jigglypuff leaped to Smithy and used Pound 2 times before kicking him hard in the face. "Okay, time to see how much this move improved..." she muttered as she landed above him and used Rest to cause a good amount of damage. "...Zzzzz...u-uh?" she woke up and looked at a flower that was on top of Smithy's head. "...Hey! I thought he was going to... Oh, whatever...PUFF!" she split her legs apart to damage the head before jumping away.

"Hmm..." Lucas wondered more as he looked at the paralyzed Smithy. "What could I say?"

"I'm a little blond kid whose a pussy!" Smithy suggested annoyed.

"..." Lucas forced a glare. "N-now that was just rude... Ahem," Lucas coughed before he shouted, "Come to me now!"

"Sorry," a glowing Fox said behind Lucas who turned around and opened his mouth in disbelief. "Mine is going to inflict more damage."

"...B-but this is just unfair!" Lucas yelled. "I-I wanted to use mine!"

"I'm sorry as I've said before," Fox shook his head. "But even Snake agreed to let me use mine."

"I did." Snake replied as he took out his RPG-7 rocket launcher and fired it to Smithy's feet.

"I-I wanted to use mine still!" Lucas argued.

"There was no other way. Please understand that." Fox said calmly.

"..." Lucas narrowed his eyes at Fox. "O-okay, here's how we're going to do it."

Fox raised an eyebrow.

"Y-you're going to give that power before...before I..." Lucas tried to gather up his courage as he took his branch (with a trembling hand). "B-before I smack your head around..."

"You're trembling." Fox pointed out.

"N-no, I'm not..." Lucas lied as he gulped. The PK kid wanted to have the power and not a vulpine who was taller, older, far more experienced in battle and had a somewhat scary face to Lucas. "A-anyway, you'll give that power now!"

"...No."

Lucas let out a small sob.

"I'm sorry, but I need to use my Final Smash right awa-" Fox stopped talking once a paw tapped his shoulder. "Ye-" he was suddenly punched on his face by Tokunaga's fist, making him fall on the ground and lose the Final Smash in form of the Smash Ball that Tokunaga grabbed and showed it to Lucas.

"..." Lucas smiled a little. "Y-you're giving it to me?"

"That's so right," Chris appeared behind Tokunaga with Pikachu who jumped to Tokunaga's head. "You're the only one out of us who haven't used the Final Smash."

"W-what about me..." asked a weak Ness close to them.

They seemed to ignore him, though.

"B-but why?" Lucas asked.

Chris pointed down at Fox. "He was being a jerk to you sooooo I went ahead and gave you what you deserve the most."

"Chris, did you actually think Fox was being a bully to Lucas?" Pikachu asked.

"...Somewhat," Chris said as a fast glowing ring was shot to Smithy from behind him. "Anyway, break that so you can use your Final Smash."

"..." Lucas looked at the Smash Ball as Mario leaped to Smithy to land a hit with his right fist. "...Okay!" Lucas said cheerfully as he hit the ball hard and gained its power.

"...Hm?" Smithy seemed to move his body and head. "Mwahahahaha! I regained the control of my body!" he glared down at the trio (without counting the knocked out Fox). "You..."

"S-stop right there!" Lucas said with a determined look (accidentally stepping above Fox's back). "I-I'm going to stop you from hurting us!"

"What will a little blond kid whose a glowing pussy going to do to me?" Smithy asked with a chuckle.

Lucas simply glared at Smithy and held his hands up. "This! PK..."

The Smashers noticed that the red cave suddenly began to shine a little.

"...Why is the cave illuminating?" Smithy asked before he looked up and saw a whole assault of glowing meteors coming to him. "W-what?!"

"STAAAAAAARSTOOOOOOOOORMMM!!!" Lucas yelled loudly as he seemed to float (above Fox) while a barrage of huge meteors began to land on Smithy.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Smithy yelled loudly as many of the meteors collided down on him, rendering his body from moving except for his head.

"...Uuhh..." Lucas landed back (on Fox) and sighed. "W-wow... I-I didn't know I could use Kumatora's move..."

"(I question the game itself...)" Chris thought.

"B-but it may have been because I trained a little with her..."

"(Now I don't.)" Chris corrected himself.

"...Anyway, that was a good Final Smash." Pikachu remarked.

"I-it was?" Lucas asked blushing.

"UUUUUAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Smithy yelled loudly as Marth used Dancing Blade on him.

"O-oh, that's right," Chris nodded. "We have to keep attacking Smithy."

"Y-yes," Lucas nodded. "I'm going to do my best this time..." and then he ran away.

"...Lucas is growing up." Pikachu said.

"He is?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Pikachu said. "Once he stops his shudder problem, then that'd be a signal."

"...Hmm..." Chris wondered for a moment as he walked forward. "I'd like to see that with my own eyes someday."

"Too bad you're not going to have eyes once I finish you off."

"T-try that!" Chris yelled at Smithy as Tokunaga stepped by his side. "I-I dare you to kill me if you can!"

"Fine!" Smithy yelled. "It's weird of you to proclaim something like that. But I wil-OWW!" he yelled as Sonic Kirby swung his hammer 2 times at his face.

"...Ha!" Chris laughed. "That's what you get for insulting me!"

"Chris..." Pikachu began as he looked down from Tokunaga. "I hate to interrupt your moment of cheesy overconfidence but...Smithy didn't say that to you."

"..." Chris began to sweat and looked down. "...W-whoops..."

Fox was tapping his fingers on the skulls while Chris was standing above his back. "I want to hurt you more with every passing second." Fox threatened.

Chris quickly froze but then stepped back, took out an apple and tossed it to Lucario's mouth. The Aura Pokémon began to eat it before he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chris. "C-Chris?"

"(N-now he won't punch me...)" Chris thought as Fox stood up. "I-I'm so sorry for making Tokunaga punch you, b-but you really deserved it..."

"..." Fox crossed his arms and seemed to glare at Chris (or, to be honest, the same face he was stuck with for the rest of his life).

"W-will you stop doing such a big deal for your Final Smash?"

"..." Fox sighed. "Fine, I was acting like a jerk without even noticing... If you'll excuse me...I have a gauge to fill," he said before he ran to Smithy.

"Phew..." Chris sighed in relief before he remembered something. "...Wait, we still have the food...and 9 of them..." he looked at the downed Ike. "...If I can heal them in time after I revive them...there's a chance to make them heal fully..."

"Whew!" Smithy shook his tank head. "Finally, it was time for me to move!"

"Uh-oh..." Jigglypuff looked worried.

"Magnum!"

Jigglypuff quickly sidestepped from the missile in time, making her sigh. "T-that wasn't as fast as before..."

Chris continued thinking as he looked to Ness. "...Ness?"

"...Yeah, I'm...kind of living..." Ness said weakly.

"I-I'm sorry for ignoring you." Chris said embarrassed.

"Would you..." Ness trailed off as Chris changed to his Fonic User job.

"Holy power, come to me... First Aid!" Chris used First Aid to heal Ness's wounds a little, healing him enough to stand up.

"Thanks..." Ness sighed. "Good thing that just knocked me out a little."

"Well, maybe you should take advantage of this time and fight Smithy back while he doesn't have the Shadow Bugs with him."

"Good idea." Ness said with a nod before he went to Smithy.

"C-Chris..." Lucario muttered on the ground behind Chris, his aura flaring up since he recovered just 3 percent of his energies.

"I-I'm going t-" Chris was interrupted.

"N-no..." Lucario shook his head as Chris helped him to get up. "L-leave me like this... My aura is at a very high level and with that, I might be able to inflict more damage to that bastard..."

Mario came rolling to them as he twitched in pain. "O-oww..." Mario muttered.

"But are you sure?" Chris asked as he prepared to heal Mario.

"Y-yes..." Lucario nodded as he prepared an Aura Sphere. "H-he won't resist my attacks now..."

"Because his Shadow Bugs disappeared," Mario (after he was healed) said. "Do that before he gets his Shadow Bugs back."

"N-now..." Lucario said as his Aura Sphere grew to the size of himself.

Chris blinked surprised. "Y-you have never reached that level before, right?"

"N-no..." Lucario shook his head. "T-this is the first time ever... GUUUUUUUUUAARGH!!!" Lucario roared loudly as he shot the sphere at full speed to Smithy's head.

"W-what?! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Smithy yelled in pain as a huge explosion engulfed his body. "A-all you make me so sick..."

"Yiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaah!" Peach yelled as she held a golf club (your eyes are not deceiving you) and ran to Smithy.

"A golf club?" Smithy questioned before the princess hit the main gun upwards. "UGH! W-why is this thing s-"

"Yiah!" Peach then took out a tennis racket.

"UGH! A-are you even serious with thos-"

"Yiah!" Peach then took out a frying pan.

"W-what the hell?!" Smithy asked in pain as Peach kept taking out from the golf club, tennis racket and to the frying pan before repeating the whole process quickly. "N-NO!" Smithy felt that his tank form was disabled.

"Huh?" Mallow tilted his head and used Psychopath on Smithy. "...Yeah! We reduced 1/2 of his health!"

"That means we're not so far in finishing the guy off." Link said with a small smile.

"Hu-uah!" Kirby leaped to Smithy and swung his hammer 2 times before using several kicks in the air before landing and thrusting his foot forward to deal more damage.

"SHADOW BUGS!" Smithy called the Shadow Bugs who covered his body and made him stronger. "Mwahahahahahaha!"

"Good news are meant to be lies...PURE LIES." Mallow panicked.

"GUUUUUUARGH!" Lucario shot another powerful Aura Sphere that made a huge explosion on Dark Smithy.

"U-UGH!" Dark Smithy grunted in pain. "T-that strength of yours can inflict a whole lot of damage to me..." he narrowed his eyes as he seemed to glow brighter.

"...W-wait a minute," Sonic Kirby stopped running to Dark Smithy. "I-I don't think it's a good idea to attack him now..."

Kawashima gasped. "O-oh my goodness, he's going to use his Final Smash!"

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted. "H-he's not supposed to have one!"

"Every single Subspace minion, or elite, can possess a Final Smash since the Shadow Bugs can give them one."

"But what about Pokey?" Ness asked.

"I thought it was Porky..." Lucas shrugged.

"I think he was a commander as Petey...so they had theirs."

"In a few words," Sonic looked at Dark Smithy. "We're screwed."

"Don't say that!" Geno said as he prepared to use Geno Whirl. "We can interrupt him if we kee-"

"Machines..." Dark Smithy interrupted as he called forth many turrets that popped out from the ground (around him) and aimed at the Smashers. "Show them your true might..."

"...Better start running now..." Sonic suggested with a gulp.

"Weird, I thought you had somewhere to run away." Marth said.

"I would if I could!" Sonic said as he looked around. "There's no place to hide here! Those turrets are aiming everywhere!"

Marth looked at the turrets and his eyes widened. "...You're right..."

"Take cover, now!" Snake ordered.

"TOO LATE!" Dark Smithy yelled as the turrets began to fire madly around all the cave. Every single hit of every turret managed to inflict a horrible amount of damage to every single Smasher who yelled loudly in extreme pain. "AND CLEAR THIS LAND FROM THEIR FILTHY HUMANITY!!! IGNIS MACHINA!!!"

Ignis Machina

Calls forth the turrets of the steel hell. Deals devastating damage to all enemies.

It was too much for everyone to handle the frenzy of fast bullets from the turrets that hit every single part of their bodies that they...started to faint...

"M-Mario..." Peach muttered with a sob before she fell defeated.

"I-I was...so close..." Pikachu muttered before he fainted.

"I-I won't believe...this..." Link managed to mutter his last words before he fainted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Mallow yelled loudly as he fell down.

"W-why does this need to happen to me..." Chris cried before he fainted and fell at the side.

"I-I don't want to die..." Pichu cried silently before he curled up and fainted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Jigglypuff screamed before she lost consciousness.

"A-Altea...will live on without me...nevertheless...ugh..." Marth muttered before he fainted and fell down on his back.

"Did I...make you feel embarrassed...Chris?" Lucario muttered before he fainted and fell down on his face.

"I-I want to...play...and eat...cakes..." Kirby (as he lost his Sonic ability) muttered before he fell back and fainted.

"D-damn you..." Snake muttered as he fainted to the side.

"Is this...how it ends for me?" Fox muttered before he fainted on his knees and fell down.

"...D-Dad...M-Mom...Tracy...I-I'm sorry..." Ness muttered before he let out a small tear and fainted.

"...M-Mom...D-Dad..." Lucas began to sob. "...C-Claus...I-I'm so sorry..." he sobbed a last time before he fainted as well.

"...I...failed...everyone..." Mario muttered as he fainted on his back.

"...W-why...I can't move anymore..." Sonic muttered before he fainted and crashed his face on a skull.

"Damn that...steel bastard... I-I won't destroy anything...after all...ugh..." Dark Super Sonic muttered before he lost consciousness as Sonic.

Music stops

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Dark Smithy laughed maniacally as the turrets dug themselves to the ground and disappeared. "At last, your pathetic idea to destroy my factory was shot to death!" he banged his head to turn it to his magician one. "Nobody will mess around the factory anymore..." he looked to his back. "...I need to leave you all here so you can rotten in hell itself..."

"S-Smithy..."

"...What?" Dark Smithy's eyes widened as he turned around and found an extremely hurt Geno. "W-what? Are you still living?"

Geno coughed. "Y-you won't get...away...with...any of...this...anymore..."

"...Geno..." Dark Smithy narrowed his eyes. "It is time for you to acknowledge your defeat."

"I-I won't...do such...a thing...to the...likes...of you..." Geno coughed weakly as he looked at the fainted Smashers. "...You...need to pay...for all what you've done...all this time..."

"...You're starting to IRRITATE me even more than before," Dark Smithy grunted. "If you want to die so badly, so be it!" he raised his glowing hands. "Geno, prepare to be crushed to bits so you can't use that stupid doll of yours!"

"...Dammit..." Geno muttered before he fell to his knees and...fainted, losing consciousness.

"...Huh?" Dark Smithy blinked confused before he stopped his magic. "...You were so weak to even stand up, after all..." he shook his magician head. "Such a pity...but I feel pity for you... I won't be recognized as a true evil mastermind if I feel pity..." he turned around. "Well, I may as well leave you here and get rotten in hell itself for real..."

What he didn't noticed was something small sliding across the skulls...

Something appeared to be holding a cake as it carefully sneaked through the skulls while Dark Smithy looked up.

"Now, how am I going to go back up?" Dark Smithy asked to no one in particular.

"...Sneaky..." the thing muttered. "...Silently..." it muttered. "...Crunchy..." it stopped. "W-wait..." he shook his head and continued its way to Geno. "T-that wasn't good..."

"Seriously," Dark Smithy wondered. "How did they get out from here when they beat me? They didn't dig their way out, did they?"

"...More..." it muttered as he reached Geno and put the cake in his mouth.

"...I absolutely have no idea how I'm going to get out from here..." Dark Smithy muttered. "...And my factory is left alone? Dammit! The schedule! I need to get back with the schedule!"

"..." Geno slowly ate the cake and opened his eyes.

"Shh..." it said.

"..." Geno didn't have another option but to listen.

"What could I do to go up?" Dark Smithy asked as Geno slowly got up and took out tea that he walked silently to Chris. "I can't explode my feet to propel myself..."

"..." Chris ate the tea (this wasn't a joke) and opened his eyes.

"Shh..." Geno and "it" said.

"..." Chris nodded as he got up and tried to heal the others while the blacksmith was busy staring up. "Return this soul from the abyss of death..." he whispered.

"Hmm... This is sure a dilemma..." Dark Smithy pondered.

7 minutes later...

After so much thinking, Dark Smithy got an idea. "Ah!" he said happily...before he thought things over. "Hmm... No, that one isn't going to work either..."

"1...2...3..."

"Using numbers aren't going to help me at all," Dark Smithy said. "Now shut up and let me think o-"

"Holy Lance!!!"

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming

"What the..." Dark Smithy several lances of light coming out from around him before they all stabbed him through his body, rendering it from moving. "UUUAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! W-who was the imbecile...WHAT?!" he turned around and his eyes widened...

"Oh, hello there," said a glaring Geno along with every single Smasher who stood at his sides. "I hope you missed me...wait, you don't miss anybody."

"W-what is the meaning of this foolishness?!" Dark Smithy asked as he looked at the Smashers. "I-I thought you were in hell!"

"All of us are in hell," Ike said. "This place is hell though..."

"B-but how did you...I mean, how did you get back on your feet?!" Dark Smithy asked bewildered.

Rope Snake came out from Lucas's pocket. "Because I did so."

"You?! A filthy red snake?!"

"Yep, that's right," Rope Snake made a happy expression. "When you weren't looking, I took some food from our inventory to revive Geno, then he went to revive Chris, who later used healing magic thingies to revive everyone else," he explained.

"And I healed all of them completely." Chris added.

"T-thank you..." Lucas said to Rope Snake.

"No problem!" Rope Snake said happily. "I can't watch you die in front of me...or something else. I forgot really."

"I was...fooled by an animal..." Dark Smithy breathed in and out in fury.

"But man," Link frowned. "You were seriously deaf and blind when you were staring up at the ceiling without even turning that weird head around."

"T-this is...stupid!" Dark Smithy yelled as he tried to move his lower body that was paralyzed. "But don't think you'll make a comeback or some foolish thing like that."

"We'll see about that." Geno said.

"Geno, shut your squared mouth. I've had enough of it...and from everyone's mouths!" Dark Smithy grunted angrily. "I may not have my ultimate attack, but I still have the Shadow Bugs at my command!"

"Which we won't mind at all," Snake said. "Come on, you steel freak."

"With pleasure. Arrow Rain!"

The Smashers looked up and found a rain of arrows going towards them.

"Is there any way to evade that?" Ness asked.

"..." Peach looked down and took out Toad. "I-I'm so sorry..."

"...Aw, no..." Toad said bored as Peach held him up.

"E-everyone, behind me!"

"We're way too many to be protected by him!" Pikachu yelled.

"Just receive the attack and don't be such a pussy." Snake said...before everyone but Peach were attacked by all the arrows.

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Dark Smithy laughed maniacally. "Feel my wrath! Boulder!"

"There's more coming here!" Ike yelled as he looked up and saw a rain of boulders falling down.

"Quick! Run around!" Geno ordered and everyone dispersed around the cave to evade the boulders from falling above them.

"A-AAAAAH!!!" Kirby yelled as a boulder came from above and tried to crush him.

"Gotcha!" Sonic came at a high speed...and kicked Kirby away in time from being crushed.

Kirby tumbled on the ground before he stopped and looked angrily at Sonic. "Why did you do that?"

"E-er..." Sonic shifted his eyes. "...My hands are sleeping."

"...Oh," Kirby smiled. "Mine do that too."

Sonic sweatdropped.

"Meteor Swarm!" Dark Smithy called forth a rain of rainbow stars.

"Oh no, I won't let you! Thunderbolt!" Mallow called forth several thunders from above that stroke the rainbow stars. "...Aw, come on!" he groaned as the stars kept their directions towards them.

"Geno Blast!" Geno shot a light to the sky before several pillars of light rained down on the stars and smashed them to bits. "Yes!"

"W-what?!" Dark Smithy asked in disbelief before he shook his head. "That doesn't matter still. Spear Rain!"

"Rain, rain, rain..." Link repeated bored. "All your attacks are related to the sky for some rea-"

"RUN!" Jigglypuff yelled as she jumped to the air to escape from the rain of spears.

"W-what do we use to stop that now?" Pikachu asked as he looked around for a place to hide.

"The same." Geno nodded to Mallow before they used Geno Blast and Thunderbolt respectively to crush the spears into bits.

"Sword Rain!" Dark Smithy called forth (in irritation) a rain of swords from above.

"Again!" Geno yelled.

"Dark Star!" Dark Smithy called forth a big black angry Starman that went down faster than the swords and went to Geno and Mallow.

"U-uah!" Mallow covered his face with his hands.

"Keep going!" Geno yelled as he shot the light.

"GUUUUUUARGH!" Lucario appeared right in front of the 2 and stopped the big Starman with his hands as he struggled a bit. "I made it in time..."

"Dude!" Mallow uncovered his face. "That brute force of yours is aweso-"

"AHEM!" Geno coughed as he pointed at the swords.

"S-sorry, sorry! Thunderbolt!" Mallow called forth his magic that appeared alongside Geno's Geno Blast and obliterated the swords in time.

"Okay, this is just irritating," Dark Smithy said. "My blood pressure is going up..."

"I thought you were a machine..." Mario said confused.

"I AM a machine!" Dark Smithy yelled. "But can't a machine have blood pressure as well?"

"Then you're not a machine."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

Snake sneaked behind the blacksmith as they continued. "I am."

Fox carefully sneaked from the other side. "You're not."

Ness sneaked from Snake's side. "I am."

Lucas came from the other side with little steps. "You're not."

Kirby came from the other side, dragging his feet forward. "I am."

Lucario came from Mario's side, holding the same Starman that tried to crush Geno and Mallow. "You're not."

"Hey!" Dark Smithy glared at Lucario. "What are you doing wi-"

"SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled before he tossed the Starman with full force at Dark Smithy, who yelled before the star impacted on his magician head and knocked him out for a moment before a harsh kick, a big explosion, a green flash, a hit of a branch and a strong swing of a hammer came from behind him and made him yell loudly in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly in pain as the Smashers from his back ran away. "GRRRRRRR!!!"

"Y-yiah!" Peach tossed another Turnip (XLX) to his face.

Albeit to say, the head became disabled just because of that weak hit.

"N-no!" Dark Smithy tried to move his hands but they were immobilized. "D-dammit!" he cursed as he regained control of his lower body and began banging his hammer with his head. Soon enough his head turned into a treasure chest that was trembling. "Let's see how well you fight while you're sleeping!" and the chest opened up.

"Not even a chance," Snake said as he tossed a grenade inside. "Enjoy the explosion, a(beep)le."

"UGH!" Dark Smithy grunted in pain as an explosion took place inside his treasure chest head. "W-why you..." he said dazzled as his lower body aimed at them with his gun.

"H-help!" Jigglypuff yelled as the gun started firing bullets at her at an insane speed. However, she was saved by Peach who sidestepped and...used her injured Toad again.

"P-PRINCESS!" Toad yelped in pain before the attack seized. "...C-can I have a bigger salary...s-so I can go to the hospital for some weeks...p-please?"

"I-I-I'm so sorry..." Peach sobbed as she kept him away. "I-I-I'm such a bad person...am I not?"

"Er..." Jigglypuff shifted her eyes. "...Not really. He was doing his job."

"..." Peach ducked and hugged Jigglypuff as she sobbed silently.

"O-oh, please! Stop sobbing now!" Jigglypuff yelled as Peach kept sobbing. "W-we're in a fight for our lives, remember?"

"C-Chris!" Pichu ran to Chris. "We have to use it!"

"R-right..." Chris nodded and changed to his Scholar job as Pichu jumped to his right hand and started to get covered in sparks. "Spark Bullet!"

"CHUUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu yelled loudly as Chris tossed him at an insane speed to Dark Smithy's treasure chest head and crossed it in a blink of an eye. The small rodent landed on the other side (dazzled) as Dark Smithy yelled loudly in pain.

"T-that is it!" Dark Smithy yelled as he used his magic from his head. "Poison them all!"

Many lights came out from the treasure chest and it hit all of them who suddenly turned pale, even to the point where they were coughing constantly.

"D-damn this illness..." Link said as he coughed.

"T-that isn't so dangerous to me..." Chris changed to his Musician job and began playing the harp. "Soul Etude!"

An enthusiastic atmosphere fell on the cave and everyone's illnesses disappeared as they were healed a bit as well.

"A new spell?!" Chris asked surprised as he automatically started playing a new song. "Life's Anthem!"

For some reason, he couldn't stop playing the harp as several musical notes appeared on the field that touched everyone.

"...Hey," Sonic felt good. "This song is...healing my wounds slowly..."

Jigglypuff looked at Chris while she was in Peach's hug. "W-we have to do our attack... But let her get off me!"

"Not done yet!" Dark Smithy yelled as he opened his head.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Pikachu leaped inside the treasure chest and started to discharged a big amount of electricity that electrocuted Dark Smithy from the inside.

"I-it won't stop me from making all of you feel ill!" Dark Smithy yelled as he was about to finish his magic.

"I'm afraid you're not going to do such a thing," Geno said with a glare as he held his hands up. "Geno Boost!"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" Pikachu's electricity began to grow in size as the blacksmith's magic came to a stop as he screamed loudly in pain.

"...Oh no..." Lucas noticed that the electricity was becoming smaller. "H-he's getting tired!"

"Ike, Marth, let's do our thing!" Link told the 2 swordsmen who nodded at him and ran to the evil blacksmith.

"Charge!" Marth commanded as the 3 stood just in front of Dark Smithy to use Shield Breaker, Eruption and Spin Attack at full potency.

"You won't...do that either..." Dark Smithy moved his hammer and gun forward to stop the trio from attacking them.

"Jigglypuff, Mario, Ness, Lucas, Fox, all of you attack the lower body to disable it and prevent it from attacking the 3!" Geno ordered the 5 previous mentioned characters who nodded and ran to Dark Smithy and went behind his back.

"Now!" Mario yelled as the 5 started to attack differently to the lower body as fast as they could to disable it, making Dark Smithy twitch in pain as he tried to hit the swordsmen in front of him.

"Chris, Mallow, cast magic with me!" Geno ordered as he held his hands up.

"C'mon! We can do this!" Mallow yelled as he held his hands up.

However, Chris couldn't stop playing his harp as he was shown smiling happily.

"Aw man, he's out of it!" Mallow said.

"Let him be," Geno said as he shot a light to the ceiling. "We can do this by ourselves."

"Now, then, Star Rain!"

"Geno Blast!"

Geno and the cloud prince called forth their attacks that crashed and bounced on the blacksmith's body.

"NO!" Dark Smithy couldn't feel his lower body anymore. "Y-you and yo-" he was interrupted as 3 familiar yells managed to hit his treasure chest.

"HEYAH!"

"HA!"

"HUUUUAAAAH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled loudly as Pikachu jumped out from the treasure chest. "N-no..." Dark Smithy tried to cast magic, but his head couldn't respond anymore and it wasn't able to do something else as well. "T-this can't be..."

He managed to move his lower body back and spin it around to push all the Smashers away with his hammer so he could bang it on his head and turn it into a cage with his eyes peering out.

"My strongest defense..." Dark Smithy panted heavily. "Try to pierce through it..."

"Geno Boost!" Geno increased Lucario's strength as he roared loudly as a response.

"Seriously," Chris stopped him from using Aura Sphere. "Another yell to demonstrate your power increasing and I'll hurt you where it hurts you the most!"

Lucario shrugged. "P-please, don't do that..."

"Promise what I suggested you?"

"..." Lucario looked at his appendages and shrugged again. "I-if you say so..."

"AHEM," interrupted Geno.

"Hmph..." Lucario put his hands closer together and started to charge his orb of aura.

"Hmph..." Lucario put his hands closer together and started to charge his orb of aura.

"Grrrrr..." Dark Smithy aimed his gun hand to the aura wielder.

"Over Limit gauge ready!" Kawashima called out.

Fox grinned. "Okay, time to prove what I can really d-"

"Come, o great hidden power within me!" Ness called out as he held his hand up and got covered in a rainbow aura with a force that emanated out from him.

"T-that sentence sounded better than mine..." Lucas looked down.

Fox cursed under his breath.

"PK..." Ness seemed to hover above the ground as he was slowly raising himself to the air.

"..." Dark Smithy tried to move his heavy head to the ceiling as the cave began to shine blue from above.

"STARSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORM!!!"

"Not the same shi-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Smithy's curse got interrupted as an assault of blue meteors that came down sideways impacted on his body. The meteors themselves caused a lot of noise before a last barrage of them came down and hit the blacksmith hard, rendering him from moving his lower body as a result. "No!"

"Whew..." Ness landed back on the ground. "I didn't think I could use PK Starstorm...but I guess I could because I trained with Poo..."

Lucas blushed a little. "Y-you too?"

"..." Ness looked bored at him. "...Oh man, we're clones in terms of Final Smash..."

"Heh," Fox walked to them with a grin. "At least Falco will use his Arwing for his Final Smash and not copy mine, since it won't make any sense for him to use a Landmaster that he has never used before."

A small laugh came behind him.

"What was that laugh for?" Fox asked to Chris with a glare.

"N-nothing..." Chris said with a chuckle.

"GUUUUUUUUARGH!!!" Lucario fired his Aura Sphere at full speed to Dark Smithy...but more accurately, he hit the little space that his eyes were peering out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Smithy yelled even more in pain as he started to pant heavily...but in irritation and rage.

"Hu-uah!" Kirby jumped to his head and swung his hammer 2 times in the air. "Hi-yah!" he took out a big cutter and rose it up to later slam it down on Dark Smithy's cage head. "Yiah!" he used a fully charged backflip kick to hit the chin hard, then, he started to fly up high to turn into stone and slam himself down on the top of the cage as he caused the cage to tremble.

"Y-y-y-y-you puffballs are so i-i-i-i-i-i-irritating..." Dark Smithy said dazzled.

"Irritating?" Jigglypuff pouted as she flew to Chris and stood over his head. "Chris, let me show him how irritating we are!"

"...But would you get off my head first?" Chris asked.

"...Nope," she said. "I want to show him what I'm made of."

Sonic grinned and inhaled air before Snake blocked his mouth. "No singing," Snake said with a frown. "I knew you were going to sing."

"Uuuuuuh!" Sonic groaned loudly under his hand.

"Let's start..." Chris said as he played his harp...

"Absorbing Sonata!" Jigglypuff called out before she started to sing a song (on top of Chris's head).

The atmosphere suddenly turned pink and Dark Smithy turned like that color as well before pink auras flew out from his body and went to every single Smasher who recovered their healths fully.

"Aww..." Kirby smiled. "That's much better..."

"How ironic," Geno began. "We're fully recovered while you're about to be finished."

"I-I don't have any way to attack back now..." Dark Smithy said panting.

"Good," Snake said. "Now we can take the f(beep) out of you."

"...But!" Dark Smithy interrupted as he raised some familiar turrets that caused everyone to gasp in shock. "I'll use my special attack one last time!"

"Oh no, no no no no no no!" Sonic shook his head in panic. "I don't wanna die again!"

"We didn't exactly die," Mallow said before he gulped. "W-we were ABOUT to die..."

"Say your last prayers!" Dark Smithy said as he closed his eyes and laughed maniacally. "After all, you weren't able to finish me off!"

The Smashers, however, glared at Dark Smithy and ran straight to the turrets.

"What do you think you're doing now?" Dark Smithy asked before they all jumped over the turrets, stood between the turrets and Dark Smithy and leaned their backs to the guns before they started to shoot bullets crazily. "W-WHAT?!"

"Surprised?" Geno asked with a glare. "We found the blind spot of this ultimate attack."

"B-but when and how did you make such foolish idea?!" Dark Smithy asked as the turrets kept firing at nothing around.

"When you were wondering how to get up," Mario explained. "We whispered our plans and strategies to defeat you."

"And I happened to bring the special attack of yours." Pikachu explained.

"I did." Kirby said.

"Oops."

"We thought you weren't going to use that attack again," Snake began. "But we thought you could use it again on us an-"

"And we tried to think of a way to evade it." Marth added.

"Then we remembered that the turrets never moved to the sides and fired straight," Link said. "And the space between you and these things were big enough to let us in."

"B-but I can still attack yo-" Dark Smithy froze once he tried to move his hammer and gun. "...N-no! M-my body was disabled again!"

"Me did that," said Ness with a chuckle.

It was the moment of the truth...

"And now that we're this close to you..." Geno aimed his rocket punch to Dark Smithy's face. "Say your prayers."

It was almost over...

"N-never!"

They were very close to win the fight...

"Star Spirits!" Chris yelled to call forth the Star Spirits.

Just a final move between everyone to finish Dark Smithy...

"One more time!" Twink said enthusiastically as the 7 stars nodded and called forth Peach Beam as the princess prayed for the beam and the stars.

It was very close now... Smithy was at their mercy...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Dark Smithy yelled as the beam came down on him and made the Shadow Bugs disappear. "N-no! I-I must recover, heal myself, anything! R-Recov-"

"It's over!" Geno yelled as the Smashers lunged one last time to Smithy's cage and dealt a strong hit at the same time before Geno fired his rocket fist at Smithy's eyes and...

Music stops

...But something unexpected interrupted the fight.

"Stop right now. This fight is over and Smithy is completely useless as of now."

"...What?" everyone asked in confusion.

Everyone suddenly listened to a deep voice that was coming from somewhere within the cave. The atmosphere around the cave started to feel distorted as it was replaced by a big space with no floor (although they were able to stand up above no floor but air) and blue stars far away in the distance. The Smashers stood up and looked around the entire space with a shocked Smithy. It looked ominous to some of them...but to others, it looked very familiar...

...Strongly familiar...

"...G-Geno..." Mallow gulped as the sound of winds were heard. "W-what just happened?"

"...I...I don't know..." Geno said as he looked around. "...But...why would this..."

"N-no..." Smithy shook with fear. "N-no! Please, no! Not now! I-I was going t-"

"Speak no more," the deep voice said as the Smashers looked around. "Smithy, you have failed to eliminate them all, but in return, you took them all here to me. I must congratulate you for that."

"W-where's that voice coming from?" Kirby asked as he shivered.

"...Wait," Mario tried to think. "Is it Tabuu?"

"What?!" Pikachu asked shocked and took a quick fighting stance. "W-where?! W-where?!"

"Fear no more," the voice said. "I am not Tabuu and never be him in my existence... I am a different entity of great power."

"P-please, don't do anything to me!" Smithy pleaded. "I-I'm sure I can defeat them if you let m-"

"No," the voice said. "You have lost your chance of this fight and control of your worthless factory as well."

"W-worthless?!" Smithy asked enraged.

"Do you dare to fight me? Very well..."

"...N-no! I-I didn't mean that! Please, spare my life! I beg of you!"

The Smashers looked very confused at Smithy's pleas for mercy to the voice.

"Why is Smithy getting so scared?" Link asked.

"My guess would be the voice," replied Snake with a frown.

"Smithy, you must die now," the voice said. "You have fulfilled your duty in taking them to me. The factory is useless as it is but the deal with Tabuu is still at hand. You must get away from my sight forever...by saying farewell to your life."

"N-no!" Smithy yelled back. "G-give me more time!"

"Time out, then."

A powerful and devastating lightning fell on top of Smithy as he yelled in extreme pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! F-FOOLISH IMBECILES...K-KEEP PESTERING TABUU AND YOU WILL...YOU WILL...YOU WILL...UUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" he screamed in agonizing pain before the thunder disappeared and left no traces of the blacksmith.

"...He's...gone..." Geno said shocked. "...He is finally gone from our lives..."

"...B-but..." Twink gulped and looked around. "W-who did this?"

"Hey, you!" Sonic shouted. "Show your face! We don't like people who hide from us!"

"...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario growled menacingly at the sudden force that he contacted with his aura, making him show his fangs fully. "GRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

"L-Lucario?" Chris interrupted his furious Pokémon whom he looked with a scared face. "W-why are you making that face?"

Lucario blinked and shook his head before noticing his murderous face. He looked at Chris with an ashamed look. "I-I'm sorry... T-there's a tremendous force in here...and I-I didn't like it at all..."

"We didn't like it either," Snake said. "I mean, this atmosphere with an odd voice destroyed the idiot before us."

"And we can't find that person anywhere." Fox said.

"..." Peach looked down. "D-don't tell me this place is...the one where..."

"...Oh no..." Geno shook his head. "...This place...I-I remember it..."

Final Fantasy IV DS - Disbelief

"...Y-you can't be talking about...him..." Mario said as he sounded somewhat scared.

"...I'm afraid this is the same place..." Geno looked down. "...We're in..."

"...B-but I thought we...I-I mean, we defeated him before!" Mallow said.

"...But he said he was going to return one day in another different moment..." Peach said. "...I-I wouldn't have thought it would now...not after Smithy was taken down..."

"And he returned..." Mario said. "...He returned at the last moment..."

"H-hey," Ness gulped. "W-would you explain to us what are you keeping us from see what you're trying to mean?"

"Long ago..." Geno explained. "We went to Monstro Town in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"A town where peaceful monsters lived." Peach added.

"The town was very peaceful because the monsters were kind to us."

"B-but when we explored the town by the cliff side..." Mallow gulped. "W-we came across a door that couldn't open..."

"That door had someone on the other side that demanded for a crystal," Mario went on. "There wasn't any crystal close to his description in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"But we figured out that the closest thing to a crystal was..." Geno trailed off.

"...A Shiny Stone that we got from Moleville by a boy," Mallow explained. "...For a set of Fireworks with 500 Coins a piece."

It was completely unnecessary to mention the price of the Shiny Stone.

"Anyway," Geno went on. "Once we showed the door the stone, it suddenly opened and we walked in..."

"But what was on the other side shocked us," Mario went on. "...There was a barren place with dark winds."

"The dark winds were not like like Exor's," Peach explained. "They were purple and fast; almost like if they were going to push you away."

"We walked through the storm and we lost the way back when the door closed." Mallow explained.

"At first, we thought there wasn't anybody in that weird universe..." Geno trailed off.

"...But there was someone..." Mario trailed off. "...And that person was..."

...A big floating figure appeared from the darkness just behind Mario, Mallow, Geno and Peach.

"...U-uah!" Lucas yelled and hid behind a scared Ness with Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Twink and Kirby.

"W-what the heck?" Link's eyes widened.

"I've never seen such person before in my life..." Ike said surprised.

"So that's the guy!" Sonic said with a glare.

"H-he looks scary..." Pichu muttered.

"I-I know..." Jigglypuff muttered.

"...I have a very bad feeling about this." Fox said as he looked down and glared up at the figure.

"What is he?" Marth asked. "...And what are those..."

"...Be warned," Snake began. "This doesn't look good at all."

"G-got to be brave..." Ness gulped. "G-got to be brave..."

"I-I can stay calm...d-don't panic..." Pikachu gulped.

"Grrrrrrr..." Lucario growled at the figure.

"...N-no..." Chris shook his head. "N-not him...not him...H-he mustn't be him..."

"G-Geno, everyone..." Twink peered from Ness's head. "B-behind you!"

"..." the quartet from the Mushroom Kingdom made shocked looks before they slowly turned around...

"..." Mario looked up. "...It is him..."

"...M-Mario..." Peach walked behind Mario to hide.

"...It's okay..." Mallow said.

"...For now..." Geno muttered.

"So..." the figure spoke. "We were destined to meet each other again...and with more knights as well."

"...It seems you haven't changed at all..." Geno glared up. "...Culex..."

It was revealed the name of the person before them...

The person was some kind of dark knight that didn't have any feet nor he wore clothes. His purple skin was visible as well as his bronze wings that spread out to the sides. A dark aura emanated from his floating body as well as the crystals that were supposed to be his feet as he hovered.

Not only Culex was alone, but he was coming along with 4 different floating crystals: the Earth Crystal, the Water Crystal, the Wind Crystal, and the Fire Crystal.

"W-what are you doing here?" Mallow asked.

"I was waiting for all of you to come here and challenge me to a battle after I arranged the meeting by myself," Culex explained. "I was impressed that you were able to defeat the problems through your path to my dimension."

"W-what do you mean by arranged?" Peach asked.

"I am the one who is in charge of the attack to the city, the factory and Smithy himself."

"...WHAT?!" Geno asked enraged. "Y-you're the one behind all this?!"

"Correct."

"B-but why?!" Geno demanded. "Why did you do all of this?!"

"Because I wanted to challenge more knights," Culex explained. "You seem to have grown stronger than the last time w-"

"So, let me get this straight," Geno tried to summarize the events. "You caused all this whole ordeal with the Star Spirits and endangered the worlds...so you could call us to you to fight? That's what you're trying to say?"

"Yes, affirmative," Culex nodded. "You seem to have proved your strength as knights."

"...Are you out of your skull or what?!" Geno asked furiously. "You ENDANGERED the worlds so you could fight with us?! What the hell was crossing to your mind when you wanted to appear now?! Was Tabuu responsible for this or are you possessed by the Shadow Bugs as well?!"

"...I am not possessed by his bugs," Culex shook his head. "Therefore, my mind is free from his control."

"B-but I don't understand!" Mallow interrupted. "Why did you want to appear? How did Tabuu contact you in the first place?"

"He contacted me through his mind, "Culex explained. "He focused to revive Smithy and his minions from the death. However, he managed to contact me because I was wandering aimlessly around the world of the dead to fight the knights that have passed away."

"Y-you came from the grave?" Sonic asked surprised.

Culex ignored him. "Our meeting was...accidental, should I say..." he looked away. "He wanted to revive Smithy and his minions but not ask me for my help... But all that changed when he said this..."

"What did he say?" Marth asked.

"I am trying to get rid of these fools who have been causing a lot of pain to my army and I cannot tolerate them anymore. I am bringing Exor and Smithy back so they can destroy the city that they live close by," Culex explained more. "Since the city is a metropolis where many people go from their universes, I am going to destroy it so nobody can live there."

"T-that's very twisted..." Pikachu said.

"Furthermore," Culex went on. "He said he would destroy the mansion after he was done with the city."

"But that has a bad order," Link said. "Shouldn't he destroy the mansion first?"

"He thought he would go first for the mansion," Culex said. "But a being of great power that lives in the mansion could make Exor fall in another place because the sword was not fully recovered when it destroyed the Star Road."

"...Why am I thinking he's talking about Master Hand?" Mario said.

"He is." Fox said.

"Instead," Culex went on. "He wanted to test Exor's power and see if it could destroy the city with the boost of power that he gave it."

"And you..." Kirby shuddered.

"...I am a mere dark knight who controls everything here," Culex explained. "A dark knight who wants to fight the strongest knights in my sight right now."

"We're not knights..." Mallow said.

"I think you would have known," Culex shook his head. "Tabuu merely told me to fight you after he told me that the "Smashers" were strong enough to defeat his army. When I heard the word "strong," I decided to ask more."

"...Then you wanted to offer him your help." Geno said.

"Exactly," Culex nodded. "If this was the only way to fight the strongest knights, then I would gladly accept it without regrets."

"...Without...regrets..." Geno repeated bewildered. "...You...imbecile...heartless...idiot..."

"Also," he narrowed his eyes. "I did not think about finding the same knights who have fought me before and defeated me as well. This is very good, indeed."

"W-why?" Peach asked.

"Because I would call this meeting a rematch," he looked at the Smashers. "And all of you would be the reinforcements."

"...So, do you want to fight?" Lucario asked with a glare.

"You stole the words from my mouth," Culex said. "However, I have a warning to you."

"What." Geno asked menacingly.

"Should you fail to defeat me, the city will be obliterated by the machines that were deployed outside," Culex explained. "Meaning you would lose the entire purpose of your mission in this single and simple fight."

"What if we win?" Mallow asked.

"Then I will make the machines disappear with a wave of my hand, open the barrier to the city and make Exor disappear as well... I doubt you can defeat me, though..."

"...Then..." Geno looked at the others. "...This is it..."

"...Please, let be this it." Link prepared his sword.

"The city depends on us..." Chris prepared his wrenches (as he changed to his Hacker job).

"H-here I go..." Pichu stepped out from Ness's back and gulped as the others did the same.

"Let's take that monster down." Snake said.

"Alright! Final bout!" Sonic said with a grin.

"Y-you can do this..." Kirby gulped. "J-just think the crystals are...candies...floating candies..."

"We shall do something about him," Marth said. "Let us fight then."

"..." everyone had to face Geno with many nods of agreement.

"...We agree to your terms," Geno looked up to Culex. "But if we lose, destroy Exor."

"Why?" Culex asked.

"I don't want that sword go anywhere and destroy something else... Please, listen to my suggestion."

"...Very well," Culex nodded. "I do not care about more cities, but as a noble fighter...I will listen and obey that wish. However..." he snapped his fingers and everyone suddenly recovered their healths fully. "Let me heal you before you fight with your full strength. You already decided your cruel destinies... But do not worry about dying. If you were to die, you would wake up in the city...that will be in ruins..."

"...A-are we fighting him?" Chris asked worried.

"And those crystals...what are they?" Ness asked.

"These crystal are parts of myself," Culex said. "They will also fight as well and be careful with them since they are extremely powerful and devastating on their own."

"Ha, sure," Fox said with a chuckle. "You're nothing but a guy who likes to talk a lot."

"I blame you for asking me my intentions and reasons..." Culex prepared. "So, do you think you can defeat me to save this city?"

"...Yes..." Geno said as everyone took fighting stances. "...We're ready for you."

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against Culex

Culex nodded and he started to glow brighter than before as he said, "I am matter... I am antimatter... I can see your past... I can see your future... I consume time..." he opened his hands at them as the crystals spread around him. "And I will consume you!"

"I don't like the looks of this..." Link said.

"Everyone, this will be a harder battle to wi-" Geno was interrupted as the Fire Crystal lowered down and used Corona.

A light beacon came down and greatly caused severe damage to everyone who got in the way of the yellow light before it raised and vanished.

"...N-Ness..." Lucas laid down on the invisible floor. "...I-I can't move..."

"W-what?" Geno asked in shock as almost everyone got wiped out by a single magic attack. "W-why are you all falling down so soon?"

"B-because that magic was...just...too strong..." Mallow said weakly.

The Water Crystal lowered down and it used Solidify to rise up a sheer wind of ice that froze everyone inside icicles that later shattered into pieces, making them yell in serious pain.

"N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Chris yelled before he fainted.

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled loudly before he showed his fangs in fury to Culex. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

"Begone." Culex simply moved his hand forward and a psychic force struck Lucario.

"...U-ugh..." Lucario fell to his knees as hi eyes widened before he collapsed.

"W-wait!" Pikachu yelled. "I-it's too soon for you t-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Jigglypuff screamed loudly as the Wind Crystal lowered close to them and used Static E! to deal a great amoung of lightning damage to the Pokémon who were pushed to the air and crashed down in pain.

"Dammit, he's already taking all of us out!" Geno said as he saw the Fire Crystal going towards Marth and Link.

"Attack it!" Marth yelled as the 2 prepared to slash the crystal, but it moved and used a small Flame Wall that managed to burn them with severe damage that took both out in a single attack. "W-why...does this...have to happen...to us..." Marth muttered before he collapsed.

"Marth! ...Ugh..." Link lost consciousness and fell down on his back.

"O-oh no..." Peach shivered. "I-I don't want to die..."

"PEACH!" Mario yelled as the Earth Crystal lowered down and used a powerful Water Blast, exploding every single corner of the whole place before a huge blast of water made them crash down to the floor. "...S-sorry...Peach..." Mario muttered weakly before he fainted.

"M-Mario..." Peach muttered with some tears before she sobbed a last time and fainted as well.

"Peach! Mario!" Mallow yelled. "Hold on! I have food right he-"

"Out of my sight." Culex waved his hand in front of him and a psychic force struck Mallow on his neck.

"U-ugh...t-this hurts...so much..." Mallow managed to say before he fainted.

"M-MALLOW!" Geno yelled. "C-curses! T-this isn't going well at all!"

"The green crystal!" Ness yelled before the Wind Crystal used Lightning Orb and shot the sphere to Kirby who screamed loudly in pain before he lost consciousness.

"...I-I want...to eat..." Kirby said with a sob before he fainted.

"KIRBY!" Pikachu yelled before he showed his small fangs to Culex. "You...bastard!"

"I-I don't think you need to enrage him more..." Lucas gulped in fear as Culex raised his hands.

"DARK STAR!" Culex called forth a big black angry Starman that crashed on Pikachu and Kirby as it bounced several times on thme before bouncing away.

"...C-Claus..." Lucas muttered weakly before he fainted.

"I-I-I was so reckless...ugh..." Pikachu curled himself and fainted.

"T-this is just stupid..." Fox said as he tried to stay with hopes in winning the fight.

"BEHIND YOU!" Twink yelled.

"Hu-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Fox yelled in extreme pain as the Fire Crystal used Flame Wall and burned his back with extreme burn marks before the vulpine fell down in defeat. "...E-everyone...I...was an idiot...ugh..."

"O-oh no, help!" Ness panicked as he saw the Earth Crystal using Sandstorm to create winds full of sands that made all of them evern weaker as they embraced themselves. "I-I-I want to leave now..."

"H-hold on..." Snake shivered. "W-we can still..."

"Farewell." Culex moved his hand and Snake felt a sharp pain damaging him from inside his body that he grabbed his stomach and knelt down.

"...N-no..." Snake muttered before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

"Snake, Snake! D-do you copy me?!" Mei Ling asked in panic. "Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!! ...N-no..." she sobbed.

"O-Oh hell no, man!" Sonic backed away. "I-I'm not going to die in here!"

"Then make a run for it!" Dark Super Sonic yelled as the hedgehog obeyed and tried to run away before a psychic attack struck down his back to the floor. "Imbecile..."

"This is...so lame..." Sonic said before he closed his eyes and fell down on his back defeated.

"..." Geno and Twink could only watch in horror as every single Smasher was taken out with a few hits. "...W-why..." Geno asked as he slowly shook his head.

"...I-I'm fine here..." Jigglypuff said as she barely was able to stand up.

"H-here too..." Pichu, Ike and Ness said as they shivered with fear because of the sandstorm's effect.

"Fools..." Culex said as the crystals disappeared. "And here I thought you were worthy to fight with..." he disappeared in a portal of darkness. "It is time to finish this nonsense..."

"...Oh no..." Geno muttered as the space began to shook itself violently. "R-resist whatever comes to our way!"

"LOOK OUT!" Ike yelled loudly as the Fire Crystal came out from beneath them and extended a floor with extreme heat that made them yell in pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Ike yelled loudly before he fainted.

"I-IKE!" Ness yelled as the crystal dug itself away before the Wind Crystal was slammed down to the floor and created many tornadoes that spread quickly around the place, causing severe wind damage to the remaining Smashers. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Ness screamed in extreme pain before he lost consciousness and crashed to the floor.

"N-N-NESS!!!" Pichu yelled before the Wind Crystal was replaced by the Earth Crystal and caused many stalagmites to rise up from the ground and hit Pichu, Jigglypuff and Geno. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Pichu cried out in extreme pain before he came down a stalagmite and fainted on the floor.

"P-PICHU!!! O-o-o-oh no..." Jigglypuff made a worried face before the Water Crystal came from the sky and became stuck on the floor as it created several waves of icicles that rose out from the floor and cut the doll and the Pokémon through their sharps spikes. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Jigglypuff pleaded as she cried silently and fainted.

"...W-we're..." Geno fell to his knees while Twink came out from his cape. "...We're done for..."

"G-Geno!" Twink cried. "W-we can't lose yet! ...N-not like this!"

"I am afraid it is the end for you," Culex said as he appeared above the fainted and defeated Smashers. "For you 2 as well."

"S-stop!" Twink pleaded as he flew to Culex to slam himself on his head. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

"TWINK!" Geno yelled as he held his hand to the Star Kid. "DON'T DO IT!"

"Worthless knights..." Culex's hands glowed dark as he raised them. "FEEL MY WRATH!!! ULTIMAGA!!!"

Ultimaga

An enhanced version of Ultima that is comparable to a supernova. Deals insane damage along with chaos and destruction to everything in sight.

The floor shook even more violently than before as a black hole appeared on the center of the Smashers and started to grow in a huge size. Twink stopped and looked down in shock as the black hole started to grew bigger faster. "A-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Twink tried to run away but the black hole eventually caught him.

"N-no..." Geno muttered as the black hole started to reach him. "...No...no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Geno yelled loudly as the black hole reached him and pulled him inside the antimatter sphere that levitated everyone off the ground.

"...It is the end..." Culex said.

Music stops

An insanely huge black explosion engulfed the whole universe and everything in it as the shadows of Culex and the crystals were seen from within the supernova. The Smashers were flung away to different directions as they disappeared from sight in the devastated universe.

"..." Culex closed his eyes as he snapped his fingers. "As I promised, you will be healed completely after the city gets destroyed along with Exor... But be aware that you will not awake together..." he turned around with his crystals and disappeared in the darkness. "...I will wait for your next visit... Until then, become stronger....knights..."

Nintendo City

"D-dood..." a Prinny that was left behind shuddered in fear as the machines that were inside the buildings started glowing brightly. "T-they're not going to blow up, are they, d-dood?"

His wish proved to be wrong as the machines started to create a massive chain reaction of explosions around the city that destroyed every single building in sight. The Prinny's beak opened wide as he tried to run away from the explosions but unfortunately got caught in one and was tossed to the air and disappeared in the sky...

Exor could be seen spinning his eyes back as his mouth hung wide open while he started to vanish along with the barrier. The explosions managed to reach outside the barrier and cause a big event of red lights with a lot of smoke that floated up to the darkest night as the clouds continued to make rain...

From a distance, the explosions were able to be seen as the Smash Mansion was shown...

...After all of this...

...The Smashers...who have been working hard to save the city...

...Despite their efforts...

...Failed to save it...

...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Geno Saga's Epilogue:
Apology From A Devoted Star

Do you want to save your game after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Geno, Mallow, Twink

References:

-"Final Fantasy IV DS - Disbelief" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during Kain's betrayal or unbelievable situations.

-Link saying that he didn't like the fight with Culex was the same line that Roger from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time says if you face a much stronger enemy than him in levels.

...

...

...

...And thus they lost...to Culex, who was behind everything...

Since Culex was behind the whole plan, they were no match for his power...

...

...

...And thus the city was erased from existence...

...

...What will happen now?

...

...Nobody knows yet...

...

...

...Read and review...please...
*Chapter 130*: Apology From a Devoted Star

"Sees no one in here"

Um...I'm awfully sorry for not updating in 2 weeks... Well, I may explain why.

The reason why I didn't update was because, remember the problems I had with my old PC? Well, it finally got busted and went to heaven (if it could) and thus I lost the ability to write. Although I did write the chapter during summer school (by the way, I got out from it) but let's say 10 minutes isn't enough to let you write at least 4 pages.

However, the god of machines (XD) heard my plea and I got 3 offers for a new PC and CPU. I decided to get the PC that my brother stopped using and it got updated to WindowsXP, meaning that I'm able to write again with a faster internet (though the speed is almost the same as the old one).

So then, I'm back.

"Confetti rains down"

So let's continue. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... that was amazing. Culex is so(o times 10 to the eightieth power) o powerful. Update soon! Hasta!

From me: ...Would you please don't say update soon? It hurts me. T_T

Yes, Culex is as hard as a hacked Shuckle. Thank you. :P

From Dimentio713: Culex was behind it all... Wow... Anyways I don't feel like telling you my life as of now (see last review I made) so I won't tell you my elective... Anyways... why! Why did you do that Culex! Agreeing with Tabuu to destroy Nintendo City! Culex is dumb and he just wants to fight people! Well! Chris will beat him once he does something... Anyways the 2nd failed mission... (sigh) Culex is an idiot... Well see ya later!

From me: Okay, now say Culex is an idiot in front of him. If you return back alive, well, who knows. XD Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: All I can say is that I never saw that end coming. NEVER. Wow. Just...

...gosh. :(

From me: Surprised you, right? The Smashers are not always the winners. Every fic I see has them succeeding in at least everything they do. If they win all the time, they're Mary Sues, if they lose all the time, it's going to be boring and depressing. Good thing I broke that useless rule. :)

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: ... That cannot be the end of the battle? Otherwise, this story would be completely over. There has to be something else that'll happen afterwards ... but I don't know what.

Smithy is an odd boss. Really powerful, and yet not exactly all that bright. Good idea to have Lucas' snake go around reviving everyone. I want to know what happened to everyone fighting the pogos.

From me: You'll see about the pogos...probably in the next chapter. : P

From aquadragonsayian: OH NOES!! THEY LOST! *shocked look* Damn, he is one hard boss to beat! WHAT'LL HAPPEN TO THEM NEXT?!!

From me: Dude, calm down. Don't get all worked up like that. -_- Anyway, thanks. : )

From Seitei: *Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!*

That was by far the most epic battle I've ever read. And Culex? I never expected that. Will they fight him again? I certainly hope so.

First time I've heard of Ultimaga. Keep updating and keep your summer school stuff up to date!

From me: Since Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Waterga, and Curaga are high magic spells, I figured out to throw Ultima in for an original Final Smash. I hope you like it. : )

From SlasherMask: ...Lots of dots...I though I was one to abuse them...

Culex is kind of less dramatic if you think that his Japanese name is "Crystal Monster"...

Anyway I'm kind of bored the fact you give every villain with final smash RPGish Latin attack name...(e.g;Galleom, Smithy)That like giving Mario final boss ominous Latin chant! Oh wai-(remember Galaxy)

Though i think you do too much third party rpg arcs for fic based on fighting game I admit that it works well.(and when i look what arc you have had there really isn't that many RPG arcs... It just feels like that with your fic feeling of RPG... I admit also that i like that feeling...)

Good suspense at end...

From me: I put dots there because I would sound so sudden if they knew what to say or respond back. This only happens when they need to think or to build a small amount of suspense.

Well, RPG games have more development than other games, I think. You don't see that development in fighting games, I think. Thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: Whoa... That was one of the best, if not THE BEST chapter ever seen on this site! Excellent, 10 out of 10, and make sure to send more chapters along soon!

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted any reviews for goodness knows how long, but I've been really busy lately, and I've had only so much time for reading. I'll be posting more reviews in the future, so you won't have to worry about that!

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: And I'm sorry for not updating. -_- Okay, I should stop mourning for that. Thanks. : )

From Mewtrainer: They...lost? The Smashers...actually lost? That was completely unexpected. And rather sobering, too...poor Nintendo City...

From me: Nobody here succeeds in everything. Why would I let something like that happen here? There are good results and bad results. : )

From Blaperile: Wow...

Didn't saw that one coming, maybe the smashers at the Smash Mansion will go to beat Culex... that's the only option I see for the moment.

Good... very good...

From me: Thank you. :)

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: "Upon his awakening the shadowed boy shall gaze upon his land.
Only to see ruin and despair.
In hope of either revenge or salvation he shall journey on
Never to look back upon the fallen land."

I knew that Culex would appear at the end of the battle. Ever since you mention the "rhombus shape objects." It will be just like FF6 where everything is in twilight and in ruin, but anyway I think Master Hand will at least try to stop it since he is supposely powerful or maybe not. I notice you use the world "energies" a whole lot. It might be better to replace it with "stamina" or something else. I also wonder where everyone might end up and if Chris will be all alone fighting by himself. Either way Smithy is gone now and you should really do the FF4 arc next since the crystals are involved and FF4:The After Years is out. I hate that green haired lunarian. Gr.

Sean Kratos the Lucario

P.S. Sorry for not reviewing for a while.

From me: Stamina? I think that's going a little bit too scientific. Energies sound good to me.

And about the FFIV arc...well, it is on the top of my mind so expect to see this arc very soon. ;)

From JSandders: I'm really lazy today so I'll keep this short...

I remember fighting Culex when I unlocked that door. That was a HARD FIGHT! I know how much the Smashers must feel right now... that must have been painful! I'm till surprised that you made him the guy behind it all!

Can't wait to see what the Prinny's importance is and what the Smashers will now do since they lost this fight. I'm also curious as to what happened with the people who were fighting the pogo-sword... Keep typing, Wiiboychris! This story is really great!

From me: The Prinny is going to be important for something... You'll see. ; )

From werelucario: time for a correction you put 2 "Hmph..." Lucario put his hands closer together and started to charge his orb of aura.

other than that its a good story i'm still reading rairly revewing

i think fox will feel betrayed when falco uses his final smash

anyways

werelucario off

(thats going to be my new username)

From me: I forgot your previous username though. And Fox? I'll see what I can do with him. XD

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hmm, ok. Did you get anything from me in particular? And as I said before, DON'T SAY YOU'RE SORRY! *deep breath* you told us before why you update late now, so please don't apologize. Well, onto my review...
Transforming Smithy was an interesting foe, considering he can change forms. Wow, ROPE SNAKE saved them!? He's one of the bravest minor characters I've seen yet. Fox was mean! I'd slap him too if he was that rude. I'm a bit surprised that Ness didn't overreact to Lucas's Final Smash so much as Fox did with Wolf's. So, Smithy hates organic organisms too? Thank goodness that you're not doing an R&C3 arc (and that he's defeated), he and Dr. Nefarious would be more than glad to wipe out us, "squishys". Out of all the chapters we readers have read, I bet many we were not expecting another lost battle arc after so many victories. Culex sounds strong to fight; I unfortunately can't fight him now, stupid Bowser's Castle, not letting you go back to other parts of the game. The only problem I do have a concern with is the grammar, you need help again!
Well, it's time for my usual,
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! Question edition!
Which Final Fantasies are you doing arcs for again?
Since I can't fight Culex, is he really that powerful?
This should be my last CG (common game) arc question, Xenosaga 1?
Did you know that Johnny Yong Bosch voices in four of your games? If you need a hint, Adam Park from the MMPR.
Tipping? I don't remember any tips you gave me, so what's with Tipping?
Well, joyous typing! :D

From me: Unfortunately I apologized. :P

Anyway. R&C3 arc? I forgot. What's the name of that game?

And you can go back even if you're in the castle. Unless you defeated Culex before then that's another story.

I'll reveal the arcs overtime.

You should consider to get your characters at the Max. levels. It's easier with the Lazy Shells as well.

I don't know Xenosaga at all.

I know a lot about voice actors.

I forgot. :P

From Rellymaster: Oh...my...God...I can't believe that after all of that, they...actually lost. Pure wow...
Culex sure doesn't hold back, does he? To think that he was behind everything...insane.
Biggest loss ever...:(

From me: If there's recovery, it's going to take years to repair the city. :(

From Redsoff: ...!
Well, this is a surprising chapter...
Let's see...Toad becomes hospitalized,
Rope Snake becomes a hero,
character development progresses,
Dark Super Sonic kinda reminds me of Gig from Soul Nomad,
and a surprising ... mastermind?
I completely did not see that!
... if Smithy has a Final Smash, does Culex...?
...ah ha ha...then he'll be so strong, it'll almost be cheating...
ANYWAYS, this chapter has a lot of surprises, drama, humor, and ultimately leads to the long-awaited conclusion of the Geno saga. Congrats on making it this far.
We, the readers, well be expecting it.
Bye...
P.S. I also like the BGM you have chosen throughout the story.
It really sets the mood.
Farewell!
(Redsoff has logged off)

From me: You don't know how many times I heard Soul Nomad already. :P

And thank you about the BGM. I only select the most fitting music (though I don't let fanboism get in the way. For example, I really hate the final boss music in Sonic Unleashed. This is not a damn concert, dammit). :P

From Rabid Original: XP I'm so late.

Well, it looks like everyone got royally owned. As well as the city.
Reminds me of Final Fantasy 6, which is good 'cause I love that game.

NOW I REALLY WANT TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER ;_;

I'm curious to know what happened to the Smashers who were still at the mansion, though...weren't they still fighting the pogo-sword?

From me: I just love to know the readers know about Final Fantasy. : D Thanks.

And they were still fighting the pogo-sword. But what happened?

From IheartKirby: Wow... After all that work, they failed and Nintendo City was destroyed.

I wonder if it'll be rebuilt. Kind of reminds me of Luin from Tales of Symphonia.

It's destroyed, but can be rebuilt if you donate money. Too bad this won't happen to Nintendo City. Chris is very picky with his money, but if it's to help, he might.

From me: Reminding to related devastations, I just love to hear examples...

Oh, wait! Here's one: Trabia Garden in FF VIII.

And Chris isn't picky with his money. He hates to be scammed and buy expensive things...that are also part of scams. XD

As a last reminder, I did several edits to some chapters.

1) The prophecy about Chris was made longer (or if he accepts it or not). Mars's personality changed to a more serious one, and more dialogue between characters has been added.

2) Some references in the earlier chapters were erased so it doesn't look stupid to point out.

3) The Paper Mario arc received a change in a chapter.

4) The Halloween Special got some edits with the right tenses. Meta Knight also received his own confessionary since he didn't have one.

5) Our avatar for today is Raven suffering from the cold weather. :P

The finale for the Geno Saga is here. With the city destroyed, there's nothing left to protect save for the mansion itself. It's your enjoyment that I care about. ;)

Read, enjoy, and review as always. :D

Chapter 130: Apology From A Devoted Star

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

"..." Tabuu, who was watching the whole event from the Subspace, kept staring at the devastation of the city while the 4 minions just stared at him without any trace of emotions such as joy or something else.

"...Not gonna say anythin'?" Dedede asked.

"Culex managed to accomplish his task," Ganondorf said. "Why are you not pleased for that?"

"..."

The 4 looked at each other before Charizard spoke. "Sooooooo...what are you going to do now?"

"What will WE do?" Bowser asked.

"...Culex," Tabuu muttered. "...Come here."

His call was answered as Culex and his crystals appeared in front of him. "I did what you told me. But they were not strong enough to land a scratch on me."

"Culex, why did not you finish them? You had them where I wanted them to be," Tabuu said with a tone of annoyance. "Why did you let them live? You did that so they could stop me?"

"Even if my looks suggest evil ideas, I am not a cheater when it comes down to fighting," Culex explained. "You knew that very well the moment we met."

"You let them live because you are an honorable knight or some foolishness like that?"

"For you it is foolishness, but for me it's nobility to my opponents," Culex explained. "I doubt anyone here has nobility at all."

"I'm sort of noble," Charizard said before the others snickered. "Hey!"

"My point was explained," Culex said. "I am sorry if your wishes were not fulfilled like you wanted, but thanks to you, I managed to find some potential knights to fight against."

"I guess you are not going to cooperate with me again." Tabuu said.

"No, not anymore," Culex said. "I will await them behind a door like I did last time..."

"Then get out of here," Tabuu said with a glare. "I cannot tolerate seeing your disgusting face around, and that also includes your crystals."

"I knew you were a harsh leader the moment I saw your face...or through it." Culex said as he disappeared into the darkness with his crystals, leaving Tabuu grunting annoyed. "Whatever you do, let them live enough so they can face me."

"...You are not someone who can tell me what to do..." Tabuu muttered before he looked down with a sigh.

"..." The Ancient Minister floated to him. "Lord Tabuu, what are your next orders? Should we invade another world?"

"...I need to think about our next movements..." Tabuu said before he teleported away.

"Listen," the Ancient Minister began as he turned to the 4. "There is only one last person to recruit here and I want Bowser to do the task."

"What person?" Bowser asked.

"The fat and greedy one."

"...If he doesn't fart, then I'll go and get him here..." Bowser said before he stomped away.

"You 3 will stay here in the meantime," the Ancient Minister said. "I have...other matters to attend to..."

"..." Ganondorf narrowed his eyes at the Ancient Minister as he flew away to the darkness. "...Something is afoot with him...I know it..."

"Care to tell what you're mutterin'?" Dedede asked.

"None of your business," Ganondorf said as he turned and walked away. "I have my own matters to attend to as well. I will see you buffoons later."

"...Hey!" Charizard yelled as the lord of all evil disappeared. "Dedede is the only buffoon here!"

Albeit to say, this argument started a fight between the penguin and the dragon...

Smash Mansion
Dawn's Room

The rain seemed to fall hard to the grass outside. It was a morning with pure rain as the sounds of it echoed through the vast extension of trees and the facilities of the mansion.

Inside the female trainer's room, there were Red, Dawn, Lucas (the trainer), Squirtle, Ivysaur and Barry laying down on the floor as they slept.

They probably felt asleep after talking about Pokémon all the night and...

...Wait, what's that bottle of beer doing under Barry's right arm?

"..." Dawn let out a yawn as she put a hand close to her mouth...and spotted the beer. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" she screamed loudly enough to wake up anyone in the floor they were in.

"WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?!" Red, Lucas and Barry woke up in panic as Squirtle and Ivysaur got startled and looked around in panic.

"B-Barry! H-how could you!" Dawn yelled as she slapped Barry hard.

"Oww! What was that for?!" Barry asked.

Dawn pointed down. "Oh, I don't know? The fact you're too young to be drinking that fuzzy thing?"

"...Hey..." Barry bent down and picked the beer. "...Dawn, you were looking at it at the wrong side," he turned the bottle around and it had another different layer that said...

Tropius's Punch

That Banana is SURELY not real Tropius's Bananas!

"...B-but why was the backside like that?" Dawn asked.

Barry turned it around...

Haunter's Water

It is NOT what you think it is!
Warning: Could be Haunter's...er...water from its tongue...

"Dunno," Barry said as he tossed back the "beer" away to the window (that was closed and got shattered). "Anyway, what do ya wanna do today?"

"...Repair my window..." Dawn said in irritation as she stared outside in anger.

"Heheheheh..." Lucas laughed nervously as he tried to calm down her companion from hurting Barry. "I-I think we slept too late and we slept on the floor by accident..."

"W-well..." Red took out his new Pokédex. "This one is surely far more advanced than Professor Oak's Pokédex for sure..."

"Just remember how to use it, pal." Barry said.

Red blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm going to, and I know how, thank you very much..." he rolled his eyes.

"...Hey," Lucas cut out the 3 as he walked to the window and looked outside. "It's raining a lot, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded. "We could take advantage of the rain and... Dawn! Get the shampoo!"

Dawn blushed embarrassed. "A-are you nuts?! I-I'm not going to take a bath outside..." she looked at the 3. "L-let alone with 3 guys!"

"Pfft..." Barry rolled his eyes.

Squirtle and Ivysaur decided to stay away from Barry's self. Surely, nobody would resist his mind for even a second.

"Barry, shut up," Lucas said before he sighed. "What do we do today? We can't battle under this condition with the weather."

"But my Floatzel will soooooooo own Dawn's Piplup under the rain!" Barry said excited. "Dawn!"

"No way!" Dawn shook her head. "I'm not going to fight out and catch a cold either just because you want to!"

While the 3 were talking, Red went to his Pokémon on the bed and knelt to talk to them. "Hey, you guys think they're done fighting?" Red whispered.

"I think so..." Squirtle whispered. "They wouldn't fight all the night."

"Yeah," Ivysaur nodded. "I think we should..."

"...Oh, right," Red looked at the 3. "We still have to keep an eye on them."

"6 eyes." Squirtle corrected.

"That doesn't matter," Red looked over his shoulder to the 3. "We have to maintain them out of the others until they leave."

"This is going to be so hard..." Ivysaur sighed.

"But they're trainers and I wanted to meet some," Red said before he stood up. "Besides, you're going to enjoy fighting their Pokémon."

"...I guess..." the 2 whispered in unison.

"(But...)" Red thought as he looked outside. "(...What are they doing now?)"

Nintendo City: The City of Despair

...In this big and enormous area...

...Nothing seemed normal...

The rain seemed to be eternal in this place, full of destroyed buildings with bricks and glasses scattered all over the place. Long small rivers moved through the small holes of the remaining buildings that also were wrecked. No life was found roaming about the lonely streets as the mist from the clouds descended and covered the entire city in ruins...

...It was unbelievable that a city so big like Nintendo City would get obliterated in one night...and no one was found in there, since its citizens evacuated and would never return to see the once-beloved city in ruins...

On a street's corner...

...There laid Geno as he was shown fainted...

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

"..." Geno could feel the rain's drops touching his wooden face, and even his cape which was getting wet. "..." he couldn't say anything after what he witnessed before his eyes...

"(Was all of this...in vain?)" Geno thought. "(All the work we did...was for nothing?)" he questioned himself. "(...Or...did our work...get paid with...this?)" he slowly opened his eyes. "(...The work got paid...with destruction?)"

The doll started to groan silently as he slowly sat up and shook his head. "...Culex kept his promise..." Geno looked at a big mark that was supposedly Exor's place. "...Exor disappeared along with the factory..." he looked around. "...And the city as well... What the..." he ran to a location and found someone. "...Twink?"

"...G-Geno?" Twink asked as he opened his eyes. "...What happened?"

"...Get up and see..." Geno said depressed.

The Star Kid floated up and looked around. "...Oh no..."

"...I'm afraid we failed..." Geno looked down. "...Dammit! All of this for nothing!"

"Geno!" Twink turned to him. "At least we..."

"What? At least we rescued the Star Spirits and got rid of Exor? That's what you're trying to say?"

"Y-yes..."

"Well, look!" he opened his arms and walked around. "We promised to save this city and...this happened!"

"..." Twink made a worried look.

"I mean, you would be like me if all the work you have done suddenly got halted by a big random antimatter guy that just wanted a freaking invitation to fight us!" Geno yelled. "...Dammit..."

"..." Twink flew close to Geno. "...I-I know how mad you are... I know how you feel....b-but I don't know how to calm you down to your normal self..."

"..." Geno looked at him. "...Wait...have I been...this furious before?"

"...I...think so..." Twink looked away. "You've been a little angry ever since we got inside Exor...but honestly..."

Geno blinked confused.

"..." Twink turned to him. "...I think you've been like this some other times before we even got inside Exor..."

Geno's eyes widened.

"...And to the others as well..."

Geno looked down.

"...You were always focused on rescuing the Star Spirits that you didn't have a chance to spend the time with anyone...but just a little..." he looked down in depression. "...Very little..."

"..." Geno looked away and walked forward before stopping. "...Twink..."

"...Yes?"

"...Have I been wasting time?"

"In?"

"...In not spending time with the people I fought with..." Geno looked to the sky. "...I'm such an idiot for not enjoying a little bit of my time here..."

"W-well, you did enjoy being with Mario, Peach and Mallow, didn't you?"

"But only them," he turned to him. "Not any of the Smashers themselve... Well, at least I talked with Chri-"

"Because he holds the power of the Star Spirits," Twink smiled a little. "He used Peach Beam so many times and that counts as his calls for their help. He remembered after all."

"...Just him..." Geno said. "...And nobody else for that matter..."

"..." Twink made a worried look. "...Y-yes..."

"...Curse myself..." Geno muttered as the rain kept going.

"...Why don't you apologize?"

"Apologize? Why now?" Geno looked at him. "It's too late, isn't it?"

"That's not true," Twink shook himself. "We still have time to spend the time together with the others before we return to Star Haven and..." he looked down. "...Leave them for good..."

"...Maybe there's still a chance..." Geno muttered. "...But how will I spend the time with them? I don't know what to talk about."

"Rude," he shook again. "You don't have to talk about something."

"Then what do I need?"

"You have to stay together!"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're trying to say..."

"Look, just stay with someone together and you'll see what I mean... For now..." the Star Kid looked around. "I think we need to find them..."

"Yes..." Geno looked around the destroyed city. "...It's going to be hard with all this mist, the rain and the wrecked buildings, but we must do this..."

"...This rain seems eternal to me for some reason..." Twink said as they began to move forward through the mist.

"..................doooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!"

Both of them stopped before someone came from the sky and crashed just in front of them, creating a lot of dust due to the street breaking a little.

Twink flew behind Geno who was covering his eyes with his right arm. "Ugh, what now?" Geno asked.

"...Dood..." a voice...or let's just said the same Prinny who was blasted off to the sky said weakly as the dust cleared out. "T-that wasn't a first class flight for sure, dood..."

When the dust cleared out, Twink and Geno looked down and found the Prinny's head stuck on the floor. "...Wait, isn't he one of Etna's Prinny Squad?" Twink asked.

"Wait, what, dood?!" the Prinny asked before he struggled to get out and finally did what he wanted. "How do you know about Lord Etna, dood?"

"Because we know her," Geno said. "But I thought you left to her world with all of the others..."

"...Wait, she left, dood?" the Prinny asked. "Aw, no, dood!"

"But I thought she took every single Prinny with her," Twink said. "Why didn't you go with her?"

"I..." the Prinny shifted his eyes. "...Felt very asleep..."

"...You felt asleep?" Geno asked.

"Yeah, dood," the Prinny blushed a little. "I've been sleeping here ever since Lord Etna and the Prinny Squad came to the city," he closed his eyes in relief. "Boy, I was so relieved when I first went to my bed... I dreamed abou-"

"Can you skip that part and get to the point?" Geno asked.

"W-well..." the Prinny looked around. "W-when I woke up, I found the apartment half destroyed by this huge blade that appeared out of nowhere and..." he pointed to the building where a single bed was on the third floor of the apartment where Etna and his Prinnys once resided. "Look! There's my room, dood!"

"My god," Twink blinked surprised. "That room was left intact because it looks new..."

"Pure luck, huh, dood?" the Prinny asked. "Dreams are sure useful to stay safe at all times, dood."

"Er, anyway, what are you doing here?" Geno asked.

"Well, I already told you," the Prinny said. "I felt asleep for a very loooooooong time, dood."

"Or you just kept awakening and closed your eyes right after so you could fall asleep." Twink said.

"..." the Prinny closed his eyes. "Weeeeeeeell...that too, dood."

"At least it's a miracle you survived," Geno said. "It was pure luck of you."

"Oh, that's right," the Prinny opened his eyes. "Where's Lord Etna?"

"In the Netherworld."

"What?!" the Prinny's beak opened in shock. "Dood, she was supposed to take me along with everyone else!"

"But you stayed behind here," Twink said. "You kind of made this happen to you."

"Aw, man, dood!" the Prinny looked down. "I shouldn't have slept for too long, but that dream wit-"

"Look, if you want, we can take you back to her," Geno said. "Chris knows how though..."

"Huh?!" the Prinny looked up. "Y-you know the way to Lord Etna?! Oh, thank you so much, dood! She would skin me alive if she knows she's missing me in the squad!"

"...Yes, she would." Twink said.

Prinny temporarily joined your team, dood!

"Anyway..." Geno looked around. "We need to find everyone here..."

"Why?" Prinny (that's right, that's his name) asked. "I thought nobody else survived the explosion in here...or did I miss something important, dood?"

And so, the duo explained everything that happened to Prinny as they walked through the rain, mist, and destroyed wreckage of the buildings around them.

"Oh," Prinny nodded. "So ALL that happened while I was asleep?"

"Pretty much," Twink said with a worried face. "It's so sad..."

"I know..." Geno looked away.

"Aw, dood," Prinny looked down as they walked. "I'm such an idiot for sleeping that long, dood. I hope Lord Etna doesn't kill me because if she does..." he gulped.

"But," Twink began as he tried to change the topic. "Where could they be?"

"They're alive, we know that," Geno said. "But they must be close to where we are..."

"And speaking of that," Twink looked forward. "I found someone."

"Really?" Geno asked as he looked forward with Prinny.

"..."

There was Peach looking down at the street as she was sitting down a big block of cement. She sighed in depression before the 3 walked to her.

Peach looked up and she blinked for a moment before smiling a little. "Oh, you're okay."

"And so are you," Twink smiled and floated beside her. "I would be sad if you were...oh, forget it."

Peach hugged Twink a little. "Thank goodness we were able to reunite again."

"At least us," Geno said. "We still have to look for the others as well. Have you looked around?"

"I..." Peach looked down. "...I've been sitting here just to see if someone could find me...and you did."

"Well, a work well done, dood!" Prinny said proudly of himself. "Dood, I'm tired..."

"We just found one," Geno frowned. "We still have like 10 or more to find."

"And..." Peach tilted her head to the Prinny. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Sergeant 100% Awesome Prinny, dood." Prinny said proudly.

"Or just Prinny." Twink said.

"Dood..." Prinny closed his eyes and frowned. "Everyday is a new day for humiliation to me, dood."

Peach tried to chuckle a little, but she couldn't. "Oh, nice to meet you, I guess..."

After an introduction...

The 5 started their way around the city as they looked around for the others. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find anyone...

...But something else was happening at another side of the city in ruins...

"...U-ugh..." Chris grumbled. "...W-where...am I? ...L-Lucario?"

"Oh, you're fine after all... Thank goodness."

The World Traveler slowly opened his eyes to see a blur. The blur cleared out overtime before it revealed to be Lucario holding him on his arms and inside a building to keep away from the rain.

"...Lucario!" Chris smiled a little and hugged the aura wielder. "T-thank you for being close to me! I-I was a little afraid to wake up without anyone here..."

Lucario smiled and put Chris's feet on the ground as he embraced him with his right arm. "It's fine now. I woke up first than you to look around for you."

Chris stopped hugging him and looked at him. "Then I'm glad you wanted to find me first... To be honest, I'm relieved to see you again."

"Me too."

The World Traveler blinked before he looked around. "...Where are we?"

"In the city..." Lucario looked down. "...We failed..."

"..." Chris could only put a worried face as he walked out of the building in ruins and found endless rain and mist around all the buildings before Lucario came out of the building. "...This..."

"...We failed after all..." Lucario said. "All our work...leaded us to this result..."

"..." Chris looked down. "...I can't believe this... It's so hard to believe..." he whispered.

"I'm very angry for this," Lucario said. "But seeing how the city was destroyed...it calms me down for some reason..."

"Because there's just a dead silence here..." Chris looked at him. "If Culex didn't appear, none of this would have happened...right?"

"Yes..." Lucario looked at him and knelt down. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Chris asked confused.

"I wasn't strong enough to land a single hit on him or the crystals," Lucario closed his eyes and looked down. "I failed you...didn't I?"

"O-o course not..." Chris knelt down and looked at Lucario. "We were all powerless...or pushovers to Culex and his crystals..."

"To tell the truth..." Lucario looked at him. "...My aura hasn't been the same, Chris."

"What?" Chris asked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"This is going to sound embarrassing for being the "Legendary Lucario" but...my aura isn't the same as it used to be before..."

"Don't tell me it's trying to leave you or something..." Chris trailed off worried.

"No," Lucario stood up. "I think it's decreasing because I need to fight more and train harder to keep it at its normal level. Right now, I can carry you like this."

The aura wielder grabbed Chris and put him above his right arm to lift him above. Chris's eyes widened after Lucario was carrying him with just his right arm.

"W-well, you seem to be very strong..." Chris looked down at Lucario. "Your arm is as hard as a brick."

"But still, I feel a little struggle to keep you up," Lucario said as he put Chris back down. "...But fortunately, I know what to do."

"Fight? Meditate?" Chris asked.

"Not that..." Lucario thought for a moment. "...Chris, when we return to the mansion, can you let me go to the Valley of the Aura?"

"With your family?" Chris asked.

"Yes. The only way to "recharge" my aura is to train in that specific place for a time. I'm going to spend my time there so I can resonate with my aura better because as I am now...I can't detect people within 10 kilometers anymore."

"...For a time..." Chris repeated as a whisper.

"Don't worry," Lucario reassured him. "It won't be too long before a mission starts, if a mission even starts that is..."

"...Well..." Chris looked at him. "...I'll think about it, okay?"

"It's fine."

"As for now..." the World Traveler looked around. "...What do we do now? Look for the others?"

"That was exactly what I had in mind...but without my aura..."

"It's okay," Chris shook his head. "You can use it to at least get a radius of 1km, right?"

Lucario nodded as he glowed and walked forward. "Yes, I can use it," he said.

"Good." Chris began to walk close to his Pokémon through the mist...

"...I sense someone..." Lucario interrupted.

"Where?" Chris asked in hopes to find someone.

"Right over there," the aura wielder said as he point at a telephone post. "I can identify Ness."

"Ness! Ness!" In an instant, Chris became happy to find their first person. "Ness!"

The 2 of them ran to the PK kid, who was trying to search for something in his pockets. When the 2 reached him, Ness seemed to look sad for some reason...

"...Ness?" Chris asked confused. "Are you...crying?"

"J-just a minute..." Ness sniffed as he took out a cent and inserted inside the telephone boot. The kid took the phone and dialed a number.

"What is he doing?" Chris asked.

"I don't have a clue..." Lucario said.

Their talk was interrupted as the phone picked up a confirming sound of someone answering it. The person who answered was...

"Dad?" Ness asked as he sniffed.

"Oh, hello, my boy," came a deeper voice from the other side. "How have you been?"

Ness sniffed. "B-bad..."

"...Listen, son..." his dad sighed. "There are times in your life where fights are going to be just too much for you to handle."

"Y-yes..." Ness sniffed.

"This time is one of them. You must gather your courage and train harder in order to achieve you goals. I have told you from time to time that you mustn't surrender, ever."

"Y-yeah..."

"My boy, what you need to do is...be a man."

"...Uh-huh..."

"Then, what are you going to do from here onwards?"

"B-be a man...and train harder everyday..." Ness replied.

"Good, good..." his dad said with a chuckle. "That's my boy, the same as myself..."

Chris wiped a tear as Lucario looked at him. "I-I miss my own dad..."

Lucario put his right arm above Chris's shoulders. "You'll see him soon enough...someday."

"By the way," his dad continued. "I deposited $453,548,224,999,485,322,543,432,134,866,435,325,231,645,678 to your bank account so you can draw money out whenever you want."

"...Where in the heck does his dad work at?" Chris asked utterly shocked.

"Oh, and 3 cents," his dad said. "Be strong, my boy."

"Y-yeah, thanks, dad." Ness said as he wiped his tears and smiled a little.

"Well, then, I have to go back to work. My boss is going to kill me if he catches me like this. Good luck, Ness..."

Ness nodded. "Bye, dad. Thank you for making me feel more comfortable."

"Always there for you... Crap, there's my boss. Gotta go now. Bye."

And the telephone call ended with several beeps as the PK kid put the phone back in the booth.

"...Aaaaaaaaaw!" Ness sighed out loud. "Man, I feel so much better after talking to my dad... You guys were listening to me?" Ness asked.

"Ever since you put the cent inside the booth." Lucario said.

"Oh..." Ness replied with a low tone. "...What are you doing then?"

"Looking for everyone else."

"Oh, right," Ness said as he looked around. "It's a real shame that this happened. I mean, I used to come here very often when it wasn't in ruins."

"Please don't remind me about what happened here..." Chris said ashamed.

"I know, sorry," Ness said with a nod. "Anyway, since you're looking for the others, why don't we stick together? Separating is a bad idea now."

"I agree." Lucario said.

"Well, let's resume our current task," Chris said before he looked forward.

...But something caught his eye.

"...What in the world..." Chris muttered.

"What is it?" Ness asked.

"..." Chris only pointed forward.

Lucario and Ness looked at each other before looking at Chris's direction. Both of them blinked surprised as they spotted something out of the ordinary. What they found surely wasn't in the city before the destruction.

"...Say, since when are temples part of cities?" Ness asked.

There was a big temple that seemed to be in ruins across the street they were in. The temple had several vines sprouting out from the cement.

"I-I don't even think this was here before..." Chris said.

"Lucario, can you see what is inside if there is anybody?" Ness asked.

Lucario nodded and glowed with his aura for several seconds before stopping. "...There's an ominous air inside...but there are no enemies either. It's safe to explore it but maybe I'm mistaking."

"...Well," Ness began as he looked around. "I bet there's a better shelter inside than all the buildings out here. Should we go?"

Chris sneezed. "P-please..."

"...Who is there?" Ness asked as he heard footsteps coming from behind them.

Link, Kirby and Jigglypuff appeared and they stopped walking once they found the other trio.

"Oh, it's you, guys," Link said. "Good thing we found you."

"Brr!" Jigglypuff felt chills on her back. "This rain is just annoying! With all this mist you would think you can find anyone by going through."

"But we did." Kirby pointed out.

"Oh well, that's true."

"Anyway," Link began. "Are you looking for the others as well?"

"Yes, we are," Ness said. "To be honest, we just started."

"Man..." Link sighed before looking at the buildings. "I kind of pissed after we lost to that Culex guy in that battle..."

"We were so powerless...right?" Jigglypuff asked worried.

"I'm afraid so..." Lucario said. "...But we shouldn't feel ashamed right now. First we need to find everyon-"

"What is that?" Link asked as pointed forward. "That looks like a temple to me."

"We were planning to go inside to find shelter from the rain," Chris said. "Maybe you can come with us?"

"I-if there's shelter, then I'm in!" Jigglypuff said as she ran towards the temple.

"...You heard her. Let's go in!" Ness suggested as he ran towards the temple before the others followed (with Chris picking up Kirby as they made their way inside).

Several miles away...

"..."

There was an unconscious Sonic laying down on the middle of the street before he sneezed and woke up.

He opened his eyes and blinked for a moment. "...Oh man..."

He sat up before getting up. Sonic put a hand on his hip and looked around. "Damn that Culex dude... Hey, wait a minute..." Sonic looked at his hands. "Oh, what a relief. That curse is gone for now... Wait, how did I get my gloves back? They were ripped apart when my hands grew big... Then again, who cares? Hey, you, are you there?"

He tried to call Dark Super Sonic, but there was no response.

"...I think he can call me only during night...and that reminds me..." Sonic thought for a moment. "...Crap, today I will... No! I won't be manipulated by that guy, never!"

"What guy is that?"

"This wacko who wants to turn me into a monster. He's inside my mind but nobody knows about thi-" Sonic stopped talking as he found Marth and Ike looking down at him with confused looks. "...I-in my dreams, of course!"

"...Seriously?" Ike questioned.

"Would I lie to you guys?" Sonic asked with a smile. "I mean, we're buddies, right? I'd never lie to you!"

"Yes," they said.

"Awesome!"

"We meant that you would lie to us." Marth said.

Sonic sweatdropped. "...T-this is not a lie, seriously..."

"...Whatever," Marth said with a frown. "So Sonic, have you found anyone?"

"I just woke up."

"Oh, I see," Marth said with a nod. "Since we have to regroup, we should stay together until we find someone."

"...Does that mean I have to stick with you without running and just walk?"

"I believe so..." Ike said.

"(Damn you). Cool."

"That's another lie right there." Marth said.

"Oh, c'mon!"

"Well, why don't we start?" Ike asked.

"Good idea." Marth said.

Sonic rolled his eyes before they started...walking, what Sonic hates the most.

"There you are!" Mallow came from an alley and made Ike back away. "I was looking all over for you!"

"W-would you stop appearing like that? You made my heart stop for a moment..." Ike said.

"Whoopsie."

"At least we found you," Marth said. "That's all that matters."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Mallow said.

"...Sure," Marth shrugged. "Let's see, where should we go to?"

"North, that's where the mansion is, right?" Sonic asked.

"I doubt we know the directions because the sun isn't visible because of all the clouds up there," Marth said as he looked up to the sky. "This is going to be a lot harder that I thought it would be."

"..." Mallow looked away and found someone. "Hey, there's Fox!"

The trio turned around and found the vulpine knocked out inside a building...

...That was going to collapse.

"Sonic!" Marth yelled and the hedgehog quickly went for the Smasher before the building could collapse. Sonic returned in time to them as they watched the building collapsing.

Sonic tumbled at the sides. "O-oh, great. He had to be taller and heavier than me..."

The hedgehog fell down on his back, triggering Fox's awakening.

"..." Fox shook his head and opened his eyes. "...You guys?"

"Let me give you instructions," Sonic muttered beneath Fox. "Get off me, then greet me."

Fox scratched his forehead before he got off from Sonic, who got up and wiped out the water from his face.

"Well, I'm glad I'm safe as all of you," Fox said. "But..." he looked around. "...Damn..."

"We all feel the same way," Mallow said. "I-I mean..."

"Let's not remember our gruesome experiences right now," Marth suggested. "We should find the others so we can see what our next objective is."

"Repair the city?" Sonic asked.

"Unless we have a 1 and next too many zeroes in our wallets, then yes," Mallow said. "You look rich. Spare me some money, okay?"

Fox looked annoyed at him.

"Is that a no?"

After a while, they started their way...somewhere.

Back with Geno's group...

"Hmmm..." Geno thought for a moment. "Where could they be?"

"Everywhere," Twink replied. "This city had to be big enough to make anyone get lost in an instant. Isn't there a map? There should be one around here!"

"Like that one, dood?" Prinny asked as he pointed at a city map that had its own board.

"Oh, thank goodness! I forgot there were city maps spread around the city." Peach said as they walked to the city map. "...Hmm...it says here we're..."

"...Good, we're close to the mansion's way," Geno said. "I doubt Culex made us appear far away from each other so the other could be close to us."

"And you're right," Pikachu said as he jumped above the board and looked down at them. "Hell-o, you guys."

Pichu jumped right next to him. "Aw, thank Arceus we found you!"

Pichu jumped to Peach and she hugged him and grabbed her with her arms as Pikachu jumped back to the floor. "We woke up close to each other and we decided to look around for everyone. Good thing we you..." Pikachu looked at Prinny. "...What's this guy doing here?"

"Dood," Prinny closed his eyes. "Etna left me behind, dood."

"..." Pikachu looked bored before he looked at Geno. "By the way, since Exor and Smithy are gone again, are you going t-"

"I'll talk about that later once we return to the mansion," Geno said. "Right no-"

Music stops

"Shh!!!" Prinny interrupted.

A silence fell in as the 5 looked at him.

"Why did you interrupt me?" Geno said.

"Dood, we shouldn't talk out loud or else they will find us..." Prinny whispered.

"They?" Twink repeated.

"Can you make sense next time? We're not guessers!" Pikachu said.

"S-shh!!" Prinny kept saying.

"Okay, why do we have to stay silent?"

"B-because..." Prinny looked around. "W-well, they're not here after all..."

"Just say it already!" Geno yelled.

"Stop!" Peach yelled as she sat down and petted the Prinny's head. "He's panicked because you're making him feel uncomfortable!"

"U-ugh..." Geno looked down.

"Now..." Peach looked at Prinny. "What are you trying to say? They won't hurt you, I promise."

"..." Prinny sighed in relief. "Jackpot, dood. There are good people out there in the world after all..."

"Ahem." Pikachu coughed.

"Whoops, sorry," Prinny said before he coughed. "Okay, now that I'm relaxed, I'm going to tell you a scaaaaaaaaary discovery..."

"Discovery?" Pichu repeated.

"Yeah, dood," Prinny said with a nod. "When I woke up yesterday before the explosion occurred, I found some rather scary creatures...or monsters roaming some streets, dood..."

"The machines you mean?" Geno asked.

"E-er, no, dood. Those creatures were not machines..." Prinny gulped. "T-they looked rather hideous, dood. They had black bodies with odd blue and red outlines around their shoulders and legs, dood. There were so many of them because they...they...they came out from the floor, dood. Not only that, some of them were big with spikes on their shoulders and they had big maces to slam them down on the floor, dood."

"I don't recall a machine like that, Geno..." Twink trailed off.

"O-okay, here's a crazy theory I have, dood," Prinny said as he gulped. "I-I think those creatures are not roaming the streets right now at the time of this day. I think they like to appear out during the night because they seemed to be staring at the clouds for some reason when I found them..."

"...That is somewhat scary..." Peach said worried.

"B-but don't worry, dood! Those monsters are not here by now!" Prinny reassured Peach.

"Just a f(beep)d up penguin." Snake said.

Prinny glared at the newcomer. "H-hey! I'm not a fucked up penguin. I'm a Prinny!"

A moment of silence fell in as Prinny blinked for a moment.

"...Where's my censorship, dood? Am I the only one without censorship? Nobody takes me seriously, dood! I want my censors, dood!"

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

"That aside, I guess it's good I found you." Snake said as Prinny cried toon tears.

"Well, apart from the monsters appearing at night, it's good to see you again, Snake." Geno said.

"I guess," Snake said. "So why do we have another one of those f-"

"Prinny!" Prinny interrupted.

"F(beep)d up penguins with us?"

"Long story, dood," Prinny said disappointed. "And would you call me Prinny?"

"Since that hand expects me to gather everyone, let's go and get them all."

"H-hey! Stop ignoring me!"

"I just wonder where they are..." Peach said as they started to walk forward. "Hopefully that map helped us a bit."

"But with the city like this, it will be hard to tell which building is which." Pichu said.

Prinny sobbed a little. "Why anybody doesn't take me seriously, dood?"

"I do," Peach said as she hugged him. "You're cute to me."

Prinny closed his eyes and blushed. "Dood! Absolutely jackpot, dood!"

And so Geno's team resumed their search...

Back with Link's team (ha, it's not Chris's team after all)...

Temple in the Middle of Nowhere

"Temples..." Link said as his voice echoed along with their footsteps. "I am forever cursed to enter at least one in a month..."

"I hated the Water Temple so much..." Chris muttered.

"Oh, so did I," Link nodded. "I mean, the whole place was big enough and with the raising water going up and then down was so confusing. It took me a week to pass that damn temple."

Aside from Chris and Link's complaints about the Water Temple, the temple that they got in was...

...Absolutely straight forward.

It was just a temple with several pictures on the wall depicting a hideous monster with long tentacles and a lot of eyes at the side of its head.

Of course, the drawings were somewhat scary.

"Why are there so many pictures?" Kirby asked. "I don't like how they look like with that monster..."

"I have a word of advice," Link said. "Whenever you enter a temple, whatever you find inside will someday come back to haunt you until you get rid of it. Trust me, I know a lot about myths and the like thanks to my endless cycle of entering temples to get a jewel, mirror, fruit, Heart Container, etc."

"...Tell me he's lying, tell me he's lying!" Jigglypuff pleaded to Chris.

"I-I don't know! A-and let me go!" Chris said as he tried to push Jigglypuff away.

"..." Lucario stopped and glared forward. "Who is there?"

"..." Lucas peered from a pillar along with Mario. "Y-you! T-thank goodness we found you!"

"Oh, it's you," Mario said. "We came in here to find shelter from the rain."

The Smashers walked closer to each other.

"Good thing we found you as well," Link said. "At least we have good luck this time."

"I don't like this place at all..." Lucas shuddered. "Can't we go out?"

"Unfortunately for you, I'm up for some exploring inside this temple," Ness said. "Let's see what else is inside right now."

"W-what?"

"Lucas, we wanted to go further in, remember?" Mario asked. "We didn't go further because we thought it would be dangerous without anyone else. I think there's something important in here."

Link looked forward and narrowed his eyes. "Let's explore this damn temple."

"Um, why?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I need to shake this feeling off or else it'll haunt me."

"Can we just let the temple fanatic get lost in there?"

"If you even bothered to look forward," Chris began as he pointed forward. "The temple ends right around that weird pedestal."

Everyone looked at his direction and they saw the end of the temple. The end had several torches at the sides of the path that leaded to a pedestal in front of a big image of the monster depicted in the drawings of the walls.

"...Oh, that was fast." Jigglypuff and Lucas said in unison.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Why don't we get this over with now?"

The group decided to go further in to the pedestal.

A short amount of time passed before they walked around the pedestal and looked at the center of it. The center had a hole for something. The hole's shape looked like it could fit for a diamond of some sort.

"...This is it?" Ness asked. "It's just a hole, for god's sake."

"What a letdown," Link said as he looked around. "Where's the huge spider to set something free? Hello? Give me my fruit and heart already!"

"Link!" Lucas yelled.

"Well, this was disappointing for me," Lucario said. "But there is some kind of weird atmosphere in here that bothers my aura."

"If you meant the damp smell, then yes." Ness said.

"It wasn't that."

"C-can we just leave?" Lucas asked. "Nothing here is interesting, right?"

"But the rain is still going," Kirby said. "Shouldn't we stay here a little longer?"

"We have fire with the torches so..." Mario sat down. "Let's wait until the rain clears out."

Everyone thought for a moment before sitting down around the pedestal.

"..." Ness looked outside. "I don't think the rain will stop in a while."

"It looks like it could be eternal," Link said before everyone stared at him. "What? I'm just a novice in the magic and sorcery field."

Chris embraced himself. "I hope we can return back to the mansion because I feeling chills already..."

Lucario put his right arm above Chris's shoulders. "Just rest. I'll wake you up if they find us here."

"...I'm not tired," Chris said. "I'm just a little cold."

"Wait for the fire to warm you," Mario said. "It's going to warm this place soon."

"Why don't we talk about something in the meantime?" Jigglypuff asked.

Chris raised his hand. "I have a weird story about the time I was looking around the city...but I warn you it's weird and scary."

"We were all in the afternoon in the city so it shouldn't be scary." Jigglypuff said.

"Well...here goes..." Chris said.

Flashback

Music stops

Streets

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lively Step

Chris was walking around the streets of the city after he purchased the groceries that Master Hand requested him. Pit and Pichu already offered to carry their bags back since they wanted to rest in the mansion as well. However, the World Traveler was looking at all the people that walked the streets of the city.

And from time to time, he would start a conversation with someone. Although it was enough to talk just by approaching them.

"You know, this feels like a daily routine," a blue Toad said. "You wake up, you take a shower, you go to work, you spend your time with someone, and then you return back home to sleep so you can do it all over again. It's funny if you see it this way."

"I think so." Chris said.

"I know, right?" the blue Toad chuckled. "It's sometimes fun because, you know, something could intervene you between those tasks."

As the blue Toad walked away, a pink Pianta came in.

"Oh my, there's so much to look in this city," the pink Pianta said. "With all the shops putting up bargains and discounts, you would think this is heaven!"

"I don't think like girls do, though." Chris said.

"Yes, I know that very well," the pink Pianta said. "Boys only think about soccer and the like, don't they? It's like their fad as we girls like to go shopping all the day."

The pink Pianta left humming before Chris walked south and found a little brown Toad girl with blue ribbons on her head and brown pigtails looking up at him.

"Oh, are you lost?" Chris asked.

However, let's just say this girl wasn't normal at all.

"The universe is filled with just illusions projecting out to let our eyes see them," the Toad girl said in a weird tone of voice. "However, if you think again, you're wandering aimlessly around. You touch, you feel, you see, you hear, and you taste. What do you think is the purpose for all of this? Is everything we see just illusions, or are we the illusions?"

"..." Chris was left speechless.

"I'd like you to respond so I can find my answer."

Chris looked freaked out. "B-because we were meant to enjoy life and do it with our 5 senses? I mean, maybe we have a purpose to see all of this..."

"Hmm, perhaps, perhaps not," the little Toad girl said with a small nod. "It could be implied that, as illusions, we were meant to create more illusions in order to live and enjoy. You gave me a new point of view of life."

"..." Chris's right eye twitched.

"Until we meet again, I'd like you to answer more questions about life," she said. "However, I need to buy the last Clefairy Doll from the shop across the street. That is the only illusion I care about."

The little girl walked away across the street where she got inside a shop.

"...Who in their right mind raises an innocent girl like that?" Chris asked to no one in particular.

End of flashback

Temple in the Middle of Nowhere

"And even if I met her once, I think she can see me wherever I go..." Chris said with a shocked look.

The others looked at him with semi-shocked looks.

"...That girl was just plain weird." Ness said.

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

There she was. The shadow of the girl came from the exit and everyone looked at the exit.

"Oh my god, there she is!" Chris yelled as he hugged Lucario's waist to hide from the girl. "Get rid of her and her questions about life!"

"There isn't anybody there," Lucario said. "...Wait, there is someone."

Geno walked in and sighed, revealing not to be the girl but just a mistake about his shadow.

"Oh, there you are," Geno said. "I was looking for you with everyone. We just found Sonic and the others at the entrance to this..." Geno looked around. "...Temple?"

"We know, we know," Link said as Chris stopped hugging Lucario (causing him to feel a little depressed). "Let's just get out."

The others sighed before standing up and they started to walk away from the pedestal and the temple.

But something caught Lucas's eye and he found some kind of name in a pillar that he could barely read due to the dust.

"L...i...g...h...t... G...a...i...a... D...a...r...k... G...a...i...a..." Lucas read.

"Lucas!" Ness yelled from afar.

"O-oh, right! Sorry!" Lucas shook his head and headed out to the city before looking back at the strange words and continue his way out.

Nintendo City: The City of Despair

Once everyone came out, they found the others waiting for them as mostly everyone ran to each Smasher and said their relieves as some remained out.

"What is he doing here?" Ness asked.

"Long story, dood." Prinny said.

Chris hugged Pichu. "I missed you a little sooooooooo much."

Pichu merely chuckled before they looked at Geno.

"And now that we're all together again," Geno began. "Let's return back to the mansion."

"Er...Geno..." Twink interrupted.

Geno stopped walking and blinked. "...Right..."

Music stops

"What is it now?" Marth asked. "Do you have something to say?"

"As a matter of fact..." Geno looked down. "...Yes. I need to say something."

"What?" Kirby asked.

"...I'm...sorry."

"For what?" Link asked.

"Ever since Twink and I came to the mansion, I only focused in finding the Star Spirits and get rid of Exor and Smithy... I never tried to spend the time with any of you except Mario, Peach, and Mallow because they were the only ones that understood me ever since we defeated the Smithy Gang before," Geno said. "I just never had the time to think about you. I only thought about your experience as fighters."

"That sounded kind of rude..." Mario said.

"I know..." Geno nodded as the rain kept going. "Now that my mission is going to be over once we return to the mansion...Twink reminded me about my bonds with all of you and that's when I started to feel regret."

Peach looked worried.

"I didn't make any strong friendships after all this long struggle against the Smithy Gang... I just became some kind of leader that just ordered around and yelled at people. I think I was being rude with everyone when I yelled back at you."

"You were." Fox said.

"I know that as well...and that's why I want to apologize for my rude behavior against any of you..."

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - Putting Words Together

"...I just...want to say..." Geno closed his eyes and looked down, trying not to let tears go out from his wooden face. "...I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being rude...I'm sorry for acting like a bastard...I'm sorry for being so serious about the Star Spirits...and I'm sorry for offending anyone if I ever did..."

Everyone just blinked and looked at him.

"...I hope you can find forgiveness..." Geno said as he looked at them with a worried look. "...But if you don't want to, I won't say anything to learn my lesson...just try to find some forgiveness..."

"..." Kirby walked towards Geno and looked up to him.

Geno looked down at the Star Warrior. "What?"

"..." Kirby hugged him and let some tears run down from his eyes.

Geno blinked surprised before Pichu came to him and hugged him as well with some sobs.

Lucas sobbed a little before he went to Geno and hugged him as well.

Mallow cleared even more tears from his eyes before he did the same as the previous 3.

"B-but..." Geno couldn't finish his words before Ness decided to hug him as well. "W-why?"

The doll became covered with hugs around him as Pikachu decided to stop his tears and hug the doll as well.

"..." Chris sobbed a little before he went to Geno, knelt and hugged him.

"W-why is everyone hugging me?" Geno asked. "I-I think you're embarrassing yourselves!"

Jigglypuff came to him and gave him a hug.

Geno watched as Peach cleared some tears and hugged him with the previous Smashers.

"..." Geno could only blink confused as he stared at everyone else. "...What about you?"

"I don't give any hugs," Ike said. "...But...I think I can forgive you."

Geno watched the others stopping hugging him as they looked at him. "Y-you forgive me as well?"

"B-but of course..." Peach muttered. "You're a dear friend to us, Geno. I-I wouldn't never hate you...ever..."

Mario walked to her and rubbed her back. "She's right, Geno. I can forgive you because you didn't do anything wrong."

"You're saying that because you know me from the beginning! I want the other say thei-" Geno was interrupted.

"We forgive you, Geno," everyone interrupted.

"...What?" Geno asked bewildered.

"We forgive you," Marth said. "You managed to be a good guy after all."

"B-but all I did was..."

"Hey, no worries about that," Fox said as he crossed his arms. "You were still thinking about us so that doesn't make you a bad person."

"In truth, you're like everyone else in here," Snake said. "Plain weird."

"Then that makes you one of us since you're in this group." Link said.

"..." Snake looked away with a frown.

"T-to be honest..." Chris cleared some tears. "There's nothing you should apologize for. I-I mean, we should be the ones apologizing you."

"Why?" Geno asked confused.

"We didn't take the whole "rescue the Star Spirits" thing seriously as you did," Pikachu said. "We kind of saw that like an everyday mission."

"W-well..." Geno tried to find something to contradict that statement.

"Don't try to find another contradictory fact," Marth said. "There is none."

The doll looked down.

"Geno..." Mallow put a hand on Geno's back. "You did very well as I did, right?"

"How?" Geno asked. "All I did was yelling, ordering, and staying away from anyone to spend the time."

"Oh, please, Geno, don't say that!" Chris yelled. "If you say that again, I'm going to think we're the opposite of each other!"

"But there should be something I was missing out..." Geno muttered. "Something important that was with forming bonds..."

"Loosin' it up a bit." Fox said.

"...Loosing it up a bit?" Geno repeated.

"Yeah, you're like a grumpy guy who doesn't like to have fun."

"Hey, that's right," Sonic said. "You were like Knucklehead for example."

Back in his world, Knuckles sneezed.

"You should try to loose yourself up a bit!" Sonic suggested. "Go out and party all the night an-"

Lucario blocked Sonic's mouth. "Don't follow his example, please."

"...I just don't get what you're trying to say..." Geno said.

"Basically, just have fun with whatever you do," Snake explained. "Like a damn hippie."

"Not like a hippie," Ness corrected. "Like...well...this is going to sound a little bit wrong but...like us."

"...Goof around?" Geno guessed.

"Not like Popo, you dork," Ness said as he rolled his eyes. "Just talk with anyone during your free time. It's not like you're always working all the day without enjoying anything else, right?"

Geno blinked before he blushed a little.

"Er, Geno works almost the 24 hours of everyday at Star Haven because he thinks the wishes shouldn't be overlooked," Twink explained. "He has a tight schedule because he wanted to have one."

"...A stupid hard worker..." Snake said.

"Yeah." Link said.

"Stupid?" Geno repeated. "But I have to see the wishes coming true!"

"For some reason, Ash gives breaks during trainings." Pikachu said.

"Do I look like I work all the day to you?" Ike asked. "I give my troops some free time."

"Even if there's always trouble in Hyrule, it's not bad to take a break and enjoy the time you have," Link said. "I used to go and train Colin with his marksman's skills for example."

"Be like me and be free." Sonic said with a wink.

"Er, he meant another thing than that." Ness said.

"Or it's like the breaks we have when we save the worlds, remember?" Chris asked.

"Pretty much just spend the time out with somebody when you have the opportunity," Mario said. "Fox here lost Krystal the other way."

A record scratched.

"Hey, that's not true. I thought about her safety first..." Fox shifted his eyes. "...Wait, I never told you about Krystal in the first place. Who else knows about my relationship with her?"

Everyone raised their hands.

Prinny raised his hand.

"You weren't even in the mansion!"

Prinny put down his hand.

"News spread fast." Marth said.

"But who started it?" Fox asked with a glare.

"CoughFalcocough." Mallow coughed.

"..." Fox shook his head. "Anyway... I have my own free time to relax a bit. Sometimes I help Slippy with his weird inventions."

"...W-why are you looking at me?" Lucas asked as Geno looked at him.

"Don't you have school?" Pichu asked.

"I-it's being constructed because Nowhere Island was reborn...and..." Lucas remembered something important. "...I need to start gathering my things..."

"..." Geno looked down.

"So, Geno, do you understand?" Peach asked. "...Oh, I forgot. I like to pace around the gardens of my castle after I'm done with the requests of the kingdom."

"You get kidnapped easier that way..." Jigglypuff muttered.

"..." Peach blinked as she found out a revelation. "...Oh my..."

"A-anyway, do you understand?" Twink asked.

"...Hahaha..." Geno chuckled. "...So that was it...loose myself up a bit..."

"Yeah!" Sonic said enthusiastically. "Now, if you guys excuse me, I've gotta run away to the mansi-"

As Sonic was already speeding his way north, Geno stuck his leg out and made Sonic trip all the way to a wall.

Everyone looked at Geno.

"...Well..." Geno smiled and little and folded his arms behind. "...Thank you, everyone."

"So no worries then?" Pikachu asked.

"...I'm already excited," Geno said as he looked at them. "I can't wait to start this new way to enjoy my time."

"With me?" Twink asked.

"Well...of course," Geno said with a nod. "I've learned something very important after all this happened after all... I don't think I can thank you enough but..." Geno smiled. "...T-"

"Wait," Mario interrupted. "Shouldn't you say that once we get back to the mansion?"

Either Geno tried to calm down his inner fury from being interrupted like that time with Master Hand...

...Or he chuckled heartily.

"Of course. I would sound rude if I did it right here, right?" Geno asked with a chuckle. "Okay, let's go back to the mansion."

"Finally!" yelled Sonic from the wall.

Kirby and Mallow hugged the doll at the same time and Geno laughed for a bit. "You guys are so awesome."

"I never heard you saying awesome before." Mario said.

"He's starting to understand the meaning now. I'm glad." Marth said with a chuckle.

"Dood, I just like these moments so much..." Prinny cleared his beak with a napkin.

"Wait, how did you get here?" Chris asked.

"Long story, dood."

"...Maybe I should take you back to Etna."

"(Oh no, they already hate me...)" Prinny thought. "Er...well...she needs me, I think... Fine, take me to her, dood."

"If you don't want to go with her..." Chris said unsure.

"...It's fine. I better receive my punishment sooner or later, dood. That's the life of your average Prinny, dood."

"I'll miss you..." Peach said as she hugged him.

Prinny blushed. "F-fear not, Mistress Peach! I will return someday, dood!"

"This guy is unbelievable..." Ness muttered.

"Agreed," said Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Kirby.

And so, they started their back to the mansion, where Geno, Twink and Mallow would leave the group forever.

The doll looked back at the ruined city and thought that it was his fault that this happened. He looked down in shame, but Mario put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

"It's everyone's fault, Geno," Mario said. "Let's get out of this together."

Geno looked at Mario's hand and smiled a little. "Thank you, Mario."

The fog of the city became hazier as they disappeared into the north...

Smash Mansion
Outside

Music stops

Once they got out from the city, they noticed that there wasn't raining anymore, but it was still raining in the city for some reason. It was almost sunny outside the city as well.

"Why is it raining only in the city and not outside?" Jigglypuff asked.

"You guys!" Parakarry came from the post office from nearby. "Looks like you..."

"...It's alright." Mario said.

"Oh, sure. The city got demolished and it's alright. Your optimistic attitude helps me," Parakarry said sarcastically. "Look, your attitude won't change the fact that this city got destroyed! I mean, what happened?"

They explained everything to him.

"...Oh, that sucks," Parakarry said. "That should have been very sudden... Well, I hope you can find a way to repair it."

"We're not rich." Pikachu said.

"Oh...then I should start moving."

"W-wait, maybe there's a way to repair the city!" Chris interrupted.

Everyone looked at him.

"Oh, right. We could use all the money you have." Lucario said.

"...Don't make me hit you."

Lucario gulped.

"Wow! You guys can repair it?" Parakarry asked.

"W-" Kirby was interrupted.

"I'm going to wait until that day comes! We need our old but awesome post office back on its feet!" Parakarry flapped his wings faster. "See you later! Oh, by the way, the guys back at the mansion fought an army. You should see what happened. Bye!"

The Paratroopa left in a hurry as he left a trail of dust in the air.

"He didn't even let us say anything else..." Mario said.

"I blame your optimistic attitude." Sonic said.

After they resumed their walk towards the big hill, Jigglypuff stopped.

"So why is it raining in the city and not outside?" she asked.

Nobody was able to come up with answer for her dismay.

After they walked above the hill...

"..."

Was it them, or did the terrain outside the mansion looked like a tornado came from nowhere?

"Is it me, or does the terrain outside the mansion looks like a tornado came from nowhere?" Mallow asked.

"Well..." Kirby sweatdropped. "I doubt there were meteors here..."

The meteors suddenly disappeared out of magic.

"...These meteors were made of magic," Chris said. "I know that very well..."

"Wait, whatever happened to everyone?" Marth asked.

Just as he said that, every single Smasher inside the mansion (not counting Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, DK and Diddy) came out from the mansion and saw them approaching.

"Hey there." C. Falcon said.

"Why are you all out?" Pikachu asked.

"We don't want Geno, Mallow, and Twink involved in this so please, don't ask again..." Luigi shuddered.

"What are you talking about?" Mario asked.

"Look, let's just talk about everything here already." Yoshi said.

The others made confused looks at this sudden event that they explained everything to everyone.

"...So we ended up in defeat..." Meta Knight said. "A real shame it is."

"No bar then?" C. Falcon asked.

Toon Link rolled his eyes. "Why don't you call the Star Spirits here?"

"I think you should as well, Chris," Geno said. "Let's end this."

"...Right," Chris said as he joined his hands...

Paper Mario - Star Spirits

One by one, each Star Spirit appeared in the air and looked at all the Smashers as Geno and Twink walked to them and looked up.

"..." Eldstar closed his eyes. "It seems you have failed in saving the city."

"We know that very well," Mallow said. "A really bad shame, isn't?"

"It couldn't be helped, I guess," Muskular said. "You did all your best but it wasn't enough."

"Let's not mourn about our loss, okay?" Klevar suggested. "We should be thinking about the positive things of this outcome."

"Right," Mamar said. "Although the city was destroyed, the Star Road was successfully repaired."

"And wishes are starting to come back through the path to Star Haven," Kalmar said. "Our work has once again been saved by your efforts."

"We're so happy that the people are still wishing for good things," Skolar said. "All of you as well."

"Since Smithy and his gang are gone forever, we can live in peace high above the stars without the wishes being bothered and stopped," Misstar said. "All the stars also came back and returned to make wishes come true."

"That means Geno and Twink need to go back to Star Haven and resume their work," Eldstar said. "Geno, Twink, are you done with them?"

"...Not yet," Geno and Twink said in unison.

"Is that so? Well, if you have something else to say before we go back, then do it quickly because wishes are practically coming from everywhere as they used to."

"I'll make it fast," Geno said with a nod as he turned to the Smashers. "I believe I speak for Eldstar, Mamar, Skolar, Muskular, Misstar, Klevar, Kalmar..." Geno stopped as he looked at Twink, who chuckled and smiled. "...And Twink that...we're so grateful for all your help."

"I did all the work after all." Sonic said.

"Can we kill Sonic after this?" Falco asked.

Mostly everyone nodded and Sonic got a shocked look.

"..." Geno chuckled. "I'm going to miss everything we went through and our stance in the mansion... Say, where is Master Hand?"

"He is..." Olimar thought for a moment. "...Very busy with someone..."

"...I knew that hand was heartless."

"I'm not!" Master Hand yelled from the mansion. "See you later, Geno!"

"..." Geno couldn't find something to yell back at the hand. "...Anyway, thank you so much for everything you guys. This task would have been harder it if weren't for you."

Mario and Peach walked to him. "Good luck, Geno. I'm glad we were able to stay together for a time again," Peach said before she hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you..."

The princess got up and hugged Twink. "I-I'm going to miss you too, Peach..." Twink said with a sob.

"Thank you, Mario," Geno said as he shook hands with Mario. "I felt right at home when you came in."

"Do you really have to say that?" Mario asked.

"Of course," Geno said with a nod. "I'm more comfortable with the people I know from a long time."

Chris and Lucario walked to him before the World Traveler knelt and hugged Geno. "You were a great person to meet because you weren't on the TV but in person."

Geno sweatdropped. "Y-yes. I thank you for having the trust of the Star Spirits."

"Do you have something to say to Lucario?"

Geno looked at the aura wielder. "...Your force was a big help?"

"..." Lucario looked away.

"...See? This is why I needed to spend time with everyone," Geno said with a chuckle. "Thank you, Lucario."

"...Yes." Lucario said with a nod.

The younger Smashers ran to Geno and each one hugged him tightly. "G-Geno..." Lucas sniffed.

"I'll try to come here someday. I won't forget anyone here at all." Geno said.

"..." Lucas smiled a little and hugged Geno one more time before stopping.

"I think I could have been acquainted more with you," Geno said to Fox, Snake and Samus. "You were more serious like me...though not overboard."

"Tsk..." Snake looked away.

"Don't mind him," Samus said. "He's going to miss you after you leave."

"Yeah, right..."

"Again, don't mind him."

"Good luck up there in the stars," Fox said as he shook hands with Geno. "Who knows, I could find you if I ever use my Arwing."

"You wish," Geno chuckled. "Thanks for your help though."

Yoshi walked to Geno and played a little with his fingers. "I...wish you could stay longer..."

"...At least you're trying to get interested as Rosalina said before." Geno said.

Yoshi looked at him and smiled a bit. "T-thank you for being here with us."

Geno nodded and shook hands with Yoshi before Luigi came in with a napkin. He was probably using it because he was sad that Geno and Twink were going to leave. "T-t-t-too bad I wasn't around with Mario a long time ago...b-b-because we could have known each other more."

"That's right... Where were you around that time?" Geno asked.

"In Dinosaur World..."

Geno looked miffed.

"...For vacation."

Yoshi, who overheard this, rolled his eyes.

"...Thank you anyway." Geno said before Luigi shook hands and gave him a quick hug before walking to Mario.

Geno looked at Mewtwo. "...I honestly don't have nothing to say to you. I'm sorry."

"Not need," Mewtwo said as he shook his head. "Maybe you taught me a lesson."

"Just maybe?"

"Possibly."

"Thank you," Geno said before he turned to Meta Knight. "What about you?"

"Hmph," Meta Knight began. "You were a descent fighter. I'm glad I was able to meet a being of the stars."

"I think that's all, right?"

"Pretty much."

Geno chuckled again before he turned to the Links and Zelda. "I'm not going to forget about you 3 either."

"Good bye," Zelda said as she hugged him a little. "I'll wait for my wishes to come true someday."

"Good luck up there, okay?" Link said. "Without you I would never defeat Ganondorf."

"Or me," Toon Link said. "Keep working hard."

"I will," Geno said before he turned to Falco. "By the way, somebody named Katt wished to marry you."

Falco laughed and crossed his arms. "Ha! That's a good one there."

Geno raised a wooden eyebrow.

"...It's a joke, right?"

"...Totally." Geno shook hands with Falco before the doll turned to Wolf. "What about you? You were not that sociable either."

"..." Wolf looked away. "...Good luck, I guess."

"At least that's something," Geno said as he turned to C. Falcon. "No sick wishes, got that?"

"Hey!" C. Falcon glared down at him.

"It's a suggestion, for god's sake..." Geno said.

"...Fiiiine." C. Falcon shook hands with Geno. "Good luck."

"Likewise," Geno said before he looked at Olimar. "Will you wish about your family?"

Olimar looked surprised. "Y-yes, always."

"Well, those are pure wishes. I'll make them come true first."

"..." Olimar shook his hand shyly. "T-thank you."

"As for you 3..." Geno looked at Marth, Roy, and Ike. "You were great tacticians."

"It's in my blood," Roy said. "My father was not lazy."

"Sure," Marth said. "I don't think I have something more to say rather than good bye."

"Me too," Ike said with a nod. "But best of luck, my friend."

"...You seriously need to be more modern and less cheesy." Geno said.

"Hey!"

"It's just a joke." Geno laughed before he shook hands with the 3 swordsmen. "Pit, do you have something to say?"

"Will you make Palutena's wishes come true?" Pit asked.

"Her wishes are among the purest ones, so yes."

Pit smiled and shook hands with Geno. "Thank you."

"Like I don't hear those words too many times," Geno said with a chuckle. "Take good care of your brother..." Geno got closer to Nana. "Seriously," he whispered.

"Meh, I manage," Nana said. "He manages in some twisted way."

"So true," Popo said. "Just chill doooooown..."

"...See you later." Nana said with a hug.

"And lastly..." Geno walked to Sonic. "Your secret is safe with me."

"What secret?" everyone asked and Sonic glared at him.

"Nothing!" Geno yelled. "I think you taught me more than everyone here."

Sonic stopped glaring and grinned. "You think?"

"Yes. I'm going to avoid being like you."

"...Don't make me punch you." Sonic said with a smile.

"Rest assured," Geno said before he shook hands with the hedgehog and walked to Mallow. "Well, it seems this is it... You're done?"

"What about me, dood?" Prinny asked.

"...I'm glad I met you?" Geno said confused.

"...Meh, something is something, dood." Prinny said.

"So, are you done?" Geno asked to Mallow.

"Yeah," Mallow said. "I said my good byes."

"I didn't see you."

"Oh, look," Mallow began as he raised his hands with thumbs up and some of the Smashers did the same. "You see 'em? They're my gang. If you mess with me, you mess with 'em."

An arrow was shot to his cloudy head and Geno stared at it with Mallow.

"...Okay, I went too far with that, so?" Mallow asked before he took the arrow out and tossed it away.

Twink floated to Geno before somehow hugging Mallow. "I'm going to miss you, Mallow."

"Just don't turn like Geno and you'll be fine." Mallow said with a chuckle.

Geno rolled his eyes. "Sure..."

"Well," Eldstar began. "It seems you're done."

"Yes." Geno nodded.

"Also,' Eldstar turned to Chris. "Once we leave, you will be deprived from our powers forever."

Chris looked worried. "So I won't be able to call you again?"

"I'm afraid so," Eldstar said. "You were a big help because you're the World Traveler. We were honored to help you and the Smashers. It's a shame we were not able to lend someone else our powers rather than you."

"What about Mar-" Muskular was pushed back by Eldstar who didn't even look at him, probably because he found a contradiction.

"As I've said before..." Eldstar said somewhat annoyed at Muskular's fact. "It's a shame we were not able to lend someone else our powers rather than you."

"...Yeeees..."

"So we now deprive you from our powers."

Chris glowed quickly before stopping.

"How do you feel?" Klevar asked.

"...That was awfully so fast..." Chris said confused. "And I feel naked from the inside as well..."

"Then it worked." Kalmar said.

"...Oh, one last thing..." Geno turned to Lucas. "Since you were the one who found this doll..."

"What doll?" Lucas asked.

Geno pointed at himself.

"Oh."

"Would you take care of it?" Geno asked. "I think you deserve to keep it as some sort of memento. Would you do it for me, Lucas?"

"Y-yes," Lucas said as he cleared his tears. "F-feel free to go anytime."

Geno smiled and hugged Lucas one last time before backing away to the Star Spirits with Twink and Mallow. "...Let's do this..." Geno muttered.

Super Mario RPG - Good Bye Geno/Seeing Dreams Through the Window of Stars

Then doll closed his eyes as a light from above shone on him (Wolf: Show off...) and it pulled him upwards above the ground. The Smashers saw as the doll started to shrink down to its original size while Geno (the little star) came out from the head and slowly floated towards the Star Spirits.

Lucas looked at the doll landing back on the ground and he picked it up before sniffing a little. "I-I'm going to miss you, Geno..."

"Don't worry," Geno said as he turned around. "I'm going to come back one of these days so keep that doll safe for me."

"Hey!" Mallow interrupted. "How am I going to go back to Nimbus Land?"

"Oh, that?" Muskular asked before a small floating blue ship appeared right next to him. "Use this to go back to your home. It'll take you all the way there and return back to us."

"Sweet!" Mallow said as he jumped inside the ship and looked down at the Smashers. "Well guys, it was an awesome experience, but I have to go back to my own kingdom and home. The maids are surely worried sick about me as my parents."

"Take care," Twink said as he shed a tear. "Visit us, okay?"

"You got that."

"It is time now," Eldstar said as the 3 looked at him. "We must part to Star Haven."

"Oh, by the way..." Geno interrupted. "...Can I have free hours of my schedule?"

"Really?" Mamar asked. "That's new coming from you. Why do you want to do that? I thought you loved your work."

"Because..." Geno looked at the Smashers before looking at her. "I also happen to like my friends and I'd want to spend the time out in the stars."

"I see," Eldstar said with a nod. "Very well. We shall give you your free hours."

"Thank you."

It was impossible to see Geno smile since he was glittering star, but he did smile.

"...Really, thank you so much."

"Okay okay, let's go back! Star Haven is getting flooded by wishes again!" Muskular said.

The ship that Mallow was on began to move upwards to the faraway clouds. "Aw, it's time now? Oh well. Hey, you guys! Better take care of the Subspace Army! Those guys really need a good beating in their butts! Too bad I won't do the kicking but deliver a good one to Bowser from my part! Anyway! Thank you for everything! Bye!" Mallow yelled as he disappeared in the sky with the ship as some of the Smashers waved at him.

The Star Spirits began to rise up to the sky. One by one, they spoke their last words to the Smashers.

"Be strong. Never surrender to your foes." Eldstar said as he went up.

"Always make bonds with anyone you meet. It's going to be easier if you keep making allies." Mamar said with a smile as she went up.

"Think carefully in every move of yours." Skolar said as he went up.

"Do cool stuff, enough said." Muskular said with a grin as he went up.

"Keep wishing every day, okay?" Misstar asked with a giggle as she went up.

"Good thing we met all of you. It was going to be a tough fight otherwise." Klevar said with a chuckle as he went up.

"I'm always seem to be the last one to speak. Well, I'm the seventh Star Spirit after all," Kalmar said with a chuckle. "Do take care well of yourselves."

"B-bye, everyone!" Twink yelled as he cried with a smile. "T-thank you for being so nice to us!"

"...Mario...Peach..." Geno trailed off. "...Good luck...and...thank you...for everything you've done to us...and me..."

Most of the Smashers waved at the stars disappearing into the sky before a blink of light shone in the sky for a moment.

Geno, Mallow, and Twink left your party (Sniff...)

Obtained Geno's Doll!
A memento of the star guardian of Star Haven. Keep it close so your wishes are not overlooked every day.

Music stops

"...So..." Yoshi began as they kept staring up to the sky. "...They're gone."

"We did all we could to help," Mario said. "It's all good."

Lucas walked to them with the doll on his arms. "I'm going to take good care of this doll until Geno comes back to visit us..." he said with a sniff. "...I'll be waiting."

"Now that they're gone..." Meta Knight began. "I believe you want an explanation about what happened here."

"Oh, right," Link said as he glanced at the terrain. "Did you guys manage to defeat the ambush?"

"Well, not exactly..." Zelda said. "...Someone else did it for us."

"Someone else?" Ike repeated in confusion.

"Well," Mewtwo began. "When you were away, someone else showed up from the mansion that demanded answers to some questions."

"We didn't want Geno or the others to get involved in this because they would be death otherwise..." Roy shrugged.

The Smashers turned at the doors. "So, who is this person you're talking about?" Pikachu asked.

"Go and open the doors..." Falco suggested.

They all walked to the doors and Link opened them...

Main Lobby

...And for some reason, the whole lobby looked burned. Not only that, Master Hand was unconscious on the floor as a person was sitting right above him with crossed legs, looking at a familiar book...

...Of Blastia.

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

"..." the person stopped reading the book and looked up. "...So, is anybody willing to explain what the hell is going on around here, or should I force the answers out of you?"

The Smashers looked confused at the sudden newcomer...

...Rita Mordio.

Outside

A shadow of a dog smoking a pipe seemed to look the mansion from the bushes nearby. The dog grunted a little bit before dashing his way away to the trees around the mansion...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Rita: The VIOLENT Genius Mage of PAIN. I think we're facing the demon herself... Too bad I'm not there. Ha-ha!" Mallow laughed.

Do you want to save your game after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Prinny

References:

-"Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the destroyed kingdom of Burmecia where Freya used to live. It could also be said that Nintendo City mimics the eternal rain of the ruined kingdom.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lively Step" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the Center of Trade, Peterny, where Ameena lives.

And so the saga ends...but a new one is next?

The temple in the city looked extremely weird, what Prinny said was also suspicious, and...wait, isn't this the day that Dark Super Sonic said that the transformation was going to begin?

Prinny was just a witness to some important event. Also, this Prinny (as stupid as it sounds) is the same Prinny that accompanies Etna in the game Cross Edge. : P

The trio disbands and they return to their homes. However, this is not the end yet. A menace is now abound...

...And it has a name; Rita Mordio. XD

So, what is the next arc? I think it's a mansion chapter or a small ToV arc.

Anyway, this story is back and I'm glad to continue it. I wouldn't leave a fic like this or else the whole section could be flooded with yaoi fics. (-_-);

Read and review, please. ;D
*Chapter 131*: Rita: The VIOLENT Genius Mage of PAIN

Ah, this chapter is one of the best I've written so far. : D

From Midnight Rebel Spy: I get the feeling a very big monster will appear in a few chapters, and I know this may sound weird but how do you do 2-player in the game? Me and my cousin tried everything and the remotes have full battery.

From me: What game are you referring to? If you were talking about Brawl in the SSE, then you should first sync the remotes with the Wii and then press plus at the overworld map with the second controller.

And no monster will appear for now. Thanks. : )

From aquadragonsayian: Uh-oh... The girl from hell, Rita Morido, meets the Smashers. For those who didn't know what horror she's able to do, they're going to get it. I shall await the craziness of the next chapter!! :P

From me: Let's see her menaces, though. XD

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh... Sorry. GOOD BYE STARS. And Mallow. Uh Oh looks like they're in trouble! Up... oops...sorry. Hasta!

From me: I'd like to see more opinions coming from you. Can you do that? I'd like to have a more detailed review. ;)

From Ultra Blader: A brillant conclusion to an amazing arc. Not to mention the discovery of the demonic mage herself, Rita.

P.S. Great to have you back!

Until next time:

Ultra Blader

From me: Oh, thank you. :D

From JSandders: And the prinny reveals itself to be named Prinny (I bet that that's just you being lazy, isn't it?)! A prinny that Etna left behind? Wow! I think this marks the return of Laharl in the future! I feel bad for the Smashers now... Also, he saw some strange creatures there! Can't wait to see what they are! What I also can't believe is how you really did put in the f-word in the story! I think the new f-word is funny!

Lucario is going back to the Valley of the Aura? Does that mean that we won't get to see him for a few chapters or does it mean that we're going to have another (possibly short) Pokemon arc in the future?

Nice chapter! Glad to see that you're back! Keep typing, this story's great!

Until then, Wiiboychris!

JSandders, out!

From me: Unfortunately, I'm not being lazy to you. In Cross Edge, that's his default name (Prinny).

And it's just a small word. Prinnys need to have randomness included. :P

Well, he will go back. You'll see.

And I'll keep typing, don't worry. ;)

From SlasherMask: ...Its annoying how some people will try to explain world by some weird philosophy thing... I mean if word is dream who cares?

Soon... They have to let Chip in... Or else there will be little destruction of world.

Was it Kat or Katt... Hard to remember... There are too many cats with similar name... Anyway thats my fave joke from chapters(along with money of Ness's father)

...Did those Dojo guy Dojo got destroyed?... Thats sad...

You know what is saddest thing? I can't get 360 so I can't play Vesperia unless its released on wii... And I haven't spoiled it because too many games get port when I have spoiled them...

P.S... YOU CAN*T PREVENT FLOOD OF YAOI. IT IS WRITED IN THE INTERNET THAT IT IS INRESSISTABLE FORCE OF FANGIRLS.

From me: If it is a dream, then you would think about anything you want to have so you would end up caring. :P

Who needs that imp, seriously?

It is Katt. I looked her name (in an art) and corrected the mistake.

The Dojo is outside of the city in the forest. Did you forget? I didn't get destroyed.

Me neither.

And I know that. People think yaoi will make them more famous in this section because of the amount of reviews given to each story (in my opinion, of course).

Thank you. :)

From Saiked: it would be so nice if that prinny was Laharl after he sacrifices himself in the anime :D, i miss the Disgaea arc!

From me: But unfortunately, this is not the anime. :P

From Rellymaster: Geno kind of reminds me of my younger self. I actually used to be somewhat of a workaholic (someone that really likes working).

Rita's Violent Pain attack would probably be much worse than Culex. If she gets ticked off...it'd really be a Game Over. :C

Goodbye Geno! May you learn to take a break every once in a while and stay away from Sonic! XD

Hmm...I wonder if Master Hand could rebuild the city...

From me: And for some reason, Rita would be a good opponent against Culex and his crystals of DEATH.

Will he repair the city? We'll see.

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hm, alright. It's understandable why you would say sorry, considering that your old pc broke and you didn't have anything to type it on and no way of telling us your problems. How did you transfer chapt 130 to your new pc anyways? Floppy, cd, hardrive maybe? Well, unto my review...

Hm, this is an excellent comeback for the story, full of emotions. Hmm, Culex is gonna hide behind ANOTHER door, again? This ought to be interesting. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this, but if they think the element of Ultima is powerful, wait until Omega, and then, Alpha. Hmm, it's a real shame about Nintendo city, but Ness should be able to help Chris repair it, he has a freaking amount of money that isn't even possible to get and can't even be said as words! Geno, it's a real shame he has to leave, FOR NOW, that is, as the great Bentley said at the end of Sly 3, "You sneaky little devil!"

Hehe, he will be making a reappearance sometime later, won't he? Especially considering that he has a score to settle with Culex. So now Rita comes into the picture? The one from Power Rangers wouldn't stand a candle to her, but I'm still more scared of my sister. She's REALLY scary when angry, no one would be able to replace her for a million years as the scariest person for me. Heh, funny. I can't think of something for my bla bla ques ed. guess no Blah Blah for now. Well, imaginative typing!

From me: I didn't transfer anything to anywhere. I write this fic in a forum before taking it to Word then fanfiction. I like to write in a less boring background.

Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Flooded with yao-PFT! Ah, there's that hilarious sense of humor again. ^_^

Poor Geno. He felt so guilty. But ohana can always forgive ohana, and when friends become that close to each other, they are family without a doubt. Still...he shall be missed from the party. He will be missed.

From me: He will, my Hawaiian speaker friend. :D

From Mewtrainer: A Prinny named...Prinny? How imaginative XD.

Lucario has to recharge his aura? That's a new one on me...but it'll make things a bit more interesting!

"Oh, and three cents." XDXDXDXDXD! Yeah, three cents is gonna make such a big difference *sarcasm*

How DID Sonic get his gloves back? O.o

Oh, so Geno was the 'note person'? Have to wonder how he found out...

Oh dear, Rita. Hopefully property damage is kept to a minimum...

Anway, great chapter as usual! See you next time!

From me: That's his name, Prinny. :P

Not recharge it, but build it up.

Every little bit helps, right? Small differences can make differences.

Wonder that question about the gloves in the game as well.

Thank you. :D

With Geno and the 2 out of the picture (mwahahahahaha), Rita takes the spot of attention and...

WAIT RIGHT THERE!

I've noticed that some of the readers in here get confused about the introduction of some games as arcs that they haven't even played in their life before. I'll make the most popular games turn into arcs (when I say most popular, I mean those heard in the PS2 and, of course, Nintendo) but then you would get confused at some points.

Then! I created an useful guide to make you understand.

I hereby present you the Fic Log Database!

At some points of the story, there will be some points that will have keywords such as characters, places, events, and extra background information to get you out from getting confused. Don't worry, these logs will be short and explanatory enough. How do you know when I'm going to use them?

I'll make the use of them inbold and underlined letters to indicate the definition or background information.

If this database fails, tell me so to remove it from the story. I'd like to know about your opinions.

Ahem...

Ever since I downloaded FF IV: The After Years, I've been pondering to make the prequel the next arc of the new games. I just need more time before I get to write that arc and it's possible that it's going to be the first arc of the new worlds.

Oh, and I also changed my penname. I think wiiboychris looked boring(because I'm not a boy but a teen) to me so I'm going to try and find a good one. Keep calling me like you want though.

And for this chapter, enjoy to the fullest.

Read, enjoy, and review! :D

Chapter 131: Rita: The VIOLENT Genius Mage of PAIN

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby (Burned)

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

"Well," Rita got off from the hand and put her hands on her hips. "I'm waiting."

"Wait just a minute," Marth interrupted. "Why should we tell you what happened here?"

"Because it's clear something has been around and I know that very well."

"And why are you interested?" Mario asked.

"Simple."

Estelle came from the hallway as she looked embarrassed. "I-I think she means that because of me..."

"That's right," Rita nodded. "If Estelle is here, then that means she is doing something here, am I right?"

"I tried to explain her the opposite she believes, I swear!" Estelle said.

"Enough," Rita said with closed eyes. "Just to remind you something. We're very unfamiliar to any of you for the fact that you have animals wearing clothes with you and weird creatures as well. I want EVERY single damn detail about you, this place." She pointed behind her. "And that humongous hand."

The Smashers looked at each other before looking at her.

"Again, why should we explain? Why don't you explain yourself?" Marth repeated.

"Or how did you get in here in the first place?" Roy asked.

Rita rolled eyes. "I hope this sets you an example because I don't like to sound rude," she said. "Fine. If you want to hear explanations from me, I'll better start so I have something as a backup contradiction."

Flashback

As Master Hand found Rita, the Genius Mage stared back at him and Estelle.

"...What in the world is a big hand like that doing here?" Rita asked as she raised an eyebrow. "And why are you here, Estelle?"

"E-erhm, hm, um..." Estelle looked down in embarrassment. "I-I came here to stay during a snowstorm."

"Wait, so you know her?" Master Hand asked.

"Oh, so you can speak," Rita said.

"That doesn't matter. Did you get in here because you wanted?"

"Well, duh. The snowstorm out there was freaking cold so I got in. I thought the owner was at least a good person. Speaking of the owner of this place, where is he or she?"

"You're seeing him right in front of you."

"..." Rita rolled her eyes. "Really, where is the owner?"

"R-Rita, he is the owner," Estelle said.

"..." Rita stared at Master Hand. "...Well, that's surprising."

"Okay, now that it's clear that I'm the owner, get out," Master Hand said.

"Why should I?" Rita asked with crossed arms. "Estelle can stay here but I can't? Why kind of treatment is that? Just because she's a princess doesn't mean she can have any benefits like I should."

"Look, I have had many sudden guests these last days and I'm sick of that! You're going to be honored to be my first kicked out guest for today."

"What?" Rita glared at him. "You can't do that! You have an insane amount of rooms with beds and all that crap! You're such a greedy guy!"

"Greedy or not, that is the policy of the mansion," Master Hand said before looking at her. "Hey, give me that."

Rita pulled the Smart Bomb back. "Sorry. I found it so I'm keeping it."

"What?" Master Hand "glared" at her. "That's property of the mansion! You can't take it away from here! Think about the law suits Fox would put on me!"

"I don't care if a stupid animal can put a law suit on you for something that is not even yours!" Rita yelled back. "If this Blastia was touched by my hands, then it's clear it needs to be in a better place that this mole hole you call mansion!"

"Blastia? Mole hole? Okay, that is it. You're getting out now!" Master Hand yelled as he pointed at the exit.

"Never!" Rita yelled as she turned to the hallway and walked away. Estelle opened her mouth in preocupation as Master Hand went for the Genius Mage.

"You get back here!" Master Hand yelled.

Rita turned around. "Look! I'm staying here and you can't say anything, okay? If Estelle is staying, then I'm staying too!"

"You will have to leave now!"

"Ha! That's a good one!" Rita replied sarcastically before walking even faster.

Estelle ran between them. "P-please, no more!" she said as she opened her arms. "P-please, let her stay!"

Master Hand moved the princess away. "I'm sorry, but she's leaving today!"

"I am NOT leaving and that's that!" Rita yelled before he turned away from them.

Master Hand reached for her. "You will get ou-"

The moment he touched Rita's Blastia book was the start of pure hell...

Tales of Vesperia - Furnace of War

"I'm so gonna make you hurt!!!" Rita yelled as she slapped Master Hand's...hand away and called forth a rainbow aura that pushed the hand even further.

"W-what? How come you can use the Over Limit?" Master Hand asked.

However, Rita only cared to destroy her enemy...or just send him straight to hell.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAIN!"

Master Hand saw a circle of darkness appearing from below that made 15 arrows of darkness rise up and point down at him. The hand yelled in a high pitched scream before floating away back to the lobby as the arrows struck the floor and shattered it.

"W-wait, please!" Estelle said in panic as the Genius Mage ran and passed her, making the princess run after them. "T-there's no need to display this unnecessary and violent behavior, Rita!"

Pun intended.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, FLAME DRAGON!" Rita yelled.

The hand saw a long trail of flames with a dragon head appear out of nowhere and it chased him around the lobby before it crashed into a wall that Master Hand made it run to. The hand sighed in relief...

But that wasn't the end.

The Genius Mage made her way to the lobby and spotted the hand above the chandellier. "BLAH BLAH BLAH, GOLD CAT!"

A golden statue of a cat crashed down on the hand and brought the chandellier with him as well. Master Hand yelled in pain after the statue vanished in thin air. "W-wait, stop! You're going to destroy the lobby if you keep up with this!" Master Hand yelled.

"GOOD IDEA!"

"OH GOD!"

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, TIDAL WAVE!"

The whole floor became flooded by a huge whirlpool that brought everything around and shattered to bits. Master Hand was also taken around the whirlpool (that somehow turned the place dark except for them, the things, and the whirlpool) before it stopped.

Estelle managed to grab a vase. "P-please, Rita, stop!"

"Are you going to let me stay here or not?!" Rita demanded to the weakened hand.

"..." Master Hand tried to say something. "...N-no..."

A toon vein popped out from her forehead. "That is IT! I'm going to destroy the first floor because of your stupid regulations!"

"R-Rita!" Estelle yelled in panic.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Master Hand pleaded.

At that moment, the windows shattered by some Shysters that got in from every side of the first floor. "Begin mission to destroy the man-" a Shyster said before he was interrupted.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-BLAH BLAH BLAH, METEOR STOR-" she kept repeating.

The Shysters that were supposed to destroy the mansion got suddenly attacked by a swarm of meteors from the sky (that, as Rita ordered, began to hit EVERY SINGLE ROOM in the first floor) and everyone couldn't even scream because the meteors destroyed them before they could do so. Destruction, damnation, and total annihilation obliterated the whole army of Shysters and everything in and on the first floor with Master Hand included. Estelle wasn't even affected for the fact that she was on Rita's side as a friend and not enemy. Otherwise, Estelle would be as good as dead.

This attack (or frenzy) may as well be called Rita Doomsday...

"Huuuh..." Rita sighed as the Over Limit ended. Although since she hit a lot of things with her meteors, the Over Limit gauge was full as like it was never used. "That...should teach him..." she said with some pants as Master Hand's dead carcass laid down in front of her and conveniently on the center of the lobby with everything burned.

Music stops

Estelle (who hid behind the stairs) peered out and glanced around completely shocked. "R-Rita!" she yelled as she ran to Rita. "W-why would you do such a thing?"

"Estelle, this guy was being an ass-"

Take note she referred the animal.

"-ass to me and he deserved the right to die right now," Rita said.

"B-but..." Estelle stuttered in disbelief. "B-but you shouldn't have demolished the whole first floor! H-he probably worked hard to own a place like this!"

"He pretty much had it coming as I've said before," Rita said as she looked annoyed. "Anyway, I think he's dead so we're going to have to own this place for our own."

"W-what?" Estelle asked completely and utterly shocked. "But I think I can revive him!"

Rita looked at the hand. "To be honest, I think he's just in a coma."

Estelle couldn't believe the way Rita said those words without even caring.

And it was enough.

"...Hmph!" Estelle turned around angry.

"Oh, what now?" Rita asked.

"You're being such a meanie, Rita!"

"What?" Rita asked with a glare. "The meanie here wa-"

Estelle turned around and slapped Rita on her right cheek.

The readers outside gasped dramatically.

"..." Rita faced the side where Estelle made her look by the slap before turning to her with a normal look.

Estelle's eyes began to fill with tears. "Y-you don't know anything, Rita...I-if you could have been nice with him this wouldn't have happened at all..." Estelle said before she sat down on the steps of the stairs and embraced her knees. "You just make a rampage wherever you go and destroy anyone who "pisses" you off..."

"W-well, that's because that kind of people shouldn't talk like that about me!" Rita yelled back.

Estelle glared up at her. "But you don't need to kill them off! You're always mean!"

"Mean?!"

"Yes!" Estelle yelled back before she looked down. "We're not able to socialize with anyone because you see them with the bad eye and they won't even face us because they're afraid of you!"

"Good!" Rita yelled back. "That way nobody will say anything to me!"

"And me?!"

"What?"

"Me! Or the others! They always want to talk with somebody but since we're traveling together they back away from us and even me!"

"Look, Estell-"

"Shut up!"

Rita's eyes widened.

"I-I'm afraid to say that one of the reasons that I'm not able to enjoy in my adventures is that YOU keep getting furious to anyone we come across! Sure, it's good when you use that attitude against our enemies, but not the innocent people! Don't you have common sense?!"

'I-I-"

"Now look!" Estelle yelled. "This place was going to go down and burn to ashes because of you!"

"What's all this yellin' and destructio-" Raven stopped from coming down the stairs and quickly hid in the hallway as his heart raced faster.

"Raven probably doesn't want to hear from you again!"

"(Well, that's kinda true...)" Raven thought.

"But that old man is annoying!" Rita yelled.

"They're just accidents, for crying out loud!" Estelle yelled. "He wants to apologize but yet you decide to kill him off!"

"H-he's a freaking pervert!"

"You just were in his way! You're the one to blame!"

"What?!"

"You heard me! At least I know how to be a good person..." She started to sob. "N-not like you...not like you at all..."

"Es...telle..." Rita muttered.

The Genius Mage glanced around the lobby as Estelle kept sobbing. Vases were broken, pictures were burning, walls were burned, sofas were reduced to ashes, and the floor's mattress was almost gone.

"..." Rita looked down. "...Damn myself and my attitude..."

"(Wait, is that a new change I hear?)" Raven thought surprised.

"...Estelle..." Rita tossed the Smart Bomb away (making it explode in the kitchen) and sat next to Estelle. "I-I'm...I'm sorry..."

"..." Estelle kept sobbing.

"I-I know I have anger issues...but you need to underst-"

"You need to understand!" Estelle yelled without turning to her.

"R-right, I'm the one who needs to understand..." Rita said ashamed. "To be honest...that's why nobody ever approached my house back at Aspio..."

Aspio is a city of mages that is hidden in the mountains, inside a cave due to their strong privacy. Many books and scholars are found in this city as Rita Mordio herself.

"They always said that Mordio was going to kill you if you ever got close to that house," Rita explained. "Or Mordio would send you straight to hell if you bothered him..."

Back at her home, some referred Rita as "him" because she was always seen wearing a hood and a robe whenever she went out to get more books of Blastia, preventing anyone from seeing her face.

"And they were right..." Estelle said between sobs.

"...Well...I think it's enough..." Rita said. "...I should start being more sociable and not a bastard, right?"

"..." Estelle stopped sobbing.

"I-I mean, when I need help when I'm about to fall off a cliff, who is going to pull me back if you or the others are not around?" Rita asked.

"..." Estelle looked at her.

"I...I'm..." Rita stuttered before she hugged Estelle. "...I'm going to try and change for the better..."

"R-Rita..." Estelle muttered before she hugged her. "P-please, do it soon..."

"I will..." Rita said as she shed a tear and patted Estelle. "...I will..."

"So Ristelle is a true pairing as Yuri said before?" Raven asked to himself.

In a skit during their travels, Yuri saw both Estelle and Rita flying together because Rita had a levitating magic and Estelle wanted to fly with her. Since Estelle and Rita were having fun together, Yuri came in to call them back and he combined both names just to make Rita mad while Estelle didn't get the meaning (probably because she was clueless of the outside world's culture due to her being in the castle all the time since she was born).

"What the..." Rita stopped hugging Estelle and looked up to the stairs. "Was that the old man's voice just now?!"

Raven froze for a moment before he carefully made his back up to his room.

"Estelle, is it just me or the old man is in here?" Rita asked.

"I-I don't know!" Estelle shook her head as she cleared her tears. "I-if I've ever found Raven, then I would have returned with you!"

"You know," Rita glanced up. "Maybe we're dealing with something here...and the old man may be somewhere nearby..."

Estelle looked at the KO'd hand. "Should I revive him now that you want to change your ways before they see him?"

As the princess walked to the hand, Rita stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Slow down there, Estelle. I think you just said something weird along those lines..."

"Oh, you mean the people living in here?" Estelle asked. "When I came here, I met some peculiar people who didn't even look human at all. Well, at least some were humans. They looked really...um...cool as they say?"

"What?" Rita asked confused. "Wait, what? You made friends with monsters?"

"N-no!" Estelle shook her head. "W-what makes you say that?"

Rita pointed at Master Hand.

"H-he's not a monster!"

"He wanted me OUT."

"You were being rude!"

Rita rolled her eyes. "Anyway. If there are people like that living in here, I want to meet them."

Estelle smiled, but then she looked worried. "W-wait, are you sure you're not going to give them hell as Raven says?"

"Depends."

"Rita!"

"I-it's a joke! (Phew, she's clever...)" Rita sighed and thought.

"S-so, are you going to clean up this mess?"

That question made Rita look shocked.

"W-what? W-why should I?"

"You made all of this, remember?"

"T-that hand made me do it! H-he should clean it up himself!"

"But you caused most of the destruction, so you should do it!"

"Y-you saw my house! Books are scattered around the floor! I don't remember the last time I cleaned it up!"

"You must not be serious!" Estelle said. "Either way, you're cleaning this!"

"No way!" Rita yelled before Estelle pulled out a broom out of nowhere. "H-hey, that's our Deck Brush!"

As ridiculous as this may sound, Deck Brush is a quite powerful weapon (enchanted with magic).

"So? It's a broom AND an useful weapon!" Estelle said in her defense.

"Wait, you're not going to force me, right?" Rita asked.

"What do you think?"

The Genius Mage started her way to the exit.

"Rita!" Estelle yelled angry as she went after Rita.

"Stay away!" Rita yelled as she opened the door to outside where it was raining quite hard. "I'm not going to..."

The Genius Mage stopped talking as she looked outside.

"Rita!" Estelle ran to her. "It's time for you to face your destruction for the good of the peopl-"

"Estelle, look!"

Estelle glared at Rita before looking outside. A shocked look replaced her glare. "W-what happened here?"

Outside

It was unclear to know or find the truth about the fainted bodies of all the Smashers laying all around outside in the mud and water. Both girls looked around and found only fainted people all around.

"M-my goodness, what happened to them?" Estelle asked in shock.

"Wait, are these guys the ones who live in here?" Rita asked as she pointed at a small person wearing a space helmet. "Not to sound rude, but they look totally weird..."

"H-hmm..." Estelle couldn't find something to talk back.

"Hey..." Rita stepped out from the door and walked around. "Say, what happened here?"

She stopped in front of a fainted wolf wearing clothes. "...This one looks shady."

Estelle walked to her. "W-well, he did scare me a little bit..."

"Hmm..." Rita glanced around more. "...Just what in the world happened in here?" she questioned before looking at Estelle. "Do you have a clu..."

She looked down where Estelle was rubbing the wolf's tail.

"Estelle!"

"What?!" Estelle responded before she stood up and blushed. "D-don't look at me. H-he has a very soft fur in his tail and I-I couldn't help it!"

"..." Rita looked bored at her. "Thank god I'm more of a tomboy than you..."

"So..." Estelle looked around. "I think I should revive all of them and find out what happened. Do you think I should, Rit..."

She looked down where Rita was rubbing the wolf's tail.

"Aah!" Rita stood up, coughed, blushed, and looked annoyed to Estelle as she raised her shoulders in embarrassment. "Y-you made my curiosity grow, so what?" she asked with a glare as she blushed. "(Though that fur was very soft...)"

"U-um..." Estelle raised her face and looked at Rita that way.

"Mwhaha-hahahahahahaha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" a voice laughed from somewhere.

Super Mario RPG - Here's Some Weapons

"Who is there?" Rita demanded.

The sounds of a sword stabbing the ground were heard and both girls saw a shadow coming to them. They looked through the rain and found what should have been the most weirdest person in the world...

...A pogo-sword.

"Nehehehehehehe!" the pogo-sword laughed maniacally. "What are 2 dumb girls doing in the rain? It's bad to go out at this time of the night because I would stab your bodies all night long until dawn and...wait, oh yeah! I'll do that now!"

"...You know this...thing?" Rita asked.

"N-no..." Estelle said confused. "I-I would never have the opportunity to meet such a...thing..."

"Thing? How rude!" the pogo-sword said angrily. "Stupidly, stupid, stupid! I'm the most lethal enemy you have ever faced before, dumb girls!"

Rita's pupils shrunk to dots as she looked pissed. "Oh, right, I'm scared about this guy who just says lies to innocent people like us. You're such the drama queen, you know."

"GRRRRRRR!" the pogo-sword grunted. "You know what? You so deserve to get stabbed by awesome me tonight! Are you prepared to feel my blade?!"

"Not to mention he's like the old man..." Rita said with a frown before her pupils grew back. "Those sick innuendos are so stupid and annoying like you."

"WHAT?!"

"R-Rita, should we really enrage it?" Estelle asked concerned.

"I'm not even half-scared about this thing," Rita said. "Heck, Karol scares me more."

"He does?"

"Well, no."

"STOP IT!" the pogo-sword yelled. "IF YOU WANT TO DIE, THEN LET ME STAB YOU THROUGH!"

"I hope not below," Rita said annoyed.

"YES! ...I-I mean, NO! RIGHT THROUGH YOUR FLAT CHESTS!"

Both girls seemed to get angry a little bit because Estelle pulled out her rapier and Rita prepared her book of magic.

"Estelle, let's fight this weirdo and send him to hell!" Rita yelled as she glared at the pogo-sword.

"I-I agree wholeheartedly!" Estelle nodded with a serious face.

"Dumb girls, I have a name! My name i-"

End of flashback

Main Lobby

"And that's my story," Rita said as she waited for a response.

"...Pogo-sword?" Kirby said confused.

"Blab blah blah?" Pikachu said confused.

"Meteors?" Ike said confused.

"You stole a Smart Bomb and tossed it to the kitchen?" Fox asked.

"You touched my tail when I was fainted?" Wolf asked with a glare to both girls.

"What?" Rita asked with a bit of irritation. "That's the story as I saw it. Estelle knows it's the truth."

Estelle nodded in embarrassment. "T-that is the truth..."

"Well..." Rita looked at the Smashers. "...Gosh, Estelle. You pair up with the most weirdest people..."

"I-um," Estelle stuttered. "T-they're not hostile..."

"Okay, that aside," Rita said as she crossed her arms. "This may sound so sudden, but I have the right to stay in here."

"So you can blow up the mansion and US when you want?" Samus asked.

"Depends."

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"I-I mean, no..." She looked pissed. "I'm just saying I have the right to live here as Estelle does. I won't blow up this place."

"But why can you live with us?" Ness asked. "You can't just barge in..."

"I did..." Estelle said embarrassed.

"Ha!" Rita laughed as she grinned, showed her teeth, moved up her face, and looked at them with a triumphant grin all at the same time. "I knew you were going to come up with something to kick me out, but I have a perfect excuse to stay here!"

"And that is?" Link asked.

"Remember the thing Estelle and I found?" Rita asked as she stopped grinning. "That thing was as much as dead. I think it gave all of you a hard time, right? We technically saved you from being rape-"

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"-Stabbed to death from it, correct?"

"In a way, she's right..." Zelda trailed off.

"But how in the heck did you 2 beat it?" Roy asked. "That pogo-sword was very hard to land a hit or a slash! We couldn't manage to hurt it a little!"

"You call that sword-thing hard? How strong are you?" Rita asked confused. "That thing was a total pushover."

"What?" Samus asked confused.

"It didn't take too long to defeat it. Heck, Estelle decided to attack it at close combat and not use healing spells as she does and she didn't have trouble with it."

"Care the explain?" Zelda asked.

"Fine, fine..."

Flashback

Outside

Tales of Vesperia - A Bet on this Bout

The pogo-sword stabbed furiously the mud as it advanced towards both girls.

"Estelle! Can you fight that thing at close combat?" Rita asked.

"Y-yes, I think I can!" Estelle said with a nod.

"Good. Try to distract him from interrupting my spells!"

"But why don't you use your Over Limit?"

Rita looked at the enemy and grinned a bit. "I don't wanna waste this with it. I want to see if it lives long enough to get to the worst part of my spells."

"H-here it comes!"

"STAB!" the pogo-sword yelled as it jumped high and descended down at a fast rate to Estelle. "MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Yiah!" Estelle raised the shield of her right arm and managed to stop the stab from above.

"W-what?!" the pogo-sword said in shock. "H-how did you stop my stab attack with that small shield?!"

"Y-you mustn't underestimate the properties of my shield!" Estelle yelled. "I get the best equipment I can get to punish the evil in things like you!"

"Estelle! Stop saying dramatic things and keep it there!" Rita yelled before she unrolled a long scroll before moving it and dancing in the same place to create a sphere with a glyph using the long trail of the scroll. "O righteous will, let fall thy sword of lightning upon those who bear fault! ...Thunder Blade!"

A blade of electricity struck the pogo-sword down to the muddy ground before electrocuting it even more in great pain. "YEEEEEEEEEOWCH!" the pogo-sword yelled.

"Use a Magic Lens to see its status!" Rita yelled.

Estelle nodded and took out a rod with a blue eye-shaped top to see the pogo-sword's status through it. "Hmm... Rita! It's not very dangerous as I thought it would be! It's weakness is light!"

"Great. It's pretty much easy to tell for its dark aura." Rita prepared another spell as the pogo-sword got up and grunted angrily at her before stabbing its way to Rita. "Estelle!"

"Right on it!" Estelle said as light came from below her. "O divine spear, run my enemy through! ...Holy Lance!"

Several lances of light came from below the pogo-sword and they struck it at all sides. "OUCH!" the pogo-sword yelled.

Unfortunately for the weapon, Rita was ready for another spell. "O beating of the earth, sacrifice thy body to crush my enemies! ...Ground Dasher!"

A light came across the mud before several stalagmites sprouted out from below the pogo-sword and raised several chunks of the earth with a divine energy that damaged it greatly.

"W-why you..." the pogo-sword said as it panted and glared at them in utter fury. "THAT'S IT!" it yelled before the Shadow Bugs gave more power to it. "DIEY, DIE, DIE!"

"It's not making sense with its speech now..." Estelle muttered. "A-and I don't think it's going to be easier to defeat it either..."

"Okay then," Rita said before she glared at the upcoming weapon. "I think it's time to give it real hell..."

"Uh-oh..."

"YOU DIE, PESKY IDIOT GIRL!" the pogo-sword yelled loudly as it advanced at Rita with utter fury and irritation.

The moment it leaped to Rita...

"I'm so gonna make you hurt!" Rita said as she spun one time, calling forth a force that pushed the weapon away as a rainbow aura covered her. "I'm going to give you true HELL this time..."

"And there she goes," Estelle said.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAIN!"

Arrows of darkness came from below the pogo-sword and they pinned it down with great force.

And Rita decided to use a Burst Arte.

Burst Artes are basically enhanced artes (attacks) that have stronger effects on enemies if the user (like the people who are like Rita or Estelle) can use the Over Limit.

"O resplendent mystery! Mystic Drive!"

A big ring of light was raised from below and it created a purple light that caused severe pain to the pogo-sword as it yelled loudly in pain.

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, TIDAL WAVE!"

A huge whirlpool pushed the pogo-sword around the field as it got dragged around in the mud.

However, Estelle decided to join in with her spells.

"O power that tries souls, shine! ...Photon!" Estelle yelled out to call forth a shiny light from within the pogo-sword that sprouted out and caused a great pain inside it.

It was time for another Burst Arte from Rita.

"O dancing water! Diffusional Drive!" Rita yelled out as she raised a hand to the rain.

"N-no, no, NO!" the pogo-sword shook in fear as a huge amount of water sprouted out from the mud and pushed it upwards to the rain. "I-I won't disappear like this! N-no way! I was told to stab the Smashers, not 2 broken dumb girls like you 2!"

"That is it now!" Rita yelled loudly as she concentrated a lot of energy in her final spell.

Her Mystic Arte.

"Now, Rita!" Estelle yelled as the pogo-sword came down.

The whole field turned empty with a blackish red as a background with the weapon and Rita, who moved her hands to the front. "O power that lies at the root of all creation," she said as she put her hands closer with closed eyes as she spun around 1 time and spread 4 spheres of earth, water, fire, and wind across. "O memory inscribed in ages past!" she yelled as the spheres of elements began to shine brighter. "Hear my call and arise before me!" she called out before she opened her eyes. "Ancient Catastrophe!"

The 4 spheres suddenly shone brightly before firing themselves at the center where Rita was to create a massive explosion of element across the empty void where they were in.

"W-wait!" the pogo-sword said before it was engulfed by the massive explosion. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Music stops

As the field got engulfed in a bright light, it returned to normal as the rain fell around. The pogo-sword laid down on the mud as it sobbed in pain. Estelle put her rapier away and sighed in relief. "C-come to think of it, I didn't use my rapier at all..." she said embarrassed.

"This is the fruit of my research," Rita said as she adjusted her goggles and sighed after her aura vanished.

Both girls walked closer to the weapon and they looked down at it. The pogo-sword trembled in fear as its eyes' pupils shrunk with fear. "U-u-u-u-u-uuh-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! S-stay away from me! I-I-I beg of you!"

"You know," Rita glared at the pogo-sword. "I hate pushovers like you. I don't care and mind about you anymore from this moment and onwards."

'U-u-u-u-u-u-uhh..." the pogo-sword shook with fear.

"Also, you can go to hell now..." Rita narrowed her eyes as she put her hands on her hips. "...Matthew."

"N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Matthew yelled loudly in extreme pain as the Shadow Bugs left their wielder. Matthew's eyes rolled back before it vanished in a light and disappeared from the girls' sight.

Tales of Vesperia - Absolute Victory

Rita looked at Estelle, who seemed eager to do their pose. "...Alright," Rita said with a small smile as she raised her left hand. "Here we g-"

"Yay!" Estelle high-fived Rita with her left hand and a jump with a spin to stand right beside the Genius Mage.

Rita crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and nodded.

"Alright! We did it!" Estelle said happily.

Music stops

"Whew..." Estelle sighed. "We did it..."

"What, are you tired?" Rita asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Its blade came down a little bit too fast on my shield..." Estelle said.

"Well, the thing looked strong but it was just showing off... It was pretty annoying with its words as well. Wait, my Over Limit is not full. Estelle, give me the doll."

Estelle looked at her. "B-but it's Repede's favorite!"

"I don't care! Give me that doll! Besides, the dog loves to munch it when he wants to!"

Estelle sighed and pulled out a small doll that looked like Raven except that it had a weird expression on its face.

Repede can put dolls on his back in order to gain different artes. Every doll is modeled after Yuri, Estelle, Karol, Rita, Raven, and Judith.

The Genius Mage took the doll of the old man and started to hit it several times so she could build up her Over Limit. Estelle looked a little bit displeased for the usage on the doll.

Estelle looked around. "...What do we do now?"

The Genius Mage glanced at the downed Smashers as she kept pounding her right fist on the doll.

"Estelle, grab the shovel. We're going to give our good byes to thes-"

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"Okay. What do you want to do then?"

"Take them all inside?"

"Well, if you want to do that, you have to help me carry some of them together. Unfortunately, some of them are taller than us so it's going to take a while."

"I agree."

And so the 2 girls started to carry the bodies back into the mansion, one by one. For Rita's luckiness, her Over Limit was ready to use at anytime she wanted and kept the beaten up doll away.

Until everyone's favorite Ice Climber appeared out of nowhere.

"KYAH!" Rita stepped back and let Yoshi's head fall and hit the concrete of the first step of the entrance.

"You girls are so l33t!" Popo said as he ran in his feet. "I mean, you took that toy out with frickin' magic!"

"W-where in the hell did you appear?" Rita asked annoyed.

"I got kicked away by that toy's owner but that's all! I decided to go undercover and think about a strategy to own that guy and his sword, but then you came in and OWNED the snot out of the toy!"

The Genius Mage didn't understand a word he said.

"You know this kid?" Rita asked.

"I-I believe his name is Popo..." Estelle trailed off.

"Damn right it is!" Popo said. "So, want me to give you some help?"

"Er..." Rita looked unsure at the hyperactive Ice Climber.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mo-"

Albeit to say, this "little" question pissed the Genius Mage that she chanted another spell.

"O countless particles that wander the heavens, rain down and glorify the
land... Meteor Storm!"

The clouds were blown apart as several meteors rained down on the field. The Ice Climber looked up at the bright light...

And smiled.

"Look! Shooting stars!" Popo said happily before one crushed him and disappeared revealing his dead carcass.

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"He was getting on my nerves, Estelle!" Rita yelled before Estelle sighed disappointed.

End of flashback

Main Lobby

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

Nana looked annoyed at her brother.

"It was weak?" Samus asked.

"I remember that thing was stupidly strong," Wolf said. "I wasn't able to slash that thing with my claws or kick it away."

"Of course it was weak," Rita said. "It was annoying as it was weak. We've faced worse before and this was not hard at all."

It was shocking that Rita and Estelle were even stronger than the Smashers themselves. Why would both be so strong? Were the Smashers lazy?

Many of them looked worried for a second.

"When we woke up, she was already bossing us around," Yoshi said.

"Because you looked hostile to me," Rita said with a sigh. "Some of you look very evil to me."

"It's not our fault he looks evil," Falco said as he looked at Wolf.

"Mind your own business, parrot," Wolf said with a glare.

"Anyways," Rita closed her eyes. "That thing is dead, you're safe because of us, everything is at least normal, and everyone is happy."

"You almost wrecked the first floor with your meteors!" Sonic said.

"But I didn't in the end, right?"

"Well, you didn't."

"Good enough!" Rita smiled happily. "I hope we make good friends with each other from now on. I wouldn't mind to search for that dog no-"

"Do you think we're going to give you access to the mansion with that attitude?" Nana asked.

"Okay, you guys should have been deaf and blind the entire time," Rita said with a pissed look. "I SAVED you from that perverted sword-thing."

"Bring them back from the abyss of death! ...Resurrection!"

Rita's eyes looked bored as Estelle revived the hand without previous advice.

As a light touched the hand, he started to move up and floated as he shook a little.

"...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Master Hand yelled at the Genius Mage that he quickly hid in the hallway. "E-everyone, get rid of her!"

"Oh, come on!" Rita yelled. "I'm not going to murder you!"

"I-I'm not going to fall for that!"

Chris decided to break in. "I-it's okay now!"

"..." Master Hand peered from the hallway.

"Boo," Rita said.

The hand disappeared and some of the Smashers chuckled.

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"When are you going to stop me from...oh, forget about it," Rita said with a sigh. "Okay, we're clear I have a right to live and stay here?"

"O-only until we find Repede," Estelle said. "We're just looking for him before we return with Yuri and the others at Dahngrest."

"Actually, Yuri, Karol, and the dragon freak left shortly after you left. You were away for a long time and they left one by one before I decided to come here and look for you," Rita explained.

Rita refers Judith as "dragon freak" for the fact that Judith rides a dragon friend called Ba'ul that she has raised for her entire life. Since this nickname sounds offensive, Rita hated Judith for destroying Blastia without explaining.

"A-are you sure?" Estelle asked. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know I made you all worried for my welfare!"

"Estelle, I think we should stop talking between ourselves now," Rita muttered as she looked at the Smashers. "Those guys could be plotting to murder me at the most unexpected moment."

"W-why just you?"

"A hunch," Rita said as she rolled her eyes.

"W-w-w-well..." Master Hand stuttered as he came back. "Y-y-y-y-you can stay here as long as you want."

"Perfect!" Rita said with a triumphant grin. "Estelle, let's go. We should get our rooms closer so we can talk about the dog's whereabouts."

The Genius Mage turned to the stairs and hummed happily as she went away.

The princess watched her getting away before looking at the Smashers with an embarrassing look. "I-I'm so sorry for everything!" she apologized before she ran to the Genius Mage.

The Smashers looked at each other before looking at the hand.

"P-phew, she's gone..." Master Hand sighed in relief. "Let me get my composure back."

The hand turned.

Then he turned back to them.

"There," he said.

"Is it alright for her to stay here?" Pikachu asked.

"You heard her," Master Hand said.

"You're pretty much scared to death by the mention of her name, right?" Mewtwo asked.

"..."

"Thought so," Mewtwo said. "Though what she said about her strength was true. I can feel a very strong magic coming out from both of them."

"Wait," Jigglypuff interrupted. "Are you saying we're weak?"

"How is that even possible?" Pit asked. "We've defeated many before without that much of a problem."

"Except Culex..." Chris trailed off.

"Who?" Master Hand asked.

After a long explanation...

"Well, Geno and the others left, right?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes. But how did you say good bye when you were fainted?" Kirby asked.

"I woke up for a moment but fainted after I found Rita sitting on top of me..." the hand said and sniffed. "I-I had the demon waiting for my awakening just to be killed right after... It was a matter of life and death..."

"You do remember the city got destroyed, right?" Sonic asked.

"...No, no no no no no no no no no no no no..." Master Hand muttered before he went outside.

Outside

The hand got out in a hurry and floated high up to see the clouds above the ruined the city. Master Hand backed away in the air before he screamed loudly in utter horror.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he screamed.

Main Lobby

The Smashers (most of them who were sitting on the almost burned sofas) heard the scream of agony echoing through the mansion before the hand came back and coughed.

"W-well, this is sure a shocking result..." Master Hand said. "Economy is pretty much dead in that city."

Some of them eyed him at his sudden change of attitude from agonized to normal mood.

"Can you repair the city?" Pichu asked.

"You wish! I can only repair much smaller things like rooms or the like!"

"Wait, Ness has a crazy amount of money in his ATM card. Ness, do you think you can use it all?" Pikachu asked.

Ness simply looked at him.

"...So?"

"My dad told me to spend my money wisely."

"So?"

"He would hate me if I spend it to rebuild a city. I know it's a good thing, but he would feel bad."

"Are you daddy's boy or what?" Pikachu asked with a glare.

"I am," Ness responded.

"..."

"What? Is it bad to listen to my dad? I like him!"

"...Uuuuuuh..." Pikachu sighed.

"What about Peach?" Luigi asked.

"I don't think I have enough servants to repair the city," Peach said disappointed.

"And Hyrule doesn't have that passionate workers either," Zelda explained.

"And if we rebuild the city by ourselves?" Kirby asked.

"..." Nobody spoke.

"...Let's just wait until something comes up, okay? (Although it's very unlikely...)" Master Hand suggested and thought. "And you guys should have been stronger," Master Hand also said.

"Hello?" Sonic got up. "That's what we were trying to say to you!"

"So should I hit the GYM?" C. Falcon asked.

"No, I didn't mean that!" Master Hand said. "I meant...well...you guys will have to wait until tomorrow." The hand seemed to move away before he looked at his CD-breaker guy. "...What in the world is this bastard doing in here..."

"Dood?" Prinny said confused.

"I thought Etna took all of them away! I can't let this guy walk around the mansion on my watch!"

Prinny took Rita's example and decided to stand up for his fight to stay in the mansion.

Prinny glared at the hand. "Okay, dood. I won't let you boss me around! Only Lord Etna can, dood!"

The Smashers watched as Prinny jumped off from the sofa and stood in a fighting stance (which was hard to picture).

"Why isn't anybody doing nothing?" Pichu asked.

"We want to take this unnecessary little time to think again about this whole crap," Snake said. "Let the f(beep)r get toasted by the hand."

"I-I believe in you!" Peach cheered, making Lucario roll his eyes.

"Die, dood!" Prinny yelled as he...danced with a pink spotlight shining down on him.

Master Hand looked above and 4 frying pans fell on him.

"Did that do it, dood?" Prinny asked.

"...You. Out. Now," Master Hand threatened.

"..." Prinny sweated before he took out 2 long machetes. "A-aah!"

"..." Master Hand looked at him.

Pit frowned as he walked outside. "I'm going to be outside if anyone wants to talk to me..." he said before he closed the doors.

Chris followed right soon after and Lucario decided to follow him in order to make him go to the valley as soon as possible.

"N-now you all know my evil side, dood!" Prinny said in panic.

"We didn't know that you had an evil side until you just told us," Ness said bored.

Master Hand simply made a fist and pounded the Prinny 1 time like a swat. "There," Master Hand said.

"D-dood..." Prinny said weakly as Peach got up and went to him.

"Call Chris so he guides the bastard to Etna," Master Hand said. "Everyone, I think you should all rest for the day. I'll call you until the next advice."

The hand disappeared in a blink and the Smashers decided to go to their rooms while Peach seemed to be sad for her Prinny friend...before she decided to clean up the mess all by herself before the Prinny woke up and decided to help her.

Too bad it was going to take a while.

Outside

"Oh, you came out to talk to me?" Pit asked.

"Just because the Prinny was boring me out...or just because I didn't know what to do."

The angel wanted to change the topic. "Why did this have to happen?" Pit asked. "The city is destroyed because we failed, right?"

"We couldn't do anything about Culex at all..." Chris said disappointed.

"Let's not bring up that event again, please," Lucario suggested. "Chris, I came here to ask you to open the way to my home."

"Is he going away?" Pit asked.

"Just for a time in order to enhance my aura," Lucario explained. "I couldn't use it at my full strength yesterday so I'm going to seek a "cure" for it if you understand what I mean."

"I think I can understand that ver..." Pit trailed off.

"Why'd you stop?" Chris asked.

Pit took out his dual blades. "Something is coming..."

Lucario glared at his sides. "I sense someone coming as well..."

"..." Chris looked annoyed. "Hey, since when Pit can sense someone?"

"Because I DO hear and listen," Pit said.

"Hey!"

"Shh!" Pit whispered.

Chris frowned before he looked around.

The trio remained silent for a moment in order to find a sound or anything to spot the person coming to them.

The bushes nearby moved.

"Show yourself!" Pit yelled as he quickly turned his blades into a bow and fired a fast arrow at the bushes.

"Grrrrr!" a voice grunted angrily as a fast blur jumped out from the bushes and dodged the arrow in time. The blur came out and it seemed to stand in an stance full of awaryness against the trio.

However, they stopped their positions and stood normally.

"...Wait," Pit began. "...Why is...well..."

"..." Chris got a thinking position. "...A dog?"

The blur revealed to be a dog wearing several chains across the neck with a smoking pipe on its mouth and a scar closing its left eye. The dog itself had blue and white fur and it also had a weird shaped tail that had half the length of its body. The dog also wore a small brown seat on its back.

"I don't think its hostile..." Pit said as the dog stared at them.

The dog stopped showing its fangs...and it walked to them before sitting down.

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted down at the dog.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"S-sorry..."

"..." Pit knelt and approached a hand to it. "Are you lost? You seem to have an owner, do you?"

The dog simply looked at Pit's hand before it tried to bite it quickly. The angel managed to pull back his hand in time as the dog grunted and showed its fangs at him.

"Why do you want to bite my hand?" Pit asked angrily.

"I don't know," Chris said sarcastically. "Who wanted to hurt him with a pointy arrow?"

"Oops..."

"Here, let me try," Chris said as he knelt down and approached a hand to the dog's head.

"Chris, look out!" Lucario yelled.

The hand was able to get on the dog's head and the dog itself stared at Chris. "...Hmmmmmmmmm..." the dog hmm'd.

"Aw, you're so cute..." Chris said as he started to rub its head with care.

Lucario was getting impatient...and jealous.

"You look jealous," Pit teased a little.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr," Lucario grunted at the angel.

The dog pushed Chris's hand down with its snout and it licked the hand's back. The World Traveler chuckled happily as the dog licked his hand with care.

"H-hey, stop it. Y-you're making me laugh..." Chris said as he chuckled.

"Woof woof!" the dog barked.

"...Wait a minute..." Chris tried to recall something. "I think I know this dog somewhere..."

"Wait," Pit began. "Didn't Raven, Rita, and Estelle said something about a dog called Repede?"

"Woof woof, woof!" the dog barked.

"Did it said yes?" Pit asked.

The dog whined.

"..." Chris took out the photo that Raven gave him and tried to match it with the dog. "...This dog is..."

"..." Pit looked at the photo. "...This dog is Repede."

"Woof woof woof! Woof woof, woof!" Repede barked in agreement.

"...Wait, Lucario, can you read his mind?" Chris asked.

"Why?" Lucario asked.

Chris stared at him.

"Ugh..." Lucario frowned and read Repede's mind. "...Yes, he is Repede. He says he's glad to have found someone who knows about Raven and the others."

"Woof woof woof!" Repede seemed to be understanding.

"He says he wants to see them as soon as possible."

"So if we show him to Rita, she's going to have to leave the mansion, right?" Pit asked.

"I don't mind her," Chris said.

"B-but did you see how she left the terrain out here?"

The 4 looked at the destroyed landscape in front of the mansion.

Repede whined and seemed to sigh as well.

"He says he can't believe Rita did all of this destruction in front of the mansion," Lucario explained. "But he says it's expected from her if someone said something to her that made her angry."

"...So he knows them," Pit said.

Repede nodded.

Chris chuckled. "You know, I'm so impressed that he can understand us. I haven't met a dog like this in all my life."

"And Lucario is not one?" Pit asked.

Lucario glared at him.

"You lick him."

Lucario blinked embarrassed.

"Anyway," Chris looked at the 2. "We should show him to Rita and Estelle."

"Woof woof woof!" Repede barked a little bit high-pitched.

"He says he wants to," Lucario said.

"Okay, let's go back," Pit said.

The 4 decided to go inside the mansion. However, Lucario felt uneasy about Repede impressing Chris just because he was well trained. Fortunately, this was not going to last for too long...

"Look! He's walking close to me!" Chris said as Repede seemed to lean his head to his leg.

"Because Pit is on the other side," Lucario explained.

"No, I don't think so," Chris said. "Look at his expression."

Lucario looked at Repede...and sure enough, he was smiling with a happy expression.

"..." Lucario glared at the dog.

Did Repede just chuckle to himself?

"Grrrr!"

"Lucario!" Chris yelled. "What is wrong with you today?"

Lucario snapped out from his glare. "N-nothing," he said quickly.

"...You better."

Main Lobby

As the 4 got in, Estelle walked from the hallway and spotted the dog. "Oh, Repede! Thank goodness you're okay!" she said happily as she ran to the dog.

Repede walked away from her.

"H-hey! Don't do this to me again!" Estelle yelled as she tried to hug the dog.

Repede kept getting away from her like he didn't care.

"W-why he doesn't like me?" Estelle asked confused as she prevented to shed a tear.

It is unclear why Repede gets away from Estelle. She has been trying to like him to the point to be serious about it.

"Oh yes, we found him," Pit said. "He came out from the bushes outside."

"He did?" Estelle asked. "So he did go away..." she trailed off as she looked at the dog walking back to the trio.

And to Chris.

"Huh?" Estelle tilted her head. "Weird, he's leaning your head to your leg..."

"Why is it weird?" Chris asked as Lucario stared at Repede.

"Repede doesn't get along well with any other people save for Yuri and Judith. ...I think he likes you for some reason. (B-but it's completely unfair! He likes him but not me?!)" Estelle explained and thought sadly.

It was not long before Master Hand came from upstairs. "Okay, it's time to get this floor back like it was before," he said before he snapped his fingers.

The whole floor shone brightly before everything on it got instantly repaired in a blink of an eye.

"Done," he said.

"...Hey, you could do this when they destroyed the kitchen that time?" Chris asked.

"I...er..." Master Hand trailed off. "U-um..."

Chris glared at him.

"...Hey!" Master Hand spotted Repede. "Okay, who brought the dog in? I thought I said I wouldn't let anyone else inside here! Dogs aren't allowed to roam in this place!"

Lucario seemed to smile a little.

"Except Lucario who is a dog!"

Lucario's smile disappeared and he glared at the hand.

"I-I'm sorry," Estelle said with a polite bow. "They found Repede and we were trying to find him."

"So does that mean Rita can get away from here?"

"A-apparently so..."

"...RITA!" Master Hand yelled and went after the Genius Mage.

The Smashers, Estelle, and Repede heard both of them from another floor.

"W-what the-what are you doing?! P-put me down!" Rita yelled.

"Never!" Master Hand yelled.

Master Hand came back and put Rita back on the floor. The Genius Mage looked pissed at him. "Okay, do you want me to kill you right now?"

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"It's the 7th time you stop me in a row now!" Rita yelled before she looked down at Repede. "...The dog!"

"That's right," Master Hand said. "You can leave the mansion now." He moved around. "Ha-ha, you can get out, and leave me alo-ne, ha-ha."

"Just wait a minute there," Rita said.

"You can't stay here any longer," Master Hand said with a chuckle. "What don't you understand?"

"Sorry, but we have to stay here a little bit longer."

A record scratched.

"...WHAT?!" Master Hand asked in disbelief. "Why?! Why can't I get rid o-I mean, why?!"

"Because I've got word that Yuri, Karol, and Judith were here."

"Who?" the hand asked.

"She means our friends," Estelle said. "Some of you kindly told us...sort of."

"Who?" the hand asked again.

Toon Link came in and whistled innocently.

"You little rascal," Master Hand muttered. "What did you tell them?"

Toon Link looked freaked out. "I-I'm sorry! I-I was walking right next to their rooms when I was wondering about that Karol guy!"

C. Falcon peered from the hallway. "And I was wondering about that sex-I mean, good-looking beauty out loud by accident!"

Lucas peered out from the other side. "A-and I was wondering about that Yuri person as well... S-sorry!"

"...Rita menaced them!" Estelle broke in as she pointed an accussing finger to Rita. "S-she managed to overhear them that she wanted to kill them right off if they didn't say anything!"

Rita sweated. "I-I didn't do such a thing!"

"You did!" the other 3 witnesses yelled.

"SHUT UP!" Master Hand yelled. "Either way, you 3 can get out of the mansion!"

"Never!" Rita yelled back. "Or do you want to provoke me again?"

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"IT'S THE 8TH TIME YOU TRY TO STOP ME ALREADY!" Rita yelled furiously.

A big argument between Estelle, Rita, Master Hand, Toon Link, C. Falcon, and Lucas broke in as each other argued and argued for their good (and welfare). Rita would menace the hand by magic but the hand would yell back at her while Estelle tried to stop Rita from causing a repeat of the last incident as the other 3 Smashers argued between the 3.

Chris, Pit, Repede, and Lucario watched helplessly as the 6 argued back and forth.

Repede whined and laid down on the floor.

"I know..." Chris said as he knelt down and rubbed Repede's head. "This is the family I live with."

Lucario had an eye on the dog with utter rage, wanting to erupt out from himself.

However, it was clear that Master Hand was going to kick (or slap) the 3 out so Chris would stop his attention towards Repede. Lucario smiled at the thought.

Unfortunately, his fortune wasn't going to last that long because of a person that came from the hallway.

"Dood?" Prinny came in and looked at the 6. "Why are they arguing, dood?"

The 4 looked at Prinny.

Something about Prinny made Repede angry that he slowly showed his fangs.

"Well, they're arguing about Rita staying here at the mansion to wait for some of their friends," Pit said.

"Oh, I see, dood," Prinny said with a nod. "I think that hand is going to get the victory though."

Repede slowly got back on his feet and grunted.

"Dood, I want to stay here and see what kind of happenings...happen here, dood."

Repede's mouth seemed to be opening.

"And look!" Prinny looked at Repede. "That dog looks so coo-"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR-RUAH!" Repede leaped at Prinny and started to bite him.

"AAAH, DOOD!" Prinny yelled in pain. "G-GET HIM OFF, GET HIM OFF, GET HIM OFF, DOOD! OH MY GOD, MY POUCH, DOOD!"

"R-Repede!" Chris yelled and ran to the 2. "W-what do I do to stop him?! U-um, Repede, u-um, b-bad dog!"

"Don't stay too close!" Pit yelled as he went to the 3.

Lucario watched both groups doing their things. Confused, he tried to think for the best action.

"AND NO! YOU CAN'T STAY HER-" Master Hand stopped yelling once he saw Repede biting the Prinny in a furious way. "Hey, what's happening?"

The 5 stopped arguing and they looked at the dog and penguin fighting against each other.

"Repede, no!" Estelle yelled as she tried to pull the dog away by the collar from the almost-dead Prinny. "C-come over here, boy!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRR, WOOF WOOF!" Repede barked angrily as he was pulled away by Estelle and Pit.

"M-my goddess, he wants to eat him alive!" Pit yelled as they tried to stop the dog from murdering the poor Prinny who ran behind Chris in fear.

"T-take me back to Etna, dood!" Prinny pleaded between sobs. "I-I don't wanna die, dood! I-I don't wanna stay here any longer, dood!" He hugged Chris in fear.

Chris sighed and hugged Prinny. "It's okay, it's okay now..." He rubbed his back. "You're alive and that's what matters to me..."

"D-dood..." Prinny cried a little.

"I-I'm going to take him back to Etna right now if you'll excuse me..." Chris said worried as he grabbed the Prinny's hand and lead him to the command room. "Don't worry, I'm going to tell her what happened and convince her to heal you."

"T-thank you, dood..." Prinny said before they left the lobby and everyone in there.

"..." Master Hand looked at Repede. "...Good dog!"

"What?" the 7 asked in unison.

"You gave that guy pure hell, good!" Master Hand said happy. "I'd never thought you would give such a proper punishment for breaking 258 CDs! They say dogs are man's best friend, and they were right after all!"

"But you're a hand," Rita pointed out. "And you're not his owner."

"Who cares?" Master Hand asked. "I never liked any dogs but this one, oh god, this one is the best one I've ever seen and met!"

"So what? That doesn't change anything."

"I'm going to let you 3 live and stay here longer for this priceless moment!"

"What?!" Pit, C. Falcon, Lucas, and Toon Link asked in shock.

Lucario's pupils shrunk in shock.

Rita blinked in confusion before a light bulb appeared on her head and made her grin. "Oh, so you're letting us stay here until we find our friends, correct?" Rita asked with a mischievous look on her eyes.

"Absolutely!" Master Hand said. "Without destroying anything though!"

"Hmm... Would you let me do my research with all your Blastia in the mansion?"

"Of course!"

"Yeah!" Rita nodded. "Then is this a deal?"

"Deal!" Master Hand shook Rita's right hand.

"I-I think you're being too generous..." Lucario commented.

The other 3 nodded and Rita glared at him.

"So what if I am?" Master Hand asked. "I hate Prinnys as much as Tabuu! Seeing this dog doing the unthinkable to one of them it's a priceless moment to watch and enjoy!"

"Seriously, you're being too generous over a ridiculous beating," Lucario said.

"Say that again and you're out of the mansion."

Lucario glared at the hand but he had to agree with a nod and a grunt of annoyance.

"I'm so sorry," Rita said in front of Lucario. "But you'll have to "tolerate" me a little longer, doggie."

"It's fine with you," Lucario said. "But..."

"You're a weirdo, you knew that?" Rita asked with a frown. "Okay, let me stay alone for a while and inspect every single Blastia in here."

The Genius Mage skipped away with happy hums as she left.

"I-I'm going to celebrate this moment with a cup of tea," Estelle said with a forced smile as she walked away to her room.

"And I'm going to use a tranquilizer dart to stop my brother from wrecking our room," Master Hand said as he left.

"..." Lucario glared at Repede. "You're not going to get away with this. Nobody here likes any of you 3 at all."

"U-um..." Lucas walked to Repede. "S-so who is this dog?"

Repede looked at Lucas and he licked his face several times.

"H-hey, stop it!" Lucas pleaded as he laughed.

"Hmm..." Toon Link walked to the dog and rubbed his back. "Heheh, this dog looks cool by the way he wears those chains around his neck..."

C. Falcon walked to them. "You know, I always wanted to have a tough-looking dog when I was little."

Lucario eyed the 3 as they got interested in Repede.

"Hey, dog," C. Falcon said as he took out a small cookie. "Catch it!"

He tossed the cookie to the air and Repede reacted fast and jumped straight to it to bite it down before landing back on the floor.

"Good boy!" C. Falcon said as he rubbed his head quickly.

"Hey, that looked so awesome!" Toon Link said in awe. "He jumped like 10-feet to the air!"

"Y-yes!" Lucas said with a nod. "He reminds me of Boney..."

"(You 3 can't BE serious...)" Lucario thought as he shook his head slowly.

Between all this event, Repede looked at Lucario and grinned a little to tick him off.

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted silently at the dog while the 3 rubbed some parts of his back.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Laharl's Castle
Throne Room

"And that's the story of this Prinny," Chris explained.

"L-Lord Etna!" Prinny cried and hugged Etna's legs. "I-it's good to be back under your command, dood!"

Etna kept staring at Chris. "So that's it? You came back to return him here?"

"I thought you were going to miss one of them so I took him here," Chris responded.

Etna sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll keep this bastard from getting away from here."

"(Always being rude to them...) Just be sure to heal him. There are several dog's bites around him that need to be treated quickly."

"Yeah, yeah."

"...You're going to heal him, right?"

"I told you already!" Etna yelled angrily.

"Okay. I don't want to stay in here anymore because him would appear in any second..."

Etna chuckled. "Oh, by the way, he wants to murder any previous vassal if there's someone like you in the castle."

"...I knew it..." Chris muttered.

Suddenly, the big double doors of the throne room opened fast and the Overlord's son, Laharl, came in with his everyday glare. "ETNA! Where have you been all this time?! I've been waiting for you to get done with the preparations to strike that Lord Baal guy with those servants of yours!"

Lord Baal is supposedly a very strong demon that has been wandering the Netherworlds in order to challenge the strongest.

"..." Chris froze.

"...YOU!" Laharl yelled. "What the hell are you doing in my castle?! I told you to get away from my sight and yet you insist in barging in here?!"

"B-bye!" Chris yelled as he made the portal and entered inside before it vanished.

"Come back here!" Laharl yelled as he ran where Chris was. "Come back here, I say!"

"O-our prince is always as violent, right?" Prinny asked.

"Meh, you get used to him..." Etna said bored.

Prinny left your team

Smash Mansion

The afternoon went on...

Kitchen

"So," Master Hand said. "For your hard effort in saving the city, though it was ultimately destroyed and not saved as we planned, I arranged this special feast for you for protecting the mansion against Smithy's forces."

The kitchen was restored to its previous state. On the long white table, many kinds of different food and dishes were located as the steam of some food ornamented the atmosphere. The Smashers (everyone) seemed to be a little bit unsure about celebrating at this time.

"But is this fine?" Zelda asked. "We fought and won to protect the mansion but the city was..."

"Look, Zelda," Master Hand began. "We need to get our minds to forgive the grim events so we can work to save the worlds and defeat Tabuu someday. I thought a feast would be the most appropriate thing to forgive and have a good time."

Of all the Smashers, Kirby seemed to be the most happiest. However, Meta Knight was going to make sure that the black hole holder didn't swallow the entire food like the last time.

"If you say so..." Diddy said.

"Oh, alright. We're going to have a sack competition shortly then," Master Hand said.

It was humiliation or the feast, and the latter was the most appropriate as everyone took a seat.

Before Chris started with his plate, he decided to talk with Lucario. "So, I think you should go to the valley, Lucario."

Lucario nodded. "Yes, thank you for understanding. Take in mind that I'm doing this so you can be prou-I mean, safe during fights."

"Aw, thank you," Chris said as he rubbed Lucario's head for a moment. "I love when you say those things."

"Guuuuuuuuuuoooorgh..." Lucario growled happily before they chuckled a little and started with their plates while everyone was already eating.

As they were eating, the trio from the other city came from the lobby.

"Oooooooh, I haven't eaten for who knows how long..." Rita said as she walked to take a seat between Fox and Snake, who looked at her for a moment.

"Hey!" Master Hand floated to her. "What are you doing?"

"I believe we made a deal before, didn't we?" Rita asked. "Besides, my stomach needs to be feed and I haven't eaten anything good these days."

"..."

"Or do you want me to Violent Pain your butt (if he has any) to death?

"...Fine..." Master Hand said as he floated away.

Snake hid a small chuckle.

Estelle ignored them as she walked to Zelda. "U-um, may I have seat with you? This feast looks appetizing to me and I don't want to pass up this opportunity as well."

"Oh, sure," Zelda said with a nod, but she found Link already sitting next to her. "Link, would you?"

"I heard you," Link said with a sigh as he walked away to Ike and let Estelle have the seat.

Chris looked behind him where Repede laid down. "I think Repede got a liking to me," he said with a small smile as the dog opened his good eye and looked up to him.

"(And that's why he needs to get away from you,)" Lucario thought.

"Have a bone," Chris said as he gave Repede a chicken bone. The dog looked at the bone and he started to bite it with his sharp fangs.

"(I need to ignore him and I'm going to be fine,)" Lucario thought.

"Hmm," Rita hmm'd at the taste of the piece of turkey. "Hmm! At least the hand does a good work with the food in here..."

When she looked down at her right, she spotted a diagonal-shaped device...

...Or Fox's Reflector hanging on his belt.

The Genius Mage simply took it away and looked at it, ignoring the plate with food.

"...?" Fox looked at his left and found Rita staring at his Reflector. The vulpine moved his hand to her and motioned his fingers to him to give the device back.

"I'll give it to you tomorrow," Rita responded without even glancing at the fox.

Fox swallowed his food down his throat. "Who said you could take it away that simple? Give it back."

"Nuh-uh," Rita shook her head (without looking at him). "So far, this Blastia looks interesting... I wonder if I could dismantle it."

At the mention of dismantling the device, Fox glared at her. "I can't let people like you know about the technology of Slippy. That guy wants to have privacy with his inventions and I swore to keep the promise to him."

"Too bad you failed today," Rita responded back and Fox narrowed his glare at her.

For some reason, Repede's ears perked up and he quickly dashed all the way around the table in silence and made it to Rita and Fox. The dog grabbed the device with his mouth from Rita.

"Y-you dog! Give it back to me!" Rita yelled.

Repede didn't listen and he hung the device on Fox's belt before sitting down and staring up at the vulpine.

"Um...thanks..." Fox said a little bit surprised before the dog walked back to Chris.

Nobody even looked at them for a second or Repede.

When Repede laid down behind Chris, he looked at Lucario and chuckled a little.

The aura wielder was watching his action and he grew uncomfortable. Fox probably found a liking to the dog for helping him to get his Reflector back (and Rita tried again, but Fox slapped the back of her hand away, making the Genius Mage angry at him before returning to eat with a grunt of annoyance).

"Hey, what's that smell in ta air?" Raven asked as he came from the other side of the kitchen and walked around. "You guys havin' a feast without poor ol' Raven? Seriously, call me if there's food involved!"

"..." Estelle blinked in surprise as the old man walked behind her without noticing. "...Raven?"

Repede's ears perked up again and he lifted his snout from the floor to look at the old man.

Raven froze without having a shocked face. Instead, he sweated.

"Raven!" Estelle yelled in happiness and hugged the old man from his back. "I knew I was going to find you sooner or later! Where have you been all this time? We were so worried about your welfare!"

"..." Raven's eyes twitched. "...Hidin' from Rita, that's why..."

"Hmm?" Rita stopped eating. "Did anybody mention my name in here?"

Raven got a shocked expression and looked directly to the Genius Mage. Rita turned her head at his direction and she simply blinked at him.

"...You..." Rita muttered darkly.

Every single Smasher stopped eating and they looked at the 4.

"Wait, how come everyone heard her?" Yoshi asked.

"...Mommy..." Raven whispered in a high pitched tone as the Genius Mage got off from her seat and walked to him while Estelle watched helplessly from behind him. "..." Raven looked at Rita.

"...So, you finally showed your face around here," Rita said with crossed arms. "You do know what happened the last time, right?"

"Yes..." Raven muttered.

Rita looked bored and glanced around to see nearly 30 characters staring at them. "You decided to hide in here so they could protect you from me, right?"

"Only Toon Link though," Ness said before Toon Link hit his head. "Oww!"

"L-look..." Raven muttered. "I didn't even think I could find a place like this in my whole life... I was able to convince them to let me live and stay here until you calmed down because I didn't want to throw away my life."

"And so you need to die," Rita said.

Raven hid behind Estelle.

"R-Rita!" Estelle yelled.

"...But you should thank Estelle for changing my mind," Rita said.

"...What?" Raven asked.

"Estelle made me think again about my actions that I found forgiviness for you. That accident in the bathroom is as good as forgotten," Rita explained. "Start celebrating because I won't kill you or punish you..."

Raven's eyes filled a little bit with tears.

"But take this in mind," Rita continued. "Do another thing like that and you'll be dead for sure. The only thing I hate the most in the world it's perverts like you, old man." She moved her hand to him. "Shake hands with me and we have a deal."

Raven sniffed.

"Go now," Estelle whispered.

The old man sniffed one time and walked to Rita. "I-I'm sorry if I made you angry... I won't do that again to save myself from murder."

He shook hands with Rita.

"Then we're clear," Rita said.

"T-totally..." Raven said.

It was not long before Zelda slowly started to applaud. Ike saw this and started to applaud as well. One by one, almost everyone started applauding as Raven seemed to have taken a whole deal of trouble off from his back as Estelle hugged him.

However, Rita seemed to grow annoyed.

"Do you want a Meteor Storm in here or what?!" she yelled in embarrassment.

Everyone stopped clapping and resumed to eat in silence as some talked and tried to forget the menace.

"Piss me off again and you're going to die for sure," Rita warned the old man as she went back to her seat.

"...Finally, I can rest in peace..." Raven sighed before he fainted.

"R-Raven!" Estelle yelled and knelt down to help the old man (as a small bubble with his face on it seemed to be getting out from his nose, signaling that it was his soul).

"Chris..." Lucario trailed off. "...I want to stay here."

"What?" Chris asked.

"I think I can train myself to build up my aura to its normal level without going to the valley."

"But are you sure?"

"I'm sure of it. I'm going to train hard."

"...Okay," Chris said, looking unsure. "But train hard, okay?"

"I will," Lucario said as the World Traveler resumed to eat, giving Lucario a small time to glare down at the down. "...I will..." he muttered with a grunt.

Repede merely grinned at him before closing his eye.

It was going to be a long struggle to get Chris back to him as Lucario thought.

"Hmm... Heheheheheh..." Pikachu (who seemed to watch both of them from his own seat) grinned. "I think I can help you, Lucario. Jealousy isn't that hard to ignore when I'm around..."

Sonic seemed to be watching the sun hiding in the horizon. The hedgehog made a serious face before he looked down. "(Am I going to change...tonight?)

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Mansion's Mascot. This is going to get good very soon..." Pikachu muttered with an evilly chuckle.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

No

What?

Yes

But you sai-

Yes

...

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-None.

Out of curiosity…(new section):

-Michelle Ruff (Etna's voice actor) did the voice for Rita Mordio as well.

I must say that writing for Rita is as hilarious as writing for Popo. I think I got her personality right on the spot. :-)

And the introduction of Repede? Oh, priceless. Chris's obliviousness to Lucario's hatred to the dog is just...priceless.

Anyway, back on the chapter.

The 4 Brave Vesperians stay in the mansion to wait for Yuri, Karol, and Judith to appear and get back to Dahngrest. However, Repede seems to have fun with Chris in order to make Lucario feel uncomfortable. Is the dog evil? He seems to try to get the others his attention as well...

And isn't this the day that Sonic will transform?

Only the next chapter holds the answers, though.

And please, tell me your opinions about the FLD if it helped you in understanding some keywords.

Read and review, please. :)
*Chapter 132*: The Mansion's Mascot

The tension grows further...

From Mewtrainer: Yikes. Note to self: never ever ever EVER make Rita mad. The Fic Log Database seems to be working. For me at least. MH seriously let them stay just because the dog nearly killed Prinny?! Somehow that's...disturbing...

Anyway, see you next chapter!

From me: So it works. Thank you.

From Midnight Rebel Spy: "You touch my tail when I fainted?" That made my day. Yeah I meant the wii SSB when we try to do two-player it says to press start/+ but there's no start and when I press the plus it blinks for a few seconds and that's it...BLAH BLAH BLAH?

From me: Try to write something more related to the chapters next time. : )

From Saiked: Great chap. even though if this goes on i could become addicted to it an...(to late :D)

From me: Um, :P?

From Anakin Mario Son 43: Wow... RITA IS EVIL! Finally, Sonic transforms. I hope Lucario doesn't kill that dog. Well, this was an insanely short disgaea arc.(one section of the page) Plus laharl appeared for like 10 seconds. Oh ya... NO MORE PRINNYS! I thought Raven would die. For some reason, i think of him as a girl. I was also wondering why you changed your name before I read why. Oh ya umm I think Lucario should go back home. Hasta!

From me: Well, go further down and find out for yourself.

From JSandders: I see that you didn't add most parts of my last review. If my reviews are too long, I'll make them shorter in the future. Sorry for that.

Rita sure is crazy scary! I was actually quite surprised that she wanted to touch Wolf's tail! That was funny! If Rita is stronger than the Smashers, she should train them or join them when the Smashers start fighting again! That would be great!

As for Prinny, I feel sad for him. He's so hated by everybody! Have fun with Laharl, Prinny! It's so sad...

Speaking of Tales of Vesperia and Disgaea, I'm curious as to who would win in a fight between Rita and Laharl! That would be an awesome fight!

Lucario is very jealous right now! I want to see how this turns out with Pikachu's help! XD He also better train hard if he's ever going to get his strength back!

Raven died? Weird. Sonic's transforming tonight? Oh no! There's going to be a great next chapter? Yes!

I don't really mind the FLDs. They help me understand some things without actually trying to do research about these things!

All in all, it was a nice mansion arc! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us on the next chapter! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it! Keep up the good job, AuraChannelerChris!

From me: The Prinnys are hated by Laharl and Master Hand, not everybody.

Raven didn't die. If someone dies during the fic I would put a grave scene.

Let your Sonic fanboism lie to yourself. XD

Thank you. :)

From SlasherMask: This chapter had good humor...(better than ones of your... Previews(ironically few of best were right after or before of those previews) Though not enough to make me laugh a loud(enough to make me chuckle/grin).

...O_o; Why do I feel like Lucario is planning for bloody murder?(its confirmed... Lucario's every action revolves around Chris...In another words Lucario's dogliness is confirmed!) One day thats gonna result serious conguenses...(not leaving to become more powerful because of being afraid attention being taken by dog whos only temporally there?)

I think those bold texts disrupt flow of story little... They would be better in end of chapter.

You would think that after years of games Chris would be enough genre savvy.

And Raven hiding problem got cleared. Finally.

P.S... I liked Prinny.

P.S.S... I actually think that those not-so-good(good ones(i don't read them anyway) don't count though)yaoi writers are probably teens who get giggles at though of anything "naughty"(why else incest pairings would exist? Anyone healthy in real world would be disgusted at though of being attracted to relatives...)

From me: I disagree with you there. Putting those at the end would only make the people skip them.

Savvy? I don't know what savvy is.

Thanks. :)

From dragonite123: this chapter, no, this whole story is pure win. I don't know how to express that better. anyway, sorry I don't review often, I often get little mental blocks. on to the review!

the little index thingie (too lazy to look at what it's called) is a nice addition for us who have never played the game. and is it just me, or does sonic seem less full of himself in the game with marine (again, I'm lazy. I own the game, but i don't want to go look at the title)? I dunno. I just brought up a random thought...

this is the last review dragonitefan123 EVER WRITES!...

...under this penname!

From me: You still have the same penname.

I don't know about Sonic. Thanks. :)

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: As usual, it's an odd but good chapter. It's getting interesting now, wonder what the next chapter is going to be like now. What's up next? Hey, I think you know I missed the previous chapter, sorry about that.

From me: Don't worry. I hope you read more. ;)

From Ultra Blader: Firstly, a good chapter. Rita sounds like she should only be approached in the most dire situations.

P.S. Matthew is my name as well. I wasn't really expecting the pogo's name to be revealed, but, meh, it doesn't really matter.

P.P.S. Great to see that you're considering putting the FFIV arc next. I was really impressed by that game, and am most likely going to get the After Years as soon as possible.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

P.P.P.S. I really need a better catchphrase.

From me: Oops. Sorry for guessing your true name. No hard feelings, okay?

You should get the WiiWare version. It brings back memories as well as the challenge dungeons after each playthrough. Thanks. :)

From Rabid Original: XD

Too bad I haven't played Tales of Vesperia...I really want to now.

I'm officially on a mission to play every game you reference, just for the hell of it.

But holy crap, just how strong ARE these people?!

And I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't even need HALF the money that Ness has is his bank account to rebuild the city. WHERE IS HIS DAD GETTING ALL THIS MONEY? XDXDXD

And I'm not even going to try to guess what's going to happen next because I really suck at that :P

From me: Since they're about to face an enemy further in the game, I'd believe they're stronger.

Ness's dad doesn't explain where he gets his money or where he works at. It's still a mystery.

Maybe. Thanks. :)

From Sean Kratos the Lucario: So let me get this straight, Rita, Estelle, Raven, Yuri, Repede, and Carol are all stronger than the Smashers?! That seems a bit weird then again I never finished Tales of Vesperia as it didn't have that Tales of charm of the other tales games. But judging from this info I suspect that Chris and the Smashers are around LV 30 or so judging by all the enimies they are facing. So they really need to either train or get those stickers. By the way when will you introduce Training Mode? That might help the Smashers that are left behind to get stronger and you should totally have Chris in his Scholar Job Class go toe to toe with Rita. Hehe, the sparks will fly!

From me: They're probably around lvl. 10 in RPG terms while Estelle and the others are above lvl. 70.

Training Mode? Who uses that?

Chris'll die then. No.

Thanks. : )

So we get to see more events (troubles) with the ToV cast. What will you see? Just read.

By the way, maybe you've noticed before but every early chapter got a change in title. I thought each sounded childish so I made a lot of changes. However, those titles are not within the chapters themselves so I'm going to change that in a near future.

No new avatars for today! :D

Ahem...

Read, enjoy, and review! :D

Chapter 132: The Mansion's Mascot

Smash Mansion

The afternoon soon went by and night came in.

Lucario's Room

For once, Lucario felt comfortable for the fact that Chris was going to sleep with him in the night as every day before. The Aura Pokémon yawned out loud as Chris laid down his head on the pillow.

"I'm going to have some nightmares with the rain in the city..." Chris trailed off worried. "I hope I don't have any..."

"I'll be close to you to wake up from any nightmare," Lucario reassured him. "I'd wish to enter inside and beat that nightmare for you."

Chris chuckled. "You're the Aura Pokémon, not the Dream Pokémon."

"It's not bad to try," Lucario said.

Chris chuckled heartily before he yawned. "Well, thank you for cheering me up. I'm going to sleep for now."

"Good night, Chris," Lucario said, waiting for the opportunity to pull Chris closer to him when the World Traveler fell asleep.

"Good night...Lucario..." Chris trailed off before he soon felt asleep.

The Aura Pokémon waited a minute before he slowly pulled Chris to him with his right arm. When the World Traveler's head was pulled beneath Lucario's neck, the Aura Pokémon placed his snout above his head and sighed before falling asleep.

Unfortunately, somebody scratched the door of the room and Chris shook his head and woke up slowly. "W-who is it at this time?" Chris asked as he noticed Lucario was sleeping above him. "(You did it after all, didn't you...)" he thought as he got out from the bed and opened the door.

Lucario smiled as he grumbled a little.

"Repede?" Chris said confused.

Lucario's eyes opened in a snap and he sat up to see the dog sitting down across the door.

"What do you want?" Chris asked as he knelt down.

"Woof, woof," Repede said.

"..." Lucario glared at him.

"Do you want to sleep with us?" Chris asked.

Repede nodded.

"Okay. You can sleep on the floor."

Repede seemed to ignore that as he jumped straight to the bed and laid down.

"Grrrr..." Lucario grunted.

"Huh? He wants to sleep on the bed?" Chris asked.

"He's sleeping above my legs," Lucario said.

"But you don't feel him at all, right? You're a Steel Pokémon so you don't feel almost anything or anyone."

"Well, that's tru-"

"Then let him sleep with us."

"B-but Chris..."

"What?"

Repede opened one eye to look at him.

"I-I think he would be fine on the floor," Lucario said.

Repede showed his fangs a little.

"But I think he's a very well trained dog. He won't do anything bad to us at all," Chris responded.

"(To you at least,)" Lucario thought as Repede seemed to snicker silently.

Chris laid down on his bed and Lucario noticed that Repede moved even further between the 2. "He wants to sleep between us? I'm sorry but you can't do that," Lucario said.

"I don't mind," Chris said.

"What?"

"I don't mind," Chris said as he stuck his hand out and rubbed Repede's head. "I think he seems cute for doing this."

"(You've got to be kidding me,)" Lucario thought in irritation.

"Good night...Repede..." Chris yawned before he fell asleep.

Due to Repede's presence blocking Lucario from pulling Chris to him, the Aura Pokémon glared at the dog and decided to have a "friendly" talk with him through telepathy.

"(You might like him, but I don't like you,)" Lucario said.

Repede snickered and chuckled...rather evilly.

"(Why are you snickering like that? It seems evil.)"

"(It's because I am evil,)" Repede said.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Disbelief

"(What?)" Lucario asked.

"(I am evil, Lucario,)" Repede said with a smirk. "(My whole purpose in my life is to break bonds between friends. It is my mission to change the people by my skills and actions.)"'

"(What the hell do you have in mind?!)" Lucario asked in rage. "(Are you planning to make Chris forget about me?)"

"(You're pretty clever.)"

"(What?! So it's true? Why?!)"

"(He seems very innocent to me,)" Repede explained. "(Yet I can see you're like the people who get jealous very easily. I do this for amusement. I left my master, Yuri, to achieve my purpose in life.)"

"(To make people forget about who they like more for somebody else like a filthy bastard like you?)"

"(Bravo.)"

"(You...sick...BAAAAAAAAASTAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!)"

"(Hold your horses, pal,)" Repede warned. "(Chris already likes me a lot, and he wouldn't like to see you killing me, right?)"

"(I would love to see you death by my hands AND aura!)" Lucario yelled.

"(And you would love to see Chris hating you for murdering a person he likes like me?)"

Lucario stammered and closed his eyes in disgust.

"(I thought so,)" Repede said with a smirk. "(I have you right where I wanted you to be. You're a helpless pup and I'm the strongest and biggest leader dog of the pack.)"

"(You're NOT going to get away with this blasphemy!)" Lucario said through gritted fangs.

"(Too bad,)" Repede continued. "(I'm also trying to get everyone here to like me in order to piss you off even more than you are. Isn't it amusing?)"

"(IT'S NOT AMUSING!)" Lucario yelled in fury.

"(Oh no, the pup is angry. I need to leave the pup so it calms down and doesn't bite my legs off...strong legs of steel,)" Repede taunted. "(Good night, puppy. I'll see you outside while your master gives his attention to me inside the house.)"

Music stops

With a yawn, Repede felt asleep with a grin.

Lucario narrowed his glare at him as he showed his fangs with utter rage. He wanted to kill Repede right away, but Chris would see and hate him forever in his life without forgiveness even if Lucario tried to apologize.

Lucario looked down."(Dammit... I need to do something else before it's too late...)" he thought worried as he looked outside to the moon.

Sonic's Room

The hedgehog looked restless as he looked outside to the moon. "Oh no... Very soon, I'll change and turn into a beast..."

His stomach grumbled.

Persona 4 - Border of Insanity

"A-aah!" Sonic grunted as he embraced his stomach. "N-no... I-it's starting..." he muttered as he gritted his teeth.

The hedgehog walked around recklessly and he pushed a vase to the floor in order to break it. Sonic paced around the room as he held his stomach, grumbling even more and he let out a cry of pain to the roof.

The light of the moon shone a small portion of the room and Sonic punched the wall several times in time to try and become numb to the pain inside him.

His mouth started to leak out with long drools as he tried to stop it, but the grumbles became louder and louder that the room echoed with them. Sonic grabbed his head and yelled louder to the roof with an agonizing pain.

It was happening...

Sonic felt horrible...

Everything seemed to be spinning around him...

He closed his eyes tightly and dropped to his knees in pain as he grunted, grunted, and grunted more.

Suddenly, the door of his room opened. The hedgehog looked at the person standing behind it between his fingers and small but wild pupils.

"Would you shut up?" C. Falcon asked in irritation (as he wore a white T-shirt and blue boxers with his emblem on it (and oddly, his helmet)). "People are trying to sleep in this floor!"

"Y-you..." Sonic muttered. "H-help me..."

"Help you?" C. Falcon asked.

"Y-yeah... I-I'm gonna transform into a monster shortly... W-warn the others, hurry!"

"Turn into a monster..." C. Falcon trailed off as he shook his head. "Good night. Stop acting like that, dude. You're embarrassing yourself."

The captain left the room as he closed the door. Sonic looked shocked that he embraced his stomach in pain and yelled out once more. "Shut UP!" C. Falcon yelled.

"What do you think you're doing, idiot?" Dark Super Sonic asked.

"I-I'm transforming into that beast you mentioned..." Sonic muttered before he let out a cry of pain. "OH GOD...it's happening..."

"What? You wish...and myself as well. You're making a fool out of yourself."

Sonic looked weak as he gritted his teeth in pain. "What did you say?! URGH!!!"

"It's not even full moon, retard! It's new moon!"

Music stops with a scratch

"URGH?! ...Say again?" Sonic asked.

"I made a mistake about the time of the moons in here. I thought this was still YOUR world with the time I thought until I remembered this was ANOTHER world with a different time of the moons. Go and look outside."

The hedgehog dragged his feet on the floor and looked through the window.

Sure enough, it was new moon and not full moon.

"Now you see? You've got more days before full moon kicks in."

"T-then why I'm feeling weak?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"You dumbass. Nobody eats a watermelon WITH milk during dinner; both cause you gastric problems inside your stomach and probably give you poison and the latter didn't take place for my luck. You thought I was actually changing you from the inside? Think again."

"...So then why did I walk around the room and pretty much destroyed some things?"

"That was just you making a fool out of yourself. I would say it was priceless to watch but you're way too dumb to notice my laughs to you."

"..."

"You were being an idiot in a few words."

"You little..." Sonic trailed off before he felt more grumbles inside his stomach. "U-ugh..."

"By the way, eating a watermelon with milk not only can cause poison..."

Sonic felt uncomfortable with the grumbles.

"...It gives diarrhea as well and it happens most of the time," he said.

The hedgehog made a weak look before he dashed to the bathroom.

But nobody has ever seen Sonic using the bathroom so it was unclear if he used it because his screentime just ended now.

"And I'm supposed to be stuck in here within his mind..."

The next morning...

Outside

Tales of Symphonia - Romany Caravan

"Since I think it would be best for us to wait and explore around the forest for the others," Estelle began as she and Rita were outside. "I think it would be best if one of us went out while another one stayed behind."

"You go out," Rita replied without thinking.

"Wha...?" Estelle said astonished.

"There's a whole lot of Blastia in here and I don't wanna lose this opportunity," Rita said as she took out a familiar diagonal-shaped device. "This thing has all my attention now."

"B-but isn't that the same one that you tried to "ask" for yesterday?"

"It isn't," Rita said with a smile. "I found another one with that weird bird guy. This Blastia was inside his left sleeve. The bastard, he tried to hide it from me."

"(But did she steal it instead of asking for it?)"

"And I kind of grabbed it when he wasn't looking. He won't miss this though."

"Has anybody seen my Reflector?" Falco's voice called from inside. "Hello? Nobody has found it laying somewhere?"

Estelle looked bored at her.

"Was that Yuri just now?" Rita asked as she looked behind Estelle.

"What? Really?" Estelle asked as she turned to the forest. "Where?"

"I think he went further inside! Estelle, go and get him here!" Rita said.

"Yuri!" Estelle smiled and ran to the forest in excitement.

"..." Rita sighed. "Gosh, it's really easy to convince her with lies. At least she won't bother me with my Blastia research."

The Genius Mage focused her attention to the device as she walked inside.

"Coming through," Rita said as she passed Chris and Lucario.

"Okay, you stay out here and train all you want," Chris said. "I'm going to be inside and give a new look to our room."

"Why?" Lucario asked.

"Have you seen Peach's room? She decorated it with all kinds of wallpapers and even Link decorated his. I don't want to look normal with our room. I asked Master Hand to take here some posters from my room and he should have them by now."

"Don't you want me to help?"

"It's okay," Chris said with a smile. "After all, you want to train all the day, right? I won't bother you with your aura training at all so you can train in peace."

Suddenly, Repede appeared right besides Chris.

"He's going to give me some company while I decorate," Chris said. "You can thank him for that."

"(More like murder him when you're not looking,)" Lucario thought with rage.

"Lucario?"

"What?"

"You seemed to be staring at Repede for an awfully long time. Is he bothering you?"

"Oh yes. Chris, he is evil and he wants to make you forget everything about me so he can live with you and throw me outside. I didn't think he was good the first moment I saw his disgusting face with that horrendous scar on his left eye."

This is what Lucario wanted to say. Unfortunately, this was just a mere illusion and a lie since he didn't say this.

"N-no..." Lucario lied.

"...Ooooh, I get it now," Chris said.

Lucario smiled a little.

"Repede is not female," Chris said.

Lucario got confused.

"Is time for you to find your soulmate? Because Repede isn't a girl."

Lucario's pupils shrunk. "What?"

Repede snickered silently.

"Lucario, I told you that you can't have someone to love right now. You need to wait like 4 or 5 years to have someone. I don't know how Pokémon love works, but I think you need to wait," Chris explained. "Besides, you can't love a dog, let alone Repede."

Repede opened his mouth and looked down like he wanted to laugh.

Lucario started to shake a little in rage.

"Um, why are you looking like you're going to erupt?" Chris asked.

"My aura is getting unstable," Lucario said through gritted fangs. "I must calm it down and build it up the right way before anything else happens."

"Oh, okay then!" Chris smiled. "We'll leave you alone so you can train. Train harder! I can't wait to see you lift up 5 trees without effort!" Chris said happily as he went inside (with Repede) and closed the door.

Lucario turned his back to the door and looked up to the sky.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he roared in extreme fury.

The door opened quickly and Chris peered from the inside. "Lucario?"

Lucario was sitting down in a meditating position. "Yes?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I could have sworn you were roaring out loud. The furniture inside shook as well. Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm fine," Lucario said with a nod. "You need to leave me alone."

"...But can you train a little bit further away from the door instead?" Chris suggested. "Train under a tree for example."

"I'll do that," Lucario said.

The World Traveler nodded and closed the door.

Lucario looked to the clouds above the city and sighed. "...I must calm down and meditate in peace. If I can't do this, I'll have to go to the valley and train there..."

He showed his fangs a little.

"But if I leave that filthy imbecile with Chris..." he trailed off as he had a vision of Repede licking Chris's face as the World Traveler laughed loudly. "I won't rest assured at all..."

He saw a vision of Repede's grave and he smiled a little.

"Much better..." he said with a sigh as he closed his eyes.

However, something weird happened in his vision.

"Repede!" Estelle appeared within the vision and hugged the grave. She was apparently crying loudly. "Why?! Why were you killed?! WHY?! W-who did this horrible thing to you?! REPEDE!"

Lucario opened his eyes and stared at the think cloud that had his vision with the grave and the crying Estelle on it. He shook his head in frustration and made the cloud disappear.

"How did that even appear out of me?" Lucario asked confused before he stood up and walked away.

But he had to make sure about Repede's actions on Chris so he used his aura to see every single movement inside the mansion while he meditated. This was going to slow down his training, but he didn't care.

"(Let me see...)" Lucario thought as he examined the mansion with his aura. "(There is Meta Knight in the bathroom...without his mask?)"

He shook his head and tried to concentrate.

"(There's that girl with the goggles examining Falco's Reflector and...)"

The auras of Rita and Falco showed them and Falco found Rita with his Reflector. The Genius Mage seemed to ignore him and she ran away to a corner. The avian got angry and he chased her down until Lucario was able to listen to a chant.

"O disturbing power now unleashed, mete thy judgment upon the evil before me! Violent Pain!"

He saw Falco's aura running away from 15 arrows of darkness while Rita continued to walk away to her room.

Lucario frowned to himself as he concentrated more. His aura was growing weaker as he expected, but he had to make sure.

"(...)" He found Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur's auras with 3 unusual and new auras coming from the 6th floor. "(...UGH! W-what in the world is this aura?!)" he cried out in pain as 1 of the 3 auras seemed to be completely disturbing, twisted, flashing, distorted, uncontrollable, wild, and impatient. The Aura Pokémon opened his mouth and tried to yell and grabbed his head like he had a sudden headache and tried to concentrate the hardest he could do to stop focusing in that extremely disturbing aura.

Smash Mansion
Barry's Room

Barry blinked in confusion and looked at the 3 trainers. "Ever felt like somebody is watching you from outside?" he asked.

"Um, no?" Red responded confused.

Outside

"(I must...focus...out of that...aura...)" Lucario struggled until he focused his vision in the lower levels of the mansion and panted heavily. "(I-I should...forget about it...)" he recommended to himself as he focused more.

Lucario found Link writing some kind of note before he put it in his pocket and walked away.

"(...)" Lucario kept focusing.

Sonic's aura seemed to be perturbed since the hedgehog looked scared.

"(...)"

And he found them in the command room.

Command Room

"Okay," Master Hand began as he gave Chris the wallpapers. "Here are the things you asked me to get for you from your room."

"Thanks," Chris said.

"By the way, have you considered yet?"

"What?"

"About the time skip."

"U-um..." Chris looked unsure. "...But is it okay for me return to the real world and wait until Tabuu makes his move?"

"I don't see why not," Master Hand said. "I can call through your Wii or DS. I can always stop the time there when you come back. I figured out that you would be a little homesick about your home so that's why I'm asking you this."

"I don't know..." Chris said unsure.

"Just think about it," Master Hand said. "It's good to have to go back sometimes and relax to get prepared for anything else. Give it some thought, why don't you?"

"(That would mean I'll have to go to school again...not that I'm complaining...)"

The World Traveler walked away to his room with Repede following.

"(Time skip?)" Lucario asked to himself.

Lucario's Room

Once he opened the door, Repede laid down on the floor and yawned before falling asleep.

Chris chuckled. "I hope you return with your previous owner because I think Lucario has an eye on you."

Repede opened his eyes.

"I shouldn't spend that much with you because that would make Lucario feel jealous," Chris explained as he unrolled a wallpaper. "But I think he can handle it," he chuckled.

Repede blinked for a moment before he went back to sleep.

"(...)" Lucario didn't know whether to feel good or feel worried.

That's when he decided to go back to his training.

Chris went to Repede and rubbed his head. "However, you're very interesting. You're well trained and all that. Your owner must have trained you very well."

Repede whined a little.

Repede had a previous owner than Yuri, but he died. It is unclear how Repede managed to be Yuri's dog.

The World Traveler looked below his bed.

A musical note came out from his head as a sign that he was excited.

"Now, where am I going to plug the Wii and the PS2? Oh god, I can't wait to do that with..."

He stood up and looked around.

"...Where again? There's no TV or phone in here... I don't want to play in the living room because it would be embarrassing to let anyone else see me..."

At that moment, DK came in.

"Hi there!" DK said as he went to Chris. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a place to plug my consoles," Chris explained. "Wait, how's the band up there?"

"We had a really good time up there," DK said. "We couldn't stop playing our theme during all the night. Too bad we didn't get to fight to help you."

"Aaaaaaand, did Medli and Makar say something about that?"

"They looked kinda pale," DK said. "And after that, they passed out."

Chris got shocked.

"Or fainted? I think they fainted."

Chris sighed in relief.

"Oh, by the way," DK began as he touched the wall. "Hmm..."

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, here it is!" DK said as he pulled a small door and revealed several buttons on it. "Did you know that each room has this, right?"

Chris looked surprised for a moment. "Er, no. Master Hand didn't say anything about that."

"Okay, let me show you."

DK pressed a button and part of the center of the wall moved and revealed a plasma TV behind.

"...Wow..." Chris muttered.

"Let me go for something more stylish," DK said.

He pressed another button and small speakers flipped at the corners of the ceiling.

"Like it?"

"...Depends..." Chris said.

"Okay. There are the plugs in there. The remote control is right over..." DK looked below the buttons. "Here."

He turned on the TV and nothing came in.

"Signal is weak or what?" DK asked. "Hmmmmm. Oh right, the city got destroyed and the TV station should be out as well."

"Wait, how do you know all about this?" Chris asked.

"Because of yesterday?"

"No, I meant technology."

"Oh, Chris! What do you think I am, a caveman or something?" DK asked with a laugh.

"W-well..." Chris looked embarrassed.

"I know a lot about this stuff," DK said. "Just because I'm a gorilla doesn't mean I don't know anything about hi-tech stuff. Diddy knows as well."

"Oh..."

"...Oh, I get it," DK said. "You thought I was just muscles and no brain, right? Well, that's half a compliment."

He walked to the bed and put his hands underneath.

"Not here!" Chris yelled.

"Aww!" DK said sarcastically. "You're no fun at all!"

"O-okay, thank you for helping me out."

"You're welcome," DK said as he walked away. "Invite me over to play with you, okay?"

Once he left, Chris's DS rang.

"Good job!" Kawashima said. "Your partnership with DK has increased by some points. Keep it up!"

"(That reminds me about the others as well...)" Chris thought. "...Back to decorating. I need to get done soon."

Outside

The winds brushed the grass as the aura wielder meditated in peace. He didn't want to think about Chris or anyone else rather than training his mind.

It was very hard for him.

"(I have to go to the valley...)" Lucario thought. "(It's going to be easier if I go there, but that dog is around and he could take advantage of my... I need to stay focused...)"

"So, I heard you hate the dog, right?"

The Aura Pokémon opened his eyes and fired a fully charged Aura Sphere to the top of the tree to create an explosion. He grunted and showed his fangs in rage before a figure fell down.

"...Pikachu?" Lucario asked.

"Great going, idiot!" Pikachu yelled with a glare. "You first KILL before SPEAKING, right? Goodness gracious, I was about to die because of you!"

"I'm not in the mood to be talking with you right now," Lucario said as he sat down and continued meditating. "I must train in peace."

"Lucario, I'm not stupid," Pikachu said. "You hate Repede, right?"

"..." Lucario didn't want to respond.

"You can't hide it from me," Pikachu said darkly. "You can't shake off the thought about him being with Chris rather than you, right?"

"..."

"Trust me, I know about this very well," Pikachu went on. "You want to murder that dog, but Chris is in the way, right?"

"..."

"I used to be the center of attention for Ash... Actually, I'm still the center of attention," Pikachu said. "He could call Buizel out but he prefers me over anyone. Heck, I'm the reason why he doesn't like to take Snorlax with him."

"..."

"I'm sticking with him forever because he doesn't want to let me go," Pikachu said. "You want to have the center of attention like me, right?"

"..."

"You can't hide it from me," Pikachu said with a smirk. "You can't hide it fro-"

The Aura Pokémon grabbed the Electric Pokémon by the neck and shoved him directly to his red glaring eyes. "Let me recall, what did I say before? Leave me alone before you stop breathing...forever."

"I-I-I-I-I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good!" Pikachu pleaded as the grip got tighter. "P-p-p-p-please, let me live!"

"Hmph," Lucario grunted and released Pikachu from his grip before returning to meditate.

Pikachu ran several feet away from him. "Just remember! Come to me if you feel uncomfortable! I have the answers to your problems!"

"Whatever..." Lucario muttered as Pikachu jumped inside the window and got inside the mansion.

Command Room

Persona 3 FES - Living with a Determination

Master Hand decided to hold a private meeting with all the Smashers, interrupting their everyday affairs.

"Ahem," Master Hand began. "Now, we need to be more private."

The hand snapped his fingers and the way to the hallway disappeared and left them trapped inside the room.

"Hey, why are you trapping us in here?" Nana asked.

"Because Demon Girl Rita would find this place and never leave it for that matter," Master Hand said. "I'm sure everyone agrees, right?"

"Hmm..." Chris looked unsure.

"...Get him out as well," the hand said.

Repede got up with a grunt and walked outside when the hand made the way clear before he vanished it.

Lucario seemed to chuckle for a moment.

"Okay, that aside," Master Hand began. "I'm aware that you guys know our current status, right?"

"Let me recap," Link began. "The city is destroyed, Rita said we're weak, there are no more worlds out there to save, no Star Spirits need to be found anymore..."

"Damn," Roy said. "The first 2 things bother me the most."

"Unfortunately, this doesn't mean this is the end for our missions," Master Hand said.

"Tabuu is still plotting to take over our worlds," Zelda said. "We must take him out soon."

"That's going to take a while though," the hand said. "I don't think you guys are ready to fight him."

"What? You think he got stronger or something?" Falco asked.

"...Hey, where's your headgear?" Fox asked.

"Guess..." Falco said as he pointed as his semi-burned vest. "Anyway, did he get stronger or something?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the hand said. "Tabuu isn't stupid at all. He should have been preparing for another assault like the one we planned. What I'm trying to say is that you're bugs compared to Tabuu himself."

"Thank you for being so nice," Ness said sarcastically. "It really helps."

"Now, do you think he's going to invade our worlds again?" Samus asked.

"Nope," the hand said. "He already lost interest in your worlds. He doesn't have anything left to invade and conquer."

"...So it's time for the final showdown?" Snake asked.

"Maybe..." the hand turned. "...Maybe not. Actually, no."

"What else is there to save?" Squirtle asked. "It's not like there are many other worlds that we haven't seen yet."

A sound of a bell rang in everyone's mind.

"...Wait," Marth began. "Didn't we get to explore some unknown worlds before?"

"3," Mewtwo said.

"There was Lloyd's world..." Roy trailed off.

"There was Vivi's world..." Lucas trailed off.

"There was..." Pit shrugged. "...Laharl's world..."

"And there are a whole lot of worlds out there as well," Master Hand added. "Tabuu is much more interested in these worlds as well, thanks to Mr. Ihabe Alof Odgamhes."

"What does that mean?" Chris asked.

"Mr. I Have A Lot Of Games."

"...Wait, it's my fault?"

"Partly...I mean, yes."

Chris glared at him. "Oh, wait just a minute, why should it be my fault?"

"Face it," the hand said. "Our last help outside had to have a lot of videogames, or worlds, for Tabuu to conquer. You technically opened a lot of worlds by your appearance in here."

"I-it's not my fault I like to pla-"

"Anyway, thanks to Chris, our hands are as full as Kirby's empty black hole," Master Hand said. "Our work ISN'T going to end at all."

"A-as long as he stays away from the videogames based of cartoons, I'm fine with it..." Chris muttered embarrassed.

"Videogames based off cartoons?" Toon Link asked.

"Companies outside think that they can exploit their cartoon characters by creating poorly made videogames. Unfortunately, I bought one and didn't find anything fun with it..." Chris explained. "...And thanks to that, we have a lot of videogames starring a humanoid sponge living in the ocean..."

"...How messed up is your world?" C. Falcon asked.

"How messed up are the people in my world, you mean..." Chris said.

"O-okay, enough of that," Master Hand said. "What I mean is, you guys will have to go to a lot of unknown worlds from now on."

"But they're unknown, that's the problem," Pit said. "It's like getting lost in a forest."

"We GOT lost in a forest," Sonic said annoyed.

"Why do you guys have to ask for so-obvious answers?" Master Hand asked with a chuckle. "Fortunately, Chris's endless addiction to videogames (Chris: Hey!) are going to be a big help in those worlds. He's our guide."

"...Um, sorry for interrupting, but..." Olimar played with his fingers. "...Does that mean he's the leader?"

"...He WAS already the leader from the very beginning," the hand pointed out.

Chris blushed. "M-me, the leader?"

"My boy," Master Hand began.

Link aimed an arrow at him.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" the hand asked.

"Dare to finish that sentence and this arrow is getting through that glove of yours," Link threatened.

"I was just going to say that he can be and can NOT be the leader if he wanted!" Master Hand explained. "He could be the guide and, you know, someone else could be the leader instead of him!"

"..." Link narrowed his eyes at the hand and lowered his arrow.

"This peace is what ALL warriors strive for!"

"THAT'S IT!" Link yelled loudly as he started to fire arrows at the hand, who disappeared and laughed for a while as some of the Smashers chuckled. "Hey!"

"Don't listen to them," Zelda said from behind him. "They don't know our pain at all."

"But father! What if something happens to you?"

"Where is that hand?" Zelda muttered as she prepared her Din's Fire (as some more started to laugh). "I must send him to hell now."

A while later...

The hand had several arrows and several burn marks around his glove as the Hyrulians looked satisfied. "Punishment aside," Master Hand said annoyed. "There are many worlds out there that will someday be targeted by the Subspace Army and we, soon enough, will go and attack back."

"That would mean we'll have to partner up with the people in those worlds, right?" Mario asked.

"Most definitely," Master Hand said. "Every videogame has its heroes and heroines. It's a hunch that we're going to meet some of them at some points. Think about it, meeting new people like Etn..."

The hand grumbled.

"...Like Flonne, for example."

Most of them hmm'd.

"Then I'm going to be excited to meet some of them," Peach said with a chuckle. "I can't hardly wait t-"

"HOLD ON YOUR HORSES, everyone!" Master Hand interrupted their thoughts. "However, you'll have to follow the rules of traveling that we have in here. Some worlds may allow some, while others prevent some from going in. We HAVE to mix well with those worlds if we don't want to perturb the storyline of each one!"

"What do you mean by that?" Diddy asked.

"Ugh, let me give examples," the hand grumbled. "Suppose that there's a world full of blood and zombies and Peach wants to go there."

The princess gulped. "I-I wouldn't want to go in a place like that..."

"It's an example," the hand reminded her. "But there are some people that can go in there because they go well with that world like Snake."

"Why me?" Snake asked annoyed.

"Because I suppose you have spilled someone's blood on the floor a lot of times before."

"Tsk..."

"Now there's a world that has many cutie things and Wolf wants to go in there."

"Why would I go to a child's dream?" Wolf asked with a glare.

"It's an example, people!" Master Hand said annoyed. "Now, people like Pichu and Jigglypuff go well with that world."

"They're going to think I'm so childish then..." Pichu muttered.

"You see the examples?" the hand asked. "Some people go, some don't. It's very basic if you ask me. Sending Ike to a futuristic era means suicide to the storyline."

"...Hey, was that supposed to be offending?" Ike asked.

"You touch buttons and you make something go boom," Crazy Hand explained.

"...What?"

"J-just don't touch anything that looks too complicated for you," Roy explained.

"With that aside," Master Hand began. "Some of you are perturbed that you're weak, right?"

"Culex was very annoying..." Jigglypuff said. "...We were not very strong to hit him one time..."

"Well, remember what I said about the stickers?" Master Hand asked. "I think it's time to put these babies into use to buff all of you."

"What? Using stickers? Hand, are you high?" Snake asked.

"I'm 100 percent not high, Mr. I Smoke A Lot."

Snake grumbled and tossed his cigar to the trash can.

"Anyway," Master Hand began as he took out a small trophy stand. "See this beauty? This is the Trophy Stand."

"That looks like a coin more than a stand," Yoshi said.

"It's a little bit big, but that's not the point," Master Hand pointed out. "Right now, this Trophy Stand belongs to...let's see underneath...oh! This one belongs to Red and his Pokémon!"

"Wohoo?" Ivysaur said confused.

"Okay, it's time to give you some examples about the usage of this," the hand went on. "Let's test your strength with something heavy for Squirtle to carry."

The hand snapped his fingers and an iron cube appeared on the floor. It reached Squirtle's height.

"So do I carry it?" Squirtle asked.

"Yes, go ahead. Try to carry it."

The Turtle Pokémon tried to carry it and he lifted it up. However, he started to tumble at the sides. "I-it's heavy! I can't hold it any longer!" Squirtle yelled before he let the block fall on the floor.

"Okay, it's heavy for you." The hand took out a sticker. "Now, let's see what happens if we stick this..."

The hand looked at the Bidoof sticker.

"Er, where did this come from? I don't remember creating a sticker with this doofus before..."

"Jirachi gave it to me..." Chris pointed out.

"Whatever," the hand said as he burned it and took out a sticker of Max from Advance Wars. "This stickers increases attack power plus 8 for arms, meaning that attacks like punches and palms will increase."

Once the hand put the sticker on the stand, Squirtle and Ivysaur felt something.

"Did you feel something?" Master Hand asked.

"I feel like I used steroids in 1 second," Ivysaur said.

"Ivysaur!" Red yelled.

"What? I'm saying what I'm feeling right now!"

"Squirtle, just carry that block!" Master Hand ordered.

The Turtle Pokémon lifted the block above him and he didn't tumble at the sides anymore. "...Look at this!" Squirtle said as he moved around. "It doesn't weight too much anymore!"

"That is the power of the stickers," Master Hand said as he removed the sticker and disappeared in thin air. "Oh, removing stickers means that it'll disappear forever until you get a new one."

"W-wait a minute..." Squirtle began to tumble. "M-my strength!" He let the cube fall above his right foot. "SQUIIIIIIIIIRTLEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" he yelled loudly as he sat down and rubbed the red spot on his foot.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "We learned a long time ago that yelling our names is stupid, remember?"

"M-my foot..." Squirtle moaned in pain as the cube disappeared.

"But I think that's way too little," Nana said.

"Let me explain more," Master Hand said. "There are around 600 of stickers with different effects for each part of your bodies or attacks. Some can use some specified stickers," he said as he took out a sticker of Fox from Star Fox Command. "Fox can only use this one to increase the attack power of his tail plus 18."

Some of them chuckled and Fox glared at them. "What's so funny?" Fox asked.

"No offense, but looking back, attacking with your tail seems stupid," Link said. "I mean, seriously? Is your tail hard o-"

Fox didn't give a second to Link to evade a low attack with his tail that made the Hyrulian trip and hit his head on the desk. "Oww!" Link moaned. "What was that for?"

"And it didn't have a boost of power, so be warned," Fox warned him with a grin.

"(I DO think it's stupid to attack with the tail...)" Chris thought.

Master Hand chuckled. "O-okay. Next, we have this." He took out a sticker of Flag Man from Game & Watch. "This kind of sticker boost special: indirect attacks plus 4 and only Mr. Game & Watch can use this one."

"Indirect?" Luigi asked.

"You know, those items that you can't control directly? Like some Assist Trophies. There are stickers like those who increase special: direct attacks like Ray Guns."

The hand tossed the sticker away and put a bunch of stickers on the stand. The Pokémon, however, didn't feel that stronger. "Hey, how come you put a lot of stickers and yet we didn't get that strong?" Ivysaur asked.

"Because I just put a lot of stickers that raise the same attribute," Master Hand explained. "You see, just because you add stickers that increase the same attribute doesn't mean you'll get stronger. Only the sticker with the greatest boost will take effect and you need to vary the increase in attributes with different stickers." He peeled the stickers off. "Moving on, e have the space."

"You can't stick more stickers when it's completely empty of space, right?" Ness asked.

"Correct! It's necessary to think about the space that you use. You can't put another sticker above another because it won't work."

"But I don't think it's going to be enough to defeat guys like Culex," Mario said.

"That's why I'm going to cheat a little bit," Master Hand said. "If Chris can, he can increase or decrease the space of the stands and decrease the size of each sticker respectively. However, that's going to cost you a lot of coins so get fighting."

"Are you going to give us those stands? I wouldn't mind to be prepared for a surprise attack," Meta Knight said.

"Nope," the hand said. "You can't have these."

"Wait a minute," Diddy began. "What's the point in showing that to us if you're not going to give it?"

"You guys think I would give it away so easily?" Master Hand asked.

"It's YOUR responsibility to help us, isn't it?" Pichu asked.

"Haha, no," Master Hand chuckled. "I mean, it is, but you guys need to earn it first."

"But we need them now!" C. Falcon argued.

"Look, nowadays heroes think they can get away with their work and get anything for free! Well, I'm breaking that rule now!"

"They just recently started to say that..." Mario muttered.

"If you want these, then you'll have to fight for them!" Master Hand said.

Mostly everyone looked at each other and they seemed to be preparing to tackle each other to death.

"Not that way, you barbarians!" Master Hand yelled. "I meant the Classic Mode I spoke about a while ago!"

They stopped from fighting.

"The Classic Mode will be opened tomorrow, and you guys will have a fun day beating the skull out of each one. The musicians already prepared one track for each stage so its going to be fun."

Some of them cheered and whistled.

"Do they act like this?" Chris asked as a mutter.

"You've got to love their love to battle," Master Hand whispered. "I'm going to cheer for you tomorrow."

"Yes..."

A record scratched.

"Wait, what again?"

"Everyone is going to be busy fighting for their Trophy Stands and YOU sir will fight too."

"M-me?" Chris asked unsure.

"Yeah! You'll fight them and they'll fight you!" Master Hand pointed out. "It's not too serious. Everyone will have 5 lives and nobody dies in an official match. There are some points where you'll have to fight a pair with a partner of your own, or sometimes you'll fight a giant character."

"...Giant?!" Chris asked in shock.

"Yes, like, 15 feet tall?"

"F-fifteen?!"

"Imagine a 15-feet tall Yoshi and you'll get the idea," Master Hand said.

Chris had a vision.

Chris's Vision
Yoshi's Island

Music stops

Chris looked up to see a 15-feet tall Yoshi staring down at him. "Hello," Yoshi said in a deeper tone.

"..." Chris whimpered.

"Don't worry!" DK yelled as he and Diddy appeared behind him. "We're going to take that dino down!"

"I'll start with Chris," Yoshi said as he jumped INSANELY high and used Yoshi Bomb right above the World Traveler.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris screamed.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris screamed.

Master Hand slapped him with his index finger. "What's wrong with you?" Master Hand asked.

"I-I had a horrible vision..." Chris whimpered a little.

"But you're okay about fighting giant characters, right?"

"I-I guess..."

"Good! Then you won't mind fighting 3 giant characters!"

Chris got a shocked look.

"1 metal character, 2 partners, and 2 team battles!"

"..."

"And you can only use 1 job, randomly."

"...Fine..." Chris said depressed.

"Well, everyone's done with my announcements," Master Hand said as he snapped his fingers to make the way visible. "YIKES!" he yelled in a high pitched tone after he saw a distracted Rita looking down at a headgear and snapped his fingers to disappear the way.

"There she is!" Falco yelled. "Give me my headgear!"

"Shh! Everyone to the emergency exit!" Master Hand yelled.

"There are no emergency exits in here!" Pikachu yelled. "And I'm not scared about a girl with meteors!"

Master Hand snapped his fingers and made an exit at the side of the room himself. "There is one! Run!" the hand yelled before he went through it as he screamed.

The Smashers looked at Crazy Hand. "What?" he asked.

"I thought you were going to follow him," Roy said.

"Oh, should I? Oh well. DAIHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he yelled as he went through the exit.

"...Sometimes I wonder if Master Hand is serious and intelligent..." Samus muttered.

Mewtwo frowned and opened the way to the hallway as Rita seemed to have walked away. Everyone started to leave the room to different parts before Sonic was stopped by Pikachu.

"A note?" Sonic asked bored as he read the note.

Full moon will come in 10 days. You better get prepared.

Sonic got a shocked look. "W-who gave you this?"

"It was on my hand as always," Pikachu said. "Sorry, I didn't see who gave it to me."

"T-this guy is a damn stalker! Who is it?!" Sonic asked with a glare as he grabbed Pikachu and shoved him to his eyes (eye?).

"H-how should I know?" Pikachu asked as he pushed Sonic away from him.

"Grr. I need to find out who the stalker is before it's too late..." Sonic said depressed.

"Um...sure..." Pikachu said confused before he left the hedgehog.

Hallway

"Maybe it's time for..." Chris muttered as he took out his DS and inserted Final Fantasy III. "I'm going to defeat that dammed Iron Giant this time..."

Unfortunately, he stopped right in front of Rita.

"..." Chris blinked at her.

"Hey..." Rita looked down at the DS. "What is that you have there?"

Oh no.

"E-er..." Chris stammered. "N-nothing..." He started to back away.

The Genius Mage tossed the headgear back and started to walk towards Chris. "Let me take a look at it," she said in a threatening voice.

Falco appeared from behind. "You! Give me m-"

He stopped once he noticed his headgear going right on his head and got placed around his head, perfectly on its place.

"..." Falco looked at his headgear and shrugged before walking away.

"I-I don't have anything of importance for you!" Chris yelled as he backed away.

"You have a very interesting Blastia on your hands," Rita said as she adjusted her goggles. "You must let me take a peek of it!"

"N-no!" Chris yelled back. "You're going to dismantle it little by little!"

"I'm going to dismantle i-" Rita gasped and blocked her mouth.

Chris's eyes widened as he looked at the screen and found Kawashima in it.

"RUN! LET ME LIVE!" Kawashima suggested and pleaded respectively.

"Hey! That Blastia just talked!" Rita said with more curiosity.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - I'm the No. 1!

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris screamed for the DS's life (and Kawashima's) as he ran away from the Genius Mage.

"Hey! Come back here!" Rita yelled as she gave the World Traveler chase.

"K-keep your hands off my DS!" Chris yelled before Rita began to lash the tip of the scroll at him.

Honestly speaking, the tip of the scroll was hard as it made small cracks on the walls.

"Give me that Blastia and I won't hurt you!" Rita yelled.

"Well, stop swinging that-" He ducked to evade a hit. "-paper around!"

"Not until you give me your Blastia!"

"Do you really think I'm going to do that?"

"No! That's why I'm going to take it off from you!"

"You're evil!"

"You're greedy!"

"I'm protecting my stuff!"

"I'm going to give it more special treatment than you!"

"By dismantling it? Hell no!"

"C'mon! You're going to be happy!"

"Just shut up and leave me alone!" Chris yelled and screamed loudly for his dear life.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Rita yelled as she began to chant while she ran after the teen. "O flickering blaze, burn! Fireball!"

Several fireballs were flying towards the World Traveler and he screamed to get someone in there to help.

"Y-you! Help me!" Chris yelled to the Ice Climbers.

"Oh my god," Nana said scared as she used Popo as a shield for the fireballs.

"What are we playing?" Popo asked excited as Chris ran pass them.

"Protect your sister from the fireballs!" Nana yelled.

"Sweet!" Popo exclaimed before the fireballs hit him and burned him before the Genius Mage passed them. "Cool! Did I win?" Popo asked before he fainted.

Nana sighed in relief.

"D-don't hurt me with your magic, please! You're going to kill me!" Chris yelled.

However, his shouts fell to deaf ears.

"O caprice of innocent waters! Champagne!"

Chris saw water appearing from his feet and he jumped right over a passing Kirby. The magic accidentally confused Kirby for Chris and several explosions of bubbles burst around the Star Warrior that he got knocked out.

"KIRBY!" Chris yelled as Rita jumped over the puffball. "SOMEBODY!"

"Just give me that Blastia!" Rita yelled. "It's so easy to do!"

"For you at least!" Chris yelled.

"What's so hard about giving me a piece of Blastia?" Rita asked.

"It's hard because it's not going to be back in one piece!" Chris yelled.

"Ugh!" Rita grunted as she prepared another spell. "O merciless conflagration, burn the very souls of my enemies! Crimson Flare!"

Chris saw a sphere of heat and flames appearing right in front of him that burst into flames before creating an eruption of flames from below. The tower of flames blocked him from getting further and he looked behind where an anxious Rita was about to trap him.

"Give me that!" Rita yelled with a creepy grin.

The World Traveler found the stairs and went up in a hurry. Rita slid on the mattress a little to turn to the stairs and chase the kid (Chris: Teen!).

"Okay. You're pissing me off now!" Rita warned. "You can't get away! Demon's Lance!"

A lance of pure darkness appeared behind and above Chris before it got fired at him, but it didn't hit him and instead it stabbed Snake's chest through, who seemed to be walking out from his room.

"Snake!" Chris yelled.

"..." Snake glared at Chris. "This is why I hate this place," he said before he fainted.

"..." He looked down at him. "...Should I tell him that his butt is clearly visible with that...um...crack?"

"There you are!" Rita yelled as she narrowly missed Chris with the tip of her scroll.

"Save me!" Kawashima pleaded before the teen turned and ran away.

"O mother praised for her indigo light, break apart and raise thy clear new voice! Aqua Laser!"

"Can't you say anything else than, "O"?!" Chris asked in annoyance as water began to appear behind him before it created a laser of water that chased him. "OH MY GOD, SHE'LL HIT ME THIS TIME!"

Yoshi appeared from the corner of the hallway.

"OH MY GOD, HUGE YOSHIS!" Chris yelled and screamed as he turned around behind Yoshi and ran away.

"What's happ-" Yoshi got interrupted as the laser of water pushed him to the wall and knocked him out before Rita ran above him and towards Chris.

And Rita tried another spell. "O demon who crawls the depths of the earth, gore my enemies and crush them to dust! Riot Horn!"

The floor began to shatter as some sort of energy from the earth came out like a mole and chased the teen's feet quickly. Chris jumped over the chasing earth that took Pikachu and Pichu inside it before the floor spat them out, knocked out of cold.

"I-I'm sorry!" Chris yelled.

"You're dead the next time I get you..." Pikachu muttered before he fainted and got kicked away by Rita.

"Daddy..." Pichu fantasized. "Is that...you?"

"Shut...up..." Pikachu muttered quickly.

"At this rate, you're going to kill anyone in your way! Stop it!" Chris yelled.

"No way! That Blastia you have there is even better than any crap inside this place!" Rita yelled.

"(What if I show her a PC?)" Chris thought. "(...No, she would find out about the real world and I don't want th-)"

"Grant them thy undefiled purity! Splash!"

Water came from below Chris and it prepared to fall down as a small cascade. The World Traveler's eyes widened and wished for something and...

...No, he couldn't be thinking about sacrificing someone to save himself, right?

Oh, wait, Pit came in.

"SAVE ME!" Chris yelled and pleaded.

"H-hey! W-what's happening?!" Pit asked before the World Traveler passed and made him the Splash's new target before it rained down on him like a cascade that knocked him out. "Palu...tena..." Pit muttered before Rita stepped on his wings and continued her way to Chris.

"Oh, come on!" Chris yelled. "Why do you have to be dramatic?!" he yelled to Pit.

"O unnamed and unmerciful queen of thorns... Ivy Rush!"

Vines with thorns came out from the floor and they chased the World Traveler.

Zelda appeared from the hallway and she found the 2 running at her way. "Oh no, what now?" she asked with a frown.

"Help me! Save me! Get me away from Rita!" Chris yelled as he passed Zelda.

The princess looked down and noticed the vines wrapping her legs before spreading out upwards and wrapping her waist, arms, and hands to the roof. The princess yelled in pain as she was held in an uncomfortable position with hands up like she was inside a prison.

Rita passed by the side and continued her mission to get the DS.

"...Anyone?" Zelda asked half-scared. "T-this is very uncomfortable for my tastes..."

Crickets began to chirp.

"H-hello?"

Unfortunately, nobody answered her back.

"W-wait," Chris said between pants. "H-he could save me!"

Outside

Below the same burned tree, Lucario was meditating in peace as the winds gently moved the grass around him.

Nothing could interrupt his meditation.

...Oh, screw it. You know what happened after that.

"LUCARIO!" a familiar voice yelled from inside the mansion that Lucario was able to hear.

"...?" Lucario opened his eyes.

"SAVE ME, LUCARIO! PLEASE!"

"Chris?" Lucario asked before standing up.

"I'M GOING TO DIE! PLEASE, SAVE ME!"

"Chris!" Lucario yelled before he went inside and looked for his trainer.

One of the many hallways

Chris panted heavily as he ran across the halls of the mansion with the anxious Rita who wanted to have a peek of (or have) the DS on her hands.

"I'm not going to give you this!" Chris yelled. "What's wrong with that?! I just want to defeat that stupid Iron Giant that has been bothering me!"

"I don't care about an Iron Giant or whatever the heck it is!" Rita yelled. "That thing is going to be mine before this day ends!"

"Can you give it a rest with the whole "Blastia" thing?!"

Rita gasped and accelerated. "Are you insulting Blastia?!"

"N-no!"

"That does it! You're dead!" she yelled with rage.

"I was already dead the moment you decided to chase me!" Chris yelled.

"I'm going to throw you my most powerful spells so you get turned into ashes!" Rita yelled.

"I presume you're going to use a fire spell?!" Chris asked.

"DAMN right I will!" Rita yelled with a creepy laugh.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

"(T-that mighty roar...)" Chris thought with toon tears as Lucario came from below the floor by shattering it with his right fist and appearing right in front of him.

"Yes! Go through the floor instead of using the nearby stairs!" yelled an angry Jigglypuff before she walked away in the lower floor.

"Lucario!" Chris hid behind his only salvation. "P-please, stop her! She wants to kill me!"

"Nobody will kill you, ever," Lucario said as she glared daggers at Rita.

"Get out of the way, blue dog!" Rita warned. "O seething fire, be as a holy beast to devour the wicked! Flame Dragon!"

A huge fire dragon's mouth appeared right in front of Rita and it roared loudly. The 2 noticed that the dragon completely covered its way from where Rita was to their way.

Basically, they could only run to the opposite side.

"...Oh my goodness..." Chris whispered as the beast of fire roared. "RUN!"

The World Traveler hung to Lucario's shoulders with force as the Aura Pokémon turned and ran away as fast as he coul-

"USE EXTREMESPEED, DAMMIT!" Chris yelled.

Lucario blushed in embarrassment before his speed dramatically increased. The dragon of fire didn't have a chance to catch them.

"Oh, increasing your speed?" Somehow, Rita was able to see them getting away even faster than before. "Dragon! Go faster and burn them!"

The dragon roared in agreement and it began to accelerate its speed at Lucario's speed. Both of them looked behind and gasped after the dragon was about to catch them.

"GO!" Lucario yelled as he grabbed Chris.

"W-what are you going to do?!" Chris asked.

"Live for me!"

"What the hell?! You're not going to di-"

The World Traveler was tossed across the hallway and Lucario opened hi arms to the dragon before he got engulfed by the searing flames that made him roar in extreme pain.

"LUCARIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Chris yelled loudly before the dragon disappeared and left and knocked out Lucario on the floor. "...Olimar?"

Chris found Olimar several feet away from Lucario. Apparently, he appeared from his room with his Pikmin and got burned severely. His Pikmin, however, were unaffected as they were 3 Red Pikmin.

"...I suffer a lot in here accidentally, right?" Olimar asked as a mutter. "This universe is so cruel..."

The Pikmin looked at each other before carrying their leader's dead carcass back to his room before closing the door.

Chris looked worried for Olimar before he noticed Rita running above Lucario. "Hey! You can't just stomp on hi-"

"I have you where I wanted you to be," Rita said rather evilly.

Music stops

"What?" Chris asked.

"There's no way out for you to run away," Rita said. "Look behind you."

The World Traveler looked behind him and there was the wall, 2 others walls, and the hallway that was blocked by Rita.

"Oh no..." Chris muttered as he started to back away to the wall from Rita. "S-stay away from my DS!"

"No," Rita said. "I must have that with me right now. Give it slowly to me and I won't hurt you."

"But she will hurt me instead!" Kawashima pleaded.

"I-I can't!" Chris yelled as he touched the wall with his back. "I-I can't let you hurt my digital instructor!"

Kawashima cried toon tears of happiness.

"...And my current levels for Luneth, Arc, Refia, and Ingus! Do you know how hard was for me to get to lvl. 79? Ages! Ages, I tell you!"

This is just a side information that isn't official, but Chris finds it hard to train his characters since there are no monsters who give a lot of experience at higher points, except for the dragons in the mysterious cave of the Iron Giant and those are such a pain in the a-

"Give it to me," Rita said in annoyed tone.

"No!" Chris replied back.

"...Okay."

"W-what? Y-you found forgiviness within yourself or something stupid and cheesy like that?" Chris asked excited.

"No, I said okay as confirmation to kill you off."

"Oh, I see."

Wait, that didn't sound good...

"Wait, what?!"

Chris saw his last 10 minutes of running away from Rita...

He was going to remember those who perished by Rita...

Popo by the fireballs...

Kirby by the burst of bubbles...

Snake with the demon lance on his chest...

Yoshi by the laser of water...

Pikachu and Pichu by the earth...

Pit's heroic but sudden speech by a cascade of water...

Zelda by the vines with thorns...

"I'm still living!" Zelda yelled. "O-oww..."

And lastly, Lucario by the dragon of fire...

It all ended.

"Die!" Rita yelled as she unrolled the air. "O merciless conflagration, burn the very souls of my enemies! Crimson Flare!"

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled loudly as an extreme heat began to manifest above him.

And the scene was blinded.

Chris was dead...

...

"...Hey, what the crap?" Rita's voice was heard through the blinding light.

The scene was shown again and Chris seemed to be perfectly fine as Rita looked confused. She could have sworn that she was going to cast Crimson Flame to burn the teen to ashes.

"...Huh?" Chris opened his eyes. "D-did you die with me too and we're in heaven?"

"Hell no!" Rita yelled angrily. "M-my scroll! I-it's gone!"

"(OH, THANK GOODNESS,)" Chris thought with a long sigh.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

Rita blinked in confusion after hearing some angry grunts and she turned around and found Repede with her scroll and Blastia Book laying beneath him. The dog barked angrily at the Genius Mage and he bit the book's cover and showed his fangs at Rita.

Repede probably stole both items while Rita gave Chris a chance to spoke his final words.

"Y-you dog!" Rita yelled. "G-give me my things back! O-oh no, the cover is getting torn by your filthy fangs!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, woof, woof!" Repede barked angrily.

"L-leave my book alone or I'll burn you down!" Rita yelled.

"H-how?" Chris asked. "D-don't you need those 2 items to use magic?"

Chris had a point, but Rita gritted her teeth in anger at the obvious answer.

"L-look, give me my things back!" Rita demanded.

Repede's fangs were getting deeper into the cover. Rita gasped as she knew if they went any further, they would rip the pages inside and all the research she has been doing could be easily bitten off by Repede's fangs.

"N-no! D-don't do that!" Rita yelled as she started to sound like she was pleading. "W-why are you acting like this today?!"

"Woof, woof, woof!" Repede barked at Chris.

"W-what of him?!" Rita asked. "W-wait, you don't mean I should leave him alone, right?"

Repede nodded.

"What the hell?! H-he isn't your owner! Yuri is your owner!"

The fangs went deeper.

"S-stop!" Rita pleaded. "F-fine! I-ll leave the kid (Chris: Hey!) and his stupid Blastia alone! G-give me back my things!"

"Grrrrrrrr..." Repede grunted one last time and tossed the almost-bitten book back to Rita. The Genius Mage quickly went for her scroll and glared down at the dog.

"You are so gonna pay one of these days..." Rita muttered through gritted teeth. "I'm going to tell Yuri this once he returns...got that?" she asked before turning away, grunted, and walked away from the 2.

"..." Chris felt to his knees and wiped some tears. "R-Repede..."

The dog looked back at him and walked to Chris. Once he got closer, Repede started to lick Chris's tears and whined a little.

"Repede!" Chris cried in happiness and hugged the dog. "T-thank you so much for saving me!"

Repede whined and smiled a little.

"I-I didn't know you would come to me! Y-you're so awesome, Repede!"

"..." Lucario opened his eyes and little and looked at the 2. "(What? W-why is Chris hugging him?)"

"I-I could've been dead if it weren't for you, Repede..." Chris muttered. "...Thank you so much...really... Thank you very much..."

Lucario's eyes widened and felt like 20 anvils fell on his back before he lost consciousness.

Everything became hazier for him...

???

".u..rio..."

"U-ugh..."

"......"

"Ugh..."

"Lucario?"

"...?" Lucario opened his eyes and looked at a white ceiling.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled and hugged his Pokémon. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

Infirmary

"C-Chris?" Lucario lifted his head up and looked at the bandages wrapping up his waist. "W-what happened?"

"You were knocked out with some first-degree burns by that girl," Mario explained right beside Lucario's bed. "Fortunately, you managed to survive."

"But how did you..."

"Mario still has his experience as a doctor even if he's not Dr. Mario right now," Chris explained. "He cured you."

"...But..." Lucario glanced around the room and found the previous "Rita Storm's casualties" laying down on several beds around.

"I just got pinched by some thorns!" Zelda yelled from her bed. "I'm not that badly hurt! Oww!"

"Zelda!" Link yelled as he was sitting down on a chair. "You shouldn't try to force yourself out from the bed!"

"Link, I'm not that badly hurt, got that?" Zelda asked annoyed.

"..." Lucario shook his head. "Are they going to be fine?"

"Oh, yes," Mario said. "They will. They went through worse compared to this."

"I thank Repede," Chris said as Repede got up and looked at Lucario. "He stopped Rita from rampaging through the mansion... Oh, Master Hand came here earlier and he decided to postpone the matches until another new advice comes up."

"He said he would like to begin them once Rita is away from this place..." Mario trailed off. "...I remember he was trembling. Oh, you're going to stay here for the whole day until tomorrow so your wounds heal."

"...And I can't use Heart Containers?" Lucario asked.

"We're empty of that," Mario said. "Master Hand said Crazy Hand used them all on himself so he could find out if his brain could be healed. We know that's not true at all and there aren't any left now."

"..." Lucario looked at Chris. "Heal me."

"Hmm... Sorry," Chris said. "I won't."

"You what?!" Lucario asked bewildered.

"Think about it," Chris said as he moved away and revealed Pikachu on the other bed, looking at Lucario. "You get to talk with everyone in here so I decided to let you talk with them."

"B-but..." Lucario looked at Repede.

"Don't worry. Repede is going to give me company tonight."

Chris wasn't understanding him! Oh noez!

"You can stay here and rest to heal your wounds."

Wait! You're not understanding, jackass!

...

...I should stop saying what Lucario was not thinking.

But this was remotely close, remember that.

"B-but..." Lucario stuttered.

"You're going to be fine," Chris reassured him. "You can continue training tomorrow once morning comes in, right, Mario?"

"Yes," Mario nodded. "Just rest for today and you'll be good to stand up tomorrow."

"Well, we'll be going now," Chris said as he stood up. "I'll wait for you to recover."

"(But can't you stay here with me?!)" Lucario thought scared about Repede, who seemed to be grinning evilly at him.

"See you!" Chris said with a chuckle as he walked away with Repede.

"I'll stay here for a little while longer," Mario said.

"..." Lucario looked at him.

"...I'll...go for the first aid kit for Popo."

"Give me more!" Popo yelled from his bed.

"Shut up!" Nana yelled. "You're a little bit hurt but stop saying that!"

"Give me alcohol! Money! Women!" Popo hyperveleated.

Lucario sighed and hit the back of his head on the pillow.

He turned his head to Pikachu. "...Help me..." Lucario said.

Pikachu nodded several times. "...You won't regret it..." he muttered.

"I meant Popo shutting himself..." Lucario said.

"...Chris plus Repede?"

"..." Lucario thought for a moment. "...Help me, please..."

"You won't regret it..." Pikachu repeated.

Lucario turned his head around and found Jigglypuff glaring at him from her bed. She had bandages around her forehead. "What happened to you?" Lucario asked.

"A blue dog with a freaking spike on his chest made a hole on the ceiling and it collapsed on me after a while," Jigglypuff said. "Besides the broken parts of my hands, I'm pretty much dandy like sunflowers."

"..."

"I'LL KILL YOU ONCE I GET OFF FROM THIS BED!"

Lucario groaned and covered his face with the pillow as the Balloon Pokémon swore to prepare his grave.

Outside

A target was the first thing shown before an arrow hit the center of it.

The camera pulled back and the target was removed from Raven's face by his right hand. "Good job," Raven said. "Looks like you've mastered my technique, kid."

"Yes!" Toon Link lifted his bow in happiness.

"Hmm?" Raven looked at the forest and saw Estelle coming out. "Hey, was Estelle skippin' inside the forest?"

"Raven!" Estelle yelled. "I found someone!"

"...You were lookin' for someone?" Raven asked.

"Yes!" Estelle nodded happily. "I was able to find someone!"

"Okay, but say it already! Don't leave me hangin'!"

Behind Estelle, Karol appeared from the forest and sighed. "Good thing you found me, Estelle. I didn't like to be inside a cave all alone."

Karol Capel is a young boy of Dahngrest that has joined many guilds before, but unfortunately his cowardly nature resulted him from being kicked out until he found Yuri and the others to create the guild called "Brave Vesperia," in which he is the (proud) leader of it.

"Hopefully I removed that spider living in your hair," Estelle explained.

Karol's face turned a little bit purple. "H-hey, don't remind me about that! Is it my fault that my hair is like this? I-it's style, you know!"

"Karol, kid!" Raven yelled as he waved a hand. "Good to see ya back in one piece!"

"Huh?" Karol looked at the old man. "Raven! You're alive!"

Raven fell anime style. "...Estelle told you everythin', didn't she?"

Karol and Estelle ran to them. "Raven! So is Rita inside that mansion?"

"A-and the dog as well..." Raven said as he got and scratched his forehead.

"Alright!" Karol said with a smile. "We just need Yuri and Judith before we return to Dahngrest!"

"I-I'll check around some more before the evening comes!" Estelle said eagerly before she ran back to the forest.

"...Goodness, when is she going to admit her feelings to Yuri? It's very clear if you ask me..." Karol said. "...Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you!"

"...Meh..." responded Toon Link.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Chris's True Dog. It can't be Pokémon? Lucario won't have a chance then..." Pikachu said with a frown.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-"Tales of Symphonia - Romany Caravan" is a reference to the same game. It plays when you first meet Noah's Caravan outside Iselia.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - I'm the No. 1!" is a song reference to the same game. It plays as Roger's Theme or the fight against the broken monsters called Sootie in the Maze of Tribulations.

Lucario: 0 - Repede: 2

These dogs will have it good now.

Well, Sonic's stomach problems adverted a crisis, Rita almost kills Chris over a DS, and Lucario gets furious enough to accept Pikachu's help.

My, I love to write for these characters. : )

Karol is back, but Yuri and Judith are the last ones. After this problem ends, we'll continue with our usual schedule...

...

...But I know you love the Rita Storm. XD

Anyway, I hope you all read more in the next chapter.

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 133*: Chris's True Dog

Are the ToV gang being so interesting to you? ;)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... Repede is completely insane. Lucario has a new rival. For some reason, Lucario and Repede reminde me of Naruto(L) and Sasuke(R). I wonder when the smashers will kick some subspace rear. On a side note, I saw the new transformers movie yesterday and it was awsome. And no, I didn't see it just because of Megan Fox. Pikachu is also insane, helping Lucario. That little bit with sonic was strange to say the least. Chris running from Rita was hilarious with Chris almost killing everybody(Zelda: I was okay during that!) Wow... now THIS is my longest review to anybody ever. Hasta!

From me: I don't know Megan Fox at all, or who she is.

Well, Rita was doing the killing but Chris directed all of them by accident.

And it's good to see a long review. Thanks. :)

From SlasherMask: I'm crying... My long review got erased since I apparently "wasn't logged in"...What the...I'm sure I was...*sobs*... Well I guess I have to write it again...

Just google "Genre Savvy" I'm too angry to write explanation again...

I also noted that Repede probably didn't talk in original noted that your thingy with him might work because of that and that he would be probably be my favorite character in that game since I like "non human looking non human characters"...

And asked whats difference between fainting and passing out...(they are same thing...)

"XD Pikachu is being little manipulative bastard"

"I have eaten watermelons and drank milk and I'm perfectly fine"

Then noted that if isn't alternate version of Mario why would Peach be nurse?

"Isn't level 79 over leveling?"

Something like "Matches get postponed a lot it seems. Not that I mind~"

...I cry if I remember I forgot something else...

From me: Good that Repede could be your favorite character. :)

What if they are the same? It's not bad...

Some people are stronger against gastric problems and some aren't.

I don't about the nurse part, sorry.

No, lvl. 79 isn't over leveling. Apparently, I should have changed everyone into monks to raise their HP before focusing in other statuses and thus I got myself in this trouble with the Iron Giant. As you can see, I'll try to start a new game and do it right.

Luckily, the matches will be shown very soon. Thanks. :)

From Saiked: wow, great chapter, serious anticlimax on sonic though.

and i guess that Repede is getting closer to Chris Domination(anyone noticed that god is dog backwards?)

From me: I didn't notice that. It's like Snake's Ekans. XD Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: That Repede is a SINISTER doggy. BAD DOGGY! BAD, EVIL, SCHEMING DOGGY! I'd take a newspaper to him if not for the fact that he'd probably give me puppy dog eyes, thus disarming me. _

I wonder how Lucario will "deal" with him...

From me: I don't think Repede can do those puppy eyes...

Maybe if he was shown as a baby...

Thanks. :)

From Midnight Rebel Spy: I thought that Chris was gonna insert a game in his Ds and press a button, then an enemy from his ds will come out and attack Rita.

From me: ...O...kay...that was...um...completely unnecessary...

From shadow-dog18: wow that was the best chapter ever and the most funnies one too I really enjoyed this chapter the most out of them keep up the awesome job in wrighting this story.

oh and poor Lucario that has got to hurt being burn like that.

From me: Making Lucario die would be stupid at this point. Though maybe...oh, forget it. Thanks. ;)

From hornedjolteon: We the people... are messed up. Seriously, why even talk about him? I don't like that humanoid sponge living in the sea (and making most of our minds demented and unrealistic) . Anyways, good chapter! I think I came up with something. Whenever Nana is about to get hurt and Popo is still conscious, Nana can say "Let's play protect your sister!" Now, all we need is for her to learn some magic...

From me: Why'd make Nana learn magic? She's not Palo-I mean, no...

Thanks. :)

From MarioXXX: Hi, I'm new here, but I've read the entire story so far.

Loved the part where Master was parinoid about avoiding Rita, so much that he damaged his own precious mantion to get away;)

Enjoyed the part where Chris was runing from Rita. "Protect your sister from the fireballs!" ;) Loved Popo's reaction to being atacked. It's always a game to him.

I wonder what Pikachu has planed for Lucario to get him back as Chris' center of atention?

Now that the Star Road is complete, can't they just wish the city was repaired? That would be a pure wish... Also, maybe a wish is what Pikachu has planed for Lucario?

From me: Oh, I'm glad to see new people in here! Or at least they confirm themselves because this fic receives many views...

If wishing for the city to repaired would be that easy, then why not defeat Tabuu? Sometimes it's better to work hard for something rather than resolving it instantly, don't you think?

No, he doesn't have the power for a wish. Thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: A lesson Chris has learned well: Never show Rita anything even remotely mechanical.

By the way, Repede is... evil?! That's one weird dog, and an unexpected twist!

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: Yep, Repede is evil. The game deceived you, and he's evheel. :P

Thanks. :)

So, we get back to this entire odyssey for Lucario. Repede is slowly gaining Chris's attention, and Lucario has to do something about it before Repede reserves Lucario's Poké Ball for himself.

...Oh, wait, never mind...

What'll happen next then?

Scroll down, people.

BEFORE THAT THOUGH, "Toony Adventure" has been re-edited a little bit. It's not that important, but read it again if you want. I'll do some re-edits sometimes and I'll announce them here as well.

Now, scroll down. :)

Read, enjoy, and review! :D

Chapter 133: Chris's True Dog

Smash Mansion
Outside

"Karol, this kid is Link," Raven said. "I've been givin' him bow lessons."

"(SOMEBODY says my true name...) O-oh, nice to meet you, I guess," Toon Link said.

"Raven? You were giving him bow lessons?" Karol asked.

"It's my way to say thanks for shielding me for Rita until she appeared," Raven said. "Well, he seemed more interested than anyone in there."

"Anyone in there?" Karol asked. "So are there more people?"

"Yeah," Raven nodded. "But I'm warning ya, they're not normal at all."

"..." Karol decided to go to the doors to open them.

Room

That night...

"..." Karol slowly opened his eyes and felt a pillow underneath his head. "...Where...am I..."

"Good, you're awake," Rita said as she read a book.

"U-uah!" Karol's heart skipped a beat of horror as he sat up. "R-Rita! W-what just happened?! H-how did I get here?!"

"Shut up!" Rita yelled as she slapped Karol to calm him down. "I saw you fainted in the front door of this place and I dragged you all the way here in this empty room!"

"W-what? Why did I faint?"

"They told me you saw that puffball and you fainted after he said "hello" to you."

"W-well, I remember something round and pink below me..." Karol recalled. "B-but how come you're acting so normal?"

"I have everyone here under my foot," Rita said as she didn't look at him by her interest in reading her book. "These guys are very weak compared to us so they seem to hate me, and they're scared as well."

"Who wouldn't..." Karol muttered.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing..." Karol looked around. "S-so, it's night already? It was about to be afternoon!"

"You get scared so easily that you almost fell into a coma," Rita said. "Sheesh, when are you going to get more brave?"

Karol blushed embarrassed. "Y-you wait until I grow up!"

"I don't have time."

Karol sighed and hit the pillow with the back of his head. "...Well...are you going to stay here with me?"

"I'm not your babysitter."

"Rita!"

"I'm going back to my room. My room is just to the left," Rita explained as she got up. "Estelle is resting in her room next to mine after she couldn't find the other 2. Rest for now so you can increase your guts to meet those weirdoes."

"...Hey!" Karol said before Rita closed the door. "Ugh, I knew there was something I was enjoying when she wasn't around..."

And with that, he decided to sleep for the night.

Infirmary

Lucario seemed to be grunting as he slept through the night...

Dream

Lucario found himself in an open field. The Aura Pokémon looked around the place in confusion.

"Where am I?" Lucario asked. "What is this place?"

"Luuuuuuuuucaaaaaaarioooooooooo!" called a voice from behind.

"Chris?" Lucario asked as he turned around. "Is that you?"

"Come over here! I'm just below this tree!" Chris laughed heartily.

Lucario smiled and ran to the direction of the tree he found on a small hill with Chris sitting down below the shade. The Aura Pokémon reached his trainer and looked down at him.

"What are we doing here?" Lucario asked with a small smile.

"Just sit down right next to me," Chris said. "I want to enjoy this time with you. I know you want to, right?"

"You read my words in my mind," Lucario said with a chuckle as he sat next to Chris. "But, seriously, what are we doing here?"

"I wanted to enjoy our final time together, that's all."

"Oh, I see," Lucario nodded. "So are we just going to stare at the field and..."

Something hit Lucario's mind.

"...Enjoy our final time together?"

"Yes," Chris nodded. "I decided to set you free."

Lucario's eyes widened. "W-what? Why?"

"You seem to be more relaxed when you're away from me, so I'm letting you go away."

"C-Chris! I-I don't enjoy being alone! W-why are you saying that all of a sudden?!"

Repede appeared behind the tree and looked to Lucario.

"Since Repede likes to be with me more than you, and that you enjoy to be alone, I'm going to set you free by breaking your Poké Ball." He took out Lucario's Poké Ball and Repede destroyed it with his fangs and with a single bite.

Lucario's mouth opened in shock as the remains of the sphere fell down to the grass.

"No!" Lucario yelled. "T-this is all his doing! Chris, he plans to take me away from you by befriending you!"

"Too bad," Chris said.

"W-what?"

"I like Repede more than you."

Lucario's pupils shrunk in horror.

"He likes me more than you."

Lucario almost felt heavy.

"And you can go away."

Lucario took several steps back and shook his head many times. "N-no! T-this can't be happening at all! C-Chris, I don't want to leave you! N-not like this, understand me!"

"You heard him," Repede said as he suddenly gained the ability to speak. "Go away, puppy."

"Don't tell me that!" Lucario yelled in rage. "I don't care about this anymore! I'm going to kill you right now!"

The Aura Pokémon tried to make an Aura Sphere, but nothing appeared. "What?"

"Didn't you say you needed to go that valley of yours to train your aura rather than having an eye on me?" Repede asked with a smirk. "You're way weaker than me right now."

"N-no!" Lucario yelled back.

"Go away," Repede said with a glare. "You've lost your chance now. Get away before I kill you myself."

"C-Chris! H-how can you be so silent about this?! R-Repede is an imbecile!"

"Because I don't care about you anymore," Chris said.

Lucario's right eye twitched.

The sky suddenly turned black.

"I care about Repede and only him, not you."

"By the way!" Master Hand appeared from behind the tree. "Repede is officially a Smasher!"

"What?" Lucario asked confused.

"He's taking your spot."

"WHAT?!"

"Think of it!" Master Hand said. "I'll get more publicity by letting a dog like him fight in the matches!" he said happily. "Besides, he gave a good beating to that darn Prinny!"

"Everyone is happy then," Repede said.

"Not me!" Lucario yelled.

"Oh, I meant to say Smashers and not forgotten ones."

"Who is he?" Chris asked as he looked at Lucario.

"Wait! T-this is stupid!" Lucario yelled. "How did he forget all about me just now?!"

"Because he doesn't care about you," Repede said. "Go away, puppy."

"N-no..." Lucario said as he started to back away. "N-no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Infirmary

"N-no, don't leave! I beg you! R-Repede is an idiot!"

"LUCARIO!" Pikachu yelled and slapped Lucario.

Wrong idea.

"O-oww..." Pikachu muttered after slapping the Steel Pokémon.

"U-ugh?!" Lucario opened his eyes. "W-where am I?!"

"Back in the world where at least I'm far calmer than you," Pikachu said annoyed. "Don't yell like that! There are people sleeping in here with you, you know!"

"A nightmare..." Lucario trailed off.

"Oh, let me guess, Repede and Chris, right?"

"Y-yes..."

"Oh, I knew it," Pikachu said.

"You did?"

"Yeah," Pikachu nodded before he removed his mask and revealed Repede's face. "You're still in the nightmare, pup. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Infirmary

"UAH!" Lucario yelled as he sat up and looked at an annoyed Pikachu on his bed. "W-was that another nightmare?!"

"Lucario, calm down!" Pikachu yelled. "Everyone's sleeping at this hour!"

"T-thank goodness it ended..."

"Oh, by the way," Pikachu began as he showed him some rumbles. "Chris destroyed this during the morning in the field. Master Hand said he wanted you out by tomorrow."

"...Oh no..."

Repede came from the door. "You're lucky to be here one last time, idiot."

Infirmary

Lucario woke up from his nightmares and looked around.

Silence...

"...Everything seems fine now..." Lucario muttered.

Silence...

...

"Damn right it is!" Popo called as he suddenly sat up above his bed. "Party!"

Multiple Popos came from the door and they started to dance above the beds. Lucario watched confused as more Popos came from within the bed sheets and started dancing with the other Popos.

And they apparently were singing a song from Chris's world...

...Perfectly.

Infirmary

Lucario sat up with an annoyed look. "Is this another part of the nightmare as well or what?!" he asked with a furious grunt. "I'm sick of it! And when did Popo learn to sing that awful song from Chris's world?!"

"Would you shut up?" Pikachu asked as he woke up and glared at him. "I was having a good dream with lots of ketchu-I mean, battle with Ash as we lost the Sinnoh League..."

"...And was that a dream because..."

"Look! Just shut up and rest!" Pikachu yelled before he sighed and continued to sleep.

"..." Lucario waited a moment of silence before he went to sleep with a sigh of relief. "Finally..." he muttered.

Sonic's Room

"9 days..." Sonic muttered with a sigh through his fangs as he tried to sleep.

"Oh, c'mon. It's going to be a lot of fun," Dark Super Sonic said.

"For you, but not for me," Sonic said through gritted fangs.

"Dude, you'll like to see their brains out on the floor. I'm gonna wipe the floor with them when that time comes."

"I'm certain that won't happen!" Sonic yelled. "Just leave me alone!"

"Can't do that, sorry," he said sarcastically.

"Why did I have to fall in those fake emeralds anyway? I knew you were going to bother me again!"

"Am I a plague to you?"

"How did you know?" Sonic asked as he rolled his eyes.

"You're the plague here."

"And you're the worst."

"Likewise."

"Good. Let me sleep."

"Good night, dumbass."

Sonic grunted one last time before he fell asleep.

However, he didn't notice the person watching him from a small portion of the door before the person walked away and closed the door in silence.

"I must do something...and fast..." the person muttered before disappearing in the dark hallways.

The night went on...

Main Lobby

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

The next morning...

"I'm off to search Yuri and Judith!" Estelle yelled. "I'm certain I'll find them today!"

"Just go!" Rita yelled from the hallway.

"Okay!" Estelle said cheerfully as she left the mansion.

Chris watched as the door got closed from the sofa as Repede laid down close to his feet. "Why do I think Rita didn't mention about what she almost did on me to Estelle?"

Repede whined.

"Of course..." he muttered. "She didn't want to be scolded by Estelle..."

A moment of silence fell in.

"(...I don't remember from which game they came from...)" Chris thought. "(If I recall, I haven't heard any notice about them at all... Are they from another platform?)"

Repede's ears perked up and he looked at the stairs.

"Man..." someone said from the steps of the stairs. Chris turned around and found Karol as he yawned. "I didn't see anyone weird like the puffball in my way here..."

"...And just who are you?" Chris asked confused.

Karol blinked and looked at the teen. "Oh, pardon me. I thought I was the only one in here."

"You and almost 30 more people like me, though."

"W-what? Thirty?" Karol asked a little bit surprised.

"This mansion has a lot of unique people living in here. How did you get in? ...Who are you?"

"M-my name is Karol Capel," Karol said. "I-I got in here because Rita found me fainted close to the entrance yesterday."

"You know Rita?"

"You know her?"

"She...let's just say I got in her bad side."

"Did she try to kill you for something?"

"..."

"...By the look of your face, I can tell..." Karol said with a shudder. "But you lived?"

"R-Repede saved me from her..." Chris said as he looked at Repede.

"Oh, Repede!" Karol smiled happily. "Gosh, thank goodness I found you!"

Repede whined a little.

"Yuri has been so worried about you!"

"I think I remember his name..." Chris trailed off.

"Wait," Karol looked at the 2. "Repede is awfully close to you. He'd normally stay away a few feet from strangers."

"He will?" Chris asked. "I think he likes me..."

"...Wow..." Karol commented. "Estelle should be jealous of you, then."

"L-let's not talk about that..." Chris said embarrassed. "B-but I think Repede is a very good dog. You know, he likes to sleep with me in my room."

"That's...surprising," Karol commented. "I hope Yuri doesn't get jealous either."

"Who's this Yuri?"

"He's Repede's owner," Karol said. "Yuri is pretty laid back and he is sometimes clumsy in some situations. He worked as a knight before but he turned down the job to live a much easier life." He got in a thinking position. "But, to be honest, he hasn't mention anything else than that. He evades some questions all the time..."

"..." Chris had no idea about this Yuri.

"O-oh, sorry if I mad you look confused," Karol apologized. "So, is Repede really hanging out with you?"

Repede nodded.

"...What did you do to him?" Karol asked. "He normally likes to be around witth Yuri and only him."

Repede showed his fangs. "Woof, woof!"

"H-hey! You don't have to get angry at me either!" Karol said.

Repede grunted and laid down as he glared at Karol.

"Now he hates me for something I said accidentally..." Karol trailed off before sighing. "...Well, anyway, I think you met Estelle already, right?"

As the 2 continued to talk, Pikachu peered from the stairs and looked at the 3. "Targets acquired. Cosplayer talking with crazy hairdo with scar dog at 10."

"Why do you have to talk like that?" Lucario asked as he appeared from behind him. "Who is that kid?"

"Shh!" Pikachu tried to push him back. "They're going to see us!"

"I don't think we have to hide."

"Look, who's helping you here?"

"Apparently, you."

"Apparently? Just listen to me!" Pikachu whispered before they moved back.

"Haven't you met anyone else in here?" Chris asked.

"N-no..." Karol said. "I-I remember something pink saying hello to me..."

"...Remember?"

Karol blushed. "I-I got startled by that! It's not my fault I haven't seen weird creatures that talk like that!"

Repede looked at him and snickered a little.

"B-Ba'ul is another monster though! I know he understands us but this is completely different!"

"You don't have to get scared and...faint..." Chris trailed off. "The people in here are all friendly. If they look odd to you it's because they're like that. They may look weird but they're good."

"I-I hope what you say is true..." Karol gulped.

"Speaking of which, here comes Jigglypuff."

Karol turned around and looked down. "U-uah!"

"Yes! Get scared by probably the most weakest Pokémon ever!" Jigglypuff said before her eyes became full with tears. "Nobody appreciates me... U-huh..."

Chris hesitated and hugged Jigglypuff. "I-it's okay... You don't have to cry..."

Jigglypuff sniffed. "T-thank you..."

"(Stay calm, Karol, stay calm...)" Karol thought.

"Okay..." Chris showed him Jigglypuff. "Karol, this is Jigglypuff. She's a Pokémon that likes to sing (and put people to sleep when she doesn't notice)."

"A...what?" Karol asked confused.

"...I have not a complete idea either..." Chris said before Jigglypuff glared at him. "Y-you had to be related to the mysterious world of Pokémon..."

"..." Karol was a little skeptical. "O-okay, I'm standing up so I'm good now..."

"Well, if you managed to stay calm with her, the others should be better to talk with."

"Just don't offend me or I'll slap you," Jigglypuff threatened.

Karol sweatdropped. "I-I already learned my lesson!"

"Aww, sweet mornings without chaos..." Master Hand said as he came from the hallway. "Don't you agree? I love when nothing blows up when...I...um..."

"G-GIANT FLOATING HAND!!!" Karol screamed before he took out a big axe from the bag he was carrying. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Master Hand asked before the kid leaped to him and started to axe him down. "Hey! Oww! Ouch! Stop it, hey! Oww!"

The hand floated around the lobby to shake Karol off, but it was useless as Karol tried to stay on him to finish him off.

"S-stop!" Chris yelled. "H-he's good! Y-you don't have to kill him! ...Jigglypuff, are you laughing?"

"E-er, no..." Jigglypuff said while she blushed. "W-what makes you say that?"

"A-ha," Pikachu got an idea. "Lucario, stop that kid and his axe from murdering the hand."

"What could happen if I help?" Lucario asked.

"Who knows..." Pikachu half-closed his eyes. "You could get the chance to ask Master Hand about letting Repede go..."

At that mention, Lucario quickly jumped towards the hand.

However, just before he jumped...

Rita came from the hallway (as she was examining a Poké Ball) and she looked up. "What the hell is happening now?"

"R-Rita!" Master Hand yelled as he stopped from running around in the air.

Karol fell down...

...And Lucario passed right above the hand and fell down to the floor.

"...Uuuumm..." Chris looked confused at his Pokémon. "Lucario...what are you doing?"

"...Ugh..." Lucario got up and shook his head. "I...I wanted to help him..."

Rita didn't seem to understand the situation, but she got an idea. "Did Karol attack you because you scared him?"

"He went axe on me if you mean that," Master Hand said. "And did he get in while I was not looking?"

"If he did, then let him in."

"What?"

"Do you dare to go against me?" Rita asked with a glare.

"N-no, ma'am..." the hand said with a shudder.

"Good," Rita said as she closed her eyes. "Karol, apologize to that guy."

"H-hey, wait a minute! H-how can you be so calm when you know that a giant hand is in here?!" Karol asked.

"I told you before, and I don't need to explain myself again," Rita said. "But just don't go nuts on anyone in here so they don't get more bad impressions about us, got that?"

"W-well..." Karol tried to calm down. "I-I'm sorry..."

"..." Master Hand looked somewhat miffed.

"Everyone's happy," Rita said before she looked at Lucario. "By the way, don't be stupid and make out a fool of yourself like that again."

"(Grrr...)" Lucario grunted in his mind.

"No wonder why you're clumsy as well," Rita said before she walked away.

Red came from the other side of the hallway. "Has anyone seen my Poké Ball?"

"Er...I think I saw it upstairs..." Chris said.

"Oh, thank you." Red walked up to the stairs and left.

"Why did you lie to him?" Jigglypuff asked.

"He doesn't stand a chance against Rita more than anyone here... I-I mean, no offense..." Chris said.

"Okay, okay..." Master Hand looked at Karol. "You can stay in here but don't destroy anything in the process. We've had a lot of problems in the past and I don't want to suffer anymore."

"..." Karol nodded worried.

"I'll go for now..." the hand said before he floated away.

Chris turned to Lucario. "I think you should go out and train some more."

"B-but..." Lucario trailed off.

"But? You're all right, correct?"

"Y-yes, but..."

"...You're weird..."

Lucario's eyes widened in shock as Repede grinned.

"W-who's that guy?" Karol asked half-scared.

"His name is Lucario. He's a Pokémon like Jigglypuff here," Chris explained.

"(H-he looks somewhat scary for my tastes...)" Karol thought with a gulp. "N-nice to meet you, I'm Karol."

Lucario looked at Repede licking Jigglypuff's face. The Balloon Pokémon giggled with some laughs.

"Who is this dog?" Jigglypuff as she smiled to him. "He's kind of cool."

It seemed that Repede was gaining the upper hand again...

That made Lucario use Extremespeed and disappear from there.

"H-hey! Where did he go?!" Karol asked surprised. "He didn't even say nice to meet you to me either!"

Chris sighed. "Sometimes he acts so weird...but today he is going overboard..."

Back with Pikachu hiding in the next floor, Lucario looked down in shame.

"Dude, you just embarrassed yourself in front of him," Pikachu said. "That's not helping at all."

"H-how was I supposed to know that Rita would stop the hand from running around?" Lucario asked. "I was focused on him and not anything else..."

Pikachu sighed. "Well, Repede is smart. He's got Jigglypuff now, a person you have yet to spend the time with."

"S-she doesn't want to see me, remember?" Lucario asked. "Not that I care about..." he muttered silently.

Pikachu glanced at the 4 who apparently seemed to be enjoying their time. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Repede could outsmart us if we're not careful... Wait, they're moving outside..."

"Anyway," Karol began. "I think I can hold my ground here for a while. Would you care to...well...spend the time outside with me? I'm just a newcomer to this place so I don't want to look unfamiliar with anyone."

"Sure thing," Chris said. "Let's go outside then. Jigglypuff, do you want to come?"

"Umm..." Jigglypuff wondered before she looked at Repede. "...Sure."

Was it Lucario, or did Repede know that he was being watched by them? The dog grinned at the Pokémon before they went out.

"Grrr... Grrrr... GRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted more and more furiously as he showed his fangs in utter rage.

"Lucario, knock it off!" Pikachu yelled. "He's trying to make you fall in his trap!"

"Ugh..." Lucario closed his eyes and shook his head in shame. "...Should we follow them?"

"Well, you need to train your aura so that could be a perfect excuse to go out..." Pikachu said. "Let's follow them."

Outside

A time passed after they decided to go out. As usual, Toon Link always took the opportunity to train his bow's skills with Raven.

"After masterin' that technique, I think we hafta move to another one," Raven explained. "Though this is going to be the last one."

"What?" Toon Link asked. "Why?"

"It's not too late before Estelle finds Yuri and Judith and go back to Dahngrest. You gotta enjoy good ol' Raven a little more."

"..." Toon Link looked worried.

"..." Raven tilted his head a smiled a bit. "Don't worry, I'll think about comin' here when I have the time."

"...Thanks..." Toon Link said with a nod.

"Okay!" Raven said energetically. "Time for you to know Raven's last lesson! Check this one out!"

Raven shot an arrow to the air at a high height. The old man looked at Toon Link.

"Well, you should see what I'm gonna do," Raven said with a wink.

The old man saw the arrow coming down at a slower pace.

"...Um...for what was that for?" Toon Link asked.

It was not long before Raven shot a fast arrow to the same arrow, making it somehow fall down faster like if he shot the arrow from high above and got stuck on the ground.

"Did ya see?" Raven asked. "I made the arrow go down much faster than before like if I was up there."

"But..." Toon Link looked confused.

"If ya think it only works for one spot, you're wrong."

He started to shoot several arrows at the air, and one by one, he shot more arrows.

Toon Link looked carefully as the arrows themselves descended but not straight. They all took different angles in a second and struck the ground at different far away spots across the grass.

"...Wow..." Toon Link muttered.

"I'm telling ya," Raven said. "This one is very hard to master."

"How do it master it?! How do I master it?!" Toon Link asked excited.

"Hesitant, aren't we?" Raven asked with a chuckle. "Okay. I'm going to explain ya how to do this. Everything is in the arrow itself."

"How?"

Raven took out an arrow and showed him the small blade on the top. "See the outline of outside? The iron of it helps to do this."

"Really?"

"Think you have a ball," Raven said. "Now, if you want to make that ball go up and right combined, you have to hit the ball from the opposite direction. Arrows are not the same, but I managed to make my own variation."

"Uh-huh..."

"Now, with an arrow it's very different. There's a high chance of failling and it took me quite a long time as well."

Toon Link looked down.

"But with my help, I'll assure ya that ya will master it faster."

"If you say so..."

"This technique is useful to fool your enemies," Raven explained. "You can shoot it behind your back and let your enemy get closer to you, then you turn, shoot the right angle, and BAM! You hit the eyes right in the middle! I'm telling ya that this technique is useful."

"I have a question."

"And it's also hard to make it go the way you want it to go," Raven said. "Your arrows are almost the same as mine so it's going to be a little bit easier. Movin' on, hitting the arrow at the right corner is very hard. A very small spaced hit could make it go to a totally different direction."

"T-then I'll start now!"

"Good. Remember this," Raven began. "You'll have to master it very soon. If it takes you long enough, then train during the night."

Without further talks, the toon swordsman started his arduous training.

Several feet away from them, Karol decided to explain more.

"At first I thought those guys were some sort of small Entelexias," Karol said.

"What are Entelexias?" Chris asked.

"They're very powerful creatures that are living as monsters, but they understand and talk human speech. Many wars broke out because of them and...well...I'd rather not talk about that..."

"Why?"

"Because those wars left very disastrous results. There's this big gaping hole that used to be a mountain and I got really scared once I had the chance to see it with my own eyes."

Repede yawned and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"I'm sure you've been living with them for quite a while without getting scared like me," Karol said. "Isn't it kind of weird to live with such people?"

"What's wrong with that?" Jigglypuff asked with a glare.

"N-nothing," Karol said as he shook his head.

"O-of course it's weird to live with such people," Chris said. "But...I guess I got used to it (because they're videogame characters...as yourself as well...)"

"Oh," Karol said. "I understand it. Just...are there more?"

"More than you imagine," Chris said. "I mean, I live with all kinds of people: monkeys, heroes, dinosaurs...thingies, birds, foxes, and many more."

From a tree, Pikachu peered them. "Targets are sitting down a tree. Me thinks Chris is developing romance at 12."

"Grrr..." Lucario grunted from behind the tree as he meditated.

"I-it's just a joke..." Pikachu gulped. "Anyway, dog is not moving as he's just sleeping close to them. Nobody else is in sight...oh wait..."

Karol's eyes widened. "O-o-o-o-o-oh my god! A-a-a-an angel!"

Pit looked bored. "Is he another of those people who thin-"

"I-I'm dead! Oh no, I'm dead!" Karol screamed. "I knew there was something odd with this place! R-Rita would have been killed everyone in here but she can't because she's dead as well! Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

"Karol!" Chris slapped him. "Calm down! No one is dead here!"

"B-but there's an angel in front of me!" Karol screamed.

"Can't you make those wings disappear for once?!" Chris whispered as he blocked the kid's eyes.

"No!" Pit yelled. "This is how I am! Accept it or just forget it!"

"Who's saying that I'm not accepting it?!" Chris asked. "Karol can't!"

"Duaaaaaaaah!" Karol screamed.

Repede seemed to be getting fed up by the screams that he barked at Karol to shut him up.

"There's too much yelling in here!" Jigglypuff yelled.

Pikachu was watching the whole event and he got another idea. "Lucario, shut the kid!"

"Why?" Lucario asked.

"I think Chris wants to have more silence instead of screams and barks. Go now!"

Lucario sighed in shame before he got up and ran to the 5.

"Shut up!" Chris yelled as he blocked Karol's mouth and stopped Repede from barking. "Phew..."

"...What are you doing?" Pit asked to Lucario who was about to lean one hand to Karol's mouth...

...And he stopped right in front of Chris's hand.

"...Weren't you training a minute ago?" Chris asked.

"I...ah..." Lucario couldn't find something to say as Pikachu facepalmed from behind the tree. The Aura Pokémon pulled his hand back and blushed a little. "I...was bothered by the screams..."

"...Well, I stopped him now..." Chris said as Karol seemed to be calming down. Chris removed his hand and the kid sighed.

"I'm...fine now..." Karol said. "...I'm not dead...nobody here is dead...and I just got scared again..."

Repede seemed to be pleased at Lucario's stupid move.

"...W-well..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...You can go now..."

"Y-yes," Lucario said with a nod as he slowly turned.

He narrowed his eyes at the grinning Repede before he walked away to the tree with Pikachu.

"That was pretty weird..." Pit said.

"Weird?" Karol repeated. "Y-you're an angel that's walking the same earth I'm walking!"

"Just because I'm an angel doesn't mean you're dead!" Pit yelled. "I hate when people discriminates me for what I am!"

"Pit, calm down!" Chris yelled. "Karol isn't discriminating you! He's just not used to meet people like yourself!"

Back with Pikachu, he was rubbing his arm after Lucario hit it for embarrassing him.

"You're not helping at all," Lucario said as he glared down at him. "You're making me look embarrassed in front of everyone."

"Y-you have to react faster!" Pikachu yelled. "You're too slow at reacting!"

"You better come up with something good or else I'm going to kill you."

Pikachu's eyes widened. "O-okay, but stop threatening me..."

"..." Lucario sighed. "Just...don't fail again..."

"I'm trying to..."

"What?!"

"I-I'm doing it!" Pikachu yelled.

"You better..."

"(One screw up and Ash will have my cousin for the rest of his life...)" Pikachu thought before looking back at the 5. "Let's see, the kid calmed down and he made friends with Pit somehow..."

"J-just how many different people are in there?" Karol asked as he tried to forget about his embarrassing screams. "There aren't any demons, right?"

"Etna would have been one..." Pit muttered.

"What?"

"L-look, even if some look weird, they're not bad or scaring," Chris said. "Everyone is good and you don't have to be afraid of anyone. Pit should be the only most shocking person of the whole mansion."

"I-I hope so..." Karol said. "N-no offense either..."

"None taken," Pit said.

"A-anyway..." Karol continued. "I think I need to meet everyone so I can get used to the new faces. Estelle seemed pretty happy unlike me."

"And Rita has everyone under her foot," Chris said. "Bastard..." he muttered.

"I understand if you hate Rita," Karol said. "But if you try to get to her, you could end up liking her."

"She almost killed 6 of us," Pit said.

"...Oh..." Karol responded. "Guess you made her mad for something then."

Chris looked away embarrassed. "Do you want to go inside now?"

"Oh, okay."

Pikachu watched the 5 going back inside.

"Luc, they're going in," Pikachu whispered.

"My name i-" Lucario got interrupted.

"Do you want to follow them?"

"...It's Lucario," he said. "And...fine."

"Good, good... We'll have to make sure you're out though. Chris thinks you're meditating so I'm going to be your eyes."

"I can use a little bit of my aura to se-"

"I'M GOING to be your EYES, okay?"

Lucario frowned before he nodded with a sigh.

Main Lobby

Pit and Jigglypuff decided to leave the 3 as they went to different directions.

"Rita ended up burning the whole first floor," Chris said as they sat down.

"For?" Karol asked.

"Because the hand was being an ass to me."

Both of them nearly hopped after hearing Rita's voice from across the sofa. She was busy clicking on a virtual screen above what looked to be one of Samus's Super Missiles.

"R-Rita! Y-you almost made my heart jump out my mouth!" Karol said in shock.

"Where did you get your hands on that?" Chris asked.

"It was laying around..." Rita lied as she didn't look them.

"...Really?"

Rita glared at him.

"I-I'll be quiet..."

Repede showed his fangs to her from the floor.

"Look, you dog," Rita said. "You better put your nose somewhere else that isn't of my own turf, got it?"

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked angrily.

"Rita, did he do something to you?"

After a long debate of explanations coming from Rita and Chris...

"Fine," Rita said extremely pissed. "I kind of wanted to take something from him but that's that."

"..." Karol looked bored. "Yuri is so going to be on Repede's side then."

"Whatever, I don't care anymore..." Rita said. "...Oh, lookie here. I found something good within this Blastia..."

"L-leaving that aside," Chris said. "Nobody here is dangerous at all."

"So true," Rita said with several nods as she was still messing around with the screen she made appear above the missile.

Chris closed his eyes half-pissed. "You can get along pretty well if you try to."

"If they bother you, mention my name," Rita said.

"That only works with Master Hand!" Chris yelled.

"Really? Oh, I thought it worked for everyone too."

"Just ignore her," Chris whispered. "Thought there are some people you shouldn't try to spend the time with that much because they... How do I put it?"

"They what?" Karol asked.

"They hate kids like you."

Both of them looked at their right and found Wolf looking down at Karol. The young axe wielder looked at him straight to the eyes.

"N-n-n-n-n-nice to meet you..." Karol stuttered.

"Tsk." Wolf frowned. "Who let this kid in now?"

"Knock it off," Rita said as she didn't look him. "Karol's scared because you're half-wolf."

"Not to mention you're a thug..." Chris muttered.

At that moment, Karol passed out and fainted.

"Kids are weird each day..." Wolf muttered with a frown. "Hey you, the goggles girl."

"What?" Rita asked.

"Don't act so innocent to me."

"(Does she look innocent to you?)" Chris thought bored.

"Give it back."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rita said, closing her eyes. "If you're done bothering me, go away."

"Not unless you give me back something that is mine and only mine," Wolf said with a glare.

"I don't have anything," Rita responded before returning to her research.

Wolf walked right in front of her, crossed his arms, and looked down at her. "Listen, pesky girl. You try to act so funny around me and I'll claw that throat of yours out."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Rita taunted. "The mutt is gonna punch me. Help me, somebody."

"Enough about this," Wolf said. "Give me back my gun."

"Hmm...let's see..." Rita put a finger to her chin and looked above. "A gun? I do remember a gun with an useless knife attached to it..."

"...You didn't do anything to it, did you?" Wolf asked as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Chris was watching this closely as he tried to wake up Karol. "(I don't know why, but this conversation is getting interesting all of a sudden... I-I'm not wishing for Wolf's death either!)"

"Besides taking the knife out? It's pretty much normal," Rita said as she continued to look at the missile.

"You little..." Wolf muttered through gritted fangs.

"R-Rita, I think you should stop taking things away from people without asking for the-" Chris stopped talking after the Genius Mage glared at him. "G-go ahead, I meant..."

Wolf frowned at Chris before looking back at Rita. "Give it back or I'll kick you. I don't care if you're a stubborn girl."

"Hmm," Rita hmm'd.

Chris didn't like where this was going at all...

Pikachu, who was still watching the scene from the window, decided to call Lucario. "Lucario, you should get Wolf's Blaster back to him."

"Tell me why," Lucario said as he continued to meditate.

"Chris doesn't want Rita to get mad like yesterday. If you advert her chaos, Chris will feel happy and relieved."

"I'll do it and fast," Lucario said before he stood up and used Extremespeed.

Unfortunately for Lucario, Repede had enough of the event about to unfold that he quickly went to Rita and dug his mouth behind her back.

"Y-you dog! Not again!" Rita complained as she tried to push the dog away.

Chris looked at his right and found Lucario. "What are you doing here? I thought you were training."

"I..." Lucario felt a deja vu moment.

He arrived late 3 times...

...And Extremespeed wasn't that extreme at all.

"What the..." Wolf just watched the dog looking for his Blaster behind Rita. The Genius Mage tried and tried, but Repede was stubborn in getting the Blaster.

A cry of pain came from Repede as he got his mouth out and covered it with his paws and laid down.

"W-what the..." came as multiple responses from Rita and an awakened Karol.

Wolf looked confused at this. "Why did the dog do that for? He just got himself hurt by the knife."

"(...Wait...)" Lucario looked down at Repede before he smiled a little. "(He got hurt by the knife...)"

Yes, it seemed that Repede failed to complete his task...

"Repede!" Chris yelled as he knelt and examined the dog. "A-are you all right?! A-are you hurt?!"

Oh, wait a minute there...

Repede whimpered as he uncovered his mouth and showed a long cut across his lower jaw. Blood started to come out and Chris panicked a little. "Y-you poor thing... L-Lucario! Go and get the First Aid kit!"

This was ABSOLUTELY wrong...

Not only Repede hurt his mouth by accident and caused Chris to feel worried about him...

...But Lucario was going to be the ONE to bring something to heal his wound.

This just turned out much more bad to Lucario that he expected it to be.

"I-I..." Lucario stuttered in shock.

"Oh no, blood is starting to come out!" Chris yelled. "Lucario! Please, help him!"

Pure frustration...pure frustration was the only thing Lucario was feeling insid-

"Lucario!"

"Y-yes!" Lucario nodded as he ran away to get the kit for Repede.

Repede whimpered again and Chris rubbed his head. "I-it's okay, you're going to be okay. Hang in there, please!"

"Kid, the dog is not going to die," Wolf said. "Don't get that worked up either. That reminds me."

With a swift move, Wolf snatched his Blaster back from Rita's back as well as the knife. "H-hey!" Rita said.

"Touch my things, and I'll touch that throat," Wolf threatened before he walked away.

"Hmph..." Rita frowned angrily.

Lucario came back with the kit and he dropped it to Chris. "Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"I-I'm sorry..." Lucario said ashamed. "I-it slipped from my hand..."

Without further interruptions, Chris started to treat Repede's wound as Lucario walked away with a furious but silent grunt.

But why was Repede grinning for a moment? Was that his plan all along?

"..." Karol looked at Rita while Chris was busy. "Rita..."

"Don't think I didn't see that," Rita said. "The dog isn't that reckless around knives because he uses them to fight."

"Yeah..." Karol whispered. "Repede doesn't whimper either. Come to think of it, he's acting a little bit weird today..."

"He got himself that long cut? I doubt he would even get such a bad wound like that," Rita said before she wondered. "Maybe the kid is the reason..."

"Huh?"

"Forget what I said," Rita said. "But just to be sure, keep an eye of the dog's weird attitude."

"Okay, I'll do that."

"I don't want Yuri to scold me for his behavior."

"You're going to get scolded anyway... Wait, do you even get scolded?"

"There, there..." Chris interrupted as he rubbed Repede's head. "That bandage will keep the blood in. You're fine now."

Repede whined and wagged his tail.

"W-what the heck? He's wagging his tail!" Karol whispered. "He never does that, ever!"

"Look, I'm not that worried about the dog's behavior," Rita whispered. "You can get worried for him, though. Watch him closely."

"He's fine," Chris said to them. "He's going to be all right."

"T-thank goodness," Karol said to sound normal. "H-hey, I want to see the mansion a little bit more. Can you show me around?"

"Oh, sure," Chris said with a nod. "Repede will have to follow us so he stays out of trouble."

Repede felt stupid for a moment, but he had to agree with a nod.

"Sure thing, I don't mind," Karol said as the 3 went to the hallway and left Rita alone.

"...I can't hardly wait to see Yuri back..." Rita said sarcastically before she returned to see the missile.

Outside

"Repede's so smart," Pikachu remarked. "He can outsmart us very WEEEEELL!!!"

Lucario shoved Pikachu to his face. "Listen to me one last time! I'm sick of getting embarrassed in front of Chris and everyone! You better have something good the next time or else I'm going to make sure you die by my hands!"

"L-L-L-Lucario! P-please, calm down! I-I'm doing my best to help you out! W-why would I want to make you look stupid?!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

"I-I mean, I don't want to make you look stupid!" Pikachu said. "J-just give it some time!"

Lucario dropped Pikachu to the grass. "You better have something...or else..."

"I'm as good as dead underneath a grave, I know..." Pikachu sighed in relief. "We'll have to keep moving around to stay sure."

"I had to help him above all..." Lucario muttered embarrassed.

As the 2 changed to another location, Sonic was looking up to the clouds below another tree. The hedgehog was trying to figure out how to solve his problem with Mr. I'm Your Dark Self and the transformation in 9 days.

"What could I do?" Sonic asked as he folded his arms and leaned to the tree. "Pretty soon I'll be scratching my neck with my foot or worse..."

"Oh, who might you be?"

Sonic turned his head around and looked up. "...Who're you?"

Estelle appeared from the other side of the tree. She looked very happy, and even more than she was before. "Guess what! I managed to find Judith!"

"...Hurray..." Sonic said.

In truth, Estelle was able to find Judith, who looked normal, even around the hedgehog.

"Oh, sorry if we interrupted you," Estelle apologized with a bow. "I-I didn't think you wanted to be alone..."

"Hmm..." Sonic just closed his eyes.

"..." Estelle looked excited. "Judith, do you mind if I go and get Yuri next? He's the only one left to find and I can't wait to reunite everyone again!"

Judith is a Kritya, part of a hidden civilization that hides from humans and the world itself. She's sees battles as something fun and she always displays a happy attitude to anyone, as well as being carefree. She's very skilled in combat with her lance. She may look bored, but that's the way she looks like.

"Always you and your cheery attitude," Judith with a smile. "Okay. I'll try to settle in this place."

"Thank you!" Estelle said happily before she went back to the forest.

Judith chuckled. "That's the Estelle I know," she said with another chuckle. "Well, she said Karol, Repede, Raven, and Rita are here. I wonder where they are inside."

"..."

Judith looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you were resting here. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Meh..."

"I'll take that as a yes," Judith said. "Hmm. Do you mind if you show me around?"

"..."

"The silent type, huh?" Judith asked. "Well, I just hope you don't stay outside for so long."

"..." Sonic opened an eye to her. "Why would that be?"

"Oh, you're awake for this little info," Judith said with a small grin. "You shouldn't stay here until night because...monsters appear..."

"Monsters?" Sonic asked.

"Uh-huh. There are some odd things happening around here." Judith rubbed her chin. "I know this sounds weird, but those monsters started to appear some days before, and they seem to appear at night. I had to be always at guard for any of those night stalkers."

"...And?"

"And I was able to hold my ground," Judith said with a smile. "It was very fun."

"...Sure it was..." Sonic said before closing his eyes.

"Just be careful out here at night," Judith suggested. "I don't think they attack houses unless someone bothers them."

"Sure, sure..." Sonic said before he yawned and fell asleep.

"..." Judith tilted her head. "You look cute when you sleep."

Judith looked at her right side and found someone rushing towards her. The person slid on the grass and stopped right in front of her.

"Hello there," C. Falcon said with a grin. "I knew you were going to appear sooner or later around these parts."

"You saw me from the 4th floor of that mansion when I came here, right?" Judith asked with a look of amusement on her face.

"Ouch, you have a sharp eye," C. Falcon said with a chuckle. "I like girls like you."

"Well..." Judith put her hands behind her back and looked at him by the side. "I wouldn't mind if you showed me around. I want to know if there are any rooms inside that place. Would it be okay if I stay here for some days?"

"Absolutely!" C. Falcon said as he took her hand. "Follow me. You'll love this place as much as I do."

"Heheheh," Judith chuckled. "I think I'm going to have a lot of fun myself."

"Sure you will..." C. Falcon said. "Sure you will..."

Sonic opened his eyes and watched the 2 entering the mansion. The hedgehog just sighed. "He's gonna show his moves to her..." He remembered something as he looked up. "I think I heard him saying that line over and over yesterday during the night... Meh, I'll leave him."

As he closed his eyes, he recalled what Judith said to him.

"(Monsters appearing at night? Weird...)"

Living Room

A time passed, and afternoon came faster than expected as Chris, Karol, and Repede were sitting down on a sofa of the living room (or at least Repede was laying down).

"Okay..." Karol said. "I already met 2 guys with big noses."

"I-I told you Mario and Luigi are like that!" Chris said. "They're humans!"

"Yeah, well, that didn't look too human to me," Karol said. "Secondly, I met the knight."

"That was Samus's armor. She was inside of it...though I wonder why she isn't outside of it."

"Thirdly, I met the dinosaur."

"Fortunately you didn't faint."

"He seemed kinda cute...I-I mean, he seemed normal," Karol said. "Fourthly, I met those kids with the huge heads."

"...I rather not talk about Ness and Lucas..." Chris said.

"And lastly, I met that cold guy with the long crack on his rear."

Chris chuckled as well as Repede. "S-Snake said he was going to get another suit than that one..."

"And lastly again, I met the masked one..." Karol gulped. "I-I think he was far scarier though..."

"That was...his dark voice..." Chris said.

"I-it sounded pretty deep to me..." Karol shook his head. "But over all, I think I managed to get used to this place. It's kind of cool actually."

"Thank goodness," Chris said. "No more screams then?"

"I-I was just surprised!"

"Should I recall the times before this one?"

"No!"

"I was just asking..." Chris said before he chuckled silently.

"Well," Karol hopped off from the sofa. "I want to see if Estelle can find Judith and Yuri so we can go back to Dahngrest as soon as possible. We need to go back soon or else Alexei will cause trouble for everyone."

Alexei was a Commander of the Imperial Knights (knights of Estelle's home, The Capital) and was honored by all until he decided to unveil his true reasons and kidnap Estelle for a power she has within herself. Fortunately, Yuri and the others managed to save Estelle from becoming a lethal weapon to the world.

"Who?" Chris asked.

"A very bad guy who looked like a good guy..." Karol looked down. "I never knew the guy very well, but to know someone who suddenly betrays the loyalty they're in is just...so sudden and enraging..."

"..." Chris looked down.

"Let me ask you something," Karol began. "Does anyone here look like they're going to betray you at some point?"

"N-no..." Chris responded.

"Well..." Karol looked unsure. "...I think you can change the people's minds so they don't betray you. They may look like good guys until they stab you on the back by betraying you."

"I..."

Repede showed his fangs and growled at Karol.

"I-I'm not saying someone here is going to betray you very soon! I-I'm just saying a prevention!"

"Woof!" Repede barked.

"I-it's okay..." Chris said. "I know nobody here wants to betray anyone. Wolf already did once but because he had no choice."

"I see..." Karol sighed.

"...But I trust them so much," Chris said. "If they ever betray me, they're going to feel a great remorse for doing that."

"Optimism is always good," Karol said with a nod.

"Thanks..." Chris said with a nod. "...I'm surprised."

"Huh? Why?" Karol asked.

"You're very smart for being younger than me. It's really surprising to me."

Karol grinned and scratched his nose. "Heheh, am I? A great leader like me should give out examples to others. Brave Vesperia should be recognized by all!"

"...Did I make you say all that?"

Karol blushed. "W-well, it's your fault! You made me go this way!"

"And right over here," C. Falcon began as he entered the room. "Is the room where you hang out with somebody. Now, do you know with who I want to hang out?"

Judith came in and chuckled. "I don't know. You seem to be looking at me weird."

"Oh-ho-ho, you have very good eyes."

Chris looked bored...

But Karol looked happy.

"Judith!" Karol cut in.

"Karol," Judith said with a small smile. "Good to see you again. Hey there, Repede."

Repede seemed to smile a little.

"...Where did you get that bandage on your mouth?" Judith asked.

"He cut himself with a knife he was trying to grab," Chris said.

"...Really..." Judith eyed Repede for a little while. "...I guess it happens."

"(So she knew right off with a single look,)" Karol thought with a nod. "Good to know you were found."

"Who said I was lost?" Judith asked.

"L-leaving them aside," C. Falcon interrupted. "What do you want to do now?"

"(Hey!)" Chris and Karol thought annoyed.

"Just relax," Judith said as she sat down on a sofa. "I'm so tired..."

"...Ooh, me too," C. Falcon said as he sat on another sofa. "I'm getting too warm myself. I should take my suit o-"

A pillow was thrown to his face by Chris.

"Sorry, but I rather relax now." Judith sighed.

"..." C. Falcon tossed the pillow away. "Okay, okay..."

Outside

"So he didn't do that much after all..." Pikachu said. "Well, that's good."

"No, it's not," Lucario said. "Repede likes Chris, and Chris likes him more than me..."

Pikachu noticed the depressed look on Lucario's face.

"L-Lucario, I don't think Chris likes Repede much more than you."

"You're not right. I've seen everything he has done and I just made myself look stupid..." Lucario sighed. "I'm not worthy to be with Chris anymore..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Pikachu moved his hands forward. "Lucario, Chris like you better."

"You're saying because you want to cheer me..."

"No, I'm honest," Pikachu said. "How long have you been with Chris?"

"Ever since the summer of the last year," Lucario said. "He always spent the time with me, but he looks happier with that dog..."

"...You're his first Pokémon, right?"

"Yes."

"...That explains everything and solves your problem."

"Why?"

"Lucario, when you get the chance to be the first Pokémon of your trainer, there's a high chance that Chris won't drop you for another person...or dog in this case..."

"Sure..." Lucario trailed off.

"I'm telling the truth!" Pikachu yelled. "Ash always gets new Pokémon in each month but he never stops from letting me out and rest on his shoulder. He doesn't let me inside my Poké Ball because I don't want to. Ash likes me a lot and I like him a lot as we-"

"You're here and not with him."

"...B-besides that, Ash will like me for the rest of his life because I'm his first Pokémon to get! You're Chris first Pokémon and he won't stop from liking you the same as Ash does with me!"

"..." Lucario closed his eyes.

Pikachu made a worried face. "If you think I'm lying to you, I'm not. I'm talking through after years and years of experience. In my opinion, you're far better than any other Lucario I've ever met."

"You only met one."

"Partly," Pikachu said. "That Lucario was a wuss compared to you. I mean, he had to undergo aura training because he didn't know how to use it when he first evolved, but you follow the trend very well."

"...That aside..."

"O-oh, right," Pikachu said with a nod. "Chris will like you more than Repede an any bastard he dares to take care of."

"...Just maybe..." Lucario said. "...But the idea of Repede being evil bothers me."

"Yeah, you told me that," Pikachu said. "That dog is sinister, I tell you. We have to do something about him."

"But what?" Lucario asked. "What we could possibly do against Repede? I can't attack him, I can't look good with him around, I can't get Chris's attention, I can't achieve what I want, everything is useless against Repede..."

"...Wait just a minute," Pikachu interrupted as he wondered something. "Didn't the pink-haired princess say something about Repede having an owner? What was his name? Yuri?"

"I know what you mean," Lucario said. "But we don't have a clue about how he looks like."

"True..." Pikachu closed his eyes and turned around. Lucario looked at him before looking forward. "Dammit! If only we had something like a lead to this Yuri guy, then we could persuade him to do something with Repede..."

"Yeah," a voice said. "I wonder why you are wondering about my lost dog."

"..." Pikachu opened his eyes and looked up. "...Who the hell are you?"

Somehow, Lucario grinned with a chuckle...

...

YES, he grinned at the person's shadow.

Main Lobby

Raven got inside and sighed after he left Toon Link training by himself. "That kid has a lot of guts, I tell ya," he said to no one in particular. "...Hey, isn't that... Judith, dear!"

The old man found the 5 on the nearby sofas of the lobby and he ran in front of Judith. "Aw, good to see ya again around these parts, Judith."

Judith chuckled. "So Rita didn't kill you after all."

Raven sweatdropped. "Yeah, remind me of my awful moments, why don't ya?"

Judith chuckled in amusement. "Nice to see you again."

"...Oh well," Raven said as he looked at them. "Guess it's not too late for Estelle to find Yuri."

Repede whined.

"You want to stay with him again, right, pooch?"

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked.

"Oh, I'm glad," Chris said. "I can't wait to let Repede go with his owner. I bet he's very worried about him."

Repede whined and jumped to Chris to laid down his head on his legs. "Woof, woof!" Repede barked happily.

"Er...I guess he likes me as much as him..." Chris said unsure.

"..." Raven tilted his head. "(The pooch's actin' weird today...)"

Rita came from the hallway (examining a Super Scope 7) and looked at the 6. "...Oh, Judith is here..."

"Rita," Judith said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you well."

"Oh well..." Rita moved his shoulders up. "Good, I guess..."

"Sooo..." Karol trailed off. "It's just Yuri and we're done here, right?"

Rita looked annoyed. "Yeah, he comes in and we leave this mansion full of Blastias that I haven't examined yet."

"Rita, you can't go around and take everything for you only!" Karol said (he probably was fine to said that for the fact that Repede, Raven, and Judith were in there). "You'll have to stop that very soon."

"Who're you to tell me what to do?" Rita asked with a glare. "You're just looking brave because the old man and Judith are in here, right?"

Karol gasped and shook his head. "N-no, what makes you say that?"

"A very repetitive hunch I have," Rita said sarcastically. "You get in my research, you get out burned."

Karol whimpered a little bit.

"(So much for the leader of Brave Vesperia...)" Chris thought bored.

C. Falcon looked at them. "W-wait, you'll leave soon? But I haven't shown you all the mansion yet!"

"Don't worry," Judith said with a chuckle. "I bet I enjoyed it while it lasted."

"Besides," Raven interrupted. "She likes to hang out with someone else."

"Not you, that's for sure," Judith said.

"...Y-yeah..." Raven said bored.

At that moment, Kirby appeared from behind the sofa.

"U-uah!" Karol yelled. "I-it's that...creature again!"

"Um?" Kirby tilted his head confused. "You're the kid who fainted yesterday."

"H-hey! Don't say that!" Karol yelled.

Rita looked away. "Sheesh, he's just very docile, Karol..."

"I think he's cute," Judith said. "And very."

Rita blushed. "W-well, I think he is...and that's that! Nobody dare to say something else to me!"

"W-why can't everyone else get surprised like me?" Karol asked.

"We get surprised, not scared," Raven said.

"The old man is right," said a voice. "That's very typical of you, Karol."

"Hey!" Karol yelled annoyed. "T-that's not true! I-I get surprised and not scared! Why can't you support me, Yu-"

The kid stopped from yelling and most of them blinked surprised.

"...That voice..." Raven muttered surprised.

"Oh god..." Karol blinked surprised. "T-tell me my ears aren't deceiving me..."

Rita looked at the door. "Oh, he's here."

"I guess Estelle managed to find him," Judith said.

Repede got a shocked look and looked up.

From the door, Estelle, (a grinning) Lucario, Pikachu, and what looked to be a long purple-haired swordsman stood inside and looked at the other group. The swordsman walked to them as Karol's smile grew wider with excitement before he leaped from the sofa and hugged the swordsman tightly.

Raven just leaned his head back and grinned. "Welcome back."

"We missed you a little bit," Judith said.

"Yeah," Rita nodded simply.

"Yuri!" Karol yelled happily. "Good to see you here at last!"

"I-I was able to find everyone..." Estelle said as she wiped a tear. "I-I'm so glad I did it..."

"...So..." Chris trailed off. "...He is Yuri then..." he muttered.

Repede blinked surprised before he jumped off from Chris and walked to his owner. Yuri looked down at him and smiled a bit.

"Hey there," Yuri said with a wink to his dog. "Looks like you got lost for quite a while, haven't you, Repede?"

Repede whined silently as Lucario chuckled in triumph.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Night's Dark Future. W-wait, is this the last chapter with me? Crap! Damn it all!" Rita cursed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-None.

Out of curiosity...:

-Tales of Vesperia will receive an enhanced port for the PS3, as well as a new playable character, Patty Fleur.

-This game will also receive a prequel in form of a movie (for Japan) to explain something about Yuri's past to tie-in with the port.

-There's a trainer called Rita in the Sapphire & Ruby & Emerald versions! She forms a team with her brother and are the Sis And Bro Rita & Sam, located in the ocean near Lilycove City, and they can be fought when they ask you after defeating them in a Double Battle. (Ironically, her brother states that she's very scary when she gets angry (and that's why she doesn't have a boyfriend as well)).

I loved to write for Karol after this chapter. Somehow, as I write for him, I found myself liking this character so much (like Rita and Estelle). This happened to Fox as well because he was a nobody to me until I started to write for him and got very fond of him. Writing changes what you like, it seems. ;)

Uh-oh, Repede's owner, Yuri, finally found him in the mansion. Are Repede's plans crushed, and will Lucario continue grinning like an idiot until I update again?

...That sounded so twisted...

Anyway, the last chapter of the ToV gang will come very soon, and we'll continue with our usual schedule of the Subspace Army. Is the cast of this game of your likes? I hope so, because if I did a good job with these characters, then the incoming characters of future chapters will be very easy to understand and enjoy. :)

But what was Judith's explanation of monsters appearing in the night?

Unfortunately, you don't know, but I do. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-cough, cough, cough-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaaa...

"Sighs"

You'll have to be good and wait until then. ;)

Read and review, please! :D
*Chapter 134*: Night's Dark Future

And so, we came to the end for the Vesperians...

If I updated this fic a little bit late, it's because I rented Phantom Hourglass and completed it as much as I could (meaning I played it until I defeated the final boss). Fortunately, this helps me to understand fully about Linebeck's awesomeness (XD) and the whole story as well.

From Midnight Rebel Spy: This will be interesting.

From me: "Groans" God, didn't you understand the message I tried to tell you previously?

...

Please, try to remember, because this review makes me feel a little bit...guilty...

From Light the Lucario: You know that laughing evilly is bad for your health right? Anyway, I think you captured all of the ToV characters quite well. Can't wait for the next chapter and btw did you know that you can kill Zelos in ToS and get Kratos instead?

From me: I know all about ToS there is. Thank goodness I caught their personalities well (in your PoV, of course). Thanks. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Hm... What to say. Well for Starters I am glad that Estelle found everyone. The attmempts of Lucario and Pikachu were very hilarious. I honestly think Lucario should just go back home to regain and then show everyone his moves. Sorry, I was thinking of C. Falcon there. Lucario's dreams in the Infirmary were very funny. Especially the one with Popo singing.(Shudders) Man, the thought opf Popo singing scares me to death. I bet he normally sings very horrible. Well, that's all I got! Hasta!

From me: Popo gets crazier and crazier with every chapter it passes. Is there going to be a day where his brain will turn on? (Probably not). :)

From Zeni S. Master: OMG!! How many times has Lucario had a nightmare about that dog? ...I don't get the dancing Popos though...that part was creepy! But, this is awesome! Can't wait for the rest! :)

From me: You know that sometimes you dream unrelated things, right? Lucario just experience the Popo Syndrome...or...whatever it is.

Thank you for reviewing as well. :)

From aquadragonsayian: Are they Dark Gaia's minions? I have a hunch it is, or the Heartless. Anyways, good chapter there! Here's hoping you'll update soon!

From me: Let's see...there are no ducks or dogs(?) characters here...and no Chris (Sonic X)'s look alike so...no, they're not Heartless. :P

From SlasherMask: There are many names which are used in pokemon games...(though that is somewhat coincidental)

I still say it is... Of course I could be wrong since I haven't played in while GBA version so I don't remember my level... But anyway... You seem to be VERY decitated gamer.. You are going to start game again because someone said that you need more HP?... I laugh at guides... I only level up internationally(it usually happens when I'm trying to get items from monsters or something similar)when I can't beat boss. And I do it until I beat it. There is no "right" way...(though I never bothered to do bonus dungeons... ^^;)

And yees... Karol's reactions were funny. I also liked how everyone of Vesperia group noticed Repede acting strangely.

From me: I know that there are many names in the games, but that's mere coincidence.

And about starting a new game...if there's something I hate the most, then I need to maximixe whatever I have to beat the ultimate boss in order to feel very good with myself. "Glares at Freya from Star Ocean 3"

And thank you. :)

From Saiked: great chap... Is really Repedes plans shattered? will he find a way to stay? probably not, is it just me or have you been ignoring zelda?(havent heard much from her really

From me: If you want to know, then you're wasting time. The answer is just a few pages below. XD Just kidding. Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Well, so much for Repede's evil plan!...I hope. If there's one thing I've learned from writing, it's that you should expect the unexpected...twists are common. Anything can still happen in the next chapter. Why, Rita might stay for at least two more chappies! XD

From me: Now, if I could find an interest in Snake...

Thank you. :)

From TARDISreviewer: I kinda skipped 3 or 4 of the chapters...

anyway, form what I noticed;

Epic in 129.

In 130 I noticed your comments to the reviews... do they imply an FF8 arc? (which I would indeed like to see. Emulators FTW (that's how I've been able to play FF8.)

and any particular reason you changed your name?

From me: Since you skipped those chapters, you lost the reason why I changed my name. And for the FF* question...maybe, but you got 4 FFs ahead than the one I was implying. :P

From IheartKirby: Lucario is a little scary when he's jealous. I wonder if Chris will find out about his plot.

It's been a long time since the sidequests were mentioned. There was a sidequest to find Repede, so I'm guessing the Vesperia crew will give a reward, or Master Hand. Which reminds me, Chris didn't get a reward for finding Laharl... I wonder if Chris realized this?

From me: Oh, right, the sidequests. I was about to forget about them. Luckily, Chris gets what he deserves...and he will remind himself of his rewards when he does. :)

From Mewtrainer: Yikes. That was a freaky dream...glad I didn't have to dream it. XD Particularly when Popo showed up. That was weird.

And Pikachu dreams of ketchup? MH should hire a therapist...XD

Stop listening to Pikachu, Lucario! XD

Why does Karol keep fainting when he sees someone new?

Guess Rita's leaving for now...but wait a sec. When will Rita and Laharl fight? I remember that you said that would happen did it happen and I missed it?

Great chapter as always! Hopefully there'll be more action in the next chapter. See you then!

From me: Didn't Pikachu have a fascination with licking the top of ketchup's bottles in an episode?

If you were a normal person, and out of nowhere you spotted Wolf looking straight to you, would you befriend him or, since you are a normal person, get scared to see a person like him?

And if I ever put up a fight between Rita and Laharl, then I would do it in another fic that isn't this one because it would be unrelated to SSBB.

Thanks. :)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Sorry 'bout not reviewing for quite a while, but I've read your previous chapters, too.

The one thing I like about this chapter is how cunning Repede is. That dastardly dog. It helped open up another side of Lucario.

Keep 'em coming!

From me: Aw, Repede. The first dog to ever smoke a pipe that is also a cunning one... Thanks. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! QUESTION EDITION!

How much longer till final fantasy 8 ?

Will you be doing final fantasy 7 and 6 arcs?

Blastia is basically machines and electronic devices, right?

What's your estimated amount of deaths that could occur if Rita was to meet these characters as they would run away from her and her magic?

the characters:Edward Elric(Fullmetal Alchemist) R.O.B(SSB Brawl) Robo(Crono Trigger) Barret(Final Fantasy 7)

well, inventive typing!

From me: (I cut a lot of your long review, by the way).

It's still a ways away to get to FF8.

FF7? I lack about that game's storyline. FF6? I played the full game so I could do one arc for it.

Blastia? Yes. These machines, however, have some magic mixed with machines.

And for the death thing...I don't know. Thanks.

From Rellymaster: This reminds me of something I've seen before...too bad I haven't a clue as to what it is.

Repede didn't really think he would succeed, right? That is simply a delusion of grandeur. So much for him.

That dream and Rita's domineering attitude made this chapter extra creepy! Good work!

From me: Thank you. :)

Okay, remember when I said that when I get distracted, the chapter usually grows longer? Yes, I know. I have a weird style to write so this chapter ended up being large...so please, don't hate me. T_T

As for edits to previous chapters, I'll try to edit at least 2 chapters per new chapter. I'll do them fast thanks to my English version of Microsoft Word (because my Spanish Microsoft Word didn't recognize the English words).

This is the last chapter for the Vesperians. Will this mean that Repede's plans are going to fall to demise?

Scroll down.

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Chapter 134: Night's Dark Future

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

"So Repede," Yuri began. "How have you been all these days?"

"...Woof, woof!" Repede barked happily and nodded.

Okay, something was off from this little talk...

"Wait," Karol began. "I don't know why, but why do I think you know something that we don't, Yuri?"

"Man," Yuri said as he scratched his head. "You noticed then?"

"Notice what exactly?" Raven asked confused. "I'm afraid I'm not understandin' this at all."

"He could be meaning about Repede," Judith said. "Is that what you mean, Yuri?"

"Heh, right," Yuri said with a chuckle. "It seems Repede enjoyed his personal vacation very much as he wanted."

Music stops with a scratch

Dead silence fell in the room as everyone looked at each other.

"...Pardon me?" Rita broke the silence. "Did I hear well? The dog took a vacation by abandoning us?"

"Yeah," Yuri said. "Cool, isn't? Dogs like him want to take vacations once in a while."

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked happily.

"Wait, what?" Chris asked. "B-but Repede was lost and..."

"Who're you?" Yuri asked.

"I-I'm the one who found Repede outside some days ago. My name is Chris."

"Oh, I see..." Yuri looked back at Repede. "He seems to be very pleased for his vacation in here. Did you take care of him?"

"Y-yes, I did. He's been with me all this time."

"Oh, I see," Yuri said with a nod. "Guess he enjoyed his stance in here very much."

"...This...is..." Lucario muttered as he seemed to get furious.

"Lucario?" Pikachu asked. "Are you okay?"

"No...I'm...not..."

Yuri turned around and looked at Lucario. "Man, what are you? Or, who are you exactly? I haven't met guys like you ever in my life unless you're an Entelexia."

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

The Aura Pokémon roared in extreme fury as almost everything inside the mansion shook violently. Yuri stepped a few feet away from the angry Lucario as some of the others looked somewhat surprised at the sudden action that he decided to make just now.

"Whoa!" Yuri said as reached for his sword. "You're mad and turned into a monster?"

Chris glanced at the fainted Karol (because of the roar) and looked at Lucario a little bit worried. "L-Lucario! W-why did you just ro-"

"SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled angrily. "THIS IS...VERY STUPID!"

"W-what is stupid?" Chris asked as Kirby hid beneath him.

At that moment, half of the Smashers came from the hallways and even upstairs after the roar. The guests in there looked around as the others looked at them.

"..." Yuri just looked. "...Er..."

"..." Chris shook his head. "W-what is stupid?"

"I've been trying ALL DAY to expose that bastard's true intentions!" Lucario yelled as he pointed at Repede with a glowing hand. "That dog shouldn't be allowed to live that easily on my watch!"

"..." Rita looked at Repede. "Well, we think the same things."

"Rita!" Estelle yelled.

Repede merely blinked.

"Don't bring that stupid nonsense again!" Lucario yelled. "Chris, and everyone in here, Repede wants to separate people from each other by liking him!"

"Oh noez!" Popo screamed. "It's the end of the world!"

Nana slapped him.

"Repede told me last night that he wants to do it himself!" Lucario yelled. "He even said that he was evil!"

Everyone looked at Repede, and the dog merely looked back at them.

"Chris, he wants to separate me from you by making me look stupid while he attracts you even closer to him!" Lucario yelled. "Even if he's a trained dog, he's a trained dog that wants to cause despair to people!"

"...Oh..." Judith said with several nods. "Continue please..."

"Don't let him make you think he's good in any way," Lucario said as he glared down at the dog. "This imbecile has to die before he does more foolish things around here!"

Lucario raised his glowing hand of aura, showed his fangs at Repede, and many of them gasped.

"Whoa there!" Yuri interrupted as he grabbed Lucario's hand in the air. "You're not going to hurt Repede on my watch."

"And who are you to tell me what to do and what is right?!" Lucario asked with pure rage. "He is a bastard, and you know that very well!"

"Repede's been a hero of The Capital for a long time," Yuri said. "I doubt he's evil."

"What?!" Lucario asked.

"You hear me," Yuri said. "Repede here is a hero of the people of the lower quarter."

The Capital has its castle on the highest point, followed by wealthy mansions and houses, that are then followed by a big section called the lower quarter, where many poor people (as well as Yuri and Repede) live.

"This bastard is a hero?!" Lucario asked with rage. "I'm not going to believe that stupid lie!"

"You're talking with his owner himself," Yuri pointed out. "Repede is the leader of a pack of weak dogs that once were ordered by bad and strong leaders. They caused panic to the weak, and even caused havoc to the people of the lower quarter."

"...Ah!" Karol got up. "You mean that story?"

"Okay, I'm not going to go that much into detail," Yuri said to everyone (who seemed to be interested at this sudden explanation). "Long story short, Repede decided to become strong and protect everyone by defeating the leaders...and now he's their boss."

"..."

A dead silence fell in as Repede sat down proud.

"...Hmm..." Marth rubbed his chin. "...Admirable."

"Yeah," Roy said. "Who would've thought that he did it?"

"That was incredible," Zelda said. "I can't believe Repede became stronger to protect his loved ones."

Many of the Smashers began to praise Repede's action as Chris seemed to be really impressed by the stor-

"SHUT UP!" Lucario yelled. "I can't believe you're all believing that false lie! So he defeated some useless dogs and what?! That's just a cloak to hide his annoying attitude!"

"Hey you," Yuri began. "Stop being a smart ass around Repede."

"What did you just say?! GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted with pure fury at Yuri.

"Hey," Link interrupted. "You shouldn't start a fight in here, Lucario."

"Who's asking you?!" Lucario asked. "Repede needs to die right here!"

"H-hey!" Karol glared at Lucario. "You shouldn't be acting like that towards Repede!"

"You better shut your mouth," Lucario threatened. "Repede only that so he could get away with anything he wanted in front of everyone. He shouldn't go unpunished!"

"B-but Repede is a good dog!" Estelle interrupted. "I-I don't see why he needs to be executed unfairly!"

"Unfairly?! Have you been listening to what I was trying to say all this time?!" Lucario asked furiously. "Get in that stupid little head of yours that Repede is nothing but a big bastard!"

"H-hey!" Estelle glared at him. "You should not dare to yell at me again!"

"You're being a fool for believing in that dog!"

A sudden big argument erupted between Lucario, Yuri, Estelle, Karol, and even most of the Smashers in the lobby. Everyone was against Lucario's ideas that grew more and more violent as time passed. The Aura Pokémon argued and argued loudly about murdering Repede while everyone else argued and argued...as well.

And for Rita, Chris, C. Falcon, Repede, Raven, Judith, and Kirby...

"My my," Judith commented as she saw the argument. "We're surely grumpy today, aren't we?"

"Hmm," Rita said simply. "I want to see if someone dies today."

"T-that's kind of cruel..." Kirby commented.

"Sorry, but sometimes I do enjoy pointless ramblings like this one."

"Man," Raven said as he cleaned his right ear. "All this argument is makin' me feel tired."

"Kidding aside," Judith began. "Repede is clearly a good dog."

Repede whined.

"I know," Judith said with a nod. "You're not a bad dog, are you?"

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked.

"I dunno how to talk Repedish," Raven joked. "So I'm afraid I don't understand that much."

"?" C. Falcon looked at Chris getting up. "Where are you going?"

Chris took a deep breath and looked at everyone arguing against Lucario. "SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!"

Needless to say, they didn't stop, or Chris can't yell that loud.

"..." Chris blinked worried.

"You hafta yell louder than that if you want to stop all of them," Raven suggested. "Have anythin' good in mind?"

"..." Chris looked at Repede before looking at Lucario. "...I have an idea."

"I can't believe you support that filthy son of a-" Lucario stopped arguing as he saw Chris rubbing his cheek with Repede's head. "Chris! You get away from that filthy mutt because I'm going to k-"

"Lucario, shut up!" Chris yelled as he stood up.

Everyone else stopped arguing between themselves and looked at the World Traveler.

"B-but Chris!" Lucario yelled. "D-did he do something to you to hate me?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris asked with a glare as he walked to Lucario. "The only imbecile I'm seeing today is you and not Repede!"

"Dramatic gasp!" Popo said before Nana slapped him.

"W-what?" Lucario asked in disbelief. "N-no..."

"What is wrong with you?" Chris asked. "You're not like this at all, Lucario! Why are you acting so weird today to the point to think about killing everyone and Repede?"

"Because Repede..." Lucario trailed off.

Pikachu sighed and walked to Lucario's side. "Chris, Lucario is jealous of Repede because he spends more time with you as Lucario trains outside but he doesn't because he has to maintain an eye on Repede so Lucario could stop him from getting closer to you so Repede could "take you apart" from Lucario."

"..." Everyone looked at Lucario.

"In a few words," Pikachu began annoyed. "Lucario is jealous of Repede!"

"Pikachu!" Lucario yelled. "Why did you say that?!"

"Oh, now I get it," Yuri said. "You're jealous of my dog because he's spending time with that kid (Chris: Teen!), right?"

"I..." Lucario looked away.

"What are you?" Yuri asked. "Are you some kind of dog to him?"

"He is a dog to him," Falco said.

"What?!" Lucario asked.

"Admit it and face it," Falco began. "You act like Chris's dog around him."

"T-that's not true!"

"Oh, that's so true, alright!" Chris yelled angrily. "Lucario, I knew you were jealous of Repede the first moment he appeared a few days ago!"

"Y-you..." Lucario shook his head. "T-that's not the point here! The point here is that Repede is an evil bastard who wants to make you forget about me!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Is that it?" Chris asked.

"...Yes..." Lucario said.

Chris looked at Repede. "Okay, I believe we need to sort everything out to reach to a final verdict or something like that," he said. "If Lucario is right, Repede is going to be punished, but if Repede is right, then Lucario is going to be punished."

"..." Lucario and the others remained silent.

"Repede," Chris began as the dog looked up to him. "Are you evil as Lucario says?"

Repede whined and shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Woof!" Repede barked.

"..." Chris turned to Lucario. "Now, do you have a contradiction to that?"

"I do," Lucario said with a glare. "When he first slept with us, I talked with him through telepathy and he clearly said that he was evil and wanted to make everyone here forget about me, including you, Chris!"

"...Is that true?" Chris asked.

"I listened every single word of what he said. I'm not lying."

"..." Chris turned to Repede. "Is that true, Repede?"

Repede shook his head.

Yuri, Raven, Karol, Marth, Roy, Link, C. Falcon, and even Pikachu held a furious Lucario from reaching Repede as the Aura Pokémon grunted and growled angrily while the 8 tried to keep him away from murdering the dog.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled as he slapped Lucario (and got his hand red, but became numb to it). "Stop it!"

"LET ME GO AND KILL HIM!" Lucario demanded as he tried to get himself out from the 8. "THAT BASTARD HAS BEEN PISSING ME OFF FOR A LONG TIME!"

"Ugh," Chris gave up. "Rita!"

"What do you want now?" Rita asked (as she seemed to be minding her own business rather than the argument).

"Teach Lucario a painful lesson so he can stop his ideas from murdering Repede."

"Ooh, no way," Rita said as she shook her head. "I'm not going to let you order me and tell me what to d-"

"I'll give you Samus's stuff, Snake's spy stuff, Fox's, Falco's, and Wolf's Blasters, Reflectors, and even headgears."

"Deal," Rita said satisfied with the idea.

"Hey!" most of the previously mentioned Smashers said angry.

"Why do we always have to resort to violence?" Estelle asked. "Why can't we talk things calmly?"

"Estelle," Rita began as she opened her book. "Some things should be better resolved through violence. In this case, violence is the answer."

"Y-you're saying that because it's going to benefit you!"

"And I'm not giving anything to her either," Fox interrupted with a glare.

Rita sighed. "Fine! I'm going to stop this once and for all!"

"Bu-" Chris wondered for a moment. "...Oh, it's going to work for you though."

Rita stepped in front of the furious Lucario as he tried to get off from the 8. Lucario seemed to be completely out of his calm self because he was biting the air in pure rage.

"...Times like this call for more painful moments..." Rita said before she glared forward. "I'm so gonna make you hurt!" she called out as she spun one time and called for her Over Limit. "Everyone, get the hell out of here and leave this guy to me!"

"W-why's that?" Raven asked scared.

"I'm gonna use my Mystic Arte on him."

"W-what?" Yuri asked.

"Oh, you'll have to receive the attack though," Rita said. "I can't let the dog-thing get away that easily."

"..." The 8 looked at each other worried.

"W-wait, what?" Karol asked worried.

"We're gonna get hurt by Rita," Yuri summarized. "Better resist this one."

"Oh man..." Roy sighed.

"What the heck are you all waiting for?!" Rita asked to the Smashers. "Or do you want to die?!"

"Rita!" Estelle yelled. "I thought you were going to stop him!"

"I-I mean, do you want to get hurt?!"

The Smashers remembered the horrible fate that Matthew (the pogo-sword) went through by Rita and they ran away from the lobby.

"Here I go then..." Rita said as she made sure that nobody (except Lucario, the 8 restraining him, and herself) were the only ones in there.

The whole lobby turned empty with a blackish red as a background with the others and Rita, who moved her hands to the front. "O power that lies at the root of all creation," she said as she put her hands closer with closed eyes as she spun around 1 time and spread 4 spheres of earth, water, fire, and wind across. "O memory inscribed in ages past!" she yelled as the spheres of elements began to shine brighter. "Hear my call and arise before me!" she called out before she opened her eyes. "Ancient Catastrophe!"

The spheres suddenly shot at their intersecting point and exploded into a huge explosion of elements. The Aura Pokémon roared in extreme pain as the other 8 resisted, but then they later screamed loudly in pain as well.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!"

"Die, you beast, die!" Rita yelled through all the blindness of the catastrophic attack.

A blind (as mentioned before)...blinded the whole place...

Several minutes later...

"Oh my god..." Chris began as everyone else reappeared from the hallways. "...This was much even worse than I thought..."

In a few words...small, few, smart words...

The whole lobby looked pretty much like crap, even crappier than it was the last time. Holes, huge cracks, sand where the sofas used to be, holes to outside, windows broken, and even cracked floors made up the lobby...

Or what used to be the lobby.

But, see the bright side. The lobby was the only room destroyed.

"..." Chris walked to Rita. "Did I even tell you to BLOW UP the whole lobby?!"

"You asked me to give him a painful lesson, didn't you?" Rita asked as she pointed at the unconscious 9. "Well, I did."

"B-but not the whole lobby as well!"

"Meh, you should have said so then."

"Ugh..." Chris gave up again. He looked down at the extremely hurt Lucario (and others). "...Looks like you're calmer now."

"..." Lucario didn't want to look at Chris.

"Estelle," Rita began. "Heal the 8 except the dog."

"R-right..." Estelle said with a nod.

Several minutes again...

"One last time," Chris said. "Since Lucario can't virtually hurt Repede, let's try this again."

"Or just ask Repede the last question again," Pikachu suggested.

Chris looked at Repede. "Repede, for the last time... Is it true that you talked with Lucario?"

Repede nodded.

"Is it true that you said you were evil?"

Repede nodded.

"...Wait..." Chris shook his head. "L-let me ask again... Is it true that you're evil?"

Repede shook his head.

"This is not making any sense at all now..." Karol trailed off.

"He said he mentioned he was evil," Chris summarized. "But then he said he wasn't evil."

"I see...he's lying even more..." Lucario muttered on the floor. "...The...bastard..."

"Repede," Yuri began. "Since I'm the only one in here that understands you even more...did you do this because..."

Repede nodded. "Woof! Woof, woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof, woof! Woof, woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof!"

"..." Yuri smiled and nodded. "Oh, that's very clear then!"

Everyone else in the room seemed to be receiving short fuses inside their brains as they didn't understand anything Repede said.

"Repedish," Raven said to no one in particular. "Nobody understands Repedish unlike Yuri here."

"I-I'm afraid I don't understand," Zelda said worried. "I-I couldn't understand anything he said..."

"I think NOBODY understood the dog," Ness said.

"I did," Yuri said.

"Will you just explain what he said?!" Chris asked utterly irritated. "I'm sick of all this nonsense about Repede! I want to see if he is right or not to punish the right culprit!"

"Settle down," Yuri said. "Repede was playing around with "Lucario" all the time."

A record scratched.

"...So Repede was just pissing Lucario off out of amusement?" Chris asked.

"Nah, more like having amusement with him," Yuri said before Repede barked more. "He said that "Lucario" was pissing himself off all the time by his crazy assumptions."

Lucario tried to get up and attack Repede, but his injuries said otherwise and he fell down silently.

"..." Chris wondered for a moment. "Repede asked you for a vacation."

"Yeah," Yuri said.

"He wanted to have amusement."

"Yeah."

"He found this place, and he instantly knew Lucario liked me."

"Yeah."

"So he played and made Lucario uncomfortable to see what Repede could find out of amusement from him while Repede stayed with me."

"Yeah."

"Repede just acted a little bit weird around me so Lucario could never take an eye out of Repede."

"Yeah."

"And at the end, Repede became satisfied after you came here."

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked with a nod.

"He said it's true," Yuri said. "Repede was just playing around your dog (Lucario: I'll...kill you some of these days...) to find fun."

"..." Rita walked to Yuri. "Ahem. You do know that was so unrequired, right?"

"It was?"

"Of course," Rita said pissed. "Because of your dog, we ended up leaving Dahngrest to later fight that previous commandant. You know how problematic is that?"

"A-and we were so worried about him as well!" Estelle added.

"Yeah, I know," Yuri said. "Guess Repede took his sweet time."

Repede barked.

"He said he had enough."

"That's pretty much very anno...wait a minute," Rita began as she eyed Yuri. "How the hell do you know what he's saying? All I heard was barks."

"I understand Repede very well," Yuri explained. "...But I don't know if he understands me."

Repede whined.

"Y-you little... D-don't make it more confusing that it already is!" Rita yelled before she turned and crossed her arms. "Anyway, since all the "gang" is together, can we leave this place already? I'm getting sick of getting annoyed by everyone in here for taking their things for just some minutes."

"You do know all of them have contradictions that you won't admit, right?" Karol asked bored.

"Y-you shut up!"

"Finally!" Pikachu spoke. "The wars between these 2 are done!"

Everyone began to talk with each other as Chris went to Estelle and looked to Lucario.

"Can I ask you to heal him?" Chris asked.

"I-is it okay now?" Estelle asked. "I don't want to see anyone dying...let alone Repede."

"No, Lucario won't kill anyone..." Chris said as they looked at Lucario. "He seems very ashamed of his actions now."

"...Okay..." Estelle said before she concentrated her healing magic. "Holy power, come to me! First Aid!"

A light appeared right inside Lucario and his wounds were healed to the half. He started to get up with some grunts.

"One more, wait," Estelle said. "Holy power, come to me! First Aid!"

And Lucario was fully recovered as he was able to stand up. However, he noticed Chris standing in front of him.

"I'm...so sorry..." Lucario said worried as he looked away. "I guess my rage blinded me to the extreme today..."

"Oh, it did," Chris said...

...But there was something wrong with the tone of his voice.

"Why are you sounding like that?" Lucario asked.

"Lucario," Chris crossed his arms. "I understand that you were jealous of Repede all this time, and I hope we're clear that you won't kill him either, right?"

"I...won't..." Lucario said.

"But," Chris continued. "There's something I won't forgive you, ever."

Lucario started to look even more preoccupied. "W-what?"

"You told me to shut up."

Lucario's eyes widened. "W-wait, t-that was just a little mistake of my part. R-remember that my rag-"

"And not only that," Chris continued. "You started a whole racket right in this place, and you even let me to ask Rita to calm you down by using magic."

"S-she was..."

"And finally," Chris continued. "You tried to kill Repede at least 3 times today. I recall that you weren't going to after the first time, but you didn't hesitate to do it at the second part."

"When was the third time, then?" Lucario asked.

"I saw you wanted to get up."

Lucario's pupils shrunk.

"But you were injured."

"I-I didn't want to ki-"

"And your eyes were focused on Repede."

"H-how did you notice all that?"

"I know you very well," Chris said simply. "And you know me very well."

"W-well..."

"Kneel down."

Lucario gasped out loud and everyone in the room stopped talking and looked at them. "W-wait! C-Chris, please, not in front o-"

"Kneel down or I'll make it worse! You haven't seen what else I can do to punish you!"

"Hey, what's happenin' now?" Raven asked.

"N-nothing!" Lucario yelled. "Y-you don't need to see thi-"

"Kneel down!" Chris yelled angrily.

"C-can we do this but in another place tha-"

"KNEEL DOWN!"

"Ugh!" Lucario gasped and he quickly knelt down. He apparently looked very scared (to the point of trembling in horror).

"...I'm sorry for asking, but what's happening?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, nothing," Chris said as he walked behind Lucario. "Don't mind this at all."

"What are you going to do?" Pikachu asked.

"This little disobedient bastard (Lucario: I-I already said I'm sorry! Forgive me!) needs to be punished so that little head of his learns what he shouldn't do around people."

The World Traveler slammed his kick on Lucario's back and he left it there.

"U-um..." Pichu looked unsure. "W-what kind of punishment is that?"

"Oh, don't worry," Chris said with a smile. "This punishment is going to hurt me even more than Lucario."

'R-really?" Lucario asked as he looked at him over his shoulder.

"...Actually, no," Chris said. "I don't get the meaning of that at all. It's going to hurt you even more than me."

The World Traveler did the unthinkable...

He grabbed the 4 appendages hanging from Lucario's head and the Aura Pokémon gulped and began to sweat.

"Let me remind you again," Chris warned Lucario. "We already did this once back in our house where you almost killed my aunt."

"I-I thought she looked rather shady! I-it's not my fault she had a creepy laugh!"

"Don't make me do the punishment worse," Chris muttered. "Good thing I saw the light of your Aura Sphere behind the closet before you could harm her. I adore my aunt because she took care of me ever since my parents..." Chris shook his head. "I shouldn't go further into details..."

"Y-yes...hahahaha..." Lucario faked a laugh. "C-can you let me go of my appendages?"

"Let me re-think what you did today," Chris thought for half a second. "Nope."

And the pulling began.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGHHH!!!" Lucario roared in pain as his eyes widened and his head began to rise.

The others watched somewhat scared about the punishment. But Chris continued as his hands hung to Lucario's appendages very tightly.

"Are you sure you're not going to get that furious again?!" Chris asked angrily.

"Y-yes!" Lucario said as he tried to nod. "I-I won't kill anyone unless you say so!"

"I want to hear true emphasis for those words!" Chris yelled as he pulled even harder.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" Lucario roared more in pain as some even began to block their ears.

"Are you sure you're not going to get that furious again?!" Chris repeated.

"I-I'm very sure!" Lucario cried out. "K-killing people without good reasons is bad! I-I understand very well!"

"Gosh, look at his eyes," Ivysaur whispered to Squirtle. "They're getting full of tears."

"Of pain," Squirtle whispered back.

"...Got any popcorn?"

"Nope."

"Snap."

"I want to hear even more emphasis than that!" Chris yelled.

"W-why isn't enough for you?!" Lucario cried out.

"SHUT UP!"

More pulling.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucario cried out even more in pain.

"Are you sure you're not going to get that furious again?!" Chris repeated.

"Y-yes! I-I'm very sure..." Lucario started to cry. "I-I understand very well..." He sobbed. "P-please, no more... I-I'll think before doing the next time... I-I promise a-and it's my word..."

"..." Chris felt apologetic. "...Phew, it's over."

The World Traveler let go of Lucario's appendages and he pulled his foot back to him as Lucario got up and rubbed his appendages with one hand before looking at Chris. "I-I'm very sorry...really... I-If I get like that again, I'm going to remember what will come to me as punishment..."

"You sure will," Chris said as he nodded several times. "But it'll be worse, I tell you."

Lucario's eyes widened. "I-I understand..."

"...My god," Red began. "That was some serious punishment..."

"I know how to punish Lucario the right way," Chris said as some sort of creepy look made his face. "You could say I know how to punish every single Pokémon..." he muttered.

Pikachu gulped and he blocked his cheeks.

Pichu grabbed his little tail.

Jigglypuff took out a scarf and wrapped it around her mouth (and herself).

Squirtle hid in his shell (that shook).

Ivysaur had a better idea and hid behind Red.

Red rolled his eyes.

Worried, Pikachu walked to Lucario. "Did it hurt? I-I mean, do you think they can be taken off from your head?"

"I-I don't think so..." Lucario said. "They can't be pulled off from my head...but it really hurts if someone pulls them very hard as Chris does..."

"Ouch..." Pikachu muttered. "...You have my condolences."

"...Okay!" Chris said as he suddenly looked enthusiastic. "Everyone learned something new today, right?"

A dead silence fell in, and some Kricketots peered from the windows and chirped a little before disappearing.

Tales of Vesperia - United Oath

"...That we really should mind our own business," Rita said as she broke the silence. "Otherwise, you'll end up severely punished."

"And why do you say that? Because I don't see why it applies to you as we-" Karol stopped before Rita glared at him. "I-I mean, you're absolutely right!"

"I knew it."

"Since Repede is not guilty of anything," Yuri began as he looked bored at the Smashers. "...What the hell are you guys? Or, who are you?"

Some of them (mostly the anthros) seemed to glare at him.

Yuri seemed to be pretty confused to see a robot.

"Oh, knock it off..." Samus said.

Chris shifted his eyes. "...Oh, forget it! I'm not going to give another tour in here!" he yelled. "You're on your own!"

"Hey, what did I do?" Yuri asked a little bit surprised.

"Nothing..." Chris shook his head. "Wait, where's Master Hand? I thought he was supposed to come after Rita was going to blow up this lobby."

"By the way..." Olimar walked to Chris and gave him a paper. "I found this on the door of his office."

"..." Chris looked at the note.

To my true house's tenants and not the other people:

I'm going to relieve my stress from commanding you guys by taking a vacation to Delfino Island (with my brother) and stay away for a while. I know this is very sudden of me, but I want to relax for a little while. Don't worry, I don't think Tabuu will have an eye on the 2 of us because he wouldn't think about invading Mario's world again.

...

And no, I didn't take this vacation to hide from anyone. Don't say otherwise or ELSE.

Your truly,
Master Hand.

P.S.: Advice me if those guests leave the mansion so I can think about coming back sooner.

P.S.S.: The cocktails in here are the best of the best.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Chris muttered. "Does anyone know about this?"

"I passed the note around," Olimar said.

"...Well, this turns the mansion into some sort of vacational spot," Chris said. "And it's afternoon so we should do whatever we want."

The World Traveler noticed that many of the people in there began to disperse around the mansion.

Judith seemed to be gone (and Chris thought C. Falcon might had something to do with her since he wasn't around).

And, if it was irony or not, Chris saw Yuri (with Repede by his side) talking with almost all the swordsmen.

"Well..." Chris trailed off. "I think we can rest assured today. What do you think, Olimar?"

Olimar was gone.

"Oh, sure! Leave me talking to me alone!" Chris yelled.

He turned around and found an ashamed Lucario.

"..." Lucario looked at him. "Are you...mad at me?"

Chris sighed. "...Just don't let your mind make you think weird things, okay?"

"..." Lucario nodded silently.

Chris looked worried. "If you want, you can follow me and drop your training for a little while."

"..." Lucario walked closer to Chris and nodded. But still, he looked ashamed.

The World Traveler looked worried before he decided to walk to their room as his Pokémon followed.

As with Yuri and the swordsmen...

"So your last name is Lowell," Marth said to Yuri. "Funny, that's my last name too."

According to an anime based of the games were Marth appeared, his last name is Lowell. As an extra, the anime also pointed out that Marth's tiara once belonged to her sister, Elice.

"I thought mine was original," Yuri said with a chuckle. "Hey, I've noticed there are some...unique people living in here. You guys used to them?"

"Oh, we're very used to see "unique" people," Link said. "It's very common to us to meet people like them."

"Guess that was obvious since you live here," Yuri said. "By the way, this might sound odd to you but..." He paused for a moment to think if it was fine to talk about something that happened to him. "...Have you seen any nocturnal beasts?"

"Nocturnal beasts?" Ike asked. "I don't recall seeing any kind of creatures like that."

"If you mean some small machines with big eyes..." Marth trailed off.

"No, those nocturnal beasts didn't have those features," Yuri said. "Some few days ago, these rare monsters began to appear at night in the forest where I was sleeping. Apparently, they were very hostile the moment they locked their eyes on me and went so far as to cut down the tree I was leaning to."

"Care to explain more?" Link asked.

"Yeah. Anyway, these beasts were not that dangerous though. I was able to defeat some of them so I could hide away in the bushes. I wanted to find out more about these creatures but I couldn't find anything."

"Hmm..." Roy wondered. "But are you sure you didn't find anything else?"

"Besides the fact they appeared at night and seemed to be staring at the moon while I was hiding, no," Yuri explained. "But man, I haven't seen anything like them. I've fought many monsters before but these ones looked rather...ominous."

"So," Marth began. "You're saying these beasts only appear at night."

"Yeah."

"And they like to stare at the moon when nobody is around."

"Well, I was around but they dropped out the hunting they had on me."

"..." Marth focused. "...Nocturnal beasts that appear at night and like to stare at the moon..."

"Is the part of staring at the moon that important?" Roy asked.

"...It is," Marth said with a nod. "Think about it. What kind of monsters like to stare at the moon when nobody is around? Have any of you met monsters like or does anyone in here know about them?"

"How did they look like?" Ike asked suddenly.

"Well, their looks were the most surprising parts," Yuri said. "They were all black, they had blue and red outlines wherever they turned around. Some of them were smaller but they were a lot, and some of them were big with big maces but they were very few compared to the smaller ones."

"So, does anyone know?" Marth asked.

"No," they all said.

"The Twilit come close, but they're not like that," Link said.

"Since Link is the only one here who has fought different kinds of monsters than any of us," Marth began. "We don't know any kind of monsters like that."

"Oh," Yuri said as Repede yawned. "Then maybe you should be careful if they try to ambush you at night."

"But..." Marth wondered more. "What kind of creatures are they?"

"Living nightmares," Yuri said. "Because they interrupted my dreams." He looked around. "...Where's the dog guy?"

"Who, Lucario?" Roy asked.

"Yeah," Yuri said before he looked at Repede. "Honestly speaking, Repede seems to be rather ashamed for making Lucario feel jealous of him. I went a little bit too far at him that Repede understood what he did."

"Woof!" Repede barked.

Link looked bored at Yuri. "Translate that."

Yuri chuckled. "He said that he thought about what he did all these days and he wants to apologize."

"I was with Lucario's side though..." Ike muttered to himself.

And so, the day went ahead. It seemed that Yuri and Judith managed to cope well with some of the Smashers as Karol did. Estelle was very happy to reunite the guild together. However, Yuri proposed to return to Dahngrest the day after this day so they could resume where they left on.

Sure, they weren't going to forget what they found in the Smash Mansion...

I mean, Kirby must be something or someone that is not easy to forget. What about the theory of the black hole residing inside his stomach...?

Oh, forget what I said.

The afternoon went on...and eventually night came in.

Raven's Room

The old man was resting on his bed as the night went on. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he forgot something...

"Hmm..." Raven wondered. "What did Judy say? Monsters appearin' at night?" he asked to himself before turning. "Heh, that's some crazy idea of hers. Besides, there isn't anybody out there at this hour."

With that, he drifted off to sleep and began snoring out loud.

Or, to make it more understandable, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he forgot SOMEONE out there...

Outside

Environmental Noises

An arrow fell down to the grass, but it didn't descend fast.

"D-dammit!" yelled an exhausted Toon Link. "T-this is the 168th time!"

Around the tired swordsman, the whole field around him was covered by what looked to be 336 arrows across the whole plain. Toon Link panted heavily after he couldn't master the technique that Raven wanted to taught him.

Of course, it would be victory if Toon Link mastered it.

"T-this is harder than I thought..." Toon Link said as he panted. "B-but I need to do this..." he muttered. "Or Raven is going to leave sooner before I complete this..."

As he panted heavily, some bushes shook.

"Huh?" Toon Link turned around. "...Did those bushes shake just now?"

Toon Link shook his head.

"M-maybe I'm starting to hear weird things..." he muttered before he looked at the sky and prepared his bow.

Although he turned his back to the sky, he couldn't see a bright eye staring at him through the bushes...

Lucario's Room

This night was completely different for the World Traveler and the Aura Pokémon.

Why, you ask?

Simple.

1) Chris was still a little bit angry at Lucario.

2) Lucario was ashamed even after he received his punishment through his appendages (and thus he ended up having them half-bandaged).

And most important of all...

3) Lucario was resting on the floor while he was sitting close to the bed.

Lucario sighed. "(This is what happens when I get enraged...)" he thought as he glanced at Chris. "(I know I should deserve this but...the fact that Repede was deceiving me...)"

"..." Chris moved a little.

"(...This is somewhat unfair to me...)"

"..." Chris sat up and he looked very tired.

Lucario looked at him. "It's...what? 12:54?"

"Hmmmmmm..." Chris grumbled as he got out from the bed.

Lucario opened his mouth a little as Chris walked to the door. "W-where are you going?" Lucario asked.

"Bread...juice...now..." Chris said groggily before he left the room.

"..." Lucario thought for a moment before following Chris.

Hallway

As Chris made his way to the kitchen, Lucario tried to reason with him.

"I-I know I was being a total idiot this day..." Lucario said behind Chris. "A-and I know I shouldn't have yelled at you for no reason either."

"Hmmm..." Chris grumbled.

"B-but don't you think you're taking this a little bit too far for me?"

"..." Chris seemed to be thinking. "...Maybe..."

Oh, there was hope for Lucario before 1:00 PM could hit.

"S-so, are you going to stop hating me?" Lucario asked (a little bit excited).

"...No..." Chris responded groggily.

Lucario gasped silently. "B-but I can't take this anymore... Please, forgive me today..."

"..." Chris stopped...but then he continued walking.

"...I beg of you..." Lucario whispered sadly. "If there's something I can't take very well, it's that you hate me..."

"..." Chris walked down the stairs, and Lucario had to follow.

Kitchen

"...Lucario..." Chris muttered.

Lucario knew what was coming to him. "Y-yes?"

"..." Chris opened the fridge. "...I..."

Lucario nodded.

"I..."

"Yes?"

"..." He closed the fridge. "...I don't know what to eat..."

"..." Lucario's eyes widened as he seemed to breath in and out. "...I'm want you to forgive me...I follow you all the way here...and...and yet..."

You knew where this was going, right?

Unfortunately...

"Lucario!" Chris suddenly spoke as he seemed to be fully awakened.

Lucario blinked confused. "W-what?"

"You were going to get into a fit of rage, weren't you?"

Lucario gasped. "I-I wasn't! I-I swear I wasn't! P-please, forgive me!"

Chris sighed. "Look, I made this up so suddenly because I wanted to see if you could AT LEAST wait for someone to get to your point! You need to be patient before someone helps you!"

"I-I knew you were going to say that..." Lucario said as he chuckled nervously. "I-I was just..."

"You're so bad at lying," Chris muttered. "Shame on you."

"..." Lucario quickly hugged Chris with his right arm. "J-just forgive me! I-I want you to forgive me so badly!" he yelled loudly.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled through Lucario's grip. "Y-you're going to kill me that less but still powerful brute force of yours!"

Lucario let Chris go. "I...just want you to forgive me..."

"..." Chris sighed. "...Maybe tomorrow..."

Lucario looked down.

"If you can wait until then, it's going to be better."

"...I'll do it," Lucario said.

"I'll wait to see if you can do that."

Both of them looked at the table and found Meta Knight.

"He takes a lot of time to calm down," Meta Knight said.

"W-what are you doing at this hour?" Chris asked.

"Can I ask the same as well?"

"..."

"...He has a point..." Lucario muttered. "I don't think you suddenly woke up to test me because you can't wake up when you want."

Chris looked down. "...I don't know either..."

Lucario frowned.

"Maybe I need to eat something..." Chris muttered before he opened the fridge.

"But then, what are you doing at this hour?" Lucario asked.

"I wanted to relieve myself of the sudden events," Meta Knight explained. "I thought it would be a good idea to stay here and eat while everyone was sleeping. I could relax tha way, but then you came out of nowhere and didn't even notice me."

"...Oh..." Lucario muttered.

"..." Meta Knight looked away. "Well, just don't try to do something weird tonight. You 2, and Toon Link, are the only ones awake."

"He is?" Chris asked as he closed the fridge (and took out a yogurt).

"Yes," Meta Knight said. "But I haven't heard of him for about 10 minutes ago."

Chris looked at the window. "I hope he...what's he doing outside again?"

"He's training his marksman's skills."

"Oh," Chris said as a big shadowy figure walked nearby the window and blocked it for a moment. "...Well, I just hope he doesn't get too tired or..."

The other 2 seemed to be staring out as well.

...Wait just a minute...

"...W-what was that just now?!" Chris asked panicked.

"Hmm," Meta Knight muttered. "Then what I heard from our guests was true after all."

"W-what is true?" Chris asked.

"I heard from them that some monsters appear during night and that they roam about to attack any stranger," Meta Knight explained. "I thought it was just some kind of stupid thing, but it looks like I was wrong."

"A-are we going to fight them?" Chris asked. "I-it's very late..."

"In truth, they have been roaming around the mansion for quite a while now."

"What?" Lucario asked. "Why didn't you do anything?"

"Because they don't seem to attack people living inside houses," Meta Knight explained. "It's like a typical monster. They don't attack you unless you are inside their turf."

"B-but I'm still worried..." Chris muttered. "What if they decide to attack?"

"They won't," Meta Knight said. "Unless we bother them, then we'll have to fight."

"There are monsters walking around the mansion," Lucario reminded the Star Warrior. "We shouldn't be standing around without doing nothing."

"They're monsters if they attack people," Meta Knight said. "However, do you see them attacking someone?"

"I..." Lucario trailed off.

It was not long before one of the big shadowy creatures carried Toon Link over its spiked shoulder. The little swordsman seemed to be tied up with a bandage on his mouth, and he was struggling to get off.

Once he caught an eye on the 3 inside the mansion, he mumbled loudly to get their attention.

"..." Meta Knight looked outside and found Toon Link in his moment of help. The Star Warrior unsheathed Galaxia. "And it seems they're monsters."

"Duh," Chris muttered.

Then he remembered.

"Link!" Chris yelled. "H-he was being taken by them somewhere!"

"If that is true, then those monsters know how to think," Meta Knight said. "In which case...someone is controlling them."

"W-why?"

"Think," Meta Knight said. "Those monsters would have annihilated Toon Link by now, but they're instead kidnapping him, correct?"

"W-well, they seemed to be kidnapping him..." Chris nodded.

"And why would they do that?" Meta Knight asked. "Why didn't they kill him? Or why didn't they eat him if they could?" He looked back outside. "They know what they're doing because someone told them to do this."

"But they didn't attack anyone in here," Lucario said.

"Because they want to patrol more than go right in here and start a riot," Meta Knight said. "They seem to understand that there are many of us here and that they feel outmatched."

"...Meta Knight..." Chris began. "...I can't believe you know all that."

"I understand, listen, and know a lot," Meta Knight said. "I don't want to show off, but many have said that I-"

"T-they're taking Link away!" Chris yelled in panic to remind them.

Meta Knight just sighed. "Let's go out and save the kid."

"Maybe I should tell Master..." Chris trailed off. "...Oh, wait..."

"It would have been better to tell him, but as you remember..." Meta Knight trailed off.

"...Delfino Island with cocktails..." Chris said. Both of them shook their heads before heading out.

Outside

The 3 got out from the mansion and spotted a large group of the mysterious monsters taking Toon Link inside the forest. "Y-you over there!" Chris yelled as he pointed his sword (because he was using the Swordsman job) to the creatures. "L-let go of Link!"

All of the monsters turned to him.

Chris whimpered. "H-he said it!" he yelled as he pointed at Lucario who frowned as a response.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!" Toon Link yelled before he fell down. "MMMMMMMM!!!"

"Hmph." Meta Knight glared at the monsters (but then again, it was difficult to see if he was glaring). "We fight them, now."

Tales of Vesperia - A Formidable Foe Stands in the Way

The horde of monsters didn't hesitate to charge at the 3 (leaving a struggling Toon Link behind) and the trio prepared to fight.

"L-let's see..." Chris studied the enemies. "T-there are a lot of small monsters while there are at least 5 big ones..."

"This could be quite a predicament," Meta Knight commented.

"W-why?"

"Comparing to the bigger ones, the smaller ones outmatch them by their numbers," Meta Knight explained. "There are at least 50 of them."

"T-those claws they have look dangerous..." Chris commented with a gulp.

"Every single feature of them is dangerous," Meta Knight said.

"Why don't we call the others?" Lucario asked.

"No need for that," Meta Knight said as their enemies were getting even closer. "There's a chance to defeat all of them by being just 3..or 4 if we count Toon Link."

The trio looked through the horde and found Toon Link trying to get free from his ropes.

"Someone needs to go there and help him," Meta Knight said. "2 will fall behind and distract the monsters."

"I-I want to be rescuer!" Chris yelled.

"I knew that," Meta Knight said. "You would just get scared by those things."

"Hey!"

"They're here!" Meta Knight yelled. "Go now!"

"I-I'm going!" Chris yelled as he ran around the horde...

"...Wait..." Meta Knight muttered as the whole horde turned to Chris. "No!"

"W-what?" Chris asked as he looked at the side and found the horde of monsters focusing on him. "O-oh no, don't tell me they want t-"

"Run to Toon Link, quick!" Meta Knight ordered as he and Lucario rushed towards the monsters. "These monsters know how to attack!"

Chris screamed loudly as 10 of the smaller monsters accelerated to him. The World Traveler spun around and tossed a bomb.

"S-stay away from me!" Chris yelled as the bomb made contact with the monsters.

However, the bomb just made them back away before resuming their task.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed as he ran to Toon Link.

"No!" Lucario yelled as 5 of the 10 monsters leaped to Chris and pushed him down to the grass.

"Aagh!" Chris yelled in pain before the monsters began to slam their pincers on his back. "AAAH!!! AAAH!!! AAAH!!! AAAH!!!" he screamed continuously as the monsters hit his back in perfect rhythm.

"This is impossible..." Meta Knight muttered. "These creatures can fight very well rather than the monsters we've fought before."

"THEY'RE GOING TO PAY!" Lucario yelled in rage as his hands got covered in a flaring aura. "GUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHH!!!"

The Aura Pokémon leaped to a big monster of darkness and prepared to slam his palms on its head.

"DIE!" Lucario roared as he descended above the monster.

But the most unexpected of the things that he didn't have in mind happened...

His aura disappeared. He felt like some part of himself completely vanished.

"W-what?!" Lucario looked shocked at his hands. "N-no, this can't b-UGH!" He was suddenly pushed away by a big black mace from the monster, making the aura wielder slam his back on a tree. "U-ugh... N-no..." Lucario muttered as he tried to call his aura. "N-no. W-why? W-why is this happening now?"

"Lucario!" Meta Knight yelled within an ambush of the smaller monsters. "What is taking you so long to fight here?!"

"M-my aura disappeared!" Lucario yelled. "I-I can't fight if I don't have my aura!"

Meta Knight was punched by the back by one of the monsters. "And that means?" he asked as he slashed a pincer away.

"M-my brute force disappeared completely..." Lucario said ashamed. "I should have gone to the valley after all..."

"LU-CA-RIO!" Chris yelled between hits. "I-I-I NEED YOUR HELP!"

"C-Chris!" Lucario remembered and he got up. "I-I have to try again... GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAARRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Lucario roared loudly as he charged at the crowd of monsters.

Unfortunately, a big one of them looked over its shoulder, turned around, and slammed its mace right above Lucario, forcing him to stay pinned down on the ground as he yelled in pain.

"Lucario!" Meta Knight yelled as he continuously slashed the pincers fastly. "Can you hear me? Lucario!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Lucario was being attacked on his back as the monster banged and banged its big mace on him. The Aura Pokémon was rendered useless against this action of brutal strength.

"Ugh!" Meta Knight was attacked by one of the smaller monsters since it leaped to him while he was attacking one and slammed both pincers right on his head. The masked knight shook his head one time before 6 leaped to him and piled up above him.

Music stops

There was no chance to win now...

Chris was being brutally punished on his back as he tried to get up.

Meta Knight was being overwhelmed by a swarm of the monsters.

And lastly, Lucario was suffering the same as Chris, but with more pain.

Worst of all, the other 4 big monsters and the rest of the creatures surrounded the 3 to make sure nobody interrupted. These monsters knew how to attack in groups.

Toon Link watched in horror as the 3 couldn't fight back anymore. The swordsman tried to get by using his feet. However, there was the fact that his mouth was blocked by a small tape, and that he was tied up to his shoulders.

"(Everyone!)" Toon Link yelled inside his mind. "(H-hold on! Give me some seconds to get off from this thing! Ugh!)" He struggled to untie his ropes, but it seemed that there was no way as he fell down. "(Damn these ropes, damn those monsters, DAMN THIS TAPE! DAMMIT!)"

And Chris couldn't see more...

"(Anyone...)" Chris thought as he sobbed, becoming numb to the pain on his back. "(I...I'm so sorry... I-I can't go on...)"

"Chris!" Kawashima yelled from his pocket. "If you lose this fight with the others, then a life is going to be taken out of you!"

"(...Does it really matter...)" Chris thought. "(E-even if I come back to fight again...I'll end up like this and...)"

He started to cry in his mind.

"(I-I'm...I-I'm going to die now...and nobody else can hear us...)" He sobbed silently. "(N-no...)"

"(What did I do wrong?)" Meta Knight asked to himself. "(I should have woken up the others to help us... I didn't know these monsters could perform very well in battle and obliterate us...)"

"(C-Chris...)" Lucario thought. "(Don't...die...before...me...please...)"

A sudden silence fell to the 3 as they seemed to be fainting...

...

...Complete...silence...

...

...Absolute...silence...

...

...Nothing...

...

"Take this, Frigid Blast!"

"(Huh?!)" the 3 thought at the same time as some of the smaller monsters were pushed back by a blast of ice (in the shape of an X) and cringed in pain.

"C'mon, wind! Knock 'em around and cut 'em down! Wind Blade!"

A razor wind sliced the monsters that were banging on Chris's back away, and it also reached Toon Link's ropes for bit, enough to cut them in half to set the small Hylian free.

A howl was heard before a fireball slammed on the big monster's back that made it stop from attacking Lucario. Lucario took advantage of this time and he quickly got up as soon as he could and ran away to a safe spot.

"O divine spear, run my enemy through! ...Holy Lance!"

Several spears of light came out around the pile of the smaller monsters that were above Meta Knight and each of the spears struck all of them through (except the masked knight) and made them disappear into dark spheres. Meta Knight quickly got up and jumped out from the crowd of monsters.

"...You?" Meta Knight asked.

Tales of Vesperia - Undying Resolve

"Hey," Yuri spoke as he juggled his sword a bit. "Sorry for being late."

"What are you doing here?" Meta Knight asked.

Out of some miracle, Yuri, Repede, Estelle, and Raven appeared just in time to save the 4 from being brutally murdered by the monsters. The masked warrior watched as Repede carried a weakened Chris on his back while Toon Link followed. As for Lucario, he decided to reunite with all of them by taking advantage of the commotion of the enemies.

"T-thank you...Repede..." Chris muttered before Repede whined a little.

"Oh my..." Estelle said worried. "You're very badly hurt! I'm going to heal you!"

"Well, do it quick," Raven said. "Those monsters didn't like our intervention for even a bit."

"H-how did you know we were in trouble?" Chris asked.

"Repede here heard all the screams from our room," Yuri explained. "He alerted all of us to go outside."

"Rita, Judith, and Karol should be here in a moment," Raven said. "Though we could take these guys out before they arrive here."

"Okay, here's the plan," Yuri began. "Estelle, support us by using magic. Heal the guys here first before focusing on the fight."

"O-okay!" Estelle nodded.

"Raven, Repede, and I will give a frontal attack. If you guys can fight again, don't hesitate in lending us a hand."

"I understand..." Meta Knight nodded.

"Here they come. Estelle!"

"R-right away!" Estelle nodded to heal the 3. "O brilliant angels, grant us your favor! Nurse!"

2 aquatic nurses began to stroll down the field and everyone (except the monsters) recovered at least 60 percent of their health.

"L-life!" Chris cheered as he stood up. "I-I won't die after all!"

"Why would you?" Estelle asked.

"Er...forget what I said..."

"Here they come again!" Meta Knight yelled. "This time, I won't give mercy..."

"I-I wouldn't give mercy in this situati-" Chris stopped once the masked knight pointed his sword directly at his throat. "Y-you're so right..."

"A big one is coming!" Estelle alerted.

"(Since close range combat isn't that very good to me...)" Chris thought before he changed jobs to the ISOKFMG. "O twisted door of distortion, open wide! ...Negative Gate!"

A portal of pure darkness appeared right on the big monster of darkness. However, something was wrong as it grumbled...in pleasure.

"Huh?" Chris said confused. "That didn't work?"

"W-wait, how did you do that?" Estelle asked. "And how did you change clothes so fast?"

Chris gasped in his mind. "I-I was wearing these clothes already."

"Of course you weren't!" Estelle pointed out. "And that was magic like Rita's Negative Gate as well! How can you explain that?"

"Estelle!" Yuri yelled as he was being ambushed. "Get yourself together and give me a hand in here!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Estelle called out. "Come, o silver light! Angel Ring!"

A big ring of light surrounded about 6 of the smaller creatures before it quickly shrunk and pushed them together before a small explosion of light burst right in the middle of them. The smaller creatures shrieked in pain before Yuri came close to them.

"Brutal Fang!" Yuri yelled as he started to use his left fist and hit every single creature close to him. He managed to land about 22 hits in total before continuing his combo. "Shining Fang!" he shouted as he quickly spun his sword up and down his right hand while he rose it upwards. The smaller creatures shrieked more in pain before they vanished. "You're done," Yuri said.

"(Maybe I should study their weaknesses if they have...)" Chris thought before he changed to his Scholar job. "Now..." He opened his book and studied the enemies. "Hmm..."

"H-hey!" Estelle began as he looked at him. "H-how come you're dressed as a scholar now?"

"Estelle!" Yuri called again.

"(Oh, for the love of...) I-I'm coming!" Estelle yelled as she ran away to Yuri.

"...So that's it..." Chris muttered. "It was so obvious... Their weakness is light!" he yelled at the group.

"So obvious!" Raven yelled from afar before he chanted a spell. "All my heart, baby, all my love. ...Get outta here! Arrivederci!"

Light came from beneat the big monster before glowing lights of winds rose up and pushed it to the air for a moment before falling back on its feet. The monsters grumbled in pain as it locked an eye on Raven.

"Wait..." Chris looked further in his book. "...The name of the smaller enemies are...Nightmares..." He glanced at the bigger ones. "And according to this book, those are powered-up versions called Titans..."

It hit Chris.

"...Then that means..." The World Traveler stared at his book in surprise as his eyes widened more and more. "...I have the most relievable book ever with every single information about all the enemies in all the worlds if I get to study them!"

A small fanfare sounded out of nowhere before it stopped.

"Um, Chris..." Lucario called from behind. "Did you...find any more information?"

"Well..." Chris looked back at his book. "All of them can absorb dark attacks, and they cannot be hurt by psychic attacks either because the darkness in their bodies confuse psychic powers."

"..." Lucario looked down.

"...Wait, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to disable all of them with the others."

"I..."

"Look out!"

Chris was suddenly pushed away in time by a slam of the maces from a Titan. The World Traveler rolled on the grass and shook his head once he stopped rolling.

"W-who did that to me just now?" Chris asked as he adjusted his glasses. "Karol?"

"H-hey there..." Karol greeted as he got up and dusted off his bag. "You were going to be crushed under that thing's mace and I arrived just in time."

"Oh..." Chris got up. "Thank you, then... Lucario!"

Chris remembered that Lucario was just behind him and that could have meant something...

"..." Both of the kids (Chris: Screw it, I am not going to complain again) watched the mace rising up from its place. There was nothing there, and the monsters glanced at the 2.

"T-there is absolutely no way that Lucario was finished..." Chris said.

"You're right," Lucario said from behind them. "All because of her."

Both of them looked at his left and found Judith. "Thank goodness I arrived in time to take him away from that thing," Judith said.

"Oh, thank you so much..." Chris sighed in relief.

"Unfortunately," Judith looked back at the Titan. "That guy wants more."

"O blade of noble light, overpower even indestructible evil! Blade Roll!"

A huge blade of light circled right through the Titan's waist and it grumbled in extreme pain before it fell back and vanished into nothing. Just behind it, Rita was flipping through the pages of her book before walking to them. "You should be thankful. I decided to come here rather than sleeping," she said a little bit irritated.

"Always, ALWAYS like that..." Karol said bored.

"Anyway," Rita began as she looked at the horde. "Are these the monsters you spoke of?"

"Yes," Judith said. "Though they came a little bit prepared than last time."

"Oh well," Rita said. "Time to get working on them. I want to use my magic for SOMETHING more useful than killing the guys in here."

"Rita!" Estelle from afar.

"Oh, you..." Rita grunted. "Forget it, alright?!" she yelled before she ran to the battle.

"I may as well go in," Judith said with a chuckle. "It looks fun." With that, she ran to the monsters before leaping high up. "Luna Beam!" she yelled as the symbol of a moon covered her and shot down a shockwave above some Nightmares.

"H-hey! Wait for me, you guys!" Karol yelled as he took out his axe from the bag he was carrying. "Havoc Thunder!" he yelled as he jumped above a Nightmare and slammed his axe down with a thunder.

"I-I am going too..." Chris said to Lucario. "But what about you?"

"I..." Lucario looked down. "...I will explain later if you don't mind..."

"..." Chris made a worried look before he ran to the battle. "Feel sick within your being! Poison!"

A green atmosphere fell on one of the Titans, but it didn't seem to get sick at all.

"Curse the rate of getting sick by Poison!" Chris cursed.

"Watch out!" Raven said as he used Violet Snake (a simple violet snake that floated in the air for a moment) on a Nightmare. "C'mon! Dance with me!" he yelled as he used Just Like Dancing by gracefully using his bow as some sort of other weapon by spinning around the enemy before kicking it away.

"Burn them to ashes. Fire!" Chris cast Fire on a single enemy. "I need to wait a little bit longer to cast another spell..."

"Let me help!" Toon Link yelled as he jumped above Chris and stabbed his sword on the Nightmare's head.

"O power that tries souls, shine! Photon!" Estelle called out from afar to trap the same Nightmare in a sphere of light that later exploded, along with the monster.

"One down," Toon Link said.

"Some 36 to go..." Chris tried to guess with a sigh. "Oh no, Judith!"

Both looked at Judith as she was being surrounded by 2 Titans.

"Let's play, shall we?" Judith asked.

The Titans didn't like to play and so they slammed down their maces on her.

However, it turned out that Judith was very agile since she dodged both blows and jumped on the maces before jumping straight to one Titan. "Luna Rondo!" she yelled as she spun her lance around her 2 times with wind power slicing the Titan's face. "Sundering Moon!" she yelled to make a moon image appear on its face to shatter it hardly with her spear.

"Need some help?" Yuri said as he came closer.

"Not at all!" Judith yelled. "Luna Rise!" She used another technique once she landed back on the grass and attacked the Titan from behind. She quickly dug her spear underneath the Titan's feet and she then proceeded to spin upwards several times. The Titan grumbled in pain.

And for a finisher...

"Thunder Moon!" Judith yelled as she slammed her spear on top of the Titan's head and called forth a thunder with the attack.

The Titan yelled in pain before it fell back and disappeared completely.

"Ooh, that was good," Judith said with a chuckle.

"Come," Meta Knight threatened some Nightmares. "I won't let you get away again."

The Nightmares shrieked before they leaped to the knight. Meta Knight instantly used Dimensional Cape to disappear from sight as the Nightmares crashed into each before the masked knight appeared from behind and dealt a fast slash upwards. "Ha!" Meta Knight yelled as he used Shuttle Loop to pull all of them upwards.

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked as he joined the knight and used Light Spear with the knife on his mouth. Repede spun around in the air before he landed back and glared at the Nightmares about to fall down. "Grrr!!!" he grunted as he used Sonic Return to send a small but fast shockwave to all the Nightmares in the air while he did a backflip behind.

As the Nightmares became stunned for a moment, Meta Knight came from the other side by using Drill Rush, piercing through the Nightmares one by one before they shrieked and disappeared.

Meta Knight landed in front of Repede and he looked at it. "..." Meta Knight rubbed Repede's head. "Well done for a dog like you."

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked.

"Destroying Rock!" yelled Karol as he slammed his axe on a Nightmare. "Devil Rage Rise!" he yelled again as he dealt an uppercut with his axe. "Roaring Dragon Blow!" he yelled as he rolled on the ground and quickly jumped with his axe to slice the Nightmare in half.

"Burn them to ashes..."

"O merciless conflagration, burn the very souls of my enemies!"

"Fire!"

"Crimson Flare!"

A small burst of flames hit a Titan...

Before a big sphere of fire appeared and called forth a volcano of flames from below and finished the Titan by turning it into ashes...and then nothing.

"..." Chris looked down. "Compared to Rita's magic, my magic is just for novices..."

"What'd you expect?" Rita asked. "My magic shouldn't be underestimated by your magic. Learn a much better spell than that next time."

"(I will shut you up once I learn Firaga and Flare...)" Chris thought annoyed.

"Hey!" Rita said. "We have to keep fighting!"

"O-oh, you are right," Chris said before both returned to the fight.

"Take this! Azure Wolf Edge!" Yuri called out as he waved his sword up and down to shot several blasts in the shape of wolves' heads to some Nightmares. "I had enough of this..." he muttered. "I'll blow you away!" he yelled as he called forth his Over Limit.

He ran to a group of Nightmares to start his Burst Arte.

"Divine Wolf!" Yuri called as he stabbed the Nightmares continuously. "I'll put you in your grave! Divine Wolf - Crush!" Yuri spun and slashed his sword continuously on the Nightmares before he slammed his fist on the ground and send a ground shockwave to the Nightmares that shrieked in pain.

And to add that damage to the nearby Nightmares...

"This ends now," Yuri called as his voice echoed before he backstepped away. The whole area around the Nightmares suddenly turned black before the swordsman jumped out from behind and sliced them. "O brilliant blade of coldest steel," he chanted as he dealt several slices before backstepping and appearing behind some Nightmares to slice them as well. "Rend the infinite darkness," he continued as he backstepped and appeared right behind another group. "And crush my enemies to nothing!" he yelled as he started to backstep, slice the Nightmares in his range, before backstepping again and doing the same action for multiple times before he rushed at them and sliced them through. "Savage Wolf Fury!" he yelled to finish his Mystic Arte as the last slice that he used on the Nightmares spread into light and finished all of the. "Alright, who's next?" he asked.

"...Goodness..." Chris said surprised. "...They are very strong..."

"O evil soul, fall before this pure light! ...Grand Chariot!" Estelle called from afar as several small lights surrounded a Titan before they burst into intense lights that made it grumble in pain.

"Dragon Upper!" Karol yelled as he launched 2 Nightmares to the air. "Gaia Bug!" Karol looked around his bag to throw a big bug from it to the Nightmares. "Bug Spread!" he called out as he took out an insecticide to create some clouds of poison where the Nightmares fell in. They seemed to be gagging at the poison for bugs before they vanished.

"Wonderful!" Estelle said.

"Hey, Estelle!" Karol called out. "Why don't you finish this fight? They seem to be weak against light-based spells!"

"Let me think..." Estelle wondered. "I've got it!" she said before she chanted another spell. "O holy water, rain down your power on us! ...Holy Rain!"

The night's sky suddenly got rained by small spears of light that struck every single creature of the darkness. Many shrieks of pain came from the horde of monsters as many vanished from the field with a shrieking echo of pain. The rain of spears continued for a while before it stopped.

"..." Raven looked around. "Seems it's over."

"Wait," Rita spotted a last Titan. "There's one over there!"

"Hey..." Toon Link eyed the Titan. "That's the same bastard who carried me!"

"How in the name of the mysterious book Cognitome do you know that?" Chris asked.

"I don't forget my prey's face..." Toon Link muttered angry. "It must DIE."

"Chris," Kawashima whispered. "Your partnership with Toon Link is about to reach its final level. You should see if you can find his Combined Final Smash."

"...Okay..." Chris whispered as he changed to his Swordsman job. "Now what?"

The feeling...

"(Let's do it,)" Toon Link said determined.

"(W-what? H-how did you know I was...)" Chris trailed off.

"(I've got the word from Pikachu,)" Toon Link said. "(News spread fast)"

"(O-oh, I se-)"

"(LET'S DO IT ALREADY!)"

"(R-right away!)" Chris yelled in panic as both focused their views on the Titan.

"Go!" Toon Link yelled as he ran at the Titan with his sword pointing at the ground.

"I-I'm coming!" Chris yelled as he did the same.

The Titan raised its mace.

"Now!" Toon Link yelled as both he and Chris parried the attack and rolled all the way behind the Titan. "YIAH!" Toon Link yelled as he and Chris rose up from both sides and united their attacks with a big X-slash on the Titan's back.

However, that wasn't the end of it as both hovered in the air behind each spiked shoulder.

The swordsmen turned around and put their swords at the back's reach before they descended diagonally in a flash to cross the back with their swords slashing the Titan's back. This move also made them slide above the grass as they stopped at the right time. "Crossed Parry!" both yelled as the Titan yelled in pain by the X-shaped cut on its back before it fell down.

New ability learned! Crossed Parry!

Parries the attack of a single enemy by rolling behind, and delivering an upward back slash with 2 swordsmen. Attack continues with another downward X-shaped slash to increase the damage. Deals a moderate amount of damage to a single enemy.

The Titan yelled in extreme pain before its whole body began to vanish slowly. It turned its head at its opponents before disappearing completely out of sight...

Marking their victory over the night creatures.

Tales of Vesperia - Absolute Victory

As usual, Brave Vesperia did one of their group's poses.

"Our weapons are?!" Yuri asked out loud.

"Bravery!" Karol yelled.

"Youth!" Raven yelled.

"Modesty!" Judith yelled.

Something was wrong with each saying they said...like they didn't fall so good with them...

"I don't think any of you have those..." Yuri pointed out.

"Hey!" Karol and Raven said angrily.

"Crush the ol' man's dreams," Raven said before he faked a sob. "Yuri, you're a bad boy."

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked angrily.

"See, old man? Repede just said that you're a disgrace to humans," Yuri said.

"Who cares?" Raven asked as he lifted his shoulders. Then, he looked at Estelle. "(Maybe I can do it this time...) Hey, c'mon!" He raised his left hand.

Estelle thought that Raven wanted to do her favorite victory pose. "Yay!" Estelle raised her left hand.

"All right!" Raven exclaimed before he opened his arms and raised his eyebrows several times at Estelle. "How about a hug?"

Estelle backed away. "I-I don't think so..." She shook her head (as Raven looked down in depression). "Aw, the thought of fighting as the guild we are..." She smiled and closed her eyes. "Now I really feel right at home."

Music stops

"U-um, excuse me..." Chris called as he came to them with Toon Link. "I-I just wanted to say something... I want to say that I'm so happy that all of you came to rescue us from dying..."

"Oh," Yuri remembered. "That's right. We came here because you were in trouble."

"If all of you weren't here," Meta Knight began. "We could have been killed slowly and painfully. You have my full gratitude and trust for aiding us in our battle."

"Do you say that to every person who helps?" Toon Link asked.

"I must be honorable," Meta Knight said. "That's the way of a noble warrior like me."

"I understand that very well," Raven said.

Meta Knight looked at him. "...I don't think you understand."

Raven chuckled. "Believe me, I do."

"Oh, you're saying that because you worked as a knight before?" Karol asked.

"Kid! You're not supposed to say that!"

"No, I know you don't understand," Meta Knight repeated. "Even if you did work as a knight, you don't fully understand that like I do."

"Hey!" Raven said. "I'm not here to listen to a...whatever you are!"

"Stop," Judith said. "We're grateful to be of help."

"Like wise here," Karol said with a nod. "Hey, should we charge them?"

"No!" Estelle yelled. "T-that's being a little bit rude to them! They already gave us hospitality in their house!"

"O-okay! D-don't yell like that to me, sheesh!"

"...Well," Chris said. "Thank you very much for saving us still."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Raven said as he walked to Chris. "Since I requested you to find Repede, I should reward you with something."

"With what?"

"Your own..." Raven took something from his back and showed it to Chris. "...Raven Doll!"

"..." Chris stared at the somewhat-beaten up doll of Raven. "I-I don't want that thing with me!"

"Oh, c'mon!" Raven insisted. "It's the only one of its kind! You'll remember good ol' me for the rest of your life!"

"No!" Chris pushed the doll away (and Rita caught it to start pounding on it to build up her Over Limit).

"Fine," Raven said as he took the Rita Doll (that looked a little bit cute). "Get this one so people can have nightmares."

"...Hey!" Rita called out once she saw her own doll. "You better let that doll away from your inventory!"

"Aah!" Raven tossed the doll to the air where Judith caught it. "F-fine, I'll give you 3 of these."

He handed over 3 Miracle Gels to Chris.

"Gels?" Chris asked.

"These gels can restore 60 percent of your health and they also restore 60 percent of your energies." Raven winked at Chris. "Use them wisely, though."

"Hey," Yuri began. "Those gels took a fortune out of us and you're giving them away!"

"Ah-ah," Raven began as he raised a hand. "They deserve them."

"Aw, hell..."

"...Then I finished the sidequest," Chris said.

"Wanted: Repede" Sidequest Completed!

You got Miracle Gels x3!

"Anyways," Karol began. "We should go back in and get some rest. Fighting during the night isn't good for my metabolism..."

"Our metabolism is so messed up at this point," Rita complained. "Let's go back."

"We should do the same," Meta Knight suggested.

Chris looked at Lucario. The Aura Pokémon was leaning against the wall and watched the whole fight from there. "Lucario, are you sure you're feeling fine?" Chris asked.

"I'm not..." Lucario said. "...I want to train more tomorrow if you're fine with it."

"...Okay..." Chris said. "Let's go back to sleep for now."

The members of Brave Vesperia and the Smashers decided to return back to the mansion and sleep for tomorrow morning.

Meta Knight walked back inside. Being the last one to get in, he glanced back at the field and forest. "(Just who were those monsters?)" he thought. "(They seemed to be very well organized, and their power was stronger than previous enemies...)" He shook his head. "(I should discuss this in a later time...)"

And with that, the night went on...

But this didn't mean that the monsters wouldn't stop from appearing as one last Nightmare walked around the forest...

The next morning...

Tales of Vesperia - Comfortable Journey

The bright morning came again to the mansion's grounds, and the Vesperians seemed to be ready to leave.

The only ones who decided to say farewell to them were Chris, Zelda, Link, Toon Link, C. Falcon, and lastly, Lucario.

"Well, it's the time now," Estelle said as he bowed to them. "Thank you so much for your hospitality. Thank you for finding Repede as well."

"It's a shame that you have to leave now," Zelda said. "I was enjoying our private talks about our kingdoms so much."

"I-I was too..." Estelle shed a tear before she hugged Zelda. "B-but you're a better princess than myself... I'm going to grow into a refined woman like you."

Zelda blushed a little. "P-please, you don't have to say it that way."

"You guys are really something," Karol said. "I met a lot of strange people, but all of them are unique in their own way."

"Really?" Chris asked. "I thought you were thinking of us as normal people."

"That too," Karol nodded. "But the fact that you look different than others make you unique and special. Some of these days, I'm going to come back and drop by."

"And..." Chris decided to tease a little. "Are you sure you're going to be more brave?"

"H-hey!" Karol called out. "T-the brave word in our guild is in there for a reason, you know!"

"That was just a joke..." Chris trailed off.

"...Oh."

C. Falcon took Judith's right hand. "Do you think our paths will cross again?" he asked.

Judith chuckled and pushed his hand away. "Maybe, or possibly."

"Which one helps me to feel more comfortable?"

"Possibly."

"Then I'll look forward to that moment."

"(Too bad possibly has less probabilities than maybe for me,)" Judith thought in relief. "Be good."

"Always," C. Falcon said.

Both chuckled heartily to each other.

"Okay," Rita began as she took a bag from her back. "Here."

Toon Link took the bag. "What is inside?"

"Take a look," Rita said a little bit irritated.

Toon Link looked inside the bag. "...There's a bunch of familiar stuff in here..."

Link peered inside. "...Hey, this is Fox's Reflector...and this one is from Falco...and this one over here is Samus's missile...and..."

...To be honest, a lot of hi-tech machines were in there.

"Ugh," Rita grunted. "T-that's all the stuff I wanted to examine for a little bit longer, but Estelle convinced me to return it all."

"And what is this?" Toon Link asked as he took a white machine out.

Chris looked at it and gasped. "M-my Wii! S-so that is where it was!" He grabbed his Wii. "Nobody knows how these are very important..."

"..." Rita frowned. "Whatever. I have better Blastia to find somewhere else."

"Well, kid," Raven said as he sighed. "It was good for a while, but I'll have to go."

Toon Link looked down.

"Ladies beg for ol' Raven to wander the world (The Entire Members of Brave Vesperia: Sure) freely...and because Alexei needs to be taught a good lesson. Ya sure you're gonna practice that technique?"

"I-I will..." Toon Link said. "I promise I won't stop training until I master it."

"That's how it is," Raven said. "I'll drop by if Karol lets me."

"Hey!" Karol yelled.

"Aren't you the leader of Brave Vesperia?" Raven asked as he looked away. "Ya should give me some vacation sometime!"

"Oh, brother..." Karol frowned.

"Anyways," Raven said as he shook Toon Link's head from above. "Good luck to ya."

"Heheh, thanks," Toon Link said.

"Sorry for not staying for too long," Yuri said to Link. "Unfortunately, I detest loyalty a little bit."

"Huh? Why?" Link asked.

"Let's just say it shackles me from my freedom," Yuri said. "That's why I like to be free."

"But I'm not part of the loyalty that much."

"Really? It seemed to me," Yuri said before he shook hands with him. "However, it was nice to meet a Krytia-look alike like you."

"Krytia?"

"...I better stop talking then."

"I think so..." Link said.

"By the way," Yuri turned to Lucario. "Repede wanted to say sorry."

At this, Lucario blinked. "What?"

"Repede told me that he felt a little bit guilty for using you like a bull all this time that he wants to apologize to you."

Lucario looked down at Repede.

"Repede's not a bad dog," Yuri said. "I understand him very wel-"

"But we don't know if he understands you," Rita added annoyed.

"Right," Yuri said with a chuckle. "The point is, he wants to apologize for all that he has done."

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked.

"And that he knows he acted like some kind of bastard as well."

"...Oh," Chris said. "Repede accepted his actions?"

"Repede knows when to say sorry," Yuri said.

Lucario looked at Repede. "...Well..." he began. "...Just...don't scare me like that again... I was very worried about Chris liking you more than me..."

"What?" Chris asked. "Why would I like Repede more than you?"

Lucario looked at him confused.

Chris closed his eyes. "Even if Repede is a very interesting dog, you are the first to come and take the main spot," he explained as he adjusted his glasses. "I would never like someone better than you, in short terms."

"...Really? Do you mean it?" Lucario asked.

"Of course I do," Chris said before he looked at Lucario and smiled a little. "My own self would feel very ashamed to replace you for another person, Lucario. Even if Repede saved me a couple of times, you have saved me a lot more of times."

"But...'

"It does not matter how many times you saved me, though," Chris continued. "What matters the most for me is..."

He approached to Lucario and rubbed his head with care.

"The time that you have been with me so I could not feel alone anymore."

Lucario looked at Chris's hand above his head. "...Guuuuuuorrrgghhh..." he growled happily.

"In a few words," Chris continued. "Nobody will ever take your spot."

"...Thank you..." Lucario said.

"Man, listen to him," Yuri said. "He is a dog to you."

"What?!" Lucario asked.

"Sit down!" Chris yelled.

"Chris!"

"Hahahahaha!" Chris let out a small laugh. "It is just a joke! Please, do not hurt somebody in here."

"Ugh..." Lucario frowned. "I knew there was something I wasn't looking forward to..."

"Okay, okay," Chris said. "I am not going to do that again if you want."

"Well!" Rita spoke up. "Shall we get going then? I need to get back to Dahngrest and prepare to beat that Alexei guy for our own good."

"Is the time already?" Estelle asked.

"Oh well," Karol said. "We'll start going back."

A moment of silence occurred as they looked at each other.

"...Does anybody know the way?" Judith asked.

"There," Rita said as she pointed at a part of the forest.

"Oh, no," Yuri said. "Over there was the way."

"No, no, no, no," Karol said. "It was to the east."

"I thought it was to the south," Raven said.

"You came from the west!" Link said.

"Hey, I was runnin' from those monsters so I dunno the way anymore!"

This situation was somehow familiar to Chris...

Didn't this happen with Geno once (or twice)?

"Woof, woof, woof!" Repede barked at the west.

"Oh, good," Yuri said with a sigh. "Repede's nose will guide us back to Dahngrest."

Suddenly, Repede whined.

"...What do you mean Dahngrest is no more?" Yuri asked.

Rita remembered something about the same mentioned city. "S-so! We have to get going now! Lead the way!" she yelled as she ran to the forest.

"...HEY!" Karol yelled angrily before he went after Rita. "Rita! What've you done to Dahngrest now?! It was so close to be repaired! RITA!"

"Oh my," Judith said. "We better catch up to those 2 or else a funeral isn't going to be that far from happening." She began to dash inside the forest as she waved at the group.

"Gotta go!" Raven said simply as he chased the 3 back into the forest. "Continue training, kid! Ya can do it!"

"..." Estelle looked at Yuri. "Yes, I definitely feel right at home with everyone."

"Want to give them chase?" Yuri asked.

"I'd like so!" Estelle said excited before she looked at them. "I-I'm so happy for meeting you! T-thank you everything!" she said before she ran inside the forest.

"Enthusiastic Estelle," Yuri said. "She'll never change."

Repede looked at Chris. "Woof!" he barked.

"He said that you and Lucario look better as a team," Yuri said. "Personally, you 2 kind of remind me and Repede."

Chris blushed a little. "O-oh, please."

"Well." Yuri and Repede looked at the forest. "Better go back now or else they'll getting lost again. Repede!"

"Woof, woof!" Repede barked before both of them ran inside the forest.

"Hey, you guys!" Yuri yelled as he ran inside. "Nice knowing you!" He waved at them before both of them disappeared into the forest.

"Why do sweet moments have to end so soon?" C. Falcon asked.

"Oh, would you drop out the whole scoring thing for now?" Zelda asked annoyed.

The Smashers watched as the guild vanished from sight as they got deeper into the forest before they turned to the mansion and started to enter.

Music stops

Main Lobby (Ruined)

"Oh, Lucario," Chris began as the others left them.

"What?" Lucario asked.

"You told me before that your aura disappeared from you, is that not correct?"

"Y-yes..." Lucario said. "I promise I'm going to train harder to recover all of it."

"Oh, there is no need for such a thing," Chris said.

"Why?" Lucario asked confused.

"I have got a better solution for your problem." Chris smiled. "I know you are going to like this very much. There is no better training than the one I am going to give you."

Lucario smiled a little. "You know how to train me?"

"Of course I do," Chris said with a chuckle as he adjusted his glasses (and shone as he saw Lucario). "Of course I have the best training for you."

Lucario suddenly looked unsure...

Several minutes later...

"Have fun, Lucario!" Chris said to Lucario.

Pokémon Diamond & Pearl

Route 209
Valley of the Aura

The World Traveler was sticking his head out of the portal. He made a happy expression before he pulled back his head and closed the portal.

A very confused Lucario blinked at the sight to be in home again before he turned and looked at the spot where the portal was. "(...Then again, I was the one who suggested this...)" he thought before he sighed. "I don't know if I'm going to enjoy this witho-"

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt someone hugging his right leg.

Lucario looked down to find his little sister hugging his leg happily. "Big brother, riii!" she said happily.

Lucario blinked for a moment before he picked up her sister with his right arm and rubbed cheeks together. "How have you been?" Lucario asked.

"Very good, riii!"

"Where is father?"

"Over there, riii!"

As Lucario made his way to his father, he closed his eyes while he carried his sister. "(Maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all...)"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Smash Channel

Tales of Symphonia - Search a Seal 'Tethe alla'

In the forum, Chris (in his Scholar job) was reading his book in peace before he looked at the readers and smiled a bit. "Oh, hello," he greeted. "It seems that we are now starting to get to the point where this little section will get more attention than before. Welcome back to the Smash Channel!" he greeted again.

He turned to another camera. "Today, we are interviewing our guests from the guild called Brave Vesperia. For today's guests are..."

Something was wrong as he glanced to the corner of the table.

"...Only Rita Mordio?"

The Genius Mage seemed to be doing the same as Chris was with his book: reading.

Rita glanced up from her book. "Oh, good afternoon," she said simply before she returned to read.

"Wait!" Chris yelled. "I thought I asked for all the other 6 to come here today!"

"Too bad," Rita said as she moved her eyes to Chris. "They were busy about a cooking contest of Yuri against Flynn."

Flynn Schifo is Yuri's best friend (and Repede's) that works as an Imperial Knight. He knows Estelle by this rank. He fights using a sword and a shield, and also knows some basic healing magic. Flynn is a very admirable knight and a very good opponent for Yuri as well.

"I don't know you but somebody said that Flynn's cook isn't the best there is," Rita said with a sigh.

"And..." Chris half-closed his eyes. "What are you doing here instead of everyone?"

"They asked me to get here so Brave Vesperia could get more reputation," Rita said. "Karol said that, though. I didn't have anything else to do so I came here."

"...O...kay..." Chris nodded. "Well...let see the topic of today..." He took a paper. "The topic of today is..."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"...Well?" Rita asked.

"...This is so weird...but I hope you do not get mad at me..." Chris said. "The topic of today is..."

Who of Smashers would Rita Mordio kill the most?

"..." Rita seemed to be perfectly...normal. "Easy."

"...It is?" Chris asked.

"I would kill the bastard anthros for not letting me examine their Blastias."

"I told you before that you can't take my things!" Fox's voice yelled from afar.

"I would kill the weird orange robot for not letting me examine it."

"I'm NOT a robot!" Samus yelled from afar.

"And lastly," Rita looked at Chris. "I would kill you the most for not letting me examine that weird Blastia."

"...Wait, you said there were more important things than my DS," Chris said.

"Too bad I checked those things," Rita explained. "And guess what? Yours is the best of the whole collection."

Chris started to back away. For some reason, the public that once watched the segment wasn't there anymore.

Plus, the cameramen decided to take the day-off.

Rita tried her best to get closer to the World Traveler without making much difference. "And..." she trailed off. "I want to examine it again if you don't mind..."

"...E-er..." Chris looked at the cameras. "I-it seems we have to end this segment a little bit sooner than expected because some technical difficulties will appear very soon..." He looked at Rita before looking back. "S-so, if you will excuse me..."

With that, he ran away in a hurry.

"Hey!" Rita yelled before she gave chase to him. "Come back here!"

The curtains fell...

"No!"

"You're gonna regret for escaping from me if you don't come back here!"

"I have better things to do than deal with a girl that has a short temper!"

"W-what the heck?! Oh, that's it. I'm going to MURDER you instead!"

"That is not so different!"

"I'm so gonna make you hurt!"

"Uh-oh. This is not so good anymore... Well, it was not from the beginning since she came in, but stil-"

"BLAH BLAH BLAH, VIOLENT PAIN!"

"OH GO-"

"Real World's Normal Life. What does this mean?" Toon Link asked.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-"Tales of Vesperia - A Formidable Foe Stands in the Way" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you get to fight the Giganto monsters, stronger enemies that roam the dungeons and fields.

-"Tales of Vesperia - Undying Resolve" is a song reference to the same game. It is the third battle theme for normal battles. This song is also considered a second version of "Tenacity."

-"Tales of Vesperia - Absolute Victory" is yet another song reference to the same game. It mostly plays after you get further in the game or when you defeat a boss. (I'm sorry for calling this "Victory Boss Theme" as I didn't get to look for the real name).

-"Tales of Vesperia - Comfortable Journey" is YET another song reference to the same game. It is one of the 3 themes to explore the overworld of the game.

-"Tales of Symphonia - Search a Seal 'Tethe alla'" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you wander around the overworld of Tethe alla.

Out of curiosity...:

-Yuri Lowell was ranked 1st in the Japanese poll for all the characters of the "Tales of series" for his laid back attitude and cool atmosphere.

Phew...and we're done with them.

So Repede didn't get lost, but he took a vacation because of Yuri, and the dog wasn't evil as well. Repede was looking for amusement and so he tricked Lucario.

...That's one smart dog.

As for the last appearance of these characters, they got their chance to fight against the mysterious Nightmares and Titans. Just who are these monsters?

Ooh, the plot thickens. I'm getting goosebumps. :D

And Lucario ended up in the valley after all. Serves him right for ignoring his training.

However, the name of the next chapter is...interesting. Time for the time skip, where Chris will grow into a mature adult!

...

Of course, if I ever do this, then I'd be really wasted and drunk.

This time skip is yet another Mansion chapter. After this, then we'll continue with the new worlds. However, the time skip won't last that long at all. You'll see when we get to it.

Read and review, please. ;)
*Chapter 135*: Real World's Normal Life

We start with the Real World chapter. About time to show Chris's world's popular culture.

From Anakin Mario Son43: What?! You're doing a time-skip!? Well, I hope it will be less than a year... at least a month. But if it isn't then I'm O.K. with it. Sorry about my rant. I just don't like timeskips if we don't see what happens during them. Those enemies they fought... the initial description reminded me of the Heartless somehow. I was amazed that Repede was good. And Lucario's punishment was funny. I had a feeling Lucario would go back home. Until next chapter, Hasta!

From me: This time skip isn't going to make that much of a difference...in terms of partnership. Nothing that important will change at all. You'll enjoy it. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: wait... this is obviously tied in with Sonic. I've fought those enemiesbefore, and hate the larger oens (DAMN my inability to kill them without making sure rings are hand!)

From me: Looks like someone already go the clue of the enemies. Their names are mostly unnoticed by the looks of everyone here. :P

From Light the Lucario: A time skip? Man this is going to confuse me. I had enough of those in Lost. I hope Lucario has a good time back at his second home. Heh, if you need any oc weapons be sure to ask me!

From me: OC weapons? Oh no, not those, please. I don't want this to turn that complicated an unnecessary. Thanks anyway. :)

From ngrey651: Wait, Repede was...

OH. Clever with a tiny hint of malice. Very smart dog, that Repede.

From me: "AuraChannelerChris's character attitude has leveled up by 1!" XD

From JSandders: Okay, the Vesperians are finally gone, meaning that their story arc has ended. What's next will probably be the ones about those Nightmares and Titans. I tried searching for information about them EVERYWHERE but I couldn't find out from what game those creatures are from. Where are they from? Can you tell me now or should I have to wait for you to tell us yourself? It's so nerve-racking!

From me: You should wait. Although it would be good if you knew about Sonic a little bit more... wink wink, tip, wink wink.

From SlasherMask: ...I though you didn't like anime/manga changes...(I also forgot you used pokemon reference for pikachu's back story(as in belonging to Ash))

I guessed the Repede thing =D...What you don't believe me?... I didn't think you really would make canon character out of character personality...

So Chris DID notice that...

...I wonder how will Chip manage to convince them that hes not credit card selling man? Other wise those guys keep wondering about those boogie mens...

Time skip huh... If that would happen I would guess that Chris would only become just old as you currently are... AKA 17(or 18 if time has passed that much since my reading of your profile) is not that old... And I guess Chris would have knowledge of games released between his arrival in this world?

P.S... I googled Vesperia characters... They (exception of Yuri and Estelle who I had seen pics before(I had seen pic of Repede but it was just mugshot...))look REALLY different than what I expected... Ok Karol looked just like I imagined, but Judith is REALLY "revealing"...

From me: I explained about anime and manga before. If an anime was based off a game, then it's comprehensible for me. A manga has a lot of weird and odd things in there that I don't wish to explore...

Chip? Who again? "Sarcasm"

You were almost close with Chris's age...but he won't age in time at all.

I wished for someone else commenting of their looks. Good thing you looked for them. :)

From MarioXXX: Sorry if I'm late, but I have been morrning the loss of Ra the Author's fanfictions. He took down most of his fics after one flamer, TO BE A GUIDLESS MASTER, flamed insesently. He (Ra) is a good writer, but he got tired of the flaming. The fics were ask fics, so he allowed everyone to review.

Anyways, I was surrprised to read that Repede went on vacation. Who would think that dogs take them? Why do I think that Master Hand won't be back soon? The Vesperians showed them that they all need to train hard, but what would happen between Chris and Rita if he knew Firaga and Flare? So how old will Chris be?

MarioX, AKA RayGallade, out.

From me: Repede is a smart dog. He shouldn't be taken lightly. (Besides, he fights with a knife, handles items, and understands human speech. Reasons enough for him to be smart).

I'll tell you the truth about Chris and Rita...Chris would have been annihilated by the time he got sufficient experience. I don't think Rita would stop from fighting and wait for Chris, don't you think? :P

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: I'm here, sorry I didn't review the last few chapters. Anyway, looks like the whole Lucario/Repede situation is settled ... a bit differently than what I expected it to be like. Wonder what will happen in the next arc ...

From me: You expected a bloodshed?! "Gasps"

...

Just kidding. Thank you. :P

I'm starting to worry now. I haven't seen the people who usually reviewed with each chapter. Has my writing skill been losing its style? I hope it didn't...

WARNING! This chapter contains (maybe) a lot of references to the real world (our world). In some instances, it may be stupid, but remember that this is the only time you'll get to hear them. Besides, no more anime references being pointed out by Chris or Lucario.

With that away, enjoy...my new avatar. Brock looking at a suspicious refrigerator...ghostly...

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Chapter 135: Real World's Normal Life

Smash Mansion
Hallway

After Chris (who changed to his Musician job) left Lucario in the valley, the World Traveler walked through the hallway and spotted Master Hand's office.

"Oh," Chris said as he stopped at the side of the door. "Is this Master Hand's office? Hmm..." He wondered something. "What if he left the door unlocked?"

With that, he grabbed the doorknob...

Master Hand's Office

And he got in.

The office looked big. Right in the center of the room, there was a desk big enough for the hand of the office. Several archives were inside drawers (and presumably a lot) as well as more and more archives. There were some chairs against the wall as well.

"...This place looks pretty normal to me..." Chris muttered. "It reminds me of my dad's office."

He walked to the desk and found some folders with health examinations regarding the Smashers.

"..." He shifted his eyes. "Well, what could be in here?" he asked before he took one and opened it. "Let's see... This one is Peach's health results. It contains her blood type, height, weight, special abilities, backstory, where she lives, her bust's siz-"

He turned red in the face and closed the folder as soon as he changed colors.

"T-too much information..." he muttered embarrassed. He picked another instead and put down the other one. "This one is Kirby's... There's a report?"

Data regarding Kirby's origins is still unknown to these days. It's more difficult to find out his origins because he doesn't know either.

Chris sweatdropped and put the folder away. "Maybe Master Hand was examining these reports to get out of boredom..."

He turned his head to a door.

"...And that door over there should have VERY juicy information behind."

The thought of finding out more about the Smashers was...

Oh god...

Pure, pure gold begging to be found.

This was Chris after all. What he liked about characters in videogames were their backstories and secrets.

So, what did he do?

The World Traveler went to the door. "It doesn't have a name or a label," he said as he stopped. "It could be the bathroom...then again, I don't believe he needs to use it for being a hand."

He grabbed the doorknob and opened it.

Inside...

"OH MY GOD!" Chris yelled as his heart beat faster. "Y-you?!"

The reason behind his shocking discovery was simple enough.

The World Traveler watched in shock as he found none other than Master Hand and Crazy Hand behind the door...

...Or was it shocking to see them playing poker?

"We're in the middle of a very important game," Master Hand said. "If you're done with your yells, get out."

"W-what are you doing here?" Chris asked as he tried to calm down.

"Oh, just hanging together like brothers," Crazy Hand said.

"Or hiding from our dooms," Master Hand said.

"...If you mean Rita, then she's gone," Chris explained. "And that includes Repede, Karol, and even Raven. All of them are gone from here."

Master Hand tossed his cards away. "Well, what do you know? If you keep yourself away from your problems, they'll get solved by themselves!"

"So, do I win or what?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Yes, yes. You can play shenanigans in the Battlefield."

Crazy Hand giggled before he disappeared by teleporting away.

"Lucky you," Master Hand said. "Being brotherless can be very beneficial to you."

"..." Chris shook his head. "What were you doing in there? ...Were you hiding from Rita?"

Master Hand sighed. "Look, I'm supposed to be a entity of destruction and all tha-"

"I thought you were the Hand of Creation and Crazy Hand the Hand of Destruction."

"Well, I have half of the destruction part," Master Hand said. "Knowing to meet someone awfully stronger than me can be really scaring. I don't want to meet someone like HER again in my life."

"...And why didn't you squash her?"

"Wait, what?"

"You're bigger than her," Chris said. "Why didn't you attack back? I'm sure you would have made her your slave or something like that."

"Okay, I have a very good explanation for that."

"What?"

"I don't hurt girls," Master Hand said. "I'm honorable."

"But if you're honorable to girls, then how come there are like 5 girl Smashe-"

"I'm HONORABLE, not THAT benevolent," the hand interrupted. "Girls should be treated as equal, in a few words."

"You do know that contradicts your statement in some way-"

"So!" Master Hand spoke annoyed. "Ready to begin the time skip?"

"We were talking abou-"

"TIME SKIP or I'll throw you to Cruel Brawl."

Chris didn't have something to fight that back.

Or fight the "monsters" in Cruel Brawl either.

"About that..." Chris trailed off. "If I'm going to do a time skip...won't that mean that Tabuu will attack?"

"I don't think so," Master Hand said. "I have everything set for you to go to your world, rest there for some days or months, then you can return here. Tabuu won't even have a chance to make a mess in a world anyway."

"And..." Chris wondered something. "Why do you want me to rest in my world?"

"Who's saying only you?" Master Hand asked. "I'm giving everyone here their so deserved vacations in their worlds."

"...Everyone?" Chris asked. "...But if that's it, then nobody is going to be here in the mansion, save for you and Crazy Hand."

"Chris, Chris, Chris..." Master Hand said. "You love to keep asking, right?"

"B-because I want to be so sure about this decision before I do it!" Chris said. "I like to be prepared for anything!"

"Anyway, don't you worry for anything. I have EVERYTHING set to do this."

"And does everyone even know about this? I haven't heard anyone talking about this."

"Because I want to test out something."

"Test what?"

"Chris," the hand began. "Have your father taught something in life?"

Chris looked down.

"Oh, sorry," the hand said. "I forgot about that part of your life."

"No, it's okay," Chris said as he looked up. "I can deal with that very well."

"That's good. Now, I'm going to teach you something."

"So what is it?"

"In order to let everyone know about this, I'm not going to use the mike this time. Instead, I'm going to test this. Humanity has been developing all sorts of ways to communicate to the people in unexpected ways. And this one is faster than the speed of light. Do you know what I'm talking about here?"

"No..." Chris said confused.

"This method of communicating is faster than the speed of light...and that is." The hand raised a finger. "The power of gossip."

"Gossip?"

"Yes. Hear this and listen well!" Master Hand said. "I'm giving everyone here vacations at their homes."

Hallway

Just then, Peach came walking from the same hallway and overheard the hand saying, "I'm giving everyone here vacations at their homes" and she started to wonder.

In truth, Peach liked to gossip sometimes.

"Vacations?" Peach asked to herself. "Oh my, I need to tell Zelda this!"

Zelda's Room

"So I hear Master Hand is giving us vacations," Peach said as she was sitting down on Zelda's bed.

Zelda, meanwhile, was fixing her hair in front of the big mirror of her room. "Really?" she asked without looking.

"Yes," Peach said as she took a sip of her tea. "I know we've been working hard to save the worlds, so that must be Master Hand's reason to give us a vacation."

Hallway

Pikachu's right ear twitched as he overheard the girls' conversation while he passed in front of the door.

Kitchen

"Master Hand's giving us a vacation," Pikachu told Ness.

"About time!" Ness said annoyed. "I've been a little bit homesick these days and I want to eat my mom's steak again."

"Yeah," Pikachu said. "Though I don't know if I should go to Ash and spend my vacation in there with him."

Roy happened to walk near them.

"It's good of Master Hand, though. I want to keep on resting by going somewhere and relax."

The swordsman walked away.

Outside

As Marth and Roy clashed swords, they talked during a training session.

"So I heard from Pikachu that Master Hand is giving everyone our vacations," Roy said as he backstepped away from Marth.

"I see," Marth said as they dashed to each other. "That's good. If that is true, I'm going to spend my time with Caeda. Are you and Lilina married yet?"

Roy blushed as both clashed swords several times. "Hey! I-I'm considering my own marriage in a near future, okay?"

"It's just a joke."

"Then how about you and Caeda?"

Ivysaur seemed to be resting in a patch of bushes with some flowers.

...Or he heard them.

Red's Room

"Dude's giving us a vacation," Ivysaur said.

"A vacation?" Red asked. "And to everyone?"

"Yes," Ivysaur said with a nod. "Everyone, and that counts us."

"Should I go home..." Red wondered. "...Or take advantage of their absence and let the other 3 wander around? Are Master Hand and Crazy Hand going somewhere?"

"I don't know," Ivysaur said. "I could ask them where they are going for their vacation."

And this didn't end here...

Hallway

"I heard from Ivysaur that Master Hand is giving all of us a vacation," said Pichu to Jigglypuff.

DK's Room

"You heard that, Diddy? A vacation time!" DK said to Diddy.

Hallway

"Maybe this is wrong, but the hand is giving us a vacation according to the apes," Snake said to Samus.

Main Lobby

"Mario, did you hear that Master Hand is giving all of a vacation?" Pit asked to Mario.

Outside

"I-it's true!" Luigi said to Yoshi. "Mario told me that we're going to have a vacation!"

Popo and Nana's Room

"Dude, this is so awesome," Popo said to Lucas. "Vacation!"

Outside

And arrow fell close to Lucas. "D-did you hear that Master Hand is giving is us a vacation, Link?" Lucas asked as Toon Link trained.

Main Lobby

"I'm going to go back to Ordon and relax there," Link said to Ike.

C. Falcon's Room

"Meh, I wanted to participate in some races again," C. Falcon said to Ike.

Hallway

"Hope you don't come and mess with me in the Sargasso Space Zone, Fox," Wolf said with a glare to Fox.

Living Room

"I'll go and play around in the air with my Arwing," Falco said to Sonic.

"No way, I'm staying here," Sonic said (remembering the moon in his world to prevent his transformation).

Kitchen

"Get happy now," Meta Knight informed Kirby. "You can go to Dreamland and rest in there for a while."

Kirby cheered.

"I'm going to stay here."

Mewtwo's Room

Olimar peered from the door. "J-just to ask, where are you going?"

"..." Mewtwo opened an eye to the captain (as he was meditating). "Here."

"O-oh..." Olimar nodded and closed the door.

Command Room

"Since I literally made copies of your things from the real world," Master Hand said to Chris. "You don't need a suitcase."

"Is it fine for me to go without saying good bye to the others?" Chris asked. "What about Lucario?"

"I'll send him a psychic message so he gets the word," the hand said. "As for me, I thought about actually going to Delfino Island and taste the cocktails with Crazy."

"Under the seeeeeeeeea!" Crazy Hand sang as he appeared, wearing a tropical hat. "Under the seeeeeeeeea!"

"...Does that confirm that he stole my DVDs?" Chris asked bored.

"Sadly, yes," Master Hand said before he snapped his fingers and made a portal. "Your path to your world is ready, sire."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Well... I'm going to feel a little bit lonely without Lucario...but I want to go back and revive my other life in there."

"Aww." Master Hand patted Chris's head. "Good luck in there."

Either the World Traveler was going to get annoyed, or he could skip that and say something else.

"Just to let you know," Master Hand began. "Your powers will disappear over there, Kawashima isn't going to work anymore."

"Poor me," Kawashima said.

"And the hammerspace doesn't exist over there, so your items can only be taken out in this universe. And as for the musicians, I heard that some of the Smashers are going to stay behind. I'll ask them if they can check on them as well."

"...I'm really going to feel lonely..." Chris muttered.

Master Hand hmm'd.

"...Can I come here when I want?"

"Of course," Master Hand said. "Use your Wiimote to come back here. Now, you go in there and enjoy the real fresh air."

"..." Chris felt a little bit ashamed for doing this...

But he wanted to live in his world for a little bit longer and talk to his parents again.

With a serious look, he looked forward and walked inside. "H-have a good vacation!" he yelled to the hands from the other side of the portal as it vanished.

"..." Master Hand looked at Crazy Hand. "Crazy, you got them?"

"Right-o," Crazy Hand said as he took a box from underneath the desk.

Master Hand opened the box to find inside at least 35 Wiimotes.

He chuckled. "Who said I can only open the way to your world, Chris? These babies can let anyone go in there for this time only... Hope you enjoy your surprise guests."

Real World

March 10 - Afternoon - Monday

For Chris, it was such a good feeling to be completely powerless in his world. He returned to his usual life alone. School also was in that life. Since Lucario wasn't around, he felt very lonely in his house. However, there was always the chance to go back to the mansion when he wanted, so he always had the chance to go back.

And in the eyes of the great World Traveler...

Chris's House

The door of the house opened and a bored Chris walked lazily to the sofa and dropped his backpack on there.

"This...sucks..." he muttered with a groan.

He sat down on an armchair and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"What was I thinking when I wanted to come back here?" Chris asked to himself. "My normal life sucks compared to my life of fighting enemies..."

He hmm'd.

"And, if I'm some sort of hero, nobody here would be believe me because it would sound too stupid and very cliché... High schooler is secretly a superhero. Nationwide gets shocked," he joked. "I don't want anyone to know about this at all...or my parents..."

He looked at a picture of his parents.

"...If only you were here..." Chris muttered. "You wouldn't understand either...right?"

He got up.

"Well, I have a lot of homework today so...I better get started before my cartoons start..."

He looked at no one in particular.

"So? I still like to watch cartoons."

Chris started his way to his room...

"..." He stopped. "...Wait a minute..."

Something was wrong...

There was the sound of the TV coming from his room at the end of the hallway.

"(...I didn't leave my TV turned on!)" Chris thought. "(I wasn't watching DBZ either! Someone got in here!)"

In a hurry, he ran to his room and leaned to the wall to examine if there was some kind of thief or robber in his room...

"(...)" Chris found the TV turned on (with the third season of DBZ in the TV due to his DVD). "(What the hell?)" he thought. "(What kind of thief watches TV?)"

Also, there was nobody in there.

"(And where is that bastard?)" Chris thought as he walked to the TV and turned it off. "(Something is wrong in here...)"

Chris walked to his bed and sat down. He looked around his room, and there was nobody rather than himself.

"(...Maybe I left it on accidentally...)" Chris thought before he sighed. "What a relief... I thought someone got in here..."

"I was watching that!"

And Chris instantly ran in panic to the wall across his bed, crashed, and lost consciousness before falling to his bed.

Some time later...

"He's getting back up."

"Yes. It was stupid of him to run right to the wall. He knows us anyway."

"Do you think he forgot about us?"

"It has been roughly 3 days, according to his calendar. I doubt he forgot about us."

"My head..." Chris muttered as he gained consciousness. "My forehead..."

Through his state, he remembered.

"THIEVES!" he yelled as he quickly got up and looked at his bed. "AAAH!!!"

"Calm down!" the person in his room said. "We're just us!"

"..." Chris suddenly calmed down...but glared at the people in his room. "...Pikachu?! Pichu?!"

"...Hello?" Pichu said.

"W-wha..." Chris shook his head. "H-how did you 2 get in here?!"

Both of them looked at each other and took out a Wiimote each. "With our passports, of course," Pikachu said.

"T-those are mine!" Chris yelled.

"Nope. These are copies of your Wiimote," Pikachu explained. "Master Hand gave us these to visit your world when we want."

"What?!" Chris asked.

"You ask too many questions, you knew that?" Pichu asked.

"That doesn't matter!" Chris yelled. "If I want to ask questions, then I'm going to keep asking until I get everything answered!"

"Chill down!" Pikachu said. "You're getting so stressed!"

"Okay..." Chris said with a nod. "I'll try to calm down..."

"..." Pichu looked around. "Now?"

"...Yes," Chris said with a sigh. "Okay... Answer these questions, DON'T remind me why I ask too many of them, and I'll see if I believe you."

Both rats (no offense for them) nodded.

"Now... Where did you get those Wiimotes?"

"Master Hand gave 1 to every single Smasher, including us," Pikachu said. "He said that many of us wanted to go anywhere, but I think everyone wants to drop by in here once in a while...and more than any other world. They seemed to like the idea very much."

"And why are you 2 here?"

"Because for the fact that we don't have anywhere else to go," Pikachu said. "Pichu could have gone to Johto, but he wanted to stay with me, and I didn't want to go with Ash either." He sniffed. "A-and I thought I had a home here with you..."

"...Are you crying crocodile tears?" Pichu asked.

"Oh, great going," Pikachu said bored. "I wanted to convince him."

Chris wondered for a moment. "And they can come in here when they want?"

"Pretty much," Pikachu said. "They could arrive at the most unexpected moment. Master Hand said that the time in each world is different, and we kind of came here after you left this place."

"That explains why I heard some voices from my room this morning..." Chris muttered. "...Well, honestly speaking, I'm more relieved to see you again. I was getting lonely myself."

"Aww..." Pikachu jumped to his shoulder. "Mind if Pichu and I stay here until we go back to the mansion? The hand said he would tell us when the time ends."

"Hmm..." Chris wondered. "...For your luck, my house has a lot of rooms despite me being the only one in here."

"About that," Pichu said. "You have like 9 rooms in here without counting yours. Why's that?"

Chris blushed. "M-my parents made the house bigger so I could have maids and buttlers, but I objected to that idea when the enhancements were done for... They sounded a little bit worried, though... They worry too much of me sometimes."

"Well, what do you know?" Pikachu began. "This is so going to be our third home from now on."

"W-well, I don't know you, but if that's the case, then you'll have to understand tha-"

"I know, and we know," Pikachu said as he shook his head. "You can't get out or the fangirls will rape us to death."

Chris blushed. "I-it's different for you 2! They'll cuddle you to death!"

"I hate strangers hugging me," Pikachu said. "I'll shock them if they ever hug me suddenly."

"Didn't you shock Ash when he hugged you?" Pichu asked.

"He didn't say his name? Shock him," Pikachu said simply. "So Chris, you went to school or what?"

"Y-yes I did," Chris said.

"Oh, good," Pikachu said. "That gives us a lot of time to do our research of this world."

"...Research?"

"Yup," Pikachu said. "Pichu and I decided to go on a quest of discovery...by turning ourselves into Pokémon Otakus!"

Pichu took out an anime guide. "And by that, we mean look an endless amount of anime shows in the TV!"

"We were just watching DBZ," Pikachu said. "And those guys know how to destroy the frickin' planet to pieces."

"And right now," Pichu began as he flipped the pages. "We're going to see this "Digimon" show."

"Sounds like a portmanteau of digital and monster," Pikachu said as he jumped back to the bed and got closer to the guide. "Much like us, pocket and monster."

"W-wait a minute," Chris interrupted. "How long have you been doing this whole research thing?"

"Ever since we came in 10 minutes after," Pikachu explained. "Okay, after watching Digimon, we're going to jump to Death Note, after that, we get to Get Backers, then after that, we get to this guy with the creepy pointy hair and plays with monster cards. Should be interesting."

"Would you let us do this?" Pichu asked. "We want to see EVERYTHING of this world."

Chris wondered...

It was kind of cute for them to see the world through the TV.

And it was amusing that they got interested into anime.

"Say," Pikachu said as he looked to the guide. "Look at this Digimon character... It looks like a Pokémon fusing together with DBZ..."

Yes, so amusing.

"O-of course you can," Chris said with a nod. "It'll help me to have company while I do my homework. It won't bother me at all and you can see the DVDs over there."

A pile of DVDs containing different animes was in a corner, and carefully organized.

"I forgot I love to buy so many DVDs..."

"Sweet!" Pikachu said. "This vacation is going to take us a whole lot of our time, but it has a lot of good loot now."

"(Hmm...)" Chris thought as Pikachu and Pichu went to the pile of DVDs. "(...I'll be a lot happier with them dropping by...)"

He looked outside.

"(...This is ACTUALLY going to be more interesting... I can't hardly wait to spend the time with each one of them.)"

The World Traveler decided to start his homework while the Pokémon continued with their research...

What kind of research was that, anyway?

March 27 - Evening - Thursday

The days passed...

...And Chris couldn't even spend the proper time with Pikachu and Pichu due to his homework being harder than he expected it to be. And both were so focused on their research that it was virtually impossible to distract them as well.

"Let's see," Pikachu began as he held a notepad with a pencil. "So far, we've seen 30 animes. Next up is..."

"Let me change the channel," Pichu said. "There's an anime called Evangelion."

In the nearby desk, Chris hit his forehead with his notebook as both Pokémon kept watching TV.

They ignored this action.

"What else is there?" Pikachu asked. "This cable has a catalog. There should be something like a guide of programs."

"Hmm," Pichu wondered. "How about...Negima?"

"Isn't that the one with 20 or so girls high schoolers that have a magician kid teacher?" Pikachu asked. "Hell no. I don't like accidental perverts, let alone magician kids who get a lot of panty shots... (And the fact that I don't want to get a nosebleed...) Next on the list."

"Bakugan?"

"It's the cheesy version of Yu-Gi-Oh," Pikachu commented. "Next."

"Full Metal Alchemist?"

"Oh, sweet," Pikachu said. "The ratings for this anime were very good. Next."

"Code Geass?"

"Hmm…"

And this went on and on.

Not only this kept going on as both Pikachu and Pichu reviewed animes...but Chris was developing a hatred towards anime for being daily mentioned too much in his very house.

"(God...)" Chris thought. "(Why can't they watch a novel or something instead?)"

"I say enough about anime!" Pikachu proclaimed.

Chris lifted his head and sighed.

"Let's do research...on manga!"

Chris slammed his head back.

"Hook the Wii to the internet and find the site with the most manga ever! I heard Pryce is a bad guy!"

"Right on!" Pichu said excited.

Chris wished days would go faster....

April 12 - Morning - Saturday

Sweet weekends without school.

Unfortunately, Chris didn't want to wake up, even it if was 10:00 PM.

Worse yet, he has been having weird nightmares with anime and manga characters mixing together...and it didn't leave a pretty picture.

"Gundams...fighting Saiyans..." Chris muttered as he moved his head around the pillow. "Ninjas...with pirates..." he muttered more. "Digimon...owning Pokémon...bleah..."

"Dude," Pikachu said as he looked at Chris. "We made him so wasted."

"I think we should feel ashamed," Pichu said. "We got so lost in all our research that we forgot all about him."

"Edward Elrick...having an affair with Midori..." Chris muttered.

"Chris!" Pikachu yelled. "Wake up! Nothing you're dreaming is real at all!"

"I'm innocent!" Chris yelled as he sat up. "Oh god...it was just a twisted nightmare..."

"Tell us," Pikachu said. "We should stop our research or else you'll end up like this again."

Chris sighed in relief. "Thank you..."

Chris looked at his TV.

"Why isn't anybody coming?" Chris asked.

"Probably because they have their own affairs," Pikachu explained. "Though some decided to stay in the mansion."

"Like Meta Knight, Sonic, Red, Squirtle, Mewtwo, and Ivysaur," Pichu added.

"I hope Lucario comes home soon..." Chris muttered. "It's really not the same without him..."

Pikachu and Pichu looked at each other before looking at Chris. "You miss your sleeping partner, right?"

Chris blushed. "W-why are you saying it like that?"

"Because we have the same problems," Pichu said. "W-well, I never had a trainer before...but I do feel lonely all the nights in my room..."

"And I feel nostalgia when I think about Ash," Pikachu said. "...I think I'm starting to miss him..."

"...And you 2 want to sleep with me?" Chris asked.

Both Pokémon blushed and looked to different ways. "A-about that..." Pikachu trailed off as he sounded annoyed.

Evening

"How about now?"

Pikachu, Pichu, and Chris were laying down on the bed in the same order they were mentioned.

"Well..." Pikachu looked around. "...It's not like I thought..."

"But I sleep this way!" Pichu said.

"...Okay, it's kind of good, I guess..."

"Maybe we should re-arrange ourselves..." Chris suggested.

They re-arranged to Pikachu, Chris, and Pichu.

"Hmm..." Pikachu looked at Chris. "I think it's better... Now, if you put on a red hat with a Poké Ball symbol, and if you scratch your cheeks so you could get some small lightning marks..."

"Good night," Chris said annoyed.

"W-wait! I was joking!" Pikachu pleaded. "Aw, forget it. I'm tired right now. Good night."

For some reason, Pichu didn't talk as he looked shocked.

"Pichu..." Pikachu began. "You've been awfully quiet for these short minutes... What's wrong?"

"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-" Pichu stuttered.

"I'm not willing to play to guess the word," Pikachu called over.

"Hmmmmmmm..." Chris slowly opened his eyes...and suddenly he got shocked.

"Now you woke him up," Pikachu said as he sat up. "And why aren't you looking at me?"

He turned his head at their direction.

"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" the trio yelled as they found someone else staring them from the other side of the room. The figure had a glowing blue light coming from the face as it grunted annoyed.

"Oh my god," Chris panicked. "T-there's an assassin in here! L-look at that evil atmosphere around him!"

"Aw, crap!" Pikachu yelled. "Now I wish Pokémon could use the bathroom, because I feel I want to piss myself!"

"T-that's too much information!" Pichu yelled with a gulp.

"Hey," the figure said annoyed.

"T-that's it, we annoyed him!" Pikachu yelled as he hugged Chris, as Pichu hugged Chris, as Chris hugged both of them. "He wants to kill us for good!"

"You 3 are looking very stupid tonight," the figure said as he began walking to them.

"Listen here..." Chris muttered. "Since I'm powerless in this world, you 2 will have to lunge at him and shock him to death..."

"I-I don't want to sacrifice!" Pichu pleaded.

"Too late!" Pikachu yelled. "He's so close!"

The 3 pulled the bed sheet over them and shook in fear as the person walked close to the light of the moon from the window...

...And the figure revealed to be...

"...Silence...something is wrong here..." Pikachu whispered before the 3 pushed back the bed sheet. "..."

"Why are you acting like morons?" Wolf asked with a glare. "I'm just a surprise guest, dammit."

"...YIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" the trio yelled.

"What now?"

"Y-you came to kill us because you betrayed us now!" Pichu yelled.

"When did I do that?" Wolf asked. "All I did is appear here in this room while you 3 were busy talking. You didn't even notice my presence at all."

"...Then you're not a traitor?" Pikachu asked.

"You wish and I wish too," Wolf joked. "And I know you would scream like idiots because of my face. Is it because of my face?"

Pichu was the only one who nodded.

"Good..." Wolf said sarcastically. "Hope you kid give me a room in here."

"W-why?" Chris asked.

"This is very unlikely of me, but I just came from a party."

"...You going to a party?" the trio asked surprised.

"Well, a party I did myself at the Sargasso Space Zone," Wolf explained. "Unfortunately, the 200 thugs I have working for me are complete drunktards when beer is involved. I can't stand their crazy laughs, their games, their yells of pleasure, and their insane gender problems..."

"..." They didn't speak.

"...And I'm going to ban parties from now on," Wolf said. "If you would, can you give me a room before I use brute force on you to find absolute peace and moments of tranquility for an unfortunate leader like myself?"

"I-I can lend you one anytime," Chris said. "I personally hate drunk people as much as you."

"Good," Wolf said. "Thanks for understanding."

"You actually said thanks?" Pichu asked.

"Got a problem with that?"

"N-no sir..."

"Then good night," Wolf said as he turned to the door. "Hopefully this place is a lot calmer than the place I call home..."

With that, he left and closed the door.

"..." Pikachu looked at Chris. "Get prepared. Fox is some days away from coming here."

"Why are you saying that?" Chris asked confused.

"Simple," Pikachu said. "I don't look like it, but I have done a lot of research about almost everyone of the mansion. Even I spoke with the vulpine himself saying that most of his daily works have to do with Wolf's brigade of crazy thieves."

"...I hope you're lying..." Chris said worried. "I don't want a fight in here... Good night..."

The trio decided to call it a night...

Though Wolf snored a little bit loud from his room...

May 19 - Evening - Monday

It has been roughly a month ever since Wolf came. Wolf himself liked to stay most of the time alone (because he couldn't stop thinking about the incident that he did in his turf). Chris didn't get a chance to talk with him at all as a result.

"Days sure are passing so fast..." Chris said. "I wanted to talk with Wolf today, but he told me to go away and mind my own business."

"He's way too pissed for the party incident," Pikachu said. "And weird, Fox didn't come after all."

"Better yet," Chris said. "I don't want to deal with any problem right now... Homework got heavier this time, and I can't wait for summer to come in..."

"Let's just rest..." Pichu yawned. "I'm so tired after watching so much TV..."

With that, they decided to sleep...

"..." Chris turned his head to the right and opened his eyes to find some emerald eyes glaring down at them. "...Speaking of the furred devil..."

"Good night," Fox said somewhat pissed. "Is that bastard here?"

"Define...bastard..." Pikachu said while his face was on the pillow.

"Wolf," Fox said coldly. "Thanks to him, I haven't been able to get my so deserved vacation."

"Why..." Pichu said groggily.

The vulpine walked further into the moonlight...and his eyelashes looked very purple.

"...Dude..." Pikachu began as he turned to him. "What happened to you?"

"You look like you didn't have any sleep..." Pichu said.

"Because I got 4 times where I was able to rest..." Fox trailed off as he closed his eyes, showed his fangs, and clenched his fists. "...Until some 200 drunk thugs invaded Corneria..."

The 3 groaned out loud and covered their faces with their pillows.

"I've been working day and night to catch all those imbeciles, and I know Wolf was behind it due to them telling the whole story while they were still drunk."

Fortunately for Chris, he was focused on this matter.

"Where is he? I need to have a serious talk to him after putting my whole team working with me. Slippy has had a bad time repairing Arwings."

But the World Traveler knew better. What Fox meant with serious talk meant, "Serious talk through fists until someone dies."

"So, is he here? Falco went to the mansion to see if he was there."

"...Are you really going to have a serious talk with him that doesn't include violence in my own house?" Chris asked under the pillow.

"It'll depend."

"Good... He hasn't been here..."

"Really..." Fox yawned. "Well...if you see him, tell him I need t-"

"Yeah, yeah, serious talk. Leave now..." Pikachu interrupted.

Fox mumbled before he opened his way back to Corneria and left the room.

The 3 sighed in relief.

"Nice move," Pikachu remarked as they set their pillow under their heads. "I didn't want to see a fight here."

"Or stop one," Pichu added. "They're very scary when they're mad..."

"Just...sleep..." Chris pleaded before he fell asleep.

Both Pokémon agreed with a sigh before they fell asleep.

"(...)" Chris opened his eyes a little. "(...When are you going to come home, Lucario?)"

And he fell asleep.

May 21 - Afternoon - Wednesday

"Let's see now..." Chris put his pencil on his lip. "Trigonometry problems..."

As the World Traveler kept working through his homework, Pikachu was playing with the Wii as Pichu read walkthrough guides.

"Okay," Pichu began. "It says here that she'll give you a lure once you finish the Roll Game."

"Dammit!" Pikachu cursed. "I hate those small curves! And her, "Awww!" is annoying me!"

"Work harder!" Pichu suggested. "It's your skill in this game that needs to be polished!"

"I wonder how Link managed to calm down his rage with this game..." Pikachu muttered. "Dammit!"

"Keep your eyes on the ball...and your hand."

"I'm tired," Pikachu said as he stopped playing. "What else is in there?"

"How about if you go and catch the 60 Poe Souls?"

"And I have 16? It's going to take an eternity to get those."

At that moment, Wolf came in and leaned close to the door.

Pikachu and Pichu looked to him. "Feel better now?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess..." Wolf said as he looked away. "Maybe I can go back and see if those idiots stopped fooling around..."

"In jail, you mean..." Pikachu muttered. "Fox came a few days ago and he said he arrested all of your guys."

"And he looked very pissed that the thugs didn't let him rest as well," Pichu added.

"..." Wolf chuckled. "It's was all worth it, then. How ironic."

"...Did you forget the fact that you don't have anyone left under your command?"

"If Panther was thrown in jail," Wolf began. "Then he should know how to get all of them out and escape back to the hideout."

Chris's eyes widened as he overheard this.

"And that would mean a big breakout."

He set his pencil down.

"And..." Wolf looked at them and grinned. "That would mean that Star Fox would have to catch them before they get home."

Oh no...

"...Again..." Wolf added with a chuckle.

"(Why do I have to get in the middle of their bickerings?)" Chris thought.

As the clock sounded through the silence of the room...

The World Traveler turned to his Wii and hoped for irony to stay low and let them have peace...

...

Chris sighed. "Oh god... I thought they were going to come here..."

"But weren't they looking for Wolf?" Pichu asked. "I think it's going to be even worse than before..."

"The authorities surely added more money for my head for this," Wolf said. "But they can't get me for now. I'm a little bit pissed, but what else could I do for what I've done?"

"Stay put?" Pikachu asked.

"Yeah."

And out of a cue, a portal opened, and Wolf quickly hid behind the wall of the door of the hallway.

"Okay, where is he?" Falco asked as he came in and looked around (and he pretty much looked exhausted like Fox). "That son of a-"

"He's not here!" Chris yelled. "Leave me alone and let us have our vacation in peace!"

Falco blinked confused. "O...kay..." he said somewhat embarrassed. "I-I thought he was here because he wasn't in the mansion or the hideout so..."

"Go away..." Chris pleaded as he hit the desk with his forehead.

"...'scuse me," Falco said embarrassed before he went back to Corneria through a portal he opened.

Wolf came back in. "God, he sounded very pissed."

"I wonder why," Pikachu said sarcastically.

"At least this place and the kid himself are my perfect alibi," Wolf said. "I better stay here to wait for the bird brain and Fox to forget what happened."

"They'll surely remember it," Pikachu said as he began to read Nintendo Power. "You 2, except Falco, share a stupidly close rivalry for my tastes."

"Who asked you..." Wolf said. "In the meantime...I better hit the videogame I wanted to play..."

Chris sighed. "(What is taking you so long, Lucario? It's not the same with those 3 here...)"

A little bit of time passed...

"Ha-ha," Pikachu laughed. "Wolf's fighting himself, and he's using Fox in doing so."

"Shut up, or I'll blow you to hell," Wolf said.

June 3 - Morning - Tuesday

Chris felt nostalgic...

This day was very special to him. For him, it was a special anniversary that he remembered when summer came in after school shortly closed for vacation. Even if it was raining, he felt very happy that it passed a whole year...

A whole year ever since he and Lucario met in the very same room, with the very same rain.

Chris coughed weakly.

And unfortunately, he had a fever as he was laying down on the bed.

"This was the day I met Lucario..." Chris said as Pikachu and Pichu stood close to him on the bed. "I remember when he suddenly came from my DS and had a very bad fever."

"Like you now?" Pichu asked.

"Not like the one I'm having, but his fever was worse," Chris said. "Sometimes I think that he would have never stayed with me if he didn't have that fever to begin with."

"Why'd you say that?" Pikachu asked.

"I asked myself that if he came in with full health, he would have rampaged," Chris said scared. "If that were to happen, I'd have been killed by him..."

"How can you say that?" Pikachu asked. "Lucario's has a short temper, but he doesn't look like he would kill you."

"Well, he looked troubled in some instances...like if he was scared of the world he got in." Chris coughed. "I think he decided to stay with me because I looked after him when he was ill. The fact that he told me that my aura was very pleasant made him feel more relieved as well."

"Maybe your aura convinced him," Pichu said. "Just a thought, of course..."

"Yes..." Chris closed his eyes and chuckled. "He made me feel very happy...so, but so happy because I wouldn't stay alone ever. Also, I had him as a strong guardian if I were to get into trouble with wild dogs outside." Chris chuckled. "The dogs would whimper at his roar, and I would look very amused to see ferocious dogs whimpering in fear by Lucario."

"It has been a while since we last saw him," Pikachu said. "I wonder how's he doing in the valley."

"Probably training so hard so he makes me feel proud or something," Chris said. "Lucario always fights so I can feel proud of him. It's a very nice thing of him, but I sometimes stop him from overdoing things."

"I know the feeling," Pikachu said. "Like my team, AKA Ash's team. I talked to them before, and let me tell you, they'll do everything for Ash to the point they act...super loyal to him."

"?" Chris looked confused.

"I pity the guys, though," Pikachu said. "Ash follows the policy of starting from zero when he knows another new region. They get forgotten with Professor Oak. For example, I forgot what moves Kingler has..."

Something hit Pikachu.

"Wait a minute!" Pikachu spoke up. "Ash set free a lot of Pokémon, a lot of strong Pokémon! He set Primeape, Charizard (who is the only one who comes back sometimes), Butterfree (who is probably dead), and some others as well. I know that he could HAVE won a league at least. I think nobody heard about the Orange Islands at all!"

"About that..." Chris coughed. "It was just a filler..."

"...I knew it," Pikachu muttered. "I knew there was something fishy..."

"A-and I think nobody cared about the Battle Frontier because some said it was evil..."

"A-ha!" Pikachu yelled. "If my theory is correct, then Ash only have won special leagues that nobody cared about!"

"...Aren't you going a little bit overboard?" Pichu asked.

"...I am..." Pikachu sighed. "I am..."

Chris coughed again. "T-that's good to hear... I hope I get better soon..."

Pichu laid close to Chris. "Can I keep you company?"

"(So cute...)" Chris thought. "Go ahead, please..."

"Ooh, no way," Pikachu said as he laid down close. "I'm giving him company."

"(So cute as well...)" Chris thought. "Go ahead as well, please..."

Something was fishy.

"(...Are they trying to get attention? Those... Forget it...at least they're giving me company...)"

And the days went on...

June 15 - Afternoon - Sunday

"So, is everything set now?" Chris asked.

"Yes. Fences have more bricks than they used to. Now they reach 9 feet," said the bricklayer. "But, why did you want the fences to have more bricks? I'm afraid your house is going to stick out than the others in the neighborhood."

Chris looked away. "I-it's because I'm going to have a party and if my friends ever do some kind of game where they throw things around, I-I don't the neighbors get mad at me..."

He lied.

"...Oh," the bricklayer said. "I understand that."

Chris looked miffed. "T-thank you."

With that, he paid the bricklayer and the worker left the house. Chris watched him getting in his car before he drove away.

Chris sighed. "I'll have to go to church again..."

Outside

The reason why Chris wanted the fences around his wide backyard was because he decided to buy a bigger pool to enjoy during the hot summer's temperature.

And why the fences then?

Simple.

"Before me," Pikachu muttered as he swam around the big and wide pool. "Lies a big expanse of sea... Over the horizon, I spot the rubbed circle that contains within a creature named Pichu."

The Small Mouse Pokémon rested quietly above a lifesaver.

"And at the edge of the end of the world," Pikachu said as he looked at a part of the circular edge of the pool. "Lies Mr. Fur's turf, who is desperate to spot a wife as he is shirtless. Fanservice for the girls in Deviantart, anyone?"

Wolf managed to overheard this and he lifted up his head from the pool's tube fence and glared at Pikachu. "Another thing like that, and this pool will turn red very soon."

Pikachu looked away. "And lastly..." he muttered as he looked below. "Lies a new island... A moving island underwater that will rise, and I shall claim it as my own..."

The Electric Pokémon slowly rose up, but he rose up because Chris appeared from underneath (wearing goggles). "I feel like a kid," Chris sang. "A very young kiiid."

"That island is named Chris!" Pikachu said.

Chris looked up. "Oops, I didn't notice you."

"Doesn't matter," Pikachu said as he jumped back to the water. "Good idea with the fences. Nobody will stop and look at us enjoying the warm summer in this big pool."

"I'm surprised that Wolf wanted to come here," Chris said.

"What?" Wolf asked as he didn't look them. "Can I enjoy myself with water?"

"Y-you can."

"Then leave me alone."

"It's weird to think that he's over his thirties..." Chris muttered. "...And I have to say, even if he's older than us, he looks like a teen."

"So does Fox and Falco, but enough about them," Pikachu said. "We're just the 4 of us without anyone else. Except the big black spot under the water...and it's moving towards us."

A record scratched.

"Wait, what big black spot?" Chris asked before he looked down to the water...

And the spot he found was rather big.

"...OH GOD, SHARK!" Chris panicked.

"Chris, you're starting to act so out of character with each day it passes," Pikachu pointed out.

"S-sorry..." Chris said. "B-but what the hell is that thing?! I-it's moving towards us!"

"Just shut up and let me relax!" Wolf said as he put his arms above the tube.

"How come he's more relaxed than us?" Chris asked. "The black spot underwater!"

The black spot went after Chris and Pikachu. Cornered, they wanted to get out...but the black spot grabbed Chris's legs.

"Oh no!" Chris yelled. "Help!"

Pichu stood up. "I-" And he fell right in the center of the lifesaver.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" Chris yelled.

And from the water, a big figure rose up. The trio (except Wolf) looked in shock as the shadow of the beast covered a little portion of the pool.

"..." The 3 glared at it.

"Duahahahahahahahaha!" the figure laughed. "You should have seen your faces! Shark! Help me! Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

"...Pikachu, kill DK, now," Chris ordered.

The figure turned out to be DK, who seemed to be hiding inside the pool all this time. Chris, Pikachu, and Pichu didn't like the sudden appearance of the gorilla at all as he laughed to the sky.

"Well!" DK stopped laughing. "'s up?"

"Chris," Pikachu said through gritted fangs. "Don't let me zap the pool with you in it."

"DK!" Chris yelled. "W-when did you come in here? N-nobody saw you getting inside this pool?"

"I came here before you guys," DK said with a smile. "I was hiding very well, wasn't I?"

"Ugh!" Pikachu threw his hands up. "You big doofus! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," DK said. "Didn't think of that."

Chris sighed. "Let me guess... You came here because you wanted to visit me, right?"

"And because Cranky got mad at me after playing around with his new vase."

"You broke it?" Pichu suddenly asked.

"...Yeah..." DK closed his eyes embarrassed. "Jugglin' it a little bit was a bad idea... I tossed it to the ceiling too high."

"...You and your strength will be Cranky's death one day of these..." Chris said bored. "...Did you take a bath before getting in here?"

"Duh?"

"Good... Wait," Chris looked confused. "Since you're here, doesn't that mean Diddy is..."

"Oh, him?" DK asked as he pointed at the roof of the house.

"OH MY GOD," Chris said alarmed. "D-Diddy! Get down of there! Quick!"

The spider monkey seemed to be having fun on top of Chris's house. Also, he was preparing to jump down. "DK! How about a cannonball!" Diddy suggested in excitement.

"Sweet!" DK yelled. "Do it!"

"How the hell did he climb all the way up?" Chris asked. "I-I mean, oh no, there's a party some houses away from here, but somebody can see Diddy if he stays up there for too long. Diddy! Get down!"

"CANNONBALL!" Diddy yelled laughing as he jumped right above the pool...and fell all the way down to the center of the pool, creating a big splash that fell around the pool.

"..." Even Wolf got wet on the face. "...Tsk..." he simply muttered and didn't mind as he continued to relax.

Diddy came out and high-fived with DK. "Score, if you would," he said.

"11 out of 10," DK said. "Right on."

"Ugh," Chris grunted. "And I knew he came here as well..."

"So, how've you been?" Diddy asked with a smile.

"Oh, pretty dandy," Chris said. "Clear skies, enthusiastic self, MONKEYS jumping from the 3th floor of my house, you know, the usual."

"...You sound pissed," DK said.

Chris looked bored at him.

"...Whoops, sorry."

"..." Chris shook his head. "J-just, if you want to stay here, promise me that you're going to stay COMPLETELY out of sight from someone. NO getting out, NO saying hello, NO answering the phone, NO prank calls either, and NO sending mail out, got all that?"

Both monkeys made soldier salutes and nodded several times.

"...And like that, we will have a very good time."

"Mommy, mommy!" called a boy across the other side of the big fence. "I saw a chimpanzee jumping down from the roof!"

Everyone except Wolf got shocked looks.

"That's good, honey," called the boy's mother. "No more Nickelodeon for you for being a bad liar. Monkeys are away in the zoos."

"But moooooooom!" the boy whined. "I SO saw a monkey, and it talked!"

As the mother kept banning the boy's hobbies, the 5 sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry..." Diddy said ashamed.

"At least you learned your lesson. DON'T repeat it again," Chris said.

"This is gonna get interesting..." Wolf said with a smirk before Chris, angry, tossed him a beachball to his nose. "One more, and this pool is going to get red for sure, kid."

A lively afternoon passed...

July 4 - Evening - Friday

Chris's Room

Happy 4th of July.

"To honor the day I was born in America..." Chris began as Pikachu, Pichu, DK, and Diddy waited for him to play a new WiiWare game. "I decided to buy a very obscure game."

"What game is that?" DK asked in curiosity.

Dramatic music started to play from the TV as the screen showed the WiiWare game. This WiiWare game was an enhancement of the flash game in the internet.

"Today, I'm playing..." Chris trailed off. "Defend Your Castle!"

And thus the game started.

There was a dead silence as a small castle was displayed with cardboard figures as background. Absolutely nothing happened.

"If by obscure you mean empty, then you were right," Diddy said unsure.

Too bad his first review got interrupted as several doodle men began appearing from the other side of the screen and started to bang their hands on the castle.

"Throw 'em!" DK yelled.

Chris started to pick them with a blue clip to toss them to the air...

"And make them fall to their deaths," Pikachu said.

"Aaah!" the Barbarian (the doodle's name) yelled after it was killed.

"Oh no, there are more!" Pichu said. "Toss them!"

It took a while before they noticed that 4 could play the same game.

Unfortunately, as the rounds increased, the difficulty became harder and harder.

"Oh my," Pikachu said. "They multiply at the speed of light!"

"Take the big ones down! The ones with the bottle cap heads!" Diddy ordered. "Dammit! A bomb exploded on the main gate!"

"Hey, what's that? A catapult?! And the castle's health is disappearing!" DK said alarmed. "Take 'em down!"

"Touch it so it disarms!" Chris yelled. "We must defend our castle!"

Pun intended.

"Dammit! These small Barbarians are multiplying faster!" Pikachu yelled. "Release the blue bombs! Sacrifice our men to them!"

They deployed several blue Barbarians (since they were thrown into the Pit of Conversion to add more forces to the castle's army) rolling bombs to the Barbarians before a huge chain reaction obliterated the whole army on-screen.

"Yes!" DK said.

Too bad they were halfway done as an insane amount of Barbarians came back.

"Aw, sh-" Diddy's curse got interrupted. "Fight! Throw them to their deaths!"

"What's all the yelling in here?" asked a pissed Wolf as he came in. "What are you playing now?"

"Defend Your Castle," Pichu explained.

"I'm not defending any castle," Wolf responded.

"No, that's the name of the game."

Wolf looked at the game. "The crap are those...doodles?"

"Barbarians. They want to attack the castle."

"...Ain't that amusing..." Wolf muttered before walking away to his room.

Pichu pouted before returning to watch the game. "Defend your castle!" he cheered.

And the unlikely team kept playing...

July 26 - Afternoon - Saturday

It was time for Chris to get a new game. His DS library wasn't getting bigger so he checked to see if he could get a new one.

During July 22, he obtained one...Final Fantasy IV DS. Chris's addiction to the series let him reach further with no problems.

Though this game's bosses were harder than the GBA version...

"Okay," Chris said to Diddy as the spider monkey played Donkey Konga 2 with the bongos. "So Fusoya says I should attack the Defense Node before focusing my attacks on the CPU, then attack the Attack Node. If listening to the main characters' suggestions is a good idea, then I'm going to listen."

"Uh-huh," Diddy said with a nod as he clapped while he played the song, "Carmen."

"And..." Chris selected commands. "...What the...hey, no! T-the Attack Node! I-it annihilated everyone except Cecil with those Laser Beams!"

Diddy merely nodded.

"Aw, crap!" Chris cursed. "T-that didn't even reach 300 HP in the GBA version, but they buffed it up so it could deal over 3500 HP... Oh no, that stupid node killed Cecil...Game Over... Diddy, remind me to not listen to Fusoya again... Hmm... I'll change my strategy to attacking the Attack Node first..."

"Sure..." Diddy said as he was now playing, "La Bamba."

"Hmmmmmmmm, hmm, hm-hm," Chris hummed the latin song. "Hmmmmmmmm, hmm, hm, hm... Aaaaaa-ttack, the, attack-node... Aaaaa-ttack, the, attack-node..."

Diddy change to "Nutcracker."

"I'm SO going to own these nodes, because I damn say so then. These nodes will feel theeee wraaaath of Edge's Shurikens," Chris sang. "OH my god, it did it again. I'm so going to kill that node off. I'm so going to haaave niiiightmares with C-PU thingies," he sang.

Diddy changed to "Come Clean."

"No way," Chris said as he kept playing. "Hilary Duff's Come Clean kills my mood now."

Diddy changed to "U Don't Have To Call."

"Much better..." Chris sighed in relief.

August 9 - Morning - Saturday

Living Room

Soon, Chris was going to have to go back to school in 3 days. He made sure he had everything for his year as a sophomore.

"I got in late," Chris explained. "My parents forgot to sign me in for the first year of Kindergarten. I question their reasons to these days..."

"Okay," DK said.

Surprise, he was helping Chris as the gorilla was wearing glasses, using a notepad with a pencil, sitting above the sofa.

"Notebooks?"

"Checked."

"Pencils?"

"Checked."

"Pens?"

"Checked."

"Dictionary?"

"Checked."

"Tape?"

"Checked."

"Mini first aid kit?"

"Checked."

"Health insurance?"

"Checked."

"Napkins for runny nose?"

"Checked."

"Erasers?"

"Checked."

Chris was a person that worried about everything.

"Everything's checked."

"Sweet," Chris said. "Thanks."

"Just wanted to wear the glasses," DK said. "Do they make me look smarter?"

"..."

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr...

Evening

There are times when nothing interesting happens. Those times are defined as boredom. Diddy, as he was sitting on the sofa, yawned.

"..." Diddy changed channel after channel of the TV. "There's nothing interesting..."

"It's common," Chris commented as he cleaned the floor with a mop. "TV sometimes has good shows, but most of the time it won't."

"Gimme that!" Popo (sitting in the middle) demanded as he took the remote. "I'm the biggest TV guru here. Whatever I look for will always be entertaining!"

The World Traveler received the unexpected coming of the Ice Climbers.

Nana lowered her magazine and looked bored. "Whatever he finds, it will be stupid."

"You return reading," Popo said. "I return to my best hobby."

"Lose cells out of your brain?"

"And replace them with more cleverness," Popo said.

Nana sighed and raised her magazine. "I need to do something productive... I'll go to the internet and see if there's a new game for me and Popo. Maybe if I go to Youtube and search Ice Climbers Wii..."

The pink eskimo walked away to Chris's room.

"Sweet! The Smoking Gun Presents World's Dumbest Criminals!" Popo said excited. "...Ha! He removed his mask halfway before getting out the bank, and the camera got his face!"

Diddy chuckled.

"Is that guy drinking oil? Ha! He's dancing at midnight!"

"H-he drank 51..." Diddy blocked his mouth and chuckled.

1 hour later...

A pissed Nana came back and sat down on the right end of the sofa. She rested her chin above her right hand in disgust.

Chris came from her side and looked at her. "Did you find what you wanted?"

The pink eskimo seemed a little bit furious of what she found in Youtube. With a sigh, she looked at Chris annoyed.

"...So?" Chris asked.

"I got Rickroll'd," she responded harshly.

Chris looked away in embarrassment.

Nana grunted and decided to watch TV.

August 26 - Afternoon - Sunday

Chris's Room

For Popo, Youtube was the golden treasure of the whole world. The main and biggest attraction of the whole internet rested within this site.

"Nana!" Popo yelled excited. "Guess what happened to me when I looked for Ice Climbers Wii?"

Nana (laying down on Chris's bed) hit her face with the pillow.

"This is the 38th time!" Popo said laughing. "Okay. I'll try to search another unbelievable thing to see the Rick Astley guy again! He must be so famous for appearing in so many videos!"

Inside the room, not only Nana and her brother were there. A tired Chris (probably because of Popo's browsing Youtube) sighed as he played "Wii Play."

"Popo, only people who want to annoy more people put that guy video the video's real...video," Chris explained. "You're thinking wrong things about them all."

"Nah-ah," Popo said. "Maybe there's a cult behind Rick... I'll be his N. 1 fan!"

Nana groaned. "One of these days, Popo, ONE of these days I'm going to give you a brain!"

"Try it!" Popo dared Nana. "It'll be hard to pierce my head!"

Nana sighed in depression and looked at Chris. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Notice what?" Chris asked. (Albeit to say, he was focused with the laser hockey).

"Popo hasn't been like this before at all," Nana said. "Something is awfully wrong with his mind and attitude... We used to play a lot together, but he's become this...retarded all of a sudden?"

"How do you know that exactly?" Chris asked.

"I lived long enough with him to find odd things," Nana said. "...Why am I thinking all of this? Maybe that's his real self."

"Rickroll'd again!" Popo laughed.

"...If I had a chainsaw," Nana began. "Guess which head will cut?"

"Not mine?" Chris asked.

"...Close enough," Nana said before she rested.

The World Traveler returned to play his game.

...

"...Close enough... Wait, what?" Chris asked shocked.

No response came, sadly. Chris sighed worried as the day went on.

September 12 - Morning - Friday

Chris came from the door. He was supposed to be at school, but it was 9:00 AM by the time he got home. Nana happened to walk close to the entrance and she found Chris.

"Day off?" Nana asked.

"The school's science room was set on fire today," Chris said. "There was a big commotion when smoke began leaking out, and the director told everyone to leave so nobody could get injured."

"Was it exciting at least?" Nana asked.

"Considering I was in there when it happened...it was horrible," Chris commented. "Not having powers like I used to leaves me pretty vulnerable. How about you?"

"I call still push small icicles out of the air," Nana said. "Or I call them. Thing is, I don't want to do it in here."

A small icicle went passing between them.

"Oh no, you'll clean that!" Chris said annoyed. "Popo has been pushing icicles for quite a while because he has been complaining about how hot the summer is! Tell him to remove his parka!"

"Even Popo understands that we shouldn't remove our parkas."

"Oh, why's that?" Chris asked as he crossed his arms. "Because you're stuck in them?"

"You wish!" Nana said. "These parkas were made by our own parents! Taking them out would be a disgrace to our deceased family!"

"...Oh..." Chris looked ashamed. "I-I didn't know your family was deceased..."

Nana looked down.

Did Chris hit something important, or did he make a new discovery?

Maybe he should ask further in another time...

"That aside," Nana said (apparently recovering). "Somebody wants to see you. He's been really alone for not seeing you in a while."

"..." Chris's eyes widened and he ran to his room.

"My god," Nana said. "You sure react fast before I say the name." She started to follow him.

Chris's Room

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - 002 Putting Words Together

Once Chris arrived to his room, he stopped and he looked at the person who Nana told him about. The World Traveler suddenly felt relieved as he panted heavily. "You..." Chris said. "You...you came back..."

The person got up and nodded to him. "I'm back...Chris..."

Chris's eyes began to swell with tears before he ran to the person and gave him a hug, resting his chin above the person's right shoulder. "Lucario!" Chris yelled happily. "You're back at last!"

Lucario smiled a little and hugged his trainer as both rubbed cheeks together. "I'm...I'm so sorry for not seeing you in a long time... I'm so sorry..."

It has been roughly 6 months since both last saw each other. It seemed that Lucario completed his training in his home, and he could never be happier for returning home with Chris.

"It wasn't the same without you..." Chris muttered. "A few people came here to spend the vacation with me, but I felt lonely nevertheless."

"I know," Lucario said with a nod. "I promised that I was going to return soon, but my training took a lot of my time... I'm awfully sorry, Chris. This won't happen ever again..."

Chris hugged him tightly. "What matters to me is that you're back, and your strength got back to normal... Wait, do you have your brute force with you?"

Lucario stopped hugging Chris and he lifted his trainer with his right hand. The Aura Pokémon looked up like nothing happened. "In a matter of fact, your weight as a feather returned."

Chris tumbled at the sides. "C-can you put me down? I-I'm starting to develop a fear of heights because of you!" he yelled scared.

Lucario lowered his trainer and knelt down to him. "It was a success," he said. "My father put me in a very hard training regimen... You wouldn't believe what he put me through..."

"What exactly?" Pikachu asked (sitting on the pillow (drinking Caprisun (with a straw (yellow))). "Come on, tell us!"

"..." Lucario shook his head. "Let's just say that carrying boulders around the valley wasn't a good experience..."

"...What else did he put you through?" Chris asked.

"He told me to do at least 1000 push-ups every morning," Lucario said. "Destroy trees with a single Force Palm, try to communicate with far away Lucarios using telepathy, train the Lucarios of the valley because apparently I'm some sort of prince to most of them."

"You, a prince?" Pikachu asked. "Dude, this is getting hilarious and interesting."

Lucario ignored him. "Continuing where I left, he also told me to do 10 hours meditations without opening my eyes or communicate with my sister, obliterate boulders bigger than me by using only my aura combined with my fists and no special moves, and do 100 laps around Mt. Coronet's base without using Extremespeed."

Chris gasped. "N-nobody saw you? I-I mean, 100 laps?"

"My father was kind of angry about me losing my aura that he punished me with my training...though he said it would help me and it did..."

Pikachu finished his drink. "Your father so wants to murder you with training."

Lucario glared at Pikachu. "I don't look like it, but I respect what my father tells me to do."

"Poor thing..." Chris said.

Music stops

"What?" Pikachu and Lucario asked surprised.

Chris started to rub Lucario's head with care. The Aura Pokémon simply blinked shocked. "You went through a lot to obtain your brute force and aura, right?"

Lucario blushed and looked at him. "I-I did it because of you... I-I didn't want to make you feel ashamed of myself."

Chris started to rub his head faster. "You're sure a hard worker, but your father put you through a lot of pain, didn't he?"

Pikachu seemed to perceive something odd about Chris...

"Y-yes," Lucario said with a nod. "I felt a lot of pain that you wouldn't believe. I almost broke a leg, and I'm supposed to be a Steel type."

"My poor Pokémon was going to break a leg?" Chris asked shocked before he pulled Lucario's head closer to his cheek. "Oh no, that was so, but so horrible!"

Lucario looked down as he blushed. "I-I'm sorry for worrying you so much..."

"There, there," Chris said as he gently pushed Lucario to the bed so he could rest. "You're here with me, and I'm going to make you relax."

Lucario blinked for a moment before he made a happy expression and growled happily. His tail even wagged a little.

Cross Edge - A Lucky Dog

"...And that's how you make Lucario go with the flow," Chris said as he smiled a little and closed his eyes. "I can't believe he fell for it. Look at him, he looks very happy as well."

Pikachu chuckled and looked at the shocked and embarrassed Lucario. "Ha-ha, you went with the flow and didn't say anything," he teased.

"C-Chris!" Lucario said as he got up and looked at his trainer. "W-why did you do that for?"

"I was just trying to remember our happy times," Chris said simply. "It seems that you haven't changed at all, which is good for me."

"And us," Pikachu said.

"T-that was a little bit embarrassing, now that I think about it again," Lucario said.

"Was it?" Chris asked. "I was just joking so..."

"Be glad you're my trainer becau-"

"Was that a threat I heard?" Chris asked annoyed. "I can always grab those appendages again, you know..."

Lucario put his hands on the back of his head and shrugged. "N-no more of that, and I'm not going to complain to you."

"So can I pull them instead?" Pikachu asked.

"GUARGH!" Lucario roared at him.

"Hey! Why the roar?" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"If you're the one pulling them, I'm assure you that you'll be dead before you know it," Lucario said.

"And how come Chris doesn't have the same benefit as me?"

Lucario looked worried at Chris. "I-if he's the one, I-I can't bring myself to hurt him because I would feel deeply ashamed and humiliated for the rest of my life..."

"Good," Chris said as he rubbed Lucario's head. "You know when to stop."

Lucario smiled happily, and Pikachu frowned at Lucario's obedience to Chris.

"So..." Lucario looked at Nana (who seemed angry for not being noticed). "Are we on vacation?"

"Yes," Nana said. "It has been a long while after I went to the mansion."

"Oh, right," Chris said. "Good thing you're back, Lucario. We can enjoy all the "vacation" we have."

"He has to go to school," Nana said. "But it got burned, so he's staying here a few days off."

"I doubt that..." Chris said. "I heard the director was a rich person, and he will probably pay the school's repairs before Monday."

"Oh," Pikachu said. "Well, that doesn't stop us from relaxing even more in here. I've grown so attached to this place that I do NOT want to leave."

"Wait, what month are we in?" Lucario asked.

"September," Nana said.

"Chris, your birthday is very close, right?"

"My birthday!" Chris said. "Oh god, I forgot about my birthday. It's going to be the 30th very soon."

"Really?" Pikachu asked. "I need to get a pres-I mean, do something else before that date comes!"

Nana looked shocked. "Shoot, I need to prepare as well..."

"Aw, thank you," Chris said. "I didn't know you wanted to give me presents."

"What can I say," Nana asked. "You managed to grow attached to us. Be lucky."

"Let's be unlucky then," Master Hand said. "Maybe we should celebrate this sometime later."

"What the hand said is true," Pikachu said.

...

"..." The 4 noticed Master Hand in the room...and he was wearing a tropical hat. "...What are you doing here? Weren't you with your cocktails in Delfino Island?" Nana asked.

"Apart from the cocktails being stupidly awesome, I've returned to give you some news."

"What?"

"Vacations are over," Master Hand said. "I left the mansion's universe's time going way too slow."

What he said sounded very weird.

"What do you mean by too slow?" Pikachu asked.

"Didn't I tell you? I slowed the mansion's time when almost all left. It has passed 1 hour ever since everyone left."

"...You...slowed the time...in the mansion...and technically speaking...it has only passed 1 hour there?" Nana asked.

"That's why I went to Delfino Island," Master Hand said. "Cocktails recharge hand magic way faster."

"Yeah," Pikachu said bored. "You kept eating cocktails for 6 months to recover your energies."

"Oops, I guess I didn't give the exact details... Thing is, I rested long enough for the magic to work. Basically, I rested, and I worked to give you guys your long vacation. Then, I said screw it and decided to call all of you back."

"...So much for that," Nana said.

"I know," Master Hand said. "Everyone else in this house that is a Smasher, please return to the Smash Mansion! Don't make me repeat it like a stupid woman's voice or else!"

Some groans came from DK, Diddy, Pichu, and Popo as they walked inside the room. Shortly, Wolf came in with crossed arms.

"..." Master Hand looked at Chris. "If you think about it, you gathered the most unlikely team ever."

Chris looked away and seemed to pout a little.

"No need to get angry. Alright!" the hand said as he snapped his fingers and made a portal. "Everyone back to our house! Work is waiting for all of us, and we need to get rid of Tabuu as always! Curse myself if something else renders our progress!"

"I better prepare for the worst," Wolf said sarcastically. "Fox is going to give me hell after that incident..."

"What incident?" Master Hand asked. But the wolf already walked inside the portal. "I'll never understand that guy's mind... I'll just read it. Heehee!"

"Aww," DK groaned. "I was starting to enjoy this place... I know! Let's plant some trees in the backyard!"

"NO," Chris responded.

"You're no fun," DK chuckled before he went inside the portal with Diddy following.

"Nana! Can I sing it?" Popo asked.

"NO," Nana responded.

"You're no fun," Popo chuckled before he went inside the portal with Nana following.

Deja vu.

"Can we please talk about anime and manga?" Pichu asked.

"NO," Pikachu said. "...This time only, though."

"Yay!" Pichu cheered before both walked through the portal.

"Hmm..." Chris closed his eyes in defeat. "I knew we would have to go back sooner after all..."

"Hey, you got a lot of time," Master Hand said. "Besides, I hope you spent the time with some of them to discover more special attacks. You did, didn't you?"

"...I was so focused with homework, videogames, and some other chores that I didn't get the chances," Chris realized.

"...I pity you," Master Hand said. "Oh, wait, you didn't buy more games, right?"

"I did," Chris said. "Why?"

"Because if you did, that means Tabuu has more worlds to conquer, meaning we'll have more work if he finds out."

"..."

The fact that he increased his DS library...

The fact that he increased his PS2 library as well...

The fact that he increased his Wii library as well, too...

"...Awwwwwwww!!!" Chris groaned out loud.

"Just get in the mansion and hope we don't have to work that much, hurry," Master Hand said before he entered inside the portal.

"If it helps," Lucario began. "My force will make everything easier."

"Don't make me pull tho-"

"I'll shut up," Lucario said quickly with a gulp.

The 2 sighed with a frown before they walked inside the portal.

The clock of Chris's room was shown. It suddenly began to slow down before it eventually stopped, marking the time stop of the real world...

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"You guys," Sonic said as he saw the 10 getting through the portal. "It's been a hour since you left."

"So it was true?" Pikachu asked. "How powerful are you?" he asked to the hand.

"Don't underestimate me," Master Hand said with a chuckle. "I'm the Hand of Creation, after all."

"That his weakness is a certain mag-" Chris stopped.

"And he's immune to most of the things there are," Master Hand interrupted.

"Check this out, dude!" Popo said as he gave Sonic a note.

"What's this?" Sonic asked as he looked down at the note. "Times I've been Rickroll'd?"

Nana groaned and hit her forehead with the nearby desk.

"If you hit it, you pay it!" Crazy Hand (with a smaller tropical hat) said.

"Shut the hell up," Nana threatened. "Shut...the hell up...please..."

And vacations have ended.

Good luck fighting Tabuu's forces...again.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Kindred Twins. A whole new world lies beyond the expanse of boxarts that we call Chris's videogame collection..." Popo said.

"Turn my collection into poetry, and I'll roll you down The Summit," Chris threatened.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-Many world references were said.

-"Cross Edge - A Lucky Dog" is a song reference to the same game for PS3. It normally plays in scenes where Etna and Prinny are mainly involved. (It fits Prinny more).

Sorry if I didn't put every Smasher in here. If I did that, then this chapter would have been over 30,000 words...and we don't want that, right? (-_-);

We passed through 6 months, and nothing that important changed...except Lucario regaining his aura.

Once we get to the next chapter, then, everything will be back to normal as we see a new world, marking the beginning of the crossovers games appearing at last! The real main point of the fic was finally reached...

Okay, time to give out a hint of the next world. Maybe some will be unfamiliar, but please, I beg of you, stay with us until the end. I'll do my very best to make this fic "not-so-cheesy-heroic" so it stands out as a true gem of fanfiction (and I'm not showing off as well).

Since I've said that a certain game could appear sooner, and the fact that I'm talking about twins now...

Which game with twins is that?

If you know it, don't write it and say it! Keep it to yourself! "Wink"

Read and review, please...

...

Or Popo will worship Rick Astley.

"Damn right I will!" Popo said. "Neve-"

A shoe was tossed to his face and he was knocked out.

Read and review again. :P
*Chapter 136*: Kindred Twins

We have finally reached the crossover games, and we start off with a very popular franchise.

From SlasherMask: -_-; That sounds biased...(referring to anime/manga thing)

...Hands were hiding in the closet all the time? Hilarious.

Its kinda confusing since Caeda is Shiida in Europe... Darn different translations...(and doesn't anyone ever want use other pairings for Roy? He didn't have canon one...)

...When vacation chain started I knew this gonna be end badly(has not yet read end of it(After reading: sadly it didn't end that badly))

XD PIKACHu AND PICHU GOTTA WATCH YU-GI-OH! ABRIDGED SERIES!!...If that actual happens I really lol.(I already did at creepy hairdo part))Oh wait time skip is only one chapt X3

And Digimon not pokemon fusing with DBZ.(and technically Digimon is older than pokemon...It started out as tamagotchi like thing(Though it did become more than that after pokemons succession))

Negima is actually shonen series disguised as harem. The executives didn't wanted author to do another harem manga not action one... And author didn't exactly do everything exactly as they said.(it does still have lot of fan service though. I guess its required or something)

P.S... I KNOW EVERYTHING MWUAHAHAHAAHA

...Review didn't end yet...

...Butterfree isn't dead... That was dub only... And whole anime was/is composed out of filler...

...Yes... Chris is almost as big nerd as Chus are anime/manga nerds...

And "training from he--(censored just to be sure)" is common thing in anime and games...Why did I write that? That wasn't relevant at all...

...The airport woman lady is cryying~

P.S.S... I have nothing to say though... TRIVIA TIME!~ Have you played Chrono Trigger? If you have compare Robo's theme to Rick Astley's Never gonna give you up. JUST DO IT.

From me: What's biased?

Why would it end so badly?

No comments about Digimon (or what you tried to say to me).

Meh, Negima lost me the first episode, and it became my most hated anime after Gantz. Explain to me what harem is.

I heard that some speculated that Butterfree could have died (and remember that Pikachu said PROBABLY dead).

Why the censor?

What airport woman?

Why do you want me to compare those 2 unrelated son-

...Oh god...

...Thank you. :)

From TARDISreviewer: O_O. He must be insane to actually LIKE being rickrolled.

I suppose it's a good thing he didn't discover /b/ or encyclopedia dramatica. Who knows what he would have picked up had he gone there?

From me: Popo's insanity is going overboard, don't you think? XD

From ngrey651: You know, I found this chapter really funny. I probably would have found it even funnier if I wasn't such a dork at not remembering pop culture. I'm hopelessly out of the loop. XD

From me: As the official site have said before, you must...get back on track. :P

From Anakin Mario Son43: Okay.. this time skip i was o.k. with! The part I like was Popo actually liking being rick rolled. I don't know how many times I believed a video and got rickrolled. You should put a computer in the manshion so Popo can get more rickrolles. And now that the crossover arcs are here, then that means... KINGDOM HEARTS IS COMING SOON! HORRAY! That's all I have to say for now! Hasta!

From me: Just remember that it's still a long way to KH. Thanks. ;)

From MarioXXX: Hey, is your birthday on September 30th? Mine is.

Anyways, loved the vacation. Why would Tabuu want Defend Your Castle, though? I have no clue what game is next. Poor Sonic and everyone else at the mansion, no vacation for them. Thank you for supporting us, it means alot to the three of us.

MarioX, RayGallade, and Luigicario signing out.

From me: Yours is in Sep 30th? Wow. Well, it is for me as well.

And no, Tabuu wouldn't want to conquer a cardboard world at all.

I don't think the people in the mansion wanted to have a vacation.

And wait, are you 3 people at once? Dude, that's not good... (And yes, I've seen your movements).

Thanks. :)

From Zeni S. Master: lol popo and nana got Rick'rolled XD! awesome chappie! as usual...is Crazy going to be drunk dare i ask? i will hide if he is. (gulp)

From me: Er, why would Crazy Hand be drunk? He's insane as he is. :P

And you hide if he is? I don't understand you well...

Thanks. :)

From werelucario: loha amego nice chappter i allways reading occaisanally revewing and i have this to say

YOU ARE NOT SLIPPING YOUR WRITING SKILL IS NOT LOSEING IT'S STYLE. I REPEAT YOU ARE NOT SLIPPING YOUR WRITING SKILL IS NOT LOSEING IT'S STYLE.

now that thats out of the way.

keep typeing so I can keep on reading

From me: ?

E-er, let's see if I can understand you... A-ha... Umm... Er... I-I think I can grasp what you're saying. Thanks.

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches to Reviewer!~

Congrats on your time skip chapter! There was good comedic value in it, as well as the extra games that Chris bought.

-

A few things though:

Some of your expressions are awkward:

"Lose cells out of your brain"

Use of a definite article: It seems to happen most with anything word that contains "space" in it. Don't put a "the" there; it's fine the way it is.

While inherently correct, "appendages sound a little..., intimate.

-

But overall, I enjoyed your chapter and I laugh at Chris' blunder of buying more games. Update soon!

From me: Oh, there were some errors? Can you give me examples of those? I tend to forget basic English rules, and I don't know how I can get an A plus even when I forget some of those rules. :P

And for the appendages thing, I heard those are the name for Lucario's...appendages. I found that out in an article I read on a site. Some said they're "aura filters" but it would be ridiculous to think that those are some kind of aura bags...

...

Snicker... A-aura bags...

Thank you. :)

From Rabid Original: Whoa. That was...interesting.

Time skips usually make me depressed, but that one was ok because you didn't just say "6 months later..." and go from there.

Seriously, did everyone but Chris just stay inside the house/yard the entire time?! I don't know about them, but I'd be bored XD

Imagining Pikachu and Pichu watching GetBackers made me laugh SO HARD XD

Chris seems like a good student. Meaning he does his homework, unlike me :P

I can't guess which game comes next, but maybe I'll have heard of it... I hope. It's more fun that way.

From me: They apparently seem to understand the rule very well. They don't want people know about them at all except Chris.

You raised a point about Chris. In truth, I found out that laid back characters tend to be poor at school materials, but have a stupid high amount of courage. However, Chris is totally the opposite. Somebody kill me if I ever make Chris like that.

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: I liked this chapter because it gave a few unlikely characters a chance to interact. You don't see Pikachu and Pichu as much compared to other characters, and it's cool how they interact with Chris in the real world. Only a few handful showed up in the real world, huh? Good for that, Chris wouldn't be able to handle all the Smashers.

From me: And if all of them were there, they would easily get the attention of the neighbors. XD Thanks. :)

In commemoration for the game for getting a sequel on the WiiWare library, our FOURTH crossover arc starts now.

Of course, some of you haven't heard of this game before, but please, continue reading. The system I implemented to the fic would help you to understand the plot. I don't want to lose readers at all as well.

With that clear, please enjoy.

Read, enjoy, and review. :)

Chapter 136: Kindred Twins

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

"Where is Bowser?" Ganondorf asked. "It has been a long time since I last heard of him."

"This is really odd," the Ancient Minister said. "I was sure that he would be over soon, but he has been delaying his arrival."

"What does that imbecile think he is doing?" Tabuu asked. "We cannot afford to wait for him until he comes when he wants to. I believe that King Dedede should go and see what happened to him."

"Why me?" Dedede asked.

"I see the future," Tabuu said. "I see a fool in red robe begging for my mercy."

Dedede shuddered. "Violence always is your answer, huh? ...Fine, I'll go and get his scaly butt here."

The Waddle Dee user walked into the darkness and disappeared.

"Quite strange, indeed," Tabuu said. "However, we must not stop our plans. I forgot to announce that we have a new supporter to conquer the worlds."

"So is that why I felt a new presence in here..." Ganondorf turned around. "You can stop hiding from us. I know you are there."

"Heheheheheheheh..." a voice chuckled. "I quite like the darkness in here, thank you very much."

"You cannot stay in there for much longer," Ganondorf threatened.

"Stop," Tabuu said. "Ganondorf, I have another assignment for you to take. Since we have failed to conquer the worlds where the Smashers came from, we will have to aim to new worlds in order to succeed."

"New worlds..." Ganondorf repeated.

"And our new "client" is going to be very important while we take on a new task... Because of the kid's intervention, many new worlds have been opened to our advantage, and...we may as well say that some additions have appeared in them..."

"I shall explain everything when the time is right," the voice said. "I'm afraid I should explain to everyone here...once everyone is here, of course."

"It's for the best," the Ancient Minister said. "I don't want either Bowser or Dedede asking at the time."

"Ganondorf," Tabuu began. "Go to the darkness of the subspace, take a Subspace Bomb with you, and beforehand, prepare a small unit of our Shadow Bugs. Do not forget about the monsters as well."

Ganondorf nodded. "Very well. I shall start the task."

As the king of darkness walked to...the darkness, he glanced to the person hiding. Ganondorf was able to identify that the person wore glasses covering his eyes, and he was bald as well. The person flashed a small grin as he chuckled, making Ganondorf narrow his eyes at him before disappearing.

"My," the person said. "The people I'm going to work with are sure very grumpy."

"Do not mind their behaviors," Tabuu said. "You should start preparing your speech in order for me to approve your help."

"All in time...all in time...heheheheheheheh..."

As Tabuu and his client talked, the Ancient Minister looked away. "(With him around, my escape will never come...)"

The executive of the subspace noticed a glaring Charizard, staring at him. "What are you doing?" Charizard asked harshly.

"Does it matter to you?" the Ancient Minister asked. "My ideas would make you feel a headache if you ever bothered to know."

"The hell are you talking about?" Charizard asked.

"I'll leave your mind to wonder by itself," the minister responded before disappearing into the darkness.

Charizard glared where the Ancient Minister disappeared before walking away, leaving Tabuu and the client alone.

Final Fantasy IV DS

Birthed from womb of Dragon's maw
And borne unto the stars
By light and darkness cast aloft
Are dreamtide oaths resworn
Moon is swathed in ever-light
Ne'er again to know eclipse
Earth, with hallow'd bounty reconciled

Or so it said the Mysidian legend...

Mysidia
Village

The mystical village called Mysidia lies on the southeastern continent of the Blue Planet called Earth. This village is most well-known for its abundance in the teachings of Black magic and White magic. Many Black Mages and White Mages can be found, learning to master the spells that they're taught.

The village of Mysidia was a very peaceful village that didn't mean any harm upon the world outside. Nobody inside its territory meant violence to anyone since the village was just normal.

Of course, it wasn't normal. Many legends were spoken day and night in this village.

Anybody could spot Black Mages or White Mages walking along the village. Even if they were smart, that didn't mean they acted very calm. A lot of mages also liked to hang out and the such with other people, making this village normal.

When legends are spoken, then that would mean they came from the elder of the village, who knew such tales very well.

It happened today that it was time for 2 young children to learn more about magic...

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mystic Mysidia

...And for some reason or another, one of the main sanctum's roofs exploded, and the mages outside covered their heads and gasped in horror.

"Oh no..." a Black Mage said with a frown.

"Don't tell me that he did it again..." a nearby White Mage said embarrassed.

"I'm afraid that he did it," the Black Mage said. "This village can't have a peaceful day without that brat showing off his magic at the wrong time."

"What can we do," the White Mage said with a sigh. "There should be a day where he will learn."

"Oh, sure," the Black Mage said as he rolled his yellow eyes (because Black Mages always wore the magic hats). "Not even in 18 years or something like that."

"Why 18?"

"Do I care?" the Black Mage asked annoyed.

Hall of Prayer

Within the hall, several mages seemed to be in a panic as they tried to stop the fire inside. Fortunately, it wasn't very hard for them due to some using Blizzard to cease the flames with an icy wind.

The mages stopped panicking as the elder came from behind them. With a sigh, he frowned and said, "Did Palom do this again?"

"I'm afraid yes," a Black Mage said. "That kid got happy for learning Fire a few days ago that he started to play with it. I know people shouldn't play with fire, but not play with the SPELL Fire."

"Where is he?" the Elder asked, ignoring the Black Mage's complain.

"Hiding and laughing his butt off," a White Mage said bored.

"Elder!"

The elder turned around and looked down at a young girl. This little girl wore a somewhat large green cape, held a rod on her right hand, had some kind of red-stripped clothes, a small and thin brown ponytail hung from the top of her head and it was always behind, and she also wore a small but normal green pendant around her neck. She wasn't very childish at all because she was an adept at White magic for her age.

"I came as soon as I saw the smoke," she said. "And did this happen because..."

"Your brother, Palom, did it again."

"That brother of mine!" she yelled. "PALOM! Palom, where are you?! Get right here, right now!"

Not soon she said that, a frog passed between them and it looked up to Palom.

"Ribbit," the frog said.

The elder sighed. "Palom...your magic can't fool us very easily now..."

Did he just talk to the frog?

"..." The girl closed her eyes and shook in anger. "Remove the bad omen... Esuna!"

The frog got enveloped in light as it started to transform into a kid, crouching down. It seemed that the kid used some kind of magic to turn himself into a frog in order to hide from the mages. This young kid looked exactly like the young girl...because they were twins. He almost looked exactly like her, save for his different style of clothes (not making that much of a difference since they were green-stripped clothes), and wore a long red cape.

"Hahaha!" the kid laughed as he got up. "You're very sharp, elder. You managed to see through my veil o-"

The kid got interrupted as the girl grabbed the ponytail of his head and pulled him to her.

"Oww! Oww, oww, oww! Knock it off!" he pleaded.

"You IDIOT!" the girl yelled. "How many times must we tell you about not playing with your magic?"

"Palom, Porom! Stop fighting!" the elder yelled.

"Ha-ha!" the kid (named Palom) said. "You-got-scolded!"

The girl (named Porom) let go of his ponytail and he fell down to the floor. "Hush!" she yelled.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Palom & Porom

"Enough is enough," the elder said. "Palom, why have you been playing with Fire again? You know very well that using magic for games isn't allowed in the village."

"Chill out, elder," Palom said as he got up and folded his arms. "This place needed a good event 'cuz I was bored."

"Just because you're bored doesn't mean you have to kill us off!" Porom yelled angrily. "Think about the consequences for once! I hate people yelling at me because we ALMOST look the same for being twins. I'm sick of that in all honesty!"

"You gotta play along!" Palom suggested. "It could be fun!"

"Fun for you, but bad news for me!" Porom yelled.

"Enough!" the elder snapped out. "Don't start fighting after the day our crystal got stolen by Baron's forces. The people of the village have been depressed ever since, and none of you are helping at all."

It happened that Mysidia was assaulted by an airship force of Baron (a militarist kingdom) called Red Wings. The soldiers didn't hesitate to kill the mages from taking the Water Crystal, a sacred relic important to the legends of the same village.

"Those guys would have whited out in fear if I wasn't there," Porom bluffed. "Too bad me and Palom went to a field trip."

"It wasn't a field trip!" Palom yelled. "It was a trip to train our magic, thing which you didn't do at all."

"But I befriended a Goblin!" Porom said. "Harry's awesome with that knife he carries around."

"I remember you got yourself injured in the face," Palom said with a sigh. "Must I look after you that much?"

"Yeah."

"What?!"

The elder sighed. He would wish for Palom to be disciplined for once in any day or sooner.

Palom is an apprentice Black Mage of the Land of Mysidia. Though young, Palom has proven himself a skillful, if arrogant, student of magic. He frequently misbehaves, and is often scolded by his twin sister Porom as a result. He is mostly enthusiastic, to the point of being stupid.

Porom is an apprentice White Mage of the Land of Mysidia. Mature for her age, Porom is already an accomplished spellcaster. She is also a highly responsible child, and must constantly struggle to keep her twin brother Palom from stirring up trouble. Both of them often argue, or Porom is actually the only one arguing.

"Stop!" the elder yelled annoyed. "Palom, since you played with the spell, I am going to add more hours to your training!"

"Aww!" Palom groaned. "No fair!"

"It IS very fair," Porom said. "Serves you right."

"And you are going to promise that you will not play around with the spells you learn?" the elder asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Palom said pouting. "Whatever. I screwed myself over...bit it's going to be fun at least."

"Everything is a game for you, isn't it?" Porom asked. "Anyway, since I came all the way here to see what was goin-"

Music stops

Something weird happened. Porom couldn't tell, but something happened.

"...Elder...did you feel that just now?" Porom asked.

"It wasn't me," Palom said.

"Not you, dork!" Porom yelled. "Elder! I-I just felt a horrible presence appearing, but I'm afraid I don't know where!"

"Porom, calm down," the elder said. "I know... The air suddenly became uneasy after that presence came... What is that presence, though? It just appeared so suddenly that it vanished as fast as it came."

"Hmm, I felt it too," Palom said. "Must have taken off because it knew I was here, and it got so scared."

Final Fantasy IV DS - Palom & Porom

"Will you just shut up for once?" Porom asked.

"I dare you!" Palom dared before running away. "Hahahahahaha!"

"You come over here right now!" Porom yelled before chasing her brother. "Palom! Stop fooling around and come over here! We have to stay caution about that presence!"

"Why bother?" Palom was heard saying. "Leave it to me!"

"So it kills you? No way!" Porom yelled as Palom laughed again.

The elder sighed and frowned. "I really look forward to the day those 2 grow up...especially Palom."

"Elder..." a Black Mage said as he walked to him. "I'm afraid Palom is turning some mages into frogs thanks to the spell he learned 2 days ago, and Porom is still chasing him around."

"I-I'm sorry!" Porom was heard saying. "I-I'm going to heal you as soon as I murder my own brother! PALOM!"

"...I will leave it to Porom," the elder said as he turned to the sanctum. "Porom can handle that child better than myself..."

"PALOM!" Porom yelled.

The laughs of the young Black Mage echoed through the village as the sky was shown...

Music stops

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Smash Mansion

As the sky was shown, it then went up as the Smash Mansion was shown before changing scenes within the mansion.

Command Room

It passed a day after everyone came back from their vacations. Most of them either talked or narrated what they went through during the 6 months that they got.

"I see..." Master Hand said. "Everyone, Tabuu started to make his moves on a new world."

One by one, everyone stopped talking.

"As I expected, he didn't want to let go of this chance, and we have to work again where we left."

"I'm pretty warmed up after that long break," Link said. "I'm ready to give it all if it's necessary."

"However, I have bad news as well," the hand said. "It seems that this world only allows 5 people to go, and it says that twins should be separated so they count as 2 characters...weird."

"What kind of rule is that?" Chris asked.

"I don't know," Master Hand said. "Maybe YOU do, but I want to keep this world a secret until you go in..." He cleared his throat. "Alright. This world specifies that only swordsmen, mages, and twins can go in to mix well with the environment."

For some reason, everyone started talking between each other.

"Chris, since you probably know more about this world, you'll have to go."

"I always go to every world," Chris said bored.

"I don't remember you going for C. Falcon nor Samus, right?"

"Fine, not all the worlds!"

"Better..." The hand looked at Lucario. "Well, sorry, but you can't go in. I know you regained your aura and all that but rules are rules."

"I understand..." Lucario said depressed.

"I promise I'm going to come back soon," Chris said. "I know it won't be too dangerou-"

Master Hand snickered.

"Maybe not TOO dangerous, but I'm going to come back soon."

"I understand, Chris," Lucario said. "Just go and fight."

"...That sounded scarring."

Lucario blinked shocked. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay, but don't say it again, please..." Chris said.

"Alrighty!" Crazy Hand said. "Wanna see my wares? I've got new stuff for you and those guys over there. Your wallet should have gotten fat after fighting Smithy."

Chris took out his wallet...and he found 1501 Smash Coins.

"If you could have succeeded in the fight in Exor, you could have won over 5000 coins, but u phailed so it got reduced drastically."

Chris mumbled. "Well, let me see your things."

Jobs - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 1501

Jobs

Beastmaster - 1000 Smash Coins

Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

FLUDD Devices - 5000 Smash Coins

Allows Mario to use FLUDD's Applications.

Mr. Utility Belt AKA Link - 5000 Coins

Allows Link to use his extensive weaponry.

Learn - 1000 Smash Coins

Allows Smashers to learn different moves in different worlds (except the World Traveler). However, these learned moves will soon disappear as soon as a Smasher leaves the world where he or she learned the new skill.

Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Poison Mushroom

Stored items:
None

"Learn?" Chris asked.

"I think you should buy this freebie," Crazy Hand said. "It helps a lot. Imagine someone using magic in a world. This ability could balance things against monsters or the like."

"...Okay," Chris said. "I'll wait for the day Olimar uses magic."

With that, he bought the skill "Learn" with 1000 Smash Coins and everyone glowed for a moment before stopping.

"Can you stop that sudden glow?" Mario asked. "I think it's a little bit unnecessary to do that."

"You guys don't understand my ways at all," Master Hand said. "Fine, I'll stop that."

"We're not f(beep)ng Christmas's lights," Snake said.

As the 2 characters walked to different ways, the hand looked at Chris. "Well, start preparing your team. Again, you can take only 4 people with you."

"But some of those rules sounded weird, don't you think?" Chris asked.

"Yes," he said. "But maybe it's because of the world you're going."

"And why don't you want to say the name of the gam-I mean, world?"

The hand turned away. "Because I don't want your fanboism going haywire today."

"What?"

"Just get your people and you'll see by your own eyes!" Master Hand said. "Hurry! The sooner, the better! We're going to hold the Classic Mode today as well!"

He said way too much information as most of the Smashers in the room stopped talking and quickly looked at him.

"...Did I say the secret word?" Master Hand asked. "I-I mean, yeah. We're going to start the Classic Mode today to get those Trophy Stands once and for all!"

Even if his fake excitement didn't give them the same feeling, most of the Smashers cheered and whistled in response at the announcement.

"Did I hear 4 people wanting to defeat Chris?" Master Hand asked.

"E-er, I'm going to start getting my team assembled!" Chris panicked as he thought about who to take. "(Let's see, I should start developing a stronger partnership with Ike...and maybe I should take Zelda because she could be defined as a magician for her magic...then I should think about the other 2...)"

The World Traveler walked to Ike. "I think I need a swordsman, so I thought about taking you."

"Really?" Ike asked. "It was about time you asked me personally."

"Why is that?"

"Because I don't think we haven't met each other very well, am I right?"

"(My god, he's pretty sharp,)" Chris thought surprised. "I know..."

"I'm sorry," Ike apologized. "It's mostly my fault."

"Huh? Why?" Chris asked.

"It's for the fact that I have just hanging out with Marth and Roy a lot of my time because I'm still a little bit unfamiliar with this place so they explained a lot of things to me," Ike explained. "I haven't spoken to many because of that problem."

"Your barbaric attitude against machines surely has disappeared now."

"D-don't remind me that," Ike said. "So, do you want me to go?"

"If you don't mind," Chris said.

"Then I'll do my best out there."

"You don't really have to act so soldier-like. Just treat me as equal."

"Oh, okay. I got that."

The World Traveler nodded and went to Zelda. "Do you think you're ready to go?"

"Aren't you choosing Link?" Zelda asked. "Normally I would g-"

The princess looked at Chris.

"I-I mean, it's not like I feel scared or something! Not that!" she said embarrassed. "B-but I'm fine if Ike goes... And Link and I don't have anything between us! Not even a single bit of...whatever your mind is thinking! Ugh!"

Chris sweatdropped and turned around. "(What did I even do to begin with?)" he thought confused.

"Nana, I found something better on internet," Popo said to Nana.

"...What..." Nana asked bored.

"After exploring the wonderful world of encyclopedia dramatica," the blue Ice Climber said. "I found a place EVEN better than that!"

"What..." Nana asked in a loss.

"Newgrounds! Lots of sick things are in there!"

Oh, for the love of god, thought Nana. This was getting very stupid; super stupid for her to listen at her brother's hobby. It was like if she wanted to shut him up for once due to her being annoyed to the maximum point where she couldn't take it anymore...

And she snapped out.

"SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!"

Everyone in the room stopped talking and looked somewhat shocked at the pink Ice Climber.

"Popo, that does it!" Nana yelled. "What the heck is wrong with your microscopic brain?! I AM so sick of you!"

"Ooh, you're getting angry now," Popo said. "Want ice to chill down?"

"That DOES IT now!" Nana yelled angrily. "Popo, from this day on, we're not going to fight together! I'm sick of all, I'm sick of you!"

The Smashers watched as Nana grabbed Popo's throat.

"I'm sick of listening to your stupid findings of the internet, I'm sick of seeing your goofy face every morning, I'm sick of having to tell you to take a bath so you don't stink like a rotten cabbage, and I'm sick of being the smart one out of our small team!"

"You wanna break out, baby?" Popo asked.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Nana took out her hammer and she lunged at Popo. Before long, both Ice Climbers seemed to be fighting against each other as many of the Smashers watched in shock after seeing both siblings duking it out in the middle of the room.

"O-oh my god!" Peach yelled. "I don't want to see this anymore!"

"Stop them!" Ness yelled.

Some of them carefully got closer to the fight between the 2 before Diddy and Olimar grabbed a furious Nana, while Mario and Luigi...didn't do nothing because Popo swung his hands around while on the floor.

"S-should we do something?" Luigi asked as he looked at Popo fighting the air.

"I don't think so..." Mario said confused.

"Let me go! Let me kill that idiot!" Nana yelled.

"Okay, stop now!" Pikachu yelled before he slapped Nana. "There!"

Nana panted heavily and Olimar and Diddy let go of her. "Thanks...I needed that..."

"U-um..." Chris looked unsure. "A-are you 2 okay?"

"Does it even matter now..." Nana said depressed before she started sobbing. "I-I'm sick of all of this...I'm really sick of all..." She covered her face and cried. "I can't tolerate my own brother any longer... T-this didn't use to be like this before, and I don't know why he started to get dumber like now!"

Popo was still swinging his hands around.

Nana turned around and cried louder. "I don't care if I look pathetic now! Laugh at me if you want! I'm just a loner climber with a stupid brother who doesn't even try to focus!"

And Popo kept going.

"It's like if I were adopted or something!"

Was Popo slowing down?

"I wish I knew our parents so they could look after you and not me!"

Did Popo stop, and did he look miffed?

"I don't want to see your face again! If they ever ask about you, I'm going to say you died as a brother!"

"..." Popo looked normal as he sat up.

"Popo?" Lucas asked. "D-did you just listen?"

"...Burp."

"STOP!" Chris yelled as he stopped Nana from grabbing her hammer. "P-please, stop! I don't want to see you 2 fighting!"

"Popo isn't even fighting!" Nana cried. "He's just sitting down on the floor like nothing happens!"

Popo looked sad.

...HOLD ON!

Popo looked sad.

"Wait!" Roy yelled. "He just got sad all of a sudden!"

Popo looked very happy the next second. "Dudes! Let's go and party all the afternoon!"

Nana pushed Chris's hand away and she slammed Roy's right foot hardly with her hammer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Roy screamed in pain.

"Stop lying to me!" Nana cried. "I hate when somebody lies with something very unbelievable like my brother getting sad!"

"I-I saw him getting sad for a small second, I swear!" Roy said.

Nana looked down. "I know you're trying to cheer me up...but...I just want to be alone and not think about having a brother..." She covered her face with her hands. "It's...it's just...very sad...so sad..." she muttered silently.

"..." Zelda walked to Nana and she rubbed her back. "Don't feel bad anymore, please. Everyone cares about you."

"...Really?" Nana asked.

"Not me," Snake said.

"Or me," Wolf said.

Zelda glared at both before looking at Nana. "Just don't get angry again and things could probably work out well. If you feel sad, just come to me so I can make you feel better with yourself. Why isn't anybody trying to cheer her?"

"Because of the fact that most of us don't have brothers or sisters," Link said.

"And we don't know how to cheer her up either…" Marth said. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Master Hand said. "But we have to start the mission before they get an advantage on us. Chris, have you chosen your party yet?"

"I..." Chris said. "...I picked Ike, Zelda..."

He forgot that 2 spots were empty...

Come to think of it, twins were supposed to be separated characters as well...

"(This is so odd... Why would twins be separated?)" Chris thought. "(Is this some kind of epiphany? This is so strange...)"

"So?" Master Hand asked.

"I-I'm taking Popo and Nana with me."

At the mention of her name, Nana looked up shocked. Popo seemed to cheer happily.

"I-if it's alright with her, that is..." Chris said.

"..." Nana sighed. "What else can you do? I guess I need to do this by my will. If it is against it, I'll try harder to try and stay calm."

"I'm going as well," Zelda said. "You can speak to me if you fee-"

"Are you treating me like a child?" Nana asked. "I'm mature, you know."

"I-I'm treating you like I do with some people," Zelda said. "Really, I am."

"...Thanks..." Nana muttered. "(But even Zelda can't make me feel fine with Popo... Isn't there someone who can understand how I feel about Popo? Nobody here understands very well at all...)"

Final Fantasy IV DS
Current Status: En-route to Mt. Ordeals
Race: Humans and Dwarves
Number of protagonists: 13
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 5
Highly recommended abilities: Swordsman skill, magic prowess, and twins (though separated as 2 characters)

Final Fantasy IV DS

Mysidia
Village

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mystic Mysidia

"And again," Porom said to a Black Mage. "I'm sorry for my brother burning your...magazine..."

"Well! I hope you're sorry!" the Black Mage said angry as he showed her something called "Ninja Sutra."

The Ninja Sutra is some kind of weird book of arcana of some sort...or it could be a filthy book designed for special people.

"This magazine is very hard to get and find these days that I had a lot o-"

"And again, I'm very sorry," Porom apologized. "But my brother will be punished for his pranks, I swear."

How did she was able to stop her brother?

"Fortunately," Porom went on. "Since I learned Mini a few days ago, I made him shrink to the size of an ant, and now he's inside this little bottle of Potion." She showed him a bottle of Potion where her brother waved at the Black Mage.

"Hey there!" Palom yelled within the bottle.

"A-aah!" the Black Mage said as he backed away. "Take him away from my sight!"

"(That's it. My popularity as a White Mage is done for,)" Porom thought bored. "Very well, sir. Have a good day with your filthy magazine..."

As she walked back to the sanctum...

"...I-it's not what it looks like!" the Black Mage yelled as he blushed and turned to another direction.

"Okay, you got your fun," Porom said as she didn't look her brother. "And I had my time chasing you. Now, behave before the elder before I throw you into the ocean."

"You can't," Palom taunted. "I'm inside this bottle, and you're out of it. Come to think of it, maybe I can build a house in here!"

"You are not making any sense!" Porom yelled.

"Whoopsie," Palom said with a chuckle.

"Better now..." Porom said. "We must go back and return to our studies. I bet you want to learn Flare someday, right?"

"Totally!" Palom yelled excited. "And maybe you could learn Holy, and turn into the mage you want to be!"

She couldn't contradict that as she chuckled heartily. "Well, our goals are kind of the same..."

"(She's falling for it,)" Palom thought. "(Sister, you're so gullible.)"

"...Wait," Porom said. "Are you flattering me or something so I can forgive you?"

"What makes you say that?" Palom asked with folded arms.

It was not too late before Porom moved the bottle up and down, making her brother bump inside of it several times before he got dizzied and fainted.

"There must be somebody out there who understands the situation I'm with you," Porom said. "Unfortunately, we won't find someone like that at all."

Outside of the village, a small hill overlooked the whole settlement as an enthusiastic Chris ran to the top of it and looked at Mysidia's glory with his own eyes. The World Traveler smiled happily as his own fantasies started...to go haywire.

"Fantasy, fantasy, fantasy," Chris sang happily. "Since I like to believe in fantasy so much, Final Fantasy could be the perfect example I have. I love my job as the World Traveler!" he yelled excited as his voice echoed.

From behind him, Popo, Ike, Zelda, and Nana walked to the top and looked at Mysidia. Chris remained in the middle of where they were standing.

"So this is the place?" Ike asked.

"Yes," Chris said with a nod. "Before you lies Mysidia, the village of Black Mages and White Mages. I don't know what we're going to do here, but I think we should walk in and see if we can find the characters."

"Fear not!" Popo said. "Our chibi looks will make anyone fall in love with us!"

"What do you mean by chibi looks?" Chris asked. "..." He looked at his hands. "...Er...w-what just happened?"

Chris looked at himself. Since he was using the Musician job, he looked a little bit smaller than he used to be...

Not to mention the 4 in his group. The 3 tallest Smashers remained the same height, as Popo and Nana seemed to be way smaller.

"Um..." Zelda looked at her hands. "I think we got affected by how this world looks like, right?"

"W-we look like if we were in the game," Chris said shocked. "Squared hands, childish looks, almost everything changed..."

"I don't mind..." said Nana. "I care about doing what we should do here, that's all."

"(And she's very small...)" Chris thought before he shook his head. "I guess we should go with the flow, right?"

"Yes," Zelda said with a nod. "But I'm worried about meeting the "protagonists" of this world..."

"Why?"

"I think she's saying that because they're not going to believe us," Ike said. "Think, we just can't say something like, "Hello, we're in a trouble and we need you to help us in our fight against the Subspace Army" or something else."

"...Ike..." Chris trailed off. "...I'm amazed. You made an important point."

"Was it good?" Ike asked. "I just wondered, that's all."

"But that's a problem as well," Zelda said. "We need to find a way to convince them from joining them in their journey. Master Hand said we needed to follow the storyline in order to maintain it as it is, or we could end up altering something that could drastically change the whole story."

"Hmm... Don't worry," Chris said. "I'm sure we'll do it if we think about a plan."

"Yeah," Popo said. "We could, like, help that dark soldier over there."

"What dark soldier?" Ike asked.

The 5 turned their heads to a weakened soldier trying to stay on his feet as he walked to Mysidia. The soldier seemed to be in great pain as he grunted many times. He was dragging his left foot as well.

This soldier wore a dark armor that covered his whole body. His face was covered behind a steel dark plate that didn't let them see through.

"..." Chris knew the soldier very well. "...Cecil!" he spoke.

"Cecil?" Zelda asked. "Is that his name?"

"H-he's Cecil!" Chris said. "He's the main protagonist!"

Cecil Harvey was the Lord Captain of the Red Wings of Baron until he questioned the king for leading an attack to Mysidia a few days ago, resulting in his banishment from his rank. Cecil was trained the ways of the dark sword under the king of Baron, but he feels that there is another way for him to put his strength in good use. He is a very honorable man in a few words, and feels guilty for his action towards the Mysidians.

"He seems to be in a pain..." Zelda trailed off. "And is there a reason why he is in a such state?"

"I remember that he was commanded to burn a village, but he didn't know he was sent to do that because a ring he carried got activated as soon as he got in," Chris explained. "From there, he went through a lot problems until he wanted to go to Baron by ship, but Leviathan stopped the ship by attacking it, and he ended up all the way in this continent."

"I see..." Ike said.

"And he surely saw Mysidia and wanted to go in there," Chris said.

"...Wait, I have an idea," Zelda said. "Since he seems weak, why don't we help him? He's the protagonist, right? We could convince him to believe in us."

"Or we could join him and just make sure nothing weird happens to him," Ike said.

"Or we could cream him, and steal his stuff," Popo suggested.

"...Great idea, Zelda!" Chris said, ignoring Popo. "We need to hurry!"

"Wait!" Nana suddenly spoke. "We just can't go and help him!"

"Why?" Ike asked.

"I have a better idea," Nana said. "Instead of running to him..."

Some minutes later...

"I..." Cecil muttered weakly. "...I need to...reach...Mysidia..." he muttered as he grunted in pain.

Some feet away from him, a small group of travelers seemed to be talking between each other in peace. The young girl, however, didn't want to talk to her younger brother because she didn't want to see him...

And yes, those travelers were the Smashers.

"So, Ike," Popo began. "What do you do to pay taxes?"

Ike frowned before he spotted Cecil. "What the... Hey! Look over there! That man is injured!"

"We need to do something!" Nana said alarmed. "We have to help him or he could die before he reaches the village nearby!"

Bingo, Nana's plan worked.

Basically, they acted like they didn't know what Cecil went through, and so they decided to stand in a point without doing anything special. It was better than the idea to rush at him and help Cecil. Why not wait for him to get closer to the village and then act normal?

Even if she was depressed, Nana thought about a good plan.

"Wait!" Ike yelled as the 5 ran to Cecil. "You seem to be in a lot of pain. Do you want us to help you?"

Cecil looked up at Ike and the 4. "You...please...take me to the village..."

"S-sure," Chris said. "Ike, can you help him?"

"Certainly. (Why do I have to be the only one to carry him?)" Ike said and thought as he let Cecil hung his right arm over his shoulders.

The 5 began to walk to the village with the weakened soldier.

"(Eureka,)" they all thought.

"(Checkmate, aaaaand match,)" Popo thought proudly.

Hall of Prayer

Porom dropped her brother to the floor and used Mini to return him back to his normal size. Upon returning to his size, he folded his arms and looked cheerfully at Porom. "Okay. Whatcha gonna do today?"

"Learn to use Poison appropriately," Porom said.

"But I learned that yesterday!" Palom protested. "I'm not going to practice that again! Not after I poisoned mysel-"

"That's why you need to practice," Porom said. "If you can't target your enemy, then for what did you do all that for? That is wasted effort and you know that."

"Umm..." Palom grumbled. "Fine..."

Both turned to different directions...

However, something seemed to be happening outside as they walked back.

"What's that big commotion outside?" Palom asked. "I can't train with all those "boos" and "get out, you filthy dark knight!" at all!"

"I'm surprised," Porom said bored. "You ACTUALLY are going to practice in peace for once."

"What?!" Palom asked. "I wanted to go fishing!"

"Never mind then!" Porom yelled annoyed. "Well, we cannot overlook this because...well, we just can't! The village hasn't been like this!"

"Sweet! I want to gossip!" Palom said excited as he ran outside.

"...Get back here!" Porom yelled as she followed Palom. "We should be training rather than stop the arguments outside!"

Village

Chris forgot an important detail about Cecil and the Mysidians...

1) Since Cecil leaded an attack to Mysidia without previous advice, many Mysidians died.

2) It was accidental as Cecil didn't want to do it.

3) The Mysidians developed a hatred towards Baron, but they hated the Red Wings even more, and they knew how Cecil looked like.

And most important of all...

4) The god of tomatoes wasn't happy today, and many Mysidians decided to assault Cecil's little group with... Guess what? Your favorite Vitamin C fruit.

"You killed my cousin's brother's aunt!" a Black Mage yelled before he tossed a tomato to Chris.

"I didn't kill anyone! I just arrived!" Chris yelled back as he wiped the tomato off his face.

Getting inside the village with Cecil was a really bad idea for the Smashers. The Mysidians thought that they were under Cecil's commands that they instantly hated them.

Well, they were helping Cecil, but the mages took this the bad way.

"Get out!" a young White Mage shouted as she tossed a tomato to Zelda's face.

"I have a very important lineage to the royalty!" Zelda yelled. "Stop treating me as a normal commoner!"

"I think they're not going to listen to you at all," Ike said as he dodged a tomato. "They hate us for some reason."

"Because Cecil leaded an attack to the village before, that's why!" Chris yelled before a tomato hit his face.

The walk to the sanctum was actually very hard to achieve since most Mysidians halted their progress and tossed more and more tomatoes.

"Don't let them get near the sanctum!" yelled a White Mage. "They want to steal more relics!"

"We don't want to!" Nana yelled. "Stop being such hypocrites to us!"

Out of the 5, there was someone who thought different...

"Thank you!" Popo said as he grabbed a tomato. "Thanks for giving us free food!"

The 4 Smashers groaned. Popo took the bad welcome as some sort of food re-stocking as he jumped and grabbed the tomatoes, getting more and more by each person.

"...See the bright side." Ike tried to cheer them up. "We have food at least."

"Can somebody toss more tomatoes at him?" Zelda asked and Ike looked a little shocked.

Some feet away from them, Palom and Porom emerged from the sanctum and looked at almost the whole village throwing tomatoes at the traveling 6.

"What in the world is happening now?" Porom asked.

"I'll tell you," Palom said. "There's a Tomato Festival today, and they didn't invite us."

"No, not that!" Porom yelled. "I mean, why are they tossing tomatoes? We don't have that many in the whole village... What I was saying just now?" she asked confused. "The elder is going to be mad if he sees the village in such uproar!"

"Meh, let him do it," Palom said. "Everyone respects the old man very well in village."

"You don't dare call the elder an old man," Porom said. "Show him the respect he has been waiting from you!"

"I'll give him my respect when he teaches me Flare."

"Palom!"

"Porom!"

"What?"

"The mob! Let's join them!"

"What? No!"

"It's going to be fun! I have tomatoes right here as well!"

"We're not going to act immature now! And you won't either!"

This only summed all up with the uproar of the village. In truth, nobody was safe from being silent. Mysidia never looked this perturbed before in its long years, and probably the ancestors were quite helpless.

It was enough for one person as he walked out and saw Mysidia in its uproar.

Not only that. Don't forget the twins.

"SIIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEENCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

The Mysidians stopped throwing tomatoes (although a kid Black Mage kept throwing before a hand pulled him back to the crowd) and gasped at the voice that gave the order of complete silence. Even Palom and Porom stopped arguing to look back at the entrance, where the elder showed up.

"E-elder!" both twins said.

The elder simply walked forward, passing both twins before he looked at the village looking back at him. He later looked at a red spot (Cecil's group) and he nodded his head.

"...U-um, elder, what are you trying to say now?" Porom asked.

"..." The elder looked back at the village.

It seemed that the Mysidians dropped their tomatoes to the ground and they started to walk away, muttering Cecil's death in the process.

The 6 that were covered in red looked up to the elder.

"Come," the elder said. "I was expecting the dark knight to come today. I'm sorry for the village's behavior towards you, but I know you know why, am I correct?"

Cecil nodded his head.

"Then hurry up," the elder ordered. "If you want to do some explaining, I'll be willing to listen."

The elder walked back inside as the twins looked at each other. Bith decided to go back inside as well.

"..." Ike looked around. "Well, they all stopped..."

"You..." Cecil muttered. "Please, take me to the sanctum..."

"R-right away," Zelda said with a nod as the 6 walked to the sanctum.

Hall of Prayer

The elder saw the 6 getting inside with the weak Cecil. "You're injured, I believe?"

"If it's not much..." Cecil muttered. "I need to be cured in order for me to explain fully..."

"Very well."

"E-elder!" Porom yelled in disagreement.

"Porom, heal him," the elder ordered. "He won't cause any trouble."

"U-understood," Porom said before she moved her rod forward. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

A light covered Cecil, and his wounds were rapidly recovered as he managed to stand up. "Thank you," Cecil said. "I was very injured after I came here by accident."

"Accident?"

"The ship and the crew I was traveling with were attacked by Leviathan on its way to Baron," Cecil explained. "I do not know if all of them survived, but my memory can't seem to remember well."

Some time later...

The Smashers seemed to be left out as Cecil reached his main point.

"I want you to forgive my bad actions towards Mysidia," Cecil said. "I'm deeply ashamed for all I've done to your people. I was ordered to attack here against my will."

"I see..." the elder said. "It's true that Baron has been changing into a nation of cruel order?"

Baron is the heavy militarist nation of the whole planet. Its power has been changing into a cruel one after some events happened.

"I think it is because of the leader of the Red Wings," Cecil said. "His name is Golbez."

Not long after Cecil was banished from his rank of the Red Wings, a mysterious man named Golbez came to Baron and gained Cecil's rank quickly. However, some have said that Golbez could be the one behind Baron's change.

"He attacked the neighboring nations of Damcyan and Fabul, and he stole their crystals...like I did with the Mysidia's crystal."

"Hmm..." The elder closed his eyes.

"But I want to stop him. He kidnapped a very special friend of mine. Her name is Rosa," Cecil explained.

Rosa Farrell is a White Mage born of Baron nobility, and childhood friend of Cecil. She's well-known as "Baron Beauty" by some, but she doesn't care about this nickname. Last time when Cecil last heard of her, she was kidnapped by Golbez personally during the attack of Fabul (a nation that trains monks everyday).

"I beg of you," Cecil said as he knelt down. "I beg for forgiveness. My name hasn't been this ashamed in my life before."

"..." The elder opened his eyes. "Your name is Cecil, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, Cecil," the elder began. "You seek to defeat Golbez."

"Yes."

"But you can't fight him with a dark sword."

"Why not?" he asked as he looked up.

"The ways of the dark sword can't defeat true evil," the elder explained. "If you want to know a way to harm Golbez, you must go to Mt. Ordeals. That mountain lies to the east of this continent."

Mt. Ordeals is considered a mountain full of roaming spirits that could attack anyone who dares to climb it.

"Mt. Ordeals..." Cecil muttered. "Then I'll go."

"Alone? You wouldn't come back alive if you go alone," the elder said. "I'm going to give some company with 2 of my mages."

"Mages?" Cecil asked. "Is it fine for you to lend me your help?"

"I could be wrong, but the way you spoke your words were convincing to me," the elder said. "Maybe you do want to make up for your actions."

"Yes."

"Then...Palom, Porom, you 2 will go with Cecil."

Final Fantasy IV DS - Palom & Porom

Both twins looked at the elder. "Elder? Are you sure?" Porom asked.

"Yes," the elder said. "You 2 will go with Cecil and make sure he comes back alive from the mountain."

"I don't want to sound rude, but..." Cecil trailed off. "They look very young to be out fighting monsters."

"Do not worry," the elder. "They're very talented for their age. Palom and Porom are very dependable when it comes down to request their help."

"Yeah!" Palom said as he folded him arms. "You just leave the whole battle to me and the enemies will shiver at the mention of my name!"

"Hush!" Porom yelled. "Don't listen to my brother of mine. His head needs to understand the definition of very well behaved."

"That's 3 words!"

"Forget it, will you?" Porom asked annoyed. "A-anyway, we would like to go with you, Cecil."

"..." Cecil nodded.

"All well ends well!" Palom said chuckling. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"Again," Porom said. "This isn't a field trip."

"..." Cecil looked unsure. "Then let's be on our way."

As he turned around...

"Who are you?" Cecil asked.

"Finally!" Nana spoke. "Somebody notices us after all of your discussion!"

"I'm sorry," Cecil said. "I forgot I was taken here by you. But, why are you still here?"

"Come to think of it," Palom began. "You guys should have left a long while ago, but you got in here like nothing."

"O-oh!" Chris hopped a little. "S-sorry if we remained here, but..."

"But?" Porom repeated.

"W-well..."

Trouble, pure trouble. They managed to get that far, but what now?

The 5 turned to the entrance.

"Now what?" Chris whispered. "We came all this way, but I don't think he's going to let us go with them."

"Sorry," Nana whispered. "I didn't think about this outcome at all."

"We're stuck in a tight spot," Ike whispered. "There's no other way to explain ourselves, is there?"

"I hate to lie, really, I do," Zelda whispered. "We have to lie them so they listen t-"

"Funny you guys you're going that weird mountain!" Popo said.

The other 4 noticed that the blue Ice Climber was talking with them. They all cursed in their minds.

"We were planning to go there as well!"

"What?!" Porom asked. "Y-you must be nuts! Why you people want to go to such a dangerous place?"

"Aren't we going to that place?" Palom asked.

"Hush!" Porom yelled. "I-I don't think you should go there!"

"Why do you want to go there?" the elder asked. "Not many travelers have gotten to come back from the mountain. I don't see a clear reason for your journey to Mt. Ordeals."

"Accept our benevolence by these," Popo said as he showed the same tomatoes he caught.

"Accepted!" Palom said.

"Palom!" Porom yelled. "We want to hear a good reason for your involvement to such a place like Mt. Ordeals."

"B-because..." Ike began. "...We heard of this treasu-"

"There are no treasures in Mt. Ordeals," the elder interrupted.

Busted.

"A-actually, we were going there because we spotted a weird monster," Zelda said. "We don't look like it, but we're monster hunters."

"Ah, I see. Hunters," the elder said. "Your small group doesn't look like hunters to me."

"B-but we're surely the only monster hunters of the whole region," Chris said. "Have you seen monster hunters before?"

"Not that many," the elder said. "You're the first ones in a long time to appear."

"I have an idea!" Palom interrupted. "Since we're going in there as well, why don't we tag along?"

Oh, Palom. Your weird brain just saved the Smashers.

"Then we part ways when we get there!"

And surely Chris wanted to kick him away.

"Hmm... I'm sorry to ask you this," the elder began. "But could you go with them? I'm sure that their journey could be safer with all of you."

Bingo.

"I-if you don't mind, that is," Chris said. "What do you say, leader?"

Ike looked a little bit shocked. "L-leader?"

"Yes," Chris said through gritted teeth. "They won't believe that a "kid" is the leader because they would question us, got that?"

Ike quickly looked at them. "I-I'm fine with it."

"Then," Cecil began as he removed the plate and showed them his face. Some of them thought he looked evil, but behind the plate there waited a blond man. "Thank you. My name is Cecil Harvey, dark knight of Baron."

Zelda blushed and looked away. "(N-no, you mustn't fall in love with him. T-this is so quickly, and my heart is beating too fast today...)"

"May I know your names?" Cecil asked.

"M-my name is Chris. Nice to meet you," Chris said.

"I'm Ike," Ike said.

"M-my name is Zelda, princess of Hyr-" She stopped. "I-I mean, just Zelda."

"(A princess?)" Cecil, Palom, and Porom thought confused.

"Hell-o," Palom said. "I'm Palom, Mysidia's prodigy Black Mage at your service."

"Don't listen to my twin brother," Porom said bored. "And my name is Porom. That brat who can't mind his mouth is my twin brother Palom."

"I heard that, you know!" Palom called out.

"And who might those 2 be?" Porom asked.

The White Mage looked at Nana. The pink Ice Climber seemed to be depressed again, but she looked up. "H-huh?" she said confused.

"I asked for your name," Porom said. "What is it?"

"M-my name is Nan-"

Popo suddenly appeared right in front of her. "And my name is Popo, Nana's twin brother! Awesome Ice Climber!" He turned around and hung his arm above Nana's shoulders. "Both of us are called the Ice Climb-"

"Shut up!" Nana yelled suddenly and pushed her brother away. "I-I don't know that guy at all! I don't have a twin brother, and my name is Nana!"

"..." Porom blinked shocked. "....Did you just say that he is your twin?"

Nana couldn't lie. It was easy to tell. "...Unfortunately..."

"...I see," Porom said. "And did he annoy you before coming here?"

"Huh?" Nana looked at her. "How do you know?"

Porom chuckled. "Your face tells everything. I know that."

Nana blinked surprised. "Y-you do?"

"W-wait," Porom looked worried. "Does your brother annoy you a lot of times?"

Nana nodded. "Does your brother make you feel uncomfortable?"

Porom nodded. "Does your brother embarrass you?"

Nana nodded. "Does your brother focus on weird things?"

Porom nodded. "Does your brother do pranks?"

"Does your brother-"

"Does your brother-"

"-act like an idiot?"

"-misbehaves?"

Both nodded at the same time.

"..."

"..."

It seemed that both smiled a little at each other. As they kept staring at each other's face...

"Do you roll that way, Nana?" Popo interrupted.

"I don't mind if you like girls," Palom said. "Go ahead."

Both twin girls shook with inner fury before they leaped at their respective brothers and started to shook them violently. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" both yelled in fury.

The Smashers frowned in embarrassment, the elder put his hand on his forehead, and Cecil looked confused at the whole thing.

"Oh no, not this again..." the elder said with a sigh. "I can tell that the twins will grow very good to each other, but..."

"I-I'll take care of them," Cecil said. "This won't make any problem to me."

"Oh, thank you," the elder said. "Please, you should be on your way to the mountain. Go to the village and get your supplies ready."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Nana and Porom yelled angrily.

"And please, try to calm them down as well..."

Cecil, Palom, and Porom temporarily joined your team!

As Cecil turned to the Smashers and nodded to them, the twins were rolling around on the background. "Let's go," Cecil said, and the Smashers nodded back.

Village's Marketplace

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mystic Mysidia

It seemed that the Smashers and Cecil's group started to talk between each other little by little. However, this didn't mean that they became fast friends.

It was going to take longer than that.

Since the elder told Cecil to get his supplies ready, the group decided to stop by the market.

"I doubt a dark knight could wear paladin armor," the Black Mage of the store said. "You can't wear this."

"I see..." Cecil said somewhat disappointed.

"Not to mention the armor alone is expensive than the gloves," Ike commented.

Who could have known that the armor in the market produced foreshadowing?

"Hey!" Chris yelled. "This Potion was 20 gil a moment ago!"

"No," the Black Mage behind the counter said. "It is 2000."

"What kind of lie is that? Did you raise the price because of Cecil?"

The Black Mage stared at Cecil for a moment before he looked back at Chris and shook his head. "No."

"...You little..." Chris muttered.

"I'm gonna go outside and wait for you," Palom said as he left the shop.

The Black Mage suddenly changed prices from 2000 to 20.

"W-what the?" Porom noticed this action. "Did you raise the price because of my brother?"

"He still owns me 10 Hi-Potions!" he said. "Remember the accident with Thunder?"

"Ugh," Porom grunted. "Fine..."

The Black Mage noticed Cecil and he raised the price to 5000.

"Oh, come ON!" Chris yelled.

"Pay it, or leave it!" the Black Mage protested.

"I'm done," Cecil interrupted as the mage shot him an icy glare. "We can leave now."

"Don't come again..." the mage muttered.

"What was that?" Chris asked.

"Come again with more gil next time!" the mage said, faking excitement.

"Let's just go," Cecil said ashamed before he left.

Zelda got closer to Ike. "Can we try to get 10000 gil? I want to buy that Gaia Gear."

"Why me?" Ike asked.

"You're the leader, remember?"

Ike frowned and decided to walk out from the shop with the others.

The mages that were in charge of the shop watched them leaving so they could later put the real prices back up.

"Good, they're gone," the Black Mage in charge of items said. "But really, you should decrease the price for the paladin armor."

"Never!" the other Black Mage yelled.

Overworld

The party was now leaving the outskirts of Mysidia.

Final Fantasy X - Besaid Island

Now, it didn't look very simple as if someone would look from the DS. The overworld didn't look like it was supposed to.

For Chris's surprise, the long road to Mt. Ordeals was full of small rivers, trees close to the beaches across the coast, and it didn't seem to have monsters at all.

All in all, the road looked very safe and gorgeous.

"This is..." Zelda said as she admired the panorama. "Beautiful..."

"It's hard to believe that a mountain like Mt. Ordeals lies across all this field," Porom said. "Unfortunately, I would recommend to be careful when walking through here."

"Why?" Ike asked.

"Monsters," Cecil said. "I know that because the monsters have been attacking innocent travelers. They used to be peaceful, but they suddenly turned wild and decided to attack anyone in their sight as long as it is a human."

"You heard him," Porom said. "We must stay alert for anything out here."

"We're safe," Palom said.

"Just because the monsters don't know how you look like doesn't mean they will run away," Porom said. "What are you thinking?"

"I'll burn them up!"

"Dude, that's like, so awesome!" Popo said. "I could freeze them up after you burn them!"

"You freezing?" Porom asked. "Can you use magic?"

Chris, Zelda, and Ike stopped and looked shocked.

"Yeah!" Popo said before he blew out an icy wind from his mouth.

"W-what th-" Porom shook her head. "H-how did you breath ice out of your mouth?"

Nana sweated...

Well, they should know sooner or later anyway.

"We're not ordinary hunters," Nana said. "We have special abilities that only we possess. Popo can use ice, and I can use ice as well as he does." She looked at the others. "Chris have a wide sort of abilities, Ike can use fire imbued to his sword, and Zelda knows some magic."

"..." Cecil nodded. "I see. You looked very unusual to me for being hunters."

"We're sorry for not mentioning that part," Ike said. "We thought it was better to tell you that in a later time."

"(Good. They seem to believe in us,)" Zelda thought.

"I thank you for joining me in my journey," Cecil said. "To be honest, I used to travel with a small group, but...all of them were taken away from me..."

Chris knew very well. "Who?" he asked.

"I was traveling with a girl from the village of Mist named Rydia, the prince of Damcyan and traveling bard Edward, and a monk of Fabul named Yang. All of them were with me to the voyage to Baron, but Leviathan appeared and destroyed the ship, and everyone on it if I'm right..." Cecil looked down as they walked. "I feel ashamed... That couldn't have happened if I didn't start my assumptions against Baron."

"Oh, I see," Porom said. "It must have been unfortunate."

"It did," Cecil said. "But...maybe they survived somehow, like me."

"A question," Ike interrupted. "Do you think we're some kind of a new group for you to travel with?"

"Why'd you ask that?" Cecil asked. "I just bring people to their deaths if they help me. I don't want to endanger any of you at all, not after what happened to Rydia, Edward, and Yang."

"Oh, we don't mind," Zelda said.

Wrong response.

"What? You don't mind being killed?" Cecil asked.

"What did you just say?" Chris whispered angrily.

"I-I meant we don't mind helping you. We're...um...strong..." Zelda said.

"..." Cecil sighed. "Just don't help me that much, or don't follow me."

"Oh, great," Ike whispered. "He wants us to go away already."

"We have to convince him, no matter what," Zelda whispered back. "But how?"

"And my brother kept annoying me with the same stupid finding he found," Nana said to Porom. "I kept saying and kept saying, but he didn't understand at all."

"Typical of twin brothers," Porom said. "My brother once kept using Blizzard to cool down the Potions of the shop, and the owner yelled at me for being irresponsible of Palom. He did it all by himself! Why should I accept the blame?"

"I know!" Nana said angrily. "The fact that we are twins doesn't mean we're the SAME person or something."

"I thought we were the same person," said Popo.

"And where was I?" Nana asked, ignoring her brother. "Oh, right. He hasn't been like this at all in the past..."

"Really?" Porom asked.

"Really. In truth, he was almost like me, except he is a boy," Nana said but later shook her head. "I mean, he used to have more...what's the word? Intelligence?"

"Well, that is weird," Porom commented. "A person suddenly turning stupid? Hmm..."

"I can also turn into Rick," Popo said. "I'm his N.1 fan, did you know that?"

Nana tried hard not to strangle her brother. "And I want to kill very soon..."

"Wait, hold on there," Porom interrupted. "Kill him? Why?"

"B-because he's an annoying bastard!" Nana yelled (despite Popo being nearby). "I don't want to see or know about him anymore! I'm sick of him! what about you? Don't you hate your brother as well as I do?"

"I-I understand your hatred to your brother," Porom said. "But I-I don't really wish to be taken away from Palom at all."

"Why?" Nana asked. "I thought..."

"Look," Porom said. "I know I dislike my brother a lot of times, but I actually care a lot about him."

"Then why were yo-"

"Because he was crossing the line this day," Porom said. "But I was able to calm myself down."

"Porom!" Palom said as he and Popo went to the girls. "Guess what song I learned from him?"

"Song?"

Nana UNFORTUNATELY knew what song he learned. "No! Don't sing it here!"

"And 3, and 2, and a 1!" Popo counted down.

Palom inhaled deeply before starting to sing, "Never go-"

"An ambush!" Cecil interrupted the twins.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme A

A big Zu (a big blue bird) appeared from the sky and it dove down to the group. Everyone gasped and quickly ducked to evade the sweeping attack of the monster before it went up and turned around in the air to attack them again.

"W-what the heck is that thing?" Chris asked in panic, despite knowing the monster well.

"A Zu!" Porom yelled. "They live around these parts!"

"What? A bird that big lives around here?" Zelda asked.

"I told you that it's unbelievable that monsters like the Zu live in these areas!"

"Look out! It's coming down again!" Cecil yelled and everyone ducked back to evade the claws of the Zu. "We don't have any choice but to attack back!"

"Good idea!" Porom yelled. "The Zus won't stop pursuing their preys until they eat them alive!"

"In this case..." Chris looked up at the Zu. "Us!"

"How do we fight it back?" Zelda asked.

"I thought you knew!" Porom yelled. "Weren't you monsters hunters?"

"W-we just found this monster!" Ike yelled. "We haven't explored this place very well!"

"Fight!" Cecil yelled. "It's coming down to us!"

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Chris yelled. "I-I thought they looked less violent than this!"

"Ha!" Cecil jumped straight to the Zu and struck down his dark sword on the Zu's throat. "Die!"

And it did just that. The Zu instantly crashed down on the ground and it let out a cry of pain before it fainted and vanished.

Music stops

Cecil looked confused at the sudden victory. The others seemed to be completely confused at the fast death of the giant bird as Cecil looked at his sword.

"Um..." Porom scratched her head. "It takes a little bit longer than that to beat a Zu... How did you take it out so quickly?"

"...I remember that the king of Fabul gave me this sword for trying to protect the kingdom from Baron," Cecil said. "The Deathbringer. He said it brings death to the enemy sometimes."

"Oh," Porom said. "He must have meant it has some sort of related spell like Death."

"Cool!" Palom said. "Getting to the top of Mt. Ordeals is going to be very easy then!"

"Idiot!" Porom yelled. "Mt. Ordeals is full of undead enemies, and Cecil's dark sword will become very useless! Although he can still deal some damage, but will surely not kill them with one hit as he did it with the Zu just now. Undead are strong against darkness, and dark swords are mainly imbued with dark energy, remember?"

"Oh," responded Palom.

"Phew..." Zelda sighed. "I'm glad we were able to kill it in time before it did to us."

Chris took the Deathbringer off from Cecil's hands and...hugged it. "Oh, thank you, Death-imbued sword. That monster wanted to eat me first."

Cecil took his dark sword back. "Why did you do that for?"

Chris blushed. "D-didn't you see? It was going after me!"

"Anyway!" Ike said. "Can we move on before another Zu monster appears in our way?"

"Yes, let's," Cecil said with a nod before the 8 continued their way.

The long journey to Mt. Ordeals...

Came to an end.

Mt. Ordeals
Entrance

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mount Ordeals

How did the group manage to get there so fast?

Mostly because Cecil's Deathbringer annihilated most Zus and the other enemies on the way.

"Dude, I want to be a Dark Knight," Palom said. "One-hit KOs will bring me my so deserved victory!"

"Hush now!" Porom yelled. "Okay. We're here at last."

Mt. Ordeals looked very ominous. The mountain had a weird fog surrounding it, and the rocks that made up the whole formation that was the mountain itself were a little shade of purple. They looked up where the summit was, and the sky looked grey the moment they stepped into the mountain.

Zelda embraced herself. "I-I'm feeling goosebumps from being here."

"Because the undead plagues the air around," Porom said.

"How do we get to the summit?" Cecil asked.

"Easy," Porom said as she looked at the left. "There's a direct path from over there which we can take. It has a long path to the summit."

"But what about those flames?" Ike asked.

For their misfortune, a random fire seemed to block the path to the mountain.

"Oh, I guess it's there to prevent travelers from climbing up the mountain," Porom explained.

"Er..." Chris looked skeptical to this. If the flames were blocking their path...why didn't they jump the small gap around the flames? "Can't we just jump over the gap?"

"We have to get through the flames," Porom responded annoyed.

"But jumping over th-"

"WE HAVE to get through the flames," Porom responded in annoyance. "Palom, I believe this is your area of expertise. Make those flames disappear."

"Alright!" Palom said cheerfully.

"W-wait!" Nana interrupted. "L-let me do it instead. I can use my ice breath to blow the flames away."

"In that case." Popo jumped next to her. "We'll do it tog-"

"NOW!" Nana yelled angrily as she used Blizzard to blow the flames away. Popo quickly joined in and both of them made the flames disappear completely.

"...So it's true that both have ice powers," Porom said.

"Well, that is going to be useful," Cecil said.

"Hmph," Nana grunted as she looked away from her brother.

"..." Porom seemed to get sad at this action. "(I should try to persuade her to tell me what story she and Popo have together... I hope it doesn't take too long...)"

"We need to move on," Cecil said. "I don't feel good for being here."

"I-I-I was already feeling the chills," Chris said as he embraced himself. "I-I hope there aren't any ghosts..."

"Too bad," Palom said. "Ghosts hang out here and like to SUCK UP YOUR BLOOD!!!"

That wasn't scary.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed in horror as he started to go through the path.

"He's such a wuss," Palom said before Porom whacked his head with her fist. "Oww!"

"This is going to be a trip to remember..." Ike sighed.

"What can we do..." Zelda added with another sigh.

And so, they started their way up to the summit of the mountain full of ghosts, zombies, spectrums, phantoms, and more undead creature this world has ever seen before.

Preview of the next chapter

"Did that monster groan?" Ike asked. "I thought Zelda's Din's Fire was going to deal damage to it."

"Those monsters absorb fire," Porom pointed out.

"And that wasn't a groan," Palom added. "It was moaning in pleasure, like when a girl and a guy love each other too much, they start t-"

And Porom whacked his head.

"Death Mountain Wannabe. Guess what? I thought up the title myself! Pure win!" Palom said.

"Hush!" Porom said annoyed.

"You get your own segment later! It's Palom's time to shine now!" Palom said proudly as her sister sighed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Mt. Ordeals
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Popo, Nana, Snake, Sonic, Cecil, Palom, Porom

References:

-All the songs for the same game play in their respective parts, except for "Final Fantasy X - Besaid Island."

-The fact that it seemed possible to cross the small gap around the flames was actually a small fact of the same part of the game. If there were flames blocking the main path, why not get around them? Curse Takeshi (director of the game) for not adding a jump option... (And this is a joke).

Out of curiosity...:

-Many translations for Final Fantasy IV were always looked over and over until the last translation came out for the DS. This translation also kept going for the sequel called "Final Fantasy IV: The After Years," such as retaining "Tower of Babil" over "Tower of Babel."

-For those who have the DS version, you can go to the Fat Chocobo, select music box, and listen to the music. However, if you want to listen to the music without depleting the battery's life, use headphones. Close your DS with the music you want to hear, plug the hearphones, and you can listen to the music without worrying about the battery.

I was very happy for writing this chapter. I want to make up for "some" mistakes in the FF IX arc with FF IV DS. I hope you like the characters.

The little bit with the Zu wasn't meant to be longer. It was meant to be short because, if you equip Cecil with the Deathbringer, it will kill any enemy with a single hit most of the time. However, if you reach Mt. Ordeals and face off against undead enemies, the effect is nullified but still will deal damage (this also means that the battles will be longer as well).

Some keywords were left out because it's not really that important for those who don't know the game to see something or someone that isn't going to appear in this arc. (I already have the limit).

Anyway, our main protagonists for this arc are the twins (Palom & Porom). If something that I hated the most about typical crossover fics was to MAKE SURE the MAIN-MAIN character of that crossover fic was the DEFINITE main character, I decided to change that rule, and thus secondary main characters are going to take the spotlight more...or maybe because the twins are funny.

And also, this arc will explore in-depth about Popo and Nana. It's time for them to get the last character development.

Well! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter could be finished soon, and I want this fic always on the first page! ...Of course, I would have to grow out 10 tentacles, but I'll do what I can.

Read and review, please. (And please, keep sticking with this fic till the end). ;)
*Chapter 137*: Death Mountain Wannabe

Things are starting to look grim for some reason...

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow.. Both boys in the twins are insanely hilarious. But why do I get the feeling that Popo's idiocy is an act? It's like Naruto Uzumaki. He pretended to be dumb and weak, when in reality, he was the opposit. Sorry about my Naruto refrence, I saw the resemblence. Great... Now Chris's fanboyinism will reach its peak in this world. Just what the smashers need. Until next chapter, Hasta!

From me: An act? Nana should be aware of this if it is true... Thank you. :)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Holy crap, man, it's been like, what? Two days since you last updated?

Excuse me for a moment.

...

...

...

OMG OMG OMG OMG It's more Final Fantasy (fanboy squeal)!

Finally, there's another FF game that can be put to good use. I noticed that you decided to draw parallels between the Ice Climbers and the Mysidian Twins. Do I sense moar [sic] character development?

Anyways, it's too bad you're too far in the story (wtf no EDWARD). It might've been a little more hilarious.

Keep updating! If only Rydia were here...

From me: Well, I'm going to try to put it to good use, but...something feels odd here...

And of course, character development is my best asset. There's much more in this chapter than the previous one.

And I don't know how would Edward be more funny (no offense, I like the bard). Thank you. :)

From Rabid Original: Yay, Palom and Porom!

They crossed my mind for the "twins" you mentioned earlier, and I'm glad it's them because they're my favorite characters in FFIV. I do like how you're making non-main characters the protagonists. Good idea.

I really want to know what the deal with Popo is XD

God, Cecil is so emo.

From me: I sense a dark past here! ...Really, I do. thank you. :)

From TARDISreviewer: ...I don't really get this one...

wait, he actually DID go to ED? *shudders* If he goes on about what he found there, I will personally pwn him with Chaos Blast or a more powerful attack.

From me: I hope you stick around for more. Reviews are always appreciated. :)

From MarioXXX: Well, Luigicario and RayGallade (me), we're friends of MarioX who are allowed by him to borrow the account.

Ah, so FFIV Ds. I don't have any FF games, but I've heard that they are good. So Nana is finaly starting to hate her brother? I look forward to both Learn and the charcater development.

Signing of.

From me: So there are like 3 guys using the same account? Why not create one for each other?

Thank you. :)

From werelucario: Loha amego very good chapter. I am looking forward to the smashers getting there trophy stands. I hope no one has forgot the stickers Chris got in the wind waker or did crazy hand use them allready?

Keep on typeing so i can keep on reading

From me: Chris has those stickers with him. And by the way, are you trying to say "amigo" (friend in Spanish)? I know that because I'm from Mexico.

Thank you.

Okay... I got worried of something. The people who usually told me how good they liked the previous chapters stopped reviewing. I just hope I didn't make the start too boring...

And SO! I need to spice things up around here.

From now on, anonymous reviewers are allowed to review. HOWEVER! I expect NO profanity in the reviews and no FLAMES whatsoever. I can tell the difference between flames and reviews, so I'll be careful. Whoever said to make people say good things, ALWAYS good things about a fic should get shot for it...twice in the head...

...Ehem.

Also, I have revealed some of the arcs that I want to do (popular franchises) in the form of a poll in my profile. I just can't decide the order, and I'm asking you (that's right, the guy or girl reading this message. Hahahahaha! I'm speaking to you!) the reader, to vote for your favorite. I'll do my very best to portray the characters as I've said before, and trust me and my somewhat damaged fingers to keep writing (However, take in mind that mansion chapters will still occur).

With those things aside, we continue.

This chapter contains a whole deal about the Ice Climbers, and the other twins will help (or Porom, to be exact). At a certain part, I recommend that music that I chose for Nana in order to make you cry. YES, try to cry for the pink eskimo.

Read, enjoy, and review. :)

Chapter 137: Death Mountain Wannabe

Overworld
Tower of Zot (AKA the place where is somewhere in the overworld, but yet isn't there)

Final Fantasy IV DS - Meanwhile...

A room clad in golden walls was shown, and inside of it there were 3 people.

One of them wore a dragoon armor, had a spear on his right hand, and had a long blond hair coming from behind his helmet. This person was Kain Highwind.

Kain Highwind is the commander of the Baron Dragoons. Like Cecil, Kain lost both parents at an early age and was subsequently raised by Baron's king. He has long been both a friend and rival to Cecil. Unfortunately, he seemed to have joined Golbez (leading an attack to Fabul) for some reason after Cecil and Kain were separated in Mist...

The other person, however, seemed to have a much darker attitude. This person wore a black armor that easily covered every part of his body. This person also wore a helmet with 2 horns at the sides, and also sported a long black cape. This person was none other than Golbez.

Golbez is the new commander of the Red Wings, but also he took control over Baron in some way or another. He seeks all the crystals of the world to achieve an important plan by assaulting all the nations of the Blue Planet (Damcyan, Fabul, Mysidia, and Troia).

And lastly, the last person was the girl Cecil mentioned before. She was Rosa, who was held below a thin pendulum with hands tied up right below the mortal item, and was also unconscious.

"Golbez," Kain began. "The guards have spotted a new guest in here."

"A guest?" Golbez asked. "This place is supposed to be off-limits for anyone. Who dares to come in?"

"Me," Ganondorf said as he appeared from the door of the room. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said with a malicious grin.

Kain quickly took a fighting stance. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What is your business to get in here?"

"Settle down," Golbez said. "Something about this mysterious man intrigues me."

"What?" Kain asked.

"I see that you got in here very easily," Golbez said. "Nobody knows about this place except for myself and my troops. What do you want?"

"Simple," Ganondorf said. "I came here to give you my aid."

"Your aid?" Kain asked. "Why would be ask for your aid? You seem to be pretty shady to us."

"Are you not shady as well as you say?" Ganondorf asked.

"Kain, stop," Golbez said as he stepped forward. "Now, what is that about your aid?"

Ganondorf chuckled. "Yes! I wanted you to hear me out."

"Just tell us already," Kain said. "Or else..."

"Fine," Ganondorf said. "Do you know about a small group that appeared out of nowhere?"

"No," Golbez said. "I just care about Cecil. That pest is climbing Mt. Ordeals as we speak, and it's said that there's a sacred power at the top of the mountain. He needs to be taken out before he does so."

"If I may interrupt," Kain interrupted. "Our sources told me that a small group did join Cecil on the way to Mt. Ordeals."

"That small group is the pest I was talking about," Ganondorf said. "They are not ordinary, and they should be taken out immediately."

"Why should we?"

"Because they will help Cecil," Ganondorf said. "And you do not want that to happen, am I right?"

"..." Golbez looked down before looking up. "Then...why do you want us to accept your aid?"

"They also want to hinder my boss, should I say."

"...Very well," Golbez said with a nod. "I shall accept your aid."

"Golbez!" Kain yelled.

"Listen to me, Kain," Golbez began. "Cecil shouldn't be underestimated at all. He is perseverant, I give him that, and you know that as well...or much more that I do."

"Ugh..." Kain looked down and clenched his right fist.

Ganondorf chuckled. "Allow me to support your forces with my Shadow Bugs."

"Whatever you want to do, it shouldn't look suspicious," Golbez warned him. "Scarmiglione!"

A figure from the darkness appeared and it approached Golbez. This monster wore a long brown cape that covered his whole body, except for his old hands. This monster also had glowing yellow eyes shining beneath the cape he wore above. "You called, ssssssire?" it asked.

"Scarmiglione," Golbez began. "Cecil is climbing Mt. Ordeals as we speak, and you must make sure he doesn't get to the top."

"In other wordssssss," Scarmiglione said. "You want me to kill him?"

"For the best if you can."

"Right away, ssssssire," Scarmiglione chuckled before he disappeared.

"Come back here!" Golbez demanded.

The monster came back. "What issssss it?" he asked.

"This man over there," Golbez said as he pointed at Ganondorf. "He will provide you more power."

"What kind of power?"

"Dark."

"Yesssssss," he said. "I sssssshall enjoy the extra boosssssst of power."

"Plus with Cecil's dark sword it won't do much damage to you as well," Golbez said. "Get going."

Scarmiglione nodded before he disappeared right before their eyes.

"Who was he?" Ganondorf asked.

"He is one of the Elemental Lords," Kain explained. "Golbez's main guardians."

The Elemental Lords are monsters that aid Golbez in his quest to obtain the crystals. Each lord possess a different element: Scarmiglione possess earth and undead elements, Cagnazzo possess water, Barbariccia possess wind, and lastly, Rubicante, the strongest Elemental Lord, possess fire.

"I trust him that he will kill Cecil and this small group very easily," Golbez said. "And with your help, it might be better."

"Of course it will," Ganondorf said with a smirk. "Of course it will..."

"C-Cecil!" Rosa yelled suddenly. She yelled because she was probably having a nightmare.

"That man will soon die, Rosa," Kain said. "And you will be all mine."

"..." Ganondorf looked at Golbez. "Is he..."

Golbez nodded. "Yes."

"(I knew he looked odd,)" Ganondorf thought. "(He was brainwashed against his own will... Very interesting...)"

Mt. Ordeals
Entrance

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mount Ordeals

The group, meanwhile, was starting to climb the mountain of the undead.

"I'm tired..." Palom complained.

Porom pointed at the entrance a few feet away.

"...Your point?"

"We haven't even gotten 30 feet away, and you're tired already!" Porom said.

"Maybe because of all the walking we did to here," Zelda said. "Wasn't it a little bit too long?"

"I still have energy left," Ike said.

"I'm not tired yet," Cecil said.

"Men like you don't get tired that easily like I do..." Zelda sighed.

"Palom does," Porom pointed out.

"E-er..." Chris peered from a wilted tree. "C-can we move on?"

"I thought you were against climbing up the mountain the moment you screamed," Ike said.

"I-I know we have to climb this place and there's no other way, right?"

"Oh, right," Cecil said. "You came to kill a monster, right?"

"A-about that..." Ike trailed off. "I think we should stick around a little bit longer to make sure everybody gets out alive, don't you think?"

"Hmm..." Cecil thought for a moment. "...Fine. But please, don't do anything dangerous."

"Fear not, my night knight," Popo said. "The Great Popo will use poltergeist abilities to defeat the ghosts."

"And the Amazing Palom will create a spectacular finisher worthy of my awesomeness!" Palom said before 2 broke out laughing.

Porom frowned. "Can we proceed? I want to leave my brother at the base of the mountain."

And so, they now started the climbing through the path.

"So," Porom began as she looked at Nana. "I want to know more about you and Popo."

"..." Nana looked down.

"I'm sorry for making you remember him, but I seriously need to understand both of you more so I can grasp an answer."

"..." Nana sighed and looked at her. "Before, Popo wasn't like this at all..."

"Pss, Chris," Kawashima whispered. "It seems that Nana has some vital information about her and Popo."

"So?" Chris asked.

"So! You should eavesdrop a little bit to understand them more. I'm know you 3 have already mastered the partnership, but if you keep spending time with them, then your partnership will never be reduced. However, you might broke it if you screw up."

"..." Chris wondered for a moment. "Okay. But it's your fault if she gets angry at me for eavesdropping..."

The World Traveler walked slower to overhear the twins before returning to their normal pace.

"Popo..." Nana trailed off. "He was far more intelligent than today."

Porom watched Popo using Blizzard to create an ice cone that he gave to Palom, who then got stuck his tongue with the first lick. "Continue..." she said.

"Popo and I were closer before," Nana said. "I still remember those days at Icicle Mountain..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain

A frigid blizzard navigated through the mountain of icicles. It was so hard to see through it, but on the side of a cliff, there were Popo and Nana climbing with their ropes, hammers, and survival equipment.

"The Icicle Mountain is the tallest mountain of all the mountains surrounding it. Popo and I live at the base of it, and many feet away from the mountain itself."

"Why were you climbing a mountain?"

"Because somebody stole something from us, and flew to the top."

"Wait, aren't you 2 a little bit young to be climbing?"

"I could ask the same to you..." Nana trailed off.

"I...guess..."

"Popo!" Nana yelled from below. "Get the rope ready! I'm going to go up!"

"Sure!" Popo yelled from above. "There! Get climbing and don't slip!"

"That sounded...a little bit smarter than what he says now," Porom said.

"I'm going up!" Nana yelled through the blizzard. "Ha! Is this blizzard trying to stop us?"

"I know!" Popo laughed. "Mother Nature isn't going to stop us today! We have come a long way from the base of the mountain, and our goal is to get to the top, and get our precious eggplants!"

Music stops

"...Did I hear well?" Porom asked confused. "Eggplants? Why were you 2 climbing up a mountain for eggplants?"

"The 2 of us love to eat eggplants," Nana said. "Actually, we like to eat them a lot. They're very healthy an-"

"But seriously, were you climbing the mountain because of food?"

"I'm not Kirby!"

"Who?"

"I-I mean, our food was stolen because of a condor that came one day to our house, saw the food we gathered outside, and stole all of it to the peak of Icicle Mountain," Nana said. "And I tell you, gathering the food in a barren land of ice and snow isn't very easy to do. The 2 of us work very hard together in order to survive with our family."

Gold was found for Chris.

"(Family? They have a family?)" Chris thought.

"You 2 have a family?" Porom asked.

"U-um, yes, we have one to these days..." Nana said.

"I'd would like to know more about your family. Maybe I could find an answer to your problem faster if I-"

"B-but unfortunately, I need to continue with where I left."

"Oh... Fine, continue. It had passed a little time after I climbed pass Popo...but then..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" Nana screamed as the rope suddenly became loose from the ice screw she was using. The pink eskimo girl yelled as she fell down, but suddenly, she stopped falling as Popo grabbed the rope in time. "P-Popo!"

"I-I got you!" Popo struggled to prevent Nana from falling. "I-I'm going to attach the rope to the second screw! ...There!"

"A second ice crew?" Nana asked.

"I was prepared for something like this!" Popo yelled. "We can't afford to fall or we could die at this height!"

"We were 1268 feet away from the ground."

Porom gasped. "M-my goodness! H-how tall was that mountain?"

"Its height was about 5 kilometers, I know that because Popo and I measured it with our alpinist equipment...or we just simply guessed. I don't remember the height anymore."

"T-thank you!" Nana yelled.

"For what?" Popo asked.

"You dummy!" Nana yelled. "For saving me from dying!"

"Oh, right!" Popo laughed. "I forgot for a moment!"

"It's okay!" Nana yelled. "This has been happening a lot of times in the past. Let's keep going!"

"Yeah!"

"But wouldn't in that height be unnecessary to get the food back?" Porom asked.

"No," Nana said. "The condor that stole our food wasn't exactly at the top. It was hallway through the top because we thought we reached the top..."

A hand was shown appearing from the side of the cliff, and it revealed to be Nana, who then later helped Popo to get on the floor. Both of them sighed in relief after they made it to safe floor.

"That was...very dangerous..." Nana said.

Popo looked down at the mountain. "My god, how long have we been climbing?"

"Didn't we start to climb this place at 1 in the morning?"

"I think so."

"...Hey! There's the condor!" Nana yelled at the...relative small pterodactyl.

The condor seemed to be on a small nest, but the food was nowhere to be found. The Ice Climbers thought that it all eaten by the animal itself.

"Okay..." Popo glared at the condor. "You can say sorry for stealing our food, or we can do this the hard way."

The condor shrieked angrily at them.

"Did it say the hard way?" Popo asked. "Nana! Let's finish her!"

"Right!" Without previous advice, Nana merely tossed her hammer at the condor's head...and knocked it out. "..."

"..." Popo blinked confused. "...That's it? It became defeated by that single hit?"

Nana blushed. "Well, I thought it would get knocked out by a hard hit on the head, so I went ahead."

"..." Popo shook his head. "O-okay! T-that should teach that monster a lesson!"

Nana looked above. "Popo..."

"Yes?"

"I don't think we even came close to the real summit..."

"Real summit?" Popo asked before looking up. "Oh my... No way..."

Before them there was a big ice wall, but there was also a bigger portion on the mountain. The floor that they stepped on was just a small "checkpoint" of some sorts. The peak wasn't visible at all because of the heavy mist covering the view.

"Aw, c'mon!" Popo yelled. "We've been climbing this thing for 14 hours, and we had a lot more?!"

"Popo, shut up!" Nana whispered. "We could cause an avalanche!"

"Oh, right..." Popo muttered.

"And we didn't climb this because we wanted to," Popo said as he looked at the knocked out condor. "We climbed this because THAT stole our foo-OUR FOOD!" Popo suddenly said before he ran to the nest.

Nana followed him and both suddenly turned white of horror...

The food was behind the nest...but the fact that the temperature decreased by the height, it became instantly frozen.

"Noooooooooo!" Popo said before he ducked and sobbed. "O-our food got frozen... I-I knew there was something wrong about this!"

"Awwwwwww!" Nana groaned. "All of this for nothing! Nothing, I tell you!"

Both Ice Climbers hugged each other and sobbed pathetically at their frozen food.

"..." Porom looked bored.

"W-we were so emotionally attached that time, JUST that time," Nana said.

"...Did anything else happen?"

Both Ice Climbers stopped sobbing and looked back at the nest. "...Why?" Nana asked. "Why would the condor come all the way here to hide? It should have known better that the food would get frozen at this height."

She was suddenly interrupted as the nest began to move.

"?" Popo tilted his head. "Did it just move?"

"I-it did," Nana said with a nod. "But since it's a nest, don't you think it..."

The nest began moving more before long i-

End of flashback

Mt. Ordeals
Trail

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mount Ordeals

"Tellah!" Cecil yelled suddenly.

Both Nana and Porom were interrupted by his yell that they noticed that they were in a new area. "We both got distracted by our talk that we reached a higher place..." Porom looked around. "But what else happened?"

"I'm sorry..." Nana looked down. "I don't feel like explaining more now... Maybe another time..."

"Tellah!" Cecil yelled again.

The group stopped and came across an old man in the next part of the mountain. This old man was a sage. He wore a very weird assortment of clothes, a pink robe, small glasses that completely covered his eyes, and he also had a small red nose and a long grey beard. This sage was called Tellah.

Tellah is a legendary sage of Mysidia. Many mages have known about his mastery in both Black Magic and White Magic that he has been very popular. Due to his age, however, he has forgotten many powerful spells. He met Cecil during his journey, but left him after he witnessed the death of his daughter Anna at the hands of Golbez during Damcyan. This prompted Tellah to revenge Anna.

"Cecil?" Tellah asked. "Oh, what brings you here? ...Where are Edward and Rydia?"

"Ugh..." Cecil looked down. "They were...killed during a voyage to Baron with me, but I was able to survive."

"I see..." Tellah said. "Edward...may he rest in peace with Anna..."

Edward was deeply in love with Anna, but when the Red Wings attacked Damcyan, she shielded him from the arrows, and out of love, to save him from death, thus causing Anna to die.

"...Well," Tellah began as he looked up. "What is your business in here?" He looked at his group. "And who are they?"

The Smashers introduced to them.

"Oh, I see," Tellah said. "You came here for a way to defeat Golbez?"

"Yes," Cecil said. "What about you?"

"Since I know that my magic alone can't defeat a man like Golbez, I decided to look for Meteor. This place seemed to radiate with strong magic waves, and I came here to see if Meteor is here."

"Meteor?!" Palom and Porom asked in shock.

"T-that's the strongest Black Magic spell there is!" Porom said. "But you're far too old to use such a dangerous magic!"

The Smashers weren't that surprised. (Apparently, Rita's Meteor Storm looked far more powerful).

"I don't care!" Tellah yelled angrily. "Let this old body of mine kill Golbez! I don't care if I die! I'm going to die, and I'm going to take Golbez with me for what he did to my beloved Anna!"

"I know you need to take revenge..." Zelda spoke. "But you mustn't sacrifice yourself t-"

"What I said a moment ago is definite!" Tellah interrupted.

"Sheesh," Palom said as he folded his arms. "Old people sure are grumpy."

"Hush!" Porom yelled. "O-oh, I think we haven't introduced ourselves except for them. My name is Porom, and this boy over here is my twin brother Palom. Both of us come from Mysidia."

"Nice to meetcha," Palom said. "Porom, you didn't insult me!"

"We're before a high authority now," Porom whispered. "Mind yourself around Tellah."

"Mages of Mysidia?" Tellah asked. "I see..."

"(And he already thought about sending them back,)" Chris thought.

"In any case," Tellah began. "Cecil, since you're seeking a new power as well as I am, we might as well travel together again."

"Thanks," Cecil said. "I will appreciate your help."

Ike made a bored look. "(So he doesn't care about us dying.)"

Tellah temporarily joined your team!

"Let us be on our way!" Tellah said. "We have to explore this place further!"

"U-um, wait," Chris interrupted. "(It's time to ask...) I-I think I saw you in the continent of Baron before, but how did you get here?"

"How I got here?" Tellah asked. "I have some connections with some mages of Mysidia and I asked them to get me here by boat. I told them to go back to Kaipo and not return for me. I know the elder of Mysidia for a long time and I can always ask him for help."

"...Oh," Chris responded.

"Why'd you want to know?"

"B-because... (Because it was never explained in the game, and I wanted to ask you personally)...I was just curious."

"..." Tellah frowned and walked ahead.

The others had to follow him in order to stay close for any monsters.

And surprise, monsters became more apparent.

Crossing

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme A

The crossing had several Ghouls (green zombies) and Souls (green head-ghosts). They seemed disturbed as the 9 got in the area.

"Get prepared!" Tellah warned them. "Monsters in higher areas tend to be get more violent!"

"That won't stop us," Cecil said as he unsheathed his dark sword. "We will have to rush in. Go!"

"Taste fire!" Zelda yelled as he used Din's Fire to a Soul. When it reached the phantasm, it exploded, but it also made the ghost mumble...in pleasure. "Huh? It didn't do damage?"

"Did that monster groan?" Ike asked. "I thought Zelda's Din's Fire was going to deal damage to it."

"Those monsters absorb fire," Porom pointed out.

"And that wasn't a groan," Palom added. "It was moaning in pleasure, like when a girl and a guy love each other too much, they start t-"

And Porom whacked his head.

"Now, if you want to use fire on those zombies there..."

"Oh!" Palom cut in. "I know! Ehem... Burn them to greater ashes... Fira!"

"Fira?" Porom repeated confused before small storms of fire incinerated the Ghouls in the path as they screamed out in horror before they turned into ashes. "Palom! You just learned Fire some days ago, and you can use Fira already?"

"Yeah!" Palom said proudly. "I bet it was because of Cecil killing the Zus in the way here!"

Chris thought that some RPG rules still applied to the world, and Palom gained enough EXP to learn Fira in such a short time...

"What are you talking about?" Porom asked. "Oh, and let me guess, I can use Cura because I was around when Cecil wa-"

"Ugh!" Chris grabbed his right am after a Soul bit it. "Y-you're supposed to be invisible, not physical!"

"..." Porom stared at her rod. "...It's worth the try... Heal grave wounds... Cura!"

A shiny light covered Chris's right arm and his wounds instantly healed. "Oh, thank you," Chris said.

"This is so weird..." Porom said confused. "This doesn't make any kind of sense!"

"Behind you!" Nana yelled as she jumped above Porom and smashed her hammer on a Ghoul's face before it could slash the White Mage. "Phew..."

"My apologies," Porom said. "I was a little bit distracted myself."

"No worries," Nana said. "But don't get that distracted again."

"(Get closer...)" Ike thought as 3 Ghouls began to walk closer to him. He seemed to be charging his Eruption attack. "(Closer... Closer! Quick! It's going t-)"

"Burn them to ashes... Fire!" Tellah yelled as he opened his arms and cast Fire on the Ghouls' backs. The zombies yelled and were pushed right towards Ike.

"HUUUUUAAARRRR!!!" Ike yelled loudly as he struck down his fire sword on the ground and created a big eruption of fire that burned the zombies completely before disappearing. "Thank you..." Ike said as he panted.

"Hey, old man!" Palom yelled as he was chased by 2 Souls. "How come I can use Fira and you can't?"

"Palom!" Porom yelled as she whacked a Ghoul with her rod.

"I'm too old to remember my spells," Tellah said. "Just you wait until I remember all my spells!"

"We have to move on!" Cecil yelled as he sliced a Soul. "We can't afford to waste more time in here!"

"There's the path!" Zelda yelled. "Go!"

The 9 quickly rushed up to the path as several Souls came from behind them. They decided to chase them from behind.

"Oh, no way!" Chris yelled. "I'm not going to let ghosts follow me!" He turned around and prepared his harp. "If you have ears, let them bleed!"

Several musical notes flew out from his harp, and all of them struck the Souls. However, this attack didn't kill them as they backed away.

"Oops..." Chris gulped. "B-bye!" he yelled before running back to the group.

"Are you some kind of bard?" Tellah asked.

"Y-yes!" Chris yelled.

"What kind of magical melodies do you have with you?"

"E-er, I can heal and cure ailments, I can give Regen to a single person... Just those for now."

"There!" Cecil yelled. "I see the summit!"

"That soon?" Zelda asked confused. But the summit was just close to them now. "That trip was so short..."

"But there are still enemies following us!" Ike yelled as he looked over his shoulder and found 3 Revenants (palette swaps of Ghouls, except red).

Zelda (gracefully) turned around, shot instantly a Din's Fire and made it explode right between the 3 Revenants. However, these zombies were stronger versions of the Ghouls as they were just pushed back.

"Bull's eye!" Popo exclaimed from below the crossing.

Below the crossing?

"Popo!" Chris yelled. "What are you doing down there? Get back up!"

"Can't!" Popo yelled. "These guys wanna drag me somewhere!"

4 Souls latched their long tongues around his arms and started to drag him away from the cliff.

"T-they're going to let him fall!" Chris yelled at the others.

"Aw, cr-" Nana was interrupted.

"What do we do?" Ike asked. "If we attack those ghosts, they'll let him fall to his death!"

"(...)" Chris looked at a tree, then he looked at the others. "I-I'm going to call a little friend of mine..."

"What?" Cecil asked. "Why at this time?"

"J-just come up with a plan to save Popo! I'll see if I can call my friend!" Chris yelled before he ran behind the tree.

"..." Cecil looked back down. "Do something to stay on ground!"

"Gimme instructions!" Popo yelled excited.

"I..." Cecil couldn't think of anything. "Damn, those zombies are after us!"

6 Revenants appeared from the cliffs and they decided to rush after the 8.

"Attack with fire!" Tellah yelled. "Give them all the fire they need to get burned!"

"(I heard Holy magic can deal damage to the undead as well...)" Porom thought. "Heal grave wounds...

"Burn them to ashes..." Tellah chanted.

"Burn them to greater ashes..." Palom chanted.

Zelda simply sent a sphere of fire.

"Cura!"

"Fire!"

"Fira!"

All the 4 attacks collided with each other between the Revenants as they created a big explosion of fire (though it shone due to Porom's Cura) and obliterated the Revenant group.

"What is that?" Cecil spotted a Moogle (guess who) that appeared close to them and dove down for Popo.

"(The things a poor guy like me does out of need...kupo...)" Chris (in his Moogle Knight job) thought ashamed before he went for Popo.

"Mr. Fur Wings!" Popo exclaimed happily.

Chris readied his sword and sliced a Soul in half. "Grab on, kupo!" he yelled to Popo as he grabbed his hand.

Something made Chris remember an important detail.

One hand can't support a full body.

"KUPO!" he yelled as both he and Popo began to descend...

...Then the poor little Moogle started to come up by flapping his red wings faster as he grabbed Popo's hands. Chris slowly turned around in the air to return back to the group. He slowly made his way to them before dropping Popo close to Nana, but she looked away.

"Who are you?" Cecil asked.

"K-kupo!" Chris yelled and ran away to the tree.

"?" Cecil looked confused as the creature hid behind the tree, but then, Chris (in his Musician job) came back and walked to them. "Hmm?"

"D-did my friend come here?" Chris asked. "Oh, Popo!"

"'S up?" Popo asked.

"That's the only thing you're going to say after you were about to die?" Porom asked.

Palom walked to Porom. "'S up?" he said.

"Hush!" Porom yelled.

"..." Cecil decided to think about the summit. "Let's not waste anymore time and get back in our track. The summit is a few feet away from here."

Music stops

Summit

And so, they reached the summit of the mountain. Since the mountain was surrounded by a circle of trees, they managed to catch a glimpse of the area around.

"Well, we reached this place...quite too fast," Ike said. "I'm starting to wonder about the travelers that didn't come back..."

"I bet the elder was just making that up so I could stay at home," Palom said. "Geez, he needs to understand my power."

"And you need to understand the word manners," Porom said bored.

"Ssssssssssssssssssssssss..." hissed someone nearby.

"And stop that hissing," Porom added.

"What hissing?" Palom asked.

"I believe I heard a hissing too," Zelda said.

"Same here," Ike said.

"It's Scarmiglione," Chris said.

Lie, because he didn't say that.

"I-I heard that too..." Chris shuddered. "(Whatever you do, you must follow the storyline's flow, or I'll end up messing it up like I SUPPOSEDLY did with Sonic's.)"

"It was a monster," Tellah said. "Probably a zombie we fought. I was waiting for something more dangerous, but it seems nothing is bad now."

"Let's hope it stays like that..." Nana shuddered. "I didn't like those zombies' faces at all..."

"BOO!"

"YIKES!" Nana yelped and hid behind Porom in an instant.

Popo and Palom laughed hysterically at Popo's mimic and both high-fived each other.

"Y-you little!" Nana yelled.

"Palom! Behave yourself in front of Tellah!" Porom ordered.

"S-sorry!" Palom held his stomach. "I-it was just too funny! Hahahahahahaha!"

"H-how could you scare me like that, Popo?!" Nana asked angrily.

"Palom kinda told me to do it," Popo said. "And he's like, the same level of awesome I am."

"So true!" Palom said as both high-fived again.

"Ugh, I wish I could shut your mouths for the rest of your lives..."

"Can you 4 stop it?" Cecil asked. "We have to get to the top and see what the elder meant to say about my destiny."

That sounded very...how does one say it?

"Pardon me," Porom said politely. "My brother can't just mind his behavior."

Palom folded his arms. "Though we do look good for spyi-"

Porom gasped and she instantly whacked Palom on his head. "Hush! You're not supposed to say that out loud!"

"Oww..." Palom groaned.

"What was he trying to say?" Cecil asked.

"N-nothing important," Porom said. "My brother is always like that."

"So true..." Ike trailed off.

"Well!" Popo spoke up. "Let's see who gets to be King of the Hill!"

"Oh, please, don't tell me you and Palom have been trying t-"

"Last one is a putrid eggplant!" Popo yelled as he ran to the slope and started to walk above. Shortly after him, an excited Palom followed.

Nana sighed. "This isn't him at all..." she muttered.

"W-wait!" Zelda said suddenly. "What if there are more monsters above?"

The 7 quickly ran to the slope and went up to try to spot monsters. Once they went to the next new floor, nothing was there, except the boy twins looking around.

"What?" Cecil asked. "I thought you were playing."

"Whoops," Palom said. "We kinda didn't want to go up here." He pointed at some stairs that directed to a higher ground, but it also leaded to a small bridge, that also directed to a small altar that posed as the summit of the whole mountain.

"That is the summit?" Cecil asked. "An altar?"

"I betcha there's something weird with it."

"Hmm..." Tellah looked at the right and found a blue circle across another bridge. "A Save Circle..."

Save Circles are enchanted with holy magic to prevent monsters from entering the center that is formed by several holy stone formations...

...And it's also a way to save your progress.

"Good," Cecil said. "We can use it to rest here for the night."

The Smashers looked up to see that it was sunset and night was going to come very soon.

"(So what?)" Chris thought. "(Are we going to save our progress inside the Save Circle?)"

Ike yawned. "We...may as well rest for the night... Hey!" he suddenly yelled. "Isn't bad to rest in there?"

"Save Circles can prevent monsters from getting close to us," Porom explained.

"It's like the bathroom," Palom said. "They respect our private area."

"And there's an important backstory behind the Save Circles," Porom said. "It all began whe-"

"Let's get between the rocks so we can rest," Cecil said. "I have a Cottage ready."

Cottages are better restorative items than Tents are. They replenish someone's health to the fullest (and it also makes the users have pleasant dreams).

"Awesome! You have a portable Cottage?" Popo asked.

"I happened to find one long before I came here," Cecil said. "We can set up the camp inside the circle and rest."

"We surely feel sooooooooo tired, right?" Chris said (and lied) to the Smashers.

"Let's go in," Ike said. "Are you sure we can accompany you?"

"The more, the merrier, as they say," Tellah said.

The 9 prepared to set up the cottage inside the holy circle to rest for the night...

That night...

There was a nice and soft cottage inside the Save Circle. Inside of it, there were the 9 sleeping peacefully using sleeping bags. The cottage itself looked small from outside, but it was very spacious from the inside.

And it was an enchanted item, since many of them dreamed pleasant dreams as Porom explained.

Final Fantasy X - Yuna Theme

"..." Popo seemed to be smiling. "...Dad...Mom...you're here with me and Nana..."

A few feet away from him, there was Nana, who managed to overhear him. She couldn't sleep well that night as her mind reminded her about the hatred towards Popo.

"I'm so happy..." Popo muttered. "I'm so happy that you're here..."

"..." Nana started to sob. "S-stop it..." she muttered. "D-don't make me feel homesick, you dumb bastard..."

She didn't want to hear more, and she left the cottage as she sobbed sadly.

Once she sat outside the cottage, she looked up to the starry stars over Mt. Ordeals and sobbed another time. "Why..." Nana sobbed as she sat down and embraced her legs. "Why is he like this? Why? ...I don't understand why at all...and on top of that..."

She moved her head down.

"Why is he dreaming about our parents? Doesn't he know that we have parents, but the real ones..."

Nana stopped sobbing once she heard footsteps coming from the cottage. She felt sad, but she didn't want to see the person she woke up by accident.

"Nana?" Porom asked. "You can't sleep?"

"..." Nana simply moved her head down.

"So he woke you up because he was dreaming of your parents like Palom is doing right now, right?"

"..." Nana looked at her and nodded before looking down. "...Is Palom dreaming about your parents as well?"

Porom walked to her and sat down. "Yes..." Porom said. "It seems our brothers dream of our parents, right?"

"Are you 2..."

"Yes..." Porom said somewhat sadly. "...Palom and I... We weren't raised by our parents because they...they were gone..."

Nana looked at her.

"It's been like this since I can remember," Porom said. "We were born in Mysidia, but our parents...I don't know... They were gone, and nobody knew why."

"I see..." Nana said before looking down above her knees.

"The elder...he took care of us," Porom said. "He told us that he found us near the hall, and both were crying loudly as we were just newborns. The elder told us that he couldn't remember our parents because our birth was so sudden... Sometimes, when he raised both of us, he mentioned that 2 villagers seemed to be gone forever." Porom looked up to the sky. "I always thought that they were attacked by monsters, and tried to protect us."

"Uh-huh..."

"But that's not true," Porom said. "Because it wouldn't make sense that we were dropped off in Mysidia out of luck. There had to be reason..."

Porom sniffed one time.

"They must have abandoned us because they couldn't raise 2 babies. Maybe they left us because they couldn't raise 2 children instead of 1... But..." She smiled a little. "I wasn't sad anymore, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because...I have Palom with me," Porom said. "He's the only family I have left, and I couldn't be happier. The elder told us that having someone else of your same lineage is good for your own self...and he was right..."

"..." Nana nodded.

"How about you?"

"Huh?"

"You have parents, right?"

"...I guess I should tell..." Nana said. "...Both of us don't have human parents...we have...a Topi and a Polar Bear as father and mother..."

"W-what?" Porom asked. "Why would you 2... What is a Topi?"

"Let me continue..." Nana said. "...I still remember very well..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain
Base

The blizzard raged during the night, and the fields around Icicle Mountain got covered in more snow. Through the snow, 2 lonely figures walked through it. These 2 figures were holding hands together, but they were not humans.

One of them was a Polar Bear. This Polar Bear wasn't exactly wild as normal Polar Bears because she was pacific towards anyone.

Next to her was Topi. This Topi wasn't wild as the normal Topis, and he seemed to be holding hands with the Polar Bear.

"I swear," the Topi said. "Blizzards can be wonderful sometimes, but they had to be strong on our way home."

"I know that very well," the Polar Bear said. "Good thing I'm wearing sunglasses to see through."

"You ALWAYS wear sunglasses, woman."

"And you ALWAYS remind of my hobby to wear sunglasses."

Despite this, both were a happy couple. Sure, they looked weird together, but as many, but many, but many, but many, but many have said before.

"True love is for those who fall in love with each other," the Topi and the Polar Bear said in unison. "As long as it's not bestiality. Hahahahahahaha!" both laughed heartily.

"So..." the Polar Bear began. "When are you going to decide to have children?"

"...Well..." The Topi looked embarrassed. "...Can we really have them? I mean, our races don't mix that well, and I don't want to see what children we could get..."

"Then..." she began. "Should we?"

"...This is so crazy..."

"...Seconded," she said blushing. "Unless we could adopt them instead..."

"Where?" he asked. "There are no adoption centers around here, and we're stuck in this situation."

She sighed. "This is unfair, isn't?"

"Yep," he said. "Unfair that we don't have children because we can't mix together well, and unfair for them for being abandoned."

"I know..." she said as she looked down. "...Wait, who are abandoned?"

"These 2 babies I just found now," he said as he pointed at 2 mantles with 2 babies. "They were abandoned, right?"

"Oh my!" she said suddenly. "W-why didn't you say this before?"

"I didn't?" he asked. "I-I mean, babies!"

Either they were too distracted, or they were deaf, because the babies that they found were crying loudly through the blizzard.

"Poor dears..." she said. "They're so young..."

"Hey, wait a minute," the Topi said as he eyed the babies. "...They're humans!"

The Polar Bear ducked to see them closely. "...Oh, you're right. They're humans."

"Pitiful," he said. "Their parents must have left them."

"How can you say that?"

"I don't know," he said sarcastically. "Those footsteps' marks from over there seem to be a reason."

The Polar Bear looked at the marks close to the babies. The marks also turned back from where they came from.

"...How cruel..." she muttered. "They were abandoned by their parents, weren't they?"

"And they're so young..." he trailed off.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Let's take them as our children."

"What?!" he asked shocked. "A-are you crazy? What would the other families say about us raising humans?!"

"I don't care!" she yelled. "They're babies! They don't understand anything they went through! Would you rather leave them here and die under the snow?! Are you that cruel?"

"W-well..." the Topi trailed off. "This is why I can never win an argument with you..."

Both of them looked at the babies.

"...They look so young," he said again. "And they...kind of look cute."

"Oh, please," she said as she picked one. "They look adorable to me... Hmm? This one is wearing a pink eskimo..."

"Really?" he asked before he took a closer look to the other. "...And this one is wearing a blue one."

"How cute," she said as she put the baby girl in her arms. "They were already given clothes...but...they were abandoned..."

"..." He smiled at the baby. "Aw, screw what the others would say. This baby over here needs a home, and we're going to give them one."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Totally!" he said. "...Hey, look! They stopped crying!"

Both of the babies seemed to be calm now, and they were looking at their holders.

"..." The baby girl smiled at her.

"..." The baby boy smiled at him.

"Mama!"

"Papa!"

"Oh, geez," he said sarcastically. "They decided for us."

"It seems so," she said with a small smile. "Who's a little cute baby?"

"Who has his stepfather's face?"

She looked odd at him.

"...What?" he asked. "I was just asking!"

Both of them suddenly got surprised looks as the babies laughed.

"What do you know?" he asked. "They understand what we're saying!"

"Let's not waste more time!" she said. "We have to take them to our home!"

"To the igloo!" he said, faking an heroic voice.

Her wife chuckled heartily and both ran off to their home with the babies as they disappeared into the snow...

Mt. Ordeals
Summit

"..." Porom looked worried. "You were raised by..."

"Please, don't say it," Nana said. "I haven't finished yet... We got a home with our adoptive parents, and it wasn't bad at all..." Nana hid a small smile. "...There was happiness after all..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain
Home

The next day...

Inside an average size igloo, the Topi and the Polar Bear were looking at the babies as they laid down on an ice bed. The ice bed itself wasn't completely made of ice since it had normal pillows and the such.

"So," the Topi began. "Have you decided yet for their names?"

"Hmm..." the Polar Bear wondered. "It's so hard to think of names for them. I can't simply decide..."

"This is a dilemma..." he said. "By the way, have you removed the mantles off them?"

"Oh, I haven't," she said. "Let me take them out..."

As she began to unwrap the babies off from their mantles, both adoptive parents discovered that the babies were already wearing more different clothes. The boy had a full set of blue clothes, and the girl had a pink set.

"...They look cute," she said. "Those clothes really fit on them..."

"...Look!" he suddenly yelled. "There are notes inside the mantles!"

The Polar Bear spotted 2 notes that were hidden within the mantles that both babies had. She looked confused as for the notes inside that she took both. "...Wait, this seems like some kind of..."

The Topi took the notes away and began reading them. "Hmm. These notes are so small and so dirty... Let's see what it says here..."

We can't raise children...

We're so poor and ill, and we can't let our children live in the conditions we're in. We can't do anything for them, and we just can't ask someone to raise them because we don't want anyone to think awful things about us...

This is it... We have to abandon them for their own sake...

We were driven to madness after we got 2 babies. We originally wanted to have 1, but 2 were born, and we just couldn't raise them...

The Topi began to read the other note.

I know this is so inhuman of us to abandon them in the middle of nowhere... But we decided that the only way to be punished for such action was to...

"..." The Topi's eyes widened. "...No..."

But we decided that the only way to be punished for such action was to suicide ourselves and leave this world forever. We were taken to the worst of bad luck there is, but our children couldn't be taken there as well...

And so, we decided to abandon them before we died by letting ourselves fall into the near abysses of the mountains, where no one would find us...

"..." The Topi let the note fall down to the icy floor. "They..."

"...Dear god..." she muttered with a frown of shame. "..."

"...Wait a minute," he said as he looked down at the note. "There's more behind the note..." He took it back. "Ahem..."

When both were born 2 days ago, we were so happy nevertheless. Fortunately, we gave each one a name before deciding each one's fates.

To the enthusiastic boy in the blue eskimo, we named him Popo.

And to gorgeous girl in the pink eskimo, we named her Nana.

Both are our pride and joy, even if we're dead.

And, to the parents who manage to find these babies...

Please...take care of them...give them love...give them a home...give them happiness...and most of all...raise them as they were your children... Please, do this for us so we can rest in peace...

The Topi and the Polar Bear shed tears as they looked at the cheerful babies. They couldn't tell the babies that their parents were dead, and they had to keep their happy selves like that.

"Popo..." he said.

"Nana..." she said.

Both babies responded with happy claps.

"...They're our children from now on," she said.

"And we couldn't be more proud to accept their last wish," he said.

The babies looked at each other and shared smiles with chuckled before looking at their new parents. They seemed very happy to see them that they sat up and looked curiously at them.

"And after that," Nana narrated. "We found a family that we have to these days, and also, we made friends with the neighbors as well. At first, they gave us odd looks, but we were slowly accepted by all, and our parents were so happy that we were happy..."

A long time passed after both were found until they reached their respective ages...

"Popo! Nana!" the Topi yelled. "Come inside! We have gifts for you 2!"

"Sweet!" Popo yelled from outside before both twins came in. "What do you have for us?"

"Popo, Nana," her mother said. "Ever since the day you were born, we decided that you can finally use these for adventuring around the mountains."

"What?" Nana asked.

"Your own..." she began as she walked sideways and revealed a lot of alpinist stuff on the table. "Climbing set!"

"..." Nana looked skeptical. "A climbing set?"

"Yes!" her father said. "You know that a lot of your friends like to climb mountains, so why don't you 2 join them as well? The mountains around here are safe, and it's safe as well!"

"Awesome!" Popo said. "Look! We can belay with those ropes!"

"Dad, Mom," Nana began. "Is this okay? I mean, we just started to climb with our friends, but..."

"Oh, please," she said. "Don't be so afraid of using it. We're fine with you 2 going outside."

"Besides," he began. "We know that there's a small chance of you being attacked by wild monsters, and then we came up with..." He took out 2 same hammers from his back. "These babies I made up!"

"Hammers?" Nana asked. "And a climbing set?"

"Nana!" Popo began. "We should be happy that they're giving us presents! Why can't you accept them?"

"B-because I'm a little bit worried myself, that's why!"

"Nah," her father said as he put his hand on her back. "You 2 are pretty tough. Think of this as some kind of enhancement to your defenses!"

"B-but..."

"My little girl is one tough cookie," he said with a chuckle. "You know how to give the monsters hell very well, and you're going to teach them the true definition once you bang this baby on them."

Nana looked down...but smiled a little. "Heheheh..."

"Then, are you going to take it or leave it?"

"...I'll take it!" Nana said cheerfully.

"Yeah!" Popo took his hammer. "Climbing set, hammers, what else is there?"

"Family hug!" her mother said suddenly as the 4 made a group hug.

"C-can't we say this is a bear hug because of you?" the Topi said as he turned purple.

"Oh dear," she said.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Popo and Nana laughed heartily before both of their parents joined them. They laughed and laughed as they could do.

"And from that point an onwards, we became very good with the climbing set that many of our friends nicknamed us as "Ice Climbers." I was so embarrassed when they called us like that, but we grew on the nickname, and we had fun with it as well."

End of Flashback

Mt. Ordeals
Summit

Nana wiped out her tears and looked at Porom. "Those were the most happiest days of my entire life. I found a family, I made friends, and..." She looked depressed. "...I don't understand why Popo acts like that now."

"You really got lucky," Porom commented. "I'm a bit jealous, but you 2 deserved greater things. It's good that we're kindred spirits."

"Kindred...spirits?"

"Yes. We both understand each other so well," she said. "And I didn't think I would find someone like you."

"And I did as well... Maybe I have more emotional strength to tell you more, but I don't want to do it right now."

"I understand. I'm not pushing you."

"Thank you..." Nana said. "Thank you for being my kindred spirit."

"Likewise here," Porom said. "And for the problem of your brother..."

Nana looked away.

"Maybe I'm wrong," she began. "But Popo could be trying to hide his saddest memories."

"...What?"

"Trust me," Porom said. "My brother is not that different from your brother. I heard that the most enthusiastic of people tend to be very happy because something so awful happened in their lives before, and nobody is different from each other."

"But how the hell can I tell if Popo is just acting retarded or not?" Nana asked a little bit angry. "I've been trying to solve that "puzzle" but I can't find the answer!"

"Calm down," Porom said calmly. "You must stay calm and think again."

"...Think...think if Popo is using some kind off facade to hide his true feelings..." Nana muttered. "...I...I..."

Porom smiled a little. "You?"

"I...I...I...I..." Nana looked down. "...I can't find the answer..."

Porom looked worried. "...I see..." She looked up to the stars. "...I'll help you, don't worry. We're both in this together."

"..." Nana looked up to the stars. "...But...do you think I can find that answer?"

"Of course yo-"

"With you?"

Porom blinked surprised before she nodded and chuckled heartily. "Yes. We're going to find that answer...together..."

"...Thank you so much..." Nana muttered as she shed a tear.

Both girls smiled to each other before staring up to the stars as a shooting star was seen crossing the night's sky.

After that, they decided to go back to the cottage...

Music stops

But just then, some monsters that came from the ground appeared right from darkness and shrieked silently. These monsters looked familiar, but decided not to go through the Save Circle as they decided to patrol the area. And the night went on.

The next day...

After the group walked out from the cottage (and the item disappeared out of magic (and Ike questioned this (and Cecil said he didn't understand either (and Chris muttered the "plothole' word)))), they went to the bridge that leaded to the altar.

"Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss..." hissed a sound.

"We were just waking up, and you're playing again?" Porom asked annoyed.

"I swear it wasn't me!" Palom said. "I don't hiss like that either!"

"And come to think of it," Zelda said. "It was closer this time."

"Because Palom here did it," Porom said.

"Gotcha proof?" Popo asked. "You look shady. You sure you're not you?"

"W-what kind of question is that anyway?"

Chris gulped at the bridge. He knew what was going to happen. He could even think of the event in his mind.

They would approach the bridge, and Tellah would sense something and say:

"I sense evil," Tellah would have said.

And since 5 more people (the Smashers) were with them:

"Dude, you can sense evil? That's so l33t!" Popo would have said.

Then Palom would say:

"And I have a sixth sense," Palom would have said. "I can sense food."

Porom would have whacked his head for that and say:

"Hush!" Porom would have said after whacking her brother.

And then, the atmosphere would turn purple and Scarmiglione would appear before they would step on the bridge and say something like:

"You're finally here, foolissssssh mortalssssss..." a voice would have said.

Then Cecil would look around and say:

"Who is there?" Cecil would have asked. "Show your face!"

Then Scarmiglione would start to attack us and s-wait a minute!

"Aw, god!" Chris cursed under his breath. "This is not a vision in my mind, but it IS happening now!"

That wasn't his vision, but reality.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Tower of Zot

"Hello," Scarmiglione greeted as he moved his hands up and down. "I have been waiting for you to arrive here... WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SSSSSSSO LONG?!"

"Er..." Ike looked confused. "...What are you exactly?"

"ANSSSSSSWER THE QUESSSSSSTION!" he demanded.

"We..." Zelda looked behind her. "Stopped to rest for the night before crossing the bridge?"

"FOOLSSSSSS!" Scarmiglione yelled. "I wassssss here all the time for you to come, but you decided to resssssst before you could do sssssso!" he yelled angrily. "You don't know the pain to wait for you all! Damn you all to hell!"

"Aw, that's cute of you," Popo said. "Can we go through?"

"Ssssssure." Scarmiglione nodded and moved away. "...WAIT!" He moved back to his position. "I can't let you go any further! My missssssssssssion issssss to kill Cecil and hissssss bunch of imbecilessssss!"

"Can you please tell us your name?" Zelda asked with a glare.

"My name issssss the great Sssssscarmiglione!"

"And tell us your whole job for that matter!" Palom demanded.

"Elemental Lord of Earth and Undead, Golbez's archfiend, the firsssssst archfiend you will ever face," he explained. "And ssssssingle."

Most of them sweatdropped after knowing that Scarmiglione didn't have a wife.

"..." Scarmiglione looked confused. "What the hell did I jusssssst ssssssay?"

"That you don't have a wife, so you suck?" Popo asked.

"...You weren't ssssssuppossssssssssssed to know that, damn you!" he cursed. "Cecil! I am here to bring you your death by Golbez!"

"Golbez?! You work for him?!" Tellah asked angrily.

"Yessssss! Are you deaf, old man or what?!" Scarmiglione asked.

"Well, move aside," Cecil said. "I don't want to deal with ridiculous archfiends like you for the moment. Go back to Golbez and tell him to give Rosa back to me."

"Who're you?" Scarmiglione asked. "My bossssssssssss?"

There was someone who had the power to make Scarmiglione feel utterly furious.

"Do you know that you overuse the "Ss" a little bit too much?" Chris asked.

And that was enough for the archfiend.

"That issssss it! Revenantssssss! Come and suck their blood!" Scarmiglione commanded.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme B (B for Boss Battle)

4 Revenants suddenly appeared from the ground they were on and they stood up and created a barrier in front of the archfiend. The 9 stepped back and prepared to fight against the undead enemies.

"Go!" Scarmiglione ordered. "Kill them, and eat their flessssssh!"

Unfortunately for Scarmiglione, he didn't count that someone of the group knew how to defeat him rather fast.

"I hear undead are so weak to fire!" yelled Chris in a high-pitched tone.

"I know!" Palom began. "Let's kill them with fire!"

"And I also hear that a guy named Scarmiglione can't stand fire as well!"

"Why are you yelling like that?" Cecil asked.

"..." Chris felt extremely embarrassed. "I...he...um..."

"(I got an idea here,)" Ike thought. "That's the monster we've been looking for!"

For being a new addition to the Smashers, Ike surely learned fast.

"Y-yes!" Zelda said. "That monster, Scarmi...whatever its name was, it's the monster we've been trying to hunt!"

"What?" Scarmiglione asked confused. "Nobody hassssss never met me becausssssse I jusssssst got out!"

"And..." Nana thought about something. "T-that's why you need to be hunted! I-isn't that right, everyone?"

"Yes!" the other older Smashers said in unison.

"...For being hunters that just knew a monster that came out of nowhere..." Cecil trailed off.

This was a really bad signal.

"(Busted,)" the 4 (except Popo) thought in shame.

"...You're hard workers," Cecil remarked.

"..." The Smashers looked around in embarrassment. "We-um-er-y-yes!" they said in unison.

"Would you sssssstop talking and let my servantssssss eat your flessssssh?!" Scarmiglione asked annoyed. "Go, my peassssssantssssss!"

"No, you won't do such a thing, fiend of Golbez!" Tellah yelled. "Burn them to ashes..." He opened his arms. "Fire!"

A small burst of flames hit the 5 undead (counting Scarmiglione) and made the red zombies back away.

"Ooh, ooh! Let me continue!" Palom pleaded. "Burn them to greater ashes... Fira!"

A stronger burst of flames covered the undead, and the 4 Revenants disappeared into thin air, leaving Scarmiglione alone.

"All right," Cecil said. "We have to get through him and we're done with this."

"You won't do ssssssuch a thing!" Scarmiglione yelled. "Thunder!"

Bolts of lightning fell on everyone on the field (or in this case, cliff) and they backed away...though the attack was really weak.

"Ha! You call that Black Magic?" Palom bluffed.

"Heal the wounds... Cure!" Porom cast Cure to restore everyone's health.

"Oh no!" Scarmiglione said. "Why can't my magic hurt you?!"

"I think he's just a joke for a monster..." Ike trailed off. "Alright, let me go after him."

"Let me join you as well," Cecil said and both nodded to each other before running to the zombie.

"Y-you get away!" Scarmiglione demanded.

"Ha!" both swordsmen yelled as they leaped to the archfiend and slammed their swords down on him...

...And that's how they ended the battle after sliding across Scarmiglione.

Music stops

"No!" Scarmiglione yelled. "D-damn you all to hell!" he yelled angrily before he disappeared.

"...That was it?" Nana asked. "He went down so easily... Hey, I didn't do anything!"

"That was odd," Cecil commented as they walked back to them. "I thought Golbez's archfiends were going to be stronger than this."

"Well, we shouldn't waste more time," Tellah said. "Meteor awaits for me, and we have to go forward."

"Sheesh," Palom said as he folded his arms. "The first one to lose against the Mighty Palom."

"Let's just get this over with..." Porom said bored. "The faster, the sooner my brother gets to stop bluffing."

"Hush you!" Palom yelled.

Zelda smiled. "I can't believe we defeated the monster."

This was obviously part of the hunter part, and the others reacted quickly.

"Yeah," Ike said. "We defeated it, and we're done."

"Aww, you guys are leaving already?" Palom asked. "I was getting used to have someone at the same level of awesome as myself."

"And me as well!" Popo said excited.

"It would be dangerous for you to go down the mountain," Cecil said. "Since we're going to go down the mountain, maybe you could come with us after I get done with my business here."

Oh, Cecil, if you just were more benevolent, Zelda would have married you.

For some reason, Zelda glared at nobody in particular.

"We wouldn't mind," Zelda said as she stopped glaring. "I think I like to hang ou-I mean, be with this group. Yes! That's it!"

"..." Ike shook his head. "Yeah, we'd like to stick around more."

"Thanks," Cecil said with a nod. "Let's go forward, then."

As they crossed the rather short bridge, something hit Chris's mind.

"(Wait, Scarmiglione had to be defeated 1 time before he would come back from behind and ambush us...)" he thought. "(...But nothing is happening...)"

"..." Tellah stopped after they crossed the bridge. "I sense evil."

"FOOLSSSSSS!" Scarmiglione yelled as he appeared right behind Porom, who immediately turned her to him and ran behind Palom for protection. "You have only made me sssssstronger by killing me! Now, face your deathssssss!"

Ike glared at him. "You're not going to believe us, but we're always reminded about our deaths every day."

"Wow, Ike," Nana began. "You sure learn fast as we do."

"Do I?" Ike asked embarrassed. "I think I'm getting used to this."

"What are you speaking of?" Cecil asked.

"N-nothing important," Ike said.

"SSSSSSHUT UP!" Scarmiglione yelled as he glowed in darkness.

"Be careful!" Tellah warned them. "I sense a stronger power coming from him!"

Final Fantasy IV DS - The Dreadful Fight

Scarmiglione cloak started to rip apart as he grew in size into a hideous brown monster with white eyes, bones getting out from parts where they weren't supposed to come out, decayed skin, and a hideous green hair coming from his new head. The 9 backed away as Scarmiglione roared.

"W-what the heck is that?!" Nana asked.

"I am Sssssscarmiglione," Scarmiglione said. "And I am here to kill you all! Sssssshadow Bugsssss! Come forth and give me sssssstrength!"

"Shadow Bugs?" everyone except Palom and Popo repeated confused. From the cliffs surrounding the mountain, the Shadow Bugs crawled up from the cliffs and reached Scarmiglione's feet before covering him with all of them. Before long, he roared to the air with opened arms as he gained more strength than before.

"YESSSSSS, YESSSSSS, YESSSSSS!" he proclaimed. "ULTIMATE POWER ISSSSSS MINE!!!"

"Aw, god," Porom said bored. "It was a matter of time before I met my first power-hungry monster in my life."

"Don't you DARE change the music now!" Chris yelled angrily at no one in particular.

"His power has risen," Tellah said. "We should be more careful than before now!"

"DIE!" Dark Scarmiglione yelled as he pulled himself back, lowered his arms, and swung them hard on Chris to make him crash with the nearby wall.

"AAAAAAAHHH!!!" Chris screamed in extreme pain before he lost consciousness on the wall and fell down to the ground. "I-I'm so sorry..." he muttered sadly.

"W-what?" Cecil asked bewildered. "No! He took him out with a single strike!"

"Cecil, look out!" Ike yelled as he managed to push the dark knight away from another swing of arms from Dark Scarmiglione.

"WHAT ISSSSSS THE MATTER?!" the archfiend asked with an evil chuckle. "Do you fear my power now?! I'll make your deathssssss come ssssssooner than you expected!"

"I'm sick of zombies..." Zelda trailed off as she concentrated fire magic in her hand. "And I'm disgusted to see your...body above everything else!"

"Try to hit me with fire!" he taunted.

"It'll be my pleasure... (W-wait...what is this?)" Zelda thought confused before she automatically chanted a new spell. "Burn them to greater ashes... Fira!"

Dark Scarmiglione got enveloped in a burst of flames that ran across his back to his head.

Zelda gasped and looked at her hands. "W-what did I just do? Did I learn magic all of a sudden?"

"Chris bought a special ability a while ago!" Kawashima yelled from Chris's pocket. "You might learn spells or other skills while you're in a world like this, but you can use them HERE and not OUTSIDE!"

"What was that voice just now?" Cecil asked.

"Whoops," Kawashima muttered.

"I...see..." Zelda said with a nod before she smiled a little at her hands. "Fira..."

The magic that hit Dark Scarmiglione made him grunt in pain before looking down at his enemies. "Inssssssolent girl! Get poissssssoned!"

The archfiend opened his arms and a weird scent came from his body's within, flowing around the air that everyone breathed in by accident. Their bodies began to feel heavy as they turned pale.

Nana coughed. "T-that monster poisoned us..." she said before coughing.

Porom coughed. "F-fear not, I'm going to heal each one of us with Esuna..."

"AH!" Nana quickly pushed Porom away from one of the archfiend's swings in time.

"Ha!" Popo yelled from atop a small hill as he pointed at Dark Scarmiglione. "It's true! Big enemies can't hit smaller enemies!"

"SSSSSSHUT UP!" the archfiend yelled as he made a fist and raised it above the Ice Climber.

"Hey!" Ike suddenly jumped in front of Popo and shielded him with Ragnell as the fist tried to crush both of them. "G-get down, now!"

"Like getting off from this hill?" Popo asked.

"Y-yeah!" Ike struggled. "G-get down!"

"'Kay," Popo said as he simply ducked.

"I-I said DOWN THE HILL!" Ike ordered angrily as the fist made him go down.

"Oh!" Popo jumped off the hill...then he came back.

"GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Ike snapped out.

"Why didn't you say that before?" Popo asked semi-angry. "You made me play around."

"(Get down before I cut down your throat...)" Ike thought as he gritted his teeth. "Would anyone help me here?!"

"Damn!" the archfiend cursed. "This sword is stupidly hard!"

"Are you mocking Ragnell?" Ike asked.

"Help is on the way!" Zelda said as she concentrated her new magic. "Burn them t- Aah!" she yelled after the archfiend shot his tongue at her hand. "G-get your filthy tongue off my hand!" she yelled.

"Damn you," Cecil muttered before he jumped towards Dark Scarmiglione. "Get this!"

"Never!" Dark Scarmiglione yelled as he used his other free hand to block Cecil's attack. "That dark ssssssword won't hurt me, you foolissssssh dark knight!"

"UGH!" Cecil was pushed down along with his sword, and he crashed on the ground before he grunted in pain.

"My turn!" Palom said as he concentrated his magic. "Burn them to gre-"

"You don't know what elsssssse to ssssssay bessssssidessssss that sssssstupid chant, do you?!" Dark Scarmiglione asked.

"Not really." Palom stuck out his tongue.

"DIE!" Dark Scarmiglione yelled as he slammed down his fist on Palom.

When he removed his fist, Palom was shown laying down on the floor before looking up with swirls in his eyes. "Yeah," he said dazzled. "That will teach you my own power, sucka..." he muttered before he fainted.

"Porom!" Tellah yelled to the White Mage. "Do you know how to cast Raise?"

"Y-yes, I do," Porom said.

"Try to resurrect the boy!"

A red toon vein popped out from Chris's head.

"While I try to maintain everyone on their feet!"

"Understood!" Porom said before she ran to Chris and focused her magic. "Come back and walk the earth again... Raise!"

A small angel appeared from the sky and flew around as he reached the fainted body, touched Chris's back, and vanished. The World Traveler started to open his eyes slowly before he pushed himself back from the floor and looked at Porom.

"T-thank you..." he muttered.

"It's my duty to heal you," Porom said. "But it's also my duty to protect anyone else in danger."

"H-how much time has passed ever since that monster attacked me?"

Porom coughed due to the poison. "Oh no, I forgot everyone got poisoned! They will start losing all their health if I don't heal them!"

"W-wait!" Chris stood up and prepared his harp. "I'll cure them instead."

"Can you?"

"I'll do it..." Chris nodded before he started to play his harp. "Soul Etude!" he called out as a blue atmosphere fell on the field and healed everyone instantly. They also were healed from the poison as they turned back to normal.

"H-ha!" Zelda yelled as she sliced the tongue by using her other free hand. Dark Scarmiglione pulled back his tongue and grunted as he was still trying to crush Ike with his other fist.

"(I really had enough of waiting to discover a new attack with Zelda... The Summoner job would be the only option because I haven't used it in a long time and...)" Chris changed to his Summoner job and ran to Zelda. "Zelda! I need to ask you something important!"

"W-what is it?" Zelda asked.

"(I'm going to hate myself for asking her this...) Do you trust me?"

"..." Zelda looked odd at him. "I...yes?"

"...It sounded cheesy, didn't it?" he asked in a low tone.

"...Would you get mad at me for saying...yes?"

"...Actually, no," Chris said as Ike flew back above them and to the nearby wall where he crashed but then jumped out to attack the archfiend. "I like honest people."

"Oh, me too."

"Good," Chris said. "Because I would be embarrassed if I ever asked someone else the same thing. Do you agree with me?"

"I think so," Zelda said with a nod while Tellah got his staff taken by Dark Scarmiglione's tongue. The mage cursed before he went after his weapon. "I don't like liars that much."

"Me too," Chris said. "...(...Am I having a conversation with her during a battle?) They're the worst..."

"..." Zelda scratched her arm a little.

"...This is so awkward, right?"

"I agree..." Zelda said a little bit unsure. "Are we...waiting for our combined attack?"

Chris blushed embarrassed. "Y-yes..."

"Um..." Zelda looked confused. "...Do we really have to wait for it?"

"I guess..." Chris said. "This is how it comes to us; all of a sudden it appears."

"Oh," Zelda said simply. "..."

"..."

Porom went flying above them because of Dark Scarmiglione's tongue.

"..."

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...Wait, it worked!)" Chris said.

"(This feeling...)" Zelda said. ""(I can sense something within us...)"

"(...)" Chris shifted his eyes. "(Do you have to be dramatic?)"

"(T-this is my first time. What'd you expect?)" she asked. "(But now I feel that power that you have found with the others.)"

"(...)"

"(D-don't look at me like that!)"

"(Fine,)" he said bored. "(Since we're ready to do this, will you start?)"

"(Um, well, okay.)" Zelda said as she and Chris grabbed Chris's staff together. Magic began flowing from below their feet and they focused hard on their combined attack.

It also seemed that Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom glowed in her right hand...

"FEEL MY WRATH!" Dark Scarmiglione yelled as he moved his arms to the left and swung them hard on Ike, Cecil, Nana, and Tellah. The 4 of them went crashing to the wall as they screamed in pain before falling down to the ground, losing their consciousness.

"Oh no," Porom said bewildered. "I-I'm coming to heal you!"

"You won't do ssssssuch a thing!" the archfiend yelled as he approached the White Mage to grab her on his right fist.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Porom screamed in horror. "PALOM! HELP ME!!!"

"Porom? POROM!!!" Palom yelled worried. "Leave my annoying sister alone!"

"That REALLY helps myself!" Porom yelled sarcastically.

"I wonder how doessssss a child's tasssssste like food?" Dark Scarmiglione wondered as he moved the White Mage above his mouth.

"A-AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Porom screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Burn them to greater ashes... Fira!" Palom yelled to make a burst of flames appear on Dark Scarmiglione's head. "Aw, dammit! He's not letting go of Porom!"

"INSSSSSSOLENT!" Dark Scarmiglione yelled before he swung his left arm to Palom.

"...Aw, shi-" Palom got interrupted before he was sent to the wall, losing his consciousness as he fell next to the others.

"..." Porom looked worried before she started to cry. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Worry no more!" Popo yelled proudly as he jumped to a small hill. "I, the Great Hero Pop-" He got interrupted by the archfiend's fist crushing him with the hill. When he removed his decayed fist, Popo looked up with swirls in his eyes. "...Will...get my revenge..." he finished before hitting the ground with his face.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Dark Scarmiglione laughed evilly as Porom's tears fell inside his mouth. "NOW, LET'SSSSSS TASSSSSSTE THAT FLESSSSSSH OF YOURSSSSSS!!!"

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Porom tried and tried, but she was held tightly on Dark Scarmiglione's fist before she felt that the grip was starting to lose its strength on her. That would mean her fall inside the zombie's mouth. "S-SOMEBODY!!!" she cried for help.

"We call upon the devil of hell fire," Zelda and Chris chanted. "Incinerate our enemy, and leave ashes behind to crawl the earth and air both!" both chanted together before the magic flowing from beneath them turned red. "We summon thee... Ifrit!!!"

A mighty roar came from the mountain before the ground in front of both casters started to turn red with magma. It then exploded as a flaming figure jumped out and landed close to them. The 2 looked at the entity covered in flames before the fire vanished, revealing a 2-horned red demon that reached 10 feet tall and looked angrily at Dark Scarmiglione.

"My goodness..." Zelda commented surprised.

"It's...Ifrit..." Chris said.

Ifrit roared in fury before he started to get covered in scorching flames. The aeon jumped back as the flames began to turn him into a huge wheel of fire. Chris and Zelda watched as Ifrit aimed for the archfiend, and then Ifrit himself rammed at full force to the zombie, creating a huge impact of fire that made the archfiend let go of Porom as he screamed in utter pain.

The White Mage made her way to the unconscious group as she watched Ifrit trying to cross Dark Scarmiglione's decayed waist. She was able to hear a huge roar from Ifrit before he penetrated the dark skin of the archfiend and went soaring across the air. Ifrit hit his fists on the ground behind the archfiend to stop himself from falling out of the mountain. The demon of fire roared at the archfiend before flames covered him and made him disappear.

Music stops

"..." Porom blinked in surprise. "...That was a Summon Spirit...it was Ifrit..."

"...No..." Dark Scarmiglione said as he looked at the hole in himself. "T-thissssss issssss...no! NO, NO, NO! E-even with my new power...NO! T-THISSSSSS ISSSSSS NOTHING! I-I CAN'T...NO!"

Chris and Zelda ran to the group (who were starting to wake up) and watched the archfiend grabbing his stomach in pain. The archfiend roared in pain as he glared at them.

"Y-you won't get away with thissssss!" he proclaimed. "Ssssss-ssssssoon, G-Golbez will avenge me!" he yelled. "L-l-live your worthlessssssssssss livessssss assssss much assssss you can from now on!"

They gasped as Dark Scarmiglione's body started to turn into dust.

"I damn you...kid and...meddling girl..." he muttered before he hit the ground with his full body as it became dust.

"...I hope Ifrit made you feel agonizing pain..." Chris muttered angrily.

"W-we did it?" Cecil asked. "Ugh!"

"C-Cecil!" Porom said worried. "P-please, everyone. Let me heal you!"

Zelda sighed in relief. "We were able to defeat that...thing..."

"...I'm happy," Chris said. "Both of us can use combined attacks. Also, I'm glad you like me."

Zelda smiled a little. "Thank you."

New ability learned! Wisdom Call!

Guarantees a successful summon by using both a summoner and the Triforce of Wisdom. Only Ifrit (fire), Shiva (ice), Ramuh (thunder), and Titan (earth) can be summoned. However, summoning the desired aeon might end up calling another at random.

"You..." Cecil said weakly before Porom healed him completely. "You are a summoner?"

"...(I forgot that summoners live in Mist...)" Chris thought. "Y-yes."

"Were you born in Mist?"

"N-no..." Chris said. "I-I was born in another village..."

"What village?"

"In..." Chris looked at Zelda. "Ordon! I-it's a secret village hidden in...t-the Fabul province."

"...I see..." Cecil said.

"Tell me he's not starting to get suspicious about us," Chris whispered.

"Hmm. We should be more clever in what we do around them," Zelda whispered.

"I guess..."

A time passed...

"Looks like we managed to defeat Scarmiglione," Tellah said. "Golbez better be damned for sending us that hideous monster."

"And..." Palom folded his arms as they walked to the altar (that somehow was unharmed since the battle was just a few feet nearby). "We all won!"

Nana frowned. "Don't tell me you and my...Popo have been playing..."

"I'm your Popo?" Popo asked.

"Hush!" Porom and Nana said in unison.

"Would you please calm down?" Ike asked. "..." He looked at the altar. "...What now?"

A cricket passed nearby before it killed him by jumping accidentally off the cliff.

"...I have to say," Tellah said. "This is boring."

"Seconded," Popo said. "Here I thought there was a treasure."

"..." Cecil crossed his arms.

Porom began to sweat. "T-the elder definitely didn't deceive you or anything like that, I swear!"

"I have to admit that putting an altar on the top of the mountain is odd..." Cecil commented as he approached the altar. "However, I feel some kind of energy that is...calling me..."

"Come..."

Everyone gasped. "W-what was that?" Zelda asked.

"It's the voice inside my head!" Palom screamed.

"No! It's mine!" Popo screamed.

Porom proceeded to pull her brother's ponytail to stop him from screaming.

"Come...son..." the voice that rang through the mountain said.

"What?" Cecil asked. "Son?"

Tellah blinked in surprise. "There is some kind of energy drawing us somewhere!"

Just as he said that, everyone got blinded by a shiny light that came from the altar. As soon as they were engulfed in it, they all disappeared from the mountain...

The following scene will be resumed due to more character development...now.

Crystal Room

They appeared inside a room full of mirrors.

"What?" Cecil asked. "Where are we?"

In front them, a mirror reflected their reflections.

"What is that?" Ike asked.

A dark figure that looked like Cecil stepped out from the mirror, and it took out a dark sword.

Cecil nodded and unsheathed his sword.

"Face your true self!" Palom yelled.

"Will you shut it?" Porom asked annoyed. "Cecil! Be careful!"

"We have to help him!"

"No!" Cecil yelled. "This is a battle for me and me alone. Leave this to me."

They fought.

"A true paladin..." the Cecil copycat said. "Will sheath his sword."

Cecil decided not to attack.

"..." Cecil obeyed the figure.

The figure turned into a floating holy sword.

"Take the sword..." the same voice from before said. "A unleash all the darkness within you, and obtain your right to become a paladin of light."

Cecil took the sword (slowly) and his dark armor vanished as he glowed. He seemed to be changing appearance. He now wore a holy armor, a long blue cape, his blond hair became visible as he wore a blue plate in front of his forehead, and he also held the holy sword called Mythgraven.

Zelda blushed.

"Hamana-hamana-hamana," she said quickly.

Chris and Ike shared confused looks.

The twins opened their mouths in surprise.

Tellah remembered his spells.

"I-I remember my spells!" Tellah said.

He also unlocked the seal to Meteor.

"Me...teor..." he muttered. "Meteor! Yes, I have found it at last!"

Porom looked surprised.

"No way!" Palom said. "You're a true Legendary Sage then!"

Cecil walked to them.

"I...have changed..." he said.

"Definitely," Zelda said.

End of resume.

"..." Chris looked confused. "No, this isn't right. Cecil was supposed to grab the sword, turn into a paladin, fight that shadow later, then become a full-fledged paladin afterward... Not fight the shadow, grab the sword, become a paladin, and leave."

"Oh my," Kawashima said. "You messed up something here."

"What now..." Chris asked bored.

"...Nope, you didn't mess up anything."

"Then why are you saying that?"

"Because...erm...um...something here was changed by somebody..."

"If that is true..." Chris trailed off. "...Wait, somebody else?"

"I-it's not certainly you, but someone else screwed something up in the storyline! I don't know who, but be careful about that screw up!"

"(But then that would mean that I'm not the only one who screw up ACCIDENTALLY the storyline... Oh no... Wouldn't that mean Tabuu could do that screw up?)"

"We're leaving!!!" Ike yelled at Chris's ear.

"I-Ike! Don't yell at me like that!"

"Sorry," Ike said. "You weren't listening."

"Let's be on our way, then..." He sighed.

And so they left the crystal room...

Summit

And appeared right back in front of the altar.

"What was all that just now?" Ike asked. "We were there, then we reappeared back here?"

"I dunno myself," Palom said. "Boy, that was awesome, don't you think? We were, like, spirited away from this place and taken to another place, where we were spirited away again!"

"High five for that!" Popo said excited as both kids did a high five.

"..." Nana looked down. "That...reflection..."

"What is it?" Porom asked.

"When we were there..."

Flashback

Crystal Room

Final Fantasy IV DS - The Lunarians

As Cecil and the shadow of himself remained silent due to Cecil listening to the shadow's talk, Nana saw the reflection behind the shadow.

In truth, the reflection worked like some kind of revealer. Everything that was reflected in there would show something like someone's true identity. She looked at everyone reflected in the mirrors.

However, there was Popo, who was grabbing hands with her.

"What?" she muttered. "Why is he..." She looked at her right, but Popo wasn't grabbing her hand. Instead, he was apparently making weird symbols with his hands (and albeit to say, his fingers were inside his fingerless-gloves). "But..." She looked back to the mirror, and both were smiling happily. "I...I don't understand why this is happening..."

She looked worried.

"...Is this...does that mirror reflect..." she wondered. "...Does it reflect how things should be, or does it reflects something else? Everything in this world is related to magic, and I could be right with my guesses..."

She saw both reflections waving at her.

"...What is the true meaning of this?" Nana asked. "Is this some kind of a clue?"

Summit

"Once I saw the reflections, they reflected Popo's attitude when he wasn't like this..." Nana said.

"It reflected how he behaved before?" Porom asked.

"Yes, but do you know why?"

"This is so hard..." Porom said. "I just knew about a place like that just a moment ago. I'm afraid I don't know."

"If that is right," Nana said as she looked at Popo talking with Palom (about socks on hands). "Then maybe I'm closer to find out about his true intentions..."

"...The voice called me his son..." Cecil said.

"Um, Cecil..." Porom looked ashamed. "We, Palom and I...we were..."

"Yes?"

"Everyone!" Tellah called from a few feet away. "We must leave this place and go to Mysidia! We have a deal to settle with Golbez!"

"How did he get farther away from us?" Ike asked.

Nana snapped out from her focus on Popo. "S-should we leave as well? I mean, we finished with that monster, right?"

"Oh, right," Cecil said. "What are you going to do now? You finished with the monster."

"We..." Ike thought for a moment. "...We don't have anywhere else to go."

"If I recall," Cecil began. "We could have ended up dead if it weren't for you all." He looked at Chris. "He is a summoner and I got puzzled about you 5."

Chris blushed embarrassed. "Y-you could say I'm full of surprises..."

"Maybe," Cecil said. "I saw all of you fighting and well...I was wondering if you could tag along with us a little longer."

The 3 older Smashers looked surprised.

"The reason why I wondered this is because of that boost of power that Scarmiglione got out of nowhere," Cecil explained. "Somehow I don't think that kind of power exists in this world."

Chris opened his mouth in shock.

"And I wondered about asking you to join us. Of course, you can leave us if you want, but..."

"W-we would like to!" Zelda suddenly spoke for everyone.

"Are you sure?" Cecil asked.

"Hamana-hamana-hamana."

"?"

"S-she means yes," Ike said as she stepped between them. "A-and as the leader of this group, I'd say yes. Let us join with you."

Cecil smiled and nodded. "Your help won't be misused with me."

"Alright, alright!" Palom said. "Let's go back to Mysidia and report to the elder about the spyi-hmhmhmhhmhhmhm!"

Porom blocked his mouth. "Let's go!" she said with a worried chuckle.

"Hmph," Tellah said as he walked to them. "You youngsters should leave the way back down to me."

"Are you going to carry us down?" Nana asked confused.

"No!" Tellah said. "I'm going to use Teleport to take us all back to the entrance. From there, we're going to start our way back to Mysidia."

"If you're going to use that spell, then we should get closer to you," Cecil said.

"Exactly. Everyone, get closer to me." Tellah started to focus. "Cast our souls to safety... Teleport!"

Everyone got covered by an unknown force before they disappeared out of sight.

Music stops

Overworld

"Kweh!"

Final Fantasy IV DS – Chocobo Chocobo

"Whoa, awesome!" Palom exclaimed.

Once the 9 got back to the entrance of the mountain, they were met by a band of roaming wild Chocobos that happened to be nearby.

"Chocobos?" Tellah asked. "Yes, I believe there was a forest of them nearby."

"And to our luck," Cecil said. "We can use them to take us back to Mysidia. Monsters don't attack travelers with Chocobos."

"Are you sure we can ride them?" Ike asked. "They're wild, aren't they?"

"All the Chocobos in the world are docile and very friendly," Porom explained. "Besides having soft yellow feathers, they're well trained to be wild."

Chris noticed that a Chocobo got closer to him. "Um, hello?" Chris greeted.

"...Kweh!" the Chocobo said happily before it rubbed its beak to Chris.

"...Wait a second...Lenne, is that you?"

"Kweh!" The Chocobo seemed to agree.

"Lenne!" Chris said happily as he hugged her. "Oh, I'm sorry for not calling you for a long while!"

"How do you know that's the same one?" Nana asked.

"Because she responded to her name?" Chris asked sarcastically.

Palom sniffed. "I like this kind of reunions..."

"Napkin?" Popo offered and sniffed, and both took napkins.

"Can we just go back to the village now?" Porom asked. "The Chocobos could run away if we don't hurry!"

The 9 decided to ride the Chocobos to go back to Mysidia. Each time a monster was spotted, it ran away because of them riding the Chocobos.

Ike, however, wondered why Zelda kept saying, "Hamana-hamana-hamana" all the way to Mysidia...

Their work wasn't done yet. Their reward? The Classic Mode's beginning.

"(Soon...)" Nana thought as she rode her own Chocobo. "(Soon I will find out the truth, Popo. There is definitely something weird with that attitude, and I'm going to find that out, once and for...I mean, I will find it very soon...)"

The 9 rode to the horizon, where Mysidia was located...

Preview of the next chapter

"And then I 'hic' decided to have a child with that man over 'hic' the street... Yahoo! We didn't 'hic' care about being men at all! 'Hic'!"

"..." Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "This is WHY I hate drunk people!"

"Pursuing A Blind Self. I like the sound of that title." Nana said.

"I liked mine better..." Popo said.

"Oh, you shut up!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Mt. Ordeals
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Popo, Nana, Snake, Sonic, Cecil, Palom, Porom, Tellah

References:

-"Final Fantasy X - Yuna Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when Yuna gets her time.

Out of curiosity...:

-The Tower of Zot can't be found anywhere in the game. You just ride an airship that takes you up to the sky…then you appear in that tower.

It's quite hard to write "Palom" and "Porom" when you write fast. I had trouble to write their names right or misplace their speeches where the other should have talked. Good thing I re-read the parts to make sure the errors wouldn't stay there. :P

So anyway, Nana has narrated a part of their past, and Porom gets to tell something about her and Palom. It seems Popo has been smarter before, but is he hiding by using a facade of his true self?

I think I didn't make Tellah that interesting in his intro. However, I'm going to think about something in the next chapter (probably hilarious), and that could go for Cecil...though Zelda somehow makes him worthwhile. XD

And...wait, what were those familiar creatures from that night? I know, but I can't tell you. :P

So please, keep reading and reviewing. :)

...Or Scarmiglione will remain ssssssingle.
*Chapter 138*: Pursuing A Blind Self

The next leg to Nana's story becomes more apparent now…

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Whoa, quick update! I still wonder how you can do this so fast.

I actually do hope that this keeps going (this arc) for a long time.

What I meant before is that FF fans will understand the "spoony bard" joke.

-
Something I came across: "Invisible" means that you can't see it. I think you meant "intangible," which means cannot be touched.

Keep updating!

From me: Um, I think I forgot that part of the invisible thing. I meant to say visible. Silly me, I forgot that part. :P

Oh, right, I heard the translations were weird at the enhanced ports. I get the joke.

Thanks. : )

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... I think Zelda has a crush on someone. I think you should make everyone but Zelda run through the portal very fast, and leave her there so she can uhh... get to know Cecil...BUT not in a perverted way! Also, the system where you explain stuff is working out very well. I liked the Ice Climber's flashback. It was funny when chris got closer to hear secrets the games didn't mention. Until next Chapter, Hasta!

From me: Unfortunately, I try to maintain things semi-canon. No ZeldaXCecil here. XD

From Light the Lucario: Heh. Another great chapter by AuraChanellerChris! It seems that out of all my favorite authors you haven't disappeared which I am greatful for as I couldn't leave without this fic or Yugioh the Abridged Series!
"Ah! The blue screen of death! My mortal enemy!" a quote from that series.
It is definitly a refresher to see Chris in other jobs than the musician. Poor, Cecil being a chick magnet and all. And oh! If you are now playing Rydia's Story in FFIV: After years, there is a way to save Calco and Brina! You need two special items from certain enemies that are only dropped in a strange rock filled chamber in the Agart Mines(Hope that is right) It will take several tries to get it though and a mythril spring from a pot. To find out more go to ! If you need any help with the game just come ask me! And I found nothing wrong with any spelling or grammer errors and I implore all who are voting to vote Tales of the Abyss!!

From me: I know everything about the secret ending of that tale. And please don't go that detailed either.

And I won't disappear, nevah. :P

From TARDISreviewer: I assume that was Ifrit's FF4 animation?

and they hadn't seen each other since SA2...

From me: I couldn't understand this review that much, save for the animation. Yes it was the same animation. I thought a flying magma rock in fire fly out of nowhere could have been weird, so I went with that other variation.

From MarioXXX: Okay now, the smashers sure are lucky, they somehow get excuses given to them. Why do I think that Master Hand will blame Chris for messing up the story, even though Ganondorf is the one messing it up? Poor Scarmiglione, he must have a hard life, no wife and having to wait for the group. I would certainly be wondering just who Chris is if I were Cecil though, just by how he changes his powers. Chris did ask a good question to Tellah. The parts with Nana and Porom were very good in my opinion.

(Luigicario's) Random questions: How would Sonic respond if he found out that the smashers that took vacation got 6 months, as opposed to his one hour, thus moving much faster than him? There is a YouTube video called "SSBM Perfect Control" that shows what it would be like to have perfect reflexes when playing Melee. What would happen if the smashers saw it?

RayGallade ends the letter with this, "Yo hablo ingles y tu hablo ingles. Yo hablo un poco espanol."

From me: Let's see…3 people in a single username? That's new…

To MarioXXX: Hope to see you enjoying the flashbacks. :)

To Luigicario: I don't really know. Sonic seemed fine with it (with that problem he has. You know…)

I don't know about the video. I'm not going that far with Youtube either. :P

To RayGallade: Yes. Since I understand Spanish very well, you had a mistake in there. , "Yo hablo ingles y tu hablas ingles. Yo hablo un poco espanol." See the bold letters? That's a small correction. You should as "-as" in a verb addressing an action to someone. EX: "Tu saltas (Jump) la barda."

Hope that helped you. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: FF4: Hmm, another final fantasy arc! Yay! I havn't played it yet, sister is preventing me. Back to reviewing, the current chpts are pretty good, i'm definetly interested in your view of the ice climbers past. hmm, at least Nana has a sibling close to her, my sis hasn't been here in my home for most of the summer, i really miss her *sniff* Well, enough negativity. it's time for a new...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! MUSIC EDITION!
Just as it says, some songs i found that could interest you.
Xion's Theme (Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days) /watch?v=VJAcZMWqPvc {it's really sad for me}
Kingdom Hearts II - Roxas /watch?v=VHjgZglZ-S4 {sad as well}
well, songs that can fit in the sad theme i guess.
well, i think that'll be all. last thing, if you must cut off some of my review, cut out what isn't involved with the current arc. i felt like a idiot when i just saw my blah blah blah from my last review. well, good fortune!

From me: Be EXTREMELY careful in what you show me. You almost spoiled I game I wanted to have LATER. Besides, all the music was bad for this occasion, sorry.

And yes, your little title for your questions is weird…

Thank you. :)

From SlasherMask: Wasn't that "pendulum" and blade hanging over her?

Ever heard of Dissidia BTW?? Why I ask? No reason...

TRIVIA TIME~(wiki helps us!)!: Elemental lords/archfiends/whatever are named after demons(part of something called Malebranche("evil claws) in Inferno part of Divine Comedy(wrote by guy called Dante) According to Final Fantasy wiki Rubicante mean "he who grows red", Barbariccia "curly beard"(XD) and Cagnazzo(undead guy's name explanation didn't read in wiki)"big dog snout"

Condor is bird. Pterodactyl isn't bird.

...I think mage twins and Ice Climbers are too similar...

...WHY DOES EVERYONE HAS DARK PAST!

(undeads are usually weak to healing magic too for some reason...)

Cecil is white haired pretty boy~ Not blond~

P.S.S.S...Scarmiglione can't remain single... I nothing else then he gets with Lich.

From me: Oh, yes. I meant to say pendulum. I didn't know if that was the correct word. I'm going to correct that little mistake.

I heard of Dissidia. But I only care about the story and not the gameplay.

Face it. Some of the Smashers have dark pasts. Figure out that part for yourself. ;)

Undeads are weak to healing magic because healing magic is with the Holy element.

Cecil looks semi-blond in the DS version. White-haired in cutscenes

Thanks. :)

From tiger: Good chapter, I like this story. You're a very good writer, that's why I'd like to ask you a favour. As you can tell, I'm not an author, so I can't write stories and i ave this great idea called "Super Smash Bros Anime!" as you can tell it's an anime based on Super Smash Bros taking place after the Subspace Emissary. I already have the story planned out but i can't write it, so I hoped you would write it for me. I'll review to tell you what should happen in each chapter and let you add your own ideas too. The story should have tons of newcomers from each series present in Super Smash Bros, more third party characters and characters from franchises not focused on video games like Mickey mouse, Naruto and Bugs Bunny. You don't have to write it if you don't want too but i would be honoured if you did, since you're a great Author. If you decide to write it please say so in the Authors notes section of the next chapter and I'll give you a summary of the first chapter. See ya.

From me: I'm going to be awfully honest with you.

I wouldn't use anime with this game, ever. Anime is a very popular thing, but it's also a secret cheap way to get a lot of reviews. I try to work harder without using anime (the Pokemon anime arc I did doesn't count since it was based off from a game first) and not to mention anime characters are drastically different than these characters. Mind if I ask something completely unbelievable? What the heck (had to use that) were you thinking when you said Bugs Bunny? Dude, a fic like that would never get famous with a cartoon. "Remembers Atomic Betty with Star Fox" Sorry, but I'd define your idea as…very childish, I'm sorry. This happens to most fanatics; they start off with something completely stupid until they realize what they did (and was a victim of that before I realized my horrible fiction).

However, please continue to read. ;)

From Dimentio713: *Is listening to beat it by Micheal Jackson* Just beat it! Wow how long have I reviewed for this fic! Very long indeed any ways Sorry for the short review! I'm really bored and I feel really sad for the Ice Climbers their original parents died well good typing AuraChannelerChris *Is listening to Thriller also by Micheal Jackson now*

From me: No more MJ references here, please. -_-

But thank you, anyway. :)

From Blackglow: Hi I am a new member here and I have to say that your fic is by far the best I've ever read on this entire site.

However, there is one thing that I would like to suggest.
I, personally, would like to see a little more of Olimar and the Pikmin. It seems as if they were almost completely dropped as characters not long after they joined the Smashers.

This is just something I would like to see. I am in no way saying that I would think any less of the story if they weren't around.

From me: Oh, I guess you're right. It's hard to keep track of 36 characters. Thank you for saying that. Maybe I should have a list below of what I write. :P

From JSandders: Chris has switched jobs a lot of times in front of Palom, Porom, Cecil, and Tellah and they still don't have a clue about him? Oh wow... How clueless can you be?

Zelda is attracted to Cecil? Poor, poor Link. He's got competition! XD

So THIS is where Lenne comes from! Reunions are always great!

Anyways, that will be all for now. Sorry again for not reviewing in a while but it couldn't be helped. Don't worry though, I'll keep reviewing you now that I'm back!

JSandders, out!

From me: I think I said before that Lenne is a Chocobo, and Chocobos come from Final Fantasy, didn't I?

Thank you as always. :P

Okay, for today's chapter, it will have much more about the Ice Climbers' past. It focuses even more in them, but we also keep track of the present events. I hope you keep up with this. I certainly am excited for the ending already.

And also…oh god, I have made some OCs here… Of course, they won't last that long, so don't get worried about that. Seriously, they will go so soon.

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Chapter 138: Pursuing A Blind Self

Icicle Mountain
Home

Silence...only silence...

Her eyes shook in fear...

The 2 adoptive parents looked down in shame...

His eyes were the same as her...

"..." She frowned. "...So...you're not..."

"...I'm sorry..." she said. "...We're not your..."

"...It was so obvious from the very beginning..." she muttered. "We didn't look like anybody else here, and yet we followed the flow..."

"I'm sorry to say this to you, but that is the whole truth," he said. "It was a very cruel thing, but you 2 had another chance in life th-"

"S-shut up!" she yelled. "What do you really know?! I can't believe any of this!"

"P-please, calm down!" her brother yelled.

"How can I calm down after I heard that truth about us?!" she asked angrily. "They abandoned us, but why? Why?!"

"P-please, dear! Calm down!"

"I don't want to!" she yelled. "I...I'm going to..."

"Nana!"

"I'm going to find out by myself! I can take care of myself just fine!"

"Nana!"

"Y-you can't be serious!" he yelled.

"Watch me!" she yelled back. "I'm going to find about this than they know!"

"Nana!"

"This is the only thing I can do..." she muttered. "...But...you can do it too if you want to help me fin-"

"Nana!"

Mysidia
Village

"Nana!" Porom yelled again. "Nana, come back to your senses!"

"Huh?" Nana shook her head. "W-where are we?"

"Back in Mysidia," Porom said. "We were about to leave, but then we noticed you were still riding your Chocobo."

Nana looked at her Chocobo, who in return tilted its head curiously. "...Hey there..." Nana said depressed.

"You should let go of it," Cecil said. "We let go of ours a moment ago."

"..." Nana nodded and jumped off from the Chocobo. The bird chirped happily before it ran away to the east.

"Don't worry," Palom began. "We'll get you one for your birthday!"

"...Yes..." Nana muttered.

"Well, then. Let's go and meet the elder," Tellah said before he walked into the village with everyone else.

Porom walked to Nana. "I can tell by your face. You were remembering another moment, correct?"

"...You're sharp," Nana said as she forced a smile. "And yes, I was remembering."

"Okay," she said with a nod. "You can tell me all about it after we meet the elder."

"...Yes," she said with a nod as well.

Going through the village wasn't as disastrous as it was before. This time, the villagers looked amazed as they saw Cecil now turned into a paladin, and not as a dark knight.

"No way..." a White Mage muttered. "He was turned into a paladin?"

"This doesn't mean I forgive you!" a Black Mage yelled. "You changed into a paladin, so what?"

Cecil closed his eyes and tried his best to ignore them. "Let's keep walking."

Of course, since Tellah was a legendary sage to Mysidia...

"Is that Sage Tellah?" a different Black Mage asked.

"Oh my, he is!" another one said. "And...he is traveling with the paladin?"

"T-there's no way Tellah would travel with an assassin unless h-"

"You dare question Tellah? He's a very recognized sage in the whole world, idiot!"

"I-I didn't say he was evil, oh no!" he protested. "I-if he's traveling with the paladin, then that would mean we've been foolish to the paladin himself!"

"Say hello to Tellah," Palom began. "Anyone who travels with him surely is good at heart!"

"Bow to great Sage Tellah!" most of the mages of the village yelled before they bowed to Tellah as the group went towards the hall of prayer.

"That's right, worship me!" Palom yelled.

A tomato was thrown to his face from somewhere.

"And me!" Popo said.

2 tomatoes were thrown to him.

Then Palom got hit by another.

"Hmm..." Tellah scratched his forehead. "Boy, have I been this famous?"

"You mean you don't know your own popularity to all mages and scholars?" Porom asked.

"I simply studied to become useful in both teachings," Tellah said. "But I will use this power to kill Golbez!"

"Oh," Chris whispered to the others. "He's very stubborn if you mention Golbez. He's like that for all the remainder of this journey."

"Really..." Ike said. "Tellah, what would you do to Golbez if you were to find him in an alley?"

"Well, I would use Firaga, then Blizzaga, then Thundaga, then Bio, then Quake, then Tornado, then Bio again, then Holy, then Flare, the-

As a special note, Tellah wouldn't go farther after Thundaga since he has only 90 MP, and the 3 first spells he mentioned take 30 MP each, and thus he wouldn't use any other spells...

...Besides, Meteor has 99 MP, and it's impossible for him to use him at this point, and FOR ANOTHER ODD REASON, he CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT increase it as he gain levels like everyone else does.

"-n Poison, then Bio, and for a finisher, Meteor!"

"...You do know that would take much more than your life, right?" Porom asked worried.

"I know!" Tellah said. "I don't care if I die for it as long as I take Golbez with me!"

"The elder is going to be against that idea of yours!" Porom said. "You don't care?"

"Heck, I will repeat it to him again!"

Hall of Prayer

"You do know that would take much more than your life, right?" the elder asked.

"You people don't understand my pain at all..." Tellah said in depression.

"Stubborn as an old mutt, I see," the elder said before turning to Cecil. "And you managed to change into a paladin of light."

"Yes," Cecil said. "But the voice that told me to take the sword...it called me its son. Why?"

"Really?" the elder asked. "I do not know myself of such happening. Many old folklores roam Mt. Ordeals, but I don't know regardless."

"I see..." Cecil said.

"Oh, that sword!" The elder noticed Cecil's sword. "Let me see it."

"...Sure," said Cecil confused.

The elder looked at the sword's blade. "Oh! This is it. This sword has the legend written on its blade!"

Birthed from womb of Dragon's maw
And borne unto the stars
By light and darkness cast aloft
Are dreamtide oaths resworn
Moon is swathed in ever-light
Ne'er again to know eclipse
Earth, with hallow'd bounty reconciled

"What does it mean?" Cecil asked.

"It means we shoul-" Chris stopped. "I-it means...something...yes..."

"..." The elder shook his head. "This sword itself is the key to a greater discovery."

"The power to conquer the world?" Popo asked.

"No! This sword wasn't meant to do evil!" he yelled. "It was meant to vanquish evil, and to be an important key to the ancient Mysidian legend of old. However, that moment is far away from happening."

"Elder," Porom spoke. "Nothing seemed suspicious about Cecil at all."

"What?" Cecil asked.

"I'm sorry," the elder apologized. "I sent both of them to spy on you. We were still worried about your previous actions on Mysidia that we came with this last option."

"We used our super powers to predict your welcome," Palom said.

"In other words," Porom began annoyed. "The elder used his magic to see what the future held for us, and thus he told us about your coming. I hope we didn't make you feel bad."

"No, it's okay," Cecil said. "I should have expected a treatment like that from you. After all, I'm ashamed of my actions."

"Very well," the elder said. "Thank you all for making sure Palom and Porom would return alive. I was relieved once I saw you with them, Tellah."

"They're surely very skilled for their age," Tellah said. "I give them that."

"Aw, please," Palom said as he blushed. "I'm cute, but almighty as we-"

"T-thank you so much, Tellah," Porom interrupted.

"Now, Cecil," the elder began. "You wish to return to Baron, right?"

"Yes," Cecil said. "Might I have a ship for the voyage?"

"No," he said. "You might want to use the Devil's Road."

"Wasn't that route sealed after the attack?" Porom asked.

"What's the Devil's Road?" Ike asked.

"The Devil's Road is an enchanted route that it's connected to Mysidia and Baron. We mainly used that for quick transportation to the continent, but it was sealed after that attack from the Red Wings," she explained.

"We can unlock the seal and let you use it," the elder said. "And you." He pointed at the Smashers. "You can wish to go to your way and leave Cecil and Tellah."

"We actually want to go with Cecil," Ike said. "I think he's good with that, right?"

"Well, you were a lot of help when we were at the mountain," Cecil said. "...But are you completely sure?"

"Sure," Ike said.

"Right," Chris said.

"Absolutely," Nana said.

"Right-o," Popo said.

"Haman-" Zelda got pushed by Ike. "Y-yes," she said.

"Again, thank you," Cecil said. "I grew uncomfortable after fighting Scarmiglione, and you proved yourselves strong against him. I want this journey to be as safe as possible."

"Then you should be on your way," the elder said. "May Mysidia's will go with you all."

The elder saw the group walking away...

But Palom and Porom were going as well.

"Palom, Porom." At the mention of their names, they turned around. "Return to your studies."

"Oh, c'mon, elder," Palom said with folded arms. "We came alive from that mountain of death, didn't we?"

"Doesn't that prove that we are ready to take care of ourselves now?" Porom asked.

"Well..." The elder wondered for a moment. "You certainly came alive, and helped Cecil as well... The thought about sending you with him could be dangerous..."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm..." Both twins waited for an answer.

"...Very well," he said. "Cecil, Tellah, I'm letting them go with you. Please, take care of them should they get in trouble."

"I'll take full responsibility of them," Tellah said.

"Thank you, my friend."

"Let's go," Cecil said to the others.

Village's Marketplace

Final Fantasy IV DS - Mystic Mysidia

"!!!" The Black Mage of the store noticed Cecil and the others entering. His hand slowly reached for the sing that read "5000 Gil" for a Potion. "...S-Sage Tellah?!" he muttered in surprise as mentioned sage came from the door.

The mage kicked the sign away, and instead, he took one that read "1 Gil" and put it beside the Potions.

"W-welcome!" he greeted. "W-we're having a sale right now, so buy a lot, okay?"

"That's weird," Palom said. "You store owners are so grumpy with the prices. I mean, the paladin armor alone is too expensive."

"Shut up, you little brat," he sneered.

"I-I-" The other Black Mage behind the counter kicked away the expensive price for the armor and replaced it for 1000 Gil. "P-please, go ahead and buy it, Sage Tellah!"

"But I don't wear armor," Tellah said.

"T-then get it for the paladin that killed my brother!" he said happily with a nervous chuckle.

"That sounded so...twisted..." Ike commented. "(Not to mention he said it happily... Was his brother so bad to him?)"

Devil's Road Entrance

After getting a "reasonable" amount of 99 Potions, the group went to the building that had the mentioned road to Baron. Once they entered inside, all they found was a glowing seal with monuments around it.

"Is this the Devil's Road?" Zelda asked. "It's just some kind of warp point to me."

"Oh, that..." Porom trailed off. "To be precise, there's a road that connects to Baron, but it was sealed with magic and turned into a warp point to it. Once we step on the seal, it will take us to Baron. However, the trip is going to take a while because we're so many this time."

"It used to be a normal road before?" Ike asked.

"Yeah," Palom said. "And it will remain like that forever. It's not going to turn back to a road in some years or something like that."

"Let's get on it, then," Cecil said.

"I hope it doesn't have any kind of secondary effects for transporting 9 people..." Chris muttered.

And so, they stepped on it.

The seal glowed brighter, and they were covered in a bubble of light that disappeared in thin air.

Music stops

Devil's Road

"...My goodness..." Zelda commented.

"I didn't know someone could see this by going through the road," Porom said. "But it's too... It's like some sort of good dream."

The group looked amazed as they were traveling inside a bubble through the ocean and to the northeast, where Baron's direction was.

They saw many fishes swimming around, different kinds of jellyfishes, and all sorts of creatures in the ocean. The bubble that they were traveling in protected them from getting drowned, and it was quite spacious as well.

"So this is the world of Final Fantasy..." Chris muttered. "...I knew I loved this universe for some reason."

"Judging by the speed of the bubble," Tellah began. "We're going to reach Baron in some hours."

"Can I pop this up?" Popo asked.

"No!" Cecil suddenly spoke. "Think before doing something."

"It's useless..." Nana muttered as she sat down. "Popo can't even think anymore..."

Porom noticed Nana at the edge of the bubble, watching the fishes going by, and she walked to her and sat down to join her. "Do you think you can tell me more about your past?"

"..." Nana blinked at the fishes. "...Yes..."

"I'll be willing to listen to everything," Porom said. "Take your time."

"Thank you..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain
Playgrounds

Final Fantasy IV DS - Rydia

"There was something that Popo and I always enjoyed. We always played with all the other Topis and Polar Bears. However, there was a time when we first met them..."

In the flashback, Popo and Nana (at a younger age) were shown walking to a playground made of ice and snow. They spotted all the kids playing around (mainly with snowballs) and both decided to walk to them.

"Heeeeeeey!" Popo called out. "Can we play?"

All the other kids looked at their direction and they instantly got confused looks. "Um...who are you?" a Topi asked.

"Popo and Nana," Nana said. "We're twins and siblings."

"But..." he continued. "Why do you 2 look...so different?"

"Different?" Popo and Nana looked at each other. "What's different?"

"Um..." He played with his hands. "W-well...don't you see? You 2 look very different than anybody here..."

Popo and Nana looked at all the kids, everyone in the whole park looking at their direction. "...Really?" Popo asked. "I don't understand."

"He says," a small (but still taller) Polar Bear began. "That you 2 aren't Topis or Polar Bears like us. What's the point of that?"

"Weird," Popo said. "Dad told us that we weren't going to look different to anybody."

"Thing is, you 2 DO look weird with us," he said. "And why do you want to play with us?"

"Because...we're bored?" Nana asked.

"Oh, no," he continued. "You can't play with us."

"Why?" Popo asked.

"You're very different, that's all I want to say," he said before turning to walk away back to the others.

The twins looked at the Topi, unsure of what he heard. "U-um...sorry..." he said (somewhat disappointed) before running away to the snow.

"I would understand that," Porom said. "You 2 were different for them."

"And yet we were naive," Nana said. "We were very young at that time, and we couldn't tell the difference."

"...Does that mean they don't want to play with us?" Nana asked.

"I guess..." Popo said depressed. "Let's just make a snowman over there. There's a lot of snow."

"However," Nana said with a smile. "Let's just say that being kids at that age was so fun."

The 2 young eskimo kids walked to a huge pile of snow and started to pick small amounts of snow to make a snowball. A time passed, and the first part of the snowman's body was complete.

"Hey," Popo said with a chuckle. "We made this one so big."

In truth, the ball was 3 times their size.

"Heheheh, cool," Nana said. "Let's make it even bigger!"

Popo agreed happily and they started to make the lower part even bigger.

Each time they slammed snow on it, they laughed happily as it became bigger and bigger. Both were blind at the notion of time that the ball grew up to 6 times their size.

"Sweet!" Popo said. "Look at this!"

"Beautiful!" Nana said happily. "Let's make the head now!"

"I can't forget that part," Nana said. "I really, but really had so much fun for a pretty long while and...with Popo...when he was so happy with me. I always felt so happy when Popo laughed with me. I just can't forget that! It's a treasured memory I don't wish to forget!"

"So, was that all?"

"No... It kept going better."

As the 2 worked on their snowman, the same Topi that ran away suddenly appeared and looked amazed at the size of the snowman. "W-wow!" he said. "T-that has to be the biggest snowman in the whole playground!"

"It is?" both Ice Climbers asked as they peered from the top.

"Y-you made this?" the Topi asked.

Popo and Nana looked at each other before looking down at him. "O-of course we did!" Popo said. "We always do this a lot of times, but I think we went too far!"

"You went too far?" he repeated. "But I think this snowman could go through all the days without melting! I-in fact...I think you 2 broke a record with it!"

"We did?"

"Y-yes!"

It seemed that the Topi was forgetting the fact that Popo and Nana looked different.

"Well..." Nana looked at him. "Why don't you help us?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, we could make it EVEN bigger with your help."

"It's like playing!" Popo said. "Why don't you join us?"

"R-really? Can I?" the Topi asked.

"Yes!" both said.

"Y-yay!" he said happily as he hopped. "L-let me go get more snow!"

"We couldn't believe it," Nana said. "We got our first friend because of our hobbies with the snow."

The Topi came back, carrying a lot of snow on his hands before dropping it close. He later went back for more, and he kept going like that until he gathered more snow. Soon, the 3 kids started to make the snowman even bigger than before.

And Nana liked their laughs.

"...Huh?" Popo looked down from the 8 feet snowman. "What do you want?"

The Topi and Nana looked down to find a lot of kids admiring the snowman in complete awe. For their surprise, it seemed that all the kids in the playground were there, as the stuff around the same area was completely abandoned.

"H-hey," the same Polar Bear from before began. "W-we saw you building that big snowman from over there, and we thought it looks...kind of cool...I mean, the size and everything..."

"T-the point is," another Topi (girl) began. "W-we wanna play with it, and make it bigger!"

"Hmm?" Nana tilted her head. "But we thought we looked "different" like you said before..."

"I-I think I was a little bit mean with you," the bear said. "A-appearances...um...is that the word? T-they don't mean anything because you don't look that different from us..."

A silence fell in.

"Oh, screw that! W-we want to play with you!"

Soon, all the kids begged to play with Popo and Nana. Both of their eyes shook in surprise as they looked around at all the kids who "rejected" them before wanting to play with them.

"I-I think they think you 2 aren't that different because of the snowman," the Topi from before said. "Is that good?"

Popo and Nana looked at each other. "...Totally!" they said happily.

"Nobody cared about our appearances," Nana narrated. "We let everyone play with us and the snowman. We played, we laughed, we chuckled, we gathered snow together, we played more and more. We continued for a really long while until the sunset came. I was so happy to see our snowman standing between all of us and the playground. You should have seen it... I could practically see sparkles of light around the snow that made up the snowman itself."

Sunset arrived, and all the kids formed a big circle around the snowman. Everyone had mouths of awe at the man of snow in the middle of the playground.

"...It's awesome..." Popo muttered. "We made art with this..."

"And it looks like it's going to stay there for a long time," Nana said.

"Hey..." The same Polar Bear went to them. "I...I'm sorry for telling you that early...you know?"

"Aw, we don't care anymore," Popo said. "We kinda forgot that part when you first came to the snowman."

"U-um..."

"Look!" Nana said a little bit annoyed. "Just let's be friends and forget all about that! We already proved that being different doesn't matter. We had so much fun together, didn't we?"

"Y-yes, we did."

"So!" Popo spoke up. "Let's be friends, play together tomorrow, go on a field trip, do shenanigans or something, then get profit, then pie!"

"..." Everyone remained silent.

"...Popo," Nana said worried. "That seemed a little bit too stupid, no offense..."

"...Heheh..." the first Topi chuckled. "...Hahahah..."

"Hahahahah..." the bear laughed. "Hahahahaha..."

Popo and Nana noticed all the kids chuckling uncontrollably before they all broke out laughing at Popo's comment. Nana blushed embarrassed and Popo facepalmed with a frown.

"Y-you guys are funny!" the bear said.

"What?" they asked shocked.

"Bingo," Nana said with an amused but bored look. "Popo saved our first meeting."

"T-that joke you made, it was funny!" he said. "Man, I can't believe I was going to ignore you!"

"Yeah!" another Polar Bear said. "I think I can live with it pretty well, you know, being different."

Popo and Nana looked down.

"But don't get depressed!" another Topi said. "You're different, so what? It doesn't matter! We had fun!"

"Y-yes, we did," Nana said as she blushed. "We did have lots of fun, right Popo?"

"Y-yeah!" Popo said embarrassed. "Thank you, you guys!"

"We were so happy....so, but so happy that day."

"Did you bother to ask for their names?" Porom asked.

Nana nodded. "Yes, but don't ask me for my dad's name..."

"And his name is?" Porom teased.

"..."

Home

"Mommy," Nana began. "Why's my dad's name Hipolito?"

At that mention, her dad lowered the (ice) newspaper from the (ice) couch and glared at her. "Honey! I told you not to tell her my name!"

"Hipolito! Hipolito! My dad's name's Hipolito!" Popo teased.

"That's it," Hipolito (the author: "snickers") looked at Popo. "No more TV for you!"

"..." Porom remained silent.

"No comments, please," Nana said a little bit pissed. "I have a dad with the weirdest name ever."

"...Sooooooooo...what else happened?"

"I had the best childhood I could ever wish for," Nana said. "Every time I remember it, I can't help but smile. It was so easy to get friends because many were young and you know it's easy to make friends when you're young."

"True," she said.

"Anyway, years passed, and after our parents gave us our alpinist stuff, we decided to try it out."

Very close to the playground, many kids seemed to be climbing a nearby wall of rocks and snow. They all yelled, laughed, chuckled, and played as they climbed. It was safe to play there because many snow pilled up together below the wall, and if anybody fell, he or she would fall right straight into the snow and be safe.

"Check out our climbing stuff!" Popo yelled as he and Nana made their way there. "Our present from our parents!"

"Sweet!" the first Topi friend they made a long time ago said. "Try it out!"

"Oh," the Polar Bear (same one that they met) began. "Let's make this even better. Let's do races to the top of the wall!"

"Races?" Nana asked.

"Yeah. The wall is like 30 feet tall, and it's easy to climb it. Buuuuuuuuuut..."

"But?" Popo asked.

"But we're going to do this...in teams of 2."

"Teams of 2?" the Topi asked.

"Oh, come on, Tod," Popo said (addressing the Topi). "I think Nana and I are up for it, right Nana?"

"B-but I already said earlier that it could b-" Nana was interrupted.

"About that," Tod began. "Bereck throws snow when you're not looking..."

"What?" Nana glared up at Bereck (the Polar Bear). "I knew those snowballs didn't fall from somewhere, then. So it was you after all!"

Bereck flushed and looked away. "O-of course it wasn't me!"

"Oh, it was you!" Tod yelled. "You always play a lot with us, and I've seen you tossing snowballs when the others aren't looking!"

"You weren't supposed to say th-" Bereck looked worried at Nana. "Uh-oh."

Nana shook with rage. "...You. The wall. Us. Revenge. NOW," Nana said in a threatening voice.

"Y-yes..." Bereck sighed. "I hate you, Tod, I really hate you." he muttered.

"Now, the big difference between us and everyone was that everyone had their stuff before. We kind of got ours late. We were used to climb the wall because we always lend stuff to anyone. Okay, after I stated my revenge upon Bereck and gathering everyone to pick a partner, we prepared ourselves to climb the wall..."

"Okay," Popo began. "At the count of 3, the 5 teams will begin to climb this wall. Are you sure you're ready?"

Many cheered as a response. Many other kids watched from the trees in excitement for the race.

"Then I'll start the countdown!" Bereck offered. "Okay!

Moment of silence.

"3!"

Everyone got confused as the Polar Bear and Tod began to climb the wall.

"Hey! Not fair!" Nana yelled. "Oh, screw that. Popo! Let's go and beat the snot out of that shorts guy!"

Many cheers blared out as the teams began climbing the wall slowly. Every partner made sure that the ice screws were well attached to the wall before going up and putting another ice screw. Bereck and Tod were at an advantage than the others (obviously).

Nana pouted a little. "Okay, you're going down!"

"P-please, don't hate me because I'm with him!" Tod pleaded.

"You continue climbing!" Bereck yelled.

Popo and Nana struggled to do their work faster to pass the 2 (and they felt sorry for Tod being dragged into this).

"Sorry for telling you this, but I'll have to skip it a little bit ahead," Nana said.

The scene got into fast forward.

Then it stopped as Popo and Nana were close to reach the goal like Bereck and Tod were.

"Aw god!" Bereck saw the 2 climbing faster. "They're going faster now! Tod! Hurry!"

Too bad the Topi was out of cold. He was hanging upside-down with the rope tightly hanging him from his leg, and below Bereck as well.

"Tod! What the hell happened to you?!" Bereck asked.

"You...yelling too much...me...getting so nervous..." Tod managed to say. "So...rry..."

Bereck heard the sound of 2 people cheering above the wall. His jaw opened as he looked at Popo and Nana on the top of the wall. "...Dammit!" he cursed, banging his fist on the wall...

And accidentally cracking it a little bit to make him (and Tod) fall all the way down to the snow bed.

"We did it, we did it, we did it, we did it, we did it," Popo and Nana said as they danced together. "You didn't, you didn't, you didn't, you didn't, you didn't."

The kids cheered loudly from down below at their victory. The other teams managed to get to the top and congratulated the climbers for winning the race. They all decided to jump all the way down to the snow bed, and get cheered by everyone else.

Bereck sat up from the hole he made and spat snow out. Nana walked to him. "Sweet, sweet revenge," she said with a small grin and crossed arms.

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Bereck fell down on his back.

"I'm innocent..." said a nearby Tod.

"From that moment, Popo and I started to win a lot of times in the wall races. We always improved every time we won, because some...well...some exaggerated that Popo and I were so fast in climbing."

"And then you got that nickname."

"Ice Climbers," Nana said. "A nickname I don't want to remember anymore..."

End of flashback

Devil's Road

Fishes swam away as the bubble crossed the ocean. Nana looked up to the surface and sighed. "Well, thank you for making me remember all the happy times I had with...him... But after that, things went out of control..."

"Why?" Porom asked.

"Because...I bothered myself to wonder the difference between us and the kids...and that started a lot of bad and heartbreaking events."

"We're going to arrive to Baron shortly," Tellah interrupted both girls.

"...I'm going to tell you more later," Nana said as she stood up with Porom. "I feel I can remember the next part."

"Take your time," Porom said. "I'm not rushing you."

"Thanks again."

"Hmm..." Cecil looked at the ocean. "This was probably near where the ship got attacked by Leviathan... I don't know if anyone survived, though."

"Don't worry," Ike said (as they passed just below a familiar fainted bard floating on the water, going to the west, where Troia was located). "I'm sure they're okay as you."

"..." Tellah looked around. "Strange, I think I sensed Edward's presence for a moment."

Out of all the group, Chris was the one who watched the bard for a moment. However, he decided not to tell anyone so the storyline wouldn't get messed. "I-I think his spirit is following us... May he rest in peace with Anna."

"Amen," Tellah said.

"(Poor guy...)"

And the bubble went to the northeast.

"Hmm..." Chris wondered. "Now that I think about it, I wanted to know how Eblan got attacked, but I guess I won't get to see it. I don't think something stupid happened with Edge there when Rubicante killed their parents."

Eblan
Castle

To the southwest laid the continent where Eblan was located. Around the time the group traveled to Baron through the ocean, a ninja jumped out from the window of the throne room and waved at the king and queen.

"Bye Father! Bye Mother! I'm going for a walk!" Edge yelled happily.

Edward "Edge" Geraldine is the prince of the ancient island kingdom of Eblan. Edge's confidence in his own abilities is complete. He is quick to anger, but his explosive nature is balanced by an overwhelming sense of justice. He also likes to flirt with beautiful women as well.

"That son of ours never changes, doesn't he?" the king of Eblan asked.

"Just like you, dear," her wife said. "Wild and young during your childhood."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Edge called from the desert. "I'll be back soon! Don't get killed or something like that!" he yelled with a laugh before he ran away.

"...Quite the buffoon as well," the king joked.

"Like you," she said bored.

It was a matter of time before a man cloaked in a red veil appeared behind them. "Good afternoon," he said.

"And who might you be?" the king of Eblan asked.

"Rubicante," the man introduced himself as fire swirled around him. "And this is the last time you'll see Eblan with your own eyes..."

Baron
Town

Final Fantasy IV DS - Welcome to our Town!

A bright red light was seen over the southwestern seas, but it later faded as the 9 walked out from a small building, having crossed the Devil's Road.

"Here we are at last," Cecil said as the citizens walked around the town. "Baron, where Golbez is."

"He should be at the castle, am I right?" Zelda asked.

"Definitely," Cecil said. "And he probably imprisoned some friends of mine as well. I hope they're well."

Some nearby citizens seemed to be talking, and they managed to overheard them. "Have you heard?" one asked. "There have been reports that some monsters appear only at night."

"Really?" his friend asked. "Well, I heard some weird ruins appeared to the north, close to the waterfall. They appeared out of nowhere, and some scholars went to investigate it a while ago."

"I'm quite worried about the monsters, though," he said. "They said they looked fearsome and more dangerous than the normal monsters out here. That's not all, they mentioned that those monsters don't attack towns, but they prefer to roam about and...stare at the moon..."

"HEY!" Popo appeared between them. "What're you talking about?"

"Yeah!" Palom joined in. "Spill the beans!"

"Uah!" both yelled before running away in a panic.

"Hmm," Popo hmm'd. "Weirdoes."

"Popo..." Ike looked bored as they walked to him. "That was completely unnecessary..."

"It was?" Palom asked.

"We shouldn't bother with those things," Tellah said. "We have to get to the castle and face off with Golbez."

"I don't think it will be easy," Cecil said. "The guards probably won't let us through by simply asking."

"Then..." Zelda trailed off. "...We have to enter inside by sneaking our way through?"

"It...seems that way..." Cecil said unsure. "However, I heard there was a waterway inside the town that connected with the castle. Actually, the door to it is nearby."

Cecil walked to the west and they followed him. Soon enough, they found a locked door.

"This should be the door," Cecil said as he tried to open it. "But it's locked."

"Why don't we blast it apart?" Palom asked with magic ready.

"No!" Cecil yelled. "We mustn't draw attention! If we destroy it, someone could report this to the guards, and then they would chase us down."

"Aww, you're not funny," Palom said disappointed before Porom whacked his head. "Oww!"

"May I suggest to look around the town?" Porom asked. "We could find something useful if we do that."

"It may be for the best..." Ike said.

"Let's start with the inn," Cecil said. "There's a pub in there, and pubs are always full of vital information about everything in Baron."

"(...Oh no...)" Chris remembered something. "(At this point of the game, Cecil would have to find Yang, but Yang should be at the inn. And then if we do find him there, we would have to fight him because he was brainwashed by Golbez after marooning here...)"

"Let's go to the inn," Cecil said. "The sooner, the better."

Chris gulped as they entered inside the inn...

Inn

"The pub is up ahead," Cecil said, pointing to the stairs beside the counter. "Wish for the best in there."

"(I wish I wasn't here...)" Chris thought worried.

"Chris," Ike began. "You look kind of preoccupied. What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong," Chris whispered. "At this part of the game, there should be a friend of Cecil up there that got brainwashed by Golbez, and then he would fight us after defeating some soldiers... If I'm right, then we would have to go through that part as well."

"...I see..." Ike whispered. "But we don't have any choice, do we?"

"No..." Chris cried toon tears. "I don't want to get punched in the face...or kicked..."

"...Let's see what we find before trying to predict a fight."

"Ike, you don't understand!" Chris whispered loudly. "We'll have to fight in the pub very, but very soon! What can't you understand?"

And they walked to the pub...

...And found 3 drunks having a good time.

"..." Chris sweatdropped. "...Oh...OH...OH..."

"What the..." Cecil stepped forward in surprise.

Between the 2 guards, there was a monk of Fabul. This monk was rather muscular (but since everyone was in DS looks, it was hard to tell if he was muscular or not), a small ponytail was hanging from the top of his head, a small yellow mustache underneath his nose, he wore red pants, yellow belt, Arabian-looking shoes, and he also had sun tattoos on his shoulders. This monk was Yang

Yang Fang Leiden is the grandmaster of the monks of Fabul. Yang's body and mind alike have been tempered and honed through years of intense training. He was separated with Cecil after Leviathan attacked the ship they were traveling on, and he ended up in Baron, where he was mysteriously changed...

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAw!!!" yelled a drunk Yang. "Tis be it, mah bois! We found golden...gold!!!"

Final Fantasy VI Advance - Johnny C. Bad

"Yang!" Cecil yelled as he ran to him.

The 2 guards (also drunk) turned around and looked at Cecil. "H-hey, ish the traitor of dah Red Wings, Chechil..." he said.

Cecil looked a little bit alarmed.

"Yeah..." the other said as his head twirled around. "Y-you gotta be shtupid to show yer face 'round here, idiot..."

"Totally..." the other guard said. "Let 'hic' here be blood! Let 'hic' here be alcohol!"

"Shex!"

"Women!"

"Money!"

"Drugs!

"Drugged women with...shex and money!"

"Yeehaw!" the 2 yelled excited before they passed out and fell down to the floor.

Cecil didn't even care about whatever they said and sighed in relief.

"Daddy, daddy, what's shex?" Popo asked to Tellah.

"Oh, my, this is so ridiculous..." muttered Tellah in annoyance.

"Chechil!" Yang yelled as he raised a cup. "Hurray for your 'hic' survival, bruddha!"

"Yang..." Cecil looked confused. "First of all, my name is Cecil, and secondl-"

"Ya don't tell me who yer're called 'hic', Betil..." Yang said.

"It's Cecil," Zelda said.

"Tetil?"

"Cecil," Ike said.

"Betty?"

"Cecil!" Porom yelled.

"Yetil?"

"Cecil!" Nana yelled.

"Yutil?"

"CECIL!" Chris yelled. "C-E-C-I-L, Cecil!"

"Aw, please," Yang said as he tilted to the sides. "Ya dunno his real name...'hic'... The name's Captain Bon Voyage...'hic'..."

"Oh my goodness," Porom said worried. "He's way too drunk for his own good... This is so bad, it really is."

"Are you kidding me?" Palom asked. "This is so damn awesome!"

"Drunk people should become presidents!" Popo proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Yang yelled. "Let Yung be president 'hic' or whatever that is..."

"Your name is Yang," Cecil corrected. "And you're the opposite of normal now. Yan-"

"Wanna know what I 'hic' did yeshterday?" Yang asked. "I tell ya all... So then I was 'hic' having an affair..."

He suddenly felt asleep on the chair.

"...Sir Yang, sir?" Porom asked. "Are yo-"

The monk looked up suddenly, and Porom backed away.

"And then I 'hic' decided to have a child with that man over 'hic' the street... Yahoo! We didn't 'hic' care about being men at all! 'Hic'!"

"..." Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "This is WHY I hate drunk people!"

"You tell me," Ike said. "This situation is so...odd and weird..."

"Party time!" Yang proclaimed. "Let's 'hic' have fun all night!"

"I'm surprised," Porom remarked. "He seems to be very drunk from I see on his face. I wonder if the owner of the pub hasn't stopped from giving him more sake."

"S-sir..." the owner of the pub said as he stood up from across the counter. The group noticed that he was badly hurt on his entire body. "D-don't you think you had one too many already?"

"SHUT UP!" Yang yelled as he hiccupped. "Ya're gonna give 'hic' ol' Yang his baby, or ye're gonna respond to my 'hic' FISTS OF FURY!"

"N-no!" the bartender said in fear. "P-please, no more of your fists! H-here you go..." The bartender took a sake and pushed it gently towards the monk before he ducked in fear.

Yang took the sake and dropped all its contents in his mouth, around 70 percent falling off as he tossed it behind his shoulder. "Y-y-y-yeehaw..." he said happy.

"We seriously need to take him out of here," Tellah said. "I can't stand the odor of sake much longer."

"Sorry for asking," Chris began. "But will Esuna heal his drunkenness?"

"I'm afraid not," Porom said. "Esuna cures illnesses, and being drunk was cataloged as something natural..."

"How can you call that natural?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah..." Yang said. "Why do ya 'hic' call that...that...?"

"I don't understand human anatomy very well yet," Porom said. "But we really have to take him away from this place..."

"I BEG OF YOU!" the bartender yelled, most of them ignoring him for his dismay.

"Can't we keep him like this?" Palom asked. "I like him this way."

"Yeah, let's do that!" Popo said excited.

The other 7 looked at Yang.

"Wanna go to bed with 'hic' me?" Yang asked. "I have 'hic' a good fun reserved for ya..." He fell down the chair and got knocked out.

Annoyed, the 7 looked at the boys and said in a threatening voice, "NO."

"Just one night with the bed with him!" Popo said. "C'mon!"

"NO!"

"Then..." Zelda looked at Yang. "We may as well put him to bed." She looked at Palom and Popo. "ALONE."

Both groaned out loud.

"..." Ike ducked to inspect the guards. "What do we do with them? Aren't they part of Baron?"

"Yes, they are," Cecil said. "We should take them somewhere close to the castle while they're fainted. They shouldn't remember anything that happened today."

"In that case, we should take the guards out of here (Bartender: Thank you!) and get Yang to bed."

"Good idea," Cecil said. "Let's wait for him to get well before doing something else. We should also rest for the night to wait for him." He looked at Zelda.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?" Zelda asked. "(N-not here if you think what I'm thinking... I-I mean, never!)"

"I thought you could take care of Yang (Yang: 'hic') for the night so he doesn't do anything weird and...out of place."

"W-why me?"

"You don't want to?"

Zelda blushed. "W-well, if you say so..."

Music stops

8 hours later...

The night came in, and the 9 were resting on the beds of the inn. The owner of the same establishment was utterly happy for stopping the guards (and even Yang) from doing a big racket that he let them stay for the night for free.

And also, when we mean 9, we mean everyone but Zelda, who was sitting near Yang's bed.

Also, she looked exhausted.

"H-heeeeeeeeeeeey..." Yang said through his dreams. "I'm a better guy...chick..."

Zelda lowered her head in shame.

"Get undressed..." he muttered. "Let's do merry together..."

She cried toon tears. "(Why did I ever accept this task?)" she thought in shame. "(Zelda, you're stronger than this. You mustn't fall for others that easily...)"

Yang giggled. "Girl, you surely know how to please a man..."

"(Wait a minute...)" Zelda realized something. "(Did Cecil put me in this because he didn't want to do it himself, and because I'm a girl, and Yang would probably get "interested" in him than me during this night? ...The nerve of that man!)" She glared at Cecil, who was sleeping some beds away. "(...)" She blushed embarrassed. "(S-stop thinking he looks cute when he's sleeping!)" she yelled mentally.

Near her, 2 beds were empty...

Town

A lonely figure was sitting close to the fountain of the town. She looked up to the moon and sighed in depression. "Mom... Dad... What are you doing now?" she asked. "I'm doing very well here, and Popo keeps acting like...I don't want to say this to you... As for me, I think I'm doing rather well."

"Talking to your parents?"

Nana turned around and saw Porom walking to her. "Y-yes." She blushed. "B-but not the ones I have, but the ones I should have had..."

"I know the feeling," Porom said as she sat besides her. "I myself go out from time to time to speak to the air, and get to talk to my own parents to tell them about. Good thing I do this at night where nobody would hear me."

"Yes..." Nana said before she looked down. "A good thing, isn't..."

"...Nana, it's fine. You can tell me more."

Nana looked at her worried.

"I suppose the next part is a heartbreaking part for yourself, right?"

"It...is..." Nana said. "...But I have to tell you this so you can understand better..."

Porom patted her back. "You can do this. I'm here to make you feel fine with yourself. If you start crying, I'll try to stop your tears."

"...Thank you..." Nana whispered before she looked up at the moon. "Remember when I mentioned that we didn't care about looking different than anybody else?"

"Yes."

"Well...many days after we were called the Ice Climbers...I discovered something very...horrible..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain
Home

It was night, and a blizzard raged outside. The igloo where Popo and Nana lived was peaceful for such a climate, and both were quite busy inside.

"Nana!" her mother called out. "Go to the attic and if you can find bed sheets for tonight! It's getting colder and I don't want you 2 to get a cold!"

"Yes!" Nana called from her room as she went upstairs.

"And another thing, Popo," Hipolito said to Popo. "I know you know my name, but if someone asks for my name, you're going to say my name is Hip."

"Hip?" Popo chuckled.

"You try to chuckle one more time, and I'll confiscate your ice slider, young man!"

"So can I put you a belt on?"

"Yeah, you can put me a belt o-HEY!"

Her wife couldn't help but chuckle.

"While they were laughing, I was looking around for mantles because the night was getting really cold. Unfortunately, I didn't find the mantles my mom mentioned, and I kept looking around the attic. I know an igloo should be small, but the igloos around the neighborhood were like normal houses," Nana narrated. "I looked, and looked, but couldn't find what I wanted to find... However, I found something I shouldn't have found..."

"Huh?" Nana wiped some dust from a box and opened it. "What's this?" She put her hand inside and took 2 small mantles. "Too bad, these aren't big enough for us." She began to shake them. "I should clean them a little bit, though..."

As she made wind and dust, 2 notes fell off from within the mantles and landed close to her. The pink Ice Climber stopped shaking the mantles and looked down at the notes.

"What are these, how to clean them?" Nana asked as she took both letters. "Heheh, maybe these are love letters from my parents. They look old and rusty and..."

Silence...

"...To the enthusiastic boy in the blue eskimo, we named him Popo. And to gorgeous girl in the pink eskimo, we named her Nana..." she read. "We can't raise children... We're so poor and ill, and we can't let our children live in the conditions we're in. We can't do anything for them, and we just can't ask someone to raise them because we don't want anyone to think awful things about us..."

"I read everything...everything...and absolutely everything written on the notes..."

"...And..."

"...And I..."

"...What is this?" Nana asked. "Why are these notes here? I mean, what do they mean? They sound like our parents wanted to abandon us from the beginning or something...but we have our parents right here in this home... And suicide ourselves? They're not like that at all. They're not emo or whatever the word means... Unless... Wait a minute..."

"And then, a memory hit me; the same memory I had when we first met the kids."

"Um...who are you?" a Topi asked.

"Popo and Nana," Nana said. "We're twins and siblings."

"But..." he continued. "Why do you 2 look...so different?"

"Different?" Popo and Nana looked at each other. "What's different?"

"Um..." He played with his hands. "W-well...don't you see? You 2 look very different than anybody here..."

Popo and Nana looked at all the kids, everyone in the whole park looking at their direction. "...Really?" Popo asked. "I don't understand."

"He says," a small (but still taller) Polar Bear began. "That you 2 aren't Topis or Polar Bears like us. What's the point of that?"

"Weird," Popo said. "Dad told us that we weren't going to look different to anybody."

"Thing is, you 2 DO look weird with us," he said. "And why do you want to play with us?"

"Because...we're bored?" Nana asked.

"Oh, no," he continued. "You can't play with us."

"Why?" Popo asked.

"You're very different, that's all I want to say," he said before turning to walk away back to the others.

"Different..." Nana repeated. "...Why different?"

"Since I was older, I began to understand more well..."

"...Different from anyone else..." Nana wondered. "...The fact that we don't look like Topis, or Polar Bears, and the fact that we don't have snouts or fur...and the fact that Polar Bears don't wear clothes, and Topis don't wear any underwear...that would mean..."

Nana dropped the notes to the floor.

...But she blushed embarrassed.

"All the Topis in here are naked, and even my own dad is naked as well!" she yelled. "...Oh, wait, fur counts as clothes for them..."

She took back the notes and read them again.

"...Different...from anyone else..." she muttered. "Suicide ourselves because we're poor and ill...and we can't raise children...and we had to...abandon them..." She wondered more. "Different...abandon...take care of them as they were your own children...as they were your own children..."

Her hands began to shake as the grip on the letters became stronger.

"As they were your own children...because we can't raise them..." Her voice seemed to turn sad. "...Different...you don't look like anyone here...raise them for us...give them all the love they want..." She looked up. "Then if I'm right..."

"And then...I realized it..."

"...OH, DAMMIT!" Nana yelled loudly as she ran back down.

"I became full of complete sadness after I thought again. I became both sad and furious about this. All, no, everything, but every single detail made sense that night. I ran down, stopping on the stairs, trying to forget what I found out, but I just couldn't. I wanted to know more about this. My "parents" should know about this, and if they were...then the notes would mean everything I wanted to find out..."

Hip (real name) saw her daughter stopping down the stairs. "What's wrong, Nana? Did you find a spider? You look weird."

"NO, I DIDN'T!" Nana yelled angrily.

"Now, now, you shouldn't get this angry," her mother said. "It was just a spi-"

"Shut up, Ophelia!"

"Nana!" Ophelia (her mother's name) said. "Why are you telling me to shut up? I'm your own mother!"

"She shouldn't have said that..."

"You? My mother?" Nana asked. "What kind of lie is that? You're not my mother!"

"W-what?" Ophelia asked in shock. "W-why are you saying that?"

"Nana!" Hip walked to her. "Behave yourself!"

"Shut up, Hipolito!" Nana yelled. "All of you, SHUT UP NOW!!!"

"N-Nana!" Popo called from their room. "Why are you yelling like that?"

"Because these 2 lied to us both!" Nana yelled. "They're not our parents!"

"We are your parents!" Hip yelled. "Nana, please, stop being stresse-" He was interrupted as Nana showed him the notes, right in front of his face.

"See these?!" she asked, tears strolling down her cheeks. "These prove my point in detail!"

"...N-no..." Hip muttered as he shook his head. "N-no..."

"...So it's true?!" Nana asked, demanding her answer.

"W-what is true?" Popo asked as he walked to her.

Nana shoved the notes to his hands and Popo looked worried before looking at the notes. "Now you see?!" she asked before she turned at them. "Why?! Why didn't you tell us this before?!"

"...I..." Popo shook his head in disbelief, and he dropped the notes to the floor by accident.

"Because you were so young back then, and because you wouldn't understand!" Ophelia yelled. "We took you both here so you wouldn't die out there in the snow!"

"B-but..." Nana shook her head a lot of times.

"Nana, hear me!" Ophelia yelled. "Aren't you happy to be alive, and have a home where someone loves you so much as we do?! Tell me that!"

"Honey! Calm down!" Hip yelled.

"I..." Ophelia looked down. "...I'm sorry..."

Popo's jaw dropped a little at her statement. "...Then..."

Nana covered her face to stop the tears from falling off.

Hip looked down in shame.

Ophelia felt horrible from inside her mind.

Silence...only silence...

Nana's eyes shook in fear...

The 2 adoptive parents looked down in shame...

Popo's eyes slowly turned the same as hers...

"..." Nana frowned. "...So...you're not..."

"...I'm sorry..." Ophelia said. "...We're not your..."

"...It was so obvious from the very beginning..." Nana muttered. "We didn't look like anybody else here, and yet we followed the flow..."

"I'm sorry to say this to you, but that is the whole truth," Hip said. "It was a very cruel thing, but you 2 had another chance in life th-"

"S-shut up!" Nana yelled. "What do you really know?! I can't believe any of this!"

"P-please, calm down!" Popo yelled.

"How can I calm down after I heard that truth about us?!" she asked angrily. "They abandoned us, but why? Why?!"

Popo backed away, but he looked down in pure disbelief.

"P-please, dear! Calm down!" Ophelia pleaded.

"I don't want to!" she yelled. "I...I'm going to..." She looked down and clenched her fists. "I'm going to find out by myself! I can take care of myself just fine!"

"W-what?" both of them asked in shock.

"A-are you planning to go out there and try to find your real parents?!" Hip asked. "No! I can't allow you to do that! I would feel ashamed to let my own daught-"

"I'M NOT YOUR DAUGHTER, DAMMIT!" Nana yelled loudly.

Hip gasped and backed away in shame.

"...You make me sick..." Nana snarled. "...You 2 kept this for so long that it kept getting worse and worse until it fell down on all of us. I'm going out to find my parents!"

"Y-you can't be serious!" Popo yelled, breaking his calmness. "Besides, the notes said they...they..."

"...At least I'm going to find their corpses, bury them, then live far away from these 2!"

"Nana, please!" Ophelia pleaded as she tried to stop her tears. "Don't go! Please, don't go! You're the only daughter I've ever had before, and I love you so much as if you were my real daughter!"

"But the point is that I'm not your real daughter!" Nana yelled. "Can't you understand that?! Screw this home! I'm going out right now!"

"Nana! No!" Popo yelled as he grabbed her arm.

"Watch me!" she yelled back. "I'm going to find about this than they know!"

"But... Nana, why?" Popo asked. "Why are you doing all of this?"

"Popo, why are you against me?!" Nana asked as she sobbed. "We're twins! We were born at the same time, and I thought we were close to each other!"

"B-but this is wrong..." Popo sobbed. "I-I don't want to do this... I don't want to do it... I don't want to go out!"

"This is the only thing I can do..." she muttered. "...But...you can do it too if you want to help me find our parents..."

"I-I don't want to find dead people, Nana..."

"Dead people?!"

"Nana!" Popo yelled back. "They're dead! You don't understand?! They're dead!!!"

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" Nana yelled through tears. "They're not...THEY'RE NOT DEAD!"

"Nana!" Popo yelled. "Please, you have to understand!"

"NO!!!"

"Popo seemed to be calmer than I was... I was out of control. I was very sad. I was very furious. And above all...I didn't make sense myself of all the ramblings I did..."

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!!!..."

End of flashback

Baron
Town

Final Fantasy VI - Celes's Theme

The moon's reflection shone on the fountain's water, and Nana sobbed silently through the night. Porom, who has been listening to everything, got a worried look after Nana's face had a sad look through tears.

"I...I was so sad..." Nana sobbed. "I...I didn't know what I was doing... The whole truth was so heartbreaking that I wanted to forget it so badly, but it always haunts me whenever I think about it, just like today..."

"..." Porom looked down. "...You can stop if you want..."

"...I need to go on..." Nana said. "I have to get to the end. Nothing can stop me now. I have to overcome the past..."

"Nana, you look very sad now," Porom said. "You should stop!"

"NO!"

Porom blinked in shock at the sudden yell. The yell even echoed through the town itself, and Nana regretted about it as well.

"...I'm sorry, I have to do it," Nana muttered. "Sorry for yelling, but I want to finish this..."

"..." Porom simply nodded and patted her back.

"...Let's continue," Nana said determined.

Flashback

Icicle Mountain

Nana struggled to go run away and leave the residence as soon as possible, but Popo held her back, and her adoptive parents wanted to do something, but they just couldn't get close to them.

"Nana!" Popo yelled. "Please, don't go and look around for some corpses!"

"Those corpses happen to b-"

"THOSE CORPSES HAPPEN TO BE OUR PARENTS!" Popo yelled before she could so. "But you were right after all!"

"..." Nana suddenly stopped trying to get out. "...What?"

"You were right..." Popo said. "...You were right..."

"..." Nana buried her face on her hands. "Y-you don't understand..."

"Nana...please, turn around," Popo said. "Our parents...they're right here..."

"Popo..." Ophelia muttered.

"..." Nana sobbed loudly and turned to Popo. "What can't you understand, Popo? They're not our parents, and they were never from the beginning." Nana cleared her tears, but more came afterward.

"Nana..." Popo said again. "...The notes you gave me..."

"They're the same notes your parents left when they...abandoned you," Hip said. "And judging by the decayed look, they were trying to write on something because...they were poor."

"And we left them in the mantles that you both were in," Ophelia said, deciding to talk. "But we wanted to tell you this when you were older than today..."

"..." Nana didn't want to look at her.

"I'm sorry..." Ophelia said. "You're still young, but I think we underestimated the situation..."

"...I want to find my parents, regardless," Nana said. "I want to find their corpses, and give them a proper burial...then leave this pl-"

"Nana!" Popo slapped her hard. "Please, stop it!!!"

Hip and Ophelia gasped in shock after Popo slapped his own twin sister. Nana got a shocked look after she got slapped that the kept looking the way her face was slapped at.

Popo's eyes became full of tears. "Nana..."

"What?!" she asked without looking. "Why did you do that for?!"

"So you could listen to me before doing something insane for some people that are not here anymore!"

Nana closed her eyes with some sobs.

"Think before doing, Nana!" Popo yelled. "How long has it been that we came to live here?!"

"12 years..." Nana muttered.

"And the fact that there are always a lot of snowstorms out there could perfectly mean that their bodies have frozen to the point they shattered!" Popo yelled. "Worse yet, since the notes said they committed suicide by jumping to an abyss, they should have..."

"..." Nana sobbed again. "...Why..."

"I know..." Popo said. "I wanted to go there with you, though..."

"Popo, no!" Ophelia yelled.

"No!" Popo yelled. "But I decided to go against it after I thought!"

"Because...because..." Nana buried her face on her hands again. "They're not alive...any...anymore...aren't they?" she whispered through her hands.

"..." Popo sobbed. "They're not alive anymore...they're not alive..."

"..." She looked at him and cried out loudly. The pink Ice Climber couldn't hold back from crying that she decided to do it sooner. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?! Why did this happen?! Whyyyyyyyyyyy?!" she trailed off crying.

Hip wiped his tears and walked to them. "They already said their reasons behind your abandonment in their notes."

"They wanted to write more than that," Ophelia added as she took off her sunglasses and wiped her tears. "But they mentioned they were poor, and they wrote the next behind the notes."

Popo sobbed more and more. "Nana...this place...this place is our home because...our parents wished us to be alive..."

"But Popo!" Nana cried.

Popo had enough of Nana's disagreements...and he decided to end it...

"And he ended everything with a sudden hug to calm me down..."

Nana opened her eyes in shock after Popo hugged her tightly. "Popo!"

"Nana..." Popo muttered. "Our parents...they wished us to be happy...because they loved us as our parents here do..."

Hip looked at the notes and picked one of them. He looked at his wife and nodded to her. She nodded back to him and took the note from him. "Take care of them...give them love...give them a home...give them happiness...and most of all...raise them as they were your children..."

"So they could rest in peace," Hip added as he closed his eyes with a frown. "...Popo...Nana..."

Both of them looked at the Topi and the Polar Bear as they sobbed.

"I remember the first word you said when you saw our faces, shortly after we took you both here..." Hip opened his eyes and chuckled a little bit. "The enthusiastic boy in the blue eskimo called me his dad."

"And the gorgeous girl in the pink eskimo called me her mom," Ophelia said with a small smile.

"...Hip...Ophelia..." Nana sobbed. "...No..."

"It's useless," she said. "If they jumped into the abyss, then there's no way they survived because they were driven into madness... If they were different, then you wouldn't be here with us, and you could be there with them. They wanted you to have more opportunities in life that they couldn't give to you at that time."

"...I-I know..." Nana said. "What was I thinking when I wanted to climb down the abyss for no reason? What was I going to do?"

Popo hugged Nana. "Our parents are here, Nana..." Tears began to stroll down as he hugged her strongly. "They are right here..."

"..." Nana slightly pushed Popo away and walked to Hip and Ophelia. "...Dad...Mom..."

"Nana..." both said with smiles through tears.

"...You're...our parents, alright..." she said with a small smile. "I was a fool for wanting to look for dead people... And I ignored all the happy times I had until now because I just couldn't believe it..."

"Popo, Nana," Hip said as Popo walked close to Nana. "You both are our pride and joy. You're living here because you were fortunate."

"I know we're fortunate," Popo said. "But...I'm not sure if Nana can forgive you..."

"Popo..." Nana began. "Before something else happens, tell me...why weren't you thinking like me?"

"Because...I don't care if our parents are dead," Popo said. "I care more...more about...more about..." He looked down. "...I care more about you..."

Nana's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"Nana, don't you understand?" Popo asked. "You're my only living member of the family we came from, aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

"And what could have happened if you were to climb down the abyss by yourself?" he asked as he cleared his tears. "You could have fallen down and never returned, and then you would have gone with...you know..."

"..." Nana looked at him. "...I'm sorry for what I did, Popo... I wasn't even thinking about me, right?"

"...If I say you weren't, will you be mad at me?"

"..." Nana smiled a little. "Please, say it."

"You weren't," Popo said. "You weren't thinking about you."

"..." Nana nodded and closed her eyes. "...Dad...Mom..." she began. "...I want you to be our parents...forever..."

"Are...are you sure?" Ophelia asked.

"I'm so sure..." She opened her eyes and lunged at her to give her a hug. "I'm so sure! I don't want to stop being happy with my family!" she said happily.

"Nana!" she said before she hugged her back. "Thank you, dear, thank you for staying here with us! I'm sure I'm going to be a dear mother to you!"

Popo went to his father and hugged him. "I never doubted my parents were dead. I... We have a new happy family here."

"Those are my boy and girl I love," Hip said, hugging Popo. "You'll never regret this at all."

The 4 hugged together and chuckled heartily through the snowstorm. With a closer look, Nana seemed to be crying, but she was crying out of happiness.

"Can we make 2 graves for them?" Nana asked, still on the grip of her mother. "I want to give them a proper burial without their bodies."

"Oh, I know!" Popo said. "We could say something like their spirits roam the mountain to protect us!"

"That's a little bit exaggerated," Nana said. "...But let's do it anyway."

"Well," Ophelia began as she stopped hugging them. "You 2 better get to bed and rest. It's getting cold, remember?"

"Yes!" Popo and Nana said happily. The 2 of them turned to their rooms and ran away.

Hip smiled. "Phew, they accepted us."

"I couldn't be happier," she said. "Nana was the most hardest person to convince."

"She was so headstrong," he said. "I might back away from the hammer we gave her."

"Oh, honey..." she said with a sigh, then a chuckle.

"The happiness came back. I could hardly believe it. The same night I was about to go furious I got happier at the end..." She let some tears stroll down. "After we rested nice and warm that night, the next day..."

Close to their home, the 4 finished making 2 graves atop a snow hill. Popo and Nana looked at the graves and smiled as the light shone on the snow around.

"Dad, Mom," Popo began. "We're fine today. We finally remembered you after all this time. Silly of us, right?"

"I'm so sorry for being so silly," Nana said. "But I think that's all in the past, right? You gave us another opportunity to live and..."

Nana turned to Hip and Ophelia, and she smiled to them before looking back at the grave of her mother.

"And we have a nice and happy family here," she said with a smile. "Home is where the heart is, right? Well, I found both because...they found me."

"Us," Popo corrected.

"Oh, right," she said with a chuckle. "Don't worry. We're going to be perfectly fine here."

"We'll drop by a loooooooot of times to make you company," Popo said. "Please, watch over us."

"All the time, please," Nana added. "I'll be close to Popo every time for that matter."

Popo blushed. "N-Nana, that's a little bit going too far."

"You're going to stay close, right?"

"...Of course."

They both looked at the graves that read:

Here lie the spirits of 2 caring
parents who gave their children, Popo and Nana, another
chance in life. May they rest in peace in the cold winds.

"Too bad we didn't get to know their names," Ophelia said.

"Yeah..." Popo said. "...But I bet we're going to find out somehow."

"At least they should be better than Hipolito," Nana said.

"Hey!" Hip yelled.

"It's a joke, dad!" Popo said with a chuckle.

"Hmm." Nana stood up. "Let's go back home."

"It's morning!" Popo said. "Let's go to the playground instead! They said a part of the snowman we made fell off!"

"Oh no," Nana said. "Not the snowman!"

Both of them ran away in a hurry as both of their new parents chuckled heartily. They looked back at the graves.

"I'll be a good father," Hip said.

"And I'll be a good mother," Ophelia said.

"You 2 leave them to us," Hip said. "However, can I punish them for saying my name?"

Her wife frowned and walked away to the igloo.

"Can I?" he asked. "Please? Just a little hit on the butt!" he yelled before running away.

End of flashback

Baron

Town

Nana smiled and wiped out her tears with her right arm. "And then, everything was happy again."

"It is, right?" Porom asked. "Are you still happy?"

"...Now that I think about it..." Nana said. "...Porom, tomorrow we're going to find out."

"Find out about what?"

"This helped you to understand both of us better," she said. "But still...this is all about Popo and his sudden change in attitude. There's something odd in him, and I must, I MUST find out if he's really dumb or not."

"And you're going to find out everything tomorrow?"

"Only if you help me," Nana said as she grabbed Porom's hands. "Please, Porom, help me. I want to have my happy times with Popo again, but first, I have to see if he is what I think he really is."

"I can see that," Porom said with a smile. "You're really determined this time, aren't you?"

"Yes," Nana said with a smile. "Tomorrow, Popo will be discovered. If we're going into battle, I'll try to stay close to him and ask him everything. Something should trigger his real self..." She looked up to the moon. "And I will find out..."

"You have my full support," Porom said. "But there's something I forgot to ask."

"What?"

"Well, you told me you and him were climbing that insane mountain, but you never got to finish that story."

"Well..." Nana looked away. "...Can I tell that tomorrow?"

"Yes," Porom said. "It's getting pretty late now, and we should rest before doing our next move."

Nana got off from the fountain and Porom did the same. "Thank you," Nana said. "Let's go back and rest."

"Just stay away from Sir Yang," Porom said. "I doubt he's normal now."

Nana chuckled and walked away to the inn.

Music stops

However, Porom remained behind and looked down. She closed her eyes and frowned. "I sense an evil wind this night..." she muttered. "That wind is going to do something horrible tomorrow... I hope nothing bad happens to you, Nana..." she said.

The White Mage made her way back to the inn and got inside...

Over the wall that surrounded the town, some nocturnal monsters roamed the fields silently...

The next morning at the inn...

Inn

The group decided to have a talk with Yang, who seemed to be under a hangover. But the monk was able to sit down and apologize for his actions.

"My apologies," Yang said as he stood down and gave them a polite bow. "I didn't know what was wrong with me yesterday."

"Dude, you sure were so drunk like a cow," Palom said.

"Hush now!" Porom yelled.

"Yang, it's good to have to back and alive," Cecil said. "But how did you end up here?"

"After the ship was attacked by Leviathan, the waves of the sea pushed me all the way to Baron, and some guards surely found me and took me hostage... To be honest, everything was a blur. I didn't know what I was doing, and before I knew it, I found you all here in the inn."

"They probably put you under a spell," Tellah said. "I sensed magic in you when we found you. But...let's say those guards made you drink sake, and it made the spell ineffective."

"Sake saving people...come on..." Chris muttered annoyed.

"Did you see if Rydia or Edward survived?" Cecil asked.

"Rydia was...swallowed by Leviathan," Yang said ashamed. "After I dove for her, I saw the monster swallowing her whole, and it lashed its tail at me and knocked me out in an instant. As for Edward...I don't know."

"I see..." Tellah said. "Poor child..."

"...Who are you?" Yang asked.

"Oh, he is Tellah. I met him when I first departed from Kaipo with Rydia," Cecil said. "And along the way, I made new comrades."

"Nice to meet you," said an annoyed Zelda. "My name is Zelda."

She was probably annoyed for the guarding time she did on him.

"My name is Ike," Ike said.

"Chris," Chris said simply.

"Salutations," Porom said politely. "My name is Porom."

"Huh. No introductions for me..." Palom folded his arms.

"That brat you see that can't mind his mouth is my twin brother Palom."

"And I'm Nana," Nana said. "Same situation with my twin brother Popo."

"Alcohol!" Popo responded.

"See?"

Yang sweatdropped. "I see...nice to meet you all."

"Well, now that we're all reunited," Cecil said. "We have to think for a way to enter the castle."

"Oh, that," Yang said. "Those guards gave me this."

The monk took a key out and Cecil looked at it.

"That's... That's Baron Key!" Cecil said. "This key can open any door in Baron, and it can also open the way to the waterway!"

"Good!" Tellah said. "The waterway connects to the castle. We can sneak our way in and see if Golbez is there!"

"Glad to hear that," Ike said. "Shall we get going?"

"And now," Cecil said. "We could intercept the king inside. He's the one who accepted Golbez, but I must confront him once and for all."

"(The king...)" Chris thought. "(Soon enough, he'll find out that the king inside isn't really...)"

"Well," Yang began. "May I rejoin you? I want to apologize by lending you my help."

"Please do." Cecil nodded.

"Thank you."

Yang temporarily joined your team!

"Then let's go to the waterway," Yang said. "I'm prepared to help you all."

Town

The group of 10 walked towards the door that leaded to the waterway. However, Cecil decided to use the key on the locked shop. Inside, they found the owners...

After finding out that the owners didn't look shocked for being locked inside the shops (which Chris considered extremely stupid) and buying some new weapons, the group walked back to the door that leaded to the waterway and Cecil opened it with the Baron Key.

"There," Cecil said. "The door is open."

"Yeah!" Palom said. "Let's go in and kick some butt! Better yet, I'll burn some butt!"

"Can I freeze them?" Popo asked.

"Yeah!" Palom said excited before the 2 ran inside.

"Soon..." Nana muttered. "Popo will be exposed... I'm going to do this today..."

"We shouldn't let them go in by themselves," Yang said. "Let us go."

And so, the remaining 8 walked inside...

Ancient Waterway

Entrance

Final Fantasy IV DS - Into the Darkness

The first floor looked very normal. It was just a plain small room with a hidden chest with 1000 Gil that Chris found. It was implied that he remembered the way very well, but Cecil didn't see the secret passage to the chest at all.

They moved down, where the twin boys were.

B4

"My," Tellah began as they rejoined the 2. "This place is so damp and...dark."

Truth to be told, there was barely light inside the waterway.

"Let me use magic to illuminate the way." The sage made his right hand glow red.

Zelda did the same action.

Palom joined in and made the top of his staff glow red.

Porom did the same with her rod, but with a white glow instead.

Chris (who backed away and changed to his Black Mage job) made his right hand glow.

Unfortunately, somebody noticed this.

"When did you change clothes so fast?" Yang asked.

"I-I was wearing these this morning," Chris said.

"Wait, you can use black magic as well?" Palom asked.

Chris whimpered in his mind.

"...Awesome!"

"You're a bard that knows black magic? ...Impressive, should I say," Tellah remarked.

"(I guess not many of them didn't see me when Zelda and I summoned Ifrit... Good, they shouldn't know more.) I happened to study a little bit of black magic when I was practicing with my harp (and I'm so going to church again...)"

"For being a bard that can use black magic and summon magic, you're impressive," Porom said.

Chris cursed in his mind. He forgot that Porom was the only one standing when they summoned Ifrit.

"Yes, you did summon an aeon, didn't you?" Cecil asked.

And he also forgot that Cecil knew as well.

"A-and I think I wanted to know more so I put effort in studying summon magic as well... T-too bad I lack courage..." Chris said. "Heheheh. If I had more courage, I could be really dangerous, right?"

"Maybe, or maybe not," Ike said with a chuckle. "Well, shall we get going now?"

Popo took out a lighter.

The 5 from the same universe stared at the lighter.

"What is that?" Tellah asked.

"P-Popo!" Nana whispered angrily.

"Hey, I wanna have my own light resource," Popo said happily.

Zelda took the lighter and tossed it away. She sighed in relief. "Please, forget what you just saw. It's nothing important."

"But what was that weird device?" Yang asked.

"It's a thing people use to smoke weed in secret," Popo said.

The Smashers' mouth opened in shock.

"What?" Cecil asked.

"J-just forget what he just said!" Nana yelled in embarrassment. "(Popo, if I can find out about you, I'm going to hit you SO hard for this.)"

Several sweatdrops jumped out from Chris's head and he moved forward. "What are you waiting for? W-we have to move on or else..."

Idea.

"Or Golbez will do something bad!"

"He's right!" Tellah said determined. "Let's find that bastard and pummel him to his death!"

The old man ran away, passing Chris.

"You had to say Golbez's name, right?" Cecil asked.

"I-I want to do this quick," Chris said. "Don't you?"

"Unfortunately I have to agree with you this time."

"Let us make haste through the darkness," Yang suggested. "I have some things to say to Golbez."

The group began to walk forward.

"By having some things with him, do you mean fight?" Zelda asked.

"No," Yang said. "I want to know the reasons behind all this madness around the world. Only violence is needed if he attacks us first."

"Yes," Cecil said. "He must have some reasons, and I want to hear them as well."

"That's the gentle way to do things, and how they should be," Porom said.

"And I'll burn him, freeze him, and then zap him," Palom began to talk. "Popo will go wild and bang the heck out of his head."

"Then freezing time comes again!" Popo said, swinging his hammer wildly.

"By the way, Popo..." Nana narrowed her eyes. "You haven't been acting strange all this time, right?"

"I'm me and myself," Popo said. "You're me and myself."

"...Of course," Nana said with some nods. "Now, can I ask you some questions?"

"As long as there is loot, go ahead!" Popo said happily.

"Well...here I go..." Nana muttered.

Zelda moved her dress up and shuddered at the water. "Why do we have to cross the water?"

B3

"It's a waterway for some reason," Cecil joked as the group reached the next floor.

Zelda shuddered again as they walked to the water. The temperature of the water wasn't fresh or hot, but cold instead. "If we find monsters in here, I'd hate to fight above water. I don't want to get this dress wet."

"You should have known you would hunt monsters in all places," Cecil said. "But why wear a dress? It doesn't make sense."

The 4 sane Smashers widened their eyes.

"And if I recall, hunters should always have things ready for everything. They should have supplies. And I thought there was an age limit to be one. You have 2 kids with you as well."

Ike sweated. "W-well, you could say we're a special kind of hunters..."

"Yes," Cecil agreed.

"Hmm, hunters, you say?" Yang said. "I've seen many hunters who happen to come to Fabul from time to time."

Chris didn't even know about this at all. As far as his memory could tell, there were absolutely NO monster hunters in this world from where he played it.

But it seemed that living the game gave new perspectives...

Cruel, CRUEL perspectives...

"And you would stand out from all of them," Yang continued. "Come to think of it... I happen to know some rules they use."

Ike wished to kill a protagonist for once. However, he shook the thought away.

"W-what kind of rules are those?" Chris asked sweating.

"The rules of traveling," Yang said. "Everyone knows those very well."

"A-and of course we do know those as well!" Zelda said, feeling the coldness of the water rising up to her knees.

"Really? Can you remind me?"

This felt like they were interrogated in some kind of moving room, except they were moving slowly through the water, talking and talking, and trying to find good answers.

"T-those rules are..." Zelda said.

Someone pulled her dress from behind.

The princess looked behind and saw Palom with a note. He smiled at her and motioned to pick the note.

At first, she got confused, but she took the note and looked at it.

Surprise, there were some rules in there. For her luck, neither Cecil, Yang, or Tellah were looking at her way.

"Get supplies ready for anything, always wear the proper equipment to navigate through the roughest of terrains, and always consider the type of monsters you're going to hunt," Zelda said.

"Hmm, it seemed that I was wrong about you," Yang said. "Those are exactly the rules I wanted to remember."

The 4 sighed in relief, and Zelda looked at Palom. "Thank you for helping us, but, why did you do that?" she whispered.

"You could say Porom and I know a lot," Palom said with wink.

"..." Zelda nodded and looked forward. She felt weird for a moment...

"Well, you are hunters," Cecil said. "Sorry for doubting about you."

"You see now?" Ike asked. "Why would we lie to you?"

"(I want to kill myself, I want to kill myself, I want to kill myself,)" the 4 thought in shame.

"(Phew, we got through their questions...)" Nana thought in relief. "Now, I should continue with what I wanted to do... Popo."

"Yep, my adored sister?" Popo asked.

"I..." Nana suddenly crashed behind Tellah's back and she fell on the water. "H-hey! Don't stop walking!"

Music stops

"Shh..." Tellah said. "We need to be quiet..."

All of them stopped before reaching the next floor and looked at him. "Why?" Yang asked. "...Wait..."

"Don't you hear something moving?" Tellah asked. "I can hear something through the water...the same water we just walked through..."

A shot of something moving inside the water was shown...

"Something moving?" Zelda asked. "Like what?"

"Now that you mention it," Cecil said. "This waterway used to have dangerous monsters, like fishes that could absorb thunders, and living clams that could bite through iron."

The shot was shown again. It seemed to be getting closer to them...

"But above all those monsters," Cecil said. "There were the Gigas Gators."

"Gigas Gators?" Ike asked.

"Those monsters are big crocodiles that can bite someone's leg off if they came close. Besides that, they're fast on the ground, and they hide in the water very well."

The same shot found their legs...

"...So there are like crocodiles in the very place we're walking?" Porom asked.

"And we could be at their mercy?" Nana asked.

"And we could be either 4 or 5 star dinner for them?" Popo asked.

"And Porom would be a 6?" Palom asked.

"Hush!" Porom yelled before she pulled Palom's hair hardly.

"OWW!" Palom cried in pain. "Knock it off!"

"Quiet!" Tellah yelled.

The shot got closer to them...

"...I suggest to run faster and out of here..."

It was getting closer...

"Be as fast as you can..."

Closer...

"Attack when you have the time..."

Closer...

"And reach Baron Castle and hide in there..."

Closer.

Yang looked at a shadow. "BEHIND US!"

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme A

All the twins turned around before several huge figures jumped out of the water and opened their jaws menacingly. The twins (except Popo) yelled loudly before Cecil, Ike, and Yang stepped forward and slashed them (Yang using his fists with claws).

The figured revealed to be big Gigas Gators that were pushed back to the water. However, they came back on the surface and swam after them.

"...YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris yelled.

"M-my goodness!" Porom yelled. "There are so many of them!"

The group found at least 30 Gigas Gators, one beside another, going after them.

"There shouldn't be this many!" Cecil yelled as they backed away.

"If you remember, the monsters in the whole world have become more hostile these recent days," Yang said. "And this isn't good. We have to run to the castle!"

"T-this way!" Nana yelled. "There's the next floor!"

"Run for it!" Cecil yelled. "They can reach us if they make it to the ground!"

The group turned back to the next place and they ran above the water before reaching the ground, where they started to run even faster. The Gigas Gators reached the ground in some seconds, and they quickly chased after them.

B2

"Hey!" Popo yelled. "The pets are coming to us!"

"How can you call those crocodiles your pets?!" Porom asked as she ran ahead.

"Because they wanna kiss us!" Popo said. "Look at the way they move their mouths!"

Or jaws. The crocodiles opened and closed their jaws like there was no tomorrow. For being aquatic monsters, they moved rather fast on the ground since they were catching up with all of them.

"Shock them to greater paralysis... Thundara!" Tellah cast several thunders that crashed down on the front monsters, but they seemed to resist the attack, and the old man gasped and continued to run. "They're not weak against lightning!"

"Then let me use cold!" Palom yelled as he ran. "Freeze them to greater cold... Blizzara!"

Many of the Gigas Gators were covered in thick ice before it shattered. The group noticed a lot of cries of pain from them, but they never ceased in chasing them.

"Gotcha!" Palom said. "They're weak to ice!"

"That doesn't make any sense considering ice being close to water!" Chris yelled.

Nothing made sense as long as fantasy was there.

"Hey, you!" some guards from Baron yelled from across the next floor. "Halt!"

"I thought this place didn't have guards!" Zelda yelled. "Move!"

"No! a guard yelled. "Halt in the name of Baron!"

Yang ran ahead and grabbed both men by their collars. "And let us through in the name of Fabul!"

The monk tossed the guards to the crocodiles, where they jumped after them and...

This scene wasn't going to look good to anyone.

"..." Nana and Porom looked shocked at each other after the crocodiles managed to eat the guards alive and by mere seconds. "...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" they yelled loudly.

"Those are thirsty for blood or what?" Palom asked.

"My benevolences, but this had to be done for greater good..." Yang said.

The group ran to him and he joined them again. "Apologize after we get out of this place," Cecil said. "We don't want to be their food, do we?"

B1

Light, the sweetest gift of nature shone from the right.

"Light!" Palom yelled. "The sweetest gift of nature is beyond those stairs!"

Chris looked behind. "And crocodiles, nature's worst carnivores want us!"

"Hurry!" Cecil yelled. "We can make it if we keep moving!"

The group ran to the stairs, but the crocodiles came faster and tried to reach them as soon as possible.

"Aw, crap!" Palom cursed.

"Those guards surely made them more hungry for us!" Zelda yelled. "We have to do something!"

"Like what?" Tellah asked. "We can't kill them all in time!"

Zelda looked around as they ran upwards. "...I know! Let's make a cave in!"

"Good!" Porom said. "We could make a cave in once we reach the exit!"

"Palom, the kid, use lightning magic to blast the rocks close to the exit," Tellah said. "Get your chants ready! We're going to turn around, blasts the rocks above the exit, and run to back to save ourselves!"

"My name is Chris!" Chris yelled.

"We're reaching the exit!" Yang yelled. "And...NOW!"

"Shock them to greater paralysis..." Palom and Tellah chanted.

"Shock to paralyze them all..." Chris chanted.

The 2 mages looked at him.

"What? It was the fastest chant for Thunder!" Chris yelled.

"Turn!" Tellah yelled as the 3 turned around and aimed their magic at the ceiling. "Thundara!" he and Palom yelled.

"Thunder!" Chris cast.

The 3 magic attacks of lightning met together at the same place, and they created a big blast that took the rocks from above down quickly. The 3 mages ran back to the exit with the others before the rocks could crush them. The Gigas Gators tried to run faster to pass to the other side, but it was futile.

The rocks fell on them, and they opened their jaws in pain. Dust flew out from the waterway as the group ran back outside, where the day was...

Music stops

Baron Castle

The group stopped running and they looked at the blocked waterway. There was no way to go back now as the rocks blocked the way to the cave.

"...We did it...barely..." Zelda panted. "And here I am, running with a dress..."

"I told you to get something different," Cecil said.

"Oh, please..." she muttered.

Final Fantasy IV DS - The Kingdom of Baron

Ike panted heavily before he found a way of water. "We did it. We reached the castle."

Nana looked around. "Finally! No more crocodiles..."

"..." There was something Chris couldn't understand...

The path of water that they were going to use was just beside the plain to the overworld. They should have come from the town, sneak behind the castle, and jump straight to the water.

"...Screw it," Chris muttered. "Logic isn't welcomed here."

"Let...an old man...get his energies...back..." Tellah said as he panted heavily. His pants were longer and louder than anyone in the group.

"Golbez," Ike said.

"Let's go!" Tellah said, suddenly regaining his energies out of the blue as he walked back to the water.

Many of them looked at each other and frowned at Tellah's reaction. They decided to follow him to wherever the water leaded.

"Aw, no..." Zelda said as she entered the body of water. "I can't pull my dress up enough to walk in the water."

"Wait, if you can't do that because the water is higher here..." Ike looked behind him. "Popo! Nana!"

The group turned around, and the twins seemed to be just the top of their heads getting out of the water.

Not only that, but bubbles were coming out from all directions around the heads.

Ike quickly went to them and picked Nana. "About damn time you noticed!" she yelled angrily before she spat water to his face.

Chris went to pick Popo. "Popo! A-are you okay?"

"I was walking to the light..." Popo said dreamily.

Zelda had to push her dress down and pick Porom. "You know, I feel kind of inferior when sizes are involved," Porom said worried.

Palom, however, seemed to be swimming. "Ha-ha, you guys can't swim like I do."

"Palom, there's no way I'm going to do the dog swim..."

"Sucks for you, then," Palom said as he hummed and swam forward.

Cecil, being the one focused on the castle, walked through the water and found a way in. "I found the way to the castle," Cecil said. "Let's go in and find Golbez. I hope nobody got hurt."

A decided Tellah walked past Cecil before the others walked back to safe floor (with Zelda drying her dress). Cecil moved forward and opened the door to the throne room.

1F

Once they made it inside, there was no soul roaming the solitary main entrance. This struck weird to Cecil, who had seen the guards from where they got inside, standing outside the gate.

"I don't like the looks of this," Cecil said.

"I know what you mean," Yang said. "I expected this place to have guards from the inside, but nobody is patrolling the castle."

"Yeah," Ike said. "This could be trap, don't you think?"

"I hope not," Zelda said. "But something bad is going to happen..."

"Well, let's go to their trap!" Tellah said. "Golbez will feel my wrath once I see him again!"

"Tellah, I know you hate Golbez with all your soul," Porom said. "But we have to be careful. We're in enemy's territory."

As they were talking, Nana walked close to Popo and looked at him bored. "Popo..." she trailed off. "So, do you have any kind of weird attitude today?"

"I drank milk past the expiration date," Popo said. "How about you?"

Nana tried her best to not puke. "F-fine here..." she said, grossed out. "Anyway, I want to get to the point now."

"The point where treasure is?"

"No," Nana said.

This was it. Nana could do this by herself. The moment to discover Popo was now, and she had to reach the point today, and now.

"Popo," Nana began. "I want you to be sincere and honest with me." She paused for a moment and gulped. "...D-"

"Lord Cecil!"

Her eyes moved up in rage as Popo smiled at the incoming guard from the eastern part of the castle. This guard wore a red suit, golden helmet, golden shoulder pads, blue gloves, and the usual a guard could wear. Cecil quickly recognized the guard and ran to him. "Baigan!" Cecil said. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Lord Cecil," Baigan said. "I was able to escape from the people that were imprisoned here."

Captain Baigan is the head officer of the guards of Baron. Nothing much about him is told (meaning he is not important).

"Wait, you're not with Golbez?"

"Why would I lend my trust to someone as despicable as Golbez?" Baigan asked.

Palom and Porom stared at him with some interest.

"My trust is to the nation of Baron, and Baron alone." Baigan nodded. "That man, Golbez, has been doing a lot of mockery around the castle, and he needs to be stopped. Do you agree with me, Lord Cecil?"

Chris looked worried. He would have been a future teller of the game if he could tell them the events that were going to happen just now.

"Well, I am looking for a way to persuade Your Majesty from discuss things with Golbez," Baigan said. "Can I lend you my aid?"

"Thank you," Cecil said with a nod. "Your help will be appreciated."

Captain Baigan temporarily joined your team!

"Well, well," Yang said. "This is truly beneficial to our plans."

"I'm sorry if the Red Wings assaulted your nation," Baigan said. "This was all Golbez's doing as you may know. Come, the throne room is this way."

"Golbez shall pay for everything..." Tellah muttered.

Ike rolled his eyes at the mutter, and they slowly walked to the throne room...

However, Palom and Porom walked past them and looked at Baigan.

"What is it?" Baigan asked.

"The air here stinks very bad," Palom said.

"There's a monster here," Porom said. "We know that because we can feel the air monsters emanate out from their bodies."

"Monsters?!" Baigan asked shocked as he looked around. "Where?!"

"Oh, please, sir," Palom said. "You can't fool us."

"Yes, he's right," Porom said. "Considering you're a monster yourself."

The 8 looked at Baigan, but Cecil was the one who looked shocked. "Baigan...so are you with Golbez after all?" Cecil asked.

"...Heheheheheh..." Baigan chuckled as he looked down. He looked at them and backed away to the throne room. "You don't understand well, do you?"

"What?" Yang asked.

"Golbez will bring peace to everyone!" Baigan proclaimed. "Just like he did with me. He gave me power to be strong!"

His entire body began to glow with the power of the Shadow Bugs, and the Smashers gasped.

"The Shadow Bugs!" Ike yelled.

"Look out!" Tellah yelled. "He's no longer human!"

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme B

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Baigan yelled. "Fools! Behold my true power!"

They watched as Baigan's body began to grow in size, and his skin turned purple. His head broke out from the helmet and he now wore a purple cap above his head. His face turned like a lizard, his hands instantly turned into snakes that were moving on their own, his armor broke down and it was replaced by poor thief's clothing. The group backed away as Baigan turned himself into a monster with snake hands and insane movements at the sides.

"I'm Baigan," Baigan said. "The most powerful captain of the guards of Baron!!!"

Everyone got closer to each other and glared at the monster before them. "Damn this..." Cecil muttered as he unsheathed Mythgraven. "We don't have any choice but to kill him!"

"I knew this was a trap!" Tellah yelled. "That monster needs to be disappeared from here!"

"A-aw god, he looks way more disgusting now..." Chris commented, disgusted at Dark Baigan's appearance.

"Snake as hands? Ugh..." Zelda frowned. "I'm going to have that image..."

"We're monster hunters, remember?" Ike asked (trying to sound convincing). "It's going to be our first prey of today!"

"You're right," Nana said. "And I'll whack the heck out of him for interrupting something important."

"Get ready," Yang warned them. "This could have been me if I was still under his control!"

"Let's do this!" Palom said.

"Yeah!" Popo said happily.

"Just a little more..." Porom said. "...I hope that premonition doesn't happen..."

The 10 prepared to fight against the captain of the guards of Baron...

Captain Baigan left your team.

"Was that really necessary to point out?" Chris asked, out of the section.

Yes. I'm not going to waste space for him. That title was going to be there...WAS going to.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Twins of Tomorrow. Nana..." Porom trailed off, before she walked away and sobbed silently...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Baron Castle

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Popo, Nana, Snake, Sonic, Cecil, Palom, Porom, Tellah, Yang

References:

-"Final Fantasy VI – Johnny C. Bad" is a song reference to the same game. It plays normally in the Coliseum in the World of Ruin, or another crazy events, such as Gau's desire to change to a gentleman.

-"Final Fantasy VI – Celes's Theme" is another song reference to the same game. It plays when Celes is involved mainly. This song is rather sad and at the same time tragic (to me at least).

Out of curiosity...:

-If you save a Soma Drop (which increases 10 MP) for your next playthrough in the DS version, give it to Tellah so he can use Meteor anytime. Say good bye to the Magus Sisters!

Nana is decided to find out about Popo, but she gets interrupted in the worst occasions. Oh boy, will she get the time to interrogate her brother? (I really hope so, duh).

And the nocturnal monsters yet appear, and the ruins the people mentioned sound weird as well. Is this controversial or not?

The ending of this arc will come very soon, and more drastic events will start to take place…or not? Who knows! I'm the only who knows here, dammit! …I mean, please have patience. Sorry. :P

Read and review, please. :D
*Chapter 139*: Twins Of Tomorrow

Recommendation for today: Get an anti-virus before your CPU gets a virus. It halts your writing as well.

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... Nana's story about her parents was soo sad :( I was about to cry during that section. I laughed at the end when you wasted space to say that baron left the team. Why do I get the feeling that Popo became stupid when he fell of the insanely tall mountain and almost cracked his head open? ...
DID HE!?!? Hasta!

From me: Popo didn't fall off. :P Keep reading.

From ngrey651: Wow, I miss so much while away at camp...

FF4. Ah, I remember it well. I always loved the game and Edward the bard especially. I have the game on GBA and thanks to my training him, he ain't so spoony no more! XD

You know, after seeing Nana get so upset about finding the truth about her parents, I thought she really was going to end up going out and getting lost or something and therefore losing her "fake" parents forever. But thankfully, no, she's not as selfish as some OTHER people from fandoms who throw away the people that loved them for reasons made on a whim...like, say, a kid trying to kill his brother and ignoring all his friends in the process of obtaining revenge...;)

From me: Hopefully I'm not a Twilight fan or something… I don't know if that had anything to do with this. That series is so overrated… No offense to Twilight fans.

Thank you. :)

From SlasherMask: TRIVIA TIME!!~~ RIGHT AT BEGINNING~~: If we ignore plot reasons then you can notice one thing(I haven't ever watched closely... Just heard)that Tellah's leveling up is kinda like aging. While some of his stat goes up(like intelligent), others go down.(the ones you would expect to go down with old men... Like whatever was equivalent of stamina?)

""T-then get it for the paladin that killed my brother!" he said happily with a nervous chuckle.

"That sounded so...twisted..." Ike commented. "(Not to mention he said it happily... Was his sister so bad to him?)""

Wait so did Cecil kill his sister or brother??

DRUNKEN FIST!

I almost expected there to be Diabolus ex machina... Good that there wasn't.

SAKE IS DAH ENOUGH HOLY THING TO(HELP) KILL GIANT EIGHT HEADED SNAKES!*cough* Ididn'tsaythat *cough*

And no. They are not nature's worsts carnivores. I KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING... Or actually I don't...

Ya know... Why water way is so big that 30 Gators fit there?

Whats so disgusting with lizard face?(he looks enough to be borderline "cool" to my tastes...)

P.S... Rubicante is my fav of those four... I heard he actually castes raise on you if you use fire on him(since he absorbs fire)... Though I don't remember have I ever tried since he is FIRE fiend...

From me: I made a mistake with that, and it should have been brother. Besides, Ike was talking about the shopkeeper, not Cecil.

Thank you. :)

From Ultra Blader: I'm back! I'm alive! I'm writing again! But that won't stop me from updating! Quite the opposite!

Firstly, I saw you make a fair few mistakes in early chapters. For example, Mysidia do not house the Fire Crystal. It houses the Water Crystal, as is seen in the beginning of the game. The Fire Crystal belongs to the kingdom of Damcyan, as stated by Rosa, although it is only seen in the Tower of Babil.

Secondly, you have done quite possibly the best job with humour in a magnicent game. The thought of Edward floating unconscious in the middle of the ocean is simply hilarious, not to mention Tellah sensing his presence. (Seriously, how do the guys in FFIV manage to sense half the boss enemies they fight before they even see them? Examples: ( Tellah sensing Scarmilione, Palom and Porom sensing Baigan being a monster, dispite his disguise. Think it's just a magic thing, then how come Yang senses Calcabrina behind that wall?) The game itself states that the Devil's Road involves crossing into the infernal plane, but the way you portrayed it as an underwater road transporting people inside a gigantic bubble was sheer brillance on your part, and way more original than in the game itself.

Anway, that's about it, so...

Until next time,

Ultra Blader.

From me: Yes, I went to Mysidia (in the game) and made sure it was the crystal you said. I corrected that mistake in the first chapter of the arc.

My guess is that magic allows you to sense evil (joke of the day).

And for Calcobrina? Probably Yang heard them jumping.

Ooh, it's an infernal place in 18 years…believe me.

Thank you. ;)

From tiger: The Bugs Bunny thing was a joke to see how you'd react, you didn't have to be mean about it. I guess my idea wasn't as good as yours, but it isn't that bad, it isn't much of an anime, I called it that because I thought it would get more people interested. The story takes place after the Subspace Emissary, where the characters are settling back into their normal lives of brawling, Meanwhile, Crazy hand decides plans to destroy the world of trophies with help from his new army, at the same time Tabuu reterns to get his revenge on the smashers. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea before.

From me: Phew, I was scared. And yes, I don't want to include anime. It's a very cheap way to get people interested. That's my policy, anyway.

Oh, and no for the fic still. Mine is everything I need.

Thanks. ;)

From RayGallade: I didn't know that you had turned on anonymous reviews until last chapter.

I did like the flashbacks, you did a good job with them. Is it just me, or do the people running the shops act odd? Poor Zelda, how could that happen to her? How, if Cecil really remembered the way, miss the secret passage? Chris sure is pushing it with his jobs, someone might guess just who he is if he keeps it up. Like I said before, the smashers are lucky in that people get them out of those situations. Chris is right, no Mr. Plothole's second form allowed here. You know, if Chris had Mewtwo with him ever, he could use his Psychic job to tell the future and get away with it. You're right, no point in wasting space with Captain Baigan's name.

In closing, a good chapter, as usual. Thank you, also, for corecting me. I did three years worth of Rosetta Stone in two years to learn. It works okay, but it doesn't teach grammer.

From me: Glad to hear I was of help. ;)

From RayGallade (again): Thank you for helping me with my Spanish, Rosetta Stone is good, but it doesn't trach grammer.

Liked the flashbacks. Chris is pushing it with his jobs, any more and they might guess his power. You know, if Chris were to have Mewtwo with him and be using Psychic job, he could get away with spoiling the story, right? The FF shopkeepers are weird in the way they act. How could they assume Cecil knows the castle if he missed the secret passege? I feel bad for Zelda. She, Chris, and myself all have VERY good reasons to hate durnks.

Shorter than the one I tried posting this morrning that didn't show up, but same things. RayGallade out. (No more MarioX borrowing for this one)

From me: Didn't I just talk to you? Sorry. Anyway, please don't post 2 reviews in the same chapter again. You better think before writing, right? ;)

Thanks. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hm, alright, I'll make sure of that. Oh yeah, I'm playing Resident Evil 4. It's something that really scares me and yet, is so good; I've been feeling that typing and creative side coming back to me now. Well, unto my review...
Hm, the past of the Ice Climber's, tragic. I do hope that their parents (both alive and passed away) are happy. Now I want to play IV, but darn ps2, had to be so dusty inside. *sigh* The weirdness of the drunken people, it can be both funny and annoying, but the one thing to do is avoid those who are drunk. I like the way you typed out the battle, much more action than what we view on the game, but the games are still good. Now, time for a...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! RANDOM EDITION!
Did you know that Dead Fantasy 3, 4, & 5 are out already?
Grammar mistake, you should use, "committed suicide" than "suicided themselves", I know for certain that "suicided" isn't a real word.
I got the title of "blah blah blah" from a manga called Fruits Basket; the author used it to explain her life when she isn't drawing manga. And you'll be happy to know that she likes RPG games as well.
Well, innovative typing!

From me: Good. Playing games make my mind get ideas and inspiration (not plagiarism, though).

PS2? That means you have the anthology for it. I recommend the GBA version or the DS one.

I'm not interested in Dead Fantasy. Sorry.

Grammar mistake fixed.

Good for her.

Thank you very much. ;D

There was also another thing that slowed me down in this chapter. Remember I was doing re-edits to early chapters? I re-edited chapter 21 because I felt it was too short. New scenes were added as well as some being erased. Go and read it if you want.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The poll has been changed, and Tales of the Abyss has been removed from the spot. The reason behind this is because I could be planning to do something big with the game (much later, though). And such, I added more options. I think I'm going to reset the whole poll, so be sure to check it out.

Since school started for me again, the chapter grew bigger (although it needed to get big) for character development. I just hope this last one gets reviewed. The site had trouble with logins and nobody was able to review at all.

Anyway, read, enjoy, and review. :D

Chapter 139: Twins Of Tomorrow

Baron Castle
1F

Final Fantasy IV DS - Battle Theme B

"Fools!" Dark Baigan said as he snickered crazily. "You won't get to see Lord Golbez, never!"

"Fools...that's our official name for anyone who wants to kill us," Ike said annoyed.

"Look, it's very predictable that everyone who hates what we're doing are going to define us like that," Zelda said. "Even Ganondorf does that."

"Fools," Ganondorf said. "You are everywhere whenever we go to our destinations."

"That's something he would say," Zelda said. "Did you understand?"

"Um, Zelda," Chris interrupted. "He's here."

"Oh, please..." Zelda turned around and looked at the king of evil right beside the monster with snake hands. "You!"

The group looked at the green-skinned Gerudo. "More of Golbez's henchmen?" Tellah asked.

"Who are you?" Cecil asked. "Do you have some business here?"

"For your information, yes," Ganondorf said. "I am just here to finish with I was told. I paid a visit to the "king" and gave him something he is going to like very much."

"What?"

"Look, I do not have more time to waste here," Ganondorf said as he looked up to the monster. "You seem to have company now. Oh, and before I take my leave, a bomb is waiting for you all in the throne room. Another little gift for the king, of course."

"That's not a gift," Yang said. "And you sarcasm is despicable."

"I get that a lot, really," Ganondorf with a grin. "Well, well, I should leave this creature now for you to battle."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Popo said. "Can I call him Mittens?"

"Or Phil?" Palom asked.

"..." Ganondorf shook his head to forget the questions. "I do not understand what you really tried to say, but that is all."

"Wait, you're going to leave like that?" Ike asked.

"Yes, just like that," Ganondorf said. "You are a little bit too late, but we already everything we wanted to do here."

"Let me go and kill them already!" Dark Baigan demanded.

"Fine. Go, bloodthirsty monster, go and kill them alive," Ganondorf joked. "Well, that is all as I have said before."

"But what did you do?" Yang asked. "Who are you?"

"Ganondorf," he said simply before he disappeared in a veil of darkness.

"Mwahahahahaha!" Dark Baigan laughed. "Ready?"

"Ugh," Cecil prepared his sword. "This was very quick. He went away too fast before we could question him."

"Um, sorry, Cecil," Porom said as she pointed at the monster. "We have to deal with that first."

"Magic will do!" Tellah said as his hands glowed.

"Reflect!" Dark Baigan called out as himself, and oddly, both hands, got covered in a green shield that made him change colors to green for a bit. "Magic is a no-no here, idiots!"

"..." Tellah stopped using his magic and sighed. "That was...bad."

"Hmm," Palom grumbled. "That makes me useless..."

"Actually..." Porom pulled him closer. "We can always do our Twincast..."

"...Oh, right!" Palom whispered. "Twincast can't be reflected back! The elder said so before!"

"Look out!" Yang pulled the 2 from the snake hands.

However, something was wrong...

"A-are the hands floating?" Zelda asked astonished.

The group saw that Dark Baigan remained in the same position, but his snake hands separated from his own body and they floated around like flying snakes.

"Mini-Quetzalcoatl!" Chris suddenly yelled.

"What?" Cecil asked.

"U-um, serpent god in another place I know about..." he responded.

"Well, they aren't gods," Ike said. "Just flying snakes..."

"Go!" Dark Baigan ordered. "You bite them, and I'll attack back with magic!"

The snakes bit the air angrily and rocketed towards Cecil. The paladin blocked the snakes by using his shield, but the snakes were smart and they snuck around the shield and bit his arm hard. "UGH!" Cecil grunted in pain as he tried to shake them off.

"H-he's turning pale!" Nana yelled. Cecil's skin suddenly turned pale as the snakes quickly stopped biting him. The paladin looked very weak as he tried to stand up.

"Deadly Poison, perhaps?" Tellah asked.

"Deadly Poison?!" Porom repeated in shock. "T-that kind of poison takes energy much faster than normal poison! Let me heal him!"

"No!" Tellah said. "I'll heal him!"

"Go and attack the White Mages!" Dark Baigan ordered to the hands, who nodded and hissed dangerously at both of them.

"A-ah!" Porom gasped as one went quickly towards her.

"No, you won't!" Nana yelled as she quickly stepped in front of the mage and slammed hard her hammer on the snake. It cried out in pain but it quickly levitated and bit Nana's leg hardly. "Ugh!"

"Nana!" Chris yelled. "O-oh no, I'll have to fight at close combat..." The World Traveler quickly hid behind a nearby chair, ducked, changed jobs to the Monk one, and got up.

He looked at no one in particular.

"I'm using this just because it makes us the parallel versions of Cecil's group," he said. "Go figure out who I'm parallel with."

Chris quickly ran at Nana, but he was stopped by Yang. "Don't rush," Yang said.

"But Nana is bei-" Chris got interrupted as Ike slammed his sword hard on the snake, but backed away as soon as it got up and hissed at him. "I have to go!"

"Use these," Yang said as he gave Chris 2 claw weapons: one was the Lightning Claw, and the other was the Ice Claw.

Chris stared at the weapons in curiosity. "...Why are you giving me these?"

"You seem to be a beginner at being a monk like myself."

"W-well, about that..."

"You like to try a lot of different styles of battle, don't you?"

"Y-yes..." Chris lied.

"You don't stop changing clothes, right?" Yang asked. "Why do you like to fight with many styles?"

"I...can't really explain," Chris said ashamed. "I'd really like to explain, but I just can't... I think I like to do this because I want to be useful for whatever occasion. I don't want to feel useless...ever..."

"...Then I know I'm doing the right thing. Put them on, they're going to help you to do more damage to your opponent."

Chris stared at the weapons and put the Ice Claw on his right hand, and the Lightning Claw on his left hand. "T-thanks," Chris said unsure. "I-is it alright with you? I mean, these are yours..."

"Don't worry. I had those for spare pairs. I have my own right here." Yang showed Chris his own claws. "Bare hands are powerful, but claws make them better."

"I see..."

"Now, let us return to battle!" Yang yelled as he turned around and dashed towards Dark Baigan with Cecil and Ike.

"I-I..." Chris looked back where the snake hands were flying around, trying to choose a prey.

"Dispel!" Tellah suddenly yelled as he made a glyph on one of the snakes to make Reflect vanish from it. Upon successfully doing that, the snake's color turned back to normal. "Palom! Focus your magic in that snake!"

"Roger that!" Palom yelled as he prepared his spell.

The snakes didn't like this and they dove towards Palom, fangs ready to penetrate his skin.

"Not you!" Zelda yelled as she appeared behind one snake and kicked it with the tip of her shoes. A little but powerful magic hit struck the snake from being and made it crash to the wall. The princess landed back safely and nodded in satisfaction.

However, there was the other snake.

Popo stepped in front of Palom and swung his hammer crazily. "I LIKE MU-"

"Don't say it!" Chris interrupted, as Popo accidentally hit the snake away. "Seriously, what was that for?"

"I just like to say random things," Popo said as Palom concentrated. "It helps me to stay always happy."

"...Um..." Chris looked unsure. "...I...see..."

Nana overheard this. "Stay always happy? I don't think that sounded stupid..."

"Esuna!" Porom cast the healing spell on Nana to save her from the poison. "Do you feel better now?"

"Y-yes," Nana said.

"Nana," Porom began as she took advantage of the enemies not focusing on them. "Are you going to do it now?"

"I'm a little bit worried about interrogating Popo while fighting," Nana said. "We have those speedy snakes, and that gu-"

"Thundara!" Baigan called out from afar as heavy bolts of lightning fell upon Nana. She yelled in pain and Porom gasped in shock after seeing the event. "Too slow!" he taunted the 3 who were going to land their swords and fists. "Hahahahahaha!"

"N-Nana!" Porom began worried. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Please..." Nana said weakly. "It hit me hard..."

"Right away," Porom said before she focused her mind.

"Where are those snakes?" Zelda asked as she looked around.

"I-I lost track of them!" Chris said. "They shouldn't have escaped because they seem to like to attack u-"

"YAH!" Zelda quickly sent a sphere of fire towards Chris, and the World Traveler ducked in time to make the Din's Fire explode right on a snake. It was the same snake that didn't have the spell Reflect. Zelda watched the snake back away a little, but it later hissed angrily at Chris.

The World Traveler turned around. "U-uah!" he yelled.

The snake hissed at him and it dove for him.

"New ability, please, new ability!" Chris pleaded. "I-I haven't trained with this job at all! NEW ABILITY, PLEASE!"

The snake dove and it got prepared to bit his arm.

However, a chain quickly trapped it before it got lashed down on the floor. Chris looked confused at this and turned around to find Sheik, struggling to seize the snake from moving. "Do something before it attacks you," Sheik said. "How are you going to retaliate, then?"

The snake moved crazily around the air before it got off from the chain. It quickly turned to Sheik and opened its mouth. Unfortunately for it, Sheik quickly used Vanish, and the snake got caught in the small explosion before the Sheikah appeared above it and dove down with her right leg to pin it down.

"..." Chris watched amazed at this. "...You're really lethal when need to."

"Stop standing around and give me some help!" Sheik yelled. "This thing wants to escape!"

"R-right!"

Too bad, the snake got off from under her foot. It flew above the ceiling.

"Dammit!" Sheik cursed.

"Yehehehehehehe!" Dark Baigan laughed crazily as Cecil, Ike, and Yang stood close. "What's the matter? Can't land a hit?"

"Baigan!" Cecil yelled. "What is wrong with you? You don't like this at all!"

"Cecil, you're so gullible!" Dark Baigan snickered. "I ALWAYS wanted to have absolute power like I do just now!"

"Cecil, remember," Yang began. "He was brainwashed by Golbez, and he ended up like this. There's no other way to resolve things without killing him."

"Isn't there a way to save him?" Ike asked.

"Well, unless we make his "hands" get attached back to him...and reduce his size...and turn him human again...and probably suggest extreme therapy for his attitude..."

The other 2 looked at him.

"...I don't know!" Yang said annoyed. "I was just guessing!"

"Fira!" Dark Baigan called out as scorching flames covered the 3. "Thundara!" Heavy bolts of lightning fell on them. "And Blizzara!" And they were trapped in coldest icicles before it shattered, leaving them heavily injured.

"Continuously casting magic..." Cecil muttered weakly. "...It's clear that I need to kill him..."

"Duh..." Ike muttered.

"What?"

"Just...stay focused!" Ike struggled to get back on his feet.

"Fear not!" Tellah appeared from behind them. "I'll heal you, and then I'll use Dispel to shatter that magic barrier on him!"

"Old man, don't stick your red nose where it doesn't belong!" Dark Baigan yelled.

Tellah grumbled annoyed and began to prepare his magic. "Pierce through the maigc itself!"

"Fira!" Dark Baigan called out to interrupt the sage from casting Dispel. Tellah grunted in pain as fire burned him, but he was stubborn, and kept casting. "Old man, stop casting magic!"

"Dispel!" Tellah called out as he made another glyph, but this time of the handless monster to make Reflect vanish completely.

"Aah!" Dark Baigan gasped, but later shook his head. "Never mind that! I can always cast Reflect aga-AAAHH!!!"

A heavy sword was sent upwards to his chin, and he cried out in pain. Ike jumped high above and slammed his sword on Dark Baigan's helmet. It shook violently, causing Dark Baigan to shriek as his head shook many times.

"Now!" Ike ordered as he felt weak.

Yang dashed to the monster and he jumped straight to the face, where he punched Dark Baigan with his claws. The monk landed back on the floor, and Cecil used his back to propel himself to stab the monster's throat through. Dark Baigan yelled in pain as Cecil pushed him back by using his feet, landing back on the floor with the others.

"Cast thy holy might on deep blood... Curaga!" Tellah cast a higher healing spell to heal the 3 fighters instantly. "Who's useless now?"

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima called out.

"Oops," Chris muttered as he was behind Palom.

"You heard Chris's talking pants!" Palom yelled (as Chris facepalmed). "Over Limit ready!"

Silence.

Palom turned to him. "What does your pants mean anyway?"

"I-it was the voice in your head," Chris said suddenly. "(Oh crap...)"

"...I knew it," Palom said deviously. "My mind has its own mind on his own."

The World Traveler almost got a short fuse in his own mind. "...Wow!" he said sarcastically. "That should REALLY benefit life itself!"

"Heheheh, I know," Palom said. "I'm a genius."

"And I'm his evheel lackey," Popo said. "And we both will conquer the world, and plague it with snakes!"

"..." Chris looked worried at Popo. "Popo, d-did you notice you have a snake biting your throat?"

"It likes me," Popo said as he petted the flying assassin poisonous snake. "I called it Snaky."

"P-Popo! Y-you're turning so pale!" Chris yelled.

"Does it mean I'm a purple chameleon?"

"M-more like a poisoned chameleon! ...I mean, get it off!" The World Traveler pulled the snake from its...empty tail, or more accurately, the part where it didn't have tail.

It hissed and looked angrily at Chris.

"U-UAH!!!" Chris screamed as he tried to keep the violent snake from getting off. He quickly grabbed the mouth and forced it to close itself.

Unfortunately, he was obligated to move around as he grabbed the snake by its mouth and its half tail.

"Aw, look at that," Popo said. "Snaky wants to like Chris."

"..." Palom looked unsure. "Um, are you sure he likes him? I mean, both of those snakes have trying to bite us to death."

"Are you kidding me?!" Popo asked shocked (as Chris struggled to keep the snake from escaping. He was thrown to the floor and rolled with the snake, begging for help). "Snaky just wants to have friends!"

"I-I'm sorry for telling you this, but I don't think those snakes want to be pets," Palom said. "Even I have my own limits, you know."

"Aww, please!" Popo said. "You gotta love that!"

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Chris pleaded as the snake's mouth was freed, but he quickly closed it and rolled around more.

"...You know what," Palom began. "I'm beginning to think that you're a lot stranger than me."

"I do," Popo said smiling. "And you do."

"To my own limit, though," Palom said (as Sheik ran away from one snake). "Popo, this is just me, but...I don't think you're being true to yourself."

"Ha, what do you mean by that joke?"

At this, Nana stopped watching Sheik (because the Ice Climber wanted to help her) and overheard the 2.

"I mean I don't think you're you!" Palom said. "Think about it! (If you can, anyway). That level of...insanity that you have is just too...weird!"

Nana came closer, as Ike decided to use the Over Limit. Cecil, Yang, and Tellah watched amazed as the Greil Mercenary slashed Dark Baigan from below his chin, pushing him to the air where Ike began his furious attack of fire.

"I'm the definition of weird," Popo said. "I'm proud of that."

"Oh," Nana said as she came close to them (while Chris banged the snake's head on a nearby table). "Popo, I was meant to ask you something."

"Oh, what is it?" Popo asked happily. "I was in the middle of a fight."

"True, and you talked to me," Palom pointed out.

"Popo...you can't hide this from me anymore," Nana said as an explosion of fire (from Ike) came from behind, followed by a scream of pain. "I know everything about you."

"About my secret hobby of collecting toilet paper?" Popo asked. "Because I discovered lots of 'em in Chris's house an-"

"Popo," Nana interrupted. "...Are you acting stupid because you want to?"

"Why are you asking that?" Popo looked confused.

"Oh, I don't know." Nana looked away bored, turning her eyes to him. "Because I'm starting to think you're not the same as you were from before."

Popo blinked as Yang lunged at a heavily damaged Dark Baigan. "Ooh, I know what you mean. You mean the time I puked the bad milk? I told you I was just fine!"

"Popo, stop it!" Nana yelled angrily.

This yell caught Porom's attention (after healing Sheik from being poisoned) and she turned around. "Is she going to do it?" she muttered before she ran at them.

...Leaving Sheik to fight a flying snake.

And also leaving Chris from being bitten by a snake.

"This has gone far enough!" Nana yelled. "I'm sick o-"

"Are you gonna go deja vu like in the mansion? That would be awesome," Popo said happily.

"NO!" Nana yelled. "Popo, listen to me!"

"I'm listening!" Popo yelled happily. "Ask me anything! I will answer it back! Throw anything to me! C'mon! You can do it! You can't do it at the same time! Go for it, Nana! I dare you, I double dare you mothe-"

"Popo," Nana interrupted. "Our parents are dead."

Music stops

The blue Ice Climber kept staring up at the ceiling before he looked down and laughed. "Nana! You're being so silly. Our parents are dead, true, but we still have a family! Don't you remember the time I fought to make you understand about not going into the snowstorm to search for some dead corpses that could be probably forgotten in the abysses close to Icicle Mountain?"

"..." Nana narrowed her eyes at him. "...Popo..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm surprised," she began. "Nothing what you said sounded stupid as you do normally..."

Palom and Porom looked at each other, blinked, and looked at Popo.

They noticed that the Ice Climber's smile was slowly disappearing...

"And think about it again," Nana went on. "You were absolutely right in every single word you said."

Popo looked at her with a normal, straight face.

"I was being silly that time, I admit that," Nana said as she crossed her arms. "And I'm also surprised that you didn't screw up anything at all."

Popo's eyes widened.

"...And..." Nana pointed at him. "This also means something very revealing, if I do say so myself."

Popo slowly shook his head.

"If you remembered EXACTLY what happened that time, and you didn't say something stupid, and the FACT that you're looking at me with a face you have never showed to me ever since I was going to commit suicide...that means..."

Popo backed away and shook his head.

"...It means you have been acting ALL THIS TIME!!!"

"U-ugh!" Popo gasped and backed away from Nana.

Palom and Porom watched shocked as Popo backed away from his sister. He continuously shook his head. Both twins looked at Nana going slowly after Popo. "So Popo, do you admit everything what I said is true?"

"I-I like Bidoofs..." Popo responded as he sweated.

"You mean Mudkips, right?" Nana asked. "Because it's not like you to lie the "memes" you've learned...because if that's the case, then it's true you've been acting."

"I-it's o-"

"Dare to say the most hated meme of all times and I'm really going to smack the heck out of you," Nana threatened.

"P-please, don't do it!"

"A-ha!" Nana said, glaring at him. "You didn't sound stupid just now!"

"I-I did!" Popo said. "I mean, that's how I am!"

"Sure," Nana said. "And I'm a purple seal."

"D-don't be silly, you're my twin sister!" Popo sweated more as he backed away.

"Popo, this is not like you at all," Nana said. "Why are you acting so shocked? I wonder, why are you even sweating and backing away in fear from me? You could have done this a long time ago, but you didn't."

"B-because I was very busy?"

"Busy about what?"

"Busy with trying to forget..." He noticed Nana narrowing her eyes more at him. "U-um, why the glare?"

"Oh no, don't mind me," Nana said. "Keep going. You sound more intelligent this time around."

"Yes!" Popo said. "I'm intelligent, am I not?"

"..."

"Y-you can stop walking to me..." Popo said.

The other twins looked worried as they slowly followed the Ice Climbers. They didn't even mind to go through the battle, since everyone was busy fighting at least a sin against nature itself.

But when fantasy was mentioned, then this didn't mean nothing; not even a sin.

"It is enough, Popo!" Nana yelled (as she jumped over a rolling Chris with the snake he was trying to kill). "I have you where I wanted you to be, Popo! You can stop using that false facade now!"

"Hey!" Popo said. "A facade is something that someone uses to hide his or her true self!"

"...You got screwed over. That was so intelligent."

"Yeah..." Popo said. "...NO!"

"POPO!" Nana yelled angrily. "Stop denying it! I've had enough of that facade you're using!"

"I-I've only been using it for at least a year!"

"What?!"

"Aw, dammit!" Popo yelled.

"This is getting so stupid, Popo!" Nana yelled (as she ducked from a kick of Sheik to the other flying snake). "Even more stupid than you!"

"S-stop it!" Popo yelled. "Y-you're not going t-"

"What?!" Nana asked again. "What I'm going to do? I'm going to find out everything about you...and guess what, it's today I'm going to do that!"

"N-Nana, w-we have a battle to fight here!"

"Screw the fight!" Nana yelled. "Apparently, I like to know what happened to a dear brother of mine who keeps denying the undeniable!"

"I'm not denying anything," Popo said with a nervous chuckle. "What am I denying?"

"You tell me, dear brother of mine," Nana dared. "You can tell me everything."

"I-I can't!"

"You're contradicting yourself, bastard!" Nana yelled. "Admit it that you have been acting all this time!"

"No!"

"Admit you used to be smarter than you are now!"

"N-no!"

"Admit, or rather tell your true reasons behind your false self!"

"N-n-no!"

"Admit that you don't act like a complete retard!"

"N-n-n-no!"

They soon entered the range of battle where the other 4 were battling Dark Baigan.

"Admit everything, Popo!" Nana said angrily. "I can't hold this any longer!"

"A-and neither do I!" Popo yelled. "In fact, I'm sick of acting up!"

He opened his eyes, terrified of what he just said.

"...There's no way out, now," Nana muttered. "You just said something I wanted to hear from you."

"I-I was just lying..."

"Popo, I didn't even make you say that," Nana said. "I used a weapon you can't best me with."

"W-what weapon is that?" Popo asked worried.

"The weapon...of persuading," Nana pointed out as they both stopped walking. "You fell right into it like I expected."

"..." Popo's eyes began to fill with tears. "I...I..."

"Porom," Palom whispered. "Ever felt like we're the only ones caring about them?"

"Hmm," Porom muttered. "It seems so. I'd like to do this in a normal basis, though."

"Touché."

"Yes, Popo?" Nana asked. "You what?"

"...I...I...I..." Popo stammered. "...I..."

"..." Nana nodded, and kept doing the same action.

"...I...I'm not wearing any underwear..."

"..."

"...Why is Nana shaking so suddenly?" Palom asked worried.

Porom simply shook her head without any trail of emotion. "Brace yourself, Palom. Something very dangerous will happen in a moment..."

"How do you know that?"

"Mutual feelings," she muttered. "Very close mutual feelings..."

Nana's self began to shake with fury as she made fists, glared at her brother, and yelled "POPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"U-uah!" Popo screamed and turned around to run away towards the throne room. "D-don't kill me, please! I-I'm way too young to die!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Nana raised her hammer and chased after her brother.

Palom and Porom gasped as both went right towards Dark Baigan, and through the 4 battling him. Cecil, Yang, Ike, and Tellah watched confused as both screaming twins ran at the monster, who chuckled evilly as he prepared to use a spell.

"COMING THROUGH!" Popo yelled as he ducked and passed right between the monster's legs. Dark Baigan looked behind where the blue Ice Climber clumsily walked ahead on the steps of the stairs.

"You little vermin!" Dark Baigan yelled. "Come back here!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

In slow motion, Dark Baigan turned his head around and got whacked on the right side of his face hard by a furious Nana's hammer. The reptile-looking soldier let blood fall out from his mouth before Nana stuck the spikes underneath her feet on his skin (hard), causing him to scream loudly in pain before she scratched him with her feet, and climbed up to him where she pushed him back to push herself back where Popo was running to.

"POPO!!!" Nana yelled loudly as she ran after Popo. "THIS IS ENOUGH, YOU HEARD ME? ENOUGH!!!"

"Y-you imbeciles!" Dark Baigan hissed. "Y-you shall pay for what you've done to m-"

He was interrupted as Palom and Porom ran underneath him and followed the other 2 to the throne room.

"S-stop sneaking, dammit! O-oww, she hit me so hard..." Dark Baigan complained...

...Then looked up where Cecil and Ike jumped towards him, and pointed their swords down at him...

And to his face.

"...THUNDAR-"

2F

An extreme yell of pain was heard from the first floor as a panicked Popo came from it. The blue Ice Climber tried not to trip, but he managed to run nevertheless. It was time for an enraged Nana to come up from the stairs as she swung her hammer wildly. "POPO!!!" Nana yelled. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!"

"L-let me live!" Popo pleaded. "I beg of you!"

"YOU WILL DIE FOR BEING A BAD LIAR ALL THESE DAYS TO ME!!!" Nana proclaimed angrily as both disappeared into the next corridor that leaded to the throne room.

Some seconds later, the twins of Mysidia came from the stairs and hurried to catch up with the twins of the mountain. "P-Porom!" Palom began as he panted. "D-do you think this has gone long enough yet?"

"A-are you actually worrying about that now?" Porom asked.

"Just because I like to gossip!"

"H-hush!" Porom yelled as they disappeared into the corridor.

"POPO, I HAVE YOU NOW!" Nana yelled from the corridor.

"U-uah!" Popo tripped and quickly turned around to her sister. "N-no! Please! I-I'm good!"

Throne Room

"When am I going to stop being a filthy human in disguise?" asked the king in utter annoyance. "I'm starting to hate this whole thing about disguising as the deceased king of Baron that nobody knows about anymore."

The king stood up and made a devilish glare. "And who is the one behind all those yells?" He looked at the nearby Subspace Bomb. "The man with the odd skin told me to secure this from exploding the castle, and Baron with it. Good thing he said I could use the "Shadow Bugs" or whatever their name was to boost my powers."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"Ugh!" the king grunted. "Dammit! Who is the one yelling like that?"

It was not long before a spinning flying hammer was flung at full speed to his forehead.

The king's eyes widened. "DEVIL SHI-" he managed to say before the hammer hit his head hard, and knocked him out on the throne with a dizzied look. "Damn you..." he muttered in a different tone of voice.

From within the corridor, Nana came from it, rolling with Popo, as she strangled his throat. "DAMMIT!" Nana yelled. "POPO, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!"

"W-what?" Popo asked weakly.

"STOP ACTING!" she yelled. "STOP BEING A COMPLETE AND USELESS MORON!" she cried. "S-stop doing retarded things!" she cried louder. "S-s-stop saying annoying memes and all that crap..." she muttered. "A-and above everything else..."

Popo felt Nana's grip becoming weaker and weaker as time passed.

"A-a-a-and above everything else..." she sobbed. "...P-please..." she cried silently. "...Return to your real self..."

"..." Popo blinked in shock.

Nana's eyes began to fill with tears before she sobbed louder. At that moment, Palom and Porom came from the stairs and gasped at the 2. "...Popo!!!" Nana suddenly hugged him tightly and cried above his shoulder. "I-I don't want you to be like this anymore!" she cried through tears. "I...I want the old you to come back to me! Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" she cried louder.

Porom shook her head several times and looked worried. "N-Nana..." she muttered sadly.

"..." Popo kept blinking in shock as Nana kept sobbing and crying over his right shoulder. "...N-Nana..."

Nana sobbed silently and didn't want to look at him. "W-what now?! Are you going to say something retarded like you usually do? Oh, that's right, you're a retard after all!!!"

"I-I've had enough of acting!"

"What was that?!"

"I...I admit it!" Popo yelled. "I wasn't me all this time! Y-you were right..."

"..." Nana slowly stopped sobbing.

Porom opened her mouth in surprise. "S-so...so Nana was true about you..." she muttered.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?" Palom looked back and forth between the 3. "H-hey! I-I wanna know what's happening! D-don't leave me out of this!"

"..." Popo felt ashamed. "...Nana...I'll...stop acting..."

"..." Nana's eyes shook in surprise, and she slowly pushed herself back to look at Popo. "...You...have been acting?"

Final Fantasy X - Someday The Dream Will End

"...Yes..." Popo said, closing his eyes to prevent his tears from strolling down. "I...I have been doing this for a long time, haven't I..."

"P-Popo..." Nana shook her head. "W-why?"

Popo looked away and opened his eyes.

"Why? I-I can't simply understand anything about your reason behind your change in behavior..." Nana said. "Why?"

"...I was..." Popo began. "I...was...trying to..."

"...Don't stop!" Nana said. "I-I need to understand now! Please, tell me! I-I'm not going to menace you again!"

"I was trying to..." Popo's eyes filled with tears. "I was trying to...I was trying to forget..."

"To forget?" Nana repeated. "D-don't stop, tell me now!"

"Please, tell her!" Porom suddenly called from behind.

"I WAS TRYING TO FORGET ABOUT OUR REAL PARENTS!!!" Popo cried out. "T-that's why I've been acting all this time!"

"W-what?" Nana asked in astonishment. "O-our real parents? P-Popo, what do you mean by the-"

"P-please, Nana," Popo began as she shook in fear. "L-let me stand up to explain everything to you. It has been so long enough for you to tolerate, hasn't it?"

"..." Nana couldn't stand up, but Porom ran to her and helped her to get up from Popo. It was not long before a gasp came from Palom and he ran to help Popo like Porom did before. "...Now..." Nana cleared her tears as she stood in front of Popo. "...Explain yourself... I want to know everything..."

Popo nodded slowly. "...I'll do..." he muttered. "This madness...it needs to be stopped now...and I have to face the truth as well..."

"Face the truth..." Nana muttered.

"I'll explain it as well," Popo said. "Everything... Just...listen to my story, Nana..." He looked at Palom and Porom. "And you, please, listen as well... Everyone here should know about my reasons behind my change in behavior. It's today or never, after all..."

"Popo..." Nana muttered depressed.

"...I'll start, Nana," Popo began. "I'll end this today, I promise it to you, and you 2 as well."

"Well, start!" Palom said. "It's better to begin now!"

"I'm going to!" Popo yelled before he cleared his throat. "Nana, everyone, the reason behind this whole problem that I caused was because I wanted to forget my...our real parents..."

"Our parents..." Nana repeated. "But, Popo, why do our parents have to do with you? You weren't interested in them when I acted like that before."

"Because I began to feel sad, Nana," Popo said. "I...wanted them back..."

"But of course you wanted them back!" Nana yelled.

"But then I remembered they were dead!" Popo yelled back. "There was no other way to bring them back to life, wasn't it?!"

"N-no..." Nana said.

"So," Popo went on. "I began to think about them after we got in the mansion, Nana," he explained. "I...started to remember everyday about them."

"When did you...start to remember?" Nana asked.

"The same night Geno arrived," Popo said. "That day...I started to remember..."

The blue Ice Climber turned around and looked up to the ceiling.

"I had nothing better to do, so I decided to see our things in our room," Popo explained. "I rummaged our belongings, and from all of them, I found..."

Flashback

Smash Mansion
Ice Climbers' Room

There was Popo moving things inside a drawer. He was alone for the time being since Nana went to have her breakfast in the early morning. After a while, Popo looked up and took a photo of his parents and Nana, all smiling happily in front of the igloo. "Dad, Mom," Popo said with a smile. "I forgot we left this photo here."

Popo looked around for a small portrait. When he managed to find one, he put the photo inside and put it on the drawers' desk. He smiled happily at the photo and tilted his head. "I wonder how you 2 are doing right now," Popo said to the photo. "It's been some days after we were asked to come here again."

"That was the only moment where I was happy," Popo narrated. "I remember playing outside in the snow with you, Nana. I remember even them giving our sweet dinners. Do you remember?"

"O-of course," Nana said with a nod. "I remember."

"But...there was something I couldn't try to avoid remembering..."

"Maybe I'll you 2 a mail," Popo said. "I'll ask Nana. She needs to know about this."

As he turned around, he looked back at the portrait and sighed.

"You know..." Popo began. "Nana doesn't remember about what happened that time anymore. When we're this separated from each other, I can't stop but wonder about you 2."

He walked to the photo.

"And sometimes, I have dreams about my real parents..." Popo said. "I can see their faces, and how they looked like. I smile when I run at them, and Nana appears right beside me and follows me to them."

After he said that, he felt suddenly bad.

"...But...at the same time..." Popo trailed off worried. "I...I hate to dream about them...I really do..."

He sniffed.

"I-I don't understand..." Popo said as he shook his head. "I...I always think they're going to be at the door, waiting for the 2 of us to wake up, and when I do wake up, there's nobody there!" he yelled. "Those dreams make me happy...but at the same time, they hurt me more and more than making me happy..."

Popo looked at the photo.

"And for my bad luck...those dreams have become more frequent every night..." he said worried. "I...I don't know what to do... What am I going to do if I do get happy to see them again? When I wake up, they're not going to be here..."

He sobbed at the portrait.

"And...you know what do they say to me when I dream?" Popo asked. "...They say..."Popo...Nana...come to us... We want to be with you all the time... Why don't you come to us? We're always waiting for you to come with us to our home... Just wait for you to wake up, then you'll see us with you..." and more things I don't want to remember..."

Popo buried his face on his hands.

"W-why..." Popo frowned. "Why am I dreaming these dreams...No! T-they're nightmares of the past, aren't they?" He looked at the photo while tears began to stroll down. "This is unfair! They told us that they're going to be beside us, but they aren't! Why is that? T-that's so cruel!"

He sobbed louder.

"A-am I going through the same thing Nana went through a long time ago?" he asked through tears. "B-because... No, I'm not thinking about abandoning you either... I was thinking about these nightmares with my parents in them... And I worried about those nightmares coming back this night..."

Popo cleared his tears.

"But...how can I forget about them?" Popo asked. "There's no way I'm going to forget them if they keep showing up..."

"I was stuck there," Popo said. "There wasn't a single way to forget those nightmares."

"Popo! Why didn't you tell me this from the very beginning?!" Nana asked. "I could hav-"

"You could have ended up like me, Nana!" Popo yelled. "Think about it, didn't you go through the same before? You didn't even try to forget it, right?"

"I-I..."

"...Like I expected," Popo said. "I didn't want to drag you into this, and that's why I needed to do this by myself. I couldn't tell this to nobody else either."

"But that doesn't explain your rather insane behavior," Porom said. "There had to be reason, am I right?"

"...About that part..."

"What can I do in order to forget the nightmares?" Popo shook with fear. "I-I''m so scared if I dream them again... What can I do?!" he asked in panic. "I-I can't let nobody know about this! What would they think if they saw me in this state?!"

It was not long before he heard some voices coming the hallway. Popo suddenly stopped screaming and quickly calmed himself down. He grew curious about the voices, and he wanted to make sure nobody would hear him.

He carefully walked to the door and leaned to it to overhear the voices... "...There are Ness and Pikachu..."

"Ness, you don't have to look depressed today," Pikachu said.

"I-I know..." Ness said. "I hate to have this feeling some times, Pikachu. I grew very attached to my family and I can't stop feeling homesick..."

"Well, I don't know you, but I don't know my own family," Pikachu said. "But here I am, enjoying my time without knowing my origins."

"How is that going to help me?"

"In nothing, just saying," Pikachu said. "I know what's going to make you forget that."

"What?"

"Didn't you tell me you used to call your dad and talk for a while to cure yourself?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, do that. I don't know how he makes you forget that."

"T-that's because..." Ness smiled. "He always tells me words of encouragement to keep going."

Pikachu knew this conversation was going to turn cheesy, so he blocked his ears while Ness looked up. "I'm listening," Pikachu lied. "Go on."

"He always tells me to be...enthusiastic," Ness explained. "He makes me remember the good times when I used to play with him when I was way younger than now."

Popo kept listening with little interest.

"He also said I could forget bad things by being overly happy all the time," Ness explained. "Like doing a lot of stupid things, but I didn't take that advice, and instead I kept calling at him to feel right at home."

Too bad for Pikachu, because he was able to hear him. "Doing a lot of stupid things? What the heck was he recommending you with?"

"H-hey!" Ness glared at him. "My Dad was once a psychologist and he knows what's he saying to me!"

"You just told me that!" Pikachu said. "How was I supposed to know your dad was a psychologist before?"

"Anyway!" Ness went on. "I didn't want to take that advice because I would feel stupidly...stupid! That's why!"

"Oh, good for you," Pikachu said. "I don't know anything about psychology, but if he says that, then it could be true."

"But whatever," Ness said. "I chose to talk to him frequently over being enthusiastic. He told me that it can make you forget very bad things, such as bad memories of the past, horrible events that happen right before your eyes, or even nightmares and the such."

"I know the feeling," Pikachu said. "I'd hate to have a crazy Ness around."

Ness blushes embarrassed. "W-well, I have to agree with you there."

Popo made sure the 2 would go away from the front of his door, and they left to the main lobby. The blue Ice Climber shook his head and looked ashamed.

"Phew, that was close," Popo said. "...But what Ness said about his dad's recommendation..."

Popo looked at the photo again, and he suddenly felt ashamed.

"N-no, I couldn't do it!" Popo said. "...And why the heck was I thinking about using that alternative? What would Nana say if he ever saw me using another kind of behavior I don't use?"

The Ice Climber looked back at the photo.

"..." He looked down and frowned. "...It's the nightmares...or the alternative without nightmares... What to choose..."

"I had a hard time deciding because you would be back from eating breakfast," Popo said. "I was really stuck. My mind had a lot of questions without answers, and I was running out of time. When I looked at the mirror, I saw my face wet with all the tears I cleared away, but they made my face get wet. I looked so stupid with that face, and I didn't want you to find out."

"Nana..." Popo muttered. "She can't see me in this state! What would she think?!" he asked in panic.

Then he remembered something from the past.

"A-and if she goes through the same thing she went through in the past?" Popo asked worried. "She could even start to have those nightmares if I tell her! I-I don't know what to do!"

"Tell Nana and pray for her to stay away from having the nightmares...brace myself against the nightmares and not tell her...lie to her and pretend nothing happened, even if it I looked that something really happened...or..." Popo trailed off, scared of saying the next. "...Or...change attitudes and test it out at the same time in order to see and forget the nightmares, not caring if Nana would find out soon..."

The doorknob of the door began to twist, and Popo quickly turned at it before he gulped and looked back at the photo. "...Everything or nothing..." Popo muttered. "...It's time to choose... You can do it...Popo... You can do this..."

The door opened, and Popo's heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, Popo," Link began. "Have you seen Zelda?"

Popo sighed in relief, but didn't turn and made himself look busy as he moved his head around. "No, I haven't. I think I saw her in the lobby, though."

"Thanks," Link said simply before he closed the door.

Popo turned at the door and sighed. "Oh, thank god, that was so clos-"

The door opened and Nana walked in. Popo suddenly made a shocked face and looked at her. "...Popo?" Nana began. "Why do you look like that?"

"(Choose, choose, choose, CHOOSE NOW OR NEVER!!!)" Popo screamed in his mind.

"And why are you wet on the face?" Nana asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I...just couldn't turn back..."

"...Yippeeyaiyo!" Popo said happily.

Nana blinked confused. "Um, are you alright?"

"Course I am," Popo said. "Happy me as always."

"..." Nana nodded, still confused. "Okaaay... Are you going to eat breakfast?"

"The best food of the day, you mean?"

"...Yes?"

"Hurray!" Popo cheered as he ran past Nana and ran away in a hurry. "Pancakes!!!"

Nana looked extremely confused at this sudden reaction that she shrugged and tried to forget it.

"And then, I had everything planned from that moment," Popo said. "My new facade allowed me to distract myself from the nightmares with my parents, but at the same time, Nana grew more uncomfortable with me for acting so insane that she developed a hatred to me."

"And I just followed the flow and said things I didn't mean to say..." Nana said. "You had everything like you planned?"

"The opportunities just came out of nowhere," Popo said. "Everything was set to me to act like a retard. At first I was skeptical, but I had to maintain my profile like I wanted it to be in order to forget the nightmares."

"Wait, you kept dreaming the nightmares? I thought it only happened one time," Porom said.

"They...kept coming back..." Popo said depressed. "I was cursed with them... It's like something wanted to hurt me and keep lying to everyone about my true self..."

End of flashback

Baron Castle
Throne Room

"...Yes..." Nana began. "You were dreaming at that mountain with zombies," she said. "And you were happy."

"Because my parents were there...and then when I woke up, I would act stupid and forget what I saw," Popo said. "Everything I've been doing all these days were the same thing: dream with my parents, wake up and instantly change to my retarded behavior, keep Nana from guessing what's been happening to me, and keep acting like that until I dreamed again."

"Like some kind of cycle?" Palom asked.

"A very bad one..." Popo said. "And Nana."

"Y-yes?" Nana asked as she cleared her tears.

"You were so decided to find out about me the moment we met them, right?"

"Yes," Nana said depressed. "Porom helped me to overcome the hatred towards you, and she even helped me to keep going."

"And I..." Popo looked at Palom. "I used Palom all this time."

"Wait, what again?" Palom asked.

"It's true," Popo said. "I mentioned the opportunities would rise and help me out, and you...were one of those opportunities. I...used you to distract me from remembering."

"..." Palom looked down.

"Just don't worry," Popo said. "Thanks to you, I was so happy, even if I was an idiot. When you suddenly began to question me with the othe-"

Music stops

The 4 twins remembered something important.

"The others!" they yelled in unison.

"Oh man, we forgot them!" Palom yelled. "We followed you 2 when you were beating the crap out of each other!"

"Actually, Nana was the one beating the cr-" Porom shook her head. "Hush now!"

"Porom!" Palom yelled.

"We have to go back and help them!" Popo suggested. "Nana, can you...please wait for me a little bit longer?"

"..." Nana looked away.

"...Take your time to forgive me," Popo said. "You have all the time of the world, but please, forgive me..."

"..." Nana looked at him and nodded slowly.

"Then let us go back and help them out!" Porom suggested and the 4 nodded.

They turned around...and found the 6 already running to them.

"...Not," Porom added.

"What were you doing here?" Cecil asked. "We were having a bad time with Baigan and his flying snake hands."

"Um, Sir Cecil," Porom began. "What are you all doing here?"

"We beat the monsters," Ike said.

At that moment, a pissed Chris (with some scars around his arms and throat, with green goop splattered all over his face) walked to them and kept staring up at the ceiling. "I..." he began as he panted furiously. "Fought for my life...against a stupid flying poisonous enraged snake hand of doom...and crushed it...with my claws..."

"Bless my magic for curing you of Deadly Poison at least 7 times," Tellah said.

"...Dude, you look so pissed," Popo said to Chris.

Chris shook in rage before Sheik put a hand on his shoulder. "There, there, they're done."

"Who are you?" Cecil asked to Sheik.

The Sheikah's eyes widened and shifted her eyes uncomfortably. "I..." she began. "...Have to go..."

She ran away.

"Wait!" Cecil yelled.

At that moment, Zelda came back from the second floor and panted. "I-I'm sorry for leaving, but I needed...(think about something, quick)...to go."

"...Did you see a ninja-looking man just now?"

"(Man?! T-the never of him!!!) No," Zelda said simply. "I-I saw that you defeated the soldier who mutated, right?"

"Who would have known that the monster would go down by stabbing his head through?" Tellah asked.

"With a heavy sword," Ike added.

"VERY heavy sword, my friend," Yang added.

"..." Chris wiped the goo off his face. "And you also spun the sword a little too fast, and he kept screaming until he fell down and vanished...that was gross."

"..." The 4 twins kept blinking at them.

"We don't have to worry about Baigan anymore," Cecil said. "Now we have to talk with the kin-"

The paladin stopped once he saw the king passed out on the throne, with Nana's hammer falling off from the steps before it went all the way down to her.

"...Oh," Nana began as she blushed. "So this is where I flung my hammer." She picked it up. "I-I'm sorry for hitting you!" She bowed to the king.

"U-ugh..." the king of Baron grumbled before he sat up. "What kind of fool throws a hammer out of nowhere..."

The king looked down at the 10.

"...Cecil!" he said smiling. "My, you've changed, my child."

"...Your Majesty," Cecil began as he stepped forward. "I have something to discuss with you."

"There's a freaking bomb over there!!!" Popo screamed as he pointed at the nearby Subspace Bomb.

The other 9 looked at it and gasped. "W-what kind of device is that?" Tellah asked.

"I've never seen something like it before..." Yang said. "...Curse my kingdom," he muttered.

"Cecil," the king stood up. "What have you done to yourself?"

"Your Majesty," Cecil began again. "What is that big...thing?"

"Oh, don't mind it," the king said. "It's going to take the whole kingdom after it blows up."

"The whole kingdom?" Cecil repeated shocked. "Your Majest-"

"What have you done to yourself?" the king repeated. "A paladin? No, that won't do for my army, Cecil. You must inherit the dark sword again and help the kingdom in its quest for domination of all the other kingdoms."

"...Never," Cecil said. "I regret from doing those things to everyone in Mysidia. I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I'll have to follow the path I chose."

"...Pitiful," he said. "Fine, be that way."

"I sense evil from him," Tellah said suddenly.

"..." Cecil looked somewhat miffed. "...Your Majesty...are you..."

"Oh, for the love of Barbariccia, yes!" the king said in relief. "Yes! I'm not the king but Cagnazzo, the lord of all waters!"

"I thought that was Leviathan," Porom commented.

"S-shut up!" the king demanded. "I've had enough of impersonating the fallen king of Baron all these years!"

"What?" Cecil asked. "You...killed His Majesty?"

"Yes!" Cagnazzo yelled. "And Golbez! He put me here to make sure to conquer Baron after killing the king!"

A blue atmosphere filled the whole room, and they watched as the king himself began to outgrow his clothes. However, this didn't imply something...not recommended, but instead, he began to turn blue as he slammed his hands down on the floor and began to grow into a big-turtle-devil monster with a demonic human head. He later glowed dark as the Shadow Bugs poured out from his legs.

The group gasped as Dark Cagnazzo roared loudly to the ceiling, and even some of them were disgusted by this. "Let me guess, another monster with those Shadow Bugs?" Tellah asked.

"Y-yes!" Chris said.

The Black Mages - Fight With The Four Fiends

"I...am Cagnazzo," Dark Cagnazzo proclaimed. "And I am the Elemental Lord of Water!"

"Are you single?" Palom asked.

"Hush!" Porom yelled.

"You shall perish for attacking me with a puny hammer!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled.

"Hey!" Nana pointed at him with her hammer. "This hammer turns out to be a gift from my mom, and you won't mock it!"

"Yeah!" Popo said as he did the same. "How can you mock these hammers, idiot?"

Chris, Zelda, and Ike looked at each other. "Did Popo just say something not so stupid?" Ike asked.

Popo blinked...but he shook his head and glared at the Lord of Water. "Bring it on, demon shell!"

"With all pleasure!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed. "Coldest ice, trap my enemies inside eternal glaciers... Blizzaga!"

Stalactites of ice suddenly formed on the ceiling above the group, and they started to fall down. The 10 gasped and quickly ran at different parts before the spikes could pierce them.

"The bomb!" Chris yelled. "We have to deactivate it!"

The World Traveler quickly ran at the bomb and looked panicked.

"W-what now?" Chris asked.

"Let me give you the instructions!" Kawashima yelled. "Certain aspects are easy to me in order to deactivate the bomb!"

"U-um, you know how, really?"

"Of course I do, I'm your virtual tutorial! I serve for every single detail!"

Chris ducked behind the bomb to stay out of range from Dark Cagnazzo. "..." He looked at the R.. "..." He shook his head. There was no way to save them as far as he knew.

"Tell me the enemy's wisdom... Libra!" Porom chanted as a lock-on zoomed on Dark Cagnazzo. The White Mage closed her eyes and focused. "...He's weak against ice... Wait, ice?" She opened her eyes. "Why ice? It's the closest related element to water, but why ice?"

"Slow!" Dark Cagnazzo suddenly called forth some clocks on everyone in the room. The clocks spun around them before they began to lose speed until they vanished.

For some reason, they felt that their own time went less slower than usual.

"What...is...happening?" Ike asked.

"I...believe...that...spell...affected...our...normal...paces..." Tellah said slowly.

"Is...there...a...way...to...get out...from...this?" Yang asked as he slowly ran towards Dark Cagnazzo.

"Let me...use...Haste!" Tellah said slowly. "Porom! ...Do...you...know...Haste?"

"I...think...so!" Porom said slowly. "I...just...started...to...study...it!"

"Good!"

"We...need...to...stop...that...fiend...first!" Ike yelled.

"Quick!" Zelda yelled as she slowly used Din's Fire.

The sphere didn't actually go slow, but it went at its usual speed and collided right on Dark Cagnazzo's head. The fiend grunted a little in pain and shook his head from the explosion.

"Since you're so damn slow, I'll try this! Blizzaga!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled to the ceiling, where more stalactites were formed from mist and waited for Cecil, Ike, and Yang from going underneath.

"I...need...to...attack...and...help...them!" Palom said slowly as he concentrated his magic. "Burn...them...to...greater...ashes..."

"Hurry!" Popo yelled. "They're...not...going...to...notice...the...icicles...in...time!"

"..." Cecil slowly looked up and gasped. "No!"

"DIE!!!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled as the icicles were brought down to them.

The 3 looked up and slowly blocked themselves, but the spears of ice were faster, and thus they shattered upon impact, damaging them greatly as they yelled in pain. "I...hate...this...slow...ness..." Ike panted slowly.

"Blizzaga!" the archfiend yelled as more mist circled around the ceiling and created more huge stalactites that prepare to fall down.

"Fira!" Palom suddenly yelled as scorching flames melted the ice from the ceiling. Dark Cagnazzo cursed at this and glared at the mage.

"Impudent little brat!" he yelled. "Blizzaga!"

Even more mist circled above the twin, who gasped and blinked slowly in shock. When the stalactites were brought down on him, Popo turned quickly as soon as he could and used Blizzard to try to stop the ice from crushing Palom. The ice that he made on his own slowly reached the icicles, but it wasn't enough, and the stalactites shattered into a million of pieces as Palom felt weak and fainted. "No...way..." Palom muttered before he fainted.

"Palom!...!...!" Popo yelled. "No!"

"One down," Dark Cagnazzo said. "9 more..."

"Accelerate...the...body's...mental...clock...of...time..." Tellah chanted. "...Haste!"

Porom blinked surprised as a clock covered herself and began to spin fast until it vanished. She felt that her own time began to move faster than before. "Why?" Porom asked.

"Revive...your...brother..." Tellah said slowly. "Slow...won't...be there...anymore..."

"Right!" Porom said as she quickly focused. "Innocent soul lost withi-Raise!" she quickly chanted.

A small angel came from above and touched Palom's back, instantly making him glow with light before the angel and the light vanished. The Black Mage opened his eyes and got up. "Ugh..." he grunted. "That guy...is so gonna pay..."

"Wait!" Porom began. "Maybe I can use my own Haste and use it on one at a time!" she said before she focused her magic. "Accelerate the body's mental clock o-Haste!"

Haste was used on Tellah, who quickly regained his normal speed before obtaining Haste's true effect. "All right!" he said. "Now's time for payback!"

"Slow!" Dark Cagnazzo suddenly yelled.

Many clocks began to spin on everyone before they were reverted back to being slow.

"Damn...it!" Porom cursed.

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed. "Admit your demises, you can't reach me even if I can't move from my place!"

"I...won't...give up..." Cecil said slowly. "You...will...pay...for...killing...Your...Majesty..."

"Oh, give me a break," the archfiend said. "That fool didn't know how to rule this kingdom at all. I made you a favor."

"You're...wrong!" Cecil yelled as he tried to run at him to slash his sword at his face. "He...was...very...noble!"

"Cecil!" Ike yelled. "Don't...fall...for...his...words!"

"You're..." Cecil got an annoyed face.

And since talking extremely slow has become so boring after a while...

"I'm sick of talking this slow!" Cecil said slowly (no, really, he did say it slowly, only sped up). "We have t-"

The group saw Dark Cagnazzo's feet surging with water that made a barrier around him. "What is happening?" Nana asked slowly.

"Fools," Dark Cagnazzo said. "I had enough of playing with you, useless scum."

"That didn't look like you were playing!" Chris yelled slowly from the bomb.

"...It's time to drown all of you within my waters!" the archfiend proclaimed.

"Quick!" Yang yelled slowly. We must stop hi-"

"Waters..." Dark Cagnazzo began as the group felt the ground shake violently. "Engulf the malicious people that usurp your realm, and drown them till their last breath..." The shell monster opened his mouth wide and yelled, "TSUNAMI!!!"

The group saw water quickly filling the right side of the throne room and it quickly rose to a huge wave. They all gasped and tried to run to the opposite side, but the wave managed to caught up with them, and they were being dragged where Chris was with the bomb.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled as he saw the wave going after him. The World Traveler looked around for a way to hide, and that's when he saw the bomb itself...

The wave crashed down on the wall, and everyone grunted in pain before they all fell down, weakened to their last energies. "..." Nana couldn't speak at all. The effect of Slow, and the fact that she didn't have much energies made her get pushed to the edge to die.

"Mwahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed maniacally. "And look at this!"

The archfiend saw most of them fainting on the floor, where their bodies hit the floor, one by one...

"..." Nana looked at Porom by the side. "...So...rry..." she muttered before she fainted.

"...Don't..." Porom managed to say before she fainted as well.

"..." Popo began to sob silently. "...This...is...so...unfair..." he managed to mutter before he fainted weakly.

"Looks like I drowned you with just one hit!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed. "This power! Yes, YES! IT'S GREAT! IT'S POWERFUL! I'm...POWERFUL!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Music stops

Through their battles...they all fought with everything against any evil in their path...

But the fact that evil itself was just too much for them, it finally stopped their progress forever...

And as for the Subspace...

...It conquered everything in its way...

...

"Mwahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed. "Golbez! I've fulfilled your request. Cecil and his companions are finally dead as you asked! Mwahahahahahahahahah-"

A quick figure suddenly appeared from the corridor and ran at full speed to the monster before the figure itself jumped high up and raised an electrified hammer. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" A yell of rage came from above the archfiend.

"What?" Dark Cagnazzo looked up. "Who is that?"

"DAMN YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!" the figure yelled as it quickly dove down and smashed its hammer of lightning on Dark Cagnazzo's head, piercing through the water shield that sprouted out from the archfiend's feet. Dark Cagnazzo's body began to be paralyzed after the hit that he roared in utter pain as the figure jumped back and glared at him.

"W-who the hell are you?!" Dark Cagnazzo asked. "W-what do you think you're doing to me?!"

"Hey, I ain't letting you mess with my boys," the figure said. "Let alone Cecil, you monster!"

"I-I asked you a question, and I want you to respond to it!" Dark Cagnazzo demanded. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

The figure revealed itself to be a fat man with a blue suit on. He had rather muscular arms (but then again, he had the DS look, so it was hard to make out), he had a brown beard, a blue helmet with goggles that covered his eyes, and he also wielded the electrified hammer. This man who showed up so suddenly was short as well, but he looked rather happy.

"The name's Cid Pollendina," the man introduced himself. "Baron's main engineer of airships, and creator of the Red Wings!"

Cid Pollendina is Baron's main engineer in airships. He has been looking after Cecil, Rosa, and Kain since childhood that they grew friendly with him and see him as an uncle of the sorts. Cid's also responsible for creating the airships of the Red Wings.

As a side note, he has the oddest ability to appear in any Final Fantasy universe in person, but in another reincarnation (with different memories, of course). Not only that, he's always referred as a famous airship engineer through each series. (The only things that change with every single new manifestation of him are his appearance and last name).

"Remember me?" Cid asked as he pointed at himself. "I was imprisoned because I didn't want to build more airships for Golbez. So I broke up from my cell, came all the way, and saw you sin of nature killing my ol' boy Cecil, and I upgraded my hammer with a Zeus Wrath to turn into a lightning weapon, and zap you up!"

"So what about that?" Dark Cagnazzo asked as sparks emanated out. "It's my mission to kill Cecil should he not agree with Golbez's ideals!"

"Oh no, you don't understand," Cid said. "You're gonna have to apologize for doing all this madness through Baron. If you don't say sorry, then say it to my hammer while its on your face!"

The Black Mages - Fight With The Four Fiends

The engineer quickly ran at the monster with his lightning hammer ready on his right shoulder. Dark Cagnazzo wanted to move and attack back, but he was still paralyzed after the harsh hit on his hammer. "Ugh! Your stupid hammer...it paralyzed me!" he complained.

"All the better!" Cid said before he raised his hammer and prepared to slam it down on the archfiend.

"DAMMIT!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled. "NO!!!"

"Careful, I hit harder when I see dead people!" Cid laughed before he slammed down his hammer on Dark Cagnazzo's face. The archfiend yelled in pain after electricity was sent through his body. "Yeehaw!" Cid said with a laugh. "I might be old, but good ol' Cid knows how to deal a good smack!"

"UGH!" Dark Cagnazzo shook his head. "W-what makes you think you can defeat me?! I can still fight back!"

"Nope!" Cid said. "Get prepared for Cid's Constant Cracks!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The engineer began to bang his hammer on the archfiend's face continuously, making Dark Cagnazzo yell in pain with every hit landing right on him.

As Cid kept laughing merrily at his crazy hitting spree, someone peered from the Subspace Bomb (that was pushed to the wall, and even a crack appeared on it) and looked at Cid fighting Dark Cagnazzo.

"...Cid?" Chris asked before he looked down at the bomb's countdown. "...It stopped..." he said weakly. "Cagnazzo's Tsunami attack must have...stopped it..."

"Chris, are you there? Chris!" Kawashima called.

"Y-yes, I'm still living," Chris muttered.

"Good," he said. "It looks like the monster stopped the bomb with his own attack. That's good luck if you ask me, and it's more when you're still standing!"

"I-I saw the bomb and I..." The World Traveler looked at the deactivated R.. "...They..."

"Look!" Kawashima called out. "It's time to get fighting again."

"But..." Chris looked at the side, where everyone else was fainted. "Everyone..."

"I know, you'll have to revive them," Kawashima said. "While that crazy old man is beating the heck out of the fiend's skull, you have to take advantage of the distraction and heal everyone."

"But can I really do it in time?"

"Hmm..." Kawashima thought for a moment. "...Revive the White Mages first."

"You mean...Porom and Tellah?"

"Yes! You have to revive them first so they can help you with the rest!"

Chris looked worried at his group...but he later nodded seriously as he looked back at the fight, wishing for Cid to keep going while the World Traveler took advantage of the situation.

In a hurry, he changed to his Fonic Hymn User job and concentrated... "But how did Cid..."

"Remember that I told you that something was screwed up here?" Kawashima asked. "Well, I think Cid's sudden arrival was affected and so this happened. If you ask me, this is very beneficial."

"..."

"Chris! Earth to Chris! Respond! Around 9 people need healing!"

"Y-yes, I'm going!" Chris responded back in panic before focusing on the group.

"And we do it like this," Cid said as he banged on Dark Cagnazzo's head. "And like, and like that, and like these, and like those, and like that agai-"

"STOP IT!!!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled in fury as he managed to push the engineer away. "Ugh...that stupid hammer of yours..."

"Well, well!" Cid said proudly. "Guess this old man can give quite a punch, right?"

"Slo...Slo...Slo..." Dark Cagnazzo was suddenly freed from being paralyzed. "SLOW!"

And Cid was made slow. He made a miffed face. "Whoops...guess I said too much already..."

"You...fat...bastard..." Dark Cagnazzo said panting. "You're going to pay for attacking th-"

"Blah, blah, blah, turtle thingy," Cid said slowly and annoyed. "Ain't afraid of some turtle soup here myself."

"AAHH!!!" the archfiend yelled enraged. "THAT IS IT! YOU SHALL DIE FOR MOCKING THE LORD OF THE WATERS!"

"Wasn't that some monster named Leviathan or something?" Cid commented.

"I AM THE TRUE ONE, THE ONE AND ONLY CAGNAZZO!"

"Pfft, the fish I have as a pet is way more fearsome than you."

"H-how the heck can you talk so fast when I used Slow on you?!"

"Hmm?" Cid tilted his head. "You did what to who now?"

"DAMMIT! I'M SICK OF YOU!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled before water sprouted out from his feet and made a shield of water around him. "Waters..."

"Uh-oh," Cid said. "Guess I'll have to stop him again."

The engineer ran towards the archfiend, but at a slow pace since the effect of Slow still was affecting him.

"Engulf the malicious people that usurp your realm, and drown them till their last breath..."

"Thunder!"

A small bolt of lightning pierced through Dark Cagnazzo's water shield that stopped him from finishing his spell on the engineer. Cid blinked confused at this as the archfiend shook his head. "Who did that just now?" Dark Cagnazzo asked as he looked around.

"The Great Palom," Palom began as he stepped in front of him. "Yours truly, the greatest Black Mage of all Mysidia!"

"Y-you!" the archfiend yelled. "What are you brat doing now? I thought I finished you off!"

"Hmm, not quite," Palom said. "I kinda wanted to return so here I am!"

"Get away from my sight!" Dark Cagnazzo demanded.

"Sure," Palom said as he sidestepped.

The archfiend looked confused at this reply before 2 claws scratched his face harshly. The water fiend yelled in pain and shook his head before he opened his eyes and saw a blur. "Grr, what is the meaning of all this nonsense?!"

"I have some matters to attend with you," Yang said as he prepared to attack again. "And I won't stop until I see you dead."

"Likewise here," Dark Cagnazzo said. "Shall I slow you down...literally?"

"Slow!" called a voice.

Dark Cagnazzo saw a clock of time spinning around him before it slowed down. The archfiend gasped at this and grunted angrily as he tried to move faster. "What...the...hell?!" he asked enraged. "Why is everything falling apart for me this time?!"

"Because..." Porom began as she appeared behind Cid, who was later healed of his slowness by Tellah's Dispel. "You sir need to understand full well that it's bad to rule a kingdom while you're evil."

"What does that have to do with this?" Dark Cagnazzo asked quickly. He felt someone jumping above his shell before the top of his head was slashed roughly. "AAAHH!!!"

"That was for killing His Majesty," Cecil said before he jumped off from the shell and landed close to Cid. "Cid, it's good to see you well."

"Cecil, old boy!" Cid said relieved. "You've changed, huh? Well, the dark knight armor didn't fit you that well at all. You look like some sort of prince now!"

"Quit chatting!" Dark Cagnazzo demanded. "Blizzag-"

"Blizzard!"

The archfiend yelled in pain as 2 icy winds came from each side. Dark Cagnazzo managed to see both Popo and Nana blowing blizzard out from their mouths.

And yes, irony fell on the archfiend since it was his weakness: ice.

"Keep...blowing..." Nana said through her ice breath.

"I'm...trying!" Popo yelled back.

"BEGONE!" Dark Cagnazzo pushed the 2 of them away with his hands and roared to call forth his water shield. "Waters..."

"Shock them to greater paralysis... Thundara!" Tellah interrupted suddenly as he called forth many bolts that pierced through the shield of water, and damaged the archfiend greatly.

"Dammit you all!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled. "Stop interrupting my own spells already! Whatever, I better end this like I did befo-"

"RUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" yelled a voice from behind as a heavy sword was slammed down on the shell. The impact made the whole shell shake violently, causing Dark Cagnazzo to lose his focus for a brief moment before Zelda jumped high and kicked him with the tip of her shoes, causing great damage by the added little bit of magic at the tip.

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima called as Chris ran to them.

"Are we winning?" Porom asked.

"I can't tell," Tellah said. "We can only guess his weakness, but not how much he has left."

Ike backed away to them. "Well, he still looks a little bit healthy after all those blows."

"Wait," Chris muttered. "Popo! Nana! Use your..." The World Traveler looked at the FF Iv gang. "...Magic!"

"..." Popo and Nana looked at each other.

"Final Smash," Nana muttered.

"Oh," Popo said with a nod.

Without saying anything, both of them raised their hammers above and called forth the Over Limit, covering themselves in a rainbow aura.

"...Hey!" Palom looked angrily at Porom. "Why can't we do that?"

"Wait," Palom began as he looked at Dark Cagnazzo busy trying to push away Yang and Cecil. "We should take advantage of this distraction and prepare our Twincast for real..."

"...Right!" Palom said excited. "Let's do this!"

Both nodded to each other and reunited their hands close to each other. Magic slowly began to fly around them.

"Blizzaga!" Dark Cagnazzo managed to yell to cast mist above his attackers. Cecil and Ike gasped and ran away from the impact site.

However, Yang remained, nodded one time and braced himself as the stalactites began to fell down.

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Dark Cagnazzo laughed as he saw Yang being impacted by the stalactites. Mist flew out from the pieces of ice, and the archfiend smirked to himself. "...What?!"

Once the mist cleared out, a weakened Yang came out from the mist and ran towards the archfiend before the monk raised his Lightning Claw and struck it down on the shell. Dark Cagnazzo felt the impact and grunted angrily. Fortunately for him, he was able to reach Yang's feet to grab them.

The monk gasped before he was thrown away to Tellah. The sage gasped and tried to run, but both collided with each other and slid on the red carpet with some grunts of pain when they stopped.

"O divine spears, run my enemy thro-" Chris was interrupted as he saw more ice circling above him. The World Traveler gasped and ran away from the incoming stalactites before they could hit him. "Can you do something else than casting those icicles?!" Chris asked annoyed.

"Sl-"

This part made everyone gasp.

But it was interrupted as a spinning hammer was flung to his face, and to his mouth where it got hurt, making Dark Cagnazzo yell in pain once again. "This is the second hammer I've been damaged with!" he complained.

"Oh ho ho ho ho, no," Cid said. "You ain't gonna finish those darn spells anymore."

"If you filthy fat bastard didn't intervene in this battle, then nothing of all of this would have happened to me in the first place!" Dark Cagnazzo complained. "And you know what? I'm going to give it all this time for REAL!!!"

The floor began to shake violently, and everyone looked at their right and gasped when a huge wave appeared out of nowhere.

"B-but you didn't chant a spell to use th-" Zelda got interrupted.

"U-um, if you forgot, THERE'S A DAMN TSUNAMI WANTING TO DROWN US!!!" Chris yelled in panic.

"Okay..." Ike sat down.

"W-what are you doing?" Zelda asked.

"Our deaths are just inside that," Ike said as he looked bored at the tsunami...with a smile. "And we better accept this..."

"..." Zelda looked at Chris.

"In other words, Ike's emo or whatever that means," Chris said.

Brown gloves clapped hands together...

And the floor began to shake even more violently.

"Oh, don't tell me he's using another Tsunami!" Cid yelled. "I'm no good swimmer! I'm allergic to water!"

"Besides the fact it's very unlikely to be allergic to water," Tellah began. "We're death."

And from the floor, a huge iceberg emerged and blocked the furious water from crashing down on everyone. Not even that, but the iceberg managed to appear underneath the archfiend and flipped him over as he yelled in pain for the mist damaging him.

"I guess not," Tellah said simply.

Most of them looked at each other confused...and not by Tellah, but to the huge iceberg before them.

"UGH! W-what is the meaning of this now?!" Dark Cagnazzo complained.

"..." The Ice Climbers stared at the iceberg. "...The blessing of the ice..." Popo began.

"Truly something admirable..." Nana commented.

"...You 2 called that iceberg?" Dark Cagnazzo asked. "...That is IT! I HAD IT WITH YOU NOW!!!"

"Sorry for interrupting, but..." Nana pointed at him. "Can you get back up?"

Dark Cagnazzo smirked and...struggled to get up, but his weight was just too much to even hop from the floor. And since he didn't move at all from the front of the throne, then it only meant something...

No, not even with water would push him back on his feet. It tried to push him back from underneath, but it didn't budge him a little.

"UGH! UGH! UGH!!!" Dark Cagnazzo grunted. "Something, SOMETHING MUST PULL ME BACK ON MY FEET! This didn't happen at all in the past...but why? ...The Shadow Bugs!" he said annoyed. "Ugh, those bugs made me more powerful...but they made me heavier as well?!"

Dark Cagnazzo struggled and struggled, but he just couldn't go back up on his feet. The whole group watched helplessly as the archfiend tried and tried to get up, but with no success whatsoever.

"...You know," Ike began as he stood up. "I can't believe we needed to flip him over to make him useless to fight back."

"...This is bad..." Zelda said as she narrowed her eyes at the archfiend. "I don't think the battle ended."

"We have to kill him off," Cecil said. "What is wrong?"

"...The air seems to get a lot colder all of a sudden..."

Chris looked at the iceberg. "Is it because of the iceberg?"

"No..." Zelda muttered. "Something else is causing this chilling air..."

"...Yes," Tellah said. "This cold breeze is...evil..."

"Have you ever thought about your weird ability to sense evil at all?" Chris asked before he looked up. "What could be causing this..."

His eyes widened.

"The boy's looking weird. Why's that?" Cid asked as he looked up. "...Everyone..."

"..." Zelda looked up. "...So that's the reason?!"

Everyone looked up...

And a whole amount of mist created and unlimited amount of stalactites ready to fall down at any second. The group gasped and turned to the exit of the room, but an ice door blocked the way out. There was no way to escape from the throne room at all.

"..." Ike looked around. "Where are the windows here?"

"If I recall..." Cecil looked down. "There were no plans to build windows here at all..."

"What kind of stupid idea is that?" Zelda asked. "This place surely gets hot for not having air coming in at all."

"Ehem," Tellah began. "We could either discuss Baron's lack of windows, or..." He pointed up. "We could think about something to stop those stalactites from crushing us to our deaths."

Dark Cagnazzo smirked. "Mwahahahahahahaha!"

This repetitive maniacally laugh made everyone get bored.

"Fools! There's no escape from this at all! You have angered me to the edge and I'm sick of that! I was paralyzed, interrupted, slowed, ESPECIALLY SLOWED, and attacked by 11 people and an iceberg!"

"Then if you were slowed," Ike began. "How come you were able to do all that above us?"

"Because I'm forcing the Shadow Bugs to give me the necessary strength (and quickness) to finish you all with one last blow," the archfiend explained. "I'll win after all, am I not?"

Many cracks began to be heard from the ceiling, and the stalactites prepared to fall down on all of them. They looked around for any way to avoid them, but there was no way to evade the insane amount of icicles.

"I-I don't want to die by being impaled by an icicle...through my head!" Chris yelled.

"I bet NOBODY wants to die like that," Ike said bored.

"Ike, you're not helping at all..." Chris said bored.

"(I need to maintain this ultimate force...)" Dark Cagnazzo thought. "(Forcing these bugs to give me more power depletes it even faster than before...) This will be the end for your foolish kind, humans. Say good bye to the world you used to walk on everyday!"

"Porom..." Palom muttered as he struggled to focus.

"We can do this..." Porom muttered back. "Keep focusing a little longer..."

"NOW!!!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled as he still tried to get up.

A chain reaction of shattering sounds began to move around the stalactites. The whole group gasped in horror as it began to go down slow, then it picked up pace and fell down on them.

"Not if we say something about it!" Palom yelled.

"Now!" Porom yelled.

Both mages held out their hands to the icicles and their hands glowed red with fire power. With a loud scream, they yelled, "Pyro!"

The atmosphere became red, and small circling flames appeared right above everyone. The flames and the icicles met together before the ice began to melt quickly upon contact. The group watched as no ice was able to go through the flames that they blinked in surprise.

"What?!" Dark Cagnazzo said in pure disbelief. "Dammit!"

"A little bit longer..." Porom muttered as they tried to maintain the flames above them. The icicles were not fully melted yet.

Tellah shook his head. "I should do something to help them out..." He looked at Dark Cagnazzo cursing. "...Maybe I could drink an Ether, then use Blizzaga..." The sage took a small green potion and drank it slowly.

"Porom..." Nana muttered amazed. "...You're...really amazing..."

Porom forced a smile as she kept focusing in tandem with Palom. "T-thank you, Nana. I appreciate it very much."

"You 2, keep going like that!" Popo said.

"I think we're not far from winning anymore," Nana said. "Just a little bit longer and then that monster will go down!"

The Ice Climbers blinked in surprise as they looked at both twins...

Something inside them suddenly...became more apparent...

"...Nana..." Popo muttered.

"...I felt it..." Nana said. "...When I looked at them again, something new got inside me..."

"And me as well," Popo said. "...What could it be?"

"...I don't know..." Nana said worried. "But...what if test it out now?"

"How?"

Nana looked at Palom and Porom. "...Maybe..."

"What should we do now?" Zelda asked. "I don't think they're going to maintain that barrier of fire any longer, and the ice doesn't melt that fast at all! At this rate...we could be crushed."

"Damn this!" Cid complained. "I appear right before the nick of time to save everyone, then I get myself dragged into this madness."

"Duh," Ike said. "You could have done better, though."

"Hey, watch that mouth, boy! Here I am, saving your butt, only to receive an insult an-"

"Cid, calm down," Cecil said. "We're not used to fight from long-range anyway."

"Since you're a paladin," Zelda began. "You can use some, um, White Magic, right?"

"...Wait..." Cecil realized something. "...I do know...and I could cast..." He moved his hands closer. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

Albeit to say, this move was a little bit useless. They all were healed for just 5 percent of their wounds. It wasn't going to make much of a difference.

"...Don't want to sound harsh," Cid began. "But that felt...puny..."

"...I expected it," Cecil said. "I'm just a novice in White Magic, and paladins aren't experts in that field of magic."

"I-I'm sure you'll master it someday," Zelda said.

"Are you blushing, Zelda?" Ike asked out of the blue.

"T-the heat here is intense!" Zelda lied as she waved her hand to herself. "Oh my..."

"..." Ike looked at no one in particular.

"Hmm..." Kawashima nodded. "...Somebody here learned something new in this world."

"What?" Chris asked.

"2 people here learned a new skill," Kawashima said. "Look around. They should be doing it right now."

"Hmm..." Chris looked around. The shield of fire seemed to be decreasing, but the icicles were no more above them.

The mages sighed in relief and sat down. "Man...we haven't done something like keeping our spells for that long," Palom said.

"Agreed," Porom said. "Just...let's leave this...to Cecil and the others..."

"Cagnazzo!" Cecil suddenly spoke as he pointed his sword at the archfiend. "It is time for you to pay for what you've done to the kingdom of Baron. You shall die for your crimes."

"...Cecil..." Dark Cagnazzo panted heavily. "...I...will...kill...you...all..."

"...Is it me, or is he feeling weaker?" Yang asked.

"Well, after all those blows..." Zelda wondered.

"...But..." the archfiend continued. "...I'll...end it all...today... Be prepared...for...another..."

"Coldest ice, trap my enemies inside eternal glaciers... Blizzaga!" a voice interrupted.

Several huge stalactites of ice appeared above the archfiend and struck down his lower shell, causing massive damage to his body. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Dark Cagnazzo yelled in pain. "N-no!"

"Serves you right!" Tellah called.

"Wait!" Ike began. "He's close to be defeated now. Just look!"

They all looked back at the archfiend, and he didn't look menacing as he did before.

"We have to go all out, then," Yang said. "Then let us finish this."

The group prepared to run to the monster, but they suddenly stopped as they looked at the Ice Climbers. "Wait, are you 2..." Zelda trailed off. "...I mean, what are you doing now?"

Popo and Nana didn't pay attention.

Both of them were doing the same thing that Palom and Porom did before. They were concentrating some kind of mist between their hands.

"Nana?" Porom began. "Do you..."

"Wait," Palom began. "You 2 can use Twincast as well?"

"So is that the name of the attack we just learned?" Nana asked before she felt a stronger concentration of magic. "It's...it's ready?"

"I-it is!" Popo said surprised. "W-what is this, really?"

"I...I...I!" Dark Cagnazzo struggled to talk. "I...will..."

Both of them looked at the archfiend and glared at him. "You know, that guy is really pissing me off now," Nana said.

"Me too," Popo said. "Nana...shall we?"

"It's this or nothing, I think..." Nana said unsure.

The 2 of them nodded to each other and quickly, in perfect sync, looked back at Dark Cagnazzo, pulled back their hands behind them, before stepping ahead, moving their hands forward as mist was sent out blowing to the archfiend. The mist suddenly became a storm of ice as time passed, and that made most of them get surprised. They watched as Popo and Nana remained in their place, unleashing the ice magic to the archfiend. "ICE STORM!!!" they both yelled loudly as their voices echoed.

"W-what?!" Dark Cagnazzo watched the storm quickly covering his body. "N-NO!!! NO! NO! W-what the hell is this attack?!" His feet began to be freezing. "N-no! T-the Shadow Bugs, they're taking away my energy!" His shell began to freeze. "W-wait, this has to be some kind of bad omen or something!"

"FOCUS EVEN MORE!!!" Nana yelled.

"I GOT IT!" Popo yelled as both made the attack stronger, depleting their energies even faster.

"W-wait, stop! Y-you don't know what you're doing at all!!!" Dark Cagnazzo's body began to freeze from his shell to his hands and head. "A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! L-LONG LIVE LORD GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLBE-"

Music stops

The archfiend's body got frozen instantly in the harsh ice, and the group watched the Ice Climbers falling down to their knees before panting heavily. They all kept blinking at Cagnazzo, whose Shadow Bugs began to leave him as they vanished.

It was not long before his frozen hands fell off, and the rest began to fall apart as well. It was a matter of time before Cagnazzo turned into crumbles of ice that later melted into the carpet.

"...We...won...didn't we?" Nana asked as she panted.

"...Yes..." Zelda responded with a small smile. "It's over..."

"What did we...just do?" Popo asked.

"Oh, I can explain you that," Palom began. "You 2 just used Twincast."

"It's only a special kind of magic that Palom and I can do well in complete tandem," Porom explained. "You 2 managed to learn it somehow. I guess only twins can do that because...well, it's Twincast."

"So you mean we learned magic?" Nana asked.

"It seems that way."

"..." She looked away. "Mwahahahaha. Absolute power is all mine..."

"Nana?" Popo asked.

She looked back at him with a smile. "Nothing wrong here!" she said sweatdropping.

Cecil walked towards the throne where the ice once was. He looked at the lonely chair and bowed his head to it. "Your Majesty...you've been avenged."

"Cecil," Ike began as he walked to him. "Did you...um...know the king?"

"...Yes," Cecil said. "His Majesty was a man of honor and true kindness. He took me in when I was abandoned as a baby." He looked up. "And Cagnazzo killed him out of the blue..."

"..." Ike nodded and bowed his head to the throne.

As Chris was watching this... "(Don't tell him he's Odin now, don't tell him he's Odin now...)"

"HEY!" Cid suddenly called to Cecil. "Ain't you going to say hello to me or what?!"

"Oh," Cecil said as he walked back to the group. "Cid, it's good to see you again. Thank you for aiding us in battle."

"Heheh, thanks," Cid said. "I was sick of staring at bars, so I broke 'em up with my trusty hammer. Can you believe they forgot to take it away from me?"

"Chris," Zelda whispered to him. "Do you think it's time to go back? The Subspace Bomb was destroyed in the battle."

"Well..." Chris thought. "...I think we're done here. We first have to say them good bye and leave. However, we should first leave this place and..."

Something hit his mind again.

The World Traveler looked at Palom and Porom some feet away from them, with Popo and Nana.

"..." Popo looked at Nana. "...Nana..."

Nana looked down. "I know you fought well in the battle, but I still have doubts..."

"I know," Popo said. "...So...let me continue..."

Final Fantasy X - Someday The Dream Will End

"I kept acting dumb all the time because those dreams kept haunting me... It's ironic, don't you think? The dreams caused nightmares outside of them, and I had to be distracted of them by being stupidly cheerful all the time. You...were getting annoyed by that..."

"...I'll be honest," Nana said. "I did... Wait, then..."

Nana remembered the words Porom said to her back in Mt. Ordeals.

"And for the problem of your brother..." Porom began.

Nana looked away.

"Maybe I'm wrong," she began. "But Popo could be trying to hide his saddest memories."

"...What?"

"Trust me," Porom said. "My brother is not that different from your brother. I heard that the most enthusiastic of people tend to be very happy because something so awful happened in their lives before, and nobody is different from each other."

"...The most enthusiastic of people tend to be very happy because something so awful happened in their lives before..." Nana repeated. "...So Popo was hiding his sad memories about our real parents by acting..."

"Retarded..." Popo finished. "...I'm so sorry, Nana..."

Nana looked down and frowned.

"I made you feel really uncomfortable about me, and I went overboard with the personality all this time. I annoyed you a lot and..." Popo buried his face on his hands. "...F-forgive me, Nana... I...I won't do this to you again...really..."

Nana blinked and tried to stop her tears from strolling down. She looked at Popo and shook her head many times. "...Popo..." she muttered.

Nana looked at Palom and Porom.

"...Do it," Porom said with a small smile. "You have to do it now."

Palom seemed to be understanding, and he nodded with a chuckle.

"..." Nana looked back at Popo. "...Popo!" she cried in happiness before she ran to him and hugged him tightly. "I...I forgive you, don't worry anymore, please!"

"N-Nana!" Popo cried before he returned the hug as both sobbed on each other's shoulders. "P-please, promise me you're going to forgive me...Nana..."

"...Always..." Nana sniffed before she forced a smile. "...I will always forgive you...because..."

"...We're siblings...and...twins..." Popo muttered happily. "...It's good to be back, Nana..."

"Popo..." she muttered before both smiled.

"...Oh!" Porom remembered something. "Nana, you never got to finish that story about the condor, remember?"

"The condor?" Popo asked as he cleared his tears. "Oh, I know what story is that. I remember it very well... Nana, can I?"

"...Please," Nana said with a chuckle.

"Okay," Popo began. "It was a normal day where we gathered food to eat for dinner, and..."

Flashback

Icicle Mountain
Home

Snowman

Popo and Nana were shown pulling a snow slider with lots of fruits and vegetables inside a bag. Most of the fruits were big eggplants that they gathered in the surroundings of the village.

"Who would have thought that eggplants were being harvested outside the village?" Nana asked. "And under snow as well."

"Well," Popo began. "They're way tastier when they're frozen."

"They're not popsicles," Nana said.

"You eat them and you enjoy them, don't deny it."

"...You have a point," she said with a chuckle.

"Heeeeeeeey!" their dad called from the door. "Get the food in! Your mom is getting everything ready!"

"Aah, fresh fruits for dinner," Nana said. "And we're going to have a feast with all this fruit."

"I don't think I said the intro first..." Nana said embarrassed.

"True," Popo said. "We gathered much more fruits and vegetables today than previous times. All this hard work shouldn't be wasted, right?"

"I know," Nana said. "We're going to have 3 meals for 3 weeks or what?"

"I wish," Popo said excited. "Eggplants for breakfast...strawberries fo-"

"Wait," Nana interrupted. "We don't eat fruits only. We eat soup as well."

"Nana!" Popo groaned. "I wanted to live my fantasy!"

"Well, keep that stomach away from that fantasy," she said. "Because we'll have to eat moderately."

A shadow passed above them...

"Oh ho ho ho ho," Hip said as he saw them with the huge bag of fruits and vegetables. "Seems you 2 really worked harder today, huh? Well, you make your dad proud."

"D-dad!" Nana blushed. "D-don't say that!"

The shadow flied in circles around them...

"Aw, you're my sweetie pie," Hip said. "Accept my compliments for once, girl."

"I don't get compliments?" Popo asked bored.

The shadow grew bigger...

"Well, get the food in!" Hip said. "Hope those bellies are empty, 'cause this will be a special day."

Once he got inside, the twins chuckled to themselves before they pulled the slider inside...

However...

A shrieking sound suddenly echoed, and they instantly blocked their ears. Both looked down to keep the sound from entering their ears, but they slowly looked up.

"W-what's that sound?!" Nana asked through the yell.

"I-I don't know!" Popo yelled.

Soon, their parents came outside and blocked their ears as well. "W-what is that shrieking sound? It's very loud!" Ophelia yelled.

"...Huh?" Hip looked up. "...Is that..."

They all looked up to see a condor (roughly the same size as Popo and Nana, just a little bit bigger) flying in circles. The condor shrieked even more before it dove down right straight for the bag of food...and...

It managed to grab the huge bag with its claws, and it easily took it all high above. The others watched in shock as the animal began to fly north, just where Icicle Mountain resided.

The shrieking stopped, and their jaws lowered in surprise.

"The food!" Ophelia yelled.

"The dinner!" Hip yelled.

"The 3 weeks without having to look around for food!" Nana yelled.

"My eggplantsicles!" Popo yelled.

The 3 stared at him.

"What?" Popo asked annoyed.

"That aside...why did that just take off with our food?" Nana asked. "Ugh! I worked so hard to find it all!"

"It should be the same condor," Hip said.

"What? You know that thing?"

"Yes," Hip said. "Some have said it lives high up in the mountain, and it sometimes goes down to find food for itself."

"But NOT kidnap our DAMN food!" Nana cursed.

"Nana, calm down," Ophelia said. "We can always look for food together." She looked at the faraway mountain. "For now, we'll have to sleep without eating. It's getting late."

"But..." Nana shook her head.

"...Let's just forget about it..." Popo said.

"Good," Hip said. "I better find food tomorrow than going after it for that condor. Let's go inside."

"But!" Nana shook her head as her parents got inside.

Popo soon followed...

But he had his gloves crossed behind his back.

"(What?)" Nana thought in her mind.

"I knew Popo meant something for that," Nana said. "Since our gloves didn't have fingers, we crossed them behind our back to say we were lying," Nana said.

Very early in the morning...

The night before, he told me he wanted to go back for all the food from the condor itself. He spoke his mind out, and I believed in him. Also, we predicted that the food wouldn't be all eaten that fast, so we got prepared to go there without telling our parents. We had to leave a note behind saying that we were going to gather more food early to make them believe in us and not worry.

"Everything's ready?" Popo asked.

"Yes," Nana said. "We should climb the mountain with what we have."

"Good, let's go quietly," Popo suggested.

Nana nodded and both began their way to Icicle Mountain...

"And now we jump to the part where we got to the nest..." Nana said.

The scene fast-forwarded until it stopped right where they were looking at the nest as the condor laid down unconscious nearby.

"?" Popo tilted his head. "Did it just move?"

"I-it did," Nana said with a nod. "But since it's a nest, don't you think it..."

The nest began moving more before long it began to move faster. Both of them took closer looks, and from the nest...

There emerged 5 small baby condors that chirped and chirped for more food. Popo and Nana gasped in awe as they looked at the babies. "Aww!" Nana squealed. "Baby condors!"

"Sooooooooo..." Popo shifted his eyes between the condor and the babies. "The condor was a she, and she had babies to feed."

"Yes!" Nana said as she kneeled to the condors. "They're...oh my gosh! So cute!"

"...S-stop staring at me like that!" Nana said. "T-they did look very cute to me!"

"Nana, Nana! Snap out of it!" Popo shook her sister.

"O-okay, okay! Sheesh..." Nana frowned. "Okay, I'm fine now."

"So let me get this straight," Popo began. "The condor stole the food to feed her children."

"...That's all there's to it," Nana said. "But punishing her isn't an option, don't you think? I mean, she's a mom...and..."

Both of them blinked before looking worried.

"...They don't deserve to be taken away from their mother, do they?" Nana asked worried.

"..." Popo shook his head. "They don't deserve it at all..."

Nana walked to the condor. "We're...sorry for attacking you, but you appeared out of nowhere and...kind of stole our food we gathered..."

The condor slowly got up and looked at them curiously.

"L-look out!" Popo yelled. "She might attack us!"

"..." The condor tilted her head.

"..." Nana tilted her head. "Um...do you really understand what we're saying?"

"..." The condor seemed to nod her head.

"...This is...so freaky..." Nana commented. "Popo, what do you think?"

"I think we're stuck in one of the highest places in the whole mountain, and that I'm going to develop a phobia against heights if I look down?" Popo asked.

"..." Nana gulped and nodded. "...But that aside, what about her?"

"...I think...it's...alright for her to feed her children?" Popo asked as he looked at the babies.

"..." Nana nodded and looked back at the condor. "So...I think we can let you go for now..."

The condor chirped a little bit and nodded. She began to move closer to Nana...and began to rub her beak against her face.

"H-hey! W-what are you doing now?" Nana asked.

"Hmm..." Popo walked to them. "You think she likes us?"

"She likes us?" Nana asked before the condor began to rub her beak at her sides. "Heheheheheh. H-hey! Y-you're tickling me, stop!"

"The condor...befriended us..." Popo said.

Popo chuckled and pulled Nana away from the condor. "Um, why do you like us?"

"Popo, we don't talk its...I mean, her language at all," Nana said.

"Just look at her," Popo began. "She wants to be a friend."

"..." Nana looked at the baby condors. "...I guess they needed to eat food desperately, so..."

"Why are you thinking so much?" Popo asked. "Let's accept her! Who knows, maybe she could take us back home!"

The condor chirped.

"Did it say yes?" Nana asked.

"We don't know... Let's see..." Popo cleared his throat and said slowly, "I aaaaam Pooopooo, sheee iiis Naaanaaa, weee cooomeee iiin peeeaceee frooo-"

"Popo," Nana said bored. "Get to the point."

"Caaan yooouuu taaakeee uuus baaack hooomeee?" Popo asked slowly.

The condor walked to Popo and whacked her beak to his head.

"Okay, okay, I get it now!" Popo said annoyed.

The condor nodded and began to flap her wings to fly above the floor.

"Hmm..." Nana looked at the nest. "...Popo, do you think we could take the nest down and ask her if she can live somewhere nearby our home?"

"You mean like..." Popo thought for a moment. "Give her food for the children and drop by every once in a while?"

"You get the point," Nana said. "Besides, living here in the mountain would have been very harsh."

"...Hey, condor," Popo began. "Have you ever thought about moving?"

The condor chirped.

"Uh-huh."

She chirped.

"Yeah."

She chirped excited.

"Yep."

She chirped annoyed and groaned.

"Oh, I understand."

She chirped like she was laughing.

"I know!" Popo laughed with her.

She chirped louder an-

"STOP!" Nana yelled. "I don't have the remotest idea what she's talking about at all. Did she want to move or what!?"

"Yes!" Popo said.

"Sweet!" Nana said annoyed.

End of flashback

Baron Castle
Throne Room

"After that," Nana said. "We made friends with the condor, and even the babies. The condor took us all down the mountain and...we had to explain everything to our parents."

"After receiving probably the most awful experience of being pounded some times by a huge claw (courtesy of our mother)," Popo said and thought. "We convinced them from putting the condor and her nest next to our home."

"In a small tree," Nana said. "We visit her and her babies from time to time."

"Not only that," Popo added. "But if we want to go somewhere far away, she'll agree to take us anywhere."

"And that's the end of all our past," Nana said. "I think...we can start from zero again."

"But, Nana..." Popo began. "If those dreams start to haunt me again...can I...well...act retarded again?"

Music stops with a scratch

"...What..." Nana asked.

"I-I mean, I-I'll focus whenever we need to, like the missions we do all the time," Popo said. "But I have a bad habit of remembering that, and I need to keep myself distracted. Don't worry, I won't humiliate you in any way."

"...If would have been better if you asked me first before all of this, but..." Nana looked unsure. "...Fine, be that way. HOWEVER, don't do it that often either. I have some reputation left, you know."

Popo chuckled. "You don't worry about me. Luckily, serious times help me forget the dreams. Everything will be just fine until the day I can overcome the dreams."

"Oh, and Porom..." Nana began. "...Thank you for everything you did to me."

"You're welcome," Porom said. "I'm glad I was able to help."

"And me because I distracted Popo," Palom said.

The twins chuckled to each other happily.

The group walked through the corridor of the throne room where Cid explained everything to Cecil. "I have a hidden airship around here. I reserved it for emergency situations."

"We could use it to go after the remaining crystal," Yang said.

"..." Palom and Porom blinked in confusion. "...Everyone!" Porom yelled.

"What is it?" Zelda asked.

"...Something is awfully wrong here..." Porom said as she looked around.

"(Oh no...)" Chris thought. "(This is the same place where...)" He looked at the Ice Climbers. "(Both of them look so happy and if they see what's going to happen next...)"

"Yeah!" Palom said. "The air suddenly was covered with bad omen! A very bad one!"

"...They're right," Tellah said. "I can sens-"

"Evil," everyone said bored.

"Yes," Tellah said (not getting what they meant with that). "...We should be careful."

The atmosphere suddenly turned a shade of blue, and everyone looked at the doors closing from both ends of the same corridor.

"What is happening now?" Ike asked.

"This is bad..." Chris muttered.

"..." Yang went to open the door in front of them. "...The doors won't open!"

"Wait!" Cid yelled. "Let me bang on them!" He started to bang his hammer on the doors, but they were enforced by some magic. "Dammit! Blasted thing won't break up!"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" a voice laughed and echoed from within the corridor.

"Him again?" Zelda asked. "When is he going to stop bothering us?"

"The Drowned King, Cagnazzo, deposed!" Cagnazzo called from hell itself. "But the wicked are not wont to fall alone..."

"Oh no, he suddenly turned poetic," Ike said before everyone stared at him. "...If they start to be poetic, something is bound to happen..." he commented.

"In life, I was terrible, in death, steeped in terror greater still. Drink long and deep of it ere you die! I'll save a briny pit for you in hell. Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

"...What did he mean by that?" Cid asked.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Run!

It was not long before the floor began to shake, and the walls from both side began to slowly move towards them. The group gasped as the room's space began to become smaller and smaller as time passed.

"T-the doors!" Cecil yelled. "We must open them and get out of here!"

"Let me help you!" Ike yelled.

Cecil, Ike, and Tellah went to open the door to the throne room, but it didn't open. Yang, Cid, and Zelda tried to destroy the other door, but it was useless as well. Chris panicked and looked back and forth between the 2 doors.

...But he knew what was going to happen next...

"Dammit! This door won't open!" Yang yelled. "We must get out from here before we die crushed!"

"I'm doin' everything here alone. Give me some help!" Cid yelled.

Zelda tried to slice the door with the tip of her fingers as fast as she could, but it was impossible. "No..." she muttered. "Not like this..."

With a worried look, Chris looked at Palom and Porom, and also he wished Popo and Nana to be somewhere else.

"..." Palom looked at Porom. "...You knew this would happen the moment we entered to Baron, right?" Palom asked.

"Not exactly..." Porom said. "I just sensed the air getting putrid with evil omen, but not this event..." Porom said.

"..."

"..."

"The elder told us to protect Cecil," Palom said.

"And we have to do it, no matter what..." Porom said.

Both twins nodded to each other and ran to each side of the walls. The others tried to push back the walls, but it was impossible as well.

Or futile.

"H-hey," Nana ran to Porom. "What are you doing?"

"Nana..." Porom muttered.

"Palom!" Popo yelled. "What are you going to do?"

"Popo..." Palom remembered the Ice Climber.

"...I'm so sorry..." Porom muttered. "...But we must say good bye..."

"What?" Nana asked. "W-what do you mean by that?"

The others managed to overheard this. "Palom, Porom! What are you going to do?" Cecil asked.

"Cecil," Porom began as she smiled at all of them. "We're sorry, but we won't let you all die like this!"

"Cecil... We'll miss you!" Palom said happily, trying to hold back his tears. "Cecil, you were like an older brother to us when we first met you."

"And traveled with you," Porom added.

"Old man!" Palom called Tellah. "Look after Cecil for us!"

"What's gotten into you 2 now?" Tellah asked.

"What are the kids gonna do?" Cid asked.

"I-I don't know..." Zelda said unsure.

"W-wait!" Nana tried to get the White Mage's attention. "Porom, what are you exactly going to do?"

"Nana..." Porom looked down before she looked at the coming wall. "...I'm sorry, but there's no time to say it anymore."

"W-what do you mean? P-Porom, you're scaring me..."

"Sorry, Popo!" Palom said. "I wanted to say more to you, but I ran out of time! Please, understand me!"

"W-what?" Popo asked in disbelief. "But tell us what you 2 are going to do now!"

Both mages began to get covered by magic as they focused in tandem. The other 9 watched the twins putting their hands against the wall.

Something made the Ice Climbers uncomfortable. "Porom! Just tell me already! You have time!" Nana yelled.

"...We're going to turn ourselves into stone to stop the walls, Nana," Porom muttered as she sniffed. "...And this is our task. It has to be done..."

"What?!" Nana asked in disbelief. "N-no!"

"Don't do that!" Popo yelled. "You don't know how to do that at all!"

"But with our Twincast, we do..." Palom said as he sniffed. "...Porom! Let's do this!"

"Together!" Porom yelled through tears.

"NO!!!" Popo yelled.

"WAIT, PLEASE, STOP!!!" Nana yelled.

The magic began to shine brighter as the twins glowed brightly. They glared at the walls at the same time and focused their magic to the fullest. Popo and Nana backed away from the light's shining brightness before a loud yell came from both mages.

"BREAK!!!" Palom and Porom yelled loudly through the light.

Music stops

At first, the silence came back...

The walls weren't moving anymore, and most of them noticed this...

However, they cared more about what happened to the mages...

Popo and Nana couldn't believe what they found before their eyes. It was so unfair, so sudden, and above else...just plain unfair and stupid for them...

There was a stone that looked exactly like Palom in front of a bewildered Popo...

And there was another stone that looked the same as Porom in front of a terrorized Nana...

"...No..." Cecil muttered.

"..." Zelda shook her head. "...Why..." she muttered sadly before Ike patted her back.

"...I know..." Ike said. "...Unbelievable..."

"(...Is this my fault?)" Chris thought in shame. "(I could have prevented this, but I just couldn't...)"

"They were...only children..." Yang said in shame. "And we couldn't do anything for them..."

Tellah frowned at this and decided to take a moment of silence as Cid looked at him and nodded. "I don't think we understood them more than they did..." Tellah said as he pointed at the Ice Climbers.

Popo and Nana had emotionless faces. It was completely unfair...no, very stupid...

Both slowly got up from the floor and slowly walked to each twin they were the most comfortable with. Popo looked directly at the petrified Palom, and Nana just stared at the petrified Porom.

"...Why..." Nana muttered.

"...You shouldn't have..." Popo muttered.

Final Fantasy IV DS - Tears of Sorrow

Popo and Nana slowly hugged the twins and tried their best to hold back their tears from strolling down their cheeks. But unfortunately, they grew so fond of both twins that they closed their eyes, and their tears began to flow down their eyes.

"So they turned themselves to stone..." Tellah trailed off. "Hold on, now..." He focused his magic. "Remove the bad omen... Esuna!"

Sparkles of light flew around the stones, but something happened...nothing...

The spell had no effect, as the 2 had become into stone by their own will.

Chris managed to overheard the 2 of them sobbing silently to the twins. Most of them felt ashamed that Tellah's Esuna didn't do a thing. The sage looked down and frowned. "Fools...if any of us had to die, it ought to have been me..."

"Palom...Porom..." Cecil muttered.

The sobs suddenly began to be louder as Popo and Nana began to cry. "...Why Porom..." Nana muttered. "Why did you have to do this?! WHY?!"

"Why did you do this?!" Popo cried. "This is so unfair! Why'd this have to happen now?! We were very close to each other!"

"No!" Nana yelled. "Porom, please, come back! You don't have to keep going like this! Porom, POROM!"

"...What can we do?" Zelda muttered as she wiped some tears. "I didn't get to talk to them, and I feel bad about it..."

"There's no way now..." Ike said. "...It...had to be done..."

"NO!" Popo and Nana yelled.

"T-they're not dead!" Nana yelled.

"They're just stone now, but they can be saved!" Popo yelled.

"I'm...afraid not," Tellah said. "I tried with Esuna, but the twins used too much magic that they couldn't control so well, and thus they decided to turn themselves into stone using their will against most healing magic. Think about it, the wall couldn't be stopped so easily, and they serve as blockers..."

"I refuse to believe this!" Nana cried out. "Porom...she can be returned!"

"And Palom as well!" Popo yelled. "No..." He fell down to his knees and looked down. "Palom..."

Nana hugged Porom tightly and sobbed silently. "Porom..."

The pink Ice Climber remembered everything Porom said to her.

"It's good that we're kindred spirits."

"Kindred...spirits?" Nana repeated slowly.

"Yes. We both understand each other so well," she said. "And I didn't think I would find someone like you."

"And I did as well... Maybe I have more emotional strength to tell you more, but I don't want to do it right now."

"I understand. I'm not pushing you."

"Thank you..." Nana said. "Thank you for being my kindred spirit."

"Likewise here," Porom said.

Nana clenched her eyes hardly.

"...I'll help you, don't worry. We're both in this together."

"..." Nana looked up to the stars. "...But...do you think I can find that answer?"

"Of course yo-"

"With you?"

Porom blinked surprised before she nodded and chuckled heartily. "Yes. We're going to find that answer...together..."

"...Thank you so much..." Nana muttered as she shed a tear.

Both girls smiled to each other before staring up to the stars as a shooting star was seen crossing the night's sky.

Nana sobbed louder.

Nana smiled and wiped out her tears with her right arm. "And then, everything was happy again."

"It is, right?" Porom asked. "Are you still happy?"

"...Now that I think about it..." Nana said. "...Porom, tomorrow we're going to find out."

"Find out about what?"

"This helped you to understand both of us better," she said. "But still...this is all about Popo and his sudden change in attitude. There's something odd in him, and I must, I MUST find out if he's really dumb or not."

"And you're going to find out everything tomorrow?"

"Only if you help me," Nana said as she grabbed Porom's hands. "Please, Porom, help me. I want to have my happy times with Popo again, but first, I have to see if he is what I think he really is."

"I can see that," Porom said with a smile. "You're really determined this time, aren't you?"

"Yes," Nana said with a smile. "Tomorrow, Popo will be discovered. If we're going into battle, I'll try to stay close to him and ask him everything. Something should trigger his real self..." She looked up to the moon. "And I will find out..."

"You have my full support," Porom said.

"But..." Nana sobbed. "I'm...I'm not happy anymore! Porom, come back, please! You had a lot of to hear about us!"

"Palom!" Popo yelled. "Just come back, please!"

Both twins broke into tears as the others watched the whole event helplessly.

Only silence was all they could create for now. The corridor was only filled with sobs and cries of sadness from both Ice Climbers.

Deep inside, Chris thought this was his fault... Their cries only made him feel guilty...

Overworld

Sunset arrived, and the Smashers (except for Popo and Nana) were standing in front of Cecil, Yang, Cid, and Tellah.

"We're leaving for now," Ike said. "We're sorry for leaving so suddenly, but we have to part ways here."

"Are you sure it's all right, though?" Yang asked. "We could still use your help."

"Sorry, but we need to leave now," Zelda said. "It's sad this has to end this way."

"The guards at the castle were freed, Cecil," Cid said. "Most of them understood the situation, and they decided to guard the castle. They looked pretty down after knowing the fate of the real king."

"We'll resolve that problem once we finish with Golbez and rescue Rosa," Cecil said before he looked at them. He held out his hand. "As for you all...thank you for helping us. We would have died if it weren't for you."

Ike shook hands with him. "Thanks. I'm glad I met you."

Zelda (shyly) shook hands with Cecil. "It was very pleasant, really," she said as she tried not to blush.

Chris looked down. "..."

"I know..." Cecil nodded to him. "They were very fond of Palom and Porom than any of us here."

"They haven't come back from where they are," Tellah said. "They must be trying hard to understand all of this. How sad for them to lose their friends..."

"I...hope they overcome what they saw with their own eyes..." Chris said.

"...We have to leave now," Cecil said. "We must go after Golbez as soon as possible, or the world could be in danger."

"Well, well," Cid shook hands with the 3. "Sorry for not lettin' Cid travel with you all this time. I'm gonna whack Golbez hard for that!" he said cheerfully.

"Farewell, my friends," Yang said as he bowed to them. "You're always welcome in Fabul. Stop by there to rest once in a while."

"We will (though we don't know where it is,)" Ike said and thought.

The 3 waved at the 4 going inside the castle. Once they got inside, the 3 looked at each other.

"What do you think they're doing?" Zelda asked. "It's been like 3 hours since that happened..."

"I think they're very bewildered," Ike said. "I think I understand their sadness over the loss of their friends."

"But I wonder..." Zelda began. "Why did Palom give me a note about the rules of traveling?"

"Maybe because..." Chris thought. "...They knew we weren't from this world..."

"Is that possible?" Zelda asked. "...But at the same time, it could have been."

"Everyone here senses too many things that we don't," Ike said. "Kind of supernatural."

Zelda chuckled. "Ike, I sense evil."

The other 2 chuckled at this.

It was not long before they saw Popo and Nana coming from the gates of the castle. 2 guards slowly closed the doors behind them as they made their way to the trio.

"Are you 2..." Chris trailed off worried.

"...Chris..." Nana muttered. "...You knew this was going to happen, right?"

"I..." Chris looked down ashamed. "...How did you..."

"You said your affinity about this game before," Nana said. "And I guessed it."

"Ugh..."

"Are you 2 fine now?" Ike asked.

"Losing some close friends really made us feel..." Popo frowned. "...We're fine..."

"..." Nana looked up at Chris before she wiped her tears. "...Thank you, Chris..."

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"You were able to take me here where I met Porom. She helped me to understand Popo better, and now he's back to his old self."

Popo forced a smile. "I'm going to act serious from now on...just a little, though."

"So he was acting strange after all..." Ike said.

"Thanks to you, everything I explored was easier to find with Porom along," Nana said to Chris. "And...I couldn't have been happier... Thank you so much..."

"..." Chris kneeled to Nana and hugged her. "..."

"..." Nana sobbed. "...Porom..." she muttered.

Popo walked to her and patted her back. "It's okay now..." he said.

"...Popo...Nana..." Chris began. "...Both of them..."

The World Traveler whispered something to them.

"..." Nana wiped her tears and smiled. "...Thank you...that'll help me to be happy..."

"But can we come back?" Popo asked.

"...Sure..." Chris said. "...They're going to see you soon...someday..."

Final Fantasy IV DS - FFIV Main Theme

They were suddenly interrupted as an airship appeared from behind the castle. With a closer look, they noticed Cecil, Yang, Cid, and Tellah looking down at them. The Smashers looked up and smiled a little before they waved at them.

The airship began to move north as Cecil's group waved back at them. With a mighty sound, the ship began to move faster until it disappeared in the distance of the sky.

Cecil, Yang, Cid, and Tellah left your team.

Pretty soon, a red airship followed behind. "...And the storyline keeps its path..." Chris muttered.

"Let's go back," Ike said. "We're done here, right?"

"Hmm. Well, no Subspace Bombs are here anymore," Kawashima said. "Something is odd, buuuuuuut I guess it's nothing bad. Let's go home!"

Chris nodded and opened the portal. Ike was the first to enter before Zelda followed him. Chris, Popo, and Nana looked back at the castle.

"You 2," Chris said. "Let's go back."

"Yes, you go," Popo said without looking at him.

"Chris," Kawashima interrupted. "You're very close to fill the partnership for Ike. Keep going."

"Um, thank you," Chris said.

"..." The Ice Climbers kept staring at the castle.

Chris forced a smile before he walked inside the portal. The Ice Climbers began to move to it...but they turned their heads to the castle.

"...Good bye...Palom..." Popo muttered.

"...Good bye...Porom..." Nana muttered as she shed a tear.

Popo and Nana have become the Ice Climbers again.

Popo grabbed Nana's right hand, and his sister smiled happily at him before both chuckled together, turned around, and walked into the portal before it could disappear...

The scene moved up where some mysterious ruins were shown, far away from the castle...

Baron Castle

Back where the petrified twins were, a closer look of both of them could reveal 2 happy smiles, as 2 tears were shed from each other before they strolled down and fell down to the floor...

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2000 Smash Coins!

Notice: All Learned Abilities (Except Final Smashes) Have Been Lost.

A New Challenge Door At The Battle Floor Has Been Opened...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Chris's Classic Mode Walkthrough... Wait, who now?" Chris asked worried.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-"The Black Mages - Fight With The Four Fiends" is a song reference to the remixed rock version of "Dreadful Fight." This isn't in the game, but it's in one of Nobuo Uematsu's remixes of his old music in old Final Fantasy games, from FFI to FFX.

Out of curiosity…:

-Cecil has a brother. You can meet him in the game (if you didn't know).

-Porom's clothes can be purchased in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord. (I don't have the game, though).

Phew…we finished with this arc. I hope I did a good job with this one.

Anyway, Popo's past has been resolved, Nana is happy to get him back to normal, but both witnessed the event where Palom and Porom were turned into stone in order to save them from the walls. Too bad the game doesn't allow you to have the mages until you pass the Giant of Babil (only in the GBA version).

The Baigan battle wasn't considered that important, but the Cagnazzo one was. The screwed storyline saved them with Cid actually joining the battle. Did I scare you with the message about the bad outcome? And for the thing Popo and Nana made...it could return...

A have big news: a new saga will start in the next chapter. Start pondering what saga that is from now on.

Don't forget to vote again as well. Your votes will be most appreciated.

Look forward to how to pass the dangers of the Classic Mode as you "play" with Chris.

Read and review, please. ;)

...

Or I'll sense evil.
*Chapter 140*: Chris's Classic Mode Walkthrough

School really wants my brain to be there all the time with all the homework. This chapter grew way too long than it needed to be!

From RayGallade: Very good. You have done a good job as always. Did you know that your fanfic was one of the reasons I got interested in fanfiction?
Anyways, liked the Popo and Nana part. How soon can we see the partnership meter? I'm looking forward to Clasic Mode. Now we know were Ness's dad gets the money that he sends Ness. I'm hopeing that we can see more good writing soon.

RayGallade quotes, (has something to do with last review) "Sorry about that, Chief." (Maxwell Smart, secret agent 86 of CONTROL after he does something to his chief.)

From me: Oh you'll see the level of partnership very soon. Wait a little bit longer.

Okay. Apology accepted. :D

From Rabid Original: Weird coincidence...I was hoping that Tales of the Abyss wouldn't be picked because I was going to start playing it soon and I don't want it to be spoiled XD

...I can't believe how good that chapter was!!
It was really sad, but some parts made me laugh.

On a side note, both Popo and Nana need a psychiatrist REALLY BADLY :P

From me: No, I don't think they need one. :P Thank you. :)

From SlasherMask: Hmm... Why you responded to ngreay651 something about Twilight? I though he was talking about Naruto...

Yes but shopkeeper said that Cecil killed his brother.

And now that I have commented to your other responses... I think its monk/mystical guy from east thing to sense "auras".

I have to vote Viewtiful Joe again XD... Because it just happens that while others were good games too, I would want something completely different.

Quetzacoatl is winged serpent of awesomeness. Floating snake hands don't compare at all.

...Yep, Popo got screwed at first moment he stammered(correct word? Maybe its shuttered...).

Maybe because Cagnazzo is some kind of turtle? That would explain weakness to ice.

...Somehow (X) said/yelled slowly sounds funny...

Poor villains XD They ALWAYS(few exceptions) get ridiculed in this fic.

Hes Odin now.

At same moment the Popo asked about his continuing his retardness I though: "Oh Gosh Dang(censorship strikes) it, status quo strike yet again!"

Chris could have told Climbers that those twins DO get turned back.

Its OLDERS Poroms's clothes. And it includes Rydia's too.

From me: Yes, considering Adamantoises are weak to ice, I guess Cagnazzo's weakness is ice.

And yes, Chris did tell them about the twins after the battle.

I know.

Thanks. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: Would you be doing FF5A or FF6A at some point?

(if so, I want to see how you do the character's reactions to Gilgamesh.)

keep it up!:)

From me: Those 2 arcs are hard. I never played FFV that much. And I played FFVI like 4 times, but the amount of protagonists in there would be hard to keep track on… Maybe FFVI if it's alright with the readers.

And I know Gilgamesh is the Team Rocket of FFV.

Thanks. ;)

From UltraBlader: Hmm... You just wrote about one of the most annoying battles in the game. I swear that it took me four or five attempts to beat Caganazzo, because of his Tsunami ability. It took me ages to figure out a battle strategy to take him down.

You also displayed Palom and Porom's Twincast ability, something I've been waiting for ever since the start of this arc. I was really hoping you would include them casting Comet, but I guess Pyroblast is pretty cool itself. (I'd say that it was hot, but that would just be a really bad joke.)

Finally, Palom and Porom's sacrifice. All the self-sacrifice/death scenes in FFIV were sad, each in their different ways. Considering the friendship the Ice Climbers had obtained with the two of them, I think you nailed the way that they would react to the P-twins turning themselves to stone.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

P.S. Did you really plan Popo's behaviour to come to light as it did now all the way back at the start of the Legend of the Seven Stars Mega-Arc, way back when, or did you think it up recently? It doesn't really make much difference, I'm just curious.

P.P.S. Cid's Constant Cracks? Heh. On a different point, I once read a review for Chocobo's Dungeon that stated that Chocobo's friend's name was Cid, and followed up with: "Of course his name is Cid. Every Final Fantasy game must have someone called Cid, it's the law." ;)

Until next time, (For real, this time.)

Ultra Blader

From me: Was it Pyroblast? Oh god. I need to see if that's the name, then.

I guess I forgot about Popo for a moment…or maybe I just thought it up. I just hope it was the right thing to do.

Sweet irony.

Thanks. ;)

From kirbyman50: I like the story so far. It is ashame that the twins got turn into (SPOILERS).

Anywho, looks like Chris is in a rough time next chapter, what may happen? Who knows (besides the author and maybe lucky guessers)!

Anyways good luck with the next chapter!
From: Kirbyman50!

Side note: I'm guessing that this story may reach 300 chapters before this done!

From me: Over 300 chapters? …N-no, what makes you say that? Thank you. ;D

From ngrey651: You DID do a good job. I really liked this chapter. Especially...

"It likes me," Popo said as he petted the flying assassin poisonous snake. "I called it Snaky." XD

I also liked the use of the Black Mages. Their covers of Final Fantasy music are EPIC. I've got, like, eighteen of their songs.

From me: Good to know you liked this chapter as well. Thank you. :D

From the true dragon fanatic: sorry I haven't reviewed in a while, remember? dragonitefan123? yeah, well I'm back reviewing, and I am ecstatic!... except for the fact that you removed golden sun from the poll...
I was REALLY looking forward to that! I had started playing both golden sun games again recently, before the poll came up, and I voted without a second thought. when you do the golden sun ark, I hope you do either the mercury lighthouse, or the part where they cross the lake on the boat. well anyway, I'm glad your using jobs that haven't been used in a while (*cough*PK kid*cough*) and your writing is better than most books I've read (Almost better than Harry Potter!) and is a priority for when I get on the computer. I noticed in this chapter you typed "chris looked at the R". what?!? sorry it's just confusing. I thought it was awesome that the ice climbers learned twincast, though I noticed you didn't use the twins' cry or bluff abilities. are you planning on doing a final fantsy 3 arc? just wondering. great writing, and I'm sorry for the long review, I haven't reviewed for a while so I had a lot to say. till next time!~

From me: What? No, I'm not better than Harry Potter books. D-don't go that far, please.

Where was that about the R? I forgot…

I didn't want to make Porom use Cry. It would seem so OOC of her if she did… But Palom bluffed all the time without enhancing magic.

Hmm, FFIII? Maybe, maybe not.

Thanks. :D

From Blackglow: Awesome chapter!

Sorry to see that Palom and Porom died. (right...?)

I noticed that the next chapter would involve Chris' runthrough of the Classic Mode. Hilarity is likely to ensue!

On a side note, regarding your poll on the order of the arcs, I placed a vote on there and it said it was accepted then updated the results. But when I checked it again later, my vote was gone! (I voted for Pokemon XD, by the way.)

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the next chapter, and I am sticking with this fic to the end!

From me: Oh, thanks for voting. It surely is there now.

Thank you again. :)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Interesting fights, it's your definite strong point in the chapters. Even if 1 was more important than the other. Popo's reason for his behaviour, i can understand, wonder how the others will take his new attitude. It's gonna get interesting when you'll mention that something happened to the storyline. Palom and Porom, i hope they'll get restored soon.(Blank from 9 was able to, so why not them!?) Sweet! We finally get to where they'll earn their own trophy! this is gonna get interesting, especially with Chris's match.

Will Chris be having multiply Trophies for each job, or just one to power up all of them?
How about Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy 7?
well, visionary typing!

From me: Chris will have just one Trophy Stand. He'll need to manage the Stickers a lot.

No.

Thanks. :D

Okay, people, this chapter got unusually long so please don't hate me, please, really, don't hate me for it. The teachers I have are different and they teach differently than others.

Also, I'd like to point out that chapter 33 of the Mother 3 arc is getting reedited. It's going to have the latest translation done, and there will be major changes such as dialogue and the loss of cheesy lines I considered cheesy. I could go as far as to reedit the whole arc slowly during school's lunch.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: There's a new section in my profile to help you to be an original writer and reviewer. I've noticed a lot of people doing weird fics that later fai in this very sectionl. So as such, I made a guide for you all to read.

(For the avatar of today, we have a cool vulpine saluting you…in the middle of an intergalactic war? Is he really serious or what?)

And so, let's get going.

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Chapter 140: Chris's Classic Mode Walkthrough

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

"..." Tabuu remained silent. "...Now what is King Dedede taking so long? It has been a while after he was sent to get Bowser here."

"Quite the subordinates you have," the figure said with a chuckle. "It's somewhat ironic to me."

"Oh, in what way?" Tabuu asked.

"I could explain it, but I don't think your brain would understand it very well."

"Do not play with me or else..." Tabuu threatened.

At that moment, Ganondorf came out from the darkness of the Subspace and bowed to Tabuu. "As I expected, they appeared in that world. However, we could not go in that easily."

"I see..." Tabuu said with a nod. "Just what do those locations hold?"

"They shouldn't be opened," the figure said. "If they were to be opened, then our plans would surely fail abruptly."

"Hmm..." Tabuu thought for a moment. "...But still, we have time until that idiot transforms, and the being inside him takes over his body to kill anyone in sight."

"I'm afraid we should wait until he transforms," the figure said. "We need to know if he will kill them all by himself first before we attempt to do anything else beforehand."

"I hate to wait for that long... But if there is not any other way, then it is the right path, I believe."

"What should we do in the meantime?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"We will have to wait until that happens, and also, we will have to wait for Bowser and King Dedede as well. We cannot let them not know what is happening here."

"Very well, then."

"Another thing before we wait," Tabuu began. "Are you really sure that your plan will guarantee the success of making them all disappear by using the shadow self inside that bastard until full moon comes?"

The figure slowly walked forward, and the darkness that covered him disappeared. "Of course," he said. "Why would I lie to you?"

"I had my doubts about recruiting you when the whole event of the take over from the universe took place," Tabuu said. "I heard rumors about you being a filthy traitor when you wanted to reveal your true intentions. I believe you will not such a thing here..."

The person chuckled and showed his teeth.

"...Doctor Eggman?" Tabuu asked.

"Oh, rest assured," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle as he folded his arms. "Put your trust to me...and everything will be just fine when the time comes. Heheheheheheh..."

"Somehow, I feel uneasy with him around..." the Ancient Minister muttered.

"You do know the consequences should you betray us, right? Last time we got a betrayal it was because that lupine bastard did not want to go back here," Tabuu said. "And if you do..."

"Okay, okay. I get the point," Dr. Eggman said. "I'll die a painful but slow death in your hands."

"Good, you seem to understand," Tabuu said.

"So we'll have to wait until Mr. Penguin and Mr. Poor Excuse For A Bad Guy come back," Charizard said with a grumble. "I swear, this is getting so tedious..."

"What can you do," Dr. Eggman said. "Henchmen mostly act dumb. I, however, am not like that at all."

"Just shut it," Charizard with a glare. "I'm still waiting here for the time where I'll crush Red and those 2 puny idiots. And if anybody gets in my wa-"

"Leave your fun time later," the Ancient Minister interrupted. "For now, we'll wait until full moon comes to the universe."

"Very soon..." Dr. Eggman chuckled. "And then, we'll start to our plans together..." He started to laugh silently.

The scene panned out...

START OF NEXT SAGA

The Werehog Saga
"The Beginning Of A New Beast"

The title suddenly got slashed furiously before a roar echoed...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

A time passed after the group returned back to the mansion, and the young Smashers were talking between each other. "So Popo was acting dumb all the time for distraction," Ness said. "I guess I gave you ideas, am I right?"

"W-well..." Popo looked away. "I-I think so..."

"...Ha!" Ness said proudly. "I help people by accident. Check it out, maybe I should become a psychologist like my Dad did."

"Oh, show off," Nana said annoyed.

"Admit it," Ness said. "If I didn't say that, Popo would have been in a trauma."

"..." Nana quickly whacked Ness's head with her hammer.

"H-hey, oww!" Ness moaned. "W-what was that for?"

"We just came out from a problem, and you're reminding us that!" Nana yelled. "You better watch that mouth around or else you die!"

Ness's eyes widened. "U-um, okay... N-no harm done, right?"

Popo looked embarrassed at this. "N-no harm done, don't worry..."

"Just watch that mouth from Nana's hammer," Pikachu said. "You die if you screw up a little bit."

Lucas merely gulped and looked away from Nana. "H-have anyone seen Link?"

"The old one with the creepy affinity to swords (Link: Hey!) or the one with the cat eyes?" Jigglypuff asked.

"The one with the cat eyes," Pichu said. "Oh, I think he's out with his bow and arrows. He's...been there all the time pretty much."

"That makes good propaganda," Pikachu said deviously. "Think, he trains, and not like anyone in here."

"..." Everyone in the group looked at him with bored looks.

"What?" Pikachu asked.

"Don't you know the power of gossip?" Jigglypuff asked.

"...Oh man," Pikachu said worried before he looked behind him.

To save space from writing, the word really went out too fast, and most of the Smashers planned their training routines with each other.

"Great going," Ness said. "Now we'll have to train so we don't stand out."

"And how are we going to train if the stages aren't open for the public (us) yet?" Popo asked. "With that said...where's Master Hand?"

"Oh, I think he said he needed to do something and he left," Jigglypuff said. "And in the meantime...we decided to let Diddy join our group."

At that moment, the mentioned spider monkey peered his head behind Ness. "Hi guys!" he said cheerfully.

"Oh, right, he's DK's nephew," Nana said. "Great to have someone else in the group."

As the group explained the "basics" to Diddy, the Hand of Creation appeared right back.

"Well, you're here," Master Hand said. "Everything went well, I assume?"

"Uh-huh," Ike said. "Just fine."

"I wanted to meet Cecil..." Lucario muttered.

"So," Mario suddenly spoke. "Is it time for you know what?"

"What I know? ...Oh, riiiiiiiight," the hand said with a chuckle. "Today is the day for sure."

Everyone stopped talking and looked a little bit impatient.

"Everything is ready, the musicians up there managed to do at least 1 track for each stag-"

"Told ya," DK said. "My family does work."

"-e, stages are ready to be used, items as well, the Trophy Stands want to be in your pockets alread-"

"I'm ready to crush and clap anyone here," Crazy Hand spoke from behind the counter.

"-y, environments, background, special events, yep, everything is ready and set!" Master Hand said. "Today we mark the wonderful and yet so tempting return of..."

Everyone waited for him to say the words.

"...The..."

Drums began to play (courtesy of Crazy Hand).

"..." Master Hand looked around. "...CHAZAM!"

Everyone got odd looks before they all simply vanished in a cloud of smoke that covered the whole room.

Even the hands disappeared.

???

The entire team appeared somewhere else within the mansion. Absolutely nothing was seen in the room they were in. Only darkness and an invisible floor was all they could see and walk on respectively.

"...U-um..." Olimar looked around. "Where...are we?"

"Complete darkness, maybe?" Roy pointed out.

"I-I don't want to live in darkness!" Luigi yelled. "I-I'm allergic to it! A-achoo!"

"Quite down, pussy," Wolf said. "I doubt that hand wanted to kill us in here or something."

"Oh, I doubt he would want to kill us, alright," Link said. "We're his only way to get money when it comes down to broadcasting the matches in most of our universes."

"...I'm not going t-I mean, get broadcast now, right?" Chris asked.

"Nah, the city was the main part where the channel was more popular," Falco said. "I don't think he will do that."

"..."

Silence.

"...Is anyone bored of staring at the utter darkness of this place?" DK asked.

"I'm going to have a bad vision later for this..." Peach commented.

"Oh, that's it," Snake began. "Hand, turn on the lights if this place has any."

Nobody replied.

"..."

"...Will somebody just take out a flashlight or something?" Yoshi asked.

"Lucario is glowing here," Pikachu said. "But not even his aura can penetrate the darkness."

"This is so weird..." Lucario commented.

Suddenly, the darkness disappeared, and then, they were met by a roar from a familiar pink chimera with a duck on its head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Luigi, Peach, Falco, Wolf, Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Pichu, C. Falcon, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Zelda, Chris, Olimar, Popo, Nana, Kirby, and Diddy screamed and quickly backed away from the beast.

And for some reason, Mewtwo and Meta Knight backed away as well.

"T-that thing again!" Pikachu yelled. "Somebody take it away from here!"

As for the rest of the Smashers that weren't mentioned, they were looking odd at the others before looking back at the beast.

"But..." Marth trailed off. "...It's inside a cage."

True to be told, the Ultimate Chimera was inside a cage, roaring in rage at their sight.

"And considering the fact that the cages here can't be broken that easily," Mario said. "It's completely docile...behind the bars, of course."

"What I don't get is why Wolf screamed for his life," Fox said.

"Hey, you try to get that thing very close to you, then come back to me and tell me everything," Wolf said with a glare.

"Trust him for this time!" Falco said nodding quickly. "I lived that experience before!"

"A-and the fact that it can kill anyone makes it even more menacing!" Ness yelled.

"Oh, calm down," Samus said. "There's nothing to worry about."

They were all suddenly covered in smoke before they vanished from the odd room.

???

And again, they appeared in a room full of darkness.

"..." Luigi shyly looked up. "W-we're not with the beast anymore, are we? PLEASE, TELL ME!"

As surprising as this might sound, Mario punched Luigi's face.

"Oww!" Luigi moaned. "T-thank you..."

"I'm glad," Mario said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Master Hand suddenly said as he appeared out of nowhere. "I accidentally took you all to the chimera's room, didn't I?"

"Take us back there again and I'll surely die!" Olimar said as he hugged a Red Pikmin tightly.

"Good thing it was in a cage, though..." Meta Knight said.

"And again, I'm sorry for doing that little mistake and it won't be repeated again. ...Next time we'll walk here instead of teleporting," the hand explained.

"Okay," Sonic began. "Can you please tell us what this place is?"

"Sure do," Master Hand said before he snapped his fingers, and the light came back...

...

Revealing the same room with the same chimera in the same cage with the same mood with the same thirst for blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" the same people who screamed before screamed again.

"Aw, god, not again!" Master Hand said. "That's it. Everyone take the door and let's walk to the floor between all the floors!"

Hallway (of 6th floor)

The fact that the Battle Floor was added meant that the 6th floor was the only floor in the middle of the floors. They all appeared one by one from the stairs in hopes that the next room didn't have another pink chimera with a duck on its head.

Seriously, why pink of all colors? That added to Peach, Jigglypuff, and Kirby's pinkness.

"Um..." Pichu looked behind him. "Wasn't Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur here just now?"

"When you have to go, you have to go," Diddy said.

"B-but the 3 of them at the same time?" Jigglypuff asked. "That's gross..."

"Aaaaaaaaand here we are," Master Hand said as he stopped in front of some double doors. "This is the place."

"Just to make sur-" Luigi was interrupted.

"NO pink chimeras of death are in here," the hand said, making Luigi sigh in relief (as well as many). "(Heheheh, let's see if they fall for this...) By the way, I forgot to say something. This is kind of sudden, but the first one to enter will get the right to be the first one t-"

"Make way for me!" Sonic suddenly shouted before he ran straight to the double doors...and crashed into them before falling on his back. Most of them began to chuckle at this sudden reaction that the hedgehog grumbled annoyed.

"...To be the first one to notice the door's closed," Master Hand finished with a chuckle. "I forgot Sonic was the really fast one."

Everyone still were chuckling.

"And I saw you guys taking a quick step as well."

Everyone slowly stopped chuckling before looking embarrassed.

"I don't act like most of them do," Mewtwo said.

"Me neither," Meta Knight said.

"Or me," Snake said.

"Or me," Wolf said.

"You did," the previous 3 before Wolf pointed out, making him glare at them with a frown.

Master Hand unlocked the doors and gently pushed them back. "Well, let's get inside and see the newly made Classic Mode Hall!"

Most of them seemed to be looking forward to what was inside of the room as they began to walk inside formally. A second later, Sonic got up and walked inside...

Classic Mode Hall

Pokémon Colosseum - Realgam Tower

"...This place looks like..." Pit trailed off.

The room that they entered was pretty big. It looked like some sort of big theater, except there were round tables with chairs around the room. In front of them there laid a big flat screen TV that probably was used to show the matches. 4 doors were located close to the flat screen, 2 on each side, that leaded to some teleporters to the stages. The floor was slightly black with blue, and the ceiling and walls were painted with black and blue symbols of everyone's emblems.

And a DS emblem as well.

"Aww, this place..." Master Hand said as he floated in front of the flat screen. "I welcome you all to the Classic Mode Hall!"

"Didn't you have something more original for the title?" Yoshi asked.

"Oh, quiet you, you Yoshi...whatever...dino..." The hand shook himself. "Anyways, welcome back to how we do things here daily!"

"It sure feels good to breath in the air," Roy said.

"...Are you all that motivated to fight each other?" Chris asked.

He only received a lot of glares from almost everyone.

"...S-sorry..." he said embarrassed.

"Okay," the hand began as he cleared his throat and took out a paper. "Let's see, for those who are new here, like Chris, Lucario, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight, Toon Link, Wolf, Olimar, Ike, Lucas, Pit, Snake, and Sonic..." The hand looked around. "...Where is the newbie trainer and the cat eyes swordsman?"

"Red and the other 2 just ran off," Jigglypuff said.

"And Toon Link is training outside," Pit said.

"Oh, no way, those 4 are coming here right now," the hand said before he snapped his fingers.

Toon Link appeared right before them with bow ready to get shot. Some of them gasped before the small swordsman blinked in confusion. "H-hey, what just happened? I was in the middle of my training!"

"My god, you look like a tomato. Look at that face," Master Hand said. "And Kirby, back away from him and lower that fork."

Kirby looked down.

"Sorry for interrupting you, but it's time for you to know about this."

"What exactly?" Toon Link asked.

Nobody saw Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur coming back from behind and they pretended that they were there. "Great. Dawn, Lucas, and Barry left outside to catch Pokémon," Red whispered.

"But what if they come back after we end this soon?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't think they will," Ivysaur said. "Let's just do some laps down and see if they come back."

After those comments, Toon Link was explained about everything in there and nodded, still unsure in leaving his training. "Ahem," coughed the hand. "Now let me continue again. For those who are new here, like Chris, Lucario, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight, Toon Link, Wolf, Olimar, Ike, Lucas, Pit, Snake, and Sonic, you all need to understand some rules when you want to fight against the veterans in here. Let me go over the rules again for those who forgot them as well."

1. No Low Hits

"We have had many accidents with people hitting private areas and..." Master Hand sounded embarrassed. "...And broadcasting them by accident is a big mistake for their selves, so no low hits."

2. Time Out Is Allowed

"Sometimes, if you feel like going to...you know where, just make a cross and ask for time out, and return here by jumping off the stage. However, you need to do it quick. We here respect the need to go, but don't do anything weird."

3. No Cheating

"Bringing extra weapons here are totally banned. Use your own moves."

4. Don't Do Wrong Things

"You know, like taking off your clothes?" the hand asked. "We also show this for hyperactive children, you know."

5. Always Reserve A Match

"You can ask anyone here to fight you if you ask them first and agree to the fight. If the person refuses, DON'T try to convince them many times. Respect their time, people."

6. Don't Fight Here

"You can only fight in the stages and not outside them. Fighting outside will result in a ban to fight for a week."

7. Don't Hack Yourself

"There has been some instances where SOME PEOPLE here messes up with items and such when their opponent is not looking. Do that, and you'll go straight to Cruel Brawl."

8. Always Show Good Sportsmanship

"We're fighting between friends and family here. Some of you wish to kill someone to their oblivion, but don't do that in broadcast matches. You can do that in free matches, though."

9. Cowards Need To Die

"Hide anywhere in the stage, and you'll be disqualified," the hand explained. "Aaaand that's all. any questions?"

Olimar raised his hand. "N-no one can die in the matches, right?"

"Oh no," the hand said. "You won't even bleed, but if you get hit a lot, you're going to feel exhausted, and that will also point out that you will be defeated by a strong hit should you get hit. Another thing I forgot to mention is that..."

After an hour of explaining everything that one does to win a fight...

"And that's why you have the power to have your own hammerspace," Master Hand finished. "That's all."

"And for the next event," Crazy Hand began as he appeared from above and carried a small box. "It's time to decide who's going to go first."

"The one who goes first will show you all an example of what you do in the Classic Mode," the hand said. "Also, we're going to implement the order we used in the first days of the tournament here, meaning this... Oh, I decided to say franchises since you all know your origins and all that. This chart shows the levels, characters, special events, and the such."

The hand took a chart showing the way the fights were done.

Level 1 - The Legend of Zelda - Team or Normal - Link, Zelda/Sheik, Ganondorf, Toon Link w/ Bridge of Eldin, or Pirate Ship

Level 2 - Yoshi, Donkey Kong - Giant (2 allies), Team, or Normal - Yoshi (Giant or Normal) w/ Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong & Diddy Kong w/ Rumble Falls, or 75m

Level 3 - Pokémon - Giant (1 ally), Team, or Normal - Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Red, Lucario, Mewtwo - Pokémon Stadium 2, Spear Pillar

Level 4 - Fire Emblem or EarthBound - Giant (1 ally), Team, Multi, or Normal - Ike, Marth, Roy w/ Castle Siege, Lucas, Ness w/ New Pork City

Target Smash!! (Level Depends On Difficulty)

Level 5 - Kirby - Giant (1 ally), Team, Multi, or Normal - Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight - Halberd

Level 6 - Metroid or Pikmin - Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal, or Normal - Samus/Zero Suit Samus w/ Norfair, Frigate Orpheon, Olimar w/ Distant Planet

Level 7 - Star Fox or F-Zero - Giant (no allies), Team, Multi, Metal, or Normal - Fox, Falco, Wolf w/ Lylat Cruise, Captain Falcon w/ Port Town Aero Dive

Level 8 - Mario series - Giant (no allies), Team, Multi, Metal, or Normal - Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser w/ Delfino Plaza, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Circuit, or Mushroomy Kingdom

Level 9 - Game & Watch, Kid Icarus, Ice Climber or R.O.B. - Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal, or Normal - Mr. Game & Watch w/ Flat Zone 2, Pit w/ Skyworld, Ice Climbers w/ Summit, and R.O.B. w/ Mario Bros.

Level 10 - WarioWare, Metal Gear, Sonic the Hedgehog, or DS - Giant (no allies), Multi, Metal, or Normal - Wario w/ WarioWare, Inc., Snake w/ Shadow Moses Island, Sonic w/ Green Hill Zone, and Chris w/ Picto Chat

Target Smash!! (Level Depends On Difficulty, if in Insane, level 5 again)

Level 11 - Free for All - Free for all with three random characters not fought in the mode until this point - Random w/ Final Destination

Level 12 - Master Hand/Crazy Hand - Enemies have stamina based on difficulty selected - Master Hand (and, depending on situation, Crazy Hand) w/ Final Destination

Trophy Stand Achievement

"And if you want to see this again," Master Hand began. "You can see this list just behind the hall's double doors."

Hallway

A big pasteboard with the list was shown appearing right besides the double doors.

Classic Mode Hall

"And usually, you'll need to clear 2 Target Tests, 3 Single matches, 2 Team matches, 2 Multi-Man matches, 2 Giant matches, 1 Metal match, 1 3-on-1 match, and finally, 1 Final against me and probably my brother if you finish the matches fast in order to claim victory," the hand explained. "Any questions?"

Pit raised his hand. "Are all those the stages?"

"Oh right," the hand said. "I decided to unlock all the stages and not let you all wait for them. I believe there was a variation of this in the game...right, Chris?"

"Y-yes," Chris said.

"Now!" the hand began excited. "No objections?"

Nobody did anything.

"...Then let's see the first one to go through the Classic Mode!" Master Hand said as his brother shook the box. "And the lucky guy, girl, Pokémon, anthro, whatever he or she looks like that will have the honors to do the mode first will be..."

Crazy Hand opened the box, and his brother took a small note and read it out loud.

Some of them crossed their fingers.

Some of them wished they were not there.

Some of them already glared daggers with smirks at their opponents, who did the same but back at them.

Some of them gulped.

Peach thought about what she should wear tomorrow morning, either the pink dress, or the bright pink dress. It was hard for her to decide in this situation, but she had to have it done very soon or else she would end up wearing the pink dress.

"...Ooh, this is ought to get good and so interesting..." Master Hand muttered with a chuckle. "The victi-I mean, lucky character for today to go through with the mode will be..."

The hand pointed at one of them, and the person gasped loudly and shook the head several times.

"Our newbie from the real world, Chris (last name intentionally censored by Master Hand himself)!!!"

"W-WHAT?!" Chris asked in shock as some of them cursed. "W-why me?!"

"You got lucky, what can I say?" Master Hand asked. "You're going to be the first one to demonstrate the newcomers how things are done here!"

"B-but I'm a newcomer!"

"Pfft, you're not," Master Hand said. "You already know about this by playing the game in real life, so it doesn't matter now."

"W-w-well, that's tru-"

"Anyway!" Master Hand began as he grabbed the box and tossed it away to a nearby trash can. "You can't go back now. I'm sure everyone here wants to fight you."

Inside the trash can, every single note in there clearly had written "Chris" on all the papers.

This meant Master Hand "betrayed" Chris in some sick way...

"Oh right," Snake said. "After all, we do get to fight him when the time comes."

"Of course," Master Hand said. "You get to fight him if you're called."

"Is that so..." Wolf muttered as he began to sharpen one claw with a malicious grin. "Then I'll be waiting for my turn to come and slice down the kid as many times I like."

"Well, you can punch him and all that (Chris: What?!), but you can't kill him."

"Oh, don't worry," Wolf said. "I'll enjoy this with every single second...heheheh..."

Lucario narrowed his glare at him, but later frowned. "I hope I don't end up fighting Chris at all..."

"P-phew," Chris said. "T-thank you, Lucario... I knew I could count on yo-"

"Dramatic moment aside," Master Hand interrupted. "Some of you will be submitted to the events as well, just to remind you. Chris, you remember what I told you before? You can only use 1 job at random."

"..." Chris looked worried. "Oh no..."

"AND," the hand went on. "If any of you guys go easy on him, you'll be disqualified."

"W-why are you against me?!" Chris asked.

"Oh, everyone here follows the rules, and you will too," the hand said. "I'm in nobody's side."

"W-well, good thing I know most of them will help me out during the matches against any of the-"

"You're dead," C. Falcon interrupted.

"You're dead," Roy said.

"You're dead," Ivysaur said.

"You're dead," Meta Knight said coldly.

"You're dead," Fox said with a grin.

"You're dead," Zelda said.

"You're dead," Squirtle said.

"You're dead," Falco said with a grin.

"You're dead," Snake said with a nod.

"You're dead," Pikachu said with an evil look.

"You're dead," Ness said readying his bat.

"You're dead?" Diddy asked.

"You're dead," Popo and Nana said together.

"You're dead," Ike said.

"You're dead," Samus said.

"You're dead...I think," Red said confused.

"You're dead," Pichu stated.

"You're dead," Toon Link said with several nods.

"You're dead," Sonic said with a grin.

"You're dead," Jigglypuff said.

"You're dead," DK said with some nods.

"You're dead," Link said.

"You're dead," Mewtwo said.

"You're dead!" Kirby said excited. (O_o)

"I'm sorry to say this, but you're so dead," Mario said apologetically.

"Likewise here. You're dead, sorry," Marth said.

Chris's jaw lowered in shock. "...Did just most of you say I'm dead?"

"Y-you're dead..." Luigi muttered worried.

"...OKAY!" Chris yelled annoyed. "Who of all of you don't think I'm going to "die" fighting you all?! Raise your hands!"

Of all the people in the room, only Lucario, Peach, Lucas, Pit, and Olimar raised their hands.

"..." Chris looked down and frowned. "...I hate you guys..." he muttered.

Peach, Lucas, Pit, and Olimar lowered their hands.

"Not you! I was referring the others!"

They raised their hands back. "What a relief..." Peach said with a sigh.

"Another question (Chris: Before I die?)," Mario began. "Can we fight freely when we want like when we want to train anytime?"

"Oh, sure," the hand said. "Stages are open for you all from now on. Check back once in a while to see new tracks. Speaking of features..." The hand pointed at a room to the right. "That room over there is the place where you can allow and disallow items, items' rates, mix of modes like Curry with Heavy match, and the such. Mess around with it OUTSIDE official matches, though. And..." He looked at Chris. "Ready? Everyone seems fired up."

"N-"

"Perfect!" Master Hand interrupted. "Now please, go over that room over there and step on the teleporter. I'll handle the matches and their opponents. Take in mind that I wanted you to use as many different jobs as possible for you to become more used to them. And no items you have with you may be used at all."

"..." Chris closed his eyes and slowly walked to the room before he got in.

"Wow, he's gonna do it after all?" Sonic asked.

"Probably because he wants to be a role model," Master Hand said. "Okay. You see the screen? It'll display the event, the opponent, and the order in which Chris will go through. You'll know your turn when I call you before the screen does, though."

"Guess I should get prepared," Link said.

"Or me," Zelda said.

"Chris! Have you stepped on the teleporter?" called the hand.

"I-I'm going to!" Chris yelled. "There are no secondary effects by teleporting, right?"

"Just worry about that after you test it out! Everything's just fine!"

"O-okay..." The World Traveler gulped before he stepped on the circular teleporter and was instantly teleported to the stage.

"Oh, another thing," the hand went on. "Remember that we're actually going to teleport you to the stage in your world. They're not illusions or something, but the real thing. And for the first match...Zelda!"

"Ooh, I'm getting a little bit excited now," Zelda said pleased.

"You know how we roll things here, so go to the room. Everyone, please sit back and relax before your turn comes in."

"...Good luck...Chris..." Lucario muttered worried.

Bridge of Eldin

Hidden Mountain & Forest

VS. Zelda

"And welcome to the Bridge of Eldin!" Master Hand said outside the match. "I'm your host truly, Master Hand, and I will be giving out information regarding the stages you'll see here. Of course, we also like to hear feedback from our celebrities in here."

"Wait, so you're actually broadcasting the matches?" Roy asked.

"The beautiful sunset that makes the stage more beautiful only is accompanied with the appearance of King Bulblin and his...pet thing board whose name I forgot."

"Lord Bulbo," Link pointed out. "Well, it looks like."

"It does. The Bulblin sometimes throws in a bomb in the middle and blows up the bridge. But if you wait long enough, it'll get repaired back on using the Twilit vortex that appears after a time. Now, let's get on!"

The World Traveler walked into the stage (with the Swordsman job) and looked around the place as the sunset shone the whole valley. Chris knew Hyrule Castle wasn't located in the east before in the Wii version because that would mean this was based off from the GameCube version. "Now, I know this is every hyperactive gamer's dream to be in the game. HOWEVER, I do have a life, mind, and even money, and I know that this is a fight for my life..."

"Oh, please," Zelda began as she came from the other side of the bridge. "You can't get killed here at all."

"And of top of all, I'm going to fight...a girl."

"Don't worry. Hit me if you want to win."

"I-I do have my morals with me still!" Chris yelled. "I can't punch a girl's face directly!"

"You better decide now. The mysterious announcer guy will begin the match in any second now."

"What mysterious announcer guy?"

"READY... GO!!!" yelled a voice as the crowd cheered.

"W-we even have a crowd in here?" Chris asked as he looked around. "Where? Isn't anybody here going to notice the match at all?"

Zelda was already running to him.

"W-what if your people see you here in the middle of a bridge without fences?!"

"They don't even come out from the castle!" Zelda said. "Now, get prepared!"

The World Traveler shook his head and ran the opposite away.

"Oh god. Now I can predict how the matches are going to be," Master Hand said outside the match.

"Please!" Zelda encouraged Chris. "Let's fight to show good sportsmanship!"

Chris gulped. "A-are you sure you're not going to hate me for punching you?"

"Not even a bit!" Zelda said as she seemed to have fun. "Only here, though!"

"..." Chris closed his eyes and waited for the princess to reach him. He slowly prepared his sword...

And Zelda prepared to jump...

But...

"H-ha!" Chris yelled in panic as he took out his Clawshot and latched it quickly on Zelda.

"W-what?" Zelda asked astonished at the sudden change of moves.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Chris yelled and closed his eyes before he turned around, pulled the Clawshot to the opposite direction, and tossed Zelda out of the stage.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Zelda screamed in defeat as she disappeared from the stage.

"GAME!" the announcer...announced.

The camera zoomed on Chris, who had a very shocked look as he slowly shook his head (and received his points with some coins).

"..." Master Hand was speechless. "...Okay, she'll come back in a second... There you are. What the hell, Zelda?! You didn't notice you were being lured to the edge of the stage?!" he asked in pure disbelief.

"How was I supposed to know?!" asked a pissed Zelda. "I was just enjoying the rather small time in there, and I fell for his trap!"

"Actually," Mario began. "He didn't even think about using the sword or the grappler. Chris's still scared of all of this and he defeated you out of panic."

"So in other words," Snake began. "You suck at fighting against 1 kid alone."

"Oh, hush!" Zelda sulked a bit as she sat down with Link.

"Bad day?" Link asked.

"Link...shut up..."

The World Traveler sighed in relief and was quickly taken to the next stage.

Lucario smiled a little in relief. Chris didn't get hurt at all in the first match.

Yoshi's Island

Obstacle Course

VS. Giant Yoshi - Allies: DK and Diddy Kong

"Another beautiful scenery," the hand commented. "This stage is pretty straightforward. The only changes that'll occur are the seasons and the small platforms that can come up from down below."

"You know, when you think about it, Yoshi doesn't fit quite well with the place," Nana said.

"Yoshis are mostly very enthusiastic, but we ended up with the blank one. Ooh, the match's going to start now."

The World Traveler (using the Hacker job) appeared right below the platform and looked at the winter background. He suddenly sneezed and embraced himself. "H-how about a summer season?"

Happy tunes sounded, and it jumped to spring.

"...Well, it's still good," Chris said. "Now, where's Yoshi?"

"Up here."

Chris suddenly felt shocked at the deep voice who gave him the response. By all means, he wished Yoshi wasn't...

Surprise.

Chris looked up to see a 15-feet tall Yoshi staring down at him. "Hello," Yoshi said in a deeper tone.

"..." Chris whimpered.

"Don't worry!" DK yelled as he and Diddy appeared behind him. "We're going to take that dino down!"

"I'll start with Chris," Yoshi said as he jumped INSANELY high and used Yoshi Bomb right above the World Traveler.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!" Chris screamed. "Wait a minute!" he yelled.

Didn't this was foreshadow before?

Oh, who cared.

Chris got crushed under...the big Yoshi before he was sent up as he looked quite shocked. "I-I have to fight back!" Chris yelled. "Or Yoshi will haunt me for the rest of my life accidentally!"

"Please," Yoshi said as he looked up to the falling Chris. "I think you can do better."

"Oh, great, I'm receiving hints from a huge dinosaur now," Chris said worried. "DK! DIDDY! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME HERE!"

Suddenly, the giant dinosaur started to tumble around as DK used Hand Slap hard on the floor, while Diddy kept slapping...

"...Okay, you may hit a giant in private areas," Master Hand said. "It's unfair to be big, so it's allowed."

"That sounded so disgusting and yet very gross," Olimar commented.

"Who cares? You guys surely will feel...er...um...d-don't look at me that way..."

"H-hey!" Yoshi yelled as he was continuously staggered by the 2 monkeys. "A-at least give me a chance to attack!"

"You're dead!!!" Chris panicked as he landed on the floating platform. With a quick move, he began charging a shot from his hi-tech gun. When it got charged enough, it fired a stupidly fast shot through Yoshi...but it didn't do good damage. "...The time I want to go into the action, the time my gun betrays me..."

A Bob-omb dropped close to him. The bomb stared at him curiously.

"..." Chris looked at it (as Yoshi kept getting hit). "...Will you help me?!" he asked in a panic. "I'm so useless with this job! I just know very few skills, but that's it! Please! I hate to fight giants!"

The Bob-omb seemed to nod and jumped to Chris. The World Traveler made a confused face as the bomb itself made a happy expression.

"...Um...can Bob-ombs really..." Chris wondered before he shook his head. "...Oh, screw it. YAH!"

Chris tossed the bomb as fast as he could to Yoshi's belly, and it made the giant spiral out from the stage. "AH!" Yoshi yelled simply.

"GAME!!!"

"Huuuuuuh..." Chris sighed as he turned around before the screen gave him the points and coins.

Too bad the screen didn't let DK or Diddy's poses get shown.

"Ha-ha, you got defeated by an item," Popo teased.

"How was I supposed to strike back?" Yoshi asked annoyed as DK and Diddy came behind him. "You 2 are to blame here!"

"Chill out. We were just helping Chris out," DK said with a chuckle.

"Right-o," Diddy responded as he high-fived with DK.

"...Ugh!" Yoshi grunted and sat down angrily on a nearby chair.

"Keep going..." Lucario muttered in relief.

Pokémon Stadium 2

Pokémon Center

VS. Mewtwo & Lucario - Ally: Pichu

"The majestic stadium for Pokémon has never been so spectacular before," Master Hand commented. "If I remember, Jigglypuff once held a concert here, and nobody got sleepy at all."

"I DO have other songs that don't make anyone fall asleep..." Jigglypuff muttered with a grunt.

"Like in the first version, the stadium changes to air, ice, ground, and electric terrain."

Chris (in his Fonic Hymn User job) held his rod close to him in pure shame...

He was just about to fight Lucario, who also felt the same...

...But Mewtwo, however, longed for a moment like this.

And as for Pichu...not.

Pichu shyly peered from behind Chris's legs and gulped. "P-please, don't let either of them kill me!" he pleaded with another gulp.

"...I..." Lucario turned away. "I can't fight him..."

"Oh, what the hell..." Mewtwo muttered with a frown. "Fine. Go ahead and kill yourself. I can take care of them."

"...What did you just say?" Lucario asked with a glare.

"I won't repeat myself again," Mewtwo said as he glared back at Lucario. "Both of them can be easily taken out without blinking an eye."

"T-that's so mean!" Chris and Pichu yelled.

Lucario grunted. "You better not address Chris as weak again, or else..."

"Or what?" Mewtwo asked as he narrowed his eyes at him. "Since we're in a team, you can't hurt me at all. You'll just pass through me unless you were thrown."

A nearby Party Ball fell behind them, and Lucario simply kicked it slightly to let it float above, make a funny noise, then drop several Bob-ombs close. "But," Lucario began as he moved his hand to the right and caught a bomb. "Explosives affect anyone."

"Lucario, you better not get in my way for this match. I've longed for this moment to come, and you won't stop me."

"Make me," Lucario taunted.

"I don't want to make you. Just leave, and leave them to me alone."

"READY? ...GO!"

Chris and Pichu exchanged glances before a small war broke soon...

Castle Siege

"Didn't you say you were going to disqualify people?" Pikachu asked as a pissed Lucario looked away from a pissed Mewtwo.

"Well, I never said partners could betray each other and beat the heck out of each other," Master Hand said. "But...that fight with Mewtwo against Lucario was kind of funny."

"It was not to me," Mewtwo said with a glare. "I don't want to get paired up with that bastard never again."

"Insult Chris again, and I'll promise you're going to die," Lucario said with a glare.

"And don't forget you lost against Pichu, no less," Mario pointed out (as Pichu sighed) to Mewtwo, who shot him with a glare. "...I'll be quiet."

"Sheesh, rivalry has been increased to dangerous levels these days," Samus commented.

C. Falcon tapped her shoulder, and she looked behind where Fox and Wolf were glaring daggers at each other...in the same table.

"They've been like that ever since Chris started to fight," C. Falcon said. "Oh, wait, it's time for the next match."

"Now here we have Castle Siege, which is..." Master Hand looked unsure.

"What? Why is it under attack?" Ike asked. "Did you say this was the real thing and not an illusion?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer...did I?"

"I must go!" Ike yelled.

"Relax! I did everything beforehand!" The hand said. "I'm sure the castle won't fall to the random enemy's hands at all. You just don't mind the attack and everything will be fine."

"I swear, you make dangerous decisions that risk our universes without our permissions," Ness said.

"Are you Onett's Mayor?"

"Er, no..."

"So there," Master Hand said. "Anyway, here in Castle Siege the scenery will change constantly between 3 tiers: the first one is the one outside above a watchtower, the second is inside the throne room, and the third one in the inferno."

"It's hard to believe an inferno is part of that place," Pit commented.

"I know, but then again, your worlds are weird in their own ways."

With Mila's Divine Protection

VS. Roy

The World Traveler (in his Ninja job) found the red-haired swordsman at the edge of the floor. "Alright! I'm all fired up for this match!" he said excited.

"A-are you really going to get literally burned?" Chris asked.

"Probably," Roy said with a shrug. "Ready now?"

"U-um..."

"READY? ...GO!"

The swordsman quickly rushed at Chris, who gasped and quickly took out his katana from its sheath. Both clashed swords with each other, but Chris's katana started to get lowered down. "D-dammit! I haven't used this job that much!" Chris cursed as he backed away to the edge.

Roy looked serious when he slowly pushed Chris back. The World Traveler gasped as he knew Roy would eventually push him back, and he quickly jumped high above and landed on the platform close to the watchtower. Chris sighed in relief. "Phew, that was clos-"

"YIAAAAAH!!!" Roy interrupted as he rose from behind the platform and used Blazer, slicing Chris upwards with a quick slash. The ninja grunted in pain and backed away to resist the damage dealt to him.

"D-don't ever talk to yourself between matches..." Chris muttered as he looked around for Roy. "Now where'd he go?"

Chris's eyes widened as he heard someone landing behind him. With a quick turn, he was submitted by Roy's Double-Edge Dance. The ninja moaned in pain as the swordsman kept slashing him before Chris was sent to the air by a fire slash. "Chris, come on!" Roy seemed to cheer.

Chris looked down over his shoulder and gasped after he saw the precipice (or actually, the ground floor, which meant he would lose a life) underneath his back. The ninja quickly tried to regain his control before he used a jump to go back to safe floor (or platform), where he landed back and sighed.

"Finally. There's someone who doesn't screw up," Snake said.

Zelda, Yoshi, and even Mewtwo grunted annoyed at this.

"(You can do this... You don't know how, but you can do this...)" Chris thought.

"There you are!" Roy called from below where he jumped right towards Chris.

"N-no!" Chris gasped as he took a step back.

But in his mind...something was understood...

"S-Substitution!" he suddenly yelled as he made a ninja sign and vanished from the place with the help of a cloud of smoke. Roy gasped as he entered inside the smoke and coughed after he landed inside. The smoke quickly cleared out and the swordsman looked around.

"Chris! Where are you?" Roy asked.

But the swordsman was interrupted by a small tag that tilted to the sides in front of him before it exploded very close to him. Roy grunted in pain as he accidentally fell down the platform, and to the floor, where he grunted and quickly got up.

Substitution

Leaves by using a cloud of smoke, and in your place, use an explosive tag that will explode some seconds after the smoke vanishes.

"I'm serious now!" Roy yelled.

Just a few feet away from him to the left, there were some fingers trying to get up from the edge of the platform. With a closer look, there was a terrified Chris hanging for his dear 5 lives, looking down at the ground with a shocked look. "(W-why did I appear here?!)" he asked in his mind. "(Well, I just...learned that move just now so it makes sense I'm inexperienced with it... Um...what now?)" he asked as he looked down.

The scenery suddenly trembled before Chris felt floor below and was obliged to stand up. This not only made him get surprised, but it also let Roy find him.

"So there you are!" Roy said.

"YEEEEEEEEH!" Chris yelled before he was suddenly pulled up above a flag platform. "O-oh no, I'm not falling for that!" he yelled.

"YIAAA-" At the moment Roy used Blazer just below the flag, the ninja backstepped, quickly ran at Roy, grabbed him from his back and...pulled a kunai close to his throat. "U-ugh..." Roy gasped at the kunai close to his throat.

The crowd gasped at this sudden movement.

"Oh my god..." Peach said in pure disbelief. "N-no! Don't do it!"

"Peach, I don't think he can kill Roy in there..." Mario said.

"O-oh boy..." Olimar commented.

Chris trembled. "N-now, please remain silent and I won't hurt you..."

"U-um, Chris?" Roy asked a little bit freaked out. "Y-you sound a little bit scary from behind my head..."

"REMAIN SILENT!" Chris yelled as he pulled the kunai closer to the throat. "O-or I'll take you out right now!"

"YES SIR!" Roy yelled.

"I don't know if Roy forgot he can't be killed during a match," Marth said.

"Who cares as long as the kid spills blood from the other kid?" Snake asked.

"Do you...tend to address Chris and Roy or people like them as kids?"

"So, your point? Teens still act like kids."

"Just...don't go overboard."

"Too bad you're not my boss, and not that I'll listen to you ever if you were."

"Buuuuuuuuuuuurned," said Falco sarcastically.

"Now..." Chris whispered. "Let's move slowly to the boundary..."

"W-what?" Roy asked.

Chris slowly pushed Roy to the boundary...slowly...slowly...slowly...

...Slowly...

...Slowly...

...Slowly...

...Then he pushed him away when they were not seen in the screen.

"OAAAAH!!!" Roy yelled from the tower of light he made, indicating the end of the match.

"GAME!"

Since Chris wasn't seen anymore, the screen only showed the second tier as he received his points and Smash Coins.

"And Roy's back," Master Hand said.

"You were doing good until you were subdued by the art of fear," Crazy Hand said. "Your comments and feedback?"

"You try to get someone like Chris to grab you and threaten you with a kunai!" Roy said. "Who else can do that here?"

"I could," Zelda said.

"Me," Snake said.

"W-well, don't do it to me..." Roy said ashamed.

"Either way, you did good," Master Hand said. "Time for the Normal Target Smash."

A time passed...

"I...am truly surprised..." Lucario said.

"I know," Master Hand said. "...I can't believe Chris thought there was a platform beyond the right precipice and got killed by accident."

Lucario got a little bit irritated as Sonic blocked his mouth from his constant chuckles. The Aura Pokémon took his time before he fired a fully charged Aura Sphere which hit Sonic right on the face.

"...Lucario..."

"He deserved it."

"...Well, he was chuckling a lot, and it got irritating. However, this is the last time."

"The...last time he will...attack me?" Sonic asked weakly from the table.

"What? No!" Master Hand said. "This is the last time you chuckle like that in here, unless everyone else does the same as you!"

"Hmmmmmm..." Sonic grunted annoyed.

Halberd

Meta Knight Revenge

VS. Team Meta Knight

"Um..." Master Hand looked unsure. "This time...this stage is really a simulation due to the Halberd missing and all that, though. You basically are taken around a flying platform around the Halberd before it lands on the deck, where you get to dodge some hazards."

"There's no double machine in there, right?" Falco asked.

"Oh, Duon? Of course not."

THIS...was really bad for Chris (in his Juggler job, meaning he was a Moogle).

Not only he needed to fight Meta Knight...

But he needed to fight 10 of him.

The juggler's creepy enthusiasm wasn't enough for him to even make a grin at the 6 yellow glaring eyes that looked at his way. And his enthusiasm wasn't even there with him.

Surely, one of them would be the real Meta Knight. The one whose color wasn't changed at all.

"U-um..." Chris gulped. "...K-kupo?"

"Fight me," the 3 Meta Knights stated at the same time, making an unusually loud sound of their voices as they pointed their Galaxias at Chris.

"Meta Knight goes surround mode," C. Falcon joked and some of them chuckled.

It was not long before the platform and the ship were pushed up to the air, to the orange sunset.

And Chris now had to deal with 3 bat swordsmen of death.

"...O-okay!" Chris forced a shy grin (yes, there are shy grins). "I-I'm going to toy around with you...and then I'll get the audience's attention...and then I'll d-"

The Moogle was suddenly grabbed by one of the clones...

And that was where everything went downhill.

"KUPO!" Chris yelped before he was...

Okay, this scene looked pretty bad. Not even the words you're reading just now will explain the brutality of 3 clones that sent Chris to utter hell. Heck, the poor furred plushy (Chris: What plushy?! Kupo?!) screamed like never before in his life. And no, this wasn't based of what evil competitive people believe as tiers. This was based...well...about something I just do, okay?!

Anyway, there were no words to describe that massacre.

Rather than that, there were sentences that explained everything.

Many of the Smashers looked pretty shocked at the yells of pain and agony from the poor juggler that was sent blasting off the stage. A pretty scared Chris soon came from a platform that took him back on the center of the stage. The juggler had eyes wide of horror as he embraced himself.

Okay, fine, that didn't explain too much. Live with it, though.

"...Can we ask Meta Knight to stop what he just did?" Olimar asked pretty shocked as some Pikmins shook with fear.

"(I'm already seeing my grave after he wants to go through the mode...) E-er, no, Chris will have to defeat him nevertheless," Master Hand said, sometimes shaking a little.

"I just hope he results victorious..." Toon Link muttered.

"...And us for that matter," DK said as he shrugged.

"..." Something seemed different with Chris as he glared daggers at the 3 Meta Knights, who simply stared back at him as the platform reached the deck of the Halberd. He slowly licked his upper lip and took out 2 daggers. "...Now..." he muttered menacingly. "...Fight me...kupo."

It was hard for people to take seriously on a juggler with a somewhat high-pitched voice to say something menacing.

The 3 Meta Knights nodded and quickly dashed to the World Traveler, swords trailing off on their right hands.

"...KUPO!" Chris yelled as he dodged the first Meta Knight by jumping over him. As the juggler passed over the knight, he quickly struck his daggers on his back. The attack had a good knockback and the clone was sent blasting away. "Y-yes!" Chris cheered.

The other 2 Meta Knights decided to join forces, and so they dashed dangerously to the juggler, who remained below the platform. Chris gulped but prepared to attack them back.

Inside his mind, something new was learned...

"Hmm..." Chris took out from his back a flaming bottle that looked about to explode. This skill that he learned was called Molotov Cocktail. "Kupo!" He noticed the 2 Meta Knights about to trust their boots at him. However, the World Traveler backstepped and let go of the bottle that exploded upon contact with the boots. The 2 masked knights grunted as they both suddenly turned red of anger.

Molotov Cocktail

Takes out a flaming bottle that is about to explode. Causes fire damage to the enemy, and can also may cause Berserk (which puts the target out of control, increases physical damage, but decreases defense).

The 2 Meta Knights wanted to kill Chris now.

"Heheheheh!" Chris laughed mischievously. "What seems to be the matter? You see lots of red or what?" he taunted.

The 2 knights quickly charged at him. The World Traveler chuckled a bit before he backflipped to evade 2 stabs. Chris saw another Meta Knight coming from above, and he quickly took out a flaming bottle that he tossed upwards and collided with the unexpected Meta Knight, who got knocked back and was sent blasting off.

However, there remained the enraged Meta Knights...

The juggler gasped as he looked down and found the knights about to reach him and slash him furiously. Chris could tell they were going to slash him like never before. Fortunately, he landed on the hovering platform...

And saw the cannon aiming at him.

Chris smirked at the cannon as the knights came from below and prepared to slash him hard from both sides. The juggler faked a gasp before he jumped up, passed the next Meta Knight that fell between the other 2, and was suddenly attacked by the cannon at full potency with the others. The juggler saw the 3 blasting off to different parts, and he chuckled in victory.

However, he only defeated 5...

Not soon after he landed back on the platform, a dark Meta Knight soon appeared and quickly flew after Chris. The juggler gasped and he quickly dodged one slash before he was cut in the face, making him back away before he shook his head. "Of course..." he muttered. "I'm not going to have the same "streak" without getting damaged..."

He had to work faster, or the other 2 knights would appear soon.

The juggler yelled and ran at Meta Knight with his 2 daggers. Both of them soon clashed weapons against each other, and Chris struggled to attack Meta Knight. "Fool," Meta Knight said as he began to push Chris's daggers. "You can't best me with 2 mere daggers. I use a dangerous weapon, or did you forget?"

"And also," Chris spoke back. "Did you forget I can use other things you can't?"

"Not at all," Meta Knight said. "I'm most aware of that."

"Oh, do you?" Chris asked. "Boom."

Meta Knight didn't look over a flaming bottle that fell quickly on him and exploded in a burst of flames. The World Traveler took advantage of the knight's staggering time that he dashed forward and slashed Meta Knight with an X-crossed attack using his daggers. The fact that Meta Knight was put under Berserk made him weaker that he was sent blasting off.

And soon, the other 2 Meta Knight appeared and prepared to attack.

But a Smash Ball appeared, and the crowd gasped.

The 3 looked up before quickly glaring at each other. Using his small wings, Chris began to fly for it, but the knights followed behind. The juggler chased after the ball that he tossed a dagger at it to try to break it.

It would take much more than that.

Chris cursed in his mind before one Meta Knight came from above and struck his feet down on him, obliging Chris to crash right back on the platform. The 3 Meta Knights locked their eyes at the Smash Ball and began chasing after it.

"...No..." Chris muttered. "...I can't let them get it...kupo..."

The juggler slowly got up and looked up to see the knights trying to gain the power of the Smash Ball. It was a matter of time before it could break.

Chris narrowed his eyes at the Smash Ball as he prepared to toss a dagger at full speed at it. The problem was that he could end up hitting one of the bat wings' users, but he slowly took his tongue out and aimed carefully...

It was it.

The juggler swiftly tossed the dagger right towards the Smash Ball, passing barely between the 3 knights, before it shattered itself and lent its power to the juggler.

The Meta Knights quickly looked back and dove after Chris. The World Traveler gasped, but then he regained his control and prepared to use his Final Smash.

"Now!" Chris yelled as he flipped to the center of the stage, holding several daggers between his fingers. "Let the circus start its rehearsal!" he called cheerfully as he embraced himself with the daggers pointing back, closing his eyes slowly.

The knights prepared for anything...

Chris opened his eyes suddenly, and he let go of multiple daggers that began to bounce and stab the floor all around him. The Meta Knights saw that the daggers themselves jumped sometimes insanely high, and they tried to evade the frenzy of daggers. However, the daggers easily struck all of them hard, and they were sent blasting off.

The attack didn't end as Chris seemed to be tossing more and more daggers out of hammerspace. 2 more Meta Knights finally emerged from above, but they were quickly taken out by the daggers that bounced upwards and ended up stabbing them through.

"UOOHH!!!" the 2 of them yelled simultaneously.

"GAME!"

"Let's Dagger Party!" Chris said cheerfully as he stopped, folded his arms, and bowed to the crowd with a small smile.

Too bad he didn't get to hear the crowd cheer for him as the screen gave him his points and coins.

Dagger Party

Throws a frenzy of bouncing yet sharp daggers around all the stage, bouncing high and stabbing anywhere. Deals moderate damage to all enemies should they get caught in the attack.

Back at the hall, most of the Smashers seemed to be clapping at the match as Meta Knight came back and sat down on a nearby chair.

"Needless to say, that match was good," Master Hand said. "Your thoughts?"

"Next time, I don't want to feel weaker," Meta Knight responded harshly. "I didn't fight quite well with copies of me around the whole place. I hate it. I detest it. I despise it."

"...Okay..."

"(Well done,)" Lucario thought smiling a bit.

Distant Planet

Environmental Noises

VS. Metal Olimar

"Hmm..." Master Hand grumbled. "We didn't even need to ask the musicians for help to make this one. All we had to do was to drop a recorder outside the mansion and let the bugs do their thing."

"Why's that?" Diddy asked.

"Well, apparently, we need singers since they mix quite well with music, and this stage requires a singer for the tracks. It has to be someone who has a very sweet voice, yet enchanting."

Peach raised her hand.

"U-um, not a Smasher, sorry..."

"W-well..." Peach thought for a moment. "I happen to know someone very talented as a singer, and she has a sweet voice. I think Mario knows her more than I, though."

"Oh, I know who," Mario said. "I'll give her a call and ask her if she can come here."

"Wonderful!" Master Hand said before clearing his throat. "Ahem, here we see now the Distant Planet! Home of absolutely curious treasures such as a Duracell(tm) battery or other things. Here, fighters should be careful with the rainy weather, and the occasional Bulborb who walks in from the right part of the stage."

Chris (in his Ranger job) looked forward where some Pikmins were with a metallic Olimar...

Er...well...it was hard to tell if he was looking at Chris due to his helmet turning all metal, but he bowed to Chris quickly.

"Olimar, can you talk?" Chris asked.

A moment of silence followed.

"..." Chris walked to him and knelt. "Can you talk?"

More silence followed.

"..." Chris leaned his ear against the helmet, and absolutely no response came back. Olimar buried the front of his helmet on his hands in shame. Chris could imagine him sobbing.

"Ready?"

The sudden voice of the announcer asked and Chris quickly ran back to his position.

"GO!"

For Chris's surprise, Olimar began attacking by throwing his 2 Red Pikmins and a White Pikmin that got latched onto him. They all began to pound him around, and the World Traveler shook in pain as they kept banging on him.

"U-ugh..." Chris grunted as the White Pikmin had more effect than the 2 Red Pikmins. The World Traveler decided to grab them and toss them away. He saw Olimar quickly taking at least 3 Yellow Pikmins, 2 Purple Pikmins, and 1 Blue Pikmin. "...Oh god, he won't respond back! Being of metal made him mute!"

Olimar braced himself and ran at Chris with arms trailing behind. The World Traveler gulped and raised his rather heavy sword. Just when Olimar was going to go acrobat on Chris by hitting him with his short feet, the World Traveler slammed the sword down and sent the captain...a feet away, then the captain retaliated by ordering the Purple Pikmin to jump at Chris.

The little veggie alien dealt a good amount of damage to Chris before the 3 Yellow Pikmin were tossed at him quickly. Chris tried to resist the constant poundings before he shook them off and quickly swung his sword at Olimar, who got slightly pushed back but kept holding his ground (or plant).

"..." Olimar tried to say something, but he was unable to do so. The captain frowned before he was suddenly pushed back by Chris's Quick Draw. Unfortunately, he wasn't damaged that badly as Chris just used the attack right away.

Olimar seemed to get a little (but VERY little) angry and he began to take out more Pikmins that he later began to toss at Chris. The World Traveler quickly jumped to a nearby leaf before a chain of Pikmins (that for some reason were perfectly in a diagonal line to Chris) pushed him out to the left part, where he crashed his back on a hill with a small cliff.

Rain suddenly began to fall down, and the hill began to fill with water before a strong river started to appear to push the World Traveler off. Chris gasped as he saw the ground that he used a double jump to hang on to the cliff. The water, however, poured all around his face as he tried to maintain his sword from falling.

"Get back on..." he muttered through the water. "Get back on!" he yelled (accidentally filling his mouth with water).

Something became clear in his mind...

The World Traveler decided to jump away from the cliff, and he examined the place where Olimar was. He found a part of the vines lowered down where Olimar was standing right above. Chris quickly tossed the sword up with a spinning effect included. He gasped when he just tossed the sword and was instantly taken up in a panic (no joke) to catch the sword just in time to smash down...

...On a crate.

"What?" Chris asked confused as the crate revealed a Bumper. He then saw a Bulborb walking into the scene. It stared at Chris without moving. "...Hello?" he greeted confused.

"..." The Bulborb opened its mouth wide. Did he think Chris wanted to be his dinner?

"..." Chris felt the vines bouncing for a moment before he turned around and found Olimar. The captain began to toss Pikmins at Chris, but the World Traveler put his sword in front of him to shield himself from the plant aliens.

Chris grabbed the Bumper without noticing...

He dodged Olimar's Pikmins as he sidestepped behind the metallic opponent. Olimar quickly turned around and slammed a hiding Purple Pikmin on Chris's shoulder. "O-oww!" Chris moaned. "W-what?"

He noticed the Bumper...

And he didn't get a second thought before tossing it hardly to Olimar, who tried to gasp before he was pushed away from the platform. The captain didn't get blast away...

But he landed inside a familiar mouth that quickly closed. Chris looked at the Bulborb (still staring at him) quickly going away from view, resulting in Olimar's defeat as no yell came (except from the Pikmins who instantly died for some reason).

"GAME!"

"Phew..." Chris sighed as he received his point and coins.

"D-did I do it fine?" Olimar asked as he returned.

"Oh, quite well," Master Hand said. "You did very good out there. Who would have thought you would do such a fight?"

"I-I was pretty confused, though... I didn't talk at all."

"Meh, some secondary effects from the Metal Box. Still, that was good. I'll look forward to see you going through the mode. You could actually have very good chances to win."

"I'll...think about it..." Olimar said as he sat down on a nearby chair and began writing in his journal.

"Okay," the hand said with a nod. "Fox! You're up! Stop glaring daggers at Wolf and go!"

Lylat Cruise

Space Battleground

"By the way, I intentionally stole this track from the game disk of Chris's collection," Master Hand admitted. "I went to ask the musicians about this track and they found it difficult due to the lack of musicians. Hope you don't mind, but it fits this simplistic stage through the flames of spacial wars. Only Fox, Falco, and Wolf can get their own "codecs" with their members while in battl-"

"Wait a sec," Falco interrupted. "So there's a war just above Corneria right now?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerr...probably?"

"And that cruise is like...just going through the whole war without being noticed?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Maaaaaybe."

"And it doesn't get attacked or noticed either because..."

"Just watch the damn fight already!"

"Fine, but if I see things getting rough, I'll get away from here and assist the battle," Falco said. "Speaking of the battle, where's Fox?"

Back on the stage, Chris gulped at the sight of the empty space AND a war that didn't notice him at all, or the cruise for that matter. "...I-I'd rather fight Falco than fighting Fox or Wolf!" he yelled worried. "I think I can fight Falco just well, but not when the other 2 are here! Please, tell me Falco is going to get here!"

"Too bad. Nice knowing you," Falco said.

"..." The loud explosions of the ships around made Chris feel uncomfortable. "A-and when you think about it...doesn't it feel wrong to fight in the middle of a spacial war?"

"Well, now that you mention it," Slippy said as he was seen flying in his Arwing besides the right side of the cruise. "It's kind of stupid going through here on a cruise like that."

"...Slippy!" Chris said with a sigh. "Oh, it's really good to see you again."

"Oh, hi there," Slippy said with a smile. "Whatcha doing in the middle of an random intergalactic fight that just happened so suddenly and pulled me, Krystal, and Wolf's gang into it?"

That sounded stupidly twisted.

"...I...don't...have...the slightest idea..." Chris responded confused.

"...I had the same thought," Slippy said with a shrug. "But seriously, why are you on that ship? You're gonna go somewhere on it or what? Nobody else in here noticed you 'cept me with my radar."

"I-I'm going to fight either Fox, Falco, or Wolf here..."

"...You kidding?" Slippy asked. "Fox isn't the kind of guy to fight his friends, and Falco, well, he could punch you a good one, but Wolf will surely maul you to death."

"Oh, thank you," Chris said annoyed. "Now my self-esteem became more damaged than before."

"..." Slippy shook his head. "Seriously! What's going on here? Unless... Ooh ho ho ho ho ho! Now I know!" he said with a laugh. "Did someone name Master Hand made all of this since the next tournament began?"

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"That hand guy made the same thing before," Slippy said. "He used the Great Fox as a "stage" where Fox and Falco fought those Smashers guys, and that's why I didn't get to meet any of them at all because I was told to stay away by Fox's orders. You gonna fight the 3 of them? Now that's what I call courage!" he said with a chuckle.

"So they can get to go there?" Falco asked.

"Ugh, I'm pretty sure they won't bother us as long as we remain focused. They won't do that again, though," Master Hand said. "And no, you can't tell your gang to attack Fox or Falco."

"Who said anything about attacking those 2 weirdoes like a coward?" Wolf asked. "I can pretty much fight them back without any effort."

"Why you..." Falco muttered.

He was interrupted by Chris.

"B-but there isn't a tournament right now..." Chris said. "This is just some kind of test practice."

"Oh," Slippy said. "So who's your opponent?"

"I don't know yet," Chris said. "But I wish it was Falco. I'm...pretty much scared if Fox or Wolf fight me..."

"...Well, don't piss Fox off," Slippy said. "He gets very violent if you ever get to piss him off."

"Actually...I already did once..."

"...Poor you," Slippy muttered. "Well, in battle against just 1 person...you could be pretty much dead."

"W-why? Y-you're starting to scare me..."

"Because when someone glances deep into those green eyes..." Slippy's eyes widened. "They see their grave waiting for them."

"..." Chris whimpered.

Slippy kept looking at him that way before he blinked and made his eyes look normal. "But don't worry! If things get worse, I'll cheer you!"

"R-really?"

"Of course!" Slippy said. "Just don't piss him off because...he...could...um..."

"...Slippy?" Chris asked. "A-are you okay?"

The toad stopped talking as he looked behind Chris. His smile slowly faded as his eyes widened at the shadow that covered Chris.

"...Hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-" Slippy kept repeating in pure disbelief.

"...OH NO..." Chris muttered. "Please, PLEASE TELL ME A TOWER JUST APPEARED RANDOMLY BEHIND ME AND NOT..."

With a gulp, Chris tried to slowly turn his head around and look back at the source of the shadow...

...And what he found was a 16'8" tall vulpine looking down at them.

And with a girly scream, Chris put his hands close to his chin and yelled, "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

VS. Giant Fox

"Hmm..." the giant Fox wondered. "Now this is something I didn't see coming at all..." he said at a deep tone that made Chris hear true horror (at least for him).

"Holy Molly!" Slippy yelled at the sight of his boss being a gargantuan. "I-I'm outta here!"

And the toad dove down, leaving the 2 on the cruise.

"SLIPPY!" Chris yelled as he looked down at the deep space. "Y-you said you were going to cheer me! P-please, come back here and give me support to fight..."

"Ahem..." Fox coughed.

Chris quickly got shocked, stood up, and looked up to the once smaller vulpine. "H-hi..." Chris muttered with a gulp.

"Look," Fox began as he crossed his (huge) arms. "I didn't want to fight you like this. Heck, I hate being a giant myself."

Angels literally were heard singing inside Chris's mind. "Y-y-y-y-y-y-you do?" Chris asked, still panicked.

"Yeah," Fox said. "Maybe I'm just going to jump off and let you win."

"...Oh, thank you so much, benevolent giant fox!" Chris said happily.

"...(I really had him so scared by accident... He's starting to act so OOC now...) So, I'll better leave for now."

"Y-yes!" Chris said, still panicked. "D-do leave!"

"Alright," Fox said with a (huge) grin and turned around. "What the...Krystal?"

Chris looked confused as Krystal was seen flying close to the giant Fox. "W-what is she doing here?"

"Um..." Krystal blushed, looked away, then looked back at Fox. "It's been a very little while after the vacations, isn't?"

"I..." Fox scratched the back of his (huge) head. "Y-yeah, it's been a while."

"...?" Chris looked really confused now.

"So," Krystal smiled a little. "You're so big now."

"Oh, that?" Fox asked with a (deep) chuckle. "Yeah, I'm a little too big, am I not?"

The World Traveler didn't like where this was going AT ALL...

"You know," Krystal began as she tilted her head amused. "I liked you when you were some inches smaller than me. I guess you took way too many vitamins, right?"

"Heheh, I know," Fox said with a (huge) grin. "You liked me when I was smaller?"

"Oh," Krystal chuckled. "Maybe...maybe not... I feel rather well attracted to big guys... You know where I'm getting at?"

Chris's jaw opened.

Fox nodded several times. "I know. Actually, being this big is so pleasant."

"(The hell?)" Chris asked shocked.

"When you are this big, you feel pretty strong," Fox said with a devious grin. "I think I can lift up a building whenever I want. However, I don't feel any stronger...just big," he said, lifting up his eyebrows several times, causing Krystal to chuckle.

"...Um..." Chris raised a finger. "...Fox?"

"Oh, is that so?" Krystal asked. "My, you seem even more handsome than before like that."

"(...Okay, that really explains everything,)" Chris thought. "(They are SEDUCING each other...during my fight!)"

"Am I?" Fox asked with a grin. "Too bad I didn't grow any muscles. I would have made more sense that way, don't you think?"

"(T-the hell is he saying now?)" Chris thought.

Krystal chuckled and blushed. "Yeah, but that's just fantasy. Just think about it, you ripping off your clothes with sheer muscl-"

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt this rather...romantic talk, but..." Chris called from behind.

However, he was being still ignored.

"I can totally imagine that," Fox said as his grin grew wider.

"Okay, that does it," Chris muttered. "Unfortunately, this really has to end."

"I second that!" Master Hand yelled. "Chris, shrug her away and let the match begin!"

"You know, you usually give the order to begin the match to that mysterious announcer guy we have yet to meet," Marth pointed out.

"...Whoops," Master Hand said. "Let's see if I can make Fox snap out of his romanticism."

"READY? ...GO!"

The crowd cheered wildly, and Chris gasped. "O-okay, the match officialy started now, and I'm in my MUSICIAN JOB?!" he asked shocked as he looked at his harp and head bandana. "T-this job mostly only works for support! H-how am I going to deal damage to a freaking macro vulpine?!"

"What?" the giant Fox asked as he glared down at Chris over his right shoulder.

"I-I..." Chris stuttered. "...Oh, no way! You're starting to act like a macro now! Stop falling for Krystal's seduction talk!"

"What?" Krystal asked.

"Oh, come on now!" Chris yelled annoyed at the still-to-be-official couple. "It's very clear you were seducing him! I know everyone out there agrees with me as well!"

Back in the hall, mostly everyone (including the hands) had their hands raised.

"You can leave Fox now to me, and seduce him in front of weak-minded teens like me somewhere else," Chris said with an annoyed look.

Unfortunately, he started to get a little bit too far...

"Besides, Panther surely wants you!"

"W-what?" Krystal asked in surprise.

"Chris..." Fox muttered as he made (huge) fists to the sides of his belt.

"And now that we're talking about Panther of all people," Chris ranted. "Why would HE be Fox's rival in romance? I mean, PANTHER? Why him and not Wolf? It'd make sense if Wolf was the one in the love triangle! But PANTHER? Why him still?"

"Because I don't like skunks," Wolf said with crossed arms. "Love is for the weak people."

"T-that's not true..." Peach muttered.

"Chris, really, stop now before you get seriously hurt..." Fox threatened as he showed his fangs a little.

"Oh, why would I stop now?" Chris asked.

"Ooh, this is getting so good now," Falco said with a grin.

"Who would have thought romance would be so stupid, yet so funny?" Sonic asked with a grin to Falco, obviously enjoying the "golden" moment.

"I don't want to stop!" Chris yelled. "You're the main reason why guys drool over girls! I mean, you still act like a teenager in your freaking thirties!"

"Freaking thirties? Okay, you're going too far now," Fox said with a glare.

"So what?" Chris asked. "It's still makes no sense whatsoever! Why is Panther your rival in love, anyway?"

At that very moment, mentioned space fighter came from above and flew right besides Krystal. "Panther sensed some disturbance down here. What is this? Krystal? Oh, are you interested in Panther again?"

"And just hear him out!" Chris yelled. "He's a weirdo who speaks in third person!"

"Well, that's something I kind of agre-" Fox shook his (huge) head. "Still, you're getting way too far now."

"Since when did the cub grow so big?" Panther asked. "Panther doesn't quite understand the logic behind him at all."

"And I don't understand it either!" Chris yelled. "I mean, why are you Fox's rival in love?"

"Because Panther is the one who deserves Krystal more than a guy who hints he's gay but refuses to say so."

"..." Fox slowly glared at Panther with wide eyes, panting heavily as well (and even steam leaked out from his nostrils).

Krystal knew this was going to get ugly. "U-um, I'm so sorry for interrupting a match," she said worried. "I-I'm sorry, Fox, but I'll leave for the time being. I shouldn't have acted like that to you, and it was so embarrassing as well. I...have to think about what I just did a moment ago to you... To be honest, you're not that attractive in that size and..."

Fox was still ignoring her. His eyes targeted Panther's Wolfen.

"...I'll just see you later..." she said, sounding a little bit pissed before she flew down.

"Krystal, don't go away from Panther," Panther said with a chuckle. "After all, Panther is the one wh-"

His Wolfen suddenly met a downward huge fist that quickly took it down, and Panther along with it.

The giant Fox panted heavily as he slowly turned to Chris and glared down at him.

However, Chris still looked way more pissed than the giant. "What?" he asked as he opened his arms. "You want to fight now?"

"Oh no," Fox began as he looked extremely furious. "I want to crush you and kill you now!!!" he yelled as he quickly stepped in front of the World Traveler.

However...

For some reason, Fox felt someone grabbing his leg, and he struggled a bit. "What?!" he asked in disbelief.

10'9" feet below, there was Chris grabbing the air in front of Fox's huge red boot. This action actually meant Chris was grabbing Fox's foot.

...No, really, this actually happened. Chris SOMEHOW grabbed Fox.

"SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!" Chris yelled loudly as he quickly turned around, dragged Fox along, and tossed him down below the edge of the stage since the World Traveler was standing above the edge.

And due to Fox's enormous since and falling speed, the giant vulpine couldn't grab the edge in time, fell down to the stage's boundary, and instantly lost the match after yelling, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Chris sulked a little bit and wiped the dust off from his hands as he walked to the right to the next stage. "Romance between a giant guy and a girl around my height...please..." he muttered annoyed as he folded his arms and grunted one last time.

"GAME!"

And Chris obtained his points and coins.

Falco saw a normal (but pissed) Fox walking to his table, where he sat down and rested his chin above his right palm. "Grumpy much?" Falco asked.

"..." Fox only kept glaring at Chris's annoyed image on the screen.

"Sorry to say this to you, but Chris had a lot of reason than you," Falco said as he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back. "I get furious a lot of times, but you gotta admit your own mistakes."

"..." Fox sighed. "Okay, I was kind of...very wrong, actually. Krystal kind of...distracted me a lot."

"Meh, fall in love with her in a later time, though. You 2 need to get accepted to everyone."

Fox looked down ashamed. "I know..."

"And also," Falco began as he grinned. "Now I know you like to be a freakin' macro."

"Tsk..." Fox looked away, before he looked ashamed of what he did.

Back where the stage was, a closer look to the space revealed a pissed Leon with an amused Panther inside the chameleon's Wolfen. Leon kept looking forward where he flew as Panther sat behind with folded arms behind his head. "If you stopped to flirt around with that female vixen in the right time and piss off the fox, I wouldn't be your personal chauffeur and rescuer right now! What do you have to say in your defense?"

"That Panther can't resist being attractive to women," Panther said with closed eyes. "Now, let us go back to Sargasso. Panther needs to rebuild his new Wolfen."

"Seriously, Andrew and Pigma were more competent than you in some ways..." Leon muttered with a grunt of annoyance as the 2 disappeared from sight.

Mario Circuit

Luigi Circuit

VS. Peach

"...No..." Chris (in his Black Mage job) muttered as he and Peach had worried looks to each other, looking from each edge of the upper tracks. "I...I just can't!"

"I-I can't bring myself to hurt you!" Peach yelled as she looked even more unsure than Chris himself. "I-I can't hurt a dear friend of mine!"

"N-no! Don't say it like that!" Chris yelled. "It makes me feel more guilty!"

"And it makes me feel more guilty if you feel more guilty than me!"

"I-I know!" Chris yelled. "B-but you have to fight, and I need to fight you back..."

"I..." Peach looked down. "...I won't fight you... I'll...just surrender by walking to the stage's boundary."

The crowd dramatically gasped, and even some of the Smashers at the hall gasped as well.

"B-but you will be disqualified!" Chris yelled worried. "I-I can't let you..."

"No," Peach interrupted with a frown. "It's perfectly okay for me... You need to pass this more than me, anyway..."

"But...Peach..." Chris's yellow eyes shook in sadness before he closed them. "Don't!"

"Please..." Peach said sadly as she wiped a tear away from her right eye. "I...must do this... I'm not into violence against a friend like you..."

"B-but, Peach..." Chris muttered.

"It's okay...really," Peach said with some nods as she closed her eyes. "This is how I am... I am an honorable princess that cares about the people around her...and I care about you..." She blushed a little. "...A lot as well..."

"But I..." Chris sniffed. "P-please..."

"No..." Peach said as she turned to the boundary. "This is...something I must do myself... Please, understand me..."

"N-no!" Chris yelled as he jumped to her. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm serious!" Peach yelled. "I don't care if I get banned to get my Trophy Stand! I want you to get successful in this pointless quest to get a stand! ...I'm...sorry..." she apologized. "...But this test is necessary, isn't..."

"B-but..." Chris looked down in shame. "P-Peach..."

Music stops

The World Traveler got shocked after Peach turned around and gave him a warm hug. Chris's yellow eyes widened as Peach hugged him tightly. Even the crowd went so far as to say "Aww..." like the crowd watching from the audience deep in the background.

"..." Chris didn't respond back as Peach slowly stopped hugging him. The World Traveler kept looking at the way he was forced to look before he slowly looked at Peach.

Peach made a polite bow and lifted up her dress a little by the sides. "If you'll excuse me..." She turned around and shed a tear. "...I need to help a friend to go through this test..."

"..." Chris was left speechless.

"...Thank you...Chris..." Peach whispered as she slowly walked towards the boundary without turning back at the Black Mage.

Chris could only blink in shock as he heard the princess's scream of agony after she reached the left boundary and disappeared in a bright light. He shook his head and tried to run at her direction, but he tripped, looked up from the floor, and sat up on his legs, looking at Peach's direction "...Peach..." he muttered before he looked down and began to sob. "...No... W-why...why did you do this? Why?! WHY, PEACH?! WHYYYYYYYYYY?!" he yelled to the sky before the match could end, as some Shy Guys raced below the upper track...

"GAME!"

The Black Mage received his points and coins before deciding to go further through the mode.

...Because he made a promise to Peach...

...

...Actually, it was more like a small glance and talk, but stil-

Mario saw Peach slowly walking to the table, where she sat down and sighed. "You did well, don't worry," Mario said.

"Y-yeah," Luigi said as he wiped a tear. "What you did back there was so brave and courageous of you..."

"...Thank you..." Peach muttered with a forced smile.

Master Hand sniffed. "N-never in my life I'd think to see such decision to lose to help a friend like that..."

"A-actually, I would have done that but I was mut-" Olimar was interrupted.

"If you want, you can still participate in the Classic Mode, Peach... You deserve it as well as everyone here."

"...I'll think about it..." Peach said as she looked up and chuckled. "Maybe I could fight very soon. Who knows..."

Mario hugged her for a bit, and she returned the hug before Luigi joined in with them. The 3 decided to turn their attention back to the screen with the others (with half of them wiping some tears).

Summit

Shin Onigashima

VS. Team Ice Climbers

"If you thought Icicle Mountain didn't have a top, think again. This is the Summit of mentioned mountain. As the battle goes on, the opponents could trip and fall, but Popo and Nana can walk just fine above the ice without slipping. Also, the Summit itself will sometimes fall apart and go all the way down to the ocean, where huge fishes will jump and chow down anyone who gets near the water. After a time, the Summit will grow back into a mountain before starting all over again."

Chris (in his PK Kid job) sneezed on top of the ice floor, and he embraced himself. "B-brr..." he muttered.

Not much time passed before 6 Ice Climbers fell down. "Hey, Chris!" they all said at the same time.

"Popo and Nana go Dolby Sound Pro Logic II now," Pikachu joked.

"T-that was so loud for some reason," Chris said.

"Prepare yourself!" they all yelled in sync. "We know you helped us, but still this is a match we have to fight!"

"...And I need to feel happy because..."

"READY? ...GO!"

The crowd let out a wild cheer, and the PK kid gasped as the 6 Ice Climbers went after him.

Fortunately, they weren't Meta Knights.

"P-PK Freeze!" Chris yelled as he called forth mist from the top of his head and let it float above him. The 6 Ice Climbers jumped high and prepared to slam their hammers down on him. However, the mist suddenly descended quickly and created an explosion of ice that sent all of them up, where they blasted off and lost.

The World Traveler blinked surprised. Too bad 3 more pairs of Ice Climbers came from above and struck him down with their 6 hammers.

"Hey!" a Popo began as he looked at his clones. "Which one are we supposed to be paired with?"

The 6 Ice Climbers didn't notice that they all appeared in the same color scheme; the normal colors.

"Well, I'm obviously with her," another Popo said.

"No, I'm pretty sure my brother is that one over there," a Nana said.

"That's my brother!" another Nana yelled annoyed. "Seriously, can't you see the difference?"

"Er, no," yet another Nana said. "We appeared with the same colors."

"And none look brighter or darker whatsoever," a Popo said.

"Well, crap," a Nana said. "How are we going to fight if we can't tell who's with who?"

"Just take a brother and fight!" another Nana snapped out.

"Right!" they all said in serious tones before they all looked around.

"...But Chris is gone..." a Popo said.

"...Oh, sweet riddance," yet another Nana said sarcastically. "I didn't plan to win like thi-"

The sextuplets were flung away by a fast mist of ice that exploded and made them all get frozen inside icicles. They all blasted off upwards as Chris peered from the right platform.

"I-I'm doing it..." he said with a nervous chuckle. "I-I'm actually winning!"

The Summit itself suddenly began to shake before it began to go downhill to the base of the mountain, and towards the ocean down below. The World Traveler, however, hung for dear life on an ice spike so he didn't fall back to the boundary.

That's when 6 more Ice Climbers appeared from the sky and landed safely on the ice floor. They all scrambled around the stage and found Chris. "There's the bastard!" a violet Nana said.

"What?" Chris asked. "Why bastard?"

"Duh, we're in a match," a white Nana said. "It's usual to address your opponent like that."

"Everything's fair in love and war," Popo said. "You wanna start?"

Chris's eyes widened as the 6 Ice Climbers jumped to him and slammed their hammers at the side of his face, prompting him from letting go of the ice spike, but quickly returned to the stage with a jump, where he sighed upon landing safely.

"And he didn't get pushed by the air when he was jumping?" Toon Link asked.

"There's no logic in the matches," Master Hand said. "I removed the logic behind every single one of you. That's why you can defy gravity and double jump."

"This really feels so awkward..." Pichu commented with a shrug.

The World Traveler didn't have a chance to move before 3 Nanas used Belay underneath him and dealt an upward hit that sent him spinning in the air before crashing on the ice floor. Chris slid a little before he got up, but then fell face-first on the cold floor. "O-oww!" he moaned before he slowly got up carefully. "I-I think it's unfair that you 6 have an advantage!" he yelled angrily before the Summit reached the ocean, and a Polar Bear appeared on the top of the iceberg.

Apparently, the Polar Bear had insane weight, and whenever it jumped, the iceberg would sink down more.

"It's pretty fair for us," a blue Popo said. "So if it is unfair for you, and fair for us, then it's balanced!"

Chris fell down on his back. "Oh, cruel irony..." he moaned as he got up again.

"Now," a Red Nana began. "We're going to get tougher against yo-"

She and her clone brother were suddenly swallowed by a jumping fish that came out from the water, taking them to the stage boundary, making the other Ice Climbers gasp in horror.

"...THERE ARE KILLER FISHES IN HERE!" a white Popo yelled loudly.

The Polar Bear decided to jump, and it pushed the iceberg down enough for the 5 to start swimming.

Bad thing was that more giant fishes wanted to eat them alive.

"YIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the 2 Popos, 2 Nanas, and Chris himself screamed and quickly jumped up to evade the incoming fishes. The World Traveler sighed in relief after he made it to the top, but he saw the blue Popo being eaten alive by a fish that went underwater and took him out.

"...Oh, crap," the pink Nana said before she vanished in thin air.

"W-what did just... I mean, that really happens?"

"Of course it does!" yelled a white Popo. "One of us randomly change leaders, and if that leader is taken out, the other one disappears as well!"

"A-and where is your Nana?"

Chris had a point. The white Popo didn't have his violet Nana.

"Oh, she was eaten alive and I guess I should be dis-" The white Popo suddenly disappeared in front of Chris.

"...This is pretty twisted..." he commented before the Ice Climbers appeared in front of him and pointed their hammers at him. "W-what now?"

"There will be no more screw ups from our parts," Nana stated. "Prepare!"

"To die!" Popo added.

Nana and Chris stared at him somewhat shocked.

"...Bastard?" he added confused.

"...HIAH!" Chris yelled as he quickly took out a branch from his back and sent both of the siblings away to the distance, and to the boundary from the left.

"AAAHHH!!!" Nana screamed.

"UAAHHH!!!" Popo followed with his scream.

"GAME!"

Chris sighed in relief and smiled a little to himself as the screen gave him more points and coins.

"Okay," Nana began as she walked to them. "He had luck there. We were getting used to the stage so he just had luck."

"If only that would serve as an excuse for Roy's defeat," Ness said.

"I heard that, you know!" Roy yelled from his table.

"And you can't fight me here, so there. Ha-ha," Ness teased.

"You're seriously going to die if you get through that mode..." Roy muttered as Marth patted his back.

PictoChat

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!

VS. ???

"Aw, no!" Master Hand said. "We messed up the path! He should have had another team battle, but it was forgotten!"

"Wait, so does that mean he'll have to do it all over again?" Mario asked.

"Well...that could piss off a lot of you..."

"I want to have a normal match against him if you decide to reset the mode," Fox called from his table.

"Oh, no no no. Nothing will happen if I change the rules a little bit... Is that alright with all of you?"

Many "mehs" came as responses.

"Good!" Master Hand said. "Now, let's go over the summary of the stage. This stage is actually PictoChat, and is found in any DS system like Chris's DS. Many doodles are drawn and some can be pretty harmless, annoying, or dangerous. Judge yourself which one is like those."

Back on the stage, Chris (in his Thief job) found himself above the screen platform. The World Traveler peered to see the screen had "Now Entering A: Chris 2."

"...Chris 2?" Chris repeated confused. "Why Chris 2 and not simply Chris?" he asked to himself before he rubbed his chin. "If it said that, then that would mean..."

"O-oh my god!"

Chris got a little bit startled by a familiar voice coming from the other side of the stage. The World Traveler gasped as he recognized the next fighter right away at first sight...

...Himself...but in a red version of the Thief job...

"O-oh my god!" Chris repeated.

"What is the meaning of this?!" both Chris asked at the same time.

"Ooh, Chris is fighting himself," Link said. "It's like fighting your mirror."

"Or in your case, dark self," Zelda commented.

"Could you please not make me remember what I hate the most here?"

"..." The 2 Chris stared at each other in complete disbelief.

"Pom pom, pom pom, pom pom, pom pom, pom pom, pom pom, popopopopopopopopopo-po-po."

Both of them made confused looks before looking up.

For some reason or another, there was Kawashima's head floating down between the 2. Many of them looked a little bit surprised at the professor's sudden appearance. "Hello there!" Kawashima said. "Hmm-hm! It's good to have visitors in here once in a while."

"W-what are you doing here?" the Chris asked.

"I forgot, which one is the real Chris?" Luigi asked.

"The green one," Lucario pointed out. "Both of their auras are the same, but the green one is the real Chris."

"Well, you 2 basically got inside your DS," Kawashima said. "You're in my domain basically!" he laughed. "Anyway, since you're here, do you want to play some exercises to train your brains?"

Both of them looked at each other. "Er...we're busy, unfortunately..." the red Chris said.

"And sadly," Chris said.

"True enough," the red Chris said ashamed.

"(I wish this didn't happen...)" both of them thought.

"Oh, is that so?" Kawashima asked disappointed. "Oh well... You don't want to practice your brains at all..."

"...Okay, this is your fault," the red Chris said suddenly to Chris.

"What?" Chris asked. "Why is it my fault? You said the same as me at the SAME time, so don't deny it either! ...Wait, you said it, not me!"

"Oh, really?" the red Chris asked. "And who agreed with me?"

"Me," Chris said. "B-but I thought you wanted to fight!"

"Are you kidding me?" the red Chris asked. "I'd rather be playing games than fighting my copy here."

"No no no no no," Chris said. "The copy here is you and not me."

"What?!" the red Chris asked. "That's completely BS! You're the copy here!"

"You're the copy of me!" Chris yelled back.

"Oh, then prove it!"

"How?"

"I don't know, okay?" the red Chris said. "Just think of something!"

"B-but if I do that, you're probably going to think the same, aren't you?"

The red Chris was speechless for a moment. However, he came up with something to defend himself against the green (this implied we lost track of the real one as well) Chris. "...Faker!"

"Faker!"

"Greeny!"

"Reddy!

"Big faker!"

"Big faker!"

"Thief!"

"Thief!

"Kid!"

"Kid!"

"Egocentric bastard!"

"That's Sonic, not us!"

"Oh, wait, you're right..."

"Hey!" Sonic called.

"...Faker!"

"Faker!"

"(Okay, if he's going to keep repeating what I'm saying, I'm going to trick him... Perfect...) ...I'm homosexual!"

The crowd gasped.

"That's good for you!" Chris yelled back.

Many of the Smashers got grossed out at this "revelation" that they looked away.

"..." The red Chris blushed embarrassed. "H-hey, not fair! You didn't repeat it!"

"You idiot. We think the same and say the same!" Chris yelled with a frown.

"...Oh, I hate you so much..." he muttered as he slapped his forehead and covered his eyes.

"I-I'm still here..." Kawashima said, shifting his eyes around.

"Go away!" the red Chris yelled.

"...Sniff..." Kawashima said before he flew up and disappeared.

"...That was so mean," Chris said.

"So what if that was mean?" the red Chris asked. "I'm the copy after all. I can do whatever the heck I want."

"Er, you don't necessarily need to turn evil..."

"...Whoops," the red Chris said. "...Well, we need to be different so people don't confuse us, right?"

"You're red and I'm green."

"...Dammit again..." he muttered.

"READY? ...GO!"

"Oh, crap!" both of them yelled.

"W-what do we do?" the red Chris asked in panic. "I-I don't want to get hurt!"

"Y-you don't get hurt in reality," Chris said. "All the damage done here is...pure fictional, I think."

"But, dammit, I'm fighting myself!" the red Chris said. "I don't want to do this, man. There's no way I'm going to do this!"

It was clear that the red Chris couldn't choose a personality.

...Or he had a personality disorder.

"I-I know!" Chris said. "Defeat yourself to save yourself! That will end the match, and you won't get hurt at all!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Of course!" the red Chris said. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're not that bad at all, did you know that?"

Chris sighed in relief. "I know..."

"I think I like you."

THAT was completely disturbing.

"I-I-I'M GOING TO KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!!!" Chris yelled as he raised his dagger.

"...YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" the red Chris screamed for his dear life before he turned around, tripped, and fell off the platform. "This is so unfair!" he yelled within the tower of light that came from down below.

"GAME!"

"...Huuuuuuuuuuh..." Chris sighed as he sat down and looked relieved.

Too bad he didn't get many points or coins.

"Convincing your opponent to forfeit the match only makes you lose the points you get," Master Hand said in annoyance.

"What? I thought you were going to disqualify him for real this time!" C. Falcon said.

"Didn't you see that weird Chris? There's no way I'm going to let Chris fight himself again. It's pretty weird, and not to mention disturbing. I should prevent that little "glitch" from happening again."

"Sooooooooo it was a glitch in personalities or something?" DK asked.

"...I wish," Master Hand muttered.

Very Hard Level Target Stage

Target Smash!!

"...Chris!" Lucario yelled.

"T-too slippery, too slippery!" Chris yelled as he accidentally went all the way down to the abyss located in the center of the icy stage. "This is so unfair!" he was heard yelling as the "Failure" sign fell but later tilted a little bit.

"..." Master Hand frowned. "Note to self: Chris can't play Target Smash efficiently...but-he-can-play."

Lucario grunted a little bit at this note before he focused his view to the screen again. "Now is time for him to...fight 3 at once."

Master Hand chuckled evilly. "Oh yes. This is going to get really interesting now... But we all know here I'm the main obstacle of the whole mode. Let's see our 3 random selected opponents!"

"...I hope you didn't say that."

Final Destination

Credits (Super Smash Bros.)

VS. Snake, Wolf, and Luigi

"And we're finally here at the Final Destination. This place only indicates true achievement for those who fought against the dreadful 10 events and managed to overcome them before this fantastic stage. The main platform is very simple, and it also travels across the universe itself to places where no normal person would travel. I bet everyone likes to fight here for standard and normal matches. Please don't overlook your own stages, though. Every stage has its own charm."

"..." Chris was apparently trembling at his 3 adversaries...

Snake simply eyed him from his position.

Wolf smirked as he sharpened one claw without removing his sight at the World Traveler.

...And Luigi...

"W-why did I get here?" Luigi asked behind the other 2. "I-I don't like to... I-I mean, why should I fight now?"

"Ignore the chicken and take the kid down," Snake said.

"But I'm not going to help you out or anything," Wolf said without looking back at him. "You get in my way, you get scars."

"Same here," Snake said. "I don't work with partners; I work alone."

"...H-hey, you're not going to gang up on me, right?" Chris asked.

"Kid, you seriously need to suffer pain," Snake said. "And this place gives me the right to hit you as much as I want."

"Snaaaaake..." Otacon said embarrassed. "I-I'm rooting for you, Chris. Show Snake no mercy."

"Oh, quiet, Otacon," Snake grumbled.

"B-but I'm just a teen who got dragged into this!" Chris protested.

"And I'm just a thug who likes to hurt anyone who gets in my way," Wolf said with a grin.

"And I'm just a cloned soldier who wants to have a decent fight now," Snake stated.

"A-and I'm just Luigi..." Luigi responded with a gulp.

"I-isn't there another way to stop this?" Chris asked.

"No," Wolf said. "I want to shred those horrendous clothes already."

"What clothes?" Chris asked before he looked at himself. "...Did Master Hand force me to use the Space Mercenary job on purpose or what?"

"You remind me of Fox," Wolf said. "So you must be taken down right now."

"..." Chris hit his forehead. "I'm seriously going to change clothes and make this job look original..."

"None of your jobs have originality in fashion," Snake pointed out.

"Oh, shut up..." Chris muttered.

"READY? ...GO!"

Snake and Wolf didn't have a second thought and instantly charged at Chris, who screamed loudly and used a double jump to escape the 2. However, he was halted as Wolf made swift jump and slashed the teen down with his claws. Chris grunted in pain as he fell back to the floor before Snake grabbed him by behind. "MMHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris yelled.

"Shut up," Snake muttered before he slowly laid Chris down. "..." The undercover spy took out his RPG-7 rocket launcher and prepared to blow Chris away.

"..." Chris opened his eyes. "OH MY GOD!" he yelled before he quickly rolled back from the charged explosion.

The World Traveler rolled way back and hit his head with Luigi's knees. "Luigi?" Chris asked.

"Y-yiaaaaaah!" Luigi screamed before he turned around and ran to the edge of the stage.

"(I don't know if I should feel relieved or sorry for Luigi...)" Chris thought before a sharp claw grabbed his neck and pulled him up. "U-ugh..."

Wolf smirked before he began to trust his right knee to Chris's stomach several times before he tossed the World Traveler back, jumped, and slashed him across the face, making Chris yell in pain before he landed back. "Take that, kid," Wolf muttered pleased.

"O-oww..." Chris moaned in pain before a missile exploded on his back and sent him away from the edge of the stage. The newbie mercenary gasped and used a somewhat hasty Human Mirage (his version of Fox Illusion) and grabbed the edge of the stage in time. "Y-you 2 are seriously ganging up on me!" Chris yelled as he tried to get on the floor.

He noticed Luigi.

"Y-yiaaaaaaaaaaah!" Luigi screamed again before he crashed right into Wolf and made him fall down. Luigi fell back and shook his head.

"Ugh!" Wolf grunted angrily before he got up. "Plumber, you wanna mess with me or something? I'll gladly do it to get rid of you."

"..." Luigi turned white and fainted.

"Seriously, what the heck is wrong with you, chicken?" Wolf asked with a frown before he kicked the body away (rest assured, Luigi is not dead) and ran to the edge of the stage where Chris was trying to get up. "You kid enjoying the view from down there?"

Chris spotted a Bob-omb falling above Wolf before it made contact and exploded. The lupine was sent away from the stage and Chris took advantage of this to get back, where he unfortunately was hit by a grenade (from Snake) on the face before it exploded and sent him flying away off the stage.

"I-I have to go back!" Chris yelled as he tried to use Human Mirage.

But something bad happened...

2 claws were slammed down on his back and Chris was submitted to a Meteor Smash, sending him down to the boundary where he yelled in pain and lost another life from his 4 lives.

Wolf smirked in pleasure before he hung on the edge with his left hand and jumped back on the stage. "Kid - 0, Crack Man - 0, Me - 1," Wolf said with a chuckle.

"Crack Man, huh?" Snake asked in annoyance. "I already changed my pants for... Forget what I said."

"You're pathetic," Wolf muttered with a frown and another chuckle.

The 2 looked up where a terrified Chris came down on a platform. Chris did what players usually did.

Stay on the platform where nobody could hurt him at all.

"Kid, what's the matter?" Wolf asked with a grin and crossed arms. "Don't want to come down here?"

"Oh no!" Chris yelled. "I-I refuse to fight back!"

"Chris..." Lucario said worried.

"You've got 3 lives left," Snake pointed out. "You still have 3 chances to win."

"And those 3 chances will be my chances to score," Wolf added.

"..." Chris looked down. "...You have to fight back," he muttered. "You did it with Meta Knight before, and you can do it again against Snake and Wolf..."

Chris looked at Luigi's fainted body.

"...And him...I suppose..." Chris said confused before the platform vanished and let him fall back to the stage.

The World Traveler noticed the lupine and the spy charging to collide hits. Chris gasped and continuously looked back and forth between his 2 "ways to die quickly."

"W-what do I do?!" Chris asked in panic.

"I'll tell you," Wolf said. "Stay there and get your insides clawed out!"

"Hmph," Snake responded as the 2 came even closer.

"...YIAH!" Chris took a step back, and Snake dove forward while Wolf flipped a running right kick upwards.

And the result...

"UGH!" came as responses from both of them.

There was something wrong, and Chris noticed as the 2 of them got hit by the other and fell back to their directions they came from. "...What?" Chris asked. "They can actually hurt each other?"

"Indeed they do," Master Hand said. "The last 1 VS. 3 it's like a free for all. Anyone can get hurt by anyone."

"...Maybe that gives me an idea..." Chris thought for a moment before a claw grabbed him by the neck. "W-what?!"

"Kid," Wolf began as he pulled Chris closer. "Never let your guard down when I'm against you. You'll suffer the consequences otherwise...now. Hiah!"

"Ugh!" Chris was tossed forward with a slicing slash from Wolf's left claw. The World Traveler managed to fall on his feet before quickly dodging several punches from Snake. "N-no way. I'm not going to let myself get hit again!" Chris yelled before quickly ducked and moved his right foot to kick Snake's stomach hardly as the World Traveler moved forward against the spy. "Haa!"

"Ugh..." Snake grunted annoyed. "The kid actually hit me? Wow, I'm amused," he joked.

"That was almost a perfect mimicked kick attack like Fox's," Marth pointed out.

"Too bad it didn't reach the actual power," Master Hand said. "Even if he learns to attack, he still needs to improve the attacks."

Snake cracked his fists. "Guess I need to go rougher on you, kid."

"Oh no..." Chris muttered before he backstepped from a fast kick.

Chris accidentally tripped on Luigi's fainted body and hit the back of his head on the floor.

"I hate when Luigi is unconscious..." Chris muttered annoyed before he noticed Snake jumping above him. The spy let a small mine fall down, and Chris screamed before he rolled to the right and evaded the explosion from the mine (while Luigi was pushed away to the left edge of the stage). "Explosive guy wants to explode me!" Chris yelled in panic before he got up.

"There you are, kid," Wolf called from just behind Chris.

"Uh-oh," Chris muttered. "W-wait, this isn't the time to get that worrie-" He stopped talking as Wolf thrust his claw hardly on his back, and the World Traveler was sent above the edge of the stage where he landed safely. "O-oww! You hit way too hard!" Chris complained.

"Duh," Wolf said with a frown.

Chris quickly looked up where Snake was about to slam his right foot on him. The World Traveler gasped and backstepped to the right...where he saw Wolf passing right at his side. The lupine got confused at this sudden move before he was the target for Snake's downward kick. Wolf grunted in pain as he bounced off from the stage before he flipped and landed back.

"Watch where you hit, old man!" Wolf snarled.

"Not my fault, so I don't care that much," Snake said harshly.

"Oh, Snake!" Mei Ling yelled. "Stop getting distracted!"

"Hey, I thought we were on Chris's side here," Otacon said.

"Everyone has their preferences," Mei Ling said.

"Hmmmm."

Chris quickly thought about a way to attack back...

"Use the damn Blaster!" Fox called over.

"And now you're suggesting him that?" Master Hand asked. "He won't hear you from here, you know."

"You shut up. At least I'm rooting here."

"Right, right, sir..." Master Hand said in annoyance.

"...Wait, what did players use to attack from afar again?" Chris asked to himself. "...Of course, the Blaster!" he said as he took out his Blaster. "Oh, this weapon will be my savior to rack up damage o-"

The World Traveler suddenly saw his Blaster being grabbed and tossed away by Snake.

"...WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Chris asked in panic.

"To prevent something annoying from happening," Snake said. "Now, let m-"

Music Stops

"PLAYER 2...DEEEEFEATED!" the announcer declared, stopping the 3 (not Luigi since he was unconscious) from doing anything.

"..." Luigi suddenly woke up. "I-it's over?" he asked.

"What?" Chris asked confused. "Who's player 2?"

At that moment, Crazy Hand (of all people) came down from the space and pointed an accusing finger to Snake. "So, you broke a rule, huh? You're instantly disqualified for breaking it!"

"...Say what again?" Snake asked.

"So, you broke a rule, huh? You're instantly disqualified for breaking it!" Crazy Hand repeated.

"I was waiting for an explanation," Snake said.

"I believe you can't take away someone's weapon in a match," Crazy Hand said. "It's against the rules."

"If I remember, there wasn't such a rule like that."

"There is," Crazy Hand said.

"...And I forgot to read that one," Master Hand said.

"Oh Palutena," Pit said. "You let Snake fail?"

"No, I didn't!" Master Hand said. "You kind of forget vital things sometimes, and I forget them as well. Everyone does that a lot of times."

"So does that mean you forget a lot of times?" Ike asked.

"I d-" Master Hand looked embarrassed. "...Snake is disqualified, but only for this match. He can continue later."

"..." Snake looked pissed. "...Next time, don't forget to say ALL the rules or else I'll beat the crap out of that glove."

"If you can, of course," Crazy Hand said. "You ain't gonna catch me. Now," he began as he moved to the right. "BEGONE!"

Snake looked a little bit surprised before the insane hand slapped him away across the boundary where he yelled in pain and disappeared.

Crazy Hand shook to clean his glove. "Now with him away, let the match continue!" he said before he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

"..." Chris looked at Wolf.

Luigi looked up from the floor at Wolf.

Wolf smirked and narrowed his eyes at Chris. "Guess you're only mine this time."

Credits (Super Smash Bros.)

"Bleh," Luigi quickly said as he fainted again.

"Luigi!" Chris groaned. "If you don't want to fight me, then help me to fight Wolf back!"

"Can't," Luigi said quickly before he fainted back.

"S-stop humiliating yourself..." Chris groaned more.

"Hey kid," Wolf called over from the other side of the stage. "Get really prepared now."

A Super Mushroom just appeared behind Chris.

"...No!" Chris said as he backed away from the mushroom. "I don't want to turn into a giant! I know I can defeat Wolf like that, but I don't want to turn into that!"

Chris looked back at the smirking Wolf. His rather small round eyes had Chris's grave in them.

"...Slippy lied! Wolf has the look, not Fox!" Chris yelled. He looked back at the mushroom.

...And he gulped.

"I have to do it..." he said determined.

With a serious look, he took a step closer to the mushroom...and he shrunk.

"What the hell happened to me?!" asked Chris in a high-pitched voice.

3 seconds before he touched the mushroom, a closer look could reveal that the mushroom had a glare, meaning it was a POISON Mushroom and not a SUPER Mushroom.

"Oh, crap!" the small Chris cursed as he saw a giant Wolf chasing after him. The World Traveler gasped and turned around to run away from him, but a quick downward slashing claw managed to slash his back, sending him blasting off from the stage before he screamed after passing the boundary. "Just...keep going..." he was heard saying.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled as he stood up.

"Lucario!" Pikachu called from his seat. "Chris is not done yet. He has still 2 lives left!"

"But that bastard is..."

"Dog, sit down and keep watching," said an annoyed Snake from a lone table. "He can have a chance to defeat that thug."

"Ugh..." Lucario grunted and sat down to watch the match.

"..." Luigi opened an eye and looked at the grinning Wolf, who was busy feeling proud of himself for beating Chris 2 times.

"Heheheheh," Wolf chuckled. "The kid's ain't hard to defeat at all. What a wuss he is..." he muttered.

"..." Luigi forced a glare as Chris came back from the platform.

Again, he didn't want to leave the Save Area.

"What's the matter?" Wolf asked as he grinned up to Chris. "Scared?"

"..." Chris closed his eyes.

"Kid, you're no match for me," Wolf taunted with a laugh to the space. "Why are you trying so hard to kick me? You don't have the guts to even hit me with a punch. Don't deny it, kid, you're weaker than me."

"..."

"Just do me a favor and don't screw around with me again. If you want to, you can keep trying and see if you can hurt me...kid."

Kid...

Kid...

Kid.

Kid.

KID.

KID.

KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID, KID!!!

"Kid," Snake added suddenly.

The mere word got really, but really old to Chris. His blood was literally burning inside his veins, and his mind told him to kill Wolf with a dagger on his back, stab it through his grey fur and skin 50 times without slowing down, and hear his screams of agony on the floor. Heck, he wished to hear pleas as well, and some tears fall down.

The World Traveler looked serious for a moment...

...But did he have enough courage to do it?

"Kid," Wolf added with a chuckle.

OH HELL YES HE HAD IT!

Chris fell back on the stage, but looked down to think...

"...So, you finally decided," Wolf said with a satisfied grin. "Man, I haven't had so much fun doing pain on someone before." He raised his right claw and smirked. "Play time is oveEEEEEEEEEEEE-UGH!"

"...What?" Chris asked as he looked at Wolf.

For some reason, Chris found Wolf struggling to get up from the floor. The lupine showed his fangs wildly as he tried to get up, but there was no way he could. "W-what the hell is happening now?!" Wolf roared.

"Y-you're not going to get away with it again!"

"What?!" Wolf asked as he looked down and found Luigi grabbing his feet hardly...as he clutched himself onto them. "The hell are you doing now?! Let-me-go!"

"No!" Luigi yelled. "You've been doing a lot of emotional pain to Chris with that pointless nickname, and that has to end very soon or now!"

"...Luigi..." Chris blinked shocked.

"C-come on, Chris!" Luigi cheered. "You can show him who's the man!"

The plumber blinked for a moment.

"...Why did I say that cheesy line?" he asked embarrassed before Wolf tried to get off from him.

"You idiot!" Wolf yelled as he gritted his fangs. "Let me go of my feet and finish off the kid!"

Kid.

"Oh, he's so right, alright!" Chris said with a glare. "I'm so sick of the nickname, and you're going to pay for saying it and not my name which you can't even bring yourself to say it with your mouth!"

"Kid, you'r-"

Kid.

"MY NAME IS CHRIS, DAMN YOU," Chris yelled loudly before he aimed his Blaster (suddenly getting it from nowhere) at Wolf's head and began to shoot wildly. "CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!"

"DAMMIT!" Wolf yelled as he didn't flinch, but still felt pain going through his head and body.

"WHO'S IN CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE?!" Chris yelled extremely pissed at the lupine.

Wolf tried and tried, but Luigi's ridiculous grip on his feet didn't let him move at all from the floor. The lupine wanted to counterattack, but he just kept laying down, wiggling like a bug.

Yes, like a bug.

"YOU-GET-OFF!" Wolf yelled as he raised a claw to attack Luigi. The green plumber gasped and held tight on his feet to try to protect himself.

But suddenly, the lupine's hand was stopped by a hard grip from a new hand on his glove's wrist. "You're not going to hurt him!" Chris yelled angrily.

"Get that filthy hand off my wrist, kid!" Wolf yelled back.

Kid.

"..." Chris's eyes slowly widened in fury as he shook with inner rage and increased the grip's strength on Wolf's wrist.

"Ugh..." Wolf grunted.

"...B(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP)CH!!!" Chris swore at the top of his lungs before he pulled Wolf off from Luigi's grip and tossed him to the right side of the stage and out from the floor's edge. The lupine left a smoke trail before he gasped and reached the boundary.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Wolf screamed as he disappeared in a bright light.

Back at the hall, many Smashers' eyes widened at Chris's sudden fit of rage that told him to swear loudly for the first time in a long time.

"..." Lucario was the most shocked one. "...Good...job...I guess..." he said.

"..." Roy blinked for a moment before he looked normal. "...Wolf kind of had it coming, anyway."

"True," Olimar commented nearby.

"And to believe Luigi helped Chris," Peach began. "That was so sweet of him!"

"Um, Peach, you weren't this excited before for fights..." Mario pointed out.

"...Oh." She blushed embarrassed. "M-maybe I'm changing?"

"Probably."

"Oh, speaking of the grey devil," Pit began as a pissed Wolf came back. "You had fun?"

"Hell no," Wolf replied without looking at Diddy as he sat on a chair and glared daggers at Chris. "Everything is fine UNLESS someone stops your fun totally."

Falco chuckled. "I guess Chris was the one who stopped your play time, huh?"

"Bird brain, shut that beak of yours or die," Wolf replied harshly with crossed arms. "The kid just got lucky and that's all. If I ever see him with that "job" thing on, I'm gonna rip his ribs off."

"Oh," Fox began. "You try to do that when I'm around."

"Tsk..."

"Well, Luigi technically followed the rules," Master Hand said. "So this was fine."

"Say whatever you want, hand," Wolf snarled. "I don't care that much at all anymore. That scaredy cat can go to hell."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Master Hand said sarcastically.

Back on the stage, Chris sighed in relief as Luigi stood up and walked to him with an embarrassed look. "S-so, did I do a good job at helping you?" Luigi asked.

"Thank you so much..." Chris said with a small smile. "I couldn't defeat Wolf without your help, Luigi... Really, you helped me a lot."

Luigi blushed a little. "I-I wanted to do what was right..."

"And that was so right!" Chris said happily. "You were so brave when you spoke your mind and stopped him from attacking me, Luigi. I wanted to thank you when you made him trip and fall, but I had to move quickly."

"Y-yeah," Luigi said with a chuckle as he scratched his hat. "I-I'm brave, am I not?"

"Yes, you are," Chris chuckled. "You stopping Wolf was a brave thing."

"...Yeah!" Luigi said excited.

"..." Chris looked around. "...Um...what now?"

"..." Luigi looked shocked. "I-I have to fight you!"

"...No!" Chris yelled as he realized it. "N-not after what you did!"

"A-and I don't want to be disqualified either!" Luigi yelled. "Q-quick, hit me or something!"

"B-but if you let yourself be defeated that easily, you're going to be disqualified!"

A Bumper appeared behind Luigi.

"..." Luigi stared at the Bumper and gulped. "...Use it on me."

"What?"

"Use the Bumper on me!" Luigi pleaded as he kicked the Bumper to Chris's feet. "Toss it at me with all your forces!"

"B-but..."

"Do it for me!" Luigi pleaded. "Please, do it so you can move on!"

"..." Chris took the Bumper and looked at Luigi. "...Do I have to..."

"Yes..." Luigi said with a small smile (shedding a tear). "Do it for me..."

"..." Chris closed his eyes and raised the Bumper. "...Thank you...Luigi..."

Luigi let out a sob. "Y-you're welcome..."

"...HA!" Chris yelled as he tossed the Bumper at Luigi. The green plumber felt a huge impact pushed him away, and he was thrown off the stage where he couldn't go back anymore.

And finally, Luigi yelled from below. "Uuuuhhh..." he yelled.

...Was that even a yell?

"GAME!"

Music stops

Chris sighed in relief as he wiped the sweat off from his forehead. "...Wait, did I just swear?"

The World Traveler received his points and coins as Luigi came back to the hall and was hugged by Peach and received a pat from Mario.

Luigi blushed a little as some of the Smashers applauded at him. "O-oh, please, don't do that..." Luigi said embarrassed.

"You remind me of Louie for some reason..." Olimar sniffed as a Red Pikmin gave him a napkin. "...But I use a helmet..." he seemed to complain.

"Stupid kid just got lucky, that's all..." Wolf muttered in annoyance as he looked away.

"And now!" Master Hand called over to stop the applauds. "Chris has finally cleared the first 11 events, and since he has reached Final Destination..."

Some of the veterans nodded.

"...It's time for him to demonstrate his skill against me...based on his runthrough's time. He got late to get there, so Crazy Hand won't assist me," he said.

"Boooooooooo..." Crazy Hand commented in annoyance. "I wanted to clap him up."

"Too bad," Master Hand said. "Now it's time for the main event of this whole mode. Wish me luck! I'm a fighter myself, so I hope you guys root for me."

Crickets were heard as nobody said anything.

"...Fine, root for Chris."

Nobody said anything, except some raised their hands.

"...Do you think about yourselves over anyone or what?" Master Hand asked. "Ugh, let's do this already..."

They watched as Master Hand snapped his fingers and disappeared from the hall.

"...Okay!" Crazy Hand began as he took out a box with a hole. "Drop your votes here! Bet who's going to win in the final match against my brother of mine! C'mon! The winner receives a fantabulous prize like full-paid vacations!"

Lucario saw some of the veterans dropping some votes inside the box. The Aura Pokémon frowned at this and looked at Pikachu scribbling on a note.

The note read "Master Hand."

Lucario glared at Pikachu, who looked up to him and looked bored. "Sorry. Glares don't change votes," Pikachu said before he dropped the vote inside the box.

"What are the drawbacks of voting?" asked an interested Ike.

"Hoo, boy, you need to get into politics," Crazy Hand said before he began to explain to Ike.

Final Destination

Back on the stage, Chris appeared in a quick light (using the Aura Apprentice job).

"...Was that really necessary?" Chris asked to the emptiness of the space. "Why appear here if I was already here?"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The sudden echoing laugh made Chris shook a little in fear as Master Hand came from the right side of the boundary and floated above the right edge. "W-why do you laugh like that if your voice doesn't come up close to that tone?"

"Because I like to scare my "usurpers" out from their skulls," Master Hand said. "Anyway, Chris..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Yes?" Chris asked, breaking the silence.

"Chris," Master Hand began. "You have endured Zelda's intimidating glare, brought down a giant bored Yoshi to the earth, watched how Lucario and Mewtwo fought against each other (as odd it may sound...), clashed swords with a serious Roy, failed the first Target Smash by believing there was a platform on the right abyss, defeated 10 Meta Knights, made a metal Olimar get eaten alive by a Bulborb, defeated a giant (pissed) Fox right after the match started, made a scene with Peach, confused yourself over which Popo and Nana were real, fought a match against a homosexual (wrong) copy of you, failed the next Target Smash, seen Snake getting disqualified by a mistake I did, Wolf being stopped by Luigi (of all people) before he got taken out from the stage by yours truly, seen Luigi decide what was best for you until now..."

"...Did you really have to mention how much I sucked at Target Smash?" Chris asked.

"Dude, you were very good at the hardest level a long time ago until you ended up being the worst at it," Master Hand said. "...Ehem. You have endured all those trials, but you managed to win them all...somehow..."

"..." Chris looked away embarrassed.

"...But there's no surrendering now," Master Hand said. "You have reached this plac-"

"TWICE," Chris interrupted.

"-e and that must mean something..."

Final Destination

As the hand let the music reach the point where singers sang, some of the Smashers noticed something odd with the track...

"...Hey, he said we didn't have singers!" Jigglypuff pointed out.

"Apparently my brother always has 10 copies of his favorite track in our room if the first one were to get broken," Crazy Hand pointed out.

"Isn't that a little bit unfair?" Squirtle asked.

"Not to him," he said.

"...It means you have to fight me and earn you right to use your Trophy Stand," Master Hand said. "I won't let you get it that easily, though. Prepare yourself for my wrath!"

"..." Chris looked somewhat miffed.

"...I know, cheesy line. Get prepared for crying out loud!"

"...What?" Chris asked. "O-oh, r-right!"

"Here I come now! Give me everything you've got!" Master Hand yelled.

The World Traveler nodded, but he was still unsure if he could fight well against his boss...

Outside

Some miles away from the mansion, a green tank slowly made its way through the forest's trees as it crushed them all underneath its weight. The tank seemed to be going towards the mansion...

...Really, it was a tank.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Howl Of Death. W-why howl of death? W-why is it like that?" Lucas asked.

"Do we know?" Ness asked annoyed. "Or do we want to know?"

"I-I think not..."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

References:

-The chimera made all the characters of the Halloween Special to get scared. A reference to the same special.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-I just learned how to use inches (blame Mexico for using centimeters and meters there). Now I can say Chris is 5'9" and Lucario is 6'2".

-According to a friend of mine, Giant Battles in Classic Mode usually have the character's size multiplied by 3 in all 2 matches.

-And according to a source, it's believed Fox's height is 5'8". If this is correct, then that means Chris is just an inch taller than Fox, and that Little Mac is around 2 inches less taller than Fox. Why mention Little Mac? Just because. This could also imply both Falco and Wolf are slightly taller than Chris (with Lucario being the limit). Yes, Fox is smaller than Falco or Wolf if you see closely enough.

And so, Chris's insanity almost ends… I promise the next chapter will be less longer than this freaking Declaration of Independence's detailed summary.

Yes, I decided to start the Werehog Sage with this chapter. Oh boy, what will we see? (It should be obvious).

It appears Dr. Eggman was the mysterious client. And there's a good chance he has to do something with the monsters at night. What really happened?

And PANTHER?

And about the tank, no, it's not random. A TANK is really going to the mansion. For what? I know, but you don't… I-I mean, please wait until next chapter.

Again, the poll is still open for everyone out there. PLEASE vote so I can decide myself for the next crossover arc AND stick with the fic if you want. And also, remember to drop by and read the guide I made for you to be a good reviewer and writer. :)

Read and review, please. :D

…

…Or you'll have 10 Meta Knights appear right now before they kill you.
*Chapter 141*: Howl Of Death

A character now makes an appearance after a long time.

From notfromearth7: This chapter made me laugh, cheer, and whoop and it's two in the morning. Awesome job. I also like how you've figured out the heights...AND STUFF! GOOD JOB!

From me: Actually, I miscalculated a detail… Keep reading, please. :)

From Ultra Blader: At long last, we finally have Classic Mode unlocked! Great job using the cliffhanger at the end.

I have to admit, while I was reading the lineup for Classic, I kept on wondering: "Wha... Since when has there been a Smasher for the DS in Brawl?". I then continued by mentally checking to see if any Brawl Smasher's game francises had the initals "DS". I should have known that you would put Chris in this area. Instead, I thought that he would be joining the ranks of the Pokemon characters, due to his relationship with Lucario. Guess I was wrong.

You managed to give the fights a truly funny side, something few authors can do. Seriously, I never saw the scene on Lylat Cruise coming.

Anyway, I have not got much time yet, so...

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

P.S. Since Chris gets his own "francise" (the DS francise), will that mean that we get to see more Real World Smashers in the future, or will you just stick to Chris? Also, Big Brain Academy belongs in the Distant Planet stage, not the Pictochat stage. Just so you know.

From me: Oh god no, I won't put any other characters in because Chris filled the DS franchise. He's just enough, and I already said I don't like to use multiple OCs.

Whoops, I made a mistake with that chapter. It was corrected now. Thanks. :)

From TARDISreviewer: Keep it up! :)

(and it looks like FF8's going to win in a landslide...)

From me: Er, not really… Thanks. :)

From RayGallade: So, Classic mode has begun. Liked the fights. Poor Olimar, not being able to talk. Meta Knight, Popo, and Nana seem to not like Team (name here). The Lylet Criuse part was unexpected. The last fight was exciting and good. Pikachu is right, glares don't change votes. Looking forward to Master Hand vs. Chris and more in the Werehog arc.

RayGallade out.

From me: Hope to see you reading this chapter. I know I can't see you read, but your review should clarify my doubts. Thanks. :)

From Saiked: great chapter and if i EVER say that you update slow someone should punch as you have been updating to the point where i was 3 chapters behind(i didnt read for a long while as something totaly MESSED UP THE INTERNET.. good story(not to be a prude but earlier you said that the werehog isnt going to be an arc but it said that the werehog saga is the next arc which contradicts you...), god im a bore :D but great chap

From me: And yet again, I made another mistake. I corrected it. :P

Thanks. :)

From LastDrop: Lol! Great chapter, interesting to see Chris up against them XD
I feel bad that everyone wants to attack Chris lol ..
poor thing... XD

From me: Thing? Chris ISN'T a thing, is he?

Anyway, thanks. :)

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh man, that was so funny! I had laughed so hard my hands started to sweat! The Chris vs. Chris was a little disturbing though. I would never have guessed eggman to be the mysterious stranger. The thing with Fox and Krystal was kind of disturbing. I just can't wait to see sonic go loco during the full moon. I just cracked up with the 10 meta knights and all the confused Ice Climbers. Hasta!

From me: Well, of course seeing a couple seducing each other looks very odd to the people around. However, that event changes when you're the one seducing, right? Romance is sometimes complicated, don't you think?

Thanks. :)

From SlasherMask: XD This chapter was totally hilarious, but I'm going to comment only on few things for sake on conveyance...

Was not expecting Eggman. Hes pretty much type of villain that Sonic fans consider more threatening that he is...(unless they are arguing about his name)

Ah, Kirby is showing his true self.

Really, I wonder does Chris have any point of worrying over matches...

It wouldn't really matter hitting privates of Yoshi. Even if he has gender reptiles don't have that kind of..."Equipment?"

I find it hilarious how Peach and Chris seems to be romantic, despite not being romantic.

Really, hows Chris is suppose to fight at all when Lucario gets murderous at poking(donottakethisliterally) him?

...I think that there will be time when someone(like me)year younger than Chris will call him kid..

NERD RAGE!

XD Ike shall introduce democracy to Tellius!

I wonder that tank...

P.S... I think Chimera is more like magenta colored...

From me: I was never that good in differencing between all the colors. Sorry. :P

Thank you. ;)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~
~Seitei uses Unsettling Confession!~
That exchange between Fox and Krystal was... strangely arousing in a twisted sense.

And Crassic Mode open? It'd be more classic if the Ultimate Chimera was in it :D.

Anyways, hope to see you update soon!

From me: Again, seduction looks very odd for those who're NOT being seduced. (I was even grossed out a little bit, but it had to be done, anyway).

Updated. Enjoy. :D

From ngrey651: A tank. Hoo boy.

So, Sonic's werehog form is going to be more prominent? Oh boy. But first, I must say, I was VERY impressed by how well Chris did against all of the fighters. I've always wanted to see a human from the "Real World" going through Classic Mode like that. Kudos! I'd raise a wine cup in honor of you, but I don't drink. XD

From me: Do Not drink, please. Thank you again. :)

From Luigicario: So the fighting yourself in SSBB is existant. Just out of curiosity, would glitches be existant? I never thought that the hand would start a random fight above Corneria just for clasic mode. And my guess is he did the same thing for Castle Siege. With this in mind, if the smashers were to go to one of those stages for practice, would they start random fights in the worlds? Will we see "Red Chris" again? If the Ultimate Chimera were to appear in its stage, it would be free wouldn't it? Or did Master Hand brainwash it? Can't wait to see how badly Master Hand loses. I know that he will lose (eventualy, at least).

By the way, you convinced me to buy Final Fantassy IV. That game is addicting. And I wish that I could beat Scarmilion (or whatever his name is) just by summoning. But no, we have to do it the hard way.

So long!

From me: I'll give a recommendation just for this time. Keep Palom alive and use Bluff to increase his magic, then use Fira on Scarmiglione to kill him faster.

Apparently, they could start any random fight in their worlds. Such is the world of Smash Bros.…

Hopefully not. "Shrugs"

The UC would be free in the stage, but not outside of it.

No, he didn't.

I hope the fight is believable enough for you all. Thanks. :)

From LucarioTelos: I tried to post a review, but my internet gates me, like everything else... What I said was my fave Smasher in a hilarious fic with game elements is awesome, I wonder how Chris will win, it's inevitable, him being a protagonist, Crazy Hand's quote in your profile is win and the thought of Chris really being in the next Ssb game is something I'd love. I can't wait for an update!

From me: Okay, but don't comment about my profile or the thing you said about your "fave" Smashers in a hilarious fic again…

Thanks for your feedback. :D

From Rabid Original: Probably my new favorite chapter XD
The commentary was HILARIOUS.

And Chris' "mirror mode" fight knocked my socks off :P
Reminds me of Mortal Combat...

I noticed that your writing is getting better, by the way. Keep it up!

From me: My writing is getting better? Oh, thank you. Thanks again. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Heh Heh, very hilarious, just the thing to get rid of the horrors of the game mentioned above. I like how Chris literally changed when he was facing Roy, don't see him that, "evil", too often. And seeing 2 of chris, WEIRD. So his symbol is a DS? Does that mean someone will have the symbol from the stage with leaves, bouncing purple things, and sounds be used too then? Luigi, i hope he plays a role with the current are. Poor Wolf and Mewtwo, didn't get their proper fights with Chris. Getting to the dark part, Dr. Eggman getting involved with Tabuu? That's a 1st, any other villains gonna meet the great mysteroius person? Of all the advanced tech in the video game world, a tank? The most used weapon of mass destruction, warfare, and the one thing that make crazy murderous people(like me) laugh when use it for destruction. This oughta be interesting, can't forget the other possibilities that could happen. well, no blah blah for now, happy typing XD

From me: Nope, no one else will fil the other symbols. Thanks. :)

I've noticed that this story is getting a lot of hits. It's going to reach over 100,000 hits very soon, and that COULD mean that this story could be the most watched fiction of all the entire section! I hope it is, though…

The re-edit for chapter 33 is done. It's going to be changed some time later after you read this chapter. Also, another re-edit is being done for the chapter where Pit and the IC are introduced. Take in mind that I'm doing this to change the way I used to write in the early days of this story.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: A new section has been added to my profile. It explains all the mistakes that newcomers in the SSB section do in their first story. Take in mind I'm not insulting anyone, but merely pointing out all the mistakes one could fall while doing their first fiction (something I unfortunately fell into a long time ago). But also, it has humorous pointers to maintain you entertained as well.

AND also, we get a disclaimer from now on.

Anyway, here's the next chapter as I promised.

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: Safari Zone is evil.

Chapter 141: Howl Of Death

Smash Mansion
Final Destination

Final Destination

Chris gulped and prepared to face Master Hand. The hand moved his fingers, itching for Chris to damage him.

"...Wait," Chris began. "Why aren't you moving from your place?"

"I've figured out that if I fly around the stage, my opponents wouldn't never hit me," Master Hand said. "I give them a set time for them to hit me so they can attack me."

"B-but doesn't that sound twisted for you to do?"

Master Hand frowned and flew above the stage at a height Chris couldn't even reach with a double jump.

"...Okay, okay! I see your point now!" Chris yelled.

Master Hand came back down. "Seriously, you people question my honorability to let you hit me." He sniffed. "Why is it that you like to do that to me?"

"I-I didn't want to hurt your feelings either!" Chris said.

"Oh, that's sweet of you," Master Hand said. "FIGHT!"

"U-uh-oh..." Chris muttered as Master Hand moved up and floated above Chris. The World Traveler gasped and ran away from the hand who descended and almost crushed him.

"Ouch..." Master Hand complained after shaking his hand from the hit he did to the floor before returning back to his position.

"(T-that's my chance to attack now!)" Chris reminded himself and charged at Master Hand.

He had the Aura Apprentice job and he needed to have more experience with it. Chris prepared to jump straight at the hand and use Force Palm on him.

Music stops

Chris suddenly heard some bells ringing from somewhere, and he accidentally crashed into Master Hand's palm and fell down to the floor.

The hand didn't feel the hit and looked around. "The doorbell rang just now?"

"What doorbell..." Chris muttered on the floor.

"Sorry, but we will have to take a break for now," Master Hand said.

"What?" Chris asked.

"We can't ignore the people who come in, let alone when I'm here," the hand explained. "Do you want a thief to raid your stuff?"

Chris looked up. "But I thought the mansion had a security system or something!"

"It does, but who knows who it is," Master Hand went on. "It could be a lawyer or someone else important. Pray to me it isn't a debt guy."

"So what do we do now?" Chris asked as he got up.

"Want to see who it is for me?"

"Why me?"

"If that person was new to this universe, how do you think that person will react to see a huge floating hand without a body?"

"..." Chris knew the hand had a point.

"And you're very normal and human," Master Hand said. "You do it so you take a little break. Then, come back here to resume the match."

"...O-"

The hand instantly made Chris disappear with a snap of his fingers.

Main Lobby

Chris looked confused at the whole sudden thing. Once he came back from the stage, the others were busy talking between each other about the whole matches (while Wolf merely shot Chris with a terrifying glare).

The World Traveler didn't have to go alone at all. Chris was being accompanied by Lucario.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Lucario asked concerned.

"Seeing how I got to fight Master Hand..." Chris said. "...I'm still unsure."

"I got worried after I saw you panicking to fight them all," Lucario said. "It's...a shame I can't help you."

"Oh, don't worry..." Chris said a little depressed. "I need to change my battle style someday and this is necessary. While I do that...will you please cheer me?"

"Always," Lucario said smiling a bit.

"Thank you," Chris said smiling back to him. "It does work for you to root for me. I hope you're being honest."

"Only if you do the same thing to me."

"You know I will always do," Chris said. "Now, let's see who came now before I resume my path to death."

"...Chris..."

"...I'm sorry, I had to say it like that," Chris said. "Outside those guys are very sociable, but inside matches they wish your utter damnation."

"Hopefully not me..." Lucario muttered.

Both of them stopped in front of the double doors and Chris opened them...

"...Y-you?!" Chris asked in shock as he looked down with Lucario.

"...B-but..." Lucario couldn't find the reason behind the unexpected guest...

...Or guests.

Right in front of them, there waited a squadron of grinning, white, and evil looking...

Nazi Toads.

"W-wait, you?!" Chris asked again. "W-why would YOU come here to the mansion?"

The Toads themselves kept staring at them. It was not long before one of them took a step to the front and took out a small letter to Chris.

"..." The World Traveler took the letter slowly and backed away a little bit.

All the Nazi Toads chuckled (rather evilly) before they all turned around (in perfect sync) and walked away to the hill, towards the city where they would find out there was destroyed.

"...Chris..." Lucario began. "...What was all that for exactly?"

"...Who knows..." Chris groaned as he closed the door. "Wait, what did they give me?" He looked at the letter and tore it open to see what was inside. "...Er...um...what...but...well...n-no...s-seriously...did they really...um..."

"Chris?" Lucario asked confused before he looked over Chris's shoulder the letter. The Aura Pokémon began to mutter as he read. "...World Domination... Join Evil Ranks... Receive 5 Meals A Day... Understand The Ways To Conquer What You Truly Desire... Grin All You Want To Anybody..."

Chris quickly ripped off the odd letter. "D-did they ask us to join them? W-what were they thinking?"

"I guess we shouldn't really bother at all..." Lucario said.

At that moment, Link came from the stairs and walked to them. "Master Hand called to tell you to come back and resume the fight, Chris. Everyone wants to take their turn very soon. Say, why's there paper all around you?"

"Y-you shouldn't bother," Chris said. "It's something you shouldn't know. W-we received a visit from some weirdoes and that's all."

"Weirdoes?" Link asked.

"J-just forget it!"

At that moment, the doorbell rang again.

"Oh, please," Chris said as he looked up annoyed. "It better not be those Nazi Toads again. That was just so random of them to appear right now at this moment."

"Nazi Toads?" Link repeated confused.

"Oh, I'll show you," Chris said as he looked at Link and opened the door without looking outside. "There are right there, see?"

Silence.

"..."

Silence.

"...They're not there anymore, are they?" Chris asked.

The World Traveler turned around and found someone else standing outside the door. Chris blinked some times as well as Link and Lucario before they realized the identity of the person...

"Grasshopper!" the person called happily. "Oh my, it's so nice to see you again!"

"A-Agitha?" Link said confused.

TLoZ: Twilight Princess - Agitha's Castle

Before them there was Agitha, the princess of the bug kingdom who bowed politely and chuckled as she held her parasol with both hands above her right shoulder. "Thank you for accepting me in your humble abode, Grasshopper," Agitha said as she walked inside.

"A-Agitha..." Link began as Chris closed the doors. "What are you doing here? I mean, why did you leave your "castle"?"

"Oh, I didn't say the reason why I'm here, right?" Agitha asked concerned. "I was a little bit sure you would know..."

"I can't see the future or read minds," Link said.

"That would have been so great," Agitha chuckled. "But really, I...I wanted to look for you because I was afraid nobody else would help me, and the fact you helped to find my friends gave me enough courage to look around for you...and I found you!" she said happily.

"...Okay..." Link said. "...So, what happened?"

Agitha closed her eyes and looked down. "My friends...they ran away after something happened in Agitha's Castle..."

Link leaded Agitha close to the sofa where she sat down as Link sat across the table on another sofa. Chris and Lucario looked at each other and decided to sit down besides Link.

"What really happened?" Link asked.

"...Well..." Agitha looked away. "...It was a very bright morning..."

Flashback

Hyrule Castle Town
Agitha's Castle

Inside the normal-looking house, a tall tree resided as golden bugs flew around and made chirps as they flew around the 2-story house. On the top floor, there was Agitha walking around while she glanced at the bugs.

"...Hmm..." Agitha murmured pleased. "It's a very bright morning today, isn't?" she asked.

For some reason, all the bugs stopped chirping and they all chirped at the same time.

"I bet it is," Agitha said with a sigh. "I was so happy for all of you to stay here at Agitha's Castle for the night. I'm pretty sure you had a long way to come here. Was it exhausting? I bet it was."

She carefully went down the stairs and smiled at some ladybugs.

"Days like this always make me remember of grasshopper," Agitha said. "After all, he's the bug kingdom's brave knight, isn't he?" she asked with a chuckle as she started her way to the window. "Yes, the sun is very bright today. I wonder what we could do now..."

"Then I saw something in the sky..."

"Hmm?" Agitha noticed something shiny in the sky. "Oh, what is that? Is it another bug who wants to come here for the ball? Well, he or she came too late. The ball ended just yesterday."

The bug princess blinked confused as if the object was falling down.

"That's weird..." Agitha commented. "I don't think that's a bug...."

The object slowly took shape. Agitha managed to tell that it wasn't a bug...

But the object was an icicle?

"Ice?" she said confused. "Ice is coming here?"

Then she realized the icicle was coming her way to the window.

"O-oh my!" Agitha said shocked before she moved away from the window before the icicle broke into it and hit the tree where the bugs were. This sudden event caused the tree to shake a little, making all the bugs get shocked before they began to fly around crazily around the castle.

The bug princess didn't like the movements all the bugs were doing around in a panic.

"Oh no, please, don't get panicked!" Agitha said as she tried to calm them down. "It's just a small hit, that's all!"

Too bad the bugs didn't listen as they kept flying around the castle. Agitha thought she was at a loss and tried to think of something to calm everyone.

Unfortunately, she noticed that the window got broken. Agitha gasped as she looked back at the bugs who then decided to go for a way out, right through the window where the icicle went through. The bug princess dropped her parasol and ran where all the bugs were leaving.

Agitha couldn't even reach one of them, and all fled away to different parts of the area. "No!" Agitha yelled. "Please, come back! You don't need to run away like that!"

The bug princess didn't notice that the icicle broke in 2 behind her.

"Oh no...what am I to do now..." Agitha muttered in desperation. "What should I do? They don't know their way back home for sure..."

A closer look to the icicle could reveal that someone woke up from it.

"...Maybe..." Agitha wondered. "...Maybe I should find them again..."

The bug princess slowly turned around and looked at the icicle...

There was no one in there again. Agitha was too late to see there was somebody trapped in the icicle. The princess gasped after she heard the door closing.

"W-who's there?" Agitha asked a little bit scared.

But there was no one in the door. It was probably a random sound she heard.

"...Hmm..." Agitha ducked to pick up her parasol to later walk to the window and look outside. "What just happened? Ice like that usually stays out and not inside..."

The bug princess looked down at the icicle. There was something weird she found about it. A closer look could reveal a shape of a small person.

"Hmm...weird..." Agitha commented as she got up and looked around. "This shape is a little bit unusual... But what do I do now?" she asked concerned. "I need to see and find all of my friends! Who knows if they're trouble for going away like that..."

She remembered something important.

"...Or maybe..." Agitha began. "...Maybe I could try to request the bug kingdom's brave knight!" she said in relief. "Grasshopper!"

The young girl smiled pleased at this and looked at the door.

"But I don't think he will come back... I know!" Agitha smiled happily and chuckled. "I'm going to find him to later ask him to find my bugs! He will surely help again like he did last time. He's an expert at bug hunting after all!"

With another chuckle, the bug princess walked to the door and left the house.

End of flashback

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Agitha blinked for a moment and tilted her head to the right. "I grew worried as I tried to ask for information about your whereabouts, Grasshopper. Most people in town didn't know a thing about you at all, let alone my own kingdom. How weird is that?"

"..." Link looked away for a moment.

"So then I decided to look around for more until I went to the tavern," Agitha said. "A nice woman named Telma recognized my description and told me about you. She said you lived in the Ordona Province, and I decided to go all the way south. Luckily there weren't any monsters on my way to the forest. When I arrived at Ordon, I asked the villagers about you and they said you went away for some time to some place." She looked down. "At first, I was worried you'd never come back..."

"And you decided to look after me?"

"That's right," Agitha said. "I looked far and wide for you, and here I am! I found you after all! I've never felt so happy before, Grasshopper!"

"...And you're saying you didn't even get attacked by monsters when you looked around for me?"

"No," Agitha said. "There were no monsters whatsoever. I guess they know I'm a princess so they know who to leave alone...a person who's desperately looking for her dear bug friends..."

"..." Link sighed. "Well...you want me to find your bugs, right?"

"Oh, please!" Agitha said suddenly. "I'm so worried about their whereabouts! I want to see them all again so they can go home safely!" She began so sob. "The thought of them wandering to dangerous places makes me feel so sad...and I..."

"O-okay, okay!" Link said. "I'll look around for all the bugs again, but don't cry!"

Chris and Lucario looked bored at him.

"Will you really look for all of them? Oh, thank you so much!" Agitha said as she wiped out her tears. "I'm pretty sure they'll fly to you once you spot them. Can you really do it?"

"I'm pretty sure I can...I think..." Link muttered the last part.

"But I'm a little bit concerned myself," Agitha said. "Maybe you should...I don't know...get help?"

"..." Link looked at Chris.

"...Wait, what?" Chris asked.

"Oh!" Agitha began. "Can you help Grasshopper, please?"

"To look around for bugs?" Lucario asked.

"Yes, Doggy, yes," Agitha said (ignoring the fact Lucario wasn't weird to her). "I want you 2 to help him out with his quest to find all my friends."

"Doggy..." Lucario muttered embarrassed.

"So..." Agitha smiled worried. "Will you help Grasshopper?"

Chris looked at Link and the Hylian nodded his head a little bit. Link was trying to convince Chris. "Those bugs are hard to find, believe me..." Link muttered.

"...Okay..." Chris said in defeat. "I will look for the bugs."

"Oh, will you now?" Agitha asked as she stood up and chuckled heartily. "Thank you so much, um..."

"Chris."

"Stag Beetle!"

"...What?"

"Stag Beetle," Agitha said. "The way you look like tells me you're sharp as a Stag Beetle's pincers. Those red eyes are sure sharper than you, though!"

Chris blinked a little. "...Okay..."

"Well," Agitha began as she nodded. "If you manage to bring me one of my friends...I'll give you great happiness in exchange!"

She took out a big wallet.

"This little bag can hold up to 20000 coins."

A record scratched inside Chris's mind.

"20000 coins?" Chris repeated.

"Yes," Agitha said before she kept the bag away. "If you manage to show me one bug, I'll give you this special bag to store up your happiness. I can give you different kinds of rewards if you like. I'm a princess, so I don't need to have a lot of rewards myself. What do you say? There's always going to be some kind of happiness waiting for you!"

"..."

The fact that Chris could only hold 9999 Smash Coins made the offer very tempting...and he could afford to buy expensive abilities as well...

"...Deal!" Chris said.

"Really now? Oh, thank you so much again!" Agitha exclaimed with a giggle. "From now on, if you bring me insects, I'll share my happiness with you."

Wanted: Golden Bugs

Princess Agitha of the bug kingdom seems to have lost 24 bugs after an accident happened. However, great riches await those who have the tolerance to find all of them scattered around unknown places. Find them all and get rich instantly!

"Um, where exactly? In your castle?" Link asked.

"Oh no," Agitha said with a chuckle. "I have another castle deep in the forest around your abode. My castle is at the east part of the forest where you'll see my terrace and field of flowers I made with a lot of bugs."

"Wait, you have a property in the forest just close to this place?"

"Yes, I do," Agitha said. "Apparently I kept looking for you for a looooooong time and I found a place in this forest where bugs gather so often at the same place. I grew excited and decided to make their home look more gorgeous with my help. I even made my castle in the center of their meeting place so we can always talk! Isn't that so sweet?"

It was hard to believe that a 10-year old could have her own house in the middle of a random forest for Link.

"...Yes, it is," Link responded.

"I told you so!" Agitha said giggling. "Well, I hope you help Grasshopper in his quest to find my friends, Stag Beetle and Doggy," she said. "For now, I'll await for your visit to my castle. Hmm... If you ever find a bug, be sure to check for his or her partner. I noticed all my friends fled with their partners so it shouldn't be hard to look around for a pair of them in the same area, okay?"

"We'll look around for them," Link said still unsure of the task he accepted.

"Great!" Agitha said happily.

At that moment, Zelda came from the stairs. "Um, Link, I started to worry a little bit about you not coming so I..."

"Hmm?" Agitha turned around. "But if isn't Princess Zelda, the Royal Highness of all Hyrule!"

Zelda blinked confused at the young girl. "And...you are?"

"(Zelda, I thought you said you knew everyone's names in Hyrule...)" Link thought.

"Oh, don't be like that," Agitha said with a polite bow. "I'm sure you remember me and my letters to invite you cordially to my ball."

"...What letters?" Zelda asked.

"I've been sending you a lot of letters to assist the bug kingdom," Agitha said. "Haven't you read them?"

"W-well..."

Hyrule Castle
Entrance

A pile of letters with bug seals were being taken into the trash by a soldier.

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

"...I think they didn't arrive..." Zelda lied embarrassed.

"Is that so?" Agitha asked. "But the postman said he would definitely send them to you...how odd..."

"(Wait, considering the fact Hyrule only has that crazy postman that delivers everything without failing,)" Link thought. "(That would mean Zelda... Oh Farore...)"

"Oh well, at least I have my chance to tell you personally now!" Agitha said happily. "You're always welcome to come to Agitha's Castle whenever you want!"

"Okay... I...will gladly go...(someday)..." Zelda said.

"Then it's a promise!" Agitha said happily with a chuckle. "Oh no, look at the time. I have to go for Agitha's Castle now." She turned to Link. "Grasshopper, I trust you will find my friends again, right?"

"R-rest assured," Link reassured her.

"Thanks a lot, brave knight!" Agitha said as she began walking to the exit. "For now I will return to the castle and wait for you to find them and bring them back to me. I'm sure they'll be happy to see a familiar face like you again."

Chris stood up and walked to the doors where he opened them.

"Bye-bye, Princess Zelda, Doggy, Stag Beetle, and Grasshopper!" Agitha said with a giggle before she walked outside to the east and left them.

Music stops

The World Traveler closed the doors and looked at Link with Zelda and Lucario.

"What?" Link asked.

"I can't believe you actually agreed to do it," Chris said.

"Why's that? You also agreed with me after that!"

"Because she has rewards reserved for us!" Chris explained. "She's the only way to get more money unfortunately!"

"I hate to use people, but what could I do besides that?" Link asked annoyed. "Agitha is probably the only youngest richest girl in all Hyrule after Zelda! I don't know where she gets all that money, but she just does!"

"Nowadays anyone take children more seriously to the point they make adults look ridiculous," Lucario commented.

The 3 stared at him.

"...It's the truth," he added.

"Well, she was curious, I must say..." Zelda said with some wonder.

"Don't forget," Lucario reminded her. "You agreed to visit her "castle" sometime."

"I-if I can tolerate the sight of bugs, that is..." Zelda shrugged. "...Oh, yes, Master Hand told me to get you 3 back. He wants Chris to resume the match."

"Fine, fine!" Chris yelled annoyed. "I'll go back and finish off this whole mode once and fo-"

The doorbell rang again.

"Ugh!" Chris grunted annoyed. "Who is it this time? It better not be those Nazi Toads again!"

"Nazi Toads?" Zelda repeated.

"J-just forget what I said!"

Something was wrong as Chris was about to turn at the doors. The floor beneath them started to shake slowly before it grew in force and made the furniture shake as well.

"W-what's happening now?" Link asked.

"Oh no," Zelda began as she kept herself on her feet. "T-this must be some kind of warning! It's probably Tabuu!"

"Why would you think that?" Lucario asked.

"It's not like we get sudden earthquakes!" Zelda said. "Also, it could mean someone wants to do something here!"

"Besides the fact you have a weird sense to...sense premonitions," Link began. "This isn't normal at all!"

"LOOK OUT!" Lucario suddenly yelled.

"W-why?" Chris asked.

Before they knew it, the wall that had the windows and doors suddenly collapsed and caused debris to fall down. The 4 gasped and tried to back away...but they were hit on the head by chunks of the wall itself and passed out on the floor.

Except Chris.

"H-hey!" Chris yelled as the 3. "W-wake up! D-don't leave me alone to be the only one awake!"

The World Traveler looked up and turned around to find a main gun aiming at him through the cloud of dust the wall made after falling down. The dust slowly cleared out as well while Chris eyed the image through it.

"...The heck is a tank doing in here?!" Chris asked shocked as he found a tank (of all things) slowly advancing towards him. "YIAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" he screamed before he ran straight to the wall.

Bad move.

"W-wait, why did I stupidly ran to the wall and not upstairs to warn everyone?!" Chris asked before he hit his head several times to the wall. "STUPID, STUPID RANDOMNESS!"

The aura channeler glanced at the sides of the tank. Luckily, he found the 3 unconscious people far enough from being crushed by it.

But that was not the point.

There was freaking tank that destroyed the entrance and decided to randomly advance towards me, or at least this was what Chris thought.

There was ABSOLUTELY no logical reason for a tank to just go through the mansion at all. It just didn't make any kind of sense to the World Traveler. Why would a TANK, of all things, attack the mansion without a reason?

As Chris pondered this, the tank slowly made its way to him with the main gun ready to shoot at his at any moment.

"LUCARIO!!!" Chris screamed for his dear life.

Unfortunately, Lucario didn't react as he kept laying down on the floor unconscious.

"Uh...uh...uh..." Chris looked around in a panic before he leaned to the wall and sat down. He covered his face and tried to prevent tears from falling down.

It was so absurd like a Diglett who knew how to use Fury Swipes or Slash even if the earth-like Pokémon didn't have the smallest claws in its...itself.

Maybe it attacked with its pinky nose?

Who cared at that moment. Chris was going to killed by a random tank...

...And that sounded so twisted, right?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Chris screamed loudly as he felt the floor stop shaking.

...

It was sign for salvation, maybe?

The World Traveler slowly uncovered his face and looked up...to find the main gun directly pointing at his face.

"..." Chris let out a small whimper of fear as he stared inside the darkness of the main gun. There should be some kind of big bullet waiting to be blasted off and blow his head away with a single impact.

"FOOLISH MORTAL!!!"

"...W-what?" Chris asked at the sudden deep voice that came from the tank.

"YOU'VE BEEN IGNORING MY OWN PRESENCE FOR A LONG TIME NOW, AND THERE WON'T BE ANY APOLOGIES OR SECOND CHANCES EVER AGAIN!!!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Chris asked as he let out a sniff.

"I'VE BEEN TRYING DESPERATELY TO CAUGHT YOUR ATTENTION ALL THIS TIME, BUT ALL YOU DID IN RETURN WAS TO STARE AT EMPTY AIR AND NOT ME! THAT HAS OFFENDED MYSELF SO GREATLY THAT IT GAVE ME THE POWER TO BECOME THIS POWERFUL AND SCARY!!!"

"W-what?" Chris asked confused.

"SILENCE!!!"

The World Traveler gasped in shock.

"NOW, I KNOW THERE ISN'T A WAY TO GET THIS STRONG AND POWERFUL, BUT THING IS, I WAS ABLE TO DO SO AFTER YOUR PITIFUL IGNORANCE BEGAN TO...WELL...IGNORE ME!!!"

"B-but I didn't know you were being ignored!" Chris said in his defense. "A-and for that matter, who are you?!"

"SOMEONE YOU SHOULD (put emphasis on "should") HAVE MET A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG TIME AGO," the tank said. "I TRIED TO DESPERATELY OBTAIN EMOTIONS... I TRIED SO HARD TO BE KNOWN... I TRIED TO BE HELPFUL... BUT NOW LOOK AT ME!!!"

"...You turned into a tank?" Chris asked still in shock.

"UM...WELL...ER...YOU SEE...I...AH...EH...YEAH! EXACTLY!!!"

"..."

"...ARE YOU STILL SCARED?"

"..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...A little bit?"

"...DIE!!!"

"YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Chris covered his face as the tank began to budge, preparing to shoot at his head.

Click...

"..." Chris looked through his fingers.

Click...

"..." Chris slowly uncovered his face.

Click... Click... Click...

He heard sounds coming from the tank.

Click... Click... Click... Click...

"..." Chris raised an eyebrow.

Cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-cli-click...

"HEY!" the tank yelled angrily as several sweat drops began to jump out from the top. "NOTHING HAPPENS! WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS THING ANYWAY?! STUPID TANK DOESN'T WANT TO WORK!!!"

"Wha..." Chris trailed off confused at the constant clicking sounds coming from the tank.

It appeared that the tank itself didn't have any ammunition at all.

The World Traveler shifted his eyes uncomfortably and decided to stand up. "...Hmm..." He slowly sneaked right around the tank as more clicking sounds came from within.

"...Maybe..." Chris wondered as he looked at the top. "Maybe I should take advantage of "its" panic moment and see if I can see who's inside it..."

The aura channeler slowly and carefully climbed the tank by its wheels and got to the top without being noticed. Chris looked down at the 3 unconscious Smashers and frowned in embarrassment.

Why would Lucario get knocked out by a chunk of the wall?

"...Oh," Chris noticed that a 9-feet long chunk was close to Lucario. "That would explain. He would have resisted it very well with half the size... Anyway, back on this random tank."

Chris spotted a door leading inside the tank. The World Traveler made a serious look and carefully grabbed the top and slowly pulled it to him. He felt the top slowly coming off, and he increased the force. After struggling a little bit, he finally opened the door, panted a little bit, and looked down...

"..." Chris blinked at the person inside.

Through his eyes, there was a...mauve imp that looked like it came from some kids' show, desperately trying to fire the weapons of the tank, but with no success at all.

"Dammit!" the imp complained as he clicked on a button stupidly fast. "Why is this thing turning against me now? I totally had that kid where I wanted him to be and now this happens of all times!"

"..."

Kid...

The imp clicked and clicked stupidly fast before long he heard someone breathing in and out. The imp stared at the button for some seconds before he gulped and slowly looked up to find a pissed Chris looking down at him.

"...Kid..." Chris muttered pissed.

"..." The imp took out a small mike from nowhere and clicked on it. It appeared that the mike had the ability to change voices to deeper tones. "PLEASE, DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO CHIP INSIDE THE TANK," the imp warned. "SLOWLY RETURN TO YOUR POSITION WHERE CHIP HAD YOU WHERE HE WANTED AND WAIT UNTIL FURTHER ADVICE, OTHERWISE, YOU WILL BE SERIOUSLY PUNISHED..."

Chris slowly panted heavily.

"...HAVE A NICE DAY?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" the imp screamed as he shook in fear.

It was not long before Chris dove inside the tank and began to beat the heck out of the mauve imp with his aura in his hands. The imp tried to escape, but the door suddenly closed and imprisoned the imp with a furious Chris. The imp yelled and screamed for his dear life as Chris continuously pounded on hi rather small stomach with Force Palm.

"YOU WILL BE SERIOUSLY PUNISHED!!!" the imp managed to scream as Chris kept hitting him. "S-SERIOUSLY, YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THIS LAT-NO! NO! NOT IN THE FACE! AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Outside

As Chris beat the imp, several miles away there were 3 familiar trainers looking around in the forest.

Well, only 2 were there; Lucas (the trainer) and Dawn.

"Where has Barry gone to now?" Dawn asked annoyed. "It's been a little while and he said he'd come back very fast."

"Why are you worried about Barry?" Lucas asked bored. "I'd be worried for the person who meets him, or even the Pokémon for that matter."

"But who besides us like him again?" Dawn asked. "And when I mean like him, I mean they ACTUALLY like him."

Lucas began to raise fingers. "Candice, Flint, Buck, and his dad; those 4 know the word "insanity" very well simply because they're very energetic as Barry. Out of them there's Cheryl who somewhat liked him for being funny...or insane."

"Everyone else is just uncomfortable around him..."

"Uncomfortable sounds like a compliment, Dawn," Lucas said. "Ready to break his neck apart sounds more appropriate."

"That includes..."

Lucas, again, began to raise fingers. "Roark, Gardenia, Maylene (and her Lucario), Wake, Fantina, Byron, Volkner (who totally would like to kill Barry with a first glance), Aaron, Bertha, Lucian, Mars (who wanted to stab him), Jupiter (who despises him a lot), Saturn (who didn't have tolerance towards him at all), Cyrus (but then again, he didn't like nobody), Mira, Riley, and finally Marley," he pointed out. "Oh, and Barry's mom as well. I heard she'd like to slap him for once, but he always escapes in time."

"What about Cynthia?"

"She's just amused of him," Lucas reminded her. "She finds Barry rather...hyper."

"What kind of people like Barry?"

"Er, us for reason or another, with you dragging me along close to him ever since the first time we met outside Twinleaf Town?"

"...Ugh..." Dawn grunted. "Okay, okay... Anyway, have you been doing...you know what?"

"Certainly, Dawn," Lucas said with some nods. "I've been spying on the people of the mansion as you did. You did the same thing, right?"

"Yeah," Dawn said. "So far, I found out that the cute Pikachu talks in reality. I heard every single bit of what he said as well."

"No...way..." Lucas said. "...Get out! Unbelievable!"

Rest assured. This didn't imply Lucas was you-know-what. He was just bewildered.

"Seriously!" Dawn said surprised. "It even talked and complained about what would his life be like if he was in this Ash's guy Poké Ball all the time. I guess this Ash is his trainer or something."

"Um...that's going kind of far..." Lucas commented.

"Oh, then why don't you show me your evidence?" Dawn asked.

"Okay," Lucas began. "I found out this weird Pokémon. There was something odd with it because it...wasn't a Pokémon actually. He didn't seem to use any kind of attacks or anything."

"...So..." Dawn looked around.

"...Oh, he looked like a hedgehog or something," Lucas explained. "He kind of wanted to act cool all the time. Although I found out he talks to himself during the nights. He even goes as far as to yell out curses."

"Creepy..."

"Tell me about it," Lucas said. "Now, we should ask Barry what he found."

At that moment, a badly hurt Barry (with some rips on his clothes) came to them and looked somewhat scared. "G-guys!" Barry yelled.

"U-uah! Barry!" Dawn yelled in surprise. "Oh my god. What happened to you? You look like you're about to die or something!"

"D-Digletts, those who!" Barry yelled. "T-they scratched me all over after I wanted to pull one out! They all went Monfernosh(beep)t on me just because of that!"

"...They..." Lucas trailed off.

"...Scratched you?" Dawn added.

"Yeah!" Barry said. "They scratched me all over with their pinky noses!"

"Pinky noses?" Dawn repeated.

"...Barry..." Lucas trailed off. "...Are you drunk?"

"Maybe!" Barry said. 'But they did scratch me and even slashed me with Fury Swipes!"

"Barry," Dawn began. "There's something I know perfectly about Digletts, and that's the fact they don't have claws or nails to attack and use Slash or Fury Swipes."

As a matter of fact, Digletts and Dugtrios DO learn Fury Swipes and Slash.

"O-oh, I swear they used that on me!" Barry complained. "Stupid Dugtrio used Slash on me! They moved their noses when they attacked, though!"

"Barry, you seriously need to take a rest," Lucas said. "There's absolutely NO way a Diglett or a Dugtrio used Slash or Fury Swipes on you, it's just...way too idiotic. Were you attacked by an Ursaring like last week?"

"That Ursaring felt like mauling me for grabbing its Teddiursa while it was eating, so what?" Barry asked angrily. "Screw it! I'm gonna take my revenge on those nose slashers!"

"You're not going to hurt them," Lucas said. "What would Professor Rowan say if he ever saw you hitting Pokémon?"

"He would say, "Great job, Barry! I knew I should have entrusted all my 3 starters to you and grab the title of champion and not force you to pick only one and trade other Pokémon for the other 2 starters. You're awesome, Barry, awesome!" or something!" Barry explained.

"...So anyway," Dawn said annoyed. "We were talking about those guys living in the mansion. Did you go around the mansion?"

"Oh no, you're not gonna change subjects this time!" Barry yelled. "We're gonna go back at those Digletts and Dugtrios and prove you 2 I'm right!"

"What?" Lucas asked. "No way. We're not going to disturb them just because you want t-"

"Stop it, guys!" Dawn yelled. "Barry, we'll later go and see if you were right or not. Right now, though, we want to hear you say what you found in the mansion."

"What mansion?" Barry asked.

"The house where we are living without those guys knowing?" Lucas reminded him bored.

"...Oh, yeah," Barry said with a nod. "I met a hot girl in there."

"WHAT?!" Lucas and Dawn asked in shock.

"Why so shocked?"

"Y-you actually MET one of them without telling us?" Lucas asked.

"Whoops. I mean, I saw this hot girl in there," Barry said. "Bust size wa-"

Dawn blocked his mouth quickly. "Barry, please tell me you're not going to say something perverted."

Lucas looked away bored. "Chances are he will..."

Barry pushed Dawn's hand away. "-s big."

"...Barry!" Dawn yelled.

"What? It's the truth!"

"But we didn't want to know at all!" Lucas said embarrassed. "We're not into the "things" you're into!"

"I thought you were," Barry said confused.

"You know what? Forget it," Dawn said with a sigh. "Barry's just...Barry."

"It took you that long to figure him out?" Lucas muttered annoyed.

"You guys should have seen 'em," Barry said.

"Who again?"

Dawn knew what Barry tried to mean and she blocked his mouth again. "A-anyway!" she began embarrassed. "I-I spotted some Rattatas going through that direction over there."

Lucas had to agree with Dawn's intervention. "Oh right. We should go to their way and get their information for our Pokédex. We still have to focus on the Pokémon around this area."

"Too bad there's no Legendary Pokémon," Dawn said. "I heard there were some mysterious ones like Groudon or even Ho-oh."

Barry picked up a bush with flowers and sneezed. "Achoo! Ugh, I'm allergic to these kinds of flowers... Meh, I'll throw them away."

Once he tossed the bush over his shoulder and landed on the grass, the bush itself began to budge a little behind them and revealed to be Shaymin. The Legendary Pokémon pouted a little before it jumped away into the woods.

"Let's go and get those rats," Barry said with a fist. "After that, we'll ambush those Digletts to get my well deserved revenge!"

The blond trainer ran away to the west, leaving Dawn and Lucas who looked at each other and sighed.

"Please, Dawn," Lucas began. "Remind me why you became friends with Barry again..."

The female trainer didn't want to respond before she ran after the blond trainer. Lucas opened his eyes and ran after the 2, deeper into the forest.

Main Lobby

As the scene showed the tank budging at the sides for the battle inside it, Crazy Hand came from nowhere and gasped to see the tank itself.

"...Ohmigosh," Crazy Hand said as he moved his fingers crazily. "A tank; a real tank; a real green tank; a real big green tank just came out of nowhere randomly," he said, containing his excitement. "Is it my birthday yet? 'Cause I need weapons of MASS destruction right now!"

The hand giggled in an unusual manner and floated up to the tank.

To the hand's disappointment, there was no way he could fit inside the tank.

"Bummer," Crazy Hand muttered. "I know! I'll keep this for collection matters! I'll show the guys up there about it now so I can later sell the tank to a crazy fat tank collector dude!"

With excitement inside his wrist, the crazy hand (pun intended) floated upstairs.

Some time later...

"So..." Master Hand began. "You don't really know where this tank came from."

"Nope," Crazy Hand said. "Pretty much came out of nowhere, bruddha? Like, nowhere, bruddha?"

"Stop it."

"Yes, sir."

Most of the Smashers were surrounding the unusual tank that was parked just in front of the wall. They all wondered the origins of the tank, but then again, the tank came out of nowhere as previously mentioned.

"I heard some yells and screams from inside," Pikachu said as he leaned his ear on the top of the tank. "There's somebody in there."

"Okay," Master Hand said as he floated up the tank and grabbed the door. Pikachu jumpd back and looked at the hand. "Let's see who's the real bad guy behind this nonsense about the random talk."

The hand simply pulled out the door and looked inside the tank.

"...Oh...no!" Master Hand gasped as he backed away. "Why...why you...Chris?"

Some of the Smashers gasped at Chris's mention.

"But..." Lucario (now awakened) began. "Chris wasn't using the tank."

"It came out randomly," Link (now awakened) said. "And it tossed chunks of the wall at our heads."

"...Wait, Chris is inside?" Zelda (now awakened, but with an ice bag above her head) asked.

A hand was shoved out from the tank, revealing it to be grabbing a dead body from a mauve imp. The Smashers made confused looks before a pissed Chris slowly came out from the tank and tossed the imp at the floor.

"...Wow," Olimar began. "Why do you look like a Red Pikmin?"

What Olimar was actually trying to refer was Chris's red face.

"I'm..." Chris muttered as he panted heavily. "...Not a Red Pikmin...at all..."

"Oh, good job, I guess," Master Hand said as he looked down at the beaten imp. "You stopped this little evildoer from destroying the mansion."

"..." Chris breathed in and out to calm himself down. "He...needed to suffer pain after putting me in an embarrassing situation..."

At this, Lucario's ears moved a little. "What situation?"

"He made me cry..." Chris muttered annoyed.

"...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted at the imp, showing his fangs.

DK walked to the imp and picked it up. "Hmm..." He pulled the imp closer to his face. "...Yep, he's not dead."

"What?" Chris asked. "I was sure I killed it!"

"You wanted to kill somebody for once?" Marth asked.

"That thing called me a kid..."

Most of the people in the room looked at Wolf. "...What?" Wolf asked with a pissed look.

"..." Most of them shrugged and looked back at the imp.

"What the hell is that thing?" Link asked as he walked to DK without turning his glance away from it. "It doesn't look normal to me for some reason..."

"It looks like an imp," Zelda said. "Like Midna, right?"

"I'm...pretty sure Midna looked way better than this...person..." Link said miffed.

"Why are we pondering about that imp?" Ness asked. "It's just someone who wanted to kill us off out of nowhere."

"And with a tank, no less," C. Falcon said. "Hey, what will we do with the tank?"

"Oh, oh! I wanna have it!" Crazy Hand suggested.

"Oh, hell no," Master Hand said as he snapped his fingers and made the tank disappear. "We're not letting you have that thing around here. It already destroyed the wall over there, and I'm not going to pay for the damages."

"But don't you need a snap of your fingers to repair anything broken?" Pit asked.

"..." Master Hand snapped his fingers and repaired everything in the lobby in a flash of light. The wall, the doors, the windows, the broken furniture, and even the mattress were repaired instantly. "There. Happy now?"

"It's your mansion and not mine," Pit said. "But I live here so..."

The hand looked at the imp while DK held it with one hand. "You know, this imp doesn't give me a very good feeling at all."

"Duh, it destroyed half of the lobby," Samus said.

"But even so, Rita caused even more than that..." Pit shrugged.

"Do NOT mention that name around here," Master Hand warned Pit. "Let's focus back to this little lobby-destroyer and see what it wants. If it wants to kill us, then let's kill him back."

"But if he does kill us, then how are we going to kill it back?" Peach asked. "...N-not that I'm going to kill anybody, though."

"Are you kidding me?" Snake asked annoyed. "That thing is as f(beep)d up as the hedgehog."

"Hey!" Sonic said with a glare at him.

"It won't even make anyone flinch with those little hands," Snake explained.

They all remained silent as they waited for the imp to wake up.

"...Yes..." Master Hand said. "...In any minute now..."

"..." DK yawned and looked bored at the imp. "...Can I drop it back? I'm tired of holding it."

Master Hand didn't say anything before DK dropped the imp back to the floor.

"..." Nobody spoke.

The silence in the lobby made its work, and nobody even coughed a little as the imp remained fainted.

"...Chris, are you sure you didn't kill it?" Master Hand asked.

"I wished I...mean...no..." Chris said embarrassed.

Kirby yawned bored and took out a chocolate bar.

Noticing this, Pichu spoke. "Where did you take that from?"

"The same place where we use our items," Kirby said. "You know? Hammer-something-something?"

"And you had it there?"

"I kept things..." Kirby shifted his eyes and bit the bar happily.

"...Hey, wait a minute," Sonic began as he walked and looked down at the imp. "...I kinda remember this guy..."

"Oh, wait," Popo began. "Isn't he the credit card seller dude?"

"Credit card seller dude?" C. Falcon asked. "Oh, riiiiiiiiiight..."

"Credit card seller dude?" Ness asked. "Wait, the imp was disguised as a police officer, wasn't it?"

"O-oh, right," Lucas said with a nod.

"Oh, wait," Popo began. "I remember something!"

"Oh no, Popo remembers something..." Pikachu faked horror. "Hell is freezing over now."

Popo looked annoyed. "I told you I changed already!" He cleared his throat. "Okay, I still remember what he said the last time he wanted to come in..."

Flashback

"You WILL let me in some of these days! Mark my words! I WILL enter this place and get the help I need!" Chip called out with a fist as Popo hummed the Legend of Zelda's main theme while he walked to the kitchen.

End of flashback

"...That's all?" Nana asked.

"Yep," Popo said.

"...I know his name..." Sonic said as he blinked surprised. "...His name is Chip."

"Chip?" Mario asked without looking at Sonic.

Remember their random rage fits if they looked at each other directly to the eyes? Mario still remembered.

"Yeah," Sonic said. "I gave him a name because he didn't know his own name."

"...That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Roy commented. "He forgot his own name?"

"Hey, it's pretty damn serious! Dude here lost his memory!"

"And that concerns us because..." Yoshi trailed off.

"Don't you guys feel shame for others?"

Most of them looked at each other and chuckled at the hedgehog.

"W-what's so funny now?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic, no, I mean, what have you done to the egocentric dude we all know and unfortunately live with?" Falco asked with an amused look.

"I DO care for others, you know..." Sonic muttered annoyed.

"That's so OOC of you," Jigglypuff chuckled. "Now you're going to say you want to teach like kids about wrong things?"

"I did on-" Sonic shook his head. "No!"

"Okay, okay," Master Hand said between chuckles. "We all know Sonic decided to care for little mauve imps just now... But seriously, there's something that's bothering me about this Chip guy."

"That he lost his memory?" Sonic asked.

"What? No!" Master Hand said. "The fact he wanted to kill Chris (Lucario: Which I'm going to kill him for that very soon) means he wanted to do something here, and the fact he wanted to come in here by using the disguise of a credit card seller."

"He WASN'T wearing a disguise of a credit card seller guy, for crying out loud," Zelda said with a frown. "Seriously, does he even look like one for that matter?"

"If he knocks the door and starts a conversation first than you, he WOULD have gotten to the point," C. Falcon said. "Trust me. This happens a lot of times."

"Well, too bad I haven't see such times at all," Zelda said.

"I have," Popo said.

"I have," Ness added.

"I haven't," Zelda said with another frown.

"Hmm, what to do with him..." Master Hand wondered. "Well, the most logical reason would be to heal him. Chris gave him hell, alright."

"W-why did you mention it like that?" Chris asked.

"Because deep down, you want to freaking kill somebody in here," Master Hand said. "Not that you're the only one. Even they want to kill me."

"True," most of them said.

"See now? Mutual thinking."

"..." Chris's only action was dropping his jaw a little bit.

"Sorry..." Lucario muttered.

Chris closed his eyes in disbelief.

"Let's give him some...tomatoes," Master Hand said as he made 2 Maxim Tomatoes fall inside the imp's mouth. "Munch 'em."

Chip's mouth began to swallow the rather big tomatoes down his throat before he made a smile...and turned to the right to sleep peacefully on his hands. "Hmmm..." Chip muttered happily.

"Oh, no way," the hand said annoyed. "I don't give hospitality that easily."

Master Hand made a fist and moved up and down above the imp.

"Are you going to kill him or what?" Samus asked.

"What?" Master Hand asked before he stopped. "No, I was just trying to ponder something."

"More like pound him," Yoshi said.

"...Bededededede..." the imp muttered before shaking his head a little. "...Huh..." He slowly opened his eyes and blinked at the sight of a lot of feet around him. "...Where am I?"

They all saw the imp slowly getting up before flying up.

"..." The imp merely looked around as everyone stared back at him. "...Whoops..." he muttered. "I guess I got in the wrong house. Excuse me..."

The imp flew to the doors where he opened them and flew out.

And he went away that easily before the doors closed.

"...What the hell was all that for?" C. Falcon asked.

"He just flew out and nobody did anything to stop him?" Diddy asked.

"Oh, sorry," Ness said annoyed. "We happen to NOT know him at all."

"But didn't he want to kill us?" Mario asked. "What if he comes back to kill us for real?"

"Pfft," Master Hand chuckled. "That imp killing some of you? Didn't you see the goofy look on his face? There's no way he could be deadly in any way with a face like that."

"Kirby has a cute face yet he could be deadly under it," Peach commented.

"Aww..." Kirby said blushing before he bit his candy.

"I don't understand why I lost my time here with a stupid-looking person," Meta Knight suddenly spoke.

"And there was no sign of otherworldly powers in him at all," Mewtwo said with crossed arms. "The chances of him being an ultimate being or even a dangerous one are very slim and not that likely to happen."

"You went that far on him?" Ivysaur asked.

"You don't know who's dangerous and who's not with just a single glance."

At that moment, the doors were being knocked from outside.

"It must be him again..." C. Falcon said bored.

"Ugh, I'll see if it is him," Chris said before he walked to the doors and opened them. "OH MY GOD!" he yelled before he slammed the doors and closed them. The World Traveler leaned to the doors and noticed everyone staring at him.

"What seems to be the problem now?" Master Hand asked.

"T-those Nazi Toads! They're just outside right now!" Chris yelled.

"Nazi Toads?" the hand asked. "Oh, please, there are no Toads who are Nazi at all."

"Were there even Nazi Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom at all?" Peach wondered.

"Since when did this conversation change to Toads?" Roy asked.

"6 sentences ago?" Popo asked.

"What?"

The doors were being knocked again.

Master Hand floated to the doors and pushed Chris out of the way. "Okay, if there are Nazi Toads outside, I'm going to crush them."

"What?" Chris asked. "Why are you sounding violent just now?"

"Politics are just downright cruel sometimes," Master Hand said. "It's stupid like an evil organization of the government trying to make us follow rules or some s(beep)t like that. Honestly, would we want to follow some imbeciles like that ever?"

"No," everyone in the lobby said at the same time.

"It's good we think the same thing about politics," Master Hand said before he opened the doors. "Now, we don't like Nazis or some people like that around here. Heck, we don't want stupid organizations taking over the world, or even put internet related stuff in the universal internet we all use and like to mess with MyPlaces or the like."

"MySpace," Chris corrected suddenly.

Most of them looked at him.

"...M-most of the girls at my school talk about those sites a lot..." Chris explained. "Those are sites that people make to show things online."

"Ooh, I should do that as well," Peach said interested.

"NO."

"But I..."

"NO. They distract you from society."

"So," Master Hand continued. "By all means, I'm going to kill you all with my oversized palm that I call body."

"But I want to live," the imp said as he played with his fingers. "I just wanted to tell you some stuff and all that about my lost memory."

"Oh, good," Master Hand said before he moved away. "Please, enter this way."

The imp smiled and slowly entered insid-

"WAIT A MINUTE THERE!" Master Hand yelled before pushing the imp back outside. "You're not going to enter that easily without explaining yourself!"

"Aww!" Chip groaned. "But I've been trying to get inside for who knows when and you're telling me I can't?"

"No," Master Hand simply said.

"..." Chip slowly turned his back around...before looking back at the hand. "But I need help! I lost my memory!"

"And I care because..."

"...I lost my memory?" Chip finished.

The hand was about to slam the doors at Chip, but the imp quickly entered inside and looked back at the hand, who looked back at him annoyed. "Get out, now," Master Hand warned.

"B-but you gotta help me!" Chip said (or whined). "You MUST help me!"

"Look, I know I hold a bunch of heroes or whatever the heck they are in this mansion," Master Hand began (as most of them glared at him). "But unfortunately we don't help people out unless it drags us as well."

"And I'm dragging you into this!" Chip protested.

"Too bad, we don't like to be dragged around," Master Hand said. "Unless you have money, then you can hire us for anything."

"You explicitly said we weren't meant to be sold by you," Mewtwo said. "And it was in that document you call contract."

"Well...I did put that but in small letters."

"Typical of evil-looking companies, even though you don't have a company," Ness said.

"Besides, we all know none of us get paid at all for doing what we do every morning," Marth said.

"I do," Fox said.

"Not to sound rude, but your team hasn't been paid at all," Link said looking bored before he received a glare from the vulpine. "You don't even have income for that matter."

"I do," Chris said as he took out his bag of Smash Coins.

"Stop talking about money here," Master Hand said. "Okay, you im-"

"Chip," Chip interrupted.

"Okay, Chip, you heard them," Master Hand said.

"So does that mean I can simply ask you for your help without paying a single coin?"

"Ye-NO!" Master Hand yelled. "Can't your brain understand what I'm saying?"

"I have relatively small skull so I don't know."

"...True enough," Master Hand said. "Now get out."

"No!" Chip yelled. "Please, please, please! I need your help urgently!"

"If you DID lose your memory, how come you can remember that you lost your memory?"

"Because I remember I lost my memory," Chip responded.

"T-that's not even an answer!"

"It is for me apparently."

"UGH!" Master Hand grunted annoyed. "That's it. You imp, Chip, whatever the hell your goofy face is, get out of here!"

At that moment, Chip was grabbed by Sonic. "Sheesh, just hear the guy out for once!" Sonic said annoyed.

"Sonic, it's not like you to care for strangers at all," Master Hand said. "Haven't you taught little children that strangers could be bad?"

"Have you?" Chip asked (not noticing he was being held upside-down).

"Ye-no!" Sonic said. "Just hear the little guy!"

"Oh, will you?" Chip asked excited. "Okay, I'll tell you all how I lost my memory, then."

Most of them rolled their eyes and decided to listen to the imp.

If Chip just could feel his blood going down to his head...

"Okay, here's how things went..." Chip began as he narrated.

Flashback

...

End of flashback

"And that's all," Chip said smiling.

"...My Din," Toon Link began sarcastically. "That REALLY explained a lot of unanswered questions."

"Really now?" Chip asked as he blinked. "Because I thought I didn't say anything at all about what happened to me."

Most of the Smashers hit their foreheads with their palms and frowned.

"And why would I remember how I lost my memory, anyway?" Chip asked. "I lost my memory after all, haven't I?"

They frowned even more than before.

"I-I'm sorry for saying this, but that really sounded so stupid and yet at the same time so twisted..." Lucas commented.

"I could so totally relate that to this guy," Master Hand said. "Now, Sonic, toss him out."

"No!" Sonic yelled.

"Alright, you bastard," Master Hand began. "You toss that imp out, or I'll toss you 2 out."

"Um..." Chris interrupted. "Maybe we should listen to him?"

"Listen to him?" the hand asked. "That's not necessary. This weirdo is a wacko that SOMEHOW remembers he lost his memory but didn't remember how he lost it in the first place."

"Actually..." Meta Knight began. "He knows he remembers something from his past, but he can't remember. He didn't lose all his memory, but just part of it."

"I'd say a BIG part of it," Ike commented.

"..." Master Hand sighed. "Well...I admit that clarified something..."

"Can I stay here then?" Chip asked.

"Wait, wait, wait," Master Hand began. "You said you wanted out HELP, not get a RESERVATION in here."

"Did I do that?"

"Dammit!" Master Hand snapped out, but he later breathed in and out to calm himself down. "This Chip guy just annoys the heck out of me."

"But pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!" Chip moaned sadly. "I wanna be listened!"

"The problem is that you don't know how you lost your memory," Mario said.

"And why would we help such a stupid-looking guy?" Wolf asked suddenly. "It's not like we care, or even me for that matter."

"..." Chip looked up depressed (remember that he was still being held upside-down).

"..." Master Hand thought for a moment. "...Okay, maybe we SHOULD let him in."

Most of the Smashers stared back at the hand with some shocked looks.

"Why are you suddenly letting him live here?" Jigglypuff asked.

"If there's something I know very well," Master Hand began. "It's that Chip looks kind of important for something."

"What?" Roy asked. "How so?"

"Don't you know? Just look at him!"

They all stared at Chip (who decided to smile).

"Why does he look like that, anyway?" Master Hand asked. "There's probably nobody else that looks like him at all that makes him so important for some reason!"

"That's the most idiotic reason I've ever heard," Squirtle commented.

"Nope, I'm afraid it's the horrible and sad truth," the hand said. "And just look and yourselves! Is there someone else that looks like a palette swap of all of you?"

"That only happens when we fight ourselves in random matches," Mario pointed out.

"Or when there's a Shiny Pikachu," Pikachu said.

"So can the guy stay here?" Sonic asked.

"I...am really wondering why you took an interest in him, Sonic..." Master Hand said. "...But...I don't know if we should help him..."

"Oh, please, just do it!" Sonic said.

"What is wrong with you today?" the hand asked. "...Ugh, whatever... Chip..."

"Yeah?" Chip asked.

"You...can..." The hand seemed to be twitching. "You...can...live...um...here...until...we...find...out...what...the hell is wrong with you. THERE! HA! I said it!"

"Sweet!" Chip said as he rubbed his palms together. "Thank you!"

Somehow, Chip joined your team!

"Are you really sure this was a good idea?" Luigi asked as Chip was set free from Sonic's hands.

"It is...sadly," Master Hand muttered. "If I said no, he would annoy the hell out of us by staying outside. I know that very well because his FACE tells everything. I JUST hope I chose the right option."

Chip stopped floating around before he spotted Kirby eating his candy. "..." Chip's eyes widened.

"..." Kirby looked pissed and hid the bar behind him.

"Gimme!" Chip demanded.

"No! It's mine!" Kirby protested.

"Gimme that chocolate!" Chip demanded before he charged right after Kirby, who gasped and decided to run away with his chocolate bar to the hallway. Everyone watched as Chip pulled his hands back and flew after Kirby.

"...And stupidity grew bigger," Crazy Hand commented.

"That's new of you," Master Hand said.

"I'm new, after all."

"Not now..." The hand sighed. "Well, we let that whatever the hell he is in so we may as well resume where we left off."

"But are you still sure we can keep him in here?" Marth asked.

"Look, feminine-looking prince," Master Hand began. "I have a horrible headache for thinking so much about Chip, and I want to finish whatever we have today to do with the Classic Mode so we can all rest a little bit and before you all start doing the challenge by yourselves. Do you want to think more about that imp?"

"..." Marth only responded with a slash to the hand's index finger.

"Okay, I deserved that," the hand said. "Everyone, let's go back to the hall and resume the boss battle!" he said, trying to sound excited.

And the doorbell rang again.

"...Nazi Toads?" Chris asked bored.

"..." Master Hand sighed and went for the 2 doors. Upon reaching them, he looked at everyone. "If there's another pointless person behind this door, do me a favor and KILL him or her off, okay?"

"Why would we do that?" Snake asked.

"Because I'm so sick of hearing the doorbell ringing again before we get to more important things," the hand explained. "Okay, whoever is outside this door...PREPARE TO DIE!"

The hand opened the doors quickly and scared the person behind it. Master Hand gasped once he realized that he scared someone they knew well...

Parakarry.

"W-what's wrong with you today?" Parakarry asked as he adjusted his helmet. "I-I'm just a postman doing his daily work! Why did you decide to go dog on me?"

"O-oh, sorry, please!" Master Hand said. "I-it's just because we received a lot of visits today! Please, don't think bad of me..."

Parakarry gulped and looked around in his mailbag. "F-fine, but don't do that again..." the Paratroopa muttered before he took out 2 letters. "A-anyway, here's 2 letters: the big one is for Chris...and the normal-looking one is for Mr. Sonic The Hedgehog."

The big hand took the letters and looked at Parakarry. For some reason, Chris's letter felt heavy. "Again, sorry for scaring you without a reason."

"I-I receive that a lot, anyway..." Parakarry said with a nervous chuckle. "...See ya!" he said before he quickly flew away to the sky.

The hand shrugged and closed the doors before turning back to the Smashers. "I'm very positive nobody will come here again. And since I hate to do this in front of all of you... Chris, this brick you call letter here is for you."

The World Traveler blinked confused and walked to the hand to grab his letter.

"And this one is for Sonic."

Sonic quickly went for his letter and tore it open to see its contents.

"Okay, let's all go back to the hall for now. Please, don't stop and ignore any sounds from the doorbell," the hand instructed to everyone who looked at each other and climbed up the stairs to their way back to the hall.

"..." Sonic, however, remained in the lobby as he read the letter.

A small grin slowly grew on him. "Oh, yes...yeah!" he said with a grin and a chuckle.

Classic Mode Hall

All the Smashers sat down on the tables (except Kirby who was still missing with Chip) and looked back at the screen as a worried Chris stepped inside the teleporter while Master Hand appeared right back in Final Destination.

"That's one big letter you have there," Pikachu said to Lucario, who was left in charge to take care of the letter that was above the round table.

"I know," Lucario said as he stared down at it. "It seems way too big for me."

"Anyway, that aside, are you rooting for Chris?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucario asked. "I'm not going to say that I'm certain he will win... I'll have to wait to see the last result...which I want it to be good."

"Good thing we both are rooting for him."

"If I recall, you were rooting for Master Hand with that vote..." Lucario seemed tobe glaring at Pikachu.

"...Still, glares don't change votes," Pikachu said bored.

Lucario grunted and looked back at the screen.

Final Destination

"Do you want me to repeat everything I said to you?" Master Hand asked.

"I-it's going to be useless!" Chris yelled from the other side of the platform.

"Okay, we might as well begin or continue this fight. The others want to try this mode out and I don't want to turn them all down."

"...Okay..." Chris said with a nod.

Final Destination

With a gulp, Chris charged forward to Master Hand. The hand moved his fingers as he waited for Chris before he moved right above him. The World Traveler gasped before the hand pulled back to the right edge and charged his fingers to fire bullets.

"This is one of my favorite moves!" Master Hand yelled as he charged. "Try to dodge the bullets!"

"O-oh god!" Chris yelped before he jumped and evaded 2 fast bullets that disappeared into the space. The World Traveler saw the hand coming back on the right edge, and Chris took the opportunity to thrust his right foot down with some aura emanating out. The hand grunted in pain after the foot landed on him, and the World Traveler landed back down on the floor.

"Wow, Chris, I'm impressed," the hand commented. "That move didn't look like Lucario's move at all."

"T-that's because I just...thought it..." Chris responded.

"...Prepare!" Master Hand warned Chris before he floated up and made a fist that pointed down at the World Traveler.

Chris gasped and quickly sidestepped all the way to the right platform before the hand crashed his fist down. The World Traveler took this mistake as an advantage and used a fast Force Palm that shot aura at the hand. Master Hand shook his hand to recover from the hit before returning back to his position.

"I'm not going to be that easy on you," Master Hand said as Chris charged at him. "I'll have to do things like THIS!" he yelled before he quickly pulled back and slapped Chris hard enough to make him be pushed to the air.

The World Traveler gasped and quickly concentrated hard to use Extremespeed. And when we mean Extremespeed in Chris's case, we mean he stopped right above the abyss of the space and used a small force of aura to come out from behind him to get pushed back to the stage.

"Good, good!" Master Hand commented from the other side. "I like you to be original with your moves. It gives me more enthusiasm to defeat a human from the real world like you!"

"W-what?" Chris asked confused before the hand began to walk on his 2 fingers towards him. The teen with tattoos gasped and quickly sidestepped back at the hand, who passed right besides him and came back to his position afterward.

"Oh noes, I'm open," Master Hand said before Chris reached him from below, charged an attack as he pulled his hands close, and shoved up a force of aura upwards that burned the hand a little bit. "Ouch! ...Even so, good one."

"Can you stop talking like that?" Chris asked annoyed as he shoved up another force of aura.

"Why?" Master Hand asked before he put together his index and middle fingers and was blasted off upwards. Chris knew where this was going after he looked at the background. The hand came quick after him as his wrist was engulfed with fire to push himself at him. "I'm excited myself here!" he yelled before he pushed Chris upwards before the hand arrived at his position by coming from the right while spinning a little.

Chris closed his eyes and quickly regained his stance to flip one time and land back on the floor. The World Traveler sighed one time before he landed back on the floor, and without previous advice, charged back at the hand and jumped towards him with a Force Palm ready.

"Alright! You're going physical on me rather than with magic as you always do!" Master Hand commented before Chris slammed a glowing hand on aura on him. "Ouch... That one really hurt this time..."

"Haa!" Chris yelled as he delivered an uppercut with aura that rose up a little and hurt the hand for a bit. The World Traveler made a serious look and ran below the hand before shoving up more aura that burned Master Hand more.

"Wow..." Master Hand said. "Now you're getting more violent. Maybe I should do the same?" he wondered before he raised himself up and opened himself above the World Traveler. Chris gasped at the shadow of the hand before he ran to the left in a hurry.

"I give Chris 7 out of 10 for using physical attacks on the hand," C. Falcon commented.

"(At least he's doing it well for now...)" Lucario thought.

The World Traveler barely dodged the hand's slam before the hand itself shook to become numb to the pain. However, he didn't see Chris who jumped back at him and used a Force Palm that took out more health from him. "I'm starting to get a little pissed here now..." Master Hand muttered before he returned to his position.

"I-I'm doing it..." Chris muttered surprised as he ran after the hand. "I-I'm actually doing a good job at attacking with close combat moves!"

"Too bad you're using them with me, though," Master Hand said. "The others wouldn't let you attack them so easily. Me? I'm stuck in my way to attack people in here...and it's time to move on!" the hand said excited before he moved his fingers and fired lasers at Chris.

The World Traveler couldn't react fast and was hit by the lasers. The lasers themselves acted as barriers to prevent him from advancing to the hand who kept shooting them to the floor.

"O-o-o-oww..." Chris moaned weakly as the lasers reached most of his body.

Master Hand stopped by making a fist before returning back to his position. "Let's see now...Chris seems weaker than before after all those attacks. It means you could be taken out with another strong attack."

"I-I don't care!" Chris yelled as he charged at the hand. "I can still win this if I keep going like this!"

"And if I do this..." the hand began before he pulled himself back and slapped Chris hard enough to send him blasting away to the boundary with a long trail of smoke and screamed loudly. "You should have just 1 life left," the hand finished.

A worried Chris came down from the space and gulped after he stepped out from the platform. He looked up at the hand before looking serious.

"Yeah, that's right," Master Hand said. "Release your fury on me. C'mon! I'm doing all this just for you to become a FREAKING HUMAN MACHINE OF VIOLENCE!!!"

Chris suddenly stopped looking serious and got scared. "W-what again?" he asked.

"A dandy teen who would want to jump merrily in a flower field," Master Hand said.

"...Wait a minute, you didn't say that before!"

"Duh?" Master Hand responded before he put his fingers together, pointed up at the sky, rose up quickly, and disappeared for a moment before he came down on Chris and spun his fingers above his back. The World Traveler yelled in pain before the hard forcefully flicked him away with a finger.

Good thing Chris didn't have much damage since he didn't go that far from the hand as he jumped back on the stage and sighed in relief.

"You're pretty durable," Master Hand commented. "It's a shame you don't share Lucario's Aura ability because you could have dealt more damage to me that way."

"Excuse me for not being him..." Chris muttered annoyed.

"Meh, what can you do," Master Hand said before he began to move his fingers. "Now I really want to...crush you..."

The World Traveler gasped as the hand moved fast to him and tried to grab him inside his palm. However, Chris backstepped in time and used a fast Force Palm to damage the hand more.

"Maybe I should stop giving you hints of my next attacks..." Master Hand wondered before he returned back to his position and was quickly reached by Chris who shoved up more aura blasts. "And for some reason...I want to slap you hard again."

The hand quickly moved back and prepared to slap Chris again.

Unfortunately, this didn't mean it was going to work. Chris quickly jumped after he saw the hand pulling back, where Master Hand passed all the stage before returning back to his position, and in time for Chris to thrust down his right foot with aura at his back-hand. The hand grunted before the World Traveler landed underneath him, and followed up by shoving even more blasts of aura upwards.

"Just be glad there are no items here to help you out!" Master Hand yelled before he made a fist and prepared to collide himself down to the teen.

"And why should I be glad again?"

"Hmm, I'm up here, trying to crush you down?"

"...N-not again!" Chris yelled before he quickly turned around for the left edge. Too bad he was slow as Master Hand crushed him and sent him flying away to the left. The World Traveler grunted more before he used a fast Extremespeed to push himself back to the stage. "Ugh..."

"You're getting tired now?" Master Hand asked. "Well, I'm getting tired here as well...and the fact that you have a lot of damage accumulated means you could be defeated at any time by me. And if you DO lose, you're going to have to lose the challenge."

"C-can I continue if I lose?"

"Maybe," Master Hand said. "If you're willing to lose half your points and coins."

"...Oh no," Chris said. "I...I'm going to finish this without continuing..."

"Good!" Master Hand said before he pointed up and blasted off to the sky. Chris looked quickly at the background where the hand tilted by the sides, but still headed directly at him at full speed.

"(There's a blind point in that attack...)" Chris thought.

He didn't want to move from his place before the hand managed to reach him, but Chris jumped over him to later thrust down his foot down, damaging the rocket hand for a moment before Master Hand returned to his position by spiraling himself.

"Good, good..." Master Hand commented as Chris ran towards him. "You're becoming more proficient at close combat attacks."

"B-but still, I like long-range attacks better," Chris said as he ran underneath the hand.

"Sorry to say this, but you need to experience many different kinds of combat styles in order to exploit them to their maximum potency," Master Hand said before he felt aura burning himself. "O-okay...I-I'm starting to feel drowsy all of a sudden..."

"My brother's HP is about to reach zero," Crazy Hand said. "And you know what'll happen after he reaches 1 complete number."

"He'll fall down?" Pit responded.

"Nope. He'll roar like a beast."

"But still..." Master Hand said as he moved his fingers. "I don't go easy on people like you...unless you selected the easy mode, then I'll go easy on you."

"Which mode did I choose?" Chris asked.

"Well, since you like balanced things, I chose the hard mode since it's in the middle of the 5 difficulties. If you were to select insane, I'll go insane on your a(beep), my friend."

"..." Chris gulped before he shoved up more blasts of aura.

"Oh, come on!" Master Hand complained. "Can't you use other kinds of attacks?"

"N-" Chris couldn't finish talking before the hand managed to grab him. Master Hand floated to the center of the platform and began to crush Chris with his fingers inside his palm. The World Traveler screamed loudly as he struggled to get out. "Come on..." the hand grunted. "You can defeat me if you put effort..."

"T-that sounded so twisted!" Chris yelled between screams.

"Uah!" Master Hand gasped as the World Traveler fell down and landed on his back.

Chris needed to act fast...

"..." Once he stood up, he began to realize something. "Aura...is the energy that flows within everyone's souls..." he muttered.

"What now?" Master Hand asked.

Chris put his hands closer together and focused. "And aura itself..." he chanted as he put his hands closer together. "Can be deadly if used right..." he added as his aura flowed out between his hands and met together in a point.

"...Yes..." Lucario muttered. "He's now understanding how to control his aura after battling using that job."

"Ooh," Pikachu said. "This is going to get interesting now."

Master Hand watched as Chris slowly created an Aura Sphere that circulated on itself, emanating blue light out around the teen's position. "Yes, yes! You gained enough experience to master it after all!"

Chris opened his eyes and glared at the hand with his red eyes. "And now," he muttered. "It's time to use my own aura against you! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"(Here it comes...)" Master Hand thought.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Music stops

There was something wrong once Chris released his fully charged Aura Sphere...

Everyone pretty much knew the sphere was big when it was fully charged, but once it was released...in an instant, it became a very small orb that went up and down in a crazy manner, and towards the hand who looked miffed as he stared at the orb going after him.

The World Traveler's jaw dropped as he saw his own Aura Sphere turning into some kind of...living thing on its own as it flew up and down towards the hand before it touched him slightly.

"..." Both opponents remained silent.

Even everyone at the hall were silent as the teen or the hand didn't move.

"...The kid was just bluffing," Snake said before lighting a cigarette.

"So much for him," Toon Link commented.

"Wow," Pikachu blinked bored. "He SURELY knows how to use his aura, huh, Lucario?"

Lucario looked embarrassed before he looked down and frowned in shame. "What was the detail he did wrong? I was pretty sure he mastered it just now... Maybe I should keep an eye on him again."

"...I-I don't understand this at all!" Chris yelled angrily. "The moment I just learned the attack it's the same moment where something HAS to get screwed over on it and laugh at my face!"

"..." Master Hand remained silent.

"I spent a pretty long time trying to master that very same move and now it has to be like this? What kind of bad joke is that?"

"..."

"I HATE to use close combat attacks!" Chris complained. "Magic attacks don't do this to me at all for that matter. I'll have to choose the jobs what I want from now on, sorry!" he ranted to the hand.

"..."

"...Um..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...Why aren't you saying anything or even moving at all?"

"..." Master Hand twitched a little before he began to move frantically on his place. The World Traveler blinked confused at this before the hand himself started to move rather crazily on his spot.

And for SOME reason or another, Master Hand let out a loudly roar of pain as he began to rise up to the space. Chris gasped at this sudden action as the background looked greener than usual with some black tiles rising up from the abyss around the empty space.

The scene shone brightly with the World Traveler remaining on the stage...

STAGE
COMPLETED!!!

"..." The Smashers blinked at this sudden result in confusion after the battle ended. Nobody even dared to look away from the screen announcing the total amount of points and coins that Chris received after winning the match.

"..." Peach managed to blink slowly several times...

...After a small while, her hands began to slowly clap in silence.

Noticing this action, Mario blinked at Peach before he looked back at the screen and began to slowly clap as well.

It was not long before Luigi followed up with a little bit of enthusiasm.

Very soon, most of the Smashers in the whole hall began to applause slowly before it grew into a loud applause that fill the hole hall itself. As for Snake, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, and Wolf, they all hid their claps at their sides, hiding some chuckles as well.

After a while of applauding, a light came from the same room where Chris appeared, and mentioned character peered his head out and shyly walked to the center in front of the screen, watching everyone applauding at him after completing the challenge.

"I..." Chris blushed embarrassed. "T-thank you so much for rooting for me..." he muttered, forcing a small nervous smile.

"Rats," Roy muttered. "I lost the bet."

As the applaud went on, Master Hand appeared right besides Chris and nodded himself to him. "Congratulations to you, newcomer from the real world!" Master Hand said enthusiastically. "You have passed your first run-through for the Classic Mode without continuing!"

"I-I think it was a little fun after all," Chris commented.

"Hmhm, I'm sure it was," Master Hand said before he shook Chris's right hand. "And for your dedication for winning against all your opponents, with most of them screwing up in some way or another."

Zelda, Yoshi, Mewtwo, Roy, Fox, Snake, and Wolf looked annoyed.

"I'll gladly award you with this little token as your prize," Master Hand said as he made a small Trophy Stand appear on top of his index finger that fell right on top of Chris's right palm. "Here's your Trophy Stand as I promised. With this little item, you can now use Stickers to enhance different attributes to make yourself even stronger than before."

"S-sweet..." Chris muttered with a chuckle.

No, he wasn't going to turn into a power-hungry fo...I mean, a character hungry for power by this action.

"And if you can save up money and buy some abilities from my brother," Master Hand began. "I will increase the size of the stand, or even reduce the size of all the stickers for you to put more in there. Again, congratulations for passing the Classic Mode!"

Obtained Chris's Trophy Stand!

An invaluable item that allows the user to enhance attributes by using special stickers.

Chris looked back at all the Smashers before he slowly held up the stand, making some of them cheer a little bit.

"Well, well, well," Master Hand said. "You all know how we do things around here. Chris here already gave you an explanation about the whole mode. So for now, let's take a little break and then we'll start to let 1 of you go next and get the trophy stand. I recommend you to get the stand when you have the chance."

The applauds slowly faded into silence.

"As a side note, you don't necessarily need to be here to work and fight the opponent who's going through the mode. You can go to the event directly from your rooms by pressing the correct button on the hidden panels in there. You're going to be called over the speakers, so be prepared to participate."

"Good," Yoshi said. "I was getting a little bit tired of staying here all the day."

"Exactly," Master Hand said. "You all can go to your rooms or even do whatever you want to do. You can watch the matches from all the TVs in here, or this place to hang out as well."

"Heh," Wolf said with a grin of satisfaction. "I'll be ready to take down anyone when my turn comes up."

"Too bad it's going to be randomly," Master Hand said. "Alright, everyone can leave here and wait anywhere for your turn to come up. I'll rest for a little bit for now."

The hand disappeared in smoke before Crazy Hand went to Chris. "By the way, here are your coins for getting through the mode."

Chris received 100 Smash Coins.

"..." Chris looked a little bit disappointed.

"Sorry," the insane hand said. "You get around this amount by going through the mode. Your final score is 156,984."

"Like that even matters..." Chris muttered.

"Oh, it does," Crazy Hand said. "These guys like to break records a lot, so keep an eye on their records and aim for ultimate glory and all that crap they argue constantly." The hand turned to the Smashers. "Alright! Those who bet Chris will receive a commemorative Mr. Saturn!"

"Y-yay," Lucas said shyly over the table. "...B-but they're not pets!"

The World Traveler walked to Lucario and smiled a little to him. "H-how was I?" Chris asked.

"You were good," Lucario said, smiling back at Chris. "I'm grateful to see you getting your stand. But, will you cheer me?"

"I told you already."

"Thank you," Lucario said. "I'll do my best in the matches when my turn comes."

"Hey," Pikachu spoke nearby. "Open that brick letter you received."

Chris looked at the letter, looked odd at it before he took it and tore it open to see its content. "..."

At the lonely table Sonic was sitting on...the hedgehog suddenly made a devilish grin with an evil-sounding chuckle. "Very soon now..." he muttered as he narrowed his amused eyes at the Smashers. "The moon will arrive, and they all will bleed like never before in their lives..."

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Behind Us!

What Sonic just said implied that something was awfully wrong with him...

...And there was something wrong.

Inside his mind, there laid a world of empty darkness where he was seen being chained by dark shackles in midair. The hedgehog struggled to get off from the shackles, but it wasn't enough as he gritted his teeth.

"Let me out of here!" Sonic yelled. "How the heck did you take over my body now?! Answer me!"

"Heheheheh," the Sonic outside the mind chuckled and looked up at his forehead. "What's the matter? Can't like to see darkness around you?"

"Of course not!" Sonic yelled. "I'm getting sick of seeing it already! How did you take over my body if full moon hasn't showed up at all in the first place?!"

"Oh, didn't I tell you before?" Dark Super Sonic asked with a grin. "The closer we are to see full moon, my control over you becomes far greater than before. Since I'm, well, I don't want to brag but...screw it, I'll brag. Since I'm a super being of darkness, my chances to take over your body were boosted as well. I can also mess up your mind and make you do things you wouldn't want to do just for amusement." He smirked. "In other words, I can take over your body for some small time whenever I want. Since darkness is my special element, you'll have to be careful and avoid all kind of darkness because I could take the chance to take over your body for a small time."

"Which you will surely try to do often..."

"Exactly!" he said with a chuckle. "Man, you're not that dumb as everyone said about you! Prompts to you for being a smart ass!"

"You little..." Sonic gritted his teeth. "Ugh, you won't get away with this as long as they notice you're here, anyway."

Dark Super Sonic spotted a note that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The dark being took the note and read it.

Only 6 more days until full moon comes. Hear me out if you want to solve your problem.

"S(beep)t," Dark Super Sonic cursed as he tossed the letter. "I forgot somebody of those imbeciles know about my existence."

"I bet he or she knows how to freakin' exorcise you out of my body," Sonic lied.

"Ha, we'll see," Dark Super Sonic said with a grin as he crossed his arms. "It's surely not that imp, that's for sure."

"Wait," Sonic began. "You began to mess me up right after this day started. Why did you mess up with my mind to convince Master Hand from letting Chip live here? Is there a reason behind your motives of him? Or is Chip really important for you?"

"Him? Important?" Dark Super Sonic chuckled to the ceiling and tried not to laugh loudly. "Why would he be important? He looks way too stupid for my tastes," he said amused. "I wanted him here because...he's going to be my guinea pig."

"What? Why him and not anybody else?"

"Because of the fact his goofy-looking face disgusts me to the bone," Dark Super Sonic explained. "The first time I saw his face...UGH! I want to rip it apart and lick his blood right on his stupid face!"

"...Are you some sort of vampire or something?" Sonic asked. "You're very addicted to violence now that I think about it."

"Congratulations," Dark Super Sonic said. "You just won the award for the Most Retard Hedgehog Ever."

"Lovely," Sonic said sarcastically. "Anyway, there's still time before your plan even starts. The guys will notice all of this and you're gonna be stopped before you know it."

"Oh, you wish," Dark Super Sonic said. "I'm going to look around for the bastard who knows about me."

"Hey!" Sonic called out. "I was thinking of finding that guy first!"

"Too bad, both of us will look for the bastard and kill him or her right after we find the "culprit" with the notes you've been receiving," DSS said. "It's either you or me who will find the person at the right time."

"You bastard..." Sonic muttered.

"Now," DSS began as he looked at an excited Chris talking to some Smashers. It was not long before Master Hand appeared close to them. "What do we have here?"

"What is it now?"

"I hear something REALLY amusing and important from over there..."

"S-so..." Chris blushed a little and looked down in embarrassment. "M-my birthday is going to come very soon..."

"Oh," Master Hand began. "Why did you call me, then?"

"I-I was wondering if you could let me spend more time in my world and wait for September 30 to arrive..." Chris explained. "B-but I remember you slowed down the time of this universe so I grew a little bit worried..."

"Well..." Master Hand began. "Last time I checked, it was September 12 over there, right?"

"Y-yes, it is now."

"Hmm..." Master Hand wondered for a moment. "You know...I could slow down the time of this universe again but with less potency than before...hmm..."

"..." Chris waited for a response.

"...I could slow down the time here so a day here counts as 3 days over your world," Master Hand said. "It'd bring us to have 6 days here so your world moves 18 days. How does that sound?"

"G-good!" Chris said. "I wanted to tell you that because I want to have my birthday very soon... I hope you understand..."

"Oh, that's okay," the hand said. "Nothing bad will go wrong within 6 days if Tabuu doesn't attack any world. You can go to your world right now, though. The sooner you get there, the less chances Tabuu will have to interrupt you and everyone here to pass the Classic Mode."

"..." DSS suddenly made a devilish smirk after overhearing this.

"Take in mind I could call you up to fight anyone here, though," Master Hand reminded him. "There's no way I'm going to let you go away that easily from the matches."

"I...understand..." Chris said worried.

"Okay, now I'll rest for now," Master Hand said before he disappeared.

"Your birthday is coming up, then?" Marth asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "I'm going to turn 17 when September 30 comes. 1 more year after that, and I'll have the right to vote...though I don't like politics that much."

"So are you going to make a party or something?" Ness asked.

"I...don't have many friends in my world..." Chris said. "...O-oh, but don't worry. My parents always call me when it's my birthday so it's all good."

"Do you want me to come with you, Chris?" Lucario asked.

"Well...can you stay here?"

"Why?"

"Because you need to get your stand, right?"

"I think Master Hand will call me when I have to fight," Lucario explained. "Both of us can go to your world and spend the time there."

"Hmm...you're right," Chris said with a nod. "Since we don't have much time left, we should get going for now... It's going to be just 2 weeks and a half, so maybe you can come to visit us in the meantime."

"Okay," Ness said.

"Thanks," Chris said. "I should get going no-"

"Chris!" Sonic (or actually DSS) called over before he walked to him, crossed his arms, and smiled. "Is your birthday gonna come soon?"

"Y-yes," Chris said. "It's 6 days in this world while in my world it'll be 18 days."

"Awesome," Sonic said with some nods. "I'm going to give you a gift for your birthday."

Chris blushed a little. "O-okay, but I don't care if you don't give me a gift, though. It's not obligatory."

"Oh, don't worry," Sonic said with a chuckle. "I'll give you one nevertheless. You could say the gift I'm going to give you will stay with you for all eternity."

"...E...ternity?" Lucas repeated.

"...Oh, don't mind me," Sonic said with an amused look. "I tend to say things I don't mean to say at all. Just shrug it off, 'kay?"

"Okay..." Chris said as he shifted his eyes. "W-we'll get going for now. Lucario, are you ready?"

"Yes," Lucario said.

"T-then we'll come back later, okay?" Chris asked to them. "See you later."

The World Traveler and the Aura Pokémon slowly left the hall and walked away to the stairs. The Smashers that were there suddenly looked at Peach clapping her hands together.

"Why don't we organize a secret birthday party?" Peach suggested.

"Why did I see that coming a mile away from you?" Nana asked bored.

"Oh, please!" Peach said somewhat excited. "This place needs to get a little bit more active after all those fights we've been through, right?"

"Thing is I'm not exactly the guy who loves parties..." Olimar said.

"You don't worry about that," Peach said. "Please, let's do a birthday party for Chris. We haven't had any parties here since last time an accident happened with the juice tasting like alcohol."

"Blame Mr. Falcon over there," Pikachu said annoyed as he pointed at C. Falcon, who was talking with Samus before she walked away, making him hung his head down.

"But this time, no accidents will occur," Peach said. "Not if I'm around..."

"Wait," Zelda began. "Do you mean you're going to be the one in charge of the party?"

"C-can I?" Peach asked. "I-I don't want to brag, but I've been known in the Mushroom Kingdom for holding the best parties. I know what people like, so Chris is not that different from anyone here."

"...A birthday party..." Pikachu wondered. "...Well, I'd say let's do it."

"Fine by me," Zelda said. "Maybe we could do this without having any accidents."

"Whatever," Ness said. "As long as there are good things in reserve, I'm in."

"Yeehaw!" Popo yelled excited. "Let's parthai!"

"...What the heck happened to him now?" Pikachu asked. "Wasn't he normal just now?"

"He just remembered coughourparentscough and he wanted to forget the thought again," Nana whispered. "The good thing is he's doing it with a reason. I don't have to get angry at him if he doesn't humiliate us in the first place."

"Okay," Marth said. "I'm up to have a good time."

"L-let's do the party," Lucas said with a small smile. "I want to have fun for once."

"Then it's decided!" Peach said cheerfully as she joined her hands. "I'm going to tell everyone about this so they know. I'm going to organize everything here, and all of you will help once I have everything set, okay?"

The Smashers thought for a moment before they nodded.

"Great," Peach said.

"Yeah," Sonic said with a grin. "I'll be sure to make this a party to remember."

"Wow," Ness said. "Are you actually going to help us without escaping?"

"Why would I do that?" Sonic asked as he moved his hands to the sides of his shoulders, closed his eyes, and frowned with a grin. "Chris is very important to us, isn't he?"

"Of course," Peach said with a nod. "I'm glad you said that."

"Then, let's make a party to remember for our entire lives," Sonic said with a chuckle. "I'll give my full support for the main event."

"Thank you, Sonic," Peach said politely. "Your help is going to be appreciated."

The hedgehog began to walk away as he chuckled...but his chuckles weren't heard to sound different. Sonic's chuckles, while being silent, sounded rather dark and sarcastic as he glared forward at the hallway.

"What the hell are you thinking now?" Sonic asked.

"What's that?" DSS asked with a grin. "I'm going to help out to make the party very fun to us."

"Don't you lie to me," Sonic said with a glare. "You're planning to do something malevolent during it, aren't you?"

"Well..." DSS looked bored and looked to his right with a smirk. "I promised I was going to give him a gift and make the party very fun, didn't I?"

"Don't hide it," Sonic said pissed. "I know you have something bad in hands."

"...Okay," DSS chuckled heartily. "When I said gift, I meant the gift of...death. I'm going to give him THAT gift that he will enjoy for his entire life, because he's going to die once he turns 17! Isn't that just wonderful?"

"You sadistic BASTARD!!!"

"Am I now?" DSS asked amused. "And also, that party will be a lot of fun after the moon shines on me and gives me the ultimate power to take over your body for real this time. Everyone will be "laughing" out loud as I "shake" their hands while I chuckle."

"Stop that thought right there!" Sonic yelled. "You're NOT going to get away with it at all!"

DSS stopped right before the light of the hallway. "Shut up now," he muttered as he stepped into the light. "It's your turn to control your body. I'm warning ya, I could mess up your mind while you're under the light. I'll give you some time to enjoy before my time comes..."

Once the dark being stepped into the light, he closed his eyes and opened them. The hedgehog looked around confused and blinked some more before looking down.

"...I have to do this quick..." Sonic said worried. "...Or he will kill..."

Sonic shook his head.

"C'mon..." Sonic muttered. "There has to be some way to find that mysterious guy... Okay, he or she knows I'll turn into a beast...but I don't know how he or she looks like..."

"So you're saying you once turned into a beast?"

Sonic looked up and then looked at his left side where he saw Ike talking to Link.

"Yeah," Link said. "I used to be turned into a wolf once I entered the Twilight Realm," he explained. "I hated to be a beast, but I had to do it in order to go through the realm and even reach some places I couldn't reach before."

"I see..." Ike said. "For 1 second I thought you were a Laguz."

"But, you know," Link continued. "When I was wolf, I realized a lot of things while I was in that form..."

Sonic kept listening without calling them.

"...Is he probably..." Sonic muttered. "Twilight Realm...him turning into a wolf or a beast..." he muttered more. "...He could be the mysterious guy..." Sonic looked away with a serious look. "No, he's the closest guy that fits the pattern and the description. I know only 1 of all of us must be the guy I'm looking for..."

The hedgehog rubbed his palms together.

"Better to do this soon..."

The hedgehog ran away in a hurry as he left a note fall off from...somewhere on him.

Meta Knight appeared from the hall and found the letter. The knight stared it, shifted his eyes around, and read the letter...

Sonic...

We have been waiting for you to help us with our world splitting apart.

AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO RESPOND TO US PERSONALLY AFTER NOT DOING A THING, DAMMIT!

I bet you're going to be happy to see your charming little girlfriend again, right? (Hearts)

Mr. Sonic, I hope you wait for us to come to the place you're at. We don't know where you are, but we're going to find you very soon.

So please, Sonic, wait for us. We need to have a talk about our world as soon as possible.

Signed,

Miles Tails Prower, KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA, Amy Rose, and Cream The Rabbit.

Meta Knight tossed the letter away and frowned. "Master Hand is going to have to reserve more rooms, I guess..." he muttered as he walked down the stairs.

It was not long before the hallway was empty...

"Chocolate!" Chip yelled as he was seen chasing Kirby to a room.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Countdown To Real Pandemonium. Heheh, good title..." DSS chuckled evilly.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-This didn't actually happen in the game, but the icicle that fell into Agitha's "Castle" was Chip. Remember when he was kicked away by Barry? He ended up all the way there. :P

Out Of Curiosity…:

-If my memory is correct, Romani (from the Majora's Mask's universe) dubbed Link as a Grasshopper.

I can't believe I never bothered to explore the Castle Town to for Agitha. I ALWAYS wondered how could you get a bigger bag of rupees until I gave her a bug. That has to be odd, I mean, where does she get all that money? From Jovani, probably?

And DSS puts his plans into motion, Chip is SOMEHOW added to the cast for unknown reasons, and Chris's birthday is coming up as well. How will these 3 mix up?

That letter Sonic received is surely important if it had them all in it. Will they make another appearance? Probably.

And of course, we all know Chip doesn't look that important. I mean, just look at him! What kind of character has that face, anyway?

I'm sorry for correcting myself, but Chris's height is 5'11" and not 5'9". I don't want him to be that close in height from the others. I hope you don't mind. Sorry.

So now, wait for the countdown to destruction.

Read and review, please. :)

…

…Or a Diglett will appear and use Fury Swipes with its pinky nose on you.
*Chapter 142*: Countdown To Real Pandemonium

Phew, I think I found a liking to the drama genre...detective drama genre.

From Anakin Mario Son43: Wow... The fight with master hand was hilarious. I especially liked the part wher Chris kept getting interrupted by the freaking door bell. I wonder if Chip has anything to do with sonic's transformations? I was surprised when Chris learned Aura sphere. I kinda expected it to be small though ;)I hope DSS doesn't fully come out. Oh yea, Happy almost birthday Chris! Hasta!

From me: Ironically, my birthday is very close now.

I don't think Chip has anything to do with the transformation that Sonic is undergoing.

Thanks. : )

From SeaDremon: DIGLETTS! Aghh! Reviewing!

I'd been stalkin you ever since I found this fic. I don't review at all. Pretend this never happened because this review is complete waste of space.

You said you'd send a Diglett so I had to review!

Nazi Toads? Strange... Chip is GOOFY faced. Master Hand dislikes him for killing a part of the mansion? Wow... Master Hand is dramatic and over the top epic.

Chris is an aspiring character. Amazingly still alive.

SeaDremon

From me: Ooh, stalker. Why would I pretend your review didn't happen?

And thanks. Many fics have inspired me to make Master Hand sort of a business guy. Yes, I know he's evil in reality, but why not have a small twist? It surely works around.

Thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: Chip finally managed to get in, huh? I thought he had dropped out of the story all together. Should have known that he would make a comeback with the Werehog arc. But still... when you said something about a green tank, I thought that we were about to see an incoming arc involving Advance Wars (in particular Green Earth, hence the colour) or Battalion Wars (in which case the tank would belong to the Western Frontier).

One of Chris' oldest problems now has been solved. He now has his own trophy, and with it the trophy stand to place his stickers on. He can finally use the equipment that Master Hand and Crazy Hand turned into stickers, way back when.

The very second I saw that Chris' birthday would be on the very same day as the full moon, I thought "oh dear, poor Chris is going to have more than just a birthday bash, but a birthday brawl to boot". But it still makes for a great plot device.

An excellent chapter, and good idea, by the way, making Sonic's friends appear just in time for the major battle to begin. Great job.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: Actually, I forgot to put the reason behind the tank in this chapter. There's a real reason behind the tank (and you surely know the place already). Wait for it, though. : P

And as for Sonic's friends, they're not appearing here. Maybe because they got lost and don't know where the mansion is. : P

Thanks again. :D

From LastDrop: Hmm... I think I'll rephrase my last comment..

Quote: 'Poor Thing' ... I think I'll change that to Poor Kid XD

Anyways great chapter ;P

From me: Thank you. Unfortunately I don't have anything else to say. :(

Thanks, though. :)

From ngrey651: Aww, a birthday party for Chris. 17, eh? Not quite an adult yet. I wonder what everyone else who's NOT a psychopathic dark side of a hedgehog will get him...;)

Here, for my gift, have an air horn. These things are dead useful. (I use it to wake my brother up, heh-heh.) ;)

From me: What's an air horn? No, really, what's an air horn?

I guess everyone either will give Chris normal presents or nothing...okay, nothing sounds a little bit BS...

...

Thanks again. ;)

From RayGallade: No, not the Diglett!
So, the Nazi Toads returned. Just how many of those guys are there? Stag Beetle will have a long side quest to do, but it will be worth it. Was Zelda the one throwing the letters out, or was it the soldiers? I'm glad to see the trainers showing up again. Poor Chip, no one can figure out that you don't call Chris "kid", and he found out the hard way. I liked the fight between Chris and Master Hand. Aura Apprentice may have been one of his first, but he still needs some training. DSS is getting stronger, and we still don't know who knows. All we know is that Geno and Lucas (Pokemon) know somehing. I'm looking forward to more of this, and I also think that this is the fic that is visited the most here after reading how many hits.

RayGallade out.

From me: The soldiers surely were throwing out the letters by Zelda herself.

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Sorry I haven't reviewed for a while, I mostly lingered around, not really active. I'm here now, though.

Chris still hates being called "kid," huh? He reminds of one of my friends, who has an Edward Elric-like reaction to being called "short." Ah, you'd think they'd just get used to it if they hear it enough times.

Return of Chip! He's weird just as ever. Waiting for the next chapter.

From me: I guess you haven't been around because of you band, right? Well, I'm glad you're still here.

Yes, the moment Chris snapped out finally came around... Too bad his anger won't solve all his battles, though. :P

Thanks again.

As usual, I have updated chapter 33. I'm now in the process to finish the chapter were Pit and the ICs were introduced for the sake of the story. With that, I don't mean something changed. I wanted to write something more with depth because I admit that I sucked at first in my early chapters. I'm not trying to be a perfectionist, but I want this fic to have the style I always display for your enjoyment and amusement.

That's everything I have to say for now. Now please, sit back and enjoy this chapter…because once again school distracted me. However, this chapter needed to end the series of mysterious events. I didn't want this to become 2 parts.

Sit back and enjoy, though.

Read, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: The hardest and most annoying mini game in the whole video game history must be the Test of Fear in Star Fox: Adventures. Fear the blue bar of GAME OVER.

Chapter 142: Countdown To Real Pandemonium

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Day 1

The only way to find out about the mysterious note sender was to look around for him or her.

However, this wasn't going to be easy at all.

The hedgehog stopped to think in the lobby, where he sat down on a sofa and began to wonder who could be the guy.

"Okay..." Sonic muttered as he looked around with a serious expression. "It's time to interrogate the people in here and make them say what I want to hear... Now, I need to device some way to get them to spill the beans..."

DK's Room

"Are you the guy I'm looking for?"

DK looked uncomfortably at the hedgehog before he closed his door quickly.

"...What the hell was I thinking?" Sonic asked as he looked at no one in particular. "Of course they're not going to spill the beans that easily. What else could I use?"

He thought for a moment as he put his right index finger on his forehead.

"...Eureka!" Sonic said with a satisfied grin.

Snake's Room

"So," Sonic said as he laid down on Snake's bed and crossed his legs. "Have you been doing any kind of spy-stuff lately?"

"Hedgehog," Snake began coldly. "Get out. I didn't want you in her-"

"I know you're into spy-stuff," Sonic said as he half-closed his eyes at Snake. "C'mon, you can tell me everything. We're pals after all, right?"

Hallway

For some reason or another, there was Sonic's face stuck on the wall before the hedgehog pushed himself away using his feet, and landed on his spiked back on the floor. With a sigh, he stared up at the ceiling and grumbled a bit. "Man, that came out worse... Maybe it is the person I'm talking to..." Sonic muttered. "...No," he said as he sat up and looked serious, again, to no one in particular. "I must find this guy before full moon comes."

Samus's Room

"So..." Sonic began as he leaned to the wall and crossed his arms. "What've you been doing lately?"

"Wow, I'm impressed," Samus said as she seemed to be taking a bath behind the door to her bathroom. "It's not like you to talk to someone."

"What can I say?" Sonic asked. "I want to be sociable as soon as possible."

"Well," Samus began. "As for your question...I've been doing exercise lately."

"Oh, really?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. Most people in here don't even seem to train, but I do it in a regular basis."

"Okay..." Sonic glared away. "(Dude, think of something...)" He looked back at the door. "So, anything else in your life?"

"Um..." Samus remained silent. "...Nothing else..."

"..." Sonic kept blinking before he looked worried.

"...You there?"

"Y-yeah," Sonic said. "You know, I'm going to go hit the kitchen..."

"Oh, okay," Samus said. "Later."

The hedgehog already left before Samus could speak first.

Kitchen

Sonic was sitting down on a chair while he rested his chin on his palms. The hedgehog had a thoughtful look as he tried to think of something about the mysterious guy. "What can I do?" Sonic asked with a groan. "At this rate I'll never find out about the guy at all! I have to do something!"

Sonic looked around and tried to get an idea to get the people in the mansion to talk with him. Was there a way to find the secret agent with notes?

Chances were pretty slim, unfortunately...

The hedgehog laid down his forehead on his hands before he noticed that he wasn't alone in the kitchen.

Since gossip had a faster movement than light itself, the word about Chris's birthday spread fast around the mansion, and there was an anxious Peach humming in front of the oven.

However, she wasn't alone.

Someone else, and out of all the Smashers, was there with her as well... Sonic couldn't believe with his own eyes the person besides Peach...

"Can you remind me why do I have to cook?" asked Fox.

"I really need someone to do the cooking here," Peach explained. "I can do it myself, but I need to organize everything in the mansion before we start to move on."

"But why me, still?"

"W-well, you were the first one I found on the way here, so I just asked you nicely..."

"..." Fox frowned. "Um, just to let you know...I'm pretty bad at cooking...but PRETTY bad."

"Aw, please, Fox," Peach said with a chuckle. "I believe you're just nervous to cook something for yourself. See here? You're making your first cake, right?"

"The first food I always make has some kind of disastrous second effects, though..." Fox said. "...I mean, I made curry before and it came out with an eye...blinking..."

This made Peach's eyes widen a little in surprise.

"...S-still!" Peach said with a nervous chuckle. "I-I saw you making the cake so there's no way nothing bad will happen!"

"That's just you," Fox said. "But when I'm involved with cooking stuff...I might be considered some kind of evil scientist..."

The oven sounded just now.

"Perfect!" Peach said. "Now take the cake out, please."

Sonic smiled a little bit as the vulpine obeyed with a shrug...

...But why did Sonic think it looked cute?

"(What the heck is my mind thinking?)" Sonic asked stupefied.

The hedgehog's thought was interrupted before he noticed the 2 walking to him.

Okay, now Fox carrying a cake was surely a first...

"Um, hello?" Sonic greeted confused. "What do you want?"

"Well, we wanted to know if the cake came out good," Peach said. "So when we turned around, you were already here."

"Do you want to be the taster?" Fox asked. "I'll take full responsibility if you faint, though..."

Sonic blinked at the cake Fox was holding...

It looked...nice. It looked like normal warm bread. Sonic thought they could move on with the cream once he tasted the bread.

"..." Sonic nodded and grabbed a small bit of the cake. He stared at the piece of bread he grabbed for a moment.

Fox smiled a bit. "I think my cooking got better after all..."

Sonic grinned at the piece of bread and tossed it inside his mouth, waiting for the taste to take its effect on his tongue.

Sonic's Room

Day 2

Sonic suddenly woke up from his bed and looked around. "W-what just happened?" he asked. "I-I felt I passed out after I ate that...bread thing!"

At the side of his bed, a sleeping Fox (who was sleeping while sitting on a chair) suddenly shook his head and woke up. The vulpine yawned a little bit before he looked at Sonic. "Oh, great, you're aliv...I mean, you're awake."

"W-what the..." Sonic looked around. "What am I doing here?"

"You..." Fox looked away. "...Fell into a coma..."

"...I fell into a WHAT again?!"

Fox looked back at him. "You felt into a coma...after you ate that small piece of bread I gave you..."

"...B-but..." Sonic panicked for a moment. "T-the texture, the smell, the look it had, everything looked very good!"

"Well..." Fox scratched the back of his head. "Everything looked right...but the taste was the real part where it was bad...so bad..."

Sonic chuckled nervously. "S-so you took me here?"

"Yeah," Fox said, still with an ashamed look. "Peach panicked after you fell down and she told me to take you here to your room. I decided to wait for you to get well after Mario told me you fell into a coma... You have been in bed for a day because of that..."

"..." Sonic's eyes widened while his pupils shrunk. "...Oh no...no, no, no way! There's no way I skipped a WHOLE day because I ate that bread!"

"I-I'm sorry for giving you whatever came from the oven..." Fox said embarrassed. "And because of that, I haven't left this room even after I was called to fight in the mode. Does that make you happy?"

"...(Not after I skipped a WHOLE day...) I-I think so..." Sonic said.

"...Okay..." Fox said as he shifted his eyes and stood up. "I was a little worried you were going to get kille-I mean, remain in that come for a long time. I guess it was just temporary."

"...You can leave now..." Sonic said as he looked away.

"...Again...sorry..." Fox said before he walked to the door. "By the way, I didn't notice but some people wanted to drop by here and give you some things to get better. The things are on that table over there."

The hedgehog looked at his right where at least 3 cards with some sentences written on it were above small round table.

"...See you," Fox said before he walked away quickly.

Once he was out of sight, the hedgehog groaned to the ceiling and fell back to his pillow. "What the hell? I just skipped a whole day because of his cooking?"

Sonic looked to the side where he saw the cards laying down nearby. With a swift move, he grabbed all of them and read them all.

"Hope You Get Better..." said a letter in pink with Peach's name on it. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you. No hard feelings, okay?"

Sonic frowned at this and tossed it to the trash can. He began to read the next card.

"I didn't want to be some sort of bad guy, but I'm giving you this to show you I care for you," the green, blue, and red-stripped card said as Sonic looked down where it was signed by Olimar.

Again, he tossed the card to the trash can and began to read the next card. It was all black and only white letters were inside.

5 days and everything will go down and out of control. If you want to find a way to get that soul out of you, follow my directions.

The hedgehog tossed the card to the trash can and sat up. "Ugh, nothing here is helping me out at all..."

Sonic then remembered.

He quickly went to the trash can and read the card closely to his eyes before he looked shocked. "Okay, okay, that guy wants to help me out now, that's good," Sonic said. "But wait a minute... Fox said he didn't see no one here because...he was sleeping, right?"

There was no time to lose. Sonic had to question Fox next.

Main Lobby

"Are you really, really, really, REALLY sure you didn't see anyone?" a panicked Sonic asked to Fox, who was sitting down on the couch.

"I told you 7 times already," Fox said annoyed. "I was bored out of my mind and I fell asleep on the chair. I DID hear people coming in, but I didn't see anyone."

"Really sure?"

Fox frowned, stood up, and walked away from the panicked hedgehog.

"Really sure yet?" Sonic called out before he frowned and looked down. "Okay...focus, Sonic, focus here..."

He began to pace around the lobby.

"Well, I know Fox didn't put the card there, so he's out from the list," Sonic said. "But still, there's a lot of people in here... How many are there?"

38 without counting himself.

"And I took 1 out...so 37," Sonic said. "Then the fact Chris and his dog are not here, that makes it 35," he wondered. "And considering the fact that...ouch, thinking too much hurts...considering the fact that the helmet guy gave the card..."

There was a problem. Olimar could have dropped both his formal card and the warning card at the same time...

"...Dammit!" Sonic cursed. "Ugh, Peach could have dropped it too as well! Why didn't you open your eyes, dammit?! I'm having a lot of trouble here!" he yelled to Fox.

Of course, he wasn't going to get a response.

"...Don't panic now," Sonic muttered before he rubbed his chin, narrowed his eyes and shifted them around. "35 people, 5 days until that happens... What could I do?"

It was not long before Chip came from the hallway and spotted Sonic. The imp gasped a little and flew towards him.

"Hi, Mr..." Chip tilted his head. "...Hedgehog?"

"..." Sonic was lost in his train of thoughts before he noticed Chip. "...Oh, it's you."

"Sooooooooooo..." Chip blinked a few times before folding his arms behind. "What're you doing here without anybody?"

"Meh, what could you know..." Sonic said as he waved a hand bored. "I'm having a little bit of a problem here, but I doubt nobody could help me out in this."

"What problem?" Chip asked.

"It's something you shouldn't know because some assumptions I'm making here could..." Sonic rubbed his chin and eyed Chip. "Wait, you just arrived yesterday so you couldn't be him...34, then."

"Who again?" Chip asked.

Sonic sighed and decided to explain everything to Chip with all the details.

"So you have some kind of evil alter-ego inside your mind that will take control of your body in a deadline of 5 days from now, and you have been receiving notes from some mysterious guy who knows about your problem, and that alter-ego wants to maul me alive because I look irritable to him," Chip resumed.

"...Wait, what?!" Sonic asked.

The hedgehog accidentally went too far with the explanations he told Chip, and even he went as far as to tell the imp that he was "scheduled" to die in 5 days.

"You just told me everything you knew," Chip said. "You even told me that guy inside your mind wants to kill me first before killing anyone else in here."

"W-wait, that wasn't supposed to be said to you!" Sonic said.

"...Meh, I'm fine with it."

A record scratched inside Sonic's mind.

"...What?" Sonic asked confused.

"I was chasing that Kirby guy around to let him give me his chocolate bar, but he then attacked me with this hammer and proclaimed, "I'm going to have you for stew if you don't stop chasing me, cartoon-looking guy!" before he ran off inside his room," Chip explained. "So I could get killed anytime."

"...Dude, that was just an expression. He didn't mean to kill you."

"I know," Chip said. "But who knows. You maybe just said that entity wants to kill me, but it could be an expression as the Kirby guy told me."

"Oh, please!" Sonic groaned. "The guy inside me wants to take your small insides out literally as well as everyone in here! That wasn't an expression, but an agreement!"

"Really now?" Chip asked. "Hmm, I'm in utter trouble, then."

The hedgehog sweatdropped before he shook his head. "A-anyway, you couldn't be that mysterious guy."

"Am I mysterious?"

"...Maybe," Sonic muttered. "T-that's not the point I want to get! The point here is I don't want to turn into a beast once the 30th of September comes around for Chris's world!"

"And let alone during that kid's birthday, right?"

"Chris..." Sonic corrected. "I need to get a move on with this and find out about the people here."

"Oh," Chip began before he took out from his back a notepad, a pen, and some small glasses. "Let's see, you said the people who couldn't be the guy were Chris, the dog guy, the fox guy, and myself."

Sonic blinked at the notepad. "What the..."

"Yes?" Chip looked up.

The hedgehog walked behind Chip and found 39 names written on the notepad. "Hey, how did you write all those names down?"

"Well," Chip said. "When I wanted to get in here, I got information about all the people in here by a postman I used to cross paths with in the air."

Chip surely meant Parakarry.

"And so I decided to do research for their names, and that guy told me about all of you," Chip said. "I was just going to toss these things out."

"No!" Sonic said suddenly. "I need this list to keep track on my assumptions!"

"You wanna get my help?"

"Er..." Sonic shifted his eyes. "...Do you really want to help me?"

"Well, it's not like I have nothing better to do, save for my memory and all that," Chip said as he tossed away the glasses. "And everyone here is kinda busy as well. If I help you, though, I could befriend some of you guys and get their help without any trouble."

"..." Sonic grinned a little bit. "If one of us ends up helping the other, both of us will get what they want, right?"

"Let's see...probably."

"Sweet!" Sonic said happily before he shook hands with Chip. "Welcome aboard, then!"

"Awesome!" Chip said before he accidentally tossed the list away to a paper shedder that latter got...shredded into tiles of paper.

Sonic just couldn't believe that the list's life ended so quickly before his eyes...

"...What was that shedder doing there in the middle of nowhere?!" Sonic asked as Chip looked embarrassed.

At that moment, Master Hand came from the hallway and floated to the small shedder. "Oh, so here it is," he said before he took the item. "Crazy always likes to put my office things around the mansion thinking I want to play with him...the nerve of him..." he muttered before he floated away to the hallway.

"..." Sonic looked at Chip with a shocked look.

"...I always have back up," Chip said before he took out another notepad.

Sonic sighed in relief. "Okay... Chip, it's time for us to do some research around here."

"I'm following you anywhere," Chip said with a smile. "May I do some questioning as well?"

"Well, just as long as it doesn't sound too obvious," Sonic warned him. "We have to make the guy say the truth and not make our questions that obvious, right?"

"Ooh, I know," Chip said. "Persuasive skills, right?"

"Right," Sonic said as he put his hands on his hips. "Let's start this, shall we?"

"Alright!"

"And by the way," Sonic interrupted. "My name is Sonic The Hedgehog. Don't call me mister again."

"Sure do, Sonic."

The new, but at the same time twisted pair, began to walk upstairs to begin their mission.

Find the note dude as Chip thought.

Pikachu's Room

The fact that Pikachu was the one who received the notes from before made it look suspicious. Why did he receive all the notes without even looking at his hands?

"You can't hide it from us," Chip said as a mutter. "You can't keep hiding for that long from the truth."

"...What again?" Pikachu asked bored.

"You've been secretly leaking out information to Sonic without looking at the guy at all," Chip questioned as he blew a pipe with bubbles.

"Look," Pikachu began annoyed. "Sonic, I DIDN'T look the guy who gave me those notes at all. I happened to be looking away all the time, remember?"

"But still!" Sonic began with a glare. "There were plenty of times you COULD have seen him or her giving you the notes! It sounds stupidly stupid and suspicious!"

Pikachu sighed. "Too bad for you because I'm telling you the truth."

"You're hiding something!" Chip protested as he tossed the pipe to the window and broke it in the process. "Don't make us any angrier than we are now, or else you're going to regret it!"

Apparently, Pikachu didn't like the random breaking of his window, prompting him to narrow his eyes at them. "You guys, out, now," he muttered.

"Listen you," Sonic began as he glared down at him. "Or you tell us the truth right now or I'll give you a good pun-"

Outside

A bright yellow flash of electricity flew out from Pikachu's room.

Main Lobby

"Pikachu..." muttered an electrocuted Chip on the floor. "...Out... 33 people remaining..."

Sonic (who had some sparks flying out from his head) looked annoyed as he was sitting down on the floor. "You just HAD to break his window, right?"

"W-well..." Chip raised a finger. "I was getting angry and I wanted to unleash my inner fury on something..."

"But you don't anger the target!" Sonic yelled. "It's like angering a dog in the corner of an alley!"

"Sorry..." Chip said before he floated up. "At least we know Pikachu didn't do it."

"Damn," Sonic muttered. "He was the closest person to know about the guy... Why is this happening to me?"

"Fear not, blue hedgehog!" Chip proclaimed. "We still have 33 more people to question here!"

"...Yeah," Sonic said with a nod. "We have to narrow them all and put them in categories."

"Oooooooh..." Chip nodded as he wrote on the notepad. "Like the group who likes you, the group who hates you, and the group who wants to ignore you as much as possible?"

"Hmm..." Sonic wondered. "Close, but still very useful. Do those 3 groups."

"Righto."

"Oh," Sonic waved his hands in front of him. "Before you start dotting down names, put another group called "Supernatural" besides the other 3."

"Supernatural?" Chip repeated.

"Yeah," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "That elf gu-"

"Link," Chip corrected.

"Link was talking about him turning into a beast, and he could know about my situation," Sonic said. "Dot his name down on the 4th group for me."

"Right." Chip wrote Link's name underneath the group.

"Let's narrow all of them at once," Sonic ordered. "And if I'm correct... Dammit! I'm getting a headache for thinking too much! It's not like me to think that much at all because that's Tails's area of expertise! ...Anyway, ignoring my headache, let's narrow them all into the groups."

A while passed as both Sonic and Chip dotted down the names for every single Smasher that they haven't spoken to yet.

Eventually, both finished with the list of groups.

People Who Likes Sonic
Mario
Kirby
Peach
C. Falcon
Samus
Chris

People Who Hates Sonic
Mewtwo
Meta Knight
Snake
Falco
Wolf
Nana

People Who Ignores Sonic
Luigi
Yoshi
Pichu
Jigglypuff
Red
Squirtle
Ivysaur
DK
Diddy Kong
Toon Link
Olimar
Ness
Lucas
Pit
Popo
Marth
Roy

Supernatural
Link
Zelda
Master Hand
Crazy Hand
Mewtwo(2)
Ness(2)
Lucas(2)
Ike

"And done," Chip said. "We have everyone here now."

"Sweet," Sonic said as he looked at the list. "Now, with who should we start with?"

"Maybe we should save the people who ignore you for last," Chip said. "You know, the people who hate could be playing with you around with those notes so you lose your time."

"Nah," Sonic shook his head. "They're not that bad to me; they just...hate me."

"Poor guy," Chip muttered. "Okay, with who first?"

"...The hands," Sonic muttered in a serious tone.

Master Hand's Office

"Yoshi, Yoshi, Yoshi!" Master Hand called over from the mike. "It's your turn to take on the Classic Mode. Please report to the Bridge of Eldin and face Toon Link, okay?"

The hand turned off the mike and stared at Sonic and Chip on the other side of his table.

"Okay, what do you want?" Master Hand asked. "I've been a little bit busy with the matches around here. Only Samus, Diddy, Jigglypuff, and Mario have cleared the mode and gained their stands."

"We're here to investigate a case," Chip said.

"Hmm? Is that so?" the hand asked. "Well, you 2 make a quite unusual pair, that's for sure..."

Sonic and Chip looked at each other.

"...But somehow it fits," Master Hand added. "Anyway, what case are you 2 investigating?"

"Let me ask you something," Sonic began as he looked bored with an amused smile. "Have you been...I don't know...doing some things without anyone seeing you?"

"Besides the fact I pay bills behind everyone's backs? No," Master Hand said.

"It's that so..." Chip muttered. "...Anything else to say?"

"What?"

"Haven't you been sending notes to a particular guy or girl here?"

"Not that I'm aware of," the hand said. "And if you're going to ask Crazy then you're going to waste your time. He kind of thinks other ridiculous things and not actual events. Practically speaking, he has the mind of a child under sugar effects."

At that moment, Crazy Hand appeared by breaking down the wall of the left, then he returned back to the hole.

"Makes me wonder how I ended up being his brother," Master Hand said with a shrug.

"...And..." Sonic thought of something. "Haven't you seen anyone going to my room?"

"The hidden cameras tell me everythin-"

At the mention of hidden cameras, the pair's eyes widened.

"Wait, hidden cameras?!" Sonic asked.

"Yes, we have hidden cameras on all the ceilings with some cloaking devices on them," Master Hand said. "...O-of course I don't keep those inside bathrooms for privacy and all that."

"Dude! I need to see the recordings!" Sonic quickly yelled.

"For what?" Master Hand asked. "You're not going to try and find out people's secrets now, are you?"

"No!" Sonic said. "...Maybe, I mean, no!"

"This is crucial!" Chip joined in. "Sonic's life depends on i-"

Sonic blocked Chip's mouth. "I-it depends in some important research I'm doing for...er...well...about...character backgrounds...for some article in a newspaper of my world..."

"..."

Sonic was already going to give up for the silence that just took place. The hand kept staring at them while Chip shifted his eyes around.

"...Okay," Master Hand said.

"Wha..." both characters said.

"Sure, it's okay," the hand said. "As long as it's not intimate, it's fine by me."

"B-but what fo-" Chip's mouth was blocked again.

"Thanks!" Sonic said with a nervous chuckle. "You're awesome, dude!"

"Um....right..." Master Hand felt uncomfortable by Sonic's behavior.

Security Room

At first, there was only darkness in the room since no one was in there. There were voices coming from the other side of the door that leaded to the hallway.

"So research for a newspaper," Master Hand was heard saying to Sonic and Chip. "It's so OOC of you to give your time to a newspaper if you ask me."

Sonic had to think of an excuse to do it.

"The editorial has a prize of 100 chili-dogs," Sonic lied. "And if I do a good job for my article, I'll win the prize."

"Oh, I see now," the hand said. "Just try to give us good propaganda while you do the work, okay?"

"Of course," Sonic said, forcing a smile.

"Okay, here we are," Master Hand said before he unlocked the door and let light inside the room.

"...What the hell?!" Sonic asked once he looked inside the room.

"What in the world?!" Master Hand added before he moved forward.

"Uh-oh..." Chip muttered.

The room they were in had a lot of screens showing almost every single room and hallway in the mansion. The room itself was big and long enough to have at least 100 TVs focusing on every part, even outside. A big command table with buttons and levers was situated just in front of the TVs.

Something very unusual happened to the multiple screens. Half of the screens that had cameras were either destroyed or taken out by some mysterious force. The hand went forward and looked around the place.

"T-this is...stupid!" Master Hand said in pure disbelief as he spotted a wrench inside a shattered TV. "No one can enter in here. The door has a complicated lock for anyone to get through it!"

"Excuse me...but you used a key," Chip called from behind.

"This is so weird..." Master Hand muttered before he frowned. "I don't think any of the Smashers did this without a reason...or even had means to enter here."

Sonic's eyes trembled before he fell down to his knees and frowned in shame. His ultimate resource to find the mysterious was completely taken out before he could even spy the room when he was in a coma.

"...Ugh," Master Hand grunted. "I'm sorry, you 2, but you will have to ask the guys and 5 girls without using cameras."

"...Okay..." Sonic muttered.

"Right now, I'm going to call the security agency," the hand said. "I still have guarantee with the security system. I need to do this quick or else they won't repair this for free."

The hand quickly floated to the hallway and disappeared, leaving the 2 inside the security room.

"...Huh?" Chip took a closer look to the destroyed control panel where he found a note on the top of a screwdriver that was forced through it. "Hey, Sonic! There's a note here!"

"What?" Sonic looked up and saw the note. The imp took the note and floated to Sonic to see what it had.

I can't let you 2 know about my true identity that easily. Why didn't you wait for me to give you my instructions?

Anyway...there's a way to exorcise that evil soul within you, but only I know the answer for it. If you want to find me, you'll have to earn the right to meet me in person.

That's right, I'm challenging you to find me. I want to see if you're desperate enough to get that evil soul out of you before full moon comes. Don't think I'm bad, I just want to see if you're smart enough to find me.

Signed, ...

Ha-ha-ha, I'm not a fool.

Chip let go of the note and looked at Sonic. "...That guy is challenging us to find him!"

"That bastard..." Sonic muttered. "He's gonna use me as some kind of toy to find him or her out like this was Hide-and-Seek?"

"Apparently..." Chip said unsure.

"...Well, so be it," Sonic said with a grin. "I wanted to have some fun with this, anyway. If that person wants fun, I'll give him or her the fun he or she wants so badly."

"Er, is this necessary?" Chip asked.

"Oh, it is, alright," Sonic said with a nod. "And this note is going to be a clue. The way this was written could be an accidental clue."

"...Oh, right!" Chip said. "That guy's handwriting could be a clue! Sonic, you're smart!"

"Heh, I know," Sonic said as he wiped his nose with a finger. "Okay, let's do this!"

After the hedgehog picked up the note, the cheesy duo left the room in a hurry to find the challenger and the cure for Sonic's evil being.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be easy as previously mentioned...

Sonic's Room

Night arrived...

And Sonic and Chip didn't look good.

After unsuccessfully trying to talk with Snake again, Sonic and Chip received some grenades on their faces before they blew up.

This reduced the count to 31.

Both tried to talk with Mewtwo, but Chip's presence annoyed the Psychic Pokémon (maybe because Chip kept asking a lot of things) enough for him to toss both of them out from his room with a fast wave of his hand to the window.

This reduced the numbers to 30.

"Well..." Chip began as he laid down on the floor while Sonic laid down on his bed. "Things didn't go well today, huh..."

There was no response from the hedgehog.

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked about that Mew guy to that Mewtwo guy," Chip said. "He looked very angry after I kept asking him about his origins."

No response.

"Or the guy with that big crack on his rear," Chip wondered. "I just suggested him to get another suit that didn't compress his...you know what."

No response.

"...Sonic?" Chip rolled his head to look at the bed. "Hey, Sonic, are you sleeping?"

Something was wrong...

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Behind Us!

Once Chip saw Sonic sitting up, he focused on his hands that suddenly were ripped apart by sharp claws. The imp noticed that some fangs were sticking out from Sonic's mouth as well.

Chip began to tremble in horror as Sonic's shadow (himself) chuckled rather malevolently as a smirk grew on him. It was a matter of seconds before Chip noticed that Sonic's eyes were closed. An eye opened, looking down at him with a glare and the smirk.

"If it isn't the mauve imp we all know and deeply hate..." Sonic said with a chuckle.

"W-what?" Chip asked before he stood up. "S-Sonic, what do you mean?"

"Wow, you haven't noticed yet, have you now?" Sonic asked as he kept glaring down at Chip. "I'll tell ya something, I'm not actually me if you know what I mean..."

"...U-um..." Chip backed away. "I-I don't understand..."

Sonic frowned and chuckled evilly. "Of course you don't, idiot," he muttered. "I'm not Sonic...but his dark self."

"...What?"

"His dark self? The same one who has his prey looking at me and gulping without stopping?" Sonic asked. "You know, Dark Super Sonic? The ultimate being of darkness and true proprietor of the Chaos Emeralds? That's me."

"...N-no..." Chip shook his head as he leaned to the door. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Afraid yes, my prey," Sonic said before he turned to him and narrowed his 2 eyes (eye?) at him, smirk intact. "Anyway, I'm just here to feel my body again. Isn't it awesome to be me?"

"I-it depends..." Chip muttered with a gulp. "W-wait! W-what have you done to Sonic?"

"Oh, him?" DSS asked. "He's chained inside his mind, or should I say my mind? That's so ironic," he chuckled. "Right now, my strength grew even stronger and I was able to knock him out of cold. He's now fainted inside his mind without knowing what's happening here. Every day the moon comes closer, my control over him grows stronger."

"O-oh no..." Chip shivered. "H-he must be in a lot of pain right now..."

Inside DSS's mind, there was a fainted Sonic floating over darkness. The dark shackles that held him were still there, preventing him from escaping.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" DSS asked.

"E-excuse me?" Chip asked uncomfortably as DSS's gaze focused directly to his eyes.

The fact that the light of the moon shone from behind DSS made him look far more terrifying than before for Chip. The evil being kept staring down at the imp as he kept chuckling.

"W-what is so funny?" Chip asked worried.

"Oh, it's nothing," DSS said as he lifted up his huge claws. "I was just wondering what I could do with my claws on you for tonight."

"W-what again?" Chip asked. "I-I thought you said you wanted to feel Sonic's body!"

"I like to lie a looooooooooooot of times, weakling," DSS said with a chuckle. "Too bad you're inside this room with me, and it's awesome for me to have you in here. Are you up to some screams and some scars?"

"H-h-heheheheheh..." Chip chuckled nervously as he tried to lean back to the door. "I-I-I'm sorry, but I don't like to get hurt that much during nights..."

"Oh, please, I'm being a gentleman here," DSS said before he put his feet down.

Chip noticed that Sonic's feet changed into darker, bigger shoes. Underneath the shoes, there were a set of sharp spikes that could easily rip the floor apart if they were to use force on it.

"It's the formal way to do things here..." DSS narrowed his eyes at Chip. "...In MY way, of course."

"..." Chip gulped as the dark being began to slowly walk towards him.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," DSS said with some chuckles. His shadow that was made from the light of the moon seemed to grow bigger in size as he came closer to the imp. "Don't you wanna be my toy for just tonight?"

"N-no!" Chip yelled as he quickly floated up to the doorknob. "I-I'm not going to die here! I-I thought what Sonic told me about you was just an expression! You know, the part about ripping me apart?"

"I don't know the word expression," DSS stated with a silent laugh.

"...THERE'S THE GUY!" Chip yelled as he pointed behind DSS, wanting to make him believe he found the mysterious guy.

"You fool..." DSS glared menacingly at Chip. "Try another lie and I'm going to do this slowly but very painfully..."

The imp quickly twisted the doorknob, opened the door, and prepared to fly off from the room. Unfortunately, a hand quickly reached behind him and pulled him all the way back to DSS, who held him inside a tight right fist close to his furred arm. "A-AAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Chip yelled.

"Hmm, funny..." DSS muttered as he looked at his right arm. "My arm stretched that far to get you? But I was like 7 feet away from you... Heheheh..." DSS smirked evilly. "What do you know, this transformation is gonna be absolutely awesome when it gets completed. I'm feeling a huge source of power from this incomplete form."

"T-that's good and all that..." Chip said between gasps for breath as he tried to free himself from the claw. "C-can you set me free?"

DSS smirked. "Why would I do that?" He pulled Chip closer to his glaring face. "Don't you want to have fun, little buddy?"

"I-I'm not your buddy!" Chip yelled. "I-I'm the true Sonic's real buddy!"

"Sorry, can't let you talk to him right now," DSS joked. "The line is currently unavailable." He grabbed the imp with both claws and lifted him up. "Please, try to contact him later...in hell."

"...YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Chip yelled at the top of his lungs while the dark being smirked evilly and prepared to slam him down on the floor...

But someone suddenly appeared from the door.

"Um, what's happening here?"

Music stops

DSS blinked confused before he looked at the door and lowered Chip. "Oh, what's up?" DSS asked with Sonic's usual tone.

Red looked a little bit shocked at Sonic's appearance. "H-hmm, what are you...wearing? Is that some kind of costume you have on?"

"...(HA! You heard him? He thinks I'm using a disguise! How gullible!)"

"Sonic?" Red looked worried. "Why are you holding...him like that?"

"Oh, we're just playing," DSS said with a smile. "Chip here wanted to get his spirits up so I'm helping here."

Red looked at Chip who managed to turn his head around and shake his head in panic. One of DSS's big fingers blocked his mouth and prevented him from yelling.

"...I'm sorry to tell you this, but..." Red pointed at Chip. "He looks like he's going to pass out."

"What now?" DSS asked before looking at Chip. "Oh, my bad! Sorry, Chip!" he faked an apology as he set the imp free. "I don't know my own strength, sorry, Chip. Can you forgive me?"

"Hell no!" Chip yelled angrily as he flew behind Red. "D-don't listen to him!"

"W-what?" Red asked as he looked over his shoulder.

DSS took the opportunity to send a quick glare to Chip.

"S-Sonic, he's not himself!" Chip yelled. "The person you're looking at now is another person!"

"What?" Red asked confused.

"Oh, don't listen to him," DSS said smiling. "He's just overreacting."

"Y-yeah, right!" Chip yelled from behind Red. "You there! Run away! We have to alert everyone from this monster!"

"W-what? Wait, what's happening here?" Red asked confused.

"..." DSS sighed and frowned. "I guess you're not going to let it go, right?"

"What?" Red kept asking as he looked at Sonic. "Sonic, what's happening?"

DSS looked down and glared up at Red. "You know too much..." he muttered darkly. "You must shut up your mouth from divulging the word..."

Red began to sweat as he shifted his eyes around. The dark being began to walk towards Red, making him walk out to the hallway. "W-wait, what are you doing?" Red asked.

"I'm gonna shut you up before you do something I don't want you to do," DSS muttered with a smirk. "Be glad to be my first victim..."

"..." Red's eyes widened in horror. The glare that DSS was giving him didn't make him feel safe at all. The trainer reached the wall and leaned to it with a terrified Chip as they kept looking at the maniac being walking to them. "S-stop right there!"

"Oh, and now I'm going to listen to you?" DSS asked. "Too bad..."

Red quickly turned around and started to run away. However, a fast claw grabbed him by the throat to make him stop. "Fool..." DSS said. "You're going to regret this!!!"

"S-stop!" Chip yelled before he was grabbed by the other claw and was pulled back to DSS just below his arms.

DSS chuckled evilly as he put more pressure on Red's throat and made him faint. The dark being chuckled and showed his fangs at a terrified Chip. DSS even looked amused as he raised his eyebrows with half-closed eyes. "Interesting, don't you think so?" he asked to Chip. "Things are getting so interesting now..."

"W-what are you going to do with him?" Chip asked as he looked at Red.

"Oh, this pest over here won't see the light of the day anymore...for now," DSS said with a chuckle and he looked down at the trainer. "And as for you..."

Chip didn't like this at all...

Day 3

Main Lobby

Chip felt he was shackled to the situation...

There was him and Sonic sitting down on the sofa. The imp gulped after he looked at Sonic.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"I-it's nothing..." Chip said ashamed.

"Is something wrong?" Sonic asked.

"N-no..." Chip said. "I...had a bad dream...just that..."

"Oh...I see..." Sonic said. "Well, we have to continue with our investigation about the guy."

Chip, however, wasn't paying attention to Sonic...

The imp still remembered the words DSS spoke to him during the night.

"If you ever, EVER tell someone about me, I'm going to secretly kill you behind everyone's backs and make an excuse that you decided to leave quickly. Also, don't tell anyone about this kid's whereabouts. I'm sure nobody will look for him in the basement of this place. I'm glad that guy took out all the cameras because nobody will know about this either!"

Chip didn't have another option but to obey...

"But I'm going to let you go. However, I want you to stay quiet and keep looking for that guy. Since my powers have increased, I can take on this bastard's body more often now. I can see everything you 2 do as well. Stay quiet if you value your life, got that?"

Chip looked down in shame.

"I'm doomed anyway..." Chip muttered sadly.

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

"E-er, I don't think Red is the guy, Sonic..." Chip said. "There's no way he could have done it."

"...Maybe..." Sonic wondered. "...Alright, erase his name from the list."

Chip nodded and slowly removed Red's name from the notepad with the eraser. The imp couldn't believe he wasn't telling Sonic what had happened last night.

"Let's see," Sonic wondered. "We still have 30 people."

It was not long before Peach came down from stairs with a cheerful look. The 2 of them turned to her as she hummed happily.

"The birthday party is coming," Peach said excited. "And preparations are going smoothly so far. Are you having any trouble cooking, Zelda?" she called the elf princess in the kitchen.

"You do know I haven't done any cooking lately, right?" Zelda was heard saying.

"Oh, don't worry," Peach said with a chuckle. "Your cooking mustn't be that bad as Fox's cooking."

"Well, I still remember how to cook," Zelda said. "You don't have to worry that much about me."

"Sweet!" Peach said. "Now I need some people to go to the basement and pick up some tables!"

At the mention of the basement, Chip looked shocked and instantly flew to Peach. "H-hey, why don't you look around for tables in the attic? (Not that I know there are any up there...)"

"Hmm..." Peach wondered. "Well, I was thinking that the tables in the attic were bigger, and there are seats there as well."

"T-then you should get the best for the party, right?"

"I know," Peach said. "I want to make this party as exciting and fun as possible...and for Chris no less... It's decided," Peach said with a nod. "I'm going to have some people help me with the tables up there. I should bring some tables from the basement, though."

"N-no!" Chip said as he shook his head. "I-I'm pretty sure there are enough tables up there."

"Is that so? Well, let's take the tables we need to get here," Peach said. "Now, I'm going to call in some people."

The princess walked away to the hallway. Chip sighed in relief after he managed to convince Peach from not looking at the basement. "(If she found out, there would be a lot of panic in here...and I would die...)"

The imp flew all the way back to Sonic and sat down besides him.

"Peach is out of the question here," Sonic said. "Erase her."

"Sure..." Chip said.

"Man, this is gonna get harder now..." Sonic said. "I know we're doing progress here, but we need to accelerate things here."

Chip thought about his encounter with DSS... If his predictions were right, he could meet him 3 more times before the day arrived. He surely didn't want to see that demonic glare and that devilish smirk at him again.

There was nothing he could do to prevent those events from happening...

At that moment, Squirtle and Ivysaur appeared from the stairs and spotted the 2 on the sofa. Both creatures had worried looks, but Chip hardly knew them at all.

"Hey..." Squirtle began. "Have you guys seen Red?"

Chip's eyes widened.

"He hasn't showed up since he went to the bathroom yesterday during the night," Ivysaur said. "It's not like him to simply disappear that fast."

"Really?" Sonic asked as he crossed his arms. "I haven't seen him around, either."

Squirtle and Ivysaur looked worried at each other before looking back at them. "Well...we're looking for him around here. Can you let us know if you see him?" Squirtle asked.

"I feel so uneasy about this for some reason," Ivysaur said. "It's impossible of him to get in trouble inside this place."

"(You don't know the trouble I'm going through...)" Chip thought worried.

"Don't worry," Sonic said with a nod. "I'll let you 2 know if I see him."

"Oh, thank you," Ivysaur said. "We're going to keep looking for him in the meantime."

Chip and Sonic watched as both Pokémon went into the hallway and walked away.

"Weird," Sonic commented. "Wonder what happened to him..."

Chip closed his eyes and frowned in shame.

"Erase those 2 as well," Sonic ordered. "They're both busy trying to find him and I guess they wouldn't bother to help me."

"Right away..." Chip said depressed.

"Sonic, Sonic, Sonic! Please report to Green Hill Zone to fight Marth! I repeat, report to Green Hill Zone to fight Marth!" Master Hand called over the speakers.

"Oh, is it my turn to fight?" Sonic asked. "Okay, I'm going to go fight that guy now."

The hedgehog left the imp alone as he made his way to the 6th floor through the stairs. Chip still looked worried at this and decided to think of a plan.

"What can I do to stop him?" Chip asked to himself. "There's not much time left..."

Command Room

Master Hand was pacing around the room before Chris came from the hallway with Lucario following. "You called me here, right?" Chris asked.

"Oh, it's you 2," Master Hand said. "Welcome back. How are things over your world?"

"Very good," Chris said. "School is as normal as ever, but everything else is just fine."

"Good for you," the hand said. "Anyway, I called you here because I want you to buy the last job."

"The last job?" Chris asked. "You mean...the Beastmaster job?"

"Yes. It's the only job you need to get before you obtain all the compatible jobs for everyone in here. I wanted you to do it today because I felt it was necessary."

"Just that?" Lucario asked.

"I wanted to see how you 2 were doing," Master Hand said. "See? I worry about my fellow characters here. Am I a good guy or what?"

"Okay, I guess it's good of you to think about us..." Chris said before he walked to the counter. "I want to buy the Beastmaster job, please."

Smash Coins in hand: 2601

"Okay, here you go, cosplayer," Crazy Hand said.

"S-stop calling me that!" Chris said annoyed before he gave 1000 Smash Coins to the insane hand.

The moment he gave the coins, Chris instantly glowed and got a new set of clothes. He now wore a green cap over his head, some worn out brown vest over a green shirt that over passed his lap, and dark blue pants with typical brown boots for his feet. He also had a long whip hanging from his leather belt.

"Hmm..." Chris looked at himself. "...Okay, I got this now."

"Good!" Master Hand said. "You finally managed to get all the jobs compatible with each Smasher. Congratulations."

Chris took a look of his whip which he grabbed. "A whip..." he muttered.

"Since you're a newbie for the job," Crazy Hand began. "You can only control bugs, wolves, and goblins if you smack one of them with your whip. Take in mind it's going to take a while before one of those monsters fall under your control, though. As a side note, the job itself doesn't work too well against any opponents because the whip causes more damage to monsters, but half the damage to other enemies that aren't monsters."

"But..." Chris looked unsure. "I wonder if there are any kind of enemies like those 3 species you mentioned just now."

"Probably," Master Hand said. "There's a whole set of worlds that could have those species in there."

"And for now," Lucario began. "You have all the jobs under your command."

"...I guess," Chris said with a small smile before he hung his whip on his belt. "So, has anyone gotten their stands yet?"

"Oh, sure," Master Hand said. "Plenty of them have gotten their stands as of now. I'm going to have to fight Marth shortly after he defeats Sonic while he's metal. Besides him, only Samus, Diddy, Jigglypuff, Mario, Meta Knight, and Ness have obtained theirs."

"Did they mess up like me?"

"Nope, they fought normally," he explained. "They occasionally lose some lives, but they manage to defeat me or Crazy Hand."

"...Each day, I wonder if I'm the one here who doesn't get to fight harder foes..." Chris muttered ashamed.

"Oh, don't get like that," Master Hand said. "...Oh, look at the time, I need to report myself in Final Destination. Let's see, Marth finished early. Crazy, let's go."

"Sweet-o!" Crazy Hand said before he went away.

"Anyhow, you 2 should go back to your world. Tabuu hasn't made an attack to any world yet. Get back here once you turn 17, okay?"

"Okay..." Chris said before the hand snapped his fingers and disappeared.

"Oh, by the way, Lucario," Chris began. "Are you going to do something for my birthday?"

Lucario looked shocked. "W-well, I might...I mean, I'm going to."

"Really? I wonder what you can get me..." Chris said unsure. "You have ways to get anything here unlike the real world."

"J-just wait, please..." Lucario said. "I'm going to give you something when your birthday comes."

"Seriously? I'll be so happy if you did that for me," Chris said happily. "We haven't had this kind of moment for a long while I'd wish we could have one."

The Aura Pokémon nodded. "I'll try to find you a good present."

"Thank you," Chris said. "Now, let's go back to our world. The less time I'm here, the less chances Master Hand will put me in a match."

Main Lobby

Sonic came back from upstairs and walked to Chip. "Note to self: metal makes you fall faster to the abyss in that loop..." he muttered annoyed.

Chip looked at him. "Well, shall we continue looking for that guy?"

"Sure thing. We have to continue again."

"Now, why don't we concentrate someone related to your problem?"

"Let's see..." Sonic wondered. "The fact that Link talked about that yesterday could hint something... Now, if we think about full moon, we could easily relate that to werewolves...meaning..."

"...You're going to turn into a werewolf..." Chip realized.

"What?"

"Don't you see, Sonic?" Chip asked before he floated up. "The fact that evil entity is waiting for full moon, and the fact you get claws and fangs make it so obvious! You're going to turn into some kind of werewolf!"

"Hmm... Crap, you're right," Sonic said as he rubbed his chin. "But that's very cliché..."

"Sorry, but that seems to be the closest thing to your transformation (something I don't really wanna see again...)"

"Okay, but maybe "werewolf" doesn't fit well with me..." Sonic trailed off thinking. "I mean that only happens to humans...but in my case..."

"Oh, oh, I know! Werehog!"

"Were...hog?"

"Yeah! You take the last syllable in hedgehog and replace wolf for hog, then you get werehog!"

"...Okay, determined name is determined," Sonic said in a serious tone. "Let's focus back to the people here... Werewolves...wolves...wolf..." Sonic looked shocked. "...Uh-oh..."

"What?"

"I'm afraid the closest person related this would be ironically..."

Wolf's Room

Both Chip and Sonic found the lupine doing pushups on the floor while both sat down on his bed. By the look of his face, he seemed to be sweating a lot.

"What do...you 2...want with me?" Wolf asked between pushups.

"Well..." Sonic looked away annoyed. "We wanted to ask you if you have been doing things without anyone noticing..."

"Is that so..." Wolf muttered. "...No."

"Really?" Chip asked. "Nothing weird of the sort that you don't want anyone to know?"

"Why are you 2 questioning me all of a sudden?" Wolf asked as he stopped and stood up, taking a towel from the bed to wipe out the sweat from his forehead. "I know I'm a thug and a thief, but I haven't been doing that area in a long time after Tabuu took me with him, then I ended up here."

Sonic looked back at him. "Do you know full moon is coming in 4 days?"

"What about it?" Wolf asked with a glare.

"Aren't you a werewolf?" chip asked.

"..." Wolf narrowed his eyes at them. "No. I'm about 80 percent wolf and 20 percent human. I know all about anthros and the like but I'm not a werewolf monster, that's for sure."

"Oooookayyyy..." Chip nodded uncomfortably. "...Any kinds of plans for that day?"

"No."

"Nothing like world domination?"

"What? No."

"Nothing like giving a certain person you know hints to exorcise a soul out?"

"No."

"NOTHING LIKE THAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Chip asked in shock before Sonic grabbed him with his arms to calm him down.

"No," Wolf kept responding. "Are you into supernatural stuff or something cheesy like that?"

"N-no," Sonic said. "I was just wondering if you had something important to do during full moon... Don't you get perturbed by it? Like getting a boost of power?"

"No." Wolf frowned.

"CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING ELSE THAN NO?!" Sonic asked angrily.

"I can't say," Wolf stated before he grinned at them. "But I can do..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chip asked.

Hallway

For some reason, Sonic's and Chip's faces were stuck on the wall. Both of them pushed their faces away from the wall (noticing the cracks they left) and fell down to the floor.

"Never get into his room without knocking the door again..." Chip suggested.

"Well, if he didn't leave it wide open we wouldn't have entered," Sonic muttered annoyed. "He looked and sounded so pissed after we questioned him."

"I thought he was born pissed."

"VERY probably..." Sonic trailed off. "...Anyway, erase his name, or else we're going to have a claw passing through ourselves."

"(I have one in the future, sadly...)" Chip thought worried before erasing Wolf's name.

Sonic stood up and cleaned the dust from his face. "Let's get down with the next dude."

"Who?"

Link's Room

"Well, yeah," Link said. "I used to be a wolf."

"No way!" Chip said interested.

"Afraid so," Link said. "I didn't like to be one, though. I had to use trees when I felt weird and...y-you don't want to know... Midna didn't like that part of me that much as I did..."

"Eww..."

"Exactly..." Link said as he looked at them. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"We wanted to know if you know something about exorcism."

"...What again?" Link asked confused.

"Exorcism?" Sonic asked as he crossed his arms. "You know, the practice to take out evil ghosts and souls out from cursed people?"

"I-I'm afraid I don't know something of the sort," Link said. "I'm not into that stuff at all."

"Crap, he doesn't belong in that group..." Sonic muttered.

"What?"

"N-nothing," Sonic said worried. "Have you been doing some things in secret?"

"No," Link responded.

"...Seriously?"

"No."

"Oh, please! Everyone hides stuff from anybody! You're no exception!"

"Sorry, but I don't hide anything."

"Not even a little bit?" Chip asked.

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Oh my god..." Sonic groaned. "This isn't taking us anywhere!"

"Link! Elf guy, is time for you to face Olimar! Report your a(beep) in the Bridge of Eldin!" Crazy Hand called over the speakers.

"Olimar? Wow, that's a change..." Link muttered. "Sorry, but I have to go now."

The Hylian walked away from his room as the 2 looked at each other.

"What the hell?" Sonic asked. "He was SURELY the one behind it all!"

"I know!" Chip said. "But he didn't even have to think about responding!"

"Dammit!" Sonic punched the bed. "1 step forward, 299 steps backward!"

"Isn't i-"

"NO," Sonic "corrected" him.

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Chip got in a thinking position. "What now?"

It was not long before Meta Knight appeared from the door and walked to them. He was holding a book on his right hand. "You 2," he began.

"Yeah?" Sonic asked.

"You've been doing something, haven't you?"

Sonic and Chip gasped at this sudden question. "N-no, what makes you say that?"

"As I've expected," Meta Knight said. "Your facial expressions tell more than you, even the truth."

"W-what? That isn't true!" Chip protested.

"Sorry, but that's a very basic rule of psychology."

"What? Psychology?" Sonic asked.

"Yes," Meta Knight said before he showed them the book titled "Basic Psychology VOL.1"

"For what is that?" Chip asked.

"This tells you a lot about how to identify someone who's lying to you by their facial expressions or the motion of you legs and hand. According to this, lying is most often revealed by movements of the feet and legs. Other areas where lying is revealed include eyes and hands."

"Hmm..." Sonic became interested in this lesson. "...Continue."

"Fine," Meta Knight said before putting the book down. "If the non-verbal message conflicts with the verbal message, the non-verbal one is usually right."

"Meaning..."

"Your faces became alarmed when I asked you if you were doing something between each other. It's clearly said you are doing something in hands."

Both gulped.

"...But I'm not interested in your affairs," Meta Knight said. "Moving on, when nervous, people often touch their faces."

"Uh-huh..." Sonic nodded.

"When smiling, there are certain muscles on your face that don't let you smile a true smile. It's like forcing a smile that you didn't want to make. It's like you 2 did just a moment ago as well."

Chip took the book and skipped through it. "It says here automobile drivers can be divided into 3 classes: those who sing in their cars or those who talk to themselves. If they do neither, studies reveal they pick their noses."

"That's irrelevant to what I'm saying," Meta Knight said. "I hope that helped you to be smarter than you are now."

"Sooo..." Chip narrowed his eyes at the knight, who didn't even back away. "Have you been doing something in secret from everyone else in here?"

The imp quickly examined any trails of motion...but there were none of them.

"No," Meta Knight said.

"Oh, come on," Sonic said. "You're very mysterious yourself. You should have something in hands."

"No."

"For crying out loud! You must be hiding something!"

Hallway

And once again, both of them had their faces stuck on the wall.

"And," Meta Knight began as he looked up to them. "If the person you're questioning doesn't exhibit any unnecessary motion, you don't keep questioning the person if there isn't any sign or nervousness," he stated before he walked away. "If you keep doing that, you're going to anger that person that way. I hope that made things clear for you."

Both of them pushed their faces off from the wall and fell down to the floor.

"Take him out from the list as well..." Sonic said.

"Right away," Chip said as he erased the knight's name. "21 left."

"Anyway," Sonic began as he stood up. "Meta Knight gave us a very important lesson about what we're doing."

"Don't piss people off?" Chip asked.

"THAT, and the psychology thingy," Sonic said. "...Ouch, thinking hurts still..."

Chip sighed. "Let's continue... Alright, should we think about the closest person?"

"Hmm... I know," Sonic said with a grin. "Let's question the shady people in here. You know, those who look mysterious and the same time evil-looking. I bet those people are the closest ones."

"And those are..."

Pit's Room

"Are you an angel of peace or angel of death?" Sonic asked with an amused look.

"What again?" Pit asked as he sat down on his bed. "I'm...surely an angel of peace if that's what you're trying to say..."

"...Doing secret things lately?" Chip asked suddenly.

"No..." Pit said.

Olimar's Room

"I-I'm sorry..." Olimar said as he polished his newly obtained Trophy Stand. "B-but I don't know what you're talking about..."

"He's playing with his fingers and showing traces of nervousness!" Chip yelled. "Get him!"

"W-what?" Olimar asked before he barely dodged Sonic who wanted to lung at him, but ended up crashing to the wall. "U-uah!!!" Olimar screamed before he ran off.

"...You know..." Sonic began as he raised a finger. "He's always nervous all the time...and he gets like that whenever he stares at my face..."

"Aww!" Chip groaned. "That was useless, then?"

"Apparently so..."

Yoshi's Room

"You're far focused in your things, huh?" asked Sonic as he leaned to the door. "C'mon, you can't hide it from us."

Yoshi just blinked at him, confused of what Sonic tried to say.

"...You can't stop staring at us," Chip said.

"...Sorry," Yoshi said with a frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"..." Sonic and Chip looked at each with bored looks.

Silence...

"...Can you leave now?" Yoshi asked.

Diddy's Room

"You're saying you're always with DK all the time?" Sonic asked.

"Yep," Diddy said. "Right now, he just went to the bathroom."

"A-ha!" Chip said suddenly. "DK's the culprit!"

"Wait, culprit?" Diddy asked. "Don't tell me you know..."

Sonic's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Don't tell me you know he steals bananas with me in the kitchen when everyone's sleeping," Diddy said worried. "W-we can't control ourselves against that fruit..."

"..." Sonic sighed in disappointment. "Nah, that isn't the thing I was trying to hear from you."

Diddy sighed in relief. "Phew..."

"Owned," Chip said bored before he erased both of DK and Diddy's names.

Lucas's Room

The PK kid made his way to his room after he obtained his Trophy Stand. Lucas looked around for a bit before he grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door to enter inside...

"Yiah!" Lucas yelled once he spotted Sonic and Chip just behind the door.

"Hey there," Chip said. "Can you answer some questions we have for yo-"

"AAAAAAAH!!!" Lucas, apparently, panicked after seeing them before he somehow moved his hands to the front, grabbed them with his psychic abilities, and tossed them back to the wall in the hallway.

Thus, both ended up on the wall again...

"I-I'm sorry!" Lucas said as he walked to them. "Y-you just scared me a-and I had to defend myself!"

"No worries..." Sonic spoke bored. "Have you been doing some things in secret from everyone in here?"

"N-not that I'm aware of..." Lucas said.

"He's getting nervous! Get him!" Chip yelled before Sonic punched him down with his right fist.

Lucas backed away before he ran inside his room and slammed the door.

Samus's Room

"Any kind of secrets you have been hiding under that armor of yours?" Chip asked as he raised his eyebrows and got closer to her.

However, this didn't sound that good for Samus as she slowly raised her arm cannon...

"...WAIT!" Sonic yelled before Samus used her Grapple Beam to grab them both and slam them to the wall of the hallway. With a grunt, she frowned and closed the door before Sonic and Chip could fall down the wall.

"I'm not into guys who want to know that about me..." Samus was heard saying.

"Next time..." Sonic said through gritted teeth. "Let ME do the talking here."

"Yes, sir..." Chip muttered on the floor.

Marth's Room

Surprise, Marth was talking with Roy and Ike in his room. The hedgehog smiled in triumph, thinking he could find the guy faster as he entered the room with Chip. "Hey, guys," Sonic began. "Have you been doing some things in secret?"

"Like helping someone out by toying with him?" Chip asked.

Sonic glared at Chip for a moment.

"No," Marth, Roy, and Ike said at the same time.

Sonic blinked. "Are you sure none of you have been doing some fishy things?"

"Like what exactly?" Roy asked.

"Like sending notes?" Chip asked.

"No," all of them said.

"...Really sure?" Sonic eyed them for signs of any motion of their hands or legs.

Bad thing was that he got way too close to Ike.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" Ike asked as he backed away.

"...Oh god!" Sonic gasped. "W-wait, don't think I was trying to do something to you, no way!"

"Shall I erase their names from the list?" Chip asked as he held the notepad.

"What list?" Marth asked.

Chip sweated a little bit. "The list...for...the best...Smasher?"

"..." The 3 swordsmen looked at each other.

Sonic shot a glare to Chip as he seemed to blush a little in embarrassment.

"...Well, it's surely me," Roy said.

"Bluffing much?" Marth asked. "It takes skill and not strength to prove you're better than anyone here."

"What, are you kidding me?" Ike asked. "I surely have a lot of skill and strength."

"Pfft, my Sword of Seals is way better than your heavy Ragnell," Roy said.

"Falchion is balanced in both areas of expertise," Marth explained. "It's blade is sharp, and it's easy to carry around."

"Oh, really?" Ike and Roy asked.

"Ike, Ragnell has a big power behind it, but it's heavy. Roy, your sword has a lot of skill but you lack offensive."

Both of the fire users looked bored at him.

"So does that make you superior to us or what?" Roy asked.

"Maybe..." Marth muttered before he received glares. "I-I mean, no."

"Oh, if you think you're better than us," Ike began. "Let's have a match."

"Right," Roy said. "That way we could show him."

"Weren't you 2 against each other?" Marth asked.

"Depends..." Roy said.

The 3 swordsmen ignored the hedgehog and the imp before they walked away.

"...What did you just do to make them go away?" Sonic asked.

"I dunno," Chip said. "I just made up an excuse so they wouldn't look us odd."

"I see..." Sonic said with some nods. "Erase all of their names. Tell me how many are left from the list."

"Let's see again..." Chip said as he erased names. "We have 12 people left. One of them should be the one behind it all and... Look!" Chip yelled as he pointed forward. "T-there's another note over there!"

"What?" Sonic asked before he found a note laying down close to the door. "B-but..." The hedgehog tried to wonder the note's whereabouts, but both decided to read it...

4 days and many lives will be lost. Hurry up and find me already.

Sonic glared down at the note. "What the hell? He's demanding us to find him?"

"I-it's surely because he hates you to the bone!" Chip said. "...Maybe."

"Ugh, this is so frustrating..." Sonic muttered. "Why didn't we see him or her when the note appeared?"

"M-maybe that guy is close now!" Chip said.

"Crap!" Sonic cursed before he quickly ran away to examine the whole floor. Chip waited a moment for the hedgehog before Sonic came back depressed. "I-I didn't find anyone..."

"Oh no..." Chip muttered. "Maybe that note was put there before you even came here... Who knows, he or she could have powers to see the future."

"Nah, I don't think anyone here can predict the future at all..." Sonic said with a frown.

Chip looked worried before he looked outside...

Shockers, the sunset was coming.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Behind Us!

"(O-oh no...)" Chip thought worried. "(I-it'll be a matter of time before that other guy appears!)"

"Anyway, let's move on..." Sonic said. "We have to clear the names before night hits the mansio-"

"E-er, Sonic, can I sleep with someone else than you?"

"What? Why are you asking that now?"

"B-because I wanna be a friend to everyone here," Chip said. "Y-you know?"

"Well...I'm not your dad or something..." Sonic said. "Fine, you can go. I'm not going to get mad at you."

"(B-but that other guy will!)" Chip yelped in his mind. "L-look! Sunset is coming! I-I better go and ask someone to sleep! C-ciao!" Chip said utterly in a panic before he quickly flew away from the room, leaving a confused Sonic staring at his last spot where he was.

"Wow, I didn't know he could fly that fast," Sonic said. "Maybe I should...um...u-ugh...h-hey...w-what's happening..."

The hedgehog closed his eyes, fell to his knees and began to grunt silently. It was a small matter of time before he stood up, but with an evil-looking smirk before he opened his glaring eyes.

"So, imp wants to play more, huh?" Sonic asked with a chuckle. "No matter with who you will sleep with, I'm gonna get you..."

Ice Climbers' Room

Night came very soon after the appearance of DSS in Marth's room, and a scared Chip peered out from the bed sheet besides Nana.

"So tell me," Nana began bored. "Why do you want to sleep with us?"

"U-um, I wanted to know you 2 better..." Chip said with a gulp. "T-that way I can get more friends..."

"...Oh, I see," Nana said. "You're scared of something, right?"

"..." Chip looked to Popo. "...I...I...am...scared..."

"Scared of what?" Popo asked. "The dark? Are you afraid of it?"

"...P-promise me you're not going to act weird around him if I tell you?" Chip asked.

"Him?" Popo and Nana repeated.

"...It's..."

Chip didn't have any choice left. The imp began to explain everything to both of the Ice Climbers. Half of the things he explained were completely unbelievable for both of them, but Chip argued and argued with them until they understood.

"...No way," Popo said before he sat up. "Sonic's possessed by an evil spirit?"

"I-it seems that way..." Chip said. "A-and he has the kid as an hostage in the basement..."

"Red, you mean?" Nana asked. "Oh my god, this is..."

"I-I know," Chip said. "I-it's going to be a matter of time before he takes out everyone here. H-he also wants to kill Chris the day of his birthday!"

"Okay, now that's messed up," Nana said in a serious tone. "We already have Chris's gifts in there. See?"

Popo pointed at 2 gifts on a corner of their room. Both presents were carefully wrapped up in blue and pink wrappers with red ribbons on the top.

"We spent all this day making those small statues with our hammers, and we won't accept the birthday guy dead," Popo said.

"L-let's see..." Chip began as he took out his notepad. "Y-you 2 said you were not that mysterious guy..."

"Oh, right," Nana said. "You've been looking for that guy with those random notes, right?"

"T-too bad I don't have a clue about him or her at all..." Chip said depressed.

"You won't need that guy," Popo said as he jumped off from bed. "We're going to tell this to Master Hand and stop that dark entity before he causes chaos here."

"W-wait!" Chip interrupted. "W-what if we happen to find him in the hallway? H-he could be waiting for me to come out!"

Nana jumped out from bed. "Well, if that's the case..." She picked up her hammer. "We're going to have to defend ourselves and put an end to him once and for all."

"Y-you know that if you say once and for all it won't necessarily end everything, right?" Chip asked.

"Oh, watch us," Popo said. "We can work together better now than we did before."

Nana couldn't help but smile. "Right. We're going to Master Hand to tell him. You'll have to come with us if you don't want to be left behind."

Chip looked down worried. "...Okay," he said before he flew out from the bed. "I-I'm ready for anything...or him."

"Good," Popo said before he picked his hammer. "Let's go."

The trio nodded to each other and walked to the door where Popo opened it slowly and silently. "Okay, the office should be a floor above. This isn't going to be dangerous at all," Nana whispered.

"Let's move..." Popo whispered to the 2.

They focused their views at the hallway before making serious looks...

...But then, Chip's nightmare came true as Sonic appeared from the right with crossed arms, closed eyes, and a grin.

"W-what the..." Nana muttered in surprise once she saw him...

Sonic's body had everything from the previous night, but for this night, he now began to grow fur all over his head. The trio's eyes widened, but they tried their best to remain in their spots.

"Oh, good night," called Sonic with an amused chuckle. "What are 2 babies like you 2 doing so late at night? Don't you know the Boogieman will get ya?"

"What?" Popo asked before he glared at him. "What kind of twisted question is that?"

"We're far more mature than you to believe in the stupid tale of the Boogieman," Nana said with a glare as she tightened the grip on her hammer. "You should be the one in bed, though."

"Haha-ha, that's a good one," Sonic said before he opened his glaring eyes. "Chip, I believe you said you weren't going to spill any beans out of your mouth. What made you think you could break our deal?"

The imp wanted to yell back at him, but his chances of surviving were very slim. He knew Popo and Nana would fight back, but were they strong enough to hold him back? Probably not...

"Why aren't you sleeping?" DSS asked with a smirk. "It's bad for your health, isn't?"

"What kind of bastard asks that?" Nana asked. "Forget him. Let's go to Master Hand. As long as we ignore this poor excuse for a dad, we'll be just fine."

"Can't do that," DSS said.

"Oh, sorry mister, I forgot you were there," Nana said annoyed. "Now, be a good guy and let us go."

DSS merely kept smirking before he slowly walked towards them.

"...U-um, seriously," Chip said. "Y-you can't stop now..."

"Little Chip broke a promise to his pal," DSS said before he slowly lifted his claws to his shoulders' level. "Little Chip wanna die now."

Popo looked a little bit scared. "O-okay, your sadistic nature is taking effect on me now."

The trio slowly backed away to their room as the dark being kept going straight for them. Nana kept glaring at him, and Popo then glared back at him. As for Chip, he peered from behind the 2.

"Y-you guys," Chip whispered. "T-this isn't going to get good..."

"I know..." Nana muttered without looking at him. "We have to think of something and run right besides him."

"B-but can we do that?"

"...Do we have to sacrifice?" Popo asked worried. "It's the only way for 1 of us to get to Master Hand."

"I-I don't want to get sacrificed!" Chip whined. "I-I just got here!"

"Listen to me," Nana said. "...I'll distract him for you 2 to go with Master Hand.

"No," Popo whispered. "I-I'll be the decoy..."

"Popo, are you serious?"

"I wanted to ask you the same when you said it," Popo whispered. "You don't have to get hurt by this...monster."

"..." Nana looked back at DSS as they reached the wall of their room. "...Okay, I'll try to get there with the hand. Chip, you'll have to come with me."

"W-what about Popo?" Chip whispered.

"I'll be fine as long as you 2 make it..." Popo said unsure. "...Screw it, I'll fight him alone."

"...Good luck..." Nana whispered.

"Thank you."

The trio then felt the wall between their beds and glared at the evil hedgehog. "Okay, I'm sick of this thing already," DSS said. "I want to get to the point now."

"What point is that exactly?" Nana asked.

"The point where I..." His eyes dilated as a creepy smirk took place in his mouth. "SPREAD YOUR BLOOD AROUND!!!"

"NOW!" Popo yelled as he charged at DSS with his hammer above to slam him head away. The Ice Climber then swung hard on DSS's face.

...But Popo felt a strong vibration from his hammer that later went to himself. "B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-" Popo kept saying dumbfounded.

"No way..." Nana said in disbelief. "The hit didn't do nothing?"

"Fools," DSS said. "Hitting me now is like hitting a very thick cement wall. Oh, did I mention you can't hurt me that easily?"

Popo shook his head to regain his control. "Nana, Chip, run now!"

"B-but what about you?" Chip asked before Nana grabbed his hand.

"We already discussed this! Let's go, quick!" Nana yelled to Chip before the pink Ice Climber began to drag the imp towards the hallway.

"Ah-ah-ah!" DSS said as he extended his right claw to close the door with a slam. Nana and Chip gasped after they saw his whole right arm stretching out from his place. "As I've said before, I won't let you go that easily from here."

"T-the hell? His whole arm extended like if he was some sort of cartoon character!" Nana yelled. "Oh, forget that!" she yelled to herself before she opened the door.

But DSS closed it again. "What a stubborn girl you are," he complained. "You need to be taught some proper manners around me."

"What is wrong with you?" Nana asked before she opened the door. Chip was the first one the leave through it.

DSS suddenly saw his arms being covered in ice by Popo's Blizzard. The Ice Climber blew hard on the dark hedgehog. "...Heheheh," DSS smirked. "Is that the best you can do to me?"

Popo stopped breathing out ice. "What?"

"HUAH!" The dark being flexed his arms quickly to shatter the ice apart. Popo gasped and quickly prepared to defend himself as Nana left the room in a hurry. "Now, where were we again?" DSS asked with a devious smile.

"Give it up now!" Popo yelled as he put his hammer in front of him. "You won't kill anyone in here as long as we alert them all!"

"Oh, right," DSS said with a nod. "Forgot about her for a second."

"Her?" Popo asked. "...W-wait, you don't mean..."

"Idiot, I let her escape just to see how long my arm extends to grab her...NOW!" DSS yelled before he opened the door with a long claw and quickly went to the hallway to the direction Nana went.

It was not long before Popo heard a scream that was later muted. The Ice Climber gasped as the arm began to pull back to the hedgehog.

And there was a fainted Nana being grabbed by her throat.

"N-NANA!!!" Popo yelled.

"N-no!" Chip yelled as he came back from the hallway. "H-he tricked us!"

"Weird, I thought YOU tricked me from the beginning," DSS said with a snicker as he put Nana underneath his right arm. "Still, you're the one who made all of this happen, Chip."

"No..." Chip said depressed. "I-I didn't make any of this happ-"

"Y-you bastard!" Popo yelled as he lunged at DSS, interrupting the imp. "Let her go!"

"For the love of..." DSS frowned before he extended his arm above Popo, who looked up and gasped after it slammed itself down on him, making him crash down on the floor where the arm itself remained pinning him down.

"U-ugh..." Popo grunted as he tried to get out, but it was a small amount of time before he looked up to his sister and fainted underneath the arm.

DSS showed his fangs with his smirk before he turned his eyes at Chip. "Now..." he began as he tossed Nana above Popo. "What did I tell you before? I don't quite remember the promise... Care to make me remember?"

Chip began to back away as he shook his head. "I-I don't wanna!" he whined. "I-I don't want t-"

"Wait!" DSS said as he snapped his sharp claws with a smile. "I remember!" he said before he smirked at Chip. "I was going to kill you secretly behind everyone's backs, right?"

"Y-you said you were going to leave Sonic alone and disappear for eternity..." Chip said with a gulp.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." DSS moved a finger at the sides as he slightly showed his right fangs of his mouth. "Chip, Chip, Chip...did you know I hate liars?"

"N-no..."

"Oh well, now you know," he said. "And do you know what I do to bad mauve liars?"

"W-why mauve?" Chip asked. "I-I don't know..."

"Oh, don't worry, my little pal..." DSS said as he stretched his left arm, pulled Chip just underneath his cheek, and looked down at him with half-closed eyes. "I don't kill them, oh no..."

"...R-really?" Chip asked, finding some mercy in DSS's words.

"Yeah..." DSS showed all his sharp fangs that reflected Chip's terrorized expression. "I kill them AND EAT THEM AFTERWARD!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Chip yelled loudly as the dark hedgehog laughed loudly at the ceiling of the room. The 2 fainted Ice Climbers couldn't move at all while the imp tried to escape from DSS, but his arm felt like it was all covered in strong muscles, and Chip didn't have any way to escape now.

...Until...

"Huh?" DSS looked down to find 2 presents; the same ones that Popo and Nana mentioned. "Ooh, what do we have here? Care to explain, Chip?"

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e..." Chip shook in fear.

"Aww..." DSS put Chip just in front of his furred face. "Little Chip can't speak words? But DSS wants to hear words so baaaaaadly..."

"L-l-l-look..." Chip said terrified. "T-t-t-t-t-those boxes are p-p-p-p-p-p-p-presents for Chris's birthday..."

"...Chris...Chris..." DSS looked away as he held Chip up. "Let's see, which Chris again? I just know 2 of 'em, but the first one was a pussy and an annoying bug... OH!" He smiled and looked at Chip with wide eyes. "You must mean the crybaby Chris of this place! Don't ya?"

"Y-y-y-y-y-yes?"

"Awwwww," DSS said as he looked down at the presents. "And those other kids wanted to give him presents for his birthday, right?"

"P-p-p-p-p-probably?" Chip asked before DSS let go of him and walked to the presents. He ducked to sniff them for some seconds before he looked back at Chip.

"Statues of themselves," DSS said as he looked over the fainted pair. "That's so thoughtful. They even took care of every single detail to make 'em look perfect," he said with a frown. "Whatever, I'll crush 'em down."

"What?!" Chip asked.

"The presents, you dork," DSS said as he joined his big claws and raised them over the gifts. "Chris surely doesn't like statues, anyway..."

Chip gasped and held out his hand. "No!"

"HAAAA!" DSS growled as he slammed down his joined fists on the presents, instantly crushing anything inside them as a crack on the floor was made. "Crap..." DSS muttered as he raised his fists. "Went too far in that one..."

"O-of course you went far!" Chip yelled angrily. "I'm gonna report you to Muster Hand now!"

"I thought it was Master Hand."

"Whatever!" Chip yelled before he went to the door.

Of course, he wasn't going to go away that easily before DSS grabbed him from his throat. The imp gasped for breath before he was pulled back to him.

"Listen," DSS muttered. "If you want to keep living, you'll have to stay quite for a little bit longer."

"W-why are you giving me more chances to live..." Chip muttered weakly.

"Glad you ask that," DSS said with a grin. "One, making you shake with fear is much better than killing you off."

Chip gulped.

"And 2," he continued. "I can't let anyone see these 2 losers fainted inside this room. You'll have to lock this door from anyone, or shut up if you see me carrying them to the basement."

"H-hey, what happened to Red, then?" Chip asked.

"Fool, I put a very tight rope on him and even a bandana around his throat so he doesn't wake up that easily," DSS said. "Heck, he's going to sleep for a long time before I even kill him when my full power comes back."

"U-um..."

"Now," DSS began as he smirked at the imp. "Or you shut up, or you die. Which one do you prefer the most?"

"..." The imp began to sob. "S-shut up..." he said.

"Oh, tears of sadness..." DSS said as he took a tear from Chip's eyes with a claw and licked it. "Hmmmmmmmm, so good..."

"(T-t-this is so unfair...)" Chip cried in his mind as DSS grabbed the ICs over his shoulders and quickly ran away in a slower pace than Sonic's speed. "(S-somebody, help me...)" he sobbed more in his mind.

Only Chip's sobs and moans echoed through the room as the night went on...

Hallway

In the dark hallway, there were some eyes glancing from the corner of one of the doors. Apparently, they were there even after DSS began his little rampage inside the IC's room.

The eyes narrowed as they found DSS going downstairs. "Dammit..." the eyes muttered. "They're not doing any progress in finding me. Maybe I should accelerate things a bit for tomorrow..."

The eyes closed themselves, joining with the darkness as footsteps were heard, slowly becoming silent...

Music stops

Day 4

Main Lobby

The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom paced around the lobby with a clipboard she held with her right arm. "Let's see...do we have all the food ready? It's only 2 days before the party comes."

"I'm sure we're going to get this done tomorrow," Zelda said from the kitchen. "Hopefully Chris hasn't been around here to see us."

"Much better," Peach said with a smile. "This has to a be surprise party, after all."

"I know."

"Well...unfortunately, I have some problems..."

"What problems?"

"I wanted to ask Popo and Nana to help us with the decorations but I couldn't find them anywhere..." Peach said depressed. "I wonder if they went somewhere else at the last minute?"

"I don't think so," Zelda said. "They should have said that if they were going to do a thing like that, don't you think?"

"I guess," Peach said. "Well, as long as we have most of them helping us, it's all fine."

"By the way, how did you convince Kirby to help us with the food?" Zelda asked as she looked behind her where Kirby was seen wearing a chef hat in front of a pot. "And for that matter, why is he helping us?"

"I used persuasion with him," Peach said. "I told him he could eat lots of food as long as he help us with the food itself. I know he copies abilities so I told him to eat a frying pan, and he became Cook Kirby."

"Mama mia!" Cook Kirby said after he took a taste of the soup. "This soup's taste isn't getting that tasty as I wanted, oh no!" he said. "This needs more broth and less spiciness!"

"And does he imitate an Italian guy?" Zelda asked.

"Just don't worry about him," Peach said with a chuckle. "Keep an eye on him if he drops that ability."

"Got it."

"But still..." Peach muttered. "I also wanted to find Red, but Squirtle and Ivysaur told me they haven't found him... This is so weird..."

At that moment, Sonic and Chip walked down the stairs, holding another note that was found after they woke up. The note itself appeared on the door.

2 days left.

Hint: I started to give you these notes when we fought Smithy.

"...That's it!" Sonic said. "Those notes were appearing when I went to fight that smithy!"

Chip didn't even want to look at Sonic, not after what he experienced before.

"If that's true, then the people who went there as well could narrow the options..."

Chip continued staring away.

"And we have 10 people to see... Mario, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Kirby, and Ness were the ones who went there and the ones I haven't questioned..."

Chip nodded.

"We just have 5 people left..."

"Yeah..."

Once they reached the first floor, Sonic looked at Chip. "Something's bothering you?"

"(A lot is bothering me...)" Chip thought before he looked at Sonic and shook his head. "Nothing... I just had a bad dream..."

"...Okay..." Sonic said a little worried. "Anyhow, we have only 5 people left to question. Only 2 days left before full moon comes, right?"

"Right..."

"So now," the hedgehog began. "Let's go to Mario's room and see if he's there."

The hedgehog wanted to solve this weird mystery as soon as possible as he went back upstairs. The imp remained there on his spot before he frowned, sighed, and followed Sonic.

"Hmm..." Peach tilted her head as Chip went up. "I wonder what's happening to him..."

Mario's Room

The hedgehog stared out of the window to evade visual contact with the plumber, who also did the same but looked at his hat. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Sonic," Mario said.

"So you haven't been sending notes to Sonic?" Chip asked.

"No," Mario shook his head. "Why would I do that? I always like to speak directly but...you know...we can't look at each other because we could get into a fight for some reason or another."

"I understand," Sonic said with a sigh before he began walking to the hallway. "Chip, let's go to Pichu now. I know he's going to say the same, but what can we do about it..."

"Right away..." Chip said in a depressed tone before both walked away.

Mario turned around and scratched his hat. "Why would they ask me those questions? Are they looking for someone?" he asked to himself.

Pichu's Room

The small Pokémon was busily admiring his Trophy Stand on the bed while an annoyed Pikachu showed him his Trophy Stand from the floor. "How come you didn't have to use 3 continues like me?" Pikachu asked annoyed.

"Because I didn't fight a giant Samus like you did," Pichu said with a chuckle.

"What could I've done against her? She had me under her foot literally!" Pikachu complained. "It's not like she's been training in secret or anything like that!"

"Hey, you 2," Sonic called from the door as he leaned to it while Chip flew some feet away from him.

"But if isn't Mr. Breaker," Pikachu said as he stared at Chip.

"A-at least you got your window repaired by Master Hand," Chip said with a nervous chuckle.

"Pichu," Sonic began, making Pichu's ears perk up. "Have you been doing some things behind everyone's backs?"

"Huh?" Pichu blinked confused and tilted his head. "I haven't... Why'd you ask?"

"Because Sonic has been receiving some weird notes coming from a mysterious boy or girl," Chip explained.

"It's certainly not me..." Pichu said. "I-if I want to help you, I'll just go to you and talk directly."

"But even him gets scared of your "eye," Sonic," Pikachu pointed out.

"T-that's not true!" Pichu argued with a pouting face.

Sonic frowned at this in depression. "I should be getting excited now but I just can't... Every single person I've been questioned doesn't reveal anything..."

"What?" Pikachu and Pichu asked.

"Nothing," Sonic said with grunt before he turned to the hallway. "Chip, let's go to Ness."

The hedgehog already left for Ness's room while Chip remained there in Pichu's room. Both Pokémon stared at the imp for a moment.

"Hey," Pikachu began. "Is something bothering you? You look kind of depressed and sad."

"..." Chip blinked one time before he slowly looked at them. "(I...can't tell them...)" he thought ashamed with a frown before he left the room.

"..." Pichu looked at Pikachu. "Pikachu, do you think something's happening around here?"

"Why do you ask that?" Pikachu asked.

"Because...well...I heard some screams last night from someone's room..."

"Um..." Pikachu looked away. "I did as well."

"You too?"

"Yes," Pikachu said with a nod. "The screams were a little bit scary, though. What's more, I think the one who screamed was Chip..."

"He screamed?"

"I don't know, but it fits the scream," Pikachu said. "Not only that, but there were 2 other screams as well."

"Hmm..." Pichu thought for a moment. "Those other screams were familiar to me..."

Pikachu closed his eyes and tried to think hard for an answer. Pichu then followed and did the same as Pikachu.

Ness's Room

The same response came from Ness, who was laying down on bed reading a magazine, or actually, it was a comic. "Sorry," Ness said. "I'm not into secret stuff."

"It's getting more hopeless here..." Sonic muttered.

"By the way," Ness began. "You guys heard the screams from tonight?"

"What screams?"

"You know, some of us have been asking about some screams coming from a room. We all ignored those screams until they disappeared slowly." Ness got in a thinking position. "That was so weird. I could tell those screams were familiar..."

Chip's eyes widened in horror. The imp quickly looked at Sonic.

"I'm sure I didn't hear anything like that," Sonic said.

"(Of course you didn't,)" Chip thought. "(You were knocked out when night came aroun-)"

The imp could have sworn that Sonic shot him with a fast glare that Ness didn't notice.

"Maybe we should be careful," Ness said. "I didn't like those screams myself."

"We'll be careful with those screams you're talking about," Sonic said. "Chip, we have to go to Kirby now."

The hedgehog once again left for the hallway. Ness lowered his comic and looked at Chip, who was still looking depressed.

"Aren't you going to follow him?" Ness asked.

"..." Chip closed his eyes and decided to follow Sonic around.

"..." Ness shrugged and returned to read his comic.

Hallway

As both were walking through the hallway...

"Don't think I didn't see you..." Sonic muttered darkly.

"...What?" Chip asked.

"I know what you did there," Sonic said as he looked at Chip over his shoulder. "You got worried after he mentioned the screams of those kids from yesterday."

"H-how did you what happened?"

"..." Sonic simply stared at him directly to Chip's eyes.

"..." Chip gasped. "Y-you! T-that look, I know isn't not the same, but it's you!"

"Glad you recognized me," DSS said. "Now, listen to me, that hedgehog is as good as fainted from now on. I now possess enough power to take over his body completely. It doesn't matter if he doesn't walk to a little shade, I can take over from now on."

"B-but you can't attack anyone here!" Chip protested.

"True," DSS said. "Until night comes, of course..."

Chip didn't like where this was going.

"And since it's only 2 days away from full moon," DSS began. "The real party will being at night."

"Y-you won't get away with this, still!" Chip protested. "Whatever you have in hands isn't going to work in the end!"

"So you want to go ahead and tell anyone I'm not Sonic?"

"Ugh..." Chip looked depressed.

"...Thought so," DSS said with a nod. "Now, if you want to keep on living, you'll better shut up, okay?"

"I'll be dead anyway..." Chip muttered.

DSS chuckled. "Exactly. Now, let's go with that puffball with the bottomless stomach."

DSS turned to the stairs and began to walk down.

The imp knew things were going to get even more awful than before. What could he do to stop the evil entity?

For now, nothing...

Kitchen

Sonic (or DSS) and Chip found Cook Kirby moving a long spoon inside a big pot of red soup. The puffball took out the spoon and took a sip of it before smiling. "Tasty as cake..." Cook Kirby said with a chuckle.

"Hey," Sonic began. "We have some questions to ask you."

"Ask away."

Sonic sweatdropped after not hearing more questions being asked back to him. "Kirby, have you been doing some things in secret?"

"Nope," Cook Kirby said without looking at them.

"You didn't even send notes to me?"

"No," Cook Kirby said simply.

"Are you really sure of it?"

"Totally."

"..."

"Oh!" Cook Kirby exclaimed happily. "The cake's bread is going to be ready in some minutes! I must prepare the cream and cherries. This cake is going to be a long one!" he said excited as he jumped to the floor and walked to the oven.

"Hmm," Zelda began as she walked to Sonic and Chip. "What are you doing here? Do you want to help us and make the food?"

"Why?" Sonic asked with crossed arms. "I'd rather have chili-dogs than this cra-"

Sonic noticed that Zelda gave him an odd look.

"...M-maybe another day..." Sonic said.

"..." Zelda frowned at this and walked away to another part of the big kitchen.

"Owned," Chip muttered.

"I can ALWAYS kill you tonight, you know..."

"I-I'll shut up..."

"Sweet," Sonic said with a frown. "Hmm..." He smirked once he found a normal cake without cream or fruits on the top on the big table that ran across the entire kitchen's center. "Heh, I guess they're not going to cry over a big piece of this, right?"

Chip saw as Sonic grabbed a big fist of bread from the unknown cake on the table. "E-er, I think you shouldn't eat that..." he suggested.

Sonic chuckled. "Oh, why's that?"

Chip looked at the right end of the kitchen where, for some reason, Fox walked to them and spotted the cake. "Hey, what are you doing?" Fox asked.

Too bad. The fist of bread was already eaten by Sonic.

"Aww..." Sonic said pleased. "C'est manifiqu-"

"..." Fox looked at the cake on the table. "...Wait, isn't that the cake I made? Why is it here? I thought Peach tossed it out when you passed out and got a coma."

Day 5

Sonic's Room

"...Hello...hello...wake up now...hello...do you hear me?"

"...H-hmm..."

"Hello? Are you okay?"

Sonic opened his eyes and found Fox sitting down on a chair. "..." Sonic sat up and looked around. "What happened?"

Main Lobby

"...How the heck did I fall into a coma?" Sonic asked annoyed while he sat down on the sofa as Chip floated close to him.

"W-well, Sonic took a little bit of that weird cake some days ago and...well...he fell into a coma of 1 day..." Chip said embarrassed.

"...You didn't do this to me, right?"

"N-no!" Chip shook his head. "I-I wouldn't use that "food" on you! It just happened to be there!"

"...Whatever..." Sonic said as he put his arms above his knees. "We got another note by that guy again as you can see."

Chip nodded and took the note out from his back. Sonic took the note and examined it.

Tomorrow is the day at last. I'm not that excited myself, but you better hurry and find me.

Sonic ripped the note and tossed the papers away over his left shoulder. "Heh, who's the last person on the list?"

"..." Chip read the notepad. "...Jigglypuff..."

"..." Sonic hit his forehead with his hand and frowned. "Okay, we know she isn't the one."

"What? We haven't even spoken to her yet! Why are you coming with that conclusion so suddenly?"

"Because it doesn't make sense, okay?" Sonic said with a glare. "Why would she be the one behind the notes? I'd say screw it, she isn't the one."

"But then who's behind everything?" Chip asked. "Who do you think is the real culprit?"

"Beats me," Sonic said as he folded his arms and leaned to the cushion. "Tomorrow's the big day, and I'll be prepared to slaughter anyone in sight here during the party, but first, the kid will be the one to die first."

"What?"

Sonic's eyes blinked for a moment before he looked at his right to find C. Falcon staring down at him. "Excuse me, but what did you say?" he asked.

"Nothing," Sonic said with a glare. "You didn't hear nothing."

"I'm pretty sure you said something about slaughtering us during the party..." C. Falcon said. "What was that about?"

"Look," Sonic began. "I didn't say anything about killing anyone here tomorrow. It'll sound inhuman to do such a thing during Chris's birthday party, right?"

"But still, I heard you saying it," C. Falcon said.

"A-and me..." Olimar said as he appeared from behind C. Falcon. "I heard you saying that..."

"..." Sonic looked back and forth between the 2 captains. "...Whatever," Sonic said as he stood up and turned for the hallway. "You guys are probably deaf if you didn't hear my explanation."

"Wait!" C. Falcon began. "Sonic, I did hear you say that!"

"So what if you did?" Sonic asked a little pissed.

"T-that's not like you at all..." Olimar said. "Why are you looking so weird today?"

"Because he ate Fox's cake and pushed him into a coma?" Chip asked.

"Not that," Sonic said as he stopped walking away. "I'm just in a bad mood today, that's all. And if I said something about killing anyone, then I said that probably because I'm very pissed, understand?"

"..." C. Falcon glared at Sonic's back.

"..." Sonic remained silent. "...No more talking then? Good," he said with a grunt before he walked away.

"..." Olimar looked at Chip. "What is happening to him? It's not like him to be this angry and mad to anyone..."

Chip played with his fingers and looked ashamed. "...You guys..." Chip looked again to the hallway Sonic went to. "...Can you keep a secret with me?"

"What secret?" C. Falcon asked.

"It's about Sonic..." Chip whispered. "...That guy you just spoke to...it's not him..."

Olimar opened his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"The guy you just saw is another person who's taking his body and mind to wander around..." Chip whispered. "His behavior is REALLY different than Sonic's behavior... Of course, I haven't seen much of his real attitude, but still..."

Chip had the courage to tell the 2. There was no possible way for DSS to interrupt the imp now during day. This little mistake of the dark being let Chip take an advantage over him.

DSS just committed a grave mistake.

Leave Chip alone with some of the Smashers.

"I-it's been like this day and night," Chip explained with a gulp. "H-he's been threatening to kill me if I told anyone about him. I already said to 2, but he let me live just for him to enjoy how I get scared of him..." He gulped again. "T-that sadistic nature he has only scared my fur even more than anything else. When he shows his fangs, he could either eat me or kill me in a second..."

Chip had all the courage to explain everything. He didn't stop looking at the sides to see if Sonic (or DSS) was seeing him or spying him.

The imp finally finished his story of horror...

"...And that's pretty much it..." Chip said. "I know it sounds farfetched, but it's the truth."

"..." Olimar kept his eyes opened. "...Wow...t-that's unbelievable..."

"That's pretty odd..." C. Falcon commented. "So he's been like this for a long time now?"

"Y-yes. You gotta help me!" Chip pleaded as he hugged C. Falcon's chest. "I-I don't wanna see his face again tonight! H-he scares the heck out of me with his evil sadistic nature!"

C. Falcon pushed him away. "And you don't know what to do against him."

"S-sadly, no..." Chip said depressed. "We've been trying to find that mysterious guy all these days but we haven't had any results yet..."

"And that guy could have the answer to take that soul away from Sonic?" Olimar asked.

"I...dunno..." Chip said ashamed before he covered his eyes. "I-I don't wanna die... He's still keeping Red, Popo, and Nana in the basement after they knew about him..."

"But he can't attack anyone as long as day is here, right?" C. Falcon asked.

"Pretty much..."

C. Falcon smacked his fists together. "Well, I'm not going to let that guy condemn anyone here to die."

"Or Chris..." Chip muttered. "He told me he wanted to kill him as a gift for his birthday..."

"..." Olimar shook in fear. "T-that's mean..."

"You don't worry," C. Falcon said. "We're going to take him out before tomorrow's party starts. We're going to alert everyone here for that matt-"

"No!" Chip yelled. "If Sonic manages to hear about this, he'll surely kill me first for it! I don't want to see his fangs reflecting my face for that matter!"

"Hey," C. Falcon began with a glare. "Do you really want everyone here ignore this situation?"

"N-no..."

"Alerting everyone here is the best way to stay prepared for the worst," he said. "Besides, that guy has the most twisted mind I've heard."

"S-so you're going to help me?" Chip asked. "Do you promise you're not going to let him kill me?"

"Absolutely."

"...T-thanks..." Chip said with a sniff. "B-but be careful..."

"By the way," Olimar began. "Who have you been questioning?"

"Everyone here...except Jigglypuff," Chip said. "Sonic doesn't believe she's the one behind it all."

"Well, that's true," C. Falcon said. "I doubt Jigglypuff would do something like this. She only cares to sing all the day in front of the mirror, and anyone who passes near the bathroom gets knocked out."

"..." Chip blinked in confusion. "What?"

At that moment, Sonic came back from the hallway and glared up at Chip. "You, let's go."

"W-where?" Chip asked.

"We're gonna keep looking for that bastard, did you forget?" Sonic asked before he looked at the 2 captains. "Oh, sorry, I didn't notice you."

Olimar took a step back, but C. Falcon kept staring down at Sonic.

Chip looked worried at them.

C. Falcon nodded at him.

Olimar slowly nodded, doing the same.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at this action. "...Let's go upstairs," Sonic said coldly, walking upstairs.

"(I don't want to sleep with him again...)" Chip thought with a gulp.

The imp looked back one more time to the captains before he followed Sonic. They saw Falco walking down the stairs, and Sonic pushed his hand away from his path. "My bad," Sonic muttered with a grunt as Chip looked at Falco but then went to the hedgehog.

"Geez... What's up with him today?" Falco asked to himself before he walked down to the hallway.

"...Are you sure this is fine to do?" Olimar asked.

"Hey, didn't you see the little guy's face?" C. Falcon asked. "He was telling all the truth. Sonic doesn't even act like that around everyone here when he's pissed. He doesn't condemn anyone here to die, does he?"

"I don't think so..."

"So," the captain went on with a grin. "Since I'm your every day hero, I'm going to help the little guy out."

"...Sorry to say this but that sounded a little b-"

"Cheesy, I know..." C. Falcon said. "Even so, I'll stop that evil hedgehog from doing rampage tomorrow."

"..." Olimar tilted his head. "Are you doing this because you want to look good to Samus?"

"..." C. Falcon kept staring forward.

"...Hello?"

Both of the captains suddenly looked up where Chip came back from the stairs, stopping right in front of them. "I thought things over..." Chip said. "I'm going to prevent Sonic from taking someone else out tonight."

"What?" Olimar asked. "How are you going to prevent that?"

"During my stance here, I found out that something can neutralize Sonic's body in a second. That evil guy inside him also gets knocked out so I'm going to give him something..."

The imp quickly flew to the kitchen where he was heard from the lobby.

"Excuse me," Chip said to Zelda and Cook Kirby, who were still cooking. "I want it."

The chefs gasped at this. "Y-you don't mean the sin you call food, right?" Zelda asled and shook her head.

Chip closed his eyes and nodded. "I had to use it now or never... I'm going to use it to see what's wrong with its taste. I'm planning to help the people here out for greater good."

"...The heart of a true chef is within you," Cook Kirby said (receiving an odd look from Zelda). "...Use it wisely. It's in the trash can."

"Thank you," Chip muttered as he flew over the closest trash can. The imp looked down at it, gulped, pinched his nose, and dove inside to look for it. Cook Kirby and Zelda watched for some seconds at the trash can before a dirty Chip came out, holding what looked to be...

A piece of bread.

"I better cover it up..." Chip muttered as he looked around the kitchen before he flew to the fridge. The imp quickly opened it and looked around for something inside. A cup of strawberry yogurt caught his eyes, and he took the cup, slammed the door, opened its tape and with a close eye dropped the piece of bread inside that later drowned inside the pink liquid.

"..." Zelda frowned at this and decided to return cooking while Cook Kirby nodded at the imp.

"It's done..." Chip said with an evilly chuckle, taking a spoon that he put inside the yogurt before flying away to the lobby.

"Do be careful, brave but stubborn mauve fool..." Cook Kirby muttered in honor before he returned cooking.

Both captains watched the imp going to them with the yogurt. "Sorry for the wait, but here it is..." Chip said as he held up the yogurt. "The answer to my predicament!"

Link passed nearby and whistled a familiar jingle before walking away to the hallway.

"Er..." Olimar tilted his head. "What is yogurt going to do? Doesn't that help you to get stronger bones?"

"That, and that it's my only way to stop Sonic for today..." Chip said. "And once I give this to him, I'm gonna disappear once h-"

"Hey," Sonic called from the stairs. "What the hell are you doing? Let's go."

Chip gasped, turned around, and flew back to Sonic. Once the imp was in front of him, he showed the hedgehog the yogurt. "Here, have some," Chip said.

"What?" Sonic eyed the yogurt. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

"I thought I was always nice, am I not?" Chip asked with a chuckle. "C'mon, eat it up! You look mad so I stole this from the fridge."

Sonic slowly took the yogurt and glared at Chip. "Something is awfully wrong with you today..." Sonic said before he took the spoon. "...Really, really fishy..."

Chip began to sweat, but he kept smiling. "I-it's strawberry..." he pointed out.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at him.

"...With chili-dog flavor..."

"...Ha," Sonic said with a smirk. "Chili-dog flavor, aren't you funny..." he muttered sarcastically before he took a big spoon of yogurt and ate it. "Hmm...it does tast-"

Day 6

Sonic's Room

"..." Sonic slowly opened his eyes. "...Wha..." He couldn't finish talking before he sat up and looked around. "...The hell happened here?"

"Honestly," Fox said nearby with a pissed look and crossed arms over a chair. Sonic looked to him. "Why can't you keep your mouth away from my failure at cooking? Do you really wish to die or what? Do you want to have a disease or what?" Fox asked annoyed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You technically ate my cake again," Fox pointed out. "And you instantly passed out again, and I was called here by Chip again to take care of you...again!" he said annoyed.

"I passed out by eating yogurt?" Sonic asked.

"Yogurt with a piece of my cake in it," Fox said. "Chip told me he saw a piece of it floating in the yogurt and you didn't notice. You were knocked out for a whole day once again."

"...A whole DAY?!"

"Yeah, did you forget or what?" Fox asked annoyed before he stood up. "Next time, STOP eating my food, okay?" he asked with a frown and a grunt before walking away.

"..." Sonic looked down at his feet. "...Yogurt with bread... When did that happen?"

The hedgehog thought for a moment by closing his eyes.

"...Wait..." Sonic opened his eyes and glared forward at no one in particular. "The imp's behavior looked fishy when he wanted to go for the notepad he told me that he left behind... But why did he go for yogurt and that bread for me?"

He shifted his eyes around.

"...Unless..." Sonic muttered before he narrowed his eyes. "...He used that weird cake on me so I couldn't get a taste of the transformation yesterday during the night, leaving him to sleep safe and sound..."

Sonic's eyes widened in fury.

Outside

THAT LITTLE PIECE OF MOTHERF(BEEP)NG PIECE OF S(BEEP)T WILL PAY FOR THIS, B(BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP)H!!!

The echoing voice of fury from Sonic made Starlys outside fly away scared to the horizon.

Master Hand's Office

A multiple chain of events began to occur everywhere...

Master Hand kept looking around in a panic. He was being bombarded by questions and more questions from the other side of the table.

"Y-you have to stop him!" Popo yelled. "H-he's the biggest evil freak we've ever seen before!"

"I-I don't know what happened," Red said with some shivers. "B-but Sonic isn't the same anymore!"

"Please! Do something!" Nana yelled.

"S-shut up!" Master Hand yelled to calm the 3 down.

Word quickly spread around the mansion about Sonic's strange behavior once the hedgehog passed out by the yogurt he ate. It was a small matter of time before C. Falcon and Olimar located the 3 captive Smashers in the basement by using Mewtwo's help. The trio didn't look calm, but rather terrified after the experience they went through.

However, nobody really cared about the event since they thought it was ridiculous. This only angered C. Falcon. As for Olimar, he looked down in depression as he tried to explain but with no success.

Main Lobby

Unfortunately, this didn't reach Peach's ears as she was directing half of the Smashers for the party of today. The princess knew nothing was going to go wrong for the promised party.

The bad thing about this was that most of the Smashers haven't gotten their Trophy Stands due to Peach convincing the hand to enlist everyone's help. If was either agree with Peach or make her cry loudly for the whole day.

And which option did they choose?

The one that made them look respectful.

"Mario, move that table over there," Peach ordered. "Luigi and Yoshi, please prepare the juice on table number 7, okay?"

The lobby didn't seem busier than today. Most of the Smashers had to help out or else Master Hand would have banned fights (by a secret request from Peach herself).

"...Hey..." Ness looked at the arrangement of tables. "...Do they make a big C?"

It someone could look from the ceiling, the tables looked like they made a C in the center of the room.

"Well, yes," Peach said. "I thought it'd look nice to use Chris's first letter."

"But it looks kind of..." Falco rubbed his chin. "...Stupid..."

"..." Peach sighed. "...Fine, we'll arrange them around the lobby. I was just trying to make something different for a change."

"So that means..." Luigi said as he was carrying a table with Yoshi.

"Everyone, re-arrange the tables around!"

A collective amount of groans were heard before they started to put everything away before putting everything in a different arrangement around the lobby by removing the mantles and juice jars.

"Thanks a lot, Falco..." Samus muttered to the avian, who then grunted at her.

"Let's see here..." Peach looked at the clock on her wrist. "If my calculations are correct, Chris should be coming tonight in time for the party. It should be officially September 30 in his world. We're currently in afternoon so we need to wait a little bit longer."

The princess chuckled heartily before returning to organize the party.

"Now, I need Jigglypuff here so she can help me out," Peach said. "...Weird, where is Link?"

Attic

Chip seemed to be hiding behind a set of boxes. The imp had a freaked out look as he shifted his eyes around.

However, he found a note in the attic. Chip got nervous once he saw it waiting for him. He took the note out and read it with narrowed eyes...

I have had enough of this whole waiting.

If you want to meet me, then go to Ganondorf Room in the 1st floor. Don't be late or else we'll suffer the consequences. I'll be there at 8:00 PM, exactly one hour before full moon shows up today.

Chip got a worried look as he kept the letter. "Today is the day..." Chip gulped. "I better get a move on and watch out for Sonic!"

The imp floated up before he flew away from the attic by going down through the door.

Real World
Chris's Room

September 30 - Morning - Tuesday

The bright morning of September 30 shone, and it came out from the window overlooking the nearby neighborhood that Chris lived in. The World Traveler slept on his bed while Lucario slept nearby him.

The Aura Pokémon's eyes slowly opened before he yawned out loud and showed his fangs for a moment. Lucario looked at his right where Chris was sleeping peacefully.

Lucario smiled at slowly pulled Chris under his right arm, carefully putting his head over his chest. "Chris, wake up," Lucario whispered. "Today is the day."

"...U-um..." Chris grumbled.

"Chris, wake up," Lucario said as he shook Chris a little.

"...Um?" Chris slowly opened his eyes. "...What?"

"Isn't today a special date?"

"...Um..." Chris looked at the calendar. "...My birthday!" he suddenly yelled before Lucario used a strong grip on him.

"Happy 17th birthday," Lucario said happily. "You're now 17, right?"

"U-ugh..."

Lucario looked down at Chris...and found out that he was asphyxiating him with his "Herculean strength" that he used on him by accident. "C-Chris!" Lucario yelled, releasing the World Traveler from his arm. "I-I'm sorry, I-I just wanted to congratulate you!"

"J-just don't kill me for as a gift for my birthday..." Chris said as he gasped for breath.

Gift for birthday...

Lucario's eyes widened.

"A-anyway..." Chris began as he slowly sat up and got off from bed. "Today I don't have school because they're remodeling it..." He looked back at Lucario. "...Why do you look so shocked?"

Lucario shook his head. "W-what? Oh, sorry. I'm not looking shocked."

"I thought you were a moment ago..."

Lucario shook his head again. "S-seriously, I'm not shocked for anything. Why would I be shocked in your birthday? (Please, don't let him find out I didn't have time to think for a good present...)"

"...Hmm..." Chris looked confused. "Well..."

The sounds from the phone began to take place in the living room. The World Traveler turned his head to the direction where the sounds came from. "Who is it at this time?" Chris asked before he walked away.

Lucario sat up from the bed and he leaned his left ear slightly to hear something.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - 002 Putting Words Together

"M-Mom! D-Dad! Y-you called!" Chris was heard saying with some laughs. "I-I know, it has been a pretty long time, hasn't it?" he asked happily.

Lucario smiled a little at this reaction that he stood up and walked to the living room.

Living Room

The Aura Pokémon found Chris looking down at the telephone that he held on his right ear. Lucario smiled and walked close to Chris, where he listened closely to the conversation.

"Yes, I'm fine here," Chris said with some nods. "No, it's okay. I'm not always alone all the time."

Lucario listened closer.

"I have many friends in school now," Chris lied as he looked at Lucario and rubbed his head with care. "I always receive visits from them from time to time so I'm not that alone."

Lucario growled silently and happily.

"W-what?" Chris asked. "What was that growl you heard?"

Lucario got shocked.

"T-that must be the TV..." Chris said. "Y-you know how much I like dogs?"

Lucario sighed.

"W-what's that I can't have one in here? I don't understand..."

Lucario glared at the phone.

"D-don't worry, I don't have a dog in here..." Chris said with a chuckle. "...N-no, seriously! I don't have one in here! What's that about my reactions saying otherwise? I'm telling the truth!"

Lucario decided to back away a little.

"...B-besides that, why'd you call me?" Chris asked. "Oh, my birthday? Oh, thank you..." Chris sighed. "...Wait, what?"

Lucario tilted his head.

Chris's eyes widened. "Y-you're going to come here and visit me for a day?"

Lucario's mouth opened before he smiled.

"N-no, it's okay!" Chris said with a laugh. "I-I mean, it's been so long since you came here! When are you going to come here? Tomorrow? Well, that's okay. Is that good for you, though? I mean, you 2 have been traveling all over America with your business to help other companies and... It's alright? T-then I'll be waiting for you!"

Lucario said Chris wiping a tear away.

"I-I'll be here waiting for you..." Chris said with a sniff. "I can't wait to see you again... W-well, good bye... I'll see you later..." Chris said before he hung up the phone and looked at Lucario.

"...So?" Lucario asked.

Chris instantly lunged at him and gave him a hug, making him spin around for a bit. "Lucario! T-they're coming here tomorrow to see me after they last visited me! I can't believe they're going to drop by!"

Lucario chuckled happily before Chris stopped hugging him. "I'm glad. How long has it been since they last visited you?"

"Like a year ago or more..." Chris said. "It was not too long before you got here in this world. They stayed here longer during my graduation, though." Chris wiped a tear. "B-but still, they're going to come here... I'm so happy... To me, that's the best present I could ever receive from them..."

Lucario pulled Chris to his cheek where he rubbed his own cheek with his. "It's very good for them to come here, right?"

"Y-yes!" Chris said as he laughed with Lucario, rubbing cheeks together before the Aura Pokémon put Chris down. "Anyway...should we go back to the Smash Mansion and tell them about the news here?"

"Would it be fine if I meet them?"

"...U-um..." Chris looked away in shame. "...L-Lucario..."

"...I...understand..." Lucario said before he grunted. "They wouldn't want to meet a "dog" like me."

"O-oh, are you mad at that?" Chris asked.

"...A little..." Lucario chuckled.

"Okay... Should we go to the mansion, then?"

"I guess some of them should know about this," Lucario said. "Fine, let's go now."

Chris chuckled with Lucario before both went to their room.

"By the way," Lucario began as they walked to their room. "Have you heard that Sonic is going to get a new game very soon?"

"Oh...right," Chris said. "I saw the trailers and the screenshots already. "I wonder if that is going to affect Sonic in some way...do you think so?"

"Who knows," Lucario said. "We'll see if you messed his storyline."

"...What?" Chris asked annoyed as Lucario chuckled. "H-hey, don't be like that to me during my birthday! And stop chuckling like that!" he complained.

Smash Mansion
Hallway

Chrono Trigger - Light of Silence

In one of the lonely hallways of the mansion, there was a terrified Chip flying through the way to Ganondorf's room. The imp gulped once he looked out of the window...

Full moon was about to show up in an hour. Chip gulped another time before he slowly went to the room where the benefactor was located.

"Dum...dum...dum...dum..." Chip sang silently as he made his way through the hallway. "N-nothing to fear here... T-there are no monsters roaming the hall tonight..." He looked around quickly. "...Yet..." he muttered before he flew faster.

The imp blinked in terror as he found the room that had Ganondorf's name labeled in dark letters on a golden label. Chip looked down to find the doorknob.

"..." Chip gulped. "...Nothing yet...nothing to fear..."

"U-ugh..."

Chip's ears perked up. "W-who's there?"

"C-Chip..." a voice called from the darkness of the hallway in front of Chip. The imp saw what looked to be Sonic covering his face with his right hand as he moved a left hand on the left wall. "H-help me..."

"...Oh no," Chip said with a glare. "I'm not going to fall for that trick, whoever you are!"

"N-no, you don't understand..." Sonic muttered. "T-that guy just left my body and I came here looking for you... H-he told he would be back to take over my mind again..."

"H-how can I believe you?"

"T-there's no much time left!" Sonic yelled. "I'm telling all the truth here, dammit!" The hedgehog uncovered his face and took out a note. "Here! I found this!"

"T-that's the note I..." Chip gasped and looked around for the note he had. "S-so that's why I lost it on my way here... I must've dropped it somewhere and yo-"

"Dammit, Chip!" Sonic looked at Chip with a weak face. "We have to see that guy now before that bastard takes over my mind!"

"..." Chip looked at the door. "B-but..."

"I-it's 8:40, Chip!"

"..." Chip's eyes widened. "W-WHAT?!"

"T-that's why I've been acting like this now..." Sonic said in pain as he fell to his knees. "T-that bastard is building up his complete control over me... W-we have to see that person in that room NOW!"

"B-but..."

"Chip, believe in me!" Sonic yelled. "We have to do this now before it's too late! Or do you want Chris to die?!"

"N-no..."

"THEN OPEN THE DOOR!"

Command Room

Chrono Trigger - Critical Moment

A portal opened up and an excited Chris walked out with Lucario before it closed. "Well, we're here," Chris said before he looked at the clock. "It's 8:42 now. It should be night, right?"

"Yes," Lucario said before he looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know..." Chris said. "Maybe they're somewhere else?"

Main Lobby

Back at the lobby, almost every single Smasher were reunited to wait for Chris to come. The whole place was carefully ornamented with tables, mantles, juice, and many different things someone would find in a celebration.

It almost looked like a prom since most were talking in groups while Peach saw Mario walking to her...

"Peach..." Mario began. "Don't you think you went a little bit too far with the decorations?"

"I did?" Peach asked. "I thought everything looked just right..."

"Well, you made all look like we always do during celebrations or parties," Samus remarked (without her Power Suit on).

"In fact," Yoshi began. "Everything just...look the same like previous parties."

"Oopsie," Peach said with a nervous chuckle.

At that moment, they saw DK and Diddy bringing the musicians from upstairs. "Why didn't you tell us there was going to be a party beforehand?" Tiny asked to Diddy.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Diddy said annoyed. "We forgot about you. I mean, you almost never come down!"

"What can you do for that?" Lanky asked. "There's our own kitchen up there with our rooms. We hardly know there's an outsider world."

"Embarrassing, isn't?" Medli asked while she blushed. "A-at least we came here in time."

Peach clapped her hands together. "Alright, everyone! It's 8:45 now, and Chris should be arriving shortly!" she called over happily. "Let's make this a party to remember, shall we?"

C. Falcon looked outside to the moon. "...I hope everyone here didn't forget..." he muttered.

"(Weird...)" Peach thought as she looked around. "(There seem to be a few people missing here... Where did they go?)"

Ganondorf's Room

The darkness of the room was apparent during the night as the light of the window shone a very small place of the Lord's room. A light began to be created from the other side of it where the door slowly revealed its figure. A preoccupied Chip peered quickly from the light before a weakened Sonic came slowly in.

"H-hello?" Chip asked to the darkness. "I-is anyone here? Hello?"

"G-grr..." Sonic looked through his fingers to find anyone in the darkness. "Where are you? We know you're here..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...DAMMIT!" Sonic yelled angrily. "We were tricked, then?! We were being used or what?!"

"My god..."

"..." Sonic stopped his moment of fury. "...Who's there?"

"It has been a long time after I began to send you those anonymous notes, right?"

Chip looked around the room. "W-where are you?"

Sonic noticed that a tall-cloaked figure appeared besides the windows and positioned itself in front of the lunar light. "You 2 joined forces together to find me, but ultimately you made me grow tired of your hunting game. I decided to do this quick before full moon even shines on you, Sonic."

Sonic glared at the figure. "W-well, aren't you going to help me or what? I'm in a predicament here..."

"Don't worry about that," the cloaked person said. "You can walk forward to me. I deactivated the traps Ganondorf puts around his room so nothing interrupts us."

"A-are you trustworthy?" Chip asked worried.

The figure chuckled. "Of course I am. Now, Sonic, walk to me, stop in front of me, and lay down on the dark floor."

"For what?" Sonic asked.

"Just do it, quick," the figure ordered. "Full moon is going to come in 8 minutes if you don't hurry. You there, the imp."

"W-what?" Chip asked.

"You'll have to assist me with this experiment I want to do on Sonic," it explained.

"Experiment?" Sonic asked as he walked to the figure. "You don't know if it'll work out?"

"You want to live or not?" the figure asked annoyed. "Quick, lie down and be quiet. Nothing I'm going to do with you will hurt a bit."

"..." Sonic nodded and laid down on the floor. Chip flew close to him before the figure tossed some things out from its cloak.

It seemed to be a very long, thick silver cable carefully organized in a thick circle made of itself, lots of long nuts, scissors, and a hammer.

"W-what do you want me to do with these?" Chip asked.

"You're going to cover Sonic's body with all the silver cable I gave you," the figure said. "Hurry up, now!"

"A-aren't you going to help me?"

"I'm going to tell you where to cover Sonic first if that's alright with him."

"...Yeah," Sonic said determined. "We have to do this before something else happens, anyway... Chip, listen to this guy, okay? Trust him, her or whatever he or she is."

The cloaked figure frowned.

"...Okay," Chip said before he grabbed the hammer and the scissors. "Let's do this slow and steady..."

As the figure looked Chip covering the hedgehog with the silver cable by running them above him before putting the nuts over their endpoints to attach them down using the hammer, it turned around to see outside. "8:51..." it muttered. "Imp, hurry up."

"R-right," Chip said. "(I hope this works...)"

8:52

The World Traveler and the Aura Pokémon walked through the lonely hallway.

8:53

Peach told everyone to hide underneath the tables with the exception of Wolf, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, and Snake who went to move to the kitchen.

8:54

Chip stuck out his tongue a little bit as the figure instructed him to cover Sonic's face with the cable.

8:55

The Smashers waited for Chris to arrive from the hallway. Some of them raised small bits of the mantle to see through them if he would come.

8:56

Chip was about to be done. His pace was fast for the figure's luck. Sonic, however, closed his eyes as more cables covered him. "Why are you helping Sonic?" Chip asked as he cut more cables.

"You could say I wanted to help him because I wanted to feel important..." the figure said.

"Feel important? What do you mean by that?"

"You shouldn't slow down with the cables," the figure said. "Or do you really want to die tonight?"

Chip stopped for a moment and gulped before he returned to do his work. "S-Sonic...is that really you and not him?"

"Yeah..." Sonic said as he closed his eyes. "I'm all serious now. If this is the only way to exorcise the bastard in my mind, so be it..."

Chip nodded slowly as he covered the hedgehog with the cables.

8:57

Master Hand and Crazy Hand appeared suddenly in the "lonely" hallway and looked around. The sane hand then gasped and remembered what Peach has been doing all the time so both of them hid in the kitchen (while Crazy Hand hummed in excitement).

8:58

Chris and Lucario were about to arrive at the lobby...

8:59

And Chip wiped out the sweat from his face as he flew up and looked down at the covered hedgehog. "Done..."

"And just in time," the figure said.

The imp smiled in triumph before he accidentally flew to the figure and pulled the cloak away. Chip looked at his hand and gasped after he saw the long black cloak. Then, he looked at the figure.

"..." The figure glared at him. "Oh, great..."

"...Y-you?" Chip asked in pure disbelief.

"Well, what can I say..." the figure said with some chuckles. "I have a brain to do things around here, don't you think so, Chip?"

"W-who is it?" Sonic asked underneath the silver cables.

The figure looked at the clock. "...Time to see if this works..."

9:00

Finally, Chris and Lucario arrived at the lobby...

"..." Chris looked around. "...Why is this place ornamented with tables and all that?"

Lucario thought for a moment and smiled a little. "I think it's like that becaus-"

2 things happened at the same time that interrupted Lucario...

The Smashers came out from the tables and prepared to welcome Chris to his party...

...But an echoing roar made everything tremble, making everyone stop before they could yell out, "Happy birthday, Chris!" to him (because Peach planned that as well).

And they turned to the hallway where the roar came from...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Gift Of The Bloody Messenger... W-what does this mean?" Chris asked worried with a gulp.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Chrono Trigger - Light of Silence" is a song reference to the same game. This eerie theme first plays during the rescue mission in the church of monsters, and where you're bound to join with Frog.

-"Chrono Trigger - Critical Moment" is yet another song reference to the same game. It plays during critical (pun intended) situations like Crono's breakout after finding Lucca from the prison of Guardia Castle.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Chip surely comes from a cartoon. Why? Remember that cartoon characters can extend their arms sometimes? Well, doesn't Sonic do that?

-I referenced a dear friend's story during this chapter. I hope she liked it. :)

And so, the beast has been...unleashed.

Or not? Who knows.

Anyway, I liked to write for this chapter a lot. The suspense and the usual screw-ups from Sonic and Chip was something I liked. I liked to write for Dark Super Sonic away. The first moment I saw that sadistic grin in that episode gave me a good impression of his nature. Did you like the development of him? I hope you did.

I bet you hate DSS for his sadistic nature and his affinity for a bloodshed. : )

What will happen next in Chris's birthday party?

I'll tell you a hint: only I know that answer. : P

Read and review, please. : )

...Or you'll eat a good-looking, fresh-looking cake. "Chuckles malevolently in the darkness"
*Chapter 143*: The Gift Of The Bloody Messenger

And the night starts to make its moves on the hedgehog…

From SlasherMask: FINALLY he bought Beastmaster job *does dance*

...Awesome chapters... Very awesome...

Theres not enough villains who do boogeyman comparasion(DSS is really awesome(Unless we remember that hes based on that guy from Sonic X(that guy was pretty unoriginal))

Anyway I really loved Sonic's ands Chip's mysterious guy hunt. Really much. Funny and so..

From me: The time I saw Dark Super Sonic, I thought there was going to a be side-story for him…until the series ended. Well, I hope you enjoy this not-real aftermath. ;)

From aquadragonsayian: Holy freaking crap! Sonic is now a Werehog! And if that figure is actually Pikachu... then oh my god... There were hints about it, and now... it's revealed! Can't wait for the next chapter though! :)

From me: Nope, Sonic is not a werehog…yet. Keep scrolling down, please. ;D

From ngrey651: Wow, the entire chappie you kept the mysterious person who knew the truth about Sonic hidden. I wonder who it is? As for what an air horn is...you press the button on top of it and it lets out a loud blare, schools use it in fire drills to alert kids when it's time to leave or exit the school.

What Chris should get for his birthday is a big, silver stake. Werewolves are practically allergic to the stuff!

From me: But are those weapons for werewolves good against a werehog? You'll see. Thanks. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: This chapter was great, very funny and kept up with the most important event at this moment. You do have a bit of talent with detective type drama apparently, so try to use it when you can! I'm glad Chris got that phone call from his parents, that's very sweet of them (I'm very empathetic, don't blame me). Main problems I'm having, I feel like murdering DSS, his likeness for blood disgusts me and his attitude. So far, a very climatic and dramatic cliffhanger, can't wait to see the end result. After this, we'll be finally seeing another game arc right? Well, time for a...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! DETECTIVE/QUESTION EDITION!
Here are the people I think could still be the mysterious hooded person, complete with explanations
Luigi: has experienced with ghosts and the likes before. Could still possibly be able to use the Poltergeist vacuum to suck up DSS's spirit out of Sonic.
Link: has experienced with curses and lied to Sonic. And that he's one of the 2 main characters mentioned in the stories preview in the ssb section.
Jigglypuff: I don't know, something inside me just said that she's a possibility.
Peach: same as above.
Are we allowed to recommended shooting and/or horror type games?
Will you be using characters from other system games again?
If you're 17 and born around September, does that mean the monkey and Virgo/Libra are your Chinese and western signs?
Did you know that "Nana" means flower and 7 in Japanese?
well, Imaginative typing!

From me: Well…you can recommend those kinds of games as long as there's depth.

I'm Libra. I don't know anything about the Chinese Calendar.

No, I didn't know what that meant.

Thank you. :D

From Light the Lucario: Very dark. Heh, and funny as well. This is a very great chapter and it makes me hate Dark Super Sonic now! Though you seem to have a lot of fun torturing the normal Sonic as well, heh. Well, I guess the only thing I can say is... Have a Great Birthday Chris and watch out for werehogs!

From me: O-of course I don't like to humiliate Sonic or something. I like him more now. Thanks. :)

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Band? Um, I don't have anything to do with a band. I was just busy with other stuff.

Anyway, this chapter was so funny, with Sonic and Chip trying to figure out who's been sending him notes. I wonder who HAS been sending Sonic notes. I think Sonic and Chip have issues with not making the rest of the Smashers angry. Oh, and Fox's cooking is really that bad to put anyone in a coma? Sonic must hate that. I hope the next chapter is up soon.

From me: Weird, I thought you said you used to play with a band in park… Oh, forget what I said.

I've seen a lot of fics where Fox has very good cooking skills. HOWEVER, I applied a little bit of logic and made him suck totally at it just for humoristic purposes. Maybe one day he will learn.

Here is the chapter, enjoy it. :)

From RayGallade: I like cake, but not that cake.
Happy birthday to Chris, and soon, you and me. I feel bad for the Ice Climbers, and Red, but mainly the Ice Climbers. I wonder how the Pokemon trainers will respond to DSS's roar. I think that you did a wonderful job on this chapter.
Oh, and I agree with you, that took me a long, long time. Just imagine how annoying it would be as a New Play Control.

RayGallade out.

From me: I think the New Play Control games are good. Oh well, everyone thinks differently. Thanks. :D

From Dimentio713: Man! DSS really likes blood anyways looks like something will during the party! Plus a lot of music too! Anyways see ya later! This review is kinda short though

From me: I hope you think more about your reviews. Hopefully I know you will. Thank you. :D

Chris's birthday party has started, but also, something else is about to start that will endanger everyone. What will happen next?

As always, the poll is always open for your choices. Rejoice since this chapter is less longer than the one before. :D

Scroll down to enjoy the fic. I have nothing else to say but to encourage you to enjoy this and review he chapter. ;)

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: Boshi is the evil version of Yoshi.

Chapter 143: The Gift Of The Bloody Messenger

Smash Mansion
Ganondorf's Room

Chip and the figure looked down at the hedgehog covered in cables. After a loud echoing roar came from within the cables themselves, Chip backed away with the person as well.

"W-what's happening?" Chip asked.

"This is so weird..." the figure said in disbelief. "I thought the silver cables were the perfect restraints to stop the wolf beast from taking over Sonic's body and mind..."

"So it was all an experiment?"

"It IS an experiment," the person said. "But I thought it would work..."

The cables began to shake violently.

"This isn't good..." the person said. "Something bad will happen after all...if we don't do something, that is."

"W-what do we do?"

The person looked at Chip. "...I...don't know..."

"..." Chip stared at the person while the cables shook. "...Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you do this if you didn't know what you were doing?"

"...I don't know!" Jigglypuff yelled. "I just wanted to feel important for something crucial! You don't know the pain I go through while everyone else can start very good topics about the Subspace Army!"

The person revealed itself to be none other than Jigglypuff. Chip looked at her confused while the Balloon Pokémon stood up on a tall chair that made her look tall when she had the cloak on herself.

"So you did all of this in secret to receive attention?" Chip asked.

Jigglypuff's eyes filled with tears before she covered her face. "I-I wanted to feel special for once!" she cried out. "I felt special, right? You were looking for me because I was special, right?"

"...Y-yeah..." Chip looked away.

Jigglypuff smiled a little. "I knew I was doing the right thing after I overheard Sonic talking to himself that night."

"Oh, wait," Chip began as he looked at her. "How did you know he had that guy inside him?"

Jigglypuff sniffed and looked away. "I knew it ever since the night before we invaded Smithy's turf... Sonic was talking to someone and I happened to be walking in that hallway. He seemed to be ranting and arguing to his mind about hiding previews like fangs growing out... But that's all I heard before that girl, Rita, came into the scene. I gasped and silently hurried my way to my room," she explained. "But I knew nobody else knew about Sonic's situation at all so I took the chance to be of importance to him."

"Like love?"

"N-no!" Jigglypuff said with a pout. "I'll never fall in love with him, ever!"

"S-sorry..."

"Anyway," the singer continued. "I knew I couldn't just go to him and say I knew how to help him out. He would have frowned at me and say something like, "No way" before running away..."

"And you began to send him the notes without anyone else knowing."

"That's right," Jigglypuff said. "I knew he was going to turn into some kind of wolf after I saw the fangs, fur, and claws that he grew during battle. It was so obvious and I started to read about werewolves and how to make them go away from someone's body," she explained more as she took from her back a book. "I read in this book that you could stop someone from becoming a werewolf by using silver cables to cover the victim completely."

Chip took the book and read the cover. "Werewolves And Their Ominous Ways To Be Disappeared?"

"That's right," Jigglypuff said with a happy smile. "I read everything on it to help Sonic tonight."

"But why didn't your experiment work?"

"I don't know..." Jigglypuff said. "I knew the process was going to work, but what happened?"

Chip opened the book and looked around the pages. He stopped at the first pages, and his eyes narrowed at one that was stuck with another. He looked down at the new page. "...Warning: all these practices will only work with humans and not anthro beings. We know anthro beings are a branch of humans, but they're not completely humans at all."

"...What?!" Jigglypuff asked as she looked at the book. "Aw, dammit! I knew I was missing a page!"

Chip closed the book and patted Jigglypuff's back. "There, there, at least you wanted to help Sonic. That makes you important."

Jigglypuff sniffed and slowly hugged Chip. "T-thank you, Chip..."

Chip chuckled and hugged her back. "Anytime, Jiggs...anytime..."

Both of them chuckled heartily...

...But they forgot Sonic.

"...Oh no..." Chip muttered before both looked at the trembling body in cables. "W-what should we do? H-he's gonna transform anytime soon!"

"Don't worry!" Jigglypuff yelled. "As long as the moonlight stays away from him, the transformation effect won't get completed!"

The imp noticed that the moonlight passed just above them, and shone on the cables. Jigglypuff looked at the window before her gaze looked all the way to Sonic.

"...For crying out loud!" Jigglypuff cursed loudly. "I knew it was a bad idea to stay in the middle of the light with that chair!"

"G-grrrrrrrr..."

Both of their eyes widened while their pupils shrunk. "W-what was that?" Chip asked as he continued to hug a terrified Jigglypuff.

"I-I think...I think...I think...I-I-I think..." Jigglypuff gulped as they looked at the body in cables. "...The beast..."

Chip looked at her in terror.

"...Has been unleashed..." she finished.

Both of them quickly looked back at the cables, and they seemed to be growing slowly. Chip and Jigglypuff looked at each other before backing away from the shaking body.

They noticed fur coming out from the small spaces between the cables. They also saw several parts of the cables growing bigger and bigger until they saw big patches of dark blue fur coming out. The duo looked further away where they saw a snout pushing the cables outward, revealing some sharp fangs that made them gulp in fear. The cables slowly took a small, muscular form that began to shake in pure rage.

"U-uh-oh..." both of them muttered as they hugged tightly.

Soon, cables began to be ripped apart by a big amount of body mass and fur from some big arms with big claws on the sides. The feet themselves began to grow big until spikes came out from underneath them, revealing a reddish purple set of shoes. Chip and Jigglypuff gasped once the fangs opened and quickly tore open the cables that restrained a nose.

It was a small matter of time before all the cables were ripped apart by the beast that laid down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with rage and fury combined. Chip and Jigglypuff saw the figure slowly sitting up before locking green glaring eyes at them. The beast before them slowly stood up, but put its big claws down on the floor.

"..." both remained silent as the beast showed its fangs at them.

The beast pulled its head back to release a powerful roar to the ceiling, opening its mouth completely to reveal the sharpness of its fangs. Chip's and Jigglypuff's pupils shrunk even more as the hidden furniture in the darkness shook as the roar created some small trembles around the room. The beast, finally, stopped roaring and locked eyes to the 2.

"...YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Chip and Jigglypuff screamed loudly as they hugged each other.

"..." The beast smirked with a chuckle, showing its fangs a little. "Ooh, the little cry babies wanna cry now?" the beast asked with a snicker. "Surely you're kidding me."

Chip and Jigglypuff stopped screaming and looked back at the beast. "I-is that really you, Sonic?" Chip asked with a gulp.

The werehog chuckled and slowly walked to them, moving his big arms in an ordered pace. "Oh, Chip, you know it's me..." the werehog said with an amused look as the 2 backed away from him to just below the window. "You don't know your friend?" he asked, showing his fangs a little as he ducked down to see them closer, raising his eyebrows as he half-closed his eyes.

"E-er..." Chip looked freaked out by the amused beast. "M-maybe?"

"...Right!" Sonic said before he gave them a huge (werehog) hug, nearly asphyxiating them in his furred arms. "Aww, it's good to have good friends like you to help me out!"

"S-Sonic..." Jigglypuff muttered as she turned purple. "Y-you're...asphyxiating me...and Chip..."

"...Oh!" Sonic released them and let them fall down on the floor. "I'm soooooo sorry! I think I don't know my own strength at all!" the werehog said before he looked amused and flexed his big arms. "Or do I?" he asked as he tried to find some bulges, nodding and smirking at his arms.

Chip and Jigglypuff backed away quickly from the beast. "W-why do I think he's not Sonic at all?" Chip asked.

"I-I don't even think Sonic's here anymore..." Jigglypuff said fairly terrified.

The werehog quickly looked at them with his green eyes as he continued flexing (apparently in pleasure of himself). "So, you guys like how I look? Because I've never felt so damn strong in my life before... My arms are pretty big..."

Jigglypuff gulped as the werehog continued to do his newfound hobby. "M-maybe a little?" she responded.

"A LITTLE?!" howled Sonic as he glared at them, making them gasp in fear. "Why you little punks..." he muttered as he quickly walked at them. "Just look at me!" he demanded as he was about to shove his face at them. "My body, my strength, even my sexiness have increased for a lot after I transformed into this!"

"..." Chip and Jigglypuff looked at each other. "...Sexiness?" they repeated confused.

"For the love of... Yeah!" the werehog complained. "Damn, you're WAY too dumb to notice my almighty appearance, aren't you?!"

Chip and Jigglypuff had to nod very quickly, making the werehog grin malevolently.

"Thought so..." the werehog said with a snicker...before he returned to flex his arms. "God, I feel so damn strong. Why, I could lift anything with these beauties anytime I wan-"

"Narcissistic type much?" Jigglypuff asked bored of the beast.

"I'd say so..." Chip muttered bored.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Sonic asked as he glared down at his prey. "CARE TO REPEAT THAT AGAIN IN MY FACE?!"

"N-NO, SIR!" Chip and Jigglypuff hugged each other and shook their heads in fear.

"You better..." Sonic muttered with a growl. "...Anyway," he began with a smirk as he flexed his claws. "This power...I need to test it out right now on something..." He looked amused at them, raising his eyebrows in a cocky manner. "...Or someone?"

"...Use him!" Jigglypuff said as she pushed imp to him. "He likes getting hurt!"

"W-what?" Chip asked as he looked up at the amused beast. The imp looked back at Jigglypuff. "T-traitor! You betrayed me!"

"Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Sonic laughed evilly at the ceiling, making the 2 look shocked. "You guys are way so funny, I'll give you that..." He wiped a tear away with a claw. "Aww, you know how to make someone strong like me laugh that good..."

Chip backed away to Jigglypuff. "S-so, you're not going to attack us, right?"

"O-or eat us, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"..." Sonic stood straight, put his big claws on his hips, and looked down at them. "Guess what I'm going to do tonight," he said with a grin.

"K-kill, maybe?"

"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "This fool is knocked out inside my mind. Since I have my body back here with me, and it came together with this awesome transformation..." The werehog showed his fangs at them. "I'm gonna start my bloodshed in a few seconds..." he muttered with a snicker.

"...On us?" Chip asked.

"...You 2 will be my second prey..." DSS said. "Remember? I'm gonna give someone else his so deserved gift for reaching 17 years of living a meaningless life..."

"..." Jigglypuff gasped. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Correct!" DSS said with a frown. "It took you that long to guess? Geez..." He glared down at them with a malicious grin. "That kid is all mine tonight...and everyone else in here as well..."

"W-well, I'm sure they heard your loud roars!" Chip yelled at him. "They're on their way here, so get prepared for a good beating!"

"Yes!" Jigglypuff joined in with a pout. "They're not going to abandon us that easily! Besides, we all look for each other in dangerous situations lik-"

"Happy birthday to-you, happy birthday to-you, happy birthday dear Chriiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiis...happy birthday-to-youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

The trio blinked in confusion after they heard many voices coming from the hallway, singing in perfect synch.

"..." Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "...I know those bastards left us with you to get mauled alive...but..." She looked angry. "...That had to be the WORST birthday greeting I've ever heard in my life before..."

"Yeah..." Chip said as he nodded. "...That chorus sounded so awful..."

"You 2 tell me," DSS said with a frown. "I can't believe they actually sang together..."

Jigglypuff motioned at Chip to the door as the beast looked another way as he frowned. Chip took a small time to understand before they slowly and silently walked towards the door, just behind the werehog.

"Yuck, come to think of it, they suck at singing," DSS said with a frown. "I bet they even convinced some of the cold ones to sing. I could tell there were some deep voices 'cuz my hearing got stronger like everything in me."

Chip and Jigglypuff watched the beast from behind as they went closer to the door.

"Well, what can you do?" DSS asked as he looked at the ceiling. "I'll better cut their throats first before they scream in pure agony," DSS said. "Yeah, that'll do nicely..."

The duo accelerated a little bit, taking in mind their sounds of their steps.

"Heheheh," DSS chuckled with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm so looking forward to see blood spilling all over," he said. "Yeah, yeah, YEAH!!! I WANT TO DO IT NOW!!!" The werehog pointed at his left side where the duo were supposed to be. "AND I'LL START WITH YO-"

The sound of the door closing was heard and the beast turned around to it.

"...They're sometimes smart..." he muttered. "...GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" DSS took a wild stance by smacking down his claws on the floor before he charged at the door at full throttle.

Hallway

Kingdom Hearts II - Rowdy Rumble

Meanwhile, the 2 terrified characters were flying across the hallway as fast as they could. However, Chip was the only one flying since Jigglypuff was riding on his rather small back.

"Fly faster!" Jigglypuff yelled as she looked back. "He should notice we're not there with him anymore!"

"I-I'm trying to do my best here!" Chip yelled. "D-don't pressure me!"

Both of them heard the sound of the door breaking apart. Jigglypuff looked behind her where she barely recognized DSS's smirking expression before he howled a bit and began to run after them. "Heeeey!" DSS called as he stuck out his tongue a bit. "Do you wanna play tag now? Well, do you mind if I let my claws play on you?"

"N-no!" both yelled back.

"Well, don't mind if I do! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" DSS laughed maniacally before he started to throw his claws, extending at long distances at the duo. Chip and Jigglypuff gasped and the Balloon Pokémon grabbed Chip's ears out of panic and pulled them to the directions where the claws didn't punch them. "Why don't you play with me? You're making me one sad hedgehog..."

"I-I really hate that stupid nature he has!" Jigglypuff yelled as she pulled Chip's ears.

"Oh, who wouldn't?!" Chip asked before they barely dodged a flying fist. "P-please, we have to make it to the others!"

The duo turned around the hallway before the maniacally werehog followed suit...

Main Lobby

Minutes before the transformation, but after the first roar...

"..." Chris blinked in confusion as he looked back at the hallway. "W-what was that just now?" he asked unsure.

Just to be pointed out, the World Traveler was using his Black Mage job.

The Smashers (who had appeared from underneath the tables) looked at Chris after staring at the source of the roar.

This wasn't planned in Peach's mind, though. The princess coughed a little bit to get everyone's attention. She really wanted to continue with this without interruptions by the look of her serious face. "S-surprise!" she yelled, opening her arms to Chris.

The World Traveler and the Aura Pokémon turned around to look at them. "W-what?" Chris asked.

"Everyone, say your lines, quick!" Peach whispered to them.

"Oh no," Falco said. "There's not a chance in hell I'm going to sing that."

Mario looked somewhat annoyed at him. Falco looked back at Peach and noticed she began to sob silently.

"If you make her cry, she won't stop crying for a long while," Mario muttered. "Last time she cried she locked herself in her room for a week once she held a party and one of the guests complained to her about a Toad that didn't say hello to him. Now, sing!" he muttered in form of a plea.

"..." Falco rolled his eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Mewtwo muttered in embarrassment.

Fox looked around. "...Oh, sweet, Wolf escaped," he said annoyed.

"EVERYONE!" Peach muttered louder as Chris and Lucario kept staring at them. "QUICK!"

And everyone took a deep breath and began to sin-

Due to the fact that we don't humiliate any of the serious Smashers by making them sing during a birthday, this scene is going to be temporally censored. Please understand we're doing this to keep most of them in-character as much as possible. Thank you and keep enjoying this birthday party. You may now return reading.

Chris and Lucario were...utterly speechless after they heard every single Smasher singing.

But there 2 questions that troubled Chris's mind...

It was either the fact that everyone sang in perfect synch with happy emotions...

...Or the fact that they actually sang together.

Chris stared at Peach, who had her arms wide open after they finished singing for him. The World Traveler blinked at this sudden awkward silence before breaking the silence. "...Thank...you..." he trailed off, thinking of something else to say at this moment.

"..." Peach lowered her arms and looked a little bit disappointed. "...I'm so sorry for asking you this...but..." she began as she turned around to face the people in there. "...Where's the enthusiasm? Where is it? I wanted to feel the enthusiasm and passion to sing to Chris! Why did you have to show boredom while you were all singing?!"

She seemed angry by the look of her face.

At that moment, Wolf, Meta Knight, and Snake came from the kitchen and walked back to the group without being noticed.

"Hey," Link began. "I DID sing with enthusiasm, but I only do that in Ordon."

"I'm not the guy who likes to sing that either," C. Falcon said.

"Please forget what I just did some seconds ago," Mewtwo said. "I just did it because Peach wouldn't stop bothering me (and the fact she had an eye on me unlike some people here...)"

"What? Are you all heartless?" Peach asked annoyed. "I've been working day and night to organize this birthday party since the beginning and you had to go and..."

She didn't have the courage to sa-"

"And screw everything up!"

It turned out she did.

Luigi's jaw opened. "P-Peach, I-I did sing with enthusiasm..."

"I know, Luigi," Peach said smiling before she looked angry at the others. "But you! Why don't you show enthusiasm?"

"Do I look like I'm happy for this party?" Wolf asked. "This is the kid's party, after all."

Chris (and Lucario) looked pissed at this comment.

"What was that?" Peach asked as she walked rather quickly to Wolf. "This party is special, you know that? Everyone here worked hard to do this, and you didn't do a thing!"

"Ooh, I'm scared," Wolf said sarcastically. "The princess's mad at me. Oh no, I'm going to di-"

The princess sent a hard slap on Wolf's cheek, making him back away.

"O-oww..." Wolf muttered before she glared at her. "Hey, blonde, what was that for?" he asked annoyed.

Peach took out a golf club from her back as she kept staring at the lupine.

Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi gasped.

Chris tilted his head in confusion.

Everyone...just looked.

"Uh-oh..." Yoshi began. "He did it..."

"Y-yes, he did," Luigi said.

"Sadly, he did," Mario said with some nods.

"What," Wolf asked uninterested at Peach. "You gonna whack the heck out of me with that thing?"

"I'll do worse..." Peach muttered. "You haven't seen me..."

"...WAIT!" Chris suddenly yelled as she ran at Peach, took the golf club away from her and tossed it outside the window. "B-before you start to get even more out of character...um..."

Peach looked at him with a blank face.

"..." The World Traveler looked at the Smashers, the hands, and the tables arranged around the lobby. "...W-wow, a surprise birthday party? T-that's really...sweet!" he said, happily hugging Peach.

The princess blinked before she returned the hug. "Oh, Chris, you like this?"

"Y-yes!" Chris said (as he seemed to look fairly shocked at the Smashers over Peach's shoulder). "I can't believe you all went through all this just for me... That's really...no, so really good!"

"Aww..." Peach hugged him tightly. "T-thank you, I knew you were going to like this... I was the one who thought about it at first. Everyone else then agreed with my idea."

"(Except the singing part...)" Samus thought.

Both of them stopped hugging and the princess looked at Chris with joined hands in front of her neck. "I'm so glad you like this, Chris. That's so sweet of you after we organized everything for you only. You're a very special person to me." She wiped a tear (as some of the Smashers rolled their eyes).

"I-I know..." Chris said, forcing a happy smile. "Really, Peach...thank you..."

Peach smiled and shed a tear of happiness. "Y-you're welcome, Chris..."

The World Traveler looked back at the Smashers. "W-well, thank you for everything," he said (as he looked angry to make them agree with him to prevent Peach from getting angry). "You guys are so awesome!"

"...Um...yeah!" Luigi said suddenly.

"A-absolutely," Lucas said with some nods.

"W-we are?" Olimar asked confused.

It was a matter of time before all of them nodded and agreed with Chris's desperate move to calm the princess. A pissed Wolf walked nearby him and grunted a bit before he returned to the group.

"Well, then," Peach said as she lifted her hands up. "We shouldn't waste anymore time and get this party started!"

Chris looked at the Smashers and nodded with a serious look.

Everyone looked at each other and agreed with a small round of applauses.

"..." Peach looked around. "That's weird, where are Sonic, Chip, and Jigglypuff?"

C. Falcon and Olimar gasped after remembering that it was night of full moon.

"I wanted Jigglypuff to be here because she would have loved to sing..." Peach said a little bit depressed. "But Chris came first than her..."

"And where's Sonic, anyway?" Pikachu asked. "I thought he was going to help the most, a thing he didn't even do at all."

"I guess he even forgot Chris's eternal gift," Marth said. "Ugh, that guy sometimes scares me, though..."

Scare...

That single word made Red, Popo, and Nana remember.

"E-everyone!" Red suddenly yelled. "S-Sonic, he isn't the same anymore!"

"What?" Squirtle and Ivysaur asked, looking up and their terrified trainer.

"What?" Master Hand asked. "Oh, you keep babbling about his new attitude, right? Please, he wouldn't want to kill anyone here."

"Oh, at least you didn't see him like we did!" Popo argued. "H-he wanted to kill the 3 of us with that sadistic smile of his!"

"H-he even looked ready to chew our arms off!" Nana yelled fairly terrified. "T-that only happened during the night, and it happens to be night right now! He could show up and attack anyone alone!"

Snake rolled his eyes. "What the f(beep) are you saying now? We know that hedgehog was going to cause some kind of stupid event to not show up here and suffer the singing part we all did. Who wanted to sing here, anyway?"

"We wanted to," Mei Ling and Otacon were heard saying.

"Besides you 2," Snake said with a sigh.

Some of the people in there raised their hands.

"...I thought so," Snake said. "Anyway, I'm not going to deal with this crap anymore longer. I'm out of here."

Peach gasped after Snake began to walk upstairs. "W-wait! We haven't even started the party yet!"

"Better yet, I suppose," Snake said without turning at her. "I have more important matters to attend to."

"Like?"

"Like sleeping," Snake said simply.

Things weren't going like Peach planned. She looked a little bit depressed.

"D-don't look like that," Chris said. "I'm sure everyone else wants to celebrate, right?"

The Smashers looked at each other and some of them made true small smiles and nodded.

"...Well..." Peach began as the soldier was about to reach upstairs. "...Let's start this party, okay? Kirby here wants to eat the food he did."

There was an anxious Kirby with fork and spoon ready on his hands while he was sitting down at the end of a table with a big variety of food. Meta Knight, however, knew that the utensils weren't going to touch anything, and he walked to Kirby, making the Star Warrior sigh in depression.

The Smashers began to talk between groups as they spread around and sat down on the tables. Peach opened her mouth a little in surprise as Chris took her hand (shyly) and nodded to her with a chuckle. "Do you want to sit close to me?" Chris asked. "After all, that's the only thing I can do for you for making this secret birthday party."

"O-oh, go ahead," Peach said, blushing and giggling.

Lucario walked to Chris. "Can I sit next to you, too?"

"Of course," Chris said. "There's always a seat reserved for you, Lucario."

Lucario wagged his tail a little and smiled a bit to Chris. The trio went to sit on a table where some of the Smashers were talking.

Surely, nothing was going to interrupt this mome-

"EVERYONE!" Nana yelled loudly as she, Red, Popo, C. Falcon, and Olimar remained standing up.

All the Smashers turned at them. "What?" Roy asked.

"We were just about to start the party," Ness said nearby as he was carrying a small plate. "Why'd you interrupt now?"

"Y-you don't simply understand!" Olimar said with a gulp. "S-Sonic has in mind to attack everyone here tonight!"

"And he wants to kill Chris as a gift for his birthday!" Popo yelled.

Most of the Smashers blinked in confusion after the blue Ice Climber yelled terrified. They all looked at each other and muttered things about the rumor of Sonic wanting to kill them all tonight.

However, Chris seemed shocked, yet surprised at this revelation.

"...Excuse me?" Chris asked. "...Sonic...wants to kill me...as a gift for my birthday?"

"Y-yes!" Red yelled. "T-that crazy psychopath wanted to kill us before, but he didn't!"

"He put the 3 of us in the basement and kept us tied down without anyone else..." Popo shivered. "T-that was so scaring after those short days..."

"And Mewtwo!" C. Falcon began. "I thought you believed us! After all, you found these 3 kids (Red, Popo, and Nana: We have names, you know!) with your psychic powers!"

"I did," Mewtwo said. "But it's hard to tell that Sonic changed."

"For the love of god, you should know!" Nana said annoyed. "You read minds all the time when you're bored!"

"I do not read minds when I'm bored," Mewtwo lied. "For that matter, I don't stalk anyone's minds."

"Lie," Lucario said simply. "You just said a lie."

"You..." Mewtwo muttered a little bit annoyed. "...Fine, I do it from time to time, but that has nothing to do with this."

"W-well," Popo began with a gulp. "Can't you see what we went through by reading our minds?"

"I hav-"

"And we mean our minds, not C. Falcon's and Olimar's," Nana added suddenly.

"..." Mewtwo looked a little bit ashamed. "...I can't believe I didn't think of that detail..."

"Psychic cat here just lost 1 IQ point from his brai-" Pikachu's mouth shone a bit before it was forced to close by a psychic force. The Electric Pokémon struggled to open his mouth as Mewtwo focused to read the victims' minds by closing his eyes.

"..." Mewtwo focused hard.

A moment of silence took place in the lobby as everyone kept staring at him. The Psychic Pokémon began to receive images of the minds of the Ice Climbers and Red themselves. He saw through their eyes and malevolent figure with a sadistic smile looking at them before long arms and screams were seen and heard respectively.

As for the musicians...

Lanky shifted his eyes as he and the entire Kong family sat next to each other. "Um, what is going on here?" he asked.

"If we explained, you would get really shocked..." Diddy said unsure.

"Oh, come on," Tiny said with a frown. "What is there you don't want to say to us?"

"No, really," DK said. "You'd get really shocked if we did..."

"..." Chunky gulped. "Tell us..."

DK and Diddy hopped a bit. "Wait, are you really sure you want to know?"

"E-eh," Master Hand interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I think you should wait a little longer before we explain ourselves..."

Tiny crossed her arms. "Fine, fine."

"...You're giving up that easily?" Diddy asked.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Tiny asked. "You're just going to keep suggesting not to listen to what you guys do daily here."

"That reminds me..." Medli turned at Toon Link (who seemed to be all bruised after being called back from outside during his training). "I should come back down once in a while. I feel like I haven't gone outside because...well...doing music is really fun."

After a small while, Mewtwo opened his eyes. "..." He nodded. "...We're in trouble..."

That small sentence made everyone mutter to each other in surprise. They knew very well Mewtwo didn't like to lie in serious situations.

Take in mind the word "serious."

"Okay, okay, everyone stop talking," Master Hand began. "It seems that what the 3 said about Sonic was true thanks to Mewtwo."

"I wonder why you didn't do the same," Crazy Hand suddenly asked.

"Well, Mewtwo has even more experience of a psychic unlike me," the hand admitted. "I can read minds but just that... Anyway, that's not the point."

Chris looked somewhat shocked at this revelation.

"...Chris?" Lucario began. "Are you feeling fine?"

"...I...think so..." Chris said as some of the Smashers looked at him. "...B-but...how?" he asked. "Why is Sonic wanting to kill me off? I mean, I never did something to make him get so angry at me..."

"It's because Sonic himself didn't think of that," Mewtwo pointed out. "Judging by the images that I saw in their minds, I could tell Sonic was not himself...because..." Mewtwo stood up. "Sonic has been taken out from his body and mind, and an entity took over both things."

"What? An entity?" Ike asked. "How?"

"I don't know," Mewtwo said. "If we had Sonic in here, I could take an examination of his mind to detect any kind of spirit or soul inside hi-"

The Smashers suddenly heard screams for help coming from the hallway. They all quickly turned their heads to the northeast where Chip and Jigglypuff appeared, screaming loudly. Some of them stood up before both hid underneath the tables. "E-everyone, run!" Chip yelled.

"T-the beast is coming!" Jigglypuff yelled. "H-hurry and take Chris somewhere safe!"

At this sudden scream, Chunky hid underneath the tables, making his family frown in embarrassment.

"W-what?" Chris asked, trying to find a good explanation for this sudden event. "W-what are you 2 talking about? Please, come out!"

"No!" Chip yelled. "We all better be prepared for the worst!"

The Smashers looked at each other in confusion before, from the hallway, came a howling beast that roared furiously at them. All of them suddenly stood up and looked surprised to see some kind of wolf glaring and showing all his fangs at them. The beast himself looked around his surroundings before he sniffed the air.

"Hmm...hmm...hmm....their scent...I sense it..." DSS muttered with a smirk. "Yes, YES! They're here, no doubt about it! C'mon, Chip, Jigglypuff, play with me!"

"What the heck is happening to him?" Roy asked.

"A-and for that matter, why does Sonic look like a b-beast?" Lucas asked, trembling.

The werehog locked eyes on all of them and smirked even more. "Wow, you guys here? Are you up to some fighting or what?" he asked.

"I-I don't even think that's Sonic anymore..." Pichu said with a gulp.

DSS showed his fangs at them and stood up. "Did you come here to see me? You should have said so," he said before he flexed his arms and smirked. "I wanna test this babies right now on all of you. Wanna give me a hand with 'em?"

"What does he even mean by that?" Ness asked.

"I think he wants to pound us," Fox commented.

"Sonic," Master Hand began. "I don't know why you're acting like an idiot, but stop this whole nonsense," he said politely. "Take that ridiculous wolf costume off and join us to celebrate Chris's party."

"Who's party again?" DSS asked before he glared at Chris with a smirk. "Oh, riiiiiiight, the birthday kid. I forgot about him."

Chris didn't like the look that DSS gave him. DSS's face made the teen gulp. "S-Sonic, why do you look like that tonight?" Chris asked.

"I didn't tell you?" DSS asked. "I was going to turn like this very soon. I thought that traitor Chip told you since he's not trustworthy enough for me."

Chip peered his head from the table. "Y-you're evil, a-and insane!" the imp yelled. "You're not Sonic, but an evil entity now!"

"Evil entity?" Chris repeated with some of the Smashers.

DSS laughed for a bit. "Well, well, I guess I should reveal myself before you all die a fast and painful death," he said with a chuckle. "You're looking at the newly powerful Dark Super Sonic! The one who is about to bring damnation to your miserable lives!!!"

"Dark Super Sonic?" Master Hand asked. "You don't look that super to me. Look at you with that costume."

"Idiot," DSS muttered. "I'm 100 percent real, and my new hot body is very real as well."

"My goodness," Ness said bored. "His ego turned into narcissism so fast."

"Hot body..." Samus muttered with a frown. "Even Sonic couldn't get that fa-oh, wait, he would get that far."

"Silence," DSS muttered. "Silence, silence, silence, SILENCE!!!" he howled angrily. "DAMMIT! WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO DUMB?!"

"And he has a short personality disorder as well," Marth said.

"Ugh..." DSS frowned. "What the hell do you want me to demonstrate I'm not that bastard Sonic?"

Chris looked down in confusion. "But I just don't understand where you came from at all..."

"...Well, none of you were there..." DSS said. "Fine, I am Sonic's suppressed entity that was born out of fake Chaos Emeralds a looooooooooooooooong time ago," he said with a smirk. "I remember the day he crashed right into a pile of fake Chaos Emeralds that emanated a strange radiation, and he was touched by every single radiation, giving birth to me once rage and fury were given to him after he witnessed some "dear" friends of his getting hurt."

"...Fake Chaos Emeralds..." Chris repeated. "...I only know that from the..." He looked up to DSS. "...You're that entity? The same entity that destroyed those Metare-"

DSS chuckled. "Wow, you're smart," he said. "Your parents should be so proud of you, Chris."

"...That's right..." Chris realized. "That part of that forgotten event was never fully resolved or explored..." He backed away. "A-and you're saying you're that entity?"

DSS nodded with his sadistic smile.

"...Y-you little unresolved plot furred bastard!" Chris yelled.

"Heheheh, now with that out of the way," DSS began. "I hope you guys enjoyed this little but boring birthday party."

"W-what?" Peach asked. "W-we were just going to star-"

"Shut up, dumb blonde princess," DSS said.

Peach gasped. "W-what did you say to me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Dumb blonde?" DSS asked with a grin. "You look like a dumb blonde to me."

"W-why are you saying such a horrible thing to me?" Peach asked.

"Chick, look at your hair and eyes," DSS said with a devious smirk. "I haven't seen such an example of a dumb blonde around here like you."

"I-I'm not dumb!" Peach yelled back at him. "I-I planned all of this party for Chris because it's his birthday!"

"So what?" DSS asked. "It doesn't change the fact you're a dumby-blondy."

Peach gasped and seemed to get sad at this. "T-that's not true..." she muttered. "That's...not..."

"Y-you shut up!" Luigi yelled as he stepped in front of Peach. "Peach isn't dumb! W-why are you taking it on her? S-she didn't do anything to you!"

"...Growl..." DSS simply said to him.

Luigi instantly hid underneath the table with Chip, Chunky, and Jigglypuff.

"Luigi..." Mario muttered with a frown.

"Anyway," DSS continued. "Dumby-blondy wants to cry now, right?" he asked with a grin. "C'mon, you gotta cry now or later...preferably now..."

"B-but why should I cry?" Peach asked.

Chris didn't like any of this...

"Because you're a dumby-blondy," DSS said, chuckling as he moved up and down in excitement. "Everyone hates dumby-blondies like you, Peach... Hmm...did you know Peach can rhyme with b(beep) very well?"

Peach shook her head, trying hardly to prevent tears from coming out.

"Dumby-blondy wants to cryyyyyy," DSS teased. "Dumby-blondy's a crybaby; a big, dumby-blondie crybaaaaaaabyyyyyyyy."

Peach began to sob before she covered her face. "I-I'm not like that..." she muttered with some sobs. "W-why are you so mean to me, Sonic?"

"Heheheh..." DSS chuckled. "...'Cuz you're a dumby-blondy..." He smirked, showing his fangs. "...Dumbie-blondy."

Peach began to sob even louder than before, soon breaking into tears as everyone watched in pure disbelief at her treatment.

"...Why you..." Mario muttered as he glared daggers at the beast and walked in front of her. "She didn't do anything to you. Why did you make her cry?"

"Because she's a dumby-blondy," DSS kept teasing. "You're deaf or something?"

"(Weird...)" Mario thought. "(I don't feel like beating him up senseless like I used to do it with Sonic... I guess it's not the same with him...) I'm not deaf," Mario said before she patted the crying princess. "Peach, please, don't cry... You did a very good job with this party..."

"Too bad she didn't because she's a dumby-blondy," DSS teased more, making the princess look up at him before covering her crying face with her hands.

Chris's eyes focused on the beast.

"Dumby-blondy is worthless," DSS teased with some chuckles as most of the Smashers glared at him. "Dumby-blondy's dumb, heheheheheh."

The World Traveler put a hard grip on his staff from behind his back as he chanted silently.

"She needs to get killed tonight," DSS went on. "Dumby-blondies need to die."

Chris's yellow eyes turned into a glare.

"Why, you ask?" DSS continued. "Because...she is a dumby-blondi-"

"THUNDARA!!!"

"What th-UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" The werehog was suddenly attacked by heavy bolts of lightning that fell from above him, making him grunt in pain before he shook himself and growled at the Smashers. "Okay, who's the idiot behind that attack?!"

"You..." Chris muttered as he glared at the beast. "...You BETTER shut that stupid mouth of yours RIGHT NOW!"

"Ooh, the kid's angry," DSS taunted with an amused smile. "I'm so in trouble now... Yeah, right..."

"You're NOT going to going to do that sort of thing while I'm around here," Chris said angered to the beast as the Smashers and everyone else glared at the demonic beast. "Why, I think you have probably the worst attitude in here!"

DSS kept chuckling. "Aww, the kid's turning heroic? That's so cute. Here, let me pinch you your cheek."

Chris gasped as he saw a fast fist coming straight to him. The World Traveler gasped and covered his face before Lucario stepped quickly in front of him and stopped the fist with one hand. The aura wielder grunted before the fist went back to the werehog.

Most of the Smashers gasped at the sudden attack.

"D-did his right arm extend just now?" Olimar asked.

"Ugh..." Lucario shook his right hand. "That fist was a little bit strong... It hurt me..."

"A little?" DSS asked as he glared at the dog. "Why you imbecile... I'm clearly the most powerful being inside this doghouse you call mansion!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Master Hand began. "I'm afraid to say this is not a doghouse. If there's a dog in here it's you, Mr. Furry."

"Tsk." DSS looked pissed. "You guys make me soooooooo sick... Those stupid glares and eyes on me...they make me want to kill you all more..."

Chris turned to the crying princess and patted her back. "Please, Peach, don't cry anymore... Don't listen to that bastard's comments..."

DSS narrowed his eyes at the teen. "Gotcha," he muttered, showing his fangs in a smirk.

Chris suddenly turned around to see another claw extending after him, but Lucario used a fast uppercut to push it away to the air where the hit made DSS grunt in pain before pulling his claw back. "Get those claws away from him," Lucario warned him. "If you do that again, I'm going to do something about it."

"You stupid dog..." DSS said as he panted heavily. "You won't stop me from killing that kid and his black face..."

"Just try it," Lucario taunted. "You're not going to land a single finger on him."

"..." DSS smirked. "Oh, right, I forgot you're his so-dear powerful guardian who's strength grows with fury..."

"What about it?" Lucario asked with a glare. "At least I use my aura for better matters than you."

DSS waved a finger at him. "Doggy, doggy, doggy, I know you're dangerous if I take the kid out in front of your eyes," he explained. "So, guess what I'm going to do first?"

"..." Lucario narrowed his eyes and took a fighting stance.

"Wait a minute," Ike began as he stepped forward besides Lucario. "Why should we watch and let you kill anyone here?"

"Yeah," Roy began as he joined in. "For crying out loud, we're having a celebration tonight."

"You just can't go barge in here and interrupt," Samus began as she stepped forward. "It's a bad thing to do, did you know that?"

"I agree," Zelda said as she did the same action. "We have worked hard to do this party."

"And we're not going to let you destroy anything in here," added Link.

"Because I did half of the food in here," Kirby said with a serious face. "You hurt the food, you get the hammer."

Most of the Smashers looked odd at Kirby before looking at Meta Knight, sitting on a chair.

"...What can I say?" Meta Knight asked. "Kirby's food is something he is not going to let go that easily for eternity." The knight jumped off the chair and took Galaxia out. "As for the main point here, I'll have to fight as well."

The Smashers saw Snake coming down from the stairs. He looked like he listened to everything from behind the hallway's wall of the second floor. "So the hedgehog can get beaten up, huh..." Snake walked to them. "I may as well discharge everything I have on him."

Yoshi walked forward and glared at the hedgehog. "I just want to have a normal party, that's all...and because it's Chris's birthday as well."

The werehog looked at all the Smashers slowly walking in front of Peach and Chris, who looked surprised as they all faced the beast.

Wolf cracked his fists. "Let me tell you all I'm not doing this for the kid but just for some fun," he said with a frown. "I wanted to do something else than this, anyway."

"That's right, you guys," Master Hand said as he looked at the musicians and motioned to the kitchen, telling them to go away. "Show him no mercy."

"Makar," Medli whispered as she kept staring at the group of Smashers. "We should stay away from here for now..."

"I think so..." Makar said. "Everyone, let's go silently to the kitchen."

"What about Chunky?" Lanky asked as he looked underneath the table.

Tiny frowned and ducked inside to pull the Kong out. She struggled a bit before Lanky helped her to drag Chunky out. The big Kong had his eyes covered by his hands as he shook in fear to the event happening.

Medli and Makar looked as the Kongs dragged Chunky to the kitchen, still without noticing that he was being dragged at all. The 2 first musicians looked at each other worried before they ran to the kitchen to hide. It was a small time before Master Hand and Crazy Hand followed.

The musicians looked up at the owner of the mansion. "Why are you here and not over there?" Makar asked. "You're supposed to help them, right?"

Master Hand looked down at him. "Look, if I want to fight, I need to study the enemy closely from a safe distance. I don't know if he can hurt me very badly or not, but I have to take precautions at all times."

"And what about him?" Lanky (on top of a scared Chunky) asked as he pointed at Crazy Hand.

"Him? He just watches. He likes fights."

Crazy Hand ducked to take out a small flag that he waved around while cheering silently.

"...He's a wacko," Tiny commented bored.

Back at the lobby, DSS smiled sarcastically at the Smashers. "You wanna protect the kid or something? Well, in truth, I don't wanna destroy this place... I merely want that kid on the clouds forever. What's so bad about it?"

"Dude, everything you just said is bad," Falco said. "Heck, not even Sonic would think something like that in his life."

"..." Through Chris's face covered in darkness, he smiled a bit while Peach smiled a bit afterward.

"That is why you need to be disappeared," Mewtwo said as he joined all of them. "Your soul is shrouded in utter darkness and it's very annoying to perceive it every time I look at you, or even think about you."

"...Heh..." DSS closed his eyes. "I admit I have a very bad nature...I'll give you that... However, what's so bad about my goals? Are they really bad for you all?"

"Yes, they are," C. Falcon said. "I can't find any good in them for that matter."

"..." DSS looked at them with a blank face. "Okay, I know you guys like the kid so much because it's his birthday... I came here to give him his gift personally because Sonic didn't have one. So then I wanted to be a good guy and give him my own present..." His face slowly began to turn demonic. "And that present is something he will take, even after eternity..."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Malicious Fingers

DSS lifted his claws and smirked at them while his pupils shrunk to create wild eyes. "AND NONE OF YOU WILL INTERRUPT ME FROM GIVING HIM THE GIFT!!!"

"Here it comes," Samus warned them.

"Why it?" Pit asked.

"He's not himself anymore," Samus explained. "He's now a monster."

"HUAH!!!" DSS leaped at them and extended his arms and claws towards them.

However, something was wrong...

"Let's leak some super power into 'em!" DSS yelled maniacally as they saw the claws glowing purple before they grew 5 feet big in a second. Most of them gasped and quickly ran to different directions before the claws could crush them with a powerful clap. "YEAH!" DSS yelled as he landed on the floor and panted heavily. "This is TRULY my true power!!!"

"W-what did he just do to his claws?!" Lucas asked in utter shock. "T-they grew so quickly!"

"Heheheh, I'd say thanks to the fact I'm a super shadow being," DSS pointed out. "I can make these claws grow very big to take anything or ANYONE out!" He quickly showed his fangs at Chris, Peach, and Mario who were standing in the same place they were. "Hi there. Wanna go out for a walk?"

"R-run!!!" Chris yelled, alarming the other 2 as they turned around and tried to run away. However, a huge claw quickly went after them, but Lucario stepped behind Chris and punched the huge claw away with a Force Palm.

"Ugh!" DSS grunted as he retreated his claw back. "Damn, I forgot about the maggot... Oh well," he said as he cracked his neck by moving his throat around. "Better take the dog's crap, and when I mean dog's crap, I mean the dog itself!"

"GRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted in rage at him.

DSS smirked once he saw C. Falcon and Link leaping at him from behind. The werehog chuckled before he hardly turned around and swung his arms (that instantly grew big) to slam them away to the wall where they crashed and grunted in pain.

Albeit to say, this action made DSS go crazy as he smirked wildly.

"YES!!!" DSS howled in triumph. "OH GOD! THIS POWER IS SO AWESOME!!!"

"Do us a favor and shut up," Samus said as she charged a shot close to him.

DSS quickly stopped her by sending a long punch that made her back away. "Ah-ah-ah," DSS taunted. "No shooting the god."

Samus stopped backing away before she quickly shot a Super Missile. The werehog grinned a little bit before he grabbed the missile and crushed it inside his claw. The explosion only made him get hurt a little, but still, he chuckled. "My, is that all you got?"

The dark beast sniffed the air...

"Smells like..." he muttered. "...Fear with blond hair..."

Lucas gasped after the beast looked at him over his shoulder. The PK user wanted to do a sneak attack, but the beast stopped him by glaring down at Lucas. DSS narrowed his right eye, and it made Lucas gulp as he slowly took out a branch. "S-stay back!" Lucas yelled. "I-I'm going to use this t-"

DSS quickly bit the branch, snapped it, and gave it back to a shocked Lucas. "Here," he said with a smile. "You left it here and someone bit it in half."

"..." Lucas whimpered at his branch. "M-m-"

"Look out!" Pikachu yelled as he pushed Lucas away before the werehog could slam down his huge claws on him. The werehog grunted and glared at the Electric Pokémon.

"Party pooper..." DSS muttered with a snarl. "They so need to leave people like me..." Again, he sniffed the air and quickly turned around to find Roy dashing towards him. "Your scents always alert me from you. Even with that, I can easily hear your footsteps."

"But I bet you can't hear immobile targets, though!" shouted Pit from above as the werehog looked up a little bit shocked before he was slashed across his white chest by Roy, causing the werehog to tumble back where Pit slashed him even more and landed back besides Roy.

"Grrrrrrrrrr..." DSS grunted at them.

"Great move," Roy said. "That distraction was good."

"Thanks," Pit said. "I guess he's not that har-"

Both were suddenly grabbed by 2 huge claws that tossed them up, and DSS grinned malevolently before he jumped at them and used his extending claws that pushed the 2 swordsmen to the top ceiling where they crashed and yelled in pain. "Never leave your guard down around me!" DSS yelled with a laugh.

"Likewise," Mewtwo spoke from behind the beast before the psychic user sliced the air with his fingers to create Psycho Cuts that sliced the beast several times.

DSS showed his fangs in fury before he quickly turned around and punched Mewtwo away. The Psychic Pokémon grunted in pain before the werehog growled angrily and slammed down his claws to jump high and evade a Quick Draw from Ike.

"Now, where's the kid?!" DSS asked as he looked around. "I gotta give him his gift sometime, you know!"

Several feet away from the battle, there were Chris, Peach, and Mario watching the entire feud from a safe distance. For Peach's fortune, the battle took part in a half of the lobby where there were no tables or furniture.

"W-why is this happening tonight?" Peach asked in disbelief as she saw DSS grabbing DK and Diddy by their faces before pulling them to each other and hit them hard. "T-this isn't supposed to be happening!"

"Peach, I know..." Mario said. "But things have taken another different way. This isn't your fault at all... This is that evil spirit's fault."

"I-I don't understand any of this..." Chris said worried as DSS was attacked by a strong kick on his back by Fox, who later was quickly grabbed by the same foot he used and slammed down the floor as the beast growled in pleasure. "W-why is he like this?"

"Huh?!" DSS managed to overheard the trio talking (letting Fox roll away to stay safe) "...So there you are..." The beast's pupils turned wild as he focused his view in Chris and only himself. "Come...I need to give you your gift..."

"Stop right there!" Master Hand yelled as he appeared from the kitchen and slammed down himself about the beast. However, DSS reacted fast and rolled out of the way to see the hand levitating back up again. "I can't allow you to continue your useless and pointless rampage tonight."

"Grrr..."

"I accept no growls from people like you, either," Master Hand said. "Since you're not wanted here, I'm going to ask you to leave here."

"(Dammit...)" DSS thought. "(That hand could present a problem if I keep fighting here. But I need to deliver the gift to the kid...)" He quickly stopped Ness's bat from hitting his head by using his right arm that he later used to push the PK user away. "(But how? How am I going to get rid of the hand?)"

The werehog took a quick glance outside...where the night was present...

DSS blinked before smirking evilly. "(Of course. He said he can't go out from here because he would be the Subspace Army's bait... Then, that means I should...)" The werehog looked back at the scared Chris. "(...Go Bowser taking Peach on him...)"

The beast's eyes turned wild as he began to slowly walk towards Chris. The World Traveler, noticing this, began to gulp and get even more scared.

"W-why is it coming after me now?" Chris whispered to the other 2.

Mario thought for a moment. "Didn't he say he wanted to..."

Peach gasped and covered her mouth. "N-no, h-he doesn't mean..."

Chris looked very shocked at this point as the werehog went even closer to him. "TAKE ME AWAY FROM HIM!!!" he screamed.

The werehog didn't stop from walking at the trio. His wild green eyes were focused on Chris and only himself. The werehog didn't even care about anyone interrupting him since he became dodgy.

The trio saw as Toon Link jumped high and took out his bow and arrows that he aimed directly at the beast's head. "Hey, Mr. Hairy Forehead!" Toon Link yelled to call the attention, but the beast ignored him. "Take this, will you?!"

The Outsetian shot the arrow down at DSS's head, but it was easily slashed away by his left claw before, without even looking back at the swordsman, extended his right claw which he made it grow big, grabbed Toon Link's body as he his head stuck out, and slammed down on the floor where he screamed in pain as the werehog released his claws off him.

"Gotta..." DSS muttered as he panted heavily and turned towards Chris. "Give kid...his gift..."

"O-oh my god..." Chris gulped. "H-he's so determined in giving me my gift?"

"I admit he has a big problem with his personalities," Mario said. "He's furious, he's enthusiastic, he's wild, then he's serious in 20 seconds."

"Mario, if you forgot, there's a beast of hell wanting to KILL me during my birthday," Chris said. "And he's going to enjoy it very much... HELP ME!!!"

At this shout of help, the Aura Pokémon used Extremespeed to appear in front of the 3. Lucario looked over his right shoulder to Chris and said, "Stay back. I'm going to keep him away from you."

"Oh, thank you..." Peach sighed.

"...I...wasn't talking to yo-" Lucario noticed Chris's glare. "F-forget what I said..."

"Turn around!" Mario yelled.

The Aura Pokémon quickly looked back at the werehog before the beast sent a huge fist at him from a long distance. Lucario blocked the fist with his right hand, burning with aura, before pushing it away where he used Extremespeed again to appear at the beast's right side. DSS quickly turned to him before receiving a quick Force Palm on his face.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" DSS grunted angrily at the hit as he rolled back but later got back up on his feet. He shook his head and saw Lucario dashing towards him with an Aura Sphere charging up from behind his back, and on his right hand. "Doggy wants to play? DOGGY WANTS TO SHUT UP!!!" DSS howled angrily as he slammed his claws at the floor and ran after Lucario.

"Oh no, stay there," said Falco simply as he was seen jumping high where he shot several shots from his Blaster that hit the beast and stunned him for a third of a second, allowing Lucario to shoot his fully charged Aura Sphere at him before creating a blue explosion that pushed the werehog further away.

"It looks like they're gaining the upper hand..." Chris sighed while Meta Knight came from above the werehog and slashed him across his back. The knight, however, was quickly grabbed hardly by a claw before he was tossed to Falco, causing him to fall back as Meta Knight was on his back before stepping off from him.

Mario looked back at the table where Chip and Jigglypuff stuck their faces out and looked around for the beast. Since the 2 were facing the 3, they sighed in relief and went to them. "Are you alright?" Chip asked as he floated in front of Chris.

"U-um, for now, yes..." Chris said.

"I-I'm so sorry..." Chip said as he slowly sobbed. "I-it was my fault that nobody knew about Sonic...b-but that bad guy inside him kept threatening me if I said the word to someone else..."

"I see..." Chris said at a loss. "That's why nobody knew anything but you..."

"It's not his fault..." Jigglypuff said sadly. "I should have done something before this began. I knew he was like this ever since the night before the attack to Smithy's factory."

"And why?" Mario asked.

"Because...I wanted to be the center of attention to someone else..." Jigglypuff said sadly. "I-it really hurts to me for not being noticed that much..." She began to cry silently. "I-I don't know how to apologize!!!"

Mario, Peach, Chris, and Chip looked at each other worried before the World Traveler ducked and hugged the Balloon Pokémon tightly. "It's okay, Jigglypuff..." Chris whispered as he leaned his head on her forehead's hair and rubbed her back. "Please, you don't have to cry right now. We're at a very critical situation and we need you as well... Please, don't cry..."

Jigglypuff sniffed. "T-then am I important to you?" Jigglypuff looked up at him. "I-I don't want to be left out from anybody here..."

"Of course you're important," Chris said with a small smile. "If you want to do something, just go ahead and ask anyone. You don't have to be with your group all the time. There are others here that want to be...you know..."

Jigglypuff sniffed and leaned herself to Chris. "T-thank you..."

"Anytime..." Chris whispered.

"...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Can you...try to choose me more for another mission to another world?"

"...Of course, Jigglypuff..." Chris said. "I'm sorry if I haven't done that much for you all this time..."

"T-thank you..." Jigglypuff sobbed silently.

Peach wiped a tear. "I love these kinds of moments..." she muttered as Mario patted her back.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Chip said as he took a napkin and cleaned his nose. "You guys are so amazing..."

"...Uh-oh..." Mario muttered once he focused his gaze at the battle.

"What?" Chris asked as he turned to him. The World Traveler looked forward with Jigglypuff...

And there was him.

Something in DSS changed his mind about going slowly to Chris that he began to run after them with tongue getting out from his mouth and fangs. They all gasped and quickly looked around for a way to escape.

"Stop right there!" yelled Red from afar. "Ivysaur, use Vine Whip on him and slam him down!"

"Roger!" Ivysaur yelled as he extended his vines from his leaves and reached for the hedgehog. The Seed Pokémon managed to wrap his vines around the werehog, but it wasn't enough for him to lift DSS up before he began to get dragged by the beast. "H-hey, help me!" Ivysaur yelled as he was dragged along the floor. "My flower is getting hurt!"

Red gasped and looked down at Squirtle. "S-Squirtle, use Water Gun to stop him and help Ivysaur!"

Squirtle nodded and he quickly ran to the werehog...

There was something Red forgot...

Squirtle was slow compared to DSS. Even if he was a werehog that greatly slowed down Sonic's true speed, the beast was faster than Squirtle himself. DSS roared angrily as he grabbed Ivysaur's vines and tossed him away to Squirtle, who gasped before he got pushed back by Ivysaur as they rolled back all the way to Red's feet.

"...Boss..." Ivysaur said weakly, and annoyed. "Beast here is...such a beast...bleh..."

Red frowned in shame at this and lowered his cap down.

"AHEM," called Nana annoyed.

Red raised his cap up and nodded in embarrassment.

"Okay," Nana began as she swung her hammer a few times. "It's time to get revenge on that beast for breaking up our presents. Popo, let's go and beat his brain out!"

Popo nodded and the 2 Ice Climbers ran after the werehog. By that time, Chris, Peach, Mario, Jigglypuff, and Chip all screamed and ran away to the exit. The Ice Climbers made serious faces as they ran after the beast.

DSS quickly shot them a glare and quickly extended his left arm to push them away. However, the 2 jumped over it in time and continued to run after him.

"We're not going to fall for that same trick again!" Popo yelled as he raised his hammer. "You're going to pay for breaking apart our gifts!"

"Like I care, anyway!" DSS yelled back before he stopped for a moment, grew his claws and moved them quickly at Popo and Nana before grabbing them, then pressed them hard to make the 2 young climbers gasp for breath.

Seeing this, Chris stopped running at the entrance and focused his magic. "Shock them to greater paralysis... Thundara!"

Several bolts of lightning struck hard on the werehog, which caused him to release the 2 Ice Climbers who fell down on the floor, got up to their knees and panted heavily.

A wrong move was made...

By attacking him, DSS's fury grew bigger as he quickly turned around and glared at Chris. "Why do you keep this nonsense?!" DSS asked angrily. "...Oh, wait..." He smirked. "You're away from anyone now."

Chris gasped and looked back at the 4 close to the exit. They all motioned to go to him.

"U-um..." Chris looked shocked.

"Stop!" Lucario yelled as he stepped in front of Chris by using Extremespeed. "You better get AWAY from him now or else!"

"Oh for the love..." DSS frowned. "That is it. You, doggy, need to take a hike now!" he howled angrily.

Lucario took a fighting stance. "Try to get past me..."

DSS smirked. "Okay, I guess I should stop playing around... Now..."

All the Smashers watched as a dark aura began to emanate on top of the werehog. DSS wasn't covered by the aura, but it emanated upwards like a solid smell. Lucario looked disgusted at the ominous aura coming from the werehog's back.

"I have achieved true power now..." DSS said as he opened his arms to Lucario and half-closed his eyes. "Yeah, this power feels just about right..." he whispered with a pleasant grin.

"W-what did he just do, Lucario?" asked a worried Chris from behind Lucario.

"I can tell that the aura that just came out enhanced his skills," Lucario said. "However, it's very disgusting for my tastes..." He glowed for a moment to scan the beast. "Yes... Pure darkness as I expected... There's like a huge void of emptiness inside Sonic's soul... Wait..." Lucario closed his eyes. "...I feel a small amount of good aura through all that void..."

Through Lucario's eyes, he saw a huge amount of black aura covering the werehog. However, there was a small dot of aura that stuck out from all the darkness inside the body. Lucario focused his view further and recognized the aura right away.

"That unstable, yet energetic aura belongs to..." Lucario opened his eyes and glared at the beast. "The real Sonic!" he yelled. "He's trapped inside within all that darkness!"

"Bingo," DSS said bored before a wicked smile appeared on his face. "Okay, now you know about tat bastard's whereabouts..."

Lucario gasped as he noticed that the beast had already grabbed him with his huge claws. The Aura Pokémon showed his fangs and grunted as he was being lifted up from the floor. "Let me go!" Lucario roared as he tried to free himself. "Put me back down!"

"Y-you, stop it!" Chris yelled as he prepared his staff and magic. "Y-you better put Lucario down or else I'll say somet-"

"OKAY!!!" DSS howled angrily before he slammed his claws quickly on Chris.

Music stops

Everyone inside the lobby (and the kitchen) gasped at the simple, but yet fast action. They couldn't see Chris anymore from underneath the huge claws. The Smashers looked back at the fists where there was Lucario...but something was wrong...

Black aura emanated out from the claws that began to act as some sort of deadly poison to the Aura Pokémon. Lucario yelled to the ceiling as the aura circulated through his entire body while the werehog made a wicked smirk. They all couldn't move nor attack back at the sudden howl of pain that Lucario made.

"WATCH THE POWER OF MY AURA, FOOL!!!" DSS joked as he laughed maniacally.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Lucario screamed in extreme pain as he tried to restraint the aura back by using his own aura. Unfortunately, it seemed that DSS's aura was too much for the Aura Pokémon to handle.

Master Hand kept watching before he shook himself. "H-hey, don't just stand there! Help him!"

The Smashers got back to their senses and they all rushed towards the beast from behind.

DSS turned his head around and looked over his shoulder to see the group going back to him. He merely smirked at this and stopped emanating aura out from his huge claws.

Peach watched as Lucario lost consciousness and was tossed away from DSS. Mario looked down where the claws crushed Chris...

And there was Chris, unconscious on the floor as Lucario...

Mario gasped once he saw a claw grabbing the Black Mage's cape which made him get pulled above the werehog. DSS chuckled evilly before he began to run towards the exit.

But he ran first at Mario, Peach, Jigglypuff, and Chip.

Chip got scared by the sudden wicked look from the werehog before he noticed a left claw grabbed him very quickly. The imp screamed before he got pulled all the way to DSS's face. Chip saw the reflection of himself on DSS's green eyes as they showed fury and rage combined.

"You..." DSS muttered as he showed his fangs angrily at the imp. "We need to talk...outside...far away from here...now..."

"..." Chip couldn't say anything back. DSS's glare had him paralyzed with fear before the werehog put him on his back, where the unconscious Chris laid down. Chip was held underneath the right claw hardly to stop him from wiggle out. The imp struggled to get out, but he eventually sighed in depression and looked at Chris's face (covered in darkness thanks to the magic hat) worried.

"And you..." DSS began as he quickly reached for Jigglypuff and pulled her in front of his furious face. "You have some things to explain as well... You better shut up or else..."

"I-I-I..." Jigglypuff shook with fear. "I-I-I..." She shook in utter horror and terror combined before she was put on the beast's back with Chip and Chris. She was held underneath the right claw as well, and she looked at Chip with a worried expression. "W-what's going to happen to us now?"

"Nothing!" Mario yelled as he ran after the werehog.

That moment, Luigi stuck his head out from the table and looked up at the werehog.

"What?" DSS asked down, angrily at Luigi.

"N-nothing..." Luigi whimpered before he pulled his face back. "I-I'll be good..."

DSS didn't even look at Mario before he pushed him away with his free claw. Peach gasped as Mario went rolling all the way to wall where he crashed. DSS looked at both sides behind him where the Smashers were about to attack him.

However, the werehog howled wildly and quickly charged at the door at a faster pace. He eventually punched the double doors with his left claw and quickly left out towards the ruins of Nintendo City over the distance.

The Smashers stopped running towards the exit and looked at the image of the beast fading into the south. "Where is he taking them?" Link asked.

"The city," Marth said. "The same city where everything was destroyed."

"But why there of all places?" Pit asked.

"I have a better question," Master Hand began. "Why are you stopping now? Their lives are in danger!"

"Dammit, he's right," Roy said. "We have to give him chase now!"

Pikachu ran at Lucario and shook him a little. "Lucario! Lucario! Wake up! He took Chris away! Lucario!"

"..." No response came from Lucario.

"Lucario?" Pikachu shook him more. "Hey, Lucario, come back to your senses now!"

Mewtwo floated to them and glowed to examine Lucario. "...His aura has been infected with malicious aura..."

Pikachu looked up to him. "Wait, he isn't going to turn evil or something, right?"

"No," Mewtwo said as he shook his head. "The aura that got into him acts as some sort of poison designed to harm anyone. Lucario's aura, however, is fighting it back, and he will come back to his senses...in some hours."

Pikachu looked down worried at Lucario. "Lucario..."

Yoshi ran to the destroyed doors and looked at everyone. "What are we waiting for? We have t-"

The Yoshi noticed everyone had shocked looks once they looked outside.

"...What?" Yoshi asked before he turned his head outside. His eyes widened suddenly.

They all looked out where something came up...

They watched surprised as several monsters sprouted out from the ground and materialized into big and small creatures. The monsters howled to the full moon and began to walk around the area.

"...Okay..." Ness began. "I know tonight became very wild in some minutes but...what the heck are those monsters outside?"

Meta Knight walked forward and frowned. "It seems I forgot to explain this to everyone..."

Toon Link sat up from the floor and looked outside. "T-those creatures!" Toon Link yelled. "T-they're still there!"

"STOP!" Master Hand yelled. "Okay, I'm so confused after the sudden personality change of Sonic, and the fact that he kidnapped Chris, the imp guy whose name I forgot, and Jigglypuff. But can anybody explain me what the heck is going on? I'm sick of all of this already!"

Meta Knight looked up at him as the Smashers remained silent. "Don't do anything and go outside," the knight explained. "Those monsters outside don't attack people inside their homes as long as they're inside. They only attack if you go outside, and they're deadly in groups."

Peach looked worried as the knight began to explain everything to the Smashers. The princess looked outside where the night dwellers walked around the field to the city without even attacking them. "...Chris..." she muttered. "...Don't worry...we'll go for you..."

"My goodness..." Medli muttered as the musicians walked back to the lobby. "What I just saw was...just horrible and so scary..."

Makar hugged her, trembling in fear. "P-please, don't leave my side! I don't want ot get shredded to pieces!"

"..." Chunky (who was being dragged by the Kongs) lifted up his hands and looked around. "I-is the bad beast gone?" he asked, causing Tiny and Lanky to frown.

Lucas looked around as Meta Knight explained everything about the creatures and the fight he had a few days ago with him, Chris, Lucario, Toon Link, and the Vesperians. "(Where is Kirby?)" Lucas thought worried as he looked around.

Kirby was nowhere to be found. Lucas thought he was going to ignore the whole feud and eat everything while nobody was looking, but the food and all the ornaments were all left intact (except for the damaged walls and floor (much for Peach's relief)). The PK user looked outside...

...

...There was no way Kirby went after Chris, right?

...

Right?

Lucas only wished for a peaceful party...but this wasn't something he thought about at all as he looked at the unconscious Lucario.

Were Chris, Jigglypuff, and Chip safe? Or were they already dead?

Nintendo City: The City of Despair

Post Office outside the ruined city

Back at the lonely spot outside the city, there were the 3 postmen watching the creatures roaming about without even looking back at them. The 3 postmen looked behind the counter. Quil crossed his arms and grunted a bit. "No matter what they do, they don't attack us as long as we're inside here," he said.

"B-but isn't that kind of fishy?" Postman asked. "They look quite ferocious..."

"Who cares, really," Parakarry commented. "But they roaming around annoys me. Every night is the same: footsteps, grunts, screeches, trembles by those giant monsters, I'm getting sick of it! Isn't there something we can do?"

"Who said who didn't care again?" Quil asked as he looked at Parakarry.

"I did. I care."

"..." Quil frowned and glared back at the monsters. "Anyway, we have to maintain our ground inside this little place. We have been living here for some days and nothing bothers us, right?"

"Why do you have to get the top bed, anyway?" Postman asked.

"That's not important..." Quil replied bored.

Parakarry ducked to take out a present. "By the way, you guys going to the secret birthday party for Chris?"

"A birthday party?" Postman and Quil asked.

"Why a party during this time?" Quil asked. "Don't they know there are these creatures walking around these parts?"

"No," Parakarry said. "But I think they haven't gone outside. Well, I'll go for the party. I heard there were some more people like some girl named Medli and another guy named Makar in it."

"Seriously, why can't they get aware of the..." Quil stopped talking. "...Medli?"

"You know her?"

"Well, yes. She's a very talented Rito that can understand Valoo's speech an-wait, that's not the main point here!" Quil yelled.

The trio quickly noticed some sounds coming from the north where the hill laid between the mansion and the city. Postman, Quil, and Parakarry stuck their heads out to see a blur coming down the hill. They all saw the blur taking form before noticing that a beast was carrying a fainted Chris, Jigglypuff, and Chip. The 3 gasped once the beast looked at them for a moment as it turned his eyes at them.

They all watched the beast ignoring the creatures that didn't even attack him while the beast got inside the city, where it was still raining during the night.

"...What the heck was that?" Postman asked.

"It looked like a monster carrying..." Quil trailed off.

Parakarry blinked in shock. "O-oh my god, that beast was carrying Chris, Jigglypuff, and some cartoon-looking dude on its back just now!"

"What?" Quil asked. "Oh no, I could barely recognize the people on its back... They did seem to look like them..."

"You guys noticed the pink blob besides the first one as well?" Postman asked.

"What pink blob?" the postmen asked.

"...Maybe not..."

"Did you notice that none of the monsters minded them at all?" Quil asked. "What's up with that, really? Why didn't they attack them?"

Parakarry flapped his wings faster. "I-I don't know you, but I have to do something about this!" He prepared to fly away before Quil stopped him.

"What are you doing? By flying outside, you're going to attract those monsters' attention to you!" Quil yelled.

"Hey, I'm trying to be a hero here by seeing what's going on!" Parakarry yelled angrily. "Those 3 are in danger, and I happen to know them!"

"D-don't be a hero and die out there, man!" Postman pleaded.

"Sorry, but this is my job."

"Your job is of a postman like us," Quil said.

"And I was Mario's partner long before, and I still possess my skills," Parakarry said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 3 victims to rescue from a hairy beast."

The postmen held their hands out at him before the Paratroopa flew out from the office, high above to evade the creatures from hitting him. They watched as the stubborn postman slowly disappeared into the city's rain before fading into nothing.

"..." Quil kicked the lower corner of the counter. "Damn that idiot and his twisted mind..." he muttered.

Postman looked back outside. "W-what do we do now?"

Quil crossed his arms and sighed with a frown. "Wait for him. If he doesn't come back in an hour, call the ambulance."

"You actually bothered to study technology like I did?"

Quil glared at him.

"...W-we don't have the hospital available anymore, you know... The city's in ruins..."

"..." Quil frowned more. "...I'll go for him if he doesn't come back..."

The postmen could only stare outside at the monsters who were looking around for the postman. They eventually got bored and continued to walk around for anything or anyone to interrupt them.

Ruins

Across the destroyed streets and the eternal rain, the werehog slammed down his claws on the broken floor as he made his way through the buildings, towards somewhere. Jigglypuff and Chip looked at each other with shocked looks. "Where are you taking us?" Jigglypuff asked.

The werehog didn't reply as he maneuvered through an alley, where he leaped high into a broken window, ran inside the building before leaping out from it.

"W-why is he doing all of this?" Chip asked.

"I-I don't know..." Jigglypuff said worried as she looked at the unconscious Chris. "...But I don't want nothing bad to happen now..."

The duo looked worried once more before the werehog began to slow down.

Noticing this, Chip spoke up. "What? Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

They only heard the werehog's grunts and pants as he looked up at some ruins...

"...Ugh...ugh...ugh!" Jigglypuff managed to turn around and see what the beast was looking at. Seeing this action, Chip was able to do the same and looked forward where the 2 were looking at.

There were the same ruins that Chris and the others discovered after they lost the battle against Culex. The rain poured all the bricks and cement around the ruins, making small leaks of water falling off from all the heights of the ruins themselves.

"These ruins..." DSS muttered as he narrowed his eyes at the destroyed formation. "I found myself attracted to this place when that hedgehog came around it... This place emanates some kind of weird and odd energy that, in some ways, pleasures myself..."

Chip and Jigglypuff looked at each other.

"...These ruins also happen to give me a sense of peace..." DSS continued. "Every time I take a look at these ruins, I find myself livin' my own dreams comin' to life..." He smiled and closed his eyes. "People running for their lives from me, slaughtering small children and women alike, eating their flesh and tasting the taste of their blood, hearing screams of agony as destruction is spread...such wonderful dream can be seen from here; from these ruins..."

"W-what kinds of twisted dreams are those?" Jigglypuff asked with a pout. "Puh-lease! You've got the be kidding me!"

Chip looked shocked at her before the werehog turned his head at them and tossed them to the ruins' entrance. The 3 rolled on the floor and moaned in pain before Chip and Jigglypuff shook the water off from their faces and looked up to the werehog.

"What was that?" DSS asked as he glared down at them. "You guys just won't understand, right? I only live to cause destruction and utter pandemonium to anyone for the mere reason that I like to do this for fun."

"So you're saying you like to kill because it's fun?" Jigglypuff asked. "T-that has to be the most farfetched and dumbest idea I've ever heard of!"

"It is YOU who is dumb!" DSS yelled at her, causing Jigglypuff to gulp in fear.

Chip looked back at the ruins before looking back at the werehog. "W-why'd you take us here, anyway?"

"..." DSS sighed with a frown. "Since this place brings me a good sense of peace and tranquility...I want you 3 to experience it as well."

"..." Chip looked at Jigglypuff, who looked at him as well before looking at DSSS. "What do you mean exactly by that?"

"By that, I mean I'm gonna kill you right here, right now," DSS stated with a serious look. "You guys make me so sick every time I look at your damn faces," he explained before pointing at Chip. "You, for being a good-for-nothing goofy imp," he said before pointing at Jigglypuff. "You, for being a bastard at hiding away from me, and finally," he went on as he pointed down at Chris with a glare. "That kid for being a good kid."

"...Good kid?" Jigglypuff asked. "Why?"

"I DETEST people who want to help others out, and he happens to be the one who helps everyone little by little by spending time together," DSS said as he stuck his tongue out a bit with a disgusted face. "Such people like him don't deserve to live as long as they maintain the thought of destruction away. I hate him SO much." He lifted up his claws. "And for that, he must die..."

Jigglypuff looked worried at Chris before she closed her eyes hardly and stepped right in front of the fainted World Traveler. "No!" she yelled as she glared up at the werehog. "You're evil, and twisted, and stupid for doing all that!" she yelled. "Why does he deserve to die, anyway? He's the nicest guy around here!"

"Second to Peach?" Chip interrupted.

"Maybe! But he's still very nice!" Jigglypuff yelled. "You don't even know, but he has...some kind of power that nobody else possesses..."

"..." DSS tilted his head.

"I know everyone can get along with each other so well, but..." Jigglypuff looked back at Chris. "He...he's very compatible with anyone, enabling him to become very good at talking...and that why he's so special..." She looked back at the werehog with a glare. "...To me..." she finished with a pout. "N-no matter what, if I need to fight you alone to save him, I'm going to give everything I got for Chris!"

Chip blinked a few times and looked down worried. "...Fight to protect your beloved ones..." he muttered.

"...Heheheh..." DSS chuckled with a smirk before he held his stomach with an embrace. "Hahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed loudly. "Oh, you guys are still being so damn funny with all those speeches!" he yelled between laughs to the cloudy sky before he looked down at them with an amused look. "But either way, your speech won't change my task..." He lifted up his claws. "And that's killing him off tonight!"

At that moment, the 3 suddenly heard some grumbles coming from behind Chip and Jigglypuff. The 2 turned around to find Chris slowly coming back to his senses as he stood up and blinked a few times. "...Where...am I?" he asked as he held his staff close to him. "W-what am I doing here in the city?"

"Oh, you're awake," DSS said, getting Chris's attention. "Good. I like to kill people when they're awake."

"W-what?" Chris looked around more before looking back at the ruins. "W-why am I back here in the city and the ruins to this temple?"

"Do you want me to explain everything to you or what?" DSS asked.

Chris looked down, trying to summarize the events. "...You kidnapped me when you attacked Lucario, right?"

DSS chuckled.

"And you took me all the way here because..."

"I feel so damn attracted to these ruins," DSS explained. "In a few words, I wanna kill you at my place; these ruins to feel pleasant."

"..." Chris looked at him. "Why do you want to kill me so badly?"

After the explanation...

"...You're stupid!" Chris yelled at him. "Just because I'm good you're going to go ahead and kill me?"

"Dude, admit it," DSS said. "You need to die for that. Why can't you understand?"

"No, I don't understand you!" Chris yelled back at him while Chip and Jigglypuff glared back at him. "I mean, you're...you're so damn annoying and stupid!"

DSS frowned. "You're the ones who're being imbeciles here," he said. "I really had it with you 3. I wanna kill you off now!"

"No!" Chris yelled. "I-I'm very scared of you, I'm honest with that...but..." The World Traveler looked serious before he pointed his staff at the werehog. "I'm...I'm going to...I'm going to stop you from doing what you want to us! There's NO way in hell I'm going to let you kill me before my parents show up at my house after a long time!"

"Wait, what?" Jigglypuff asked before looking up at Chris. "Your parents are going to come to your home?"

Chris blushed a little and looked away. "W-well, I was going to say that to everyone but..." He glared at the beast. "This beast showed up and interrupted me from saying it..."

"Wow, that's so sweet now," DSS said. "Your parents are going to come to your house, but I'll make sure they see your dead corpse on the bed after I'm finished with you."

"..." Chris felt rage inside him...

There was no way he was going to show up dead at his house to his parents, not after all the time they have been working and traveling far and wide. The World Traveler didn't want to listen to the beast.

"..." Chris narrowed his yellow eyes at him. "...You...are not going to do that sort of thing..." he muttered coldly. "...Bastard..."

"..." DSS snickered. "You furious now? That's gonna make everything even more interesting."

"Hi-yah!"

The werehog made a confused look before a slicing shockwave passed through him and hurt him a little. The beast tumbled a little at the side before the trio noticed that there was someone behind DSS.

"...Kirby!" Jigglypuff yelled.

There was the Star Warrior, holding up a sharp edge of a cutter. Kirby smiled a little as he maintained his serious look before running to them.

"K-Kirby!" Chris said before he knelt down to see Kirby. "H-how did you get here?"

"I was very worried, Chris..." Kirby said as he kept his cutter on his back. "That beast was going to kill you, and he interrupted your birthday party as well..." Kirby looked sad. "And...and I didn't want him from hurting you either...so I jumped on him when he wasn't looking behind, and I hung up to his right where he wouldn't notice me." He smiled at Chris. "I wanted to save you, Chris."

"..." Jigglypuff tilted her head at him. "What did you do to Kirby, the food eater?"

Kirby looked at her. "I was worried about Chris... I don't know if that was bad..."

Chris reached for Kirby and hugged him tightly. "Aw, thank you so much, Kirby. I didn't think you would come to and rescue me..." The World Traveler looked away. "Seriously, you outsmarted everyone in the mansion..."

Kirby smiled happily and hugged him back. "I...I really care for you, Chris. I don't seem to when I'm eating, but I do care..."

Jigglypuff and Chip smiled and joined the group hug. "Yeah, me too..." Chip chuckled.

"Me too..." Jigglypuff chuckled as well before the 4 chuckled together.

"GRRRRRRRRR!!!" The sudden roar from DSS made the 4 look back at him as he backed away and shook his head. "Another puffball? You've gotta be kidding me..."

The 4 quickly stopped hugging and glared daggers at the beast. "Okay," Chris began. "We'll have to do everything to stop that bastard from killing us."

"Sonic is still inside him..." Chip said worried. "If we defeat him, will Sonic come back?"

"I don't know..." Jigglypuff said before she took out her book. "But we should be careful. It says here werewolves can turn anyone into a werewolf if they bite its victim!"

"...Does it really work for Sonic, though?" Chris asked.

Jigglypuff kept her book back. "I think so... I don't know, really. The experiment I did on him didn't work, but we should be still careful."

"GUUUUAAARRR!!!" DSS roared as he cracked his claws. "You guys ready for some bloodshed or what? I wanna cut you all now!"

"G-get prepared!" Kirby yelled as he took out his hammer. "I-I'm going to fight back..."

"S-so will I!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"..." Chris pointed his staff at the beast. "We have t-"

The werehog narrowed his eyes and glared back at him before he dodged a fast shell that collided with the floor and bounced back at the group. They backed away before the shell stopped in midair and revealed Parakarry. "Y-you guys!" Parakarry said before he turned to the beast. "So is he an enemy?"

"What are you doing here?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I saw you 3..." Parakarry looked at Kirby. "...4 getting kidnapped by this beast so I sprung into action once more." Parakarry glared at the beast. "Is he an enemy or what? ...Wait...why does he look like Sonic...only bigger and more fur?"

"SHUT UP!!!" DSS yelled furiously. "Well, I have 5 people here who wanna die. That's so cute of you, alright. More fun for me, I guess."

"...Enemy," Parakarry commented.

"Yes," everyone else said.

"...Okay," Parakarry began as he cracked his fists. "As a postman, it's my humble job to deliver a good rescue. Be prepared, nocturnal beast, because I won't let you bite my mailbag if you're with dogs."

The other 4 looked at each other and shrugged.

Sonic Unleashed - Werehog Mini Boss

The group glared daggers again to the werehog, but they quickly gasped as the night creatures (Nightmares and Titans) sprouted out from dark spores on the floor. They all let out screeches to the clouds, which made the group back away.

"AWAY!" DSS yelled at the monsters. "They're mine. GET AWAY FROM HERE!!!"

DSS roared loudly at the beasts. Somehow, they obeyed his order and began to run away from the spot to leave them all.

"D-did he just order them to go away?" Chris asked surprised.

The werehog turned at them and growled furiously. "What's the matter? Can't see I'm here?!" he asked before he lunged at them with dark claws ready to slash them all.

The 5 gasped and ran to different directions before the werehog slammed his claws on the floor, where it instantly broke apart.

"(Maybe I should analyze him...)" Chris thought as he backed away with Kirby, changing jobs to the Scholar job. Chris adjusted his glasses through the rain and ran to a spot where the rain wouldn't get the book he had wet. "Let us see his status..." he muttered.

"Careful!" Jigglypuff yelled.

Chris quickly looked up and gasped after he saw a dark huge fist going towards him. Parakarry came from the side and pushed the scholar away in time before the fist collided with the near building. The fist itself pulled back to the werehog quickly.

"Be more careful!" Parakarry yelled. "...And did his arm just stretch?!"

"I-I will explain everything to you by analyzing him!" Chris said as he once more adjusted his glasses and flipped through the pages, not caring if they would get wet. "Let us see...hmm...hmm...hmm..."

"Why are you looking through that book?" Parakarry asked before looking back at the werehog. "Oh no!" he yelled before he grabbed Chris from his green robe and pulled him up to dodge a fast dark fist.

"...Eureka!" Chris yelled as he adjusted his glasses and looked at his book (while Parakarry took him away from the werehog). "Enemy: Dark Super Sonic The Werehog. Weaknesses: Light. Powers: Dark Type. Skills: Control over darkness which can make his claws grow and extend at a distance of 20 feet long, dark boost to enhance normal attributes, and control over Nightmares and Titans as long as DSS is the one controlling Sonic's body."

"What the heck?" Parakarry asked as he lowered Chris down. "Did that book have everything from the beginning?"

"It contains knowledge about all monsters and spells," Chris said as he closed the book. "It could take me a while to find the necessary information, but I was able to find out sooner... I should take advantage of this job and use more frequently."

The World Traveler was suddenly punched hard by a huge dark fist that send him rolling on the water of the floor before stopping in front of a destroyed building. Parakarry gasped and looked back at the werehog.

"Bookworm..." DSS snickered. "Strength is all that matters and not intelligence, anyway."

"Puf!" Jigglypuff came from behind and used her Pound attack, which caused the werehog to flinch for a moment before the Balloon Pokémon hung her right hand on the beast's face and began to slap it continuously.

"You little!!!" DSS grunted.

"Even if I don't know how to use Doubleslap, I can still use Pound and turn it into Doubleslap!" she yelled at beast.

"Away!" the werehog yelled as he hardly grabbed Jigglypuff from her back and tossed her above. "And die!" he yelled as he sent 2 dark claws to reach for her.

"N-no!" Chip quickly appeared from nowhere and pushed Jigglypuff out of the way from the crushing claws in time as they both flew back to the scholar, who shook his head and got up quickly before cleaning his glasses. "A-are you okay?" Chip asked to Jigglypuff.

"Y-yes," Jigglypuff said. "He got me when I wasn't looking..."

Chris shook his head and looked back at his book. "Let us see more... There is more information from where I left..."

"Does it have info about if he can infect us?" Jigglypuff asked.

Chris sweatdropped. "...No... It says he can also...oh my god..." Chris closed his book and looked shocked. "...He...can...also...use...the Over Limit...as we do..."

Jigglypuff gasped. "U-uh-oh, that doesn't sound good..."

"...As long as we stay quiet, he will not use it," Chris muttered.

Chip looked back at the beast. "H-he's coming right this way again!"

However, they saw as Parakarry went towards the beast and put his boots in front of him to collide them with DSS's face. The werehog merely smirked and grew his right claw to slash the Paratroopa away. "You think you can stop me with your feet? Please, think again..."

Suddenly, the werehog felt something heavy falling from above, and it revealed to be a 1-ton weight that made him stop abruptly before Parakarry attacked with his boots and pushed the werehog back for a bit, and to the 1-ton weight that made him trip over and hit his head on the wet floor.

The weight suddenly turned back into Kirby and he took this chance to kick the werehog's crotch (ouch) with his left foot.

The werehog let out an agonizing cry of pain as he was pushed back by the Star Warrior.

"Yes!" Parakarry cheered. "Damage his you-know-what!"

"..." Kirby looked disgusted at him.

"...Sorry," Parakarry said ashamed.

It was not long before Kirby was kicked away by a reddish purple shoe. The werehog got back up on his feet and growled angrily at the 2.

"Chip, please, stay back," Chris said. "You don't know how to fight, right?"

"I-I can still push people away from dangerous attacks," Chip said.

"But...do you really want to help?" Chris kept asking. "D-don't get offended, but I think you should stay back..."

"..." Chip looked worried.

"...I-I'm just doing this for your welfare."

"..." Chip sighed and frowned. "Okay, I'll stay back..."

Chris sighed.

"...Not!" Chip suddenly added.

"W-what? You're going to get hurt! What can you do besides pushing people away?"

"There you are!" yelled the werehog as he leaped above Parakarry and Kirby to run after the 2. "I gotta give you your gift, ya know!"

"N-never!" Chris yelled as he flipped though his pages. "Rise, o violent winds... Aero!"

"Ugh!" DSS backed away as several strong winds circulated on him and sliced him for a bit. "Gotta stay focused..." the beast muttered as it locked eyes to the scholar. "Gotta get rid of bookworm!"

"That did not help too much..." Chris said ashamed.

The World Traveler suddenly felt a huge claw making a strong grip on him. Chip gasped and tried to free the World Traveler, but it was useless before he was pulled all the way back to the beast's face.

"You, kid, have been behaving bad," DSS said with a devilish grin. "You need to be punished for that."

"U-ugh..." Chris tried hard to stay awake.

"Hold it!" Parakarry yelled as he came from above and used Shell Shot right on DSS's face, making him release Chris for a moment as the werehog shook his head from the impact.

The World Traveler backed away and thought about using another job. He remembered one job: the Dragoon job. Chris instantly changed clothes in a bright light and looked at the spear that was on his right hand. "I need to attack with physical attacks sooner or later...that was what Master Hand told me..."

"Okay, cross-dresser," DSS began before Jigglypuff came from the right and slammed herself into him by using a fully charged Rollout, making the werehog tumble back. "And you as well!" DSS added angrily as he stomped the floor (which he broke) to regain his composure.

"I-I'm not done yet!" Jigglypuff yelled as she lunged at the beast and kicked him hard with a side kick with her left foot, hitting the beast right on his nose.

"Achoo!" the beast sneezed before he continued to sneeze even more.

"A weakness?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Well, that happens if you hit someone's nose hard..." Chris said. "But it's not a weakness, but rather a distraction to buy time."

It was not long before Kirby flew above the werehog and turned into a rock that fell hard on DSS's back, making him yell in pain before the Star Warrior came back to normal and did a hard swing with his hammer to send the beast away, where he rolled all the way to a building's wall.

Chris chuckled at this. "Wow, Kirby, you're surely strong when you put your mind into it."

Kirby looked at him and chuckled heartily.

"...Which inspires me to do the same..." Chris added as a mutter. He looked back at the beast, thought for a moment, then charged with his spear being held underneath his right arm while the top was aimed at DSS. The World Traveler moved his spear back and tried to stab the beast's body, but the werehog opened his eyes quickly and rolled out of the way in time for Chris to collide his spear to the wall.

The dragoon gasped before the werehog leaped at him and sent a fast fist that made Chris back away before he received a direct hit on his stomach by the beast, followed up by an uppercut that sent him up for a few feet before the werehog used a ramming shoulder to push the World Traveler to the street where he rolled for a bit and stopped.

"U-ugh..." Chris slowly got up by using his spear as a supporter. "N-no...this is just avery small hit...nothing else..."

"Wow, you're such a weakling for saying that," DSS taunted with a chuckle. "I'm not even half-tired. Instead, I'm all fired up to keep going with this fight."

"Too bad we want to continue to see you faint!" Jigglypuff yelled as she leaped again to the beast, but she was quickly pushed away by a dark claw that made her bounce on the street before stopping. "J-just a scratch..." she muttered. "I can still fight back..."

"Aww, that's adorable," DSS taunted as he joined his hands at the side of his head and blinked several time at Jigglypuff. "The baby can fight after that. It adds to your obvious fear to me."

"S-shut up!" Jigglypuff yelled. "I can be rather dangerous if I-"

"If you what," DSS asked with a sudden change from happy expression to murderous glare. "You wanna hit me? Go ahead, I'll just hit your back but 8 times worse."

The werehog was suddenly hit on the back of his head by a flying shell that made him fall on the street. Parakarry's shell spun a little in the air before he emerged from the shell and glared at the beast. "You want to get another hit or what?" he asked.

"..." DSS didn't move as he laid down on the street.

"..." Parakarry blinked confused as he began to fly down and see the beast closer. "Hey, he's not moving anymore? Why's that?"

"W-wait!" Chip stopped him. "T-that must be a trick! H-he won't fall down that easily!"

"I'd say we should attack him while he's like that!" Jigglypuff suggested.

"Then I'm going to use this," Chris said as he focused his feet for a moment before jumping extremely high up, disappearing from their sight.

"...That's one insane jump," Parakarry said surprised.

Kirby glared at the werehog. "..." The Star Warrior, along with the others, eyed the werehog a little bit closer and remained silent.

"Do you think he's done for?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I don't think so..." Chip said with a serious expression. "This idiot likes to fool around with us..."

"Whatever he has in mind..." Kirby began. "It shouldn't be good..."

The rain kept falling on all of them as the werehog laid down, apparently fainted.

Kirby looked up to see Chris descending quickly from the sky, and right above the beast with his spear pointing down. They all joined to see the World Traveler about to crash and stab the beast through with his spear.

"...TRICKED YA!"

They all gasped and looked down at the beast's malevolent smirk as he quickly got up, and extended a fast dark claw to Chris to grab him while he was descending to stop the attack. Parakarry, Jigglypuff, Chip, and Kirby gasped before they all ran after the beast, but he smirked at them wickedly and used the same claw where he held Chris to push them all around.

The werehog's eyes turned even wilder than before as he looked at the dragoon on his right claw. Chris shook his head and gasped once he saw the monster looking at him. The World Traveler was also being pulled up where the other claw put a hard grip on the first one, making the werehog laugh for a bit.

"Don't you remember?" DSS asked with a snicker. "You guys are just weak compared to me! I have the necessary muscles and energy to finish you off without even taking that much of an effort!"

"P-put me down, now!" Chris yelled as he felt the grip of both claws was increasing slowly, making him cough weakly. "P-please, put me down or else I-"

"What?" DSS asked as he showed his fangs. "You're gonna hit me and stab me with that spear? Surely you're joking..." he muttered with a frown before a wicked smile was directed to Chris. "Do you remember the last person who got in the same situation as you now?"

Chris grunted in pain as the claws' grip grew stronger. He looked around to see the others slowly getting up from the ramming attack before glaring at DSS.

DSS looked around and laughed for a bit. "Well, I don't know you guys, but I need to finish this really soon, now..."

"...I...remember..." Chris said as he coughed. "Y-you did this to Lucario... You pulsated that dark aura to your hands to hurt him greatly..."

Kirby gasped. "N-no! You're not going to do that to him, right?"

"Hahahahaha...heheheheheheh..." DSS chuckled amused. "...Why should I do that?" he asked amused. "This kid doesn't deserve the same treatment as the doggy, right?"

The 3 (except Parakarry) looked somewhat relieved, but Chip knew there was something that the werehog was planning to do.

"H-help me..." Chris muttered weakly as they saw the claws' fingers clenching hard on him. "P-please...I...c-can't feel...anything...anymore..."

"What was that?" DSS asked with a chuckle. "Did you say something, kid?"

"..." Chris seemed to pass out as he let his head move at the side.

"No!" Parakarry yelled. "You bastard, did you kill him by crushing him?!"

"Oh no," DSS said as he closed his eyes. "I merely made him faint, that's all..." He opened his eyes with a wicked look. "...However, I have a huge power inside me that I want to test out on all of you..."

"What?" Jigglypuff asked. "I thought you already showed all your skills on us!"

"I kinda forgot some as well, silly me," DSS chuckled. "Like, for example, some birdie told me I could use this..."

The 4 watched as the werehog let out a loud echoing roar to the clouds, making some glass around the destroyed buildings shatter apart into a million of pieces. They all backed away at this sudden action before noticing something happening to the werehog...

A familiar rainbow aura emanated out from his body, making his green eyes glow yellow with an evil feeling that made Kirby shake in fear.

"Aww..." DSS said pleased. "The Over Limit..."

"W-what?!" Jigglypuff asked in shock. "H-how did you..."

"The kid here told me himself," DSS said as he looked at the fainted dragoon. "Remember? He said I could use this anytime if it was ready..."

"..." Jigglypuff opened her mouth in disbelief and shook her head slowly. "No..."

"Did you forget it already?" DSS asked. "My hearing got enhanced along with my strength. I was able to overhear the bookworm talking about my weaknesses and skills when I was about to attack him. Seriously, you guys forget way too many crucial things... They could cost you your lives in return..."

Kirby looked scared as the rainbow aura emanated out from the beast. "R-release Chris at once!" he yelled, putting a hard grip on his hammer.

"Y-yeah!" Chip joined in. "Stop right there and let him go!"

"You stupid beast," Parakarry muttered. "You let go of him right now!"

"Even if you have the Final Smash ready," Jigglypuff said as she gulped while she took a step forward. "Y-you're not going to get away with it..."

Music stops

"...Alright..." DSS said as he let go of Chris, making him fall on the floor. "You guys are not funny anymore..." he said with a frown as he backed away from Chris. "Go ahead. Take the kid outta my sight."

"W-what?" Kirby asked. "W-why do you want us to go?"

"Because of the fact you won't stop pestering me with the kid," the werehog said. "Heck, I'm sick of you. I don't want to kill you all anymore. I'd rather go away and do something else by myself."

"H-how do we know you're not tricking us again?" Jigglypuff asked.

The werehog simply turned his back at them and jumped to a building, where he was heard getting away by the sound of his big feet.

"...No way..." Parakarry said as he wiped the water off from his goggles. "H-he did go away?"

"This isn't good..." Chip said. "I-I know he has something else in mind. There's no denying it now..."

"B-but hey!" the Paratroopa called. "Chris! What about him?"

The 4 gasped at this and quickly ran to the fainted dragoon. Kirby and Jigglypuff shook Chris to make him wake up as Parakarry and Chip looked worried.

"Oh please, tell me he's still living..." Jigglypuff muttered worried.

Chip leaned his right ear on Chris's chest. "...I feel some beats...they're normal enough..."

Kirby sighed. "We...managed to save him then?"

"Looks like it..." Parakarry said as he looked around the city. "...But we should leave for now... That beast could change his mind in any moment and ambush us..."

"But why would he give up so suddenly?" Jigglypuff asked. "Really, this doesn't have any good reasons..."

Kirby shivered as the rain kept going. "I-I want to go back home..." He sat down and sighed. "I-I'm not that used to rescues... I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry," Jigglypuff said. "You came at the right time to save Chris. If it wasn't for you, we could have already died..."

"Hey," Parakarry began as he looked angrily at Jigglypuff. "What about me?"

"Whoops... You too..."

"Better," Parakarry said with a nod as he floated.

The 4 looked down at Chris. They noticed that he was coming back to his senses. "...Am I dead?" he asked weakly. "Where is...Lucario?"

"It's fine now..." Jigglypuff said. "He went away...and he took Sonic as well..."

"Q-quick!" Chip muttered. "We have to take him back to the mansion! The others should be worried!"

"..." Parakarry looked worried. "But what about the monsters on the way there?"

Kirby and Jigglypuff looked worried once they remembered the beasts that DSS ordered to go away.

"They could come back at any moment now that he's gone!" Parakarry said alarmed.

The World Traveler grabbed his spear and slowly got up from the street. He panted a little before coughing for a bit. "I-if he took Sonic, we have to do something about that..."

"Not now!" Kirby yelled at him worried. "You got yourself dragged by that beast and...we were so worried that you were going to die..."

Chris noticed Kirby sniffing.

"...Let's go back for now..." Kirby sobbed. "Really, I want to go back..."

"...Fine, Kirby," Chris said with a nod. "We'll go back to the mansion as soon a-"

They suddenly heard a building falling apart in the distance. They all turned to the direction of the sound.

"W-what was that?" Chip asked.

"A random building fell," Parakarry said. "I don't know you guys, but we need to go away from this ghost city. It's already giving me the chills."

"..." Chip got worried. "(But...)"

The imp didn't have enough time to talk before, from nowhere in the darkness, 2 huge dark claws emerged from behind them and grabbed them harshly between the 2 hands. Everyone except Chip (who was some inches away from being grabbed as well) screamed loudly before they all were pulled back across the street. The imp gasped and quickly went after them.

A small amount of time passed before the claws stopped from going further away. Chip stopped flying and noticed that the werehog was just behind the huge dark claws, snickering madly.

"...Tricked ya again..." the beast muttered as he put a stronger grip on the 4, making them scream. "Chip, maybe you're asking yourself why I let you go alive again, right?"

"W-what?" Chip noticed. "W-why?"

DSS smirked at the 4 who were trying to get off from the claws. "I want you to watch their deaths from a safe distance..."

"N-no!" Chris yelled. "Y-you can't kill us off! No!"

"Sorry," DSS said with a laugh. "It has to be done like this. You're so irritating, anyway."

"W-what did I ever do to you?" Parakarry asked.

"Tsk," DSS muttered with a frown. "Go away."

Parakarry noticed that the grip on him got softer, allowing him to escape. The Paratroopa looked shocked at this but didn't hesitate to go wiggle out, leaving Chris, Kirby, and Jigglypuff in the claws. "W-w-w-w-w-why are you letting me live?"

"Because you're just a nuisance," DSS stated as screams came from the Smashers. "And you're just an inferior pebble in my path. You're not that important to me."

Parakarry looked down in shame...before he heard the screams. "W-wait! You let them go now!"

"..." DSS smiled. "Okay! I'll let them go!"

"..." Parakarry narrowed his eyes at him.

"...If you're giving me that look..." DSS began as he narrowed his eyes at his claws. "LET'S START!!!" he yelled loudly with an echoing, and yet strong roar that made the 2 flying characters back away.

Chip opened his eyes to see the beast lowering his claws down before opening them, revealing the 3 unconscious Smashers before they were all tossed high up to the air as their bodies spun in different direction. Parakarry looked back at the werehog, and he began to stuck out his tongue to swing it around.

The werehog shook his head and quickly looked up at the falling Smashers. He chuckled before he pulled back his fists and aimed at the 3.

"S-stop!" Chip yelled, holding out his hands at the werehog.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the werehog replied back as he began to punch the far away Smashers by extending his dark fists. Parakarry and Chip watched terrorized as the fists themselves came back before being shot upwards at an insane rate that looked like they weren't even being taken back down at their normal lengths.

The 2 terrified characters looked up where they saw Chris, Kirby, and Jigglypuff being hit an insane amount of times before the punching stopped. However, the beast then opened his claws and began to do the same move, but this time by slashing them all across every single part of their bodies, causing a tremendous amount of damage.

The werehog enjoyed the attack to the fullest as his tongue stuck out between his upper and lower fangs. It was like he could taste their blood without even licking it. The werehog stopped slashing them at an insane speed before slamming down his claws on the street, creating a small earthquake that made some destroyed buildings shake violently.

Chip watched as the utterly damaged bodies began to fall down while the beast pulled his head back.

The imp knew the next move...

DSS aimed his mouth at the Smashers to release a destructive roar towards the sky, emanating dark waves of aura that spread all around the area that they were in, destroying every single building in sight (for around a radius of 3 kilometers) to cause destruction. Chip and Parakarry looked around in panic as they tried to evade the collapsing buildings from crushing them. The dust that emerged from the buildings eventually reached up to them as they wanted to run away.

However, they forgot that the Smashers were being severely hurt by the dark waves of aura that passed right through them. The werehog, after letting his destructive roar out, stopped roaring before he saw 3 dead bodies falling back to the street...

Nocturnal Slaughter

Probably the most dangerous attack to ever exist. Damages the prey with swift fists and slashes before shooting out malicious dark energy all around, causing tremendous, destructive damage to all opponents and the field itself.

The werehog snickered through the dust as he watched in pure pleasure at the destruction he made by using his Final Smash...

2 bodies bounced a little before they rolled back, revealing themselves to be Kirby and Jigglypuff... Both looked severely hurt by the sudden Final Smash that they shone brightly...and turned into trophies...for the first time in a long time...

And as for the World Traveler...he laid down on some destroyed rumbles while his right hand opened, revealing scars of blood like his entire body showed...

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

It was a time after a rescue team was formed (consisting of all the Smashers except Peach, the musicians, Luigi, Lucario (still unconscious) and the hands). Mewtwo, however, remained behind to examine the situation. The Psychic Pokémon was glowing while he had his arms crossed with closed eyes to focus hard on the city.

There were Peach, Luigi, the musicians, and the hands looking at Mewtwo while they were sitting on some chairs. There was a weakened Lucario laying down on a couch nearby as he was being attended by Medli and Makar.

"Well, that was heartbreaking," Master Hand said with a sigh. "After I attacked those beasts to make a path for everyone to go to the city and rescue Chris, I'm glad they managed to go away for him."

"I-I hope they don't get attacked..." Luigi said.

"You should have gone with them."

"I-I..." Luigi looked down embarrassed.

"..." Mewtwo stopped glowing and looked a little bit ashamed.

Peach blinked at this sudden reaction. "...What? You found something?"

Mewtwo nodded as he closed his eyes.

"Did you find Chris and the others?"

Mewtwo nodded again.

"Are they...fine?" Luigi asked.

Mewtwo...shook his head. "...I'm afraid to say this, but..."

Everyone in there looked at him.

"...I'm afraid to say that Chris..." He opened his eyes and looked at them. "...Has died..."

The Kongs gasped, Master Hand did as well, Luigi's eyes rolled back before he fainted, Medli's mouth opened in disbelief, and Makar looked away with a frown.

As for Peach...

"...No..." Peach muttered.

"I can't feel his presence anymore..." Mewtwo said. "He was severely damaged enough to the point he couldn't tolerate the damage he was submitted to by that beast..."

Peach looked down and shook her head.

"...I'm sorry..." Mewtwo said. "...And to recall I once killed him when I was under the Shadow Bugs' control..."

Peach couldn't do nothing but to cover her face with her hands and sob silently. "W-why..." she muttered as she sobbed.

Master Hand looked outside where he could barely see the Smashers running to the top of the hill before disappearing by going down it. "...You guys...good luck..." he muttered. "...Avenge Chris by killing that bastard..."

"I shall inform them about the whereabouts of that beast," Mewtwo said. "That's the least I can do for now."

"Lucario..." Medli muttered as she looked at the Aura Pokémon.

The princess, as she sobbed, only had one regret in mind...

...Not giving Chris his surprise birthday party as she wanted...

...For he was dead...

...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Night of the Werehog. HA! I'm still the main attraction here, how do you like that?!" asked DSS before laughing maniacally.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Malicious Fingers" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays with any big monsters or other bosses such as the crab in Aeryglyph's sewers.

-"Sonic Unleashed – Werehog Mini Boss" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you face off against a Titan or a Big Mother (I think that's the name of the one that spits pigs out).

Out Of Curiosity...:

-(In Sonic Unleashed) Either Knuckles was guarding the emerald during the events of the whole frickin' world splitting apart or he was sleeping deeply without noticing the whole thing.

And the werehog managed to give Chris his gift…

Is Chris dead for real this time? Isn't there something else that he forgot he had in reserve?

Maybe he's not dead…

The next chapter will be the last one for this arc before continuing with the winner of the poll. Remember to vote to give me a good order, please.

I encourage you to read and review as always, please. :)

…Or I'll create the ChipXJigglypuff pairing and create a new fad with the shipping as well.
*Chapter 144*: The Night Of The Werehog

So Mr. Virus here dropped by and he destroyed my CPU. Too bad he didn't expect me to renovate my CPU to its best upgrade with an anti-virus.

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Jigglypuff needs a combined attack with Chris, badly. And Peach? She should have gone psycho. :(

Chris has one continue left, doesn't he?

Update soon!

From me: As a matter of fact, yes, he does have a life left... Hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

From aquadragonsayian: Wow... just... wow...

I never expected JIGGLYPUFF to be the one! And... is it the end of Chris again? I hope not...

Here's hoping that you'll update again!

From me: I hope you're still there. Enjoy the chapter, please. :)

From Lastdrop: Aw, poor Chris.
Hmm...Your right about the knuckles thing though.. my bet is on the sleeping XD

From me: …So you mean you bothered to comment about the joke and not the actual chapter? I mean, I don't want to sound rude, but you should comment longer about the chapter. If that happens, that would be a real review, don't you think?

Anyway….thank you, I guess…

From TARDIESreviewer: HOLY *!

Epic twist.

*wants moar*

From me: Okay, now I'M PISSED. This ISN'T close to a review at all. This sounds more like a demand to me… Would you…please give a review next time?

From Zeni S. Master: nice chapter! omg chris is possibly dead? irony rules! and dss controls the nightmares? how'd that happen? anyway keep up the good work

From me: DSS probably controls the nightmares because he could be…maybe… I'll leave the wondering part for you. ;)

From ngrey651: Chip and Jigglypuff pairing? Ooh, that's EVIL! And Chris.

...oh Chris. Killing off the main character like that is always...everybody goes "NO". Myself included.

From me: Well, just remember he's not totally the main character. Keep scrolling down, please. ;)

From Rabid Original: ...I gotta say, the thing that weirded me out the most was Mewtwo singing. I mean, I can't even picture that XD

The whole chapter was pretty much one big fight scene. And you're pretty damn good at writing them. By that, I mean that I actually know what's going on :P

Looks like Chris got his head handed to him.

Continue?

YES NO
(Or else Lucario will EXPLODE. Literally XD)

From me: It's your decision to continue…by scrolling down. I hope you like the chapter. :D

From Gamerdox: Well then this chapter you have done it again you have made the battle's seem real with the amount of detail you have given. DSS a murderess thing bent on killing for the heck of it. Made me shudder. But is Chris really dead? I think not. Why? If you would go back and reread the chapter when Chris died the first time and you will have your answer. (I can't rember the chapter at this time, srry … hey I'm not perfect. -_-)

This is gamerdox,
Long time reviewer, first time reader
Signing off

From me: Sorry if I cut your review. It was a little bit long.

Anyway, it's good to see a new reviewer once in a while. I totally like your review. I have nothing to say to you for now, though. I just hope you keep reviewing because I like the people who review in depth my chapters. :D

From Light the Lucario: Chris dying again... I feel so sad for him... You better give him a green mushroom! And I wonder does this mean that Chris will become a Werehog or use his beastmaster job? Still, this makes me wonder if he is going to be a little bit more shaky around Sonic... DDS truly is still Sonic just a tad darker. So TAKE THAT! DDS!

From me: If is just me, or are you liking this very much? I hope you are. Why would Chris become a werehog, anyway? I don't think that would happen… Keep reading, please. :D

From SlasherMask: I think that DSS's awesome psychoness dropped in this chapter... He was more annoying than in last one.

I also think that calling pyscho's plans dumb, annoying(only psychos that are allowed to call that are those quick and nimble laughing manically types and those speaking about death and killing all the time... Expecting that person saying that is stronger or strong as those psychos(or simply not shuddering in fear while saying it)) is little strange sounding in my opinion...

Will ChipxJiggly has as much spark as other nonexisting pairing called ChrisxPeach? I doubt.

Aww... Next arc seems to be Pokemon XD... I wanna that game, but hey don't sell it here anymore...

From me: Well, he got turned himself into a werehog so his personality surely changed. He's power hungry fo-I mean, powerful bastard…yes, that's it.

Well, there's still time for the next arc as people keep voting. Keep reading as well, please. :D

From shadow-dog18: wow this chapter was awesome out of the last few chapters and it was so much fun too read and I can't belive that he is dead anyway can't wait for the next chapter too see what happens next also I can't wait to find out what Lucario will do ones he find out what happend thats always fun to keep up the great job in wighting this story.

From me: I always have fun writing this for a lot of strangers!

…Okay, that sounded so twisted. Anyway, thank you for reviewing. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: woah, just, woah. what's happened is just so shocking, i'm at a lost for words. don't expect this too really get big. just, wow, chris will be seeing, "her" again i bet, and there's a good chance that there's gonna be a advanced final smash to be used. not too many people we see fight the smashers are able to turn them to trophies, so DSS is on that verge of power, be careful smashers. not going to use blahx3 here, just gonna ask and say.
How's Resident Evil 4?
If you're born in 1992, you're a monkey.
kill that bastard, DSS, please, i beg of you. PERMANATLY.
good typing.

From me: Nope. There's not an advanced Final Smash for now. RE4? Er, it's good?

I was born in 1991.

Maybe, maybe not. Thank you. :D

From Luigicario: Nice chapter. Now nobody can call Chris a Gary Sue.

I eagerly await the return to life (that will come). Don't the Smashers have a tank? Last I remember the hand left it in the lobby, with four walls around it!

May your days be filled with frequent updates!

From me: I don't think the tank will serve of any help in this. That also reminds me about putting up the explanation behind the tank as well…

I hope I had those updates in me. Sadly, I don't. Thank you. :D

From Mewtrainer: Chris...is dead? ...I don't know what to say...that had to be the last thing I had ever expected...

From me: I always like to amaze people by expecting the unexpected. Does anybody here do this? Maybe… Anyway, keep reading, please. ;)

From RayGallade: Chris died again, Kirby and Jigglypuff are trophies, I'm shocked. Just shows that anyone can die.
Yet another good chapter in this fic. DSS I would rate as Chaotic Evil, just from this chapter. I liked how you did Peach, and the smashers who don't sing.
So, Chris is going to go for a visit. That leaves him in need of finding more continues soon.
Knuckles was most likly sleeping. And I like NPC games also, I just don't like the thought of what you might have to do for the test.
RayGallade out.

From me: Well, this chapter is going to have everything it needs… Keep scrolling down, please.

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: So it WAS Jigglypuff, huh? Sonic, shame on you for not going through the entire list. And is Chris REALLY dead? He can't be dead, or the story would be over. But I don't know what's going to happen next.

From me: Well, your answers can only be found out if you keep reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

From DianaGohan: Compared to the nice build up of drama and suspense last chapter this one was a let down. The reveal of Jigglypuff was done well (even if the reason she put up the whole was stupid) but DSS spend too much time talking to himself then being threahtening. Seriously huge chunks of dialogue could of easily been cut from this story without ruining the narrative flow. Not to mention the whole party scene being either weird (smashers singing, for the wrong reasons) or just a tease for DSS. The actual fight was okay (though really the smashers could of so easily worked together to defeat DSS then they did) and the ending with Chris dying due to the final was a good shocking twist. Pretty obvious why he hates werehogs. Still not the greatest chapter and IMHO the weakest of this saga so far.

From me: Well, they didn't expect an attack from DSS at all. Even if they were trying to attack him all at once, it would be a complete mess, don't you think? DSS surprised everyone with his skills. I hope this chapter changes your current perspective, though. :D

Okay, I'm really sorry for that virus messing me up. I mean, I had this chapter ready before this happened. Luckily, I wrote this chapter in the forums I always go so it remained intact through the whole week. This chapter grew very long because I didn't want to make 2 chapters.

REMEMBER THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER THE VERY SAME DAY YOU STARTED TO READ THIS. THE CHAPTER ITSELF IS OVER 100 PAGES LONG. PLEASE, DON'T TRY TO READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER IN A WHOLE DAY SO YOU DON'T BECOME FRUSTRATED.

However, please, I ask you to review this if you do manage to read it all. I'd feel sad if everyone left during this whole absence. I'm not being demanding. It's just that…I was so worried during this whole week, really…

…But hey, I completed Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (don't comment about this).

We have a special guest in this chapter. Hopefully, the disclaimer will give you a hint if you ever heard of him at all. For those who haven't the system we have here will explain the background.

Read, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: This guy are sick.

Chapter 144: The Night Of The Werehog

Only silence was present through a dark void...

Underwhere
Queen Jaydes's Palace

Super Paper Mario - The Underwhere

A busy day (or night) was present as the D-Men walked around while they attended several lost souls (in the forms of blue floating flames). Apparently, there was a sudden slow down in the job to take the souls to their respective worlds since Queen Jaydes herself wasn't around at that time.

The reason for this, you ask?

"Why did her husband have to ask for a family reunion today?" a D-Man asked annoyed to another one.

"Well, ever since that Mario guy rescued the residents of the Overthere and somehow made Luvbi turn back into herself from being a Pure Heart thingy," the other D-Man explained. "The 3 have been a happy family ever since, and they sometimes arrange some family reunions by doing picnics."

"Geez, what a way to give us all the work here," the first one said as he rolled his yellow eyes. "Anyway, we have to settle down the people in here and tell them to wait for her Highness to come back. Surely they'll understand."

The D-Men nodded to each other before walking away towards a line of souls that were lined up in a proper manner. At the very bottom of the line, a new soul came from above, looking ashamed and sad as he accidentally bumped into the first soul of the line before him.

"O-oh, sorry," the incoming soul said. "I-I didn't see you..."

"Whatever..." the other soul replied harshly.

The soul seemed to be Chris after he was killed by the werehog. The World Traveler looked around the hellish jungle, worried about the others at the destroyed city.

The World Traveler sighed once he saw the long line of souls in front of him. He felt some chills after being somewhere else that wasn't his home, or the mansion.

Wanting to do something to cheer himself up, he touched the blue soul he bumped into and decided to start a conversation. "S-so, I'm sorry for bumping into you before."

The other soul looked at him.

"A-and I wanted to say sorry," Chris said. "M-may I know your name? My name is Chris, nice to meet you."

"..." The soul turned back to the line. "...Cloud..."

"...O-okay," Chris said. "S-so you're Cloud. D-do you have a last name?"

"...Strife..."

"...Cloud...Strife..." Chris muttered. "...Cloud Strife..." His yellow eyes widened. "C-Cloud Strife? (You mean he is the same Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII?)"

Cloud Strife is a mercenary and self-proclaimed ex-soldier of SOLDIER (a select, genetically augmented military unit that works for an organization called Shinra). He's part of a resistance group called AVALANCHE that works to destroy the evil corporation Shinra, and defeat someone else called Sephiroth. Cloud himself likes to act serious and silent at all situations, even meeting people.

The soul known as Cloud turned at him. "Yeah, that's right. What about it."

"I-I'm sorry, I think I heard your name somewhere before..." Chris said. "A-anyway, it's nice to meet you, Cloud."

"..." The soul turned his back at Chris. "...Yeah, nice to meet you."

"...S-so, why are you here?"

"Do I know?" Cloud asked. "I got here after I was killed by some sort of robot at a Shinra Building by rescuing a friend of mine. Do you know what this place is, though?"

"A-all I know is that this place is called Underwhere," Chris explained. "This place is supposed to link many different worl-"

The World Traveler stopped explaining. He didn't want to reveal to Cloud that much about the Underwhere.

Cloud turned to him. "What were you saying?" he asked.

"I-I was saying that this place is the place where the people that die unfairly ends up here," Chris said. "Y-you probably ended up here because you were killed unfairly."

"..."

"...I-I don't know if that's reason, though..." Chris said embarrassed.

"...I see..." Cloud nodded. "Well, thanks for the info, anyway."

"Y-you're welcome..." Chris said with a sigh.

"...Well, I think I can get information out of you after all," Cloud said. "You seem pretty normal to me, Chris."

Chris hopped up a little in surprise. "U-um, thank you, I always try to be useful to anybody."

Cloud nodded more. "Yeah, thanks, Chris."

"(I'm actually forming a friendship with him here?)" Chris asked surprised.

"Well," Cloud began as he looked at the long line. "I think I have to be lined up here because there doesn't seem to be anything more important rather than the jungle and its dark atmosphere."

"Y-you're right. That's because Queen Jaydes will bring you back to you worl-I mean, bring back to the place where you were killed, Cloud."

"Hmm..." Cloud seemed to be understanding. "Who is this Queen Jaydes?"

"She...rules over all the people who are brought here after being killed. She can judge you and see if she can bring you back."

"...I see..." Cloud said with some nods. "I better stay in this line to meet up with her, then?"

"Yes," Chris said. "I'm going to be here as well and see if she can bring me back to my home where I was killed..."

Cloud tilted himself. "Really? Why were you killed?"

"I...was killed by...a beast that took over the body of a friend of mine..." Chris said ashamed. "And worse yet, I was killed during my birthday..."

"Your birthday?" Cloud asked. "Why were you fighting during your birthday?"

"Because that same beast that took over my friend's body kidnapped me and some of my friends to a city in ruins where we fought him but eventually lost..." Chris said sadly. "I guess they didn't get killed like I did..."

"I see..." Cloud said again with a nod. "A rather unexpected gift, don't you think?"

"I-I...think so..." Chris said ashamed. "It was...so sudden and yet so unexpected...because I just died during my birthday, and the monster that I was fighting always acted like a bully hungry of power until he finished me off..." He looked away. "But he happens to have a friend of mine under his control for his deeds..."

"..." Cloud turned back to the line. "Well, all I can do for you is to tell you to wait and see what this Queen Jaydes will do for you and me for that matter. I'm sorry for not being that much helpful for you."

"N-no, it's okay," Chris said with a sigh. "I hope I can return back home, though..."

"..." Cloud remained silent.

"..." The World Traveler moved forward to stay in the line as more souls came from behind, looked around confused, and got lined up behind Chris.

Chris noticed that Cloud turned around and looked at him. "Tell me something," Cloud began, "who is this beast you spoke of a moment ago?"

"Huh?" Chris tilted himself. "W-why do you ask? Why are you interested to know?"

"I thought it was cordial for people to answer the questions they're being asked, not make more questions themselves to the ones asking them."

"S-sorry..."

"...Anyway, I wanted to ask because there's nothing better to do that waiting in this line full of people. I'll tell you, some of them are quite...odd... One of them kept yelling that it had fury or "chortles" or some crap like that."

Chris sweatdropped at this.

"And also because you're the only one interesting enough to talk with," Cloud said. "It's you or the soul after me." Cloud looked behind him to see a soul moving up and down.

"I, Popple, the Shadow Thief, will have my vengeance on those plumbers!" the soul next to Cloud proclaimed with a laugh before he calmed down depressed. "Why did I had to remove that little chunk of gold from that obvious trap in those ruins filled with boulders..."

Chris blinked a few times. "I-I see..."

"Well, care to explain what happened to you?" Cloud asked.

Chris remained silent before he nodded depressed. "The beast that attacked me..."

And from that moment and onwards, Chris began to explain everything to Cloud as the line didn't move forward, deeper into the palace. The G-Men around were trying to call Jaydes to attend every single soul and not leave them with the work.

However, they needed to be careful or else she would punish them all in some sort of freaky way.

And the ominous atmosphere shrouded the hellish jungle before changing back to another location...

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Post Office

Back in the previous universe, the postmen at the post office managed to hear the loud impact's sound that came from the city. They also saw the Nightmares and Titans retreating from around the city itself and into the forest around the rainy night.

"What is the meaning of this now?" Quil asked as he stuck his head out and looked at the city. "What were those sudden sounds?"

"Y-you don't think something bad happened to Parakarry, right?" Postman asked as he hid behind the counter.

Quil grunted and crossed his arms as he watched the night monsters disappearing into the forests. "I doubt he caused that since he's not that strong..." the Rito said worried, "...But the most logical answer would be that the monster that he chased did all that..."

"O-oh no..." Postman gulped. "Y-you don't think he got killed, right?"

"I can't tell..." Quil closed his eyes and frowned. "...But since the situation became very bad like this..." The Rito jumped across the counter and to the ground, where he began to get wet by the rain. "I'm going for him and see what happened."

"W-what?" Postman stood up. "Y-you're going to risk your life for him? That's endangering, man!"

"I'm not going to fight," Quil said. "As soon as I find him, I'm going to take him back here and see what we could do to save those people from the monster. I'm sure Parakarry didn't exactly defeat that monster by himself, and that's why I'm going."

"Are you sure it is okay for you to go alone?" Postman asked. "Those nocturnal monsters could be roaming inside the city, you know!"

"I have that in mind as well," Quil stated before he looked at the city. "Well, here I go. Wish me good luck in finding that scatterbrained postman."

The Rito extended his wings and began to flap to pull himself up. Postman watched as the Rito prepared to fly towards the city before Quil left as soon as he could.

Postman looked down worried and sighed. "I just run and deliver people their mail," he muttered depressed. "They can do more than me, though..."

It was not long before he noticed many footsteps coming from the hill. The postman gasped and wished that the nocturnal beasts weren't going after Quil.

However, once he looked to the north, he found many people running through the rain. The postman narrowed his eyes and put a hand in front of his eyebrows before his eyes widened after recognizing at least one of all the people running towards the city.

"Heeeeeeeey!" Postman called out to the group. "If it isn't you!"

"...What?" Link stopped running with everyone else as they looked at Postman. "(It's him again!) Y-you? What are you doing here?" Link asked.

"I work here," Postman said simply. "The post office in Hyrule had to close down due to vacations, but I wanted to work somewhere else," Postman explained. "I searched far and wide for the ideal place to work at, and I found it here!"

"You work in the middle of nowhere? Why is that?" Zelda asked.

Postman gasped at the sight of the princess that he lowered his postman hat down. "O-oh, Princess Zelda, it's an honor to see you during this dreaded night."

The princess shifted his eyes at this awkward bow. "T-thank you," she said, bowing down at him.

Postman gasped. "O-oh Nayru, I-I just received a greeting from Her Majesty! I-I won't watch my eyes, ever!"

Link grunted in annoyance. "A-anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Working," Postman began as he raised fingers. "Finding something better to do, waiting for Quil and Parakarry from chasing a beast that seemed to be taking 4 guys into the city, working again, waiting for them agai-"

"Wait, what?" Link asked. "You saw a huge monster carrying 3 people?"

"4, actually," Postman said. "I saw a pink blob besides another one, hiding somewhere around the beast."

"Kirby..." Meta Knight muttered. "There's no other person than him and Jigglypuff that are considered pink blobs by miscomprehension."

"And you are saying they went into the city?" Zelda asked.

"Absolutely, Your Majesty!" Postman said with a salute. "The monster itself seemed to be in a hurry before destruction was heard from within the city! My partner, Quil, just went a second ago to find my other partner, Parakarry, who went to rescue the kidnapped people in the beast's back!"

"Parakarry?" Mario repeated. "Oh no, this isn't good..."

"What was that about destruction?" Pit asked.

"Oh, there was a loud crashing sound...actually, more like multiple loud sounds coming from the city a moment ago," Postman explained. "Apparently, Quil thought it was because of the beast."

Some of them gasped at this and looked at each other. "We better get going," Marth said as he looked at the city. "With the path clear from those monsters, maybe we have a chance to reunite with them before..."

"Everyone."

The Smashers blinked in confusion after hearing a sudden echoing voice in their minds. Some of them looked around to find the source of the voice.

"D-don't tell me our minds have their own minds!" Olimar said worried.

"Is that even possible?" Pikachu asked bored.

"Don't be alarmed. It's me, Mewtwo."

"Mewtwo?" Roy asked as he looked up. "Why are you calling us through our minds?"

"I have...bad news to inform..."

"Bad news?" Samus asked. "What kind of bad news?"

"I have been scanning the city from the mansion ever since you all left to rescue Chris. Once I managed to find their presences...something unfortunate happened..."

"Unfortunate?" Red asked.

"Very unfortunate, indeed," Mewtwo said.

"What was unfortunate?" C. Falcon asked. "Don't leave us waiting here. We have to keep running to the city and rescue them befor-"

"Chris was killed."

Most of them blinked one time before they looked shocked at this sudden interruption.

"...What?" Ike asked. "Did I hear you well?"

"I'm not kidding... Chris was...killed by that beast...a few minutes ago..."

"...No..." Samus muttered as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry for being the one announcing the bad news, but it's true," Mewtwo said. "Chris's presence seized from being seen before he was killed...quite brutally by that monster..."

"..." Ness looked down before he looked up. "Are you...telling the truth?"

"I'm not joking with this," Mewtwo said in shame. "As far as I can tell, he was overwhelmed by a brutal attack from Sonic...or what he used to be..."

Some of them looked depressed at this sudden announcement. Some clenched fists, some closed eyes and frowned with ashamed expressions, and even some looked down and sobbed very silently through the rain. Postman, however, didn't get why they stopped from going into the city.

Fox clenched his fists slowly and looked up. "Are you really sure he's dead, Mewtwo?" he asked with a pissed look.

"No matter how many times you will all ask me, Chris is...dead..."

"No..." Zelda muttered. "Why...why tonight? Why did he have to be killed during his birthday?"

Link patted her back as the princess looked ashamed. "Zelda, please, don't get like this."

"But how am I supposed to feel better after knowing that he was killed?" Zelda asked as she looked at him. "Tell me, what else can we do now?"

"If this will cheer you up, I can still sense Kirby's and Jigglypuff's presences within the city. They seemed to turn into trophies after receiving the attack...not as critical as Chris did."

"That doesn't change the fact that he died!" Squirtle yelled.

"(The kid got his gift after all...)" Wolf thought as he looked away. "(...But why do I feel a little bit bad about him? Last time he was killed I only felt ashamed because I wouldn't get to piss him off again...)"

"...I'm sorry for hesitating you, but you must go into the city and rescue the ones who are still living," Mewtwo explained. "Even if Kirby and Jigglypuff turned into trophies, they can be brought back to life if you hurry."

"B-but Chris!" Lucas yelled out. "W-what about him? W-what will Lucario do once he knows that he..."

Pikachu reached for Lucas's right shoulder to make him look at him, frowning. "..." Pikachu shook his head. "...Sorry..." he muttered.

"..." Lucas looked away in shame. "...B-but still, this is so unfair..."

"Again, I'm sorry," Mewtwo said. "Hurry to the city and see if you can find them all...and Chris as well... I'll leave you for now and alert you from that monster if I see him. He's still due southeast if your current location. Head all the way to that direction and you should find a long, wide area with destroyed buildings. That beast is still there. But hurry up and fight him back as soon as you see him."

The Smashers noticed that Mewtwo left their minds after a brief moment of silence while the rain kept falling down around them.

"...Chris..." Yoshi muttered with a frown. "He couldn't have..."

"Not this crap again!" Falco yelled out as he glared at the city. "I already saw him die one time, but now he dies twice? What the heck is wrong here?" he yelled to the rain.

"Falco, stop it," Fox said simply, looking serious at the pilot.

"But..." Falco looked down.

"Right now," Snake began, getting the attention of everyone. "We need to reach that monster and seize him."

"No, we're going to KILL that bastard once we see him," Roy said with a serious look.

"What about Sonic?" Diddy asked. "He's not guilty of this! You all already heard that his mind got controlled by another guy!"

"Sacrifices are meant to be made," Snake said.

"...What?"

"If we need to kill the hedgehog, then we'll do it," Snake said. "If we let that monster go around and kill us all when we least expect him, we're going to regret it underneath our graves," he explained. "I doubt any of you know how to rescue the hedgehog from that guy taking over his body, right?"

Nobody spoke.

"Just as I thought," Snake said with a nod. "We're going to kill him."

"N-no!" Mario interrupted. "Sonic doesn't need to be killed!"

"Mario, it's his fault he got into this trouble," Snake said. "You all know him very well, I assume. He only cares about himself and only his welfare over anyone's welfare. Well, I'd say he won't be that missed around here."

"What about his friends at his world?" DK asked.

"They'll understand the reason behind his assassination very well," Snake said.

"I...refuse to do this..." Toon Link said. "I don't have the courage enough to kill him..."

"That is his consequence," Snake went on. "If anybody is against this, raise your hands."

Snake looked at the Smashers. Nobody wanted to raise their hands. What he just said seemed to be convincing them all.

Mario raised his hand.

"And with an outstanding count of 1 vote against 27, the hedgehog will be killed...if we manage to hit him hard, that is."

"Everyone really wants to kill Sonic?" Mario asked.

"Sorry, but we have to do it..." C. Falcon said. "We don't know a way to help him go back to his usual self."

"And the fact that he let himself be controlled by a random monster that killed Chris makes everything even worse for him," Falco said. "I want to grab that beast's throat, aim my Blaster down at his mouth, splatter his blood all around, and watch him beg for mercy."

"..." DK frowned. "...Okay, let's do this..."

"DK!" Diddy said.

"I never got to kill somebody before...but it has to be done..." DK said sadly. "I...I wanted to spend the time with Chris more..."

Many of them lowered their heads with some frowns.

"...Without further ado," Snake began to snap them out from their depression. "Let's go in and beat the crap out of the hedgehog or what he used to be."

The Smashers had to nod at this before they all ran inside the city and through the rain while Postman watched helplessly from behind the counter.

They were actually going to kill Sonic no matter if he was possessed by an evil entity.

Postman noticed Olimar with a Blue Pikmin. The captain sniffed a few times before his Pikmin patted his back. "B-but this is just...so unfair..." Olimar muttered sadly. "Why did this have to happen now?"

The Blue Pikmin kept patting his back before Olimar looked around, hopped with a gasp, and ran into the city.

Postman tilted his head in confusion and looked at no one in particular. "Who died?" he asked confused.

Ruins

Big piles of crumble from the buildings that were destroyed a moment ago were scattered around a big portion of the city (that wasn't enough to cover at least a hundredth part). Dust still flew out from the rumbles as the rain kept doing its job; rain endlessly.

Over a pile of crumbles, there sat down a calm beast that looked down upon the trophies of Kirby and Jigglypuff. It was the werehog, who looked bored after causing all the destruction with his Final Smash. DSS looked down upon the trophies as he rested his right arm on the top of his right knee.

DSS yawned. "It has been a while after I got so much fun..." he muttered, showing his fangs with another yawn. The werehog jumped down to examine the trophies closer. "Why did you turn into collectible stuff, anyway?" he asked to Kirby's trophy. "You look happy even after I "killed" you, right?"

DSS saw his reflection on the trophy. He smirked and raised his eyebrows several times at it.

"Heeeey, who's the handsome dude in the trophy," he asked with a snicker. "That's me, of course." He flexed his right arm and smirked at the trophy. "I like you, you know. Your new form makes my arm's reflection look bigger than before... Yeah, I like this..."

The werehog stopped flexing his arms before he walked to Jigglypuff's trophy.

"What about you? You look happy as well," the werehog said to the trophy. "You happy for being killed? Well, hahaha, thank you. I do my best to make my clients receive what they deserve the most."

The werehog blinked confused before he looked over a pile of crumbles, finding on top of them what looked to be...

Chris...

DSS opened his mouth in excitement as he quickly jumped to the body, landed nearby, and sniffed it for a little bit. "Aww, the sweet odor of death..." he muttered with pleasure as he looked at Chris's scars across his back."You're lucky to be killed, ya know?"

No response came from the corpse.

"What? Being the silent type now?" the werehog asked as he lifted up the corpse, making it look down at him with closed eyes. "You're gonna be my human doll, what do ya think?"

No response.

"For being a doll, you're so rude, mister."

No response.

The werehog grunted and looked bored before he shook Chris's body up and down to make his head nod recklessly. "Alright!" the werehog said before he put the corpse down. "You're one obedient kid," he said before he walked to the corpse and tilted his head at the sides just in front of Chris's weak expression. "Who's a little obedient kid?" he asked as he stuck his lips out, treating the corpse like a baby. "Who's a little obedient kiiiiiiiid? Who's a little obedient kiiiiiiiid? Yes, you areeeeee, yes, you areeeeee..."

The werehog moved the head with his right claw to make it nod in a reckless manner.

The beast gasped in excitement before he grabbed the corpse by the sides and held it up with extended arms. "Hey, I know!" the werehog said with a smile. "Let's play with the doll!" he suggested to the dead body.

Again, he moved it up and down to make the head nod.

"Alright, then," the beast said as coughed a little. "We're gonna show a play to the audience tonight," he said as he pointed at nowhere. "We're gonna show them the awesome story of, "The Hero and the Almighty Being." You wanna help me here?"

He made the corpse nod.

"Thank you!" DSS said with a snicker before he coughed, walked to the trophies of Kirby and Jigglypuff, and held Chris's body in front of them. "Okay, so here's the deal," DSS began as he tilted the corpse at the sides. "Once upon a sick time, there was once one stupid kid who wanted to visit worlds and save everyone from a sucky organization called the Subspace Army."

He made the corpse move the legs to the front and back by shaking it.

"The stupid kid's attitude made everyone that he met convince him from being very close friends to the point of being absurd," the werehog said. "Through fights against weaklings and weirdoes, the stupid kid's forces grew big as a cheesy family, eventually reaching a higher level of stupidity."

He dropped the corpse down.

"However..." he muttered with a chuckle."The stupid kid's birthday came around during a beautiful moon, and then, the sexiest, muscular, almighty, undefeated, swiftest, and handsomest creature appeared from within the darkness..." The werehog jumped close to the 3 before flexing up his arms with a smirk. "And that person happened to be Dark Super Sonic! The ultimate being of darkness that was willing to teach the kid a good lesson after all his heroic moves!" he proclaimed with a loud howl that echoed around the destroyed area.

The werehog looked down upon the corpse.

"So anyway, the stupid kid and some of his lovers were kidnapped by this special guy to an abandoned city like this one," he summarized. "Then, this special guy had a good heart and gave the kid his gift for his birthday."

The werehog grabbed the corpse with a huge dark claw.

"The handsome guy gave the stupid kid his gift with a lesson included," DSS went on. "He gave the stupid kid the most awesome gift ever..."

The werehog chuckled evilly at the corpse.

"...The gift of death," he said while showing his fangs. "And he also taught him not to mess with the boss," DSS explained before he let the corpse fall down. He looked at the trophies. "And then, his friends were also affected by the awesomeness of the muscular dude that they decided to turn into trophies no less! How surprising, isn't?"

The werehog looked around.

"But then, the almighty being remembered that 2 dudes that were with the 3 idiots were still living somehow after the smart main character destroyed a big part of the abandoned city with a mighty howl," DSS said as he looked amused at his sides. "His nose could tell the scents of an imp who acted like a bad guy, and then there was another lucky soul that decided to join the fun as well."

The rain kept going as the werehog licked his fangs slowly.

"In fact," he continued. "Those 2 were digging their way out from the big chunks of cement that once formed a lot of buildings to escape from the handsome dude," DSS said. "And they were right..."

With a swift move, DSS quickly grew his hands, dug them inside the crumbles of the buildings, and looked around for his victims. It was a small amount of time before he felt 2 struggling sensations underneath his claws that his ears perked up a bit in reaction. DSS smiled a bit before he smirked and quickly raised his long arms from underneath the pile of crumbles.

He looked up to see a screaming Chip with a terrified Parakarry before a thunder illuminated the whole place.

"HERE!" the werehog finished with a malevolent laugh to the sky as Chip and Parakarry screamed in unison, trying to get off from his claws.

"!" Chip yelled loudly as the Paratroopa tried to get himself free.

"You guys missed me or what?" the werehog asked with a snicker. "You thought I forgot about you? You don't have a ghost of a chance to escape from me, I'm afraid!"

"P-please, let us live!" Parakarry cried out as the grips on them became tight. "I-I beg of you, let us live!"

The werehog snickered before he pulled them back to the floor, but still struggling to get free from his dark claws. "Aww, the victims of the main character were begging for mercy at the awesome display of raw power that he displayed to them. Wasn't that cute, folks?"

"W-who are you talking to?" Chip asked weakly.

"SHUT UP!" DSS yelled as he increased the grips' strength on them, making them scream loudly in pain. "Don't you DARE interrupt the play for the audience! Or, do you wanna die before we get to the finale?"

Chip shook with fear as he shook his head.

"I thought so..." DSS said before coughing. "Anyway, you guys are part of the paly for the folks out there. Say hello to your fans."

The imp and the Paratroopa slowly opened their eyes to look around for that audience, but they didn't see anyone except the werehog and his victims.

"I SAID SAY HELLO!" DSS demanded with a howl.

"H-hello!" Chip and Parakarry yelled.

"Yes!" DSS moved his claws (and them) up and down in excitement. "The crowd already wants to see the epilogue so much because of you, guys!"

"W-what kind of epilogue is that?" Parakarry asked as he tried to get off from the right claw he was in.

"Oh, you just wait..." DSS said with an evil chuckle. "So anyway, where did I leave? Oh yeah, the 2 other guys," he said before he coughed, made a blank face, and moved them to the trophies and Chris's dead body. "The 2 being so damn stubborn wanted to save their friends during the battle against the almighty being. Isn't that wonderful or what, folks?"

Chip and Parakarry watched helplessly as they were forced to face each other in front of the trophies.

"Ahem," DSS coughed before going on. "These 2 were as weak as the kid's group that they tried to escape after the fearsome beast let out a masculine howl that made everything around him be destroyed in a matter of seconds, which he greatly liked personally," the werehog explained before he pulled their faces closer to each other. "And then, these 2 tried to escape, but the undefeated being sniffed them out and found them before they could escape."

Chip and Parakarry gulped to each other.

"And when the sexy being found them, he decided to use them as dolls for a play to you, the audience," the werehog said with a snicker. "The being ultimately used them as dolls as they screamed for their lives, but the tenacious being, wanting to have more fun, continued to use them for a while." He sniffed. "T-those bad guys wanted to leave poor old Dark Super Sonic alone, and they tried to attack him as well! W-what kind of people were they? T-they wanted to kill him alive! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The 2 didn't like where this was going at all as the werehog faked tears and cries.

But then, the werehog quickly stopped and looked at them with an evil look on his eyes. "That's when the hero decided to give them what they deserved for being such big meanies to him. The super hero, wanting revenge, thought about ripping their heads off their bodies."

Chip and Parakarry looked shocked.

"Then, he thought about eating them with his sharp, but awesome fangs."

They gulped.

"Then, pound them a little bit."

They thought "a little bit" was "way too much" in DSS's own dictionary.

"Then, rip their arms off while biting their heads off with his fangs."

They were at the point to scream for life.

"...But eventually..." the werehog went on. "...He decided not to do any of those things because he had compassion within him."

Chip and Parakarry blinked surprised at this before they sighed...

...But they barely noticed a smirk from the werehog.

"However," DSS continued. "He decided to do all of them AT THE SAME TIME, STARTING RIGHT NOW!"

The 2 quickly got shocked looks before they were released from the grips, falling down close to the trophies before they noticed the werehog panted heavily, showing his fangs at the destroyed crumbles before locking wild eyes at them.

"H-hurry!" Parakarry yelled as he floated up. "W-we have to escape from here!"

"W-what about them?" Chip asked as he pointed at the trophies.

"Trophies?" Parakarry said confused. "What are trophies of themselves doing her-"

"HUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Both of them turned around at the same time before seeing the nocturnal beast with his dark claws fully opened to maul them alive. The 2 quickly looked at each other and screamed loudly for their lives as the werehog was about to land on top of them.

However...

The werehog's eyes narrowed and looked to his left before he was pushed away by an unknown source. The beast merely rolled on the crumbles before crouching down, showing his fangs at the source of the force.

"I made it in time..." Quil said with a sigh as he landed close to the 2.

"Quil!" Parakarry said happily before he quickly went to him...and gave him a hug. "I was so worried you weren't going to show u-"

Quil quickly pushed Parakarry to the floor and wiped the dust off his clothes. "Anyway, there's not much time to talk right now. We have to leave this place before that beast attacks."

"Oh, great," DSS said with a chuckle as he licked his fangs. "A birdie showed up. I'm gonna enjoy my new dessert sooooo much."

"What was that?" Quil asked utterly confused.

"T-that guy already killed him!" Chip gasped as he saw Chris's dead body nearby.

"...For the gods..." Quil muttered as he looked down at Chris. "...This is..."

"It's awesome, right?" DSS asked with a chuckle. "I gave the kid his so-deserved gift for his birthday. I hope he likes it even after he's death."

"...What?" Quil asked. "You...killed him as his gift?"

"Exactly! My god...wait, do I even have a god? I thought I was the god here myself..." DSS chuckled evilly. "Anyway, yeah, I killed the kid and I enjoyed it so much."

"What kind of ruthless and insensitive monster are you?"

"A powerful one, duh," the werehog replied with a frown. "Seriously, guys like you only make me hungrier for more bloodshed..." He glared at Quil. "Come to think of it, I wanna do that right now."

Chip and Parakarry gulped. Quil glared back at the beast. "Sorry, but I don't have time for such foolishness. I beg your pardon, but we must take our leave for now. Don't try to bother us as well."

"And if I do, what will you do to me?" DSS asked with a terrifying glare. "I doubt you can even land a single punch on me. You don't look like a fighter."

"True that," Quil said with a nod. "I'm not a fighter, but just your average everyday postman."

"I-is that going to help to change anything?" Parakarry asked worried.

"Leave this to me," Quil whispered to him. "I need to buy us some time to see what happens."

"What? Why?"

"Just stay quiet and wish for something to happen that won't endanger our lives," Quil muttered before looking back at the werehog.

"I heard ya..." DSS said in a low tone. "You're plannin' to buy some time for nothing good to happen, huh?"

"It seems you're at least smart," Quil remarked. "Quite impressive from such a heartless beast, I must say."

"Grrr..." DSS showed his fangs at him. "Don't you dare piss me off now... You wouldn't like me when I'm angry..."

"I second that!" Chip yelled.

"I third that!" Parakarry yelled as he hid behind Chip, who then hid behind Quil and peered out to watch the beast. "Quil, let's get out of here while we can!" he whispered loudly.

Quil looked at the trophies nearby and sighed. "If I'm right, are they the trophies themselves?"

"Huh? H-how did you know?"

"I doubt he'd leave the corpses away," Quil said. "I see Chris...out here, but not the other 2 besides those trophies. If my assumptions are right, they must be the trophies, right?"

"W-we think so..." Chip said as he shook in fear.

DSS chuckled. "I don't understand why they turned into trophies, either," he said. "But who cares as long as I have fun with you? You weaklings don't have to run since I will catch ya..."

Quil looked serious at the werehog. "...You 2, when I give the order, run to the north."

"ARE YOU DEAF OR WHAT?" DSS asked angrily. "I CAN HEAR YOU PRETTY WELL FROM HERE, DAMMIT!"

"(An insane monster...)" Quil thought. "(I knew he was insane the moment I saw his face...)"

"Damn you all!" DSS growled angrily as he grew his dark claws. "Fine, be that way. Now, please, stay there and let me punish you for being such ignorant fools!"

Quil's eyes widened once he saw the werehog leaping at them with claws and fangs ready to attack them. The postman couldn't move from his spot as the other 2 hid behind his back (and use him as a wall) to protect themselves. Quil knew very well that even flying he wouldn't get far away in time.

Was it going to be over for them?

Underwhere
Queen Jaydes's Palace

"Alright, unfortunate row of souls!" a D-Man shouted from the very first spot of the long line of souls. "Queen Jaydes herself has returned, so please be ready to say your tragic, cruel some, funny, and even emotional deaths so she can judge you to make you return back to the place where you were killed! Now, without pushing, start to move!"

Chris suddenly hopped up at this sudden announcement, stopping talking to Cloud. "Oh, they're finally going to move the line."

"Looks like it," Cloud said. "It's a small matter of time before we meet the queen of this sick place."

"So, Cloud..." Chris began. "What do you think about what happened to me?"

Cloud looked at him. "...I honestly don't know how to resolve your problem."

"What?"

"It's not like me to bother with other people's affairs," Cloud replied. "I only care about what I do."

"D-does that mean you don't care about what happened to me anymore?"

"...To be honest..." Cloud looked away, making Chris gulp. "...I'm just a very tiny bit interested."

"...R-really?"

"Yeah," Cloud said before looking at him. "However, though, remember that I'm just becoming interested in you because there's nothing better to do than move in this line."

The line began to move, and Cloud turned around to go forward with Chris before stopping again to turn and see the World Traveler.

"You might have ignited some interest in me," Cloud explained. "But that's it for now."

"..." Chris looked down in shame.

Cloud turned away and frowned. "My apologies. I'm like this around people a lot of times."

"I understand..." Chris said. "...But if I come back there...who knows what will happen if that monster finds me again..." He sniffed silently. "I...I don't want to die again if I come back to live... I...I want to see everyone again...a-and I want to see Lucario as well..." He began to sob silently. "A-and I want to see my parents again...I-I want to see them once more... I-I'm only asking to see them again tomorrow..."

"..." Cloud remained silent.

"I-I'm so scared, Cloud..." Chris said as he sobbed silently. "I-I don't know what to do once I come back to be living..."

"Even if you don't know if you're going to be alive again?"

"I-I'm sure I'll go back..." Chris sobbed. "B-but I'm not sure if I'm going to live after I go back..."

"..." Cloud closed his eyes, turned around to see Chris, and opened his yellow eyes to see him. "Stop sobbing, now."

"H-huh?" Chris asked.

"You should be acting your age since you're 17," Cloud said. "Nothing should scare you by that point in your life. Stop being a wuss by sobbing and crying behind me."

"B-but..." Chris staggered. "I-I'm like this... I always find a way to resolve things even if I'm not crying..."

"...That changes the subject," Cloud said. "If you can't change that part of yourself, at least do something about the monster that killed you."

"W-what can I do, Cloud?" Chris asked as he sniffed. "I-I don't know..."

"Believe it or not, every single person has some kind of weakness that must be exploited in order to show that person who's the boss around," Cloud explained. "That monster proved to you that he's the boss, though."

Chris looked away in shame.

"But what he doesn't know is that he has weaknesses as everyone."

"..." Chris looked at him. "...Please...go on..."

"Now you want to listen to me?" Cloud asked.

"I...want to listen to anything you say to me..." Chris muttered. "...I want to...get my revenge on him for killing me during my birthday...b-but I don't think I can attack back without getting scared..."

The line began to move again, and the 2 advanced before stopping.

"Well, Chris," Cloud began. "It's not like me to do this...but I'll try to help you."

"W-what?" Chris asked. "Are you going to fight with me to defeat him?"

"I didn't say that," Cloud said. "I said I'd give you some hints to give you an advantage over a battle against monsters like the one you just described. It shouldn't be pretty hard from my point of view, anyway."

Chris looked unsure.

"May I go on?"

"..." Chris remained silent for a moment.

"...So? What's your answer?"

"..." Chris looked at him. "...Tell me...tell me what I should do."

Cloud nodded. "Okay. You better be ready to take everything I say to you in mind now. I'm not going to repeat myself, either..."

As the World Traveler listened to the ex-SOLDIER, the scene changed again...

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Ruins

Back at the moment where Quil, Chip, and Parakarry were going to be attacked, the Rito was covering his face with his arms as he waited for the werehog to maul them alive. Quil's eyes shook underneath his eyelids, having chills down his spine once he saw the werehog leaping at them.

However, Quil opened his eyes to see some red mist passing right over his head before it collided into DSS's body and exploded in a burst of flames. The werehog grunted angrily at this as he flipped back to his spot and showed his bare fangs.

Quil uncovered his face and looked back where he found some people running towards them. The postman quickly recognized one of them to be Toon Link with the Smashers as they joined in. "Everyone!" Quil said with a sigh. "Thank goodness you all came here, especially you, Link."

"Do I know you?" Link asked.

"I...was talking to Link, not you," Quil said.

Toon Link groaned. "Just ignore him..." he muttered annoyed.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Chip praised as he flew out from Quil's back. "You guys came for me...I mean, us, yeah, us."

"You're still alive?" Toon Link asked.

"Well, of course!" Chip said proudly. "...I-I mean, I had luck..."

"Mario! Sweet!" Parakarry said as he flew besides Mario. "Okay, since you're here, everything should be just fine, right?"

"I...don't know exactly..." Mario said.

"...Mario, I'm here trying to cheer things up," Parakarry said bored. "Don't make me feel bad now."

Parakarry was interrupted before Roy stepped forward.

"There he is!" Roy yelled as he pointed at the werehog.

The werehog chuckled and looked evilly at them. "Well, well, the whole gang (except 3) is all back. That's sweet of you all to come all the way here and play with me."

"What did you do to Chris?" Mario asked.

DSS chuckled at the mention of the name before he quickly grew his right claw above Chris's corpse and held it up for everyone to see. They all gasped after a lightning struck down somewhere else at the image of the corpse...

They noticed that the body had a whole amount of scars, bleeding rather quickly. The hat that Chris once wore was torn apart by slash marks that ran across all his blue clothes and even the boots he once worn were ripped apart by claw marks. His face was probably the most scaring thing since many parts of it were bleeding a lot. Blood was coming out from his eyelids as well as his mouth and nose.

The Smashers couldn't believe what they saw. They just couldn't think of the pain Chris went through...

"...You...stupid...bastard!" Ike yelled as he took out Ragnell. "Why did you do that to him? Answer me!"

"My, quite grumpy today, aren't you?" DSS asked with a snicker. "I did this to him because he deserved it. Didn't I say my reason before? Either you guys are stupid or deaf, or actually both."

"What kind of monster are you, anyway?" Samus asked.

"A powerful one, like I told them before," the werehog said as he recklessly let the body fall down on the crumbles. "Whoops," he said with a chuckle as he reached for the corpse. "My hand slipped, sorry."

"Sorry?" Pikachu asked as he gathered sparks. "Why are you saying that after you..."

"Pikachu, stop it," Marth said as he glared at the beast. "He's just taunting us. Don't fall for it."

"But he's toying around with Chris..." Pichu didn't want to mention the latter definition for Chris's current state.

"Aw, please!" DSS said as he held up the body. "Why are you so interested in this lifeless body, anyway?" he asked with a smirk. "You don't want useless corpses in your mansion, right?"

Falco clenched his fists and stepped forward. "What the heck is wrong with your frickin' mind?"

"Nothin'," the werehog said as he put the corpse on his back. "You guys won't care if I take it with me, right?"

"What?" DK asked before he pointed at him. "Didn't you just say that it...he was useless for you?"

"I thought it was the other way around," DSS said. "I mean, surely you won't mind if I rip the arms apart, right?"

"...The hell?" C. Falcon stepped forward. "Why do you want to do that?"

"Because I like to disarm people so much during rainy nights. The rain's water gets mixed so well with blood, y'know."

"You're seriously insane..." Snake muttered with a frown. "Not even the hedgehog would go that insane."

"Why, thank you," DSS said with an amused look. "I don't receive compliments from my friends that often."

"Okay, enough of this," Ness said as he took out his bat and pointed it at the beast. "I had it with your stupid attitude already."

"I think we all had it with him," Zelda said as her right hand glowed. "We have to avenge Chris for his sake."

"Ooh, avenge the kid? You guys are a bunch of weirdoes," DSS taunted. "You fight over a corpse? What's up with that? You're weird."

"Will you just shut your mouth?" Fox asked with a glare. "We're here to beat the crap out of you for killing Chris off. If you keep talking, I'll swear I'm going to kill you faster that I want you to be dead."

DSS rolled his eyes with a frown. "So?"

"So," Meta Knight began as he took Galaxia out. "It is your time, tonight, now."

"Oh ho ho ho, I don't think so," the werehog said as he waved a finger. "I see a lot of dead people in front me that wants to have some fun during this night. Isn't that right, Chris?"

The Smashers watched as the werehog grabbed Chris's head and made it nod.

"See? Even he agrees," DSS said with a snicker. "Now I see why he is a good boy."

"You're pretty insane for being another being inside Sonic. With that, I mean your behavior in all people," Samus said. "The only weirdo here is you."

"Hmm, maybe," the werehog said. "Maybe not; possibly not as you all are the ones who are weirdoes."

Olimar gulped. "P-please, give us Chris back o-or we will use brute force."

"Let me think..." The werehog rubbed his chin. "He's not here but in hell, and you want him back from me." He looked at them confused. "How am I supposed to bring him back if he's dead? I don't have the control to order death." The werehog smirked as he opened his claws. "I can order death to kill, though."

"Enough," Snake said. "What we're trying to say is that you should give us back the kid's corpse before you do some insanity with it."

Some of the Smashers looked at him, unsure of what he said. They shook their heads to forget the statement as they looked back at DSS.

"...Or what?" DSS asked with a glare. "You gonna hit me so hard?" The werehog grabbed the lifeless body by pulling his arms up, placing Chris in front of him. "Ooh, save me, everyone!" the beast joked as he shook the body, talking like if he was Chris but in a high-pitched tone. "The baddest, awesome dude here will probably kill me if you don't hurry!"

Most of the Smashers glared daggers at him.

"Oh, wait, I forgot," the werehog joked as he shook the body more. "I was already killed, you guys. I was way so weak to fight him back. His arms were so thick that my hands broke, and his fangs cut me like thin ham for dinner..."

"You better stop playing around with that body," Pit warned him.

"Or what?" the werehog asked, still using the tone he was previously using. "You're going to let me go away with him. Boo, I'm so scared, you guys! I need help, help I say! Please, help me! ...Oh wait, I'm pretty much dead, so I'm going to let him kidnap me. You guys suck." The werehog put the body on his back and chuckled. "Well, ya heard him. He doesn't want to be with any of you."

"Y-y-you just made him say it!" Lucas yelled.

"Nope, I don't remember that," the werehog said. "I don't quite remember making the kid say such things to you. He said it by himself."

"Okay, stop it now," Wolf said in irritation. "You better stop playing with that corpse now. It just makes you look like a retarded childish idiot."

"Who are you calling retarded childish idiot?"

"Figure it out. I dare you."

"..." DSS began to pant heavily.

"Quil, please, get away from here," Toon Link said. "I think we can handle him by ourselves."

"Are you sure you will take him out?" Quil asked. "By the looks of this place, I'm starting to have doubts about the outcome of the battle."

"Look, just go!" Toon Link yelled as DSS began to grunt silently at their sight. "Or do you want to get caught in this?"

"...I understand," Quil said with a nod before looking at Parakarry. "Parakarry, we have to leave now."

"A-are you sure?" Parakarry asked worried.

"Everything will be fine," Mario said before he looked at Chris. "...At least what it's still living or standing..."

Parakarry felt sympathy for Mario and patted his back. "I'm...sorry... I didn't do much to..."

"It's okay, really," Mario said. "Leave now, please."

Parakarry nodded and looked serious. "Okay, Mario, I'll leave everything up to you. Please, be careful..." He looked at Chris and frowned. "...Please, be careful."

"Let's go," Quil said to the postman.

The Paratroopa nodded his head before both flew up to the north, leaving the Smashers, the trophies, and the werehog on the destroyed area.

"Heheheheheh..." DSS snickered as he saw most of them staring at him. "Now the real battle will start in a few seconds. You wanna say your last words? The kid here didn't say his final words."

Many of them grunted angrily at this.

"Not the social type, huh?" the werehog asked with a frown. "I'm lazy. I'm becoming tired of too much frowning. Smiling is much better because it takes fewer muscles to smile than frown, anyway."

"That's stupid," Zelda said. "That saying is as idiotic as you."

"Goodness gracious!" DSS shouted. "You just keep insulting me whenever I talk! What kind of meanies are you? I'm just a guy who wants to do what he pleases. What's hard to comprehend?"

"You know what?" Squirtle began as he glared at him. "You're the most annoying guy we've ever met before."

"Aww, there's a compliment," DSS said with a smirk. "You're not that bad now. Do you...want to be friends with me?" He held out his claws while smiling at them.

The Smashers only replied by taking their positions to fight (most of them).

"..." DSS's smile turned into an evil expression. "...Oh, I understand now..."

"Wow, now you understand?" Ivysaur asked. "What do you understand?"

DSS closed his eyes. "I understand that I've been an a(beep)ole all the time with you, especially the kid himself." He opened his eyes with a sad look to Chris's body. "I feel so guilty for killing for him. In fact, I detest doing this during tonight, and I soon realized I needed to have unique friends like you all." He held out his claws at them while the rain kept falling. "So, I ask you for something..." The werehog lowered his head as his claws remained in their position. "...Will you forgive an overpowered bastard like me, and start from 0 again?"

Only the rain's drops sounded across the entire field as nobody did anything to reply back to the beast. The werehog himself remained looking down to wait for a response.

And suddenly, a peanut was shot right directly on his forehead, causing it to break apart.

Red looked at his right where Diddy held 2 Peanut Popguns. There was smoke coming from the right gun as the spider monkey glared at the werehog. DK, seeing this, grinned at Diddy and gave him thumbs up.

The werehog, however, grunted after he saw a small nut underneath him. He slowly raised his head at them with a wild glare. "You guys just made a huge mistake..." He muttered as he showed his fangs. "Pissing me off when I asked you for forgiveness..."

"We knew you were going to kill us right off if we said yes to that crazy proposition," Marth said. "We better say otherwise than die right away."

"But guuuuuuuuuuuys! I really wanted to become friends! You're so mean..." DSS glared at them. "...And that's why you're the baddest of friends around here. You need to be killed so you don't make others feel bad abou-"

"I REALLY had enough of your stupid sarcasm!" Nana yelled out as she held her hammer on her right shoulder. "Nobody here buys any sympathy or empathy from you! Now, shut up and die!"

DSS grunted. "Okay, fine! I'm not a good guy to you, huh? Well, that's fine with me! Who needs people when you have the power to CRUSH them all when you want?" he growled angrily as he set his claws down on the crumbles, showing his fangs even more. "I suggest you get prepare 'cuz I'm gonna kill you all for being such a(beep)oles to me."

Sonic Unleashed - Werehog Mini Boss

DSS howled at the sky before looking back at the Smashers. "Well, well, shall we start now or what?" he asked with a glare. "Oh, I forgot to mention this, but the kid's staying with me if you don't mind."

Some of them gasped as they saw Chris's arms hanging on the werehog's throat after he adjusted them himself to prevent him from falling off. The body's barely reached the floor from his back.

"Crap, we forgot he had him on his back," Link muttered.

"Then we should try to get him back," Roy said. "...Not that we will ever see him again..."

"But still, we have to get him back," Samus said. "We can't let him get away from here now that we have him."

"Pfft, you have me? That's stupid," the werehog said with snicker. "Nah, I don't think you're fast enough to snatch the kid away from my back. You see, he likes to b-"

"Shut up," Snake interrupted. "It's either you who will get unscathed from this battle, or the kid's lifeless body."

"But he's utterly damaged beyond comparison," Mario said.

"I know, but it still works." Snake clicked a switch on his right hand. "I need to know everything about this idiot. Otacon, Mei Ling, give me a fully detailed analysis."

Everyone in there stared at Snake before the codec started.

"You didn't give Chris a gift, did you?" Mei Ling asked.

"Don't start that now," Snake said. "I want you to give information regarding this monster of hell I'm seeing now."

"Gladly, let me look into the database," Otacon said. "...Okay, I got the info alright. He is Dark Super Sonic The Werehog. He's basically a suppressed soul hidden within Sonic that he forgot until it was summoned back to take control of his mind."

Mei Ling continued. "Apparently, his power began to recover once Sonic himself began to transform slowly during each night without telling anyone about what was happening to him."

"And now that he turned into a "werehog," he was able to seize over the control of Sonic's body by using the energy of the moon for himself, thus enabling him to grab absolute control over Sonic's body."

"Now, unlike normal werewolves, Dark Super Sonic The Werehog isn't weak against silver or anything like that. He's like that because he wasn't necessarily bitten by a werewolf, but was genetically turned into what he is now. Altering his genes isn't quite the same as adding the genes like a werewolf's bite does. My guess is that, in theory, he was accidentally turned into a werehog, but that just me. He doesn't turn others into werewolves for that fact as well."

"He has improved strength, flexible and extendable arms, and above else, he has dark power to enhance his statistics since he was born out from negative radiations from the fake Chaos Emeralds that Sonic accidentally landed on a long time ago."

"No weaknesses found?" Snake asked as the werehog stared at disgust at them.

"...No..." Otacon said. "I can't find any known weaknesses on him at all. This information was just written a few days ago by experts. I guess his weakness would be the dawn of the day, or light it."

"It's 11:00 PM over there at your place, though," Mei Ling said. "The sun's rays won't come up for 9 hours, less or more."

The Smashers, able to hear the whole conversation, looked extremely confused at this.

"...How the heck did they know all that about Sonic?" C. Falcon asked.

"It was so fast," Yoshi commented. "I don't think they made it all up."

"He just turned into this demon of hell tonight, and you managed to gather all that info about him?" Pikachu asked.

"Hey, we have sources..." Otacon said. "...VERY good sources…"

"Hm-hmm," Mei Ling said. "We are that important for any kind of situation for Snake."

"Okay," Snake said with a nod. "Over and out."

"Good luck out there," Otacon said. "There's a tough fight ahead of you."

"Return alive, okay?" Mei Ling asked.

"Why did you ask that sort of thing to him?"

"Because I have doubts of the fight even if Snake is on our side, you know."

Otacon sighed in depression before both left Snake.

"...You have the weirdest team, no offense," Samus commented.

"At least they have common sense."

"EHEM," the werehog coughed. "Hello? I'm still here, you know."

The Smashers noticed that the werehog leaped towards them with dark claws ready. They all quickly reacted and ran to different directions of the field as the beast landed and crushed the crumbles around him.

DSS's eyes widened once he saw a bright light coming from behind him. He turned around to find Meta Knight touching Kirby's and Jigglypuff's trophies' bases, making them return back to their normal selves as they shook their heads.

"Am I in the heaven of food yet?" Kirby asked as he looked around. "Ooh, this place looks like a destroyed restaurant..."

"Kirby, stop," Meta Knight said. "You're back to fight that werehog."

"...What?" Kirby asked confused as he looked at Jigglypuff. "What?"

Jigglypuff looked around before she remembered with a gasp. "The battle against..." She turned to see the werehog. "Y-you!"

"Oh well," the werehog said as he lifted up his shoulders a bit. "You 2 are back for more. I'm gonna be a good host and give all the fun you want from me."

"I think we already said that your sarcastic behavior grew old so quickly," Meta Knight stated.

"Who asked you, anyway?" DSS asked before he leaped quickly at the trio to slam down his dark claws on them. However, he was quickly grabbed by a Grapple Beam by Samus, who pulled him back to the floor.

The werehog seemed athletic as he used a hand stand to flip towards Samus to later slash her hardly with his claws. The Power Suit itself shot sparks out as the bounty hunter backed away.

"No surprise attacks!" the werehog yelled angrily. "I hate 'em!" he yelled as he rushed at Samus.

The bounty hunter quickly sidestepped to let Ike use Quick Draw to slash hard the beast. The werehog's reflexes, however, proved to be faster as he back flipped towards Ike, spinning in the air (with Chris's body as well) before slamming down his dark claws on the Greil Mercenary, making him be pinned down on the crumbles.

"Wanna get a bite?" the werehog asked as he growled down at Ike. The werehog was pushed away by Pikachu's Skull Bash, saving Ike from being bitten as he quickly got up.

"Hmm, you guys seem to be getting a little better..." the werehog admitted. "...A BIT, THOUGH!" he howled angrily as he rushed towards Toon Link.

The cartoony swordsman grinned at him. "(Okay, it's time to see if my training gave fruit...)" he thought as he readied his bow and arrow towards the werehog.

"You wanna hit me with an arrow? Just try it!" the werehog taunted. "I'll probably break it apart with a slash!"

Toon Link ignored the comment as he aimed at him. He stuck out his tongue a bit to analyze the hit points of the werehog. "(Let's see, if I shoot an arrow above to his right, I could make it hit his back and...)"

The swordsman then remembered something. Toon Link remembered that Chris was acting like a shield for DSS's back.

"...Aw, crap!" Toon Link cursed. "He HAD to have him as a shield!"

The swordsman didn't notice the werehog leaping at him before pinning Toon Link down to the crumbles. Toon Link screamed as the werehog dangerously tried to bite his face continuously. The swordsman moved his head to the sides to evade the bites before Snake lunged at the werehog to grab him by the throat as he stood up.

Toon Link, while hesitating, sighed and got up to escape from there.

"Ugh..." Snake struggled to maintain the werehog under his grip as DSS acted like a wild beast and flailed his feet and arms wildly. "Stupid beast..." Snake grunted. "Stay under contro-"

Snake was suddenly pushed away by the werehog's right foot, causing him to fall back to the destroyed floor as the werehog turned around and locked eyes on him.

"Nobody, I repeat, NOBODY tries to choke me!" DSS howled at Snake.

The werehog kept showing his fangs at Snake before he merely extended his right arm to his right and grabbed a running Pichu. The electric rat gasped before he was pulled right besides the werehog. "Were you trying to be a hero, huh?" he asked down at Pichu.

Pichu gulped. "N-no..." he muttered, trembling in fear.

"Your eyes say otherwise!" the werehog yelled. "DIE!" he yelled again as he opened his fangs wide open. Pichu screamed once he saw the sharpness of the fangs glittering a little after they were shown.

However, he was saved as Ivysaur rammed into the werehog's stomach to let him go. Pichu looked back in horror before he ran away from the werehog.

Ivysaur back stepped after he finished his attack before glaring up at the werehog. "My goodness!" the werehog said annoyed as he glared down at him. "You won't stop interrupting the climaxes for each one of you, right?"

"As long as we have in mind that you killed Chris, no!" Ivysaur yelled angrily.

"Ivysaur, use Vine Whip to slam him down!"

Ivysaur gasped. "But what if I end up damaging the...I mean, Chris?"

Red gasped at this. "O-oh no..."

"Oh yes!" the werehog said with a snicker as he grabbed the Seed Pokémon's flower bulb.

This action caused Ivysaur to panic.

"N-no! L-let go of it!" Ivysaur pleaded as his eyes widened. "I-I can't live without my flower!"

"Oh, is that so? Well, it'll be good if I have this as my personal flower," the werehog said as he put a hard grip on it, causing Ivysaur to gasp in shock. "Stay still..."

Red panicked for a moment. "S-Squirtle, use Water Gun to save Ivysaur!"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon made a serious look before shooting out a fast stream of water that hit the werehog.

Unfortunately, the attack wasn't strong enough to push the heavy beast away. DSS growled at this attack before he pushed the water away by extending his right fist through the Water Gun. Squirtle was then hit hard by the attack that he rolled back and became stuck on top of his back shell. "H-help!" Squirtle yelled as he spun a little. "I-I can't get back on!"

"Squirtle!" Red looked back and forth between his Pokémon. One was stuck, but the other one was going to be killed.

"I'm right here to help, don't worry," C. Falcon said, appearing behind Red. The racer dashed towards the werehog swiftly to use Falcon Kick.

"Tsk," the werehog muttered with a frown as he glared at the racer. "Fine, I won't kill ya."

"W-what now?" Ivysaur asked as he looked up.

The Seed Pokémon gasped before he was thrown quickly at C. Falcon to stop him from running, but the racer sidestepped out the way with a swift move to evade Ivysaur (thus causing him to crash on the floor). "C'mon, be more creative than that," C. Falcon taunted before he prepared to use Falcon Kick.

"Oh, okay," the werehog said simply before he opened his dark claws and began to dig the crumbles to make his way underground in a fast movement.

The captain stopped and saw the hole quickly being filled with the destroyed pieces of the buildings. It was a small matter of time before 2 claws sprouted out from below his feet, pulled him underground before fists were heard from within the destroyed street.

Lucas watched as the werehog jumped out from the floor, tossing C. Falcon on the floor to make him roll a bit. The PK kid gasped once he saw that the racer got severely injured around him.

Then the blond boy gasped after he met DSS's glaring eyes. "U-uah!" Lucas took out a branch from his back and held it in front of him like a sword. "D-don't get too close to me! I-I'll hit you hard if you do!"

"A branch..." DSS frowned. "You ran out of ideas to attack me, right?"

"N-no," Lucas said. "I-I have several branches to attack you, a-and they're hard, I tell you..."

"Dude, I broke one with a single crushing move of my claws," DSS said bored. "You want me to break 'em all for you? I can do it for ya."

"N-no!" Lucas yelled. "I-I want to save Chris from you and you won't stop me!"

"Kid, he's death, admit the truth already."

"I-I know..." Lucas said with a sniff. "B-but...I-I'm going to avenge him..."

The werehog looked at Lucas's feet. They were shaking. "Your legs are shaking."

"Y-you're kidding..." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I am," the werehog said as he rolled his eyes.

Lucas took a gulp before he began to run towards the werehog with his branch held up above his head. The werehog looked bored at this that he didn't move from his spot, waiting for Lucas to hit him with the branch.

However, the werehog was trapped inside a burst of flames that came from the right side of his body. DSS grunted in pain before he was hit hard by a quick hit from Lucas's branch.

And the attack actually hurt...

...A bit.

Lucas's branch instantly broke apart upon making contact with DSS's face. The PK kid gasped in shock as he looked at the bottom part of his broken branch before he was grabbed by the throat by DSS. Lucas gasped for breath as the grip slowly gained strength.

"Wanna die?" DSS asked with a glare as he held up Lucas. "You want to see the kid again, don't you?"

"Y-yes..." Lucas said weakly. "B-but not like this..."

"Too bad. This has to be done this way..."

Lucas began to cough loudly before Diddy came from the side and flipped to the beast to hit him with his feet and hands. The beast backed away, but he still held his grip on Lucas.

"You leave him alone!" Diddy yelled as he took out his Peanut Popguns. "I have ammunition for any kind of situations!"

"Attack with freakin' peanuts? You're surely joking, right?" DSS asked.

"H-help..." Lucas muttered weakly.

The spider monkey narrowed his eyes at the werehog before he used Monkey Flip to latch himself on his face. However, he was tossed away by DSS's left claw, but Diddy flipped in the air to land back on his feet.

"Hey," DK called out from behind the werehog. DSS grunted and looked over his right shoulder to find the Kong about to grab him. "You don't toss my pal Diddy away."

"Ooh, sorry," the werehog taunted. "I forgot he was your boyfriend."

DK glared down at him before he opened his arms to grab the werehog, but DSS quickly jumped to the right to evade the grabbing move. However, he didn't notice that a banana peel was right where he landed, making him slip and fall on his face.

"Now!" yelled Falco as he came from the left while he ran, using Falco Phantasm to pass right above the werehog...without even landing a hit.

The werehog's eyes shot open before he flipped one time to stand back up. DSS chuckled as he looked at Falco's back. "Hey, you have a pretty bad aim, did you know that?"

"Who said I wanted to slash you?" Falco asked without turning to him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Falco looked over his left shoulder with a grin to the beast before he turned to him...holding Chris on his arms.

The werehog gasped once he looked at his back, not finding the World Traveler anymore. DSS showed his fangs angrily at this before glaring at the pilot. "You better put that kid down or else," he warned Falco.

"Or what?" Falco asked. "You're gonna kill me like you have been saying all night?"

"Oh noes," the werehog faked shock. "Bird dude has the power to see into my future. He's a freak alright."

Falco frowned at this. "Sorry, not falling for that again. If you'll excuse me, I have to take care of this guy from an insane dude who wants to annoy us to death."

"Oh, okay," DSS said with a nod.

Falco grinned at him before he ran away with Chris's body.

"...HEY!" DSS shouted, realizing his mistake before running after Falco. "You come back here right away!"

The werehog was suddenly tackled by...or actually, he was pushed away by a stream of water that came from FLUDD's nozzle. The plumber held the equipment with one hand, aiming at the werehog before Mario SOMEHOW made it disappear.

"Water?" the werehog asked. "Seriously, wasn't it enough with this rain?"

"It was done only to stop you from messing around with Chris's body," Mario stated. "I'll try to do everything to stop you as well."

"Aren't you a true friend..." DSS asked as he rolled his eyes. "Everyone likes you so much. I think there's going to be more despair if I finish you off first."

"Well, go ahead and try," Mario said simply. "I dare you."

"...Wow, you're pretty relaxed under extreme circumstances."

"Thanks," Mario said with a nod. "I don't let my emotions interfere unless someone close to me is in danger. I don't show that too much, though. I think everyone says I'm a normal guy because of that personality I have."

"Short fuse inside mind," DSS joked. "Too much information about victim. Cannot compute that since it's boring."

"...Was that supposed to make me angry?" Mario asked.

"...Yeah."

"Well, it didn't work that well."

"Not even a bit?"

"No.

"Not even a microscopic bit?"

"Hmm, no."

"Are you really sure I didn't make you feel pissed?"

"I don't know how to feel pissed."

"What? That's stupid."

"I know. If I feel pissed, that'd be stupid."

"You need to feel that to be a person."

"Yes, a person who has short-temper problems like you do."

"Nah, I don't have that."

"Prove it, then."

"..."

"..."

"...How again?"

"You don't know, then?'

"I'm afraid not."

"Weird, I thought you got mad a while ago."

"I DIDN'T GET MAD!" he howled.

"See? You're angry now."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. Your eyes show rage."

"If you know that, prove it to me!"

"Look at your eyes. They're glaring at me right now."

"But of course not!"

"But it's true."

"You're lying!"

"Can you prove I'm lying?

"Well..." He looked unsure.

"...So?"

"...Nope..."

"I thought so. You're angry now."

"I'm NOT angry, dammit!"

"Prove it to me."

"GAH!" The werehog grabbed his head in pain. "Stop saying those things to me!"

"But I just want to make you know you're angry," Mario said. "You're just prolonging the scene."

"I'd say fight already!" Pikachu shouted.

"See? They know you're making this scene go longer. They want to see you fighting me," Mario said.

"Well, why are you asking me all those things, anyway?" the werehog asked.

"Because you're angry."

"DAMMIT!" the werehog yelled before he ran after Mario.

Before the werehog could even throw a fist at the plumber, he was suddenly smacked hard by 2 hammers on his face, making him roll back in pain before standing up, glaring at his 2 opponents.

"We still remember that you played around with us," Nana said with a glare.

"And you also broke our gifts as well!" Popo yelled angrily.

"Sorry, don't have any money to repay you," the werehog said. "Oh yeah, I don't need money."

The Ice Climbers grunted angrily at this before both used Blizzard to freeze him. However, DSS jumped high before the twin sleets could reach him, raising his dark claws to crush the Ice Climbers.

"Hey, guess what I'm going to crush next!" the werehog yelled with a laugh to the sky.

"And guess what I'm going to do next."

The werehog looked confused before a hard downward kick was sent down to his face, making him crash down on the crumbles of the floor as Fox landed close to Popo and Nana.

"Good strategy," Nana remarked. "He surely didn't see you coming."

"Too bad he's still standing," Fox said as he glared at the werehog, who rolled back to stand up, showing his fangs at them.

"You guys are SO begging to be killed tonight, aren't you?" the werehog asked with a snicker.

"Let me answer your sarcastic and annoying question," Fox said as he took a fighting stance. "No."

The werehog sighed. "You hit me. You need to die, badly." DSS showed his fangs angrily at the trio (which was probably the most random trio ever). "I'll better stop playin' around and get even more serious than before."

"We thought you were already serious enough," Nana said.

The werehog looked over his shoulder as Kirby, with hammer ready, tried to slam down his hammer on his back. DSS quickly turned and grabbed the puffball with a single fist, trying to crush Kirby inside his claw. "H-HEEEEEELP!" Kirby screamed in pain.

"Hey! You put him down!" Popo yelled.

"IF YOU LIKE HIM SO MUCH, HAVE HIM!" the werehog howled angrily as he turned around and tossed Kirby at an insane speed to Popo, causing Kirby to collide with the blue Ice Climber as they rolled back many feet away. Nana could only watch in horror at the long distance both were tossed at before she got grabbed by her throat. "A little pressure should do the trick..." the werehog said with a chuckle as Nana gasped for breath.

Fox, seeing this, decided to rush at the werehog. DSS noticed him and he tried to push him away by using his already extended arm, but Fox jumped over the arm as it was a jumping rope. Before long, the vulpine was about to reach the werehog.

"Wanna feel a burp?" the werehog suddenly asked with a smirk.

"(What?)" Fox thought as he ran towards the werehog.

Fox saw the werehog inhaling a lot of air, making his chest inflate a little bit before releasing dark waves that were shot out from his fangs at insane speeds. The waves quickly spread all over the front, hitting Fox who was pushed away along with Nana as both crashed into the crumbles. The werehog, still howling dark waves out, began to spin to spread the chaotic waves of dark aura that caused destruction around as it hit most of the Smashers who yelled in pain as the dark waves passed right through them.

The werehog stopped spinning and grinned as he found the floor, but no more crumbles laying around as he saw many of the Smashers knocked down. The echoing, destructive howl cleaned the whole place from the crumbles (at least a half of it) before he sniffed the air. "Their scents clearly say that they're still living...but I want the kid more than them... Let's see...the kid's blood...I can smell it well..." The werehog stopped sniffing and looked to the east. "That birdbrain took it far away from here that fast? Whatever, I need to get going and get the body back to disarm it."

Once he tried to rush to the east, however, a long string shone a little bit, and he instantly tripped into the street. The werehog grunted in rage as he noticed that his feet were wrapped in a very thin string. DSS saw the small glittering cord extending all the way from a weak-looking Ness, still standing up, holding the string of his yo-yo with a hard grip.

"Finally..." Ness panted heavily. "I found another use for my yo-yo..."

"A yo-yo's string? Are you kidding me?" the werehog asked angrily before he reached for the string to grab it with one claw.

This action made Ness gasp, but he put a stronger grip on the string to make sure the werehog wouldn't escape.

This was a bad move since the werehog began to pull the string to the other side, pulling a shocked Ness with it before he crashed hardly on the street's floor. The PK user yelled in pain before the werehog continuously began to slam Ness on the street by pulling the string back and forth to the right side and the left side like some sort of bouncing ball with Ness being the ball.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Ness screamed in pain.

The werehog had enough of him before he pulled an even harder grip to make Ness dug his head into the street's floor hardly, causing him to lost consciousness after the harsh impact to his head. DSS looked at the string and cut it in half between his legs by using a single sharp nail.

DSS flipped back to stand up before looking around. "Let's go back to find that kid and the birdbrain..."

He suddenly sidestepped from Jigglypuff's Pound attack. The pink singer gasped as she looked to her right side to the werehog, staring directly at his smirk before the werehog used a ramming attack with his right shoulder to push her away, making her tumble along the street before she rolled and managed to stand up.

"How the heck did you manage to be completely healed?" DSS asked to Jigglypuff.

"I don't know. I just do..." Jigglypuff said as she panted heavily.

The werehog suddenly felt someone small, latching on his back before he was electrocuted in a bright yellow light, howling in pain to the clouds. DSS grunted in anger before reaching his back with his right claw to pull the attacker to his face's level. The attacker was a frightened Pichu, who gulped after staring at DSS's glaring face.

"Hey, what's up with you and surprise attacks?" DSS asked as he narrowed his eyes. "I hate surprise attacks from little guys like you."

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I..." Pichu gulped more. "Y-y-y-y-y-you're bad!" Pichu yelled.

"...And?" the werehog asked before noticing Jigglypuff leaping towards him to kick him hard on the face. The werehog smirked at this action before he simply put Pichu on Jigglypuff's way, making her crash into him as they both fell don on the street.

Once they looked up to the werehog...

Fists began to be slammed down on them at a fast, dangerous rate to deal severe damage. Pichu and Jigglypuff screamed loudly in pain as the dark fists pounded them more on the street. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the werehog laughed maniacally at this display of power. "Die, die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE!" he yelled in pleasure as he barely heard the cries from both Pokémon at the cause of his laughs to the rain.

The werehog was suddenly punched on the back of his head by a big fist. DSS stopped attacking Jigglypuff and Pichu (which were knocked out unfortunately) to turn around to find DK.

"Hey," DK began as he punched the air a few times. "Fight somebody of your own size."

"Aww, the monkey wants to be a hero," the werehog taunted. "THEN HAVE AT YOU!"

DK, surprisingly, blocked the 2 incoming dark claws as he struggled to hold them back from reaching him. The werehog grunted in annoyance as the Kong grinned at him, trying to crush DSS's claws with his hands. "Feeling weak or what?" DK asked.

"Actually, it should be the other way around."

"What?"

"RUUUUAH!" The werehog's dark claws glowed with more dark energy as they covered DK's hands. The Kong's eyes widened in pain as he felt a malicious aura that spread through his hands before covering him. DK yelled out in pain as the werehog smirked while he released the dark waves on him.

"Stop!" Yoshi yelled as he was seen running towards the werehog from the left side. The Yoshi quickly shot his tongue to wrap it around the werehog's stomach.

But something was wrong as Yoshi saw the werehog's claws releasing DK's hands. The Kong couldn't just bear the dark aura that was transferred to him as he dropped down on his back, and on the street.

No matter what he did, Yoshi just couldn't pull his tongue back. "(W-why am I not pulling him to me?)" Yoshi thought. "(H-he's a lot heavier than I thought...)"

The werehog looked over his shoulder to the Yoshi and chuckled evilly. "Hey, is this from you?" he asked as he pointed at the tongue wrapped around his stomach.

Yoshi nodded slowly.

The werehog merely put a claw right in front of the tongue before he pulled it fast enough to make Yoshi yelp loudly in pain. Yoshi quickly pulled his tongue back and several tears strolled down his eyes as he, in a panic, tried to resist the pain done to his tongue. Unfortunately, this only made time for the werehog to send a fast fist at Yoshi's neck.

Yoshi gasped for breath as he suffered the pain from this tongue before the fist quickly grabbed him and slammed him down to the street, causing Yoshi's head to get stuck within the street.

The werehog chuckled at this before he turned his gaze to the east. He sniffed the air one more time to locate Chris's corpse's odor. A small second was all he needed to get before he smirked evilly and began to rush to the east.

However, he was suddenly pinned down at the street by a downward kick that appeared from above. The right foot kept his throat underneath it before a knife appeared to its left side.

Wolf grinned as he held his Blaster's knife close to the werehog's throat. "I dare you to move," Wolf said. "Try to move without getting your throat cut down."

"Wanna see me doing that, then?" the werehog asked before he slammed his fists down on the floor to push himself to the air along with Wolf. The lupine flipped in the air to land on his feet as well as the beast. "That was quite clever of you to take advantage of the others distracting me from seeing you."

Wolf smirked at this remark. "Oh, thank you."

"Too bad you're not that strong or smart!" the werehog yelled as he charged at the lupine. Wolf narrowed his eye at this charging attack before he jumped right before a slashing X-attack with DSS's dark claws could land on his chest. The lupine raised his own claws up to slam them down on the werehog's back, causing the beast to scream in pain as Wolf landed to his right side and did an uppercut combined with an upward slash to the werehog's chin. "UGH!" the werehog grunted in pain before he back stepped away from Wolf. "Wow, you're actually good..."

"I only used logic against you," Wolf said. "Something that nobody here has used so far."

"True that," the werehog said. "Are you fighting for the kid?"

"Hell no," Wolf said. "I'm fighting because you're an annoying little bug. This may sound ridiculous, but since you're half wolf, you give me a bad sense of reputation."

"Likewise here," the werehog said. "You like to fight alone, don't you?"

"Many times, yes," Wolf admitted. "This time..."

The werehog waited for a no.

"...As well," Wolf said, sounding a little bit ashamed.

"What?"

It was not long before the werehog was slashed continuously on his back by Marth's Dancing Blade. The Altean gracefully moved swiftly before dealing a harsh last blow across the werehog's back, making DSS growl loudly in pain.

"We need more time..." Marth said as he panted heavily since he was damaged by the dark roar that the werehog did. "And we need to fight together..."

"Tsk," Wolf said with a frown. "I'm just doing this option because we're at the verge to lose. I want to survive through this night, just to let you know."

"I know, I know," Marth said. "Even so, we have to unite forces."

"That's awesome, dudes," the werehog said with a bored look before a furious look replaced it. "BUT IT'S NOT AWESOME IF YOU USE IT ON ME!"

The werehog, in a blinding move, grabbed both Smashers with each claw and made his claws crash with each other by pulling the 2 closer in front of him, slamming them with each other as they yelled in pain.

Marth gasped a little after feeling his legs being cut with something. "Why do you NEED to have spikes on your knees?" Marth asked as he looked down to Wolf.

"Hey..." Wolf looked up at him with a weak look. "It's you fault he...grabbed us so fast..."

Both of them noticed they were dropped down before the same claws joined together to slam themselves down on the 2, causing them to yell loudly in pain.

The werehog pulled his fists back before he looked around for another distraction. "Where the heck did that imp go to? He's not anywhere!"

Several feet away from him, just behind a big pile of crumbles, there Olimar, Falco, and Chip looking down at the dead Chris as he laid down on some crumbles. Olimar frowned in shame at this while Chip looked ashamed. Falco, however, gritted his...beak in anger. "Why did this have to happen?" Falco muttered.

Olimar sniffed. "H-he was so...kind..."

"Hey, we're not making a funeral in the middle of a fight with THAT thing around to maul us alive," Falco said. "We need to something to counterattack that furred beast."

"Are you actually going to think for a plan?"

"What was that?" Falco asked with a glare. "Just because Fox is supposed to be my leader doesn't mean he thinks about strategies all the time. Heck, I have some as well."

"I-I do too..." Olimar said as he played with his fingers.

"Really now..."

"Y-yes."

"Well, if you have something in mind, then speak up!"

"I...don't have anything at the moment..."

Falco frowned as he hit his forehead with his palm.

Chip peered out from the pile to see if the werehog was around. "What do we do?" Chip asked horrified. "It's a matter of time before he notices we're not there!"

"Oh, fiddlesticks..." Olimar said in shame. "Do you think we're already dead?"

"Let me think, NO," Falco said annoyed. "There has to be a way to defeat that monster or kill him off."

"By the looks of the fight..." Chip began as he looked back at them. "We could be already sentenced to die alive..."

"Would the 2 of you knock off that negative attitude?" Falco asked annoyed. "We're still living, anyway! Think of something to fight that werehog creature!"

"Are you thinking as well?" Chip asked in hopes to hear something.

Falco opened his beak...but he later closed it and shook his head. "I'm afraid not..."

Chip's eyes began to get wide. "We're screwed now!" he yelled out as he flew around in panic. "I'm going to die young without even finding out about my memories! That's it, I'm going to write my will now!"

"For crying out loud! Stop it!" Falco yelled.

"U-um, should we really be yelling?" Olimar asked worried. "H-he could hear us..."

"As a matter of fact, I did hear you three."

The trio's eyes widened instantly after hearing a voice coming from the top of the big pile they were hiding behind. They all looked up to see the werehog with a smirk and crossed arms, looking down at them.

"Oh, there's the kid," the werehog said with a smirk, showing his fangs a little. "Thanks for taking care of him. I need to take him back, though."

They saw as the werehog grew his right claw and began moving it slowly towards Chris. However, Olimar quickly reacted, plucked out a Purple Pikmin, and tossed it at the claw to make it stop. The werehog grunted a bit at this as he pulled his claw back.

"Why did you do that..." DSS asked with a glare.

Olimar gulped. "B-because you're not allowed to hurt him even more than he is now..." the captain said as the Purple Pikmin returned by his side. "Y-you don't have to do this anymore..."

"Why?"

"Because you're a freaking psycho," Falco said with a glare. "I mean, you're a son of a b(beep) who killed Chris during his birthday."

"You dare call me son of a b(beep), b(beep)?" the werehog asked as his claws glowed with a dark aura. "I'm not gonna accept insults from you anymore tonight. I better finish this before those guys wake up."

"Y-you didn't kill them?" Chip asked.

"For being weak, they can resist some of my hits," the werehog admitted. "Too bad I didn't use that much force on 'em. Whatever, I'll kill you right here, right now."

Falco cracked his fists. "Fine, I'm ready for any trick you have on us."

"A-are we?" Olimar and Chip asked with some gulps.

"Pull yourself together for once!" Falco yelled at them. "We have a frickin' spawn of the demon here!"

"RUUAH!"

The trio looked to see the werehog leaping down towards them.

Underwhere
Queen Jaydes's Palace

As the souls were talking, they noticed that they finally reached the end of the line where Jaydes looked somewhat tired. "Finally, the line seems to be getting smaller over time. I hope Luvbi understand the reason of my sudden escape from the family picnic."

"Well," Cloud began as he and Chris moved forward. "That's all I can say to you for now."

Chris looked worried. "...Cloud..."

"Yeah?"

"I...just didn't understand anything you said to me..." Chris said ashamed. "I mean, I don't know how to attack back to that beast."

"So you're sayin' you didn't understand anything I said to you?"

"..." Chris nodded.

"...That's very disappointing," Cloud said. "It's my turn to see if I can return back to the place where I was killed. You seem to have lost your chance to understand the only way to defeat that monster." Cloud turned his back at him. "Good luck."

"C-Cloud, wait!" Chris yelled. "I-I want to find an alternative to fight my fear of dying and..." He looked down. "...Fight that monster as well..."

"..." Cloud sighed and turned to Chris.

"I-I just don't know how..." Chris said with a sniff. "I-I'm just a lost cause, am I not?... I'm going to die as soon as I get back to my world... Everything is futile for me now..."

"Stop hurting yourself by sayin' those things, for crying out loud," Cloud said. "That beast surely exploited your weaknesses; one of those being your fear against him. Fear only holds you back from landing a hard hit on your opponent."

"I-I know, Cloud, but..." Chris sobbed. "B-but what should I do, then? I-I'm so scared about what will happen to me... I'm such a lost cause, after all..."

"You 2," Jaydes began. "Stop talking. You're slowing down the line and my way back to reunite with Luvbi and my husband. I do NOT want to see Luvbi angry with me again."

The two ignored her.

Cloud frowned and rolled his eyes. "You're a lost cause if you think you're a lost cause."

"...What?" Chris asked.

"Keep thinking you're a lost cause and you will eventually turn into one," Cloud said. "I don't understand that philosophy that well, but it works, I guess."

"..." Chris sniffed again.

"Oh, come now, knock it off already."

"W-what should I do..." Chris muttered sadly.

Cloud frowned once again before he pushed Chris a bit, making him stop sniffing. "Okay, hear me out well because this will be the last thing I'm going to show you, got that?"

"I...got that..." Chris said between sniffs.

"Listen, then," Cloud said. "This is going to be my final advice for you." Cloud closed his eyes and looked away. "When you're always fighting an opponent that seems to be almighty and powerful, you surely get discouraged by those facts that you don't demonstrate your full potential due to them scaring you to death."

"Y-yes..."

"So," Cloud went on. "In order to be sure of yourself, you have to think this when you find yourself in such situations. I always think this to relax myself."

"W-what is it?"

"...Those who fight further..." Cloud said before he looked at Chris with a serious look. "Will always fight on."

"Those who fight further...will always fight on..." Chris repeated. "How will...that help me?"

"It is up to you," Cloud said. "It means you have to keep thinking that you can fight back the enemy to get an idea of your victory over your opponents. It always work for me. And since I didn't think the same when I was killed, I got to be here in this place for not believing that principle."

"..." Chris looked unsure.

"Build you with courage," Cloud said. "Even the most scared cat like you can build up enough courage to keep fighting back and eventually win."

"...Uh-huh..." Chris muttered.

"Risk yourself," Cloud went on. "You have to risk your life in order to hit the monster hard. Think about close combat attacks; they work very well under that fact I just told you."

"Risk myself so I can keep fighting on..." Chris muttered.

"I'm sorry for interrupting this talk," Jaydes interrupted. "But would you please say to me your name, the place where you were killed, and the reason behind your death so the line moves? Do otherwise and suffer my boredom... Seriously, my boredom is brutal."

Cloud turned around and looked up to her. "My name is Cloud Strife. I was killed at a Shinra Building because I wanted to rescue a friend of mine. A machine killed me by shooting me to death."

"I see," Jaydes said. "Well, your reason is enough to convince me to make you return where you came from and give it another try. You have a good heart as well. Be thankful for doing well."

"So?" Cloud asked.

"You can go back anytime," Jaydes said. "However, everything you saw or got to know in here will not go with you. It means you won't remember anything that happened here."

Chris blinked a little bit shocked at this. "W-wait, is he going to forget everything he learned in his stance here?"

"Of course," Jaydes said. "I can't let all the people know about this place and divulge the word back at their homes. It'd be pretty shocking, and it'll also raise the difficulty of my job as well. I HATE my work getting piled up."

"I understand," Cloud said. "Please, let me return."

"Very well."

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted them as he floated to Cloud. "A-are you sure you want to forget me?"

"..." Cloud sighed. "It has to be done, sorry. I need to rescue that friend from a mad scientist before she's turned into a monster. I wouldn't want to make her wait for that result, would I?"

"...No..."

"We must part ways for now," Cloud said as he looked at Jaydes. "...Anything else you want to say to me before I go away?"

"..." Chris remained silent for a moment. "...Don't...try to forget about me..."

"..." Cloud was now the silent one after hearing those words.

"Let's begin with the resurrection process," Jaydes said as she focused on Cloud.

"...Cloud!" Chris suddenly yelled.

"...Yeah?" Cloud asked without turning at him.

"...Please...don't forget about me..." Chris repeated worried.

"..."

"Cloud..." Chris sniffed. "You...helped me to realize how I'm supposed to fight back... I don't think you're not sociable at all. You're very sociable when you talk to someone. I learned from you that I need to grow up and fight my fears someday to become stronger... So far...you're the one who helped me the most..."

"...Uh-huh."

"And..." Chris blinked to stop a tear from falling off. "...Don't try to forget about me once you're back to your place..."

"Again..." Cloud said with a sigh. "...I'll do that."

"...Y-you will?"

Cloud seemed to chuckle silently at this. "I'll be honest... You seem kind enough to me."

Chris blinked surprised.

"Heck, I had some fun talking with you about what happened to me and what happened to you," Cloud said. "It's actually bad news that we won't see each other again, though."

"B-but..." Chris looked down. "...If I find you...can you try to remember me again?"

"..." Cloud turned around...and grinned a bit at Chris. "It's a promise, don't worry about it."

The World Traveler smiled a bit at this response as he sniffed a bit.

"If you can find me, and I can't remember you," Cloud went on. "Either yell at me...or let's start from zero again. I'll surely remember you in some way or another."

Chris chuckled. "Start from zero again?"

"Yeah," Cloud said before turning to Jaydes. "I'm pretty sure it's not going to be that different..."

"Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over..." Jaydes chanted as Cloud started to float up, still grinning a bit at the World Traveler. "Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over..." Her arms (questionable invisible parts) were raised as she opened her eyes fully, making a purple portal appear on Cloud. "CONTINUE!"

"Remember," Cloud said as he slowly faded into the portal. "Those who fight further...will always fight on, no matter what the situation is... Good luck, Chris..." he said as he closed his eyes before vanishing into the portal. "Give that monster hell..." he was unable to say.

The World Traveler stared blankly at the portal before it disappeared along with Cloud.

"(Thank you for everything again, Cloud...)" Chris thought. "(I'll...I'll see you again someday in the future...and we will meet again as well... Good luck to you...)"

Chris blinked a few times before going forward to Jaydes.

"Ah, World Traveler..." Jaydes began. "You were killed once again, weren't you? Did you really fall into a pit of spikes this time like I expected you to do?"

"...What? N-no! That wasn't it!" Chris yelled.

Jaydes sighed. "Your deaths are the only interesting ones to me."

"Y-you have such a weird hobby..."

"I know, it sucks to be me," Jaydes said sarcastically. "Anyway, do you remember your death?"

The World Traveler remembered the event. "I was killed...by a monster that possessed a friend of mine..." Chris said. "...I was killed at the ruins of Nintendo City..."

"Hmm, that's bad considering your position," Jaydes said. "Remember? You're one of the many people who keep other people from dying so I don't have that much work to do here."

Either the World Traveler didn't know how to argue back at her for saying that, or he was preoccupied about the battle against the werehog.

"Let's see," Jaydes said. "Do you want to see thing how things are back at your place?"

"I..." Chris thought for a moment. "...Wish to..."

"Very well," Jaydes nodded as she turned around to face the empty air. "Activate Hell TiVo Version 3.4 with High Quality, Live Active Event, and Hades Sound Pro Logic IV, now."

Chris looked confused at this order before dark smoke appeared in front of them. The dark cloud made a ring of smoke as in its center displayed what looked to be the werehog chasing Olimar and Chip with some Pikmins carrying Chris's body somewhere. They could see Falco trying to tackle down the werehog before he was punched away by a dark fist from the beast.

"My goodness," Jaydes said as she glanced at Chris's body. "You look stupidly damaged, World Traveler."

Chris's jaw opened once he looked at his bloody body being carried by the Pikmins. "M-m-m-m-m-m-my god..." he muttered in horror.

"You received a lot of critical hits," Jaydes said. "And also you lost like half of your blood in that fight as well."

"H-half of my whole blood was lost?" Chris asked in shock. "I-if I go back there will I be still living?"

"Don't worry," Jaydes said. "Once you go back, all the blood you spilled all over the place will instantly retreat back to your wounds before healing themselves."

"...What?" Chris asked. "...So is my blood like going to return to my wounds instantly? ...Isn't that unsanitary since it fell on the floor with all that water and small cracks with mud?"

"My powers will purify your blood," Jaydes said. "There are no diseases for that. Rest assured, you won't get AIDS or something like that during the blood recovery procedure."

There was no response for what the queen of the Underwhere and Game Overs said after saying that as Chris looked shocked at her.

"You still have one life left to continue," Jaydes said, breaking the small silence. "Do you wish to give it a try, or do you want to give up the fight and consider yourself defeated for good?"

Chris looked somewhat scared at this while Olimar and Chip barely dodged two slamming fists from the dark being. The World Traveler closed his eyes and tried to think. "(What would I do after I get back to fight that monster? ...Am I going to get killed if I do it again? ...What am I going to do?)" he asked in some panic. "(...What should I do to defeat him? ...Is it useless, then? ...Is this it? ...Am I going to die for real? ...Am I going to see Lucario again?)" Chris started to sob silently in his mind.. "(...Please, somebody...I need help to decide...)"

At that moment, something hit his mind...

"Those who fight further will always fight on..."

The World Traveler gasped mentally after hearing that saying inside his head. "...Those who fight further...will always fight on..." Chris muttered as his eyes shook. "...Cloud...you..."

"So?" Jaydes asked. "You should go back and save anyone from getting killed by that so-called monster."

Chris gasped at this.

"After all, you DO save me work to send people to their places if they're good enough to me."

"...I..." Chris muttered as he tried to think.

"Will you please hurry up? You're not the only soul here who wants to revive."

"...I...will..." Chris looked up at her and sighed. "...I'll fight further to keep fighting on..."

"...Then it is a yes." Jaydes nodded. "Very well."

"(Thanks, Cloud...) Yes..." Chris looked somewhat determined. "I'll show that bastard not to mess around with me and everyone... I'll do it again."

"Take in mind that if you die again, that's it, you'll live here for the rest of the eternity to become a G-Man."

"...Go ahead," Chris said. "I won't die again; that's a promise I won't break."

"I like that look you're giving to me," Jaydes said with a chuckle. "As for your birthday present, you shall go back."

The World Traveler's soul began to be raised to Jaydes's face level as she focused hard on him.

"Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over..." Jaydes chanted as Chris stared at the battle from behind her. " Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over, Game Over..." Her arms (questionable invisible parts) were raised as she opened her eyes fully, making a purple portal appear on Chris. "CONTINUE!"

Chris noticed that he was starting to vanish as some bits of his soul began to go into the portal. He managed to give Jaydes a smile before he disappeared from the Underwhere.

Jaydes sighed after completing the process. "If he doesn't live, I'll send him to eat Dried Mushrooms for the eternity."

The queen turned around for the next soul.

"Name and reason for your death, please," Jaydes said.

"T-this isn't the Netherworld, dood?" the soul asked in shock. "W-why did I end up here after Master Etna tossed me into the magma pool for spotting a fly in her soup, dood?"

Jaydes sighed as the soul panicked for a bit.

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Ruins

"UGH!"

"Got ya..."

"P-put me down...or else..."

"Why?" the werehog asked. "You're gonna unleash your rage on me?"

The werehog grinned evilly at Falco as he held the pilot up with a big right dark claw. This action made Olimar and Chip stop running before going back to them. "N-no!" Olimar yelled as Falco gasped for breath. "D-don't choke him!"

"Oh, there you are," the werehog said without turning at them.

Olimar gasped before he was grabbed by the other claw, pulling him where Falco was almost about to faint due to the grip put on his body. Olimar's eyes opened in shock as he began to gasp for breath, making DSS chuckle malevolently at this. The Pikmins themselves began to scream their high-pitched screams for Olimar, but they were told to keep Chris's body away from the beast.

"Stop it!" Chip yelled as he flew in front of the werehog. "Leave them alone!" he yelled more. "And bring Sonic back to us!"

"Aren't you a nuisance?" the werehog asked. "Chip, why don't you admit it? I'm too strong for all of you. I'm about to kill everyone. I'm about to prove to be the strongest being in the universe, and you just won't accept the truth of it," he explained while showing his fangs. "Why can't you accept the fact that you all lost?"

"B-because..." Chip sobbed silently. "I...n-no... I believe there's hope in winning against you...and to bring Sonic back as well..."

The werehog chuckled as Olimar and Falco gasped for more breath. "I believe you're an idiot."

"...NO!" Chip yelled enraged before starting to bang his rather small hands on the werehog's face. "Stop this, I said! Stop this!"

The werehog, not actually staggering at this attack, plain ignored Chip as his arms began to glow with dark aura. Olimar and Falco gasped after remembering the way Lucario was taken out. "Do you fools want to feel the power of my aura like I did to that doggy?"

By that moment, none of the two could manage to say anything as they saw everything around them becoming a blur.

"I'll take that as a yes," the werehog said as his arms glowed dark. "OKAY, FEEL THE POWER OF MY AUR-"

The werehog suddenly stopped as he saw drops of blood coming from the direction where he once was fighting the Smashers. Many drops flew pass around him and behind him as well. The werehog looked extremely confused at this sudden event as he looked at the blood flying above and around him.

"What?" he muttered as he released Olimar and Falco, who crashed on the floor but still were able to look at the event. "What the f(beep) is happening here?"

"...What?" Olimar asked as he coughed a bit with Falco.

"The hell..." Falco managed to say as he looked shocked ay the flying blood.

Chip himself looked somewhat surprised at this before opening his mouth in shock. The imp looked at the direction of the blood with the other 3...

And they found out that the blood was entering Chris's wounds all over his body, slowly refilling the corpse back with all its blood.

"What the heck?" the werehog asked as the Pikmins dropped the body down and ran back to Olimar. "Why is that lifeless thing getting its blood..."

"Eww..." Falco, Olimar, and Chip commented.

Chris's wounds started to recover all the lost blood from every single part that all of it went through. It also got purified as Jaydes said before. The 4 watched (quite disgusted) before the wounds began to close themselves as well as the scars. The clothes that Chris wore also repaired themselves after all the blood managed to get back into his body.

"U-uh..."

Some grunts came from the body, and they all looked back at Chris slowly opening his eyes, feeling the rain falling on him before standing up. The World Traveler shook his head a little to gain his vision.

"...Huh..." The World Traveler slowly opened his eyes and looked around the destroyed area, finding the 4 looking shocked at his bizarre revival. "...Am I...back?"

"..." The Smashers and Chip couldn't say anything after they saw Chris coming back to life. The werehog himself pondered how he got back as his eyes (eye?) were wide open.

"...Chris..." Falco began, still looking shocked. "...What ARE you, exactly?"

"H-huh?" Chris asked.

"H-he means..." Olimar looked around as he thought on something. "H-how did you come back?"

"T-the way you came back was...so supernatural..." Chip commented.

"Kid..." the werehog began. "...You're the WEIRDEST person I've ever met before...and also you're WAY TOO bizarre to come back alive like that..."

"..." Chris remembered what Jaydes said. "...W-wait, did my blood come back to me from where it was and you all watched the whole event?"

The 4 nodded.

"...A-and you saw my wounds closing once it got back into me?"

They nodded again.

"...Y-yuck..." Chris felt ill. "I-I can't believe I got revived like that..."

"You tell me," the werehog said, sticking out his tongue in disgust with a frown. "Maybe I shouldn't have killed you just to see you come back to live... Just remembering the way you were somehow revived makes me wanna puke..."

"..." Olimar shook his head. "T-that aside... C-Chris, you're alive!"

Chip and Falco shook their heads to come back to their senses. "Hey, that's right..." Falco said. "You're back again? How did you revive?"

"Oh, oh! Are you a god disguised as a kid?" Chip asked excited. "That'd be so cool!"

"W-what?" Chris asked annoyed. "N-no, I'm not a god OR a kid!"

The werehog watched helplessly as the three ran back to Chris. The World Traveler smiled a bit at them as they looked at him.

"Well, isn't that luck or what?" Falco asked as he crossed his arms. "You cheated death, man. That's creepy and at the same time so cool."

"I-I didn't cheat death..." Chris said embarrassed. "I-I happened to have one life left to come back, and I used it to return here..."

"A life?" Olimar asked.

"I-it's sort of like what happened in that battle against Mewtwo when he was possessed..." Chris explained. "When I died, I ended up in the Underwhere where I was brought back because I had two lives back then an-"

"Wait," Falco interrupted, "You're saying you ended up somewhere else than hell and that you came back because you had lives?"

"Y-yes?"

"Then what Samus did to revive you was useless?" Falco asked.

"What did she do again?"

"Forget it..." Falco said as he put a hand on his forehead. "I can't find any logic behind your revival at all..."

"Thank goodness you came back!" Chip said as he lunged at Chris and hugged his head. "I thought I was going to get a tombstone for you!"

"C-Chip, stop hugging me! I can't see anything!" Chris yelled.

"What a bizarre welcoming..." Olimar sniffed as his Pikmins patted his back. "I-I'm so happy you came back to us..."

"W-will you help me to get Chip off my face?" Chris asked annoyed.

"O-oh, um..." Olimar looked around. "W-wait, weren't we trying to figh-"

Falco and Olimar (with his Pikmins) were quickly pushed away by 2 huge claws that later trapped Chris and Chip between them as their heads stuck out. The claws pulled back to an enraged werehog as he held them up with pure rage building up in him. "How..." the werehog muttered as he showed his fangs at them. "HOW DID YOU COME BACK?"

"U-ugh..." Chris and Chip felt that the grip on them was becoming dangerously powerful.

"Kid, you're a real pain in the a(beep) now," the werehog said as both started to gasp for breath. "I was sure I killed you for good, but nooooooo, you came back in a disgusting way just to annoy me even more than before, huh, huh, huh?"

"Y-you're...insane..." Chris muttered weakly. "I...I...I came back to...get my...revenge...for killing me..."

"REVENGE?" the werehog mocked as he pulled them in front of his furious face, giving them a death glare that made Chris shake with fear. "Ha, was that supposed to be a joke, kid? You're very good at joking, did you know that?"

"N-no..." Chris shook with fear as the werehog forced him to directly at his glare. Even Chip tried to look away, but he was forced to stare at the werehog. "I...I was sure I was going to get back at you for everything you did to us..."

The werehog narrowed his eyes.

"...I...I...I...I..." Chris, with his eyes about to close, glared at the werehog. "I'm...going to get my revenge...no matter what you do to me now..."

At that moment, the werehog ignored the footsteps that came from behind, revealing to be every Smasher (that had enough strength, despite the damage inflicted on them). "What is happening?" DK asked.

"What? Chris?" Jigglypuff said as she looked at the 2 people, struggling to get off from the dark claws.

"H-he's alive?" Red asked.

"But how did he..." Yoshi trailed off.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" the werehog yelled without turning at them. The beast saw Falco and Olimar from the other side where he was facing, but nevertheless, he kept the strong grip on Chris and Chip. "Don't you DARE interrupt me now or the kid will get himself crushed along with the goofy imp, you hear me?"

Many of the Smashers gasped at this while Chris tried his best to survive through the fatal move.

"Okay, kid... the werehog muttered angrily. "You better be ready to die again..." His eyes widened as they turned into a wild look. "No matter how many times you keep coming back, I'm going to make you shiver in fear so you get yourself wide open for my claws to rip your heart in a violent and yet very painful way possible..." He showed his fangs fully. "BECAUSE I HATE WHEN MY PREY COMES BACK JUST TO ANNOY ME EVEN MORE!"

His arms began to glow dangerously in a dark aura. The Smashers watched helplessly as the claws shone with the dark shadow.

"N-no..." Chris began to sob. "I-I can't die that fast..." he muttered as he looked at Chip. "I-I'm sorry..." he muttered with more sobs. "I don't think...we will survive...anymore..."

Chip began to cry silently as the dark aura covered them.

"...E-everyone..." Chris began. "...P-please...i-if you can defeat him...p-please..." Chris began to cry silently through the rain. "...Don't...forget about me..."

"Chris!" many of them yelled as they stepped forward.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?" the werehog asked as he looked at them with a death glare. "That is it... You broke the rule and the kid and the imp here will pay the consequences..."

"It was useless, still!" Pit yelled. "You were going to kill him off from the beginning even if we didn't move!"

"You're good at reading the future," the werehog said with a chuckle while Chris began to see only darkness gathering on him. "I hope you can see further and guess the cries of agony from this dude..."

The werehog turned to look back at Chris while most of them grunted.

"Well, guess you lost again," the werehog said. "Kid, admit it, you just can't win against me. You're far away from my own league. Everyone here proved to be inferior as well. You're destined to die in utter oblivion in the darkness I'm showing you now... Wait, I'm not showing it to you but either covering you in it."

"U-u-u-ugh..." Chris began to see everything as a blur.

"It's sad you must die again by me," the werehog said. "Well, sad for these imbeciles anyway. That reminds me, did you have fun with that hedgehog?"

"..." Chris couldn't respond.

"That dude is forever lost inside my mind," DSS said. "It's a shame you didn't help him with this fight. I'm sure I wouldn't be here if you figured out that he was hiding me from all of you, but the fool wanted to hide myself so nobody would stop him from solving his problem himself. His ego made him get lost within me, and now this happened." He smirked at Chris. "Okay. Enough talking and more cry of agony, please."

The Smashers saw as the darkness was about to cover the World Traveler and the imp.

"A little more..." the werehog muttered. "I'm enjoying this very much now. What about you? Are ya enjoyin' it as well?"

No response.

"It's bad not to respond," the werehog said before wicked look appeared on his face. "BAD CHILDREN NEED TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON THROUGH PUNISHMENT FOR BEHAVING BAD! DIE!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chris yelled loudly.

It was futile...

The World Traveler thought that he was going to get his revenge as soon as he came back from the death. He knew he was going to win...

But as soon as he came back, he was going to be killed in front of everyone's eyes...

...Not everyone...

Chris remembered that some of the others weren't there...

Especially him...

The one he thought was going to protect him at all times no matter what happened. Chris could only cry at the image of his only personal guardian that was taken out so he wouldn't save Chris from his kidnapping and murder.

...Death was just the only obliged path to escape from the werehog...

The World Traveler felt weak and useless once the darkness covered him. He hated and feared darkness so much that he began to cry. He didn't want to die, but rather keep living to enjoy his life...

...But his life was going to end...

The World Traveler only heard yells, and he felt internal earthquakes that shook his body before stopping. Rain fell down on him as he couldn't see anything. He later felt that he fell somewhere after feeling those quakes shaking him.

"(I'm...dead again...)" Chris muttered in his mind. "(...I couldn't feel the absolute pain...which is good because I didn't want them to see me cry...and...above else...)" He sobbed. "(He didn't see me cry or die... He wouldn't get over my death and he would be heartbroken as well...)"

Chris cried silently in the darkness.

"(Please...)" he muttered. "(...Keep living without me... I'll be fine...somewhere else far away from you all... Dad... Mom... I hope you smile once you get back at home...because I won't be there to see you 2 again... At least I want you to be happy in home before knowing that I died in world I wanted to explore with everyone...)"

He felt his tears were disappearing into nothingness.

"(...Darkness as I expected...)" Chris said. "(...It's keeping me from opening my eyes to see where my tears are going... So this is where you end when you die...)"

Chris chuckled.

"(And yet...)" Chris said as his voice echoed. "(...I feel rather happy for being here...)" He laughed a bit. "(...Come to think it...)" He chuckled. "(...This feeling...I'm feeling right now...it's so familiar and yet...)"

Chris started to laugh.

"(...Yet I...)" He laughed even more. "(...Yet I think it's way too familiar...)" He laughed louder. "(W-wait, this feeling is not what I thought it would feel like when I died...)"

The World Traveler smiled through his laughs.

"(W-wait...)" Chris said. "(T-this isn't just a feeling...)" he said as he shed tears which were quickly taken away into nothingness. "(...I can feel this very well and...)" he went on. "(...And I can tell very well that this is not how I was supposed to feel...because...)"

Chris realized it...

"(...I can tell this isn't what I was supposed to feel because...)" Chris chuckled more. "(...Because I know I haven't died yet!)"

The World Traveler opened his eyes before something rubbed them with care. Chris started to laugh louder in utter happiness as he was forced to laugh through the rain. He couldn't see what prevented him from crying, but he kept trying to open his eyes before something rubbed his eyelids. That something was also taking the tears away.

Chris, while laughing, put a hand in front of him to stop whatever was keeping him from shedding tears. Once nothing else came, he removed his hand...

...And saw someone he quickly smiled at...

"...LUCARIO!" Chris yelled extremely happy.

"Chris, you're alive..." Lucario said with a small smile. "You're alive, Chris..."

"Lucario!" Chris noticed that the Aura Pokémon was holding him on his arms. The World Traveler didn't wait to hug Lucario with some chuckles before Lucario's tail wagged a little.

"I didn't forget you, Chris..." Lucario said as he hugged his trainer tightly. "I came here as soon as I woke up..."

"Y-you're here? W-what just happened?"

Chris looked around, and he found the werehog knocked on the crumbles. The World Traveler also found all the Smashers (even Luigi, Peach, and Mewtwo) looking at him with some smiling, some grinning, and some...looking away (like Snake, Wolf, and Meta Knight).

"Allow me to explain," Mewtwo began.

Flashback

The Smashers saw as the werehog laughed maniacally at the darkness that shrouded Chris. They all grunted and glared at the werehog as they tried to think of something.

However...

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

All the Smashers looked around the field to find the enraged, echoing voice that appeared out of nowhere. The werehog stopped laughing once he managed to hear the demand.

Then, out of nowhere, a swift, glowing fist impacted right on the right side of his face, making his pupils shrink in surprise before he let go of Chris and Chip as he was sent rolling into the crumbles, making a long trail that left a big mark of his reckless rolling before he stopped some feet away from them.

The Smashers looked back at the source of the fist where it was joined with another hand that caught Chris on them.

Not only that, but they also saw Mewtwo teleporting close to them with Peach and Luigi.

"...No way..." Pikachu muttered.

"...I...made it in time..."

The Smashers found Lucario, looking down at his trainer before he spotted some tears leaking out from his eyes. The Aura Pokémon looked worried before he lowered his face to lick the tears away as he looked happy. This action made the World Traveler chuckle before laughing loudly.

End of flashback

"Lucario managed to wake up after that attack," Mewtwo explained. "Once he came back to his senses, he used Extremespeed to arrive at the battle just in time before you were going to be killed again."

"Then," Peach continued. "Luigi and I grew worried of this so I asked Mewtwo to come here by teleporting." She smiled happily. "I wanted to see you again as soon as Lucario went to rescue you."

"A-and I realized..." Luigi began. "T-that I wanted to fight as well..."

"Unfortunately," Mewtwo began as the Smashers looked at the werehog. "This battle hasn't ended up yet."

They saw as the werehog grunted in utter rage while he stood up, showing his bare fangs in anger before he glared at them all. "Who was the fool who just threw a fist at me..." he asked darkly. "ANSWER ME!"

"It was me," Lucario said with a glare. "Do you have a problem with it? You were going to kill my trainer, and I did the only good and logical thing to stop you from doing such a thing...that was punch you."

"You..." the werehog muttered in anger as Lucario put Chris down. "...You stopped me...from playing with the kid..."

"Knock it off!" yelled Chip as he appeared besides Chris. "You sarcastic nature is so old now! We're sick of it and YOU as well!"

"What? You trying to fight me?"

"N-no..." Chip gulped before he glared at him. "B-but they can!"

"Yeah, drop all the fighting on us, will you?" Roy asked in annoyance.

Chris saw as the Smashers formed a long line in front of him as they face the werehog. Chip, however, was out from that line. "W-what are you all doing?" Chris asked.

"Isn't it obvious, kid?" Wolf asked without turning at him. "We're going to stop that monster from landing another hit on you."

"A-and you agreed to protect me?"

"Hey, I'm doing this because he forced me to stay close to fem-boy here."

Marth rolled his eyes at this comment.

"Just sit back and relax," C. Falcon said. "We're going to get that revenge for you instead."

"Think of it as a birthday gift that came from all of us," Samus said as she prepared her Arm Cannon. "He won't mess you more than he did."

"Aww, you guys are more determined to fight me?" the werehog asked with a chuckle. "You gotta be joking, or you're being plain stupid." He glared at them. "If you wanna die so badly, you should have asked me from the beginning."

The Smashers glared back at him.

"I-I'm going to do it now..." Luigi muttered with a gulp. "I-I'm going to prote-"

"NO!"

The Smashers blinked in confusion after they heard Chris yelling loudly. They all turned around to see the World Traveler getting up as he looked serious at the werehog.

"I'm sorry, but this has gone far enough to piss me off to the extreme," Chris said as he walked forward, Chip looking back and forth between them and him before following. "I'm not going to run away from that bastard."

"But Chris..." Lucario muttered as the World Traveler didn't look at him and passes right at his side, stopping right in front of the line as he glared at the werehog.

"I'm going to fight," Chris said. "And there's NO damn way you're going to stop me from halting my decision."

The werehog merely laughed a bit at this. "Kid, are you so devoted in killing yourself?"

"No..." Chris said before he smiled at him. "But why are you the one being so devoted to kill yourself instead?" he asked.

"...What..."

"I mean, you're the idiot here for letting yourself get attacked by everyone," Chris explained. "My goodness, you play around with us and yet you don't see you're letting yourself get attacked?"

The werehog blinked at this.

"Everyone here knows you're an ugly, friendless, snotty, poor excuse for a "human" being," Chris said. "But we know you're...just an idiot."

The werehog glared at him as Chris closed his eyes.

"When I died..." Chris muttered. "...I met someone who showed me how pathetic you were..."

"Pathetic, huh..." the werehog said disgusted.

"Yes..." Chris opened his eyes. "He showed me that you have weaknesses."

"I have weaknesses? Oh, please!" the werehog said with a frown. "What, did that person als-"

"He told me that no matter what people do to look strong, they hide their weaknesses to be perfect," Chris said. "I know that we all have weaknesses very well, but when I say "we" I mean you as well."

"I don't have weaknesses..." the werehog muttered in rage. "You can't understand that, can you?"

"I'm pretty sure you have weaknesses despite you being the one not understanding the facts," Chris said. "He argued to me about that as well."

Some of the Smashers smiled a bit at Chris.

"He told me that it's stupid to be scared from you," he went on. "Why would we be scared of you, especially me? Why was I scared of you? You're not that important."

"You kid are so BEGGING TO B-"

"Even so," Chris interrupted.,"I suppressed my fears against you because...Cloud Strife showed me to be strong..."

Lucario gasped. "You...met Cloud?"

"I know," Chris chuckled. "I was so lucky to meet Cloud Strife in person because he died some time after I did. I guess that my death was the only way to meet him in person." Chris looked at the beast. "That aside, he showed me that to defeat you, I needed to build myself with courage."

More of the Smashers smiled a bit at him.

"Long story short, he also told me this..." Chris closed his eyes. "Those who fight further...will always fight on, no matter what the situation is..."

"...And?" the werehog asked.

"...And the situation now is this," Chris said as he opened his eyes. "An idiot who spends his time causing pain and death to anyone he meets out of pleasure; the sickest and stupidest thing to make after doing such horrible things..."

The Smashers saw as Chris changed jobs to the latest one he got: the Beastmaster job.

The World Traveler took out his long whip and let the top lay down on the destroyed floor. "That person is also a beast, or a monster," Chris continued. "And wild beasts are waiting to be tamed." He grabbed his whip with both hands to extend the top and another part in front of him as he put the whip between him and DSS. "You're a monster. Sorry, you need to get tamed sooner or later."

The Smashers joined Chris in the line as they looked back at the werehog with Lucario standing besides him.

"And I know that you can easily be defeated in a small matter of time," Chris said. "If I put my mind into it, you're not that dangerous as you claim to be. Heck, I think I have a very small chance of winning this fight to rescue Sonic from you if I were to fight you alone..."

Chris looked at the Smashers before looking back at the pissed werehog.

"...But, if I count everyone to help me to render you useless..." Chris glared at the beast. "Chances are that you will kneel down and obey my orders long before the next day arrives, foolish imbecile..."

"..." The werehog chuckled a bit before he started to laugh madly at this speech. The Smashers glared back at him before he looked at them, shedding some tears. "Talk about corny," he commented. "What, you're going to say you fight for your friends?"

Ike sulked at this.

"No," Chris said. "I fight just for one reason...and that is..." He slammed down the tip of his whip on the floor. "To teach ruthless idiots like you not to mess with anyone as you want."

"Aww, that's sweet," the werehog said with a smile as he grew a claw big. "Here, let me pinch ya for being a good kid..."

The werehog quickly reached for the World Traveler with his dark claw. Chris knew this was a repeat from the scene back at his party. If this was a repeat, he would be kidnapped next to be taken away and later be killed by the werehog in a painful battle.

However, this deja vu had a different outcome as Lucario was stopped from advancing by Chris himself.

The World Traveler quickly knocked back the dark claw by lashing down the whip's tip on the center of the palm.

This swift attack caused internal damage that ran through all the arm, causing the werehog to yell in pain as he retreated his claw back to him. The werehog shook his claw in pain before he noticed a small, red spot on his grey claw's palm. The werehog showed his bare fangs at the spot before quickly glared daggers at Chris. "You... What did YOU do to me?"

"Let's see..." Chris rubbed his chin. "Since Master Hand told me that my attacks are duplicated against beasts, you ended up getting hurt."

"But that shouldn't have been THAT painful!" the werehog cursed out.

"You forgot something," Chris went on. "We're not dealing with just a wolf here."

"What?"

"We're dealing with a wolf...that IS a hedgehog as well."

"Yeah," Snake began. "You're a werehog due to the fact that you're half hedgehog, half wolf."

"And if we apply logic into the matter," Chris began. "I'm actually hurting both the hedgehog and the wolf in you. Thus, my attack didn't get stronger by two... Its strength was equal to four hits, meaning it got quadrupled." Chris chuckled. "It turns out that the Beastmaster job is your weakness! Can you see it? You DO have a weakness after all!"

"...But didn't he have a weakness to light as well?" Kirby asked. "You said that as well before, didn't you?"

This little recalling made Chris sob in his mind.

"...Kirby..." Chris muttered. "...Don't ruin moment, please..."

Kirby looked down. "S-sorry..."

"...A-anyway," Chris blushed a little. "You have weaknesses as you can see." He smiled afterward. "Since Cloud himself taught me that, now I have an absurd but helpful principle... Everyone who's named Cloud, or at least has Cloud in his or her name or last name is considered awesome."

Figure out for yourself who of all the Smashers grinned and chuckled at this statement.

The werehog showed his bare fangs at them.

"You were owned Pokémon style," Pikachu said with a grin. "Like the info screen says, "It's super effective!"

Many of them chuckled at this joke, causing the werehog to grunt even more in anger as he became even more furious than before. "SHUT UP!" The werehog began to rush directly at Chris.

Final Fantasy VII - Fight On!

Chris stopped laughing as he noticed the werehog rushing directly at him. "EVERYONE, SPREAD OUT!" he yelled out.

Everyone suddenly focused at the werehog, but they looked at Chris. "What? Isn't more effective to give a frontal attack?" Lucario asked.

"Believe me..." Chris said worried. "I don't really have anything in mind to attack back..."

"So was all that speech pure bluffing from you?" Diddy asked.

"...No," Chris said. "I'll try to device every single strategy to stop him from controlling Sonic even further as the battle goes on. Trust me because..." He glared at the incoming beast. "...Those who fight further...will always fight on..."

"Look out!" Squirtle yelled.

"SPREAD OUT!" Chris yelled as they all spread around the field while Chris himself dodged a ramming attack from the werehog. The beast grunted at his failed attempt to hurt Chris before he quickly grabbed the World Traveler with a big dark claw. "Ugh..."

"THAT'S IT!" the werehog yelled as he smirked wickedly at Chris. "You're mine, you're mine, YOU'RE MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Lucario!" Chris yelled before the grip could crush him. "Combine Extremespeed with Force Palm, now!"

Lucario quickly appeared from behind the werehog to slam a swift Force Palm that cause the beast to be pushed some feet away, releasing Chris from his grip as he landed on the crumbles.

The World Traveler turned around to see the wild beast getting up before charging at him. "(So he's focused only in killing me...)" Chris thought. "(Good. I'll be the decoy to take him around.) Lucario, wait for further orders and don't do anything until I tell you!"

"What?" Lucario asked.

"Just believe in me!" Chris yelled before he began to run away from the werehog. "You'll have a much more important role in this fight. Remain there unless I'm in utter trouble or when you need to act!"

Lucario dodged a slash attack from the incoming werehog before the beast himself went rushing at Chris while slamming down his big dark claws on the floor, destroying the crumbles to nothing.

"NOW!" The World Traveler stopped running before turning back to rush towards the werehog. Chris moved his whip behind his shoulder before lashing it sideways across the beast's face, causing the werehog to back away in pain. "While he's stunned, Meta Knight, come over to him and slash him across the same spot I just hit!"

The masked knight came right besides Chris and dashed to the werehog with Galaxia trailing off on the crumbles before it was raised upwards to the same spot that Chris hit with his whip. The werehog yelled in pain as the wound got itself worse, causing blood to stroll down.

"Is this all?" Meta Knight asked as he looked at Chris.

"Can you grab him to slam him down on the floor?"

Meta Knight nodded before he grabbed the beast by the throat, raising him at insane heights into the clouds far above.

"Kirby, where are you?" Chris called out for the puffball.

The Star Warrior ran to him and looked up.

"Quick! Go over the spot where Meta Knight grabbed him and grab him to take him up again once he collides into the floor!"

Kirby made a serious face before running over to where Meta Knight raised the beast. Once he stopped right on the spot, Meta Knight came back, crashing the werehog's head into the crumbles before Kirby grabbed him and did the same as Meta Knight did.

"Now I see..." Meta Knight realized. "If we keep pulling him to the sky to later make him crash, he won't have any means to escape the attack."

Kirby came back to crash the werehog once more into the crumbles before Meta Knight grabbed him to pull him upwards and crash him down even deeper. Kirby, then, grabbed the beast and repeated the process as well.

"UGH!" the werehog grunted continuously as he was sent upwards before crashing down on the floor. Around 11 times later, the werehog punched Kirby away and barely slashed Meta Knight, who stepped aside to evade the attack.

Chris saw as the werehog continued his chase on him as he didn't care about Meta Knight or Kirby. The World Traveler turned around to run away from the faster beast who began to catch up quickly to him.

"YOU'RE MINE!" the werehog yelled as he raised his claws once he leaped at Chris.

"Link, Toon Link, fire arrows at will, quickly!"

The 2 swordsmen were spotted some fet away from Chris, and both took out their bows and arrows to aim quickly at the beast's stomach. Both shot their arrows as quickly as they could to stab the beast's stomach, making him twitch in pain before he fell down on the floor. The werehog took the arrows out before chasing Chris again.

However, this little attack was to buy Chris some time.

Instantly, the werehog was slashed (and stunned for a moment) from behind by 2 illusions that revealed to be Fox and Falco. Both turned around to see C. Falcon using Raptor Boost from behind the beast to uppercut the werehog upwards with fire. Once the werehog was sent upwards, the World Traveler ran back to him to wrap his long whip on the beast's feet before pulling it down (with the help of DK) to the crumbles along with the werehog. The beast yelled in pain once he crashed right into the floor, but later slammed both sides of the floor to stand up and rush at Chris.

"What do I do?" DK asked as he put his arms in front of him.

"Wait, I think you can do more than that," Chris said as the werehog leaped at them. "DK, block him off from attacking me!"

DK nodded and sidestepped in front of Chris stop the werehog's claws from slamming down on the tamer. DK grunted a little in pain as the claws' nails were trying to dig into his fur and skin.

"Get away, get away, GET AWAY!" the werehog demanded to the kong. "SUFFER PAIN!"

"Red!" Chris yelled. "Tell Ivysaur to pull him off from DK!"

"R-right! Ivysaur, use Vine Whip!" Red ordered.

The Seed Pokémon glared at the beast from his position besides Red before he shot 2 long vines from underneath the flower's bulb, wrapping both of them around the werehog.

The werehog, noticing this, growled at his new target before pushing himself away from DK to land on the street. "You can't force me to get pulled!" he yelled before grabbing both vines with a smirk. "I can use 'em against you instead!"

"True enough," Red said before he grinned a little bit. "But can you handle another one?"

"What?"

The werehog's eyes widened as a tongue wrapped itself underneath his arms, causing the beast to growl angrily at this before looking back to Yoshi, who was glaring at him while he had his tongue wrapped around him.

"Okay, you want your little tongue to get hurt again?" the werehog asked before sharpening his claws. "I'll do it, but I'll cut them up for real this time!"

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

DSS gasped before he turned around, accidentally letting a stream of water strike his eyes so he wouldn't see C. Falcon rushing at his side. The captain pulled back his red glowing fist before unleashing a quick Falcon Punch with a fire eagle that severely burned the beast, making him yell in pain.

The vines and the tongue left him alone before he charged right after Chris.

"(It's clear he wants to kill me more than anyone here,)" Chris thought. "(He ignores them unless they keep him away from me.)"

"Hey, Mr. Tamer!" the werehog yelled as a wicked smile appeared on him. "Guess what I have right here for you!" The beast stopped and sent a huge dark fist at Chris, followed up by a howl that let dark waves spread towards Chris.

"He can do that?" Chris asked surprised before he turned around to run away from the fist and the waves. "PIT, USE YOUR MIRROR!"

Chris looked around.

"Pit?"

"I'm right here! Don't stop running!" Pit yelled as he appeared from Chris's direction, stepped behind him, and took out his Mirror Shield that he held with a tight grip as the fist collided into it as well as the dark waves. The dark waves themselves were reflected back at the fist, and they caused severe damage once they passed through it. The beast screamed in pain before pulling back his fist to him, blowing air out on his damaged claw to make the pain go away.

"Good..." Chris sighed to Pit. "Thank you..."

"Are we still done yet?" Pit asked as he looked back at werehog.

"No, not yet," Chris said. "But if we keep going like this, we could still win soon."

Pit gasped once a big dark claw grabbed the beastmaster and pulled him all the way back to the werehog. Without stopping, the werehog applied a sudden but fatal pressure on his grip, making Chris yell in pain.

"Die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE!" the werehog ordered as Chris yelled loudly.

The werehog was grabbed by his throat from behind. Snake grunted as he tried to choke the beast with his arms, releasing Chris from the grip before he slowly stood up, shook his head, and ran away from there. "You better stay quiet if you value your life..." Snake muttered through gritted teeth as the werehog flailed his legs and claws like a wild beast. "Ugh..."

"AWAY!" the werehog yelled as he pushed Snake away with his sharp feet by pushing them to his stomach. The werehog landed back on the floor before he spotted Chris running away. "Hey, get back here, you little twerp!" he demanded before chasing the World Traveler.

"(Pikachu, Pichu, get prepared...)" Chris thought. "(He's going to pass over you in some seconds...)"

The werehog slowly catch up with the beastmaster. Chris looked back and snapped his fingers.

2 thunders fell down from the clouds, impacting down the werehog as the attack made him yell in pain. DSS put a hand on his forehead before he shook it. However, even 2 more thunders fell down him once more, making him yell louder.

Underneath the crumbles, there were Pikachu and Pichu hiding to call down multiple Thunders on the clueless werehog. Both chuckled at each other before they called 2 more thunders to impact down on the beast.

However, the werehog sniffed a little bit accident and spotted 2 unusual odors that came out from below him. The werehog quickly dug his claws down to pull the Pokémon before slamming them back on the floor. Pikachu and Pichu bounced painfully on it before the werehog pulled back both fists and punched them hard to send them away by many feet away.

"Pikachu! Pichu!" Chris yelled as he saw both rolling on what looked to be a portion of the destroyed city. The World noticed that they were about to reach the other buildings and normal streets in a bit.

"Don't cry, please," the werehog called over from his spot. "You can join them in hell."

"They're not death!" Chris yelled as he prepared his whip. "Now, come over here and let me whip you."

"Like I'm going to fall for that," the werehog said.

"Okay," Chris said as he closed his eyes. "I hope you don't mind the 6 people on your back."

"What?"

The werehog looked behind on his back to spot 2 Red Pikmins, 2 Blue Pikmins, and 1 White Pikmin before they all banged on his back. Since there was a White Pikmin, it spew poison out with every hit he did on the werehog, causing him to twitch uncontrollably as Olimar was seen nearby with his Purple Pikmin.

"Olimar, can you use that Pikmin to hit him while he tries to shake them off?" Chris asked.

Olimar looked worried at his Purple Pikmin.

"Please! Do you want to die, then?"

"...No!" Olimar yelled before he grabbed the Purple Pikmin's leaf (hiding a small sniff) before running at the werehog. The captain then positioned himself in front of him before using the same Pikmin as some sort of heavy weapon that he swung several times on his face. The werehog yelled loudly in pain as the Pikmins and even Olimar himself attacked from all side. "I-I'm doing it..." Olimar muttered as he kept slapping the werehog's face with his Purple Pikmin. "I-I'm doing it!"

"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" the werehog yelled suddenly before howling dark waves out to the sky, pushing the 6 Pikmins and Olimar away by the force of the howl (making the Pikmins die easily).

The World Traveler spotted Snake some feet away where he was hiding mines around a certain spot. He later put a small mine between all the others before looking at Chris with a nod. "What is he trying to..." Chris wondered. "Should I lure him there?"

Chris was suddenly pinned down by 2 dark claws on the floor before noticing that the werehog tried to bite his face off in pure anger. The World Traveler screamed in fear for his life before Diddy came from the left side, using Monkey Flip to hang himself on his face before banging his hands hard on his back. The werehog let go of Chris for a moment to try and take Diddy off.

Popo and Nana were seen jumping on each side of the werehog's back before slamming down his hammers one over the other to cause great damage on a single point of the back. The werehog grunted loudly in pain before he extended his claws to both sides and spun to shake the 3 off from him.

"Nuisances..." the werehog muttered annoyed. "STOP ANNOYING ME!"

"Marth, Roy, Ike, charge your main attacks all together!" Chris yelled at the 3 swordsmen. "We'll put him at your range to deal massive damage to him!"

"What if we end up depleting our health?" Ike asked as he looked at Roy.

"Don't worry. Start charging!"

The 3 looked worried before they stood next to each other to charge their main attacks.

The werehog, hearing this, smirked and decided to run after the 3 swordsmen to stop from attacking him.

"Sorry," Chris muttered. "But you just fell right into another trap..."

Samus walked close to him, glowing with a familiar rainbow aura.

"Good thing he didn't notice I activated the Over Limit," Samus said. "But will this be okay?"

"Trust me," Chris said to her. "Your attack won't damage the 3 but the beast. Once your suit falls off, prepare to do something else I have in mind. Now, shoot!"

The bounty hunter nodded and released a huge stream of energy our from her cannon. The beam slowly grew in size before it cleaned its path from the crumble as it reached for the werehog.

However, the werehog noticed their talk as he grinned back at the beam and leaped high up to evade the beam. "HA! I'm not deaf, you idiots!"

"Ness, Lucas, use Meteor Smashes!" Marth yelled from his spot.

The werehog blinked confused before 2 kicks from above impacted down on him to fall down back on the floor, entering inside the beam were he yelled in pain. There were Ness and Lucas above the beam as they had both of their right feet pointing down. Both looked at each other and chuckled at their combined attack before landing close to the beam.

Once the beam disappeared, Samus's Power Suit fell off, and she now wore the Zero Suit.

As for the werehog, the beam pushed him right underneath the 3 swordsmen that later slammed down their fully charged attacks, sending a huge explosion that blasted off the werehog some feet away as he clumsily spun on the air before crashing down on the floor. The werehog opened his eyes in snap before standing up.

"You guys are starting to piss me off so much..." the werehog grumbled.

"Okay, Samus, prepare your whip," Chris said as he looked down at the pieces. "You know where I'm getting at?"

"Totally," Samus said with a nod.

The werehog shook his head before pieces of the Power Suit came at him as they were seen wrapped in the whips of both characters. The werehog gasped before the hard pieces crashed into his face to make him back away in pain before Samus and Chris slammed down on his head 2 more pieces.

"DAMMIT!" the werehog cursed out as a paralyzing shot hit his chest and made him get stunned for a small moment.

"Luigi!" Chris yelled.

The green plumber, with a gulp, ran towards the stunned werehog.

"Mario, assist him!"

The red plumber joined the green plumber by running at his right side. A sense of confidence quickly made Luigi regain his composure before both glared at the paralyzed werehog.

DSS regained his control and growled at the 2 plumbers. "You won't hit me, I'll hit you instead," he said as he opened his dark claws with a smirk. "I can keep fighting you all."

The werehog got interrupted as a Turnip (XP) crashed on the back of his head and fell down to his feet. He panted heavily in anger as he looked behind where Peach (holding another Turnip (O_O)) was glaring at him.

"That was for ruining my party," Peach said. "Chris's party to be exact."

"Aww, and you thought a Turnip would stop me from att-" the werehog stopped talking once a flaming point from an uppercut sent him bouncing upwards from the ground as he barely saw Luigi jumping along with him. The green plumber made a bored look before, still with his uppercut intact, rotated down to fall down on the floor.

It was not long before Mario jumped straight to the stunned werehog to slam down a downward fist that served as a Meteor Smash that sent DSS crashing down on the street.

By that time, they were all between a whole destroyed field between the destroyed buildings that remained standing after the attack of Exor.

"(But I have to lure him to where Snake hid the mines,)" Chris said as he looked over to the other side.

"Kid, you want help?"

The deep voice made Chris blink in shock before turning around to find Wolf with crossed arms as he stared at him.

"I'll be the decoy this time," Wolf said as he stepped in front of him. "I saw the crack man hiding those mines within that area over there. I figured out that you want that monster to step there, correct?"

"Will you help, then?"

"Just because he's annoying," Wolf said as he glared at the beast. "The people that piss me off AND attack me only beg to get attacked by me. Be glad you just piss me off."

"..."

"Do you want him to get there or no?"

"There you are!" the werehog called as they looked back at him, rushing towards them. The werehog released dark waves from his mouth that quickly spread all over the place where Wolf and Chris were.

"Kid, quick, step behind me," Wolf said.

"W-why?"

"Do it!" Wolf yelled angrily.

Chris quickly hid behind Wolf's back before the lupine activated his Reflector, shielding him and Chris from getting attacked by that waves that were taken back at DSS. However, the beast jumped high over the waves while leaping towards the 2, extending his dark claws to crush them both.

"2 little birds with 2 claws!" the werehog joked. "Or should I say 2 little birds with joined claws?" he asked as he joined his claws together to prepare them to slam them down on the 2.

"What now, kid?" Wolf asked as he looked over his right shoulder to Chris.

At that moment, the werehog's chest was pinched by several kunais that made him grunt in pain and shrink his claws to their normal size. This attack let Wolf and Chris to escape by running to different directions as Sheik ran from Wolf's direction, holding several kunais hidden between her fingers.

"Prepare yourself," Sheik muttered as she narrowed her eyes. Once she reached the werehog, she used the tip of the kunais to slash him across his face. DSS yelled out in pain as Sheik ran to his right to land another slash. The Sheikah then came back by running from the other side, still slashing the werehog one more time before tossing all her kunais all over him from the front.

"I HATE YOU!" the werehog declared simply while he covered his face.

Once he removed his claws from his face, Sheik saw that he was starting to bleed. DSS's face shot her with a death glare through the blood that somehow slid across his wild eyes, and over his pupils. The werehog growled menacingly before leaping quickly to Sheik, causing her to be pinned down on the crumbled floor.

Jigglypuff, however, interrupted the werehog from stabbing Sheik with his right claw by using a fully charged Rollout. The werehog tumbled to the right, accidentally letting Sheik flip back to stand up. The Balloon Pokémon pouted once she landed back on the floor. "I'm important, believe it or not," she said with a small grin to the beast.

"What?" the werehog asked as he stopped tumbling to later glare down at her. "You're a puffball. Chances are that you will scream out your tears and voice."

"Chances are that you're the biggest jerk of the whole place...jerk," she said, trying to find something to yell back at him.

DSS rolled his eyes at this before he raised his claws above her. Jigglypuff closed her eyes and swiftly evaded the crushing claws by gracefully rolling at her right side. The Balloon Pokémon then charged at the beast to ram her forehead at him.

...

Yes, she rammed her forehead. This attack actually caused the werehog to grunt in pain as he was pushed back a little. Jigglypuff then lunged at his face to use Pound several times to stagger him.

"It's now my time to attack as well," Mewtwo said as he appeared behind Jigglypuff. The Psychic Pokémon held out his right hand before starting to glow. Jigglypuff, however, didn't stop attacking the werehog as he began to glow as Mewtwo did. The Balloon Pokémon pushed herself away by using her feet, and push the werehog to the floor, motionless.

"U-ugh..." DSS glared at Mewtwo. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"I'm merely attacking you by disabling your body," Mewtwo explained. "Soon enough, I'll send you away...now."

The werehog grunted in pain as he was forced to be thrown to the west were Mewtwo shot several small Shadow Balls that went through the beast. DSS yelled in pain as he was flung back to the destroyed area that he previously demolished by his Final Smash.

"Everyone that can use whips or something of the sort grab him!" Chris ordered.

At this mention, Samus, Yoshi, Sheik, Ivysaur, Link, Toon Link, and Chris himself ran after the werehog. The beast pushed his feet up to flip and stand up straight before putting his fists down. He noticed the seven running from all directions and towards him.

DSS snickered. "You think I didn't see the man with the crack on his butt hiding those mines behind me?" the werehog asked. "You're not gonna trick me that easily, I'm afraid."

The werehog ran to the opposite direction of the mines and he prepared to let out a powerful howl to spin it around and damage everyone. Once Chris saw the werehog gathering air, he quickly got some way to stop him. "Lucario, use Extremespeed and slam him down!"

The Aura Pokémon appeared right behind the werehog as he opened his arms wide open to grab him.

"(Nope, can't let you do that sort of thing to me,)" the werehog thought deviously before he jumped to evade Lucario's grab. The werehog didn't want to talk so he could release his mighty roar down on the Aura Pokémon to cause massive damage only to him.

But why were the dark waves reflected back as soon as he opened his howling attack?

The werehog screamed in pain as he was pushed further away to the air. Back where Lucario was, there was a yo-yo attached with a familiar Reflector above him as it remained activated due to some PK energy leaking out to activate the device.

Several feet away, Ness and Lucas were holding the string of the yo-yo together while Ness infused PK energy into the yo-yo to see if he could manipulate it to move all the way to Lucario as Lucas infused even more energy into it to make small PK charges hold the Reflector and activate it as he wished. There was a grinning Fox close to them as he was the donor of the Reflector.

"I must say," Fox began. "It was clever of you Ness to use that kind of combined move."

"Just to let you know I'm not a kid who wastes his time in other things than fighting like you do," Ness said before he pulled back the Reflector to them, instantly releasing the Reflector from Lucas's PK energy as it jumped off to Fox, who grabbed it with his right hand.

"Was that supposed to be an insult?"

"Guess."

"Bastard..."

Back with the werehog, a fully charged Aura Sphere exploded right on his back to make him blast up even more before one Clawshot, one Hookshot, one normal whip, two vine whips, one electric whip, and one tongue got all wrapped together around his body that forced him to stand up as he descended on the floor where Lucario grunted at him and ran away from the whips. The werehog growled angrily at his seven hunters.

"All right," Chris said as they all held a strong grip on the beast. "Let's all move to that direction where Snake dropped the mines!"

"STOP!" the werehog demanded as he shook his head wildly to release himself. Chris seemed to be losing some of his grip, but 2 big hands came from behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to find DK, grinning down at him with a wink.

"DK!" Chris said. "Oh, thank you for helping me to keep him there..."

"Let's do this, shall we?" DK asked.

"Of course… Everyone, run over there to Snake!"

They all nodded their heads and ran right where Snake was waiting for them. The soldier moved away as the wild werehog (shaking violently) was put over the 6 mines, and a smaller one that was right on the center of all of them.

With a flip of his switch, Snake pressed button while saying, "Now."

A big explosion came from below the beast, causing him to yell loudly in pain as smoke covered the 7 whip users. The 7 (and DK) back stepped to come out from the smoke as all the other Smashers joined them, forming a big circle around the smoke while the werehog screamed loudly in pain.

"Did we do it?" Red asked.

"I don't think so," Chris said. "But...his health is reaching a critical state now. All the attacks that were done during all the fights he was in still are there. He's been holding back the pain by becoming numb to it."

"I'm impressed," Marth said. "We seem to be gaining the upper hand thanks to your quick thinking."

Chris blushed and looked away. "I-I told you I'd get my revenge, right?"

"But don't rest yet," Falco said as he glared at the smoke. "Just a little bit more, and we will all enjoy your birthday party like we planned to do."

As the smoke cleared out, Chip came from behind Chris and tapped his right shoulder. "Chip?" Chris asked. "Where were you?"

"I was watching from far away to keep myself out of your way," Chip said. "I didn't want to see him straight to the face again... I still...fear him..." he sniffed.

"...Don't worry; this battle will end very soon with..." Chris trailed off as he took something out from his back...but looked confused at it. "...Collar?"

Chip looked at a red collar that Chris took out from his back. Once the World Traveler looked more behind his back, he took a small band that also looked like a collar. "What's that?" Chip asked. "Two collars?"

"Collars?" Chris said confused as he looked at both items. "What are these collars for?"

"Those collars are special," Kawashima was heard saying. "They are some of the many items that beastmasters use to tame monsters. You see the big collar? You have to place it on Sonic so you gain control of him."

"Wait, what?" Chris asked. "These items didn't even appear as skills for beastmasters...and you're saying that with these I can stop Sonic?"

"No," he said. "They can restraint that evil soul from controlling over his body. The big collar is a special collar that will use a magical effect once you put him on his throat. The smaller collar, however, works as an accessory that lets anyone control the beast as long as he or she puts the collar on the wrist. Both collars need to be used right after you put the big collar on him," he explained. "Have you or someone equip the small collar so the evil soul within him is kept at bay."

"And I could have defeated him with these items a long time ago?"

"No," Kawashima said again. "You need to weaken him to the point where you think he's weak enough to control him. You could have used the ability "Control - Wolf" to see if you gained mental control and use him as a weapon. The collars are more effective, though."

"Then..." Chris looked serious at the items. "I'll stop him once for all with these...dog collars..."

"The smoke is clearing out!" yelled Peach.

They all focused their views back at the smoke...but something seemed wrong...

As the rain fell through, they noticed that the smoke itself was pushed out by a strong howl. They all covered their faces from the smoke that spread around and vanished after floating up.

And for Chris's horror...

They all found the werehog glowing with the rainbow aura of the Over Limit. The beast had his fangs wide open to the clouds before he lowered his furious face and growled loudly. "YOU GUYS ARE SO DEAD..." he declared as dark energy began to circulate around his whole body. "AND IT'S TIME TO END THIS FOOLISHNESS!"

All the Smashers gasped once they were all crushed by dark claws that instantly tossed them all above to the air. A few seconds before, at a slower pace, the werehog was moving insanely fast as he extended his claws at everyone, crushing them with killer grips before tossing them all up. Chip gasped once he found himself being the only one left on the ground as everyone else yelled in pain from above the werehog.

While the rain fell, all the Smashers were forced to spin at different directions. The werehog, smirking evilly, prepared to release a furious assault of punches, slashes, and finally, a destructive roar that could eradicate everything in sight.

Chris, being the one who did all the tactics, closed his eyes for the imminent end...

He looked around; finding many of them trying to flip to regain their composure, but it was futile since the Final Smash obliged them to stop moving. The problem further grew more problematic as they all were crushed in half a second, all at the same time.

"(There has to be a way!)" Chris thought as they slowed down to the air. "(Something can be done to stop him from killing all of us!)" He thought in panic.

And for his surprise, there was someone there who wasn't taken as all of them did...

Chris blinked in shock before he managed to turn his head around to face the empty spot where the werehog gave him an evilly smirk...

...But behind him, there was a terrified Chip (biting his relative small nails)...with the 2 collars that Chris accidentally dropped.

It was obvious.

"CHIP!" Chris yelled as they stopped ascending. "PUT THAT COLLAR ON HIM!"

"W-what?" Chip asked as he glanced down to find the two collars. "T-these, you mean?"

"HURRY UP OR WE'LL DIE!"

"I-I dunno if I can do this!" Chip yelled as the werehog didn't lose his sight from all his prey. "W-what if he ends up hurting me?"

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO END UP GETTING HURT OR WORSE IF YOU DON'T HURRY!" Chris yelled as they began to descend slowly. "HURRY, CHIP! I WANT TO KEEP ON LIVING AFTER THIS!"

The imp shook with fear as he looked at the werehog. He looked back at forth between the items and the beast before focusing his view at all the Smashers.

Then, he realized...

"(Those who fight further...will always fight on...no matter what the situation is...)" Chip recalled in his mind. "...I...I...I..." Chip gulped before he glared at the beast, took the big collar, and flew after him. "I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS! I HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR FACE!"

"...Huh?" The werehog, about to send a flurry of punches and slashes, turned around to find Chip flying fast at him with the collar. "What the hell do you think you're doing, idiot? Be gone!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" responded Chip as he held up the collar on top of him.

The werehog noticed the collar and looked confused. "A dog's collar?"

"-YIAH!" Chip yelled loudly as he slammed down the collar (or actually slid it behind the werehog's long quills) quickly enough to then make it reach the werehog's throat.

Something hit the beast in his mind as his pupils shrunk...

DSS started to twitch a little, letting all the Smashers fall down.

"...Wait... I...can move again!" announced C. Falcon as he managed to flip to regain his control.

Everyone else pretty soon followed by turning or flipping before landing back on the street's empty space. They all quickly glared at the beast...

But something seemed wrong with him as Chip remained staring down at him.

The werehog grabbed his head in pain before he knelt down on the floor. He lowered his head as he grunted angrily in pain, making everyone look confused at this exhibition of pain.

"Is that a dog's collar?" Ness asked, pointing at the collar around the werehog's neck.

"Is it working?" Chris asked, panting heavily.

"U-ugh..." the werehog grunted. "W-what the hell is this thing?" he demanded for an answer as he tried to take the collar off.

They all saw as the collar itself beginning to shrink so it would became impossible to remove from the throat. Not even the werehog's claws were strong enough to rip it apart before he howled in pain to the sky. The Smashers, however, remained in their places while the werehog slammed his fists down on the floor.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" he demanded to them. "T-THAT BASTARD IS COMING BACK TO HIS SENSES!"

"What?" Chris asked.

"T-that idiot is...awakening again..." the werehog muttered in pain as he clutched his claws on his face. "ARGH! T-THIS STUPID COLLAR MUST BE THE REASON!"

"(GET THE HELL OUT OF ME, FREAK!)" yelled a voice that somehow was able to yell loudly enough for the Smashers to hear. "(DAMN YOU, STOP USING MY BODY AND GET OUT!)"

"That voice…" Chris trailed off.

"As I've expected," Kawashima said. "Sonic's true self is awakening due to the power of the collar."

"What?" Chris asked as the werehog howled angrily while holding his head.

"The collar greatly weakened the soul that's holding Sonic back," he explained. "But Sonic's not strong enough to gain full access of his body."

"Which means…"

"Chris, you have to hurt him even more so Sonic gains control of his body to end this nightmare!"

The World Traveler had to nod quickly before looking at everyone. "It's almost over! We have to end this here and now!"

"NO!" the werehog yelled as he looked up to him. "I WON'T LET MYSELF BE DEFEATED LIKE THIS, NEVER!"

"Too bad…" Chris said as he held his whip across in front of him. "It's time for you to go… Werehog," Chris began as he raised his whip up. "BEGONE!"

The Smashers saw as Chris began to lash down the tip of the whip hard on the werehog. They all watched as the beast howled in pain with every single hit connecting with anything it touched on him.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the werehog yelled as Chris treated him like a wild beast. "STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP! I'M SO GONNA KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T ST-"

"SHUT UP!" Chris yelled loudly as he attacked the beast's mouth, causing him to yell in pain. "I'm YOUR owner from this point and onwards, and I ask you to obey my commands!"

"NEVER!" the werehog yelled between hits as he managed to look up at Chris. "I…won't…let…myself…be…defeated…like this…"

"Everyone, help, please!" Chris yelled as he saw the werehog standing up from his place. "The ones that can use projectiles shoot him down!"

At this order, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Link, Toon Link, Zelda, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Pikachu, Pichu, Mewtwo, Lucario, Ivysaur, Ness, Lucas Samus, and Snake started to fire fireballs, eggs, lasers, arrows, bombs, grenades, electric jolts, Shadow Balls, PK Thunders, PK Fires, Razor Leaves, and Aura Spheres right on the beast, causing him to yell loudly in pain as the long-range attack users kept attacking him from all sides, keeping their pace as the werehog began to fall down.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" the werehog yelled as the projectiles connected with each other began to produce a big explosion on his place while Chris kept lashing his whip from far away. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And it soon ended...

Music stops

"!"

The howl of extreme pain made the attackers stop their attacks as they stared at the smoke that came out from all their attacks combined. Through the smoke, Mewtwo managed to notice that the werehog was still standing up...but staring at the rain motionless.

Once it got all cleared out, silence was only joined by the rain's drops making sound as they touched their faces with the field around. A motionless werehog was still staring up without even moving.

Chip flew close to Chris as he kept staring at the beast. Every single Smasher stared at each other while the rain kept falling down.

"...Is it over?" Kirby asked.

"..." Chris only took a step forward.

Before their eyes, the werehog slowly began to fall to the front before he crashed right on the street with claws and arms extended. Chip noticed that there were no pupils in his wild eyes as they used to be as the imp took a closer, but careful look at the werehog.

"...It's...finally over, then?" asked DK.

"..."The World Traveler narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the beast.

Now, there were frightened whimpers.

Everyone blinked at these sudden sounds that they looked back at the werehog. They all noticed that his mouth slowly opened to let out whimpers of fear while tears began to stroll down between the eyelids. Chip noticed that the eyes slowly opened to glance up to the World Traveler.

"W-why..." the werehog whimpered. "Why do you have to be so mean on me?"

"..." Chris only kept staring at him with the others.

"I-I just wanted to cause panic and chaos..." DSS whimpered. "I just wanted to do that to be happy..."

A tight grip was put on the whip.

"I-I don't understand why you have to stop me from being happy..." DSS whimpered more. "Why were you all so mean to mean?"

"What the heck is he talking about now?" Pikachu asked with a glare.

"He was happy several hours ago, enjoying his time as he tried to kill us, and now he asks for forgiveness after he was put in his place?" Roy asked. "That's pretty pathetic for a guy like you."

DSS sobbed silently as he slightly punched the floor. "I don't see what's wrong with what I've been doing all this time... Still, why were so mean to me?"

"...Shut up..." Chris muttered as he put a tighter grip on his whip.

"W-what?"

"SHUT UP!" Chris yelled as he lashed down his whip on the werehog, causing him to yell in pain as he looked up to him. "You better start thinking about what's good and what's bad, heartless imbecile!"

DSS looked freaked out while he stared up at both Chris and the whip.

"Can't you tell the difference between good and evil or what?" Chris asked before he lashed down his whip harder on his back. "Thanks to you, the only thing I got back from you was death! Do you think I enjoyed that? Do you see me happy?"

"N-no..."

"WELL, START NOTICING, DAMMIT!" Chris yelled loudly as he hit the werehog harder on his back while everyone simply watched as the werehog began to retreat a little bit. "And because of you, "I now hate that stupid transformation Sonic had to went through...I detest it...I despise it...I...just...HATE IT!" he yelled loudly before hitting the werehog, causing him to cry silently at his treatment. "YOU BETTER OBEY WHAT I HAVE TO SAY OR ELSE I'LL TEACH YOU TO BE GOOD IN A VERY PAINFUL WAY!"

"B-but...b-b-but..." the werehog whimpered in fear as Chris put his whip in front of his face, crossed.

"Do you really wish to anger more..." Chris muttered as he glared down at him with narrowed eyes. "Do you really wish it?"

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no..." the werehog responded in fear.

"Okay..." Chris said as his whip glowed. "I'm going to force you to abandon Sonic's body and mind so you can't get in anymore no matter what..."

"NO!" the werehog pleaded for mercy. "P-please, give me another chance, I beg of you! I-I love to have this body!"

"...I don't give forgiveness to the likes of you...ever..." Chris responded coldly as he closed his eyes before he hit the werehog hard on his back, transmitting the energy from his whip into his own body before the beast's eyes widened. "O beast that roams nocturnal meadows and searches for unaware prey..."

The others watched as the werehog stared at Chris with a shocked look, the energy slowly fading into him.

"I order you to listen and obey to my orders..." Chris muttered before opening his eyes.

Chip noticed that, once Chris opened his eyes, they had a different look. His eyes had green eyes that had a wild look. The imp looked down where he saw two very small fangs sticking out from Chris's lips as the World Traveler stared down at the werehog.

The werehog, once looking up at Chris, let go of his arms before he stood up, claws resting on the floor.

"Now..." Chris began. "You are my servant..."

"I am you servant..." the werehog responded in a monotone voice.

"You shall obey me..."

"I shall obey you..."

"And your first task is to leave Sonic's body by sealing yourself..."

"My first task is to seal myself inside Sonic's body..."

"And once you do, you will never try to come out until I find a way to eradicate your who existence... Do you agree with me?"

The werehog slowly nodded.

"Now..." Chris hit the floor with his whip. "SEAL YOURSELF!"

"U-ugh..." the werehog grunted as he began to back away."No...no...no...NO!" He opened his arms to the sky.

"I NEVER TOLD YOU TO DO THAT!" Chris yelled enraged.

The werehog instantly gasped and ducked in fear. Everyone in there saw the dark aura that emanated from the werehog's back disappearing into him before DSS fainted and fell on his face. The World Traveler, keeping his wild glare at the beast, remained silent as the beast began to calm down, little by little.

Once the black aura entered inside...it was all over...

"...Phew..." Chris sighed as he dropped to his knees, causing some of the Smashers to run at him. "That...should do it..."

"Wow," Link commented as he looked at the downed beast. "You seriously taught him a lesson for good."

Chris blushed and looked away. "O-oh, please, I wanted to free all my fury on him for doing...you know what..."

"Aww, you look cute even with wild eyes and little fangs," Peach said as she giggled at him.

Chris blinked confused before he touched his fangs. "...Ouch!" he yelped. "F-for being very small, they pinch so hard..."

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Kawashima began. "You take some very small bits of appearance according to the beast you take control over."

"I...see..." Chris said as he licked his index finger.

"Anyway," Mewtwo began as he looked at the beast. "Is it really over? I still can feel that presence inside him."

"As long as Chris puts the small collar on his wrist," Kawashima said. "Since he weakened the beast to the limit, he can put the wrist on, and Sonic will always have control over his body."

"But where is the other collar?" Chris asked as he looked around.

"U-um..." Chip flew to him and showed him his right wrist. "I...kind of put it on..."

"W-what?" Chris asked in shock as he looked at the collar on Chip's right wrist.

"Oh, no need to panic!" Kawashima yelled. "The collar fits right on Chip's wrist perfectly. Since Chris doesn't necessarily need to be the one to have the collar, Chip can do it just fine. As long as he has the collar on, Sonic won't go out of control by that entity."

"Why does it work like that?" Sheik asked.

"Simply because the collar represents ownership," Kawashima explained. "Chip has it so...he is...technically Sonic's owner...and Sonic is his pet..."

"..." Chip blinked surprised.

"And he can order him to do anything..."

"...So I can like tell him to use the bathroom and he will obey?"

"...Pretty much..."

"...Awesome! I can't wait to..." Chip stopped talking and looked worried at the werehog. "But..."

"I guess you should order him to act like he always does. He should wake up."

"How do I do that?"

"You need to look at him then give him an order. He should obey if you do that."

"...Okay..." Chip gulped and looked down at the werehog. "Sonic...I order you to wake up and be yourself again...please..."

"...U-ugh..."

The Smashers blinked in surprise as the beast slowly opened his eyes, stood up with a bored look, shook his head, rubbed his forehead, and looked to them.

"W-what..." the beast began. "W-what am I doing here?" The beast looked at his claws. "W-why am I..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Falco yelled. "How do we know it's not him?"

"What do you mean?" Diddy asked.

"What if he's not Sonic but that evil weirdo trying to sound confused at the whole situation? I'm NOT letting him fool me anymore, oh no."

Chris looked worried at Sonic, who at that moment looked at him. "Chris...what just happened?" the beast asked. "I...I'm afraid I haven't seen anything after I found out that mysterious guy..."

The World Traveler decided to walk closer to Sonic. Lucario, seeing this, took a step forward as he held out his right hand at Chris. However, Chris turned to him, lowered his hand, and shook his head before walking closer to the beast. The Smashers glared at the beast while Chris knelt down to look at the werehog.

"...Tell me something..." Chris muttered. "...Are you...really you?"

"...I'm me..." the beast said.

The World Traveler began to sob. "...How do I know that you're the real Sonic?"

"Huh?"

"I-I mean, I don't know if you're the real Sonic or that stupid entity that...made me hate this idiotic transformation of yours..." Chris's eyes began to fill with tears. "I hate this transformation so much that I...I...I want to look away from you and forget what I've experienced during this whole nightmare..."

"Wait, what did you suffer?" the werehog asked.

"We..."

The World Traveler explained everything to the werehog.

"..." Chris looked away, hiding a silent sob.

"...Oh man..." the werehog muttered with a frown. "All this happened because I didn't want to tell anybody about my whole problem..."

"...You're Sonic...right?"

"...Yeah," Sonic said with a nod. "I'm me, alright."

"...But why, Sonic? Why?" Chris yelled at him. "Why didn't you tell anybody about this before when you had the chance to do so? Thanks to that, I ended up getting killed by that entity inside you out of pleasure! Why didn't you say anything to anyone?"

"B-because I thought I could do this by my own..." Sonic admitted as he frowned. "I...thought I could do it alone just fine without anyone... You know me, I like to do things my way..."

"...Sonic..." Chris muttered. "...You need to change for the better..."

"Change?" Sonic looked at him.

"I know you like to do the things your way, but it's enough already!" Chris yelled. "You can't socialize with people because you tend to run away from them to enjoy solitude. I...I really hate that of you wholeheartedly!"

"W-what?"

"It's the truth... I've been trying to tell you that the first time I knew about you, but I didn't want to because you would have ignored me before running away from me. You ALWAYS have to do that a lot, don't you?"

The World Traveler began to sob louder.

"T-thanks to that...all of this happened..." Chris responded between sobs. "You...you don't understand the nightmare I went through when you turned into this...this sin of nature itself..."

Sonic looked down in shame.

Chris covered his eyes with his right arm. "Really, Sonic...you need to stop that attitude...or...or everyone around you will pay the consequences...like..." He looked at Sonic with tears falling off his eyes. "...Me, Sonic..."

The werehog kept looking down in shame as Chris sobbed. Lucario walked and knelt down to his trainer and began to rub his back to calm him down during the rain, but it was useless as Chris kept crying silently. Some of the Smashers looked somewhat apologetic at this moment that they closed their eyes.

However, the werehog looked back at Chris, sighed, and began to speak.

"Yeah...you're right..." the werehog replied.

"...What?" Chris asked as he uncovered his face.

"I'm a bastard, I admit it..." Sonic said. "Thanks to my stupid attitude, you ended up getting killed by an idiot inside my mind I wanted to take care of by myself but ultimately lead me to this place and time..." Sonic nodded. "...What I'm trying to say is...sorry for everything, Chris..." The werehog looked at everyone. "And I'm sorry for dragging you all into this. I admit that I was a fool..."

"...Like you always are..." Chris muttered as he looked down.

"...Yeah...pretty much..." Sonic said in shame. "...Please...forgive me, everyone... Nothing of this would have happened if I didn't speak up soon..." Sonic looked at him. "Chris, if I knew beforehand that this was going to happen...I would have said something, really, I would have..."

"..."

"..." The werehog sighed after he looked at everyone. "...Sorry for everything...I'm really sorry..."

"..." Chris sobbed silently.

"..."

They all watched as the werehog walked closer to Chris...and gave him a warm hug.

"Please, Chris, stop crying now," Sonic muttered. "Everything is over for now... I'm not going to let that idiot take control of me again...and...I won't let him hurt you again..."

Chris only responded with more sobs.

"...And also..." The werehog looked at everyone while he hugged Chris. "Please, forgive me for what I've been doing without telling you..."

"..." The Smashers looked unsure at Sonic.

The werehog waited for a response; a response that would never come.

"Why isn't anybody saying anything?" Sonic asked.

"See, Sonic?" Chris asked as he stopped sobbing. "You need to socialize with people because they won't talk to you or help you at all."

Sonic noticed the glares of almost half of the Smashers.

"I always like to talk to anyone so they befriend me and help me out with anything," Chris said. "You have some friends because you bothered to talk to them, right?"

"...Yeah..."

"And ever since that, you have been running away from anyone who wanted to talk to you. You just can't do that anymore, Sonic. You have to change for the better or else nobody will like you..."

The werehog remained silent.

"...So what do you choose?" Chris asked. "A life with people who might help you, or a life with people glaring at you for being a...you know..."

"...I..." The werehog slightly pushed Chris away and looked at him. "...I...want to change for a better person..."

"...Are you sure?" Chris asked. "This is a decision you will have to keep in mind at all times."

"...Yeah, I'm sure of it," Sonic said as he looked down at his claws. "Thanks for not doing that, I ended up turning into this abomination that I don't like..." He made his claws fists. "And I don't want to have this cursed transformation for all my life either." Sonic looked determined at him. "Chris, everyone, I want to ask you all for your help. I wanna change to a better person so I don't do things alone anymore... Will you all help me?"

The Smashers remained silent as the rain kept falling.

"..." The werehog lowered his claws and sighed. "...Guess I'll have to socialize with you all slowly because this situation won't be an alibi or something to be soul mates or something."

"It would be for the best," Marth commented with a nod. "This situation won't help you to make friends that fast. If you want to gain our aid, you'll have to start to be a good person."

"Yeah," the werehog said with a nod. "...I'll do it, Chris. I'll change so I can become useful...but...will you promise to me that you will help me to get rid of this werehog thing?"

"...Of course," Chris said with a nod. "I hate it as much as you do, Sonic. I hate to see that devilish glare you have with you right now... It scares me...and I want to make it go away for the rest of your life."

"Wait."

"What?"

"If I go on a rampage again..." The werehog looked at him. "Kill me off, please."

"Why?"

"Because if I get controlled again, that'd mean I'm not strong enough to hold him back anymore. And I don't want to kill you by accident without me knowing it..."

"...It's a promise, Sonic," Chris said with a nod. "I'll keep it in mind forever...for you..."

Sonic grinned. "Thanks, Chris..."

"Well!" Jigglypuff spoke up. "Now that we got over this entire nightmare UNFORTUNATELY together, we need something else to get done before the night ends."

"What is that?" Nana asked.

"Oh, right!" Sonic said with some blinks before looking at Chris. The werehog hugged the World Traveler tightly (making Chris gasp for breath) before he stopped.

"Phew..." Chris sighed. "W-what was that hug for?"

"What?" Sonic asked. "I can't give you a hug for your birthday?"

"W-what?"

"Happy birthday, Chris," Sonic said. "Congratulations for turning 17. You deserve it, don't you?"

"...Sonic..." Chris smiled a little and chuckled. "...You remembered, then?"

"Duh!" Sonic said. "Of course I remembered. I managed to hear that from that idiot when he took over my body during the day. You thought I'd forget? Pfft, think again."

"...Thank you!" Chris said as he hugged the werehog tightly. "Sonic, really, thank you so much for remembering my birthday and congratulating me for it!"

The werehog chuckled and hugged him. "You're welcome."

"U-ugh..." Chris gasped for breath. "Y-your strength really got stronger... I-I can't breathe..."

Lucario gasped and separated both of them in a hurry. "Are you fine?" Lucario asked concerned.

"Y-yes..." Chris gasped for breath. "T-thank you..."

"Whoops," Sonic said. "I guess I don't know my own strength anymore. Sorry."

"Okay, okay, we already fought under the rain today," Pikachu said before he sneezed. "Can we, like, return to the mansion?"

"Lead the way!" Sonic said.

"Sonic! Wait!" Chris yelled.

But once the werehog tried to run...he seemed to be tumbling at the sides as he ran VERY slowly compared to his usual speed.

"H-hey! What's the big idea?" Sonic asked as he stopped and looked back to Chris...who was glaring at him. "...Oh god, sorry..."

"..." Chris sighed annoyed. "Okay, now we know it'll take a long time before you turn into a better person."

"And as for Sonic's speed," Kawashima called out. "Since he got turned himself into that, I'm afraid his speed drastically went down."

"Oh no..." Sonic muttered.

"But," the professor went on. "To make it up, his strength has increased for a good amount. I could say his strength surpasses DK's strength, or it even almost reach Lucario's brute force."

DK looked away annoyed.

Sonic looked at his claws. "...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"Do I remind you of Knucklehead?"

"Because of your strength, you mean? I...don't think so..."

Sonic chuckled. "Well, that's good. At least I have more brains than him, anyway."

"Can we go back?" Pikachu asked again.

Everyone had to agree as the rain still kept its task during the night. They all began to head south towards the mansion.

"Sonic..." Chip began as he flew close to the werehog.

"Yeah?" Sonic asked. "...Oh, right... I'm sorry for putting you in all of this, Chip... That bastard obliged you to live with us, and you're going to stay around even more, right?"

"I guess so..." Chip said as he looked at the small collar on his wrist.

"Say, why am I wearing this dog's collar, anyway?" Sonic asked as he tried to rip the collar off his neck with his claws.

"Don't!" Chip said, trying to stop one of Sonic's huge claws. "I-if you rip it apart, that monster inside you will come back to cause more rampage!"

At this mention, Sonic stopped his action on the collar and looked at Chip. "Then am I supposed to wear this ALL day and night?"

"Um..." Chris looked away.

Smash Mansion

Main Lobby

The werehog thought he looked ridiculous with the collar on. No matter what he tried to do, the collar wouldn't come off that easily. Kawashima explained that only Chip and Chris had the advantage to remove the collar whenever they wanted.

But of course, they decided not to, much for Sonic's dismay.

Then again, they didn't want to see HIM anymore...

It seemed that peace returned to the mansion as it was supposed to be. Everyone returned to continue the party that Peach had organized for Chris. Not only all the previous guests were there, but by the time they all returned, it seemed that somehow Agitha managed to slip in when they didn't look.

However, she didn't even run away after seeing Master Hand. Instead, she thought he was a magician's hand that betrayed his owner.

...What kind of belief was that? That was the only question in mind that Link and Zelda had in mind.

The three postmen of the office, after knowing what happened, decided to join the party as well (and even more because Quil wanted to see Medli now that he had the chance).

As for Mario's surprise, the Master, Lee, and Chan themselves decided to join the party as well.

"It's quite pleasant to go out from the Dojo once in a while," Lee commented.

"Yes, indeed," the Master said with a nod.

"Mario, did you invite them?" Peach asked.

"Well, I figured that we may as well let them here since, you know, they don't have anything else to do in the Dojo," Mario explained.

Peach raised a nearby glass of juice and hit it twice with a spoon to call everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone, we now have continued our schedule we planned out from the beginning."

"It was YOUR schedule!" yelled Squirtle yelled from a far away table.

"Whoopsie," Peach commented. "Okay, I know it was my own schedule. Anyway, I want everyone to raise your glasses and give your birthday greetings to Chris," she said as she held out her left hand to Chris, who hopped up a little bit from his chair. "I want you all to say your lines out loud and at the same time if you would, please."

"W-what?" Chris asked as he blushed embarrassed. "O-oh, please, don't do that. T-that's going to embarrass me even more than I am now…"

"But Chris, you were severely injured by that bastard," DK commented. "You should be thankful of what we're doing for you right now!"

"W-well…"

Chris noticed that everyone in there raised their glasses. The World Traveler blinked surprised as even Meta Knight, Mewtwo (using Confusion), Snake, and Wolf raised their cups (although 2 of them were looking away).

"W-wait, are you all going to do it for real?" Chris asked.

"It's the formal way to celebrate birthday parties," commented Agitha with a giggle. "I'm so glad to assist to a party with so many different people. Too bad I don't have my friends to join in as well…"

"Please, don't…" Zelda muttered disgusted.

Chris spotted that a long, furred arm extended at the top of the ceiling before he heard Sonic cursing. "Dammit!" Sonic cursed as he pulled back his arm. "What kind of freaky skill is this? I hate to act like some kinda cartoon character!" he cursed more.

"But Sonic!" Chip called as he was seen floating nearby him.

"What?" Sonic called annoyed. "Do I look happy to you to be in this…form? I hate it! I can't even run at my usual speed, but instead, I have to endure being a power-hungry fool like Knucklehead!"

"Sonic, behave yourself!" Chris yelled loudly, causing everyone to look at him surprised.

"…Sorry…" Sonic muttered.

"What's with the sudden "parental" attitude?" Ness asked.

"Well, if he wants to change to a better person, then I'll have to look after him," Chris said. "Sonic told me he wanted me to take of him if he ever did something like he did a moment ago."

"You want to change so badly?" Chip asked to Sonic.

"Just because I don't want to drag anyone else in these problems I do by accident," Sonic said. "Anyway, let's continue on," he said as he raised his glass of water with his right claw.

Master Hand sighed. "I know there's going to be something about Sonic's transformation...but for now, I'd like to enjoy a peaceful dinner party without thinking of our problems." He raised a small glass of water. "Ready here for the greeting."

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted.

"Oh no, we're doing it and you'll like it," Diddy said with a glare. "We want to celebrate instead of having a fight."

"And a 1, and a 2, and a-" Peach was interrupted.

"Wait!" Chris yelled.

"Happy 17th birthday, Chris!" most of the people in the lobby called out before some cheers came from some of them by whistling.

"O-oh, now you're whistling?" Chris asked as many of them cheered loudly. "H-hey, is anyone listening to me? Hey!"

But nobody listened to him before they all began to give a round of applauses to the World Traveler. Chris even saw Lucario joining them with the applause, making Chris blush embarrassed before he smiled a bit and chuckled heartily.

The party became lively as many of them talked and talked between groups while Chris himself got in one. An eager Peach was always close to him to see if he was enjoying the party.

For her luck, Chris was enjoying it.

The Smashers celebrated the party as the princess had wished. It was a small matter of time before Chris told most of them that his parents were going to visit him after a long time of absence. Most of them wished to meet them, but Chris had to say no because of obvious reasons.

And so, the party went on...

As all the guests left to their respective places (of course, wishing Chris for the best ahead of him), the Master approached to Chris as both were close to the doors.

"So," the Master began. "You have lost the battle against Smithy."

"Yes..." Chris said ashamed. "You were right after all."

"Unfortunately, you had to take a move on by the looks of the situation. It was inevitable to win," the Master said. "But...maybe you should look around more."

"What?"

"There are many ways to become stronger," the Master explained as Lee and Chan walked behind him. "Like for example the village of mages in the forest."

"Village of...mages?"

"A village of mages is hidden within the forest far to the west. I know of such a place because I took a walk one day, and I stumbled upon a mage. The mage I met was friendly enough despite his face not visible through a dark aura underneath his pointed hat."

"Dark aura...mage..."

"There are many people there. You should go and visit that place when you have the time," the Master said before turning his back at Chris. "It's time for us to leave. Be sure to visit our Dojo to train. Happy birthday, Chris. Good night."

Chris watched as the Master and his disciples walked outside, where they began to walk towards the western forest before disappearing.

The World Traveler blinked and wondered about the village of mages. But for now, he wanted to rest as everyone in there.

And thus, new complications came...

Chip's memory lost...

Sonic's transformation...

And above everything else, the night dwellers that roamed the fields...

Were all these three connected in some way? Who knew exactly?

For now, only time would respond to these happenings...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Preparations For The Unknown..." a voice said before fading away.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"This guy are sick" is an "engrish" translation that was accidentally done for Aerith. This particular sentence can be found in Disk 1 of FFVII. Once you go to the slums with Aerith (upon first meeting her), she will present to you a man that is sick inside a pipe. She will then say to you, "This guy are sick."

-"Final Fantasy VII – Fight On!" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during normal boss battles.

-"Those Who Fight Further" is also another name for the boss battle theme of Final Fantasy VII.

Surprise, Chris met Cloud Strife in the Underwhere. Since Jaydes explained that all worlds were linked to that place (except Chris's world), Chris got the chance to meet Cloud in person.

The name of the songs inspired me to make Cloud give encouragement to Chris by uniting both of their names together and make a sentence of encouragement. Did it work? I guess so.

For now, though, more things are starting to happen around the mansion. The next chapter will introduce some important abilities that they will all learn.

What kind of village of mages is that? Will that help Chris and company to become stronger? I just hope they don't grow too much strong enough to destroy a whole battlefield…

Anyway, I hope you review.

Read and review, please. :D

…Or this guy will be sick forever.
*Chapter 145*: Preparations For The Unknown

And we're about to reach our usual programmed schedule.

From Light the Lucario:

1. Is the village of mages from a previous arc?

2. When will the physic job be mention again?

3. Will Sonic friends come to the mansion soon?

4. What were your thoughts when you wrote DSS?

From me: Despite the cheesy (sorry) review you put up that is a little bit OOC of you, I'll take the questions more seriously.

No.

Wait.

Who knows.

A lot.

Hope you enjoy the chapter.

From TARDISreviewer:

Good to see that everything worked out.

and FF7 references? unexpected.

and does that bit at the end indicate anything to do with the Black Mage job?

From me: Maaaaaaaaaybe. You'll see once you scroll down. Thanks. :D

From ngrey651: I LIKED how you used the name of the song as a way to make an inspirational speech. That stuff really gets to me. Man, DSS was sick. It was satisfying to see him lose. Immensely so.

I wonder though. If I enjoy seeing a sadist suffer...does that make ME one too?

From me: I just hope the inspirational speech didn't sound cheesy. I hate to write cheesy things.

I don't think you'll turn into a sadist because...um...okay, I don't know, sorry. Enjoy the chapter. :)

From the true dragon fanatic: Epic. EPIC! just flat out, EPIC. cloud strife? epic. ff7 boss battle music? epic. mario's dialogue between DSS? epicly hilarious. you my friend, are a genius. black mage village from FF9 i smell coming from what the master said. will they meet vivi again there? dunno. write on chris!

From me: Questions regarding this chapter will surely be answered as long as you continue to go down. Enjoy. ;)

From LastDrop: That was a really enjoyable chapter,

I liked the fight scenes and Chris' lastest jobs :D

Is there any chance Sonic will change back though? :S

From me: I see you haven't played Sonic Unleashed yet, but it may be possible that he will turn back to normal. Thanks.

From Anakin Mario Son43: Oh...My...Goodness... THIS CHAPTER WAS AWSOME! I practically cried when chris died! I was shocked when he met cloud!(Lucky bastard) I cried happily when chris got revived. Wow... DSS was really stupid. I'm just glad that DSS is gone for good. He is right. I will get scared if he comes back.

From me: Yes, our lucky bastard (hey!) met Cloud in person. Fanboyism didn't have to do with anything here. As for DSS...er...

Enjoy the chapter, please.

From DianaGohan: You know you really kind are a hyprocite, telling me I let my likes go out of control when writing scenes when you do the same thing here. Yeah there's more then one scene but a lot of things could easily have been trimmed down, especially any of the convos they had with DSS. Yes we get it, he's evil and a psycho: it was creepy when he was playing with Chris's dead body like a doll but after that it just got annoying. Really you claim this was a super long chapter but that's because you added a lot of unneeded bits in here. Still there were a lot of good things: Cloud giving Chris some inspiring advice, the actual battles (I really liked the last battle with Chris's advice and everyone's tag team attacks), Chip putting the dollar around Sonic and Sonic apologizing for being an ego filled jerk. Nothing really too emotional but the plot was still well constructed and made a solid ender to this arc despite being overly talky.

GRADE: B+

From me: I know. HOWEVER, that chapter should have been shorter if my CPU didn't go down. I tend to write longer chapters because I ignore the length many times. As for the convos, they have to be done, or else the chapter would have been a lot shorter.

At least you enjoyed it so it's good enough for me to smile at you. :)

Thank you. :D

From werelucario: EPiC battle very well done chris i read the chapter in an hour ( i'm a speed reader) like allways i hope you make more. P.S. May i add your typeing is greatly improveing

From me: Yes...my writing is improving, I think... What about yours? You should try to write well as...well. You get my drift? Thanks. :)

From Ultra Blader: The Werehog arc is finally over, or has it just begun? Leaving Sonic in this Werehog form will be quite the plot device, I bet.

Chris finally has his birthday party (Yay!), and even Agitha joins in. (Seriously, that girl really has to get in touch with reality.)

On another note, I've been wondering for a while whether or not Link will get the ability to go to and from Wolf form. I guess Sonic will have access to his version of the ablity when he turns back to normal. (Or not. After all, its your story, and you call the shots.)

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: I don't even think Link will turn into that wolf at all. It'd be pointless to do that here. Things are just fine as they are. I just hope you keep reading. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Very actioned pack, and i think Chris has matured a bit in this chapter, wonder if that'll stay until the end. So we see Cloud now? I must ask you of this, please forgive me, and here's the Chicago Typewriter from Resident Evil 4 and an anvil to punish me later on(tosses both to you{without them injuring you}). PLEASE, I REPEAT, PLEASE, DO NOT MAKE HIM TOO OVERRATED LATER ON! I KEEP SEEING HIM GET OVERATED(VS PEOPLE, FOR SMASH BROS! ETC!), PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! *ahem* With that out of the way, onto the rest of my review. Wow, can't beleive that DSS could actually get any more annoying, and he did. Glad he took that seroius beating from the smashers. Of course, seeing Chris really act like that and DSS actually asking questions on why he can't do the actions he pleases to do, both are somewhat scary. Still, I'm glad that Chris finally got his well deserved birthday party, now he'll be able to handle the challenges ahead now. Well, time for a...

ULTRA SPECIAL DELUXE, BLAH BLAH BLAH RANDOM EDITION!

You actually played Resident Evil 4!?(asked due to the way you answered) I was wondering if you could use it for a arc.

Ok then, you're a Goat(Ram, Sheep, whatever) if born in 1991.

Are we getting closer to a game arc?

Will you try out music from the "Legend of Dragoon" soundtrack?

Ever hear of BlazBlue Calamity Trigger for Ps3 and Xbox360?

well, imaginitive typing!

From me: If I ever do a FFVII arc (which I'll probably do since I've been seeing walkthrough videos to learn the plot of the story), I'll make sure to write good for him. One of my best assets is writing personalities. (Now, Barret's slang is going to be a real problem...).

Chris just acted like that because he had enough of the werehog, and by receiving Cloud's advice, he decided to go all serious on DSS to get back at him. Too bad this kind of events won't occur that much.

I didn't say I played RE4 at all. You asked how it was, and I said that it was good. I won't do a RE4 arc due to the fact that it's too bloody and far too disgusting. It won't make it for an appropriate arc, sorry.

I see.

The next chapter should start the next arc.

I've never heard of Legend of Dragoon, so it won't appear here.

Yes, but that game looks boring to me. I don't like games that I don't know about.

Thanks. :)

From aquadragonsayian: Woo! What a chapter! And Chris really taught Dark Super Sonic a lesson he won't forget!! NOW what'll happen to them now that they got the old Sonic back? Can't wait for the next chapter to be updated!!

From me: I'm sure DSS won't forget that lesson because...um...just continue to go down, please. Thanks. :D

Okay, this chapter sets up the incoming events of the next saga. It also demonstrates a very new ability that I found out by using the Trophy Stands.

Remember that the Trophy Stands enhance attributes? Well, what if they can do something else?

This question shall be answered in this chapter. So please, enjoy the new way to fight.

Read, enjoy, and review. ;)

Disclaimer: We all know Sonic doesn't swim because he hates water. Good thing there's no proof he does swim anywhere or else his creators were a little bit sick of their minds (sarcasm).

Chapter 146: Preparations For The Unknown

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

Roughly some hours after the party was over, there were Chris and Lucario laying down on bed as the World Traveler was hugging the Aura Pokémon who smiled a bit at this.

"Why do you look so happy?" Lucario asked. "Is it because your parents will come?"

"Yes...but because of something else," Chris said as he leaned his head to Lucario's chest and made a happy expression. "I'm happy that you came to rescue me, Lucario."

Lucario blinked for a moment before he flushed a little. "I...well...you were in trouble so I had to do it."

"I think that was so heroic of you, Lucario," Chris said as he looked up to him. "If it wasn't for you, I would have been dead for sure..."

Lucario hugged Chris with his right arm. "Please, don't say those things. I don't want to think what would have happened to you."

"Even so," Chris said before smiling a bit. "Thank you so much for saving me, Lucario..."

"You're always welcome," Lucario said as he closed his eyes. "Always welcome..."

Chris stopped hugging Lucario (making him get depressed a little bit) before glancing over a small pile of presents over the corner of the room. "Well, I had my party, we saved Sonic, and everything seems to be fine for now."

"Oh...my present..." Lucario muttered in shame.

"What?" Chris turned to him. "Oh right, you were going to give me a present..."

"I...I'm sorry," Lucario said with a frown. "I didn't have enough time to think about your present from me..."

"It's okay," Chris said, smiling a bit. "You rescued me, so that's my gift."

"No!" Lucario suddenly yelled, making Chris blink in surprise. "I-I'm sorry for yelling, but I refuse to think my present was to save you. I mean, I save you a lot of times already..."

"...Well..." Chris looked away unsure. "...That's true..."

"...Wait," Lucario muttered as he glanced over his left palm that began to emanate a little bit of aura. "Maybe I can show you your gift instead of giving it to you..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Watch..." Lucario said, closing his eyes as his aura began to cover his whole body. For some reason, Chris's aura began to appear around him as well. "This is something I can only do..."

"W-what are you going to do?" Chris asked worried as his aura manifested.

"Just watch..." Lucario muttered.

The World Traveler watched as his aura rose up from himself while Lucario's aura rose up as well, leaving both of their bodies before both auras got mixed together while floating in the air.

"D-did you just take your aura and mine away?" Chris asked. "I-isn't that dangerous?"

"Not at all," responded Lucario as he focused. "I can't destroy people's auras. Our auras are still within us, and the auras you're seeing now are the same. Since you can see that our auras are in here, there's no need to worry about them vanishing. They exist if we exist, and they won't exist if we don't exist."

"...I...see..." Chris said.

"Now, relax and watch this."

Chris looked back at the cloud of aura that began to split into several long serpents of aura that flew around the room. The World Traveler's eyes widened in surprise as the room shone with the ominous blue glow of the serpents of aura that perfectly floated around in perfect synch.

Lucario smiled a bit as he held out both hands to the serpents flying across the room. One of the serpents floated down to Chris and passed right through his face. The World Traveler, however, felt a warm and happy sensation once the aura crossed through him, making him chuckle heartily.

"Did you feel it?" Lucario asked. "Since our auras were combined to do this, you felt a warm feeling that went through you, right?"

"Yes..." Chris said amazed as the serpents dove down to the floor, spread around the floor, rose up to the walls, reunited at the center of the ceiling, and spread around the room in circles.

"Both of us possess different auras that are perfectly compatible," Lucario explained. "I have a powerful (not that I'm showing off or anything) and everlasting aura while you have an enthusiastic and warm aura." Lucario smiled a little. "Both of our auras like to be around the other so much that they accept each other just fine."

"...Amazing..." Chris said amazed as the auras continued to fly around.

"They accept each other just fine..." Lucario continued smiling. "...Like both of us do..." he muttered with chuckle.

Once all the serpents formed a sphere of aura, it began to compress itself before it burst into many little, glittering sparkles of aura that spread all over the room. Lucario lowered his hands and opened his eyes to see what he just did, looking over to Chris who was utterly amazed at the spheres falling around.

Lucario pulled Chris to him with his right arm, noticing that Chris wasn't even aware of this as he continued to watch the sparkles of blue aura. "Happy birthday, Chris..." Lucario muttered to Chris's left ear.

"...Thank you so much, Lucario..." Chris muttered as the sparkles fell down.

The atmosphere prompted Chris to hug Lucario tightly. Lucario growled happily at this as he laid down his snout above Chris's head, making Chris laugh a little in happiness.

A yawn came from the World Traveler, and he suddenly felt asleep through the majestic event in the room. Lucario, seeing that the spheres continued to rain down, slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while the sparkles illuminated the whole room.

Both of them felt asleep as the room shone with Chris's favorite color: blue.

The World Traveler couldn't be happier than this...

...

Unfortunately, everything moment always had something unexpected.

It was not long before both began to hear some stomps coming from the hallway. Chris and Lucario woke up and looked around without sitting up.

"What's happening now?" Chris asked.

"I don't know..." Lucario said as he looked around. "Something is coming from the hallway..."

Soon enough, the door slammed open, and from it came a familiar werehog that leaped right straight to the right side of the bed where he grabbed his head in pain and fell down.

"...Sonic?" Chris asked as both he and Lucario sat up.

"H-help..." Sonic muttered in pain. "H-he wants to come back already..."

"Who are you talking about?"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!" Chip called from the hallway before he entered the room and flew besides Sonic. "Y-you gotta help me!"

"W-what's happening now?" Chris asked again.

"W-well, Sonic was sleeping peacefully on the bed while I was sleeping some inches away from him when he suddenly began to scream during plain night..." Chip explained. "He began to yell that he wanted to come back..."

"Who wants to come back?" Lucario asked.

Not sooner he said that, they all saw a blackish aura emanating out from Sonic's back. They all gasped as they quickly recognized the aura as DSS's aura.

However, something was different...

The aura itself began to grow in size before it reached Sonic's usual height. Through the dark aura, someone began to manifest as it took shape. They watched surprised as some white, glaring eyes (eye?) without pupils opened within the dark aura. The image that appeared from the dark aura itself looked exactly like Super Sonic, only it was all black and evil as it stared at them with pure rage.

"YOU MOTHERF(BEEP)R DID THIS TO ME!!!" the aura yelled, pointing an accusing finger to Chris. "SON OF A B(BEEP)H!!!"

"W-what the hell is going on now?!" Chris asked as Lucario growled angrily at the dark aura. "W-what's happening to Sonic?"

"INSOLENT LITTLE FOOL, FORGET ABOUT THIS DIPS(BEEP)T ALREADY!" the aura yelled in fury as it reached for Chris. "COME OVER HERE, LITTLE PIECE OF S(BEEP)T!!!"

The World Traveler gasped and covered himself as the aura quickly reached for him while Chip watched in pure horror as the aura threw fast fists that went through Chris without doing any kind of damage...

...

...Wait, flew through Chris without doing any kind of damage?

The World Traveler, once he stopped trembling, slowly noticed that the dark aura merely passed right through him without doing anything. Chris slowly uncovered his face and found the aura trying to kill him off with fast fists. Chris blinked confused as the aura tried to kill him, but without doing any kind of progress.

Lucario himself stopped growling at the dark aura as he watched this whole event.

Chris turned to Lucario while the aura cursed out loud. "Lucario..." Chris trailed off as a fist passed right through his face. "...Isn't it ironic that I'm afraid of the darkness, yet I don't feel threatened by this...dark aura?"

"..." Lucario just blinked.

"..." Chris turned to the rampaging aura as it tried wildly to kill him. "...Um...what now?"

Chip shook his head and blinked surprised. "Wait, nothing is happening?"

"...Huh?" Sonic managed to get a hold of himself as he looked up to Chris. "Hey, what's happening?"

"U-um..." Chris pointed at the DSS aura. "There's a black aura trying to kill me off above your back..."

To summarize everything, Sonic didn't even feel controlled at all. The werehog himself had another entity that didn't have trouble to manifest himself above his back that was just intangible.

"What the heck is happening to me?" Sonic asked as he looked up to the aura that was trying to punch Chris. "Hey, aren't you the same guy who took over my body?"

"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, B(BEEP)T!!!" the aura yelled loudly at Chris, ignoring the werehog and anybody else.

"Oh my goodness!" Chip said in horror. "It curses so many bad words in every single sentence it says!"

"...Professor Kawashima..." Chris began as he showed the virtual tutorial at the aura. "Can you...explain this to us?"

In the upper screen of the DS, Kawashima had a virtual sleeping hat over his head as he yawned, looking to the aura that threw a fist to him but went through without doing anything. "...Let's see..." Kawashima said groggily as he tried to focus. "...Hmm...okay...um...yes...okay...alright...wait...oh...I see...so that's it...okay...yes...very well..."

"..." The 4 looked at the screen as the aura STILL tried to harm Chris.

"...Okay, believe it or not, I managed to find an answer to this," Kawashima said before he yawned again. "This dark aura above Sonic's back is Dark Super Sonic's malevolent aura."

"...It is him?" Lucario asked.

"Apparently, it's very obvious that he is the same one inside Sonic's mind and body," Kawashima explained. "It seems he managed to manifest himself by using his dark aura as a way to be visible...but just that," he explained more. "He's actually powerful for being born from those Chaos Emeralds. However, he can't withstand the power of the collar that Sonic is wearing."

"Does that mean he can annoy me to no end whenever he wants to?" Sonic asked as he glared up at the clueless, furious aura.

"Nope." Kawashima shook his head. "No matter how much he tries to try it, he won't never possess you again as long as you have the collar. He just can't fight it back very well."

"H-hey," Chip said with a gulp. "Is there a way to make him go away? I mean, he curses way too many things and he could wake up anybody in here as well..."

"I HAVE YOU NOW, A(BEEP)LE!!!" DSS proclaimed angrily as he didn't even notice that none of his swift fists did damage to Chris. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW DO YOU FEEL, SON OF A B(BEEP)H?!"

"...Pissed," Chris responded with an annoyed grunt.

"Okay, I think I had enough of his dark fists going right through me," Kawashima said. "There's a way to make this spawn of the devil go away. Chris, you need to hit Sonic with your whip and take over his body."

"W-wait, what are you saying?"

"In this special case, if 2 good people take control over a single body from an extra bad person, the good people will eventually calm down DSS," he explained. "Basically, Chris will control Sonic, who will control DSS, who will be knocked out of cold for 2 more entities trying to control the same body."

Chris, annoyed of the DSS, took out his whip from his belt. "Um, Sonic..."

"Go ahead already," Sonic said annoyed. "It's him or me having a peaceful night."

The World Traveler didn't hesitate to hit Sonic's furred forehead with the tip of his whip.

DSS's aura suddenly gasped. "N-NO!" he yelled before he instantly entered inside Sonic's body and disappeared along with the dark aura.

"...That was all?" Chip asked.

"Yes," Kawashima said. "That thing is as good as tamed. Now, go back to sleep for now." The professor yawned. "Active sleep mode, please..."

Chris closed the DS and put it away. "W-well...that's over with," Chris said to Sonic.

"Hey," Sonic began. "I don't think it's safe for me to rest away from you."

"What?"

"Why don't you let me sleep here for the night just to be sure?" Sonic asked. "We don't wanna see that guy ever again, am I right?"

"I had to agree with him..." Lucario said. "That aura was just plain perturbing and annoying."

"C-can I sleep here as well?" Chip asked as he played with his fingers. "I-I don't want to sleep alone..." Chip noticed the sparkles of aura. "Hey, nice background, I like the detail put into this."

Lucario frowned at this comment.

"...Okay, I think that's fine," Chris said as Lucario nodded. "Okay, you can rest on the floor."

Sonic and Chip looked down at the floor. "Are you kidding me?" Sonic asked with a grunt. "I'm not some kind of pet."

"Who's wearing the collar here?"

"Who's being somewhat racist to me here?"

"Who is keeping us from sleeping here?" Lucario asked.

"Who will sleep on the bed here?" Chip suddenly asked.

What Chip asked somewhat made them look at each other...

Some minutes later...

An annoyed Chris with an annoyed Lucario were staring up at the ceiling as a familiar beast rested just below (but above their legs) with big arms spread across the bed. There was a sleeping Chip resting on top of Sonic's chest while both were already sleeping.

"...This sucks..." Chris muttered.

"Likewise here..." Lucario responded pissed.

Chris sighed. "Okay... I guess this is only for 1 night. I'm not that mad in reality."

"It's going to get worse," Lucario warned him.

"Why?"

"I have heard from here that Sonic does something when he's sleeping..."

"What is that?"

VERY loud and deep snores began to came from the werehog, making both of them groan silently.

This became even more annoying as Chip himself began to snore loudly, despite him being smaller than any of the 3.

"(I'm sorry,)" Lucario said through telepathy. "(But their snores are so loud to talk directly...)"

"(Let's just try to fall asleep through this whole ordeal...)" Chris said with a sniff.

And both tried their best to sleep during the whole night as the newcomers kept snoring loudly, even managing to make some echoes that utterly bothered both of them.

Main Lobby

The next morning...

"You 2 look very...bad," Master Hand commented.

Chris and Lucario managed to glare at the hand as their eyelids looked purple. Apparently, both of them couldn't even sleep through the whole night thanks to Sonic and Chip.

As for Sonic and Chip, both looked perfectly fine.

Sonic even more, though.

The werehog noticed that he wasn't a werehog anymore. Sonic was back to his usual self as he looked to himself with a satisfied grin. The hedgehog chuckled before he began to run at his normal speed around the lobby before stopping in front of the hand. "Alright!" Sonic said as he lifted his fists above. "That stupid transformation is gone forever! Yeah!"

"Wait, how do you even know?" Master Hand asked.

"Do you see fur on me?"

"Only the blue fur I THINK it's fur, or it could be blue skin actually."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Thing is, I'm back to be a super fast hedgehog!"

"B-but we don't know if you're going to keep transforming!" Chris said. "I think you need to keep wearing that colla-Sonic, what do you think you are doing now?!"

Sonic was trying to take off the relatively small collar from his throat. "U-ugh! I can't take this off from me..."

"Don't!" Chris and Chip yelled.

"You just can't throw that away!" Chip suggested him. "You should continue to wear it to be sure of it!"

"Screw that!" Sonic said. "I'm not wearing this for any longer. Screw this crap! I don't need it anymore!"

But the hedgehog's collar, no matter how much he tried, wouldn't come off unless Chip or Chris would remove it for him.

Of course, that was out of the question.

"H-hey, help me here..." Sonic said as he tried to pull the collar off with his feet on while sitting down on the floor.

"...No way!" Chris yelled down at him. "We don't know if you're going to keep transforming! For the last time, just listen to us!"

"I think I'm perfectly fine now!" Sonic yelled to Chris as the hedgehog tried to take off the collar. "Help me here!"

"...Do you want to let someone else kill me so badly then?!"

Sonic, once he heard that yell, stopped his action before Chris began to sob.

"I-I can't believe you..." Chris muttered. "I-I can't believe you don't care about what happens to me, Sonic..." He began to sob. "I-I thought you wanted to change, Sonic...but I guess that was just a lie..."

"...Hey..." Sonic looked ashamed as he looked up to Chris. "Please...I'm sorry... I-I didn't want to make you cry..."

"H-how can I know you're saying the truth?" Chris asked as some tears strolled down his cheeks.

Sonic closed his eyes and stood up. "...I won't take the collar off if that's going to prevent someone else from killing you, Chris..." Sonic looked away. "...Sorry for acting like that again..."

"...J-just promise me you're not going to do this anymore..." Chris said as he cleared his tears. "I-I mean, I'd feel so betrayed after all we went through yesterday..."

"...Yeah, sorry..." Sonic said. "...But this collar..."

"Sorry, but you'll have to keep wearing it until we find a way to cure you..."

"...I'm fine with that," Sonic said with a nod. "For now, let's see what else comes up."

"And that else I have it with me," Master Hand said. "I have an assignment for you all."

"What kind of assignment?" Lucario asked.

"Yes. I want you all to investigate a village that I just heard from Parakarry yesterday during the party," the hand explained. "I asked him and the postmen that it seemed kind of weird that they only delivered mail to us. Then, Parakarry told me that there were several places around here that have different people in them. He said to me that he needed to deliver some mail at the village with the "funny-looking people that wear costumes" today."

"Oh! Oh!" Chip raised his hand. "Does that mean I'm part of the team?!"

"W-what?" Master Hand asked. "You're part of the team? Pfft, you wish."

"Hey!" Chip glared at him. "I helped you all during the fight of yesterday. I think I proved myself to be useful here."

"Well, that's true..." Chris said. "I mean, he's wearing the collar that prevents DSS from taking over Sonic's mind."

"...Oh my god, I'm going to hate this... I hate to drag other people in our affairs like we did with Geno, Twink, and Mallow..." Master Hand. "...Okay, Chip, if you want to be utterly surprised and shocked to what we do here, you're in..."

"Hurray!"

"But I don't give life insurances to people like you, though," the hand said. "I only give them to the Smashers here."

"Do you even do that?" Lucario asked.

"Shut up, you," the hand muttered.

"Meh, I survived what had happened yesterday. I can take anything on pretty well," Chip said with a chuckle as he moved his right hand up and down.

Master Hand rolled his "eyes" with a frown. "In any case...I want you to investigate that particular village to the west."

"(Maybe it's the same village the Master spoke of... It would the very same...)" Chris thought.

"If there's a village over there, I want to know if something happened during the whole night with those mysterious monsters popping out from the ground," the hand explained. "I DON'T want to know that it got attacked or something. Yes, I'm just that worried over the sake of the innocent out there. Ha-ha, how does it look to you?"

The 4 merely stared at him.

"...Hey, I DO care for other people, you know."

"Isn't everyone still working to get their Trophy Stands?" Chris asked.

"Well, yes. You can take anyone with you as long as you don't interrupt the matches by taking the same whole team out. We have to follow the rules here."

The hand pointed to a nearby poster to the right where there was him giving thumbs up underneath a text that said, "In Master Hand We Trust."

"That poster over there specifically clarifies that."

"That poster wasn't even there yesterday," Chip said.

"Well, too bad. It's there now," the hand said. "Anyway, you should prepare to go out and see what you can find in that village. Since Tabuu isn't doing anything yet, the matches will have to continue." The hand turned away. "Okay, so Peach is actually reaching a fight against Snake? Wow, she's different when she fights."

The hand floated upstairs, leaving the Smashers and Chip alone.

"Sonic, I think you need to come," Chris said.

"Oh well," Sonic said. "I have to change, anyway."

"And you Lucario should come too."

"It's fine."

"And I'm tagging a long as well," Chip said proudly.

"...Do we seriously need to take you with us in our affairs?" Chris asked.

"Duh!" Chip said. "I'm one of you guys from today. I think we make a pretty good team together."

"Only you and Sonic make a good team together," Lucario said with a frown. "Leave Chris and myself out of your group."

"Hey, was that supposed to be some kind of complaint?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, you 2 don't start a fight here!" Chris yelled loudly.

Sonic and Lucario looked at him a little bit surprised.

"...I hate when we fight with each other by arguing..." Chris muttered in embarrassment. "We're supposed to be calm, right?"

"I guess..." Lucario said. "Sorry."

"That's fine now," Chris said. "Now, if we're going to see that village, I think I should develop partnership levels even further while on the way there..."

"If you're going to do that, then you should take the people who haven't spend the time with you that much."

Chris looked at Sonic. "Well, even if we have a combined attack together, we need to talk even more."

"Meh sounds good to me," Sonic said.

"Link, he needs to come," Chris said. "Toon Link is busy outside with his training. He already got his stand, but he's called from time to time."

"Good," Lucario commented.

"And then there's Roy. I don't think Snake can come because he and Sonic are in the same area of the Classic Mode so he's out. I need to take Luigi more as well because I haven't got the time to talk with him as well. Mario is already pretty close to me, and Peach is the same as him. Maybe I should take Olimar and..."

And the World Traveler eventually came with a conclusion.

"I'm going to take Link, Roy, Luigi, Olimar, Diddy, Meta Knight (if he wants to), and... Oh god..."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"I know I have been trying so hard to do this, but I need to take him with me..."

"Who's he?" Chip asked.

"...Wolf..."

Sonic glared at Chris. "Dude, you drop him off already. I saw you plenty of times with him, and you always get injured in some way or another."

"True story, we went through him in a painful way," Chip said.

"I agree," Lucario said. "The fact that we have Wolf as one of us makes me feel very unsure of this."

"But still...I need to socialize with him sooner or later...and the time is now," Chris said. "One of these days he will eventually open up."

"Or open you up...literally," Sonic said.

"Even so, I'm going to do this."

"Wait," Lucario interrupted. "If you're going to take him with us, you're bound to make Fox come with us as well."

"Why would Fox come?" Chris asked.

"Because of the fact he thinks you can't handle Wolf very well alone."

"Oh please, Fox knows very well I can handle Wolf alone. I mean, I don't think he's going to tag along because of Wolf. Both of them hate each other so much that they don't want to see each other."

Outside

"You can't handle him very well alone, Chris."

"For the love of god, I do!"

"No, you can't. I know you very well. Even if I hate Wolf so much, I need to be careful of what he does around you."

"Ugh..."

Either irony was cruel in this world for Chris, or it was just plain annoying.

The group (the one Chris decided to invite) fortunately was there with them. As Lucario suspected, Fox DID come once he found out Chris asking Wolf to come with them to go the village. Falco, who unfortunately had to stay back for the matches, wanted to come but later had to say no.

For some reason, some of them chuckled randomly.

"But if I think about this again," Chris began. "I think it's nice of you to think I'm in trouble so you wanted to come with me and make sure I was fine."

"I'm just worried that your butt gets unfairly kicked by Wolf when you're not looking behind you," Fox stated. "That's all."

"..."

"...Okay, also because I worry about you."

"Thanks..."

"...A lot."

"Hey!"

"Oh, knock it off already," Roy commented as the whole group walked west of the forest located to the left side of the mansion.

The group walked through the dense forest. It had been a while after they all set out from the mansion's doors, and they have been silent...until now. They all walked through trees, bushes, and even more trees and bushes.

"That aside," Meta Knight began. "I'm quite interested about this village of mages you spoke of."

"I thought there weren't any more places like the city itself," Link commented. "It's surprising that there are other settlements around here."

"We SERIOUSLY need to have a map of this area," Diddy commented as he was leaping from tree to tree. "Aren't there some places we have to notice?"

"That's true..." Olimar said as he passed right through a bush with a Blue Pikmin following. "This place is all new to me."

"And I haven't bothered to look around because of the monsters..." Luigi gulped.

"If you think again," Lucario whispered to Chris. "We always seem to make up the weirdest group with different people."

"I know," Chris said. "But it somehow works in a twisted way."

"How much do we have to walk through this place?" Wolf suddenly asked as he crossed his arms. "I'm getting sick of having to take a stroll with all of you here."

"Oh, you shut up," Fox commented. "You wanted to come, you'll have to endure this."

"Who asked you, anyway?"

"Who's complaining, anyway?"

"Who's not shutting up, anyway?" Link asked annoyed before he received some grunts, making him frown.

"Oh, right," Diddy began as he leaped through the trees. "Chris, how did you come back to life?"

This question made most of them to look at Chris.

"Hey, that's right," Roy said. "Mewtwo told us you were killed, and we found you dead when we fought that beast yesterday. How did you come back to life?"

"I..." Chris sighed. "I didn't explain how I came back to life, did I?"

"NO!" Olimar yelled. "I-I don't want to remember how you came back!"

"How did he come back?" Luigi asked.

"E-er..." Chris sweated. "L-look, it was very disgusting, but I'll explain what happened..."

A while passed when Chris explained everything to them. Chris explained the 2 times he was killed, the Underwhere, and the reasons behind his 2 revivals. Most of them tried their best to understand the explanation before he ended.

"So now..." Fox trailed off. "You had 2 lives before, but you have a single chance to continue fighting..."

"...Yes..." Chris said with some nods. "Jaydes told me I had 2 lives when I first started to wander the worlds. Since I got killed 2 times already, she told me that this was the last chance to keep going on... If I get killed again...that's it..."

"...Wow," Diddy commented as he jumped down. "That is...interesting..."

"The fact that you have one last chance to fight would be enough for you to be even more careful than before," Meta Knight said. "You'll have to be cautious of what you do from now on."

"I just hope I don't die again..." Chris muttered. "If I do, I'd stay in the Underwhere forever..."

"...Don't sweat it, okay?" Roy said. "You have us to be safe."

"W-what?"

"True that," Link said. "Remember, you still have us to protect you."

"W-why are you saying it like that?"

"I don't want to sound rude, but you're sometimes fragile in battles," Meta Knight said. "At least you should be thankful that some of us want to make sure you survive through harsh ordeals. Why not be thankful for this?"

"...I guess you're right..." Chris said. "Thank you, everyone..."

"(I'll try to protect him even more than any of you will do, still…)" Lucario thought somehow taking this as a challenge in his mind.

"Who's this Cloud Strife guy you met in hell?" Sonic suddenly asked.

"Oh," Lucario began. "You met Cloud in person?"

"Y-yes," Chris said as he looked away.

"How was he like in person? Was he rude or was he a nice person? Tell me, did he have any kind of secrets nobody else knew about?" Lucario asked.

"Aren't you asking too many questions?" Luigi asked, receiving a grunt from Lucario, making Luigi back away.

"S-sorry," Chris said with a chuckle. "Lucario happens to be a fan of Cloud."

"Chris!" Lucario yelled. "I-I'm not..."

"But you told me once before that out of all the characters, you liked Cloud even more than any other character."

"H-how can you say that around everyone here?" Lucario asked. "C-can't you do this when nobody else is listening?"

"I believe you were the one who began this pointless conversation about this Cloud guy," Wolf responded.

"You shut u-"

"Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"S-sorry..."

"Heh..." Wolf chuckled.

"My kingdom for a map..." Diddy complained as they walked through the forest.

"Okay, okay, maybe I'll try to make a map someday," Link said. "First, I need to know the places around here. We have the mansion, the sports area, Agitha's second castle, the Dojo, the city, an-"

"Hey..." Luigi noticed that there was a road across a bush. "I-I see a road over there."

"A road?" Olimar asked as they stepped on the road.

The Smashers looked at the sides of the road. It extended to the direction of the city, and it also extended to the direction they were going.

Not only that, but they also found a trail of smoke over some trees.

"A f-forest fire!" Olimar yelled at the sight of the smoke.

"I don't think that's a forest fire at all," Roy said. "It looks like smoke that comes out from chimneys."

"Do you think the village is over there?" Diddy asked.

"Only 1 way to find out," Fox said.

"...Strange..." Chris began.

"What is it?"

Chris pointed over to the left where a big, barred land laid down before their eyes.

"What's that barren land doing there?" Link asked.

"...Wasn't that the same place Raven told us that Rita destroyed by her arrows of darkness?" Diddy asked.

"I think it's the same one," Meta Knight said. "But that's something we shouldn't bother with. The village shouldn't be far away from here now that we found that trail of smoke."

"Well, let's get going," Chip said. "I wanna meet new people."

And they continued their way to the west.

Several minutes later...

"...So there WAS people living here after all," Roy said.

"Amazing," Meta Knight commented. "There were a good amount of residents living nearby."

"How didn't we notice this at all?" Luigi asked.

"Because none of us bothered to go outside from the mansion," Wolf said. "It's pathetic that we don't know what is outside. We just barely know this universe, anyway."

However, something seemed surprising once they made it to their desires place...

Almost all the population of the rather big and long village was mainly composed of...

Village of Black Mages

Final Fantasy IX - Black Mage Village

A multitude of Black Mages: from tall to small ones.

The Smashers stood on the entrance of the settlement of mages as they looked around. The village itself didn't look small, but it looked very big to consider it a city. Many Black Mages walked around the several huts that were either houses or shops.

They all thought Black Mages were bookworms. This village proved them wrong as many Black Mages behaved like any other kind of person of any place they've been. There were laughs, yells, even fun among the mages themselves as they walked mostly in groups.

There were even children who wore Black Mage's clothes.

As one would have known, most of the Black Mages in the village had the magic hats that cast an instant veil of darkness over their heads. This certain magic wasn't shared with most of them all, though. This particular magic was only present in human Black Mages.

This meant there were 2 extra races in there, and that humans in there weren't humans, but they were called Hume.

Humes are the most common of the races, humes can be found throughout the land of Ivalice (a big land of many different races and people). In skill and ability they are perhaps the most balanced race. While they excel in no single area, they perform capably in most any role. It could also be said that humes are the same as humans, but they're referred to as humes in Ivalice.

For Chris's surprise, not only the village was full of human Black Mages, there were also Black Mages...that were Moogles.

Moogles are a short-statured race that is distinguished by the pom poms on their heads and bat-like wings on their backs. They have no love for water, and will not venture into even the shallowest pools. Moogles are accomplished machinists, and they boast a great many unique and odd jobs all of their own.

Not only humes and moogles made up the entire the village. There were some sage-like creatures that looked somewhat canine to them. These persons seemed small due to the fact they barely reached a hume's height. This particular race was called Nu Mou.

Nu Mous are set apart from most races by their canine features and long, droopy ears. Even-tempered and thoughtful, they possess the capacity for great intellect. Like moogles, they shun water and avoid it at all costs. Though ill-suited for the front lines of battle, they make incomparable mages and weavers of magick (magic is referred as magick in Ivalice).

Most humes weren't holding staffs or rods like Nu Mous were. The moogles, however, were always walking or flying around the village either alone or in groups of more moogles, happily talking to each other.

"...For being a village we haven't heard of before," Link began. "It's amazing that there's a lot of people living in here."

"Who needs travelers when the whole village itself is bustling enough?" Diddy asked.

The group looked to their right where a moogle flew to them smiling. "Oh, welcome, kupo!" the moogle greeted cordially before chuckling randomly. "You must be new around these parts, right, kupo?"

"Actually, we live nearby in a mansion across the forest," Lucario said.

"Oh, really now?" the moogle asked. "Well, then again, most of us don't go to the east, kupo. We don't like to come out from the village most of the time because...we didn't think about going that way before, kupo."

"..." The Smashers merely stared at him.

"...Heheh, kupo," the moogle chuckled. "Anyhow, my name is Peter, nice to meet you. I speak for everyone here that we're glad to have you all here, kupo. We don't receive many people from the east at all. We only receive travelers from the west."

"There's land over the west?" Chris asked.

"Duh," Peter said. "You guys surely didn't even think about exploring the surroundings at all, right?"

The moogle had a point.

"Oh well," Peter said. "I think I understand well enough, kupo."

"Why is this place full of people with faces covered in darkness?" Wolf asked.

"Because Black Mages are like that, kupo," the moogle said as he removed his hat. "Only humes have that ability, though, kupo. Other races such as moogles and nu mous don't have the same benefit."

"I don't think that's even a benefit," Fox commented.

"Too bad, it is for many here, kupo," Peter said before putting his hat back on. "Well, have a look around! I'm sure you could make friends with the people of this place, kupo. You could also wander even further were other different people live in many different villages. This village only specializes in the art of Black Magic, kupo."

"There are more villages out there?" Chip asked.

"Of course," Peter said. "Thing is, I don't think this is Ivalice anymore, but once people began to come here, they found the land rather suitable to further expand it with towns and cities, kupo." The moogle took a map from his back and showed it to them. "You can have this map of the western expanse of land, kupo."

Chip took the map.

"What is surprising is that there are many different people that don't look like any of the normal races of Ivalice," the moogle explained. "We have settled here a long time ago, and we got used to see new faces that we don't care how people look like anymore." Peter chuckled. "Anyway, I don't want to sound like a tour guide because I have my own affairs to attend to, kupo. Feel free to look around! You could learn a little bit of Black Magic yourselves...literally, kupo."

The moogle waved at them before flying away.

"...Learn Black Magic?" Luigi asked.

"Is that even possible for any of us except Chris himself?" Link asked.

"I don't think so..." Chris said unsure. "I don't think any of you can learn any magic..."

"Actually..." Roy began as he took out his Trophy Stand. "Didn't Master Hand say that stickers could enhance our attributes?"

"Well, yes, he said that," Fox said.

"I don't know... What if...there are special stickers out there that allow us to do more?"

"...How did you come up to that conclusion out of the blue?" Link asked.

"Hey, I just got my Trophy Stand today. Unlike any of you here, I BOTHERED to wonder about those stickers."

"I still think that to enhance our skills in battle by using stickers is stupid," Meta Knight said. "We don't know if this place has stickers like the hands do."

"Y-yes," Olimar said. "I'd be pure luck if there was such a way to learn magic..."

"I can't even imagine any of you using Black Magic," Chris said. "I CANNOT imagine it at all. It's hard to picture Luigi using Fire along with a chant."

"I-I wouldn't chant..." Luigi said. "I-I could wait until I use the magic without chanting... Chanting is not my style at all..."

"...Black Magic, huh..." Wolf said, recalling Chris using some Black Magic. "If that is true..."

"Well, why don't we find out?" Sonic asked. "Maybe a shop dude can help us."

"But there's no way they have stickers with those imaginary abilities here," Diddy said.

"Let's take a look of this place," Link suggested. "We could find something."

The Smashers had to agree with this as they decided to walk around by separating into small groups, mixing themselves with the crowds of Black Mages.

"Roy, seriously, what made you think about such a thing?" Chris asked as he, Lucario, Sonic, Chip, and Roy were walking through the villagers.

"Well, didn't I say I just got my Trophy Stand today?" Roy asked. "I wanted to take a glimpse of the stand with the stickers, and I came up with this idea."

"So you basically thought the stickers would grant us more abilities," Lucario said.

"That's what I had in mind. It sounds farfetched, but who knows," Roy said. "I have this weird feeling that there's that way to learn magic."

"What makes you say that, honestly?" Chris asked, rolling his eyes.

"Isn't it weird that shops sell to you what you can only use?" Roy asked. "I mean, when I always recruited a new unit into my team, the nearby village or town would have any single equipment for the same unit... No matter what happened, it always kept showing up until I recruited a lot of people."

The fact that most RPGs have this kind of moment makes it very true. A person's equipment is usually close to the place where he or she was recruited in a random town or village, or he or she has the equipment already set. Also, it is implied that the shops ONLY sell one kind of weapon; the same weapons the main heroes use.

"Well, he could be right," Lucario said. "Master Hand sells us abilities that we can only use."

"Because we're different than other people," Chris said. "Speak of the devil, there's a shop over there."

They all stopped in front of a big hut that had several mages coming in and out.

"Time to prove I'm right, then," Roy said as he ran inside.

"Remind me Roy acts more childish than Marth or Ike," Chris said to Lucario.

The 4 eventually followed the swordsman inside the shop.

Black Mage Shop

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift - 016 - Mysterious Shop

Inside the shop, the group found some mages (chuckling for a moment) glancing over different kinds of potions and antidotes around the different tables. Prices were reasonably...reasonable as the group proceeded forward to the counter where Roy was waiting for someone to attend him.

"..." A moogle Black Mage came up from behind the counter and nodded. "Welcome, random set of people I have never met before that stands out from all the Black Mages in here, kupo," he greeted. "How may I help you in today's usual life? We have any kind of magic to teach you here, kupo. I'm Caul, yours truly, kupo."

"Oh, hello," Roy greeted. "We want to purchase some magic, please."

"Roy, that's jumping right to the point!" Chris whispered through gritted teeth.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Roy asked. "This is a shop after all, right?"

"Indeed it is, kupo," Caul said. "So, may I help you with whatever you want to look here, kupo?"

"Oh, yes, can we buy some magic?" Roy asked.

"Roy, I hope you're not thinking to use my money to buy magic..." Chris muttered annoyed.

"I was thinking that exactly."

"Hey!"

"Well, you're the one who has the wallet here!" Roy protested. "I'm pretty excited to do this, you know! I want to learn magic!"

"Too bad, though," Caul said. "You people can't learn Black Magic that simple."

"...What?" Roy asked as he turned to him.

"Only Black Mages can learn Black Magic, didn't you know that, kupo?" Caul asked. "I doubt warriors like yourselves can even learn some magic, kupo."

"H-hey, we could still learn..."

"NOT," Caul yelled. "If you do want to learn some Black Magic, I suggest you should devote yourselves to become Black Mages by your own, kupo. You have to struggle in order to achieve your goals, kupo."

"See, Roy?" Chris asked. "We can't learn Black Magic. Only I can use Black Magic here if I want to."

"T-there should be a way to learn magic in here!" Roy said as he looked back at Caul. "Can you give us some way to learn it?"

"I'm afraid not, kupo," Caul said. "I don't know of such a way to learn Black Magic without even being a Black Mage, kupo."

"There must be some way!"

"In your mind and that place only, kupo."

"Owned," Sonic muttered with a frown.

"Totally," Chip added.

"Don't you have stickers enchanted with magic or something?" Roy kept asking.

"Roy, just knock it off already!" Chris said annoyed. "You can't learn Black Magic with stickers that we don't even know they exist or not! Now you're asking him if he knows about enchanted stickers that he won't have probably. Are you that desperate?"

"Yeah, I'm that desperate," Roy said.

"Stickers?" Caul asked as he blinked. "...As a matter of fact, yes, I do have such enchanted stickers here."

"...You do?!" Roy and Chris asked in surprise.

"Yes, kupo," Caul said as he ducked a took a box out that he put on the counter. "There's a secret teaching that enchants pieces of papers, or stickers as you call them, with the same Black Magic," he explained.

"Alright!" Roy said as he looked at the box.

"...How the hell did you manage to have something like this here?" Chris asked to Caul. "I mean, that's so random to have this kind of equipment in this shop!"

"I know, kupo," Caul said. "I was going to throw these out today. Nobody else bothered to ask for these because of the fact nobody would want them. Everyone said it'd look stupid to put stickers on themselves just to learn Black Magic."

"Of course it's stupid!"

"But seeing that these stickers are still with me here and your desperate childish warrior friend wants them so badly..." Caul cleared his throat. "It'll cost you some money."

Chris was UTTERLY shocked to find a random shop with Roy's fantasy coming true. Why would a random moogle have such stickers with him in the beginning?

Were the stickers waiting for them?

Was Roy's fantasy so strong that it became true?

Why did the moogle even tell them his name?

"Hey, that's cheating," Sonic said. "You said you were going to toss that out today."

"Sorry, that's the shop policy here, kupo," Caul said. "If you found this here, it needs to be sold someday, kupo."

Roy was about to grab the box, but Caul quickly took it and put it behind his back.

"Ah-ah-ah," Caul said. "You have to pay for these first."

"How much does it cost?" Roy asked.

"Roy!" Chris yelled. "Why isn't anybody stopping him rather than me alone?"

"Because I want to learn magic as well," Lucario said.

"Me too," Sonic said.

"Me 3," Chip said.

They all stared at Chip.

"...Maybe not," Chip said with a chuckle.

"Y-you bunch of little traitors..." Chris muttered. "Using Roy for you-"

"Wait here," Caul said as he quickly ducked, opened the box, grabbed something to order the stickers inside, flew above, slammed down the new stand with all the stickers he found, and coughed a bit. "Here they are."

The Smashers looked at the somewhat small stickers. There were only 3 different stickers: there were stickers that had the shape of a small flame, there others that looked like small lightning bolts, and there were others that had sleet as their shape.

"I only have these for the moment," Caul explained as he joined his hands on the counter. "They're basic Black Magic spells, kupo. What you see now are the spells Fire, Thunder, and Ice respectively, kupo."

"Only you have these?" Sonic asked.

"I have heard there were more potent stickers, kupo," Caul said. "Yes, I do remember some rumors about more of them. I don't know if you're going to return here again, but if you do, I could try to look around for more, kupo... For now, let me set the prices.

Smash Coins in hand: 1601

Black Mage Sundries

Fire - 500 Smash Coins

Thunder - 500 Smash Coins

Blizzard - 500 Smash Coins

"What a WAY to rip my money..." Chris muttered.

"This was destiny, kupo," Caul said. "You were meant to find these stickers sooner or later, kupo. It was my destiny to sell you people these to make me rich, kupo."

"...That sounded so twisted," Chip commented.

"I know that very well, Kupo."

"Well, let's buy one!" Roy said excited.

"Oh, you little..." Chris muttered.

"And don't worry. We accept any kind of money currency you have as long as you have a lot, kupo."

"Are you ripping my money off for real?"

"Possibly, kupo."

"Ugh..." Chris grunted in annoyance.

"Wait!" Roy said. "Let me call everyone here!"

"Oh no, you won't call the-"

Several minutes later after Roy ran away...

"You people SURELY stand out from all the Black Mages in here, kupo," Caul commented as the group reunited at his shop. "Maybe you're the result of a wrong Black Magic spell, kupo?"

"We're not, I assure you," Meta Knight said.

"Anyway," Link began as he looked at the stickers. "Are these the ones you spoke of, Roy?"

"Absolutely," Roy said. "These stickers were here after all."

"That is so bizarre for my tastes," Fox said as he looked at the stickers. "There were stickers here after all?"

"Less talking, more money, kupo," Caul said. "You want to learn Black Magic or not? These stickers won't be here tomorrow if you don't buy at least one of them today, kupo."

"I pick this one!" Roy said as he was about to grab the Fire sticker.

Caul slapped his hand away. "Oh, you hold on there, kupo!" Caul said angrily. "You can't just take a store's product without paying! ...Or actually, you can't learn Black Magic if you don't even think it is good for you!"

"What do you mean by that exactly?" Wolf asked somewhat interested on the pieces of paper.

"There has been some rumors about these enchanted stickers, kupo," Caul said. "These stickers only work for those who earnestly believe in magic themselves. You guys should know that, kupo." Caul eyed them. "I can't tell if you can learn Black Magic or not, unfortunately. Fortunately, my friend here will tell." Caul turned to the right to where he was staring at a door. "Kief! Come over here, please!"

A normal Black Mage (that pretty much looked like all the hume Black Mages) walked out from the door and looked over to Caul. "You called?" Kief asked.

"Yes, indeed. Remember the rumors about the stickers I was going to throw out today?"

"The farfetched one, you mean?"

"The same one I mean!"

"Oh," Kief said as he looked at the group. "Well, so there are people who can use these...stickers after all?" he asked as he walked next to Caul. "Wow, you guys were meant to find these stickers for sure."

Chris rolled his eyes.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" Kief asked.

"I want you to examine them if they can learn Black Magic with the stickers we have here," Caul explained. "Some of them are interested. If they're interested, we must sell them the stickers."

Some of them frowned at this policy.

"Lucky you," Kief said. "I'm a more professional Black Mage than Caul."

Caul sniffed. "J-just because I failed to learn Fira the other day while you know Firaga doesn't mean you have to say you're superior to me..."

"Sorry, man," Kief said. "I didn't mean to be harsh to you."

"No harm done, kupo...just watch your words next time."

"I'll do it," Kief said. "Anyhow, let's see you guys. Who wants to learn Black Magic?"

Everyone except Chris raised their hands.

"Y-you all want to learn magic?" Chris asked.

"If it helps in our battles, I'll learn it," Link said.

Chip gasped and lowered his hand down.

"Hoo boy," Kief commented. "Alright, this won't take very long. Let me take a look of yourselves and see if you earnestly believe in magic..." Kief narrowed his yellow eyes at Sonic. "...Hmm..."

"..." Sonic blinked.

"..." A happy expression appeared in Kief as he nodded. "Very good, you do believe in magic. I can sense that you have used some kind of ancient magic before. That's actually very surprising. You're a good fellow."

Sonic grinned.

"Okay, let's go over this kid (Chris: Teen!), oh, teen, my bad," Kief said.

It only took a second for him to come to a conclusion.

"Just amazing!" Kief said. "Out of all the people here, I can sense you believe in magic through your belief of fantasy!"

"R-really?" Chris asked as he flushed a little.

"Yes. I have never seen a person with a very strong belief in fantasy. Fantasy and magic are both related in a very special way. You surely have an easy time to learn new spells even if you're not a Black Mage yourself."

"U-um, wait here..." Chris said before he ran outside, changed jobs to the Black Mage job, and came back inside.

"Oh, you're a Black Mage? Good," Kief remarked. "...How did you change clothes so fast, anyway?"

"I-I..." Chris's eyes widened.

"...Magic surely was involved," Kief said with a nod. "If that was like this, then I don't think I have the right to judge you at all."

Chris couldn't believe that Kief didn't want to know more about him. Chris only remained silent as the mage looked over to Link.

"Yes, magic is there with you as well. You have used magic through accessories before. If you did, some of it got into you." Kief smiled inside his dark aura. "You're a nice guy with magic."

Link smiled a little as Kief looked at Roy.

"...You're...definitely going to have a hard time to learn magic," Kief said.

"What? Why?" Roy asked.

"You're a fanatic. Fanatics are just plain annoying to everyone," Kief explained. "You believe in magic, alright, but you don't quite follow it very well... You need to go...um...hardcore...yeah..."

"...That won't stop me from learning magic, right?"

"It won't come out efficiently once you use it. You'll have to train hard to master it."

"...Okay, I'll do it."

"Good. You're getting hardcore now," Kief said as he looked at Lucario. "Do I need to say? You use aura as your main way to fight."

"You can tell?" Lucario asked.

"Aura mixes well with magic. There are so few aura users around these parts. You're pretty much a master in the ways of the aura... Well, I don't know if you're master, anyway. You could learn magic very easily."

Lucario smiled a little and nodded.

Kief looked to Luigi. "You, my fat-nosed man, have a true mind set to learn magic. Why, you could learn it very easily. Even if you don't look like a fighter, you'd want to fight front the back lines of battle."

"T-that could be true..." Luigi said embarrassed.

Kief stared at Olimar. "Hmm... I'm sorry to say you this, but...you don't quite fit in magic..."

"I know..." Olimar said. "I had a bad experience with a magic hat before... Instead of pulling a (insert native animal that looks like a rabbit from Olimar's world here) but instead I ended up with a (insert a native animal that looks like a lion from Olimar's world here) who then wanted to maul me alive... Luckily, I ran away from it..."

"..A what again?" Luigi asked.

"...Don't mind me..." Olimar said.

"Oh, don't look so depressed," Kief said. "Try even harder to learn magic someday. You could see results if you try to do it."

"...Oh well..."

"Okay," Kief said as he looked down at Meta Knight. "...Hmm..." He blinked surprised. "Goodness gracious, you would be very cool if you learn magic. You seem to fit very well in both use magic and use a sword, mister."

"Hey! How can he be cool and use magic than me?" Roy asked a little bit enraged.

"Dude, he looks cool," Kief explained. "Secondly, his belief in magic is quite extensive. He has seen many different spells in his life that I wouldn't even know."

"True," Meta Knight spoke. "One could say I have been involved in a lot of wars before. I have seen, felt, and heard of many different kinds of magic before."

"Ooh, you sir are the true definition of coolness," Kief said. "Despite being so short, you're cool."

"Thank you."

"Lucky bastard..." Roy muttered.

Kief looked at Diddy. "A monkey? Oh well, you all stand out way too much but I guess it doesn't matter anymore... Let's take a look at you... Hmm...hm..."

Diddy blinked.

"..." Kief nodded. "It seems you'll have some problems learning magic. You're very calm outside, but in the inside you're very active. Magic needs space to concentrate itself in order to be used properly. If you can, try to hold on your excitement inside you."

Diddy chuckled. "Okay, I understand that."

"Alright, I'm almost done here," Kief said as he looked at Fox and Wolf. "The 2 guys over here need to be examined and..." He blinked at Fox. "...U-um...e-er..."

"...Something wrong?" Fox asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"...You have got to BE kidding me..." Kief muttered.

"What? Am I compatible with magic?" Fox asked.

"..." Kief blinked more. "...You have got to be kidding me..."

"Oh, now he's going to say Fox is a legendary guy who was destined to learn magic in a second," Roy said annoyed.

"...What?" Kief asked. "On the contrary, my friend," Kief said as he glared at Fox. "This guy over here wouldn't learn magic even if his life depended of it, ever!"

"What?" Fox asked as he crossed his arms. "Why is that?"

"You...you're basically an offense to Black Magic..." Kief said with a frown. "Your mind isn't set to learn magic at all."

"Care to explain more?" Fox asked with a glare.

"...You basically think magic is a "hocus-pocus" thing..." Kief said in shame. "That's an insult, you knew that? Think of magic as hocus-pocus? What is wrong with you?" Kief glared back at Fox. "You're offending magic with your presence here!"

"Hey, if that's right about me, then surely Wolf is a greater insult to magic as well."

"Fox, don't drag me to your area where you suck so much," Wolf said with a glare.

"Look at him now!" Fox demanded.

"You little..." Kief sighed and looked at Wolf. After a moment of silence, Kief looked back at Fox. "...You 2 are perfect opposite poles. This wolf guy here can learn magic like any normal Black Mage."

Wolf grinned and chuckled at this.

Fox, on the other hand...

"What?" Fox asked as he banged his right fist hard on the counter. "Okay, you're not making any sense to me. I want you to explain me why he can learn magic and I can't."

"Grumpy much, aren't you?" Kief asked. "Anyway, Wolf believes in magic more than you do. He doesn't insult it at all. He's plain normal as any mage."

"...What?"

"Admit it! You would suck at Black Magic the first time you would use Fire!" Kief yelled.

"Even I can see you're an insult as well, kupo," Caul said.

"Nobody asked you," Fox responded.

"Really?"

Fox grunted.

"If you ever tried to use Fire, either nothing would come out or your tail would be set on fire," Kief explained more. "If I continue, you're going t-"

"Chris, buy the Fire sticker, now," Fox said.

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"You heard me. I'm going to prove this mage over here that I can use Black Magic as well."

"Pfft, no matter how much you try, it'd be useless," Kief said with a happy expression. "I'd be disappointing. You haven't even used magic before in your life!"

Fox grinned. "False. I have used magic before."

"...Really now..." Kief said as he looked bored at Fox. "Prove it, then."

Fox crossed his arms and chuckled. "Krystal's staff was imbued with magic before. I used it for a long time."

"...And was the staff imbued with magic, or was it you?" Kief asked.

"..."

"I think the staff was imbued with magic and not you," Chris said. "I know that..."

Fox glared at Chris.

"...I-I'm just telling the truth..." Chris said with a gulp. "D-don't hit me, please!"

"Okay, okay," Kief said annoyed as he grabbed the sticker. "Are you buying it or not?"

Chris noticed that Fox somehow dropped 500 Smash Coins on the table. The World Traveler gasped as he saw his wallet hanging on his right pocket of his robe, meaning Fox grabbed it when he wasn't looking. "H-hey!"

With a swift move, Fox took out his Trophy Stand (meaning he passed the Classic Mode) from his pocket, put the sticker on a corner, and looked at Kief with a serious look. "Done," Fox said with a grin.

"...I have NO idea why you would put the sticker in that stand..." Kief said. "...But whatever. You won't use the magic at all."

"Watch me," Fox said as he closed his eyes and moved his right hand above his left shoulder before he made it a fist.

The group saw as a red light slightly shone underneath Fox's feet as the vulpine concentrated.

"N-no way..." Chris said as he shook his head. "T-those stickers can help someone to learn magic after all?"

"..." The light below Fox suddenly disappeared before Fox opened his eyes and actually held out his hand to Kief to burn him. "Fire!" he shouted at him.

"..." Kief looked at Caul before looking at Fox. "...Were you just trying to burn me to ashes?" Kief asked annoyed.

"..." Fox blinked confused. "...Nothing happened?"

"Apart that your tail is on fire, no," Chip commented.

"..." Fox looked behind him where a small flame appeared on the tip of his tail. The vulpine quickly trapped the flame inside his fist before looking annoyed at Kief.

"Told you," Kief said. "Since you're not that good at all, the flame you made appear on your tail wasn't that strong. You could have screamed for your dear life if you were stronger."

"...So I need to train hard, huh..." Fox muttered with a bored, yet pissed look.

"I don't think you would accomplish such a feat...but...there's a very small chance of you actually learning to use magic..."

"...I'll prove it to you," Fox said. "I'll learn to use this magic very soon."

"Haha, good luck with that," Kief said with a small laugh. "If you DO learn it, I'll give you the sticker Fira."

"But we don't have that sticker here with us, kupo," Caul said.

"I think we can order more later if we find the place where these stickers are found," Kief said. "Until that, enjoy wasting your time to learn magic, my friend."

"I'll gladly enjoy this," Fox said with a grin.

"Sure," Kief said bored. "What do you think, Caul?"

"I think he's just going to waste his time in learning something he won't learn, kupo."

"Just knock it off already!" Chris yelled, having enough of the whole conversation.

Everyone stared at him.

"So what if he can't master magic? I know he's going to work hard because he's dedicated in what he does. You people don't know him at all. Fortunately, I know him very well, and I have faith that he will master Black Magic at some point so stop putting him down in misery already!"

"…" Fox smiled a bit at Chris.

"…Okay…" Kief said with a nod. "W-well…who knows, he could have a chance to master magic if he puts his mind into it…"

"Just wait, please. You can't predict if he's never going to learn it or not," Chris said. "He will very soon and you'll see…" Chris looked away. "…Oh my god, I can't believe I spoke my mind out loud here…"

Several Black Mages stared at Chris before looking away.

"(Thanks, Chris,)" Fox thought as he looked at the embarrassed Chris.

"Okay. We already sold you guys 1 spell," Caul said. "Care to buy more, kupo?"

"I think I'm going to hold on the offer until we have more money," Link said.

"…What?" Chris asked.

"It's better if we save more money before spending it that fast," Link explained. "After all, it's your money and not ours."

"Yeah…sorry for taking your money without asking," Fox apologized.

"…Well, just don't remove the sticker or else it'll disappear," Chris said with a sigh.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Fox said. "I'll try to master magic so I can help even more in battles."

It was a matter of time before everyone decided not to buy the stickers.

"Are you all really sure of this?" Chris asked.

"I-I think I'm going to drop this out for now…" Luigi said. "I'm going to use magic at a later time if you don't mind."

"Oh, what a shame," Kief said. "Fine, then. These stickers will be here so you know where to buy them from."

"W-wait!" Chip interrupted. "C-can I use magic?"

"Why would YOU use magic?" Sonic asked. "You don't even have a stand or you're not even a fighter to begin with…"

"B-but I just wanna know if I have some magic in me…" Chip said as he played with his fingers.

"Okay, it doesn't hurt to look," Kief said. "Now, let's see here…" He narrowed his yellow eyes at Chip.

Music stops

"…" Kief pulled back his head. "…This is…so strange…"

"W-what is it?" Chip asked.

"...It's actually so hard to see if you can use magic because..." Kief shook his head. "I just don't know, but it seems you have something in you that is waiting to be awakened."

Chip's eyes widened.

"You're like some kind of deity about to demonstrate your rather defensive powers that will save many lives when the time comes. I have never expected to find such a being like you before. Your looks clearly suggest you came out from a child's drawing...but you're somewhat special..."

"...You mean I have something oh so powerful that will manifest itself someday to save the world and probably the whole universe when I can find it?"

"Yes."

"...This is...so awesome!" Chip said with a fist above the air. "What do you think, you guys?"

The Smashers stared at Chip for a moment before they all looked to each other...

...And they all broke out laughing madly with Luigi, Olimar, Chris, Diddy, Link, and Roy rolling on the floor while they all laughed loudly. The others were chuckling uncontrollably at this sudden statement that Kief told Chip as the imp's smile slowly faded before he looked blankly at them.

"W-why are you guys laughing like that now?" Chip asked.

"S-sorry!" Diddy yelled between laughs. "B-but the idea of you having destructive powers to save the world or something is just so...so...so unbelievable! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

The 2 Black Mages stared at each other before looking back at the group. Chip merely blinked at their reaction before Caul spoke. "My goodness, I don't believe of such a thing in you."

"What?" Chip asked.

"I'm sorry, but I could be wrong," Kief said. "I can't predict if that is true like some of them having what it takes to learn Black Magic. I could be AWFULLY wrong with your examination result."

"B-but..." Chip looked at a laughing Luigi.

"Your looks clearly suggest you don't have that kind of power, kupo," Caul commented. "It just doesn't fit for you to have something very destructive in hands. I can't imagine you using magic as well."

"..." Chip kept blinking as they kept laughing.

A small matter of time passed before they all stopped laughing before standing up, wiping off some tears from their eyes.

"S-sorry..." Chris said with a chuckle.

"...Oh well," Chip said as he rolled his eyes. "Once I recover my memory, I'll see what I can really do."

"So, that should end your examinations," Kief said. "Come back at a later day to see if there are new stickers for you to purchase. It's possible that you can learn different abilities besides Black Magic."

"What?" Roy asked.

"Black Magic isn't the only area where these magical stickers have been used on," Kief explained. "Caul here knows much more."

"Right," Caul said with a nod. "You should know that White Magic is also involved with this method to learn magic, kupo. I have heard that there are other shops out there that sell such things as we do here. I don't know if they do, though. Remember what I told you about these stickers not being that popular? Well, you guys seem to find some use for them, kupo. I have heard that you can even learn special techniques like physical attacks besides magic."

"You could learn special abilities like Study," the Black Mage explained. "Okay, I don't know more than that."

"Let me call Hywel here. He knows even more that both us combined, kupo," Caul said as he turned to the left to face another door. "Hey, Hywel, can you come over here for a moment?"

A Nu Mou that had Black Mage clothing came out from the door and looked at the 2 Black Mages. "Did you call me? I was busy trying to learn the spell Flare."

Flare is considered one of the most destructive magic in the area of the Black Mages. It consist in an extreme combustion of light and fire that concentrates in 1 single target before exploding in searing flames, internally damaging the enemy. Only high proficient mages can achieve to learn this powerful magic.

"Sorry for bothering you, but you know about the enchanted stickers I spoke of a while ago, right, kupo?" Caul asked as Hywel walked to them, holding a staff in his right hand.

Hywel looked at the group. "There's such people who wants to be incomplete?" Hywel frowned. "I can't quite understand why people don't try to master magic by just using one spell..." Hywel chuckled. "Even so, it's amusing to find such people like you all here...and...you surely stand out from the mages in here..."

"I already told them that," Caul said. "But we wanted to know if you know about more stickers that have different abilities, kupo."

"Oh, certainly," Hywel said with a nod as he looked at them. "Well, you people want to learn different techniques of battle, right?"

"I...have many already," Chris said. "Everyone else is interested."

"Well! You seem to be lucky because there are stickers that have small bits of abilities that many experts use," Hywel said with a smile. "Have you seen fighters, for example? They use heavy attacks like Beat Down, for example."

Beat Down is an all-out attack that deals heavy damage, but with a reduced chance to hit.

"I believe there are more, but that's as far as I know," Hywel explained. "Here, we don't sell or have different skills rather than Black Magic enchanted stickers. Not many people want to buy them, but seeing as you want them, you should buy them from us."

Diddy looked bored. "We ALREADY heard that from him..."

"...Oh," Hywel said with a chuckle. "Sorry for repeating."

"Well, then," Caul said as the 3 mages looked at the group. "That's all you want to buy for today? Find more magic the next time you come in tomorrow, okay?"

The group nodded before most of them began to leave the shop.

However, Chris looked back at the mages and handed them 500 Smash Coins.

"Are you planning to buy something?" Kief asked.

Chris looked over at Wolf who was about to leave. "Y-yes. Can you give me the Thunder sticker, please?"

"Okay, kupo," Caul said as he handed over the Thunder sticker to Chris. "It's nice doing business with you, kupo. Come again sometime to find more, kupo."

The 3 mages nodded their heads at the same time to Chris before the World Traveler quickly ran at Wolf, tapped his iron shoulder to make him look at him before showing him the sticker.

"Please, have this," Chris said.

"What?" Wolf asked as he looked at the sticker. "Why do you want me to use this?"

"W-well..." Chris looked away. "I-I think it would be nice for you to know how to use Black Magic...a little of it..." Chris said. "Who knows, maybe it could come in handy for you."

"..." Wolf grabbed the sticker. "...Hmm..." He stared at it for a moment before keeping it inside a fist. He chuckled and grinned at Chris. "Well, thanks for the little gift. However, you do know I don't have my stand yet, don't you?"

"I...didn't think so..." Chris said. "...But either way, keep it until you get your stand. I think you'll be very proficient with magic and physical attacks."

"...True that," Wolf said with a chuckle. "I could show Fox some tricks once I use this... Thanks, I guess..." Wolf said before he turned around and walked outside.

At that moment, Sonic walked to Chris. "Hey, I saw what you did there. Why did you do that?"

"I-I figured out that I could get a little bit closer to Wolf through giving him a sticker to use magic," Chris said. "I hope he liked it. I don't want to see my money spent to waste if he decides to throw it out."

"...Oooooh..." Sonic said with a nod. "...Cheater."

"?"

"Using things to become friendlier with others," Sonic said with a grin. "Chris, I didn't know you were that devious."

"I-I'm not devious! I-I did that because there wasn't another way, okay?" Chris said annoyed. "...Are you pissing me off out of fun?"

Sonic folded his arms and walked away with a chuckle.

"Maybe some things won't change, no matter how much I try..." Chris muttered with a sigh before walking outside the shop, joining the others who decided to leave the village for the time being.

Outside

"Tell me something," Chris began as they walked through the forest. "There are special stickers after all?"

"Hmm, that was quite unexpected," Kawashima said. "Well, it'll make sense that the stickers you're going to buy later will enhance attributes. There are some stickers that allow you to get a Home-Run Bat ready once a battle starts. I guess this also applies with special abilities that are presented in small bits."

"So let me get this straight," Link began. "We can gain some small bits of what Chris uses with all his jobs?"

"Pretty much so," Kawashima said. "While Chris can use many different abilities, all of you can have some fragments of his abilities through the use of those special stickers. You guys have limited abilities so I guess that would balance everyone pretty well."

"Do you know how many are there?" Diddy asked.

"I can't tell... Maybe all the abilities Chris has?"

"Then, we could say we would use some kind of variation of the jobs he uses," Meta Knight said. "It's a relief that we won't have to wear clothes."

"Why are you saying that?" Link asked.

"Just imagine yourself in C. Falcon's clothes with every single move he knows."

"..." Link shrugged. "O-okay, that was a pretty disturbing image right there..."

"Ugh, that's really disturbing," Chris said. "It would be a complete mess if everyone here had the same ability as I have."

"I wouldn't like to use it," Lucario said. "You remember what was going to happen to me, right?"

"Yes, lose your aura..." Chris said as he spotted the mansion's doors. "Oh, we're back."

"Now that we have a map of the western area," Chip said as he opened the map he obtained. "I think we can visit more places."

"Hey, give me that," Diddy said as he grabbed the map and looked at it. "Uh-huh...yeah...um...uh-huh..." Diddy looked at them. "This is a pretty wide area. There are all sorts of places like caves, towns, villages, roads, mountains, and more."

Luigi took a peek of the map. "O-oh boy..." he said as his pupils dilated.

Chris looked at the map. "Holy... I didn't know there were so many places out there..."

"Well, the village seemed normal enough," Meta Knight said. "There were no signs of destruction by those monsters. We should report this to Master Hand."

Roy walked to the doors and opened them.

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Once they all entered inside, they all went to different ways as they left Chris, Lucario, Sonic, and Chip behind.

Chris looked at Sonic. "Okay, what do you want to do?"

"Now that you mention it," Sonic said as he looked around him. "Where did I leave that letter?"

"What letter?"

"Yeah," Sonic said. "I received a letter fro-"

At that same moment, the doorbell rang behind them.

"Oh, please, don't tell me the Nazi Toads are here again..." Chris said bored.

"Nazi Toads?" Chip asked.

"Don't ask..." Chris said before looking at Lucario. "If they give me another invitation, destroy it with your aura."

"...Okay..." Lucario said unsure before Chris went to open the doors with closed eyes.

"I'm sorry, you people, but I won't join your little army of evil," Chris said without looking outside. "You can go somewhere else and let another army of Toads stop your malevolent plans to conquer the world, but not here, sorry. You can go away now. I don't care about you at all. Go to hell for that matter."

"Fine!" came as a response followed by a grunt. "We didn't even plan to cause evil and conquer the world, anyway!"

"That's good," Chris said with a nod. "Thank you for understanding. Have a nice day." Chris smiled and chuckled before he closed the doors and turned to them before opening his eyes. "Aww, I feel much better..."

"...You just closed the doors to some people I know very well..." Sonic said bored.

"...Oh no, you're not with the Nazi Toads, right? Are you Nazi?"

"What? No!" Sonic yelled as he quickly went for the doors. "Okay, you guys, you can come in!"

"No!" Chris yelled as Sonic opened the doors. "I-I knew you were Naz-"

The World Traveler stopped talking once he saw a pink blur tackling Sonic down to the floor. Chris, Lucario, and Chip looked down at the hedgehog that wanted to gasp for breath as he received a hug from...

...Actually, it looked like a glomp more than a hug...

...

...To remain sane, we'll leave it as a hug.

"Sonic! I knew I was going to find you after all! It has been a long time, hasn't it? Oh my, I'm so glad I found you at last!"

"H-help!" Sonic pleaded as he held out his right hand at Chip. "T-take her off me, please!"

"U-uh..." Chip was completely confused at this sudden event.

A closer look to the newcomer that came from outside revealed to be no one else than...

...Amy Rose.

"Finally, I found you!" Amy said as she held a tight grip on Sonic with her arms from his front. "You don't know how worried I was after all this time of looking for you!" She joined her hands and looked up to the ceiling. "I know our hearts are destined to be together forever," she said as she raised her right hand and close her eyes. "So it is the true union of love..."

"...Can you get off me...please?" Sonic grumbled as he looked bored at Amy from the floor.

"...Oh!" Amy jumped back. "S-sorry for that, I can't just control my temptations so well..."

"Oh, really..." Sonic said as he got up and dusted himself off. "You ALWAYS do that, no matter what the situation is..."

"Heheheh," Amy chuckled as she folded her arms and looked at the sides. "You know me very well. I'll never change my desire to get you."

"Oh!" Chip began as he flew between them. "So you guys are boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah! (Sonic: No!)"

"Wow, Sonic, you're sure a ladies' man," Chip said with some nods. "I wanna be like you when I grow up."

Amy blushed and covered her cheeks. "O-oh, please! Stop embarrassing me even more!"

Sonic frowned and rolled his eyes.

Final Fantasy VII - Barret's Theme

"U-um..." Chris began speaking. "Amy...what are you doing here?"

At that moment, Tails peered his head from the doors. "Um, we're right here, you guys."

"Y-you?" Chris asked a little bit surprised.

It was not long before a Chao peered his head from above Tails. Also, not sooner the Chao appeared, right behind them were Cream and Knuckles who walked inside and looked at them.

"Oh, it's a pleasure to see you again, Chris," Cream said with a giggle. "How long has it been since we last met?"

"The Olympics, remember," Knuckles said with a frown. "That was the last time we last saw them."

Tails slowly closed the doors and looked at them. "So, anyway, how have you been?"

"Pretty good, my birthday was just yesterday in this wor-wait a minute, don't you change the subject here," Chris said with narrowed eyes. "What are you 4-"

"What about Cheese?" Cream interrupted as Cheese looked annoyed at Chris.

"What are you 5 doing here?" Chris asked. "It's not like you all to come here out of nowhere..."

"Pfft, we have been looking around for Sonic," Knuckles said annoyed as he looked at mentioned hedgehog. "We have been looking for him for a pretty long time because of the fact we didn't know where he was, but nooooooo, Amy here said we WOULD find him someday."

"And I was right," Amy said with crossed arms. "I knew we were going to find him sooner after I sent him that letter through that weird post box we found in our world. And here we are!" she said as she quickly hugged Sonic by his right side.

Sonic grunted in annoyance. "Okay, now I know you have been looking for me for no reason at all..."

"What the hell makes you say that?" Knuckles asked as he walked closer to Sonic. "We HAVE a reason to be looking for your blue butt, you dork. In fact, this should also concern you as much as we do right now!"

"Hey Knucklehead, calm down already!" Sonic said as he moved his palms to Knuckles.

"You DON'T calm me," Knuckles said.

"Knuckles, Sonic, please stop!" Tails said as he stepped between the 2. "We're not here to watch you 2 fight a pointless fight right now! We're here to discuss more important matters!"

"...Tsk," Knuckles muttered as he turned away. "I still think we don't need him at all."

"Can somebody PLEASE explain me what's happening?" Sonic asked as he pushed Amy away from him.

"We came here after living many days in a world with floating continents over the planet's core," Cream explained.

"...What?" Sonic asked.

"You don't remember what we told you?" Knuckles asked annoyed. "Our world's continents got levitated out of the blue! All the continents are floating apart from each other as we speak!"

"Wait, I don't understand any of this!" Sonic said. "I need more details!"

A small time passed after they decided to sit around the table located nearby them. They all sat down around the table on different couches and sofas as Tails put a small device on the center of the table and turned it on to reveal a hologram of their world's planet.

"Check this out," Tails said as he pointed at the hologram. "You see this?"

"That's our world," Sonic said with crossed legs on the table. "What about it?"

"Keep looking," Tails said as the hologram showed the continents of the planet being torn apart from the planet itself as they all floated out to the atmosphere where they stopped from floating away. "See?"

"The hell?" Sonic asked as he put his feet down. "What did just happen?"

"T-the world itself was separated!" Chip gasped.

"H-how is that possible?" Chris asked.

"Please, calm down," Tails said as he looked normal at this event. "We have already gasped when the world itself got like this... Anyhow, you see how the continents are floating far away from the core of the planet? Something really unexpected happened while you were away, Sonic."

"And..." Sonic looked at the hologram. "...Do you know what caused this?"

"I happen to have a friend at Spagonia called Professor Pickle (Chip: Hmm, pickle...) who happens to know about what happened to our world," Tails explained. "Anyway, the professor told me tha-"

"Okay, everything seems to be very peaceful here," Master Hand began as he came from upstairs and floated down to them. "It's a matter of time before everyone can obtain their..."

The hand stared at the 5 guests.

"...Who let them in here?" the hand asked annoyed. "Seriously, why can't we stop from receiving more guests? This isn't a public hotel, you know that?"

The 5, however, didn't look surprised as they looked at the hand. By the looks of their faces, they seemed to look very shocked.

"G-GIANT FLOATING HAND!" Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Cream yelled loudly at the sight of Master Hand.

"...Didn't this happen before?" Master Hand asked annoyed before he noticed Amy taking out her hammer. "...And here comes the female Karol..."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Amy yelled loudly before she and Knuckles lunged at the hand and proceeded to pummel him down together while Tails stood in front of a scared Cream, hugging a frightened Cheese.

"C-Cream, stay behind me!" Tails yelled freaked out.

"D-don't mind if I do!" Cream yelled loudly as the hand screamed in pain by the attacks of the echidna.

"Oww! Oww! Oww! Stop it! Oww!" Master Hand yelled as he tried to float up from his 2 attackers. "Sonic, do something! Oww!"

"Hey, you 2! Stop it! He's friendly!" Sonic yelled at them.

But neither Amy nor Knuckles heard the hedgehog as they desperately tried to kill Master Hand.

Eventually, Sonic gave up and quickly pulled them away from the hand's back. Master Hand sighed in relief after he began to float up. "Why is it that I ALWAYS get beat up by any unexpected guest, anyway?" he asked annoyed. "Seriously, you act like you haven't met a guy like me in your life!"

"Well, it's because it's true!" Knuckles yelled angrily. "Generally people like you...or whatever the heck you are..."

"I'm a hand, alright," Master Hand said with a grunt. "I'm a PEACEFUL hand, okay? That means I'm friendly. I'm not going to crush, eat, or kill you at all. That's very inhuman for my tastes."

"Oh, how can we know you're saying the truth?" Amy asked with a glare.

"Because, hello, I live here with him," Sonic called from behind them.

"..." Amy and Knuckles looked at each other. This caused Tails, Cheese, and Cream look worried at each other.

MORE minutes later...

The 4 looked at the hand without scaring themselves to death. Master Hand nodded and looked at Sonic. "Well, these are your friends, right?"

Sonic nodded.

"And they just came to visit you, right?"

"N-not quite..." Tails said as he pointed at the hologram of the planet. "S-see that?"

"..." Master Hand looked at the planet. "...So? Your point?"

"W-what? Can't you see it?"

"I can see it very well. What's the matter, then?"

"H-hey!" Amy jumped off the sofa and glared at the hand. "Our planet just got separated into floating continents! Isn't that a little bit shocking to you at least?"

"Nope."

"...Why?"

"Because of the fact it doesn't concern me at all," Master Hand said. "If it got ripped part, too bad, it's not our problem but yours alone."

"You little...big...hand..." Knuckles muttered through gritted fangs.

"Knuckles, calm down," Tails said with a sigh. "It doesn't really concern him at all. This only concerns to Sonic and all of us here."

"It's not like we want to put you all into this," Cream said worried. "But we didn't know someone else to help us rather than Sonic himself."

Sonic crossed his arms and looked serious at the hologram. "So, our planet got torn apart by something?"

"A-as I was explaining before, Professor Pickle of Spagonia told me that this has some kind of connection to an ancient legend that has been around for generations..."

"And we just heard of it just now?" Sonic asked.

"W-well..." Tails looked away. "D-don't look at me like that! T-things tend to appear out of nowhere for some strange reason! Maybe we ignore a lot of legends each day!"

"..."

"...Sorry," Tails said before looking at him. "Continuing from where I left, Professor Pickles told me that the world is like this because of the legend of Dark Gaia..."

"Dark who?" Chris asked.

"Dark Gaia," Tails went on. "According to what the professor told me, Dark Gaia is a being that sleeps inside the planet's core for thousands of years before it wakes up and splits the continents apart in some kind of basis. Dark Gaia's role is to split up the planet apart for it to wake up and cause destruction when it is at its full power..."

"...But the planet seems just fine for now," Lucario said.

"Let me continue," Tails said. "Dark Gaia itself has an unbelievable power that could take out the whole world if it manages to reach its full power. We believe that Dr. Eggman has something to do with this as well..."

"Eggman?" Sonic asked.

"Professor Pickle was kidnapped, Sonic," Tails said. "We managed to find him in a secret base located in Mazuri where he was trapped. Fortunately, the 5 of us managed to rescue him from Dr. Eggman."

"Weird thing was that the doctor himself wasn't around," Knuckles said. "The idiot wasn't there to guard his hostage, and there weren't any robots to stop us from rescuing the professor as well."

"I smell something fishy going on here..." Amy said with a nod.

"Anyway, Dr. Eggman probably kidnapped Professor Pickle because he knew too much about Dark Gaia," Tails explained. "The professor explained to us that there was a way to make everything turn back to normal and... Well..."

"What?" Chip asked.

"...He said we needed to find some temples in Spagonia, Mazuri, Apotos, Shamar, Adabat, Holoska, and another place where another temple is located," Tails explained. "But...thing is..."

"...So?" Sonic asked.

"...The temples were supposed to be in their respective continents but..."

"Once we went to the locations of the temples..." Cream trailed off. "...T-there wasn't anything that looked like the temples at all..."

"It was so creepy," Amy said. "The temples weren't there by the time we got there! There were huge gaps of holes around where the temples were supposed to be!"

"This doesn't make any kind of sense at all," Tails said worried. "The temples...simply vanished without leaving a trace from their places. The people that lived close to them said they didn't see the temples disappearing..."

"And to make matters even worse, the temples are already sealed by some keys," Knuckles said. "The people that live close to them said that the temples had guardians with the keys. Unfortunately, we didn't find them anywhere."

"It'd be pointless to find them without even knowing where the temples are," Tails explained. "I mean, what could have possibly happened to the temples?"

"How do the temples look like, anyway?" Sonic asked.

"They look like this... I happen to have an image of the temple of Mazuri here."

The 2-tailed fox clicked some buttons in the hologram before it changed the image of the planet for the temple of Mazuri. The others fixed their eyes at the image.

"Not that shocking," Knuckles said. "They look like any other temple."

"...Wait a minute..." Chris narrowed his eyes at the temple. "...That temple..."

"You know about it?"

"...That temple..." Chris muttered.

"I think we saw it somewhere else before..." Lucario said.

"...Of course, right!" Chris said with a nod. "T-this is the same temple in the city!"

"Wait, what?" Tails blinked confused. "You know where the Mazuri temple is?"

"T-this is weird," Chris said. "T-that temple is the very same one that's inside the city to the south..."

"...How did it end up all the way there?" Tails asked.

"H-how are we supposed to know?" Chris asked. "We happened to stumble with it some time ago. We didn't know it was that important..."

"If that's true," Amy began. "Then we have to examine it!"

"Wait!" Tails interrupted her. "We don't know what to do with the temple, though!"

"Well, we'll find out once we get there, right?"

"Not quite..." Tails said. "I don't know what to do with the temples... We don't even have the keys to enter them..."

"But that temple wasn't closed," Lucario said.

"Really now?" Tails asked. "That's weird. I thought they were already closed."

"So what will the temples do to help restore the planet?" Sonic asked with crossed arms.

"Professor Pickle told me that the temples hold the energy to push the plates back to the core if they're given some kind of alternative energy source," Tails explained. "For example, if we give energy to the Mazuri temple, then the Mazuri area will be pushed back to its original place. Basically, in order to restore the planet we have to do this process."

a) Find the temples.

b) Open the temples with the Sun Keys and the Moon keys.

c) Give the temples some kind of powerful energy to restore them back with their respective continents.

d) Stop Dark Gaia from awakening so it doesn't destroy the world.

"That's the process," Tails said. "Unfortunately, we have yet to find the guardians with the keys."

"When we went to ask for the guardians, the people always told us that "this person should be here" or "she's usually hanging out at this other place" or "I don't know what I'm doing here. I think I didn't need to ask for your help at all. Thanks a bunch, though" and more," Cream explained. "It was so confusing...and a little bit annoying."

"Idiots..." Knuckles muttered. "If they don't know the guardians, then they better shut up instead of wasting our time."

"That's the gist of it," Tails said with a frown. "As you can see, it's a little bit hopeless..."

Sonic got off from the couch and nodded. "Oh, you don't worry. We'll find those temples, their guardians, and the keys."

"But how are we going to do that?" Amy asked. "We're just clueless about their whereabouts!"

"Well, we'll have to try and find them in the continents again..." Tails said with a sigh. "It's a total chaos in the world. Airlines and ships have been in a total commotion because the continents are separated. Even the people think it's the end of the world."

"Of course not!" Amy said with a pouting face. "We're gonna find out the way to save the planet!"

"And you know how?" Knuckles asked. "It's a total panic back there."

"W-well..." Amy looked down before shaking her head. "There has to be a way to do this!"

Sonic thought for a moment as he rubbed his chin with his right hand. "..." Sonic looked at Master Hand. "...Sorry for saying this, but we'll have to ask you all to help us here."

"OH NO," Master Hand said. "We're already busy with Tabuu here. Do you really think we're going to take this distraction from our plans?"

"Dude, just look at the planet," Sonic said with a groan. "It's totally messed up!"

"Sonic, we can't give our attention to your world while Tabuu is around," the hand said. "It's your problem and not ours."

"Just listen!" Sonic yelled. "I don't know if I can do this alone with everyone here!"

The Sonic team blinked in confusion. "...Who the hell are you?" Knuckles asked. "What did you do to the egotistical bastard that wants to solve everything alone that we all know?"

Sonic looked annoyed at him. "Hey, I want to change a little bit here."

Amy gasped in excitement. "Does that mean you will finally accept me as you-"

"I said I'd change, not turn insane..." Sonic said.

Amy pouted and grunted.

"Anyway, just help us!" Sonic said to the hand.

"Hell no!" Master Hand said. "It's YOUR problem, not OURS."

"..." Sonic thought for a moment. "...What if Tabuu had something to do with this?"

"Well...if that was the case, then..." Master Hand looked away. "...Of course not!" he said before turning back at them. "If someone caused this whole mess in your world, then that would be either Dr. Eggman or another side enemy that decided to appear out of nowhere! You don't have any proof Tabuu was involved in this at all, do you?"

"No..."

"Okay, that proves it," the hand said. "If you'd like to go and resolve this by yourself, then leave, please."

"Hey, are you kicking me out?"

"No, I'm giving you the chance to leave us for a time if you want. We already have enough with your weird "werehog" transformation and those night creatures that appear during plain night."

The Sonic group blinked. "Werehog?" they all repeated.

"And night creatures?" Knuckles asked. "Did they appear here as well?"

"Huh?" Master Hand turned to them. "Wait, what?"

"We forgot to tell you this," Tails said. "Ever since the continents were split apart, some monsters have been appearing all over the world during the nights. These monsters often don't do anything outside on the streets as long as people don't go out. However, they get furious if they spot someone..."

"Not only that," Cream said with a shrug. "B-but they can possess people sometime. W-we ran into some normal citizens that were laughing and dancing in Spagonia, and they had a weird air around them... It was so creepy but we managed to get away from them..."

"The world is at chaos..." Tails said worried. "And there's nothing we can do to solve this whole problem... That's why we wanted to look for Sonic to see if he knew something but it's hopeless..."

"Hey," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "There's no freaking way I'll let our world be like that forever. We're gonna find out about this very soon."

"Well, the professor told us that the night creatures are related to Dark Gaia. They serve as its minions," Tails explained. "They just like to attack or possess people's bodies during the night."

"And so, what do we do now?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm sorry for interrupting this, but..." Cream looked at Sonic. "What is that about a werehog? What is a werehog, Mr. Sonic?"

"I-I..." Sonic shifted his eyes uncomfortably.

The hedgehog looked worried at the people of the mansion, trying to make them not to say what occur the last nigh-

"Sonic here has an evil entity that took over his body yesterday during Chris's birthday party. When Sonic was knocked out, he turned into a werewolf or werehog before the entity took Chris away to the city and killed off before everyone came back; Chris somehow was revived, and defeated the entity with everyone before resuming the battle. However, that entity keeps coming back because just yesterday before sleeping Sonic almost broke in a rampage during his transformation. Chris here calmed that bad guy inside him and then we slept all together nice and warm," Chip explained with a smile.

Sonic, bewildered by this sudden action, hit his face and frowned. "Chip...you idiot..." he muttered with a grunt.

"...Pardon me?" Amy asked. "Did I hear well? There's a bad guy that possesses you?"

"Sonic turns into a beast during the night?" Tails asked.

"Chris was killed but then he was revived somehow?" Knuckles asked.

"There was a birthday party yesterday and you didn't tell me?" Cream asked.

"Chao chao chao?" Cheese asked.

"What is happening here? Are you hiding something from us, Sonic?" they all asked in unison.

"..."

"And for what is that ridiculous red collar on your neck, anyway?" Knuckles asked before he chuckled. "What, do you want to be a mascot now? Well, I heard you can behave very bad so I see why you need a collar."

Sonic shot him with a death glar-

"It's because I'm Sonic's owner," Chip said as he showed them the small collar on his right wrist. "See this? Sonic agreed to be controlled by me."

"CHIP..." Sonic muttered through gritted teeth as his eyes (eye?) widened in fury.

"...So let me get this straight," Tails began. "Sonic agreed to wear that collar so you could be his owner?"

"Pretty much the collar can hold back the bad guy inside him," Chip explained, ignoring Sonic's annoyed look. "And above else, it looks good on him, doesn't it?"

"CHIP..." Sonic said again, raising his right index finger at him.

"..." The 5 looked at each other while they choose silence...before they all broke out laughing loudly. Amy and Knuckles began to pound the couch they were on while Tails and Cream were holding their stomachs in pain of all the laughs they were doing. As for Cheese, the Chao was rolling on the air as he laughed.

Sonic grunted even louder at Chip, who was smiling at the moment. "Hey, why are you guys laughing? I think Sonic's a good pet."

"CHIP!" Sonic yelled angrily before the 5 stopped laughing, but then, they all laughed even louder than before as even Chris and Lucario were chuckling silently.

The imp didn't even know why they were all laughing. Instead, he continued on. "Here, let me show you. Sonic, sit down, now!"

"What?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"Sit down, boy, c'mon!"

"What? Do you really think I'm going t-" Sonic suddenly sensed something strange in him before he quickly sat down on the floor. "H-hey!"

The others managed to see this before they laughed even louder than before. Master Hand, seeing this, began to laugh as well before Sonic got up.

"Aww, good boy," Chip said smiling as he flew close to Sonic.

"What the hell did you do to me just now?!" Sonic asked enraged.

Chris, holding his stomach with his left arm, took out his DS and looked at the screen. "W-why did Sonic just sit down when Chip told him to?" he asked as he chuckled.

"Strange. I guess the collar gave Chip some of the powers of a Beastmaster," Kawashima explained as he chuckled. "Do you think that makes Chip useful in some way? I think he does."

"T-that's stupid…" Chris said between chuckles. "B-but at the same time so hilarious…"

"Okay, for my next command, I order you to roll around," Chip said.

Sonic was quickly pushed down on the floor, extending his hands and feet up and down respectively and he began rolling around as he cursed out loud. This only made his "friends" laugh even louder than before.

"CHIP!" Sonic yelled pissed as he rolled around the floor. "STOP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I HIT YOU!"

"Now, now," Chip said as he crossed his arms. "Don't be such a bad boy to me! Sonic, stop, stand up, and hit yourself with your fists!"

Sonic's eyes (eye?) widened before he stopped, stood up, and began to hit himself with his fists uncontrollably.

"Why are you hitting yourself?" Chip asked as Sonic punched himself on the face. "Why are you hitting yourself?"

"YOU'RE SO GOING T-" Sonic stopped talking as he remembered (through his fists) that Chip could make him do virtually anything to him as long as Chip himself was clueless of all the damage he was doing to Sonic. "P-please stop!"

"...I dunno..." Chip said worried as Sonic kept hitting himself. "Should I?"

"YES!"

"...Okay, stop," Chip said.

Sonic's fists eventually stopped hitting him as he panted heavily and shot Chip with a death glare.

"Sonic! Don't give me that look!"

"PLEASE...KNOCK IT OFF..." Sonic muttered through gritted teeth.

The other 5 eventually stopped laughing after a while (as well as the other 3) as they all wiped their tears away. "O-okay," Knuckles said as he panted. "T-that had to be the best moment I have ever seen before..."

"Too bad," Sonic said with a glare as he wiped the blood out from his nose. "I didn't like it a bit."

A small while passed as the others regained their normal composures. Tails coughed as he then looked worried. "Seriously, we need the help of everyone here..."

"For the last time, no!" Master Hand said annoyed. "No matter how many times you ask us, the answer will be always no!"

"...Okay," Amy said with a bored look. "I didn't want to come to this but you don't leave me another choice..."

"Oh, are you going to use hammer rage on me again? That won't work at al-"

Master Hand stopped talking once he saw Amy getting off the couch, revealing a sobbing Cream as she hugged Cheese tightly.

"Please..." Cream sobbed silently. "We need your help so badly...or...our world will..." Cream sniffed more as Cheese hugged her with a sob. "...We don't want our world to be destroyed...please..."

"..." Master Hand stared at her.

"...I...I want to play outside again..." Cream said with a sniff. "I don't want to live in a world where everything is in chaos, Mr. Hand..." Cream looked at him as her eyes filled with ears. "Please, we beg of you (Knuckles: Not me)..."

"..." Master Hand let out a small sniff. "Ooh, please, don't do that to me..."

Cream sobbed as she closed her eyes. "I want to play outside without hearing people screaming anymore...please...we want your help..."

"..." Master Hand sniffed even more. "D-don't do this, pleas-"

"Please! I can't tolerate to see more chaos!" Cream cried. "Please, we need your help!"

At this point, even Chris started to rub his eyes with some sniffs as Lucario patted his back. Chip sniffed a bit before he blew his nose with a random napkin he took from his back.

"..." Master Hand sighed. "As much as I hate to see little innocent children like you crying...I just can't let this go like this..."

"So?" Cream asked as she sniffed with Cheese, the other looking at the hand.

"...Fine..." Master Hand said with a sniff. "...We'll help in any way possible...for you, my dear..."

Cream instantly smiled happily and wiped her tears away. "Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Hand! You don't know how happy you made me just now!"

"Everything for a cute little girl like you," Master Hand said with some chuckles. "I can't that bad guy let you cry like that in front of me, right?"

"You're so generous, Mr. Hand," Cream said with a happy expression as Cheese looked the same. "I knew you were going to say yes after all."

"Heheh, I know, that's me, alright," Master Hand said.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy looked away from the hand as their faces got a little bit dark and grinned rather evilly. "(Gotcha,)" they all thought with some snickers.

"..." Chris, noticing this, sweatdropped at their actions.

"You know," Lucario began as he stared at the hand. "You're a little bit...pathetic..."

"Oh, so you rather have her crying?" Master Hand asked. "I didn't know you were that bad, Lucario. I guess the glare you're stuck with for the rest of your life really makes you evil."

Lucario glared at the hand.

"Oh, oh, there it is," the hand said.

Lucario began to growl silently at him.

"..." Master Hand backed away. "N-no need to get angry, either..."

"So are you helping us?" Tails asked.

"I said yes," the hand said.

"Alright!" Amy said with a chuckle. "I guess we can do this here as well!"

The hand noticed that Tails, Amy, and Cream took suitcases out of nowhere.

"W-what the..." Master Hand looked at them, putting down the suitcases on the floor.

Even Cheese was carrying a small suitcase (probably to hold his ribbons) before putting it down.

"...Don't tell me those suitcases are holding clothes or something..." Master Hand said.

"Well, we may as well stay here to give a hand, right? After all, it IS our world we're talking about," Amy said before looking around. "Besides, this place looks nice for a hotel."

The last word made the hand angry.

"A h-hotel? Are you crazy?" Master Hand asked. "I said we were going to help, not give you a room to stay here!"

"Hey!" Amy crossed her arms. "You're being a little bit hypocrite here, you know!"

"Look, I won't let you take advantage o-"

Cream began to sob. "I-I don't want to sleep out there in the cold... I-I don't want to get sick..." She began to sob louder. "I-I'm so scared of the monsters outside... T-they'll eat me alive if I'm sleeping outside..."

Master Hand sobbed. "P-poor little angel...I-I can't let you sleep out there in the cold..."

"So can we stay here?" Amy asked excited.

"I've never said something about you 3 getting a roo-"

"I-I don't want to be the only 1 alone in here..." Cream interrupted with more sobs. "Cheese wants to have them here..."

"Chao..." Cheese sobbed.

"Y-yes, little girl and...flying plushy," Master Hand said with a sniff. "O-okay, you guys can stay here so Cream doesn't cry anymore... (Poor Cream...)"

Sonic looked away with a devious grin. "(Nobody can resist seeing Cream crying without giving up to her wishes...)"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hand!" Cream said happily as she (again) wiped her tears away. "You're so considerable and so nice to us! Now I know you're the kindest person I've ever met in my life before!"

Master Hand looked away as he blushed. "W-well, you don't have to go that far but yes..." he chuckled embarrassed.

"Aaaaaaaaaalrighty!" Amy said with a grin as she showed her teeth. "We're part of the team, then!"

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream (and Cheese) temporarily joined you-

"Hey, I can't let you 5 know about what we do here at all," Master Hand said. "We're going to help you, but you don't have to help us."

Cream sniffed. "B-but..."

"I'm doing this for your own sake," the hand said. "Do you want to get involved in a fight a get hurt? I'd be deeply ashamed if something were to happen to a cute angel like you..."

"..." Cream smiled and nodded. "T-thank you so much for thinking about our welfare, Mr. Hand, you're very nice for saying that."

Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all thought Cream was faking her cries, but after knowing her last response, it was obvious that she didn't have some evil inside as all of them did. This caused her group to frown with some grunts.

I take that back. They don't join your team.

"You wouldn't want to know all the things we do here at all," Master Hand said. "And as for the problem that you have in your world..."

"Oh, right," Tails said with a nod. "We have some people trying to help us there. Vector said he wanted to give us a hand so he, Espio, and Charmy are working to find more clues. As for Rouge, she said she may as well help us because this incident would ruin her treasure hunting for a bit."

"I remember Vector saying something about looking for Eg-" Knuckles did a double-take. "That's right! I almost forgot!"

"What?" Amy asked.

"Sonic, we looked around the whole planet with Tails's radar, but there weren't any traces of Eggman anywhere."

"What? Eggman vanished in thin air?" Sonic asked.

"Of course not, but he wasn't found anywhere," Tails said. "He wasn't even hiding in the space as well."

"He...simply disappeared?"

"...Apparently..." Cream said.

"But we know he's behind all this," Amy said. "He kidnapped the professor in one of his secret bases (Knuckles: Do you call a base secret inside a hole in Mazuri?) because he knew about Dark Gaia."

"So that Egg(beep) is behind this..." Sonic said. "It's always him, no matter how much he says it's not."

Amy clapped her hands. "Okay! Bad news aside, we have to settle in here!" She got off from the couch and grabbed her suitcase. "Where's my room here? By the looks of the many floors, I guess there are many rooms in here."

"Oh, before you even go upstairs," Master Hand began as he pointed to a board located to the left wall of the lobby. "Be sure to take a photo and put it over there."

The board that they all looked over the left had a big space with some photos that the Smashers quickly recognized. The board itself had a title with big, bold letters that read "People That Have Entered The Mansion Without Any Permission, Yet They Stayed Here For One Reason Or Another."

Below the title, there were pictures of Flonne, Etna, a Prinny (that had "x1,000,000" on the right side), Geno, Twink, Mallow, Raven, Yuri, Estelle, Rita (for some reason, some horns were drawn on her head), Karol, and Judith.

"When did you take pictures of all of them?" Chris asked.

"I didn't," Master Hand said. 'I printed them out from your internet line. For being a known source, that website called Wikipedia worked so well for me."

"You went there?"

"Yeah, got a problem?"

"No..."

"Then it's fine."

"..." Knuckles stared odd at the board. "...You guys are a little bit odd."

"D-don't look at me, look at Master Hand!" Chris said.

"I make the rules, and anyone that lives under these ceilings and the roof are to follow the rules," Master Hand said. "Well, you guys settle in before we discuss this problem with everyone else in here."

Tails blinked a little bit surprised and looked around.

"For now, it's time for me to face DK in Final Destination. You can wander around as long as you don't do anything reckless or destructive because some things here blow up if you're not careful," the hand explained. "With that clear, see you later."

The hand snapped his fingers and he disappeared.

"W-wow," Cream said surprised. "He's like a mage or something. How impressive he is!"

"Okie-dokie!" Amy said with a fist in the air. "This is great! Not only I get to have my own room, but I also get to live with my dear Sonic under the same ceilings and roof! Isn't that kind of romantic, Cream?"

Cream smiled at her as Cheese flew besides her. "I know. It's very romantic, Amy."

Sonic frowned at this as both girls walked to him.

"Okay, you should show us our rooms. Remember, we want our rooms to be close to yours," Amy said with a wink.

"When did I turn into your butler?" Sonic asked annoyed.

"Only for this short time of 10 minutes," Amy said with a satisfied look on her face. "Pretty pleeeeeeease? Can you do it?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll show you the rooms..."

"M-may I tag along?" Chip asked.

Tails and Knuckles walked to them and looked at the imp. "Oh yeah, who are you, anyway?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm Chip," Chip said. "Just that."

"...Just that?" Tails asked confused.

"I-I lost my memory and they all offered to help me out to recover my memory," Chip said. "I helped them all before to calm down Son-"

Sonic blocked Chip's mouth and chuckled nervously. "A-anyway, wanna see your rooms?"

Amy smiled at this. "Please, lead the way."

Sonic nodded as he quickly gave Chip a glare before walking upstairs with Amy, Cream, and Cheese following.

Chris noticed that Knuckles and Tails walked to them. "So, we're going to live here for a time," Knuckles said with crossed arms. "Just what do you guys do here to kill the time?"

"We do...many things..." Chris said. "You'll see very soon if Master Hand doesn't notice..."

"I'm a little bit interested myself, only that."

"Oh," Tails began. "Can you show us that temple you spoke of? You know, the one of Mazuri?"

"I think we can..." Chris said. "I'll see when."

"A-and..." Tails looked away. "...You're not the only ones living here, right?"

"Yes, why?" Chris asked.

"D-does he happen to live here as well?"

"Who?"

"U-um..." Tails blushed a little bit. "W-why am I blushing, anyway? I-I shouldn't blush just because I'm thinking of him!"

"Tails, I'm asking yo-"

"You mean Fox, right?" Lucario interrupted.

Tails quickly looked at him. "U-um, yes, I-I was talking about him..."

"His room should be somewhere on the 4th floor. It's the room above our room, I believe. I think he's there."

"O-oh, I see!" Tails said, not wanting to hide the excitement any longer. "I-I didn't think he was here at all, but I'm glad I was wrong... I-I mean..." Tails looked at the stairs. "I-I'll see you later, okay? See you!" he said happily before he ran upstairs.

"That Tails..." Knuckles said with a chuckle. "He just can't let go of his older brother bond."

"Older brother bond?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. When we were working together to defeat Metal Sonic, I saw Tails most of time close to where that guy Fox was. It's funny, you know? Tails sees him as the "cool" older brother he never had in his life."

"Maybe because both are foxes…" Lucario trailed off.

"Bingo," Knuckles said. "Well, what can you do? For being an expert of machines, he's very young for his age. Deep inside, he's just a childish kid who wants to look after a role model or a hero..." Knuckles grinned. "And I guess that guy is getting into Sonic's territory because Tails always liked to be with Sonic, but now that he knows someone else like him, guess who's going to be the role model?"

Chris, for some reason, imagined Tails in Fox's clothes.

Chris shrugged. "I-I just hope he stays with Sonic..."

"By the way," Knuckles began as he looked at them. "Did you have a bad night or what?"

"What?" Lucario asked.

"Both of your eyelids look very purple."

Chris and Lucario noticed that they still had the purple eyelids that they both started to have since Sonic and Chip snored all the night.

The World Traveler blushed. "T-then this is the main reason why some people at the village were looking odd at us!" he said embarrassed. "T-they even chuckled as well!"

"What village?"

"Forget it..." Lucario said with a grunt. "(Those bastards were hiding their chuckles on the way to the village, weren't they? They'll be so dead one of these days...)"

And the day went on. Since it was still early, afternoon was almost there.

However, little did they know that the problems were going to start that very same day...

Preview of the next chapter

"I had enough of this," Tabuu said with a grunt. "I want you to find out what happened to Bowser and King Dedede as soon as possible."

"We could work very well without them," Ganondorf said with a frown. "However, I guess you will not let them go that easily because you find some use in them..."

"Wait, what kind of name for a title is Livin' La Vida Rica, anyway?" Ness asked.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Final Fantasy IX - Black Mage Village" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the hidden village of mages that is close to Conde Petie in the Outer Continent. This theme sounds a little bit to Vivi's Theme when he's first seen in Alexandria. (I decided to name the village "Village of Black Mages" so it doesn't sound the same as "Black Mage Village")

-"Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift – 016 – Mysterious Shop" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays whenever you decide to visit a shop to buy weapons.

-"Final Fantasy VII - Barret's Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when something about the "Mr. T" look-alike character happens such as some scenes in Midgar.

Out Of Curiosity...:

-Peter, Caul, and Hywel are 3 units from my clan in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift. As for Kief, he's a hume from the clan I have in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. (The fact that they appear in the games as random units to be recruited makes them real characters, right? If so, I just hope I didn't just insert OCs in there...)

Now you're probably wondering if Amy or the others will help them all. Well, I still can't decide if they should join them, but I'll see what I do in the next chapter. I want to make sure the decision is right.

As you can see, there are more places around the mansion: the mansion itself, Agitha's Castle, the Dojo, the (ruined) city, and the Village of Black Mages. Just because I put a place related to Final Fantasy doesn't mean all the other places will be related to it as well. Wish me good luck for you to be entertained, though.

Now, we get the introduction of the stickers with special abilities. However, these abilities only come in small bits of the real thing so nobody else gets to have the same advantage as Chris does. I thought about it too many times before I finally decided to put it. Rest assured, though. This will be one of the last upgrades they will receive.

As for the next arc, it's time to introduce another Smasher that has been absent for 145 (holy...) chapters. The foreshadowing should be obvious enough.

Read and review, please. :)

...Or Sonic will finally accept Amy's love for real. (Cue paradox event).
*Chapter 146*: Livin' La Vida Rica

This is just the beginning of real madness.

From Light the Lucario: *Is laughing hard.* I should have know that Fox wouldn't believe in magic. Hm... I sense that Sonic and Fox are going to have a rivalry soon. And now that Amy is here I fear for Sonic greatly. "Fangirls ruin everything," as said by Tea in Yugioh Abriged. Very interesting adding all those black magic stickers so that the Smasheres can learn magic. Now I have a question... When will the other forgotten guests be mention again? And when will Chris get a Green Mushroom? That is all and I am curious as to what you meant somewhere in the story. Don't worry about it much. This is a nice and simple chapter after the turblence of the last one.

Light over and out

From me: The other guests will never be mentioned unless otherwise said. Chris won't get a Green Mushroom to gain more lives, that would make things a lot easier for him, and I don't want to do that.

Hope you keep scrolling down while reading. :)

From ngrey651: Hmm. Chip...in charge...of Sonic.

...THAT'S just frickin' hilarious. I'm sure he won't abuse the power though.

...NOT. XD

From me: Oh, Chip hasn't think about abusing his new power over Sonic. His clueless attitude will be Sonic's hell one of these days…or now? Keep reading, please. ;D

From Smash King24: I never read the first 144 chapters, but the summary grabbed my attention.

This story is frickin' huge.

I mean that as a compliment. It's nice to see you've incorperated ideas outside the Nintendo world, namely Sonic and Final Fantasy. FF Tactics is a great game and it's nice to see the Moogles again. Personally, I like the Bangaas.

So yeah, just thought I'd check this out. You're doing a great job so far. Wish I could sit back and read the whole thing, but I don't have the patience. Sorry.

From me: You make me happy and at the same time sad. I'd hope to stick around to see where this fic goes. And if you have the time, try to read the previous chapters someday. ;)

From aquadragonsayian: -giggles- Poor Chris and Lucario... they didn't get any sleep from Sonic and Chip. And THIS is a surprise. The smashers using magic? Badass! What will happen in the next chapter? Update soon plz!!

From me: Well, they'll learn just small bits of magic and abilities. If I put them to learn EVERYTHING, they would all have Chris's jobs. This was created in order to balance their abilities with Chris so I hope it's fine with you. Keep reading as always, please. :D

From DianaGohan: I think I've said it before but I really do love these little (or should I say big) interval chapters. We get a lot of building of the story, explore a lot of different ideas, and get intorduced to some new characters. Well the kupos seem there for the sake of information and clerks but we also get more of the Sonic cast, defintley a group I feel not only SHOULD be around for this arc but should also be in the know. I mean come on, Geno, Mallow and Twink got to join the smashers in their adventures, that means that Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese should as well, especialy since their plight is connected even more to subspace shennigans the Mario RPG was. I also liked seeing others have a chance to get extra powers (since really it is unfair Chris is the only one who gets those) and as noted a lot of the humor in this chapter worked for me. So yeah defintley a great chapter. Besides some grammar and maybe a bit unneeded exposition I really can't even think of complaints for it actually.

GRADE: A

From me: Why am I thinking you give me good grades when I involve Sonic characters? Maybe that's just my imagination, though. Why would Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Knuckles be connected even more than Geno was with the Subspace Army, anyway? Well, I hope you keep enjoying this story. :D

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Black magic stickers? I sense other magic stickers in the near future...

And what Smasher? It's the beginning of the epic!

And OMG Wolf learns Black Magic this is a blasphemy. And yet so awesome.

From me: You'll see If chose the right decision to include these abilities and magic for the Smashers. This is for balancing them with Chris. Thanks. :D

From TARDISreviewer: My guess was right :)

anyway... I can't think what character there would possibly be...

From me: Dude, you need to be A LOT more specific so I can understand you better… So yeah, be more specific the next time, please. :l

Either way, keep reading. :D

From LastDrop: Funny chapter with Sonic and Chip.
I didn't think that the smashers would be able to learn black magic, that should make things alot more interesting.

From me: Was my idea original, though? I hope it was for you. Anyway, keep reading to see what happens with them when they use magic in battle. :D

From werelucario: Hello and yes I caught your drift i allready have written a story and the reason my typeing is't neat is because I usually in a rush.

corection center
Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

transfer with

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

From me: Wow, your correction center must be so good at correcting mistakes because it repeats my correct sentences. "Sarcasm" Seriously, since you're always in a rush, you should slow down for the sake of it. I mean, if you're in a rush, write a review when you're not in a rush, please… I guess that would help you out. Anyway, keep enjoying this story. :)

And so, we have arrived at the arc where the next Smashers is introduced. Finally, after a long a absence, I'm going to write for him from now on. However, take in mind that this features a new arc that needs to be written. I'll follow the pole's arcs after I'm done with this one.

We have 2 special guests in this chapter. They're going to help to answer a question that has been around ever since Chip arrived. They make small cameos, though.

Read, enjoy, and review, please. :D

Disclaimer: Anyone knows Hen the chicken?

Chapter 146: Livin' La Vida Rica (or Livin' The Rich Life)

Subspace
Deep Inside The Great Maze

Tabuu, who was staring down at Dr. Eggman, grunted a bit. "Well, it has been a while ever since you arrived here, and yet you have not given any kind of plan or idea."

"Relax," Dr. Eggman said as he folded his arms. "I have taken my time to research about your factory and the minions you have."

"And?"

"And," the doctor said before smirking. "I found something rather amusing with the Shadow Bugs you control..."

"What is it?" Tabuu seemed to narrow his eyes. "You are not going to do something out of the ordinary to them, right?"

"No," Dr. Eggman said before moving his right hand. "Remember the sample of them that you gave me?"

"Yes."

"Well, I conducted a research of their properties. You mentioned that they can take over a host to manipulate their minds and enhance their abilities in battle, correct?"

"Yes."

"However," Dr. Eggman went on. "I wondered something... What would happen if the Shadow Bugs take over a Nightmare?"

"The Nightmare is that basic enemy of Dark Gaia, right?"

"Absolutely," Dr. Eggman said as he snapped his fingers, calling 2 R.O.B.s that were pushing an anti-gravitatory platform with a cage that contained mentioned enemy that tried to escape furiously. "I waited for the night to come around to capture one."

Tabuu stared at the Nightmare as it tried to break through the bars by banging its pincers on them. "Why would you take this demonic creature in here?"

"Aren't you one?"

Tabuu glared at the doctor.

"Sorry, my apologies," Dr. Eggman said with a snicker. "Can you see this Nightmare? It's trying to break through. Too bad it can't escape since I was the one who designed this cage for Dark Gaia's monsters. I know they dissolve into darkness, but they can't do that as long as they're inside thi-"

"The cage does not look anything special," Tabuu interrupted.

"H-hey!" Dr. Eggman said angrily. "Even if it looks normal, it IS different than any other cage!"

"..."

"..." He coughed. "As I was saying," Dr. Eggman went on as he took a tube from his back, containing some Shadow Bugs inside it. "I wanted to see what the Shadow Bugs could do to the Nightmares. I thought they were going to do their usual job...but..."

The doctor opened the tube and poured down the Shadow Bugs that quickly went after the Nightmare, passing through the bars. The Nightmare itself began to shriek loudly as the bugs began to cover its whole body. Tabuu watched as the Nightmare suddenly stopped moving wildly before the Shadow Bugs managed to take over its body.

However, the Nightmare's pincers moved down to the platform as the Nightmare kept staring into the nothingness.

"What have you done to it?" Tabuu asked. "It does not look like it is possessed like it does."

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "I present to you the Shadow Nightmare," he said with a snicker. "The Shadow Nightmare is a special kind of monster that I just created some days ago."

"...What does it do now?" Tabuu asked.

"It doesn't fight."

"What?" Tabuu looked at the doctor. "If it does not fight, how do you think it will serve any purpose?"

"Because the Shadow Nightmare's only purpose is to look for a body, latch onto the victim's back, then possess it." Dr. Eggman looked at the calm beast. "It works just like the Shadow Bugs."

"What is the difference in that?"

"The difference is that it doesn't take over the host's body at all."

"So, are you trying to say that the monster you just created does not do anything important rather than being a waste of time?"

"Not quite," the doctor said with a snicker. "The Shadow Nightmare...brings out the host's inner nightmares out..."

"Their nightmares?"

"Ironically, it is called a Shadow NIGHTMARE for a reason," the doctor said with a serious look. "I found out that combining Shadow Bugs and Nightmares together create a new breed of both species. The Shadow Nightmare possesses the host's body before letting the real host be free from it."

"It frees the host? It is supposed to take over the host," Tabuu said.

"Not this one," Dr. Eggman said. "It releases the host, but it copies every single detail of the host's life to search for a suppressed nightmare that he or she has been trying to hide. The host, once realizing that he or she was freed, will look back to find a shadow of themselves..."

"A shadow of themselves?"

"Would you mind if I finish first?" Dr. Eggman asked. "Anyway, the shadow copies the memory of the host, pushes the host out, and creates a shadow that represents the nightmare. Basically, the shadow looks like them, but they will represent a nightmare by looking, acting, and making fun of the host so the host scares himself or herself out to death."

"So..."

"So," Dr. Eggman continued. "The Shadow Nightmare creates an identical version of the host but represented in the form of a living nightmare. It plays with the emotions of the people and it grows stronger if the host tries to deny the truth about themselves. Of course, I'm not saying the Shadow Nightmare will create lies, but it will reveal very intimidating, heartbreaking nightmares that will eventually kill the host...forever..." Dr. Eggman chuckled. "The shadow grows stronger as the host denies the truth about himself or herself more and more. Then, when the shadow has grown strong enough... It'll turn against the host and kill him or her as punishment for not accepting the truth."

"..." Tabuu chuckled. "...I see now... The shadow plays with the emotions of the people before it starts to kill once it grows strong enough..."

"Also," Dr. Eggman went on. "These Shadow Nightmares can recreate environments that will scare the host even more."

"Do you want to use them now?"

"I'm afraid not," the doctor said. "The shadows can't live outside in the light of day. Using more than 1 shadow would also cause complications because Dark Gaia could take control of them and turn them against us. I don't have Dark Gaia under my control yet, but we can still control 1 Shadow Nightmare at a time."

"..."

"However," Dr. Eggman continued. "The temples of the monster have a big amount of darkness enough to contain the Shadow Nightmare, even during the day. They have big spaces enough to change the environment and hide the sources to discharge energy to the temples. We could try to use the Shadow Nightmares as some sort of guardians." He chuckled. "Not only they would kill the host, but it'll try to kill anyone else if it gets interrupted."

"Excellent," Tabuu said. "The first time you are here and you have implemented a brilliant idea."

"What can I say? My IQ is the highest one there is," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle as the R.O.B.s pulled the cage with the Shadow Nightmare away. "I'll continue to look around for the locations of the temples. Call me whenever you want to discuss something with me."

Tabuu watched as Dr. Eggman began to walk away into the darkness of the Subspace with the robots before disappearing.

Ganondorf and Charizard, who were watching the whole conversation, looked at Tabuu. "Well, that was rather interesting," Ganondorf said as he crossed his arms. "Why did you summon us here?"

"Yeah," Charizard said with a nod. "I was training my fire breath on some Primids. Why did you want to interrupt?"

'Because I have had it with King Dedede and Bowser," Tabuu said in annoyance. "They have not reported themselves back ever since they went for Wario."

"Oh, hell no!" Charizard yelled angrily as he stomped the floor one time. "I'm not going to get those idiots if that's what you mean!"

Tabuu took this response in a form of silence before he frowned. "Forcing you to go would surely make you mad about it..."

"Exactly," Charizard said, blowing out smoke from his nostrils.

Ganondorf looked bored at the dragon before he frowned. "...I suppose..."

Tabuu nodded at Ganondorf.

"...This has to be done, sadly..." Ganondorf said.

"I had enough of this," Tabuu said with a grunt. "I want you to find out what happened to Bowser and King Dedede as soon as possible."

"We could work very well without them," Ganondorf said with a frown. "However, I guess you will not let them go that easily because you find some use in them..."

"They have some use because they serve as generals to the army," Tabuu explained. "I cannot let anyone else be able to control the army unless they agree to serve under me under their own wills. Having people who pledge loyalty instead of controlling them is much better."

"Then I shall be on my way," Ganondorf said as he knelt down for a bit before standing up. "I will find them as soon as I find their whereabouts."

Charizard watched as Ganondorf walked into the darkness and disappeared in it. The dragon looked at Tabuu. "Hey, where's the minister?"

"He said he had to examine the room where we hold the source of the Shadow Bugs," Tabuu said. "You know the source, right?"

"...The black, flat guy?"

"Yes."

Charizard frowned. "Sometimes, I think that guy does stuff in private..."

"What do you mean by that? The Ancient Minister does not do anything in secret," Tabuu said. "He only obeys anything I say to him."

"Well, he's been acting strange lately," Charizard said. "He's been a little bit depressed over something I can't put my claw on..."

"Whatever it is, it will not interfere with our plans," Tabuu said. "As for you, I will have to make you look for one of the temples."

"Are you talking about the temples that were taken to different worlds, right?" Charizard asked. "Yeah, I've been waiting for my chance to do something by my own."

"I will arrange the minister to tell you what you need to do," Tabuu said. "For now, let us wait for him."

Subspace Bomb Factory
Shadow Bug Generator Room

The Ancient Minister watched helplessly as several big tubes that contained multiple copies of Mr. G&W drained out countless and countless of Shadow Bugs that went upwards into the ceiling and even downwards into the floor through some holes.

The Ancient Minister looked away. "(Why do we need to have so many of them?)" he thought. "(...This time, I'll try to start my plan sooner...)"

He looked over to some hi-tech computers that were located near the tubes. Looking above for any security cameras, the minister found none, and he moved to the computers. There, he stuck his hands out from his robe and began to type a command.

A sound was created, and the tubes that held the copies of the flat character began to slow down the process to suck up the Shadow Bugs.

"(There...)" he thought as he looked at one tube. "(This will surely slow down the time. Now, I have to move on and see what I can do for the manufacture of Subspace Bombs. Only 1 sample of 1000 gets an approval to be useful so this won't be that hard to interrupt,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(This should buy me some time...and probably this will buy them time as well...)"

???

The scene slowly but suddenly changed to a wheel that was going at full speed over the street of the many intersections of a city. Slowly by backing away from the wheel, it was revealed that it was a red scooter going at full speed to the east.

Of course, there was someone riding on it, and that person seemed desperate to get somewhere as her long orange hair trailed behind her helmet and goggles.

"I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late!" she yelled as she accelerated. "Again!" she added.

The girl was a young one in her teenage years. This special girl liked to work at many different kinds of part-time jobs that she liked to have. No matter how many were there, she had her hands full with every single job.

What was the problem she had? The fact that she took ALL of them without thinking about time restraints since one would interrupt the other, which then would get interrupted by another, which then would get interrupted by another.

This girl, despite her tight schedule that kept her from doing all the things she wanted to try, was trying her best to fulfill the jobs' needs.

The girl was named Mona.

"Darn it!" Mona cursed as she put her chin at the level of her handle. "I knew taking the morning's newspaper girl job was gonna be a bad idea for the same days where I have to train in my cheerleading team of football team!" she yelled as she dodged some incoming cars. "That's your typical female, high-school teenager, alright..." she said with a sigh.

The energetic (yet depressed) teenager accelerated towards the Diamond City Stadium, leaving a long trail of smoke behind her wheel...

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"What?"

"Yes."

"Why do you have to ask me that now?"

"Because we have to do it, which is why we need to"

"B-but..."

"Look, I don't know you, but it has to be done, sorry."

"I don't see why we need to call in more musicians at this time. What if Tabuu attacks?"

"Well, he isn't doing anything now. We have to do this."

Chris sighed. "I don't see why, though..."

Master Hand grunted. "I already received complaints of Makar saying that they can't do some tracks due to the fact they need vocalists for them," the hand explained. "And we need 3 of them here."

"Who are those 3?"

"Let's see..." The hand looked away. "There's the girl Mona...the singing machine Mike...and the gothic girl named Ashley..."

Chris could only respond with a frown. "Why now?"

"I already said why!" the hand said annoyed.

This problem showed up just some hours after the new guests came to the mansion. The World Traveler was asked to meet Master Hand in the command room after a request from Makar was delivered to the hand.

"He said they're having a lot of trouble with some tracks," Master Hand said. "And we have to find the solutions by inviting those musicians here."

"But..." Chris trailed off. "Nobody uses the Wario Ware stage, right?"

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't do this," the hand explained. "Since there are no signs of the Subspace Army in Diamond City, you'll have to take a small party with you and look around for Mona, Mike, and Ashley so you can bring them all here."

"I'm still skeptical of this..."

"Look," the hand began. "Music is something that makes matches even more interesting. The fighters tend to show more enthusiasm while listening to some music. I believe every game out there has a soundtrack, right?"

"W-well, that's true..."

"This place boasts the largest soundtrack made ever," the hand explained. "Or it used to boast, anyway. We can't let our soundtrack be nothing, right?"

"I...suppose..."

"SO!" the hand raised his voice. "In order to have one heck of a match, we need to have those tracks available for any kind of occasion! Your task as a Smasher is to seek the musicians, bring them here, and convince them to make those tracks!"

"..."

"...NOW," the hand said. "I'll call everyone here."

"Wait, by everyone, do you also mean the guests?"

"Pfft, of course not," the hand said. "Bringing them here would be suicide. Unless Sonic does it by "accident" then I'll be screwed over...or we're going to be screwed over."

"Chances are they'll come here, though..." Chris said. "I mean, sooner or later, they'll find out about what we do here."

"They just barely know the Subspace Army. What else is there to explain?"

Several minutes later...

"Yes, let's screw the hand over by showing the people what we do, why don't we?" Master Hand asked annoyed.

Just after making the announcement to call everyone in there, the Sonic group thought they were also called (even though Master Hand said, "Everyone BUT Sonic's friends please report to the command room. I repeat. Everyone BUT Sonic's friends please report to the command room") meaning that they would find out soon of what the Smashers do in reality.

"Seriously," Knuckles began as he looked around the room. "You guys do things behind everyone's backs, don't you?"

"Oh, you shut up," Master Hand said. "This is for the sake of everyone. We like to overuse the cliché that people don't know what the heroes do to save the whole damn universe. If that were to happen, though, every shop out there would give us discounts."

"That's completely unrelated."

"I know. You are unrelated to this, too."

"We ALREADY said we were going to help out here," Amy said annoyed. "Just because Sonic here is one of you and can help doesn't mean we can't, too."

"After all, didn't we agree to join you all?" Cream asked.

"What could a cute girl and 3 random people do to help us, anyway?" Master Hand asked.

"I have a lot of power," Knuckles said.

"I can whack the heck out of enemies' heads," Amy said.

"I can design and fix machines," Tails said.

"I can try to be helpful," Cream said.

"Chao chao chao," Cheese said.

"..." Master Hand frowned. "I...was looking for more useful abilities, no offense..."

Amy pointed her hammer at him. "Okay, you're gonna let us help out OR you're going to help us out as we've mentioned before."

"Remember that our world is at chaos, and the fact that is our world as well!" Tails said. "It concerns us so we have to ask for help. We can't do this alone, you know."

"Seriously, you people are so damn stubborn..." the hand muttered. "...I'll consider the proposal to join us. AS LONG AS THERE IS A TEMPLE, THEN WE'LL HELP YOU."

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Cheese OFFICIALLY and temporarily joined your team!

"Hurray!" Amy said as she tossed her hammer away (to the wall, where it made a crack). "Now we're gonna be together during missions, Sonic!"

Sonic stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Eww, I'll try to stay away, thoug-"

"I thought you said you weren't going to run away anymore!" Chris yelled at him.

"...Y-you..." Sonic lowered his head in shame. "Aw, crap, man..."

"(Oh man, this is turning out so well for me,)" Amy thought with some giggles. "(Should I start planning the wedding for us here just in case?)"

"So, what do you guys do here?" Knuckles asked.

"Are you really sure you want to know?" Master Hand asked. "The truth could be heartbreaking."

Some of the Smashers rolled their eyes at this.

"We have a world with its continents floating above magma," Tails said. "Anything else shouldn't be that shocking."

"Okay..." Master Hand said with a sigh. "Here we go."

An hour later...

"...That's it?" Amy asked. "Well, that's not surprising."

"Aw, crap," Master Hand said. "Not even the part of conquering new worlds?"

"I think that's a very exciting thing to do," Cream said with a giggle. "You get to meet a lot of people by saving worlds."

At this, Chris looked away and hid a smile.

"Oh, I have something really surprising here," DK said. "It's the fact that all of us except Chris are video g-"

Chris quickly blocked DK's big mouth with both hands. The Sonic team stared odd at the World Traveler as he sweated.

"What?" Amy asked. "I didn't hear well. What did he say?"

"H-he said that all of you except me are video...gamblers..." Chris said with a gulp.

"Video gamblers?" Tails asked. "That...doesn't make any sense to me."

"I know," Chris said as he glared at DK. "It doesn't make any sense, right, DK?"

DK, after staring at Chris's glare, nodded several times before Chris put his hands away from his mouth.

"Don't listen to him," Chris said with a chuckle. "He says really random things about people..."

"But I do-"

Chris stomped over his right foot without looking at him. The Kong's pupils shrunk in pain as he tried not to scream out loud.

"As I was saying before, he says really random things about people," Chris said, forcing a nervous smile.

"...Oh!" Amy chuckled. "I understand. Vector's just like that as well."

"(My foot...)" DK moaned inside his mind.

Tails, wanting to forget what he heard, looked to one computer of the many in there. "Hmm..." He walked to it and sat down on the chair. "Let's see. What kind of functions do these computers have?"

"All the normal applications," Master Hand said. "But I believe there are some extras as well."

The 2-tailed fox began to type and search for what he wanted to find. "Okay... These computers have lots of RAM memory, and they run very fast. Alright, these should work if I modify them a little bit..."

"You're not going to put viruses in them, right?"

"Why would I do such a thing?" Tails asked as he typed. "As a matter of fact, I can put some kind of radar into this if I get to it now... However, it won't be ready very soon because it takes a lot of time to make radars, even for super fast computers like these ones."

"As long as I don't see fake ads, it's fine," the hand. "(And the sooner we finish with you, the sooner you'll have to go from here.)"

"It's going to take a time, so please, be patient," Tails said. "Ooh, this should work..."

The hand frowned and looked at the Smashers. "Okay, I have a little favor I want you to do it."

"You want us to look for more musicians?" Mario asked. "Isn't that going to distract us from the Subspace Army?"

"Nope. They're not doing anything dangerous for now," the hand explained. "If we do this fast, we'll be just fine." He snapped his fingers to make the virtual screen appear, showing Diamond City. "And here's the place I want some of you to go. Your mission is to seek Mona, Ashley, and Mike in this city." The images of each character appeared on the screen. "These are the people I want you to find."

"So..." Ness tilted his head. "Who's going?"

"Well, since there aren't any traces of Tabuu's minions means only 3 will have to go."

And the alarm suddenly blared off from nowhere.

"..." The hand listened to the alarm. "...Okay, change of plans, there's someone of Tabuu's army in the city after all." He looked at the screen as it tried to locate the person. "And by the looks of it, it's..."

The map centered the location of the minion as it zoomed in through the buildings, establishments, and the random people walking through the streets before it finally found the target...

"...What?" Link and Zelda said at the same time.

"Er..." The hand sweatdropped. "...Why is..."

The Smashers found a cartoon version of the Lord of All Evil, Ganondorf, walking down the streets as he looked around for Bowser and King Dedede. The lord sighed as he frowned. "Where are those imbeciles?" Ganondorf asked as some people whispered to one another about his evil (yet cartoony) look. "They are making me feel embarrassed to be walking in the plain light of day, among inferior beings..." he muttered with a grunt as he walked.

"...Why is Ganondorf taking a walk in a city?" Link asked.

"He felt like walking, probably?" Yoshi asked.

"I...don't think so..." the hand said as he looked Ganondorf crossing over the street. "He's looking for some people, didn't you hear?"

"He looks mad," Zelda pointed out.

"I hope he's not looking for the musicians, though," the hand said before turning to them. "I don't like where things are going in there. We need assemble a party of 9 people to go there. I want you to find out what Ganondorf's up to, and seek the musicians as well. Can you do those 2 tasks?"

"As long as it doesn't involve finding Wario..." Ness said with a shrug. "That guy...ugh..."

"Oh, right," Pikachu said with a nod. "You and Lucas found him before, right?"

Lucas remembered the event he went through during the army's invasion. "I-I hate him..." Lucas muttered. "I-I hate him so much..."

"Your legs are shaking," Nana pointed out.

"T-they're not!" Lucas said as his legs shook. "H-he's scary, okay, but I don't want to see him again!"

"I have bad news for you," the hand said. "I was thinking something about Wario and I came up with an idea that you all probably won't like..."

"...What?" Nana asked.

"...I was thinking about letting Wario join us..."

"...NO," most of the Smashers said as they shook their heads.

"...Okay, I know he's a greedy bastard, but why you don't want him here?"

"Because he's a greedy bastard," Pikachu said as he rolled his eyes.

"And he's shady," Pichu added.

"And he's stupid," Chris added.

"And he smells so bad," Nana added.

"And he's fat," Popo added.

The previous 4 looked at him.

"What? If he's fat, his farts will smell even worse."

The 4 made disgusted faces with some frowns.

"Dude, we already have an anti-hero guy in here," Falco said as he looked at Wolf. "Do you want another one in here? I thought we had enough with Wolf already."

Wolf could only respond with a grunt.

"...Why is HE here, anyway?" Amy asked.

"I ended up in this place because of the kid," Wolf said annoyed. "Now, keep your future surprise attacks away from me or else you die."

Amy glared at him with a pout before looking away.

"It's him or the Subspace Army," Master Hand explained. "We have to make sure Tabuu doesn't recruit him at all. Unfortunately, we have to bring him here..."

"I-I object!" Luigi suddenly yelled. "W-Wario isn't going to help us!"

"He'd rather save his a(beep) and money before himself, anyway," Squirtle said annoyed. "Trust me, you don't want to smell him...eww..."

"I hate the idea, too," the hand said. "I'll force him to take a bath, though."

The hand noticed that most of the Smashers were still looking pissed at the idea.

"...Well, it's inevitable. Tabuu'll surely trick him into joining his army before us," the hand said. "Don't go saying I didn't warn you. I did, but you didn't agree."

All the Smashers nodded.

"What? Now you guys want him away from us?"

They all nodded.

"I rather kick his a(beep) than letting his a(beep) be with us," Roy said.

"Prompts to you for that," Ike said with a few nods.

"Gosh, no love for Wario, right?" the hand asked.

"I know he's supposed to be some sort of evil clone of me, but he shouldn't be allowed to join us," Mario said. "Trust me, I tried to be friends with him, but he always said no or did something really disgusting to me."

"Didn't he control you with a bucket?" Peach asked.

"...Oh, right..." Mario said. "That bucket..."

"Not even Mario wants him here," Snake said. "That goes for me as well. I can't stand most of you, but I'll surely won't like to have his a(beep) fart all it wants."

"His butt has a mind of its own..." Olimar muttered with a shrug.

"I agree," Ness said with a nod.

"Think about it. It's like asking Ganondorf to join us," C. Falcon said. "The universe would surely end if he ever became a good guy or anti-hero."

"Chaos would reign if he ever became a hero," Link said.

"Not to mention it would cause a horrible paradox," Jigglypuff commented.

"Who's stupid enough to believe that Ganondorf would amend for his actions on Hyrule?" Zelda asked. "Those kinds of people are begging to be ignored by everyone else."

"Now, now," Chris said. "If that ever happened, that would be in another alternate universe where everything is so stupid and twisted."

"True," Marth said.

"...Chris, start assembling your party," the hand said. "You're going to be the representative for the musicians."

"Me?" Chris asked.

"I need the most sociable guy in here," the hand explained. "You're one of them, so I thought it'd be nice to send you there."

"...Okay..."

"Be careful with Ganondorf, though," the hand said as he read a sheet of paper. "I have the info of the world. Let's see..."

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Current Status: Aftermath
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: Unknown
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Anything

Persona 3 - Living With A Determination

"Alright, choose your party members wisely," the hand said.

Chris looked back at the Smashers who decided to talk with each other, discussing what to do about Wario.

The World Traveler walked to Lucas. "Um, Lucas..."

"Y-you're not planning to take me with you, right?" Lucas asked. "I-I don't want to see Wario again..."

"What did he do to you? (Despite the fact I saw that cutscene already...)"

"W-well," Lucas began as he played with his fingers. "W-when I found him on the top of that random stalagmite; he laughed at me and Ness once he looked down. Then, he took that big gun..." Lucas looked down. "And he wanted to turn Ness into a trophy while I just watched in fear..."

"Then..."

"W-when he looked at me, he aimed his gun at me, and Ness pushed me out of the way to stay safe..." Lucas explained. "I-I was just too scared when he jumped down and looked at me with that look and those teeth of his..." Lucas shivered. "A-and I ran away from there so he wouldn't hurt me, leaving Ness behind..."

Chris saw Lucas embracing himself.

"E-even if I bumped into Red (literally) and managed to defeat Wario with his help, I-I still find Wario scary..." Lucas looked up at Chris. "...I...want to go..."

"What?" Chris asked. "But you just said..."

"I-I have to overcome my fears..." Lucas said with a sniff. "...I...have to brave sooner or later..."

"..."

Lucas wiped a tear away. "You know...this is something that Claus always told me..." He looked at Chris. "I always admired Claus. He was so nice and above else, he was so brave. He practically didn't fear anything like I did. We were perfect opposites except for our gender," Lucas said as he smiled a little. "I always played so much with him with the others when we were younger. I tried my best to be just like him, but my mom always said, "If you want to be like Claus, then I'll have a hard time distinguishing who's who! You look alike, did you know that?" before she would break laughing out loud..."

Chris smiled a bit at this.

"But I always kept trying, no matter what she told me..." Lucas said. "I looked up to Claus. He was everything I wished to be...but..." Lucas looked down. "He...and my mom...they both..."

The World Traveler just kept looking at Lucas as he remained silent.

"...I want to go, Chris," Lucas said. "Claus was brave, and I want to be brave as he was."

"...Okay... Are you sure?"

"Definitely," Lucas said. "I-I'll overcome my fears soon."

"I understand..." Chris said worried. "Wait until I call you."

Lucas nodded and looked away while Chris walked away. The PK kid looked sad as he scratched his right arm. "(N-no...)" Lucas thought. "(S-stop thinking they're still...)"

The World Traveler walked to Popo and Nana. "Um..." Nana looked ashamed. "Sorry for not delivering your gifts, Chris... That idiot inside Sonic broke the statues we made for you."

"Statues of yourselves…" Chris trailed off.

"Yeah," Popo said with a nod. "We worked so hard to make them, but that idiot came and he destroyed both gifts. We wanted to make the statues again but we were trapped in the basement with Red..." Popo looked down with Nana. "Sorry..."

"It's...okay," Chris said. "After we went through that nightmare, I'd think he deserves all the fault."

"Good thing he won't bother us again," Nana said. "But are we cool?"

"I guess," Chris said as he smiled a bit. "I care more about you 2 over things, though. We were going to die, remember?"

"You died," Popo pointed out.

Chris looked away embarrassed. "Y-yes, but still..."

Nana chuckled. "Okay, thanks, Chris. That cheered me up a bit."

"Me too," Popo said with a chuckle.

"Anyway, you want us to go?"

"I was wondering that," Chris said.

"Well, we don't mind. Why don't you take our team with you again?" Nana suggested. "We work well when we're together like that. You already asked Lucas, anyway."

"I think that's a good idea..." Chris said.

"Also, Diddy's one of us," Popo said. "And Toon Link is busy with some training outside. You should try to cope well with Diddy more."

"I should do it, actually," Chris said. "I haven't spoken to Diddy that much."

"And while you're at it, bring Kirby along."

"Okay, thanks," Chris said with a nod. "Wait until I call you 2."

The Ice Climbers nodded, letting Chris go to Diddy.

"Okay!" Diddy said excited as he jumped to Chris and climbed all the way up to his shoulders and head. "If you want to talk to me, then that means you want me to go with you, right?"

Chris looked up at Diddy. "Y-yes. What's with that enthusiasm?"

"Well..." Diddy looked away. "I figured out that we should try to get to know each one better, y'know. I want to spend the time with another guy rather than DK over there."

Chris and Diddy looked over to DK who was talking with Yoshi.

"DK's doing the same. I should follow that example," Diddy said. "So what do you say?"

Chris chuckled. "Okay, you're in. I'm sure you're going to make everything funner."

"Good," Diddy said as he leaped down from Chris before looking up at him. "Call me when the time comes."

The World Traveler nodded before he walked to Kirby.

For some reason, Kirby looked down in sadness. Chris, seeing this, got a worried look and knelt down. "What's wrong?" Chris asked.

"What job is compatible with me?" Kirby asked.

"...Huh?"

"I-I mean..." Kirby looked to Chris. "I know everyone here has a compatible job with yours. I haven't seen a job that does that to me, though..."

"...Wait a minute..." Chris looked away. "You're right..." He looked back at Kirby. "I don't have any job compatible with you yet..." Chris stood up and looked at Master Hand. "Master Hand, what's the job compatible with Kirby?"

"Dang it!" Master Hand cursed. "I knew there was someone I was forgetting to put together with a job here!" He looked at his brother. "Okay, you know what to do."

"Righto," Crazy Hand said as he disappeared by snapping his fingers.

"...Now I'm worried," Chris said. "Does he do all my jobs alone?"

"Oh no," Master Hand said. "Well, he does half of it, anyway. Making jobs for you isn't that easy, I'm telling you. Crazy sometimes inserts some kind of stupidity in them and I have to examine what half he does. He thought that giving you a pig to attack instead of a whip with your Beastmaster job was a good idea. Then he started to say some nonsense about the pig being infected by some kind of deadly disease that nobody would try to recover from."

"...That's stupid..." Chris said.

"See? We'll see what job we can make for you and Kirby."

Kirby smiled a little at this. "I don't want to feel left out."

Chris reached for Kirby and hugged him tightly. "Aww, I just can't resist you at all, Kirby."

Kirby blushed and hugged Chris back.

Cheese flew nearby, saw both of them hugging, and hugged them both as well.

"Cuteness is just begging to make me surrender!" Chris said in happiness.

The trio laughed for a bit before they all stopped hugging each other. Cheese chuckled and flew back to Cream.

"Okay, wait for me until I call you, Kirby," Chris said to Kirby.

The Star Warrior nodded with a chuckle, making Chris chuckled back at him as he made his way to Ness.

"Chris, Lucas is feeling a little bit down," Ness whispered to Chris.

"What?" Chris asked.

"This isn't like me to talk about, but Lucas has been feeling down today," Ness whispered as they saw Lucas, looking away as he played with his fingers. "You already talked to him, right? Well, thing is, he's being a little bit strange today."

"Why is that?" Chris whispered.

"I don't know," Ness said. "But it must be something about someone he knows...at least that's what I think."

"Yes, he seemed sad when I spoke to him..."

"I don't know if I can do this, but can you take me so I can see what's wrong with him?" Ness asked. "Lucas is a fragile person when it comes down to emotions and reactions, you know. I think I see the brother in him...somehow, though."

"You're going to watch him?"

"Yes," Ness said. "Don't tell this to him, but I think Lucas is like a brother to me. After all, we came from the same universe. I have a chance to understand his motives better."

"...I'm worried about him, too..." Chris whispered. "Fine, you're good to come."

"You won't regret it," Ness said. "This is for Lucas's welfare."

"I'm surprised. You're going to do that for Lucas, right?"

"Hey, I don't want to look like a bad guy, you know," Ness said bored. "Even I can be helpful during events like this."

The World Traveler nodded to Ness before looking away to think of the next party member. So far, he had himself, Lucas, the Ice Climbers, Diddy, Kirby, and Ness.

"3 more..." Chris muttered.

"Can I come?" Jigglypuff asked nearby.

"Okay, you're in."

"Yay!" Jigglypuff said excited. "...Wait a second!" she interrupted. "You're not going to say anything to me rather than that? I mean, I wanted to be helpful yesterday and...oops..."

"...You were the one who knew about Sonic's condition, right?" Chris asked.

"Y-yeah," Jigglypuff said with a chuckle. The Balloon Pokémon remained silent before she covered her eyes. "O-okay, I'm sorry for not saying anything!" she cried. "I should have spoken when I had the time, but I wanted to feel important for even longer than saying what was happening to Sonic!"

The World Traveler backed away from the crying Jigglypuff. Chris sighed and knelt down to Jigglypuff. "Okay, I think it's my fault you haven't been fairly important...I guess..."

Jigglypuff sniffed and looked at Chris. "Maybe?" she asked.

"It's my fault, alright," Chris said with a frown. "If you want, we can work together and make you be more important."

Jigglypuff instantly lunged at Chris and hugged him happily. "Oh, thanks a lot! Y-you just don't know how happy I am now!"

"O-okay, okay!" Chris said as he hugged her back. "J-just don't do this anymore, you got that?"

Jigglypuff looked up at him and nodded with a chuckle. "I'll do it if you promise to take me more often."

"(You and 30 more want to be taken more seriously...) That's a promise, Jigglypuff."

"Thank you," Jigglypuff said with a chuckle. "Call me when we have to go, okay?"

"Sure," Chris said as he stood up and looked away. "..." He looked at Sonic who was talking with Tails as the 2-tailed fox worked hard on the computer. "...Yes, I need to do this."

Sonic looked at Chris's direction and crossed his arms. "So, you gonna take me along?" Sonic asked.

"It's for your welfare," Chris said. "You wanted to change, right?"

"What's this about Sonic changing?" Tails asked as he typed. "He wants to change his attitude or is he changing something else?"

"Look," Sonic said with a nervous chuckle. "Y-you know I put everyone in trouble because I tend to run away a lot, right?"

"That's a fact."

Sonic sweatdropped at this statement. "W-what?"

Tails looked bored and worried at the same time as he didn't bother to look at Sonic. "We always wind up into some kind of trouble because you bring the trouble to us, Sonic. This has been happening so many times because you tend to do this a lot without even thinking."

Sonic looked away with embarrassment. "T-then why didn't you tell me before?"

"I dunno," Tails said as he looked bored and not worried anymore. "Mostly because someone was always alone by himself until Dr. Eggman attacked?"

"...Okay, that's me," Sonic said in annoyance.

"And the day you'll try to change will be the day Knuckles will fall in love for Rouge."

"Hey!" Knuckles called out.

"Or maybe it's the other way around."

"Hey!"

"Or both are doing the same."

"Stop it already!"

"You see now?" Tails asked.

"...Alright, alright, I seriously need to change my ways!" Sonic said in annoyance. "You happy now?"

"Not until I see results."

Sonic groaned, making Chris look away in embarrassment.

"...Take me with you, please..." Sonic muttered.

"Okay..." Chris said.

"If he's trying to change, keep him very close to you so he doesn't escape," Tails suggested.

"Hey, I'm not some kind of dog!" Sonic yelled angrily.

"I'd like to differ because of the collar you're wearing for some reason."

Sonic got burned.

"So?" Tails asked.

"Just take me with you!" Sonic said to Chris. "I'll show him I'm saying the truth!"

"(I dare you 95 percent you're not going to change,)" Chris thought.

"What's with that face to me?" Sonic asked.

Chris snapped back to reality. "I-I heard you, okay."

"C-can I come, too?" Chip asked.

"Why would you want to come?" Chris asked.

"I was asking myself that…" Sonic grumbled.

"Maybe you should really take Sonic with you," Tails said. "You said that the Mazuri temple is in the city, right? If that's true, then the other temples could have been…taken to other worlds."

"You think so?" Chris asked.

"That's a theory, but it would make sense," Tails said. "I still don't understand how they were vanished, though."

"Chip would take a spot if he comes...or can he act like Twink did?"

"I suppose," Master Hand said.

"You can come as long as you don't do something crazy," Chris said.

"Hurray!" Chip cheered.

"ABSOLUTELY you're not going to do something crazy, okay?"

"I got that."

"..." Chris tilted his head at Chip. "Um, Chip..."

"Yeah?"

"I...was meaning to ask you something..."

"What?"

"Well...remember that...tank you brought with you?"

"What about it?"

"Where did you get your hands on it?" Chris asked confused. "I mean, how did you get one?"

Battalion Wars 2

Somewhere in the ocean

There was a small military boat crossing over the ocean with 2 people on it. One of them was a gorgeous girl named Brigadier Betty who was taking the wheel of the boat, while just behind her, there was a small man, wearing a Hawaiian shirt as he read a newspaper while he smoke a cigar as he sat down on a chair.

"General Herman, sir," Betty called with some enthusiasm. "I've received reports from the Western Frontier that one of our tanks got stolen."

Herman ripped off his newspaper. "What?!"

"I've received reports from the Western Frontier than one of ou-"

"I already heard, woman!" Herman yelled as he looked at her. "Who's the idiot behind all this? Is it one of the enemies?"

"Well, we're not sure yet," Betty said as she looked forward. "Reports say that the thief looked like some sort of creature that surely came out from a cartoon show for kids, sir."

"Some sort of creature..." Herman muttered. "Betty, I want you to issue a full-detailed report about this creature at once. We can't let the Tundran Terriories have spies like that one you just mentioned."

"Okay, sir," Betty said with enthusiasm. "Expect a full-detailed report in a period of 29 days."

"29 days?!"

"Sir, you forgot we're on vacation?"

General Herman sighed in depression.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"I got it from a garage with lots and lots of men in uniforms," Chip explained.

"...Soldiers?"

"How do they look like?"

"Forget it..." Chris said with a frown. "Don't do anything until I call you, okay?"

"Got it."

The World Traveler turned away and sighed. "Good... (I have 8 counting me...)"

"Ehem," Amy coughed as she folded her arms. "I heard from a little birdy that we're part of the group now."

"...Amy..." Chris didn't like where this was going. "You're not thinking about coming with us, right?"

"I wanna be the first one to take part of this whole thing about the army," Amy said. "And if Sonic's there, then I should be there, too!"

"No!" Sonic yelled.

"C'mon, let me go with you," Amy said with a wink. "I'll try to help out as much I can. I hate to be a stupid damsel in distress, y'know." She took her hammer and swung it several times. "Just let me come and I'll whack anything or anyone that dares hurt Soni-I mean, us!"

"..." Chris rubbed his head a little to think. "...I just... Fine, you can come."

"Yeah!" Amy said as she kept her hammer...somewhere behind her. "Now we're on the same line."

"Okay, your team is ready to go, right?" Master Hand asked.

"I'll be taking Ness, Lucas, Popo, Nana, Kirby, Diddy, Jigglypuff, Sonic, Chip, and Amy (10 people and 4 of them had to be in 2 teams...)" Chris said and thought.

"You have 2 tasks to complete," the hand said. "Seek the 3 musicians, and find out what Ganondorf's up to. If he's taking a walk, we may as well consider that a threat to humanity."

Link and Zelda rolled their eyes.

"Also," Tails began as he looked at them. "Try to see if there's a temple in the city. Remember, we could be wrong if they're not there, but since I don't have the radar ready yet, try to look around."

"Yes, this is surely going to distract us all..." Master Hand sighed. "Open the portal, Chris."

The World Traveler nodded as he opened the portal to the next world. The Sonic team stared at it.

"Are we gonna have to be used to go to worlds through this?" Amy asked.

"That's the way we do things around here," Master Hand explained. "It feels a little bit woozy in there, but you should be fine."

"Let's just go," Ness said.

Lucas gulped. "I-I'm ready..."

"Be careful, please," Lucario said to Chris.

"I'll be even more careful after being mauled to death..." Chris muttered with a shrug.

The 11 characters began to walk through the portal before it disappeared with all of them.

"We returned to our usual daily work again," Master Hand said. "Everyone got their stands already, right?"

All the Smashers nodded.

"...And Chris didn't buy stickers or items at all because..."

"He's short of money," Luigi said. "He spent the coins in that weird village with mages."

Fox looked away. "Fine, I'm sorry for taking his money."

"You can't get over the fact I can use magic and you can't, right?" Wolf asked with a smirk.

Fox glared at him.

"Try burning me and you'll burn your tail one more time," Wolf said as he looked at Fox's black tail. "By the looks of it, you've been trying to master it ever since you got here, right?"

"Mind your own business, Wolf..." Fox said annoyed.

"I can zap you if I want to," Wolf said as he showed Fox his stand with the Thunder sticker. "Don't try to anger me or else you'll end up more burned than you are."

Fox looked away and grinned. "Wait until I catch up, though."

"I'll be waiting," Wolf said. "...To defeat you, of course."

"Same here."

Tails sweatdropped as he typed. "(He tried like 19 times and all those tries burned his tail so much, little by little...)"

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

Diamond City
Highway

The same red scooter's wheel was shown before the screen pulled out to reveal Mona. The teenager, once she was done with the cheerleading team, had to accelerate to get to the ice cream shop of the city by using the highway as a shortcut.

-Mona-

-Occupation: High School Student
-Places of Employment: Sora Sora, Gelateria, Mona Pizza, Diamond City Roughs' Cheerleader, Bassist of "Mona and The Hot Slices," and Wario Ware, Inc.
-Preferred Type: Wild Guys
-Bio: This peppy high-school girl keeps up with schoolwork, a part-time job at the restaurant, a part-time job at an ice cream shop, a part-time job at pizza shop, a part-time hobby as a cheerleader, a part-time hobby as a bassist, and her red scooter. For some reason, she's a little smitten with Wario. Ew.

"Oh my god," Mona said as she looked up worried. "I REALLY have to plan my schedule someday... How can I do that if I can't even think with all the pressure?!" she asked loudly to the sky before she looked back to the track and smiled a little. "Even so, I like to do wild things my way!" she said with a chuckle as she accelerated.

As she drove off into the distance, she closed her eyes.

"(I wonder what Wario's doing today,)" Mona thought. "(I saw him running to that temple with the Form Baton he found. The poor guy was chasing those cute little aliens with the baton... Oh well, I'm sure he's thinking of ways to make more microgames for the people,)" Mona looked bored. "(Then he would run away with all the money we've been making together...)"

The teenager sighed as she looked up to the clouds.

"(Seriously, he has so many employees like me, and yet he can't stop his ways...)"

Mona smiled.

"(Even so, he's way too wild!)" she thought in excitement. "(I LOVE wild guys like Wario! For now, I'll have to focus on my usual life before the big day!) YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAW!!!" she yelled excited as she began to accelerate even more, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

Close to the highway, there was a mountain pillar that had a house on the top. This house looked like an office with a big W on the roof and very small details that hardly made it look like one of the many buildings of the whole city (but then again, most buildings looked different).

If someone was close enough, some laughs could be heard that filled the air around it.

Wario Ware, Inc.

Inside the building, an office with a checkered-pink floor, organized books, a desk with a laptop, and some more graphs that mostly had money signs on them, was found. Near the desk, there were 3 shadows that were laughing together as money was thrown on the desk.

These 3 figures were Bowser, King Dedede, and...Wario.

"Wahahahahahaha!" Wario laughed as he and the other 2 looked down at the money. "Rejoice, my employees!" he said as the 3 grinned (this action couldn't be possibly put to Wario due to the fact he always showed his teeth) down at the money. "We have some loot on our hands!"

"Yeah!" King Dedede said as he picked some dollars. "Hehehehe, I'd say this job as an employer of this small company is really benefitin'."

"Man, just look at all the money," Bowser said as he grabbed some money. "I could afford pretty much anything I want with this."

"Pfft, you already steal rather than pay," Dedede said. "But who cares! We're filthy rich!"

"There's no way Wario could have accepted us as his employees," Bowser said as he wiped some money with a claw. "But he did it? That's odd coming from you."

"Meh, what can I say?" Wario asked as he lifted his shoulders. "The more people there is, the more money I'll get...or should I say WE get?"

-Wario-

-Occupation: CEO; Adventurer
-Skills: Stupid Strength; Gluttony
-Words to Live By: Get Rich Quick!
-Bio: A treasure-hungry adventurer, Wario dreams of making a fortune off video games. He's even formed his own company. So far, it's not working out very well.

The 3 laughed to the roof as they grabbed a bunch of money and tossed it above. As it fell down, they all looked at each other.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Wario asked. "We could hit the road and check my other employees' work."

"Yeah!" Dedede said. "You're a genius. How can they let you grab all the money by yourself without them arguing back about it?"

-King Dedede-

-Occupation: King?
-Hobby: Smash puffballs
-Number of Subordinates: A million and increasing
-Bio: This penguin is the supposed king of Dreamland. His main objective in his life is to defeat Kirby (or rather be a bully to him) so he can laugh down at him.

"That's because they know all the money goes to me only," Wario said. "My friends are that weird."

Wario didn't want to say that his money was always given to the other employees by some sort of screw up that the game maker himself made from time to time.

"Rest assured, this money is all ours!" Wario said with a laugh.

Dedede grabbed a bunch of money with his arms and actually hugged it. "I like green. It's my favorite color."

This was completely odd from Wario to share money with the 2 new employees rather than the rest of the employees. Did he have a change of heart?

Of course he didn't have a change of heart.

"(Fools,)" Wario thought as he saw both of the employees rejoicing. "(They don't know this is only 10 percent of the total amount of money we have. I own the rest of it concealed within my special money back...) Alright!" Wario said as he stuffed money inside his pockets. "Who's up to some examination? We're gonna go outside and seek those employees to check how their work is coming along!"

"Tabuu never did this to us," Bowser said as he nodded. "We're practically the gods of money by being here."

-Bowser-

-Occupation: King of Koopas
-Powers: Great Strength, Fire breath
-Motto: Take that plumber out here!
-Bio: This dude can't decide whether to accept the fact that he doesn't work well for the evil department, or just say he enjoys being a hero where he's appreciated more. Still, he struggles to be the "N.1 Final Boss of the game" as he says.

A Waddle Dee peered out from Dedede's right sleeve and looked at the king. "Hey, can we have some?"

"Nevah!" Dedede said as he pushed the Waddle Dee back.

"You have people inside that robe of yours?" Bowser asked.

"I have my ways," Dedede said.

"Well, let's not waste more time and go hit the road!" Wario said with some claps as the 2 nodded before the trio began to walk outside. "(More people, more money for me...)" Wario thought with a chuckle before leaving the office.

Diamond Knoll

On the small, green hills overlooking the city, a portal appeared, and the Smashers (along with the 2 guests) walked out from it before looking at the city, far away from where they were.

They didn't notice they all looked like cartoons. Chip surely fit well in that world.

"Alrighty!" Amy exclaimed as she looked at the city. "My first official mission has officially started! Man, this is gonna be so exciting!"

"What's exciting about us getting hurt?" Nana asked.

Amy giggled and turned to her. "Well, that ain't gonna happen here if I'm on the watch. We'll be just fine with this team."

-Amy Rose-

-Occupation: Avid Fangirl
-Hobbies: Love and romance
-Likes: Sonic
-Bio: This pink hedgehog has a huge belief in love, and she will always pursuit Sonic wherever he runs to. She thinks about Sonic 80 percent of the time (daily).

"Someone out there could say we're the weirdest bunch of a group," Chris said.

Sonic put a hand over his eyes to see the city. The hedgehog grinned and put his right hand on his hip as he looked at them. "The city's calling me. I gotta go!"

Without interruptions, the hedgehog quickly disappeared into the city. This action caused Chris (and the Smashers (and Amy)) to grunt annoyed.

"Dammit!" Chris cursed as Sonic disappeared from sight. "I knew he wasn't going to change! This is just like telling Kirby to stop eating food!"

Kirby looked pissed. He didn't like him to be compared with Sonic. The puffball had to agree with Chris.

-Kirby (of the Stars)-

-Occupation: Food Eater
-Abilities: Super Sucking Prowess, Copycat
-Likes: Anything that looks like food or is supposed to look like food
-Bio: It is unclear what Kirby really is or where he came from, but most people that know him believe that he has a stomach bigger than anything known in the universe. If there's something bigger than his stomach, then something must be awfully wrong.

"Oh," Chip began as he merely blinked. "Maybe I can tell him to come back here."

"...Oh, right..." Chris said with some nods. "That collar gives you that power...doesn't it?"

"Let me see," Chip said as he looked at the city, inhaled air, and put his hands to the sides of his mount. "Sonic, come back!"

The Smashers saw a blue bur coming out from the city, going to their same direction before it began to slow down, revealing the shocked hedgehog that stopped right in front of Chip.

"Oh, noooooooooo!" Sonic moaned as he tried to take off the collar. "This thing did this to me, right?"

"Apparently," Chip said with a chuckle.

"Oh, screw this," Sonic said with a grin. "It won't stop me from running away...NOW!" the hedgehog yelled before he quickly went back to the city.

"Come back, Sonic!"

And the hedgehog came back to the same position, looking annoyed at Chip. "Hey, stop it already!" The hedgehog yelled annoyed before he ran back into the city.

"Come back again, Sonic!"

And the hedgehog (yet again) returned back to the imp, much for his dismay, as he panted heavily with a glare to Chip.

-Sonic the Hedgehog-

-Occupation: Hedgehog(?)
-Special Traits: Big Ego, Super Speed
-Likes: Chilli-dogs, run 'round
-Bio: Sonic is known as the speed demon. This hedgehog likes to do things his way, resulting in him getting in trouble (or bringing trouble to his beloved ones). He has a big ego when he has the chance to show off his skills, much for the dismay of the people around him.

"Sonic..." Chris muttered worried.

The hedgehog looked back at the World Traveler. The face that Chris had right now made Sonic feel uncomfortable. Sonic couldn't try to forget the promise he made to Chris.

The hedgehog sighed with a frown and looked worried at Chris. "Sorry, Chris... I-I just wanted to..."

"It's okay..." Chris said. "You're not going to change right away, anyway..."

"I-I-I'll try to do it soon, trust me..." Sonic said ashamed.

"...Thanks," Chris muttered. "That makes me feel better for a little."

-Chris (Last Name Censored)-

-Occupation: World Traveler, High School Student, Trainer
-Hobbies: Play video games, spend time with friends, get tricked by a hand
-Problems: A lot he wants to forget but just can't
-Bio This young teen struggles each day to live...literally, due to the fact that his life is always in danger. Good thing he can use many skills to fight back or else he would be pretty much f(beep)d.

"Ahem, I'm sorry for interrupting this small yet unnecessary touching moment," Ness interrupted as he pointed at the city. "But we have some tasks to do. We have to find the gothic girl, the energetic girl, and the robot girl."

"I thought the robot was a male," Jigglypuff said.

"Yes, but it sounds good to mention they're all girls, otherwise it'd be pretty awkward."

"I-I just wished this didn't happen at all," Lucas commented.

"Meh, we have to do this, sadly," Diddy said.

"Hey, Wario Harassed People only, dude," Ness said. "Too bad we're just 2. Red could have been, but he's not here."

"I felt a little bit safer with Red..." Lucas muttered.

Ness narrowed his eyes at him. "Wait, did you just say you felt safer with Red than me?"

"N-no!" Lucas said as he waved his hands in panic. "I-I didn't mean that, oh no!"

-Lucas-

-Occupation: Twin Without Twin
-Family: Comboy Dad
-Behavior: The same as a baby Pidgey that is being attacked by a Fearow as it hides inside its nest
-Bio: Lucas struggles each day to have a happy life. However, his horrible past keeps him away from being a brave person. As a result, he fights to be courageous.

"Your body patterns say otherwise," Popo said.

"T-that's not true..." Lucas said as he flushed.

"Will you knock it off already?" Amy asked as she put her hands on her hips. "We have some things to do, right?"

"Amy's right, I guess," Chip said with a nod. "Don't we have to look for some people?"

"Hmm..." Kirby looked worried. "But there are 3, and Ganondorf's out there in the city, isn't he?"

"Kirby's right..." Diddy said as he rubbed his chin. "...Oh, I suggest that we should separate! You know what they say, divide and conquer."

"I suppose that's the best thing to do," Amy said satisfied. "Unfortunately, we need a map because we don't know where they all live."

"Actually," Chris interrupted. "I know that the robot Mike lives far away in the ocean up north from here, the gothic girl Ashley lives..." The World Traveler noticed a small spot in the sky where dark clouds gathered and let thunders come out. "...Just underneath those dark clouds to the north, and as for Mona...er..."

"What about her?" Amy asked.

"She...well...I don't know where she lives at all," Chris said. "I heard she has a lot of part-time jobs because she's a high school student."

"Oooooh," Amy nodded with a chuckle. "That's your typical high school teenager, alright. I know of these things."

"So you know where she is?" Chip asked.

"...Not really," Amy said, causing some of them to groan in disappointment. "But if my instincts are right, we could end up finding her!"

"Those instincts are somehow going to be our damnations for some reason..." Nana said with a sigh. "I can feel it..."

-Nana-

-Occupation: Ice Climber
-Hobby: Study to be a smart girl
-Achievement: Cleared Classic Mode without getting damaged (because Popo was always on the front of her)
-Bio: Unlike many typical stereotypical girls, Nana is a girl that has a good common sense, making her be different from young girls. This doesn't stop her from being energetic, though.

A toon red vein popped out from Amy's forehead as she was looking happy. "Okay," she said before looking bored. "Don't trust my instincts, you were warned."

"Just ignore her," Sonic muttered. "Let's go all into the city...as a group..." he muttered the last part with a grunt.

"Hold on," Ness interrupted. "We haven't decided who's going to who yet."

"Well, assemble already!" Sonic said annoyed. "I hate to stay still, y'know!"

"Let's use democracy here for once," Nana said. "We could come up with an agreement."

"Everyone who supports this idea raise your hand!" Popo said.

A while later...

"Forget it," Diddy said. "I'm not going to get the gothic girl. You go for her, Ness."

"Oh, no way," Ness said. "See those clouds with the thunders? I don't like people who live underneath unstoppable climate like that one. They tend to be creepy in a...creepy way."

"I-I agree..." Lucas said.

It has been a long while after the Smashers wanted to decide who was going with who. There wasn't anybody who thought the situation was pointless, unfortunately.

"Where Sonic goes, I'll go," Amy said as she grabbed Sonic's hand (making Sonic frown with a silent grunt). "After all, I could get kidnapped at any time," she said with a giggle.

"Didn't you say you hated to be a damsel in distress?" Chris asked.

Amy hid a glare to Chris and him only. "Not unless Sonic is my blue knight that will come to rescue me...right?!" she asked.

"Y-yes!" Chris said with some nervous nods. "W-whatever you say!"

"Good," Amy said as she forced a smile, much for Sonic's dismay as he carefully let go of Amy's hand.

"What if we put Sonic, Amy, and me to look for the robot, Ness, Lucas, and Chris to look after Mona, Jigglypuff, Kirby, and Diddy to look after Ashley, and Popo and Nana look after Ganondorf?" Chip asked.

Everyone looked at each other.

"...I think it sounds good enough," Popo said.

"Fine by me," Diddy said.

"I like the idea," Ness commented.

"Good enough," Amy said pleased.

"No!" Sonic said.

"Alright, 10 out of 11 said yes," Chip said. "Let's go to a greater future!"

-Chip Baron McChip (At least that's what he says his last name is…)-

-Occupation: Mysterious Goofy Imp
-Likes: Desserts
-Likes Even More: Chocolate
-Bio: We don't know where the heck Chip came from. Studies reveal he probably hit his head so hard that he lost his memory and escaped from a cartoon show, winding up somewhere else (here).

The imp flew down the knoll as he went towards the direction of the city.

"C'mon!" Amy said to Sonic. "We're gonna cross the ocean together. You better be prepared!"

"O-ocean?!" Sonic repeated in shock before Amy grabbed his hand and ran away to the city.

"Aww," Jigglypuff said with a pout. "I wanted to sick Sonic getting sea sick."

"...Hey, wait a minute!" Diddy remembered something. "I said I wasn't going to go for the gothic girl!"

"Too bad," Jigglypuff said. "We're going to get her here and you will like it. Kirby, bring him by force!"

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

It was not long before Kirby walked behind, sucked him inside his mouth, and began to walk slowly to the city with Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokémon waved at the 5 before looking back to the front.

"Wait, only the 2 of us will go after Ganondorf?" Nana asked.

"Isn't that asking for suicide?" Popo asked.

"W-well..." Chris looked embarrassed. "We already decided..."

The Ice Climbers gave him bored looks.

"..." Nana sighed. "It's been already decided, alright... Popo, let's just go."

"Onwards to the city of money, Nana!" Popo said excited before he ran down the knoll. "Let's get rich, b(beep)es!"

-Popo-

-Occupation: (Crazy) Ice Climber
-Personality: Many
-Affiliations: Nana and himself
-Bio: 'Unable to make a bio due to Popo's constant change of personalities in order to hide his sadness.'

This wasn't a good sign as Nana stared forward.

"...Oh no..." she muttered as she shook her head. "Popo HAD to remember our parents again at this time. He won't turn back to normal for a while now!" Nana looked at Chris. "Please, come with me or let 1 of those 2 come!"

"E-er," Ness began as he looked around, grabbed Lucas's and Chris's hands, and looked at Nana with some chuckles. "S-sorry, we have things to do on our own. Hope you get acquainted with Popo more!"

"W-wait!" Lucas pleaded.

"L-let's go!" Ness said after staring at Nana's glare.

"O-oww, you're grabbing my hand way too hard..." Chris moaned.

But the Onettian ignored the 2's comments as they all ran into the city.

Nana, grunting, made fists at the sides of her hips before she ran into the city, to the direction Popo ran off to.

Gelateria

Tight Schedule
Chase

"Aww..." Ness sighed as they slowed down. "I'm tired..."

Lucas looked back where he barely saw Nana entering another street by herself. "B-but we just ran like 50 feet from where we were..."

Ness eyed the ice cream shop nearby. "This is our lucky day. There's an ice cream shop over there."

"Are you making up an excuse to eat ice cream?" Chris asked annoyed.

"No," Ness lied. "If we want to look for a moving target, we need to have some food with us. Besides, it's hot out here. It's probably the summer season right now."

Chris wiped the sweat from his face. "W-well, that's true..."

"I think I like the idea, too..." Lucas said as he smiled a little. "If we can get ice cream, can I have one?"

Chris's eyes widened. "Ness's paying it! He has an insane amount of money in his ATM Card!"

However, Ness didn't look that shocked. "Oh well," Ness said. "It was time for me to use this thing," he said as he took out his ATM card.

-Ness-

-Occupation: Student(?)
-Dad's Occupation: Unknown
-Sister's Occupation: Express Officer
-Bio: Ness is probably one of the weirdest kids in all history. Not only he has psychic abilities, but he also has a bigger head than his own body. Studies reveal that his head is like that because of too much PSI energy.

"Finally," Chris rejoiced. "There's someone else who can spend money than me!"

"Okay, this is on me," Ness said as they walked to the shop.

A canine-looking man named Joe stood up from behind the counter and looked rather optimistic to the group. "Welcome!" Joe greeted. "Welcome to the Gelateria, Diamond City's only ice cream shop!"

"This is the only ice cream shop of the whole city?" Ness asked.

"That's why our sales are always high," Joe said. "Anyway, what ice cream do you want, kids?"

"Te-" Chris was about to correct him.

"We have all kinds of flavors; from the simple ones to the extreme ones!" Joe said happily. "Think of any flavor and we'll surely have it!"

Lucas smiled a little. "Do you have lemon-lime flavor?"

"Ooh, give me that one, please," Chris said somewhat excited.

"Get me a strawberry-chocolate flavor, then," Ness said as he showed him his ATM card. "Do you accept credit cards?"

"Oh, absolutely. This won't cost that much, too," Joe said. "Okay, you kids wait here. I'll get my lovely assistance here to get your ice cream."

Joe hummed happily as he walked to the back of the shop. The 3 kids (Chris: Oh, whatever...) turned their backs at the shop and looked at each other. "So do you know Mona?" Ness asked. "You played all of our games before, didn't you? You should have known about her."

"It sounds bizarre when you said I played all of you," Chris commented. "But...Mona is a very busy person. She likes to take many part-time jobs and deal with school at the same time."

"Oh, so she's a typical teenager," Ness said with some nods. "I guess this isn't going to be so hard to find her. It'll be a matter of time before we meet her."

"W-we're not going to meet Wario again, then?" Lucas said.

"I hope not..." Chris said with a sigh. "I'd hate to see Wario in person. I...hate greedy people so much..."

"Aren't you a little bit greedy, though?" Ness asked.

"NO!" Chris yelled loudly and suddenly.

Ness and Lucas backed away from the quick, yet loud yell from the World Traveler.

"...I-I'm sorry..." Chris apologized as he looked away. "I-I'm not greedy, it's just that I...well..."

The 2 PK kids noticed that the World Traveler looked down sadly in shame.

"...Hey," Ness began to break the silence. "Are you okay?"

"...Yes," Chris said with a nod. "I'm fine now..."

"(That was weird...)" Ness thought. "(Why would he yell like that? I just asked a question...)"

"A-are you sure you're okay?" Lucas asked worried.

"I-I'm sure of it," Chris said. "Please, don't get that worked up for me. Ignore me, please."

"That's hard to ignore after what yo-" Ness shook his head. "I mean, okay."

Lucas, however, felt guilty.

"Alright," a female voice called from behind them. "Here are your ice creams!"

The 3 didn't even look at her as they simply grabbed their ice creams, Ness gave the ATM card to her, and later got it back. "Hmm..." Ness said in pleasure as he licked his ice cream. "Man, now I know why this is only the only ice cream shop in the whole city."

"I hope you enjoy our ice cream," the girl said as the 3 still looked away. "Also, we hope to see you here again!"

"Hey, Mona," Joe called from the door. "We have to go back to Mona Pizza and deliver pizzas! People are drooling over our pizzas already!"

The girl revealed to be Mona as she looked at Joe and chuckled. "Okay. I'll be right back there!"

"Meanwhile, I'll make my way to there as well!" Joe said excited before he slammed the door.

"...Mona?" the 3 Smashers muttered before they saw the teenager jumping over the counter, where she ran to the left and rode her red scooter to where she drove to the west of the city.

"...Dammit," Chris cursed as he licked his ice cream. (Apparently, the ice cream was just too good to skip). "I forgot she worked here!"

"B-but we're going to lose her track if we don't follow her!" Lucas said, licking his ice cream in panic.

The trio looked to the west, where the trail of smoke was still there. "Follow that trail and get the high schooler!" Ness commanded as they all licked their ice creams and ran to the west as fast as they could.

"C-can we catch up with her, though?" Lucas asked as he panted (and continued to lick his ice cream).

"We'll have to rely on our feet," Ness said as he ran and licked his ice cream. "And dammit, why did she have to make this thing so good?"

The 3 Smashers disappeared into the west...

Beach

Quest Of
Un-Discovery

The sweet ocean's breeze swiped the sands of the beach as a pink hedgehog overlooked the ocean. With a sigh, she joined her hands together and closed her eyes.

"(The ocean calls for people,)" Amy thought. "(The ocean is calling me,)" she thought. "(And the ocean wants me to get a partner and stare into its blue majestic deepness...)"

The pink hedgehog opened her eyes as they glittered with some tears, looking up to the sky.

"Sky and ocean," Amy muttered. "You're the same like a guy and a girl. Both of you are blue, but what am I to do with you?" she asked. "I'm not the same color as you, but can you still accept me?"

Waves washed ashore to her feet as she smiled a little.

"I'll take your replies as a yes," Amy said. "Blue can mix well with any other color out there, including mine," she said with a giggle as she closed her eyes. "Alright, sky and ocean, I want you to meet my partner, Sonic the hedgehog!"

The pink hedgehog turned around and held out her right hand...

...To no one in particular...

"...HEY!" Amy yelled once she opened her eyes. "Sonic, where did you go now?!" she asked angrily as she looked at some nearby palms. "A-ha, there you are!"

Sonic's pathetic try to hide himself behind a palm (that was thinner than he was) proved to be useless as Amy stomped the sand and walked all the way to the other side of the palm, looking down at a terrified Sonic as the blue hedgehog sat down. "Y-you're not going to make me go in there!" Sonic panicked.

"Geez," Chip began as he descended down from the palm, holding a coconut bigger than he was. "Sonic's getting really panicked, isn't he?"

"He's just like this when he gets near a shallow pool or the ocean!" Amy complained to Chip.

"I-I can handle shallow pools well," Sonic said with a terrified smile. "Y-you just haven't seen me close to them..."

"That's why you're scared of water as well!" Amy complained at Sonic. "It's pathetic to think you're a super hero that can't even look down at the water!"

"E-everyone has dislikes and I'm not different!" Sonic yelled back.

"Well, sorry for telling you this, but you have to get over your fear of water someday!" Amy yelled back. "Whatever! We have to cross over the ocean and find that robot musician!"

"Y-you guys go on ahead," Sonic said with some chuckles. "I-I'll just chill down here..."

"Oh, no way," Amy said as she grabbed Sonic's right arm and tried to make him stand up. "You're going to get wet and you'll like it, hedgehog cat!"

"NO!" Sonic yelled as he embraced the palm while Amy tried to pull him off. "You can't make me, Amy! Stop it!"

"No way!" Amy yelled. "Ugh! Come over here, you!"

Chip watched helplessly a-

Amy got an instant idea.

"Hey, Chip, tell Sonic to come with us!" Amy said with a grin.

"W-what?" Chip asked.

"Sonic's under your control, isn't he? Make him come with us and tell him not to run away as well."

"NO!" Sonic yelled in panic.

"Will do," Chip said. "Sonic, follow us to where we have to go and don't try to run away."

Something inside Sonic's mind rang before he stopped embracing the palm and walked next to Amy. The only thing Sonic was able to do was to sigh and look down in depression.

Amy giggled in pleasure. "Okay," she said. "Now that we have him under our contro-"

"I thought I was the one above his contro-"

Amy glared at him.

"I-I mean, our control..." Chip said with a gulp.

Amy winked at Chip and looked around. "Now, how are we supposed to cross the ocean?"

"Using a plane, perhaps?" Sonic suggested, trying to calm down.

"I wish," Amy said. "Maybe there's someone here that could help us out?"

"Who?" Chip asked.

Several feet away from them, over some rocks, there were 2 figures that were meditating as they had their closed, joined hands above their crossed legs while the waves passed at the sides of the rocks. These 2 figures were a tall teenager that wore Asian-looking blue training clothes, had a weird black hair shape, wore some iron bracelets on his wrist, and stood next to a short old man with a red nose, had a grey ponytail, wore some kind of earphones on his ears, had a black curved mustache, and wore a purple robe.

"..." The young disciple opened his eyes. "Master..."

"..." The old man opened his eyes. "Begin!"

The 2 quickly stood up and sent right fists forward while a huge wave crashed behind the rock they were on. Then, both sent right kicks upward as another wave crashed, creating a mighty roar before both began to spin, kick, and punch the air as yet another wave crashed behind.

"…Master!"

"Now!"

But then a very huge wave quickly pushed them off the rock, made them crash into a much bigger rock just in front of them, and made them fall down back into the water.

The young teen floated above the water as his eyes turned into swirls. "Master..." he muttered as he felt vertigo.

The old man's back floated nearby him. "Sorry..." he muttered through some bubbles.

It happened that Sonic, Amy, and Chip were staring at the 2 odd people doing their training in the beach. They all looked bored as the 2 kept floating on the water as Sonic, Amy, and Chip were standing on the sand. "We surely don't want to ask them for help," Amy said bored. "They looked kind of cool before, but they're really pathetic."

"Agreed," Sonic and Chip said with some nods.

The 3 noticed that the 2 were already kneeling down in front of them. The 3 took a step back (except Chip) and looked down at them. "H-hey, how did you get here so fast?" Chip asked surprised.

Amy gasped. "There are people faster than Sonic?"

Sonic looked pissed at this comment.

The young disciple stood up and looked down at the 3. "Hello, happy couple and cartoon-looking imp."

"Okay," Amy covered her cheeks. "I ALREADY like them so much."

"I ALREADY hate so much," Sonic commented.

"I ALREADY am hungry," Chip said before he began to bite his coconut. "Ugh! Break through this!"

"Allow me," the young disciple said as he took the coconut away from Chip, put it on his left hand, and put his right hand above the coconut.

Chip gasped. "No way, you're going to break it apart by using your hand and not a fist?"

The young disciple closed his eyes and concentrated... He quickly opened them, yelled loudly, and slammed down the side of his right hand on the coconut.

Sonic and Amy merely stared at the hand on the coconut as it didn't do anything.

"Maybe it'll break apart right now," Chip said excited as he looked at his coconut.

However, the only thing they were able to see was the young disciple's hand getting all red. They looked bored at this, expecting the disciple to yell loudly in pain.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen as the young disciple nodded and handed over the coconut to Chip. "I'm sorry," he said as he shed a tear out of pain. "But I'm not strong enough to do it."

Chip sweatdropped. "U-um...it's okay..."

"Master!" the young disciple suddenly yelled.

"Fear not," his master said to him as the disciple knelt down to him. "You still have a long way to go, Young Cricket."

"(Young Cricket?)" the trio asked in their minds.

"Master Mantis, I'm sure I'll be strong one day," the disciple named Young Cricket said as he made a fist. "I'll try to master the sideway hand form eventually!"

"(Sideway hand form?)" the trio asked in their minds.

"Keep working," Master Mantis (the old man) said with a nod as he joined his sleeves together. "For now, just keep working, Young Cricket."

Sonic, Amy, and Chip shifted their eyes. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell..." Amy trailed off. "...See you later!" she said.

"Wait," Young Cricket interrupted. "We're coming with you."

Young Cricket and Master Mantis temporarily joined your tea-

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Amy yelled loudly, enough to stop the message from completing itself. "What? Why are you going to follow us? We just barely met each other!"

"My name is Young Cricket," Young Cricket introduced himself.

-Young Cricket-

-Occupation: Cricket
-Age: Young
-Skills: Many forms he has yet to master
-Bio: Young Cricket is the young disciple of Master Mantis. A very focused disciple, Young Cricket and Master Mantis travel around the world in hopes to find new forms, but they decided to stay in Diamond City for the time being.

"And my name is Master Mantis, Young Cricket's sensei, or master, or both titles," Master Mantis said with a nod.

-Master Mantis-

-Occupation: Master
-Bug: Mantis
-Abilities: Train people
-Bio: Master Mantis is Young Cricket's sensei, or master, or both titles. This old man knows that there are many forms (such as the Remote Control and The Elephant) that exist in the world, and he takes Young Cricket along his long journey of discovery to find such forms. Lately, they both live in Diamond City, where many forms have been discovered.

"O-kay..." Sonic said with a nod. "But why do you exactly want to come with us?"

"There's an evil air trying to engulf you all," Master Mantis said.

"And our job as master and disciple is to make evil leave your souls," Young Cricket added.

"Such is the way of the forms."

"We'll keep an eye on that evil air for you if you take us along," Young Cricket said.

Amy blinked at the 2 before she whispered something to Sonic. "I take that back. These aren't pathetic, but pretty stupid and weird..."

Sonic had to nod in agreement.

"What evil air exactly?" Chip asked.

"It's an evil air we have yet to understand," Master Mantis said.

"...You're saying random things, aren't you?" Amy asked bored.

"Oh no," Young Cricket said as he made a fist (with his flashing red hand). "There's definitely an evil air trying to make your lives miserable. Please, allow us to accompany you in your journey."

"Er...is the journey supposed to take place around these parts only?"

"If you'd like to think that way, it'll be fine with us."

"...I guess it is okay..." Amy muttered.

"Really?" Sonic and Chip asked.

"We should ask them for their help," Amy whispered to them as she moved her right hand to the sides. "They're stupid, but they could give us a hand..."

Apparently, both Young Cricket and Master Mantis had an interest in Amy's right hand moving around that they decided to spoke up. "The way you're waving your hand around..." Young Cricket muttered. "You want to cross over the ocean, right?"

The 3 looked somewhat surprised at them. "W-what? How did you know?"

"You just used the "Fish That Wants To Cross Over The Ocean But Can't Swim Yet, So He Needs Help By Asking Others' Help" form," Master Mantis said with a nod. "And you look troubled."

The trio couldn't believe the farfetched (but accurate) guess of the old man as they looked at him with some dumbfounded looks.

"...What kind of form is that, anyway?" Sonic asked.

"A very important one," Young Cricket said as his eyes flared up. "Please, allow us to help you in your journey!"

Flames flared up in Master Mantis's round eyes. "Yes, let us go with you as my disciple has said."

Sonic, Amy, and Chip sweatdropped at their flaring eyes before turning their backs at them. "Even if they do look weird," Sonic whispered. "We should get all the help we need."

"I'm afraid so," Amy said with a sigh.

"Oh man..." Chip sighed as he rested his head on the coconut.

This surely was going to get weirder with the 2 newcomers in the team.

Young Cricket and Master Mantis temporarily joined your team!

Ashley's Mansion - Outside

Little Witch's
Creepy Desires

Thunders emanated out from the dark clouds around the purple sky and over the withered trees. The scene now showed a mansion on the top of a small hill, where it had a gate that leaded right to the mansion's front door.

3 lonely figures stood by the gate as they looked somewhat terrified at the mansion's shadow, looming over them while some bats flew around the place.

"O-okay..." Jigglypuff said with a gulp. "O-our target should be inside that creepy mansion. S-since I have 2 brave guys with me, you're going to walk in the front, right?"

"What?" Diddy asked, snapping out from his scared look. "What kind of question is that?"

"Hey!" Jigglypuff inflated herself a little bit. "Aren't you supposed to protect ladies like me?"

"Well, not this time!" Diddy yelled back. "We're all in this together so..." Diddy gulped as he looked back at the mansion. "...Okay, I don't like this place at all."

-Diddy Kong-

-Occupation: Spider Monkey
-Uncle Friend: Donkey Kong
-Weapon of mass destruction: Peanut Popgun
-Bio:A spider monkey that exhibits enthusiasm and fun when he's happy. Diddy likes to hang out with DK. When someone thinks about it, it's weird to see a nephew and his uncle hang out so much like DK and Diddy do.

"B-but we have to go in..." Kirby gulped as a small figure looked at them from behind a window, showing its shadow before it smirked and ran away. "I-I don't want to go in..."

"There could be some kind of monster in there..." Jigglypuff said as she shook in fear. "T-think of the abnormalities that are in there..."

"Luckily, we haven't entered yet," Diddy said, forcing a smile. "T-that's a good sign."

Their looks were quickly focused as the double doors of the mansion slowly opened. Their eyes widened before they all gulped. Was there a monster that wanted to go outside and attack them?

No... Instead of a monster, something else came out...

...A...piece of strawberry cake.

Jigglypuff and Diddy sighed. "Phew, just a piece of strawberry cake..." Diddy said as he brushed off his sweat. "I thought a monster was going to come out..."

"Yes..." Jigglypuff said as she smiled. "Well, we already know she isn't there. Let's get out of here!"

-Jigglypuff-

-Occupation: Singer Diva
-Hobby: Sing during shower
-Hates: Evolve into a "fat" Wigglytuff
-Bio: Jigglypuff's ultimate goal in life is to sing for a big audience to praise her for her singing voice. However, for some reason or another, the only thing she gets from her audience is a multitude of snores, much for her dismay and rage.

Diddy and Jigglypuff chuckled to themselves as they turned around...just to see the 2 gates closing in.

"..." Diddy's happy look suddenly turned into a shocked one. "P-please, tell me the gates didn't close on us..."

"F-fine," Jigglypuff said as she began to shake again. "I-I won't tell you..."

"Wait a minute..." Diddy trailed off.

"Of course, we can just jump over them!" Jigglypuff said with relief.

"No, not that," Diddy said. "Aren't we forgetting someone here?"

The Balloon Pokémon's eyes widened as she turned around with the spider monkey. They both quickly gasped once they saw Kirby slowly approaching the strawberry cake by the door. Diddy could barely notice that a string was attached to the cake, making him gasp.

"A-a trap meant for Kirby only!" Diddy yelled.

"Kirby must east delicious cake..." Kirby muttered as he stared deeply into the strawberry on the top of the cake. "Kirby must make the food disappear..." he said in a trance.

"Oh my goodness..." Jigglypuff gulped. "Kirby's in a trance for food!"

"W-what are we doing here without doing anything?!" Diddy asked with a gulp as he pointed at Kirby. "W-we have to get that walking endless stomach guy before he gets tricked!"

Jigglypuff and Diddy gulped to each other before they began to run after the puffball.

The Star Warrior's only thought was the taste of the cake. Kirby put a hand close to his mouth as he smiled a bit at it once he made it to the food, located above a small mattress.

Behind him, Diddy and Jigglypuff stood close to him with some glares. "Kirby, you need to control your temptations with food already!" Jigglypuff yelled. "What if this cake contains poison or something?"

"I doubt it..." Kirby said as, through his eyes, he saw sparkles glittering around the cake. "Cake looks delicious..." he muttered.

Diddy stared down at the cake. "Okay, we have to get out here now that we stopped him from eating thi-" Diddy stopped talking once he saw Kirby swallowing the cake by sucking it to his mouth, where he rubbed his tongue with his lips and smiled pleased. "…Oh my god. Kirby, are you alright?!"

"K-Kirby, doesn't it taste weird?" Jigglypuff asked.

Kirby thought for a moment. "Tastes like...cake."

"..." Diddy looked bored at him. "So nothing happened?"

They looked down at the string of the cake.

"So why was this string for?" Diddy asked as he grabbed the string.

Suddenly, the mattress underneath them was quickly removed by some kind of force, revealing a huge empty hole of darkness.

The 3 looked down before their eyes widened.

"G-guys..." Jigglypuff gulped. "I-I don't like where this is going anymore..."

"I was thinking that the same moment we first saw this place!" Diddy yelled. "Crap, we're going to fall at any moment!"

"Why in any moment?" Kirby asked curiously.

"Because, as you may have noticed, we're floating in midair," Diddy said as he raised a finger. "This phenomenon is only shown in cartoons, and since we have cartoon looks, then it's understandable that we can float in midair over bottomless holes like this one," Diddy explained.

"Aaaaaaaaah..." Jigglypuff nodded. "So, we can like, escape?"

"I'm afraid not," Diddy said. "Normally when you notice you're about to fall, you're going to fall the next moment before having the opportunity to step away from the abyss or hole." Diddy looked. "What I'm trying to say is..."

"We're screwed, right?"

"...Sadly, yes."

"..."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Jigglypuff yelled before they all fell down the hole.

For a small moment, Diddy's hat spun on the air before the Kong's hand reached for it in time as it pulled back into the hole, where the mattress covered in instantly.

Inside the hole...

"WE'RE GOING TO FALL INTO ACID FOR SURE!" Jigglypuff yelled as she embraced herself and spun clockwise with Kirby as Diddy spun downwards.

"W-why do you think that?!" Diddy asked as he grabbed his hat from falling off.

"TRUST ME, THERE'S SURELY AN ACID POOL DOWN HERE!"

"C-c'mon! W-we just have to find a way to escape from here!"

"I'M ALL EARS!"

"U-u-u-u-u-um..." Diddy tried to think. "...Dammit, I don't have any!"

"GOOD FOR NOTHING!!!" Jigglypuff yelled angrily as they continued to fall down the hole.

"I-isn't this hole going all the way down?" Kirby asked suddenly.

"Well, of course!" Diddy yelled annoyed. "What did you think?"

"B-but it has been a pretty long while after we started to fall, don't you think?"

"...Wait a second, he's right!" Diddy said as he tried to stop spinning. Once he did, he looked down. "A-as a matter of fact, this hole doesn't have a bottom at all!"

The trio then noticed that they fell right on safe floor, where they moaned in pain and shook their heads as they slowly sat up.

"T-that was it?" Jigglypuff asked as she looked around the floor.

"...Um..." Kirby looked at one direction.

"What is it?" Diddy asked before Kirby pointed at the direction he was pointing.

For some odd reason, Kirby was pointing to...outside, right on the same place where they stepped on the mattress with the hidden hole.

Ashley's Mansion - Entrance

"...What did just happen?" Jigglypuff asked. "I thought we fell through that hole a moment ago!"

"I-I don't understand this!" Diddy said as he stood up. "How come we ended up inside, just some feet away from the same hole we fell through?"

Diddy's only response was the door closing on them.

"Aw, come on!" Jigglypuff yelled annoyed. "We already had gates close on us, and now these doors are the ones closing on us?"

"I-I think we should stop yelling, you know..." Kirby said with a gulp as he looked around the darkness.

"Why's that? I want to yell all I want," Jigglypuff said with a glare. "And if somebody gets annoyed by that, then show me who it is!"

The darkness of the place suddenly was brightened a little by small candles that were located at the sides of the new walls that appeared around them, revealing a small halfway that had 2 living room at the sides, while 2 staircases: one that leaded up to the second floor, and one that leaded down to the secret library, were in front of them.

"...I don't like this place..." Diddy muttered as he looked at the candles. "I REALLY don't like this place..."

"We all have the same thought...unfortunately..." Jigglypuff said as she stood up. The Balloon Pokémon tried to open the doors, but they didn't even budge as she fell down on her butt and sighed. "...Let me guess, we won't escape this place unless we find Ashley, right?"

"I guess..." Diddy said with a gulp. "L-let's see if she's here..."

"No," Jigglypuff interrupted. "Let's see if she's NOT here instead."

"Who dares to go in here?"

The 3 gasped at the creepy voice that came from the right living room. They also noticed that smoke began to flew out from the direction of the living room, making them gulp in horror.

"I believe I asked you 3 a question," the voice said.

"W-we're here to look for a girl named Ashley...do you...know her?" Kirby asked.

"That would be me."

"...W-we found her!" Jigglypuff said with a nervous laugh. "O-okay, mission accomplished! We can leave anytime now!"

"Not quite," Ashley's voice said. "You decided to come here without any sort of invitations from me personally. You need to explain yourselves or else I'll try to find some use in all of you to be ingredients for my potions. Now, let's see, I do believe there's a potion that needs 60 percent of a spider monkey's body..."

Diddy gulped.

"And I know that I need some pink fur for another potion..."

Jigglypuff gulped.

"And I know that I...er...um..." Ashley's voice decided to go into silence as she tried to find something for Kirby. "...Whatever the puffball is made of, I'll surely find a potion to make out from him."

Kirby gulped.

"Or if you want to avoid your cruel some destinies, come to me now."

"...W-we have to go..." Diddy said with a nod.

"W-what? Are you actually going to fall for that?" Jigglypuff asked. "M-maybe she's going to trick us all like she did with Kirby."

"Oh, come now," another different, high-pitched voice began as it was heard from the living room's direction. "That was just a little act I wanted to do with you. I never thought the cake would work."

"It was very good," Kirby commented.

"Kirby, we're supposed to be scared to death by Ashley now..." Jigglypuff said bored.

"Oh, is that so?" Ashley asked. "Well, do come in here if you want to see me in person..."

Diddy grabbed Jigglypuff's and Kirby's hands before looking at the room. "O-okay, you heard her out! Let's go and meet her to end our lives!"

"W-wait!" Jigglypuff pleaded, but she was unable to escape from Diddy's grip.

Ashley's Mansion – Living Room

The small group walked to the living room where a big smokescreen prevented them from seeing anyone else than them. Through the smoke, they could barely see 2 red eyes glaring at them as a silhouette of a big pot was located just beneath the eyes. The trio gulped in fear as the smoke slowly cleared out...

And when it did clear out completely, there was the little witch, moving a big ladle in the pot that contained some kind of purple beverage. Ashley kept moving the ladle around as she focused her sight into the 3 terrified Smashers. "Welcome," Ashley said. "How can I help 3 scared souls like you?"

-Ashley-

-Occupation: Young Evil Witch
-Hobbies: Make many sorts of potions
-Slave or Minion: Red
-Bio: A silent witch that lives close to shores of Diamond City where she makes potions of all sorts all the night long. Ashley rarely smiles as she's always seen doing some kind of project. She's always accompanied by her little devil friend (or slave) Red.

Diddy gulped. "W-we sure don't want to turn into ingredients for some potions..."

"So please, don't kill us!" Jigglypuff pleaded.

Ashley smiled a little at them, causing the Smashers to look terrified. "I have a small temptation for scared cute creatures like you. The more you're scared, the more I get excited."

"Y-you don't look that excited..." Kirby said with a gulp.

"I will once I rub your trembling bodies," Ashley said.

"T-try to calm down..." Diddy whispered at them. "W-we need to keep her creepy temptations away from us..."

The 3 tried to remain silent without even trembling. Ashley merely stared at them as they all SOMEHOW calmed down with a group sigh.

"..." Ashley's smile faded away. "Okay, now you're unimportant to me." Ashley sighed with a frown. "What do you want here? Respond now or else."

"We came here to ask you to come with us to the Smash Mansion to sing a song," Diddy said.

"...A song?" Ashley asked. "Well, I do like to sing during my free time, but that's that. I don't do a living out of it." She continued to move her ladle around the pot.

"Ashley has the greatest voice, though!" a devil that sidestepped from behind Ashley said. This demon wore a small yellow baby's necklace, and had a black trident on his right hand as he pointed it at them. The devil's name was Red. "Dare insult her and get hell from her!"

-Red (not to be confused with Red the trainer)-

-Occupation: Devil slave
-Hobby: Listen to whatever Ashley asks him to do
-Second Hobby: Pinch people with his trident
-Bio: Red is one little devil that assist Ashley to seek out ingredients for her spells or potions. One might say that the devil's devotion to Ashley can't be matched.

"Red, stop it," Ashley said.

"Yes, Ashley..." Red said in disappointment. "I'm just trying to make you look more omnipotent..."

"It doesn't work."

Red looked down sadly.

"Please, don't mind Red," Ashley said. "Anyway, I have no interest in coming with you. You can leave the mansion before I think about using you all as ingredients."

"No!" Jigglypuff yelled. 'Please, we need you to come with us!"

"Why would you want me so badly?" Ashley asked. "It's not like people to come and barge in without invitations and ask me to sing something I don't want to do."

"Really, we're not the ones who want to ask you this," Diddy said. "But our boss, a floating hand, sent us here to look for you."

"A floating hand?" she repeated.

"I know it sounds weird, but we DO have a floating hand as our boss..."

"...A floating hand..." Ashley seemed interested in the offer. "...Hmm... Does he have magical powers, by any chance?"

"He does..." Kirby said with a shrug.

"...Okay," Ashley said with a nod, making Red gasp. "I'm interested."

"Y-you're coming with us, then?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I never said that," Ashley stated.

"So..."

"I'm interested in your offer, not agreeing to do it," Ashley said. "If you want my help, then...you'll have to do some favors..."

"W-what kind of favors are those?" Kirby asked as he began to shake in fear.

Ashley smiled at this reaction. "Don't worry; this won't put you in danger if you follow my instructions correctly..."

"...This is getting even creepier..." Jigglypuff commented with a gulp.

"Agreed..." Kirby and Diddy whispered.

Sora Sora

Of Ninjas And The Evil Forces Of Ganondorf

Back to the normal city's locations, there were an excited Popo with a frowning Nana walking in front of the establishment as the blue Ice Climber sat down on a bench, making Nana look annoyed at him.

"Why are you resting now?" Nana asked.

"Because my feet hurt," Popo said. "And when they hurt, they make me sit on benches like this one."

"Popo, we're supposed to be looking for a man whose skin is green," Nana said in annoyance. "Now you want to rest here?"

"Hey, he's gonna find us pretty soon," Popo said with a smile as he laid down on the bench, and took a newspaper that he used as a bed sheet. "Let's wait for him until then." Popo turned to the bench and yawned. "I wanna sleep..."

Nana grabbed the newspaper and tossed it away to the trash can before looking at Popo. "Stop playing dumb already!"

"But Nana," Popo turned to her. "I have to be distracted because of the memory of my parents!"

"Well, now's not the time!" Nana yelled at him.

"Too bad, I have to do this," Popo said before lying back down on the bench.

"...Hey, you were smart a second ago, weren't you?"

"I do not remember," Popo said in a monotone voice. "Please try again sometime."

"Ugh!" Nana grunted in annoyance. "If he's close to us, we have to hide!"

"Alrighty then," Popo said as he jumped off from the bench and ran over an alley where he entered inside a trash can and hid inside. "Do you like my camouflage, Nana?" Popo asked as his voice echoed.

Nana frowned to the sky before she ran to the trash can. "Popo, get your butt out of there right now! You can get sick if you stay in there!"

"I found yogurt inside," Popo said. "Is it edible? I guess it is. I'm eating it!"

"Eww!"

Nana blinked surprised as 2 sheets of paper from the right side of the wall's alley fell off, revealing 2 twin girls that were stuck on the wall by using her backs and hands. Apparently, these 2 girls were using camouflaging by hiding themselves with the same color of the alley's wall. Popo peered out from the trash can as they both looked up to the twins.

"W-what kind of an idea is that?" a girl with pink hair and a ponytail asked as she and her twin sister looked down to them. "T-that's just disgusting!"

"Oh, great going, Popo," Nana said bored. "You've made those 2 think weird of you."

"Sweet," Popo said as he took out mentioned half-eaten yogurt. "Wanna have some?"

"Popo!" Nana yelled.

"Eww, it's disgusting!" the other twin that had orange hair with 2 ponytails said, sticking out her tongue.

"We KNOW it's disgusting already," Nana said as she rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him, okay? My brother can be smart an-"

"Do you call him smart?"

"W-well, not now! He's really smar-"

"Are you really sure he's smart?"

"Look, just let me finish!" Nana said annoyed. "He's dumb right now so he can distract himself from a sad memory he's been trying to forget an-aw, crap! I made him remember it!"

"I'm being a gentleman here!" Popo said angrily. "Do you want some yogurt?"

"NO!" the 3 girls yelled in disgust.

"You know what? Ignore him!" Nana said annoyed.

"W-we've been trying to do that, but we just can't!" the girl with pink hair said.

Nana hit her forehead. "Popo, toss that thing away."

"B-"

"NOW!"

Popo tossed the yogurt away with a groan.

"..." The 2 girls looked worried at each other.

"Okay, you can stop being human stickers and come down here," Nana said. "He doesn't bite, don't worry."

"I chew, though," Popo said with a smile.

"And he definitely doesn't do that as well," Nana said as she saw both girls climbing down the wall...slowly. "...Oh, come on already! He's harmless!"

The 2 girls sighed in depression before they both jumped down just landing in front of them. Both girls had the same height as both of them. The 2 girls were wearing some kind of small ninja uniforms designed only for them. The 2 girls bowed in respect to them.

"Sorry..." the girl with orange hair said. "We thought he was really going to give us...you know..."

Nana frowned. "Ugh, I get this a lot. You don't know how hard it is to keep him away from strange things."

"That's a fact," Popo said with a nod.

"...Anyway, I know this is awkward to ask now, but who are you 2?" Nana asked.

"...Oh," the pink haired girl hopped a bit. "We're sorry. We didn't introduce ourselves yet, haven't we?"

"Guess."

She chuckled. "Sorry for being a little bit rude. My name is Kat, nice to meet you."

-Kat-

-Occupation: Kindergartener
-Special Skill: Throwing Stars
-Favorite Thing: Animals
-Bio: Descendent of the Iga ninja clan, Kat is the oldest of twin sisters. She goes to Diamond Kindergarten. Kat is bossy and a bit of a bully, but she loves her pet turtles.

The other girl chuckled a bit. "I was forgetting about introducing myself as well. My name is Ana, Kat's twin sister."

-Ana-

-Occupation: Kindergartener
-Special Skill: Weapon "Makibichi"
-Favorite Thing: Flowers
-Bio: Kat's younger sister, Ana, is very quiet. Kat sometimes makes Ana cry, but Kat is always there when Ana is in danger. Ana loves all living things, especially flowers.

"Alright," Nana said with a nod as she looked at Popo. "The idiot who you see here is my twin brother, Popo. My name is Nana, his twin sister."

"Whatcha doing tonight?" Popo asked with a wink, making the girls shrug.

"A-are you sure he's harmless?" Ana asked to Nana as the ninja gulped.

"Oh, for the love of..." Nana frowned. "He's not going to anything to you as long as I'm around, rest assured."

"Just...make sure he's away from me, okay?"

"...Yes... What were you 2 doing here, anyway?"

"We were training our camouflage ninja skills,"Kat explained. "You didn't see us, right?"

"No..." Nana shook her head. "Anyway, Popo, we don't have time to be goofing around here. We have to find Ganondorf and see what he wants to do here."

Popo looked at her. "He probably wants to find a way to change his skin's color. I mean, have you seen it? Maybe he's sick or he has AIDS or something."

Nana grunted. "Just get the hell out from that trash can and follow me!"

"Alright! I like my sister who knows where Ganon is!"

"...I...don't exactly know, though..." Nana pointed out.

"You suck."

Nana kicked the trash can to make it fall down, making Popo fall down as well.

The pink Ice Climber noticed the 2 girls were still there, staring at her. "Uh...well, we really have to go for now. Sorry for...doing this awkward event..." She looked away. "Damn you, Popo..."

"Oh, don't worry," Kat said as she chuckled nervously. "We'll try hard to forget the disgusting affairs from your brother."

"Please do...please," Nana said bored as she walked over to Popo to drag him back to the sidewalk.

Nana thought things over as she looked down at Popo (with a happy expression).

"Actually...I don't think I can do this with Popo..." Nana said as she dropped Popo's head down. "Ganondorf could be menacing. With that weird Triforce of Power in his hands and all that, he could be smart and take us both down..."

"Who is this Ganondorf you're speaking of?" Kat asked.

"You don't need to know," Nana said. "But if you want, Ganondorf is a weirdo with a green skin that bents to have power to rule anything in his path. Popo and I were left in charge to look for him, but I don't think we can spy on him to find out what he wants to do here..."

Kat and Ana looked at each other.

"Well, if you're so worried about him, why don't you let us tag along?" Ana asked with a small smile to Nana.

"W-what? Oh no, I don't want to make you get involved in this. We barely met each other as well." Nana looked down at Popo.

"No, it's okay," Kat said with a nod and a chuckle. "We don't look like it, but we're descendants of the Iga Clan; a famous clan of ninjas."

"Oh, so are you 2 ninjas?"

"The most talented," Ana said proudly.

"We're still training, you know," Kat said bored.

"Kat, I'm trying to make us look good to them!" she whispered angrily.

"Even so," Kat said as she and Ana looked back at Nana. "We'd like to help you. Ninjas are good at spying and stuff. We can make you 2 hide very well."

"I don't know..." Nana said worried.

"I can be a ninja if you want," Popo said with a wink.

Nana smiled a little (not because of what Popo said). "Are you sure you want to come along?"

"We don't have anything better to do," Kat said. "We can allow you to use our services without having to pay anything."

"Don't worry, we won't let you down," Ana said. "We think this is going to be fun and make us be better ninjas of the Iga Clan."

"...What do you say, Popo?" Nana asked.

"I say I'm going to have an amusing foursome with 3 girls," Popo said.

"I'm your sister!" Nana yelled.

"Ooh, too bad, then. I'm gonna have an interesting threesome with 2 twins."

Kat and Ana looked freaked out and both took a step back.

"H-he's joking, don't believe him!" Nana said in shock.

"...O...kay..." Ana nodded a few times. "...I think we can handle this...and him..."

"This is going to be a long day..." Nana muttered.

Kat & Ana temporarily joined your team!

Popo smiled happily, Nana frowned, Kat and Ana sighed in unison, and the chapter came to an end.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Life And Times In Diamond City. Somehow, that "usual" life doesn't sound normal to me..." Diddy said with a shrug.

"You tell me," Sonic said annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Diamond City

Chris, Ness, Lucas/Diddy Kong, Kirby, Jigglypuff/Ice Climbers, Kat & Ana/Sonic, Amy, Chip, Young Cricket, Master Mantis

References:

-Each title for each group references the titles for each character in Wario Ware: Smooth Moves at the beginning of their chapters, such as Kat & Ana's "Evil Attacks Diamond Dojo!" between other examples.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Wario owns a pharmacy called Wario's Pharmacy in the Mushroom City track in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

-Whatever you think, the title's name wasn't inspired by something else.

With the inclusion of the Shadow Nightmares, dreaded matches are going to appear very soon. The Shadow Nightmares is my own way to reference Persona 4 with its Shadows. Shadow Nightmares are basically like the Shadows of Persona 4. Not only the monsters will make chaos, but they will also cause emotional breakdowns for the Smashers that hide embarrassing secrets from everyone. Remember that I'll try to create and synch new scenes to them in order to make the Shadow Nightmares look far more menacing.

The true madness is beginning to unwrap itself as the arc continues. I promise there's going to be a battle at the last chapter.

This arc is going to be interesting, though. All the Wario Ware characters that have appeared until Wario Ware: Smooth Moves will appear in later chapters. How are they going to appear? Don't worry; I have everything set for each one of them.

4 different tasks; 4 different groups; 4 different ways to madness... Who's going to fall first under insanity? It's a small matter of time before someone does…or all at the same time.

(I'm glad the tank's whereabouts was finally resolved).

I have nothing else to say but encourage you to review. :)

Read and review, please. :D

…Or I'll give you some Gelateria's ice cream.

*Chapter 147*: Life And Times In Diamond City

My birthday officially has passed. I'm now 18 years old, and I'm still very enthusiastic. :D

From ngrey651: Ah, battles against shadow characters. I can't wait to see what'll be unleashed!

From me: I can't wait for you to enjoy the future battles. They will surely develop characters even further. Thanks. :D

From SeaDremon: I loved the character description, the best one I truly liked was Chip's, strangely... I hope Fox can prove Wolf wrong, without burning his tail, he did waste Chris's money, otherwise it was a waste of his money.

Amy is indeed fangirlish, and is plain evil. Sonic has a huge problem there, with Chip being intimadated by Amy.

And Chris needs a raise, well, IT IS Wario they might encounter and chasing a bike.

Looking forward to the next chapter,
SeaDremon

From me: Fox eventually will master magic soon. Maybe it'll take even longer? Who knows besides me. :P

Of course, not all descriptions are that accurate. Is Amy really at the level of being a fangirl?

If Chris would work at a real job, then he would receive a raise.

Thanks. :D

From aquadragonsayian: Lol, they're in Wario's world now! And Dedede and Bowser are Wario's employees? Well... that explains a lot! And what sort of insanity will befall the group now? Update soon please!

From me: That insanity will begin now. I hope I did make job at it. ;)

From Light the Lucario: In a city of chaos
There sleeps destruction
Inside eternal diamonds.
Be wary of does with evil in their hearts.

This was an awesome and funny chapter! I can't wait for the next one to come! I wonder what Chris and Kirby's duo attack will be... Either way it is going to be sweet! Let's see I rate this chatper to be five stars!

Now for a few questions... These Shadow Nightmares will they be appearing very soon or will they be else where? Are ya going to do a Sonic and The Black Knight Story arc as well? And that is all.

From me: The Shadow Nightmares will definitely appear very soon. As for that game becoming an arc, I don't think so. I watched all the story since I didn't plan in getting it, and it didn't look that good to me (besides the music).

Thanks again. :D

From SlasherMask: ----------

From me: Sorry, dude. I'm not going to put that review in due to the fact it has things from previous chapters I don't wish to answer.

But as your question about grammar, I think it's okay. Thanks. :)

From LastDrop: Hi, great chapter!

Warioware? Lol, this'll be interesting xD

p.s

Answering the previous question, I do think the idea of the magic was original lol, great idea!

From me: For some reason, the "lol" at the end of your explanation made me uncomfortable… Well, enjoy the chapter, please. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Sheesh, how are you updating so fast now? Before, it was at least weekly, now it's every few days. What's going on!? Well, unto my review...
Both of these chapters have been great so far, informative, and funny. Wario joining them, that has the same chance that you would accept using "Ju-on, the Grudge" as an arc (I seriously ask you to look no further then this name). So the musicians have finally been wanted now? About time, and I feel bad for Chris's group since they're chasing after someone who already has more work jobs then one should have. So after this arc, this means no more game arcs that have the smashers star in, right? Well, unto a...
ULTRA SPECIAL, BLAH BLAH BLAH!
Technically, RE4 isn't too bloody, disgusting yes, but bloody if not careful when there's a Chainsaw maniac or something of equal terms.
If you can, make sure to check out Blazblue Calamity Trigger(PS3), Xenosaga1(PS2) and Legend of Dragoon(PS1).
If I say that it was your idea originally, can I use your music idea?
Is there still one more job?
Well, A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Imaginative typing. :)

From me: I don't think I'm even updating fast. As a matter of fact, I'm updating regularly (except this time due to several new games I got in my birthday).

It's possible that the next arcs will either be about other Nintendo games or other popular franchises on the Wii and PS2 (or PS1). I'll only do the most popular because they're well-known among people. I don't think anyone heard of a cartoon adventure rather than kids.

Then it's bloody.

Let me respond to the 3 arcs: Forget it, no, and no.

I'd say no to the music favor. I don't want to lend my format style to another person. Try to come up with an idea to use tracks in your fics that doesn't mimic mine, please.

I guess there's another job. I mean, didn't Master Hand say so?

Thank you. :D

From DianaGohan: Overall this wasn't too bad a chapter. There were some interesting developments intertwined between either decent to sort of groan worthy comedic scenes. This arc has the potential to like a lot of others overload with "too many new characters itis" but this installment at least kept that under control. So overall decent start.

GRADE: B

From me: I hoe the decent start becomes greater. Thank you. :D

From MarioXXX: You know, some ice cream would be nice today, for both of us. Happy birthday to us both.
I like how you're using some of the smashers who haven't been used resently. Wario is defenatly rich, if 10% of his earnings are as much as that. The AM has struck, just as Dr. Eggman shows his newest plan. One question about that, how did he find out about their power? Did his first experament turn on him or something like that? I'm thinking Sonic is going to hate traveling with Amy and Chip. The small groups were good, but Popo is starting to creep me out. Kirby can't resist cake, can he?
Good chapter, and hoping for more updates.
RayGallade out.

From me: Dr. Eggman surely asked for permission to study the Shadow Bugs during his stance with Tabuu. Some of the people in the factory may have given to him some information like the Ancient Minister.

Yes, Popo creeps me out as well, don't worry.

Thanks to you both… Both?

We continue with the next chapter. In this chapter, I tried my best to balance scenes, but I think some scenes were longer than others were. If that's the case, I'm sorry. Ever since I got M&L: Bowser's Inside Story and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, I have been distracted a lot. (The good thing of this is that I will FINALLY remember the 13 characters with Xs in their names).

Game info aside, I encourage readers to review with this chapter.

Read, enjoy, and review please. :D

Disclaimer: Wario is Diamond City's Bill Gates in money.

Chapter 147: Life And Times In Diamond City

Streets

Back where Chris, Ness, and Lucas were, the group was running as fast as they could to get close to Mona. However, scooters were faster than their feet, and so they had trouble to get to her.

Plus, they didn't finish their ice creams yet.

"D-dammit..." Ness said as he licked his ice cream, still following the trail Mona's scooter left behind. "A-at this rate, she's going to get away..."

"I-I know..." Chris panted heavily as he licked his ice cream. "M-my kingdom for a way to get to Mona..."

"R-run..." Lucas moaned as he licked his ice cream.

The 3 eventually halted their progress to stop and regain their energies. Once they caught their breaths, they looked forward where the trail was disappearing.

"N-no!" Ness dropped to his knees, accidentally letting go of his ice cream to the floor. "W-we lost her!"

"Oh no..." Chris said as he dropped to his knees, continuing to lick his ice cream as he stared in shock at the trail. "We're never going to get to her this way..."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Ness asked. "Unless we had a good transportation method, then we're screwed!"

"W-we're in trouble?" Lucas asked as he licked his ice cream.

Ness tossed his cone away. "Shall we just...give it up?"

"Oh no..." Chris said with a serious look. "Think of the things Master Hand will do to us if we don't get to Mona." The World Traveler continued to lick his ice cream. "It's her...or Cruel Brawl..."

"We have YET to see what the mode's like," Ness said bored. "...But it'll be cruel, alright. Those enemies are pushovers in the other modes, but there, they're the ones who make us look like pushovers..."

Lucas shrugged as he looked at the sidewalks. "I-isn't there a way to get to Mona?"

"We're thinking about one," Ness said bored. "We'd like you to give us a good faster way to get to her. Do you have one? No? Then continue to think because I'm going to give up in a fe-" Ness noticed Lucas was tapping his left shoulder. "What?"

"T-there!" Lucas pointed forward to the other side of the street.

Right across the street, there was a taxi that was being cleaned in the car wash by 2 people. These 2 people were a tall bull-dog that wore a blue suit with a small green hat on his head, that used a rag to clean the roof of the taxi while a small yellow cat with a small blue suit and some green goggles on his forehead was cleaning the tires with 2 rags. The 2 seemed happy as they cleaned the taxi.

"And a little cleanin' over there, and one more cleanin' over here..." the bulldog said as he sang happily.

"A rub over there and another one down here..." the yellow cat said.

The 2 looked at each other and laughed. "And less interruptions to run like hell on the streets, yeah!" they both said together before laughing aloud.

The Smashers looked odd at the 2 as they laughed from the other side of the street.

"...I don't know, Lucas," Ness said unsure. "But those 2 look weird to me..."

"Actually..." Chris began as he licked his ice cream. "I know those 2..."

"Oh, sweet," Ness said bored. "Care to give us their names?"

"...Of course..." Chris said with a nod. "The bulldog one is named Dribble and the cat one is named Spitz."

Lucas stuck out his tongue, stopping licking his ice cream. "W-why would their names sound like some sort of..."

"Do we want to bother?" Ness asked. "They have a taxi, they must be taxi drivers, and taxi drivers help anyone who wants to go anywhere."

"Well, they both like to do things to the extreme, though..." Chris trailed off.

"Pardon me?"

"I-I think they could help us in chasing Mona if we tell them our story..."

"..."

"...And they'll surely like you to pay with your ATM card, Ness..."

Ness sighed as he took out his ATM card. "Well, if I have to do this, I have to do it. Besides, my money account is insanely big at this point. I don't mind spending a few millions."

Lucas and Chris blinked surprised at Ness.

"...What? It's true," Ness said.

Lucas shook his head. "A-anyway, we should go ask them..."

"Alright, let's go."

The 3 looked at the sides of the street before crossing it over. Once they crossed to the other, they stood behind the 2 drivers.

Dribble's right ear twitched before he looked over his right shoulder to them. "What is it?" he asked. "Can't you see we're busy?"

"U-um..." Lucas played with his fingers. "W-we were wondering if you could take us somewhere..."

"Somewhere, huh," Dribble asked as he turned to them. "Well, we're going to finish up the cleaning right now."

"Yeah," Spitz said as he looked up to them. "If you want to go anywhere, just tell us."

"We don't like to brag, but we're the best taxi drivers of the whole city," Dribble said proudly. "We like to go where the people want to go."

-Dribble-

-Occupation: Taxi Driver
-Skill: Driving
-Personality: Speed Freak
-Bio: This speed freak of a cabby drives for Diamond Taxi. He's burly guy, but he's not as bright as his partner Spitz. For some reason, they both have Bronx accents.

"Oh, is that so?" Ness asked. "We need to chase someone in truth and..."

Dribble's and Spitz's eyes widened. "I beg your pardon?" Spitz asked as his eyes opened. "You're chasing someone?"

"T-thing is..." Chris looked away embarrassed as he finished his ice cream. "W-we're chasing this girl named Mona, but she's got a scooter, and we can't get to Mona..."

"Mona?" Dribble asked. "Ooh, right, her... Why would you chase her around, anyway?"

"What the hell? Do they know each other?" Ness whispered.

"I haven't seen them talking to each other, but..." Chris whispered. "I guess they met face-to-face before..."

"Anyway, we're chasing her around because we need to ask her to do a favor to us. She's always in a rush or what?"

"Ah, yes," Spitz said with a nod, closing his eyes. "She's always in a rush to go anywhere."

"Yeah, nowadays, she's speeding her way to her workplaces," Dribble said with a grumble. "Heck, she sometimes breaks the sound barrier…maybe..."

"So you guys wanna get to her, correct?" Spitz asked.

"I-if you don't mind..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Dribble laughed loudly enough to make them take a step back. "Okay, here's the thing, if you want us to chase her around, you'll have to pay in advance."

"What do you mean by paying in advance? Why?" Ness asked.

"Because we always end up not asking for the bill of the trip at the end," Dribble explained. "You see, we tend to...meet supernatural people a lot of times..."

"Are you guys aliens disguised as humans?" Spitz asked with interested. "Or are you mermaids?"

Chris, Ness, and Lucas stared at him with odd looks.

"C'mon, you call tell us already! I love sci-fi stuff!" Spitz said in excitement.

-Spitz-

-Occupation: Taxi Driver
-Hobby: Reading Science Fiction
-Personality: Calm
-Bio: Sure, he's small, but in the cab he's leader of the pack. His cool head suits Dribble's need for speed well. Together, they dream of cabbing it in outer space.

"W-we're not aliens...or mermaids..." Lucas said as he finished his ice cream.

"..." Spitz frowned. "Meh, they reveal themselves at the end of the trip. Don't worry; your secret is safe with us."

"W-what?"

"Anyhow," Dribble began. "If you wanna chase Mona, you'll have to pay in advance."

Ness showed him his ATM card. "Will this do?"

"Of course, all kinds of ways to pay are accepted in Dribble & Spitz's Taxi Service," Dribble said with a happy expression before he looked serious. "However, since we're talking about Mona here, I'll assure you guys that this isn't going to be easy..."

"W-why?" Lucas asked.

"Didn't you hear us? She's always in a rush everywhere," Spitz said with a chuckle. "The only time she gets to talk to people is during school, and she doesn't get a free time to talk when she's driving off everywhere!" Spitz opened his arms. "We like to do extreme things, though. If you wanna see her and oblige her to spill the beans or something, then leave it to us!"

"We've never done this before, so it's worth the try," Dribble said. "Chasing her around it's gonna be the best experience ever. Imagine the speed meter going to the MAX!"

"Yeah, let's do it already!" Spitz said with enthusiasm.

The 3 Smashers looked at each other worried as the 2 cabs tossed their rags away.

"Okay, hop all in!" Dribble ordered.

The bulldog and the yellow cat took their seats in the front in a matter of time before the 3 Smashers shook their heads and got on the back seat, closing the doors quickly.

Dribble fixed the rear mirror to look at them with his right eye. "Okay, it's 11:00 AM right now. Mona should be delivering pizzas right now. If we want to interrupt her, we'll have to go to Mona pizza to the west side of the city."

"H-how do you know she's there right now?" Lucas asked.

"Dude, one would memorize that very quickly in a few days if you see her going pretty much everywhere," Spitz said before his eyes flared up. "Okay. Dribble, start the engine!"

"Right on!" Dribble nodded as he turned the taxi on, letting the motor roar a few times.

The 3 Smashers quickly took back their seats and put their seat belts on. "This isn't going to get pretty..." Ness muttered.

Chris gulped. "I-I don't like this..."

"M-m-me too..." Lucas gulped as well.

"Hold on tight on your seats and belts, guys," Dribble said as he narrowed his eyes. "We here at Dribble & Spitz's Taxi Service do things our way. If you don't like it, then leave!"

The 3 Smashers decided to look serious.

"Alright," Dribble said with a nod. "You guys are so determined, huh? Well then, at the count of 3, we'll start this chase. Spitz, start the countdown!"

"Okay!" Spitz raised a hand. "…3!"

"What?" the 3 Smashers asked.

"HERE WE GO!" Dribble yelled loudly as he slammed down his right foot on the pedal, making the car's wheels roll quickly before the taxi drove into the street and to the west at a speed of 70mph, making Chris, Ness, and

Lucas get pushed back to their seats.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Lucas screamed for dear life.

"T-this is nothing!" Ness yelled to him. "W-we have belts, remember that!"

"A-are we going to get to Mona's place like this?!" Chris asked loudly.

"You don't worry!" Spitz said as he stood up and looked back at them, raising his right hand. "We ALWAYS reach the places we want to go, even space itself!"

"S-space?!" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, isn't it cool?" Spitz asked with a small laugh.

Back to the driver, it was clear that Dribble underwent road rage as he put his chin on the wheel. "Where is she?!" Dribble asked as he looked at the sides of the empty streets. "She's supposed to be here!"

Spitz sat back on his seat and took out some binoculars. "Scanning area!" he yelled. "…Trail of smoke at 11!"

Right in front of them, there was the same trail of smoke from Mona's scooter becoming visible little by little.

"Alright," Dribble yelled as he leaned back to his seat, grinning a little at the sight of Mona's trail. "We've located her!"

Ness sighed. "Wow. That was so fast…"

"I'm glad…" Chris said as the force of the speed kept him from moving forward. "This is going to be easier after all…"

"…Oh no!" Spitz gasped.

"What is it? Inform me!" Dribble demanded, as he didn't lose sight of the trail.

"I-I'm afraid we didn't check the motors today…"

"What?! I thought we did!"

"N-nope…" Spitz scratched his forehead. "W-we were going to, but when these guys came to us, we kind of…"

"…" Dribble smacked his forehead and frowned. "For crying out loud, we were going t-"

Just as the trail of smoke was becoming more visible, some sounds began to make the taxi hop from the street before it began to lose speed slowly. Dribble and Spitz had their faces blank with some traces of depression before, eventually, the taxi stopped in its trail, halting the chase as the 3 Smashers remained silent.

"…" Lucas's mouth trembled before he looked down in shame. "We failed…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Dribble and Spitz yelled.

Spitz made a fist as he stood up. "Oh no, we're not going to lose now, not after we just started!"

Dribble hung his right arm on his seat as he looked at the 3. "You don't worry. We'll fix this thing up in a sec!"

The 2 taxi drivers quickly left outside, ran to the back, opened the back of the car, took out some wrenches, and ran to the front where they opened the car to let smoke come out before they dove into it and began to repair the taxi.

"…" Ness looked at the 2. "What are we waiting for? We have to chase Mona now that we have her closer!"

"O-oh, right," Chris said with a nod. "What about Dribble and Spitz, though?"

Ness opened the right window and stuck his head out. "You guys! Where's Mona's workplace?"

"It's 4 streets away to the west," Spitz yelled through the smoke. "Hey, wait a minute. You're not thinking in leaving, right?"

"We have to leave," Ness yelled. "Otherwise we'll catch up with her!"

"Aw, crap," Dribble cursed. "Our clients are running away!"

"No, wait," Spitz yelled. "It's going to be one heck of a chase if you run after her on foot!"

"W-why is that?" Lucas asked.

"Because of the fact Mona leaves the places she goes in a matter of seconds!" Spitz explained as he coughed. "You guys could barely reach the workplace before seeing her go!"

Ness opened the door and jumped out. "Screw it, we're running after her!"

"Y-you're serious of this idea, Ness?" Chris asked.

"Of course I am," Ness said with a nod as he motioned to him. "If what they say about her is true, then we don't have time to waste…"

"Okay, go!" Spitz yelled. "If you can't reach her, we'll catch up with you!"

"Y-you're going to catch up with us?" Lucas asked. "Are you going to follow us?"

"Or help us?" Chris asked.

"Depends," Dribble said as he continued to fix the car. "If you want, we can try to help you as long as you pay."

"…" Ness nodded. "Fine, you can help us."

"Besides, we never thought about chasing Mona without a reason before," Spitz said. "You guys are our perfect excuse to chase her around pretty much all Diamond City."

"W-wait, she goes everywhere around Diamond City?" Chris asked.

"Of course she does," Dribble said. "That's why she's always in a big rush."

"It's now or never, let's get a move on!" Ness yelled.

"W-why do you look so desperate?" Lucas asked.

"It's an evil feeling or hunch I have," Ness said. "It's probably a hunch."

The 3 Smashers quickly left their seats and ran towards the west, leaving the 2 cabs behind.

"Damn, Spitz," Dribble said as smoke continued to fly out from the front of the taxi. "We could have had them here to wait for us."

"Meh, they seemed in a hurry," Spitz said. "After all, they're like us, y'know? They like to do things to the extreme."

Dribble chuckled. "I'd say so."

Beach

Back at the lonely beach, there was a young disciple, standing in front of the waves as he showed the ocean his right palm while he focused.

Close to him there were Sonic, Amy, Chip, and Master Mantis watching Young Cricket doing some kind of meditation. "Look, this isn't going to help at all," Amy complained with crossed arms. "We're supposed to cross over the ocean, not meditate in front of it."

"Please, be patient," Master Mantis said with a nod. "Everything takes time, so do the forms."

"Forms, forms, forms," Sonic repeated in annoyance. "Those forms you talk about are nothing but crazy things."

The master looked at him. "Do not disrespect the forms," he said. "Otherwise they're going to focus their sight on you."

"Pfft, yeah, right," Sonic said as he rolled his eyes. "I don't care either way."

"YAH!" Young Cricket's sudden yell made them all look at him. "..." The disciple looked forward to the ocean after he threw a left fist to it. "...Master, I've failed..." He said as he lowered his head.

"You haven't mastered the "Open Ocean Path" form yet, it seems..." Master Mantis said.

Amy began to grunt loudly. "That does it! We're gonna get a boat instead of opening paths in oceans to walk through them! Anyone knows a fisherman or where to find an abandoned boat?"

Young Cricket walked to them. "Well, we could use the "Hello" form to meet one."

"Oh, let me guess," Chip said as he waved his hand. "Is it like this?"

Young Cricket gasped at this. "Y-you know that form? Are you some kind of forgotten master, perhaps?"

"For the love of god, everyone knows that "form" very well!" Sonic groaned.

"Young Cricket," Master Mantis began, making the disciple kneel down at him. "That is one of the most basic forms of all. I can't believe you don't know about it. Didn't you study it?"

Young Cricket looked away embarrassed. "N-no..."

Amy looked pissed at this. "My god, I can't believe we found the weir-" Amy was instantly interrupted by Chip flying just in front of her face.

"UFO!" Chip suddenly yelled as he pointed up to the sky.

"UFO?" Sonic and Amy asked in unison.

"T-that's an UFO, right?" Chip asked as he pointed to the sky.

"Chip," Sonic began with a frown. "Why would there be an UFO here? That's random, y'know?"

"I-I know that's random, but it's true! There's an UFO coming down here...and it looks like a big pink piggy!"

"UFO that looks like a big pink piggy..." Amy muttered annoyed as she looked up. "I don't see anything... Um..."

Sonic blinked confused at her a few times before he looked up. His eyes widened once he focused his sight on a small spot in the sky. This also made Master Mantis and Young Cricket to look up before their eyes widened for a bit.

Right over the sky, there was a big pink pig(gy) descending at an alarming speed to the beach, where it tried to move to the sides but without any success. This made the 6 (except Master Mantis) back at the beach to look terrified.

"Uah!" Young Cricket gasped. "M-Master, there's an unidentified flying object coming right towards us!"

"I know," Master Mantis said with a nod.

"S-should I use the "Slap Ship To The Side" form?"

"Oh, please!" Amy frowned. "I know there's no such form in the world!"

"It is known for your information," Master Mantis said.

Amy smacker her forehead as she frowned. "Oh, I don't know what to believe now..."

"I do," Chip said.

"You do..."

"Yeah," Chip said with a chuckle. "I believe that WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!"

Amy quickly jumped to Sonic's arms. "HELP ME, SONIC!"

Sonic looked annoyed at her. "Are you taking advantage of the situation?"

"Well, do you want to live or not?" Amy asked with a glare as she hugged him tightly.

"..." Sonic rolled his eyes (making Amy giggle) before he quickly ran away from the landing spot. Chip gasped before he followed them.

As for Master Mantis and Young Cricket...

"Focus..." Master Mantis said as Young Cricket focused his sight on the UFO. "Let the form be one with you..."

"The form is one with me..." Young Cricket muttered as he closed his eyes.

From a long distance to the west, the 3 newcomers looked at the 2 clueless characters as the shadow of the UFO got bigger and bigger with every passing second. "Chip, get some graves," Amy said. "The least we can do is make them a proper funeral."

"Right," Chip said with a nod.

Sonic looked at them. "How can we tell they're going to survive through this? ...Oh, right, they won't."

"Exactly," Amy said. "And I can stay on your arms aaaaaaaaaall day long." She giggled in pleasure as she leaned her head to Sonic's face.

Sonic frowned and let go of Amy, making her hit the sand with her back.

"Curses!" Amy cursed.

Sonic frowned again before he looked back at the 2 victims.

The hedgehog could barely see Young Cricket and Master Mantis not moving from their places. Sonic looked back into the sky where the UFO was descending at an alarming speed before it eventually crashed into the 2.

Sonic, Chip, and Amy (who stood up) hung their mouths open as sand jumped off from the crash of the UFO. The 3 couldn't believe that they barely knew 2 people before they were killed in a matter of seconds.

"...Oh my god!" Amy covered her cheeks and frowned. "T-they're dead, t-they're really dead now!"

"I think so," Sonic said. "Man, what a way to die..."

"Are we bastards to think of them as idiots?"

"No, they're bastards for being idiots," Sonic said with a frown.

Chip, somehow, took a small violin behind his back before he began to play a sad tune. Sonic and Amy looked at him before the imp looked at them without stopping. "I had it with me," Chip said before Sonic took the instrument, broke it with his knee, and tossed it to a nearby trashcan. "...So much for that..." Chip said as he looked down sadly.

The hedgehogs looked back at the UFO. "...Think there's someone in there?" Sonic asked.

Amy gasped. "M-marcians! Sonic, don't let them get me! Those Martians could dissect me alive if they catch me!"

"(Doing otherwise sounds very tempting, though,)" Sonic thought with a devilish grin.

Chip gasped once he saw the top of the UFO opening. The new entrance looked round, letting smoke come out from it, which made Chip fly forward to take a closer look. "H-hey, something is coming out of it..."

"Really?" Sonic and Amy asked before looking back at the UFO.

From the smoke, they could barely see a thin shadow standing up from the hole. The thin shadow, suddenly, glowed green eyes as it looked at them. Amy gulped in horror as she thought the alien was looking at her only.

"YIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Amy screamed before she (again) jumped to Sonic's arms. "S-Sonic, it loves me! Do something, please!"

"Hey! She's all yours!" Sonic called out.

"What was that?" Amy asked with a glare.

"I-I mean, experiment with her as much as you want!"

Sonic looked back at the pissed Amy.

The hedgehog chuckled nervously. "H-heheheheh..."

Amy pouted at his yells.

"H-hello?" Chip asked with a gulp. "A-alien's staring at us?"

The 3 quickly focused back at the green eyes that shone through the smoke. Sonic made a serious look, Amy closed her eyes and leaned to Sonic's face, and Chip looked around for a camera.

"I-I need something to prove aliens exist! I'll be filthy rich that way!" Chip looked around.

"Chip, stop it..." Sonic said with a frown.

Once they looked back at the shadow of the alien...in an instant, the alien fell down to the sand, making the 3 look down at it from a safe distance.

"..." Amy looked at the alien. "...Wait, that's it? I-it's not going to hurt us?"

Chip flew all the way to the alien to look down at it. "Chip, no! It could shoot lasers out from its back!" Sonic warned Chip.

The imp tilted his head as he examined the alien. The alien, for some reason, wore a long black cape with a red jewel on the alien's neck, the cape almost reached its white shoes (that had some small spikes underneath that weren't that dangerous), and its hands had only 3 fingers on each one. Above everything else, its head (and all its body) was so thin that it looked like it didn't have a brain in its thin head.

The 3 noticed that the body twitched for a bit. Chip backed away from a bit before the alien put its hands on the sand to lift his head off from the sand, shook it to the sides, and looked up at them. The alien was also wearing some black shades over its eyes, preventing them from seeing its eyes.

"..." Sonic remained silent as Amy stared down at the alien.

"...Sorry..." the alien said in a monotone voice. "I crashed..."

Fortunately, the 3 were able to understand the weird tone of the alien.

"...Okay..." Amy said with some nods. "...Did you...notice you killed 2 innocent weirdoes as well?"

"...No," the alien said before it stood up and dusted off its cape. "I didn't..."

"Well..." Sonic shifted his eyes around (letting go of Amy again) before looking back at the alien. "You just crushed 2 guys with that pig ship you have behind you."

The alien turned around to look at its crashed ship, half-buried into the sand before looking back at them while its mouth trembled a little in disappointment.

"...Great..." the alien said before looking down. "This always happens..."

"You always kill people by crashing your ship on them?!" Amy asked in disbelief as she sat up.

"No..."

"...Oh..."

"Hey, no need to get worked up..." Chip said as he patted the alien's back.

"No, it's okay..." the alien said as it looked at him. "I can't reach the space...easily... Also..." It looked at them. "...Sorry...if I sound...weird... I'm just...learning...to speak...your...language...earthlings..."

"Oh, don't worry," Amy said as she got up. "I think I understand...just maybe."

The alien seemed to smile a little before it nodded. "Thanks..."

"Who are you, anyway?" Chip asked.

"Oh, my name is...Orbulon," the alien said. "Nice to meet you...earthlings... I'm a male if you...did not know..."

-Orbulon-

-Age: 2003
-IQ: 300
-Occupation: Alien
-Bio: Orbulon once plotted to take over the earth, but after his UFO crashed Diamond City, he just settled down. He's super intelligent, but he still has a tough time with English.

"Okay, nice to meet you," Amy said as she shook hands (she got scared by Orbulon's 3-fingered right hand) with Orbulon. "My name is Amy Rose. This here is Chip, and this guy behind me is my boyfriend Sonic."

"Oh, whatever..." Sonic said with a frown.

"Tell us, why did you crash your ship?"

"I was testing my Oinker ship...for a ride..." Orbulon explained. "It is...damaged as you can plainly see..."

"The Oinker?" Chip asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, makes sense to me."

"...Hey, what about the 2 you crashed on?" Sonic asked as he remembered Young Cricket and Master Mantis. "Those 2 got themselves killed underneath your ship!"

At that moment, Young Cricket's head popped out from the sand close to them. The 4 quickly looked down at him before the disciple coughed sand out. "W-we managed to survive..." Young Cricket said as he spat more sand out. "W-we used the "Dig Your Way To Safety From UFO" form..."

"...My goodness," Amy said with an annoyed look. "You 2 survived through this?"

Master Mantis's head stuck out from the sand. "Yes, we survived through this random and unexpected event. However, I expected it."

"Master, you're incredible," Young Cricket said with wide eyes.

"Don't make me blush, Young Cricket."

"Yes, Master..."

Orbulon scratched his thin head in embarrassment. "Sorry, earthlings... I was the one...behind the crash..."

The 2 turned their heads at him. "Alien!" Young Cricket screamed.

"Hold on," Master Mantis interrupted. "We already know him."

"...Oh," Orbulon said with a nod. "You 2 worked with Wario...and the others with me...right?"

"Yes...I think so..." Young Cricket said before he jumped off from the sand, standing up normally before his master tried to jump out, but he couldn't as Chip was the only one who looked down at him. "I remember you."

"Good," Orbulon said before looking at Sonic's group. "I am sorry for...making you get scared..."

"Oh, it's okay," Amy said with a chuckle. "We survived, that's a good thing."

"Wait, you know that fat(beep) Wario?" Sonic asked.

"Know him? Most people in the city know him," Master Mantis said. "He's a greedy guy."

"And you work for him?" Amy asked.

"Not necessarily," he continued. "Although we help to make him get richer, we do this just for fun and the discovery of new forms."

"He may be greedy, but as long as we help to create microgames, it's fine with us," Young Cricket said.

"That goes...for me as well," Orbulon said.

"...Talk about weirdoes..." Amy muttered bored. "I wouldn't work for a guy who doesn't even pay..."

"U-um..." Chip looked at Sonic. "Hey, Sonic, shouldn't we cross over the ocean and find this Mike guy?"

"NO," Sonic said with a glare.

Orbulon's (small) forehead twitched a bit. "You want to see...Mike?"

"Wait, you know him?" Amy asked.

"Do you?"

"Er...no... W-we just need to get to him..."

"Oh, I see," Orbulon said before he looked over the horizon, pointing to the northeast. "Mike is supposed to be...at Dr. Crygor's lab...right now."

Chip gasped. "A-a location has been revealed to us, hurray!"

"If you want, I could...take you there...but..." Orbulon looked back at his Oinker. "...My ship here got...damaged...pretty bad."

"Oh, why would you help us?" Sonic asked.

"Wasn't my ship...going to...crash on you all?"

"It already did for them," Chip said as he looked at Master Mantis being taken off the sand by Young Cricket.

"Well, that's the least...I can do..." Orbulon offered.

"I don't know how you're going to take us to that lab, though," Amy said. "Do you know a way to get there, though?"

"Maybe," Orbulon said as he looked at the Oinker. "Forgive me...but I have to do this."

"Who is he speaking to?" Chip asked.

"I guess the ship..." Sonic whispered.

"I need your help...to push it to the ocean," Orbulon said. "The ship...isn't that heavy...don't worry."

"Why push it to the ocean? For what?" Chip asked.

"You'll see soon enough."

Orbulon temporarily joined your team!

Some time later...

The Oinker was floating calmly over the pier located to the west of them. The 5 earthlings blinked a few times before Orbulon came out from the upper hatch of the ship before grinning a bit. "Okay," he said. "It's ready."

"Oh, please," Sonic said with a frown. "We're gonna use your ship as a submarine?"

"It's the only way to get to that island," Amy said. "I know you're going to try to escape."

"You're a good guesser," Sonic said with a grin before he ran away to the south.

"He's so fast," Orbulon commented. "I give him that...for being a guy wearing...a collar..."

Amy recalled the collar, snapped her fingers to Chip, and looked at him. The imp nodded. "As you wish," Chip said. "Sonic, get in the submarine now!"

The hedgehog's feet made him return to the pier before Sonic screamed as he leaped inside the submarine. "NO!" Sonic yelled.

"Hmm..." Young Cricket rubbed his chin. "That collar he's wearing has some sort of control effect..."

"Yup, I'm his legal owner," Chip said with a chuckle.

Sonic stuck his head out from the hatch. "It's not funny, you know!"

Orbulon motioned at the ship. "Enter, please."

"UAAH!!!" Young Cricket made a karate yell before he jumped inside the ship.

Master Mantis simply jumped inside, followed by Amy and Chip. Orbulon looked down before entering inside the ship.

Oinker

For looking rather small from the outside, the ship looked very spacious enough to hold 50 people in there. Inside the ship, there were several panels located around the gray floors and walls with a big screen on the front of a small seat for Orbulon, who assumed command as he jumped to his seat and sat down.

"Woooooooooow," Chip said in surprise as he looked around with the others.

"Please, don't touch...anything," Orbulon said. "If you press something, we could...end up in the sky..."

"Self-destruct button?" Amy asked.

"Affirmative," Orbulon said before looking at the screen. "Activate...emergency sub-mode...now..."

The screen blinked in light a few times before it showed half of the sky and half of the ocean, indicating it was looking forward.

"Turn 45 degrees east, head to...Dr. Crygor's lab..." Orbulon commanded.

The ship listened as it turned to the northeast before it began to move slowly in the ocean. Young Cricket and Master Mantis decided to sat down and meditate while Amy tried her best to calm down the hedgehog.

"Don't worry there..." Amy said as he rubbed Sonic's head. "The water is our friend..."

"IT WANTS TO DROWN ME!" Sonic panicked. "IT WANTS TO KILL ME!"

"Chip..."

"Okay," Chip said with a nod. "Sonic, think you're a stick."

"Chip, not that!"

Sonic's pupils shrunk for a moment before he fell down on the floor without screaming in pain.

Amy looked down and frowned. "I didn't mean this, Chip! Why would you make him be a stick, anyway?"

"Sticks don't move?" Chip asked.

"…" Amy sighed. "Okay…even if it is random, it helps to keep him from panicking."

"Is Sonic claustrophobic?"

"Yeah, pretty much he's claustrophobic."

"Please, make yourselves…at home…" Orbulon said as he looked at them. "It's going to be…a small time…before we get there…"

"Oh, we will," Amy said, smiling a bit. "We'll just enjoy the scenery in the meantime."

And the Oinker peacefully crossed the ocean to the northeast where Dr. Crygor's lab waited…or not.

Club Sugar

The scene quickly changed to another place located to the southwest of the beach. The disco ball flashed wildly at the darkness of the scene. The floor itself began to flicker with different lights as the people around cheered loudly.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice called from the darkness. "It's yet another rhythmic day here at Club Sugar. Our main dancer, or should I say dancers, will take the stage and show us their moves!"

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Please, I want you to get warmed up for this peculiar but stylish family of dancers," the announcer said. "These dancers have rocked on the stage for years, days, hours, minutes, second, and even the smallest seconds! The stage begs for moves, and the moves are with them all."

1 dark figure walked on the stage.

"And they're finally here, no less!" the announcer said. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's Jimmy's...SHOWTIME!!!"

The lights quickly turned on and aimed at the dark figure, revealing to be a tall man with a blue afro, 2 whiskers that looked like musical notes, wore black lenses, had a pink nose, a red jacket, white pants, and some dark shoes. The man himself grinned before he began to dance on the stage, making the audience cheer loudly as some girls squealed.

"This is Jimmy T., people!" the announcer said. "Club Sugar's most talented dancer!!!"

-Jimmy T. (T. for Thang)-

-Occupation: Dancer
-Hobby: Collecting Ring Tones
-Biggest Boast: His Crazy Wigs
-Bio: This guy loves the dance floor more than anyone else. He stays up dancing all night at Club Sugar. His hairdo hides a secret, but he refuses to tell anyone what it is.

Whenever the dancer pointed up to the ceiling, his fans would get wilder than before. As Jimmy kept dancing, there were 3 familiar figures sitting in front of the counter that was located to the right part of the club.

"There's our target..." Diddy whispered.

"Yes, he's here, alright..." Jigglypuff whispered.

"He's our only salvation to stay alive."

"I know."

"Or a little sample of his afro is our real salvation, not him."

"Of course, Diddy, that afro is our only salvation."

Kirby, who was sitting right next to Jigglypuff, looked at them. "Um, why do we have to act like this?"

Diddy looked at him before he shrugged. "Don't tell me you forgot what Ashley told us to do already..."

"Um..." Kirby thought for a moment, recalling Ashley's words as a think cloud came out from his head, showing Ashley in it.

"I need you to get 5 different samples of hair from the Thangs," Ashley explained. "Those weird dancers are usually found at the only club of the city besides the one called Club Spicy. You just need to bring 5 different samples of their hair, 1 for each one." Her face turned a little bit dark as her hair turned white. "But if you don't bring me those samples before night comes around...I'll have you to be ingredients..."

The Star Warrior shrugged as the think cloud vanished in thin air.

"She SPECIFICALLY told us we weren't going to get hurt in any way," Jigglypuff said.

"Well, she DID say that, but she didn't say she would do it to us after this," Diddy explained. "Besides, if we run away..."

The 3 looked to the left where Ashley's devil slave, Red, grinned evilly at them. "If you try to run away, I'll tell Ashley right away," Red said with a chuckle. "And she's fast on her broom, I'll tell you."

Diddy sighed. "At least she said you were going to help us in this."

"Meh, I'll see what I can do," Red said as he looked proudly. "If I get the samples instead of you, Ashley will praise me and not you."

"Whatever," Jigglypuff said bored before looking back at the stage in the middle of the club. "Now, where are the others? She said that guy had a family."

"And now entering the stage, Papa T. and Mama T!" the announcer yelled.

Jimmy took a step back as 2 more dancers appeared on each side of the stage. One was tall, thin, had long yellow hair, green jacket, long white pants, and small-inflated lips as the other figure revealed to be a fat woman with pink hair, wore an apron, and mostly wore what usual wives wore. The 2 crossed each other for a moment before striking a pose with their hands making scissors in front of their black glasses at the sides of Jimmy's position before pulling back.

-Papa T. and Mama T.-

-Occupation: Dancers
-Hobby: Dance till they tire out
-Biggest Boast: Their undying dance moves
-Bio: These are the parents of Jimmy. Despite being older than Jimmy himself, their dance moves haven't looked worse at all.

"Okay, there are 2 of them," Jigglypuff said. "But we're missing 2 more."

"And finally and no less, we have Jimmy's stylish siblings, the chick-magnet James T. and the disco-fabulous Jamie T.!"

2 young dancers stepped on the stage as they looked away from the crowd. The first one had pink hair with 2 puffy afro pigtails at her sides, had a small pink nose, wore blue glasses, a yellow shirt with a rising star, red skirt, and white shoes as the other young dancer had and orange afro, wore black glasses, had a round red nose, wore a blue jacket, red pants, and white shoes. The 2, once they passed Jimmy, turned around and struck their poses like the parents did before stepping back, making a V-shaped formation with Papa T., Jimmy T., and Mama T.

-James T. and Jamie T.-

-Occupation: Dancers
-Hobby: Polish their dance moves
-Biggest Boast: Their cell phones
-Bio: These 2 siblings are Jimmy's siblings. Despite being young, they have the same amazing dancing moves like their parents and Jimmy.

The crowd cheered louder before the 5 began to dance in perfect synch on the stage as the lights flickered many times.

Noticing the 5 on the stage, the 3 Smashers looked at each other. "Our targets are on the stage now," Diddy said.

"Conveniently enough...or not," Red began as he cleaned the middle prong of his trident with a napkin. "They're going to be here until night. I heard that the Jimmy guy and his family dance all day long before they leave at midnight. It's 1:30 PM right now. You have a lot of time before Ashley gets you."

The 3 Smashers gulped. "W-we'll try not to screw up..." Jigglypuff said worried.

"Also," Red continued. "The family isn't going to tire out that easily."

"What?" Diddy asked.

"They're the only group of the whole city that likes to dance for long periods of time," Red explained. "They'll dance until moon shows its face..." He grinned at them. "And guess what this means for you?"

"...We're going to grab a small hair from their afros while they're dancing?" Kirby asked.

"Exactly," Red said with a nod. "However, the public won't like you interrupt their dance. If you want to get a sample of their hairs, I suggest you should try to find a way to get the 5 samples without interrupting the dance. Otherwise, you're gonna have many glaring eyes down to you."

Jigglypuff looked shocked at this before she gulped. "O-oh no..."

"I'll be watching," Red said with a grin. "I'm going to enjoy your ideas."

"Oh, you're going to enjoy them if we screw up, right?" Diddy asked annoyed.

"I'll leave that to you to guess," Red said with a proud smile.

"...You're annoying, you know that?" Jigglypuff asked bored.

"Pretty much," Red said with a chuckle.

"..." Diddy frowned before looking back to the stage. "Well, this is going to be bad considering that the people are surrounding the stage..."

In fact, the group barely saw the Thangs' afros sticking out from the amount of people gathered around the stage.

"I sigh in relief for the afros..." Jigglypuff said. "They're our main targets."

"By the way, why does she need their 5 hairs, anyway?" Diddy asked.

"Who, Ashley you mean?" Red asked before looking up in wonder. "I could tell you...but I don't know why she needs hairs."

The 3 Smashers sighed down at this.

"Hey, I'm not pathetic!" Red glared at them. "I just happen to not known why she wants that!"

Kirby looked at the dance. "How do we get the hairs?"

"I'm trying to think of something..." Jigglypuff said as she rubbed her chin (if she had one). "..."

Diddy looked up where the ceiling was pitch black. For some reason or another, the stage and the spotlights were the only things that illuminated some part of the club. The Kong looked at the shining disco ball that was some feet above the hairdos of the Thangs. A closer look to the crowd revealed that they were focusing only on the family and not anything or anyone else in there. "...I've got an idea," Diddy muttered as he looked at the disco ball.

"Wow, you have one already?" Red asked. "You're sharp."

"I...don't know if this is going to work, though," Diddy said worried before he pointed at the disco ball. "Someone could hang on to the disco ball and reach down for their hair." The Kong took out some scissors. "So, who wants to do it?" he offered.

Jigglypuff glared at him.

Kirby looked away.

Red rolled his dot eyes.

"..." Diddy looked back at the disco ball. "Okay, okay, I'll do it...sheesh..." he sighed before he looked up to the ceiling."Well, I'm lucky. There are spotlights hanging all around. I can leap all the way to the disco ball."

The Kong quickly jumped over the counter before jumping 2 times in the air to reach a spotlight where he landed on. The 2 Smashers and the devil looked up to Diddy who began to leap from spotlight to spotlight, approaching the disco ball on the center of the stage.

"Let's make things interesting in here," Red began as he looked at the 2 puffballs. "If your monkey friend fails, I'll buy you some milkshakes."

"Ooh..." Kirby looked interested.

"No, Kirby, don't do it!" Jigglypuff held Kirby back from moving (albeit to say Kirby wasn't moving). "He could poison the milkshakes or something!"

"Why would I do that?" Red asked. "The last time I did something that dangerous was the time I was going to kill Ashley by accident with a bad potion I made for another person I hated." The devil embraced and trembled. "S-seriously, she got all mad when she saw the odd look of her tea. I told her it wasn't for her, but she punished me for using her pot without asking for advice..." Red sniffed. "A-Ashley scares me a lot of times..."

Jigglypuff and Kirby, for once, looked apologetic to Red as Diddy was climbing down on the disco ball. "Wow..." Jigglypuff commented.

Red looked at them. "Day and night, I struggle to make her be happy with what she does. Ashley is a good witch when you don't anger her. Even if she has a big ego for her magic prowess, she's very sweet..." Red gasped and looked at them while Diddy hung on the ball and looked down at the dancers. "P-please, don't tell her I said that about her! She wants to keep her feelings in secret from other people except for a few she knows!"

Diddy looked down at the Thangs as he looked for the closest one. He eventually found Papa T.s's hairdo was longer than anybody else was so he prepared to hang on to the ball's rope with his tail.

"Ashley is considerate," Red explained. "She has parents...but they're always away from the mansion..."

"Wait, she has parents?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Of course she does! It's just that they're always busy to see her. As a matter of fact, she hasn't seen them in some years," Red explained. "You could think Ashley lives in a big mansion where she's rich but doesn't have her parents with her. I'm there for her so she doesn't feel alone... Their parents entrusted me to take care of her and help her in whatever she wants to do."

"..." Kirby tilted his head as Diddy was hanging on to the disco ball's rope with his tail as he was upside-down. "...Isn't Ashley and Red like Chris and Lucario?"

"What?" Jigglypuff asked.

"W-well..." Kirby looked down. "Chris lives all alone in his house with Lucario while Chris's parents are away. Ashley lives all alone in her house with Red while Ashley's parents are away. Aren't both almost the same?"

"...I think you're right," Jigglypuff said as Diddy had a shocked look once he felt that his tail was going to slip. However, it didn't and Diddy sighed as he held up the scissors in his right hand.

"What? There are people like Ashley?" Red asked. "Oh, if there are such people, let her meet them!"

"Wait, what? Why do you want her to meet Chris and Lucario?"

"Because Ashley is mostly in a sad mood," Red said as Diddy stuck his tongue out while carefully choosing the first target. "And who knows, if she ever met someone like her going through the same, she would open herself a little to the world and make some friends... The only person she thinks is her friend is someone else named Mona who has a similar situation like her."

"Mona?" Kirby asked. "I think Lucas and the others are looking for her..." he muttered.

"Would you guys let those 2 meet Ashley someday?" Red asked as he sniffed. "I share Ashley's pain. It wouldn't hurt for her to have more friends in life. She's still young, but she needs company rather than me."

"Wow, you impressed me," Jigglypuff said. "You do care a lot about Ashley."

"I like her, okay?" Red said as Diddy slowly reached for Papa T.'s hairdo with the scissors. "Ashley is everything I have in my life. I'm her slave, but I don't care as long as she's happy."

"Aww, that's so cute," Jigglypuff said with a smile.

"HOWEVER, don't you dare tell this to her or else she'll have my head," Red warned the 2. "Ashley has her ruthless side, you know..."

"Maybe we can let her meet Chris and Lucario sooner," Kirby said.

"Huh? Really?" Red asked.

"They both live with us in the mansion," Jigglypuff explained as Diddy barely cut a small hair of Papa T.'s hairdo. "And Ashley has to come with us there."

Red gasped, letting go of his trident for a moment. "O-o-oh my, this is serious, then!" Red said before he stood up on his chair. "Alright, let's make a deal here, shall we? If I help you guys, will you let Ashley meet those 2 sooner than expected?"

Jigglypuff looked at Kirby. "We have him where we wanted him to be..." she said deviously.

"Oh, yes..." Kirby said with a few nods and a smile.

Jigglypuff looked back at Red. "Will you help us in this?"

"If this is going to help Ashley be happier than she already is..." Red nodded with a serious look. "I'll do it for her."

Red (Ashley's Devil Slave) temporarily joined your team!

Jigglypuff shook hands with Red. "Deal, you're going to help us in this and..."

For some reason, the 3 looked down to the floor where they found Diddy twitching in pain.

"...What happened to you?" Kirby asked. "You look pretty bad."

Diddy shed a tear as he looked up to them. "O-one of them pinched me..."

"They pinched you?" Jigglypuff asked before gasping. "T-they didn't see you, right?"

"N-no..." Diddy moaned in pain. "I-I did manage to get one sample...the yellow hair dude..." Diddy help up a small piece of yellow hair as he twitched in pain.

"Then why do you look so bad?"

"O-once I got the hair...one of them pointed a finger straight up to the ceiling with all of them doing the same...but..." Diddy closed his eyes. "...L-let's just say one of them "punched" me right where it hurts so bad...ouchie..."

Jigglypuff blinked a few times before she got Diddy's point. "E-eww!"

"I-I know it's disgusting, but it..."

"I-I think we don't want to hear more of that..." Red said as he sweatdropped. The devil jumped off and took the hair off from the struggling Kong on the floor. "1 obtained, 4 more to go."

"H-help..." Diddy pleaded.

"A-anyway," Jigglypuff began as she looked at Red and Kirby. "We should try to think of another way to get the samples."

"For Ashley, I will," Red said with some nods.

Kirby smiled pleased before looking ashamed. "Diddy didn't fail..."

"Oh, please..." Jigglypuff slapped her forehead and frowned.

"H-help, I said..." Diddy pleaded, holding out his right hand at Jigglypuff.

The Sweet Spot

On the peaceful streets of the city, close to the bakery (where Bridget the baker, the blue-haired lady was), there were 4 familiar figures standing on the sidewalk, just at the right side of the cake shop called "The Sweet Spot" as they looked around for someone.

"Let me ask again," Ana began as she looked at Nana. "Why do we have to be like this? Shouldn't we look around for this Ganondorf rather than stand here?"

Nana groaned as she looked angrily at Popo. "Well, since you 2 didn't come up with an idea, Popo suggested doing this. Besides, time was running out so...yeah..."

"This is ridiculous," commented Kat with a frown. "Why'd we agree with this, anyway?"

"It is the greatest camouflage evah!" Popo commented with excitement.

The 3 girls looked at each other's black mustaches that covered their mouths.

Popo suggested that nowadays, people didn't recognize others as long as they wear some kind of accessory...like mustaches.

"This crap isn't going to help us, Popo..." Nana said annoyed.

"Oh, you'll see," Popo said proudly. "In a matter of time, Ganondorf will pass right in front of us without recognizing our faces."

"Yes, he won't recognize our faces once he mauls them," Nana said with a grunt. "I'm going to take it off."

"No!" Popo stopped her from ripping the mustache off. "Don't do it, it'll screw up our plan!"

"It's your plan, genius!" Nana yelled.

"Besides," Kat began as she scratched the mustache. "These mustaches itch so much."

"And we don't think this is going to even work a bit," Ana said as she did the same as Kat.

"Pfft, you'll see soon enough," Popo said. "I'm going to prove you all that this is going to work."

Ana looked around the sidewalks. "Wait…" She closed her eyes and put her hands at the sides of her ears. "I heard some faint footsteps' sounds…"

The other 3 looked around.

"…Why's the whole street so...deserted, anyway?" Nana asked.

"Oh, there are many people living in here. It's just that they like to hang out in groups in houses or places," Kat explained. "Ana, where are the footsteps coming from?"

"…From the east," Ana said as they all looked to the east.

Many feet away from them, they were able to tell that Ganondorf was coming, a glare looking at all directions as his fists were clenched tightly.

"Where are those fools?" Ganondorf asked to himself as he looked around. "I do not like to walk in places like this…"

"Is that the guy you're looking for?" Kat asked.

"Definitely…" Nana muttered as she glared at the Gerudo. "Oh crap, he's coming over here!"

"Quick, use my idea!" Popo suggested.

"What? There's no way I'm going to follow your idea anymore!" Nana groaned. "It sounds so idiotic for my tastes, Popo!"

"You guys need to decide soon," Ana said as she looked back at Ganondorf. "He's getting closer now."

"And…he's here…" Kat muttered as the shadow of the Gerudo covered her.

Ganondorf looked at the other side of the street before he focused his sight on the 4 small people at his right. The Gerudo looked down to them. "…" He glared at them.

Nana began to sweat, Kat and Ana looked at each other, and Popo had a happy expression in him.

Ganondorf scratched his chin a little as he looked down at Popo and Nana. "Your faces…" he muttered as he narrowed his eyes.

"…" Nana made a silent gulp.

"I recall some annoying brats with the same faces as yours…" Ganondorf muttered.

Kat and Ana sweatdropped as they looked at the Ice Climbers.

"…But…I do not know if you are them…"

"…Ye monsieur do not know moi," Popo spoke in a French accent. "We're just travelers who want to admire zis country, honh?"

"Is that so…" Ganondorf asked as he eyed them closer. "You are not the people I know, then…"

"A-absolutely, monsieur," Nana said as she sweated. "Ye are quite zee fellow…"

"…" Ganondorf frowned. "You do remind me of 2 little brats…"

"Who are ye to call some kids brats, monsieur?" Nana asked angrily.

"They are brats," Ganondorf said again. "Why, they could be the weakest fighters I have ever known."

A red toon vein popped out from Nana's forehead as she tried her best to keep her calmness. "Zey could be pretty strong, honh?"

"I would laugh at that right now," Ganondorf commented, making Nana grunt silently. "I consider a stubborn teen more threatening than 2 food eaters."

Nana looked angrily at him. "Ye should consider your talk…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ganondorf asked as the 4 looked up at him. "It is not like they are here."

"Zey could be pretty close…" Nana muttered in anger.

"Er, Nana, are ye alright?" Kat asked.

"I'm alright," Nana said. "I'm just trying to believe the incroyable, honh?"

"I do not have more time to waste with you," Ganondorf said as he looked to the left. "I have to find those imbeciles Wario, Bowser and Dedede to take them back with me."

"(Wario?)" Kat and Ana thought in confusion.

The pink Ice Climber did take that in mind, but her anger prevented her from saying it as she looked angrily at the Gerudo.

"I-it was a pleasure to share words with ye, monsieur," Ana said with a chuckle.

"And please," Nana continued. "Do apologize to those 2 when ye see them, okay?"

"Why would I apologize to those 2?" Ganondorf asked. "The pink one is more annoying than the blue one. I would not apologize to her ever."

"...What is that?"

"It is true," Ganondorf said. "The pink one is so bossy that she does not stop talking."

"Why is that..." Nana muttered as she stared up at him.

Kat and Ana decided to look away from the incoming reaction of the pink eskimo.

"She is even more annoying than her brother," Ganondorf stated as Nana made fists. "She is bossier, louder, angrier, stupid, and above else, much more annoying than her brother." Ganondorf chuckled. "If I ever see her, I am going to express my words through a figh-"

Nana glared at him.

"THAT DOES IT!" Nana yelled at the top of her lungs as she ripped off the mustache. "Ye monsieur will learn not to mess with Nana anymore, honh?!" She shook her head. "I-I mean, screw the French accent!"

"Nana!" Kat and Ana yelled in unison as they removed their mustaches.

"You!" Ganondorf yelled at Nana. "You are that annoying girl!"

"Okay, jackass, you asked for it!" Nana took out her hammer, making Kat and Ana gasp while Popo held her back by grabbing her shoulders. "Let me go!"

"Nana, mama mia, ye're gettin' so warmed up!" Popo held her sister back. "Apologize to this noble monsieur!"

"Not after he made me KILL him in the middle of the street! CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Nana got herself released from Popo's hands before she lunged at Ganondorf who quickly sidestepped and looked back at the furious Ice Climber.

"If you are here, that means your stupid team of imbeciles is here as well," Ganondorf muttered.

"Who cares as long as I whack you a good one?!" Nana asked before she raised her hammer. "DIE, YOU MONSTER!"

"Insolent girl..." Ganondorf muttered as he gritted his teeth, dark energy flowing out from his hands.

Kat and Ana gasped at this. "No, she's going to get herself killed!" Kat yelled. "Quick, we have to make our way out of here!"

"Right!" Ana said with a nod before she jumped behind Nana, grabbed her right hand (with the hammer) and pulled her back to the 2.

"Let me go already!" Nana demanded as she glared at the Gerudo. "He's not going to get away with this, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAY!"

Kat grabbed Popo's right hand and looked at Ana. "Ooh, threesome already? Mademoiselle, ye're so considerate," Popo said with a giggle.

Kat frowned. "Ana!"

Ana made a hand sign in front of her face. "Ninjutsu!" she yelled loudly as she closed her eyes in fear.

Kat did the same hand sign before smoke sprouted out from their feet, covering the small area they were covering as the Gerudo charged to the cloud of smoke only to find no one else.

"Idiots..." Ganondorf muttered as he stomped the sidewalk one time. "They were able to escape. But if they are here, that means..." The Gerudo looked around. "They are doing something else...but..." Ganondorf grunted. "I have to find those 3 before they alert all of them..."

The Gerudo quickly turned to the south, crossing over the street as he left.

Back where the bakery was, Bridget, who was watching the whole event, sighed and rested her chin on her hands. "People these days get weirder and weirder, I swear..." she said with another sigh.

Several streets away from the bakery, a cloud of smoke appeared in an alley as the Ice Climbers and the twin ninjas appeared from within it.

"Dammit!" Nana kicked the wall. "I almost had him!"

"Nana, I think you wouldn't be able to beat him alone," Kat said. "Rage doesn't solve anything."

"It does for Lucario!"

"Luca-who?" Ana asked.

"Can I keep wearin' the mustache?" Popo asked. "It looks handsome on moi."

Kat frowned at this and ripped Popo's mustache off, leaving a red mark above his lips.

"Cool," Popo said as he looked at his mark. "New mustache, not permanent, though."

Kat tossed the mustache away and looked at Nana. "Calm down, you'll get the chance to beat him down once we..."

Nana inhaled and exhaled air.

"That's right," Ana said with a sigh. "Count to 10 and breath air."

"...Phew..." Nana sighed. "I'm fine now..."

"That's good," Kat said. "Now, did he say he was looking for Wario?"

"What, you know him?" Nana asked.

"Know him? Pretty much half of the city knows him," Ana explained. "Even if he's greedy, he knows how to entertain people with microgames. Kat and I are employees that work for him."

"ENEMIES!" Popo yelled as he took out his hammer. "I knew the threesome was weird. You're Wario's personal kunoichi spies!"

"...What?" Kat and Ana asked.

"And since when have we been a threesome?" Ana asked in disgust.

Nana sighed, smacked Popo hard with her right hand, and looked back at the ninjas. "Sorry, and please, don't mind him AT ALL for now..."

"..." Ana shrugged. "Anyway... We're employees of Wario, but we don't serve him. We don't get paid for the microgames we make, but we do it just for fun."

"Also," Kat began as she took out an autograph she signed. "We get pretty famous by our microgames of nature."

"It's all worth it," Ana said with a chuckle.

"...Honestly speaking..." Nana looked bored. "I wouldn't work for him in my life..."

"That's the same thought we always have but we can't do anything," Kat said. "As long as have fun, everything's fine."

Nana looked bewildered at this statement before she nodded. "That aside, we now know Ganondorf is looking for him, Bowser, and Dedede... Why are Bowser and Dedede here, though? I thought they were with him..." Nana rubbed her chin. "...This is a mystery, alright..."

"Well," Kat began as she held out her right hand. "Shall we continue?"

"After we got busted by...you know who?" Ana asked worried. "He kind of scared me, you know..."

"T-that's just because I got angry," Nana said embarrassed. "He's so going to hell, though..." she muttered angrily. "We should continue."

"I guess we need to be more careful around him," Kat said. "However, we're going to use our ideas instead of your brother's ideas."

"I thought about hiding by cross-dressing," Popo suggested. "Anyone's up for it?"

"..." The 3 girls stared bored at him.

"...Can I take your silence as 3 yes?"

"NO!" they all yelled.

"Aww..."

Mona Pizza

Far to the west of their location, there was located 1 of the 2 only pizza shops of the whole city as a big sign of Mona (somehow resembling a famous French picture) received the sun's rays as smoke came from one of the open windows of the building.

Many feet away, but close enough, Ness, Lucas, and Chris were running in a hurry to get to the shop and stop Mona from getting even farther away from them.

Lucas pointed forward at the pizza shop. "T-there it is!"

"F-finally!" Ness said as he panted. "S-she's there, right?"

The World Traveler looked at Mona's red scooter parked close to the shop. "Y-yes, there's her annoying and fast vehicle..." he said as he panted.

"At last, we'll reach her..." Ness said with a sigh of relief as they continued running. "Even if this was a short time of chasing her, we're going to reach her without troubles..."

Lucas watched as Ness began to accelerate. The Onett resident looked over to Lucas.

"Hurry it up, Lucas!" Ness yelled.

"Hurry it up, Lucas!"

Something rang inside Lucas's mind as he blinked surprised at Ness. "...C-Claus?" Lucas asked.

"What?" Ness asked. "Who's Claus?"

"..." Lucas stared blankly at Ness before he shook his head. "N-nothing..." Lucas said ashamed. "I-I thought you were someone else for a moment..."

Ness kept running with the 2 as they got closer to the shop. "What were you saying just know?"

"L-look, it's not important..." Lucas said as he flushed a bit. "J-just keep running, okay?"

"..." Ness looked forward but lowered his head as he glanced at Lucas. "(What was happening to him?)" Ness asked to himself. "(Why did he say someone else's name in the middle of this? ...Now that I think about it...)" Ness rubbed his chin. "(Lucas mentioned before that he had a brother named...Claus...wasn't it?)"

"We're close now!" Chris yelled, snapping Ness out from his thought train.

The 3 looked back at the shop. It was closer than before, and they were about to reach it.

Once the 3 Smashers managed to stand just in front of the door, they all stopped to catch their breaths as they sat down on the sidewalk and panted heavily.

Ness wiped off the sweat from his forehead. "M-man, it's over..." he muttered.

"Thank goodness..." Lucas added.

Chris looked at the door. "She must be...just behind that door...making pizzas..." he muttered.

Ness looked serious as he stopped panting, standing up before he coughed a bit. "Well..." he began. "Let's go in, stop her from whatever she's doing, and finish our task."

Lucas stood up and nodded. "Yes..." he said before gulping. "Let's just hope nothing else stop us..."

"...Lucas..." Ness stared bored at him. "Why did you have to go and say it?"

"W-what?"

"Ever since we got here, I have been feeling this weird sensation..." Ness said.

"What sensation is that?" Chris asked.

"That sensation is..." Ness looked at them. "...Well, not a sensation, but...I think irony is ought to get us."

"...What?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not crazy," Ness said. "Irony has been like that annoying girl of your class that says she loves you but hides her true dark motives by laughing at your back whenever you look away. Trust me in this one, you guys, irony is an evil bi-"

"Weird..." Chris interrupted.

"Why is it weird?" Lucas asked.

"I thought irony was already bothering us for a long time."

The 3 Smashers looked at each other.

"...Ha, we wish!" they all said with some chuckles.

"Kidding aside," Ness said as he stopped chuckling. "We have to get a move on before something comes out of nowhere an-"

At that very same moment, the door opened quickly and Mona, carrying some pizzas, came out and quickly ran to her red scooter, passing the 3 Smashers who quickly looked at her direction as the pizza deliver girl put the pizzas at the side of her scooter.

"N-no!" Lucas yelled. "W-wait, you there!"

"Sorry!" Mona said without looking at them. "I'm in a hurry right now. I have to deliver these pizzas while they're hot or else I won't get paid!" she replied enthusiastically as she hopped on her scooter.

"OH HELL NO," Ness said as she glared at her. "We're not letting yo-"

"See ya!" Mona said before she turned on her scooter and quickly left towards the north, leaving a trail of smoke behind as the 3 Smashers stared in pure disbelief that their target was some feet away from them before escaping.

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ness yelled loudly to the sky before he hung his head down. "Why the hell must we suffer with this crap?! Can somebody answer my question?!"

Lucas looked at Ness with a shocked look. "N-Ness, I think it's a little bit early to start cursing out loud..."

"Lucas, you're not helping," Ness said as he pressed his face to his left hand. "I know we're going to get her soon, but chasing her isn't helping my self-esteem. I want to hear some kind of encouraging words that won't put me in a depressed mood right now."

Silence...

"...Chris, you're supposed to come up with something."

"H-huh?" Chris stepped back. "W-why me?"

"If Lucas isn't going to say something, who's going to do it?"

Not long after he said that, the other building (that was black, had 2 horns on the roof, and had the titled PIZZA DINOSAUR) at the right side of the pizza shop began to blare out with heavy-rock music (that was very bad to the 3).

2 men wearing black uniforms, wore white helmets with horns, and had angered looks came out and looked around, ignoring the group at their right.

"Damn!" one of them cursed. "Mona got another client away from us!"

"Well, we'll show her not to mess with..." the other guy began before both raised fists.

"PIZZA DINOSAUR!" they both yelled loudly, causing the 3 Smashers to look miffed at them before both workers ran to the back of the building in a hurry.

"...Chris..." Ness muttered. "What did just happen?"

Chris shook his head and looked at the building. "W-well, Mona Pizza has a rival in delivering pizzas... They're Pizza Dinosaur employees, and they often try to win over Mona to get more clients..."

"And they happened to hear she had an order just now?"

"I-I think I saw one of the windows open," Lucas said. "A big cone came out, aiming at the pizza shop."

"..." Ness frowned. "They heard with a cone? Who do they think they are?"

"PIZZA DINOSAUR!" the employees yelled from behind the building as the 3 saw through the alley between the 2 buildings some motorbikes speeding off to the same direction Mona drove off.

"They're going to chase her?"

"And possibly kill her off if they can..." Chris said before he received shocked looks from both PK users. "...W-well, I don't know, but they hate her so much!"

"...S-shouldn't we follow them, then?" Lucas asked. "I'm worried about Mona now..."

"Oh, sure," Ness said bored. "Let's go save the girl who doesn't even look at us. We're bound to receive a look from her back before she goes away. Lucas, you're a genius."

"..." Lucas looked down in shame.

"...Sorry," Ness said. "I'm stressed...so stressed, to be precise..."

"...We need to get to Mona again," Chris said. "Or we'll lose her...again."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!"

The 3 looked back to the direction they came from where they noticed a familiar taxi coming their way at full speed. In the taxi, they saw Spitz hanging his right arm on the right window. "There you are!" Spitz waved at them.

The Smashers sighed in relief as the taxi made a sudden halt in its track just in front of them. The yellow cat looked out at them.

"Well, you got her?" Spitz asked.

"N-no, but she ran off again," Lucas explained before pointing to the north. "She went that way."

Dribble looked forward and grumbled. "She's not gonna get away from our sight this time. Okay, you guys get in! Our engines and motors are ready to race on the streets!"

Spitz motioned at the door before the 3 Smashers ran inside the taxi and sat down as Chris closed the door and sat on the right.

"Seat belts on!" Dribble yelled as he started the car. "We don't wanna get stopped by the police. I don't want to get 3 tickers, either. Are you ready for some crazy chasin'?"

"T-technically no..." Lucas muttered.

"Good enough for me!" Dribble said as he slammed his back on his seat. "COUTNDOWN!" he demanded to Spitz.

"3!" Spitz yelled with a salute.

"HERE WE GO!" Dribble yelled as the Smashers rolled their eyes before the taxi's wheels quickly rotated on their same position before the taxi disappeared into the north, following Mona's trail.

Dribble and Spitz temporarily joined your team!

As they were in the taxi, Ness looked to Lucas, tapping his right shoulder to get his attention. "Lucas, why did you say that name to me?"

"H-huh?"

"I mean, didn't you say Claus to me?" Ness asked.

"..." Lucas looked away. "...Ness..."

"Yes?"

"...Can I...tell you later?" Lucas asked before looking at him. "I don't think it's the time now. We're busy, right?"

"Well, yes. We're not busy until we catch up with Mona. I think we have time to tal-"

Lucas looked away. "S-seriously, not now, Ness..."

"..." Ness sighed. "Fine, whatever you say..."

The blond kid looked outside as the taxi passed several buildings at high speed. Lucas sighed and rested his chin on his left hand before closing his eyes. "(...Claus...)" he thought. "(...I hope you're...)"

Lucas tried not to a shed a tear as the taxi disappeared to the north.

Dr. Crygor's Lab's Island

"Attention," Orbulon called as the ship managed to catch the glimpse of the island. "We have arrived."

Young Cricket and Master Mantis opened their eyes, Amy and Chip looked at the screen, and Sonic kept being a stick without moving.

"Finally," Amy said with a sigh. "It's been a long time ever since we set sail from the beach, hasn't it?"

"I'm sorry," Orbulon said. "If my ship was...not like this, we could have...arrived much sooner than...expected..."

"Oh, it's okay," Amy said with a giggle. "What matters is that you wanted to help us. We wouldn't have made it this far without your help."

Orbulon blushed and scratched his face with a finger. "W-well, when you put it that way..."

"Land," Master Mantis interrupted.

Orbulon looked back at the screen. "Please, prepare to get out."

"We don't have luggage," Chip said. "Except Sonic being a stick." The imp looked down where Sonic seemed to be glaring up at him.

"Better yet, then."

Once the ship hit land, the upper hatch opened, taking the 6 characters up where they looked at the odd-looking lab. "...That's his lab?" Amy asked.

"Please, don't judge him," Orbulon said. "Dr. Crygor likes to create...amusing machines and stuff..."

"Well, one of those machines should be Mike, right?" Amy asked. "Oh, and Chip, tell Sonic to turn back to normal, and tell him not to run away and stay here with us."

"Okay," Chip said. "Sonic, turn back to normal but stay with us, you got that?"

The hedgehog blinked his eyes before he regained control of himself. Sonic shook his head and stood up before glaring at Chip. "Yeah, turn me into a stick, why don't ya?"

"Sorry, it was for your own good," Chip said.

"Anyhow, the lab's just there," Amy said. "Let's go in."

Dr. Crygor's Lab

"What do you mean the Kelorometer's effects were just temporary?!" asked a voice in disbelief from within the odd-looking machines inside the lab.

Passing through some machines, there was an old man with a red metal plate on his head, a visor with a glowing red eye in it, wore metal hands and metal legs as he also wore a yellow suit. This old man also had a brown mustache that seemed to come out from his red nose.

The old man kicked the pink machine he called "Kelorometer" before crossing his arms. "It was the best invention after TUNA, what a shame..." he muttered with a grumble.

This old man, despite not known by many, was known as Dr. Crygor.

-Dr. Crygor-

-Age: 103
-Occupation: Genius Scientist
-Equipment: Cryogenic Suit
-Bio: This odd genius lives in seclusion. He built Wario's bike, Mona's moped, Kat's sword, and Jimmy's cell phone. He wears a cryogenic suit that doesn't protect his head.

"Where are my tools?" Dr. Crygor asked as he looked around. "I'm going to make this machine work again by fixing it..."

The doctor looked around more. He looked around inside drawers, machines, underneath desks, inside doors, outside, but couldn't find the tools he wanted to find.

"Where are my tools?!" Dr. Crygor asked in pure disbelief. "I remember I had them here somewhere this morning!"

The door of the lab began to get knocked from the other side.

"Who is it? I hope it's a tool seller because I REALLY need tools now," Dr. Crygor said in some excitement before he walked to the door and opened it. "...Who are you?"

"Hi," Chip said as he flew in front of the 5 characters. "Are you by any chance Dr. Crygor?"

"And are you by any chance a tool seller?"

Chip blinked at him before he groaned. "Noooo! First, it was a credit card seller, but then it's a tool seller!"

"If you're not a tool seller, then leave," Dr. Crygor said before he closed the door.

"H-hey, he closed the door on us!" Amy yelled.

"That's weird," Orbulon said. "I thought he would...recognize me right away."

Amy knocked on the door again. Dr. Crygor opened it before closing it again.

"W-what the hell?" Amy asked before knocking on the door again.

Dr. Crygor opened the door. "I don't have time to lose with you, people!" he yelled at them.

With a grunt of annoyance, the pink hedgehog knocked on the door again.

The doctor opened it back. "What do you want?"

"Finally," Amy said with a sigh. "Do you happen t-"

Dr. Crygor closed the door on them.

"...HEY!" Amy took out her hammer and glared at the door. "Get out, now!"

No response.

"Okay, if you're not coming out, I'll make you come out!" Amy demanded before raising her hammer.

The door opened again. "What do yo-"

Some time later...

"Master, he's awakening."

"Shh."

"Oh, sorry."

"Okay...I admit I went a little bit too far on him..."

"The fact he's an old man makes it even worse."

"Sonic, you're not helping me."

"Hey, look at his odd red eye. I think it's turning on."

"Is he some kind of cyborg?"

"No, he isn't some kind...of cyborg...maybe..."

"U-ugh..." Dr. Crygor shook his head as he saw some blurs in front on him. A small time passed before the blurs revealed to be the 6 looking at him as he was sitting on a chair, inside his lab. "..." The doctor jumped off his seat and looked at them. "Well, why are you so persistent in coming in and whack my head with a hammer?"

Amy looked away. "I-I'm sorry, that was me..."

"You were closing the door at her so many times that she got mad and whacked you hard," Chip explained. "By the way, I'm not a tool seller."

"Is that so?" Dr. Crygor asked before looking at Orbulon. "You? What are you doing here?"

"Salutations," Orbulon said with a nod. "It's been a small while...hasn't it?"

"Has it now?" Dr. Crygor asked as he looked up. "I thought it was months... I got all excited with my new invention, the Kelorometer over there."

The 6 looked to the left, at the destroyed pink machine with 2 conveyor belts in front of it as they blew out some smoke.

"It crashed down after being used so many times," the doctor explained. "What's more, my almighty look is gone, GONE, I say," he said annoyed. "I had everything, but the experiment didn't last for too long..." Dr. Crygor looked down. "And I'm stuck with this apple plate on my head again..."

"...Sorry to hear that," Orbulon said.

"Oh, whatever," the doctor said. "I can fix it, but thing is, I forgot where I put my tools."

"Do you want us to look for 'em?" Sonic asked before he shook his head. "Wait, no! We're looking for someone in here!"

"Oh, who might you 3 be?" Dr. Crygor asked before he looked at Young Cricket and Master Mantis. "You're the newest employees of Wario, right?"

"Yes," Master Mantis said. "We're embarking on a small journey of discovery with this people. They want to meet that singing robot you name Mike."

"Mike?" Dr. Crygor asked before pointing to the right wall. "Well, he's right over there."

Chip gasped and turned to see the robot. "There he is!"

Sonic and Amy looked at the right, but they merely blinked. "...Um..." Amy put a finger on her lips. "Is that him?"

The group looked at the right wall where a robot was sitting down and leaning to the wall. The robot had red eyes, a foghorn as his body, 2 mikes on the top of his blue head that acted as an antenna, and had a normal look with his blue hands and legs.

"I thought he was supposed to...I dunno, talk?" Sonic asked.

Dr. Crygor chuckled embarrassed as he looked at the inactive robot. "As you can see, he's not turned on. He's...got himself in quite a fix."

"What?" Chip asked. "Why is that?"

"Well..." The doctor looked away. "We often argue about many things, mainly my experiments and sometimes my singing performance, but this time, though, he wanted to test out the Kelorometer. At first, I thought robots didn't sweat, but Mike sweated oil, and it fell all the way to his circuits before he fainted and turned off during the workout." Dr. Crygor looked at Mike. "Now he's like this. The machine got some of his oil, and then it made boom."

"..." Chip flew to Mike and shook him a little.

"It's useless to make him turn on," Dr. Crygor said. "If I had my tools, I could fix him and the machine as well, but I seem to have lost them somewhere..."

"Wait, this isn't good," Amy said. "We were supposed to ask Mike to come with us."

"What?"

"You see..." Chip played with his fingers.

Some more time later...

Dr. Crygor nodded. "I wouldn't mind letting Mike go with you to sing all he wants," he said. "His biggest dream is to be a karaoke machine. Technically he is one, but he wants to sing for bigger things."

"You're going to...let them take him?" Orbulon asked.

"Why not? The poor guy suffered enough with the Kelorometer. This is the least I can do for him." Dr. Crygor looked around. "Oh boy, where did I leave those damned tools?"

"Let me look around," Sonic said with a grin before he began to run around the whole lab's area, from the stairs to the doors, from the doors to the floors, and from the floors to outside...

The hedgehog didn't want to look outside where the ocean was close. Sonic shrugged and ran back to the doctor.

"Bravo," Dr. Crygor said. "You have the fastest speed I've ever seen. Why don't you join me to try out new experiments?"

"No can do," Sonic said. "Anyway, I didn't find any tools."

Dr. Crygor bonked his head plate a little. "Where in the heck did I leave my tools? They were here this morning!"

"Focus," Master Mantis said as he and Young Cricket were meditating. "Find the "Remember What I Forgot" form and use it to recall any lost memory."

"Maybe I should do that."

"Oh, please!" Amy groaned. "What form is that, anyway?"

Dr. Crygor hit his head by slapping before he hopped up. "...Yes, there they are!" he said as he slammed his right fist on his left palm. "The tools..."

"Yeah?" Chip said.

"The tools..." Dr. Crygor looked around. "...Aren't here."

"What?" Sonic asked. "You mean you were looking for some tools that weren't here before? Talk about a waste of time."

"It's not that!" Dr. Crygor tried to recall. "...The tools aren't here because they were taken away by another person."

"There's someone else who comes here besides us?" Amy asked.

"Hey, I DO receive visits from other people. Just because my lab is located far away from Diamond City doesn't mean nobody knows me," the doctor said with a sigh. "Continuing from where I left of, the tools was taken away by my granddaughter."

"Your granddaughter?" Chip asked.

The doctor nodded at him. "She's a very special prodigy at making intriguing experiments like myself. She's so smart that she could rival my genius very well. When she enters competitions, nobody can beat her at making the most shocking machines!"

"Who's she?" Amy asked.

"Penny Crygor," Dr. Crygor said. "She's as sweet as a new nut for any machine."

Sonic and Amy imagined how Penny looked like. If her grandfather looked like...that, she would look like...

The hedgehogs shrugged.

"Can you do me a favor and go for her?" Dr. Crygor asked. "I need the tools to repair the Kelorometer and Mike as well. If you do, I'll convince Mike to go with you. Really, I need those tools so badly! I want to see my new form again...and possibly feel it as well!"

"B-but I don't wanna get in that submarine-ship thing!" Sonic whined. "I HATE water so much!"

Orbulon looked down embarrassed. "If you were asking...to yourself, I crashed the ship yet...again."

"You're always crashing that Oinker of yours anywhere, any day," Dr. Crygor said.

The alien looked angrily at him.

"Sorry..."

"Who cares..." the alien said with a sigh. "I'll repair it here...if you lend me a hand again..."

"Absolutely," the doctor said with a nod. "Well, I can give you 3 a faster way to go to the city without crossing the ocean."

Sonic's eyes widened in excitement as he looked at the doctor. "T-there's a way to avoid traveling in the water?!"

"I have a lot of trouble with people getting in here that I designed...that!" The doctor pointed at a teleporter pod some feet away from the exit. "Admire my Teleporter Of Negative Tele-transportation Omega...or TONTO!"

"TONTO?" Sonic, Amy, and Chip repeated in confusion.

"Please, don't bother looking for the translation in English," Dr. Crygor said with a chuckle. "Thanks to Penny, there's an identical TONTO in a hidden spot of the beach. If you appear there, you should head southwest where the Diamond City Academy is. Try looking for Penny there if you would. She likes to do many experiments on her own most of the time over there."

The 3 characters looked at the teleporter before looking at Young Cricket. The disciple opened his left eye to look at them. "Please, go on without us," he said. "Master found some forms in here, and we must master them all."

"...A-ha," Master Mantis said. "I've discovered the "Sushi Chop" form."

Young Cricket gasped. "N-no way, you found it here?!"

Amy looked annoyed at Sonic and Chip. "Let's go already!" she said with a grunt.

"Go on without me," Orbulon said. "I'm going to see if I...can fix the Oinker with the available...things in here."

"Lead the way!" Sonic said in excitement before he ran right into the teleporter where he was transported to the beach.

"No orders?" Chip asked.

"Not for now," Amy said before winking at Chip. "But you can always tell him to marry me."

"No can do."

"...What?"

"He told me specifically not to let Amy make Sonic do things he thinks are disgusting," Chip said.

"W-when did he say that?"

"The moment I noticed I had control over him," Chip explained. "He said you would take advantage of me so I agreed."

"You...little..."

Chip sweated as he chuckled nervously. "S-see ya!" he said as he ran into the teleporter pod, instantly teleporting him to the beach.

"Come back here! I'm not gonna let you ignore me!" Amy demanded as she raised her right fist and ran straight into the teleporter pod before she teleported away.

Dr. Crygor, who watched the 3 leaving, looked at Orbulon. "What a bunch of weird people you met," he said.

"Yeah, they are weird," Orbulon said.

Young Cricket, Master Mantis, and Orbulon have left your team.

Club Sugar

As the dance kept going, the 4 were looking at each other while Diddy was able to regain his composure after the "accident" he went through.

"I'll give full support to you guys," Red said. "This is for Ashley, and I'll do everything to make her smile or be happy."

"This guy seems to be all flared up," Jigglypuff said. "As long as he helps, everything's fine."

"Oh, really?" Diddy asked as he twitched a little. "His face tells more than his words."

"S-seriously, I wanna help out," Red said worried.

"He already told us, it's fine," Jigglypuff said.

"He better... I mean, you forgot what I went through?"

Kirby shrugged. "Ouch..." he commented.

"Thanks, Kirby," Diddy said bored. "That was a really smart comment to my pain."

"Sorry..."

"EHEM," Jigglypuff coughed before pointing at the dancers. "We have work to do. We need 4 more samples before we kiss this club goodbye once and for all."

"I thought you liked this place because you could sing," Kirby suddenly said.

"Shh, not here," Jigglypuff whispered annoyed.

Red clapped his hands to get their attention. "You guys, focus! If you want me to help, you better stay focused or else!"

"Fine, fine, let's do this already," Diddy said as he looked at the 5 dancers. "You, demon, tell us a plan."

"Heheheheheh, I have one."

"..." Diddy took a deep breath. "...Okay, we'd like you to tell us your idea," Diddy said as he faked a happy expression. "Would you share it with us?"

"Yeah," Red said as he grabbed his trident. "This is going to help us."

"A...trident?" Jigglypuff asked. "What is that going to do to get the hairs?"

"Hello? It is long, it's black so it hides well in dark places, and it has sharp prongs," Red said with a grin. "And if someone can walk on the spotlights and use my trident to poke their hairs a little, it's bound to get some samples if you don't pinch them too low."

The 3 looked at him before it became a small staring contest.

"...Let me guess, you're seeing in front you the person who's going to do it, aren't you?"

The 3 Smashers nodded.

Red looked bored at them before he let out a sigh bubble. "For Ashley, Red, this is for Ashley..." the devil muttered before he flapped his bat wings and began to fly up where he landed on a spotlight as he looked down at the dancers. The devil, however, looked back at the Smashers. "I need the monkey up here!"

"What?" Diddy asked.

"I can't hang up to the disco ball like you. You need to use the trident instead of me!"

"Why can't you just fly over their heads?"

"Believe me, this trident is heavier than it looks like," Red called out as he faked some small gasps. "R-really, it's heavy..."

Diddy looked at the 2 Smashers before he leaped to the spotlight and joined Red. The devil handed over his trident to the Kong before looking back at the dancers.

"Okay, here's the thing," Red began. "You're going to hang on to the disco ball with your tail as you did before and pinch their hairs."

The 2 blinked surprised after they began to hear loud cheers from the public. For their dismay, they found the dancers were dancing even faster than before around the stage. Diddy's and Red's eyes tried to focus on a single dancer, but it was just too much for them as the family constantly jumped around while dancing.

"Oh, this became hell so fast..." Red muttered in annoyance. "...But we'll have to do it. It's going to be 4:00 PM shortly so we need to hurry up." Red looked at Diddy. "Are you ready?"

"Can't...focus...eyes...on...one...of them..." Diddy said as his eyes spun rapidly before he fell back all the way to the floor with the trident.

Red's mouth hanged wide open before he looked down with Jigglypuff and Kirby at the Kong. "Curses, curses, curses, I hate that family!" Red cursed loudly as the crowd cheered louder than him.

"Diddy!" Kirby jumped off the seat with Jigglypuff to look down at Diddy. The Star Warrior poked Diddy's head a bit before he tilted his own head to the side.

"Great," Jigglypuff said annoyed as Kirby resumed to poke Diddy. "We lost him. Damaging his you-know-what was just too much for him to stand up."

Red flew down and looked down angrily at them. "You better fix this problem before night comes around!"

"Well, what else can we do?"

"I don't know! That monkey friend of yours was the perfect candidate for this operation but he HAD to have a weakness to fast moving targets like that family!" Red yelled angrily. "Ugh, thought anything yet?"

Kirby looked up to think of something.

Some time later...

A happy Kirby came out from the bathroom as Jigglypuff and Red looked angrily at him.

"Done?" Red asked bored.

Kirby nodded happily.

"I have an idea," Kirby said.

"Really?" Jigglypuff asked interested.

Some time later...

A happy Kirby came out from the bathroom as Jigglypuff and Red looked (more) angrily at him.

"DONE?" Red asked in a threatening voice.

"Uh-huh," Kirby said with a happy expression. "I have another idea."

"It doesn't involve the bathroom, does it?" Jigglypuff asked bored.

Kirby shook his head with a chuckle. "No. I think this idea is going to be a lot better."

"Well, say it already!" Red sighed in annoyance. "Just tell us your plan before Ashley gets your heads!"

The Star Warrior raised his right hand with a serious expression. "My plan is..."

Some more time later...

A happy Kirby came out from the bathroom as Jigglypuff and Red looked pissed at him.

"You went into the freaking bathroom 3 times in a row!" Red complained angrily at Kirby. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I fell asleep..." Kirby said sadly.

"...We wasted an hour waiting for you!"

"S-sorry..."

Jigglypuff frowned with a grunt. "This didn't help us that much..."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Kirby said excited.

"NO BATHROOMS!" Red demanded.

"S-seriously, this one is a plan..."

EVEN more time later...

"Get the hell out of there and let me pinch your rear so bad!" Red demanded loudly as he held up his trident.

"Um, Red, we're back on the spotlights," Jigglypuff pointed out as she looked down.

"...Oh," Red said as he felt stupid before looking at Kirby. "Okay, we're on the spotlights again. What is your plan that DOESN'T include bathrooms in any way or form?"

Kirby smiled a bit. "I think Jigglypuff can carry the trident and float down slowly to grab the samples easier."

"...Wait, why me and not you?" Jigglypuff asked. "We share the same jumps, you know."

Kirby looked away. "...Do you want to feel important?"

Jigglypuff gasped. "O-oh my, I-I'm going to feel important? T-then I'll do it!"

Red looked weird at Jigglypuff. "Why the sudden change of thoughts?"

"Y-you shut up, attention grabber," Jigglypuff said annoyed as she grabbed the trident of from Red's right hand. "You want me to jump close enough to them to pinch their hairs with this, right?"

"That's the idea," Red said. "Don't screw up or else it'll screw up our plans."

"Okay," Jigglypuff said before she looked at Kirby. "If I die, tell the world I wanted to sing to it."

"There's a person named World?" Kirby asked.

"...Forget it," Jigglypuff said with a sigh before she jumped off the spotlights.

However...

"Wait!" Jigglypuff stopped as she held up the trident. "What if I end up stabbing their heads?"

"Just go already!" Red groaned.

"Okay..." Jigglypuff said before she inflated herself, jumped off the spotlights and slowly descended to the Thangs. The Balloon Pokémon looked down to see her first target, James T.'s hairdo. "(I better finish with the shorter one... Wait, why not picking the tallest one than the shortest one instead? But if I grab a hair from the shorter one, I'll be more admired by everyone...)" Jigglypuff giggled in her mind as she looked down serious at James T.'s hairdo. "(Heheheheh, good plan.)"

"Yo, yo, yo," James T. was heard saying as he raised peace signs along with Jamie T. "It's James T. Show-time," he sang. "Yo, yo, yo, it's James T. Show-time."

"(…Ugh, good thing the music is so loud for anyone to hear him...)" Jigglypuff sighed mentally before she hovered above James T. and pointed the trident to his head. "(...H-heavy!)" Jigglypuff began to struggle to keeo the trident from falling off. It was easier to carry it above her, but it wasn't easy to hold it down vertically.

Red and Kirby gasped. "Oh crap, she's gonna let the trident kill him off!" Red looked at Kirby. "You, do something and fast, pronto!"

Kirby nodded and turned around.

Red looked at the direction Kirby was looking, making the devil grunt in annoyance. "NO BATHROOM, I SAID!" Red yelled at the top of his lungs.

Kirby turned to him and looked worried. "W-what can I do?"

"I dunno," Red began annoyed. "Maybe help her to keep my weapon to become an assassin weapon?"

"How?"

"You both are puffballs so you should have the same ability to jump!" Red pointed at Jigglypuff. "Go down and help her before I get accused for giving a weapon to a stranger who killed a dancer!"

Kirby looked down before he decided to jump to Jigglypuff.

Jigglypuff gritted her teeth (if she had any) as she looked up to see Kirby joining him to grab the trident. With both grabbing it, it became easier to hold it.

However...

"I-I can't keep jumping forever..." Jigglypuff muttered as she began to pant.

Kirby gasped and looked up to Red.

"You know," Red began bored as he looked at no one in particular. "I forgot that seeking ingredients for weird potions is a hard an annoying task. I COULD say it to Ashley, but she could use me as a replacement..." Red shrugged. "Here goes nothing...literally."

The devil began to flap his wings before he jumped down, hovered close to the puffballs before going down and push the Balloon Pokémon up, making her sigh in relief.

"Now that we're all holding my weapon," Red began as he held the weapon with the 2. "Let's descend slowly and pinch that guy's hairdo."

The 3 nodded to each other before they began to descend to James T. For their luck, the Thangs stopped dancing fast, allowing the 3 flying characters to descend down slowly on the moving James T. They raised the trident slightly before they moved it down where it barely touched James T.'s hairdo.

Red gasped with a bit of excitement. "I felt it touched it. Move it up!"

The 3 began to pull back the trident. Once they managed to look down at the prongs, they noticed several orange hair bits stuck into them. "Yes, we did it!" Red rejoiced. "Let's fly up and return to our base of operations before I get tired!"

Some time later...

A happy Kirby came out from the bathroom as he walked all the way around the stage to rejoin Red, Jigglypuff, and an awakened Diddy.

"Behold," Red said as he held up the orange hair. "We have 2 samples now. Only 3 more to go."

"How much time do we have left?" Diddy asked.

Red looked at his newly acquired watch on his small right wrist. "It's 5:30. Night time it's going to come soon if we don't hurry up."

"Night time?" Kirby asked before he shrugged. "I-I hope he doesn't come again..."

"Who again? What are you talking about all of a sudden?" Red asked in confusion.

Jigglypuff recalled what Kirby tried to say. "Oh no, we don't know if Sonic's going to transform tonight..."

"Aw, no, please," Diddy said with a groan. "That guy inside him gives me the creeps with that sadistic laugh of his..."

"...I dunno what you're talking about, but we must hurry!" Red said angrily. "Or do you want to make Ashley mad?"

The 3 Smashers gasped and decided to forget about the werehog before they all began to brainstorm ideas to get the 3 remaining samples from the dancers.

Toy Express

To the southeast of the club, there was located the only toy store of the whole city that had several people coming in and out from time to time. Popo, Nana, Kat, and Ana were seen crossing over to the store where Popo jumped in excitement.

"Sweet, we're going to the toy store!" Popo rejoiced.

"Now you're acting childish," Nana said with a frown. "Popo, I know you're doing this to do you-know-what, but sometimes I think you go out of control during serious things."

"I gotta do this," Popo said as he looked at the store. "Or else I won't be as happy as a flower."

"Anyway, we have been running away from Ganondorf for a while. I don't think spying on him is a good idea anymore," Nana said. "I mean, we got information about his plans."

"Right, he wants to find Wario," Kat said. "And we know where he is."

"In his headquarters, where he plans to scam you 2 from getting your hands on your money," Nana said bored.

Ana gasped as she looked to the west. "T-that's not it. It's because he's coming right here!"

"What?" Nana turned around to see smoke coming from the west. The pink Ice Climber narroed her eyes to focus her vision even further to identify some figures. By the looks of it, Nana managed to see Wario riding on his bike along with 2 other people riding on motorcycles as they wore black glasses, grinning all the time as they drove to them. "King Dedede and Bowser are here? Oh no, we have to hide!"

"Are those 2 the same people you're looking for, besides the green skinned lord?" Ana asked.

"Yes, but they're dangerous...or maybe not. Just in case, we have to hide," Nana said. "Those 2 wackos could turn serious."

"And you SERIOUSLY don't want to stay near Wario when he farts," Kat warned her.

"Oh, I know, alright," Nana said in disgust.

"His farts could break through glass. I don't even want to think what he eats with his teeth," Ana said. "Where shall we hide?"

"If he sees us with you, he's going to get mad," Kat said.

"I know," Nana said. "Now that Bowser and Dedede are with him, they'd surely attack us without thinking."

"Hey, Nana, can you buy me that toy train?" Popo interrupted the girls as he pointed inside the store to a red train going through a long trail that pretty much navigated through the whole store. "It costs like $1,000,000 bucks."

Nana and the ninja girls looked at the store. They all smiled a bit as they looked inside. "Let's hide in there, quick," Kat suggested.

The 3 (or 4 once Nana dragged Popo inside by the hand) entered inside through the automatic doors before they closed. Once they got inside, the 3 girls and the dumb boy hid in a nearby pile of big balls that was just behind the window of the store. The 4 swam through the balls to hide and push some balls away to spy on the Wario employees.

They saw as Wario, Bowser, and Dedede parked their motorcycles outside the store. Wario jumped off from his motorbike before he looked at the store. "Wahahahaha!" he laughed. "Here we are at the Toy Express," he said before pointing at a poster with the game "Wario Ware: Touched!" to make the other 2 look at it. "See those big letters? BIG SELLER, ha! It has been out for months, and its sales are defeating any toy out there!"

Bowser grinned at the poster. "While this game is selling, we become ever richer, right?"

"Of course we do," Dedede said as he adjusted his black glasses (making them shine) before grinning. "How's the other game sellin'?"

"Wario Ware: Smooth Moves is still selling even after those stupid alien-thingies took away my Form Baton," Wario explained. "Ever since those creatures sealed the Temple of Form, I haven't been able to enter and take it again."

"That's a shame," Bowser said. "We could have become richer."

"Meh, who cares?" Wario asked with a chuckle. "We're still gaining money either way."

"Oh, I SO love the truth," Dedede said with a small laugh. "Heck, doin' fair business makes ya reach new heights."

Inside the store, Kat looked at Nana. "Greedy punks..." she muttered.

"Agreed," Ana said with a sigh.

"Wait, why are Bowser and Dedede with him?" Nana asked.

"The 2 are the stupidest villains of all times, and they decided to become even more stupid by joining up with Wario?" Popo asked.

"Screw Tabuu, being an employee of Wario gives us many more benefits than that cyber guy ever did!" Bowser said as he took out a handful of money as he grinned while showing his fangs. "Daddy's gonna buy a new badge here."

"Pfft, a badge, are you serious?" Dedede asked before removing his glasses, still grinning. "I'll buy... Hell no! I'll save money to buy the world!"

"Hey, idiot, the world is not on sale for anyone," Nana muttered in annoyance.

"A badge of awesomeness," Bowser said. "It'll have something written so cool on it like King of Kings, or Shell of Awesome, or Fists of Power, or Roar's Pimp Daddy, o-"

"STOP!" Wario interrupted in annoyance. "We gotta go check on my employees to see if they created new microgames right now!"

"Why don't you call them over the damn phone? Nowadays people do that," Bowser said as he rolled his eyes.

"I COULD, but they're never home," Wario said as he took out a cell phone from his back. The Mario alter-ego clicked some numbers before he put the cell phone near his right ear. "Hello?"

"Sorry," the receiver of the line said. "You can't talk to 9-Volt because he's either playing video games with 18-Volt while ignoring the phone or he and 18-Volt are out to buy more video games. Please leave a message after the Mario jump jingle."

A Mario jump jingle was heard sounding. Wario closed his cell phone and looked at them. "That hyperactive kid isn't home, which means we'll have to look for someone else..." Wario scratched his chin. "Let's see..." He thought for a moment. "...Of course, yeah!" he said excited. "I told those 2 ninja girls to wait for me at their house. They said they finished making some microgames for our next installment."

At this statement, Kat and Ana gasped silently.

"They said they were gonna be there at 6:30 PM. It's 6:00 PM right now, and their house is not far away from here either. Alright, ride on your bikes and let's hit the road again!"

Bowser chuckled as he rubbed his hands together. "Money, here comes your boss."

"Hey, I'm the boss here," Dedede said with a glare.

"No," Wario said as he jumped to his motorcycle. "WE ARE the bosses of money!"

"YEAH!" Dedede and Bowser said with a laugh before they both jumped on their motorcycles. The 3 heated up the motors for a bit before they all drove south from the store, leaving a trail of black smoke as it started to clear out.

"...Okay," Nana said. "I know what's going on here. Bowser and Dedede surely came here for Wario, but Wario convinced them from joining his business to become managers or something. And since Ganondorf said he needed to find them, they surely stayed here for a pretty long while."

"Is that all?" Popo asked.

"I think that's how things are right now. Maybe I have an accurate guess."

Ana looked shocked at Kat. "K-Kat, we were supposed to head back home at 5!"

"This isn't good," Kat said as she shook her head. "We planned to go back home early, but when we met you 2, we got distracted all afternoon until now..."

Nana looked bored at the girls. "Remember I told you that you didn't need to help us, right?"

"Well, we didn't have anything else to do. People get bored, you know..." Ana said worried. "I'm sorry, but we have to go to our house."

"Oh, it's okay," Nana said as the 4 swam their way out from the cage of balls. "We need to head there as well."

"Wait, you're going to come?"

"What else is there to do? Maybe they have something in hands. We were charged to spy on them after all."

The 4 jumped out from the cage as Popo held up in triumph a big red ball. Kat rubbed her chin. "It's a good idea, actually... Ana and I can act all normal while we spy secretly on those 2 greedy punks we just saw."

Ana giggled. "Yes, I think this will work out very well."

"But we have to go to our house before they do," Kat explained. "Follow us, please."

"How are we gonna get over your house to make a more interesting threesome?" Popo asked as he tossed the ball away.

"Do you still have that sick idea in mind?" Kat asked with a frown. "Nana, no offense, but your brother scares me out..."

'Who doesn't get scared out with that attitude of his..." Nana sighed. "Then again, he's doing this to stay fine."

"Let's not waste any more time and go back to our house," Ana said worried. "Who knows what Wario could do to Shadow or the others!"

"Oh no, this is Wario we're talking about..." Kat muttered. "He kicked Shadow when we weren't looking."

"Bastard..." Ana muttered with a grunt.

"Okay, let's go before they reach your house, then," Nana said. "And no, Popo, I'm not going to buy you that toy train."

"Aww!" Popo groaned with a frown before Nana grabbed his hand and ran away outside with the ninja girls before the doors closed.

Highway

Many streets away to the west was located the highway that showed the ocean from afar. However, for some reason or another, there was a big traffic for the first time in years as many cars continued to shout their horns a lot with people cursing or getting impatient.

Between some cars, there was a bored Mona as she rested her chin on the handle bar.

Some cars behind her, there were the Pizza Dinosaur employees riding on their white bikes as they looked at each other bored.

Even more cars away from the 2, there was Dribble and Spitz's taxi completely stood still as from inside, Dribble rested his chin on the steering wheel while Spitz had his arms crossed, staring at the traffic in boredom.

A seat behind them, there was a bored Chris looking outside to the right, Ness moving his yo-yo in front of him at the sides, and Lucas looking around to do something in order to distract him from some harmful memories.

All 8 characters took a moment of silence before they all sighed in unison.

"Traffic sucks in times like this, you know..." Mona, the 2 Pizza Dinosaur employees, Dribble, Spitz, Chris, Ness, and Lucas said in unison as the horns kept blaring on.

The blond PK kid looked outside to the clouds. Lucas blinked a few moment before he looked worried. "(Why am I starting to think about them right now?)" Lucas asked to himself. "(I thought I got over that a long time ago...but...the memory...)" Lucas grabbed his head and looked down. "(I-I can't stop thinking...)"

"Lucas?" Ness suddenly asked.

Lucas slowly put his hands on his legs and looked outside. "I'm fine, don't worry about me..."

"..." Ness blinked before he looked forward to stare at the traffic in boredom.

"(...Claus...mom...)" Lucas thought. "(...Ugh...)"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Jewels Of Diamond City. Wait, is this still going?" Diddy asked.

"Apparently..." Ness said with a sigh.

"Oh, man..."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Diamond City
Chris, Ness, Lucas, Dribble, Spitz/Jigglypuff, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Red (Ashley's devil slave)/Ice Climbers, Kat & Ana/Sonic, Chip, Amy

References:

-None.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Mona has 2 parents: a famous painter father and a famous supermodel mother that she doesn't see often since they're always busy. Why is it that there's some kind of irony with Mona and her father?

-Ashley has parents that don't show up in her mansion while Red takes care of her (deeds). If you think again, doesn't Chris have the same situation with Lucario?

So far, I think this chapter sets the future events of this arc. We're now crossing over the next half of this arc. Remember, a special battle will take place in the last chapter (but it won't involve the Wario Ware cast due to many of them not used to fight monsters (at least some of them)).

I think I'm going to love writing for Ashley. She has made herself one of my favorite characters of Wario Ware for her personality.

Please, expect the next chapter very soon.

Read and review, please. ;)

…Or I'll cast a hex on you with an eye of a newt.
*Chapter 148*: Jewels Of Diamond City

Warning: this chapter had to be long in order to close all quests to begin something very important at the end of this chapter.

From aquadragonsayian: *raised an eyebrow* Wow... They all certainly went through hell... But ^^ still a good chapter overall! BTW, did you get the new Kingdom Hearts game for the DS? Anyways, what MORE insanity will befall the group? Here's hoping you'll update again soon!

From me: Considering how much they go through, I think they're used to whatever thing they need to pass.

I thought I said I got that DS game in the previous chapter. Thanks. :D

From SlasherMask: ...Geez you are rude, you could have just answered to 146 half of review...

...-_-; Why people you like are "similar" to you?(the story you) I mean it sounds SUSPICIOUS.(in case you don't understand who I am talking about... TRY TO UNDERSTAND(or ask))

Anyway, funny chapter, bla bla blaah and so on, found Nana & Popo with mustaches + Ganondorf funny.

Ugghh... I probably should buy WarioWare games... Darn you Nintendo for making too many games...

From me: Ashley happened to have that similarity to Chris. I didn't know she had that so I decided to use it. It's official information as well.

Thanks. ;D

From ngrey651: You know Bowser, some might take your obssession to kidnap a princess and make her your trophy wife and your strange habit of surrounding yourself with tons of goons in a big, fancy castle as "compensating", nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Funny stuff, this chapter!

From me: I hope that didn't imply something sick… Thanks. :)

From FF and STH: HI this is my first time review for your story and I read all your chapter and they was all funny. So the next time I review I have something good to said

From me: Er, I guess you're still learning the ropes to write English, right? I hope you're not in a rush to write a review… Thanks. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: I never requested anything.
When will you be using music again? Havn't seen any songs to play in awhile.
Mini-tip for Chris(Story). Find a way to go to Mario's world and head to Booster Hill. Plenty of Beetles to catch and give to Agitha for money.
Will anyone be hit with a anvil?
Break a leg(or finger, idk) {actor's version)

From me: Finding beetles would be too easy.

Why would anyone get hit by an anvil?

I hope I don't break a leg literally. Thanks. :)

From LastDrop: Really good chapter, I enjoyed it bery much :D
For an arc in the future what about Metal Gear Solid 1 (PS1) Cuz I read that you might put in other popular franchises of the Wii PS2 (or PS1) And MGS is a great game :D

Anyways, keep up the great work :P

From me: Did you forget Snake already joined them? That's a big no for that arc, sorry. You need to pay a little bit more attention. Thanks. :D

Is it just me, or the last chapter wasn't that good enough for you? Okay, maybe many of you haven't played Wario Ware games before, but at least they have some of the most peculiar characters. I know most of you don't know the characters, but please, try to stick around, okay?

With that away, I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, my chapters get accidentally too long, and I don't force people to read it all in 1 day. I'll try not to make the next one insanely long.

Read, enjoy, and review please. :D

Disclaimer: Look around for Hen the chicken.

Chapter 148: Jewels Of Diamond City

Highway

It has been half an hour ever since the traffic hadn't moved. The 8 trapped in traffic were at the verge of falling asleep despite the horns blaring on.

This could mean they became numb to the horns.

However, someone of them did fall asleep as Lucas rested his head on the left door, falling asleep while the other 4 inside the taxi looked bored outside.

As for Lucas, he began to dream something...

Dream

Mother 3 - Theme of Love

"...Huh?" Lucas blinked as he saw many green vines coming from the fertile ground. "W-what is this place?"

He noticed the yellow sky above the vines.

"...Wait..." Lucas blinked a little bit in surprise as he noticed he was lying down on a big field of sunflowers that reached the corners of his eyes' sight. The PK kid's mouth hanged a little bit open as he looked around.

Blue skies, some clouds, and even some butterflies were flying above the big flowerbed of sunflowers. The blond kid smiled a bit as he admired the beautiful scenery.

It was then that a finger tapped his right shoulder from behind. Lucas stared forward for a small moment before turning around.

And his mouth opened in surprise once he found another person identically looking like him.

"C-Claus!" Lucas yelled in surprise.

The boy in front of him looked identical to him. The only differences that separated them both from being the same were that Claus had a slightly different style of orange hair and wore light blue-yellow stripped shirt with orange shorts and light-blue shoes.

The boy, Claus, chuckled at Lucas. "Man, you're still the same, aren't you?"

"Claus..." Lucas looked down. "What are you doing here?"

"It's not obvious, genius?" Claus asked as he rolled his eyes. "I'm here because this is a dream."

Lucas looked back at him. "A-a dream? You mean this is not real?"

"...Wait, did you really think this was real?" Claus asked before he frowned. "Well, this is not real, unfortunately..."

Lucas looked down in shame.

"But check this out," Claus said. "You're talking to the real me in person. This is your brother, speaking you directly from the grave."

Lucas gasped and looked back at Claus. "W-what?"

"I'm telling you, this is hard to do," Claus said with a worried expression. "Do you think cheating Death is that easy? It's a good thing Death himself became friends with our mom."

"C-cheating Death?"

"Oh, don't tell the guy, please."

"...Our mom?"

"What about her?" Claus asked before he pointed behind him. "She's right over there, picking up some sunflowers."

Lucas couldn't believe what his eyes showed him behind Claus. There was a young lady with brown hair with a ponytail, sitting down on her legs and magenta dress in the flower bed as she held a basket of flowers on her left arm while she picked up some sunflowers with her other free hand.

Claus looked back at Lucas. "You're gonna go to her or what? I know you."

Lucas stared blankly at his mother before his feet began to run towards her, passing a chuckling Claus as the blond kid made his way to the lady.

"M-Mom!!!" Lucas yelled.

The lady got startled a little bit before she looked at Lucas's direction. She blinked a few times before smiling a bit in happiness. "Lucas, is that really you?"

"Mom!" Lucas yelled before leaping to her mother's lap with a big hug. "M-mom, you're okay!"

"Lucas!" Hinawa (her mother's name) hugged her son with some chuckles as Claus walked to them. "My goodness, you have grown well, young man."

Lucas looked up to her. "D-did I?"

Hinawa chuckled as she ran her hand on Lucas's hair. "Yes, you did. I'm so proud of you."

Lucas blushed and leaned his head to Hinawa. "T-thanks, mom..."

Claus folded his arms and looked at Lucas. "By the looks of it, I can tell you're still the same, though."

"C-Claus!" Lucas said annoyed. "D-don't say that to me!"

"Claus, respect your brother, please," Hinawa said.

'Yes, mom..." Claus said as he looked down.

"And now, young man, why are you chuckling?" Hinawa asked as she looked down at Lucas.

"I-I wasn't chuckling," Lucas said as he blushed. "R-really, I wasn't..."

"No, I heard you were chuckling at your brother," Hinawa said. "If he laughs at your back, do you want to do the same to him?"

Lucas looked away. "N-no..."

"What did I tell you about this before?"

"If you hate what other people do to you, don't try to do the same to them or else you're going to end up in jail someday..."

Claus blinked a few times. "H-hey, I didn't end up in jail!"

"That's good," Hinawa said.

"W-well, I guess..." Claus blushed.

"Anyhow," Hinawa began as she looked at Lucas, who opened an eye to look up at her. "How's your father doing?"

Lucas got off from her and smiled. "My dad built this little ranch after we fought the Pig Mask Army. It's pretty, you know? People have started to say the ranch fits my dad."

Claus began to laugh. "Hahahaha! I told you our dad was gonna end up building a ranch! That hat he always wears really proved it after all!"

Lucas chuckled. "I know. Even Boney is the ranch's dog. He doesn't do a good job sometimes but he's happy to help."

"Aw, Boney," Claus said. "Bring him here the next time you have a random dream with us."

Lucas blinked a few times and looked worried at Hinawa. "M-mom..."

"Yes, what is it?" Hinawa asked.

"This is a dream...but Claus said you 2 are real here...and you 2 are talking from the grave...right?"

"...Yes," she said. "I tried my best to appear here so you didn't feel so alone."

"And I found my way to her," Claus said proudly. "Heheh, I'm something if I can find her, am I not?"

"Lucas, I'm always watching over you."

"Me too, you know."

"And I've seen you have been looking down this whole time."

Lucas looked away in shame.

"Is there something bothering you? C'mon, you can tell me."

"...Mom...Claus..." Lucas looked at them. "I know you're both dead, but...I can't get over them..."

Claus looked down. "Well...yeah, it's true about that."

"...Lucas, you're brave child; my brave child," Hinawa began with a few nods. "As long as you think I'm here with you, I'm going to be there."

Lucas shook his head. "...What I'm trying to say is...I want you to be alive..." Lucas looked at Claus. "It's not the same for me to have 2 dead people while they say they're with me all the time...it's just not the same..."

Claus looked worried at him. "That's going to bother you forever, right?"

"Y-yes..." Lucas sniffed. "I have my dad with me...b-but I want to have both of you too..."

Hinawa closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lucas, but we can't solve that problem very well..." She looked at him. "Even if we're not physically there with you, we're still giving our support so you can help the people you're with."

"...It's not the same!"

Claus and Hinawa got a bit startled at this reaction.

"I-it's not just the same, mom..." Lucas muttered as he began to cry a little. "I-I'm always trying to think you're both alive so I can be happy..."

"...Lucas, you're lying to yourself," Claus said.

"W-what?"

"You're lying to yourself by thinking we're alive while we're dead," Claus explained. "You should know better."

"I-I know, Claus, but..." Lucas frowned. "...It's not the same..."

Hinawa kept staring at Lucas before she picked a sunflower. "Lucas, please, don't hurt yourself with something that you want to use to make you happy."

"I'm not hurting myself..." Lucas muttered.

"You are, believe me," Hinawa said as she gave Lucas the sunflower. "While you're lying to yourself, you're hurting your beliefs about what is true and what's not."

"I-I'm getting confused, mom..." Lucas looked at her as he held the sunflower close to him.

"She says that using lies as an emotional shield brings you more pain," Claus explained. "Lucas, mom here taught us that. Did you forget or what?"

"I-I didn't..."

"Then do us a favor, Lucas," Hinawa began. "Stop using lies before you get hurt even more than you are."

"..." Lucas looked away.

"Young man, look at me and swear it."

"...I-it's embarrassing..." Lucas muttered.

Claus frowned. "Lucas, stop acting like that and be brave!"

"I-it's hard..." Lucas said. "I don't have the courage you have, Claus..."

Claus looked at Hinawa. "Mom, this is getting so hard to me now... How can we help Lucas?"

Hinawa closed her eyes to think of something. "..." She opened her eyes. "...I'm afraid this conversation is going to be over in a few seconds."

"What?" Lucas looked at her. "W-why is that?"

Claus looked around before he noticed. "Oh yeah, Lucas, next time, don't try to sleep while leaning to something in a taxi with 2 speed freaks."

Lucas gasped. "W-wait, how do you know that?"

"1, we know what you're doing with the guys you have. 2, we know you got the help from 2 speed freaks. And 3, we know where you're sleeping."

"And 4," Hinawa continued. "The race is going to start soon."

"And 5, next time, wear a helmet or lay down your head on a pillow."

Lucas looked worried. "W-what do you mean b-"

Music stops

Highway

THUD!

"O-oww!" Lucas moaned in pain.

"It was about time for you to wake up, sleeping beauty," Ness said bored.

Lucas noticed he bumped his head hard on the left door. He rubbed the left side of his head as he moaned a little bit, noticing that the highway was empty except for them, the 2 Pizza Dinosaur employees, and Mona going at full speed over the way.

"Dammit," Dribble cursed. "These guys have some potent motors!"

Chris peered from Spitz's seat to look at the employees. "Do you know if this happens a lot?"

Spitz looked up at him. "I suppose. Mona sometimes comments how hard is for her to do her things. I think these guys are one of the reasons."

Ness looked over. "...What the heck? Is that guy carrying a real dinosaur over his shoulders?"

The 5 looked forward to see the right employee carrying a gray dinosaur over his shoulders as he accelerated more towards Mona. The dinosaur began to bite the air furiously as it focused on Mona's yellow hat...or head.

"Okay," Ness began as he looked at Lucas. "These guys want to kill her off for good."

"And if they kill her..." Chris trailed off. "This mission is going to fail..."

The 3 Smashers looked at each other before Dribble and Spitz joined in.

"...AW, CRAP!" everyone but Lucas yelled.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Boss Battle

Dribble grumbled as he tried to accelerate. "Damn these guys! I can't catch up with them!"

"At this rate, we're going to witness a girl getting her head bitten by an animal that was SUPPOSED to be extinct!" Ness said. "...And here you're talking with a kid that fought dinosaurs himself..."

Spitz rubbed his eyes from between them. "Think, Spitz, think..."

They all saw as Mona noticed the employees were chasing her from behind. However, she wasn't worried about them, even if one had a dinosaur bent to bite her.

She was worried about the time she had to deliver the pizzas.

"I'm gonna be late for sure this time," Mona said worried as she looked at her watch. "Good thing they said they wanted the pizza before midnight. I can make it if I keep accelerating..."

"I'm afraid to say this taxi wasn't meant to fire missiles or somethin'," Dribble said. "Spitz, order a tombstone for Mona."

"Hey, you just can't say that..." Chris trailed off.

"Well, smart kid, do you have any ideas?" Dribble asked with a glare.

"..." Chris began to hit his forehead with the seat. "Why can't anybody say I'm a teen?"

"Teen, kid, whatever you are I don't care!" Dribble looked forward. "Mona's as good as dead if that dinosaur bents its head down on her!"

Ness thought about an idea. "...Of course," he muttered. "Lucas, open the window, now!"

"W-what?" Lucas asked. "We're going to jump out or something?"

"No!" Ness frowned. "I have an idea. The 3 of us need to use PK Thunder together."

"What?" Chris asked.

"We need to try and see if we can combine 3 same attacks together and direct it to that dinosaur," Ness explained. "If we can do that, then Mona will be fine, right?"

"I guess..."

"Well, change jobs already! That tamer job you have on isn't going to help!"

Chris looked at Dribble and Spitz. "W-what about Dribble and Spitz?"

"Forget about them! People need to witness what we can do sooner or later, anyway!"

Chris looked worried before he sighed. "Fine, I'll do it..." The World Traveler ducked to change jobs to the PK Kid before he sat up and looked at Ness.

Dribble and Spitz, noticing the glow behind them, looked back. "...A-HA!" Spitz pointed at them with a grin. "So you're supernatural after all!"

The 3 Smashers blinked at them.

"Dribble, do you know what this means?"

"Hell yeah I know," Dribble said with a happy expression. "We're ALWAYS going to end up taking sci-fi people with us forever!"

"Talk about lucky!" Spitz rejoiced.

"...What?" Lucas tilted his head.

"Ignore them and use PK Thunder already!" Ness ordered before he grabbed the hands of the other 2.

"O-okay, I'm feeling uncomfortable now..." Chris said with a shrug.

"This is NOT what you think it is," Ness said. "It's risky to shoot off our attacks inside this place to later combine them over us or the ceiling of this taxi. I think we can channel our minds together and shoot off 1 single attack from someone else's head." Ness looked at Lucas and the open window. "If my theory is correct, we should direct all the PK energy to Lucas's head where it's going to shoot off from his side to outside."

Lucas gulped. "T-this isn't going to fry me or something, right?"

"Pray for the best to happen."

"W-what?"

Ness looked at Chris. "Okay, start now!"

"I-I'm not so sure about this, but we have no choice..." Chris said worried before he closed his eyes with Ness and a terrified Lucas.

Spitz, who decided to look back at them while Dribble merely moved an eye, took out a video camera as he watched the 3 glowing a bit in blue while electric waves ran around their arms and hands. The PK energy from Chris and Ness began to flow all the way to Lucas's head.

The blond kid twitched a little, but with the effort of their minds combined to concentrate, Lucas managed to control the amount of energy.

"...Now!" Ness opened his eyes with the other 2.

"PK THUNDER!" the 3 yelled loudly as a fast sphere of lightning came out from Lucas's head, leaving the taxi from the open window as it rose up to the air.

Ness twitched as they all tried to control the living sphere while they continued to glow. "U-ugh, it's fast enough to reach them, but we have to focus more before it vanishes..."

"Cooooooooooooooooooool..." Dribble and Spitz said in awe as they looked up at the sphere of lightning, flying around crazily.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Lucas focused even more to concentrate their minds into their attack.

Dribble and Spitz watched as the lightning ball began to get a hold of itself before it shot down towards the dinosaur. Once it crashed right on the dinosaur's back, it created some bolts shooting back as the dinosaur roared in pain and fell to the right side of the road unconscious. The 2 cabs looked at the fainted dinosaur as it was left behind their way.

"You did it!" Spitz said. "Man, that was awesome! I caught it on tape as well."

"Good stuff," Dribble said as he looked at the employees.

"What the hell, man?" the employee who was carrying the dinosaur before began. "Something shot it down!"

"Well, let's not bother looking back now. We need to keep our sight on her," the other employee said as they looked back at Mona. "That girl isn't going to get away again."

"Shall I call our special transport to get rid of her?"

"Do it!"

The employee grinned as he took out a cell phone and called forth a flying purple ship with a dinosaur's head looking forward. The 2 employees looked at the ship turning into a big car to chase Mona right behind her before the 2 jumped their white motorbikes on the hatch on the top of the dinosaur car as the 2 fell on seats and grinned evilly at Mona.

"...Did those 2 just call that thing here from the sky?" Ness asked in disbelief as the 3 Smashers stopped focusing.

"Now I know this place doesn't even know the word normal..." Chris commented.

"Well, sci-fi people, you showed your moves to us," Dribble said pleased. "But now we have that thing chasing Mona from behind. Show it who's the boss!"

Lucas looked worried at the purple dinosaur car. "C-can we really attack it from here? It was hard to control that fast PK Thunder..."

"Let me see if I can accelerate a little bit more to catch up with them. Can you guys attack it with close attacks or somethin'?"

Ness thought for a moment. "I think we can do it."

"Hold on to your seats," Dribble told them. "'Cuz we're going to mach speed level!"

Spitz nodded as he reached the lever. "Mach speed!" he yelled before pushing the lever forward.

The taxi began to accelerate even more as it began to catch up with the employee's car. Ness, Lucas, and Chris looked serious as they all looked to the right where they were able to look at the purple wall of the car.

"Alright, we did it," Dribble said. "You get rid of them now!"

"A-anybody thought about a plan yet?" Chris asked.

Ness looked at the 2 cabs. "Can you keep the speed like it is?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask that?" Spitz asked.

"We'll have to stand up and shoot the car down with some bolts of fire," Ness explained. "We need the car to keep its speed without slowing down so we don't get hurt. Can you do that?"

"You leave that to us," Spitz said as he raised his right hand. "Dude, this chase is starting to get even more epic. Why would we stop now?"

"I-I'm not liking this at all," Lucas commented.

"Too bad, we're going to do it as I say," Ness said as he took off his seat belt and stood up. Chris gasped a little before he took off his seat and pulled back his feet to let Ness stand below. As for Lucas, the blond kid squished his way from Chris's right arm to look out.

"Prepare your PK Fire attacks," Ness told them. "We'll have to spam our attacks over and over to heat up their engine to make it blow up."

"What does this big car do besides chasing Mona?" Spitz asked.

"Beats me," Dribble said. "It should have a beam or something."

"Are you ready or not?" Ness asked to Lucas and Chris.

"Is this the only way?" Chris asked.

Ness frowned annoyed. "I'll take that as a yes. Start bombarding this random car with fire, now!"

The trio of PK users began to shoot bolts of fires that exploded upon impact to the car. It was a small matter of time before the left side of the dinosaur car began to turn bright red.

Noticing that the air was getting hotter, the 2 employees looked around before looking at each other. "Hey, something's cooking up in the engine," the left one said.

"Well, don't look at me. I didn't install an oven down there!" the other one complained.

Since the car was specifically made to chase Mona and nothing else, the 2 looked at each other.

"Why did we have to go make this car without weapons or something?"

The other employee smacked his helmet in disappointment before the car became bright red, eventually exploding as the taxi slowed down. The 2 employees were blasted off to the sky before long, leaving a long trail of smoke behind.

"..." The 3 Smashers sighed in relief as they all sat down on their seats.

Dribble grinned and showed them a thumb up. "Ha, how do you like that now?" he asked as he looked forward to Mona.

Music stops

"That was it?" Ness asked. "Wow, those guys were just pushovers."

"I'm glad..." Lucas said with a sigh.

"Wasn't it weird that they didn't bother to look at us?" Chris asked.

"Chris, there's something I'd like to do right now," Ness began. "You know what it is?"

"No..."

"Relax, get to that girl who made us go through all of this, complain to her, then ask to come with us," Ness explained as he folded his arms. "If she says no, my baseball bat'd like to talk with her very closely..."

"Oh god..."

Back with the teenager, Mona smiled to herself as she kept driving. "It's 6:30 PM, and the pizzas are still hot," she said as she placed a hand on the pizza boxes at the side of her scooter. A happy note jumped from her head before vanishing. "~I'm gonna make it in tiiiiime, I'm gonna make it in tiiiime~" she sang to herself.

Spitz frowned. "Why can't she even look behind for a change?"

"Oh, I'll tell you why," Ness said bored. "Her head can't turn around. She's forever stuck to look forward for the eternity."

"C-can we please just finish?" Lucas asked. "I-I'm getting a little bit annoyed by your complaints, Ness..."

"Oh, don't worry anymore," Dribble said as the taxi and Mona entered the Interstate 310, located to the north, where the beach was nearby.

Interstate 310

Spitz grinned. "The chase is over. Once she stops and delivers those pizzas, we'll reach her." Spitz stood up and looked at them. "You guys made this experience very worthwhile. Plus, we DID get pay after all! Those freaky powers of yours are not to be taken easy!"

"Bwaha-hahahahaha!" Dribble laughed. "Yeah, this was so extreme to a point. Thanks for everythin', you guys!"

Chris sighed in relief and smiled a bit. "Finally, this is going to be over in a bi-"

"Hey, taxi! Over here, please!"

The taxi suddenly came to a halt, making the 3 Smashers get pulled forward before slamming their backs to their seats.

Ness looked forward where Mona was getting away to the west. "H-hey, why did you stop?! We just had her where we wanted her to be!" he asked and yelled respectively to Dribble.

"There are people wanting to take the taxi," Dribble said as he kept looking forward. "We DON'T ignore passengers' request here. If we ignore them, our reputation will fall down to the slums."

"We don't want that to happen, either," Spitz said as he did the same as Dribble. "I'd say let's do it!"

"..." Ness looked at Chris. "Please, tell me these guys DIDN'T lose Mona's track to help others get to their destinations. PLEASE, DON'T TELL ME, DAMMIT!"

"N-Ness, you're starting to go crazy, no offense..." Lucas said with a gulp.

Chris backed away from Ness. "O-okay, I'm not going to tell you anything!" Chris said worried before the taxi pulled back to the right sidewalk before parking.

Spitz looked outside the window. "Aw, you guys! Where you want to go?" he asked, looking down at a kid with a yellow helmet with flashlights at the sides on the top, green visor, big earphones, red shirt with a yellow V-shaped emblem hanging on his neck with green shorts and red shoes. The kid also had brown hair with star-shaped hair hanging on the sides of the helmet.

Spitz looked to his right where a tall guy was carrying a jukebox over his right hand (that had a golden label on hi index finger that read "COOL"). The tall guy was a teenager that wore green clothes and pants, wore 3-D glasses, had brown hair with some sort of small saucer on the top of his hair, wore white shoes, and also wore a gold necklace with the blue numbers 18 on it.

"Long time no see, 9-Volt, 18-Volt!" Spitz said to the kid and the teen.

9-Volt smiled proudly. "Ha, nice to see you guys," he said.

-9-Volt-

-Occupation: Grade School Student
-Hobby: Skate Boarding
-Biggest Boast: His Nintendo Collection
-Bio: This high-tech skater boy studies at Diamond Elementary. He is such a Nintendo fanboy that he owns every piece of Nintendo hardware and software ever made.

"Whatcha doing in this place?" Spitz asked as he looked at the tall teenager. "I thought you guys always played video games all day long. What, did hell freeze over?"

"Nope," 18-Volt said as he shook his head. "We're waitin' for a new game to come out tomorrow."

-18-Volt-

-Occupation: Grade School Student
-Hobby: Listening to his jukebox
-Biggest Boast: His love for video games
-Bio: 18-Volt is a Grade School Student that is usually seen hanging out with 9-Volt at his house. These 2 share a big love for video games that they always play together when they can.

"It's because 72-Volt-Man is gonna come out to stores!" 9-Volt said enthusiastically. "After getting through 36-Volt-man, we're sure the sequel is going to rock on my house!"

"Are you planning to pass the game the very first day it comes out?" Spitz asked.

The 2 gamers looked at each other and chuckled before looking back at the cat. "Of course we are!" both said with enthusiasm.

Inside the taxi, Ness covered his face with his hands. "Tell me they're not having a conversation in the middle of our mission..."

"Fine, I won't tell you..." Chris said.

"And you're waiting for the game to come out without playing another video game?" Spitz asked.

"We're taking a short break," 9-Volt said.

"Nope," 18-Volt interrupted. "I thought we were walking outside because you became frustrated to pass a high difficulty that you didn't pass today, then you tossed the controller at the TV out of frustration, and your mom got angry at us and the-"

"WE'RE TAKING A SHORT BREAK," 9-Volt said as a red toon vein popped out from his helmet while he chuckled.

"Yeah," 18-Volt said.

"..." Spitz hid a chuckle. "Where do you want to go?"

"Far away from his mom because she's looking for us after we escap-"

"A-anywhere you're going," 9-Volt said, interrupting 18-Volt. "It'll be safer that wa-I mean, it'll make us get excited or something."

"Okay, hop on," Dribble said. "Hey, you guys on the back, make space for them!"

"W-what?" Lucas asked.

"Tell the kid on the middle to sit somewhere else, like on the other big kid's legs!"

"W-what?!" Chris asked embarrassed.

"...I'm NOT going to sit on Chris's legs like a child, ever!" Ness complained.

"You're going to sit on his legs or we're not chasing Mona anymore," Dribble threatened. "You wouldn't hurt us, right?"

"You...little..."

Lucas knew they didn't have any choice left after Dribble told them that. "N-Ness, do it..."

"Oh, right, I'm the only one here being asked to sit on Chris's legs, right?" Ness asked annoyed. "Lucas, you do it!"

"M-m-m-m-m-me?" Lucas blushed.

"Yeah, you! Save my butt, man!"

"Y-y-you're starting to sound even more furious than befor-"

"That does it!" Dribble yelled annoyed as he turned around, grabbed Ness, placed him on Chris's legs, and pulled the World Traveler to the middle seat. "There!" Dribble said annoyed as he opened the lock and looked forward. "You guys can come in now!"

"Oh no, this ISN't happening!" Ness complained as Chris, totally embarrassed, looked away from him as the 2 gamers got inside and sat down next to Chris and Ness.

"I hope you don't mind, but we're in the middle of a chase to get to Mona," Spitz said to 9-Volt. "Is that fine with you?"

"Meh, I don't mind," 9-Volt said. "I'll take anything extreme right now."

"Good!" Spitz looked at Dribble. "Continue the chase, Dribble!"

"All right, let's hit the road again! I know where Mona headed to." Dribble laughed for a bit as he started the taxi. "Here we go!" he said before the taxi continued its way to Mona.

An annoyed Ness looked pissed while he stared forward. "...Chris..."

"...Y-yes?" Chris asked worried.

"...Promise me and Lucas that you're not going to tell this to anyone or even my mom or Tracey..."

"Promise..." Lucas and Chris said in unison.

"Good..." Ness said with a sigh.

9-Volt and 18-Volt looked at the 3 and stared at them for a while.

"..." 9-Volt smiled a bit at Chris, who decided to look down at him. "Soooooooo, you play video games?"

"Oh, yes," Chris said. "I have a big collection of them in my house."

"Really? That's cool," 18-Volt said with a nod.

9-Volt gasped. "Hey, what games do you play?"

"I play Nintendo games mostly," Chris said.

The 2 other gamers gasped in excitement. "No way, I play Nintendo games mostly, too!" 9-Volt said, starting to shake in excitement with 18-Volt. "Tell me, what genres do you like the most?"

"I like RPG, adventure, action, puzzle, and simulation genres."

9-Volt looked at 18-Volt. "This guy over here is hardcore, alright!"

Chris smiled a bit and blushed. "O-oh, please... W-what genres do you like to play?"

"Most of the ones you mentioned, but I like to play many other genres," 9-Volt admitted. "18-Volt here shares the same likes as me."

"Word!" 18-Volt said, showing his teeth happily.

As the 3 gamers talked to each other, Ness looked annoyed at Lucas. "I bet the others are going through hell, unlike us."

"I-I'd say you're the only one going through hell, Ness..." Lucas said before gasping. "P-please, don't hit me!"

"Oh, don't worry," Ness said. "Once we go back, I'm going to find this game, place it down, borrow Kirby's hammer, and SMASH IT to smithereens," he said annoyed.

The taxi drove off to the west, where Mona headed as the gamers were discussing video games...

From a corner of a 4-way, where the taxi passed, Sonic, Amy, and Chip were crossing over the street where they looked to the east, spotting a big building that had a big orange antenna with green floors on the other side of the street. Many students were seen entering, exiting, talking, laughing, or eating together around the trees located around the grass.

Diamond Academy - Entrance

The 3 stopped walking and looked up at the height of the academy.

Amy folded her arms. "She must be here, right?" she asked.

"Apparently," Chip said.

"Attention, people," Sonic began. "We're entering Tails's fantasy: an academy for the smartest."

Amy chuckled. "Oh, don't make fun of him now."

Chip looked at the different people around the campus. "Hmm, which one would be Penny?"

"Find the one who's wearing a pink suit," Amy said bored. "That reminds me, the old man didn't tell us how she looked."

"We're not going back to that island again," Sonic said annoyed. "Maybe if we ask around, we could find her?"

"That seems to be more appropriate but tiresome," Amy said. "Let's do it."

"Split and gather info, then," Chip said.

"But let's do this quick," Sonic said as he looked at the sunset. "Who knows if I'm going to transform in that thing again during tonight..."

"...Hey, does this school work even during afternoons?" Amy asked as she looked around.

"Maybe?" Chip asked.

"I think all the kids in here like to study even more than others," Sonic said.

"You might be right..." Amy said with a giggle. "Ooh, so you're really changing? My, you want to turn smart like Tails?"

"There ARE limits, you know," Sonic said with a frown.

Amy rubbed her left cheek with a finger. "Hey, what was that about you turning into a beast, anyway? I barely heard from Chip that your turn into some kind of wolf during the night."

Sonic glared at a whistling Chip. "I know. That's very stupid, right, Chip?"

"Not to mention so overused," Amy commented. "It's cliché for people to turn into werewolves during the night and bite others to turn them into more werewolves. Good thing that isn't going to happen here."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You better say thanks because that isn't going to happen to us at all."

Amy chuckled. "I know." She looked serious. "Okay, let's seek out that girl and meet up with everyone, then!"

The 3 nodded to each other and split ways to gather information about the scientist girl.

"Oh, Penny Crygor?" a girl with lenses and blue uniform asked to Chip. "Well, she's well-known around the campus. Everyone knows her very well because she's always competing in any science challenges like science events or science fairs."

"Do you know where she is?" Chip asked.

"Who doesn't? She's inside the school's lab," the girl said as she pointed at the entrance. "Go inside, walk to the third floor, go to the east hall, enter the 4th door, and you'll get to the lab. She should be there all the time."

"Oh, thanks," Chip said before he flew away.

"Anytime, my cartoon-looking imp stranger."

Diamond Academy - 4th Floor Lab

The imp didn't have trouble in finding the hedgehogs before they made their way to the lab of the academy. Once they got there, they found around 8 tables with chemicals, tubes, elements, and the usual stuff a normal school lab had.

Sonic, by sniffing the air, found a trail of smoke that came from one of the tables of the lab. "Hey, there's smoke over there," Sonic said.

"Eww, it stinks," Amy said, pitching her nose. "You don't think she's inside, right?"

"Depends," Sonic said. "If she's in here, Tails is getting a new friend."

"Would you knock that off already?"

"Sorry..."

They began to hear some coughs from within the smoke as it started to clear out by itself. From what they could tell, there was a person holding tubes on each hand before the smoke began to vanish.

On the other side of the table, there was a young girl coughing smoke out. The girl had orange hair with 2 spikes of hair on her head with 2 ponytails at the sides. She had a small pink heart emblem between her hair and forehead to the right of her big glasses in front of her magenta eyes and spiked eyelashes. The girl also wore a pink-collar jacket with, black shirt underneath, black pants, and pink boots.

"Oh man..." the girl said as she stopped coughing, looking to the mess she did at the table with lots of tubes with spilled liquids. "I did it again..."

The 3 looked at her as she looked around for a rag to clean the table. "Do you think she is the girl we're looking for?" Chip whispered.

"She doesn't even look like the old man," Amy whispered. "Heck, she looks prettier than he is. How can she be his granddaughter?"

Sonic looked behind the girl where the sunset was about to turn into the night. "We better ask her if we want to find out before night comes..." he muttered with a gulp.

"That would be better," Amy whispered before the 3 went over to her.

"Okay, where did I leave that rag? I shouldn't have wiped the table with it for the 7th today..." the girl complained with a sigh as she put the tubes back on their place in some containers. Once she turned around, she looked down at the hedgehogs. "Oh, who might you be? I haven't seen anyone like you 3 in the campus."

"We're sorry to come in here and approach you so suddenly," Amy said. "But...are you by any chance...Penny Crygor?"

The girl with glasses blinked a few times. "...Yes, that's me, Penny Crygor."

Sonic blinked in disbelief. "You mean to tell us you're that old man's granddaughter?"

"What old man?" Penny asked. "Oh, you mean my grandpa? Of course I'm his granddaughter!" she said with a chuckle. "I'm her special, lovely lab assistant as well!" she said enthusiastically.

-Penny Crygor-

-Occupation: Academy Student
-Special Ability: Intelligence superior to an average student
-Number of Lab Accidents in her beginning at being a scientist without getting a disease: 57
-Bio: Penny Crygor is Dr. Crygor's granddaughter. She's a very cheerful girl and also very smart for her age. Her genius could rival the brightest scientists of all time (AKA Dr. Crygor) with her unusual but innovative experiments.

"Do you know him? He's the brightest grandpa of the whole world," Penny said with a few chuckles. "No wonder I'm growing up just fine as him as my role model!"

"(No wonder why I can predict your future very well...)" Amy thought bored.

"Anyway, why are 2 hedgehogs and a cartoon-looking imp here?" Penny asked. "I don't get visits from others that often. And why is the blue hedgehog wearing a dog's collar?"

Sonic decided to grunt annoyed for later. "Your grandpa sent us to look for you," Sonic said. "He said you took some tools from his lab, and he needs 'em to repair that karaoke machine named Mike and another machine called Whatsitcalledmeter."

"Kelorometer," Chip corrected.

"Whatsitcalledmeter," Sonic repeated.

Penny gasped. "Really now? Ooooooh, I knew I didn't need the tools in the first place!" Penny frowned in shame. "You see, I didn't need the tools after all. I thought there was going to be a machine test today, and the lab was short on tools so I had to take the tools from my grandpa. However, the staff decided to change it to a normal class work of elements. Now that you're telling me this, I have to go back to the lab and give back the tools." She turned around to bent over to grab some tools at the side of her feet before turning to them.

"Is this it?" Chip asked.

"Definitely," Penny said worried. "My grandpa would be at a loss if he needed his tools. I admire him so much for whatever experiment he does every day. Taking away his ideas would be very bad for my self-esteem," she said.

"Aww, you love your grandpa so much?"

"Of course I do!" Penny chuckled. "Even if most of his inventions turn out weird, I can always count on him to help me out."

Amy joined her hands together. "Aww, that's so sweet!"

Sonic looked away in annoyance. "(Whatever is sweet it's fine with you, right?)" he asked mentally to Amy.

"Indeed it is," Penny said. "If you want me to go, don't worry about it. School's over for tonight."

"...Tonight?!" Sonic asked in shock.

"Well, yeah," Penny said as she pointed outside. "Don't you see the street's lights turning on, and the sky? It's night already."

Sonic quickly ran to the window where he looked outside. For his horror, the street's lights were turning on along the sidewalks as the stars became present over the sky. The hedgehog's pupils shrunk in fear as he looked shocked at the 3 behind him.

"Wow, what's up with you?" Penny asked. "You look pretty scared."

"H-heheheheheh," Sonic chuckled nervously. "W-what makes you say that?"

"By the looks of it," Penny began as she adjusted her glasses. "Your legs, your arms, your legs, your body, your head, and even your eyes are shaking uncontrollably."

Sonic shook in fear as he chuckled more. "C-Chip?"

"Yeah?" Chip asked.

"A-am I turning into that beast again?"

Chip tilted his head and flew to Sonic. The imp examined the hedgehog for any trails of fur on his body. "Nope, you look just fine besides you shaking like crazy."

"What's happening?" Amy asked as she folded her arms. "Seriously, is that story of that werewolf thing real?"

Penny, hearing this, looked somewhat interested in Sonic. "A werewolf?" She gasped, putting her right hand close to her mouth. "Y-you can turn into a werewolf, or more accurately a werehog?"

Chip looked at her. "Wow, you know the name for the transformation?"

"That was the most logical answer," Penny commented. "I mean, he isn't a human. If he was a human, then he would be a werewolf. Since he's a hedgehog, I think the name werehog sound just about right because, if you think about it, hedgewolf sounds a little bit not that appealing, but werehog does... I think I contradicted myself, though..."

"Y-you're so sharp and so smart!" Chip said in amazement.

Sonic looked annoyed at the imp. "Is that supposed to be good or bad?" he asked with a grunt.

Amy watched helplessly as Sonic kept trembling. "A-are you feeling something?"

"..." Sonic thought for a moment looking outside. "As a matter of fact, I don't even feel a thing..."

Penny blinked. "That's...a shame, really. Here I was hoping to see something like that happen...and I hardly even know you 3."

"I'm Chip," Chip said.

"My name is Amy Rose," Amy said.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic said.

"...That...doesn't help that much but whatever rolls your way..." Penny said with a chuckle.

Sonic looked at himself before grinning at the 3. "Alright, there's no more stupid transformation!"

"T-that's great, Sonic," Chip said relieved. "That means you don't have to wear that collar anymore!"

"Yeah," Sonic said with a nod. "Now, would you take this freakin' thing off me?"

"Does that mean that collar wasn't an accessory?" Penny asked.

"NO."

"Oh well," Penny said as she lifted her shoulders. "I kind of wanted to see a transformation with my own eyes. Guess you can't have everything in life that easily."

"Yeah," Sonic said with a confident, grinning look. "You have to keep fighting your problems and work hard to overcome them eventuall-UGH!!!"

The 3 watched as Sonic embraced his stomach before falling on his knees in pain.

"...I take what I said back," Penny said. "You CAN have everything in life that easily!" she said cheerfully.

"W-would you drop that already?" Sonic asked as he grunted deeply. "C-Chip, this didn't end yet..."

Chip lifted his hands in fear as Sonic's body began to shake uncontrollably.

Amy took a step back. "W-wait, Sonic, what are you feeling? W-why are you acting like that?"

"U-ugh..." Sonic grunted in pain as he looked at the 2 girls. "I-I'm feeling...something inside...trying to turn me into that monster..."

"W-what monster?"

"UGH, IT'S HAPPENING ALREADY!!!" Sonic yelled loudly in pain as he slammed his hands down to the floor.

For some reason, the lights of the lab turned off suddenly.

Amy, noticing this, looked around before looking over the switches where Penny was standing close. "Why did you turn the lights off?" Amy asked.

"I want to make a scene here," Penny said. "If he DOES change into a werehog, I wanna be the first girl scientist to study such a transformation in the field of science!"

"H-hey, he isn't gonna be your guinea pig or something!" Amy complained as Chip looked down at the hedgehog. "He's needs to be free, run around the fields, save me from creeps like Eggman, kiss me when the moment comes, marry me, make a family, have kids, an-"

"Amy, even I think you're fantasying way too much," Chip interrupted.

"Chip, don't ruin my fantasy, then," Amy replied annoyed.

"Okay, go on as Sonic grows bigger."

"Yeah, I'll continue as Sonic grows bigg-" Amy did a double take as Penny gasped in excitement. "Wait, who grows what now?"

The pink hedgehog turned around to see the blue hedgehog starting to grow a little bit bigger as fur began to sprout from every single part of his body. Sonic's gloves were ripped apart by 2 huge claws as his teeth turned into fangs while his feet gained spikes underneath and even around the white cloth around them.

Then, the typical loud roar…roared, even shattering the windows a bit behind him.

"..." Amy's pupils shrunk in pure disbelief as the werehog before her stood up while standing on both his feet and big claws. "...S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-Sonic?" Amy stuttered.

Sonic looked at himself for a moment before looking shocked. "Crap!" The hedgehog banged a single but strong fist on the floor, even shattering it a bit. "This stupid transformation is still around!"

"Aww, no..." Chip shook his head in shame. "Then this is not over yet..."

"...!!!" Amy screeched in horror as she put her hands on her cheeks. "M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-my boyfriend is a monster!"

"Who is your stupid boyfriend again?" Sonic asked angrily.

"If that is you, does that make you stupid?" Chip asked.

"Chip, this isn't the time to be wondering that," Sonic muttered in annoyance.

Sonic looked back at the frightened Amy who tried her best to calm down at the sight of Sonic's glaring look. The werehog looked over to the left...

Sonic found an excited Penny, though.

Penny adjusted her glasses. "Oh. My. GOODNESS!" Penny squealed with glee as she ran to the werehog to see him closer. "Okay, stay here. I want to run some examinations on you."

"What?" Sonic asked before the young scientist walked around him. After circling around, Penny began to grab certain parts of Sonic. "H-hey, that's going too far already!"

"Let's see," Penny began as she grabbed an arm. "Big muscular arms," she said before touching a claw. "Big claws," she said before rubbing Sonic's forehead. "Lots of hair," she said before rubbing Sonic's stomach (making Sonic feel uncomfortable). "Abs underneath fur," she said before opening Sonic's lips to see his sharp fangs. "Very sharp fangs," she said.

"Seriously, stop this weird examination!" Sonic demanded as Penny kept grabbing his lips.

Penny pulled back her hands, releasing his lips before putting her right hand in front of his mouth. "Okay, bite me."

"What?"

"Bite me, c'mon!"

"Why do you want me to bite you?"

"I want to see if there's some werehog DNA in you to run a test and see if you can infect people to make them werewolves," Penny said. "If I'm fast enough to remove the DNA, I won't be turned into a werewolf."

"I'm not going to risk you into some kind of silly experiment that won't prove anything!" Sonic yelled at her with a growl.

"Well then," Penny began. "If you believe that silly experiment won't prove anything, I'd be just fine, right?"

"Exactly!"

"Then let's get over it and bite me!"

"No!"

"C'mon, just a small bite, please?" Penny asked with puppy eyes. "I wanna be famous, you know..."

"Yes, you wanna be famous by getting yourself killed," Sonic joked.

"Just do it already!" Penny said, snapping back her eyes to normal.

"Oh, for the..." Sonic frowned as Amy slowly tried to calm down.

"Sonic?" Chip asked.

"Let her do whatever she wants," Sonic said. "Girls are just like this..."

The imp watched as the werehog slowly opened his mouth, showing his sharp fan-

And Penny merely moved her index finger inside, moved it up to get herself pinched deeply enough to make a small drop of blood come out from her hand before removing her hand quickly.

"Done!" she said with a happy chuckle.

"Wha..." Sonic closed his mouth as Penny turned around, opened a drawer to find a syringe to take the small drop of blood quickly by sucking it into it before pulling a microscope from the nearby table where he dropped the sample on a small glass underneath the machine. "That was all you had to do?"

"Please," Penny said as she examined the blood closely. "With a single pinch of those fangs is fine. They're like syringes, you know."

"...You're not feeling weird after that pinch?" Chip asked.

"Nope," Penny said. "Not even the smallest trace of swelling was found, which makes me believe you can't infect people," Penny theorized as she raised a finger and examined the drop. "As I've expected, you're not really a werewolf naturally!" she said in excitement.

"That's...good..." Sonic said confused.

"Don't you get this? You DNA was altered, not infected!" Penny said with some chuckles. "Altering DNA is pretty different from being infected because it doesn't have the same properties as a true werewolf. That means you're not naturally a werewolf that can't do what normal werewolves can do! After all, you're not even human, so there's no real reason for you to use the were- word in your species like I said before!"

"..."

Penny rolled her eyes as she tossed the sample to the trash can. "What I mean to say is that you're not dangerous to go around and infect people."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Oh, I guess you're in control of yourself, silly me..." Penny stuck her tongue out before she hit her head a bit. "Here I thought you had gone insane. Then again, you were genetically altered and not infected."

"..."

"...Fine, this was pointless," Penny said with a sigh. "I guess this is going to help me a little bit, though. Thanks for being my guinea pig for 2 minutes."

"..."

"Can you stop the silence?"

"...Oh, what? Oh, I'm sorry," Sonic apologized.

Penny sweatdropped. "That had to be the weirdest stare I've ever seen before."

"What was all that for?" Chip asked.

"I just wanted to see this," Penny said. "I could have been the first scientist to study this phenomenon, but it was a false alarm, oh well..." She looked at the frightened Amy. "And are you alright?"

Amy shook her head. "Did you just say Sonic is muscular and had abs?"

"Amy!" Sonic groaned.

"O-oh, sorry!" Amy blushed embarrassed. "A-a-a-a-are you Sonic?"

"No, Amy," Sonic said annoyed. "I'm a beast-wolf-thingy that's staring at you bored."

"Oh, then I guess you're not Sonic."

"Keep going like that and you're going to make the dumb pink girl stereotype..."

"...Hey, you're Sonic!" Amy said with a glare. "Only Sonic has enough guts to say that to me!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS I TRYING TO SAY BEFORE THEN?!" Sonic roared angrily.

"H-hey, stop it!" Penny began to speak. "You're going to break the windows with your voices, and even the tubes in here, if you keep going like that!"

The 2 looked at each other and looked down in shame.

"Phew..." Chip said with a sigh. "Guess that's over with."

"The event, not this stupid transformation," Sonic said with a sigh. "I'll be forever damned in this stupid fur suit..."

"I-its not a-"

"I KNOW," Sonic interrupted in annoyance.

The young scientist shifted her eyes around. "...Okay, I think I'm going to get in trouble if the principal sees the windows like this..." Penny smiled. "Which should have been right away because he's not here and left the school to forget his duties, heeheehee..."

Amy looked at her. "Soooooooooooo..." Amy looked at Sonic. "Are you Sonic?"

"YES!" Sonic yelled annoyed. "My god, why can't you understand already? It's me, just a little bit brawnier!"

"...Oh," Amy said as she lifted her shoulders. "I guess it's fine. No harm done."

Sonic and Chip blinked confused. "...What? You're not scared of me?" Sonic asked, raising one of his new eyebrows.

"Why would I be scared of you?" Amy asked. "You wouldn't hurt me in that form, right?"

"No (then again, I would)."

"Then it's fine," Amy said with a nod. "You're you, so that means there's nothing to worry about."

"Phew..." Sonic sighed. "I thought you were going to run away from this sick form I'm using..."

"Why would I do such a thing? Besides, I think I'm more attracted to you in that form..."

Sonic looked bored at her. "I knew there was another reason to get rid of this curse..." Sonic muttered.

Chip flew to Amy. "Are you sure you're not attracted to him because he has muscles?" Chip asked.

Amy blushed and glared at him. "C-Chip, quiet you!" she whispered annoyed.

"Oh man..." Sonic frowned as he accidentally let a deep growl. "Whatever..."

Penny looked back and forth between all of them. "...Okay, I guess I should be going for now," she said as she picked up her tools. "It's getting pretty late tonight."

"You're going to come with us?" Amy asked.

"Sure," Penny said. "I can try to repair Mike. My grandpa just can't seem to repair his singing voice."

"He's malfunctioning?" Sonic asked.

"Almost all the time, even between his songs," Penny explained. "My grandpa has been trying to fix him for a long time now, but Mike just doesn't work right like he used to."

"Great, this is going to be bad if he ever tries to sing..." Chip said worried.

"Why? I can always try to repair him," Penny offered. "If he gets another short-circuit, I'll try to fix him." Penny looked at the door. "Well, let's get going, then."

Penny temporarily joined your team!

"Alright," Amy said before looking at Sonic walking to them. "You sure you feel okay?"

"No," Sonic said. "I'm going to keep saying this forever: I HATE this transformation."

"Is that so?" Penny asked. "I unfortunately don't know about a way to fix that for you, sorry."

"Meh, there should be a way," Sonic said before he put a claw on his head. "O-oww, now my head is starting to..." His eyes widened before looking at them. "Oh no, not that guy again!"

Chip gasped. "W-wait, you mean that..."

"!!!" the werehog yelled loudly once more as a dark aura began to emanate from his back before it began to create the image of an enraged DSS, looking around in a blind rage for someone.

"WHERE IS THAT MOTHERF(BEEP)R?! TELL ME NOW!!!" DSS demanded.

Amy took a step back once she saw the image turning his head quickly everywhere. "W-what the heck is going on now?" Amy asked as she shook scared. "S-Sonic, what is happening to you?"

"Please, believe me," Sonic pleaded. "This guy on my back won't harm a fly even if he wanted to. Don't run away! I have everything in control!"

"Oh no, this isn't good..." Chip said worried before DSS locked white eyes at him. "U-uah!"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" DSS laughed before he sent a flurry of intangible fists at the imp. "CHIP, DO YOU LIKE MY GIFT TO YOU OR NOT, B(BEEP)T?!"

"U-uaaaah!!!" Chip screamed as he covered his face while the fists merely passed through him.

"Hey, bastard," Sonic began as he glared up at the shadow. "You can stop now."

"DIE!" DSS ignored Sonic as he continued to try to kill Chip.

Sonic frowned as DSS kept trying to beat Chip to a bloody pulp. The werehog noticed the scientist walking up to him as she adjusted her glasses to the shadow. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Penny ran a hand through the shadow before nodding a few times. "Hmm... What an interesting spirit you have in you..."

"Interesting? Nah. Is he annoying? Oh yeah," Sonic said annoyed. "Don't bother running a test on him. He's just too damn deaf to hear anyone."

Penny looked down at him. "He isn't that scary to me."

"H-he was when he possessed Sonic, though..." Chip muttered once he realized the fists didn't hurt him.

"H-h-h-h-hold on, please!" Amy pleaded. "I don't have a clue about this at all! Can somebody please explain me what happened to the smallest single detail, please?"

Sonic and Chip looked at each other.

Half an hour later...

"Let me get this straight," Penny began as she crossed her arms and walked around. "You have been genetically altered by an evil doctor who brought a dormant evil spirit within you that gained more and more power every night before it noticed it had the control necessary to take over your mind and body with that transformation. That soul or spirit decided to go kill anything out of pleasure before it was eventually controlled by a long battle..."

"YOU LITTLE B(BEEP)T!" the dark aura yelled at Penny. "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME AN IT?!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Wow, you're not deaf anymore?"

"SHUT UP!!!" DSS yelled down at Sonic.

"Ignore the dude with the a(beep)hole attitude, please."

Penny stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "Okay, I understand."

Amy scratched her head. "So that guy killed Chris? Then how did he get revived?"

"I-it wasn't pretty... Y-you shouldn't know how..." Chip shrugged.

"..." Amy looked at the shadow. "Ooooooooh, this is just a problem after another..."

"YEAH," DSS said with some nods. "YOU'RE A BUNCH OF B(BEEP)S WHO DON'T WANT TO LET F(BEEP)NG ME GO ALREADY!"

Penny chuckled, making the shadow grunt in fury. "The only thing we know is that he has lost common sense completely."

"!!!" DSS yelled angrily at her.

"See what I mean?" Penny asked with another chuckle. "Anyhow, I don't know how to help you in this...or with him," Penny said. "But we really have to get going."

"W-wait," Chip began. "W-what about this guy? We can't let him annoy us while we go back..."

Sonic looked at him. "If that's the case...we need to find Chris and tell him to stop this jackass to yell out curses and bad words all night long."

"YOU MOTHERF-"

"SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" Sonic asked, interrupting the shadow from yelling.

"Wait, Chris can make him go away?" Amy asked.

"He needs to whip him hard," Chip said. "Chris has the ability to make this guy disappear."

"Is that so?" Amy asked, tilting her head. "Ooh, this is so hard..." She looked at Penny. "I'm sorry to say this, but we need to get rid of this idiot over here first before we do anything else. Would you go back to the lab without us?"

"Why would I do that?" Penny asked.

"What?"

"I wanna go with you," Penny said as she looked excited at the shadow. "I want to find out more about this so I can make a scientific discovery."

"H-hey, you're going to risk yourself for science or something?" Sonic asked.

"I will if it's going to help me to become a great scientist!"

"..." Sonic frowned. "I just can't understand girls..."

Chip looked at the other 2. "Should we let her come?"

"Yes..." Sonic said. "You have to agree with a girl..."

"...Where's Chris, anyway?"

Sonic blinked before smacking his forehead. "Oh, great, he must be running somewhere in this city..."

"If you want to find this Chris person, why don't you sniff him out?" Penny asked.

"Sniff him out?"

"Of course," Penny said. "Even if you're not fully a werewolf, you have the traits of one now. Wolves have strong noses to sniff anything from far away. If you can find an essence familiar with Chris, you could seek him easily."

"So I have to be a dog and smell people's butts to find him?"

"That's...not what I meant, really..." Penny said somewhat disgusted. "Here, raise your nose, sniff the air, and...wait..." She looked around. "This lab has so many scents that could get you confused. Let's go out."

Diamond Academy - Entrance

By the time the 4 (or 5 with DSS) came out, every single student had already left the campus. The 4 walked to the sidewalk before stopping just under a post. The light that shone down on them made DSS embrace himself.

"Huh?" Amy looked at the shadow. "Why are you doing that?"

The shadow didn't reply as he kept embracing himself.

"The fact that he comes out during the night could mean he can't tolerate any form of light," Penny theorized. "Thus this is why he acts like that."

"..." DSS didn't want to say anything.

"I see..." Chip said. "We discovered a small way to make him shut up, then."

"I'm glad," Amy said with a sigh. "He's just plain annoying."

"You, start sniffing," Penny said to Sonic. "Try to focus on him to track down his smell."

Sonic looked a little bit surprised. "How do you know?"

"Pretty much anyone who has read fairy tales knows that. It's basic knowledge," Penny explained. "What, you haven't read books before?"

"Once, and I got pulled to it to a freaky Arabian adventure where I couldn't control my speed for some reason."

Amy, Penny, and Chip had interrogation points over their heads.

"...That's why I don't read books," Sonic said.

"...Okay..." Penny said weirded out. "Start sniffing."

Sonic rolled his eyes before he began to sniff the air over him. The werehog moved his head to the sides before he began to move around the group.

Once he got behind Amy...

"OWW!" Sonic got a hard slap from her. "I didn't smell you-know-what!"

"O-oh, my bad..." Amy said embarrassed.

Sonic grunted annoyed before he continued to sniff the air. After a while of sniffing it, he stopped and looked at them with a shrug.

"Eww, I know where he is," Sonic said.

"Why did you say eww?" Chip asked.

"I've never done this before and I hate it!" Sonic yelled annoyed.

"Wow, easy there, furry guy," Chip said. "Your nose is our new seeker."

Amy chuckled. "Knock that off, Chip. Where's Chris?"

Sonic pointed to the southwest. "I found a familiar scent that could be Chris."

Penny looked south and adjusted her glasses. "Could? C'mon, it is him, no doubt." She looked back at them. "Shall we get going?"

"Unfortunately," Sonic continued. "The scent was trying to get away."

"He's running away, then..."

Sonic just couldn't believe that Penny knew a lot more than he did. How could a scientist that he hardly knew know a lot about his state?

The werehog noticed that the scientist jumped on to his back, where she didn't mind to have the dark spirit covering her. "Okay, get a move on to the southwest!" Penny said.

"H-hey, why are you on my back?"

"It's gonna be faster if you run while you carry me," Penny explained before looking at Amy. "There's enough space for you as well. Hop on!"

Amy looked worried at the shadow before looking back at Penny. "R-right," she said, before jumping on Sonic's back, managing to fit with Penny as Chip flew besides them.

"Do you know how to run?" Penny asked.

"Let me try," Sonic said with a grin before cracking his claws. "I'm not the fastest thing on 2 legs for nothing."

And the werehog, instead of running, seemed that he was tumbling to the sides as he tried to run while Chip followed.

The 2 girls tried not to fall off before Penny knocked Sonic's head a bit. "Y-you call this running? It looks like you're learning to walk!" she complained.

Sonic stopped and showed his fangs at her. "What do you want me to do? I'm new to this f(beep)d up transformation!"

"There, there," Penny said as she scratched one of Sonic's pointy ears. "No need to get angry..."

Sonic suddenly had a happy (but stupid) expression as Penny kept scratching his ear, making him stuck his tongue out a bit. "Ooh..." Sonic said groggily. "A little more to the right... Aah, yeah, it hits the spot..."

"SONIC!" Chip yelled loudly, startling Sonic.

The werehog got startled. "Chip, shut up, I was enjoying this!" Sonic glared at Chip. "I-I mean..."

"C'mon, we're losing time!" Amy said as she tried to push the dark aura off. "We have to find Chris!"

"How do I run, then?" Sonic asked to Penny, who stopped scratching his right ear.

"Simple," Penny said. "Think you're leaping forward. Start with a leap before slamming you claws on the floor, let them reach your feet as they move forward, then move your claws forward. Once you do it, you'll notice you're running."

Sonic looked to the south. "Okay, here we go..."

The werehog pulled back before he leaped forward, slamming down his claws on the floor before letting them fall behind long enough to reach his jumping feet before extending them forward.

Amy looked behind her where the academy began to get away. "Sonic, you did it! You're running!"

"Damn," Sonic cursed as he kept running while Chip followed. "This doesn't feel like I'm running at all."

"It's working, though," Penny said with a chuckle. "You're a fast learner."

"Heheh, thanks."

"Let's keep it going," Chip said. "We'll reach Chris and the others in no time!"

"Actually, I think they were going faster than we are..."

"...Oh well," Chip said as he lifted his hands a bit. "We'll figure a way to get to them fast."

And so, the 4 (while DSS kept getting interrupted by the lights of each post they ran underneath) went towards the southwest, where they hoped to find the World Traveler and get rid of the shadow.

Club Sugar

7:30 PM...

The family kept dancing...

And the Smashers along with Red haven't gotten a good idea to get the 3 remaining samples as they sat close to the counter.

Red began to bang his head on the counter. "I can't believe we haven't found a way to get those hairs!" Red looked angrily at them. "We're 4 people, for crying out loud! 4 minds think better than 3,2, or 1!"

"We could use the same method we used before, you know," Jigglypuff reminded him.

"Oh, hell no," Red said annoyed. "My trident barely was going to fall off. I don't want it to kill someone by accident."

Kirby sighed. "And I was getting tired of holding it and trying to keep flying for so long..."

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen," the announcer began, making the 4 look around. "The club shall close at 8:00 PM due to a recent epidemic of beetle-like bugs in here. Please, enjoy your stance here at Club Sugar, affiliated with Club Spice on the other side of the city!"

The 4 looked at each other after hearing the announcement.

"Epidemic of bugs?" Diddy asked. "Does this place have bugs?"

"Who cares about bugs?" Red asked. "The club's gonna close on us in half an hour, and those 5 are going to leave by that time! We have to accelerate this!"

Kirby looked worried before he noticed a small, evil-looking bug appearing from behind the counter. The Star Warrior, ignoring the other 3 talking, took a close look at the orange, beetle-like insect that chuckled evilly at him.

"How can we think of a plan to grab those hairs if we haven't thought about a good one yet?" Diddy asked as, from behind, the bug (that was named Scratchy the 'Fro Bug (yes, it had a name)) began to flap its little wings while Kirby blinked a little bit interested. "I mean, my mind isn't exactly good for odd plans like this..."

"Why can't we just wait for the club to close and grab the hairs?" Jigglypuff asked before Scratchy began to fly up, Kirby being the only noticing it.

"Ashley's going to come for you at 9!" Red said.

Diddy blinked a few times. "...You said she was going to come for us at midnight, MIDNIGHT, remember?"

"I...lied..." Red said before looking down. "I was playing with you, guys. I wanted to keep it a secret to see if you wanted to listen to her so badly..."

Jigglypuff looked bored at him while Scratchy began to fly towards the stage. "You know, that was so jerky of you..."

"I KNOW!" Red yelled before crying. "I-I'm sorry for lying to you. I-I was just trying to get some fun and see your shocked expressions once Ashley came earlier than you thought she would come!"

"Well, how's that fun when our lives are in danger?"

"She's freaking scary with that silence around her," Diddy admitted before shrugging. "A-and did you see where she lives? S-she's hinting she'd hiding something from everyone..."

"Hey, don't sound like jerks to her now!" Red complained as Scratchy flew above the crowd while Kirby took a sip of his milkshake. "Ashley's a very talented witch!"

"Yes, a talented witch in instigating the fear on us," Diddy said.

"Okay, stop it," Red said. "We're not here for you to complain about Ashley. We're here to get those annoying hairs from those dancers."

Kirby watched as Scratchy made his way to the stage, where it looked down at Jimmy's afro and chuckle evilly at it.

"An idea, please?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Dammit, don't leave all the work to me!" Red complained.

"Everyone?" Kirby began.

"Think about something or else I'll end up in a pot tonight!" Diddy yelled angrily.

"Me too, especially me!" Jigglypuff yelled angrily.

"Hello?" Kirby tried to get their attention.

"Look, just get thinking and we'll come up with something," Red said as the glaring Smashers. "Seriously, I told you guys I was going to help you in this," he said calmly.

"It doesn't look like it anymore," Diddy said.

"Believe me, I AM trying as hard as I can!"

"Please, hear me..." Kirby said worried.

"Don't pressure me, and help out too!" Red complained.

"But thinking too much makes my head hurt..." Jigglypuff complained.

"Oh, now you're complaining? Use your head some more!"

"EVERYONE!" Kirby suddenly snapped out.

"WHAT?!" the other 3 asked, looking angrily at him.

The Star Warrior glared back at them before pointing at Scratchy on the stage.

Diddy looked back at him. "What's your point with that bug?" he asked annoyed.

The 4 looked back at Scratchy before the bug chuckle a little bit louder and dove into Jimmy's afro. Some time passed before they barely noticed that the afro was starting to move.

"...H-hey," Jimmy began as he looked up. "M-my afro is itching..." he said before his afro began to shake. "A-aah, my afro itches so badly!" Jimmy complained in panic before he began to scratch his afro with both hands while moving around the stage.

The Balloon Pokémon looked back at Kirby. "So?" Jigglypuff asked. "Kirby, that doesn't seem to be of any help."

Kirby looked down. "Ooh, I thought it would..."

Red looked at the crowd. "Wow, nobody thinks he's freaking out..."

"Why do you say that?" Diddy asked.

The devil pointed at the cheering crowd. Apparently, they considered Jimmy's panic as some sort of new and innovative dance as the dancer began to jump around the stage, even to the point where he jumped way too high to reach the spotlights.

"Hey, check him out!" Jamie looked up at her brother. "Jimmy's on fire tonight!"

"Oh, my, that's my son," Mama T. said with some chuckles.

"Yeah, Jimmy, shake it!" James cheered on his brother.

"Hahahaha! You're the dancer prodigy, Jimmy," Papa T. said as the whole family kept dancing, thinking Jimmy was dancing rather than panicking.

The 4 looked at each other while the crowd keep cheering even louder at the panicking Jimmy on the stage. "...It's a good thing they're oblivious to what's wrong to him," Red said, raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't he jumping way too high?" Kirby asked.

Diddy looked at Jimmy jumping so high up where he reached the spotlights easily. The Kong gasped at this. "Y-yes, he's jumping way too high," he said. "High enough to let us grab a sample without having to screw up...of course!"

Red gasped. "Q-quick, let's go up!"

The 4 characters looked around before they all flew or jumped towards the spotlights, crossing over the gaps before reaching the spotlights on the stage. As they expected, Jimmy was jumping high enough to let them reach his afro.

Red grinned as raised his trident. "Okay, you guys tell me the right time to pinch his hair. You gotta be precise or else I could end up killing him."

"For the last time, you're not going to kill anyone tonight," Jigglypuff said annoyed.

Kirby looked at the jumping Jimmy. For their luck, the dancer faced forward and not behind to look at them, which meant he wouldn't see them to pinch his afro.

Diddy raised a hand as the dancer kept jumping high. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaand...go!"

"EAT THIS!" Red yelled angrily as he thrust his trident forward, scratching Jimmy's afro for a bit before the devil pulled back his trident, letting Jimmy fall down on the stage where he stopped jumping.

"...Hey..." Jimmy stopped dancing to try and feel something in his afro. "The itching...is gone..." he muttered before smiling a bit. "It's gone!" he rejoiced. The dancer gasped once he noticed his family was still dancing without him. Jimmy sighed in relief before he rejoined them, making the crowd go wilder than before.

"Eureka!" Red proclaimed happily as they all looked at the middle prong, where a little bush of hair was found.

Diddy smiled a bit and took the bush off the trident. The 4 stared at the piece of blue hair before smiling a bit. "3 on the bag, 2 outside the bag," Diddy said before the bush began to shake. "Huh?"

"It's shaking?" Jigglypuff asked.

The 4 noticed that, from within the bush, Scratchy the 'Fro Bug came out from the hair, looking mad at them with an angered expression.

"Whoops," Kirby said as Scratchy glared at them.

"Did it do this to him?" Red asked.

The bug rolled its eyes in annoyance before it flew down to them. "Hey, suckas," the bug began. "Why did you let your noses peer where they don't need to sniff, huh?!"

The 4 blinked surprised at the bug. "...You can talk?" Diddy asked.

"Of course not," Scratchy said sarcastically. "I'm not the one talking, rather someone else who dropped a voice speaker in my back and talks by using it. YES, I can talk!" he yelled annoyed. "Now, I ask you again, why did you want to stop me from doing my business?"

"S-sorry," Kirby said worried. "We really need to get some hairs, Mr. Bug..."

"My name is Scratchy, pink puffball," Scratchy said annoyed.

"Mr. Scratchy..." Kirby looked at the bug. "W-we're sorry for interrupting you..."

"I hope you are because I was looking for a place to call home, and that guy down there had the best place to call home for me," Scratchy said annoyed. "But nooooooo, you guys came from nowhere and decided to stop me." Scratchy sniffed. "W-why do you have to be so mean on the homeless? WHY?!"

Red looked bored at him. "Hey, I know you're crying crocodile tears now."

Scratchy looked angrily. "Ugh, you saw through my veil of lies. You're sharp, I give you that."

"Drop that off," Diddy said with a glare. "If you act like this, then what we did to you was good enough."

"Good enough?" Scratchy asked angrily. "You guys stopped me from getting a home!"

"I thought you were just being a bully to the afro guy," Jigglypuff said.

"Well, that too," the bug admitted.

Red thought about something. "...Hey, you did make that guy jump so high by making his afro itch..."

"What about it?" the bug asked harshly.

"...Do you think you call help us by entering that girl's afro and that woman's afro?" Red asked. "If you can, maybe they could do the same and make them jump high enough to let us grab a sample of their hairs."

"...HA!" the bug laughed before grinning at them. "Do you really think I'm going to say yes and help you? You don't have a snowball chance in hell I'd do that for you, not after what you did to me!" the bug said. "Nice try, but it's a big NO for you."

Diddy grunted. "You're the only one of the whole club that can help us!"

"Well, too bad," the bug said, still grinning. "I work alone, and when I say alone, I mean I DON'T help anyone, let alone you 4 who stopped me."

Scratchy turned his back on them. Jigglypuff gasped and tried to stop him from getting away. "W-wait!"

Scratchy turned around with a grunt. "I thought I already made myself clear. I AM not helping you, losers!"

"Dude, we need your help," Red said. "This is crucial. We REALLY need your help right now."

"No matter how many times you keep asking me, I'm not going to help you."

"Pretty please?" Jigglypuff asked as she pointed down at Jamie. "Make her hair itch for us?"

"Do you think I'm stupid or what?" Scratchy asked.

Diddy thought for a moment. "You said you were looking for a home, right?"

"Duh!"

"Well..." Diddy looked away, narrowing his eyes at the bug from the side. "I heard she has a pretty nice TV in her afro..."

The 3 looked at him as Scratchy looked somewhat skeptical about what Diddy told him.

"...Really?" Scratchy asked with interest.

"Oh yeah," Diddy said. "I heard she stuffs things in her hair; lots of things."

"Hmm..." Scratchy rubbed his chin. "I dunno..."

"Look, dude, it's tempting," Diddy said. "You have a chance to get yourself a pretty home. You just need to look inside her hair and you'll find what you want."

"How do I know you're not trying to trick me?" Scratchy asked as he narrowed his eyes at them.

Kirby shifted his eyes. "...There's a plasma TV in there..."

"..." Scratchy remained silent for a moment. "...Get a hold of yourself..." The bug began to shake in pure excitement. "T-t-there shouldn't be a plasma TV in there..."

"Is that the TV's control sticking out from her hair?" Red suddenly asked as he was looking down at Jamie's afro. "Ooh, look at that, it is."

"MINE!!!" Scratchy yelled loudly before he dove for Jamie's afro in a hurry.

The 4 looked at each other and chuckled. "That was a nice idea, Diddy," Jigglypuff remarked.

"I didn't think he would fall for it that easily," Diddy chuckled. "Good thing I was wrong."

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Jamie was heard screaming as she began to scratch her hair. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! M-my afro is itching so badly!!!"

"Hey, check it out," James began as he looked at her sister jumping around. "Jamie's on fire as Jimmy was."

The crowd began to cheer loudly, ignoring the fact that Jamie was actually in trouble before she began to jump high enough to reach the 4 characters on the spotlights.

"Are they that oblivious of her?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Looks like it," Red commented. "Who cares?" Red held up his trident. "Tell me when!"

"Now!" Diddy yelled.

"TASTE THE PRONGS!" Red yelled loudly as he thrust his trident forward to Jamie's hair. The trident's prongs scratched Jamie's hair for a second before she fell down on her feet, and little bit in vertigo before she shook her head.

"P-phew..." Jamie sighed. "I-it's gone..."

It was a matter of time before the disco-fabulous girl continued to dance even more with her family.

"B-I-N-G-O!" Red exclaimed happily, as the Smashers looked happy at the sample of Jamie's hair.

Jigglypuff took the hair off and held it up in triumph. "~4 in hands, 1 out of hands,~" she sang happily.

From the little bush of darkish pink hair, Scratchy flew out and looked at them annoyed. "Hey, not fair, you tricked me!" he said with a glare.

"Whoops," Diddy said with a chuckle. "I guess that was the wrong afro."

"Wrong, afro, yeah, right..."

"No, seriously," Diddy said as he pointed down at Mama T.'s afro. "I'm pretty sure that's the one."

"Do you think I'm going to fall twice for that?" Scratchy asked angrily. "Sorry, but a guy like doesn't fall that many times!"

"There's a stadium in there," Kirby said.

The other 3 looked shocked at him.

"A stadium?" Scratchy repeated before he chuckled. "Okay, now I know you guys are tricking me. There's no way a stadium is waiting for me in that afro of hers."

"Great going, Kirby," Diddy whispered angrily at him.

"U-um..." Jigglypuff sweated. "H-how do you know that?"

"I'm not a dork like you bunch are," Scratchy complained. "Stadiums are supposed to be bigger than this place. What, do you think I'm a big idiot?"

"...Okay," Red said as he lifted his shoulders. "I guess I can reclaim that stadium for me."

"What?"

Red grinned at him. "If you don't want to believe us, fine. That stadium is as good as mine."

"...I do not believe it!" Scratchy yelled angrily before shaking his head. "I'm. Not. Believing. It!"

Red turned around and looked at him over his right shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Scratchy began to sweat in horror. "W-well, I-I'm sure there isn't one..."

"How can you tell?"

"W-well, stadiums are bigger than this club..."

"Your logic just fails," Red said. "I'm getting amused by you."

"W-why's that?"

"You haven't realized something, right?" Red asked. "You haven't realized something very important. Do you want me to tell you?"

"W-what?"

"The fact that you..." Red chuckled. "...The fact that you're a talking bug who's talking to a talking monkey and 2 talking puffballs," he said. "If you ask me, that doesn't make sense, right?"

"W-well..."

"Now, if this doesn't make any sense," Red continued before pointing down at Mama T. "...It wouldn't make sense for a stadium to be in there, right? But if you've seen 4 living proofs that don't make sense but yet they're real..."

Scratchy gulped as Red grinned evilly at him.

"If what doesn't make sense is real..." Red continued with an amused look. "...Do you know where I'm getting at?"

2 minutes later...

"EAT THIS, FAT WOMAN!" Red yelled loudly as he thrust his trident at Mama T.'s afro. Eventually, it scratched her hair a little bit but enough to get a sample in the form of a bush of pink hair.

Mama T. fell down on her feet after jumping high from the beetle-like bug before noticing that her hair wasn't itching anymore. "...Phew..." she sighed before she continued to dance. "Let's party all the night, though. Heeheeheehee..." she said as she began to snap her fingers with her family before all of them spun, stopped, and pointed their fingers up.

The crowd went wild as cheers and applauses were heard for the Thangs, who didn't seem tired of dancing all day long.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this was Jimmy's Family's SHOWTIME!!!" the announcer yelled in excitement as the crowd kept cheering loudly.

Back on the spotlights, the 4 looked happy at the last sample of hair before Scratchy came out from the hair and looked at them.

"You guys SUCK!" Scratchy complained loudly. "Never before in my life had I had to deal with people like YOU!" The bug turned around. "That does it; I'm going for a new target!"

The bug looked down upon a guy that resembled Jimmy, only that this guy had a yellow afro, wore a blue Hawaiian shirt, had a pink nose, and also had a notable tanned skin. The guy had his legs crossed as he watched his relatives dancing before he grinned.

-Jimmy P.-

-Occupation: Dancer
-Relatives: Jimmy's family
-Became Known: Barely yesterday
-Bio: It is unknown where Jimmy P. came from. It's known, however, that he must be a relative to Jimmy since they both look alike.

Scratchy grinned before he took out some sunglasses. "Beach dude, here I go," he said before he dove down for Jimmy P.'s yellow afro.

The 4 characters looked down at the calm tanned guy starting to scratch his afro before they all looked at each other. "Should we bother?" Kirby asked.

"Meh, let him be," Red said. "We hardly know that other tanned guy, anyway." Red took the sample of hair from his trident and chuckled heartily at it. "What do you know, we did it!" he said cheerfully. "Thanks a lot, everyone. Now Ashley is going to be happy."

The others took out the other samples before giving them to Red. "Here you go, as we promised," Diddy said.

"Thanks," Red said as he took all the samples with him. "We should get going now, the club's closing. A nice night for a job well done, everyone."

The 4 nodded to each other before they jumped off to the exit, where they left the club with all the other people including the Thangs and Jimmy P.

"Did someone else feel their afro was itching?" Jamie asked.

"Nope," James said.

"Weird, I thought it was itching for me, too," Mama T. said.

Jimmy chuckled. "I'm sure that were our afros wanting to dance."

"Jimmy, that's it, we're going to come tomorrow here and dance even more," Papa T. said.

"Alright!" James and Jamie rejoiced.

Jigglypuff, walking close to them, looked away with a frown. "Sheesh, they're unbelievable..." she muttered.

Club Sugar - Entrance

After the crowd left the club, which suddenly closed and turned its lights off, the 3 Smashers looked at a happy Red.

"Well, let's get going," Red said. "I'll convince Ashley to come with you. However, take in mind I'm tagging along."

"Oh, don't worry," Jigglypuff said. "It's fine with us."

Diddy looked confused as he looked to the south to find 2 familiar figures running away with 2 other people. "Hey..." He moved his face forward. "Aren't they...Popo and Nana?"

The other 3 looked south. Jigglypuff focused her sight. "...Wait, they're them," she said.

"Who's with them?" Kirby asked as he stood with the tip on his right foot.

"They look like girls in ninja costume...that's what I think," Diddy said.

"Hmm?" Red tilted his head. "...Oh, I know those girls. They're Kat and Ana; some of Wario's employees like Ashley is."

Diddy looked away bored. "Somehow, I knew Ashley was related to Wario in some way..."

"Hey, she isn't like that fat guy," Red said annoyed. "You know the other 2?"

"We live with them," Kirby said.

"Let me see if I can their attention," Diddy said. "Hey, Popo, Nana, over here! Can you hear me? Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!"

The Ice Climbers and the ninjas came to a stop before they turned around and looked at the 4 in front of the club. "Hey, they're them," Nana said.

"Who are they?" Kat asked.

"Some weirdoes we have never met before," Popo said. "Forget about them."

Nana smacked his head with a frown. "Popo, they LIVE with us."

"No wonder why the puffball looked familiar," Popo said. "Is his name Bowser?"

"Weird, I thought Bowser was the guy we were chasin-" Ana stopped talking once she looked at Nana's angered expression. "...S-sorry..."

"Anyway..." Nana began as she looked at the 4. "Are they calling us? I think we should go with them."

"What? What if we lose time in getting to..." Kat trailed off before Nana and Popo began to run to the club. "...Please, Ana, tell me she hasn't forgotten about our mission..."

"I'm sure she didn't," Ana said. "Why don't we go with them?"

The 2 ninjas joined the 2 before they all made it with the other 4.

"'sup?" Diddy asked. "How are you guys doing?"

"Pretty bad," Nana said. "We spotted Wario, Bowser, and Dedede. They're here and not just Ganondorf."

"What?"

"Ganondorf has been looking for Bowser and Dedede because those 2 didn't return to the Subspace due to Wario making them his employees," Nana explained. "Right now, we're trying to get to Kat and Ana's house because the 3 are going to check on them."

"And we're right here, talking to some strangers," Ana said.

"Ana!" Kat yelled.

"O-oh, sorry! I didn't mean to sound rude, forgive me!" Ana pleaded. "I'm sorry if I'm acting desperate, but we need to get to our home before Wario does something to my poor Shadow or Shuriken!"

"...Shadow the Hedgehog?" Kirby asked.

"Who are you talking about?" Ana asked confused. "Shadow is a dog."

"N-never mind..." Kirby shrugged.

"You guys are in a hurry?" Red asked.

Kat looked at him. "What are you doing without Ashley? Are you on an errand again?"

"Yep, I just finished with them," Red said. "What about you? Oh, right, you're chasing Wario... Why?"

Nana explained everything to him.

"Ooh, you're on a mission to..." Red frowned. "I don't understand, sorry."

"We have been losing time," Kat said. "We have to get going before they reach our house."

"It's what, 8:10 PM?" Ana asked.

Red looked at his watch. "It is," he said.

Kirby looked worried. "U-um, what do we do?"

"Shouldn't we head back to Ashley's mansion and report?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I think we need all the help we can get," Nana said. "If you would, we need you to come with us and spy on them. Who knows if they're going to attack us but we have to be sure."

Diddy looked at Red. "Do you think you can head back to the mansion alone and tell Ashley to come?"

"..." Red thought for a moment. "...I guess it's fine," he said. "It's a promise I told you I'd keep as long as you do your part."

Popo gasped. "So he has a foursome with you?"

Red looked at him. "What the hell did you say?" he asked.

Nana stepped in front of Popo. "Just ignore him. He's stupid."

"I knew it..."

"Hey, seriously," Ana began. "We have to get going. I don't want to see Shadow whining in pain once I reach my house!"

"Shadow the Hedgehog?" Kirby asked again.

"For the last time, Shadow is a dog!"

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!" Diddy yelled to take the whole attention. "Nana, we're going to join you. Red, go back to Ashley and tell her to come with us. Ninja girls I haven't met before in my life, tell us where your house is already!"

"Did you have to call us like that?" Kat asked.

"Do you want to run?"

"...Let's go," Kat yelled as she motioned to the south. "We're getting closer, just a little bit more."
"Alright," Red said before he turned his back at them. "I'll see you later. You better keep your promise or else..." The devil took off to the north as the Smashers looked at the Iga ninjas.

"Lead the way," Nana said.

"Okay," Ana said as she smiled at them. "Thanks for helping us."

"Just let's go to your house," Diddy said. "In the meantime, let's introduce each other on our way there."

The 7 nodded to each other before they all ran to the south in a hurry, leaving the deserted club behind...

Red (Ashley's Devil Slave) has left your team.

Kat and Ana's House

In a square that was set apart from other buildings, there was a dense forest that was separated by 4 streets going at different directions. From the north, the 7 characters were seen crossing over the street in a hurry before they all ran inside the forest.

"Your house is hidden in here?" Nana asked.

"We like to have ninja-style lives," Kat explained as the 7 ran around the trees. "That's what the Iga Clans does."

"Oooh," Ana said worried as she joined her hands. "Please, tell me they haven't arrived there yet..."

"Keep running if you want to find out!" Popo yelled as he raised his hammer. "It's whackin' time!"

"Oh, goody..." Jigglypuff said before she sighed. "The crazy Popo is back..."

"Keep him away from their sight once we reach the house..." Diddy said bored.

"Just leave it to me..." Nana said bored

The 7 continued to run into the forest section before they finally reached the house, which had a small brick path that leaded to the street. Once they stopped to catch their breaths, Jigglypuff looked annoyed at Kat as she stared at the path.

"Oh, right, your house is very well hidden," Jigglypuff joked.

"Oh, please..." Kat frowned before her sister stepped forward.

"Shadow! Shadow!" Ana yelled. "Where are you, boy? Shadow!"

Some barks were heard from the other side of the house before a yellow dog with a red bandana around his neck ran from the same side towards Ana. Upon seeing her dog, the twin smiled happily and ducked to rub his head.

"Shadow, you're okay!" Ana said happily as her dog licked her cheek and wagged his tail.

Kat smiled a bit and looked back at the house. "If he's alright, that means they haven't arrived yet."

"Which is good," Nana said.

It was not long before they began to hear the sounds of motorbikes coming from the streets. The 7 (and Shadow) looked around for the source of the sounds before Kat pointed at her house.

"Everyone, go in, now!" Kat ordered loudly.

"Threesome?" Popo asked excited.

"No!"

With a groan from the blue Ice Climber, the 8 quickly ran inside the house where they went through a sliding door before closing it quickly.

Kat and Ana's House – Entrance

Once inside, the Smashers looked around the Japanese-styled house with sliding doors, soft mattress, and several hanging posters that had Japanese symbols written on it in big black letters.

"Nice house," Kirby remarked.

"You can tell us how nice the house looks like later," Kat said before she looked behind to the door where lights began to appear and shine. "They're here."

Ana ran forward to a sliding door on the left. "Quick, get in here," she whispered at the Smashers. "Enter here and hide underneath the kotatzu."

"Hey, girls!" Wario was heard yelling from outside. "Are you there? Hello?"

"C-can you knock on the door instead of shouting the next time?" Kat asked loudly as the Smashers hurried to the living room.

"Are you there?"

"...Yes."

"Oh, good," Wario said. "Do you have the microgames ready or what?"

"I-in a moment, please wait!" Kat yelled before she sighed. "Talk about demanding..." she muttered before she made sure nobody but her and Ana were present at the door.

The 2 ninjas nodded to each other before opening the door to outside. As for the Smashers (and Shadow), they were spying on the group of 3 from the window of the living room where they stood at the sides or were kneeling down underneath the window.

"Good, you're here," Wario said to the 2 girls. "Do you have them ready or not?"

The ninjas took a quick glance to the grinning Bowser and Dedede. Kat and Ana sent them a quick glare.

"Hey, hello, I'm here," Wario interrupted the sisters.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," Kat said. "But we were just interested on those 2 guys you're with tonight."

Wario looked back at Bowser and Dedede before looking back at them. "What about them? They're my Vice President and Vice-Vice President."

Bowser chuckled. "Yeah, Dedede's Vice-Vice President here."

Dedede glared at him. "I recall it was the other way around, big nose."

Bowser glared at him. "You're the Vice-Vice President here and you're it."

Ana looked confused. "I don't think there's a rank of Vice-Vice President there…"

"Too bad, there is one now," Wario said with a chuckle. "Got the microgames or what?"

Kat tried her best not to glare at him while she kept a happy expression. "Of course we have them with us. Ana, will you go get them?"

Instead of staring at her sister, Kat stared at Wario.

"What?" Wario asked harshly. "Something on my face?"

"That's weird," Kat said. "I thought I saw a bug in your helmet…"

"A bug?" Wario asked. "Meeeh, what is a bug doing in there?"

The treasure hunter turned his back to them, allowing Kat to turn to her sister. "Listen," Kat whispered. "I'll try to get as much info about those 2 while you go get the microgames."

Ana looked worried as she glanced at the 2 kings. "What if I find them before you're done?"

"Nobody said we knew where we left them," Kat said with a wink. "You know what I'm saying?"

"…OOOOOOOOOOOOOH, now I get it…" Ana whispered to Kat with a silent chuckle.

Wario turned around to them. "Hey, there wasn't a bug in there."

"I guess my vision was just playing tricks with me…ninja tricks," Kat joked.

Ana folded her arms. "Well, I'll go for the microgames. You 2 wait here, okay?" she asked before she ran away into the house, faking she was actually looking for the microgames.

Kat looked back at Wario. "That's weird. It's not like you to have Vice Presidents in the company."

"Why do you care?" Wario asked.

"Nothing, it just seems plain weird of you."

The ninja noticed that Dedede and Bowser decided to dismount their motorbikes to walk up to her. Both of them looked down at her.

"(They look ugly from this angle…)" Kat commented in her mind. "Nice to meet you, my name is Kat," she introduced herself politely.

Bowser pointed at himself. "The name's Bowser, King of the Koopas." He pointed at Dedede. "His name is Dedefatso."

"Hey!" Dedede glared at him. "My name is dah great King Dedede, ruler of Dreamland. Get that recorded in that thick skull of yours..."

"Was that your name?" Bowser asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and stop chucklin' like that."

"So," Kat began. "You 2 are Wario's employees as well, right?"

"Yeah," Bowser said as he adjusted his dark glasses. "Nice to know some kids like you can do a decent job."

Kat glared at him mentally. "Well, we do work a lot."

Back inside where the living room was, the Smashers began to whisper things to each other.

"Shouldn't we like, give advice to ask important things?" Popo asked.

"You should have told that before..." Diddy whispered bored.

"Well like, I didn't think of that."

Some of them groaned silently at this.

Dedede, who wasn't minding Bowser and Kat talking, blinked confused after hearing some groans coming from the window. "Hey, what was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" Kat asked confused.

"I thought I heard some groans or...somethings...comin' over there," Dedede said as he pointed at the window.

The Smashers (except Popo) looked shocked after hearing the statement.

Kat didn't think they would find the Smashers so quickly. The Iga ninja looked a little bit shocked as she looked at the 3 villains. She knew there was a reason behind those groans. If the Smashers did groan, then something stupid must have...

"(...Popo...)" Kat thought in annoyance. "...You're surely hearing things," she said to the fat penguin.

"Yeah," Wario said as he moved his right hand around. "These girls ain't got a good taste to be living in a good spot. They live in a forest, after all."

"Oh, right," Bowser said as he nodded and crossed his arms. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"(It makes perfect sense that I AM still in front of you...)" Kat thought annoyed before noticing the king(?) of Dreamland was walking to the window. "May I ask you what are you doing?"

Dedede looked at her with a grin. "How do I know you're not hidin' somethin'?"

Kat gasped. "(Is this idiot clever or what?)"

"You can tell me..." Dedede said with a devious chuckle. "...Ya're hidin' a lost dog!"

The Iga ninja blinked a few times before tilting her head. "I'm hiding...a lost dog? Why would I hide a lost dog?"

Dedede chuckled even more. "It's obvious," he said. "Ya are so damn sneaky like a ninja. If you're a girl, and I heard some groans or something over the window, that means you're hidin' a lost dog to reclaim the price for its owner."

"(...Did he ACTUALLY believe that about me or did he just make it all up to take a peek inside?)" Kat asked confused, stopping to believe that Dedede had common sense with him. "I...don't think so, unfortunately..."

"Well, let's see," Dedede said as he took a peek inside the dark room, blind to see the Smashers hiding just around the window.

Kat sweated a bit. "S-sir, it's rude to do that when you weren't told to enter my house. I'm sorry to say this but you must stop now..."

"Meh, what do ya know?" Dedede asked as he barely saw Diddy's tail. "You're hidin' somethin', I know that."

Wario looked at Bowser. "Does he do this stupidity all the time?"

"Oh yeah," Bowser said. "Plenty of times, actually."

"Oh, shut up, will ya?" Dedede asked as he moved his left hand inside while he looked at the 3. "Now, where's the doggy?"

Shadow made a silent whimper in his mind as the Smashers slowly backed away from the hand.

"Would you knock it off?" Kat asked annoyed. "You can't just look around in a house where you haven't been allowed to search for anything!"

"This is a free country. I can do anything I want!" Dedede complained at the girl as he kept touching the mattress inside the house.

"Unfortunately, there ARE limitations," Kat argued. "Now stop before I call the police." She narrowed her eyes at Wario. "After all, if he gets arrested, guess who's going to confront the crime for being an accomplice?"

Wario gasped and grunted at her. "Why you..." he muttered as he made fists on his sides.

Kat crossed her arms and seemed bored. "I work for you, you know. If I want, I can renounce your company anytime."

"..." Wario glared at her before looking at Dedede. "Hey, fatso, stop it already!"

Dedede glared at Wario. "I'm not fatso, fatso!"

"Who are you calling a fatso, fatso?"

"You, fatso, I'm talking to ya!"

Kat and Bowser kept shifting their eyes at the 2 arguing fatsos (heheheh...) who continued to insult each other back and forth. The Iga ninja frowned in shame at this as she looked down while Bowser rolled his eyes.

However, this argument was going to end as a smarter mind rose up close to Dedede and looked annoyed at them.

"If you ask me," Popo began as he pointed at the 2. "You're both so fat that the motorbikes you ride on would break at the first second you start to turn it on!"

A creepy, eerie silence took place as Wario, Dedede, Bowser, and a shocked Kat (who frowned) stared at the blue Ice Climber. At that very same moment, Ana took a peek from the entrance and gasped after seeing the blue Ice Climber annoyed with crossed arms.

"I'm impressed they haven't break apart yet. How do you do that?" Popo asked.

"POPO, YOU DIMWIT!" the Smashers (and even Shadow) yelled as they all stood up and glared at Nana's twin brother.

Nana began to strangle her brother's throat. "I knew it, I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE US FAIL IN THIS WITH THAT ATTITUDE, DAMMIT!"

"N-Nana!" Diddy yelled.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME KILL HIM OFF!" Nana yelled loudly as Popo began to stick his tongue out.

It took some seconds for Bowser's brain to realize what was happening. "Hey, those are...them!" he said, pointing an accusing nail at the young Smashers.

"Them?" Dedede asked. "They're...dah kids!"

Jigglypuff jumped off from the window and pointed up at Dedede. "Don't you have something better to address us?" she asked annoyed.

"Dah puffball!" Dedede said, glaring down at Jigglypuff. "Man, Kirby, ya can't only copy people but ya can change shapes too?!"

At the mention of his name, Kirby peered out from the window. "I-I'm right here..." he said.

Dedede looked back and forth between Kirby and the pissed Jigglypuff. "Aw man, puffballs are multiplyin'!"

Diddy looked at Jigglypuff. "Okay, now you got your own nickname. Are you happy?"

"That nickname sucks, no offense... I mean, yes offense!" Jigglypuff yelled at Dedede.

Bowser frowned at this. "What the hell are you kids doing here? Can't you see we're having a good life without doing crimes?"

This sudden statement made everyone but Wario's party to look at the King of Koopas with some surprised looks.

"What?" Ana asked. "I thought you were going to something shady, you...lizard guy..."

"Pfft," Bowser said as he rolled his eyes. "We severed ties with the army. We're no longer with Tabuu anymore. Why did you come here to annoy us, anyway?" he asked with a glare.

Diddy looked at him. "So wait..." he began as he scratched his hat. "You're not planning to make chaos or disorder in the city?"

"Or both?" Popo asked as Nana let go of him.

"Oh no," Bowser said with a chuckle as he patted Wario's back. "Wario here convinced us to join his crew of workers to become filthy rich. You don't know how much money this honest guy gives to us for doing small work."

"Wahahahahahaha!" Wario laughed at this. "Yeah, that's right. These guys work hard, though. They help a lot to increase our sales very well."

Kat blinked at the 2 villain Smashers before looking at Wario. "Wait, there's something I don't quite get... You're being generous to someone for a change?"

"Yeah," Wario said. "You got a problem with that or what?"

"N-no, but it doesn't sound right..."

Wario pointed at her. "Look, believe it or not, I'm being generous," he said as Dedede and Bowser grinned at them. "They're as helpful as you 2 girls are. I hope you don't mind having 2 more bosses to boss around everyone."

Ana looked worried. "B-but this doesn't sound right!" she complained. "I don't think you did this because of generosity!"

"If you keep arguing, I'll kick you out from the company," Wario said annoyed.

Dedede took out his hammer and grinned down evilly at the Smashers. "Can I give 'em a good beatin', though?"

Kirby looked shocked before he got back inside, hiding behind a growling Shadow that glared at the penguin.

Diddy, looking angry, adjusted his hat and glared at Bowser. "I don't believe this at all," Diddy said. "You can't fool us anymore."

"Look, monkey," Bowser said as he removed his glasses, looking angrily at Diddy. "If you don't want to believe in us, fine, just ignore us and let us do our business, 'kay?"

"I REFUSE to believe such a thing," Nana said with a glare. "Bowser, you probably want to be a bad guy rather than a big boss of some company."

"That some company turns out to be MY company, girl," Wario said angrily. "You insult it, you DIE."

Everyone in there stared at the treasure hunter.

"...What?" Wario asked. "I can be pretty serious when I want to."

Kat, coughing, looked at the Smashers as she walked to them with Ana following. "Did we just waste our time with them?" she asked to Nana.

"W-well..." Nana looked away. "I can't just believe any of this..."

"You are quite right, little girl. I also do not believe such a stupid idea like the one I just heard from the King of the Koopas and...whatever Dedede is."

"I'm the KING of DREAMLAND!" Dedede yelled annoyed.

Everyone around the ninja house blinked in confusion at the sudden threatening voice that came from the road to the street.

Popo, looking from the window, leaned to the right to find another character looking annoyed at the whole scene as he had his arms crossed with a glare at the 3 villains. "...Aw man, it's Boogieman medieval-era style, and he finally found pretty us!"

The rest of the Smashers merely frowned at this mistaken guess (if it was even a mistaken guess) before they all looked at Ganondorf with glares.

"It has been a real pain to look around for you, imbeciles," Ganondorf stated as he glared at the 3. "Thank the Triforce of Power for your loud shouts during the endless night."

It was a matter of time before some footsteps with several lights began to come from Ganondorf's direction...

Interstate 239

2 hours ago...

"Hey, hey, do you hear me?"

"..."

"You look exactly like that main character of EarthBound, did you know that?"

"Yes..."

"Heck, you could be the best cosplayer I've ever met before!"

Ness groaned at 9-Volt's excitement.

It has been a long time after the first team met the 2 gamers. For Chris, he was having a good time while discussing video games with the 2 other gamers. For Dribble and Spitz, they didn't mind the sudden distraction before getting to Mona.

As for Ness and Lucas, they didn't think the same.

"Please, stop talking about video games already..." Ness muttered, the 3 gamers ignoring him. "Please, stop..."

Lucas looked away in embarrassment. "D-d you think this has gone far enough, Ness?"

"Well, I'm sitting on Chris's legs like a damn baby," Ness said, faking an amused look. "Add the fact that he's been talking with these 2 guys for a long time, and you'll get the image of my face very well in your mind. Want to imagine how it really looks like?"

"I-I'd rather not..."

"Good," Ness said as he faked a smile. "I don't want to show you."

The blond kid looked back at the group of gamers discussing games while Dribble kept driving as Spitz merely remained in silence. Lucas looked around to do something, but he didn't have any luck before giving up.

"...Do you know where she went?" Lucas asked to the cab.

Dribble closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. "I forgot," he admitted. "I dunno where she went."

Hearing this, Ness got a bored yet pissed look in his eyes. "You mean to tell me you forgot where she went?"

"Yeah," Dribble chuckled. "Guess you can't remember everythin', right?"

Dribble was oblivious to the fact Ness's eyes began to fill with rage. His body began to shake in fury while his hands turned into tight fists, flaring up with fire PK energy.

Lucas, aware of this, looked worried at Ness. "N-Ness?"

"I'm going to ask you a favor, Lucas..." Ness muttered.

"W-what kind of favor is that?"

"A simple one," Ness said as the gamers ignored him. "I'm going to take out my baseball bat...cover it in flames...jump to the front seats...and beat the heck out of that bulldog's thick skull..."

Lucas looked away worried. "I-I don't know where the favor is..."

"Let me continue..." Ness said through gritted teeth. "What I want you to do...what I want you to do...WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO..."

"Y-y-y-yes?" Lucas asked.

Ness took out his baseball bat before raising it over his head. "WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS TO STOP ME FROM KILLING THIS DUMB BASTA-"

Unfortunately, his speech of rage was interrupted by Spitz standing up from his seat, pointing a nail forward.

"A-ha, there she is!" interrupted Spitz.

All the people behind his seat looked forward to the street where, from a distance, the busy teenager was speeding in her red scooter to the south. She happily hummed to herself as the pizza kept emanating a sweet smell of pepperoni.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Dribble laughed proudly. "What do ya know, we found her!"

"Phew..." Chris sighed. "I thought we lost her for a minute..."

Seeing that they found their target, Ness decided to keep his baseball bat before sighing. "Lucas..." Ness muttered before he covered his face with his hands. "This isn't irony anymore..."

"W-what is it?" Lucas asked.

"It's cruel destiny that's playing with us but more with me..."

"I-I'm afraid I had to agree..." Lucas muttered.

Dribble looked at the 5. "Okay, it's gonna be a matter of time before we get her attention. You guys better get prepared to meet her."

"Does she have a thick forehead?" Ness asked. "My baseball bat wants to meet her so badly."

"Er, no, she doesn't have a thick forehead," Spitz said. "Why'd you ask?"

Lucas knew Ness was going to jump and rip Spitz's whiskers by the looks of the Onett resident's eyes, so Lucas grabbed Ness's left hand before looking worried at him.

"Claus, stop it!" Lucas pleaded. "You don't need to get this angry for that!"

The sudden plea from Lucas was loud enough to make everyone in the taxi look at him. The blond kid blinked a few times before looking at everyone staring at him (fortunately, Dribble kept his sight on Mona's trail). Lucas blushed a little bit embarrassed at this situation that he looked away.

"...Lucas?" Chris asked, breaking the silence.

"Y-yes?" Lucas asked without turning around to face the 4.

"Lucas, did you just call me Claus?" Ness asked confused. "Why did you say that to me?"

Lucas looked down and played with his fingers. "I-I'm sorry...I think I wasn't thinking right..."

"You weren't thinking right?" Chris asked.

"Y-yes..." Lucas said, trying to avoid something he didn't want to talk about. "P-please, don't mind me..."

9-Volt looked up at 18-Volt. "Yep, these guys are so weird...that they convince me."

"Word," 18-Volt said with a nod.

9-Volt looked at them. "Anyhow, want to keep talking about video games?"

As Lucas ignored a scoff from Ness, the blond PK user decided to look outside to the clouds where his mind wanted to wander and think about what he said. Unaware, he didn't notice that Ness was looking at him from behind.

"Okay," Ness began as he tapped Lucas's shoulder. "It's has been enough time already. Lucas, turn around."

The other PK kid knew the point where Ness wanted to get by how his voice sounded. Lucas shook his head as sign of refusing.

"Lucas, I'm serious now," Ness said. "Turn around and look at me."

"..." Lucas gulped and slowly turned to Ness. "Y-yes?"

"Look," Ness said as the taxi kept going after Mona. "You have been looking down a lot today."

Lucas looked embarrassed.

"And above else, you have been mentioning your brother's name to me," Ness said. "Tell me..."

Ness summarized everything he knew about Lucas in his mind. Ness knew Lucas had twin brother that looked like him but wasn't the same. Ness knew Lucas wasn't exactly stubborn or brave, even if he fought well during battles. The fact that Lucas has been calling Ness by his twin brother's name could mean something for the Onett resident...

"...Every time you look at me..." Ness tried his best to conclude. "...Do I remind you of your brother?"

Lucas gasped loudly enough to make the gamers and Spitz look at him.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," Ness reassured the shocked Lucas.

"Are you 2 talking about video games?" 18-Volt asked interested.

"We're NOT talking about video games," Ness said annoyed. "We're talking...or discussing what Lucas has."

"I-I..." Lucas stuttered.

"It's inevitable, Lucas," Ness said. "I've been losing my guts this entire trip to get to that clueless girl to hear us with some guys who happened to interrupt the chase, forcing me to sit on Chris, stare at the boring sunset and the street, trying to do something to calm myself before I finally decided to have a talk with you after those weird reactions of yours."

Lucas looked down in shame.

"And it's time for you tell us everything you know that you have problem with," Ness said. "I mean, I'm serious Chris would like to know so you can feel good with yourself."

Lucas took a glance at Chris before looking at the other Diamond City's residents. The blond boy looked back at Ness as Lucas avoided shedding a tear. "Ness..." Lucas began. "...I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for all those weird moments you've had?"

"...No..." Lucas said. "I...I just..." Lucas began to sob silently. "I...I just can't tell you... I-I don't want to say it...not now..."

"If it is about you reaching the highest score in a particular video game that you didn't reach because you screwed up something, it's fine," 9-Volt said. "I've been having that situation a lot of times before."

Chris looked at him. "Oh, me too, it's really frustrating when that happens, right? All the work you put into a task being demolished in a single sec-"

"Chris, video game freaks, focus..." Ness muttered, interrupting the young boy. "And it's not because of that," he said before looking at Ness. "It's about your brother, right?"

"...Y-yes..." Lucas admitted in shame.

"And you have been calling me his name a couple times already, right?"

"Yes..."

"And..." Ness was finally making progress. "...I remind you of him..."

Lucas, having a shocked look, tried his best not to stare back at Ness. He knew Ness already guessed right about his problem, but he just couldn't tell him straight to the face because it would feel so embarrassing that Lucas would get sadder to admit the truth.

With a gulp, Lucas decided it was time to reveal it.

"...Yes, Ness..." Lucas muttered as he scratched his right arm. "You...remind me a lot of my brother Claus..."

Ness nodded. "Okay... Why do I remind you of him?"

"W-well..." Lucas tried to think. "...Both of you are brave, and you 2 look almost the same as me or Claus. Since we're almost all the time together, I think most of the time that I have Claus right next to me to help me out," he said as he smiled a bit. "Ness, you resemble my brother in almost every aspect he had. Why do you think I feel so safe when I'm around the team I'm with you?"

Ness rubbed his chin and nodded. "Yes, it's making sense now... I know very well."

"I feel happy and calmed because I like to think you're my brother, Ness..." Ness admitted as he flushed a little. "D-don't think it the bad way, though. It makes me happy to think there's someone like Claus out there, and you happened to be that one..." He looked back at Ness. "Ness...I think you're my real brother who looks after me if I get in trouble...and...and...and...and I couldn't be happier..."

Chris decided to speak. "But we don't know why you look so sad. You've been looking so sad ever since today."

"T-that's because..."

"That's it!" Dribble interrupted the conversation by opening the window, making Spitz sit back on his seat. "MONA, YOU DEAF GIRL, TURN AROUND!!!" he demanded loudly as he punched the horn several times.

The only thought Ness had in mind right now, after he was interrupted from knowing what Lucas wanted to say, was to make stew out of Dribble. Ness was finally making progress, but as he mentioned before, destiny was just cruel to him tonight.

"Chris..." Ness muttered, getting Chris's attention. "I want you to hug me so tightly now..."

"Why is that?" Chris asked.

"Because I want you to stop me, and of the fact someone is going to die RIGHT NOW!!!" he yelled loudly as he took out his baseball bat, wanting to leap right to Dribble before Chris gasped and restrained the enraged PK kid from beating Dribble to a bloody pulp. Lucas and the other gamers watched somewhat shocked at this reaction that they backed away to the doors.

9-Volt wanted to do something, and that something was to look at Lucas from behind Chris's back. "Hey, do you play video games? If so, what games do you like the most?"

"I like the game where Jumpman is," 18-Volt said.

"E-er..." Lucas shifted his eyes uncomfortably at the question while Chris kept Ness away from hitting Dribble's head.

"MONA!!!" Dribble yelled enraged. "TURN YOUR HEAD AROUND ALREADY!!!"

Back with the teenager...

"...Huh?" Mona blinked confused as she looked up. "Weird, I thought I heard a voice coming from behind..."

"IT'S BECAUSE I'M YELLIN' AT YOU!!!"

The high schooler looked forward and around before looking back over her right shoulder at the taxi. Mona gasped once she looked at the car following her from behind. "O-oh, hi, you guys!" she greeted by waving her hand.

Ness, noticing that the seemingly deaf girl finally turned her head around, opened the window close to Lucas where he stuck his face out. "Hey, you! Would you stop and listen to us already? We have been chasing you this whole time and you HAVE to stop!"

Mona stared at Ness for a few second before looking at Dribble. "Who are you? Why do you need me to stop, anyway? I'm busy, can't you see?"

Chris was the next one to stick his head out from the same window. "Please, this is urgent! We need you to stop whatever you're doing and listen to what we have to say. Just please, stop so I can finally stand up!"

Mona blinked confused at this sudden demand that she looked back at the pizzas before sighing.

A miracle happened; Mona was slowing down her speed...

A while later...

The red scooter stood still in front of the taxi as the Smashers were standing in front of the busy girl while Dribble, Spitz, 9-Volt, and 18-Volt watched from the taxi at the 4. A time passed after the Smashers explained everything they went through to get to her (counting the long chase they had to do as well).

"And..." Ness panted for breath. "We need you to come with us to the Smash Mansion so you can sing a song and become a musician..."

Mona looked worried for a bit before looking at Chris. "Let me get this, you need me to sing?"

"I-it's important," Chris said. "We really need your help..."

"A-and we don't know what Master Hand will do to us if we don't come back with you..." Lucas added.

The high schooler rubbed her chin. "I dunno..." she said. "I have a lot of work to do and..."

Ness rolled his eyes. "Can't you just ask for vacations? Have you ever tried that alternative?"

Mona looked at him. "I'm not so sure. I don't know if I should go with you as well..."

"P-please..." Lucas asked. "We have to take you with us...but if you don't want to come..."

"It's just that..." Mona shook her head. "It's just that this became so sudden and...it kinda came out of nowhere for me."

Ness smacked his forehead and frowned. "Okay, I guess we did all this chase for nothing. She doesn't want to come with us, we should accept her decision," he said as he turned around. "It's obvious she was being rude."

Mona looked a little bit worried. "I-I'm sorry if I didn't see you guys... I have a lot of things going on in my mind that I lost the notion of time very easily. It's not easy to keep up with all my part-time jobs, y'know?"

"Why don't you just have one part-time job instead of 5?" Chris asked.

Mona chuckled. "I like to do a lot with all this energy I have. What can I say? I'm very wild."

"(She got that right, unfortunately...)" Ness thought annoyed.

"Well...since I put you through all this..." Mona nodded. "I think I should go with you as a form of apology."

The 3 Smashers didn't believe their ears as they looked back at her. "...Oh, wait a minute, there's no trick?"

"No..." Mona said ashamed. "I'm really sorry for putting you all into this, really. It wasn't right for me to ignore you...and I wanna make it up for you," she said before looking happy. "Besides, I wanna rock on the stage even more by having a part-time job as a full time musician!"

"I-I don't think you can call that part-time job a full time on-" Chris was interrupted.

"Well, if you want me so badly, count me in!" Mona said excited. "By the way, the Mona Pizza theme song wasn't sung by me."

"...What?!" Ness asked.

"It was sang by a famous singer who wanted to promote the restaurant," Mona explained. "Unfortunately, she went on vacation overseas. I can't call her right now."

"T-then why do you want to be the one singing?"

"Why not?" Mona asked with a chuckle. "Heck, if I can rock on and sing at the same time, it'd prove I'm a very talented girl, right?"

"I guess..." Lucas muttered.

"Okay, it's decided," Mona said. "I'm gonna go with you guys in a bit. What do you say?"

"In a bit?" Chris repeated confused.

Mona pointed at her scooter with the hot pizzas. "I need to deliver those pizzas first before my..." She looked down at her watch. "8:30 PM..." She sighed. "I lost. I can't ask for money now that the time ran out... Even so, I have to deliver these pizzas." She looked away. "Seriously, that guy shouldn't have called me by cell phone. It's harder to track people that way." She looked at them. "Can you please wait for me to deliver those pizzas? I need to call Joe and tell him I'm going to be away from the city."

Ness sighed loudly. Finally, they made progress, succeeding in the process. "We did it..." He looked back at Mona. "Okay, but we're going to follow you."

"Oh, that's fine with me," Mona said. "Let's go hit the road, then."

"Yeehaw!" Dribble yelled in excitement. "Mission accomplished, soldier Spitz. Say status report."

"Not completed yet," Spitz said. "We have yet to accomplish these guys' destination."

"Oh yeah," Dribble said as he looked at Ness. "You're gonna have to pay." He showed him the amount of money.

Ness lifted his shoulders at the rather big amount of 5 zeros. "Okay. Follow Mona, please."

"T-that's a big amount..." Chris remarked.

"When you're me, no amount is impressive enough to make me gasp," Ness said, receiving a surprising look from Lucas.

The 3 Smashers got back in the car, unaware that Ness forgot 2 other people in there...

"What kind of difficult do you like to play?" 9-Volt asked to Chris.

"Well, I like to choose the easiest one before I choose harder options."

Ness looked at 18-Volt. "You know, you 2 could have said something about what we're going through."

18-Volt chuckled. "Sorry. We're not that good at talking about other things that aren't video games."

The taxi and the red scooter turned on before they all drove away to the south...

"...You guys suck, did you know that?" Ness muttered silently.

"Huh?" 18-Volt tilted his head confused.

"Nothing, you heard nothing..."

Half an hour later...

The 5 passengers were sleeping deeply (with 9-Volt snoring) as the taxi followed Mona's trail. Dribble saw that Mona was driving to a familiar spot he knew so well that he didn't bother to tell the sleeping 5 as a form of surprise.

Lucas felt that the car had entered some kind of field, leaving the street's floor. The blond kid slowly opened his eyes with a yawn to extend his hands up. His vision was a little bit blurry before Spitz stood up and rested his head on his seat. "Hey, we're here, Snoring Beauties," he joked as the taxi came to a halt.

The other 4 shook their heads after hearing the cat talking. Ness, who accidentally rested against Chris, began to hear some voices from outside.

"Okay, who ordered 5 Mona Specials? Since I got late, they're all free!" Mona said with a chuckle. "Sorry for being late!"

"Aww, sweet! My pizzas came to me!" a familiar voice that Ness recognized a little bit said in excitement.

"Okay, pal, here you go."

"...Oh my god, I can't believe it..." another familiar voice said.

"..." Ness blinked several times before fully awakening. Once he looked forward, he could barely recognize some people in front of the taxi. "..." His eyes looked shocked. There was a person he didn't want to see who was looking back at them. "...Wake up!" he yelled loudly.

Chris's eyes opened quickly before looking forward. "O-oh no..."

"U-uah!" Lucas yelped once he managed to look outside.

The 3 Smashers quickly left the taxi to go outside while 9-Volt and 18-Volt fell asleep again. Mona, who chuckled, turned back to them.

"We're here," she said. "Here's the guy who ordered the pizzas."

"..." Ness began to pant heavily at the sight of a blue parka in front of him, as well as many other people they all knew so well. Trying not to take out his baseball bat for the 6th time (or was it 4th?) time in the day, Ness glared angrily at...him.

Kat and Ana's House

Present time...

"Hi, you guys!" Popo said happily as he held up the 5 pizza boxes. "Did you do what you had to do? We sure did!"

"...POPO..." Ness began with a deep breath. "...You were the idiot who ordered all those pizzas from Mona?!"

"Like hell I did," Popo said with a chuckle as he put the pizzas down. "I heard she had good stuff when I saw the poster on a poll, so I used my cell phone to call her," he said as he showed them a hi-tech telephone. "You know what this is? It's a Tell, a subsidiary of OrangeMec."

Nana frowned as she walked next to Popo. "This idiot thought that he wanted to eat something while we were doing our things. I told him 4 times no, but I think the bastard did it when I wasn't looking."

"But my plan worked," Popo said with a devious chuckle. "The sneaky Ice Climber moved around and away from the pizza girl so he could get my free pizzas. Now you know how evil I am, mwahahahahahaha..."

Everyone in the place looked or shifted eyes around after knowing about Popo's "true" nature.

"..." Ganondorf coughed to break the silence as the taxi was behind him. "It seems all the group is here reunited...how lucky I am..."

"Not quite," Popo said. "There is another group in h-"

Nana blocked his mouth. "If you believe him, you're surely going straight to hell for sure..."

"I...guess I should ignore your stupid brother..." Ganondorf said before shaking his head.

The Gerudo began to hear some whimpers from the left. By turning his head at the mentioned direction, Ganondorf found a scared Lucas, who was looking scared at the fat businessman...

"...Hey," Wario began as he walked down the steps of the house, his sight focused on Lucas and Ness. "...You're the same kids who wanted to cause trouble before..."

Bowser blinked shocked. "Wait...you still remember what happened during the invasion?"

Wario looked at him. "What, you don't? I remember pretty much everything that happened."

Diddy raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean Wario and Bowser were the only ones who managed to maintain the memories about the invasion?"

"Why do you keep asking me that? I remember every single detail there is. If I wanted to go back with them, I would have laughed," Wario said before glaring at Lucas and Ness. "I STILL remember those brats annoying the heck out of me, for example..."

Lucas gulped and took a step back. "Y-you told me we weren't going to see Wario..."

Ness looked at him. "I know, but I didn't know we would end up all the way here where he was," he said before looking at Popo. "I know who made us get here, though..."

"Hey, I remember I asked you to come with us," Dedede said with a glare. "Why didn't ya say anythin' else after we left you?"

"Because I don't wanna get involved in business where there isn't money," Wario explained. "If there isn't money, screw you."

Dedede grunted annoyed at this before Wario turned to Lucas and Ness. The Onett resident gave him a glare while Lucas stood behind him.

"Wahahahahahaha!" Wario laughed at the 2. "Do you remember the time I trophified the boy with the red hat? I sure do!" he said before looking at Lucas. "And I still remember the crying baby who ran away from me after I grabbed the boy's trophy!"

"What?" Mona asked as a mutter.

Ness stared at Wario before looking at Lucas. "Lucas...did you run away?"

"W-what?" Lucas asked worried. "N-no, I just..."

"He SURE ran away, alright," Wario said. "The crybaby didn't have enough guts to face me and save you. Didn't he tell you or did you forget?"

"N-no..." Ness said as he looked down. "...I completely forgot about that event..."

Lucas frowned to himself before he looked down ashamed.

"What is going on here?" Kat asked suddenly.

"Yeah, what's happening?" Ana asked. "What is that about Wario kidnapping children?"

The high school girl couldn't understand anything that Wario was talking about. The only thing Mona did was to take a step forward to get the attention. "Hey, Wario," Mona began. "What is that about all you said? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Oh, you need to," Wario said simply. "It's something you shouldn't know about."

"B-but..." Mona shook her head. "I...I'm worried about you, y'know?" she said. "I just can't get the part where you fought innocent children..."

"Hey, we're not that weak..." Ness said bored.

Dribble and Spitz exchanged glances as they continued to watch from inside the taxi as the 2 gamers snored loudly on the back.

"Worried? You?" Wario asked before chuckling. "Goodness, Mona, you sure know how to make me laugh."

Mona looked serious at him. "Wario, I'm being serious here. I don't like to see you getting hurt. I DO care about what happens to you."

"Aww..." Jigglypuff said...then she thought things over. "Bleh..." she muttered from the window.

"You don't need to worry that much," Wario said before looking at the 2 kids. "Okay, I guess I need to get my revenge on you 2."

"W-what?" Lucas asked.

"That's right," Wario said as he cracked his fists. "The only thing I can't forget is you 2 trying to attack me while I was doing my job," he said before pointing at Ness. "You're the one who played around with me."

"So what if I did?" Ness asked harshly. "I don't care about a guy like you."

"I never got to fight you," Wario said. "Or torture you for that matter like I did with blondie here."

Ness looked back at the terrified Lucas before glaring at Wario. "Just try it," he taunted as he made his right hand glow with fire. "If you want to torture me, go ahead..." Ness moved his glowing hand down. "Go right ahead."

"N-Ness..." Lucas muttered worried.

"Everything it's fine," Ness whispered to Lucas. "If something goes wrong, we have everyone here to help us out."

Ganondorf, after hearing all the conversation, chuckled evilly before holding out his left hand in front of him. "Then, Wario, do you want me to help you?"

The other Smashers stared back at Ganondorf as he called forth a dark portal from the grass. Pure darkness emanated from the ground before something squared emerged from it. Everyone in there stared at the block of darkness before the darkness itself began to disappear, revealing something...

Under Ganondorf's hand, there was a cage with a Shadow Nightmare, standing still as it looked at all the people around it. Mona gasped and backed away from the monster as some did the same.

"W-what is that thing?" Ana whispered to Kat as she stepped behind her. Shadow ran at them side to hide himself from the ominous creature.

"I-I don't know..." Kay muttered with trails of sweat on her forehead.

"Coooooooooooool..." Dribble and Spitz said in awe.

Ganondorf chuckled as everyone stared at the cage. "Wario, my annoying companions, I would like you to meet a Shadow Nightmare," he said with an evilly grin.

"S-Shadow Nightmare?" Kirby asked as he shook in fear.

Wario, tilting his head, walked closer to the cage to inspect the demonic monster, examining its surroundings. "What the heck is this thing?"

"Oh, you do not worry," Ganondorf said with a chuckle. "This monster should make things interesting if you order it to attack someone."

Wario looked at him. "Wait, I can tell it to attack anybody I want?"

"They were created to listen to our commands," Ganondorf explained. "It will listen to anything you would like it to do. Now, I ask you..." he trailed off before grinning. "What do you want it to attack?"

"Hold on right there!" Mona yelled. "What is going on here?"

Wario chuckled at the sight of the monster. "...Mona, shut up..."

"W-what?" Mona asked shocked.

Wario looked at the lock of the cage before he opened it quickly. The Smashers gasped once they saw that the beast could come out and attack them. So far, they didn't know what it could do to them, but they were prepared for the worst...

"Okay, you thing," Wario said as he pointed at Ness, who gasped at this sudden move. "Go and get him! Give it all you have! Go, go, go!" he ordered with some laughs as Ganondorf grinned in pleasure.

Ness and Lucas looked at the creature in the cage. They noticed that it began to move its legs to the clean ground, staring deeply at Ness's eyes. Unfortunately, Chris wasn't exactly feeling so well with a creature made out of darkness, and the fact that he was brutally attacked by several of them didn't help.

"What are we doing here without doing nothing?!" Nana asked to the others. "We have to stop that thing from attacking them!"

The other Smashers shook their heads to snap out from their states. Bowser and Dedede, who also heard the shout, looked confused at what do to.

However, something went wrong...

In a few seconds, the Shadow Nightmare quickly dashed along the grass towards the other side of the taxi. Ness and Lucas gasped once the monster quickly ran behind them, making him turn around with Lucas as both were standing right next to each other. The monster was probably running from the back so the others wouldn't interfere.

Chris quickly turned his head to see the beast extending its arms with pincers to the sides as it ran after Ness. The World Traveler backed away from it out of fear as the Shadow Nightmare passed him, eyes focused on Ness.

The Onett resident gulped as the monster went after him...

The Smashers tried to run as fast as possible to attack the monster...

Wario and Ganondorf were chuckling in front of the taxi while Dribble and Spitz were under some kind of trance at the sight of the scene...

Mona just watched in horror at the beast about to attack Ness from a safe distance...

Kat shielded Ana and Shadow from whatever happened, but instead of doing that, she decided to join the fight, making Ana and Shadow follow her...

Bowser and Dedede looked confused at each other to think about something to do...

Chris was paralyzed in fear at the sight of devilish monster; close to the taxi...

9-Volt and 18-Volt were still sleeping...

Popo protected his pizza boxes...

Nana slapped him and took him with her to attack the monster...

But as for Lucas...

"Lucas, stay back!" Ness yelled as the monster prepared to ram its full body at him. "You have to run away from here if you don't want to figh-"

The unexpected happened as Ness's right arm was suddenly grabbed and pulled away, making him trip to the right before hearing some screams...

"..." Ness pushed himself up shocked. "...N-no..." he muttered in disbelief as he turned around. "...T-this...no, he didn't just...do it... N-no, he didn't do this! No, he just didn't do this!"

His eyes, along with everyone else's, couldn't believe what they saw...

There was a panicking Lucas trying to push away the Shadow Nightmare that latched onto his head. No matter how much Lucas tried to push the monster, it didn't let go of his head before the Shadow Nightmare let out a screech of pleasure as it slammed down its pincers on Lucas's back, making Chris's eyes widen in terror.

"U-!!!" Lucas's screams yelled loudly as many gasps followed after. "H-help me, somebody!!!" Lucas pleaded as the monster's pincers began to trespass his body, creating some dark holes that emanated darkness. "I-I need help, please!" he cried loudly before the whole monster made itself transparent to take over his body, giving Lucas a painful look of darkness that shrouded him inside a bubble of pure black. "A-!!!"

"Lucas!!!" the Smashers yelled loudly as several whips of darkness began to come from within the bubble, showing a horrific scene as Lucas kept crying out in pain during the night...

"!!!"

...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"First Liar: Lucas the Weak-Hearted. A liar? Why would he be a liar?" Jigglypuff asked.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Diamond City
Chris, Ness, Lucas, Jigglypuff, Diddy Kong, Kirby, Ice Climbers, Mona, Kat & Ana, Dribble, Spitz, 9-Volt, 18-Volt/Sonic, Chip, Amy, Penny

References:

-None.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-There's no proof about Tell (parody of Dell) and OrangeMec (parody of Apple and MACs) exist.

Phew, this arc is ending in the next chapter. In the next chapter, prepare to read a more serious event that's going to appear several times throughout the fic.

I hope I get something good to write for 9-Volt and 18-Volt. My mind was in blank when I wrote them...

I loved to write for Penny. She became my favorite Wario Ware character once I played through her stage (or Story Mode). She's so energetic enough to make me get excited to write about her (if I did a good job, that is...). That reminds me, where's Sonic's group? They haven't arrived there with them.

As for Jimmy P...please, don't bother with him. It's a mystery to know the real background of this character...

I'm sorry to say sorry, but I'm sorry (confusing?) for this chapter being long. I'll try my best that the next chapter will be shorter than this one…hopefully…

Well, I ran out of ideas to talk about. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will have a special battle that I hope you will all enjoy.

Read and review, please. :D

…Or I'll convince Scratchy the 'Fro Bug to itch your hair pretty badly.
*Chapter 149*: First Liar: Lucas the Weak Hearted

Seriously, one would think that I could make 2 chapters in the time I took to make this one. -_-

From TARDISreviewer: ...I noticed the Secret Rings reference, there.

and it looks like things are picking up again... where IS Sonic, anyway?

From me: Dude, you would know the next would answer your question, but please, don't ask the same question again because…it feels out of place… Thanks. :D

From ngrey651: The Shadow Nightmare on LUCAS? I did NOT see that coming. No offense, but he doesn't seem the threatening type...

Then again, the phrase IS "Beware the Nice Ones", and Lucas IS very nice...(gulps) I eagerly await the next chappie!

From me: Oh, you'll see how threatening he is. ;)

From aquadragonsayian: Uh... sorry. I forgot that you had the game. Silly me! ^^ BTW, that was funny of Popo to get Mona to deliver the pizzas to him! Sometimes, the most stupid of people could do that. Update soon plz!

From me: Popo could be defined as the epitome of smartness and silliness, like a cent coin. Thanks. :)

From Light the Lucario: Mist: Talk about Crazy happenings.

Yeah. I am so dizzy from all the different story shifts.

Mist: Poor Sonic can never get rid of Amy.

Yep. Now for questions. Is there anything you have planned for the Next Mansion chapter?

From me: Who the hell is Mist? Why did you invite her here?

Anyway… Oh, there is something planned for the next mansion chapter. I think I could make either a real world/video game world chapter or maybe try the Battle Floor. Wait until we get there, okay? Thanks. :)

From SlasherMask: Actually it isn't cliche as much as it is werewo- Oh who I am kidding, I'm too busy to explain..

Actually "Were" part of word is the one that means man.(proof? Just check wikipedia or something...)...That would explain arms if you would think them as monkey arms...(though since no one and especially no Japanese actually know meaning of the word...)

Why would you need to read fairy tales to know about following people by scent? Chris... Have you really read any books?(and other than fairy tales?)

I have meant to ask this for some time... How is Chip more cartoony than other Sonic Characters?

From me: I know the word "were" means man. Why ask about the arms? I don't see any relevance to the question.

Even if there were werewolves, many would think they have appeared in fairy tales. If you think about it, this could be applied to ghosts as well.

If you don't think Chip's cartoony, stare at him for a period of 10 minutes, and imagine him in a popular cartoon like the one with the rabbit and the duck. Thanks. :)

From FF and STH: That was a funny chapter. It was funny when ness wanted to kill someone to sonic becomeing the werehog

From me: Hmm, you're learning the ropes of reviewing little by little. That's very good in my opinion.

Yes, Ness was the one who got the most bad luck of the whole team and everyone else. This world surely isn't for him.

Thanks. :D

From PianistChris: Great Chapter, It was funny to imagine Penny on Sonic's back.
I was suprised to find Mona joining them so easily though.

Chris :p

From me: "Happy note jumps from head" For some reason, I like your username. It has a nice ring to it.

Actually, when you told me about Penny and Sonic's back, I should have said that she used his quills to stand up; otherwise she would have been pinched very badly… Actually, does Sonic use his quills for anything? I guess he does with his Spin Dash.

From Rabid Original: ^_^;
Ahahaha, I finally come back and get to read an awesome arc.
I played a few WarioWare games, so luckily I get the idea.

The last half of this chapter was MADE OF AWESOME.
(Yes, I just like saying awesome :P)

Can't wait for next time!

From me: Was it made of awesome for you? Well, I'm glad to see you're still here. Thanks. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: hmm, pretty good once again. it's hard to beleive that 1, they caught up to mona and 2, it was popo who ordered the pizza's. i can see why lucas could be the 1st victim of the shadow nightmare, considering he has been having the talks with his family. no blah title considering this is a rushed review
In some cartoons, someone gets hit by some random anvil. considering this is a cartoon world, i thought this might happen.
yeah, but he'd still need to jump those mysterious barrels that come outta no where.
"May winds of fortune and creativity guide you along the path of writing(or typing, lol)"

From me: Well, you thought wrong about anvils. If there were anvils, I would have written something believable.

What mysterious barrels are you talking about, anyway?

Thanks. :)

Okay, I really hate to do very long chapters. I couldn't keep up with my promise in the previous chapter, but this turned out like this for further character development, counting the battle included in this. I should really make a proposition to do shorter chapters.

"Sighs" Well, here you have the next chapter. As always, I recommend the readers to take your time. You don't really need to read it all today. I mean it; I want you to be good with this by suggesting before continuing. And if you're asking why I didn't make it a 2-part chapter, it means I wouldn't meet the right amount of chapters.

With that away, I hope you enjoy this.

Read, enjoy, and review, if you would like to do so. :D

Disclaimer: Roxas loves Sea-Salt Ice Cream so much that one would think his brain is anti-brain freeze, same goes for Axel and the 3 other Twilight Town gang.

Chapter 149: First Liar: Lucas the Weak-Hearted

Kat and Ana's House

The darkness shrouded Lucas completely in the blob of emptiness. The Smashers didn't know what to in this situation. If they went to the blob, nobody would know what would happen. Even if they looked around the blob, they wouldn't find Lucas.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Lucas cried out in pain.

"S-somebody do something already!" Ana yelled.

"W-what can we do?" Diddy asked.

"Nothing," responded Ganondorf with some chuckles. "Once the Shadow Nightmare gets you, there is no other way to help the one inside its darkness."

"What?" Ness asked. "Hey, you better let Lucas go now o-"

"Like I am going to listen to some brat," Ganondorf interrupted. "Do you really think I am going to help you? Think again."

"Y-you bastard..." Ness muttered before charging at the Gerudo. "Let him go! Lucas doesn't need to suffer even more than he did!"

"Of what did he suffer?"

"Like I'm going to tell you!"

"If he was suffering from some emotions he could not calm down," Ganondorf said. "It is going to be even better for the Shadow Nightmare..."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ness asked with a glare.

"H-hey, something is happening!" Jigglypuff yelled as she pointed at the blob of darkness, managing to get everyone's attention.

The blob of darkness began to blink a few times before, from it, a fainted Lucas was tossed out to the grass, close to where the terrified Chris was. The World Traveler shook his head to snap out from his state to look at Lucas.

"L-Lucas!" Chris yelled worried as he approached the fainted blond boy. "L-Lucas, are you okay? Lucas!"

The other Smashers had to sigh in relief after Lucas was merely tossed out from the blob of darkness before they all (along with the Iga ninjas) gathered around the fainted PK user. Ness, who was the most worried, knelt down to shake Lucas's head a little bit.

"Wake up, Lucas, wake up!" Ness yelled. "Everything's fine now!"

"..." Lucas slowly shook his head as he saw everything and everyone around them as blurs. His vision slowly returned to normal before he looked around weakly. "W-what just happened?" he asked.

"You decided to be a hero by pulling Ness out of the way from that thing," Diddy explained. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

The World Traveler smiled a bit at Lucas...but once he turned around, his eyes widened in fear.

Lucas blushed and looked down. "I-I didn't want Ness to get attacked by that monster..." he said before looking at Ness. "N-Ness, remember that time where you pushed me out of the way of Wario's gun?"

Ness knew what Lucas meant. "Yes... Let me guess, you wanted to do the same here to stay equal with me, right?"

Lucas smiled a bit. "Y-yes..."

"..." Ness frowned. "Lucas, you didn't have to do that, really..."

"I had to do it..." Lucas said before standing up. "I wanted to show how brave I am..."

"That's craziness, not bravery," Nana said. "What if that thing killed you, then?"

"I...I...I wouldn't know..."

All of them sighed in relief as Kirby turned around. The Star Warrior's eyes began to tremble in fear as he saw something where Lucas got pushed out. He shyly tapped Diddy's shoulder to get his attention.

"What?" Diddy asked before turning around. "...Oh no...oh no...oh no..." he muttered once he looked at Kirby's direction. "G-guys..."

The rest of the Smashers looked at their direction before they gasped quite silently...

Some feet away from a shocked Mona, there was the same blob of darkness in place. Wario, Ganondorf, and were staring at the darkness in front of them before it began to get smaller. For some reason, the blob began to take shape; a shape that wasn't recognizable by a simple look.

However, what they noticed was that it was taking the shape of someone. The darkness didn't let them see it clearly, but it was definitely someone by the looks of the shadow.

"W-what is happening now?" Mona asked.

"Behold, the Shadow Nightmare's true power," Ganondorf said with a grin.

"The true power of the Shadow Nightmare?" Nana repeated in confusion.

The shadow's appearance began to take a much clearer shape. Everyone watched as the shadow itself took the appearance of someone that they quickly recognized, but Lucas thought differently as he stepped forward.

"…C-Claus?" Lucas asked in pure disbelief.

Right in front of him, there was an identical shadow that looked exactly like Claus. The Smashers and the Diamond City's residents were confused at this sudden appearance.

"…Lucas!" Ness suddenly yelled, trying to stop Lucas from advancing more to the shadow. "Stop now! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"…C-Claus?" Lucas asked again to the shadow.

It was so confusing for the Smashers to understand why Lucas didn't stop moving. For some reason, Lucas felt right at home as he stared at the shadow with a small smile that formed in his lips. The Smashers were shocked at the event that they watched carefully before doing something reckless. They didn't know what to do rather than watch for the time being.

"Lucas…" the shadow said with a chuckle. "Come to me, Lucas. It's me, your brother."

The shadow itself looked like Claus. However, the big differences that made them not alike were the fact that the shadow had a shadowy aura with yellow glowing eyes, and the fact that his voice was a distorted version of Claus's voice.

"H-he's his brother?" Chris asked terrified.

"T-there's no way he could be Claus…" Ness muttered. "I thought he was supposed to be…"

"Don't listen to them, Lucas…" the shadow of Claus said as he motioned at him. "Do you want your brother to hug you?"

"…" Lucas nodded as he kept walking to the shadow.

"Lucas, snap out it already!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"Lucas…" the shadow continued. "Do you want to hug me tightly? C'mon, I'm your brother…"

"…Y-yes…" Lucas said as he looked happy. "C-Claus, I thought you were dead…b-but here you are…"

"Of course I'm alive," the shadow of Claus said with a chuckle. "It'd be stupid if I was actually dead, right? Don't you agree with me, Lucas?"

"O-of course…" Lucas said with a chuckle. "How stupid of me to think you were dead…right?"

"You tell me," the shadow said with a smile before opening his arms. "Now, come over here and let me give you a welcome hug, Lucas."

Wario, confused at the whole thing, looked at Ganondorf. "Hey, what the heck is going on? I don't see anyone hitting someone here. I thought there was going to be a fight."

"Relax," Ganondorf said. "This is not over yet. Keep watching."

The Smashers were able to hear this before looking back at Lucas, slowly opening his arms. "Lucas, stop right there!" yelled Ness. "How we can tell if he's Claus or not, anyway?"

"Ness…" Lucas muttered as he kept advancing at the shadow. "Claus is just right here… Can you see him? I thought he was dead, but I knew he was alive…"

"What the heck is wrong with your mind?" Ness asked. "This isn't you, Lucas. Stop it before it's too late!"

"But Claus isn't going to hurt me, Ness…" Lucas muttered as he was about to reach Claus. "Claus is willing to protect me from anything..."

"That's right," the shadow said as he finally embraced Lucas tightly and patted his back softly. "I'm his brother. Why should I hurt him? That would be so bad… Don't listen to them, Lucas. After all, you're relieved to see me again, aren't you?"

"Of course…" Lucas said as he shed a tear. "I'm so happy to see you again, Claus…"

Kirby looked worried at Nana. "I-I don't like where this is going…"

"I don't' like it either," Nana said. "But what is happening here?"

"This is hard to comprehend to me, sorry…" Kat apologized.

Ness glared at the 2. "Hey, Lucas, I thought Claus was supposed to be dead. Don't you think it's a little bit fishy for this doppelganger to appear out of nowhere?"

"No, Ness…" Lucas said. "I knew Claus was really alive, and he's right here…"

The 2 stopped embracing each other before "Claus" looked at Lucas. "Hey, Luc, I want you to give you a present for waiting for me."

Lucas gasped a little bit in excitement. "A-a present? What kind of present is that?"

"Oh, don't you worry," Claus said with a chuckle. "I need you to close your eyes, hold out your hands to me, and wait for me to give your present to you."

Lucas smiled a bit. "This is not like you, Claus…"

"Hey, I wanna make up for all this waiting for you," Claus said before Lucas closed his eyes and held out his hands to him. "After all, you deserve it…"

An eerie silence took place as everyone watched the happy Lucas standing still for the shadow to give him a present.

"…Claus…" Lucas began. "Where's my gift?"

The only thing that Lucas received after asking was a hard punch on his face that sent him tumbling along the ground towards the Smashers. Everyone except Ganondorf gasped in shock as the blond kid rolled recklessly to them, a look of pure disbelief on his face as he noticed some blood spilling from his mouth.

"Lucas!" Ness yelled before kneeling down to help Lucas. "I told you he was bad news! Look at what he did to you!"

"U-uah!" Lucas yelped once he touched the small drop of blood. He also noticed the mark of the punch that was delivered on his right cheek. The mark made him shake in pain before looking back at the shadow, with a right fist pointing down. "C-Claus, why did you hit me so hard?"

No response came after Lucas asked that until the shadow began to chuckle rather evilly before standing straight to him with a smirk.

"Lucas, Lucas, Lucas…" the shadow said, gaining a distorted voice that sounded like Lucas's voice. "Always believing things that aren't true…"

"W-what do you mean by that?" Lucas asked.

"Puh-lease, I can't believe you can't recognize who's alive and who's dead," the shadow mocked. "Such stupid beliefs will ultimately bring you to a life full of sadness; sadness that will overcome you before killing you off."

Lucas's mouth hung a little bit open as he looked shocked at the shadow. "C-Claus, you're scaring me…"

"Claus?" the shadow asked before chuckling. "Oh, for crying out loud… How the heck didn't you notice the difference between him and me?" he asked before fixing his hair…a little bit to make it look exactly as Lucas's hair. "Okay, who do you see now?"

"…A-a shadow…" Lucas responded.

"…Well, that's true," the shadow said before chuckling evilly. "What I'm trying to say is that my name is…Lucas."

"Your name is Lucas?" Kirby asked confused.

"Of course I am Lucas," the shadow said with a smirk. "I mean, that's who I am, right?"

Lucas shook his head in disbelief. "W-why do you have my name?"

"Because, scared rat, I am you, and you are me," the shadow said.

Nana held her head in pain. "I-I'm sorry, but I can't seem to understand who he is…"

Kirby thought for a moment. "Can we call him…um…I don't know…Shadow Lucas?"

"Shadow Lucas?" Ness repeated.

"...Wow, even you guys are liars when naming people," Shadow Lucas said with a chuckle. "But if you want to call me that, it's fine. It's not like I care, anyway." Shadow Lucas looked at Lucas. "Anyway, thanks to you, I was given birth."

"W-why?" Lucas asked confused.

The shadow closed his eyes before speaking in a familiar voice. "…Hurry it up, Lucas!"

The blond PK user gasped at the familiar voice. "T-that voice was Claus's…"

"Lucas, I'm going to win at bringing down the Drago down," the shadow said, mimicking Claus's voice. "Aww, no fair, I thought I got the winning ticket!" he imitated. "Lucas, stop acting like that and be brave!" he imitated more. "What? I'm not cleaning Boney's you-know-what. You do that!" he continued. "Oh, yeah, act innocent after you broke dad's favorite vase, why don't you?"

Lucas shook his head in pure disbelief. All of the sentences that the shadow said were exactly the same he heard from Claus when they were both young or when Lucas met him in his dreams. How could the shadow know so much? This was the only question that scared Lucas the most.

"W-why are you saying that?" Lucas asked with a gulp. "W-why are you imitating Claus?"

"Because of the fact I know every single detail about you," Shadow Lucas explained, accidentally using Claus's voice before using his normal one. "I came out of you, and we're technically the same person."

"W-we're not…"

"Ah-ah-ah, we're the same," Shadow Lucas said with an evil chuckle. "Don't try to deny it now or else you're going to keep on lying to everyone you talk to like you have been doing this entire time."

The Smashers looked at Lucas with some worried looks. "Lucas…what does he mean by that?" Ness asked.

"But if isn't my brother Claus!" Shadow Lucas suddenly spoke in a whining voice to Ness. "Aw, brother, I thought you were dead all this time!"

"W-what?" Ness asked.

"Dude, you mean to tell me you didn't notice?" the shadow asked normally with a small laugh. "I have been trying to understand that my brother Claus was alive. I'm seeing him right now in my eyes."

Ness made a confused look. "Hey, we never spoke to each other."

"Oh, did we now?" the shadow asked. "But Ness, I've been spending my whole time with you. I mean, weren't you asking me things about what was happening to me in the taxi trip we just had?"

"What…" Ness muttered. "Y-you weren't there…"

"Like hell I was there," Shadow Lucas said. "You were being stubborn by interrupting my thoughts about my living family. I know that my mother and my brother are alive. I haven't found who my mother is yet, but I DID find my beloved brother," he said before pointing at Ness. "And it's you."

"…I'm not your brother in any way or another," Ness replied harshly at the shadow. "Why would I be someone's brother?"

"Wow," the shadow said, faking amazement. "Ness, deep down, you're a big mean bully," Shadow Lucas said with a glare to Lucas. "Why did I think he was my brother Claus? Do you know, me?"

"M-me?" Lucas repeated in confusion.

"Enough of this bulls(beep)t," Shadow Lucas said annoyed. "I always thought Ness was my brother. He acted pretty much the same. Claus was brave, Ness is brave, and he must be my brother, right?" the shadow asked to Lucas. "I mean, that's what he is, right?"

"N-no…" Lucas said. "N-Ness isn't Claus…"

"And there's the lie I wanted to hear about you," the shadow said before glaring at Lucas. "I wanted to call Ness Claus instead of his weird name. What kind of name is Ness, anyway? Claus seems more fitting for his personality."

"I-I never…" Lucas shook his head. "W-why are you telling me all these lies?"

Ganondorf laughed, interrupting the shadow from speaking. "He is saying that because he is saying all the truths you have been hiding from everyone, clueless boy."

"W-what?"

"The shadow that you see before you is none other than yourself," Ganondorf explained as the shadow smirked. "He is a manifestation of your deepest, darkest truths that you hide with lies."

"The green-skinned dude is right," Shadow Lucas said, receiving a glare from the Gerudo. "But what he didn't say is that you can't get rid of me as long as you keep lying to yourself."

"I-I'm not lying to myself..." Lucas said worried. "I-I'm not..."

"Oh, sure you are," the shadow said. "You're a filthy liar who takes advantage of every interruption in order to avoid telling the truth. Isn't that what you, or me, have been doing all day long?"

Ness looked back at Lucas. "Lucas..."

Lucas began to sob silently before looking at Ness and the others. "D-don't listen to him!" he yelled loudly. "H-he's saying lies!"

"Oh, c'mon," Shadow Lucas said annoyed. "If you think I'm lying, I'm going to say something embarrassing about you that you don't wish anyone to know."

Lucas forced a nervous glare at him. "I-I don't believe you..." He armed himself with a little bit of courage to confront the shadow. "O-okay, if you're me, tell me what I'm thinking no-"

"You're thinking about not telling anyone that you have wet the bed around 26 times in your life...and you have the amount counted perfectly," the shadow said with a chuckle. "My god, I'm so embarrassed right now..."

Lucas's eyes shook (as he blushed in embarrassment). "I-I didn't..."

"Nope, no use hiding it," Shadow Lucas said. "And I felt pretty good when I did."

The Smashers slightly backed away from Lucas who began to look a little bit panicked...then they decided to walk back to him once Lucas looked at them.

Shadow Lucas chuckled. "And now," he said as he looked at Ness. "Brother, do you want to come with me to our house?"

Ness glared at him. "Why can't you stop saying I'm your brother? I'm getting sick of hearing that word!"

"I won't stop from saying it until I fully believe my brother is dead...which is not true, according to me," Shadow Lucas said.

Ness looked down with a look of disbelief. "According to you?"

"...I understand why he's saying that," Kat said, getting the attention of everyone. "The fact that he was born from Lucas means that he knows every single detail about his memory and what he's thinking right now."

Shadow Lucas frowned. "Finally, someone remembers how I work here!" he said before laughing a little.

"B-but he can't be me..." Lucas said. "I-I'm me..."

"Not quite," Shadow Lucas said. "We're the same person... However, I'm the best one here."

"W-what? Why are you the best one?"

"I'm the best one because I don't hide truths like you do," Shadow Lucas explained. "Do you know why I'm living? I'm living because you had to lie to yourself, so I got out from you to be an honest little kid."

"B-but I'm honest..." Lucas muttered.

"Hahahahahaha!" Shadow Lucas laughed to the sky. "You, an honest person… You barely told Claus, or should I say "Ness," about what you were suffering, Lucas. You let events interrupt him so you wouldn't try to explain yourself. I think that's something a jerk would do...jerk."

Lucas forced a glare at him. "I-I'm not a jerk!" he yelled loudly.

"Okay, jerk, if you're not a jerk, I want you to see you saying to Claus that you kept thinking he was your brother, and that you wouldn't stop thinking that even if he told you so."

Ness blinked a little bit shocked before looking back at the ashamed Lucas. "Lucas..."

"..." Lucas began to sob. "...N-Ness..." he muttered as he sniffed. "...D-do you believe him or me?"

"I-I..." Ness wanted to find the words to talk back. "...I-I...don't...know..."

Shadow Lucas frowned in disgust. "Goodness, you won't just say it, right?" he asked to Lucas. "No matter what you do, you're never going to tell them the truth about you. Why is it so hard to say it aloud? It's not so hard..."

Lucas covered his head before falling to his knees. "S-stop...n-nothing of what you're saying is true!"

Shadow Lucas sighed. "...I have had enough of your pathetic attitude of avoiding the undeniable..." he said before he began to glow brighter than before, his face gaining an evil look. "Now, it's time for you to die."

Lucas looked up to Shadow Lucas. "I-I need to die?"

"Yeah," the shadow said. "Thanks to your constant statements, my power is growing even more than I expected. I think I need to thank you for giving me the power of the lies before your time ends forever," he said with a chuckle before pointing at him. "There's no enough space for 2 Lucas in the universe. You know what this means?"

Lucas's eyes widened in horror as he began to back away on the ground. "N-no!"

"Yes," the shadow said. "It is time for you to die, I'm afraid."

The Smashers, snapping out from their shocked looks, ran towards Lucas before his shadow made his right hand glow before shooting off 5 PK Fires with a single move. "W-what?" Lucas asked as he saw the 5 bolts exploding into fire in the air.

"This is just a small example of my powers," Shadow Lucas explained as the Smashers forced glares at him. "Piss me off, and you'll die." He looked down at Lucas. "As for you, me, it's time for you to join your dear brother and mother..." he said with an evil chuckle. "...Aren't you happy? You're finally going to stop lying by reuniting with those 2..."

Lucas had a terrified look in his eyes as he shook his head. "W-who are you?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "W-what are you?"

"...My name is Lucas," the shadow said, opening his arms at him. "I'm a shadow, the true self..."

"Y-you're me?"

"That's what I've been saying all this time," the shadow said. "What, did you forget, or were you trying to lie to yourself that I'm wasn't you? Oh, that's right..." He smirked down at Lucas. "I know that very well because YOU WERE JUST THINKING IT!"

"N-no..." Lucas shook his head. "N-no!" he yelled louder. "Y-you're...you're..." Lucas closed his eyes, trying to prevent his tears from falling off as they did what he didn't want. "...YOU'RE NOT ME, YOU HEARD ME?! STOP ANNOYING ME AND GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT ME!!!"

The loud yell startled everyone as Lucas glared at his shadow with crying eyes. The shadow noticed the raged look on Lucas's eyes that made him chuckle silently before laughing aloud.

"Hahahaha...hahahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the shadow laughed maniacally, making everyone feel confused. "...That's right..." he said to Lucas. "...We're not the same person anymore..." He opened his arms at them. "I AM me at last now that you said the most undeniable lie ever...me..."

"You're not me!" Lucas yelled back at him before taking out his branch from his back, finally deciding to attack the shadow by leaping to it. "Go away from here and don't show your face again! AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

"...Pitiful," commented Shadow Lucas.

The Smashers didn't know why, but Lucas was quickly knocked back towards them as he rolled recklessly on the grass, holding his broken branch as he seemed to have fainted. The Smashers gasped before Ness shook the boy quickly to wake him up.

"Lucas? Lucas?! Lucas?!" Ness kept asking, receiving no response from the knocked out Lucas. "Lucas! Lucas! Stop faking this and wake up! Lucas!"

They all quickly looked back at the shadow who was holding another branch on his right hand. He smirked evilly at the Smashers before he began to laugh maniacally. Ness quickly glared at him before Shadow Lucas stopped laughing, putting his branch on his right shoulder. "Finally," he said as he glowed darker. "My power has reached its maximum," he explained before looking at them with an amused look. "Now that he's knocked out, I believe it is time for me to finish this and kill him for good."

"L-listen, you..." Mona began to speak. "W-why did you do such a horrible thing to that poor boy?"

Shadow Lucas looked at her. "Liars only cause sadness and chaos around the world. They don't deserve to walk the earth to do whatever they want," he explained.

"So you're saying your job is..." Mona tried her best to think. "...Your job is to punish liars by killing them?"

"...Wow, I'm amazed," Shadow Lucas said. "The deaf girl thought about the true fact for once."

"D-deaf girl?" Mona asked.

"Didn't he tell you? You were annoying him because you didn't even hear them the first time they, or we, talked to you in front of that pizza place." Shadow Lucas smirked. "He thinks of you as deaf, isn't that funny or what?"

Mona looked down. "...Did he think that because I wasn't listening to them?"

"And that's not all," Shadow Lucas said as he looked at the Smashers. "He thinks Diddy is stupidly hyperactive, Nana is scary, Popo is just plain dumb, Jigglypuff is kind of a jerk, Chris should help him more, Sonic is a bastard, Amy is plain annoying, and Chip is an idiot," he explained before looking at Ness. "And above else, he thinks Ness is a heartless, selfish, imbecile who can't seem to respect him more than he does currently."

The Smashers looked down worried at the fainted Lucas.

"And," Ganondorf began. "The Shadow Nightmares only speak truths and no lies whatsoever."

Nana looked worried. "...If they're telling the truth...then...we shouldn't have acted like that to Lucas if we didn't want him to think of us like that..."

"If he said truths, I wouldn't even be alive," Shadow Lucas said. "Guess what? Since I'm still alive, that means he's living in a pool full of lies that he can't escape because his sea of lies is way too deep for him. Right now, he's struggling to live with his lies; lies that he can't seem to surpass as long as he doesn't speak the truth."

"So..." Popo began. "...As long as he keeps lying, you won't go away?"

Nana looked bored at him. "Oh, now you're back with your intelligent self?"

"Y-yes..." Popo said embarrassed. "S-sorry if I put you through all that..."

"That's right," Shadow Lucas said (answering Popo's question). "No matter what happens to me, I'll be alive as long as he lies." He gave them a true smile. "Now, shall we get going after I kill this pathetic liar?"

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"I have proved that I'm me," Shadow Lucas said. "There's no need for him to keep on living, right? He has a very weak heart that can't tolerate lies. Why don't we kill him for good and let me go with you?"

The Smashers looked shocked after hearing the bizarre suggestion from the shadow. They took a quick glance at the fainted Lucas before looking serious at Shadow Lucas.

"So?" Shadow Lucas asked. "I'll promise I'll be a good asset for the team."

The Smashers looked worried at each other before glaring back at him.

"...C'mon, don't give me that look," Shadow Lucas said. "I'll promise my promise."

Ness took out his baseball bat. "...Why would let a monster like you come with us?"

"T-that's right," Chris said. "W-what you just did to Lucas was..."

"So mean!" Kirby finished.

"Y-yes, that..."

Diddy adjusted his hat. "I guess it's time to fight."

"Fight who?" Shadow Lucas looked around. "Where's the army?"

"We meant you," Nana replied harshly as Popo stood next to her. "You're the monster here. You're the real problem."

"..." Shadow Lucas glared at them. "I'm the monster, you say?" he asked. "But I'm being honest here. A monster isn't honest."

"T-that's not what we meant," Jigglypuff said angrily. "We meant that you have to go away."

"...OH, now I understand..." Shadow Lucas said with a nod. "You rather let that lying, crying baby go with you rather than a good guy like me." He frowned in shame. "Geez, you like to live in lies?"

"No," Ness responded. "We don't like to live in lies. We like to live with people who are the originals. Do you know who are the original person and Lucas here?"

The shadow remained silent before he glared daggers at Ness. "...Me, of course..." he muttered darkly."Honesty should be more appreciated than dishonesty," he said before lowering his branch down. "Since you like dishonesty so much, it's my job to get rid of filthy scum like you along with that idiot you call your friend..."

All the Smashers took their places before they saw Kat and Ana preparing as well. Shadow, however, remained at the door of the house with Bowser and Dedede.

"Kat? Ana?" Nana asked.

Both sisters looked at them. "Do you think we're going to watch you fight this abomination?" Kat asked.

"Please, we want to help you out," Ana said. "You like Lucas a lot, don't you? A friend of yours is a friend of ours."

Nana blinked a few times before smiling to them. "Thanks, both of you."

"Aww..." Shadow Lucas said. "Isn't that cute? More people who believe dishonesty is the only way to be happy." Shadow Lucas slowly smacked his branch on his left palm. "I better finish this quickly before you keep spreading lies."

"For the last freaking time, we don't like dishonesty!" Ness yelled at him. "We want Lucas, the real one, to keep on living. You're a piece of garbage that can't just shut up his mouth."

Bowser stomped the ground with Dedede as they walked to the shadow. "Hey, we wanna have a piece of the action too."

"Stay back, filthy fools," Shadow Lucas ordered. "This is a fight meant for me alone. If you get in my way, I won't hesitate in taking you guys out."

"Ha!" Dedede laughed as both stood next to the shadow. "We're not listenin' to a creepy boy here. We wanna fight as well, especially if Kirby is in the mix!"

Bowser smacked his fists together. "Say your prayers, kids..."

Both of the kings quickly noticed that the shadow grabbed both of them by the arms. "Okay, you didn't hear me, right?" he asked annoyed. "Get away from my sight, now!!!"

Dedede and Bowser felt a strong grip on their arms lifting them above before they were tossed back into the forest and to the trees where they crashed into them, yelled in pain, and moaned afterwards as they looked shocked at the shadow with everyone else but Ganondorf.

"D-did he just lift the 2 with both hands?" Jigglypuff asked in fear.

Shadow Lucas chuckled. "Well, you see how powerful I am, didn't you?" Shadow Lucas asked. "Hey, green-skinned dude, you better not to the same as they did or else."

Ganondorf nodded. "I respect your decisions."

"Good."

Ganondorf looked at the Smashers before grinning. "Well, well, it is time for me to leave. I am going to take those imbeciles with me so this shadow plays with you in privacy."

Wario looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, that is right," Ganondorf said as he looked at Wario. "You must come with me as well. Tabuu would like to have a word with you."

"What?" Mona asked. "Wario, where are you going to?"

"Nowhere!" Wario yelled at her before glaring at Ganondorf. "You can't just tell me to go somewhere I don't want to go!"

"Too bad," Ganondorf said. "You are going to come and you will like it." He snapped his fingers as he called forth 8 Primids that appeared around the fat businessman. Wario gasped once he saw the Primids grabbing him everywhere before lifting him up. The Primids looked like they were struggling to carry him due to his weight that one looked worried at the Gerudo. "I do not care," he said. "Get moving and bring those 2 as well. Grab them fast before they regain their composures."

"W-wait!" Mona interrupted. "You can't kidnap Wario like that!"

"Shut up, girl," Ganondorf said before snapping his fingers one more time, calling forth a horde of Primids that went after Mona and grabbed her by the arms to stop her from going after Wario. Some Primids of that same horde went to grab Bowser and Dedede as they both looked a little bit weak.

"Let me go already!" Wario demanded as he flailed his fists. "I don't wanna go with you! Leave me alone! BUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" he yelled loudly.

The Smashers saw as several portals to the Subspace were opened to carry the 3 villains inside with the Primids. Mona couldn't help but watch in disbelief as Wario was carried inside one of the portals before disappearing with everyone else, except for Ganondorf who had a portal in front of him.

The Gerudo grinned evilly at the Smashers. "I hope you have a good time with Lucas...or the real him," he mocked with a chuckle before moving his cape back as he entered the portal, vanishing with it once he disappeared from sight.

"Wario!" Mona yelled as she tried to hold out her right hand. The Primids around her began to dissipate into Shadow Bugs before they all vanished, allowing her to fall on her knees. "Wario..." she muttered worried. "W-what did just happen here?" she muttered to herself as she shook her head.

The Smashers were looking confused at this whole event before focusing back on the chuckling shadow, taking their positions.

"This doesn't look good..." Diddy muttered.

Ness rolled his eyes. "It doesn't look good all the time," he said annoyed.

"Now that we're finally alone," Shadow Lucas said before raising his branch. "It's time for you to say your prayers, dishonest people!" he yelled loudly in rage. "I am a shadow, the true self..." he proclaimed before smirking. "Would you like me to tell you if you have weak hearts or not like that idiot behind you? Well, I'll gladly tell you by finishing you off myself!"

Mother 3 - Natural Killer Cyborg

The shadow quickly ran at them at a faster pace than Lucas's speed before leaping high up, with his branch. The Smashers and the ninjas gasped before dodging the slamming attack of the branch. However, this slam didn't look normal. The very same branch tore open the earth a bit as Shadow Lucas laughed maniacally.

"Yes, yes, YES!" Shadow Lucas said. "This is my true power!" he proclaimed before removing his branch from the ground.

Jigglypuff looked back at the ground, noticing the big crack that the branch made. "Y-yikes..." she gulped."D-did he do it?"

"Of course I did," Shadow Lucas said. "Would you like me to test it on you?"

Jigglypuff gasped. "N-no!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Shadow Lucas said before dashing quickly at Jigglypuff.

The Balloon Pokémon gasped in fear before covering herself with her hands. The shadow looked evilly at her before raising his branch on his head. When he tried to slam the branch on Jigglypuff, it was suddenly stopped by 2 katanas from the ninja girls who struggled to push him back.

"Even if your weapons have sharp edges, they won't cut through my all-mighty branch," Shadow Lucas mocked Kat and Ana.

The 2 girls grunted as their katanas were being pushed back at them at a fast rate. "K-Kat!" Ana yelled. "H-he has a lot of strength for using a mere branch! W-what do we do?"

"We hav-" Kat was interrupted as both ninjas were pushed away to the grass, falling at each sides of Jigglypuff who decided to look around and gasp once she looked at the smirking shadow.

"Jiggs, don't run away from me," Shadow Lucas offered. "It's me, Lucas, your friend."

"Y-you're not Lucas!" Jigglypuff yelled. "H-he doesn't even call me like that!"

"Oh, he wanted to, but he thought you were going to be a jerk and yell at him that he doesn't need to call you that," the shadow admitted. "Too bad you're not going to be around to hear his voice again."

Jigglypuff decided to turn around and run away before the shadow ran after her. A small bolt came from behind him and exploded in a small tower of flames, making him grunt in pain before turning around to find Ness.

"I'm going to stop you from doing whatever you want," Ness declared. "I'm going to get my revenge on you for making Lucas feel inferior."

"He always felt inferior," Shadow Lucas said. "Even after he saved Nowhere Island from the Pig Mask Army, his heart was always weak. When he joined the Smashers, he felt weak after knowing about you."

"Lucas isn't weak," Ness said. "He has fought many battles with us. He has been a lot of help in return for that."

"True, but he was weak, nevertheless," the shadow said before keeping his branch away as his hands glowed with a reddish, black color of fire. "Let's stop talking about that liar before I get sick. Wanna play with fire, Claus?"

Ness gasped once the dark fire shone dangerously brighter before the shadow, with a simple slicing action in front of him, shot around 6 bolts that went directly after Ness. The Onett resident quickly held out his hands to activate his PSI Magnet to absorb the attacks.

"Oh no," Shadow Lucas said as he was seen inside Ness's shield. "No absorbing shields allowed," he said before he pushed Ness out from the shield, receiving 6 big explosions that made him yell out in pain.

Ness had enough energy to stand up before looking weakly at the shadow. "W-what the hell did you just do? How did you get behind me so fast?"

The shadow smirked as he dissipated into Shadow Bugs, disappearing quickly from his position before sprouting out quickly from behind a shocked Ness, who kept staring forward in horror. "Do you like my warping ability?" he asked before pushing a concentrated blast of PK energy on Ness's back, making him get pushed to the grass in pain. "It's one of the many new things that liar won't be able to do even if he tried."

"Y-you bastard..." Ness muttered as he coughed weakly, standing up on his knees. "Y-you won't get away with this..."

"But it looks like I'm getting away with it," the shadow mocked with a smirk. "Shall I exterminate you?"

Ness rolled out of the way from a hit of Shadow Lucas's branch, which also broke the ground underneath it. The shadow noticed Popo and Nana running at him from each side, hammers ready to attack him.

"You're weirdest weirdoes I've ever met before," the shadow said. "Why can't you be normal?"

"Did Lucas think that about us?" Nana asked before raising her hammer.

"Everything I say is all the truth he hid from you," Shadow Lucas said. "Don't you feel the weight of the truth crushing you?"

"Ugh, stop it already!" Nana grunted. "Popo, I hope you're focused this time..."

"You don't worry about me," Popo said as both leaped to the shadow.

Shadow Lucas looked at each other before chuckling. "Shadow Rope Snake, take 'em out!"

Popo gasped once he saw a dark snake coming out from the shadow's pocket. Unlike Rope Snake, this one looked very wild and dangerous with its shadowy skin and red eyes as it opened its mouth, revealing long sharp fangs that bit Popo's arm, causing him to scream in pain before he got tossed quickly at Nana, crashing with each other as they both fell on the ground.

"I-I don't feel so good..." Popo said as he coughed weakly.

"P-Popo?" Nana asked worried once she got up and looked at his right arm. "I-is it bleeding?"

"Masterrrrrrr," said Shadow Rope Snake, getting the attention of the Ice Climbers. "I inflicted the poisonnnnnnn in him."

"Good job," Shadow Lucas said with a grin. "Go back in my pocket now."

"As you wishhhhhhhhh," the shadow snake said before returning back to the pocket.

The shadow smirked at them. "Did you like the poison? It helps to kill dishonest people."

Popo's face began to turn pale as he coughed even more, worrying Nana as she tried to think about whether fighting back or not. "You bastard..." Nana muttered as she held a tight grip on her hammer.

"I wonder, am I bastard for being honest, or are you the real bastard here?" Shadow Lucas asked. "I always thought you were scary. Girls are scary. Heck, even Kumatora scared the heck out of me with her tomboyish attitude."

"Shut up!" Nana yelled as she leaped alone at the shadow, making Popo gasp before coughing even more, the poison slowly draining his health away.

Shadow Lucas smirked at this action before he swiftly took out his branch and smacked Nana hard on the face, sending her rolling to a tree where she hit it and yelled in pain.

"N-Nana!" Popo yelled.

"As for you," Shadow Lucas said as he looked at Popo. "Why don't I hit your head off with this branch? If I can do that, it'd mean you're weak."

Popo watched as the shadow ran quickly towards him before a peanut came from the east. The shadow had good reflexes and reaction since he dodged the peanut from hitting his right eye. Shadow Lucas glared at Diddy some feet away on a tree's branch, where he aimed his Peanut Popgun at the shadow's head.

"Stay back from him!" Diddy yelled.

"Or what?" the shadow asked. "You're gonna hit me with the peanuts of doom? Ooh, look at me, I'm a monkey who uses peanuts as mass destruction weapons. What are you gonna do with them? Destroy my hunger?"

Diddy shook his head. "They'll try to hurt you while I'm in a safe distance."

"A safe distance?" the shadow asked before noticing what Diddy tried to mean. "Ooh, I see... You're quite sharp," Shadow Lucas remarked. "You were waiting to see all my moves so you could device some sort of strategy. You're using a strategy to prevent me from warping behind you like I did with "Claus" seconds ago, right?"

Diddy smiled proudly of himself, showing a happy expression. "Well, I haven't fought many battles before."

"Aww, too bad he's not awake to see your performance in this battle," the shadow said before he crossed his hands in front of him, electricity gathering all around his body. "I'll let you be the victim of another new attack, though."

Diddy gasped as a big fast sphere of pure lightning came out from the shadow's forehead, directly going at him before the Kong used his tail to wrap it on the branch and fall down to evade the ball of electricity, hanging upside-down on the branch before sighing.

However, the sphere quickly turned back and down on him, severely electrocuting him on his back before he stopped and fell down on his head on the grass, moaning in pain.

"U-ugh…" Diddy twitched it pain as static moved along his back.

"I bet you weren't expecting that move, did you?" Shadow Lucas asked with a chuckle. "And here I thought you knew me very well. You make me sick, stupid chimpanzee. You should have at least talked to me when I was in pain."

"I-I didn't think of that…" Diddy muttered as he tried to stand up, static running through him. "T-that attack was so strong…"

Shadow Lucas began to walk to Diddy, branch ready to whack him. "It was strong because the honest people are stronger than liars," he explained. "Liars are weak while honest people are strong. I'm an honest person, you liar."

Diddy struggled to stand up, but his feet were paralyzed after receiving the attack. The shadow smirked once he was about to reach him, but he quickly back stepped from a blue edge wave that came from his right. Glancing to his right, he found Kirby with his sharp edge on his back, glaring at him with some determination.

"If isn't the puffball!" Shadow Lucas said as he ignored Diddy and walked to Kirby. "Kirby, you like me, right? You are my friend, right? You're the only one of these imbeciles that isn't going to attack me, right?"

"…No!" Kirby yelled at him. "Y-you're not the real Lucas… I-I don't want you here!" he yelled.

"But Kirbyyyyyyyyyy, I'm Lucas," the shadow said in form of a moan. "I wanna be loved by everyone. I thought you were going to accept me for who I am…"

Kirby looked worried as he began to back away. "I-I like the real Lucas more than…"

Shadow Lucas stopped him by glaring menacingly at him. "I AM supposed to be the real Lucas here," he stated in a threatening, distorted voice. "I can't believe you can't tell who's real and who's a fake."

Kirby slowly took out his hammer from his back as he continued to look worried at him. "Y-you're the fake and Lucas is the real one…"

"Wrong, my baby friend," the shadow said with a chuckle. "He's not even honest. Honest people are true to themselves while liars are pathetic fools who don't deserve to divulge lies around the world. Why do you like liars, Kirby? Do they make you happy or some crap like that?"

Kirby tried his best to understand as he noticed he was pushed against a tree by his feet.

"I don't believe of such a thing," Shadow Lucas said as he came dangerously close to the scared Star Warrior. "If you do believe in lies, you shouldn't try to help those who won't stop lying. Tell me, are liars bad people? What do you think of them?"

Kirby held a tight grip on his hammer as he, by yelling, leaped to the shadow to shut him up with an attack.

In a swift move, Shadow Lucas quickly smacked Kirby's face hardly enough to make him crash (or actually bounce off) the tree behind him before the shadow smirked and began to keep sending Kirby back and forth between the tree and himself. The shadow laughed maniacally as Kirby tried to scream, but the constant hits prevented him from doing so.

"PK FREEZE!!!" a voice called out from afar as an ice mist quickly went to the shadow. However, Shadow Lucas's reflexes were fast enough to let him sidestep away from the explosion of ice, letting Kirby fall down on the ground as he panted heavily for breath.

"Why the hell did you want to do that to me?" Shadow Lucas asked at Chris, who was the one who tried to freeze him from a safe distance. "I thought we were friends, Chris."

Chris gulped. "I-I don't remember Lucas being a filthy shadow like you are."

"Oh, don't mind my shadowiness," the shadow said with a chuckle. "If you ignore that, would we still be friends? C'mon, you know you want to spend the time with me."

"N-not you, though!" Chris yelled. "I want the real Lucas and not some sort of dark monster taking his place!"

"Am I scaring you because I was made out from the thing you hate the most?" the shadow asked amused. "Maybe I have an advantage to finish you off right here, right now."

Chris looked worried as his right hand glowed with fire. "S-shut up..." he muttered angrily before shooting a small bolt to the shadow who quickly reflected it back by directly hitting it with his branch. The World Traveler gasped and ran to the right to evade his own attack before glaring at the shadow.

"Your attacks are so predictable," Shadow Lucas said. "You'll never going to win a fight in such a manner, y'know."

The World Traveler pointed at him. "But I know you've seen me winnin battles, right?"

"That's true," the shadow admitted. "Most of the battles you win are battles where you fight alongside the others," the shadow said before looking around in the field.

Chris looked around where Nana was trying to think of something to help Popo to get rid of his poison, leaving him to lay down as he looked worried, Diddy's feet were still paralyzed after the attack hit him, Kirby tried to stand up, but he always fell on his back.

Mona was still shocked at the event that she didn't even look back.

As for the taxicabs, Dribble and Spitz (that were just mentioned), they were still staring at the fight in pure awe while the gamers, 9-Volt and 18-Volt, were snoring loudly.

However, the World Traveler didn't find the ninjas or Jigglypuff...

The shadow turned his back at Chris before looking around. "Okay, I know you girls ran away when I wasn't looking. Come forth right now," he ordered seriously before he held his right hand back at Chris. "Were you just trying to do a surprise attack on me?"

Chris stopped running at him before gasping silently. "N-no..."

"I HATE STUPID LIARS!!!" the shadow yelled loudly as he turned around, quickly shot 5 bolts of fire towards the World Traveler.

Unfortunately, Chris didn't think about using PSI Magnet as he was pushed back violently by a big explosion of fire from the 5 bolts, making him roll recklessly on the grass before grunting in pain, laying down face-down on the ground.

Shadow Lucas stared at Chris from the right corner of his right eye before frowning. "Idiot..." he muttered before looking over at the fainted Lucas. A smirk suddenly plastered on his lips as he began to walk towards him. "Okay, where was I before? I believe I was going to kill the fake here."

The shadow suddenly was rammed against the ground by a brown falcon with a red bandana around its white neck. Shadow Lucas grunted in pain as the falcon pecked his face angrily before pushing itself back on the air. The blond shadow grunted in annoyance as he stared up at the falcon, glaring down at him with its dot eyes.

"What the hell did you do that for, stupid animal?!" the shadow demanded before receiving a screech as a response. "I don't talk hawk!" he yelled back.

It was not long before a banana peel was tossed to the top of his head. The shadow blinked a few times before grunting in even more annoyance, taking off the peel from his face to toss it away.

Shadow Lucas noticed that a playful monkey was happily eating a banana on top a tree near the house. The monkey was laughing madly as it stared at the shadow's pissed look.

"What's so funny?" the shadow asked with a grunt before he looked around, hearing something moving between the trees of the forest. "Hey, who the hell is hiding there? Show yourself!"

For his surprise, 5 identical Kats jumped out from the bushes with katanas ready to clash down on him. The shadow looked a little bit surprised before warping out of the way, evading the 5 katanas from cutting him down as he appeared some feet away from the 5.

"You guys can multiply?" Shadow Lucas asked.

"Impressive, isn't?" a Kat from the 5 asked.

"This is one of the many advantages from the Iga Clan. The members of the clan can learn advance ninja moves at an early age if they work hard to master them through rigorous training," another Kat explained.

"By rigorous training do you mean staring at boring books all day?" the shadow asked in disgust. "I never really liked to read books."

"Scrolls, you, scrolls," one Kat said in annoyance.

"By the way," the shadow began. "Where's that meddling sister of yours?"

"I don't have any meddling sisters," another Kat spoke. "I have my sister Ana."

"Ana, meddling sister, they're the same," the shadow said. "Where the hell is she? She seems to be easy to make cry."

The 5 Kats put their katanas across in front of their faces as they narrowed their eyes at the shadow. "Bring it on," they all taunted.

"Not saying where she is?" Shadow Lucas asked. "Oh well. It was obvious you were going to protect her."

The shadow noticed the 5 Kats running at different directions around him. They all planned to attack him separately from all sides and not at the same time to confuse him.

A small smirk formed in the shadow's lips. "Well, bring it on as well, heheheheheh..."

"Attack Formation X, now!" a Kat yelled at every clone. All the Kats began to dash one by one after the shadow with their katanas ready.

As soon as they were about to slash him quickly, however, the shadow swiftly shot PK Fire's bolts at the clones, setting off explosions off fire that made the clones vanish into leaves that were used as substitutes. Shadow Lucas chuckled silently as he easily took out the 5 clones.

But if they were 5 clones, where was the real Kat?

"Hey, they were all false copies!" the shadow complained. "Where is the real you?" he yelled at the forest around.

Shadow Lucas noticed that most of the knocked down Smashers began to stand up before glaring daggers at him. The shadow looked pissed at this as his hands flared with dark fire.

"W-we're not done with you yet..." Ness muttered as he coughed a bit.

"Persistent fools..." Shadow Lucas muttered in annoyance as he saw Chris changing to his Scholar job. "Okay, what's the nerdy gonna do?"

Chris scoffed a bit before fixing his glasses. "Idiot..." he muttered before looking at the coughing Popo. "This is bad... He must be badly poisoned by now..."

Shadow Lucas looked at the Ice Climbers and rolled his eyes. "So what, are you going to find a way to help that attitude liar to get rid of his poison?"

"As a matter of fact," Chris said before running at Popo, flipping his pages. "I am going to try and find way to heal him right now before this gets worse..."

Shadow Lucas looked angry at Chris before he decided to go after him. "Hey, bookworm, I hope you find a way to heal your illness too! Shadow Rope Snake, bite 'im hard!"

His dark snake came out from his pocket, stretching its long body towards the scholar at an insane longitude from where Shadow Lucas was running. Once the snake was about to bite the right arm of the clueless scholar, however, a hammer was tossed right on its head, knocking it out from cold before it fell down on the ground.

"M-Masterrrrrrrrrrr..." the dark snake muttered in pain. "S-sorryyyyyyyyyy..."

The shadow glared at his long snake. "What the heck? Why were you taken out that easily, wimpy idiot?"

Shadow Lucas saw Nana running after her hammer before reaching it and running right towards him, her hammer trailing off along the grass.

"You want to get revenge for your brother?" Shadow Lucas asked amused. "Aww, that's so sweet actuall-HEY!" he yelled suddenly as Diddy leaped to the back of his head before banging his hands hardly on it. "Y-you stupid IDIOT! Get off me right now!"

"Never!" Diddy yelled as he banged his hands continuously on the shadow. As the shadow scrambled to get him off, the Kong let space of the face free to let Nana slam her hammer right on Shadow Lucas's face, making him grunt in pain as he backed away with Diddy still on his head.

"Off with you!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he glowed, holding his hands to engulf Diddy in some kind of pinkish aura to toss Diddy away from him. The shadow shook his head to regain his composure before he met a cold breeze freezing his face for a moment.

Nana looked annoyed at him as she stopped using Blizzard. "Chris, do you think you can heal Popo?" she asked from afar.

The scholar busily flipped the pages of his book to find a cure to heal the poisoned Ice Climber, who looked up weakly at him. "Come on, there must be a cure to heal poison in here..." Chris muttered as he narrowed his eyes even more.

Nana back stepped away from a wave of PK energy from the shadow, making him grunt angrily. "Dammit, I'm not letting you all get a comeback, not to liars!" the shadow complained before quickly thrusting a blast of PK energy into Nana, making her get zapped for a bit before being pushed away some feet away from him.

"U-ugh..." Nana twitched in pain. "He's stronger than Lucas..." she muttered.

"Indeed I am," Shadow Lucas said before charging quickly at her.

The pink Ice Climber jumped back from another thrust attack of PK energy before noticing Kirby jumping right over her to float all the way above the shadow to use Stone, turning into a rock that fell down but failed to hit the dodging shadow.

"Mine!" Shadow Lucas said as he grabbed the shadow psychically, making Kirby turn back with a shocked look as he was tossed right to Nana in a fast move, both crashing into each other as they rolled back before stopping, Kirby on top of a weak Nana.

Shadow Lucas dusted off his hands before looking back at the scholar and the blue Ice Climber before meeting a peanut hitting his forehead, causing him to look pissed at Diddy. "Oh my god… Why can't you stop that already? Peanuts are NOT lethal weapons!"

Diddy looked at him with a serious look before he took out from his back a banana peel as he held the popgun in his right hand.

"Talk about pathetic..." the shadow muttered before he saw Diddy running at him, letting the shadow decide to do the same. "None of your weaponry will hurt me that badly, just admit the truth!"

However, once they were both about to clash, Diddy tossed the peel right on the shadow's right foot, causing him to gasp and fall down before the Kong leaped above him, aimed Shadow Lucas with his popgun, and shot a downward fast peanut that hit the shadow's face before landing in front of his hair.

"I can't believe I actually got tricked into falling by the oldest trick in the book..." the shadow muttered with a blank face before Diddy used his feet to strike the shadow by spinning them around him. The shadow grunted in pain as he was obliged to stand up before the Kong, taking advantage of the shadow's short stun, ran at him and slapped Shadow Lucas hardly with the back of his 2 hands.

Shadow Lucas didn't believe that Diddy would inflict some considerable pain in him as he backed away from the constant attacks from the Kong. "Dammit, I never saw how you fight before...I admit you're quite surprising. You're full of surprises..."

Diddy grinned at him as he spun his popgun in his finger for a bit. "Thanks. You never saw those attacks coming, did you?"

The shadow grinned malevolently before chuckling. "Nope, I didn't," he said before glaring at Diddy. "Maybe I should do the same and give you a sample..."

Diddy tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean by sample?"

Shadow Lucas rolled his eyes before he crossed his hands in front of his face, calling forth dark ice mist from his head that went stupidly fast at the Kong and froze him in a big explosion of freezing ice within a big chunk of ice, showing that he had a shocked look inside the icicle.

"That sample," the shadow said. "That should take care of you for a bit," he said before turning to the fainted Lucas. "And there's my target, waiting for the truth, me, to kill him."

The scholar and the blue Ice Climber gasped after hearing his words. Popo slowly forced his head to look at the shadow charging at the fainted Lucas, taking out his dark branch. "No!" Chris yelled. "You must not do what I think you are going to do!"

"Nerdy, do me a favor and shut the hell up," Shadow Lucas said simply with a chuckle before focusing on Lucas.

Chris rubbed his chin and looked up. "Now, which is more insulting, the word nerdy or kid?" he wondered before snapping back. "Stop right there!"

The shadow ignored the scholar's yells as he stopped right in front of the fainted Lucas. Staring down at him, the shadow raised his branch. "...Wait a minute..." he muttered as he narrowed his eyes at Lucas. "...I don't remember you being here..."

Suddenly, Lucas's body exploded into a cloud of smoke that made the shadow cough loudly. The smoke quickly vanished as Shadow Lucas looked down to see a kneeling Ana looking up at him with a glare.

"Darn it," Ana cursed. "The jutsu didn't last for too long."

"What the hell? I don't remember him being a girl except for his girly attitude!" the shadow complained at Ana.

Ana jumped back from him to take out her katana from the hilt on her back.

"Where is he?" the shadow demanded angrily. "Did you take him away from here?"

Ana shook her head as she prepared to attack him. "I didn't do such a thing. There was another person who took him while you were distracted."

"Who?"

"Do you honestly think I'm going to reveal that information to you?" Ana asked with a glare before she ran at him, her katana's tip touching the grass swiftly as she straight on to the shadow.

Shadow Lucas put his branch in front of him to block the flurry of slashes that Ana began to use. No matter how many times she tried, her katana wouldn't cut the branch in half as she continuously tried to cut it down. She, however, noticed Shadow Lucas backing away from his spot.

The shadow decided to attack back by hitting her katana while she attacked back; both of their weapons were clashing together with each other before the second twin began to speak while attacking. "Tell me, why are you bent in killing him?" Ana asked as she tried to land a slash on the shadow.

Chris was busily trying to find a cure for Popo, but he listened to the battle to make sure he didn't lose vital information.

Shadow Lucas chuckled as he reflected the blows back at Ana. "The job of the Shadow Nightmares is to eliminate the liars that they were born from," he explained. "We believe that the world deserves to have honest people. Those who deny the truth shouldn't be allowed to live a false life," he continued. "Isn't it bad to lie to yourself in order to be happy? I'll tell you something, you're not yourself when the lies were created for you only."

Ana noticed that her feet started to back away due to Shadow Lucas's blows while the shadow kept explaining.

"Lies create sadness, truth is hidden within lies, lies hide emotional wounds, and those emotional wounds become bigger overtime before making a huge incurable scar that the individual can't heal," the shadow explained. "My job, our job, is to make sure that scar is gone should the liar not say the truth to heal the self. Death resolves lies very well. Unfortunately, the liar must die for his or her incompetence for not saying the truths he or she has hidden from the light."

"A-ah!" Ana gasped once her katana was pushed away from her hand, directly flying towards Chris who gasped once the weapon passed right between his book and his face, becoming stuck on a tree's bark.

Shadow Lucas smirked. "When those lies grow dangerously problematic, the shadows are born to heal the liars forever."

Ana looked shocked at him. "A-and by healing you mean using death to..."

"Exactly," Shadow Lucas said. "Death is the ultimate cure to heal their emotional wounds. The Shadow Nightmares only look for lies to grow stronger so they can later use the same power to eliminate insolent defending fools like you," he continued as he slowly walked to Ana. "Those who defend liars are considered traitors to the eyes of truth. Those traitors must be eliminated for accepting lies over truths."

The young twin suddenly felt psychic energy embracing her as the shadow held out his right hand at her. Ana could barely move her eyes around besides moving anything else as she floated off the grass.

"Do you accept lies over truth?" the shadow asked.

"I-I...I-I...I-I..." Ana struggled to speak.

Shadow Lucas quickly stopped grabbing her to dodge the falcon that previously pecked him. Swiftly, though, he quickly captured both the fleeing Ana and the falcon with both hands, making the falcon screech in pain.

"S-Shuriken!" Ana yelled worried. "P-please, stop it! H-he doesn't need to suffer!"

"So wait," Shadow Lucas began. "If I kill this birdie off, will you accept truths over lies?"

Ana began to shed tears as she watched Shuriken screeching loudly in pain at the devastating psychic power that stopped him to move in midair.

Several feet away, Mona was still looking down to the ground, trying her best to understand the rather unforgivable event. The young teen didn't know she would see something so weird and shocking in her life that it left her in a state of pure doubt and confusion. After Wario was taken away, she couldn't sort out her thoughts well.

That was until Ana yelled.

"M-Mona!" Ana yelled. "S-snap out of it and help!"

"W-what?" Mona asked, looking up before looking around to find the 2 captured fighters by the shadow. "W-what is..."

"Don't think and just act!" Ana cried sadly as Shuriken screeched loudly. "D-do it for Shuriken!"

The teen was now back at her state of confusion. She knew there was a fight in front of her, but how exactly was she going to do to help? She didn't know how to attack or even hit someone. That wouldn't be her at all. She tried to think quickly o-

"STOP THINKING!" Ana cried as she struggled to look up at Shuriken. "PLEASE, HELP!!!"

"I-I can't!" Mona yelled as she shook her head in confusion. "I-I don't know what to do..."

"Hahahahahahahaaaaaaa!" Shadow Lucas laughed maniacally at the sight of confusion. "I give you that you're being dead honest with what you said. You CAN'T stop me from finishing them off, which is I exactly am going to do right now!" he said before grinning malevolently at his prey.

"C-Chris..." Popo muttered weakly as he looked over to his fainted sister. "Go help them..." he coughed. "L-leave me for the time being..."

"W-what?" Chris asked in a panic as he looked for a cure in his book.

"G-go!" Popo struggled to yell before coughing louder. "O-or they're going to be killed unfairly...do you want that?"

The World Traveler looked panicked as his eyes fully opened. His forehead began to sweat a lot.

"Or...can't you think of an idea?"

The scholar grabbed his head to think of something.

"Y-you can, can't you?"

Chris's panicked look quickly faded as he looked surprised. "...I...do..." he muttered before looking down at Popo. "...There is a way to do both things...to save you and save them..."

"W-what is it?"

Chris looked down ashamed. "I will not learn a new spell until I gain experience... But if my theory is correct...I could heal you so the poison does not kill you quickly, run back to the fight and interrupt the shadow from killing them, and wish for my mind to learn a healing spell or just slow down the poison..." He opened his book before holding out his right palm at Popo, which began to glow in a green light. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

A green light covered Popo a little. His eyes seemed to open even more, meaning that he was healed a bit.

"T-thanks..." Popo coughed. "N-now go!"

The scholar nodded to him before turning back to the fight, his book flipping pages by itself as his right palm glowed light blue. "Rise, o violent winds... Aero!"

The shadow blinked once he noticed some breeze currents circulating around him before they all met around him, slicing him a bit by making a sphere of slicing wind. The shadow grunted in pain, but he kept his psychic attack on Ana and Shuriken.

"Darn it, it was not enough," Chris muttered before his pages flipped by themselves while his hand glowed red. "Burn to ashes... Fire!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Lucas grunted even more in pain as a small burst of blames on his body appeared, burning him a bit. The shadow lost control of his hold on his 2 prey, letting Shuriken fall down on the grass in pain while a scared Ana ran at him in preoccupation.

"S-Shuriken!" Ana yelled loudly at the weakened bird. "S-Shuriken!" she cried loudly as she shook her head, her tears falling down before she knelt down to check on him.

The scholar closed his eyes and focused. "(Please, I need to heal Popo... I beg of you...whoever makes me learn magic...)"

For his surprise, he glowed for a moment as the book flipped its pages by itself to the right before stopping on a new page where a new spell was located.

The scholar looked at his book and let his eyes move by the letters before he smiled a bit. "Yes... This is it..." he muttered before he held out his glowing green right palm to Popo. "Extract the damaging liquid... Poisona!"

The blue Ice Climber saw his body sprouting pink glittering bubbles out. Popo looked confused at this before his pale face turned back to normal, his poison having lifted off from his system as he sat up and smiled a bit at Chris.

Poisona

Bubbles remove poison to a single party member during fights, but can remove an entire team's poison outside fights.

"Do you feel any better?" Chris asked relieved.

"Oh yes," Popo said. "I feel much better. A little bit hurt, but better."

The scholar felt a creepy sensation that was looking at them from behind. Popo looked behind him before he got a shocked look.

The shadow looked angrily at them, but more pissed at Chris for attacking him previously. "So HAD to go interrupt me, right?" he asked pissed at Chris. "I forgot that you're a real pain to your enemies since you have a wide assortment of abilities at your disposal. Would you think my other main priority is to kill you?"

The scholar shook his head quickly. "I-I do not quite think so..."

"I do quite think so, though," the shadow said with a chuckle. "So, how may I kill you? Do you want a death by fire, death by freezing to death, or death by cold?"

The World Traveler chuckled nervously as he backed away to Popo. "N-none of them..."

Shadow Lucas frowned. "Well, since you didn't decide, I'm gonna go with the 3 together."

"T-the 3 together?" Chris repeated.

The 2 fighters (and Mona) watched as the shadow crossed his hands in front of him while his dark aura glowed darker. His aura began to flare up dangerously as sparks, flames, and coldness began to materialize above him as a big sphere of sparks that contained fire within it as ice mist circulated at a safe distance from the sphere of sparks and fire.

Chris and Popo looked scared at the sphere before the shadow held it up with his right hand. With a smirk on his face, he yelled, "PK Triment!" and tossed the sphere swiftly at them, causing a big explosion of fire, thunder, and ice combined that covered both of them as they yelled loudly in pain to the sky within black smoke.

Mona's eyes shook as she saw the smoke clearing out. She managed to see both Chris's and Popo's bodies trembling while sparks flew out, burns were located at several parts of their bodies, and some areas froze due to the ice. Both were embracing themselves as the shadow crackled darkly.

"I bet ya didn't see that coming," Shadow Lucas said. "That's one of the many attacks that faker won't learn."

Popo shook weakly with fear combined as he looked at the shadow. "Y-you're...so strong..."

The shadow smiled at him. "Oh, thank you. You're being honest with me. I think I can tolerate you...but wait..." He glared at him. "You're still defending liars, aren't you?" he asked before he merely put his hand above his head, calling forth another sphere with the 3 elements combined. "I guess you should receive this as well..." he said with a sigh before looking at them. "Prepare for your dooms, liars!" he yelled loudly as he decided to shoot them down with a fastball by pulling it behind him.

Chris and Popo gasped, looked at each other, and turned back to run away from the dangerous attack, making the shadow laugh maniacally as both tried to run away quickly.

"Off with you and die already!" the shadow yelled as he tossed the sphere at them, quickly reaching Chris and Popo from behind before a big explosion was created between some trees where the 2 were running to. Shadow Lucas chuckled silently before it grew to a maniacal laugh as his dark aura glowed evilly. "Mwahahahahahahaha! I've taken those 2 out of the way at last!"

The evil entity looked at the cloud of black smoke between the trees as a shocked Mona watched at it some feet away from behind Shadow Lucas.

"W-why did you do that?!" Mona yelled at him as she looked worried at Ana who started to cry on the weak Shuriken. "Y-you're causing all of this, aren't you? Stop it!"

Shadow Lucas chuckled evilly at her before opening his arms. "Oh, c'mon already, you know my purpose for being here."

"I-I know your purpose...but it's so twisted and sick in so many ways!" she yelled angrily at him. "What you're doing is so wrong!"

"Lying is way more wrong," the shadow talked back to her. "My ways aren't twisted when you think I'm saving the liars from lying things."

"H-how's saving people good when all you do is kill them off?" Mona asked. "T-that's isn't a cure!"

The young teen glared at him as she barely noticed some bushed shaking a bit from behind the shadow. However, the shadow was many feet away from the bushes for him to hear.

The shadow began to walk at her, ignoring the Diddy icicle to his right. "It IS a cure," the shadow said. "If you don't want me to use that cure, how am I going to save them from lies?"

"Y-you..." Mona muttered in anger as she tried her best to yell something back at him.

Nana and Kirby began to wake up from their states before looking at the shadow from behind him.

Shadow Lucas's right hand glowed with dark fire as he approached Mona. "Me what?" he asked angrily. "Are you going to try and stop me? I doubt you can even throw a punch at me. Your hand would break once it touches my face, then you would cry out in pain for making that mistake."

Mona kept glaring at him as she kept her position. "I can hit you back if I want..." she muttered, undecided.

"What was that? You're going to hit me?" Shadow Lucas asked before showing her his right palm with dark fire. "Can you do it while receiving this?"

Mona gasped in shock after the dark fire concentrated on his palm. A wicked smirk formed on Shadow Lucas as he prepared to shoot out a small bolt that would incinerate the young teen quickly. Deciding not to keep waiting, Shadow Lucas prepared to shoot the bolt...

Music stops

But just then, Nana and Kirby looked back at the shaking bushes before something stretched out from it towards the shadow before landing a fast hit that made Shadow Lucas get a surprised look as he crashed right into a tree behind Mona.

The young teen blinked surprised at a huge fist close to her that had a long furred arm that was coming out from the bushes behind Nana and Kirby. The fist wasn't a normal fist, but it was a claw that moved to the left and grabbed the close icicle with Diddy in it to shatter it by crushing it.

The Kong fell down on the grass before looking up at the claw in surprise. The claw itself made a thumb up before it quickly returned to the bushes.

"W-what was that?" Mona asked in surprise.

From the bushes, a voice came out. "You just saw one of my most hated ways to attack people from afar. Don't think I enjoyed this. I HATE to be in this form, anyway..."

The harsh voice wasn't hard to recognize as Kirby jumped to stand up straight. "...Sonic?"

The mentioned character, who turned out to be Sonic, jumped off from within the bushes and landed on the grass (crackling it a little bit) as he looked around at them. "Hey, you guys, I'm here," he said.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Nana yelled loudly before hugging Kirby tightly. "I-it's the monster! H-he came back to kill us off!"

"H-hey, I-I'm not that bastard!" Sonic yelled at her as he moved his claws forward at her. "C-calm down already, will ya?"

From the bushes, a bunch of other characters came out. They were Amy who ran besides Sonic, Chip who flew to his right side, Penny who peered out confused at the scene, and surprisingly, Chris, Popo, and even Kat and Jigglypuff peered out from the bushes to look at the scene.

"Y-you!" Diddy said surprised. "Y-you're back already? What took you guys so long?"

Kat looked around. "Is everything okay? I hope we didn't get too late here after asking for help...and..." Kat looked shocked once she looked at her pet lying down underneath her crying sister. "S-SHURIKEN!" she yelled loudly before she ran to them, her eyes focused at her falcon. "S-Shuriken, what happened to you? Shuriken?!" she tried her best not to cry as she shook her pet. "SHURIKEN!"

"I-I don't understand," Chip began as he looked at the shadow. "W-why is Lucas glowing so...darky?"

Amy frowned and looked bored at him. "Chip, Jiggs already explained us..."

Shadow Lucas glared at them. "The hell happened here? How did you weirdoes get here?"

Jigglypuff glared at him as she pointed her hand at him. "They got here because of us," she explained. "Did you look around for me? If you did, I was away with Kat."

"You were away from here?" the shadow asked.

Jigglypuff nodded as she grinned at him with a proud look. "That's right. When you weren't looking at me anymore, Kat and Ana wanted to make a distraction to keep you busy in the fight after I recalled that Sonic was still in the city. Since I WANTED to feel important for once, my mind nearly got a headache before I suggested looking for him with the-"

"SHURIKEN!" Kat yelled, interrupting Jigglypuff.

"...with them," Jigglypuff finished. "Okay, so we decided to distract you so Kat and I could go in hopes of finding them while she sent 5 clones of herself to attack you with Ana."

"S-Shuriken..." Kat sobbed over her weakened pet.

"...And...we happened to find them coming from the northeast..." Jigglypuff said. "...When I called them, they told me that they were looking for Chris because of the..."

Everyone (except the ninjas) looked over Sonic's back where the shadow aura of DSS looked extremely pissed at the scholar. "THERE'S THE B(BEEP)T!" he yelled before trying to reach for him. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I HAVE YOU NOW!!!"

Chris, despite the situation they were in, looked annoyed at the aura. "For the love of Master Hand, you do not give up that easily, do you?"

"W-wait," Mona interrupted as she looked extremely confused at the whole event.

She was thinking hard about Wario's kidnapping, the shadow of Lucas, the fact that she was asked to come with the Smashers to the mansion, and now she got even more confused with the arrival of the newcomers.

Mona looked at Chris and Popo. "H-how did you 2 survive?"

Popo dusted off his hands. "When we were about to be killed by that guy's attack, Sonic came from the trees and he pulled us to him with his...stretchable claws, saving us in the process," he explained. "When he did that, we were shocked to see him in that form."

"After that, I told him about what was happening here so he could understand," Chris added. "I was pretty shocked that he turned into that filthy werehog thing again, but we had to act fast to save Mona from being killed." He looked at the crying sisters for a moment before he chanted a spell. "Heal the wounds... Cure!"

A green light covered Kat's falcon before vanishing. The 2 ninjas stopped crying once they saw the falcon blinking its eyes in surprise before it stood up in its feet, looking somewhat relieved to see Ana and especially Kat.

"S-Shuriken!" both girls cried happily before hugging the falcon, who in turn made a happy expression.

Chris smiled a bit at them before glaring back at Shadow Lucas. "As you can see, everyone is finally here to stop you from doing whatever evil thing you have planned."

Amy, with a scoff, took out her hammer and glared at the shadow. "Good thing they explained everything us so I can give you a good hit," she said.

Sonic frowned. "Geez, don't tell me you're gonna fight..."

"I'm afraid so, Sonic," Amy said before closing her eyes. "It wouldn't be fair for you to get all the fun, right?"

'Now you're making excuses..." Sonic groaned before looking at Chris. "Hey, Chris, get rid of him, will you?"

Chris looked bored at the assassin shadow before sighing as DSS tried to maul him to death. "All right, it is for the better of our time..." he said before changing to his Beastmaster job. "Okay, you stupid...thing, go away," he said simply before lashing Sonic with the tip of his whip.

DSS blinked before gasping. "N-no!" he said before the aura got back inside Sonic's body, leaving the werehog pleased.

"Thanks," Sonic said with a sigh.

At this sudden reaction, Penny, who has been silent for most of the time, jumped off the bushes and looked amused at the way DSS was taken out. "A-ha," she said interested. "So it is true there was a way to take him out. I'm surprised."

Chris looked at her. "Er, Sonic, why are you with her?" he asked.

"Long story," Sonic said. "You wouldn't want to know what I went through all this time..."

"(But...I want to...)" Chris thought.

Sonic rolled his eyes at this awkward silence before he gasped. "Look out!" he yelled at Chris before grabbing him with his stretching claws, pulling the shocked World Traveler to save him from another PK Trident attack from the shadow of Lucas. Most of the Smashers gasped at this before glaring back at the pissed shadow.

"Okay, I know why you're all here 'cuz I'm the true Lucas," Shadow Lucas said. "But what I want to know is where my fake is."

Kat and Ana glared at him as Shuriken flew over them, looking down at him. "We won't tell you anything, bastard," Kat stated.

"Not after you hurt poor Shuriken," Ana said with a glare as both girls nodded.

Shadow Lucas narrowed his eyes as the fighters taking their positions to fight him. "I consider this reunion rather annoying..." he trailed off with a frown. "My guess is that you're going to gang up on me..."

Penny adjusted her glasses to see the surroundings. "Oh, I guess I got here at a bad time," she said before spotting the taxi parked some feet away from the battle. She smiled a bit at the familiar taxi. "Hey, that taxi was built by my grandpa," she said before walking over to that, finding Dribble and Spitz very attached to the action unfolding in the fight.

"Cooooooooooooool..." Spitz said pleased in his trance as he looked at the shadow and the fighters.

Penny chuckled at this before she opened the door of the back to enter and sit down besides the snoring gamers. She stuck her head out from the window and waved at them. "Don't worry, I won't interrupt your affairs," she said. "If you want my help, I'll try to examine the battle from here. Meanwhile, don't get hurt pretty bad, okay?"

Nana looked at Amy. "She's...how do I put it?"

Amy frowned. "Oh, we got the same impression, don't worry..." she said with a sigh.

"EHEM," the shadow coughed to draw the attention to him. "I was ASKING a question, you know. Where is that fake me?"

Ana shifted her eyes at the house before looking serious at Shadow Lucas.

Shadow Lucas, however, noticed this and chuckled. "A-ha! So he is inside that house!" the shadow said before grinning.

"E-er, no..." Ana said. "H-he's not inside the house..."

"Your eyes told me truth, filthy liar," Shadow Lucas said. "Let's see now... Your dog isn't around here, and the fake me isn't here either. I can easily assume that you told your dog to take the fake me into the house so I wouldn't hurt him. I knew there was something fishy when I recalled him not being in his usual spot once the crying baby ninja revealed herself to me."

The shadow guessed right.

Ana looked down in disappointment before Kat patted her shoulder. "You don't listen to him," she said. "We're going to shut him up for good this time."

Shadow Lucas cracked his hands. "I have to go inside and finish off that idiot by myself," he said. "I won't let you all stop me from achieving what I want to do."

The Smashers glared at the shadow as many of them spread around the field, making a huge circle to trap him inside the oval. Since Diddy was close to the worried Mona, she looked at her and said, "You should get away from here so you don't get hurt."

"What?" Mona asked.

"Do you really want to fight with us?"

Mona looked worried at the shadow before shaking her head. "No... I should stay away and think about what's happening here more..." she trailed off as she began to walk to the taxi where she sat down close to the door where Penny was on the other side.

"Oh, hi," Penny greeted her. "Why're you looking so depressed? It's not like you to be like this."

"Oh, it's nothing..." Mona said. "I'm fine..."

Penny looked worried at her before both of them looked back at the scene.

Mother 3 - Natural Killer Cyborg

Shadow Lucas looked around to see the 7 Smashers, Amy, Chip, Kat, Ana, and Shuriken preparing to fight him. However, the shadow noticed that there was a Smasher there who had fallen down to faint ever since he spoke weakly, unnoticed.

"...Hey," Shadow Lucas began. "Claus fainted again."

The Smashers noticed Ness's fainted body some feet away from the shadow.

"Oh no, we're not going to let you," Nana said as she thought fast. "Quick, grab Ness, somebody!"

Shadow Lucas gasped and quickly ran after the fainted PK user to finish him with his lethal branch.

"Not so fast!" Sonic yelled as he stretched his right claw (Penny: Fascinating! I didn't know he could stretch his arm like that!) towards Ness. The claw didn't grow bigger like DSS's claw did, but it did grow a bit enough to grab the kid from his shirt, dragging him all the way to Sonic where he held him on his arms. "Hey, you okay?" he asked to Ness.

"M-mom...I don't want to give King a walk..." Ness muttered silently before he slowly opened his eyes...

THERE WAS A BEAST RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!

"YIAH!" Ness yelled, accidentally pushing Sonic's face away as he jumped off and looked shocked. "W-what is going on here? W-why is that beast here again?"

Sonic looked back at Shadow Lucas. "Would you give me 3 minutes to explain him everything? C'mon, I need to keep him out from the doubt."

Shadow Lucas grunted. "Hell no!" he yelled.

"Thanks," the werehog said before looking at the shocked Ness. "Okay, here's what happened..."

"Hey, wait a second!" Shadow Lucas yelled angrily. "I never told you t-"

3 minutes later of explanations...

Ness, confidently, took out his bat and pointed it at the shadow. "Okay, it's time for you to go...for real this time..."

Shadow Lucas tapped his foot in annoyance. "Are you done now?" he asked bored.

"Pretty much," the werehog said before smacking his claws together. "Let's do this..."

"HaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Shadow Lucas charged forward at the werehog as his hands glowed with intense dark fire.

Music stops

Kat and Ana's House - Living Room

A moment ago...

The scene, however, changed as it showed the living room inside the house of the ninja twins. Inside, there was a fainted Lucas on a small cushion while Shadow kept an eye on him to see if he was okay. It was risky to let Lucas stay outside in his condition with his shadow doing a rampage.

Shadow whined worried as he laid down and rested his chin on the floor, still staring at the weakened blond boy.

Little did the dog know about that the PK user was having a dream...

Dream

"...u...s..."

"..."

"L...ca..."

"..."

"...H...y...yo...wak...p...al...dy...!"

"..."

"...Yo...re...a...uss...y..."

A slap was heard, making Lucas open his eyes at the sudden yell, staring up at 2 familiar faces with the sky and sunflowers.

"O-oww!" Claus, who was looking down at his brother a second ago, rubbed his red cheek after Hinawa, who was on the other side of Lucas, slapped it. "M-mom, I was just kidding!"

"Now, now," Hinawa said with a frown. "You're not allowed to address Lucas as a "pussy" again. Would you want him to call you that as well?"

"M-moooom!" Claus moaned. "I-I wanted to wake him up by saying that. I didn't mean it!"

"There are other ways to wake up your brother," Hinawa said. "If you do otherwise, then it's something I didn't teach you to say."

"...Mom...Claus?" Lucas called from the ground.

Both of them looked down at Lucas. "Oh, hi," Claus said. "Looks like you got your head handed over, Lucas."

Lucas blinked at the bizarre statement before sitting up, shaking his head to look around the field of sunflowers. "W-what just happened?" he asked, looking down at his feet. "I-I remember there was this scary doppelganger saying something about him being the real me because I was dishonest...a-and I grew furious before I attacked him...and after that, everything was a blur..."

Hinawa and Claus looked at each other before looking back at Lucas. "We saw that," Claus said. "You were fighting a shadow that was yourself, right?"

"H-how did you..."

"We're always watching over you, honey," Hinawa said as she rubbed Lucas's hair a bit. "And we saw how you behaved against your shadow."

"B-but mom..." Lucas sniffed. "T-that shadow...i-it was so evil and bad to me..." He sobbed silently. "W-what should I've done? H-he was irritating me a lot..."

"Lucas..." Claus frowned. "Don't cry in a moment like this, please..."

Lucas rubbed his eyes a bit before looking at his mom. "M-mom...that shadow said I was a liar...t-that I was lying to myself for something..."

Hinawa shook her head. "Lucas, that shadow was a part of you that was trying to teach you not to lie to yourself, you know."

"W-what? How can you call that teaching me a lesson? I-I got hurt by that thing!"

Claus put a hand over Lucas's left shoulder. "Lucas...that thing was you, don't you see?"

Lucas shook his head in disbelief. "N-no! T-there was no way he was me! D-don't tell me you're with him!"

Hinawa shook her head. "We never said we were with that monster," she said. "We're just saying that he was being awfully honest with you."

"Literally awful..." Claus muttered.

Hinawa nodded as she ran a hand through Lucas's hair. "I'm afraid everything he said were the truths that you tried so hard to hide from yourself, Lucas... He was merely pointing out your flaws..."

Lucas sniffed and hugged her tightly as he leaned his head to her. "M-mom, h-he was scaring me to the point I panicked... H-he began saying very scary things a-and I..." Lucas began to sob. "I-I don't know what to do anymore! Mom, Claus, help me, please! I-if I go back, I-I'll have to see his face...m-my face in darkness!"

Hinawa rubbed Lucas's back as the PK user began to cry loudly, completely being at a loss. "Lucas...calm down, everything is fine..."

"H-how can I calm down when I know that monster is waiting for me to wake up and kill me for good?" Lucas whined as he cried. "H-he was so serious about the whole thing! H-he even imitated Claus's voice to trick me and punch me hard!" he whined more. "M-mom, come with me and teach him a lesson, please!"

"Lucas, stop it!" Claus yelled. "You need to calm down or else you're never going to make that idiot go away! Do you really want that monster to go around and say he's the real you?"

"C-Claus, h-he was scaring me with all those things about me..." Lucas said as he sobbed silently. "I-I didn't know what to do...so I wanted to defeat him to shut him up..." Lucas shed tears. "W-what do I do to make him vanish and leave me alone for good?"

Hinawa and Claus exchanged worried looks before looking back at the crying Lucas. With a sigh, Hinawa slowly pushed Lucas away from her to make him look up at him. "Hear me out, young man," she said before raising a finger. "Do you really want to know how to get rid of him?"

Lucas sniffed before wiping his tears. "Y-yes..." he muttered."I-I want to get rid of him so he leaves me alone..."

"Okay, you want to get rid of him," Hinawa said. "There's only one way to beat him in his own game. Do you want to know how, still?"

Lucas nodded quickly in fear.

"Are you sure?"

Lucas closed his eyes and nodded quickly in fear.

"Are you REALLY sure?" Claus asked, stepping besides their mother.

"I think it was enough with 2 questions," Hinawa said.

"Moooooom..." Claus moaned.

Hinawa chuckled before looking back at Lucas. "Lucas, remember what he told you? Do you remember what he said about you?"

Lucas sniffed and nodded. "H-he said he was born from me because I was telling myself lies to hide the truth..."

"What "truth" was that?" Claus asked.

"..." Lucas looked worried at the 2. "...T-the truth that...you were...both..." He looked down. "...D-dead..." he muttered, closing his eyes in sadness. "..." He remained silent to wait for a response.

"I see..." Claus muttered with some nods as he rubbed his chin. "...Lucas, you're still sad after you lost both of us, right?"

"...Yes..." Lucas muttered without looking at them.

"And you still have that memory in you?" Claus asked. "You started to miss the 2 of us before you started to look for replacements, like you did with me and that boy Ness?"

Lucas gasped and looked at Claus. "N-" His mouth was blocked by Hinawa's right index finger as she shook her head.

"Don't say anymore," Hinawa said. "You were going to say no, right?"

Lucas looked away from his mother's face, trying to hide his ashamed look. "...I-I..." he stuttered in fear. "I-I..."

"Don't worry," Hinawa said. "That shadow won't hurt you here. You can tell us and we won't yell at you."

The blond kid kept staring at the big flowerbed as the gentle breeze swiped their leaves calmly and softly. Lucas looked up to the clouds that were disappearing into the horizon before he sighed and looked back at them, his face looking down in shame.

Claus coughed. "Lucas, you have to look up and say it straight to us."

"I-I don't want to..." Lucas muttered. "I-it's embarrassing..."

"...Do you want to keep on lying, then?"

Lucas gasped.

Claus looked serious at him. "Lucas, it's time for you to tell yourself the whole truth. Let me ask you something. Do you really want to keep hiding the truth?"

"W-well..."

"No," Claus said. "The reason you're hiding the truth is because you can't live with it, right? You hate to remember that we're both dead and you're still alive, right? Lucas, that's so wrong in so many levels."

"B-but it's just..." Lucas frowned. "I..."

"You what? Do you prefer living your whole life hiding the truth, or do you want to be strong and accept the truth so it doesn't bother you anymore?"

"IT'S EASIER SAID THAN DONE WHEN YOU'RE NOT IN MY SHOES, DAMMIT!" Lucas yelled angrily, making Hinawa and Claus gasp in surprise.

The blond kid stared blankly at them before looking away.

"...Sorry..." Lucas muttered. "I-I was so furious about that reminder..."

"...Now, now, Lucas," Hinawa said sweetly as she rubbed his head. "You let your rage out. I guess you can understand better, right?"

"H-how?" Lucas sobbed. "H-how can I understand better?"

"First, calm down," Claus suggested. "There's no point in continuing if you're not calmed enough."

Lucas took a moment of silence before he nodded slowly. "..."

"Secondly, you have to listen very carefully."

Lucas was still looking away into the horizon to hide his embarrassment.

"Thirdly, you need to look at us. We're not monsters, we're your family."

Lucas looked down before turning his face at them, trails of tears strolling down his cheeks.

"And fourthly and most importantly..." Claus trailed off. "If you want to face yourself, you need something to say it straight to you and us so you get over it. Do you want to hear?"

"W-what?"

Claus smiled a bit at him. "That's being brave."

Lucas's eyes widened as they shook in shock. Hinawa and Claus shared glanced before looking back at the blond kid. Hinawa stopped rubbing his head to make him look at her. "You can listen to us now?" Hinawa asked.

"Y-yes...I think so..."

"Listen well this time 'cuz we're not gonna repeat it or spell it out for you, okay?" Claus asked.

Lucas played with his fingers. "...Fine..."

Hinawa chuckled. "Don't worry, this is going to end very fast if you listen to what we have to say. Pretty soon you're going to remember this experience and laugh at it if you want."

"W-we'll see..." Lucas said worried before looking straight at them. "Okay, tell me what I have to do now..."

"Very simple," Claus said as he folded his arms with a chuckle. "Say to yourself we're both dead."

"And that Ness isn't Claus," Hinawa added.

"Seriously, we're not the same. That guy curses every 3 seconds, and you know I curse out every 9 seconds when dad or mom aren't looking."

Hinawa looked at him confused. "Wait, you curse every 9 seconds?"

Claus blushed. "I-I didn't say nothing. I-I didn't say nothing! Y-your ears are deceiving you, mom!"

Lucas tried to hold back a chuckle but he let it out, making Claus look annoyed at him. "Hehehehehe..." Lucas chuckled.

"Yeah, ignore what we're saying and laugh at me, why don't you?" Claus asked annoyed.

"Okay, enough already," Hinawa said as Claus looked away with a frown. "Lucas, remember what we told you before?"

The PK user wondered for a bit before gasping. "I-I have to say to myself those truths?"

Claus looked back at him. "And please, don't say another thing like "you need to be in my shoes" thingy. Don't look worried, don't try to sob, don't try to sniff, don't try to yell either, and whatever you do don't piss yourself."

Hinawa looked bored at him.

Claus gasped. "I-I mean, forget the last suggestion..."

Hinawa looked back at Lucas. "Okay, young man, go ahead and tell yourself the truth."

Lucas tried not to look worried, trying to maintain his blank face. "C-can I really do that?"

"It's not like a shadow is going to jump out from you and try to kill you for being a liar," Claus said. "...Oh, wait, that already happened..."

Hinawa put her hands on Lucas's shoulders. "I believe in you, Lucas. You can do this by yourself."

Lucas looked down, but Hinawa raised his chin up to look at him. "Can I do that, mom?"

Hinawa nodded. "You can. I put my whole trust in you. Claus will support you."

"C'mon," Claus said. "Do it."

Lucas gulped and tried to do his best to tell them the truth. "...M-mom...C-Claus..." he began, his forehead sweating in embarrassment. "...Y-you're...you're...both...both...b-both..." His lips twitched uncontrollably. "...Y-you're both...you're both...you're both...you're both...y-y-y-y-y-you're both..."

Claus moved his fists up and down in anticipation to encourage Lucas to say the word while Hinawa stared into Lucas's eyes with a serious look. The blond kip gulped one last time before he tried to say the whole sentence.

"...You're both dead..." Lucas finished with a depressed sigh. "Both of you are dead...that's the truth... Both of you are dead...but I'm still living..."

Claus and Hinawa looked at each other and chuckled before focusing back on Lucas. "This is not over yet. You said one truth, but you have another one to overcome." Claus said. "Now, tell me I'm not Ness or Ness is me or Ness is Ness and me is me."

Lucas looked utterly confused at him.

Claus chuckled. "Haha, I got you."

"Claus," Hinawa began.

"S-sorry, mom..." he apologized before looking at Lucas."Okay, go ahead and tell me."

Mother 3 - Theme of Love

Lucas wiped his sweat and looked at his twin brother. "C-Claus...N-Ness...y-y-y-you both..." His lips began to twitch in embarrassment, but he wanted so badly to move forward. "...N-Ness...a-and Claus...a-a-are not the...not the...t-the..." He looked down, but Hinawa raised his chin to look straight at Claus. "...You both are not...the same..." he said with a sob. "Ness isn't Claus...and Claus isn't Ness...both of them are different to each other... Claus...you're not him...and he's not you...b-because you both will never be the same..."

"And what else?" Claus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...Ness isn't like you, but he only reminds me of you a lot...he's not you... Ness won't be you because you're the not the same as him... You're very different from each other..." Lucas said before he looked down, but Hinawa didn't raise his chin this time. "I'm...done..." he said with a sigh. "...I'm done..." he repeated. "...Am I...done?" he asked to himself. "...I'm done..." he repeated again before looking at them. "I'm done...I-I'm done..." Lucas started to smile a bit. "I-I'm done, I-I'm finally done!" he said surprised. "I-I can't believe this...I-I feel so much well now! O-oh my god, I just can't believe thi-"

"Hold on, this is not over yet," Claus interrupted his excited brother.

Lucas blinked confused and looked at him. "W-what? This is not over yet?"

Hinawa smiled a bit at him. "You told us the very truths, Lucas, but you need to tell this to yourself."

"Tell the truths to myself?"

Claus nodded. "What's the point in saying the truths if you don't believe in them yourself, Lucas? Do you believe in those truths?"

"W-well, I did see the truths..."

"But you don't believe them fully yet," Hinawa added.

Lucas sighed. "...I guess..." he said. "...I need to tell myself the truths?"

Claus and Hinawa nodded at the same time.

"Once you wake up from this dream, I need you tell yourself the truths," Hinawa told Lucas before raising a finger. "That way, you're going to be just fine if you confront yourself with the truth."

"C-confront myself?" Lucas asked. "D-do I have to beat myself up?"

"Well...you could say it that way..." Claus said. "But you don't have to beat yourself up without reason...you have to fight yourself, you know what I mean?"

"N-no..." Lucas shook his head. "...Hey, wait, it doesn't make any sense at all... How can I beat fight myself without getting hurt by myself? I-I mean, everything's so confusing..."

Hinawa rubbed his head before giving him a sunflower from her basket at her right side between flowers. "That's for you to find out," she said. "I know you can find out what we're trying to mean."

"...What?!" Lucas asked in disbelief. "Y-you're giving me a riddle instead of helping me, then?!" he asked shocked. "I-I don't believe you! You're supposed to help me!"

"Hey, we're giving a hand to you," Claus said. "Nobody said we were supposed to solve the whole problem for you. This isn't school, you know."

Lucas looked a little bit mad at Claus. "Y-you have to help me, not make everything so confusing!"

Claus looked at Hinawa. "Mom, there's another problem here..."

"Hey!"

Hinawa nodded, making Lucas gasp. "Admit it, Lucas. You have to do this by yourself. If you really want to solve this, you'll have to do it with the help we gave you."

"H-how is giving me a riddle helpful?" Lucas asked worried.

Hinawa chuckled. "You'll see soon enough once you wake up, Lucas. You can do this, we believe in you."

"M-moooooom!" Lucas moaned.

His mother slowly put him to lay down on the flowers. The blond boy sat up and looked confused. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make you wake up so you can face yourself," Hinawa said. "It's time for you to go."

Lucas stared at them for a moment before he shed some tears. "...B-but..w-when am I going to see you 2 again? ...I-I have a lot to talk with you..."

"Die then," Claus said.

"Claus!" Lucas and Hinawa yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Geez, nobody can take a simple joke..." Claus muttered annoyed.

Hinawa frowned. "I swear, it's more difficult to raise you than Lucas..." she muttered before looking at Lucas, smiling a bit at him."Now, go back to sleep and you'll return back."

Lucas joined his hands together. "W-what if that thing kills me for good this time?"

"Believe me, he won't do such a thing as long as you do what we told you," Hinawa reassured Lucas. "You have a lot of things to do, Lucas. You want to keep enjoying life with the friends you've made, right?"

"...Yes..." Lucas admitted.

Hinawa chuckled and slowly hugged his son. Lucas's eyes widened before he quickly hugged her back, Claus joining them as the 3 had happy expressions in them. "You can do this..." Hinawa muttered. "You're my special boy...one of my 2 special boys..." she said before shedding a tear."You are brave enough to do this, Lucas. Show some courage and be brave to yourself..."

"M-m-mom..." Lucas sniffed. "C-C-Claus..." He sobbed silently. "I-I'll miss you very much...very, but very much..."

"Dude, just think we're with you, and we're going to be there for you," Claus said. "You wanna be like me? Then go ahead and do it before you notice you better be yourself and not me."

"...I'll think about it..." Lucas muttered before they all stopped hugging each other. "Thank you...thank you so much..."

Hinawa and Claus smiled happily at him. "Okay, you can go back to sleep now, right?" she asked.

Lucas nodded with a faint smile before he laid down on the flowers. The breeze brushed his face a little before he closed his eyes.

"In a few seconds, he should go back," Claus said as they looked down at him.

5 minutes later...

For some odd reason, Lucas was still there with them, lying down on the beds as the filed was brushed with more breezes.

"That's strange," Hinawa commented. "I thought he was going to go back in 5 seconds..."

"...Unless..." Claus looked bored at Lucas. He took a closer look to see his eyelids. Claus found out that the right eye was peering out from a small opening. "...Mom, Lucas is cheating!"

Lucas opened his eyes. "I-I'm not cheating!" he protested.

Hinawa chuckled a bit before she herself closed Lucas eyes. "Now, sleep."

"Mom..." Lucas said embarrassed, barely hearing a chuckle from Claus before he slowly drifted off to sleep. His body began to vanish before he was gone from the sunflower field, leaving his brother and his mother alone.

Claus chuckled. "Do you think he's going to change for the better this time?"

"If we have high hopes, I guess he's going to succeed," Hinawa said before a shadow rose behind her. She looked behind before standing up. "Oh, it's you."

Claus looked at Death, the same person with the black cape and creepy sharp scythe on its right boned hand. "How've you been?"

"The same," Death said. "I saw you talking with a boy. You didn't call him here from the world of the living, right?"

"Now, now, I didn't do such a thing," Hinawa lied. "If I did, he wouldn't be here, right?"

"...I suppose," Death said, rubbing his chin inside his hood. "Anyway, are you going to make lunch again?"

"Oh, Death, always looking forward to my cooking..." Hinawa chuckled before she stood up and picked up her basket. "You're lucky. I was just going to make some."

Death nodded. "I always look forward to your omelets."

"Me too, believe me," she said with a chuckle before her and Death walked away.

Claus, following them, looked bored at no one in particular. "Nobody said Death was your average normal guy..." he muttered with a frown."...Besides, it's creepy he has the same tastes as Lucas... Um...wait...mom doesn't like him just because he reminds her of Lucas, right?" He stared blankly before shaking his head. "Pfft, of course not... How stupid I am..." he chuckled to himself before the 3 walked away.

Music stops

Kat and Ana's House

"U-um..."

The sudden murmur made Shadow's tail wag in surprise as Lucas moved his head to the sides before his eyes slowly opened, staring up at the wood ceiling of the living room before he sat up, rubbing his head.

"W-what did just happen..." he muttered confused before Shadow barked at him. "H-huh? W-who are you?"

Shadow whined.

"..." Lucas frowned and looked around. "W-where am I?"

"Woof," the dog barked before he took a brush with black ink on the table and a paper that he tossed on the floor before he scribbled something on it. Lucas looked curiously at the dog's drawing before the dog finished by barking.

"...You're...in...Kat and Ana's house..." Lucas read. "...Oh..." He tilted his head. "Who?"

The dog frowned and pointed a paw at the photos of Kat and Ana on a drawer.

"...Oh, I think I saw them..." Lucas said before looking at Shadow. "W-wait, where's everyone?"

Shadow pointed a paw to the exit of the house. After that, the dog put a paw on his right ear as if he wanted to hear something from the other side of the door.

Lucas was a little bit skeptical since the dog wasn't exactly leaning his ear to the door, but since none of them were talking, he began to hear some yells from many different voices. He soon realized that they were probably fighting the shadow of him. "N-no, they're fighting him?"

Shadow looked at him and nodded while barking.

"I-I have to..." Lucas stood up, but then, he looked worried, recalling what Claus and Hinawa told him. "...I have to tell myself the whole truth..." he muttered before sitting down.

Shadow whined and approached Lucas. The dog stared at him with a worried look.

"...I...I can't go outside..." Lucas admitted. "I have to realize the riddle they told me..." he muttered."How can I tell myself the truths if I don't believe them yet?" He knocked his forehead a few times with his right fist. "I have to think before doing something reckless..."

Shadow didn't know what Lucas was doing. However, he did know that thinking should be first before acting. The dog merely sat down in front of Lucas, who closed his eyes and tried to think about the riddle and how to solve it by him.

The only bad thing was that he was ignoring the fight outside...

"(Sorry...)" Lucas thought as he looked at the exit's hallway. "(Wait for me a little bit more...)"

Kat and Ana's House

Mother 3 - Smashin' Song of Praise

Present time...

"HaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Shadow Lucas charged forward at the werehog as his hands glowed with intense dark fire.

The werehog quickly rolled away from the shadow before noticing that Chris was behind him. At that moment, Kawashima decided to speak. "Hey, it seems Sonic is trying to get used to his new form, right?"

"Who asked you?" Sonic asked with a growl before looking at the shadow trying to burn Kirby as the puffball backed away from several PK Fire attacks. "I'm not planning to make a living out of this."

"Care to hear about the Unleashed Mode?"

"The Unleashed Mode?" Chris repeated confused, making Sonic turn at him. "What is the Unleashed Mode?"

Kawashima coughed. "The Unleashed Mode is a new gauge that Sonic can use to fight his enemies. Unlike the Over Limit gauge, this one also increases his attributes even more."

Sonic raised an eyebrow before he heard footsteps from behind, grabbed a shocked Chris, and leaped out of the way from shockwave that came from Shadow Lucas's branch hitting the ground hardly. The werehog and the beastmaster landed close to the house before Sonic put Chris down. "I feel like that guy DK for some reason..." Sonic muttered in annoyance. "Carrying people who don't feel heavy..."

"Ehem."

"Oh...continue."

"As I was saying before, the Unleashed Mode enhances Sonic's attributes. It is used once Sonic has landed many hits on the enemy or he finds a way to recharge it. The mode also gives him a wide sort of new abilities that he would not normally use as a normal werehog... However, there's a drawback for this mode."

"What drawback is that?" Sonic asked.

"...You can't use the Over Limit gauge if you're a hedgehog."

"What?"

Kawashima nodded inside the DS. "The Unleashed Mode gauge blocked your access to use the Over Limit. Then again, you can't use your Final Smash because the emeralds are acting weird."

Sonic sighed and frowned. "Yeah..."

"Well, the new mode makes up for it," the professor said. "Luckily, you have the bad ready for being used. Want to give it a try now?"

Sonic looked at Chris while Shadow Lucas blocked 2 katanas from the ninjas. "What do you think? Should we give it a go?"

"Oh, before you start," Kawashima interrupted. "Let me tell you that the mode gives DSS more chances in taking over your body..."

Chris gasped. "W-what?"

"I'm afraid to say that the Unleashed Mode tampers his soul. It also tampers into a hidden power I have yet to identify inside Sonic." Kawashima looked at the darkness of Chris's right pocket as Shadow Lucas pushed the 2 ninjas away before the Ice Climbers leaped at him and smacked down his head hardly. "Anyway, the mode itself is beneficial yet dangerous to Sonic. Using it may call DSS to take control over his body..."

Sonic looked pissed at this. "There's no way I'm letting that bastard kill anyone else without me around."

This simply sentence made Chris smile a little at Sonic.

The werehog, noticing this, grinned at Chris. "I made a promise after all, right?"

"Oh, worry no more," Kawashima said. "There's a way to prevent DSS from taking over your body. I suppose you want to hear?"

The World Traveler took out his DS and looked interested at the professor. "Is there really a way?" he asked.

Kawashima nodded. "Yes, a simple one. Remember what you did to help Sonic control DSS in that cruel some fight? You had to possess Sonic's mind so he could overpower the guy. If you possess Sonic before he uses the Unleashed Mode, DSS won't have a chance to take over him."

Sonic wondered for a moment as Shadow Lucas dodged a PK Fire from Ness before running back into the forest. "I dunno..."

"If Chris is still controlling you during the Unleashed Mode, you can still move around. Chris won't have control over you, but he's going to be your second set of eyes to aid you," Kawashima explained. "It's like you 2 are the same person, but are far away. Take in mind, though, that Chris's control over you must stay on you. If you wish to use the Unleashed Mode for a long period of time, you MUST make sure Chris is safe so you have the freedom to use your strength against your enemies."

Sonic and Chris looked back at the fight where Shadow Lucas, leaping to an unexpected Diddy from a bush, smacked him down with his branch.

The werehog looked back at Chris, looking determined. "Chris, let's do this thing."

"W-what? Are you sure?" Chris asked worried. "W-what if that guy inside you..."

"I'm NOT letting him get in my way again, not after what you went through," Sonic explained. "I made a promise, and I'm going to hold on to it until we find a cure to this."

"I hate to interrupt this dramatic moment, but you 2 need to decide if you want to fight or keep talking," Kawashima interrupted.

Sonic looked at Chris's whip. "Okay, let's do this," he said. "We have to beat that shadow."

"A-are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Just do it!" Sonic yelled.

The World Traveler looked at his whip before he kept his DS, grabbed the whip with both hands and looked down at Sonic with a serious look. "O beast that roams nocturnal meadows and searches for unaware prey... I order you to listen and obey to my orders..." Chris chanted as his whip glowed. The beastmaster then lashed Sonic's head one time, making the World Traveler grow small fangs and get a wild look in his eyes. "Control: Wolf!" he yelled.

The werehog looked around before looking at Chris. "Wow, I don't feel that different."

"Let's see, then..." Chris said before he raised a hand.

Sonic's right hand moved up by itself, making the werehog gasp. "H-hey, not that!"

Chris chuckled and lowered his right hand down. "Sorry, I just wanted to test it out a bit."

Sonic frowned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever..." He looked around confused. "...Wait, don't you feel there's someone we're missing here?"

"...Now that you mention it..." Chris wondered. "...Everything is so normal...and that's creepy because..."

The 2 began to hear someone on the window of the house. The 2 turned around where they saw Chip munching happily a chocolate bar that he probably found inside the house.

"Chip!" Sonic yelled.

Chip stopped eating and looked at them. "Oh, hi there," he said with his mouth full of chocolate. "I found this in the house. Is it okay for me to eat it?"

Chris and Sonic exchanged bored looks before nodding to Chip.

"'Kay," he said before munching the bar.

Sonic looked at Chris. "Let him stay out from this fight. I wanna see what the Unleashes Mode is like."

"To activate the mode, you 2 must do it in tandem like if you wanted to use the Over Limit. Sonic is going to be engulfed in a blue aura, and he will get many enhancements. Be careful with yourself, Chris, remember that," the professor explained.

"Do it!" Sonic yelled as they both looked at Diddy being tossed away by Shadow Lucas's grab. "That guy needs to be taken down already!"

"R-right," Chris said with a nod before both closed their eyes.

The 2 began to feel that each other were controlling the same body and mind. Their senses combined, and their minds mixed. Once they were coordinated, they fully opened their eyes before Sonic opened his furred arms to the night as a blue aura erupted from underneath him.

Everyone in the field quickly looked at the werehog before Sonic growled in rage, spotting Shadow Lucas about to smack Kirby down with his branch. "Who the hell is this beast? Oh, right, the werehog monster..." the shadow with a few nods.

"GEARGH!" Sonic growled menacingly before he quickly dashed towards the shadow as he slammed his claws on the fertile ground. The shadow gasped once the werehog made it to him before a fast uppercut sent him to the air, followed up by the wild beast who jumped high and slammed down his joined claws on him, making the shadow yell in pain before crashing down hard on the grass.

While the werehog continued his rampage as everyone watched shocked, Chris was moving his hands slowly from a safe distance as he focused to control the werehog.

"You can warn him from incoming attacks, or you can let him use special attacks like the Were-Hammer!" Kawashima yelled.

"Were-Hammer?" Chris asked as he opened his eyes.

"Tell Sonic to do that. It's going to be convenient."

"Okay..." Chris muttered before locking his wild eyes at the descending werehog. "Use Were-Hammer and break the earth apart!" His yell sounded like a command and a chant combined.

The werehog growled in fury before he raised his extending claws above him and slammed them down hardly on the shadow, making him yell in pain.

"Ugh!" Shadow Lucas coughed. "D-damn you, stupid animal!" he complained before he pushed the claws away with his psychic powers to stand up and back away from the werehog. "I never knew that you could be this dangerous..." He shook his head. "Damn, that attack was almost letha-"

The shadow couldn't finish talking before the werehog leaped at him and slashed his face with both claws, making him grit his teeth as he covered his face in pain. The shadow gasped once the werehog grabbed his right leg with his left claw to toss him quickly at one tree, where Shadow Lucas hit his head hard.

"O-ouch!" he yelped in pain before falling down on the grass.

"GEEAAARGH!" Sonic growled at the sky before he dashed quickly at the shadow, his claws leaving their marks printed on the grass as everyone watched in surprise.

"W-wow, he's delivering a lot of damage..." Jigglypuff commented with a gulp. "A-and to think he was going to kill us..."

Ness sighed. "At least we know he's on our side again..."

From the taxi, Penny was just stunned at the display of power of the werehog that she adjusted her glasses and moved her face forward. "Just marvelous, his strength seems to have been multiplied by 2 or 3 at least!" she said in excitement. "I must run many, but many examinations on him soon! What do you think, Mona?" she asked, looking outside at the depressed Mona. "...You okay?"

Mona looked at her and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine..." she said with a sigh.

Penny's excitement disappeared once she blinked one time at her. "Mona...you really look depressed..." she said. "Did something happen?"

"..." Mona looked away. "Wario...he got kidnapped by some guys who took him to somewhere dark..."

"...He got kidnapped?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, and in front of me... I wanted to do something to save him but some creatures held me back to reach him and..."

The 2 continued talking in private as the battle raged on.

Shadow Lucas gasped once he saw the werehog preparing to slam down his claws on him. The shadow rolled away from the crushing attack before he stood up and glared at the beast. "Just when did you get that strength?" Shadow Lucas asked with a grunt. "(I don't know if he's going to terminate me soon with that newfound force of his...) W-what the?!"

The shadow noticed that Amy grabbed him from the back by the collar shirt as she held her hammer behind her. "Well, I guess you deserve to get beaten to a bloody pulp," she said. "So I'm gonna let Sonic get you."

"What?! You annoying girl, let go of me!"

"With pleasure!" Amy yelled as she slammed her back on the shadow's back, making him get pushed to the air before the werehog, by jumping high, slammed down his extending claws on Shadow Lucas to push him against the ground with an impacting sound. The werehog landed close to him.

"GEEEEEEEEEEEARGH!" Sonic growled furiously before the aura that covered him vanished. "...What?" Sonic asked before looking at himself. "H-hey, it's gone already?"

Chris noticed that his control over Sonic was gone as soon as the mode finished its effect. "H-hey, that was so fast!" he complained.

"Sorry to tell you this, but the mode has its own limits, and by limits, I mean the duration it has," Kawashima explained. "The Unleashed Mode lasts for about 2 minutes, you know."

"T-two minutes?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"You have to take advantage of it while you can," Kawashima explained. "Good news, you did take advantage of it very well. Sonic dealt a good amount of damage to that doppelganger."

Shadow Lucas glared menacingly at the werehog. "Well, I guess you had your play time," he said before narrowing his eyes. "But you had it, and I'm going to have mine right now!" he yelled loudly before slamming down his branch, creating a fast shockwave that Sonic dodged by jumping over it.

The shadow grunted annoyed before a peanut crashed on the left side of his face. This attack made him grunt in fury before looking back at Diddy, aiming his popgun from a distance. Shadow Lucas grinned before he warped behind the Kong by dissolving into the darkness. Diddy gasped in shock before the dark branch smacked his back, sending him to the air where a fast PK Thunder came from the shadow's head and quickly shot itself down on Diddy.

"AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIH!!!" Diddy screeched in pain before he fell down, his body shooting out sparks. "N-not this again..." he muttered.

Shadow Lucas quickly turned around to dodge a baseball hit from Ness. The shadow and the Onett resident glared daggers at each other. "Heh, nice to see you again, Claus," the shadow taunted. "Now, do you want me to send you to mom?"

"Just shut it and fight already," Ness replied harshly. "The faster you go away, the better Lucas will feel alright."

"As if he's going to feel alright," the shadow said before his right hand glowed with dark fire. "Now, be gone!"

Ness reacted quickly by sending his own PK Fire to the shadow's PK Fire. Both attacks collided, but Ness knew Shadow Lucas's PK Fire was stronger since it shattered his own, prompting Ness to roll out of the way of the explosion.

"Little cockroach..." Shadow Lucas muttered before a rope touched his back and ran around his body. "H-hey, what is this?" he asked enraged as he saw Popo and Nana using their belay to wrap him up. "Y-you 2 didn't do this before!"

"What can we say?" Popo asked as he and Nana wrapped the shadow. "There are many different ways to use our moves."

"In matches, we're obliged to use one way," Nana explained before both wrapped the shadow completely. "But outside, there are more ways."

"Ugh, you imbeciles..." Shadow Lucas grunted before his hands glowed with dark fire.

However, the shadow noticed that Jigglypuff was leaning to his back. Shadow Lucas looked at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"This," Jigglypuff said before falling asleep.

Some kind of severe damage instantly went to Shadow Lucas that made him jump to the air in pain before he crashed down on the ground. Since he was all tied up, he struggled to stand up before he burned the rope with PK Fire from both hands. He stood up and looked at the sleeping puffball. "Idiot, you let yourself wide ope-"

A claw suddenly grabbed Shadow Lucas from his collar shirt before he was slammed down on the ground. The shadow grunted in pain as he looked at the werehog some feet away from him. "Why can't you stop mocking?" Sonic asked. "That's costing you the battle, you know."

"PK TRIMENT!" Shadow Lucas yelled as his sphere of 3 elements instantly appeared from his head and went all the way to the werehog where it exploded. Sonic yelled in pain as he was damaged by the 3 different elements, his body showing 3 different traces of the elements.

The shadow got back up on his feet and ducked in time to evade one of Kirby's hammer swing. Furthermore, he stepped back from a hammer slam of Amy. Both hammer wielders stood next to each other and glared at the shadow. "Why is it that pink must wield hammers?" the shadow asked. "The hedgehog is pink and uses a hammer, the puffball is pink and uses a hammer, and the twin sister wears pink and uses a hammer. What's up with that?" he asked before 3 characters ran to him from behind. "What's next, characters will be mostly blue?"

"At the count of 3..."

Shadow Lucas gasped and turned around to meet 3 hammers on top of each other being smacked down on his head by Popo, Nana, and Chris who decided to use the Fake King job.

"Hammer Squash!" the 3 characters yelled as they pushed the shadow down on the ground, creating a big crack while Shadow Lucas yelled in pain. The 3 hammer wielders, still intact on the air, jumped back to the ground before the shadow could stand up.

"Damn you...pulling a comeback on me..." the shadow muttered before he barely got hit by Amy's hammer."Oh, but this isn't going to continue, oh no..." he warned them before crossing his hands. "PK Thunder!"

The fighters gasped once the sphere of electricity quickly flew around the field, passing through each one of them. The ball of lightning delivered many volts into them while they all screamed in pain. The sphere suddenly vanished, causing everyone to get paralyzed as sparks flew out from their bodies.

Shadow Lucas chuckled as he wiped his hands. "Wow, I didn't think I had to do that to immobilize everyone here."

Ana grunted in pain as she looked away. "G-good thing Shuriken flew back to the house in time..." she muttered as she looked back at her house. "Stay there with Shadow and Nunchuck..."

Kat's feet were paralyzed, but she managed to reach for her katana. "T-this won't stop me from continuing..."

"Hahahahahahaha..." the shadow laughed."Why continue? You're pretty much immobilized. It was remarkable that you all fought against me so hard, but you pissed me off enough to end things," he explained. "Also, I guess this is the end..." Shadow Lucas said with a smirk.

Suddenly, his dark aura began to glow brighter. It wasn't obvious, but he seemed to be using his own variation of the Final Smash as he began to hover over his spot.

"W-what is happening now?" Kat asked.

"I'll tell you," Shadow Lucas said as he raised his right palm to the air. "It's time to crush you to your demises. You have been making me mad for a short time, but I decided it was enough of your foolishness," he said with a chuckle. "Ha, foolishness and Ness end the same."

The Smashers struggled to look up where the shadow shot an insane amount of PK Triments into the sky and to the space. High up, many red, blue, and yellow glitters were seen coming down to them, making them gasp.

"W-what are you going to do?" Chris asked before he fell down on his back since he wanted to move back.

"I'll try to exterminate you all for real this time... No, wait, this IS the end," Shadow Lucas corrected himself.

"W-what are all those meteors?" Ness asked as he struggled to move.

"Your moms," the shadow joked.

Ness grunted angrily at him before the meteors came into contact on the ground. Everyone screamed before the field got engulfed into different explosions of elements. Shadow Lucas, not affected by it, hovered high up to watch the meteors explode around from below his feet.

"I shall purge you with the truth," Shadow Lucas said with a glare as he looked up with opened arms. "PK Triment-Storm!!!"

Mona and Penny looked back to the fight where many blazing, electrified, and frozen meteors rained down upon the field, causing destruction and annihilation on the surroundings. However, the attack was meant to only attack the fighters and not obliterate anything else. However, whatever got in the way would receive extreme pain since the trees around were crushed, burned, electrocuted, or frozen. This happened due to the fact most of them tried to take cover, and thus the trees received the whole attacks as well as they did.

Fortunately, the taxi was some feet away from the whole destruction as Mona and Penny watched horrified at the scene.

"My goodness..." Penny muttered. "So many elements ignoring each other's properties are causing a bunch of random effects..." she muttered. "...Truly, this should be very interesting but...the way it was used..."

"N-no!" Mona stood up. "T-this is just too sudden for me! S-stop this madness!"

Penny looked worried at her before looking back into the fight. "Did they just die?" she asked to herself.

The catastrophe ended as the whole field, previously engulfed with explosions, was shown to the girls and the trancelike cabs.

What they found was that the whole field was mixed with 3 different kinds of destruction. There were ice patches, there were burning bushes, and there were shallow pools that shot sparks out.

But what was more shocking was that every single fighter lost consciousness around the randomly destroyed field. Many of them lied down on mud, on hot ground, or close to the electrified shallow pools. The fact that most were moaning silently meant that they survived through the Final Smash, but this incapacitated their feet, arms, hands, and everything else.

PK Triment-Storm

Elemental meteors rain down upon the field, causing extreme damage as well as random elemental attacks to the dishonest.

Mona and Penny looked up to see the shadow descending down slowly to safe ground. Once he looked around, he scoffed at himself. "Darn it, that attack didn't kill you?" he asked to them. "Ugh, whatever..." he muttered before Shadow Rope Snake came out from his pocket and smirked at him. Shadow Lucas smirked back. "Hey, nice to see you back."

"A small hit isn't going to knock me out that eassssssssssily," Shadow Rope Snake said.

"Well, good timing," Shadow Lucas said. "I have a very important task for you to do."

"Doessssssssssss it have poissssssssson in it?"

"Oh, lots of it, your fangs are going to be very important," the shadow told him.

Ness, while his face was on the ground, slowly moved his hands at his sides to push himself back up. The Onett resident struggled to move his head up to look at the shadow. "Y-you..." he muttered.

The 2 shadows looked at Ness from the corners of their eyes. Shadow Lucas smirked at the boy before looking at his snake. "You, poison him so he dies."

Ness's eyes widened in shock after hearing the order. "W-wait, you can't kill me. I-if you poison me, I'll just faint...or I'll just turn into a trophy..."

Shadow Lucas and Shadow Rope Snake chuckled to the downed boy.

"W-what is so funny?"

"Maybe you don't know, but Shadow Nightmares have the ability to ignore those 2 states and skip right off to deaths," Shadow Lucas explained. "It wouldn't make sense to beat a liar like you. It'd make sense if you were killed for good."

"Yessssssssss," Shadow Rope Snake said with a chuckle.

Ness didn't want to believe his words as he made fists on the ground. "W-what? Y-you can do that?"

"Of course," Shadow Lucas said. "My mission is to kill lairs forever. When I mean forever, I mean they won't be revived or cured. Shadow Nightmares get rid of them for good, and those who decide to interfere must be eliminated should they try to protect the liar." He smirked at him. "You and your stupid squad of people have been interfering for so long, and so, you must be eradicated for greater good."

"...Y-you're...you're a monster!" Ness yelled at him. "Where the hell did you come from? W-who the hell made you like that?"

The shadow walked towards him before he knelt down, grinning down evilly at the boy. "I came from a liar," the shadow said. "I was made up by the liar."

"Y-you're lying here..." Ness coughed. "W-we haven't fought such a monster like you before..."

Shadow Rope Snake began to munch the air in anticipation to bite Ness's right shoulder, but Shadow Lucas held him back from doing so. "Well, you fought me, your role is done," he said before looking at his snake. "You, bite him."

"Yessssssss."

Ness's eyes widened once he noticed that the snake already bit his shoulder in a swift move. Ness's eyelashes began to turn pale before his whole face began to turn very pale, making him look depressed before the snake pulled back its fangs to return to Shadow Lucas while chuckling in pleasure.

"Done, massssterrrrrrr," the snake said.

Ness's vision began to turn blurry as his head fell down on the ground, muttering a curse to the shadow before he lost consciousness.

"P-Poisona!"

The 2 shadows looked down to see pink bubbles floating up from Ness's back, saving him from a certain death. Shadow Lucas grunted at this before he turned around, finding Chris in his Scholar job on the ground as he had his book lying down on his right hand, next to his face before he fainted.

"Impudent..." Shadow Lucas muttered. "I forgot you were still living," he said as he glanced at the moaning fighters. "It doesn't matter, though. Shadow Rope Snake, start working and inject them with your poison."

"NO!"

Shadow Lucas blinked before he looked back at the taxi, where Mona was standing up and glaring at him.

"What do you want now?" Shadow Lucas asked. "Can't you see I'm working here?"

"I'm sorry, this has gone long enough," Mona said. "Actually, no, I'm not sorry for you! You're a monster who's bent to kill people, good people!"

"What good is there with liars?" Shadow Lucas asked. "Admit that you hate liars as much as I do, foolish girl."

"I think I can tolerate liars a bit...not like you," Mona said.

The shadow lifted his shoulders and looked back at the downed people. "Whatever, I shouldn't lose my time with you anymore."

"Are you going to ignore me and pretend this didn't happen?"

Shadow Lucas sighed in disappointment before turning to her. "I doubt you're going to fight me. Do you want to fight me?"

Mona looked shocked at this question while Penny tried to think of something. The young scientist pondered about an idea as she looked over to the werehog.

For her surprise, Sonic grunted in pain as he tried to move, but he stopped moving, causing her to look worried.

"Do you want to fight me?" the shadow repeated to Mona. "But I don't wanna hurt a girl because I'm a good boy..." he whined."...Wait, they're being annoying. I really wanna hurt you."

Mona gasped once the shadow charged at her while his shadow snake munched the air in hunger for her skin. The 2 girls gasped loudly enough to make the 2 gamers wake up groggily.

"...Hmmmmmmm..." 9-Volt shook his head and stood up. "Are we there yet, Elevator Action?" he asked to Penny's blurry image.

"No word..." 18-Volt snored before he sat up, rubbing his right eye.

Penny, ignoring the 2, looked back at Mona. "Mona, run away from here!" she yelled. "That guy could kill you if you stay here any longer!"

"Too bad!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he pointed at Mona. "Shadow Rope Snake, poison her so she dies a slow but painful death!"

Mona screamed in horror as she put her hands on the sides of her head. The high schooler was completely paralyzed in fear because of the assassin shadow bent to kill her off. If she hadn't spoken, she wouldn't have been put through the fight, but since she spoke, she could have saved the Smashers from dying.

"This ends here for you," Shadow Lucas said as Shadow Rope Snake stretched all the way to Mona. "Die, pathetic liar!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Mona screamed loudly as she covered her face.

Penny closed her eyes and quickly turned back to hug 9-Volt in fear before screaming loudly, giving an accidental earful at the gamer, also making 18-Volt jump in surprise to the ceiling before he hit hard his head and fainted by leaning to the seat.

Don't mind the cabs in trance.

Mona tried her best not to shed tears as she waited for the snake to bite her and inject her with poison. The wait's seconds turned into minute as she waited for the worst to come to her for interrupting the shadow...

...Then she noticed she was waiting for a long time.

With a shocked look, Mona, looking down, looked up in confusion before she found the snake's fangs right in front of her, making her heart skip a beat.

However, the snake didn't move. In fact, it was intact in the air. Mona noticed that the snake had its mouth opened because he seemed to be suffering.

"W-what..." Mona trailed off in disbelief.

It was not long before they all heard a voice from behind Mona.

"Next time," someone said. "Don't you dare interrupt pointless feuds if you don't want to get killed yourself, got that?"

"..." Mona was silent at the voice before she slowly turned around to find...no one else. "W-who's that?" she asked by looking around

"Hey, where the hell did that vine come from?!" Shadow Lucas was heard saying. "Shadow Rope Snake, finish her off!"

"M-M-M-Masssssssterrrrrr..." the snake said in pain.

Mona, Penny, and even 9-Volt looked back at the snake where a long vine with thorns was coming from down below the grass. The thorns held the snake back by pressing its thin body in a tight rope of thorns, making it gasp for breath as the vines began to increase their grip on it.

"M-MAAAASSSSSSSSSSSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRR!!!" the snake hissed in pain as the grip got dangerously tight on its body.

It was just too much for him to handle before a snapping sound came from the grip.

"YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the shadow snake yelled in extreme pain as its body started to dissipate into Shadow Bugs, vanishing in thin air as he left a shocked Shadow Lucas staring in disbelief at the thorn.

"...DAMMIT!" the shadow complained. "That snake was just a weapon and not the real thing like I am. He wouldn't have been killed if he was the true self of the real snake..." He looked around. "Who's the bastard who did this?! Show your face!"

Shadow Lucas, along with the others, noticed that someone was coming down from the sky. They all could tell that the person was...riding on a broom as a small dark figure floated down along with the person.

For the Diamond City residents, it was easy to tell who it was.

Both Penny and 9-Volt peered from the window, and the kid smiled a bit. "Hey, isn't that Ashley?" he asked.

Truth to be told, the witch in training came down from the sky as she had a in her right hand scepter with a red crystal on its top while Red, grinning, landed on the ground before Ashley made a small hop to land on a patch of grass before she looked at them. "Hello," she greeted. "Have you seen 2 puffballs and a monkey?"

At this mention, Kirby, Jigglypuff, and Diddy slowly looked at the witch from afar, their eyes widening in surprise.

"Ashley?" Mona asked. "W-what are you doing here? D-did you come here to rescue me?"

Ashley shook her head. "I'm here to see the 3 I just mentioned to take me to the mansion. It's 12PM, but I told them I'd be here by 9PM."

Red chuckled. "Ashley wanted to use the ingredients she got just now, but she kind of got disappointed at the result."

Ashley looked away annoyed. "Please, don't remind me."

"Y-yes, Ashley," Red said worried.

"As for your other question, I was just testing out a new spell I just learned a few days ago."

Mona looked down. "Oh..."

"...But...I kind of wanted to save you..."

Mona looked at her and smiled a bit. "Thanks, you saved me after all..."

"Who the heck do you think you are to come out from the sky and interrupt me?" Shadow Lucas asked to Ashley.

The witch looked at him. "And who might you be? You look like you came out from a spell that went wrong."

"And who do you think you are to judge me?" Shadow Lucas asked. "I don't know where you came from, but if you came here to help these liars out, I'm gonna do everything I have to stop you from interfering."

Ashley frowned as she looked up. "What did I get myself into?" she asked with a sigh.

Red looked around at the destroyed filed as he spotted the downed fighters. "Hey, something's been going on here," he said. "And whatever it was, it didn't turn out good."

Diddy coughed. "I-it's because that guy...did this to us..."

Red looked at Shadow Lucas. "Is...that so? No offense, but you look like a pussy to me."

Shadow Lucas grunted. "Pussy, I'll you pussy!" he yelled as he slammed down his branch on the ground, sending a shockwave that went after Ashley and Red.

Ashley knew the shadow wanted to attack her with the shockwave. The witch merely hopped on her broom with Red to evade the attack before jumping down.

"A-Ashley, don't tell me you want to fight that thing..." Mona said worried.

Ashley looked at her. "He meant to hurt me," she said before looking at the shadow. "For that, he should be my enemy."

Shadow Lucas rolled his eyes. "Not wasting to show any emotions, aren't you?"

Ashley held her staff in front of her. "Who needs emotions to grant you kid to he-"

"A-Ashley, that's going kinda far..." Red muttered.

Ashley blinked a few times before she flushed a bit. "Sorry..." she muttered.

"PK Triment!" Shadow Lucas yelled suddenly to toss his sphere of elements at Ashley.

Ashley frowned at this as her scepter glowed bright. "Thorns, go now and shield me," she muttered.

Thick vines with thorns came out from the grass as they all wrapped the sphere of explosions inside to make it blow up, destroying the vines themselves, but saving Ashley from getting hurt.

Red moved his trident forward in a cheering manner. "Yeah, show him who the boss is!"

Shadow Lucas grunted. "Don't tell me you know that move only."

Ashley pointed at a tree with her scepter. "Fine, I won't tell you, rather feel it," she said simply as the scepter shot purple bolts at the tree. "Tree's bark, go now and wrap him."

Shadow Lucas quickly looked back at the tree and prepared for the attack. However, instead of something wrapping him, the tree's bark...grew flowers on it.

The shadow looked a little bit miffed at this sudden result that he looked at Ashley "...The f(beep) did you do with that?" Shadow Lucas asked confused.

Mona, Penny, and 9-Volt looked back at Ashley. The witch pouted a bit and frowned. "And here I thought I was already a great witch..." she muttered. "What a bummer..."

Red chuckled nervously. "Heheheheh, Ashley, you have to admit you're not that powerful enough to be considered a great witch yet..."

Ashley's hair turned white. "Whatever..." she said, showing a small trace of depression.

Mona had a nervous happy expression as she looked at Ashley. "D-don't look so down, you're gonna get better someday."

Ashley's hair turned back to normal. "...Thanks, I guess..."

"AHEM!" Shadow Lucas coughed to get the attention. "Hello, I'm right here!" he called angrily before he shot 4 homing PK Fires at Ashley.

At this attack, Red jumped up to hover in the air in front of Ashley. "Don't worry, Ashley, I'll shield you!"

Ashley merely took several steps back before the bolts exploded on Red, instantly taking him out as he fell down on the grass as his eyes turned into Xs.

"Bleh..." Red said, sticking out his tongue. "A-Ashley...I thought you were going to say no and stop me..."

"...You did?" Ashley asked.

"Whatever..." Red muttered as he looked KO'd.

Penny adjusted her glasses. "That...was kind of..."

"Yeah, I know..." 9-Volt said with a nod. "...So twisted...but so her..."

Shadow Lucas, himself, looked miffed at this "heroic" display of courage before he shook his head. "Okay, things here are getting just weird. I wish for something serious to happen for a change. Can you do something before I die of boredom?"

Ashley looked at him, pointed her scepter to the shadow and shot bolts to electrocute him for a bit before stopping. "Done," she said, receiving odd looks from the other 3 (with the 3 Smashers from behind the shadow.

The shadow had a bored look as he coughed smoke out. "...I wasn't exactly asking that..." he muttered before glaring at them. "Play time's over, pals. Get out of my sight!" he yelled angrily before he cast PK Freeze to go over them.

"Fire, go now," Ashley muttered at the scepter before it shot a fireball that exploded right into the dark ice mist, stopping it from exploding on the taxi. "Is that all you got?" she taunted him.

"UGH! Now you are showing off. You're the weirdest girl I've ever met!"

"We never met before," Ashley pointed out.

"Argh, shut up!" the shadow yelled at her. "You're not wished to be here anyway! I'm here to kill these idiots for shielding the liar standing right there on the door!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he pointed at Lucas with the 3 ninja animals, standing right inside the door of Kat and Ana's house. "See him? He's right over there, waiting for me to finish him of-"

Penny, Mona, 9-Volt, Diddy, Kirby, Jigglypuff, Popo, Nana, Chris, Kat, Ana, Sonic, Amy, Chip (who happened to finish his chocolate bar at this moment (meaning that he was ignoring the whole destruction)), and even Ness looked quickly at the door, looking quite shocked to see the original blond, staring blankly at his shadow.

Shadow Lucas, however, stared at him before chuckling.

"Oh, it's you," Shadow Lucas said as he began walking to Lucas. "I was just about to go in there and finish you off myself, me," he taunted Lucas. "It was about time for you to show your face around."

Lucas just kept staring at him as Shuriken, Shadow, and Nunchuck stood next to him.

"...Lu...cas..." Ness muttered in pain. "...Go away from here..."

The blond PK user looked at Ness, but for some reason, Lucas didn't show any trail of emotions before he looked back at his shadow, slowly smacking his branch on his left palm.

"...Lucas?" Ness muttered in confusion.

"Now, how do you want me to kill you?" Shadow Lucas asked before closing his eyes. "I can decapitate your, I can try to stab my branch through your heart, I can freeze you, electrocute you, and then burn you, or shall I do the 3 at the same time with PK Triment?" he asked. "Just tell me and you'll be reunited with Claus and mom."

Lucas, however, remained silent as the shadow had a relieved expression on his face.

"..." The shadow opened his eyes. "What, so shocked to see me again that you can't talk back?" He chuckled evilly. "Why did the falcon eat your tongue or what?"

Kat and Ana managed to glare at him before looking back at Lucas.

"How will it be, then?" Shadow Lucas asked as he stopped walking right in front of the steps to the door and terrace, looking up at the blank Lucas. "Shall I go ahead and do whatever I want?"

The Smashers shot him with glares as Lucas kept staring at him without saying anything. The dead silence of the scene made them feel unsure about what was going to happen next.

And the next thing that happened was...

"...Claus and mom..." Lucas began to talk. "...They are both dead..."

"..." The shadow frowned. "Wow, after all this silence you decided to say that to me? What is wrong with you?"

"And..." Lucas looked at Ness. "...Ness isn't Claus...because they're not the same person..."

"...Okay, thanks for letting me know that," the shadow said bored. "I don't get why you had to go on and say those truths to me. After all, you believe your lies to be the whole truth."

Either the shadow was blind, or his dark aura began to shrink down slowly. The Smashers and the others were the only ones that noticed the decrease in aura on the shadow before Shadow Lucas raised his right hand to call forth another PK Triment.

"Fine," Shadow Lucas said. "You spoke your last words to me, you need to die here sadly... Why sadly? Oh, right, liars won't be missed," he chuckled with his distorted voice. "Be gone from here!"

"..." Lucas remained silent as the Smashers looked at him.

"..." Shadow Lucas began to snap his fingers once he didn't feel the sphere of elements forming on his palm. "Hey, I said PK Triment. Show up and go to him."

The shadow snapped his fingers faster, but he didn't feel the same energy flowing out from his palm.

"Cut it out," the shadow muttered in annoyance. "Appear already..."

As he continued to snap his fingers, he looked up to his palm in anger.

"Dammit, I said PK Triment!" Shadow Lucas argued to his palm.

The only response he got was a poof sound from his palm; a small smoke that quickly vanished in thin air.

Shadow Lucas lowered his palm and looked at it. "Hey, what the..." he muttered before he took out his branch."Okay, if PK Triment is not going to finish you, a powerful shockwave will. HA!"

The shadow slammed down his dark branch on the steps...and nothing else happened.

"...GrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Shadow Lucas grunted as he began to smack the steps down in a blind rage. "I said shockwaves, dammit! SHOCKWAVES!!!"

Lucas just kept staring at him, trying to break the steps with his branch. The steps did crack a bit, but just that. The shadow panted heavily, stopping his attack on the steps before glaring at Lucas.

"PK Fire!" Shadow Lucas yelled, firing a small bolt to Lucas who simply held out his hand and absorbed the bolt by using PSI Magnet. "W-what? I asked for 10 bolts, not 1!" Shadow Lucas complained. "PK Thunder!" he yelled, calling forth a small sphere of electricity that went to Lucas, but also absorbed it with PK Magnet.

After trying all his attacks on Lucas, Shadow Lucas began to stomp the ground in rage. Seeing that all his attacks suddenly lost their original power, he began to curse loudly.

"DAMN IT ALL AND DAMN YOU ALL!!!" the shadow complained loudly. "WHY ISN'T ANYTHING WORKING FOR ME NOW?!" he asked loudly. "TELL ME, WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"Because..." Lucas decided to speak as the shadow kept complaining. "Claus and mom are both dead...and Ness isn't Claus because they're not the same person..."

Shadow Lucas looked angrily at him. "So what? Those are the truths you have been trying to deny all day and night. I don't get why saying them to me is gonna help yo-"

For some reason, the shadow stopped yelling before he looked shocked at Lucas.

"...T-those were the truths..." Shadow Lucas trailed off as he twitched at Lucas. "...A-and you told me them..." he muttered. "...Y-you told me those truths because..."

"...Because I had to...tell myself the truths..." Lucas said in depression. "...I had to tell you that so you would understand that I...that I..." Lucas sniffed. "...That I believed in the truths now..."

Music stops

"..." Shadow Lucas's eyes widened as he began to back away. The Smashers noticed that the shadow had a panicked look after Lucas told him that. "...W-what? Y-you're telling me those truths now because y-you decided to believe in them?"

"..." Lucas looked down. "...Yes...I...I've been pondering about what my mom told me to do to you..."

"M-my mom?" Shadow Lucas asked. "W-wait, you met her? W-when?"

"When you knocked me out of cold...she and Claus appeared to me in a dream...a real dream..." Lucas explained. "My mom and Claus told me that I had to tell myself the truths if I wanted to believe in them fully..." he said before looking at the shadow. "I didn't get the part of telling myself the truths at all. I wasted a lot of time inside the house, telling me like 50 times those truths, but it didn't work..."

"...And what made you come here to me and say it?" Shadow Lucas asked with a glare. "Why did you decide to come and tell me the truths face-to-face?"

"...Because...I found out what my mom and Claus meant by telling myself the truths..." Lucas trailed off. "...It was so obvious and I was ignoring it... I didn't have to tell myself the truths..." he explained. "...What they was that I had to tell myself the truths..."

"...You're making any f(beep)ng sense to me!" Shadow Lucas yelled angrily.

"...When they meant that..." Lucas glared at his shadow. "They were trying to tell me that I had to tell the truths to...to...to..." Lucas closed his eyes. "...I HAD TO TELL THE TRUTHS TO ME AND YOU; MY OTHER SELF, MYSELF, DON'T YOU GET IT?!"

Shadow Lucas gasped in shock once Lucas yelled him that. "W-what? W-we're no longer the same person! I thought we were already 2 different people!"

"Then tell me," Lucas said with a serious look as he stepped out. "If we're not the same anymore, why did you say OUR mom told me those things? Since we're not the same anymore, wouldn't that mean you stopped being part of the family?"

"U-UGH!" Shadow Lucas grabbed his chest in pain. "N-no..."

"And I DID hear you calling Ness Claus the whole time," Lucas pointed out. "Wouldn't that mean the same?"

"U-U-UGH, STOP IT!" Shadow Lucas complained loudly. "M-my power...m-my power is vanishing...leaving me slowly..." he muttered in pain as Lucas walked on the ground towards him.

Most of the downed fighters began to push themselves back to their feet. Most of them rubbed their heads in pain as the blond boy walked towards the shadow blond boy.

"I...I don't want to think more lies again..." Lucas said worried. "Not after you were born from me..."

"S-stop it..." Shadow Lucas grunted. "J-just knock it off..."

"I don't want to stop...that's the truth..."

"You insolent liar..."

Lucas shook his head. "You know I'm telling the truth...because...we're the same..."

"We're NOT the same anymore!"

"WE ARE!" Lucas suddenly yelled. "I-I can't believe you! You argued to me so much that we were the same people, and you're now denying it? What is wrong with you? Why are you the liar?"

Shadow Lucas glared up to Lucas. "You...you...you...YOU DON'T CALL ME THAT AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"I'll call you that so you don't deny it!" Lucas yelled as he took out his branch. "Don't you understand? I understand why you're like this!"

"S-shut up, nobody understands how I feel!" Shadow Lucas yelled before he leaped to Lucas, clashing their branches together as they both tried to push the other away. "How can you tell how I feel if you're not even me anymore?!"

"B-because I know we're still the same person..." Lucas muttered as he took a step forward. "Deep down, we're the same one..."

"Deep down, we're not the same one!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he took a step forward. "Deep down, you're the weak-hearted liar who can't get over the deaths of his brother and mother. Why are you trying to cover that up, anyway?!"

Lucas sniffed as he took another step forward. "B-because...b-because...b-because I realized they were both dead for good..."

Shadow Lucas gasped.

"A-and..." Lucas sobbed one time. "...And I know...I have a weak heart...just as you said..."

Shadow Lucas shook his head.

"A-and...look at you..." Lucas sobbed. "W-why are you shaking your head like that? You seem so scared... Are you scared because I told you I have a weak heart?"

The Smashers saw as the Shadow Nightmare began to murmur in fear while Lucas pushed him back. "T-that's..." the shadow said before he sniffed silently. "T-that's...t-the...truth..."

Lucas began to shed tears. "T-there, I told you already... I-I don't have a strong heart...I have a very weak one..."

"W-why the hell do you have a weak heart?!" Shadow Lucas asked. "Thanks to you, I have a weak heart too!"

"D-does that mean you agree that we're the same?"

Shadow Lucas gasped as Lucas pushed him forward.

"Does that mean you understand how I feel as well?"

Shadow Lucas began to lose strength.

"Does that mean we share the same feelings?"

Shadow Lucas grunted in pain.

"Does that mean you know what I'm thinking?"

Shadow Lucas's branch started to break apart.

"Does that mean...does that mean..." Lucas closed his eyes. "Does that mean...that...we're the same...the same person? D-do you agree with me?"

"U-ugh...u-u-ugh...u-u-u-ugh..." Shadow Lucas began to pant heavily. "A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The Smashers saw as his dark branch made a snapping sound as it broke apart, making the shadow receive a fast hit from Lucas's own branch, pushing him some feet away from him as he slid on a shallow pool that stopped shooting out sparks.

Ness, with everyone else, blinked in surprise at the display of truth from Lucas. "...Lucas..."

Lucas looked down and frowned. "...T-this...isn't over yet..."

Blue Dragon - Dragon Fight!

"AT LEAST THAT'S A TRUTH I ENJOY TO HEAR! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Shadow Lucas yelled angrily before he pushed him back on his feet to rush at Lucas with PK energy gathering on his right palm. The blond boy gasped and rolled out of the way to evade the desperate attack before Shadow Lucas made a quick turn and ran at him.

The fighters in the area gasped loudly as the shadow still tried to fight Lucas by himself. But, due to their injuries, they could barely move or make another attack.

"A-Ashley, do something!" Mona yelled at the witch.

Ashley sighed and held up her scepter. "Fine... Thunders, go now," she said simply as she shot a small light to the sky.

The only thing she received was a dead bird that fell dead in front of her.

9-Volt stared down at the bird. "...Whoopsie..." he muttered.

Ashley looked away and frowned. "Bummer..." she muttered in depression.

Penny chuckled nervously. "Y-you did your best, that's what counts..."

"Die and let me be the real you!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he shot a PK Fire at Lucas.

"U-uah!" Lucas yelped and quickly put up his PSI Magnet to absorb the attack. However, as he did this, the shadow rushed right through the shield, grabbed Lucas by the shoulders, and tossed him back to the ground with his psychic powers. "O-oww..." he moaned in pain. "I-I haven't recovered from my early injuries yet..." he pointed out.

"Oh, that's another truth I like to hear!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he rolled his right kick on the ground to hit Lucas's side, making him yell in pain.

"S-somebody do something before he gets killed!" Amy yelled as she tried to stand up.

"W-we can't let Lucas get killed...n-not after all he did to get here..." Ness muttered as he coughed weakly. "...C-Chris...heal us..."

The World Traveler managed to stand up before he changed to his Scholar job. By quickly making his book flip its pages, he hurried to cast Cure on Ness. "H-heal the wounds... Cure!"

A bright light shone on Ness, healing his wounds a little. The small recovery spell gave him enough strength to fell less pain than before. "T-thanks..." Ness muttered before he looked back at the 2 Lucas. "Lucas, hang on! I'm going to help you!" he yelled as he ran to the 2.

"Chris!" Jigglypuff yelled from a distance. "I-I don't think the shadow is going to last for any more longer..." she said before coughing. "M-maybe you should cure yourself and use a combined attack with Lucas so he ends this!"

"Y-you're right..." Chris muttered before his pages flipped by themselves. "H-heal the wounds..."

"Hey, imbecile, let Lucas go!" Ness yelled to the shadow as he pushed his hands forward, shooting out sparks of PK energy that made the shadow grunt in pain before he could land a hit on the downed Lucas.

"U-ugh, you again?" Shadow Lucas asked once he landed on the ground. "You're so damn persistent, Claus!"

"For the last time, my name is Ness!" Ness yelled as he swiftly took his bat out and smacked the shadow's face hard. Shadow Lucas yelled in pain as he backed away while rubbing his right cheek.

"Y-you idiot!" Shadow Lucas yelled as he moved his right hand to charge a blast PK energy at Ness.

"PK Freeze!" Lucas quickly interrupted from the ground as he sent mist of ice to the shadow, exploding into a burst of ice that trapped the shadow in an icicle before shattering apart.

Lucas noticed that Chris came from his direction as he used the PK Kid job. "Let me help, please!" Chris yelled as he ran next to Ness.

But once Ness looked at him, they both felt that they were somehow united as everything around them stopped moving...

"(...It's time now...)" Chris thought.

"(So, this is how someone learns a new attack?)" Ness asked.

"(Yes...I guess we have grown too much with each other that our attack was created...)"

"(...Okay, then let's use it on that shadow to end this,)" Ness said. "(We have to defeat him or else Lucas...)"

"(...)"

"(...Ready?)"

"Yes..." Chris said. "Let's do this..."

"What? I forgot that Chris can change to Lucas and Ness's powers..." the shadow said to himself. "I better finish you 3 off now that I have the chance to prove myself the real Lucas here!"

"Chris!" Ness yelled.

"Don't worry, I'm focused this time!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Shadow Lucas charged at them as he pulled his hands backs, gathering all the PK energy on them to push them forward at the 2.

The 2 PK users closed their eyes in tandem as flames gathered in their hands. Chris, however, jumped behind Ness to put his hands on his shoulder. The energy from his hands tranferred over to Ness's body through his hands as the Onett resident began to glow with red fire.

"...This is it..." Ness muttered before he joined his hands together the fire energy quickly focusing in one point in his hands before he shoved both hands forward to the rushing shadow.

"PK...VOLCANO!" Ness and Chris yelled in unison as the fire energy began to glow brighter.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Shadow Lucas yelled loudly as he thrust his PK armed hands to Ness.

However, the chosen kid reacted first by sending a small bolt into the ground below the shadow. Once Shadow Lucas noticed that the ground underneath him glowed brightly with fire energy, an eruption came from below, pushing him into the air where he yelled in pain as he fell down. The eruption didn't seem to stop there before another burst of fire came from the same spot, pushing the shadow back into the air before the same thing happened 2 more times as one last eruption, bigger than the previous 4, engulfed the shadow with fire as he was heard screaming in pain before clumsily landing back on the ground.

New ability learned! PK Volcano!

Sends a small bolt into the earth to call forth a potent eruption of fire underneath the targets. Hit the opponents 4 times before dealing a stronger blow of fire, causing great fire damage.

The shadow, still yelling in pain, managed to stand up, making most of them gasp in shock.

"Dammit, he's still standing!" Ness cursed loudly.

"I...I...I won't be taken down easily..." Shadow Lucas muttered as he stood on his right knee. "...Not like this..."

Chris looked worried before a hand grabbed his left wrist. The World Traveler quickly looked at his wrist where Lucas was grabbing it. "Chris...I need you to help me defeat him for good..." he said. "...Let's...let's use our attack, please!"

"...Okay, let's try it," Chris said with a nod to Lucas, who also nodded back to him as both looked back at the weak shadow.

"N-no..." Shadow Lucas grunted. "I...I can't let you defeat me of all people!"

"Chris!" Lucas yelled.

"I'm focusing!" Chris yelled as both closed their eyes to focus fire energy on their hands.

Shadow Lucas grunted as he stood up. The shadow glared at his other self before he noticed that Ness was merely glaring at him. "W-why do you look so confident?"

Ness's glare narrowed. "Because I know you're going to be gone after this."

"W-what?"

"NOW!" Chris and Lucas yelled, startling the shadow. "PK DETONATION!!!" both yelled loudly as they shot 2 small bolts that went after the shadow.

Shadow Lucas gasped and quickly turned around to escape from the next attack. He knew that his health was reaching its limit, and running away to evade the attack was the most logical thing to do.

"Hahahahaha!" Shadow Lucas laughed maniacally. "You won't kill me like this...not tonight!"

Ashley, who was watching this with a frown from the taxi and the others, pointed down her scepter to the grass. "Vines, go now," she said simply, shooting bolts to the ground.

The ground before he began to sprout a path of vines that went after the shadow. Unaware of the fast vines, Shadow Lucas's right foot became completely wrapped in them, making him gasp in shock before falling down on the frozen ground, smacking his face in the process. "O-oww..." he moaned.

But then, he felt that 2 bolts passed right into his body from his back. The shadow's eyes widened in shock before he began to feel extreme heat within his body right after the bolts got inside him.

Music stops

"...N-no..." Shadow Lucas muttered.

Lucas, who looked ashamed at him, frowned and looked down. "...Goodbye..." he muttered.

A bright light of fire shone on the shadow before an explosion engulfed him completely, making the area around illuminate as the fighters heard the screams of agony from the shadow. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..." the shadow cried out before his screams of pain faded slowly into silence, the explosion starting to dissipate over time, showing that...he was still there.

Nana gasped and rubbed her eyes. "T-that monster...is still here?" she asked.

Lucas, after panting, frowned in disappointment. "I-I thought I was done with him for good..." he muttered in shame.

"A-amazing, just remarkable!" came as a response from an excited Penny who came out from the taxi and ran to the field, a surprised 9-Volt following her with a relieved Mona and Red while Ashley merely walked to them "My goodness, I never knew I'd witness such a fight before in my life. Y-you're so amazing, simply amazing!" she said before joining her hands on her neck. "The way you all handle the fight together...it inspires me to make more experiments a normal scientist couldn't do... You're like perfect muses to me!"

Sonic looked bored at her, being the one closest to her. "Oh, geez...you're unbelievable..." he muttered.

Diddy coughed. "O-okay, back on the main topic..." he reminded them. "Why is he still here?"

Kat helped Ana to get up before the pink-haired ninja remembered something from the shadow. "...Wait...he said he wasn't going to go away as long as Lucas continued to lie..."

They all looked at shadow, immobile on the ground. However, once they all looked at him, the shadow slowly got back up on his feet, staring blankly forward before he turned around to look at Lucas directly.

"..." Lucas gulped before the shadow began to walk at him, showing no trace of emotions as Ness and Chris protected him by moving their hands in front of Lucas. "...W-wait..." Lucas interrupted by pushing their hands away. "I...I don't think he's hostile anymore..."

"Lucas?" Ness asked.

"...It's okay..." Lucas said. "...I know he's not going to attack us anymore because...I know what he's thinking..."

The Smashers grew a little bit worried at this before they all ran and made a circle around the 2 Lucas. Even the Diamond City residents (counting 2 stunned Dribble and Spitz) joined in as well, trying to stay focused.

Ness looked worried at Chris before looking back at Lucas. "Lucas, we don't know if he's going t-"

"Ness, it's okay..." Lucas said before he looked down. "...I know he won't hurt us...he...just wants to hear me out..." he said before looking at his shadow. "You can't see, but I can. He looks troubled and...scared...just like me..."

Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself (Another Version)

Lucas stared at the shadow. "You were...just trying to tell me not to lie anymore...right?"

As surprisingly as it looked, the shadow seemed to listen to him since it nodded at him.

Lucas smiled a bit and shed a tear from his right eye. "I think I understand now... I understand the purpose of your presence here..." he said. "You came out of me not to kill me, but teach me to stop lying about Claus and mom..."

The Smashers looked surprised as the shadow nodded once more at Lucas.

"I tried so hard to suppress you...right?" Lucas asked. "You're...one part of me...the part who tried so hard to tell me to stop lying...and since I didn't exactly say the truths to myself...you grew angry and...sad about the whole thing..."

Shadow Lucas nodded as he closed his eyes one time.

Lucas looked at everyone. "And...he was also going around telling you that he said what I thought about you all...but I just didn't want to say it so you wouldn't look angry at me..."

"Yeah, he told us what you thought about each one of us," Ness said. "...And I kind of feel sorry for everything I've done to you..."

Lucas looked worried at Ness. "Ness...I-I didn't mean those things...I barely thought you were like that..."

Ness could tell Lucas wasn't lying since his shadow nodded in acceptance.

Nana and Popo shared worried looks before looking at Lucas. "Sorry for all that," Nana said. "I...promise I won't be that scary to you..."

"A-actually, she's scary because she can't tolerate my stupid self..." Popo admitted.

"...Of course," Nana said bored.

Lucas chuckled. "T-that justifies it very well," he said.

"...I'm sorry if I didn't help you that much..." Chris apologized.

"I'm sorry if you think I'm so annoying because I'm hyperactive sometimes..." Diddy apologized.

"I apologize for ignoring you the whole day..." Mona said as took a step forward. "You wouldn't think of me like that if I didn't do that, right?"

"...Yes..." Lucas nodded. "...Sorry..."

"It's...okay," Mona admitted with a chuckle. "I think you taught me something important tonight...that's listening to anyone when they call you..."

Lucas smiled a bit to her. "T-thank you..." he said as he looked away while blushing.

Sonic grinned. "Ha, he didn't say anything bad of me."

"Actually..." Chris looked away. "He said you were a bastard, Amy was annoying, and Chip was and idiot..."

Sonic, Amy, and Chip blinked at this statement. "H-hey, how am I annoying?" Amy asked angrily, making Lucas gasp. The pink hedgehog gasped and looked ashamed. "O-oh, I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry if you think I'm annoying..."

Chip looked down in depression. "Oh man, I'm an idiot then?"

Lucas shook his head. "N-no, but I thought you were one...s-sorry..."

"...It's fine..." Chip said before Sonic patted his back with a claw. "...Thanks..."

"Anytime," Sonic said with a grunt. "(A bastard, huh...)"

"P-please, don't look at me that way, Sonic..." Lucas said worried.

Sonic frowned and smiled a bit at him. "Nah, it's okay. It was obvious some of you were going to think of me like that, anyway."

"I-I'm glad you...understood..." Lucas said before looking at everyone. "And...I'm sorry for everything you went through because of my shadow..." he said before looking back at his still self. "And...I'm so sorry for suppressing you all this time..."

Shadow Lucas seemed to smile a little as he nodded again at Lucas.

Lucas smiled back at him. "I know what you're thinking...you're so glad I finally got over the truths all this time...and...you helped me achieve that..."

Shadow Lucas looked happy as he nodded.

"I know that because, after all..." Lucas made a happy expression at his shadow. "I am you...and...you are me..."

Shadow Lucas nodded once more.

"…Now…you can leave me alone…" Lucas said. "…You can be one with me and see by yourself that…I learned what you taught me…"

"..." The shadow chuckled silently before he decided to speak. "...Thank you so much...Lucas... You have finally understood me...because we're the same person... Again...thank you very much for telling me the truth..." he said heartily as he opened his arms to him to later move them over him to the sky.

The people around him watched as the shadow began to shine brightly in a white light instead of pure darkness as it began to clear itself from darkness to reveal Lucas's faint image. The image, however, was brief as it began to disappear before the real Lucas. Not only the image disappeared, but it also moved itself back into Lucas, who closed his eyes as the light got into him, blinking all over him one time before it slowly faded.

Then, Lucas fell down on his knees, making the Smashers gasp to run and check him.

"Lucas!" Ness yelled as he knelt down to see the blond boy. "Are you okay?"

"..." Lucas began to cry.

"Lucas..." Ness looked worried.

"N-no...y-you don't understand, Ness..." Lucas said before he looked up to them, a smile behind his tears. "I-I'm crying because I'm so happy...I'm so happy that this finally ended..."

"...You..." Ness muttered as he tried not to chuckle. "...Lucas!" he yelled one time before he hugged Lucas. "Lucas, thank goodness you're alright!"

Lucas was taken aback by Ness's sudden move. "H-hey, Ness, you're scaring me..." he said.

Ness looked back at him. "Lucas…" Ness wiped some tears away with his right arm. "I…was so worried about you…"

"W-what?"

"We were all so worried…" Kirby said with a sniff. "W-we thought you were going to die…"

The World Traveler picked Kirby up and looked at Lucas. "We never thought you would come back, Lucas…"

"That shadow thing that came out of you was…so scary and powerful…" Jigglypuff commented. We would have died if it wasn't for you…"

Lucas sniffed before he smiled a bit to them. "E-everything's done now…he went back into me…"

"Wait…" Nana wondered. "Why did he vanish and got inside you?"

Lucas looked away. "I…I felt I wasn't complete… The shadow was also incomplete…" he explained. "I-I don't know why, but I could tell I wasn't me because the shadow tried so hard to be itself…" He looked at them. "I-it's so creepy when you think about it… I found out that the shadow didn't accept me because I was lying to myself, so he decided to leave me and be itself without me…but I eventually told him that I was fine for him to come back to me…" Lucas looked down. "…I feel so embarrassed…but it's over…"

Nana rubbed her chin. "Hmm… You made a pretty good point…"

"D-did I?" Lucas asked. "T-that was just an opinion of me…"

Amy walked to him and chuckled. "Well, I think it was brave of you to overcome that monster."

"…H-huh?" Lucas blushed. "A-Am I brave, then?"

"I guess," Sonic commented. "You did show him who the boss was."

Lucas chuckled. "…T-thank you all…"

All the Smashers looked at each other before they began to cheer as they all went to Lucas and Ness before making a group hug around the crying, but happy Lucas. Even Mona, Kat, and Ana decided to join as an act of relief while Penny and 9-Volt chuckled heartily to each other as Dribble and Spitz wiped some tears from their eyes with some napkins.

As for Ashley and Red, they both simply stared at the event before Red sniffed. "I like how stories have good endings like this..."

"I'm glad this came to an end, then," Ashley commented.

THE END

Both of them looked at no one in particular with annoyance.

"E-everyone..." Lucas muttered between al the cheers before smiling. "T-thank you so much!" he said happily, as everyone laughed through the night, the scene slowly panning out from view on the destroyed area...

The next morning...

Dr. Crygor's Lab

The morning shone brightly on the pacific island of the lab as the Smashers were seen in the lab, talking to the residents of Diamond City as Mona came from the TONTO, carrying an electric guitar's case on her right hand. "Hey guys, I'm baaaack!" she said with a chuckle. "Sorry for taking so long, but I had to make sure my bosses knew I was going away for a while."

"That's good," Ness said with a nod. "I'm glad this is going to end..."

Dribble and Spitz, who were right next to Ness, laughed to each other, receiving a death glare from the boy. "Man, that is going to be a very unforgettable epic day," Dribble said.

"You tell 'em," Spitz said. "We never you guys were that special. I mean, that fight from yesterday...it was so epic that my mouth was going to get stuck from getting awestruck by so many unexpected moments!" he said excited.

Ness slapped his forehead and frowned. "Why the hell did you follow us here?"

"Dude, we wanted to say goodbye before you left," Spitz said. "Penny told us that.

Ness grunted and looked down. "Ugh, I hope you do SOMETHING next time...if we even come back here..."

Dribble hung his right arm on Ness's shoulders, the boy looking annoyed at him. "Hey, we DID help you in chasing Mona, y'know. Be glad we were there to help you all."

"..." Ness sighed. "Ugh, as much I hate to say it, you're right..." Ness said uninterested.

"BWAHA-HAHAHAHA!" Dribble laughed loudly, making Ness look pissed at him. "Glad you understand, pal!"

"(Somebody fill his mouth with a missile...)" Ness thought in annoyance as he glanced over at Chris...

Chris's back, because he seemed to be busy with 9-Volt and 18-Volt because...

"Okay, swift turn here," 9-Volt muttered.

"Word," 18-Volt muttered back.

"Oh no, you won't get me..." Chris muttered.

Ness raised an eyebrow as he tried to look what they were doing in privacy. Once he pushed Dribble's arm away...he found out that the 3 were playing Mario Kart DS in 3 different DSs that each one used to play.

"HA!" 18-Volt said before looking pleased. "I won!"

9-Volt grumbled. "Everything was fine until somebody tossed that annoying angel to me..."

Chris chuckled nervously. "Y-you don't mean the Spike Shell?"

The boy quickly hid his angry face at Chris by looking happy. "Meh, you're good, I give you that," he said. "(Throw me another one next time and you'll be sorry...)"

"CHRIS!" Ness yelled, startling the World Traveler. "What are you doing?"

Chris blushed embarrassed and looked away. "I-I thought it would be a good idea to bring them here to play at least one more time before we could go away...so...I invited them..."

"..."

"And look at this," Chris said as he showed Ness a golden necklace that hung on his neck. "They even gave me this for what happened yesterday."

"...17-Volt?" Ness read the light-blue letters on the golden necklace.

"Right," 9-Volt said. "We decided to make him one of us by giving the honorary 17-Volt necklace. It's our way to accept new members into out small group of dedicated Nintendo gamers."

Chris scratched his head in embarrassment. "I-isn't it kind of cool?"

"...No," Ness responded bored.

17-Volt...I mean, Chris sweat dropped. "W-well, you didn't have to say it like that..."

Ness suddenly heard a cheer from the blue hedgehog where he was with Amy and Chip near a table. Sonic looked happy as he wasn't a werehog anymore. "Yeah, back to my normal self, how do you like that?" he asked to himself.

Amy sighed. "I guess I'm not going to see him for a while..."

Sonic's excitement suddenly ended as he looked annoyed at her. "What did you say?"

Amy chuckled. "H-heheheheh...nothing, don't mind me..."

Chip chuckled. "Aw, don't worry; wait until the next night comes around to see Mr. Furry and his glorious comeback again."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Chiiiiiiip!" Sonic groaned before Amy looked up with high wishes.

"Then there's a lot more chances to keep wishing!" Amy said happily, making Sonic frown in disgust.

Sonic tried to ignore that as he looked around. "Hey, where are those karate guys?"

"Oh," Chip spoke up. "The doctor here told me that they had to leave in a journey to discover those new forms somewhere else," he explained.

Amy stopped her excitement with a sigh. "Man, those were the biggest weirdoes I've ever met before... Well, I guess it was for the better. I hope we don't see them again in a long time."

"I wish..." Sonic muttered. "But I kind of want to see them again someday. They were weird, but they were kind of amusing, y'know?"

Chip and Amy chuckled. "I guess in a way," Chip said.

"Or 2 ways," Amy added with a chuckle.

They noticed that Orbulon was close to them. The alien, noticing them, decided to talk. "Hey...I hope you weren't about...to be killed yesterday..."

"Oh, don't you worry," Amy said. "We pulled through."

Orbulon nodded and grinned a bit at them. "I'm glad you did it... You're...something...as they say in Earth..."

Sonic grinned at him. "What, you learning how to talk?"

Orbulon looked annoyed at him. "Hey, I'm trying my...best, okay? Wait until...I learn the ropes..." he trailed off. "...Am I going to learn...what ropes are or what?"

Sonic frowned. "Oh man...he has a long way to go..."

Orbulon mumbled something in annoyance as Amy and Chip chuckled.

Ness then changed his glance to Diddy, Kirby, and Jigglypuff who were all given something by Ashley and Red themselves. A closer look to whatever they received made Ness look confused...

"Hey, aren't these stickers?" Diddy asked as he held up a sticker of Ashley.

Ashley looked annoyed. "These things came out from the experiment I was doing," she explained. "When I mixed the hairs together, the pot I was using suddenly exploded inside. I didn't get affected by it, but once I took a peek inside the pot, I found out that the beverage had vanished, and in its place these stickers were there," she said before looking away. "This means I either failed to make the spell work...or I did it right but didn't know what the effects could be..."

The stickers that they received, for some reason, were a lot. There were stickers of Ashley, Mona, 9-Volt, 18-Volt, Jimmy, Orbulon, Dribble, Spitz, Kat, Ana, Penny, Dr, Crygor, Young Cricket, and even a sticker of Wario-Man (that was only usable for Wario).

"Weird," Red commented. "We got these stickers out from that experiment. Who knows why, but they...seem to have special properties..."

"Special properties?" Kirby repeated in curiosity.

"These things are supposed to have something in them," Ashley explained. "Whatever it is, I don't want it. You can keep them if you want. Think of them as your rewards for helping us."

Jigglypuff looked at the stickers and smiled a bit. "Special properties...you don't think..."

Diddy nodded. 'Yep, I think these stickers can only be used by us."

Kirby smiled at Ashley and Red. "Thank you," he said sweetly.

Ashley looked away. "Whatever..."

Ness then looked further to the left where he found Kat and Ana shaking hands with Popo and Nana. "It was nice for you to come here," Kat said. "We never had such a dangerous-"

"But exciting battle before," Ana interrupted with a chuckle. "And you 2 do this a lot? I envy you. The only exciting fights we get are fights with big ogres, and they don't attack the dojo at the city that often."

"Believe me, we hate to do this," Nana said. "It's something we can do than anybody us can't."

"Yep," Popo said. "We're...the chosen ones!" he said, fully opening his eyes, scaring the 2 ninjas a bit.

Nana slapped his face. "Hey, are you sure that's you and not your stupid self?"

"N-Nana, I was just saying a joke in that one..." Popo said with a moan.

"...Oh, sorry then," Nana said annoyed. "It's harder to tell if you're normal or not."

"O-oww..." Popo moaned.

Kat and Ana looked at each other before chuckling at this, receiving an annoyed look by Popo.

Ness noticed that Lucas was sitting down on a chair alone. The blond kid was looking outside to the sea, to the sky where his eyes drifted along with the clouds. Ness decided to walk to him and see if everything was fine. "Hey, Lucas, are you okay?"

Lucas got startled and looked at Ness. "Y-yes, I'm fine," he said.

"Look, Lucas..."

"Please, don't say anything else, Ness," Lucas interrupted. "Everything is done, and I finally believe that you're not Claus but another different friend that reminds me of Claus..." He smiled a bit. "Personally, I think...I can go on with my life...without telling myself you're Claus..."

"Are...you really sure of that?" Ness asked.

Lucas chuckled with a nod. "Y-yeah, I'm saying the whole truth this time...and I believe it..." Lucas looked outside. "The shadow just wanted to tell me to stop lying...and I did it...he helped me despite he wanted to kill me before..." He looked at Ness. "Ness, the shadow was just trying to teach me a lesson...and I learned it after all..."

Ness looked worried before he smiled a bit. "I guess," he said. "I'm glad you're fine now, Lucas."

Lucas chuckled happily. "And...I'm glad Claus and mom are watching over me..." he said. "They're probably looking at me from the clouds or somewhere else. I hope they're happy and proud of me." He jumped off the chair and looked at Lucas. "But, if I ever lie again...tell me so before it's too late."

Ness nodded and walked to Lucas's right side to hang his arm on his left shoulder. "You bet I'm going to tell you so you don't screw up that badly."

"N-Ness!" Lucas yelled. "I-I knew you remind me of Claus so much because you act pretty much the same!" he said annoyed. "...But...I'm glad you're you and not him..." he said with a chuckle.

Ness chuckled back. "Glad to help here."

"Thank you," Lucas said.

Ness looked away. "But...something's bothering me..."

"What?"

"The fact that Ganondorf called that Shadow Nightmare thing to kill you off..." Ness said with a serious look. "...I don't think we saw the last of that monster... Who knows if they're going to toss more of them at us to destroy us emotionally like you were going to."

Lucas looked worried before he looked serious. "...I know..." he said. "But I won't let that happen again...not to anyone else..."

"Let's make that promise, okay?"

"O-okay, but I want you to help too," Lucas said, shifting his eyes. "I-I mean, I don't want to be the only one to keep the promise..."

"You bet I'm going to do that as well," Ness said.

At that moment, Penny, along with Dr. Crygor and a newly repaired Mike, came from a door before getting their attention. "Okay, Mike has been successfully repaired," announced Penny as she adjusted her glasses.

Mike grinned and nodded at them. "I'm glad to meet you," he greeted the Smashers. "My name is Mike, better known as the karaoke machine."

-Mike-

-Occupation: Karaoke Machine, formerly Cleaning Machine
-Hobby: Rock On!
-Performance: Above Average
-Bio: Mike is a karaoke machine created by Dr. Crygor, who originally created him to clean the wastes around his lab. He has a vast knowledge about singing that he argues constantly with Dr. Crygor by having singing competitions in secrecy of Penny.

Penny folded her arms. "I'm sorry to say this, but he still needs some examination before he goes with you."

Dr. Crygor nodded. "I'm afraid to say he's not fully repaired. We managed to repair him, but we didn't repair his singing performance that well."

Penny looked at him. "Grandpa, I told you that he's fine as he is. Why did you want to turn him into a cleaning machine again?"

Mike turned around, looking annoyed at his creator.

Dr. Crygor looked away. "I thought you didn't look, Penny..."

Penny sighed and looked at Mike. "I guess you want to sing soon again, right?"

"Uh-huh," Mike said. "Affirmative."

"...Oh well," she said with a smile. "I'm going with you."

The Smashers looked surprised as the doctor gasped. "P-Penny are you going to go?" Dr. Crygor asked.

"Grandpa, Mike is a very special friend to me," Penny explained. "I would be so worried if his circuits get broken in the middle of his work. I should make sure he doesn't get broken again. Besides..." She chuckled. "I wanna sing along too!"

Mona liked the idea as she stepped forward. "Oh, then you should be my singer!"

"Your singer?" Penny repeated confused.

"Yeah! You know, I'd feel embarrassed to sing, but your voice really fits to sing my own theme song. Heck, you have almost the same voice as the actress's voice. Why do you say?"

"Hmm..." Penny wondered. "Repair Mike while I sing..." she wondered before chuckling. "I like the idea. Okay, I'll be your personal singer."

"Rock on," Mike commented.

"Heheheheh, thanks, you."

Ness clapped his hands together. "Okay, people, time to go to the mansion already. Chris, would you do it?"

"O-okay," Chris said as he opened the portal with his Wiimote. When the portal appeared, everyone stared at it.

"Coooooooooool..." Dribble and Spitz said in awe.

Ness, seeing this, sighed. "(Good, this is going to stop them from annoying me more...)"

The World Traveler looked at the 2 gamers. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave now."

The 2 gamers looked at each other and grabbed Chris's hands together. "W-would you come back..." 9-Volt sniffed. "To play with us again?"

"P-please?" 18-Volt asked. "S-seventeen-Volt?

Chris smiled a bit as he shed a tear. "Y-yes, I'll come back to play with you."

"G-good luck in the next levels," 9-Volt said. "...You're always going to be our special P3!"

"I will...don't worry..." Chris said before the 3 hugged each other (while Ness frowned at this action from behind).

"Earthlings," Orbulon began as he looked at Sonic, Amy, and Chip. "Good luck."

Amy hugged his thin body and patted his back. "Please, don't you forget us, okay?"

Chip flew to him and shook hands. "I wanna fly that UFO someday," he said.

Sonic shook Orbulon's free hand. "Crash your ship on the mansion so you see us again."

Orbulon frowned at this but chuckled. "You wish..." he said with a grin.

Kat and Ana hugged Nana at the same time before they all patted each other's backs. "Call us when you're in trouble," Kat said.

"We can be quite fierce," Ana added.

"Oh, you 2, I'll miss you," Nana said with a happy expression.

"No hugs for me?" Popo asked annoyed.

The 3 girls looked at each other with bored looks. "...Go ahead?" Nana asked.

"Yeah," the 2 ninjas responded before they went to Popo to hug him.

"NO THREESOME, YOU HEARD ME?" Kat asked annoyed while hugging Popo.

"A what?" Popo asked.

"Exactly..." Ana said with a sigh.

Diddy, Kirby, and Jigglypuff looked at Red. "...Yeah, I'm coming too," Red said. "I wanna meet that kid and his other friend."

"What?" Ashley asked.

Red looked away. "E-er, nothing, Ashley... Don't mind me..." he muttered.

"...You're weird," Ashley commented before looking at the 3. "I hope I can meet that hand."

Diddy rolled his eyes. "You'll surely will. Just don't make him angry."

Ashley merely lifted her shoulders. "Whatever," she said.

Dr. Crygor hugged Penny. "Please dear, don't get yourself in trouble over there."

"Don't worry, grandpa, I'll be just fine," Penny said. "Mike here will look after me."

Dr. Crygor looked at Mike. "I'll try," Mike said.

"...You do that," the doctor said with a nod to the machine.

"Okay, we all said our farewells," Ness said as he tried to walk into the portal to get away from the 2 cabs. "Let's go."

The Smashers and the musicians nodded before they all began to go through the portal one by one as the Diamond City residents waved their hands at them (except for Dribble and Spitz). Ness, however, remained behind to see Lucas.

"W-what is it?" Lucas asked to Ness.

"...Nothing," Ness said. "I wanted to make sure you were fine."

Lucas smiled at him. "Thanks..."

The 2 chuckled heartily before they entered into the portal at the same time, leaving the lab and the residents behind as they kept waving to where the portal was before it disappeared from the lab.

If Lucas were still there, he would have seen the spirits of Claus and Hinawa, looking from outside the lab's window.

Claus looked at Hinawa. "I have to say that Ness does remind me of...me," he said.

Hinawa chuckled. "At least your brother finally realized the truth."

Claus chuckled. "Yeah, that's true… Do you think he's going to become brave someday?"

"I'd believe so," Hinawa said. "Don't think I'm saying it because I'm his mother; I'm saying it because I have faith in him after he fought his shadow."

"True enough," Claus said. "We should drop by more often so he doesn't feel alone."

Hinawa made a happy expression and nodded. "I like the idea."

At that moment, Death himself appeared behind Hinawa's spirit. "Hinawa, what are you and your son doing here? I thought we were going to have a picnic in a few."

Claus looked bored at him. "Geez, you and your affinity to mom's cooking is just..."

"Now, now, Claus, be respectful to Mr. Death," Hinawa said.

"Moooooooom!" Claus moaned before the 3 began to leave the island by floating towards the clouds.

"I'm really looking forward to it now," Death told Hinawa.

The only thing that Claus wished for was to get rid of Death to leave Hinawa alone. After all, they were both growing up so much on each other.

No way he's gonna replace dad, that was what Claus muttered as the 3 disappeared into the sky.

WORLD COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 2000 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Into The Colosseum. Wait, are having another arc of us?" Pikachu asked. "That's like the 5th or 6th arc o-" The mouse suddenly stopped talking after a rock was tossed at his head, knocking him out of cold.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
17-Volt, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

"AHEM…"

"What?" a voice asked.

"I don't think we had someone named 17-Volt in the list before."

"Who?"

"Right there, I can see 17-Volt right before Lucario's name."

"You're seeing things. I don't see that name, see?"

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

He looked annoyed. "You DIDN'T correct the name after I looked away, did you?"

"Eer…end the chapter already."

The first mysterious voice sighed.

References:

-"Blue Dragon – Dragon Fight!" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you face random enemies in field. It should be noted that this theme is remixed in its official anime.

-"Persona 4 – I'll Face Myself (Another Version)" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays right after a grueling boss battle with the Shadow of the real person. This theme is a remixed version of the heavy rock 'n roll one as it has a much calmer tone of tranquility.

Out Of Curiosity...:

-It still bothers me that Mona likes Wario. What about you?

As you can see, Shadow Nightmares are interesting in some ways. Did you like how the first one acted? If you did, they're going to appear many times in the incoming arcs of the future.

Shadow Nightmares are based on Persona 4's Shadows. If one played the game (like me), I would like to point out the differences that Shadows and Shadow Nightmares have.

In Persona 4, Shadows are found in a twisted world inside the TV. Here, Shadow Nightmares can be found anywhere as long as they're taken to a person who suffers emotional pain with lies.

In Persona 4, Shadows usually become in huge monsters that represent the lies of the real person. Here, though, Shadow Nightmares don't do the same as they receive more powers and different abilities that the original person wouldn't use instead of becoming huge monsters (this is like this because I'd be worried if you didn't get the descriptions).

In Persona 4, Shadows scare the hell out of the original, knocking him or her out (usually right after becoming a huge monster), making them unable to fight the Shadow until the party members who were not knocked out finish off the boss. Here, Shadow Nightmares can do the same, except that the originals can regain their consciousness if they believe they have what it takes to accept the truth.

In Persona 4, Shadows don't face their originals after they're knocked out of cold. Here, however, the originals can face them head-on. Take in mind that future Shadow Nightmares battles won't be quite the same like Lucas's fight. The people who get attacked by one could be knocked out the whole fight unless the Shadow Nightmare is defeated.

And those were all the differences. I promise that the next Shadow Nightmare battle will have a different twist.

Now, back on this chapter, I like how everything turned out. Take in mind that this doesn't mean Lucas is going to be shown less. Lucas is going to be portrayed with his usual nature as he tries to learn to be a better person. You could say we're not finished with anyone yet.

Okay, I have very important news about the next chapter. I thought, after everyone had voted for XD, that we should better start with Colosseum because the Orre Region would need to be explored more in-depth. Besides, I have some interest in 2 particular main characters that didn't get the right development I was waiting to see…

You know what this means? It means they almost reach the ranks of OCs.

The poll will start all over in a few hours as well. Please, do vote for the next arc you want to see here.

For now, wait until that.

Be encouraged to read and review, please. :D

…Or you'll eat omelets with Death.
*Chapter 150*: Into The Colosseum

Whatever you think, we DO see a lot of Pokémon arcs here. What can you do about it? I'd like to you see do something. :) (Just kidding).

From aquadragonsayian: So the next arc is Pokemon Colosseum eh? Heh, what sort of craziness that'll happen in the next chapter? ...I guess I'll have to wait and see...

From me: Waiting done, so now you can enjoy the next chapter. Enjoy, please. :D

From Light the Lucario: Whoa totally awesome! You truly are a master author I applaud you. Now then for the review. I think that you have turn this fantiction to a true masterpiece. With the fact that story is just starting to truly take off I can't wait to see what happens next. No questiosn for today. I give you another Five Star.

From me: I have yet to receive that Five Star, I'm afraid. I just hope you say something more related to the chapter…but what you said convinces me. Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: Aw, this was a very touching chapter. And refreshing too. It's not often that we meet a "crook who tells the truth". Villains are usually dishonest. Although SL was more of a tool for Lucas to develop than a true villain...

Excellent work. Truly. :D

From me: Well, Shadows are like that. They have the purpose to kill anyone unless they're stopped in time before rampaging. I hope you liked the battle. Thanks. :)

From RayGallade and Luigicario: Hi ACC, its me, Ray. Refering to your question a few chapters back, I was talking about how you and I have the same birthday.

Wow, all the chapters have been good. I liked the Shadow Nightmare battle, it showed more about Lucus's charcter. So this wraps up the Wario saga, and another victory under the belts of the smashers. You did a very good job writing for all the characters in the Wario-verse. All the smashers have been getting good treatment, except we haven't seen much Mewtwo lately, will he show up soon? I've liked the way you write, keep writing please.
Yay, personally, I liked Colosseum more than XD.

RayGallade out.

From me: Yes, Mewtwo will definitely get more scenes in the next arc. His start, however, is a weird one… Read more to find out. Thanks. :D

From Korean Boron-Paper Stars: Sorry I haven't reviewed in a while. Again, busy, and haven't been up to reading long chapters. This was a really good chapter though. I haven't played Lucas's game, so I'm not too sure what happens there. But it's a good way of exploring Lucas's personality, and the part of him that no one else knows. Anyway, it's a good chapter.

From me: Oh, believe me, his game is very entertaining. You should try to watch walkthrough videos sometime to explore more about him. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

Hello again! It's great to see a heavy battle scene between Lucas and his shadow. The OAs (Original Attacks) were pretty well thought out.

And I just realized Claus is an anagram of Lucas! :)

Now, some improvements:
You're missing a few words every here and there.

This part doesn't make sense. "...causing destruction and annihilation on the surroundings. However, the attack was meant to only attack the fighters and not obliterate anything else. Whatever got in the way would receive extreme pain since the trees around were crushed, burned, electrocuted, or frozen." How would the trees take damage if it was supposed to only do damage to the fighters?

And the occasional jarring phrase.

Looking forward to your next chappie!

From me: Yes, now that I think about, much of it doesn't make sense. Well, let's see if I can explain that… Oh, there it is. The fact that most of them were panicking made them run at different directions to take cover, most ran to trees, so that would explain why the trees got affected. If I get around it, I'll correct that very soon.

Anyhow, thanks for pointing that out for me. Keep reading. :D

From FF and STH: That was a great battle and emotionally with the Shadow Nightmate.
It look like everyone may be attack by the shadow Nighmate or some of them might.
The shadow Lucas personality seen to remind of the personality of Dark super sonic in some way.

From me Well, not everyone is going to be attacked. Some of them will be attacked at some point, however. It seems most of you liked the battle, and that helps me a lot in my self-esteem. Thank you. ;)

From Saiked: I finally caught up to you again. those shadow nightmares are some of the worst enemies they will face i guess. and weren't ashley going with them (if not im just way too sleepy :P). CONTINUE WRITING

From me: Of course, Ashley went with them. I mentioned musicians, so that also included her. Thanks again. ;)

From SlasherMask: Okay, I think that Shadow Lucas's lie speeches are little narmy(especially since things like white lies exist. And that it feels ridiculous to kill someone who made little lie and make it seem like an big deal(at least shadow Lucas felt like he would do something like that...(or at least he said word "lie" in almost every sentence he had) but beside that ok chapter.

"death by freezing to death, or death by cold?" Umm... Aren't these technically same thing?(considering that he attacked with flame, ice and "spark"(like electricity?) which I think is not related to either freezing or coldness)

...But isn't Claus technically (SPOILERS) so why hes in place with dead people?

"I'm NOT letting him get in my way again, not after what you went through," Sonic explained. "I made a promise, and I'm going to hold on to it until we find a cure to this." This quote is repeated two times...(have you been up late while writing this?)

I think that there is one problem with Shadow Nightmares... They aren't really different from any other sort of evil copies(or possessions. Like Mewtwo)...

Like I said, Wario got same charm as Mario. Both don't look like it, but they are chick magnets.

There are so many Deaths in world... The "Samurai like" Death of Dracula... And I forgot rest of them.

From me: Shadows try to kill the people they came from by whatever lie they made look like a big deal, in truth. If the lie bothers the person a lot, the Shadow Nightmare will start to make fun of him or her with the lies.

Either I got insane with the cold thing, or the Shadow Nightmare did it. :P …Okay, maybe it was me.

I thought Claus was (SPOILER) so that's why he's up there.

Yes, I noticed I saw that quote repeated. I don't know why it was like that, but I corrected it already. Thanks.

Eww…

I know.

Thank you. ;)

From Brawl Chaser: That was one of the best chapters in the whole story so far as it's concerned.

From me: It is? I hope it was for you. Thanks, new reviewer. :D

From PianistChris: Thanks for the compliment :), I also found out a while ago that apparently when you write the plural of Chris its Chris' instead of Chris's... At least thats what my English teacher told me :S

Anyway...
I really enjoyed this arc where the first fight with the Shadow was. I never guessed that Lucas thought that Ness was Claus, but at least he found it out in the end though.
The Shadow's character was odd at the beginning, but you created a really good character with the Shadow, and I'm not sure about this... When Shadows are defeated like that, do they turn good?

P.S
I find it VERY disturbing that Mona likes Wario... O.O

Chris :P

From me: Really now? Well, thanks for telling me that about plural. I'm surely going to use that more often if that's the right rule. ;)

Shadow Nightmares, at the beginning, will act malevolent to anyone as they want to be the only person to be alive from the original. However, if the original realizes his mistakes with the lies, the Shadow Nightmare (once defeated) will listen to the person's apology for lying. Technically, Shadow Nightmares will turn good after they're defeated, and the person has realized his or her mistakes. I hope that helps.

Thanks. ;)

From Pure-White-Angel22: (I almost never review stories bcz i'm always busy...but since i have sum spare time, i'll review urs XD)

I loved this arc :) It was one of the best I've seen, Lengthy chapters are the best XD

I loved the Characterization of Lucas ^^ and his Shadow. I love that concept ^^ Also, liked how Lucas sees Ness as his brother (but not a replacement of Claus) because i think that at times myself XD (is screwed up in the head haha)

Lol, Ness gets ** off really easily, even though i can't picture him that way XD It's very funny to seem him act like that XD

I've seen a few spelling and grammatical errors, but it's very limited, and plus u don't have a freaking editor for this story, so it's normal to have spelling and grammatical errors. But if u have ALOT ALOT...then...u mite need to see someone haha (jk)

But it still bothers me who the Masked boy way~ back in disc 1 of this story. Since Claus (censored bcz of spoilers) but u know what i mean ;)

Well overall, enjoyable chapter and arc. Good luck! :3

~Pure-White-angel22 :)

From me: I've noticed those errors as well. As such, I'll try to correct sometime.

Of course I know the identity of the Masked Boy. I watched the whole game and its translation.

Anyway, I'm glad you like this chapter so much. Thank you. :D

Okay, you people, you have voted for the next arc, but I'm afraid to say we'll have to with Colosseum instead of Gale of Darkness due to the fact it needs to show the potential of what happens in the past first. Besides, the 2 main characters of Colosseum need some polishing in background story since they're probably the most underdeveloped characters ever.

So I hope you like the closest variation of backgrounds for Wes and Rui that I decided to make up. ;)

NOTICE: The poll has been reset, and now you need to vote for the second arc. Since I have seen many walkthrough videos, Final Fantasy VII has been put as another arc. However, Tales of Symphonia 2 has been removed due to the fact the story hasn't reached November, the month where the game was released. Furthermore, Chrono Trigger has been added as well. Vote now before the current arc ends.

Also, be aware that Chris will receive a more detailed tutorial about the stickers in this chapter. You may also try to understand how to use ones in the game.

Read, enjoy, and review, please. (Hurray for the first 50 new chapters!) :D

Disclaimer: Grovyles are evil.

Chapter 150: Into The Colosseum

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

Back into the world of twisted darkness, Wario was taken all the way to Tabuu by tying his body completely as Bowser and King Dedede were tossed behind him. The 2 kings (or 1 since Bowser was supposed to be one, unlike Dedede) moaned in pain as they had their chins against the dark floor while an angry Ganondorf with a pissed Charizard stood behind them.

Wario looked up bored at the cyber boss of the Subspace. "Okay, okay, you got me here," Wario said annoyed. "What do you want? I don't have anything else to talk with you anymore."

"Quite the contrary," Tabuu said to Wario. "You have a lot to explain."

Wario looked angry. "What is there to explain?" He turned his butt around to look away. "Look, I wasn't even with you from the very beginning, did you forget?"

Tabuu was a little, but very little impressed that Wario told him that. "You were not with me. You did not even work for me from the beginning."

"Exactly," Wario said. "I thought I was working for the hand who was trying to take over the whole army. What was he doing here?" he asked before turning around to Tabuu. "You were the real one behind the whole thing."

Tabuu nodded at Wario. "It is true he was in charge of the army...for a moment," he admitted before he turned around to look into the darkness. "Actually, Master Hand was looking for me."

"...So?"

Ganondorf crossed his arms. "I have never thought about the hand before," he admitted. "I am surprised that he managed to fool us into believing that he was the leader of the Subspace Army."

Tabuu looked back at them. "...You could say he knew I was alive before deciding to make the army himself..."

The 5 villains blinked surprised before looking back at Tabuu. "...Wait..." Bowser began as he sat up. "What was that? He...made the army?"

Tabuu nodded. "Yes, that is what I said."

"...B-but..." Charizard looked confused. "...I thought you were the real one who..."

"..." Tabuu began to chuckle darkly as the 5 looked at each other confused. "You forget a lot of important details..." Tabuu said. "...Master Hand made the army because...he was brainwashed by me..."

"...Brainwashed?" Dedede repeated. "Hey, I wanna hear that."

Tabuu sighed before looking serious at them. "You want to know how he ended up under my control?" he asked, feeling that the 5 nodded behind his back. "Truth is..." he began before turning to them. "Right after I appeared, I used a great deal of my powers to take over his mind from the Subspace."

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes. "You mean to say you seek him out from the prison that is this place for your presence?"

"How can you do that if you can't even exit this place?" Charizard asked.

"There was a reason why I was hiding from your eyes," Tabuu said.

This simple response made them all think about it much more, making a lot of sense as they did so.

Or did they do think that?

"I was focusing my mind into the hand for a very long period of time," Tabuu explained. "Through his ears, mouth, and eyes-"

"If he even has those things..." Wario mumbled.

"Through his ears, mouth, and eyes, I listened to everything he had planned to do to me from the beginning," Tabuu explained. "I had to make sure he did not feel my presence. I hid a very small link between him and me so I could spy on his ideas to defeat me."

Ganondorf rubbed his chin. "Yes...now that I think about it, there were so many different places that you, or should I say the hand, told us to go and find them all."

Bowser hit his head a few times to understand Tabuu's forgotten plan. "So wait...you're telling us you controlled the hand when you first appeared..."

"Yes," Tabuu responded.

"...And you were still controlling him from here..."

"Yes."

"..." Bowser almost got a headache by thinking too much, but he kept going. "And...you made the hand convince those idiots and Mario to make a full assault at your stronghold so they were easier to find out..."

"...I am surprised," Tabuu said. "That was exactly the whole plan I make him told them so they stopped hiding away from me."

Ganondorf crossed his arms. "What I do not get is why you did not plan to attack the mansion rather than the desolated land you chose to attack instead."

Tabuu looked away. "I was weak during that period of time, did you forget? A frontal attack to the mansion would be a very foolish idea," he said. "They are quite formidable when fought all at the same time," he explained. "I wanted to separate them into groups so they would be easier to get rid of. As you can see, most of you failed to accomplish that task, and thus they are still breathing the air they should not be breathing from the beginning."

"Hey!" Dedede called out as he stood up. "And ya recovered your energy when they got inside this place?"

"The most logical thing to do to recover all my power was to drain it out from the hands himself," Tabuu explained. "The whips that I had behind each of his fingers were draining his energy slowly. I was surprised that he had a great amount of it as you all were fighting his troops," he explained more. "And when Ganondorf found out I was controlling the hand, he was too late as I already had drained everything in the hand."

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes at him and frowned. "I suppose that is the whole truth..."

"Exactly," the Ancient Minister said as he came from within the darkness. "Lord Tabuu had everything well-planned by using Master Hand as his personal puppet and later main source of energy."

"You knew Tabuu was here?" Bowser asked.

"I did, and remained silent about his presence to you all," he admitted. "You wouldn't have been here if I told you that Tabuu was the real mastermind behind the whole invasion," he explained.

Tabuu held out his right hand at them. "But do not think I am going to make you stay here for no reason. I merely want you to achieve your goals before I achieve mine."

The 5 villains looked at each other before Charizard spoke. "You promise I'll get my chance to beat Red to a bloody pulp?"

"As a matter fact," the Ancient Minister began. "I'm issuing you a mission that you can only do."

Charizard smirked. "Oh, what mission is this?"

"We have located one of the temples that Dr. Eggman has spoken about," the Ancient Minister said. "It seems it have appeared in the universe where Pokémon, your kind, live. Since Ganondorf has completed his task in bringing these 2 here, it's time for you to move on, but alone."

Charizard liked the idea as he chuckled. "Well, I'd rather work alone than work with any of these whacks."

The other 4 "whacks" looked at him annoyed.

"Okay," Charizard said as he stomped the floor one time. "Where should I head to?"

"You need to wait until Dr. Eggman prepares another Shadow Nightmare to go with you," the Ancient Minister said. "We saw the true potential of their abilities after the first was monitored from here. They did manage to defeat the shadow, but Tabuu wishes to see more."

The Flame Pokémon thought about the idea of taking another one of the "freaky" monsters with him as he thought. "...Fine, but I'll fight," he said. "I don't want it to leave me out from fighting."

"Very well," Tabuu said. "Please, prepare to se out."

Charizard smirked. "Finally, it was about time to have this opportunity..."

"But also," the Ancient Minister began. "We want you to come into contact with a group of people that are working to accomplish their own plans for the region you're going."

Charizard blinked. "What?"

"You need to convince the leader of this certain group to help us for a little time," he explained. "Take in mind that you should take a small squad of Primids so they don't capture you."

"Capture me? ...Hey, you're sending me to humans, right?"

"Everything is fine, they won't capture you as long as you bring some of our subordinates with you. We're not sending you to a place where it's dangerous," the Ancient Minister said. "Just get going and prepare for the mission."

"Alright, alright..." Charizard said as he rolled his eyes and stomped his way to the darkness.

Tabuu looked back at Wario. "As for you..."

"I'm NOT staying here," Wario told him with a glare.

"Fine, I do not want to waste Shadow Bugs on you. I would rather make you say it... Ancient Minister, take Wario away and bring him to the Torture Chamber if you would."

"Torture...Chamber?" Wario and Dedede repeated in confusion.

"Do you have somethin' like that here?" Dedede asked.

Suddenly, the Ancient Minister called forth a squad of Primids that quickly went to Wario to carry him. The treasure hunter looked shocked before he was dragged away from the sight of the villains as he entered the darkness while screaming, "HEY, NOT THIS AGAIN! PUT ME DOWN ALREADY! I CAN SUE YOU FOR THIS, YOU KNOW! H-HEY, KNOCK IT OFF! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Tabuu frowned. "If he does not want to join us in the easy way, he will have to do it the hard way."

Bowser looked at him. "Why do you want him here so much?"

"I want him here because it is easier to set order in the Subspace Bomb Factory, and the fact that the Shadows Bugs need people to control them," Tabuu explained. "He does not look like one, but I have to remark that he did a good job at it."

"Speaking of the factory..." the Ancient Minister began. "Lord Tabuu, there has been some kind problem that is halting the manufacture of Subspace Bombs."

"What?" Tabuu asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean to say that a problem has surfaced with the manufacture of bombs," he explained. "It came out very suddenly of all times."

"...Explain to me what the problem is..."

"The machines that are supposed to make the bombs were halted by an unknown program that was sent to them to follow," he said. "I believe someone hi-jacked the system..."

"Someone is in the factory?" Tabuu asked. "Well, if that is true, use the security cameras find that scum."

The Ancient Minister knew that he would be the scum Tabuu talked about if he didn't hide his purpose from him. An advantage that the minister had over Tabuu was the fact that the minister himself didn't have the same kind of mind like a living being, putting Tabuu's mind reading ability at bay.

"Unfortunately, the cameras were all taken down before we could identify the culprit," the Ancient Minister said. "The culprit must have been aware of the surveillance system that he or she brought the system down for some hours so the hi-jacking could take place... He also slowed down the process of extracting Shadow Bugs from our "source" if you know what I mean..."

Tabuu grunted silently after hearing the damages done to the factory.

Ganondorf grumbled. "We have a spy in here?"

"...I'd believe so," the Ancient Minister said. "It could have been one of them...or someone else..."

Tabuu looked down before looking back at the minister. "Then go ahead and fix this problem."

"I suggest looking for the culprit first," the Ancient Minister said. "What point is there for that rat to go around the factory and cause problems? It'll make your idea kind of pointless, no offense."

"...You are right," Tabuu said. "We cannot let that imbecile do whatever he or she pleases to do by halting our progress. I admit that it would be pointless to resolve problems before getting rid of the main troublemaker that does them."

The Ancient Minister sighed in relief in his mind.

"I shall find out who the culprit is, then," Ganondorf offered with a bow. "Maybe I should start," he said before he turned around, pushed his cape back, and walked away to the darkness.

Bowser and Dedede looked at each, chuckling nervously at Tabuu. "W-well..." Bowser gulped. "W-we're sorry for saying those things about yo-"

"Torture Chamber with Wario," was the only interruption Tabuu did to call forth more Primids from underneath the 2 kings (1), making them gasp in shock before they were carried away from Tabuu's sight.

The owner of the Subspace sighed and turned around, making the minister look at him. "Where are you going?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"I want to think about Dark Gaia," Tabuu said. "I want you to find this idiot in the meantime."

The Ancient Minister watched as Tabuu vanished from sight, leaving him alone in the Subspace.

"(...Halting the manufacture was a success,)" he thought in secrecy. "(It's going to be hard for anyone else here to decode the virus put into the system. I'm sorry if I had to go on because I also infected the others...my people...)" he muttered mentally as he looked down. "(...But the fact that we're seeking those temples... It makes this a little pointless... No... I shouldn't think like that...)"

The second-in-command minister looked forward before the darkness covered his sight by going into it.

"(For now, I'll have to stay quiet...)"

Smash Mansion
Music Room

Back at the mansion, an upbeat rhythm blared on in the big music room as an electric guitar played a solo, showing the skills of a talented guitarist.

And who was the guitarist?

Master Hand, who decided to lead the musicians right away to the room, moved up and down as he seemed to enjoy the music Mona was doing by herself on the stage. "Hmm-hm," he said pleased. "Yeah, that's the tone I wanted to hear, alright."

Mona stopped playing and chuckled. "Man, to think I'm going to be rocking all day and night as much as I want..." she trailed off as she looked up and chuckled. "It makes me think I should become a full time guitarist myself!"

"Okay, okay, your excitement will surely give the tracks your enthusiasm. Give them out your passion, emotion, your LOVE!"

It was obvious to tell that the hand, for once, looked with high-spirits.

"Are you this excited?" Mona asked.

"Of course I am, my dear," Master Hand said. "I'm glad to see we're gathering a lot of musicians in here," he said as most of the musicians were clapping at her by her solo performance. "And just think about what you're going to do here. You have practically everything in this floor: a big kitchen, living room, your room, your drawers, everything. I want you all to feel right at home."

"Well, thanks for everything," Mona said. "I also am here because of Wario."

"...What?"

Mona rubbed his chin. "I think you know some things about him that I don't know, is that true?"

"..." Master Hand looked away. "For once, I have to admit the truth, yes."

"I knew it," Mona said before looking down depressed. "You were involved with him in some ways as I thought... I mean, you guys were looking for him for some reason..."

"Not exactly," Master Hand said. "We knew him, but we were cautious. Wario is...you know..."

"I know," Mona said before looking up at him. "No matter what happens, I'll find out what he wants and what he's doing. He got kidnapped and I hoped to find out why."

Master Hand nodded. "Ugh... Look, if you want to find out, you'll have to wait until you think you're ready to hear everything. I don't want you to look this in that state you are right now."

"...It's gonna be hard to forget what I saw..." Mona admitted before she smiled a bit at the hand. "But I'll try to understand when I think the time's right."

"Glad to hear that," Master Hand said. "Okay, I'll leave you 5 here so the others show you the ropes," he said before turning away. "I have other matters to attend to with the rest of the Smashers..."

The hand noticed that Ashley, who was sitting down on a chair with Red at her right side, was staring at him without any trail of emotions.

"...Yes?" Master Hand asked. "Do you want to tell me something?"

The witch merely kept staring at him with some interest as Red looked back at forth between the 2.

Being a little bit creped out, the hand slowly moved away, noticing that Ashley's eyes were being dragged along with him. It was not long before the hand turned to the exit and quickly floated away silently, leaving the musicians to do their things.

"Ashley, you could have told me to get the hand for you," Red offered.

"It's okay," Ashley said. "I want to see what he can do until I experiment on him."

"Speaking of experiments..." Penny interrupted, as she seemed busy with Mike as the karaoke robot blew smoke out from his mouth. "Mike here got a malfunction again..." she said as she tried to repair the robot with a wrench.

Makar hmm'd happily. "This place is slowly gaining more and more people."

Lanky nodded. "I'd say so."

They weren't aware that a quirky blond boy spied on them from the door, a grin of amusement plastered on his face before running away.

Command Room

The hand, once reaching the command room, found that many of the Smashers were talking between each other. It seemed that most of them watched the whole fight against the Shadow Nightmare. Most were a little bit troubled that they all began to grow worried.

"What the f(beep) was that monster?" Falco asked with crossed arms.

"H-how should I know?" Olimar asked. "I-I merely watched, just that..."

"It appeared out of nowhere," Pichu commented. "A-and it was scary..."

Lucas looked down. "I-I'm sorry for causing all this trouble..."

"Oh, it's not your fault," Ness said. "...Wait, you pushed me out of the way."

"Ness!" Pikachu yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I kind of forgot for a moment there, that's all..."

Another topic that was discussed was Sonic's "alter ego."

"S-Sonic..." Tails gulped. "W-what did you turn into?"

Sonic tilted his head. "Turn into?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "He meant that furry monster you turned into, Sonic. You know? The one with the devilish look (then again, you always have a devilish look) and stretchable arms?"

"W-wait, you all watched that?"

Cream nodded worried as Cheese flew close to her. "Mr. Sonic, you looked kind of scary...no offense..." Cream shook in fear. "I-I got really scared when you roared..."

Sonic looked worried at her. "Oh, Cream, I-I didn't mean to scare you... I didn't even know you watched the fight..."

"Most of us did," Knuckles explained. "We saw how you pummeled the shadow thing, we saw how you were-" the echidna grinned deviously at this part. "-examined by that girl-" he stopped grinning. "And above else, we saw how you acted like a freaking beast."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Hey, if you watched all that, you surely heard me cursing that transformation. Believe me, it has some pros, but I totally hate it."

"Y-yes," Cream said with a gulp. "It was scary that you were even stronger than Mr. Knuckles..."

Sonic blinked at this. His pupils shrunk in surprise. "...Say what?"

Knuckles tried not to glare at the young rabbit. "THANKS for sharing that random info, Cream, we're SURELY going to use it."

Cream looked down. "I-I'm sorry..."

Amy frowned. "Knuckles..."

"...Oh, sorry," Knuckles apologized, ignoring that Sonic rubbing his palms together behind him. The echidna knew very well the hedgehog had something in hands for him. How could he tell?

He just had a bad hunch.

"Okay, okay, order in the room, everyone, stop chattering," Master Hand said as he went to the front of everyone. "I know from what I heard that you were bothered by that Shadow Nightmare monster the group fought, right?"

Many of them nodded.

"And the fact Sonic turned into Mr. Furry, meaning he's forever cursed?"

"Hey!" Sonic yelled.

Everyone nodded, receiving a grunt from the hedgehog.

Snake put 2 fingers on his forehead. "Great, here I thought there wasn't going to be another thing to look out for," he complained. "This kind of situation wouldn't happen where I come from."

"Snake, face it, you're one of us you like it or not," Master Hand said. "Aside that fact, what bothers me was that Shadow Nightmare monster." The hand looked away. "Just how did Tabuu make such a monster, I ask myself?" he asked to himself. "As far as I know, he doesn't have the necessary means to do something like that...but then again, he has bombs that makes the freaky twilight world come forth."

"Then again, how do you know?" Yoshi suddenly asked. "You don't know what he will do next. Whatever he does is just very unexpected."

"Yoshi is right," Mario said. "Tabuu could do anything that we wouldn't know."

"And thinking outside the box...whatever that means," Ike began. "I doubt the people he has under his control created something like that monster."

"Bowser wouldn't come close to make something like that, that's for sure," Mario commented.

"A-and Wario just got kidnapped by force..." Luigi added.

"Ganondorf could have been," Link commented. "But I'm not sure if the Triforce of Power has that kind of power. What do you think, Zelda?"

Zelda put 2 fingers at the side of her head. "I...wouldn't know, really," she said. "I haven't gotten the time to study the powers that his Triforce has throughly."

Squirtle clapped his hands. "And Charizard wouldn't create those things for sure," he said.

Ivysaur chuckled. "Yeah, the guy's all muscle and no brain. Have you seen his skull? He probably munched his brain."

"Low-five," Squirtle suggested low-fiving Ivysaur as Red (the trainer, not the devil) frowned.

Meta Knight shook his head. "Dedede is...not that smart to make a creature like that as well."

"Well, you have so far taken every single villain out," Mewtwo began to said. "And Tabuu remains as the only person capable of creating such a monster."

"But...if you think again..." Chris wondered. "...Didn't that creature look like the monsters that come out at night?"

Meta Knight remembered. "Ah, it's the truth," he said. "That monster did look like one of those creatures. However, it did look quite different from the ones we fought that night."

"And the night Sonic turned into Mr. Furry of Blood," Pikachu pointed out.

"Would you drop that annoying nickname already?" Sonic asked annoyed.

Ignored again.

"Speaking of him," Samus began. "Why did he turn in that beast again? I thought we saw the last of him."

"Don't forget Mr. Bloodshed guy came out from his back," C. Falcon interrupted. "Was that the guy who's inside your body?"

Sonic frowned as everyone looked at him. "...Yeah, that's pretty much him..."

Chris looked at Lucario. "Lucario, would you see if you can feel his aura?"

Lucario didn't have to say yes before he glowed with his aura to examine Sonic's aura. A small while passed before he stopped and looked at Chris. "I found a very small dark aura within his normal aura," he explained. "Furthermore, there was the image of Dark Super Sonic in it... He looked like he was sitting down; resting his arms on his knees like if he was waiting to come out."

"...You saw all that?" Nana asked.

"What do you expect?" Roy asked. "Lucario's the only one whose a master at auras from everyone else here. It'd make sense he saw him inside Sonic."

Lucario looked down. "But...even if his aura is small...it did feel very dangerous..."

"Should we worry?" Tails asked. "I haven't seen that other side of Sonic before, but I believe Chris, not the one here, that he did see something weird in Sonic."

At that moment, Chip, chuckling, rose up to make everyone see him. "Fear not, my team, I have here the right accessory to calm down the inner Sonic from coming out and start a rampage," he said, raising his right wrist on the air as his collar wrist shone a bit.

"...Hard to believe he's useful only for that," Diddy commented.

DK nodded. "Yep, Chip's that useful."

The mauve imp slowly descended in shame as he looked down, his arms trailing down. "Uuuum..." he mumbled."That's the only thing I'm special for..."

Sonic, with an apologetic look, walked to Chip and patted his back. "Hey, you're very important to me. No need to look down."

"..." Chip looked at him from the left corners of his eyes and smiled a bit. "Thanks..."

Master Hand coughed. "Well, we just need to watch out for those problems for the time being," he said. "Tails, I believe you've been working hard to install that radar into that CPU, right?"

Tails hopped up a bit from his seat and nodded. "A-as matter of fact, it's almost finished." He continued to type. "Give some seconds and I'll have it ready. I'll run a test to see if it finds the temples."

"In the meantime," Master Hand said. "..." He remained silent. "...Er..." He looked around as most of the people in there stared at him. "...You know what? Let's just wait to see what happens..."

Pit looked bored at him. "Why do I think you were waiting for something to happen?"

"Hey, we could wait to see what happens next or question why the heck you wear briefs in public."

A collective amount of chuckles came from behind the angel.

Pit now looked angry. "Now you're being plain mean..."

"Sorry, but we'll wait for now..." Master Hand nodded. "Yes, wait and be silent..." he trailed off. "Yeah, yeah, silent while waiting..." He looked around. "Yes, wait and see what happens..." he muttered. "Hmm-hmm-hmm..." he hmm'd. "Any minute now..." he said. "Oh yeah..." he muttered more.

Unfortunately, for the hand's dismay, dead silence took its place in the room full of probably the most unlikely team ever in the history of teams. The only thing that made silence not be itself was the sound of Tails's fingers typing on the keyboard of the computer he used.

It was a matter of time before most looked around to do something and break the annoying sound of the keys being typed.

"...Somebody say something..." Jigglypuff muttered. "~This silence is killing me...~" she sang a bit. "~It ii kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilling meeeeeeeeeeee...~" she sang more. "~killing meeeeeeeeeeeee..." she muttered before singing the next part in a high-pitched tone. "~Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilling meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeee-"

Pikachu blocked her mouth, looking annoyed at her.

"...Oh!" Peach suddenly got an idea as she raised a finger. "What if we talk about our romantic secrets to pass the time and get rid of the boredom? I think it should be fun."

"NO," came as many responses.

"Besides, I'd rather no have Fox talk about something he sucks at," Wolf commented.

"What was that, Wolf?" Fox asked annoyed.

Zelda looked bored at Peach. "Wow, good thinking," she remarked sarcastically. "Now we're going to see how those 2 rips their brains out from each other. I didn't know you were like that, Peach."

Peach gasped. "W-wait, I didn't mean that sort of thing..."

"Peach, you need to tell right away who's using sarcasm and who's talking seriously."

"I-I'm afraid I have a hard time at telling who does that..." Peach said with a nervous chuckle.

And the annoying sound of typing keys echoed through the room once again.

Knuckles began to tap his right shoe in impatience.

DK tapped his fingers on the nearby desk of more CPUs.

Snake blew smoke out from his cigarette.

Olimar coughed.

Chris shifted his eyes worried.

Marth ran his hand through his hair, receiving odd looks from Roy and Ike before he looked annoyed at them.

Cream was the only one who found something to be interested as Cheese flew around her, looking happily.

And Crazy Hand began to hum some kind of Swedish song aloud.

"..." Kirby looked at the hands. "Did you have a job for Chris to use with me yet?"

"Oh, about that," Master Hand said. "We're still trying to decide a good one for you and Chris. You need to wait a little bit more until we have it ready."

Kirby looked depressed before Chris walked and knelt down to rub his head with care. "Wait a little bit more, okay?" Chris asked, reassuring Kirby. "I'll try to use it as soon as I get it."

The puffball smiled a bit at Chris before he chuckled heartily at him.

"...Got it!" yelled Tails as he looked pleased at the CPU. "I managed to install the program!"

"Hurray," Sonic said bored. "Now the annoying typing is gonna go away."

Tails chuckled embarrassed. "S-sorry, I had to do a lot of moving here and there so it could give the maximum capacity," he explained. "Right now, I made it look for one of the temples."

Master Hand floated to him. "So is it going to work?"

"It should," Tails said. "I made sure everything work just fine. You should expect a result in a few." Tails looked at the screen. "...Hmm..."

"What?"

"...We got a match," Tails commented surprised. "Wow, that was awfully fast..."

"Wait, so then you found a temple?" Knuckles asked.

"Y-yeah, I found one, and it's the Apotos Temple," Tails said before smiling a bit. "Finally, we found a temple... What a relief, I thought this wasn't going to work."

Master Hand snapped his fingers to show the image of the area in the virtual screen where the temple was located. The Smashers looked at the image of a big, long region where it looked like a big desert with many cliffs and rocks around the firmament.

"Hey, I don't see any temple in that image," Amy said.

Tails scratched his head. "That's weird, I thought it said it located the temple...or maybe it sensed the temple's energy..."

"What?" Ness began. "You made that program sense the temple's energy and not find it right away?"

Tails looked worried at him. "S-sorry, but there was no other possible way to find the temple faster rather than seek its energy," he explained. "It was the most logical and easiest option I had available. Otherwise it would be harder."

Master Hand understood. "Well, you did your best... What's that area called, anyway?"

Tails looked back at the computer. "It says here the area's name is called..." He moved his face back before looking at the hand. "It's called the Orre Region."

"Orre Region?" Red asked after hearing the name. "...Orre Region..." he muttered before looking at them."I...I know that region..."

"You do?" Pikachu asked. "If you do, how come you know about it?"

"There's no mistake," Red said. "I've heard about that region before..."

Tails blinked surprised. "Wow, I didn't know you knew the region from the beginning. How did you get to hear about it?"

Red looked at him. "I...happen to read an article about how the Orre Region was not a recommended place where Wild Pokémon could be found." He tried to remember more. "I think I recall that the environment was not suitable for Wild Pokémon since there aren't any places where they've been spotted..."

Squirtle and Ivysaur looked up at him. "You know that much?" Squirtle asked.

"Thanks to mom," Red said. "She told me I should read about what other regions there were, and the Orre Region was mentioned. However...I did hear there were many trainers who used the place as means to train their Pokémon..."

"Actually, that's the whole truth," Chris began to speak. "I happen to know that as well because..."

"A video game?" Pikachu asked.

Chris looked away. "Y-yes, because of that..."

"...A video game?" Amy asked. "You heard about that place through a video game?"

Master Hand chuckled. "O-oh, forget what he said," he said nervously. "I don't know how Chris gets information about other places through video games. I-I think he's just insane..."

The World Traveler looked bored at the hand before he chuckled heartily at the Sonic gang. "Y-yes, it's some kind of crazy luck I get...d-don't mind me..."

Chris looked as Knuckles narrowed his eyes at him. "...You're hiding something we should know, right?"

Chris gulped and shook his head. "W-what makes you say that?"

"Hey, I'm not stupid when it comes down to find out the truth," Knuckles said. "Your reactions are telling me a lot than your own words."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "When did Knucklehead start to read books?"

Knuckles grunted and looked back at him. "I heard that, you know!"

To prevent something else form happening, Master Hand coughed. "Tails, are you sure there's a temple in the Orre Region?"

"There's no doubt about it," Tails said. "The radar is detecting some of the waves of energy from the temple... If you're asking why it doesn't locate the exact coordinates is because the temple itself radiates a lot of energy," he explained. "If I try to locate the temple...the radar would overload and it would stop working."

"So I guess we should try to look for it," the hand summarized. "And since Red knows about this world, I guess that'd mean only Pokémon can go, and that also means we should send every single one of them to that place."

Jigglypuff hummed happily. "Is it just me, or am I going to be required yet again?"

"Lucky bastard..." Diddy muttered as Jigglypuff looked happy.

Master Hand grabbed a paper from a printer. "Time to read the status of this world..."

Pokémon Colosseum
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Pokémon
Number of protagonists: 2
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 7 (or 9)
Highly recommended abilities: Pokémon Trainer Battle's Skills

"...I don't get this..." Master Hand muttered. "I thought there wasn't any kind of danger..." He looked back at them. "If my assumptions are accurate...I think the Subspace Army got the lead before us."

"What?" Marth asked. "Why do you think they are there?"

"It makes sense when you think about it," Master Hand said. "Why would there be a medium level of danger? Remember that this system was made to study the army's moves, and they must be trying to do something there like dropping a Subspace Bomb..." He remained silent for a moment. "...We should prepare for anything."

It was a matter of time before every single person began to talk with each other. The hand motioned at Chris to go to him.

"Yes?" Chris asked as he looked up to him.

"Well, try to buy something in the shop before going," Master Hand said. "Buy some stickers, for example."

Chris hopped a bit at this. "Oh...by the way, Diddy gave me some already..." He showed Master Hand the stickers that Ashley got accidentally due to her experiment. "Are these imbued with attributes?"

Master Hand looked at them. "Now, that is what I call luck," he said. "...Hmm-hm...yes..." The hand looked at him. "Yes, these stickers can be used to raise attributes. I can give tell you how much right now."

"Oh, please, tell me," Chris said.

"Alright, I'll tell you."

Name - Size - Attribute - Character

Wario-Man - Large -Arm, Leg (Attack +18) – Wario

Mona & Moped - Medium - Specials: Indirect (Attack +8) – All

Spitz - Medium - Tail (Attack +12) - Yoshi, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, Red (Squirtle, Charizard)

Dribble - Medium - Battering (Resistance +6) – All

Jimmy T. - Small - Freezing (Attack +9) – All

Dr. Crygor - Small - Arm, Leg (Attack +2) – All

Penny - Small - Arm, Leg (Attack +4) – All

Orbulon - Small - Freezing (Attack +12) – All

Kat - Small - Slash (Attack +4) – All

Ana - Small - Body, Spin (Attack +7) – All

9-Volt - Small - Electric (Attack +8) – All

18-Volt - Small - Arm (Attack +4) – All

Ashley - Large - Magic (Attack +22) - Peach & Zelda

Young Cricket - Small - Arm, Leg (Attack +3) – All

"Those are the attributes for each sticker," Master Hand said. "Why is it that many of them are so small? Beats me."

Chris looked a bit confused. "I'm a little bit uninformed... I don't know certain attributes so well..."

Master Hand nodded. "Yeah, you won't know everything, I guess," he said. "Alright, what do you want me to explain?"

"Can you explain to me the areas of effect?" Chris asked. "I want to know everything about each one of them."

"Oh, certainly," the hand said. "I'll give you some brief descriptions for each one of them."

-Attack-Based Effect-

[Arm] Attack - Increases the damage done by punches, slaps, and elbows.

[Leg] Attack - Increases the damage done by kicks and knees.

[Head] Attack - Increases the damage done by headbutts.

[Body] Attack - Increases the damage done by full-body attacks such as Dedede's dash attack or Captain Falcon's dash attack.

[Spin] Attack - Increases the damage done by attacks that involve spinning such as Meta Knight's Mach Tornado.

[Tail] Attack - Increases the damage done by tail attacks. Only Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Diddy Kong, Squirtle, Charizard, Mewtwo, Fox, Falco, and Wolf can use the stickers with this effect.

[Bite] Attack - Increases the damage done by attacks that involves fangs or biting. Only Yoshi, Wario, Charizard, and Wolf can use the stickers with this effect.

[Slash] Attack - Increases the damage done by sharp objects, such as swords and claws.

[Weapon] Attack - Increases the damage done by non-sword weapons, such as hammers and lasers.

[Throwing] Attack - Increases the damage done by throwing an enemy.

[Flame] Attack - Increases the damage done by fire-based attacks.

[Electric] Attack - Increases the damage done by electric attacks.

[Freezing] Attack - Increases the damage done by ice-based attacks.

[Water] Attack - Increases the damage done by water-based attacks.

[Grass] Attack - Increases the damage done by plant-based attacks. Only Ivysaur can use the stickers with this effect.

[Energy] Attack - Increases the damage done by energy-based attacks such as Fox's Blaster or Samus's Charged Shot.

[Magic] Attack - Increases the damage done by magical attacks. Only Peach and Zelda can use the stickers with this effect.

[PK] Attack - Increases the damage done by PK-based attacks. Only Ness and Lucas can use the stickers with this effect.

[Aura] Attack - Increases the damage done by aura-based attacks. Only Lucario can use the stickers with this effect.

[Pikmin] Attack - Increases the damage done by Pikmin-based attacks. Only Olimar can use the stickers with this effect.

[Darkness] Attack - Increases the damage done by dark-based attacks. Only Ganondorf can use the stickers with this effect.

[Explosives] Attack - Increases the damage done by explosion-based attacks such as Link's Bomb and Samus's Bomb.

[Specials: Direct] Attack - Increases the damage done by physical special moves or items such as Yoshi's Egg Throw or Ray Guns respectively.

[Specials: Indirect] Attack - Increases the damage done by ranged special moves such as moves that can't be controlled like Dedede's Waddle Dee Throw or Assist Trophies.

-Defense-Based Effects-

[Battering] Resistance - Decreases damage taken from battering-type attacks (such as punches, kicks, hammers, etc).

[Slash] Resistance - Decreases damage taken from claws and sword attacks, as well as spikes.

[Flame] Resistance - Decreases damage taken from fire-based attacks.

[Electric] Resistance - Decreases damage taken from electric attacks.

-Special Effects-

Launch Power - Increases the distance a character's attacks can send enemies such as when you are tossed.

Launch Resistance - Decreases the distance a character flies when hit.

Flinch Resistance - Makes it more difficult for a character to flinch, making the character numb to attacks for a time.

Swim Time - Increases the duration a character can swim (not suitable for Sonic).

Food Effect - Increases the healing effect of food items by the number indicated.

Maxim Tomato Effect - Increases the healing effect of a Maxim Tomato by the number indicated.

Heart Container Effect - Increases the healing effect of a Heart Container by the number indicated.

Trophy Stand Drops - Increases the frequency of trophy stands.

Sticker Drops - Increases the frequency of stickers.

Trophy Drops - Increases the frequency of trophies.

Carry _____ - Character will be holding the mentioned item at the start of each battle before it is tossed away.

Ability - Makes a character learn a special ability such as skills and magic.

Master Hand chuckled. "Useful, isn't it? What else do you want me to explain about the usage of stickers?"

At that moment, Yoshi approached them as he held his Trophy Stand. "Hey, I was wondering if there was a limit of space in these stands," he wondered. "I mean, how big are those stickers? It'll be hard to keep track of the space..."

The hand thought for a moment. "Hmm, true enough... You raised a good question..." The hand looked away to think before he got an idea. He turned around to look at the 2. "Oh, I got it. I know how you can keep track of the space of each sticker."

"You do?" Chris asked.

"Yes, and it's very simple," Master Hand said. "We'll give each stand a space of 10."

Yoshi looked confused. "A space of 10?"

"Let me continue," the hand said. "From now on, we'll define the space a sticker occupies by 10. This means we're going to give the 3 different sizes for each sticker a number. For example, for small stickers they'll be 1 each, for medium stickers they'll be 2, and for large stickers they'll be 3. Stack them together so you can fill the stand."

Yoshi rubbed his chin and nodded. "Hmm...I guess it works... So if I put 3 large stickers and 1 small sticker, the space will fill?"

"Absolutely," Master Hand said. "Each Trophy Stand has a space of 10."

"Isn't the space kind of small, though?"

"If it is small for you, Chris can afford money to us so Crazy increases the size for every single stand by adding 2," Master Hand explained.

"If you pay me, I'll increase space. If you want more space, you'll have to pay even more than before, heeheehee..." Crazy Hand chuckled evilly.

"Ignoring his evil chuckle, that's the only way to increase sizes." The hand said. "Also, if you want to increase your attributes by another way to stack up enhances, you need to use stickers that affect 2 areas at the same time."

Chris looked at him. "What?"

"Look, take Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch for example," the hand suggested. "It doesn't fall in a single category but 3: arm, direct specials, and flame. Now, if we do some math here, enhancing each area by one sticker each would greatly increase the attack power of the punch by a lot to the point where it could become quite lethal. If you do some research with everyone's attacks, you could try to exploit the stickers to the maximum."

Chris thought for a moment. "...I guess I can understand that way."

Yoshi nodded. "We can't stack stickers that have...individual enhances to the same area?"

Master Hand shook his head. "Nope, you can't do that. The fact that you want to raise only 1 area with stickers that only raise the same mentioned area would be kind of cheating."

"But what if we find stronger foes later on?"

"Then I'll consider the idea of stacking powers as long as Chris affords money. I hope that makes everything clear for you."

Yoshi and Chris thought for a moment before nodding.

"Do you have any more questions?" Master Hand asked as Yoshi looked at Chris.

"I think I understand everything," Chris said. "I hope I don't have to remind myself about all those stickers..."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the hand said. "You don't have to keep track of who increased what area by how much. I'll tell you, however, that I won't give you a full list of all the stickers in the shop. Crazy will tell you which stickers are available at the shop by each category. Look for a sticker, search for one you'd like to buy, and presto, you'll have your sticker."

"Now BUY!" Crazy Hand demanded loudly.

Chris got startled and decided to buy something from the hand.

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 2601

-Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Call me Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

FLUDD Devices - 5000 Smash Coins

Mr. Utility Belt AKA Link - 5000 Smash Coins

Peach's Therapy - 8000 Smash Coins

Allows Peach to re-learn Therapy, a move that can replenish a single ally's HP, sometimes recovering all HP if she concentrates enough.

-Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Poison Mushroom

Stored items:
None

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'll buy one Super Mushroom."

The World Traveler gave 400 Smash Coins to the hand, receiving mentioned mushroom.

"I'd like to buy a Superspicy Curry as well."

300 Smash Coins were given to the insane hand, giving Chris the rather-dangerous food.

"And...I'll buy a Heart Container."

And 500 Smash Coins were given at the hand, giving Chris the heart-shaped container.

"You have spent 1200 Smash Coins in items, reducing your bank account to 1401 coins," Crazy Hand said. "Do you need anything else?"

"I don't have a...oh, whatever," Chris said with a frown. "Actually, I want to save up some money. I don't want to spend it all that fast."

Crazy Hand hmm'd. "That means you don't want to buy any stickers? C'mon, they're handy...like me."

Chris stared at the hand for a few seconds before shaking his head. "N-no, that's okay. I'll use the stickers I got, though."

"Okie-dokie," Crazy Hand said. "Get your butt kicked by the bad guys so you come back begging for my stickers."

"...Why do you HAVE to put it that way?" Chris asked.

"Coughbecauseheiscrazyhandcough," Master Hand coughed from behind him. "Okay, now that you've purchased items, get the team together. Remember that only Pokémon people can go with you. Guess who you're going to take?"

Chris knew right away. "I'll have to take Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Mewtwo, and Lucario with me?"

"Exactly...but Red and the other 2 make up a single team of 1 character," Master Hand pointed out. "Whatever. Get them all here."

The World Traveler decided to turn around to walk to the Pokémon reps. As usual, he found Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff together.

Pikachu crossed his arms. "So, I heard you're going to take us to our homeland."

"Orre is not our homeland..." Pichu muttered.

"Hey, but we DO come from that universe. I happen to be from another part, but it's the same thing," Pikachu said. "Besides, I hear singer diva here was excited about coming too."

Jigglypuff smiled proudly. "My wish of becoming more useful is slowly giving fruits," she said happily. "Here I thought I was going to be forgotten, but destiny is just plain nice with me this time around."

"Wow, I wonder why my destiny annoys me so much, then..." a passing Ness muttered in annoyance.

Pikachu looked back at Chris. "So, are you taking us? You don't have another choice," he said with a grin. "You're forever cursed to take us Pokémon to any Pokémon world."

Chris looked bored at him. "Oh, that sounds like I'm going to do it all the time."

"But...it's true," Pichu said. "And Master Hand didn't say anything about Sonic coming, I mean, if trainers saw him, they would throw a bunch of Poké Balls at him..."

"And if they found he isn't one like us," Pikachu said. "They're going to run experiments on him to determine where the heck he came from."

Sonic happened to be close to them before he walked to them. "At least I'm not going there," he said. "I rather stay here and not turn into that werehog thing again."

"Good for you," Jigglypuff said. "You give me the creeps when you turn into that monster."

"I'm glad we all have the same dislikes," Sonic said annoyed. "Seriously, I really wish to get rid of it very soon before it starts to get out of control."

"You gave Shadow Lucas a good beating, though," Pichu said.

"What if I did?" Sonic asked annoyed. "If you see me smile while in that form, it'll be because there are pros...BUT JUST THAT." The hedgehog turned around before walking to Tails.

The 3 Pokémon rolled their eyes before looking at Chris. "So we're coming with you," Jigglypuff said.

"Okay, I'll tell you when we're ready to go, then," Chris said, receiving nods from the small group before he walked up...to Mewtwo. "...Mewtwo..."

The Psychic Pokémon was leaning against the wall with crossed arms, his eyes closed in meditation before he opened them to look at him. "Yes?" he asked.

"I need you to come with us again..." Chris said a little bit scared of Mewtwo's glaring look. "D-do you want to come? It has been a long time after you last fought as well..."

"...Hmm..." Mewtwo wondered before he stood normally.

The fact that Mewtwo was like 6 feet tall or more like Lucario made Chris feel uncomfortable by staring up at him.

"I should go this time," Mewtwo said with a nod. "I haven't taken part of a mission in a long time."

"Yes..." Chris said disappointed. "Last time you when out to scout Ivysaur you were..."

"Please," Mewtwo interrupted Chris's thoughts. "That was a small mistake by my part...an humiliating one for that matter," he said in a tone of annoyance. "I don't know what happened to me when I fought 4 people...and I don't want to keep remembering that stupid event again..."

Chris gulped. "W-well, I won't let you remember again, then..."

"I'm glad you understand," Mewtwo said.

"...But if you don't want to repeat the same mistake...I think you'll need to stay close to us instead of going out by yourself..."

"...We'll see..." Mewtwo said. "Call me when you're ready to go."

"A-as always," Chris said, smiling nervously at the Psychic Pokémon before he walked to Red and his team. "I'm surprised that you know about the Orre Region."

Red looked at him. "I-I think it was pure luck," Red commented. "You know where it is?"

"Not exactly..." Chris muttered. "Do you?"

Red nodded. "I heard that it's far away from the Johto Region to the northwest, following the coast. It's very far away from there, though," he explained. "I began to read something about it during the vacations we had last time, remember? I wanted to study more about Pokémon during my stance at Pewter City's Pokémon Center, and there were some magazines about the Orre Region."

"...Wait, you went to Pewter City?" Chris asked. "I thought..."

Red looked down in shame. "...D-don't laugh, but I failed to get Brock's Boulder Badge..."

Ivysaur rolled his eyes. "I told you that you had the advantage over his Pokémon."

"How the hell was I going to expect to fight that Onix?" Red asked annoyed. "It was so huge!"

"That was your only complaint?" Squirtle asked. "Sizes don't matter in Pokémon battles, Red. I could have used Water Gun to make it kneel down to me but you were panicking when it used Wrap on me."

Red looked annoyed. "Hey, you weren't hearing my orders when you were screaming. Besides, it didn't let go of you."

"Then you decided to forfeit the match," Ivysaur reminded him. "No offense, but Squirtle could have sprayed water at its face from that angle."

"I'm...I'm..." Red blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm trying to learn the basics, okay? I-it's going to take a time for me to be a good Pokémon Trainer, so you'll have to wait!"

Squirtle moved his hands forward. "Take it easy, Red, nobody's pressuring you."

"Well, you 2 look like you're pressuring me..." Red muttered. "I'm doing my best to do this. That's what Green expected me to d-"

For some reason, Red stopped talking.

"..." Red shifted his eyes. "...I'll try my best, okay?"

Ivysaur and Squirtle exchanged confused looks before looking at Red. "Red, did you say something we should be aware of?"

"N-no," Red said, blushing a bit. "T-there's nothing you should know, really."

"Are you really sure about that?" Squirtle asked narrowing his eyes bored.

"Unless you want to hear some embarrassing secrets I do NOT wish to say, then no."

Squirtle and Ivysaur rolled their eyes at this before looking at Chris. "Just call us."

"...Okay..." Chris said unsure as he walked away from the 3.

Ivysaur looked up at Red. "So who's this Green person?"

Red blinked, trying to hide his embarrassing look. "E-er, when did I say that? I mean, I just said the name of a color...that's all."

Squirtle looked bored. "Dude, the fact that you have a color as a name makes us believe there are people who have colors as names around."

Red rolled his eyes in annoyance. "That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard from you."

"And your name surely isn't stupid," Ivysaur joked.

"H-hey, knock that off," Red said annoyed. "You're starting to sound like you're going to trick me to do something stupid."

"No, we're trying to find out who the Green guy is," Squirtle said.

"Green is a girl, though..." Red muttered.

The 2 Pokémon exchanged grins of success before looking up at Red. "Ooooooooh, so Green is a chick."

At this mention, Red's face reddened (pun intended) a bit and pushed his hat down to try to hide his eyes. "W-well..."

Ivysaur grinned deviously. "And we can assume she's a friend of yours..."

"..." Red just couldn't contradict that. "...Y-yes..." he said."B-but that's all I'm going to say about her, you got that?"

Squirtle had the same devious look as Ivysaur. "Oh, don't worry, we'll find out if this Green girl was someone very special to you very soon..." He raised his eyebrows (if he had any) a bit. "You know what I mean?"

"...Hey!" Red yelled at them. "I-it's not like that, I swear!"

"Suuuuuuuuuure it's not," the 2 Pokémon said sarcastically as they chuckled silently, making Red grunt annoyed.

Back with Chris, he only had one last person to ask to come with him. That person was obviously going to say what he wanted to hear.

"Of course I'm coming with you," Lucario told Chris. "You're going to a Pokémon world after all. I wouldn't mind going there with you."

Chris chuckled and folded his arms. "I knew you were going to come with me."

"Besides..." Lucario looked away. "Since we're going there...I could participate in some battles as you order me."

"What?"

Lucario looked back at him, a hint of excitement in his tone of voice. "Well, we haven't had trainer battles before, and I was wishing to have at least some battles with you," he admitted. "I...want to listen to you and win battles by working together..."

"..." Chris smiled a bit at Lucario. "If that's what you want, I won't deny it. I'll try to give you want to want to do."

Lucario opened his mouth for a bit before he knelt down to Chris. "If that's so, I won't disappoint you, Chris."

The World Traveler chuckled and fell down to his knees to hug his Pokémon. "Aww, please, don't say it like that. Y-you're making me blush..."

The Aura Pokémon growled deeply as he hugged his trainer back...before a pleased Cream passed nearby.

"That's so cute of you 2," Cream commented as Cheese smiled happily. "Mr. Lucario looks so cute when happy."

At this mention, the Aura Pokémon blushed a bit and looked away embarrassed before standing up, making Chris stand up as well. "Please, don't say it like that..."

Chris looked bored at him. "Wow, that was exactly the same thing I told you not to do."

Lucario looked at him annoyed. "W-well, you did enjoy it, though. Don't try to say a lie because I'll find out right away."

"...Fine, I admit it."

Lucario smiled a bit.

"But admit it you enjoyed it as well."

"I won't deny it."

"Good," Chris said.

"That was cute as well," Cream commented.

"Cream..." Lucario sighed embarrassed.

Cream looked worried. "I don't see what's bad of it, honestly..."

"Oh, don't mind Lucario," Chris said with a chuckle. "He gets like this a lot of times."

The only response Lucario gave to Chris was a grunt.

"Okay, the party is ready," Chris said. "Everyone, come here."

Master Hand nodded. "...Wait a minute," he said as he looked at all the Pokémon that weren't with trainers. "We have a problem here for those of you who are wild Pokémon..."

"What is it?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Well, the fact that you're going to an area where wild Pokémon haven't been sighted makes you an easy target for people to capture you," the hand pointed out. "You don't want that to happen, right?"

"Please," Mewtwo began with a frown. "Nobody can capture me before I retaliat-"

"Especially you, mister psychic cat," Master Hand interrupted. "The last time you got captured you killed Chris by accident."

At this, Chris looked away to hide his sad look.

"And I don't want to see that again," the hand said as he looked at Chris. "I'm sorry to say this, but the ones who don't have trainers will have to go as owned Pokémon."

"...Meaning..." Pichu trailed off.

"Meaning that you, Jigglypuff, and Mewtwo will have to get inside their own..." Master Hand turned around to later present them 3 Poké Balls on himself. "Poké Balls!"

One of the Poké Balls suddenly exploded into pieces, making some of them gasp. This sudden event made almost everyone in the room to look at their direction.

However, Master Hand knew why the ball exploded out of nowhere as he looked at Mewtwo's glowing eyes.

"...Okay, someone here dislikes the idea too much," the hand muttered annoyed.

Mewtwo gave him a death glare. "I refuse to be inside one of those filthy spheres," he commented coldly.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Then if you dislike them so much, walk around so people get interested in you before they all start tossing more of them at you by no reason."

"I already said I won't go inside one," Mewtwo said pissed at the idea. "That means every single one."

Master Hand sighed. "Mewtwo, stop being a kid and get captured by either Chris or Red so you can be safe."

"Never," Mewtwo still refused. "I won't be someone else's Pokémon ever."

"It's just for a small time," the hand told him. "Please? Get inside one and be obedient."

"That's one of the many reasons I hate Poké Balls," Mewtwo said with a glare. "Don't make me hurt you."

Master Hand didn't want to get scared by Mewtwo's angry look. The hand had to convince the stubborn Pokémon to be with either Red or Chris, and he wouldn't accept a no by answer. Master Hand didn't want to repeat another incident as well.

"...Mewtwo, get in one, now," the hand muttered.

Mewtwo only narrowed his glare.

"...Fine, you leave me no choice but to do this..." Master Hand turned around before he looked back, this time, holding a Master Ball.

The Psychic Pokémon quickly tried to blow the ball into bits, but nothing happened as he concentrated his mind into doing what he wanted.

"No matter how much you try, this Master Ball won't break," Master Hand told him. "I decided to make my own Poké Ball specifically designed to stop you should you behave like you are right now."

Pikachu looked bored at him. "And you had that thing with you this whole time? Didn't you trust Mewtwo?"

"I do trust him, but sometimes he goes way too far."

Mewtwo looked at him with a glare. "Try to hit me with that trash and you're going to die here."

Master Hand chuckled. "Why should you kill me? I won't throw this at you because if you want to kill someone here..." The hand quickly tossed the ball at Red. "Redcatchhimnow!" he said insanely quickly.

Mewtwo's eyes widened before he tried to teleport away, but surprisingly, Red didn't hesitate to toss the ball right on his back. Mewtwo looked shocked once he felt the sphere's slam on his back before he was obliged to retreat into it by turning into a red image before it got into the ball as a beam, falling down on the floor where the ball shook a few times before the red light on the button turned off, indicating that Mewtwo was captured.

"...Oh god..." Red muttered in disbelief as he ducked to grab the ball. "...I...I...I...I captured Mewtwo!" he said in excitement before raising the ball to the air. "I've got Mewtwo, I can't believe it, I got Mewtwo!"

Pikachu whistled a fanfare with Pichu as some looked a bit amused at this.

"What do you know? He got captured by him," C. Falcon said to Samus. "I thought this day would never arrive."

"That's...really sudden..." Samus commented, unsure about the whole thing as Red looked proud of himself for achieving a big success that he was ordered to do in a second.

However, it wasn't going to last too long as Master Hand coughed.

"Red, I'm sorry to ruin your fantasy, but you'll have to release Mewtwo from that ball once you come back," Master Hand said. "Besides, I doubt he's going to listen to you."

Squirtle looked panicked. "Y-yeah... W-what if you release him out later? H-he'll surely rip your head off once he sees you...or us!"

Red never thought about that before he looked shocked at the Master Ball. "...O-oh man... I-I have someone in here waiting to kill me, then?"

Master Hand chuckled. "It's amazing how you care so much about me, Red. I'm flattered by your display of courage."

Red looked annoyed at him. "Y-you! Y-you made me do this knowing I wouldn't stop!"

"What if I did? You had that weakness so I took advantage of it," the hand explained. "You have to admit it was your fault you captured Mewtwo AKA the wish of every trainer who won't realize they're begging to die a young death by getting their brains cut off by Confusion."

Red, without hesitating, gave the Master Ball to Chris. "Y-yours!" Red yelled. "I don't want to die!"

"W-what?!" Chris asked as he looked down at the Master Ball. "O-oh no, it's YOUR Master Ball, not mine!" He gave it back to Red.

Red gave the ball back to Chris. "Oh no no no, you deserve him more than me."

Chris gave the ball to Red. "I-I'm being a nice guy to you. He's all yours to take."

Red tossed the ball at Chris. "W-why should I have the un-required training to control Mewtwo? Y-you're more of a pro than me!"

Chris tossed the ball back at Red. "I-it's your sick dream to catch him, and you just did it! Be glad!"

Red tossed the ball at Chris's chest. "A-and now I'm giving it to you as...your birthday present!"

Chris tossed the ball at Red's chest. "Oh, now you're replacing the gift you gave me? That's a little bit of a jerk!"

"I know you liked the Clefairy Doll."

Chris blushed a bit, remembering the same mentioned doll peacefully sitting on his pillow of his room. "...Yours!" was his only response once he got the ball on his hands to later return it at Red.

Master Hand could tell this was going to last for a long time as he watched the 2 tossing the damned Master Ball between each other. Frustrated by the fact everyone watched without doing something, he grabbed the ball and put it on Red's hands.

"H-hey!" Red gasped.

"Red, you captured him, you keep him," Master Hand told him. "If you don't want, then just don't release him out. I have to tell you he'll find a fast way to accomplish whatever he has in hands to exterminate you, so be careful if you plan to take him out."

Red looked even more shocked than before. "...Was that even SUPPOSED to make me feel fine?"

"...Whoops, my suggestion was to not make him get out," the hand admitted as Chris decided to open the portal. "And before you go, Pichu, Jigglypuff, I hope you accept this condition."

Pichu nodded. "It's just for a small period of time, right?"

"Exactly," the hand said. "Let Chris catch you 2 so he looks like a trainer."

The hand gave the Poké Balls to the World Traveler. Chris looked back at the 2 and looked worried.

Jigglypuff moved her right hand. "It's alright, do it," she reassured him.

"Okay," Chris said as he tossed the 2 balls at them. Pichu and Jigglypuff closed their eyes as they received the hits from both Poké Balls before long they got inside them without fighting back the sign that they were both captured.

The World Traveler picked the 2 balls and smiled at them a bit. At that moment, Pikachu jumped to his right shoulder before resting on it. "Have any vacancy spots for me?" Pikachu asked. "I'll be your Pokémon-on-shoulder if you don't mind."

Red, noticing this, looked annoyed. "Hey, why don't you do that with me?"

Pikachu looked at him. "Because of the fact I feel a little bit more comfortable with Chris since he and me know each other very well...no offense, though."

Red stared at Pikachu for quite a long while.

"...Hello?" Pikachu asked. "Red, you're looking at me with an odd look."

At this fact, Red blinked his eyes and shook his head to come back to his senses. "O-oh, sorry. I think I was thinking with a blank mind."

"...By staring at me?"

Red chuckled. "Y-yeah, because of that."

"Ahem," Master Hand coughed. "Okay, your party is all set."

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted as he took out Lucario's Poké Ball. "Sorry, but I'll have to make you go with me in your own one."

Lucario looked at him. "Why?" he asked.

"Because, you know...there is no 4th generation Pokémon there and you're...well...I want you to keep as a surprise, that's all I'm asking."

Lucario looked ashamed. "But...I wanted to walk with you by your side... You know very well how the people are there..."

"...True..."

"Besides, Lucario's already captured. It won't hurt you to make him stay out," Pikachu said. "If he's that worried...I don't know what awaits us in that region."

Chris looked worried before he looked at Lucario. "...Okay," Chris said. "I guess this is for the bes-" Chris got interrupted by a tight hug from Lucario's right arm. "O-okay, okay, I know you like my decision so much. S-stop it!"

Lucario obeyed and chuckled. "Thanks," he said.

Master Hand coughed again. "Okay, all of you go in and good luck."

Tails stood up. "Hey, remember to look out for the temple. You're being sent there for that reason."

"I'm sure they won't forget their task, now go... Before you go in, Chris, I decided to allow you to use some jobs."

"What?" Chris asked. "I thought I couldn't use them in that universe."

"I'm doing this so you can do something," Master Hand said. "However, I'm only allowing you to use the 4 jobs that are compatible with the group you're going with. Change to the job with the big doll so you look like you could fit in."

With that in mind, the World Traveler changed to his ISOKFMG, Pikachu looking back at the strange doll hanging on to Chris's neck from behind.

"...Okay, I'm ready now," Chris said.

"Well, good luck and find the temple before the army does."

They weren't aware of a quirky blond boy that spied them from the corner of the hallway. The boy grinned with a chuckle before he ran away in a hurry.

The "Pokémon team" nodded before they all walked to the portal before it vanished, leaving all the Smashers behind...and a pissed Knuckles that looked at Master Hand.

"Something is on my index finger?" Master Hand asked.

"No," Knuckles said. "I want to find out that thing about Chris knowing the region through a video game. What did he mean by that, exactly?" He narrowed his eyes at him. "You're hiding something from me and the others aren't you?"

Master Hand saw Knuckles's hands turning into fists. With that notice in mind, the hand sighed.

"Okay, I didn't want to do this, but you want to find out the reason behind his reactions, right?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah."

"...Promise you're not going to tell anybody this? It may be so shocking that you won't believe it..."

Knuckles quickly grew angry. "Just tell us already!"

Master Hand sighed before he looked at the Smashers. They all knew what was going to happen once they nodded seriously. "...Okay, if you want to know the whole truth..."

Pokémon Colosseum

Wastelands
En-route to Agate Village

The airy region of Orre laid peacefully as a big wasteland, defining it as a long desert where there were barely some towns and cities built in places where life would be suitable enough for people to live.

Due to the environment, it was hard to find wild Pokémon roaming about. If someone wanted to find wild Pokémon, they would have to get them by trading with the nearby regions like Johto or Kanto. Rocky cliffs and long deserts mostly made up the completely desolated region.

Also, it was difficult to travel on foot to the different settlements around the whole region. However, people had their ways to get anywhere by using special means to transport.

One of them seemed to be crossing the region at full speed, though.

Located to the northwest, a long motorbike was going towards the same mentioned direction at full speed, letting smoke from the long motor to come out from the 3 pipes at each side of the front motor. The motorbike looked quite different as many other typical motorbikes due to the fact the motor was long and noisy.

Of course, someone was riding on it.

Right behind the motor, a grinning, shady person with pale grey hair, topaz eyes, wore some goggles on his hair, had a white line tattoo that ran horizontally between his eyes and nose, wore a long blue cape, and an odd-looking machine attached to his left arm rode the mechanical monster as he had his black boots placed on the sides of the long motorbike. The person was a teenager on his 17. Despite his thug appearance, the teen was actually a nice person, even to the fact he was a Pokémon Trainer himself. Many people considered him to belong to Pyrite Town as he would fit there very well, but it was unclear if he lived there before or not.

The teen was not alone, though. The motorbike had a passenger's seat to the driver's seat's left side. A nice-looking girl had her left hand on her orange hair with little pigtails on both sides of the top as she tried to glance forward the long expanse of land before them. The girl looked like she was also a teen. She wore a blue jacket, purple shirt underneath, white skirt, and pink boots that rested inside the seat. She wasn't a Pokémon Trainer like the boy, but she was very important him in a way or another.

Both seemed to be in a hurry to get to the northwest.

To break the silence, the girl looked at the boy. "Hey, Wes!" she called out. "Are you sure this is the way to Agate Village?"

The boy (Wes) was surely so deaf to hear her due to the motor's noise.

"WES!"

Wes blinked a few times before looking at her. "What is it?" he asked by yelling.

The girl sighed. "Are you sure this is the way to Agate Village?"

"I'm sure it is!" Wes yelled. "What, you don't believe what the fortune teller told us, Rui?"

The girl (Rui) looked a bit worried. "Well, I'm a little bit worried myself! I just wanted to ask to be sure about it!"

Wes looked back to the road as he rode the machine. "This is the way! I'm sure of it!"

Rui sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, then!"

Agate Village
Entrance

Pokémon Colosseum - Agate Village

Unlike all the region of Orre, very few spots overall landmark had suitable environments for people and Pokémon to live. One of such spots was Agate Village.

Agate Village was probably the only place in the whole region where one would find grass and water. The village itself was built around a green valley where a mystical place lied, surrounded by mist that was over passed by green cliffs. The village, in fact, had many houses across the whole cliff it was on, with a big old tree at the top that had a house underneath its visible roots.

Speaking of roots, most of those were scattered around hidden parts of the village. Clean water ran down through the single river of the village located close to the Pokémon Center and Daycare Center. Most of the people that lived in the village were Pokémon veterans that retired from battling, though some of the old men still had the same spirit to battle. There were also some young trainers that visited the village from time to time to visit their relatives.

The entrance to the village was connected by a long bridge above the body of water that separated it from fertile land and grass, and some feet away from it, a portal opened up where Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Chris, Pikachu, and Lucario stepped out before it vanished. The 6 looked around a bit before spotting the village.

"If I recall..." Red wondered. "...This must be...Agate Village."

Chris looked surprised at him. "Wait, you know the places of this region as well?"

"I know it's creepy...but I do," Red admitted. "I read just a few places, though... I've read about Agate Village...and Pyrite Town...just those 2."

Pikachu stared at the village. "...Are you sure this isn't some kind of "movie" place?"

Chris looked bored at him. "Just because it looks mystic doesn't mean this is a movie spot."

Pikachu sighed. "Then I won't have to worry about meeting some Legendary Pokémon..." He looked at Lucario. "Or one that was supposed to be one."

Lucario frowned. "That other Lucario you met was jus-"

"I know, I know," Pikachu interrupted before looking at Chris. "Hey, let Pichu and Jigglypuff walk around, why don't you?"

"Oh, I guess you're right..." Chris took out the 2 Poké Balls before he...stopped. "Wait a minute, I just realized something."

"What?" Squirtle asked.

"I always wanted to do this sort of thing..." Chris chuckled before he tossed the 2 Poké Balls high up. "Come on out, you 2!" he yelled once the 2 spheres were high enough to open up, releasing 2 lights that shot down on the floor before they vanished together, revealing Pichu and Jigglypuff as the 2 Poké Balls were caught by Chris.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Way to pull an Ash, Chris..."

Chris looked embarrassed. "I-I admit that I wanted to do that..."

Pichu and Jigglypuff looked around before spotting the village. "Hoo boy, is this the Orre Region?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Just a small example of it," Ivysaur said. "Well, shall we get going and see if someone knows about the temple?"

At this, Red remembered something. "E-er, wait a minute..." he said. "Pokémon can't talk, right?"

This simple question limited most of them to gather information.

"...Oh, right," Pikachu said. "We're probably the only Pokémon of the whole region who can say hello. If we greet someone, they're probably going to report us to creepy scientists who would want to study us inside tubes in water while they inject us with syringes to see how we react."

Everyone stared at him.

"...What? That's the usual thing they do," was Pikachu's statement.

Pichu looked worried. "T-then does that mean we're going to have to be silent?"

"And probably shout syllables of our names all day and night," Pikachu said. "...Pikapi," he said annoyed.

Squirtle sighed. "If we're going with that, I'm so going to wish to speak with the translators very soon... I found I like to talk like normal people do."

Pikachu looked bored. "I know. My trainer didn't understand most of what I ACTUALLY wanted to say until he guessed right." He looked at the village. "Well, let's just start..."

Chris looked at Lucario. "From now on, you're limited to roar, grunt, or growl."

Lucario frowned. "Fine, but I'll talk to you through telepathy if I want to tell you something."

Hearing this, Ivysaur's ears perked up a bit before looking up at the Aura Pokémon. "Wait, can't you try to make us all talk through telepathy?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Well, you have the freaky ability to do that. So I thought about asking you if you could something. Besides, aren't you legendary enough to do it?"

"..." Lucario frowned. "Well, I admit it's not very hard to do for me... Fine, I'll link all your minds together so you can talk through telepathy."

A few seconds passed and nobody did anything as Lucario merely stared at them.

"...Done," he said.

Squirtle looked miffed. "That was it? You didn't need to glow or makes us glow?"

"I only glow if I need to concentrate hard enough on something that could be hard to get into or if there's something that could make me get a headache. So far, only one mind has done that to me...and it wasn't good."

Chris looked confused at him. "Wait, did you get a headache by a mind before?"

"W-well..."

Pikachu clapped his hands. "Hey, forget about things about the past and let's just go into the village to find information. As for my kind here, let's all limit our language to syllables, please."

The group looked unsure before they nodded and walked on the bridge to the village, fearing that nobody would look at them odd. A single mistake and Squirtle would be put inside a tube.

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon looked annoyed for some reason.

Once they crossed the bridges, they proceeded to climb up a small green slope that directed to an old man who wore a black jacket, supporting himself on a cane with both hands. Noticing them, the old man walked to them. "Hello," he greeted. "Welcome to Agate Village, home of retired trainer veterans," he explained. "We don't receive a lot of travelers, just relatives."

"Oh, hello," Chris said. "We came here to ask about something... Would you mind if you can answer something?"

"What?"

"It's about a temple," Red continued. "Have you heard about a temple?"

"A temple? Hmm..." The old man wondered as he looked up. "...I'm afraid to say I haven't heard anything about a temple. No temples have been sighted in this region as well."

"That doesn't help too much, then..." Red said.

"Well, young boys, if you want to find information of what you're looking for, you should ask the people of this village," the old man suggested. "Maybe you should try to ask the travelers as well. One of them might know."

"Thanks, sir," Red said with a nod before the group looked at each other. "Should we separate?"

"Why? The whole village is small," Chris pointed out before he looked at Lucario.

It seemed that he was talking to them through telepathy.

"...Well, we're not going to call Mewtwo..." Chris said worried.

"Yes, rip my head off, why don't you?" Red asked annoyed before he looked at Squirtle. "...No, I'm not calling him out."

"It's already bad to do that," Chris said worried. "I mean, what if he decides to kill me off as well?"

"T-that's a big no, then," Red said. "...I'll call him out if we have trouble with something, though. Just wish for the best to happen...and when I mean that, I mean him unleashing his rage on the enemy."

Chris looked at Pichu. "...Well, you do have a point there. Mewtwo did learn about the last time his rage took the better of him."

The old man, that was still there, hearing the 2 trainers looking at their Pokémon, frowned. "Youngsters these days think they can talk with Pokémon through their eyes. Heheheh, they're getting very funny."

The group, obviously, didn't hear the old man.

"So we should just ask by staying together," Red said. "...Isn't it going to look weird for us to walk like this? I mean, we're like 8 people."

Chris looked at Lucario. "What do you mean it's fine?" He stared at him for a moment. "...The fact that we have 5 small Pokémon and one big won't make a difference?"

Red thought for a moment. "...Wow, that changed the whole perspective to me in my opinion."

An annoyed Pikachu looked bored.

"Fine, fine, we'll walk like this," Chris said.

The group sighed before they decided to go to the right, where the Pokémon Center was located. Getting some trainers to look at them oddly...especially to Lucario.

Lucario motioned at Chris to look at him. "I told you that they were going to do that," Chris said, receiving a grunt from his Pokémon before they entered the building.

Back at the entrance of the village, a hovering large motor stopped right in front of the bridge. Since this was the only kind of motorbike of the whole region, the one that rode in it would be surely Wes who jumped off from his seat and looked at the village, Rui dismounting her seat to stand next to him.

"Well, here we are," Rui said. "Agate Village, the place I wanted to reach before I was abducted."

Wes looked at her. "Why did you want to come here again?"

"I wanted to come here to visit my grandparents, but..." Rui looked down depressed. "...When I found who the Shadow Pokémon were...and that I had the ability to see them...I...wanted to ask them if they knew something about it, but just after I identified that Makuhita being a Shadow Pokémon, the guys who had it..."

"They decided to shut you up so you wouldn't say anything else," Wes said. "In fact, you were a threat to Cipher."

Rui looked worried at her. "...And thanks to you, I managed to escape."

Wes looked back at the village. "Well, let's not think about what happened already and look for your parents."

"H-hey, what about your Pokémon?" Rui asked worried. "Espeon and Umbreon haven't been healed after you fought Miror. B."

Wes took out 2 Poké Balls. "...I forgot about it..." he muttered before looking at the PC of the village. "I can't go somewhere else without healing them first."

"And take in mind your Shadow Pokémon," Rui reminded him.

"As long as Croconaw doesn't crave for biting my leg for the 13th time, I'll heal him," Wes said annoyed. "Seriously, I was lucky to snag him, but I don't know why he hasn't evolved yet. I want him to evolve into Feraligart soon because he would make a strong asset for my team."

Rui folded her arms and looked at the village. "Shall we go, then?"

Pokémon Center

In the game, the center would have looked very (but VERY) small. But in real life, the center actually looked more spacious than in the game itself.

The center had the usual counter where a nurse (surprisingly not a Nurse Joy) waited for people to ask to get their Pokémon healed. There were some tables located close to the entrance of the building as well as some plants decorating the corners of the ceiling. PCs where located close to the nurse where people would withdrawn or deposit Pokémon.

Overall, the center was pretty much bigger than in the game.

Unfortunately, the same day the Smashers arrived to the center was the same day no trainers visited the building, much for their dismay.

The only trainer they found was a bald old man who wore a yellow pale shirt and used a cane, with a Treecko standing besides him.

"What was that?" the old man asked to Red.

"I asked you if you knew about a temple!"

"Well, I don't know you, but my temples are itching me a bit."

"No, I wasn't talking about that!" Red yelled at the seemingly deaf old man. "Do you know if you saw some kind of ruins or something like that?!"

"If my law mower got in ruins? Well, it did!" the old man complained. "Damn those producers! They stole my money!"

"Sir, I wasn't talking about that!"

As Red continued his pointless rambling with the deaf old man, the group of Pokémon and Chris were all watching from a far away table as they were sitting down on different chairs while Pikachu and Pichu were on the table, seeing how Red lifted up his hands at his sides in utter annoyance at the old man.

"Didn't this already happen at Viridian City?" Pichu asked suddenly.

Chris gasped. "P-Pichu, you weren't supposed to talk!"

"Why is that?" Pikachu asked as he pointed at the nurse sleeping on the counter. "She's sleeping on the job, and that old man is so deaf to hear us, anyway."

Lucario sighed. "I'm glad there are places to speak freely."

"Well, judging our situation, I guess we're going to be mostly silent all the time," Pikachu said.

"Aww man," Squirtle said in disappointment. "I don't want to say "Squirtle" all the time."

Ivysaur grinned and looked at him. "Ivy, Ivysaur, Ivy."

Squirtle looked annoyed at him. "Oh right, address me with bad words so nobody suspects you."

Ivysaur chuckled. "Heheh, this has its benefits after all."

Chris was focusing his eyes on the Treecko that the old man had. The Wood Gecko Pokémon, noticing the World Traveler smiled a bit and seemed to say its name in happiness. However, Chris shrugged and just waved at it.

"Why do you look scared?" Jigglypuff asked.

"D-don't tell this to the Treecko, but I have a small phobia against Grovyles..." Chris gulped. "T-they look very shady...and evil..."

"And fat," Pikachu suddenly added, receiving looks from everyone. "...They do," was his response.

"Ever since I watched that episode where Ash's Treecko evolved, the animators thought it was good idea to make Grovyle a little bit...dark..." Chris said. "O-okay, I know that was stupid, but it had an effect on me... Worse yet, was it pure coincidence that the dungeon game had a Grovyle as a character?"

"As far as I'm concerned, just drop it," Pikachu said bored. "Grovyles aren't that scary to me."

"W-well, they are for me..."

Lucario looked serious at Chris and growled. The World Traveler turned his face at him and smiled a bit. "If one gets close to you, I'll do something so it doesn't bother you."

"T-thanks, Lucario, that helps a bit," Chris said with a nod.

Ivysaur looked annoyed. "Beat my Grass type brothers as much as you want. I won't say anything about it."

"Ha-ha, you have fraternal brothers," Squirtle teased.

"Shut up or I'll make turtle stew soup out of you."

At that moment, Pichu's ears perked up before he looked at the entrance. "S-someone's coming..." he muttered.

"Quick, let's all return to talk in syllables!" Pikachu warned them all.

Jigglypuff looked at him. "Were you serious?"

"Lab, anyone?"

"I'll be quiet, then..."

The group, ignoring the fact that Red still rambled with the old man on the other side of the temple, looked at the rotating door opening. From the doors, a serious Wes with Rui walked from the outside and went all the way to where the nurse was sleeping. Seeing that the nurse was sleeping, Wes touched the desk a few times with his gloved fingers to wake her up.

"...U-um..." the nurse muttered groggily before she looked up to Wes. She gasped a bit before standing up. "W-welcome to the Pokémon Center, sir. What would you like me to do for you?"

Wes merely put down 6 Poké Balls on the desk before looking at her. "I want my Pokémon healed, if you don't mind."

"Oh, certainly," the nurse told him as she placed the Poké Balls on a tray. "Please, wait for them. In the meantime, try to enjoy the peacefulness of the village."

"Thank you," Wes said with a nod before she turned to the door behind her where she took his Pokémon away to some Chanseys.

Wes turned to Rui. "I guess we'll have to wait here until she's done."

Rui tilted her head. "What? You don't want to go meet my grandparents?"

"Listen," Wes began. "I rather wait for Espeon and Umbreon to get healed before I go away. I can't leave them behind after we fought that weirdo Miror. B. back at Pyrite Town."

Rui looked depressed, but she knew Wes was very fond of his 2 starters that he would do anything for them. The girl just barely met Wes a few days ago, and she was wondering why Wes was a nice person. She asked many things in her mind that it would be impossible for a shady person like Wes to be friends with Pokémon.

After all, Wes himself was a member of Team Snagem, a group of people who started to steal Pokémon before Wes grew sick of them and decided to attack the hideout while stealing the Snag Machine, the tool he used to "snag" Pokémon from trainers.

"I...understand," Rui said, giving him a small but worried smile. "You're not going to leave them here alone, right?"

"That's the whole idea," Wes said.

One would think that Wes himself knew a lot about Rui, but it wasn't like that. Since she rescued her a few days ago, the 2 quickly became partners after Rui dragged Wes in the whole business of Shadow Pokémon, but Wes didn't know that much of Rui, nor he knew about her power to identify Shadow Pokémon's dark auras. Much more confusing was the fact that Rui herself didn't know how she got that power in the first place.

These facts could only make them understand each other, but Rui knew Wes had a past that he didn't want to tell her. Maybe she needed to spend more time with him. The truth was, she needed to.

"You can go with them if you'd like, though," Wes told her, keeping a straight face that made her feel a little bit threatened. After all, Wes did look very shady with those topaz-colored eyes of his...

Then again, Rui's eyes would turn weird once she spotted a Shadow Pokémon. Who was she to judge Wes?

Oh, wait, he once was with thugs. Of course she would judge him sometimes.

"...Nah, I'll stay here," Rui said. "What if Cipher sent some of their members after us? They want me out from the picture even more after you defeated Miror. B."

"That's true," Wes said. "It's more dangerous for you to go alone somewhere. They could kidnap and take you away for good this time."

Rui looked away and blushed. "I-ah, well, I feel a little bit offended, but when you put it that wa-"

"I'M ASKING YOU IF YOU HEARD ABOUT A TEMPLE OR NOT!!!" Red's voice boomed inside the whole building, panting heavily at the old man and his Treecko after trying to get the old senior to listen well.

"...Ah, a temple!" the old man finally said what Red wanted to hear. "Sorry, didn't hear about a temple."

Now Red wished to calm down his fury.

"But since you yelled at a defenseless old man like old me, I have the whole right to defend myself from bad kids like you," the old man said annoyed.

"...Wait, what?" Red asked.

"Treecko, Bullet Seed his face to oblivion!"

"What's Bullet Seed?" asked a clueless Red before the Treecko got an angry look and began to fire yellow seeds at Red's face. "A-ah! O-oww! H-hey, stop it! Stop it!" yelled Red as he covered his face with his arms. It was not long for him to run away from them.

However...

"Don't let that bad boy go away, Treecko. Chase him!" the old man ordered to his Pokémon before Treecko began to chase Red around while using Bullet Seed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Red yelled in pain as he tried to run away from the mad Treecko.

As for his team, most of them began to chuckle uncontrollably by the fact a small Treecko was attacking Red. Even Pikachu rolled around the table with Pichu while Chris looked away and tried his best not to chuckle.

This loud yells also got the attention of Wes and Rui. The 2 looked at the panicked Red running around the center from the Treecko of the old man (speaking of the old senior, he was raising a fist while cheering on Treecko).

"...Rui, be careful," Wes muttered under his breath. "That guy could be disguised as one of Cipher's members."

"Why...would I be careful?" Rui asked as she looked at Red running around. "He doesn't look that dangerous to me."

"Reason enough for me to just ignore him," Wes said, looking over the tables. He didn't tell Rui anything as he made his way to one seat where he sat down, crossed his arms, and waited for his Pokémon to be ready.

Rui didn't hesitate to follow him, where she sat down on the other side of the round table, looking back at Red and the crazy Treecko.

The 2 didn't notice that the Smashers were sitting right next to the other table. Chris gasped silently once he remembered the 2 characters on the other table. "O-oh god, I forgot those 2 were the protagonists of this world..." he muttered.

Lucario looked at them. "...Oh right, they are," he whispered, looking over to Wes who had his eyes closed with a serious look.

It was not long before Wes decided to open his eyes to spy them a bit with the corner of his eyes eyeing them. The serious look he had made the smaller Pokémon look a little bit creped out. Was he interested in finding something to do rather than seeing Red getting his butt handed to a Treecko of an old man?

"Pi-Pichu-Pi..." Pichu said with a gulp, Wes's eyes looking down at him.

"(G-goodness, those eyes could kill people...)" Jigglypuff thought in fear.

"(Shady guy is shady...)" Squirtle thought.

"(Shady dude is evil...)" Ivysaur thought.

Chris looked back at Pikachu who shook a bit in fear after staring at Wes. To be honest, they all felt...uncomfortable with the trainer eyeing them without even saying anything. The World Traveler himself felt scared of him. It was ironic that both he and Wes were 17, but it wasn't funny that Wes already "considered" them suspicious.

Wes's eyes only narrowed more once he focused his sight on Lucario, the Aura Pokémon narrowing his own eyes at him, a hint of caution present while Lucario growled deeply inside his mouth.

"...Rui," Wes muttered, getting the attention of the distracted girl. "Are any of those Pokémon from over the next table...weird?"

Rui looked at the Pokémon, who decided to shift their eyes at her. "...Hmm..." Rui blinked as she looked at the Smashers. "..." She shook her head. "N-no, they're not Shadow Pokémon..."

"Really..." Wes muttered, his eyes interested on Lucario. "That big one over there doesn't look that common to me..."

Rui looked at the Aura Pokémon, focusing her eyes on him. "..." She tried her best not to make her face look obvious enough for the others to tell it was moving forward towards Lucario. "...That's weird...I don't see any dark aura in it...but there's a potent blue aura flaring up...."

Wes finally decided to move his face at them. "What was that? Is it a Shadow Pokémon or not?"

"N-no, that's not what I mean..." Rui muttered. "I-I can see a very strong aura from that rare Pokémon... Its aura is...covering a lot of space from where it is..."

"Guuuuuoooooooorghhhhhhhh..." Lucario growled silently at the 2, showing his fangs a bit at them.

Wes's eyes turned into a small glare before he decided to stand up. Rui got a little bit startled as the trainer walked to the World Traveler, who seemed to be gulping and sweating as he looked up to Wes. "Hey," Wes began as he looked down at Chris.

"U-um, yes?" Chris asked, his voice sounding like a whisper.

Wes looked back at the glaring Lucario before looking back at Chris. "That rare Pokémon you have there, what's it name?"

"E-er..." Chris looked at his serious Lucario. "...His name is Lucario."

"Okay..." Wes said with a nod. "What is he? Like, what does he represent?"

"...He's bigger than me?" Chris responded.

"I wasn't asking about "his" height," Wes responded. "I was talking about what he is."

The World Traveler thought before looking up. "...H-he's the Aura Pokémon..." Chris responded shyly, looking down at Wes's feet. "W-why do you ask that?"

"Aura Pokémon?" The tone of voice that Wes used to repeat the title hinted that he was becoming more interested on Chris's Lucario. "...I see..." he muttered.

Pikachu and Pichu exchanged worried looks before looking up at Wes.

"(...This is quite unusual...)" Wes thought as he looked at Lucario. "(I haven't seen such a Pokémon in my life before... The fact that Rui said she saw a strong aura from this "Lucario" creature makes me feel a little bit intrigued myself...)"

Chris cursed in his mind once the serious, shady character looked down at him.

"I guess all these Pokémon are your, right?" Wes asked.

"W-well..." Chris pointed at Squirtle and Ivysaur. "T-those 2 are with the trainer running around..."

Wes nodded as Red kept shouting for help from the Treecko and the old man. "I see..." he muttered. "(There's something he's hiding...)" he thought. "Aura Pokémon, huh..."

Lucario's growls began to get louder as he slowly showed his fangs at the trainer.

What made Chris and the others get surprised was the fact that Wes grinned at Lucario, making the Aura Pokémon stop grunting as he blinked in surprise at his grin.

"Okay," Wes said with a nod. "I just wanted to know. Sorry for acting all weird, but I was feeling uncomfortable."

"(Oh, who wouldn't with you around?)" Squirtle thought bored.

Chris noticed that Wes had his hand stretched to him. "Sorry for not introducing mysefl as well. My name's Wes, nice to meet you."

The World Traveler looked back and forth between Wes and his hand before he shyly shook it with his right hand. "N-nice to meet you as well, I'm Chris..." Chris said shyly.

"The pleasure is all mine," Wes said. "So, those Squirtle and Ivysaur are from the trainer running in here?"

Everyone looked back as Red decided to hide behind Lucario, making Treecko stop chasing him before returning to the laughing old man. "Well done, Treecko!" the old man said with a laugh. "Well, let's get going. I don't want you to kill that kid."

The Treecko looked happily at his trainer before they both the center, a sigh of relief coming from Red as he sat down close to Squirtle and Ivysaur.

"T-that Treecko wanted to kill me..." Red muttered, receiving some chuckles from his Pokémon. "H-hey, knock that off already..." he said annoyed before looking at Wes. "...Um, who are you?"

"Wes," Wes simply responded. "And you are?"

"..." Red took a few seconds to look at him. "...Red."

"...Okay..." Wes hid a chuckle at Red's name, receiving an annoyed look from him. "Nice to meet you."

"Ah, seriously, Wes..." called Rui from behind as she stood up and walked to him. "It makes me feel all tense when you act like that around people. What are they going to think of me when you do that?"

Wes looked away annoyed. "Well, Ms. Worry, do you want to get yourself kidnapped again?"

Rui pouted a bit. "H-hey, don't think you can protect me all the time either! That's a little bit mean!"

"Kidnapped?" Red repeated.

Wes looked back at them. "Oh, forget what we said. It's none of your business, after all."

"..." Chris merely nodded.

Wes put his right hand on his hips and looked at the Pokémon. "So, I guess you all are traveling together, right?"

"Right," Red said. "We've been traveling together for a long time now."

"Good to hear," Wes said. "I'd have liked to travel around the world, but circumstances prevented me from doing so a long time ago." He looked away, hiding a glare from them. "Really bad circumstances I'm not proud of..." he muttered before looking back at them. "Again, sorry for talking like that. I'm like that because I have went through a lot of events that changed my life."

Rui got a little bit impressed. "What's up with you today, Wes? It's not like you to talk like that to people."

"I admit I was acting even weirder with them than others," Wes pointed out. "I apologize for that as well."

"O-oh, don't worry," Chris said, forcing a small smile. 'It's all okay."

"Good. Here I was thinking you were thinking I was some kind of psycho."

"(You ARE,)" the other Pokémon thought in unison.

Wes grinned at them. "Say, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"A favor?" Red asked. "What kind of favor is that?"

"Well, truth is, the long way to get here has made me feel bored a bit, and since you're trainers..."

The Pallet Town resident knew where Wes was going.

However, Wes seemed focused at Chris.

"I was wondering if you would like to have a battle with me," Wes said, grinning at Chris.

Needless to say, his grin made Wes look scarier to Chris.

The World Traveler looked unsure. "H-hmm, why?"

Wes looked at Lucario. "You've got yourself a pretty rare Pokémon over there," he remarked. "I presume he's very talented at fighting."

At this remark, Lucario smiled a bit.

"W-well..." Chris looked away. "I-I don't know if I can fight you..."

"Oh, c'mon," Wes said. "Even I can tell you have raised that "Lucario" very well. He looks very healthy, not to mention he looks strong."

The World Traveler tried to get Red to do the battling as he motioned at Wes nervously. Seeing this signal, Red got up. "H-hey, why don't you have a battle with me instead?"

"You?" Wes asked, shifting his eyes at Red. "Well..."

"Oh, please, I want to have a fight!" Red pleaded. "I haven't had a Pokémon battle in a long time now and you look like you could be an expert!" Red gasped and looked away. "O-okay, maybe I got carried away a bit...but I do want to fight you."

Wes looked at Squirtle and Ivysaur. The 2 Pokémon stared at him as he looked at Red. "...Fine," he said. "But I want to be honest. I wanted to fight that Lucario myself. However, I'll better fight you seeing that you want to do it soon."

At this response, Red nodded and sighed. "Phew, thanks. I really wanted to have a battle."

Rui looked at Wes. "Um, Wes..."

"It's okay," Wes reassured her. "If you want, you can call your grandparents to me if they want to."

"N-no, I wasn't talking about that," Rui confessed. "I was talking about your Pokémon. They're not ready yet. Besides..." She got closer to his left ear. "What if you use your Shadow Pokémon?"

Wes looked serious again. He didn't know if Red or Chris knew about Shadow Pokémon. However, the fact that most people began to get one across the entire region made him think things over again.

"By the way," Wes began. "...Have you heard about Shadow Pokémon?"

Rui gasped. "W-Wes!" she whispered in shock.

"Shadow Pokémon?" Red asked.

"You know, Pokémon that are stronger than common Pokémon?" Wes asked. "Have you heard of them? You certainly did since it's the main problem the region faces."

"B-but Wes, we don't know if the whole region knows about the Shadow Pokémon yet..." Rui whispered.

Wes looked at her over his left shoulder. "We shouldn't keep this in the dark for much longer. I want to let everyone know about these Pokémon before it grows out of control."

"B-but..."

Wes turned at her. "You already told me they didn't have any of them. They look docile and good to me as well. If they don't know, we should let them know so they help us out."

Rui looked down.

"Or do you want them to get one on their hands and leave the region if they want?"

Rui gasped and looked back at him.

"I'd rather have everyone informed so they can tell us everything," Wes said before looking at the group. "Have you heard of them?"

Chris coughed a bit. "I-I might have heard of them... I heard there were some Pokémon that attacks humans, and those Pokémon were owned by other trainers..."

"See?" Wes asked to Rui. "They know."

Red looked away. "(I don't, though...)"

Rui still looked worried. "Are you planning to use one?"

"...No," Wes said before looking at Red. "Can I ask for a 1-on-1 battle with 2 Pokémon each?"

Red got surprised before nodding. "S-sure, I wouldn't mind."

Wes grinned and nodded. "Then it's a deal. We're going to have a battle outside in a few. Can you wait until my Pokémon are ready?"

"Sure, take your time," said Red, looking a bit excited. "I can wait."

"Cool," Wes said before turning to the counter. "Let me see if they finished first, though."

Everyone watched as the shady trainer made his way back to the counter. Once he was gone, they all looked at Rui who bowed politely at them. "I-I'm sorry for introducing myself," she said embarrassed. "My name is Rui, nice to meet you all," she greeted. "Sorry if he made you feel weird but Wes's like that all the time."

"H-he did make me feel uncomfortable..." Red admitted. "O-oh, but don't think badly of me!"

"That's okay," Rui said with a chuckle. "Even if I've joined him a few days ago, I know how people react when he's around. To be honest, people mutter things behind my back about if I'm being his hostage or if I'm dating the wrong guy." She blushed a bit and shook her head. "P-please, don't think we're a couple, either! W-we just happen to be good fast friends, that's all there's to it!"

Red stared at her for a while. Noticing that the trainer was looking at her, Rui stopped blushing. "Um...something's on my face?"

"...Oh, sorry," Red said. "I was thinking about someone...something else, that's all..."

"I see..." Rui said before she looked happy. "Okay, since you 2 are going to have battle shortly, I'm going to stay and watch how he fights. With that aside, I'll see you in a few as well," she said cheerfully before she walked to Wes.

Once she was away, Lucario grunted at Chris. "I wanted to be the one to fight, Chris."

Chris looked down. "I-I'm sorry, Lucario! H-his face was scaring the heck out of me and I didn't know what to do! P-please, forgive me, I'm begging you!"

Ivysaur rolled his eyes as Chris hugged Lucario out of panic. "We felt all the same, don't worry..."

Outside the Pokémon Center

The long space outside the center was good enough to have battles. A big cascade crashed down just behind the fertile grass where Wes was on. He had his arms crossed as Red, many feet away from him from where the long river was, gulped as he had a hand close to his belt, Squirtle and Ivysaur standing at each side.

Near a bench, there were Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff sitting on the grass while Lucario, Chris, and Rui sat on the bench, watching the 2 about fight.

"You know," Rui began as she looked at Lucario. "Your Pokémon is way too big, don't you think? He's even taller than you."

Chris chuckled a bit. "W-well, I'm lucky because not all Lucarios have this height... In fact, they're normally much smaller, but my Lucario grew very big... Y-yes, I'm very lucky to have one like him..."

Lucario growled happily as he pulled Chris under his left arm, putting a very strong grip on him.

"L-Lucario, stop it, not in front of her!" Chris muttered blushing, seeing Rui chuckling at this event.

The young teen focused back on the 2 about to fight.

Wes started by speaking. "It was a bad idea of you to show me your Pokémon first before the battle," Wes called to Red before the shady trainer pulled his hands down. "That only gives me a small advantage of what is to come to you."

"L-look, let's just start the battle already!" called Red with a gulp. "I-I'm going to show you something...maybe!"

Wes rolled his eyes.

Pokémon Colosseum - VS. Battle 1

The Snag Machine wielder quickly grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt before tossing it into the field. A light came out from it that shot down on the floor, revealing an Umbreon that shouted out its name upon being called into the field. Wes held his hand up to get back the sphere, grinning at the sight of his Pokémon. "Your turn," he said to Red.

Red studied the Umbreon a bit before he nodded. As he pointed forward, he shouted, "Go, Ivysaur! Show him!"

Ivysaur, grinning, nodded before leaping into the field, receiving a silent growl from the Umbreon that stood straight on its black feet.

Wes lowered his face a bit while he looked at Red and grinned...rather evilly. "Let's begin, then..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Aura Vision and Shadow Pokémon. So wait, are there Pokémon with Shadow Bugs?" Squirtle asked.

"No, that's what the Pokémon of Orre are if they have their hearts closed," explained Chris.

"So did they literally close their hearts or did they close the symbol?"

"Er...literally?"

"That's gross, closing someone's organ..."

"I-I didn't mean that!"

"Symbol it is, then."

Chris sighed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Agate Village
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-Chris mentioned something about the anime.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Bad thing is I have a phobia against Grovyles. They're shadier than Wes himself…

Phew, this chapter turned out to be shorter. I just hope it was good enough for you all.

Yes, I'm trying to put more details regarding Tabuu's origins. I'm also trying my best to give a proper past to the AM as well. The only thing I wish is for you to believe it, though. It wouldn't make sense if the past doesn't make you believe it. Is it working, though?

Speaking of pasts, why are Wes and Rui so mysterious? That's the only thing they share in common. They were not given a proper past…so guess what I'm going to? I'll try to make up some believable pasts for both characters…since they REALLY need them… Of course, take in mind the ones I'm making are not official, but rather fictional. Take in mind they haven't joined the Smashers nor the Smashers haven't joined them…yet.

As for the tutorial for stickers, don't worry; I won't make it all confusing for you all. You need to wait and see how this will turn out.

Now please, wait to see the next chapter with more character development. Remember to vote for the second arc you want to see here. Also, remember that, once this arc finishes, the second arc will be used as soon as possible. Vote now.

Read and review, please. :D

…Or Wes will "smile" at you.
*Chapter 151*: Aura Vision and Shadow Pokémon

Oh my god, I need to think what to do with this part of the storyline.

From ngrey651: Mewtwo...stuck in a Master Ball. Oh, Red is gonna DIE. XD The poor child. I have to admit, if I had the chance, I'd probably do it too out of sheer "MUSTCATCHMEWTWO"ness.

From me: Yes, but too bad Mewtwo won't be appearing in this chapter. He'll appear in the next one…then true hell will surely begin… Thanks. :)

From PianistChris: Great Chapter!

I found the scene of Mewtwo's capture hystyerical, especially when it was Red who captured him out of fear, I wonder what will happen when he is released as Mewtwo vowed to murder his trainer XD

It'll be interesting to see Lucario and Chris in a pokemon battle together, and the whole Red trying to talk to a deaf man reminded me about the time of when he was talking to the old man at the Gym back in chapter 68, I think, which made me laugh.

Chris :p

From me: I really wanted to enter the Viridian GYM, but the damn old man never let me… I mean, good to hear to liked the Mewtwo scene. As for the battle for Lucario and Chris, that would probably have to wait until next chapter for now. Thanks. :)

From TARDISreviewer: Right, I don't really know much about what's going on right now, but the battle in the previous chapter was epic, like always.

(I'm guessing that the new job would be something along hte lines of Mime from FF5. I know 'copy ability', but the Mime does something similar with the !Mimic command anyway.)

From me: It could be Gogo's class, or it couldn't be it. I'm trying to decide a good job for Kirby. If you don't know how much it's going on, why don't you read back? The humor could keep you excited.

Thank you. :D

From SlasherMask: Darn, if Blue exist, then you get name confusions if Heartgold And Soulsilver uses correct names.(since there are remakes FireRed and LeafGreen)

And I think lawnmower was mispronounced.

...How the heck you can get afraid of things from that cartoons/animes third(or fourth) season? And besides that dungeon grovyle was good guy.(And yes I was speaking of your character with same name, not about you the author(*reaches end of chapter...*...You REALLY are afraid of them?!?...Thats sad.)

BTW, does anybody like ever nickname pokemon? I figured out at some point after 10 years or so not naming them that naming was fun...(Yes, even lame *ss fire-type-with-fire-related-word names...)

...I am afraid of non canonical past to chars who hadn't one...

Just remember that apparently his(Wes) first pokemons(Espeon and Umbreon, not know were they as eevee or as already evolved) were gotten from his friend.

From me: Was it mispronounced? Oh well, I'll correct it later, thanks.

Dude, seriously, I blame the anime for making Grovyle an evil grinning idiot. I hope I don't dream with a BIG one… "Shrugs" I know he was a good guy, but still...

The only idiot…I mean, person in the whole universe who nicknames his Pokémon that I know is Richie.

Don't be afraid. "Plays battle theme"

I don't recall Wes getting both Umbreon and Espeon from someone. It says in the game that they're his partners, only that.

From DianaGohan: There are some admittingly drab parts of this chapter: The entire sticker explanation (honestly sometimes you go to deep into details about these kind of things though at least this will hopefully mean people will soon start USING the stickers) Wes and Rui's introduction and the later half of the Tabuu scene. Still there were some good stuff: Bowser and co going into the torture chamber, Mewtwo being forced into a Pokeball (sometimes your comedic timing is off but that scene was handled very well actually) Knuckles getting MH to admit the truth, Wes opening up some to Chris and Red and the idea of a Shadow Nightmare going into the world of Shadow Pokemon... yeah defintley a bit too many shadows around but still overall okay set upesque chapter.

GRADE: B

From me: I'm sorry for the stickers part but it had to be done in order to explain their role in the story.

I hope my comedic stuff isn't timed off because I don't want to look like THAT author I know…

Lots of shadows, I know, but hopefully it won't confuse anybody here…I think.

Thanks again. :D

From FF and STH: great, pokemon colosseum was alway a good game and I do want to see the red vs wes pokemon battle and a chris vs wes one too

From me: Wait a little bit more…to scroll down. Nah, just kidding. Enjoy the chapter. :D

From Ultra Blader: So, a return to the Pokemon arcs, eh? Its been a long time since we last saw one.

I seriously thought that Barry, Lucas and Dawn would be discovered by now, this being a Pokemon arc and all.

It's great that you decided to add Chrono Trigger to the list of upcoming arcs. I only got Chrono Trigger for DS a short time ago (Remember what I said? I normally get games a long time after they get released.), and I adore it. It's a brillant game, and I was thinking about asking for an arc for it. Guess I don't need to now. Out of curiosity, is there going to be a Chrono Cross arc as well? I've never played it, but I have heard of it...

I did hope that you would introduce it later, as there would be a better chance that a certain scenario I was hoping for would occur. I'll PM you if you want to know what I'm thinking about. I won't post it in a review in case you were thinking about using it in the story, and I accidently reveal spoilers.

Anyway, with all that in mind, you've done a great job for the time I've been away, and I'm sure that you will continue to do so.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: Yes, I'm sorry for not mentioning those 3 in the chapter, but 1 of them did at least appear. You need to wait a little bit more before I put those 3 to do something bigger.

Of course Chrono Trigger is an important game. Heck, I have everything planned for a plot should it gets chosen by the people. As for Chrono Cross, I think I'd do it. I liked all the amount of characters of the game…but of course, I won't write for them all at once since there's so many of them.

Thanks for the review. :)

From RayGallade and Luigicario: Liked the chapter, you always do a good job with Pokemon arcs. Red vs. Wes eh? Sounds like it'll be good. Poor Squitle, and the other Pokemon, they won't get to talk that much. I feer for Red and Chris if they have to send out Mewtwo, he didn't sound that happy about capture. It sounds like this will be a good arc.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
RayGallade out.

From me: I hope it is a good arc because I'm trying to think what to write for the next chapter. X_X

Thanks, though. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: hmm, both of these chapters have been good. I like the fight scene from the last chapter, and I'll be looking forward to more fights with the shadow nightmares. As for chpt150, it's been good as well. Mewtwo being catched in the video game world, I never thought i'd see the day that he would be caught. I'm starting to play coliseum, and Wes technically wears a trail coat. Big difference between a cloak and a trail coat. Can't wait for the fight between Red and Wes. Now for a...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
Of course Axel doesn't get brain-freeze! He's the, "Flurry of Dancing Flames"
*sigh* Look back atmy previous reviews to find out about the "Mysterious barrels"
well, imaginitive typing!

From me: It's good to see that more people want to see more Shadow Nightmare battles. They surely bring forth a lot of action and character development, right? I hope so.

I never saw that day either. "Looks behind at his 5 Mewtwos" Yes, Mewtwo is hard to capture… "Sweats"

A trail coat it is? Well, I was having some thoughts about what was its name. Thanks.

Yes…those questions weren't surely questions at all…

Thank you. :D

From Blueberrypeach: Not much to say about this chapter but not a bad intro although the mansion part was Agate Village scene was mellow(except the part when Red is getting chase and Wes scare the smashers).Looking forward for the battle and how the shadow pokemon will be involve with shadow nightmares.

From me: You caught on at last! I'm so glad you reviewed every single chapter. Thanks a lot for doing that. :D

Okay, back with the review, it did seem a little bit bland to me, but I hope everything is right in this chapter for you to enjoy. Thank you for reviewing again. ;)

From Light the Lucario: Ahem, to begin with I am quite happy to see that this Pokemon fic is so funny! LOL Ahem. Anyway I don't see anything wrong so far in the grammar area. The characters still act as the funny cool way you always do them. The Treeckoo shotting Red with Bullet Seed EXCELLENT and Wes's creepys smile is never good so are you still gonna do the XD: Gale of Darkness arc too?

From me: Those smiles are surely going to do something bad one of these days, I swear… Thanks for reviewing. :D

Okay, we continue from where we last left off. I hope this chapter turns out great for all you.

As a reminder, don't forget to vote for the next arc in my profile. I'm surprised with the results so far, but it needs more votes. Please, do vote.

Read, enjoy, and review, please. ;)

Disclaimer: Wes is SURELY Silver's cousin.

Chapter 151: Aura Vision and Shadow Pokémon

Agate Village
Outside the Pokémon Center

Pokémon Colosseum - VS. Battle 1

"Well, shall we begin now?" Wes asked, crossing his arms. "Umbreon, Confuse Ray, now!"

Red watched as Umbreon's eyes turned red that shot some kind of black smoke with shining lights that went after Ivysaur. "Ivysaur, dodge that, quick!"

"Ivy," Ivysaur muttered as he watched the waves of darkness approaching him in the air. However, he couldn't tell right off if the waves were far away or not due to the waves moving around constantly. Ivysaur gasped once he felt that the waves entered his eyes that began spinning a bit. "Saaaaaaur..."

"No, Ivysaur!" Red yelled. "A-are you okay?"

"Of course not," Wes muttered before pointing forward. "Umbreon, Faint Attack, now!"

Red was quickly put in a state of shock as he watched Umbreon glowing a bit before leaping towards the confused Ivysaur.

"Heeeeeeeeeey..."

Red's eyes suddenly widened. "U-uh-oh..."

"I see lotsa Psyducks flying 'round my head..." Ivysaur said dazzled. "They're...quacking all over me...heheheheh...QUACK!"

The trainer just couldn't believe that his own Pokémon talked in the middle of the fight. The most logical explanation for this would be the confuse effect Ivysaur had.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle yelled annoyed. "Squirtle, Squirtle, Squirtle!"

"Shaddup, you turtle!" Ivysaur yelled before Umbreon rammed into him at full speed, making him roll over towards Red, his body upside-down. "Heeeeeeeey there, Reddy..."

Red covered one part of his face with his right hand. "P-please, tell me you didn't just TALK!"

"Hey, you!" Wes yelled from the other side of the field, startling Red and Squirtle. "I was asking for challenge and you're not giving me one. Focus or else I'm going to leave!"

That was surely a sign that Wes didn't hear Ivysaur talking, making Red sigh in relief before staring down at his confused Pokémon. "Ivysaur...snap out of it...please..."

The Seed Pokémon shook his head and regained his composure before rolling to the side to stand up. "Ivy..." he muttered in complaint.

"Good, now go back at use Vine Whip on Unteon!"

"I believe its name was Umbreon..." Squirtle muttered.

"W-whatever!" Red yelled as he pointed forward at Umbreon.

Ivysaur glared at the Moonlight Pokémon, shooting his vines from underneath his flower's bulb.

"Prepare to use Bite on one of them after you dodge one, Umbreon!" Wes ordered loudly, his Umbreon obeying quickly as it studied the 2 vines. Once Umbreon studied their moments, it quickly leaped to the right to evade both vines before swiftly turning around to bite the closest vine hardly.

A sense of pain quickly made it to Ivysaur as he screamed. Red, gasping, quickly decided to do something. "I-Ivysaur, use your other free vine to wrap it on Umbreon!"

Ivysaur had to act fast before he suffered even more. His other free vine quickly wrapped itself on one of Umbreon's legs, quickly tossing it away to free the other vine from the biting attack. Once Umbreon was tossed away, Ivysaur returned his vines back to check on the damaged one, blowing air at the spot where the bite marks where. "Heal, heal, heal..." Ivysaur muttered to his vine.

Squirtle hid a chuckle.

The Seed Pokémon shook his head before leaping back into the field, Umbreon waiting patiently.

"If you won't do the initiative, I'll do it," Wes muttered. "Umbreon, use Sand-Attack!"

Red looked serious. "Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!"

"Dodge all of them while getting closer!" Wes yelled back.

Umbreon saw as Ivysaur shot several glowing leaves at him. The Moonlight Pokémon growled silently before it began to leap at the sides to evade the leaves before reaching the un-expecting Ivysaur quick. Noticing Umbreon a little bit too late, Ivysaur gasped once it swiped the grass to toss sand right into his eyes. Ivysaur yelled and shook his head to recover his vision.

"Now for a finisher, use Bite!"

"W-what? A finisher?" Red asked confused before Umbreon quickly leaped right on Ivysaur's back, biting the bulb on the top of his back. Ivysaur began to scream in panic as Umbreon bit his bulb hard, pulling it at the sides. "N-no, Ivysaur!"

Wes closed his eyes at this reaction.

The trainer from Pallet Town began to think of something to save Ivysaur from the furious attack. He heard Ivysaur scream in pain, and his eyes were shut due to the sand in them. Red looked at Squirtle for a bit before looking back at the field. "S-stop, that's enough! Return!" he yelled, pointing his Poké Ball at Ivysaur to save him from the attack as the red light reached him, taking him back into Poké Ball as Umbreon leaped back.

Wes opened his eyes. "That's it? You don't want Ivysaur to fight?"

"N-no..." Red muttered as he shook his head.

Wes knew that Red could have done better to win against Umbreon, but he frowned at this. "Fine, be that way... Umbreon, come back!"

"Umbreon!" Umbreon called at him before he ran by his side. His trainer grinned at him as he ducked to rub his head with care. "Well done, Umbreon. You did very well out there."

As for Red, he looked down at Ivysaur's Poké Ball in shame. "...Ivysaur...I'm sorry..." he muttered, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, really..."

From the bench, Rui looked worried. "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think it was time to call Ivysaur back..."

"Really?" Chris asked.

Rui nodded. "Yeah, I thought it didn't get that badly hurt yet... If you ask me, Red could have done better..."

The World Traveler looked worried before focusing back on Red, where Squirtle seemed

"Squirtle!" Squirtle interrupted Red with a serious look in his eyes. "Squirt!"

"...Right," Red said before looking back at Wes. "Okay, we're not done yet with this. Squirtle, go!"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon leaped into the field before standing straight, prepared for the next Pokémon from Wes.

The shady trainer nodded and decided to take out another different Poké Ball from his belt. "Let's see if you can fare well against Espeon!" Wes yelled as he tossed the ball into the field, calling forth the Sun Pokémon that let out a small growl to the sky before sitting down calmly, staring at Squirtle.

Wes pointed forward. "Now, use Confusion!"

Espeon leaped back to stand down his front feet as its eyes glowed a bit.

Squirtle started to feel like something was grabbing him from everywhere. He saw himself glowing in a pink aura that lifted him above the grass. Seeing this, Red came up with another attack. "Squirtle, use Water Gun to interrupt Trespion!"

"Espeon!" Chris yelled.

"Y-yeah, that!" Red said embarrassed as Squirtle shot water.

Wes frowned. "It's not going to be that easy... Espeon, make Squirtle look another way!"

Espeon nodded with a small growl before Squirtle's face, while shooting water, was turned to another direction where the small river flew. Squirtle tried his best to turn, but Espeon's Confusion had him stuck.

"Grr, Squirtle, you have to turn around!" Red yelled at the levitating Pokémon.

However, Red noticed that Squirtle didn't stop shooting water off from his mouth. No matter what happened, Squirtle kept shooting water out as if he was being forced...

Being forced...

"...Hey, stop that!" Red yelled at Wes.

Wes chuckled and crossed his arms. "Wow, you noticed already?"

"M-make your Espeon stop making Squirtle shoot water pointlessly!" Red yelled.

"I'm afraid to tell you Espeon isn't making Squirtle use Water Gun," Wes explained. "You didn't tell it to stop from the beginning."

"B-but Espeon's Confusion..."

"Espeon made it get stuck."

"...So it IS doing something to Squirtle!"

Wes rolled his eyes. "Of course Espeon was doing something to him. I merely told you otherwise to see if you didn't realize it."

Red looked odd at him. "What?"

"Maybe you didn't see, but I was testing you a little bit," Wes admitted as Squirtle's mouth suddenly closed by Espeon's Confusion. "I can't believe you were so easy to inspect, Red."

"W-what do you mean? W-we just barely met each other and you're testing me out?"

Wes closed his eyes and nodded. "Exactly."

At this conversation, Rui slapped her forehead and frowned. "Please, don't think I'm like Wes at all..."

Chris and Lucario looked at her. "Why?" Chris asked.

"See how is Wes looking at Red?" Rui asked as she looked at the shady trainer. "Wes is always like this around others. He judges people's skills at Pokémon battles when he faces them... To be honest," Rui muttered before she looked down. "Wes is kind to Pokémon...but not too much to people, you see..."

The World Traveler looked back at the Pokémon on the grass before looking back at Rui. "Wait, so Wes judges people?"

Rui looked worried at him. "...I really shouldn't tell you more because Wes could get angry at me...sorry..."

Chris looked at Rui's ashamed look. The World Traveler looked back at Wes's serious look directed at Red, who seemed to be a little bit in shock.

"Seriously, I thought you already knew how Pokémon battle worked," Wes said with a frown. "But enough of this... Espeon, slam Squirtle down!"

Squirtle gasped once he was forced to crash down on the grass, making dust come out from underneath his shell once he crashed against the hard ground. Espeon didn't even look tired as it looked serious at Squirtle.

However, something seemed odd as Squirtle started to hear someone...

"(...I'm sorry...)"

Squirtle's eyes blinked confused as he managed to stand up, looking forward to Espeon. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon had some dust all around his face, but that didn't matter him as he tried to find out the source of the voice.

The voice wasn't surely coming from Lucario or the others. Squirtle thought it wasn't Mewtwo who talked to him since the voice didn't hear like his tone. The tone was actually quite calm, and Squirtle could tell that there was a hint of shame in it as well...

But where did it come from, exactly?

"Use Swift, Espeon!"

The sudden yell made both Red and Squirtle snap out from their states before several stars were shot from Espeon's mouth at Squirtle. The Water Pokémon began to back away in pain as the star-shaped attack hit everywhere on him.

Seeing that Red was panicked (surely after Wes told him all that) Chris stood up to yell at him. "Red!" Chris yelled. "Please, stay focused!"

Red shook his head before looking at Chris. "W-what?" he asked.

"You need to stay focused and do whatever you can to fight back!" Chris yelled. "Otherwise, you're going to lose the battle! Do you want that to happen?"

"N-no!" Red yelled back before turning at Squirtle. "Squirtle, hide in your shell and use Withdraw!"

Squirtle struggled to resist the attack before he quickly hid in his shell in order to stay fine.

Wes lowered his face a bit. "Well, you're progressing a bit, it seems..." he muttered before looking back at the fight."But I'm afraid that won't be enough. Espeon, use Confusion to make Squirtle come out!"

Red gasped as he saw Espeon's eyes glowing white, putting its psychic attack on Squirtle's shell. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon gasped inside before his shocked face came out from the holes as well as his feet and hands.

"Now, finish it off by ramming it on the ground!" Wes ordered, moving his right hand around his right side before stopping behind him.

"S-Squirtle, use Surf, quick!" Red hastily yelled.

However, Squirtle found out that he was unable to use Surf as he was quickly pounded against the same spot where he crashed. Espeon's only physical move was moving his sight up and down to slam the Water Pokémon continuously.

Red made fists at the sides of his belt as he watched Squirtle being slammed down repeatedly. He knew they didn't hurt Espeon even a bit, or even Umbreon for that matter. The cries of pain from Squirtle bothered Red a lot, seeing the ground cracking up more and more.

But everything had to end eventually...

"...STOP IT!!!"

Music stops

Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, and Rui looked at the ashamed Red. The trainer looked down to the grass in pure shame after yelling his decision aloud enough to make Wes look at him with a glare as he told Espeon to stop slamming Squirtle down against the ground.

Espeon's eyes stopped glowing before it calmly sat down, watching Squirtle's hurtful body trying to stand up on his feet.

"...Please...stop..." Red muttered as he lowered his hat down enough to block his eyes. "...I...I give up... I can't watch Squirtle get hurt like this anymore..."

Wes sulked a bit. "...Tsk, fine," he said before calling back Espeon to him. The trainer knelt down to rub Espeon's head a bit as the Sun Pokémon rubbed his face against Wes's right boot. "You did well out there, Espeon," he said before he rubbed Umbreon's head as well. "You 2 were very good."

Red, by gasping, ran towards Squirtle to see if he was fine. It was not long before Chris and the others ran to them, some worried looks apparent on Jigglypuff and Pichu's faces. As for Rui, she ran to Wes and his 2 Pokémon, looking worried as well.

"...Squirtle..." Red muttered as he knelt down, seeing Squirtle's weak expression. "...Are you okay?"

They group watched as Squirtle managed to stand up on his feet before he sighed and looked up to Red with a nod. He forced a worried a smile. "Squirt..." he said.

Pichu's ears perked up before they all turned to see Wes and Rui walking towards them while Espeon and Umbreon walked by Wes's sides. The shady trainer looked serious at Red, giving the Pallet Town trainer a chilling sensation that ran on his back. "Well, I won," Wes said. "You still have a lot to learn before you can fight in Pokémon battles."

Red looked down ashamed...and nodded. Chris blinked shocked at this reaction as well as the small Pokémon. "...Yeah, I know..." Red muttered.

Wes frowned. "It's hard to believe you even traveled. I mean, weren't you supposed to learn all the basics?"

Red looked at him. "B-but..."

Wes turned his back to them, Rui looking worried. "Whatever..." he said. "If you want to fight me again, do it once you think you have what it takes to be real Pokémon Trainer."

Pikachu looked up to Red. The Electric Type blinked surprised once he saw that Red's pupils were shrinking down in horror after hearing Wes. Red's eyes began to shake a bit in fear as he watched Wes walking away to the small bridge over the river that came from the cascade.

"...Otherwise..." Wes muttered. "...You're not even trying to be a good one..."

The Pallet Town trainer was very shocked...even to the point he kept staring forward in shock...

Rui, as she looked at Wes walking over a grass slope, looked back at Red and bowed politely. "I'm sorry if he made you feel like that..." she said in shame. "I'm really sorry, Red... Wes needs to mind his mouth a lot of times, but please, understand him..."

Chris looked at her. "H-how can we understand him?" He pointed at Red. "J-just look how Wes made Red feel!"

Rui looked worried at Red's paralyzed look. "...I know..." Rui muttered. "...But...I just don't know him so well yet..."

The Pokémon stared at her.

"...Sorry again..." Rui muttered before bowing one more time as she turned around to run back to Wes. "Hey, Wes, wait for me, will you? Wait!"

As the young partner went to Wes, everyone else stared at the shocked Red.

Chris could feel the same, though. If he ever fought Wes eventually, he would probably question him as a trainer. After all, Chris wasn't a full-fledged Pokémon trainer...

And probably wasn't one as well...

"...Red..." Chris muttered. "...Red!"

The shocked trainer closed his eyes, shook his head, and looked at him worried. "Y-yeah?" Red asked. "What is it?"

Chris looked down. "W-well..."

Red looked away. "Look...just leave me alone, will you?"

"W-what?" Chris asked as the others looked shocked a bit. "Red, wait, don't tell me you believed everything Wes told you in that battle!"

"But it's the whole truth, Chris..."

The World Traveler's mouth opened a bit. "W-what?"

"..." Red shook his head. "...Maybe he told me the truth about me...but...I'm not so sure, to be honest..." he muttered in shame. "I mean, did you see? He defeated me in a matter of minutes..." He looked at Squirtle. "...Sorry for making a repeat again..."

Squirtle kept staring at him preoccupied.

Pichu noticed something once he turned his head to the left. He found both Umbreon and Espeon looking at them while both were sitting down on the grass. "Pi?" Pichu tilted his head.

Everyone else soon noticed the 2 Pokémon staring at them. Weren't they supposed to be with Wes? Why were they left behind?

Red gasped a bit once he saw Umbreon and Espeon lowering their heads a bit in apology before both ran away to where Wes and Rui walked away, the group keeping an eye of them before they disappeared on a high cliff with grass.

"W-what was that just now?" Red asked. "Why did they stay behind?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know... Maybe they felt ashamed?" He looked at Lucario. "Did you read their minds?"

Lucario closed his eyes and shook his head. "Guorgh..." he growled.

Red sighed and looked depressed at everyone. "I'm sorry if I screwed up badly..." he said. "I still have a lot to learn in Pokémon battles if I want to become in a good trainer," he admitted. "But...even I'm starting to feel I'm not ready to be one...never..."

"...Squirtle!" Squirtle yelled at him angrily.

Red looked around. "It's okay, you can talk. Nobody else is close around here..."

"Red, don't get like this, please!" Squirtle yelled. "I thought you wanted to become a Pokémon trainer from the beginning!"

"W-well, I did want to...b-but..." Red remembered the battle from a moment ago. "After he told me that I had a lot to learn...well...he almost made me remember..."

The group waited for Red's sudden silence to end. The sudden silence made Squirtle feel uncomfortable while Red tried to say something.

"...Forgive me," Red said with a sigh. "I just want to take Squirtle and Ivysaur to the center so they can heal and rest..."

Chris blinked a few times at Red before he nodded, seeing that Squirtle barely could stand up. "...Okay, let's do that..."

Pokémon Center

A time passed after Red took Squirtle and Ivysaur in the center. Chris, Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, and Red were all sitting around the same table they were before, Red resting his chin on his arms on the table. His eyes were half-closed, indicating he was still depressed.

"...Red," Pichu muttered. "Red, are you okay?"

"...Guess..." Red muttered, staring forward blankly before sighing. "It's no use; I can't forget the words Wes told me..." He lowered his hat a bit. "And here I thought there weren't worse people than Gary..."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "From where I come from, Gary isn't a jackass. I don't know yours, bu-"

"That's not the topic here," Red interrupted. "The topic is how weak I am as a trainer..."

Jigglypuff grunted. "For the love of Arceus, you just lost 1 single battle!" she yelled, alarming Chris a bit from the nurse to hear her. "There's a time where you will lose frequently, and there's another time where I'll win my own battles by myself, but we all know here better than Wes was a jerk!"

Lucario looked at her. "How is you winning your own battles going to help Red?"

"I'm not talking to you," Jigglypuff muttered bored before pointing at Red. "If you want to feel good with yourself again, then re-challenge Wes!"

Red looked angry at her. "For what? I'll re-challenge him so he tells me how much I suck?"

Jigglypuff rolled her eyes. "No, you need to show him to shut his shady mouth!" She shrugged. "I-I'm telling you, he's creepy..."

"We all think the same..." Pichu shrugged.

Chris put 2 fingers on his forehead. "Ugh, I wished Wes would have stayed silent like he should be in the game..."

Lucario looked at him. "Well, you don't know anything about him, right?"

Chris looked worried at him. "No, Wes's back-story wasn't that well-developed...much like Rui's back-story," he said before looking away. "To be honest, it was unclear how Rui got her powers to see auras..."

Lucario suddenly got an idea. "Wait, if she got that power to see auras, maybe she got herself involved with a special Lucario...don't you think?"

"...But even if she did, she would have remembered, and honestly speaking, she looked clueless," Chris admitted.

"...I know!" Pikachu suddenly spoke. "She had an encounter with a Lucario!"

Everyone but Red looked at him. "Do you think so, too?" Lucario asked.

"Not any normal Lucario, though," Pikachu said. "...She had an encounter with a special Lucario..." His eyes widened. "And that Lucario was...a radioactive Lucario!"

If there were Kricketots living in Orre Region, they would all have chirped for a good amount of time after Pikachu told them his idea.

To break the silence, Red turned his face at the sitting Pikachu. "...A...radioactive Lucario?" Red muttered bored.

Pikachu nodded. "Think about this. I don't think she had aura training or something. So here's my theory," he said, snapping his fingers a bit. "Young Rui got herself lost in a forest during the night, when suddenly, a radioactive glowing Lucario came out from the bushes, growled at the scared Rui. Then, suddenly, he shot her down with his radioactive eyes by staring at her own eyes, making her faint before falling down. The radioactive Lucario then disappeared from the sight before the rescue team, the next morning, found the fainted Rui." Pikachu wagged his tail a bit. "Then, once she was asked about what had happened, she said, "I dunno... I don't remember anything..." before she was taken back home safely. MANY YEARS later, she found out she could see Pokémon's auras."

"..."

Pikachu nodded and crossed his arms. "Yep, that's what happened."

"..." Nobody spoke, but blinked at each other.

In a small amount of time, Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff cracked up by laughing aloud. Red rolled his eyes, and Lucario did the same. Chris hid some chuckles under his right hand as he stared at the 3 laughing loudly.

Lucario glared at Pikachu. "That story sounded so offensive to me. Even if it wasn't me, it DID sound offensive. Radioactive Lucario, please..."

Pikachu wiped out some tears. "W-well, it wasn't supposed to be true, though," he said, laughing a bit. "I-it was a joke, okay? Don't take it that bad!"

Lucario growled silently at him before he saw Chris chuckling. "Chris!"

"S-sorry..." Chris said between chuckles.

Red ignored all the laughs as he looked back at the counter where the nurse brought his 2 Poké Balls in a tray. The trainer quickly pushed his chair away to run at the tray. "Your Pokémon have been fully healed," the nurse told him before bowing. "I hope to see you again."

"Thanks..." Red said as he picked the 2 spheres, instantly releasing Squirtle and Ivysaur on the floor. "H-hi..."

Squirtle and Ivysaur looked upset at Red.

"...Really, I'm sorry for what happened..." Red muttered.

The trainer looked at the 2 sighing in disappointment before they both began to walk back to the laughing group. Seeing Pichu laughing, Squirtle decided to ask what was going on. "Hey, why are you laughing?"

Pichu wiped his tears. "R-Rui got her power to see auras by a radioactive Lucario..."

Ivysaur let out a chuckle before they both joined in with the laughing party, annoying the real Aura Pokémon even more than before.

Too bad it was going to be come to an end, but good thing Lucario was going to be involved in something more serious and not ridiculously as a person, a man wearing a pale yellow shirt with light blue overalls, came from the entrance, panting heavily.

"W-we have problems!" he yelled loudly. "S-some people decided to barge in to the Relic Forest, a-and I heard they were here after Celebi as well!"

At this sudden shout, the Pokémon stopped laughing at the mention of Celebi's name.

"What?" the nurse of the center said in disbelief as Red looked at the man. "Weren't you supposed to be guarding the entrance?"

The nurse had a point. The guy who came in was the same guy who was supposed to block the entrance to the Relic Forest. The mentioned forest was located through a small cave located under the great tree of the whole village, close to where the Pokémon Center was.

Also, the guy looked like he was beaten up badly with a black eye.

"Y-yeah, I tried blocking them, but they punched me to death..."

"...You're still alive, though," the nurse pointed out.

The man swung his right hand annoyed. "T-that's not the point here! Please, alert anyone about this! I'm going to alert the elders right now!"

The group, ignored by the man, saw the man running back outside where he was heard shouting for help.

Red walked to them. "Hey, who's Celebi?"

Pikachu looked at him. "Celebi's the Pokémon that can travel in time," he explained. "Celebi's a chibi-Legendary Pokémon like Mew, Jirachi, and Manaphy."

"Chibi..." Chris blushed a bit at this.

"A Legendary Pokémon?" Red's tone sounded a little bit interested.

Pichu gasped. "D-do you think we can meet Celebi here?"

Pikachu turned at Chris. "Hey, you knew Celebi lives here, didn't you?"

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "Y-yes, I knew but I forgot about Celebi..."

Pikachu frowned and looked at the exit. "Well, the man did say some people were after Celebi. And judging how bad he looked..." Pikachu hit his right palm under his left fist. "There's a Team Rocket look-alike organization here!" he said chuckling. "Heheheheh, no region is defined as a region without an evil syndicate trying to control the world, change it, or make a new one..."

Everyone looked at each other.

"...It's the whole truth, so there," Pikachu said bored.

Lucario stood up, looking down at Chris. "I guess we have to go."

Chris sighed and stood up. "As much as I hate to say this, we have to go... We don't know if someone we know is doing this..."

All the Pokémon jumped back on the floor before Jigglypuff raised a hand. "Ahh, the feeling of saving a world where the people won't know we saved it..." She chuckled. "Heheheh, I hate that, but it's fun."

"...It isn't, believe me," Pikachu said bored.

Squirtle looked at Red. "Hey, you ready for this? This is what we're supposed to do in case of an attack by the army."

Red sighed in relief. At least there was something he was decent at.

"Right," Red said, confident of himself this time. "Let's go, then." He looked at Chris. "Do you where it is?"

Chris nodded. "We'll exit the center and follow the small slope going down to the right. The path to the forest should be right after crossing a small river."

The group nodded before they all left the center in a hurry, relieved that they were going to work with what they were told to do.

Passage to Relic Forest

No.

No.

No.

No.

Oh no.

Something wrong was afoot once the Smashers walked all the way down the small slope and to the hidden cave underneath the big tree and rocks. They found a cave that had several lights coming out from the bushes that covered the holes from outside. Roots of the big tree were sticking out from the ceiling over the small river that ran through the long cave. Some small bridges were placed over the rivers to make a path to the other side of the cave, where the Relic Forest was.

However, that wasn't the point for the multiple negative responses that Red thought. The trainer thought all those things right after some kind on ninja-person came from the leaves of the ceiling. It was literally impossible for the person to come from above due to the fact there wasn't a place to jump out from the ceiling.

Well, probably a ninja could pull that off.

As for the ninja, the person wasn't a ninja. Instead, a girl, wearing a tight violet uniform with a helmet that covered her face except for her red lips and long brown hair that stuck out from the odd-looking helmet, wore pink boots, and pink gloved hands, came down from the ceiling, looking annoyed at them. "Halt!" she yelled. "Who goes there?"

"...Us?" Red and Chris asked as the Pokémon glared at her.

"I see," she said with a nod. "Well, I have been told not to let anyone pass through here because that could screw up our plans," she explained. "Now, you kids can leave or face the consequences."

Lucario began to growl angrily at her.

Noticing the Pokémon, the ninja...I mean, the girl, looked interested. "Hmm, what do we have here? A rare Pokémon?" she said interested. "Okay, now that looks like quite the price."

"Guuuuuorrrrrrrrrgh..." Lucario growled, his red eyes narrowing by the sides, making them look wild.

"Now, now, I don't want you to go away just yet," she said. "If I, Doven, capture you, I'll surely get a big raise from the boss for sure."

Chris, hearing this, took a step forward. "Hey, you told us to leave."

"Yeah, except the doggy you have there," Doven said. "Would you let me take it with me?"

"It? Lucario is a male."

"Whatever," she said with a chuckle. "If you don't want me to take it nicely, then I'll have to take it by force!"

Pokémon Colosseum - Cipher Peon Battle

The group gasped once Doven quickly tossed 2 Poké Balls at them, releasing a Carvanha (that somehow defied gravity as it floated above the ground) and a Spheal that playfully tilted by the sides.

"Hahahahaha!" Doven laughed. "Your Pokémon shall be mine!"

...Seriously, why bring a Carvanha and a Spheal? They would be dead meat to Lucario.

"Must...get...info..." Red muttered as he took out his Pokédex to get Carvanha's and Spheal's info.

Chris looked at the 2 Pokémon waiting to face someone. The World Traveler could tell Lucario wanted to fight. "...Lucario, I know this isn't the battle you expected to have, bu-" Chris stopped talking once Lucario already charged forward at the 2 with aura flaring up in his hands. "...Oh, right! Get deaf and attack, why don't you?!"

Doven smirked. "Now, Carvanha, use Bite!"

One could tell Doven was an idiot.

Carvanha bit the air furiously before it leaped at Lucario's right arm. The Aura Pokémon stopped running and let the Piranha Pokémon bite his arm...and suddenly, once Carvanha bit Lucario's right arm, it yelped in pain as it began to cry out loudly after biting the Steel Pokémon's skin. Lucario merely narrowed his eyes before he tossed a glowing fist at the fish, sending it crashing right on a root before it passed out.

"...W-what?!" Doven asked in disbelief as Carvanha fell down. "M-my stolen Pokémon! Why you..." She made fists. "Spheal, use Aurora Beam!"

Spheal got an angry look before it shot a colorful beam at the charging Lucario. The Aura Pokémon, once receiving the attack, didn't seem to flinch a bit before leaping high up, pulling back his glowing right palm to slam down a Force Palm attack on the double type Pokémon.

"Spheal!" Spheal squealed shocked before his face met Lucario's Force Palm, creating a rather big blast that sent it rolling all the way to Doven's feet before passing out with swirl eyes. "Spheal..."

"A-aaaaaaaaah!" Doven yelled in disbelief. "H-how could you defeat my Pokémon?!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!" Lucario roared in fury at the peon.

"K-kyaaaaaaaah!" Doven called back both of her Pokémon before she decided to run away quickly to the entrance where they came from, leaving in a hurry to escape from Lucario.

Music stops

The Smashers, after watching the double battle end, didn't look that surprised at Lucario as he simply walked back to Chris and nodded. "How was I?" Lucario asked.

"...Er...that was it?" Red asked. "Lucario barely fought with all his forces..."

Pikachu looked bored at him. "If you didn't notice, Carvanha and Spheal are both weak against Fighting Type Pokémon. Since Lucario has that brute force with him, those 2 were already asking for suicide...or they were asking to be really dead."

"I feel sorry for Spheal..." Jigglypuff muttered. "Spheal didn't deserve this..."

Squirtle looked at her. "Wait, you fell in love or what?"

Jigglypuff glared at him.

"...Guess not..."

Chris looked miffed at Lucario. "W-well...I could say you did well...but they were really weak compared to what we have fought..."

Lucario looked at his right fist. "...Well, yes, but I wanted to fight..."

"...Oh, who cares?" Chris asked with a chuckle. "You did well out there."

Lucario looked at him with a serious, proud look. "Thank you."

"But next time..." Chris looked annoyed. "Let me give you the orders you wanted to heard."

The Aura Pokémon gasped before he knelt down. "Sorry for not listening to you, Chris. I shall listen the next time."

Ivysaur rolled his eyes at this. "Honorable much?" he asked, receiving a grunt from Lucario.

Red put a hand over his eyes, spotting the other exit at the other side of the cave. "Hey, the exit's right over there. We should move forward."

The group decided to walk further ahead to reach the exit. However, once they crossed the bridge, another ninja...peon came from the ceiling, scaring some of them. This person was a man, wearing a blue suit, orange bandana (that somehow was brushed by some invisible wind) around his neck, wore a blue helmet that covered his eyes except for his grin, and worse dark blue boots as well. The person crossed his arms once looking at them.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Some meddling kids and their Pokémon wanting to pass through here by no reason," the man said with a chuckle. "Sorry, you'll have to go from here."

Pikachu rolled his eyes at the almost identical response that Doven told them before.

"Or you can leave the rare Pokémon you got there with you," he said, glancing at the Aura Pokémon.

Chris grunted. "Oh no, Lucario is not for sale, sorry."

Lucario looked bored at him.

"...What? It's true," Chris said annoyed.

The man chuckled as he put his hands on his belt. "Sorry, but I'm taking him with me. If you don't want, I'll force you, then!"

Cue Pokémon battle.

Pokémon Colosseum - Cipher Peon Battle

The man (named Silton) tossed 2 Poké Balls at them, releasing a Cacnea that swung its 2 arms back and forward with a Shroomish that blinked and glared at them.

"Okay, let's do this right for once," Chris said. "Red, do you want to fight?"

"..." Red looked down at Ivysaur. "...Yeah," he said before glaring at the peon. "I have to fight."

"Then, Lucario, go!" Chris yelled, pointing forward as his Pokémon leaped in back on the rather long field they were on.

"Ivysaur, show him!" Red commanded as Ivysaur nodded and jumped right next to Lucario.

"This will be a snap," Silton muttered. "Cacnea, use Pin Missiles on Ivysaur! Shroomish, use Sleep Powder on the blue dog!"

"Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"Whatever!" Silton yelled back as both Pokémon charged at Lucario and Ivysaur.

Red looked serious. "Okay, I'm not going to lose this time... Ivysaur, use Vine Whip and lash that Shroomish down!"

Chris, hearing this, smiled a bit before focusing on the battle. "Lucario, shield Ivysaur by using Aura Sphere on Cacnea, now!"

"GUARGH!" Lucario quickly shot a fully charged Aura Sphere with one hand at the Cacnea. The Cactus Pokémon gasped once it saw the blue orb quickly exploding right on its face before it was sent many feet away in the air before crashing on the wall. Silton gasped in disbelief as Cacnea looked fainted, falling down on the ground where it muttered its name in pain.

"You little..." Silton muttered before yelling, "Shroomish, be careful!"

"Too late!" Red yelled as Ivysaur managed to wrap Shroomish with his vines. "Lash it down with all your forces, Ivysaur!"

"Ivy!" Ivysaur yelled with a nod before he raised the shocked Shroomish on the air. Red looked back at the Grass Pokémon releasing some green spores from the top of its head, indicating it was using Sleep Powder. "O-oh no, Ivysaur, evade that, quick!"

Chris gasped once he saw the spores about to rain down on the Seed Pokémon. Since they were both participating in a double battle, the World Traveler got an idea. "Lucario, grab Ivysaur with Extremespeed!"

"Guargh!" Lucario roared in agreement as he instantly grabbed the Seed Pokémon with his left arm, seeming just like if Lucario warped instead of running, quickly saving Ivysaur from being put to sleep.

Chris hummed happily at this insanely fast action. "~I just like my super fast Lucario and his Extremespeed,~" he sang.

Red smiled a bit once he saw Ivysaur, still on Lucario's right arm, lashing Shroomish down with all his forces on the ground below it. Dust flew out once Shroomish crashed on the ground, yelling out in pain before Silton looked at his fainted Pokémon, trapped on Ivysaur's vines before the Seed Pokémon pulled his vines back.

"Shroo..." Shroomish muttered before it fainted.

"...H-hey, no!" Silton yelled. "A-aww, man, I lost to 2 kids?!"

Chris, annoyed by this, raised a finger. "1 kid and 1 teen!" he corrected.

Red blinked. "H-hey, I'm not just a kid!"

"You're 10 years old," Pikachu muttered.

"S-so?"

Music stops

Ivysaur grinned up at Lucario, who smiled a bit down at him before Silton called back his 2 knocked out Pokémon. Seeing that he was out of Pokémon to fight back, he began to panic. "Getting taken down by 2 kids is too much for me. I'm outta here!" he yelled loudly before running away to the side where the Smashers came from, Pichu sticking out his tongue a bit at him before Silton disappeared.

The World Traveler frowned. "Maybe he thinks I'm a kid because Red has the same height as me..."

Red looked bored at him. "Right, you're the only one mature enough here." He looked down at a grinning Ivysaur. "What do you know? We won a battle after all."

"Heheheh, right," Ivysaur said. "Feeling better now?"

Red smiled a bit. "A bit, though... I think I'm going to be just fine after all."

Squirtle chuckled and patted Red's right leg a bit. "Like how it should be every day."

Pichu raised his hand. "I-I want to fight next, please!"

"Shall we go forward and see the forest?" Jigglypuff asked. "At this rate, we'll reach the place in no time."

The Smashers nodded once more before continuing their way down the passage... However, once they crossed the last small bridge, just before reaching the exit, yet another peon jumped down, grinning evilly at them.

"..." Red looked confused at the peon. "...Didn't we JUST beat you a battle ago?"

The violet peon didn't even look that different. In fact, she looked the same as the first one they faced.

"I don't remember ever facing you brats before," the woman said. "Heck, I'm here to stop you from going further into this place. Now, be a peach and leave."

"...Sorry, we need to go forward," Red said.

Angry at this response, the woman took out 2 Poké Balls from her back. "Sorry, I need to stop you from doing so!"

Relic Forest

Since the battle didn't even have to be worth mentioning (due to the fact she didn't have strong Pokémon to defeat Pichu and Squirtle), the group managed to reach the other side of the cave, finding a bigger area.

There were tall trees as far as the eye could see, chirps from Pidgeys were heard coming from all directions. A stone path leaded to a stone monument where a wide, circular stone was found around it. Outside the rock-labeled path, many leaves covered the ground.

The Smashers found out that they weren't alone in the pacific environment as they looked at 2 people standing close to the monument.

The 2 people were another peon guy who looked exactly like the previous second guy they faced before, the only difference with this one was the fact he wore a grey suit instead of blue (Pikachu: (Doesn't anyone her have a good sense of fashion to distinguish one another? Geez...)).

However, the other person didn't even look like him. Instead, the person was and old man with a long white beard, his eyes covered by thick eyebrows as well as his mouth. The person was an old man that wore some kind of a pale grey robe with a pale purple jacket. His robe barely touched the floor, covering his feet.

It seemed that the old man wanted to stop the peon from doing something to the monument close to them as he sounded serious.

"Tell me," the old man began. "Why do you want to destroy the Relic Stone?"

The grey peon chuckled. "Don't you get it, old man? Cipher has heard rumors about this place. They told me that this stupid relic has some kind of mystic power that can purify the hearts of Pokémon; Shadow Pokémon to be precise."

The old man grunted. "I see. So you want to destroy it so it doesn't hinder the plans of that organization, right?"

"Yeah," the peon said. "Be a good old man and leave me do my business here."

At this response, the old man took out a Poké Ball from behind. He looked at it and muttered something. "It has been a long time after we last fought together..." he muttered before looking at the peon. "Well then, I won't allow you to do such a thing to the Relic Stone."

"What, you want to fight me?" the peon asked, opening his arms a bit before frowning. "Ugh, I hate fighting old people, but fine, be that way!"

The Smashers, unnoticed, watched as the peon took a step back to make space for his own Pokémon to fight. The old man also stepped back as the peon tossed a Poké Ball to the air that shot a light down, revealing a Hitmontop recklessly tumbling at the sides due to the fact it was standing on the small top on its head.

Lucario, noticing the Hitmontop, began to growl menacingly as his eyes turned wild. Something about the Hitmontop bothered him a lot.

"L-Lucario?" Chris asked worried. "I-is something wrong?"

"His aura..." Lucario muttered under his breath as he showed his fangs. "It's...sickening... I...hate it so much..."

Chris remembered that the Hitmontop of the grey peon was surely a Shadow Pokémon. However, he forgot Lucario hated some people's auras due to the fact it didn't make him feel comfortable, another reason why he liked Chris's aura so much.

"Go, Poké Ball!" the old man interrupted the group's train of thoughts as the sphere was tossed high up, shooting down a light in front of the Hitmontop.

Once the light vanished, a Pokémon was revealed, shaking its head a bit before glaring at the Fighting Type...

"..." Pikachu, looking serious, raised a hand to the air with a peace sign.

"What's up with you?" Squirtle whispered to Pikachu.

"Hey, he's part of my brethren," Pikachu whispered.

The reason behind Pikachu's response was the fact that the old man's trusted partner...was another Pikachu.

The grey peon grinned. "A Pikachu? That's your only Pokémon? Are you kidding me?" he taunted.

The old man's Pikachu glared at him as sparks flew out from its cheeks.

"(Show him who the boss is, cousin,)" Pikachu thought with a serious look.

"This is going to over in a flash..." the peon muttered before pointing forward."Hitmontop, use Shadow Rush and beat down that rat!"

"Hit!" Hitmontop said as it began to spin madly over its head.

The old man nodded at this. "All right, then, Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Despite this action, however, the Pikachu rammed its head on the spinning Hitmontop. However, once it made contact with the spinning Pokémon, the Pikachu was quickly tossed back on the ground where it rolled back to the old man recklessly before it fainted.

This was a big dismay for Pikachu to watch another Pikachu getting defeated with a single move. "...What the heck happened just now..." Pikachu muttered in disbelief.

Chris chuckled nervously. "T-that Pikachu's level was 50 if I remember...and the Hitmontop's level was 36..."

"..." Pikachu looked down. "...T-that Pikachu ain't my cousin, then..." he muttered in shame, lowering his ears down. "T-that's a faker; and big faker!"

"...Pikachu, quiet..." Pichu whispered, patting Pikachu's back. "You're getting so worked up over another Pikachu..."

"...Huh?" The grey peon finally decided to look at the group while the old man frowned upon his Pikachu.

"No..." the old man muttered. "I've...failed..."

"Shut up, old trash!" the grey peon shouted before pointing at the Smashers. "You! What are you doing here?"

Red, gulping, took a step forward. "W-we were just taking a nice stroll together and we happened to end up here..."

"Don't give me that crap," the peon said. "You surely passed all the guards I had to prevent anyone from coming in. The fact you're all here means you passed through them?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "They were so weak if you ask me."

"..." The peon shook his head. "Whatever, you weren't supposed to come in here and stick your noses where they don't belong. If you ARE here, then that means you came here with a reason." He looked away. "This could mean somebody alerted the people outside..." he muttered before looking at them. "Why do you want to mess with me, Skrub, anyway?"

The grey peon introduced himself as Skrub.

"...Your name is Skrub?" Red asked.

Skrub nodded. "What about it? It's a cool name."

"..." Red hid a chuckle.

"...You did just NOT chuckle at my name, did you?"

"S-sorry..."

Skrub didn't like the apology at all as some of them began to chuckle at his name. Good thing he didn't hear his own Hitmontop chuckling a bit.

"...Okay, funny kid, you're asking for it now. I really hate interruptions so much," Skrub said as he took a fighting stance. "Hitmontop, let's shut that kid down!"

Red stopped chuckling with the others before gasping. "W-what?"

The old man, holding his Pikachu with both arms, looked back at the peon. "What do you think you're going to do?"

Skrub made a right fist and looked at the old man. "What else? I'll attack the kid so he stops laughing at me!" Skrub yelled. "Hitmontop is a Shadow Pokémon itself, so it won't matter anyway."

"A Shadow Pokémon?" Red repeated, staring at the Fighting Type. "How is it a Shadow Pokémon?"

Skrub grinned evilly. "I see you're unfamiliar with Shadow Pokémon," he said as he put his left hand on his hips. "Well, I'll tell you what a Shadow Pokémon is. They're special Pokémon that are strong and like to attack people because their hearts were closed artificially by Cipher, the organization that is creating them all."

Chris was confused as to why Skrub began to explain everything to them. This Cipher organization surely didn't have the brightest people...

Skrub showed his right palm to the sky as he looked at them. "Technically speaking, Shadow Pokémon don't care about doing destruction. They obey orders, but they act rude towards anyone and anything around them," he explained. "They're strong, that's the whole purpose of their existence." He shook his head. "But enough about that, I'm sure you won't be around anymore after I'm done with all of you! Hitmontop, use Shadow Rush on them!"

Red took a step back from the furious Hitmontop who decided to glare up at him from his upside-down form. "Hitmontop!" the Pokémon yelled angrily before it began to spin madly.

Seeing that Red didn't make a move, Chris decided to counterattack. "Lucario, stop Hitmontop from kicking Red!"

"Guargh!" roared Lucario as he stepped in front of Red. The Aura Pokémon put a hand down as Hitmontop went towards him. Once it was about to kick Lucario, the Aura Pokémon's free hand stopped the Handstand Pokémon, making it gasp shocked.

"W-what?!" Skrub took a step back once seeing that Lucario stopped Hitmontop very easily. "H-how the heck did that dog... Hitmontop, use Triple Kick!"

"H-Hit..." Hitmontop, still upside-down, tried to move, but Lucario's hand left it immobile. The Aura Pokémon's brute force was just too much for the Fighting Type to move.

"W-wait! Let me get its info! Damn myself for not taking the info of the previous Pokémon..." Red interrupted as he took out his Pokédex to get the data. "...Ooh, centrifugal force multiplied by 10..."

Squirtle and Ivysaur frowned at this, motioning at Lucario to throw Hitmontop away.

The World Traveler saw them wanting to get rid of Hitmontop. "Lucario, throw Hitmontop away!" Chris ordered.

"Guuuuuarrrgggh!" Lucario roared as he lifted up the Handstand Pokémon with the same hand, making Skrub gasp before Lucario tossed Hitmontop back at him, rolling recklessly on the air before it crashed several times on the floor. Angry by this, the Hitmontop got back up before it stood by its head.

Skrub grunted in annoyance as the group ran to the old man to protect him from further attacks. Seeing Lucario, Skrub glared at him. "What kind of Pokémon is that, anyway? I've never seen it before..." He shook his head. "Why the hell did you decide to appear here? You're not wanted!"

Red, annoyed by the guy, swung his right arm. "Look, we're here to stop you from doing anything to this place. It's obvious you came here to destroy this...stone thing, right?"

"Relic Stone," the old man corrected him from behind.

"Y-yeah, Relic Stone," Red said. "You came here for Sabubi as well, right?"

"Celebi."

"R-right..." Red glared back at the peon. "I-I know we're doing the right thing to stop you from doing so, so..."

"..." Skrub slapped his forehead. "Am I losing time with a weirdo?"

"Y-you're the weirdo here!"

Chris decided to speak. "You're like a palette swap of the second guy we faced before."

Skrub's eyes twitched a bit. "P-palette swap? Why everyone says I'm a palette swap? Nobody respects me anymore... Ugh, that's it. No more games!" Skrub yelled as he tossed another Poké Ball right next to Hitmontop, calling out another Pokémon. "Go and get 'em!"

If his Pokémon looked remotely dangerous, then they would have gasped at the Wynaut that happily moved its ears at the sides. "Wynaut!" it said merrily. "Wynaut, Wynaut, Wy!"

Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all stared at the Wynaut before they all chuckled a bit. Red, blinking at it, felt somewhat weird as he examined the Wynaut with his Pokédex. "...Sure, why not?" Red asked confused.

Lucario and Chris had to chuckle at this as they covered their mouths with a hand, even the old man behind (and his apparently awake Pikachu) chuckled a bit.

Skrub slapped his helmet. "Y-you idiot, you're not supposed to ask that to him! Wynaut, attack them!"

"Wy?" the Wynaut asked, turning around at him, happy expression still intact.

"Because I said so, now go!" Skrub ordered.

"Wy?"

"Because you need to!"

"Wy?"

"Because they're annoying me so much!"

"Wy?"

"WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING ME THAT?!"

"Wy?"

Some of them began to laugh silently at the Wynaut and his trainer. Wynaut itself laughed, again, saying its name many times, annoying Skrub a lot. This got even worse as Hitmontop began to laugh a bit.

It made Skrub wonder if Hitmontop was really a Shadow Pokémon since they're not supposed to show emotions... Wait, they're evil, so it'd make sense Hitmontop was laughing at him.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Skrub scratched his helmet many times. "Wynaut, attack them once and for all, you dumb idiot!"

"Wy?" Wynaut said.

Remember, it said, not asked.

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!"

"Wynaut!" Wynaut said as it turned around to face the group. "..." It remained silent, his happy expression showing emotion during the silence.

The Smashers and the old man waited for the Wynaut to attack. Hitmontop looked at it from the corner of its eyes. Skrub, looking serious (and pissed no less) waited. However, at this point, his patience was already forever taken down.

"...Do something already!" Skrub yelled, breaking the silence of the forest.

"..." Red looked at him. "Er...I think I remember something about Wynauts not using any physical attacks... They know counter attacks only among some others, right?"

Chris looked at him. "W-well, yes... Wynauts and Wobbuffets are known for only counterattacking moves..."

"...Aw, crap." Skrub slapped his helmet one more time. "Why the hell do they give me the most pathetic Pokémon? Can somebody here tell me why?"

The Smashers kept glaring at him until they all looked down at the playful Wynaut waving its ears to get the attention.

The Wynaut put its ears on its hips. "Wy?" Wynaut suddenly asked.

This little question made the smaller Pokémon roll around laughing while Chris and Red started to laugh with the old man and his Pikachu as well. Lucario, however, looked happy when he saw Chris laughing close to him.

The laughs irritated Skrub more and more as they all laughed loudly. Remembering he had a Hitmontop out, he decided to order it to attack them. "Hitmontop, use Shadow Rush to shut them up!"

The laughs quickly stopped once Lucario alerted the group from the Handstand Pokémon. Without any orders, Lucario fired a fully charged Aura Sphere that blasted the Hitmontop back. The attack was surprisingly fatal enough for it to fall down defeated, sticking its tongue out. "Hitmon...top..." it muttered weakly.

"...W-w-what?!" Skrub asked in disbelief. "H-hey, not fair! You knocked Hitmontop out with a single attack?! W-who the hell are you?!"

"Grrrrrrrrr..." Lucario raised his fists at the level of his shoulders.

"I'm asking you a question. Who are you?!"

Red, stopping his laughs, glared back at him. "Can't you understand? We ar-"

"They're a bunch of people that just defeated you pathetically."

Everyone stopped glaring at each other as silence again took its place in the sacred forest. Their eyes all turned back at the exit of the passage where they found 2 familiar figures standing on the path to the Relic Stone. The old man, recognizing the figures, took a step forward.

"Rui, Wes, you're here!" the old man said.

"W-what?" Red muttered shocked once he looked back at the entrance.

There were the serious Wes and the worried Rui standing several feet away from them. Wes's eyes focused on the Smashers for a bit before glancing over the Cipher Peon and his knocked out Hitmontop. Walking to them with Rui, Wes began to speak. "Rui, are any of those 2 Shadow Pokémon?"

"L-let me see..." Rui said as she focused her sight on the Wynaut and Hitmontop. She quickly saw a darkish aura coming from the Hitmontop before she pointed at it, stopping walking with Wes. "T-there's a Shadow Pokémon!"

Wes nodded in agreement before he took out a Great Ball from his belt with his left arm.

Red, Chris, and the Pokémon watched as the black machine that was attached on Wes' left arm started to make some sounds as he held the Great Ball on his left hand. A weird light circulated the sphere before Wes tossed it at the Hitmontop. Surprisingly, the Great Ball actually managed to capture the owned Pokémon as it retreated to Wes's Great Ball. The sphere fell down on the floor, rocketed a few times and then stopped indicating Hitmontop was caught.

"W-what?" Red asked shocked as Wes went to get the Great Ball, ignoring the shocked Skrub. "W-wait a minute, what are you doing?" Red asked. "D-did you just steal that Hitmontop?"

Wes looked at Red with a glare before he looked at Skrub. "You can go away now. You're useless as of now."

"W-what?" Skrub asked. "H-hey, who do you think you are?" The Cipher Peon paused for a moment. "...Wait, you're Wes!"

"I'm glad you know my name," Wes said. "What is your business in here?"

"Y-you're the one who defeated Miror. B., correct?" Skrub asked.

"What if I was the one who defeated that idiot?" Wes asked coldly, crossing his arms. "I have no intentions to fight a guy like you."

Skrub stomped the floor. "H-hey! I'm not scared of you! I don't care if you defeated Miror B. or not, but you're going to come with me so my leade-"

"No."

"...Dammit!" Skrub yelled as he took out 2 more Poké Balls. "I'm not leaving without a fight! Go, Clamperl, Geodude!"

Wes watched as the 2 mentioned Pokémon were called upon the floor from the 2 Poké Balls. For once, the 2 Pokémon looked threatening...

...They looked a little bit threatening.

Red and Chris have had enough of dealing with Skrub that they decided to take the initiative. "I'm sick of him already. Pikachu, use Thunder on Clamperl!" yelled Chris.

"Me too. Squirtle, use Water Gun on Geodude!" Red ordered.

Pikachu and Squirtle nodded at each other before performing their electric and water attacks on Clamperl and Geodude respectively. Pikachu brought down a Thunder from the sky as Squirtle sprayed Geodude with Water Gun. Clamperl, after receiving the devastating attack, lost consciousness as Geodude itself panicked once Squirtle's Water Gun managed to make it get wet. Seeing this, Skrub grunted one more time before calling both back to their Poké Balls.

Chris hummed. "Red, is that a sign of victory over an idiot I see?"

"I guess," Red said with a chuckle.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Skrub grunted angrily as everyone glared at him. "Y-you know what? I'm outta here! I don't want to deal with any of you anymore, you hear me?! I'm out of Pokémon so that's a good reason!"

"You still have Wynaut, though," Red pointed out as he looked at the Bright Pokémon's happy expression.

"Wynaut!" Wynaut said happily before Skrub called it back to its Poké Ball.

Wes frowned. "Well, you were defeated. Now, go away."

Skrub pointed a finger at him. "Well, you may have won the fight today, but not the battle against Cipher, you hear me? After all, all you did was to steal my Pokémon with that damned Snag Machine of yours!" He began to run away to the passage. "This is not the end yet, you hear me? I'm going to alert Cipher of your movements, Wes!"

The group saw as Skrub disappeared into the darkness of the passage, cursing loudly before he was finally gone.

"...I'm glad he's gone," Red muttered. "He was a little bit annoying to me..."

Wes turned at them. "Why are you all here?"

Chris looked at him with everyone else. "W-we're here because we wanted to protect this place from him..."

"That is correct," the old man behind said as he stepped forward. "They came here to protect the Relic Forest and the Relic Stone. I'm telling you they were a lot of help."

Rui gasped once she saw the old man and his Pikachu on arms. "G-grandpa!" she yelled. "Grandpa, w-why did you come here all by yourself? You shouldn't have left the house when they alerted that Cipher was planning to attack this place!"

"He's your grandpa?" Red asked, pointing at the old man.

The old man nodded with a chuckle. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Eagun. I'm one of the elders of the village and grandfather of Rui, my granddaughter," he introduced himself. "If you all didn't come here in time, the Relic Forest and the Relic Stone would have been destroyed by that organization called Cipher..." He looked down at his Pikachu. "I'm glad you did everything you could to buy them some time, my friend."

"Pi..." his Pikachu said weakly with a smile.

"Ooh, poor thing..." Rui said as she approached them. "You okay?"

"Pi," the Pikachu said happily, making Rui smile.

Wes looked back at the group. "You're telling me you fought that guy all by yourselves?"

"S-so what if we did?" Red asked. "There were more of them in the cave, but we were able to defeat them all."

"..." Wes frowned. "Well, I guess that was good of you..." He looked at them. "Why did you want to come here? I know you wanted to protect the forest, but you surely had another reason, or am I wrong?"

"Wes, stop questioning them," Eagun said. "They are strong trainers who wanted to protect this sacred sanctuary. There's no need to ask for more."

Wes narrowed his eyes at Red, making the trainer look ashamed. "...Strong trainers...I doubt that..." he muttered under his breath.

Red looked ashamed at Wes's serious expression. The Pallet Town trainer started to feel really scared of him, but also, there was a small sign of anger that wanted to come out so Red could yell back at him. But, Red didn't have guts enough to do so.

"Well, shall we go back to my house?" Eagun asked. "I need to give my Pikachu a good nap so he recovers his energies." He looked at Rui rubbing his Pikachu's head with care.

"Yeah..." Wes trailed off, staring at the Pikachu.

Eagun looked at the Smashers. "Why don't you come in as well?"

"What?" Red and Wes asked, quickly looking at each other.

"That's the least I can do for your help in protecting this place," Eagun offered.

"Oh," Rui began. "I know them. They're the friends we met earlier."

"Is that so?" Eagun asked. "Well, that's a very good reason for you to come with us as well."

Chris wanted to see if Wes's shady face tried to show any kind of objection. And surprise, there were very small frowns that indicated he didn't want them to go with them.

The World Traveler knew that they had to make Wes and Ruin come with them...or the other way around. Thinking for something to convince Wes's annoying attitude, Chris came up with an idea. "We know who Cipher and the Shadow Pokémon are."

"..." Hearing this, Wes looked at him a little bit surprised. "What?"

"The guy who was here before...kind of told us everything..." Chris sweat dropped. "H-he wasn't exactly the brightest guy around..."

Wes slapped his forehead and frowned. "Ugh, I kind of expected some of them leaking out vital information to the public, and they ARE supposed to be secretive..." he muttered before looking back at them. "I hate to ask, but what did he tell you?"

"Cipher distributes Shadow Pokémon to people by making and selling them," Chris explained. "They're strong Pokémon because their hearts are closed, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"..." Wes tried to think of something to say. Finally, he sighed. "Well, now you know about them. That wasn't crucial information, but still."

"W-wait!" Red spoke. "H-how did you catch that Hitmontop? I-I mean, no trainer can catch an owned Pokémon from another trainer, right?"

"That's really none of your business," Wes said coldly.

Rui, after hearing them talk, chuckled. "Wes here can catch Pokémon from others by snagging them with the Snag Machine he wears on his left arm."

Wes gasped and looked shocked at Rui. "R-Rui!"

"See his left arm's black color? That's the Snag Machine which allows him to steal other's Pokémon," Rui explained. "He doesn't steal normal Pokémon, though. Wes steals Shadow Pokémon in order to save them by finding a way to open up their hearts again. We're on a quest to get them all to save them from Cipher by using my special ability to see Shadow Pokémon's auras so Wes here can identify them to later capture them." Rui chuckled. "As you can see, we're still looking for a way to open their hearts."

Wes couldn't believe Rui explained EVERYTHING to a group of strangers that barely knew what Shadow Pokémon were. Worse yet, the clueless girl went on as far as to say she had that ability to see auras.

Gritting his teeth, Wes looked at Rui with a glare as he covered part of his face with his right hand. "Why...why...WHY DID YO-"

"Oh, chill out, Wes," Rui said with a chuckle, ignoring Wes's death glare. "Sooner or later, people need to find out what we do so they help us out. I mean, isn't it boring we're only the 2 of us?" Rui looked at the Smashers. "Speaking of which, we need some help here."

Wes gasped. "Rui, whatever you're think-"

"Can you come with us, please?"

"Rui, are you even listening? Hey!"

Rui had a happy expression. "Pretty please? You surely weakened that Hitmontop because you fought it. My grandpa already said you defeated him."

Wes knew Rui had something against him for her ignorance of him so he decided to pull Rui's shoulder to look at her, taking her some feet away from the Smashers. "Rui, what do you think you're doing?"

"Well, that's rude of you," Rui said with crossed arms. "I'm asking them if they want to come with us. They know almost everything about Cipher and the Pokémon, so why not?"

"Rui, that wasn't the same thought I was thinking of," Wes said with a frown. "We're the 2 of us who can do this by ourselves. Why did you decide to go ask them to come with us?"

"They beat that peon," Rui said. "Why not?"

"Just because they defeated another one of those weirdoes wearing those suits doesn't mean they can come with us automatically," Wes said with crossed arms. "Besides, if they did do defeat him, that means the Red guy had pure luck in defeating them."

Hearing this, Red decided to walk to them. "Hey, who the hell do you think you are to tell me I'm weak?" he asked, finally managing a glare to Wes. "I'm getting sick of your smart-ass behavior already!"

Eagun coughed. "Please, refrain from saying bad words in this sacre-"

"What's your problem?" Wes asked, ignoring Eagun. "You're not even wanted here. Besides, weren't you traveling as far as I know you were doing?"

"I can always decide whether to stop traveling and help people out!" Red yelled.

"Well, too bad, I don't need your help," Wes responded.

"I do, though!" Rui suddenly said.

"Rui!"

Rui grabbed Red's right hand with both of her hands. "Can you please come with us with everyone in your group?"

Red flushed a bit. "W-w-w-w-well..."

"Rui, what can't you understand of what I've said?" Wes asked, glaring.

Jigglypuff pulled Chris's pants a bit to get his attention. The World Traveler looked down at her motioning at Lucario. The Aura Pokémon tilted his head a bit at this before the World Traveler knew what Jigglypuff wanted to say. "H-hey, Wes!" Chris called. "If you let us come with you, I'll let you have a battle with Lucario very soon!"

This sudden offering made Wes look back at the Pokémon with Chris. Squirtle and Ivysaur shifted their eyes around, Pikachu and Pichu whistled a bit, Jigglypuff put her hands on her hips proudly, and Lucario just blinked.

"...Tsk..." Wes muttered. "Taking advantage of what I like the most...that's dirty..."

Chris looked worried before looking down. "S-sorry..."

"...Forget it."

This response made Chris and the others gasp. "W-what?"

Wes glared at him. "I'm not going to let you take advantage of me. If that's how you want me to accept your offering, you're very wrong." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I won't let you get involved in something you shouldn't be."

Chris looked blankly at him, motioning at Lucario by pulling his left arm. The Aura Pokémon stared at Chris lifting Lucario's left arm where he tried to say he wanted Lucario to carry him. Understanding the order, Lucario nodded.

"Besides, I don't know the strength of that Lucario you have with you," Wes stated, ignoring some gasps from Rui and Eagun. "Now, how are you going to convince me from taking you with us against a dangerous...organization...like...Cipher...?" Wes's eyes widened a bit. "...What the..."

In front of him, there was a serious Lucario carrying the World Traveler by sitting on his left arm. Chris chuckled a bit before he rubbed Lucario's head with his right hand, making his Pokémon growl happily.

"..." Wes looked bored. "Okay, that's surprising, but it doesn't convince me."

Chris merely snapped his fingers, telling to Lucario to engulf himself with aura that let his appendages levitate a bit. Wes saw the burning blue fire covering the Aura Pokémon completely as Lucario's eyes glowed yellow, accompanied with a slow roar that Lucario made.

"...Not convinced enough..." Wes said.

Chris rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers to let Lucario fire a fully charged Aura Sphere on the sky. The Aura Pokémon looked up to his right hand shooting off the orb of aura into the sky. Once it was high enough, a huge explosion burst from the orb, making Eagun and Rui gasp in surprise as Wes stared at it amazed.

Looking back at Lucario, Wes saw as Lucario put Chris down on the floor before Lucario took a fighting stance. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The loud roar that Lucario made at Wes produced a strong wind that made Wes's trail coat shake back. The echoing roar even made the leaves all around the area shake wildly while Rui and Eagun took a step back from the strong wind that Lucario produced as the other Pokémon crossed their arms (except Ivysaur) proudly. Panting heavily, Lucario glared at Wes with his yellow eyes as his blue aura easily changed the surrounding's pacific color.

"..." A very small grin formed on Wes's lips, indicating he liked what he saw so far from the powerful Lucario. "...Accepted," he muttered with a chuckle.

This response made Rui, Red, and Chris sigh in relief as the Aura Pokémon showed his sharp fangs at the shady trainer. The other Pokémon looked at each other and nodded with amused looks.

"...Please, don't do that again in this pacific realm..." Eagun muttered with a frown, watching some Pidgeys fleeing in fear to the north horizon.

Wes and Rui temporarily joined your team...or actually, you temporarily joined Wes and Rui...

Eagun and Beluh's House

Pokémon Colosseum - Agate Village

"Really, you looked so cool back there, Lucario," whispered Chris.

"Guuuuoooooorrrgh..." Lucario growled happily as Chris rubbed his head with care.

After the Smashers managed to convince the shady trainer from letting them to come, Eagun offered them all to go to his house. It seemed that Wes and Rui were having an important discussion with Rui's grandparents before the Cipher Peons attacked the forest.

Now that the Smashers were allowed to go with Wes and Rui anywhere, everything seemed fine. The new group was leaded to the top hill of the whole village where Rui's grandparents' house was located underneath the old tree's roots. When they entered inside, they found some stairs going up, a small kitchen to the right, and the living room to the left where the elders were. Since the living room itself was small, most of them had to stay up with Wes and Rui in the front of the whole group.

Wes ignored the growls from the tall Pokémon as he listened to Eagun and Beluh, the latter character being Rui's grandmother. Beluh had a long white hat that ran down her head from her back a bit. She wore white clothes with a long purple skirt that covered her legs completely. She was sitting down next to her husband who was trying to explain Wes the method to purify Pokémon's hearts through the Relic Stone.

"Here," Eagun said as he gave Wes a table that was made of rock with some carvings on it. "This is the Stone Tablet."

"For what is this?" Wes asked.

"This is a sacred tablet that allows someone to use the power of Celebi through the Relic Stone," Beluh explained as she put her hands over each other. "The Stone Tablet lets you tamper Celebi's power in the Relic Forest. There have been some myths that the tablet can summon Celebi's power to guard the Relic Forest should it be threatened."

Wes stared at the tablet. "And if I use this, what will happen?"

Eagun rubbed his beard a bit. "That is something you need to see by yourself, Wes," he said. "Celebi's home has been the Relic Forest itself. Since it travels in time, the Stone Tablet and the Relic Stone are the only mean to call Celebi to the forest." He looked down. "I'm afraid I don't even know if Celebi can help you, but he has been known to be a pacific Pokémon."

"Besides," Beluh began. "You told us Cipher wanted to destroy the Relic Stone to get to Celebi, right?"

Rui nodded. "They wanted to have Celebi with them to turn it into a Shadow Pokémon, probably..."

"That should be the case," Beluh said. "They were thinking foolish ideas, though. Destroying the Relic Stone would sever the only way to meet Celebi in person."

Eagun looked at Wes. "You need to go with Senilor. Senilor knows more about Celebi's power more than anyone else in the village," he said. "The reason why we have the Stone Tablet here is because Senilor himself entrusted us to keep it safe."

Wes nodded. "Thank you for the info."

Rui bowed politely. "Really, thank you so much, grandpa, grandma."

"We're glad we helped you," Beluh said before noticing the group behind them. "Also, thank you very much for protecting the Relic Forest from Cipher," she said with a chuckle. "We didn't ask you for your help, but it was so nice of you to do it."

Red scratched the back of his head. "W-"

"Let's move on," Wes interrupted. "If there's a way to open the hearts of the Shadow Pokémon, we should be better make haste."

Red felt a little bit offended at this interruption as Wes turned around to the exit, nobody following him.

Beluh looked at Rui. "...Are you sure you got the right boyfriend? He looks shady to me."

Rui gasped, blushed, and looked embarrassed. "G-grandma, t-that's not how it looks like! I-I'm not with him because of that!"

Eagun and Beluh laughed a bit together, making Rui pout a little bit at this.

Keeping an annoyed look, Rui turned to the Smashers. "W-well, shall we follow Wes?"

Relic Forest

After the group got a lecture of Senilor that Celebi has the power to go back in time to recover the hearts that Shadow Pokémon lost once, they all reached the forest as Wes stared at the rock monument in front of him.

Wes blinked surprised as the monument began to emanate a green aura that made his 4 Poké Balls glow with the same light. He decided to grab one before staring at the monument. "Okay, let's try this out..." he muttered, tossing the sphere up to make a Pokémon come out.

The Smashers and Rui saw a wild Croconaw growling angrily. It turned around to Wes before leaping to his right leg, biting it with its jaw.

"DAMMIT!" Wes cursed once Croconaw bit his leg hard, causing Red and the others to chuckle. Glaring at them quickly, Wes kicked Croconaw back to stop it from chewing his leg. "Okay, this better work because I'm sick of getting my damn leg bitten by you," he said coldly at Croconaw, who replied by biting his leg again. "STOP IT!" Wes yelled in pain, the chuckles turning into laughter as he kicked Croconaw to the relic.

"(Shady guy getting his leg bitten...)" Ivysaur thought while laughing with everyone. "(Priceless...)"

"Ugh," Wes grunted as he showed the Stone Tablet at the Relic Stone. "You better call Celebi here or else I wi-"

Suddenly, the Relic Stone began to shine bright with a green aura. The laughter came to a halt as the Pokémon, Red, Rui, and Chris stared at it in surprise. The green aura made Lucario feel comfortable around it as the relic's aura made the wild Croconaw stare at it.

The wild look on its eyes faded as Croconaw stared deeply into the relic.

Wes looked down at his Croconaw in surprise. It stopped having that annoying craving on his leg for once as he looked back and forth between the relic and the Shadow Pokémon. "...It's working, I think..." he muttered.

Suddenly, the relic shot a green light at the Croconaw. The Big Jaw Pokémon's eyes widened instantly right after the light met its chest. Some kind of dark aura began to manifest on Croconaw as it remained standing still, the green light glowing brightly to dissipate the shadow aura.

"...Oh, rats!" Red cursed as he took out his Pokédex to get Croconaw's data. The trainer sighed in relief as he filled the entry. "Phew... Hey..." He stared at the entry. "It says here its fangs shouldn't stop biting something until they're lost!"

"Red, shh," Chris interrupted. "I'm trying to watch this supernatural event."

Red rolled his eyes at this as he continued to watch the event.

A minor time passed before Croconaw stopped glowing with the green aura. The Big Jaw Pokémon looked around confused before it turned around to look up at Wes. A look of surprise was with Wes once he looked down at Croconaw.

"...No more bites to my leg?" Wes asked.

The Croconaw tilted its head confused before it smiled happily at him.

Wes and Rui knew very well that Croconaw was never like this before. Before, Croconaw would listen to Wes's orders in battle, but it would always crave for his legs every time it was called out to the battles, not only that, it would headbutt Rui as well.

Wes kept staring down at Croconaw before he smiled a bit at it.

For some reason, a Pidgey that was flying by fell down behind him.

"Good..." Wes said. "The look you're giving me says a lot of things you haven't said before."

"Croconaw!" the Croconaw said with a nod.

And suddenly, something happened. Croconaw began to shine brightly, surprising itself as it got engulfed completely. The people in the forest watched amazed as the light began to take another shaper. Instead of the Croconaw they knew, a figure of about 7 feet tall stood on Croconaw's place. Wes blinked at the taller figure in the light before the light itself vanished.

"...Heh," Wes began with a grin. "What do you know, you evolved after all..."

The Big Jaw Pokémon before him was a fully evolved Feraligatr. The tall Water Pokémon looked confused at itself. It looked at its thick-scaled arms, its rather long belly which was as thick in scales, its long strong jaw, and its longer tail behind. Once fully inspecting itself, Feraligatr grinned down at bit at Wes.

Wes patted the Feraligatr's right shoulder. "Welcome," he said. "You're going to be a new powerful Pokémon from now on."

"Feraligator!!!" Feraligatr yelled proudly of itself.

"...I don't understand," Chris said confused. "I thought its name was Feraligatr, but it just yelled Feraligator instead..."

"No name is longer than 10 letters, Chris," whispered Lucario.

"B-but...it doesn't make sense..."

Rui looked at them. "Huh, is something wrong?"

"N-nothing..." Chris said embarrassed.

Wes turned around to look at them. "Well, now we know how to purify Shadow Pokémon. What do you think, Rui?"

Rui looked back at him. "I-I think so... Wait, why don't you try to purify all the Pokémon you have with you?"

Wes thought for a moment. "I don't know... The fact that each Shadow Pokémon I capture hurts me in some way or another could put my life at risk..." He frowned. "But if I want to end this soon, I should purify them as soon as possible..."

Red rubbed his chin. "So...the Relic Stone uses Celebi's powers to bring the hearts of Shadow Pokémon from the past?"

"That's supposed to be how it works," Rui said. "It's amazing the relic itself can do that. I wonder why Celebi wants to be hidden..."

"Because it doesn't want to let itself be located," Wes said. "Okay, it's time for all the Shadow Pokémon I've captured to be purified... For that, I'll need to go back to the center and get them out from my PC." He gulped a bit. "Wish me good luck in surviving their attacks... They enjoy hurting me..."

16 Shadow Pokémon later...

Wes was barely able to stand up after around 16 crazy Shadow Pokémon that, before getting all purified, decided to burn him, wet him, throw sand at him, peck him, shock him (this being a Flaaffy that evolved into an Ampharos), cut him, screeched on his ears, slapped him, kicked him, pecked him again, and finally pushed him down.

The group didn't do anything to stop him from getting hurt. Instead, they all chuckled silently at his messed up hair. Even Rui let out a small laugh before blocking her mouth.

"...Never..." Wes muttered annoyed at his happy Sudowoodo. "...Never...I am going...to get hurt...like this...ever again..."

"Sudo-woodo, Sudo-woodo," Sudowoodo said happily before it was returned into its Poké Ball.

Wes narrowed his eyes at the chuckling group before they all quickly calmed down. His glare surely meant someone was about to die if they continued. Wes sighed with a frown as he fixed his hair and goggles.

"W-well," Rui began as she wiped a tear. "T-that should be it, right?"

"Not quite..." Wes said, sounding a little bit scared. "Remember the Hitmontop I caught today? It's not ready to be purified yet... If I call it out..."

"...You're going to be its meal for the day," Chris said.

"..." Wes grunted. "Why do I have to receive this unfair punishment?"

Rui raised a finger and winked. "You want to purify 'em all. That's what you wanted to do as a resolve."

Wes rolled his eyes. "If I knew THIS was going to happen...I would have reconsidered..."

"Well, you're stuck with that job," Rui said, lifting her shoulders. "After all, only you can do it. You like Pokémon, don't you?"

"...Right," Wes said. "I just can't let Cipher produce them..." He raised a finger. "But let's be clear here about something."

"W-what would that be?" Red asked.

"If I ever capture a really big Pokémon one of these days that looks remotely powerful and could possibly do something even worse on me, I'm going to TURN around, RUN away from here, and LET the relic do its magic on them so I don't freaking die, okay?"

The group decided to be silent at this idea.

"Am I clear or what?"

"..." The group nodded in unison.

"Good..." Wes sighed. "Well, that does it for now. I'm glad their hearts are not locked anymore."

Chris sighed. "If you hate this so much, just give it up already."

"I can't do that," Wes said. "I'm doing this so I can make up for everything I've done in the past." He frowned. "Really, you wouldn't want to know what I did before I decided to do this resolve..." He looked at them. "Why didn't you help me so I wouldn't get hurt?"

"Simply because they're yours and not ours…" Chris pointed out.

Wes muttered under his breath, "I hate you…"

Rui looked at them. "Wes once was with Team Snagem, an organization that did many crimes in the region."

Wes gritted his teeth and he looked up to the sky. "...Rui...STOP telling them what they shouldn't know..."

"...Oopsie," Rui said embarrassed, looking at the Smashers who looked a little bit interested. "F-forget I said that Wes was with Team Snagem, an organization that did many crimes in the region."

At this point, Wes's rage was taken to the maximum. "RUI!"

Rui gasped. "I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't know what I was doing, I swear!"

Wes panted heavily before he sighed. "Look, let's just tell your grandparents we're going away again, okay?" he asked annoyed as he showed them a hi-tech device (known as PDA: a special device to receive email from others). "I've got an email from Duking that Mt. Battle was under attack by Cipher."

Rui gasped once more. "W-what? Where is Mt. Battle?"

"It should be located in the only mountain of the whole region," Wes said as he pointed at the passage. "It's right east of this village. It shouldn't be too far."

"Right," Rui said with a nod. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to tell my grandparents we're going there, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Wes said. "Tell them I said good bye."

Rui nodded before she turned around to run back into the passage. Chris noticed that Pikachu and Pichu jumped his shoulders to follow her as well. Confused by this, the World Traveler looked at Lucario. "Why did Pikachu and Pichu go with her?" he whispered.

"(I don't know,)" Lucario said telepathically. "(But when we were there, it looked like Pikachu and Pichu befriended Eagun's Pikachu while Wes was talking.)"

"...Oh..." Chris muttered. "It makes sense."

Wastelands
Close to Agate Village

"...Oh, you're back," Chris said as he saw Rui, Pikachu, and Pichu coming back from the village. "Did...something happen?"

The World Traveler could tell that Rui looked depressed by something. Her face wasn't the same as before when she was with them at the Relic Forest. Instead of showing an enthusiastic face, there was a hint of depression with surprise on it.

The young girl looked at Chris and chuckled. "Heheheh, it's nothing..."

"(When someone says nothing happened something surely did happen...)" Chris thought.

"W-well, it's all good, don't worry," Rui said. "Okay, so what are we doing now?"

The World Traveler wanted to know more, but not for the time being.

Finally, Red and the others had finally joined with Wes and Rui. Now, they knew their mission was got to be a lot easier than before. Once Rui (with Pikachu and Pichu) returned back from saying farewell to Eagun and Beluh (including Eagun's Pikachu), they all set out east to reach Mt. Battle, a facility that pitted trainers to face 100 battles to reach the top.

However, a problem arose once the group made it outside...

How were all of them going to fit in Wes's weird motorbike?

Wes forgot the fact that he had many new people with him. He could tell Red and Chris to call their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, but Red and Chris remained as the only problems for the bike. Wes originally made the bike himself for him to ride on together with Espeon and Umbreon.

The passenger's seat was supposed to be for Espeon and Umbreon, but ever since Wes rescued Rui, she occupied that spot, taking it away from the 2 Pokémon. Rui herself felt uncomfortable, but she quickly got used to the seat.

"Nice...bike..." Red muttered, examining the long bike.

"..." Wes closed his eyes. "Take in mind I didn't make this bike to transport a whole crowd, you got that?"

Rui folded her arms and tapped the ground with her right foot's tip. "Soooooooooo...how are we gonna get to Mt. Battle?"

"My guess is that I'll have to do some trips back and forth to transport everyone there," Wes said before opening his eyes. "However, that would take a lot of time."

"Well..." Chris rubbed his chin. "Red and I can call our Pokémon into their Poké Balls to make space..."

"But the problem is you 2," Wes said. "I don't know how the hell I'm going to make you come with us with my bike."

Thinking about something, Rui raised a finger. "I know! We could let Red ride the seat with you while Chris seats with me!"

Wes shifted his eyes at Red, who immediately looked away. "...That's NOT happening," Wes said annoyed. "There must be another way to do things here." He crossed his arms. "Have you ever seen TWO guys riding the same seat?"

Rui thought for a moment. "...You could be the first one..."

Wes sulked a bit. "I'm NOT doing that."

She looked bored at him. "...Fine, I'll ride with you instead."

Wes blushed a bit. "E-er, no, that won't work, either..."

"Then let any of them ride with you. We don't have all day, Wes!" Rui yelled. "The more we discuss this, the more danger Mt. Battle will get!"

Wes thought hard. "I know, I know! Don't remind me about what we're doing again!" He sighed. "We'll eventually reach a conclusion."

Red and Chris decided to call all their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, excluding Pikachu who wanted to stay on Chris's right shoulder.

"However, we should do this fast," Rui said. "We're getting them to help us, Wes."

"I know, I know," Wes said with some nods. "Let me think of the solution here, will you?"

Some time later...

"...This wasn't EXACTLY what I had in mind..." Wes's sigh wasn't heard by anyone.

After finally deciding how Chris and Red were going to ride with them, the bike quickly accelerated through the long wasteland before it as an annoyed Wes rode the same seat with no one else than Red himself. In the passenger's seat, there were Rui, Chris, and Pikachu putting their hands above their heads to explore the surroundings of the desert.

"Y-you sure I'm not going to fall back?!" Red asked as he looked back on the close ground.

"I wish, but no!" Wes yelled as the motor roared its engine. "Just lean to my back so you don't end up falling down!"

"A-are you sure?!"

"It's uncomfortable, but we don't have any choice left!"

The Pallet Town trainer gulped and leaned forward to Wes's back, not hearing the older trainer cursing under his breath after Red leaned forward on him.

"Damn you, Rui..." Wes cursed.

Back with the trio on the other seat, Rui looked at Pikachu before she rubbed his ears a little bit, Pikachu getting a goofy look as he let her scratch his ears. "Who's a cutie? Who is a cutie? Yes, you are..."

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..." Pikachu said pleased.

Smiling a bit at Pikachu's treatment, Chris turned to Rui. Since they were close to each other, he didn't need to yell loudly due to the motor of the bike. "Rui, can I ask you something?"

Rui, still scratching Pikachu's right ear, looked at him. "What was that?" she asked.

"I want to ask you something," Chris said. "Why did you let us come with you 2?"

Rui blinked a few times before glancing back at the pissed Wes while Red tried his best to lean forward too much. One mistake and Wes would surely push Red back so he could fall off. The young girl looked back at Chris, looked down, and then looked back at him. "It's because of Wes..." Rui said, knowing that Wes wouldn't hear her with all the loud sounds of the engine. "I...I've tried to do this a lot before..."

"Say what?" Chris asked. "You mean you tried to invite others to come with you 2?"

Rui nodded. "Yeah, I've been trying to invite people with us, but Wes always refused..." She looked away, stopping to scratch Pikachu's ears (which made Pikachu snap back to reality). "Truth is, I have known Wes for like 2 weeks or less, and I have found a lot about him..."

The World Traveler stared at her with Pikachu. "But..."

Rui turned to him. "But something is so wrong with him, I swear," she said. "I told you 2 before that Wes isn't a good person to other people, right? Well, that's the problem," she explained. "I know Wes has a good heart for Pokémon. You saw how he congratulated Espeon and Umbreon for...you know what, right?"

"Yes..." Chris said.

"...But you remember how he treated Red, right?" Rui asked. "...That's the problem I want to solve..." she pointed out. "While Wes has a good heart for Pokémon, he has a cold one for other people. I just don't know why he is like that, but I want to find out very soon, you know..." She frowned. "It's been like this for all the time I've known him, but it's the whole truth..."

"I see..." Chris nodded.

"...And when I saw you 2," Rui continued. "When I saw you 2, I had to ask you to come by telling you all about what we're doing..."

"...Wait, you mean what you spoke back at the forest wasn't an accident?"

Rui shook her head. "That was part of my plans, you see. I've been using the same excuse with others, but that also irritated Wes a lot because he wanted to keep our moves secret so this wouldn't reach Cipher," she explained concerned. "I didn't know if you wanted to come, but I had to..." She looked down. "I'm sorry for dragging you in all of this, but Wes...I know he can change for the better..."

Pikachu exchanged glances with Chris before both looked back at her. "...No, it's okay," Chris reassured her. "To be honest, we wanted to come along as well."

"Why?"

"Because...Red was troubled after Wes told him those things, remember?" Chris asked. "Red looked very depressed after the battle, and you saw how he yelled back at Wes, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Rui said.

Chris looked at the embarrassed Red. "Red wants to know more about Wes, Rui," he explained. "Red has been asking himself if he's a good trainer or not. After he fought Wes, he wants to make sure he lives up with his resolve..."

Pikachu stared at Chris.

"...Well, that's what I think," Chris told the 2 before Pikachu nodded a few times.

Rui smiled a bit. "Heheh, well, Red seems to be a good guy to me," she admitted. "Also, he's the kind of guy I want Wes to be like."

"Just like...Red?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Not totally, of course," Rui said. "I want Wes to be a good person for both Pokémon and people alike," she said. "It's something I shouldn't be doing with him, but it needs to happen before everyone gets a bad impression of him."

"You said he was with Team Snagem, a group of bandits."

"..." Rui chuckled nervously. "P-people can change overtime, you know..."

Chris sighed with Pikachu. "Fine, Rui, we'll help you with whatever you want to do with Wes..."

"Sweet!" Rui clapped her hands one time before making a happy expression. "Thanks a bunch, really! I need to set Wes straight to people before it's too late, anyway. You don't mind if I ask you to do this with me?"

"We're already together," Chris said. "I guess we can do it."

"Hmm-hm! That's more like it, then," Rui said before turning to Wes. "Hey, Wes, are we there yet?"

Wes looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "I suppose we're going to arrive in about 2 minutes! I can see the mountain's image from here!"

The group of 5 looked forward into the vicinity where a long, big mountain resided to the north, to their left to be exact. The image of the mountain looked very big from where they were.

"Is that Mt. Battle?" Red asked.

Wes nodded. "It should be. Mt. Battle would be the only mountain of the whole region," he explained. "Alright, let's wait a little bit longer until we get there!"

The other 4 nodded in unison before Rui looked at Chris. "Please, we have to do this and fast. I don't want to trouble you so much."

"It's fine," Chris said. "Wes himself needs to be more polite."

"I'm glad we think the same," Rui said with a chuckle before continuing to rub Pikachu's ears.

"(Couldn't this get any better?)" Pikachu thought dreamily as Rui rubbed his ears.

Mt. Battle
Entrance

Pokémon Colosseum – Mt. Battle

Wes's bike slowed down once the group managed to cross the wasteland. The shady trainer parked his bike near some rocks where they jumped off and glanced up at the tallest mountain.

"…This is Mt. Battle…" Red muttered under his breath.

"Yeah," Wes said. "This place is supposed to hold a challenge for all trainers. The mountain has over 100 trainers that need to be faced by 1 challenger."

"100 trainers?"

"That's right," Wes said. "It's supposedly the hardest challenge of Orre. Once someone reaches the top of the mountain, then it'll prove the trainer passed all the 100 trainers." Wes grinned a bit. "I'm planning to challenge this place once I gather strong Pokémon to be prepared for anything."

Red looked away. "(Maybe I could take the challenge someday as well...)"

"Shall we get going there?" Rui asked, folding her arms. "I'm pretty sure Cipher should be there."

Chris found a small garden in front of a silver gate where some people were gathered. It looked like they were all panicking over something. "Isn't that the entrance?"

The other 4 looked at his direction. "It is," Wes said. "Let's go check it out."

The group walked towards the small garden, seeing some of the people panicking about the mountain. Spotting a running athlete girl, Wes walked to her. "Hey, what's happening here?"

The girl stopped running, panting for a moment before catching her breath. "I-it's the mountain, it has been attacked by some people!" she yelled. "They suddenly came out of nowhere and started to attack the trainers in there!"

"C-calm down, just explain what happened, please!" Rui pleaded.

"O-okay," the athlete said with a sigh. "Those people appeared out of nowhere and they started to attack the trainers of the first 10 areas of the mountain. I-I managed to see one them being tall and muscular..." She sighed to calm down even more. "Right now, the managers of the mountain are thinking about what to do with them, but they're helpless..."

If only the people of the area 50 and forward would notice the chaos, they would surely wipe the floor with these Cipher members since the 50 last trainers were far stronger than everyone else there.

Too bad this was only one question Chris could think of alone.

"Did something else happen?" Red asked.

"Not much...but the first 10 areas were overrun by the members of the group," she explained. "I was going to take the challenge, but it has been a long while after they first arrived here. Bummer, and here I thought I was going to do it today..."

The 4 humans and Pikachu looked back at the entrance. Ignoring the athlete, Wes decided to walk to the iron steps towards the facility. Rui sighed at this action. "There he goes again..."

The athlete watched as Wes entered the building. "He's not very talkative, right?"

"Oh..." Rui frowned after the athlete didn't leave them.

Lobby

Rui, Red, Chris, and Pikachu soon entered the building that Wes entered by himself. The building had a small lobby where 2 counters: one to the left where a nurse waited for anyone to heal their party, and another one to the right where another woman waited for anybody who wanted to exchange points won in the challenge for prizes. There were several benches located at the right side where an old man sat idly, frowning at the event.

There were also some trainers who looked worried about the whole situation as they paced around the lobby, thinking about a way to challenge the peons.

"I wonder..." Red muttered confused. "Why isn't anybody doing something?"

"My guess is that they're helpless with Cipher's take-over," Wes said as he turned to them. "Things could get dangerous in there if we go on..."

Rui looked serious. "Are we going in or what? You're not going to let them do whatever they want here, right?"

Wes shook his head. "I won't let them, of course," he said. "Cipher members surely have many more Shadow Pokémon in their hands. Since they're here, I could catch a lot."

Too bad for Wes that he didn't know that no trainer of the first 9 areas had any Shadow Pokémon EXCEPT for the last one who did have one. If Chris could only tell him that a Legendary Dog was waiting for him... That would surely put the group in a fit.

Wes crossed his arms at the Smashers. "Well, since you're coming with us, I want you to be prepared to fight constant battles alongside me," he said. "1 of you 2 will have to assist me in a double battle. Preferably, I'd like Ch-"

"I-I'll do it!" Red yelled to interrupt Wes.

"You?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "For the love of... Just let Red work with you!"

"But..." Wes glared at Red, who glared back at him.

"I know he didn't do a good job with the last battle, but he deserves to improve!" Chris yelled at him. "Besides, since you're oh so professional, why can't you teach him, huh?"

At this protest, Wes's glare twitched a bit before he looked down. "...What did you just say...?"

Chris was annoyed. "Since you're oh so professional, why don't you teach Red how to fight properly? If you want him to get better, and then give him a hand, why don't you?" he yelled. "I don't know you, but you're just...cold, Wes..."

Wes slowly lifted up his face to stare at Chris. "...Right..."

"...What?" Chris asked.

"Okay, I understand now," Wes said with a nod. "If you're thinking I'm cold, I'm going to prove you there's some kindness left in me for others." The sound of his voice sounded pissed as he stared at Red. "You, get prepared, now."

Rui didn't like where this was going. "W-Wes, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, alright," Wes said. "I got a little bit bothered of what he said, that's all." The shady trainer took out 2 Poké Balls, calling out Espeon and Umbreon on the lobby. "I'm going to go on ahead and ask if they can let us go on. I want the 2 of you to get some air before we go, okay?" he asked to his 2 partners.

The 2 Pokémon turned their heads at him and nodded.

Wes turned around, did a grunt that Red heard, and walked forward to the receptionist between the 2 counters. As for Rui, Red, and Chris, they looked at the 2 Pokémon before them. "Ugh, that guy is seriously starting to piss me off now..." Red muttered.

Rui looked worried at him. "I'm sorry, really, I'm sorry..."

Chris looked at her. "Rui, I just don't get how Wes can be that cold. So far, he hasn't said anything good about Red rather than insults."

"Give him some time, okay?" Rui said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure he'll change his attitude someday."

"And that someday is probably never," Red muttered as he called Squirtle out. "We reached Mt. Battle, Squirtle."

Seeing the Tiny Turtle Pokémon out, Pikachu jumped off from Chris's right shoulder and landed close to Squirtle. The 2 raised hands together before turning to Espeon and Umbreon. Squirtle gulped worried at the Sun and Moonlight Pokémon while the trainers were talking to each other.

"(H-hey...)" Squirtle thought, waving a hand at them.

Espeon and Umbreon looked at each other before they both nodded.

"(Hey.)"

"(How's it going?)"

Pikachu and Squirtle could have sworn somebody else spoke to them through their minds. The 2 looked around confused at the voices to find the voices. Since they were the only 2 out from the other Smashers, it was clear someone else that was nearby spoke to them telepathically. However, they just didn't know who it was.

"(Hey, you 2, we're right over in front of you.)"

"(What?)" Pikachu asked before looking at Umbreon. "(...Is that you?)"

Umbreon nodded. "(Who else do you think is talking to you?)" he asked, rolling his red eyes.

Squirtle blinked surprised before looking at Espeon. "(So...does that mean the other voice...)"

"(It was from me, alright,)" said Espeon as he moved his odd tail slowly to the sides. "(I'm the one responsible for the telepathy to talk to you.)"

Umbreon looked at him. "(You've got to give him some credit for doing this. Espeon can use telepathy to make him and me talk with other people,)" he explained as he looked away for a moment. "(However, this is the first time in a long while to talk with anyone since we haven't spoken to humans yet, not even Wes.)"

"(Wait,)" Pikachu began as he tilted his head. "(Why don't you want to talk like we all do?)"

Umbreon closed his eyes. "(We're far more sophisticated. We don't like to talk much with our yells or purrs. If we have the opportunity to use human language, then we'll take it.)"

"(Correct,)" Espeon said nodding. "(I wanted to hear you through telepathy, and you did use it. I wonder how you can talk through telepathy.)"

"(I believe it is because of that big Pokémon,)" Umbreon said. "(You know, the big dog one?)"

At this mention, Squirtle and Pikachu chuckled to each other.

"(Ah, yes,)" Espeon said. "(I did perceive a lot of energy coming from him. I'm impressed myself. I can tell he's a steel type and a fighting type, but he can also use telepathy to talk. However, this is not the reason why we wanted to talk with both of you.)"

"(Why is that?)" Squirtle asked with a glare. "(You didn't get too much fun by hurting me with your freaky psychic powers?)"

"(No, more like we're sorry for what Wes told us to do,)" Umbreon said.

"(...Wait...)" Squirtle looked at Espeon. "(You were the one who apologized to me during that battle?)"

Espeon looked down. "(Yes...I was the same person...)"

Pikachu and Squirtle exchanged glances. "(Okay, so far we know you're both sorry.)"

"(You want more info or what?)" Umbreon asked.

"(I think it is for the best,)" Espeon said as he looked back at them. "(I believe you know enough about Wes, right?)"

Pikachu raised some fingers. "(He's shady, he's an a(beep)hole, he's rude, he looks so shady for my tastes again, he thinks he is the best trainer there is, he thinks he's so strong, h-)"

"(Okay, okay, we get it already! You don't need to talk THAT bad about him!)" Umbreon interrupted.

"(To be honest, we do have to admit all those attitudes regarding him,)" Espeon said with a sigh. "(Really, even if you 2 think Wes is a bad person, he isn't.)"

"(He bad-mouthed Red,)" Squirtle said.

"(Yes, bu-)"

"(He didn't want us to come with him,)" Pikachu added.

"(Okay, that's right, bu-)"

"(He wanted us to go away when we were at the forest,)" added Squirtle.

"(Well, yes, he was worried becau-)"

"(He just yelled at Red 2 minutes ago,)" added Pikachu added.

"(He did? Well…)"

"(Yeah, he SURELY looked worried when he told us to go away,)" Squirtle added.

Espeon gave up with another sigh. "(Fine, I'll get it already. Wes isn't exactly the social type, that's something Umbreon and I know very well from experience.)"

"(I figured,)" Pikachu said bored.

"(…)" Umbreon looked back at Wes before he turned around to Pikachu and Squirtle. "(Okay, thing is, we need to tell you so much about Wes's past.)"

Pikachu's ears perked up. "(His past? Why do you want to tell us something that w-)"

"(Look, you,)" Espeon began. "(We both have been getting the bad eye from many other people because we're with Wes all the time. Do you think he's the only one who gets people to talk behind his back? The people that go with him, us, receive bad impressions as well, and we're sick of it.)"

Umbreon frowned. "(Seriously, we know a lot about Wes, but we just can't seem to change his attitude…)"

"(Wow, that's a little bit pathetic considering that you 2 can't even do it right,)" Pikachu said bored.

Umbreon and Espeon looked down a little bit in shame. "(We have tried a lot of times, but it always ends up with a misunderstanding.)"

Squirtle looked at Espeon. "(If it's so hard to tell him, why don't you use your telepathy to talk with him directly?)"

Espeon closed his eyes and shook his head. "(I can't do that because…I can't seem to make contact with his mind at all…)"

"(…What? You can't use it on him?)" Pikachu asked.

"(You think I'm already a master at telepathy or something?)" Espeon asked. "(I barely evolved into an Espeon in like a month ago, and he hasn't let me have that many battles yet because he worries about our welfare. Unfortunately, I can only seem to use this low level of telepathy to Pokémon and not humans. Humans have other types of minds and I'm inexperienced in using telepathy with. Furthermore, Espeons aren't supposed to use telepathy, but I wanted to give it a try. Too bad that chance is still so hard to do for me because I'm inexperienced….)"

"(Good thing he gave me a little taste of it,)" Umbreon said. "(Otherwise, I wouldn't talk to you through telepathy.)"

"(Back on the matter,)" Espeon reminded them. "(We heard Rui convinced you all to come with us, right? She has high hopes that Wes will finally act cordial to people.)"

Squirtle crossed his arms. "(How do we do that exactly? You 2 didn't even do much for him, did you?)"

"(No, but if he socializes with people like you, he may change his attitude before it's too late,)" Umbreon explained. "(I mean, it's pretty annoying to see people get a little bit scared of him for his face.)"

"(A thing you all probably did the first time you looked straight at him,)" Espeon pointed out.

"(We got that…)" Pikachu said.

"(Alright, so we're on the same track, then,)" Umbreon said. "(Anyway, remember the part I told you about Wes's past?)"

"(Is it okay for us to know about his past?)" Pikachu asked. "(I don't want to get involved in personal issues if you ask me…)"

"(Oh, it's okay,)" Espeon said. "(If we tell you, you could tell your trainers so they can grasp him better and then try to find a way to make Wes a better person than he is now.)"

Pikachu and Squirtle thought for a moment.

"(We may not look like it, but we seriously need help with him,)" Espeon said.

Squirtle looked at them and nodded. "(Okay, we'll help.)"

"(Cool,)" Umbreon said. "(You need to pay attention to everything we tell you, got that? We have to do this quick or else our time wi-)"

"We can go in," interrupted Wes as he came back from the receptionist. "They're so desperate to get help right now."

"(Time's up,)" the 4 Pokémon said with mental sighs.

Wes looked down at Umbreon and Espeon. "You 2 ready for some fighting?"

Both mentioned Pokémon turned to him and nodded.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Rui asked concerned.

"Worry once we reach the guy in charge of this attack," Wes said. "The members don't deserve my time if they don't have any Shadow Pokémon." He looked at Red and Chris. "You better get prepared because we're going out."

Red looked serious at him. "I'll do my best out there."

"(You better…)" Wes thought before turning to the other exit across the lobby where the path of 100 trainers started.

As the group followed him, Rui whispered something to Red and Chris. "Try to do your best with the teamwork so Wes gets more sociable, okay?"

"I'll try…" Red whispered back.

"I just hope I don't mess up as well…" Chris whispered back as Pikachu jumped to his right shoulder. "That means I'll have to use you, Pikachu."

"(Sergeant Pikachu reporting in to give very crucial info about Wes, sir,)" Pikachu said through telepathy. "(Got some conversation with Espeon and Umbreon regarding Wes, sir.)"

"(…Stop talking like that and just tell me what you have to say.)"

Pikachu rolled his eyes as they all passed the receptionist. "(Fine, Umbreon and Espeon talked to us through Espeon's telepathy,)" he explained. "(They told us that…)"

Area 1

They day continued as Pikachu and Squirtle told everything to both Chris and Red respectively. However, since they had to fight through 9 trainers to reach to the end of the first area, they were constantly challenged a lot of times by a lot of the members of Cipher.

The long path to the summit started from the base of the mountain, into the mountain's inner volcano, around the cliffs of the summit before ending on the top of the mountain. There were around 99 floating platforms that had small bridges that were connected to each other, the last one being on top of the magma of the summit. Each area was consisted of a big, wide platform where a trainer waited to be challenged. Due to Cipher's involvement, the first 10 areas were taken over by them.

The group resolved in fighting them all.

Something that pondered them was the fact that the first 7 trainers didn't even wear some ridiculous suit. The trainers of the areas were different people like riders, hunters, bodybuilders, and even a street performer who wore a pink skirt (Red and Rui got scared after the performer turned out to be a guy).

Forget about the performer.

Each battle wasn't even considered a real threat because most of the trainers' Pokémon were the weak type that the group had to face with Pokémon with the upper hand. Since Chris wanted to let Red participate in battles more, he decided to give him the spot to fight alongside Wes.

"You better pay more attention!" Wes yelled as Hondour used Ember on Ivysaur. "Dammit, focus!"

"O-okay!" Red yelled with a nod.

Rui watched worried as Wes ALWAYS yelled at Red at every single battle. This repeated action only made Red feel depressed as Wes's Pokémon delivered the final blow on each Pokémon.

Of course, Wes wanted to have the opportunity to fight alongside Chris to see how Lucario fought. However, seeing that Wes was going too far with Red, Chris decided to "punish" Wes by either selecting or alternating between Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff, much for Wes's dismay.

There were times where Chris would play around with Wes.

"Okay..." Chris said with a nod as he took out a Poké Ball. "A Swinub! It's weak against the types I have!"

Wes looked at him from the corner of his eyes and grinned a bit. "I suppose you're going to call that one out?"

"Oh, sure, it wanted to be more useful and I'll give it its wish," Chris said as he called Pichu back, the small Electric Type jumping to his left shoulder. "Go!"

"(Finally...)" Wes said, his grin growing wider.

Much for Wes's dismay, the Poké Ball released Jigglypuff, who spun gracefully on the field and held out her right hand to the sky. "(Here it is, the Singer Diva Pokémon!)" Jigglypuff thought with a chuckle.

"..." Wes's grin suddenly turned into a bored expression. "...A Jigglypuff..."

"Use Rollout!" Chris called out.

Jigglypuff looked back at the Swinub and grinned a bit. "(You're dead, piggy, you're WAY dead.)"

Rui joined her hands together. "Aww, I like your Jigglypuff..."

"Thanks," Chris said with a chuckle as Wes slapped his forehead. He looked down at the Poké Ball where Lucario was inside. "(Please, forgive me for not taking you out...)"

There were times that they met weird trainers such as the 2 only Cipher Peons.

"...Why does everyone here wear and look the same?" Red asked to Wes as the female Cipher Peon before them prepared to fight.

"They don't have good sense for clothes?" Wes asked, rolling his eyes.

There were times where either Espeon or Umbreon would talk to the other Pokémon during battles.

"(So yeah,)" Umbreon said as he dodged a Graveler's Rock Throw. "(Wes once was a thief.)"

"(We pretty much knew that from the beginning,)" Ivysaur said before he got hit by a Baltoy's Mud Slap.

Umbreon growled at their opponents. "(Would you just knock it off already? We're having a conversation here!)" he complained before charging forward while Ivysaur wiped off the mud from his eyes with his vines.

There were times everyone but Wes whispered plans.

"No, no, no," Rui said as she shook her head. "Talking about what he did before in his life would make him think of you as meddling people."

"Aren't we supposed to know him a bit more to understand him better?" Red whispered.

"Unless you want to receive the glare that kills anyone, then do it," Rui said with a sigh.

There were times where Rui looked depressed by herself.

"Why do you look so down?" Red asked as they walked to the next area. "We're doing everything we can with that as-I mean, Wes."

Rui sighed. "No, it's not because of that..." she muttered under her breath. "It's just...something that my grandparents told me about my power to see auras..."

Chris's right ear twitched a bit to hear the girl.

"...When I went to say good bye to them, I asked them about my power," Rui explained. "They didn't take another second to wait before they told me that I probably got my powers because of..."

The image of the Relic Stone was in Rui's mind.

"...It was something about the Relic Stone..." Rui muttered. "They said there was one time where I, when I was very little, went to the forest one night an-"

"Get prepared, another battle awaits," interrupted Wes as they found another trainer from Cipher ready to fight them.

Rui could only sigh in depression as Red decided to take part of the battle.

And there was the time where they reached the area 10... Actually, they just reached it.

Stopping their feet from touching the other half of the area 10's platform, they found a big muscular red-haired man that wore a very tight white costume with a purple loincloth. The man stood oddly as his feet were far apart from each other, making him look smaller. However, he looked taller than anyone did, even if his feet were far apart. The huge person also wore a big necklace, and his face had red tattoos that looked like flames. The man was surely one of the four Cipher Admins, the highest-ranked members of the organization.

If they looked in front of the man, they would find the Area 1 Leader named Vander. He wore black formal clothes, and he had red hair as well. The leader looked normal for anyone.

It seemed that Vander and the Cipher Admin were arguing with each other.

"Now, hand over the Time Flute," the admin told Vander. "Cipher needs it in order to call Celebi."

"Are you nuts or what?" Vander asked. "I can't let people like get a hand on this important item. Besides, I don't have it with me."

"You just said you had it with you..."

"...I'm a pretty bad liar, alright," Vander said before the taller man pushed him back, making Vander fal on his back. "O-oww!"

"You better give the Time Flute to me or else I'll pulverize you to bits," the admin warned him, cracking his big fists.

Not wanting to hear more, Wes took a step forward. "Hey, you, the big ape, turn around."

"Who called me an ape?!" the admin asked before turning around to look down at the 4 characters. "Who the hell are you 4?"

Wes crossed his arms. "I'm surprised that you don't know me considering I drove Miror B. away from Pyrite Town."

"...Wait a minute, you're the kid Wes?" the admin asked. "I heard you were the one who stopped our duties to distribute Shadow Pokémon at Pyrite Town by defeating Miror B. and his cronies. You're Wes?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "What the heck did I just say?"

The admin crossed his big arms. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet the meddling kid who's doing a whole ruckus in Cipher."

"W-who are you, anyway?" Red asked suddenly, intimidated by the admin's big muscles.

The admin turned his head at him. "Thanks for asking, little boy," he said with a chuckle. "My name is Dakim, one of the four Cipher Admins, Miror B. being a lower rank than me," he introduced himself. "I heard a lot about you, Wes. You've put the whole organization in quite a pickle after you defeated Miror B."

"How the hell do you take a guy who wears a golden suit with a big afro seriously?" Wes asked. "Is Cipher that desperate in having intimidating members? Because all I got from him was a weird look."

Dakim glared down at him. "Intimidating? You dork, I'm the very example of intimidating." He flexed his arms. "Am I not?"

"(Y-you are...)" Rui, Red, and Chris thought with some mental gulps as they stared at the muscle head.

"All I see is a big ape with a loincloth," Wes said with a chuckle. "You call yourself intimidating? What a joke."

Rui chuckled a bit in her mind. "(At least there's a good place and time to use his cold attitude.)"

"Grrrr!" Dakim stomped the floor one time before pointing down at them. "Alright, smart guy, I'll show you my intimidation by battling with you!"

"Bring it on," Wes said with a grin as Umbreon and Espeon were called out. "You better be ready to give me a good challenge."

Chris wanted to scream, "Entei's coming!" in this situation. If Wes captured Entei...he should better be ready for the first-degree burns or the fact that Entei would surely leap at him.

"H-hold on a moment!" Red interrupted as he stood next to Wes. "I-I'm going to fight too!"

Dakim looked at them (while Wes looked away annoyed by Red). "2 kids? Well, it doesn't matter. I'll gladly accept the challenge."

Wes glared up at him. "If we defeat you, will you go away with everyone from here?"

"Pfft, we'll see if I leave!" Dakim yelled as he jumped back, a scared Vander quickly running by the group's side before he gulped and looked serious at him. "You better watch out because I'm giving everything I've got to you!"

Pokémon Colosseum - Cipher Admin Battle

Wes, Red, Rui, and Chris, with their Pokémon, ran back to leave a big space for the battle to begin. Wes cracked his fingers a bit as Red gulped at the sight of Dakim, who was flexing his arms before he tossed 2 Poké Balls to the floor, releasing a Metang and a Camerupt.

"Hahahahahaha!" Dakim laughed, stopping flexing. "Now, let's begin!"

"Gladly," Wes said as he tossed a Poké Ball, releasing his newly evolved Feraligatr. "Go, Feraligatr!"

"Feraligator!" Feraligatr roared proudly as it opened its jaws wide.

Chris raised a finger at the roar to point out the fact that Feraligatr yelled Feraligator, but Pikachu lowered it and shook his head slowly.

Red gulped and released Squirtle from his Poké Ball. "Go, Squirtle!" he ordered.

Squirtle came out and landed on the floor, glancing at the huge Feraligatr who looked down at him from the side. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon shook a bit in fear with a gulp, making Feraligatr grin rather evilly. "(C-concentrated, he won't bite you...)" Squirtle thought.

"Wow, that's such a team," Dakim joked. "Whatever, let's start this so you go home crying!"

"I'll make sure you're the one who leaves crying," taunted Wes. "Red, you better not screw up this one or else we'll lose."

Grunting angrily, Red looked at him. "Well, don't screw up either, okay?"

Wes's left eye twitched at this taunt before he focused back on the battle, Rui, Chris, Umbreon, Espeon, and Pikachu watching the fight from behind the 2.

Pikachu looked down at Umbreon, who looked up at him and nodded. "(So, you want to hear about Wes's past while we can?)"

"(...You know what? Let's do this before Wes calls you for battle,)" Pikachu said with a nod as he jumped down to stand in front of them while Rui and Chris watched the fight. "(Let's begin.)"

"(Right,)" Espeon said. "(You better pay attention for any important detail now...)"

The Smashers needed to remind themselves about looking for the temple or else they would take a long time in that region. However, the mysteries surrounding Wes and Rui were troubling them a bit...or a lot...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Thieves and Temples. Please, you BETTER find the temple instead of goofing around..." Tails said bored.

"Sorry, but I must find out more about Wes and Rui," Chris said annoyed.

"Do it while you look for the temple!"

"Well, I know!"

"Okay, so there!" Tails said annoyed before leaving.

"...Jerk," Chris muttered. "Not letting me enjoy the world..."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Mt. Battle
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Wes, Rui

References:

-Whatever you're thinking, there wasn't a reference to SOMETHING here.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Umbreon's Japanese name is Blacky. XD

Well, I'm glad I finished this chapter.

I figured out that it was too soon to explain Wes and Rui's pasts because it would seem so fast. For now, they need to befriend the characters so they can get what they want to hear before moving forward.

As for the battles, they'll become more elaborated in the next chapter. I can say though that Dakim's battle isn't going to be that long.

Did you like how Espeon and Umbreon are key characters to Wes's past? I hope you enjoy the 2 during the remainder of the whole arc. Their personalities can be seen as wise and yet "updated" to how everyone talks today. Espeon would be wiser while Umbreon would be cooler.

I just LOVE Red's clueless mind about other Pokémon. He really needs the Pokédex so much.

Well, that's all I have to say. Please wait until the next chapter gets finished. ;)

I encourage readers to read and review, please.

…Or I'll give you a Wynaut…and a radioactive Lucario will soon appear where you live…
*Chapter 152*: Thieves and Temples

This chapter completes one and a half of the two background stories.

From PianistChris: Great Chapter again!

Although one thing about it... Haven't they forgot about the raging pokemon inside the pokeball that red has? Also known as Mewtwo XD The more he waits the more pain will come XD

Anyway, I liked the pokemon battles that took place,
Wes is very harsh to Red, the poor boy.

Thanks for a great chapter again!

Chris :p

From me: Mewtwo is going to appear in this chapter. You'll eventually see how Mewtwo reacts after being called out.

As for Red and Wes, you'll how both develop…I hope. Thanks. :)

From SlasherMask: ...You know absoluty nothing about creepy grins... SERIOSLY there is NO WAY that anyone can consider that creepy...(you are outside of 0% it seems...)ˈpiː.ɒn/) and peonage are derived from the Spanish peón [peˈon]. It has a range of meanings but its primary usage is to describe labourers with little control over their employment conditions." XD

I think its stated in game...

Now to actual chapter:

I googled Peon: "The words peon (pronounced /

I wouldn't wonder if canonically Rui's power would just be because of somekind of kindness to pokemon thing. I mean, canonically pokemon games are full of friendship things if you really look for things...

Is it ever actually stated that Mirro B is lower rankin than others?

...Scoopy Doo references?

From me: You can consider creepy grins creepy if they show their teeth a bit and have some darkness under or above the lips, I think.

Yes, the definition surely is accurate.

Fortunately, for you, no such a thing as friendship meant her power's origin. You'll see soon enough once you continue.

At least Dakim believes Miror. B. is a lower rank than him. Dakim based his belief in power (maybe to complement his bulky appearance).

No references to the frightened dog were made. You got it wrong.

Thanks. :)

From Kimoto: Wow your stories great. Its really long though. it took me two weeks to catch up with this.

Is mewtwo going to rip Red's head pff when he gets outta the pokeball?

From me: I don't know, but will Mewtwo really do that? Scroll down, please. Thanks. 

From princesspoke3612: Um... this is my first review for this story so, yeah. The entire story overall is funny. There's a perfect balance of comadey and other stuff. And it's long. It took me like one month to catch up to this. OOh, great chapter. I try to be a regular reviewer.
Hehehe, Radioactive Lucario...

From me: Good to have another reviewer who reveals herself (you're a girl, right?) to the people who review. Thanks for reviewing. I hope you enjoy the next chapters as well.

Don't worry, there's no real proof radioactive Lucarios exist…yet.

Thanks. :D

From the true dragon fanatic: this chapter is pure win. loved the wynaut section. wish red had confused celebi for serebii. (get that reference, and you get a cookie) sorry it's short, but the website deleted my first review. write on chris.

From me: Serebii's the main site where a lot of info about Pokemon is found. I know that. "Gets cookie"

I'll continue to write on, don't worry. Thanks. :D

From ngrey651: Okay, you said there wasn't a reference. I'll believe you. And you know, Wynaut and and Wobbuffet are funny Pokemon, aren't they? :D

From me: If someone uses them well, they can become good comedy people (or material). Thanks for liking that scene. :)

From Dimentio713: For some reason I feel that Wes will be amazed at what power Mewtwo will have... and Lucario. I sure hope Red doesn't die from Mewtwo's attacks (If he ever brings him out) plus I hope they find the temple! See ya!

From me: Everything you just said will happen in the fic. I hope you enjoy my version of their pasts to see if it could have been that way. Thanks. :D

From FF and STH: great chapter and it a good thing you trying to give then batter background and Wes is acting like jerk.
If I have to guess, Wss when he was younger must have been hurt by people but not pokemon or something like that

From me: Your guesses will slowly become known…or not, after you read the first part of his past. Thanks. ;)

From shadow-dog18: oh wow another pokemon ark, I'm really going to enjoy reading this one a lot, anyways I found this chapter to be very funny and wonderful to read, you did a awesome job on this chapter keep up the great job on making amazing chapters like this one.

From me: I hope you specify the scenes you liked better next time. Now, enjoy this chapter. :D

From DianaGohan: Actually this chapter flowed very well. I may not of liked them this time but now that Wes has been fleshed out as a jerk who is meanspirited to others but likes his Pokemon and Rui his kinder big mouth accomplice who wants him to change his ways they are pretty enjoyable. The opening battle was good but all the other battles were sort of meh or skipped over. Then again since they're against random grunts I can understand since those do get rather montonous. I also applaud you for actually making me care about the mythos of the world like the deal about Shadow Pokemon or Rui being able to see Aura or Wes's super leet capture powers. And there weren't really any lulls. Then again I think you skipped the scenes that could of been lulls and since nothing really annoyed me besides some grammar flaws I have to call this a very well done chapter. Hoping the rest of the Pokemon Colessum arc stays at this level.

GRADE: A-

From me: Yay me, I made you get interested in a game you haven't played before. Meh, you'll see they didn't have that important things to explain because…they just didn't have. Thanks for enjoying this chapter and I hope you enjoy the next ones as well. ;)

From Blueberrypeach: I like the humor in this chapter and enjoy the battle between Red and was fun to read and it was a nice touch that Espeon and Umbreon have a role in the arc revealing Wes's past to the pokemon. I also like the development of the pokemon trainers in pokemon fics are protray as knowing everything and it's nice to see a trainer who doesn't know the interaction between Red and Wes was interesting and amusing and it would deepen Red's character which I would like like to see.

From me: I don't the usual so I choose another different path. Why have every single character be a master at everything? They need to study or train to become someone professional. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

From Anonymous Reviewer (AKA Dawnwolfnxhoj): Hmm, excellent battle. i was a bit confused at first, considering that the battles in colosseum are two on two. Can't wait to see how you'll protray Wes and Rui's pasts eventually, that'll definetly be something to look forward to. *sigh* Poor Lucario, having to suffer the pain of not battling due to Wes's severe rudeness to Red. Hope he'll get that chance eventually, just not with the battle with (spoiler!).
Wonder how Wes will react when he both see's Mewtwo and when the pokemone eventually get caught talking. Probably won't be long, and when and how'll Charizard be showing up due to him being a pokemon? nobody know's.., except you. now for a...
BALH! BLAH! BLAH!
They weren't questions, 1 was a statement i felt like saying and the other was for info. If i just have BLAH times 3, it'll be random stuff form now on.
Are you planning to have all the smashers to have "Shadow Nightmare" clones?
R.O.B and Mr.G&W will be joining in the very distant and far furture right?
Ever heard of Grandia 2?
well, imaginitive typing!

From me: I'm not planning to have all the Smashers fight their Shadow Nightmares. If I do that, this saga would last really, really long. There going to be just a few, though.

Those 2…will join or not. Wait until I have something good in hands, though.

No, I haven't heard of that game or either care about it, sorry.

Thank you. :D

Phew… I'm telling you all that it was a little bit hard to come up with a good past for Wes and Rui. I managed to finish Rui's past because it was easier, but Wes's past is a little bit more complicated because I'm trying to take everything related to him to be mentioned as well. Oh well, this chapter came out like this.

Prepare to enjoy more character development. I hope I didn't forget Red that much, though…

LAST REMINDER FOR THE POLL: The poll will be closed after the last chapter of this arc comes out. You better vote right now if you haven't before it's too late.

With that advice away, I encourage readers to review after reading this.

Read, enjoy, and review, please. ;)

Disclaimer: The bodybuilders in Colosseum are humongous people.

Chapter 152: Thieves and Temples

Pyrite Town
Streets

The scene of a town where bandits walked around, weird-looking houses were located, cracked streets with some liquids leaking out from some sewer pipes, and the sound of metal screeching from the nearby windmill of steel was seen. The town was known for mostly for its remarkable but dangerous thieves and bandits, most of them being Pokémon trainers that liked to fight every day with anyone.

The police of the town was so small, putting the officers with hard tasks every day. The town pf Pyrite wasn't exactly a good place to live since there were always many reports of thievery, caused by the shady people that lived in there. The police was helpless to stop crime; it barely did its job, but at least the police helped to maintain a little bit of order.

But their eyes weren't focused on a particular shop where the window suddenly was shattered as a kid, holding some food in arms, jumped out from the window. The kid had a really bad look on his face due to the fact he looked as shady as any other thief in town. This kid wore some worn-out gray shorts, shoes that were poorly made of cheap cloth, and his red shirt had some holes around it: from the front and the back. The kid's face was covered with some dust as well as his arms. In a hurry, he looked around before running away as the shopkeeper yelled for help, not receiving any, unfortunately.

"Damn that kid!" the shopkeeper yelled from within the shop. "It's the 38th time he steals from me!" he cursed out, not having anyone else to help him to capture the kid.

The kid that stole from the shop ran south in a hurry with the food on arms. The people that he passed didn't even try to stop him due to the fact most of them were thieves themselves. They all merely chuckled, smirked, or did both as the kid ran away into an alley where he stopped running to catch his breath.

"(Good… That guy isn't sending the cops on me…)" the kid thought as he panted heavily. He began to walk through the narrow alley where trash cans, some shallow pools of water, and some wrecked boxes were seen in the compact space. The kid, however, focused his sight on a box that shook several times by it.

The kid smiled a bit at the sight of the box. He knew more than others that the box had something that he had been taken care of for a long time. Starting to walk forward, he made sure the fruits on his arms wouldn't fall off.

"I'm back," he muttered under his breath as he walked around the box to kneel down and let go of the food on a cloth to keep it clean. "Here, I've got you 2 some food."

"Ee…"

The kid chuckled. "Don't worry, it's tasty and a little bit plentiful for you 2 to eat."

The box's upper side was touching the floor with one corner directed at the kid. Inside the box, there were 2 small creatures with brown fur that shook a little bit as they both walked out and looked down at their food. Looking up at the kid's happy expression, the 2 creatures smiled a bit before they both sat down to eat the apples that he brought for them.

The 2 creatures were 2 young Eevees that looked like they were recently born. The kid could tell that much since he was the one who found them abandoned in the same box they were in.

"(I still remember the day where he found us abandoned in Pyrite Town… We both thought that we were done for without anywhere to go…)"

The kid chuckled and rubbed both of the Eevees' heads with care. "You 2 are so lucky, you knew that?"

The 2 Eevees stopped eating to look up at him.

The kid rested his arms on his knees as he kept chuckling. "You really are lucky."

"(Of course we were both lucky to meet him…)"

"You know why you're lucky?" the kid asked. "You're lucky because I found you 2."

The 2 Eevees squeaked with glee as the kid chuckled with them. The 2 Evolution Pokémon then resumed eating the food that the kid brought for them. Seeing the both eating, the kid decided to grab one apple from the pile of food so he wouldn't starve.

"(He found us one day abandoned in some of those dirty alleys… It was raining that day, I remember that much because that same day… Unfortunately, we don't even know where we came from, but we surely lived somewhere in Orre before he found us...)"

The kid looked up with a faint smile. "You know... I always thought I'd be alone for all my life..."

The 2 Eevees stopped eating and looked up at him.

"Ever since I turned into an orphan, I never thought of having Pokémon like you," he said as he looked back at them. "I really am fortunate, you know?"

"(The 3 of us shared the same pains like not knowing where we came from... He didn't know where he lived before because, according to him, he was raised by an old man that found him as a baby in an alley. He told us that the old man was himself very poor before he passed away. When he found out the old man that took care of him died, he was already around the same age he found us. To be honest, he found us that very same day after it stared to rain...)"

"(He has some very faint memories about the old man, but that's all he remembers. We wonder why he isn't that good with other people.)"

"(My guess is that the old man didn't treat him well enough to consider him his adoptive grandson or kid.)"

"(You know, that memory about the old man you just mentioned could have been the reason for his cold attitude towards others.)"

"(It could have been...after all, he said he had faint memories about him. The most logical reason would have been that h-)"

Mt. Battle
Area 1

Pokémon Colosseum - Cipher Admin Battle

"Darn it!" Wes cursed loudly as Camerupt used Earthquake to strike Feraligatr and Squirtle while Metang used Protect to shield itself from the super effective attack, interrupting Espeon and Umbreon's narration to Pikachu. "I need a fast Pokémon here now... Return!" he yelled, calling back his Feraligatr while Squirtle managed to stand up. "Espeon, go!"

Espeon's ears perked up and frowned. "(Oh no, he's going to start calling us now... I should leave it all to you, Umbreon,)" he said before he leaped into the battle.

Umbreon sighed mentally before looking back at Pikachu. "(I guess we weren't being that specific enough, were we?)"

Pikachu shook his head. "(Well, I think you said something important about that old man that took care of Wes when he was little.)"

Umbreon grunted annoyed. "(Damn it, I don't think it was because of that person, though... Maybe it was because of...)" Umbreon remained silent for a moment before he nodded. "(I think I'm getting to somewhere important...)"

"(Well, do it fast! There's a battle going on here!)"

It had been a small while after the battle and the narration started at the same time. Wes and Red were having troubles fighting Dakim's Pokémon. Apparently, the 2 young trainers were getting attacked continuously by a combination of Camerupt's Earthquake to damage everyone on the field and Metang's Protect to protect itself from the quake itself. This put Wes and Red in a fit as they tried to attack back, Chris, Vander, and Rui watching carefully from behind them.

"Okay, you won't do that annoying move anymore," Wes said as he pointed forward. "Espeon, use Psybeam on Camerupt!"

"Espeon!" Espeon yelled his name as he shot a rainbow-colored beam from his red crystal on his forehead to Camerupt.

"No, you don't. Camerupt, use Protect!" Dakim yelled, ordering the Fire and Ground type Pokémon to shield himself inside a green sphere of energy. The beam came into contact with it, and it couldn't harm Camerupt.

"Squirtle, use Surf on Metang!" Red yelled.

"(Hurray, he got the name right,)" Squirtle thought as he ran forward to Metang.

"Use Protect, Metang!" Dakim ordered, letting the flying computer-like brain Pokémon to use its own shield to resist the incoming attack.

Noticing this, Red yelled out another order. "Stop!" he yelled.

Squirtle gasped and stopped, looking up at Metang's Protect.

"Wait until it takes its shield off!" Red ordered.

"Grrr..." Dakim grunted annoyed.

Both of his Pokémon's shields soon lifted off, allowing Wes to give out the next order. "Espeon, now use Psybeam!" he yelled, ordering Espeon to fire his beam of psychic power through his red crystal.

"Now use Surf!" Red ordered.

"Try using Protect again!" Dakim yelled at Camerupt.

The 2 Pokémon tried to use Protect, but due to the constant use of the protective attack, it didn't manage to work well for the dismay of the admin before Camerupt got a hit with the beam right on its face as Metang was pushed to the air by Squirtle's Surf.

"Red, attack Camerupt with Surf!" Wes yelled. "It should take it out with one hit!"

Red blinked confused before he understood. "Squirtle, go to Camerupt and use Surf!"

"Metang, stop that turtle from harming Camerupt!" Dakim yelled as Metang floated forward to Squirtle.

"And you stop Metang from interrupting, Espeon!" Wes yelled at Espeon. The Sun Pokémon growled a bit before he dashed towards the Psychic and Steel type Pokémon.

"Are you stupid? Psychic attacks won't hurt Metang!" Dakim yelled.

Wes grinned. "I'm letting luck do its part here. Espeon, use Confusion!"

A growl of agreement came from Espeon as he used his psychic attack on Metang. The Sun Pokémon glowed in a pink aura together with Metang. The flying Pokémon looked at itself stopping suddenly before it put its steel arms on its head.

Wes chuckled at this. "What do you know, it got confused, just as I planned."

"Metang!" Dakim yelled loudly at his Pokémon, the aura vanishing suddenly. Metang looked around in confusion before it began to slam itself down on the floor recklessly. "Hey, stop it! You're hurting yourself!"

Red's eyes looked serious once he saw Dakim's attention was on Metang, finding Camerupt looking around to do something about Squirtle. "Now, use Surf on Camerupt!"

Dakim gasped once he remembered his other Pokémon. Unfortunately, the admin didn't make it in time to give an order to Camerupt before Squirtle called forth a rising wave underneath his feet, right on its face, causing the volcano-like Pokémon to scream loudly in pain before Squirtle landed all the way from the back.

Camerupt began to tumble at the sides before it fell down to the right, moaning in pain after receiving the severe super effective attack.

"Camerupt!" Dakim yelled. "Return!" he yelled as he called back Camerupt to its Poké Ball. "Dammit...I need to do this quick... Golem, go!"

The Rock and Ground type was called forth from its Poké Ball, landing on the floor as it created a small quake before it roared at its opponents.

Wes rolled his eyes. "Why do you have Pokémon weak against ours? Red, it's all yours!"

"R-right," Red said as he glanced at the Golem. "Squirtle, use Surf on it as well to finish it off!"

Wes narrowed his eyes as Squirtle went after Golem. "(I should have noticed before. When Squirtle uses Surf, it doesn't necessarily call forth a huge wave from behind… To be honest, that's scientifically impossible, but the way it uses Surf on just one opponent…)"

"Golem, use Protect!" yelled Dakim so Golem would use Protect to shield itself, stopping Squirtle from attacking as he stopped in front of the rock creature.

Wes grunted at this. "Don't you know another move than Protect or what? I'm really getting sick of that!"

"Well, too bad for you," Dakim said. "This is based on my own strategies, so don't stick your nose in."

"Oh, I'll stick it if I want to," Wes said as he looked at Metang banging itself on the floor, Espeon waiting for the next order to attack. "Espeon, come back!"

Espeon's ears perked up before he ran back behind Wes and towards the other Pokémon. Taking out another Poké Ball, Wes tossed it to the air to release Ampharos out. "Ampharos, come forth!" he yelled.

"Ampharos!" his Pokémon responded, illuminating its small spheres.

"Now, use Thunderbolt on Metang to take it out!"

Hearing this, Dakim grunted. "Metang, pull yourself together and us-"

"PROTECT," Rui, Vander, and Chris repeated bored and aloud.

Ampharos glared at the confused Pokémon before Ampharos's spheres began to illuminate with electricity, shooting off blue sparks that went after Metang, colliding with it hardly, Metang began to screech in pain before it slowly landed down on the floor and got knocked out.

"Metang!" Dakim yelled before he stopped the floor. "Damn you, kid… Return!" he yelled, calling back Metang to its Poké Ball before tossing another one to the battle. "Marshtomp, come on out and defeat them!"

The Mud Fish Pokémon came out from the sphere's light, saying its name happily as it clapped its hands together. Chris looked at the Marshstomp and chuckled a bit. "A Marshtomp! Oh, now I want to have my Swampert here with me."

Rui looked at him. "You have a Swampert?"

"Well, kind of. I raised one bu-"

"Marshtomp, use Mud Shot on Ampharos!" Dakim yelled loudly, making Marshtomp look at Ampharos before shooting out a stream of mud.

Red and Squirtle were still facing the Golem inside Protect. Since the Golem's Protect kept going, the trainer decided to look at the Marshtomp (while getting its info in the Pokédex). "Squirtle, use Water Gun on the attack!"

Squirtle turned around and nodded before shooting out a stream of water that collided with Mud Shot, making the mud fall down on the floor, saving Ampharos from the attack.

Wes knew that Ampharos didn't have any good attacks for both Ground types. "Ampharos, return!" Wes yelled, returning the Electric type to his sphere. "Go, Jumpluff!"

Back with Espeon, Umbreon, and Pikachu, the 3 resumed the discussion and narration.

"(Let me think more…)" Espeon said. "(Now you know Wes was an orphan that was raised by that old man, right?)"

"(Yeah, I know that now,)" Pikachu said.

"(The old man is not worth mentioning because we barely know about him,)" Umbreon said. "(How about if we continue from where we left?)"

Espeon thought for a moment. "(…Wait, everything started to change after that memory, don't you remember?)"

Umbreon thought before he got what Espeon was thinking. "(You mean the day someone approached Wes?)"

Pikachu's ears perked up. "(Did someone meet Wes before?)"

Both of Wes's Pokémon nodded. "(Right, now I recall the event,)" Umbreon said. "(Like a month after he found us, Wes kept doing his thievery to feed us both.)"

"(Wes is a good runner. He used that advantage in order to steal food and things from people before they would look,)" Espeon explained. "(Sometimes, people would spot him, but all those times were easy for him due to the fact he hid very well from the police of the town.)"

Umbreon closed his eyes. "(One day, someone came…)"

Flashback

Pyrite Town
Streets

Pokémon Colosseum – Outskirt Stand

A month had passed ever since the day that Umbreon and Espeon narrated. Wes and the 2 Eevees were hidden in another different alley that didn't look that different from the previous one. The 3 apparently had stolen more food from another shop before somebody could see them.

"(I have to say that the shops were poorly guarded,)" Umbreon pointed out. "(The whole town's security was really poor. Once Espeon and I were found by Wes, we grew up a little bit enough to help Wes to steal more food.)"

Espeon chuckled. "(Even if we were doing little crimes, it was fun to follow Wes.)"

"(You both befriended him very quickly,)" Pikachu said.

"(Yeah,)" Umbreon said.

"That shopkeeper was as clueless as the last one," Wes said to the 2 Eevees sitting besides him while they all ate oranges. "Nobody can see us at all, don't you think?"

"Eee!" the Eevees squeaked happily, making Wes smile a bit at them with a chuckle.

"Yeah, you guys aren't that bad," Wes said as he took a bite of the orange on his right hand. "You're fast enough."

"Ee," an Eevee (Umbreon) said with a nod before continuing to bite the orange in front of him.

Wes looked back at his orange and stared blankly at it. "…You know…"

The 2 Eevees stopped eating and looked at him.

"…I'm getting a little bit sick of doing this every day…" Wes muttered, blinking at the orange. "It's always the same thing, isn't?"

The 2 Eevees looked at each other.

"We wake up, we search for a shop with food, we steal the food, we retreat and hide in the alleys, we play a little bit in there, and then we go to sleep…" Wes summarized. "…I hate to do that, but it's the only way to survive these conditions we're in…" He looked around the alley. "I myself am feeling upset for stealing, you know…"

"…Eee…" the Eevees said worried in unison.

Wes embraced his knees as he stared at the orange. "…I never knew who my parents were…I was raised by an old man I barely knew…I started to live all by myself until I found you 2…I've resumed the same things I do every day…" He closed his eyes. "I…I'm starting to think I had bad luck…or we have bad luck to live…"

The 2 Eevees looked worried at Wes.

"We don't know anyone for that matter," Wes muttered. "Nobody ever came to us to meet us because we're thieves. I hate to be a thief, but it's the only way I can survive with you," he said. "I don't want to keep living like this any longer…" he muttered before he moved his face down. "…I hate this!" he yelled, startling the Eevees. "Why can't I live in a good house with a family?!" he asked before he started crying.

The 2 Eevees looked at each other and leaned their faces by each side of the young kid. Wes lifted up his face to reveal he was crying a bit. The 2 Evolution Pokémon gasped a bit.

"Y-you don't know either?" Wes asked as he sniffed. "I have to admit it, we weren't meant to live at all, right?!"

"Eee!" the Eevees shook their heads.

"Then for what are we good for? I don't see why we should stop stealing things like this!" Wes yelled before he tossed the orange to the wall, splattering it all over the place. "I really, REALLY hate this!"

"(Wes got all sad from all the things he said, right?)" Pikachu asked.

"(Yes,)" Espeon said depressed. "(We knew that he would soon enough say something like that… He has been making faces every time we stole something from others. Umbreon and I could tell Wes was getting tired from a long time now.)"

"(It must've been so hard to live in those conditions.)"

"(You don't have an idea of what we went through in those days…)" Espeon said in shame.

"(If he didn't yell like that, we wouldn't probably have let the person who found him come to us…)" Umbreon said.

"(You mean that same day was the day you met that mysterious person?)" Pikachu asked.

"(…That's the whole reason to explain everything,)" Espeon said. "(The same day Wes cried was the same day he came around into the alley…)"

The 2 Eevees rubbed their faces against Wes's sides. The sobbing kid looked at each other and calmed down for a bit. A small and silent chuckle came Wes before a shadow rose from the light coming from the other side of the alley.

"Huh? Who's there?" Wes asked, spotting a large shadow that stared at him from the other side of the alley. The Eevees blinked scared as they hid behind Wes while the figure chuckled a bit.

From what he could tell, the figure was really tall. Once the person began to walk forward, Wes managed to notice a small red vest that the person wore. The kid could see a lot more than before. The person that walked to him wore a small red vest, exposing his muscles, he had pointy brown eyebrows and mustache (both being really long in length), wore black pants and black boots, and his head was bald, wearing some kind of earphones. The person stood around 6"11' judging by his height.

Wes embraced himself even more as he looked up scared at the person, an amused look on his face.

"Hey, kid," the person spoke in a somewhat deep voice. "Nice to meet you at last, kid."

Wes shook a bit and gulped. "W-who are you? W-what do you want with me?"

The person chuckled and knelt down to take a closer look to the kid and the Eevees. "Oh, don't be scared, I won't hurt you or your Pokémon."

The Eevees shook in fear together with Wes. The man before them looked intimidating by his height and muscles combined. Did if he want to do something to them?

"...O-okay," Wes said with a gulp. "W-why are you here?"

The man grinned. "I saw you a lot of times running to the alleys with those 2 you have there," he said as he pointed at the 2 Eevees. "And I must say, you have a good speed. Your legs surely are strong."

Wes took a glance to his dirty legs before looking back at him, the Eevees trying to hide themselves more behind his left leg. "T-thanks, but why did you want to come here and talk to me?"

The man made Wes gasp once he let his left hand pat Wes's right shoulder. "I came here to meet you in person."

"...Yes?" Wes said.

"Of course," the man said with a nod. "You see, I've been visiting this town for a while now. I've seen you and your Pokémon stealing food from the nearby shops."

Wes and the Eevees gasped. "W-wait, you're not going to turn me in to the police, right? T-they'll do something bad to me if you do!"

"...Hahahahahahahahaha!" the man laughed, making Wes grab the Eevees to hug them in fear. "Why would I do such a foolish thing?"

Wes and the Eevees' eyes widened in surprise after the muscular man told them that. "...What? You're not going to turn us all to the police?"

The man stopped laughing before looking back at him. "Oh no, I don't want to do that."

Wes tried to stare at him blankly. "T-then what do you want with me?"

The man looked around the dirty alley. "You live here in this dump?"

"W-well, yes, there isn't any other place like a home we can go..." Wes muttered, looking worried at the Eevees.

"Do you..." the man grinned, "...want to live in a house or a place you can call home?"

"...Huh?" Wes blinked surprised at the stranger. "W-what?"

"You heard me right," the man said. "You know, you seem to have a lot of potential to do certain jobs in order to get yourself a good life," he said. "And by the looks of it, you have what it takes to be something more important besides being a petty thief."

"(If I was an Umbreon back then, I would have bitten off his face...)" Umbreon muttered with rage.

"(Calm down, we have to keep explaining what happened after that,)" Espeon reminded him.

Wes looked away worried with the Eevees.

"Ahh, don't turn away from me," the man said, using a finger to move Wes's face back to look at him. "I'm a nice person who wants to give you 3 a place to call home."

Wes moved the finger away and looked worried at him. "W-why should I trust you, anyway?" he asked. "You're a stranger who came to me from nowhere..."

"Kid..." the man trailed off as he gave him a sincere smile. "I don't want to hurt you. In fact, I was to...hmm...what's the word..." The man wondered for a bit. "...Oh, right!" He looked back at Wes. "I want you to come and join me."

"...Join you?" Wes repeated in confusion. "For...for what?"

"You see, you're speaking to the leader of a much feared organization of thieves," the man said with a grin as he pointed at himself with a thumb. "The name's Gonzap, leader of Team Snagem, kid. I'm glad to meet such a kid with the ability to be a worthy thief of mention."

"(Recalling makes me want to bite off his face even MORE, you know,)" Umbreon muttered.

"(Will you just shut it?)" Espeon asked annoyed.

Wes got a frightened look after knowing that the man was the leader of a supposedly feared organization of thieves. "W-what? Y-you're the leader of a gang?"

"Exactly!" Gonzap said proudly. "Isn't that a big honor for you, kid?"

Wes shook a bit with the Eevees. "M-more like a big scare..."

"You don't worry," Gonzap reassured him. "Like I said before, I won't hurt any of you."

"..." Wes remained silent, trembling in fear with the 2 Eevees.

Gonzap rolled his eyes. "Kid, really, I'm not here to hurt you or something," he said. "I want to offer you a job with me team so you can have place to call home."

"..." Wes looked down. "...But...I...I don't know what to do..." he muttered."What if you're tricking me?"

"I'm NOT tricking you," Gonzap said. "I saw the potential hidden in you, and I want to help you exploit it so you can become a very important person in my team." He messed Wes's hair a bit. "Besides, just look at you! Once you grow up, you're surely going to be one great thief!"

"...But...I don't want to be a thief anymore..." Wes said. "It's...it's wrong..."

"It's wrong if it doesn't benefit you," Gonzap said. "What we do in our hideout are things that we HAVE to do in order to be powerful. Don't you want to have all the power you want so people don't look at you the wrong way?"

"(I...want...to...kill...him...off...now...)" Umbreon panted heavily.

Espeon sighed. "(Just ignore him. I have better control in my attitude than him...)"

"All the power...I want?" Wes repeated. "I'm not so sure if I want people to fear me..."

"I'm telling you, life is sweet that way," Gonzap said with a chuckle. "The people that used to mess with me now become frightened if I throw a punch at them."

"(With those big muscles, who wouldn't get scared?)" Wes thought.

"Don't you want people to give you anything you want from them?" Gonzap asked. "The first path to achieve that is to join me."

Wes looked miffed at him. "B-but...this is just so sudden..." Wes looked down at his Eevees. "I...I just want to have a life where I can live somewhere peaceful...and probably find something I'm good at..."

"You're good at running," Gonzap said. "Thieves are experts in running. You have the requirements to be a great thief, kid."

"Ee..." the Eevees said worried in unison.

Gonzap looked at the 2 and grinned a bit. "Those 2 are your Pokémon, I presume?"

Wes hopped a bit and looked at him. "W-well, I found them abandoned one day and I've been taking care of them ever since... I guess you could say they're my first Pokémon I have..."

"...Tell me something, kid..."

"...Yeah?"

"Have you heard of Pokémon battles before?"

Wes gasped and looked surprised. "W-well, yeah! I-I've seen a lot of those battles at the Duel Square in here!" He smiled a bit. "I always sneak close and hide to watch the battle with different people and Pokémon. I always get so excited to see a lot of Pokémon!"

Gonzap chuckled at this reaction, making Wes return to his scared state with his Pokémon. "I can tell you'd like to battle and have Pokémon battles on your own, right?"

The kid looked down at his 2 frightened Eevees before looking back at Gonzap. "...I don't know... I don't want to risk their lives in battles... I mean, they're just babies..."

"Fast babies, though," Gonzap remarked. "Those 2 may as well be very healthy for living in such poor conditions."

"...I...thank you..." Wes trailed off worried, sneezing a bit.

"Oh no, you're going to get ill if you continue to live here," Gonzap said. "Come with me."

"B-but what if you're..."

"Kid, kid, kid, I'm giving you an offer of a lifetime!" Gonzap said with some annoyance. "There's a door opened for you to take so you can live somewhere better than this dump! Tell me, don't you want to give those 2 Eevees a good home as well?"

Wes gasped and looked down at the 2 Eevees. Both Eevees shivered a bit as they moved closer to each other.

"(I curse that stupid chilling feeling for not letting me do somethi-)"

"(Geez, you won't just drop it, right?)" interrupted Espeon with a frown.

"I see a lot of potential in those 2 as you, kid," Gonzap said. "If you train them good enough one of these days, they'll become strong Pokémon in no time."

Wes looked back at Gonzap. "...You mean it?"

Gonzap chuckled. "Well, how can I tell if we haven't done any progress yet?"

Wes's eyes drifted away from Gonzap's face. The kid closed his eyes to focus his thoughts about the offer that he was given by the leader of Team Snagem. Thinking hard, Wes covered his head with his hands.

"I'm going to be honest with you," Gonzap continued. "Many people under my hand aren't that nice with each other. In fact, they're so evil that they'd surely kick you around."

Wes's thoughts came to a halt as he gasped.

"But you don't worry about them," Gonzap reassured Wes. "I'll ALWAYS keep you close to me so those knuckleheads don't mess with you. They become Torchics once they see me close to them. They're like Growlithes because they listen to everything I say. You know what this means?"

"N-no..." Wes said a little bit frightened.

"You're going to be second-in-command of the whole hideout alongside me," Gonzap said with a grin. "You'll have a taste of my leadership in your hands, you're going to be respected by a lot of members, your Pokémon and you will have a good home, and you'll work for special missions as well!" he said with a laugh. "What do you say? A really big door opened for you!"

"(I should have REALLY bitten his mustache off when I had th-)"

"(Knock it off or I'm REALLY going to shut you down by force this time,)" threatened Espeon.

Pikachu looked bored. "(And here I thought I met a good Umbreon for once...)"

Wes looked back at the shivering Eevees. The kid thought about the offer some more. If he accepted, he would leave the alleys to leave in a better place, but his thievery would continue. Gonzap looked threatening, but he seemed to be honest with him. Besides, Wes really liked to take care of the Eevees. Surely, providing them a place inside a building would be better than the alley.

"...I...I...I accept..." Wes muttered before smiling a bit at Gonzap. "...I think I can trust you..."

Gonzap, after hearing this, grinned at Wes and patted his right shoulder a little bit hard. "That's what I wanted to hear from you! Hahahahahaha, kid, you just made the right choice!"

Wes couldn't help but smile down at the Eevees. The 2 Pokémon smiled a bit at him after seeing his happy expression.

"(And I would have said "No, you idiot! He's taking you to the wrong path!" before biting off Gonzap's fac-)"

"(That's it, I'm not going to mind you anymore,)" Espeon said annoyed.

Pulling himself back, Wes tried to stand up, but he couldn't. The boy of the alley looked surprised once Gonzap held out his hand down to help him to get up. Wes slowly took his hand before he got pulled back on his feet. Wes looked down at the Eevees before Gonzap messed up his hair a little bit more. "H-hey, stop that..." Wes muttered with a chuckle.

"Nah, you're enjoying it pretty well," Gonzap said. "Your hair's a weakpoint. I'll strike it down a lot."

And thus Wes's hair got messed up even further as he began to laugh a bit with Gonzap. The 2 Eevees looked at each other and chuckled together as the leader of Team Snagem patted Wes's small back.

"We're giving you some good clothes as well," Gonzap said. "I don't want the guys to laugh at your current clothes. Hmm, you like red vests? You'd look good in one."

"E-er, no..." Wes muttered.

As Wes and the Eevees looked up at Gonzap with a happy expression, the leader took them all out from Pyrite Town, where they headed off to the east after Wes and the Eevees were taken to a car that they rode with Gonzap.

"(Please, stop it already!)" growled Umbreon. "(I don't want to leave this place and go to take Gonzap down!)"

"(Geez, what's the matter with you?)" Pikachu asked.

Mt. Battle
Area 1

Music stops

Present

Espeon frowned. "(My guess is that Umbreon's hatred to Gonzap is coming back to him.)"

Umbreon glared at him. "(You should know as well as me here, Espeon! We know Gonzap was tricking Wes all along from the very beginning!)"

"(Calm down, why don't you?)" Espeon asked before looking back at Pikachu. "(We're getting to Wes's turning point in his life. You'll need to calm down and let me continue so Pikachu can understand Wes's past more we-)"

"Dammit!"

The sudden yell from afar made them look back to the battle where Marshtomp, after receiving a fatal attack from Jumpluff's Mega Drain, fainted along with Golem, who fainted after Squirtle used a single Surf that proved severely super effective on it. Both Pokémon fell down on the floor with knocked out expressions before Dakim called them back, his anger rising up as Wes grinned at him while Red sighed in relief.

"Well, it looks like you're almost going to be defeated," taunted Wes with a grin as he crossed his arms. "I guess you can take out the Shadow Pokémon you have with you."

Dakim narrowed his eyes at him. "Well, you're a really good guesser, meddling kid."

Wes rolled his eyes. "The fact that you're an admin means you should have at least 1 Shadow Pokémon in your team. Judging that you're an admin, then that means the Shadow Pokémon that you have is very strong. If you ask me, that'd be something I'd like to fight. I like challenges."

Red looked away. "(This guy really likes extreme things, doesn't he?)"

For Red's surprise, Dakim chuckled a bit before he took out a Poké Ball. "Alright, Wes, other guy whose name I have yet to hear, it's time for you 2 to face the wrath of my Shadow Pokémon."

"I'll face its wrath once I snag it from you," Wes said annoyed. "I'm seeing my grave, but I'll avoid it."

Rui looked bored at him. "Geez, you don't have to show that depression either."

"Sorry, but this is really going to be this way," Wes said with a frown.

"Enough of this," Dakim said as he tossed the sphere into the floor. "Go, Poké Ball!"

Red, Wes, Rui, Chris, Vander, and the Pokémon behind them watched as a big light came out from the Poké Ball. It was not long before something roared that came from the light itself. Once the light vanished, Wes and Red (taking out his Pokédex) gasped when they saw the Pokémon before them...

"(...Holy crap!)" Pikachu commented.

"(Isn't that...)" Espeon trailed off.

"(Oh my goodness, now isn't that some Pokémon?)" Umbreon thought.

There was, right on the field, no one else than one of the three Legendary Dogs: Entei, the Volcano Pokémon.

"...Entei?" Wes said in surprise as the Entei stood proudly. "How in the world did you get your hands on Entei?"

Red looked at his Pokédex. "Watch out, it says here that when he roars, a volcano erupts!"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Red, this isn't the time to say the info about Entei..."

Rui gulped. "B-but Entei, seriously? I-I thought it lived somewhere else than this region!"

"It's...unbelievable..." Vander said in surprise at the sight of the Volcano Pokémon. "I didn't think I'd see an Entei here..."

Dakim crossed his arms. "Impressive, isn't?" he asked. "Cipher has been looking for these Pokémon in other regions besides Orre. I've obtained my Entei from them."

Rui's eyes blinked to examine the Entei. "...It's a Shadow Pokémon, Wes!"

"Just as I expected..." Wes muttered with a grin. "Heheheh, Entei will be quite the prize if I manage to snag it from you."

"Don't you dare do that sort of thing!" Dakim yelled angrily as he pointed forward to them. "Now, Entei, prepare for battle!"

Entei responded by roaring wildly at the 2 trainers and their Pokémon on field. Recalling that Entei was a Fire type, Wes returned the scared Jumpluff to its Poké Ball before releasing another different Pokémon out. "Go, Sudowoodo!"

The Rock type Pokémon came out from the sphere, looking cheerfully as it shook its hands around.

Red looked a little bit concerned about Entei. According to the Pokédex, Entei was one of the many Legendary Pokémon of all times. The trainer looked at his Squirtle trembling in fear at the sight of the big fire dog.

Chris watched as Red returned Squirtle back to his Poké Ball for safety. However, the World Traveler's eyes widened once Red grabbed another different Poké Ball from his belt...the Master Ball.

"R-Red?" Chris began with a gulp. "W-what are you doing with that?"

Red looked at him over his left shoulder. "I have to it sooner so we can defeat Entei, right?"

"B-but what if he kills us?"

Red lowered his hat. "...I'll accept the whole fault, then..."

"What are you doing?" Wes asked, narrowing his eyes. "We have to start the battle against that Entei."

Chris and Pikachu looked shocked once Red decided to toss the Master Ball in front of him. The 3 characters literally watched their whole lives flash by in front of the eyes as another light came out from the Master Ball, releasing a big image besides Sudowoodo. Red, gulping, looked serious at the light before him.

"...What the?!" Vander said in disbelief.

Rui covered her mouth. "O-oh my goodness, isn't that Pokémon..."

Espeon's eyes looked shocked. "(What in the world is it doing here?)"

Umbreon growled a bit. "(What the hell? He had THAT Pokémon with him?)"

Pikachu looked miffed. "(Oh Arceus, now we're doomed in some way or another.)"

Wes's eyes widened in shock and surprise once he looked at the Pokémon before Red gulped a bit. "...How in the world did you..."

The Psychic Pokémon looked at all of them with his glare. There was a hint of fury in his eyes as he examined his surroundings for a bit before turning around to find Entei and a surprised Dakim staring at him. Red, gulping again, tried his best to talk with the tall Pokémon before him.

"M-Mewtwo..." Red began. "A-are you ready to fight?"

Mewtwo slowly turned his head to look at Red over his right shoulder, his eyes locking on him.

Red gulped. "P-please, you have to get over it now..." he muttered as Wes watched the Pokémon carefully from his spot, along with a somewhat frightened Sudowoodo.

"..." Mewtwo just narrowed his eyes at him.

Red pointed forward. "Mewtwo, I chose you to fight Entei! Please, listen!"

"(...I'm not going to listen to you,)" Mewtwo called telepathically. "(I reconsidered after you captured me when I least expected.)"

"(...What?)" Red asked. "(You ACTUALLY found forgiveness to me?)"

"(If you don't do this sort of thing again, I'll promise I won't try to slam your head at the nearby rock wall of this mountain.)"

Even if he wasn't going to do it on Red, the trainer's eyes widened as he sweated in fear.

"...Would you stop the creepy silence and just fight?" Chris asked, deciding to break the silence of the place.

Wes shook his head and looked back at Entei. "Okay, there's no time to waste and see this Mewtwo. Dakim, be prepared!"

Dakim looked back at Wes. "Well, I'll be a lot prepared this time! After finding such a rare Pokémon on field, I'm going to pummel you 2 down so I can take Mewtwo and turn him into a Shadow Pokémon!"

Hearing this, Mewtwo crossed his arms with a glare aiming at the wary Entei.

Dakim laughed for a bit before pointing at Mewtwo. "Entei, use Shadow Rush on Mewtwo!"

Wes yelled back, "Sudowoodo, use Rock Slide!"

"Mewtwo!" Red yelled.

"(Shut up,)" Mewtwo interrupted with a cold tone.

Red took a step back and nodded frightened of to his owned and yet not his Pokémon.

The 2 Pokémon watched as Entei roared loudly before charging at Mewtwo at a fast speed. The Psychic Pokémon narrowed his eyes at the Volcano Pokémon before he held out his right hand to him. Mewtwo began to glow with energy as his eyes glowed blue while Sudowoodo used Rock Slide on the Fire type (by taking out rocks from his back that he tossed above Entei rapidly). Entei's eyes widened once he felt that his feet were running in the air rather on the ground. Looking down, he found his feet separating from the floor.

Wes knew there was something wrong here. He barely knew Red, but he knew enough to tell and judge Red's experience as a trainer.

"(How?)" Wes questioned to himself as he looked at Entei's shocked expression. "(How did a person like Red catch Mewtwo? Mewtwo was supposed to have fled from the lab at Cinnabar City in the Kanto region as I've heard before...)" He rubbed his chin. "(This is really fishy...)"

Red looked surprised as Entei was lifted off from the ground. The Legendary Pokémon looked around confused before it began to roar loudly in fury. Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at him before he slammed Entei down the floor, making it grunt in pain.

Wes shook his head and reminded himself he was in a battle. "Sudowoodo, keep using Rock Slide on Entei!"

"Sudo!" Sudowoodo obeyed as he resumed his rock tossing attack on the Legendary Pokémon.

"(You mean to tell me this altered Pokémon is supposed to be strong?)" Mewtwo thought in disgust as he sensed Entei's dark aura. "(Pitiful, if you ask me.)"

Dakim made fists as he watched Entei being slammed down on the floor slowly. "Entei, use Flamethrower!"

Mewtwo glowed brighter than before. "(You better not,)" he thought as he put more energy into Psychic.

Entei's mouth slowly began to close so it wouldn't use Flamethrower or roar anymore. Grunts of pain came out from its shut mouth before Sudowoodo's rock began to fall all over him.

Rui gulped. "I-I can't believe Red captured Mewtwo…"

Chris looked at her. "Does everyone in this region know about Mewtwo?"

Vander looked at them and nodded. "The incident at Cinnabar City was one of the most reviewed incidents due to Pokémon activity. Many have heard from the news that the Pokémon that caused the incident at the lab of Cinnabar was named Mewtwo, the clone of Mew."

Rui raised a finger. "It's one among the most shocking ones like the rumor of the Pokémon that was hit by a laser beam in space."

Chris thought for a moment. "(She must be talking about Deoxys…)"

"Stop it!" Dakim yelled as Entei tried to stand up while Mewtwo used Psychic on it.

Wes looked at Red. "Red, you must keep Entei down, you hear me?"

Red looked at him. "What? Why?"

The shady trainer pointed at Sudowoodo throwing the rocks at Entei. The attacks from both Pokémon were starting to debilitate the Volcano Pokémon greatly as it tried to attack back but with no success because of Mewtwo's strong Psychic attack.

Wes took out an Ultra Ball. "Tell Mewtwo to keep Entei down. I'll snag it in a moment."
The machine on Wes's left arm began to make sounds as the Ultra Ball got engulfed in a light before fading.

Dakim gasped. "W-what? Not if I say something about it!" he yelled as he aimed Entei's Poké Ball at it. "Entei, retu-"

"Too late!" Wes yelled once he tossed the Ultra Ball at the downed Entei. Dakim's Poké Ball's light didn't make it in time before the converted Ultra Ball hit Entei's forehead, making it retreat into it before it fell down on the floor.

"E-Entei!" Dakim yelled.

Vander gasped. "What? Did he just…"

Rui looked at him. "Please, mister, we'll explain everything to you in a bit!"

The Ultra Ball rocketed a few times to the sides. Mewtwo looked down at the sphere with some curiosity as Sudowoodo remained at a safe distance from the intimidating Psychic Pokémon. Red blinked as he kept a serious look on the sphere. Rui, Vander, and Chris remained silent as the Pokémon behind them watched the Ultra Ball moving a bit.

And then, the Ultra Ball made a sound, indicating it snagged Entei successfully.

"…" Wes grinned and looked at Dakim. "Game Over, you lose."

"…Y-you…" Dakim punched the floor with his right fist and looked down. "…Darn you…"

"W-wait," Red began as he looked at Wes. "W-we won?"

"Don't you see? We did win," Wes said as he walked to the Ultra Ball to pick it up. The shady trainer looked up at Mewtwo narrowing his eyes down at him. The Psychic Pokémon could notice that Wes flashed a small grin at him before looking at Dakim. "Okay, you lost the match. Now, get out of my sight."

Dakim gritted his teeth as he looked at Wes. "Y-you… Don't think this is the end just yet, kids. You're just starting to get more in trouble by meddling with Cipher's affairs…"

Rui, Chris, and Vander gasped once Dakim began to run towards Wes. The shady trainer crossed his right arm in front of his face before the Cipher Admin leaped high up, jumping a long distance over all of them as he landed just behind the 3 Pokémon that glared up at him. The admin just sulked a bit before he began to run away with all the members he brought with him to area.

"That's over with," Wes said as he looked at his Ultra Ball. "Hope you don't eat me, Entei…"

Lobby

After the whole event, the group returned to the main lobby where the relieved faces of the trainers made the atmosphere around the place feel like it should have been before the attack. For Pikachu's dismay, Wes decided to call both Espeon and Umbreon back to their Poké Balls, halting him from knowing more about Wes's past.

"In the name of all the trainers of Mt. Battle, I thank you all for helping us to drive those thugs away," Vander told the group. "That man seemed to be looking for the Time Flute I hold."

"The Time Flute," Wes repeated. "I recall Senilor saying something about such a flute."

"You know about it?" Vander asked. "This flute is supposed to call Celebi in person. It summons Celebi, or so the myth says." The Area 1 Leader showed them the flute, which was carved with odd carvings on brown wood. "Here, take it with you."

Rui blinked surprised. "Wait, we can take it?"

Vander nodded. "Of course, since those guys came for this flute, I think you should have it with you so you can use it or protect it from them. Also, this was the main cause of their take-over as well."

Wes didn't take another second to grab the flute. "Thanks."

"No problem, you're all good trainers," Vander remarked before looking at Red, "especially you."

"M-me?" Red asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you have Mewtwo with you," Vander remarked. "What kind of trainer are you to capture such a rare Pokémon?"

Red scratched his head as he showed him the Master Ball where Mewtwo was kept. "I-it's all thanks to this Poké Ball, sir. This is the Master Ball. I heard it can capture any Pokémon without failing even once."

Wes narrowed his eyes at the Master Ball. "(Of course… He just had to toss that to Mewtwo to catch it…)"

"Well, aren't you lucky for getting one of those? I haven't heard a lot f Master Balls, but I did hear that they're pretty rare to find anywhere."

Red chuckled as he kept the Master Ball. "I-I'm lucky, am I not?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "(You're lucky because Mewtwo didn't decide to kill you or US off.)"

"Oh, by the way," Vander began as he showed them a disk. "I found this disk lying on the floor where that man was. I guess it fell off from him."

Wes looked at the disk and examined it a bit. "Hmm…"

"You can have it as well," Vander said. "It's not mine, but it should help you in some way or another."

"Thanks," Wes said as he kept the disk in a pocket. "Well, I guess that's it."

"Hmm…" Vander wondered for a moment. "You seem to know something about them, right?"

Wes nodded. "They happen to be an organization that sells altered Pokémon to people. We're trying to stop their movements by tracking them down."

"It's remarkable that such young trainer like you want to stop an organization like that," Vander remarked.

"(Dude, 10 years old kids are the perfect people to stop evil organizations,)" Pikachu thought.

"Well, you have everything under control so I'll leave you for now," Vander said with a chuckle. "Please, come here to take on the challenge to defeat all the trainers waiting for you. You can also take the challenge as a way to train your Pokémon while gaining coupons to exchange them for prizes."

Wes nodded. "Thanks, I'll consider the challenge very soon. For now, we have to leave."

"Good luck, then," Vander said with a chuckle before he turned around and walked back to the Area 1 where he walked all the way to Area 10.

Rui looked at the Time Flute. "So this is the Time Flute…"

"Pretty much," Wes said. "If this has the power to call Celebi, then we should think about how to use it."

"Why don't we head down to Agate Village and see by ourselves?" Rui suggested.
Red looked at them. "You mean we have to go back there?"

Wes rubbed his chin a bit. "Hmm… I think it should be for the best for now," he said. "Let's see what the flute can do for itself."

The group nodded together before they all left the lobby, leaving the mountain behind as they rode the weird bike to the west.

Agate Village
Relic Forest

Once the group crossed the passage, they all watched as Wes approached the relic. Putting a hand on it, the shady trainer took out the flute as Rui, Red, and Chris watched him from a safe distance.

"Let's see what this can do…" Wes muttered before he stared at the Time Flute. "…" He raised an eyebrow. "…Er…" He tilted his head. "…What do I do with it again?"

The group groaned a bit, annoying Wes a little.

"Okay, if you know how to do this, would someone please use this instrument instead?" Wes asked annoyed as he showed them the flute.

Rui tilted her head and walked to him to take a closer look to the flute. "Maybe I can do something with it," she said.

Wes didn't hesitate to give her the flute. "Okay, play a song or something."

A sudden silence came once Rui stared down at the flute in her hands. The trainers blinked confused at this before Wes spoke. "Rui, are you okay?"

"…You know…" Rui muttered as she took a closer look of the flute. "…I don't know why…but I remember a song…"

"You do?" Wes asked.

"Yeah…" Rui muttered. "…To be honest…I think I…"

The others watched as she stopped talking once she put the flute's pipe in her lips. The young girl held the flute by the side before she slowly closed her eyes, sounds starting to come from the Time Flute.

For some reason, the melody that Rui played had some sort of effect overall forest as it suddenly became silent. Wes looked around the trees' branches where many Pidgeys were staring down at Rui and the flute in silence. The chirping noises that they were making a moment ago came to a halt as they all decided to listen at the melody from the flute.

Pikachu's ears perked up after listening to the melody for a while before he closed his eyes and accommodated himself on Chris's right shoulder to enjoy the song. Red, seeing that Pikachu got a happy expression, rubbed his head bit.

Chris noticed him. "Are you taking advantage of the situation?" he whispered.

Red chuckled embarrassed. "W-well, why not? I want to have him on my shoulder one of these days…"

"…Okay," Chris said with a chuckle. "…You know, if Pikachu likes the melody as the Pidgeys…why don't we call everyone out?"

"…Does everyone count Mewtwo as well?"

Chris glanced at Wes and Rui. "…They all know about him. It's going to be okay, though. He didn't try to harm us back at Mt. Battle."

Red took out the Master Ball and stared at it for a moment. "…I hope you're right…" he muttered worried.

The 2 Smashers called out all their Pokémon out. Once they all looked around confused, they began to listen at the melody that Rui played. Pichu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Lucario all closed their eyes and began to listen closely to the tune, the Aura Pokémon even sat down after a while.

Red looked worried at Mewtwo, who had his arms crossed as his eyes were focused on the Pallet Town trainer. Gulping, Red walked to Mewtwo. "…Mewtwo…"

"…" Mewtwo kept staring at him.

"…You…you…" Red thought hard. "…You have to understand that you had to come with us like this, inside a Master Ball…"

"…" Mewtwo grunted.

"…I'm sorry if I made you angry for being inside something you didn't want to be in…" Red apologized. "But please, don't take it all on me. I just had to do it because my excitement took the better of me…"

"…Whatever," Mewtwo said, making Red look at him. "What's done is done, Red. I had to admit that it was the best way for me to stay safe from the army."

"You're saying you don't care about being captured by me?" Red asked.

"I despise the Master Ball a lot," Mewtwo admitted. "However, I tried to think about what was good for me until I came up with the decision to just stay safe."

"…" Red looked down. "Even so, I'm sorry…"

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I'm still a little bit angry, but you should wait until I've calmed down."

The trainer looked worried at Mewtwo before smiling a bit at him. The 2 then began to listen at the melody from the Time Flute in peace.

Wes blinked surprised as Rui played the flute with a perfect symphony that she made. The shady trainer's look, somehow, looked a little bit amazed.

A Pidgey came from the bushes behind Rui before it looked around and flew to a tree to listen at the melody in peace.

Wes noticed that the Relic Stone began to resonate together with the melody as it glowed brighter than before. Everyone but Rui noticed the bright green light emanating from the Relic Stone, making the background around turn a little bit dark before another different light came from the top of the stone. They all looked at the top where the sphere of green light began to shrink, revealing a Pokémon that had its eyes closed.

"…Celebi…" Wes muttered under his breath.

Before them was the Time Traveling Pokémon that floated on the air. The traveler Pokémon opened its eyes and chirped its name happily once it looked at all of them. "Bi! Bi! Celebi!" it said happily as it circled around the relic before stopping in front of Rui. "Bibibibi!"

Red's eyes shook in surprise before he quickly took his Pokédex to get Celebi's data quickly, making Chris roll his eyes.

At that moment, Rui stopped playing the flute before she opened her eyes to look directly at Celebi's face. Her eyes shook a bit in surprise before she spoke. "…Celebi…" she muttered.

Celebi hummed happily before it looked around and saw Wes staring at it. The Legendary Pokémon blinked at him before it looked down at its belt with the Poké Balls. Celebi's eyes widened in shock after it perceived a dark aura emanating from the Ultra Ball that it was able to sense. The Pokémon looked at Wes and pointed at the sphere.

"Huh?" Wes looked at Celebi. "What do you want?"

"Bibibibibi, Cele, Cele," Celebi said.

Wes stared at his belt before he grabbed the Ultra Ball. Once he looked at Celebi, it nodded at him.

"This is the Ultra Ball that contains Entei within it," Wes told Celebi. "If I take it out, it's going to attack me. Also, it's not ready to be purified yet."

Celebi shook its head and pointed at itself several times.

"What are you trying to say?" Wes asked confused.

"U-um…" Chris decided to speak. "M-maybe Celebi wants you to release Entei so Celebi does something with it…"

Wes looked back at his Ultra Ball. "…Fine," he said with a sigh. "Celebi wouldn't try to play pranks on me, right?"

Celebi shook its head sincerely.

"…Then…Entei, come on out now!" Wes yelled as he let the Ultra Ball open by itself, shooting a bright light on the floor before it faded and revealed a furious Entei that roared loudly at Wes. Wes looked shocked once the Entei's mouth began to ignite with fire, indicating it was going to use Flamethrower. "W-wait, you haven't even fought that much alongside me and you have Flamethrower already learned?!" Wes asked in shock.

Red looked at Chris. "What does he mean by that?" he whispered.

Chris thought for a moment. "Well, thing is, Shadow Pokémon need to fight so their hearts slowly open up by themselves. Shadow Pokémon also have their moves "banned" and they only know how to use Shadow Rush."

"But if I remember, that Dakim guy told it to use Flamethrower. How come it can use it here?"

Chris met a hard question. "…If the Shadow Pokémon attacks you, it surely means it's your enemy…"

Lucario then remembered something once he looked at Entei. "Wait, what is Entei doing here?" He looked at Chris. "Did Wes already snag it?"

"U-um…" Chris bowed to Lucario. "S-sorry, I forgot that you wanted to fight again, Lucario…"

Lucario rolled his eyes and grunted. "Please, remember I'm here with you as well, Chris…" He looked back at Entei. "…Isn't it gathering fire in its mouth?"

The World Traveler remembered that Wes was going to be burned to a crisp. "OH MY GOD! Lucario, stop Entei!"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!!!" Lucario roared as he quickly dashed at Entei. The Volcano Pokémon quickly looked at Lucario and decided to aim its attack at him. However, the Aura Pokémon proved to be faster than Entei as Lucario sent a hard fist at Entei's face, making it roll back on the floor in pain before roaring in pain.

"…H-how did it do that?" Rui asked surprised. "Entei was bigger than Lucario was but he managed to push Entei down that easily?"

Wes shook his head. "Who cares about that now? Entei's getting back up!"

"(I blame myself for not using my aura to make me stronger,)" Lucario grunted mentally as Entei got back up on its feet, growling deeply at its watchers before focusing on Celebi.

However, once it glanced to Celebi's eyes, Entei looked shocked. Celebi's eyes were glowing a bit, and Wes noticed the weird move of the Pokémon. "(Celebi is…calming Entei from attacking?)" Wes thought interested.

Celebi's eyes stopped glowing before it flew to the now calm Entei. The Volcano Pokémon looked calmed as its eyes' sight was being dragged by the peaceful Pokémon floating around it. Everyone in there watched as Celebi began to glow in a green light that let sparkles fall around Entei. The Legendary Dog's eyes widened a bit before it sat down while Celebi kept circling around it.

Wes and Rui gasped a bit once the dark aura of Entei began to emanate. However, the aura seemed to be dispersing into the air where it vanished as Celebi's light began to make Entei glow as well. Some seconds later, the light in Entei soon faded completely as the Volcano Pokémon looked blankly at the humans and Pokémon, Celebi chuckling happily as it stopped by its side.

"…Entei?" Wes asked.

His Entei looked at him before standing up on its 4 paws. The Volcano Pokémon walked to him and stopped right in front of Wes. The shady trainer gulped silently at the sight of his owned Pokémon in front of him while Lucario stared at Entei.

"…" Entei nodded to Wes.

"…What are you trying to say?" Wes asked.

"Hmm…" Rui wondered for a bit. "Maybe it's trying to say that it's thankful for something… Wait a minute, I can't see its dark aura anymore!" she said surprised. "In fact, it's gone!"

"Really?" Wes asked in surprise before looking at Celebi. "You…you did this to Entei?"

"Bibibi!" Celebi said happily as it flew closer to Wes. "Bibibibibi, bibibi."

"…I guess you're trying to say you have the power to purify any Pokémon without any problems, right?" Wes asked.

Celebi nodded happily.

Wes chuckled and grinned. "…Well, thanks," he thanked. "I didn't want Entei to bite my brains out every time I call it out."

"Bibibibibi," Celebi said happily before looking at Rui. "…Biiiiiiiiiiii!"

Rui suddenly smiled a bit. "…Celebi…"

"Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…" Celebi said happily as it flew very close to Rui before hugging her neck. "Celebi!"

"…" Rui blinked surprised before she looked at Wes. "…Wes…"

"What, are you surprised it hugged you?" Wes asked.

"…No, it's not that…" Rui trailed off. "…I…I…I just…I just…"

There was something in Rui's mind that made her think something that she suddenly remembered after Celebi hugged her, something in her mind that was triggered when she felt Celebi close to her. The young girl's eyes shook in surprise before looking at Wes.

"…I just remembered…how I got my power to see auras…"

Red, Chris, the Pokémon, and even Wes himself gasped a bit after Rui told them that.

Rui looked down at Celebi. "And I remembered thanks to Celebi…" she muttered as Celebi looked up to her happily. "In fact, Celebi…was the one who gave that power…somehow…"

Wes blinked in confusion. "Wait, so does that mean you met Celebi before?"

Rui slowly hugged Celebi as she looked at him. "To be honest…yes, I did meet Celebi a long time ago…" She looked at the others. "Red, remember when I told you I went to my grandparents to say good bye before we left the village?"

"Well, yes, you did and I remember… Why'd you ask?" Red asked.

"And remember when I was about to tell you about what my grandparents told me when we were at Mt. Battle?"

"Yeah?"

"…They told me that I surely obtained my power from Celebi itself…" Rui said as she looked at Celebi. "I…I remember everything now…"

Wes took a step forward. "So, Rui, you say you met Celebi before?"

"That's what I said," Rui said. "I can recall the time I met Celebi perfectly now."

"When was that?" Chris asked.

Rui chuckled and looked up to the sky. "It was when I was 8 years old, when I wanted to sleep here with my grandparents," she explained. "I was really mischievous, I'm telling you. There was once a night where I snuck out from the house to go here and see the Relic Stone with my own eyes. My grandparents told me that Celebi lived here, and I wanted to meet Celebi in person. They surely told me a lot of things about Celebi because they went as far as to tell me that the Time Flute could call it here."

"Then…" Wes thought for a moment. "…You knew how to play the flute before because you…"

Rui nodded with a chuckle. "Yep, my grandparents taught me themselves. They had a Time Flute with them. When I was very little, I wanted to make sure that I'd meet Celebi for sure. When they showed me how to play the flute, that same day, I snuck out during the night into the forest when the guard wasn't there…"

Flashback

Many years ago, there was a girl running inside the passage to the forest as she held a Time Flute in her right hand. The girl was a young Rui, who ran in a hurry to the other side of the passage. When she was little, she wore smaller versions of her present clothes, the only difference being the red ribbon on her left pigtail.

"I…I'm there…" muttered the young Rui as she saw the moonlight coming from the other side of the passage. "I…I'm going…to meet Celebi…using the Time Flute…" she said before chuckling. "And my grandparents won't know it!"

"I shouldn't tell you that I was high on sugar that night…"

"Then we'll play tea time, we're gonna smell flowers, we're gonna watch TV together, we're gonna take baths together, and then we're gonna play tea time while watching TV in the bath together!"

"…Seriously, I was crazy back then…a-and stop giving me those looks!"

Once the little girl made it to the other side, she stopped to catch her breath before looking around the tranquil forest. Looking forward, Rui smiled once she spotted the Relic Stone.

"I was really anxious to see Celebi in person that I ran to the relic and stood in front of it," Rui narrated.

The young Rui stared at the Relic Stone for a moment to order her thoughts a bit before looking down at the Time Flute. Rui smiled a bit at it before she took out a piece of paper with some dots dribbled on it.

"Let's see…" Rui muttered. "The song went like this…right?" She chuckled. "Easy thing to do 'cuz I've been practicing in secret." The girl put the flute's pipe in her mouth. "(Okay, I gotta remember how the melody went… Here it goes…)"

After concentrating a bit, Rui began to play the melody exactly as she did in the present. The young girl had her eyes closed to try focus her rhythm perfectly in order to play the right tune. The forest around her became silent, the wind brushing the leaves and branches a bit.

"I was very excited to meet Celebi in person that I memorized the whole song that my grandparents taught me just so I could learn about Celebi," Rui narrated. "They told me so many stories about Celebi traveling through time, and I grew very curious…"

"And they told you not to approach the forest," Wes said.

"…Pretty much…" Rui said. "The forest was a sacred place that nobody should visit. The whole village worships the forest very much that they don't want anyone else to enter. People like Cipher aren't allowed here, so that's why they have to keep a guard so nobody enters…but the guard at the entrance was asleep that night, and I took the advantage to sneak in."

The young Rui kept playing the melody for a little while. She opened her eyes and shifted them around to see if something happened. Once she looked at the Relic Stone, nothing seemed to happen at all. Making a worried face, the girl stopped playing and lowered her flute in disappointment.

"Celebi?" Rui asked. "W-where are you? …Why didn't you appear, Celebi?"

"I got a little bit upset after Celebi didn't appear thanks to the Time Flute I had," Rui explained. "I was a little bit heartbroken when nothing happened in the forest; not even a single glow."

The young girl grabbed the flute with both hands and looked down. "…What happened?" she wondered. "I thought I played the song right…" She sighed before turning around the passage. "…Maybe I shouldn't have come here…"

The depressed Rui began to walk back into the cave, still looking down in shame after no event happened.

As she walked to the cave, she noticed that there was a sign of green illumination that came from behind her after she looked at the cave enlightening a bit with the light. The girl gasped a bit and turned around to find the Relic Stone glowing.

"W-what?" Rui asked. "W-what is happening?"

"I got shocked when the Relic Stone began to shine like that," Rui explained. "I didn't see it glow before so you would guess my reaction when I was little…"

The monument began to glow brighter, making Rui fall back on her rear as she looked a bit scared. She thought Celebi was just going to appear from the forest, not make the funny-looking stone glow, at least that was she thought as she clutched herself a bit.
From the top of the Relic Stone, a green sphere of light began to appear. The shocked girl thought it was going to attack her so she covered her face.

"I should have run to a tree instead of doing that…"

"If I don't see it, it won't hurt me!" the young Rui yelled.

"Gosh, I was embarrassing back then…"

The young girl trembled a little in fear once she noticed the light was gone between her fingers. Rui gulped a bit before removing her hands off her face. She suddenly blinked surprised when someone was some mere feet away from her face.
"K-KYAH!" Rui yelped as she moved back from the Pokémon in front of her. "W-what happened here? H-how did you get here?!" she asked in fear.

The Pokémon in front of her tilted its head curiously before floating closer to her.

"…C-Celebi?" Rui asked suddenly as she took a closer look to the Pokémon. "I-is that really you?"

Celebi tilted its head a bit before it nodded happily. "Bibibibi!" it said happily.

"…W-well…" Rui shifted her eyes. "H-how did you come here? D-did you hear the melody from my Time Flute?"

Celebi looked at Rui's right hand where the flute was. The Pokémon chuckled happily as it nodded. "Bibibi! Bibibibi, bibibibibi!"

"…" Rui managed to make a small smile. "N-no way, I called you with the flute?"

"Bibibibibi," Celebi said. "Celebi, lebi, Celebi, bi."

"I wished I could have understood Celebi better…"

"…Oooooooooh, you came here to play with me?" Rui asked.

Celebi looked confused at her for a moment without doing anything except floating.

"…I…guess not?" Rui asked.

Celebi merely blinked at her.

"…" Rui looked down. "B-but…I wanted to meet you so we could play together…" Rui sniffed a bit. "I…I just wanted to play with you, Celebi…"

"…" Celebi floated close to her and pointed at the Time Flute. "Bibibibi?"

"H-huh?" Rui looked at the flute. "W-what are you trying to say?"

Celebi smiled. "Bibibibibibibibibiiiiiiii!" It put its hands to its right where it tried to tell something to Rui. The young girl saw Celebi blowing air at the side of its hands as it looked at her.

It was a matter of time before Rui understood the message. "Aaaah, you want me to play the flute again?"

Celebi stopped its mimic and nodded happily. "Bibibibibi!"

"…Okay!" Rui said cheerfully. "But…can you promise me something?"

Celebi tilted its head confused.

"If I play the flute, can you play with me this time?" Rui asked as she joined her hands. "Please, I really wanna play with someone so special like you! I-I wanted to play with you a long time ago after my grandparents told me so much about, Celebi!"

The Pokémon gasped a bit as Rui hopped in her feet a little bit.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please?" Rui asked repeatedly.

"…Bibibibibi," Celebi said, smiling at her.

Rui gasped excited. "Y-you mean it? You're going to play with me?"

"Biiiiiiiii!" Celebi nodded.

"I was so happy when Celebi told me that…" Rui said. "I was so lucky that Celebi wanted to play with me. So, to fulfill the promise, I played the flute…"

After a small while, Rui coughed a bit before she started to play the flute with the same tune from before. Celebi closed its eyes and smiled a bit as the melody echoed through the surroundings. The Time Travel Pokémon began to dance around in the air, flying across the forest as Rui played and watched Celebi flying about. Rui smiled a bit as she kept blowing into the flute while Celebi said its name happily, echoing through the trees and leaves.

"I watched Celebi dancing and flying around," Rui explained. "Celebi was glowing, and it released some green sparkles that trailed off from behind it, touching the branches and leaves. You should have seen it, Wes, it was so beautiful when the sparkles kept shining…"

"Wes isn't exactly a fan of beautiful things, though…" Red muttered.

The young girl giggled happily as Celebi flew around in the forest. The Time Travel Pokémon suddenly turned towards her to return to Rui, stopping flying as it floated close, still releasing the sparkles of light that fell on the floor. The young girl stopped playing the flute before giggling at Celebi. "Okay, did you enjoy my performance?"

"Bibibibibibi!" Celebi said happily.

"Now," Rui began as she pointed the vanishing flute at Celebi. "You need to play with me or else I…I…I…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…"

"For my surprise, the very same flute I used started to vanish like magic…" Rui explained. "I really got shocked once the flute began to feel…like nothing in my hand. To be precise, it was floating in midair when I pulled my hand back." She looked at her hand, the flute already gone. "Look, I don't have that Time Flute with me anymore."

"W-wah!" Rui pulled back her hand from the vanishing flute before it completely disappeared in the air. "W-what did just happen?"

"After I asked myself the reason behind the disappearance of the flute, I remembered my grandparents telling me that there were very few Time Flutes hidden across Orre. My grandma told me that the flutes are special because they can be used one time only to call Celebi."

The young Rui looked shocked after the flute disappeared. Celebi merely blinked and tilted its head a bit at this. "O-oh no…I remember these flutes can only be used once…" She looked worried. "A-and worse yet, I took this directly from my grandpa's drawer in their room! T-they're going to find out I used it since I wanted to come here during the day!"

Celebi saw Rui's panicked expression. The young girl put her hands on her head and shook them all slowly to think of something about the flute's disappearance. The Time Travel Pokémon put a hand close to its mouth before looking around. Celebi then flew away to pick something from the ground. The Time Travel looked happy and returned to the panicking Rui before touching her head to make her look at it.

"…Huh?" Rui looked at the object on Celebi's right hand. "…Wait, you're trying to say you want me to use that branch as a replacement?"

"Bi!" Celebi nodded.

"…It's not going to work that way…" Rui rubbed her chin. "…I have to admit the branch looks a little bit like the flute from a far view…"

"And I had to admit it didn't even look like the flute AT ALL…"

The young Rui chuckled to herself before taking the branch from Celebi. Both of them chuckled to each other after Rui kept the item in her jacket.

"After that, Celebi made his promise, and we played all night with each other. We played hide-and-seek in the trees; we looked around the forest to see the sleeping Pokémon like Pidgeys and Spinaraks, we ate some apples that Celebi found in some trees, and I told Celebi everything about my life with my grandparents and such," Rui explained. "…I had a lot of fun with Celebi…and I started to think Celebi was my first Pokémon ever since that night…"

Very soon, the 2 got tired, and Rui decided to call it a night. The young girl then remembered that Celebi had to go away and not return until someone else played the Time Flute. The Time Travel Pokémon looked worried as it and Rui were close to the passage.

"…They told me that you won't return unless I use another Time Flute…" Rui said depressed before she sniffed, making Celebi gasp a bit. "I-I want you to stay here with me, Celebi…"

"Biiiiii…" Celebi said depressed.

"C-can't you just come back to this time period to play again with me?"

Celebi looked down and shook its head.

"W-why?" Rui asked before she started to sob. "W-why can't you stay here? D-do I annoy you or something?"

Celebi gasped. "Bibibibibibi! Celebibibibibi!"

Rui tried to wipe off her tears before looking at Celebi. "Then why do you have to travel around time, anyway?" she asked by yelling loudly. "I don't see why you need to go around and visit peaceful times! Every single time is peaceful!"

"Bibibibibibibi…" Celebi looked down and shook its head. "Bibibibibi…"

"…What?" Rui calmed down a bit and looked at Celebi's depressed look. "You're saying you don't only go to peaceful times?"

"…Bibibibi…" Celebi said.

"I was lucky back then," Rui narrated. "For being a small child, I managed to tell what Celebi wanted to say…"

"…You mean you go to other time periods where there are no peaceful times?"

Celebi took a moment of silence before nodding in shame.

"…You go to dangerous time periods as well, then?"

Celebi nodded in shame.

"…Why?" Rui asked. "I just don't understand you…"

"Bibibibibi," Celebi said as it pointed at the trees. "Bibibibibi?"

Rui tilted her head a bit. "The trees?"

"Bibibibibibibi, Celebi!" Celebi suddenly said shocked. "Celebi, bibi, Cele, bibibibi!" It moved its hands like it tried to imitate something like fire going up. "Bibibibiiiiiiii!"

"…Fire?"

"Bibibibi!"

Rui wondered for a bit. "…You're saying that…hmm…you travel to dangerous times…to…hmm…make them…peaceful?"

"…" Celebi nodded.

"…And you do…what?" Rui asked. "You put out forest fires?"

"Bibibibibi," Celebi said nodding.

"…I see…" Rui said depressed. "So…you travel through time in order to save forests that were once burned?" Rui asked and Celebi nodded. "…But aren't you messing with time?"

Celebi shook its head and smiled.

"…Oh, right!" Rui said. "You're just doing the right thing for other Pokémon, right?"

"Bibi, Celebi, bi, Celebi," Celebi said happily.

"…You're so gentle," Rui remarked with a giggle. "You do that every day?"

Celebi shook its head.

"Ah, you also enjoy meeting others like me, right?"

"Bi!"

"I knew it!" Rui said happily. "You're one of the kindest Pokémon who helps other no matter what is there, right?"

"Bi, Celebibi!" Celebi nodded happily as it flew around Rui, making her laugh a bit together with it.

"I was happy to know Celebi had a good reason to travel through time," Rui said. "It traveled to peaceful times where danger was afoot. I understood Celebi very well, you know…"

"That doesn't explain how you got your powers, Rui," Wes said.

"Well…it was just before I left Celebi, actually…"

Rui and Celebi chuckled to each other before the young girl yawned loudly, lifting her hands to the air. "Well…I want to go to sleep now, Celebi…" she muttered, mumbling a bit. "…I guess I won't see you until I use a Time Flute, right?"

"Ce, Ce, Bibibibi," Celebi said, smiling a bit at her.

Rui giggled a bit. "It's okay; I won't cry…" she muttered as she sniffed a bit. "…I won't cry…"

Celebi blinked a bit before touching Rui's head. The young girl stopped a sniff before looking back at Celebi. "Bibibibi, Cele…" Celebi's eyes suddenly glowed.

"…Huh?" Rui blinked confused at this. "W-why are your eyes glowing like that?"

"And then, suddenly, I felt like something entered through my eyes…" Rui narrated. "There was an odd feeling in me that made my vision go blurry for a minute. I kept staring at Celebi as its eyes glowed green… Celebi was surely doing something to me before it would leave me. At first, I didn't know what, but once it stopped, I was able to blink and look around…"

The young girl stared blankly at Celebi, who smiled a bit at her. "W-what did you just do?" Rui asked.

"Of course, I couldn't tell what Celebi told me, though…"

Celebi began saying its name many times, but unfortunately, Rui didn't understand most of it. Seeing that it was surely something important, the girl just giggled and nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, I see!" the girl said clueless. "You gave me some kind of power, right?"

"Celebi, bi!" Celebi said happily before turning around. "Bibi, Cele," it said, waving a hand at Rui.

"…Wait!" Rui said as she held out her right hand at Celebi as it flied to the Relic Stone. "I-I was kidding, what did you give me?" she asked confused. "I mean, did you give me the power to fly or something? If that's so, I'll try it right away!"

"Bad choice…"

The young girl leaped forward, flapped her arms quickly, but then fell down and hit the floor, making her moan in pain as Celebi chuckled to itself, glowing brightly in a green aura together with the Relic Stone as it stopped flying on top of the monument.

After pushing herself up, Rui shook her head and stood up to look up at the glowing Celebi. "W-wait, are you leaving now?"

"Celebibibibibi!" Celebi said happily.

"B-but wait!" Rui yelled. "I-I haven't told you my name yet! M-my name is Rui, nice to meet you!"

"…" Celebi smiled happily. "…Nice to meet you, Rui. I have to leave for now, is that fine with you? I hope so!"

"…" Rui looked shocked as she took a step back. Did she just hear Celebi speaking English? "D-did you just talk…w-with your mouth?"

The only response that Rui got was Celebi teleporting away from the forest. The young girl gasped and looked around as the Relic Stone began to dim down until it turned back to normal. Rui looked around the forest for any traces of Celebi, but obviously, there were none.

"…Celebiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Rui yelled as she put her hands close to the sides of her mouth. "Celebi, where are youuuuuuuuu?! Celebiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"I wanted to find Celebi in the forest again," Rui said depressed. "After it left, I thought Celebi wasn't going to come back again. I was desperate to find Celebi again, but it was useless, and I kept yelling at no one…until someone else heard my yells…"

The young girl stopped yelling at the trees before she heard some footsteps and yells coming from the passage. She gasped a bit once she turned around to find a worried Eagun kneeling down to see her. "Rui!" he yelled. "My goodness, you're alright, my girl!"

"G-grandpa!" Rui yelled surprised. "H-how did you know I was here?"

"Well, little girl, I have some tea sometimes during the nights, and I went to see if you were in your room, but you weren't there anymore," Eagun explained. "I panicked a bit, but I wanted to see where you ran off to. I didn't tell Beluh this because I didn't want to start an uproar. When I noticed the Time Flute was gone, I thought you took it and ran off to the forest."

Rui blushed a bit embarrassed as she folded her arms. "W-well, yes, I did take it…"

"…Phew," Eagun sighed. "Well, Rui, I hope you didn't use it before I came here…"

"Oh, was I so dead during that moment…"

Rui began to sweat a bit before she quickly showed Eagun the branch that Celebi gave her. "O-of course not," she said with a gulp. "S-see? T-the Time Flute is right here, safe and sound!" She chuckled a bit. "Heheheheheh, get it? Sound? Time Flute?"

The tension in her grew bigger as Eagun examined the branch. Rui knew Eagun wouldn't fall for such a childish trick after he took the "instrument" off her hands.

"…Rui…" Eagun said disappointed.

Rui smacked her palms together and bowed. "L-look, I'm so, SO sorry if I-"

"There are some cloth balls all over it!" Eagun interrupted her granddaughter.

Looking up confused, Rui raised an eyebrow. "…What did you say, grandpa?"

"Look at this mess…" Eagun said as he took off some cloth balls that surely got stuck on the branch when the girl kept it close inside her jacket. The girl's mouth hung a little bit open before her grandpa tossed all the balls away to the ground. "There, it's clean now."

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b…" Rui couldn't just find the right words after Eagun was easily tricked into believing he was holding the "Time Flute" and not a branch.

"There, there, Rui," Eagun said, rubbing her head. "You didn't use it, so it's all good, my girl."

"…I decided to stay silent so he wouldn't punish me or something…" Rui said embarrassed.

Rui blinked a little bit nervous before chuckling. "Heheheheheh, a-am I a little good girl, grandpa?"

"Well, what do you think you are after wandering all the way here without permission?" Eagun asked.

"…Crud," Rui muttered.

"Come now," Eagun said as he turned at the passage. "We shouldn't stay here any longer."

End of flashback

Rui chuckled after narrating them her story. "After grandpa took me back home, he put the "Time Flute" back in its place. I decided to stay silent about Celebi or else he would have punished me…a bit, I guess."

Wes, Red, Chris, and the Pokémon stared at her and Celebi.

"…" Rui looked down at Celebi. "I started to notice that I could sense auras if I concentrated long enough," she explained. "I have to tell you something about it. Sensing auras is a really hard thing to do because, for me, they seem so dim and almost small, but when I first spotted a Shadow Pokémon…the aura was easy, yet so powerful. I was frightened when I saw that Makuhita…and those 2 thugs took a hold of me when I yelled about its aura…" Rui looked at Wes. "Then, I wound up meeting you, Wes…" She looked down at Celebi. "If it wasn't for you, Celebi, I wouldn't have been here or even hear about Shadow Pokémon…"

"Bibibi," Celebi said happily.

Wes crossed his arms. "There's something in your story that doesn't make sense, though…"

Rui looked at him. "What would that be?"

"I forgot, but didn't you say Celebi…talked?"

Rui blinked a few times before getting an annoyed look to Celebi. "Wait just a minute there! Don't try to lie to me this time, you. I DID think that was you talking, Celebi!"

Celebi chuckled and pushed itself from her, floating in the air.

"Okay, I have another chance to talk with you, Celebi," Rui said. "Was it you who spoke to me?"

The Time Travel Pokémon folded its thin arms and looked around in the sky while it hummed.

"…Celebi, it was you, right?"

Celebi looked at her and chuckled. "…Of course it was me."

Wes, Red, Chris, and the Pokémon gasped once they all saw Celebi talking through its mouth. Rui was the most shocked one after hearing Celebi's somewhat high-pitched voice.

"O-oh my…" Rui said, covering her mouth with her hands. "Y-y-y-y-y-you just spoke!"

Celebi chuckled. "Of course I spoke, Rui," it said to her. "You didn't even think I was only obliged to talk with "bis" and "Cele," did you?" Celebi chuckled again. "I'm way wiser than that because I'm a Psychic Pokémon."

Wes stared at Celebi in surprise before speaking. "Celebi…"

Celebi turned around. "Yes? Do you have something to ask me? Your face has that look, I know."

"Yes," Wes said. "I wanted to ask you, after noticing you can talk, about why you gave Rui that power to see auras."

Celebi looked worried. "…I gave her that because…she was the only one who called me here…" Celebi looked at all of them. "In truth, I gave Rui that power because I already knew how the events would turn out in the future."

"You're saying you traveled in the future?" Chris asked.

Celebi nodded. "That's right. I knew the Shadow Pokémon would eventually appear." It played with its small hands. "I sensed that the future of Orre was going to be a very bad one, so I went to the future to see what it'd look like…and what I found wasn't pretty…"

Wes nodded. "You saw the Shadow Pokémon from a safe distance."

"Exactly," Celebi said. "There were lots of them everywhere, though… Right now, there seems to be a small percentage of Shadow Pokémon, but it's growing in numbers as time passes. I was stuck in that period, though."

"You were stuck?" Red asked.

"I was stuck because I didn't know what to do," Celebi admitted. "If I was seen purifying a Shadow Pokémon, that organization called Cipher would have spotted me and captured me in some way…"

Wes thought for a moment. "But you can warp, can't you?"

"I can, but Cipher's technology is a little bit advanced to prevent me from warping in time," Celebi said. "They sent people here to destroy the Relic Stone, right?"

"Yeah."

"They were surely looking for me so there wouldn't be a way to purify Shadow Pokémon," Celebi explained. "The Relic Stone is a very important artifact. I was the one who created this."

"You created the Relic Stone here?" Rui asked. "Why?"

"I created the Relic Stone in order for people to call me using the Time Flutes that were created by the people who worshipped me a long time ago," Celebi explained. "I made the Relic Stone a very long time ago in this place because it's really peaceful. Look at the scenery…" Celebi smiled. "It's just so beautiful and pacific enough for me to dwell."

"Interesting, I must say…" Wes said. "Let me get this straight. You're saying you knew the Shadow Pokémon would appear, right?"

"Yes," Celebi said.

"And I would assume it was before you met Rui, right?"

Celebi nodded. "That's exactly the truth," it said. "The future of Orre was going to be a really bad one with the Shadow Pokémon…" Celebi looked down. "If I let the time go as it is, the Orre Region would have been overrun by countless and countless of Shadow Pokémon…" It began to shake its head. "…And worse yet, it would have spread all over the world, and Cipher would have commanded an army of them…"

The World Traveler blinked in surprise at this. "…That would be horrible…"

Wes looked away. "(Yeah, put the trainer calling a Shadow Pokémon out and the Pokémon would kill him or her off…)"

"But why me?" Rui asked. "Why did you want me to have the power to see auras?"

Celebi looked at her. "You were the only person closest to the timeline where the Shadow Pokémon would appear," it explained. "I saw your future. Do you remember the Makuhita you saw before? You would have passed through there and not see its aura with the power I gave you." Celebi nodded. "I was so lucky to find a person who would use a Time Flute to call me. I knew it was so risky to put you in this, but it was the best option to keep the future of Orre safe…" Celebi looked down. "…I'm sorry for giving you the power without your permission…"

Rui noticed the sad look on Celebi's face. The girl looked at it worried before smiling. "It's okay, really…"

"What?" Celebi looked at her. "You're not upset that I chose you?"

"Why?" Rui asked. "You just gave a very important mission no one else could do! I like to do thrills in life, and I like Pokémon very much as well. You gave the opportunity of a lifetime, Celebi!" She looked at Wes. "I wouldn't have met Wes if you didn't give me the power to see auras, Celebi…" She made a happy expression. "I should have disobeyed my grandpa in coming here with the Time Flute, don't you think?"

"…Heheheheh," Celebi chuckled. "I guess you're right, Rui. Your excitement to meet me eventually gave you a very important mission to keep Orre's future safe." It turned around to look at Wes. "And you got yourself a partner."

"Hey, the partner here is Rui, not me," Wes responded.

"No, you're both partners," Celebi said. "In the future, I saw you."

"…What?"

Celebi nodded. "You would have used the Snag Machine without Rui around. You would be at a loss to identify Shadow Pokémon. This problem would turn you into an accidental thief before getting in jail…" It looked worried. "…Worse of all, you seemed to enjoy it so much…"

Wes's eyes widened a bit but looked away with a sulk.

"…You seem to have some troubles with your past, am I right?" Celebi asked, tilting its head. "I can tell your past wasn't a pretty on-"

"Would you just shut up?" Wes asked.

Celebi gasped. "O-oh, sorry, I think I was being a little bit rude…"

"You were, now don't go and spy my past, please," Wes said, still staring away.

Pikachu narrowed his eyes. "(Thanks, Celebi, you just reminded me of something I can find out through Umbreon and Espeon…)"

Celebi looked back at Rui. "So then, are you okay with the task I gave you?"

Rui nodded. "Absolutely… I don't want to see Shadow Pokémon spreading out to the other regions…"

"It would be so bad that way," Celebi said. "This wrong process to turn them into Shadow Pokémon would reach Legendary Pokémon as well, and then that would be really worse…"

Rui looked at Celebi with a smile. "Thanks, though. I'll use this power for greater good."

"That's more like it!" Celebi said enthusiastically. "I trust you and Wes that you will do it just fine."

"…Wait," Wes interrupted as he turned around to look at Celebi. "Do you know if we can really defeat Cipher if we keep going like this?"

"That's…something I don't know…" Celebi admitted. "I could go to the future, but you know…" It chuckled a bit. "It's up to you to find out."

"What?" Wes asked. "So you're telling me you know the outcome?"

"I do, but sometimes I forget," Celebi said, confusing the whole group. "I'll let you shape your path alone. I don't want to spoil your future. Do you really want me to tell you something you want to see by yourself without knowing what will happen?"

"…I guess," Wes said.

"There you have it," Celebi said with a chuckle before turning to Rui. "I have to go for now, Rui… There are other time periods I'd like to see…"

Rui nodded. "I understand."

"Good, but you can call me back once you find another Time Flute," Celebi reminded her. "I suggest you should call me to purify really strong Pokémon like Entei, for example." Celebi looked at Entei. The Volcano Pokémon looked at it and nodded in gratitude. "Legendary Pokémon are really hard to purify by normal means. My power can make the process really easier."

"I'll have that in mind," Wes said.

Celebi began to glow together with Relic Stone as it flew on top of it. Once it reached the top, it looked back to the whole group. "So then, it's time for to go. Wes, Rui, people I barely even saw, it's up to you to save Orre before the Shadow Pokémon conquer it and the whole world."

Red gulped. "(I'm very young and Celebi wants me to save the whole world?)"

"(That's how it always works,)" Pikachu told him. "(Trust me.)"

The Time Travel Pokémon looked once more at Rui and laughed a bit. "I'll be wandering through time, so call me when you want to talk again and purify a Shadow Pokémon."

Rui began to wave her right hand at Celebi. "You don't worry, Celebi."

The Time Travel Pokémon flipped in the air before the light in it shone bright enough to cover itself. "Well, time for me to go. Good luck to you all, you hear me? Good luck!" it said enthusiastically before, in a flash, Celebi disappeared, making the relic stop glowing, the scenery around turning on with the light from the sun.

After staring at the relic, Rui sighed pleased. "…I'm glad I was able to know the reason behind my power…"

Chris hummed happily. "(I'm glad I discovered something really interesting.)"

"(I'm glad I wasn't spoiled about my future of being a professional singer,)" Jigglypuff thought happily.

Red looked down at Ivysaur. The Seed Pokémon was…bowing several times. "(What are you doing?)"

"(I met Celebi, I'm not worthy enough. I met Celebi, I'm not worthy enough…)" Ivysaur prayed, making Red roll his eyes.

Wes looked at Entei and decided to return it to its Poké Ball. "Well, now you know your power's origin."

Rui nodded. "And now we can resume with our mission…" she said before she looked at the Smashers, "with them, of course."

Wes stared at Mewtwo and Red for a moment. The shady trainer narrowed his eyes at them before walking to the passage. Wes also took a glance of Lucario. "Okay, we need to head to Pyrite Town."

"What?" Rui asked. "Why do we have to go there?"

"I received another email from Duking," Wes said. "It said that they captured some of Miror. B's members. He told us to go to Pyrite and interrogate them." He looked at the Smashers. "Do you know about Pyrite Town? It's a town full of thieves. I'd watch out if I were you."

"Why's that?" Red asked.

"Most of the people you meet there are bandits. They'll steal something from you when you less expect it," Wes warned them. "Call all your Pokémon back; we're going to Pyrite Town. You better be prepared for the people in there…"

Pyrite Town
Entrance

Pokémon Colosseum - Pyrite Town

The group, after taking a long trip to the south near the canyons, arriving at sunset, reached the town of bandits, thugs, and thieves. Red and Chris didn't like the town's appearance already…

"Is this the town?" Red asked.

"Yeah," Wes said. "Be careful now."

The 2 Smasher trainers glanced around. Almost half of the people they saw were giving them sharp and odd looks. The residents of the town knew very well that Red and Chris were 2 new visitors. This put them in a dangerous situation.

"They like new visitors, just warning you," Wes told them as they walked into the town.

The World Traveler gulped. "…I don't know you, Red, but I'm calling my bodyguard here," Chris said as he called Lucario out. The Aura Pokémon looked at Chris. "I need you to protect me from the thieves in here. Would you mind if you can do it?"

Lucario looked at the people and nodded, giving them a death glare to see if they would stop looking at them. However, this only made them grow interested in the group even more than before.

"Duking told me that Miror. B.'s members were arrested at the police station. It should be close to here," Wes told them as they walked through the dirty, small streets of the small town. "It's right over there."

At that moment, the World Traveler accidentally bumped into a shady guy; a Rider trainer. "Oh, sorry there," he responded before walking away.

"…GRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Lucario suddenly grunted and went after the same guy.

The group stopped walking as Chris gasped. "L-Lucario, what are you doing? Come back here! It was just an acciden-"

"UAH!"

After the scream, fists flew to the Rider trainer…

Seeing the rather violent scene, Chris ran towards Lucario in time to stop him from killing the Rider. "L-Lucario, stop!" he ordered, to the point where Lucario had the trainer's neck in his right hand, growling down at him. "S-sorry fo-"

"O-okay, okay!" the Rider interrupted as he tossed Chris a familiar wallet. "I-I won't steal from him again, just let me live, please!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario pulled the Rider's face close to his, showing a wild look.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" the Rider screamed loudly before Lucario let go of him. Wes watched amused as the Rider clumsily ran away from the furious Aura Pokémon.

"…" Chris looked at the wallet. "Oh, he bumped into me to steal my wallet from my pocket…" He looked at Lucario and smiled a bit. "Thank you so much, Lucario."

His Pokémon replied by nodding, letting out a small growl that made Chris rub his head a bit.

Wes chuckled a bit at this. "I just love to see thieves getting what they deserve."

Rui and Red looked at him. "Weren't you one, though?" Red asked.

"That's why I'm glad I can repent for my actions," Wes said. "Okay, let's go to the station."

A while later…

After interrogating the members, 1 of them being asleep, Wes was able to find something that fell off from the thug. The shady trainer found a key to an elevator located somewhere in the city.

"Was it good for you to steal that key from her?" Rui asked as the group continued their way deeper into the town, people giving them their looks.

"They're thugs, and they had crucial info about Cipher," Wes explained. "They won't miss a key."

Red and Chris were looking around, feeling uncomfortable with the thieves looking at them. There wasn't day where you would see 4 people and a rare Pokémon walking through Pyrite Town. It was obvious that the people of Pyrite were aware of the new visitors.

The group eventually crossed the Duel Square, where people would battle each other for the fun of it. This was the only place of the whole town where there were some honest people. Wes happened to know everyone in there since he fought them all to get their Shadow Pokémon.

The only weird thing that puzzled Wes was the fact that the trainers didn't even ask him for their Shadow Pokémon. This was probably due to Wes halting Miror B.'s moves in the town since he was considered the ruler until Wes defeated him, liberating the town form his control.

That didn't mean the residents would stop being thieves, though.

"C-can we move on?" Red muttered. "The kid with the roller blades is scaring me…"

Once they crossed the Duel Square, Wes looked at the building where it was once one of Cipher's hideouts. The shady trainer recalled seeing something in the first floor that looked like an elevator. "Rui, remember that place?"

"Why, yes," Rui said. "We stormed inside like 2 days ago. How could I forget?"

"If you didn't forget, did you remember seeing something like an elevator?"

"…Hmm…oh right," Rui said. "There was the girl in front of it. She seemed to be guarding it, right?"

"Well, true," Wes said. "I checked it but it needed a key. Do you think this is the key?"

"It may be as well that," Rui said as she went to the entrance's door, which was an automatic one as it slid down to open the way inside. "Let's go check it out."

Chris looked around. "…Hold on! I lost my DS!"

The growls from the Aura Pokémon came from behind them with some yells coming from a kid.

Wes chuckled at this as the World Traveler went after Lucario. "Priceless…" he muttered pleased.

Pyrite Building

Once the group (after Lucario almost killed the kid who stole Chris's DS) entered the building, they found a lot of broken barrels, water leaking out from tubes on the ceiling, poorly maintained floor tiles, and a counter that had a PC and a Pokémon Restoration Machine (a machine that could either be found in Pokémon Centers or around in some places) behind.

"Eww, this place stinks…" Chris said as he pinched his nose. "It's too damp…"

"Tolerate the odor and you'll be fine," Wes said as he looked to the right. "If I remember, the elevator should be turning around left over the other side of the counter."

The group proceeded to walk all the way to the other side before turning to the left, finding a girl in front of what looked to be an old elevator. The girl was a Chaser trainer that wore a headband that had 2 long trail cloths that ran all the way down her back.

"Halt!" she yelled. "You can't pass through here!"

Wes rolled his eyes. "I already defeated you once. I don't care about you, anyway."

The Chaser trainer made a shocked look once the group merely ignored her, used the key to the elevator, walked inside the elevator, turned around to see her one last time before the elevator began to move down.

"W-wait just there!" the Chaser yelled. "You can't ju-"

"Yes we can, now shut up," Wes said, making the whole group chuckle before the Chaser trainer began to hit the bars of the elevator in anger.

The Under
Town

Pokémon Colosseum – The Under

It there was some kind of leader board about the most dangerous places in Orre, The Under would have ranked first with Pyrite Town being second.

The Under was an underground city where sewer pipers ran along the walls (at least some) and people actually lived. Wes himself didn't know much about the city, but he heard rumors about a town that resided just below the cliffs of Pyrite Town that were located underneath the bridge that led to the coliseum of Pyrite Town. The rumor proved to be true, much for his surprise.

The underground city was hidden in darkness, the only means of illumination being the poles and dazzling extravagant signs' lights that adorned the few buildings. From time to time, something would fall from above where the cliffs were. The town itself was a little bit big, being in front of another chasm (below the cliffs) that had the coliseum of The Under across it. Not only those were the highlights of the town but also there were also many TVs that were used as broadcasting system.

"I never thought there would be an underground town in here," Rui said as she folded her arms and looked around with everyone.

"Aw, god, it stinks even worse in here…" Chris said. "How can people live in this place?"

"They get used to it, I guess," Wes said as he looked at the right to look at the city. "Now, what should we do here?"

"Look around until something comes up?" Red suggested.

"Interrogate people?" Rui asked.

"Wait for something to happen?" Chris suggested.

"Try out our 3 suggestions at the same time?" Red, Rui, and Chris asked in unison.

Wes looked at them annoyed. "Well…"

At that moment, a nearby TV on top of a bronze wall turned on by itself with some tune playing. The 5 characters saw as the rest of the TVs across the town turned on in the same channel, making everyone look at them instantly.

"What is happening?" Red asked.

Once they looked up to the TV, the image of a woman appeared. She was dressed with several layers of pink silk on her shoulders, long white skirt, and her back as well. She had brown hair with some braids hanging around her head. On her back, there was some kind of levitating crescent moon-shaped object that floated by itself. The woman looked cheerfully.

"Heeeeeeeellooooooo, everyone! I'm your Venus!" she greeted. "Welcome to yet another wonderful time for The Under Time, your hostess truly, Lady Venus in person!"

Many cheers came from the town itself, making the group look back a bit before focusing in the TV.

Red leaned towards Rui. "Something is telling me that she is surely some kind of boss to this place…"

"I guess," Rui whispered.

"Hmm-hm! I can hear your cheers pretty well from here, my lovely citizens!" Venus said. "Okay, it's time for some breaking news! Recently, I heard from a little birdie that we got ourselves some intruders right now."

The group gasped once Venus informed the whole town about the intruders. She surely meant them.

"That's so bad, you know?" Venus asked worried. "Do we really want intruders to mix with us and steal my valuable information? Do you want that?"

Many negative responses came from the town, making a big echo.

"I know I was right, after all, I'm your Venus," she said with a wink. "Anyway, I want to announce that whoever captures the intruders will receive a special gift from me. Be on the lookout so you can have the chance to meet me and be broadcast in The Under Time!" she said excited. "That's all I have to say for today. Please stay tuned for more The Under Time and me as well. Bye bye!" she said cheerfully before the signal ended.

"…She has a lot of vanity and a big ego…" Chris muttered.

Wes grunted and made a right fist. "Dammit, they know we're here…"

"But how did she know we came here?" Rui asked. "I mean, we just barely walked out from the elevator!"

"Maybe…" Red wondered for a bit. "…Can we assume that the elevator hasn't been used for a long time? Look at it," he said as they all looked at the elevator. "Isn't it pretty big to transport anyone here? Someone could have seen us from somewhere and well…he or she reported this to that Venus woman?"

"Or maybe someone reported our actions at Mt. Battle?" Red asked.

Wes thought for a moment. "…It makes a little bit of sense, but it should be that," he said. "Duking and Silva would have alerted us from people coming from the building."

Chris looked worried. "What do we now?"

Wes looked back at the town and glared at it. "…We'll have to go in and wish for us to blend in."

"That's asking for suicide right there…" Red said worried.

"No, I'm confident that this will work," Wes said before he began to walk down the platform they stepped on through some stairs of steel. "Trust me, we'll mix in well."

The residents of The Under quickly focused on the group, but somehow, they looked away to look around for the intruders.

"…What do you know, it's working," Red said as a male Hunter trainer shrugged his shoulders after looking at them from an alley. "Why's that?"

Rui chuckled. "Oh, I know why. They think we blend in here because of how we look. Wes looks too shady enough (Wes: Thanks, that really made me feel better…), and I think they think I'm some kind of bad girl with the way I'm dressed."

"How about us?" Chris asked.

Rui looked at him. "Well…that strange doll hanging on your neck looks devilish. I guess they think you're a shady guy who uses freaky puppets to scam people or something…"

The World Traveler stared at her with an odd look.

"And Red because he…is with us so they think you're going to get beat up by us," Rui said with a chuckle. "Sorry, Red, that was the closest reason I could find…"

Red rolled his eyes. "As long as you don't really beat me up…"

Chris crossed his arms. "And I guess Lucario blends in well because he looks tough."

"Guuuooooooorgh," Lucario growled happily.

Chris chuckled and looked at him. "What? It's true and we both know it."

The town wasn't that big as they went deeper inside. Just a few buildings had dazzling signs and items displayed behind windows. At that moment, Rui decided to yawn loudly.

"You know, we did arrive here at sunset…" Rui said. "…Why don't we look for a place to rest for the night?"

"Can we even tell if it's sunset?" Chris asked as he looked at the big chasm. "Light barely comes down from there…"

Wes looked at a clock. "It's 7 PM now. We haven't stopped going from place to place." He twisted his neck a bit. "It wouldn't hurt to rest for the day."

Red yawned. "I want to sleep now myself…"

"Let's see if there's a place here that looks like an inn," Wes offered.

The World Traveler and the Pallet Town looked around a little bit scared. Wes noticed they were embracing themselves a bit.

"What is it? It's not cold in here?"

"I-I'm sorry to ask, but do you think there…" Red trailed off. "…Are there any…well…pedophiles in here?"

"…I bet there are."

Chris quickly put Lucario's right arm on his shoulders. "I-I have protection right here…"

"Guuuuooooorrggh…" Lucario growled please before he began to glare at his surroundings to the people that dared look at Chris.

The Under Hotel

Luckily, they were able to find a hotel in the dark town. It looked a bit suspicious, and the rooms were small. The hotel itself had 2 floors, but the first floor was the hotel itself, the second floor being a small bar for people to hang out. It was much better to rent rooms in there than sleeping in the alleys.

"$1000 Poké Dollars for each one of you," the old man behind the steel counter said.

Red looked at him annoyed. "T-that's s-"

"Okay," Wes said simply as he gave the old man the mentioned amount of money, surprising Red a bit.

"How did you get a lot of money?" Red asked as Wes gave them the keys to their rooms. "That was a lot, right?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "I got this money from defeating trainers and peons," he explained. "I thought you had a lot by this time, don't you?"

Red looked away. "…No…"

"Figures," Wes muttered before calling out Umbreon and Espeon. The 2 Pokémon looked around before looking up at their trainer. "We're in The Under, an underground town below Pyrite Town full of thieves.. I don't like the looks of this place, so I'm going to have to ask you 2 to stay on guard from anyone suspicious, you got that?"

The 2 Pokémon obeyed with a nod.

The shady trainer looked at Rui. "I'll let Espeon stay with you so he stays on guard from anyone."

Rui blushed a bit. "O-oh, thanks…"

"As for you 2," Wes said as he looked at Red and Chris. "You should call some of your Pokémon to stay on guard as well."

Chris looked at Lucario. "…It wouldn't hurt to call Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff out…" he said before he called the 3 out, looking around curiously.

Red nodded and did the same, but not calling Mewtwo out. Squirtle and Ivysaur looked around as well before their trainer knelt down. "I'll explain to you where we are, okay?"

Wes cracked his fingers a bit before heading to his room, close to the stairs that went up to the bar as Umbreon followed him. "Well, I'm going to make myself feel right at home here. Let's all take a rest before continuing tomorrow."

As he left them behind, Rui decided to talk with Red and Chris. "You guys, have you thought something to make Wes friendlier yet?"

Red shook his head. "Nothing…"

"It's really hard to come up with a plan…" Chris complained a bit. "Wes is way too complicated to understand…"

Rui bit her lower lip a bit. "Man, this isn't working…"

Seeing that the 3 humans were in a fit, Espeon motioned at Pikachu to come with him. Pikachu decided to call the others with him to hear what Espeon wanted to say. "(Meet Umbreon and I outside later tonight,)" he told them. "(We have all the time to talk more about Wes's past.)"

"(Where?)" Pikachu asked.

"(We'll call you all, just wait,)" Espeon said.

Sensing that the Pokémon were talking to each other telepathically, Lucario decided to walk to them. He looked down at the smaller group. "(What are you all doing?)"

Espeon looked up at him. "(Oh, I guess we haven't spoken to you about this yet.)" Espeon stared at Lucario. "(Pleased to meet a rare Pokémon like yourself. My name is Espeon.)"

"(That's…something really obvious…)" Lucario commented.

"(I don't like nicknames if that's what you mean,)" Espeon said. "(Pikachu, explain to him everything we've been talking about.)"

Pikachu looked at Lucario. "(We've been talking about Wes's past to understand him better.)"

Lucario rubbed his chin. "(I see…)"

Espeon looked bored. "(Wow, it took you 2 seconds to explain Lucario everything?)"

Pikachu looked back at him. "(Hey, I wanted to get to the point here.)"

Espeon frowned before looking up at Lucario. "(Still, I'm afraid he's not going to come with us tonight.)"

"(Why is that?)" Lucario asked a bit irritated.

"(You're like 6 feet tall, and most of us reach 2 feet and a half or less,)" Espeon pointed out. "(It'd be easier for us to sneak out. You should stay behind.)"

"(I want to know more about Wes.)"

Espeon looked at Chris. "(You rather leave your trainer unprotected in an underground town?)"

"(Aren't you doing the same thing?)" Lucario asked.

"(Unfortunately, you'll have to stay back and guard them all by yourself. I already took a glance at your power, and it should be enough to fight anything or anyone here.)"

"(…)" Lucario sighed. "(Fine, I'll stay behind.)"

"(Besides, you rather keep Chris safe, right?)" Squirtle asked.

"(…Yes,)" Lucario said.

"(It's settled, then,)" Espeon said. "(Wait for us until everyone is asleep. We're going to end everything tonight, you got that?)"

That night…

It was hard to tell that it was night, but the clock of the hotel helped to point out that it was 11 PM. Around this time, most of the residents of The Under were already sleeping, the lights of the signs and the poles being the main sources of light that illuminated the whole town.

Back at the hotel, the 4 humans were already sleeping. The beds were soft enough for them to fall asleep quickly. Umbreon was taking care of Wes, Espeon was in Rui's room, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Pichu were with the sleeping Red, and Chris slept peacefully while Lucario sat down on the floor close to Chris.

Pikachu was also in the room as he was curled up on the bed. Suddenly, his ears perked up, Lucario opened his eyes, and they both looked at Espeon standing in front of the room's door.

"(Now, let's go,)" Espeon said. "(The others are waiting. There's hardly anyone outside as well.)"

Pikachu grumbled a bit before standing up. "(Okay, okay, I'm going…)" He looked at Lucario with tired eyes. "(You stay here and make sure no one barges in here…)"

Lucario rolled his eyes as Pikachu leaped close to Espeon before both ran away silently, the Aura Pokémon yawning a bit before falling asleep while sitting.

Town

Around 7 Pokémon came out from the hotel's front door. They all looked around for any people. For their luck, the coast was clear, and Umbreon turned to them.

"(Let's look around for a safe place to talk about this,)" Umbreon said. "(Preferably a place where's deserted.)"

Espeon looked to the right. "(Hmm, what about that alley?)"

The other 7 looked to the right. Umbreon nodded at the place. "(I hate the place, but it's all we have for now.)"

"(Shall we, then?)" Jigglypuff asked.

The group nodded to each other before they all ran to a very dark alley. Luckily, a sign illuminated it enough to find some boxes, broken tables and chairs lying around the floor. The Pokémon walked slowly into the alley before they all spread around to sit down in the cleanest place they could find.

"(Okay, everyone's here,)" Umbreon said as he saw Pikachu and Pichu sitting together in a chair, Ivysaur and Squirtle sitting inside a big box, and Jigglypuff sitting on top of the box they were sitting. Espeon himself was sitting besides Umbreon, on top a broken table. "(Good, now we have all the time to explain more about Wes.)"

"(I'll hear from here, too.)"

The 7 Pokémon gasped once they heard Lucario's voice coming from the hotel.

"(Gosh, you have a lot of power to use telepathy, don't you?)" Espeon asked impressed.

"(I'm not a Legendary Lucario for nothing,)" Lucario said. "(Besides possessing brute force and a strong defense, my aura abilities far surpass other Lucario's auras very easily.)"

"(…Legendary Lucario?)" Espeon asked. "(So are you some kind of Legendary Pokémon?)"

Pikachu hit the cold floor with his tail. "(Hey, let's not get sidetracked here, will you?)"

"(Oh, my bad,)" Espeon apologized. "(We're here to talk about Wes, after all.)"

Umbreon nodded. "(He's more important to talk about. I'm sure some of you haven't heard much of Wes's past, right?)"

Pichu, Jigglypuff, Ivysaur, and Squirtle shook their heads in unison.

"(Just as I thought,)" Umbreon said. "(Well, I'll have to resume everything for you t-)"

"(Just give me a moment to call Mewtwo out,)" Squirtle said as he took out a Poké Ball that he placed on the floor.

"(…You what?)" Pichu asked. "(Y-you brought Mewtwo here?)"

Squirtle looked at the shocked looks of his team. "(Hey, he needs to breathe air once in a while. Why not let him know about what we're doing?)"

Umbreon and Espeon looked at each other before looking at Squirtle. "(…The more minds, the better, I say…)" Espeon said.

"(Besides, Psychic attacks don't work on me,)" Umbreon said. "(Call him out.)"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon nodded before he clicked the button of the sphere, instantly calling Mewtwo out as a bright light rose up. The light vanished, and Mewtwo was there, staring down at them.

"(Where are we?)" Mewtwo asked as he looked around. "(This place is making me sense those dark powers from those Pokémon…)"

His group decided to explain everything to him before Umbreon and Espeon explained him about Wes. The Psychic Pokémon had his arms crossed to understand the situation better before they were all eventually in the same track.

"(I see…)" Mewtwo said.

"(First off, I'm honored to meet such a Pokémon like you,)" Espeon said. "(We'll be glad to be one of your acquaintances, Mewtwo.)"

Mewtwo gave him a glare before frowning. "(Fine, it'll make me feel better, I guess. Besides, I don't want to be inside that cursed sphere any longer.)"

Squirtle grinned at Ivysaur. "(Ha, I freed him and you didn't.)"

"(Knock that off already,)" Umbreon said. "(We have a lot to talk about now. You better stay quiet and listen to what we need to continue. Mewtwo, will you try to help as well? If you go out, somebody could spot you, and we'll be in a real trouble.)"

Mewtwo grunted a bit as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "(I'll stay here for the time being. It's not like I can attack back,)" he said sarcastically.

"(Then I'll ignore your sarcasm and believe you can't attack,)" Espeon joked, making Mewtwo glare at him from the corner of his eyes. "(Moving, let's continue.)"

Umbreon nodded as he coughed a bit. "(From where we left off, Wes was recruited to join Team Snagem...)"

Flashback

Team Snagem's Hideout
Canyon

"(The smell of the place… Yuck, I still remember its scent…)" Umbreon narrated.

"(After Wes was taken to the hideout, he was quickly met by all those bald guys,)" Espeon said. "(They were all bald for some reason. I think it was a rule to look the same. That aside, let's continue…)"

A frightened Wes with 2 scared Eevees shook together as they stood close to each other. A proud Gonzap grinned at the sight of the hideout hidden behind cliffs and canyons.

From Wes eyes, he could see a metallic building that stuck out from a canyon. There were some windows across the 3 different floors of the building. Wes could also see some people staring down at him from the third floor, which made his legs shake a bit in fear.

But from Gonzap's eyes, he could see his home.

"Alright, we're here," Gonzap said as he patted Wes's back slowly. "Quite a ways away from Pyrite Town, isn't?"

"Y-yeah…" Wes muttered as the Eevees stood close to his legs.

"We rode the long way here for about 1 hour or so," Gonzap pointed out. "Good thing that nobody was chasing us in our way here, right?"

"I-I guess?" Wes asked, looking up at the tall man.

Gonzap grinned down at Wes. "You ready to go in and meet my boys?"

"You have children?" Wes asked.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Gonzap laughed at this clueless answer. "Not, that's a saying. Those boys inside are other members I personally recruited…or they just wanted to join," he explained. "You could be a pretty fine boy to call my son, though."

Wes looked at him surprise. There was a small hint of excitement. "D-do you want to be my adoptive dad, then?"

"Hmm…" Gonzap rubbed his chin. "…I dunno… You need to prove yourself worthy to be a son to me…"

Wes hopped up in his spot, the Eevees getting excited a bit. "If you become my dad, it'd be so cool to have a strong looking person like you as my dad!" Wes said. "L-look at yourself, you look pretty strong!"

Gonzap looked at him amused. "Hmm, you wanna be my adoptive son? Are you trying to flatter me?"

"…Maybe?" Wes asked. "I…just want to be the son of someone…"

"…Tell you what," Gonzap began as he tilted his head to the side. "If you wanna be my son, you have to prove yourself worthy to be a son to me."

Wes thought for a moment. "What do I have to do?"

"Listen to whatever I need you to do and everything will be fine," Gonzap said. "If you work hard enough, someday, I'm going to be proud to call you my son."

Wes stared at Gonzap for a bit. Gonzap could tell that the kid from the alleys tried to suppress his excitement for having the opportunity to become his son. The Team Snagem leader saw Wes's small lips twitching, trying to prevent themselves from making a big smile.

The motion was stronger, though…

Wes smiled wide. "O-okay! I-I'm gonna do everything I've got for you to be my dad!"

"Hahahahahahahahaha! That's the spirit, boy," Gonzap said as he messed Wes's hair more. "Anyway, let's get inside your new home. If they don't like you, I'll scare them so they fear you as well." He moved his right hand to the sides. "I need to make you a real man, kid. You gotta look strong and intimidating at all times so anyone gets scared."

"(Oh, let me guess, he got his attitude from the Gonzap guy?)" Squirtle asked.

Umbreon grunted. "(No, he didn't get it from Gonzap…)"

"I gotta look strong and intimidating…" Wes muttered to himself before chuckling. "Heheheh, that could work… It'd make me look cool, right?"

"Well, we need to give you some good clothes, boy," Gonzap said. "But enough about that, let's go in so you meet my boys."

"Your children?"

"Have I ever told you that you're funny?" Gonzap asked with a chuckle as the 4 walked inside towards the hideout, walking up to the automatic door that split itself in 2 to the right and left. "Go in."

Entrance

Wes's excited look slowly turned into a blank look once he and the Eevees entered. When they got inside, all they found were cracked walls, iron barrels that were hit by something, some pipes leaking with water a bit, hallways that looked long, automatic doors of steel, and several scrapped floor tiles that revealed pipes underneath. The place smelled a bit damp, making Wes get a bad impression.

"Who is it?" a voice asked from one of the hallways. A bald member of the team walked from it and gasped when he saw Gonzap. "M-Master Gonzap, sir!"

Gonzap grunted. "Move out, we have another member to join our team. You, meet Wes."

The member looked at the kid. "A-a kid?"

"What about him?" Gonzap asked with a glare. "Do you dare question me?"

"N-not at all, sir…" the grunt said worried. "I-it's just that it's so weird of you to allow kids to join the team…"

"Look, I saw potential in Wes's eyes, and I convinced him to come here and live with us," Gonzap explained. "He might not look like it, but he's a pretty good thief himself."

Wes looked worried at the member, giving him a worried smile with the Eevees.

"Heck, even I saw him stealing food at a fast speed I could barely notice!" Gonzap said, trying to cheer up the kid. "So I told myself to take him in with us. He lived in a dirty alley with his Eevees."

"But…" the grunt trailed off as he looked unsure about the decision to let Wes in.

Gonzap showed his teeth at him with a glare. "Are you questioning this even more or what?!"

Wes saw as the grunt gasped and backed away from the muscular man. "N-no, I didn't mean to say that, sir!"

"Well, I hope you didn't," Gonzap said with a grunt. "From today on, the kid's gonna be second-in-command in this place."

The kid from the alleys and his Pokémon gasped at this mention. Wes looked up at Gonzap, who looked down at him with a grin and a wink before glaring at the scared grunt.

"You got a problem with that or what?" Gonzap asked.

"No…" the grunt muttered, feeling a little bit jealous of Wes.

"You better…" Gonzap muttered. "C'mon, Wes, let's go hit my office."

"Your office?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, nobody will bother us there," Gonzap said. "And as for you," he began as he pointed at the grunt with his finger. "Tell the others about the kid's arrival. They better obey to what I said about him or else somebody's getting a punishment today!"

The grunt gulped a bit and made a salute. "R-right away, Master Gonzap, sir!" he said before running away upstairs.

"(Gonzap was doing a good job at instigating fear in the hideout,)" Espeon remarked. "(He made sure nobody would bully, hurt, or make fun of Wes at all. The members of the team really respected Gonzap a lot. Whatever he said, it went.)"

Umbreon frowned. "(Yeah, right…)"

"(Don't mind Umbreon, he just didn't like Gonzap that much.)"

"(More like murder him.)"

Espeon rolled his eyes. "(Whatever, let me continue.)"

Gonzap's Office

Gonzap leaded Wes and the Eevees to the second floor where his office was. Once arriving there, Wes found the office's appearance being just a little bit more organized. There was a long table over a red mattress that also had a long orange couch on the other side. An orange desk with some papers and coffee mugs was in front of a wide window that overlooked the outside terrain of the hideout. A long portrait was on the other side of the office, but it was empty, not having any painting at all.

"Like it?" Gonzap asked at the curious Wes.

"I guess…" Wes commented with a chuckle. "Definitely much better than the alley…"

"Hey, I only look for the best," Gonzap said. "You, being the most important one I have found during my entire life."

Wes looked at the grinning Gonzap before blushing a bit. "T-thanks, sir…"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Gonzap laughed loudly. "Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down on the couch, or lay down on it. You surely haven't rested in something soft before, right?"

"No." Wes looked at the couch and smiled a bit.

"Go ahead, I'll even let you play on it with your Eevees," Gonzap said. "I need to think about something over my desk. Try to rest a little bit."

"(Wes and us eventually went after the couch,)" Espeon narrated. "(It was so nice to feel something soft for once. No cold floor, but a warm couch where we lied down to feel the softness of it…I was so happy when I saw Wes chuckling to himself.)"

"(That was the only good memory I have about the hideout,)" Umbreon said.

"(So what happened next?)" Pichu asked.

"(After we rested for a bit, Gonzap decided to speak to us…)"

Wes and the Eevees, after resting on the couch, were looking at Gonzap right across the other side of the table. The kid sat down while the Eevees lied down at his sides.

"Okay, let's get down to business," Gonzap said. "I already told everyone that they're not allowed to threaten you in any way. If they do, tell me so they get a good punishment and not mess with you or your Eevees."

Wes nodded, joined hands between his knees. "Right."

"Now, you have all the freedom to wander around the hideout. You can even meet the members in person," Gonzap explained. "I have 3 members who are in charge of some, but you're allowed to order them anything because I put you second-in-command. Some of them are going to feel jealous, but ignore that."

Wes nodded before looking worried.

"What is it? Why are you making that face?"

Wes looked away. "…Do you really think I have potential, Gonzap?"

Gonzap tilted his head a bit. "Why are you asking that?" he asked before he walked around the table to sit besides Wes, putting a big arm around his shoulders as the Eevees moved to the right side. "Wes, I have seen you a lot of times to make you come here."

"Yeah, but…I'm still unsure about all this…" Wes muttered before looking at him. "I mean, I'm going to be a thief my whole life?"

"That's hard to say," Gonzap admitted as he looked away. "To be honest, this is something you have to decide for yourself, Wes."

"I need to?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, it's not like I'm forcing you," Gonzap said. "The people would think I kidnap kids, then. I don't want to have that kind of problems following me around, you know?"

Wes thought for a moment. "…But if I stay here…" He looked at his worried Eevees. "…They're going to have a place to live, right?"

"Of course," Gonzap said. "You get that benefit, too."

"Hmm…"

"You have a potential in you," Gonzap said. "That potential can be used to make you a very well-known thief among thieves."

"But it's…wrong…"

Gonzap nodded. "True, but you do have that skill nobody else has."

"(Did he REALLY say those encouraging things?)" Umbreon asked.

"(I remember much more than you do, so shut up,)" said Espeon annoyed.

Wes sighed and looked down depressed. The leader of Team Snagem made a worried look as well as the Eevees. Looking away, Gonzap thought about something to convince Wes to be a member of Team Snagem.

"…If you decide to stay here, I'll consider you my son."

Wes quickly gasped and looked at Gonzap. "W-what? D-do you really mean it?"

Gonzap chuckled and looked back (and down) at the surprised Wes. "…Yeah!" he said, reconsidering. "I presume you hate to be alone in the world, right?"

Wes nodded quickly. "Y-yeah, I really hate that… I have my Eevees, but I want to have a real family for once…" He thought for a moment. "There's the idea of being a thief in the process, but the other way would mean that I'm going to have someone to call my dad…" He smiled up at Gonzap. "…I want to stay here, let my Eevees have a home…and…and…"

Gonzap raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"…I…I want you to be my dad…" Wes muttered embarrassed. "…I want to live here, train my Eevees and myself to become expert thieves, and make you proud of me…" Wes shed a tear that he wiped out. "…Can I call you dad?"

"…Heheheheh…" Gonzap closed his eyes before he looked up to the ceiling. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Wes could definitely that Gonzap was going to agree with his question. Stopping laughing, the tall man looked back at Wes and pulled him under his arm. "So what do you say?"

"Wes, you got it," Gonzap said. "From now on, you're officially my adoptive son, proud and youngest member of Team Snagem."

"A-are you sure?" Wes asked before Gonzap nodded at him. "…Y-yay!" Wes cheered as his Eevees began to say their names happily. The kid got so excited that he hugged the big leader as tightly as his arms could let him.

"Yep, that's the spirit I was talking about, alright," Gonzap said as he began to laugh together with Wes and the Eevees, their laughs echoing through the second floor of the hideout completely.

"(We never saw Wes get so happy before,)" Espeon narrated. "(We were happy that he was happy. We basically shared the same feelings with one another.)"

"(…I don't see how he turned out like this, though…)" Jigglypuff commented.

Umbreon shook his head. "(If I recall, the following years were the years that changed Wes slowly…at least I remember a bit of it…)"

"(I recall more,)" Espeon admitted. "(Gonzap wasn't the one who changed Wes, but the people of the hideout were the ones who changed him...)"

Some years passed in the hideout, around the time where Wes was 12...

It had been a long time after Wes first came to the hideout. The kid had grown used to the place of thieves as Gonzap's second-in-command. Every member respected Wes a lot, and that included his Eevees.

However, there was something Wes wasn't allowed to do...

"What do you mean I need to wait a little bit longer to participate in missions alone?" asked Wes as he stood on the other side of Gonzap's desk.

The leader nodded to Wes. "I'm afraid you need a little more training before I send you out to do missions by yourself, Wes."

Wes rolled his eyes before looking away. "Seriously, I'm getting a little bit sick of doing the sorting out of the hideout," he admitted, looking down at his Eevees.

"(Back then, we were babies, but when years passed, we finally grew up a little,)" Umbreon explained.

"(We were cubs before Wes reached 12,)" Espeon said. "(However...)"

Wes stared at his Eevees' cheerful faces before turning to Gonzap. "How do you think I'm going to train my Eevees? The members in here are reckless in training their own Pokémon. In fact, I've seen punishing quite badly."

Gonzap. "Those idiots never learn, you know that well, Wes."

"But still..." Wes made a fist. "I want to train my Eevees so they can evolve someday..."

"Have you studied how battles work?"

"Yes, I did," Wes said. "And I found out a lot about an Eevee's evolutionary forms. There are 5 known, but I've heard there are more out there..." Wes looked back at his Eevees. "It's hard to find Water Stones, Thunderstones, and Fire Stones in this region, so I figured out I could make them evolve into an Espeon and Umbreon."

Gonzap grinned. "Yeah, they look tough, alright."

"That's what I'm saying," Wes said as he opened his arms a bit at Gonzap. "I want them to become strong enough to allow me to go solo."

Gonzap sighed. "Even so, you need to wait a little bit longer and participate on missions together with the others... You're the leader of a small group of them, remember?"

"Yeah, but they make me sick a bit," Wes admitted.

"I do think they're a little bit weird," Gonzap said. "Hell, they do nasty things when I'm not looking. They get punished for that, though."

"..." Wes closed his eyes and sighed with a frown. "Fine, I'll wait a little more... You have to keep your word, though."

Gonzap smiled at him. "You don't worry, Wes. You'll see soon enough what I have for you."

Wes looked at him. "What does that even mean?"

"You'll see, my son, you'll see..."

"(If we had found out sooner...)" Umbreon trailed off. "(Things wouldn't have turned out so badly...)"

"(What do you mean by that?)" Pichu asked.

"(Well, thing is...)" Espeon trailed off.

As Wes turned around, something in his mind triggered by itself after he remembered something. "...By the way," Wes began before turning around. "I've seen some people coming in here yesterday..."

Gonzap stared blankly at him. "Oh, you mean the guys in ridiculous blue and purple suits with helmets?"

"Yeah, those," Wes said. "What were they doing here? I mean, you let them come in here? Isn't that going to risk the hideout's whereabouts?"

The leader of Team Snagem shook his head before standing up, dragging Wes's sight to look up at him. "They're some benefactors that are helping us."

"Benefactors in what?"

Gonzap chuckled. "They provide us with some technology we have exclusively for us. They've been coming here for quite a long time now, even before you came here, Wes."

Wes crossed his arms. "Should I know more about them?"

Gonzap chuckled again. "Nah, not yet."

"Not yet? You're being a little bit vague...dad..."

"(I SO wanted to bite Wes's left leg when he said dad,)" Umbreon said annoyed, Espeon ignoring him.

Gonzap walked around the table before patting Wes's right shoulder. "You'll see soon enough, boy. There's something I want you to do."

"...What?" Wes raised an eyebrow. "I'm someone who can do something special? Because the only things I do here are petty crimes likes stealing big supplies of food or furniture. By the way, some of them broke the new Kanto Table we recently stole from that truck the other day."

Gonzap cursed loudly in his mind. He really liked the table.

"(...Was it necessary to say that he liked a table from Kanto?)" Jigglypuff asked.

Espeon chuckled a bit. "(I knew he liked it very much. He went as far as to yell the whole people in there after talking to Wes.)"

Gonzap's grin didn't fade. "You don't worry, boy. For now, you have to find out a way to train your Eevees so they become strong Pokémon. Can you do that, Wes?"

Wes thought for a moment before grinning at Gonzap. "Of course I can do that. There are other ways to train Pokémon rather than pitting them against the others here."

"Yep, you certainly can find another way," Gonzap said. "I have to leave for now. I want to get you an "advanced" birthday present when you hit 13."

Wes blinked at him. "A birthday present? Wow, what are you gonna give me for a present? The recent parties were...a disaster, you know."

Gonzap sighed depressed. "Remind me never to bring any beer in here, please..."

Wes rolled his eyes. "That's something that someone would expect with those guys you have here..."

"Yeah," Gonzap said before remembering something important he had to do. "...If you'll excuse me, I need to give an important order to the guys..."

Wes obeyed as he sat down on the couch with his Eevees. He began to rub their heads slowly as Gonzap calmly went downstairs.

After that...

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU BREAK MY KANTO TABLE?! ANSWER ME!!!"

Wes and the Eevees got a little bit startled, looking around at the echoing voice from the leader of Team Snagem. People began to scream as bones breaking apart were heard, along with louder screams that made the Eevees hide underneath a cushion. The young member just remained there, looking at the floor as chaos ensued in the first floor.

After that, explosions were heard...

"...Hyper Beam from Crawdaunt..." Wes muttered as explosions shook the building. The trainer sighed as even more explosions came afterward. "...It's incredible that he can keep a very calm attitude around me, though..."

"(We're thankful that we weren't subjects of Gonzap's rage,)" Espeon said. "(We would've died, then...)"

"(You better get to the point of this talk,)" Mewtwo said. "(Something came up from somewhere in here, and it doesn't look good.)"

"(What is that?)" Ivysaur asked.

"(I have yet to know, but give me more time to concentrate.)"

Espeon nodded. "(Right, we'll move up to Wes's 13th birthday...)"

Canyon

"...No...way..."

"Yep, this vehicle was specifically made for you to use only. It'll make you look like a real admin of Team Snagem. What do you have to say for your present?"

"...3 words: Best. Gift. Ever."

A grin of proudness formed in Gonzap.

Wes's eyes were shaking in excitement as he and the Eevees saw before them a machine monster. The young member looked at the long bike with the rider's seat and the passenger's seat along with the long motor.

"A beaut, isn't it?" Gonzap asked. "Yep, the boys did a pretty good job at making this. I'm telling you, Wes, hovering technology is hard to find these days. This special motorbike can hover along the ground while going at a speed of 150/mph."

"...Frickin' sweet," Wes responded, his eyes' sight glued on the bike.

Gonzap chuckled as he walked to the other side and touched the passenger's seat. "Even I went as far as to tell them to make this seat for either your Eevees, a guy you want to take along, or maybe your first love."

"..First love?!" Wes asked shocked before sticking out his tongue. "Nah, I won't fall in love with a girl, ever..."

"Hahahahahahaha! We'll see about that!" Gonzap taunted Wes, making the young member sulk a bit at this. "You can turn out quite pretty for one. What's so bad about it?"

Wes looked at him from the corner of his topaz eyes. "Will you please drop the girl talk now?"

Gonzap walked to Wes and patted his back, making Wes grin a bit. "Y'know, I'm not stoppin' you. Go get 'em, tiger."

Wes pushed Gonzap's big hand away and chuckled. "Like I said, I won't fall in love."

"Can I add yet in your statement?" Gonzap asked, looking down at the Eevees with a wink. The 2 Evolution Pokémon looked happy at him, which made him wink a bit at them. "Your Eevees want the best for you."

"NO," Wes said with a small laugh.

"(That's it, skip the good times with Gonzap!)" demanded Umbreon. "(I'm going to get sick, or maybe get a disease!)"

"(Have I told you that you have the weirdest friend?)" Mewtwo asked.

"(You get used to him,)" Espeon said as Umbreon muttered a curse.

After the 2 played with each other (to the point they began to push shoulders away with punches, Gonzap actually pushing Wes down by accident sometimes), Wes looked back at the long motorbike.

"So, can I ride on it yet?" Wes asked.

"Hmm..." Gonzap crossed his arms to think.

"C'mon, you just gave me a bike," Wes said. "It's be shame if you just showed it to me and prevent me from using it."

"...I'm not too sure..." Gonzap admitted, making Wes look annoyed at him. "You're still too young to drive around that by yourself, Wes. Maybe I should drive it first so you get the ropes."

Wes thought for a moment. "...I wouldn't want to die the first try..." he muttered before looking at Gonzap. "Fine, you ride it and give a tutorial for that matter."

"You got that," Gonzap said with a grin. "Take your Eevees with you. We're gonna hit the road around the canyon in this baby."

"Alright," Wes said, trying to look cool.

Gonzap and the Eevees shared glances. "What, you trying to look tough?"

Wes grinned at him and crossed his arms. "You wanted me to become tough and intimating, right? Well, I'm trying my best here."

"(Objection!)" Umbreon interrupted. "(There's a contradiction in your statement, Espeon. I thought we-)"

"(He didn't EXACTLY get his attitude from Gonzap,)" Espeon interrupted. "(Now, be quiet for 10 minutes and let me continue. If you remember something good, tell me then. If you rant, I'll use Return on you.)"

"(Pfft, I have a lot of Defense, anyway...)" Umbreon muttered.

The trainer of Team Snagem and his Eevees rode the beast machine with Gonzap. The leader of Team Snagem revved up the motor in front of him before it began to accelerate, turning around the canyon that they were behind to hide the hideout. Wes and the Eevees became very fascinated as the motorbike began to pick up speed overtime. Gonzap had to put on some goggles in his eyes to prevent sand from getting in them. From the corner of his eyes, he looked to his left where Wes and the Eevees had their mouths opened in awe.

"Close your mouths before you get sand in!" Gonzap yelled.

"What?" Wes asked. "Pfppt, bluhlhf, pfpfpft!" Sand got in his mouth. The Eevees took this accident as an example before shutting their mouths.

"Priceless," muttered Gonzap as he accelerated.

"(Wes had grown very well,)" Espeon said. "(Even if we did petty crimes, he still enjoyed to do something. Having a home also helped, too.)"

"(Espeon, could we please move on to the important stuff?)" Umbreon asked annoyed.

"(Look, I'm trying to give them all the info I can think of,)" Espeon said. "(Besides, I'm about to reach the following years where Wes changed.)"

"(And I'm afraid that'll have to wait another time,)" Mewtwo interrupted.

The Under
Town

End of flashback

All the Pokémon in the alley looked back at the Psychic Pokémon. "(Why's that?)" Umbreon asked.

Mewtwo looked back at the small streets of the town and narrowed his eyes. "(There's a familiar presence coming from the coliseum. Actually, I can detect a lot of them coming this way... Wait...)" Mewtwo closed his eyes. "(...Charizard...)"

Squirtle and Ivysaur quickly stood up. "(What? Is that guy somewhere around here?)" Ivysaur asked.

The rest of the the group quickly stood up, except for Espeon and Umbreon who looked confused at the sudden reaction of the whole team. "(Care to...explain to us why you're looking so interested in a Charizard?)"

Pichu and Jigglypuff looked at each other. "(If we tell you, promise you're not going to tell anyone else?)" Pichu asked.

"(We have a pretty big secret, you know,)" Jigglypuff said.

Umbreon rolled his eyes as some of them looked at the street. "(What could be more shocking than Wes losing a battle?)"

5 minutes of explanation later...

Both Espeon and Umbreon looked at each other after the group explained everything to them. "(...You're saying all of you, including the trainers, are here to find some kind of temple from some guys that can travel through universes that they're trying to conquer?)" Umbreon asked.

"(...I'm sorry to say this, but it's hard to believe,)" Espeon said.

Pikachu pointed at Mewtwo.

"(...He helps a bit, I guess,)" Espeon admitted. "(It'd be really strange for Mewtwo to be wandering all the way here. Also, the fact that you can talk to your trainers through your mouths makes it more believable.)"

"(I guess you can stop talking through Lucario's telepathy now,)" Umbreon said. "(You guys surely are more used to talk with your mouths. We can talk to you through our minds, though.)"

"Good, now you know," Mewtwo said before looking back at the street. "Charizard is here, and he got company as well..."

"What can you see?" Pikachu asked.

Mewtwo glowed a bit more. "...Charizard...some people in ridiculous suits...and a woman with some kind of crescent moon floating on her back..."

Everyone looked at each other confused.

"(He surely means the Venus woman that we met through the town's TVs,)" Lucario called from the room. "(She alarmed the whole town about us. She said we were some intruders who got here without permission.)"

"That makes things even harder for us," Squirtle commented.

"Not really," Mewtwo said before stopping glowing. "They're not heading this way at all."

Umbreon looked at him. "(Then where are they heading to?)"

"Around the town," Mewtwo said, "more specifically around the elevator. They're going south from there."

Ivysaur looked serious. "Whatever Charizard is planning to do here, it must be bad."

"Also, if he's going with a human girl, wouldn't she try to capture him because he can talk like us?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I checked, but it seemed that the woman and him were walking close to each other," Mewtwo confirmed. "Frankly speaking, something happened between the 2."

"Should we spy on them or tell everyone?" Pichu asked worried. "I rather tell Red and Chris before going by ourselves..."

The group thought for a moment.

"...Let's face the dude right now," Squirtle said. "But we're calling Red and Chris here. Also..." He looked at Umbreon and Espeon. "Can you guys give us a hand?"

Espeon looked at Umbreon. "(Well, Mewtwo mentioned something about some guys wearing ridiculous costumes. How did they look like?)"

"They were all wearing blue and purple suits," Mewtwo said.

"(...Cipher,)" Umbreon and Espeon said bored.

Umbreon looked at them. "(If Cipher's involved, then we may as well go with you, too.)"

"Cool," Ivysaur said. "Now, we need to find a way to convince Wes and Rui from coming. I don't think they're going to believe us at all."

Umbreon showed his right paw at them. "(Why bother? We have a plan to make them come.)"

"You do?" Pikachu asked.

"(Of course we do,)" Espeon said. "(You just need to tell this to Red and Chris. After you tell this to them, then...)"

The Under Hotel

Some sounds like someone trying to scramble around a room to get some stuff started to come from Red and Chris's rooms. The 2 trainers suddenly ran out in hurry with the group of Pokémon. The loud sounds reached over to Wes and Rui's rooms.

"Mommy, don't let me get near that Tauros because it's gonna bite my short skirt again, the pervert..." Rui muttered as she moved to the right.

"ESPEON!" Espeon yelled loudly, being the one inside her room.

"IT'S BITING IT, HELP!" The teen girl quickly gasped and got up, looking around confused before staring at Espeon. "W-what? W-why did you just yell, Espeon?!"

Espeon grunted a bit before he ran off from her room in a hurry.

"H-hey, wait up! Where are you going?!" Rui asked as she looked around for her boots.

"Umbreon, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Wes was heard yelling from his room before its door opened as Umbreon ran away from the hotel with Espeon. "Umbreon, Espeon, what is wrong with you 2?!" Wes asked angered before he came to Rui's room, looking a little bit tired. "Rui, did Espeon just run away randomly?"

Rui looked worried. "I-I dunno, he just started to get upset..."

Wes grunted annoyed and looked back at the exit. "Dammit, we have to follow them. We can't let them go out in this kind of town."

Rui blushed a bit before covering her face with the bed sheet. "A-and put some pants on. I can see your boxers!"

Wes cursed mentally in his mind before he ran away to his room to get himself dressed, Rui doing the same.

Town

Red, Chris, and the rest of the Pokémon were seen running south of the elevator. In a corner, Mewtwo was leaned to the wall with crossed arms. The Psychic Pokémon looked at the group and decided to follow them.

"You were late," Mewtwo said.

"Hey, I was telling everything to Red," Squirtle said. "I had to tell him everything twice before he understood."

"And Chris was dreaming," Lucario said. "I don't like to interrupt his dreams."

"You didn't want to interrupt his dreams because you heard him muttering that he was surrounded by Riolus," Pikachu said on Chris's right shoulder.

Chris blushed. "H-hey, those are my private dreams. Stop talking about them now!" he yelled embarrassed.

Red looked down at Espeon and Umbreon. "Really, thanks for telling us about Wes. The guy freaks me out, but surely something happened in his past that made him like this, right?"

Jigglypuff (on Chris's arms) stared at Espeon before looking at Red. "He says that it's nothing. They want Wes to become more sociable with people as soon as possible."

"There they are!"

The group, without stopping running south on the steel floor, looked back to see an angry Wes and a worried Rui trying to catch up with them.

"Dammit, are you taking Espeon and Umbreon away from me or what?" Wes asked angrily.

"N-no!" Red yelled. "It's not like that! They happened to see more of Cipher members heading down this way!"

"What?" Rui asked. "So they were just perturbed by Cipher?"

The Smashers slowed down a bit to let Wes and Rui catch up. Once Wes ran between Espeon and Umbreon, he looked at Red. "You saw them as well, then?"

"Actually, Lucario did," Red said, trying to cover up the lie. "He alarmed Chris that there were those Cipher guys going down this way. Chris alerted the rest of us and we had to leave in a hurry."

"...I guess that's why Espeon and Umbreon ran out as well," Wes said. "They were worried about you all."

It was time to ask something important for Wes.

"...Were you worried for us, though?" Red asked.

Wes shook his head. "You have pretty powerful Pokémon with you. Why should I worry, anyway?"

"(You little...)" Red thought upset at the response.

"S-stop!" Rui yelled, halting everyone from running west.

The group had stopped in the south wall of the city. There was only the cold steel floor and the wall. The hotel that they used to rest was 10 feet down below the platform, but they decided to take the long way in order to make Wes and Rui tag along as well.

There was something weird in the small area they were. Some sort of tunnel was silently waiting on the right side of the wall.

"A tunnel?" Rui asked.

"That's weird..." Wes muttered as everyone stared at the dark tunnel. "It's easy to find this tunnel even from a long distance." He turned around. "You can see the tunnel from the elevator."

"But I blame the town," Chris said. "It's pretty dark on this side. The signs' lights barely reach this place as well."

Wes looked back at the tunnel. "That would be the most logical answer, then..." He crossed his arms. "What's so great about this tunnel, anyway?"

Pikachu and Pichu noticed some footprints on the tunnel's ground. The 2 Electric Pokémon jumped off from Chris's shoulders and pointed at the marks.

"Hey, there are footprints in there," Rui said.

"...Pipipipi!" Pichu got startled as he pointed at some big footprints that looked like feet with claws.

"Those other footmarks look pretty different, though..." Rui muttered. "...A Shadow Pokémon acting as a guard, maybe?"

"Somebody could have just entered inside some other time, though," Wes said as he thought. "...But the fact that you said the peons went through this path...it's be easy to tell that they went through here."

Lucario began to grunt and show his fangs at the tunnel that made Chris look worried at him. Red looked at Mewtwo's narrow glare.

Wes noticed the 2 Pokémon's silent but aware behavior. Something about them told him that whatever was on the other side of the tunnel wasn't good.

"...Let's go in," Wes said as he began to walk carefully into the tunnel, making some of them gasp a bit. "Let's go, but let's be careful as well. If there are Cipher members on the other side, then we should be quiet." He stopped walking and turned to them. "Call all your Pokémon back so we don't make too much noise."

Red and Chris told their Pokémon to return to their Poké Ball as Wes did the same for Espeon and Umbreon. The other 3 human characters remained behind, feeling a little bit uneasy about going in.

"Let's go," Wes muttered to them. "Be careful with your steps as well, you got that?"

Once Wes turned around to walk into the tunnel with Rui following suit, Red and Chris looked at each other. "Charizard must be on other side of this tunnel..." Chris whispered.

Red nodded and adjusted his cap. "If I can, I'm going to catch him now."

"But why would he be here, anyway?" Chris asked. "Shouldn't he just attack us right away instead of going through this tunnel?"

"Do you remember this tunnel being here through your...game memory?"

Chris shrugged. "N-no, I don't. In fact, this tunnel wasn't even here before..." He thought for a moment. "...We haven't found the temple yet, have we?"

"No..."

The World Traveler looked back to the tunnel. "...What if..."

The Pallet Town trainer looked serious to the tunnel. "...You don't mean the temple is in there, right?"

"Hey, you 2, hurry up or we're going to leave you behind," Wes's voice called from the tunnel.

The 2 Smashers looked at each other before nodding and going in, wishing to find the temple.

They were unaware that they would soon face another battle against the next Shadow Nightmare thanks to the Subspace subordinate...

Would the Shadow Nightmare go after Red or Chris? It was a mystery for them to know that there was going to be another one, unfortunately...

"...I heard something coming from over there..." Rui muttered as she looked around. "...This tunnel isn't that long..."

The 4 humans found a big boulder that obstructed their way to the other side of the tunnel. Wes could tell that the people that walked through here walked around the boulder. There was another way around the boulder to the big area behind it. For his luck, there was a small visible space where the boulder was against the wall. Closing his left eye, Wes looked through the space to see anything.

The 3 humans stopped walking behind him. "Do you see anything?" Red asked.

"...What the..." Wes muttered.

"...Wes?"

"...I see...Venus...the Cipher members...a Charizard..." Wes trailed off. "...You were right after all..."

"But I don't think that's so surprising," Rui whispered.

"That's not all..." Wes muttered before he looked at them. "I...I found some kind of...ruins...or...some kind of big temple... They were looking at it as well."

Rui looked confused at this, but Red and Chris looked at each other surprised at Wes's finding. "(We found the temple, then!)" Chris thought.

Red knew Chris thought something about the temple. The trainer followed it with his own words in mind.

What were those words?

"(We found the temple, then!)"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Second Liar: ??? ...What?" Squirtle asked. "Why is the title like this?"

"I don't know," Ivysaur said bored. "To create suspense and destroy whatever the people think will most likely happen?"

"That's evil."

"No, it's promotion to enhance the suspence. They'll eventually fall down on our knees to beg for the answer."

"...You have a pretty twisted mind, did you know that?"

"Yep."

"...Scary."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

The Under
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Wes, Rui

References:

-No references were mentioned.

Out Of Curiosity:

-For the American version of Colosseum, Rui's clothes were a little bit shorter in the Japanese version (like a short skirt) before it was obviously made larger a bit.

And there you have it: Rui's past was directly connected to Celebi and the Relic Stone in some way. There were other ways to shape her past, but this was the best one from all of them (that included the radioactive Lucario… Just kidding).

Unfortunately, Wes's past is going to be fully explained at the next chapter, which will be the last chapter for the arc. Another Shadow Nightmare battle is coming.

HOWEVER, I decided to leave the victim a mystery. Most of you are probably thinking that it's going to be Red, but will he? Many chances are that I'll put Red as the victim and many other chances are telling me that it's going to anyone else but Red… Confusing? Maybe I'll go down with Red.

In the next chapter, the final part of Wes's past will be revealed, and another battle with the Subspace will begin.

Don't forget to vote in the poll in my profile so you can choose the game you want to be the next arc.

I encourage readers as always to read and review, please. ;)

…Or Gonzap will be defined as a pedophile in another different universe of this chapter.
*Chapter 153*: Second Liar: ?

Shadow Nightmares battles are forever meant to be long, right? -_-

From SlasherMask: I find Gonzap's petty thief comment funny since apparently Snagem were petty thieves before Cipher...

Cipher's japanese name is Shadow right?(and shadow pokemon are dark pokemon(and dark type is evil type... Last one is not literal it seems)) Its funny how simple word can be more intimating that complicated word... Buts that because nobody really(including me) knows what cipher means.

...What does it exactly mean? GOOGLE TIME!... First page is wikipedia page which is too much wall of text... I select "For other uses, see Cipher (disambiguation)." to get shorter ones...

Cipher can refer to:

* An algorithm for performing encryption, including:
o substitution ciphers
o permutation ciphers
* An English name for the number 0
* A word used to refer to zero, the letter "O" or any circle in the doctrine of The Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as The Five Percent nation)
* A "Freestyle rap session" in which hip-hop artists perform scripted or improvised rhyming acts
* Cipher (band), a hardcore punk band
* A note that continues to sound in a pipe organ when the organist does not intend for it to sound"

(I removed game and comic related things from list)...So its coding related?...Nah, ya can figure out why name "Cipher" was chosen... I am too confused by possibilities.

And I guess its Wes. Why? THREE question marks.

And Umbreon's hate of Gonzap is hilarious. Mainly because he is such nice guy XD(try to guess was that sarcasm or not. Just try =P)

P.S... BTW how did Hitmontop laugh at Skrub guy?(besides rule of fun) Shadow pokemon are emotiless killing machiness...

P.S.S... You can actually see Shadow Pokemon attacking trainer in the game. I got "O_o;" When my tyranitar did that.(at least if my memory is correct) Though unless playing randomly(like I was)wouldn't happen normally...

From me: You really like to check out words that are used on teams and such, right?

I know you liked Umbreon. I can tell that very well.

My guess is that Hitmontop mocked him a bit.

It did that? Maybe you had Tyranitar in Hyper Mode?

Thanks. :D

From PianistChris: liked the development of Wes' character!

Still unsure of why he's...Like he is though, is it only because of the other people?

I was hoping that Mewtwo would murder Red...Lol... But after thinking about it, the story wouldn't be very good if Red was either dead or with crutches so I'm happy with the story you gave :D

Chris :P

From me: Hopefully this chapter will answer all your doubts.

From princesspoke3612: Yet another great chapter. I'm anxious to see who the next shadow nightmare victum is. And yes, I am a girl.

From me: I hope you like the second Shadow Nightmare battle that this chapter has.

From FF and STH: That was a great funny chapter with cool pokemon battle and good backgrounds for Wes and Rui

Also It got to be Red for the Shadow Nightmare battle because of his problem of not being a good pokemon trainer

From me: Will your guess prove to be right? Maybe yes or not. Thanks. :D

From Moonlite Dragon: The battles and memory that took place in this chapter were awesome! This is just another great chapter.

From me: I'm glad to read to liked the previous chapter. Please, enjoy this as well.

From ngrey651: Aw, Mewtwo forgave Red! (Somewhat) Good for him. Good FOR him.

You know what's funny? Wes was originally suspicious of Red and Chris and the others and he keeps telling Rui and them to be on the lookout for shady things when HE'S the shadiest person around! I mean, the outfit, his past as a former thief, his bad attitude...Pot to Kettle: You're BLACK.

From me: Really? I find that funny finding ironic. Well, let's see if you keep up your excitement with this chapter. Do enjoy it. :)

From Kimoto: srry for the stupid question before. WIth the rules you said of the portals before how will sonic get to that world?

From me: You have more specific about the world you're mentioning, also, remember that you're reviewing the chapter. This review was more like a question. Thanks, anyway. :)

From shadow-dog18: another amazing chapter, what I liked about this one was the part were chris had something taking from him then Lucario would bet them up was funny, also the part where red finally let mewtwo out of the master ball,and he didn't get kill after anyways wonderful chapter all together

From me: If Red was killed, people would hate me…seriously. Hope the next part of Wes's past is entertaining to you. ;)

From RayGallade and Luigicario: This is Luigicario. Hmm, the second liar is ?, its a Pokemon arc, so the second liar must be Missingo (seeing as ?s are one of its names)!

Great chapter. The backstories were good, and explained a lot of questions. Mewtwo seemed to become just plain emotionles, as he usually is. The battle at the begining was realy good, and where does that water come from for surf? Can't wait for the next chapter.

May your days be filled with frequent updates. (Lu's line)
RayGallade out.

From me: The Surf attack is one of the many mysteries in this series, don't you think?

From DianaGohan: This chapter was moving at a very good clip... but that kind of slowed down when everyone settled in for the night and we got a really long Wes flashback that didn't even get to the point of what it was suppose to answer before being reminded of what the overall plot was after a full two chapters without it. Really some of that flashback could of been easily truncated to give the chapter and overall smoother flow but still good job. The other Wes flashbacks were good and I really liked the Rui one explaining her friendship and powers from Celebi. The battles were also okay (though nothing to write home about. Then again we're building up to the main conflict next time) and there were some well injected bits of humor (like most of Mewtwo's appearences and Lucario beating up people who rob from Chris). So yeah solid chapter even if not as strong as the last one.

GRADE: B+

From me: Unfortunately, there were some flashbacks that needed to be inserted in order to explain how Wes and Gonzap grew fond of each other. Although I did think there were some unnecessary moments. Still, I'm glad the chapter altogether. Thanks :D

And so, we finally reach the last chapter of this arc. I can't believe I worked a lot during this whole week just for this chapter. Well, your reviews shall say if you enjoyed this VERY LONG chapter.

Reminder: I REALLY need a vote for a tiebreaker between FFVII and Star Ocean 3 in the poll. Please, PLEASE vote for either arc so I can get my mind working for an appropriate setting and plot for either game

I encourage readers to review as always. ;)

Disclaimer: Happy late-Halloween.

Venus is the reason why there wasn't a Commander Venus in Team Galactic.

If I were to choose a VA for Wes, I'd choose Ratatosk Emil's VA for Wes's voice.

Chapter 153: Second Liar: ???

The Under

The Under was known by a few people as the darker side of Pyrite Town. If Pyrite Town already had its thieves, the ones in The Under would be nastier than they could be. The underground town was ruled mostly by Cipher, who began to use the Coliseum and the town through the same way Miror. B. used Pyrite Town. However, unlike Pyrite Town, The Under had its own admin in command.

That admin was Cipher Admin Venus or often called Lady Venus by her admirers.

One thing that the town didn't have before was the fact that a tunnel appeared out of nowhere in the south wall of the whole underground. This particular tunnel leaded to some ruins; ruins that Red and Chris recognized by its name. The temple looked a little bit luxurious with grey walls and sophisticated carvings that adorned the temple's outer walls.

Apotos Temple - Entrance

The group spied from the other side of the boulder the Cipher members and Charizard.

"...Is the Charizard talking?" Rui asked, hearing some words coming from Charizard.

"Unbelievable," whispered Wes as he narrowed his eyes. "I can't understand why the Charizard is talking at all. Maybe Cipher is trying out new technology..."

Red and Chris knew better than Wes and Rui. The 2 decided to stay silent as they all looked serious at the group of villains.

"I swear," Venus began as she looked at the temple with the members and Charizard. "This temple wasn't here before."

Charizard looked at her. "Well, you know I was called here to keep those guys from coming to this weird temple. We had a deal, remember?"

Venus looked annoyed at him. "If I discovered this temple before, you would've been already captured when you came to me. After that, I'd have used you in some commercials for The Under Time for more propaganda."

Charizard grunted. "Why would I be some kind of commercial material? You're not making me try that toothpaste."

Venus grunted back at him. "Oh, please! The toothpaste itself is really good, you know! Don't you dare insult me with your words, fat dragon!"

The Flame Pokémon glared at her. "Call me fat again and I'll slice that thin body of yours."

"Ha, try it," Venus said annoyed. "I have my people here for you."

Behind Charizard, a squad of Primids came out, adjusting their hats a bit. "And I have my own squad here. They're weak, but they're formidable in groups."

The Cipher Peons kept their sight on the Primids as Venus sulked a bit. "Anyway, do you want me to leave? The air in here is just disgusting and my dress is getting dirty with the dust."

"No can do," Charizard said. "I want you stupid squad to examine this place and see if they can find a way in to the temple. See over there?" The Flame Pokémon pointed at the entrance. "There are 3 doors in the temple: a door with a sun mark, another door with a moon mark, and then we have the middle door that leads to the deepest sanctum."

"What, do you expect me to break through that?" Venus asked.

"I went inside yesterday and I got a headache after I rammed my head against the doors," Charizard recalled annoyed. "So I'm calling you here and see what your guys can do."

The Cipher Admin looked at him with an annoyed look before she snapped her fingers. The peons nodded at this and began to charge inside the temple. "Go in and examine the temple! If there's anything luxurious, bring it back to me!"

"What is that for?"

Venus chuckled. "If there are any artifacts in there, I want at least to have the most gorgeous ones. I'm not helping you without a prize."

Charizard frowned at this as the group looked at each other. "What is the deal with that Charizard?" Rui asked. "And what are those shadow creatures? Are they Pokémon?"

"I...don't think so," Chris said.

Wes rubbed his chin a bit. "The woman in there is a Cipher Admin, alright. She would be in charge of this town. She didn't alert the people in here by us for nothing."

"(Actually, there would be a guy who would be the false intruder...)" Chris thought. "(What was his name again?)"

"You people are disgusting!"

The sudden voice from the entrance of the temple startled the group. They all looked back to Charizard and Venus. There was another person close to Charizard on the floor that had his hands tied behind his back. The person was a young man with grey hair, wore a light blue jacket, and wore black pants and black shoes. The person was familiar to both Wes and Rui as he tried to stand up.

"What the hell do you think you're going to do, anyway?" the guy asked to Venus.

Venus laughed a bit. "What do you think? I am going to do the usual as Miror. B. did in Pyrite Town."

"Distribute Shadow Pokémon to the people in here so they later go to Pyrite Town and revive what Wes and Rui stopped?"

"Just like that," Venus said with a chuckle. "Miror. B. failed to accomplish his job so I'm going to be the one who will have to finish it up with success. Our leader will be so pleased after hearing that the operations in Pyrite will be soon recovered."

"I knew you were stupid!" the guy yelled as he stood up before Charizard pushed him on the ground. "Ugh!"

"Shut up before I roast you, got that?" Charizard threatened as some fire gathered in his jaws.

"It's Silva!" Wes and Rui whispered before they all looked at each other.

"How did he get here?" Rui whispered.

"How should I know? As far as I know, he would have used the elevator, but we had the key," Wes said. "Unless he got another key from the other people at the police station, then he would have found out about The Under."

"Yeah, I know how headstrong he is..." Rui muttered.

"You guys know him?" Red asked.

Wes nodded. "He got in trouble with Cipher before. We had to go rescue him from getting hurt in the same building we entered to come here."

Rui sighed depressed. "Silva's always like this. When something bothers him, he won't let it go that easily. Also, he's Duking's detective partner, another reason why he got here."

Silva managed to push himself up to stand on his knees, a glare directed at Venus. "Well, I don't see any of you doing that, though!"

Venus rolled her eyes. "Look, you just happened to be in the way when we came here. When I said there were intruders, I didn't think of you at all. Those other intruders are 4 meddling kids who stopped Dakim's progress from getting the Time Flute and Mt. Battle."

"Ha, so they wiped the floor with your administrators, huh?" Silva asked with a grin. "I knew they would kick you out from the mountain eventually!"

"Ugh, you're useless and annoying, you knew that?" Venus asked. "You'll have to stay quiet or else I'll throw you down the chasm in front of the coliseum."

Silva ignored her as he looked back at Charizard. "What the hell are you to be talking human language, anyway?"

Charizard pushed Silva back with his right foot before chuckling. "I'm a very special guy who wants to stop some idiots from interfering in my plans. Now, what were their names again? Oh yeah... Red and...Christopher."

"It's simply Chris!" Chris yelled before gasping.

The 3 people in front of the temple looked around confused. "Did you just hear someone?" Venus asked. "Hey, who's there?"

"I definitely hear someone yelling nearby..." Charizard said as he pushed some smoke from his nostrils. "That voice was really familiar..."

"Voice? Oh please, your minds surely are playing tricks to you because I didn't hear anything myself," Silva said, face on the floor.

"You shut up before I use Flamethrower on you," Charizard threatened.

Wes looked angrily at Red and Chris. "What the hell was that for? You know very well we're hiding away from them."

"S-sorry..." Chris muttered.

"Also..." Wes stared at them longer. "...That Charizard knows about you?"

Red and Chris gasped mentally. "W-well, truth is...we've been chasing that Charizard around the outskirts of Orre until it escaped here..."

The World Traveler looked at Red.

"He's some kind of special Pokémon, you know..." Red tried his best to come up with an excuse. "A-and did you see how those creatures appeared behind him? Well, that's another reason why we want to capture him."

"..." Wes narrowed his eyes at him.

Was Wes not stupid, or he just didn't like Red? Possibly both thoughts.

"...And he happened to know about us as well..." Red added.

The shady trainer kept staring at him for a while longer before he looked back to the group. "Just to let you know something," he muttered.

"W-what?" Chris asked scared.

"I do not believe most of the crap you've been saying," Wes admitted. "You're hiding something from me and Rui for sure. Your scared expressions tell that much."

Red gulped. "W-well, that's the whole truth..."

Good thing they said the truth about chasing Charizard, but bad thing it was just a fragment of the whole truth.

Chris looked worried at Red. The Pallet Town trainer looked down in shame before they returned to spy on the Pokémon, the admin, and Silva.

"So," Venus began as she looked at Charizard. "What are you going to do once the people you're waiting for show up here?"

Charizard smirked as he held his right claw out, a dark portal forming beneath on the ground before it made a cage; a cage with a familiar monster that made Chris gasp. "I'm using this," Charizard said as he patted the cage several times, the Shadow Nightmare inside standing motionless, staring forward emotionless.

"Eww, yuck, what's that hideous monster in the cage?" Venus asked disgusted at the Shadow Nightmare.

"A helpful creature I'm planning to use of that idiot kid Red," Charizard said. "Once this monster latches on him, it'll create a shadow monster of the kid. Once he gets an emotional breakdown, I'll use him as my pounding toy."

"(What?!)" Red thought in shock as he stared at the monster. "(T-that's the same thing that attacked Lucas before, right?)"

"What are they talking about?" Wes muttered. "The Charizard seems to be somewhat smart for my tastes..." He looked back at the 2 trainers. "Are you sure you're not hiding something from me?"

"L-look, we just happened to find the Charizard we're looking for," Red said.

"...Then why didn't you tell me that before?" Wes asked with a glare. "I mean, what's there to it? We came all the way to spy on Cipher, and now you're saying that the talking Charizard is a target you've been looking for all this time without even telling us?"

The World Traveler got preoccupied at the situation. They were supposed to be gathering info from Charizard and Venus, not argue with each other. Thinking fast, he came up with something. "...Yes..." Chris said. "...We...kind of didn't want to say that before..."

"Chris..." Red trailed off worried as Wes looked at Chris.

"Why didn't you want to say it before?" Wes asked, narrowing his glare. "Are you telling me that you've been using us all this time to get to the Pokémon that you didn't want to mention to us?"

"N-no, you got it all wrong!" Red whispered. "We wanted to help you too!"

"Does that mean you also wanted to look for this useless Charizard that can speak?" Wes asked. "I don't believe any of this crap anymore..." He pointed a finger at Red and Chris. "I've been questioning your reasons behind helping us."

"W-Wes!" Rui whispered in shock.

"Shut up, Rui, this is something you don't need to hear at all."

"H-hey!"

"Now, tell me," Wes asked with a demanding glare. "Why the hell did you decide to follow us knowing that we somehow could find that Charizard? You're starting to piss me off with those stupid attitudes of yours now. I demand all the answers you have."

Red and Chris backed away a bit. "H-hey, we're supposed to be hiding and spying them..." Chris muttered.

"Who cares about them? I don't give a damn about Cipher that much because they're imbeciles who can't treat Pokémon properly."

"What?" Red asked.

"I hate Cipher because they turn innocent Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon," Wes admitted. "But let's not talk about that anymore. What I want to find out is your reasons behind helping us. You're both travelers, right? Why did you want to stick your noses with us?"

"Wes!" Rui whispered louder.

"And for that matter, why do you both have rare and missing Pokémon? Red is possibly the most reckless trainer I've ever met before in my life."

At this complaint, the Pallet Town trainer glared at him and took a step forward. "What was that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know well," Wes said with crossed arms, Chris and Rui at a loss to do something to stop the shady trainer's suspicions. "You're just lucky to have a super powerful Pokémon who didn't even obey you during the battle with Dakim. Did you really think I didn't see that? Mewtwo was acting all by itself the whole battle and you didn't order an attack."

"W-well..." Red looked down.

"Also, it makes me hard to believe that you captured it with a Master Ball," Wes said. "You surely had lucky of a bastard."

"W-who are you calling a bastard?" Red asked angrily.

"It's obvious who the bastard is here," Wes said, "the bastard not being me but you 2."

The World Traveler looked down in shame, but Red wanted to speak his mind to Wes. Red never was angered before as much as Wes made him to be.

"Look, you heartless idiot..." Red muttered with gritted teeth.

Wes narrowed his glare at him. "What the hell did you just call me?"

Rui looked back and forth between the 2 soon-to-be-rivals. "S-shouldn't we keep our voices dow-"

"A heartless idiot, that's what you are!" Red yelled as he began to walk slowly to Wes. "I'm sick of your stupid, cold, insensitive, intolerable, sickening, enraging (Chris: Red, you really need to sto-), infuriating, stinky, obnoxious, and above else, your presence!" he yelled loudly. "Do you think I'm just going to let an idiot like you insult me just like that? Well, I'm here to tell you something: I'm not going to let you insult anymore because you're all those things, you heard me, huh?!"

The World Traveler and the girl looked back at Wes with shocked look. They could tell that Wes's face wanted to explode and attack Red. His topaz eyes were widening, and his hands made tight fists.

"...Do you really want to hear my answer, idiot?" Wes asked through gritted teeth.

Red crossed his arms. "Yeah, I want to hear what you have!"

"Okay..." Wes sighed, staring blankly at him. "...Too bad you're gonna have to feel it INSTEAD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Chris and Rui gasped before Wes lunged directly at Red, pushing themselves away from behind the boulder where they began to throw fists at each other on the dirty soil, rolling towards the temple where they startled Charizard, Venus, and Silva. Red, obviously, had to retaliate by throwing his own fists at Wes as they rolled recklessly on the ground.

"THIS IS FOR BEING AN ASS TO ME!" Red yelled.

"THIS IS FOR BEING A STUPID IDIOT!" Wes yelled.

"THIS IS FOR BEING A COLD BASTARD!"

"THIS IS FOR BEING A WEAKLING!"

"THIS IS FOR BEING STUPIDLY EVIL LOOKING!"

"THIS IS FOR BEING STUPIDLY WEAK LOOKING!"

"ASS!"

"IDIOT!"

"BASTARD!"

"IMBECILE!"

"HEARTLESS!"

"ANNOYING BUG!"

"THIEF!"

"UNORIGINAL NAME GUY!"

"What the hell is going on here?!" Charizard demanded as the 2 continued to punch each other to death. "It's you!"

"Uah, it's the kid who defeated Dakim and Miror. B.!" Venus yelped.

At that moment, Rui and Chris came from the boulder, looking alarmed. "R-Red!" Chris yelled.

"Wes!" Rui yelled.

"Both of you, stop it right now!" they both yelled worried before they ran at the 2 stopped them from punching their teeth out. However, both trainers were pulling their arms and fists so fast that Rui and Chris were unable to come closer without getting hurt.

"You!" Charizard yelled as he pointed at Chris.

"The girl that can see auras!" Venus yelled as she looked at Rui.

Silva looked confused at the whole event. "W-what is happening? Why is Wes beating up that trainer?"

"Who cares about the shady trainer?" Charizard asked before smacking his right claw. "Time to bring them down once and for a-"

The Flame Pokémon stopped talking as Wes and Red pushed each other back before standing up to try to choke their throats at the same time while shaking their shoulders. "G-get away from here!" Wes yelled as he gasped for breath.

"N-no!" Red yelled as applied more pressure. "Y-you go away! I don't need you!"

Rui had her hands on her cheeks. "Oh my god, somebody stop them from hurting each other!"

"R-Red, Wes, stop!" Chris said in panic. "Y-you have to resolve your differences like civilized people for once!"

Silva tilted his head before Wes and Red began to throw fists at each other. "If you ask me, that's their way to do things in a civilized way," Silva commented.

"You shut up, I didn't ask you!" Chris yelled in panic. "Oh my god, they're starting to bleed!"

"Aww, gross, this is turning out so badly!" Rui yelled. "Really, somebody, stop them!"

"I-I know!" Chris yelled as he called Lucario, Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff out. "Jigglypuff, use Sing!"

"W-what is happening here?" Jigglypuff asked as she saw Red and Wes fighting. "W-why are they punching each other?"

Rui looked shocked at Jigglypuff. "U-uah! I-it talked just now!"

"Whoops..." Jigglypuff muttered, making Pikachu and Pichu face palm with a frown.

"Grrrrrr..." Lucario's eyes turned wild as he stared at Charizard in anger.

Charizard rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for you! I wanna crush Red and those 2 idiots with him as well!"

"Hey, like, do something, then!" Venus demanded. "I want to have a merit for defeating the shady kid myself, you know!"

At that moment, Wes was punched hard in his face, making him back away a bit before 2 Poké Balls fell off his belt. The 2 spheres instantly opened, letting Umbreon and Espeon to come out. Wes's Pokémon looked around confused before they heard their trainer yelling loudly as he charged at Red and threw a fast fist to Red.

Red was pushed back by Wes's fist, accidentally letting his belt release 3 Poké Balls that fell on the ground. The 3 Poké Balls instantly released Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Mewtwo out. The 3 confused Pokémon looked quickly at Red as he yelled and continued to fight against Wes physically.

"H-hey, Red, why are you beating Wes?" Squirtle asked suddenly. "Red, are you hearing him? Hey!"

Rui looked even more shocked. "T-the Squirtle just talked as well!"

"...Oh, crap," Squirtle muttered embarrassed.

Mewtwo sighed and frowned. "I knew this was going to eventually come to this..."

The girl of the group covered her head. "Ooh, there are too many things I wanna ask right now..." Rui muttered in confusion.

The situation in the tunnel was at a complete loss. Charizard and Venus wanted to attack, but seeing that Wes and Red were both busy fighting each other, they weren't listening to anyone. Rui tried to think of something, but Wes's look frightened her, Chris couldn't stop Red from punching Wes, Pikachu and Pichu were trying to understand the situation with Squirtle and Ivysaur, Lucario kept his wild glare on Charizard, Umbreon and Espeon yelled at Wes to stop, Mewtwo tried to think of something to stop both of them without involving him to separate them (due to the fact they would quickly return fighting each other), and Silva did nothing but stare.

Overall, if only Red and Wes stopped, there would be something different than them trying to punch their heads off.

Having enough to see somebody else beating Red than himself, Charizard stomped the ground. "HEY, KID!" Charizard yelled enraged. "STOP FIGHTING THAT GUY AND TURN TO ME!"

"Y-you're a faggot!" Red yelled as he threw a fist at Wes's face.

"You're an annoying idiot who keeps following us!" Wes yelled back as he did the same to Red.

"We just wanted to give you a hand!"

"I like to work alone!"

"You have Rui with you!"

"Oh, sorry, I meant to say WE like to work alone! That means getting the hell out of here!"

Silva managed to stand up and run at Rui's side. "R-Rui, could you untie my hands, please?"

Rui shook her head before looking at Silva. "O-oh, okay. Here, let me help..."

Venus looked angry at Charizard. "You let the boy escape, you numskull!"

"Who are you calling a numskull?" Charizard asked as he turned around at Venus. "I haven't seen you doing something, Ms. Floating Crescent Moon On My Back!" he taunted.

"Oh, how rude of you!" Venus said with a pouting face. "I thought you were supposed to attack them while they're beating each other to death!"

"How funny because I expected you to do it as well!"

"Then why are you holding back?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"Well, real gentlemen protect gorgeous women like me, just to let you know!"

"Too bad you reach creepy category."

"What did you just say to me?!" Venus yelled angrily. "I am the most beautiful, lovable girl in the whole town of this place!"

"You like this stinky town?" Charizard asked with a chuckle. "Wow, that really fits you well."

"That does it!" Venus yelled as she pointed forward at the fighting trainers. "Go fight them, now!"

The Flame Pokémon grunted annoyed before turning around. "Hey, Red, you better say your prayers because it's time for you to face your shadow version..." He thought for a moment. "Wait, I want to do the emotional breakdown here..." He looked at the creature in the cage. "And I want to do the fighting as well..."

Chris gasped and quickly looked at Lucario. "Lucario, destroy the monster in the cage before Charizard releases it!"

Charizard's eyes widened before his gut got a fast and severe fist of aura by Lucario. The Aura Pokémon had a menacing glare before he pushed Charizard away to the side. Venus yelled and backed away from Lucario before he looked down at the cage and growled at the monster. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!!!" Lucario roared as he brought down a devastating fist of aura upon the cage, destroying it into bits.

Chris and the Pokémon (except Mewtwo) sighed in relief. "Phew...you destroyed it..."

"..." Lucario closed his eyes before pulling his fist back.

"...The monster escaped," Mewtwo suddenly said.

The World Traveler and the Aura Pokémon looked shocked before looking back at the cage. There wasn't a sign of the Shadow Nightmare instead of the pieces of the broken cage scattered around. "What?" Lucario asked confused as he looked around and grunted. "Where did it go?"

The Psychic Pokémon quickly looked up on the rocky ceiling, spotting a big black spot that moved crazily at the sides. "Up there, on the ceiling."

The World Traveler knew Red wasn't going to order Squirtle or Ivysaur from attacking. Taking the initiative, Chris pointed at the monster of the ceiling. "Everyone, attack it with long range skills, now!"

"Stop!" Mewtwo suddenly yelled, stopping Pikachu, Pichu, Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Lucario from attacking. "If your attacks end up missing the monster, you're going to cause a cave in and everyone in here will suffer the consequence."

"B-but what do we do, then?" Chris asked.

Mewtwo held out his right hand to the ceiling as he suddenly glowed with psychic energy. "I'll take care of it. I'm going to bring it down for you t-"

The shadow quickly moved far off to the right.

"What the..." Mewtwo muttered before narrowing his eyes. "It knows I'm trying to grab it with Psychic... It won't get away from me."

Everyone (except the arguing trainers) looked up to see the shadow moving insanely fast over all the ceiling. Ivysaur noticed that Mewtwo's right hand quickly moved everywhere where the shadow moved. It eventually tried another different move by moving along the walls. The Psychic Pokémon narrowed his eyes even more before the shadow passed to the ground.

"Dammit, it's too fast for me to lock it on," Mewtwo muttered. "Keep yourselves away from it or else you will regret it."

The Smashers gasped and quickly dispersed along the area. Charizard, confused, shook his head to do something. However, he wanted the Shadow Nightmare to go against Red and no one else. Seeing that Red was...fighting against Wes for some reason as he thought, the Flame Pokémon pointed at the trainer. "Hey, shadow, go get Red and make sure you get him!"

The group gasped and turned around to look back at the 2 bickering trainers, still distracted.

Rui didn't care about anything else than Wes. Whatever was happening there was something she didn't want to hear more for the time being as she looked at the Shadow Nightmare sprouting out from its spot. It played with its pincers as it glanced at Red. The monster was hungry to get a victim under its possession.

"RED!!!" the Smashers (except Mewtwo who tried to restrain the Shadow Nightmare from leaping to Red, unfortunately failing as it quickly dashed to the sides) yelled loudly to get Red's attention.

"SHUT UP!" Red yelled as he blocked a fist from Wes. "This guy needs to learn that he shouldn't an a(beep)hole with me!"

"And you should learn to not meddle with our affairs any longer!" yelled Wes as he blocked a fist from Red. "You little INSOLENT!!!" he yelled loudly as he lunged at Red, making Red gasp in shock as he was pushed away.

The shriek from the Shadow Nightmare made everyone look back at it as it leaped quickly at Red. Chris ordered Lucario to use Extremespeed and get Red before the Shadow Nightmare could attack him with its shadow pincers.

A lot of confusion came after that, unfortunately...

The World Traveler noticed that Lucario already got Red. The Aura Pokémon held the furious trainer under his right arm as Red tried to get off. However, Lucario's brute force didn't even make his arm budge a bit before the trainer calmed down. "Hey, why did you do that for?" Red asked angrily as he looked at the glaring Lucario. "I was going to teach him a-"

Red stopped talking once he heard someone falling on the floor as the sounds of some pointy tips ripping something was heard echoing in the tunnel.

"What the hell?!" Charizard suddenly interrupted.

Umbreon and Espeon suddenly yelled for some reason.

Rui covered her mouth in pure shock. "N-NO!"

Chris looked back with Lucario and Red before they all gasped. "O-oh no, I forgot abou-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Pikachu, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Jigglypuff, Umbreon, and Espeon couldn't believe what happened next...

Seconds before, after Lucario grabbed Red and pulled all the way to the east of the tunnel with Chris, Wes was seen falling on the ground before looking up with a pissed look. "You bastard, come back here!"

Unfortunately, during this time, the Shadow Nightmare was about to latch itself on Red, but since Lucario pulled Red back, and the fact that Wes was going to leap at Red to hit him again, made him the accidental target of the monster.

The shady trainer suddenly felt that some pincers pierced his trail coat from his back. His eyes widened, and his pupils shrunk in pain before he screamed loudly.

"...T-the Shadow Nightmare..." Pikachu looked shocked before gulping. "...I-it just..."

"...WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!" Rui cried out as she saw a blob of darkness covering Wes as he lay down on the ground.

Everyone watched and heard the shady trainer screaming in agony from within the blob of darkness. Umbreon and Espeon quickly dashed and stopped in front of the ominous darkness, trying to come up with something to save Wes from whatever was happening to him.

"(Do something!)" Espeon said in shock to Umbreon.

"(H-how the hell should I know how to save him from that blob?)" Umbreon asked panicked. "(You're the smart guy here so think of something before we're trainerless!)"

"(I don't have all the answers for everything!)" Espeon argued.

"(Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have trust you before!)"

"(Will you just knock it off an-)"

The 2 quickly looked back at the blod where an unconscious Wes was pushed out, falling right between the 2 alarmed Pokémon gasped in relief.

"(We're not trainerless, we're not trainerless!)" Umbreon rejoiced before Espeon slapped him with his 2-tailed tail. "(Oww!)"

"(Calm down, please,)" Espeon said annoyed before touching Wes's head. "Espi, Espeon, Espeon!"

"He's alright," Squirtle said with a sigh. "Let's go and see if he's fine, though."

The entire group ran to Wes, Umbreon, and Espeon. Charizard and Venus looked away from a distance as they stared at the blob of darkness intact. The Flame Pokémon slapped hit his forehead with a claw and frowned to himself. "I wanted RED to go down, not the other guy..."

"Whatever that thing did to the meddling boy?" Venus asked.

Charizard's eyes widened before he looked back at the blob.

All the Pokémon and the 3 humans gathered around the fainted Wes. Some grunts came from his closed mouth before he slowly opened his eyes to find Umbreon in front of him. The Moonlight Pokémon's ears twitched a little bit before looking happy at him. Umbreon walked closed and licked his face a bit. "...Heheheh...stop it, Umbreon..." muttered Wes before he slowly pushed himself up. He looked at everyone surrounding him, especially a sniffing Rui who quickly hugged him tightly. "Rui...what just happened?"

"You...idiot..." Rui sniffed and muttered. "I-I was so worried about you, Wes... You were attacking Red for no good reason...and you weren't listening to anything we were saying..." She pushed herself back to look at Wes, tears strolling down her cheeks. "Don't you know you were trying to kill Red because you hate for something he..."

Wes slowly turned his face to look at Red's beaten up look. The Pallet Town trainer glared a bit before looking away, Squirtle and Ivysaur looking worried.

"..." Wes remained silent before he looked at the blob of darkness some feet away from all of them. "...What is that thing...over there?"

The entire group looked back at the blob before it began to shrink down in size. They watched as a dark figure materialized from it. The figure was too dark itself for anyone to make out a face or spot any clothes. Eventually, the shadow slowly took form...

"...!!!" Wes gasped, feeling a little bit frightened at whatever was in front of him...

The humans and Pokémon had shocked looks as a small kid was purely made of darkness. No one of them knew the kid at all, but for Wes...

Wes couldn't believe his eyes...

"..." The shadow kid was looking down on the floor before he looked up to the tall people. A sincere smile formed on his lips before chuckling. "Hello...me..." he greeted Wes."How's it been?"

Rui shook her head in pure shock. The shadow kid before them looked innocent, but his voice was really distorted and twisted. "W-who are you?" Rui asked to the shadow kid. "H-how did you came out from that monster?"

"Monster?" the shadow kid asked as he tilted his head. "I don't remember seeing any monster..." He embraced himself. "I hate monsters...but...but..." He looked up to them happily. "...I like Pokémon a lot..."

Lucario examined the kid for a bit before he began to show his fangs at him. Seeing the Aura Pokémon, the shadow kid merely chuckled, making Lucario get confused as he stopped growling down at him.

"Heheheh," the shadow kid smiled at Lucario. "You look so cool and so powerful and...so tall..." he remarked. "I wanna have a Pokémon like you someday..."

Lucario looked confused at the scared Chris. The World Traveler didn't know the kid very well, but he could tell that he was surely...

"..." Wes looked a little bit frightened at the kid before him. Umbreon and Espeon looked at each other, puzzled at the kid that chuckled at them as well.

"Hey, I know you 2," the shadow kid said. "You're my Pokémon: my Eevees. So awesome, you evolved!" The kid began to jump in happiness. "I knew you would evolve very soon!"

"(Who the hell is this kid?)" Umbreon asked. "(Something about him...makes me recall Wes for some reason...)"

Espeon examined the kid a little bit more. "(...He couldn't be... No... It'd be impossible for him to be...)"

"Why are you 2 staring at me like that?" the shadow kid asked. "You're...scaring me a bit..." The kid looked up at Wes. "You, do something! Our Pokémon are looking me weird!"

"...Our Pokémon?" Wes repeated confused. "What are you saying? They're not yours..."

"..." The shadow kid looked down. "But...that's not true... It's not true because..." He looked up at Wes and smiled. "...You're me...and I'm you..."

Wes took a step back from the shadow kid. The shady trainer didn't look shady anymore, but scared of the shadow kid that looked at him innocently happy.

"...Who the hell do you think you are?" Wes asked, his scared look turning into a pissed glare. "Why did you come out of nowhere telling me that we're the person?"

"You don't understand, then?" the shadow kid asked. "My name is Wes, and your name is Wes."

Rui, Espeon, and Umbreon gasped at the same time. Wes's right eye twitched at the nonsense that the kid told him. For him, there was no way the shadow thing was he in any way.

"I mean..." the shadow kid opened his arms at himself."Don't you see? Aren't these the same clothes you once wore when you were stealing food from the people of Pyrite Town?"

Wes gasped, but he kept glaring at the shadow kid. "How the heck do you know that much about me?"

The shadow kid chuckled heartily. "'Cuz we're the same person! Don't you get it? I'm here because your presence allowed me to do so!"

Wes swung his right arm in front of him in anger. "You're now saying foolish things!"

"Not quite," the shadow kid said before he looked down. "I remember when Gonzap took me to Team Snagem's Hideout where I became an admin for everyone..." He looked back at Wes, the same frightened look on his face appearing. "Do you remember now?"

Pichu gulped and looked up to Chris and Red. "S-shouldn't we do something before the situation turns out worse?"

Red snapped back to reality. "H-hey, he's right! We need to attack the shadow before it harms Wes!"

The shadow kid suddenly began to shake in fear. "N-no, don't do that mean thing to me! You're going to end up hurting the 2 of us!"

"...What the f(beep) are you?" Wes asked annoyed and pissed.

"I'm you..." the shadow kid said before he closed his yellow eyes. "...Man..." His voice suddenly turned into a twisted variation of Wes's voice. "...I knew people were mean to themselves..." He opened his glaring eyes. "I knew as such, after all..."

Wes became a little bit more scared after the shadow kid began to use his voice. "What are you doing by mimicking my voice?!" he asked angrily.

The shadow kid sighed. "You don't understand at all, right, dummy knucklehead?" he asked harshly. "For the last time, we're the same person. Get your head checked."

"You're supposed to be me? ...Wow, now I know I'm going insane," Wes joked.

"Such attitude isn't going to be easily forgiven," the shadow kid said. "But enough about that, I came here to punish the infidels that threaten Pokémon without a good reason."

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Geez, you're so clueless. Well, that's what I expected the first time I met you all," the shadow kid said. "Oh well, my fault for being such an ass. Wait a minute, oh right, I'm not an ass because you're all idiots who harm Pokémon without reasons. In reality, you're the bad people and not me."

"What?" Wes asked. "You're saying you're me?"

The shadow kid sighed. "Why do you keep asking me that pointless question? Look at me!" he demanded, opening his arms. "Don't you recognize these worn-out clothes, this messed up hair, and even my face?!"

"..." Wes narrowed his eyes before he looked shocked. He began to shake his head in disbelief as the shadow kid nodded.

"It's you when you were younger," Shadow Wes said. "It took you some sweet time to figure it out, huh?"

"What are you supposed to be?"

Shadow Wes frowned. "You know what? I'm going to ignore those worthless questions. Let me go kill those infidels around you."

The rest of the group looked a little bit shocked at this statement. For Wes, this was pure nonsense coming from whatever the kid in front of him was.

"Also, that's what you wanted to do," Shadow Wes said. "Isn't it true that you wanted to punish humanity for being mean to Pokémon?"

"When did I even think of that?" Wes asked with a glare, making a right fist.

"Oh, you ALWAYS think of that, alright," Shadow Wes said. "In fact, that's your mission in life after all you went through to become the person you are now."

Wes took a step back from the shadow. "T-that's not true."

"Isn't it?" Shadow Wes asked. "Oh, I happen to know the truth very much well than you, me," he said before holding out his right hand. "You hate people, but you like Pokémon, right?"

"Yeah."

"But you don't like people hurting what you like the most, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you want to punish humanity for being mean to all Pokémon, right?"

"...The whole humanity?" Wes asked. "You got it all wrong. I just think some people should be punished fo-"

"That also means the people that are behind you," Shadow Wes interrupted.

Wes's eyes widened as his group looked at him. Rui didn't know what to believe anymore and she remained silent to the whole event. "...Did I even try to punish them or what?"

"Oh, you punish people without even battling them," Shadow Wes said. "In fact, you hurt them emotionally as you always do. That nasty face we both have helps to accomplish our goals."

"Nasty face?" Pichu repeated.

Shadow Wes looked down, changing Wes's voice to his childhood one "I...I want to make the people who hurt Pokémon pay for their actions..." he muttered before looking up. "I wanna punish them...nobody is different, after all..." He pointed at the group, his voice turning harsh like Wes's voice. "That includes the whole squad of weirdoes. They're absolutely NO different than anyone else."

Red blinked in shock. "W-wait, so does that mean we deserve to be punished for something we haven't even done?"

"Tsk," the shadow kid frowned. "You have done a lot, alright. I don't see who's different and who's not because of the fact nobody is different."

"T-that's a lie and you know it!" Red yelled back as Wes tried to think of something to get rid of the shadow kid. "Why'd you think something so twisted, anyway?"

"I think that "twisted" lie because it's the truth I believe," Shadow Wes said. "You people are the same no matter what..." He made fists on the sides of his hips. "Everyone is cruel to Pokémon in many ways...it makes me the one who cares deeply of them..." He glared at them. "And you must be eliminated for mistreating Pokémon..."

Red looked at Wes worried. "...Wes...do you think everyone is cruel to Pokémon?"

The shady trainer blinked a few times before looking away. "I...I don't think so... I don't think like that."

"Don't give me that crap, please," Shadow Wes said. "It's easy for both of us to tell that you've defined yourself as some sort of Pokémon prophet."

"What?" Wes asked.

Shadow Wes frowned. "Okay, if you don't believe in me..." He began to glow darker as pure darkness flew out from his feet, completely covering the cave that made everyone in there gasp in shock. "Maybe seeing is believing..."

The whole cave turned into pitch-black darkness as the Smashers (and even Charizard and Venus) looked around in surprise. The darkness blinked with light a few times before it all vanished. When the whole darkness that covered the tunnel disappeared, they found themselves standing in another different place...

Snagem Hideout
Canyon

Most of the people didn't know where they were, but Wes didn't have an idea about why they were taken all the way to the hideout of the petty thieves. It was like they were in there for a long time as Wes thought.

"W-where are we?" Pichu asked as he jumped to Chris's left shoulder, trembling in fear.

"W-what is this place?" Rui asked as she walked around.

"...Team Snagem's Hideout..." muttered an astonished Wes as he took a few steps forward to the entrance of the hideout. "...The place where I once lived..."

"Like, this is so supernatural," Venus commented as she rubbed her chin a bit. "Is this the hideout of those poor excuses for thieves?"

Shadow Wes saw as Wes looked up to the building. Chuckling, the shadow kid walked to his side, his eyes fixated on the automatic door. "I remember when I was 14..." Shadow Wes said as the automatic doors opened. "After I reached 14, Gonzap allowed me to ask for battles against the other members of Team Snagem. However, before I even had my first battle...there was something I didn't want to do..."

Wes looked back at the entrance where 3 figures came out. The former Team Snagem member saw 3 familiar faces. The 3 members that came out were the 3 important members of the team that were a rank below him. They all looked the same, but they had some differences than made them stand out from all the members.

There was Agrev who wore black sunglasses over his eyes, Biden who had different eyes than most members, and finally there was Wakin who didn't even look that different since he looked exactly like all the members. However, Wakin was previously the second-in-command person of Gonzap until Wes came around.

"Okay, boys," Wakin began. "It's time for us to train some more."

"Why do we have to keep doing this?" Agrev asked. "You know the boss ain't gonna give you a raise in our ranks to beat Wes. Gonzap is way too fond of the kid."

Biden grunted. "If Wes didn't show up, we would have received a better treatment from Gonzap."

Wakin sighed. "Who cares, really? Gonzap will surely kill us off if we ever hit Wes. Remember that he has high hopes for the kid."

"Well, shall we begin with our training?" Agrev asked as he released his Marshtomp. "Hey you, you better give it you all in battle or else I won't give you food."

"M-Marsh..." Marshtomp shook in fear.

Biden decided to release his Smeargle. "Hope you don't slack off or else you'll know what will come to you."

"Smeargle..." Smeargle looked worried.

Wakin released his Corphish. "You better try to evolve into a Crawdaunt or else."

"Cor-Cor…" Corphish looked worried.

Wes knew exactly what was going to happen if the 3 started their training. "N-no, stop!"

Shadow Wes clapped his hands to get his attention. "Nah-ah, this isn't real but an illusion."

"What?" Red asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm simply projecting our memories from the past so he realizes the truth about this event. Whatever you try to do here won't take place. You're just going to trespass any illusion in here," Shadow Wes said before rolling his eyes. "I swear it's annoying if you try to forget what you consider worthless…" He looked back at the entrance where the Wes of 14 years and his Eevees walked out to breathe fresh air. The shadow coughed a bit before changing his voice to the young Wes. "When I came out from the hideout, I wanted to ask the guys if they could help me with my training. It's been a long time after I last trained my Eevees so I thought I'd ask them for help, but…"

The group from the present watched as Wes and the Eevees found the 3 training. A small smile formed on Wes before he decided to stop in his tracks after he saw something…abominable…

"Use Bubblebeam!" Wakin ordered Corphish to attack a boulder leaned against the canyon in front of the hideout. Corphish looked serious before opening its pincers. However, mentioned attack didn't come out and the Water type looked worried before Wakin kicked it in the back.

Red, Rui, and Chris gasped once the Corphish fell down.

"C'mon, can't you do better than that?" Wakin asked angrily at his Corphish. "I told you to use Bubblebeam, not gasp, stupid trash!"

"C-C-C-Corphish…" Corphish muttered on the ground before it stood up and shook himself, trying to forget his trainer kicking him.

Agrev gave a sharp look at his Marshtomp. "You, use Mud Shot on the same boulder."

"M-Marsh!" Marshtomp said serious before shooting a stream of mud to the boulder. The attack didn't seem to have any kind of mistakes as it successfully crashed against the boulder. "…Marshtomp!" Marshtomp said happily.

However, Agrev kicked Marshtomp hard on its back, making the Mud Fish Pokémon fall down on his face, muttering its name in pain. "What the hell have I been telling you all this time? You better look serious, stupid excuse for a Water type!"

Chris didn't like the way the Marshtomp was being treated. He glared at Agrev. "What does he think he's doing?"

"He's trying to make Marshtomp a serious Pokémon," Lucario said as he glared at Agrev as well. "He seems to dislike any kind of happiness."

"T-that's so mean…" Rui muttered in shame.

"A real sad case, isn't?" Shadow Wes asked with his young but distorted voice.

Biden looked at his Smeargle. "I hope you used Sketch on Gonzap's Machoke so you could use Seismic Toss."

Smeargle looked worried at his trainer.

"Use Karate Chop on that same boulder."

Smeargle looked at the shoulder worried before shaking his head. "Smeargle, Smear…"

"…What was that?" Biden asked as he tightened a fist. "You mean to tell me that you didn't use Sketch to learn Seismic Toss?"

"S-Smeargle…" Smeargle put its hands close to his chin as it shook in fear.

"You stupid bastard…" Biden said before he sent a downward fist on Smeargle's head. "I told you to learn that the other day! What the hell were you doing instead? Were you looking somewhere else or what?!"

"S-Smeargle! Smeargle, Smeargle!" Smeargle looked up at Biden as it shed some tears. "Smear! SMEAR!" It received a hard kick on its stomach as it fell to the side.

"Pathetic…" Biden muttered. "I guess you'll have to learn the damn attack very soon.."

Rui, Red, and Chris saw horrified as the 3 Pokémon were being hurt by their trainers. Yells, hits, punches, and yells of pain came from the scene. The Smashers looked back to the entrance where a frightened Wes and his scared Eevees were watching astonished. Thinking quickly, the young Wes decided to stop the mistreatment.

"STOP!" the young Wes yelled loudly to the point the 3 Team Snagem members looked at him. "W-what do you think you're doing to your Pokémon?!"

"If isn't Mr. Second-In-Command," Wakin said with a grunt. "Go away, you're not required to be here, Wes."

Wes looked back at the Marshtomp, Smeargle, and Corphish. The 3 weakened Pokémon looked hurt to the point they tried to keep training. "You 3, you don't have to continue!"

"Who do you think you are now?" Agrev asked, crossing his arms. "These are our Pokémon and we can do anything with them."

"No, you're wrong!" the young Wes yelled. "What you're doing to them is just inhuman!"

"What? We're just giving them what they deserve for not meeting the expectations we had for them," Biden said. "Isn't that what we want to get from them?"

"Are you insane or what?" the young Wes asked as his Eevees growled silently at the 3. "They don't deserve this kind of punishment! Why don't you encourage them instead of scaring them?"

"Fear is better than stupid encouragement," Agrev said. "They'll learn faster not to screw up. They need to become brave and strong this way, Wes."

"You're just sick..." the young Wes said with a glare. "Stop doing this to them!"

Wakin turned around to his scared Corphish and lifted his shoulders. "I'll pretend you didn't come here to interrupt us. Corphish, I wanna see a good Bubblebeam attack this time and you better do it right."

"What the hell are you doing?" Wes asked as the Corphish looked weak, panting a little bit. "Your Corphish is already tired because of what you've been doing to it!"

"Shaddup!" Wakin yelled as Agrev and Biden turned back to their horrified Pokémon. "Corphish, what are you standing there for? Use the damn Bubblebeam already!"

"C-Cor!" the Ruffian Pokémon gasped before it turned to the boulder, making a weak-looking expression as it tried to use Bubblebeam.

"Marshtomp, I didn't tell you to stop either," Agrev said. "Go now."

"M-Maaaaaaaaarsh..." Marshtomp moaned a bit before Agrev kicked it straight on the face. "MARSH!"

"I told you to go now!" Agrev yelled. "Or do you want to make me angry?"

Marshtomp sniffed sadly a few times before it turned to the boulder and resumed its painful training. Rui shook her head in disbelief, Red tightened his fists, Chris felt awfully sorry for Marshtomp, and most of the Pokémon glared at the members with total despise.

"Smeargle, try to use Sketch on Marshtomp so you learn its Mud Shot," Biden said. "Why are you looking at me with that ignorant look? Go!"

"S-S-Smeargle..." Smeargle shook in fear as it shyly turned to Marshtomp. The Painter Pokémon grabbed its paintbrush tail as it tried to concentrate on the scared Mud Fish Pokémon.

"(Dammit, why can't they stop?!)" the young Wes asked in rage as he continued to watch the training that the 3 Pokémon underwent, their trainers constantly yelling and punishing them for any small mistake.

Shadow Wes frowned. "Poor Pokémon..." He sobbed a bit. "They didn't deserve this unfair training..." He shivered a bit. "Why didn't I do anything to stop this for good?"

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the young Wes yelled as he charged forward with his Eevees. The 3 Pokémon and their trainers turned around before Wes tackled Wakin and his 2 Eevees used Tackle on Biden and Agrev.

However, the canyon along with the hideout and the past selves suddenly got covered in complete darkness excepting the Smashers, Rui, Silva, Charizard, and Venus. The people in there looked around confused before the scenery changed to the hideout's third floor.

Third Floor

The real Wes looked horrified as there were more members mistreating their Pokémon unfairly. Shadow Wes kept shaking his head in shame as they all heard cries and screams from many Pokémon. "I was in hell..." Shadow Wes said. "...True hell became more apparent when I grew up over the years…"

Wes and everyone else heard cries and screams from many different kinds of Pokémon. Many cries that came from all directions of the hideout made them all feel heavy and horrified.

Pichu shook in fear as he leaned closer to Chris's face.

Pikachu looked down in shame as he wanted to do something to stop the cries..

Squirtle and Ivysaur looked up worried at Red who also looked ashamed.

Jigglypuff looked around to find the sources of the cries.

Rui blocked her ears to stop hearing the pleas for help,

Silva got a headache for thinking too much about the most logical reason behind this event.

Lucario and Mewtwo closed their eyes feeling some guilt.

Charizard just waited for the supernatural event to end so he could attack Red.

Venus was having enough with all the screams that she blocked her ears.

And Wes's pupils shrunk as he slowly shook his head. Umbreon and Espeon remained close to him. The 2 Pokémon didn't like anything they were seeing or hearing.

Shadow Wes turned to them as he sniffed a bit. "It…it was hell for all the Pokémon…" he trailed off as he wiped some tears. "Wherever I turned, I heard cries of Pokémon being abused by the members… I did everything I could do to save them…but the members all yelled at me that they weren't my Pokémon and I shouldn't try to tell them how to train their Pokémon…"

"…" Wes gritted his teeth as he looked down.

Shadow Wes's voice turned harsh. "And then I realized that I was there for a reason," he said. "I was there to stop the stupid and worthless tyranny of the people… I grew sick of them…sick of their unfair punishment to Pokémon…I hated them all…I wanted to kill them if I could…" He looked at Wes. "Everyone is the same as Team Snagem… Humanity itself is cruel to Pokémon…"

"…" Wes looked at him with a pissed look.

"No matter how much I ran to punish the idiots from hurting their Pokémon, they continued to hurt them all without showing any signs of emotions or resentment," Shadow Wes explained. "Why the hell were they all like that? Their horrible examples made me think that no one in the world was truly friendly to Pokémon…" He trailed off a bit. "…I was the only one who cared about Pokémon and no one else deserved to be their friend…" He looked at the Smashers. "You're just like them for imprisoning Pokémon in those filthy things called Poké Balls."

"W-wait just a minute there," Red said as he took a step forward. "You're saying we're guilty for training our Pokémon?"

"Duh, it's obvious," Shadow Wes said as he pointed at Wes. "At least so he thinks…or we think."

Wes tightened a fist as he glared down at the shadow kid. "Whatever you're saying is a complete lie," he said. "I don't believe in any of your crap."

"Aren't you very persistent for not recognizing the truth?" Shadow Wes asked with a sigh. "Get in that little head of yours that we're the Savior of Pokémon."

"Savior of Pokémon?" Jigglypuff asked.

Shadow Wes's voice turned back to its childhood one. "We're the Savior of Pokémon…that's our purpose to live, after all…"

Wes looked down at the floor as the cries of the Pokémon kept echoing in the hideout. "You're starting to say very foolish things about me…"

Shadow Wes's voice turned harsh again. "Why can't you just accept the truth that you avoid a lot of times, me?" he asked angrily. "Don't you want to save Pokémon from every single bad guy in the world?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Then work as the Savior of Pokémon!" Shadow Wes yelled before he snapped his fingers. "Why don't we find out why you quit Team Snagem?"

Wes's eyes widened before looking back at the Shadow Nightmare. "W-what?"

"I can do that and project it without problems," Shadow Wes pointed out. "This interesting event changed you as well…it changed both of us…"

Umbreon looked at the aware Espeon. "(The event that changed Wes? Doesn't he mean…)"

Espeon looked down. "(…That…monster just complete a part of Wes's past that we wanted to explain to the others…and none of it was a lie but the whole truth…)"

"(So can that shadow really show his past through his own weird powers?)"

"(…I don't know…)" Espeon said. "(I can barely understand the events unfolding here. Maybe Pikachu and the others know more than we do.)"

Umbreon looked back at the group of Smashers. "(…They've been in something this odd for a long time? It's hard to believe that they face this almost all the time…)"

"(Those people are seriously fascinating and unbelievable in some ways I wish to understand more than you do,)" Espeon said. "(For now, let's see what that shadow does to show Wes's past…)"

"Y-you…" Wes grunted in fury as the scene changed after complete darkness covered the third floor. This time, the scene changed to Gonzap's office where the leader seemed to be waiting for someone to arrive at the hideout.

Gonzap's Office

Silva gasped once he looked over the desk where a glaring Gonzap was resting his legs on the table. "U-uah, it's Team Snagem's leader!" he yelped.

"Please, calm down," Pikachu told him. "This is just an illusion after all."

"D-did the Pikachu just…talk to me?" Silva asked confused before scratching his head. "W-what is wrong with this place? W-why are we seeing all these things?"

The World Traveler had the thought of kicking Silva out, but there was no way to do what he wanted as they were in a completely different scene, Venus admiring the place a little bit, ignoring the fact that the time got odd in a matter of seconds.

Espeon and Umbreon gasped mentally as they looked around. "(T-this is the same date where we both evolved…)" Umbreon recalled.

"(I evolved into this during the day while you evolved during this night,)" Espeon said. "(I still remember the event very well. We had finally evolved to what we could evolve… However, by this time, Wes already had changed like he is now…)" He frowned in shame. "(It was…too late to change him back to his…)"

Umbreon noticed that Jigglypuff walked to them. The Singer Pokémon stopped in front of them and decided to talk. "(I…happened to listen to what you were saying…)" she said, worried about the whole situation.

Espeon looked at her. "(Since we have some time left, let me be brief,)" he said. "(This date was the same day and night where we both evolved. It had been so long, but we finally managed to evolve into what we are now.)"

Umbreon decided to continue. "(Wes had to endure every single cry and scream from the Pokémon of the hideout. Espeon and I had wanted to become friends with them, but…seeing as they were all treated like trash…and the fact that the members were so mean…)"

Espeon closed his eyes. "(…We never had the chance to hear their thoughts about what they suffered all this time…)"

"(Worse yet…)" Umbreon said as he looked at the stairs. "(…Wes…he…)"

"(…His friendly attitude and happy self…they both vanished forever…)" Espeon said. "(…It was as if his usual self died and some kind of bad omen got into him… His face tells so much. Believe us; Wes had a much happier self, long before this happened. The constant abuse to the Pokémon he saw through the years surely had something to do with his cold and harsh attitude. He remained loyal to both of us but …)"

"(We'd wanted to change him…but we couldn't do anything after that…)" Umbreon said ashamed. "(Thanks to the sick Team Snagem, Wes never was the same person anymore… I hate them…I hate them all for taking away our Wes from before!)"

Everyone looked back at the stairs where some kind of evil-looking person came up. The person's eyes looked extremely evil as they were completely red, he wore a tight purple suit, ripped orange skirt that somehow moved by itself, and his grey hair was long and eerie since it made him look malicious. Looking to Gonzap, the man grinned with a chuckle and walked to him.

Seeing the man, Venus gasped excited. "N-no way, it's Master Nascour!"

Rui shook her head as she saw the man some feet away from them. "W-wait a minute, Wes and I met him at Phenac City before…"

"And did you just call him master?" Silva asked.

Venus laughed heartily. "Of course I called him Master. He's Cipher's Leader."

"…He's Cipher's Leader?!" Rui and Silva asked in shock.

"Of course he is," Venus said with a giggle. "He's the one who commands the whole production of Shadow Pokémon, gives orders to us admins, and carries out his master plan to conquer Orre with Shadow Pokémon. He's like the greatest guy who has existed."

Silva glared at her. "What the heck are you talking about? Thanks to him, Orre's Pokémon are being turned into the crap you call Shadow Pokémon!"

Venus pouted a bit. "Well, excuse me for not giving you the good news properly, meddling boy," she said annoyed before crossing her arms. "He's just trying to make a better future for the trainers who want to be powerful."

"B-but the fact that Pokémon are being turned into machines of battles is just wrong!" Rui yelled. "What gives you all the right to do such a horrible thing?"

Her question was unanswered as Nascour began to speak to Gonzap.

"So," the man began as he crossed his arms in front of Gonzap. "I believe you'll have him ready?"

Gonzap shook his head. "Have who ready, exactly?"

At that moment, there was a somewhat proud Wes from the past (now looking just like the present Wes) coming from down below. Umbreon and Espeon remembered that the shady trainer was going to hear Nascour and Gonzap talking.

"You know who I'm talking about," Nascour said. "The kid you want to use in order to use our Snag Machine technology?"

A gasp was heard from down below the stairs. Espeon and Umbreon looked down the stairs where the Wes from the past and their past selves were hiding behind some barrels. Jigglypuff, seeing this, motioned at her group to go look down to find the Wes from the past (while Rui and Silva looked at the leader of Cipher). The real Wes looked shocked at he saw Nascour's back while Shadow Wes looked horrified at the evil man. Venus was humming happily, and Charizard wished for this "unnecessary" event to end.

Gonzap grunted. "Seriously, you want me to use Wes to steal other Pokémon from people?"

The Wes from the past gasped silently after he heard that sentence.

Nascour nodded. "You said yourself 9 years ago that he had that special spark to catch Pokémon."

Gonzap grunted once more. "What makes you think I picked him randomly from nowhere, promising him great things that I didn't even know he could reach?"

The real Wes looked shocked after hearing those words. His face looked scared, but his fists showed anger. Unfortunately, he couldn't decide what to do.

"How odd," Nascour said. "I thought you did that."

"…" Gonzap sighed and looked down. "…Yes, I know I picked him randomly…"

Wes began to shake his head.

"You picked him because you didn't trust any other member in here to use the Snag Machine," Nascour said. "Or so you said before."

"I had the luck of the bastard," Gonzap said. "I was lucky to find an orphan like him in Pyrite Town."

"Well, what's holding you back from using him as the Snag Machine's user?" Nascour asked. "He shows big promises to become a well-known thief; a thief that can steal other people's owned Pokémon."

Another gasp came from the Wes of the past.

"Wes has trained harder every day after he turned 15," Gonzap said as he stood up from his chair, his eyes locked on Nascour. "The kid's got some skill to become an expert in Pokémon battles, I'm telling you. But, he just doesn't like this place that much as he used to…even I can tell he dislikes doing crimes."

"How odd, I thought he never liked the place from the very beginning," Nascour said.

"He never liked this place," Gonzap admitted. "But…he liked to have someone to look up to…"

"Aww, is Gonzap a softie?" teased Nascour. "You grew fond of the kid, then?"

Gonzap glared at Nascour. "I…I…grew fond of him, alright…" he admitted. "…He managed to be the son I never had before…"

"Did you forget about the deal we had before?" Nascour asked. "If you don't give him the task to snag people's Pokémon, Cipher isn't going to provide your group more technology and Pokémon."

Gonzap slammed his fist on the desk, his eyes still fixated on Nascour. "Are you trying to blackmail me or something?"

"I'm simply recalling you about the deal we had before, Gonzap," Nascour said simply. "Deal or no deal, you decide."

Wes merely watched the event as he tried to prevent from erupting into rage. The conversation between both leaders was making him decide to do something involving violence.

"You can't do anything to interfere," Shadow Wes suddenly said, getting Wes's attention. "You try that, and you'll just pass right through them. You gotta watch everything if you want it to end so you realize the truth."

"What truth is there?" Wes asked annoyed as the whole group turned to look at him. "I don't get any of this crap you're showing me."

"…I have 4 words for you," the shadow said. "Shut up and listen."

Gonzap thought hard about the deal that Nascour offered. He liked to update the team with the technology that Cipher had. Cipher itself had the best machines, including the only Snag Machine that they had made recently. On the other side, there was Wes whom Gonzap had grown fond.

"...So..." Gonzap trailed off as he glared at Nascour. "...You want Wes to be the one to capture Pokémon by using the compact Snag Machine?"

Nascour chuckled evilly. "That is right. The big Snag Machine we gave you isn't going to help you fast to recollect Pokémon."

"..." Gonzap stood up from his chair. Many thoughts in his head told him that the decision that he was going to choose would decide the fate of the hideout and his team. The team or Wes, 2 choices he had to decide.

Wes's eyes widened after he saw Gonzap extending his right hand across the table.

"...Deal," Gonzap said. "Wes is going to capture Pokémon for you..." He sighed depressed. "He isn't going to like this...but...this is for the future of both of our organizations...and he could understand the situation... (Most likely not, though...)"

"Excellent," Nascour said as he shook hands with Gonzap. "You've just made the best decision in your life, Gonzap. Cipher will provide you with any kind of technology available as long as Wes keeps on task."

The leader of Team Snagem tightened his left fist as he gritted his teeth. "Fine, Wes will do that. He's very talented and obedient."

"Then I guess I shall be leaving for the time being," Nascour said as he turned to the stairs. Umbreon and Espeon looked down where their past selves, along with the past Wes, hid behind some barrels to stay out sight. "Do not worry about this at all, Gonzap."

"It's easier for you to say..." Gonzap muttered under his breath as he sat down and frowned in shame. "(...Son...forgive me for doing this to you...I...I just didn't know the right way for you to go...)"

The group watched as Nascour, chuckling, began to walk down the stairs, the past selves hiding perfectly behind the barrels. Wes didn't even want to look at Nascour's look when he was around during that time. If he had seen the leader of Cipher, he would have confronted him at Phenac City.

But he was weak during that time, and he had no choice but to ignore the leader as he walked away from the hideout, an evilly grin plastered on his lips as he muttered to himself about the plans he had for Orre.

Shadow Wes glared at Gonzap. "That idiot whom I called dad before...he sold me to some strangers' work..." His voice turned childish. "Gonzap was like a father to me. He looked cool and strong... I wanted to be like him..." His voice turned harsh and twisted. "But noooooooo, he was keeping me in the dark before THIS happened..."

"Gonzap..." Wes muttered as he slowly raised his fists.

"Wes..." Rui muttered worried as Silva looked down, feeling shame for Wes.

"...So this is what happened..." Chris muttered.

"...Poor dude..." Ivysaur muttered.

"The man who he used to look up...." Lucario muttered before frowning. "...I think I can understand it very well..."

"(Wes....)" Umbreon and Espeon thought worried.

Red felt a little bit guilty after hearing and seeing Wes's past. The Pallet Town trainer lowered his hat a bit and tried to think about something to comfort the shady trainer. There was nothing to comfort Wes, unfortunately.

"2 weeks passed after that day, and Gonzap showed me the arm machine that was the Snag Machine," Shadow Wes said. "He said he needed me to snag people's Pokémon and bring them here. I knew what he talked about in the conversation. Quietly, I told him to give me some time before I could be deployed to capture Pokémon. I took Umbreon and Espeon along with me so they could understand what I really felt about the whole idea."

Shadow Wes snapped his fingers, instantly changing the scene to the next day where, far away to the north from the hideout, Wes was punching the canyon's wall in rage, Umbreon and Espeon watching from the passenger's seat, a hint of preoccupation in their looks.

"Why, why, WHY, WHY?!" Wes asked as he punched the wall hardly. "Why did he do this to me? That damn old man shouldn't have tricked me into joining this stupid and maleficent group of petty thieves just to some crap like stealing Pokémon!" he yelled loudly as he continued to punch the wall. "Everyone here treats Pokémon like s(beep) and trash, it infuriates me to see such a treatment! UGH!"

The past Espeon and past Umbreon began to yell at their trainer. The past Wes stopped punching the wall before turning to them.

"I've been training this whole time to STEAL Pokémon from people?" Wes asked to them. "Why the hell would I do such a horrible thing? I want to catch wild Pokémon, not owned Pokémon..." He closed his eyes, tightening his fists. "...Dad...no...Gonzap...you...you...you betrayed me...didn't you?"

Espeon and Umbreon looked at each other and nodded a bit. Their presents looked down and closed their eyes.

"(This was the day where we began to think Gonzap did wrong actions on Wes...)" Espeon muttered.

Umbreon showed his fangs a bit. "(That dirty scum... Tricking us to do sickening crimes...)"

Wes saw his past self, looking up to the sky. The past Wes seemed to be thinking about something to do and punish Gonzap for all the years he spent on Wes before using him to use the Snag Machine and capture owned Pokémon. The past self looked at his bike machine and his Pokémon, staring at them for a long while as the wind of the wasteland swiped the sand away to the north.

"...Of course..." the past Wes muttered. "...I can always escape..." He made a small grin. "...But not just escaping..." he continued as he walked to the bike, an evil look appearing in his face. "So, if Gonzap wants me to use Snag Machine to steal Pokémon...I'll do it..."

Rui, Silva, Chris, Red, and most of the Pokémon gasped.

"...But not like he wants me to do it..." the past Wes continued talking as the past selves of Espeon and Umbreon looked at each other. "...I'll snag those Shadow Pokémon he's been talking about with that guy once he sets me out to scout them…"

The Moonlight and Sun Pokémon watched as the past Wes jumped on the bike, starting the motor. They both looked serious as well as their trainer.

There was more that the past Wes muttered.

"…Forget it," the past Wes said. "I'll steal some dynamite, blow up the hideout, steal the Snag Machine while destroying the big one, and we'll escape from there," he said with a chuckle as he grinned evilly, showing his teeth a bit. "Hope you like the surprise, Gonzap…" he chuckled silently as the motor's roar covered the small laugh, quickly accelerating to the west.

Silva rubbed his chin a bit despite the headache he got after watching the whole event. "So…if my suspicions are correct and accurate…this revenge threat turned into…"

Shadow Wes snapped his fingers once more, changing the whole scenery as they were all taken to Team Snagem's Hideout, many feet away from the entrance.

Snagem Hideout
Entrance

The whole group of people looked at a familiar bike with an Espeon on the passenger's seat. The Sun Pokémon moved its 2-tailed tail at the sides as it looked at the hideout.

"…This was the day where I secretly hid bombs all around the hideout…" the real Wes said. "…This was also the day where everything for me changed because I wanted to do so…"

Suddenly, before them, the hideout began to explode and burst into flames. Screams and yells of pain came from within the building where some members ran out and fell down on the ground. Looking up to the second floor, they all saw an explosion that came from the left side, making a hole where the past Wes's shadow could be seen within the smoke.

If they were close to him, they would have looked at the Snag Machine on a mannequin's left arm. The past Wes had his goggles on. The shady trainer looked at the Snag Machine, its reflection on Wes's goggles as a malevolent grin formed under them.

"What a great treasure…" the past Wes said chuckling as he grabbed the machine and put it on his left arm, fitting just fine. The past Wes turned around and prepared to leap down, his Umbreon waiting for him on the ground. "Good bye, Gonzap, bunch of idiots…" he muttered before leaping down on the ground, signaling Umbreon to run alongside him to the bike as more members came out after more explosions came from all parts of the hideout.

"This is the incident of the hideout, then?" Silva asked. "The police found the hideout after the smoke began to rise up, but I didn't know Wes was responsible for it."

The past Wes, with his grin, ran to the bike, hopped onto the rider's seat while Umbreon leaped to the passenger's seat, and sat right next to Espeon. The 2 Pokémon looked back at the hideout where an enraged Gonzap came out, glaring menacingly at them.

"WES!" Gonzap yelled loudly through the screams and yells from the others. "COME BACK HERE, YOU SON OF A B(BEEP)!!!"

"Well, too bad I don't have a mom!" Wes yelled with a laugh as he started the engine. "Catch ya later, Gonzap!"

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!" Gonzap yelled loudly as his former member before an explosion made him trip down, falling hard on the ground as he barely saw Wes's bike disappearing into the west. "…Wes…" Gonzap muttered in shame before more explosions came, making all the members panic as they ran around. Annoyed by their yells and screams, he decided to order them to calm down.

The group looked back at Wes and Shadow Wes. The shady trainer was looking down at the ground before Shadow Wes snapped his fingers, instantly changing the scenery to the present, back at the tunnel in The Under.

The Under
Apotos Temple – Entrance

"…Wes…" Rui muttered as she looked at Wes, not caring about the shadow. "…I…I think I can understand why you turned out like this…"

Persona 4 – Border of Insanity

Shadow Wes began to sob with his childish voice. "I…I was so sad after I left my old home…" he admitted. "…I wanted to be with Gonzap and do the small crimes we always did… I sort of grew up enjoying thievery with as long as the others wouldn't interfere because they were so mean to Pokémon…" He looked at them with a glare, his voice turning harsh and twisted. "But after I lived through all that, I began to realize that humanity is just downright cruel to all Pokémon. You're the people who make me sick every damn time I look at your faces."

The Smashers snapped out from their sights at Wes before glaring at the shadow.

"No matter whatever I do, you just won't leave Pokémon alone, right?" the shadow asked pissed. "I found out that I was the only one who could save all Pokémon from the likes of you. My goal in life is to save them all and punish the infidels who mistreat them."

"W-wait just a minute!" Squirtle interrupted. "Neither Red or Chris have been treating us badly! They've been taking care of us just fine!"

"Oh, but you surely hate the fact that you must be in those so-called Poké Balls," Shadow Wes said. "You want to roam free and do whatever you please with the world, right?"

Jigglypuff took a step forward. "We like to enjoy the time by spending it with everyone."

"Is that true? Well, I don't believe in such a foolish thing like all of you do," Shadow Wes said before grunting. "The Pokémon I have are safe from the harming hands of people. I keep them away from getting hurt."

"If you're saying you're the only one that takes care of Pokémon, then you're wrong," Lucario said as he glared at the shadow. "We know much better than you will ever do."

Shadow Wes frowned. "You're rebelling against your own freedom? It's so pathetic and so sad to think you're rebelling against something that you should have owned before…" He grunted again.

"Look, we share our freedom with them," Pikachu said. "We like to be with them because it's the only way to enjoy life."

"Share freedom?" Shadow Wes asked. "Please, you're just being plain ridiculous now. Freedom isn't supposed to be shared; freedom is supposed to be every single Pokémon' right to enjoy life. It's not supposed to be shared. What are you really trying to say to me?" the shadow asked before looking at Wes. "What do you wanna do?"

Wes looked down at the shadow and swung his right arm angry. "You shut up!" Wes demanded. "Why would I listen to all the crap you've been saying, anyway? You don't know anything about me!"

"Wow, you don't believe me despite all the truths I showed you just a minute ago?" Shadow Wes asked. "You truly are pathetic. You make me pathetic as well. Personally, I don't like the way you're answering me."

"What is it about the whole thing about you being me?" Wes asked with crossed arms.

"I'm the real facade that you should be," Shadow Wes said. "I came out of you because you can't support yourself with the lies that you believe are true," he explained. "Do you know that if you keep lying it'll make matters dangerously worse for you?"

"No, because whatever the heck you are isn't going to affect me," Wes said with a glare.

"...I'm you..." the shadow said. "...And you are me..."

Wes closed his eyes with rage as he tightened his fists. Everyone watched as he slowly showed his teeth in pure fury. He had enough of the shadow that mocked him a lot, and he didn't care where it came from. Wes just wanted to get rid of him so he wouldn't bother him any longer.

Taking the initiative, Wes raised his right fist while glaring down at the shadow. "FOR THE LAST TIME, YOU'RE NOT ME, PIECE OF S(BEEP)!!!"

The Smashers, Rui, and Silva gasped when Wes threw a fist down at the shadow. However, just before the fist could connect with Shadow Wes's face, the shadow quickly dissolved into the ground where Wes accidentally moved forward, losing his balance a bit before the shadow rose up from behind him, grunting angrily.

"So, I guess you're just going to ignore me," Shadow Wes said. "Fine!"

Wes turned around as he panted heavily. Espeon and Umbreon felt a bit frightened as they looked at their trainer's wild look.

Shadow Wes chuckled evilly. "Well, what do you now? We're not the same person anymore," he said. "Since you deny your own self, that means your real self, me, will live freely doing whatever I please..."

The Smashers saw as the shadow began to cover with more darkness. Wes's wild look quickly changed to a surprised look as the shadow began to grow in size, eventually reaching his own height. Once the pure darkness cleared out a bit, Wes gasped after seeing something different than the shadow kid.

Shadow Wes had turned into Wes. The shadow wasn't a kid anymore, but a Wes covered in darkness with glowing yellow eyes.

"Now, I am all of me," Shadow Wes said as he smiled wickedly at Wes. "You don't deserve to go on living and lying to yourself, you know why?"

"U-ugh, why?!" Wes asked, demanding for the answer.

Shadow Wes moved his face up while staring at Wes. "You don't deserve to go on living and lying to yourself because I'm going to finish you off once and for all, meaning you're going to die right here. In fact, I'm going to save you by killing you."

"...WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Wes asked enraged as he threw a fist at Shadow Wes. However, the fist was easily and swiftly avoided by the shadow who merely moved to the side. Wes accidentally moved forward like before, but this time, the shadow quickly retaliated by thrusting his right elbow on Wes's throat, making him gasp before his shadow grabbed him from his back with a right hand and tossed him against the ruins' walls, crashing on his back and the back of his head hardly. "UGH!!!"

"WES!" Rui, Red, Silva, and Chris yelled as the shady trainer had a painful look.

Wes had received a fatal blow that made him lost consciousness. The shady trainer fell down while leaning on the wall before he sat down, his body slightly moving forward as some blood began to stick out his lips.

Rui began to look horrified before she ran towards him, a worried Silva following while the Smashers glared back at the shadow.

Umbreon and Espeon had shocked looks after looking at their downed trainer. The 2 growled at the shadow that turned around to look down to them. "Oh, what's the matter?" Shadow Wes asked as he opened his arms. "You're my Pokémon, right? You won't attack me, right? Think of all the things we've been through together."

Umbreon growled. "(You're not the Wes we know!)"

Espeon looked at him. "(Umbreon, he won't understand us. It's futile to yell at him with words.)"

"Why's the barking for?" Shadow Wes asked with a glare. "Are the fleas jumping on you? You want me to give both of you a bath? I can do that because I care for you."

Espeon glared back at him before he tried to use Psybeam by shooting the rainbow-colored beam from his jewel on his forehead. However, when the attack was shot, it trespasses the shadow without doing any damage. Umbreon and Espeon gasped as Shadow Wes frowned in shame.

"Why are you attacking me now?" Shadow Wes asked bored. "I thought you were my Pokémon..." His depressed look turned into a glare. "Or do you want to rebel against me? Ouch, that's so mean of you. I raised the 2 of you when you were found abandoned in Pyrite Town. This is how you express your gratitude?" He stomped the ground. "I don't like your attitude AT ALL."

Espeon and Umbreon began to notice that Shadow Wes's dark aura began to get bigger, giving him a more maleficent look. The 2 Pokémon jumped back some feet away to stay cautious about the monster before them.

"G-get back here!" Chris yelled at the 2. "W-we don't know what he could do!"

Umbreon and Espeon looked at the Smashers. The 2 talked with each other a bit before running to their side.

Shadow Wes crossed his arms as he looked at the Smashers. "You're the ones who have been pissing me off this entire time," the shadow said. "It's time for me to release your Pokémon from yourselves by killing them all. They want to stay with destroyers of freedom? Well then, I'll have to punish them all as well."

Pikachu, Pichu, Umbreon, Espeon, Lucario, Mewtwo, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Jigglypuff glared at the shadow as Venus laughed loudly from behind them. Red and Chris tried to think about something to get rid of the shadow as the Cipher Admin walked closer to them from the right side of the entrance.

"Lovely!" Venus remarked as she took out a Poké Ball from her back. "Well, I thank this little monster for taking the kid out. Seriously, all those super-extremely-natural events that you showed here were just perfect to knock him out of co-"

"Hey, ugly, shut up," Shadow Wes interrupted. "I'm doing something important over here. If you don't mind, go away."

Venus blinked a few times before she grunted. "What the hell did you just call me, impudent shadow monster?"

"What you heard from me, that's all," Shadow Wes said.

"Well! Since you're being such a fine gentleman, I'll guess I have to give you a special treatment," Venus said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, her Poké Ball.

The Flame Pokémon ran next to her as he looked at the sphere. "W-wait a minute, you're going to fight him? You're supposed to fight the others in front of him!"

Venus sulked a bit. "Sorry, but I have a reputation to keep here," she explained. "If someone calls me something I am NOT at all, that person isn't going to get away with it that easily."

Charizard frowned. "Are you like most girls or what?"

"I don't need your interrogations now," Venus said as she looked at Shadow Wes. The shadow frowned and turned around to face her. "Well, boy, even if you gave me a hand by kicking that other boy out, you're not getting away by calling me ugly!"

"Look, I don't care about you Cipher people," Shadow Wes said. "I don't give a damn about you. You can go straight to hell as much as I care."

"Oh, why you little..." Venus grunted as she tossed her Poké Ball to the ground. When it opened, it released a Suicune who howled at the shadow. "Behold my Shadow Pokémon, Suicune!"

Red had to take out his Pokédex and get Suicune's info. Jigglypuff looked bored at him. "We're in a dire situation and all you can do for now is scanning Legendary Pokémon?"

Red looked down at her. "I-I'm doing this for Professor Oak's research, okay?" he asked annoyed.

"Hohohohohohohoho!" Venus laughed pleased, not noticing that Shadow Wes grinned evilly at the Suicune. "Shall we get started with the battle so you go home crying?"

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at Suicune. "I sense dark and negative thoughts in Suicune. It must be a Shadow Pokémon."

"Glad to see you can tell Suicune's a Shadow Pokémon," Venus said pleased before looking amused at Shadow Wes. "Shall we begin?"

"Why do that?" Shadow Wes asked as he took out a shadow Poké Ball from his back. "I can finish our pointless battle by releasing that Pokémon from your hands." He tossed the ball at the Suicune. The Legendary Pokémon growled a bit at the shadow before it received the hit of the sphere.

Venus and Charizard gasped after they saw the shadow Poké Ball not rocketing at the sides on the ground. Shadow Wes chuckled as he went to pick up the sphere, a smirk slowly forming on his lips. Most of the Smashers looked shocked at how the shadow easily captured the Shadow Pokémon.

"...Did he just capture Suicune without doing any effort whatsoever?" Chris asked.

"He just did..." Lucario muttered.

"That's one of the many benefits for being honest," Shadow Wes said as Venus began to back away from him. "I get to catch any kind of Pokémon I want."

At this statement, every single Pokémon ran to different ways as well as Red and Chris. The shadow chuckled amused as they all glared at him.

Venus, however, was starting to lose her focus. "You better give me back my Suicune or else I'm calling my squad here!"

Shadow Wes stared blankly at her. "Like I care."

"That's it," Venus began as she snapped her fingers. "Peons, come on here and give me a hand!"

The Smashers saw as all the peons that went to the temple returned, forming an organized line where a blue peon saluted her. "We're afraid to report that there is no way to enter the temple, Lady Venus. We tried attacking, exploding, and even research the places for clue but we didn't have success."

"I don't care about a stupid temple anymore!" Venus yelled loudly.

Charizard fumed a bit. "I thought we had a deal here!"

"Oh, screw the deal!" Venus said as she turned to Charizard. "What I want to do now is recover my Shadow Pokémon from that shadow monster!" She pointed at Shadow Wes, who looked at her from the corner of his eyes as he faced the temple. "Peons, call out your Pokémon an-"

Shadow Wes quickly responded by throwing a Poké Ball at the floor, instantly releasing the same Suicune that he captured. However, unlike before, Suicune was now covered in pure darkness as it let out a howl that echoed. The peons gasped in fear as the Legendary Pokémon glared at them with its yellow eyes.

Venus saw them all trembling in fear. "Hey, like, what are you doing standing like that?"

"L-Lady Venus, forgive us, but we're not strong enough to face one of your Pokémon!" a purple peon said as she covered her face with her arms.

"What? Oh, please, just send out you Pokémon and attack the shadow kid without merc-"

"Suicune, use Blizzard!" Shadow Wes interrupted, ordering his Suicune to gather ice mist inside its mouth.

Instantly feeling Suicune's energy, Mewtwo's eyes widened as he noticed some of them (himself, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Pichu) were at the right side of the tunnel. "Spread out to the left, now!"

"W-why?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Suicune has been corrupted by the Shadow Nightmare," Mewtwo explained. "Its power has been increased to an alarming level... If we stay here any longer, that Blizzard attack could obliterate us."

"Teleport, Teleport, Teleport!" Pichu suddenly suggested as Suicune prepared to fire its attack.

"That's the most useful method," Mewtwo said as he teleported all of them to the left side, Suicune unleashing its attack.

The new shadow Pokémon released a very strong wind of ice that came out from its mouth. The peons were instantly flung against the other side of the tunnel while a terrified Venus and Charizard managed to run back to the exit to watch the attack. Looking back, Venus gasped once she saw all her peons moaning in pain to the right side. What made her get more shocked was the fact that half of the cave was now covered in ice with stalagmites and stalactites.

Shadow Wes chuckled proud as he petted Suicune's head. "Well done, my friend."

The peons shook their heads slowly as they all began to stand up in pain. After looking back at the Shadow Nightmare and his dangerous Pokémon, they all decided to retreat to the exit by screaming and ignoring her leader.

Venus grunted annoyed as she looked at Shadow Wes. "L-look at what you've done! You scared all my peons!"

"Good," Shadow Wes said. "It's time for you to receive the same treatment."

Venus knew what was coming to her as her previous owned Suicune began to gather ice mist in its mouth. . "I-I can't stand this anymore!" she yelled before turning to the exit. "I'm getting out of this temple! I don't want to stay here any longer!"

"WAIT RIGHT THERE!" Charizard demanded.

"I like my life, thank you," Venus said simply before she ran away outside, Suicune stopping charging the attack. "Good luck fighting that thing for me!"

"Hey!" Charizard grunted annoyed as the admin ran away in a hurry. "Dammit, you need to stay here and give me a hand! Oh crap, she ran away..."

Shadow Wes chuckled. "Well, guess she didn't have the guts to face the Savior of Pokémon," he said before turning to the Smashers. "I wonder if you will run away as well. Sorry, there's no route to get away from me." He glared at them. "I'll kill you all for imprisoning the Pokémon you have with you."

"W-wait!" Red yelled. "Y-you said you were Wes, right?"

"I was Wes once, but not anymore," the shadow said. "Since he lied to himself, I was freed to be the true Wes. Why are you asking me that?"

"If you're supposed to be Wes...then why do you have a grudge against all of us?"

"Team Snagem taught me that humanity is cruel to Pokémon," Shadow Wes said. "Thanks to them, I was able to find out that I am the Savior of all Pokémon. No person I meet deserves to go unpunished by taking freedom out of Pokémon."

"You...the Savior of Pokémon?" Ivysaur asked.

"I am the Savior of Pokémon," Shadow Wes. "That's my job."

Red looked over at the unconscious Wes while Rui and Silva tried to wake him up. The shady trainer had some sort of sad look on his closed eyes. The girl and the detective wanted to make him wake up, but Wes was totally fainted. Rui could only sob as Silva shook him a few times.

The Pallet Town trainer stepped forward. "If you ask me...you're not exactly the Savior of Pokémon."

At this statement, Shadow Wes glared at Red. "Oh, so does say the inexperienced trainer. You're not exactly the normal trainer, that's for sure."

Red grunted a bit. "...Do you want to hear the truth from me?"

"Like I care," Shadow Wes said. "I couldn't care less of a weakling like you, Red."

"And I don't care that much about a bastard who wants to kill humans for something we haven't done!"

"What makes you say that?" Shadow Wes asked. "No one should be allowed to capture and take care of Pokémon! You and your stupid group of people are the perfect example of that!"

"Then why the hell do you capture Pokémon?!" Red yelled.

"I do that because I'm going to set them all free once I complete my mission in life," Shadow Wes explained. "I'm the only exception of the whole world that can capture Pokémon in order to free them from their chains that tie them up to you." He twisted his neck a bit. "Shall we begin the battle that will decide whether I'm wrong or right?

The Smashers looked confused at the shadow. "The battle? I thought you were going straight to capture o-" Red's mouth quickly got blocked by an alarmed Chris.

"I-if you want to have a battle, we'll give you one," Chris said serious, gulping a bit.

Shadow Wes smirked. "Just to let you know I'm still honorable. I wanna have a double battle against you 2. Rules are simple: each one of you can use all the Pokémon you have, and I'll use 5 because Espeon and Umbreon seem to be betraying with those looks they're giving to me."

Red and Chris looked at their right where the Sun and Moonlight Pokémon were glaring menacingly at Shadow Wes. Red thought that Shadow Wes was limited to 4 Pokémon due to the fact Umbreon and Espeon were released just before Wes got possessed before being pushed out the blob.

"Too baaaaaaaad," mocked Shadow Wes. "I thought we were partners... Oh well, there are always idiots who change their minds for the worst answer." The shadow looked at the Rui and Silva, looking worried at the real Wes. "Very soon, you 3 will die."

Rui and Silva turned to the shadow. "W-what? He's going to kill us off?" Silva asked.

"I won't but my Pokémon will," Shadow Wes said with a smirk. "Okay, let's prepare for the battle!"

"Hold on there!" Charizard stopped as he approached the shadow, the monster glaring at the Flame Pokémon. "I'm not going to let you do all the fighting in here. I want to have some action as well."

"Tsk, whatever," Shadow Wes said. "Be glad you're a Pokémon yourself. You're already free to do whatever you please but if you want to help me to liberate them all, then I won't complain."

A while later...

The Smashers were situated on the left area of the tunnel while Shadow Wes and Charizard were located at the right area covered in ice. The shadow and the Flame Pokémon had arms crossed as they watched the group preparing for the fight.

The World Traveler and the Pallet Town trainer looked at Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Lucario, and Mewtwo. "We have 7 Pokémon," Chris pointed out. "Each one of us should use 3 or 4 because he said we could use everyone."

Red rubbed his chin. "But do you think we can do this? We all watched how Shadow Lucas's power was...and what if Shadow Wes is the same?"

"It is the same," Mewtwo said. "It's the same monster. Since Wes isn't a fighter, the Shadow Nightmare probably gave enhancements to his team. I suggest we should think our strategies well."

"Oh great," Jigglypuff said bored. "Another night to die for good young me."

"..." Chris looked back at Tokunaga, the doll that hanged on his throat from his back. "Wait, Master Hand told me I could use jobs compatible to you to unleash CFSs..."

"That surely gives us an edge, right?" Pichu asked. "...Right?"

"But..." Red looked at the glaring shadow. "He said he was going to be honorable and fight with the rules..."

"The fact he told us we could use all the Pokémon we want discourages the whole idea of rules, don't you think?" Lucario asked.

"...I guess," Chris said. "And he could...you know...capture any of you like he did with Suicune..."

"We're gonna be careful with him," Squirtle said. "Suicune didn't see it coming, but we can do it."

"Are you sure?" Red asked. "I don't want to lose you 2, personally..."

Ivysaur smiled a bit. "You just don't worry, Red," he reassured the trainer. "Just alert us if we don't see him."

Pichu's ears twitched a bit before looking back. There were Umbreon and Espeon looking at them. The Electric type looked at Espeon. "(Please, we wish to be your temporary Pokémon,)" Espeon said.

Pichu looked surprised before looking up at Red and Chris. "H-hey, they want to help us!"

Red and Chris looked at the 2 Pokémon. "They want to fight as well?"

Umbreon looked at Pichu for a bit. "He said they can't bear to see the real Wes in that state," Pichu said. "They want revenge on what the shadow did to them."

"B-but we don't know the attacks they know..." Red said.

Espeon stared at Pikachu for a moment before looking up at the trainers. "They said Espeon knows Psybeam, Confusion, Helping Hand, and Return. Umbreon can use Faint Attack, Bite, Sand-Attack, and Confuse Ray."

"That helps..." Red said unsure.

Wes's Pokémon stared at Red for a moment before they walked to him by his side. Espeon and Umbreon looked up to him before nodding.

"They're saying they want you to be their temporary trainer," Lucario said.

Red blushed a bit. "W-what? W-why do they want me to do that?"

Lucario looked at Espeon before looking back at Red. "They're saying they want to prove Wes's shadow that you're a capable trainer. They're doing this to forgive you for the other day, and for all the things Wes has been telling you as well."

"Umbreon!" Umbreon yelled at Red. "Umbre, Umbre, Umbreon!"

"He said that you better take revenge on the shadow or else he'll bite your face off," Lucario explained.

Espeon looked angrily at Umbreon. "Espeon..."

"He just told him to shut up for once."

Red looked embarrassed a bit before looking at the 2 Pokémon. "...I...I don't know if I can do this, you guys..." He scratched his right shoulder a bit. "When Wes began to criticize me for..."

They all began to hear footsteps from behind them. The entire group turned around to look at a sobbing Rui, her hands close on her neck as she looked at them. "I..." she began, sniffing a bit. "...I want to say something after not saying anything else..."

"Rui?" Red asked. "A-are you okay?"

Rui shook her head. "N-no, I'm not alright at all..." she admitted. "...I don't understand anything here...and I don't want to be nitpicky and start to interrogate you either...but..." She looked back at Silva trying to wake up Wes. "...I want you to...to do something about Wes..." She looked back at them. "...And I want you all to stop that monster who came out of him..."

Red, Chris, and some of the Pokémon gasped a bit as Rui closer her eyes, crying silently.

"D-do something, I beg of you!" she pleaded as tears began to scroll down her cheeks. "I-I don't want Wes to die like this...not in this kind of weird events!" she yelled before opening her eyes full of tears. "I know that shadow is going to kill him off if you don't beat him, but I beg of you, don't let that monster do whatever he wants with Wes!"

Red looked worried at Rui before he thought about something. "...Rui...why...why do you care a lot about Wes?"

"...Why are you asking me that now?" Rui asked as she sniffed.

"I-I just don't see why you're interested in him..." Red said preoccupied.

"...I...I care about Wes because he rescued me..." Rui admitted. "...The fact that he rescued me without even knowing me from the beginning made me think that, despite his shady face, he has a good heart, deep down in him..." She looked serious at them. "And to tell the truth...that shadow doesn't know what he's saying. I want you all to stop him from doing his stupid purpose in saving all Pokémon... I want you to save Wes...save him from that creature..."

"..." Red looked away. "...I think we can do it..."

Rui smiled a bit and wiped some tears away. "Y-you mean it?"

Red looked at her. "I'm not so sure, but...it's worth the try... To be honest, I really hate Wes..."

"Even after all the events that passed right in front of our eyes?" Rui asked.

"I understand he turned out like this because of Pokémon abuse, but I just can't forgive him for all the things he told me before," Red said serious. "I'm a trainer because I want to find someone special to me!"

"...What?" Rui asked.

Red blushed a bit. "I-I..." He looked at the Smashers, some of them getting some curious looks. "...I'm going to explain this later if you promise me something, Rui..."

"What would that be?" Rui asked.

"...Please, tell Wes to stop being so rude to me," Red said. "I want to settle things with him before I lose my temper and hit him. I don't want to do that anymore, Rui. He makes me angry whenever he badmouths me, but I want to settle the score."

"...Alright," Rui said with a smile. "I'll make sure he listens to you."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Shadow Wes called from the other side of the field. "We're waiting here. We want to rescue Pokémon very soon from Cipher!"

"Since when did I want to do that?" Charizard asked.

Shadow Wes glared at him. "You better shut up or I'll capture you."

The Flame Pokémon glared at him. "You are threatening me?"

Shadow Wes showed Charizard a shadow Poké Ball. "You wanna discuss it with the sphere from within it?"

"(Is he turning the tables on me so he's the one in charge of this battle?)" Charizard asked before frowning. "(I'm so going to have a sweet talk with Dr. Eggman to complain to him about this little but annoying detail.)"

Shadow Wes cracked his fists. "Are you ready or what? I'm itching to beat that liar over there the more you make me wait."

All the Smashers glared at him before Rui began to speak. "And...I don't care where you came from as well. I heard that all your Pokémon can talk."

"I should have shut up..." Jigglypuff muttered as Pikachu glared at her.

Rui shook her head. "It's okay, Jigglypuff," she said, surprising the Singer Pokémon. "I like you talking rather than saying your name. To be honest, it's really impressive that all of you can talk."

"But you don't want to question us about how we can talk?" Lucario asked.

"Not even a bit...for now," Rui said. "For now, I just want to have Wes back to normal by defeating that shadow of his... He said all the truth Wes didn't want to admit, right?"

"...Pretty much..." Chris said.

"..." Rui smiled a bit with a chuckle. "I'm sure Wes will get over it in a few. But, please, defeat that shadow and the Charizard so he can have his past personality..."

"...You got it," Red said, making a fist. "If there's a way to change Wes's ways, I'll do it so he stops pissing me off."

Ivysaur snickered. "I smell RedXRui pairing here."

Squirtle chuckled. "Same here."

Red and Rui quickly blushed as the Pallet Town trainer looked annoyed. "H-hey, you better knock that off before it gets worse from here!"

"Hell-o?" Shadow Wes called. "I'd like to begin now if I were you!"

Rui looked serious. "Give him a lesson, will you?" she asked before going back to Silva and the fainted Wes.

The group looked at each other before nodding. It was a small matter of time before Red and Chris stood next to each other while facing Shadow Wes and Charizard from the other side.

Charizard chuckled as he stomped his way to the field. "Finally, you're getting what you deserve, kid."

Red glared at him. "I-I'm going to try to capture you this time, Charizard. I'm planning to achieve it for real this time."

"Ha! That's funny," Charizard mocked. "I was captured before, but I'm not going to let you do that again."

"We'll see."

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! The Boss of Team Galactic!

Shadow Wes grinned evilly as he tossed a Poké Ball. "Go, Ampharos!"

The Light Pokémon came out from the sphere. Seeing as Shadow Wes was its owner, Ampharos was shrouded in a dark aura. The Electric type looked angrily at its opponents.

"It's an Electric type, right?" Red said. "Pikachu and Pichu won't do much damage on them, and Squirtle is at a disadvantage."

"Don't forget Charizard," Chris reminded him. "Unlike Ampharos, he has his own strategies to fight us without a trainer."

"I know," Red said. "In that case...Espeon, go!"

The Sun Pokémon growled a bit before leaping in front of Red.

"(I'm gonna have an Espeon, I'm gonna have an Espeon, I'm gonna have an Espeon,)" Red cheered in his mind.

The World Traveler looked forward. "Jigglypuff, go, please!"

The Singer Pokémon gulped a bit before leaping in front of Chris. Jigglypuff looked shocked before turning at Chris. "M-make sure he doesn't catch me or kill me, okay?"

Chris looked a little bit preoccupied. "I-I'll try to do my best. I'll stop him from capturing yo-"

"Ampharos, use Thunderbolt on Jigglypuff!" Shadow Wes suddenly interrupted.

Jigglypuff quickly turned around before she received a full impact from Shadow Ampharos's Thunderbolt. The Singer Pokémon yelled loudly in pain as the attack kept going.

"...RED, DO SOMETHING!" Chris yelled. "Ampharos is trying to finish her off with a single attack!"

"R-right," Red said before pointing forward. "Espeon, get close to Ampharos to use Psybeam!"

"Espeon," Espeon muttered before he began to run towards Shadow Ampharos.

"No way!" Charizard yelled as he flapped his wings and flew towards Espeon, starting to gather flames in his mouth to use Flamethrower.

Red thought quickly. "J-jump over the flames and over Charizard as well!"

The Sun Pokémon lowered his head a bit before jumping over the flames and the Flame Pokémon himself. After passing down below Espeon, Charizard's eyes widened before landing on the floor on his feet. He turned around in time to see Espeon shooting off Psybeam at Shadow Ampharos.

"Ampharos, stop right there and evade the attack!" Shadow Wes ordered loudly. The Light Pokémon grunted in annoyance before stopping using Thunderbolt on Jigglypuff before stepping back to avoid the confusion beam. Espeon grunted a bit before it landed and jumped back from the Light Pokémon.

"J-Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled as he saw Jigglypuff shaking herself. "A-are you okay?"

"Y-yes," Jigglypuff said before panting a bit. "I-I'm a bit weak, that's all..."

"(I'm worried now,)" Chris thought. "(What if she's ready to be taken out? ...I could use the Musician job in order to...)" The World Traveler nodded to himself before quickly changing to the Musician job in a fast flash of light. "Jigglypuff, please, hold on there!"

The Singer Pokémon managed to look forward and glare at the Shadow Ampharos.

Shadow Wes chuckled evilly. "My, how persistent is that rebel Pokémon you have there," he mocked. "Ampharos, use Thunder Wave to paralyze Jigglypuff!"

Shadow Ampharos obeyed as it gathered blue sparks on its little horns and its tail.

"T-think of something before I turn into the first toasted victim of tonight, please!" Jigglypuff pleaded.

"W-we're supposed to share ideas!" Chris yelled.

"Well, not now because I'm so going to get toasted!"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "And I can't believe I lost some matches against you."

"I-I've got it!" Chris said. "Jigglypuff, use Rollout to avoid the waves!"

Jigglypuff gasped once she saw Shadow Ampharos shooting off electric waves from its head. The Singer Pokémon quickly began to roll on her place before accelerating towards the temple, narrowly evading the Thunder Wave attack.

"(She's still using Rollout,)" Chris thought. "Now turn around and go hit Ampharos!"

"Ampharos, be prepared to avoid that rebel!" Shadow Wes ordered.

Hearing this, Red decided to help Chris. "Espeon, try to stagger Ampharos by using Psybeam!"

"Me, get ready to use Flamethrower!" Charizard yelled, receiving odd looks from everyone as Jigglypuff passed right in front of him. "...Why are you giving me those looks? You made me say that!"

Shadow Wes blinked confused before focusing on the rolling Jigglypuff. "Ampharos, avoid it!"

The Light Pokémon glared at the rolling puffball before it received a surprise attack from Espeon's Psybeam, directly connecting to its stomach. "AMPHA!" Shadow Ampharos screamed in pain before Jigglypuff slammed herself hard on the Light Pokémon, making it tumble back a bit as she stopped rolling.

"Why did you stop rolling? The attack could have gotten stronger!" Chris yelled.

Jigglypuff shivered a bit before some sparks emanated from her. The World Traveler gasped after remembering that Shadow Ampharos had the special ability Static. "I-I-I don't feel so good..." Jigglypuff stuttered.

Shadow Wes grinned. "Ampharos, regain your composure and prepare yourself to use Thunderpunch on Jigglypuff!"

Red though about a plan. "Espeon, stop Ampharos from hurting Jigglypuff by using Confusion!"

Espeon's eyes glowed before his jewel on his forehead glowed a bit while the Sun Pokémon glowed in a pink aura. However, it suddenly got covered by flames coming from Charizard's Flamethrower. Red gasped in shock after hearing Espeon screaming as he jumped out, shaking his head to regain his composure.

"Hey!" Red called out to Charizard, who closed his jaws and smirked.

"Oops, sorry," Charizard said sarcastically. "I didn't mean to alert you."

"Grr..." Red tightened his fists. "Espeon, use Confusion on Charizard instead!"

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled loudly as Shadow Ampharos began to run to the Singer Pokémon while its right (and small) fist got covered with blue sparks of electricity. The musician watched horrified as Shadow Ampharos lowered its small fist to use an uppercut on the paralyzed Jigglypuff, making her scream in pain as she was sent to the air before bouncing over the ground, moaning weakly. "Jigglypuff, please, hang on!"

Red looked at Chris starting to play his harp. Jigglypuff rolled herself forward to stand up, but she suddenly blinked as she heard Chris's harp echoing in the tunnel. She made a serious look before glaring at Shadow Ampharos.

"A cheerful tune that has equal to harmony itself..." Chris chanted.

"Absorbing Sonata!" Jigglypuff yelled as she spun on her right feet, calling forth a pink atmosphere that made Shadow Ampharos feel weird. Shadow Wes gasped once he saw 2 bright soul-like spheres coming out from Shadow Ampharos. The 2 spheres quickly went after Jigglypuff and Espeon, who looked up and got the glowing spheres that healed their injuries completely.

Chris sighed in relief as he put down his harp. "That should heal both..."

"You impudent..." Shadow Wes muttered before pointing forward. "Ampharos, prepare to use another Thunderpunch!"

The Shadow Nightmare looked at his own Pokémon doing nothing rather than standing still.

"Ampharos, didn't you hear me?" Shadow Wes asked.

The Light Pokémon slowly turned around to Shadow Wes. The Shadow Nightmare noticed that Shadow Ampharos's eyes were swirls that spun a bit.

"What the heck? When did you were confused?" the shadow asked before looking at Espeon. "Unless my traitor Pokémon's Psybeam confused you after it hit you..."

Red noticed that Charizard began to fly up around the tunnel as he targeted Espeon from the air. Flames started to stick out between his jaws before he began to descend. "Espeon, watch out for Charizard! Use Confusion to stop him!"

Espeon looked up, his eyes glowing instantly to try and capture Charizard within a psychic field. Unfortunately, Charizard proved to be stronger as he released his flames down on Espeon, who quickly changed his Confusion attack on the flames to stop them from reaching him.

Red knew Charizard was going to burn Espeon if he moved down closer while using Flamethrower. Unfortunately, Red watched as Espeon got himself burned, his Confusion attack not working much as he screamed loudly in pain while Charizard passed right above it to slam his tail hard on his face. Espeon was pushed forward as he rolled recklessly, but managed to stand up on the ground as he glared up at the smirking Charizard.

"(You won't do that ever again...)" Espeon thought as he growled silently.

"Espeon, try to use Confusion on Charizard again!"

The musician noticed that Shadow Ampharos was still confused. trying to regain its composure. "Jigglypuff, lean to Ampharos and use Rest!"

"Lean to who?" Shadow Wes asked as Jigglypuff pouted a bit and floated towards the confused Pokémon. The Singer Pokémon winked a bit at it before landing, leaning herself to its stomach, and using Rest.

Shadow Wes gasped once he saw Ampharos being blasted off into the air, reaching its way to the ceiling by a half before going down and crashing hard on the ground. The Shadow Pokémon, still confused, seemed even more dazzled than before.

"...Dammit," Shadow Wes muttered as he aimed Shadow Ampharos's Poké Ball to call it back. "Ampharos, return!"

Pichu wagged his tail a bit. "D-did Jigglypuff beat Ampharos?"

"I suppose so," Mewtwo said. "Ampharos itself didn't have a good defense. Even with the Shadow Nightmare above its control wasn't enough to provide it with much energy to resist Espeon's Psybeam and Jigglypuff's CFS."

Shadow Wes closed his eyes at the Poké Ball. "Please, forgive me..." he muttered before taking out another different Poké Ball. "It's time for you to get revenge, Feraligatr!"

Jigglypuff gasped as a big light came out from the Poké Ball. The light itself landed right in front of her as she met a thick-scaled dark stomach from a hungry Shadow Feraligatr, who smirked down at her as it licked its lips.

"...H-hi?" Jigglypuff said horrified at the height of the tall Big Jaw Pokémon.

"Use Bite!" Shadow Wes ordered.

Jigglypuff quickly turned around to escape from the Shadow Pokémon, but it quickly took a hold of her by opening its jaws wide enough for Jigglypuff to fit in. The musician and the Pokémon gasped after Jigglypuff screamed even more loudly in pain as she pleaded for help.

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled.

"Spit her down hard, Feraligatr!" Shadow Wes commanded.

The Big Jaw Pokémon, with the Singer Pokémon in its jaws, smirked a bit before raising its mouth up to later descend them hard to spit Jigglypuff to the ground. However, the strength of the Water type seemed very strong as Jigglypuff easily went 5 feet down the earth. "Feraligator!!!" the Water type said proudly.

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled worried before he noticed that Lucario instantly appeared by his side, holding a weakened and fainted Jigglypuff on his arms. The Aura Pokémon surely used Extremespeed to get her in time before Shadow Feraligatr could do attack her more. "J-Jigglypuff!"

The Singer Pokémon slowly opened her eyes and smiled a bit at Chris. "D-did I prove useful?"

"Y-yes, you did...now please, rest," Chris said with a sigh of relief. Lucario turned around to walk to the smaller Pokémon and leave Jigglypuff with them. "...Focus..." he muttered to himself before looking serious. "Pichu, go!"

Pichu gulped a bit as he ran to Chris's side, looking at the big Water type licking its lips a little bit more. "A-are you sure you're not sending me to my death?"

"I-I wouldn't do that, but you want and NEED to fight your own battles, right?"

The Electric type looked worried for a bit before his look turned in a determined face. "Okay..." Pichu said as he leaped to the field. "I-I'm ready, and don't let me die..."

"I promise," Chris said. "Pichu, use Thunder on Feraligatr!"

"Use Surf!" Shadow Wes yelled.

Unlike Squirtle's Surf, Shadow Feraligatr's Surf was completely different. Wate began to appear from underneath the Shadow Feraligatr's feet before it sprouted out from his sides until a big wave roared. Red and Chris gasped as Pichu and Espeon looked at the size of the wave while Charizard flew on the air to evade it.

"W-what do we do now?!" Red asked.

"Wish for them to get through the attack!"

Red didn't notice that Espeon quickly turned towards Pichu to carry him on his back. The Sun Pokémon glared at the big wave before he ran back towards the trainer to wait for the wave to crash down. There was the Big Jaw Pokémon's image coming from the wave; the same place where it last was seen.

And the wave crashed down, but Espeon instantly jumped over it to let the water wash up the feet of the others as he landed safely on the other side of the wave, Pichu sighing in relief as he jumped down his back.

"How come Squirtle can't do the same thing?" Red asked.

"...Blame Master Hand?" Chris responded. "Pichu, now use Thunder on Feraligatr!"

"Espeon, use Confusion on Feraligatr!"

The 2 Pokémon quickly looked at the Water type before both used their attacks (although Pichu had to run to strike himself with Thunder to cause more damage). Espeon asked himself why Pichu ran to lean closer to Shadow Feraligatr before Espeon used Confusion.

Shadow Feraligatr tried to step back, but Espeon's Confusion held him from backing away, this also allowed Pichu to call forth a powerful thunder that struck down on him and the Water type. Shadow Feraligatr yelled in pain as Pichu tumbled a bit at the sides before regaining control.

"Hey, you better not forget about me!" Charizard yelled from above as he turned and dove right after Pichu, more flames gathering in the Fire type's jaws.

"Pichu, use Agility to land on Charizard's back!" Chris yelled.

Pichu gasped as Shadow Feraligatr struggled to shake off the Confusion attack. "A-are you sure?"

"I'm not trying to put you in danger!" Chris yelled. "Just do it, believe me!"

The Electric type shrugged in fear as Charizard released his Flamethrower. Pichu gasped and quickly used Agility to jump straight up and then direct himself over Charizard's back, evading the searing flames in the process. The Electric type suddenly found himself on the Flame Pokémon's back.

"What do you think you're doing standing on my back?" Charizard asked angrily as he flew over the battle.

"Now shock him!" Chris yelled.

Pichu trembled a little bit in fear before he began to release sparks into Charizard's back. The Fire type began to yell in pain as sparks illuminated his whole body, turning him into some kind of huge firefly before he dove for the ground to crash his head into it. Pichu, seeing that Charizard got stuck in the ground, jumped off in a hurry to escape from him.

Espeon suddenly started to feel weak as his Confusion attack stopped working. Shadow Feraligatr roared in anger as he locked eyes to the Psychic type. "Time for a comeback," Shadow Wes muttered. "Go and use Bite!"

Espeon's eyes widened after the Shadow Feraligatr began to rush towards him. For being a big Pokémon, the Water type had a lot of speed as it easily reached Espeon to dive his jaws to him. The Psychic type quickly sidestepped from getting attacked, making Shadow Feraligatr to bite a small boulder that was behind Espeon. However, the boulder was quickly destroyed into crumbles before Shadow Feraligatr turned back to Espeon.

"Bite is his weakness, so don't stop until you crush Espeon with your jaws!" Shadow Wes ordered.

"(This is definitely not Wes...)" Espeon thought in shame before noticing the big Water type rushing towards him from his frontal view.

"Espeon, use Psybeam in its mouth!" Red yelled.

The Sun Pokémon looked a bit confused at this order before Shadow Feraligatr lunged at him with jaws wide open. Espeon glared at it before shooting his psychic beam that collided right inside Shadow Feraligatr's jaws. The Shadow Pokémon yelled in pain as the beam reached its throat overtime.

"Feraligatr, try to move forward to bite Espeon!" Shadow Wes yelled.

The Shadow Pokémon's eyes turned wild as it started to move slowly towards Espeon. The Sun Pokémon narrowed his eyes as it continued to use Psybeam.

"Espeon, hold your ground and keep using Psybeam!" Red ordered.

"Feraligatr, show that poor excuse for a trainer how things are done here!" Shadow Wes yelled.

"Poor excuse?" Red repeated. "Espeon, don't give up yet!"

The World Traveler looked back at Charizard. The Flame Pokémon had his head stuck on the ground as he furiously stomped the ground while Pichu looked back and forth between his opponents. "That's it..." Chris thought before he changed to his Scholar job. "Pichu, come back here!"

Pichu's ears perked up a bit before looking at the scholar. "A-are we using my CFS?"

"Yes, I do need your presence right over here," Chris said as he opened his book. "Come now!"

The Electric type looked back at Espeon and Shadow Feraligatr before he ran towards Chris, jumping over his right hand as the scholar focused magic into Pichu's body. The young Pokémon put its fists close to his neck before he got covered in blue sparks that came from Chris's right hand. His pages flipped wildly before pulling Pichu back as he aimed his sight at Shadow Feraligatr. "Pierce enemies with shocking and swift speed... Spark Bullet!"

"PICHUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu yelled loudly before the scholar quickly tossed the Pokémon bullet right across the field, going directly towards Shadow Feraligatr.

Shadow Wes gasped once the bullet met Shadow Feraligatr's neck. The Water type, being hit by Espeon's Psybeam, widened his eyes in shock (pun intended) as Pichu went through his body to deliver a great amount of electricity that shocked it entirely as the Electric type turned back to normal and fell down on the ground, a dazzled look on his eyes as he tumbled to the sides.

"I see staaaaaaaaaaars..." Pichu said dumbfounded.

Espeon stopped his Psybeam attack as he watched a still Shadow Feraligatr looking weird as his eyes spun a bit. The Big Jaw Pokémon then began to fall down forward, making a small tremble around the Sun Pokémon. This reaction made Shadow Wes grunt as he aimed a Poké Ball to return Shadow Feraligatr. "Feraligatr, return!"

Pikachu sighed. "We're doing well, aren't we?"

"I guess," Mewtwo said. "But we shouldn't look think we can win yet. Don't forget the fact the shadow has at least 1 Legendary Pokémon in his team."

"...Suicune..." Pikachu muttered.

"Exactly," Mewtwo said as he crossed his arms.

Shadow Wes stared at Shadow Feraligatr's Poké Ball and smiled at it. "This is gonna be over soon..." he muttered. "Soon enough, we're gonna kill the humanity..." He looked serious as he changed the sphere for another one that he tossed at the field. "Go, Jumpluff!"

The Cottonweed Pokémon playfully jumped on the ground after it was called out. However, the Grass and Flying type was covered in the same dark aura that Feraligatr and Ampharos had. Unlike them, Shadow Jumpluff looked happy.

"Use Giga Drain on Pichu!"

The scholar gasped once he remembered that the Tiny Mouse Pokémon was still dumbfounded after finishing the previous attack. A green atmosphere came out of nowhere as Shadow Jumpluff moved its cotton hands in some sort of dance before 5 green sphere came out of Pichu that went to Shadow Jumpluff, recovering health that it didn't have hurt.

"O-oww..." Pichu moaned as he regained consciousness.

Red looked at Charizard, still stuck on the ground. The trainer thought that maybe it was the opportunity to catch him. Looking frantically in his belt, the trainer found an empty Poké Ball. "Now's my chance..." Red muttered before looking at Charizard to toss the Poké Ball at him. "Go, Poké Ball!"

At that moment, Charizard's head quickly came out, pushing some dirt to his back as he shook his head. The Poké Ball, unfortunately, failed to hit his head as it landed right in front of him. The Flame Pokémon looked down and glared at the sphere before he crushed it with his right foot.

"H-hey!" Red yelled. "W-what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm not going to let you catch me, that's what! I have everything set so you can't catch me!" Charizard yelled as he moved his right foot to turn the sphere into crumbles. "I should be the one asking you that, though!"

"Grr... (I still have 3 Poké Balls left. I already used one on Ivysaur, and I just lost one because of Charizard... Why didn't I buy more of them?) Espeon, use Return!"

Charizard quickly turned around to see the dashing Espeon about to leap at him as he glowed a bit. The Flame Pokémon quickly gathered flames in his jaws before releasing a stream of fire that reached Espeon quickly. The Sun Pokémon's eyes widened before he screamed loudly in pain.

The scholar looked back where Pichu was. There was a terrified expression on Pichu's face as he looked at the happy Shadow Jumpluff. Seeing Pichu's body shaking, Shadow Wes smirked. "Jumpluff, use Sunny Day!"

Shadow Jumpluff said its name happily as it began to dance a bit before shooting above, from his top cotton head, a bright sphere that flew all the way in the center of the ceiling before shining brightly. Red didn't know what the attack meant, but the others did know.

Suddenly, a surge of firepower got into Charizard as he glared and increased his Flamethrower attack by a completely new level. Red watched terrorized as Espeon's screams got even louder than before as the Fire type stopped, smirking evilly at the downed Espeon.

"E-Espeon!" Red yelled, not receiving any response from the Sun Pokémon as it laid down on the ground, fainted.

Charizard extended his wings proudly as he fired up very strong flames. "This power...is...so awesome!" he yelled proudly.

Pichu looked frightened at the flames before his ears perked up at an order he barely heard. The order sounded like it said beam and sun, but it didn't make sense to him before he met face-to-face with a big beam of greenish colors. Pichu yelled loudly in extreme pain as he was pushed against the temple's right wall, followed up by an explosion that sent him blasting off to the air where he crashed right into the ground, moaning silently in pain.

"Pichu, no!" Chris yelled while Shadow Wes laughed. "You imbecile..."

"2 out, more rebels to go," Shadow Wes pointed out while Shadow Jumpluff cheered happily at its fast victory.

Lucario quickly used Extremespeed to get the 2 Pokémon in a second before he appeared right between Red and Chris, putting down the knocked out Pokémon. Red took a step back after he saw the fainted Espeon while Chris felt guilty when he saw Pichu.

"...Take both of them with Jigglypuff so they can rest..." Chris muttered to Lucario.

"Fine," Lucario responded as he grabbed both of them and took them to where the weak Jigglypuff was being watched by Mewtwo behind them.

At that moment, Pikachu jumped to Chris's right shoulder as Umbreon leaped in front of Red. "Can I please get some sweet revenge on that messed up Jumpluff?" Pikachu asked as he gathered some sparks in his cheeks.

Umbreon looked at Pikachu for a moment.

"He said he wants to knock Charizard down," Pikachu pointed out.

"Okay, go," Chris said. Pikachu smiled a bit at him before he leaped back into the field.

Red looked down at Umbreon. "I'll promise I'll do my best to save Wes..."

Umbreon looked back at Red before he nodded. "(Please, I want this to be over soon,)" he thought before glaring back at Charizard while Pikachu stood in his 4 paws, his body gathering some sparks.

Charizard relished a bit as he stared at the bright sphere on top of the tunnel. "Why can't I learn that move? I'd be unstoppable if I did."

"Jumpluff, be ready to use another Solarbeam!" Shadow Wes ordered.

"Umbreon, use Confuse Ray on Jumpluff!" Red ordered.

"Pikachu, stop Jumpluff from using Solarbeam with Skull Bash!" Chris ordered.

"...HEY, why isn't anybody interested in attacking me?!" Charizard asked.

"Oh well," Chris said. "Pikachu, use Thunder on Charizard!"

The Mouse Pokémon turned to the Flame Pokémon before running towards him. Charizard smirked at him before he started to gather powerful flames in his jaws. The scholar quickly thought about another strategy.

"Use Quick Attack to get behind Charizard!"

Pikachu instantly reached Charizard's right side in a swift move, evading the searing flames that burned the ground a bit. The Electric type glared up at Charizard before he called forth a thunder that crashed down on both. Charizard stopped his flames to yell loudly in pain before Pikachu jumped straight to his face to use a quick headbutt, making Charizard back away a bit.

"Ugh, not bad..." Charizard said as he shook his head.

Shadow Jumpluff jumped happily before it shot a powerful Solarbeam right straight to Umbreon. The Moonlight Pokémon was many feet away from the Cottonweed Pokémon that enabled him to dodge the beam by sidestepping to left before running towards it. Umbreon's eyes shone red as he shot black smoke that went after Shadow Jumpluff.

"Jumpluff, float up to avoid the rays!" Shadow Wes ordered. His Shadow Jumpluff jumped up to use his cotton hands to float up, evading the rays of confusion that went underneath it. "Now, use Giga Drain on Umbreon!"

"Umbreon, try to reach Jumpluff by using Faint Attack!" Red ordered. "(I know Jumpluff is high up, but is there any other way to reach it?)"

For his surprise, Umbreon jumped high up towards the Grass and Flying type, Umbreon's frontal body glowing a bit in a purple light as he rammed himself on Shadow Jumpluff. Shadow Jumpluff not only screamed, by Umbreon pushed it down quickly where the Shadow Pokémon crashed on the ground, screaming in pain a little bit more before Umbreon jumped back.

"Jumpluff, get up and use Solarbeam on Umbreon!" Shadow Wes yelled.

"(Wait, Jumpluff is still down...) Umbreon, leap to Jumpluff and use Confuse Ray!"

"(...Good idea,)" Umbreon remarked before growling and leaping right on Shadow Jumpluff. The Grass and Flying type gasped when Umbreon restrained it from getting up as he stared deeply into the shadow opponent's eyes, shooting smoke from his red eyes to confuse it instantly. Once his movement was done, Umbreon leaped back to see the confused Shadow Jumpluff getting up, its eyes spinning in confusion.

"Damn," Shadow Wes muttered. "Jumpluff, try to use Stun Spore on Umbreon!"

"Juuuuuuuuuuuuump..." Shadow Jumpluff said dazzled as it began to spread yellow spores...on itself, instantly paralyzing its whole body. "Pluuuuuuuuuuuuuf..."

"What the heck? Why did you paralyze yourself?" Shadow Wes asked. "Damn that confusion!"

Red chuckled at this. "This turned out better for me after all..." He looked at Ivysaur. "Can you learn Confuse Ray?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer...no," Ivysaur said.

"..." Red frowned. "And here I wanted to do strategies based around confusing opponents..."

"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuse me for not appeasing your needs," Ivysaur said as he rolled his eyes.

"Red, focus!" Chris yelled.

"O-oh, right," Red said before looking back at the paralyzed and confused Shadow Jumpluff. "Umbreon, use..." Red thought about something as he looked at Charizard. "...Wait...why don't we..." The trainer looked at Chris. "Pss, Chris..."

The World Traveler looked at him. "Yes?"

"I think I have something in hands to take out Jumpluff faster..."

Back on the fight, Pikachu waited for orders as he dodged Charizard's dangerous Flamethrowers. "You little rat, stop moving around!" Charizard demanded between exhales of fire breaths as Pikachu glared at him and dodged the flames.

"Yes, like I want to burn into a crisp by you," Pikachu said as he rolled to the right, evading another Flamethrower. "Ooh, what's wrong? Can't you do something else?"

At that moment, Charizard dove his claws on the ground to lift up a boulder (half the size of himself), smirking down at Pikachu.

"...Seems you do," Pikachu muttered before he quickly dodged Charizard's Rock Smash.

The Mouse Pokémon noticed that Umbreon rammed himself against Shadow Jumpluff's back. The Cottonweed Pokémon looked absolutely helpless as his paralysis kept it from moving, and his confusion only made matters worse as Shadow Wes urgently tried to snap it back to its senses. Pikachu looked confused as Shadow Jumpluff was being pushed to his way. The Electric type's eats perked up before avoiding another boulder from Charizard.

"This attack sucks for crushing sneaky targets like you," Charizard said annoyed before gathering flames.

Red's eyes looked serious after seeing Charizard gathering more strong flames. Looking back at Shadow Jumpluff being pushed towards Pikachu, the trainer yelled, "Umbreon, push Jumpluff to Pikachu!"

"(What?)" Pikachu thought as he gasped and looked up to Charizard's jaws. The Electric type quickly sidestepped from the way of the flames.

And for some reason, Shadow Jumpluff turned out to be the recipient of the attack.

Seconds before, right before Pikachu could sidestep, Umbreon used a strong headbutt to tumble Shadow Jumpluff forward to Pikachu. However, since Pikachu quickly sidestepped out of the way, Shadow Jumpluff landed on his previous spot before Charizard's enhanced Flamethrower burned the Cottonweed Pokémon greatly. Shadow Jumpluff, however, didn't even scream due to the fact it was confused at the whole event as flames burned its whole body.

Pikachu and Umbreon ran back before seeing that a shocked Charizard stopped his Flamethrower attack. He looked down at the soot-covered Shadow Jumpluff, its happy expression intact. "...Are you okay?" Charizard asked.

"...Pluff," Shadow Jumpluff simply said as it fell of his back, knocking itself out due to confusion.

"Jumpluff!" Shadow Wes yelled before grunting and taking out Shadow Jumpluff's Poké Ball. "Return!"

"Yes!" Red and Chris cheered as they both hopped on their spots.

"I do have to admit it was ingenious," Chris remarked as he adjusted his glasses a bit. "Taking advantage of Jumpluff's confusion and paralysis that rendered it from moving, and thinking to push it all the way to Charizard's strong Flamethrower in order to obliterate it was very effective."

Red scratched the back of his hat. "Am I getting good?"

The scholar crossed his arms. "Possibly, I think you are quickly turning out better yourself."

"Would you stop that attitude?" Shadow Wes called angrily from the other side, receiving a glare from a pissed Charizard. "It's time to use my strongest Pokémon..." he muttered with a grin as he took out a Poké Ball."Go and punish those rebels...Suicune!"

The group gasped as a big light came out from the sphere, releasing the Aurora Pokémon on the field. Shadow Suicune, once looking at the Smashers from afar, let out a powerful howl that echoed across the whole cave.

"...Now I'm going to piss myself..." Ivysaur said with a gulp.

"Hey, shut up," Squirtle said. "So what if it is a Legendary Pokémon? We could still have a chance."

The scholar knew Shadow Suicune was going to be an even stronger foe to defeat. Thinking fast, he changed to his ISOKFMG job, taking out his odd-looking staff. "Pikachu, listen to me! Things are going to get harder so we have to use another CFS right now!"

Pikachu and Umbreon glared at the Aurora Pokémon, Charizard glaring down at them from behind. "(I'm getting a very bad feeling now,)" Umbreon said.

"We better stay careful. One screw up and we'll be screwed over," Pikachu muttered.

Umbreon's ears perked up. "(Jump aside!)"

The 2 quickly avoided a strong Flamethrower attack from a furious Charizard. The Flame Pokémon stopped releasing his flames before grunting.

Shadow Wes chuckled after he looked at Charizard. Something about his look surely meant he had some sort of plan for the Fire type. "Suicune, use Blizzard on those 3 imbeciles!"

"3 imbeciles?" Pikachu repeated. "I thought there only 2..."

Charizard looked at the Shadow Pokémon gathering mist in its mouth. He quickly noticed that Shadow Suicune was facing him and the other 2 Pokémon from the corner of the tunnel. The Smashers got shocked looks. "I-i-i-is it going to freeze the whole portion of the cave?" Red asked.

"It is going to do that," Mewtwo said. "Everyone, get back and lean against the wall," he said. "That Shadow Nightmare is planning to freeze everyone in here."

The World Traveler and the trainer looked back at him. "W-what do you mean? Is the Blizzard attack really going to affect us all?" Chris asked.

"Suicune's powers have been increased," Mewtwo pointed out. "If it unleashes Blizzard, it'll freeze everything in its way."

"...Maybe I can..." Chris muttered before he began to spin his staff. "Pikachu, prepare to use Spark Wave!"

Pikachu looked back at him. "Are you nuts or what?"

"It's the only way to stop Suicune from using Blizzard!" he yelled. "Let's do this quick before we regret it!"

"Stop," Mewtwo said. "You 2 aren't going to make it in time."

"Watch," Chris said as a glyph appeared underneath him while Pikachu started to get covered in yellow lightning. "Tangible lightning, bring my enemies into paralyzing circuits..."

"Use Blizzard!" Shadow Wes yelled, ordering his Pokémon to attack.

"Spark Wave!" Chris yelled.

Shadow Suicune instantly released its attack before a lightning fell down on it to sprout into a big sphere of electricity that shocked it.

The strong tempest of ice began to freeze everything in its way as everyone (including Rui, and Silva carrying Wes on his back) quickly ran back against the wall to prevent the attack from reaching them as they all covered themselves. Pikachu and Umbreon, however, didn't have the same luck as the strong sleet began to freeze their bodies slowly before they were turned into icicles of ice.

Something was wrong as Charizard noticed he was also being turned into a statue of ice. His feet began to freeze inside ice, and he panicked before pulling his tail to his chest to cover it with his arms and wings before he got frozen as well.

Red noticed that all the people in the group were close to each other. The trainer slowly removed his arms to look around the frozen tunnel. Now, everything was frozen except for the temple's sanctum inside.

"...N-no!" Red gasped after he looked back at the field. Everyone else removed their arms from the faces before some gasped.

Shadow Wes laughed with crossed arms before looking at the frozen Pokémon. "Okay, now use Shadow Rush!" he ordered.

For their dismay, the Aurora Pokémon didn't seem injured after receiving the strong electric attack from Pikachu and Chris. It howled a bit to the icicles before its shadow aura glowed darker than before as it began to dash very fast at them. As it stopped running in front of the icicles, it quickly covered itself in pure darkness as it easily passed through the 2 icicles, pushing Umbreon and Pikachu away to different directions before they slid on the ice floor while Shadow Suicune's aura became dim as it landed close to the entrance to the temple.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of responses coming from Umbreon and Pikachu.

"...They're not moving..." Rui muttered.

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "Suicune's Shadow Rush grew to a lethal level. The fact that it was already a Shadow Pokémon made the power of the Shadow Nightmare even stronger."

"You're saying Suicune turned...broken?" Ivysaur asked as he shivered at the tunnel's icy look.

"...That's another way to say it, but yes," Mewtwo said. "Pikachu and Umbreon couldn't stand against the attack. Add the fact they were frozen, and it turned out worse for them."

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Shadow Wes laughed. "And I haven't finished yet."

"W-what does he mean by that?" Squirtle asked.

The Shadow Nightmare looked at the frozen Charizard before smirking. "Hey, Suicune, can you use Shadow Rush at full potency on him?"

Shadow Suicune turned to the right to face the frozen Flame Pokémon. The Aurora Pokémon narrowed its eyes before dashing right towards the icicle. Its dark aura glowed darker before it leaped at an insane speed, shattering the ice apart while landing a devastating blow on Charizard, who had a shocked look after his wings pulled back.

"...Y-you..." Charizard muttered shocked before he fell down on his face against the ice floor, shattering it a bit.

Red looked frightened after Shadow Suicune turned against its own partner. "W-why did you do that?" he asked.

Shadow Wes chuckled as Shadow Suicune turned to face them. "I did that so I could get a free spot for another friend I have here."

"A free spot?"

Shadow Wes replied this repetition by throwing another Poké Ball to the air, releasing a big light to the ice floor. Most of the Pokémon gasped after they saw yet another Legendary Pokémon on the field. "Say hello to my Entei."

The Volcano Pokémon was back, and it was covered once again by darkness; a different darkness that came from the Shadow Nightmare. Entei glared at the group with its yellow eyes before roaring loudly, shattering some ice around its feet.

"L-Lucario, go get Umbreon and Pikachu!" Chris ordered as he looked at the 2 Legendary Pokémon.

The Aura Pokémon finished his task in a second as he brought the 2 knocked out Pokémon to the other 3. Lucario looked worried at Umbreon and Pikachu before putting them close to Jigglypuff, Pichu, and Espeon.

Shadow Wes crossed his arms. "I'll wait for you to decide who's going to be my next victim."

Red noticed that Charizard was still knocked out close to the shadow. Shadow Wes turned at the Flame Pokémon's direction and chuckled, making Red gasp as he took out an empty Poké Ball. "W-wait, no!"

"Afraid so," Shadow Wes said as he took out an empty Poké Ball. "Go, Pok-"

The 2 trainers were about to toss their Poké Ball to catch Charizard, but suddenly, 10 Primids appeared all around the knocked Charizard. The Subspace subordinates turned around to see Charizard before they all carried him above them. The Primids didn't even look at anybody as a dark portal appeared right in front of them before they all marched inside in a hurry, taking Charizard along as the portal vanished.

"W-what the heck was that?" Silva asked.

"..." Shadow Wes grunted. "Fine, be that way."

"Did they just take him back into the Subspace?" Squirtle asked.

"I do recall Charizard saying he wasn't going to be easily captured," Mewtwo said. "He surely thought about all the possibilities, and he included the Primids so he could escape. I'm surprised you didn't toss the Poké Ball before he could get away, Red. You could have tossed it when he was being carried."

Red's lips twitched a bit before he looked down, putting the Poké Ball away. "Why did I have to stop..."

"I-it's okay," Chris said. "You'll have better chances the next time."

"AHEM," Shadow Wes called from the other side of the frozen field as Shadow Suicune and Shadow Entei got closer to each other. "I'm waiting here."

"...What now?" Red muttered. He looked back at Squirtle and Ivysaur. "Do you think you have a chance?"

"I..." Ivysaur looked at Shadow Entei. "...I don't think I have very good chances..."

"And Suicune plain scares me," Squirtle admitted. "That Shadow Rush attack is definitely severe on anyone..."

Mewtwo sighed before he floated forward to stand in front of Red. "I'll fight for now."

Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur looked surprised. "R-really? Will you fight as my Pokémon?" Red asked.

"Don't get it wrong," Mewtwo said as he looked at red over his right shoulder. "I'll attack by my own orders. You can tell me what I can't see, though. You're going to be some sort of second set of eyes for me."

Red blinked a few times before frowning. "It was just too good to be true..."

Squirtle saluted Mewtwo. "Then, good luck, and prevent us from stepping in front of those 2."

Chris looked worried. "H-hold on, I don't have any Pokémon left with me!"

"Ahem..."

The World Traveler blinked a bit as he turned around to look up at Lucario, crossing his arms bored. "...Oh, sorry," Chris said as he blushed a bit. "I-I didn't recall you, Lucario..."

Lucario sighed. "I hope you didn't forget me all the time before."

"T-that was just because I wanted to make Wes suffer for being cold," Chris said. "...But please, do your best."

Lucario smiled at Chris and pulled him under his left arm. "I'll listen to you, don't worry," he said.

Chris hugged Lucario tightly before his proud Pokémon jumped forward, landing some feet away from him as his hands flared up with aura.

Shadow Wes grinned at the sight of the 2 Pokémon. "My, this is surely going to get interesting now. I didn't want to lose my time with those weak-looking Squirtle and Ivysaur."

The 2 mentioned characters glared at the Shadow Nightmare as Red looked at him with a glare. "Don't you dare call them weak again," he said.

"Whatever," Shadow Wes said. "Entei, use Fire Blast on Lucario! Suicune, use Ice Beam on Mewtwo!"

"Lucario, evade Fire Blast and use Force Palm on Entei!" Chris ordered.

"Mewtwo," Red began. "...Er...do whatever you please. I'll alert you from anything fishy."

Mewtwo nodded as he began to hover along the ground to approach Shadow Suicune.

"Don't let Lucario avoid the attack, Entei," Shadow Wes said. "As for you, Suicune, don't let Mewtwo avoid your attack either. Close in!"

His 2 Legendary Pokémon obeyed his orders as they both began to charge at the 2 Pokémon.

While this happened, Chris got a little bit confused. "That's weird..." he muttered. "I thought Kawashima was going to alert us that the Over Limit gauge was full... What happened?" He took out his DS to open it. Upon opening it, he stared at a blank screen. "..." He turned the DS on, but as soon as it turned on, the DS instantly turned off. "What?" Chris turned it back on before it turned off by itself. "...The battery is depleted..." he muttered. "Hey, you 2, I think the Over Limit gauge is full!"

Red got an idea. "You should use it right away so we deal a lot of damage!"

The 2 trainers watched as Lucario jumped over the Fire Blast's emblem easily while Mewtwo warped just behind Shadow Suicune after it use Ice Beam. The Aurora Pokémon quickly turned back, just before the Psychic Pokémon activated the Over Limit by saying, "Be gone."

Shadow Suicune was then pushed to the air by the unknown force that covered Mewtwo. The Water type flipped in the air before landing on its feet, glaring eyes with Mewtwo as a rainbow aura surged all around him.

Mewtwo merely chuckled as he held out his right hand, instantly using Psychic on the Shadow Pokémon. Shadow Suicune's eyes widened after it began to float above the ground before being pulled into the air. Mewtwo, grinning a bit, began to slash the air by creating many Psycho Cuts that flew around the Shadow Pokémon by forming a sphere of all the flying slices. Once Mewtwo had created around 100, he stopped slicing the air with his glowing fingers before holding out his left hand open at the floating opponent. "Slice," he simply said as he closed his hand.

The 100 Psycho Cuts suddenly stopped circling before all of them aimed at Shadow Suicune, instantly shooting off to it, cutting it from all directions as it howled in pain and fell down the ground, shattering some ice in the process as Mewtwo chuckled several times.

"I'm impressed," Shadow Wes said as Shadow Suicune slowly got back up on its feet. "I didn't know there was such an attack."

Mewtwo glared at him over his right shoulder. "Do not underestimate me."

"And don't that to me as well," Shadow Wes said as he took out an orange potion from his back. "Hey, Suicune, catch this!"

Mewtwo managed to identify the item as a Hyper Potion. The shadow trainer wanted to heal Shadow Suicune's injuries by giving it the recovery item. Mewtwo, however, wasn't stupid. The Psychic Pokémon held out his right hand wide open to use Psychic on the Hyper Potion to stop it from reaching the Aurora Pokémon. "I'm not going to let you do that," Mewtwo said.

Shadow Wes smirked. "Suicune, use Shadow Rush!"

Mewtwo quickly warped from behind the rushing dog before it could leap at his previous spot. The Psychic Pokémon then decided to slam down the potion on the floor so its contents could leak into the cracks in the ground, stopping Shadow Suicune from recovering. "That's that," Mewtwo said as he glared at Shadow Suicune. "Whatever you do, I'll evade it in time."

"We shall see that," Shadow Wes said as he made a fist. "There's no way the Savior of Pokémon will fall down before you."

"Savior of Pokémon...that's pure nonsense," Mewtwo commented.

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAARGH!!!" Lucario roared as he landed on the ground and rushed at Entei with a glowing right fist.

Hearing the roar, Shadow Wes quickly issued orders. "Suicune, don't stop using Ice Beam to trap Mewtwo within ice! Entei, use Flamethrower all over Lucario!"

The 2 Legendary Pokémon obeyed once again as they began to execute their orders. As Red cursed under his breath for not ordering Mewtwo what to do, Chris pointed forward. "Lucario, use Extremespeed to get close to Entei, then use Force Palm!"

The Aura Pokémon glared at the Volcano Pokémon before it released a strong wave of flames. Due to the Sunny Day effect still intact, Shadow Entei's firepower was stronger than before. For Lucario, however, wasn't as fast as he easily and swiftly ran around the flames to later touch Shadow Entei's left side, the Volcano Pokémon getting a shocked look as he roared at Lucario.

"Get away," Lucario muttered before his right palm glowed on the big Pokémon, creating an explosion that pushed Shadow Entei back. The Volcano Pokémon roared in pain as it tumbled, but it regained its composure quickly to unleash another Flamethrower, unfortunately being too fast for Lucario to react as he got covered in flames. "GRRRRRRRRR!!!"

"Lucario, please, hold on!" Chris yelled.

Red had to help the Aura Pokémon. "Mewtwo, ignore Suicune and go help Lucario from Entei!"

The Psychic Pokémon warped to Shadow Suicune's right side to evade the Ice Beam attack. Once Mewtwo looked over at Shadow Entei, he held out his left hand to shoot a Shadow Ball that collided on its back to stop its Flamethrower on the Aura Pokémon. Lucario had tight fists by his sides as he looked a little bit burned. Opening his eyes, Lucario gritted his fangs as he looked at Shadow Entei before Mewtwo floated back to evade Shadow Suicune's Ice Beam.

"Are you okay, Lucario?" Chris asked.

Lucario nodded. "The flames were strong, but I can still fight," he reaffirmed as he glared at Shadow Entei.

"Good, now use Aura Sphere!"

The Aura Pokémon obeyed as he began to gather a lot of aura quickly between his hands. Shadow Wes narrowed his glare and pointed forward. "Entei, stop him by using Fire Blast, quick!"

The Volcano Pokémon began to gather flames before shooting a big emblem of fire that went after the Aura Pokémon. Once Lucario finished charging, he shot an Aura Sphere (half his size due to the damage he took) to stop the charging fire, instantly making a big explosion with smoke that forced him to jump back.

The smoke that came out from the 2 attacks spread all over one quarter of the field. Thinking quickly as Chris looked at Lucario, the scholar focused. "(I have an idea,)" Chris thought. "Use you aura to find Entei in the smoke!"

Lucario's body began to get engulfed with his aura as his eyes glowed yellow. The Aura Pokémon quickly found the Legendary Pokémon's dark aura before Lucario growled loudly.

"Use Aura Sphere!"

"GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARGH!" Lucario roared loudly as he shot a fast sphere of aura into the smoke. A big explosion came from within that pushed the smoke away, revealing a roaring Shadow Entei that got angry after the orb met its face.

Grunting, Shadow Wes turned to see Shadow Suicune trying to land an Ice Beam on the warping Mewtwo. Annoyed by the fact his Pokémon wasn't doing any damage, Shadow Wes looked at Entei. "Entei, forget about Lucario and go help Suicune by taking down Mewtwo!"

The Volcano Pokémon growled at the Aura Pokémon before it turned around to later rush towards the Psychic Pokémon. Lucario tightened his fists before he began to go after Shadow Entei.

"While running, use another Aura Sphere to hurt Entei!" Chris ordered.

The Aura Pokémon pulled his hands to his left before charging quickly a big Aura Sphere that he quickly shot forward.

"Oh, sorry, but it won't hit," Shadow Wes said. "Suicune, use Ice Beam on the sphere!"

The Aurora Pokémon stopped shooting its beam at the warping Mewtwo before quickly turning around to shoot the beam at the sphere. Lucario grunted as he saw his own attack being turned into an ice ball that fell on the ground before exploding in a blue burst.

Chris wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Oh god, the first 10 minutes of the battle and I'm already sweating in this cave of ice..."

"Hey, at least you're working," said Red annoyed as he looked away. "Mewtwo won't listen to me even if I caught him."

"Er, maybe you shouldn't try his attitude," Squirtle said.

"...I hate how powerful he is..." Red muttered.

Mewtwo, growing a bit angry, decided to warp behind Shadow Suicune to slice it with several Psycho Cuts. The Aurora Pokémon growled in pain before turning around and using Ice Beam. Mewtwo couldn't warp away in time before he got trapped in ice, a shocking expression apparent in his eyes.

Shadow Wes grinned. "Well, now you got him in ice. Now, before he escapes, use Shadow Rush!"

Red and Chris gasped after Shadow Suicune began to glow darker as it prepared to rush at the frozen Mewtwo. "L-Lucario, stop Suicune from using Shadow Rush by using Force Palm!"

"Entei, don't you let Lucario interrupt Suicune. Use Fire Blast!"

Shadow Entei turned to Lucario as it began to charge fire in its mouth. Lucario grunted but ignored the Volcano Pokémon as he began to run after Shadow Suicune.

"Can you combine Extremespeed with Force Palm? If so, use both!" Chris ordered.

Shadow Wes smirked. "Turn around and use the attack on Lucario instead!"

Lucario obeyed Chris as he instantly appeared at Shadow Suicune's right side. However, he didn't see the Aurora Pokémon turning to him before leaping with an insane speed as it was completely covered in darkness. Lucario roared loudly in pain as he was sent to the air before a big Fire Blast attack came from down below him, exploding right after touching his back. "GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!" Lucario roared loudly before he crashed down on the ice floor, shattering most of it with his weight.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled horrified. "C-can you stand up?"

"GuuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHH!!!" the Aura Pokémon responded as the aura in his body suddenly became a lot bigger as it flared up in rage. Lucario quickly stood up as his appendages began to move up by the flaring aura in his body. His red eyes glared at the 2 Legendary Pokémon before Mewtwo managed to shatter the ice that froze him.

Rui and Silva got surprised by the aura that illuminated the whole cave around them. "W-wow, look at the size of that blue fire..." Silva said in awe.

Chris smiled a bit. "Lucario's aura was pushed to the limit now... But...it worries me." Chris rubbed his chin. "The fact he was quickly pushed to the limit that fast worries me..."

"That means his brute force became even more dangerous, right?" Red asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "Lucario, use Aura Sphere at full potency on Entei!"

"Full potency?" Shadow Wes repeated. "Suicune, Entei, use Ice Beam and Fire Blast respectively!" The trainer then noticed that both of his Pokémon were glowing a bit in another aura. "What?"

Shadow Wes looked to his right where Mewtwo had both hands holding out towards the 2 Legendary Pokémon. "Lucario, use your aura now," Mewtwo said. "I'll hold them at bay so you attack them with all your forces."

"Thanks," Lucario said as he instantly made a huge Aura Sphere that covered half of his whole body. "GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" he roared loudly as helet the huge Aura Sphere get blasted off right on the trapped Volcano Pokémon. Shadow Entei met a huge explosion that shattered the ice around it as it roared loudly in pain to the ceiling. As smoke covered it, Lucario growled at Shadow Suicune.

"This time, use your own fists to deal massive damage on Suicune! Use Extremespeed!" Chris yelled.

The Aura Pokémon nodded before he instantly appeared besides the Aurora Pokémon, using an uppercut flaring with a big amount aura that sent Shadow Suicune to the air, almost reaching the rock ceiling as Lucario did a high jump and delivered another uppercut on its stomach. Shadow Suicune coughed in pain before Lucario grabbed Shadow Suicune's upper right foot to pull it down hardly, making it crash into the ground before the Aura Pokémon shot several but small Aura Spheres down, creating small explosions that quickly grew in size as he landed back on the ice floor, shattering it with his feet.

"Someone's on steroids," Squirtle began as he smiled a bit at the battle. "Aura steroids. Get it?"

"Good one," Ivysaur said as he low-fived Squirtle while Red frowned at the joke.

Shadow Suicune grunted as it slowly got back up on its feet. The Aura Pokémon took a fighting stance as he showed his sharp fangs as it. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario grunted as he made fists at his sides. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Shadow Wes grunted a bit. He didn't expect Lucario to that kind of damage on Shadow Suicune. "Dammit, and when I was thinking I could win... No, no, no! I need to concentrate..." He looked at Shadow Entei. "Entei, try to use Fire Blast on Lucario!"

"Mewtwo, I don't care what you say but stop Entei from interrupting Lucario!" Red yelled.

The Psychic Pokémon frowned at the order as he floated quickly towards the Volcano Pokémon. Upon standing close, Mewtwo's eyes glowed before shooting some sparkling lights that went into Shadow Entei's eyes. The Fire type felt weird before shaking its head to use Fire Blast. However, instead of fire coming out, a cough was released.

"Did that thing just use Disable?" Shadow Wes asked. "This is getting really annoying now... Entei, use Flamethrower on Mewtwo!"

At that moment, the shining light on top of the tunnel disappeared, making fire attacks less powerful but making water attack return to their normal power.

"And now you're doing this to me?" Shadow Wes asked. "Entei, use Flamethrower on Mewtwo!"

"Lucario, use as many Force Palms as you can use on Entei!" Chris ordered.

The Aura Pokémon growled loudly before he leaped towards Shadow Entei. Before the Volcano Pokémon could use its attack, his face met a flurry of Force Palms that sent explosions all over its face, yelling in pain as Lucario roared. "GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!"

Shadow Entei suddenly felt sparks emanating from its body. One of the many Force Palms of Lucario surely inflicted paralyzis on it. Shadow Wes, seeing this brutal attack, took out a yellow container; a Parlyz Heal. "Entei, use this and heal yourself!"

As soon as he tossed the item, it was instantly pulled down at the ice floor. Shadow Wes grunted loudly as he looked over at the glowing hand of Mewtwo. The Psychic Pokémon grinned a bit at him before focusing his attention on Shadow Suicune by tossing a fully charged Shadow Ball, creating an explosion that pushed the Aurora Pokémon back.

Rui sighed in relief. "At this rate, you're going to defeat him..."

"I wish this keeps up like this..." Red muttered. "He could pull out some sort of dirty trick..."

The World Traveler watched as Lucario stopped his flurry of Force Palms before sending a strong fist on Shadow Entei's face, pushing him some feet as he shook a bit thanks to the paralysis. The Volcano Pokémon gathered more flames in its mouth before releasing a stream of fire at the Aura Pokémon, who grunted loudly before shooting a huge Aura Sphere.

Chris gasped. "W-wait, I didn't tell you t-"

A big explosion came after the 2 attacks collided with each other. The explosion was so big that it easily reached both Lucario and Shadow Entei. The 2 Pokémon were pushed far away from each other as they both rolled recklessly on the shattered ice before stopping. The World Traveler found his Pokémon unable to attack anymore.

"L-LUCARIO!" Chris yelled. "Lucario, are you okay? Lucario!"

"...Sorry..." Lucario muttered as his big aura began to shrink into his body. "...I...should had waited for your next order... I could have finished Suicune that way..."

"What the hell? Entei!" Shadow Wes yelled from the other side as he looked at his knocked out Pokémon behind him. "Entei, get up and attack Mewtwo!"

The Volcano Pokémon laid down on the floor as it grunted weakly. Its eyes opened a bit to look at his shadow trainer before its head fell down, a signal to indicate it got knocked out.

Shadow Wes looked around to find and use a Revive, but he seemed desperate as he didn't find mentioned item. "Dammit, why the hell didn't I re-stock items? I have 2 Hyper Potions but they won't help! Entei, return!" Shadow Wes yelled angrily as he returned Entei to its Poké Ball. "You did well... Now wish for us to terminate those rebels," he said to the sphere before grunting and looking back at the fight, watching Chris returning Lucario to his Poké Ball in time.

"This is what happens when Pokémon act on their own, then? This is horrible..." Chris looked at Lucario's Poké Ball. "...Please, rest for now," he muttered. "...You did really well out there, Lucario..."

Focusing back, Shadow Wes pointed forward. "Suicune, use Shadow Rush on Mewtwo and don't stop until you land a hit on him!" He looked angrily at Red and Chris. "Why the hell are you saying those things to him?" Shadow Wes asked.

The World Traveler glared at the Shadow Nightmare. "I'm telling Lucario those things because I care a lot about him! He's my very first Pokémon!"

"Nonsense," Shadow Wes muttered. "There's no way you like Pokémon as much as I do."

"Y-you're wrong!" Red yelled. "We care a lot about all our Pokémon because we worry about them!"

"Like I'm going to believe you," Shadow Wes said. "You people only hide your true motives under lies so you can later abuse your Pokémon. I'm going to punish you for doing that filthy feeling!"

Rui shook her head. "This isn't just like Wes at all. He wouldn't say such things before."

"I remember that the Shadow Nightmare tells only truths that its victim hides," Chris said, recalling Shadow Lucas. "He's saying all the things Wes wanted to say aloud to the people he met. We're not like the words his shadow said, but what he yelled were truths he tried to conceal..."

The girl grunted a bit before looking back at the real Wes as Silva stood close to him. "...Wes, please, wake up..."

Back on the battle, Mewtwo warped in time to avoid Shadow Suicune's Shadow Rush as it leaped quickly many feet away from him. The Psychic Pokémon quickly shot a fully charged Shadow Ball at the dark Pokémon.

However, something went wrong as Shadow Suicune swiftly turned to the ball and leaped straight into it, making it vanish upon contact as Mewtwo looked a bit shocked. "(I should have noticed before...)" Mewtwo thought as he warped away from the leaping Shadow Pokémon. "(The Shadow Rush move not only makes its user powerful, but when the aura glows darker, it creates a defensive shield underneath it to protect its user...)"

Mewtwo managed to teleport away in time to avoid another rushing attack from Shadow Suicune. Soon, Mewtwo found himself teleporting almost all around the field helplessly as the Shadow Pokémon tried to land a blow. Red knew well that Mewtwo would eventually tire himself out by using Teleport too much to evade Shadow Rush. "W-we have to do something or else Mewtwo's going to get hit!" Red yelled.

"I'm out of Pokémon for real this time..." Chris said ashamed as he looked at the group of fainted Pokémon behind him. "I'm helpless now..."

"If only we had more Pokémon to help Mewtwo..." Squirtle said.

"I guess we could give him a hand if we had more Pokémon with us..." Ivysaur said.

Red, Chris, Rui, and even Silva looked at the 2 Pokémon. Their looks turned into long stares as Mewtwo evaded every single Shadow Rush attack.

"...Duh!" Squirtle said as he rolled his eyes. "We're Pokémon ourselves. We can help Mewtwo.

Ivysaur frowned. "Gosh, why didn't we see that before?" He looked up at Red. "What are your orders, captain?"

Red didn't know if it was a good idea to send either Squirtle or Ivysaur out to the battle. Seeing as Shadow Suicune traveler far distances along the ground (that was ice before it eventually shattered by the Aurora Pokémon's landing points) at a fast speed, there were small odds to help Mewtwo if he put his own Pokémon in battle.

"You know what?" Ivysaur began as he leaped in front of Red. "I'll fight if you're going to stare at us odd."

Red gasped. "W-wait, I don't know if it's such a good idea, Ivysaur!"

"Look at Mewtwo if you can spot him!" Ivysaur yelled as Shadow Suicune leaped around the field, trying to push Mewtwo with its dark power. "He's going to be all day doing that if we don't interfere!"

"Let me think about an idea!" Chris said as he changed to his Scholar job. "Using the increased IQ of this job, I will surely find the most logical attack to help Mewtwo... Um..."

A moment of silence followed as the battle kept going.

"...I need a good idea, mind!" Chris yelled to himself. "Ugh, I cannot believe I cannot find an effective attack... (And now I am starting to have this weird feeling inside my head!)"

"(What weird feeling is that?)" Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur asked.

The scholar noticed that time itself stopped in the tunnel. The battle, the people, and the breathing of the Pokémon came to a sudden halt. The World Traveler recognized the same feeling he had been having before. It indicated that surely...

Chris and another Smasher could use a new CFS.

"(...Red...)" Chris trailed off.

"(What?)" Red asked.

"(...It is time for us to use our CFS...)"

"(What? Isn't that attack the same one Pichu told me about?)" Ivysaur asked.

"(He told you 2? Well, it is,)" Chris said. "(We have understood each other so well that our partnership level reached its maximum.)"

"(I see...)" Red chuckled. "(To be honest, I grew very fond of you, Chris. When we got here, I started to know you a little bit better.)"

"(Same here,)" Squirtle said.

"(Glad I did the same here as well,)" Ivysaur said.

Chris chuckled heartily. "(Well then, shall we go on and see what we can...)"

"(...I think I know why you stopped talking,)" Red said.

"(What is this?)" Chris asked. "(I cannot just see one combined attack, but two instead...)"

"(Why would that be?)" Squirtle asked.

"(Maybe...)" Red thought for a moment. "(There are 2 attacks because of you and Ivysaur.)"

"(So we like have a different attack for each other?)" Ivysaur asked.

"(It does make sense when you put it that way,)" Chris said. "(The fact that you 2 are not with Charizard makes it obvious enough. Even if Charizard is not here, that would mean you 3 have all different attacks.)"

"(Which means we can unleash strong attacks on our own,)" Squirtle said.

"(Well, that is my closest theory, anyway...)"

Red grunted a bit. "(H-hey, let's not stay in this freaky conversation any longer,)" he said. "(If you 3 forgot, Mewtwo's in trouble.)"

"(You are right,)" Chris said. "(We must help Mewtwo before he suffers the consequences.)"

"(Heheh, I'm the one in the field. Do you know what that means?)" Ivysaur asked to Squirtle.

"(...You get to use your CFS first...)" Squirtle muttered annoyed.

"(Exactly, turtle guy,)" Ivysaur chimed happily.

"(Oh brother, I don't understand your little rivalry between you 2 at all...)" Red said with a sigh.

"(It is...mutual, I think,)" Chris said.

Pokémon Colosseum - Friendly Battle

The 4 snapped out from their conversation as they all looked forward. "Ivysaur, be prepared when I tell you so!" Red ordered.

"Right-o," Ivysaur said as he looked everywhere to spot Mewtwo.

Hearing their order, Shadow Wes grunted. "What, you still have more Pokémon left with you, pathetic excuse for a trainer?" He chuckled. "Well, it won't make that much of a difference 'cuz the battle is soon to be over with."

Red adjusted his cap. "Wow, how amusing. I was thinking the same thinking the same thing as you."

Shadow Wes narrowed his eyes at him. "What the heck do you intend to mean with that?"

"This," Chris began as his book glowed in a bright yellow light while Ivysaur narrowed his glare. "O small but mighty thunder, encase these vines with thy shocking properties..."

Ivysaur grinned as he studied Shadow Suicune's moves. The Shadow Pokémon leaped from side to side as it tried to deliver a severe blow on Mewtwo.

"Ivysaur, prepare to extend your vines forward to trap Suicune, okay?" Red asked, receiving a nod from Ivysaur as the trainer looked back to see a dark presences leaping north from the south. "Now, Ivysaur, use Electro-Whip!"

"Go!" Ivysaur yelled as his vines came out from underneath his flower's bulb. The vines that came out quickly began to cover themselves with a layer of electricity that emanated many sparks out. The Seed Pokémon's reached all the way across the field before Shadow Suicune came leaping from the side of the temple, accidentally letting itself touch the electric vines.

"W-what the..." Shadow Wes took a step back.

In an instant, Shadow Suicune's Shadow Rush ended as its normal dark aura turned dim. The Aurora Pokémon looked shocked as the vines began to wrap all around itself before it got completely covered. Shadow Suicune howled loudly before Ivysaur, grinning, released a great amount of electricity that turned the Legendary Pokémon into some sort of blinding, flashing Pokémon light as sparks flew out from all its directions.

New ability learned! Electro-Whip!

Trap foes within shocking vines that greatly deliver a big amount of volts into their targets. Deals a great amount of electric damage to the targets, and may also paralyze them with big chances of success.

As Ivysaur kept using his attack, Red spotted a tired Mewtwo warping in front of him. "Mewtwo, are you feeling okay?" Red asked.

Mewtwo panted a bit. "I have to get used to warp a lot around before dodging those attacks..." He grunted a bit. "I must train very soon so I can fight better. It's not like these is someone else out there who can teleport that many times like me."

"Do you wanna let me take over your place, then?" Squirtle offered.

Mewtwo thought for a moment. "...Do it so I can rest," he said with a sigh. "My psychic powers aren't feeling well after abusing Teleport so much..."

As the big Pokémon floated behind Red, Squirtle wagged his tail a bit to the sides before leaping into the field.

Ivysaur grunted a bit. "Darn it, this is all I can do for now..." he said before his vines stopped releasing electricity before they retreated underneath his flower's bulb.

"But look at that," Squirtle said as he looked at Shadow Suicune. "Seems you paralyzed it."

Shadow Wes grunted as Shadow Suicune shook itself. The electric made it get paralyzed. Grunting, the Aurora Pokémon glared at its small prey in front of it.

"What do you know?" Chris asked as his book's yellow glow turned blue. "We still have another CFS left."

Red chuckled before pointing forward. "Squirtle, are you ready for the next attack?"

"Always," Squirtle said as he grinned at Shadow Suicune.

Chris focused his magic as the book's pages flipped wildly to every side. "O subtle but pacific ice, bring forth your effects after transparent water touches thy enemies..."

Red pointed forward at the paralyzed Shadow Suicune. "Now, Squirtle, use Stalag-ice Gun!"

"Stalag-ice Gun?" Shadow Wes asked before pointing forward. "Suicune, use Blizzard before whatever attack comes to you!"

Shadow Suicune obeyed and tried to use Blizzard. Unfortunately for it, the paralysis proved to be a real hindrance as its mouth stunned a bit, preventing it from executing the attack before it watched Squirtle using what looked to be a normal Water Gun attack that sprayed all over itself. Shadow Suicune looked confused at this since it didn't get hurt for a bit.

"...That was it?" Shadow Wes asked. "You...wet Suicune? What kind of joke is this?"

"Did you forget the fact I said the attack would bring forth its effects after the water touched its enemies?" Chris asked.

Suddenly, the water that fell down on Shadow Suicune shone brightly as icicles sprouted out, impaling the Aurora Pokémon's stomach as it howled in pain and jumped away from the ice. However, there was more water on its back that quickly fell down around it and called forth stalagmites of ice that instantly sprouted out after the water touched the ground. Shadow Suicune howled in more pain as it tried to move. The paralysis, however, restrained it from moving as the icicles continued to hurt it even more.

New Ability Learned! Stalag-ice Gun!

Water is sprayed around the enemy before ice stalagmites sprout out, damaging all foes within range by impaling. Deals great ice damage to enemies.

Shadow Wes began to grunt annoyed. "H-hey, get the hell out of those icicles, Suicune! Ignore the paralysis and jump away!"

His Shadow Pokémon grunted in pain before it managed to jump at the side, his stomach already having enough damage by the icicles that remained there on their places.

"What? It's not enough?" Red asked.

Chris grunted. "I thought it was going so easy to be true," he said. "If there was another way to make our attacks stronger..."

"What about the stickers?" Squirtle suddenly asked. "We haven't used them yet, right?"

"...But of course," Red said as he took out his Trophy Stand. "Hey, why do my Pokémon have to share the same stand? It limits them from growing even stronger."

"Blame that to Master Hand as well?" Chris asked as he took out a handful of stickers; every single one that he had obtained. "Let us see... Oh, look, I have some of the stickers that Jirachi gave me during the Olympic Games." He picked the Squirtle sticker. "According to my book, it says here this sticker gives Squirtle's water power a boost of 41."

Squirtle blinked at his sticker. "Hey, when did I do a pose like that?"

"41 is a big number, right?" Red asked.

Squirtle suddenly hopped in his place. 'S-stick it, stick it, stick it!" he pleaded.

"It's size is medium, so it should be 2," Chris said as he gave the sticker to Red, carefully putting it in the trophy stand.

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon suddenly felt a surge of power running through his body. He stood still for a moment before looking pleased at Red. "I have my own water steroids now."

"Will you just knock it off with those weird drugs?" Red asked, receiving shocked looks from Chris and Ivysaur. "...I know what to do to protect myself. Knowledge is a good defense..."

Chris shrugged as he looked at the stickers. "The Spitz sticker increase tail strength plus 12..."

"Y-you guys need to hurry up before Suicune attacks," Silva called from the wall as Shadow Suicune tried to move while Shadow Wes looked around for an item to heal it.

"..." Chris shook his head. "Those are all the stickers that are can be used for Squirtle and Ivysaur... Sorry..."

"So Squirtle gets upgrades while I remain the same," Ivysaur said before rolling his eyes. "That's SO good if you ask me."

"S-stop it, your sarcasm is so obvious," Red said. "We'll have to resort using your 4 attacks."

"4 attacks? I thought we had only 3," Ivysaur said.

"...Actually..." Squirtle began to think. "...Don't we know 4th ones?"

"Now that you mention it..." Chris began as he rubbed his chin. "I thought you 2 had 4 attacks instead of 3. It does not make sense for Red's Pokémon Change move to be your 4th move."

"Wait," Red began as he thought. "I saw our Final Smash before...and I do recall Squirtle using Hydro Pump and Ivysaur using Solarbeam..."

"...That's it!" Ivysaur said. "Now I remember. I can use Solarbeam, Red!"

"And I can use Hydro Pump!" Squirtle said.

"Your calling is not a Pokémon attack at all. It just calls us back. We still have our own 4th attacks with us!"

Chris nodded. "That is correct. It makes a lot of sense that you 2 know those attacks."

"And considering the fact Suicune is a Water type, according to my Pokédex..." Red looked at the paralyzed Suicune. "...It means Ivysaur's Solarbeam will prove very effective..."

"Super effective," Chris corrected.

"Whatever!" Red said. "Ivysaur, prepare to charge Solarbeam!"

Ivysaur grinned at Red before turning around, slowly gathering energy inside its flower's bulb as sparkles of light appeared above it.

"Hey, what do I do?" Squirtle asked. "I didn't receive these boosts of power for nothing, right?"

"Er..." Red looked at Shadow Suicune. "...You could wet its eyes so it doesn't escape..."

"...That's utterly pathetic for my tastes...but it'll help to finish this fight..." Squirtle said with a shrug before turning around to run at Shadow Suicune.

Shadow Wes grunted as he didn't find anything to heal Shadow Suicune. "I hate myself for not re-stocking items..." He noticed Squirtle and Ivysaur preparing their attacks. "Suicune, use Ice Beam!"

"Stop right there!" Squirtle yelled before shooting a stream of water by using Water Gun. Unlike its normal power, the water that came out from Squirtle's mouth was a lot as it sprayed all over Shadow Suicune. Red watched in awe as Shadow Suicune got pushed back along the ground. The Water Gun's pushing force surely was increased by several levels.

"...Alright!" Red said as he made a fist. "The sticker gave all that power to Squirtle?"

Chris adjusted his glasses. "If it did that, then our battles could be a lot easier in the future..."

"Red!" Ivysaur called as the energy inside his bulb stopped gathering. "It's ready!"

"Right!" Red said as he pointed forward. "Squirtle, step aside! Ivysaur, unleash Solarbeam at full potency on Suicune!"

"W-what?!" Shadow Wes asked as he gritted his teeth. "S-Suicune, use Blizzard!"

The group gasped as Shadow Suicune started to gather ice mist in its mouth. Ivysaur didn't stop his move before he raised his back a bit to aim his bulb at the Legendary Pokémon. Once he did that, a green beam quickly shot from its bulb. At that moment, Shadow Suicune released a big sleet of ice that reached the beam.

However, since Shadow Suicune's energies were greatly depleted by Lucario's previous actions, Ivysaur's Solarbeam proved to be stronger as it easily pierced through the sleet. Shadow Suicune gasped as the beam quickly hit its face square, prompting an explosion to push back the Water type as it yelled in pain, falling to its right side as its face got slammed on the ground.

"Is it over?" Rui asked as Ivysaur lowered his back while Squirtle reunited with the group.

"Please, let this battle be over with..." Silva muttered.

"We had fought for a long while now," Chris said. "There is no way Shadow Wes possess any kind of special ability to attack back..."

"..." Red kept a glare at the Shadow Nightmare.

"..." Shadow Wes slowly shook his head as the Solarbeam vanished in an instant, leaving a trail of sparkles that dispersed through the air above the knocked out Shadow Pokémon, disappearing into nothingness. "...No..."

Music stops

The group watched as the Shadow Nightmare shook his head and fell on his knees, looking at his last Pokémon knocked out on the ground. The Shadow Nightmare slowly moved its Poké Ball to return Shadow Suicune to it before he kept it in its belt. "...Why...why...why...why...why...why, dammit?!" he asked loudly in rage before he began to slam his right fist on the ground. "Why did I have to lose in such a way?! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?! WHY?!"

"...You did it..." Rui muttered before some tears strolled down her cheeks. "...Y-you did it, guys! You defeated him!"

"W-we did it? W-we really did it?" Red asked before he knelt down to look at his Pokémon. "W-we did it!"

"We did it?" Squirtle asked before chuckling. "Hey, I guess we did it."

"Of course we did it," Chris said with a chuckle. "That is the most logical outcome we could reach."

"Are you showing off?" Ivysaur asked with a grin.

"W-well...I-I will not lie..." Chris said embarrassed.

"Yes, you did it!" Rui exclaimed happily as she went and hugged Red tightly. "You managed to do it, Red. Thank you so much!"

"R-Rui, you're starting to scare me..." Red said as he blushed.

Chris noticed that Silva walked to him. "Well, I haven't seen you before, but..."

The 4 humans looked back at the Shadow Nightmare as he kept banging his right fist on the ground. The shadow grew furious after losing the battle. Stopping, he looked up quickly to glare at the group. "You...you...YOU!!!"

The 4 humans and the 3 remaining Pokémon glared at the monster. "Geez, you just won't get over it, right?" Red asked.

"I can't believe you're the manifestation of Wes's truths," Rui said. "You shouldn't try to kill us all just because we care for Pokémon!"

"Admit that you were defeated fair and square," Chris said, his half-open eyes looking serious as he pointed his book at the Shadow Nightmare. "Now, you can go away."

"Shut up!" Shadow Wes yelled as he got up and cracked his fists. "You didn't win fair and square at all. Because of the nerd guy, my Pokémon were obliterated by those unknown and powerful attacks. How can call you that fair and square?"

"If I recall, you tried to restore your Pokémon," Red said.

"That's because it's allowed to do that in battles here. My god, why don't you know that?" Shadow Wes asked. "Why do you even bother trying to be a trainer?"

The group didn't hear some silent grunts coming from behind them as some topaz eyes slowly opened their eyelids.

Red looked serious at him.

"Why do you try so hard to be a trainer?" Shadow Wes asked. "I don't understand why you keep struggling to be something you can't even do right."

"...I..." Red looked down. "...I became a trainer because...I...I...I..."

The people of the group looked as Red made fists on the sides of his hips.

Kingdom Hearts II - Missing You

"...I became a trainer because..." Red lowered his hat a bit. "...I wanted to find a friend of mine again..."

"...What?" Shadow Wes asked. "Why did you..."

Red put his hands in his pockets. "The reason why I wanted to become a trainer originally was because I missed a childhood friend that started the journey to become a Pokémon Master 8 months before I started my own journey," Red explained. "...Truth is, my friend and I were very close to each other, but I never heard of her ever since she started her journey..."

Rui blinked at this. "Wait, you became a trainer because..."

"...I wanted to meet her again," Red said. "The name of my friend was Green, but she said she hated her name a bit so she decided to give herself a shorter name, and she came up with the name Geren."

"...You friend's name was Green?"

"Please, don't laugh at her name, but Geren sounded better," Red said before he smiled a bit. "Geren and I became friends when we were little. I met her one day in Pallet Town when we were both 6. She was born 9 months earlier than I was so she was older. When I met her, it was the time where I didn't like Pokémon that much."

"You WHAT?!" Shadow Wes asked. "You didn't like Pokémon?!"

"SHUT UP!" Red yelled. "I need to continue if order for you to understand me... Anyway, when I was little, I used to hate Pokémon...not like them... I hated them because I thought they were monsters that hid in the forests to attack people. I was unfortunate to hear stories about wild Pokémon attacking people without reason from the TV. I began to think like that before I met Geren."

The World Traveler looked over at the fainted Pokémon.

"One day, I was walking back home after I played Hide-n-Seek with some other friends I had. When I was hallway there, I met Geren..."

Flashback

Pallet Town
Road

It was a sunny afternoon as a young boy walked home with a blank expression. The boy that walked through the road alone was a younger Red. When he was little, he wore a red shirt, black shorts, and white sneakers. The young boy didn't wear a hat yet.

"I was minding my own business when I stumbled into her..."

The young boy suddenly stopped in his tracks to see a young girl crying under a tree. The long brown haired girl was young, and she wore a pink shirt with a white skirt and blue shoes. Close to the girl, a weak Pidgey seemed hurt in its right wing.

"U-uah!" the young Red yelped. "Y-you, get away from it!"

"...Huh?" the girl stopped crying as she looked at the boy on the road. "W-what are you talking about?"

"T-there's a monster close to you, that's what!" the young Red yelled as he pointed at the Pidgey. "S-stay back, it's going to attack you!"

The girl wiped out her tears and stood up. "A-are you crazy or what?"

"W-what?"

The girl ducked to pick up the Pidgey, startling the boy a bit. "T-this Pidgey got its wing hurt because a mean Spearow picked up on it. The bully pecked its wing so hard before I came around and tossed a rock to scare it away, but then Pidgey had already fell down..." The girl sniffed a bit as she looked at the Pidgey. "I've been here this whole time taking care of it. I began to panic when it fainted, but I couldn't take it home because my parents would say no..."

The young kid shook his head. "Of course they're going to say no. Pokémon are bad!"

"W-what?" the young girl asked. "H-how can you say such a thing to them?"

"They're bad, they attack people without reason," the young boy said. "Haven't you seen the wild Pokémon that live around the town?"

"Are you telling me you hate Pokémon because they live with us?"

"Y-yeah, that!" the young boy said. "How can you get close to one?"

"I can get close to one because I like them!"

"You like them? Why?"

The girl blushed a bit. "T-there are certain Pokémon that look so cute...and Pidgey here looks cute..." She walked to him to show him the Pidgey, making the boy take a step back. "Doesn't it look cute?"

"P-put that away from me!" the young boy yelped.

The girl pouted a bit. "That's a rude and mean reaction, you know. This Pidgey isn't even doing anything rather than resting to heal its wing..." She looked down at the Pidgey. "...Would you let an innocent Pokémon suffer while you just walk away?"

The young boy remained silent as he looked shocked at the hurt Pidgey. The boy looked surprised as the Pidgey opened an eye to look at him. By the looks it gave him, the Pidgey was badly hurt before it fainted again.

"...Now you see?" the girl asked. "It doesn't want to hurt anybody. Pidgey got unlucky because a mean Pokémon attacked it... If you think innocent people get attacked unfairly by wild Pokémon, wild Pokémon themselves attack each other without reason."

"..." The boy looked down before hearing the Pidgey chirping silently in pain.

"Oh no, things are getting worse now," the girl said as she rubbed the Pidgey's head with care. "I need to take this somewhere safe before night comes..." She looked around. "I don't think I can ask someone else to take care of it..."

"...I-I'll do it if you don't mind..." the boy muttered with a gulp.

The girl looked at him surprised. "W-what?"

"I-I'll take care of Pidgey..." the boy said as he looked at the bird. "Y-you said it's not going to hurt me, right?"

"O-of course not," the girl said. "This Pidgey wouldn't hurt you because you want to take care of it. Pidgey will understand, right, Pidgey?"

The boy looked back at the Pidgey. It opened weakly an eye and chirped a bit.

"See? It trusts us."

The boy gulped. "W-well...I think I can tell my mom I'm going to look after it... She likes Pokémon..."

"And you don't?" the girl asked. "You should like them. You could learn a LOT about them."

The boy looked away. "D-don't get me wrong. I'm just doing this so you stop looking sad."

The girl blushed. "...T-that's...a little bit too much to say..."

"...E-er, oh yeah, too much," the boy said blushing as both looked away. "...S-so...I'm going to take care of Pidgey for you..."

The girl looked at him. "And you won't mind?"

"N-nope, I won't," the boy said. "I-I'm going to be scared, though..."

The girl chuckled. "Oh, please, you don't need to be scared. Here." She gave the weak Pidgey to the boy's arms. The kid began to sweat a bit as he felt the bird resting on his arms. "Now Pidgey is gonna be with you until it heals."

"I-is it going to be fast?" the kid asked. "I mean, is its wing going to heal fast so it goes away?"

"If you want, you can call me so I can pick it up for you if you don't wanna raise it. I like Pidgeys," she said. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

The boy looked away embarrassed. "M-my name is...Red..."

"...Red?" the girl repeated.

"Just laugh at me already! I have a very stupid name!" the boy yelled without looking at her.

"Why would I?" the girl asked embarrassed. "My name is Green..."

The boy gasped a bit and looked at her. "W-why do you have a color for a name as well as me?"

The girl blushed. "W-well, my parents called me that because Green is supposed to mean hope. They're weird, you know. They used this name on me because I gave them hope to be their daughter..." She looked away. "...So yeah, that's why my name is Green. It's supposed to be something like hope. What about yours? Did they name you like that because of a reason?"

Red blushed. "I-I heard my mom saying I had a lot of energy, and she said red means energy... I guess my name's like that because I'm energetic..."

Green chuckled. "My guess is that you freak out by Pokémon so much that she knew you were energetic."

"H-hey, knock it off."

Green chuckled again. "Well, you can just call me Geren, though."

"Geren?"

Green nodded. "Geren is an anagram for Green. I thought about asking my mom to change it, but I found out people can have nicknames and I decided to come up with Geren. It sounds a little bit girly for a girl, right?"

"I guess..."

"Too bad you don't have that many letters," Geren said. "Why don't you call yourself Dre?"

"...Thinking about it, Red sounds good enough for me."

Geren pouted a bit. "Okay, I'm not so good at giving nicknames." She looked at Pidgey. "So, anyhow, can you take care of Pidgey without freaking out?"

"I...will try to..." Red said scared.

Geren chuckled. "Oh, you're going to do it just fine. Pidgey surely will like you a lot before you know it."

"B-but promise me you're going to take it away once it heals, okay?"

"Show me your house and I'll listen," Geren said.

"W-wait, you want to come to my house?"

"Just for a bit," Geren said bored. "I want to make sure you don't cheat and leave Pidgey outside. I'm gonna convince your mom to let you take care of it."

"Dammit..." Red muttered.

"Hey, were you cursing?"

"I-I mean, okay!" Red said. "C-come this way, please..."

Red and Geren soon headed south to Red's house. As they were walking, Geren wanted to know a little bit more about Red as the boy responded her answers and doubts along the way to the house. Before long, they began to laugh a bit with each other.

"And before I knew it, Geren and I became fast friends before reaching my house..."

The Under
Apotos Temple - Entrance

Red smiled a bit. "When I came home, she convinced my mom to let me take care of Pidgey. Days passed and Pidgey eventually healed. I got surprised and called Geren to let her know about Pidgey's recovery. She got so happy that she hugged me..." He blushed. "A-and after that day...we began to spend the time with each other..."

"...Wow," Chris commented. "Is there anything more?"

Red nodded. "Geren and I grew up. As we grew up, she talked to me a lot about Pokémon: how they were cute, how they were strong, how they were curious, and how there were some ancient creatures. She told me many times that she wanted to become a Pokémon trainer in order to know more about them. One day, she asked me if I forgot my dislike towards Pokémon. She knew I didn't have it with me anymore, but I didn't like Pokémon as much as she did."

"Then what happened?" Rui asked.

"After I knew she was going to leave 1 month after her birthday, I began to panic in my mind..."

Red looked down. "I made a mistake with Geren because we became best friends, growing so attached to each other... There was something in her that..." He reddened a bit. "...O-okay, I don't want to say it, but I didn't want her to go... She asked me if I was going to go on a journey as she was going to...and I..."

"...You said yes..." Chris added.

"...Yeah," Red said. "I disliked Pokémon, but I didn't dislike Geren. She was a very special friend to me... And I told her I was going to do the same... She looked so excited to start her journey early so I told her she could start first before I'd turn 10. She asked me why, but I told her she should enjoy the journey if she wanted to do it. After a month passed, I said goodbye to her as she left Pallet Town with a Squirtle."

"She left with a Squirtle?" Squirtle asked.

"She said she liked Water types," Red said.

"But you didn't like weak-looking Pokémon like me because you liked Charmanders better," he said annoyed.

"E-er, I-I dropped that thought away, Squirtle! Don't get annoyed by that!" Red said before coughing. "S-so anyway, months passed and I didn't hear of her besides the letters she sent to me. Geren always told me she was happy to be in a journey, but she wanted me to become a trainer so we could travel together. Last time, I recall she was at Lavender Town some days ago." Red looked at them. "And that's why I decided to become a trainer..."

"T-that's...so sweet," Rui said before smiling. "You wanted to see a dear friend again..."

"I-I know it sounds farfetched, but that's the truth..." Red said. "...And before I knew it, I got entangled with a lot of strangers I didn't know..." He looked at Chris. "Just like Chris."

"...You used Pokémon so you could meet a rebel..." Shadow Wes muttered.

Red turned to him. "N-no! You're getting all wrong! Geren liked Pokémon a lot and I began to like them as much as she does!"

"Silence!" Shadow Wes yelled as he cracked his fists. "Those who dislike Pokémon should kill themselves for making that unforgivable mistake. I'm going to kill you off for being such a poor excuse for a trainer!"

The group gasped as the Shadow Nightmare began to dash from the other side of the tunnel towards Red. The Pallet Town trainer took a step back before the shadow was some feet away from him. Rui, Silva, and Chris watched surprised as the shadow made it quickly to Red before pulling back his right fist.

"DIE!"

The sound of a fist echoed in the tunnel...but Red wasn't hurt.

The trainer had his arms crossed in front of his face. Noticing that nothing impacted on him, he slowly removed his arms to see the shadow lying down on the ground, grunting in pain as his arms were extended.

"...W-Wes!" Rui suddenly yelled.

The group quickly looked at the real (shady) trainer besides Red's right side. Wes seemed to be recovered after being unconscious for a long time. The trainer had a right fist extended in front of him as he glared down at his doppelganger.

"Y-you're back?" Red asked surprised as Wes pulled back his fist. The trainer, however, ignored Red as he walked towards the shadow. "(Is he still going to act like that after ALL we went through?)"

The shadow slowly opened his eyes to stare up at the real Wes. Something in Wes's look seemed to shock the shadow as it looked shocked at him.

"..." Wes sighed. "...I...I admit all my truths now..."

Red, Chris, Squirtle, and Ivysaur gasped at this. "W-what?" Chris asked. "Y-you accept all the lies that you have been hiding all this time?"

Wes remained silent before he nodded. "Yeah..." Wes frowned. "After I saw you..." he trailed off as he looked down at the shadow. "...I began to think nothing you showed me was true...until I thought things over..."

"You realized everything was the whole truth?" Red asked. "How? I thought you were unconscious..."

"To be honest, I was still conscious, but I couldn't react to anything," Wes said. "I was dreaming in darkness...wondering why I ended up there... I grew angry when I remembered that this monster mocked me by somehow showing me my past in front of my eyes. Honestly speaking, I wasn't admitting everything that happened... I wanted to kill humanity..."

Rui gasped.

"I wanted to free all Pokémon from everyone even if I didn't know them."

Silva gasped.

"I didn't care who was nice or not to Pokémon."

Chris gasped.

"...And that included you all..."

Red gasped.

Wes looked down at the shadow. "So, when you came out, you wanted to reject me because you grew upset that I didn't want to say my true purposes..."

The shadow didn't respond as he slowly got up, staring at Wes blankly. The shadow nodded to Wes after recalling what he said.

"..." Wes gritted his teeth a bit. "I was so stupid for not even being nice to people I didn't know... I was alone in my own world... I hated everyone for treating Pokémon like that...but only Team Snagem did that sort of thing and not everyone..."

"...You could say Team Snagem is to blame here," Silva began to speak. "You grew with them, and you got the wrong message."

"...And still..." Wes continued. "I hated everyone for no good reason... Gonzap ended up betraying me but...but..." Wes looked at them. "...I could tell he really liked me as his adoptive son. I remember all the times we spent the time together. There wasn't a single sign of betrayal; only good times with him." Wes frowned. "In truth, Gonzap did a good job in raising me...and he didn't want me to steal Pokémon because he knew I hated to steal."

The shadow nodded to him. "You understand Gonzap tried to raise us in the good path, right?"

"...Yeah," Wes said. "...And...if I...we get to see him again..." Wes grinned a bit at his shadow. "...We're gonna give him a hit with a fist."

The shadow grinned back at him. "And then we're gonna tell him..."

"Thanks for everything you've done to me," Wes finished. "He was a fool for putting me in that plan without asking me before, but he was a great man to me; a great...dad...who took care of me and my Pokémon. I grew up the wrong way, but Gonzap tried so hard to give me support as I struggled to live."

Rui stared at Wes for a while before she tilted her head and smiled a bit, Silva folded his arms and smiled a bit, Chris adjusted his glasses after wiping a small tear, and Red could only smile a bit after hearing Wes's words.

"...And also..." Wes continued. "...I want to start all over again..." he trailed off. "...I can still forgive all the people for giving them the cold shoulder if I explain myself..."

Kingdom Hearts II - Friends In My Heart

The shady trainer turned around to face the group. However, his shady look wasn't there anymore. An honest happy expression made some of them open their mouths in surprise. Opening his eyes, Wes gave them a true smile that didn't look evil or shady anymore.

"This...this is funny..." Wes said. "I haven't remembered the last time I smiled like this... It feels so good after doing so... It must have been a long time..."

"W-Wes!" Rui yelled.

Wes chuckled with a nod before turning to the shadow. "So now...I want you to join me again so you watch how I'm going to atone for my mistakes on all the people I met during this mission." He hit his chest with his left hand. "I want to save all the Pokémon from Cipher and not destroy the whole humanity. I…admit my mistakes and truths so you can accept me again…"

Shadow Wes made a happy expression. "At last, you have understood what I've been suffering this whole time. I'm glad you finally realized the wrong feeling that Team Snagem put into you."

"Yeah," Wes said before smiling a bit. "Now, please, let's be one again."

"And promise you're going to keep you word."

"Promise," Wes said chuckling.

The Shadow Nightmare nodded with a small laugh before it began to shine, revealing Wes's true image before it vanished into sparkles of light that rained down on the normal trainer. Wes closed his eyes as the sparkles made him glow a bit before vanishing completely. The group gasped before the trainer fell down on his knees with a grunt. They all ran to him to see if he was fine.

"Wes!" Silva put his right arm behind Wes. "Wes, are you okay? Wes!"

"..." Wes opened his eyes to stare at the 4 humans and 3 Pokémon. "...Heheheheh...hi..." he muttered before looking at Red and Chris. "...You guys...I'm sorry for...mistreating you all this time..."

"You idiot..." Red muttered. "You don't know how worried we were for you, right?"

"Y-you...were worried about me?"

"Of course we did that," Chris said. "Even if you did mistreat us, we knew there was a reason behind your cold attitude." He smiled a bit. "...And look at you, you have changed for the better as Espeon and Umbreon wanted..."

"M-my Pokémon..." Wes lifted his head up to look at the group of fainted Pokémon behind them. "...Are they...okay?"

At that moment, all the fainted Pokémon began to mumble silently before they all stood up, looking around. "Is the fight...over?" Pikachu asked as he rubbed his head. "I have headache now..."

"...They can talk..." Wes said. "...You guys were hiding something from us after all..."

Red smiled a bit at him. "I think we can tell you everything about us..."

Espeon and Umbreon looked at the group before noticing the real Wes looking at them. The weak character smiled a bit, prompting them to widen their eyes before dashing quickly to his sides. "(I-I don't believe it...)" Umbreon began as he looked at his trainer. "(W-Wes is smiling like he used to...)"

"(H-how did this happen?)" Espeon asked as his eyes began to fill with tears. "(T-this is a miracle...)"

"Hey..." Wes said as he smiled weakly at the 2. "...How's it going?"

"(Y-you idiot...)" Umbreon said as he shed some tears. "(W-we've been so worried and you wake up and ask how are we doing?)"

The 2 Pokémon looked at each other before they slowly leaned their faces against Wes's face. The 2 began to rub their cheeks happily at Wes before the trainer smiled weakly and rubbed their heads.

"(H-he's back...the Wes from before is back at last...)" Umbreon cheered as he rubbed his right cheek against Wes. "(I can't believe he's back!)"

"(Wes...you're finally yourself again...)" Espeon said happily as they both continued to rub their cheeks against Wes's face. The trainer chuckled heartily as they all laughed a bit at the scene.

Rui wiped some tears before sniffing a bit. "I...I...I'm glad this came out good..." She looked at Red and Chris. "T-thank you 2 so much..."

Red and Chris looked at each other before they chuckled. "Hey, Chris," Red began. "Shouldn't we investigate the temple now that we're here?"

"Oh, right..." Chris said. "Er, would you all mind us if we do some research in the temple over there?"

"We were sent to do that," Mewtwo said.

Wes looked at the Smashers before he nodded. "Do whatever you want for now...but...I need you to take me and my Pokémon back to the hotel to rest... In the meantime...I want everyone to recover their energies..."

Red nodded. "You got it, Wes."

"Thanks..."

Many things happened after the battle ended. Red, Chris, Mewtwo, Squirtle, and Ivysaur decided to investigate the temple while Rui and Silva took Wes back to the hotel with Espeon and Umbreon following. As for the other Pokémon, they all decided to go back at the hotel as well as the other Smashers were left to investigate the temple.

Inside the temple, there wasn't anything valuable to mention, except the sun, moon, and the doors that had emblems of a planet on them. This proved to be futile for the Smashers to find out more about the temple.

The question about the doors was still being discussed.

They found out that there were slots on each door. This proved to be a little bit helpful before Mewtwo recalled that they needed the tablets that Tails spoke of.

Overall, they just found the temple, and nothing else.

And so, the night went on...

Outside

Morning came from the west outside a secret elevator that led to the coliseum in The Under. Wes and the others had found their way into the coliseum after using the F-Disk that they got from beating Dakim in Mt. Battle. Silva decided to stick around more with them. The Smashers, now all recovered, looked at Wes, Espeon, Umbreon, Rui, and Silva as they were all standing in front of the hidden elevator around some canyons. The group had already explained everything that Wes asked them. This made everything easier for the previous shady trainer to understand their true intentions.

Sadly for Rui, the Smashers had to leave for the time being.

"Whaaaaaaat?" Rui asked. "You're leaving now?"

Wes coughed a bit. "I see why you wanted to help us out," he said. "You wanted to help us in order to find the temple because you didn't know Orre that much."

"That is pretty much it," Chris said. "We are so sorry for not saying it before."

"No worries there," Wes said with a chuckle as Espeon and Umbreon looked up to him. "Thanks to all of you, I returned to be my old self from a long time ago." He looked down at his Pokémon. "Thanks to them you were able to understand me better before I realized all my mistakes. I can't be more grateful to you for helping me."

"Good," Pikachu said as he sat down on Chris's right shoulder. "You really looked shady before."

Wes looked at Pikachu. "It's amusing that you all can talk through those translators machines you have with you. Well, now that I know you're a special group that seeks to defeat another different organization...I think we have some things in common."

"Do we?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yeah," Wes said. "If you weren't here, I could have died, knowing that nobody else would miss me..."

"T-that's not true, Wes," Rui said as she shook her head. "I-I..." She blushed. "...I-I would miss you if you were to die..."

Wes looked at her worried. "Rui..."

Rui sniffed a bit. "Y-you don't know how scared I was when that monster knocked you out, Wes..." She smiled a bit. "I-I was so lucky to have Red and Chris there to save you..."

Wes turned to Red and Chris. "And...thank you so much for everything," Wes said with a bow. "Thanks to you, I was able to understand how Umbreon and Espeon felt about my attitude. I should congratulate them for trying to change me."

Umbreon stared at Pichu on Chris's left shoulder. Pichu looked at Wes. "Umbreon says you were being a jerk all this time."

"I...know..." Wes said before kneeling down to rub their Pokémon' heads. "You 2 knew an awful lot about me... Thank you 2 as well."

"Espeon!" Espeon said happily.

"Umbreon!" Umbreon barked happily.

Wes got up and smiled a bit at the Smashers. "So, you still have a long way to defeat this Subspace Army, right?"

"Yeah," Red said. "We have a lot of people in our group, but they're not here." He looked bored. "You wouldn't believe all the things we have to do in order to defeat the army."

"That monster that came out from Wes was weird," Silva commented. "I didn't know there was such a monster."

"You said you fought one already?" Rui asked.

Chris nodded. "It was a horrible battle…but we defeated it before it could kill us…"

"That's good," Wes said. "I was freaked out when I saw my shadow."

"You're all better, right?" Red asked.

"Of course I feel more relieved than before," Wes said.

"I'm glad to hear that from the new you."

"I see," Wes said with a chuckle. "Well, maybe I could relate that to us as well... And...Red..." Wes looked down. "I'm sorry for everything I told you. When my shadow rejoined in me, I was able to see all the actions he yelled at you. Those actions were the same things I wanted to say aloud to you because I was furious."

"But now..."

"...I've calmed down," Wes said. "Now that I heard you saying that you had a purpose to be trainer, I understood why you struggled so much to become one... If you ask me, I thought it was stupid because I thought it was related to love."

Red reddened. "H-hey, we're not like that! Knock it off!"

"I'm just joking, don't worry," Wes said chuckling. "I thought again and I want to apologize from the start." He looked at all the Pokémon. "I'd like to have a battle against you, Chris."

Chris looked worried at Lucario before looking at Wes. "We have to go, unfortunately..."

"I'm not done yet."

"What?"

Wes looked at Red. "I also want to fight you as well, Red."

"M-me?" Red asked.

The Snag Machine wielder nodded. "Remember? The shadow gave me all the memories he had during the battle. I saw it all and I must say that you did a good job while using my Umbreon and Espeon." He looked down at the 2 mentioned Pokémon. "You're getting better to become a good trainer."

Red scratched his head with his right hand as he looked embarrassed. "D-do I look like I'm becoming better?"

"Right," Chris said.

"Yeah," Rui said.

"You do," Silva said.

"Absolutely, Red," Wes said. "I kinda make me feel jealous because you enjoyed events I couldn't enjoy, such as having true friends and a family... But...after the battle...I'm starting to realize I have friends and a family."

"Gonzap," Silva said. "Are you sure you want to see him again?"

"I'm pretty sure he's gonna hear me out after I punch him a good one," Wes said with a grin. "Gonzap will be happy after I apologize for everything I've done to the hideout."

"What are you going to do after you finish Cipher?" Chris asked.

Wes looked around the wastelands. "After I put Cipher down...I want to travel to other regions and become a real trainer," Wes said. "I've heard there were leagues where Pokémon trainers fight. I also want to spread out info about Orre so this place gets crowded with people from all over the world. This region needs more people so there are chances for other Pokémon to live here."

"That's a great dream," Red said.

"Thanks," Wes said before moving his right fist to them. "Promise you're going to fight me after we meet again sometime?"

Red smiled at him and pushed his own fist against Wes. "You got it, Wes. By that time, I'm going to be even better."

"I'll see," Wes said chuckling.

Rui walked to Chris before she hugged him tightly. "Thank you for helping Wes," she whispered to his ears before she stopped hugging him.

Chris, blushing, adjusted his glasses. "Y-you are welcome..." he said with a small laugh.

Rui turned to the Pokémon before she began to hug every single one of them, most of them blushing as silent responses. "And thank you all for helping out as well."

Lucario looked away. "I hope we go back to the mansion now..."

Wes and Red pulled his fists back before Wes looked at the Pokémon. "You have got a pretty strong team," he remarked. "I saw how your Lucario fought, and his strength is surely a force to be feared of. He made me realize I need to get better."

Chris began to rub Lucario's head as the Aura Pokémon growled in his mouth. "I'm glad he got the chance to fight an important battle."

"Guuuuuuuuooooooooorrrrrrrrgh..." Lucario growled as he turned to Chris and pulled him under his right arm.

"L-Lucario, not in front of everyone..." Chris muttered as Lucario rubbed his cheek to him.

Wes smiled a bit. "True bonding between human and Pokémon..." He closed his eyes. "I wish for everyone to be just like that..."

Espeon and Umbreon looked at the other Pokémon. "(Thanks a lot for everything,
)" Umbreon said. "(We wouldn't have made Wes his past self again if you weren't here.)"

Espeon nodded. "(Now we know we can finally enjoy our time with Wes to the fullest. People will surely like him better this way.)"

"(Glad we helped you,)" Ivysaur said. "(I would have had nightmares with him if he stayed like that.)"

"(I second that,)" Squirtle said.

"(Oh, stop it,)" Umbreon said annoyed. "(He changed, okay? You don't have to critizice him even more.)"

Mewtwo crossed his arms. "(As long as he doesn't get the wrong idea, everything will be just fine.)"

"(That's true,)" Espeon said. "(Again, thanks for everything, you guys. I hope we meet each other again in the future and fight a friendly battle.)"

"(I'll look forward to fight Mewtwo,)" Umbreon said. "(He doesn't stand a chance against my Dark type attributes.)"

"(We'll see about that,)" Mewtwo said, making a silent chuckle.

"So!" Silva suddenly spoke. "I heard Venus is putting a high alert in the town. Wes, Rui, you need to go there and stop her before things get worse!"

Wes and Rui looked at him and nodded before turning to the Smashers. Wes began to shake hands with both Chris and Red. "Good luck with your mission. I'll make sure we meet again."

"How?" Red asked.

Wes rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should, I don't know, come here and find me?"

"That's weird."

"Well, I did my best. Maybe I'll see you very soon again," Wes said before looking at his group. "It's time to go and beat Venus so she stops her stupid propaganda."

"Good thing you got the Suicune from her thanks to your shadow," Rui said. "It's the only good action he did for you."

"Too bad it got transported to my PC after I gained control of Espeon and Umbreon," Wes said. "But I'll get it once we go down."

The Smashers saw as the 5 characters turned towards the elevator as they waved at them. "Good luck, okay?" Rui asked.

"Be sure to come again at Pyrite Town," Silva said. "I work there so I'd like you to drop by sometime!"

The 5 got inside the elevator before Wes waved at them. "Red, expect you keep your promise of battling, you got that?"

"Y-yeah," Red said before most of them began to wave at them. "Likewise here."

Wes grinned one last time before the elevator closed, the Pokémon barely seeing Umbreon and Espeon waving at them before it went down back at The Under.

Wes and Rui have left your team.

The scholar sighed as he opened the portal back to the Smash Mansion. "And now, it is time for us to leave."

"We didn't do much we did help Wes to get over his past, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yep," Pikachu said as he raised a hand. "He needed to change so urgently."

"I know," Pichu said, shivering a bit. "I couldn't stare directly at him before his face changed."

"Hey, you guys..." Red began as he tapped the ground with his right foot's tip. "...Do you think I'm starting to become better at being a Pokémon trainer?"

"I think you are," Lucario said.

"R-really? Do I show promise?"

"I'll tell you something," Mewtwo said. "I'll tell you what I think about you if you destroy that Master Ball."

Red looked embarrassed as he took out the Master Ball. "H-how do I destroy it?" The trainer didn't get an oral response as Lucario took the ball and crushed it in his right palm, letting the crumbles fall on the ground. "...That should help... So, what do you think of me, Mewtwo?"

"I think you need to train a lot more before you get more used to your "career" if you know what I mean."

"...Thanks, I guess..." Red said.

"Shall we get going to our house?" Jigglypuff said with a sigh. "After I let you use my services, I need to have a very good rest."

"Who do you think you are now?" Squirtle asked bored.

"I think I'm me," Jigglypuff said annoyed. "Can we please leave?"

The Smashers nodded in unison before they all began to leave the wastelands and the hidden elevator. Before Chris could leave, Lucario stopped him. "Chris, can I...ask you a favor?"

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"I heard from Squirtle that he got more power because of a sticker...and I was wondering if you had a sticker that I can only use..."

Chris thought for a moment. "Actually, I think I have a sticker for aura... Oh, here it is." He showed Lucario a sticker of Rachel, a sticker he got a long time ago. "This sticker gives aura power a boost of 11."

Lucario gave him his trophy stand. "Then stick it to it."

"Why do you want to do this?"

"I want to feel stronger."

"...That's...all?"

Lucario looked worried. "I want to see how it feels to have that sudden surge of power, Chris... I'm only asking you for that."

"...Fine," Chris said with a chuckle and he put the sticker on the stand.

Lucario's aura suddenly flared up by itself as the Aura Pokémon took a fighting stance, growling at the sudden boost of aura before he stopped, standing normally.

"For what was all that?" Chris asked confused.

"I was relishing my newfound power," Lucario said as he let his aura cover him for a bit. "I have to say...it feels weird but so good at the same ti-"

"B-before you get a wrong sensation, let us go to the mansion, please," Chris said in a hurry before he ran into the portal.

The Aura Pokémon looked back and forth between the portal and the elevator before shrugging, entering the portal before it vanished, Lucario wishing for more aura and see if he could make Chris proud of him.

Too bad that only gave Chris a negative thought.

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2200 Smash Coins!

Real Chapter's Title: Second Liar: Wes the Savior

TO BE CONTINUED...

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-The sticker that Chris used on Lucario was one of the three stickers that he got in chapter 41. Remember the equipment idea I later dropped for the stickers to stay more attached to Brawl? Well, that sticker was now used after 112 chapters…ouch.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-You know what is curious? The fact I didn't find anything curious to write here.

Finally, presto, we ended with Wes's past as well as displaying a real Pokémon battle. I hope the battle was good enough for all of you. I had some problems with the past of Wes before I managed to make it. Did it turn out good as you expected? I hope it did.

You're probably wondering why the group didn't find something useful in the temple. Well, let me tell you that the temple is going to be later revisited for later research. This means I'm clueless about what to do with this. Well, don't worry as I will find a suitable way to resolve the riddles of the temple very soon.

As for Red and her childhood friend Geren, his background story will be later used some time after. Wait more chapters so see their relation. I hope you grew curious of Red's childhood with the female trainer of FireRed and LeafGreen.

I hope you all liked this chapter. As usual, I remind readers to vote for either FFVII or S03 in my poll of my profile so a tiebreaker happens. I seriously need one vote in order to please the choices of everyone.

I encourage readers to read and review, please. ;D

…Or Silva will get eaten by a Carnivine.

Silva: Hey, that threat is just for me!

Sorry dude, but you shouldn't have stolen the freaking cog from the windmill of Pyrite Town in the game.

Silva: Dammit!
*Chapter 154*: The Star Ocean Of The 17th Century

I didn't believe this arc could actually win, but whatever, it was your decision. :)

From ngrey651: Ah, that was QUITE the surprise. I should have seen it coming. Wes was the last person I expected to get a Shadow to emerge from...well, him or Rui. Both seemed the least likely. Nice twist! And excellent chapter. "Savior of Pokemon". Dear Lord, his hidden ego was more outrageous than his OUTFIT! XD

From me: It's a good thing everyone's liking the Shadow Nightmare battles as I wanted to expect them to be. And true, his ego was dangerous. Thanks. :D

From Blackglow: Excellent chapter!

I swear this was the best battle yet! I'm also happy to hear that we haven't seen the last of Wes and Rui. (We haven't seen the last of them, right? I hope not.)

Also, Wes' new personality seems like it may cause some plot inconsistency, but meh.

By the way, I noticed that a few lines were repeated during the chapter, kind of like a copy-paste.

Anyways, Awesome chapter, and awesome super-long-yet-able-to-keep-me-interested-no-matter-how-long-it-gets-because-I-like-long-fics story! Can't wait for the next chapter!

(lol at super long story description!)

From me: Sadly, you heard the last of Wes and Rui.

Why would Wes's personality cause some inconsistency?

Yes, I know some lines were repeated for some reason. Those were already corrected, though. Thanks.

I'm glad to read you liked the chapter. Thanks. :D

From Seitei: Hey, congrats on your latest chapter! Nice titles you're giving everyone!

I find these "Liar" chapters to be a fascinating read. It projects psychological conflict of a character onto others. Well done.

There were only a few spelling mistakes (sockets - pockets), but they didn't detract from the story.

Update soon!

PS: I was anticipating a Halloween-themed chapter, but oh well.

From me:

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny:

From me: You bastards! …Oh, wait, that's your username… My bad. :P

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Dude I saw you chosing Wes for the Shadow Nightmare a mile away.
Your story has got to be one of the best ones on the entire site. I love reading it on my Wii. Though I wish you would do more with Snake.

P.S. You said that in a previous chapter you couldn't do a Matal Gear Arc because Snake joined you but you could technicly do one it would only have to be in like Snake Eater or Portable Ops ( Before the Original Metal Gear) Besides you did it with Roy and Fire Emblem.

P.S.S. Your story is also the longest one once the entire site from what I've seen. And your OC isn't a Gary Stu or Mary Sue ( Or a Chuck Norris because if he was this story would have been over by chapter 1.)

From me: Well, if you think about it, Roy wasn't even born in Fire Emblem until his title came in Japan. Sadly, I don't know much about Snake…but I'll eventually put my mind into his games to know more about him. Wait until I do something important with him.

Yes…I'm glad Chris isn't a Gary Sue. :D Thanks. :D

From FF and STH: Wow didn't see that coming, Wes was the Second Liar didn't know you was doing non-smashers and the battle was great
Also I sad it star Ocean and not FF7 but oh well maybe next time

From me: Glad you liked the battle. I hope you like this chapter as well. ;)

From PianistChris: Excellent Chapter!

The battles with Shadow Wes, Red, Mewtwo, Chris and Lucario were interesting and enjoyable. The development of Wes' backround was well thought of and well presented :D

I couldn't remember any Aura sticker that Chris got though... I'll probably have to re-visit that chapter to remember. The fight between Wes and Red was funny, and the fact that everyone stopped what they were doing to see them fight was funny too.

Chris :p

From me: So it did turn out just fine. I'm happy to see that. ;)

Chris got the "aura sticker" in chapter 46, I guess. I already forgot the chapter, but it was surely around it.

As always, I try my best to incorporate the best possible humor so readers can get entertained (otherwise this story would be dead boring). Thanks. :D

From SlasherMask: Yes, but that was first time I tried to use other attacks on hyper mode without calling of the pokemon at all.

You sure use word "Twisted" a lot.

Why Geren? Its sounds pretty lame... I mean whats wrong with Green, Blue and Red anyway? WHOLE KANTO REGION'S TOWN AND CITIES ARE NAMED AFTER COLOR RELATED THINGS(e.g. Pallet, Indigo, Violet(there was Viole one right?))

He wanted Wes to suffer? Geez, THATS SO "TWISTED" XD

PEOPLE OF INTERNET. I PLEAD YOU TO VOTE VIEWTIFUL JOE OR CHRONO TRIGGER TO WIN. OR AT LEAST NOT VII SINCE THAT WOULD MAkE THIS (almost)FIRST MULTICROSSOVER EVER WITHOUT VII.

From me: Is it the attack like that? Maybe I should see by myself.

No, I don't like use the word twisted a lot. What is your twisted mind thinking, twisted things?

It's Geren because I thought it'd sound good enough. I mean, some people would rather make nicknames. (Like usernames, for example).

From 90's Kid: Dude, That was Beyond Bradicial. And By Bradical, I Mean Rocking To The Extreme.

First Off No Way I Saw That Twist Of Wes Coming. That Was so awesome dude. Especially when he was fighting with Red cause that's like how me and my bros fight. Except they don't get turned into evil shadows because they aren't extreme.

But nothing was as extreme as that awesome battle dude. Final Smashes, Legendaries, Combined Final Smashes. It had it all. I imagine Rod Liefeld drawing all those images of them attacking and making like Shadow Wes super musucular and detailed and man that'd be the only thing that make it looking even more awesome bro.

And don't tell this to my dudes but the ending made me cry bro. With Red talking about Green that was so sad. Normally dudes don't cry but man was I wailing like a baby finding out Red didn't like Pokemon at first and then that ending up helping Wes so he was so not evil anymore. Since that dude totally was creeping me out man. Seriously if he gave me one of those stares I'd be like "Woah dude stop giving me that stare it's creepy bro!"

So all I have to say was that was all extremly awesome. Can't wait to see the Star Ocean Arc bro! I voted for that because it has to be good. I mean it's a Star in an Ocean right? How is that not EXTREME!

From me: Bless yourself there aren't any Shadow Nightmares really living.

Who's Rod Liefeld? That's some crazy imagination right there…

Did it really make you cry? Well…here are some napkins.

You voted for SO3 because it had to be good and because it had the words Star and Ocean together? Er…okay… Thank you. :D

From princesspoke3612: Yet another great chapter. Just out of curiosity, Shadow Nightmares don't just attack Smashers, right?

From me: Well, didn't the Shadow Nightmare attack Wes? Well, Shadow Nightmares can attack anyone unless it's someone from the Subspace Army. Hope that answered your question. ;)

From DianaGohan: There were the usual grammar problems, Silva was unneeded (I don't care if he was in the game that dosen't mean he should be in the story) and Shadow Wes's motivation could of been expanded on a bit. Truthfully those are pretty much the only problems I have with the story though. The characterizations, the battles, and the ending were all excellent. The Shadow Wes twist was well done, the music cues really fit the mood and the flashbacks ran they're course without wearing out their welcome. Excellent chapter for this great arc. I think it helps when you only focus on a COUPLE of the heroes from the game series and don't try cramming a lot of them down our throats.

GRADE: A-

From me: I'm hoping here you give an A+ someday…er…

Did you really listen to the music tracks? I hope you did because they help to lift up the mood of the battles here.

And yes, I know you hate Silva. Tell you something: he's not coming back…probably. Thank you very much. ;)

From the true dragon fanatic: Great chapter. I have to say, that background story of Wes has to be one of the best I've ever heard. I could never work up something as good as that. I have to say, you have a talent. I like how you gave squirtle and ivysaur different CFS's. I always thought it would have been better if different forms of the same character got different final smashes. *shrugs*. BTW, why are you asking people about the poll now? aren't you going to do XD now? anyways, great chapter!
Disclaimer: Never steal A1 steak sauce. you WILL get a life sentence for that.

From me: Do I have talent, really? Well, it's the opinion of the people.

Yes, I figured out that it'd be much easier to give them separate CFSs because Charizard is not with them.

I asked about the poll before I closed it when someone voted for SO3. And no, doing XD would be WAY too soon to make another arc for Orre, don't you think? They barely just came out from there, come on…

Okay… The disclaimer part was…pointless, I guess…

Thanks.

From Cloud Strife: Hey, Cloud here. I have a great idea for a double arc! First, FF7, then the new PSP game, Dissidia: Final Fantasy! Dissidia itself is the FF version of SSB, with 1 hero & 1 villain from each of the first 10 games, plus 2 secret characters & an epic story. It'll likely need about 40 chapters to actually finish, but it will be so worth it! If Brawl meets Dissidia, there's gonna be helluva lot of fun! And Chris needs to go buy the SOLDIER Job. (new) It lets him fight like me, with an authentic Buster Sword! And aren't all FF spells compatible with the Scholar Job? Scholars first appeared in FF3, after all. Sayonara!

From me: Dude, are you…insane? When did I ever ask for arcs? Never. Did EVEN Dissidia come out by the current time Chris is in? No. Why would I do a double arc for no real reason? Because it doesn't make any sense to me. Did I ask for jobs? Pfft, not a chance. All the Smashers but Kirby have their compatible jobs. Why waste time with a job to use…that you use? Are you using plagiarism on me?

Well, just to remind you something: you should review the CHAPTER, not give suggestions I didn't even ask. Seriously, this is not a review but a pointless request…

Ahem…

Well, this chapter is done. I've been struggling a bit because my wrist began to hurt for some school work I had to do during class so I stopped writing to rest all day.

Okay, it's time to get a summary of this arc.

Before, the character that will be the protagonist for this arc didn't receive all the attention necessary in previous arcs. I figured out that Star Ocean mixed well with him so I decided to make him the main star of the arc. You'll see soon enough who I'm talking about.

Also, be warned since this game was released in the PS2. It was very popular in its time. The FLD will be used a lot because Star Ocean possesses a lot of new terms and characters. I'll try my best to reduce the use of it so a "certain guy" doesn't think they halt the story.

Notice: A new poll is up. Please vote so you select the third arc. Take in mind that you can't see the results once you vote. Results will be displayed after the poll closes.

I encourage readers to review so they give me their opinions and favorite scenes. ;)

Disclaimer: Apparently, vulpines mix well with Star Ocean. Think about it.

Chapter 154: The Star Ocean Of The 17th Century

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

Back at the realm of mixing darkness, there were Tabuu and the Ancient Minister looking down upon a weak Charizard. The Flame Pokémon stared up at them with a weak look as he panted heavily. "R-reporting in..." Charizard said.

"It seems you have failed to get information about the Apotos Temple," the Ancient Minister said.

Charizard glared up at them. "How was I supposed to know the stupid Shadow Nightmare would attack me so it could use another monster in battle?"

"You were a fool for not attacking the people," Tabuu said. "You could have just ignored the whole pride thing of Pokémon battles."

Charizard frowned. "Hey, even if I'm some sort of villain, who I truly am at this point, I like to have some pride left with me."

"That pride cost us the temple," the Ancient Minister said. "It's no use flailing over it, anyway. The fact that you didn't get the necessary info puts us at a disadvantage."

"Like they know what to do with it," Charizard said as he looked away annoyed. "They seemed as clueless as I was."

"Either way, you could have at least ignored the rules of battles of that universe and make a frontal attack," Tabuu said before sighing. "But let us not frail over lost battles. Ancient Minister, can you call Dr. Eggman here?"

"Why do that?" Dr. Eggman asked as he appeared from within the darkness, arms folded behind his back. "I'm here."

"Good," Tabuu said. "I do believe you had found a new temple somewhere in another universe, correct?"

The doctor (questionable job) nodded. "Of course, after I finished the next Shadow Nightmare, I dedicated my whole time to find another world. And look what I found, I found some signals coming from the region of this universe..." He rubbed his chin. "I must remark that I didn't expect to find such a weird universe with...a really big age..."

"What do you mean by that?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"As weird as this may sound...the age of the universe clearly indicates it's the year 2859..."

"I do not care for universal ages," Tabuu said.

"Well...I guess the idea of a planet that is still living in the 17th century isn't going to make you feel interested, right?"

Silence.

"...My thoughts exactly," Dr. Eggman said. "Well, shall I go to this world for a change?"

"Why would you want to do that?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"The fact that I wasn't able to repair the sucking process to sap the Shadow Bugs from that extremely flat character makes my process too slow so I want to see how you work against all of them," Dr. Eggman said. "Whoever inserted that hidden virus into the computer of the room did it perfectly. It bothers me that I can't even decipher it to erase it."

"(Of course not, I made a long complicated code so nobody would decipher it that easily,)" the Ancient Minister thought.

Dr. Eggman smiled evilly. "Besides finding the temple, I want to test them out with some robot I have in hands to use."

"...Very well," Tabuu said. "Bowser and King Dedede are still being tortured as we speak, and Ganondorf is making a full scale search on the entire factory to see if there are any other errors that our perpetrator did."

The Ancient Minister looked away at this. "I should go help him, then."

"Much appreciated," Tabuu said. "Make sure to report to me once you find something relevant."

"As always," the Ancient Minister said before floating away into the Subspace's darkness.

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Well, well, shall I commence my task? I'll try to find the temple's whereabouts in this old world."

"Please do," Tabuu said. "Do not let them get the upper hand."

"You have my word," Dr. Eggman said with a bow before walking away into the darkness of the Subspace, a glaring Charizard looking at his back.

"As for you," Tabuu began as he looked down on Charizard. "Heal your injuries and think about what you did wrong in the battle."

Charizard fumed a bit before slowly turning around, stomping his way out from the Subspace.

The leader of the Subspace sighed as he began to leave the area, his mind thinking about Dark Gaia and the temples.

Smash Mansion

Minutes before the group sent to Orre would arrive back at the mansion, there was an event happening in a certain vulpine's room as the flames of disaster boiled up his blood. These flames...literally didn't even appear.

Fox's Room

It had been a long while after the group left the mansion. Fox had set his mind to train his newly acquired magic spell that he couldn't use well. The vulpine panted heavily, sweat wetting his forehead as he stared forward at the wall.

Because Fox had been yelling fire many times, he knew the wrong result would end up either in his tail or another part of his body. By this time, most of his body was a little bit charred with some soot that he didn't care to clean. Just to be sure, he secretly brought a bucket full of water should his fire spell burn something like his bed or his clothes, the mentioned bucket waiting for Fox underneath a shelf with books at the left side of his bed.

"FIRE!" Fox yelled, his right hand glowing with red, a little flame appearing on the top of his right ear that he quickly pressed it with his left hand to make it disappear. "Ugh, again..." The vulpine pulled back his right over his left shoulder as a red light came from underneath his feet, his hand glowing with the same color. "FIRE!" Another little flame appeared on the tip of his nose. The vulpine glared at the flame before pressing it against his tight left fist. "Dammit!"

Fox stomped the floor one time, gritting his fangs a little.

"I've been doing this all day and I'm not getting what I want to see," Fox muttered as he glared at the wall. "What am I doing wrong?" He recalled the Black Mage's words in his mind.

"...You basically think magic is a "hocus-pocus" thing..." Kief said in shame. "That's an insult, you knew that? Think of magic as hocus-pocus? What is wrong with you?" Kief glared back at Fox. "You're offending magic with your presence here!"

Fox blinked confused as he saw, through his eyes, the image of a small Kief floating in front of his face. The Black Mage had his arms folded as he floated in front of his snout.

"What the..." Fox glared at the small figure. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Kief said as he blinked. "You wanted to recall my words so badly that your mind produced me."

Fox rolled his eyes before glaring back at him. "Anyway, I'm busy right now. Go away, I don't care about my mind playing tricks on me."

"I won't go away unless you admit you can't use Black Magic," Kief said, looking happy. "It's easy to admit you're not up to be a novice Black Mage."

"What the hell are you trying to say with that?" Fox asked as he came closer to Kief.

"Ooh, has anyone else ever told you that you have a really scary face when looked from a close distance?" Kief asked. "Oh wait, that's how your face will always be."

At that moment, from Fox's right ear, a small Caul came out and knocked his head a bit. "If you can't even use Fire, you can't be a Black Mage, kupo."

Fox's green eyes looked up, glaring at the furry. "Who asked you, anyway? I thought you were supposed to help me."

"I'm no teacher," Caul admitted. "You should have known how to use magic from the beginning, kupo."

From behind Fox's head, a small Hywel the Nu Mou slowly floated around and sat on Fox's left shoulder. "Hmm, you seem troubled."

Fox rolled his eyes after the 3 Black Mages appeared. "Will someone please give a help or at least a hint about what do I need to do in order to use Fire?"

"It wouldn't be funny if we did help you," Kief said. "It's amusing to see you trying desperately to use the most basic magic of them all."

Fox narrowed his eyes at him. "You're starting to act like a big jerk."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with Kief," Hywel said before Fox's glaring eyes looked at him. "We don't have an exact answer for your question or problem."

"We're here just because you wanted to see us, kupo," Caul said. "That's all."

Fox frowned. "Then why did I have the sudden ability to call you all here?"

Kief blinked a bit. "Simply because your mind doesn't want to help you and it wants us to laugh at you. You know what, I'll start laughing so we get to the point of this friendly meeting. 3, 2, 1..."

In a quick move, Fox's fangs quickly bit the small Black Mage to get rid of him as the vulpine swallowed him inside his throat. After hearing Fox grunting deeply, Caul looked down at Hywel. "We should better leave before he becomes nuts, kupo."

Hywel nodded. "That was exactly what I was thinking. I do not want to suffer Kief's fate as well."

At that moment, the small Kief appeared floating from behind Fox, looking happy. "Actually, we're just intangible images that his mind created," Kief said. "Thank goodness we're not the real thing."

"True," Caul said as Fox grunted annoyed. "Okay, you behave good, kupo."

And with 3 poofs, the 3 Black Mages disappeared in thin air, leaving Fox pissed.

"Seriously, what was all that for?" Fox asked to himself.

Sighing, he stopped to think what he was doing wrong.

"(What is wrong with me?)" Fox asked as he crossed his arms. "(It doesn't make sense that I can't use Black Magic. Why can Wolf do it and yet not me? It isn't that fair at all...)" He grunted as he pulled his hand back. "But what I DO know is that practice is helpful if I struggle a little bit more... Maybe I need to put more emphasis by saying the chant aloud?" He looked serious at the wall. "Burn to ashes... FIRE!"

Fortunately, a big flame appeared close to him.

Unfortunately, same big flame set his tail completely on fire.

Fox's eyes widened as he started to feel the burning fire. The vulpine, not wanting to scream and let anyone nearby know he just accidentally set his tail on fire, looked around for something to douse the fire. He frantically looked around his room as smoke rose up from the flames in his tail.

Either screaming for help would be a good option (but it would make someone laugh at him), or finding a fast alternative to put out the fire and avoid being seen with the fire tail was better than the first.

Lady luck was on his side as he spotted the bucket with water underneath the shelf of books. Starting to feel a burning pain in his rear, the most logical solution to douse it was to leap to the bucket with a fast jump.

Unfortunately, he leaped way too far as his tail, along with his butt, dove into the bucket..

"UGH!" Fox managed to sit down in the bucket, but he accidentally slammed the back of his head hard against the wall, creating a small tremble that went all the way up to the book on the shelf of the wall. The vulpine sighed after smoke came from underneath his butt; a possible crisis (and humiliation) adverted.

He didn't notice the book shaking a bit after the tremble. They looked like they dangerously came closer to the edge, just above Fox.

The vulpine sighed in relief as pleasure from the cold water made him feel better. "Aah, that's much better..." Fox muttered with a satisfied smile.

And suddenly, all the books above him began to fall around on the floor. The sudden shakes of the floor startled him a bit as he, trying to move to look around due to the fact his butt got stuck in the bucket, looked down at the books.

"Weird," Fox commented as he looked at the sides of the bucket. "For a second there I thought a book was going to fall on my head."

The vulpine didn't look up where an old book covered in dust remained on the edge of the shelf. The book then fell all the way down on his head before falling on his lap.

Fox grumbled a bit as he glared down at the dirty book. Taking it with both hands, the vulpine glared at it. "I really have to clean these books someday. It has been a long while after I last read one of these..." He wiped off the dust of the book he had with him. Pushing dust away, the vulpine began to find a title on the cover. "Actually, what is this book? I don't remember having this one here..." He looked away. "Again, I need to remember what I have here and not back at the Great Fox... Hey..."

There was something on the book's cover that made Fox stare at it for a while. As his green eyes moved at the sides to read the cover, a small smile formed on his face.

"My favorite children's book...Tales of Star Ocean," Fox said as he opened the book, a hint of excitement in himself as he let his eyes move at the sides to read the book. "Yes, this is the same one my dad used to read me. It has all the stories I always wanted to hear about the space, intergalactic wars, recognized people who fought for peace.. Man, those were good times, alright..." He coughed a bit. "I always liked to read the intro. Let's see here… Aha."

Tales of Star Ocean

A very long time ago in the future, a society of a single planet never bothered to look beyond the sky and stars, beyond what we know as the space. The race that lived in the planet began to slowly discover and create technology that allowed them to reach higher heights above the skies of their planet. When the society grew wiser through the years, their technology became very sophisticated that it eventually allowed them to explore the vast stars and planets.

Once looking through the stars, the society managed to find life similar to theirs. Many different races never wanted to explore the space itself. When the society with technology decided to investigate foreign races, they found out that the races themselves were as intelligent as they were.

Eventually, knowing that the races of all planets were the same, the society that first set sail to the space's vast ocean began to become acquainted with almost all the races they found and met. Soon enough, all races began to develop and coexist with each other in order to live and discover whatever new finding was waiting to be found.

They created alliances such as organizations that maintained peace in the universe should one of them be under attack by a new race that only wished to conquer the universe. The organizations, however, were amazingly powerful against any threat. Total peace reined the universe as people began to travel from every single corner of the space.

This tale, and the wide horizon that the space had, became known as Star Ocean: the infinite space.

The vulpine's reading suddenly became slow as he stopped. Depression took Fox quickly as he closed the book. "…I know I should be happy for finding this book…but…" He sighed with a frown. "…It's not the same without my father…"

The vulpine's ears perked up a bit as he began to hear some footsteps coming from the silent halfway. If there were someone out there, he or she would see him sitting in the bucket for some reason. Fox, throwing the book to the bed, pushed himself up just to notice that his butt was stuck in the bucket once he stood up.

Fox grunted before he pushed the bucket away that dropped some water on the floor that he quickly put the bucket back to its place.

Since the hallways of the mansion were very long, any small sound could produce an echo if nobody was there. The vulpine decided to forget about the training to head down to the command room.

As Fox stopped in front of the door, he looked back at the book on the bed. "…Maybe I should read it during my private time… I'll take it," he said to himself as he went over for the book to get it. He kept it with him behind his back.

He then noticed the book was gone once he lost sight of it.

"I swear this hammer-space thing is just freaky…but very useful…" Fox muttered with a frown as he turned to the door and opened it.

A fast glare took over his face as he looked at a familiar person he didn't want to look for now.

Wolf, stopping his way down to the command room, glared back at Fox. "What's the matter with you?" Wolf asked.

"…Nothing," Fox said with a grunt. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were in the command room."

"It's not like I'm confined to that place, Fox," Wolf said. "I wanted to see something in another floor that bothered me a little."

"And I guess you're not going to say anything."

"You have accurate thoughts."

Fox rolled his eyes before he closed the door behind his back and walked away from Wolf.

The lupine crossed his arms and decided to go to the same place Fox was going.

"Idiot..." Wolf muttered.

Command Room

By the time both leaders walked into the room, the group that was sent to Orre had already arrived. For some reason, there was Red banging his head on the right wall as he recalled a mistake he did.

"Why didn't I catch Charizard?!" Red yelled as he continued to hit the wall. "Why?!"

"Geez, it's not like the dude is all that important," Ivysaur said as he patted Red's back with a vine. "Cheer up."

Red looked down at his 2 Pokémon. "But I had him where I wanted him to be, then those Primids came and took him away before I could catch him!"

Squirtle patted Red's right leg. "You're going to have your time to catch that idiot later. For now, let me and Ivysaur enjoy the time we have before you DO catch Charizard."

"He'll probably be so pissed that his flame will burn him alive...if it can do that," Ivysaur said.

Red hit his head one more time against the wall, frowning as he leaned his head at it. "I'm such an idiot..."

Chris, who was nearby, chuckled nervously. "C-cheer up, Red, I am sure you will have your time where Charizard will be caught...y-you just have to wait a little bit more..." The scholar turned to look at Amy. "And...what is up with that expression you are making?"

The scholar didn't know why Amy had some sort of blank stare. Oddly enough, she didn't even seem to listen to Chris as her eyes simply stared forward like if she saw a ghost.

When Chris looked behind her, there were Knuckles, Tails, Cream, and Cheese (in her arms) with the same expressions. They stared forward, ignoring anyone or anything. Their eyes completely petrified.

"...What happened here?" Pikachu asked as he leaped to a table to wave a hand at Tails, his eyes not even moving. "Why are they like stones?"

"Well..." Master Hand began as he floated over to Knuckles. "Echidna here wanted to have some answers after Chris's mouth accidentally said the words video game so Knuckles demanded me to explain to him what Chris wanted to say so...yeah..."

The scholar stared blankly at him. "...You just did not tell them about what they really are, right?"

"..." Master Hand looked away. "...I...kind of told them everything... I even went as far as to take them to the real world..."

"...You took them to my room in my world..."

"...And they have been like this ever since..." Master Hand looked at him. "I told them many times that they were going to get so shocked but nooooooooooo they wanted to see what you meant back there that I didn't have any choice."

"..." The scholar closed his eyes. "...I suddenly have the idea of banging my face against my book...then cast magic on you...and then bang my face on my book again..."

"Your world is awesome, though," Chip said as he flew to Chris, carrying a red popsicle that was as big as he was. "You got yummy desserts all over your fridge. Oh, nice house, the couch was sooooooooooo soft."

"C-Chip? Y-you went there as well?" Chris asked in shock. "W-why did you want to go?"

"Dunno," Chip said as he liked his dessert. "Curiosity got over me. I didn't understand what the deal is with the fact we're all video game characters, but man, they took it very seriously."

The World Traveler stared at Chip somewhat surprised. "...You mean to say you do not care that you are a video game character?"

Chip looked at him. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer, I barely know what a video game is...so I dunno." He got happy after looking at his popsicle before taking a big bite of it. "Uah, brain-freeze!" he panicked before biting it again. "Uah, worse brain-freeze!" he panicked before biting it again. "Uah, brain-freeze again!"

The scholar grunted as he ignored the imp getting constant brain-freeze as he looked annoyed at the hand. "Why did not you come up with something to keep them away from knowing the truth?"

"Hey, they really wanted to know the truth, I gave it to them so they would stop asking. Also, Knuckles here wanted to punch me and he even threatened to kill me! I was so scared so I had to do it in order to save my life of poor old me!" the hand said sarcastically.

"You could have easily crushed him with your...self," Chris pointed out.

"Nah, better say the truth and see how they'd react," Master Hand said chuckling. "Look at their faces, they're priceless."

Chris looked back at Knuckles were he was being poked in his eyes by Sonic. "Ha, Knucklehead is at a trance," Sonic said snickering.

"How immature you are, seriously," Zelda commented with a frown.

Sonic looked at her. "If there are opportunities to use them on Knuckles, I'll take 'em."

Zelda sighed. "I don't understand how fun it is for you to do that sort of thing..."

"Hey, he's Sonic," Link said. "You pretty much get the whole idea to understand his personality."

"Hey," Sonic said annoyed. "What was that supposed to mean?"

The Hylian sweat dropped as Sonic ran his index finger all over Knuckles's eyes. "...Nothing..."

Mario waved a hand in front of Cream. "When do you think they're going to snap out from their trances?"

"Let's wait until that happens," Master Hand said. "For now, Tails's Temple Radar or whatever it's called is looking for the next temple. You guys didn't find anything useful about the temple at Orre, right?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "All we found there was..."

Flashback

Pokémon Colosseum

The Under
Apotos Temple - Gaia Gate

When the group was in Orre, right after the aftermath of the Shadow Nightmare battle, Red, Chris, Mewtwo, Squirtle, and Ivysaur decided to inspect the temple by themselves after Rui and Silva took Wes and the other Pokémon to rest at the hotel. Upon entering the temple, the group of 5 found themselves standing in a very clean floor.

The temple from the inside had ancient markings all over its white walls. There seemed to be light coming out from the ceiling, implying that there was probably a big hole that allowed light from the wastelands on the surface reach the temple. A big arc was located just in front of the entrance.

The 5 Smashers looked around as they walked to the center of the temple. Looking to their left, there was another different room with some weird pedestals. Squirtle and Ivysaur ran over to the other room with Red and Chris following, leaving Mewtwo to inspect further ahead of him.

"H-hey, wait up!" Red yelled as Squirtle and Ivysaur entered the other room. "You guys have a lot of curiosity, did you know that?"

"Sorry," Squirtle said before looking at the pedestals. "I did grow very curious when looking at these formations."

Chris, upon seeing the 6 pedestals circling around the room, adjusted his glasses. "Interesting..."

"What, you know what these are?" Ivysaur asked as he jumped on a purple pedestal.

"...No," Chris admitted, receiving bored looks from both Pokémon. "I-I just expressed how interested I was for these pedestals... Personally, this job makes me get so easily interested in anything that is interesting as long as it is interesting for me to find it interesting enough to be interesting..."

The 3 Smashers stared blankly at him.

"...Please, forget what I said..." Chris said with a sigh.

Squirtle rolled his eyes as he jumped to a light-blue pedestal, tapping it a bit with his feet. "Do you think these pedestals need to be activated with some sort of freaky chant?"

"They surely need some sort of chant... How the hell should I know, really?" Red asked annoyed. "We just got here!"

"Well, opinions are much appreciated, thank you very much," Squirtle said bored.

Chris sighed a bit. "Well, I do not find anything that interestin-do not give me those looks again! I just said that word one time!" he yelled before coughing. "A-anyway, there is nothing so...amusing about these pedestals for the time being... Maybe we should see if we can find more about this temple..."

"And speaking of research," Ivysaur began as he looked around. "Where'd Mewtwo go?"

The 4 Smashers turned back from where they came from and decided to run back to the entrance. Once reaching it, they looked to their left where the Psychic Pokémon, crossing his arms, stared at a big wooden fan inside a cage that adorned the frontal wall of the temple as 3 doors were located underneath it. The doors themselves were at the end of some small slopes that went up, reaching flat floor.

"...Nice fan," Red remarked as they all walked to Mewtwo while staring at the fan behind the bars.

"That is something I'm not giving my attention to," Mewtwo said as he pointed forward. "I'm more curious about those doors."

The group looked at the 3 doors on top of the small slope. To their left there was a door with the symbol of a red sun, to their right there was another door with the emblem of a blue moon, and in the center there was the last door that had the image of a yellow star.

The 5 Smashers began to walk towards the door to examine them. Mewtwo, while looking at the Sun Door, noticed a small slot. "Hmm...what could this be?" he asked to himself. "This seems to be a slot to insert something...like a tablet of some sort..."

"Well, there is another slot besides the door with the moon," Chris said as he knelt down to inspect the slot. "Maybe...it is a tablet as you said..."

"Same over here," Red said as he, Squirtle, and Ivysaur took a closer look at the slot besides the door with the star emblem. "This one seems bigger, though..."

Ivysaur moved a vine to touch the slot. "...Nope, it needs a key or something. Pressing it won't make something happen."

Mewtwo looked at the door before glowing, holding out his right hand to use Psychic to try and open it. The door glowed for a bit, but the Psychic Pokémon suddenly stopped glowing before pulling his hand back, followed by a frown. "Force can't open these doors."

"Why did not you use more force?" Chris asked.

"I sensed some ancient energy within these doors that far surpass my powers," Mewtwo said. "Even Lucario's brute force won't be enough to break through them."

"Not even if he was pushed to the limit?"

"He wasn't completely pushed to the limit in the last battle because he had around 20 percent of his health left," Mewtwo pointed out. "In fact, he could have done better before h-"

"I-I know he disobeyed me which caused his defeat, but do not go that far when I am around..." Chris said.

"Fine," Mewtwo said. "Back on topic, we can't open these doors. Judging by the empty slots besides each door obviously mean they need them to open without using force."

"What?" Red asked as his Pokémon looked at the 2. "So we came here for nothing?"

"Not necessarily," Mewtwo said. "We were able to pinpoint the temple's location and forced Charizard to leave this place alone. In a few words, we saved this temple from getting wrecked."

"I see," Squirtle said as he looked around. "...Does this mean we're gonna come back here later to open the doors?"

"We should just leave," Mewtwo said. "There is nothing more worth mentioning rather than reporting we found the temple."

Chris looked down. "I feel a little bit ashamed for not doing much in this world..."

Ivysaur smiled a bit at him. "What about Wes's resolve? The guy looked like he realized how much of an ass he was to us."

"...I guess you are right," Chris said with a chuckle. "We found so little, but helped a lot."

Mewtwo turned around towards the exit. "For now, all I want to do is rest. That Ice Beam attack is starting to make me feel cold."

"You are cold," Ivysaur said, receiving a glare from Mewtwo. "...J-just kidding..."

"...You better," Mewtwo muttered before he left the temple, the others following him from behind.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

End of flashback

"And that all we could find," Mewtwo summarized. "If you ask me, nothing seems very important about the temple."

"I see..." Master Hand said. "Well, Tails did mention something about tablets for the temples that they couldn't find in their world."

"So what do we do for now?" Pichu asked.

"All we can do is wait for the radar to find another signal from another temple," the hand said. "Since we discovered the location of the Apotos Temple, we're going to keep an eye on it... For now..." He looked at all the Smashers. "...You guys have anything interesting to share with us?"

Silence...

"...I'll take that as a sign of a maybe..." Master Hand muttered. "Personally, I really liked when the army just targeted a world after we stopped them... I have to admit that this method is much slower and much more boring..."

"Geez, like we didn't know that already," Roy commented, looking bored.

"Shouldn't we try to...make them get over the truth?" Zelda asked. "They're acting like I did when you told me about it...except much worse."

Master Hand sighed. "Hello, you guys? Are you with us? Hello?"

Crazy Hand began to move up and down. "Ooh, ooh, I have an idea."

"Whatever it is, it's surely dangerous, so no," Master Hand said.

"Aww, but it'd help," Crazy Hand said. "And that is...wait."

Master Hand would have rolled his eyes if he had any. "Okay...everyone's going to do whatever you want in the mansion. You DON'T necessarily need to stay here all day so let's wait until they get back to normal, okay?"

Popo clapped his hands. "Ooh, ooh, I'm going to Chris's room to beat some records in some games."

Nana rolled her eyes as Popo ran away. "And I'll follow him so he doesn't make a fool out of himself."

"I thought he was already one," Yoshi said.

"Yes, but no one said someone could get even worse," Nana said.

Recalling what Popo said, Chris gasped. "W-wait, what is he going to do? C-come back here!" he yelled before running after Popo.

Several hours later...

Pretty much everyone had left the command room except for the stunned Sonic characters. The sounds of the computers echoed through the room as the radar kept its task to look for a temple.

And suddenly, the radar began to release beeping sounds, startling Tails as he snapped out from his state by shaking his head. "H-hey, you guys, the radar located a new temple!" he said to the others. "W-what the... Why are you 4 like that?" He looked at the floor. "And why is Chip lying down on the floor?"

The imp, as he clutched to a small ice cream stick, shivered as he stared up at the ceiling. "B-brain-freeze...sure damages your brain..." he muttered.

The 2-tailed fox didn't have an idea of what had happened during his whole trance. Being panicked, he began to yell, "HEY, EVERYONE, SNAP OUT OF IT!"

At that moment, not only the other characters blinked in shock, but Master Hand appeared in front of them as he looked at Tails. "Finally, you're back to your senses," he said annoyed. "It's been 3 long and painful hours, you know!"

"That long?" Cream asked. "I thought it was days…"

"Pfft, yeah, right, days," Master Hand joked. "So anyway, are you 4…" He looked at Cheese. "…5 alright now?"

"T-that was a pretty big shocker I couldn't believe…" Amy said depressed. "Seriously, how should we know that big truth?"

"You know what? I'm calling everyone here so everything goes the right way," Master Hand said.

Several minutes later…

All the Smashers were now back at the command room after Master Hand calmed the Sonic characters down. Tails was now busy working with the radar to locate the signals of the temple's energies.

"Okay," Knuckles said with crossed arms. "It isn't a pretty big deal if we think about it again."

"It IS a pretty big deal if EVERYONE we meet starts to know about this. If everyone in the universes knows that they're you-know-what, then that would cause a big chaos and we don't want to do that sort of thing," Master Hand said. "That's why we need to keep that truth concealed for us only."

"I think I understand," Amy said. "All the commoners out there would start riots and the like."

"Exactly," Master Hand said pleased. "Glad to hear you understand." He picked up the imp from the floor. "For now, let's focus on the next temple. Tails, did it find it?" He tossed the imp at Sonic, who caught him on his arms.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, it found the temple. The next temple is the Spagonia Temple and it's…" He looked back at the PC. "…In the year 2859, in a 17th century planet called Elicoor II…"

Elicoor II is second planet apart from Elicoor I. Other than the fact that most of its atmosphere is composed of neon and other noble gases, the second planet in the Elicoor system has an atmospheric composition that is similar to that of Earth. The planet's technology level is estimated to be equivalent to 17th century Earth. This planet is defined as an underdeveloped planet due to the fact there are highly advanced planets besides it.

"What?" Tails asked surprised. "The year is quite high for the planet's century itself..."

"Year 2859?" Samus asked. "My guess is that it's an universe with a long universal lifespan. What interests me is the fact about the 17th century planet you mentioned…"

Tails looked confused and worried. "Well, that's what the coordinates read. I have the radar research every single detail regarding the universe and that includes pretty much a lot of information."

Master Hand grumbled. "If you ask me, it's pretty weird. However, all we have now is the location of the temple somewhere around that planet, right?"

"Well, yeah," Tails said.

"Okay, show us the world."

Tails nodded as he transferred the image of the world to the big screen in front of all the Smashers. The image of the world displayed a normal road that led to an old town where people could be seen walking along the brick streets.

"It looks pretty normal to me," Mario commented.

"Yeah, but I don't believe it's the age 2859 in there," Sonic said as Chip shook with shivers. "It looks all boring and stuff."

"You aren't exactly the guy who likes history," Knuckles said bored.

"Okay, okay, stop before you 2 fight here," Master Hand said as he took a sheet of paper. "I've got all the necessary info for the next world."

"Video game," Amy corrected.

"World, video game, world sounds better," the hand said. "I don't want to say game, anyway."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Anyone (preferably space people and medieval-looking people)
Number of protagonists: 10
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Technology prowess

Close to the exit to the hallway, Fox suddenly blinked after hearing the information of the world. His ears clearly heard "Star Ocean" being mentioned. "Star Ocean?" Fox muttered. "That couldn't be..."

"Do you know about this world, Chris?" Master Hand asked.

"W-well, unfortunately, it has been a long time since I last played that game," Chris admitted. "I am afraid I do not know very much about it like I used to."

"Figures, I guess," Master Hand said. "Well, time for us to organize the next party. This world is very new so please prepare yourselves for anything you expect to find there."

All the people in the room began to talk with each other, discussing about the next universe they needed to explore.

"As for you," Master Hand said as he looked at Chris. "Can you change to another job where you don't sound like that?"

Chris stared blankly at him. "If you mean how this job likes me to talk like some sort of sage…okay." The World Traveler changed to his Dragoon job. "There, is it better?"

"Definitely," Master Hand said. "Okay, buy some freebies, gather your team, and go to the new world."

Crazy Hand snickered. "Tell me those freebies are with me! I like to sell what I find."

"Shh, quiet," the hand muttered as Chris tilted his head confused. "Don't mind what he said, okay?"

"...Sure?" Chris said.

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items (New!)

Smash Coins in hand: 3601

-Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Final Smash Extension - 4000 Smash Coins

Extends the duration for all Smashers' Final Smashes, allowing more chances to inflict more damage on enemies (this could also give added extensions such as a final stronger attack). Added time for each Final Smash may vary.

Last Breath – 5000 Smash Coins

Full immunity to ultimate attacks that affect the whole party will always leave all party members at 1 percent left should the attack be strong enough to take them out. Note that ultimate attacks meant for a single party member can ignore this if there's 2 people close to each other.

Call me, Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

FLUDD Devices - 5000 Smash Coins

Mr. Utility Belt AKA Link - 5000 Smash Coins

Peach's Therapy - 8000 Smash Coins

Professor Kawashima Party Screen - 1000 Smash Coins

An useful application that allows Kawashima to display the status screen that lets the user know how well are each party member during and outside battle. This application is useful to know how much health a character has left so you know if the character is lying about having enough health or not.

-Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Assist Trophy - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Super Mushroom
Poison Mushroom
Superspicy Curry
Heart Container

Stored items:
None

Chris sighed after seeing the list. "You forgot to put the Assist Trophy in there after all this time?"

"I was thinking if it was a good idea to allow other characters to appear and help you," Master Hand said. "I thought it was risky to let them out in another universe until I fixed the item by erasing their memories after they end their attacks."

The dragoon sighed again. "I'm so close to get that ability to extend Final Smashes...and the Last Breath one sounds really handy as well..."

"You need to save a liiiiiiiiiittle more if you want bigger things," Crazy Hand said. "So, you giving up some money so I can buy myself a yatch?"

"Give money to you so you can buy yourself a yatch?" Chris asked. "...Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Master Hand floated to them. "Hey, we're running a business here. The Smash Coins you get are very valuable since they're acceptable in any universe's money currency. We do whatever we want with the money you give us."

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "...Can I ask a question? How do I even get the money? I know it instantly appears inside my wallet, but why does it appear?"

Master Hand chuckled. "Well, you see, that money appears out of the blue to reward your efforts for saving worlds," he said.

"But who rewards me with money?" Chris asked. "I find that really...questionable..."

"I'm responsible for that," Master Hand admitted.

"You're the responsible for the money appearing in my wallet?" Chris asked. "But if that's true, why don't you just fill it up?"

"I can't do that because of the fact I can't create money," Master Hand said, confusing the World Traveler more. "You see, I can only make legal money if you succeed in protecting a world or finishing a mission because rewarding you all for your efforts makes the money legal. The reason why I have that ability is because I myself created the Smash Coins currency."

"Then how is it making money out of the blue illegal while it is legal when we protect worlds?"

"Simply because you worked hard," Master Hand said annoyed. "I can fill you up your wallet, but the money you receive that way is so going to be illegal because it's cheating your way to fortune and I don't want to be put in jail by doing that. Each coin has its own money code... Let's not talk more about how my powers to make money are, want to buy something or do you want to save more money?"

"I..." Chris still wanted to ask more, but decided not to. "...I think I'll save more money..." He took out his DS. "Actually, the application reminded me that I need to recharge my DS. Kawashima surely feels bored."

Master Hand pointed to the left over a table with a charger. "Over there is a charger for it. Use it so you wake him up again."

As the World Traveler carefully put the DS charging on the table, he walked back to the hands. "Okay, now assemble your party."

The World Traveler nodded as he looked back at the Smashers. Rubbing his chin, he looked around until Samus motioned at him to come to her. The dragoon looked confused before walking to her. "Yes?"

"May I come for this mission?" Samus asked. "I'm a little bit intrigued about the 17th century world in the year 2700."

"You yourself come from a very distant future, right?" Chris asked.

"That's right," Samus said. "I want to see if there are any high-advanced civilizations around the planet. I might not look like it, but I like to study spatial laws and universal history."

"Wow, that's remarkable," Chris said. "I didn't know you liked to study."

"Knowledge is a good weapon as they say," Samus said.

Chris chuckled. "Okay, I'll call you when we're ready."

"Understood," Samus said. "Let's enjoy the experience, shall we?"

The World Traveler nodded before walking away from her. As he looked around, a yellow gloved hand reached for his right shoulder and pulled him quickly, where he looked a little bit scared before looking back to see C. Falcon looking down at him. "U-um, is something wrong?" Chris asked.

"Take me with you," C. Falcon said simply.

The dragoon looked up at him. "Let me guess. You want to come just because I told Samus she can come, right?"

"Good, we're thinking the same," the captain said. "So, can I join the group?"

"Just...why are you so fixated on Samus? I know it's been really obvious that you like women, but why her?"

C. Falcon looked around to see if anyone was listening. Fortunately, nobody was listening. "It's because I think she's the one meant for me..."

"And I thought EVERY girl was the one for you," Chris said.

"Look, I've heard Snake has some feelings for her," the captain said as he pointed at an uninterested Snake on the lower left corner of the room where he had crossed arms while leaning against the wall. "And I don't want to lose her for him."

"If you're that interested in Samus, why don't you act professional for once?"

"Act professional?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "I'm asking that because many people in my world sees you as some sort of...poster boy..."

"Poster boy? Hey, are you insulting Captain Falc-"

The World Traveler blocked the captain's mouth. "What were you going to say?"

"Uru you unsultung Cuptuin Fulcun?" C. Falcon asked before pushing Chris's hand away.

"Look, you really need to change for the better if you want people to think you're cooler."

"Do you think I'm cool?" C. Falcon asked with a grin.

"...Not really, honestly..."

C. Falcon stared blankly at Chris.

"...That's because of your attitude," Chris said. "If you want people to take you seriousl-"

"I use Falcon Punch on them."

"No need for violence either!" Chris yelled. "Ugh, changing a 37 years old adult to a better example of a man is going to be such a drag..."

C. Falcon rubbed his chin. "Are you telling me I need to change my ways for people to take me seriously?"

"I unfortunately bet a very few of us take you seriously...no offense..." Chris said. "...Even I don't take you seriously..."

The captain thought hard for a moment.

"...If you want," Chris began," I can help you out to become better...provided I can do that..."

"Hmm..." C. Falcon crossed his arms. "And if I do change, is Samus going to take me more seriously?"

"...I'm sure of it," Chris said. "Samus is a very blunt but nice person. I think she could end up liking you if you changed your cliché hero ways and stupid flirting speech."

"I do all those things?"

"You're an easy read for anyone here," Chris said bored. "Why do you think I know so much about you?"

C. Falcon grinned. "Well, at least you don't know my real identity's name."

"Weird, I thought you real full name was Captain Douglas Jay Falco-" The World Traveler couldn't finish his sentence as the captain took the teen under his right arm, taking him down where they were both crouching on the floor as nobody else noticed (except for one who was always watching Chris). "W-what the hell are you doing to me?!" Chris muttered.

"I'm going to be frank with you here," C. Falcon said in a tone that made Chris shake in fear. "Nobody else, except you for some reason, knows my true name. I haven't told anyone here my real name at all because I fear they could make fun of it, especially my last name."

"W-well, from where I come from, many know you real name is Douglas Ja-"

"Stop repeating it!" C. Falcon yelled as he put more pressure on Chris's throat. "Where did you hear of my name, anyway?"

The World Traveler coughed a bit. "...Wikipedia...the source of all information..."

C. Falcon let go of Chris (letting him fall to gasp for breath) as he stood up and sighed, noticing no one paid attention to them. "Well, don't go telling anyone about my real name...or else..."

Chris looked a bit freaked out as he stood up, coughing a bit. "W-what the hell, Doug?"

C. Falcon glared at him.

"I-I mean, what the hell, Falcon? (Now I'm starting to talk like Black Shadow...)" Chris asked as he looked angry at him. "There was absolutely NO need for violence!"

"I'm really serious about my real name," C. Falcon muttered so nobody else would hear them. "I'm just giving you a friendly advice before committing a huge mistake."

"...Oh," Chris said with an amused look. "It was a friendly advice, then."

C. Falcon grinned. "Exactly."

"…Now I see," Chris said in some sort of evil tone as a familiar Aura Pokémon appeared behind him, red eyes glaring directly at C. Falcon's face. "Well, Lucario here wants to give you a friendly advice as well."

The captain didn't like the glaring look on Lucario as he began to get closer to C. Falcon. "W-wait, what is he going to give me as a friendly advice?" C. Falcon asked as Lucario showed his fangs at him, aura flaring in his hands.

Chris chuckled as he turned around. "Lucario is going to tell you to never, EVER, use violence on me for something stupid." He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. "Give him a piece of my mind, will you, Lucario?"

The World Traveler ignored the screams of pain and roars from behind his back as nobody else wanted to look at the small massacre. It was implied that almost no one exactly cared about C. Falcon, which made Chris feel sympathy.

Too bad for Douglas that Chris didn't feel a lot of sympathy.

"And by the way, you can come with us," Chris said. "...Doug," he muttered as Lucario roared loudly behind his back.

The World Traveler noticed Roy alone as he looked at Marth and Ike talking to each other. Recalling that Roy hadn't participated in much missions lately, Chris walked to him. "Roy, do you want to come with us?"

Roy looked at him. "Oh, what? You want me to come?"

"Well, it did say medieval-looking people could come so you look like one."

"Do I look that medieval?"

"You're wearing a blue armor with yellow carvings all over it, you're using a sacred sword, and above all," Chris continued as he pointed behind Roy. "You're wearing a cape."

Roy chuckled nervously as he scratched his head a bit. "O-okay, maybe I do look medieval..."

Chris crossed his arms. "So, do you want to come?"

"Sure," Roy said. "I'd like to see the towns of the next world myself. I could feel right at home if I go there."

"Okay, wait for me to call you," Chris said as he walked away from Roy, who decided to go and talk with Marth and Ike. "(Hmm... I think I recall seeing people who looked like Pit in the game... I have some memories left about it so...)"

The World Traveler decided to go to the angel of Skyworld who was sitting down on a nearby chair. The look on his closed eyes made Chris think the angel was meditating.

"Pit?" Chris began.

The angel opened his eyes and looked at him. "Oh, it's you."

"What are you doing sitting here without talking to anyone?"

"Well, I was getting bored of not doing anything else so I decided to just meditate out of the blue..." Pit admitted with a chuckle. "It's pretty silly of me, right?"

"Maybe..." Chris said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come with us to the next world and find the temple."

Pit stood up. "I may as well go to get out of boredom. Seriously, I need to do something like fighting."

"Didn't Master Hand say anyone could put up matches against anyone?"

"He did say that, but...I didn't even think about it..."

Chris looked around. "Or everyone for that matter," he added.

Pit shrugged. "Oh well, I'm going to go with you if you don't mind. I hope nobody in that world freaks out for my wings." He looked at his wings. "Sometimes I wish I could hide them completely, but sometimes I think there are no ways to do that."

"Maybe Master Hand knows a way?"

"Possibly...I'll ask him," Pit said before looking at him. "For now, I want to see what we can find in the next world."

"I'll call you in a few, then," Chris said as he nodded to Pit before walking away, leaving the angel to do nothing else but sit down on the chair again. The World Traveler thought it was a good idea to take Pit along.

"Oh, Chris," Tails began as he stopped Chris from walking away to the area close to the hallway. "May I ask you to take me along, please?"

"Huh? Why?" Chris asked.

Tails jumped off from his seat and looked up at him. "The reason why I want to come along is because maybe I should get a closer picture of the Spagonia Temple and examine it with what Professor Pickle told me," he explained. "You guys didn't find much, but I want to see with my own eyes the temples for once. Also, can I ask you to take Sonic along as well?"

At that moment, Sonic quickly appeared, resting his right arm over a table with more computers on them. "Yeah, you should take me with you."

"Why do you want to come, Sonic?" Chris asked.

Sonic looked serious. "Isn't this whole deal about the temples related to our world?" he asked before frowning. "It has to do with us and I wanna participate in these missions to save the world from this crazy catastrophe."

The World Traveler knew Sonic had a point.

"Besides, I may help you more," Tails said. "I could run a complete analysis of the Spagonia Temple to do some research and find out with...these..."

Sonic and Chris looked at Tails taking 2 small tablets behind his back. The hedgehog blinked at the odd items as he took a closer look at them. "Hey..." Sonic trailed off.

"...Wait, those tablets' shapes...they're the same as the slots in the Apotos Temple..." Chris said.

The tablets that Tails had had the same emblems that the group found in the temple. One tablet had the emblem of a red sun, while the other tablet had the emblem of a blue moon. The 2 tablets had curve shapes with their outer edges shaped with squares.

Tails nodded. "In fact, these are the only tablets we could find back in our world at Spagonia. Some girls, Lucia and Ippolita, gave me the Moon Tablet, while the Sun Tablet was given to me by an old man named Otto." He looked at Sonic. "I have to tell you that Lucia and Otto seemed to know about the temples because when I asked them where the temples were before, they both gave me these tablets, saying that we knew more than other people did. I wonder why they said that, though..."

"Maybe they know about Dark Gaia?" Sonic asked.

"They would know it if they were the guardians that Professor Pickle told me about...but I'm not sure..." Tails said in doubt. "...But that isn't so important for now. I want to go see if these tablets can do something in the Spagonia Temple. The professor told me that the tablets surely are for the temple."

"Okay, then," Chris said. "You 2 can come."

"Oh, and also that includes Chip as well," Sonic said as he pointed at the shocked imp on a nearby chair. "It's just a small brain-freeze, Chip..."

The World Traveler looked at the immobile imp on the chair, not responding at Sonic who began poking Chip's forehead. Shifting his eyes, Chris slowly backed away from them as he looked around for the next member close to the hallway. "Let's see...I have Samus, C. Falcon, Roy, Pit, Sonic, Tails, and Chip who doesn't count as a member..." He looked around. "...Who should I choose now?"

"Hey."

The dragoon heard a voice coming from behind him. Chris knew well the voice as he turned around to find Fox.

"Oh," Chris began. "What is it?"

Fox crossed his arms. "I want to go with you to that world."

"Really now? What made you decide?"

The vulpine looked away. "It's because...the name of that world rang a bell in my mind..."

"What?" Chris looked confused. "How?"

Fox looked back at him and shifted his eyes to see if there was someone paying attention to them, ignoring C. Falcon's screams for help. "Look, I'm going to tell you my reason as long as you promise you're not going to tell anyone this. What I'm going to tell you could be easily used for anyone else to annoy me to the max."

"Is this some kind of secret that could be embarrassing?"

"Yeah, but it's not embarrassing to me," Fox said as he slowly took from his back the book he found. "See this?"

The dragoon stared down at the book. "What about that book?"

"I found this book in my room," Fox said. "It's one of my most important books I had during my childhood."

"...Tales of Star Ocean?" Chris read the cover. "...Wait, Tales of Star Ocean?"

Fox nodded. "I guess you know where I'm getting at, right?"

The World Traveler looked back at the image of the world in front of the Smashers before looking back at the vulpine. "You...want to come because of the name of the world?"

"I'm curious, Chris," Fox said. "I mean, this book has fairy tales of a vast universe called Star Ocean, but after I heard that the world exists...I want to see it," he admitted. "I want to see if it's pure coincidence or the real thing the book explains."

"...You said it was your childhood book, right?" Chris asked. "...You used to read this?"

Fox smiled a bit. "I didn't read this book but...my father..."

"...Oh..." Chris looked away. "S-sorry if I made you remember something yo-"

"Oh no, it's okay," Fox said. "Anyway, this is a fairy tale's book my father used to read me when I was 4," he explained. "When I was that little, I always liked to know more about the space and the universe. I liked science-fiction a lot because I found it too amazing and cool..." He blushed a bit. "W-well, that's how I thought of it when I was little, anyway."

"I think...it's cute," Chris said.

Fox glared at him.

"I-I mean to say it the good way," the dragoon said. "Don't take it that badly..."

The vulpine sighed as he put the book away. "So yeah, I want to come along and see that universe." He smiled a bit. "If it's exactly how the book described, I want to see the people and see if I can find the protagonists. I liked to hear a lot from them every night my father used to tell me that story to make me fall asleep."

"I think it's amusing," Chris said, "your fairy tale's book being a real world."

"So, can I come?"

"Of course," Chris said. "You'll see if it's the same as in the book."

Fox chuckled and nodded. "Thanks, tell me when we need to go."

The World Traveler nodded back at him before walking away. As Fox watched Chris waling away, he frowned and looked down.

"(That book surely brings good memories...and...bad ones I don't want to remember...)" Fox thought in shame.

Chris just needed another person to tag along with them. Unfortunately, he didn't have a possible member in his mind until his eyes focused on a certain lupine with crossed arms, leaning against the wall as he seemed to be in deep thought with his closed eye.

Shrugging at the silent yet serious look, Chris gulped a bit and walked to him. "...Wolf?"

There was no response from the older character. Wolf was thinking about something in his mind. The thought wasn't there until he left the command room to examine something that reminded him about a place in the mansion that he wanted to see very soon. "(Just what is behind that odd door?)" Wolf asked to himself. "(Why the hell do I need the kid and the others t-)"

"…Wolf, are you listening or are you sleeping while standing up?"

The lupine opened his right eye. "(Just great, now he comes out of nowhere to bother me...)" he thought. "(Let's see what he wants so he leaves me alone for once...)" Wolf glared at the dragoon before speaking. "What do you want, kid?"

"(He didn't really learn not to call me kid again, right?) W-well, I saw you thinking about something…"

Wolf looked away. "Like you should know everything I do. You don't have to know what I think."

"I-I was just a little worried, that's all…" Chris admitted.

"Tsk, worrying about me…please…" Wolf muttered annoyed. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not of your business, kid."

"Like I said before...I just wanted to see what was bothering you..." The World Traveler thought for a moment. "…Do you want to come with us?"

The lupine looked at him. "I never said I wanted to come…" He pushed himself off the wall. "But whatever, I'm coming."

"Really?" Chris asked.

"I don't have anything else better to do here," Wolf said. "I do know Fox is going, but he won't change my decision. Besides, I don't want birdbrain to glare all the time at me whenever I look at him."

"How is Fox different?"

"Mainly because he at least is…worthy, I should say," Wolf said. "I don't care about the birdbrain at all. Fox, on the other hand, can be tolerated."

"Oh, I see," Chris said. "It's mainly because of rivalry, right?"

The lupine walked away from him as he said, "That'd be one reason."

"…It would be one reason?" Chris asked. "W-what do you mean by that? Are you planning to do something to him?"

"It's none of your business, kid," Wolf said. "Anyhow, can we just go and fight that army before I change my mind?"

The dragoon sighed before nodding. "Whatever you say, sir…"

After calling all the selected members, Master Hand watched as Lucario, carrying an unconscious (and badly hurt) C. Falcon, tossed him down on the floor before the Aura Pokémon received a rub on the head by Chris as he growled before walking away.

"C. Falcon, wake up," Master Hand said. "We're not sending dead carcasses to missions."

The captain grumbled annoyed before he stood up, smacking his helmet a bit. "I-I woke up…" the captain said as he received a bored look from Chris.

"Typical," Samus commented simply, giving the captain a mental hit.

"And he somehow survived all that because..." Roy trailed off.

"Before you all go, though," Master Hand began, "you need to sort out the stickers you have. We all watched the fight against the Shadow Nightmare and the use of the stickers came really handy, right?"

"Hey, that's true," Roy said. "It became easier to fight back the monster by using the stickers."

The World Traveler took the stickers out. "Ooh, there are many…" he complained a bit but sighed. "I don't want to have harder battles so we may as well sort everything equally between everyone here…"

Some minutes later…

Everyone in the chosen group had already sorted out the stickers they had.

C. Falcon flexed his right arm. "What a shame, the Young Cricket sticker didn't give me that much of power. I just felt a little swelling but that's all."

"Good thing the 9-Volt sticker gave my Grapple Beam more electric power," Samus said. "I checked the status of it and it did increase for a bit."

"Pfft, good for you," Roy said annoyed. "The Kat sticker didn't give me much slash power. I could have used the Meta Knight sticker and give me a huge boost of 32 but no it HAD to be designed for Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede for some reason... Dedede doesn't even use slash attacks for that matter as far as I know! How does that make sense?"

Wolf ignored him and looked away. "I must say that the sticker with the girl made me feel a little bit stronger...enough to make me feel somewhat disappointed at the small boost."

"I hate to admit it, but the 19-Volt sticker didn't make me feel anything stronger as well," Fox admitted. "However, the one with...that cubic version of me did give my Blaster even more energy than before; a big one for that matter."

"You just were lucky, Fox," Wolf said annoyed, making Fox grin.

Chris looked pleased. "I'm glad I increased my defense for a bit with the Dribble sticker. Battering resistance counts as defense, right?"

"I guess," Pit said. "My ramming attacks got a little bit stronger as well with the Ana sticker."

Sonic looked annoyed, being the one who didn't even get to use a sticker. "Hey, not fair. I didn't get to use a sticker."

"You already have that werehog transformation," Wolf pointed out. "Doesn't that give you all the strength you need?"

"Pfft, yeah but I HATE that form," Sonic said. "Seriously, isn't there a special sticker I can use?"

Master Hand thought for a moment. "Since I'm in a good mood today, Sonic, I'm going to give you a special sticker for free that you can only use..." The hand twirled his index finger to produce a sticker that fell down slowly on Sonic's right hand.

"...What the hell?" Sonic asked before glaring up at the hand. "Is this a joke?"

"What do ya have there?" Amy asked as she looked from behind Sonic's right shoulder. Her eyes looked happy. "Heheheh, look at that."

Sonic held up a sticker...of Amy, pumping her fists at her sides. "Is this for real?"

"Hey, it's a medium size sticker," Master Hand said. "It gives you a good boost for your leg attacks."

"C'mon, Sonic," Amy said as she shook Sonic a bit. "Every time you look at that lovely sticker will remind you that you have my support at all times from anywhere you go. Don't you think that's very romantic? Love boosts your powe-"

"Keep going on and I'll rip this sticker," Sonic interrupted.

Amy took a step back and pouted. "Oh, that's SO nice of you, Sonic."

"Just put the sticker on and let your legs feel the powah," Crazy Hand said annoyed, receiving some looks from some of the Smashers. "What? You guys like easy ways to get easy power."

"For once, you're right," Master Hand muttered as Sonic, annoyed, put the sticker on his stand, his legs swelling a bit before the feeling stopped. "And no, even if you DO feel power surging within you, you don't grow muscles or something like that."

"Way to ruin all the fun," Wolf commented.

Master Hand seemed to look annoyed. "Look, you guys can possibly gain a whole lot of power by using the stickers, but you need limits so you don't look like freaks. One of you could someday overpass Lucario's brute force by using these stickers."

C. Falcon liked the sound of the explanation. "So, if I put a lot o-"

"But there has to be limits in order for you to not destroy the whole field where you're fighting," Master Hand said. "Let's say you get a boost of power of 100. With that big amount, you could easily carry a tree with your hands and you wouldn't even feel the weight at all."

"If you ask me, that would be beneficial," Sonic said.

Master Hand shook himself. "Unfortunately for you, I put a limit in your enhancements in order to make you look normal. If you get to use a sticker with a boost of 100, you won't carry a tree."

"So that means the stickers won't make us stronger?" Fox asked.

"The stickers will make you stronger and you'll see the effects during battles," the hand explained. "But they're not going to allow you to carry things unless if it's an emergency. Do you really want to see Luigi carrying a big tree?"

"T-that would be nice..." Luigi commented from afar.

"That...would look so messed up..." Roy commented.

"Hey!" Luigi called out.

"And since half of you would want to have that power because it makes sense you could carry big things, you just can't so nobody else here thinks is unfair," Master Hand explained.

"I guess I understand," Samus said. "We don't want to stand out from a crowd."

"We already stand out," Pit said.

"Actually, I meant stand out even more."

"U-um, will you guys hurry?" Tails asked. "We need to go now before the Subspace Army finds the temple before us. You told me they're after the temples as well, right?"

"Chill out," Sonic said as he ducked to pick up the unconscious Chip from the floor. "We need to enjoy the world a little bit, right?"

"You always like to do that a lot," Tails pointed out. "Besides, this is very crucial to our world."

"It's ALWAYS very crucial to our world," Sonic said as he poked Chip's eyes a bit.

"W-well, yeah... Can we just go?"

The World Traveler almost forgot that he left his DS charging on the nearby table. In a hurry, Chris went over the table to get his DS. Opening it to see if it was ready, he was greeted by Kawashima. "It was about time you remembered to charge the DS. It gets pretty dark in here for me, you know..."

"S-sorry, I promise I won't forget again," Chris said embarrassed.

"What's done is done, like they say," Kawashima said. "What matters is that you charged the DS fully."

The World Traveler nodded to him before keeping his DS in his pocket. "I'm ready here," he said, the others nodding as a sign that they were ready.

"Without further interruptions, good luck," Master Hand said before Chris made the portal appear, prompting the chosen group to enter it before the portal vanished.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Trading Town of Peterny
West Peterny

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Lively Step

In some alleys, the portal appeared and the Smashers stepped out from it before it vanished in thin air. The Smashers found themselves in a small alley that was close to a central square where people talking and walking were heard and seen respectively.

"Well, it was random to appear in this alley," Roy commented. "Shall we go see this place?"

"As long as people don't freak out to see Pit's wings and Samus's suit," Chris said.

"I hope…" Pit muttered.

Tails looked at them. "Let's see if we can find information regarding the Spagonia Temple from the people here."

Sonic nodded. "Right-o." He looked down at Chip. "Hey, is your brain-freeze thing still there with you?"

"Blururururu," Chip mumbled as he quickly shook his head and floated in the air. He looked around the alley somewhat shocked. "Did I die? Wow, heaven looks like a dark alley..."

"Er, actually, we're already in the next world," Chris said.

"Really now? Ooh, I lost the briefing part, then..."

Samus moved her hand. "I'll fill you up with everything you didn't hear back in the mansion."

Chip smiled a bit. "Oh, thanks, Ms. Samus."

The bounty hunter chuckled a bit at the name. "Please, just call me Samus."

"Alright, Ms. Samus."

Samus stared blankly at him. "...I told you to call me Samus, not Ms. Samus."

"Affirmative, Ms. Samus."

"Samus."

"Okay, Ms. Samus."

Samus knew very well that Chip was going to keep addressing her with a formality. "You know what? Forget what I said..."

"Right, Samus."

Samus rolled her eyes at this.

"Hey, if you don't mind, I'll just walk out from this dirty hole," Wolf said annoyed as he began to walk out the alley.

The others later decided to walk out from the alley as well, finding out they were in a bustling town. They all looked around as many different people walked from the west and east. The Smashers found medieval-looking houses and shops, men wearing rural clothes as they were in groups laughing together, women wearing long skirts that almost touched the floor as they carried baskets with food as some were walking with children, and shops with vendors that adorned the whole brick street.

Overall, the city lived up to be a commercial center of trade.

Peterny is a city and commercial hub connecting the royal city Aquios of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria (located north) with the three surrounding kingdoms (the Kingdom of Airyglyph to the south, and Kingdom of Greeton to the east). Unlike Aquios, with its decidedly religious bent, this town is an advanced center of commerce, and acts almost as a second capital of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. Peterny is the commercial heart of the whole continent of Gaitt.

"This place looks pretty normal to me," Roy said. "Heck, it makes me feel I'm in my own home."

Fox looked around before crossing his arms. "This is just like the book said... Planets that were underdeveloped because many other planets had very advanced technology..." Fox muttered before he smiled a bit. "This is good, I guess."

"U-um," Pit began as he looked nervous. "Aren't the people going to freak out because of my wings?"

At that moment, a kid that came running from the west stopped in front of them and pointed a finger at the nervous angel. "Mommy, mommy, look! There's a Featherfolk person here!"

Featherfolk is a race of people with large wings on their backs, descended from birds. The process of evolution has split the numerous bone of the Featherfolk in two, allowing this remarkable race to possess both wings and arms. Featherfolk are extremely light and can use the wings on their backs to fly for a short period of time.

"...Featherfolk?" Chip repeated confused before a woman came from the same direction where the kid came from. She grabbed his hand before bowing at the group.

"Oh, I'm so sorry if my child bothered you," she apologized.

"N-not at all. He just got surprised by seeing our friend here," Samus said before the woman looked at Pit.

"Oh, you must be one of the Featherfolk people from the Sanmite Republic of the west," the woman said. "Since this town is located between 3 kingdoms, there are many different travelers that use to pass through here. You must be one of them," the woman gasped. "O-oh, sorry for talking so suddenly, but I need to take my child to go shopping. I don't want to make us starve for today's dinner."

The Smashers didn't respond as the woman and her child (waving a hand to them) walked away to the east, disappearing from the crowd of people.

"...That was good enough for me to believe they don't mind how we all look," Tails said. "Still, what are Featherfolk?"

"The closest answer would be that it's a race," Samus said. "Pit surely resembles one of them so I guess that's it. In a few words, nobody will judge him."

Pit sighed in relief. "I'm glad for that, really..."

Tails walked to the street and looked around before looking back at the group. "So, what do we do now? Should we separate and find out information if somebody heard of the temple?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," Samus said. "There's an awful lot of people in this town. We could easily get lost between the whole crowd."

"We rather stick together, then?" Roy asked.

"It seems for now," Pit said. "What if somebody could yelp?"

"That's the best choice for now," Fox said. "Maybe there's a place in here that has a good source of information."

Chip, floating to the street, looked to the west to find a small path that lead to a door. "Hey, how about over there?"

The Smashers walked to his spot to see the relatively small path to a door. Over the door, there was a sign that read "Craftsman's Guild" in yellow paint. Some people walked out from the door, mixing up with the crowd already walking in the brick street.

"A guild..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "...For once, I'm going to say that there's the best place to find the info about those ruins."

"Temple," Tails corrected.

"Same thing," Wolf said annoyed before walking towards the door.

"Is he always going to be the one walking first?" Chip asked.

Fox frowned. "You'll never understand him as much as I do, trust me."

"I'd say let's go and see what we can find in that place. Let's check it out," Sonic said with a grin as he began to walk towards the door, the others soon following.

Craftsman's Guild

Once the group entered inside the building, they didn't expect that the inside was a little bit smaller than the eye could think. They found 2 steps of stairs in front of them where they lead to wooden floor. Looking to their left, over a wooden handrail, they found the front wall filled with drawers that had dozens of documents, scrolls, and notes that stuck out.

Further to the left, there was a girl sleeping deeply over a desk with some papers. The girl had brown hair with 2 ponytails, each one at the sides of her head. The girl looked very young, wearing a black shirt underneath her blue garment, as she held some sort of a stick with a glove under her right hand, pointing its index finger to the window (called handy stick).

"...This isn't exactly the place I expected to see..." C. Falcon commented.

Chip flew over the handrail to look at the sleeping girl. The Smashers looked at each other before they all walked over the wooden floor, standing in front of the desk while the girl slept.

"Hey, you there," Wolf began as he tapped his hand's nails on the desk.

Suddenly, the girl quickly woke up, looking normally at the group as she waved the handy stick to the side of her right shoulder. "Are you here to sign up yourselves to become inventors?" she asked with some enthusiasm.

"Wow," Chip began. "She's amazing. She didn't have to mumble things!"

Ignoring the excitement of the imp, Roy decided to speak up. "Er, hi."

"Oh, hello to you all," the girl said with a chuckle. "Did you all come here to sign up to become inventors for the Craftsman's Guild?"

"Actually, no," Pit admitted. "We're here to ask for information that we need to know."

"Information?" the girl repeated. "Hmm, information... Are you sure you don't want to become inventors?"

"Why would we want to become inventors all of a sudden? Don't put words in our mouths," Wolf responded harshly.

The girl pointed her handy stick at the lupine. "I'm glad you ask that," she said before Wolf slapped the glove away with the back of his right hand. "People nowadays would do anything to become inventors because the economy of Peterny is very famous around this planet," she explained. "The most inexperienced fellow can produce a lot of money if he or she works hard in the 8 different fields of inventions."

Fox shook his head. "We're not here to sign up."

"Really now?" the girl asked. "People mainly come here to sign up, otherwise they don't do anything," she said. "Please, tell me you came here to sign up."

"No," Tails said. "We came here to see if you could give us information about a temple."

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about a temple," the girl said. "This is not exactly the center of information, y'know..."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "What a waste of time, then..."

The girl thought for a moment. "Hmm..." She remained silent before speaking. "Oh, I know what you could do to get what you want."

"You know of a place where we can get info?" C. Falcon asked.

"Yep," the girl said, "right here."

The Smashers stared blankly at her as she smiled to them.

"...You just said this isn't exactly the center of information," Chris pointed out.

The girl chuckled. "Well, yeah, I did say that...but I didn't say the people who are signed up as inventors know about it."

Wolf narrowed his eye at her. "What do you mean by that? There isn't anybody else in here except for all of us."

"Silly," the girl said with a small giggle. "I can call people through this handy item..." She looked at drawers of the desk where she pulled one to open it, finding some device that looked like a cell phone except far more sophisticated with holographic applications and transparent blue skin that she showed to the group. "See this? My Compact Communicator allows me to contact anyone no matter how far they are from me."

Tails was the only one of the whole group that looked amazed at the item. "W-wow, just look at that..."

The girl chuckled before she put the cell phone down. "I guess I haven't introduced myself properly yet," she said before coughing a bit. "Thank you for coming here. My name is Welch Vineyard, at your service."

Welch Vineyard is a young woman who runs the Craftsman's Guild in Peterny. This working woman is smart, good-looking, has a good personality, and even the Guild Master who leads the Craftsman's Guild is no match for her. Welch is a very relievable person of the guild that organizes patents, item reports, and available items in the shops across all Elicoor II. As a side note, Welch could be considered the "Final Fantasy's Cid of Star Ocean" due to the fact she appears in all Star Ocean games with the same job.

"Nice to meet you, Welch..." Samus said unsure. "Did you say there were inventors who probably know about the temple we're looking for?"

The group didn't think that the girl had a plan in mind for them.

"(Okay, I'm getting them interested. I need to move on with my plan so they want to become inventors,)" Welch thought. "Yeah, of course, there's a lot of people in the guild that come from all around the planet here. There are some that have come from other distant planets as well."

"Hmm..." Fox crossed his arms. "If that's true, they surely know a lot about the different regions in here, right?"

"Yep, that's the gist of it," Welch said happy. "However, we have a policy here (that I just made up) that keeps others from meeting our inventors because we like our opponents to stay away from knowing what we plan to create."

"We're not allied with anyone," Pit pointed out.

Welch clapped her hands together. "Better yet, then!"

Wolf looked bored at her as he crossed his arms and leaned close to the window's wall. "Let me get this straight. You want us to sign ourselves as inventors just so your guild gets more people by convincing us that those other inventors know about something that they surely don't know just to lure us into joining."

Welch began to sweat a little as she kept her happy look. "(Rats, they're sharp...) W-well, now that you mention it, we do follow our policy with the right strict level. So you see, we can't let you know about our information unless you join us as fellow inventors."

"Just how many people are inventors?" Roy asked.

The girl took a scroll from the desk where she opened it to read it, narrowing her eyes a bit. "We have over 9,000,000 inventors."

The scroll clearly said 500, though.

Welch put the scroll on the desk, looking at the surprised looks of some of the Smashers. "You see now? We're a pretty famous guild for having so little space in here."

Chip looked down at the same scroll before descending to grab it. Welch, without looking, used her handy stick to pull the scroll down to fall over the edge of the desk into a trashcan. The imp looked down sadly.

"...Well, it appeals to me, alright," Roy said.

"Yes," Pit said. "With that many people, there's bound to be a lot of them who know about the temple."

"I have to say, I'm impressed at the amount," Fox remarked.

"Who would have thought that this guild was so popular?" Tails asked.

"Sounds good enough for me," Samus said.

Chris looked relieved. "We can find out about the temple's whereabouts after all."

"So then?" Welch asked excited, not noticing that Chip flew down the floor where he walked around the desk to see the scroll. "Do you want to sign up as inventors?"

"I'm not sure, though..." Sonic said. "What do we have to do?"

"Simple," Welch began as Chip walked back with the scroll. "There are 8 different fields where you can create items: Engineering, Smithery, Writing, Cooking, Alchemy, Synthesis, Compounding, and Crafting."

Chip opened the scroll and tilted his head.

"Those are all the fields where Item Creation can be used," Welch explained as Chip began to fly up, getting the attention of Sonic who looked at the scroll before looking bored at it and Welch.

"Wow, you were blind to see there are only 500 inventors," Sonic said bored.

Welch sweat dropped at this as many of them looked bored at her. "...R-really? Wow, I thought it said 9,000,000..."

Annoyed by the constant lies, Wolf banged his left fist hard on the desk. "Get to the point already, girl."

"Oh, sure," Welch said with a giggle. "Truth is, I wanted all of you to join the guild seeing that you look so different from most inventors out there. You know what they say, different minds for exotic items."

"You just made that up," Samus pointed out.

"It's one of the guilds' catchphrases, okay?" Welch said. "You would know if YOU were inventors." She looked at them. "Anyhow, wanna be inventors?"

Roy crossed his arms. "The fact you have 500 people could still be helpful..."

"I swear they're very good," Welch said. "They come from all directions to increase the production of rare and valuable items."

"And where can we find those inventors?" Pit asked.

"Tell you what," Welch began. "I'll tell you where they are if you sign up to be inventors. If you don't want to invent anything, well, we'll accept only your membership until you consider making items. How does that sound? Everyone will be happy that way."

Fox thought for a moment. "Hmm...you have a deal with me."

"Oh well, I think that works," C. Falcon said.

"Nice," Sonic commented as he put the scroll back on the desk. "I hate to work, anyway."

"(But I wanted to be an inventor...)" Tails thought disappointed.

Welch waved her handy stick in the air. "Alrighty then." She pushed some papers away to get some registration forms out from the piles of papers. "Here are your forms. Please fill the required information for you to step up in the field of Item Creation."

"I'm not creating a single thing for you, okay?" Wolf said.

"(You'll be the first one to create something before long... They all fall for the challenge to be a professional...)" Welch thought.

All the Smashers (including Tails and even Chip) signed up the forms. In some minutes, they were all done as they all piled their forms on the desk. Welch, clapping her hands a bit, took the forms and looked at each one.

"Ooooh, nice info," Welch remarked before putting the forms down. "Okay, welcome to the Craftsman's Guild! We'll be glad to have more members around in order to expand the industry of Item Creation!"

"We said we weren't going to create anything," Pit pointed out.

"(You'll create items before long,)" Welch thought. "Oh, right, sorry about that. I get very excited myself when new inventors join."

In order to get to the point, Fox coughed a bit. "Can you tell us where we can find the inventors' location?" Fox asked.

"Sure," Welch said as she walked to the window where she pointed at it with her thumb. "They're right over across the street."

The group looked outside. In front of the Craftsman's Guild, where smoke came out from some chimneys from a big and long workshop. Shadows of people walking around on the other sides of the window could be seen.

"Are you kidding me?" Sonic began. "The place was just across the street?"

"Yep," Welch said. "It's very convenient to have the workshop close to the guild's headquarters, right?"

Wolf looked at her. "You mean you just tricked us into joining this group?"

"...Maybe."

The lupine frowned at this. "At least I read the form's rules."

Welch chuckled as she walked back to her desk. "Okay then, you may go to the workshop and meet the inventors... Oh, by the way," she began as she raised her handy stick. "I forgot to mention this, but there's an owner of the workshop in front of this place that occupies the entire workshop."

"What about the owner?" Samus asked.

"I'm telling you, when he first arrived here, he was a newbie at Item Creation," Welch said. "When time passed, he began to recruit almost all the inventors across the whole continent until he gathered almost all inventors under his group. Even since he gathered all of them, they've been recognized as the most talented inventors."

"So is that owner friendly or not?" Pit asked.

"Nah, he's surely the nicest guy around," Welch said. "I get a lot of conversations with him every time patents come here. He's a real hard worker for being just a teen."

Tails rubbed his chin. "The owner is a teen, then?"

"(And quite handsome for me...a little bit,)" Welch thought. "Yep, I don't know if he'll let you use the workshop or even let you meet the inventors, but he's pretty nice with anyone he meets."

Samus looked at the group. "Then we should get going."

"Alright, then," Welch nodded. "Hope to see you guys working as inventors."

At that moment, the door of the guild suddenly opened. A tanned girl walked inside and looked at Welch from the entrance. The young girl was about 4'4" tall, was 14 years old, wore pink garments, had pale pink hair with 2 pigtails (each one at the sides of her head), wore a necklace with 3 red spheres around her neck, 3 belts that covered her whole torso, 2 long red strands that hung from her back, tight black shorts under her pink clothes that barely reached her knees, pink shoes that had bells on top of them, and for some reason had 2 long red bangles with big spheres in the ends that she had on her wrists' rings. The girl looked enthusiastic by her look on her face as she carried some documents in her right hand.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Gaiety Company

"Hey, Welch!" the girl called cheerfully as she waved the documents. "Here are the file patents you requested!"

Everyone in the room turned to her, Welch smiling at her. "Oh, it's you! Yep, those are the patents I need to register the information about the items you created."

The girl folded her arms and tilted her head at the sides. "Well, everyone did a good job at the workshop, not just me."

The group watched as the girl, ignoring them, walked up to the desk where she put the patents on it. She giggled a bit at Welch. "It's too bad our Compact Communicator doesn't work for now."

"See? I told you it was a good idea to drop by there and request the patents," Welch said. "It'd be a lot easier if your Communicator didn't break because of that incident with Puffy."

The girl looked away. "We told her a lot of times not to create more explosive items but she wouldn't listen and one of them exploded when Fayt walked nearby when he was about to call you with it before it got caught in the explosion. Sometimes I think she's with us for the money and nothing else."

"I can tell that much," Welch said. "Now be good and let's create more items, shall we?"

The girl pouted a bit at her. "Geez, I'm already a grown-up. You don't need to talk to me like that."

"Fine, fine, I get it," Welch joked. "It's just a little bit teasing, you know."

"Yeah, but you know me well enough," the girl said. "Oh well, I just wanted to deliver these patents for you. I need to go back and see if we can refine our weapons to make them even stronger." She turned around, finding the 10 characters looking at her. "And…it seems you're busy…"

"Oh yeah," Welch said. "They're all here to sign up as inventors."

"You tricked us to become inventors," Wolf pointed out.

"And they're funny, you know?" Welch asked with a nervous chuckle.

The girl looked at the 10 characters. Suddenly, she rubbed her chin when she looked at Samus, Sonic, Tails, Chip, and C. Falcon. "Hmm…weird…" She stopped rubbing her chin.

"Is something wrong, little girl?" C. Falcon asked.

"…" The girl shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing." She looked more at them. "I just grew curious about you all and…"

Fox noticed that the girl's eyes focused on his. The young girl then began to slowly look at the vulpine from feet to head until their eyes met together. Crossing his arms, Fox looked at her. "What are you doing?"

"…Oh!" the girl got startled before she played with her fingers. "I-I'm sorry, mister, but sometimes my eyes like to disobey me and look at people a little bit too much of the necessary…"

Fox raised an eyebrow.

The girl folded her arms and looked away. "W-well, sorry for taking your time away for a bit but I must go…" She looked at them with a happy expression. "See ya!" she said before she began to walk around the group to reach the exit where she left by closing the door behind her.

"What was all that about?" Sonic asked.

Welch blinked a bit. "That girl is sure an enthusiastic one, isn't she? I'm surprised she's a very talented inventor at the crafting field." She coughed a bit to clear her throat. "Anyway, since you guys are inventors, I guess I can provide you information about the other inventors here. The girl you just met here was Peppita Rossetti."

"Peppita?" Chip repeated.

"That's her name," Welch said. "Peppita is part of the crew of the workshop across the street from here. I know little about her but I guess you don't want to know that much about her, right?"

"Exactly," Wolf said. "We just came here for information, not get acquainted with people."

"Actually, recalling all our previous travels, we're bound to meet new people here," Chris pointed out.

"Anyway, shall I guide you to the workshop?" Welch offered. "Since you're new inventors, maybe I can convince the owner to let you join him and his group."

Roy rubbed his chin. "It could be beneficial so we can gather the information about the Spotugia Temple."

"Spagonia," Tails corrected.

"Y-yeah, that."

Welch looked cheerfully. "Shall I do it for you, then? Please, you should let me do it so you give the professional inventors a good impression. I'm a best friend to the owner as well so you have very good chances of joining up with them. Nowadays, people like to unite more inventors in order to make a huge production of items, and the best results always come up whenever minutes pass."

Workshop

In front of the Craftsman's Guild, across the street, the workshop busily worked through the sunset as the sounds of melted rock being poured into swords, accessories being put together with pieces, pots with different soups being stirred around echoed in the busy building.

A handful of people were working in 8 different areas. From within, the building looked even bigger than the outside. Around 12 people were moving and walking around the place to get materials they needed to use in order to create a new line of items through using their skills at the slogan of "art of Item Creation" as Welch had told before.

One the inventors turned out to be the same girl that went to the guild before. The girl was Peppita Rossetti, working on a small table with what looked to be a small charm. "Oooooh..." she muttered as she took a closer look at the earring. "The jewel isn't inserted quite right... At this rate, the item's effects won't turn out good and I'll end up making another Tacky Earring..."

Peppita Rossetti is a dancing girl of the nomadic race of Velbaysyans (a race that have great performance in dances, magic, and strength) who wander space, without any permanent home. She has the same genius for dancing that her deceased mother possessed, and has already mastered many different dances at a young age, earning the admiration of other members of the troupe. When Peppita steps in battles, she can use her bangles' spheres to whack enemies hard, and can also perform magic dances that benefit the group.

"What is it, Peppita?"

Peppita blinked a few times before looking up to the young blue-haired teen in front of her. The young teen was 19 years old, stood 5'9" of height, wore a sleeveless white shirt, and wore a rare blue set of armor in his blue pants, legs, and feet. The teen also had a sword hanging from his torso at the side. Looking down at the girl, the teen put his right hand on his hips.

"Are you having trouble?"

"Nah," Peppita said. "It's all fine over here, Fayt."

Fayt Leingod is an ordinary human student born on Earth. Fayt's journey started accidentally after fleeing from a resort planet from the attack of an alien race. He has eventually traveled a big distance in the space to escape from the persecuting aliens until he was abducted before crash landing in Elicoor II, where his journey back home began. Fayt possesses a special power, as well as having great battling skills for playing virtual reality games to get out of boredom from college work, implying he's somewhat lazy.

The teen named Fayt nodded. "Well, you seemed depressed so I wanted to know why."

"It's because of this earring I'm doing here," Peppita said as she held up a small but unfinished earring. "I'm trying to create an Emerald Earring, but all I've been gettin' are Tacky Earrings, Pitiful Earrings, Embarrassing Earrings, and let's not forget the Humiliating Earrings," she said depressed. "I dunno what's wrong with me..."

"Now, cheer up," Fayt told her. "If you let your emotions drag you down while working, you're going to keep getting results you don't want to see, right?"

"I guess..." Peppita said as she rested her chin on the table.

"Also, why don't you change items to try to refine the Boost of Prowess we have?"

Peppita pushed her chin up to grab from the floor 2 red boots that she put on the table she was working. "You mean these boots, the boots that can raise strength and defense by 10 percent each? Well, it'd be very convenient to refine it so they turn to 30 percent...but it's so hard, and not to mention it takes a lot of money away from our hands."

"Don't worry about that," Fayt said. "We have plenty of money to pay everyone and the materials we got here. You don't want to let him get away by destroying all the universe, right?"

Peppita remembered that Fayt had stopped going after a villain they needed to stop as soon as possible to try and get prepared for the worst by dedicating all their time to refine and create items, where weapons would commonly come out. The group of 10 agreed to get prepared before fighting what would be the fate of the whole universe.

Who would have thought Peppita would get involved in a mission so big?

"...Yeah," Peppita said as she smiled a bit. "We won't let that guy get away with it, are we?"

Fayt chuckled. "No, we won't let him get away with it that easily."

"Okie-dokie," Peppita said cheerfully. "I want to finish him off before I get back to do my debut at the stage, you know." She began to examine the boots with a magnifier. "After all, I'm the Fairy of Illusions, and YOU promised to be there with Sophia, Fayt."

The reason why Peppita says this is because she met Fayt and her friend Sophia at the resort planet (called Hyda IV) in the hotel where Fayt and his family were in. Fayt and Sophia met Peppita by accident after getting lost in the big hotel by going to the Rossetti Troupe's room (the troupe that Peppita works with). Upon meeting them, Peppita was happy to see "fans" already coming to see her. For her dismay, Fayt told her the truth, and after some misunderstandings (one of them addressing Fayt as a robber), the 3 became friends. Just before her debut on the stage, the alien invasion began to attack the planet, prompting Peppita to drop out the debut by escaping, eventually winding up helping Fayt.

Fayt took out a ticket that Peppita had given him for a free pass to see the Rossetti Troupe. He knew the girl would get upset at him if he forgot to see her debut, which she was looking forward to do very soon.

"Yeah, I remember," Fayt said as he kept the ticket in his pocket. "I'll be there for your debut on the stage."

Peppita giggled happily. "Oh, thank you so much, Fayt! I'd really like you and Sophia to go there as some sort of honeymoon!"

"W-wait, what?"

"Just kidding, don't worry," Peppita joked as she kept examining the boots, making Fayt sigh. "...I know you like Maria better, though..."

"H-hey, what makes you think that?" Fayt asked, reddening a bit.

"I'm just kidding, Fayt. Geez, you take jokes very seriously," Peppita said without looking at him.

The teen frowned as he rolled his eyes. Looking to his right, he looked down upon a young kid that stood around 3'1" feet. The kid wore a brown pointy helmet with some glass glaring eyes (the left one being broken), brown overalls (with the right overall sometimes slipping off from the kid's right shoulder), pale blue shirt underneath, some brown shorts, and pale brown shoes. The kid looked energetic as he looked up to the tall teen with crossed arms.

"Hey, check this out," the kid began as he showed Fayt a helmet with some Drills over its top. "I've made myself a Drill Helm."

Fayt frowned. "Roger, I didn't want you to make a Drill Helm. I wanted you to refine our best armors."

Roger S. Huxley is a young boy who lives in the Lost City of Surferio (located to the west in the Sanmite Republic). This major problem child travels around as a part of a so-called Real Man Contest that he always makes up with his friends against other kids. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on this one, as he is always buying trouble with his rude words. Roger, despite being small, fights using axes or helmets that give him different costumes.

The small kid (Roger) looked bored. "What? Why do we have to refine our armors?"

"We need to have a good defense," Fayt explained. "You and Cliff can refine weapons and armors, right?"

Roger thought for a moment. "Well..."

"Besides, the enemies seem to inflict a lot of damage on us, especially you, right?"

Roger crossed his arms. "Ha, what are you thinking, Fayt? Even if I'm small I'm no weakling."

"I didn't say you were a weakling," Fayt pointed out. "I just need you to refine our weapons in order to receive less damage from enemies."

Peppita stopped working and pointed down at Roger. "I'm refining these Boots of Prowess so they make our armor stronger, you know!"

Roger folded his arms behind his helmet. "Heh, if you want Roger to work so badly, then that'll be something a real man could do."

"Roger..." Fayt frowned.

"...Ugh, okay, okay," Roger said as he lifted up his hands and frowned a bit. "I'm getting' back to my job now, happy?"

"I don't want to be the only one happy here," Fayt said. "I want everyone to feel relieved for creating and refining items. If you want to be feared by all to be a real man, Roger, you should always work hard."

Roger thought for a moment. "Hmm...true... Alright, then." Roger wiped his nose with a finger. "I'll show the world not to mess with me."

"That's the spirit," Fayt said.

Something came up with Peppita. "Oh, Fayt, er, about the patents I went to deliver with Welch..."

"Yeah, what about them?"

"W-well..." Peppita looked away. "When I got there, there were people with her."

"So? It's not so odd to find other people there. Why are you looking so worried, anyway?"

"It's because the people I saw...looked pretty different than anyone here..."

"Pfft," Roger began as he rolled his eyes. "Everyone in ALL those planets you guys come from are different. I don't get that surprised."

Fayt nodded. "Besides, how did those people look like?"

Peppita put a finger on her lips as she looked up to recall. "Well, last time I saw them, they were a walking robot, a muscular guy that looked sort of a pedo, a swordsman that looked that came from royalty, an angel who wore briefs in public, this hedgehog guy, the 2-tailed fox, the flying guy that looked that came out from a cartoon, this kid who wore this hat with small wings on the sides, this guy that looked like a Lycanthrope, and...this other fox person."

"...Wow," Fayt said. "If you think about it, a group like that would be out of place to see together..."

"And cool," Roger commented. "You said there was a walking robot with them?"

"That's pretty much it," Peppita said as she looked at them. "They looked friendly, though."

Fayt was thinking about something. "(A group like that wouldn't belong to this planet. If they were seen in here, they would be ignoring the UP3 that the Pangalactic Federation created... No advanced technology is allowed to be used in underdeveloped planets so it doesn't disrupt the evolution of them...)"

"What do you think, buddy?" Roger asked.

"My guess is that we should be careful," Fayt said. "If they came here from another advanced planet, they should know they can't take technology here...then again, almost all the planet here began to see technology because of the events..."

Roger folded his arms. "So, we end up doing no action. Kind of boring if you ask me."

"No, it's not that," Fayt said. "Because I came here, and the Vendeeni made an invasion here, it should be pretty obvious for the people of Elicoor II that there's technology out there."

The Vendeeni is the race of aliens that attacked Hyda IV (the planet where Fayt and his family were taking a vacation). This race hasn't joined the Pangalactic Federation due to their harsh attitude. However, the Vendeeni should be feared as they possess more advanced technology than other planets in the federation.

"Yep," Peppita said.

"So then, aren't you going to see them with your own eyes?" Roger asked. "They could be, you know, shady people who're trying to take advantage of the commotion of the enemies we're facing."

"Maybe…" Fayt said. "We don't know if we have the chance to meet them in person, though. If we do meet them in person, then we should be prepared fo-"

At that moment, the door's opening sound interrupted their conversation as the 3 turned to the door to see a happy Welch walking inside, just behind the counter of the workshop. "Hey there!" Welch said with a giggle. "How's product development going?"

"Welch?" Fayt said confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy across the street."

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah, no," Welch admitted.

"Then why are yah here?" Roger asked. "Ooh, I get it. You were secretly hired by other competitors to spy on us."

"Hey, I'll never do such a thing in my life to you," Welch said. "Anyway, that's not the reason why I'm here. I came here because I wanted to see Fayt myself to tell him something very important."

"What's that about?" Fayt asked.

"You see, I have some people here who wish to use the workshop as well, and considering the fact you own this place and the fact this is the only workshop of Peterny, I was wondering if you could let them work here."

"Work for us?" Fayt asked.

"Maybe? I don't know if they want to join your group, Fayt," Welch said. "However, I think you should let join you because they really have the eyes to be professional inventors."

"Isn't that the same thing you tell almost to everybody?" Peppita asked. "I saw you saying that the other day I dropped b-"

Welch coughed a bit as she waved her handy stick. "Can you do that, Fayt? If you let them join you, you'll have more possibilities to create very nice products."

Fayt thought for a moment as he looked around the workshop. The inventors that he had hired for a long time ago were working hard on the different fields of Item Creation. Since Fayt's group wanted to be prepared for incoming battles, surely having more inventors would come in handy.

"I guess…" Fayt said as Roger and Peppita looked at him. "Okay, I'll accept them. But first, I need to see them in person."

Welch nodded and turned around to the exit. "Hey, you guys, come in here, please! He said it's fine as long as he sees you!"

Some seconds passed before the people that came with Welch (the Smashers) entered inside, looking around the workshop behind the counter. However, Fayt, Roger, and Peppita blinked surprised to see the rather odd group of people before them. The Smashers were busily examining the big workshop.

Peppita wanted to point at them and yell, "They're the guys, Fayt!" but decided not to.

Looking back and forth between the 2 groups, Welch giggled and tilted her head a bit. "Well then, I'll leave you 10 to do whatever you please to do here so you create items, okay? I need to go back to my spot and file in some patents. Fayt, I wish you accept them in!" she said cheerfully before walking out towards the other side of the street where she entered the building.

Fayt's group and the Smashers then suddenly stared at each other for a rather long period of time. The blue-haired teen couldn't find the proper words to talk and break the silence as he examined each one of them, Roger and Peppita doing the same action.

The World Traveler then remembered. "(…Right, now I remember who the protagonists are here…)" he thought. Making up his mind, the dragoon wanted to break the silence by saying, "A-"

"Are you Fayt?" Roy suddenly asked, Chris frowning in disappointment,

Fayt looked at him. "Well, yeah, I am…"

Roger crossed his arms, walked towards the counter, and jumped on a chair so he could be seen behind the counter. "So, you guys are here to be inventors, huh?"

"That's…quite right, I guess," Pit said.

Roger narrowed his eyes at them. "You look quite odd for my tastes…"

Fayt gasped mentally before he ran to the counter. "S-sorry if Roger here did something to bother you," he apologized, receiving a glare from Roger. "But, may I ask who are you and what are you doing in this planet?"

"Wait, what?" C. Falcon asked.

"(A-ha, jumping straight to the point, Fayt, I like that,)" Roger thought with an amused look.

"It's…obvious you weren't born here, right?" Fayt asked. "I mean, look at that robot you have there."

Samus grunted a bit to the point it didn't was hear inside her helmet. "I'm not a robot but a bounty hunter in a suit."

Fayt raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Samus nodded as she clicked some buttons on her arm cannon, the helmet she wore opening to reveal her face. Fayt stared at her for a few seconds before Samus's helmet came back on.

"Oh, I see now," Fayt said. "But really, you shouldn't be living here because of the fact you have advanced technology in you, which means you surely know about the UP3 law, right?"

"The UP3 law? What's that?" Chip asked, receiving some odd looks from the 3 characters.

Suddenly, Fox raised a finger. "You mean the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact or UP3 for short, right?"

"Yeah," Fayt said. "What do you know about it?"

Fox crossed his arms. "What I know about that is that is a treaty aimed at protecting planets with civilizations that aren't yet fully developed. The federation laws strictly prohibit contact with planets and the reason for this is because contact with higher civilizations often greatly influences the path of history of underdeveloped worlds," he explained before grinning. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"…Of course," Fayt said as the others looked somewhat surprised at the vulpine. "It's almost as the law exactly says. However, what are you doing here if you know about the UP3?"

"We're here because we're chasing a group that hid in this planet," Fox explained. "I know we're violating the law, but that group is very dangerous to many different planets. They threaten to disrupt peace in the universe by conquering them with their technology."

"Is that so?" Fayt asked. "But why do you have such a diverse group of people? Are you working for the Pangalactic Federation?"

"Sort of," Fox said. "You could say we're secret agents."

Fayt rubbed his chin as he looked at the group. "Last time I checked there weren't any races that look like most of you… I'm saying that because of the 2-tailed fox, the hedgehog, the fairy guy…and you," he said as he looked at Fox. "Are you…a Foxtail?"

The Foxtail is a sentient race descended from foxes with multiple large tails extending from their posteriors that have the strange characteristic of growing one new tail each century. Foxtails are born with a powerful magic ability that allows them to take any form at will. Strangely enough, they cannot change their tails, which remain as a dead giveaway to an alert observer.

"I'm a completely different kind than a Foxtail," Fox said as the others looked utterly confused at his explanations. "If you think you haven't heard or seen about the others we have with us is because they rather keep themselves in the shadows so they can have privacy in their planets."

The blue-haired teen tilted his head a bit. "I see…I think I understand your intentions to be here."

Fox nodded. "And if you're asking yourself why we became inventors was because we wanted to get information from the townspeople if they saw the suspicious group we're looking for. We lost track, but we believe they came to this planet."

"…Wow," Roger commented. "I didn't know you guys were like that."

Deciding to make their statement more believable, Tails decided to speak. "S-so, we wanted to join the Craftsman's Guild so we could get information. We kind of explored this planet for a bit so…there."

"I see," Fayt said. "You're surely thinking you're wasting your time to be coming here."

"Oh, that's not true," Pit said.

"Hmm..." Fayt thought for a moment. "You seem to focused on your task..." He turned around. "What do you guys think?"

Peppita pumped up a fist in the air. "I'd say let them in!!!"

The blue-haired teen and the young boy stared at her odd. The Velbaysyan's yell was excessively loud enough to make all the other inventors in the workshop stop working. Shifting her eyes around, Peppita pulled back her fist and giggled cheerfully.

"Sorry about that," Peppita said embarrassed. "I got a little bit too excited so suddenly. Silly me, yelling like that without reason..."

"...You're a little bit of weirdo, alright," Roger said.

Peppite pouted a bit. "H-hey, I'm not a weirdo, Roger!"

Fayt shook his head. "E-er, thanks for sharing your opinion, Peppita..." He looked down at Roger. "How about you, Roger?"

Roger looked back at the group. "Around here, only real men are acceptable to be inventors alongside me. I ask them, are they real men?"

Fayt stared at Roger for a while. "When did you make up that rule?"

Roger looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "5 minutes ago," he admitted before waving a finger. "Are they real men, yes or no, Fayt?"

"What kind of question is that?" Roy asked.

"Please, don't mind what he says," Fayt muttered as Roger crossed his arms proudly. "Roger...likes to be...well...himself a lot of times..."

"I heard that!" Roger yelled as he turned around to Fayt. "This is very serious, Fayt! I wanna know myself if these guys are real men!"

The Smashers looked at Roger's back. Some of them got a little bit surprised as they found a bushy brown tail that wagged slowly at the sides.

"What the...he's got a tail!" C. Falcon said.

Roger turned to them annoyed. "So what if I got a tail? My tail's the softest around, you know."

"Hoo boy, that SURELY is surprising yet not so much to me for no reason," Sonic said bored.

"What was that, lummox?"

"What did you call me?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"He called you a lummox," Chip said with a chuckle. "You're a lummox, then?"

"I heard that, you know," Sonic said bored.

"W-wait, don't start a fight here, Roger," Fayt said as he put a hand on Roger's right shoulder. "You don't want to make them think badly of you."

"Hmph," Roger mumbled before he looked away.

Fayt snapped back from his stare at Roger before turning to them. "So anyway, we'll be glad to let you join us. You can probably find all the information you want to hear from our inventors."

"About damn time where we got to the point," Wolf said as he crossed his arms. "I want to finish things here as soon as possible."

"I'm surprised," Fayt said as he stared at Wolf. "How did you get the help of a Lycanthrope?"

Lycanthropes are a extremely rare race of individuals in which ordinary human cells and Beastfolk cells that have been transformed by a special virus coexist in the same body. The human and Beastfolk cells in a Lycanthropes' body will expand or contract when the heart rate exceeds a certain threshold.

As a result, the Lycanthrope's external appearance will appear to undergo a transformation.

Although there are some exceptions, a Lycanthrope's body will become more solid and powerful when the Beastfolk cells are in the expanded state.

There are many different Lycanthrope bloodlines, including those related to wolves, bears, tigers, dogs, rats, boars, and other animals. It should be noted that the legends about Lycanthropes transforming after viewing the full moon, or about the Lycanthrope's invulnerably to all weapons save those made of silver, are nothing more than superstitions.

"Lycan-what now?" Wolf asked.

"They're supposed to be a very secluded race," Peppita explained from her table. "It's not common to find one of them in plain day."

"You didn't know your own race's name, then?" Fayt asked.

Wolf glared at him and frowned. "For your information, I DO know what my race is. I didn't hear clearly, that's all."

The Smashers knew Wolf was lying, but it was better to lie than to say the truth after all the explanations. He didn't want to deal with more problems for the time being and just let things go smoothly as they all wished.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fayt said. "Actually, I should apologize even more after interrogating all of you. It's just that I grew curious and somewhat skeptical about you."

"No worries there," Chip said. "We're friendly."

Fayt studied Chip for a bit. The blue-haired teen wanted to ask what Chip was, but it was surely a race that wanted to be secluded as well as some others Fayt knew. Fayt smiled a bit at them. "Well then, welcome to our team of inventors, everybody."

The Smashers have joined Fayt's group...not the other way around.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Brace Forest Wind

"We should introduce us formally," Fayt offered. "My name is Fayt Leingod, nice to meet you."

Roger put his hands on his hips. "The name's Roger S. Huxley, aspiring man."

Peppita pumped her fist again to the air. "And my name is Peppita Rossetti, acrobat, and the Fairy of Illusions from the famous Rossetti's Troupe."

Fayt and Roger looked at her. "Is it okay for you to say your whole occupation?" Fayt asked.

"I wanna attract people to my debut," Peppita said. "If I get chance, I should take it right away. The guys at the troupe will be delighted to hear I'm letting people know about us."

"As usual, you take advantage of every situation," Roger said bored.

"You do it even more than I do," Peppita pointed out.

"A-anyway," Fayt began as he turned to the group. "I'd like to see which fields you'd like to work to make items. It's crucial to organize all inventors in the right area so Item Creation goes well."

The Smashers looked at each other before all of them began to discuss the 8 different areas od work that they didn't want to work, but had to in order to keep themselves out of suspicions. As most of them were talking with Fayt and Roger, Chris decided to talk with Fox once the vulpine was left alone. Fox was leaning against the wall close to the door.

"How did you exactly know all those terms when Fayt asked us?" Chris asked, getting Fox's attention.

The vulpine looked around to make sure nobody was close. "I knew those terms because they were exactly the same as in the fairy tales' book," Fox whispered. "I happened to read a little bit when nobody was looking and I happened to recall those terms... You could say I studied the book somewhat."

"Were you that interested to read the book behind everyone's backs?" Chris asked confused.

Fox smiled a bit at him. "Chris, this book was a very important part of my childhood when my father was around." He looked down and closed his eyes. "Now that I found this by accident, I'm starting to remember the fond memories I spent with my father. He used to real me all the tales from this book so I could sleep." He looked at him ashamed. "That was all he could do after my mother died when she gave me birth..."

Chris looked worried. "Sorry if I..."

"It's okay," Fox said. "I got over her death... Back on topic, my father was kind of clueless of how to raise children that he began to read some guides." He chuckled. "I'm telling you, he even went as far to admit me that. He said it was so panicking to calm down a crying baby on his arms. Too bad those were the only times where he acted all panicked before he began to go back to use his normal self."

"I can infer he started to let you see and know what he did when he work for Team Star Fox, right?"

"Very true," Fox said. "I admired him a lot during my childhood. I was always excited to hear any stories of his missions every time he returned home. To me, my father was...the coolest."

Chris smiled a bit at him. "It's nice to hear what you think about your father."

"That reminds me, what about your father?" Fox asked. "Is he a good guy?"

"Oh, he's very nice," Chris said. "I like to hear what he and my mom do during their business travels around the continent. I admire my father a little bit that..." The World Traveler stopped talking. "...Oh no, I forgot..."

"What did you forget?"

Chris looked worried at him again. "I forgot they were going to come to my house. I haven't returned yet ever since the incident during my birthday, do you remember? I was sidetracked and...the time in my world surely stopped..." He looked down. "I should go back to see them again... It's been a long time after I saw them in person..."

Fox pushed himself back from the wall and put a hand on Chris's right shoulder. "If you ask me, you should go back and see them. Trust me, you still have your parents around, and you must enjoy all the time you have with them."

"W-why are you being so personal in this?"

"I'm doing this because you have the chance...not like me," Fox said with a frown. "...If I ever saw my father again...I'd like to spend the time with him... I...just don't know if he's even alive..." He looked serious at him. "I know that you've seen those cut-scenes in the games where I can see him, right?"

That was a very bizarre fact.

"Y-yes..." Chris said.

"What do you think, Chris?" Fox asked as he removed his hand from Chris's shoulder. "Do you think my father is alive, or that my mind is playing tricks with me?"

"I..." Chris thought for a moment. "...I just don't know..."

"...Thanks, though," Fox said. "I guess it helps to hear an opinion for someone else who saw him..."

"I could be hallucinating as you do..."

"Just maybe..." Fox said before sighing. "Thanks, Chris, really, thanks..."

Unaware, the 2 didn't see that Wolf, some feet away from them, heard their conversation as the others were busily getting explanations about the 8 areas of Item Creation from Fayt and Roger. The lupine was looking away as he lowered his head down. "(...James...)" Wolf thought with a frown.

The dragoon stared at the vulpine looking down at the floor. The look on Fox's face clearly gave the hint that he was depressed. Chris thought about something to cheer the leader of Star Fox...

However, once both turned around, they found a smiling Peppita with folded arms behind her back, making them take a step back in surprise.

"W-what the..." Fox looked down at her. "W-were you standing there all the time?"

Peppita looked at him, still smiling cheerfully. "Huh, what do you mean?" she asked. "I just got here a second ago. I just wanted to meet you in person... Hmm..." She put a finger on her lips. "What was your name again?"

"...Fox."

Peppita chuckled. "What an original name," she said, looking happy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Fox. I'm always happy to meet new people like you."

"I...see..." Fox said as he pulled his right foot back. "Well...I'm glad to meet you as well...Peppita?"

Peppita gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands. "Wow, you didn't forget my name, then? I'm so happy that you didn't!" she said giggling. "Most people forget my name because it sounds weird, but personally, I really like my name so much."

"...Why would I forget someone's name in a minute?" Fox asked as he crossed his arms. "I wouldn't forget about your name since we just met."

Peppita blushed a bit. "T-that's so nice of you," she said. "Well then, shall I assign you to your area? The others seem to understand all the details about it." She tilted her head. "You looked so smart when you told Fayt about the UP3. I take you know what Item Creation is?"

"Pretty much?"

"Good!" Peppita clapped her hands together as the others began to dismiss by walking around the counter to the left, Roger jumping off from his chair to show them the workshop. "Well, let's see what Fayt has for you in hands. Fayt's pretty much a hard worker. He should know where to put you."

Fox's eyes widened a bit as Peppita grabbed his right gloved hand with both of her hands.

"Shall we?" Peppita asked with a giggle.

"O-okay," Fox said unsure as the girl pulled him to the counter, Chris watching the event without words.

The dragoon shifted his eyes before looking at no one in particular. "She just ignored me the whole time... Do I have camouflage skills or something?" he asked confused.

Wolf was the only one who was thinking about what he could do in the workshop as Fayt waited for him to decide. The lupine didn't surely want to do some items, but he had to in order to do something productive or else others would see him as a lazy (bastard). The lupine then looked at his left where Peppita pulled Fox to the counter.

"Hey, Fayt," Peppita began as Fox looked at him. "Is there an area available for Fox here?"

Fayt rubbed his chin. "Well...we have 2 areas still available but I'm not sure if he knows how to work on either of those."

Wolf turned to him. "What are those 2 areas?"

Fayt looked at him. "The areas that are available are dotted down this form. We don't have people in synthesis because that's a risky process to do. We already have a handful of people on each area, but the last 2 have vacant spots."

The lupine watched as Fayt showed him a form. Wolf took the form to see what the areas were. According to the form, the areas with the people assigned were...

Smithery - C. Falcon, Roy, Gusto
Engineering - Tails, Sonic, Samus
Alchemy - Misty, Pit, Mackwell
Crafting - Peppita, Roger, Chilico
Writing - Chris, Mishell, Fayt

Wolf looked at the next 2 areas that had vacant spots. After further reading, a smirk appeared on his face as he saw the names Puffy and Chip "McChip" together. "I guess I'll go for Compounding."

Fayt nodded. "Good, we need people to create beneficial items in that field. Hope you do a good work."

Wolf smirked at Fox before the lupine, chuckling, put down the form and walked around the counter to go to his area. The vulpine didn't know the reason behind the smirk before he looked at the form that Wolf had placed down on the desk.

A sudden pissed look took over Fox's face once he read the form a bit, not minding the names Sophia and Mayu dotted down besides the last area of Item Creation.

Fayt raised an eyebrow as Peppita stared confused at the pissed Fox. The teen looked down at the form and blinked. "...What, you don't know how to do this?"

Fox looked at him, pissed look still intact. "Is this some kind of a joke?"

"I don't see what the joke is," Peppita admitted. "What, can't you do this right or what?"

"C'mon," Fayt said as he put his right hand on his hip. "The Cooking area is not that bad as it sounds."

Fox's pissed look turned into a glare as he looked at Wolf from the other side of the workshop. Fox could tell Wolf was smirking, even if he wasn't even looking at the vulpine. "(Wolf, you bastard... You knew very well that I suck at cooking so you wanted to see me fail...)" Fox thought in a cold tone.

Peppita chuckled, making Fox's glare disappear as he looked down at her. "C'mon, I'll take you to your area. You'll have to wait for Sophia and Mayu to come back because they both went shopping to buy products. They're gonna come back shortly, so wait until they get here. They know a lot way more about cooking here."

Sighing, Fox frowned. "Fine, please show me the cooking area so you see how bad I suck at it..."

"It's not that bad," Peppita said. "You're probably going to end up amazing yourself!" she said as she pulled Fox around the counter.

"Yeah, I'll be amazed to be the first one in here to kill everyone through food poisoning," Fox said as he rolled his eyes.

"Pfft, you won't kill anyone like that unless you do add poison in the food," Peppita said chuckling. "You're funny, you knew that? You're gonna love this place, Fox."

"I wish..." Fox muttered.

As Fayt told Chris to come with him to the writing area, the vulpine thought that the Star Ocean universe wouldn't be so bad after showing off what he knew thanks to his book.

However, much for Fox's dismay, he had to make stew for his first task in the new world, Peppita cordially telling him the process as she always seemed to be blushing whenever she looked up at Fox's bored expression.

Suddenly, the idea of ripping Wolf's head off didn't sound that bad for Fox...

Preview of the next chapter

Fox's eyes looked down to his right where he found the Velbaysyan looking at the stew in front of him. "...Didn't you say you were going to create an earring?"

"Hey, I'm trying to give you a hand here," Peppita said. "I'm being a good girl so you get a good impression of me."

"For what? You pretty much are very helpful to an extent."

Peppita blushed. "T-that's so nice of you, Fox. Really, thanks a lot for saying such a nice thing to me..."

"Item Creation For Dummies And Anthros Alike. I'd replace dummies for maggots. It sounds very fitting if you ask me," a voice commented.

"Nobody asked you, anyway," Peppita said annoyed.

"Little maggot girl..." the voice muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Trading Town of Peterny
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Peppita, Roger

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Gaiety Company" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays whenever Peppita is the main character for conversations. The music itself could be as well defined as Peppita's theme.

-The lines that Welch says when she greets Fayt are the exact lines she uses to greet players if they call her through the menu.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Brace Forest Wind" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays whenever you call Welch to check file patents and other Item Creation stuff.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-The Final Smash Extensions were inspired by Tales of the Abyss's Mystic Artes' extensions.

-According to some official sources, Captain Falcon's full name is Captain Douglas Jay Falcon.

-The universal library that exists within Star Ocean inspired me to create the Fic Log Database. Many terms are found in the library of the game.

And there you have it, the first chapter for Star Ocean 3. ;)

This chapter was fun to write (for me at least). I chose Fox as the main protagonist in order to give him the right development he needed to have. Expect to see many believable facts that could have happened during his past.

The idea of Star Ocean being a book of tales that Fox used to read was used in this fashion in order to make a small connection between him and the series. Also, Fox's story with his father is going to be an interesting one to write. I hope it turns out good so it can connect well with his past.

As for the S03 gang, there are 10 in total. In the game, you normally have to get 8, leaving 2 out from your party. I decided to break that rule here by allowing all the main characters participate. Since I don't want to introduce EVERYONE in the first chapter, they're going to appear in later chapters of this arc (before we reach the last chapter of the arc).

Also, take in mind that some terms of the game don't need to be defined as they don't have any particular impact in the story.

Expect to see the births of new conversations between the SO3 gang and the Smashers. ;)

Read and review as always, please. ;)

…Or I'll change C. Falcon for Douglas Jay to have everyone call him Doug.

*Chapter 155*: Item Creation For Dummies And Anthros

Get ready to see an original pairing that will be never thought by somebody else rather than me.

From TARDISreviewer: All I can say is... yay it' snot FF7. (trust me, I'm absolutely SICK of those fanboys)

From me: That's all you can say? Please, think of something to say about the chapter and not the poll…

From FF and STH: even those I don't know much about the game, seening as I been playing it for only two day it really a good game

Also it great for fox to be the Protagonist of this Arc, maybe he learn fire at the end of the Arc

From me: Sometimes, reviewers scare me when they try to guess what I'm going to do for the arc next… That scares me, really. I'm not saying that will happen, though.

Thanks. ;)

From ngrey651: How interesting that Fox knows about Star Ocean. And to hear about it from his DAD, of all sources. Ah, father/son bonding. Makes my heart warm. I wonder if James really IS gone. It was really ambiguous in the Star Fox games...

From me: You're going to be pleased by how Fox will be portrayed in this arc. Also, watch out for Wolf as he's going to be someone relevant to the arc as well.

Thanks. ;)

From "Cloud Strife": Y'know, your response was a little harsh; I didn't say you HAD to do as I said! It was a suggestion, not an order! Besides, I just want more "screen time", is all. I had, what, 3 paragraphs Before you ask, I've been reading this fic since it first came out, & I was hooked. The story itself was good: the Jobs were funny; (Moogle Knight! XD) the villains were wacky, but still evil; & the hero wasn't so overpowered that it was all over in 2 chapters. Instead, you're rapidly approaching 200! Score! I was especially surprised during the DSS arc, when I met Chris in person! Poor kid was depressed as hell; I HAD to do something! But I wasn't allowed to remember that until I read thru the fic again; then the Memory Seal broke. But even if you DON'T use Dissidia as an optional arc, you MUST do FF7! PLEASE! If you do the FF7 arc & I meet Chris' party, I won't remember anything yet, because I'm currently past Advent Children already in my timeline. I didn't start reading the fic until after I beat Kadaj. So be nice: if on the next chapter, I get bashed again just for saying something, so help me: I'll Double Omnislash you! See ya.

From me: "when I met Chris in person"?

Dude, are you one of those insane people who think they're a character? What is wrong with you, honestly? Why can't you be yourself and not somebody else? It's sad to think you're like this as well. If you REALLY think you're Cloud Strife, well, you completely fail at being him because you sound way too OOC.

I expect a much better review where I can talk with the real you.

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Another good chapter and quickly updated too.

I can see laughter in the next chapter already. Though how many temples are there? You already have the city near the manor ( or is it mansion ) , Final Fantasy IV DS, Pokémon Coloseum, and now Star Ocean. Isn't that all?

From me: According to Sonic Unleashed, there are 7 temples. This means there are 4 unexplored temples out there. It's going to be a long time still, though. I hope you like this chapter as well. :D

From Light the Lucario: Curse you and your good writing! Now I wanna play SO3 again! Anyway, the fact that Fox had a book called Tales of Star Ocean is both clever and funny at the same time. It sort of brings more background to his character. And it has been a while since chris has used the Dragoon class... Well then only one thing to say here. Keep on writing and be sure to have fun writing a certain emo!*cough* crazy person.*cough.*

From me: Sorry, but the character you're talking about won't appear until the next chapter. We're slowly introducing each character (well, at least I think I'm introducing them slowly…). I'm glad you're liking this arc so I hope it keeps going like that. ;D

From DianaGohan: Eh sorry but this chapter was a REALLY big letdown from the last one. There were some good scenes like the Great Maze intro, Fox having the Star Ocean book and actually using it's info later to outdo Chris in a sense of talking about the world to others (and I do like the idea of focusing on Fox's past. Hope you remember that Fox once had a dream about his father in an early chapter since that'd be good to bring up) Wolf wanting to hurry things along and a few of the jokes, like Falcon not liking his real name and most of Chip's lines.

However there were a lot of DRAB and just outright long or annoying parts in this story. For example the whole scene of Fox learning magic went on too long with those voices inside his head, and I don't buy at all the Sonic gang's reactions (since like I said out of everyone they would probably be the most likely to take it in stride considering they were in the X world. Then again since you apparently forget that Fox has expierence with magic through Krystal in Star Fox Adventures then it appears you are just forgetting character continuity) or the explanation of why not to use the sticker power all the time. As for the whole Star Ocean scene... well boring. Even if I DID know something about the characters they just went on far too long not really doing anything too much of interest. And the fact that you're introducing more of them worries me when I don't even care about the ones you already introduced. So yeah truthfully this chapter kind of sucked. Hopefully it will be the low point of the Star Ocean arc but 154 didn't leave me with good feelings continuing on to 155 and beyond.

GRADE: C--

From me: Sorry, but I think the scene with Fox learning Fire was too short. I know very well that Fox used magic with Krystal's Staff in Star Fox Adventure so trust me; I only follow all continuities without forgetting small bits. You'll see soon enough about that.

Introducing characters of the game is very important so they don't look like strangers and give the readers a glimpse of their attitude and personalities. Also, you do the same in your fics so it's not use worrying about it. Overall, you need to care on half of them.

I hope you like this chapter better, though. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Sure you didn't miss a reference to Star Ocean 3? I'm positive that Cpt Falcon said the same reaction (bleep) had when he 1st mentioned Roger.
What's the latest release date for a game we can recommend?
When will Chris cook that steak he promised Lucario about 70 or more chapters ago!?
Is Sly Cooper ok still?
Considering VII is still possible, are you gonna give Chris the "Knights of the Round Table" summon?
Well, happy typing!

From me: Actually, that scene was the hidden reference I wrote. I didn't want to put it down.

According to this fic's continuity, only games that have appeared before September 2008 are acceptable...but I'm NOT asking for any games whatsoever. Remember that.

That question is as irrelevant as Sonic's swimming in a pool.

I don't ask for games for the time being.

I haven't seen that summon yet.

And I hope you like this chapter. ;)

From SlasherMask: Geez, Chris is zz XD(I seem to be only Falcon fan here(every other character would get away with that. Well maybe not Sonic, but still(villains don't count)

Aww, you don't make him buy anything interesting~

I think you could have just said "Power boost is only in battles" that would have been more clearer.

Geez, Chris sure has bad memory.(I feel like I should make third sentence that starts with same way...)

I STILL think that bold text expositions feel out of place...

I just got feeling that you use pretty much same characters more often than others.(in worlds I mean)...Or I just remember wrongly... It depends... I think I just remember wrongly...(Isn't it toga or was briefs a joke?)

James McCloud is one of more bizarre things... He seems to be alive but how the heck that would be possible? Not that it matters...

Fox should make Wolf food taster XD

P.S... All of F-Zero games before GX had story told in manual.

P.S.S... Geez, Chris sure should do more research XD(I JUST HAD TO MAKE THIRD ONE)

From me: Well, I do think it'd better to say that power boost line like that. It's useful.

If you think the bold explanations are out of place, just ignore them, but you won't learn about the characters or special terms that will confused you. I've seen a lot of people complain about things they haven't seen and are lazy to look up for them. I try my best as to reduce the terms, though.

Yes, I've noticed I use almost the same characters for every arc. I promise I'm going to change that habit very soon or else Mario isn't going to participate at all in the worlds. Maybe I can make everyone cope well…

That James is surely a huge mystery. I just hope Fox's past can relate very well to what I have in hands.

Maybe.

I know.

Maybe too.

Well, do enjoy this chapter. ;)

Okay, everyone, it's time for the second leg of this arc to be read by all of you. I'm still a little bit surprised that this arc won the poll, but whatever, that's what you wanted to see so I'll do my best to do this right.

Also, be on the lookout for a bunch of characters appearing here. Those characters will be the inventors that appear in the game. HOWEVER, take in mind they don't need to be introduced very much as they don't serve a big purpose for the arc. Ignore them and just focus your attention on the Star Ocean 3 gang.

This chapter is the small beginning for Fox's past as well.

I encourage readers to read and review as always. ;)

Disclaimer: Whatever you do, do NOT hear Fayt scream during cut-scenes. You'll regret it if you do.

Chapter 155: Item Creation For Dummies And Anthros Alike

Trading Town of Peterny
Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bracing Forest Wind

In the busy workshop, inventors busily moved around to get materials that they all needed in order to create items through the eight different areas of the building. The areas of Item Creation were Synthesis, Smithery, Alchemy, Engineering, Compounding, Writing, Crafting, and Cooking.

The area of Synthesis, located to the far left end of the workshop, had magic spheres with books of Symbology to fuse items together in order to get a stronger item. There was a long table against the wall where many different scrolls were located.

Symbology is a technology discovered in 346 SD on the planet Roak whereby certain phenomena can be induced through the combination of the three aspects of invocation, marking, and mental power near an inscription of a special type of design called a symbol. This technology was known as heraldry in the past. Nowadays, many people through the whole galaxy know how to use this kind of magic in order to fight harsh battles. Symbology may as well be the type of magic in Star Ocean.

Next to the Synthesis area, the Compounding area was close to it. Several colored liquids within multiples potions and a wide variety of pills were shown over different tables in front of the window. There were also several guide books about all different kinds of compounding items that Wolf decided to look, ignoring the girl that was busily mixing potions together.

"(Who the hell is this girl?)" Wolf thought as he looked down at the girl.

The girl in question looked the normal kind of happy-looking girl for the fact she wore a white dress with some small garments, her long orange hair reaching half of her back. However, the lupine knew well that this girl wasn't even close to be a happy girl since the face of the girl looked...rather evil with her glaring red eyes staring at the potions in front of her.

The girl was better known as Puffy.

Puffy is a stiff-haired girl who follows Fayt and his companions around, saying, "No more, five years before! No more, seven years before!" as if it were some sort of key phrase, for no apparent reason. This odd phrase may make perfect sense to those who understand its context, but it means nothing at all to Fayt. It's almost as if a desire for revenge is filling her with rage and makes her pick fights. She likes to challenge Star Ocean players a lot.

"Grrr," Puffy grunted aloud. "I can't decide the ingredients for my next explosive potion..."

Judging by the charred looks of the wooden table, Wolf knew well that Puffy surely had been creating many explosives. The lupine wondered how the table could survive the accidental treatments.

Instantly, Wolf noticed that Puffy looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. "Are you looking at me, mutt?"

Wolf grunted and looked away.

"Hey, are you looking at me?" Puffy asked. "I'm asking you a question. Were you looking at me?"

The lupine got annoyed enough to say, "F(beep) off..."

Puffy rolled her eyes annoyed, ignoring from behind the curious Chip that rubbed his chin to make the best chocolate candy in the universe as he was seen carrying a big book with ingredients and recipes.

"I need cacao here..." Chip muttered. "Hmm, cacao..."

Right besides the Compounding area, there was the Alchemy area which had another different set of books over some sophisticated-looking tables. A confused Pit flipped through pages from a basic book of alchemy as 2 other adults were creating high-advanced alchemy through different ores and scrolls.

Pit looked at the pale-looking woman that wore a dark red coat that covered most of her body except her face. "So..." Pit trailed off, trying to set his mind away from the book of alchemy. "You told me your name was Misty Lear, right?"

The woman, her eyes looking at Pit, chuckled at him. "Indeed it is," Misty Lear said. "Yours was Pit, right?"

"Yes," Pit said. "You know, I wanted to ask how to do this part of the book to you." Pit looked at the man behind him. The gray-haired man wore a long red robe with blue clothes underneath it. The man, named Mackwell, was rubbing his chin as he paced around his own spot, looking down at a book he held on his right hand. "He's sort of focused on what he's doing."

"Oh, I see," Misty Lear said. "Then I shall be of help for you, Master Pit."

"...Master Pit?" Pit repeated confused at the addressing name, Misty Lear chuckling a bit as his naiveté. Maybe Misty Lear was attracted to him?

Right next to the Alchemy area, there was the Writing area. Unlike the previous areas, this had many books that were piled up together in big stacks of encyclopedias that almost touched the ceiling above on the table (and even the towers of books on the floor). The table was long enough for 3 different people to sit on the chairs of the table to work in their tasks.

"So..." Chris began as he stared down at a book with empty pages. "What are the procedures to create elemental books that can change a weapon's element?"

Sitting next to his right was Fayt who was writing different sentences on another book with empty pages. Fayt didn't need to look at him to speak. "You need to use the guide besides you to mix magic chants together," he explained. "The Symbology applied on each book allows them to become useful synthesis. You need to watch out for the words you write on them, though. A single misspelling could make the books worthless."

"That's quite right," said the pale blond-haired kid next to Fayt that wore big glasses and a small brown vest with a white shirt underneath. The kid was named Mishell. Mishell seemed very busy as his eyes were being dragged around by the ink pen he used to write incantations on the book's pages. "It's one of the most basic rules of the Writing field in Item Creation."

"So there you go," Fayt said. "It should be easy for you to get the meaning, right?"

"I guess..." Chris said before he grabbed an ink pen, looking at the guidebook that he had besides the book with blank pages. "Fire that scorches material..." he read as he dictated the words on the book carefully.

Next to the Writing area was the Compounding area. A skeptical Roger didn't bother to look at the wide arrangement of accessories in front of him while Chilico, a small blue-haired fairy that wore a green robe bigger than her, frantically flew to each side of the table to use the right materials to create the items she desired to create.

"Busy, busy, busy!" Chilico said in a panic while she flew around behind the bored Roger. "I'm busy, busy, busy, you know!"

Roger, his eyes previously looking somewhere else, looked at her. "Would you shut up for a sec?"

"Nope," Chilico said as she carried some strings to make earrings. "I must work hard enough to make a castle made up of money!"

"I thought Fayt already gave you around 100,000 Fol to make up your castle," Roger said.

Fol is the universal money currency of Star Ocean.

"Yeah, but I wanna make it even bigger than before," Chilico said. "That's why I need to be very busy!"

Roger sighed. "How are you going to make a castle out of money when the money is the bricks, anyway?" He rolled his eyes. "Wait, what am I even asking you all this? I need to direct my attention to...her..."

Next to the Crafting area was the Engineering area. Old-looking machines, cables, wires, and instruction manuals were scattered around the floor. Unlike the other areas, there were no tables to leave papers. This particular areas was currently occupied by an excited Tails, a thinking Samus, and a bored Sonic.

"Remind me why you wanted to be here," Samus said as she looked down at Sonic leaning against the wall with crossed arms while Tails focused his attention on an old guide to make some devices that could have all different sorts of outcomes that excited him greatly.

"Hey, this is the closest area of expertise I could be," Sonic said. "4 minutes passed, and then I'm all bored." Sonic opened his mouth wide to let out a yawn. "When are we gonna jump into the action, anyway?"

"Well, good question," Samus said as she looked at the excited Tails. "I'll have to remind everyone here about what we came to do."

"Please do it soon," Sonic said worried. "Once Tails gets some files to make new machines he won't stop until he makes 'em."

"Wow, just look at the blueprints of this phase gun!" Tails said as he laughed a bit. "This complicated procedure is so interesting and challenging to do!"

Sonic looked back at Samus. "See what I mean?"

The bounty hunter nodded before the hedgehog sighed with a frown. Sonic wished to fight and look for the temple before night could come due to the fact they arrived during the sunset.

Close to the Engineering area was the Smithery area. Hard anvils with hammers, pincers, and swords on top of them were spread across the floor while more weapons that were lightweight were lying down on the rock table against the wall where a chimney with fire heated some rocks inside the furnace. Roy, curiously, watched as a tall man that was sitting down on a chair banged a steel hammer against the hot edge of a sword on an anvil. The man, named Gusto, only wore some sandals with a grey kilt.

"I've forgotten how swords are made," Roy said as the man wiped some sweat from his forehead. "It's actually pretty interesting to see how they're made with my own eyes."

Gusto stopped working to look up at Roy before the man stood up, now looking down at the suddenly nervous swordsman. "You seem to have good eyes, kid, I like that."

"R-really?" Roy asked before scratching his head. "I-I have to admit I want to do it myself to see if I can do it... Would you teach me?"

"Why not?" Gusto asked with a grin before tapping Roy's right shoulder hard. "I wouldn't mind to teach you the ways of smithery."

Roy smiled nervously at him. "W-well, can I start now? I'm pretty excited to make my own weapon."

"As long as you follow my rules, you'll be just fine," Gusto said chuckling. "I can't say much for your friend over there, though..."

Roy looked back to the furnace where C. Falcon took out the hilt of a red flashing sword. The hilt suddenly became red, instantly burning the captain's palms as he pulled back his hand from the smoke that came when he grabbed the hilt, letting the sword fall down on the ground. as he waved his right hand in pain.

Roy blinked at this. "He's...going to be fine, I guess..."

"I see..." Gusto said.

And finally, next to the smithery area, there were 2 lone figures that stood in front of a long stove with several pots with different kinds of soups over it. Another set of tables with many different types of fruits, vegetables, salts, and different kinds of condiments were standing idly by each side of the old-looking oven against the east wall of the workshop.

The vulpine stared at the brewing liquid inside the hot pot in front of him as the young dancer chuckled.

"Well, here ya go. We're currently making stew," Peppita said as she looked at the pot. "You sure you can do this?"

"This is not going to end up blowing up or something, right?" Fox asked bored.

"Silly, you're very funny when you put it that way," Peppita said with a giggle. "Why are you acting so down about cooking, anyway?"

"Trust me, I really suck at cooking," Fox said.

"There's always room for improvement."

"Improve to get even worse?"

"What's up with you?" Peppita said. "You just need to make Spicy Stew. It's not that hard to do."

The vulpine remembered the incident with the Superspicy Curry from a long time ago. The thought made him shrug. "Spicy food..." Fox muttered.

"It's good stuff," Peppita said. "Okay, I'm gonna leave you here to do your thing. You're stuck in this area because we don't have enough space for others to work unless someone trades with you."

Suddenly, a grin formed on Fox as he looked at the others. "Hey, you guys, would you mind changing places wit-"

"NO!" his group yelled in unison.

Fox looked up with a frown as Peppita chuckled heartily. "Alrighty, I'll leave you here by yourself!" she said before walking away. "Wait until Sophia and Mayu come back from the shop! For now, I need to make myself that Emerald Earring."

The vulpine looked to the other side of the workshop where Wolf flashed a grin at him. Fox grunted annoyed as he looked back at the hot stew with the ladle in the soup. He stared at it for a while before his right hand grabbed it, stirring the soup in a slow circle.

He just remembered something: how was he going to make stew if he didn't even make one before? This presented a problem as Fox stared at the food cooking by itself.

Many different thoughts circulated through his mind such as if the food was going to be ready if he let it burn by itself, add something into the soup so it finishes, or toss the soup out because by just staring at it he felt sick; sick of seeing people choking and dying on their chairs just because of something he didn't think would happen. After all, if he had served the practice cake he was going to use for Chris's birthday...

Boy, the image didn't look pretty at all.

Fox, however, wasn't going to give up to some food. He glared at it and shifted his eyes around. Upon looking at the table nearby, his eyes widened instantly once he found a cookbook open. Fortunately, for him, the pages that were shown had the ingredients, steps, and procedures. He blinked a few times before reaching out for the book, his eyes darting from each side of each page to understand the steps.

Finally, he could do it right once as a relieved expression formed in his face. Now, he could imagine himself feeding his future child and...

"..." Fox suddenly began to smell smoke. The vulpine looked back at the pot where the soup was dangerously moving to the sides. Fortunately, nobody else noticed this, and Fox quickly thought about lowering the fire's temperature. "Oh, there it is..." he muttered with a sigh as he spotted the stove gas's knob in front of him. He decided to turn it counterclockwise to make the fire lower.

Suddenly, fire began to cover half of the pot. Fox's eyes widened before he quickly turned the knob clockwise, the fire instantly disappearing as everyone else minded their own areas of work.

"Who the hell thought that turning the knob counterclockwise to increase the fire would be a good idea?" Fox asked in annoyance by muttering. He watched as the stew began to calm itself by slowly turning immobile. The vulpine looked at the ladle before taking it out. "(Is the stew ready?)" he asked to himself as he looked at the stew. The food should have been already prepared before he came.

Maybe it was left alone by the girls Sophia and Mayu?

Fox stared at the ladle before switching his eyes at the stew. He looked worried. What if the stew got burned a long time ago?

What if he overlooked a step he didn't read?

What if he didn't add something like spices or other ingredients to make it have the taste it should have?

What if the stew was already set from the beginning to be a failure?

Why was Peppita standing to his right?

"Wait, what?" Fox asked to himself.

"Heheheh, hi," greeted Peppita's voice close to him.

Fox's eyes looked down to his right where he found the Velbaysian looking at the stew in front of him. "...Didn't you say you were going to create an earring?"

"Hey, I'm trying to give you a hand here," Peppita said. "I'm being a good girl so you get a good impression of me."

"For what? You pretty much are very helpful to an extent."

Peppita blushed. "T-that's so nice of you, Fox. Really, thanks a lot for saying such a nice thing to me..."

"Actually, you kind of walked off from here," Fox said. "I'm just saying that because you decided to show me this place by yourself."

Peppita blushed a bit and looked away. "W-well, remember you were convincing Fayt about the secret mission you're doing with your group? I thought you were the leader because you look coo-I mean, because you look like an experienced leader to me."

Fox stared at her with an odd look. When he recalled, he did sound like he was commanding the whole situation once the Smashers had entered the workshop. The thought of being the leader didn't sound that bad for him. Fox had the advantage of knowing many terms that he read in his book so why he couldn't be the one leading the group?

"Hello?" Peppita suddenly stopped Fox's thought before he looked back at her. "Is something bothering you? You've been staring at the ceiling for a long while. Is something there? Are there any spiders that are bothering you?"

"What? No, I was just thinking my own business," Fox admitted. "Anyway, shouldn't you be working with the crafting thing?"

Peppita chuckled. "Roger and Chilico are handing things pretty fine over there without me. I can resume the work on my Boots of Prowess tomorrow just to help you out. I'm not good at cooking myself but it's worth the try, right?"

Fox shrugged at the words Peppita told him. If she said she wasn't so good at cooking, would he risk his luck with the food? Speaking of the food, Fox recalled to himself that it seemed to be ready. The vulpine looked at the ladle in his right hand, Peppita focusing on it. "...Should I really take a taste of it?" Fox asked as he stared at the ladle.

"Why are you being so worried?" Peppita asked. "It's just a stew. It's not like it's going to attack us or something."

"Well, not from the outside but from the inside..." Fox trailed off as he lifted up the ladle. "Here goes nothing..."

Peppita tilted her head. "You're looking so worried over nothing dangerous. It'll be just fine, believe me."

For once, the Velbaysian had the voice of reason for Fox. The vulpine was being paranoid over something so little. If he thought again, tasting food wouldn't be that bad. Fox then decided to dive in the ladle to take a spoon of the stew, some meat also coming along.

"Now open wide."

Fox shook his head. "Open wide? Do you think I'm a kid or something?"

Peppita chuckled. "You're acting like one so I figured out you'd be one."

"I'm 30 years old, you know."

Peppita gasped. "W-wow, you look so young for being 30 years old! Has anyone told you that before?"

Fox grinned as he took a sip of soup. Suddenly, he looked confused once he tasted the spoon. He pulled back the ladle and looked confused. The Velbaysian tilted her confused. "...Weird..."

"What?" Peppita asked. "Did it taste like stew?"

Fox didn't respond as he took another sip of the stew. He looked up to the ceiling before he took another sip, then another, then another, then another, multiply previous actions by 3, then another. "...Well..."

"Hey, you're gonna eat the whole pot by yourself? At least leave food for everyone here."

"No, it's not that..." Fox said. "...The stew just..." He looked down at her and shook his head. "...It doesn't have any flavor in it..."

"...No taste?"

"No..."

Peppita looked at the stew. "...Oh man, you just made Tasteless Stew then!"

Fox rolled his eyes. "How can food not have any taste?"

"Trust me, food can lose taste if you add the wrong ingredients in there," Peppita said. "I least I know salt doesn't mix with sugar."

"Who in their right mind mixes salt with sugar, anyway?"

"Hey!" Roger yelled from the Crafting area. "How the heck would I know both flavors would mess up the Golden Curry I was making?"

"Even Cliff knows not to mess up that one!" Peppita yelled back before Roger rolled his eyes. "Please, excuse Roger, Fox. He's very active for his age."

Fox shifted his eyes at the young boy. For a second, it looked like if Roger was keeping an eye on him. "Why is he looking at me with those eyes?"

Peppita turned around to see Roger's narrow eyes looking at them from his area while the busy Chilico flew around. Roger seemed a little bit skeptical about the group even if Fayt trusted them. If they knew Roger would say something, they could be in trouble to explain a long complicated set of explanations.

"Roger!" Peppita yelled. "Would you please go back to work?"

The Velbaysian watched as Roger jumped off from his seat and walked all the way to them, his eyes meeting Fox's legs before looking up at him with crossed arms. "Fayt might've been nice to you, but I DO have the brains to see what you're hidin' here, y'know."

Fox crossed his arms. "There's nothing very relevant for you to know, anyway."

"Yeah," Peppita said. "Fox and the others are normal people to me."

Roger looked at her. "You're saying that just because you're interested oh so much with him!"

Fox blinked confused. "Wait, what?"

Peppita flushed and pouted a bit. "R-Roger, that's not true, okay?" She tried her best not to screw her impressions on the vulpine. "B-besides, he's way older to me!"

"Oh, so he's older than you," Roger said amused. "It's common for girls to fall for older guys at any age."

Fox looked at no one in particular.

"Somebody can tell a mile a way you're i-" Roger stopped talking once Peppita lifted up one of her bangles, preparing to whack him with the sphere attached to it. "What? It's not necessary to get so worked up over the guy. He doesn't look like a real man to me as well!"

The vulpine shook his head. "Hey, I know very well I'm a man."

"Prove it, then!" Roger demanded. "My eyes can't deceive me when I look at real men. I'm the one taking Real Man Contests around here, you know!"

"Real Man...Contests?" Fox repeated confused.

Roger put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, the contest I and my guys hold in Surferio to prove this other annoying group of guys who the real man is." He pointed up at Fox. "Can you prove you're a real man, Mr. Foxy?"

Fox glared at him. "So you want me to prove you I'm a "real" man, huh?"

Peppita lowered her bangle and glared at Roger, shaking her head so he would go away.

Roger chuckled. "Of course, you lummox, I'm challenging you to a Real Man Contest, another place, right now!"

The loud demand reached Fayt's ears. The blue-haired teen looked up from his book and looked all the way over the Cooking area where he watched as Roger argued with Fox while Peppita shook her head as many times as she could. Gasping, Fayt pushed the chair away from the table to stand up and walk as fast as possible so it wouldn't like he was running.

Seeing Fayt coming, Fox looked at him with a serious look. "Oh, you're here," Fox said somewhat annoyed. "Can you tell Roger here to leave me alone?"

"Hey, that wasn't part of the deal here!" Roger demanded.

"Roger, what are you doing now?" Fayt asked. "You're not bothering him, right?"

"Of course not!" Roger yelled. "He's chickening out from the Real Man Contest I'm giving him!"

Fayt frowned. "Roger, Fox surely doesn't want to participate in one of those contests. Besides, aren't those contests kind of ridiculous sometimes to the point they're a little bit pointless or life-threatening?"

Roger looked bored. "So what if the Sleep-In-The-Water-For-3-Days Contest was stupid?"

"That's stupid," Fayt, Peppita, and Fox said at the same time.

"Duh..." Roger looked away embarrassed. "...That's not the point here, okay?" Roger said annoyed. "Look, you might've been nice to these guys, but that's that. I'm not so sure if we should let them wander around in this place with us. I mean, they're surely arguing with each other as we speak!" Roger pointed behind Fayt. "Just look at how they're beating each other!"

The trio looked back at the other areas.

In the Compounding area, it looked like Wolf was having a conversation with the shady Puffy.

"So," Wolf began as he poured some dust into a potion. "What kinds of explosives do you make?"

Puffy smirked evilly as she mixed colored liquids in tubes. "Oh, lots of them. You'd get surprise by how many of them are. I'd love to share ideas with someone who likes explosives."

Wolf chuckled. "What do you know, I am interested here."

"Heheheheh," Puffy smiled wickedly. "So, do you want to see my inventions? I wouldn't mind giving you some for free. I'd like to have some appreciation around here. Like for example the Soul Strengthening Device I've created by yours truly."

"You don't know how much interested you just made me," Wolf replied with a satisfied grin as Chip flew behind them, rubbing his palms together after deciding to create a chocolate candy (too bad he didn't know that would be better created in the Cooking area).

In the Alchemy area, they watched as Pit flipped through pages to create Iron as Misty Lear kindly instructed him, Mackwell minding his own business on the right side of the table. "And you must express your desire to create these materials while reciting the sentences written on the book," Misty Lear said. "I am sure you will eventually make it, Master Pit."

"T-thanks," Pit said unsure as he looked at the glittering Iron in front of him. "Why do you keep calling me master? We barely met each other..."

Misty Lear chuckled. "Don't you worry; this is my way to be gentle and cordial to other people. Now, let us continue with you alchemy training, Master Pit."

The angel shrugged at the pale-looking woman as he continued to read the book aloud to the ore in front of them.

In the Writing area, there was Chris being taught how to write the complicated set of words by the help of Mishell. The young boy dragged a finger to very complicated words that the World Traveler barely understood. "You have to look carefully at your handwriting," Mishell instructed. "Otherwise you're going to screw up the tome you're writing for."

Chris nodded. "I see... I have to look out for any excessive use of ink applied to each page because the tome would get confused and take my letters for other letters, right?"

Mishell adjusted his glasses as he nodded. "Exactly, I hope that helps you to write well in these books. It's not easy to do this, just to let you know."

"Many thanks, really," Chris said as he returned to write, Mishell doing the same.

It was not worth mentioning the Crafting area where Chilico was always heard saying aloud, "Busy, busy, busy!" all the time as she flew around, carrying different materials to create earrings, amulets, and necklaces from time to time, and from place to place.

In the Engineering, an energetic Tails checked on small devices as he spun levers to lower plates that would press the devices slightly. For Samus, check carefully read the different instruction booklets as she had her own machine that looked the same as Tails's.

As for Sonic...

The hedgehog was lying down on the floor, sleeping deeply with folded arms behind his head.

And lastly, in the Smithery area, there was Roy banging a hammer of a sword's red hard edge while his work was being judged by Gusto. "Right," Gusto said as Roy banged his hammer against the red edge of steel. "Apply force equally on every single area so the sword has a good slicing edge. By doing that, the speed in which you swing the sword will also increase."

"Right," Roy said with a serious look, yet smiling a bit as sparks of fire flew out at all directions.

Behind them, C. Falcon waited patiently for the furnace to prepare a chain mail he had taken from the samples on the nearby rock table. The captain grinned as fire turned the chain armor glittering red.

For the dismay of many, he didn't even know what he was doing. C. Falcon wanted to look he was working so Samus would look at his way. Too bad his wish wasn't going to happen.

Fayt, Peppita, and Fox looked down at the bored Roger. "...Yeah," Roger said. "Just wait some 10 minutes and then true chaos will begin..."

Fayt frowned at this. "Roger, just leave Fox alone, okay?"

"Fayt, you're being so nice to them, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, because they already explained their reasons to be in this planet," Fayt explained. "Isn't that right, Fox?"

Fox nodded. "Right."

Roger grunted and pointed up at Fayt. "Grrrrr, just you wait until Maria comes around, Fayt. Unlike you, she's so going to bring them all to justice, and then I'll see if they're real men...and woman!" he proclaimed as he crossed his arms and walked away to the Crafting area with the busy Chilico.

Peppita shook her head and sighed. "Man, he doesn't give up if what he has in mind, does he?"

"Yeah," Fayt said with a sigh. "At least he's not going to bother you any longer, Fox."

"Pardon to me to be asking this," Fox began, "but who is this Maria person?"

"Maria?" Peppita repeated. "Oh, she's one of us. Maria isn't here right now because she said she wanted to go to Surferio due west with Mirage."

Fayt moved his right hand. "Maria is a very important person because she's the one who knows a lot about federation matters and other kinds of intergalactic laws more than anyone here. It's been a long time after she and Mirage went to Surferio."

"I see..." Fox said. "Why'd you send her and the Mirage person there?"

"You see..." Fayt looked away. "We're not exactly in an era of peace right now. For now, everything's peaceful in Peterny, but outside it's a big mess."

Peppita grunted a bit. "There are these guys called the Executioners who want to eliminate and kill everyone in the universe. Those bad guys are roaming every single wild lands out of all the towns in this planet because they're seeking us."

"They're looking for you?" Fox asked. "Why?"

"It's...very complicated to explain," Fayt said. "They're looking for us because they know we can stop them. For some reason or another, they barely think of assaulting the towns and cities. I think the reason behind this because they want to find us alive to take us to their leader. Haven't you heard of them? I thought all the galaxy knew about how dangerous the Executioners were."

"We..." Fox looked away. "(Dammit, this didn't exactly happen in the fairy tale at all. I knew I was relying on the book so much...) We just happened to hear about them just now," he said before looking at Fayt. "We didn't hear a lot about the Executioners. My guess is that we were "lucky" not to heard of them as we were doing our own mission."

"That's weird, actually," Fayt said. "I thought the Executioners had appeared all over the galaxy."

Peppita looked down. "Like 30 planets were completely obliterated by them..."

Fox's eyes widened. "Wait, 30 planets were obliterated?"

"Yeah..." Fayt said. "They're a force to be reckoned with. They possess the most advanced technology that easily surpasses any known technology."

Fox crossed his arms. "And how do they look like?"

Peppita raised her hands. "They look like robot angels, monsters with black wings and coats, and huge dragons with really weird voices."

"...Wow," Fox commented. "That's a little bit...unbelievable for robotic angels to exist..."

"We know, but they're dangerous," Fayt said. "However, we're strong enough to handle them all by ourselves. It's thanks to my special power that allows all of us to face them head on."

"Special power?" Fox asked. "What kind of special power is that?"

"Well, that power of mine was specifically created by…" Fayt stopped talking once he heard the door opening from behind the counter. "Who's there?" he asked, making Fox and Peppita look at his direction.

From the door, a young teenager girl came carrying a basket with lots of fruits, vegetables, and spices. The brown haired girl wore pink clothes, blue skirt, long black sockets, and red shoes. She looked rather enthusiastic as she stepped inside to put the groceries she had bought on the counter.

Behind her, a green-haired inventor, Mayu, who wore typical house cleaner's clothes, came in carrying more groceries with her.

"We're baaaaaaaack," the first girl said, "and I found what we needed to create food."

Fayt smiled a bit as he walked to the counter to greet his friend. "How did it go, Sophia?"

The girl, Sophia, chuckled. "Everything went alright, Fayt. We've found the necessary ingredients to make the appointed food."

"That's right," Mayu said as she walked around the counter. "Now we can continue to make our Super-Spicy Stew. We've been working on it for the entire day. Luckily, we left it alone so it would cook by itself before we could come back."

Hearing this, Fox wanted to drown himself in the Tasteless Stew as many times as he could.

"Well then," Sophia began, "shall I resume the chores of today?"

Sophia Esteed is a human girl born on Earth. Unlike most young girls of the present age, she excels in various household tasks such as cleaning and sewing. Sophia Esteed is Fayt's for the fact that their parents work at the same laboratory of symbological research. She, along with Fayt, had to separate from each other after the Vendeeni attacked Hyda IV. A long time passed, and Fayt eventually met up with Sophia by rescuing her from a hostage exchange situation. Ever since, Sophia decided to help Fayt and the others fight the Executioners. During battle, Sophia possesses great symbological magic, making her a spell caster during battles.

"Of course," Fayt said. "Also, while you and Mayu were away, we recruited more inventors with us."

Sophia tilted her head. "Oh, really? Who are they?"

"Glance around and see who you don't know."

The girl glanced around the workshop. Through her eyes, she could see a Lycanthrope plotting something with Puffy, some kind of cartoon-looking imp flying behind them as he held some potions, a teen wearing a hat with wings on its sides talking with Mishell, a Featherfolk reciting sentences with Misty Lear, some robot working with the machines alongside a 2-tailed fox with a sleeping hedgehog nearby, a red-haired boy working with Boyd, as a man stood in front of the furnace, and lastly some Foxtail who she thought looked intimidating with his stoic look.

"...I think I know who now..." Sophia said. "But they...look kinda new to me... They look...how do I put it? Particular..."

"I know," Fayt muttered. "They're quite the group, huh?"

Sophia thought for a moment. "Don't they all look like they all came from another planet? Don't they know the rules of the UP3 law?"

"They do, but they already told me they're here to look after some group they've been chasing," Fayt muttered. "Just don't try to act suspicious, okay?"

"I...guess?" Sophia muttered confused. "They look rather strange if you ask me..."

"Me too..." Fayt said. "Actually, I have more things to say but it wouldn't be my place to interrogate them so much."

Sophia gasped. "B-but what if Maria comes back?"

"That was a quick response," Fayt remarked as Mayu went to check the stew, grabbing the ladle that Fox had put in the pot.

"W-well, you know how she acted when you decided to let Peppita come with us," Sophia said while Mayu took a sip of the stew. "Maria was against the idea, and she's probably still against it. If she comes back from Surferio, what do you think will happen once she sees all of them?"

Fayt thought for a moment while a confused Mayu took several sips of the stew, Fox already preparing his apology in his mind as Peppita walked back to the Crafting area with a skeptical Roger. "She'll probably go even further unlike me..." Fayt muttered. "...Do you think she and Mirage are on their back here?"

"Well, Surferio is like 1 hour away from here, and it'd take them both like another 1 hour to investigate the city, then come back in another hour," Sophia said while Mayu got a little bit bewildered at the Tasteless Stew, Fox now bowing to her while saying his apologies. "Actually, how long has it been since she and Mirage went there?"

Fayt looked up at the ceiling. "Like...3 hours..."

Sophia shook her head while Fox explained Mayu what he did. The vulpine didn't want to lie. "I don't think they're doing something else. They weren't attacked on their here either, right?"

"They would have called us through our Communicators," Fayt said as a depressed Mayu went to get more ingredients to make another stew, Fox feeling ashamed. "Also, they're pretty strong by their own. The Executioners outside wouldn't harm them very easily."

"I guess they're on their way here," Sophia said. "...Let's see what happens, okay? I'm worried, but maybe I could befriend some of them."

"You do that," Fayt said before he looked outside to see the sunset. "Oh man, it's getting late now. It's time to close the workshop."

"Really? Oh, I took a lot of time buying the ingredients..." Sophia said with a frown.

Fayt turned around before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, everybody, time to go home and close the workshop for today, tomorrow we'll continue with what we left to do next. Also, be aware that some of you could be assigned to the other workshops in Aquios or Kirlsa."

"Rats," Puffy said with a pout. "I don't want to go to Kirlsa. The place stinks and the people there don't even know how to pronounce my name right."

"I-I was about to make my chocolate!" Chip complained a bit. "Ooh..."

"Tsk," Wolf said with a frown. "And here I was about to finish my own creation."

"Phew," Chris sighed. "My first day and my right wrist is tired already..."

"You'll get used to this," Mishell said. "You get better overtime."

"It seems we'll stop for today, Master Pit," Misty Lear said with a chuckle. "I'll look forward to see you again tomorrow."

By this time, Pit felt a little bit uncomfortable with the pale woman's attitude. "O-okay, I'll see you..."

"Hmph," Mackwell said nearby as he closed his book.

"I was busy!" Chilico simply said.

"Finally, I need some rest over here!" Roger complained. "I wanna hit the pillow!"

Peppita lifted up her hands. "Oh boy, I'm exhausted..."

"B-but I was just about to finish my device..." Tails said depressed. "Oh well, I have all the time tomorrow..."

"I must say, this is actually fun for me to do," Samus commented. "Maybe we could create items for us."

Sonic only responded with a snore while turning around to the wall.

"Well done for now," Gusto told Roy as he patted hard his right shoulder. "You're starting to show some promise in this field."

"O-oh, thanks," Roy said embarrassed. "I hope to do this more often. Thanks for the help."

C. Falcon took out the chain mail that he put back on the rock table. Suddenly, the chain mail turned into dust; making him gasp, look around if someone was looking, then blow the dust away into the air where it vanished. Sighing, he turned around while whistling.

"I'll start the stew all over again tomorrow..." Mayu said with a sniff.

Fox frowned to himself. "I hope I don't get too close to this area again..."

All the native inventors started for the door as they said their good byes to Fayt and the others. Soon, the workshop was occupied only by Fayt's group and the Smashers.

"Phew," Fayt said as he wiped from sweat from his forehead. "All done for today..."

Sophia watched as all the Smashers (except the snoring Sonic) walked up to them. The girl stared at them before shyly waving a hand at them. "I want you to meet Sophia," Fayt introduced her. "She's one of us."

"Hi there," Sophia said as calmly as she could. "It's nice to meet such a group like all of you."

Roger crossed his arms and looked away. "Tsk, you're also a softie, Sophia..." he muttered.

Sophia folded her arms behind her back. "So, you guys are new around here?"

A small while passed as Sophia was told about everything of every single one of them, the same explanation they told Fayt and the others before.

"I see..." Sophia said before chuckling. "Well, we'll hope to be of help for all of you."

Fayt put a hand on his hip. "Do you guys have anywhere to spend the night?"

"Well, we don't have exactly a place to rest," Samus said. "(I have to back up our statements with something so they believe we don't have a place... Oh, wait, this universe has an intergalactic war across the whole universe so...) We've been wandering quite a long way from our spaceship," she explained. "We left our spaceship far off south from here."

"Well, would you mind us to make some reservations at the inn of Peterny?" Fayt asked. "We don't mind giving you some rooms there. We have plenty of money to give you your rooms to rest for night."

"That'd be nice," Pit commented. "I'm getting a little bit exhausted after studying alchemy."

Fayt smiled a bit. "It's settled, then. Follow us to the inn."

As he turned around, he forgot the fact that the door was left opened. By the time he found out that fact, he met face-to-face with a young teen girl standing in the door with another woman nearby, everyone else also noticing the new people. Fayt blinked a few times before looking a bit surprised.

"Y-you already checked Surferio?" Fayt suddenly asked to the young woman in front of him.

The long blue-haired girl by the door wore a soldier uniform with black sleeves, and a long gray trail coat. The girl also wore black pants with a holster for a blaster weapon she had, and black boots.

The woman behind her looked a little bit happy. The blond-haired woman had a short ponytail, wore a small black jacket with a black vest underneath, yellow belt, wore black knuckles, black pants, and black boots (all black clothing didn't imply she was a goth).

The first girl ran a hand through her long hair. "Hi, Fayt, everyone," she greeted. "We already went to check up on Surferio. There weren't any attacks from the Executioners."

"I...see...Maria..." Fayt said unsure.

Maria Traydor is a young and beautiful human girl born on Earth who is the leader of the anti-Federation organization Quark - a group most active in the Klaus system. Maria has been long hunted by Federation officials due to her enigmatic power of Alteration (a special power that manipulates and changes matter as she pleases) that she was given by Symbology genetics through scientists during her childhood. She was the one who planned Fayt's abduction, which ultimately led him to meet her in person. A long time had ever since passed, and Maria has become acquainted with the people she met. Whenever she can, Maria is always shown to be the voice of reason, many times being blunt. In battle, she's considerably a strong fighter for both long-range attacks with her phase guns and close-combat attacks with her kicks.

Maria nodded. "Pretty much everything's okay over that side." She looked behind the counter where the Smashers were staring at her. "And...I see you brought people in here..."

Fayt gasped once Maria's eyes kept staring at the silent group before she slowly walked forward to the counter. The blue-haired boy knew Maria was going to do something to see the odd group.

"You know, Fayt..." Maria began as she stopped walking, still staring at the Smashers. "Many of the people here don't look like they were born in this planet in the first place..."

Seeing that Maria wanted an answer and the fact most of them were looking a little bit helpless, Fox crossed his arms and decided to speak. "Of course we're not from this planet," he said, looking serious at her. "We're here because we're after a group we've been chasing for a long time now."

Maria crossed her own arms and looked at the vulpine. Something about her look made Fox think she was already judging him. "Really?" she asked somewhat amused. "Care to give me all the details for that?"

"Maria!" Sophia yelled.

Maria looked at her. "Sorry, but it sounds very fishy to find such people like them here," she said. "I want to know everything they know to actually come here and risk themselves against the Executioners."

"B-but don't you think you're going kinda far?" Peppita asked as she was seen besides (for some reason) Fox. "I mean, you barely met them..."

"And I can imply you barely met them as well, right?"

"...W-well..." Peppita knew Maria was right. "...Yeah..." she muttered embarrassed.

"Just as I thought," Maria said. "I'd like to hear the reason behind your visit to this planet."

Fox grinned at her. "Okay then, I'll tell you everything."

A time passed after Fox told Maria everything about their reasons being in Elicoor II. The leader of Quark nodded at almost all the facts the leader of Star Fox told her. After Maria, and the woman behind her, was told about their reasons, Maria rubbed her chin. "So, you're saying you're secret agents of the Pangalactic Federation, and most of you come from races that like to be secretive and secluded from every other person in the universe, right?"

"That's about right," Fox said.

"...Hmm..." Maria narrowed her eyes at them. "...Most of what you said didn't make much sense to me, though..."

The Smashers looked a little bit surprised as Fox's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean by that?" Fox asked, trying to sound not suspicious enough to Maria while Fayt, Sophia, and Peppita watched somewhat worried as Roger looked amused.

Maria closed her eyes. "It sounds very fishy to me for the Pangalactic Federation to have undercover agents," she explained. "I know that very well because I've researched the organization itself for quite a long time now. And..." She opened her eyes to look at them. "I haven't heard a bit about undercover agents...at all..."

The Smashers looked at Fox. By now, the vulpine knew they were relying on him by the looks of the situation. Fox looked serious at Maria as he came up with more things to talk back to her. "You probably didn't hear enough to know about us," Fox said. "How can you tell all that, anyway?"

"I can tell all that because it's common knowledge," Maria stated. "You're probably the only people in the whole galaxy who stand out the most...well, most of you stand out, anyway."

"So you're judging us because how we look," Fox said with a small glare.

"I know for sure you're not a Foxtail or even close to it," Maria said. "Also, the Lycanthrope you have there is not even in a berserk state. All Lycanthropes are known to act as mindless beasts when they're transformed. How come this one is so calm?"

Wolf glared at her. "Oh, come on, I have a lot of control in myself to be considered a mindless beast."

"Really now?" Maria asked. "You and your "Foxtails" friends are raising me a lot of doubts now."

"Call me a friend of Fox and the 2-tailed kid again and you'll regret it later," Wolf responded coldly.

"Oh, sorry," Maria said, a bit of a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"L-look," Roy began. "We're just a special undercover group working for the Punlilactic Federation."

Maria stared at him. "...Care to repeat the name of the federation again?"

Pit gasped. The angel knew Roy didn't exactly say the correct name of the organization. Maria was surely going to use this little mistake to interrogate them further. "E-er, my friend here doesn't know how to pronounce the name exactly," Pit suddenly said.

"Hey!" Roy yelled.

"He's not that good for pronouncing longer words for that matter," Pit said nervously. "Make him say onomatopoeia and he'll surely say something different."

Maria looked at Roy. "Say onomatopoeia."

"E-er..." Roy had to make Pit's untrue fact believable. "...Elematothing..."

"..." Maria looked bored at him. "...Are you joking or what?" she asked before frowning. "You're trying to hide something from us, aren't you?"

The World Traveler pondered something in his mind. Chris asked himself why they needed to be constantly lying to almost everyone they met to find the Subspace Army. He thought that by explaining their true intentions would be good enough to not lie, but he also knew nobody would believe them at all. It was not as if they would look for Fayt and suddenly tell him, "We need you and your group to help us fight the Subspace Army to make them leave your world" or something close like that.

Also, it was not like Fayt's group to help them unexpectedly since they were probably dealing with their own affairs. Chris recalled the time he told everything to Wes and Rui previously, but that happened after traveling around with them until bringing up their reasons. Chris met a hard question he wanted to solve for himself.

"We're not hiding you anything," Fox said. "Stop thinking we're shady."

"Well then, stop looking shady," Maria said somewhat amused. "Can you do that?"

Deciding to stop further interrogations by the blunt woman, Fayt looked at Maria. "Maria, I think you shouldn't try to take this to yourself."

"What?" Maria asked. "Are you saying you're not bothered to see this kind of people in this planet? Sorry, Fayt, but I'll have to object you for that."

"Why?"

Maria crossed her arms. "If you have forgotten, the whole galaxy is at a big problematic situation with the Executioners," she said. "Now, they said they didn't get to see or hear about the Executioners in their way here. How can that be if I've heard reports of multiple Executioner attacks across all the systems in the galaxy? I find it fishy they don't even know what an Executioner is."

"We happened not to hear anything from them," Tails said.

"So you say," Maria said. "Even so, there's something of you I can't just leave alone that easily..."

"You tell 'em!" Roger said as he lifted up a fist.

Ignoring Roger's small encouraging sentence, Sophia looked at Maria. "Please, Maria, we're all worn out after working here through the entire day. We want to rest for now."

Maria looked at Sophia before the look turned into a stare. Fayt's childhood friend looked worried as the leader of Quark looked serious at her. "...Okay," Maria said, giving up. "To be honest, we just came from an Executioner attack ourselves on our way here...yet another ambush."

"Oh my, are you hurt?"

"Not at all," Maria said. "As always, fighting the same enemy over and over again every day makes one very predictable of them," she explained before she looked at the Smashers. "However, don't think I'm going to stop here with this."

"Oh, c'mon," C. Falcon said with a grin. "Can't you give us a rest?"

"I'll give you all a rest once I get to the bottom of this," Maria looked bored at them. "I'm not just in the mood to be arguing now."

Peppita looked bored at her. "(You're not always in the mood as you say...)"

"Oh, and also," Maria began. "I haven't introduced myself, have I?" she asked before coughing. "My name is Maria Traydor, nice to meet you."

The Smashers didn't exactly see a point for Maria to greet them at this point. By now, Maria's attitude gave them all a bad impression of her. However, they knew Maria wasn't exactly stupid, but the otherwise. They were all practically at her mercy.

Suddenly, from behind them, they began to hear chuckled coming from a sleeping Sonic, who hadn't woke up for the entire conversation. The hedgehog was chuckling aloud until he sat up and yelled "!!!" loudly to the ceiling before cracking up, everyone turning to him as they noticed his closed eyes, indicating he was sleep talking.

"..." Maria stared at the blue hedgehog. "...I'd infer that hedgehog guy over there is a friend of yours as well..."

"Yeah..." Tails said. "He's Sonic the Hedgehog..."

"...Original name," Maria said with sarcasm.

It was not long before the hedgehog began to talk more as he rolled his face a bit to them. "Maria..." he chuckled. "Who in their right mind names herself Maria, anyway?" he asked, making some of the Smashers gasp silently. "Stupid Shadow and Maria..." he continued as a grin appeared on his face. "I'll throw the Maria girl an emo hedgehog and see what happens... The moment is just so...priceless, I swear..."

The Smashers were looking shocked after the hedgehog rolled a bit to the wall. Looking back, they all noticed Maria's serious yet bored look.

"...Please, don't mind anything he said," Samus said. "Sonic was just being...himself... He's like this all the time..."

"...I am going to mind what he said," Maria said bored. "Nobody jokes and insults a name for no reason. I found that offensive to me as well."

Peppita looked worried. "I-I don't understand, what is emo?"

"It's nothing you should know for now," Fox muttered.

Maria sighed with a frown. "Oh well, I'm tired myself as well so we may as well call it a day," she said before turning to the door. "I'll go ahead and reserve a room. If you don't mind, I'll leave for now." She looked at the Smashers over her right shoulder. "Let me tell you this before I go: I won't stop this conversation. For now, you're all good to go anywhere you like, but expect me to ask you more questions."

Maria started to leave, some of the Smashers glared at her back before she left the workshop. Fayt, Sophia, and Peppita looked at each other worried before the blue-haired teen decided to speak. "I'm sorry if she offended you," Fayt said.

"You know Maria's like that, Fayt," said the woman who stepped in the workshop, the same one that was accompanying Maria. "She will never change her attitude...that easily, that is."

"Oh, there you are, Mirage," Sophia said with relief.

The woman, named Mirage, put a hand on her hip as she smiled at the Smashers. "Well, what did I miss? Can I get an update of what had happened here when we were away?"

Mirage Koas is a Klausian (a race that have been remarked through the universe for having better strength than the average human) woman born on Klaus IV, and Cliff's partner in Quark. She may be low-key, but she is dependable and gets the mission accomplished. Mirage trusts Cliff and will faithfully follow any command he tells her, no matter how crazy it may sound.
Seeing Mirage and Cliff in action might give one the wrong impression. Klausians are not particularly chauvinistic. Mirage just happens to have an extremely unpretentious personality.

"I think you pretty much know everything," Sophia said. "Seriously, I think Maria goes too far sometimes."

Mirage chuckled. "You know her, alright." She turned to the Smashers (not noticing the grin C. Falcon was giving to her). "Hi everyone, I'm Mirage Koas, nice to meet you all."

"Glad here," C. Falcon commented with a wink, not noticing the bored look Chris was giving him. "I guess you know our names, right?"

"Pretty much after Maria interrogated you," Mirage said. "Sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable. Maria doesn't like to see unusual events so she'll try to find a reasonable reason behind all of them if she's bothered." She rubbed her chin. "But I have to agree with some points she made with you all, though."

"Oh please, don't give us the same treatment she just did," Roy said.

"Don't worry about that," Mirage said with a small smile. "I know better than her that some things should be better kept as a secret."

"Good…" Tails sighed. "In truth, I was getting so worried if she planned to resort to violence."

"She only resorts to violence only when necessary," Mirage explained. "That only happens during fights, though. Maria doesn't hurt anybody unless they're our enemies which I think you're not, right?"

"Right," Samus said.

"Well," Mirage began with a chuckle. "Shall we leave for the inn? I want to wait for Cliff and the others to return soon. They're surely taking a lot of time in Aquios and Airyglyph."

"Good riddance…" Wolf muttered.

Fayt coughed a bit. "Okay, please forget anything you thought was offensive by Maria and follow us to the inn. She's going to be there so be careful around her. Don't try to make her mad or else…well…you'll know what would happen…"

Chris looked bored. "I'm already seeing my grave."

Sophia bowed to them. "Please, just try to be friendly around her and everything will be just fine, okay?"

"As long as she stays away from the Sonic guy…" Roger muttered. "Then he'll be dead meat…"

"Can we just go to the inn?" Chip asked yawning. "I wanna wish to dream with chocolate fields tonight…"

Wolf rubbed his chin. "Wait…" He looked outside where the night was already coming. "Night time…doesn't that mean…"

"!!!"

Most of the Smashers' eyes widened after hearing a menacing howl coming from behind them. Fayt's group, confused at the howl, looked behind the group where they gasped after seeing a bulky beast getting up from the cold floor. The figure growled silently before looking at itself.

"Aw, dammit!" Sonic cursed once he looked at his big claws, everyone else staring at him. "And here I thought I forgot about it completely!"

"KYAH!" Sophia yelped. "A-a-a Lycanthrope!"

Fayt looked at her. "I thought we already had one here."

"…Oh, sorry…" Sophia said with a sigh. "…But even so, KYAH!"

Sonic lowered his fists on the floor and looked at them with his menacing look. "Oh, guess I overslept," he said with a chuckle, showing his bare fangs for a bit. "So, what did I miss?"

Chris face palmed. "Sonic, how can you ASK that in a moment like this?" he asked irritated. "It's not like everyone in the whole universe know you're a werehog!"

"Er, Chris, I think you're saying too much now," Roy whispered.

The dragoon looked at Fayt's group. For the looks of their faces, Sophia was obviously scared, Mirage had a surprised look, Fayt stared at the werehog in curiosity, Peppita looked shocked, and as for Roger…

…Where did Roger go? He was standing besides Fayt a minute ago.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" Sonic was heard asking.

The dragoon turned around to find Roger walking around Sonic. Apparently, the Menodix was examining the werehog with a big hint of excitement in his eyes as he paced around Sonic. "Just look how awesome this guy turned out to be!" Roger yelled in excitement as he lifted up one of Sonic's claws. "Check out his muscles, they're underneath fur, but it's so awesome!"

The Menodix are a cheerful race living in the Sanmite Republic, which is descended from raccoons. They may not be very tall, but they boast dexterous fingers and a high level of adaptability to new circumstances. Compared to other races, Menodixes have an excellent sense of smell. Their downfall is that they are very curious and easily excitable, characteristics which more often than not will act together to offset the Menodixes positive characteristics. Strangely enough, Menodixes have an excellent ear for music and there are many eminent Menodix troubadours. Unfortunately, thanks to the innate Menodix personality almost no one is aware of this fact.

"…" Sonic raised a big eyebrow at him. "…Okay?"

"Just okay? What is wrong with you, honestly?" Roger asked. "I thought you were some kind of lame dude, but after you just turned into THIS all of a sudden, well, I take everything back what I thought about you!"

"…" Sonic glared at him. "What were you thinking of me, then?"

"I thought you looked weak, stupid, everything a lummox is," Roger said. "But after seeing you turning into a wolf, man, did I get a surprise of that!"

Pit looked back at Fayt while the excited Roger literally touched Sonic almost everywhere. "Is…Roger always like this as well?"

"Yeah…" Fayt said before shaking his head. "I guess…that's natural for your friend to transform during the night, then?"

Chris turned at him and raised a finger to explain Fayt and the others about Sonic's transformation. However, Fox blocked his mouth. "Yeah, very natural," Fox said with some nods. "Sonic has this curse that he needs to get rid of very soon so we're helping him. Actually, that's another reason why we're chasing the group we're looking for…"

Fayt looked back to an annoyed Sonic as Roger pulled his furred quills. "…I see…" Fayt said.

"…" Peppita smiled and chuckled. "You guys are so way interesting," she muttered with some excitement.

Inn
Chris's Room

Environmental Noises

After explaining even more details to Fayt's group about Sonic's transformation, they all, taken by Fayt and the others, went to the inn of Peterny (which was located just to the right of the workshop they were working). Their rooms were already arranged by the time Fayt dotted down their names, also paying the fee.

In a room with a 17th century feeling, there was Chris laying down on one of the two beds of his room. As far as he knew, everyone was paired up with somebody else in the other rooms of the in due to the fact he saw all the rooms were the same.

The dragoon removed his hat and red jacket to put them on a drawer that was between the 2 beds. Chris sighed and laid down his head on the soft pillow, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. "…This is so boring…" he muttered as the darkness of the room was illuminated with some moonlight from the windows against the beds. "There's no one here to talk with…" Chris muttered more. "…Normally, I'd have Lucario close to me to talk with but he's not here…"

The dragoon sighed as he turned his head to the left, his eyes closing.

"This feels…just as like I was before I met Lucario…" Chris muttered. "…I wish somebody would come and sleep together with me, but I don't want to be stingy…"

Suddenly, the door of the room opened. Chris covered his head with the bed sheet to make himself look like he was sleeping. He heard some hard boots walking on top of the wooden floor, getting closer to where he was.

The situation didn't make him feel uncomfortable.

"(…Oh no…)" Chris thought as the sound of the footsteps stopped. "(Someone is here… He, she, or it is probably standing just behind me...)" He looked serious. "(Oh, hell no, I won't let whoever got here do something to me, not on my watch... Now, what could I do to attack?)"

Chris felt a hand grabbing the bed sheet.

"(...At the count of 3...)"

The bed sheet pulled back, prompting the dragoon to make a gun sign with his right hand to aim his index finger to his enemy.

"S-stay back!" Chris yelled with closed eyes. "M-my finger may not look like it, but it can shoot bullets...and...fire!" he proclaimed. "Turn back and I won't resort to long-range violence at short distance!"

"Oh no, whatever will I do? Somebody, help me. Chris is threatening me with his index finger of doom. Oh no, the pain I'll receive..."

The dragoon began to hear some chuckles in front of him. The voice was so obviously easy to recognize. Chris opened his eyes where he found himself aiming his index finger right up to Fox's nose, the vulpine looking down amused at him.

"...What?" Fox asked with a grin. "You don't have any bullets to shoot my nose?"

"...Y-you..." Chris lowered his "gun" and looked a little bit pissed at the vulpine. "W-what do you think you're doing in my room?"

Fox crossed his arms. "Can't I stay here to sleep for the night?"

The question made Chris tilt his head. "...Er..." Chris trailed off, staring at the vulpine. "...I thought you already had a room..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I didn't like to be with Samus because...I was bored," he admitted. "Hardly anybody here talks that much with me. I don't happen to be that tired enough to sleep as well."

"...So you're saying to left your room because you were bored?"

Fox nodded. "Well, mainly because I don't talk too much with Samus. As soon as I left, C. Falcon snuck inside the room before I hear some explosions coming from it. I don't talk with Roy and Pit. I could have slept with Tails but he's already sharing a room with Sonic and Chip. And Wolf..." Fox looked bored. "Should I bother saying why to you when it's obvious?"

"...No..." Chris said.

Suddenly, the 2 turned their looks at the door where a malevolent voice came from Sonic's room. From what they could tell, the evil voice yelled loudly "WHERE THE F(BEEP) IS THAT MOTHERF(BEEP)R, HUH, HUH, HUH?! ANSWER ME, B(BEEP)S!!! !!!" followed by screams from Tails and Chip.

The dragoon sighed and frowned. Fox watched as Chris left his bed, put on his boots, jacket, and hat on, changed to his Beastmaster job, and began to walk to the door as he prepared his whip. "Sorry, but I need to do some business with a certain maniac over the next room. I'll be right back," the beastmaster said as he left the room by closing the door.

Fox shifted his eyes around before the sound of a whip lashing someone echoed. A curse came from the dark voice, some people thanked Chris, and the beastmaster then returned from the door, changed to his dragoon job, put his jacket and hat on the drawer and put his boots on the left side of the bed before he got on the bed and covered himself with the bed sheet, laying down his head on the pillow while looking at Fox.

"You were saying?" Chris asked.

The leader of Star Fox shook his head. "I was saying I was bored with Samus so I decided to see if you were sleeping alone for the night to sleep with you."

"...Oh, I see." Chris smiled a bit at him before looking away embarrassed. "I-I wouldn't mind having someone else here to sleep with me. I don't like sleeping all alone as well."

Fox chuckled and sat down on the left bed. "Well then, thanks," he said as he began to take off his white flight jacket that he tossed on the floor, revealing his furred arms. "You're the only one left I hang out pretty well with."

Chris yawned a bit and turned to the right as Fox began to take off his gloves, red scarf, and headgear that he put on the drawer, and his red-and-black tanker boots on the floor. "...Fox..."

"Yeah?" Fox asked as he put his feet on his bed and covered himself with the bed sheet.

Chris turned his head to him. "You see..." He looked away for a bit. "...Well, I just wanted to know something..."

"What would that be?"

"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment. "...You said your father read that book to you when you were younger, right?"

"Yeah."

"I was wondering something...how did you and your father lived?"

Fox rested his right arm on his right knee as he stared down at his feet. "...You want me to tell you?"

"Well...if you don't want to..." Chris muttered. "It's just that now that I have the chance to talk to you in private I wanted to...know more about you, you know..." he said embarrassed. "I-I know it could revive you some dreadful memories...but...maybe you could remember the good times..."

"...Heh," Fox chuckled a bit before looking at Chris. "I did say I was bored so...alright," he said as he laid down his head on the pillow with folded arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. "Since I trust you're not going to tell anybody this, you promise you won't do that?"

"N-not at all," Chris said. "M-my curiosity is so big right now and I want to know much more about you, Fox..."

"Well, I don't see why I shouldn't tell you about myself," Fox said with a small grin. "Okay, Chris, I'm going to tell you everything about my past with my father."

Chris smiled delighted as Fox prepared to narrate.

"Truth is, I didn't live a happy life shortly after I was born..."

Now Chris knew he just made Fox revive an awful memory...

Fox looked depressed. "Shortly when I was born, my mother died..." he muttered. "When that happened, my father was at a loss because he didn't know how to take care of babies, at least that's what Peppy told me about. Peppy knew my father very well since both had grown together as friends. It was a total chaos, let me tell you..."

Chris turned to him. "What happened the following years, then?"

"Well...I don't remember much of it, but fortunately I remember some of it thanks to Peppy... I hope this is right..."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - Bridge

High above the skies of Corneria, the Great Fox flew slowly as it looked like it was floating in the night, where the scene changed to the main bridge of the spaceship that had as many machines bleeping silently with buttons flashing now and then. Suddenly, cries of a baby began to make long high-pitched yells as 2 familiar figures were looking at each other.

"Aww, I can imagine you as a baby," Chris said with a few chuckles.

One of the figures was a young Peppy Hare who had his ears covered by his hands as he was sitting down on a chair while looking up at his comrade.

And the other figure was a young James McCloud who was carrying a small fox baby within a blue mantle on his arms. The baby was his son, Fox McCloud, who had now 1 year of being born.

However, the night wasn't very pleasant as the baby Fox cried loudly enough for the Great Fox's inner areas to bounce his cries and yells. This didn't look good for both the hare and the father of the crying child.

"Why did you want to take him here?!" Peppy yelled loudly at James who merely grinned nervously at him. "Do you REALLY think I know how to take care of babies?!"

"Well, I thought you did!" James yelled as his son cried loudly. "Geez, Peppy, you're the brains of the team here!"

"I didn't study to be a babysitter, you know!" Peppy yelled as the baby cried louder. "I know you have your hands full with your son, but it's not a good idea to resort to my help when I don't even know how to take care of babies like him!"

"If my wife was alive, this wouldn't happen so frequently!" James yelled as his sunglasses lowered down a bit, but not enough to see his eyes as he pulled them back to place. "There's something I know well about my son, though!"

"What would that be?!"

"He has pretty strong lungs for being a newborn!"

Peppy grunted annoyed as the baby kept crying. "James, focus for once! We're dealing with quite the dilemma with your son! Do something about him!"

"What do you expect me to do?!" James asked as Fox cried loudly. "I know I'm his father, but I didn't expect a situation like this one!"

At that moment, from behind James, an annoyed Pigma (less fat and younger) came from the hallway of the spaceship as he was seen covering his ears. "Ugh, somebody shut that baby down before I'll do it myself!" Pigma yelled loudly as he stood besides James.

James and Peppy looked at him. "What, you know how to calm him down?!" James asked interested.

"Yeah," Pigma said as he took out a Blaster. "Just don't move him and I-"

James quickly slapped the Blaster away from Pigma's hand. The pig snorted angrily at this as the leader of Star Fox looked down at his crying son. "Oh, please, Fox, calm down for once! There's nothing to cry for!"

But his pleas fell to deaf ears as the young vulpine clutched his small fists underneath his snout. James, Peppy, and Pigma all looked up at the ceiling in annoyance as the baby kept crying.

"For crying out loud, James," Pigma began annoyed. "Shut your son's mouth!"

"It's easier said than done!" James yelled at him. "At least you're not planning to have children, but I DO care to have at least one with me!"

"I wasn't born to help you out!" Pigma complained as he looked at James. "I thought you knew that this was going to happen from the beginning you decided to have him...HERE!" he yelled loudly, making Fox cry even louder than before to the point he fully opened his mouth. "Damn it, where's his baby bottle when you need it?!"

"Baby bottle?!" Peppy asked. "Hey, Pigma is being useful here for once!"

"Hey!"

Peppy pointed at James, making him take a step back. "James, go look for his baby bottle right now! I'm sure he's crying because he's hungry!"

James chuckled nervously, making both members look at him annoyed.

"...You just didn't forget his baby bottle in your house, right?" Pigma muttered, not minding the baby crying.

"I thought it wasn't necessary..." James muttered.

"...Peppy, I want to ask a favor to you," Pigma muttered. "...Whatever I do...don't let me rip his head off..."

James looked serious at him. "You're not going to rip my head off, ever."

"I meant Fox, not you!" Pigma yelled. "(Although the idea doesn't sound that bad...)"

James looked down at his crying son's mouth before he decided to close it by using his index finger and thumb to make Fox stop crying.

The easy idea produced the silence of the Great Fox. Peppy and Pigma noticed that the cries weren't there anymore, and they uncovered their ears before sighing loudly with a relieved James.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Pigma asked annoyed.

James chuckled. "Well, I didn't think of it myself," he admitted. "Guess I have what it takes to be a father."

Suddenly, the baby vulpine glared at the fingers closing his mouth before he pulled his snout back and bit hard the 2 fingers with his small sharp fangs. James's eyes widened as his tail pointed straight up to the ceiling before he began to scream loudly at the strong bite from his son. Peppy and Pigma exchanged glances as the father jumped crazily on his spot to try and save his fingers from his own son without having to use enough force to startle Fox.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" James yelled loudly enough to make Peppy and Pigma laugh at him. "F-Fox, stop it, you're gonna rip my fingers off with those fangs of yours! Oww!"

Fortunately, his baby blinked a few times before he released James's bleeding fingers. The leader of Star Fox looked at his bleeding fingers before Pigma began to crack up while Peppy covered his mouth to stop his chuckled from coming out. James looked down at his baby, who was now looking happy for the little mischief he did.

"You..." James muttered.

"Heheheh!" Fox giggled happily, his face looked very happy as he smiled a bit at his father.

As Pigma and Peppy's laughs started to get more silent, the pig grinned at the vulpine. "What do you know, I hated your son a moment ago, and now he appealed to me!"

James glared at Pigma. "You're just happy to see me screw up, aren't you?"

Pigma lifted up his hands to his shoulders' level. "It's for you to guess."

James grunted before noticing that Fox was giggling happily at him. His father looked down at him as Fox tried to reach for his face. James, not having a good idea, pulled the baby closer to his face where Fox grabbed his nose. "...Oh no," James said. "My baby's got a killer grip. I can't breathe..."

Pigma rolled his eyes at this while Peppy watched amused as the father and son chuckled to each other. Peppy watched as the grinning James pulled and pushed back and forth his son that constantly picked his nose in curiosity.

"Heheheh..." Fox giggled happily as James put him against his chest, a finger touching Fox's own nose.

"Just reminding you that you have one as well," James said with a grin. "Didn't you know that?"

Fox stared at him with a happy expression.

Peppy coughed a bit. "W-well, it seems we avoided another crisis..."

James looked annoyed at him. "Oh, don't joke about Fox like that, Peppy..." He walked to Peppy and quickly put Fox on his arms. "Here, play with Uncle Peppy for a bit."

Peppy raised an eyebrow. "Uncle Peppy, huh... How creative of you..."

"Heheheh," Fox giggled as he looked up at Peppy.

"...Now, don't you look like you father?" Peppy asked amused as he looked down at Fox. "It's amazing, James. You and Fox share the same stoic look."

"Pfft, what'd you expect, Peppy?" Pigma asked. "It's obvious this little brat was gonna look like James."

"Wow, I take that as a remark from you," James said as he crossed his arms. "Thanks, Pigma."

"Tsk..." Pigma looked away.

"Always tryin' to look tough, huh?" James asked with a chuckle before he looked at Fox trying to pull some of Peppy's whiskers. "Now, now, Fox, you don't want to rip Uncle Peppy's whiskers now, do you?"

Fox's curiosity was big as he tried to reach for Peppy's whiskers, the hare constantly moving his face away from the clueless baby. "Fox, knock it off, please," Peppy said with a few chuckles. "James already alarmed me from your killer grip."

"Heheheh," Fox giggled happily as he pulled his small fists back to his neck. The young vulpine blinked as his father gently grabbed him back on his left arm. The young vulpine looked at Pigma from his spot. "..." Fox moved his hands at Pigma as he wanted to reach him out.

"By the way, I really hate Pigma," Fox reminded Chris. "I wasn't aware of what I was doing during my early days, so don't go thinking nice things between me and Pigma, okay?"

James chuckled a bit before looking at Pigma. "Hey, Pigma, Fox wants to look at you now."

Pigma turned to him and looked at Fox. The young vulpine looked happy at him, causing Pigma to turn around and walk away a few steps. "Oh no, I'm not letting him get close to me. What if he pukes on me?"

"C'mon, he's not gonna do something like that to you," James said before looking at Fox. "Isn't that right, Fox? You're not gonna puke on Uncle Pigma's face, right?"

"U-Uncle Pigma?" Pigma repeated embarrassed. "W-what are you thinking now, James? I'm not his uncle!"

"He gotta have uncles," James said. "Surely you want him to admire you one of these days once he grows older, don't you?"

"Bah, why would I want that?" Pigma asked as he waved a hand in front of him. "I don't want your son falling to my feet and praise me for things I don't want to get praised for! I don't want to have him all the time with me, thank you very much."

James rolled his eyes with a frown before looking down at Fox. "Well, looks like Uncle Pigma's in a bad mood," he said, Pigma hiding a small grunt. "Well then, what do you want to do now, Fox?"

"..." Fox merely blinked at him.

"...Oh, right, I have to remember you can't talk yet," James said embarrassed. "Well, Fox, I'm going to wait for you until you get yourself a voice. I'd guess you'll have a manly voice so the girls fall for you."

Fox giggled happily.

"Oh, James..." Peppy frowned. "It's been hardly a year and now you're expecting a lot of things from him..."

"Hey, unlike you, I like to believe in my son," James said. "I'm going to give him my full support so he grows to become a fine young man that I want to have around with me. He's going to be my sidekick of the sorts once he becomes older."

"Geez, I didn't know you wanted to put your own son at risk of dying during our battles," Pigma said with a frown. "I can't just seem to understand a guy like you, James."

James flashed him a confident grin. "You two'll see soon enough how this little baby will become the greatest hero of Corneria."

"Now you're lifting this way too high for him," Pigma said. "Can't you just let him get the usual life every person has?"

James shook his head. "I want my son to become successful," he said. "I know he wants to be big, right, Fox?"

"Heheheh!" Fox giggled as he nodded.

"...Hey, check this out, he understands me," James said as he lifted Fox up over his head. "That's a very good sign now." He watched as Fox tried to touch his face from the seemingly long distance between him and James.

Pigma walked to him. "Are you really sure you can raise him alone, James?"

"Who said I was going to raise him alone?" James asked. "Heck, I'm as clueless as you 2 are. I need some help here."

Peppy got off from his seat and folded his arms behind his back. "W-well, now you're pitting us both to raise him together with you..."

"...OH NO," Pigma said as he shook his head quickly. "There is no damn way in hell I'm going to raise a kid here!"

"Too bad, the 3 of us are on the same train with this little brave man," James said as he grinned up at Fox, noticing he had a relieved look on his face. "Yeah, just look at his face. He's already thinking about his future as one of the members of Team Star Fox."

Peppy and Pigma looked at the relieved expression Fox was making, his eyes looking at different ways. For some reason, the 2 other members didn't exactly think that expression hinted anything about what James said.

"...Er..." Peppy looked around. "...Aren't you guys...starting to notice something different in the air?"

"Why, yes..." Pigma said. "...It's starting to smell pretty badly, actually..."

James's wide grin suddenly vanished as he stared up at Fox before pulling him down to his chest's level. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Fox hmm'd in his mouth with some pleasure.

"...Oh, look at the time, I must be sleeping by now," Peppy said as he began to back away before he ran away as James stared down in curiosity at the baby.

"...He's all yours..." Pigma muttered as he backed away from them before he turned around and ran into the hallway.

It became very apparent to James about why Pigma and Peppy decided to leave him all alone with the relieved Fox. It took him some seconds before he looked shocked at Fox. "Fox...you just didn't..."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm..." Fox responded relieved as he giggled silently.

"...Oh, crap...literally..." James muttered with a frown before looking around. "Er...does anybody here know how to change diapers? ...Anyone? ...Hello?" He turned to the hallway where he began to walk with Fox. "...Hello? ...Peppy? ...Pigma? ...You guys listening? ...Hello? ...Anybody?"

The smell started to get even worse overtime.

"Please, don't make me change diapers here!" James pleaded. "It's the daycare's babysitter's job to do this, not me!"

The night continued as the father carried his relieved son around the Great Fox, unfortunately not getting any help from his fellow comrades who shut the doors to their rooms so he wouldn't bother them.

"Really, this isn't funny!" James yelled. "I'm not joking either! This isn't making me laugh! You guys are supposed to help me here!"

Silence replied to him.

"Guys!"

Peterny
Inn

End of flashback

"..." Chris looked a little bit surprised at Fox.

The vulpine scratched his head embarrassed. "Well, that's part of the story I'm willing to tell you for now..."

"...James wasn't exactly acting cool that time, right?"

"Er, Peppy told me I was the only person in the whole world who could make my father lose his attitude because he didn't know much how to raise me," Fox admitted. "...Well, he did put me at a daycare where he left constantly so he could do his job with Peppy and Pigma. I have to say the babysitters taught me more than he did like speaking." Fox smiled a bit. "Peppy told me my first word was daddy."

Chris smiled a bit at him. "Aww, that's cute."

Fox blushed a bit. "R-really now? T-that's odd coming from you..."

"H-hey, I like cute things," Chris said blushing. "I'm that weird..."

"...I see..." Fox said chuckling a bit before he yawned. "Well, Chris, that's all I can tell you for now... Thanks to you, I was able to have some fun by telling you about myself, though. Thanks."

Chris made a happy expression. "Don't worry as well. I enjoyed listening to you."

Fox grinned at him. "And there's more... I can tell you the rest of my childhood tomorrow once we finish doing our things."

The 2 didn't notice that there was someone spying on them on the other side of the door. The silent silhouette grunted to itself before it turned around and walked away to a room, frowning its head as it recalled Fox's narration.

"I'd like so," Chris said interested before he yawned loudly. "Well...thanks for giving me company for tonight, Fox... I'm looking forward for the rest of your story..."

Fox nodded at him. "It's going to get interesting, I promise."

"I know it will... Well…good night...Fox..." Chris muttered with a sigh as he fell asleep on the soft pillow, smiling a bit.

Fox stared at Chris to make sure he was sleeping deeply. Seeing that Chris was sleeping deeply, the vulpine grinned to himself and took out the fairy tales' book from his back as he laid down his head back on his pillow, his eyes now focused in the book's pages while the light from the window made the words visible for his eyes.

In truth, there was another reason why Fox wanted to share rooms with Chris...

"Too bad I didn't tell you my true reason, Chris," Fox muttered as his eyes were dragged by the sentences of the book. "I didn't want Samus to find out I had this book. Also, your room has windows with light, perfect enough for me to read my book in peace..."

3 hours later...

Midnight had already come by the time Fox got to the 67th page of the book. His attention was fixated only in his book as he muttered words with a small smile to himself. "The captain of the spaceship Melader met himself with a hard decision as his enemies began to shoot lasers at his ship without mercy, alarming everyone on board. He knew he loved his true love more than anyone else, but he couldn't refuse to let his crew die in the battle they were all in and just let his true love escape alive through the only escape pod they unfortunately had. He could have escaped to use the pod, but he wasn't a coward. After thinking so much, the captain knew what was best to do: fight back their enemies until the end even if there were slim chances to escape or win the fight to save his crew...for his true love was also part of the brave crew of the spaceship Melader..."

Fox grinned at this before he closed the book, yawning loudly as he kept it underneath his pillow before he looked over at the sleeping Chris while laying down his head on the stuffed cotton.

"Man, that was a good memory from my childhood..." Fox muttered as he looked at Chris. "This book was one of the many reasons I wanted to become a member of my father's team..."

"..." Chris didn't respond.

Fox smiled at him. "I know you're not listening, but it's better than nothing," he said before yawning one more time. "Ugh, I shouldn't have read too much of it, though..." He closed his eyes. "Oh well, I'll read more of it next time..."

The vulpine suddenly fell asleep as the moonlight shone on him.

However, Fox didn't know he was going to start reviving memories from his past through the same book he liked so much...

Dream

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

In a private dream, clouds made rain that fell down upon an abandoned playground of some city with tall skyscrapers and buildings. The playground itself didn't have anyone there to play around the slides or swings spread across the area. The rain was so heavy that normal sight barely made out whatever was far away from the rain. Trees, benches, and trashcans surrounded the playground as a lone figure was leaning against a tree as he looked up sadly to the rain.

The solitary figure turned out to be a young vulpine of around 7 years. The little boy wore a green shirt, red shorts, and white sneakers. The little boy was a young Fox McCloud who seemed depressed as he stared up to the rain that didn't reach him that much because he was underneath the tree's branches.

Some sniffs came from Fox as he looked down with a frown. "...When is he going to come and get me?" he asked, his voice sounding more childish. "...He promised he wasn't going to come for me late again..." he muttered, his green eyes half-closing."...What happened to him?" he asked to himself.

The young vulpine looked around to see if there was somebody else in the playground. The only person he found was himself, though.

"Seriously, where is he?" Fox asked depressed as he looked down at the very shallow pools of water that reflected his sad look. "I-I'm afraid of going back home by my own... W-what if I end up getting lost?" he asked frightened. "...Where are you...dad?"

Fox looked up to the rain.

"...I need you here..." he muttered, the rain sounding everywhere around him.

Music stops

Inn

"..." Fox slowly opened his eyes, seeing sunlight shining down on him.

The vulpine looked at the other side where Chris was still sleeping. Fox looked depressed for a moment before he slowly sat up, resting his right arm on his right knee while he stared forward to the wall.

"What...was that dream?" Fox muttered to himself. "I remember finding myself in some sort of playground while it was raining..."

The leader of Star Fox looked at the sleeping Chris. Fox looked disappointed of himself as he frowned.

"And I was wondering where my father was..." Fox muttered saddened. "...At least you know your parents are alive, Chris... Me..." Fox looked down at his feet. "...I just don't know what really happened to my father..."

Fox never had felt before like now. He always thought that James was dead, but he never found out all those images of his father that usually came out to give him words of encouragement. Nothing really didn't make sense to him. Only thinking about his dad made him feel very depressed.

"...Who cares..." Fox muttered before looking serious. "It's his fault for hiding away from me if he's still alive..." He said before he sat on the right side of his bed, looking at the floor to see if there enough space for him to do something. "If he's alive, I don't get why he needs to be secluded and run away. If my mind is playing tricks with me, then it'd better stop before I become insane."

The vulpine grunted annoyed before he lay down on the mattress of the floor where he began to do 50 push-ups as his every day morning routine.

"...Idiot..." Fox muttered as he glared down at floor while doing push-ups, Chris still sleeping deeply.

For the clueless knowledge's dismay for the leader of Star Fox, he didn't see that, from the doorknob of the room, an eye spied silently on him as it blinked a few times before looking happy. "(Just look at him...)" some mind thought pleased. "(He's just so dreamy and...so cool...)"

"Peppita?"

"U-uah!" a yelp came from behind the door.

Fox suddenly lost his focus and fell down on the floor with a grunt. After hearing the yelp from behind the door, he wasn't exactly in a good mood as he glared at the door. "Hey, who's there?" Fox demanded before he quickly stood up and walked to the door to find out who was looking at him.

Upon opening the door, he met the empty hallway of the second floor of the inn. The vulpine looked confused as he glanced at both ways of the long hallway to see if there was someone. Shrugging after not seeing anybody, Fox frowned and closed the door silently before returning to his routine on the floor.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Gaiety Company

If he could have looked further to the right side where the hallway turned to the left, 2 figures were leaning against the wall going downstairs. The two figures were Peppita and Mirage who had run all the way to the stairs so they wouldn't be spotted by the depressed Fox. Peppita, after looking back at the hallway with all the other doors, sighed in relief before looking at Mirage. "Mirage, what do you think you're doing appearing out of nowhere like that? You scared the living heck out of me!"

Mirage looked down at Peppita and chuckled. "If I remember, you shouldn't be eavesdropping on others during the morning."

"W-well, that's because I couldn't hold myself to do it..." Peppita admitted embarrassed. "Y-you see, I woke up early and I wanted to say Fox good morning..."

"...Is that so?"

"..." Peppita knew Mirage wasn't easy to fool. "...No..." she said depressed.

"I thought so," Mirage said a little bit a amused. "You looked so fixated on Fox back there."

Peppita flushed a bit and looked at Mirage. "W-well, y-yeah, he kind of makes me feel so excited and happy when I'm around him...and..." The Velbaysian looked down before looking up at Mirage. "...Mirage are you good…keeping secrets?"

"That depends," Mirage said as she rubbed her chin. "What kind of secret do you want to tell me?"

Peppita shifted her eyes for a bit before coughing. "It's about Fox...you see... I'd like to say this to somebody else I can trust so I can feel fine with myself..." Peppita explained. "...Will you listen and keep it a secret between us?"

Mirage nodded. "Don't worry; I won't tell anyone else about that secret of yours."

The Velbaysian smiled happily at Mirage. "Okay, here's the thing..." Peppita looked around. "...Truth is...I-I-I'm...kind of...attracted...t-t-t-t-to..." Her lips twitched in excitement. She tried her best not to shout. "...I-I'm kind of attracted to to...F-F-Fox..." She blinked. "...There, I said it!" she said happily. "Mirage, I'm glad to be telling you this: I...I...I like Fox very much!"

The Klausian kept her smile, but she looked a little bit surprised as Peppita began to giggle uncontrollably.

"T-truth is, he's so cool and so handsome," Peppita said giggling. "That handsome face he has, it makes me feel so excited. That dreamy build he has, it makes me blush a lot. That manly voice he has, it makes me giggle mentally. Just thinking of him makes me feel very happy!" she said cheerfully as she spun slowly a few times on her spot, her bangles swinging themselves in the air before she stopped with folded arms behind her back. "I can't hold this any longer, Mirage, but I...I think I'm in love with Fox!"

Mirage kept her normal look at the happy Peppita before she spoke. "I-I see you like him a lot, Peppita. But, don't you think he's a little bit too old for you?"

Peppita tilted her head. "I don't see what's wrong with our difference in ages," she said before giggling. "Even if he's old, he looks admirably young to make me squeal like I've never done before!"

"Well, I have to remark he looks younger than he looks," Mirage remarked. "However, I have to be the voice of reason here and tell you tha-"

"Are you going to say we're the perfect couple?" Peppita asked in excitement.

It was either tell Peppita the truth and crush her wishes or go along with her so she could see the truth by understanding it slowly by herself. Mirage wouldn't like to see Peppita depressed. She would rather see the Velbaysian happy all the time.

"...I guess," Mirage said with a nod, making Peppita hum happily to herself as she spun a few more times on her spot.

"Okie-dokie!" Peppita said with a giggle before stopping. "So, do you think you can help me so he falls in love with me?"

Mirage NOW wanted to say no after hearing the offer, but Peppita was excessively cheerful for her dismay.

"...Why not?" Mirage responded, making the smallest hint of nervousness in her smile.

Peppita joined her hands together. "Oh, thanks a lot, Mirage! I've never felt so happy before in my life until now! Really, you don't know how excited I am!" she said cheerfully. "Can you give me some advice to see how can I do what I want to do with him?"

"W-well..." Mirage's smile twitched a bit as she looked away. "I-I only know a very small amount of ideas to make someone fall in love with someone else..."

"Oh, please, you gotta help me out with this!" Peppita said worried as she moved up and down her joined hands. "It's the first time I ever fell in love with someone else and I want to succeed. Fox is..." She blushed. "...Fox is so..."

"O-okay, I get it now," Mirage said with some nods. "I understand you love Fox very much, but I don't know if I have the best advices for you..."

An idea came to the Klausian.

"Why don't you tell Sophia?" Mirage asked as she raised a finger. "I bet she knows a lot more of romance than anyone else here. Maria could help you, but you already saw her yesterday."

Mirage knew it was a little bad of her for putting all the work to Sophia. The Klausian knew very well she didn't have the best tips for romance, but she didn't have another option. Besides, it could ruin her calm demeanor around everyone if Peppita decided to resort for her help constantly.

"...Of course!" Peppita said. "Sophia surely is more professional at this kind of stuff. Me, I'm just...sticking in the mud..." she said with a giggle. "Well, Mirage, thank you for giving me that suggestion! I'm gonna go get Sophia so she knows how much I want to do this!" the Velbaysian said happily before she happily hummed to herself, walking downstairs as she left Mirage behind.

Once Peppita was out of sight, Mirage sighed and wiped sweat from her forehead. "Phew, that was close..." she muttered to herself."I hope Sophia doesn't mind..."

The Klausian decided to walk away to her room for the time being.

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View

Some time passed after the morning came. A small group of the Smashers decided that it was a good idea to look after the Spagonia Temple in Elicoor II with some of Fayt's friends. That group consisted of Fox, Tails, Wolf, Chris, Sonic, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Peppita, Roger, and a skeptical Maria. The others decided to inspect the southern road with Mirage.

The reason behind why Mirage was chosen to show Samus, C. Falcon, Pit, and Roy all alone by herself was because, for some reason or another, Roger decided to tag along with Fayt, and Peppita because she seemed oddly fixated on Fox as the Velbaysian was walking close to Sophia.

Before them laid the long northern road to the Sacred City of Aquios, a road of bricks directed all the way across the long field of hills and trees that adorned the environment. The grass fields around the area were almost empty with some hills and trees making shades.

Overall, the field looked peaceful enough for them.

"Okay," Maria began as she crossed her arms. "It's time for you to tell us where the group you're looking for is."

Fox looked at her. "Geez… Why can't you sound a little bit friendlier for a change, Maria?"

"Yeah, why cann't you do that?" Peppita asked, receiving an odd look from Fox.

"I'm going to act friendly once my doubts are cleared," Maria explained as everyone looked at her. "You didn't think I'd forget what we talked about yesterday, right?"

"Knowing you, who wouldn't..." Wolf muttered.

"So," Maria continued, "I've made up my mind to see what you're after. Since you want us to help you we would be gaining something valuable from each other, right?"

"I guess..." Tails said. "Just...don't act that rude, please..."

"My bad," Maria said, Tails not believing her small apology. "If you want me to stop being rude, then why don't you just reveal your real intentions?"

"(I don't know if we should tell her everything we know...)" Chris thought worried.

"Pfft," Sonic (now back to his normal self) began as he rolled his eyes. "Who wants to listen to someone so blunt like you, anyway?"

"What was that?" Maria asked as she looked down at Sonic. "I forgot that you're the same hedgehog who insulted my name yesterday."

Sonic looked confused at her. "Wait, I insulted your name? I barely know your name!"

Some of the Smashers sighed at Sonic's clueless attitude.

"Well, if you forgot my name, it's Maria Traydor," Maria said.

Maria's eyes widened after he heard a very silent chuckle from the grinning hedgehog. The others around him looked at him angrily before they all frowned.

"...Let's get on with this, okay?" Maria said annoyed. "I want to finish this little favor Fayt accepted to make for all of you. Be glad I'm going to allow you to rely on my help."

Fayt looked at her. "Maria..."

"...Okay, I guess I was acting rude again," Maria admitted. "So, what do we have to do here?"

"Look for the group we're looking for?" Chip asked.

"I'd like to hear where the heck we're going," Wolf said. "After all, we "lost" that group when we got here, right?"

Maria sighed. "Well, before we even get started with this task, you wouldn't mind if I analyze you to see how strong you are, right?"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"You wouldn't want to go against the Executioners, unprepared," Maria explained as she took out a circle-shaped device from her right pocket. "It's always necessary to be prepared to fight battles..."

"Good thing we already came equipped, then."

The group watched as the device produced a vertical green line that circled around to touch everyone. The Smashers watched as the light stopped, analyzing their status.

"A-amazing, the technology you possess just keeps making me so interested!" Tails said surprised.

"And you haven't seen this before?" Maria asked.

Tails gasped mentally. "Y-yeah, but yours happen to be even newer to me, that's all..."

The leader of Quark narrowed her eyes for a moment. "Examination complete," Maria said before looking down at her machine. "Now, the results are..."

Silence...

"..." Maria blinked a few times at the device. "Are you...this weak?"

"What?" Wolf asked with a glare. "What was that supposed to mean?"

Maria frowned. "I mean to say your status isn't basically the best around... According to my analyzer, your base strength is excessively low that barely reaches 170. The average of your defense is around 90, and intelligence to use Symbology is very low as well," she explained. "With that in mind, how do you think you're going to survive against the Executioners?"

Fox crossed his arms. "Care to explain to us how we can get stronger?"

"It's not bad to know, I guess," Maria said. "Truthfully, compared to us, you're pretty much in danger of being annihilated by the Executioners. I expected you weren't that strong as well."

"The point, girl, get to the point," Wolf said.

"Okay," Maria said. "If you want to deal a good amount of damage to them, your base strength should be around 1200, and to resist their attacks you need to have a base strength of 900."

The numbers were practically big for all the Smashers. They all looked at each other. Maybe Maria could give them a throughout explanation of how to become stronger?

"Hmm..." Sonic rubbed his chin. "I'd like to know a little bit more..."

"Like?" Maria asked.

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Hey, tell me how strong I am. I wanna see what the limit is for all of us."

For once, the hedgehog had some reason in his words.

Maria began to click some buttons on her device. "Well, according to this, your base strength is of 300, your defense isn't that good because it has 50, and you can't even use Symbology," she said.

"(300?)" Chris thought. "(It could be that high because of the sticker...)"

Sonic nodded. "So, is that good enough?"

"Frankly speaking, you're technically in trouble," Maria said. "I can tell you that out of everyone in your group, you're the one that has the most strength in physical attacks. I'm actually quite impressed...a little bit."

Sonic grinned as Wolf grunted. "You mean to say this speedy freak is the most powerful person of our group?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah," Maria said. "You wouldn't survive the enemies in this area. You need some good equipment if you want to be stronger."

"Oh, hey, then what are the limits for ours stats?" Sonic asked.

"Very simple, yet so hard to achieve," Maria began. "Your base strength can reach over the 9999, and that also includes your defense and other attributes. We ourselves haven't reached that high yet, but through Item Creation and refining our weapons will make us take more steps for improvement. Once someone reaches that high, your enemies won't even hurt you at all."

"That's...impressive," Fox remarked.

"Yeah, so impressive, isn't?" Peppita asked.

"I...guess?" Fox said confused as Peppita giggled.

Maria looked at Sonic. "I can tell you that your speed is insanely high," she said, making Sonic grin at her. "Your base speed reaches 5000 easily."

"Watch me," Sonic said before he disappeared out of sight. Fayt, Sophia, Roger, Peppita, and even Maria got surprised at this before the hedgehog was seen standing behind all of them. "Did you see me, or were your eyes slow?" Sonic asked.

"Dude..." Roger began before he wiped his nose. "That had to be the most awesome thing I've ever seen before! Cool!"

"(Weren't you suspecting of them before, Roger?)" Fayt asked.

"I...have to say your speed is impressive," Maria said. "Enemies wouldn't have a good time to land a hit on you unless you screw up."

"Nobody can catch me," Sonic said as he crossed his arms proudly. "That's the law."

The World Traveler got in a thinking position. "...So, you're saying we can reach that high?"

"Yes," Maria said. "The way to get all that power is going to be hard, though. It's really hard for someone to have the perfect status. Maybe if you find or buy the most expensive weapons and armors, you'll eventually become a fighting machine."

Fox looked up to the sky. "Work hard to become even stronger, huh..."

Peppita pumped up her fists. "C'mon, everyone, time to get strong with a single step forward!"

Fayt looked at the Smashers. "If you want, we can lend you some weapons and armor so you can stand up against the Executioners. We're short of them so you're going to be using them as you stay with us."

"That'd be nice," Fox said. "I want to go prepared."

"I'm sure you're gonna be the strongest one out of your group, Fox," Peppita said with a giggle.

"Thanks..." Fox said, giving her a confused grin that made the Velbaysian chuckle.

"(We're limited to buy from Master Hand and the shop at the village of the Black Mages...)" Chris thought. "(But we don't necessarily gather big amounts of money so easily...)"

Roger yawned a bit before he removed his helmet, revealing his brown pointy ears at the sides of his head. On top of his messed up hair, the World Traveler watched as 2 golden ladybugs flew around the Menodix.

"...Wait just a minute..." Chris muttered as he watched the golden bugs flying around Roger. "...Those bugs...those bugs...those bugs are the same bugs Agitha asked me to find..."

Roger looked at him as he had his helmet under his right arm. "Huh, did you say something?"

Chris's eyes were focusing on the bugs that flew around Roger. "...Roger, are those bugs yours?"

Roger grinned at him. "Oh, so I see you got interested in my special golden bugs I found 4 days ago at Surferio," he said. "Well, it's not like me to be collectin' 'em, but they looked pretty rare so I said why not have them around me?"

"R-Roger, I need to tell you something about the bugs..."

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, what would that be?"

"Y-you see…" Chris tried his best to convince Roger to give him the bugs. "I'm secretly gathering those golden bugs as part of a request a friend told me to do…"

"…" Roger stared at him. "…And?"

"A-and could you…um…please…give me the bugs?"

The Menodix looked bored at Chris. "…Hey, I just found these bugs some days ago and you're already asking me to hand them over to you?"

"P-please, it's really important," Chris said. "I really need to have them with me so my friend doesn't get preoccupied. You see, she likes to gather golden bugs that she asked me to find them out for her so she could find them all faster…"

"…" Roger crossed his arms, letting his helmet fall down on the grass while the bugs circled around his head, making tingling sounds that echoed. "…Hmm, I dunno if I should just give 'em to yah that easily…"

"…" The dragoon sighed. "Fine, I'm going to wait until you decide… It's not like I'm rushing you, anyway…"

The Menodix watched as Chris walked away from him. Roger looked at his circling golden bugs flying around his head before his eyes looked at them.

"Well," Fayt began. "We wouldn't mind giving you some of our equipment."

"We're just lending you our equipment," Maria said. "We need them back after you finish with your little hunt, okay?"

"We understand," Fox said.

"As for you…" Maria trailed off as she looked down at Fox's Blaster. "…I guess you wouldn't mind if I give you my weapons…"

Fox raised an eyebrow at this.

"Wait right there," Wolf began as he walked to Maria. "If we do equip armor, I don't want to look like some sort of medieval soldier."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Sophia said. "It doesn't look like it, but we're wearing armors right now."

"Technology has made great feats," Maria said. "Once you equip armors, I'll use a special device that can make armor invisible so you can fight like you always do without having to worry about carrying extra weight."

"I see…" Sonic said. "Well, I'm in."

Some minutes later…

After Fayt's group lent weapons and armors to the Smashers, the traveling group looked at themselves amazed. After they equipped their armors, Maria used a special scanner that analyzed the armors in order to make them disappear, their protective effects still there.

"Wow…" Sonic began as he looked at himself, staring at some brass knuckles that he equipped on his hands. "Suddenly, my body turned thick or something…"

Wolf, wearing the same kind of brass knuckles as Sonic, looked at his claw after he equipped himself with a new phase gun that Maria had given to him. "Freaky," Wolf commented as he moved his nails a bit. "The weapon itself made everything in me stronger…"

Chris looked at his brand new spear. Fayt looked at him and smiled a bit. "You were lucky that we had a special spear weapon for you to use," Fayt said.

"This is…so surprising…" Chris muttered.

Fox looked at his new phase gun. Something about the weapon made him get even stronger than before. The weapon's effects far surpassed the power of the stickers he had equipped. "So this is how you get so strong…" Fox muttered before he put his phase gun in his holster.

"Weapons sometimes affect physical prowess," Maria explained. "They'll certainly help you fight the Executioners and resist their deadly attacks now that your strength is 1600 and defense is 1000, quite the big enhancements, right?"

"…Yeah…" Fox said with a grin as he crossed his arms. "I never felt this big surge of power before."

Wolf looked behind him where a big boulder, 3 times bigger than he did, silently stood. The lupine looked at his right claw's brass knuckle before he punched it against the rock; a big crack that appeared on it that quickly spread all over the boulder before it broke into crumbles that fell around. Chris, Sonic, Tails, and Chip looked shocked after the display of power from Wolf as he looked at his claw and smirked.

"Screw our normal means to get stronger," Wolf muttered as he flexed his claw a bit. "This stuff is even better than that."

The World Traveler thought something. "(What if we can get this strong by normal means through the use of stickers? Master Hand said we could, didn't he?)"

Peppita walked to Fox and giggled. "So, are you surprised now?"

"You bet I am," Fox said. "I never felt so powerful in my life before."

"That's Item Creation for you," Peppita said with a chuckle.

The vulpine didn't know why, but Peppita seemed more talkative to him ever since the morning started…

Fayt turned around to the north where he found 2 figured walking towards them. The blue-haired teen blinked a few times as he identified the 2 persons coming from Aquios. "Hey, aren't they them?"

"Hmm?" Sophia looked forward. "…Oh, right, there they are!"

The Smashers looked at each other confused. Chip flew up to see the people that were coming from the north. "Who are those 2 guys?" he asked.

From the north, a man and woman came walking down the brick road.

The blond-haired man, that was 36 years old and stood 6'2", was a muscular adult that wore a black vest, black pants, black boots, and black brass knuckles on his fists. The man had a small tattoo on his neck that looked like a scar at first glance.

The red-haired woman besides him, that was 23 years old and stood 5'7", looked like she lived in the planet due to the fact she wore antique female spy clothing (also wearing pale-yellow belts on her torso, and long black heels above her black boots) with a long blue-and-black scarf that hung around her throat. The young woman also had several rune marks on her wrists.

"Heeeeeeeeeey!" Peppita said as she waved her hands to the incoming newcomers. "We're here, you 2!"

Tails tilted his head. "Um, who are those 2? Do you know them?"

Nobody responded him as the 2 characters stopped walking in front of them. The man put a hand on his right pocket while the woman crossed her arms.

"Well, we're here," the man said. "We took our sweet time in Aquios. The city's as calm as ever."

"Yeah," the woman said with a nod. "No Executioners attacked it as we thought they would."

"Phew, I'm glad…" Sophia said with a sigh. "Now we just need Albel and Adray to come back from Airyglyph and then we'll be together again."

The man looked at the new members of Fayt's group. "Er, Fayt…did you recruit people while we were away?"

"Oh," Fayt began. "Pardon for not advising you both before but yesterday these guys came to us while we were refining our equipment."

The woman looked at them. Unlike most of Fayt's group, she didn't exactly find any of them weird since she was native of the planet they were all in. She have seen a lot of mysterious happenings that she didn't care what else was new to her. "I see. I suppose they're helpful to us in some way or another, right?"

"Possibly," Maria said.

"Well then," the man began. "Let's start off good so you meet us, okay?" He crossed his arms. "Glad to meet new people here. I'm Cliff Fittir."

Cliff Fittir is a Klausian from Klaus III. A member of the anti-Federation organization Quark, which was founded by Klausians, Cliff rescued Fayt for an unknown reason. Although he relinquished the post to Maria, Cliff used to be the leader of the anti-Federation organization, Quark, and is the organization's founder. Considering that he organized Quark, Cliff must be quite intelligent and charismatic, but at first glance, he only looks like a thug.

"I guess it's my turn," the woman said with a chuckle. "Very well, then. My name is Nel Zelpher."

Nel Zelpher is a runologist (a special spy that can use Runology, another name for Symbology in Elicoor II) working for the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria who has previously infiltrated the Kingdom of Airyglyph in order to gather information as a spy during the war of both kingdoms. Having learned of the importance of the peculiar technology owned by Fayt, she felt that Fayt is the person prophesied in ancient Aquarian texts, and decided to make contact with him regardless of any danger this might entail. Ever since she met Fayt and the others, Nel was asked by the queen to help them all to save the universe from the attack of the Executioners.

"This is all so sudden, you know," Nel said as she looked at the group. "I didn't know we needed more people in our group."

"Yeah," Cliff said. "Is there a reason why you invited this…peculiar group, Fayt?"

Maria frowned. "I'm pretty sure they're going to tell you the same story they already to us all."

"What do you know, I was just going to say that," Fox said bored.

Some minutes with introductions and explanations later…

Cliff rubbed his chin. "So you guys are looking for a group you've been chasing 'round the universe while the Executioners are afoot," he said. "Man, who the hell thinks about doing their business in the middle of a universal crisis, huh?"

"The group we're chasing?" Chip said.

Nel shook her head. "It was everything very normal until Fayt and Cliff crash landed in here. From that point onwards, everything started to turn out so weird for us."

Fayt rolled his eyes. "Hey, the events went like that, okay? At least we know each other."

"True," Nel said. "I have to say it's a little bit pleasing."

"Ahem," Maria coughed. "If everyone forgot, we're on a small recognition mission to find the certain mysterious group these guys are hunting down."

"Oh, right," Sophia said. "Nel, Cliff, would you mind if you lend us a hand with this?"

"Do you have to ask?" Cliff asked. "I'm up for some fighting."

"I may not have the same ideas as Cliff, but I wouldn't mind," Nel said. "It's been a little bit boring without doing any fighting." She looked around. "We should be careful. Those Executioners may show up in a few."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "I've been hearing the word Executioners a lot of times yet I haven't see what the heck they are. Is somebody here willing to give me a good example of how they look like exactly?"

Cliff pointed behind him with his right thumb. "Why bother? We already have 3 right behind us."

"...What?" Roger asked.

Behind Cliff and Nel, 3 angels slowly floated towards them. The angels were actually robots that wore long white robes, sets of 4 angelic wings, and metal faces that looked up to the sky. The robotic angels looked harmless for the Smashers, but they looked dangerous for Fayt's group.

"Sheesh, more of those Proclaimers..." Roger muttered. "They just won't stop multiplying."

"Don't say that bizarre fact..." Sophia said worried.

"Proclaimers?" Chip asked. "Weren't they called Execusomething?"

"Well, they're the same, but they're called Proclaimers," Nel said. "They disguise themselves as angels so they look angelic, but that's just a facade for their real nature."

"...So...we like...fight those angels?" Tails asked, hiding behind Sonic.

Chip chuckled. "Why feel scared? They're Pit's long lost cousins. They're surely gonna be nice to us."

Chris looked worried. "I-I don't think they're Pit's long lost cousins..."

The party looked at the angels slowly flapping their wings. "Prostraste thyself..." they all said in unison with a monotone voice.

Sonic looked at the others. "What is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"I think it means to announce..." Sophia said. "They're basically like messengers..."

"And...what are they trying to say with that?" Fox asked.

"With that, they mean they're here to deliver...death...to all of us..." Cliff said.

"..." Everyone looked at each other.

It was not long before the party was ambushed by 2 more angels that came from all directions. They all quickly looked around as some of them took fighting stances.

"It's an ambush!" Maria yelled as she took out her phase gun.

"Gimme a break..." Cliff said with a sigh.

"What a dirty trick," Nel said as she took out some daggers from her belt. "They just can't stop ambushing all of us, huh?"

"What, do they do this every time?" Tails asked as he stood behind a grinning Sonic.

"You wouldn't believe all the times they ambush people," Fayt said as he held a long sword at the right side of his belt with both hands.

Roger grinned as he called back his golden bugs on his hair to put his helmet back on and took out a small axe from his back that he playfully spun on his right side. "Can we just fight these guys?"

"Okay, everyone, attack!"

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Cutting Edge of Notion

"Separate and pick your own targets so they go down faster!" Fayt ordered as she rushed forward to the frontal line of Proclaimers, everyone else quickly separating to strike every enemy (while Tails dragged Chip away from the fight to the safest place in the whole planet: a tree on a small hill to the west).

"I'll use magic!" Sophia said as she took out a rod with a red crystal on its tip before she formed a blue sphere in front of her.

Noticing this, Fox stopped on his tracks and stared at the sphere growing a little bit as Sophia focused. The vulpine looked a little bit interested in the Symbology magic the young teen was using.

"Thunder Flare!" Sophia called out forth a big sphere of sparks that appeared between 2 of the 7 Proclaimers, zapping all of them constantly as they were getting staggered by the circling sparks.

"What was that you just used?" Fox asked, not noticing that Peppita was very close to him.

"Oh, Symbology?" Sophia asked. "Weird, I thought you knew what Symbology was."

"E-er..." Fox looked away. "I-I haven't seen much of it these last years so...yeah..."

"...Well, if you forgot, Symbology is the magic that everyone uses," Sophia explained. "Many people out there can possess Symbology, and maybe even you can do it."

"Not exactly..." Fox admitted. "Magic isn't my strongest asset."

"Really?" Sophia asked. "Well, if that's so, why don't you train it? I'm sure you can master it very soon."

"I've been trying to, but it's always the same result," Fox explained. "It's either nothing or me getting on fire."

"..." Sophia felt a little bit of sympathy. "That's...not good..."

"Well," Peppita began, startling Fox a little bit. "Fighting beats practice every time, so go train, Fox! I know you can do it!"

"...Thanks?" Fox responded at the cheerful girl.

Peppita gasped and pointed behind Sophia. "Sophia, behind you!"

"Wha-AAH!" Sophia yelled in pain after a Proclaimer appeared behind her instantly before sending forward an X-slash after it crossed its hands in front of it. The teen was pushed to the air where she flipped and landed on her feet, closing her right eye in pain.

"Hey, how did that thing appear behind her?" Fox asked as he glared at the angel.

"They hack their speed," Peppita explained. "They can teleport instantly to any side so you gotta be careful!"

Fox cracked his fists. "Well, I'm not letting one of them sneak behind me," he said before he dashed towards the Proclaimer, passing an angry Sophia as she focused more Symbology.

Peppita giggled. "And I'm not letting them lay a finger on you," she muttered before she began to spin her right bangle behind her. "Magic Hook!" she yelled loudly.

The vulpine suddenly saw Peppita's bangle extending all the way to the Proclaimer where it struck it hard, somehow getting stuck on it before the Velbaysian got pulled all the way to the angel where she accidentally used a strong headbutt that pushed the Proclaimer away. Fox watched confused as Peppita fell down on the grass, dazzled.

The vulpine looked around before he went to see her by kneeling down. "Hey, Peppita, are you okay?"

"I dunno, am I okay?" Peppita asked dazzled. "I'm pretty sure I was okay a long time ago..."

Fox shook her a bit. "C'mon, stand up. We're in the middle of a fight."

Peppita quickly pushed herself up to stand up, giggling a little bit at Fox. "W-well, thanks for worrying about me, Fox."

"Okay..." Fox stood up. "Just...don't use that attack again..."

"Oh, don't you worry," Peppita said. "That's how my attack works, anyway."

"That's a little bit suicidal, you knew that?"

"So what? It's very effective," Peppita said.

Fox thought Peppita was insane for a moment.

"Hey, you guys!" Sophia yelled. "It's coming back!"

The 2 quickly looked to the west where the Proclaimer calmly floated towards them. Fox instantly took a fighting stance while Peppita did the same except…very close to him.

"Don't you think we make a pretty good team?" Peppita suddenly asked.

"...We just barely worked together..." Fox pointed out.

Peppita blushed. "O-o-oh, okay, sorry..."

As the 3 fought their own enemy, chaos ensued across the green fields of Irisa as the rest of the group fought against the Proclaimers. Knowing that attacking them 1 at a time was going to take an eternity, Fayt came up with a strategy.

"Make up teams and coordinate attacks together!" Fayt yelled. "Don't let them attack back!"

"W-what did he mean by that?" Chris in a panic as 2 Proclaimers surrounded him from both sides, the dragoon holding his spear in fear. "H-help!"

Suddenly, behind the Proclaimer that came from the right, Nel snuck from behind and slashed the robotic enemy hard enough to make it go to the air. While it was in the air, Wolf came from another side, used Wolf Flash to appear on the angel to use a Meteor Smash effect with his claw on the angel to plummet it down to the ground, where Sonic came fast from the south, grabbed the angel, and crashed its head down hard on the ground.

The dragoon blinked surprised at this sudden display of strategy before he heard something from behind.

"Prostrate thyself."

Suddenly, 4 towers of light circled around the Proclaimer that he didn't see. The towers of light dealt 4 heavy hits on Chris as he was pushed away to the ground where he fell, grunting in pain as the Proclaimer stood in front of him, the towers having disappeared.

Seeing that the dragoon didn't retaliate, Wolf frowned and charged at it while the other one he left behind got pulled off the ground by Sonic. "Tsk, what do I have to do this for you?" Wolf asked annoyed as he crossed his open claws in front of him.

However, once he did that move, something within him awoke.

"What is this...felling?" Wolf asked to himself. Wolf watched as his claws suddenly began to glow with dark energy that completely covered themselves with a pitch-black color as purple outlines covered the sides of it. The lupine didn't exactly think that he could do that, but he shook the thought away as he charged at the Proclaimer. "Whatever, I'm using this either way."

The dragoon looked up from his spot to see the lupine charging at him. Chris gasped and covered his head with his hands before Wolf leaped over him to reach the angel.

"(Let's see if this works...)" Wolf thought as he reached the Proclaimer. "Hand of Doom!"

Suddenly, the lupine found himself quickly slashing the Proclaimer severely by constantly doing horizontal slashes (a total of 6) that left trails in the air of his claws' glowing tips. His claws also ripped the robot's clothing a bit before Wolf finished the attack by pushing it away. He stopped while the angel tried to regain its composure to look at his claws, now turning back to normal.

Hand of Doom

Slashes foes with six hits. This attack is fast enough to stun foes somewhat enough for the user to attack.

"...I have to admit this attack was useful..." Wolf muttered before chuckling. "Wonder if I can link this together with my other attacks...UOH!"

The lupine didn't see the Proclaimer sending forward an X-slash shockwave in the air that pushed him away. As Wolf flipped in the air to regain his control, a stubborn Menodix stood in front of Chris.

"This guy is gonna go down now," Roger said before he tossed his helmet high above him, pointing his axe to it as it glowed and shot a light that struck the spinning helmet. "Raging Helmet!"

Once the light struck the helmet, a shower of lights began to rain down upon the Proclaimer. The robotic angel got severely injured by this attack that it couldn't attack back.

Chris took this opportunity to get up and dash at the angel. "I just can't let this thing beat me like that again..." He prepared his spear. "Lancet!" The images of roaring dragons flew around him before Chris swiftly stabbed the angel, dealing a considerable amount of damage as it also drained a little bit of energy.

And thus, the first Proclaimer was taken down as it vanished. "Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh..." it said silently before vanishing in thin air.

The dragoon sighed in relief as the Menodix walked to him. "Seems you're a natural fighter," Roger said. "Of course I did most of the work here."

Chris looked down annoyed at him. "H-hey, at least I did the finishing attack here. So, have you considered abou-"

"It's way too early to be asking that!" Roger complained. "Also, we've got a fight!"

Behind them, the second Proclaimer summoned forth towers of light that dealt heavy hits on both Nel and Sonic. The 2 stumbled back as they grunted in pain before Cliff came in. "Freeze, you maggot!" he yelled before he jumped in the air, holding a glowing sphere between his hands that he slammed down underneath the Proclaimer that caused a big invisible explosion of air that made the angel get to the air. "Hammer of Might!" Cliff yelled as he landed on the ground.

"Right there!" Maria was heard yelling as she rushed at the angel and shot several glowing shots that struck it hard. As she got closer, she quickly kicked the Proclaimer by sending a big wave of energy. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled, pushing the angel to the air before she swiftly shot from her phase gun a sphere of darkness that slowly went forward. "Gravity Bullet!"

The sphere forced the angel to tremble in pain as it dealt a big amount of hits. As Maria glared at its enemy, she began to issue strategies. "Nel, I wouldn't mind if you help me here!"

By that time, the Elicoorian was already holding out a blue sphere to cast Symbology. "You don't have to tell me even once," she said. "Earth Grave!"

In front of Nel, big stalagmites came from within the ground that pierced through the angel several times before the magic earth vanished in thin air.

Maria aimed her phase gun, seeing the angel immobile in the air. "Well, time t-" She stopped talking once she saw the hedgehog leaping high up to thrust down his feet right on the Proclaimer's face. Due to the power boost, Sonic quickly sent the angel crashing down on the ground where it screamed in pain and vanished slowly, the hedgehog landing on the grass as he wiped his nose a bit with his thumb.

"Check it out," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "So far, I like this fight."

Maria frowned. "Please don't rest yet until we're done with this fight."

"Oh, please, you need to enjoy the moment," Sonic said. "Can't you do that?"

"I'll only "enjoy" the moment after we're done here," Maria said. "Now, don't slack off. We still have 3 more of them to take care of."

The hedgehog looked annoyed at her before Maria turned around to run to Fayt who was busy fighting a Proclaimer alone. Sonic rolled his eyes and grunted a bit. "Does anyone here enjoy fighting?" he asked.

"Hardly anyone here enjoys fighting," Nel said as he walked to him from behind. "I do know Roger likes to fight a lot...but I also know another person not here who enjoys it very much so he doesn't get bored doing something else."

"Who's that?"

"You...don't want to know," Nel said. "He's currently in Airyglyph with my friend's father doing some recognition. I think they're on their way here."

"Just how many of you are there?"

Nel began to raise fingers. "Well, if you want to know, it's me, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Roger, Peppita, and the other 2. We're 10 in total. How about your group?" She crossed her arms amused.

Sonic grinned at her. "It's me, Chris, the fox dude, the wolf dude, Tails, Chip, some racer guy, the girl in the armor, the angel, and the red-haired dude. We're 10 as well."

The Elicoorian knew well that Sonic didn't bother to say names possibly because he liked to address most of them that way.

"...Can you be a little more specific?" Nel asked.

"How?"

Nel frowned. "Oh, forget what I said..."

Back with Fayt and his enemy...

"Fool," the Proclaimer stated. "I shall carve thy crimes into thy flesh..."

"Oh no, you don't," Fayt said as he watched the Proclaimer calling forth a staff that it summoned as it floated slowly into the air, the staff glowing brightly. The blue-haired teen knew that the Proclaimer was going to struck down the staff to create a saint glyph that would emit green light and cause extreme damage. "Dimension Door!" Fayt yelled as he called forth darkness that covered a big portion of the area that trapped the Proclaimer and forced it to fall down, several incomplete dark circles floating around Fayt before he vanished from sight.

The Proclaimer was stunned due to the attack's effect. Sparks flew out before the blue-haired teen appeared behind it, a huge slash of darkness from behind him that easily ripped the angel in 2 that took it out with a very severe hit. "Uaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..." the Proclaimer yelled silently as it vanished, Fayt holding out his sword to the side before standing up straight.

Maria didn't make it in time as she stopped in front of Fayt. "You know, sometimes I think you're a little bit "broken" yourself if you know what I mean."

Fayt wiped some sweat. "Geez, was that a compliment?"

She looked behind him. "Behind us!" Maria gasped and quickly pulled Fayt to the ground along with her to evade an X-slash attack from another Proclaimer.

At that very moment, Wolf appeared from behind the angel to grab it hard with a claw and toss it to the air. Once he did that, he used Fire Wolf to strike the Proclaimer hard on its back where he swiftly made his claws glow with dark energy to use Hand of Doom, slashing brutally the Proclaimer as he moved above and kicked it down to make it crash on the ground.

"Fool..." the Proclaimer said as it crossed its hands to damage Wolf while it was laying down on the ground.

The lupine, still in the air as he descended, looked to his right where the leader of Quark rushed at the angel to stop it from executing an attack. "Aiming Device!" Maria yelled as she shot a hard shot to the downed enemy that made the angel jump back to the air. The lupine saw this opportunity to slam down his claws hard on the angel as it plummeted down even harder than before.

Wolf landed back on the ground and glared daggers at the angel. However, he didn't see that Maria was holding behind her a blue sphere that grew a little bit in size before holding it out at Wolf. "Power Up!" she yelled.

The leader of Star Wolf found several circling orange lights that made a sphere on him, his body swelling a bit before he rushed at the Proclaimer, opening his right claw wide as he swiftly stabbed the angel with it. Wolf, looking surprised, watched as he claw literally went through the Proclaimer, instantly killing it while it screamed silently, vanishing in the air.

"Hey, what did you just do to me?" Wolf asked to Maria as she walked to him.

"I thought I'd be nice to increase your power more with a 50 percent of power boost," Maria said. "Enjoy it while it lasts, though. It lasts about a minute."

"...Heh," Wolf grinned at her. "Who would have thought you possessed this special skill?"

"Thanks," Maria said without giving a smile. "But we still have one last Proclaimer over there."

Wolf turned his back around to see from a long distance that Sophia, Peppita, and Fox were dealing with the last Proclaimer from before, the vulpine swiftly evading an X-slash attack from the angel as he hit its side hard with a kick that pushed it down to the ground.

Peppita, several feet away from both of them, began to hop around as she called forth a glyph in the air that made 4 ice daggers. "Frozen Daggers!"

Unfortunately, this attack proved to be a little bit disappointing as it didn't send all the daggers at the same time. Instead, the daggers slowly were sent down upon the robot at a slow pace.

Sophia frowned as she prepared another spell. "(I know Peppita likes to use that attack a lot, but it doesn't do a lot of damage...)" She looked at the vulpine behind the angel. "Well, he wouldn't mind if I use this on him... Angel Feather!" she cast, pointing her staff at Fox.

Fox blinked confused as several angel feathers appeared around him before fading away. Suddenly, he felt that everything in him increased in strength, defense, speed, evasiveness, accuracy, and even intelligence to use magic. The vulpine grinned to himself as he looked serious at the Proclaimer. "This is just turning out all better for me..." Fox muttered before rushing quickly at the Proclaimer.

Peppita stopped dancing around to look at the vulpine. She looked surprised (and probably excited) as Fox swiftly reached the Proclaimer where he used a fast back-flip kick that surprisingly pushed the robotic angel high up into the air; even higher than anyone else. He then proceeded to jump 2 times to reach the enemy to do a series of quintuple kicks that dealt a great amount of damage.

"(Just look at him...)" Peppita thought amazed. "(He's so athletic!)" she thought excited.

Fox's combo didn't end as he performed a drill kick right on the enemy's face before both started to descend faster. However, Fox was able to descend even faster to use a slow back kick that sent the Proclaimer down where it rolled recklessly and laid down on the grass, making some short-circuits as it slowly got back up.

As Fox prepared to attack all by himself, something within him awoke...

"(What is this feeling?)" Fox thought confused before looking down at his feet. "(I wonder...)" he trailed off in mind before he glared at the Proclaimer.

By that time, the others were already rushing to the last enemy, but Fox had everything under control as he reached the Proclaimer that was about to send an X-slash attack with its hands.

"Stop, infidel..." the Proclaimer stated as it crossed its hands.

And it did the attack, sending it straight to the dashing Fox.

Peppita and Sophia gasped. "Fox, no!" Peppita yelled.

The Velbaysian didn't see the confident grin that Fox hid as he suddenly and swiftly jumped besides the incoming to attack to evade it, the vulpine landing at the Proclaimer's left side where he hopped on his spot. Suddenly, his right tanker boot caught yellow energy that glowed a bit as he struck it hard against the Proclaimer's waist while yelling loudly, "Side Kick!"

Side Kick

One of Fayt's most effective attacks. The user evades any kind of attack almost perfectly and strikes a single foe hard with a side kick.

"..." the Proclaimer yelled silently in pain as they all watched it vanishing in thin air as Fox's right tanker boot glowed with energy before it faded out as he pulled in back behind him, safely landing on the grass as he twisted his neck a bit and grinned with a chuckle, crossing his arms.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Victory Bell

The rest of the group sighed in relief as they all reunited. "Wasn't that easy?" Sophia asked with a chuckle.

"I have to admit everything was easier thanks to the weapons and armors you gave us," Chris said as he looked at his spear. "...Are you sure I can't keep this with me?"

"Sorry," Maria said, "but we'll need our equipment back."

"Oh, bummer..." Chris said with a sigh.

At that moment, Tails and Chip came from behind the tree. "W-wow, everything did go just well, you guys," Tails said surprised. "You looked stronger than before as well, Sonic."

Sonic grinned at him. "What, I haven't been this strong before?"

"W-well..."

"Eh, don't sweat it, kiddo," Cliff said as he crossed his arms. "Thanks to all of you the battle ended much sooner than we expected. You're not half bad if I do say so myself."

"I think we should thank you for providing us with your equipment," Fox said.

Peppita giggled happily. "You looked so cool out there, Fox. The way you defeated that Proclaimer alone looked so impressive!"

"Thanks," Fox said, giving her a small grin. "You're not that bad as well."

Peppita gasped mentally. "(Oh my, he's starting to show some feelings for me. Just look at that grin he's giving to me. What do I do? What do I do?) E-er, thanks, Fox... That was a nice thing to say to me..." She played with her fingers a bit while staring up at him. "M-maybe we could work together in the next fight?"

"I...guess so..." Fox said confused at Peppita's odd attitude. "(Why does she blush every time I look at her? Unless she thinks... Er... Um... No, she wouldn't think that of me. She looks a little bit mature, I guess, but...) Oh, I almost forgot," Fox said as he turned to Maria. "I saw some of you using Symbology."

"Oh, that?" Nel began. "Well, it's often called Runology in this continent, but Fayt's group says it's Symbology from where they come from."

"They're the same," Sophia said. "I can use Earth Grave as you do, Nel. Not to mention Maria uses the same buffs as I do."

"You guys don't have anyone in your group that can use Symbology, then?" Roger asked.

"We don't, as a matter of fact," Wolf said before he looked away. "(If I recall, we can learn special abilities in every world out there... Isn't there a way to keep them with us, though? This Hand of Doom attack proved useful to me...)"

Sophia looked at Nel. "Nel, do you think we can give them that?"

Nel crossed her arms. "Wait, are you thinking in giving them the Decrepit Tome we have?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Cliff began. "You should think before doing something reckless here. If they want to learn Symbology through what we have with us, we should spend some more time together and see if they're not trying to deceive us."

Tails looked up at the tall man. "H-hey, we're not planning to do that sort of thing. What makes you say that?"

Cliff crossed his arms. "I believe Maria already questioned you before, right?"

"Of course," Maria said. "I'm being a little bit more careful with them around us."

Fayt knew an argument was going to come very soon if he let Maria talk even longer. "Um, why don't we stop this before it gets, um, unnecessary to do?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "There you go again..." she muttered with a sigh.

The Smashers knew they were constantly being judged by the others. Chip, looking worried, decided to speak. "Hey, shouldn't we explore these fields to see if we can find that temp-I mean, group?"

Maria looked at him. "...Pardon me to ask, but did you just say temple?"

"N-no..." Chip sweated as many of the Smashers glared at him (actually, they were all glaring at him).

"...(Okay, now I know for sure they're hiding something for real this time...)" Maria thought as Sonic grabbed Chip and pulled him away from her. "(Just what is so utterly important for them to conceal?)"

"I guess your friend is right," Nel said as she put her hands on her hips. "We don't need to waste anymore time if you want to find that group so badly."

"Yeah, let's just help them so we get done with this," Roger said. "I wanna go to the enemies' headquarters very soon."

"That can wait," Fayt said. "Now..." He looked around. "Where should we head to?"

Nel pointed east. "We shouldn't go there because a big rock wall from the nearby canyon won't let us pass unless we climb it." She pointed to the west where a long trail of trees resided, making long arches of wood and branches. "Why not head over there instead?"

Everyone turned to the west. Cliff rubbed his chin. "Isn't that where the Aquatic Garden of Surferio is?"

"Aquatic Garden of Surferio?" Tails repeated. "What's that place?"

"It's a sunken city that lies underground between Surferio and Aquios," Nel explained. "There's a hidden passage that goes down to a big sanctuary where huge ruins reside. We explored the ruins before, but the whole sanctuary was enormous by itself. It's been in ruins since the Kingdom of Aquor fought the Kingdom of Greeton a long time ago."

Tails rubbed his chin. "It'd make sense for the...uh...group we're chasing to hide there because they like to steal relics and all that..."

"Well, they're wasting their time," Nel continued. "There are no artifacts in the ruins anymore. However, I do think it'd be a nice place to hide."

Cliff smacked his fists together. "What are we waiting for? Let's head over there and see if we can find those guys or that guy over there will do it for us instead."

Everyone looked at each other after Cliff spoke.

"Um, what do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

Cliff pointed to the west where he saw a tall person under the arches of trees. "Don't you see that eggman-looking guy over there? Yeah, I was talking about him."

"Eggman guy..." Sonic and Tails muttered before looking to the west.

Ironically enough, there was none other than Dr. Eggman looking around the trees without doing anything else. Sonic grinned, Tails gasped, and Chip was being himself as he titled his head. "Eggman!" Sonic and Tails yelled, making the whole group stare at their direction.

"Well, wasn't that the description I gave?" Cliff asked.

"Er, no, that's his name..." Tails said.

"...OOOOOOOOOOOOH, I see..." Cliff looked up with a frown. "...Seriously, that's his name?"

Maria rubbed her chin as she looked at the shady doctor. "I supposed he's one of the group you're looking for, am I correct?"

"Pretty much," Chris said. "But...what is he doing here of all places? I don't recall he was with...you know who...the group..."

Tails looked serious at everyone. "Whatever Dr. Eggman is doing here shouldn't be good."

"I have some questions to ask him as well," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "Let's go and see what he's doing here!"

The hedgehog was the first one to make it behind the evil scientist. As he halted his fast speed, he grinned at Dr. Eggman and pointed an accusing finger to him as Dr. Eggman talked to himself. "Now, where could it be?" Dr. Eggman asked as he scratched his head. "I'm pretty sure it should nearby this area..."

"Eggman!"

Dr. Eggman looked up before turning around to look down at Sonic, cracking his fingers with a confident grin before everyone else reached them. "Oh no, it's you," Dr. Eggman muttered in annoyance.

Sonic chuckled. "Well, you came all the way here so I could kick your egg(beep) again? Man, I didn't think you were THAT stubborn!"

Peppita folded her arms and looked confused. "Um, Fox, what is an eg-"

Fox covered her mouth. "Don't bother asking what that word means. You're still too young to know, anyway."

"..." Peppita merely blinked confused. "...Okay..."

Fox looked away. "(Why'd she ask me and not somebody else, anyway?)"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Say, I don't like this title. The Melancholy Of The Bravest?" Peppita asked.

"Pfft, I hope that doesn't have anything to do with me," Roger commented.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Irisa Fields
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Peppita, Roger

References:

-You should know why Sonic said those lines to Maria.

-Puffy was excluded from being not introduced because I felt it was funny to know a little bit about her due to the fact she appears in all Star Ocean games. Really, you're bound to be scared if you ever see her invent something.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Mona Marshall, Etna and Rita's voice actor, also voiced Roger S. Huxley.

And we're done with the second leg of the chapter.

I know by now that you're thinking Peppita will try to get Fox to love her. Well, it's obvious she won't make it, but she's going to play a big role for the leader of Star Fox in the incoming chapters.

The battle you all read wasn't meant to be longer. It merely showed some of the abilities that the SO3 cast have, and the universe abilities that Fox and Wolf learned. Maybe the others that went with Mirage learned some techniques as well. Expect future battles to have a much lesser amount of characters because I'm not planning to make a single fight with 19 characters for the BIG fight in the last chapter.

You also got a glimpse of their strength's limits thanks to Maria. It's something that isn't going to be "scientifically" explored in terms of complexity so it doesn't drag and become stale overtime. Too bad they won't leave strong, though.

In the last chapter, expect to see a much bigger focus on Fox's past, the last 2 characters to be shown, and 20 percent more screen time for Peppita. (I hope I can balance dialogues...).

As always, readers are encouraged to review. :D

…Or Sonic will REALLY throw an emo hedgehog at Maria.

*Chapter 156*: The Melancholy Of The Bravest

There's more romance in this…but then there's no romance… How's that possible?

From True Hyper Sonic (aka "Cloud"): You dissed me again! I couldn't even scroll the page down before seeing this crap! Y'know, Cloud CAN lighten up a bit, over time. But that's not even the damn point! When I write a review under any pen-name, I do it from their POV. It's a small quirk. But you're pretty much ignoring the whole point of BOTH the actual reviews: add an FF7 arc LATER; not immediately, that's unreasonable. But SERIOUSLY! Not everyone is gonna write a review the same way; some will use l33t-speak, some will role-play, etc. And besides, after appearing once, you just KNOW Cloud has to be seen kickin' butt, taking names, & saving the world, even if only for a couple chapters. It's common sense! It's not like I'm asking you to fit the whole game into the arc, man! CHILL OUT!! Besides, the way you portrayed Cloud was just a BIT too emo to not be OOC. Try again, man. I'll review again AFTER reading this chapter. I still haven't had the chance, yet! TTYL...maybe!

From me: Sorry, but you gave me a very odd impression. If I portrayed Cloud a little bit too emo like you said, then I'm sorry. I didn't get too far with the videos of the whole game I watched to see Cloud's personality (I do have to admit the one I did looked good, though).

Also, please review after you read the chapter. That's an important rule, you know.

From SlasherMask: Original pairing? You mean this chapter DOES Chris x Fox?!? X3

I guess game mechanics prevent Fox from killing with food.

Geez, this is sort review.

From me: Dude, I'd be sick if I did gay pairings. I'm NOT like that. But, since you thought that, does that mean you like gay pairings?

If so…er…

In another unrelated topic, thanks.

From ngrey651: You were right, I DO love Fox's performance in the chapter. Especially how you didn't overdo it on the "Oh Father Where Art Thou" angst. Excellent job. Who knew you could have so much fun making items?

From me: You just wait until the next chapter comes. Everything's going to go downhill to the point it'll be good…I think…

Thanks. :)

From FF and STH: it looking good in this arc like the chapter
also peppita liking Fox? If you can tell me why having peppita like Fox is be use that would be nice, just for my curiosity

From me: Glad you asked that question. You see, I tend to see many crossover stories mainly focus on the main character of the second crossover. However, I break that rule and focus on secondary characters in order to make them even more important. The reason why I made Peppita fall in love with Fox is that it'd be cute to see such an imaginary "couple" talk with each other. Don't you think it looks curious that way? Thanks. ;)

From True Hyper Sonic: Well, I finally found enough time to finish reading this chapter. It was funny, & the fight scene was OK; but the Maria joke was what really cracked me up! I think Shadow would be seriously ** at Sonic right about now, if he found out. Quote: "I AM NOT EMO!" Then he'd likely Chaos Blast him. :) Before I go, I'll ask once more: PLEASE do an FF7 arc, regardless of the poll. Just wait until it's convenient, OK? Plan for it first, so it fits right. Ja ne!

From me: Didn't I just talk to you 4 reviews before this one? Er, ahem...

Sorry, but I can't just listen to whatever you want to see here in this story. I let people decide for themselves to see what they want to see together. If you want FFVII to be the next arc, you'll have to wait, vote, and see if everyone is thinking like you. You understand, right? I hope you did.

Thanks. :)

From Seitei: ~Seitei changes jobs to Reviewer!~

I see this arc is shaping up to be the Fox McCloud backstory. And the phrase "In truth, there was another reason why Fox wanted to share rooms with Chris..." suggests a FoxXChris pairing...? Not that I think that's going to happen, but people these days...

I'm suspecting there's going to be a Shadow Nightmare on ? right now (And I have a pretty good idea who it'd be...)...

What is a "dreamy built?"

Well, update soon!

From me: For the last time, I don't have a sick mind to do a gay pairing AT ALL. There's a reason I hate both Yaoi and Yuri, anyway. Rest assured I'm not like those persons out there as well.

Don't bother guessing the next Shadow Nightmare battle. Scroll down and you'll see who's next. ;)

Isn't dreamy built have to refer to a person's body shape? If that isn't it, then I wanted to make Peppita said Fox was…semi-muscular… "Shrugs"

From DianaGohan: Okay the first chapter was admittingly weak and fairly boring but this one was actually enjoyable. I still don't care for too many of the SOEs but there's some I'm warming up to: Roger due to his wanting to prove the other guys are man. Peppita for her crush on Fox, and Maria because she actually points out the crap in everyone's stupid trying to hide something story. I'm hoping that this is a sign that the group's going to do something to either try and hide themselves better or more preferably just take a chance and TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH! Though there were some parts I didn't like (some of the scenes stretched on too long, like some character intros and the flashback) I did like the beginning of all the groups actually finding something they want to invest time to invent, Fox's flashback (even if it did stretch on too long) the battle and Eggman at the end. Nothing special but MUCH better then 154.

GRADE: B

From me: Phew! I'm glad you started to like the arc after all. Many of the things you expect to see are actually in this chapter. I just hope you enjoy it as well as the previous one (or better).

I hope you enjoy this chapter. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: ULTRA SPECIAL BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
/watch?v=TdNnJMJXbis here's a link to the KOTRT(hopefully). Some advice, make this an ABOSOLUTE LAST RESORT for Chris, considering your style. Believe me, this is a powerful summon, it can do more damage then a MAXED OUT Mega Flare from Bahumat. Yep, more then 99,9.
Considering the dungeon, are you introducing the "Parcleus's Table" or "VS mode" to everyone?
When is the Battle Thing-ah-ma-bobber (Battle floor was it? It's been so long!) gonna get mentioned and used?
Are you gonna make anymore anime references? (Things related to Caramel Dansen)
It's my birthday on Thursday, yay moi!
Well, may misfortune never strike you!

From me: Please, I hope you understand why I cut your long review.

1- I don't what KOTRT means. Also, the link is broken, but I don't want to see it either way, sorry.

2- I'm not introducing those items.

3- Keep waiting and you'll eventually see the Battle Floor in action.

4- No more anime references are going to be made here. Also, this makes me want to erase all previous anime references due to the fact I think they're absurd to mention. I hope you understand.

5- Happy Pre-Birthday. :)

Thanks.

From 90's Kid: Bro this was even better then the last chapter. I know what Fox went through bro. Well not really since I life in my paren'ts basement but if I did know what he went through it would be super extreme!

Man those Star Ocean guys got some totally cool gear. You think they sell those kind of invisible armor and power scanners around here? Or is that just like in my dreams?

I hated those Proclaimers bro. The only thing I would proclaim is "I Want more guns". I'm so glad that they were beat. It made me think of how great a battle that was. You know in the 1700's with the Revolutionary War. I mean with the blasters and alien tech and the foxes and wolves learning super out of nowhere moves it must of been the baddest war ever.

Well that's two rad chapters bro and if I may suggest you need to do a DOOM arc. That's the best game ever bro and it needs to be represented by your radness if you know what I mean.

Well 90's kid signing out reminding you if it wasn't from the 90's it dosen't know how to be awesome besides this bro.

From me: Well, technically speaking, all the armor you wear in games is mostly invisible, but the weapons do actually get to be displayed. And that's in your dreams.

I…see about what you mean with the war thing…

I don't know anything about DOOM nor interests me that much… Sorry.

I hope you like this chapter…er…bro. ;)

Phew, this chapter is done. I hope you all like this chapter. You'll mainly see a more detailed focus on Fox while other stuff happens.

I have nothing else to say rather than saying that I encourage readers to review as always. Please, sit back and enjoy the spotlight shining on Fox.

"Spotlight shines on Fox before it turns off"

Dammit!

Fox: Why would I be standing under a spotlight, anyway?

Oh, just shut up and let them read the chapter already…

Fox: "Rolls eyes"

Disclaimer: Did you know Star Ocean: Till the End of Time has the most twisted plot twist in video game history? Be warned as you're going to be spoiled if you dare look to see at the plot twist…

Chapter 156: The Melancholy Of The Bravest

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

The group stared at Dr. Eggman: some with glares, some with blank faces, and some with confused looks after seeing such a fat guy with thin legs.

"How the heck did you get here?" Sonic demanded.

Dr. Eggman folded his arms and bent down to look at Sonic. "Well, now that you're kindly asking without using violence...I guess I should tell you because all odds are against me with contradictions ready."

Tails looked down, but his eyes were focusing on the scientist. "You should've had some way to get all the way to this place, isn't that right?"

"Ohohohohoho, quite right," Dr. Eggman said before he pulled himself back up, crossing his arms in front of him. "Well then, what do you want to ask me?"

"I thought I already asked you," Sonic pointed out.

Dr. Eggman chuckled a bit. "I forgot the question. Care to repeat it to me?"

"U-um..." Chris coughed a bit. "Sonic asked you why you were here..."

"...Oh, now I remember," Dr. Eggman said with a small grin. "Well, bunch of clueless people, I got here thanks to a reliavable benefactor who offered to give me a ride to where you were. It's not easy for me to just jump between dimensions with my machines."

Many of the Smashers forgot about the fact that they had seven allies of Elicoor II with them. Maria raised an eyebrow after hearing the doctor. "Jump between dimensions? What is that supposed to mean exactly?"

"And who might you be?" Dr. Eggman asked before looking at the other group. "You've got yourself a whole group of newcomers, it seems... Well, what's your name, young lady?"

"My name is Maria Traydor, leader of Quark, an anti-Federation group that works under its own rules."

"Maria?" Dr. Eggman repeated before looking up to the sky. "Ah, that name sure brings back memories of my deceased cousin..."

"Deceased cousin?"

"It's something you shouldn't bother to look," Dr. Eggman said. "You two only share names, but that's all I'll ever tell to you."

Maria took a step forward. "Okay, thanks for the little info about your family, but I'm still waiting for your answer to the question I asked to you."

"Oh, jump between dimensions..." Dr. Eggman recalled. "I don't see why I shouldn't tell you, Maria." He cleared his throat. "I'm not a person born in this universe because I came from another universe that isn't this one. Those imbeciles you're traveling with aren't also from this universe as well."

This extremely simple explanation made the 4 Smashers, Tails, and Chip, facepalm with a frown. They surely thought the same word.

BUSTED.

"...What?" Fayt asked before looking at the Smashers. "So it's true you're not from a known part of the galaxy?"

"Ooh, that's pretty shocking," Cliff said. "You guys didn't look like you lived in any of the planets I know, either. I could have believed the kid (Chris: Teen, dammit!) but since he's traveling with you..."

Peppita looked at Fox. "...You're not from this universe, Fox?"

"Well..." Fox looked down and clenched his fists. "Dammit..." he muttered.

Dr. Eggman grinned. "They didn't tell you? Oh, that's something they wouldn't reveal without much freedom. After all, all of us don't belong in any part of this universe."

"You idiot..." Chris muttered.

The scientist looked at the leader of Quark. "Was that what you wanted to hear? I'm glad I was able to reveal to you their origins. Now, I'll see what you'll do to them for lying."

Maria stared blankly at him.

"...So?"

"...Just as I expected," Maria said, not particularly showing any hints of surprise as most of her group did show. She looked amused at Dr. Eggman with a small smile. "I knew for sure they didn't even come from any part of the universe since I studied everything there is to know about the Pangalactic Federation."

"..." Dr. Eggman stared at her.

Maria shook her head. "And...I don't want to punish them," she stated. "I'd have punished them if they kept lying to me, but you were so kind enough to tell me what they were all hiding from us. Truthfully, I'd have to thank you for saving further interrogations I was planning to do to them."

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "What do you know, we don't need to lie anymore to them."

"W-Wolf!" Chris looked at him. "W-why are you saying that now?"

"Face it, kid," Wolf said bored. "No matter how much we try to hide it, the people are bound to know about what we really do. I don't see why we should keep lying any longer since it doesn't necessarily cause any kind of problem to whoever wants to know."

"B-but..."

"Don't you feel relieved for explaining yourself?" Wolf asked. "Personally, I like to be completely honest so I don't have any trash pestering me."

"Hey, who are you calling trash?" Cliff asked.

"Step back, Cliff," Nel said amused. "He's just being honest because he's annoyed."

"But still, he insulted us."

"So? I don't see the reason of being dishonest. If he wants to speak his mind, then let him do it." Nel looked at Wolf. "However, I know people can change their attitudes towards others. Even the most rotten individual can change overtime."

"Tsk, now you're starting to say foolish things..." Wolf muttered as he looked away.

Nel chuckled amused. "You'll see."

Everyone looked back at Dr. Eggman and Maria.

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Oh well, it's not like I waited for you to beat up each other down."

"That was your plan, dork..." Sonic said bored.

"...Maybe?" Dr. Eggman asked.

Maria sighed and quickly took out her phase gun that she aimed directly at the scientist's head. "Now with that away, I wouldn't mind if you start to surrender," Maria said.

"What is the meaning of this sudden display of actions?" Dr. Eggman asked.

Maria chuckled. "I know that they're not bad guys after they argued to me about their false intentions, that's for sure," she admitted. "They would have done something before but they didn't. I'm glad to say they're relievable to us. After I met you because of the hedgehog, I instantly knew you were going to pull out a trick to make us question them. Too bad you didn't expect that your card didn't play as you expected it to do since it backfired at you."

Dr. Eggman grunted a bit. "Wow, aren't you the most clever lady?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you," Maria said as her right finger slowly reached for the trigger. "Now, as I've said before, surrender."

"Why would I surrender now?" Dr. Eggman asked. "I'm just an innocent doctor looking for the Spagonia Temple located somewhere in this planet."

"Wait, what?" Tails asked. "You're looking for the Spagonia Temple as well?"

"Why would I come all the way here?"

Sonic raised a finger. "You'd come all the way here to try and kill us off since you don't have anything better to do?" he asked.

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "That's a small freebie of my plans," he admitted. "But truthfully, I'm here to locate the temple and keep you away from it."

"Why are you so interested in the temple, Mr. Eggman?" Chip asked curiously.

The scientist looked at the imp. "...Who might you be?" he asked confused.

Chip chuckled and began to punch the air a few times. "My name is Chip Baron McChip, adventurous imp!"

"...Chip Baron McChip...right..." Dr. Eggman waved a hand. "I don't have time for little guys like you, honestly."

"H-hey, I can be pretty dangerous..." Chip trailed off.

"You're only dangerous to the flies, everything else clearly outmatches you in any field," Dr. Eggman said. "Back on topic..."

Tails rubbed his chin. "If you're looking for the Spagonia Temple...then...that must mean you know about Dark Gaia..."

"Dark...what again?" Nel asked confused.

"...Wait, that's the most logical thing!" Tails said before glaring at him. "Dr. Eggman, you're here to find the Spagonia Temple because you know about Dark Gaia! There's no other reason behind your motives!"

"...Bingo and bull's eye," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "That's right, Tails, I'm here to find that temple in order to prevent anyone from keeping Dark Gaia inside the planet, anyone being people like the bunch of you."

Sonic pointed at him. "Are you the one who's behind the continents floating apart from each other?"

"Duh," Dr. Eggman said. "What, didn't I tell you?"

"You cheap bastard!" Sonic yelled. "You told us many times before it wasn't you who did all that chaos!"

Chris looked bored. "Actually, I probably was the only one who knew he was behind pretty much EVERYTHING that happens in your world..."

"Your world?" Roger asked.

"Face it," Chris said with a sigh. "If something very catastrophic happens in your world, it's always going to be Dr. Eggman no matter what it is. There's not another person out there who would do such a thing. You two...basically won't learn that..."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. "Weeeeeeeeeell, now that you put it that way..." both trailed off.

"But enough of this small chit-chat," Dr. Eggman said as he snapped his fingers, calling instantly a strong wind from the west that made everyone back away as a big green and white floating robot with roller blades on its hands came from above. The robot only had a main body with arms and its hands equipped with spinning blades. "It's time for me to use the Interceptor on all of you!"

"Stop right there!" Maria yelled as pulled the trigger, unfortunately missing to hit the scientist since he backed away behind the robot before them. "Dammit..." she muttered as everyone looked at the robot.

It was not long before Dr. Eggman called his transporter with another snap of his fingers. The scientist jumped into it where he sat and floated besides the Interceptor. "Well, Sonic, other bunch of people I barely know, it's time for you to take a hike and go away from here because my robot isn't going to be taken down easily!"

Everyone prepared to fight the robot. "I can infer he's evil, right?" Maria asked as she glanced up at the Interceptor.

"Oh, you don't know how much he tries to be evil," Sonic said.

"Oh, okay," Maria said before aiming her phase gun at the floating robot.

Dr. Eggman laughed before grinning evilly at them. "Your pathetic weapons won't scratch the Interceptor that easily, imbeciles! I've designed this robot for the sole purpose of eliminating you once and for all. You don't have many odds to defeat this ultimate creation of my technology! Just try destroying it by yoursel-"

"Aiming Device!" Maria suddenly interrupted.

Everyone watched as the long hard blue shot passed right through the Interceptor, making a big hole in its metal chest before letting out sparks. The robot began to twitch constantly as it slowly turned around, floated away some feet, crashed down upon the ground, and exploded into bits of metal.

Dr. Eggman stared at the spot where his new robot exploded by a single shot from the leader of Quark. The scientist just kept staring at the empty air as the others did the same, except without looking surprised. They didn't hear the small sniffing sound that Dr. Eggman made.

"...Ouch," Cliff commented with a chuckle as Maria kept her phase gun in her holster. "That ended way too fast than I expected."

"...Dude," Roger began, "Maria just proved you how wrong you were..."

"So..." Fox trailed off. "...I can guess you took it down because of your weapon?"

Maria nodded without looking at him. "That robot wasn't well-constructed enough to withstand our weapons," she explained before crossing her arms, looking amused at the doctor. "Also, you're just wasting your time in making such a ridiculous-looking robot to take us out."

"..." Dr. Eggman turned to them before starting to grunt loudly. "...Okay, I'm honest when I have to admit you're stupidly strong to take down one of my most ultimate creations!"

"Heh," Sonic chuckled before grinning, "got another robot we can destroy?"

"E-er..." Dr. Eggman looked around. "W-well, y-yes, I have another one ready to take you down..."

"Well," Nel began as she crossed her arms, "where is that robot?"

Dr. Eggman raised a finger. "Well, my dear, that robot is right over..." He looked around before he quickly flew away from them to the west, making most of them gasp. "Hohohohohohohohoho! See you all later, idiots! Hohohohohohohohoho!"

Maria got a little fed up by this action that she began to shoot to his direction. However, by the time she shot, Dr. Eggman had already gotten away from them.

"What a dirty trick," Roger commented. "He was just trying to make his escape!"

"Does it matter now?" Tails asked. "He's always getting away like this..."

Wolf rolled his eye. "I can't understand why you didn't do anything to seize him before he could escape away like that."

"Well, we like to hear motives and reasons before doing something reckless. We have to stay alarmed for anything."

"You call that stay alarmed?" Chris asked. "You didn't do anything..."

Tails shifted his eyes around. "W-well..."

"Seriously," the dragoon began with a sigh. "This is why you always will face him all the time..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this conversation, but you didn't do anything to stop him if you knew he was going to do it," Sonic pointed out annoyed.

"...I..." Chris blushed embarrassed.

"Shouldn't you do something as well?" Sonic asked with a grin.

"If I recall, you didn't do anything," Fayt pointed out.

"..." Sonic remained silent.

"And you didn't do anything as well either, Fayt," Nel pointed out.

"I-I just met him, how else was I going to know him?" Fayt asked.

Cliff chuckled. "Well, Ms. Elicoor here didn't do a thing t-"

"Are we going to keep on saying that EVERYONE here didn't do a thing?" Nel asked annoyed. "Because it's getting stale if you ask me."

Chip looked down and wanted to point it out to Sophia next.

"Well, sorry..." Cliff muttered as he looked at Nel. "Scar-ee..." he added.

Tails looked worried as he stared at the direction where Dr. Eggman escaped. "Still, we didn't get much information about how Dr. Eggman got here in the first place... He said he was looking for the Spagonia Temple but that's it..."

Sonic grumbled a bit as he frowned. "That Eggman surely is planning another one of his every day schemes."

"That's obvious," Tails said. "I wonder how he got here since he said he wouldn't possibly come here through his inventions. He must have had someone to take him here...but who would that be?"

Fox thought for a moment. "If he came here, wouldn't Tabuu be the person he was talking about?"

The Smashers looked at each other.

"...Of course," Chris said. "There wouldn't be any other person who could take people through worlds like that...he must have been the one who brought Dr. Eggman here…"

"So Dr. Eggman is in league with Tabuu…" Tails muttered. "…Aren't we thinking about conclusions too soon, though?"

"Yes, but it should have been Tabuu," Fox said.

Fayt coughed. "Um, sorry for interrupting, but what are you all talking about?"

"Yeah…" Peppita said confused. "You guys…aren't from this universe?"

"What's this all about the Tabuu guy?" Cliff asked, "And what about the egg guy?"

Maria looked at the Smashers. "Well, it seems your lies won't work for much longer for us."

Fox looked at her. "You weren't even thinking we were telling the truth?"

"Of course not," Maria said. "There are no proofs that there are people that look like most of you in any part of the universe. I find your group's members a very odd team because of how different each one looks like."

"I guess you could say that…" Fox muttered.

Sophia looked confused at the group. "I-I don't understand anything about their true reasons, though. It's too much confusing for me to find an answer by myself…"

Maria shook her head. "Don't worry, Sophia, they're going to explain their reasons and origins once we get everyone back with us. I don't want to hear repetitions twice." She looked at the Smashers. "Do we have a deal with that?"

"Yeah, whatever," Wolf said. "I'd rather say all the details than say lies."

"(But the video game fact is out of the question,)" Chris thought. "(That'd be far longer to explain…actually, I think I'm forgetting a big revelation in this world now that I think about it…)"

"Then we're all good," Fayt said before sighing. "Finally, I was worried Maria would do something harsh to you guys."

Maria looked at him. "Hey, I wasn't going to use violence against them."

Tails smiled a bit in relief. "Well, we can tell you everything if you promise to help us out that is…"

"It'll depend," Nel said a little bit skeptical. "You just came out of nowhere and asked us for our help. I'd say we should judge your problems if they concern us in some way or another."

"Trust me," Fox said seriouslu, "this concerns a lot of people."

"We'll see," Nel said. "For now, let's do whatever you want to do with the temple you're really looking for." She crossed her arms. "I can assure you there isn't such temple in any part of neither the Kingdom of Aquios nor the Kingdom of Airyglyph."

"Why are you guys looking for a temple?" Roger asked.

"I guess that would be one of the most important questions to ask them…" Maria thought before looking around. "Actually…we should go back to Peterny for the time being."

"What?" Chris asked. "B-but I thought we were looking for the Aquatic Garden around here…"

"Sorry for doing this sudden action, but I really want to know more about all of you," Maria explained. "Also, we should wait for everyone else to regroup so we all know what's happening with you."

Cliff nodded and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I agree with Maria right there."

"I wouldn't mind hearing explanations," Nel admitted. "As long as they're grave to my world, I'll do what I can do to help."

"Hmm-hm," Roger said with some nods. "That sounds pretty good to me."

"Well…" Sophia looked worried. "That plan doesn't sound too bad either… Okay, I agree."

"I'm a little bit curious…" Peppita said as she played with her fingers. "(Maybe I can know more about Fox this way?)"

"…" Fayt sighed. "Okay, fine, I agree with everybody here…"

Sonic rolled his eyes and grinned. "You guys go on ahead. I'll look around the area and see if I can find that tem-"

"You're coming with us and that's that," Chris interrupted suddenly.

Sonic looked at him. "Hey, what's the big deal with that?"

"Did you forget about the promise you told me?" Chris asked. "You said you weren't going to run off again. What if we get in trouble…or you get in trouble for going away? Do you really want to cause more trouble because of your actions?"

"I…" Sonic stared at Chris before he frowned. "…No, I don't want to do that…"

Sophia looked confused at this but decided to stay on topic. "So…are we gonna head back to Peterny and stop our progress for now?"

"That's the idea," Maria said. "I'm sure everyone would understand each other better if we hear the full story of their mission that for some reason involves all of us as well. We can resume our little expedition for a little bit of time. After all, I don't want to let this bother me any longer."

Wolf turned around and began to walk back. "I'll go on ahead and head to the town. I don't want to deal with more of those Executioners, Proclaimers, or whatever the heck they are supposed to be…"

"I have to agree with you there…" Chip said before shuddering. "Their voices freak me out…"

The Smashers and Fayt's group decided to go back to Peterny to explain the situation to everyone else that didn't know about the Subspace Army. They were already expecting "Ms. Maria" to "crave" every single detail possible from them.

Peterny
Central Square

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lively Step

Once the big group walked to the center of the square of the town from the north, they recognized the other group of Smashers and Mirage sitting around a big table in an outdoor restaurant, Mirage sitting in front of the four. The group itself was separated from the other costumers that ate peacefully on the other tables, not minding the group at all. Upon looking at them, Roger ran to them and stopped to look up at Mirage. "Hey, why're you here, Mirage? Weren't you guys in the south field of Peterny?"

Mirage looked down at Roger. "Oh, it's you, Roger," she said calmly as everyone else rejoined. "Looks like you came earlier as well."

Maria blinked at the other 4 Smashers. "Why'd you come back here?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Mirage said. "I just happened to find out what they were all hiding as you suspected, Maria."

Chris looked at the others. "Wait, what?"

Samus frowned. "I'm telling you the truth when I said this could've been adverted if C. Falcon wouldn't have opened his big mouth."

C. Falcon looked at her. "Hey, I already said I was sorry!"

Pit rolled his eyes. "Seriously, why did you decide to go on and say aloud 'Bring those Subspace Army guys to me. C'mon! I'll show them not to mess up with us anymore!' then?!"

"..." Chris looked bored at the racer. "...I hate to say this, but I can totally picture you saying such a thing... However, I have to something to ask you... Why the hell did you that for?!"

"I-I was just excited to some action, that's all!" C. Falcon defended himself. "But I guess I went too far with that..."

Mirage chuckled. "When I asked them about the army, he cordially told me everything they knew about it."

"THAT was another reason..." Roy muttered. "C. Falcon became infatuated by her so easily..."

Fox frowned and looked at the racer. "Your big mouth almost cost us the whole thing...but it's not like we're going to keep it as a secret anymore."

"Oh, why's that?" Samus asked. "Don't tell me you did something similar EXCEPT less stupid."

"We kind of did..." Sonic frowned. "We didn't do it...but Eggman did..."

The five looked at each other. "Eggman?" Roy repeated. "Isn't that the guy with the big belly, egg-shaped body?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "We found him to the northeast of the city."

Wolf noticed that the group of five didn't exactly have five people but seven. The extra two were not sitting on chairs, but they were standing up, not saying a single word. "Hey, who are those two over there? They weren't with us before."

Mirage looked at him. "Oh, them? They happened to be coming back from Airyglyph when we were on the fields south of here. I guess you haven't met them yet, right?"

The Smashers looked at the two newcomers.

The first was an old man of 58 years that stood 6'2". Despite the man's old age, he looked a little bit younger due to the fact he was muscular. The man wore a long red kilt (with a sword's sheathe hanging on the right side of his belt) with Japanese shoes. The old man had grey hair, grey beard, and a grey mustache. He also had many red runes all over his back and arms.

The man examined the group with his pale red eyes. Once looking at them for a while, the old man chuckled and crossed his arms. "Well, well, don't we have even more people to meet here? Hahahahahahahaha!" he laughed loudly.

"...Something about this man doesn't make me feel uncomfortable..." Roy muttered.

Roy was suddenly grabbed by the old man's right arm. The red-haired swordsman yelped a little bit as the old man bent down to look at him. "Hey, why are you muttering things about me, young man?"

"I-I didn't mean to say anything insulting, I swear!" Roy pleaded, confusing the other group of Smashers.

After looking at the man, Fox looked at Fayt. "Who's he?"

"Oh," Nel began as she crossed her arms as Roy was being stared by the old man, "allow me to introduce him to you."

"Why bother?" the old man suddenly asked as he let go of Roy. The old man showed his teeth and bit and chuckled. "I'll do my own introduction here, Nel." He coughed a bit before crossing his arms. "It's a pleasure to meet more youngsters like all of you. My name is Adray Lasbard."

Adray Lasbard is a retired soldier of the Crimson Blade (the special unit where Nel works) that once worked together with Nevelle Zelpher (Nel's deceased father) to support the growth and prosperity of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. Due to his unpredictable nature and somewhat violent actions, many consider Adray a person quick to get bored, which is why nobody ever puts him to do desk work where he can't sit down and stay silent for a minute because he would kick the table away. (It should be said that, because of his attitude, he's been a messenger so he wouldn't participate in important matters like wars and disputes). In battle, Adray is a master of both physical attacks and Symbology.

"So," Adray began as he smiled at the Smashers, "I heard from Mirage that you're the new guys who came here to join us." He rubbed his chin as he looked at Chris. "You, the young teen in the red jacket, can I ask you a question?"

For once, somebody addressed Chris as a teen. The dragoon looked at him. "Yes?"

"Are you..." Adray looked down at Roy for a moment. "...Do you happen to be looking for the girl of your dreams?"

Chris instantly blushed at this sudden question. "W-what? W-why are you asking that?"

Adray grinned. "I'm asking that because my daughter is looking for one. I'm telling you, she's a real beauty to the Kingdom o-"

"Ahem," Nel coughed and frowned at Adray's question. "For the last time, Adray, Clair doesn't want to get married yet."

"Aww, please," Adray said with some disappointment. "You Nel know as well as I do Clair won't try to marry anyone soon unless I go look for the perfect husband."

Wolf grinned at Chris. "I wish you good luck with your family, kid."

"V-very funny!" Chris yelled sarcastically.

Nel shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "Sorry, Adray, but you need to understand that. Besides, Clair herself gets annoyed by you asking to others to marry her. Haven't you learned your lesson nor do you want her to scold you again?"

"Pardon me to ask, but who's this Clair person?" Roy asked before Adray, yet again, pulled him close with his right arm. "Uagh!"

Adray pointed a finger at Roy's nose. "This person turns out to be my beloved daughter, young man," he said seriously. "Do you want me to ask you to marry her?"

"P-please, reconsider what you're asking, sir!" Roy yelled.

"Adray, stop," Nel said annoyed. "Nobody here wants to marry Clair."

Adray looked at her, not noticing he was putting a rather strong grip on Roy's throat. "Not even the young man in the red jacket?"

Chris shook his head several times. "I-I'm telling you I don't want to marry someone yet! I-I'm way too young to do that!"

Adray, pushing Roy down by accident, stood up and raised an eyebrow. "Age doesn't matter around here," he stated.

"No, it doesn't matter to you," Nel pointed out. "Seriously, stop it. It's getting annoying."

Adray rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine I won't be asking anymore…" He turned around…but then turned back. "She's still single, though."

"Adray!"

"It was just a joke, geez…" Adray frowned.

"It's always the same old joke every single minute with you…"

The group noticed the second and last person of Fayt's group some feet away from them. Unlike all of them, the black-and-yellow-haired teen of twenty-four years that stood 6'1" feet looked rather evil. The teen was a native of Elicoor as Nel, Adray, and Roger. He wore a purple shirt that only covered his chest and not his waist, a purple kilt that was cut in half by the sides of his legs where a sheathe with a katana was hanging from his right side, purple long heels, and black shoes. It should be noted that his left arm was completely covered in a steel gauntlet with a sharp claw. By the look of his eyes, he looked at anything without interest since they looked bored.

Chip blinked a few times at the last person. "Who's that guy?"

Nel stared at the teen. "Oh, he's Albel Nox, better known as Albel the Wicked of the Kingdom of Airyglyph."

Albel Nox is the captain of the Black Brigade, one of the three military forces of the Kingdom of Airyglyph. His nickname is Albel the Wicked due to his cruelty in battles. During the war between Airyglyph and Aquaria, Fayt and company met the captain several times before the kingdoms decided to join forces against the Executioners, the king of Airyglyph forcing Albel to help Fayt. Albel is an excellent combatant specializing in the katana, a special kind of sword. It should be said that Albel isn't very kind to anyone he meets because of the fact he mostly addresses people as…

"Maggots…" Albel said as he slowly walked to them. "I had enough with our current group, but now we have to look out after these other maggots…"

"Who are you calling a maggot?" Wolf asked with a glare. "The only new maggot I see here is you."

Albel looked at Wolf. "How ironic you say that. You're the only one of your whole group that deserves to be even more of a maggot."

"Heh," Wolf chuckled at him before glaring. "What a funny joke. Just look at how I'm laughing here."

Albel narrowed his eyes even more. "Don't try to mock me anymore, I'm warning you."

"Tsk, same here," Wolf said with a grin. "If you look so tough, why don't we settle this little misunderstanding thro-"

"Okay, okay, you both can stop now," Nel interrupted as both glared at her. "This is supposed to be a pacific city. We're not meant to start a fight here just because of a small argument that's not relevant to us."

"Oh, right, after all, we're in Aquaria territory," Albel said.

"That's not it and you know it," Nel said before looking at Wolf. "Please, don't mind him if he insults you."

"Too bad," Wolf said as he crossed his arms, glaring at the captain. "Once someone ticks me off, it won't be easy for me to forget the treatment."

"Same here," Albel admitted.

Fayt shifted his eyes around before he raised a finger to talk. "W-"

"I think everyone's here," Maria interrupted Fayt. "Well, we want to hear your real story without concealing the truth this time," she said to the Smashers. "It's very obvious you're not from this universe, and it's also obvious that you're doing something even more different than what you explained before."

Samus stood up from her chair. "I want to do all the explanation here."

"Very well," Maria said. "Please, go on ahead and tell everyone here. I don't think the citizens of this place will mind us."

"Okay," Samus said as she looked at the whole group. "In truth..."

Three hours later...

"...And our job is to prevent Tabuu from ultimately taking every single realm, world, or universe before he achieves his desires," Samus explained. "...That's pretty much it..."

The group of Elicoor kept blinking at her after listening about everything the Smashers did in the past. However, Samus didn't mention the fact that everyone but Chris was a video game character; that was the only truth they wouldn't dare to say to anyone.

"..." Maria rubbed her chin. "Wow...I'm actually quite...amused by that..."

Fayt thought for a moment. "So you guys mean to say you travel around different universes to stop this Subspace Army from conquering all the worlds? I didn't think you'd be in such a mission."

"Yes..." Pit said. "It's actually a hard work we always do every day..."

Roger whistled a bit. "Stupidly unbelievable...yet so cool and awesome." He grinned a bit. "You guys are probably something to be doing that. Wait, no, not something, but really amazing."

"Ouch," Cliff commented. "You have a lot of weight on your backs, huh?"

"You wouldn't believe all the events we went through..." Chris said. "It's always fighting everywhere we go, but there's not other way to resolve matters."

Sophia thought for a moment. "Was that Dr. Eggman person one of the Subspace Army members?"

"It's the most logical answer we have for now," Roy said. "You said you met him, right? Tabuu comes to mind when you want to find out a way how he got here in the first place."

"Tsk," Albel began with a frown. "It doesn't matter to me where the heck you came from. It matters to me if I get to have something to get out of boredom since the war between the 2 kingdoms stopped. I wouldn't mind killing some maggots to death."

"Always in favor of violence, huh?" Nel said amused. "You really live up for your nickname, Albel the Wicked."

Albel looked away. "Whatever..."

Peppita giggled. "I knew you guys were hiding something so awesome to tell us. I'm so impressed that you do that very often. You meet a lot of new people, you fight against different enemies, you ensure peace, it's all so cool!" she said. "And to think we're helping such people to save our own universe makes me feel like I'm part of a big team!"

"It's fun," Chip said. "I've been traveling very much around."

"If I recall, you only traveled to two worlds," Sonic pointed out.

Chip greeted his teeth and approached Sonic's right ear. "Quite, Sonic, I'm trying to look good here..."

Sonic chuckled. "Good luck..." he said sarcastically.

"Thanks," Chip whispered. "It's good to know you're always there to support me, Sonic."

Sonic looked disappointed at the imp. He knew Chip wasn't even using sarcasm for the smallest bit. "(Geez, he can't tell who's being sarcastic...)"

"Bwahahahahaha!" Adray's loud laughs made most of them look at him quickly. "Now I see what you do! Seriously, you don't really want to know my daughter and see if you want to marry her?"

"For the last time, Adray..." Nel trailed off.

"Heheheheheh, that was just a joke, though..." Adray said.

Nel narrowed her eyes at him. "How can I possibly tell you were joking? You're always saying it too seriously whenever you talk about it."

Adray shifted his eyes around as everyone stared bored at him. "...Youngsters these days don't know when an old man jokes..."

"...Why are we listening to him, anyway?" Roger asked confused.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing since the start of this," Albel said.

Nobody decided to talk as the chatters of the people of Peterny prevented silence.

"...Sooooooooo..." Cliff shifted his eyes. "...You told us your reasons and we understand them..."

Tails scratched his head. "Y-yeah, but...I thought you had already planned something else to say..."

Maria rubbed her chin. "Since there's nothing else to talk about, why don't we return to what we were doing? You wanted to find that Spagonia Temple somewhere in this planet, right? Also, since we're all here, it would make the search even easier to do if we divide in even smaller groups. We're twenty people."

Fayt thought for a moment. "Well, I want to go to the workshop and make more items and refine some of our weapons."

"I wouldn't mind going there as well," Cliff said. "I'm a little bit tired after walking around the whole kingdom with Nel."

"I want to go to the workshop too," Mirage said as she stood up, C. Falcon hiding a pleased gasp.

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View

Back on the fields of Irisa, the whole group discussed what to do next now that they were all back on track. Maria had suggested that they should return to the Irisa Fields and resume their search for the Spagonia Temple. However, the biggest difference was that only Maria, Sophia, Peppita, Chris, Fox, Wolf, Sonic, and Chip went to the fields.

In Peterny, Fayt, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, C. Falcon, and Samus decided to stay at the workshop for more Item Creation business.

Adray himself wanted to make an expedition with Roy, Pit, Roger, and Tails to the south since they were all the only ones left to choose. Something about Nel made her think that it wouldn't be such a good idea to send most young boys with him. After all, Adray could take advantage of the situation and bring them all to meet Clair.

Not to mention that Clair herself was to the south...

Well, Roy knew what to respond. Too bad Adray would probably beat him up if he dared say no to anything the old man would ask him.

Back with the group that went back to the spot they were, Sonic shuddered once looking at Maria's group. "Ugh, we're being escorted by girls... This is seriously not making me feel so good..."

"What was that?" Maria asked as they stopped walking. "Are you being a little bit sexist to us?"

"P-please, don't mind what he said..." Chris said. "Sonic sometimes doesn't know when he goes far."

"Hey, that's not true!" Sonic argued.

"Quiet, hedgehog," Wolf said annoyed before crossing his arms. "If you forgot, we're trying to find some ruins around these parts."

"I have to agree," Fox said as he looked around the arches of trees. "Where are those ruins?"

As Maria recalled the locations of the ruins, an excited Peppita was whispering things with Sophia some feet away from them all. Apparently, the Velbaysian wanted to work harder to get Fox's attention. Now that she had Sophia, things were surely going to work out.

That was what Peppita thought, though.

"So, got any ideas to help me out?" Peppita whispered to Sophia.

The young teen didn't know what to say to the cheerful Velbaysian. Sophia knew well that Peppita wanted to achieve her goal at all costs. It was sad to thing about Sophia telling Peppita that Fox would surely not think the same as the girl thought.

"Well..." Sophia looked worried at this. "Peppita...are you really sure you want to go with this?"

Peppita looked a bit serious. "Sophia, I know I'm doing the right thing here," she said. "I never felt so crazy in love with a guy before so I want to enjoy as soon as a I can."

"But seriously..." Sophia muttered.

"...Seriously what?" Peppita asked, hinting some preoccupation in her eyes. "What are you trying to say, Sophia?"

"I-I..." Sophia stammered a bit as she looked at Peppita's eyes. Her eyes were shaking so slow enough to produce very small tears that glittered a bit. Sophia didn't have enough courage to tell Peppita about what she thought about the idea that sounded farfetched to her. "...I-I'm thinking my best to help you...but I just can't find any good idea..."

"..." Peppita stared at her. "...What? You don't know how to help me?" She folded her arms and looked down. "I thought you were good at this kind of situations, Sophia...Mirage told me so."

Inside Sophia's mind, she hid some annoyance of what she really thought about what Peppita just told her. "(Mirage was asked first and she decided to give Peppita to me...)" Sophia could have sworn a small sniff came from the Velbaysian. "L-let me think more, okay? I-I'm sure I can come up with a plan!"

Peppita looked up at her. "...I'm starting to feel depression, Sophia..." She looked down at the ground. "I just wanna have him notice me more...and probably make him...make him..."

Sophia gasped a bit as she saw Peppita sniffing a bit. "I-I have an idea!" she suddenly said, making Peppita quickly look up at her. "Y-yes, I have the perfect idea to help you out, Peppita!"

Cheerfulness quickly affected Peppita as she smiled happily. "Y-you do? W-what is it? W-what do I need to do?"

"Y-you..." Sophia's lips twitched a bit. She didn't have the slightest idea about an idea (pun intended). "...Y-you have to..."

Peppita blinked in excitement. This action only made Sophia more nervous. Now that Peppita was at her highest point of happiness, telling her she didn't have an idea would surely push Peppita all the way down to depression.

"...I have to..." Peppita trailed off.

Sophia looked back and forth between Peppita and Fox's back. The teenager felt even more pressure that sweat began to go down between her eyes.

"...Y-you have to..." Sophia suddenly got an idea. "Ah, you have to...you have to..." Her mind suddenly went blank for her dismay. Now, anything would be nice to use for Peppita to not feel discouraged or herself. "...Hug him..."

"..." Peppita blinked a few times. "...Is that going to work?"

"(Stupid, stupid, stupid idea!)" Sophia thought several times. "E-er..."

Peppita chuckled. "That's way too easy to do!" she said happily. "Now I see what you meant with that, Sophia!"

The teenager looked extremely confused at her.

"If I hug him, chances are that he will hug me back!" Peppita said, making Sophia gasp mentally as she looked bewildered by Peppita's thinking. "Okay, I'm gonna head over there and do it before something else happens. Wish me luck!" she said cheerfully as she hummed, walked towards Fox, and swung her bangles back and forth on her sides.

Sophia knew this wasn't going to work at all. She just hoped Fox wouldn't get mad at her. If there was something Sophia feared more than seeing Peppita break in tears that would be staring at Fox's face.

Seriously, the guy looked evil with those eyes of his.

"If my memory doesn't fail me..." Maria muttered as she looked to a bunch of branches with some ruined monuments around the wood, "the entrance to the ruins would be behind those branches and trees. See those monuments? It should be behind the branches."

Fox grinned a bit. "Well, shall we go and see what's inside?"

Chip looked at him. "Oh, right, you should take care of the two of you now."

Fox looked confused at him. "I...beg your pardon?"

Chip pointed at him. "You surely are very close to each other."

Wolf looked at Fox and chuckled amused. "What do you know, Fox has a new girlfriend."

Chris turned to Fox. "U-um...is that true?"

Sonic hid some chuckles. "W-wow, I didn't think you were like that..."

Maria looked at Fox. "W-what the..."

Fox looked confused at all of them before he noticed some tanned hands hugging his chest from behind. The vulpine quickly looked over his left shoulder to find a happy Peppita hugging him from behind. The Velbaysian looked very happy, but Fox grew uncomfortable as everyone looked at him. "Peppita?"

"...Yeah?" Peppita asked as she looked up at him. "What's the matter?"

"Er..." Fox shifted his eyes. "...Why are you...hugging me?"

Peppita stared at him surprised. "So...you're not going to hug me back?"

At this question, Wolf, Chris, and Sonic began to chuckle silently, receiving glares from the vulpine before Fox looked back at Peppita. "Why do I need to hug you back after you hugged me out of the blue?"

Peppita blushed a bit, not even thinking about stopping the hug. "Shouldn't you do the same?"

Wolf, Chris, and Sonic chuckled even more, annoying Fox even more as Chip merely stared at this curiously.

"I...don't plan to..." Fox admitted.

Some glass breaking inside Peppita's mind made her look blankly at Fox. She shifted her eyes a bit before looking at Fox's back. Peppita remained immobile before she slowly pulled her hands back to take a few steps back from the vulpine where she folded her arms and looked down. "...Okay..." she muttered before walking back to a sighing Sophia.

Wolf snickered a bit. "So, when's the wedding going to be? I'll gladly attend the event. Maybe I can be your best man, Fox."

Fox glared at him, ignoring that Sonic began to laugh loudly as he began to pound the ground with his right fist. "Very funny, Wolf," Fox commented before walking to the west. "Can we just go see the ruins?"

The vulpine didn't hear Maria hiding a small chuckle. For once, she thought the moment was random, yet it looked funny to see. "O-okay, everyone, let's go."

Chip looked confused. "(Weird, I thought they were a couple. They looked cute together if you ask me.)"

As a chuckling Chris helped Sonic to get up from the grass, Sophia looked at the depressed Peppita. "U-um..." Sophia tried to say something to her.

However, she was taken surprised as Peppita chuckle a bit to herself, looking up to Sophia with a happy expression. "That was very effective, Sophia!"

"...What?" Sophia asked in disbelief.

"When I hugged him tightly, I managed to find out that Fox has pecks!" Peppita said pleased. "And above that, they were hard!"

"...(W-WHAT?!)" What did Sophia just make Peppita do? This wasn't surely even going to be thought about as far as Sophia knew. Peppita completely misunderstood every single accidental step Sophia told her to do. "(W-why did she do that?!)" Sophia asked in pure disbelief. "(W-why would a 14-year-old girl go that far to get someone to love her?! W-what was she taught, anyway?!)"

"I see you're thinking you're surprised of me," Peppita said with a giggle before blushing. "I didn't know you were this good at thinking very good ideas, Sophia!"

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b..." Sophia's lips twitched in pure horror.

"Please, don't say anything," Peppita said. "I'm sure I'm gonna get to his heart very soon if I keep listening to you, Sophia." She smiled happily. "Thank you so much for helping out, Sophia!"

"(S-she's out of control... H-How am I going to get out of this one now?!)" Sophia thought in a little bit of a panic.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" Chip called from the branches. "You guys need to come down and see this HUGE place! It's...huge!" he said before he disappeared from sight after going back behind the branches.

"Coming!" Peppita yelled cheerfully, leaving an astonished Sophia before she came back to her senses and ran to Peppita.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - More Complicated

"..." Wolf crossed his arms and looked around. "...And this is supposed to be underneath the fields?"

"I..." Chris shook his head. "...I can't believe this place is actually..."

The Smashers found themselves standing on a large platform that was stuck to the ceiling of gigantic ruins that stood an insane height of about 500 feet down below their location. They each noticed that the ruins down below were gigantic enough to make 3 utopias. They looked at the platform they were on, and it didn't even match what was underneath it. In fact, the platform looked like it could fall at any moment, but it was very secured from falling off down to the insane height due to the pillars that were going straight up the misty ceiling along the staircases and floors.

The platform they were on had a long staircase that went down to the left before it spread into more staircases. The staircases themselves, however, didn't go far down. They all went down for about 7 feet each.

Fox looked back at the exit where he could see the light of day. He then looked back at the enormous ruins. "This place is just unbelievable..." he muttered.

"Amazing, isn't?" Maria asked. "I wonder how this big empty space was known as a kingdom."

Chip flew around their area, looking amazed at the ruins down below. "...Hey, if this place is so big..." he trailed off before he began to yell. "GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"YODELEIHIHOOOOOOO!"

The imp's surprised expression suddenly turned into a shocked one after the echo suddenly changed words out of nowhere. Chip knew he didn't yell the last word, and he pointed around confused to make the others know about what he found out. For his dismay, everyone ignored that.

"My goodness..." Sophia said in awe as she looked down. "..." She felt a little bit sick. "I-I don't want to fall off from this place..."

"Somebody got an awful lot of time in his hands..." Wolf joked sarcastically. "I'd die of boredom if I helped to build a place like this."

Chris looked worried. "D-don't tell me the Spagonia Temple could be down below..."

Maria shook her head. "Even if it was there, it would be insane to jump down. We'd surely die if we did that without thinking."

"Nah, I don't think it's down there," Sonic said as he stared down at the ruins. "It if was there, I could examine the whole place in 5 minutes best."

"Oh no, we're not sending you down there," Chris said. "What if you couldn't jump back here? I doubt you can jump that high..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that," Sonic said, Chip wanting to get his attention.

Maria looked forward where she saw the other floors with some monsters floating about. "There are the monsters that roam this place," she said as she pointed forward. "They're weaker than the Executioners, though. As long as we don't disturb them too much, they won't attack us."

"Sounds good to me," Wolf said as he put a hand on his right pocket. "I don't want to deal with those abnormalities myself."

"Neither do I," Fox said.

"Or me," Peppita said. "My bangles could break 'em down."

Maria thought for a moment as she looked at the long staircases that connected flat platforms where monsters roamed about. She didn't see anything out of place like the temple the Smashers were looking for. However, something didn't make her feel right as she thought hard about the situation. "We're not sure if the temple is here...we should prepare ourselves to investigate this place again."

"Wait," Fox suddenly said.

"Huh? What is it?" Maria asked. "Did you get an idea about how to find the temple?"

Fox shook his head. "No, it's not that... You see, there was something that was bothering me..."

"What would that be?" Sophia asked.

"Well...it's about the Symbology you use to attack," Fox said. "I grew a little bit curious about it once you spoke about that tome that you had that can teach anyone Symbology."

Peppita took out a tome with a red cover. "You mean this?"

"Is that the tome?"

Peppita nodded. "Yeah, this is the Decrepit Tome. It allows anyone to use basic support symbols. Sophia, you know the ones?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, they're Healing, Antidote, and Silence."

Maria looked at the tome before looking at Fox. "Wait, you're not thinking about learning how to use that, right?"

"I...was wondering if I could..." Fox admitted. "But I know you're going to object to that..."

Peppita suddenly got an idea in mind. "(Fox wants to learn Symbology? Well, if he wants to learn it so badly...I could use this advantage to make him like me even more!)" she thought in excitement. "Hey, Fox, take it."

Maria looked at Peppita. "What are you doing, Peppita?"

"U-um, I'm just helping him learn Symbology..." Peppita said as she blushed a little. "W-what's wrong with that?"

"Well, it's our only Decrepit Tome we have left with us," Maria pointed out. "And giving it to Fox wouldn't be such a good idea..."

"But we're fine with the healers we have," Peppita said. "Having Sophia, Adray, and Nel as healers is good enough, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Maria said before sighing. "Fine, give it to him. If we get in trouble in the future, it's going to be your full responsibility, okay?"

Peppita nodded. "Don't worry, everything's fine," she said as she gave the tome to Fox. "You just need to read the middle page of the book and you'll instantly learn the skills."

Fox stared at the tome. "That easy?"

"Yeah, I know it's creepy, but it gets the job done."

The vulpine looked confused at this before he opened the tome to the middle page. His eyes focused in some lines that were written differently apart from the other sentences. Suddenly, his eyes widened after he saw the paragraphs shining brightly before they vanished. Something inside Fox had just woken up as he stared down at the empty pages of the book.

"..." Fox looked at everyone. "...I...know how to use those three spells now..."

"Sweet!" Peppita said as she took the tome back. "Congratulations, you learned Healing, Antidote, and Silence!"

Maria frowned a bit. "I hope this was the right choice to do..."

Fox crossed his arms. "How do I use this Symbology magic?"

"I knew you were going to ask something like that since you came from another universe..." Maria muttered. "It should be an easy thing to do. First, you need to focus your Symbology in your hand, think about the spell you want to use, then release the spell on someone to see if it works." She rubbed her chin. "I don't exactly teach stuff like this, but I'm going to make an exception with you."

Fox looked at his right hand before he pulled it back behind him. He seemed to be staring at Sonic. "Would you mind if I use you as a target?"

Sonic shrugged. "Meh, it's not going to hurt me so go on ahead."

Fox nodded before he closed his eyes, trying to focus his new kind of magic in his right hand.

"Focus hard or else the spell won't work," Sophia instructed. "Trust me, I use Symbology so much than anyone else."

"Right," Fox said as he focused harder.

Wolf looked at this little event. "Heh, this should be interesting to see..."

The vulpine focused harder as everyone stared at him.

Five minutes later...

Maria just couldn't understand the fact that nothing had happened after Fox began to focus five minutes ago. Normally, it'd take a person five seconds to cast Symbology, but it was so unclear that Fox couldn't even call forth the blue sphere on his right hand.

Confused at this, Peppita tilted her head. "What is wrong with you?" she asked confused before Fox stared at her, his hand still behind him. "You should have cast Healing a long time ago by now..."

"But..." Fox trailed off. "I am feeling the surge of Symbology running through me..."

"Really?" Sophia asked. "It looks like it's not manifesting by itself..."

Fox looked back at his hand where it was holding out air above it. Maria walked to Fox and stared closer at his hand. "...I don't feel any traces of Symbology on your hand..."

"I do feel that he has Symbology," Sophia pointed out. "Actually...it's there, but it doesn't want to come out."

"What?" Chris asked. "You mean to say Symbology is alive or something?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, but this is so weird. Symbology shouldn't do this kind of effect on you. I mean, you look like you could use magic very well...but what is keeping you from using Symbology?"

Fox looked down as he still tried to call forth Symbology. "(Wait...isn't this situation similar to the Black Magic?)" he thought.

Maria thought for a moment. "This is a very rare case of an individual not able to use Symbology when he has learned it... I guess this may as well be the first case of people not being able to use Symbology that easily..." She looked at Fox. "Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact you come from another universe?"

"I don't think so," Fox said.

Wolf grunted a bit before he pulled his right hand over his left shoulder spiked pad, his claw glowing yellow. "Let me show you my own magic..." he muttered before he quickly held out his open claw forward. "Thunder!"

A small bolt of lightning crashed down on the floor, creating a black spot on it.

The lupine crossed his arms. "That magic isn't something I could learn in my own world, but I did learn it through other means."

Fox could only feel a bit of anger after seeing that Wolf could easily use Black Magic than himself. Maria merely stared at this, nodding several times as she tried to find an answer.

"Ooooh, this is just so confusing..." Peppita said.

The vulpine only sighed and pulled back his hand, stopping his focus on the magic as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Still, this situation is going to be tested more," Maria said. "I can't seem to find the answer behind this phenomenon that you have, Fox."

"Who cares about it..." Fox muttered in some depression. "I didn't want to learn magic that much, anyway..." He sighed again. "Whatever it is that it's keeping me from learning magic shouldn't be that bothering... If I can't learn magic, then I won't learn it. I like to fight physically than resorting to spells."

Peppita, Sophia, Chip, and Chris looked worried. Wolf and Sonic looked away, and Maria still thought about the reason behind the problem that Fox had.

However, the one that was more worried about Fox was Peppita. She knew very well that it was the right time to cheer him up. Maybe cheering him up would help her as well.

"No, Fox!" Peppita suddenly yelled. "I know you can do this!"

Fox kept staring away into the ruins far down below them.

"You just have to keep trying to do it!" Peppita cheered seriously. "Do you want this to defeat you? I know you're much stronger and devoted than that! Who knows, you could be formidable if you put your mind into it!"

"..." Fox frowned. "Please, don't say anything else to me. It's not like I'm interested anymore."

"B-but..." Peppita looked worried.

"Knock it off already, okay?"

The Velbaysian only looked down at the floor. "...Okay..." she muttered with a frown.

"Hmm..." Maria looked back at the staircases. "Since Fox doesn't want to talk about it anymore, we should start to explore the garden so we can find out about the temple."

"That...would be the best thing to do for now..." Chris commented as he looked at Fox.

"Lead the way..." Sonic said before Chris stared at him. "...Slowly..." he added woth a frown.

"Are we gonna have trouble with the monsters?" Chip asked.

"It shouldn't be that threatening," Maria said. "The enemies here are far weaker than anything outside. We shouldn't try to use much force of them." She started her way down the small staircase. "Okay, let's go."

Everyone else started their way down the staircase, leaving Fox behind close to the exit. The vulpine, even after he told them that he didn't want to learn magic, wanted to find out what was wrong with him. Fox knew well that he intervened with magic a long time ago, but he just couldn't understand the reason behind his problem.

Fox didn't notice that Peppita was still close to him. He didn't care about anyone for the moment, causing the Velbaysian to frown in shame and walk away from him.

However, Fox noticed that Wolf hadn't left yet. The lupine stared at him from the staircase, a look of seriousness in his face.

"..." Fox glared at him. "Go on ahead and laugh at me. You can use magic, but I can't use magic."

"..." Wolf merely glared back at him before he turned around and began to walk down the staircase.

The leader of Star Fox was waiting for a laugh, or even some chuckles, but he didn't expect Wolf to simply stare at him for a small period of time. He knew Wolf was going to mock him, but the leader of Star Wolf didn't do what Fox had in mind. Was Wolf thinking about a way to help him? Of course now, Wolf wasn't that kind to Fox.

There were so many confusing things in Fox's mind that he decided to shrug all of them off. Fox decided to join the others, pondering more about his personal problem.

Music stops

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Chris's Room

The day went on, and nothing much interesting happened. Night came too fast, and everyone had already gathered at the inn to rest for the day.

The party that went to explore the Aquatic Garden, for their dismay, didn't find anything new. They all found out that the Spagonia Temple wasn't inside the ruins. Maria decided to call them back to Peterny once sunset came.

The party that was at the workshop worked hard to create and refine items. From what Chris heard from Samus, C. Falcon didn't work but rather talked with Mirage a lot. This little event only caused Cliff to grow suspicious about the racer before both of them began to talk with each other. The only amusing fact was that both guys had become fast friends. Samus even said they both did arm wrestling, and C. Falcon lost all the bouts due to Cliff's Klausian blood giving him insane strength.

Samus didn't want to say Mirage also played against him, and C. Falcon was knocked down with the first push Mirage gave him. Samus thought she shouldn't say more about it or else Doug's dignity would be destroyed.

As for the expedition group that went to the south...

"H-he's crazy!" Roy commented as he was shown sitting on Chris's bed. "H-He didn't take us to look for the temple, but he rather took us to the town where her daughter lived!"

"Roy, calm down," Chris said as he was shown sitting next to him to the right. "It shouldn't have been that bad with Adray..."

"O-oh, you're telling me!" Roy said as he shook in fear. "W-when we met her daughter; she got angry at Adray for doing what Nel told us about. H-however, when she left, Adray proceeded to go nuts on us and tried to cut our heads off!"

"..." Chris stared at him. "...Go on?"

"I-it was so crazy, I'm telling you..." Roy said. "Adray also tried to cut one of Pit's wings once he got a hand on him. Needless to say, Pit said he was going to have nightmares after he escaped in time, all alone by himself...but thing is, I received the most threatening event thanks to Pit running all the way back here!" he complained. "Adray's look turned so amused before he started to use that Symbology magic on me. I dodged stalagmites, fireballs, lightning blasts, stones falling from the sky, and let's not forget the huge water whale that almost crashed on me!"

"T-then what happened to Roger and Tails? I'm sure Roger should've tried to stop Adray..."

"That kid is evil, Chris," Roy muttered. "The only thing Roger did during the ordeal was crack up and point at us. He rolled around the floor laughing madly while Adray continued his rampage. As for Tails, well, he was cleverer than anyone so he left right after Adray took us to her daughter...I doubt Tails is old enough to marry someone, let alone a human..." He shook his head. "B-but I'm glad I made it back in one piece..."

Chris thought for a moment. "...And did Nel say anything about this?"

"Well, she didn't, but Clair did..." Roy said. "I was so lucky for her to appear right when I was cornered by that maniac she calls her father. They DON'T look alike at all. Clair got all angry and scolded Adray, and I took the opportunity to escape all alone by myself."

"It...must have been a real nightmare..." Chris commented.

Roy sighed. "At least Adray didn't come back...I pray Clair killed him..."

Chris looked oddly at him. "O-okay, I know Adray scares you a lot..."

"T-thanks..." Roy said before standing up. "Now, I'm going to go back to my room with Pit... We're going to lock the door if Adray comes back and tries to kill us off..."

Chris sweat dropped at this. "Okay...good night..."

"Likewise..." Roy muttered with a nod before he walked away, leaving Chris all alone in his room.

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "I wonder..." He looked hesitant. "I-is there a bathroom around here?"

Chris quickly stood up and ran away from his room in a hurry, leaving it all alone by itself with the door wide open.

However, the room's solitary atmosphere was soon finished after 2 figures walked into the room. The two figures were an excited Peppita with a worried Sophia. Apparently, Peppita had a new idea that she thought would work very well. As for Sophia, she was against it but couldn't try to change Peppita's cheerful mood.

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophia asked as Peppita looked underneath Fox's bed. "I-I mean, are you going to hide underneath his bed all the night?"

"Yep, that's the idea," Peppita said before she crouched and slipped underneath the bed. "Maybe I'm wrong, but Fox could talk to Chris when they're alone."

"T-that's just a prediction. You don't know if they really talk alone!" Sophia said as she looked back and forth between Peppita and the door.

"Please, Fox seems to be the social type," Peppita said under the bed before she turned around to stick her head out to look up at Sophia. "If I get a little bit of information about him, then it'll be easier to make him fall in love with me!"

"(Oh, please, when is she going to see that isn't going to happen?)" Sophia thought worried. Sophia wanted to tell Peppita what she thought about the whole deal of romance, but the teen wouldn't bring herself to hurt Peppita's feelings.

"Okay, leave," Peppita muttered. "They must be on their way here. Hurry up and leave!"

"B-but..." Sophia looked panicked.

"Just hurry, Sophia!" Peppita said.

"A-alright..." Sophia said with a frown before she ran out from the room, Peppita giggling happily.

"Okie-dokie," Peppita said to herself. "Now I need to avoid getting a flu under the bed while I listen to everything Fox says in private. Teeheehee, this is gonna be so much fun."

The Velbaysian suddenly saw the leader of Star Fox walking into room, still looking depressed after their investigation of the Aquatic Garden. Peppita gasped mentally as Fox walked to his bed and sat down, sighing a bit.

"(Time for Operation Fox to begin...)" Peppita thought.

Outside the bed, Fox stared outside as he stayed silent. By now, he wanted to do something to cheer him up himself. Fox thought that he could tell Chris more about his past with his dad now that they would be "alone" by themselves.

"What is wrong with me?" Fox asked to himself. "It's not like me to be this depressed. What the heck is keeping me from learning magic, anyway? I'm pretty sure I know how to use it because I've had those Krazoa Spirits entering my body when I was in Sauria...and let's not forget Krystal's Staff..."

Under the bed, Peppita nodded several times.

"I started to get a taste of magic back then..." Fox closed his eyes hard like he was struggling to resist something. "But that was a long time ago...I mean, what if that doesn't have anything to do with this?" he asked before opening his eyes, looking down at the floor where he removed his tanker boots. "That's the only good reason I could use magic...but...is it really relevant after I couldn't use Symbology either?"

Peppita gasped once she saw a white flight jacket fall on the floor, hearing the sound of Fox's headgear being put on the drawer as his back fell down on the bed quickly.

The vulpine stared up at the ceiling as he folded his arms behind his head. "I shouldn't make such a big deal about this..." he muttered. "...I don't know what's happening to me anymore..." he muttered even lower than before.

"(...Oooooooh, I barely understand anything he said about spirits and staffs...)" Peppita thought in disbelief.

Suddenly, Peppita heard the door closing. She looked to the door's direction where a relieved Chris walked to his bed and sat down. "I didn't think there was a variation of bathrooms in here," Chris said to Fox. "...But I rather not say what I did there..."

"WHERE THE F((BEEP) IS THAT LITTLE SON OF A B(BEEP) HIDING?! TELL ME NOW OR ELSE I'LL F(BEEP) YOU ALL BUT GOOD! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Chris grunted in annoyance as Tails and Chip were heard screaming loudly. "Ugh, not that little imbecile again!" he yelled before quickly changing to his Beastmaster job. The monster tamer left the room quickly as he ran all the way to Sonic's room. Fox could hear the echo of a whip's lash hitting the werehog before the World Traveler came back, sighing in relief as he closed the door and changed back to his Dragoon job. "Phew, he's gone for the time being..."

The vulpine stared him at him for a while. "I...guess..." Fox responded. "...Chris..."

"Yes?" Chris asked as he walked to his bed.

"I'm yet again bored for the night...but I wouldn't mind telling you the next part of my past with my father."

Peppita blinked a few times. "(His past with his father? Oh my, I struck gold!)" She made a happy expression. "(I didn't think I'd get to know about his father! I bet he was as handsome as Fox is...)"

At Fox's idea, the World Traveler smiled a bit before he took off his red jacket, red hat, and boots as he lay down on his bed. "Oh, please, do tell me. I'm excited to know even more about you."

Fox chuckled at this, now feeling more enthusiastic than before. "Well, thanks. I need to do something fun to do after what we did today."

Chris covered himself with his bed sheet. "Don't mind if I listen to you. Please, tell me more."

"You're getting excited like a kid, you know that?"

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I'm just excited, that's all..."

Peppita giggled mentally. "(Yep, same here if you ask me.)"

Fox chuckled even more. "Well, here we go, then..." He coughed a bit to clear his throat. "Peppy told me about all the things my father went through when I was a baby. He told me that my father was always in quite a fit to calm me down whenever I cried. Peppy also told me that my father slowly understood the ropes about raising babies by himself."

Peppita looked confused. "(Why did his dad raise him as a baby? Where was his mom back then?)"

"The death of my mother really put him in trouble..." Fox said.

"(...His mom died?)" Peppita thought.

"But what happened after?" Chris asked. "I mean, what happened when you were a child?"

"Oh, that part?" Fox asked before chuckling. "That was one of my most precious memories I had with my father."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - James's Room

Darkness covered a solitary room where some chuckles were heard. The metallic sliding door opened wide to reveal James looking around. The chuckles eventually stopped, James hearing one of them that made him grin.

"Okay, Fox," James began as he walked inside the dark room, "you can't fool me anymore, son. Get out from your hiding spot and confront your father."

There was no response as he looked around his room.

The room itself was mostly made out of steel and metal. Only the floor, walls, and ceiling were of hard metal. However, the room had drawers on walls, a closet to the left wall, a ventilation duct on the far right corner of the ceiling, and a small window to look outside at the starry night's sky. A big mattress adorned the metal floor, and a bed was touching the front and right wall. There were some pictures in some parts of the front, right, and back wall depicting James and Fox with some of the other people that they knew such as Peppy, Pigma, General Pepper, and even some of Fox's friends like a young Slippy and a young Bill.

James chuckled as he walked forward, finding a small bump under the bed sheet. "Now, I wonder where is Fox?" he asked to himself in amusement as he stared down at the bump on his bed. "He better not be hiding on the bed."

James expected a response from the bump.

"..." James raised an eyebrow. "Let's see now..."

Wherever Fox was hiding, he waited for James to lift up the bed sheet. In truth, the young vulpine of eight years was hiding behind the closet, trying his best to hide his small chuckles.

"You must be on the bed..." James was heard saying. "Or maybe...just maybe..."

Suddenly, the young vulpine gasped when the doors of the closet opened, revealing James looking down at him with a grin. The young vulpine quickly hid his face behind some flight jackets that James wore.

James chuckled as Fox hid his face from him. "Hmm, sir, have you seen a little kid hiding somewhere?"

"W-well," the young Fox chuckled, "n-no..."

"That's weird," James said before he slid the clothes hangers back, making Fox laugh a bit. "You look a lot like Fox."

"O-okay, I give up!" Fox said as he lifted up his hands. "You found me again, dad!"

"Get over here, you," James said as he grabbed his son from his sides and took him out from the closet. "So, you expected me to lose this time, huh?"

"Heheheheh," Fox chuckled as James put him on the floor. "I thought I was going to win for sure this time. How did you know I was hiding in there?"

James pointed at the bump on his bed. "I know for sure that bump doesn't even match your size," he said as he went to the bed and removed the bed sheet, revealing two pillows pilled up together. "I mean, last time I checked, my son had this problem of not staying still for three seconds, and he surely didn't have cotton inside him."

Fox chuckled once more. "Y-yeah, that's me, alright..."

James turned to him and sat down on the bed. "Okay, Fox, time to go to bed. Your dad has had a tough job today." He wiped some sweat from his face. "You're lucky I brought you here from Bill's house, Fox. I know you two are best friends, but I can't let you sleep in his house almost all the time. What if his parents get angry at me?"

"No, they don't," Fox said. "They don't mind if I stay with Bill. We talk so much with each other, you know."

"Yeah, but I can't just let you sleep in his house almost all the time," James said. "You understand it's been very rough for me to take care of you, right?"

Fox looked down. "...I know..." he said as he frowned. "You've been telling me from time to time that I can't go with you to any mission because I'm not old enough..." He walked to his father and looked up to him. "Why did mom abandon us?"

"...She didn't abandon us, Fox," James said as he patted the left side of where he was sitting to call Fox on the same spot. The young vulpine hopped and sat next to James. "There were...some circumstances that made her...well..." James looked away, Fox waiting for his answer. "...Well..."

"...So?" Fox asked.

James didn't want to tell Fox about James's wife. The past leader of Star Fox didn't want to make Fox feel uncomfortable.

"..." James looked back at Fox. "The circumstances made her go somewhere else because she needed to do it."

"What?" Fox asked.

"...Well, she told me not to tell you because..." James scratched his head. "...You need to be much stronger..."

"..." Fox tilted his head. "I need to be stronger to know what she didn't want me to know about her?"

"Yeah..." James said with a nod.

"..." Fox looked away. "...I gotta be stronger to know about it?"

"Um, yes..."

"...Heheh," Fox chuckled before he looked up at James. "Well, if she wants me to be stronger, I need to be as strong and cool like you, right?"

"(Oh, thank god Fox has a somewhat hyperactive imagination...)" James thought pleased before grinning at Fox. "Yeah, she wanted you to be just like your old man."

"Hey, you're not old," Fox said. "You look very young, dad."

"Well, thanks," James said as he rubbed Fox's head. "So anyway, are you ready to go to sleep?"

Fox wagged his tail a bit before he began to hop on his spot. "Tell me what you did today, dad! I want to know what adventure you had today!"

"Wow, wow, wow," James said as he stopped Fox from hopping by putting his hands behind his shoulders. "No need to react like that, Fox. You know very well I'm going to tell you the adventure I had today." James chuckled. "Remember the bothersome guy I told you about?"

"Hmm..." Fox thought for a moment. "...Oh, it's the Wolf bandit?"

"Right again as always," James said before sighing.

"It was around that time where my father met Wolf," Fox said. "My father first met Wolf when I was six years old. Most of the missions that my father took from General Pepper were almost always about Wolf doing some kind of thievery in any planet of the Lylat System."

"I see..." Chris said.

"Thing is, I met the guy for the 88th time," James explained. "Man, that guy sure has a lot of energy to go around the planets and fight me back."

Fox grunted. "Did you show him who the boss was?"

"Heheheheh, yeah, as always," James said with a grin. "He messes with me, he's bound to go home."

Fox chuckled. "What did he do to you this time?"

"Again, the same," James said. "He first tries to make a riot in a planet just to make General Pepper call me and do something about him. I swear, I shouldn't have taken that mission to Katrina where he wanted to steal one of the Corneria's army weaponry when I first had the encounter with him. Wolf's so damn headstrong..."

"But..." Fox looked serious, "you beat him down, right?"

"Yeah, but I'd say his temper makes him lose so easily," James said chuckling. "The day his temper stops interfering him will be the day where I'll have a decent battle against him."

"He doesn't give you a good fight?"

"Nah, he's always saying all the time, 'Play time's over, Star Fox,'" James said, trying to mimic Wolf's voice. "I should point out I'm the one who ends his play time, though."

Fox chuckled. "Dad, you're so cool."

"Am I now?" James asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Well, back with Wolf, he went down the same way as every single encounter. So I let him chase me, I do a loop, I appear behind him, then I start shooting him down."

Fox began to hop on his spot again. "Ooh, ooh, when are you going to let me ride an Arwing? I wanna have my own one and go around the sky fighting enemies and saving people like you do!"

"Hey, you need to grow a little bit more," James said as he pulled Fox to his left side under his left shoulder. "You need to look tougher than you are now."

"Pfft, I'm really tough," Fox said annoyed. "Why, I can beat Bill with rock, paper, and scissors."

"Remember, I was just a kid back then. Don't laugh at me because of that," Fox said.

James hid a chuckle. "Just because you beat Bill through that game doesn't mean you know how to fight in an Arwing, Fox."

"Then what do I need to have in order to be as strong as you are, dad?"

James began to raise fingers. "You gotta have maturity, a smart mind, confidence in your own actions, and you have to be respectful to a lot of people who are much more important than you."

Fox blinked. "Are there any people who are more important than you?"

"There's General Pepper," James said.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Seriously, is that guy more important than you? Has he ever rode an Arwing before?"

"No, but that's not the point here, Fox," James said. "General Pepper is a very respectable commander of the Corneria Army. He knows what to do in order to ensure peace in the Lylat System."

"You do more of ensuring the peace around than him."

"Look, the point is that General Pepper knows his thing," James said. "He gives me my jobs as well."

"..." Fox thought for a moment. "...If I become one of the members of Star Fox...am I going to receive orders from him?"

James chuckled. "No, you're going to receive orders from me, which are going to be orders from General Pepper himself. In a few words, you're gonna work for me."

"...I see!" Fox said excited. "If it has you in it, it's surely going to be so awesome!"

James rubbed Fox's head faster. "That's how things are, Fox." As he rubbed Fox's head, James suddenly yawned loudly. "Well, time to hit the pillow, Fox..."

Fox suddenly yawned aloud. "Yeah...I'm sleepy..." he muttered.

James decided to prepare the bed for him and Fox as James took out his sunglasses. Once he did, both were already lying down on the bed and close to each other. However, James felt asleep first than Fox who was staring at the ceiling.

James opened an eye to see his son awake. "Fox, go to sleep."

Fox turned his head at him. "But...I don't want to..."

"Weren't you saying you were going to sleep?"

"Yeah, but I suddenly lost my boredom..." Fox chuckled. "I was thinking about my future in Team Star Fox!"

James sat up and grinned. "You're going to wait until I sign you up for the Cornerian Flight Academy, Fox. There, they are going to set you up very good. I took the course there, and I'm now what I am today."

Fox's eyes widened. "Is there the place where people turn so cool like you?"

James chuckled. All Fox thought about was to turn into a cool person. "Yeah, that's the place where you think that happens."

"Yay!" Fox rejoiced. "When am I going to join the academy?"

"I'll tell you when, okay?" James asked with a wink (it should be said by this point that it was literally impossible to see James's eyes due to the fact the scene was being looked from behind James). "Keep studying the basics before you jump to the most advanced stuff."

Fox nodded. "Good, then I'll tell Bill."

"Bill?" James asked. "What about him?"

"Didn't I tell you? He's a rabbid fan of yours," Fox said with a chuckle. "He's heard a lot about your deeds that he's always asking me where you're going so he knows before anyone else than me. I think he likes the fact you ride an Arwing, though. He likes to draw lots of 'em in his room."

"...I see, heh," James said amused.

"I think Slippy respects you a lot as well, but he's into machine stuff," Fox said. "When we grow up, we're gonna all join Team Star Fox!"

"...What?"

"Yeah, that's our shared dream," Fox said excited. "All of us want to join your team, dad. We all think that Team Star Fox is the best team there is!"

"Hahahahaha," James laughed a bit. "I see now. Well, I'll be the one judging your performances to see if you're up for it."

Fox looked serious at him. "Just you wait, dad. I'm gonna be as cool as you."

James nodded a few times before he recalled something. "Weren't we going to sleep?"

"..." Fox smiled nervously. "Can we talk some more?"

"No can do," James said. "I have some important missions to do tomorrow morning, and I need to drop you off with Falco yet again. I hope his parents don't get angry. That aside, I need to wake up early tomorrow to take you to him, then I'll need to leave for Katina."

"Okay..." Fox said a little bit depressed. "...But I don't feel like sleeping..."

James rubbed his chin. "I need to do something about it or else it'll bother me all the night..." Suddenly, he got an idea. "Hey, I know," he said as he looked at one drawer on the wall. The father pulled it to take out from it a brown book that he showed to Fox. "See this book?"

Fox narrowed his eyes to look at the book's title. "...Tales of Star Ocean?"

James nodded as he closed the drawer. "Yeah, this is a fairy tales' book that Peppy lent me some days ago."

"..." Fox looked confused. "What was Peppy doing with that? Isn't that for children?"

"Well, yeah, it is for children, but he happened to pick it up by accident at the library," James admitted. "I don't know what he was doing in the children's section. Maybe it was a shortcut to where he wanted to go. Thing is, I forgot why he had this with him."

Fox gasped. "Peppy steals children's books! Call the police!"

James laughed a bit. "No, Peppy doesn't steal books, Fox. Stop exaggerating."

"Are you sure he doesn't steal books?"

"...Not really," James said before he shook his head. "I mean, calm down, Fox. Do you want me to read you this so you can sleep?"

"It looks boring..." Fox muttered.

"If you think books are boring, then that certainly proves you did bad at your math test," James pointed out, making Fox look away embarrassed as he blushed. "Certainly five plus five doesn't equal two fives."

"Hey, Chris, stop chuckling!" Fox yelled.

"S-sorry..." Chris muttered.

"I-I take that back," Fox said as he looked at James. "I-I want you to read the book."

James grinned. "So I don't keep reminding you about your previous grades? You're not going to become like me if you do-"

"Alright, alright, I'll study! Geez, I don't see why my grades are important..." Fox said annoyed.

"I know you're going to pass with honors," James said before he coughed to clear his throat as he opened the book. "Well, let's see what we have here..."

The young vulpine rested his head on the pillow. "What's the story about?"

"Hmm, let's see..." James took a closer look. "...Hey, would you like to hear fairy tales about galactic wars?"

"Wait, it has that?" Fox asked. "Ooh, ooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"What do you know, they do tales like these inspired by real events," James said. "This is ought to be interesting to read..."

"Can you read it to me?" Fox asked with some excitement. "If it has galactic wars, I wanna listen to them!"

James chuckled amused. "Alright, Fox, I'll read you this book, but you'll have to promise you're going to sleep."

"Okay!"

"Right, then," James said before he started to read the book. "A very long time ago in the future..."

The young Fox listened silently as James narrated him the book's tale. The young vulpine made a happy expression as his father's eyes read every sentence of the book. Sometimes, James would as far as to change his voice to pull Fox's curiosity into the tale, but this only made Fox laugh silently since many of his voices didn't come out so serious but funny instead.

"That's where you got the book from?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Fox said. "When my father read the book for me, Peppy had to give it back to the library. I was upset after the book was returned so I asked my father to buy it somewhere else. Thing is, I liked the book very much," he explained. "I could say the book's tales easily outmatched some of my father's own adventures. I didn't tell him that, though. After I found out that this place was related to the book...I wanted to come here and see this universe by myself..."

"(Heheheh, so he wanted to come here because of a fairy tale? That's so cute of him,)" Peppita thought happily.

"Anyway, back to where I was..."

"'You can do this to me!' yelled the woman. 'What will happen to me?!' she demanded. Turning around, the young commandant said to her, 'I don't care for those who hurt others through unnecessary violence who later plead for forgiveness. You should have thought better about your actions for the people of this underdeveloped planet, insolent fool.'"

"Zzz..."

James looked back at Fox. The young vulpine had already fallen asleep deeply. Chuckling a bit to himself, James put the book back in the drawer before he laid down next to his sleeping son. "Guess you couldn't bear to see the ending just yet," James muttered. "That's the ending of chapter two, though."

With a long yawn, the previous leader of Star Fox felt asleep, a grin on his face appearing.

The next day...

Early in the morning, a half-asleep Fox came out from the sliding door as his father put his clothes on. The young vulpine looked up to find Peppy already awake.

"Oh, good morning, Fox," Peppy said.

"Good morning..." Fox said groggily. "...Booknapper..."

Peppy looked at no one in particular after hearing the word from Fox who decided to go back to the room, the door closing behind him as Peppy looked still confused.

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Chris's Room

"So that's a part of the story," Fox said.

"That was exciting to listen," Chris said pleased. "You had a very fun childhood, right?"

"Like hell I did," Fox said with a grin. "When I was that young, I found out I liked sports when I was in school. My father told me I was a very good kicker from some private lessons he taught me when he had days off. Once, I hit the ball so hard accidentally to his face that he ended up being knocked out on the ground. I gasped and went to check on him before he looked up to me and told me that I had a strong kick...but he looked well even if his right eye was bleeding. I told him not to wear his sunglasses, but he never listened..."

The dragoon stared at Fox.

"...I told him not to," Fox said, lifting his shoulders a bit.

"..." Chris yawned suddenly. "Oh well, thanks for telling more about you, Fox... What else is there?" He turned his head around to look away.

Fox thought for a moment. "...The last part was when the incident with Andross started..."

The World Traveler suddenly looked shocked.

"I think you know what happened there, but maybe you don't know how I received the news about what happened to my father..."

Peppita blinked a few times. "(Wait, something happened to his father? What would that be?)"

Fox let out a yawn. "But I don't feel that energetic enough to tell you for tonight...I want to sleep now..."

"..." Chris closed his eyes. "Okay, I understand... Good night, Fox..."

"Night, Chris..." Fox said before he slowly felt asleep with the World Traveler.

The Velbaysian under the bed shifted her eyes a bit. "(Okay, that helps, I think...)" she thought pleased. "(Maybe I can do it better tomorrow. Better think about what to do... Hmm...)"

"Fox..." Chris muttered with a chuckle.

"What...?" Fox asked without opening his eyes.

Chris chuckled a bit. "...What's five plus five?"

"...Shut up and go to sleep already..." Fox said annoyed.

"Heheheh...sorry..." Chris muttered.

"(Teehee...)" Peppita chuckled mentally at the joke.

The three characters decided to sleep for the night...

Dream

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

"...When is he going to come and get me?" The young Fox asked to himself as he looked up. "...It's getting late..."

The same dream that happened the last night once again came back. Fox found himself standing below the same tree where he was leaning his back. He looked around to see the abandoned playground as heavy rain fell down. The young boy embraced himself as he started to get shivers from the cold weather. Fox asked himself why he was wearing a simple shirt and shorts.

Fox looked at himself. He had several mud patches all over his clothes. He thought that he was surely playing soccer due to the fact there was a soccer ball by his left side, some drops falling on it.

The vulpine shivered and sat down where he embraced himself even more. Looking around, he wanted to see if there was someone else out there so he wouldn't feel alone. Unfortunately, the rain didn't let him hear or see anyone close.

"I-I'm not alone, am I?" he asked to himself. "W-where's my dad? H-he promised he would come back..."

Suddenly, his small ears perked up as he began to hear some sobs from nearby. Fox looked around the playground to see the source of the sobs when he found a human kid of his same age sobbing under a slide just in front of him, several feet away. The boy was embracing his legs as his face looked down behind them, preventing Fox from seeing the boy's face.

Since Fox didn't have any other choice to go somewhere else, he slowly stood up. "H-hey, you!"

The boy didn't seem to respond to him.

"Hey, you, I'm talking to you!" Fox yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

The boy only kept sobbing to himself. The young vulpine looked worried as he looked around before he actually went to see the boy closer by running all the way to him. Once he reached under the slide, Fox knelt down to see the kid. Upon a closer look, the black-haired boy of his age wore a light blue shirt with red shorts and black sneakers. "Hey, are you okay?"

"...N-no..." the boy finally replied between sobs.

"Why are you here?" Fox asked. "Why are you sobbing? Why are you alone in here?"

"I-I don't know my way home..." the boy replied. "I-I don't know how I ended up here..."

"What?" Fox looked worried. "You got lost and you don't know your way home?"

The boy suddenly started to cry, making Fox gasp. "N-no!" the boy cried as he shook his head, his face still looking down. "I-I don't where I am! I-I don't know where my home is anymore! I-I want my dad and mom here!" he yelled.

"C-calm down, okay?" Fox asked as he put a hand on the boy's back. "I-I'm sure your parents are going to come for you..."

The boy didn't look at Fox, but he wanted to ask him something. "W-who are you and what are you doing here as well?"

Fox shivered a bit. "M-my name is Fox...a-and I'm here because there was a soccer practice 2 hours ago...but my dad told me he was going to come and get me..."

"...And did he come?"

"No... Not yet..." Fox muttered. "...I'm sure he was going to get me...but I don't want to go alone to my house because it's far away from here by foot..."

"...I see..." the boy muttered between some sobs. "...I'm so scared of going alone to my home...but I don't know the way back..."

"I'm sorry..." Fox said. "...I barely know you so I don't know where you live... By the way, what's your name?"

"...Chris..."

"...Okay...Chris..." Fox said. "...I don't know what to do...but maybe I could ask my dad to give you a ride home..."

"...And...would he get rid of the monster in here?"

Fox blinked at this question. "Wait, monster? There's a monster around here?"

"Y-yes..." the young Chris muttered. "I-I wanted to go somewhere else...b-but then that thing appeared from the ground and it tried to hurt me..."

Fox looked up at the slide. "That's why you're hiding under here?"

"Y-yes...the monster doesn't attack me if I'm hiding here..." the boy explained before he sobbed. "B-but I don't know if it doesn't hurt me because I'm here..."

"Did you run away from it?"

"Yes, I made my way here when I lost it around the trees..." the young Chris muttered. "...It's surely looking for me..."

Fox gulped. "How does that monster look?"

"W-well, it looks big, it's all black with blue and purple, it has these pincers, and its eyes are so yellow that it's so scary..." Chris explained.

The young Fox looked around to see if the monster was nearby. "This isn't good, then..."

Suddenly, in front of them, a shadow spot appeared on the mud before a creature jumped out of it and made Fox yelp. The creature before them was in fact a Nightmare, the same monster that appears during the nights.

Once the Nightmare screeched loudly, Chris stared to shake in fear, his face still looking down. "I-It's here, isn't it?! D-do something to get rid of it, please! I-I don't want to look at it!"

The young Fox stared up at the Nightmare in complete fear. Once the Nightmare looked down at him, his legs shook, his hands twitched, and his eyes trembled in fear, reflecting the monster's image on them. The young vulpine suddenly covered his head and began to scream loudly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, HEEEEELP!!!"

"D-DO SOMETHING, I BEG OF YOU, PLEASE!" Chris yelled loudly while the monster screeched menacingly, the dream suddenly covering itself in hazy mist that made Fox's vision get blurry...

Music stops

Inn - Chris's Room

The night still went on, and Fox grumbled to himself as he moved his head a bit to the sides, not noticing that the same figure from before was stalking them from behind the door to the room.

The figure then decided to walk away, muttering words in silence.

The next morning...

"...Ugh..." Fox grumbled a bit as he slowly opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling before he rubbed his head. "That dream again..." he muttered to himself as he slowly sat up. "What the heck was it? It was the same one, that's for sure..."

The vulpine looked back at the sleeping Chris. Something that Fox noticed was the fact that Chris's face looked like it was a little bit saddened. Fox raised an eyebrow at this expression.

"(Weird, he looks a little bit different than before... Maybe I'm just thinking too much...)" Fox thought before he stared forward. "..." He sighed with a frown. "Whatever, I need to do my routine again..."

Underneath the bed, a sleepy Peppita slowly opened her eyes to see Fox's white furred feet touching the floor before he went over in front of the beds where he began to do pushups. Seeing this exercise, Peppita's eyes suddenly opened wide before she giggled a bit. "(There he goes again,)" she thought. "Teeheehee..."

As Fox did pushups, his eyes were looking a little bit weak. He didn't have control of his head for a moment as he looked around the floor where he found nothing but some eyes looking at him from under the bed. The vulpine frowned to himself before he recalled the eyes, making him lose his focus and fall down on the floor with a grunt. "Hey, who's there?!" Fox asked as he looked under the bed.

Peppita suddenly gasped at this reaction as Fox's glaring eyes looked at her. "E-er, there's nothing under the bed. Y-you're probably imagining things and stuff..."

Fox's eyes narrowed to the point they looked menacingly serious.

"...Good morning?" Peppita said sweating.

Quickly, Fox quickly stood up and walked to the bed where he knelt down and inspected whoever was under it. Upon looking underneath, the eyes were quickly covered by Peppita's hands. "What the hell?" Fox asked. "You?"

"...Whoever you're talking to, she's not here," Peppita said behind her hands. "Please try to talk with Peppita once she comes back and..." She stopped talking. "...Oh, fiddlesticks..."

"Okay, get out there right now," Fox demanded as he stood up with crossed arms.

"A-are you sure it's safe out there?" Peppita asked. "I mean, the floor here feels soft..."

"Out, now."

"I-I found money here. I-I don't want to let go of it..."

"Out...now...or else..."

"..." Peppita sighed disappointed before she slowly came out from below the bed. Once she looked up at Fox's glaring look, she quickly looked away as she stood up, folding her arms behind her back.

"Tell me, what were you doing down there?" Fox asked as he looked down at her.

"I-I..." Peppita didn't want to tell him the truth. "W-well, I..."

"How long have you been in there?"

"...I-I've been in there since morning..." Peppita admitted.

"Are you really sure you were there since morning?" Fox asked. "I didn't hear the door open."

Peppita looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. "A-are your ears that sensitive, Fox?"

"..."

"...Well...I better go away for now..." Peppita muttered as she slowly began her way to the door.

Fox closed his eyes. "...Wait right there."

Peppita's feet came to a halt as she stared at the door. "Y-yes, Fox?"

"...You've been here since last night...right?"

Peppita gasped mentally. "I-I..."

"I could have sworn there was someone nearby chuckling and giggling," Fox said. "At first, I thought it was outside, but I didn't think there was someone under my own bed. That was you, right?"

"..."

"I won't hurt you if that's what you're thinking I'm going to do to you."

"..." Peppita looked down. "...Yeah, that was me..."

"And I can assume you heard everything I talked with Chris as well, correct?"

"...Yeah..."

"And you heard everything."

"..." Peppita nodded.

"..." Fox opened his eyes and nodded. "Okay, now get out. Whatever you heard from us, don't tell it to anybody; absolutely no one needs to know about this private conversation, you got that?"

"...Yes sir..." Peppita muttered in shame before she opened the door and left, closing it behind her back.

The vulpine stared at the door for a while before he sighed and frowned. Suddenly, Chris began to mumble a bit before he woke up. "...Fox?"

"Good morning, Chris," Fox said a little bit pissed as he went to get his clothes. "Did you sleep well or what?"

Chris looked groggily, but he didn't want to question why Fox was a little bit angry. "...To be honest...no..." he said as Fox put his jacket on. "I had some sort of weird nightmare where I was hiding from a monster..."

Before Fox could reach for his tanker boots, he stopped once hearing about Chris's nightmare.

"...And I was all alone in some sort of playground when it was raining so much...that's all I can remember..."

Fox looked a bit shocked at this.

Chris looked at him as he rubbed his eyes a bit. "Is there something wrong?"

"...Nothing...nothing's wrong..." Fox reassured him before he continued to put on his boots. "(Okay, now that's odd. That nightmare Chris had surely wasn't the same I had, right? It's surely pure coincidence that it was very similar... Well, he didn't say I was there so... Yeah, I think I'm overreacting a bit...)"

"...I see..." Chris said. "Well, let's do our best to find that temple today..."

Inn - Lobby

The small lobby of the inn had two reception counters located in front and to the left of the entrance. There was nobody there, except for a depressed Peppita on a circular table where she rested her chin on her hands on the table. Sighing, she tried to think about what happened a moment ago. "Geez, what a way to mess everything..." she muttered as she looked down."Now he's gonna hate me for stalking on him through the whole night..."

From the right hallway, the person who she didn't want to see the most came in, looking bored as always before he looked to her on the table.

"If it isn't the maggot circus girl..." Albel said.

Peppita pouted a bit and looked away. "Go away, Albel. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Figures," Albel said. "You're not always like this every morning. You're usually acting like a parrot, jumping and swinging those spheres of yours around."

"Good, thanks for pointing out what I normally do every morning," Peppita said annoyed. "If you'll excuse me, I have to resolve this problem I have."

"What would that problem be?"

"Like I'm going to tell you I like Fox so much," Peppita said bored. "I mean, I'm not going to tell you I had an accident with him today."

"...You just told me your problem..."

Peppita blinked a few times before looking embarrassed. "...No, I didn't tell you just now..."

"Fool," Albel said. "Your mouth sometimes spills the better stuff you don't really want to talk about."

"..." Peppita's lips twitched a bit.

"Whatever, it's not like I care about romance or anything," Albel said.

"T-that's sort of mean, you know..." Peppita said before looking at him. "I know you haven't experienced love before, but you don't need to say that."

"Tsk," Albel said with a frown. "So what, are you going to make your future husband some breakfast so he forgives whatever accident you did to him?"

"I'm NOT going to make breakfast for Fox just because you'r-" Peppita's yell suddenly stopped as she thought about what Albel just told her. "...Wait...make Fox breakfast so he accepts my apology?"

"Maggot, what are you thinking now?"

"...That's not a bad idea..." Peppita remarked as she rubbed her chin a bit, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah, that's a very nice idea... I heard that if you want to get to someone's heart you first need to pass through the stomach..."

"What?" Albel asked confused.

Peppita giggled and looked at him. "Albel, that idea sounds very good to me! I know I hate your guts a lot, but you really did give me more chances to do what I want to do."

"What the heck are you talking about now?" Albel asked. "I merely said my opinions about how romance is very cheesy and sappy an-"

"No need to lose more time now," Peppita said as she gave Albel a serious look. "I need to make this fast before Fox goes away from here. I need to do some breakfast for him, and then I'll get to his heart through his stomach."

Albel looked a very little bit disgusted at Peppita's plan.

Peppita hopped off her seat and started her way to the workshop. "I better hurry and make a fast breakfast. Albel, thank you so much for the idea, it's surely going to help me a lot!"

Before the captain of the Black Brigade could say anything to the Velbaysian, Peppita had already run away to the workshop where she entered and quickly went to the Cooking area.

Albel looked up and frowned to himself. "The mind of a naive child..." he muttered. "I wish this doesn't involve me in some fashion..."

Inn - Chris's Room

Back on the room, Fox, alone by himself, cracked his fists a bit before someone knocked on the door. The vulpine looked at the door before he went to open it. Upon looking at who was it, the vulpine looked bored. "What do you want now?"

There was an ashamed Peppita holding a plate with curry. The Velbaysian looked up at Fox and showed him the curry. "Please, I'm sorry for what I did to you, Fox..." Peppita said. "So...please, accept this breakfast I made for you as an apology..."

Fox stared at the curry. The steam that came out from it went all the way to his nose where he sniffed it a bit. "You made this for me?"

"Y-yeah," Peppita said. "I-I'm not pretty good at cooking but I wanted to do my best...just for you..." She blushed a bit. "P-please, take it."

The vulpine slowly grabbed the plate, the spoon already in the rice.

Peppita smiled a bit and bowed to Fox. "Okay, I hope you like it, Fox." The Velbaysian turned around and walked away happily.

Fox looked confused at this before he smiled a bit at the curry and began to eat it. At that moment, Chris came from the left side of the hallway where he found Fox already eating the curry. "Are you having curry?" Chris asked.

Suddenly, once the spoon was inside his mouth, Fox stopped eating the curry as his eyes dilated and his tail pointed straight up behind his back. The dragoon watched as the vulpine fell down on his back, the curry falling all over his vest as Fox's head turned to the right, his tongue sticking out a bit.

"F-Fox!" Chris gasped as he knelt down to see the knocked out expression of the leader of Star Fox. "O-oh my god, are you okay? Fox! D-did that curry do something to you?"

The World Traveler looked at some leftovers on the curry's plate. With a finger, he ran it on the plate so he could have a taste of it. "Hmm..." He looked shocked. "A-as far as I know, curry isn't supposed to be so sweet...literally... It should be spicy, but this curry is so sweet..."

Chris felt a little bit sick.

"Ugh, it's also a little bit sickening...and Fox took like 8 servings of it..." He looked at Fox. "...Now what am I going to do?"

The World Traveler heard some footsteps coming from the hallway. Chris saw as a whistling Roger walked nearby. "Doodydo, the man's awake, doodydo, it's another day, doodydo, who wants the man, doodydo..."

When Roger stopped on his tracks and looked to his right to see Chris and the knocked out Fox, he walked inside to see the curry spilling over his clothes.

"...Dude, you killed him with food?" Roger asked.

"W-what? N-no, I didn't kill him with food!" Chris argued.

"Hey, Fayt! This guy killed the fox dude with food poisoning!" Roger yelled before he ran away, screaming the same sentence over and over again. "FAYT!"

"Y-you little..." Chris muttered before he stood up and began to go after Roger. "C-come back here, you!"

As the corpse...I mean, as Fox was left behind on the floor, an amused Wolf appeared from the hallway and looked down at him. With a chuckle and a grin, Wolf started to say something. "Breakfast sometimes can kill you, huh?" he asked.

"..." Fox didn't respond.

"Tsk..." Wolf frowned with another chuckle as he walked away.

Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Let's Item Creation!!

Back at the workshop, there was a different arrangement of inventors that worked busily in teams to create the most invaluable items. It was not worth mentioning most of them. However, the only inventor that stayed behind from the previous line of inventors was the easy-to-get-angry Puffy who wanted to share items with the amused Wolf, Chilico who wanted to finish her own affairs in the workshop, and Misty Lear who was trying to create a material of synthesis while helping Pit.

As Fayt was sitting down on the counter where he wrote some files in patents, he looked to his right where he saw a red patch of curry on Fox's green vest as the vulpine looked at him with crossed arms. "Oh, hi, Fox. What happened to you?"

"This happened because someone named Peppita gave me Super-Sweet Curry for breakfast," Fox responded annoyed with a glare.

"She did what?" Fayt asked before standing up. "She knows very well she can't cook so good."

"Well, she tried, and I got the result through digestion," Fox said. "Now I hate the fact that there isn't any kind of laundry machines in this planet. Do you really think I'm going to be walking around while my vest smells like sweet curry?"

"...No..." Fayt said.

"Good," Fox said as he smiled sarcastically. "Tell her to stay away from me."

Fayt looked worried. "Wow, I haven't seen you making that face before, but then again it's hard to tell whether you're glaring or look-" Fayt stopped talking once Fox glared menacingly at him. "...Did something else happen between you and Peppita?"

"Nothing much, except for the fact she slept and stalked me under the bed during the whole night."

"What?"

"That's the whole truth," Fox said. "Care to hear more?"

As Fox explained everything to Fayt, some feet away from him, there was C. Falcon putting his left arm on the counter as it was grabbed by Mirage who was sitting in front of him. "I think I like you," C. Falcon said. "I like tough women, you know."

"Heheh, thanks," Mirage chuckled. "Is it okay for you to play arm wrestling against me?"

"Meh, what can I say, I like challenges, especially when they look tough," C. Falcon said with a wink.

Mirage smiled a bit. "Okay, do you want me to start?"

"Don't mind if I do."

"3, 2, 1, go."

As soon as Mirage said go, C. Falcon was quickly forced to fall down on the stone floor hard after Mirage pushed down his arm. The woman Klausian looked down at him.

"...You win..." C. Falcon said with a chuckle. "Oww..."

From the Smithery area, Cliff was banging a big hammer against a red glittering sword. The Klausian stopped for moment to see Mirage and C. Falcon close to the counter. "Hey, Mirage, don't go easy on him, you heard me? You better not show him some sympathy either!" he said before laughing a bit.

Mirage shook her head, her face still amused. "Don't worry, Cliff. I have everything under control here."

"Very funny..." C. Falcon muttered with a chuckle. "(Even with the gauntlets she gave me yesterday...she's still so strong...)" he thought as he looked at his gauntlets over his yellow gloves. "(...I so like this place...)" C. Falcon raised a finger in the air. "Rematch..."

Mirage chuckled. "Very well, then."

In the Crafting area, a bored Roger looked all the way to the Cooking area where Peppita talked with the busy Sophia. The Menodix, as he was using a microscope to check on a small piece of stone, grumbled a bit. "There she goes again, trying to get someone else to like her," Roger muttered bored. "Man, when is she going to get back to work?" He looked at the red boots over the table; the Boots of Prowess. "We need more of these so we can kick butt out there."

"Busy, busy, busy!" Chilico said as she flew over Roger several times.

"And again, it's hard to get a decent conversation with someone like you," Roger said with a sigh. "Er, whatever, I'm going back to work."

Meanwhile, in the Compounding area, Puffy looked proud of herself as she had several devices spread across the table, an amused Wolf staring at the devices. The malevolent inventor grabbed a small white bag that she hopped on her palm. "See this little baby I have here? It's one of my most successful inventions. It's the Grabbag Stun Bomb-R2."

"Interesting," Wolf said a little bit sarcastically at the bag. The lupine didn't really think the bag was an explosive. "What does it do?"

"You'll be surprised," Puffy said with a chuckle. "This bag releases a bad smell that stuns the enemy, lowers its defense to a total of 30 percent, and also produces some secondary effects that are somewhat dangerous," she said before smirking. "However, I know there are bastards out there who like to be oh so immune to these kinds of items, so I went ahead, and I made sure this item affects even bosses."

Wolf grinned at her. "Does it really affect bosses?"

"If you see them gagging, then the item worked. However, I'm not saying it's not going to work. It really does affect any boss out there. Those bastards think they're so damn awesome to not be affected by items, huh? Well, guess what, they better think twice before they drop on the floor and gag uncontrollably," Puffy said with a snicker. "Just toss it at your enemy and the bag will do its work. Watch them gag as they get instantly paralyzed because they won't move to fight anymore…for around ten seconds."

"So, are you planning in giving me one of those?"

Puffy looked away amused. "Of course, you're the only one here besides Fayt and the others to praise my explosives in battles." She hopped the bag to Wolf's right claw. "Go ahead and take it with you. You can take four more of them if you'd like." She pointed at four more bags of the table. "I have a big supply of them already. I won't mind if you take the four bags."

Wolf chuckled as he looked down at the bags. "These bags look ridiculous, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to test them out."

"Heheheh, you won't regret this, I assure you," Puffy said darkly as the lupine decided to grab the small bags that he hid inside his vest.

In the Alchemy area, as Pit examined a black stone, the door of the workshop suddenly slammed wide open as he heard the sounds of wooden Japanese sandals entering. The angel from Skyland suddenly stopped working as he looked shocked. In the Smithery area, Roy stopped as well as he dropped a sword on the floor by accident.

"Hmm?" Misty Lear looked at Pit. "Master Pit, why did you stop working?"

"T-there's this feeling of danger that tells me I'm going to die a slow but painful death…" Pit muttered. "…And that feeling has a name…"

Misty Lear chuckled heartily. "I know what you mean."

"Y-you really do?"

Misty Lear nodded. "I am looking for the souls of my late husband and daughter through alchemy. That feeling of death has been around me for a long time now. I'm sure you're going to get used to that feeling very soon, Master Pit."

Whatever the heck Misty Lear told Pit didn't make him feel any better. Worse yet, Pit started to think Misty Lear was a little bit crazy. However, this didn't have much to do with the person that came from the door.

There was Adray, his mustache making some sort of smile as he looked with his right black eye the workshop, focusing on both Pit and Roy who refused to look at him after the incident of yesterday. He was surely beaten up by his own daughter Clair after Roy managed to escape from the town to the southwest of Peterny.

"Oh, there they are," Adray said chuckling before he began his way around the counter. Pit and Roy had developed the strange ability to sense the muscular old man approaching. They didn't want to look back and just continued working in their own affairs. "They think I'm going to forget the fact they didn't say yes or no to Clair, well, I'm going to make them say what I want to he-" The old man suddenly stopped walking as he looked at an amused Nel in front of him. "…Hi."

"Hi," Nel said bored before she crossed her arms. "I heard from some sources that there was an incident at Arias where Clair was," she said. "Surely that incident had something to do with a person I know that's standing right in front of me."

"E-er, where did you hear something stupid as an incident at Arias?" Adray asked as he looked away. "I-I was conducting an expedition to the south to find that Spagonia Temple those guys were talking about."

"LIES, ALL LIES!" Roy and Pit yelled without turning around.

Nel raised an eyebrow. "I've got a letter from Clair herself this morning saying that you went around in a rampage to get Pit and Roy to marry Clair. She also told me you didn't care about the people who got in the way of your crazy frenzy of Symbology attacks. Thanks to you, Arias was left even more destroyed than before when the war first started."

Adray scratched his head. "Meh, my daughter was surely saying random things. Don't listen to her, okay?"

"Oh, I'd listen to her before you," Nel said. "Explain to me where you got those black eyes for example."

"I-I tripped on my way here where two rocks were conveniently placed a little bit apart from each other…"

"If that did happen, then your eyes should have taken worse damage than they are now."

"…" Adray sighed. "Fine, fine, I was the one who did the rampage…"

"Good to hear some honesty," Nel said. "Now, stay away from those two or else I'm telling Clair about your reckless behavior. She has clarified to you at least fourty-six times that she doesn't want to marry yet."

Adray looked down. "Yes, Nel, I heard you…"

"Now, go to your area and start working in Smithery."

Adray recalled Roy was in that area. He hid a smile.

"And if you start a conversation with Roy, I'll make sure Clair knows about this as well."

Adray's smile suddenly vanished as he frowned.

"Well then, go and be quiet for once," Nel said, hearing some sighs from both Pit and Roy.

In the Cooking area, a worried Peppita looked up at Sophia.

"Sophia, I think I screwed up with the room plan," Peppita said worried as Sophia stirred a ladle in the soup in front of her. "When he found me while he was doing his pushups, he told to get away from him...and his face looked kinda scary..."

"(Oooh, I wanted to tell her not to do that...but I just couldn't see her look down...)" Sophia thought as she looked at the pot with the soup. "Well, did you apologize to him?"

"Well, yeah, I did," Peppita said. "I apologized to him by making him breakfast."

Sophia knew Peppita was going to go to big heights just for Fox.

"And...what did you make for him?" Sophia asked.

Peppita rubbed her chin. "I made some kind of curry. I made sure it was sweet enough for him."

"Oh, I see..." Sophia said. "...Wait, you made some kind of curry that was sweet?"

"...Um, is sweet a kind of taste?"

"Yeah."

"..." Peppita looked away. "...Was it right for me to make the curry super sweet?"

Sophia stopped stirring the ladle and looked at Peppita. "Peppita, what did you just do with that curry?"

"I made sure it was sweet by taking a small bite of it?" Peppita said confused. "I dunno what you're trying to tell me, Sophia..."

Sophia shook her head. "No, you don't understand. Curry is supposed to be spicy, not sweet!"

"..." Peppita thought for a moment. "...Oh no!" she said before frowning to herself. "I knew the taste was a little bit funky! Oh my god, so that's why he smelled like sweet curry when I passed behind him!"

"And you went ahead and gave that to him?"

"U-um, yeah..."

"And you didn't see him eat it?"

"I-I had a lot of confidence that it came out good so I left his room..." Peppita responded.

"Oh my goodness..." Sophia frowned. "Peppita, you need to apologize to him again. I'm sure he doesn't look happy. I mean, look at him," she said as she pointed at the pissed Fox talking with Fayt. "He looks really mad and...is that a curry patch on his vest?"

"Er..."

"...He fainted when he ate it..."

"..." Peppita trembled a bit. "...I have to make it up for all the mistakes I've been doing to him..." she muttered before she walked to the Crafting area.

Sophia blinked a few times as Peppita returned to her area. The teen stared up at the ceiling and looked worried. "Oh no, things are going to get even worse, I know it..." she muttered before sighing and returning to make the food.

However, she noticed that Peppita was back on her right side, making Sophia jump back a bit in surprise.

"Y-yiah!" Sophia yelped. "P-Peppita, I thought you were going back to work! W-what are you doing here?"

"I just remembered something," Peppita said. "When I was hiding from him yesterday, I heard some good stuff about his past…"

"And…"

"You need to know this," Peppita whispered. "I need you to know more about Fox so you call help me out."

Sophia looked unsure at this before the Velbaysian started to tell her all about she heard last night between Fox and Chris.

"And then I fainted and the curry fell on me," Fox finished explaining Fayt. "I'm telling you, she's been looking at me for quite a long time now. Every time I look at her, she blushes and starts stuttering a bit."

Fayt thought for a moment. "(She blushes and stutters when she sees him… Hmm… She's not thinking about…)"

"Do you have any idea to stop her from acting like that around me?" Fox asked, interrupting Fayt's train of thoughts.

"Well, I'm not sure about it," Fayt said. "I don't understand most girls that well, but I guess I could tell her to stop that."

"No, you're going to tell her without possibilities," Fox said. "Seriously, do you think I'm in the mood to have a child like her stalk me when I'm having some personal problems that I rather not talk about someone else?"

"No..."

"Well, then tell her to stop bothering me," Fox said with a glare. "As I've said before, I'm not in the mood. I wanted to relax in this place, but all I've done was mope around depressed these last days. I just want to find that Spagonia Temple so we get over this."

"I understand," Fayt said. "I don't know if Peppita is going to listen and stop."

"Just try, please," Fox said. "I'm getting quite annoyed by her odd antics whenever I look at her directly."

"Okay," Fayt said. "I'll do my best to put her in her place."

"Thanks," Fox said nodding. "Now, I need to go back to the Engineering area. For once, there's a place I have some expertise," he said with a sigh before turning around to walk directly to the Engineering area where a busy Samus and a very busy Tails worked on the machines as a sleeping Sonic used some wrenches to use them as a pillow of last resort.

"Oh, you're here," Samus said as she stopped spinning a presser to lower it down on a metal plate where some devices were scattered around. "You look a little bit angrier than usual."

"Oh, what do you know?" Fox asked without looking at her. "I've been having bad times these last days."

"What would those bad times be?"

"Nothing you should know about," Fox said annoyed as he went to a machine. "Leave me alone for the time being so I can relax."

Samus looked away, "(What is wrong with him? He's looking even angrier than usual... Wait, that's his usual face...I-I mean...whatever...)" she thought with a mental sigh. "Are you really sure you don't want to talk to anybody?"

"I'm sure, okay?" Fox asked as he grabbed a lever from the green machine in front of him in order to activate its functions. "I need some time alone."

"Okay..." Samus said before returning working. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Please, don't be," Fox said. "I can get over this pretty well."

At that moment, Cliff passed and looked at Fox. "Hey, you," he said to get the vulpine's attention. "Don't look so bad, okay? You can do it just fine."

Fox stopped working and looked up at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's not necessary for me to remind you about you-know-what," Cliff said before smiling a bit. "You look pretty tough to hang in there. Trust me, guys like you can tolerate and resist pretty much anything."

Fox looked confused before Cliff walked away. The vulpine looked down at the stone floor. "(What did he mean by all that, exactly?)"

Suddenly, Nel came from the Alchemy area and looked at Fox. "So, you're not fretting over anything?"

Fox looked at her. "What?"

Nel crossed her arms. "You look a little bit depressed so I wanted to give you some moral support."

"...Thanks?"

Nel nodded. "Glad to be of help here," she said before walking away to talk with Fayt.

Fox looked even more confused at this sudden talk. Suddenly, Roger passed by and looked up at him. "Hey man, how's it going for yah?"

"...Good?" Fox responded.

Roger grinned and wiped his nose a bit. "Heheh, don't sweat it. A real man like you can get over the toughest of challenges out there."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you didn't like me."

"Meh, after watching you fight yesterday against the Proclaimer, I take all back about what I said about you," Roger said with a chuckle. "You're real example of a real man, dude. At first, I didn't recognize that spark until you actually fought like a professional. I'm pretty damn sure you can overcome any obstacle in your path." He stared at Fox. "Cheer up, okay?" he asked before he walked away to the left.

Fox merely blinked confused at this. When did he become the center of attention for three people? "Why's everyone talking to me so suddenly, anyway?" he asked to himself.

Suddenly, Albel came from the left and chuckled to himself. "Maggot, can't you resist whatever is haunting you?"

Fox looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Whatever, I don't want to have more problems that I don't need," Albel said. "Enjoy your time as you suffer slowly, maggot." The captain of the Black Brigade snickered a bit as he walked away to the right.

Fox looked pissed at this moment. "Okay, something's definitely going on around here that's making everyone talk to me."

The vulpine noticed that Maria came from the left and looked at him. "Are you feeling okay?" Maria asked as she rubbed her chin a bit.

"You, why are you asking me that out of nowhere?" Fox asked with a glare. "I demand answers."

Maria shook her head. "I refrain to hurt your feelings. Sorry."

"Hurt my feelings?" Fox asked. "What's that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Look, just don't think about what happened to you before," Maria said. "I once lost my mother when I was fleeing from a sudden attack at the transport ship I was traveling in. My mom couldn't make it with me because there was only a escape pod left that she wanted me to use so I could live..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "I know how you feel, Fox. Really, I do..."

The vulpine stared at her.

"..." Maria opened her eyes. "I just don't want to hurt your feelings... That's all I want to say... Sorry for interrupting you..." she said before turning around to walk away.

Fox looked down at the floor and shifted his eyes a bit. "Wait, why did she decide to talk about her family randomly? Why was she showing some empathy?" He rubbed his chin a bit. "You know, I think I'm starting to understand why everyone's telling me about hanging in there by myself..."

Fox found some black shoes in front of him. The vulpine looked up where Mirage looked down at him, a hint of sympathy in her look. "Hey, are you feeling okay, Fox?"

"Yeah..." Fox said before shaking his head. "...Okay, that's it," he said before standing up as he glared up at Mirage. "Tell me right now why everyone's showing some sympathy to me."

Mirage tilted her head. "What, you don't know, then?"

"If I knew why everyone is saying encouraging things to me, I wouldn't be asking you this question," Fox said as he crossed his arms. "Now tell me something. Why's everyone suddenly talking to me out of the blue? I'm pretty sure you know why because you came here to ask me how I was feeling."

Mirage got in a thinking position. "Does that mean you're feeling okay now?"

"I'm feeling okay now," Fox said. "However, I'm not feeling quite fine after I started to get some talks with the others."

"Oh," Mirage said with a nod. "It's good to see you're not feeling bad for what happened to your father and mother then."

A record scratched.

"...Wait, what?" Fox asked. "My father and mother?"

"Yeah," Mirage said. "I heard that you had a very happy childhood before everything turned out so badly for you. I think I understand that you lost your mother when you were born."

The vulpine looked extremely confused at this. Fox asked to himself where they all got the information about his past.

"How the hell do you know all that of me?" Fox asked with a glare. "I didn't tell you any of that, and you shouldn't know about it either."

"Oh...I see..." Mirage said a little bit worried. "Sorry if I knew about you, Fox."

Fox pressed his brow as he closed his eyes. "Just...go away...please..." he muttered.

"Okay..." Mirage said before she walked away from him.

The vulpine remained doing the same action before he slowly opened his eyes to look around the workshop with a glare. "(Okay, now I know somebody has been going around here telling pretty much everyone about my past...)" He grunted a bit as he made a fist on his right hip. "(I'm not willing to let this go so simply like that, no way... Now, who did I tell my past to?)"

In the Writing area, there was the dragoon busily writing on blank pages as he wore some small glasses. Upon looking down, Chris chuckled heartily to himself as he adjusted his glasses. "Oh, just look at this piece of art," he said to himself as he finished writing for the book. "We have here a Fire Discharge book which can relinquish fire elemental properties to any kind of weapon there is through synthesis. Oh yes, I'm just getting warmed up in the field of Writing," he said happily to himself as he put the book away.

Once he looked to his right, the dragoon froze as he looked up at the glaring Fox.

"U-uah!" Chris dropped his glasses on his hips. "F-Fox, don't scare me like that with THAT face you're making! (Not that I'm saying you're always making that one, but...)"

"Chris," Fox began, making Chris shake a bit, "I want you to tell me something."

"I-is it something about regarding an incident that surely had nothing to do with me whatsoever?"

"Unfortunately, it has you there," Fox said before closing his eyes. "Now tell me, did you go around telling everyone about what happened yesterday?"

"..." Chris stared at him. "...Er, no..."

"Are you sure about it?" Fox asked as he opened his glaring eyes.

"I-I'm definitely sure I didn't break our promise," Chris said with a gulp. "I-it's not like I betrayed you or something..."

"..."

"C-can you stop looking at me that way?"

Fox sighed. "Whatever, just continue with what you were doing..."

The dragoon gulped one last time before turning around to the desk, leaving Fox to walk away as he slightly hit his forehead with his right fist. "Ugh, c'mon, Chris must have been the one who told everyone about yesterday's conversation...but he's always saying the truth to me when I ask him..." He looked around. "If Chris wasn't the one, then who was it? Who am I forgetting?"

The vulpine thought hard for a minute.

"...Wait, why don't I ask the people who went to say all those things to me so I can track down the culprit?"

At that moment, Adray came from the right. "The loss of your parents must have been very tough for you, young man. You have my respect fo-"

"Shut up and tell me who told you that," Fox interrupted Adray by pointing a fast finger at him.

"What is wrong with people today?" Adray asked as he looked up. "Can't they be nice to me for a change?"

"AHEM..."

Adray looked back at Fox. "Oh, sorry... Anyhow, Roger told me that you were..."

And then Fox found himself going from area to area to talk with different people.

Roger stopped working and turned around to look up at Fox. "Well, yah see, Mirage told me that..."

Mirage rubbed her chin. "I heard from Cliff that..."

Cliff stopped banging the big hammer he was using on a katana to talk to Fox. "You don't know? Well, I heard from Maria..."

Maria crossed her arms. "Last time I checked, Albel was the one who..."

Albel, who was leaned against the wall from the left side, looked at the glaring Fox. "Maggot, I heard from the Aquaria scum that you were..."

Nel rubbed her chin. "I think Sophia was the one who..."

And finally, Fox made his way to the busy Sophia in the Cooking area.

"Hmm?" Sophia turned around to find the vulpine staring at her. "Oh, hi there, Fox. Is there something bothering you?"

Fox nodded. "You see, people around the workshop have been approaching me, telling me that I needed to hang in there and such things like that."

Sophia looked confused. "And?"

"And I realized that pretty much everyone here knows what happened to my parents for some reason or another," Fox explained, making Sophia gasp mentally. "And last time I remember, I DIDN'T, I repeat, DIDN'T tell anyone about that at all because it is SUPPOSED to be private."

Sophia began to sweat. "I-I-ah..."

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "You weren't the one who told them all of that…were you?"

Sophia felt a lot of pressure as the emerald eyes focused on her brown eyes. The teen began to feel weak and worthless at the smaller yet older character. Sophia never felt so much pressure before in her life, even if she fought abnormalities all the time with Fayt and the others. With those eyes, Sophia knew well Fox could kill people off. The only thing Fox needed to kill people really was to have laser eyes.

And why was Sophia thinking about laser eyes in a moment like this?

"..." Sophia blushed embarrassed. "I-I need to go back to wo-"

"Just tell me already that you were the one who told EVERYONE here about me," Fox demanded with a menacing glare (without laser eyes). "Tell me that, and I'll try not to find some kind of way to punish you."

Sophia was even more pressured than before. Fox's words weren't surely reassuring her at all.

"..." Sophia closed her eyes as her lips twitched.

Fox only had his arms crossed as the teen bowed down to him in respect.

"I...I told Nel about you..." Sophia admitted ashamed of herself. "...B-but I didn't tell anyone else about your childhood nor I heard about it directly from you... N-Nel probably was the one who started to tell everyone...b-but that's just me..." She pulled back her head to look back at Fox. "Really, I'm so sorry for divulging something I shouldn't have heard from you! I-I don't know what I was thinking back then, I swear!"

"Wait," Fox said to interrupt Sophia's apology as he raised an eyebrow, "you're saying you heard that from someone else?"

Sophia gasped. "E-er, no, I didn't hear that from someone else..." She began to sweat even more.

Fox narrowed his eyes yet again. "Are you sure you didn't hear that from someone else?"

"I-I'm sure of it, yeah..." Sophia said. "C-can I go back to work on the soup I'm making?"

"Wait right there."

"Y-yes sir..." Sophia said with a gulp.

Fox rubbed his chin. "Okay, based from all the people I interrogated here..." he pointed at her, "was Fayt the one?"

"Oh no, he wasn't the one who told me that..." Sophia gasped. "I-I mean, I-I didn't hear that from anybody!"

"Stop it with the panic and let's get to the point so I can stop that bastard from telling stuff he or she shouldn't tell anybody else. I don't like of people to hear about my past because I think that's invading my privacy AND my past as well," Fox explained. "And let's see here, if I've asked seven people out of the ten from your group, that'd make you the eight person I'm talking to, and Fayt would be the ninth."

Sophia gulped. The image of a certain happy Velbaysian came to her mind.

"And if I've interrogated nine people out of the ten..." Fox looked even more serious at her, "...I can assume that the last person who did this outrage was the same person who overheard about what I was talking with Chris yesterday..."

Sophia looked annoyed at him. "Wait, if you knew it was Peppita all along, then why are you asking everyone about something that's so obvious to te-"

The teen suddenly covered her mouth with her hands as Fox looked pissed at her.

"...I-I mean to say she didn't do that sort of thing..." Sophia tried her best to calm down the vulpine. "S-she's a nice girl, I mean..."

"...So it WAS her all along..." Fox muttered.

"...I-I swear she didn't mean this at all..." Sophia said as she uncovered her mouth. "R-really, she didn't think this would happen..."

Suddenly, Fox stomped the hard floor one time enough to make a loud sound that startled Sophia, who backed away a bit from him in fear.

"P-please, don't hurt me, Fox!" Sophia pleaded as she joined her hands and began to move them back and forth. "A-and please, don't do something harsh on Peppita!"

The vulpine's eyes began darting everywhere around the workshop. "Where the hell is that girl, anyway?" Fox demanded. "Tell me now or else I-"

"S-she's not here!" Sophia yelled worried. "S-she just went out to get some materials for the Boots of Prowess she's making!"

"Is that true?"

"Y-yes, I swear it's true, but please don't hurt her!" Sophia said. "S-she's just…w-well…I-I don't want to say that…"

Fox looked very serious at her. "And what is that?"

Sophia shook her head as she took another step back. "I-I…"

Suddenly, the door of the workshop opened to reveal a cheerful Peppita walking in. The Velbaysian looked very happy as she muttered to herself something. "That guy I bumped to by accident looked so familiar," she muttered as she walked around the counter. "Why, he looked just lik-"

Fox and Sophia turned at her, the vulpine making a glare. "There she is," Fox said before he started to walk towards her.

Sophia knew things were going to turn out for the worse. The teen stopped cooking to go and do whatever she could do to stop any arguments.

Stopping on her path to the Crafting area, Peppita noticed that Fox was standing in her way with crossed arms. The Velbaysian stopped walking and blushed a bit after looking up at him. "Oh, hi, Fox. How are you?" She looked confused. "You know, you look a little bit angry… Did something happen?"

"Oh, like hell something happened," Fox said a bit pissed while a worried Sophia watched from behind him. "Stop playing around, now."

Peppita raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I haven't been playing around…"

"Oh, are you sure?" Fox asked.

"Y-yeah…" Peppita started to get a little bit frightened by Fox's glare. "I-I mean, I've been working hard on the Boots of Prowess all day…"

"Are you sure of that?" Fox asked. "I'm asking you this because I started to hear from, I don't know, pretty much everyone here that they know about what I talked with Chris last night."

Peppita rubbed her chin. "Is that so? Weird, I only remember telling that to Sophia in secret and…" The Velbaysian suddenly gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no…"

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "What the hell did I tell you about not telling absolutely ANYONE about what happened that night?"

"Y-you said you didn't want me to tell nobody…" Peppita muttered under her hands. "B-but I just told Sophia…"

Sophia looked defeated. "S-sorry, but I think I went too far in telling everyone about what you told me, Peppita…"

"Sophia!" Peppita looked angry at her. "That's a little bit childish of you for telling people secrets from others! What were you thinking when you did that?"

"Hey, don't put all the blame on me!" Sophia said annoyed.

Fox closed his eyes and grunted a bit. "Actually, I agree with Sophia," he said before looking at Peppita. "Do you know who else is acting very childish to others here?"

Peppita shifted her eyes. "…Roger?"

Fox shook his head.

"Cliff?"

Fox shook his head.

"Chris?"

"Hey!" Chris yelled without turning to her, not minding whatever they were doing.

Fox shook his head.

"Albel? It should be Albel because he's such a meanie."

"No," Fox said. "I'm talking about you."

"…" Peppita blinked a few times. "Huh? Me? B-but I always act very mature, don't I?"

"You, mature?" Fox asked before frowning. "What the hell makes you think you're even half mature?"

"W-well, I act very nice to people and I always say thanks when somebody helps me out in something I'm having some issues with…I even help them out when they need me," Peppita said as she played with her fingers a bit. "I listen to adults whenever they want me to do something as well… Isn't that mature?"

The vulpine made a fist on his right side of his hips. "What the heck makes you think that makes you mature at all?!" Fox yelled loudly.

Suddenly, all the inventors overheard the loud yell that they all stopped working before looking at the center of the workshop to the three.

Fayt looked up from the files he was patenting before he turned around and gasped a bit. "What the…"

Peppita took a step back from Fox. "W-well, I think I'm mature enough…" Peppita said unsure.

"Oh, do you really think that makes you mature?" Fox asked pissed. "Is it really mature for people to stalk others in their rooms?"

"W-well, that isn't matur-"

"Is it really mature for people to act very stupid around others?"

"N-not that I'm aware o-"

"Is it really mature for people to treat others like little children when they're ironically the real children?"

Peppita started to panic a bit. "L-little kids can become mature very earl-"

"And is it really mature for people to disobey adults when they're having private talks with others that they prefer not to tell anybody else so it stays as a secret?!" Fox asked loudly to the point he didn't notice he was walking slowly to the frightened Peppita. "Why are you being so damn fixated on me, anyway?!"

Peppita gulped as she started to back away from the furious leader of Star Fox. "I-I…"

"Why the hell can't you just leave me alone in peace?!" Fox asked as he came even closer to Peppita. "I wanted to enjoy this universe so I could feel happy myself for knowing that this place actually existed, but after I came here to see it with my own eyes, there's you who can't just stop annoying the hell out of me!"

Peppita tried her best to stay calm. "I-I…"

"P-please, stop it!" Sophia yelled, but Fox didn't listen to her.

"Why the heck can't you be nice and go away from me?!" Fox asked as she pointed at her. "I want to have some peace and relieve my stress from some painful memories I've been starting to recall, and you're not helping at all!"

"I-I tried my best to…" Peppita trailed off.

"Tried your best? What the hell does that even mean?" Fox asked as he stomped the floor one time, awakening the sleeping Sonic from the Engineering area. "Don't you understand I'm way older than you and that I know how to take care of myself from people like you?"

"I-I understand that very much, b-but…" Peppita's eyes started to fill with tears.

"If you understand very much, then why can't you just leave me alone for once?!" Fox asked furiously.

Peppita began to shake her head. "Y-you don't understand me, Fox..." she muttered with some fear.

"What?" Fox asked. "What do you mean by that? What's that about me not understanding you?"

Peppita gulped as almost everyone looked at them from all the areas. "I-I mean to say you don't understand me because you just simply...er...um...you just simply don't understand me...that's all..."

"That doesn't even make ANY kind of sense," Fox said pissed. "Tell me what you really mean, now."

Peppita shook her head even more. "N-no, it's too early to say that to you! I-I need to keep working hard for...I-I mean...d-don't listen to me, please..."

Fox came even closer to her. "Oh, I want to hear that. I want to find out why you're being like this around me," he said with a glare. "I want to know right now so we end this here once and for all."

Peppita found herself standing in front of the left wall, not any more space to back away from the pissed adult. Gulping, Peppita began to feel threatened. "I-I don't wanna!" Peppita yelled. "I don't wanna say it here! I-it's just too embarrassing to say such a thing when everyone's looking!"

"You know what, that's the same thing I felt," Fox said as he stopped walking just some feet away from her. "I'm feeling so DAMN embarrassed because someone couldn't shut up her mouth from telling private things to others when I'm at the point of yelling aloud many curses to no one in particular. Do you EVEN know what the private word means?"

"I-it means something that should be kept to one person or more as long as it doesn't get known by others..." Peppita responded. "T-that's correct, right?"

"Yeah," Fox said as he narrowed his eyes, frightening the girl even more. "If you want to stay fine with me, you better tell me what you're hiding from me."

"N-no!" Peppita yelled loudly as she blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, but I just can't tell you this! I-it's a very intimate secret I just don't wanna sa-"

"You're starting to piss me off now," Fox said as he made fists to the side of his hips, the others looking at each other. "Tell me what the hell you're hiding from me now...or else..."

Fox's words sounded very threatening to the Velbaysian. This feeling of fright was further supported by the glaring look the leader of Star Fox was giving to her. Also, Peppita just remembered that the fox was bigger, making everything feel so frightening for her.

"I-I..." Peppita stuttered as she shook in fear. "I-I..."

"You..." Fox muttered.

"...I-I..." Peppita gulped as everyone silently watched. She wanted someone to help her out, but it seemed that everyone wanted to see where this was going. "I-I...I-I...I-I..." Peppita gulped again.

"3..." Fox began a countdown. Whatever was at the end it surely had something very bad in reserve for Peppita. "2...1..."

Peppita was cornered.

"I-I...I-I...I-I love you, Fox..." Peppita muttered before she looked down and frowned to herself. "...I-in truth...I-I love you so much, Fox..."

Sophia gasped, Fayt's jaw opened a bit, C. Falcon looked shocked, Mirage covered her mouth with a hand, Cliff raised his eyebrows, Tails's tails (pun intended) stopped moving as he looked surprised, inside Samus's helmet her eyes were wide, Roy looked a bit shocked, Pit didn't move, Chilico stopped flying around to look very surprised at this, Adray's eyes dilated, Nel stared at the two in surprise, Misty Lear's eyes didn't make any motion, Roger's jaw dropped, Maria blinked with a little bit of amusement, Albel looked away, Puffy looked confused, and Wolf merely crossed his arms.

And Sonic looked bored, not finding anything of worth in this revelation.

"...What?" Fox asked to break the eerie silence in the workshop.

"..." Peppita nodded and looked up at him. "...I-I'm so madly in love with you, Fox..." Peppita said as she smiled a bit at him. "...W-when I first saw you, I thought you looked...very handsome...and so cute as well... I-I started to feel so funny when I looked at you at Welch's place..." She giggled silently. "A-and whenever I thought about you...I-I always blushed and giggled to myself because...I-I fell in love for the first time ever..." She played with her fingers. "I-I feel extremely happy when I'm talking you in hopes to get you...well...in love with me..."

Fox simply stared at her.

"...S-so I did everything I could so you could like me..." Peppita said. "...I wanted to find out more about you so we could be together..."

Fox blinked at this.

"A-all the stuff I offered you before was only because I like you so much..." Peppita admitted. "...I-I want to be in love with you forever, Fox... I...I...I just want you to confess your love to me..."

The dragoon shook his head at this. "(Oh my god...)" Chris thought. "(T-that's going too far already...)"

"(Oh no...)" Sophia shook her head. "(Here it comes...)"

"...S-so..." Peppita smiled at Fox. "What do you say, Fox? D-do you love me as much as I do to you?"

A creepy silence followed after Peppita told her question of proposal. Nobody could do anything to speak due to the fact the situation looked very serious. The vulpine kept staring at Peppita without showing any emotion because he stared down blankly at her. The Velbaysian thought that the leader of Star Fox surely tried his best to choose the right words to make her happy.

However, this was just a cruel illusion...

"..." In an instant, Fox's fists tightened as he glared down at her. "...Why would I EVER fall in love with such an immature girl like you?!"

Peppita's eyes suddenly widened in horror as her pupils shrunk instantly. She could heard glass shattering inside her after hearing the angry response from the furious vulpine.

Pit looked back in the Crafting area where a shocked Roger looked down at a broken orb that just appeared there. "N-NO, MY MIST ORB!!!" Roger yelled as he lamented his mistake. The orb presumably rolled over the edge and fell down by accident.

Peppita raised her hands to her neck level as the vulpine looked furious at her. "You mean to tell me you did all those things just because you thought I could fall in love with you?" Fox asked. "What the hell is wrong with that head of yours?!"

Peppita's eyes began to fill with tears. "I-I thought you loved me as well so I-"

"What makes you even think I'm in love with you?!" Fox yelled as she pointed at her, some of the inventors gasping. "Why would I love a very young girl like you?!"

"A-age differences don't matter at this time, right?" Peppita asked as she wiped some tears. "L-love doesn't have any barriers t-"

"What kind of bulls(beep)t is that?!" Fox yelled.

"W-what?"

Fox swung his right arm to his right as he held out his hand to the same direction. "If you really think you're mature, you should have known before that adults don't fall in love with kids! You were so fixated on me so you could have an excuse to spy on me and divulge my past that I wanted to keep private from the others?"

"D-didn't you tell him that t-"

Fox pointed at Chris. The dragoon hopped from his seat. "I told that to Chris because he knows damn well not to tell anybody else about what we talk in private, you know!" he yelled furiously at her. "He knows very well I'd beat him to death if he ever did something like that!"

The World Traveler gasped. "(W-wait, beat me to death? W-what is Fox thinking now?)"

Peppita shook even more in fear. "A-are you going to hit me, then?"

"No, I still have some manners towards girls," Fox said. "However, do you think I'm going to let you go after you did all that?"

"N-no..."

"Then understand that I don't want you to help me at all!" Fox yelled. "I'm sick of you already! It's way too much to have you around when I'm trying to relax for once!"

"I-I just wanted t-"

"Just do me a favor and get out of my sight!" Fox yelled at the girl. "I will never love you, I will never talk to you anymore, and I will never, EVER think about you anymore either!"

Peppita's eyes began to fill with tears as she sniffed several times at the older character. Everyone watched as the Velbaysian rubbed her eyes a bit before looking back at Fox.

"Don't even think you're going to change my mind by crying either," Fox said pissed.

"..." Peppita, despite shedding tears, glared at Fox. "...What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?!" she asked by yelling loudly as she pointed at Fox. "You're such a big meanie!"

"What was that?"

"Yeah, you're a big jerk!" Peppita yelled angrily. "I dunno why I even fell in love with such a heartless bastard like you! If I knew you were THIS easy to make angry, then I wouldn't have done all those nice things to you!"

"Nice things? Do you call all that crap you did to me nice things?" Fox asked. "Those nice things ended up hurting my dignity and conscience!"

"I was just trying to do my best to help you!" Peppita yelled. "Geez, I don't understand why adults get so worked up over meaningless things!"

"You just did NOT say my past is meaningless..." Fox muttered as he gritted his fangs.

"It IS meaningless!" Peppita yelled. "Who cares if you lost your father and mother? Why do you make such a big deal about that insignificant fact on a poor girl like me?"

"I happen to have liked both of my parents very much," Fox said. "If I heard someone mocking them, I'm going to do something about it."

Peppita stuck out her tongue. "Well, then I don't care!" she yelled loudly before she started crying. "Y-you're always going to be alone for the rest of your life because you don't care what the others think about you!"

Fox's eyes widened in fury as he looked down at her.

"A-and for that matter..." Peppita sniffed. "I bet I'm not the only one who gets this unfair treatment over a small accident by such a big jerk like you!"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Fox shouted loudly at the Velbaysian.

Peppita stared angrily at him. "...T-this is exactly why you're going to be alone...because you want to be a stupid lone wolf... Jerk! ...You're such a big...a big...a big...a big...a big...idiot..." Peppita's lips shook as her eyes were completely filled with tears. The others watched as the Velbaysian turned around and ran away outside where she started crying silently as she went away in a hurry to the east, her fists moving back and forth as her tears fell down on the street.

No one in the workshop decided to speak as a furious Fox panted heavily with long sighs. All the inventors could only wait for the vulpine to calm down after the event that took place.

Sophia shook her head in pure disbelief. "N-no..."

"...Oh man..." Cliff muttered. "...What a way to yell at her..."

The angel of Skyworld shook his head in shame. "This is just...so bad..." Pit muttered.

"...I would have done the same thing, though..." Tails muttered worried. "I'd have run away after that..."

The leader of Quark slowly looked away. "Peppita..." Maria shook her head. "She knew she was going to confront this sooner or later because of her actions... Dammit, I told her not to come with us..."

Fayt only frowned and closed his eyes. "Poor Peppita..." he muttered.

"Getting yelled like that...and knowing that he didn't think the same as she did to him..." Samus muttered before frowning. "...It's just so sad..."

"..." As Fox panted heavily, he wiped all the sweat from his forehead and turned around to look at everyone. "...What?" he asked as he opened his arms. "Do you have something to say or what?"

Nel stared at Fox for a moment before she closed eyes for a moment to think more about the issue, then she opened back her eyes to walk to him. "I have something," Nel began as she crossed her arms.

"Then what is it?" Fox asked with a glare.

Nel shook her head. "I know for sure that breaking someone's wishes with that display of cruelty is wrong," she said. "It's just like a monster would do."

Fox glared menacingly at her. "Are you calling me a monster? Do you see something disturbing on me to address me like one?"

Nel shook her head again. "Monsters don't necessarily need to look hideous," she said. "Real monsters are those who harm people physically...or in this case, emotionally."

"Tsk," Fox said with a frown. "She had it coming from the very beginning. If she was so fixated of me, then should would have listened."

"What kind of insencitive bastard are you?" Maria asked. "You don't care about her anymore just because she told something about you to everyone? Why is it wrong to know what happened to you before in the past?"

"Look," Fox began, "I had a very horrible past before that I wanted to stay in the shadows so I wouldn't feel depressed. I told this to Chris because I wanted him to know more about me because I didn't want to tell this to anyone else who would probably tell someone else about it," he explained. "And look at what just happened here."

Fayt shook his head. "Yeah, we understand it should be private, but...why did you have to be so harsh on Peppita? She just wanted you to like her."

Fox closed his eyes annoyed. "Do you think it was right for her for going so far to achieve something she wouldn't get even in a million of years? It was so obvious I didn't love her even a bit. I grew so frustrated to the point I wanted to speak my mind to her."

"We know it was not right for her to do all that," Mirage said. "However, she didn't need to receive such a cruel response from you."

"Who cares..." Fox muttered as he opened his eyes. "What's done is done..."

Everyone looked at each other worried before they all slowly returned to work on their areas. Fox looked at Wolf from his spot. The lupine had his arms crossed before he frowned and turned around to work in the Compounding area.

"(What, am I ashaming him of all people?)" Fox asked in his mind.

The leader of Star Fox grunted a bit before he looked to his right where Sophia looked worried at him.

"What is it now?" Fox asked. "Are you going to yell at me? If so, go right ahead. Be my guest."

"..." Sophia shook her head. "D-don't take me wrong, but I don't exactly hate you, Fox..."

"Good," Fox said. "Somebody here understands my reasons."

"However..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Here we go to the part I shouldn't have done..."

"...Peppita just felt empathy for you all along..."

Fox frowned and glared at her. "Oh, please, like this already happened to her once. I know for sure this is the first time she has been scolded by an adult."

Sophia nodded. "Well, yeah, this is the first time she has been scolded by an adult...but...truth is..." She looked worried. "...Peppita thought she would be good friends with you..."

"More like false lovers," Fox said. "I mean, I have a girlfriend."

Chris turned around. "I-I could argue you wit-"

"Shut up!" Fox yelled back.

The World Traveler turned around and continued to write with fear.

Fox looked at Sophia. "Anyway, she shouldn't feel empathy for me because of this."

"No, you don't understand..." Sophia trailed off. "I-I know it was wrong of her to tell everyone about your past...but...I guess it's not going to harm you to know about her own past... Everyone here knows it, but she doesn't care about it..."

Fox looked bored at her and grumbled a bit.

"You see..." Sophia trailed off. "...Peppita...when she was little..."

Inn - Hallway

Environmental Noises

The day went by, and night came very fast. Nobody decided to make more research around the fields of Peterny after witnessing the cruel event at the workshop. Fayt had told the Smashers and the others not to worry about Peppita. Fayt told them that Peppita would eventually come back and be herself again.

However, some of them started to grow worried as Peppita didn't come back from whenever she ran away. Roger offered to look for her around the city, but he ended up not finding her. He thought that she wouldn't possibly leave the city and just hide somewhere to think about what had happened.

It was very late, and a half-awake Chris slowly walked upstairs. The dragoon was thinking about the incident at the workshop. "I don't understand why Fox had to act like that... If somebody would ask me, I'd say he went too far on Peppita..." he muttered as he reached the dark hallway. "Why did I have to stay behind and finish the Earth Discharge book? My wrist feels so...tired..."

The World Traveler suddenly bumped into a figure. The dragoon fell back on his rear and moaned a little bit in pain.

"O-oww..." Chris muttered before looking up. "Who's standing in the middle of the night and the hallway in this darkness?"

"If isn't the kid..."

Chris's eyes suddenly widened after he looked up at Wolf. The dragoon looked a bit scared after finding the lupine all alone in the hallway of the second floor of the inn. "Y-you?"

"What, can't I have a walk in here?" Wolf asked a little bit irritated.

Chris slowly got up and looked scared. "W-what are you doing here? It's like 12:30 right now..." He looked to the door that was close to Wolf. "...And...that isn't your room's door...that's my room's door...and you're quite close to it..."

"So?"

"...Wait just a minute..." Chris looked serious at Wolf. "What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing," Wolf said. "I'm just trying to overhear some info from Fox."

"Oh..." Chris nodded. "..." He thought for a moment. "...Wait, what? Are you..."

Wolf frowned and looked at the door.

"W-wait just a minute, why are you stalking Fox for?" Chris asked confused. "It's not like you to be this interested on Fox, you know..."

Wolf thought for a moment. "Hmm..." He looked at Chris and grinned a bit. "...Maybe this will prove beneficial to me..."

The dragoon looked scared at Wolf's amused grin. "W-Wolf, what are you trying to do to me now? A-are you trying to change the subject here?"

Wolf shook his head. "Oh no, it's quite the contrary that also has to do with this," he explained. "However, it's going to give me some benefits in exchange thanks to you, kid."

"W-whatever are you trying to say to me?" Chris asked.

A while later...

The World Traveler blinked shocked at the lupine. It seemed that they both had an important talk that also involved Chris accepting a favor from Wolf himself.

"...I-I...I-I just can't..." Chris shook his head. "I mean...you...you've been doing..."

"Let's save the talk for later, kid," Wolf said as he grabbed the doorknob of the door. "It's time to make Fox atone for what he has done today to that girl."

"D-do I take that as a sign of you-" Chris stopped talking once Wolf opened the door of the room.

"...What the..." Wolf muttered.

"...Is something wrong?" Chris asked before he walked to his side and looked into the room. "...What..."

After Wolf opened the door to Chris's room, what he didn't expect was Fox's bed empty. It was easy to tell Fox was there before by the fact the bed sheet was all scrambled as it hung on the right side of the bed. Also, the window behind the bed was wide open as the curtains were being dragged along by the wind.

"That bastard..." Wolf muttered as he gritted his fangs. "That's why the room was so silent. The guy escaped right before I came here..." He grunted. "Dammit..."

"O-oh no, where did he go?" Chris asked worried.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

However, they didn't know that one of them was already at the mercy of the Shadow Nightmare as a scream from a man echoed through the enormous garden hidden between Peterny and Aquios.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The scream not only was alone, but if someone could hear, another different voice could be heard laughing maniacally...

...It was just the prologue of the next dreadful fight of the third hellish night...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Third Liar: Fox the Corrupt... Dammit..." Maria muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Aquatic Garden, Surferio
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Peppita, Roger, Adray

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – More Complicated" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you go to the optional dungeon of the Aquatic Garden, Surferio.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Let's Item Creation!!" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you make the inventors create items.

Out Of Curiosity:

-Why don't you wonder about Peppita before she got back in the workshop?

And so, we're reaching the ending of this arc.

I felt that the chapter was dragging for too long during the workshop scene. As such, I decided to try to shorten the next scenes after it. However, this will prove to raise the readers' suspense. We're adding even more mystery into the chapter so you get interested about what will happen next.

Also, maybe you're starting to think what will happen next in the next Shadow Nightmare battle. All I can say is that it'll have a lot of action, and the chapter will also have the end of Fox's past. Wolf is going to be a very important key character for this event…and another one I have in hands for him very soon…

I encourage readers to review as always. ;)

…Or Fox will never get the answer for five plus five. "Snickers"
*Chapter 157*: Third Liar: Fox the Corrupt

I can't believe we're not done with this arc yet…

From 90's Kid: First off I'm with you man: I mean I didn't know you were a homophobe but that makes you even more extremes. Why should like gay people have any rights and stuff? I say we burn them all man and certainly don't make stories about them. All those stories are like so gay cause they're gay. Get it man? I'm sure you do being on of those * haters like me.

Anyway this chapter was really solid. First off Wolf is super extreme for trying to tell people the truth. Though hearing everyone try to keep it a secret is fun though yeah if I found out my world was a video game... I'd be like "no way awesome! Where's the gun's at bros! I need my guns!"

Also wonder what's with that like guy that Fox's dad was talking about in the flashback. I think it's Wolf but what if it wasn't Wolf and was uh... Commander... Extreme... Gilligan! Yeah totally do that bro, no one would see that twist coming.

Dude sadness on Fox having to be harsh with Peppita! He shouldn't of broke her heart like that. Should of played it to the chest bro. Played it to the chest.

Anyway stinks you're not doing a DOOM arc but still great stuff bro. If you ever change you're mind on that remember to chant the name's 90's Kid and I'll be there. Cause I'm awesome sauce like that.

From me: W-well, I could say I'm an homophobe…no offense to those who support gay pairings, though.

Why would you need your guns?

The person Fox's dad was talking about in the flashback was Wolf. Even it was said right there that it was Wolf.

You'll shall see why Fox acted like that on Peppita in this chapter. ;)

Well…I'm not sure if DOOM will get here. I barely know the game's story…but maybe I could see what it's in there...although I don't find the world that "suitable" for the Smashers… Wait to see what happens, okay? Thanks. :)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Another Great 2 chapters by Chris. Hilarious as usual. Keep it up. Though I do have a few questions.
1 When is Rayquaza going to be recruited?
2 Why haven't you been using Olimar?
3 What happened to Pokey?

From me: 1- I don't think Rayquaza was with the Subspace Army. I mean, he's a good Legendary Pokemon that stopped Kyogre and Groudon from fighting against each other. This fact is further supported by the fact that Rayquaza didn't like his guests (Fox and Diddy) to disturb him in the lake he was conveniently resting. Don't you think the same too?

2- I'll make sure Olimar participates more in the next chapters. It's hard to make him come to a world where he would stick out as a sore thumb. Surely, you don't want Olimar in a place, for example, Resident Evil, right? 9 (Not that I'm saying I'm making an arc like that).

3- Pokey…will be mentioned very soon, don't worry.

I hope that answered all your questions. ;)

From ngrey651: You know, Wolf had a point. They really SHOULD just be open and honest with other people on different worlds as to why they're there. Honesty's the best policy and knowing them, proof positive in the form of the Subspace Army is going to show up soon enough.

I'm surprised Fox was so blunt towards Peppita...then again, the appearance of the Shadow Nightmare indicates he was really, REALLY asking for a giant shadow bug on his back. I'm not TOO surprised.

From me: Well, what would happen if they were rejected after being honest, though?

Ooh, you'll enjoy this chapter then. Please, scroll down. ;)

From PianistChris: It was both comical and interesting at the beginning, and the scene where Eggman's robot was shot down so easily, with a saddened Eggman, was hilarious! XD

The continuation of Fox's backround story was very interesting, but the stalking Peppita creeped me out a bit...O.O

Poor Peppita, although I find her irritating, (looking at it from Fox's point of view), I find that what he did to her was cruel and unsympathetic. Hopefully things will turn out for the better in the following chapter.

Overall it was a great chapter, and I am looking foward to reading what happens next with Fox, and what that deal between Wolf and Chris was about.

From me: It's going to be a good chapter, I'm telling you from my point of view, of course. I hope you enjoy this chapter to see where Fox's spotlight goes. :D

From WerehogWatcher: Even though I'm only at the very beginning of this story, I must say that it's pretty good. I know very few people that can mix many different universes togethere and get the personalities right. So, I'll keep reading until I get where you are now. Godd luck!

From me: Many thanks to you, really. I'm always struggling to get the personalities right for all the characters that I show here. By no means, no character will be portrayed as OOC unless…I do something to give them more importance but that's not happening very much…I hope.

Anyway, I'm glad you're liking the fic. Please, do read more. :)

From FF and STH: this chapter was something with what happen in the workshop is was mean for fox to say that kind of thing to peppita, it was a really great chapter

From me: Thanks for hearing your opinion. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. :)

From SlasherMask: *GASP* You don't like Yuri? But isn't it like normal to straight guys like that? *cackles* Hehe, just kidding~~*giggle/cackle combination*

But seriously, boys rarely ask to sleep with other boys, so it gives that vibe.(I think that vibe is called "Ho yay"(Note: Lucario also manages to cause "Ho yay"))

Yeah, I was wondering too was there any point to hide dimension traveling in first place...

...She can kill with food while Fox can't?

"adults don't fall in love with kids!" =D Ding ding! I hear collective gasp of shotaro fans!

Hmm~, Wolf is kinda confusing, since other sources say that hes more closer to Fox in age, others say he is closer to James...(note: If you think that his Brawl's trophy answers the question, then I need to do more explaining.)

Anyway, I think something was off in Fox being angry scene... But I can't really say what felt off(I don't know, maybe I was bothered by how much Fox is bothered by his privacy things?)... Eh, maybe I am just imagining. I also think that Nel's monster thing sounded little off for some reason...

But yeah, Fox shouldn't probably had forced her to told her reason.

P.S... *creepy giggle* I SO love speaking like this~~ Especially if it manages you to think wrong way~ But for explanation I will explain that I will not explain if I like gay pairings since I find it funny if you think I do~ Come on, REAL answer should be obvious.

From me: Yes, it MAY be normal for normal straight guys to like Yuri, but I'm an exception to that belief you have…seriously.

I know it's rare for boys to do that, but sometimes, I guess it's understandable to think they want to be between friends they think they can trust. Of course, there's no trace of sick thoughts around.

From DianaGohan: I think Star Ocean out of any Arc so far has grown the most interesting the quickest. There were a few scenes I didn't like. Well besides his opening convo with Chris I didn't like any Adray scene, and since no one bothered going in the temple that could of been shortened. Still the rest was well done: The humorous opening bit with Eggman, Wolf and Samus actually spilling the truth (or as much of the truth as allies are allowed), Fox's flashback with his dad (actually his bonding with James was a bit more tender then I expected from you), Peppita's attempts at wooing fox, and of course the big ending scene where Fox yells at Peppita and breaks her heart. Harsh yet I could see his anger and her sadness so it made me feel for both characters which is good. And the ending despite my jabbing build the right amount of tension so overall good story. Hell without Adray this would be boardering on a solid A. With him and a few other negatives (you still need to work on first person perspective for example)

GRADE: A-/B+

From me: Believe me, the garden was going to be very boring since it would involve very easy fights with random enemies. That's the reason why it was so short.

Why don't you like Adray, though? Please, just because Adray's there doesn't mean…aw, screw it. I can't force you either way. Still, I'm glad you're enjoying the Star Ocean 3 arc. I wish to see you liking this chapter as well. ;)

From True Hyper Sonic: WHOA! Overkill, much! I know Fox's past is almost as bad as Shadow's, but JEEZ! Poor kid never saw it coming... Shame. It would've saved her a lot of heartbreak if she'd left it be. Also, in regards to "SlasherMask", the term "X3" is the l33tspeak equivalent of cringing in disgust; like an emoticon, but with text. Sounds like Wolf's up to something, but will he get the chance; now that Fox has been attacked by a S. Nightmare, it's all up for grabs! Oh, & would Fox REALLY beat Chris to a bloody pulp? Cuz Lucario'd probably maul him if he did! Just a thought... Ja ne!

From me: I think Fox would beat Chris to a bloody pulp because…well, it'd be explained in this chapter…probably.

Well, I hope you enjoy this special chapter. :D

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches to Reviewer!~

Ahahaha, so I was right! It IS Fox (not like there was anyone else).

I realize a minor problem that you have with part of speech. Like in the previous chapter, "built" (a past participle in itself) was used instead of "build" (which is both present and a noun). The same happened here in "The -dead- of my mother..." where "dead" should have been "death."

Update soon, though! I look forward to the showdown.

From me: Oh, many thanks for pointing out my mistakes. I like reviewers to tell me the parts where I should have written the right tense of the words. Really, thanks.

It was Fox the next victim. Let's see what happens in this chapter, okay? (Well, I know, but you don't, anyway…)

Ahem… I have something important to tell all of you.

Due to the big length of this chapter, I finally decided to make Star Ocean 3 a special arc of 5 chapters. This happened mostly because…

1- This chapter has a special flashback memory that Wolf decides to tell to Chris in the scene that was previously left in a cliffhanger.

2- The scene where the Shadow Nightmare is introduced needed a lot of dialogue.

3- I forgot to mention what happened after the Fox and Peppita scene in the workshop. This also includes the sudden abandoning action that Fox took.

4- Lastly, some bit of the Shadow Nightmare fight.

As such, the next chapter of the arc will conclude…well, the arc. I wanted to do this so I wouldn't delay in posting the next chapter. Also, this allows me to make a longer fight scene where I could POSSIBLY have all the characters fight. This also needs to have a very special scene I have planned at the end of the next chapter of this one. I don't want to tire myself writing EVERYTHING and let you read EVERYTHING. I think about the health of the readers…

Well, let's see here…

I've explained what this chapter has. I could have forgotten another fact, but I'm sure everything's ready to go out. Without further ado, I'll let you continue to enjoy this arc.

I encourage readers to review so you express how much you liked this chapter. ;)

Disclaimer: Many people can relate to Fayt so well because he's a normal student from Earth…that later discovered he had the power to save the whole universe. Okay, maybe you're not related to him, but…

Chapter 157: Third Liar: Fox the Corrupt

Flashback

Trading Town of Peterny
Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lakes and Marshes with Doubt

"No, you don't understand..." Sophia trailed off. "I-I know it was wrong of her to tell everyone about your past...but...I guess it's not going to harm you to know about her own past... Everyone here knows it, but she doesn't care about it..."

Fox looked bored at her and grumbled a bit.

"You see..." Sophia trailed off. "...Peppita...when she was little..."

Fox turned around a put a hand in his right pocket. "Look, this is done and over with. I want to be alone for the time being."

"I-I know you want to do that, but will you please listen to what I have to say first?"

"..." Fox didn't move. His face still looked pissed.

"...Okay..." Sophia said nodding. "Let me tell you why Peppita felt that about you..." She looked away. "...Fox...your mother died right after you were born, right?"

"I thought EVERYONE knew that here," Fox said annoyed.

"Y-yeah, that's what I thought," Sophia said worried. "And your father...kind of left you...right?"

"...Yeah," Fox responded annoyed. "Where do you want to get with this?"

"I-I'm asking you all those things to clarify something I understand that you and Peppita have in common, Fox..."

"We do not have something common," Fox said as he turned around and glared at her. "For that matter, we're never going to be friends or something like that."

"Please, let me continue," Sophia said. "Even if you're going to refuse this...you 2 do have something in common..."

Fox looked pissed at her. "Well, what is it? Tell me so I can go away and do my own business."

"..." Sophia nodded. "...You and Peppita probably share the same kind of past..."

"SURE," Fox said.

"I-I'm telling you this because...well..." Sophia looked away. "...Peppita...when she was little...her father..."

Fox grumbled a bit.

"...He abandoned her..." Sophia said. "...It's just like your father did to you, Fox..."

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "Please, do you REALLY think that guy abandoned me just because he wanted?"

"W-what?"

Fox frowned. "I know my father is dead. There's no reason to fret over that for any time longer," he explained. "I know for something that my father didn't abandon me."

"I-I know, but don't you think you can relate that with Peppita's past?"

"I don't care about her anymore," Fox stated.

"...Not even if her mother died when she was 5?"

"..." Fox looked down. "Why do you try so hard to make me change my mind?"

Sophia put a hand over her neck. "I'm doing this because I can't just sit and watch how someone yells at someone else so fragile like Peppita. Why do you think she's always looking cheerful?"

"..." Fox remained silent.

"She's always looking cheerful so her past doesn't bother her," Sophia explained. "It's something natural that people do so they stay optimistic. Didn't you do that as well at some point?"

Fox frowned. "No, I didn't," he said. "But still, I'm not going to apologize to her after she did all that just for me to tell her I didn't love her."

"B-but...don't you feel ashamed?" Sophia asked. "Don't you feel ashamed to yell at a happy girl like Peppita who has gone through all those cruel events before?"

Fox stared away.

"Is it really any good destroying her cheerful nature?" Sophia asked. "She's been given another opportunity to enjoy life with the troupe she travels around across the universe. They told me that Peppita has been enduring and hanging there by herself in order for her to be happy."

Fox looked at her. "...And?"

"And...doesn't that bother deep down in you in truth?" Sophia asked. "Don't you have shame for breaking her emotionally?"

Fox closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "...Maybe just a little bit..."

"So, why don't you just go apologize to her?"

"I just can't," Fox stated. "I just can't do that, not after everything she did to me. She knew very well this was going to happen if she was acting "mature" all the time."

"Well, personally, I'd go to her and apologize," Sophia said before frowning. "...Otherwise, it'll bother me for the rest of my life if my parents died...and thinking about adding that display of unnecessary cruelty would make matters worse...and...I wouldn't be the same happy person like Peppita..."

Fox's eyes widened.

"...But...if you don't want to do that...I won't force you..." Sophia said before she walked away. "Just...think about this again so you can find the best answer..." she muttered as she walked to the Cooking area.

The vulpine watched as Sophia silently returned to her area. Fox looked around the workshop where nobody paid any attention to him. However, he noticed that Wolf stared at him for seconds before turning around, frowning to himself. The leader of Star Fox could tell nobody wanted to talk with him due to the silence that filled the air. The only sounds that echoed in the workshop were pencils writing, hard hot metal being banged against hammers, and the brewing moves of the soups.

The silence made Fox look down.

"(Dammit...)" Fox thought. "(I just don't know what to do for now... Everyone here should pretty much think I'm some sort of idiot... I...I need to have some time by myself and see this again...)" he thought ashamed before he walked away, trying to find the best answer for his dilemma. "(I hope I can decide this in time before I regret it...)"

End of flashback

North Peterny

The window of a familiar suddenly opened wide as Fox jumped out from the second floor and landed on safe floor, a serious look on his eyes as he sprinted to the north of the city, thinking only about the event that happened in the workshop that afternoon.

"(Why, why the hell did I do all that to someone like her?)" Fox asked to himself as he glared forward at the stone street. "(I just can't let her look all down after hearing Sophia about her...)" He closed his eyes as he dashed. "(If she ever comes back, she'll never speak a word to me. Worse yet, she could just hate me forever...)" He opened his glaring eyes. "(I don't want people to hate me because of my reckless behavior just because I'm thinking way too much...ever...)"

The leader of Star Fox suddenly stopped and looked around with a fist to his right hip. He seemed to be clicking several buttons on his scouter to find steps going to the north through infra-rays. Unfortunately, he only found a multitude of steps. The vulpine narrowed his eyes before turning off his equipment.

"(I heard she didn't come back to us when she ran away,)" Fox thought. "(Would she be still in the city, though? Ugh, she could be anywhere, crying to herself...)" Fox closed his eyes and grunted. "(No, don't think that... Focus... There should be a place somewhere where she could've escaped... There's a big chance I'm going to end up getting lost...but...)" He looked around. "(If I was her, I'd go to a place where nobody would look... If I take in mind that she knows the area, she'd probably think I'd go somewhere else before I'd go to a place I know well...but...am I right?)"

The vulpine looked at the open north gate of the city.

"...It's worth the try," Fox muttered in a serious tone. "She could be hiding in the last place I'd look into…" He tightened his fists and sprinted to the north, leaving the city behind.

Inn – Hallway

Around this time, the lupine had made his way behind the door to Chris's room to check on Fox even if he didn't know he was there. Also, it was around this time that Chris first appeared and bumped accidentally on Wolf.

"W-wait just a minute… Why are you stalking Fox for?" Chris asked confused. "It's not like you to be this interested on Fox, you know..."

Wolf thought for a moment. "Hmm..." He looked at Chris and grinned a bit. "...Maybe this will prove beneficial to me..."

The dragoon looked scared at Wolf's amused grin. "W-Wolf, what are you trying to do to me now? A-are you trying to change the subject here or what?"

Wolf shook his head. "Oh no, it's quite the contrary that also has to do with this," he explained. "However, it's going to give me some benefits in exchange thanks to you, kid."

"W-whatever are you trying to say to me?" Chris asked.

"I guess you find this odd of me, right?" Wolf asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Don't try to hide it. It's very easy to tell."

"W-well…" Chris looked down for a bit before looking back at Wolf. "…It's odd of you to focus on Fox…"

Wolf nodded. "Truth is I have my reasons to be stalking him during these times at night."

"…Wait, what? So you've been stalking him ever since we came here?"

Wolf nodded again. "Not exactly stalking but making sure he was fine with himself."

The World Traveler looked confused at him. He didn't think Wolf would actually care about Fox's welfare. As far as Chris knew, they both would beat each other to death rather than helping each other. "W-why, though?" Chris asked. "Why are you trying to focus more on him more than usual? …Are you trying to kill him?"

"I'd like to do that myself," Wolf admitted before he frowned. "However, it's…a favor I'm doing to someone who asked me to do this…"

"…What?" Chris asked. "Who made you do that? I thought you liked to do things your way…and not listen to anyone…or even me…"

"Well..." Wolf looked away. "...It's sort of a promise I made with someone..."

"...You made a promise with someone to stalk Fox?"

"...Sort of," Wolf said. "I'm not letting you know about it, though."

"What?"

Wolf shook his head. "I won't let you know about with who I made the promise with. As far as I know, telling you the secret could ruin my image with the people I know at my turf. However, as long as you shut up...I could let you know..."

"W-well..." Chris looked unsure. "I-I won't tell anybody about that secret... I don't mind..."

"...Hmm..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "...If I were to tell you this secret...would you do something for me?"

"Do something for you?" Chris asked. "What's that?"

"Your curiosity is way too high tonight," Wolf said before chuckling. "Chances are this will prove to be very benefitial to me if you do want to know the secret I have about Fox."

The World Traveler thought for a moment.

"I need you to shut up for this," Wolf said as he uncrossed his arms. "By no reason you're not allowed to tell this to anybody, not even Fox, and not even to someone in private. You already saw how everything turned at the workshop after Fox yelled at that girl for divulging his past to everyone. My own secret, however, can really hurt my reputation."

Chris gasped as he just noticed that Wolf's dark claw was about to touch his chin. His dark claw glowed thanks to the Hand of Doom attack.

"Even if you try to threaten me by telling someone this, I won't hesitate to resort to drastic measures...and no one will be able to protect you either..." Wolf muttered as the World Traveler looked shocked. "I don't care if I die as long as unrequired scum doesn't piss me off..."

Chris shook a bit. "Y-you're EVIL when you need to..."

Wolf grinned. "Do we have a deal or what?"

"W-what makes you think I need to know about that?" Chris asked. "Will it make any difference to me if I know that secret?"

"Maybe," Wolf said. "It could possibly help you grasp Fox even better than before...and not to mention myself... C'mon, kid, your biggest weakness is that you really crave for important events in the pass of somebody you want to know more. I shouldn't be that different, right?"

Cornered.

"...I-I do want to know more about Fox...and possibly you..." Chris said with a gulp. "W-will you please lower that creepy claw of yours?"

Wolf grunted a bit and lowered his claw which instantly turned back to normal. The lupine put a hand on his left hip and looked at Chris. "Then, do you want to hear about the secret I have so you can do me a favor later on?"

"...I-I'm not so sure, but..." Chris thought for a moment before sighing. "Okay, I think we have a deal..."

"Okay," Wolf said with a nod. "Alright, kid, I trust you're not going to tell this to anybody, not even the blue dog, right?"

"No..." Chris nodded. "You have my trust."

"Okay, then," Wolf said before clearing his throat with a cough. "You're probably wondering why I've been focusing on Fox lately, right?"

"Yes..."

"Well, to be honest, I wouldn't be doing this kind of thing," Wolf said. "I despise Fox a lot because he's way too cocky like somebody else I knew before him... Ironically, that same person was the one who told me to anonymously...take care of Fox..."

Chris gasped silently. "Wait, you're...you're taking care of Fox?"

Wolf nodded. "Very out-of-character for a person like me, huh?"

"B-but why?" Chris asked. "I thought you 2 were rivals that would want to beat each other to death...and then do the same thing all over again..."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, I'm chained to this promise that keeps coming out every time I look at Fox," Wolf said. "This promise was made by that person who asked me to take care of him..." He looked serious. "I'll let you guess who it is."

Chris thought for a moment. "I-I don't know..."

"Time out, then," Wolf said with a frown. "The person who asked me to take care of Fox...was none other than his father himself."

The World Traveler looked surprised. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Yeah," Wolf said. "I'm talking about my first rival I crossed paths with a long time ago...James McCloud, better known as Fox's father to many."

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Fly Away in the Violet Sky

The lonesome ruins underneath the fields between Aquios and Surferio remained very silent. The light of the moon entered through cracks on the long ceiling that gave the ruins a dark atmosphere where crickets chirped endlessly.

However, someone had snuck inside during the whole day. Sobs and sniffs echoed in the peaceful ruins as, in a previously discovered area that was located at the center of the hanging floors, was a lone figure clutching to her knees as she leaned against a small pedestal.

The center of the platforms wasn't the same as the other platforms. This particular platform was very wide and long enough to hold many people even though it had some pillars scattered around. The floor had plants and flowers adorning the edges over the walls that all lead to the precipice down below. The floor also had a staircase that directed to the previous floor to the south of an arch with a blue gem on its top and center. To the north area of the floor, a small staircase directed to a small hole where a monster used to be before Fayt and the others came to destroy it.

Peppita sobbed and sniffed silently to herself as she looked down behind her legs. The Velbaysian had fled in the garden after the argument she had with Fox. Peppita decided to hide away by re-visiting the aquatic garden by herself, knowing that nobody would look for her in an area they already investigated to find the Spagonia Temple.

"H-he's such a big jerk..." Peppita muttered between sobs. "I-I can't believe I let myself get fooled because of that insensitive bastard..." she cried a bit with a sniff. "I-I don't want to see him or anybody else after that..." she muttered. "He deserves to be punished one of these days for yelling at me like that..." Peppita cried more as she embraced her legs. "H-he's such an idiot!" she yelled loudly before sobbing louder.

Without her knowing, she didn't see that a figure floated towards her from the arch.

"...I don't wanna see Fox anymore..." Peppita muttered. "...After all...we weren't meant to be for each other...I...admit that..."

"Oh, is that right, little girl?"

Peppita suddenly looked up to find a figure in some sort of floating...whatever it was. A floating chair. "W-who are you?" Peppita asked. "L-leave me alone! I don't want to see anybody ever again!"

"My, what an immature behavior," the person said, making Peppita gasp. "Weren't you taught to listen to adults?"

"W-what do you know, anyway?" Peppita asked angrily as she looked down behind her legs. "I didn't ask you to come here and bother me any longer! I'm really mad right now so go away!"

The person on the floating seat was Dr. Eggman. The scientist apparently came back to look for the temple in the same spot he previously had fled when the others were about to attack him. The scientist remembered Peppita being there with them before.

"Hmm..." Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin. "Why are you here all alone by yourself? I thought you were supposed to be with that pesky hedgehog and the others."

Peppita looked up angrily at him. "I don't wanna see any of them anymore, you dork..." she muttered before lowering her face. "I don't wanna see anybody..."

"Why's that?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You look a little bit sad for my tastes..."

"You shouldn't know," Peppita said without looking at him. "It's something very intimate that a bastard made me get this sad..."

"So I take somebody made you get like this and cry all night..."

Peppita gasped. "N-no, that's not what I meant to say..."

"Really now?" Dr. Eggman asked with a chuckle. "Well, I do know very well that was your reason to be here...or it is the reason..."

"Go away and leave me alone!" Peppita yelled as she looked up at him. "It's none of your business to talk to me at all! Y-you're evil, I know that!"

"Perhaps," Dr. Eggman said. "Is somebody looking for you or have you just come here right now?"

"Nobody shouldn't be looking for me... I came here ever since afternoon..." Peppita muttered with a sniff. "I-I've been crying and sobbing in peace to feel much better...b-but you're not helping me feel any better..."

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Well, well, maybe I can take advantage of this unfortunate situation..."

Peppita looked confused at him. "W-what do you mean? What are you going to do?"

Dr. Eggman grinned. "Oh, very simple," he said as he clicked a button on his machine. "Why, it shouldn't need explanations that much."

Peppita gasped once a catching net was shot out from the front part of Dr. Eggman's floating machine. The Velbaysian stood up to run away, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the net that captured her underneath. Peppita screamed and tried to get out, but she gasped after she saw that the spheres that were attached all over the net's edges turned into drills that dug themselves into the floor in order for her not to escape easily, trapping her under it.

"H-hey, stop this!" Peppita yelled as she tried to break through the net. "W-what are you trying to do to me?!"

"Oh, my bad," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "I guess I DO need explanations...or it's you," he said. "Very well…little girl. I shall tell you what I'm going to do with you."

Peppita looked worried. "W-what would that be?"

"I am going to use you as...hmm...what's the word? Oh yes, hostage," Dr. Eggman said before Peppita gasped. "If someone dares to appear here and be a hero or heroine, I'm going to have you zapped but good with the same net you're underneath."

Peppita's eyes widened once she saw some sparks jumping from some of the sides of the net she was in.

"The voltage shouldn't kill you with one shot, but it could finish you off with 20 tries," Dr. Eggman explained with a snicker. "Just think about it. You're going to be a very useful little girl for me."

"I-I'd never help you out!" Peppita yelled angrily. "I-I don't want to deal with this stupidity as well! L-let me go!"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "I'm not going to listen to such an immature little girl like you."

Peppita gasped.

"Why would I listen to such an immature girl like you?"

"I-I'm not immature..." Peppita muttered with a sniff as she recalled Fox's harsh words. "I-I'm a very mature girl..."

"Bah, nonsense," Dr. Eggman said. "You're better off being a childish girl like you are now. Pfft, children becoming mature, please..."

"T-that's not true!" Peppita cried out. "Y-you don't understand me!"

"And you don't understand me either," Dr. Eggman pointed out. "Children are supposed to respect adults, don't they?"

Peppita took a step back and looked away. "...Y-yeah...I-I guess..." Peppita muttered before glaring at the scientist. "B-but I DO know I shouldn't be nice to a guy like you ever!"

Dr. Eggman grumbled. "There you go again... No wonder why you got here by yourself."

Peppita shook her head. "I-I didn't get here because of that!"

"No, you really did come all the way here because of that," Dr. Eggman said as he looked serious at her. "You're making such a big deal over an insignificant thing like your maturity which you don't have."

The Velbaysian felt that this was like some sort of repeat of the event that took place during the afternoon. Peppita's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head to the scientist.

"Your expressions prove my point," Dr. Eggman said. "It had something to do with you being immature to someone of that group."

"N-no!"

"Oh, yes, it is," he said. "I can easily tell you were nagging a single person, and that same person snapped out of it and yelled at you."

"T-that's not true!" Peppita yelled. "H-how can you tell all that?!"

"Little girl, I use common sense and logic," Dr. Eggman said. "My IQ is remarked for being the most talented there is."

"Y-you're just guessing, that's all!" Peppita yelled before she covered her face. "I-I don't want to stay here and listen to you!"

"Oh, too bad," Dr. Eggman said as he moved his right hand in the air. "You decided to come here, I decided to come here, and now you will be a very important human shield for me to do anything I please here and finally find the location of the Spagonia Temple."

Peppita uncovered her face and looked at him. "T-too bad because we already came here and we didn't find that temple anywhere..."

Dr. Eggman looked bored at her. "And I take you didn't look very well around here?"

Peppita looked confused. "W-what?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "You probably just looked around this long hanging floor with staircases and monsters," he said. "You probably didn't look down, though..."

"B-but there shouldn't be anything down here..." Peppita muttered. "W-well, that's what we thought..."

The scientist frowned. "For your information, the temple is ironically right under this very same platform."

The Velbaysian's eyes dilated. "W-what?"

"Yes, it is indeed right below this platform," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "It's not easy to find with the naked eye, you know. The temple happens to be hidden behind taller buildings as their central point. Also, the temple's color is different from the pale light green color of everything in here," he explained. "You should have looked below, but it's very good to know you were such a bunch of dorks."

Peppita grunted angrily at this.

"Now, now, I don't want to see that angry expression of yours," Dr. Eggman said as he clicked a button that shot a hand claw at Peppita's net. The Velbaysian gasped and covered her face with her arms as the claw grabbed the net and pulled her off from the floor. The drills suddenly joined together to completely trap Peppita in it as the net hung down below Dr. Eggman's machine, prompting her to stand on the ropes so her legs wouldn't fall in the holes, her hands grabbing the net in fear. "Be good and stay quiet."

"L-let me go right now!" Peppita demanded as she shook the ropes. "I don't want to stay with you!" Peppita's demands stopped once the ropes zapped her hands a bit enough to make her fall down on the ropes, scared.

"Stop making things worse for you," Dr. Eggman said. "If you start to annoy me even more, I'm going to have to use drastic measures..."

The Velbaysian couldn't look up at the scientist anymore from the spot she was now. Peppita looked sadly at this and frowned to herself. "T-this is just so unfair..." Peppita muttered in defeat.

"You know what is else is unfair?" Dr. Eggman asked. "It's unfair for you to behave like a bad girl."

Peppita sniffed and embraced her legs again. "W-why did this have to happen to me?"

Dr. Eggman frowned. "This happened to you because you didn't listen well enough to understand what the other people told you not to for sure," he said. "After all, that always happens when children like you act immature."

Peppita sobbed a bit as she reminded herself about the incident at the workshop. She recalled Fox's words once more; the words that hurt her the most.

"What the hell did I tell you about not telling absolutely ANYONE about what happened that night?"

"Why would I EVER fall in love with such a immature girl like you?!"

"What the heck makes you think that makes you mature at all?!"

"Nice things? Do you call all that crap nice things?"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Peppita's eyes filled with tears before she started to cry silently to herself. The scientist frowned to himself as he looked to the left.

"Well, it's better not to say anything to you so you shut up and calm down," Dr. Eggman said. "I better get this done as soon as possible..."

Peppita thought that it was her fault that all of this happened. She thought she should have listened to Fox's demands before, but she didn't think she would end up being a hostage for the enemy. The Velbaysian was completely at a loss. Peppita thought nobody would look for her due to the fact they didn't know where she was. Every single route for salvation was closed for her, and that only made matters worse.

In a few words, Peppita was going down to the wrong path...

"...Hmm?" Dr. Eggman looked around. "Somebody is approaching..."

Peppita sniffed a few times before slowly looking up. "W-what?"

The Velbaysian suddenly heard some footsteps coming from the south of the floor they were both. The two persons looked to their left where a serious Smashers stood under the arch of the staircase, his glaring eyes focusing on Dr. Eggman as his fists were tightened on both sides of his hips, making him look like he was ready to attack.

"..." Peppita blinked surprised before she looked away and frowned in shame.

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what do we have here now?" The scientist said before turning to the Smasher. "It seems somebody did look for you, pesky girl..."

The Smasher under the arch was Fox. The vulpine had found Peppita in the garden just as he expected. Dr. Eggman could tell the leader of Star Fox was looking at him with a death glare. "What the hell are you doing here..." Fox muttered in an angry tone. "Why do you have her in that net?"

Dr. Eggman grinned and chuckled. "What's up with that harsh demand?" he asked amused. "You don't like to see your dear little friend in this nice net?"

Fox looked pissed at him. "Let her go right now or else..."

"Hmph, threatening me isn't going to work for you," Dr. Eggman said. "If you want her to be free, you'll have to listen to what I want to do here."

Fox shook his head. "I told you to release her at once. What can't you understand?"

Peppita looked at Fox from the corner of her eyes. The menacing glare that Fox had made her shake in fear, not wanting to look back at him. Peppita thought Fox was still mad at her, and she didn't want to talk to him, thinking she would only enrage him even more than before.

"I understand I have no right to listen to a furry like you," Dr. Eggman said. "What good will it bring to me if I do listen to you?"

"I'll tell you," Fox said. "You're going to get away from here unscathed if you let her go. Otherwise you're going to get injured pretty badly."

"Hahahahaha," Dr. Eggman laughed a bit. "Sorry, but I just can't do that. You see, the Spagonia Temple is waiting for me down here. I do not want to lose anymore time with a guy like you." The doctor turned to the right along with the trapped Peppita who still looked away from Fox.

Suddenly, before Dr. Eggman could hover off the floor, a laser shot rose in front of his face. The scientist stopped his way to the abyss before he looked back at the vulpine, holding his phase gun from Maria tightly in his right hand.

"Also," Fox began as his look retained its menacing glare. "I failed that shot on purpose."

"..." Dr. Eggman slowly turned to him and shook his head. "Getting cocky, aren't you?"

Fox lowered his phase gun and kept glaring at Dr. Eggman. "We can do this the good civilized way or the bad violent way. Which one are you going to choose?" he asked.

"Well..." Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin a bit. "Both sound so tempting..."

The vulpine moved his face down, but his eyes were still fixated on the doctor.

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Hallway

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - So Alone, Be Sorrow

The World Traveler stared at Wolf in surprise. "...Fox's dad told you to look after Fox?"

Wolf nodded. "That's how things are, kid."

"B-but..." Chris shook his head. "I-I don't understand this... Why would you take care of Fox? Aren't you supposed to hate his guts to the bitter end or something like that?"

"Yeah, we do that," Wolf admitted. "But we don't necessarily kill each other."

"What does that mean?" Chris asked.

"Look, if I ever finished Fox off, I wouldn't be able to find any worthy opponents out there in the Lylat System to have some fun," Wolf explained. "I have to admit Fox has what it takes to be my rival...but when you think about it, it sounds so twisted for me to be his rival due to how different we are."

"Why?"

Wolf frowned. "Kid, I better tell you this from scratch. You need to know how I ended up meeting James."

Chris looked worried. "Okay, so I know you met James before but..."

"Let me continue," Wolf said before clearing his throat. "So anyway..."

Flashback

Fichina
Sky

The cold region of Fichina was shown. Small sleets swept the land from time to time as the light from the sun shone brightly on the glittering surface of icecap. Some clouds were floating away into the blue and orange sky to the east as the shadows of some ships quickly zoomed by.

"I first met James when I started my moves around the Lylat System in Katrina," Wolf narrated. "By that time, I was a young thug who recently started his thievery and crimes. Back then, I was totally different than I am now."

"How?" Chris asked.

"I...was very headstrong," Wolf admitted. "I was very easy to anger. I didn't have the best control in temper. My rage easily made my own affairs even harder...and I didn't know that at all. I was very blind myself," he explained. "That bothersome attitude was there for a long time, and I didn't do a thing to change it. My temper, even worse, made me lose many battles against him..."

"James?"

"Exactly," Wolf said. "When I was doing that task in Katrina as I was almost going to escape by myself, I was suddenly bombarded by shots from an unknown vessel from the sky. When I looked up, it was the first time I ever met James McCloud..." he narrated. "This initial attack made me so angry that I became enraged, and before I knew it, I found myself fighting against whom was surely worthy of being called my nemesis...and rival..."

"I see..."

"The first battle I had against James didn't come out well for me," Wolf said. "He always managed to find a way to attack me with full force. I was getting so desperate during all those occasions. It was just as if I was an easy read for him to grasp my moves. I couldn't believe it, but James knew how to take me down without doing any effort. That defeat also blinded me when I found out the weapon I was carrying under my Wolfen had disappeared. Surely, James took it when I wasn't looking."

"Aren't you supposed to be an expert at dogfights?"

"I thought I was," Wolf said. "However, James proved to me that he was the best out of the 2...I give him that..."

"It's...hard to believe you're saying that..."

"Believe me, I said otherwise most of the time with every single defeat I suffered..." Wolf frowned. "I never, ever won a single time against James... It was so frustrating to admit he was a better fighter than I was. No matter how much I improved my skills, he always found a way around them all. I wanted to be flawless, but that's just a foolish thought..."

"...Please, tell me more..."

"...James taught me many things that I constantly ignored with each defeat," Wolf said. "His stupid cocky nature made me so angry every time he managed to talk to me between battles. Whenever I looked at him, he always grinned and taunted me a lot like I was some sort of living toy for him. I wanted to destroy the screen where he always appeared, but I always found myself unable to do it due to the fact I was already taken down to the ground..."

"Okay..."

"It was always the same thing... I developed a crazy obsession to defeat him ever since I started to do crimes," Wolf explained. "After the 5th or 6th crime I committed, my fury grew so much that I set a personal goal to take James down so he would leave me alone...but that was just part of his plan, at least that was what I thought."

"Why did you think that?"

"I thought that mainly because he always laughed in amusement with every fight we had," Wolf explained. "That hare and Pigma didn't do a thing to help James out because he always told them to stay put and let him handle me. He was so damn overconfident of skills with that Arwing of his. I cursed loudly to the sky whenever I was taken down. Thanks to my constant crimes, a big bounty was put on my head for disrupting the peace all over the Lylat System. However, neither James nor the officials ever caught me... I was very lucky for making my gateway to freedom."

"I think so..." Chris muttered.

"The day I knew I could take him down once and for all was the same day I last heard of him..."

"...The incident with Andross, you mean..."

"Yeah," Wolf said. "I've got word from some sources that the mad scientist Andross was exiled to Venom. When I heard that he was going to start an intergalactic war against Corneria and the other nations, I knew James and Team Star Fox would go to help. Knowing from experience, James had what it took to bring Andross to justice..."

"And...I can assume you..."

"I knew James was going to do the mission," Wolf said. "By that time over the years, Team Star Fox had become the most specialized team that stopped any kind of crimes across the galaxy mostly thanks to James and his leadership. Whenever I got the chance, I usually concealed my appearance to mix with the crowd just to read the headings of newspapers to see if there were notices, and the notices were always there about the victories of Star Fox. It made me so angry to see James's confident grin in every single photo I saw with Peppy and Pigma by his sides."

"...What else happened?"

"Well, the last day I last saw James was the last encounter I had against him," Wolf explained. "And I remember everything about it..."

Shots blared out furiously over the frozen scenery as a fast Arwing zoomed by followed by a fast Wolfen that pursued it from behind it. The Wolfen's red shots couldn't land a single hit at the swift Arwing as a young Wolf gritted his fangs in anger. "Play time will be finally over, James McCloud!" the thug proclaimed angrily. "This shall be the day where you will fall down and rot to death at last!"

"Am I counting on that, though?"

The young Wolf hopped a bit surprised before he glared down at the small screen in the center of his board with flashing buttons and levers. There was the image of the grinning James saluting him. "What's so funny now?" Wolf asked with a snarl. "Why are you grinning for?"

"Funny," James said with a chuckle. "Last time I recall, this is the 137th time my play time is over. I wonder, why I am still playing out here?" he asked amused. "Would it be because nobody has stopped me yet from ending my play time? It's been like 7 or so years since I last started my fun time."

"Shut up, you little weasel," Wolf muttered as he glared at him. "You're not to get away with again today. I'm going to make sure you and your team doesn't make it to Venom that easily."

James raised an eyebrow. "How do you know we were going to Venom? Are you stalking us? Geez, if you keep going like that, you're going to turn into a creepy stalker with a freaky obsession to guys like me."

Wolf grunted. "You're the ONLY guy in the whole galaxy who can't mind his mouth during an aerial fight. Now stay focused or else you're gonna kiss the snow down below in a minute!"

"How ironic you say that, actually," James said with a chuckle. "I was about to tell you that myself."

Wolf narrowed his glare at him. "What is that supposed to mean exactly, James?"

Suddenly, Wolf's Wolfen found itself being under attack by a flurry of blue shots from behind. The lupine watched in anger as the wings of the Wolfen were shot down in a matter of seconds. Grunting in complete fury, the lupine looked back where James attacked him with a full assault of shots.

"H-how the heck did you manage to sneak behind me?!" Wolf demanded. "Answer me, you stupid cocky idiot!"

James chuckled as he stopped his attacks. "Well, I was talking with this guy a moment ago. I noticed he wasn't looking where I was going so I decided to do a loop and take advantage of his argument against me."

"What?!"

"If you didn't know," James began," I was talking about you...again."

"And yet again, James had me where he wanted me to be..." Wolf narrated. "I felt down once again by his tricks he put on me... James knew I was not match for him in that last encounter..."

In his cockpit, Wolf began to see a red warning alarm that illuminated his space. The lupine looked down at the screen where it showed a summary of the damage reports. From what he could see, the wings of the Wolfen were taken out, an engine was set on fire, and the main machine that allowed the Wolfen to fly faster was burning with smoke. Wolf looked shocked at this before he found himself spiraling down at the ice field, screaming loudly as he covered his face with his arms, his Wolfen finally crashing down abruptly on the snow.

James decided to slow down and circle around the big smoke signal that the Wolfen made. Raising an eyebrow, the previous leader of Star Fox narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"When I crashed down...I found out I was stuck in the Wolfen," Wolf said as his past self was seen knocked out, a trail of blood scrolling down from the right side of his head. "The flames that covered my Wolfen didn't disappear, and they quickly covered every single part of it. When I woke up, I grunted to myself after I wanted to open the upper window, but the front part of the Wolfen was stuck in the snow, with the upper window also blocked by the damn snow. I slowly fainted due to the smoke that leaked in my space, and I started to curse myself loudly in my mind before I could die..."

"But..." Chris looked confused. "What happened after that? You surely survived somehow..."

"I did survive..." Wolf said with a frown. "But I didn't escape from the Wolfen... Someone else did it for me..."

The young Wolf didn't know why, but he found himself opening his eyes to see the clouds on the starry sky as he lay down on the soft snow. He knew he was trapped inside the Wolfen, but he didn't know he did escape from a certain death. Slowly getting up as he rubbed his forehead, Wolf found a wrecked Wolfen several feet away from him. "W-what did just happen?" Wolf asked as he looked in surprise at his fallen vessel. "I-I was sure I was going to die after I was shot down by..."

"Glad to have you alive in a whole piece."

Wolf blinked surprised before he turned around to find an Arwing safely parked on the soft snow as James was sitting on top of the white ship while he rested his right arm on his right knee, looking down at lupine.

"McCloud?" Wolf said confused before he shook his head and glared at him. "I mean, what the hell did just happen here?"

James chuckled and jumped down to the snow. Once he landed safely on the terrain, James grinned at the glaring Wolf. "Isn't it obvious? I just saved your butt from getting burned alive," James said as he walked to Wolf and stopped, standing 10 feet away from him.

"...What?" Wolf asked in disgust. "...You, from all people, saved me?"

"Yeah, what's so wrong about it?" James asked amused. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I saved you."

"Oh, I DO mind, idiot," Wolf said with a snarl. "I thought you were going to leave me here and die in this cold hell. Now that you saved me out of the blue, what do you think I'm going to do next?"

"Say thanks to me for not letting you burn alive and then get frozen inside a big popsicle because of your recklessness?"

"What? No!" Wolf yelled angrily before pointing at him. "What I'm going to do next is get away from you so we can have another battle very soon!"

James crossed his arms and sighed. "Oh, okay..."

"..." Wolf looked pissed. "Wait, why did that response sound bored? Are you mocking me?"

James frowned. "There you go again, thinking things I didn't mean to say..."

Wolf made a fist by his right side as he stared at James with some anger. "Am I now, then?"

James nodded. "You know, I don't feel threatened very much by you at all."

Wolf grunted a bit. "Well, then stop telling me that crap, James. I don't need your stupid sympathy. Save it only for you."

"I take that you're not glad I saved your life?"

The lupine turned away. "…Like I'm going to owe you this. You just made a big mistake, McCloud. Letting your enemy stay alive is gonna be one of the worst mistakes you've ever done before in your life."

James chuckled. "Believe me; you'll be glad I let you live by saving you."

Wolf turned back to me. "What was that? You like all the challenges I put on you?"

James lifted his shoulders. "Sure, I don't mind them. All your challenges turn out to be almost the same thing."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, it is," James said. "Ever since the 12th fight, I could have ignored you altogether."

Wolf snarled at him. "Don't try to piss me off even more, I'm warning you..."

"I'm not trying to," James said. "I'm just telling you what you've been quite wrong all these years."

"I don't need your stupid advice," Wolf said. "I'm better off by myself, thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

This response made Wolf grunt annoyed.

"So go away now," Wolf said with a frown. "Leave me alone for the time being and go finish that business with Andross so we can have another fight."

James sighed. "Wolf, seriously, when are you going to learn to correct your mistakes?"

"I'll learn to correct those frequently mentioned mistakes once I take you down myself," Wolf said with a glare.

"..." James remained silent. "Then that means you will never defeat me."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Wolf grunted as he gritted his fangs.

"Sorry, but I do happen to know even better than you," James explained.

Wolf almost wanted to stand in a fighting position. "If you know that stupid belief, then why the hell do you always come to stop me from doing my crimes?"

"I know you can change for the better."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm fine as I am now."

"Are you really sure of that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you ask me, you have...potential to be a dangerous criminal," James said.

"And I'm not supposed to be one by now?!" Wolf asked angrily.

"Tell me one time where you've gotten away with the stuff you tried so hard to steal."

Wolf remained silent and looked down and away, his right fist rose at his shoulder's level.

"Now you see?" James asked.

"Shut up..." Wolf muttered before he kicked some snow away angrily. "Shut the hell up, James! I don't need your advice, you little piece of s-"

"Calm down now," James interrupted him. "You just turned out to be alive. You shouldn't overexert yourself like that."

"What do you know?" Wolf asked as he turned around. "You know what, I'm out of here. I'm sick of listening to your pointless talk."

"Fine, be that way," James said uninterested. "I wanted to ask you something to do for me, but now that you're like this..."

The lupine grunted and turned to him. "What? Why do you want me to do you a favor? Do I look like a friend to you?"

"Yeah."

Wolf snarled angrily once again. "What are you thinking now exactly?"

James lifted his shoulders. "Meh, nothing. Just asking you to do me a favor."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "If it's about me, then I'm not doing it… T-that doesn't mean I'm going to do a favor to you in the future either!" he said angrily.

"Wolf, just listen," James said in a serious tone. "You do know I'm in the middle of a trip to Venom to make sure what's happening over there, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

James looked down. "I've heard that Andross is the most dangerous criminal scientist of the whole system. I've seen all the incidents he had caused in Corneria. I can tell you Andross shouldn't be taken lightly. Heck, I don't know if I'm ready to confront him head on."

Wolf grinned as he chuckled. "Ooh, what's the matter with you? Are you feeling scared for some mad scientist? I thought you were overconfident of your skills, James."

"I'm not overconfident," James said. "I'm just confident. Overconfident people only beg to die earlier as they say. That's why I'm just being simply confident." He shook his head. "Enough about that, though. I want you to d-"

"Look, maybe this is very crucial for you, but why is it important for me to listen?" Wolf asked with a glare. "Does it have something rewarding for me?"

"You bet your wrecked Wolfen that it is crucial," James chuckled. "Since you've been some kind of creepy stalker to me, you do know I have a family, right?"

"No," Wolf said. "I don't know that because I'm NOT a creepy stalker as you say."

"Good enough," James said. "Well, I was just wondering something…"

Wolf turned away.

"Do you know I have a son?"

Wolf looked at him over his right shoulder. "No, I don't know or don't care if you have a son."

"Well, start caring because this has to do with my son," James said with a grin. "I'm telling you, that son of mine is a real prodigy that shows some good traits. When he turned 11, he already knew how to handle an Arwing by himself."

"Did I ask about your son?" Wolf asked. "Get to the point, McCloud. I have some business to do somewhere else."

"Would that include getting a new Wolfen?"

Wolf looked at his wrecked Wolfen. "…Yeah," he said. "I don't want to stay here any longer talking with you. However, knowing you, you're going to keep bugging me with that favor you want to ask me to do... Whatever it is, I'm surely going to say no."

James chuckled. "Looks like you're calming down. Well, this is much better," he admitted. "Now I can tell you for sure that my favor will benefit you in some way or another."

"…Tsk," Wolf muttered with a frown. "Spill it out so we end this. I have better things to do."

"Very well," James said before he thought for a moment something. "Wolf…would you look after my son for me?"

At this sudden question, the lupine turned around and glared at James. "What the hell does that mean, James? Why are you asking me the work you're supposed to do?" he snarled. "Do I look like a babysitter to you or what? Stop mocking me!"

James shook his head. "No, I'm serious," he said. "Even if you know I've beaten you in all our encounters doesn't mean I'm going to come back unscathed from Venom," he explained. "Heck, all the other missions I've done besides taking you on are harder."

Wolf gritted his fangs at this statement.

"However, this one threatens the whole planetary system," James said. "It's been a rumor that Andross is planning to launch a full assault to all the planets in order to conquer them all. The Corneria Army doesn't know if this is true, but it's most likely that it'll happen very soon if I don't get where Andross is."

"Are you worried or what?"

"Frankly speaking…yeah," James said. "Do you really think a team of 3 people can withstand whatever Venom hides? That planet is the most rotten place many people know. Since Andross had been exiled to that place, it's unknown if he's still alive."

"If you're saying that, then why do you think he's still alive?" Wolf asked. "As far I know the atmosphere of that planet is deadly."

"There have been recent reports of some small groups of lizard people that have been saying that they work for Andross," James said as he crossed his arms. "I know that because I've fought those groups myself. They were insane, saying foolish things about the birth of a new empire by Andross. When I reported this to the army, they didn't believe he was still alive, so I was requested to inspect Venom. Peppy made preparations to our Arwings so we could get into the planet and see if we could find Andross in there."

Wolf kept staring at James.

"It's been 5 years since he was last seen," James said. "However, I have a hunch he's still living because of those groups I've fought before."

"…Okay," Wolf said. "What does this have to do with you, your son, and me of all people?"

"I'm not sure if I'm going to succeed in this mission like all the other ones I've been doing all these years…" James said unsure. "Andross had done many good deeds for Corneria a long time ago before he got corrupted for lust of power. His intelligence is very dangerous, and I know well he could be plotting something extremely catastrophic," he explained. "…That's why I'm asking you to look after Fox for me…"

"…I can assume your kid's name is Fox McCloud…"

"Yeah, that's his full name," James said.

"…" Wolf shook his head. "Forget it."

James only grumbled a bit at this.

"I'm not going to look after you son, James," Wolf said. "How's that even going to benefit me?"

"Well…" James trailed off. "…You could challenge my son someday…"

Wolf blinked a few times. "What?" He stared at James. "Why would I challenge your son?"

James chuckled. "Well, I could say he's at your level…"

"Blasphemy," Wolf said. "There's no way I'm going to help you out with that kind of favor. Besides, I know you're gonna come unscathed from Venom. If I say yes now, I could make a huge mistake and let you laugh behind my back," he said. "Sorry, but I ain't gonna be babysitting your son."

James sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Okay, I understand," he said before tilting his head. "Let me tell you this, though," he continued with a cough. "I know something very well about Fox."

"Like I care," Wolf commented.

"No, seriously, let me continue," James said. "Fox is gonna be a prodigy very soon. I can see that determination in his eyes. He just needs some years before he turns out into a full-fledged man of my team. I'm planning to allow him to join my team and work alongside Peppy, Pigma, and I."

"So?" Wolf asked.

"However, he has a long way to go to learn certain things I can't seem to teach him properly," James said. "But…you…you can do it…"

Wolf glared angrily at him. "You're trying to say I have the ability to teach your useless son how to become a real threat to me?"

James grinned. "Nah, don't worry about it, Wolf. Fox can give you a very good challenge like me. I can tell you that you have the upper hand in taking him down as much as you want. Can you see how he progresses, though?"

Wolf frowned. "James, the only thing I'm going to do to your son is assassinate him rather than making sure he's alive. You'll regret telling me all of this pointless crap very soon."

"Or will you?" James asked amused. "Fox is not stupid, Wolf. He could easily grow to be an intergalactic hero."

Wolf turned around and shook his head. "James…shut up," he muttered.

James merely kept staring at him.

The lupine looked at him over his right shoulder again. "I admit you're being so annoyingly vague with me."

James lifted his shoulders. "Fox could teach you a lot of things I couldn't teach you."

"…Now I know you're saying a lot of bulls(beep)t," Wolf said as he gritted his fangs a bit before turning to the empty lands of snow. "Go away from here and leave me alone. I don't have more time to waste with a cocky scum like you. Also, I don't have time to take care of YOUR scum either."

James chuckled again, making Wolf think about ripping his head off. "I assure you're going to be fighting my own son yourself," he said amused. "He's gonna teach you a lot. You're eventually going to be the most feared thug if you fight him. And also, you're gonna teach him stuff in return."

"Like you know what the future holds for me," Wolf said before he spotted two Arwings coming from the south. "Your little team is here. Get away, now."

James watched as Peppy and Pigma landed their Arwings and jumped out from them. Peppy looked a bit worried as Pigma looked bored at the situation. "J-James!" Peppy yelled as he ran to James, stopping some feet away from him. "Phew, I'm glad to see you're OK." He looked at the wrecked Wolfen and Wolf. "…You defeated him again, right?"

"Yeah," James said. "We don't have enough time to be here any longer. We have to reach Venom as soon as possible."

"Finally," Pigma said with a sigh. "I was getting ALL bored flying around this cold ball you call planet. I hope I don't do this ever again."

"Well, your wish has come true," James said with a grin. "We're taking off."

Peppy stared at Wolf. "James, did you…"

Wolf turned to the three and glared at them. "Go away and leave the heck out of me."

The hare grumbled a bit at this before James put a hand on his right shoulder. "C'mon, let's go," James said before he jumped to his Arwing and started the engine. Peppy blinked a couple of times before he went back to his Arwing.

However, Pigma remained behind as he looked at Wolf. The lupine looked at him. The Star Fox pilot stared at him before Pigma went to climb his Arwing with James and Peppy.

The lupine watched as the three Arwings took off to the north and disappeared quickly into the sky. Wolf kept staring at the sky before he looked around the empty field of snow.

"…Time to go back home…" he muttered before he started to walk to the west. "…I better start thinking what to do next for our next encounter…" He frowned. "Tsk, him not coming back alive from going to Venom… Just…what is he thinking?"

The lupine kept wondering more about James as he slowly disappeared into the distance.

"And that was the last time I saw James…" Wolf narrated. "Ever since that day, I haven't seen him anywhere. I heard the rumors that he died when he went to confront Andross."

"I see…" Chris said. "…But…"

"It was also around that time that I decided to form my own team," Wolf said. "I still lived in the Sargasso Space Zone during that time. I didn't have as much members like I do now. I wanted to make sure I could be feared across the Lylat System by recruiting the most talented criminals."

"What about Pigma?"

"Pigma betrayed James and Peppy when they reached Venom," Wolf explained. "I heard from Andross himself that Pigma's greed was just too much for him, and he eventually was convinced to betray James and Peppy as Andross fought James with that abominable form of his with his huge head and hands," he said. "By the time I slowly formed a team. I secretly put my services for sale to get loot from others. When I was minding my own business in the Sargasso Space Zone, an emissary from Andross came and requested me to talk to him personally through a communicator."

"And…"

"Andross introduced me to Pigma," Wolf said. "The bastard wanted to do something where he could do anything without restraints. When I told him I was making up my own team, he didn't hesitate to join me…" He frowned. "But…you probably know what happened to Pigma as the time went by… Anyway, Pigma isn't important."

"Okay, I just wanted to know that…"

"So anyway," Wolf continued. "I heard that James was defined as dead when I got the word of his apparent fate in Venom."

Inn – Hallway

End of flashback

Wolf looked away. "And ever since then, James was nowhere to be found alive…"

The World Traveler stared at Wolf. "…But…what about Fox, then?"

Wolf looked down. "…When I was hired to assassinate Fox's team by Andross when I had made up my team, I fought Fox head on…and…I failed to accomplish the task," he admitted. "James was right about Fox. However, I knew Fox was a little bit worse at attacking and defending, just as James told me. For some reason, I started to see that everything James told me was true."

The World Traveler didn't say a thing to Wolf.

"Then, I fought Fox at Fichina, the same place where I lost to James, and lost, crashing down to the snow except less life-threatening like that fight with James..." Wolf said. "Frustrated by that, I told my team to quickly repair our Wolfens to take Star Fox down in Venom. However, even if we came back, we still lost the fight..." He frowned. "...And I was still the same back then until I slowly started to change."

Chris thought for a moment.

"After I lost against Fox, the memories of what James told me began to flood in my head," Wolf said. "I recalled him saying that I needed to put my attitude under my control. He knew I was a complete idiot if I let myself get so angry very easily. After the defeat at Venom, I didn't want to do anything else like crimes for 12 years. During that whole time, it was the time Andrew and Pigma left the team, and I recruited Panther in their place. My turf grew to become one of the most feared places in the galaxy, and I changed, just as James had predicted."

"I see...but...sometimes you still..."

"I know I get angry sometimes...but it's stopping now."

"What?" Chris asked.

"I have to act like a professional," Wolf said. "I will accomplish that from now on after recalling James's words. If I do that, I'll surely become a respectable figure."

"...So you followed James's advice after all?"

"Yeah," Wolf said with a nod. "James was right all along. I started to change slowly during the years of my absence until I achieved my dream...but...there was something that was bothering me."

"What was that?"

"Time after time, when I recalled James's word, the favor he told me always came to mind to bother me," Wolf said. "That memory is still there, reminding me the same favor."

"And the favor was..."

"Take care of Fox," Wolf said, closing his eye. "...Take care of the idiot who would show you that you haven't changed for the better..." He sighed.

"I just can't believe my rivalry to James passed on to Fox, a person younger than me, a guy in his 50s."

"Well, I think so too. I mean, Fox is 30 years old and you're FIFTY years old?!" Chris said shocked.

Wolf grinned at him. "If you're asking why I look young is because I keep myself fit all the time so I can keep my youth. I'm telling you another secret: I do a lot of workout when you're not looking."

Chris looked a bit surprised. "W-wow..."

"...That's not important, though," Wolf said. "Back on topic, I refused to do that favor to James mainly because I hated Fox's guts as much as him," he explained. "However, that cocky James managed to make my conscience decide to ultimately...take care of Fox..."

The World Traveler stared at him in silence as Wolf looked down.

"...Of course, I needed to be subtle about it," Wolf said. "I shouldn't go to Fox and tell him stuff like "Be sure you don't get yourself in trouble" or crap like that," he explained. "I had to maintain this secret a secret from Fox or else he would look at me differently or anybody else we knew." Wolf stared at Chris. "Suddenly, I turned out to be some kind of babysitter for Fox just so my conscience could feel fine with James...but...as James said before...it did help become what I am now; what I wanted to be."

"...And then you decided to do the favor for all this time..."

Wolf remained silent before he nodded. "...Yeah...that's the whole story about James, Fox, and me..." He looked serious at Chris. "This has to be still a secret, though. It's bigger than what Fox's past was. All these years I've been secretly making sure Fox was alive by not telling him, or else he'd go easy on me in all the fights we had before in the past," Wolf said. "I trust this secret is going to be safe with you, right?"

"...Of course," Chris said worried. "...You know...you're actually nice..."

Wolf looked away. "I'm being subtly nice, kid, and not entirely nice. I have to keep a reputation, you know."

"Yes, I know," Chris said as he smiled a bit. "And...I'm glad to hear you're not entirely bad either..."

"Don't get me wrong, kid, I'm still a criminal, but I'm just taking a break of that job so this whole stuff of worlds getting conquered by Tabuu doesn't happen," Wolf said. "After all, the Lylat System is my home, and it's would be the same to have some kind of supreme ruler doing whatever the heck he wants to do."

"And also because I took you with us."

"Well, that as well," Wolf said. "However, I guess I could say my stance at the mansion is not that bad," he said with a grin. "I can always see how Fox progresses while I fight him."

Chris chuckled. "That's actually pretty smart of you, Wolf. A little nice and smart… Maybe you did change as James told you before."

"Have I?" Wolf asked. "Well, that idiot was some sort of voice of reason to me…" He coughed a bit. "Okay, kid, now you know why I keep an eye Fox."

Chris rubbed his chin. "You keep an eye on him because you make sure he's progressing for James."

Wolf nodded. "Correct. I never try to make this favor look so obvious with others, but I try to be as secretive as possible about it…"

"Wait, nobody's going to watch this, right? Master Hand projects to the others back at the mansion about our movements…right?"

"They don't stalk your group when you have to rest," Wolf explained. "I'm sure they won't look at us now. I don't want to deal with stalkers, either."

"I-I wouldn't be hurt, right?"

"Depends…" Wolf muttered. "…Enough chit-chat, kid. I told you my reasons behind Fox, and now it's time for you to do me a favor yourself."

"U-unless it doesn't last all the years to come, then I suppose I could listen to you…" Chris said. "…So, what is it?"

"Let me ask you a question," Wolf began. "What would you do if there was a person impersonating you so he or she makes a bad portrayal of your name and identity?"

"Like…some sort of doppelganger?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, just like that. What would you do? Would you be bothered?"

"…" The World Traveler didn't know why Wolf asked him that. "…I think I just…get him or her to talk to me and say why he or she went around using my name and identity… Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to know," Wolf said. "I'd you ask me, I'd punish him severely for doing something that could ruin my image."

"But I don't understand why you're asking me this," Chris said. "I mean, it's kind of unrelated…"

"Okay, I'll get to the point," Wolf said. "However, I'll give you a hint or the whole reason."

"…Okay…"

Wolf crossed his arms. "The Battle Floor at the mansion; a door, to be precise... For some reason, the door can't be opened by just me when I tried to enter by myself when nobody was looking. After I looked at the description on the door, I realized that I needed you and some of them to come along with me so I can discover who's been going around using my name and identity behind that door. I bet I can't enter in there because I have to meet the requirements to do that side-boss battle thing," he explained.

"Huh? Why ask about that floor?"

"It needs visits," Wolf said. "And we're going to be the guests. Besides, I'm sure you'd like to become stronger as I do, kid."

"…That's kind of true…" Chris admitted.

"You can't back up now," Wolf said. "You already made a compromise with me after I spoke to you about James's past."

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "…Okay, it's a deal," he said. "We'll go to the Battle Floor once we have the time, okay?"

"As long as we go in there soon, I'm fine with it," Wolf said. "…However, I have a specific condition for that battle, but I'm going to tell you later. Now's not the time to be talking about that floor." He pointed at the door. "You know what I'm talking about?"

"Y-yes…" Chris recalled what he talked with Wolf. "…It's a little bit unbelievable that…"

"I know."

"...I-I...I-I just can't..." Chris shook his head. "I mean...you...you've been doing..."

"Let's save the talk for later, kid," Wolf said as he grabbed the doorknob of the door. "It's time to make Fox atone for what he has done today to that girl."

"D-do I take that as a sign of you-" Chris stopped talking once Wolf opened the door of the room.

"...What the..." Wolf muttered.

"...Is something wrong?" Chris asked before he walked to his side and looked into the room. "...What..."

After Wolf opened the door to Chris's room, what he didn't expect was Fox's bed empty. It was easy to tell Fox was there before by the fact the bed sheet was all scrambled as it hung on the right side of the bed. Also, the window behind the bed was wide open as the curtains were being dragged along by the wind.

"That bastard..." Wolf muttered as he gritted his fangs. "That's why the room was so silent. The guy escaped right before I came here..." He grunted. "Dammit..."

"O-oh no, where did he go?" Chris asked worried.

"…Over there," Wolf said as he pointed over Fox's bed where the window was wide open..
The World Traveler ran to the window and stuck his face out to look around the town. "W-where did he go now?" Chris asked as Wolf walked to him. "It's not like Fox to just leave without leaving behind a notice or something!"

"That's the reason," Wolf said bluntly.

"…What? Why?"

Wolf thought for a moment. "Didn't you see how Fox looked like all the day after he yelled at that tanned girl? He's been fretting over what happened in the workshop ever since he yelled at her like that."

"…Wow…" Chris said surprised. "You really are looking after Fox because I didn't notice that. I was very focused in my inventions…"

Wolf chuckled a bit at this. "Anyhow, the most logical reason for Fox to leave without telling us would be because he wanted to find her."

"Peppita?"

"Yeah," Wolf said. "From what I could expect is that Fox couldn't live with what he did to her. I'd say he was being unnecessarily harsh on her. These last days, Fox has been very stressed from the expressions he made. When I decided to look after him, I managed to grasp easily what he was thinking."

"…Really?"

Wolf nodded. "Fox is stressed because this world reminds him of that fairy tale book he found. Also, I can easily infer the book was given to him by James. And tell me, what could make Fox feel stressed?"

"Let me think…" Chris thought for a moment. "…He could be stressed because…hm…um...hm…" He looked at Wolf. "…He's stressed because of James…"

"…Correct," Wolf said. "I can tell Fox has been mourning the supposed death of James over all these years. He's been concealing that painful memory in him for this long without showing those emotional wounds."

"B-but…" Chris said. "He always looked very serious and professional all the time…"

"That was just a small facade," Wolf said. "He was hiding that wound for a long time now. I bet Fox has been doing the same thing ever since James disappeared. And if he does see James, then that means that either his mind is playing tricks on him or James…could be possibly alive…"

"…Wait, how do you know all that?" Chris asked.

"Krystal," Wolf simply said. "When she left Star Fox and joined Star Wolf, I grew a little bit curious about her relationship with him. When I wanted to have a talk with her, Krystal was so damn stoic to get info from her because she didn't want to talk about Fox anymore, but I persisted until she explained to me about Fox's visions of James in all the important battles Fox fought before." Wolf rubbed his chin. "If that's true, then that means James is alive…or Fox is just plain insane."

"I-I don't know, though… You really know a lot about Fox…"

"Like I said before, I took care of him all these years in secrecy," Wolf said. "That's enough, though."

Chris looked back at the open window. "So what do we do? Is it alright for Fox to go alone and look for her?"

"It could be possible that the girl escaped from the city…"

"What?"

Wolf looked at the window. "The kid with the furry tail said he looked everywhere but didn't find her. Since that girl is immature, I'd guess she'd try to run away from the place Fox is so she can be alone and question herself about the argument she had with Fox," Wolf theorized. "Furthermore, she surely left the city so nobody would have a chance to find her. Knowing Fox, by now, he should have left the city as well."

The World Traveler looked completely amazed at Wolf's theory.

Wolf raised an eyebrow and looked at Chris. "I'd say let's go and find those 2 before they get in trouble."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"I don't know what monsters live in this planet, kid," Wolf pointed out. "I'm just using common knowledge to track them both down."

"…You know," Chris began as he tilted his head a bit. "Even if you have some evil intentions…you're very good and smart when it comes down to these things. I'm starting to notice that you're becoming really good at what you do."

Wolf looked away. "That idiot James…" He chuckled a bit. "…I'll give him that he was right all along…" He looked back at Chris. "Thanks for that, but we don't have time to waste."

The World Traveler smiled a bit a nodded. "Right, we have to tell the others that Fox left."
Wolf nodded. "It'd be best if we make groups and look for the 2 of them." The lupine turned to the door and walked away where he started to knock on the doors of the hallway.

The World Traveler sighed and chuckled a bit. "Wolf isn't exactly a bad guy…" He looked up at the ceiling. "…I honestly think…he's very cool…" He looked back at the window. "…Just like Fox…" he muttered.

"Hey, kid, get here and give me a hand, will you?"

"C-coming!" Chris yelled as he ran back to the hallway.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers as he glared at the glaring leader of Star Fox. "You know what; I'm going to jump to the best part now."

Fox narrowed his eyes before he looked under Peppita's net. The vulpine gasped once a dark portal materialized under the net where a cage sprouted out. In the cage, there was another immobile Shadow Nightmare, staring deeply at Fox.

"W-what's this?" Peppita asked, not being able to see what was inside the cage due to the fact she could only see the roof of the cage. "W-what's in there?"

Fox gritted his fangs and looked back at Dr. Eggman. "You, what are you planning to do with that monster?!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "You don't want me to feed it with your little girlfriend?"

"W-what?" Peppita asked scared. "F-feed who with me?"

Fox tightened his right fist on his right side of his belt. "You bastard, don't think you're going to do that to her…"

Dr. Eggman grinned. "Ooh, I'm scared. A furry is telling me not to do what I want to do now."

"I said don't do that her…" Fox muttered angrily.

Dr. Eggman grumbled. "Like I said before, I won't listen to you," he said. "This girl has been a little crying rat that's been annoying me for a time now. I wonder what could happen if I throw her at the mercy of the Shadow Nightmare…"

Peppita didn't have any clue about what was happening, but she knew very well something very dangerous was going to happen to her if she didn't do anything. She clenched her eyelids before she broke out crying to Fox. "P-please, save me, Fox! I-I beg of you!"

Fox started to get desperate. He quickly took a step forward, but Dr. Eggman stopped him by opening his right palm down at him. "Stop right there!" Dr. Eggman demanded as he took out a remote control with a red button. "Dare take another step closer and the girl gets it…or the monster will get her."

"Grrrrr…" Fox gritted his fangs.

Dr. Eggman looked amused. "Well, since you seem to be really preoccupied by the girl…maybe we can make a deal here."

"I'm not planning to make a deal with a guy like you," Fox said with a glare. "Let her go, now."

"With one condition, though," Dr. Eggman said as he raised a finger. "I'll let her go if you listen to what I have to say."

Fox fumed a bit. "What is it?"

Dr. Eggman chuckled and pointed at Fox. "If you want her to be okay…you agree to be the Shadow Nightmare's host instead of her."

Fox's eyes dilated in shock after hearing the deal. "What?" he asked before glaring at the scientist menacingly. "Are you kidding me or what?"

"Who's kidding here?" Dr. Eggman asked as Peppita sobbed in terror. "I'm not kidding here. I'll let her go if you become the Shadow Nightmare's host, you little furry." He hopped the remote control a bit on his right palm. "Don't you care about her?"

"I do," Fox said.

Peppita's sobs slowed down a bit as she cleared some tears and looked at Fox's glare.

"But I think what the best is for all of us," Fox declared. "Let her go."

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not how things will work around here. Or you become the host of the Shadow Nightmare, or she becomes the host," Dr. Eggman said. "It's you or her. Do you care a lot for her, or do you care about yourself?"

Fox stared at Peppita, accidentally looking at her with the menacing glare. The leader of Star Fox was met with a hard decision to make. He knew what a Shadow Nightmare could do, but he didn't want to see what would happen if it did use him. "(Either her or me…)" Fox thought. "(…I can't let her feel whatever that monster can do…not after how I treated her back at the workshop…)" Fox clenched his eyelids hard before looking up at Dr. Eggman. "I decided," Fox said.

"What would the choice be?" Dr. Eggman asked.

The vulpine gritted his fangs and clenched his fists before he looked down, his fists raising a bit. "…I'll be the host…"

Peppita gasped. "F-Fox, no!"

Fox looked at her and frowned. "You don't know what you're saying… You don't know what that monster could do to you… And you're just an innocent girl who got scolded unfairly by me…"

Peppita's eyes dilated as they shook in surprise.

"…I don't want you to suffer anymore…" Fox said depressed. "…So please…trust me in this one…"

Dr. Eggman frowned. "Enough of this teary talk, let's begin the show already!"

"Wait!" Fox yelled at him. "First, I want you to let her go before I become the host!"

"Hmm…" Dr. Eggman thought for a moment. "That doesn't sound too bad…"

"…Let her go," Fox said through gritted fangs.

"Let me think…" Dr. Eggman thought for a second. "…Nah."

Fox gasped once the scientist pressed the button of the remote control. Instantly, the cage of the Shadow Nightmare opened up, and the creature slowly walked out of it. Peppita gasped once she saw the back of the shadow monster beneath her. She tried to back away, but there was little space for her to move back due to the net.

After the monster was released, the leader of Star Fox felt a lot of rage as he glared at the Dr. Eggman. "You stupid BASTARD!" Fox yelled at the scientist.

"Hohohohohohohohohohoho! You're quite angry, tonight, aren't you? Hohohohohoho!" Dr. Eggman laughed. "Fool, did you think I was actually going to listen to you? Pfft, you're just wasting your time. However, I'm glad you decided to take her spot. Now the Shadow Nightmare will become probably the most powerful creature once it copies all your abilities, memories, and even fighting prowess."

"…Over my dead body!" Fox yelled angrily.

Dr. Eggman pointed at him. "Shadow Nightmare, I bring you your victim! Go get him!"

The vulpine gasped once the Shadow Nightmare locked its eyes on him. Peppita grabbed the ropes of the net and tried to break out of them as she cried loudly. "No, Fox, get away from here!" she cried out. "Don't let that thing attack you!"

"(Dammit, I need to think of something!)" Fox thought angrily as the monster started to move towards him.

"Don't waste your energy," Dr. Eggman said. "If you land a hit on it, it'll simply absorb your kick and then it'll pull you into it."

"Why are you telling me that?" Fox asked angrily. "That's an advice, not a warning."

"Simply because you're pretty much cornered," the scientist said.

The leader of Star Fox watched as the Shadow Nightmare raised its pincers forward. The monster started to accelerate towards Fox. The vulpine grunted and turned around to escape from it, but as soon as he turned around, the Shadow Nightmare dove into the floor, creating a dark spot that quickly went all the way under the arches before leaping out in front of Fox, letting out a screech that made Fox cover his ears before turning around to run towards Peppita.

"Hang in there!" Fox yelled as he ran to them. "I'm going to get you out of here!"

Peppita screamed out of a sudden.

The vulpine looked confused at the Velbaysian's scream before he was pinned down by force on the floor, his body sliding a bit as the Shadow Nightmare was on top of him. Fox's eyes took a wild look as he glared at the monster menacingly before it stabbed its pincers right on Fox's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Peppita watched in horror as Fox lifted up his head from the floor as he fully opened his mouth to scream painfully while the monster slowly entered his body. Soon, the Velbaysian saw the vulpine being covered in a dark blob that let out dark sparks. "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!" Peppita yelled loudly as she tried to break free from the net. "Let me go, you lunatic old man! Let-me-go!" she demanded loudly before the net opened up, letting her fall on top of the cage. "Oww…" she muttered once landing on her knees.

Dr. Eggman showed his teeth in amusement as he heard the screams of the adult character in the blob of darkness caused by the Shadow Nightmare. Peppita slowly got up from the top of the cage before she jumped down and ran to the blob. However, she stopped running once she saw Fox being spat out from the darkness as he landed painfully on the floor, grunting in a pain a bit as he closed his eyes.

"F-Fox!" Peppita yelled in relief as she ran to him and knelt down. "F-Fox, are you alright? Fox!"

"…Pe…ppita?" Fox muttered silently as he slowly looked up to see the sniffing Velbaysian. "…You're…okay…thank goodness…"

"F-Fox…" Peppita sniffed a bit and wiped her eyes with her right arm. "D-did you come here to…"

Once Peppita looked back at the blob of darkness, her eyes widened after staring at something else where the blob was supposed to be before. The leader of Star Fox slowly pushed himself up before looking at her.

"Hey…Peppita…" Fox trailed off worried. "Why are you looking like that?"

The memory suddenly hit Fox back as his eyes dilated. The vulpine slowly turned around to see an abomination standing in front of the 2 characters.

Dr. Eggman chuckled please. "Well, well, what do we have now? We've got ourselves a new special guest," he said before waving his right arm a bit to the right. "Please, I'd like you 2 to meet your new friend…"

Fox slowly shook his head in horror as he looked at the figure in front of him and Peppita…
"Heheheheheheh…" the figure before them chuckled as it crossed its arms amused. "Nice to meet you…my son…"

Peppita's eyes shook in shock as she stared at what looked to be a doppelganger that looked exactly like Fox. The only difference about this person was the fact that he was completely shrouded in darkness with glowing yellow eyes. However, this creature wore sunglasses that made Fox feel uncomfortable.

"…" Fox lowered his face a bit and glared at the shadow. "…Stop it…" he muttered. "I know for sure you're not my father…"

"Really?" the shadow asked as it imitated James's voice. "How do you know exactly that I'm not your father? I'm standing just in front of you, Fox. Accept me, please…"

"Stop it!" Fox yelled as he swung his right arm to his side. "You're not my father, dammit! You're supposed to be…" Fox closed his eyes and shook his head. "No…you're not…"

The shadow nodded and decided to take off his sunglasses, revealing his yellow glowing eyes as he stared at Fox. "Wow, at least you knew I was you," the shadow said before the sunglasses vanished in thin air. "However, do you truly believe I am you?"

Fox remained silent as he glared at his shadow while Peppita hid behind him in fear. The Velbaysian peeked from the left to look at the shadow.

"Pfft, of course you don't believe I'm you, that's why I'm here," Shadow Fox said as he crossed his arms amused. "You were responsible for my birth, after all. I suppose I should thank you as a real gentleman would do… Oh, that's right, you're NOT a gentleman at all."

Fox crossed his arms and glared at Shadow Fox. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm telling you that you're not a gentleman," Shadow Fox said with a grin. "You never were one to begin with. I find that amusing since you chose to be very insensitive to others." Shadow Fox pointed at Peppita. "Especially that girl over there, for example. She's a clear example of your unnecessary cruelty towards her."

Peppita looked worried. She didn't know what to say nor she didn't understand anything that was happening. The Velbaysian was very confused at this event. "F-Fox, why does that shadow look a lot like you?"

Fox kept staring at Shadow Fox. "It looks just like me because it's here just to piss me off…"

Peppita knew well that Fox was stressed. The Velbaysian wanted to see Fox at least smile for a bit, but she had seen Fox's angered expression for a long time now.

Shadow Fox frowned. "I'm not here to piss you off, me," he said. "I'm here to speak the truth aloud so you feel good with yourself. Actually, you have a lot of truths to say."

Fox gritted his fangs. "You have NO right to go say things about me to anyone."

"Oh, yeah," Shadow Fox said. "If I do that you're probably going to break my heart with heave cruelty," the shadow said as he faked a sniff. "You break my heart, me…"

"Stop it…" Fox muttered as he tightened his right fist.

Shadow Fox put his hands on his chest. "Please, don't yell at me. I'm gonna cry and run away so you don't see me anymore. Boo-hoo…"

"I told you to stop…" Fox muttered as his anger grew bigger.

"F-Fox…" Peppita muttered worried. "(I-I want to tell him to calm down…but…what if he yells at me again? H-he looks so angry… I-I'm so scared…)" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "(I-I dunno what to do anymore…)"

"Are you gonna yell at me?" Shadow Fox taunted. "C'mon, you know you wanna. After all, we're meanies."

"Shut it!" Fox snapped out. "Stop pissing me off more before I kick you out from here!"

"Geez, no need to lose your cool either," Shadow Fox said with a chuckle. "It's your task not to lose your cool, right?"

"You…get away from here…" Fox said through gritted fangs.

"My, you look SO pissed," Shadow Fox said with a snicker. "What happened? Did somebody go about telling everyone about our past?"

Peppita gasped at this and looked away. She slowly started to grasp what was going on in the scene.

"And did you grow so angry that you didn't care what the person you yelled at would do next?" Shadow Fox asked in a mocking tone. "Who cares about her, anyway?"

"W-what?" Peppita asked. "H-how do you know I…"

Shadow Fox looked at her. "If isn't the little b(beep) Peppita…"

Peppita gasped at the cursing word. "W-what? I-I'm not such a person like that!"

"Sure you are," Shadow Fox said before glaring at her. "Thanks to you, I'm going to suffer humiliation by people I barely just met some days ago." He closed his eyes and frowned. "I wanted so badly to enjoy this world so much that I HAD to find such a bastard like you," he said before glaring at her. "Why did you decide to RUIN MY FUN?!"

Peppita backed away a bit. "I-I didn't…I-I mean…" She glared at the shadow. "I never told you anything like that!"

"Pitiful girl," Shadow Fox said. "You did tell me that."

Fox grunted. "She didn't tell you that!" he yelled.

"Oh, sure she did," Shadow Fox said amused. "The infatuated girl couldn't stop her own feelings to ruin my fun time," he said before moving up his face, his eyes still staring down at her. "Those feelings turned out to be a real nuisance to me."

"S-shut up!" Peppita yelled. "I-I never met you before in my life!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Shadow Fox said as he frowned in disappointment. "Peppita…we met some days ago…don't you remember?" he asked. "You came to the guild building where you stared at me and my physique." He chuckled before he flexed his right arm. "I'm quite the handsome muscular guy of your dreams, huh?"

Peppita blushed embarrassed, but she kept glaring at the shadow. "N-no, I didn't do that to you! W-why can't you understand that?"

"Silly, immature Peppita…" Shadow Fox muttered as he looked at her with a devious face, raising his eyebrows a bit. "You still think I'm the man of your dreams, huh? C'mon, you can say it to me. I won't yell at you, I promise."

Peppita folded her arms behind her back. "Ooooooooh, just shut up, you!" she yelled angrily. "I'll keep saying the same to you: I never met you before in my life!"

"Oh my god, you're not only immature but stubborn as well?" Shadow Fox asked. "And here I thought you wouldn't turn out much WORSE," he said in shame. "Peppita, you're one bad little girl," he said amused. "I like bad girls."

"I-I'm a good girl!" Peppita contradicted quickly.

"Oh, then can you define everything you did to me as good?"

Peppita took a step back and looked a bit shocked. "W-well…" she trailed off. "I-I…" She shook her head. "U-um…"

"There's the truth I wanted to hear," Shadow Fox said pleased. "Nice to see you're a little bit good…but not enough," he said before glaring at her. "Thanks to you, my life has been taken down through the toilet. You've been a real imbecile who just acted all infatuated and stuff. You don't know how much pissed I am now, Peppita." He looked at Fox. "Isn't that true, me?"

Fox was at a loss. He didn't know what to do besides glaring at his own shadow. The leader of Star Fox's anger kept him silent as he tried to calm himself down. He never felt so furious before in his life. "…T-that's not true…" Fox said. "…I didn't want to hurt her feelings."

"Did you now?" Shadow Fox asked. "I can say otherwise, though." He raised a finger and waved it in front of Fox's face. "I know much better than you here. I'm warning you: this could be very satisfying for you…but heartbreaking to her."

"Don't you DARE say anything else to her," Fox threatened the shadow. "Or else I-"

"Hey, Peppita," Shadow Fox began. "Did I tell you how much I wanted to say to you that you suck?"

Peppita gasped. "W-what?"

Shadow Fox turned to Peppita. "That's what we thought together," he explained. "I SO wanted to tell you how much I hated you after you broke that promise you made with me when you stopped stalking me immaturely."

Peppita shook her head. "N-no…"

Dr. Eggman, watching the scene silently from behind, coughed a bit to get their attention. "Little girl, in order to get you out from your shell of confusion, I'm going to tell you that the shadow in front of you is the real embodiment of the furry's truths."

"W-what?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "Basically, the shadow you're seeing is telling you ALL the honest truth that the idiot didn't want to say to you because he was tolerating you by the looks of it," he explained. "Whatever the shadow says, it's the whole truth."

"…N-no, of course not…" Peppita muttered before looking at Fox. "…You wouldn't think those awful things of me…right?"

"Ugh…" Fox looked away and frowned.

"…Right?" Peppita asked worried. "…Is that right, Fox?"

"Geez, you're so damn clueless, aren't you?" Shadow Fox asked. "Guess what: this is what he was thinking after you asked him."

Peppita looked shocked. "H-how can I believe you? Y-you don't know anything!"

"Again, you're wrong," Shadow Fox said. "I'm the real Fox here," he said before pointing at Fox. "This one over here is just a poor imitation of the true one."

Fox pointed at him. "You're the poor imitation here."

"Am I?" Shadow Fox asked amused. "I'm starting to get sick of you 2," he said before glaring at Peppita. "It's time to shut the little b(beep)…forever…"

The Velbaysian took a step back. "W-what are you gonna do to me?"

"Oh, don't worry, Peppita," Shadow Fox said. "I'm just going to take you to your mother. She's dead, right? Well, I'm gonna do a good deed tonight and take you with her so you STAY there and don't piss me off anymore. Isn't that gentle of me or what?"

Peppita looked confused at him. "H-how do you know that my mom…"

"Sophia told me after you ran off crying," Shadow Fox said. "She wanted to make me apologize to you after I yelled at you. Good thing she told me that so I could seek you out and tell you how sorry I am…" He raised a finger and smiled evilly. "Then, I got an idea: why not take you to your mother as a form of an apology? You miss her, right? You want her to be with you again, right? Well, don't you worry, Peppita, I'll make you sure to reunite with her. That way, you're not going to be around anymore so you drool all over me."

Peppita looked at Fox. "F-Fox…i-is that true?" she asked as some tears strolled down her cheeks. "D-did Sophia tell you that?"

"…" Fox closed his eyes and turned to her. "…Yeah…"

"…" Peppita shook her head. "I-I'm not mad because now you know what happened to my dad and mom…but…if that's true…d-does that mean you really want to kill me off?"

Fox opened his eyes shocked and looked at Peppita. "No! I don't want to do such a thing to you!"

"I gotta admit he doesn't want to kill you off," Shadow Fox said. "I want, though. If I get rid of you, surely my stress will lift over." He made a happy expression. "It'll be so relieving to watch you squirm on the floor, begging for my help… I can totally help you by crushing your head with my foot."

Peppita shook her head quickly. "Y-you're lying! W-why do you want to kill me without having a good reason?"

Shadow Fox's happy expression turned into a demonic look. "Toying around with my past was your biggest mistake. I get so sick that people barge in my privacy and divulge whatever I talk to myself alone. The first I time I saw you, I knew right away you were going to follow me." He slowly raised his right fist. "I think it was your fault for meddling in where you weren't wanted. Right now, you're gonna face the consequence," he said before smiling honestly as his fist stopped under his right arm. "But think about this: I'll make sure your mother sees you again, and you'll get to stay with her forever! Now that's a perfect excuse for killing you. It'll benefit everyone in some way or another. Don't you agree, Peppita? The man of your dreams will help you to see your mother."

"…I-I…" Peppita shook scared as she slowly covered her face. "I-I don't wanna die… I-I don't wanna die…" She started to sob, making Fox feel neglected. "I-I don't wanna see my mom… I-I don't wanna die because I was so happy…" She started to cry silently. "I-I just don't wanna get hurt…"

"(Peppita…)" Fox thought in shame as Peppita started to rub her eyes without stopping.

Dr. Eggman snickered and turned to the right. "Well, you 3 seem to be having a good conversation without me. I'll leave you so you become acquainted," he said before he flew off the floor and went down to the temple.

The vulpine glared at the direction the scientist went off. "Get back here!" Fox yelled.

"No can do," Shadow Fox said as he stared at the crying Peppita. "Now, be a peach and let my fist stick out from your flat chest."

"S-stop it…" Peppita sobbed. "P-please, stop it…"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "I'll stop this once you die, Peppita. Why don't you stay there and let me kill you?" The shadow flexed his right hand's fingers at the level of his shoulder. "I'm getting warmed up here. It will be all over soon, don't worry…"

Fox had had enough of this. Turning around, he instantly tightened his fists more and glared at his shadow. "Don't you dare get closer to her…"

Shadow Fox looked at him. "What will you do if I do get close to her?"

Fox moved his left foot behind and narrowed his glare. "I'm going to stop you from killing her unfairly…that's what I'm going to do."

Shadow Fox put a hand on his forehead. "Aww, you love her, huh?"

"…No, I don't love her," Fox said.

"Then what is she to us?" Shadow Fox asked as Peppita kept sobbing. "Is she a little brat that can't listen to adults?"

"…She isn't like that," Fox said, closing his eyes.

"Oh, wait, I know," Shadow Fox said. "She's a little filthy b(beep), then."

"Stop calling her that!" Fox yelled, opening his angered eyes.

Shadow Fox sighed. "You know, this is starting to get so boring to me. I'll just start right now." He imitated Fox's stance. "Are you ready to face yourself?"

Fox gritted his fangs. "…There's no damn way I'm you… You're not me!" he yelled loudly. "You're just an a(beep)e! You're not me, dammit!" Fox closed his eyes and gritted his fangs even more than before, inhaling air so his anger would wear out. YOU'RE NOT ME, YOU SON OF A B(EEEP)!!!"

"…" Shadow Fox stared blankly at him. "…So…I'm not you, huh…"

Fox panted heavily and furiously at the Shadow Nightmare. "…Pretty much…" he muttered between pants. "…You're…not…me…"

"…" Shadow Fox chuckled silently. "…Heheheh…" His chuckles slowly got louder. "Heheheheh… Heheheheheh… Heheheheheh…" He slowly opened his hands at the sides. "Hahahahaha… Hahahahaha, hahahahahaha, hahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed maniacally. "!!!"

Fox watched in shock as the Shadow Nightmare's aura glowed even darker than before, creating a malicious wind that made the several plants move back. Shadow Fox crackled evilly to the ceiling high above the garden as he relished his newfound darker appearance. "Ugh, no…" Fox muttered as he continued to grit his fangs, Peppita stopping crying after feeling the wind pushing her bangles back.

"W-what's happening now?" Peppita asked as she rubbed her eyes a bit. "W-what is going on?"

Fox looked at her over his left shoulder, a serious look that frightened her. "Run!" he yelled. "Get away from here, quick!"

Peppita looked back and forth between the 2 foxes. "B-but what's gonna happen to you?"

"Don't care about me and run away from here!" Fox yelled at her. "Do you want to die or what? Get away from here and leave!"

Peppita was utterly confused. She didn't know if Fox was telling her to get safe from the Shadow Nightmare or if he was telling her to stay away from him. Her feelings were so damaged that she couldn't tell if this was good or not anymore. Peppita grabbed her head and slowly shook in fear.

"Peppita!" Fox yelled. "Run away from here!"

"N-no…" Peppita sobbed.

"What?"

"I-I don't want to leave you alone…" Peppita muttered as she sniffed, rubbing her eyes once more. "I-I don't want to…leave…"

Fox cursed under his breath. "Dammit, this is for your welfare, don't you understand?!"

Peppita embraced herself and looked at Fox as her eyes let out tears. "I-I'm so confused!" she cried out emotionally in pain. "W-what should I do?!"

"I care about you, dammit!" Fox yelled. "Listen to what I say and run away from here!"

"Oh, there's no need for such a foolish idea to get safe from the truth anymore…"

The vulpine's eyes shook in shock before he turned around to see a confident Shadow Fox with crossed arms looking at him, his dark aura glowing dangerously black.

Shadow Fox chuckled and flexed his right arm. "Ah, the surge of power from the lies…" he muttered with a snicker. "Just see what I can do thanks to your constant lies…"

Fox grunted and regained his fighting stance. "What do you know about me? I haven't been lying!" he yelled angrily.

Shadow Fox looked amused. "You mean to tell me you don't really miss your father?"

Fox gasped a bit. "I don't miss him anymore… He's dead…"

"Wow, you're such a heartless guy," Shadow Fox said disappointed. "You miss him a lot, I know that very well because I came out of you, Foxy," he taunted. "Also…" Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes. "Last time I recall…you're the one who encouraged him to go right to his death…"

Fox's jaw opened a bit in shock. Peppita slowly looked at Shadow Fox. "…What?" Peppita muttered. "…What was that?"

Shadow Fox nodded. "What, he didn't tell you?" he asked confused. "Oh wait, he didn't. Well, I may as well tell you, right? I'm really honest, Peppita… Besides, if I tell you now, you won't tell anybody else because you won't be around anymore to gossip this."

Peppita looked scared at Shadow Fox's devious look.

Fox wasn't going to stay quiet about it.

"Shut up," Fox said through gritted fangs. "You have NO right to do that."

"I don't have the right to say it like Peppita did?" Shadow Fox asked. "What, do you want me to go away and cry?"

"Who's telling you to do that?"

"You're a meanie, Fox," Shadow Fox said. "Meanies don't have a place to be around with you. You think you have the best choices just because you're a great leader? Tsk, you're just fantasying way too much."

Fox narrowed his eyes. "I'm a great leader… I know for sure I'm a great leader based on everyone's opinions. I'm not showing off, but everyone I know thinks I'm a great leader with the best choices there is…"

"…And…hmm…" Shadow Fox rubbed his chin. "…Are you good at choosing the right decisions so you don't hurt others emotionally?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "I remember this guy who didn't believe that his girlfriend was ready for the Anglars that he told her to leave the team, not caring how she cried and ran away…" Shadow Fox got in a thinking position. "…Don't you think you did sort of the same with Peppita?"

The leader of Star Fox looked shocked at him. "N-no…t-this is just different…"

"Is it?" Shadow Fox asked. "Apparently, I've been known to be such a dip(beep)t to just a single person," he said. "I care about their welfare, but I don't care what they say to me if they contradict my facts."

Fox slowly started to get bothered by the Shadow Nightmare as his fists slowly turned back to hands.

"Pfft, what do they know, anyway?" Shadow Fox asked annoyed. "They think they're all better than me. Hello, I'm the legendary leader of Star Fox. Whatever I say, it goes, period."

"T-that's not true…" Fox muttered as he started to look a little bit tense.

"Oh, it's so true, alright," Shadow Fox said amused. "I ALWAYS have the right choices. I like to order people the way I want them to do. I'm the strongest, smartest, most clever leader that the universes had ever seen before." He crossed his arms and smirked at Fox. "I hate all the people who dare not listen to my choices. Heck, I hate Falco for that matter. He thinks he's so cool and stuff that he can decide anything his little head (real size) wants to do."

"D-don't mock Falco…" Fox muttered with some anger.

"Slippy, oh, little weakling Slippy," Shadow Fox chuckled a bit. "He's not good riding an Arwing. Even if he's useful to make really good machines, I'm always have to chase the enemies that get his tail because he didn't listen to my orders. My god, what a big dumb(beep)s deaf toad…"

"Don't talk about Slippy like that either…" Fox muttered.

"Peppy's just an oldie," Shadow Fox said. "I have to remark it was so surprising that he came alive from Venom without my father. Really, when you think about it, it makes you think Peppy was a chicken who let my father do all the dirty work in there. Thus, my father possibly died because of Peppy's recklessness," he said with some anger. "I hope that old man is ready to die when I finish you off."

"Peppy isn't an idiot…" Fox muttered as he looked pissed at Shadow Fox.

"And Krystal…" Shadow Fox chuckled. "…Do I care what she says? It was her fault that I ultimately judged her an inexperienced pilot of my team. She was lazy, so damn infatuated by my looks that she was fired... Like I care what the b(beep)h says to me, anyway."

"Stop talking about Krystal like that…" Fox muttered as he fully showed his fangs.

"I could go on all night saying stuff about everyone you know," Shadow Fox said. "I think I should stop here before I get to the best part…about what I really thought my father was…"

Fox's hands quickly turned into fists as Peppita watched scared from behind. "…Shut up…" he muttered as his eyes dilated in anger. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!"

Shadow Fox watched as Fox started to dash towards him with his menacing glare. His fists trailed behind his back, ready to deliver a hard punch at the shadow's face. However, the Shadow Nightmare looked amused at this and moved his face up before sighing, smiling wickedly. "…Pitiful Foxy…"

"UGH!!!"

"Always letting a small angering fact grow into a big stress for you… Thanks to that, you shall forever be defined as the worst insensitive leader in history…"

Peppita gasped loudly as she took a step back in shock.

Fox didn't know why, but Shadow Fox wasn't in front of him anymore. His vision turned blurry before his eyes rolled back into his head as he fell to his knees and fainted on the floor, his hands sliding forward from each side of his head as he lost consciousness.

The Velbaysian looked horrified as she saw where Shadow Fox was now. Peppita couldn't believe that the Shadow Nightmare appeared behind Fox right after she blinked one time.

The Shadow Nightmare had his left elbow behind his back in the same spot where Fox's throat once was. Peppita looked frightened as the Shadow Nightmare looked at her amused, not looking back at the knocked out Fox.

"...Excellent," Shadow Fox said as he looked at his feet. "I've achieved not only brute force, but I also got insane speed…" He smiled at Peppita. "Am I the coolest as you think or what?"

Peppita started to shake in fear as she recalled she was left behind with a dark monster that easily took out the one who could have potentially saved her. The Velbaysian looked helpless as she looked around to find a way to get away, now cursing in her mind after not listening to Fox before. Closing her eyes, Peppita closed her eyes and quickly ran to the right in order to run away.

However, for some reason, she felt like she just ran into a hard wall that made her lose her footing as she stumbled back a bit. The Velbaysian opened her eyes and gasped once she saw Shadow Fox standing in front of her with fists on his hips, looking down at her confused. "What are you doing?" Shadow Fox asked. "Why are you crashing onto my chest?"

"U-uh…" Peppita looked frightened as she backed away. Looking to the right, she thought she had another chance to run away. Once her feet began to run to the right to move around the Shadow Nightmare, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see another abomination.

Unfortunately, she once again ran into the same kind of wall before she stumbled back a bit. Peppita opened her eyes and looked even more frightened as she found Shadow Fox standing in front of her, keeping his "heroic" pose as he looked down at her. He deviously grinned a bit. "What do you know, you still DO like me. I mean, you want a hug from me?"

"N-no!" Peppita yelled loudly as she turned back to the left where she instantly stopped right after she found out that she was standing right in front of Shadow Fox again. "S-stop it!" she demanded as she turned to the right, only to find Shadow Fox there as well. "S-seriously, stop it!" she demanded louder as she turned around, finding herself looking at Shadow Fox's chest before looking up at his grinning expression. "W-what's so funny now? L-leave me alone!"

The Velbaysian started to look freaked out at the Shadow Nightmare. It was so unbelievable to think there was someone so insanely fast that she couldn't see with the naked eye. Peppita started to get even more desperate as she looked around to find a way out, but she always found herself looking at Shadow Fox.

This constant display of speed kept going for a minute as Shadow Fox enjoyed scaring the young girl. Once he stopped appearing in front of the lone pedestal of the floor, the Velbaysian shook in fear, her eyes looking exhausted for so much looking around.

"W-why are you doing this?" Peppita asked as she slowly backed away to the staircase the leaded to the lower floor behind her. "W-why are you playing around with me?"

"I like to play around with children," Shadow Fox said as he crossed his arms, smiling at her. "I like to do it a lot."

Peppita thought that she could distract the Shadow Nightmare by asking him questions. It seemed like Shadow Fox didn't plan to appear just behind her. The Velbaysian kept staring at him, not wanting to look at the fainted Fox on the floor. She thought that the Shadow Nightmare would vanish and appear right behind her if she looked away for a second. "D-don't you think you're going too far on a person like me?"

"You went too far on me," Shadow Fox recalled. "Or what I used to be me… Even so, you kind of went too far on me," he stated. "Shouldn't we be fine after I go too far on you?"

"N-no…" Peppita said gulping. "I-I don't think that's fair, actually…"

Shadow Fox tilted his head. "…Really? That's sad…" he trailed off. "But…you know why this is good?"

"N-no, I don't know why this is good…" Peppita responded, knowing by memory that the staircase was getting closer to her.

Shadow Fox chuckled. "This is good because…well…" He looked away amused before looking at her from the corner of his yellow eyes. "…I'm the one who made that choice…"

Peppita tried her best not to cry as she continued to back away. "A-and?"

"And…well…" Shadow Fox scratched the back of his head. "…Whatever I decide to do…"

Peppita's eyes widened as she quickly found herself being pulled against Shadow Fox's chest by his right arm pressing her shoulders. She couldn't believe that the Shadow Nightmare would instantly react and prevent her from getting away.

"…It's the right choice to do…" Shadow Fox chuckled deviously.

Peppita panicked out of fear and tried her best to push Shadow Fox's arm away from her by slipping her hands behind it. Unfortunately, for her dismay, she could barely move the arm away with her hands as it budged a little bit. "L-let me go, please, let me go!" she pleaded for mercy as she used all her forces to push the arm away from her shoulders. "Y-you're insane, you're a monster, and you're a maniac!"

"Wow, wow, wow," Shadow Fox said as he looked down at her. "Why are you treating me like trash now? Didn't you want this to happen?" he asking before chuckling deeply. "You always wanted to be this close to me… Don't be scared, Peppita, admit your love to me…"

Peppita looked extremely panicked as she struggled to get off from his arm. She didn't think this would happen to her just because she ran away. "LET ME GO!" she cried out as tears began to stroll down her cheeks. "I-I don't love a monster like you, and I won't love you at all!"

"…Peppita, you're hurting my feelings…"

The Velbaysian suddenly felt that the arm slowly applied more force against her. Peppita felt pain and she tried to get off as soon as she could, but her hands weren't strong enough to push them away. She later found herself gasping for breath as Shadow Fox looked amused at her.

"Why do you want to deny what you really want to have from me?" Shadow Fox asked as he later looked blankly at her, not caring the fact he was asphyxiating her. "C'mon, you want me to love you back, right?"

Peppita slowly closed her eyes as the arm pressed her hard against his chest. "I-I…" she trailed off weakly. "…I-I don't love you…"

"Why's that?" Shadow Fox asked. "Do you love the lying bastard over there?" he asked as he looked at the fainted Fox. "That's bad, though. He didn't care about your feelings at the very least. I, however, care for you…"

Peppita felt that she was slowly fainting. She tried her best to stay awake and resist the brute force of the Shadow Nightmare. "I-if…i-if…i-if…you care…a-about me…" She slowly opened her eyes as she found herself looking up at him. "…W-why…w-why…a-are you…t-trying…t-to…k-kill me…"

"…Didn't I tell you?" Shadow Fox asked. "I said I was going to take you to your mother."
Peppita gasped weakly.

"And that will surely be a perfect example of true love," Shadow Fox said as he grinned at her. "You'll die on my arms, Peppita. That's going to be the best romantic scene ever…" He smirked wickedly. "Now be a good girl and shut up so I can get rid of you."

Peppita suddenly started crying silently. "(N-no!)" she thought in panic. "(S-somebody, please, s-save me from this monster, I beg of you! I-I'm so powerless to do anything now! P-please, somebody…help me…I-I need your help…)" She clutched her eyelids as more tears strolled down her cheeks. With the strength she had left, she decided to shout loudly under Shadow Fox's snout, "PLEASE, ANYONE!!!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Oh, that's cute," he remarked at Peppita's crying expression. "You think someone going's to come right now and stop me from taking you to your mom…"

Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit.

"It's amusing to come right before you have a chance to kill her after she wanted help," said a voice from behind the Shadow Nightmare.

The Shadow Nightmare stared forward and looked bored. "…" He remained silent.

"Flying Guillotine!"

Shadow Fox pushed the gagging Peppita to the floor as he quickly ran all the way to the lone pedestal, avoiding some dark energy waves that sliced the air apart before moving back to the staircase. The Shadow Nightmare watched as seven figures came running from the staircase, instantly looking around as the person in the center of the group, the one that executed the attack, put hands on hips.

"Looks like we arrived here in time…"

"…" Shadow Fox glared at the group.

The Shadow Nightmare looked at the group that came from the staircase. The group that just arrived was composed of Maria, Sophia, Wolf, Chris, Sonic (as a werehog), Chip, and Nel who had been the one to execute the attack to save Peppita.

"N-no!" Chris gasped as he looked at the downed Fox before looking back at Shadow Fox. "S-somebody brought a Shadow Nightmare here!"

"A Shadow Nightmare?" Maria asked. "What is a Shadow Nightmare?"

Wolf glared at Shadow Fox. "Basically, a monster that turns itself to look like its target… However, this copy is entirely made out of sick and twisted thoughts from the victim, boosting its power with how many lies the victim had been hiding from others so it unleashes enhanced attacks. In a few words, the lies that the victim tries to hide make the shadow even stronger… Well, that's just what I think it is."

Sonic looked surprised at him. "Wow, how do you know all that?"

"Hedgehog, I DO study battles," Wolf said as he kept looking at Shadow Fox. "I knew I was gonna fight a scum like this very soon. I could tell that very well."

Sonic growled a bit before looking away. "W-well, I study battles too…"

Maria rubbed her chin. "Let me get this straight… A Shadow Nightmare copies its victim's appearance and boosts its power by how many lies the victim has… Sounds farfetched to me, but I want to see more about this phenomenon."

"P-Peppita!" Sophia yelled as she saw the struggling Peppita on the floor. The teen ran and knelt down to see her. "Peppita, are you okay? Did he do something to you?"

"S-Sophia…" Peppita muttered weakly as she turned herself around to lay her back against the floor, her expression looking happy and relieved at them. "Y-you came to save me…Sophia…"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, we all came for you, Peppita…"

Peppita looked at the group. "W-where's…Fayt and the others?"

"We separated intro groups after knowing that Fox went to find you," Nel explained.

Peppita smiled weakly before she moaned a bit in pain and fainted.

"Peppita!" Sophia yelled. "Hang in there, Peppita, please…" she said as she tried to heal her.

"Since we already found you…" Nel looked at Maria. "Think you can give them a shout to alert them?"

Maria nodded and took out a communicator that looked like a cell phone that she held on her right. "Of course," Maria said. "I just need to press this button an-"

In a slow motion, Maria watched as a blue shot destroyed the communicator completely as its pieces fell on the floor. The leader of Quark blinked a little bit surprised at the crumbles of the communicator before she looked all the way back to the lone staircase where the Shadow Nightmare had a dark phase gun aiming at her.

Shadow Fox chuckled as he spun the phase gun on his right finger. "Oh, sorry, I failed that shot," he said chuckling. "I meant to shot you head down, but I accidentally missed and destroyed your communicator apparatus."

"…" Maria didn't look surprised anymore. "Don't lie to me now. I know you reacted quickly and shot my communicator so I couldn't call reinforcements here."

"Bravo," Shadow Fox said as he put the phase gun in his holster. "You're very clever, Maria Traydor, but not so smart."

"I'm not going to instantly know about you," Maria said. "I just met you, after all. If I DID know about you, then I'd surely be some sort of stalker who doesn't have anything better to do than…stalk people…and I'm not like that."

"…Maybe," Shadow Fox said before shaking his head. "Anyhow, I stopped you from calling reinforcements here," he said before chuckling. "I know for sure you think I'm your enemy, right?"

Chris glared at him. "O-of course you're our enemy!"

"But I'm not your enemy," Shadow Fox said as he opened his arms wide. "I'm the real Fox, the one that will try and help you all defeat the Subspace Army."

"Not this crap again…" Sonic muttered with a frown.

Wolf frowned. "Oh please, don't talk about this "I'm the real one here" stuff now," he said a little bit disgusted at the Shadow Nightmare. "What you have to do now is scram or die."

Shadow Fox glared at them as Sophia tried to heal Peppita through Symbology. "What if I tell you to choose one of those options instead?" he asked. "I know what I'm doing here. I'm always right with what I decide to do for everyone to stay…alive…"

"…What?" Wolf asked. "What does that suppose to mean?" He thought for a moment. "You mean to say you know what's best to do?"

"And that I'm always right," Shadow Fox said. "I mean, I have always the right choice in mind."

The World Traveler knew that the shadow was probably telling what Fox thought in reality. If that were true, Chris would look at Fox with a different point of view. However, it was impossible to tell if the shadow was thinking by his accord. "Is that what Fox really thinks of himself?"

"…Duh."

"…B-but…that's not really true…" Chris said before he looked at Peppita. "I don't think it was right of him to yell at Peppita like that and…" The World Traveler looked at the fainted Fox. "Fox!"

As soon as Chris took a step forward, Fox instantly disappeared in a blink of an eye. The World Traveler looked shocked as the Shadow Nightmare held Fox by the collar on the floor.

"What the…" Sonic looked shocked. "I-I didn't see him picking him up…"

Chip shook. "W-what was going on here?"

Shadow Fox chuckled and let Fox fall down on the floor, close to the lone pedestal. "Oh, sorry, but I can't let you lay a finger on him," he said before he was shown holding the fainted Peppita by holding one of her bangles high up on his left side before letting her fall down. "Also, I can't let you either lay another finger on her."

Sophia gasped once she saw that Peppita was gone from under her hand. "N-no!" she gasped as she got up. "Y-you, bring her back to me!"

Shadow Fox shook his head. "Sorry, but I have to take her to her mother soon. She wants so badly to reunite with her."

"…What?" Sophia asked. "…Y-you surely don't mean kill Peppita…"

"That's…another way to put it," Shadow Fox admitted. "If I do that, then Peppita will meet her mother again, right? This is going to be my apology for yelling at her." He smiled honestly. "Peppita wants to see her mother again, so why don't give her what she wants to see?"

Sophia stared at him before shaking her head. "I bet Peppita didn't want to meet her like that…" The teen glared at the shadow. "Peppita wouldn't try to do that at all."

"She wanted to, so I'm gonna give her that," Shadow Fox said. "After I'm done with her, let's all go back to Peterny and sleep for the night." He made a happy expression. "Leave me alone with these 2, please."

Shadow Fox noticed that the seven characters were looking at them with glares.

"…" Shadow Fox frowned. "…I take that you're not going to leave…"

"Exactly," Wolf said as he crossed his arms. "I don't take orders from an abomination like you."

Apparently, this fact made Shadow Fox feel a little bit tense as he stared blankly at Wolf.

"…You…are not taking orders from me…" Shadow Fox muttered before he started to pant heavily. "…You're not listening, then…" He closed his eyes. "Seriously…I really hate people who dare not to listen to what is best for them…I know what's best, after all…" He tightened his fists. "Don't worry about this, though…" He grinned evilly and chuckled. "It'll be all over for you, fools…" He opened his glaring eyes as he smiled at them wickedly. "You're gonna go down by being such bastards…"

The seven (including Chip) took fighting stances as Maria walked forward. "Okay guys, let's do it."

Shadow Fox cracked his fists as the two fainted characters weren't moving at his sides. "Be my guests."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – The Divine Spirit of Language

"I am the shadow…the true self…" Shadow Fox stated as he crossed his arms. "You don't know what to do when you feel that the situation is getting worse, huh? Well, I'll gladly be your leader of the pack. Now, my first order of tonight for you…is to die."

Maria frowned and took out her phase gun. "If you put it that way, then we don't have any choice but to die either way. If we follow it we'll die, and if we don't you'll kill us."

Shadow Fox chuckled amused. "That's the whole meaning behind it."

Nel took a step back as she brandished her daggers. "Sorry, but I don't follow your orders."

"That's sad," Shadow Fox said. "You could have done that."

Sonic growled angrily. "Please, I'm not gonna be ordered by you to do whatever you want me to be doing."

"Really? You need some discipline, you know."

"A-and I think you need some discipline…" Chip said as he shyly punched the air. "T-these guys will teach you, though…" He quickly hid behind Chris. "G-go get 'im, guys!"

Chris frowned. "I knew you were going to do that…"

Shadow Fox put his fists down by the sides of his belt. "Well then, shall you begin to follow my order?"

Sophia took out her staff that she put crossed in front of her. "I'm scared…but I'll give it my best shot."

"Let's cut down the talk and get to the fight," Wolf said as he fully opened his claws. "You better be ready for the worst…all of you."

"Yeah, we know," Maria said.

Shadow Fox opened his arms. "Let's begin the show."

And he instantly disappeared right after they all blinked.

"H-he just disappeared!" Chip yelled before he decided to hide behind the arch's blue gem of the staircase. "B-be careful!"

Maria sighed. "He's probably still in this floor. If that's true, he's waiting for us to take a step forward so he kicks us away…"

Sonic looked at her. "Then what do we do to stop him from goin' around?"

"Very simple," Maria said as she aimed her phase gun at the floor. "Hey, shadow freak, try dodging THIS! Magnetic Field!"

The phase gun of Maria shot down a beam that created a big field of blue magnetism that covered an eight of the long floor. The attack didn't affect any of the members of the group, but it did affect someone.

Maria looked pleased after she saw some dark tanker boots being stuck on a corner of the circle of magnetism. She looked forward where Shadow Fox grunted angrily as some electricity ran through his body.

"D-dammit!" Shadow Fox yelled as he struggled to move his feet. "I'm starting and now I'm getting stopped that fast?"

"Shut up," Maria said while she pulled back her phase gun that the magnetic field kept doing its effect. The leader of Quark ran to the shadow vulpine to initiate another attack. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled, kicking the air upward to send a shockwave that obliged Shadow Fox to be pushed up to the air. "No-one can escape gravity! Gravity Bullet!" Maria yelled as she shot out from her phase gun a gravitation sphere that pulled Shadow Fox into it, dealing several hits that made him grunt in pain.

"Let's not stay standing here and do something as well," Nel told the others. "We know his speed is insane, but we must try to hit him once he gets staggered."

"Oh ho ho ho, I know what you mean by that," Sonic said with a smirk before he glared at the shadow and extended his claws to the sphere of gravitation.

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted as Sonic's claws grabbed him by the sides. "Idiot…" Shadow Fox muttered before he easily pushed the claws away with his hands, landing back on the floor where he shook his head and smirked at the group.

"Aw, dammit! What a way to screw up by attack!" Sonic cursed as he pulled back his claws.

"Disperse!" Maria yelled. "We shouldn't be standing close to each other!"

"I think that's a good idea," Wolf said. "Let's do it."

All the characters decided to disperse across the long floor as Chris tried to see where he could be. Chris gasped once he lost sight of Shadow Fox. "W-where did he go now?" He felt something leaning behind his back. "…T-tell me he just didn't appear behind me…"

Chip slowly peer from the arch to see that Shadow Fox was leaning his back against Chris's back, the Shadow Nightmare crossing his arms. "H-he just did…"

"Dammit, I told you not to tell me that!" Chris yelled angrily as he turned around. However, once he turned around, the Shadow Nightmare was gone, and now he was leaning behind his back once again. "S-stop that!" Chris yelled as he turned around to see the shadow, but he was once again leaning behind his back. "R-really, stop it now!"

"Hey, I'm acting cool," Shadow Fox said amused. "I thought you though I was cool."

"L-leaning behind me isn't exactly being cool… It's being annoying…"

"..Oh well," Shadow Fox said before he slammed the back of his right hand against Chris by lifting up his arm. The World Traveler yelled in pain as he was sent stumbling across the long floor to where he stopped rolling right in front of the small stairs that led to the lone pedestal. "If you don't like it, then don't say it to me again. You don't want to piss me off, right?"

"O-oww!" Chris moaned in pain as he got up and rubbed the back of his head. "T-that hit was…just too…oww…"

Nel, who was located to the west of the floor, narrowed her eyes once she saw the World Traveler shaking his head. "Not only this doppelganger is fast, but his strength is brutal…"

"Damn straight," Shadow Fox said behind her. The Elicoorian turned around to glare at him. "You're quite clever when just finding out how strong I am. By the way, you were late in that, though."

"Shut up," Nel said as she did a hand sign. "Now stay there and don't move."

"I don't receive orders from the likes of you," Shadow Fox said as he began to hop on his spot, imitating Fox's signature fighting stance. "Let's have some fun."

"Did I tell you that I can tolerate flirting guys a bit?"

"I wasn't flirting."

"Good," Nel said. "Whirlwind!"

Shadow Fox backed away once winds began to circle around the Elicoorian. Nel stood between torrents of slicing winds that protected her from the Shadow Nightmare. The spy then ran at the shadow where the winds sliced his vest a bit. "Ugh…" Shadow Fox quickly side flipped to escape from the winds.

"What's the matter? Can't get close to me?" Nel asked.

Shadow Fox chuckled as he took out his phase gun. "No, but this can do the job."

Nel's eyes widened as she saw the phase gun shooting out a flurry of blue shots that obliged her to flip into the air to evade them all. For her dismay, the whirlwind soon vanished, its effect not exactly lasting a lot of time. "Darn it…" Nel muttered as she landed back on the floor. "That's my only attack to keep him away from getting too close to me…"

"Actually, I'm close to you now."

Nel gasped as she turned around for her to receive a harsh blow by a fast kick on her face that sent her rolling a long distance to the north wall. The spy grunted and quickly stopped by stabbing the floor with a dagger to stop herself from rolling, her right hand putting a tight grip on the dagger's hilt. "His strength…is just unbelievable…" she muttered. "I…don't feel so good anymore…"

The Crimson Blade made suddenly was pulled back by the scarf she was wearing. Nel gasped for air as Shadow Fox was seen pulling her by the two ends of the long scarf that she wore.

A sadistic smile was on the Shadow Nightmare as he snickered a bit. "This is why I have my red scarf's ends tucked in," he said as he grabbed both ends with each hand to asphyxiate Nel's throat. "It's dangerous to wear clothes sometimes, you know."

Nel began to cough weakly. "Y-you…insolent…fool…"

Shadow Fox applied even more force. "Shut up, you b(beep)," he said pissed. "You don't listen to me; you die, simple as that."

"S-somebody…lend a hand…" Nel gasped for air.

Behind one of the pillars of the floor, a Blaster shot a shot at Shadow Fox's head. The Shadow Nightmare was too busy torturing Nel before the shot impacted his head. Shadow Fox stopped grabbing Nel's scarf before he looked back angrily. "Okay, who did that just now?"

The Blaster with the knife pulled back before Wolf appeared from behind the pillar. "Got a problem that I stopped your play time?" he asked as he put his Blaster back in its holster.

"I have problem," Shadow Fox said. "And I want to terminate that problem."

"Bring it on, then," Wolf taunted the Shadow Nightmare.

Shadow Fox smirked. "With pleasure…" He instantly disappeared.

At this sudden action, Wolf snapped his fingers. "Now."

"Magnetic Field!"

The same field of magnetism suddenly came from behind the same pillar Wolf was hiding. Once Wolf turned around, he found the struggling Shadow Fox trying to move his stuck feet. "N-not this again!" Shadow Fox yelled.

Wolf crossed his arms in front of his face as his claws glowed dark. "Time to rip that face of yours," he said before he leaped at Shadow Fox and began slashing his face 5 times before dealing a harsh blow that sent him falling down on the floor, grunting a bit in pain as some sparks flew out from him.

Maria sidestepped from the pillar, her phase gun pointing down. "You know, it's surprising what strategies can do when you work together to take down a guy like you."

Shadow Fox grunted and quickly got back up by pushing his feet up. "I don't need teamwork," he said as he cracked his fists. "You 2 are going to be the first ones t-"The Shadow Nightmare stopped talking once a sphere of electricity appeared, trapping him inside where he grunted several times. "W-why did this come out of nowhere?!"

Several feet away, there was Sophia holding out her open right hand as her staff was behind her. "Stop right there, filthy monster!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted once more after the sphere disappeared by delivering a strong blow of sparks into him. "So I guess everyone's ganging up on me…"

"We are!"

Shadow Fox's ears perked up before he sidestepped from a lance crashing down the floor. The wielder of the spear, Chris, cursed after he was seen holding the spear down.

"Aww, please!" Chris cursed. "I wanted this attack to land the hit!"

Maria frowned. "You should have stayed quiet if you didn't want him to dodge it."

Chris looked helpless. "You're right…"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Man, what a way to screw up, Chris," he taunted. "Then again, you screw up a lot."

The World Traveler gasped once he felt that he was lifted up by a fist by grabbing his jacket's neck. Chris gasped for breath as he looked down to see the smirking Shadow Nightmare looking up at him. "L-let me go…"

"Tsk," Shadow Fox snickered a bit. "Like I'm going to let you go that easily, Chris."

Shadow Fox watched as Chris removed his jacket to fall back on the floor on his feet.

"…I have to admit that was clever…" Shadow Fox said as he tossed the jacket away, looking forward at Chris. "But it won't help you from this."

"UGH!" Chris was quickly punched in his stomach by a hard fist from the Shadow Nightmare. The World Traveler's vision looked blurry for a moment as he looked at Shadow Fox in front of him.

Shadow Fox chuckled. "What's the matter? Can't you resist a simple fist attack?"

"U-ugh…" Chris coughed some blood as Shadow Fox pulled back his fist and prepared to deal another blow. However, magnetism quickly stopped him from moving again as electricity ran into his body. Chris took this opportunity to run away from the corrupt shadow.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Shadow Fox yelled angrily as the magnetism stopped, his back behind furiously slashed by Wolf's Hand of Doom that made him stumble forward. "Can't you use another attack than that?!"

Maria closed her eyes. "(It's the only attack that can stop him from running and probably warping all over the place so he doesn't deliver those fatal blows to any of us…)"

"Well, it's not like your attacks are that severe," Shadow Fox said as he quickly disappeared from sight.

Wolf grunted. "Use that magnetic attack again to stop him fr-"A harsh fist smacked the left side of his head as he was sent crashing against a pillar that got destroyed and fell back. The lupine gritted his fangs as he was forced to lean against the remains of the pillar. "D-damn you…" Wolf muttered before he slowly got up only to be met by another fist that sent him crashing on the western wall of the floor, leaving a big crack on it as he panted heavily.

Shadow Fox smirked and flexed his right arm in front of him. "Looks like I'm starting to gain the upper hand here."

"H-how dare you…" Sophia muttered somewhat scared, calling Shadow Fox's attention as she prepared another Symbology attack by grabbing the tip and the lower part of her staff, a blue sphere slowly appearing in front of her.

"Sorry, but I just can't let you do that," Shadow Fox said before he disappeared in a blink of an eye and appeared right in front of Sophia. The teen gasped as the shadow grabbed the staff and broke it apart by crushing it with a hand. Sophia quickly backed away as her spell was interrupted, the shadow letting the two parts of the broken staff fall down as he stomped on one and crushed it. "Without your little staff, you won't try to cast another Symbology spell, huh?"

Sophia looked shocked as she found herself unequipped with a weapon. The staff that she was using supported greatly her Symbology spells since it was specially synthesized for magic, but once it broke, her Symbology power diminished greatly.

"H-help, you guys!" Sophia yelled as she found herself helpless.

Shadow Fox moved his right fist back. "Stay there and don't move."

"Can I say that to you as well?"

Shadow Fox was quickly grabbed by two stretching claws that appeared from behind a pillar. The Shadow Nightmare looked angrily at this before he raised his fists in the claws as he began to be covered by incinerating flames that made the claws return to the werehog. Sonic sidestepped from the pillar where he blew air at his burned claws.

"Hot, hot, hot…" Sonic said between exhales.

Shadow Fox landed back on the floor, quickly avoiding another magnetic trap from Maria as he speeded back to the staircase of the south. Chip gasped and quickly flew over the arch so the monster wouldn't see him. "Alright, I'm getting back to my usual battle performance," he said pleased as he made fists by his sides, Sophia running away to help Nel to left side of the floor.

"Ugh, his speed is unbelievable…" Maria muttered.

"I could keep up with his pace but nooooooooo I had to be a damned werehog," Sonic said annoyed. "Do you think I enjoy all this power in me or what? I hate strength when it makes my speed so damn low…"

"Jealous much?" Shadow Fox taunted him. "I have both speed and power by my side, not to mention my mind."

"What does your mind have to do with anything?"

"Well, for example, I can think of taking out first the people that present some kind of threat to me," he stated as he quickly vanished in front of them. "If my guess is correct, the most dangerous person around here is…the blunt girl Maria."

"Magnetic Field!" Maria yelled without interruptions in order to stop the Shadow Nightmare from delivering a blow to her. "(Wait a minute, this seems rather odd to do…)" She noticed that the floor was illuminated a bit with a shade of red. "What the…"

"A-above you!" Chris yelled as he pointed up at a burning meteor that quickly went down on the leader of Quark. Maria gasped and quickly ran away before the meteor crashed on the floor, creating a big explosion that sent Maria away as a big crack spread covered at least a fourth of the floor.

The meteor itself turned out to be Shadow Fox as he was standing in a big crack that he made by the attack. He had his fists on the sides of his belt as he grinned at them. "Do you like my Meteor Fox?"

"Meteor Fox?" Chris repeated. "…Is that some kind of upgrade from Fire Fox?"

"Yeah, that's how awesome the honest people like me are," Shadow Fox stated as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "I have lots of powerful attacks at my disposal."

Maria slowly got up from the floor as she stood up. "That explosion was rather dangerous…"

"Rather dangerous?" Shadow Fox repeated as he turned around to see her. "Idiot, don't you dare address my attack as rather dangerous…"

"Enough of your mocking talk, scum," Wolf said as his claws glowed dark. "Let's continue with this so you go away."

"Why don't you go away?" Shadow Fox asked with a snicker before he vanished once again.

The World Traveler looked around the floor. "T-that monster is surely running all over the place to make a surprise attack again…" He held his spear tightly with both of his hands. "W-what should we do?"

"(At this rate, he could take us all out…)" Sonic thought as he growled angrily and looked around. "(I want to have my speed back. That way, I could probably stop him from running all over here…)" He closed his eyes to concentrate his hearing. "(Yeah, there's definitely someone stepping all over this wide area… Ah, god, I'm relying on my werehog senses. I don't want to be using this kind of method forever…)"

Suddenly, all the pillars that were standing idly soon began to collapse all over the floor. The group watched as the pillars broke apart into crumbles that filled the whole place with some dust. Soon, there was nothing left on the floor to hide.

Wolf grunted. "He's cleaning out the whole place so we don't hide again…"

"I-it's futile to hide now, right?" Chris asked scared.

"Looks like it…" Sonic muttered before slamming a fist on the floor (making a crack as well). "Somebody think of something!"

To the left area of the floor, Sophia tried her best to heal Nel's injuries by using some Symbology magic she had left. The Crimson Blade member was lying down on the floor as she looked weakly at Sophia. "Hang in there, Nel…"

Nel coughed a bit. "That bastard…" she muttered. "Using what I'm wearing to take me out…"

"I know…" Sophia muttered as she held a blue sphere in front of her right hand on Nel. "O-oh no, it's harder to concentrate without my staff…"

"You can do it…" Nel coughed a bit. "The staff only affects your offensive Symbology, but not you healing Symbology…"

Sophia smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, you're right… Just give me more time and I-UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Nel's eyes widened in horror as Sophia let out a fierce cry of pain before she was kicked away hard by a strong kick on her right side. The Crimson Blade member gasped once she found Shadow Fox standing beside her with a right fist down where Sophia's back used to be. The Shadow Nightmare chuckled darkly as he crossed his arms and looked down at Nel. "Hey there, hottie. How's the cold floor down there?"

Nel glared at him. "Y-you can't possibly expect forgiveness now!" she yelled angrily as she managed to roll away where she stood up, her injuries making her grunt in pain. The red-haired woman looked to the right to see that Sophia was taken out as she was fainted on the floor, clutching her stomach with her arms. "Sophia…" She turned back to the enemy with a glare. "I hope you're prepared now…"

Shadow Fox opened his arms and raised his eyebrows a few times. "I was born prepared. Bring it on."

Nel crossed her arms in front of her as she opened them to shoot several ice knives that went after Fox. "Ice Daggers!" she yelled.

Shadow Fox chuckled at this as he pulled his fists back and called forth flames that covered him, melting the daggers instantly to water.

Nel grunted as the Shadow Nightmare kept burning. However, once she noticed, the flames, with the devilish shadow in it, quickly rammed against her before she cried out in pain. Nel's pupils shrunk in pure pain as the flames burned her and ultimately pushed her back to the wall where she managed to stop herself by putting her feet against the wall. She started to gasp for breath as Shadow Fox's fire vanished while he landed down, a hand on the floor as he smirked at her.

"I-I have to admit…you're a worthy opponent…" Nel muttered as she put an arm around her waist. "B-but…I won't be taken down…" She pulled back her right hand to cast Symbology. "(I need to heal my injuries with this spell…then I can strike back in time…)"

Shadow Fox frowned. "Here's an important rule for all of you," he began as he raised a finger, hearing the footsteps of Wolf, Maria, and Sonic from behind her. "No Symbology is allowed in the field as long as I'm the one being the target, okay?"

"You're not the target of my spell…" Nel pointed. "…I'm the target…"

"Oh snap, then I should stop you at once before you heal your injuries," Shadow Fox said surprised. "Okay, don't move, I'll be right there in a minute."

"UGH!!!" Nel received a severe uppercut under her chin as she was sent to the air before Shadow Fox quickly appeared above her and slammed down his joined fists together on her. Nel yelled loudly in pain as she crashed down on the floor on her back. "Nooooooooooo!!!" she yelled loudly before she passed out, a small line of blood coming from her lips.

Shadow Fox landed close to her and dusted off his hands. "Two out, four more to go…"

"Seven!" Chip yelled from the arch.

"Oh right, seven."

"…Darn it!" Chip cursed.

As Wolf, Maria, and Sonic rushed to the Shadow Nightmare, Chris panicked as tried to come up with an attack close to the staircase. "Oh please, oh please, oh please," he muttered as he thought hard. "I-I need some sort of new attack to stop Shadow Fox…"

"Well…" Kawashima began from Chris's pocket. "You need to deal some hits so you learn your next new skill for this job…"

Chris sighed in relief. "Okay…thanks for the info…but how am I going to land some hits on him?" he asked. "…Unless I use Jump again…" He frowned. "…I'll have to…" he said disappointed before he disappeared by jumping high up into the air.

Shadow Fox turned around to see the three characters stopping running to him. "You 3 are next," he said as flexed his fingers. "You shall suffer the consequences for not listening to my orders."

"For the last time, we don't have much of a choice but to die for you," Maria reminded him. "We're not gonna comply with that."

Shadow Fox sighed disappointed. "It's people like you that makes my blood boil so much," he said before grinning evilly at them. "Some violence can fix that. Don't try to use that magnetic attack again or else you're gonna get a déjà vu moment."

Maria pointed her gun down at the floor as Wolf and Sonic stood by each side of her. "Magnetic Field!"

The Shadow Nightmare vanished from sight once again, expecting the field of magnetism to engulf part of the field. However, this was all a plan Maria was thinking of as she smiled a bit, not pressing the trigger to use the shouted attack.

"(Just as I thought…)" Maria thought before looking up to see a flaming star going down on them. "Right there!" she yelled as she shot out from her phase gun a gravitational sphere that went up in hopes of stopping the burning dark vulpine.

"Will that do it?" Sonic asked as the three looked up to see both attacks clashing against each other.

"…Get away!" Wolf yelled as he saw the fire overwhelming the gravity sphere as he easily broke the sphere apart. "The sphere was too weak to stop him!"

"Quick!" Maria yelled as the three dispersed to different parts to avoid the meteor that crashed on the floor to create a big explosion of fire.

Once the flames disappeared, Shadow Fox was shown touching the floor with a hand before stood up and grinned. "Ah, the power of the lies…" he muttered in pleasure. "They make me so damn strong and powerful…"

Sonic stopped running as he turned around to glare at the Shadow Nightmare. "Yuck, this guy is just thirsty for power, isn't he?"

Maria stopped running to make the same action as the werehog. "This time is for real…" she muttered. "We have to keep on attacking."

"I agree," Wolf said as he stopped running to turn around and brandish his Hand of Doom attack with his claws. "Let's use a frontal attack to see what happens."

"Wait, it's too soon to rely on those attacks!" Maria yelled as Wolf shouted loudly while charging to Shadow Fox. "Dammit, I'll have to think by myself…"

"Hey, don't leave out from the fun," Sonic grinned as he started to rush towards the Shadow Nightmare. "I wanna whack this guy down."

Shadow Fox looked amused. "How about if I whack you guys down instead?" Once again, he vanished from sight.

Wolf and Sonic stopped running to look around the area. "Now where'd he go?" Sonic asked as he snarled angrily.

"He could be anywhere…" Wolf muttered as his claws kept glowing dark. "As far I know, his speed could allow him to do 20 laps around the whole garden without sweating…"

"Pfft, I could do that as well," Sonic said as the two stood back by back. "Any ideas of where he could be?"

Wolf scanned the area as Maria remained in her place as well. Not long after he started looking around, an impact from a spear made someone grunt in pain on the southeast corner of the floor. They all looked behind where Chris flipped back in the air and landed some feet away from the downed Shadow Fox on the floor.

The World Traveler adjusted his hat a bit and smiled. "I-I did it, I hit him even though he was moving all over the place!"

"You insolent kid…" Shadow Fox muttered before he pushed his feet to the air to stand up. "You're gonna be sorry for stopping me."

Chris quickly looked frightened as the shadow began to walk towards him while Shadow Fox cracked his fists. "U-um…" He quickly looked back to the others. "HELP!!!"

Wolf grunted and started to charge, along with Sonic, to the shadow as Maria took the distraction to go over to heal both Sophia and Nel. "(I need to do this as soon as I can before he notices me…)" Maria thought as she grunted a bit. "(This enemy is far more dangerous than I expected him to be as well…)"

For Maria's dismay, she gasped after she found the Shadow Nightmare standing between her and the fainted Nel and Sophia. "Going somewhere?" Shadow Fox asked with crossed arms.

"Dammit," Maria muttered as she stopped running. She quickly knelt down to aim at Shadow Fox's head. "I won't miss! Aiming Device!" As soon as she shot, Shadow Fox quickly disappeared from sight as the shot flew away of the floor. "Oh no…" Maria muttered before standing up. "Now what? I need to think fast before he attacks…" She aimed her gun down at the floor. "Try dodging THIS!"

"No, why don't you try dodging this instead?"

Maria knew Shadow Fox had appeared behind her in the air to kick her to Sophia and Nel. The leader of Quark ducked to evade a quintuple kick attack in time to roll away where she quickly stood on her right knee to shoot a shot from her phase gun, the attack actually hitting the shadow on his chest.

"Ouch..." Shadow Fox muttered as he landed on the floor. "Wow, not bad. You're very skilled yourself."

Maria stood up and quickly rushed at Shadow Fox. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled as she kicked the air upward to push the shadow away. For her dismay, Shadow Fox sidestepped from the shockwave swiftly with a move that Maria recognized. "Wait a minute...Fayt's Side Kick?"

"Side Kick!" Shadow Fox yelled as his right foot caught energy, approaching closer to Maria.

Maria grunted and tried to dodge the blow by back-stepping. Shadow Fox, however, proved to be much faster as her as he brutally delivered a strong blow at Maria's waist. The leader of Quark coughed after the kick slammed right into her, prompting her to back away as she embraced the hurt area with her left arm. "This isn't funny..." she said.

Shadow Fox landed back on the floor. "It's funny to me."

"S-stop that!" Maria yelled as she was forced to attack back. "Dust to dust! Scatter Beam!" she yelled loudly as she shot 10 shots at him.

Shadow Fox merely chuckled as he called forth his Reflector. Something different about this was the fact that, as well as reflecting all of Maria's shots back, it emitted a magnetic effect that pulled Maria closer to him. Not only this was the effect, but also it turned Maria's shots into reflected homing shots that dove down on her.

"What the..." Maria gasped as all the shots went after her. The leader of Quark quickly stood up, but since the shadow was still using his Reflector, she found herself unable to run even a foot away before the 10 shots connected to her back. She yelled loudly in pain before the shadow quickly appeared behind her and thrust his right foot hard on her back to add up with the damage, making Maria roll recklessly to the south of the floor before she stopped rolling as pain went all over her from her back. "I need medicine..." she muttered in pain. "...Somebody!"

The leader of Quark gasped once she saw the shadow looking down at her on her left side. Maria's eyes dilated once the shadow lifted up his right foot over her stomach. "Now..." the shadow began as he grinned at her. "Let's end this."

Shadow Fox was quickly stopped as 2 claws quickly reached for him and slammed him down away from Maria. The shadow grunted in pain before he stood up and disappeared once again.

"Grr," Sonic grunted angrily. "There he goes again!"

"M-Maria!" Chris yelled as he went over to see her. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

Maria coughed. "I-I'm fine...don't worry about me..."

Chris shook his head. "If there was just a way to stop that monster from moving around so quickly..." He moved his spear to his right. "I'd thought about something good t-" The dragoon stopped talking as he felt that someone had passed over his spear before the sounds of someone grunting was heard. The dragoon looked to his left where he saw Shadow Fox rolling all the way to the wall where he crashed his back on it, glaring angrily at him. "...Whoops," Chris said embarrassed as he pulled his spear behind him and stood up. "I-I'm sorry if I made you trip, b-but you just appeared in there..."

The dragoon didn't like the fierce glare of the shadow.

"...U-um...Wolf...Sonic...could you..."

Once the Shadow Nightmare got back to his feet, he quickly disappeared from sight before he was shown grabbing Chris from behind his back. Shadow Fox pulled the World Traveler down with his left arm as he put his phase gun at the right side of Chris's head. Wolf and Sonic were about to attack before they saw the dragoon struggling to get off.

"Stay back," Shadow Fox demanded as he held Chris at gunpoint. "Stay back or the kid gets it."

"F-for the last time, I'm not a-" Chris stopped talking once the phase gun pushed his head a bit.

Wolf snarled a bit at this. "Having someone at gunpoint... What a coward you are..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Thanks, I like to do things my way. I mean, don't you like to do things your way as well?" He put a stronger grip on Chris's throat. "Wait, you want to save him? Wolf, what happened to you? What happened to the heartless bastard I knew you were?"

Wolf glared at him. "There's a whole lot of things you don't know about me, idiot. I don't plan in telling them to you."

"Like I give a damn about you, Wolf," Shadow Fox as Chris looked panicked. "As for you…" he began as he smiled amused at Chris. "Allow me to finish you off…"

"Aiming Device!"

Shadow Fox was shot on the back of his head, forcing himself to grunt in pain as he let go of Chris for a moment enough for the dragoon to escape from his grip. The World Traveler tried to reunite with Wolf and Sonic, but the shadow regained his composure too soon and grabbed Chris by his left shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked pissed.

"S-stay away from me!" Chris yelled. "Lancer!" he shouted as mist dragons came from behind him as he stabbed the shadow hard with his spear, dealing damage both physical and magical to the shadow. "Lancet!"

"Another attack?" Shadow Fox wondered before the World Traveler did a hand sign and absorbed energy from the shadow. The dragoon then flipped back to Wolf and Sonic, all glaring to the shadow that was shaking his head to regain his composure once again.

"Ugh," Shadow Fox grunted as he put a hand on his chest. "You're gonna pay for stabbing and draining my energy away…"

"I'm confused…" Sonic said as he looked at Sonic. "What's the difference between Lancet and Lancer?"

Chris raised a finger. "Lancer allows me to deal normal damage to the enemy as well as reducing the energy left to cast magic, while Lancet allows me to absorb health and energy as long as I can see the enemy."

"Damn you…" Shadow Fox grunted before he looked back at Maria. "You insolent bastard… You were the one that shot me, right?"

Maria glared at him weakly. "W-what if I did?"

Suddenly, Shadow Fox vanished and then forced Maria to be sent to the air where she gasped before the shadow appeared on her and delivered a downward kick on her stomach. The leader of Quark coughed out blood before the shadow performed a powerful drill kick on the same spot he had struck before finally diving down enough to kick Maria hard on the side. Needless to say, this attack was just too much for Maria to keep resisting as she was sent spiraling down to the area where Fox and Peppita were.

"NO!" Sonic yelled as he quickly extended his claws to catch the blunt leader. Once he managed to reach out for her, the werehog pulled her back to the three where he gently put her down the floor. "Maria, you okay?!"

Maria coughed weakly as she slowly drifted off unconscious. The werehog looked down sadly at her as she put her hands over her waist where some blood patches started to come out, making Chris gasp in horror while Wolf looked away and frowned. "...Never thought it would...come to this..." Maria muttered as she coughed more.

Sonic grabbed Maria's hands with his claws. "No, Maria, hang in there..."

"...Please..." Maria coughed more. "You guys...need to save Peppita and...Fox..." she muttered. "Y-you're the only ones that can do it..."

"Maria..." Sonic muttered.

"...I'll be just fine..." Maria muttered as she smiled weakly. "...Please...save them both from that...monster..."

Once the dragoon looked at the sad expression on Sonic, for some reason, Chris couldn't tell why he saw Shadow holding Maria's hands with a painful look on his face. The sudden mirage made Chris look shocked. "W-what the..." The dragoon shook his head. Once he looked back at them, Sonic was standing there and Shadow was gone. "W-what was that just now?"

"Kid," Wolf began. "We have a problem here."

The dragoon looked back where the fainted bodies of Fox and Peppita were to see Sophia and Nel close to them. "H-hey, they weren't there a second ago!"

Sonic looked sadly at Maria as she fainted. "...Maria..." Sonic muttered. "Maria, are you there? Maria?"

Wolf's ears perked up as he heard footsteps going all over the place. The lupine snarled at this as his claws glowed dark. "You 2, stay alert! That bastard's running all over the whole floor again!"

Sonic growled angrily as he made fists and looked around. "Where is he? Tell me! I have something to tell to him!"

Chris gulped as he held a tight grip on his spear. "H-how are we going to stop him from moving like that?"

The werehog looked at the fainted Maria over his right shoulder. "(Don't worry, Maria...) UGH!" Sonic suddenly was attacked harshly on his gut with a dark fist that forced him to roll all the way back to the staircase.

Wolf and Chris gasped once they found Shadow Fox extending his right fist where Sonic used to be. The shadow looked at both of them before he fastly vanished so he could deliver the same attacks on the same spots on both of them. Chris clutched his stomach with both hands and Wolf crossed his arms in time to resist the attack as both were slidding back to Sonic. The three panted heavily as they saw Maria disappearing from her spot as she later appeared back with Fox, Sophia, Nel, and Peppita, the shadow appearing in front of them with crossed arms as he stared at the Smashers from the long distance.

"Hoo boy," Shadow Fox said as he grinned at them and crossed his arms. "It's way too easy to take you guys out. Can't you resist my feeble punches? They're not that deadly, you know."

The three Smashers glared at the monster. "Does that mean you have been playing with us all this time?" Wolf asked as he put his dark claws in front and behind him.

"Wait, what?" Chris asked. "H-he's been playing?"

Sonic showed his fangs angrily as a wild look took over his eyes. "Don't you dare mock me anymore!" he yelled angrily.

"I'll mock you all as much as I want," Shadow Fox said chuckling. "Also, I barely showed all my moves to you. Dealing with all of you will be the easiest thing ever."

Wolf narrowed his glare. "Kid, hedgehog, we must think our strategies throughoutly if we want to have a chance to eliminate him..."

Sonic nodded. "I agree," he said as he cracked his fists. "We have to work together in order to bring that guy down."

The World Traveler looked worried before he looked serious and nodded. "R-right," he said as he spun his spear to his left side before stabbing the floor down to stop it. "I don't plan to let him kill us."

Chip nodded and flew over the gem a bit. "Give 'im a good one, guys! C'mon, bring him down!" he said before he quickly hid behind the gem. "I-I'll support you from here!"

Sonic sighed. "Chip, just stay away from trouble and leave this to us."

"That's basically what he wants us to do for him, idiot..." Wolf muttered with a frown.

"Honestly, you guys really need backup," said Roger as he stood close to Sonic before looking at Shadow Fox. "Who's that dark guy, anyway?"

Chris looked at Roger. "Well, you see, that shadow that looks like Fox is..."

"..." Wolf and Sonic turned to look at the Menodix.

Roger grinned and wiped his nose a bit with a finger. "Hey there, you guys. The macho man is here to give yah a hand."

"Roger?" Chris said confused. "How did you get here?"

Roger crossed his arms proudly. "My instincts told me you were down here. You see, this is close to my city, yah know. This is not the Aquatic Garden of Surferio for nothin'." He closed his eyes. "You're absolutely helpless without me who has been undertaking Real Man Contests."

Wolf frowned. "Just tell us you ran all the way here from the group you're with, kid..."

Roger looked angrily and pointed at Wolf. "Hey! Mind you words, lummox! The Great Roger S. Huxley couldn't leave an important fight like this to you! You're lucky I'm here!"

The lupine looked back to the staircase where Cliff, Mirage, C. Falcon, and Samus came running to them. The four quickly joined up with the first group.

"Hey, sorry for coming here so late," Cliff said. "Did little guy here come running to you?"

"Pretty much..." Sonic said bored as Roger pouted a bit.

"S-so what if I did come here first?" Roger asked as he looked away bored. "Y-you guys are so mean..." he sobbed a bit.

Mirage chuckled. "Crocodile tears, Roger?"

"N-not!" Roger yelled angrily.

C. Falcon chuckled, looked at Mirage, and pointed down at Roger. "Isn't he a funny dude to have around?"

And an axe's back struck his left knee hard.

"O-oww!" C. Falcon grabbed his knee as Roger looked angrily at him. "Y-you little piece of..."

Roger stuck his tongue out at him as he had his axe pointing down at the floor. "That's what you get for being a big lummox...lummox."

"Ahem..."

The nine characters turned back to Shadow Fox, C. Falcon stopping rubbing his left knee (C. Falcon: A-and this knee is the good one to attack...).

The Shadow Nightmare looked bored at them. "...I hate when people don't listen to me," he stated before glaring at them. "And I hate it even more when more people show up and ignore me."

Samus readied her arm cannon. "Let me guess: Fox became victim of a Shadow Nightmare."

"Yes," Chris said as they all stared at Shadow Fox.

"Shadow what now?" Cliff asked confused.

Wolf raised some fingers. "Evil doppelganger, dark body, enhanced powers, maniac personality, sadistic bastard, annoying bug, all that," he summarized.

"...Oh," Cliff said nodding. "Guess I understand."

Mirage took a fighting stance. "So, it's anything goes, is it?"

Cliff whistled a bit pleased. "Good ol' Mirage," he said before he took a fighting stance and looked serious at the shadow. "You're always ready for the worst."

C. Falcon gasped a bit and made a pose by holding his hand out in front of him. "Hey, I'm ready too."

Samus frowned at this before looking back at the shadow. "Please, don't get distracted too much during this battle, C. Falcon."

"E-er, I won't do that," C. Falcon said. "Seriously, I'm ready."

Roger frowned and slowly spun his axe behind him as he hopped on the ground and glared at Shadow Fox. "Hey, moron! You're gonna get your butt handed over to us!"

Chris looked unsure. "R-Roger, I don't think you should try his temper..."

Cliff narrowed his eyes as he spotted Fox, Maria, Nel, and Sophia behind the Shadow Nightmare. "Hey, wait a sec, did that guy take out all of them?"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Well, I did all that. Boy, these girls aren't that tough." He closed his eyes and snickered a bit. "If you ask me, they should better be cooking and cleaning the house while real men fight against each other."

Samus looked at Roger. "Don't you dare agree with him."

Roger gulped a bit. "Yes, ma'am, I-I didn't want to agree with him in the first place..."

Shadow Fox stomped the floor hard, creating a big crack that extended almost half of it. The nine characters took this as a sign of warning before they all prepared to fight the Shadow Nightmare.

"Listen to me now," Wolf began. "That guy is a real pain in the a(beep). You gotta be careful if you want to land a blow on him. His speed is insane, and his strength shouldn't be taken lightly either."

Cliff smacked his fists together. "Gotcha."

"Alright," Mirage said. "Let's give it our best."

Shadow Fox snickered at this as the nine fighters glared at him from the staircase, a serious Chip peering from behind the gem to join the group with the stares. "You guys are so damn stupid..." Shadow Fox said with a frown before he cracked his fists. "Okay, you don't mind if I tell you not to move so I finish you, right?"

"Like hell we're going to do that," Samus said. "I take that the shadow is being honest with everything Fox has been hiding, right?"

Chris looked away and shook his head. "It's...hard to tell if Fox was like this..."

"He was just like this," Shadow Fox said before crossing his arms. "Well then, shall we begin the mission?"

"What kinda mission is that?" Roger asked.

Shadow Fox began to imitate Fox's fighting stance. The shadow chuckled evilly as he smirked maniacally at them. "The mission..." the shadow began, "...to lie down...and DIE already!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Star Ocean Forever. Hey, we're getting a fifth chapter?" Roger asked."I wonder why..." Sophia wondered."Heheh, cool."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Aquatic Garden, Surferio
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Peppita, Roger, Adray

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Lakes and Marshes with Doubt" is a song that plays when Fayt and Sophia flee from Hyda IV from the Vendeeni attack. This track comes to play when they're on the fleeing ship.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Fly Away in the Violet Sky" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the Airyglyph Aqueducts, the Ruins of Barr, and the tunnel that goes to the Shrine of Kaddan.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – So Alone, Be Sorrow" is a song reference to the same game. It plays in horrendous events such as when Fayt's father (blocked for spoilers).

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – The Divine Spirit of Language" is yet another song reference to the same game. This epic rock music plays during the fights against Crosell, or the battles against Albel if you decided not to recruit him in your team.

-Many in-game quotes for the characters were used in the battle. This also includes the quotes for their attacks. (Some of the lines were slightly changed so they don't sound cheesy).

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Nothing here. Move on.

Now, before you people start debating about James and Wolf, I have my reasons to believe Wolf surely had been around James's age if he did meet him. I mean, Wolf's trophy information says that he possibly met James and formed a rivalry that passed later on Fox. That's the reason why I made Wolf…an old man of 50 years since it was logical that he was that old (but somehow manages to look young. I mean, Fox looks very young to be 30 years) and I also did math with the timeline to find the most possible answer (so blame Nintendo a little bit for that). (By the way, I know there's a comic where Falco disbands Star Fox. However, I don't take that as canon since it has many contradictory details to the main story told by the game).

So there you have it: a past of Wolf and James. I just hope it was interesting enough for you. Surely, you're going to look at Wolf differently now. ;)

And so, the Shadow Nightmare keeps his task to, yet again, try to kill off the main cast so he becomes the main character…not. Shadow Fox was made that powerful because he was based on Fox's status. Since Fox is wearing equipment, the Shadow Nightmare took advantage of this and multiplied his power to a new level to the point it'd be very dangerous to take on.

By the way, I didn't want to name the next chapter a second part. Instead, I wanted it to have some kind of "nice sounding" title such as the one I gave you all. This is based off of the song as well.

And you're surely eager to see where this all goes, right? Well, there's more to see in the last chapter…

I encourage readers to review as always. ;)

…Or I'm going to make Fayt scream. Seriously, you don't want to hear him scream.
*Chapter 158*: Star Ocean Forever

I think this is what it means when the people tells you that you have no life. If you don't know what I'm talking about with this, then surely the 145 pages chapter here will tell you… (-_-);

From ngrey651: You're right, I DID like how it went! Wow, when a supposedly nice guy goes bad, they REALLY go bad, don't they? "Beware the Nice Ones" is the trope and Fox is nice and, for the most part, considered a gentleman. To think even his SHADOW would try to harm Peppita...

God forbid CHRIS gets one of those things on him. YIKES.

From me: Let's hope Chris doesn't get one of those…seriously.

Thanks. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: epic as always... but I guess Tails and the last group are still looking?

From me: …Yes, Tails and the last group are still looking…

…Thanks…

From FF and STH: great chapter,didn't think the shadow nightmare battle would have a part 2 but it was nicely done

From me: Well, thanks, I guess…

From SlasherMask: I liked the shadow appearing with the sunglasses. And I guess I for once liked the fight most...(usually I like side comments the most. At least I remember me liking them most... I have bad memory.)

From me: Unfortunately, I don't have anything else to say to you than thanks…so yeah, thanks. ;)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: (Note: Since this is somewhat long, I'll gladly answer all your questions in bold letters, okay?)

Okay, yes, now that I'm done with it, I really like this story. You have created wonderful characters, and yes, I do mean CREATED, because, while you are using personalities based off of the characters themselves, you have reinvented them in almost all cases.

Well, I'd like to say I created their personalities, but I try my best to keep them believable with the real deal they are in the games. That way, everyone gets acquainted more easily.

Shadow NIGHTMARES FTW! Quite possibly the best enemies in existence, much better than the Nobodies from KH2.

Remember that I based them around the Shadows of Persona 4. But, thanks for praising my idea. ;)

Oh, by the way: *changes to thief job*
*steals Chris's staff from his BM job*
*strikes you with it*
THAT'S FOR WRITING SUCH LONG THOUGH INCREDIBLY AMAZING CHAPTERS! I expected to finish this a couple of days ago!

Erhm, sorry, really…

Oh. One more thing. Later in the adventure, say, around Disk Three at some point, are you going to have the Hands make the Black Wizard job so Chris can use the most powerful spells, the -Aga elemental spells, Flare, Meteor, and Ultima? It wouldn't probably be a job in and of itself, but more likely an upgrade so he can fight the significantly stronger enemies they'll encounter.

That's so overkill and very unlikely. Black Mage is as fine as it is since it will learn all those spells like any other normal Black Mage, sorry.

And why does the event with Nintendo City remind me of the groups failed attempt to save Alexandria from FFIX?

I could go all day long comparing this with other similar catastrophes in other games, but it wasn't surely based on one of those.

Tell me if that's where you got your inspiration from, or I'll summon the greatest Aeon in existence: Bahamut X. FEAR HIM OR DIE!

Already did, and don't care about the threat. ;P

On a side note: The Materia thing in FFVII was pure awesome. Is it where you got the sticker idea? You know, what they do, not where they came from. I know that the stickers came from the actual Brawl game, even though I've never played it. Youtube is awesome. :D

Nope, I didn't get that idea from there.

Looking forward to more.

And what is your secret for writing these short-story sized chapters? Right now this story is significantly larger than almost any novel, and you're still going. What's your secret?

My secret to write a novel-like fic? I…could say I'm very dedicated to entertain people. I mean, I like to make people laugh and get interested in this… I just hope this chapter proves that I'm right, though… Many thanks for reviewing.

From DianaGohan: There's a lot of good in this one: Fox realizing how he was mistreating Peppita, Eggman trapping Peppita (though really it shouldn't of taken her that long to escape), Chris finding out about Wolf's backstory (probably my fav part of the chapter), Shadow Fox taunting Fox and his battle with the smashers (nice use of super speed in this battle). And yet there was one thing that bothered me throughout this chapter and is something I noticed throughout this story in general: The sentance phrasing absoutlluely sucks. Seriously there's a lot of good ideas but this seriously would need to be re-edited to be presented as anything more then just fanfic. Seriously sentances like "So, is anything goes, doesn't it?" and "Your curiosity is way too high tonight," are so begging to be revamped. Also though not as bad as some other chapters some parts are rather talky. Eggman and Shadow Wolf could seriously have shut up some. In truth though the material is great, the presentation of said material knocks the story down some. All the way down to a

GRADE: BB

From me: Peppita couldn't escape from the ropes because they weren't that easy to break apart for her.

And I'm sorry if my sentence phrasing sounded weird many time in the chapter. I'll try my best to be on the lookout for them, okay?

As for the Eggman and Shadow 'Wolf' thing, it had to be done, unfortunately…or maybe I did it so long enough by accident…truth is, it's maybe the second one so you could be right…

Even so, thanks for reviewing again.

"Sighs" During my whole Thanksgiving Break, I wrote this chapter like a maniac. I guess it's mostly the fault of how anxious I was for this come out as soon as possible, but, it ended being so long that I lost the track of its length. I really, REALLY apologize to all readers who will start reading this huge chapter.

Who cares, anyway… I'm pretty sure nobody's going to review this chapter… What a waste of time it was, then…

…

...You're still there?

At least…I encourage readers to review as always… Please, do enjoy this chapter, and do take your time. You don't have to read it all in one stroke.

(Please, do not mind how the chapter looks now. I'll eventually order everything after that dead slow process of editing chapters in the site goes down…)

Disclaimer: See the bunnies of Star Ocean race against each other at Gemity. It's a race to bet your time away.

Chapter 158: Star Ocean Forever

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - The Divine Spirit of Language

The shadow chuckled evilly as he smirked maniacally at them. "The mission..." the shadow began, "...to lay down...and DIE already!" he shouted with wicked pleasure before he vanished in front of their eyes.

"What the..." C. Falcon looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"I told you already," Wolf said. "This creep has insane speed."

"The same insane speed Sonic usually has?"

Sonic grunted. "Look, let's just finish the guy off before he does it with us." He looked around. "He must be running here still."

"So you're saying the shadow doesn't leave this place, only runs all over it at insane speeds that are impossible for anyone to see easily?" Mirage asked.

"Yes..."

Cliff rubbed his chin. "Hey, Mirage, think we can do that?"

Mirage thought for a moment. "I guess we could, Cliff."

The male Klausian chuckled. "You guys, you better be prepared to pull out one heck of a good combo 'cuz we're gonna smack down the ground hard."

"A good combo?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, you know, prevent the enemy from retaliating as you keep attacking him between everyone?" Cliff asked. "Okay, Mirage. Let's do this thing!"

"Right," Mirage said as a both Klausians ran forward, the others looking at each other.

"At the count of 3, Mirage," Cliff said as both he and Mirage ran forward. "...1, 2, 3!"

The two Klausians jumped to the air where they pulled their fists back behind, creating a yellow but invisible concentrated ball of energy between their hands before they both slammed the energy down, creating a big shockwave that covered a third of the whole floor. "Hammer of Might!" they both yelled.

"U-uah!"

Cliff watched as a shadow figure tripped over the air. The Klausian chuckled as he watched Shadow Fox falling hard onto the ground while Cliff and Mirage landed back on the floor. "Okay, there he is!"

"Right," Mirage said as she rushed forward.

Seeing this, Cliff smiled a bit. "Hey, Mirage, are you having fun with this fight or what? We're barely beginning, y'know."

"Yeah, but I can't help think that this will prove to be a hard fought battle," Mirage said.

"Okay, I agree," Cliff said as he decided to join Mirage. "Let's pull out a combo, then!"

Shadow Fox grunted as he pushed his feet to the air to stand back up. The shadow grunted angrily. "Geez, I shouldn't have underestimated yo-"

"Fists of Fury!"

Shadow Fox was about to run away before Cliff began a furious assault of fists that collided against the shadow's face. As Cliff kept the shadow staggering, Mirage ran to the shadow's right side to initiate her own attack. "Get ready!" she yelled at the shadow before she kicked him two times to pull high into the air. The female Klausian followed with a big jump as she started a long attack with fierce kicks. "Acrobat Locus!" Mirage yelled between kicks as Shadow Fox tried to get away. He was able to run away only after Mirage dealt a downward kick on his stomach to make crash on the floor. The attack didn't end until Mirage struck her right foot down, creating big blue aura energy that pushed the shadow further away.

Sonic looked astonished. "Ouch..." He grinned chuckling. "They know how to fight."

Roger chuckled. "They're not half-bad."

Wolf smirked a bit. "Well, let's not stay behind and let them have all the fight for themselves."

"I agree," Samus said. "Let's disperse so we don't get in each other's way."

The Smashers (and Roger) nodded before they all dispersed across the floor. As Roger ran to the right, he noticed the fainted people to the north. "(Hey, maybe I should try to revive them all with Fresh Sages...)" he thought as he took out some plants from his back. "(These can help faint people to come back...)" He looked serious at them. "(Okay, time for a man to do it for the team.)"

The Menodix began his way to the four characters that were previously guarded by the shadow vulpine. Roger looked around as he ran to them so there were no interruptions. However, once getting closer, the Menodix got punched hard on his right cheek that made him roll painfully to the left on the floor. Roger grunted a bit at this and quickly got up.

"Hey, that was a dirty trick!" Roger yelled at Shadow Fox. "I thought you were being taken on by lummox and Mirage!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Yeah, I was…past tense," he said. "You're not allowed to get closer to those carcasses over there. If someone gets close to them, my troubles will grow more problematic."

Roger began to hop on his spot. "Okay, big dude, bring it on! I'll take yah on by myself!" He chuckled a bit. "This is gonna be one heck of a Real Man Contest…"

The shadow tilted his head. "Oh, wait; I have a better idea for your ridiculous contest for men."

"What'd that be?" Roger asked seriously. The Menodix watched as Shadow Fox vanished in front of him before Roger received a harsh punch on his gut by the shadow who ducked to reach him down. "U-uah!" Roger coughed weakly as he backed away and panted heavily. "T-the…pain…"

"You're not a real man," Shadow Fox said disappointed as he stood up. "You're just a little midget who can't shut up his mouth."

Roger coughed more before glaring up at Shadow Fox. "Y-you try say that again…I dare you…"

"Can I say it again to you with an attack?"

Roger grunted angrily before he charged forward to the shadow. "Whirling Heat!" he yelled, taking out a long yellow whip that he wrapped all over the Shadow Nightmare. Shadow Fox gasped before Roger pulled the whip hard, making the shadow spin quickly on his spot before tumbling at the sides dazzled. The Menodix took advantage of this and used another attack. "Raging Helmet!" he yelled, tossing his spinning helmet high up.

Shadow Fox stopped spinning before seeing Roger shooting a beam from his axe to the spinning helmet. As the beam hit, the helmet created many lights that rained down all around it. The Shadow Nightmare grunted in pain as the lights slammed down on him. Thanks to this attack, a grappling beam was wrapped on his waist before he was pulled back all the way to Samus.

Once Samus pulled Shadow Fox to her, the bounty hunter slammed him down against the floor with the Grapple Beam, kicking the shadow by spinning on her place before she created a fire burst on him. Shadow Fox grunted even more in pain before he got up and grabbed Samus.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm pissed," Shadow Fox said as he shoved Samus's helmet down to him. "Really, you wouldn't."

"Maybe," Samus said before she slammed down her arm cannon on his head. Samus took advantage of this little staggering effect to allow her to shoot an already fully charged Charge Shot directly to him. The Shadow Nightmare tumbled back, gritting his fangs in pain before C. Falcon came from behind him and used Raptor Boost to deal fire uppercut that sent the shadow to the air.

"Ho-ho, yeah," C. Falcon said as he held his fist up. "We're working well together now." He saw Shadow Fox disappearing in the air. "…And he just went away."

Samus wondered something. "…C. Falcon."

The racer instantly looked at her. "Yes?" he asked grinning.

"I have a nice combo I wanted to try out with you," she said. "You'll be the main offensive force of it, though."

"Weeeeeeeeeell, I don't mind," C. Falcon said.

"(Thank you for being my human shield should this go wrong,)" Samus thought, "(and sorry for using you as well.)"

Shadow Fox appeared in a blink of an eye behind Samus. "Here I am," he said.

"Now!" Samus yelled as she turned around and quickly lashed her Grapple Beam on the shadow. "Prepare your fist!"

C. Falcon gasped a bit before understanding the message. The captain pulled back his fist as it began to catch fire.

"Ugh, what are you trying to do me?!" Shadow Fox asked.

"This," Samus said before tossing the shadow at C. Falcon. Once the shadow was sent to him, the racer used Falcon Punch at full force, delivering a strong blow on the shadow's face. Shadow Fox grunted more in pain as he tumbled a bit behind before gaining his composure. "Alright, now we're talking," C. Falcon said grinning.

In a flash, C. Falcon noticed that the shadow grabbed his right fist. "And now I'm the one talking here," the shadow said before turning around to pull the racer above him to slam him down hard on the floor. The racer yelled in pain while the shadow snickered. However, the shadow was distracted long enough for Wolf to leap from behind him and use Hand Doom and deliver six slashes to push him away, allowing C. Falcon to stand up and escape.

"Heh, weakling," Wolf said as stopped, glaring at Shadow Fox.

The shadow turned to him and rubbed his snout with an arm. "Not bad for a surprise attack, Wolf. You were always like this, anyway..."

Wolf grunted a bit. "So, got a problem with that?"

"Not really," Shadow Fox said. "After all, I ALWAYS knew I was gonna be the winner of every single feud we had. Doesn't that make you...very angry?"

"..." Wolf closed his eye and shook his head. "...Not anymore."

"...Yeah, right," Shadow Fox said sarcastically. "Admit it; you're just an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing."

"I may be an idiot..." Wolf trailed off. "...But I know you're the bigger idiot here. You know why?"

Shadow Fox glared at him.

"You're the bigger idiot because you're not the real Fox," Wolf said. "At least I know from experience that the real Fox is a little bit more considerate. So what if he didn't want to tell me what you told me? He knows what not to say unlike your big dark mouth."

Shadow Fox gritted his fangs before disappearing.

Wolf frowned. "(Better finish this as soon as we can...)"

Chris looked a little bit annoyed at this from another side of the floor. "This whole deal about running so fast around is pissing me off now," he said before he changed to his Monk job. "...A-and I don't know what to do to stop it..." He started to think about a good job to fight back. "C-close range ones aren't exactly thing even if I need to make them better..."

"If you ask me, would you just let me exterminate you?"

The World Traveler remained still as he felt that a phase gun was aiming at the back of his head by Shadow Fox.

"I-I thought you were going to go after Samus!" Chris yelled.

Shadow Fox smirked. "Oh no, she's not dangerous," he said as he slowly prepared his finger to push the trigger. "You have a whole lot of powers so I need you to shut up and die."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" In a quick reaction, the World Traveler hastily grabbed Shadow Fox's wrist with his hands before he turned around and actually managed to lift up the shadow vulpine over him to slam him down harshly on the floor. The Shadow Nightmare grunted angrily at this before the World Traveler turned around to bring him over him and slam Shadow Fox down once again.

"Okay, you're starting to become a nuisance now," Shadow Fox said pissed as he grabbed Chris's hands and slammed him down beneath him. The World Traveler yelled in pain as the shadow let go of his hands to stand up quickly.

"..." Chris couldn't believe he was reaching his limit as he struggled to move on the floor. "(N-no... I-I just received a few attacks and now I'm in trouble... T-this shadow is just too strong...)"

Shadow Fox prepared to split his legs to push the monk further away before a small bomb exploded on his face. The shadow stumbled back a bit before looking up to see Samus dropping small bombs by using her Morph Ball. "Ooh, look at that, a soccer ball," Shadow Fox said somewhat excited before he quickly jumped high to slam down the Morph Ball hard on the ground with a powerful back-flip kick. The Morph Ball itself created a big crack on the floor.

Samus turned back to her usual form, pants filling the air inside her helmet. "(I'm underestimating this monster...)" she thought as she rolled to the right to evade a downward kick by the shadow, letting his foot crash and push crumbles to the air. "(C. Falcon, I need your assistance...)"

"Hey!" C. Falcon yelled at the shadow, Shadow Fox looking to the south at him with grin. "You better stop moving around like that or I'll smack you one!"

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Moving around like this, you mean?"

C. Falcon gasped once the shadow vanished in front of him. The racer looked around for any traces of the monster. However, Samus scanned the area with her visors to detect the shadow. "(Let's see...)" Samus thought as he looked around to find images of the shadow slowly vanishing in the air. Her visor allowed her to see many different images that appeared out of nowhere suddenly as old ones vanished. "(He's definitely running all over here. If he's not doing anything, then that could mean he's thinking about a surprise attack... He's probably toying around with us... So, in order to make him stop, I need some sort of huge attack that could reach him...) Cliff, Mirage, think you can do that Hammer of Might again?" she asked as she looked north of the floor, finding the two Klausians back-to-back as they looked around.

"That attack proved to be effective," Mirage said. "Cliff, may I ask to do the same tactic?"

"We don't have any more ideas," Cliff said before nodding. "Alright, let's do it."

The two Klausians jumped high and looked down at the center of the floor. Pulling back their hands as they held energy balls, the 2 slammed them down hard on the floor to create a big wave of energy that affected a third of the whole floor. Fortunately, the shadow was seen pushed to the air as he looked shocked. "There he is!" Mirage yelled. "He's all yours!"

"Alright!"

Mirage looked over her where Sonic leaped high up with his fists behind his head. As Sonic descended, he was able to reach down the shadow to slam his fists down on his body, making an impact directly on the floor. Shadow Fox grunted in pain before Sonic began to slam down his fists furiously at him, constantly pounding every single part Sonic could hit.

"Get off me!" Shadow Fox yelled as he got himself covered in searing flames that made Sonic back away to prevent burns. The shadow pushed his feet up to stand back up, a hint of anger in his face before he disappeared.

"Ugh!" Sonic received a harsh uppercut on his chin that forced him to be sent to the air. As he clutched his eyelids, Sonic managed to see a dark blur above him before a downward kick hit his face severely. The werehog howled in pain as he was about to crash on the floor below before Shadow Fox disappeared in the air, appeared back on the floor, and did a frontal spinning kick that sent the werehog rolling to the east of the floor, some deep growls coming from Sonic's fangs.

"It's time for me to get even more serious than before, it seems…" Shadow Fox muttered before chuckling. "You're starting to get a little bit more annoying than before." The shadow suddenly found a dark claw coming from behind his throat. The Shadow Nightmare glared at the claw before looking back at the glaring lupine.

"One move and I'll cut your throat," Wolf warned the shadow.

Shadow Fox smirked. "Just try it."

"Oh, okay."

"UGH!" Shadow Fox received a severe cut on his throat before he could even escape. This later was followed by five slashes on his back before a stronger one made him tumble forward. Wolf took advantage of the staggering time that he quickly thrust his claw on the shadow's back. Grunting in annoyance, Shadow Fox disappeared in a blink of an eye and later used a quick right kick from behind Wolf to make him fall down on the floor.

"Not yet…" Wolf muttered as he quickly used his right foot to spin it around him and make the shadow stumble. Unfortunately, when his kick connected with Shadow Fox's left foot, it just crashed right into it without making the shadow fall down. "Dammit…"

Shadow Fox looked amused. "My feet are strong, idiot," he said before he used a split kick attack to push Wolf away to the west. The lupine gritted his fangs in pain as he rolled many feet away, leaving a trail of dust behind. "I'm a strong kicker for that matter," the shadow stated with a snicker.

"Don't block! Piercing Claw!"

Shadow Fox was attacked harshly on the back by a spinning claw from Roger. The claw made the shadow yell in pain as it damaged his energy three times. Roger then proceeded to use Charge; a simple ramming attack that pushed the shadow further to the front. The Menodix knew he had the shadow where he wanted. "Ahahahaha!" Roger laughed as he pointed at Shadow Fox. "What do you think of that now, lummox?"

"You insolent pest..." Shadow Fox grunted before looking over the fainted people to the north staircase. The shadow found Chris slowly sneaking to them. Seeing this, the shadow quickly vanished and then appeared right in front of the monk. "Going somewhere?"

"Oh my god!" Chris yelped as Shadow Fox pulled back his fist to send a severe blow to Chris's face. The World Traveler, however, used Counter to grab the fist and pull the shadow behind him. Shadow Fox looked a bit shocked as the monk let go of his hand and made him fall down on the floor. Knowing that the shadow would get violent, Chris looked back at the fainted characters. "O-okay, now I need t-" He was quickly interrupted as the shadow did a fast spin on the floor with his kick to make Chris fall down. "O-oww!"

"Sorry," Shadow Fox said sarcastically as he grabbed Chris's right arm. "You're gonna head down to the precipice!" he yelled as he quickly turned to the east and tossed the World Traveler.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!" Chris yelled loudly as he crossed the floor and reached over the abyss down below. As the monk screamed for dear life, two claws quickly extended right beneath him and captured him. The monk stopped screaming as he was pulled back to the floor by the werehog.

"Phew..." Sonic sighed as he grinned at Chris on his claws. "You okay?"

Chris smiled a bit in relief. "O-oh, thank you so much, Sonic, really..."

The werehog winked at Chris before he safely put him back on the floor. The World Traveler, looking to the north where the other characters were lying down unconscious, grew worried. Sonic noticed the expression on Chris's face as Wolf was met by Shadow Fox close to the same mentioned area, blocking fists that hurt his wrists, but stayed blocking them as the shadow grinned evilly at him. "I know what you're thinking," Sonic said. "You wanna save the others, right?"

"Y-yes, but every time someone gets too close to them, the shadow just comes out of nowhere and keeps us out from reaching the place..." Chris said. "There should be some sort of way to get there...but his speed and strength are way too high..."

"Ahem," Kawashima was heard coughing. "If I may interrupt, why don't you use your items?"

"Our items?" Chris asked.

"The Over Limit gauge is filled, and now you may be able to use a Final Smash," Kawashima said. "I have some good advice for you to do with this chance. Want to hear?"

"E-everything would be fine," Chris said as Wolf started to lower his guard, tiring himself from blocking many fists as Cliff, Roger, and Mirage went after the shadow.

"Okay," Kawashima said. "Chris, change to your Scholar job."

The World Traveler looked confused before he changed to mentioned job in a small flash of light. "Now what?" Chris asked.

"Can you use Item Lore on the Super Mushroom?"

"L-let me take a look at my book..." Chris said as he flipped through the pages of his book. "...Oh no."

"What?" Sonic asked.

"I lack the sufficient experience to double the effects of the Super Mushroom..." Chris said disappointed. "I can still double the effects...but there could be fatal secondary effects."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Please, what kind of fatal effects are those, anyway?"

"Well...the target may lose fur, clothes would not grow along with the size, voice could end up being stupidly deep or high, gastric problems, eye blindness, confusion, several body parts would grow but others would not..."

The werehog looked disgusted at the secondary effects. The worst one for him was the fur effect. "...Okay, those may be really problematic...not to mention humiliating..."

Kawashima began to speak. "Use your Final Smash, Chris."

"My Final Smash?" Chris asked. "What would it do?"

"It's basically like Item Lore, only that it triplicates the effects of an item," Kawashima explained. "Also, it ignores the fact that you haven't mastered how to duplicate an item's effects. I'd suggest using it on the Super Mushroom in order to change the tide of the battle...a bit, though. I don't know how much you will last, but you should use the mushroom on Sonic. It's called Inventory Lore."

Inventory Lore

Triplicate the effects of any item. It doesn't matter if the user hasn't mastered how to duplicate an item's effect prior to using this Final Smash.

The World Traveler looked at Sonic. The werehog thought for a moment. "The mushroom makes someone grow, right? Hmm..." A small grin slowly grew bigger on his lips as he looked up from the corner of his eyes. "...Heheheheheh..."

Chris didn't like the look on Sonic's eyes a bit. That and the fact Sonic looked like a demon when he was a werehog. "O-okay, I will take that creepy crackle as a yes..." The scholar gulped before looking serious to call forth the Over Limit. "Dexterity, please, heed my call!" he proclaimed, a rainbow aura appearing on him as a force came out, pushing the air away a bit.

Sonic rubbed his claws' palms as he grinned at the scholar.

The scholar took out the Super Mushroom and concentrated his magic on it. "Let us hope this works..." Chris muttered, Sonic's eyes fixated on the mushroom.

Back with the fight, Shadow Fox was surrounded by Wolf, C. Falcon, Samus, Cliff, Mirage, and Roger. The shadow merely crossed his arms and motioned his hand at him. "Come and get me...if you can," he said chuckling. "It'll be futile for you to land a hit on me."

"We shall see," Mirage said.

"Bring it on."

"GEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGHHH!!!"

The seven characters suddenly heard a mighty howl coming from the south of the floor. They all looked to the mentioned direction and gasped after seeing a huge werehog of 30 feet pounding his chest with gigantic fists as he let out a howl to the ceiling that shook the floor's crumbles. The enormous werehog slowly grinned while showing his dirty fangs as he slowly lowered his face to look down upon his enemy; the other six looking a bit shocked at his sudden grow.

"M-M-MONSTER!!!" Roger yelled loudly.

"Holy cow, look at that size!" Cliff said shocked.

"Hmm..." Wolf looked a bit amused. "Now that's something we could rely on..."

As the werehog, for his enormous size, chuckled deeply (and probably evilly) at the people, the scholar peer from behind Sonic's left leg. "Why did you decide to pound your chest and howl so loud? My glasses were going to break apart if you continued to do that..."

Sonic looked down at the minuscule World Traveler. "HEY, I WANTED TO RELISH MY NEWFOUND SIZE," Sonic called out in an extremely deep voice that made him talk like some sort of high entity. "CAN'T I DO THAT AT LEAST?"

Chris's glasses broke apart after the deep voice made them shook. He looked bored at the huge beast. "Ugh, fine, do that if you really want to lose time. I do not care either way..." He changed his glasses for a new pair. "Now, go forth and crush that monster!"

Sonic chuckled deeply as he gave Chris a thumb up. "ROGER, BOSS," he said before growling deeply at the Shadow Nightmare, not noticing that he broke Chris's new pair apart.

Roger shook in fear at the fierce glare of the huge werehog. "G-guys, I think we should back away if we don't WANNA GET CRUSHED!!!" he screamed loudly before turning around to run away.

"Everyone, fall back!" Cliff yelled, the others promptly running to different directions as the shadow looked up at the monster and glared at him.

"Big deal," Shadow Fox said before smirking. "Let's see what you can do by being a hugea(beep) monster."

Sonic let out a very deep growl before he leaped quickly at the shadow. Shadow Fox chuckled and quickly disappeared in a blink of an eye as the huge werehog landed on the floor, creating a big earthquake before growling in fury, looking down around to find the Shadow Nightmare. "WHERE IS HE?!" Sonic demanded while he growled deeply, tightening his huge claws. "STUPID COCKROACH, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Over here," Shadow Fox called as he was seen above the huge monster's head with crossed arms. The werehog grunted deeply as he glared up at him. "What? I can't stay on top of here? You can pretty much have a nice view of this whole empty plac-"

"Thunder!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox was struck by a small thunder that fell from above him, the magic being cast by Chris from the arch. The shadow didn't exactly receive a lot of damage, but the attack made him stagger a bit, allowing the huge werehog to grab him with his right claw. "A-ah!" Shadow Fox grunted in pain as the claw put a very strong grip on him while it was pulled all the way to the front of Sonic's glaring face. For Sonic's surprise, he felt that his claw was slowly being pushed away by the shadow.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!!!" Sonic demanded loudly with a growl before he slammed down the enemy, creating a huge crack on the floor. Shadow Fox grunted in more pain as he slowly got up, only to be met by several gigantic fists that continuously pounded him down by the furious werehog. "!!!"

The others watched as the enormous werehog growled deeply while he continuously pounded the floor in a blind rage. Screams of pain came from under the frenzy of fists by the Shadow Nightmare as he tried his best to escape, but the fists kept him down, receiving all the attacks.

Cliff smiled a bit at this. "Hey, we may have chance of winning this if he keeps it up like that."

Wolf rubbed his chin. "This could be too easy, though... Considering how much the shadow has resisted, I wouldn't be betting on gaining the victory too soon."

"Yeah," Samus said. "We have to prepare ourselves for the worst."

Roger looked to the north area of the floor. "Hey, yeah! We should help those 5 to come back and give us a hand!"

C. Falcon looked at his direction. "I think we should do that first. The more, the better, don't you think?"

"For once, you're right," Samus said, C. Falcon grinning to himself. "We must get there and save them."

"I'll go," Mirage offered as she ran to the north while the huge beast kept the shadow from escaping his flurry of fists.

The scholar, from behind the enormous beast, thought for a moment. "(I also tripled the effect's duration...)" he thought. "(Sonic should keep the monster unable to move in order to think of a good plan. It would be too easy to win this way... I doubt the shadow is even ready to be defeated as well...) We have to do think of something if we want to keep this pace," he said to himself.

On the other side of the gigantic werehog, Mirage managed to reach the five fainted people. Taking some Fresh Sages from her pocket, she looked back to all of them. "Let's give them these medicines..." she muttered as she carefully put every tip from the five roots in everyone's lips. "Please, eat them up."

Mirage watched as many of them slowly moved their lips a bit before they began to bite the roots. Slowly, one by one, they all began to eat the whole plant before slowly waking up. "U-ugh...my head..." Maria muttered weakly as she slowly got up and looked the huge werehog pounding the floor furiously. "W-what the..."

"Please, don't overexert yourself," Mirage said as she put a hand on Maria's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, leader."

"Y-yeah..." Maria said nodding as she was helped by Mirage to stand up. "W-what has been happening here?"

The Klausian watched as Nel, Sophia, and Peppita came back to their senses and woke up. "O-owie..." Peppita muttered as she pushed herself up, tumbling a little bit to the sides before looking at the big werehog. "W-what's happening?!" she asked shocked.

"My goodness..." Nel said surprised as she stared at the beast. "That's one big monster."

"F-Fox!" Peppita yelled as she looked back at Fox. "Fox, wake up, please! Fox!"

The five women looked back at Fox. For some reason, he was the only one who seemed not to be eating the Fresh Sage on his lips. A painful expression was plastered on his face, worrying Peppita even more as she ducked to grab the plant and force it to enter his mouth.

"P-please, eat it up, Fox! Please!" Peppita said panicked as she tried to make the fainted vulpine eat the Fresh Sage. "Fox!"

Sophia looked confused at the whole event before focusing on Fox. "That's weird..." she said, rubbing her chin a bit. "I thought the Fresh Sage would have made him eat it instantly... Why isn't he eating it?"

Nel crossed her arms. "Well, this is sure surprising," she said. "Fresh Sages normally make someone come back to their senses. How come is not working with him, though?"

"T-that's what I'm wondering..." Sophia said. "T-this is so unusual..."

Mirage looked confused. "It is, indeed."

"...Maybe it could have something to do with the shadow that looks like him..."

Maria turned back at the huge werehog pounding the floor. "I guess he's taking care of the shadow guy, huh?"

Sophia listened to the painful screams from the shadow. "I-I think so. Don't you hear those screams?"

Suddenly, Sonic felt something weird within him before he stopped and shrunk back to his size, frowning in disappointment after losing his extreme size. They all looked back at the huge crack on the floor where the Shadow Nightmare remained, lying down with open arms as he fully showed his fangs, his eyes tightly shut.

Cliff looked to the north to see all the female party awake. "Maria! Sophia! Nel! Peppita!"

C. Falcon looked to his direction and chuckled pleased. "(And a whole lot of women...)" He made a mental wolf whistle.

Seeing this, Samus decided to shout at them. "Get out of there, quick! We don't think this battle is over yet!"

Sophia looked alarmed as she looked at the shadow. "O-oh no, I don't think this is over yet as well..."

"We have to move out from here, quick!" Maria yelled before putting an arm around her waist where the patches of blood were. "Ugh, reviving us with Fresh Sages don't necessarily heal our injuries completely..."

"Let's get out from here for now," Nel said before looking back at the worried Peppita who tried to make Fox eat the Fresh Sage without success. "We also need to take him away from his shadow's reach."

Mirage knelt down to grab the fainted leader of Star Fox on her arms. Peppita held the Fresh Sage sadly as she stood up, looking worried at Fox. "Don't worry," Mirage said to Peppita. "Everything will be just fine, Peppita."

"..." Peppita looked down. "I hope so..."

The five women looked at each other and nodded before running to different directions, scattering all across the floor as they watched the Shadow Nightmare slowly getting up back to his feet. Sonic gasped and backed away from the pissed shadow as everyone gasped in shock. "Oh, come ON!" Sonic groaned. "I gave him a hell of a punishment and he's not down yet?"

"...I-I'm...not going to be taken down so easily yet..." Shadow Fox muttered in pain as he pulled his right hand behind him, glaring at everyone that surrounded him. "Hmph, I see you revived the people I tried to keep you away from...very nice," he said frowning. "You're just starting to beg to show you all my true power..."

"It's cliché that the enemy will always say that he or she hasn't been giving it all in battle," Cliff said annoyed. "Seriously, how many smart guys think they can go around and say that? It's getting so annoying and stale."

"As long as there are malicious minds..." Chris commented close from the arch. "We are going to meet such people all the time..."

Shadow Fox looked to his left where Mirage and Peppita were guarding the downed Fox that the Klausian put against the wall on the floor. "You little b(beep)..." he muttered as he glared at Peppita. "You just DON'T know when to stop it, right?"

Peppita looked frightened, but Mirage put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Peppita seemed a little bit worried before looking serious at Mirage. The Velbaysian turned back to the shadow and shook her head. "...So what if I don't know when to stop it, huh?"

"You dare yell back at me?" Shadow Fox asked, narrowing his eyes. "Peppita, you don't really want to have me close to you now..."

"L-like I care!" Peppita yelled back before pointing angrily at him. "Y-you're not the real Fox to me or us! Y-you're just an evil monster who wants to kill us all!"

"...Yeah, so?" Shadow Fox asked as they watched his right hand creating a familiar blue sphere on it. "You shouldn't have heard about my past..." he muttered angrily as most of them gasped at the sphere."...And for that, there's no forgiveness for you, cretins..."

Sophia covered her mouth and shook her head. "S-somebody, stop him! H-he's trying to use Healing!"

"What?" Cliff asked. "When in the heck did he learn to use that?"

Maria thought for a moment. "Since he came out of Fox..." She frowned. "...No...he knows how to use Symbology because we gave Fox the Decrepit Tome yesterday when we came to look for the temple in the garden..."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Fools, standing there doing nothing will make you all pay a big price..."

Chris took a step forward. "S-Sonic, stop him, now! You're the closest one to him!"

Sonic snapped out from his shocked look before he began to rush at the shadow.

"TOO LATE!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly as he quickly moved his hand forward, the blue sphere shattering into pieces. "HEALING!!!"

They all watched shocked as all the injuries inflicted on the Shadow Nightmare disappeared in a swirl of green pyre flies that circled around him. Sonic growled furiously at this before he leaped quickly at him. The shadow quickly turned around and delivered a fast punch on Sonic's face that made him yell in pain as he was sent back to the shocked scholar.

After watching the shadow making an overconfident chuckle, Roger's lips trembled a bit before he sobbed silently to himself. "C-cheeeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaap!!!" he yelled loudly as he rubbed his eyes. "T-that guy is so cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap!!!" he cried.

"Heheheheheheh..." Shadow Fox chuckled deeply as he flexed his fingers of his right hand in front of him. "Symbology..." he muttered pleased before making a fist, looking around to see everyone glaring at him."Yeah, what a nice backup to keep on going..."

"Dammit..." Nel muttered as she took out her daggers. "We were just about to finish him off..."

Peppita gulped. "P-please, tell me we still have a chance to win this fight..."

Sophia shook her head. "T-that recovery move must have healed at least 60 percent of his whole health... He looks pretty well for that matter..."

"Not well...but excellent," Shadow Fox stated pleased. "I thank you all for being so considerate to me and let me learn healing abilities..." He grinned evilly. "Yes, yes, yes, this power...it makes me feel so good...along with my strength and speed...this is really good..."

C. Falcon looked a little bit disgusted. "Eww, the guy's pleasing himself..."

"How ironic you say that..." Samus muttered before looking back at the shadow. "Well, we're more people now, aren't we? I think we have more chances to bring him down."

Shadow Fox waved a finger at them. "There are no chances for you to return all the pain done to me," he said. "If you did, I'd heal myself to the maximum again." He smirked at them. "It's futile for you to keep attacking me when I can heal myself as many times as I want."

Maria readied her phase gun. "I've had enough of that mouth of yours already."

"I've had enough of beating the same people to a bloody pulp," Shadow Fox said pissed as he adjusted his gloves. "Now, for all of you, the gloves are coming off..."

"Literally or metaphorically?" Chris asked.

"Metaphorically," Shadow Fox said. "Any last words before I start to give it all to finish you all of in a matter of minutes?"

"Yeah," Wolf said as he took a fighting stance. "Say your prayers, scum."

"Scum..." Shadow Fox chuckled. "We shall see who ends up being the scum here...for now..."

Music Stops

Chip, who had been watching the whole feud from behind the gem of the arch, looked behind him where he heard some screams and feet quickly coming from some floors away from them. "Huh?" he tilted his head confused as he saw 2 figures screaming for dear life. "Who are they?"

The screams got louder overtime before they managed to reach the floor where everyone was. All the Smashers, the others, including Shadow Fox, looked back to the staircase where Chris and Sonic turned around and looked at two Smashers running and screaming. The scholar's glasses lowered a bit as Chris looked confused. "...What the..."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Chris didn't know why, but for some reason or another, he watched as Roy and Pit came running from the staircase, passing the scholar by the sides as both didn't notice that they were running straight towards Shadow Fox.

"Roy?" Samus said confused.

"Pit?" Chris said confused.

"Why are they...screaming like maniacs?" Sonic asked.

The Shadow Nightmare smirked and cracked his fingers. "Alright, more people t-" He stopped talking as the two screaming Smashers ignored and pushed him aside to the floor. The shadow didn't believe that they actually pushed him before he could even punch them hard. Grunting as he clenched his fists, Shadow Fox got back up and turned around to see Roy and Pit leaning against the wall of the north, panting heavily. "Hey, you 2, why did you ignore me?" he asked with a glare.

"L-look," Roy said as he panted heavily. "W-we don't care if you look a lot like Fox...b-but we DO care about someone else!"

"H-honest!" Pit agreed with Roy as he sweated. "T-there are more dangerous people out there who are just...dangerous!"

"...What the f(beep) are you talking about?" Shadow Fox asked as he lifted his shoulders. "How can you define me as being less important than someone else?"

Pit shook his head. "S-seriously, you wouldn't want to stay close to him any longer when no one is looking your way! V-very nasty things happen if that DOES happen!"

Everyone looked at each other confused as the Shadow Nightmare grew angrier than before. "You're being so retarded," Shadow Fox said pissed. "Okay, since you're being annoying bugs as pretty much everyone else here, I'm gonna have to exterminate the 2 of you so I can go on with my life an-"

"!!!" many of them screamed loudly after looking back at the staircase.

Shadow Fox turned around and looked up shocked to see a big shark made up of water that somehow appeared in thin air. The shadow looked around for a way to escape, but there wasn't a place for his dismay. "...Oh, f-" Shadow Fox grunted in annoyance before the huge shark crashed down upon the floor, creating a big splash that sprayed water all over everyone, causing some to be pushed against the walls or slid down on the floor while the cracks were filled with water.

This sudden attack also made Shadow Fox lose some energy for some reason.

As most of them lied down on the floor while others were forcefully leaning against the wall, a familiar figure came from the staircase, rubbing his chin in amusement as he placed a hand on the hilt of his katana in its sheath. "Heheheheh," the person chuckled amused. "Guess I got here in time for the big battle, huh?"

Nel, one of the people who were forced to lean against the wall of the east, looked at the person. A bored expression soon came to her. "...I knew that was Sea Gate..." she muttered with some annoyance. "...And Sea Gate is supposed to be your own move...Adray..."

Adray looked a little bit pleased as he looked around. "Whoops, I didn't think my Symbology would affect everything in here... My apologies..."

Cliff, leaning against the west wall, looked up from the corner of his eyes and frowned. "Geez, old man, remind yourself there ARE people in here..."

"Is that so?" Adray asked.

Nel sighed. "You were surely doing something to Pit and Roy when Fayt or Albel weren't looking...right?"

Adray scratched his head. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeer....n-"

"YES, YOU WERE!" Pit and Roy yelled from the floor, their bodies all washed up.

"...Youngsters these days like to joke a lot, don't you think?" Adray asked amused.

"...Adray..." Nel looked serious.

"..." Adray looked worried. "But I just asked them if they reconsidered the proposal I told them to take..."

Roy quickly stood up and shook his head. "Oh, and did you forget to say the fact you were about to rip Pit's right wing off?" he asked annoyed. "Let's not forget you were asking it at the SAME time you wanted to do that to him?"

Pit gulped. "P-Palutena would punish me for losing a wing in such a barbaric and inhuman way! ...Not to mention it'd be really painful to me..."

Nel rolled her eyes. "Well, as how pointless and stupid this situation seems to be, I have a better question."

"Why isn't Adray dead yet?" Roy asked.

"Why do we have to suffer his senseless wrath?" Pit asked.

"Why nobody wants to marry my Clair?" Adray asked.

"...None of those," Nel said frowning. "...Where are Fayt and Albel? I supposed they were chasing you 3 all the way here, right? And for that matter, wasn't the 2-tailed fox kid with you as well?"

Ironically enough, Fayt came from the staircase, panting heavily and putting his right hand on the left side as he stopped running to catch his breath for a brief moment. "G-geez, no wonder why I didn't notice Pit, Roy, OR Adray anymore..."

All the people that were leaning against the walls looked at him.

"If Adray was gone...I KNEW right away it had to be him...again..." Fayt said before sighed in relief.

Tails then came from the air and landed on the floor. "Why do we have to care about Adray?" he asked. "Apparently, reasoning with him doesn't work with him very well...and..." He looked at everyone. "...W-what has been happening here?"

A bored Albel came from behind and looked around. "...So, did you maggots have some fun or what?"

Everyone remained silent as most of them got up from the wet floor.

"...I'll take that as a maybe," Albel said.

Adray smiled a bit. "Are we having another fight for justice here?"

Roy and Pit looked shocked at the old man. However, and finally, they decided to think about something else so Adray would leave them alone. "You know what? Screw this!" Roy yelled as he unsheathed the Sword of Seals. "I'm going to give Adray a piece of my mind right here and now! Pit, are you with me?"

Pit looked worried at him. "I-I don't think violence i-"

"No then," Roy said before he charged at Adray. "!!!"

Adray's eyes widened as he back stepped to evade a slash from the red-haired swordsman. Albeit to say this was surely going to end up in his death, Adray chuckled amused. "Wow, now the boy's fired up to have a fight with me," he said as he rubbed his chin, Roy clenching his teeth in front of him. "I have an idea. If you defeat me, I'll drop the idea of marriage with Clair. But if I do win, you'll marry Clair."

Roy nodded, making most of them gasp.

"Hahahahahaha! This shall be fun!" Adray exclaimed in pleasure. "C'mon, boy, give me your best shot!"

For Adray's dismay, a big tremble shook the whole floor. They all looked back to the center of the floor where a pissed Shadow Nightmare glared menacingly at all of them, his right foot over the same huge crack that the previously giant werehog left, and that he made even bigger.

"Hey, the floor's all damaged, and it hasn't fallen down yet?" Roger asked as he looked at the damaged floor under his feet.

"Shh..." Sophia muttered. "Don't give him any ideas..."

"...You guys...are being like cockroaches..." Shadow Fox muttered in anger. "No matter how many times I crush you...you will keep coming back so I can crush you again...repeating the whole cycle..."

Chris looked a bit worried as he adjusted his glasses. "T-technically speaking, cockroaches do not come back to life when you crush them...it is just that they are way too many to think you did not really crush any of them..."

"Shut up...nerd..." Shadow Fox muttered as everyone glared at him. "...This time...I'm going to be really serious about the mission I gave you all to do."

Tails blinked confused at the shadow that looked like Fox. "W-wait, isn't that one of the Shadow Nightmares? A-and if he looks like Fox...that means..."

Albel rolled his eyes. "Can somebody please tell me what the hell this maggot is?"

Sonic raised some fingers. "A shadow monster got on the fox guy, it copied everything the fox guy knew, it's more powerful than the fox guy, it's way more annoying than the fox guy was..."

"...That is understandable," Albel said as he slowly unsheathed his katana. "Normally I wouldn't bother, but you've irked me."

Shadow Fox looked to the downed Fox on the west wall. The shadow instantly disappeared, the fainted body also vanishing as well. Peppita and Mirage gasped as they looked around to see where the shadow headed.

Albel and Tails felt a fast wind coming from behind them before the Shadow Nightmare appeared back on the center of the floor. "Well, that takes care of him," Shadow Fox said pleased.

"W-what did you do to Fox?" Peppita asked.

Shadow Fox put a hand on his hip and chuckled. "I took him out for a walk," he said. "Right now, he's somewhere all alone by himself so you imbeciles don't try to do anything funny to him. With that distraction gone, I guess we can resume the mission together as a team."

"W-where did you take him exactly?" Roger asked.

"Hmm...I forgot," Shadow Fox said snickering. "I could have put him around this dirty place...or maybe I tossed him down to the ruins below..."

Tails looked back and forth between him and the south. "Y-you guys fight him by yourselves! I-I'm going to go find the-"

"If you even dare leave this place," Shadow Fox began as he tightened a fist, "I'm going to kill you, Tails."

Tails abruptly stopped on his trail, looking shocked at the statement of the shadow. However, the 2-tailed fox grunted a bit and decided to run away.

Sonic glared at the shadow before he vanished and appeared in front of Tails, looking down at him amused. "Tails, quick, get away from him!" Sonic yelled.

"U-uah!" Tails looked frightened at the shadow before making a sharp turn, only to bump right into Shadow Fox. The shadow grinned a bit and picked Tails up by his head. "S-Sonic!"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Sonic growled menacingly before Shadow Fox hit Tails's throat with a soft chop. Even though the chop was soft, it was strong enough (due to the shadow's power) to make Tails lose consciousness. As Sonic tried to reach both of them, Shadow Fox disappeared from sight and later reappeared back on the center of the floor, chuckling. Sonic stopped to turn around and growl angrily at him. "What the hell did you do to Tails, bastard?!"

"The same as I did with the other liar," Shadow Fox explained. "That's all I'm going to say about it, though."

Peppita gasped and quickly jumped on the west wall to look down to the abyss. For her dismay, since it was night, nothing else could be seen easily. The Velbaysian also remembered that the scientists had gone down to investigate the Spagonia Temple as well. Grunting with some tears, she hopped down the wall and took a fighting stance. "I-I'm gonna stop you, you evil...monster..."

Shadow Fox watched as everyone prepared to continue fighting. The shadow chuckled at this but looked back at Peppita. "Peppita...this wouldn't have happened if you didn't stick your nose where it didn't belong..." The shadow cracked his fists. "Since you're a disobedient little b(beep), as an adult, I'm going to teach you to shut up."

"..." Peppita gulped, but she kept glaring at the shadow. "I-I'll teach you to...teach you to...teach you to..."

"Aww, the little b(beep) is holding back her tears," Shadow Fox teased.

Peppita sniffed a bit. Her determination to defeat the shadow was slowly being crushed by the monster's speeches. The Velbaysian thought a lot about Fox, and she wanted to finish the fight for the night so everything would be back to normal. Rubbing her eyes, Peppita finally decided to glare back at Shadow Fox. "I'd rather not be here...but looks like I have no choice but to fight you..." She shook her head, still looking determined as she looked at everyone. "Okay guys, let's give it our all on him!"

Cliff nodded and smacked his fists together. "Finally, we're ending this by beating the heck outta the guy's head."

Fayt managed to regain his breath as he unsheathed his sword from behind his back. "O-okay, I'm all better now. I think I understand what's been happening here all along."

Wolf crossed his arms. "We'd better work perfectly. Since this guy is too damn fast, we'll have to do everything to perform our attacks."

"Agreed," Maria said. "We'll attack with everything we can do."

"Don't let him escape as well," Samus said. "If he escapes, this will fail."

Shadow Fox chuckled. "Me, escaping from scum like you? …Are you crazy? Why would I escape? If I let you guys live, you'll eventually become a big pest to my own plans," he explained as he began to hop on his spot, mimicking Fox's fighting stance. "I want to wrap up everything in a single fight."

"Good," Pit said as he took out his dual blades. "We want to 'wrap up' everything in a single fight as well."

Adray rubbed his chin. "A battle would not BE a battle without SOME tension..." He looked at the angry Roy. "Let us work together in this fight."

Roy stared at him blankly.

"...And I'll think about not asking you the same thing."

"Think about?" Roy asked bored.

"...Kid, we should put our differences aside and fight as real men (Roger: Damn straight!) in order to bring this coward to justice," Adray explained before smiling a bit at Roy. "(Perfect, this should draw him away from my favor). So, what do you say?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, wait a second," Shadow Fox began. "Are you calling me a coward, old man?"

Adray looked at him. "Only a coward refuses to mount a frontal assault. By the looks of the situation, I could infer you've been doing ambushes and surprise attacks on everyone here, right? I thought as much."

"..." Shadow Fox smirked evilly. "Now I know who I'm going to kill first..."

Chris, after finding out he and Sonic were close to Roy and Adray, gulped and looked worried at the shadow's sadistic smirk. "S-somehow, I should step aside before I regret it..."

"Why are you saying that?" Adray asked before the World Traveler ran away with Sonic.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bitter Dance

Shadow Fox instantly disappeared from sight, making most of them gasp.

Maria held out her open right hand. "Everyone, we must organize ourselves as the battle goes! Symbologists need to support and heal. Close combat attackers, try to chain combos together in order to leave our enemy unable to retaliate, and please be careful of any sudden attack!"

"That strategy sounds useful enough to me," Wolf said. "Let's do it."

Adray looked serious. "He's going to attack me for sure."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Oh, I wonder why?"

Just as Adray had predicted, Shadow Fox appeared just in front of him and used a frontal kick on his waist. Adray grunted a bit in pain as he was forced to fall back on the floor. Roy gasped and quickly tried to attack the shadow. Unfortunately, as he brought down the tip of his sword on the shadow, Shadow Fox swiftly evaded the attack by jumping to his right, his right foot covering itself with energy before the shadow slammed it behind Roy's back. The red-haired swordsman yelled loudly in pain as he was pushed to the east, forcefully sliding on the floor.

"Quick, we must provide healing magic!" Nel yelled as she reunited with Sophia on the east side, many of the close combat attackers rushing after the shadow.

"Right!" Sophia nodded as both Symbologists prepared healing spells.

However, they gasped after the shadow quickly appeared in front of them and delivered two punches that were strong enough to push them back against the wall. The two Symbologists felt pain running across their backs before Nel opened her eyes to see the shadow about to ram his right kick on her. Nel quickly took a quick sidestep to the right to evade the kick which made a big crack on the wall. Sophia gasped and turned around to run away from the shadow.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shadow Fox asked as he appeared right in front of Sophia's path. The teen gasped and took some steps back. Shadow Fox pulled back his right fist and smiled at her. "I need to take you down before you heal somebody."

"F-FAYT, EVERYONE!" Sophia yelled loudly, reminding herself that she didn't have her staff.

"Your little prince isn't going to come here to save you," Shadow Fox pointed out as he looked behind to see all the physical combatants rushing after him. The shadow turned to Sophia. "You'll finish the mission earlier than anybody else here, though."

Out of nowhere, Shadow Fox watched as Fayt appeared from a veil of darkness to slash the shadow hardly with a black spore that covered his sword. Shadow Fox felt a lot of pain on his back before he backed away from the blue-haired teen, Sophia running behind Fayt. "You're not gonna hurt her again," Fayt said serious.

"How the heck did you appear like that?" Shadow Fox demanded.

"Dimension Door allows me to stun my enemies and slash them from behind their back regardless the distance," Fayt explained. "And that's exactly what I'm going to use to stop you from running so fast. Dimension Door!"

Shadow Fox watched as Fayt called forth a black atmosphere that covered the floor as he and Sophia were protected by several shockwaves that floated around them. The Shadow Nightmare found himself unable to move after the atmosphere reached his feet. Shadow Fox started to feel pain, taking his health and energy away before Fayt disappeared in front of him and re-appeared behind, performing a severe slash of darkness on the shadow's back.

"Dammit!" Shadow Fox grunted before he disappeared from sight.

"T-thank you for saving me, Fayt..." Sophia said in relief.

"Yeah, but we're not done yet," Fayt said as he looked around the big floor. "We need to celebrate only after we defeat that guy."

"Agreed," Nel said as she formed a blue sphere behind the back on her hand. "Let's try to end this as soon as we ca-" She felt a hand grabbing her own hand with the sphere, abruptly stopping her spell. Nel knew very well that the shadow had appeared behind her before she looked behind to find Shadow Fox. "Y-you..."

"Sorry, hottie, but not healing allowed as I've said before," Shadow Fox reminded her.

Nel didn't attack back, but rather did a hand sign. "Whirlwind!" she yelled, casting several slicing winds around her to push the shadow back. Since Shadow Fox staggered a bit, Nel decided to attack even more. "Ice Daggers!" she shouted, tossing three frozen knives at the shadow. Shadow Fox couldn't use his Reflector in time to reflect the weapons back as he was stabbed by the attack. Nel flipped back to land some feet away.

"Not bad..." Shadow Fox said grinning.

Back to the area close to staircase, Roy watched as Adray came back. "Well, shall we join forces and attack, young swordsman?"

"Oh no," Roy shook his head. "I'm NOT falling for that trick."

"Oh please," Adray said chuckling. "We have exchanged words, but not fight strategies yet. Why judge my battle skills when you haven't seen me fight?"

Roy looked unsure. "N-not to be rude, but I think you're a little bit crazy yourself..." Roy covered himself with his arms and one leg, scared.

Adray raised an eyebrow. "You have to understand I look so hard for the ideal man for my Clair," he explained. "She needs to have a man to look after her. It makes me hurt to know she hasn't decided who to be his man who would take care of her instead of me. I only worry about her happiness and welfare as my only daughter."

"B-but I don't want to marry her..." Roy said. "...I-I'm already engaged to another girl...anyway..."

"..." Adray stared at him blankly.

Roy backed away from Adray's serious look. "(O-oh no, now I've done it...)"

"...Oh, then why didn't you say that from the very beginning?" Adray asked. "Now I feel guilty for forcing an already engaged young man like you to marry my daughter."

"...What?" Roy lowered his arms and leg.

Adray chuckled. "I respect others when I have to," he said. "You can't back up from your word to that fortunate lady, right? If you did marry my daughter, you would break your fiancée's heart, right?"

"W-well, yeah..." Roy said unsure with a gulp. "...Hey, you didn't stop asking me the same thing even when we first met."

Adray rubbed his chin a bit and looked up. "...Did I?"

Roy grunted annoyed. "Forget it..."

"Hahahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Well then, shall we join the fight as I've said before?"

"...O-only if you stop nagging me about marrying your daughter..." Roy said as he raised a finger. "Only that way I'm going to feel fine."

"Okay, honest," Adray said nodding. "Go for your girl, young warrior."

Roy chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, I'll do that..."

"..." Adray stared at him.

"...Do you...have something else to ask me?" Roy asked.

Adray narrowed his eyes at Roy. "...Your friend...the angel Pit..."

"...Y-yes, he's engaged to another girl as well..." Roy knew Adray was going to ask him about Pit. Lying was the only option to make Adray stop talking about marriage. "(That should really put Pit out of trouble now...)"

"What's her name?" Adray asked.

"(Stupid, stupid, stupid!)" Roy cursed several times mentally as he stared blankly at the old man. "...Her name...is...um..."

Adray narrowed his eyes even more.

"...Nana..." Roy muttered.

Somewhere, in a familiar mansion, a girl twin cursed.

"...My best wishes to both of you," Adray said with a bow.

"...Yeeeeeeeeeaaah..." Roy said as he shifted his eyes.

"Me too!" Chip yelled from behind the arch's gem. "Go get 'em, tiger! Grrrrrrrrr!"

Roy blushed a bit and looked at the arch where Chip was hiding. "H-hey, who asked you? I-I don't even know if love is going to be that easy or something!"

"Yeah, man," Shadow Fox said as he patted Roy's shoulder. "You'll see how love is so problematic and bothersome."

Roy looked at him. "Well, maybe so, but still I'm going t-GET AWAY FROM ME!" he yelled as he slapped Shadow Fox's hand away. "D-dammit, how did yo-"

"I'm way too fast," Shadow Fox said as he pointed at himself with a grin. "Nobody can catch me for that matter." His ears twitched a bit. "Be right back, need to stop some fools who think they can heal without my permission. Did I give them an order to do that? No. They must suffer the consequences."

Roy watched as Shadow Fox disappeared in front of him. The red-haired swordsman and the old man looked back to the east side of the floor where Shadow Fox appeared in front of Sophia and kicked her hard by her left side. Sophia yelled in pain as many of the fighters rushed after her. Seeing that Shadow Fox was surrounded, her grabbed Sophia by her hand and vanished along with her, appearing on the left side where nobody was.

"U-ugh!" Sophia staggered as Shadow Fox grabbed her neck and shoved her to his pissed face.

"You'll have to learn the painful way not to disobey my orders..." Shadow Fox muttered with anger.

"L-let me go!" Sophia yelled.

"WITH PLEASURE!" Shadow Fox yelled as he turned around and slammed down Sophia with all his forces. Sophia screamed loudly in pain as she flopped and hopped on the floor before the shadow did a back flip kick that made her bounce high up to the air. "Too slow!" the shadow yelled as he evaded Fayt's dark blade attack by jumping high up to the damaged Sophia.

"Sophia!" Fayt yelled as he looked up.

"F-Fayt..." Sophia muttered weakly as she found herself unable to move in the air. Apparently, Shadow Fox had been using a little bit of his real strength to play around with everyone. However, it seemed that he was saying the truth. Sophia gasped after the shadow appeared above her to impact a downward kick hard on her face. The attack was so brutal that it sent Sophia all the way down where she crashed and screamed loudly in pain. "...I'm sorry...everyone..." she muttered before she passed out.

Fayt looked horrified as Sophia lost consciousness. "Sophia?! Sophia!" he yelled as the shadow landed back on the floor, smirking. "You'll pay for that!" Fayt yelled enraged as he rushed to the shadow.

However, the blue-haired teen was suddenly punched away to the south by a harsh blow on his stomach. The shadow, looking down at Sophia, grinned and instantly vanished along with her.

Adray felt a fast wind blowing from the north to the south. The old man then felt the same wind passing right from the south to the north, the Shadow Nightmare appearing back in the middle of the field with crossed arms.

Fayt, clenching his teeth in pain after receiving the blow, looked at the shadow. "W-what have you done with Sophia?"

"I took her for a walk as well," the shadow said smirking. "I just can't let her dead carcass lay around the floor and be an obstacle now, can I? I don't want someone to heal her as well. Goodness, wasn't she very annoying..."

"You bastard...you won't get away with this!"

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Go cry me a river, kid."

"!!!" Fayt yelled as he rushed at the shadow, his sword trailing off behind his back with both hands grabbing the hilt tightly.

Shadow Fox cleaned his right ear a bit with a finger. "Geez, that scream of yours is just so irritating for my tastes... I'd rather have you speak soft and nicely... Speaking of that, can you mutter your last words?"

"Piercing Cl-"

The shadow quickly turned around by doing a spin and grabbed the Menodix by his right hand. Roger got shocked after Shadow Fox pressed him against his chest with his left arm as he held the Menodix at gunpoint with the phase gun. "Ah, ah, ah, no can do, little snobbish kid."

Roger yelped a bit after looking at the phase gun. "H-how did you, lummox, know I was behind yah?"

"Here's a hint," Shadow Fox began, "if you plan to do a surprise attack, don't be stupid and go yelling behind someone like me, understand?" he asked before he tossed the Menodix high up above him. "Also, you failed the Real Man Contest! Take this as a runner up, though!" the shadow laughed as he shot upwards a barrage of shots from his phase gun.

The flurry of shots was an insane one because at least a hundred of shots hit every single part of Roger. The Menodix couldn't just take the whole flurry alone as he descended, spinning madly by the shots pushing his arms back. "UAAAAaaaaahhh!!!" Roger yelled loudly as Shadow Fox stopped firing, catching the fainted Roger on his arms.

"Aww, look at the baby," Shadow Fox teased as he looked down at Roger's painful expression. "Come to think of it, his scream sounded girly a bit."

"Put him down, now!" Fayt yelled as he reached the shadow, his blade glowing blue. "Blade of Fury!"

"F(beep) off," Shadow Fox said simply as he used the fainted Roger as some sort of fan and slapped Fayt away harshly before his glowing sword could land a slash on the shadow. Fayt grunted in pain before the shadow disappeared from sight.

"W-where did he go?"

Samus looked around. "He didn't just take Roger away as he did with Sophia, right?"

Maria looked around. "Wait a minute, I can't find Nel..."

"Where is she?" Chris asked.

From the northeast corner of the whole floor, behind the walls that had a very small platform to keep someone from falling down below, there was Nel muttering chants to herself in order to cast a healing spell that would heal everyone. "(Now, I need to keep myself concealed from that monster. After he took Sophia away, I'm the only one besides Adray to possess healing Symbology...)" Nel thought to herself as she looked down at her blue sphere. "(Just a little bit more and...)"

"There you are..."

Nel's eyes widened as she looked up to see the shadow vulpine grinning down at her with crossed arms, the fainted Roger lying down on the plants that adorned the edges. "I knew you'd hide here by yourself."

"How did you know I was here? Tell me the truth and don't show off something that you didn't even predict in the first place," Nel said with a glare.

Shadow Fox pointed at his ears that moved a bit to the sides. "I have pretty strong ears," he explained. "My senses became much more wary. Besides," he continued as he smiled a bit, his ears still moving a bit, "don't you think my ears look cuddly?"

"..." Nel blushed a bit.

"..." Shadow Fox blinked a bit. "...Wow, I didn't know you..."

Nel shook her head. "D-don't distract me with such stupid a distraction like your cuddly..." She blushed more. "...S-shut up..."

"..." Shadow Fox glared down at her. "No, YOU shut up instead." He raised his hands and moved his fingers. "Let me remind you how I put you where I wanted you to..." The shadow looked at Nel. "...Wait, something's wrong here..."

Nel stopped her Symbology and smiled a bit at the shadow. The scarf that usually hung on her neck was gone. "Oh, my scarf? I took it off," Nel explained. "You want to see where I put it?"

"Do I care about clothing?" Shadow Fox asked.

Nel chuckled and took out from her back her scarf. However, the scarf now had an end with a tight knot that looked like some sort of ball. "By the way, thanks for giving me an idea to attack you from a long range by using my clothing."

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Pfft, big deal, you made a knot on an end of your scarf. So what, are you gonna hit me with it?"

"That doesn't sound too bad," Nel said, actually agreeing with the shadow vulpine. The Elicoorian spun her scarf in front of her before she moved it up to slam the knot against Shadow Fox's face.

"UGH!!!" Shadow Fox pushed the knot away as he felt that something stabbed his forehead. The shadow put a hand on the damaged spot before gritting his fangs angrily at Nel.

Nel stopped spinning the knot before she pointed at it where Shadow Fox found a small dagger's knife sticking out. "Of course, making a tight knot wouldn't be strong enough," Nel explained. "So then, I decided to tie a dagger into it to make it even more useful."

"Ugh, you b(beep)..." Shadow Fox grunted as he removed his hand from his forehead. "Prepare to fall to the abyss down below. Hiding behind the walls wasn't such a good idea for you after all."

"True," Nel said. "But, did you consider the idea that you're pretty much visible from up there? Someone could pull you back to the floor." She closed her eyes. "And I know just the person who would do that kind of thing..."

Shadow Fox looked confused before he turned around and met a big sphere that somehow wrapped around his head. The shadow grunted before he was forced back onto the floor by none other than Peppita. It should be noted that the shadow left the knocked out Roger on the plants where Nel jumped back to examine him.

Peppita revealed the shadow's head hardly by pulling her right bangle at her. Shadow Fox spun a bit on his feet before stomping the floor to stop his spin, glaring down at Peppita. "T-that's what you get for messing up with Fox!" Peppita yelled.

Shadow Fox crossed his arms. "Geez, I don't want to deal with a girl like you now... You're not that dangerous to me..."

Peppita pouted a bit. "I-I can be dangerous in my own accord, okay?" She was quickly grabbed by the neck by the shadow. "N-not this again!" she yelled.

The shadow pulled back his fist. "Prepare to get yourself hurt by your actions," he said. Shadow Fox suddenly noticed Peppita's hand in front of his face. "What now?"

"Instanto Blast!" Peppita yelled, her hand sending an invisible blast to the shadow's face. Shadow Fox grunted and let go of the Velbaysian before she ran close to him to initiate another attack. "Kaboom!" she shouted, spinning on her spot to call forth a rotating star that circled around her and damaged the shadow several times before pushing him away.

"Damn, I underestimated you..." Shadow Fox grunted as he stopped backing away. "That was just a small attack, though," he said before vanishing.

Peppita held out her hand. "Instanto Blast!"

On the southwest corner of the floor, Shadow Fox stopped running as the same invisible blast collided against his face, making him stumble back a bit. "W-what the..." He shook his head. "How the hell did that attack manage to hit me?"

"My Instanto Blast attack can hit you no matter where you are!" Peppita yelled from the center of the floor. "Try running again and I'll hit you but good!"

"Grr, don't try my patience..." Shadow Fox said through gritted fangs as he vanished from the spot.

"Instanto Blast!"

"Ugh!" Shadow Fox appeared right in front of Peppita.

"Now or never!" Peppita yelled as she used Kaboom once again, this time making laughter as the star circled around her and landed several hits on the shadow. Shadow Fox grunted even more pain as he stumbled back before quickly delivering a frontal right kick at Peppita. The Velbaysian yelled in pain as she was pushed all the way to the north wall where she crashed. "S-someone help!" she yelled as she saw Shadow Fox vanishing. "U-ugh...m-my hand is hurt...I-I can't use Instanto Blast again..."

Alone by himself on the southeast corner of the floor, Wolf crossed his arms and took out one of Puffy's Grabbag Stun Bomb R-2 while nobody was looking at his direction. "(She said it reduces defense by 30 percent and also stuns enemies in a wide area...)" he thought before looking back at the fight where Cliff blocked Shadow Fox's kicks. "(However, just throwing it won't be enough... I need to toss this thing once I find the right time. If it does work, I need to come up with a good tactic...)" He clutched the bag in his right claw and looked back at the fight.

"D-damn, you kick too good..." Cliff muttered behind his arms.

"And I'm just getting to the best part," Shadow Fox said before he appeared right behind Cliff. Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit. "Oh wait, I need to do something else first."

The Klausian turned around in time to see the shadow disappearing. Cliff looked around before he saw Nel being launched back to the floor where she recklessly hopped all the way to the west wall, then he heard Adray being slammed down on the floor by the shadow. Cliff didn't understand why the shadow decided to change targets before mentioned enemy appeared right in front of Cliff.

"Done," Shadow Fox said grinning.

"What the heck did you do?" Cliff asked glaring.

"I heard some small chants that SURELY involved healing," Shadow Fox explained. "So I went ahead and shut those annoying bastards up. Also, I hope you don't mind, but I took the raccoon kid away from here so nobody would heal him."

Cliff looked a bit pissed. "Oh well, then I should shut you up myself."

"Try," Shadow Fox said as he appeared right behind Cliff and used a harsh spinning kick, sending Cliff several feet away as the shadow vulpine landed his feet on the ground and back stepped. "Hmph, big guy's harder to push around... Well, it doesn't matter your size or anything, anyway."

"Ugh, this guy's just so strong..." Cliff muttered as he felt pain running through his back.

"And it's not over yet!" Shadow Fox yelled as he appeared in front of Cliff, somehow doing Fox Illusion without even slashing the Klausian. He simply turned around and smirked.

"What's so funny now?" Cliff asked.

Suddenly, he saw the floor burning red before pillars of fire came out. The scorching flames pushed Cliff upwards where Shadow Fox seemed to warp above him to deliver a downward kick on his chest. Cliff grunted in pain before he noticed that the eruption of fire was still down, and once he was sent back to the flames, screams of pain were heard before they vanished, showing Cliff struggling to get up before he fell down. "No...not like...this..." Cliff muttered before he passed out of cold, Shadow Fox landing close to him.

Adray seeing that the only way out to leave the floor was the south staircase, stood below the arch. Chip, noticing the old man standing down, peer his head upside-down. "H-hey, mister, what are you doing? Aren't you gonna help them?"

Adray looked up. "Nah, I will be the guard of this exit," he said. "That shadow monster seems to leave through here. If I can stop him in time, then he is not going to take away our comrades."

Chip nodded. "Oooooooooh, now I get it..."

"Hey, young warrior, come over here and lend me a hand!"

Roy stopped running towards Shadow Fox and turned around to look at Adray. "What is it now?"

"I need your assistance immediately before we regret it!" Adray yelled. "Let us stop that monster from kidnapping our comrades, together!"

"W-well..." Roy looked back at the shadow before looking back at Adray. "O-okay..." he muttered before rushing at Adray. Once the swordsman reached the old man, they both stood from side-by-side. "So, what's the plan? I hope you have a plan."

"Simple," Adray said as he pulled his right hand behind, calling forth a blue sphere of Symbology.

Back at the spot where the shadow was, he grinned down at the fainted Klausian, thinking about taking him away as the leader of Quark reacted to this by yelling "You're in for it now!" as she rushed at him from the east.

"Away," Shadow Fox said annoyed before vanishing along with Cliff.

"Now!" Adray yelled as he shoved the blue sphere forward, water gathering in front of his feet. "Seeeeeea Gate!"

A huge water shark jumped out from the water. Somehow, it managed to stop the swift Shadow Fox as he was pushed up into the air where the shark bit him hard and took him down on the floor, splashing the whole ground covered in crumbles. Shadow Fox grunted in pain after he was slammed down hard onto the floor, Cliff's fainted body crashing down some feet away.

"(Now's my chance,)" Wolf thought as he dashed from the east. The lupine pulled his right claw behind him to toss the bag at full speed to the downed dark vulpine.

And then, a big explosion of sparks burst on the shadow as it covered a wide area with a big cloud. "G-!!!"

Everyone watched as the cloud of yellow sparks covered the area where Shadow Fox was. Even if the cloud of horrible smell reached Adray and Roy, it didn't affect them due to the fact Puffy had surely designed it to work on enemies only (this surely meant she had a lot of time on her hands to make an item like that).

"Eah, y-yuck, ahem, y-yuck!" and more gags and coughs were heard. When the cloud cleared out, they watched as Shadow Fox rolled a little bit to the sides while he clutched his hands to his throat, his yellow eyes dilating by the horrendous smell of the clouds. "W-what the f(beep) is this stuff?! M-my body...u-ugh...d-damn!" he cursed as he continued gagging on the floor. "W-what kind of corrosive thing was that?! GIAH, IT STINKS!!!"

"Wait, I know that item..." Fayt said. "That's one of Puffy's bombs."

"We should have brought one of those with us," Mirage said before looking at Cliff. "Now's my chance to give him a hand," she said as she rushed towards Cliff as she held a Fresh Sage in her right hand.

Wolf grinned and chuckled as he looked down at the shadow. "What do you know, the item really worked... Turns out the girl wasn't lying after all."

"OF COURSE NOT!" yelled Puffy from Peterny.

Gritting his fangs like before, the shadow glared menacingly at Wolf with his eyes dilated. "Y-YOU BASTARD! Y-yuck!" Shadow Fox spat.

The lupine raised his right claw before it turned pitch black. "Okay, now that we have him down, we have to give him all."

"Right," Maria said. "That bomb surely did lower his defense."

Shadow Fox was suddenly grabbed harshly by Sonic's claws. "Allow me to begin then! HYAH!" the werehog yelled as he tossed the shadow high up into the air. Shadow Fox found himself unable to move as his body let out sparks that would last for a small time. Sonic stuck his tongue a bit as he put his fists close to his face before stretching them all the way to him.

Shadow Fox received the hits, making him spin madly in the air. "Right there!" Maria yelled as she followed the assault by shooting three shots to the air. "Pulse Blast!" she yelled, firing five spheres of energy that kept Shadow Fox from falling down as he was forced to bump along in the air.

"Please, do not leave me behind this," Chris said as he adjusted his glasses and prepared a spell. "(I better keep him in the air...it is better to execute consecutive combos that way.) Rise, o violent winds... Aero!" he shouted, holding his hand as winds gathered around Shadow Fox and kept him in the air while they slashed him a bit.

Pit aimed his bow upwards at the shadow as he ran beneath him. "Go!" he yelled, shooting the arrow high up to strike Shadow Fox. The shadow grunted in pain as he descended where Pit spun his dual blades a bit before slashing the air above him consecutively, the shadow falling down on the attack where Pit quickly stabbed the floor with both blades to kick the shadow upwards. The angel quickly joined his blades and shot a fast arrow once again to the shadow.

"Hey, kid," Wolf said as he dashed to Pit. "Let me do it now."

"O-okay," Pit said as he back stepped.

Wolf ran under the shadow and looked up at him. "Time for me to do what I want to do," he muttered as he raised his claw up before using Fire Wolf. The lupine reached the spinning shadow vulpine and delivered an upward kick to his back. Shadow Fox grunted in pain as Wolf was able to grab his right arm to pull himself up where he crossed his dark claws in front of him. "Hand of Doom," he muttered darkly as he slashed the shadow across his body, leaving trails of energy behind before he slammed his claws down, forcing Shadow Fox to plummet all the way down to the floor.

C. Falcon came rushing from the north, pulling his right fist back where he, once reaching the shadow before he could collide, used a fire uppercut to use Raptor Boost. The captain delivered the uppercut right on Shadow Fox's chin. "Feel the burn, jackass," C. Falcon muttered as the shadow was forced up again.

"Why can't this be the coup de grace for a chance?" Wolf asked to himself as he fell down from above Shadow Fox and slammed down his claws on his chest. Shadow Fox gritted his fangs even more to the point he showed them fully. Due to the fact of Wolf's attack being a Meteor Smash, the shadow was once again forced to go down where a Grapple Beam caught him and pulled it back to Samus.

Shadow Fox's face was shoved to Samus's helmet. The shadow tried to attack and get off, but his body was still stunned. "Y-you, filthy woman, won't get away with this..." Shadow Fox said through gritted fangs.

"Oh no, look how I'm scared, idiot," Samus said sarcastically before she pulled Shadow Fox behind her by using her Grapple Beam before tossing him back to the air. "And please, taste this," she muttered as she shot a fully charged Charge Shot to the shadow. Once the shot collided, it sent electric waves into Shadow Fox's body that made him grunt even more in pain (with annoyance as well).

Fayt came rushing from the west as he looked up at shadow coming down. "Now, this is for Sophia..." he muttered as he stopped running right underneath Shadow Fox. Fayt raised his hand and moved it down to his ankles' level, calling forth a downward wave of fire. "Shotgun Blast!" he yelled, Shadow Fox falling on the wave where he grunted.

Suddenly, the shadow found himself able to move back again. Glaring at Fayt for the last attack, the shadow rushed at him to use a spinning kick on his face.

Fayt quickly reacted, jumped to the right, and hit Shadow Fox's back with his right energized kick. "Side Kick!"

"UGH!!!" Shadow Fox gritted his fangs in pain as he stumbled forward. "Y-you damn skill thief..."

"Hate to point out this, but that's originally my move," Fayt said. "...Which reminds me, how did you learn that as well?"

"SHUT UP!" Shadow Fox yelled as he used Fox Illusion to cross the blue-haired teen, leaving a burning trail of red on the floor before it erupted into pillars of fire. However, the shadow didn't expect Fayt to sidestep in time from the attack as he used another Side Kick on Shadow Fox's right side. "Dammit!" he yelled loudly as he was pushed back to the floor. Quickly getting up, he began to pant heavily. "It's no use to keep attacking...if I'm starting to feel weaker... I must heal myself before I-"

"Shockwave!"

"What th-" Shadow Fox stumbled forward after a wave of energy crashed against his feet. Behind him, Nel held her daggers tight in her hands.

"Shadow Wave!" Nel yelled, sending some aerial shockwaves in front of her that slashed the shadow from behind his back. The Elicoorian crossed her daggers in front of her to call forth another attack. "To the netherworld with you. Poison Cloud!" she shouted, releasing a putrid cloud of poison that quickly reached the shadow's nostrils.

"Y-yuck..." Shadow Fox began to gag some more. "W-why is it that everyone is releasing gases on me?!"

"To point out something for you, it's been only 2 times," Nel said as she crossed her arms with her dangers while crouching down. "Slashing blades! Ice Daggers!" she shouted, firing three frozen knives at the shadow's back.

"S-stop it!" Shadow Fox cursed loudly before he began to pant heavily, Nel backing away from him in order to keep herself safe from a quick close attack. "H-healing..." the shadow muttered he pulled his right hand behind him. "I-I need...heali-"

"Oh, sorry, but I just can't let you, worm, do that... Aura Wall!"

Shadow Fox's eyes widened as he turned around to see a metal claw opening its palm, calling forth what looked to be a small wall of malevolent spirits that pulled him into it and attacked his energy. Somehow, the wall of spirits ended up hitting Shadow Fox many times, stopping him from escaping as he constantly tumbled on his spot.

Albel narrowed his already narrow eyes as he pulled back his metal arm. He then raised it above him to call forth a dark atmosphere that covered Shadow Fox's feet. "Your life is mine now, maggot... Vampiric Flash!"

The atmosphere, combined with Albel's Aura Wall, caused Shadow Fox to suffer a great deal of pain. He found himself unable to move thanks to the Aura Wall that drained his energy away along with Albel's Vampiric Flash.

Having sucked Shadow Fox's energy a bit, Albel pulled back his metal claw and shot a green blast from it as the Aura Wall vanished. "Palm of Destruction!" Albel yelled, hitting Shadow Fox's chest right in the middle of it.

"U-ugh, what the..." Shadow Fox panted heavily. He knew he had a lot of health left, but for some reason, his energy didn't feel as strong as he thought it would be. "I-I have to he-"

"Stupid maggot, just go down and die already," Albel muttered under his breath as he managed to caught Shadow Fox off-guard. The Black Brigade captain's katana was shrouded with energy as he yelled "Double Slash!" while doing an upward-downward strike. The two slashes were long enough to push Shadow Fox to the air and then slam him down hard to the ground.

Shadow Fox started to get even more pissed. Pushing his feet back up, he stood up and quickly vanished before Albel could slash his face across with his katana.

Albel grunted a bit and stood up, looking around the floor. "Keep your distance, your stupidity is contagious..." he muttered bored.

Shadow Fox appeared standing on the north wall, looking down pissed at the whole group of characters glaring at him. "Y-you guys are GETTING so DAMN ANNOYING, I swear..." he muttered under his breath as he pulled back his right hand, calling forth a blue sphere.

Peppita gasped. 'H-he's gonna heal himself again!"

Mirage, giving Cliff the Fresh Sage, looked down at him where he started to eat it before he slowly opened his eyes and got up. "Phew...thanks, Mirage."

Mirage smiled a bit and stood up. "Always ready, Cliff."

Cliff looked at the shadow. "Damn, he's healing himself again!"

"T-that's what I said..." Peppita muttered with a frown. "...Wait a minute, maybe I can stop him..." She looked at her right bangle before she began to spin it around her side. "Magic Hook!" she yelled, her bangle extending all the way to Shadow Fox.

Unfortunately...

"HEALING!!!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly before green pyre flies circled around him, healing his health for 60 percent. The hook then slammed right into his chest, but oddly enough, the shadow grabbed the sphere with his right hand and pulled it behind him.

"A-aaah!" Peppita found herself unable to match up against Shadow Fox's strength as she was pulled all the way to the shadow. Everyone gasped once after the shadow put a strong grip on her throat with his arm, slowly crushing her against his chest.

Maria grunted a bit. "You've gone too far now... Let her go!"

"Oh, hell no," Shadow Fox said as he smirked at them. "I had this mission prior meeting all of you, and I have to finish it all alone by myself."

"Y-you...s-stupid..." Peppita muttered in pain. "...Coward..."

The pressure got even harder on her. Shadow Fox panted heavily above Peppita. "Coward? Now that's very mean for you to say, Peppita..."

"We're not fooling around here," Cliff said before smacking his fists together. "Let her go now before we smack you one!"

Shadow Fox snickered. "Sorry, but you can't give order to the leader of the pack," he explained, Peppita gasping for breath. "Stay there and don't move. If you do otherwise, she'll die."

Samus grunted a bit. "What is the point of standing here doing nothing if you're going to keep torturing her like that until she dies?"

"Yeah, what's the point of that?" C. Falcon asked, receiving a bored look from the bounty hunter.

"The point is..." Shadow Fox trailed off as he grinned darkly, "...she doesn't have any other way..."

Chris grunted and shook his head. "S-she does not deserve this unfair punishment!"

"Oh, she does, alright," Shadow Fox said. "No one is allowed to stalk me unless I say so. Oh, that's right, you CAN'T stalk me like a creepy bad girl like Peppita..."

Peppita began to sob as the shadow lowered his face at her right ear's level.

"Like some people say, Peppita..." Shadow Fox smiled deviously at her. "...Game Over..."

"N-no..." Peppita coughed. "N-n-no...p-p-please...y-y-you should have some...remorse left in you..."

Shadow Fox looked down amused at her. "Peppita...for the last time...I am NOT that liar, son of a dead b(beep)..."

Everyone could only stand and watch as Peppita suffered a demise she was forced to receive. If they dared move, Peppita would instantly die by crushing her throat. They all tried to think of a way to save her, but it looked very futile to do anything. Shadow Fox had Peppita as his hostage.

Shadow Fox chuckled deviously. "Checkmate, don't you think? I ended up accomplishing my mission after all..."

Chip flew over the arch's gem to shout loudly "S-somebody do something!" as he put his hands close to his mouth.

"Ah, ah, ah," Shadow Fox shook his head. "Bad children need to be taught a lesson the bad way. Peppita's been doing very bad things to me all this me, and now she needs to pay the price."

Suddenly, his ears twitched a bit.

"..." Shadow Fox looked at everyone on the floor. "...None of you is using Symbology...then..." He shifted his eyes around. "...Why am I hearing something close to me, then? It doesn't make sense for someone to sneak up behind me and..." He turned around and looked down at the edge of the floor. "Okay, I know someone's hiding there. Reveal yourself before I take drastic measures."

There was no response to where he yelled.

"...The silent type, huh?" Shadow Fox asked with a glare. "...I DEFINITELY know you're there...whoever you are..."

The others, back at the floor, noticed that the shadow wasn't paying any attention to them. Without speaking, Maria signaled at the long-range attackers to strike the shadow's back. The fact that Shadow Fox had Peppita as a hostage was a fact they made them unable to hit, but Maria persisted by pointing many times at the shadow. Shrugging a bit, Pit slowly raised his bow with an arrow ready, Samus aimed her arm cannon, Maria aimed her phase gun at the shadow's head, and Sonic narrowed his eyes and raised his fists at his face's level.

"(This is very risky...)" Maria thought. "(A wrong move and Peppita could receive all the blows...)" She closed her eyes. "(Since he has a pretty good hearing, we should attack as silent as possible...but...I wonder...)" She opened her eyes. "(What is making him turn around?)"

"..." Shadow Fox gritted his fangs, not noticing that the force he used on Peppita with his right arm was losing its grip. "I gave you an order to come on out. If you don't come on out, I'll go get you where you're hiding..."

The shadow kept staring down at the edge. Some grass patches were sticking out from the edge as some windswept them by a bit. However, Shadow Fox noticed that a patch of grass was, in truth, hiding something that was aimed directly at his head.

"What the..." Shadow Fox muttered. "...A Blaster?"

"Ooh, congratulations, you get a prize for guessing the name of my weapon," said a voice that resulted very familiar to the shadow.

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes as Peppita managed to look down at the gun. "Wait a minute, that stupid voice and funny accent..."

The voice grunted. "Okay, now you're being just annoying. Wanna know your prize?"

Shadow Fox didn't have a second to reply as the Blaster shot his face. The shadow yelled a bit in pain as he let go of Peppita, the Velbaysian falling down on the little space of grass floor where she panted heavily for breath.

"NOW!" Maria yelled.

The shadow turned his back only to find a Super Missile, a hard blue shot, an arrow, and big fist colliding all against him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Shadow Fox screamed loudly as he was pushed out from the platform where he frantically moved his hands while he fell down to the abyss, his dark image slowly shrinking until he eventually disappeared from sight.

Music stops

"U-ugh..." Peppita coughed weakly as she pushed herself up with her hands, a hand rubbing her neck as she closed her right eye and looked around. "W-what...did just...happen...?"

The entire group could hardly believe that the shadow was taken down to the abyss. After seeing only Peppita standing up and struggling to get back some breath, they all sighed in relief. "It's...over..." Maria said as she rubbed her forehead a bit with her arm. "...That was tougher than it needed to be..."

C. Falcon sighed and looked down. "Whew, that was...so annoying...but it's over..."

Wolf grunted a bit at this while Fayt and Nel went to check on Peppita. Noticing the annoyed grunt from the lupine, Pit turned around and looked at him. "Um, is something bothering you?" Pit asked as he saw Wolf closing his eye and crossing his arms. "You look like you're not happy that we defeated that evil doppelganger..."

"..." Wolf frowned and grunted annoyed.

"...Seriously, what is bothering you?" Pit asked with more curiosity.

The lupine remained silent, making Pit look a bit worried. Something was greatly bothering him about the shadow...

Peppita slowly turned around to see Fayt and Nel climbing the wall where they reached her. Concerned, Fayt knelt down and looked at her. "Peppita, are you alright?"

The Velbaysian coughed a bit. "Y-yeah, I guess I'm still OK, Fayt..."

"Hang on," Nel said as she formed a blue sphere in front of her right palm. "I'm going to heal the injuries that guy dealt to you."

"P-please do..." Peppita muttered weakly as she smiled a bit and shed a tear. "W-we showed him...right, Fayt?"

Fayt chuckled and nodded. "Of course we did, Peppita," he said, reassuring Peppita's feelings. "It's all good now."

"B-but..." Peppita looked back at the gun behind the patch. "...F-from who is that from?"

Fayt and Nel looked down at the gun. "Come to think of it, I only saw that weapon with Fox's holster...."

Peppita gasped and smiled a bit. "F-Fox, is that you? D-did you come here to rescue me as you wanted to do it before? T-that's so cool of you! I knew you were going to make a comeback!"

The gun suddenly pulled back down. "Oh, sorry, but you got the wrong person," the voice said as his owner moved his head up, Peppita's happy expression turning one confused, the three finding a hand hiding behind another patch of grass. The person grinned up at them. "I could say you were pretty damn close, though."

"..." Fayt tilted his head confused. "And...you are..."

"Oops, guess I haven't introduced myself," the person said before he pushed himself back to the air, flipping one time before landing on his feet to their left.

Chris looked back at the three and gasped once he looked up at the other person. "W-what in the world?" the scholar muttered before running up all the way to them. Once he reached the north wall, he looked up at the person. "What are you doing here?"

The person turned out to be none other than Falco. The ace pilot looked down at Chris and waved a hand. "Hey there," he said grinning. "Sorry for coming here so late, but I needed some special requirements to give you guys a hand with that son of a b(beep) you were fighting a moment ago."

Fayt, Nel, and Peppita looked back and forth between the two. "What? You know each other?" Fayt asked.

Falco looked at him. "Know each other? We practically know a lot of each other because we live under the same roof."

Chris smiled a bit at this.

"But anyhow, sorry for not introducing myself," Falco said. "The name's Falco Lombardi, ace pilot from Star Fox. Nice to meet you all."

"...From Star Fox?" Peppita repeated. "Are you one of Fox's team members?"

Falco scratched his head a bit. "Well, I get a little bit bothered that he's my boss...but yeah, I'm his "lackey" of the sorts." He put his right hand on his right hip. "So, did my distraction help at all or what? Looks like you guys took him down literally."

"B-but I do not understand..." Chris said confused. "How did you get here?"

Falco grinned at Chris. "Well, you know that rule about the team here being in danger? Master Hand said the situation looked pretty bad, and he let me come here after watching you guys having a hard time to shut that monster up."

Chris got in a thinking position. "Oh yes, I recall that emergency rule..."

"When you were cornered, I was about to come in here and lend a hand. But just before I could step in, reinforcements came, and I decided to pull back," Falco explained. "However, when I saw that the situation was turning for the worst, I came here by having a plan to make a surprise attack by appearing right behind the edges of this frickin' floor hanging on top of this big abyss down below to attack him." He chuckled a bit. "Needless to say, that plan wasn't that bad, right?"

"I guess..." Chris said. "...Really, thank you for your assistance, Falco."

"Meh, don't sweat it," Falco said before looking around. "You guys received some serious beating, huh..."

"Don't remind us, please..." Nel said before looking back at Peppita. "Hang in there a little bit longer. I'm a bit tired so that's why the spell isn't fully complete yet."

Peppita nodded. "I-I understand, but hurry up because I'm feeling woozy..."

Back with the others, Maria looked at the newcomer talking to them. She turned around and chuckled a bit at Mirage. "Phew, I'm glad they have more people with them to come and aid us in our time of need..."

"I think so too," Mirage said. "You have to give them that they're somewhat unique, right?"

"I guess so..." Maria said. "For now, though, let's find Sophia, Roger, Tails, and Fox. They must be nearby here somewhere."

Mirage nodded. "Right away, let me go find them."

"Maybe you should take some people with you as well," Maria said before turning to Cliff. "Cliff, can you assist Mirage in finding the others?"

Cliff nodded. "Oh well, we may as well find them before something else happens."

"H-hey, let me come as well," C. Falcon offered.

"Oh no," Samus said as she walked to them. "Let me go in your place, please."

"What?" C. Falcon asked. "Oh no, no, no, let me go in your place, please."

"I think 3 are enough to look for them," Maria said. "Okay, Samus, please go with Cliff and Mirage."

"Thanks," Samus said.

C. Falcon looked a bit bewildered as the three ran their way back to the south staircase. Groaning a bit, he looked at Maria. "Wh-"

"Look," Maria began, interrupting the racer from talking. "I know pretty much well enough that you want to go with them just because of Mirage and Samus."

The racer looked a bit shocked. "I-ah, no..."

"Sure," Maria said as she looked bored at him. "I can tell that much by simply looking to you. I thought adults were supposed to show some maturity, but I guess there are a few exceptions out there."

C. Falcon looked a bit angry. "H-hey, I'm not like that!"

"Sure you are," Maria said bluntly as she ran hand through her hair. "Why can't you be more sophisticated to others? If you were like that, you could achieve what you want to do with...women, I think...considering whatever you're thinking is even half-appropriate..."

"I-it is..."

"Hmph, we'll see."

C. Falcon rolled his eyes and looked away.

The four characters on the wall jumped down to regroup with everyone else. Falco looked at everyone. "Geez, you do look pretty beat up yourselves."

"It's good to see you here to give us a hand," Pit said.

"Yeah, I know," Falco said. "I just couldn't sit and watch, right?"

Chris adjusted his glasses. "Please, stop showing off, Falco. We KNOW it is good for you to help us, but please do mind your words."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, geez..."

Albel looked away. "Another maggot joins the fray, I see..."

Falco, hearing this, looked annoyed at Albel. "Oh, you shut up," he said annoyed as he pointed behind his left shoulder with a thumb. "At least be grateful I saved your a(beep) from flying fire guy back there in the air."

Fayt sighed in relief. "Well guys, I think we need to go back and rest for the night. We had a pretty rough night."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, and I need to see if Tails is fine."

Peppita smiled a bit. "I-I'm glad this is all going to be over..." She looked at Nel. "C-can you heal me now?"

"...Ugh," Nel grunted as the blue sphere disappeared. "Not good...my energy is so low..."

The Velbaysian looked down depressed.

"Sorry, my bad..." Nel apologized. "If I continue to overexert my Symbology, I could eventually suffer a mental death..."

"Yeah, I know..."

Pit looked at her. "Mental death? What is that?"

Nel coughed a bit. "It's technically the phenomenon for users that can execute runology and Symbology alike. According to what I know, if you keep wasting the energy you have to use runology or Symbology; your mind will become so exhausted that it will have a mental breakdown, forcing you to faint..." She put a hand on her forehead. "Only the people that know how to use both of those teachings are put at risk to suffer that kind of effect..."

"I see..." Pit said nodding. "It's basically like a second way to faint?"

"You could put it that way..." Nel coughed.

"I'm glad we were able to keep our energies from depleting," Maria said. "But for now, let's go back to Peterny and rest for the night."

The group nodded to each other before they started their way back. However, something bothered Maria as she recalled Falco's words. The leader of Quark stopped walking and stopped Falco by grabbing his right shoulder. Turning his head to the right, Falco looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but there was something that bothered me when you spoke about some flying fire guy..." Maria trailed off.

"...Oh, that?" Falco asked before his eyes widened. "Er, wait a minute...why did I even say that?"

The two looked behind Maria where they found Wolf glaring up to the north with crossed arms, a hint of anger in his face. "I knew it..." Wolf muttered. "...This was way too easy..."

"..." Falco shook his head. "Oh no, don't tell me that he..."

Maria looked at Wolf's direction and moved her right foot back. "E-everyone, come back now! We still have trouble!"

Everyone else overheard what Maria said and turned around to look at their direction. The group gasped after finding a familiar figure floating above the abyss where Shadow Fox fell down.

For their dismay, they saw none other than the mentioned enemy in the air. However, this time, Shadow Fox looked extremely pissed as he had fists on the sides of his hips, fire coming under him. It was just as if he was using Fire Fox to remain suspended in the air.

"I-impossible!" Pit yelled. "T-this is not done yet?!"

Shadow Fox slowly panted heavily as he stared down at all of them, fire still coming from under his feet. "This...has gone long enough now..." he muttered through gritted fangs."...You're starting to be the most bothersome guys I've ever fought..."

Falco grunted and took out his Blaster. "Damn, this guy just DOESN'T give up, does he?"

"Falco..." Shadow Fox muttered in anger. "...You're the main reason why I was pushed off from this filthy floor..." He raised his fists even more. "For that...you shall be expelled from Star Fox..."

Falco rolled his eyes. "I'm not really sorry to say this to you, but you're not the Fox I know who can really tell me to drop off from the team."

"Oh, is that so?" Shadow Fox asked.

"Yeah," Falco said. "You're gonna get surprised, but I thought you said you weren't him again."

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes.

"What was all that about you being you, then?" Falco chuckled. "Are you the one lying now?"

Shadow Fox swung his right arm to the side in front of him to his back. "I have to remind you that I'm the honest Fox here. The other one was an idiot who couldn't express what he really felt about you."

"I couldn't care less."

"What?"

Falco looked down. "...I admit I'm some kind of a jerk for disobeying him sometimes, so what of it?" he asked. "He knows pretty much that I'll be there to give him a hand whenever he needs my help."

"Ain't that cute..." Shadow Fox said sarcastically.

"For now, though," Falco began as he aimed his Blaster at Shadow Fox. "You're gonna have to go down to the same way you took."

"Like I'm going to listen to you, bird brain."

Falco looked annoyed. "That's supposed to be Wolf's saying, not yours."

"U-um..." Chris gulped a bit. "Did you forget the fact that now we know that Shadow Fox can...fly?"

Shadow Fox crossed his arms and chuckled. "Like I said before, I didn't show you all my true powers," he said snickering. "This time is for real now..." He took a fighting pose. "I hope you're ready to lay down and DIE as I've told you to do before!"

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - The Divine Spirit of Language

"Tsk," Albel muttered before unsheathing his katana. "I wouldn't mind beating the same worm again. Bring it on, maggot."

Chris gulped. "D-do we really have to try his patience? H-he looks pretty pissed if you ask me..."

Wolf grunted a bit. "Kid, this is why I thought we ended the battle so easy." He took a fighting stance. "People like that doppelganger ALWAYS come back for more until they finally fall down."

"Agreed," Maria said. "Let's get over this quickly."

Fayt put a tight grip on his sword. "Let's give him our best shot, then."

"W-wait, I do not think this is going to end up very good!" Chris said as the shadow was engulfed in scorching flames. "I-I have a very bad feeling about this!"

"Chris, everything's just fine," Sonic said as he cracked his fists. "Let's just finish him off for real this time."

"I hate to agree with this, but we don't have much of a choice..." Nel said. "We're still injured, but we must fight with everything we've got this time."

"Hahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Bring the tension to me! This shall be a battle to remember for sure!"

Roy looked bored at him. "Geez, you're forgetting the fact that we might DIE this time for sure, right?"

"Roy, it's useless," Pit said with a sigh. "You can't just change his mind that easily."

C. Falcon took a fighting stance. "Um, you guys, we have Super Shadow Fox in the air, and he doesn't look that happy to see us again..."

At that moment, Shadow Fox vanished in the air.

Maria grunted. "Now that we know he can fly, we have to be even more careful than before. I shouldn't have told Mirage and the others to leave if I knew this was going to happen."

Sonic looked around, his fists prepared to hit anything. "So, where'd he go to?"

Peppita shook in fear. After watching that the enemy proved to be so persistent, her feeling of calmness was broken apart. However, she had enough of fighting the doppelganger for so long that she eventually resolved herself to stand up. "Guys, I'm gonna heal everyone here," she said, getting the attention of everyone. "Please, do everything you can to prevent him from getting close to me!"

"What are you saying?" Fayt asked.

"Just fight and watch!" Peppita said before she began to dance slowly on her spot, calling forth a glyph of light that reached everyone. As she moved her legs and hands around her by taking small steps forward and back, she chanted. "Iridescent spirits, forest dwellers... Rain down your dew of life!"

Most of them began to feel that their injuries were slowly being healed overtime as Peppita kept dancing. "Good..." Nel muttered. "But still, we have to find him..."

Albel noticed that the floor suddenly turned a little bit of a red shade. "..." He looked up and took a step back. "You better resist the incoming attack, worms. He's coming right on us!"

Everyone looked up to see a huge flaring star coming down upon them. Most of them gasped at the size of the star. It could easily outgrow the floor they were standing on, and it was probably hard to evade such an attack.

"W-what do we do now?!" Chris asked. "T-the size of that meteor is just too big!"

Wolf gritted his fangs. "It must be that imbecile's doing," he said. "And judging by the size of that thing, it's surely his ultimate attack."

"...You gotta know when to run..." Maria muttered. "We're outta here, guys!"

Adray rubbed his chin. "We must flee, then. Follow me!"

"H-hate to say this, but I have to agree with him for once," Pit said gulping.

"Grr, dammit, what are we doing standing here doing nothing?" Falco asked. "Go!"

Roy looked at Peppita dancing. "You need to stop for now! We have to get out of here!"

Chris then took out the Heart Container that he kept. "T-this...I need to use this before..."

Unfortunately, the meteor wasn't really going down upon them. It was stopped in midair, and it suddenly came crashing down on the whole floor. Flames quickly spread all over it, and everyone was forced into high up in the air. A furious war cry blared out from the center of the floor where the Shadow Nightmare's image yelled to the sky as he burned with intense fire. In a flash, he quickly vanished from sight.

Falco grunted as he found himself unable to move. "D-damn, he's so damn fast enough t-"

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Falco gasped after he saw the burning appearance of Shadow Fox in the air. His fire intensified even more before he disappeared and began to fly around, slamming himself at everyone at a very insane speed. Everyone screamed loudly in pain as the shadow could attack everyone in a matter of a second, kicking them, punching them, burning them, and kneeing them hard. Chip, who was the only one unaffected, watched shocked as he saw everyone bouncing all over the air, seeing the image of Shadow Fox all over the air where he punished everyone by quickly everywhere they were sent to.

"E-everyone!" Chip yelled.

Suddenly, Chip watched as the crazy frenzy of attacks stopped while everyone was sent down on the floor, crashing on different areas. Most of them were severely burned, some were not moving anymore, and some were barely able to push themselves up. "...N-no..." Roy coughed as he thrust his sword down on the floor to force himself up. "T-this...can't...be happening..." He looked around. "...E-everyone..."

Fayt struggled to grab the hilt of his sword in front of him as he was on the northwest corner of the floor. As Fayt was about to reach his sword, his energies depleted. "No...nooooooo!" he yelled before passing out.

Roy looked behind him where Sonic laid down on the floor on his back, a painful expression on his face as he grunted. "You gotta...be kidding me...damn you..." he muttered before his head tilted to the right, indicating he fainted.

Maria, lying down on the southeast corner, twitched in pain. "This has become...so annoying..." She struggled to get up. "But...we must continue..."

Wolf coughed some blood as he managed to stand up, a claw clutching to his chest. "T-that damn imitation of Fox is getting on my nerves now..." He looked behind him where Chris struggled to grab his book in front of him. "Kid...you okay?"

Chris twitched in pain as he managed to grab his book in time. "I-it appears so..." Chris muttered. "B-but...I am concerned...about Shadow Fox's whereabouts..."

The lupine quickly looked back to the air. "Dammit, you're right... Where did he go this time?"

"..." The World Traveler recalled that he had a Heart Container with him. "...The Heart...Container..." he muttered as he slowly reached for his back. "...Wait...just a second..." He got a little bit panicked and slowly stood up. Moving his hands as fast as his energies could let him, Chris couldn't find the Heart Container with him. "W-what in the world..."

It seemed that Chris had lost the recovery item.

"N-no!" Chris gasped as he frantically looked around through the pockets of his scholar robe. "W-where did I leave it? I-I am sure I had it with me a moment ago!"

"Kid...why are you so shocked?" Wolf asked.

"I-I had a Heart Container that could replenish all my health in a second...b-but I lost it!"

Wolf grunted annoyed. "Way to go...kid...that could've saved someone from dying here..."

"W-why do you think we are going to die?"

"..." Wolf frowned. "...We don't stand a chance upon that monster..."

The scholar looked at Wolf in pure disbelief. "W-we must escape, then!"

"Kid...it's futile now..." Wolf said. "That shadow of Fox just keeps coming back...if I could speak to him one more time...I could say he's the real cockroach here..."

"N-no...do not talk like that..."

"I..." C. Falcon, who seemed to be close to them, struggled to stand up. "...I have to...agree there..."

Chris shook his head. "N-no, I still think we have a chance...j-just...let me cure you a bit..." The World Traveler concentrated his magic, but as soon as he started, he stopped. "...M-my energies...they are so low..."

C. Falcon kicked a crumble away. "Damn..."

Adray, located to the northeast corner, slowly stood up and saw Pit trying to get up by himself. "Let me...give you a hand..." Adray offered as he stretched his hand at Pit.

Pit took it and he was pulled back to his feet. "Are you...still okay?"

Adray chuckled. "I may be old, young one...but I can still put up a good fight..."

"You're just being...so persistent..."

"True...but I cannot let this go like this, right?"

"I suppose...so..." Pit said.

The eerie silence of the scenery made them feel very uncomfortable. Looking around, Pit tried to find the shadow. "...Now...where is he?"

Adray looked up. Some seconds passed before he frowned. "We may as well...be dead..."

"Why...please, don't tell me..."

The characters that looked up shook their head in disbelief as they found Shadow Fox's burning body increasing in size. They watched as the shadow opened his arms, releasing what appeared to be ten scorching illusions of himself that made a big circle around him. The shadow, holding out his stretched arm and hand upon them, began to yell something. "I shall incinerate you to ashes... HELLION STAR!!!"

Hellion Star

Slams down a wide area with flames, then uses insane speed to attack all foes, followed up by illusions of fire to explode all over the field, creating bursts of fire. Deals massive fire damage upon all enemies.

Albel, standing up by forcing himself on his katana, grunted at this. "Fire, fire, fire...it's always damn fire, isn't it?" he asked annoyed before he thought about something. "Wait, fire..." The Black Brigade captain looked around to find a struggling Peppita getting up from the floor. "Hey you, yes, you..."

Peppita looked very shocked, but she looked at Albel. "Y-yes?"

Albel recalled something important, "We need...Flare Rings..."

The Velbaysian looked up and gasped at the illusions. "F-Flare Rings?"

"Yes, I believe you made them...right?"

"A-as a matter of fact..." Peppita took out some rings with red gems on them. They were about seven of them. "H-here are they..."

Albel held out his hand at her. "Quick, give me one! Those fire puppets he called forth will surely attack us, and those rings can help us to resist them..."

"O-oh, right," Peppita said as she put a ring on her index finger.

"QUICK!"

Peppita looked around to all the people who were still standing up. She found Wolf, Chris, Roy, Pit, Adray, and C. Falcon standing up. "Y-you guys, here, quick!" She tossed the rings to their feet. "P-put them on!"

The Velbaysian suddenly found something weird close to her. Peppita didn't know why, but she found what looked to be a crystal shaped like a heart that spun a bit on its place.

"W-what?" Peppita looked confused at the heart. "W-what is this?"

"GO DOWN AND FINISH THEM OFF!!!" Shadow Fox called out from the sky before all the illusions of fire began to shoot themselves down, exploding all over the floor. "Die, die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!" Shadow Fox shouted loudly as he saw explosions of fire blowing up everywhere under his feet.

Screams of agony, yells of pain, and people forced into the air occurred all over the already scorched floor. The shadow laughed maniacally as the explosions of fire illuminated a great portion of the underground garden while the plants that adorned the edges of the floor were burned into ashes that remained on the ground. Shadow Fox laughed as crazily as he could before he began to descend down, fire covering almost every inch of the floor. The fire that shrouded him slowly vanished overtime, his fists lowering down.

Chip watched in horror as the shadow panted heavily in extreme exhaustion. The imp didn't want to come out and let the shadow know he was there. Instead, Chip remained behind the gem.

Shadow Fox chuckled deeply as he looked at some of them lying down on the floor, the fire leaving burn scars on their clothes. "Heheheheh..." Shadow Fox chuckled as he saw the fainted Falco close to him. "...Looks like you were destined to end up in defeat...fools..." he said as he panted heavily. "Damn...I'm still so...exhausted..."

Suddenly, Shadow Fox's ears twitched. The shadow gritted his fangs and turned around to find none other than Peppita, still struggling to stand up as she had her hands on her knees. Closing an eye in pain, the Velbaysian glared at Shadow Fox. "You won't just...get away with this...I-I told you so..."

Shadow Fox tightened his fists. "You're still standing after all the beating I've done on you?"

"D-don't underestimate...the Fairy of Illusions...dork..." Peppita coughed a bit.

"I just don't understand why you're still standing, though..."

Peppita was able to stand up completely. "W-when you were just about to send those explosions on us...I found this odd heart close to me...and...when I touched it...the heart vanished and it somehow healed all my injuries..." she explained. "B-but then your explosions came in, and I was back at the same state...h-however..." She showed him the Flare Ring. "T-this little crafting creation...halved your fire attacks...and it saved me from dying..." She shook her head. "But...I know you haven't killed anyone yet...because you're such a...such a..."

Shadow Fox narrowed his eyes.

"...You're such a...such a...such a big dummy!" Peppita yelled as she crossed her left arm in front of her, a fist pumping up. "Now...now...now...now I'm really MAD!!!" she shouted before she started crying, still glaring at Fox fiercely. "I-I'm gonna shut you down for real this time!"

Shadow Fox rolled his eyes. "Whatever..." He started to pant heavily. "I still have enough energy to take you down for once..."

Peppita's lips shook before she began to dash at the shadow. Shadow Fox frowned in shame before he vanished from sight once again. "Kaboom!" Peppita yelled, gracefully spinning in the air as a circling star moved around her.

"U-ugh!" Shadow Fox grunted after he was about to kick Peppita harshly. The star then pushed him away where he rolled on the floor before standing up with a roll. Peppita acted quickly and ran at him. "You snobbish little girl...you're starting to get on my nerves now!"

"I don't care about a monster like you! Be gone!" Peppita yelled as she spun her right bangle at her side. "Magic Hook!"

Shadow Fox crossed his arms in front of his face. However, instead of the bangle going straight to him, the bangle, along with the sphere on its end, went above him. "W-what?"

"Hiiiiiiii-yah!" Peppita pulled down the bangle, the cloth falling on Shadow Fox before she pulled it with all her forces to make the sphere collide hard behind Shadow Fox's head. The shadow grunted in pain as he stumbled forward, the Velbaysian quickly dashing to him. "It's the...grand finale..." Peppita muttered as she stared at the dazzled shadow. "It's my biggest debut...not on the stage..."

Shadow Fox quickly vanished from sight. Peppita stopped running and quickly looked around, ignoring the fainted people around her.

"The Fairy of Illusions...must let the show go on..." she muttered. "She has...to beat the evil shadow...that swallowed dreams through scorching flames of hell..."

Shadow Fox appeared over her and prepared a downward kick.

Peppita quickly flipped back constantly to stop all the way to the west wall to evade the crushing kick of the shadow that crashed upon the floor. Once her feet touched the ground, just in front of the western wall, she quickly stood in her usual fighting stance as she glared at the shadow. "The monster needs to go away...and let nightmares leave people's dreams..." she muttered.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Shadow Fox pulled his fists back as he got engulfed in flames that greatly surpassed the usual Fire Fox attack. The shadow was at a complete rage, his target of his anger being Peppita.

However, the Fairy of Illusions remained on her spot as she moved her hands in front of her face, making her index fingers and thumbs touch each other as she stared at the shadow between them. "I must...end the nightmare that enjoys pleasure through agony..."

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Shadow Fox yelled as he quickly shot himself towards Peppita at full speed.

The Velbaysian gulped and closed her eyes tightly. "And...and...and...she needs the help of friend of the fairies!" she shouted as a hole appeared in front of her feet. "Fairy Friend, come and help us all!!!"

Suddenly, some kind of large stuffed animal jumped out from the hole. The large stuffed animal stood seven feet, and it looked like some kind of monster that greatly resembled a moogle. The large stuffed animal looked forward at the meteor that aimed for Peppita.

Pulling back her fist along with the big plush doll, Peppita gulped with some preoccupation, but she didn't dare stop her attack. "And please...please, friend of the fairies..." she muttered before glaring forward."...SAVE US FROM THE ETERNAL NIGHTMARE!!! !!!"

The large stuffed animal's right fist moved forward as it created a big shockwave of air that went after Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox. The wind was strong enough to slice the floor and blow away the flames that covered the area around it. Shadow Fox narrowed his yellow eyes as he watched the tornado of air about to crash on him. "IDIOT!" he yelled as he accelerated and clashed against the tornado. Peppita's attack ended up halting the shadow's fire as he slowly used all his energies to crash on her by trying to break through the tornado. "This is going to be the last time you'll see me!"

"I don't think so!" Peppita yelled loudly as she ordered the large stuffed animal to pull back its fist and send another wave of air that clashed against the shadow's scorching fire. "You have to go away!"

The shadow grunted loudly in rage as the next tornado joined up with the previous one, making the force even stronger against Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox.

Peppita pulled back her fist to make the large stuffed animal do the same and sent another wave of air forward to stop the shadow from hurting her. With each sentence Peppita yelled out, she tossed another fist of air through the big puppet. "This is for trying to make Fox feel bad!"

Shadow Fox grunted as the next wave of air started to halt his progress.

"This is for being a bastard to everyone!"

The shadow's Meteor Fox suddenly began to feel weaker.

"This is for troubling me this whole time..."

Shadow Fox's eyes widened as his fire began to lose power.

"This is for being such an annoying mean person..."

Shadow Fox's Meteor Fox suddenly demised as it only managed to cover a small portion of himself. Suddenly, the huge tornado that clashed against him trapped him inside of it.

"And finally..." Peppita muttered with some tears as she pulled back her fist with the big puppet. "...This is...this is..." She sniffed a bit, hoping that her attack would end the fight. "...This is for...this is for..." She glared fiercely at the shadow. "...THIS IS FOR TRYING TO KILL US ALL JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO!!! !!!"

Shadow Fox watched shocked as a stronger wave of air joined up with the tornado that had him in it. The tornado blast pushed the shadow all the way across the burning floor, blowing out all the flames that burned most of the fainted people around the crumbles. Shadow Fox spiraled crazily in the blast before he finally collided against the eastern wall where a explosion of winds slices him completely. Once the attack sliced him completely he fell down on the floor, the large stuffed animal and Peppita staring at him before the big doll looked at Peppita, waved a hand, and jumped back into the hole before it disappeared.

...But for her dismay, the shadow quickly pushed his feet up and chuckled loudly. Peppita shook her head in pure disbelief. "N-no!" Peppita yelled. "B-but I thought..."

"Enough of this bulls(beep), Peppita..." Shadow Fox said as he pulled back his right hand behind him, calling forth a blue sphere that the Velbaysian recognized as Symbology. "Now...I just need to heal myself again...hit you hard on the face...and then...I'll win...after all this hell..."

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Peppita shouted loudly as she began her way to interrupt the shadow from healing himself. It was a long distance, but the Velbaysian ran as fast as she could to stop him.

Chip, after watching the whole struggled, decided to join up to the fight as he flew as a fast as he could to the shadow. "Y-you, stop there!"

Shadow Fox glared at Chip, but the shadow knew that he could heal himself in time to exterminate his two enemies. "...This ends here...you 2..." he muttered with a snicker as he swung his right arm and hand forward, calling forth pyre flies that healed his injuries. "HEALING!!!" he yelled loudly.

Peppita and Chip suddenly stopped running in horror as they watched the shadow healing his injuries. Once he was done, Shadow Fox laughed maniacally at the sky before looking at them with a devilish grin, his fists tightening on the sides of his hips.

"Well, well, well..." Shadow Fox said snickering. "It seems I, once again, have the upper hand..."

Peppita sniffed sadly as she shook her head continuously. As for Chip, the imp was ready to fly away as fast as he could from the scene. His life was now at risk.

Shadow Fox took a step forward, making both of them gasp. "It's time to complete the mission. Geez, I had so much with all of you, but damn, I'm so strong to stand up after all those attacks done on me... And now..." the shadow began as he cracked his fists, showing his fangs a bit with a wicked grin. "I just need to deliver a single hit on you...and..."

"...Huh?" Peppita and Chip said in unison as they watched the shadow stopping on his trails.

Shadow Fox looked confused. "...And...why am I feeling...so...dazzled?" he asked before he fell on his knees. "...H-hey...w-what's...happening?"

Music stops

Peppita and Chip looked confused as the shadow suddenly fell down on his face.

"..." Shadow Fox felt extremely weak. "...H-hey...h-hey..." He started to be panicked as he looked to the right, his yellow eyes quickly darting everywhere. "...W-what...w-what did just happen?!" he asked as he fully showed his fangs. Shadow Fox tried to move on the crumbles, but he found himself unable to move his body for a bit. "DAMMIT, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

The Velbaysian and the imp stared at each other confused as the shadow cursed loudly.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING, I ASKED?!" Shadow Fox demanded. "Y-you...damn little...B(BEEP)H!!!"

"W-what?" Peppita asked.

"Y-you were the one who made this to me, weren't you?!" Shadow Fox asked as he tried to move. "NOT ONLY YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, BUT YOU ALSO HURT ME PHYSICALLY?!"

The Velbaysian, after recalling that the shadow couldn't move from the floor, slowly walked to him. Chip gasped and decided to stay close to the Fairy of Illusions to protect her (even if Chip knew he was pretty much dead). "...You...can't move, then?"

"EXACTLY!!!" Shadow Fox yelled as he pathetically tried to clench his stunned fists. "I'm still good to smack you down, but my body isn't responding to me at all!"

"...Is...that so?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Shadow Fox grunted in anger as he glared up at Peppita and Chip.

Chip tilted his head confused and looked at Peppita. "Um...did you do this to him?"

Peppita looked at him and shook her head. "N-no, I don't believe I have the power to stun people like this..."

"!!!" Shadow Fox screamed loudly. "Why, why, why, why, WHY?!" he asked in a blind rage. "Why the hell can't I move?! WHY?! You must know why, YOU MUST!!!"

Peppita looked a bit frightened at the display of anger from the shadow that she backed away a bit from him. However, as Peppita and Chip stared down at the angry complaints of the shadow, surprisingly...

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Misted Moon

...The Shadow Nightmare began to sob and sniff on the floor...

The Velbaysian and the imp got shocked after the shadow began to cry silently to himself. His eyes closed tightly, and his fangs were soon covered by his dark black lips. "N-no..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "N-no...n-no...n-no..." he sobbed more. "...T-this...is just...so cruel to a guy like me..." He began to cry a little bit louder.

Peppita blinked confused at this sudden change of attitudes. Knowing that the shadow couldn't move, she could tell he was really crying true tears. Gulping a bit, Peppita sat down on her feet to take a closer look to the shadow's face, Chip gasping at this. "...Are you...sad?"

"...Y-you don't know all the pain I went through..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "...T-this has been so damn unfair...to me..." Shadow Fox cried silently. "...Y-you don't understand anything..."

Chip looked worried. "W-watch out, he could be lying!" he warned Peppita as he looked around to see everyone else on the floor. "H-he could stand up and hit us!"

"W-why...would I do such a thing again...anyway..." Shadow Fox asked as he sobbed. "...I...I can't move anymore... I'm forever destined...to be like this...and die on this cold floor..." He closed his crying eyes. "I-I'm pretty much...done for..."

"W-well, you heat it up, though..."

Peppita looked at Chip and shook her head.

Chip blinked surprised. "W-what?"

"..." Peppita remained silent before looking back at the shadow. "...Why are you so sad so suddenly?"

Shadow Fox glared at her. "...G-go away...stupid girl..." he told her before sobbing. "I-it's because of you...that...I'll die...all alone..."

"...What?"

Shadow Fox's lips twitched in sadness. "I-I'm gonna die...am I not?" he asked, more tears coming out from his yellow eyes. "I-I'm gonna die and...join up with that bastard I call my father...right?"

Peppita looked surprised. "...Y-you mean your dad?"

"IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I'M GONNA DIE, IDIOT!!!" Shadow Fox yelled loudly at Peppita before he grunted and continued sobbing. "S-so unfair...s-so uncool...s-so...unneeded..." he cried. "I call still pretty much attack...but...why can't I even move a finger anymore?" Shadow Fox tried to frown. "I...can't understand...why I have to go through this unfair treatment..."

Peppita blinked a few times before she glared at him. "Why can't you understand it...WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND IT?!"

Shadow Fox looked a bit scared at Peppita as she raised her voice.

Peppita closed her eyes and shook her head as she sniffed herself. "Y-you're like this because you deserved it from the very beginning you appeared!" she cried loudly, Chip quickly flying behind her where he patted her back. "B-because of you, many us nearly died!"

"B-but..." Shadow Fox sobbed a bit. "I-I had to live...and enjoy my own life..."

Peppita tightened her fists on the ground as she sobbed. "You're just a heartless guy who wants to kill anyone without feeling remorse... What kind of a person are you?!"

"...Someone..." Shadow Fox looked away sadly. "...Someone...who already went through enough emotional pain in life...and wanted to let everyone know how it feels to be like this..."

The Velbaysian rubbed her eyes continuously as Chip rubbed her back a bit. The imp looked back and forth between the two sobbing characters. Nobody dared speak a word as Chip tried to say something. "...You guys..." Chip trailed off. "...Please, stop sobbing like that..."

Shadow Fox looked up at him. "How can you understand the pain I went through all my life?" he asked. "...No one knows how I feel..."

Chip stared at him before frowning in shame.

None of the three were aware of the fact that someone slowly walked to them, dragging a right foot along the crumbles before stopping in front of the sobbing shadow.

"...So...I guess they stopped you from doing whatever you wanted...huh..."

Shadow Fox looked shocked before looking up at the person in front of him and Peppita. "...Y-you?!"

Chip turned around and looked up at the figure. "...H-how?!"

Peppita continued sobbing before a hand touched her right shoulder. The Velbaysian rubbed her eyes one more time before she slowly turned her face around to look up at the figure behind her. Her eyes quickly dilated in surprise as they reflected the image of the hurt person. "...Is...is that really you?"

The person nodded before he struggled to kneel down besides them, the shadow looking shocked at him.

Peppita looked in pure disbelief as she saw that Fox, the real one, had appeared out from nowhere. Apparently, Fox looked weak since he was grabbing his left arm with his right hand. The leader of Star Fox glanced around the area to see the others knocked out on the crumbles. "...Looks like everyone here fought hard..." Fox muttered. "...You fought ike that all because of me..."

"...F-Fox..." Peppita trailed off. "H-how did you..."

Fox slowly pointed back to the staircase.

Peppita and Chip turned to the direction of his finger where they watched as Cliff, Mirage, Samus, and surprisingly, a recovered Roger, a cured Tails, and a healed Sophia came all from the south. Upon looking around, Sophia gasped. "O-oh no, everyone!" she gasped.

"This is bad," Samus said. "They surely fought that shadow when we went to look for you."

"S-Sonic!" Tails yelled as he found the unconscious werehog close to them.

"Quick, we must give them some medicine before this turns out even worse," Cliff ordered. "Mirage, do we still have some Fresh Sages left?"

Mirage took out some plants from her pocket. "Yes, it appears we have enough for everyone."

"Alright, let's give them all one so they recover," Cliff said.

As Peppita and Chip watched everyone spreading around the whole area to heal the others on the floor, Fox coughed a bit. "T-they found us some floors away from here..." he explained."T-this bastard hid us behind some bushes...but...they found us..."

Chip looked at him. "B-but I don't understand something... The guys that he took away look healthier than you are..."

"...T-that's because...I woke up by myself..." Fox coughed a bit. "A-and when I did...that's when they found us...but...I wanted to come here as soon as I could...not wanting to stay behind to let them heal me..." He looked at Peppita. "...Also...I was worried because you were left alone with him...and I just couldn't let him hurt you any further..."

"..." Peppita sniffed. "F-Fox..."

"D-damn you..." Shadow Fox suddenly said. "...Why are you here again? Are you here to...finish me off?"

Fox glared at the shadow and shook his head. "N-no..."

"...Then...WHY?!" Shadow Fox asked enraged. "I don't understand any of this blasphemy!"

Fox ignored him for a bit as he looked around to see the others healing everyone by giving those Fresh Sages to Maria, Nel, Chris, Wolf, Sonic, Adray, Falco, Pit, Roy, Albel, Fayt, and C. Falcon so they could come back to their senses. Once they all managed to stand up in some pain, they all looked back at the shadow on the floor, but most of them were surprised to see Fox back.

"F-Fox?" Falco asked as he grabbed his right arm.

Fox looked a bit surprised at him before smiling a bit. "...Hey...Falco... You came here to help...right?"

"...Damn straight..." Falco said. "...The situation looked so bad so Master Hand let me come here to help..."

"Good..." Fox nodded to him.

The trio watched as everyone began to walk to them, forming a big arch on the eastern wall that they all looked at the stunned shadow on the floor.

Shadow Fox grunted annoyed. "W-why can't I move anymore?! T-tell me already! I-I'm sick of being here!"

Maria blinked confused. "You mean to say...you can't move anymore?"

"WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY?!" Shadow Fox asked enraged. "I have enough force to take you all on...b-but my body doesn't respond to me anymore! WHY IS THAT?! WHY?!"

"...I could be wrong...but..." Nel looked at Peppita. "You were the only one left who took care of him, right?"

Peppita looked a bit concerned. "Y-yeah, but I dunno why he fell down, though..." She rubbed her chin. "...I gave him everything I've got...but then he managed to stand up and heal himself from all the injuries again...and then...he just fell down right here..."

Nel closed her eyes. "...He healed himself and fell down exhausted, huh..."

Albel looked up to the far away ceiling. "...Symbology to heal himself, huh... That means only one thing..."

Roger got in a thinking position. "...Oh, I see now," he said as he raised a finger. "This guy's energy to cast Symbology completely depleted right after he healed himself!"

"...What?" Shadow Fox asked in disbelief. "B-but...I still have some force left with me!"

"Yeah, but..." Sophia thought for a moment. "...Since Fox and you know how to use Symbology, you're wide exposed to the deadly effect of the mental death..."

Fox looked at her. "Say what?"

Maria nodded. "It seems we forgot to explain to you the dangers of Symbology," she said before raising a finger. "The users of Symbology need to be very careful while using that magic. If someone overuses Symbology over and over again, the mind will soon start to feel tired after so much used concentration on Symbology that it will eventually have a mental breakdown, or as we like to call it better, a mental death."

"Mental...death?" Shadow Fox asked. "...You mean to say my energies soon hit zero when I healed myself...and if I didn't cure myself...I could have lasted for even longer to kill Peppita?"

"...In a few words...you screwed up yourself," Maria said before shaking her head. "And here I thought you were flawless."

"Tsk," Albel muttered. "If you forgot, many of our attacks attack the mind directly."

"Oh, right," Mirage said nodding. "Now that I recall, most of our attacks affect the opponent's mind. When we were hurting him, most of the time, part of the damage went to his mind as well. Ironically enough, I think Albel was the one who inflicted the most because of his Aura Wall attack and Vampiric Flash. That and also because of Fayt's Dimension Door."

"...Yeah," Fayt said. "Now I remember that Dimension Door deals massive damage to the mind and body."

Sonic grumbled. "...Then that means most of our attacks weren't doing a thing?"

"Not really," Adray said. "We always put the shadow to his limit until he healed himself. I have to remark that he needs to take many beatings before resorting to Symbology."

'B-but...I have a lot of health myself..." Shadow Fox said in disbelief. "...But...my mind doesn't?"

Chris thought for a moment. "...If you are a shadow that came from Fox...that means you are a novice at Symbology..." he theorized, "if that is true...then that means you were not an expert at using magic since Fox himself is not one yet."

Fox looked away in shame.

"As soon as Fox learned Symbology, he was quickly exposed to the dangers of a mental death," Chris explained. "And due to the fact he could not cast Symbology; Fox was ready to faint by a direct attack to his mind... Since Shadow Nightmares amplify the victim's powers, I could say you were able to raise the rate of success to use Symbology; healing Symbology to be precise, and use it as you pleased to do..." He looked at Fox. "...However, you did not know about the secondary effect at all because Maria forgot to explain it to Fox prior the fight."

Maria looked away embarrassed. "Y-yeah, blame it all on me, but at least that helped, didn't it?"

"And since it had to mean that you should have fainted," Chris continued, "the reason why you are still awake probably is because Fox had realized something now...a lie that he has accepted to admit..."

"...Damn you all..." Shadow Fox sobbed. "...I used knowledge by my side...but I was defeated because I didn't know what I was getting myself into..." He cried silently. "...I'm...gonna die...either way..."

Fox closed his eyes and shook his head. "...No... Nobody is going to die..."

"...Huh?" Shadow Fox looked at him. "...Why are you saying that?" he asked. "It's been hell, I remind you! Did you forget that we still have yet to beat our own father to a fight with Arwings or what?! Thanks to him disappearing, we haven't had the chance to fulfill our goal in life yet!"

Falco blinked surprised. "...Wait, did I hear right?" He looked at Fox. "...You want to fight your father?"

"I-I..." Fox looked away. "...I-I..." He frowned. "...I have to say it now before you suffer..." he muttered before looking back at the shadow. Sighing, Fox began to talk again. "...It's all over..."

Shadow Fox sniffed as everyone kept staring at them. "...Is...it...really over?"

"...Yeah..." Fox muttered. "...It's been hell for you...even worse than me... No..." He glared to himself and shook his head. "It was hell for the 2 of us..."

"...W-wait, I don't understand," C. Falcon said. "What is happening?"

Fox looked at everyone as he stood up, Peppita promptly following by standing up as well. "...The truth is...I...I...I..." Fox frowned. "...I hate my father..."

"What?" Falco asked. "You hate your own father?"

Wolf grunted a bit and crossed his arms. "Fox, what the hell are you saying now? Last time I checked, you looked up at James ever since I met face-to-face with you. Now you come here and say you hate your father?"

"...Yeah..." Fox said.

"...Then what is it?" Wolf asked.

"...I hate him..." Fox admitted. "...I hate my father...so much..."

Most of the people looked a bit surprised at the ashamed vulpine as he slowly looked down, Peppita being the one who looked the most worried.

"...You all know what happened to me during my past..." Fox said. "...So...it's time to finish up the story..."

Peppita looked away in shame.

"...Please...listen well...because I'm not planning in repeating myself..." Fox trailed off.

Chris looked worried at Fox's shameful expression. "(Fox...)"

Fox looked at them before he made a serious expression. "So now...let's me wrap this up..." he said. "I hated my father because of..."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - Bridge

In the eerie silence of the bridge, there sat an ashamed Peppy on the main seat of the ship as he stared forward at the frontal window of the Great Fox's head. Joining his fingers together, he waited for the automatic door to open wide for the person he was waiting for. The hare, this time, was all alone by himself after he came back from a mission to Venom with Pigma and James who, for some reason, weren't around with him.

As Peppy expected, the door opened wide, and a grinning 15 years old, Fox McCloud, walked in. The young Fox wore almost the same uniform as James did (as a birthday present for Fox reaching 13 years), the only differences being that Fox wore a red scarf and didn't wear sunglasses like James. "Hey, Peppy," Fox began. "How's it going with the team?"

"Oh...you're here," Peppy muttered as he put his fingers apart from each other while he turned the chair to look at Fox. For a moment, he could have sworn that James was standing in front of him where Fox was, but he shook his head in shame. "I'm glad to see you here, Fox..."

Fox crossed his arms and nodded. "Well, yeah, you called me here, right?" He looked around. "Where's my father, though? I thought he was here with you."

Peppy looked preoccupied as he looked at Fox. The hare knew what had happened in Venom some days ago, but Peppy didn't know it if was right for him to tell Fox the news. "About that..."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"..." Peppy looked away. "...He...your father..."

In order to buy time, Peppy decided to make Fox feel as comfortable as he could.

"...Let me ask you something first, Fox."

Fox tilted his head. "What is it?"

Peppy thought for a moment. "What did you...I mean...er...what did you tell James when we were about to leave for Venom?"

Fox grinned. "What did I tell my father before you left? Well, when he told me he was going to come home soon-" Peppy's face looked a bit pale at the 'come home soon' part. "-from Venom, I told him to give Andross hell for whatever he's doing...making sure if he was around, though."

"I see..." Peppy closed his eyes and frowned.

"I knew what happened to my father..." Fox narrated. "...It was easy to tell that Peppy was thinking about him..."

"..." Peppy seemed to take a moment of silence as he recalled some words from James that Fox couldn't hear or listen to. Deciding to break the silence, Peppy coughed a bit. "...I see, Fox..."

Fox chuckled. "I'm sure he gave Andross hell."

Peppy grunted a bit and looked away, recalling some words in his mind when he was at Venom. His memory was still hazy, and he barely remember what was going on as he tried to recall the event after Pigma betrayed the team, right before Andross showed up in his big mutant form.

"What are you doing, James?! Turn back!"

"Sorry..." James's voice echoed in Peppy's mind, the sounds of shots scratching the metal of Arwings. "...I gotta give Andross hell."

"What?"

"See you later," James said with a grin. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine by myself."

"Are you nuts or what?!" Peppy's voice yelled. "Andross has the advantage to take us both down!"

"Maybe he has it, but can he keep up with only one of us?" James asked confidently. "I'll give you time for you to escape. Andross is my target."

"We're pretty much in risk here," Peppy explained. "That bastard of Pigma shouldn't have escaped when Andross appeared. Now you're thinking you can handle Andross alone?!"

"...Yeah."

Peppy could recall roars from the mad scientist behind them as James turned his Arwing around to go after Andross.

"Why are you doing this idiocy?!" Peppy asked. "It's not like you to do this, James! Come back!"

"...It's something my son told me to do..." James said. "...I can't let him down...can I?"

"JAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEES!!!

"Hey, Peppy."

Peppy suddenly looked at Fox.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked confused. "You looked a little bit worried about something. Is something bothering you?"

"..." Peppy sighed. "Fox..."

"Yes?"

"...Are you ready to hear something that could possibly...hurt you for all your life?"

Fox stared at him odd before he let out a small laugh. "Peppy, what are you saying? Why are you sounding like some sort of sage?"

Peppy frowned. "Fox...I'm serious. You're old enough to handle this kind of news..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Peppy, just tell me already," he said grinning. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the favor I told my father to do."

"...What favor?"

"Well, he told me he was going to take my application to become part of Star Fox into matter once he came back from Venom with you and Pigma."

Peppy gasped mentally.

"Speaking of them...where are they?" Fox asked before looking around. "Are they somewhere in the Great Fox or are they doing something else?"

"...Oh god..." Peppy sighed depressed. "...Fox...please, don't interrupt me even more before I regret it..."

"...So...what is it?" Fox asked.

"...Why was I thinking when I talked to Peppy like that..." Fox narrated. "...I was all so confident to see my father...but then...when Peppy told me what had happened...I suddenly felt very heavy..."

After the hare explained everything to the young vulpine, Peppy stared at Fox. "...I'm sorry for you to hear about that...Fox..."

Fox stared at him.

"...But...that was what happened when we went to Venom..." Peppy said ashamed. "...Please...don't feel bad about it..."

Fox looked away and shook his head.

"...Fox?"

"...Heheheheh..." Fox chuckled nervously. "Y-you're lying, right?"

"...No, I'm not lying, Fox..." Peppy said. "...I only speak the truth when I have to...and that's always..."

"Heheheheh...heheheh...heheheheh..." Fox chuckled to himself before looking nervously at Peppy. "Peppy, seriously, you're being really funny today. Just tell me where my father is now."

"Fox, I know it's hard for you to believe, but that was what happened..." Peppy said as he looked down. "Pigma betrayed us right after we stayed at Venom for a while...and then we found Andross deep in the planet...and then...your father...sacrificed himself to let me live..."

"...My father sacrificing himself..." Fox repeated before chuckling. "Peppy, stop being so funny now... Everyone knows my father knows how to deal with people, and Andross is not an exception..."

"...Unfortunately..." Peppy trailed off. "...Unfortunately, I think Andross managed to be the exception this time..."

Fox's eyes dilated.

"...After I escaped from there..." Peppy looked up at Fox, "...James's Arwing signal was out of range...and he never came back as I made my way alone to Corneria..." He sighed silently. "...I think Andross got James off-guard..."

Fox shook his head as he kept grinning nervously.

"...And James surely..." Peppy trailed off, not wanting to say the 'D' word to Fox. "...Sorry..."

"..." Fox's grin suddenly vanished. "...Peppy..."

The tone of Fox's voice made Peppy feel guilty.

"...My father..." Fox trailed off. "...He...didn't..."

"He did, Fox..." Peppy said. "...But...I know what I'm saying when he did it with honor...for everyone he knew..."

"..." Fox shook his head. "Yeah, and you assume he knew he was going to die with honor in such a small span of time."

Peppy knew Fox was going to get angry. "Fox, wait," Peppy began as he stood up. "Please, calm down a bit, will you? I know this is hard for you to understand as much as I do bu-"

"Peppy, shut up."

Peppy gasped as Fox tightened his fists at the sides of his belt.

"It's clear here that my father's still at Venom, fighting all by himself."

"W-what?"

Fox pointed at Peppy. "Peppy, take me to Venom so we can rescue him."

"F-Fox, wait, you don't know what you're saying!"

Fox glared at Peppy. "I said take me to Venom. We have to rescue my father before he REALLY dies."

"Fox, seriously, calm down," Peppy said with some desperation. "I-I'm so sure that James is stil-"

"Dammit, Peppy, why are you putting me down?!" Fox yelled angrily at him. "Why aren't you being optimistic?!"

Peppy put a hand over Fox's right shoulder. "Fox, listen to me, please!"

Fox slapped Peppy's hand away and frowned. "Peppy, didn't you hear me? Let's go to Venom and help my father!" he yelled. "If you said you lost communication with him, that'd be probably because you got away too far, and that also could mean he's still alive in there."

"F-Fox, I can't take you there!" Peppy yelled. "You're still inexperienced to go to fights across the galaxy an-"

"I know how to handle a stupid Arwing, Peppy!" Fox yelled as he raised his fists a bit. "My father has told me I'm becoming a pro very fast!"

"Y-you're being overconfident, Fox!" Peppy yelled. "I can't just let yo-"

"You know what, Peppy?" Fox asked as he went to the main control panel of the ship. "I'm not going to let you waste my time while we could be on our way there and give my father a hand!"

"F-Fox, what are you doing?!"

Fox raised his fingers on top of the main control panel. "What else? I'm telling the ship to take to Venom."

"W-wait, Fox!" Peppy ran to the stubborn Fox. "Y-you can't just..." For some reason, Peppy saw that Fox remained his fingers still on top of the panel. "...Fox?"

"..." Fox turned to him with a glare. "...How the heck do you operate this thing, anyway?"

"..." Peppy stared at Fox.

"...Tell me."

"..." Peppy looked away, knowing that he had Fox where he wanted him to be. "...No."

"Tell me now."

"No."

"Peppy..."

"No."

"Tell me now before I-"

"No."

"How do I take the shi-"

"No."

"Peppy, I'm seriou-"

"No."

"Pep-"

"No.

"Bu-"

"No."

"P-"

"No."

"Shi-"

"No, Fox, I won't tell you," Peppy said. "If that will keep you away from reaching Venom, then I won't tell you."

Fox grunted. "Peppy!"

"Fox...please, calm down..."

Fox shook his head as some tears began to stroll down around his snout. "P-Peppy, we need to go now!"

"Fox...please..."

"P-please, Peppy..."

Peppy watched as Fox held back his tears as he clenched his fists behind his belt. Sighing in shame, the hare walked to the young vulpine and put a hand on his right shoulder again. "Fox..."

"H-he didn't...no...h-he didn't..."

"I'm afraid he did, Fox..."

"N-no!" Fox shook his head. "Just because I told him to give Andross hell made him die?! Tell me it wasn't because of that!"

"Fox, it wasn't because you told James those words..."

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL ME WHAT HE TOLD YOU BEFORE COMMITTING SUICIDE?!"

"He knew I couldn't fight Andross long enough for him to escape so he used himself instead so I could live, don't you understand?!"

"Why didn't you die instead of him, then?!"

Peppy gasped.

Fox opened his eyes and looked shocked. The young vulpine sniffed silently to himself before looking at Peppy. "...P-Peppy...I-I'm sorry..."

"...No..." Peppy shook his head. "It's okay, Fox... I knew you were very attached to James...so I understand why you'd put him first than me..."

Fox looked down and tried his best not to cry. "N-no, don't cry...I-I'm a grown man...I-I can't just cry like this...no..."

"Yeah, don't cry like that if you think you're real man," Roger said.

"Shh..." Chris whispered.

Peppy looked ashamed at Fox. "Please, look at me, Fox..."

Fox slowly looked up at Peppy.

"...You're still not ready to take on Andross by yourself..."

Fox sniffed a bit. "...I thought...I was ready..."

Peppy shook his head. "No, you're not, Fox. You need to undergo a special training if you want to face Andross."

"What kind of special training is that?" Fox asked with a glare. "Isn't the Cornerian Flight Academy good enough for me or what?! My father told me that it was the best place for me t-"

"Fox, calm down," Peppy said. "...You'll have to drop the academy..."

"...Say what?" Fox asked confused. "...W-what do you mean by that? I can't just drop out...I mean, I need to shape up my grades before I even drop out the academy..."

"Grades aren't that important now," Peppy said. "...Well, they are, but thing is...if you want to go to Venom very soon..."

Fox stared at him.

"...You're going to have to take your father's place as the new leader of Star Fox..."

"..." Fox looked at him in surprise. "...Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." Fox shook his head before pointing at himself. "...Me, the new leader of Star Fox?"

Peppy nodded. "That is right...seeing that you're James's only son, and the fact that he has told me from time to time that you have a lot of potential to become Star Fox's next leader...I decided, as the last remaining member of Star Fox, to make you the next leader in command."

"...I..."

"...Of course..." Peppy looked around. "...We have to...make this place livelier, though..." He looked back at Fox. "I mean, I know you're the only one who wants to join Star Fox, but...the 2 of us alone doesn't make me feel that good..."

"...Peppy..." Fox looked worried. "...Are you sure I'm ready to be the next leader? Why don't you make yourself the leader instead?"

Peppy closed his eyes and shook his head. "I just don't have what it takes to be the leader, Fox," he explained. "The leader of the team must look tough...well, that's according to your father..."

"...Father..." Fox looked away. "...He told you that?"

"To be honest, I find his words very ridiculous," Peppy admitted. "However, I'm pretty sure I'm not like him at all. I don't have the same abilities with the Arwing as he does, but you, Fox, you...you have what it takes to be the leader..."

"...I'm not so sure, though..." Fox said before looking back at him. "I mean, everything's just happening so suddenly..."

Peppy chuckled. "Well, I know for a fact you were going to say that," he said. "You were confident to join the team, but you don't know if you should become the leader right away."

"...Yeah..."

"That's why I'm putting you under my wing to train to become the next leader of Star Fox," Peppy said. "I promise you're going to become one very soon."

"By soon, he meant 3 years..." Fox said annoyed.

"...But...you, training me?" Fox asked.

"...Hey, you don't think I'm good enough to teach you or what?" Peppy asked. "Fox, I know what I'm doing here. I know you'd have wanted James to be the one training you, but you know what happened to..."

Fox frowned. "...Yeah, I know...don't remind me..."

"...So..." Peppy coughed a bit. "...Are you sure you feel fine after hearing what I told you about..."

"..." Fox thought for a moment. "...Knowing that my father just...sacrificed himself so you could live...it will surely haunt me all my life..."

"I know, Fox," Peppy said. "But if I were to fight Andross to let James escape...I wouldn't have make it, and Andross could have taken down James next before he could even get away. I could be shot down in an instant, and my life would be wasted... James knew what to do because he was the leader, but not me nor that traitor of Pigma..."

Fox stared at Peppy. Shedding a tear, Fox wiped it away. "...My father was the best there was, right?"

"...Yeah...he was the best there was..."

"..." Fox looked at his right hand. "...Can I be the next one?"

"...Time will tell, Fox," Peppy said as he folded his arms. "For now, are you sure that it's okay for you to drop the academy and train under my guardianship?"

"...I'm scared..." Fox muttered.

"Don't be," Peppy said. "If you think you're up for it, say the word, and I'll make the right arrangements."

Fox thought for a moment. "...Now."

"...What?"

Fox nodded and looked at him. "I want to start right now."

"Have you decided, then?"

Fox closed his eyes. "This is what I have to do as soon as possible..." he muttered. "Star Fox's reputation is very recognized across the entire Lylat System, isn't it?"

"Well..." Peppy flushed a bit. "I-I don't want to show off, but I've heard from the newspapers that it is..."

"And they know anyone can count on Star Fox to make the job done, right?"

"Yes..."

Fox remained silent as he thought something. After the small silence, he chuckled, grinned, and opened his serious eyes. "...I gotta do it..." he said."I have to make Star Fox's reputation live up to everyone's expectations before it dies and gets forgotten..."

Peppy stared at Fox as the young vulpine put his right fist in front of him.

"This is what my father would have wanted me to do if he knew he was going..." Fox trailed off, thinking about James again. However, he decided to go on with his speech. "...So...I'll do it...for you...for Corneria...for the Lylat System...and lastly and most importantly...my father..."

"...You're not going to back down on your word, right?" Peppy asked. "I expect you to grow into a fine young man and leader of Star Fox after you said that oath, Fox..."

"...Oh yeah," Fox said grinning. "I'm sure what I'm doing, Peppy. I'm sure as hell what I'm doing here."

Peppy stared at Fox's determined expression for a while. As the silence kept going, Fox didn't even dare stop his determinate look. After staring at Fox for a while, Peppy chuckled heartily "...In that case..." he began, "...Fox..."

Fox stared at him, his fist still raised.

"...You really do have what it takes to be the next leader..."

Fox's grin turned into a wide smile. "...Then..."

"...Yes," Peppy said smiling a bit.

Fox tried his best to contain his excitement in him as it grew bigger overtime. "...Alright," Fox said. "From now o-"

"You'll be my trainee," Peppy interrupted.

Fox's determinate look suddenly faded into a confused one. "What?"

"Fox, I told you that you were going to be my trainee," Peppy said chuckling. "What, did you forget or what?"

"I...didn't..." Fox looked depressed, his fist slowly going back to the right side of his belt. "..." He looked down embarrassed. "...Damn, did I just oath to be someone's trainee?"

Peppy laughed a bit. "It appears so, Fox, it appears so."

Fox looked annoyed at him. "H-hey, stop chuckling like that, Peppy… I'm being serious about this!"

"Serious about becoming a trainee?" Peppy chuckled.

"I-I said stop it already!" Fox blushed embarrassed. "O-once I become Star Fox's leader, my first order will be kicking you out from the team!"

"Well, just try," Peppy said amused. "If you're thinking that, I'm not training you to become the next leader."

Fox gasped. "I-I mean, I-I'm going to let you live..."

Peppy raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to kill me instead, then?"

Fox showed his fangs at him. "P-Peppy, stop making me say things I don't mean to say already!" Fox yelled annoyed before Peppy broke out laughing. "Ugh, you're just unbelievable!"

Peppy stopped laughing and looked at Fox. "Well, well, looks like I'm the James of the team for now. He used to do this a lot with me and Pigma."

"My...father..."

Peppy noticed the depressed look on Fox's face. Putting a hand on his right shoulder again, Fox looked at Peppy. "...Don't fret about it again, you promise?"

"..." Fox looked at Peppy's hand. "...I'll try...I'll try to do that...or else I'll never be the next leader..."

Peppy chuckled heartily. "Well then...when do you want to start?"

Fox looked at him and smiled a bit. "As soon as you're ready to go, we'll start."

"Good," Peppy said. "That'd mean once we get more members for the team. Until then, wait."

Fox chuckled to himself. "Funny, I have 2 friends in mind already."

"Really now?" Peppy asked. "Do you think you're right with that?"

"Damn right I am," Fox said grinning. "One of them is an expert on flying machines, and the other one is an ace pilot with air fighters like Arwings."

"Better than you?"

"Er...maybe?"

"Can somebody here try to say Falco?" Falco asked.

"Can somebody here try to say bird brain?" Wolf asked.

"Can somebody here try tossing the mutt down the abyss for me?" Falco asked annoyed.

"Well..." Peppy chuckled. "You better give them both a call before we start. I'd like all of you to start your training at the same time in a week," Peppy said.

Fox nodded and gave him a thumb up. "Yeah, and you'll see how they work."

"I'm sure this will be a team that won't go down that easily, then?"

Fox nodded again. "Yep...Star Fox will never fall down by someone else...ever..."

Peppy chuckled, but then, he stared at Fox. "...But...are you sure the death of your father won't make you..."

"I-I'm sure of that..." Fox said.

"...Are you really sure, Fox?" Peppy asked. "You need to keep your cool and don't think about saddening events anymore if you don't want anything to pull you down."

Fox thought for a moment. "...I'm sure, Peppy, I do..."

"Well...you better, because if you don't..."

"I know," Fox spoke in a serious tone. "I can do this..."

"Really?"

"Peppy, stop asking me before I think about going back to my word..."

Peppy nodded. "...Alright, but if you feel down, come to me so you don't feel that bad again."

Fox looked away worried. "...Yeah, I'll do that, don't worry..."

"I should have hit myself on the head when I said that..." Fox said. "...I sure as hell didn't feel okay in the ensuing years because I constantly remembered my father..."

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

End of flashback

"And for that point..." Fox trailed off, "team Star Fox was reborn..."

"But..." Samus thought something. "...What you said about your father before..."

Fox frowned. "...I lied to myself ever since..." he said ashamed as he looked down at his shadow. "All these years...all these months, days, hours, and even minutes...I've been trying to suppress that sad fact by ignoring it," he explained. "...But, now after it grew so big that it eventually created this spawn of the devil...I feel that I need to be frank and honest to my shadow..."

Shadow Fox sobbed. "...When I wanted to be bigger...I wanted to face my father..."

"...Yeah..." Fox admitted. "Don't get me wrong, but I really did like my father, guys... But, when I was at that age, I had the annoying thought about facing my father to a fight with Arwings...and even to these days...I want to do it still..."

"Fox..." Chris trailed off.

"...I know I've been a bastard all this time for thinking that...but I'm not scared of saying it," he said. "...I want to face my father to a fight, and prove to him that I'm the best at maneuvering an Arwing better than him...that's what you wanted to hear, right?" he asked to his shadow.

Shadow Fox looked away worried. "...Yeah...I wanted to hear that from you all this time along..."

"...So...go away now..." Fox said. "I told you the last lie you wanted me to say..."

"...I just can't do that..."

"...What?"

Shadow Fox looked up at him. "You still have...many things to confess...if you do really want me to go away..." He looked away again. "...After all...you don't like me...your real self..."

Fox looked at him a little bit shocked. "But...what else is there?"

"I...don't know..." Shadow Fox sniffed. "...Don't you think you still have some other things to confess before this ends?"

"What else is there?"

Peppita looked worried at Fox. "I dunno..."

Fox looked down at Peppita. "...Wait..." He stared at her. "...You mean to say..."

Shadow Fox looked at him. "...I guess..." he muttered. "...If I recall, you haven't told her how you really feel about her..."

Fox looked ashamed. "But I did it today...and she didn't take it very nicely...because, after all, it was supposed to make her go away from me..."

Roy glared at Fox. "Fox, I can't believe you're such a heartless guy to her."

"I-I'm not, really..." Fox said as the Velbaysian looked away.

Shadow Fox coughed. "...But...what about now?"

"What?"

"How do you feel about her, I ask you?" Shadow Fox asked. "After she showed me that I was wrong about what I thought...now, what do you think of her after everything occurred?"

Peppita folded her arms and looked down. "...Does it really matter now?" she asked. "...Fox hates me with a passion..."

The vulpine looked down at her. The leader of Star Fox looked at everyone that stared at him. Even if they were staring blankly at him, Fox felt very guilty. He recalled the words that he yelled at Peppita in his mind. Clenching his left fist, he began to speak to Peppita. "...Peppita..."

"...What..." Peppita asked without looking up at him. "...What do you want?" She turned around. "...You're here to tell me to die?"

"W-what? N-no..." Fox said. "I-I'm here to tell you...that..."

"...Don't say anything..." Peppita muttered with a sniff. "...It's clear you hate me so much...besides, you didn't say sorry when you came here after that scientist held me as a hostage..."

Tails blinked. "Wait, what scientist are you talking about?"

Fox looked around. "Wait a minute...I forgot that the guy with met yesterday came here and toss the Shadow Nightmare on me before he went down to the temple..."

"W-what?" Tails asked shocked. "The Spagonia Temple is just down below the abyss?"

Sonic grunted. "That bastard of Eggman came here after all, then?"

Without hesitation (or maybe with it), Tails ran to the north wall where he jumped and began to spin his tails together. "I've got to go down and get to the temple!"

"Wait!" Sonic yelled, but Tails had already dived down to the abyss. Recalling that he had stretchable arms, the werehog extended his claws to some pillars on the walls before he leaped down where Tails headed.

Seeing this, Roger tilted his head. "Um...are they gonna be okay? I mean, the way down is very long..."

Chip blinked. "I-I'll go with them, then," he said, pulling his hands back before flying over the walls to go down and follow the two.

Pit looked at Roy and nodded. "I'll go with them as well. After all, I can fly down and land without problems," he said before he ran all the way to the north wall where he jumped over it and flew down.

"..." Fox didn't care about the scientist. For now, he looked at the sad Velbaysian, moving the tip of her right foot to distract herself. "Peppita...look...I'm really sorry for what happened today..."

Peppita sniffed. "B-but...Fox...y-you looked so angry at me..." She rubbed her eyes. "I-I thought you weren't going to snap out like that to me...I-I just wanted you to like me..." She sobbed a bit before turning around to look up at him. "Was it wrong for me to do all that?"

"...Well...I hate to say this...but..." Fox took a small moment of silence. "...You were really getting out of control, Peppita..."

The Velbaysian looked away and sobbed.

"...And...after thinking everything again, thanks to Sophia..." Fox continued. "...I've got to admit I didn't have to be so harsh on you..."

Peppita rubbed her eyes a bit and looked at him. "B-but...are you still angry at me?" she asked. "W-what if you're just lying now?"

Fox closed his eyes and frowned. "...I'm not lying this time..." he said."...Those lies are over with," he said determined. "I won't lie about the fact that I hated my father as much as I liked him..."

"..." Peppita sniffed. "...And...do you think that whatever you do is the right to do?"

"What?"

"It's true," Fayt said. "Your shadow kept saying that everything he did was the best choice...but most of it was only very insane stuff that involved violence and his welfare."

"And by his welfare, it means also you," Maria said. "That shadow is supposed to say aloud your truths, right? Well, maybe we're wrong, but do you really think that you have always the best choices, and that everyone should follow you?"

Fox looked at them at disbelief. "I...I don't...I mean...I...I don't..."

Chris looked worried. "...It is okay, Fox...just say it so you get over it once and for all..."

"..." Fox sighed depressed. "In truth...I thought the same things that my shadow said to you..."

Some of them gasped a bit.

"...Do you understand that it makes you look like some sort of stupid bastard?" Chris asked. "What is wrong with you, Fox?"

Fox looked away ashamed.

"Just because you are the leader of Star Fox does not make you the best leader there is," he said. "Even I admit I am not ready to be one despite all this time. I have screwed up many times in the past, but that does not make me the perfect leader at all. Maybe I am wrong, but do you think you can handle all the burden of commanding a whole group of people like all of us under your hand?"

Falco shook his head. "He can barely handle Krystal alone."

"True fact," Wolf added. "Let's not forget that Fox was the one who made her drop out from the team."

Fox looked even guiltier.

Maria decided to talk by taking a step forward to Fox. "I know for experience that I'm not the best leader that Quark has ever had," she said, "but that doesn't make me a heartless person... I know I've been very blunt all this time, until I finally realized what it meant to have people who care about you not because you're a high authority..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "Please, Fox, you need to understand that, if you're planning to be a leader, you must carry the burden of everyone and sort it all out to do your best."

"...I know..." Fox said.

"If someone dies because of an order you told them to do that you thought was the best choice, what is that going to do to you?"

"...That's going to tell me my choice was wrong...and I'd feel very bad..."

"Exactly," Maria said. "Choices have all kinds of consequences, and those are always going to be there. That is something that you always have to look for. After fighting your shadow, you pretty much gave me an idea that you're not good enough to be a perfect leader."

Fox grunted. "...I know, really, I know..."

"Now, I ask you something..." Maria trailed off. "...Do you care for the people you talk to?"

"..." Fox nodded silently.

"If you do..." Maria looked at Peppita, "...you can always say sorry and forgive them before it is too late."

Falco crossed his arms. "Or do you wanna repeat the same incident you had with Krystal on the girl?"

"..." Fox looked guilty at the sobbing Velbaysian. "...Peppita...I'm really sorry for everything I've done to you without even thinking about your opinions..."

Peppita sniffed a bit. "B-but..."

"I'm not angry with you anymore..." Fox looked down at his stunned shadow. "You did manage to set this guy straight, and it you didn't fight him...I wouldn't have realized how stupid I am..." He closed his eyes, some tears filling his eyelids. "I'm the best leader...I don't care whatever other people have to say to my orders...and most important of all..." He opened his eyes a bit...and sniffed a bit himself. "...All of these are just lies in the past...because now I know I've been living doing everything wrong, regardless of victories..."

Peppita looked up at him. "..Are you...crying?"

"(...Say it...you can do it...)" Fox thought. "...Yeah...I'm crying now..."

"..." Peppita sniffed a bit. "...Fox...what do you think now?" she asked sniffing. "...What do you think of yourself?"

"...I think there's always time to forgive..." Fox said. "...Also...there's always time to improve and foster relationships with others..." He looked at Falco. "...Sorry, but I think a lot of stuff about you that I really want to say...but I just can't..."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Don't waste your breath with that. The shadow already said all the things he thought about me and the whole team."

Fox looked even more ashamed. "...I'm sorry, then..."

Falco lifted his shoulders a bit. "Meh, it's fine, I guess."

"What?"

Falco grinned at Fox. "I know for one thing that you wouldn't dare say those things so harshly to us, right? I know you Fox. I know you won't yell at us for being lazy people, or inexperienced people, or freelancer-"

"Or idiots," Wolf interrupted.

Falco grunted. "Yeah, hate to admit, but that as well."

"..." Fox looked back at Peppita. "...But I did yell out those things to you so harshly...and...I want you to forgive me..." Fox said. "I was so stressed that time, Peppita. I was feeling a bit mad about the fact that the book I read made me remember about how my father was before he died..."

"Y-yeah..." Peppita said. "...And...I'm so sorry for bothering and annoying you all this time, Fox...please, forgive me instead..."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - THE LITTLE BIRD (Instrumental Ver.)

"..." Fox thought for a moment and shook his head. "...No, it's me who needs you to forgive me..." His eyes filled a bit more with tears. "What the hell was I thinking all along this time and release all my anger on someone like you?"

"F-Fox..." Peppita sobbed a bit.

Fox rubbed his eyes with his right arm before pulling it down. "...After Sophia told me that, when you were younger, your mother died and your father abandoned you..."

"...My father didn't exactly abandon me..." Peppita said.

"What?"

Peppita smiled at Fox. "My dad's a soldier in the Pangalactic Federation... That's what my mom told me, before she died..." She looked away before looking back at him. "He's a brave, brave soldier...and he's worked his whole life to protect people..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "My mom always said I take after him..."

"But..." Fox thought a bit. "...If you know he's a soldier...does he know that you're here?"

"...No," Peppita admitted. "My dad is always very busy with his work for sure...and I don't exactly know his full name to ask where he works either..." She looked down. "...I'm pathetic, am I not?"

"...No, you're not," Fox said.

"...Heheheh..." Peppita chuckled and smiled a bit at Fox. "...Maybe you're gonna get mad if I tell you this...but...honestly thinking..." She closed her eyes. "...I think we're in the same boat, huh?"

There was a silence that the Velbaysian didn't want to be in. Peppita opened her eyes and stared up at Fox who stared blankly at her. Peppita suddenly grew worried, thinking that Fox would snap out and yell at her again.

"..." Fox seemed to be smiling a bit at her. "...I like to think that way as well, Peppita."

Peppita gasped. "W-w-w-w-what?" she asked in disbelief. "Y-you're not mad at me anymore, then?"

"Why would I get mad over something so stupid, anyway?" Fox asked with a chuckle. "It's just a past, nothing more."

"W-well..." Peppita played with her fingers a bit. "...I-I supposed I could agree with you...but...aren't you putting yourself down a bit?"

"...Nah," Fox said as he shook his head. "It's very fine, to be honest. Heck..." He grinned at her. "...I feel even better with myself now..."

"...Really?"

Fox nodded. "Yeah...you don't know how much better I am, Peppita." The vulpine rubbed his arm one last time against his eyes before looking back at Peppita. "Actually...I think I feel even better...because you were there to make me understand what I've been doing wrong all this time."

"..." Peppita couldn't help but smile wide, a tear shedding itself from her right eye. "T-then..."

Shadow Fox grunted a bit, but he chuckled as well. "What do you know...you finally let it all out..." He smiled happily and sniffed a bit. "...At last...I can leave in peace and enjoy my life...no... Our life together as one single person..."

Fox looked down at him. "So then..."

"...Can...somebody help me to get up?" Shadow Fox asked. "...I really need to stand up before I go away..."

Cliff narrowed his eyes at the shadow. "How do we know you're gonna do something bad?"

Fox looked at him and shook his head. "I trust him," he said before kneeling down, grabbing the shadow's right hand, "and as for you...please, forgive me as well..."

The Shadow Nightmare looked shocked at Fox's hand grabbing his own dark hand. Shadow Fox suddenly chuckled silently before crying some tears. "...Finally...finally...finally!" Shadow Fox exclaimed happily as he managed to look at Fox. "I can finally live without worries at last! I-I don't believe it, but everything feels so damn good all of a sudden!" He made a happy expression.

Roger took a step back. "W-wow, he just became all so happy..."

Shadow Fox looked at everyone and laughed a bit to himself. "Thank you, thank you so much, really! I just can't wait to live normally with everyone I like to hang out with!"

Fox chuckled and smiled. "Hey, you don't have to say aloud what I'm thinking now."

Shadow Fox chuckled and looked back at him. "Please, you really wanted to say it aloud, anyway."

"...Hahahahaha..." Fox nodded. "...So true...so true..."

Shadow Fox chuckled one last time before the darkness that covered him soon began to dissipate in the air with a bright light. For a moment, everyone could see the right image of Fox where the shadow was before he vanished into spores of light that went to Fox through his hand. The vulpine closed his eyes as the spores retreated to his body, and after a while, the light faded, and Fox grunted a bit in pain.

"Fox!" Falco ran and knelt down to see Fox. "Hey, are you okay?"

"...Heheheh..." Fox chuckled. "Okay...are you kidding me, Falco?"

Falco raised an eyebrow as Fox slowly stood up.

"I never felt this good before..." Fox looked at everyone. "And I'm not talking about power or something, but emotionally better..."

Most of them chuckled while others turned away. However, the one that was happier than anybody else was Peppita who leaped to Fox and hugged him tightly, her head leaning to his chest. "Fox, I'm so happy you're the same person I thought you were before!"

"P-Peppita..." Fox blushed a bit as he looked down at her. "P-please, not in front of everyone..."

Mirage chuckled. "You can't hug her back, then?"

"W-what?" Fox asked.

"Hahahahahaha!" Adray laughed loudly. "Oh please, surely you don't want to make her feel sad now, right, young man?"

Roger crossed his arms and nodded. "A real man gotta appease the ladies, after all."

"W-what are you saying now?" Fox asked annoyed.

Wolf grinned at Fox. "C'mon, you know you want do. Make up your mind before it's too late, Fox."

"...You..." Fox grunted a bit before looking down at Peppita. "...Okay..." he muttered before he hugged Peppita back. "Sorry for everything, Peppita...please, forgive me."

Peppita smiled and chuckled happily. "Teeheehee, you don't worry, Fox. A hug's the only thing I want from you now. I'll always forgive you for screwing up so badly as well."

Fox glared at her. "I don't screw u-"

"Ahem..." Nel coughed a bit.

"...I-I mean...sure..." Fox said embarrassed. "Geez, you guys put many words in my mouth, I swear..."

The silence of the garden suddenly became defeated by some laughs that came from almost everyone around the 'couple' in the middle of them. Even if Fox felt embarrassed, he nevertheless smiled and chuckled along with Peppita. The Velbaysian never felt so happy before, and the moment surely made up after the whole ordeal they all went through.

"Well," Fayt began, "I guess we can go back and rest for the night. We're surely worn out."

Roger sighed and fell back. "Fayt, don't remind me..."

"Actually..." Wolf trailed off. "There's one last thing to do."

Roy looked at him. "The Spagonia Temple?"

Wolf shook his head. "No, it has to do with Fox and the girl."

Fox and Peppita looked at him. "What do you mean by that now, Wolf?" Fox asked.

Wolf chuckled and crossed his arms. "If you ask me, you should do something else for the girl if you really wanna feel good with yourself to the 100 percent. Considering the fact you thought before that everything you do is the right choice to do...I guess I can do the same to you because I know the girl will like what I have in mind."

"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" Fox asked with a glare.

Wolf looked at Peppita. "Once I say the words, there's no turning back for her."

The vulpine and the Velbaysian looked confused at each other.

Trading Town of Peterny
Central Peterny

"...It sure is a pretty night, right?"

"I guess..."

"Teeheehee, the stars look so bright tonight for some reason, don't you think?"

"I guess..."

"I'm so happy that you decided to come here with me alone..."

"I...guess?"

"Can't you say something else than that?"

"I...don't know..."

Peppita sighed.

It had been a long while after the whole group decided to come back to Peterny and rest for the night. As for Tails and the others, the young fox had investigated the Spagonia Temple and said that Dr. Eggman was nowhere to be found, but unfortunately, Fox couldn't remember much due to the fact he was doing something else that he had to consider important.

And that was having a date with Peppita.

This wasn't exactly the vulpine's idea, but rather Wolf's idea. The lupine had told Fox and Peppita to go a date alone, and Peppita instantly looked so excited at the idea except for Fox. The leader of Star Fox couldn't just say no after the Velbaysian looked very cheerfully. That and the fact almost everyone looked at him smiling to make feel guilty about what he was going to say originally.

Thus, Fox said yes.

The leader of Star Fox and the Velbaysian were sitting down alone on the steps of the silent central square of the town, just in front of the church. Peppita was sitting to the left of Fox as both looked up to the stars.

Peppita chuckled and leaned her head to Fox's right arm. Startled a bit, Fox looked at her. "W-what are you doing?"

"Well, your friends told me you were gonna leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yes..."

"So...I wanna enjoy the time we have left before you leave," Peppita said chuckling. "Don't worry, I don't love you anymore, Fox."

"But..."

"...But I do like you very much instead," Peppita giggled happily. "I'm so happy that you decided to take me on a date. That's so nice of you."

Fox wanted to kill Wolf now.

However, Fox's thought was interrupted as he could have sworn hearing a sniff from Peppita.

"Peppita?" Fox began. "Are you sniffing?"

Peppita sniffed silently. "I-I am..." she said sadly."T-to think you're going to leave tomorrow...makes me so sad..." She looked at him. "C-can't you come back? I know you have to fight the Subspace Army so they don't mess up the other worlds out there, but..."

"Sorry..." Fox looked away. "I need to do that or else nobody's going to do it."

"What about the other 10 people with you?"

The vulpine felt a bit cornered at the question. "...They need my help," Fox said as he grunted mentally. "I need to give me some aid, you know..."

Peppita looked down and rubbed her right eye a bit. "B-but...I want you to come back and visit me again, Fox..." She sobbed a bit. "I really want you to do that for me...pretty please?"

Fox looked at her. "I-I just don't know, Pepp-"

"Oh, wait, I know!" Peppita suddenly said as she quickly stood up and looked down at him. "I have just the thing that will make you come back to visit me!"

Fox raised an eyebrow. "And...what would that be?"

Peppita dug her right hand in her pocket as she stuck out her tongue a bit to the side. "Oooooohh...where is it now? I'm pretty sure I had another left here..." She blinked surprised as she felt something thin. "Oh, here it is!" She giggled happily as she took out her hand and showed something to Fox. "Here, take it."

"...A..." Fox stared at a ticket in front of him, "...ticket?"

Peppita nodded several times. "Yep, a free pass ticket to watch the Rossetti Troupe perform at Moonbase very soon."

Fox looked confused at her. "Where's Moonbase?"

Peppita pointed at the stars. "It's close to Earth, around the satellite Luna. There's where my family is at right now."

"…" Fox stared blankly at her.

"...I'll show where it is with your own eyes," Peppita said as she gave the ticket to Fox. "For now, please, have that ticket with you and protect with all your life."

Fox stared at the ticket. "...What?"

"Silly, that's my last free pass ticket," Peppita said. "That's the only reason that will make you decide to come back and watch the Fairy of Illusions perform in her debut on stage." She giggled happily as she slowly danced a bit. "~And then the warrior, exhausted, shall pay a visit to the Fairy of Illusions to recover his forces and keep fighting for the future,~" she sang happily before stopping dancing. "You might want to hold on to that for now on. Will you promise me that?"

"..." Fox thought as he stared at the ticket. "(Make her happy after all you've done on her...)" he thought before smiling a bit at Peppita. "You've got a deal, then."

"Not a deal, but a promise..." Peppita trailed off. "...Um...nah, a promise is too much for you." She giggled. "Take it as a reminder instead."

"Yeah, I guess," Fox said as he put the ticket inside his jacket's pocket. "There, safe and sound."

Peppita waved a finger in front of him. "No getting it either dirty or ripped now, okay? Take care of it."

Fox nodded. "You don't worry about it."

The Velbaysian smiled happily. "Thank you so much, Fox..." She happily took out a black scoreboard from her back. "And now, I'm gonna give you my autograph."

"...What?" Fox stared at the black scoreboard. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Stand still and let me give you my autograph, okay?"

"O...kay?" Fox said confused before Peppita walked behind him where she knelt down and...scribbled on the back of his jacket. "P-Peppita?"

Peppita stuck out her tongue a bit. "To...my...beloved...Fox..." she muttered. "From...the Fairy of Illusions...Peppita Rossetti..." She put her black scoreboard away. "...All done!"

"W-what the..." Fox turned his head over his left shoulder to look whatever Peppita wrote on his jacket...

Even though he couldn't see much from his shoulder, there was some sort of happy face that surely looked like Peppita since it had her pigtails on the head. Also, below it, there was Peppita's name that spread from each side of the vulpine's back...and it barely even said 'Peppita' due to the fact it was hard for her to write her whole name. Peppita didn't want to admit she did it wrong as well.

Worse yet, the black scoreboard's paint was permanent.

"H-hey!" Fox looked at her shocked. "Y-you just can't draw on somebody's jacket like that!"

"Huh?" Peppita tilted her head. "B-but I thought you'd like to have an autograph..."

Fox sighed in depression. "Peppita, I didn't ask you for your autograph, but..."

Peppita looked down and sniffed.

"(Oh man, not this again, please...)" Fox thought ashamed. "...Okay, okay, I'll keep your autograph if you stop looking so sad now..."

"...Seriously?" Peppita suddenly looked excited. "T-thank you, Fox! You're the best guy I've ever met before!"

Fox smiled nervously at her. "Y-yeah, I am, right? (My jacket...)"

"After I do my debut, in six months, that jacket will be so valuable," she said. "Why, you could buy an entire planet with it."

"An...entire planet with my jacket..." Fox trailed off bored.

"...You don't believe me?"

Fox gasped mentally after Peppita looked sad. "N-no, I believe you...I-I'm sure you'll do it just fine on the stage. I can hardly wait to buy a planet with my jacket...as well..." he muttered the last part.

Peppita joined her hands and giggled. "Heeheehee, thanks, Fox," she said before blushing as she knelt down and hugged him tightly. "Really, many thanks, Fox..." She moved up her eyes at him. "And please...fight for me, okay?"

"Fight for you?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're fighting to keep peace, right?"

"Yes, I do..."

"And you fight to protect your beloved ones, right?"

"Yes..."

Peppita hugged him tightly. "Please, when you fight something or someone, think about me, okay?"

Fox tilted his head. "Hey, I fight for everyone, not just you."

"...Can I be a special one, though?"

Fox thought for a moment. "(...Make her happy... Well...screw it, just tell her)." The vulpine chuckled and hugged Peppita. "Of course, I will fight for everyone...and you, Peppita..."

The Velbaysian remained silent before she closed her eyes and chuckled. "Thank you so much, Fox..." She shed a tear. "...I'm really going to miss you after you leave, Fox...really, I will..."

Fox closed his eyes. "I will as well, Peppita..." He looked up to the sky. "...I will as well..."

"I'll promise you that I'll become the greatest dancer..." Peppita muttered. "I'm gonna hit the stardom to make the Rossetti Troupe the biggest attraction in the whole universe...and become a great dancer like my mom was..." She remained silent. "...Will you cheer on me on the stage?"

"You can say that again, and I'll say of course."

"T-thank you so much, Fox, really!"

Peppita and Fox chuckled together for a little while before they both remained silent once again.

"(Teehee...)" Peppita giggled mentally. "(He smells so sweet when you're close enough to him...I wonder why, though...)" She moved her eyes down to find a familiar brown patch on Fox's vest. "(...Oh, right, the curry...)" she thought embarrassed. "(...Don't remind him about that...)"

Fox suddenly yawned a bit. "Well...I don't know you, but I really have to sleep for now..."

Peppita stopped hugging and looked determined at him. "And I gotta finish up some works I have pending at the workshop."

"What?" Fox asked. "I thought the workshop was closed for the night."

Peppita took out a key. "It was...past tense," she said chuckling. "When Fayt wasn't looking, I stole this from him." She looked to the west of the square. "You can go back to sleep now, Fox. Really, thanks for taking me to a date with you. I really enjoyed it."

"(I'm just glad there weren't any kisses,)" Fox thought. "And I'm glad we're back to our normal selves...mainly because of you."

Peppita blushed. "O-oh, please, you're making me blush...but seriously, I hafta go and work extra hard before you leav-I mean, before Fayt files the patents tomorrow." She turned around and ran away to the west. "Until then, good night, Fox! Thank you so much for tonight!"

"Wait."

Peppita stopped running and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Let me ask you one last thing," Fox began, "why did you fall in love with me again? You're a human and I'm a humanoid fox."

"…" Peppita thought for a moment. "…I guess you could say you're attractive yourself."

Fox stared blankly at Peppita.

The Velbaysian chuckled. "Well…I haven't experienced love before…but that's the whole truth." She nodded at Fox. "Do you have a girlfriend? I'm pretty sure you have someone you really love."

"…" The image of Krystal passed through Fox's mind. "…Sort of."

"…Sort of?"

Fox nodded. "Love…is a very complicated matter, Peppita… Don't worry, you'll see by yourself when you get older."

"…Okay," Peppita said chuckling. "Well, I wish the best of wishes to you 2. For now, I have to go and do something special." She turned around and continued her way. "Thanks again, Fox! You're…you're the best person I've ever met!"

The leader of Star Fox watched as the Velbaysian ran away to the west. Smiling a bit to himself, Fox got up from the floor and looked around until he looked to a small stand to his left. "You can come on out now."

"!" A figure gasped behind the stand. A familiar scholar stood up and looked nervously at the grinning vulpine. He then looked around. "E-er...would you like to buy something tonight, young sir?"

Fox looked amused as he put his hands on his hips. "Well, I don't see you have anything to sell tonight, Chris..."

Chris looked at the empty bosses that were leaning against the stand. "...They are invisible fruits and vegetables...a new kind of...food..."

"...Sorry," Chris said in defeat. "I was worried about what you would do alone with Peppita..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to yell at her. Are you that worried?"

"...To be honest...yes..."

Fox chuckled. "Well, you saw what happened now. You can stop worrying about me now." He looked serious. "But seriously, I'm not a kid anymore."

Chris shyly walked out from the stand and walked to Fox. "W-well...sorry..."

"..." Fox smiled a bit at him. "Meh, it's okay, Chris. I think it's nice of you to worry about me."

The scholar looked away for a bit before he looked back at Fox. "I-it is, right? I am sorry for stalking you."

"It's justified," Fox said. "After all I did...I guess you had the right to check on me."

The scholar wiped the sweat off from his forehead and sighed. "I have to admit it was very nice (and cute) of you to go on a date with Peppita. At least it was a fake one."

Fox nodded. "Heheheh, yeah, good thing it was a fake one. She got happy, though. That's what I wanted to do for he-"

"After Wolf told you that."

"...Yes," Fox said annoyed. "But in all truth...it was the right to do like said...come to think of it, it was mysteriously nice of him..." He rubbed his chin and looked even more serious. "It's like he's trying to give me a hand while I think he wants to annoy me to no end..."

Chris chuckled, recalling Wolf's private conversation. "Yes...I think it was just like you thought. We are sure you picked the best choice that did not involve sadness or something of the sort."

"..." Fox looked down. "...Thank you, Chris."

The scholar tilted his head confused. "What? Why are you being thankful to me so suddenly?"

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known that this place existed," Fox said as he clenched his fists a bit. "And I wouldn't have gotten over the death of my father either... I think he really is dead..."

"Sorry..." Chris looked apologetic. "It is hard for you...right?"

"...Yes, it is very hard for me to get over it," Fox said before he looked at him and smiled, shedding a small tear. "But I'm glad it's over at last..." He closed his eyes. "Now, I can live without worries. If I see my father again, for some other reason, I'm going to ignore him and curse out my mind for playing tricks on me."

The scholar smiled a bit, his half-closed eyes staring at Fox with some relief. "Then...I am glad I helped you, Fox..." He looked away and blushed. "...And I am glad you are back to your cool self..."

"...My cool self?" Fox repeated. "...Oooooh, so you think I'm cool," he chuckled before crossing his arms, grinning at Chris. "Really, am I cool to you or what?"

Chris looked at Fox's pose. "(O-okay, do not say lies now...) T-to be frank...you are the coolest, Fox..."

Fox looked a bit surprised.

The scholar chuckled. "Why, I think you are the coolest character I have ever met in person before," he admitted, smiling happily. "Maybe you could be the perfect role model I have been looking for!"

"Wait, wait, your role model?" Fox asked. "What about your dad? Because I had my father as my role model, but now you're saying I'm your role model?"

"What is wrong about that?" Chris asked. "You are so cool...that...I wish I could be just like you when I grow up..."

Fox uncrossed his arms and shook his head.

"...What?"

"If you ask me, you're cool in your own way," Fox said. "You're not thinking about being just like me, right?"

"A-a little bit..."

"...Well, that's good, I guess," Fox said grinning. "Okay, Chris. Since you helped me to come here and overcome my internal problems..." He saluted to him by putting his fingers on his forehead. "I'm going to do my best to live up to your expectations. That way, I'll know I'm doing the right thing...for sure this time."

"...(H-he is so cool...)" Chris thought embarrassed. "T-thank you, Fox. Really, it makes me so happy to think you will continue like this. If you ask me, it is the best choice you have chosen this time."

"…Thanks…"

"…From all the other choices that affected the storyline of your game…it is surely the best one."

"What?" Fox asked as he lowered his hand.

"It is true," Chris said as he looked worried. "Your latest game revolved about decisions and decisions and decisions with even more decisions. One decision leaded to another decision, and so on until you reached 9 different endings that…some were weird."

"…Really?"

Chris nodded. "There was this ending where Falco decided to make Star Falco with Kat and Dash as his members…"

Fox stared blankly at Chris.

"…And there was this other ending where Krystal becomes Kursed because everyone treated her as a traitor after rejoining you, and you and her met sometime in the future. When you did, you did not recognize her again.

Fox stared blankly at him.

"And there was this other ending where Dash tries to make Venom habitable for people…until he became corrupted with power and turned out like Andross…"

Fox's jaw opened a bit.

"…And do not get me started with the ending where you and Falco become racers in G-Zero races to forget everything about your past lives after Star Wolf defeated the Anglar by themselves…" He took a moment of silence. "…Like Captain Falcon, no less…"

The vulpine stared at the scholar in some disbelief after hearing some of the endings to his last game. Closing his eyes, Fox grunted a bit and started to say something. It seemed that what he heard made him get a little bit angry… "…What the f(beep) did those programmers do to my storyline?"

Chris bowed to Fox. "Please, do not think badly of us…but that is how everything turned out…" He pulled back himself and looked back at Fox. "At least Master Hand made out a new ending where you and everyone rejoined Star Fox…"

"…" Fox sighed. "You know what…screw it, Chris."

"Hmm?"

"I'm happy to know that AT LEAST Master Hand let me do my things right…" Fox rolled his eyes. "Please, become racers like C. Falcon…Krystal leaving to change her name and identity…Falco making his own team…Dash becoming a madman like Andross…"

The scholar sweat dropped at this."(At least I did not tell him about the Marcus ending... I do not want Fox to be worked up by hearing more, anyway...)"

Fox chuckled and waved a bored hand at him. "Okay..." He yawned a bit. "If you'd excuse me...I have to rest and meet the pillow..."

The scholar stared blankly at him before nodding. "…All right, then… Go ahead and forget what I said about the endings."

"Please do."

"…Oh yes, it was a very rough night for everyone. It would make sense you were exhausted."

"Yeah..." Fox muttered before he started his way to the west. "Time to go back to the inn, Chris..."

"Y-yes...about that..." Chris shifted his eyes. "...I am going to stay here for a little bit more and take some fresh air, okay?"

Fox raised his shoulders a bit as he continued walking. "Whatever rolls your way...good night..."

Music stops

As the scholar watched the tired vulpine walking many feet away where he opened a door to the inn and closed it, Chris looked to the south where he watched as, from the darkness of an alley, Wolf walked out with crossed arms. The lupine looked around and found the scholar. "So, you're here."

Chris nodded and walked to him. "Yes, I am here," he said. "Why did you want me to come here after we exited the garden?"

Wolf looked serious at him. "Because I want you to meet someone in person that I've been wanting to see him again for all this time."

"...Whatever are you talking about?"

"Let's cut the talk and get to the point," Wolf said as he looked pissed to the east. "I know you're hiding there, idiot. Come on out and face me."

The scholar looked confused as he looked to Wolf's direction. His half-closed eyes suddenly opened fully as a figure walked to them with hands in green pockets. The figure was the same height as Wolf, and he looked strongly familiar like someone Chris and Wolf knew except for the fact that the mysterious man wore an orange scarf and orange-and-black tankers boots, along with some sunglasses that covered his eyes.

"My god," the man said as he stopped walking in front of them, chuckling amused to himself. "Have your ears gotten that better during all these years of absence?"

Wolf grunted a bit and put his hands at the sides. "Shut up, you. It's been hell to be taking care of your son."

"...W-what the..." Chris shook his head.

Before the scholar, he just couldn't believe that the person that looked strongly the same as Fox was standing in front of them. The only person that could easily push theories that involved around him was Star Fox's previous leader, James McCloud, the same hero that did many deeds to Corneria in the past.

James, grinning, looked at Wolf and Chris. "So, how's it going, Wolf?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "Very dandy, if you'd ask me again," he said sarcastically. "Seriously, cut the crap already, James."

James still looked amused. "What crap would that be? I just came here, and now you're going back to your stubborn self?"

"No, like I'm going back to be the same guy I was before," Wolf said annoyed. "I knew you were going to come and stalk on Fox and me the moment that girl told me that she met you."

"...Oh, so I guess the girl that was with my son told you, huh?"

Chris looked shocked at James, but then he turned his head to look at Wolf. Noticing this action, Wolf frowned. "I know what you're going to ask now, kid. When we were coming back here, the little girl told me that she saw someone that looked just like Fox today. I don't know why she told me that, but I guess she said that to me as some kind of gift for giving her the idea to go on a date with Fox." He glared at James. "Then, I used logic, and I came to the conclusion that YOU were here."

"..." James chuckled a bit. "Seems you have grown after all, Wolf."

"Oh, yes, I did," Wolf said grinning. "It appears that my 'friend' suggested me to take care of his son for him so I could become the feared leader of Star Wolf across the Lylat System." He frowned. "James, James, James...what were you thinking when you decided to give me a hand?"

James raised his shoulders a bit. "I knew you could be a worthy rival in the future so I asked to myself why not."

"...Seriously, tell me now," Wolf said. "Tell me why you've been hiding all these years from Fox and everyone. I knew you weren't going to necessarily die in that battle with Andross."

James looked away. "...Would you believe that I did all that just to let my son take over Star Fox for me earlier?"

"What?" Wolf asked. "You decided to stay low and let Fox take over your team? I don't see why you did all that bravado just to let Fox be the leader of your team."

James looked at him. "I did that so he could grow faster by himself, Wolf," he explained. "To be honest, I knew he was doing just fine, but, would he accept the idea to become the leader earlier if I told him directly? He would say no and be just a regular member, and I didn't want that. I wanted him to reach his goals faster because my own goals were done for the moment I worked with the team for years. The kid looked up to me so much, Wolf. I myself was restraining him from becoming so good by himself. I didn't want him to become a splitting image of my own self."

"Tsk, he DID get good enough to take me down," Wolf said annoyed. "You're putting a lot of work on him, you know that?"

"So what?" James asked amused. "Fox worked his way around everything as I've had predicted. Just look at him, Wolf," he said. "Fox has become the man I wanted him to become without EXACTLY being like me. He would have become just like me if I was around."

Wolf looked away and snarled a bit. "I JUST don't understand your motives...seriously..."

"Well, you don't have a son yourself so you don't know very well," James said before looking at Chris. "As for you...Chris, right?"

"That's his name," Wolf said as he turned around to see them. "This kid gave us a hand during the whole thing."

James grinned at Chris. "Well, thanks, Chris," he said as put a hand on the shocked scholar. "Thanks to you, my son accepted what he had to accept to fully become probably the best leader of Star Fox. You really pulled him back to his feet, man."

The scholar merely remained silent as his eyes stared at James.

"...You're at a loss of words, huh?" James asked amused before he pulled his hand back. "Okay, I understand."

Wolf grunted a bit. "How did you even get here, anyway? We came here through a portal, but what about your case?"

James looked at him. "...You wouldn't know how messed up a black hole is around the galaxy..." he said shrugging. "Really, you get in one; you don't know what will happen next."

"...The hell were you doing around a black hole?" Wolf asked.

"...It was very black," James said. "...How can you tell where it is? The outer space HAD to be black to fool your eyes. I'm an idiot to run into one as I soared the space some days ago, minding my own business."

Wolf chuckled. "Yeah, I'd blame the sunglasses you always wear. Those kill your vision if you wear them for that long, you know."

James chuckled. "Maybe they do, but hey, at least I got to where Fox was. Now THAT'S what I call luck, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess. You had the luck of a bastard."

"Exactly what I was thinking," James said. "Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't mind if I came back home and give you the so-deserved match you wanted to have with me, provided you're not going to kill me..."

Wolf smirked. "Well, shall we see what could happen?"

"...I like your demeanor," James said chuckling. "If that's the case, I won't let you take me down and end my play time, Wolf."

The lupine nodded. "Okay, now we have a compromise..."

"But don't tell this to Fox, okay?"

"What, are you going to be hiding a little bit more?"

"Well, I want to see what the new Fox can do before I make a return," James said. "Or...I could appear once he marries Krystal."

"You know about her?"

"I know EVERYTHING about Fox," James said. "Hell, I've been there in all those important battles where his life was at danger."

"...Then...he wasn't kidding when Krystal told me that he saw you close?"

James raised an eyebrow. "He wasn't kidding, but he doesn't know ironically... Does everyone really think I'm some sort of ghost? Cool, I didn't think my disappearance would put me at the ranks of the undead."

"Stop it already and go away," Wolf said. "I want to have that match with you."

"Will you promise you won't tell this to Fox, though?"

"Yeah, whatever," Wolf said. "The kid here won't say it as well. If he does, he'll have a nice talk with my Wolfen."

The scholar still looked shocked.

James chuckled at this. "Wolf, always being a little bit violent..."

"What can I say, I've changed after all this time...thanks to you," Wolf said chuckling. "Now get out of my sight and go back to Corneria. Tell me the time, place, and rules."

"I'll send you a message, but you have to make sure Fox doesn't know or anyone else, okay?"

"Got it."

James saluted Wolf one time before he turned around. Raising a hand as he walked away to the east gate, he said to them "And please, do take care of Fox. After all, he has to fight the Subspace Army."

"Do you know the way back home, though?" Wolf suddenly asked. "Do you want to risk your luck with Mr. Black Hole?"

James stopped walking. "...I...ah...well...you see..."

"...Owned at last," Wolf said pleased before he took Chris's Wiimote from his pocket. "I can give you a hand. I know how to use this machine."

James looked back at Wolf. "You're not tricking me, right?"

Wolf grinned and walked to him. "Why would I trick you now? I wanna have that fight as soon as possible. Don't worry; I'll open a portal big enough for your Arwing to get in."

James chuckled pleased as he walked alongside Wolf. "...So, you made yourself a team."

"Yeah, but I'm not that proud of it," Wolf said as they both walked to the east gate of the city. "Leon is just a stupid psychopath and Panther is an annoying womanizer."

"Tsk, you recruited the weirdest people, then."

"If I recall, you were the first one to have Pigma with you."

"...Touché," James said chuckling with Wolf.

It almost looked like the two formed some kind of a strange relationship. It even looked like Wolf didn't hate James anymore by how each other talked and chuckled at each other's achievements in life. These facts were made clearer as James hung his right arm on Wolf's shoulders, the lupine not minding to push it away before they both disappeared from sight...

...And back with the scholar...

"..." Chris shook his head before he started to chuckle nervously. "Heheheh...heheheh...heheheh..." He embraced himself. "I-I-I did not just see a ghost now, d-d-d-d-d-d-did I?"

It looked just as if Chris was getting insane by the crazy look behind his glasses.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I surely did not see James in front of me...right?" He looked around as he chuckled nervously. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am crazy...that is it...I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am crazy just like Fox and Wolf...y-yes, that must be it...heheheheheh, heheheheheh, heheheheheh..."

Chris slowly turned around to the west as he clutched his arms to his body.

"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-That must be the most logical reason...y-y-y-yes, it must be it...I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am as crazy as Fox and Wolf are...J-J-J-J-J-J-James is not alive but dead...and the one that was in front of me was not him but...m-m-m-m-my mind playing tricks on me...like Fox and Wolf's minds...hahahahahaha..."

The scholar walked all the way back to the inn, ignoring an Arwing that flew into a portal from his Wiimote on the horizon of the sky.

"I am so crazy...I am so...stupidly crazy...oh yes... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Chris crackled loudly before he entered the inn, slamming the door behind him.

Dream

For Fox, there was one last thing he wanted to be done with as the scene where the young Fox and the young Chris were hiding under the same slide. Fox glared up at the monster in front of them while Chris didn't want to stop embracing his legs in fear.

"...Stop it..." the young Fox muttered."...Stop it!" he demanded to the shadow. "...This is over, you hear me?!"

The shadow seemed to back away scared as the young vulpine raised his fists and closed his eyes with anger. The crying Chris slowly looked up and gasped.

"I know why you're here!" the young Fox yelled. "You're here because you think my father is out there, right? Well, let me tell you something: James McCloud is dead, and he will never come to get me!"

The young vulpine didn't notice the fact that his voice was somehow becoming like that of a young man.

"I was stupid to think he would come back because he is not alive!" Fox yelled. "That's what you wanted to hear, right? Well, there you have it! Do me a favor and leave us both alon-oww! My head!" Fox gritted his fangs as he felt something hitting his head. "Damn...what was that just now?"

The young vulpine slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the shadow. For some odd reason, the Nightmare looked smaller than before. Then, looking to his body, the young vulpine found out that he wasn't a kid anymore, but was his current older self as an adult, his usual attire and Blaster in his holster. Fox looked surprised before he looked down at the shocked Chris.

"Y-you...grew up so suddenly..." the young Chris said as he looked up at him. "...H-how did you do that?"

Fox looked at his hands. "...I don't know..." he said."But...maybe this happened because..." He slowly grinned as his hands turned into fists. "...This happened because I realized what I had to say aloud...and make the lies go away by saying the truth..." He smirked at the Nightmare. "Now, guess what I'm going to do now with you?"

The Nightmare looked a bit frightened before Fox quickly dashed at it and delivered a quick right kick to its head. The Nightmare shrieked in pain before the vulpine got closer again and used a back-flip kick to hit its chin hard enough to push it high up into the raining air. The leader of Star Fox then jumped twice to reach high enough and use a quintuple kick, kicking the shadow hard in the head before Fox turned around and used a strong back kick to push the shadow away.

The young Chris watched in surprise as Fox landed back quickly and ran after the Nightmare. The monster didn't have any force left to attack back nor turn back and disappear. It painfully managed to stand up for Fox to grab it by the neck, putting a tight grip that made the Nightmare scream.

Fox grinned at the monster. "Guess what: I'm not scared anymore," he said. "It's time for you to pack your things and go away."

The Nightmare shrieked as Fox pulled him up above himself and slammed it down hard on the floor, the vulpine jumping to the air at the same time to send a flurry of shots from his Blaster to obliterate the shadow. The Nightmare, as it received the shots, couldn't take it anymore and it suddenly vanished in dark spores that spread as Fox landed back crouching, confidently spinning his Blaster's trigger with a finger before putting it back to its holster, the vulpine chuckling.

Fox stood up and looked around. "Finally, now everything's back to normal..." He looked back to the slide where the young Chris was. "...Or...maybe not..."

"..." The young Chris didn't say a word as he saw the adult walking to him. Once Fox reached him, he looked down at him and knelt down. "...U-um..."

"What?" Fox asked. "I just saved you from that monster. You're not going to run away, right?"

"N-no..." Chris gulped before he sniffed. "I-it was so nice of you in getting rid of the monster...but...I-I don't know my way home..." He began to sob. "I-I want to go home...I don't want to stay here anymore..."

The vulpine rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I forgot about that..." He thought for a moment. "...Wait, I know where your home is."

"...Really?" Chris asked in surprise. "H-how do you know?"

Fox looked at him and chuckled. "I know that because I know you, Chris." He stood up and crossed his arms. "You want to get home as soon as possible, right? Well, I know the way."

"...D-do you really know the way?"

Fox grinned confidently. "Just leave it to me, Chris." He stretched his right hand to him. "C'mon now, we have to get you home before night gets here."

"...I-I..." the young Chris stuttered a bit before he, surprisingly, ignored Fox's hand and went straight to hug his legs tightly. "T-thank you so much, Fox!"

Fox got startled as the young boy put a tight grip on his legs. "Chris?"

The young Chris chuckled and looked up at him. "Y-you're...you're so nice...and so cool, Fox..." he said happily."The way you showed that monster who the boss was here...it looked so cool how you kicked it like that just because you wanted to save me!"

"...Well, what can I say?" Fox grinned again and rubbed Chris's hair a bit with his right hand. "You're important to me. I just couldn't watch it hit you. I'd get so angry if that happened."

The young Chris made a happy expression before leaning to Fox closer. "You're so cool...there's no doubt about it..."

Fox could only stare and laugh for a bit before he knelt down to the boy. Resting his right arm on his right knee, the vulpine smiled a bit at Chris. "So, shall I let you follow me to your home?"

The young boy blushed a bit. "...P-please..." He shivered a bit and sneezed. "I-I don't want to get a cold..."

"Hmmm..." Fox grunted at this and took out his jacket that he put on Chris. "Here, use my jacket. It'll keep you warm."

"R-really?" Chris asked.

"You're using it now," Fox said annoyed. "You're even clutching your hands to it."

"...Heheheh," the young Chris chuckled embarrassed. "T-thanks again..."

Fox gave him a thumb up before standing up. Standing by the side, the leader of Star Fox stretched his left hand to Chris. Covering himself with his left hand grabbing the middle of the jacket, the young boy grabbed the vulpine's hand with his free hand. Fox smiled a bit and nodded to him before he began to walk away along with Chris.

"Are you sure this is the way?" Chris asked.

"...I'm pretty damn sure," Fox muttered with a chuckle as both disappeared into the mist. "Don't be scared...because I'm going to stay with you all the time. If something gets to you, tell me so I can protect you, okay?"

"...You're the coolest..." Chris commented. "...You're so, but so cool."

"...Thanks..."

And everything became hazier...as both the adult and the boy chuckled happily with other within the mist of the rainy night...

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Air Harmony

The next morning...

"So...I guess it's good bye now," Nel said.

It was a bright morning as both groups were out from the city. The Smashers were standing in front of Fayt's group on top of a hill. For some reason, Peppita was nowhere to be found as only Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Roger, and Adray were there.

"Yeah, we have to leave now," C. Falcon said. "We're done with this place, right?"

Tails nodded as he took out what looked to be two pieces of a tablet that depicted a star. "Yes, we're done," he said. "But I don't understand one thing...you said Dr. Eggman had gone to the temple, but we didn't find him around."

Fox nodded. "That's how I recalled the event," he said. "I'm pretty sure he went down."

"Hmm..." Tails thought for a moment. "...Even so, we managed to use the Sun and Moon Tablets to get to these other pieces..." He looked at the pieces. "...There must be something I overlooked, though..."

"Well, we can't help you more with that," Cliff said. "I guess you're all on your own, huh?"

"True," Samus said. "This is a mystery we have to resolve by ourselves."

"Pitiful knowledge, I'd say," Albel commented. "Whoever is the maggot that is causing all those commotions to you, do us a favor and kill him off." He looked serious. "I don't mind taking on the worm you're looking for, but now..."

"We have our own matters to resolve by ourselves," Nel continued. "It's pretty much like yours. A group goes their own way."

"Yeah," Pit said. "Thank you so much for giving us a hand. If it weren't for all of you, we wouldn't have survived in this place."

"Don't sweat it," Roger said. "You DID give us back our equipment, right?"

"Yes, we did."

"Hmm, that's okay, then," the Menodix said before looking up at them. "Yah guys have to get stronger by your own means and show that doctor who's the man here, got that?"

"U-um...Roger..." Chris looked at Roger. "...Did you...reconsider?"

"Reconsider what?"

"The bugs...the bugs that you have with you... I really need to have those bugs with me..." The scholar looked a bit worried. "...Can I have them, please? They are going to help us a lot if you give them to me..."

The Menodix slowly took off his helmet and let the two ladybugs fly around his head. "Well..." He lifted his shoulders. "Oh, whatever," he said before looking at the bugs. "Lucifer, Thanatos, go with him."

"...Lucifer and Thanatos?" Sophia repeated confused as the golden bugs listened to Roger and went to a shocked Chris. "Roger, why did you give those bugs...those names?"

"What? I can't give 'em those names?" Roger asked. "I thought they sounded cool."

"N-no, it is just that those names are...a bit scary..." Chris admitted. "...Those names are of demons, you know that?"

"...Really?" Roger asked. "...Awesome," he chuckled a bit. "I knew lil' Thany was special. She's a girl, but man, she's very special."

Everyone just looked at him shocked as the bugs flew around Chris. The scholar snapped out from the silence and gently grabbed the bugs and put them in his pockets.

"...That aside..." Maria looked at them and smiled a bit. "Thanks for coming here. It was nice to have such an interesting group of people among us."

"Aw, please, don't say that. You're as interesting as we are," Roy said. "Heck, you're even stronger than us. It was because of you that we were able to fight the enemies in this place."

Adray nodded and rubbed his chin a bit. "You always have a home here. But...if you reconsider..."

'We're NOT marrying Clair," Roy and Pit interrupted the old man.

"...No, I was going to say that you can come back and join us in our quest to save the universe beyond the sky."

"...Are you sure?" Roy asked.

"Very sure."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm so sure."

"VERY SURE?"

"I'm so very sure."

"ARE YOU REALLY, VERY SURE?"

"...I forgot now," Adray said ashamed. "I knew I was saying the truth, honest."

Roy sighed and frowned. "Oh man..."

Adray laughed a bit. "But please, do come back here and drop by in any workshop! I'll be glad to have your presences aroun-"

"And I'll make sure he doesn't do something weird," Nel interrupted.

Adray sighed. "Teenagers these days take care of everything...it wasn't like this a few years back."

Roy, without making any sounds, opened and closed his mouth to Nel to say "Thank you, Nel" in order for Adray to not hear him. Nel chuckled and merely nodded at him.

Mirage looked around. "That's weird. Where is Peppita?"

Fayt and the others looked around the field. "Yeah, I thought she was going to be here and say farewell to you guys."

Sophia put a finger on her chin and wondered something. "Last time I recalled she wasn't at the inn... I wonder where she went to..."

Sonic tilted his head before he looked at a figure coming from the gates of Peterny. "Hey, I think she's coming here."

Everyone turned around to the south where the Velbaysian came running to them. Peppita seemed to be carrying a bag with something inside in her right hand. Halting to catch her breath, the Velbaysian panted a bit before looking up cheerfully. "H-hey, everyone..." she muttered."Sorry to be late...but I had to finish up some arrangements during the whole night at the workshop..."

"You what?" Cliff asked. "You stayed all night working in the workshop all alone by yourself?"

"Peppita!" Fayt said. "You were the one who took away the key, then?"

"L-look, I'm so sorry for doing that, but I had to do it to do something special for..." She blushed a bit as she looked at Fox. "...Fox..."

The vulpine raised an eyebrow as the Velbaysian walked to him and showed him the bag.

"...Since you're going away..." Peppita began, "...you may as well leave prepared." She chuckled happily. "I worked so hard all night long, thinking about you all the time."

Fox looked away and blushed.

"...So then..." She dropped the bag on his right hand. "I want you and everyone to have this..." Peppita looked confused. "I-I dunno what happened when I crafted those items...but...they came out like...well...um..." She looked embarrassed. "...Please, take a look..."

The leader of Star Fox looked at the bag on his hand. Curious, he grabbed the ends of the bag to open it wide and see what was inside. "...Hey, these are..."

"...Stickers..." Peppita muttered. "...Oooooooooh, I'm so sorry, Fox!" she apologized. "When I noticed, all my creations came out as stickers for some random reason! T-that's how complicated the world of Item Creation is for the inventors!"

Some of the Smashers took a peek of the bag in front of Fox. From what they could see, there were big and small stickers that had, for some reason, the images of Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Roger, Adray, and even Peppita herself were the very same stickers, along with a big one that depicted a pair of red boots.

"...Stickers..." Wolf muttered amused. "...You don't think these stickers have special effects, right?"

"...They do..." Fox muttered as he smiled a bit at them. "They must have special effects added to them..."

Peppita looked surprised. "What?"

"Well..." Fox took out the sticker with boots. "What's this one, though?"

"Oh, that? It's the very same pair of Boots of Prowess I've been working on," Peppita explained. "I struggled so much to refine it to its maximum all night, and...it came out like a sticker...together with the other rings and amulets I've made specifically for you all...that also turned into stickers..." She looked down. "They're useless, right?"

"N-not at all..." Roy said. "I know you're not going to believe us, but, we know how to handle these stickers very well."

Albel stared at them. "...Maggots, you're the weirdest bunch of people I've ever seen... Stickers having special properties, please..."

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "R-really, we know what we are doing with these..."

"...Okay, then!" Peppita said cheerfully. "Then it was nice of me to work all night and create you guys those stickers, right?"

Fox nodded as he kept the bag at his right side. "Yeah, they're going to help us a lot, Peppita. Thank you very much for bothering."

Cliff tapped Adray's shoulder to whisper him something. "No doubt these guys are insane with those stickers."

"Yes," Adray whispered. "What was I thinking when I asked the young warriors to marry my Clair?"

"Teeheehee..." Peppita blushed happily. "W-well...can I...ask you another favor?"

"Oh, sure, I don't mind," Fox said.

"...Sure?"

"Sure," Fox grinned at her. "Whatever it is before we go, it's fine with me."

"Kiss me."

Most of the people in there quickly stared at Peppita.

"..." Fox remained silent and looked at everyone. "...Er...say what again?"

"Kiss me," Peppita said simply. "Please? You're going away so why not?"

Fox shook his head. "E-er, sorry, Peppita, but that's a little bit too much to ask..."

Peppita looked worried. "What? But..."

Wolf chuckled. "Fox, just give her what she wants from you. Surely, it won't hurt anybody's self-esteem, right?"

Fox snarled a bit at Wolf. "You're enjoying this, aren't you..."

"Enjoy this? Are you serious?" Wolf asked amused as he crossed his arms. "Why would I lie in a moment like this? If I were you, I'd give her what she wants so she doesn't bother me anymore."

Everyone looked at Wolf.

"...It's just a kiss," he said. "What's wrong with it?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Peppita asked with a giggle. "Can't you just give me a little kiss on the cheek?"

"OH, THE CHEEK," Fox said relieved as his eyes widened. "Geez, you made me look worried, Peppita... Don't do that again, please..."

Peppita chuckled happily at this as she folded her arms behind her back. "So, can you give it to me?"

Fox noticed that most of the people there were smiling at him. "...You're going to tease me for this during your whole lives, right?"

"Why would we?" Fayt asked smiling. "It's something that won't hurt you or Peppita. Besides, it's the last thing she'll ask to you."

"Think of this as a good bye kiss," Sophia said a little bit excited. "Do it, Fox. For Peppita."

"..." Fox looked at Peppita as she looked at him by the side. She was surely lifting a side of her head so Fox could kiss her right cheek. "...Okay," he said chuckling. "...There are no tricks, right?"

"Nope," Peppita simply said.

Fox gulped a bit before he lowered down his legs to reach Peppita's level. Gulping one more time, he slowly moved towards her as his black lips approached her cheek. He wanted to be careful since there was something that he expected that Peppita would do out a sudden since she giggled, turned around, and kissed him right on the lips in a quick move...and...

Oh wait, she did all that already.

"Buah!" Fox fell back as Peppita smiled very happily. "P-Peppita!"

"Yes, I did it!" Peppita said cheerfully (as some of them clapped in amusement) as she raised a triumphant fist in the air. "Fox kissed me on the lips! I didn't know I could do it, but I did it at last!"

"What?!" Fox asked shocked. "Y-you little girl..." He quickly got up and restrained himself from yelling at her. "After all this time..." he said quickly. "You just wanted a kiss...on the lips?!"

Peppita looked at him innocently. "What's so bad about a quick kiss? It's not like you should do a big deal about it..."

"Well...I...um...you...well..." Fox looked at everyone. It seemed that they weren't against her small wish at all since they were smiling at Fox. "...You guys are so unbelievable, I swear..."

Albel chuckled. "Ha, there was something to enjoy from the girl after all."

"Oh, quiet, you..." Fox muttered in annoyance.

Peppita giggled and hugged Fox one more time. "Okay, you can go now, Fox," she said as everyone looked at her. "Please, fight for all of us as you said before, okay?" she asked. "...And fight for me too..." she muttered.

The vulpine sighed before he gave up and hugged her. "Fine, Peppita... You know how to get what you want from people, huh?"

"Nope," Peppita said. "I know what to get from you and only you."

Fox glared at the people who chuckled at this before Peppita stopped hugging him. The Velbaysian took a few steps back to rejoin her group. "Okay, we're done now," Fox said as he turned around. "Anybody else wants to say something else before we go back to the mansion?"

"Yes," C. Falcon said. "Nice jacket design you have on your back."

Fox's jaw dropped a bit before he remembered that Peppita had drawn her 'autograph' on his jacket. Ignoring the small laughs behind him, he pointed a finger at Chris. "Chris, just open up the portal already," he said annoyed.

Chris chuckled and covered his mouth. "S-sure..." He noticed that Wolf gave him the Wiimote. The scholar recalled the little event of tonight and quickly became as silent as the bugs he had in his pockets. The newly silenced scholar opened the portal to the mansion behind them where Fox walked to it without looking back.

"I hope Falco told everyone not to look at the date I had with Peppita..." Fox muttered. "He left so he could do me that favor..."

"Foooooooooooox!" Peppita called out.

When Fox was about to enter in the portal, he turned around to see the Star Ocean gang waving their hands at him, especially Peppita, who was in front of them as she waved her right hand high up in the air.

"Take care, please!" Peppita called out. "...You can do it, I know you can!"

"..." Fox couldn't help but receive their farewell as a sign for him to smile and salute them. "Good bye..." he said grinning, "...Peppita..."

The Velbaysian stared at the leader of Star Fox entering the portal as he put a hand on the side of his belt, the bag he received from Peppita tightly hanging on his other hand before he disappeared into it.

C. Falcon stepped in front of the portal and looked at Samus. "Allow me," he said.

Samus frowned and walked into the portal, muttering "Womanizer..."

The racer chuckled to himself before he walked in. Soon, Wolf had to grab Chris by the shoulder and drag him all the way into the portal. Fortunately, the scholar managed to walk instead of being dragged on the grass.

Pit looked at Roy. "Let's go before Adray goes nuts."

"Agreed," Roy said. "I hope he learns the lesson. He didn't get his kilt charred for nothing when we left the garden."

The angel looked at Adray's kilt slightly charred. The old man, however, smiled a bit at them. "U-ugh..." Pit shuddered before he ran into the portal, waving a hand at them before Roy soon followed, doing the same action.

Chip flew close to the portal and pointed at it. "Our way home is open," he said before hmm'ing. "I wanna have a taste of Peach's chocolate cake," he said excited before going in.

Maria looked at Sonic. "...By the way, I never asked you why you're wearing that ridiculous dog collar on your neck."

Sonic's eyes widened before he quickly ran into the portal, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"Hey, that was a little bit rude of your friend to do," Maria said to Tails.

"Heheheh...heheheh..." Tails shifted his eyes as he kept the pieces of the tablet behind him. "...See ya!" he said, waving a hand at them before he ran back inside into the portal.

As the portal remained open, Peppita turned around and looked at everyone. "I'm so happy, you guys..."

"Geez, I wonder why," Sophia said chuckling.

"You really enjoyed their visit, right?" Mirage asked.

Peppita nodded. "I'm sure I did..." She closed her eyes. "...I'm sure I did..."

Albel looked back at the portal. "...Hmm..." He wondered something. "It hasn't closed yet."

Suddenly, the group began to hear hysterical laughter that blared out from the portal. From what they could tell, the laughs were growing in size as they heard some kid in a blue parka saying aloud "Hey everybody, Fox's sporting new clothes!"

Roger looked a bit confused at this. "Um..."

"...I'm starting to think that giving him the same autograph you gave me before wasn't such a good idea, Peppita..." Fayt muttered.

Peppita shook her head. "My autographs will make you and Fox buy any planet in six months, Fayt. Don't be silly, okay?"

"...Okay..." Fayt sighed and frowned. "(And I still have it under the armor...)"

"And that's not all," Popo's voice continued. "Look at the sweet curry patch on his vest!"

Apparently, someone grunted aloud and some fists and kicks of anger flew before the portal could close down by itself. The group of ten people stared blankly at the air where the portal once stood.

The Smashers have left Fayt's group.

"...Let's go back to Peterny for now," Nel said as she turned around. "..."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Cutting Edge of Notion

Mirage turned around and instantly took a fighting stance. "An ambush?"

Everyone else turned around to find at least eight Proclaimers that flew towards them. Grunting, Adray turned around and yelled "What a dirty trick!"

Cliff sighed and frowned. "Okay, bad situation..."

"I couldn't agree more with you there," Roger said before he began to hop on his spot. "What a bunch of pushovers..."

"Okay, people," Fayt began as he unsheathed his sword. "Let's give them our best shot!"

Sophia took out her brand new staff. "Even I can handle this now."

"Worms..." Albel muttered. "Normally I don't waste my time on weaklings..."

"Let's have a good fight, then," Nel said before taking out her daggers.

"Let's get over with this quickly," Maria said as she took out her phase gun before sighing annoyed. "What a pain..."

Peppita, now enthusiastic as she was before, chuckled and stood in a fighting stance. "Okay guys, let's give it our all!"

And thus, the Star Ocean gang began the fight...

Music stops

Village of Black Mages
Black Mage Shop

"Wow, it is a surprise to see you here, Black Mage Reject."

Fox glared at Kief and crossed his arms. "Sorry if I sound so confident," he said before grinning, "but I found out I can use Black Magic."

After a brutal scene at the Smash Mansion, Fox, along with Falco, decided to go to the village of the mages to have a nice talk with Kief. The leader of Star Fox looked like he had something in his sleeve for Kief to know.

"Is that so?" Kief asked before looking at the silent Falco. "Oh, your friend there, he can use Black Magic. Unlike you, he believes it in a bi-" He stopped talking once he saw Fox pulling back his hand. "...What are you doing now?"

A red light shone under Fox as the vulpine grinned and shoved his glowing red hand at Kief. "Fire!"

Kief watched as a burst of flames appeared right in front of his face. The mage, however, didn't look frightened or scared at this sudden demonstration of Black Magic. Once the flames vanished in thin air, he saw that Fox was glaring with him along with Falco.

"...Oh..." Kief nodded.

"...So?" Fox asked.

Kief lifted his shoulders a bit. "I guess you were compatible with Black Magic from the very beginning."

Fox blinked surprised. "What did you just say?"

"Here," Kief began as he put a sticker that depicted a big flame of medium size, "as I've promised, here's your Fira sticker. You're lucky that the order came right before you and your friend came in here. My regards go to the Chocobo mailman for that matter."

"Hey, stop," Fox said as he glared at Kief again. "Stop ignoring me now."

Kief frowned. "Okay, what do you want me to answer you?"

"When I used Fire on Popo (which he kind of deserved it because he laughed at me the most), I found out I could use Fire out of a sudden," Fox said. "Was there a reason behind it?"

"Did your mind clear itself, then?"

"What?"

Kief nodded. "In all honesty, you had the power to use Black Magic from the very beginning," he admitted. "There was something that was troubling your mind, though. That problem was hindering you from use Black Magic."

"What?"

"There's this leftover of sacred spirits within you," Kief said. "Were you...possessed by spirits before?"

"...The Krazoa Spirits..." Fox muttered.

"...As I thought," Kief began, "you are compatible with magic." He put his hands on the counter. "I forgot to tell you this, but in truth, the mind has to be clear enough for the power of magic of the Black Mages to fully develop correctly. Was something there that troubled you a lot that you just couldn't admit to say?"

"..." Fox looked away. "...How I really felt about my father James..."

"...Parents, huh?" Kief asked. "Well, by the looks of it, you finally resolved that chapter in your life. The mind of a Black Mage has to be empty and clear with pure thoughts that don't disrupt the user's mind. Due to the fact you had that mental problem; it stopped you from using Black Magic." Kief looked happy. "If you ask me, you're better this way."

"...But...I don't understand something..." Fox trailed off and looked back at him.

"What would that be?"

"You said you knew I had that problem a long time ago, right?"

"Correct."

"And you also said I was compatible with magic as well, right?"

"Double correct."

"If that's true...wasn't I having those problems the very same day I came here with everyone?"

"Well, yes."

Fox blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes at Kief. "If so...then...why didn't you tell me I had to get over them so I could learn Black Magic before going through a whole odyssey?"

"..." Kief pulled his hands back. "...Simply because I don't like your face."

Fox and Falco's jaws opened a bit. "...What?"

Kief nodded. "I don't like you. Don't you get it? I don't like you."

"...You don't like me because of nothing?"

Kief nodded. "That's right, I don't like you because I just don't like you."

"You don't have a reason for that?" Falco asked.

"...No."

"Not even a small bit?"

"No."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"I don't like him," Kief continued, "and never will like him."

"..." Fox looked bored at Kief before he looked at Falco and nodded to him. The ace pilot nodded to him and walked out from the shop. Panting a bit, Fox looked back at Kief...and cracked his fists.

"Hmm?" Kief looked confused. "What are you going to do now?"

Fox took the Fira sticker from Kief and glared at him. "Something I should've done the first moment I saw your annoying face covered in darkness..."

"..." Kief blinked innocently. "That surely doesn't involve violence in any way, right?"

Fox smirked. "Shall we see?"

The Black Mage, silently, pulled his hands behind his back where he chanted a spell in his mind.

"This has gone long far enough," Fox said pissed. "Now I know I can pretty much beat you down with a good reason for NOT having a good reason to help me out," he explained before grinning at him. "Do you have something else to say before I take you down as the stupid bastard you have been to me?"

"...Firaga."

"What?"

Streets

Falco looked bored into the sky as he leaned his back on a small hut close to the shop where a explosion of fire came out. The avian, however, frowned at this before he began to hear screams, followed up by howls of battle. Sighing, he frowned to himself. "Geez, calm down, Fox..." he muttered as he could have sworn hearing somebody pinning down someone else before another explosion of fire came out.

Fortunately, the shop was all alone except for the leader of Star Fox and the vulpine-hater Black Mage.

"...At least I don't get that angry..." Falco muttered before he saw a small pendant coming out from the shop that hit his forehead. "...Nope, not angry." He closed his eyes and sighed.

A small potion crashed into his head.

"Is that your best shot?" Falco taunted nobody, his eyes still closed.

Then, another bigger potion crashed and broke apart on his forehead, spilling liquids all over him.

"..." Falco opened his eyes. "..."

And finally, an amulet hit his beak.

His beak trying to break apart by clenching it hardly, Falco's attitude suddenly had enough. "...THAT'S IT!" Falco said annoyed before he ran into the shop to join the fray, just in time for him and Fox to receive an attack from Firaga. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Corneria
Great Fox – Bridge

Back on the peaceful fourth planet of the Lylat System, the Great Fox peacefully soar the skies in a region where no one lived; above a long expanse of trees and rivers. In the main room of the ship, Slippy, along with his fiancée Amanda, busily clicked on the control panels.

Suddenly, a small alarm blared out. The two toads looked up from their positions to see that the main screen showed them a mail icon.

"We've got mail," Amanda said.

"Looks like it," Slippy said as he moved the pointer at it to open a small window that showed the letter's info. "It says here is from...anonymous."

Amanda looked worried. "You don't think it's someone trying to warn us from an attack, right?"

Slippy looked serious. "I don't think so," he said. "I need to call Krystal and Dash here for them to see this." He clicked on a button to call the two mentioned characters. "Krystal, Dash, I need you to come in here and see what we've got in our hands! Come here, quickly!"

It had seemed that Fox had decided to let Dash join the team due to the fact Fox and Falco left for a time to join the Smashers and fight the Subspace Army. For Dash, this was something that he really wanted to do. The previous Cornerian Soldier reluctantly accepted to join the team in their absence. After all, it was his dream to become part of Star Fox.

Out of a cue, both Krystal and Dash came from the automatic door and reached the two frogs. "Slippy, I heard we got something here," Dash said. "What is it?"

Krystal looked at the main screen. "A...letter?"

"Yep," Amanda nodded. "It seems it's from a anonymous source, though. However, I ran a scan on it and it doesn't contain any viruses in it."

"Really?" Dash looked confused. "I wonder from whom that is..."

"Okay, let's take a look..." Slippy said as he opened the contents of the letter... "..."

"..." Amanda looked shocked.

Dash's mouth opened a bit.

And for Krystal...her eyes widened.

They didn't know why, but from what they could see, they saw as photos came out from the mail where Fox himself was with a seemingly younger girl. The photos themselves depicted Fox being hugged by behind by the girl, the two sitting down on the steps of the church during the night, another one where Fox was hugging the girl tightly (to his chest) where they could see some people standing around them.

And finally, the most shocking photo of them all: Fox kissing the girl...right on the lips.

Slippy, Amanda, and Dash could hardly believe their eyes. Krystal, however, kept staring at the photos of his soon-to-be boyfriend.

However, they wondered who sent them those photos. Surely, it was someone who watched Fox and the girl together all the time. But, who could have been the one?

That person was surely Wolf. The lupine didn't waste time to tease Fox one last time by taking photos from his cyber-patch of his left eye. It turned out that piece of eye-patch wasn't just for show. It had, in fact, its own applications that not anybody else knew.

"...Er..." Dash trailed off. "...Why is Fox kissing that girl..."

"On the lips?" Amanda added.

"I...dunno..." Slippy admitted.

The three members of Star Fox knew that this was going to affect Krystal in some way or another, as she was the only one who kept staring at the screen and to the photo where Fox was kissing the girl. The three members exchanged glances with each other before Amanda broke the silence by asking, "Krystal…are you feeling okay?"

"…" Krystal kept staring at the screen.

"…Are you sure this is…er…okay with you to see?" Dash asked.

Slippy frowned and sobbed a bit. "Please, Krystal, there must have been a good reason behind all this…"

"…" Krystal's blank stare changed to an amused look before she began to walk again, chuckling. The three members looked a bit surprised at this sudden reaction. "…Fox wouldn't do that, we know very well, right?" she asked as she walked away.

"I guess…" Dash said. "Fox is loyal, you know."

"Besides," Krystal continued, "those photos were surely photoshopped."

"…" Slippy, Amanda, and Dash looked at each other in pure disbelief as the vixen walked away from the bridge, muttering something about having a talk with the leader of Star Fox soon.

"…Sooooooooo…" Dash shifted his eyes. "Do you think this is going to end well, Slippy?"

Slippy grunted annoyed and covered his eyes. "Guys, prepare to see another bickering between those 2 very soon again…"

Amanda sighed. "Why can't they just admit their love to each other? They love each other so much, but they argue with each other so much as well…"

"That's how love is complicated for you…" Slippy said.

And thus the three did a group sigh, thinking what to do with the situation that was in their hands…

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2100 Smash Coins!

All Abilities Learned Have Been Forgotten.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Misted Moon" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays whenever your 3 party members fall down in battle, prompting you to get the Game Over screen, where this music plays…so sad.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – THE LITTLE BIRD (Instrumental Ver.)" is yet another reference to the same game. Obviously, it's the instrumental version of the Japanese team that plays at the credits. However, this music plays in situations like when Fayt, Maria, and Cliff leave Elicoor for a time.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-The Star Ocean series have been regarded as the series with some poor voice acting. Even with this, it manages to become one of the most popular RPGs in history.

…You're still there, right? If so…

We have FINALLY reached the end of this long arc. My god, I can't believe I went overboard with this…

And yes, I swear the next chapters will be a third long than this huge wall of text we call chapter.

However, did you enjoy it all, though?

Let's get back to the chapter.

I have nothing to say regardless the battle, but I have to say that the Wolf and James scene…was probably the weirdest one I have come up. I mean, what IS James, anyway? Is he really dead, or is he around somewhere? Well, at least I tried my best to give him a good explanation for all his mysterious appearances. Take in mind that's just a wild guess of mine, though. This is not canonical at all. I did it just because to add a special touch to the fic.

Also, with this arc cleared, the poll will close at my profile. Check to see the next incoming arc.

However…a special Mansion Arc that needs to be done in order to sort out everything that has happened so far before the winner of the poll does its job.

The reason behind this is that some loose ends need to be tied up. This has to be done in order for the story to go well with the flow of how I want things to go smoothly. You might call this arc the "Sidequest Arc" as well. During this little arc, sidequests are going to be worked on, and we will have familiar faces appearing. Lots of humor

Also, this is a little bit of a secret to announce, but…at the end of this special arc, a very special chapter that I will write is going to come out very soon. Why is it special? …You may call it… a special collaboration I have with someone special to me…that's all I'm going to say about it, though.

So please…if you read all this…review if you please, okay?

…Or James will come to your house and push every single theory around him away, putting you in a mental trauma of pure confusion like Chris.
*Chapter 159*: The Subspace Smashers Agenda

And so, the Side-quest Arc begins.

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Finally it`s over
First Ahem
OH OH MAN THAT WAS JUST OH MAN. Freaking hilarious.
2. Rayquaza is part of the Subspace Army. So says Smash Wiki and that he's in the great maze. But you could just clone him like Ridley or make him out of shadow bugs or something like that.
3. Are the armys commanders henchmen going to appear. You know like Zant or Fassad or (though I hope not) the Masked Man.
4. Love the mental breakdown that was just the best.
Thats enough for now.

P.S. Do you know where to download Mother 3?

From me: I don't know what was hilarious for you.

So you think Rayquaza is part of the Subspace Army. Well, let me ask you this: why is it working with them in the first place? It doesn't have any grudges with any of the Smashers.

None of those 'henchmen' will appear.

Thanks. ;)

From ngrey651: I don't BELIEVE it! Not only did Fox finally reveal how he truly felt about his father (which is understandable) but James is actually...wow. Just...wow. I am so geeking out.

From me: A person thus turned crazy this day. I'm proud of this achievement. XD Thanks again. ;)

From StrawberryKiwiBanana: Hiya, sorry for not reveiwing in a wile. It's me, princesspoke3612, I just changed my name. Anyway...
Another great chapter. The battle scene was epic. The scene at the end with Krystal was funny. Can't wait to see the next arc.

From me: I hope the next original arc is interesting for you to read. :)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: Excellent chapter, but you should really consider getting a beta.

...English isn't your first language, is it? Also, how often do you write, exactly? Most people would take a month to write so many pages, at least. 44,0 words, dear god. It would probably be closer to 43,0 words with a beta editing out all of the parts that don't flow all that well, but still. Behold, the true Goliath!

I suppose it is. I just brought it up because I've been playing one, two, and three, lately. *grins widely* Not the best in the series, that's porbably a tie between FFVII, FFVI, and FFIX, but still really fun games.

From me: I understand that there were many mistakes in the previous chapter. However, I wanted to correct them all before the chapter could get published, but fanfiction . net had issues with my document of the chapter that I couldn't even correct a single word. However, I did correct most of the errors I could find. Please understand what I went through with this long chapter. (Besides, I doubt a beta would read all of this…)

Thanks very much, though. :D

From FF and STH: great chapter, I was right when I said fox would learn fire at the end of the arc also your next chapter is going to be a mansion arc and funny too, can't wait

And one question, when the items Dragoon going to be in

From me: The Dragoon isn't going to be used because I think it'd be overkill to use it in a battle. Thanks for liking the previous chapter. :D

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches jobs to Reviewer!~

A very good end to an arc that developed Fox's character. I swear, that was the LONGEST Shadow Nightmare fight I've read.

And Fox learns Black Magic! Woohoo!

Update soon!

From me: I hope I don't write something that long again, though. Thanks. ;D

From Ultra Blader: This was most likely the longest Shadow Nightmare battle so far. You did go on for a bit, but it seemed okay. Something you did perfectly was explain why Fox couldn't use magic beforehand. I didn't really get it when James McCloud appeared, but then again, my experience with the Star Fox series, out of Brawl, more or less consists of playing the Star Fox demo which came with Brawl.

Other than that, that was another great chapter, and I can't wait to see what it is! I'm sure it'll make for a great arc. (Then "notices" that he is in front of a large amount of banners and flags, which all seem to display little mottos and slogans, like "Finger on the Trigger", "A Game That Has Stood The Test Of Time", and "It's Chrono-Logical Which Game Will Be Covered In The Next Arc!". Ultra Blader looks around, and attempts to hide the banners.) Oops. Heh heh... nothing to see here folks, nothing to see at all...

Seriously though, I really want Chrono Trigger to be covered in the next arc. It's got my vote!

Just one last note... a while ago, Phoenix, Maya and Pearl all appeared in Nintendo City. What happened to them? It's just I've been waiting for the arc involving them for a while now, and I've been wondering when you'll start their arc.

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: Well, many people think that Fox's father is either alive or dead. In the games, Fox is always thinking so much about him that he has weird visions of his father actually assisting him in all final battles. Honestly speaking, I think James's alive.

I don't recall those 3 characters ever appearing in Nintendo City. Where did you see them here, anyway? Besides, Professor Layton would be much better due to the fact it would be a more 'Nintendo-ish" thing to do.

As for Chrono Trigger… Keep scrolling down.

Thanks. ;)

From DianaGohan: The usual grammar problems but strangley those didn't really bother me. Though the fight did go on for what felt like forever (that IMHO is the part no one can probably finish off in one read through) it did have a good flow running through it besides the couple of breaks in between. And ending with Peppita knocking around Shadow Fox and him over abusing Symbology was good. And all the endings were good too (Especially James's appearence freaking out Chris, Popo heard ragging on Fox, and Wolf taking pictures to send to the Star Fox true). Only real complaints is without the fear of death, Shadow Nightmare battles only seem good for characters getting over their issues. Which makes me question why Tabuu keeps using them. Otherwise good stuff.

GRADE: A/A-

From me: The Shadow Nightmares ARE supposed to kill off their other selves. However, they're mostly made up of rejected thoughts based around truths that they totally despise. If their real selves manage to overcome whatever lie they've been making up for themselves, their Shadow Nightmares could be tamed before they can kill them off. Unfortunately for the Shadow Nightmares, they can't never seem to finish their jobs because of the others who keep interrupting them. The fear of death is there, but it only appears once the victim is cornered without anyone to help.

I hope that was enough for you. By the way, would you mind telling me the grammar errors? I'd like to see some examples to see where I fail. Thanks again for reviewing. ;)

Okay people, it's time for a very original arc to take place. This arc will feature many different events in the Smash Bros. Universe. In this arc, you will see many new faces, returning characters, and very special fights that will start to happen.

Because the poll met a surprising tie between Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger, a tiebreaker is now being held between the two games. Please vote as soon as you can while this arc goes on. The results will be displayed once this arc ends.

Without further ado, I encourage ALL readers to enjoy and review this arc. Please continue. ;)

Disclaimer: If somebody so damn evil smiles out of a sudden, a Pikmin will surely die.

Chapter 159: The Subspace/Smashers Agenda

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

In the infinite darkness of the brewing world of no shape, Dr. Eggman stood, with folded arms behind his back, in front of a skeptical Tabuu. Apparently, something bothered Tabuu about Dr. Eggman's last mission.

"I do not understand any of this," Tabuu began. "I thought our mission was to destroy the Gaia Temples. Why did not you accomplish the task at hands?"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "After I went to see a temple myself, I've found out that destroying them isn't going to be the most reliable method to do," he explained. "You see...there were some interesting findings in the Spagonia Temple that enlightened me with a new change of plans..."

"...Please, be more specific about that vague detail..."

"Allow me," the scientist said. "After I tossed another Shadow Nightmare out, I took the advantage of the commotion and went to see the temple. Once I got there, I found out that there were these special doors that leaded further inside the temple, to the inner sanctum, where the only way to restore the planet's continents lies there..."

"Have not you tried to get in there by force?" Tabuu asked.

"It's a very hard thing to do," Dr. Eggman explained as he looked worried. "Those temples were built with some kind of protective magic that can't be easily pierced through. I tried to go in with lasers and missiles, but they just exploded and nothing else came out as a result. Then, when I examined the temple, the 3 doors that were there surely could lead someone further inside...however...those same doors turn out to be closed because they require tablets to open..."

"Tablets?"

"Indeed, tablets," the scientist said. "Those tablets happen to be the keys to open those doors. However, the very same tablets are the only things we need to go inside and do whatever we can do to stop anyone from interfering... Unfortunately, we lack the information about the tablets' whereabouts at the moment..."

Tabuu grunted a bit as he turned around to look into the Subspace. "Do you have a plan to resolve this dilemma?"

"..." The scientist thought for a moment. "I have heard from my sources that the temples...are guarded by people who happen to hold the tablets to enter. Those people are better known as Gaia Guardians, the ones who maintain the security of the temples at peace."

Tabuu lifted up his head a bit before turning around to look down to Dr. Eggman. "So, the most obvious reason to do here is to find those Gaia Guardians and take the tablets away from them."

"That would be the case here."

"And do you know where they are?"

"Well, it's obvious they are living as normal people in my world," Dr. Eggman said. "They prefer to be secluded when talking about the Gaia Temples so nobody would get their hands on the tablets."

"That is something clever of them to do, I admit," Tabuu said. "However, we must not allow this to go the same way it has been going. Dr. Eggman, I want you to resolve this problem as soon as possible."

Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin. "I'll do everything I can to find those guardians. It's going to be very tedious, but we don't have any other choice but to seek them all out and take the tablets away from their hands."

At that moment, the Ancient Minister came from behind Dr. Eggman and looked up at Tabuu. "Lord Tabuu, I'm afraid to say that we have alarming news."

Tabuu frowned. "What is it now?"

"The Shadow Bugs retrieval chambers have stopped from sucking out the Shadow Bugs from our main source," the Ancient Minister explained. "It seems the perpetrator hasn't been found yet, and this annoying person got back to the chamber and completely halted the process..."

"...Why..." Tabuu muttered as he frowned. "Why do we have to keep suffering at the hands of this infidel individual?"

"I have the same thoughts as you," the Ancient Minister said. "To make matters worse, it's harder to decode the program that this perpetrator input to the main computer of the chamber. It is so hard for me to decode completely due to the fact that he or she was already prepared..."

Dr. Eggman grumbled at this. "Well, this now is alarming for my Shadow Nightmare procedure..."

"I assure you Lord Tabuu that we are doing everything we can to find the culprit of this whole mess. For that, the factory has closed its doors in order to find this annoying problem. However, the production of Subspace Bombs is still going...but unfortunately..."

"Here comes another problem..." Dr. Eggman muttered.

"Not only this culprit was able to halt the Shadow Bug procedure, but it is certain that the same person is doing all sort of unneeded actions across the factory, this includes halting the whole production of Subspace Bombs by hacking the system to make the machines act at a very erratic way, the illumination sometimes goes off, and the machines that we have stored in the Halberd have also been affected. Currently, all the R.O.B.s are doing their best to clean the mess."

Tabuu sighed and turned back to stare at the Subspace. "Why is it that we have to deal with that culprit in times like this? I will not stand idly for this..."

The Ancient Minister lowered his head. "Again, I'm sorry to report all this to you… We are doing everything we can to stop this trouble from getting even worse…"

Tabuu grumbled a bit at this. "As long as this problem disappears soon…"

The Ancient Minister looked away and shook his head. "…I have very bad news regarding the Shadow Bug chambers and the manufacture of Subspace Bombs…"

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow at this and stared at the minister.

"When I found out that the system was hacked, the code that was put into it turned out to be even more complicated than I expected it to be. As such, the system is down, and the chamber, along with the manufacture, has been completely disabled for that matter..."

"And…this means…" Dr. Eggman trailed off.

The Ancient Minister looked away for a moment before deciding to turn at the one in charge of the Subspace. "…This means that this problem will stay here for a long time…"

Tabuu kept staring down upon the minister. Thinking about the consequences, the floating man decided to get more specifications. "For how long will this problem be here?"

"I'm not sure myself..." the Ancient Minister muttered. "The complications done to the system are almost impossible to decode apart and fix it as a whole. It could take me a lot of time."

"How long?" Tabuu asked with some hint of anger.

"I'm not very certain...but this could last days..." the minister said. "...Or...this could last even months..."

Dr. Eggman nodded. "This is quite sudden, if you'd ask me."

"I know," the Ancient Minister said. "It's almost like this culprit is working by himself or herself to slowly bring down the Subspace Bomb Factory in order to terminate it...but...I won't allow such a preposterous plan to get done and stop your orders, Lord Tabuu. The whole factory needs to be running all the time in order to stay with the program you have set up."

Tabuu looked away. "First, the production of Subspace Bombs stops, then the extraction of Shadow Bugs slows, now both have stopped completely..."

"This is truly unfortunate," the Ancient Minister said. "I have made up my mind and will start the recovery process. I am going to stay all days occupied to fix those problems...but in the meantime, I am going to tighten security and find the imbecile behind all this."

Tabuu nodded. "I knew you could have a solution for this dilemma. Since I am confined to forever roam the Subspace, I cannot go out and look for the idiot myself."

"(You just don't know how useful this is for my own plans,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(No matter what you can do, you can't get out from this cursed space of darkness and see who the real culprit is...not me, but you who caused me to do all this...) Thanks for acknowledging my solution."

Dr. Eggman thought for a moment and looked up. "Well, this certainly puts me out to create more Shadow Nightmares...which means I have all the time I want to have to look for the Gaia Guardians."

The Ancient Minister looked at him. "Was there something I should know?"

The scientist explained everything to the minister.

"I see..."

Dr. Eggman turned to Tabuu. "I shall take my leave now," he said before turning around to the darkness of the atmosphere, stepping on ominous flat, rocky floor before disappearing.

Tabuu looked down at the minister. "Can I bother you for a little longer?"

The Ancient Minister looked up at him. "I don't mind. Do you have some sort of plan that you want me to do?"

"You have a good guess," Tabuu remarked. "Ancient Minister, I have some important tasks for you that I want to see fulfilled very soon. If you are still working with the recovery process, please do not do this yet."

The Ancient Minister stared at the leader of the Subspace. "What would those tasks be, I ask?"

A time later...

The minister looked down and nodded. "I have to say that those plans of yours are original..."

Tabuu nodded. "Can you do this accordingly?"

"...It will be hard...but I will do it," the Ancient Minister said as he lifted up his look at Tabuu. "Very well, I shall commence my tasks as you wish, Lord Tabuu. However, I'm going to save the second task for last."

Tabuu shook his head. "That one is the most important to do first. Why would you decide to delay that plan?"

"It could put me a lot of stress, truthfully," the minister admitted. "Since it is the most important, I'm going to have to ask you to put that one for last should the other tasks fail."

"...I will only allow you to do that if you do the tasks later. The chances of failure are slim."

The Ancient Minister nodded. "Everything will be just fine this way, I assure you."

"It will go just fine," the Ancient Minister said nodding. "If you would excuse me, I need to get started..."

Tabuu watched as the minister turned around and went away into the darkness. The leader of the infinite space of darkness grunted a bit to himself before he disappeared.
However, the minister was thinking about something so hard that he pondered about it all the time after he left the Subspace.

"(These tasks themselves sound very atrocious,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(Does he expect me to do such plans? Is it better if just I follow the flow for the time being? Thanks to Master Hand, I just can't complete that last task Tabuu asked me to do...though...I want to talk to that person and know his motives more personally... I should stay low and continue with my own plans before I can make an escape from this hellish atmosphere of darkness...)"

Smash Mansion
Command Room

"It's getting late now..." Master Hand trailed off. "This better be good, you little fox kid."

Tails looked up at him and grunted a bit. "Please, I really need everyone's attention before I do my speech..."

"Well, hurry up," the hand muttered. "They can get very aggravated when they don't sleep."

"They're not animals!"

"Half of them are half-animals, though..." Master Hand shook himself. "Enough of this, though. Go ahead and start before they go away."

"Certainly..." Tails muttered annoyed.

It had been a time after the group came back from the previous world. Many of the Smashers were busily talking to each other since the group returned. It was all chatters about different topics: the temple, Shadow Nightmares, Dr. Eggman, and Fox's autographed jacket (courtesy of Popo).

"You think Fox's an accidental pedophile?" Popo muttered to the young Smashers.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'd say he's just unlucky to attract younger girls."

"True," Ness commented. "And they said adults normally don't screw up that bad."

"Everyone?!" Tails suddenly shouted in front of the whole group of people. The Smashers continued talking. "Everyone, may I please have your attention?!"

The chatters suddenly came to a halt as they all slowly were silenced and looked at Tails.

"Phew..." Tails sighed. "I thought I wasn't going to pull this out...but...anyway..." He looked at them. "You may know what has been happening currently, right?"

"Yes," Zelda began, "the sudden apparition of Sonic's nemesis Dr. Eggman."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "He's not my nemesis, but just a dude who doesn't have anything better to do than annoying me."

"If I recall," Knuckles began, "you went to him first, and then he began chasing you around."

"Shut up, you," Sonic muttered annoyed.

Tails clapped his hands. "Okay, okay, order, please, we have to discuss this throughout as a team, okay?"

"If that won't include cheesy things, then I don't mind," Snake commented close to the hallway.

Tails remained silent for a bit. "...Okay..." he said."...Anyway, we have some important matters to discuss before we go to sleep and call it a day." He showed the 2 pieces of the tablet. "As you can see here, we've got these from the Spagonia Temple that was hiding in the depths of the garden we went to."

"Care to remind us what happened there?" Olimar asked. "I-I'm afraid I forgot how everything went..."

Tails sighed. "Okay, I guess it doesn't hurt if I explain it to you..." He nodded. "Well, let's see how things went."

Chip raised a finger. "Activate flashback waves!"

Flashback

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Aquios Territory
Aquatic Garden, Surferio - Spagonia Temple - Entrance

In the flashback, the depths of the garden were shown as an eerie silence surrounded everything down below. There was a huge sanctum made up of orange bricks that easily stuck out from the white ruins around it. For some, it looked like just a wall since it didn't look like a building, but for others, it was the Spagonia Temple.

From the air, Tails arrived and landed in front of the huge pillar. The 2-tailed fox rubbed his chin and took a closer look to it. "It's definitely the Spagonia Temple..." he muttered.

"If I recall from what Professor Pickle told me, the entrance to the temple should be...there."

A small opening that leaded into the pillar was found in the center. It almost looked like it was just a normal hole, but it was, in reality, the entrance to the temple.

Tails looked around. "Fox told me Dr. Eggman came down here...but I don't see him..." His ears perked up a bit. "Maybe he's inside!" he gasped. "If that's true, I better be careful and enter the temple...I just hope I could have some backup."

At that moment, a heavy object fell from the sky and crashed right besides the young fox. Tails backed away from the object before he started to hear some grunts and snarls coming from within the small cloud of dust that the object had formed by accident. "Oooooooww..."

"...Sonic?" Tails asked confused as he saw the werehog in the dust. "Sonic, what did you just do?"

Sonic rubbed his head as he found himself sitting on the hole. "I thought I could stretch my hands to grab onto something...but then I found out there wasn't nothing so...I fell."

"...And you survived the long way down here?"

Sonic pushed himself up and looked at Tails. "...Yep."

"...I shall question that troubling fact later..." Tails muttered before he shook his head.
"A-anyhow, thanks for coming with me, Sonic. With Dr. Eggman around, I wouldn't know what to do."

Sonic grinned and smacked his fists together. "Just let me give him a good one for turning me into this demon of the night. You don't know how good it feels to be running during the night...unlikely this."

"I...guess I could understand that..." Tails muttered before he looked up. "Hey, there's someone coming."

Sonic looked up and saw the angel of Skyland coming down from the floor high above. The angel descended slowly before he touched the ground without problems. "You know, I think it was fun to go down so slow," Pit commented with a chuckle. "It makes me remember of home."

Chip then appeared in front of him, upside-down. "Yeah, it reminds me of home too."

Pit looked confused. "You...remember your home?"

"..." Chip looked ashamed and shook his head.

Tails looked at all of them. "I-I'm sorry to be interrupting, but we have to get into the temple and use these," he said before he took out the Sun and Moon Tablets from behind his back. "Dr. Eggman could do something very bad in there as well."

"Let's get going!" Sonic yelled before he ran to the door...stumbling to the sides. "I'm SERIOUSLY going to kill him off now..."

Sonic watched as Pit, Tails, and Chip passed right next to him and entered the temple.

"...Noooooooo!" Sonic moaned in emotional pain. "Everyone's faster than me now! I used to be the fastest, but Tails's the fastest now! What has the world come into?!"

Tails stuck out his head from the entrance. "Sonic, please, stop losing time and hurry up," he said before going back in.

Sonic looked at no one in particular and shed a tear. "Now Tails's telling me to hurry up and catch up with them!" He frowned ashamed as he entered the temple. "This is just getting even worse with every day!"

Spagonia Temple - Gaia Gate

The temple, unlike the Apotos Temple, looked different. In fact, the Apotos Temple was the only temple that had light. The other temples, however, were almost shrouded in normal darkness.

The Spagonia Temple had some torches that were always burning. A long path leaded to three doors that looked the same as the ones found in the Apotos Temple. At the sides of the long path, there were some doors that didn't have anything to do with anything, meaning they were just...for something else.

Tails, Pit, and Chip slowly came in from the entrance. They all looked around the seemingly quiet temple. The trio looked at each other before Sonic came from behind them before sighing. "My speed...why..." he muttered in shame.

Pit ignored him and looked around. "...I don't see Dr. Eggman anywhere..."

Sonic's ears perked up, and he walked in. The werehog looked around the temple but didn't find the scientist anywhere. "Hey, what's the big deal here? Eggman's not here, that's the big deal!"

Tails, Pit, and Chip walked inside and slowly looked around even more. "Hmm..." Tails wondered for a moment. "I believed Fox told me Dr. Eggman came down here..."

"Maybe he was blind?" Chip asked. "Sometimes I confuse people for food-items. I confused DK for a big coconut one time."

"That's...very impossible..." Tails looked confused. "...Back on topic, Dr. Eggman was supposed be down here, but he's not here at all."

Pit took some steps forward. "I doubt he's even here anymore. The temple is not too big enough to hide people."

Sonic sniffed the air. "(I hate this damn super smell sense...) I can't sniff him out. He's not here, alright."

Tails looked a bit grossed out and silently backed away from Sonic. "Okay... With that, we can infer he already went away from here...but why?"

Chip rubbed his stomach. "He went away because he had to finish up his dinner. It's getting so late so I'd guess he went for a midnight snack."

"Chip, can you, um, please...focus?" Tails asked.

Chip stared at him blankly. "...I dunno what focus means."

Now Tails felt sorry for the imp.

"..." Tails turned his head to look forward at the three doors. "L-look, the doors," he said to make them all look at his direction. "We have to see if the tablets work on them."

Chip looked a bit annoyed as he grumbled a bit. "Y'know, something's telling me that you're trying to avoid me, Tails."

By the time Chip noticed, Tails, Pit, and Sonic were already standing in front of the three doors.

"..." Chip narrowed his eyes. "I smell a conspiracy here."

As the mauve imp flew to rejoin the group, Tails examined the Sun and Moon Doors on each side of the Planet Door. Looking at both of his tablets, he gave the Moon Tablet to Pit. "Here, can you use this to open that door, please?"

"Certainly," Pit agreed.

Tails nodded to him and walked to the Sun Door. Once he took a closer look at the small slot at the side of the door, Tails looked at the tablet in his hand before he carefully inserted it into it, Pit doing the same with the Moon Door.

The two backed away from the doors. It looked like the tablets fit just fine into them since the Sun and Moon Doors themselves suddenly turned brighter with red and blue colors respectively. However...

"...They're...not opening..." Sonic commented, the doors not doing anything else that shine a bit. "Are they busted or something?"

"What?" Tails looked confused. "But, the tablets fit into the slots. I thought the doors were going to open up..."

Pit thought for a moment. "We're not forgetting something else, right?"

"N-no..." Tails shook his head. "Professor Pickle told me that the doors would open if we found the tablets for them. I don't understand any of this at all!"

Chip chuckled and went to the Sun Door. "Tails, you should know that doors, nowadays, have doorknobs on 'em."

Tails frowned. "Chip, if you turn around and see the door, you're not going to find a doorknob... What you're saying isn't helping much."

Chip pouted a bit at this. "Well! I'm gonna see if it is an invisible doorknob, then!"

Sonic leaned closer to Tails as the 2-tailed fox put a hand on his forehead and frowned ashamed. "Just to make things clear here: I dunno him."

"Now you're telling me..." Tails muttered.

Pit watched as Chip got closer to the Sun Door. Upon getting closer, the angel saw that Chip's necklace glowed brightly in a green light. The imp looked down at it in curiosity and blinked a couple of times. "Hey, check it out; my necklace's jewel has an automatic light!" Chip said surprised. "Now I won't need to have a lantern to go into the darkness!"

"Er..." Pit tilted his head confused. "...Why is your necklace glowing like that?"

Chip looked at him. "It IS a special necklace, I remind you."

Pit looked bored. "You just found out that it had that with it!"

Tails and Sonic looked at the imp's glowing necklace. "Hey, what's happening now?" Sonic asked.

Chip chuckled and put his right hand against the Sun Door, not noticing that he triggered something as the door shone brighter than usual. "I'll tell you what's happening here, Sonic. I, Chip Baron McChip, have discovered the ancient secret and meaning of these doors."

And suddenly the door moved up, making the other three gasp.

Chip pointed at himself. "I turn out to be the best door opener that you have ever known," he said proud of himself. "No matter what door there is, it'll open up as soon as I say the word. With my necklace and my wits of an adventurer, Indiana Chip shall soon discover the hidden secrets that this temple holds."

Tails stared shocked at this. "...But...how?"

Chip rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I changed Chip Baron McChip for Indiana Chip 'cuz it has a nice ring into it."

"T-that's not what I meant!" Tails yelled as he pointed at the Sun Door. "The door opened up after you touched it!"

The mauve imp turned around and found that his hand was touching the air in front of him. Chip looked up and down for any signs of the door. "...What do you know, what I said before was the whole truth!" He punched the air a few times. "Ha-ha! Take that, Sunny Door!"

Sonic looked shocked. "H-hey, how did he open the door?"

"I-I'm pretty sure I touched the door after I inserted the tablet into the slot, but that didn't happen..." Tails trailed off. "Why was Chip able to open it, though?"

Chip turned around and crossed his arms. "It is because I AM THE KEY TO THE SECRETS OF THIS SACRED TEMPLE! !!!"

The three stared at the seemingly evil imp who opened his arms to the ceiling and laughed maniacally to the point his mouth began to foam somehow.

"C-Chip, stop it!" Tails yelled.

The imp shut up and looked at Tails. "I was enjoying the moment," he said chuckling. "You guys need to enjoy it as well. It feels so good to become a maniac sometimes."

Tails grunted and frowned. "Chip, please, focus for once! We're trying to find out why you were able open the door and not someone else!"

Pit sighed and looked into the place where the door was before. "Can we try to ponder this at a later time? We need to get done here before the others up there leave."

Sonic grunted. "Fine, let's get this over with before I get headache by Chip."

Chip pointed angrily at Sonic. "You shall not defy the human key to the secrets of this temple, fool!"

Sonic, as he walked to the Sun Door's place, grabbed Chip with his right claw and put him under a grip. "Chip, you're starting to become annoying now. Shut up before I shut you up myself, 'kay?"

Chip blinked, his mouth being covered by one of Sonic's finger. The imp nodded and saluted him.

"Anyway..." Tails sighed as he walked into the opening. "Let's see what's in here..."

The four looked into the small corridor that leaded to a small pedestal that was attached against the wall. On the top of the pedestal, there were two burning torches that remained at the sides of another tablet. However, this tablet in particular looked liked it was a piece of a whole tablet, and it was adorned with a red jewel on the lower end of it. The four walked to it and looked at the piece.

"...That's it?" Sonic asked as he released Chip. "Behind door number 1 is another tablet?"

Tails took a closer look to the piece. "That's weird...but...I guess this fragment is just a half of the real tablet."

Pit took the tablet and stared at it. "What could this mean?"

"It means that the other door could probably have the other half," Tails said. "It's just a guess, but it's probably it."

"Let's see what's behind door number 2!" Chip said excited. "Let my palm do the trick again." The imp pulled back his hands before he flew away to the Moon Door on the right side of the Planet Door. The other three looked at each other before they followed the imp.

Upon arriving to the right door, Chip approached it, and his necklace began to glow in a green light that intervened with the Moon Door. The door with the moon carving glowed blue before it shook and slowly opened by sliding up into the wall.

Sonic tilted his head. "How does that happen? Why does Chip need to be close to them so the doors open up?"

Tails rubbed his head. "I-I just don't understand it either…" he muttered. "It's just as if Chip himself was like a second key of the sort…"

Chip looked happily at them. "Maybe I was destined to open these doors."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I bet it's just a coincidence."

"Or maybe…" Chip looked at his necklace. "Or maybe…this could mean I'm somehow related to these temples, don't you think?"

Pit remained silent. "…Shall we see the other tablet?" He looked behind Chip. "I can see that there's the other half of it."

Tails promptly entered through the small corridor and went to see the other half of the tablet. The trio remained behind before the 2-tailed fox came out, holding two pieces of the broken tablet as the other piece was adorned with a blue jewel on its lower end. "Well, we were right," Tails said as he looked at the tablets. "These tablets are broken from each other."

"But why were they broken in the first place?" Pit asked.

Tails looked at the Sun and Moon Doors' places. "I think they were split apart because of security. If we only had the Sun Tablet, we could have opened a door, but not the other one that has the other half of the tablet of the middle door," he theorized. "You know, protect the temple from intruders."

"Good thing we're not intruders," Sonic said. "This is to save our world."

Tails nodded and stared at the pieces. "And if I'm right, these 2 should fit with each other perfectly. Now, if I just do a little push here and…"

The group watched as the 2-tailed fox tried to piece back together the halves of the tablet of the Planet Door. However, for some reason, they just didn't fit. Tails got confused at this before he tried to force them to fit with each other, grunting a bit as he tried to complete the tablet.

"Ugh! This is impossible, but they don't want to get completed…" Tails gave up and set each piece apart from each other. "What now? They don't want to fit with each other…"

"You sure those are the right pieces?" Sonic asked.

"It wouldn't make sense to have a fake or another piece in here…" Tails trailed off. "I'm pretty sure these are the correct pieces. Why would they be behind guarded doors then?"

Pit thought for a moment. "Dr. Eggman didn't have anything to do with this, right?"

"No…" Tails shook his head. "He would have gotten these, but he didn't possess the tablets that we had."

Sonic snarled a bit and slammed a fist on the floor, making a crack on it in the process. "Dammit, we came all this way for nothing…"

"D-don't say that," Tails said. "I'm sure that these pieces have to complete the tablet of this place...but…I don't know what to do now…"

Chip yawned a bit. "Guys, I'm tired… Let's go back with the others…"

"I hate to say this, but we have no choice but to leave this place," Pit said. "If we can't think of anything, we might as well stop."

Tails sighed and frowned in shame. "And here I thought we were getting to something…"

"Don't sweat it," Sonic said. "Let's go back for now. Maybe we can discuss this with the others."

"I guess that's the best choice for now…" Tails nodded. "Fine, let's go back."

The four nodded before they began to walk down the long path to the exit of the temple. As they were walking down, Sonic noticed that there was a room to his right with pedestals. One of them seemed to be glowing with blue light.

"Hmm?" Sonic raised an eyebrow as the others left. "What's that?"

The werehog blinked confused at the glowing pedestal, but a yawn made him forget about it. Sonic decided to leave the temple behind, where the torches silently illuminated the inner area…

Smash Mansion
Command Room

End of flashback

"After we managed to find a way up by climbing some ruins," Tails continued, "we ultimately decided to discuss this with everyone here."

Marth crossed his arms. "In other words, we found yet another blockade to get further inside that temple."

Tails looked down. "It seems that way…sadly…"

Master Hand looked at everyone. "This seems to be really alarming, don't you think?" he asked. "Since we don't have any ways to resolve this..."

Knuckles stepped forward. "Hey, wait just a minute there." He thought about something. "Tails, didn't you say before that there were these Gaia Guardians that we couldn't find before?"

Tails got in a thinking position. "Now that you mention it... I got these tablets from Otto and Lucia. I'm still wondering why they had these with them..."

Amy crossed her arms. "It sounds very fishy if you ask me," she said before holding out her hand, moving it up and down a bit. "I think they're hiding something from us that we don't know."

"They could be those Gaia Guardians," Cream commented. "Why else would they say that it was right for us to take the tablets from them?"

The 2-tailed fox thought for a bit. "...It's all clear what we have to do here."

"Can you please let us know what you're talking about?" Diddy asked. "I'm starting to think we're invisible for you."

"O-oh, sorry about that... Ahem..." Tails cleared his throat. "If my assumptions are correct, Otto and Lucia may be the Gaia Guardians that we accidentally ignored."

"Just who are these Gaia Guardians?" Mario asked.

"Well, the Gaia Guardians are the people that are charged in protecting the Gaia Gates in each continent," Tails explained. "They all try to hide by not giving away their status as the guardians so malicious people wouldn't perturb the temples and steal whatever it is inside all of them. This is everything that Professor Pickle told me, though. He doesn't know who the current Gaia Guardians are."

Knuckles looked at them. "They could be anyone. We've looked around to find them before, but we didn't have much luck. Those guardians surely are tightening their privacy after the world split apart."

"And because of that, they won't give away their jobs that easily to anyone," Tails said. "If Dr. Eggman were to find them, he would probably kidnap them. But, since he doesn't know who they are, the guardians are peacefully remaining silent as of now so nobody tries to do something bad with the temples."

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "In other words, we need to find the Gaia Guardians before it's too late."

"Yeah..." Tails said depressed. "But...we don't know who they are...and we could waste a lot of time if we were to look for them again..."

Sonic (in his werehog form due to the fact it was night already) smacked his fists together. "Hey, did you forget we have a bunch of people here?"

"I know that..." Tails trailed off. "But even if we're so many, it could take us a lot of time before we even find all the guardians." He rubbed his head with both hands. "Thinking so much is starting to give me a headache as well..."

Cream hopped off her seat and looked at Tails. "If Otto and Lucia were the ones who had the tablets...wouldn't it be easier if we asked them about the other guardians and about what we're doing?"

Tails looked up and looked at Cream. "Cream, I think you just gave out a good idea."

Cream chuckled. "I do think, Tails. I'm worried about our world. Cheese here is as well, right?"

Cheese flailed his arms a bit. "Chao chao chao!"

Knuckles nodded. "So, we're off to Spagonia. That's the place where the old man Otto and the girl Lucia are, right?"

"H-hold on, Knuckles," Tails said. "We still have to think about taking some of the people here..." He turned around to look at Master Hand. "If it wouldn't bother..."

Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "We already did a compromise with them. Also, since Dr. Eggman appeared in the previous world, we may as well be involved in this because it's obvious that he's in league with Tabuu and the others."

"The fact that Ganondorf called forth a Shadow Nightmare..." Nana trailed off.

"The fact that Charizard brought a Shadow Nightmare..." Pichu trailed off worried.

"And the fact that Dr. Eggman took a Shadow Nightmare as well..." Roy trailed off.

Ike looked at Master Hand. "This obviously means they're all together."

"They are," Master Hand said. "Ugh, I swear Tabuu's going too far with recruiting people...but then again, he'd do this kind of thing. Tabuu would be bored if he tried to do the same strategy to take over the worlds with Subspace Bombs over and over again."

"At least I give him that he's not being stale with his plans," Pit said. "However, this only opens up more ways to take us all down..."

"Please, don't say that," Samus said. "Those Shadow Nightmares are a pain to deal with. I don't need to get a reminder about them again."

Tails nodded. "This is getting even more dangerous with every move they make. We have to stay ahead of them or else our world could be eventually destroyed."

Knuckled grunted at this and kicked the floor one time. "Damn those Gaia Guardians. The moment we need them more is the same moment they have to go hiding around all over the continents as normal people."

"That's why we have to get a move on," Tails said. "Guys, I'm sorry to be asking much, but we have to use all the help possible to find them all before the army attacks."

Master Hand grunted a bit and began pacing around while floating. "Okay, things here are a bit complicated... There's the fact that Tabuu could attack another world anytime, and the fact that I just can't slow down the time for you to do everything you can."

"Wait, what's that about slowing down the time?" Amy asked.

Master Hand stopped floating and looked at them. "Well, you see, when a group goes to a world, I normally use my powers to slow down the time in this universe so when you are there the days don't pass by here. When I mean I slow down the time in this universe, I mean that I affect only time in this mansion. Thanks to this, I can let you stay in a world for as long as you want, providing you don't take too much time in there, though."

Luigi shrugged at this. "F-for that, I eat 7 times in a day here..."

Kirby looked pleased at this.

"Yeah, I know I mess up with the very fabric of time, but hey, it helps us to do a lot in a single day."

Tails wanted to know more about the hand, but then again, the topic about his world was more important to him. "If you can do that, can you slow down the time here so we have enough time to complete our tasks?"

"That...I'm not sure," Master Hand said. "I mean, didn't you say that your whole world was split apart?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that putting all of us to explore every single corner of the continents to find the guardians?"

Tails remained silent. "...Yeah..."

Master Hand sighed. "There's our problem. Even though the temples were warped away from their original places, we don't know for sure if their guardians are around those locations."

Tails looked up at him. "Still, we have to give it a try. The time's running out as we speak as well!"

"If you forgot, I don't stay up all night to slow down the time here without taking a break," Master Hand pointed out. "I'm an individual who needs his break time and sleep, you know. If I don't get my sleep, my powers could get screwed up, and I could 'crash' down and become useless."

Knuckles frowned at this. "So much for the Hand of Creation..."

The hand grunted a bit at this. "Anyhow, we need ideas from everyone to get over this problem. Any ideas from our diverse team of humans, anthros, and whatever you are?"

The only response the hand got was silence from everyone.

"...Come ON Mewtwo, your super intelligent brain should've gotten an idea by now. Please, give me a hand, will you?"

Mewtwo noticed that everyone was looking at him. The Psychic Pokémon sighed. "Since you're asking to me, I think that we should make groups like we have done before in the past. You remember, right? We used to make teams when the army targeted 2 or 3 worlds at the same time."

Roy slapped his forehead. "Oh god, that was so obvious to think of, and we didn't even think about it."

Mewtwo looked away. "It seems this is the best alternative..."

The hand nodded. "I feel so stupid for not thinking about that plan before. Alright then, we're going to exploit that idea to resolve this nicely, okay?"

"Alrighty," Amy said. "Sounds very good to me."

Tails sighed in relief. "Okay, now we have to decide who to take with us. Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Knuckles will have to come because they know our world." He put a finger on his forehead. "Since it's very late, I guess it'd be better if we started this tomorrow morning for the reasons we just discussed."

Master Hand nodded. "That's the best thing to do for now," he said before looking at the Smashers. "We have to rest for the night and wait what'll happen tomorrow. If Tabuu targets the world, we're going to be doing our thing as always, okay?"

"I guess that's right..." Peach said worried.

The hand nodded again. "Well then, everyone, rest for the night and be prepared for tomorrow. We need to have Smashers ready to go with this group to hasten this plan. I HOPE to see some of you going."

Crazy Hand, behind the counter, banged a hammer on it that the counter eventually broke. "Court adjourned!" he yelled.

"And please, ignore him if you can..." Master Hand sighed and snapped his fingers to repair the counter through magic. "Hmm-hm, hand magic is that useful."

Everyone soon started to get off their seats or stretch their arms up with some yawns before they all began to leave the command room. Tails, Cream, Cheese, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles were walking close to each other to the hallway.

"We're gonna hit our world tomorrow, then?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles nodded. "Since we come from there, we know very much about the continents and the cities."

"I think that's a very good idea," Cream said smiling a bit. "We can be everyone's guide to know about the different cities in our world."

Amy looked up. "That reminds me; don't we have some of our friends looking into the matter in our world as well? You know, like Team Chaotix."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "The last thing I expect them to do right is opening their door out of their office," he joked. "If they can get that far enough, I'll tell them they're helpful."

Tails looked away. "Maybe I should try to ask them all to tell us about what they found..." he muttered.

Chip flew to Sonic and shook his furred left shoulder. "Hey, Sonic, do you think the temples are linked with me?"

Sonic let out a long yawn as they all left the room. "Look, Chip, we'll see about that at a later time. For now, I wanna faint on a bed and sleep for the night."

Chip looked at Sonic's back. "Wait for it..."

"What is that?"

Out of a cue, Dark Super Sonic's spirit sprouted out from Sonic's back and laughed maniacally, opening his arms to the ceiling. "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!!! ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER CHANCE TO OWN YOU UP TO THE A(BEEP), MOTHERF(BEEP)!"

Everyone stopped walking and looked at the maleficent cursed spirit. "That guy again..." Knuckles muttered with a sigh. "Sonic, can't you do something to him so he doesn't curse out in front of little girls like Cream?"

Cream looked at Knuckles. "I know what those bad words are, but I am never going to say them because they're so foul and bad."

Sonic grumbled and turned around, recalling that Chris didn't leave the command room. "You guys go ahead to your rooms. I'm going to ask Chris to do me a favor and shut this bastard up before I stay with any longer. You DON'T know how bothersome this guy is..."

Knuckles saw that the spirit pointed at him. "Heheheheheheh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT'S THE KNUCKLEHEAD! I'M SO GONNA F(BEEP) HIM DOWN BUT SO F(BEEP)NG GOOD, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The echidna rolled his eyes and walked away. "Oh, please do get rid of him before I become an exorcist..." He grunted very annoyed.

Amy patted Cream's shoulder to get her attention. "Just leave him along, okay, Cream? Let's go to sleep."

Cream smiled a bit as Cheese rested on her head. "Yes, thanks, Amy."

"FOOLS, DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM ME THAT EASILY!" DSS proclaimed. "BE PEACHES AND LET ME RIP YOUR HEADS OFF SO I CAN BATHE IN YOUR SUCCULENT BLOOD!!!"

Amy looked bored. "Yes, I dare you to do that," she said sarcastically before she, Cream, and Cheese walked away to the left where they all left.

Sonic looked up at Chip. "Let's go to Chris."

The imp nodded before they both turned back to the command room. Once Sonic and Chip came into the room, they found Chris and Lucario to the left side. "Hey, there he is," Chip said. "Chris!"

Sonic tilted his head confused. "...Something's wrong with him..." he muttered.

The imp and the werehog found out that the World Traveler wasn't moving at all. In fact, it looked like Chris was totally paralyzed by something that happened before. Lucario looked worried as he waved his left hand in front of the shocked scholar. "Chris?" Lucario said worried. "Chris, are you feeling fine?"

"..." No response came from Chris.

"Chris?" Lucario repeated. "Please, say something to me. You're starting to make me worried."

"..."

Sonic and Chip walked to the duo, and the werehog pointed a finger at Chris. "Hey, Chris, guess who's on my back tonight?"

"THE LORD OF ALL THAT IS AWESOME!!!" DSS responded for the silent scholar.

Sonic snarled at the spirit. "So yeah, you know the roll."

"..." Chris only kept staring forward without responding.

Chip moved to the front of Chris's face and waved his hands in front of him. "Chris, hey, can you see me?" He began to spin clockwise in the air. "Heheheh, look, I'm defying gravity and spinning at the same time, how cool is this to you?"

"..."

Chip stopped and looked at the scholar upside-down. "Chris?"

At that moment, Master Hand came to them and looked at the scholar. "What is it now? Why is Chris the new kind of Smasher that likes to be a statue?"

Lucario glared at the hand. "Please, don't say that to him. I can't understand why he's like this at all. I tried to read his mind, but it's entirely blank..." He looked worried at his trainer. "I'm really worried about his state."

Master Hand thought for a moment before tapping Chris's head. The Aura Pokémon growled a bit at him. "Geez, don't look at me like that," Master Hand said. "You have to agree that he looks out of it now."

Lucario grunted and shook Chris a bit by his left shoulder. "Chris, please, come back to your senses now."

The scholar suddenly blinked and looked around. Chris gulped a bit and looked at them. "I-I am not crazy, right?" he asked. "I-I mean, I did not see ghosts, right?"

Master Hand looked at everyone. "Are you kidding me? You were like this just because you thought you saw a ghost?"

Chris nodded. "Y-yes…you did see what happened the night we were in Peterny, right?"

"I'm afraid to tell you this…wait, I'm not actually afraid, but we didn't see anything," Master Hand pointed out. "Last time I remember, Falco came back earlier than you and said that he didn't want anyone to look at you from here because Fox himself said so. So, I listened and did his favor."

"…Nobody saw what I saw there?" Chris asked.

"…No…"

The scholar frowned. "Oh well… I may be crazy about what I saw… (Actually…Wolf told me not to tell anybody this or else he would kill me… I better stay silent about that…)"

"AHEM," Sonic coughed annoyed. "Chris, I'm REALLY sorry to be interrupting this sweet conversation, but I need you to teach Mr. Shadow A(beep) a lesson and leave me alone."

Chris looked at the shadow. It looked like DSS cracked his intangible fists. "MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NOW YOU ARE MINE, LITTLE NERDY BRAT!!!"

"…" Chris looked bored. "You know, I am quite glad that I am back to my old self because of you…" He changed to his Beastmaster job and prepared his whip. "However, I get so sick when I see your stupid face. So, go away now."

"NEVER!"

"Say it to my whip and see if it listens to you. Oh, that's right; my whip doesn't have a life." The beastmaster swiftly whipped Sonic's forehead, and the shadow began to feel that he was being pulled back into the werehog.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!" DSS yelled before he soon disappeared by retreating back into the werehog's back.

Chris grunted as he tied his whip back to his belt. "I swear that the spirit is making me sick already…"

"I wanna get him off my mind," Sonic said. "I want to make him go away as well as the damn werehog transformation."

"What can we do with that, though…" Master Hand trailed off. "Okay, Chris seems fine now. If you'd excuse m-"

"W-wait!" Chris suddenly yelled before the hand could teleport away. "I-I have to ask you a very, but very important favor first!"

Master Hand looked at him. "What would that be?"

"W-well…" Chris looked away. "…Thing is…my parents are coming home…and I haven't gotten back to my home…" He folded his arms behind his back. "I was wondering if I could go back and wait for them because they're going to arrive the next day after my birthday…"

The hand looked away. "Chris, why are you asking that now that we're having issues here?"

Chris bowed to him. "I-I'm so sorry to be asking this all of a sudden, but Fox reminded me that I was waiting for them before all of this happened…" He looked down a bit. "…And…I really want to see my parents again… I want to go back and see them as soon as possible…"

Master Hand turned to him. "Well…I don't know if I should let you go. We have very important tasks to do tomorrow."

"Please, I want to back home for just a day," Chris said. "Can you slow down the time here so I can have a few more days with them, please?"

"You're asking too much."

Lucario grunted. "He hasn't seen his parents in a long time. Why can't you understand that? Chris wishes to see them as soon as he can."

"Stop, Lucario…" Chris trailed off. "I can handle this pretty well… I've been living most of my life waiting for them to come and see me, anyway…"

The Hand of Creation thought for a moment. "I can't just have you mope around like this… Ugh, fine, I'm letting you go."

Chris looked up worried. "But what about the tasks we have to do here?"

"It's just a few days," Master Hand said. "It's not going to be that hard to slow down the time here so you can enjoy the time with your parents."

The beastmaster looked away. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm trying to keep the morale of the Smashers as high as possible here," Master Hand explained. "If I let someone be like you are now, it's going to make me feel guilty. I hate to see certain people down…scratch 'certain' and put 'everyone' there."

"…" Chris smiled a bit. "Thank you so much…really…"

"Aah, what can I say? If I want to look benevolent, I need to give the best of the best to my fellow people of the mansion. That way, I look less of a jerk."

Lucario nodded. "Thanks for granting Chris what he wants."

Master Hand snapped his fingers and opened the portal to Chris's world. "Okay, you can go in there and come back once you're done with your family reunion. I'm going to give you a deadline of 3 days until then. Try to send me some sort of message telling that you're coming back."

"I'll try to," Chris said a little bit excited. "I can't hardly wait to see my parents again…"

"Hey, wait," Sonic interrupted. "What are your parents' names, Chris?"

Chris looked at him. "My father's name is Alfonse, and my mother's name is Elena."

"Alfonse and Elena, huh?"

"Yes, those are their names," Chris said before chuckling. "Well, I have to go now. Bye!" The beastmaster promptly ran into the portal.

Lucario looked at Master Hand. "If you'd excuse me, I have to go as well."

"Why you?" Chip asked.

Lucario looked at Chip. "I haven't seen Chris's parents in person, but since they don't know anything about me, I'll have to hide and see them from a safe spot." He closed his eyes. "I want to see how excited Chris gets when they come home…"

"Go on, then," Master Hand said. "And please, don't let them spot you. The last thing we need is his parents knowing about what Chris has done in secret all this time."

"They won't see me," Lucario reassured him. "If they manage to see me, I'll use Extremespeed to get away." He looked at the portal. "I have to go. Until then, see you later."

The trio watched as the Aura Pokémon ran into the portal before it could disappear. Once the portal disappeared, the hand looked at Sonic and Chip. "Time to rest to your rooms."

Chip nodded. "Before I do that, I'm gonna get a midnight snack in the fridge," he said sticking out his tongue before he flew away to the kitchen.

Sonic looked at the hand. "You know, something about Chip seems weird…"

"I know," Master Hand said. "That little imp is just too mysterious…"

"Yeah, I mean, he managed to open those doors at the temple an-"

"You know what? I need to sleep now. I seriously need to lie down and sleep," Master Hand interrupted with a yawn. "Sorry if you wanted to talk about something."

"Meh, it's okay," Sonic said as he lifted his shoulders a bit. "I want to sleep and wait for my old self to come back tomorrow…" The werehog began to walk away to the hallway with Chip tagging along.

Once they both stepped in the hallway, they were ignored by Fox and Falco. For some odd reason, both of them had charred spots all over their clothes, and there were several burn marks all over their faces.

Sonic and Chip looked at each other and blinked confused before they walked to Sonic's room, not wanting to talk to the seemingly angry Star Fox members.

And with that, everyone went to their rooms…

Real World
Chris's Room

October 4 - Morning - Saturday

Four days had passed ever since Chris and Lucario returned to the real world. The teenager was sleeping calmly during the bright morning of Saturday. When it was Wednesday, Chris was delighted once his parents were waiting for them at home after he had come from school. Lucario had hide away in some trees of the backyard of the house once he had sensed the auras of Chris's parents. Right now, the Aura Pokémon was hiding inside the closer, under some clothes to prevent Chris's parents from finding him.

Lucario looked between the small openings of the closet to his sleeping trainer. It was 7:30 AM in the morning. Lucario had woken up after he saw the door to the room opening to see Chris's parents coming in. The Aura Pokémon narrowed his eyes and listened to the adults. They looked like they were about to leave.

"Chris…" Elena's voice softly called. Lucario could barely see the faces of the adults from where he was kneeling down. "Chris, wake up."

The teenager yawned a bit before he slowly turned his head to the right to smile at his parents. "Dad…mom…good morning…"

If only Lucario could stand up, he would have gotten a better perspective. He was only able to see the black jackets that Chris's parents wore. Also, Lucario was able to see Alfonse's black hair and Elena's long blond hair.

"Chris, we have to leave early now," Alfonse's voice said. "You remember what we told you a few days ago, right?"

"Yes…" Chris muttered. "You needed to go soon this morning…"

"We're sorry if we have to leave right now, but it's our job to work around the country," Elena said. "Besides, they need us to finish the project to restore the previous business plan that they need to develop."

"Don't worry…" Chris said yawning. "I'm going to be just fine…"

Lucario saw as Alfonse patted Chris's right shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll come here more often. Elena and I found the most suitable time to come here. We tried so hard, but we could only compress all the time enough to make 20 visits here during each year."

Chris smiled and chuckled. "That's very good, though. I wouldn't want to make you drop out from your jobs…"

Elena chuckled heartily and rubbed Chris's messy hair a bit. "Well then, we have to leave now. The next flight to Minnesota is going to miss us if we don't hurry. We have 30 minutes to arrive at the airport."

Lucario's eyes widened after he heard the teen sniffing a bit.

"Thanks for coming here…" Chris muttered.

Alfonse rubbed Chris's shoulder a bit. "We'll always call you when you want to, Chris. If there's something that you need…"

"No, it's okay…" Chris sniffed. "Everything's just fine…"

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure..." Chris chuckled. "It's alright, believe me."

Lucario watched as Elena bent down to kiss his son on his right cheek. She rubbed his forehead a bit. "Just don't make us feel worried about you, okay?"

Chris looked happy. "Okay, I understand..." He rubbed his left eye a bit. "Please, just go. I'll be just fine here by myself. My aunt still drops by to make food for me, and she takes care of me a little bit less now that I'm becoming mature."

"That's right," Alfonse said with a chuckle. "We're glad you grew up to be such a fine young man."

Chris blushed. 'D-dad, don't say that, please..."

Alfonse and Elena chuckled to each other, Lucario making a happy expression. "Well, time's running out. We have to leave as soon as we can," Alfonse said. "You're going to be fine by yourself, right?"

"(You could say I have a lot of people who look after me...)" Chris thought chuckling. "Of course I'll be fine. Don't worry too much."

Elena looked at Alfonse. "He seems very sure of himself."

"Yes, he looks like that," Alfonse said. "You know, I've been noticing that you've changed a lot during these years, Chris."

Chris blushed and looked away. "Y-you could say I'm starting to be mature enough..."

"Hahahaha, I think you're right," Alfonse said. "We're proud to see you've been growing up just fine."

The teenager chuckled. "You could say I learn to be like this from other people I know."

"Maybe," Elena said before she looked at the clock. "Alfonse, it's getting a bit late now."

Alfonse looked at the clock on the left wall of the room. "Oh no, you're right," he said before they both looked back at Chris. "Well, we have to get going on or else we'll be stuck here until the next flight arrives."

Chris nodded a few times. "Okay, get going now."

Alfonse patted Chris's right shoulder a bit. "Well, good bye for now."

"We'll call you once we arrive at Minnesota, okay?"

Chris chuckled. "Okay, I'll be waiting... Good bye...dad...mom..."

Lucario watched as Chris's parents said their good byes to him before they left and closed the door behind them. The Aura Pokémon used his aura to make sure that Chris's parents were leaving through the main door. Once he heard the door closing with a lock from outside, Lucario stood up and opened the door of the closet, just in time to see Chris shedding some tears. "Chris?" Lucario asked worried before he knelt down close to his trainer.

"I-I'm fine..." Chris sniffed a bit. "I-I'm just so happy to have spent all these few days with my parents, Lucario..."

Lucario smiled a bit at this and approached his face closer to Chris to lick his tears. The World Traveler chuckled heartily as his Aura Pokémon began to move down to lick his right cheek.

"L-Lucario, you're taking advantage of this!" Chris said between chuckles. "S-stop it!"

Lucario pulled his head back and lay it down close to Chris. The Aura Pokémon made a happy expression and growled happily.

Chris looked at Lucario and scratched his head between his ears. "T-thank you, Lucario... I just couldn't be happier with you..."

"Guuuuuuuoooooooorrrrrrrrgggh..." Lucario growled happily before Chris stopped scratching his head.

The World Traveler slowly got off from his bed and sat down while Lucario stood up. Chris joined his hands on his legs and looked down. "...You know, Lucario..."

"Yes?" Lucario began.

"After I spent these days with my parents..." Chris looked up at Lucario. "...They're giving me more of a reason to protect this world..."

"Protect this world from the Subspace Army?"

Chris nodded. "Yes...Tabuu's goal is to get here, right? I just can't let him invade my world and cause chaos as he pleases... My world is pretty much at total peace, and I wouldn't want to let the army come here at all..." He looked serious. "My world is unaware of my actions and from you."

Lucario thought for a moment. "Then...what do you want to do?"

Chris looked outside through the right window. "I want to protect this world even more than before...for the sake of my parents..." He looked embarrassed. "Even though they don't know of you or what I've been doing all this time, it's the best thing I can do for the time being. If I were to tell them, they'd get very worried and...I don't know what could happen..."

"It'd be very bad..." Lucario said. "Your parents are a total different story..."

"...But...let's not think about that, okay?" Chris asked before he smiled a bit. "I've been so happy for these few days, Lucario. Are you sure that you're feeling fine after hiding so many times?"

Lucario blushed a bit and looked away. "Well, you forgot to give me something to eat when I was left outside... I didn't eat for a whole day because your parents were walking in the house."

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, but I was so distracted by them...not to mention school is still being a pain to balance everything I have to do."

"No, it's okay," Lucario said. "I was so glad when I saw you laughing with your parents. That made it all up for me."

The World Traveler stared at Lucario. "You know, that was a little bit..."

Lucario shook his head. "Chris, my task in life is to make you happy," he said, Chris opening his mouth a bit. "I always try to see you laugh when I can..."

Chris blushed a bit. "O-oh, Lucario, when you say that, I know for sure you're being serious about it..."

"I ask you, is it bad?" Lucario asked. "Is it bad for you to be happy all the time?"

"...No, it isn't..."

Lucario knelt down and looked up directly at Chris. "Also, I try my best to make you feel proud of me," he said. "I want to be the strongest Pokémon of your team and probably become the strongest in history."

"B-but my team will always be made up by you..." Chris said.

"That's why all the effort is directed to me," Lucario said before he glowed with aura, his eyes turning a shade of yellow. "With the bloodline of my family, my power could be unlimited." He stood up and looked down at Chris. "I shall be forever your guardian, Chris. I'll use my power to protect you, and make you proud of me."

The World Traveler watched as the Aura Pokémon kept burning intensely with his aura. The appendages behind Lucario's head floated slowly while Lucario rested his fists on his hips. Chris thought that Lucario was trying to look tough for him. The World Traveler blinked a few times and smiled a bit at Lucario. "...Thank you very much, Lucario..." He stood up and hugged his Pokémon by his left side, Lucario looking down at him. "I'm glad to have a very special Pokémon like you."

Lucario growled deeply as he put his left arm around Chris's back, his aura covering Chris.

Chris chuckled and closed his eyes. "I'm so lucky to have the biggest, strongest Lucario in history..."

"Biggest?" Lucario repeated.

Chris looked up at him. "Normally, all Lucarios reach 4 feet, but when comparing to them, you're a giant. I mean, you surpass 6 feet, and even you surpass me that I can only reach your snout."

"..." Lucario closed his eyes and growled happily.

The World Traveler leaned his face against Lucario's face. "Thanks a lot for making me get so proud of you, Lucario..." He looked up at him from the corner of his eyes. "I have the strongest Lucario the world has even seen for that matter..."

"Guuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooorgh..."

"Nobody can beat you in the strength area," Chris said. "Your brute force tears up the ground and you can even cause an earthquake when you want to. Better yet, you're very different than other Lucarios, and that makes you the best one out there."

"...Thank you..." Lucario muttered.

Chris chuckled heartily before they both stopped hugging each other, Lucario's aura slowly vanishing. "Well, it's weekend, and I need to take a bath."

"Me too."

"..." Chris thought for a moment. "...W-wait, didn't we forget something?"

"What?"

"..." Chris's eyes widened. "I-it's been 4 days since we left the mansion! We didn't report back to Master Hand!"

Lucario looked at the Wii behind him. "You're right..."

"O-oh no, we're so screwed now," Chris said gulping. "W-we have to go back now!"

"What about the bath?"

"W-well, let's each take a bath but quick!" Chris said before he ran out from the room.

Lucario looked around the empty room before he looked at himself with a mirror that was leaning against the south wall. His gaze was directed at his arms and body. "...Now that I think about it, I look very skinny... My chest and my shoulders look bulky enough, but everything else is under my expectations..." he muttered. "I don't even look like I possess brute force..." Lucario crossed his arms. "Maybe I should workout harder to get more muscle mass? I think I can pull it off in a span of 2 months, and I bet Chris would be fairly impressed if I had a-"

"You're not turning into a bodybuilder, Lucario!" Chris yelled from the hallway.

Lucario blinked a few times. "B-but if I-"

"I know you'll get what you want to have in a few days, but you're surely going to go over the top with your workout that you'll become a huge Lucario, and I don't want to have a 9 feet tall Lucario!"

"T-that would make our fight with the army easier..."

"Even so, you'll use stickers to get stronger! We're sticking to them!"

Lucario grunted silently at this before he heard the shower turning on, followed up by a door closing.

"Sticking to the stickers..." Chris muttered with a chuckle.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

Soon, a portal opened up, and Chris (in his Beastmaster job that was triggered automatically) and Lucario came running out from it before it disappeared in thin air. "W-we're here, sorry to be so late! W-we didn't want to come at a time like this but my parents kept distracting me s-"

"Chris, there's no one here."

The World Traveler looked around. There were no souls, or people, found in the silence of the room. Chris looked behind him, and Crazy Hand wasn't behind the counter. "I-I thought everyone was here..." he muttered."...Where'd everyone go?"

Lucario looked at the hallway where Mario walked nearby. The plumber, upon turning to look at them, walked into the command room. "Oh, it's you," Mario said. "Are you done in your world, Chris?"

"U-um, yes..." Chris said confused. "W-where's everyone? I thought they were going to be here..."

"You 2 came very late," Mario pointed out. "Tails and the others are already gone. They left the mansion just yesterday."

"...They did?"

"Yes."

Lucario looked confused. "But, wait, nothing happened with Tabuu?"

Mario raised an eyebrow and looked confused. "It's weird, but Tabuu didn't make any moves yesterday. It was pretty much so calm...that it felt so odd as well."

Chris blinked confused at this fact. "You're not lying, right?"

Mario shook his head. "I wouldn't lie about that."

Chris looked around. "So...Tails left...with who?"

Mario raised some fingers. "Well, Tails left with Amy, Cream, Cheese, Sonic, Chip, Yoshi, Marth, Ike, Mewtwo, DK, and Diddy," he explained as he closed his hands to raise one more finger for Diddy. "After they all left, we all waited for Tabuu to make a move...but...we just wasted time and remained here until afternoon..."

"...Wow…"

"...I know, it's very odd, but that's what happened," Mario said. "Master Hand then said that Tabuu surely is plotting something. However, some of us decided to suggest resting for the time being. We all agreed to make everything easier by having to rest until Tabuu made an attack."

"Everyone is resting and having a normal day?" Lucario asked.

"Yes," Mario said. "Master Hand is not even using his hand magic to slow down the time anymore. He said he'd rather prefer to have a break to recover his energies. Also, since we haven't had any alarms, everyone has been very pleased with that fact that it looks like the mansion returned to its usual lifestyle during the Melee Tournament." He smiled a bit. "In a few words, everything's very peaceful and enjoyable. Peach took her time to go to the garden in the back of the mansion to relax with Zelda."

"..." Chris closed his eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"..." Chris smiled relieved. "This is...just like a dream coming true..."

Mario tilted his head. "When you put it that way, I think so too. Personally, I like to see everyone having a good time instead of fighting all the time...even though they can still issue matches against each other. Other than that, I can live up with this just fine."

"So we can do anything we want to do?" Lucario asked.

Mario nodded. "Yes, you're free to do whatever you want to do. Actually, would you mind if you tag along with me to visit the post office of Parakarry? He came early today saying that he wanted to show me something very important that he made up."

Chris hummed happily. "You mean going with you? I wouldn't mind."

"Then I'm coming as well," Lucario said.

Mario nodded. "Good, I'm also asking some people to tag along as well. I want to be sure about going outside," he said. "Parakarry told me that monsters roam the area sometimes."

"We're going to be fine," Chris said. "Okay, let's start this."

"Oh, wait," Mario began, "There's a message Sonic wanted me to tell you."

"What message is that?"

The plumber looked away embarrassed. "You know how to stop that spirit from coming from Sonic's back, right? You see, Sonic came back during the night as a werehog and..."

"...Oh no..."

Mario looked at him and nodded. "Yes...Sonic looked so angry when he found out you didn't return." He pointed down at some big cracks under their feet. "When Sonic found out you weren't here, he got in a fit of rage and started to pound the floor madly before Master Hand grabbed him and tossed him back to his world."

Chris looked ashamed. "I hope he's not angry anymore..."

"Sonic will understand," Mario reassured Chris. "Let's forget about that and go to Parakarry, okay?"

"...Oh well," Chris said. "Please lead the way."

Outside

"At first, I thought the group was fine, but then..." Chris looked to a person as the group walked towards the south. "Why did you want to come?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "I have nothing better to do in the mansion."

"Are you really sure of that?"

"Maybe."

Chris shrugged.

The group that Mario made up after Chris and Lucario were Luigi, Link, Toon Link (who wanted to take a break from his bow training), Olimar, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Wolf. The Smashers were all walking towards the south. As they walked to the post office across the other side of the big hill, they saw the clouds that were supposed to be on the ruins of Nintendo City.

Olimar frowned. "The city...it's still in ruins, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Link said. "It's strange, you know. Those clouds have been there for a long time now."

"They have been there this whole time, then?" Toon Link asked.

"Yes," Mario responded. "It's just as if the city will forever look grim. I don't know, but I think it's just a mere coincidence that it stays like that."

"What happened in there is forever going to perturb me..." Meta Knight muttered. "It's proof that we were powerless to stop the unavoidable destruction of the city."

"That's a sad thing to say..." Chris muttered.

"It's reality," Meta Knight said. "If you lived what I've been living, you'd get an idea of what I went through some years ago."

Kirby looked down. "I miss the restaurants..."

Meta Knight looked away. "Kirby..." he muttered with a sigh.

"Who cares about some ruins?" Wolf asked. "Care about when somebody bothers to rebuild the entire city."

"That's not a bad idea," Mario commented as they began to go up on the slope of the hill. "Maybe I could contact some friends and ask them to repair the city?"

"I doubt they can repair a city like the one we're talking about," Link said. "It'd take an eternity to do that..."

Chris looked away. "That's a really sad fact..."

At that moment, winds from the west swept the grass in silence as they walked up the slope. Suddenly, a red ribbon came from the air and stuck itself on Wolf's right shoulder spiked pad. The lupine looked at the ribbon and raised an eyebrow. The red ribbon didn't look normal since it had some spores on the ends of it. "Who's letting go of this?" he muttered annoyed before he tossed it aside.

Kirby saw the ribbon and jumped to catch it. The Star Warrior held it in front of him before he put it under his mouth, humming happily.

The group managed to cross over the hill before they walked down to it, finding the post office some feet away from the hill. The group eventually reached the counter of the establishment where Parakarry stood up from behind it. "Oh, hi there, everyone!" he greeted enthusiastically. "How've you been? I hope you've stopped the Subspace Army from doing whatever they do."

Mario nodded. "It's been okay lately."

"Glad to hear that," Parakarry said happily.

Toon Link peeked inside the office. "Hey, where's Quil?"

"Quil is on an errand to deliver some mail," Parakarry explained. "Postman is doing the same thing. I was left behind to make sure the post office would be fine." He made a happy expression. "And when I resumed what I had planned, I finally came up to do it!"

"You look very enthusiastic today. Did something happen?" Mario asked.

Parakarry nodded. "As a matter of fact, something I recently made up a few days ago made me get all fired up," he explained. "You see...surprisingly, there have been people around these parts."

"Really?" Olimar asked. "I thought there was nobody around..."

"Thing is, they come from all directions," Parakarry explained. "For example, they come out from the forest."

"And what does this have to do with the random people?" Link asked.

Parakarry chuckled. "Well, I've noticed that many of them want to do something that they wish to do but can't find the solution easily..." He looked worried. "I hate to see people with problems that I want to give them a hand, you know? But then, I recalled that I have a job to deliver mail to the nearby villages and towns around the area." He looked happy. "So then, I came up with this original idea!"

The Smashers watched as the Paratroopa ducked to grab some nuts and a hammer, together with a big billboard that he took out to the front side of the post office. Parakarry, at an insane speed, began to set the billboard by banging nuts all over it. This fast action started to make a lot of dust before everyone was covered by it. The Smashers coughed a couple of times before the dust cleared out, looking at what Parakarry had done.

Before them, Parakarry floated, looking please with crossed arms, in front of the billboard that had a big title in white and green letters on the top of it with several papers that had different purposes. The Paratroopa held out his left hand at the billboard. "I'd like you to receive the opening inauguration of the 'Aid People and Give Them a Hand Center' of the Wings Post Office!"

"...Seriously?" Link asked.

Parakarry raised an eyebrow. "What is seriously?"

"You made the name yourself?"

"Well, yeah, I did," Parakarry said embarrassed. "At first, I thought about an almighty name, but then I decided to use this one." He chuckled a bit. "Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"...Not really," Toon Link commented.

Parakarry looked bored. "Oh, what do you know," he muttered. "Anyhow, I'd like you guys to make good use of the APGTHC."

"...Wait, us?" Link asked.

"That's right," Parakarry said. "You see, remember I said I have my hands full with my job? Well, I thought that you guys would like help other people out in their problems."

Wolf crossed his arms. "You basically made this so we could do the job for you?"

"Um, well, yeah...but maybe other people could be willing to help others." Parakarry shook his head. "However, I'm telling you that this will prove very useful if you know what to do." He turned around and pointed at a paper. "See all these documents stamped against the billboard? These are all requests that people put up. C'mon, take a closer look to this one I'm pointing at."

The Smashers looked at each other before they walked closer to see the billboard. Upon taking a closer look, they stared at the request that the Paratroopa pointed at.

Find My Friend's Memento

The memento of my late friend flew away from my hands! I don't know what to do to find it. It's a very important memento I need to have every single minute of my life, but what's the point of that since I lost it? Please, anyone, I need to find it! I'll give a reward or 2 to the guy or girl who finds it! As soon as I can, I'll come right here to meet my lifesavers!

From: The Maiden of Madain Sari.

"See?" Parakarry asked. "The girl that came here a few days ago looked so worried. When I told her that she could put up a request, she didn't reply and wrote the request in 3 seconds before she ran off into the forest to the east, just behind the post office." He shook his head. "Enough about the girl, though. Did you see how desperate this request sounds?"

Mario rubbed his chin a bit. "It sounds desperate..."

"Also," Parakarry continued as he pointed at another request, "here's another one from another girl that...sort of scared me when she came a few days ago as well..."

Investigate the Mysterious Cliff of the East

I've found myself standing in a very different area that I didn't know it existed. However, when I walked around, I found a mysterious place where I sensed mana flowing out. I'm sure I can go in there by myself, but I'm afraid of going alone unprepared due to the fact I don't know the area very much. I would like to have some people, preferably fighters or adventurers, to join me and investigate the source of mana from the cliff. If you accept my request, please come prepared to the eastern expanse of mountains.

I'd really appreciate anyone's help.

From: The Little Girl of Ozette

Olimar tilted his head. "Why is it that the people that request help like to write titles like those?"

"Well, it keeps them safe from others to know who they are," Parakarry said. "This is a Safe-and-Hide system that helps them to be found by, for example, bad people. If you guys want to accept the request, you should try to meet up with the person in need where they want you to go." He showed them a wing stamp. "If you DO accept the request, take this to the person in need to indicate that you're the ones who want to help them out."

"Is there something good for us if we help them?" Luigi asked.

"Of course," Parakarry said. "They'll give you rewards for helping them as long as you do a good job." He looked happy. "Maybe this will even let you guys get good freebies that you can't find anywhere else."

Chris thought for a moment. "Help others to get freebies..."

"It doesn't sound so bad," Mario commented. "Who knows, maybe this can help us in some way or another."

"I don't like to do this kind of job, but maybe it could have challenges," Meta Knight commented. "I wouldn't mind exploring the surroundings either."

"It gives you the feeling of a mercenary," Lucario said.

Parakarry silently flew behind the counter and joined his hands on the table. "So, you guys want to help others in need? It could give you good propaganda for the mansion and its people."

"Master Hand surely would like that," Mario said. "Besides, it gives us a chance to explore this universe."

"I don't know what you're talking about universes but whatever," Parakarry said before smiling. "So then, try to give a hand or ten to these unfortunate people."

Link looked at everyone. "Why don't we go ahead? While I tried to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, I used to help other people with their problems, and they always had very good rewards."

Chris felt that his DS was shaking a bit. The World Traveler took it out to see Kawashima. "Yes?" Chris asked.

"This is a very good opportunity to gather side-quests," Kawashima said. "If you can, try to help everyone who puts requests in the billboard so they resolve their problems."

"Does this have to be something mandatory?"

"You want to make future battles easier or not? I bet the troubled people have very special items that you could use with everyone."

Chris thought for a moment. "...Okay, I'll accept to do them."

Kawashima chuckled. "Since we're doing side-quests now, do you want to see the side-quest you have yet to complete?"

"Do I have some left? Oh well, show me."

"Right away..." Kawashima disappeared from the upper screen before he appeared on the lower screen, taking out a list of side-quests on a virtual page. "Done, here's the list of all the side-quests you've finished, along with the ones you have yet to clear."

-Seekers of the Truth of the Subspace - In-Progress.

-Wanted: Musicians - Pending.

-Wanted: Laharl - Cleared!

-Wanted: Repede - Cleared!

-Wanted: Bugs – In-Progress

-The Dojo - Pending.

-Sonic, Chris's real pain? - In-Progress.

"You have a lot of work ahead of you," Kawashima said chuckling. "Give it your best, okay?"

"Yes, thanks for reminding me about what I have to do," Chris said.

Toon Link got closer to the billboard and narrowed his eyes at the first request. "…This one seems easy enough," he said as he pointed at the request from the maiden of Madain Sari.

"Oh well," Mario said as he lifted his shoulders a bit. "It's easy to find a lost item with how many of us are now."

Wolf rolled his eye. "It's always a pathetic job to start with…but I don't mind either way."

Link turned to Parakarry. "We'd like to accept the first request."

Parakarry nodded and held out a wing sticker. "Okay, you guys need to rendezvous with the little girl and show her the wing sticker to confirm you want to help her."

"A little girl…" Olimar muttered. "How does she look like?"

Parakarry looked up to the sky. "Well, this little girl looked cute to me. She had blue hair, wore a pale yellow ribbon on her head, and she wore 3 different clothes garments. In other words, she could stick out as a sore thumb in a crowd because of the fact she…has a small horn on her forehead."

"A small horn on…her forehead?" Luigi gulped. "S-she's not a demon, right?"

"Oh no, she's good." Parakarry nodded. "Hope you guys do a good work! Effort pays off if you work accordingly, as they say."

Meta Knight looked around. "...You said she was going to come here, right?"

Parakarry looked embarrassed from the counter at the billboard. "Whoops, it seems she forgot to write the place to meet you..." He raised his hands a bit and frowned. "You'll have to wait until she comes back."

Luigi noticed that Parakarry was shifting his eyes many times. The green plumber raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

Parakarry blushed. "O-oh, nothing wrong..." He looked at the ruins of the city many feet away from the post office. "It's just that I met a pretty gal today...and she went to see the city by herself a few minutes ago."

"A pretty gal?" Olimar asked.

Parakarry nodded many times. "Yep, she's one heck of a pretty Koopa Troopa I've ever seen before! And man, does she have an explosive personality that makes me flip in the air like crazy!"

Mario smiled a bit confused. "Did you ask her for her name?"

"What I did now? Oh, right, I asked what her name was." Parakarry thought for a moment. "...Oh yeah, her name was Kylie Koopa."

"...Kylie Koopa?" Luigi repeated confused before he looked up and crossed his arms. "Why do I think I heard that name before?"

Parakarry blinked shocked. "Y-you guys know her?"

"Yes, I remember now," Mario said. "We met that reporter of the Koopa Kronicle a long time ago."

Wolf frowned. "Is it the same scatterbrained turtle girl?"

"Yes..." Luigi trailed off. "I'm surprised she's still around."

And out of a cue, the group looked back to the city in ruins before a pink shell went spinning to them. Some of them took a step back as the shell spun in front of them before it stopped spinning. It suddenly stood up by itself before jumping 4 feet as somebody sprouted out from it and quickly...took photos of the group.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Tutorial

Some of the Smashers blocked their faces with their hands as photos were being taken. Once the flashes died down, they looked forward to find the ever-enthusiastic Kylie Koopa. "Ha! Those pictures are sure to be best used in an album than a newspaper!" she said chuckling. "Anyhoo, nice to see you hooplas again! That's right," she continued as she twirled on her feet before stopping to wink at them while she crossed her right arm under he face, giving them a thumb up (her trademark pose), "Kylie Koopa's got your number!"

Parakarry looked at her with hearts as eyes. "Woohoohoo," he muttered pleased, the reporter not even paying attention to him.

Kylie hopped on her spot a bit. "Well, well, if isn't the lovely group who kicked the Shroobs outta the Mushroom Kingdom!" she said as she looked at Mario and Luigi. "Boy, remember that event? It made me reach the stardom of the Koopa Kronicle! Thanks to you, my scoop was the biggest scoop ever!"

"Kylie," Mario began, "it's good to see you're doing fine. You even look like you haven't changed much."

Kylie giggled a bit. "Well, duh! I gotta keep my streak of cheerfulness to reach the stars beyond the sky...through the newspaper building, of course!" She took a few more photos of the group. "So, you live around these parts? You ain't surely living in what used to be a city behind my shell, right?" She turned around to see the ruined city, just in time to see a building collapsing under the rain. "...I swear drops of rain are gettin' heavier each day. Before you'll know it, they'll crush you to bits, no less."

"Er...no, we live in a mansion across this big hill," Luigi said as he pointed at the hill behind them."

Kylie turned around. "Oh, makes much more sense to me," she said nodding. "Well, throw me a newspaper to look for a good place to expand the Koopa Kronicle newspaper 'cuz I ain't gonna expand it in a city like the one BEHIND me, pals!" She looked down in shame. "I've got the word that the city of this place was so huge that it NEEDED a competent newspaper. What a shock I got after I went in there, fellas. Do you expect me to be working in a place where it looks like it's never gonna prosper at all? I'll tell you my answer right now: never! I'm not standing up for this!"

Wolf cleaned his right ear a bit. "Geez, slow down, I can barely make out what you're saying..." he muttered.

Kylie didn't seem to be listening to Wolf as she crossed her arms and looked up to them. "How am I gonna do my job if the place where I wanted to work at is only reaching my ankles? I'm serious about this, hooplas. I wanna see the place I've heard so much about from other people right now!"

Link looked away and scratched his head a bit. "We don't know how we're going to repair the damages done to the city..."

Kylie pouted a bit. "Ain't that bad now?" She turned around and hopped on her spot a bit as she looked at the ruined city. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and when I say that, I mean I'm gonna have to call my special connections!" she demanded loudly before she took out a pink cell phone. "Oh no, Kylie ain't gonna sit and let ants climb up on me to make a home in my shell! I'm calling the dibs of this!"

"Um..." Chris muttered as Kylie typed out some numbers. "I heard you were going to come here because you sent me a letter some time ago..."

Kylie ignored the World Traveler as she lifted up her cell phone to the right side of her head. "Hello? Anyone there? Oh, good, there you are. Good, good. Okay, listen me loud and clear, got that? Okay, here's the deal, pal. You see, there's this big desert that used to be called a 'ci-tah'. What' 'ci-tah' is that, you ask? Well, how am I gonna know, anyway? I barely came here from scratch! Listen to me now! I need you and your squad to do something about this dilemma before I DO something myself, got that clear? Sweet, I wanna have your guys come here and give this ci-tah a nice clean up round before it grows back to it's usual majestic glory that, you know, I heard so much about. What's that? You need refunds to get what your people need to have to work? Oh, don't be that silly, pal! We can get around it just fine once you get here by, hmm, when's good for you? In a week?! Are you kiddin' me?!"

The Smashers idly watched as the energetic reporter kept arguing with the phone for a long while. Kylie seemed to be trying to come up with a deal with whoever she was talking to. "..." Kirby looked up at Chris. "How do I look with this ribbon on?"

The beastmaster looked down at Kirby and blushed a bit. "Y-you look very good with it..." Chris commented.

Kylie nodded several times. "Goodie, that sounds very nice to me then! Okay, you get your guys here in 2 weeks, and we'll do business, 'kay? You're such a sweetie pie, pal. Thanks a lot!" she said chuckling before she ended the phone call. Kylie turned around to look at the Smashers. "There! I've got a nice deal with my pals!"

"What?" Mario asked. "You're calling masons to repair the city?"

"Yep," Kylie said. "I always dreamed to make the Koopa Kronicle the best in a big city. How do you think I feel after my dream went down the sewers once I peeked at the city? Pissed, hooligan, pissed, I tell you!"

Toon Link looked bored. "If they're really going to come to repair the city... If you ask me, a week sounded better than 2 weeks..."

"..." Kylie closed her eyes. "That little... I knew all that smooth-talking wasn't for show..." She giggled. "But anyway! The guys are gonna come and pimp this city up!"

"What guys?" Mario asked.

"One...thousand Hammer Bros.," Kylie said chuckling. "They'll come here in 2 weeks from now on."

"...1000 Hammer Bros?" Luigi asked shocked. "T-that many of them? A-are they good?"

Kylie looked at him. "You're asking if they're good people? Of course they are! They're a smart bunch, I'm telling you."

Mario blinked a couple of times. "Oh, then you know them as well."

Kylie turned to Mario. "You know my fellas?"

Mario nodded. "I was just going to call them later today, but after you called them..."

"Wait, wait, wait," Link interrupted. "Mario, how do you know 1000 guys, anyway?"

Mario looked at Link. "They're Hammer Bros. who decided to drop out of Bowser's army because they thought he wasn't that good of a smart leader. The funny thing is that Bowser didn't even see them dropping out because of the fact he has many subordinates under his command that he can barely tell who's who or even count them all."

"...And if he does have many subordinates..." Chris trailed off thinking, "...how come he never gets to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom with all of them?"

"Um, Chris, Mario just said Bowser isn't smart..." Lucario pointed out.

"...Oh, I see," Chris said embarrassed.

"A-and don't give Bowser ideas..." Luigi looked around. "H-he could be close..."

Kylie ignored the green plumber. "Well! Sorry for being rude, but I'm just that excited to see this city back to its clean image." She took more photos of them. "I can see the heading of the first page in my mind, fellas! 'Rainy City Receives Special Edition of Pimp My Downtown', and the second heading would be 'Ace Reporter Gets Lost in Previous Ruins. Author Utterly Shocked!'"

Parakarry looked happy. "Didn't I tell you she was dynamite?"

Kylie turned to Parakarry and took several photos of him. The Paratroopa's eyes turned into swirls before he fell down behind the counter. "Sweet scoop, I have witnesses in these golden pictures!"

"U-um, excuse me..." Olimar tried to get the attention from the female Koopa Troopa.

Kylie turned to them. "Oh right, I remember I sent you a letter," she said as she looked at Chris. "Didn't think I'd actually get here, huh? Dude, this city's my only lead to make the Koopa Kronicle the best one there is!" She hopped on her spot. "But NO! City's busted as a cracked cookie! Scoops don't live up with this unless I take photos for the right section! But forget about the tempting section I want to take photos. How've you been?"

Meta Knight frowned and put a hand on his forehead. "It takes her 10 minutes to ask about personal matters..." he muttered.

"W-we've been doing well," Chris said. "I guess it's not necessary to talk how you've been, right?"

"Better than a Goomba who got its wings, I'd say!" Kylie said happily.

A dead silence soon followed...

"...Er..." Kylie shifted her eyes. "...Soooooooooooooooo, seen any good newspapers?"

Wolf grunted a bit. "Just as I expected her to talk about..."

"..." Kylie shifted her eyes more. "...Wouldn't mind if I got a place to stay and wait for my guys to come here and pimp the city? I'd suggest them to make a 3-stars hotel."

Parakarry suddenly flew up behind the counter and looked shocked at her. "H-hey, this post office doesn't have that many commodities, but it does have some beds!"

Kylie looked at him. "Not exactly what I expected, but meh, it'll do nicely, I guess."

"Inviting her to the mansion would get Master Hand angry..." Toon Link whispered to Kirby.

Parakarry joined his hands and closed his eyes to the sky. "Thank you, damn you, thank you..." he muttered in excitement.

Kylie giggled a bit and looked at the Smashers. "Well fellas, I ain't got a thing to talk with you unless you're into paper with ink..." She quickly jumped over the counter where she went for a chair inside and dragged it to sit on it and reach the counter to look at the Smashers. "Till then, I'll be here for 2 looooooooooooooong weeks." She looked at Parakarry. "So, you like the Koopa Kronicle?"

Parakarry sighed pleased. "Oh yeah," he said nodding.

The Smashers watched as the two Koopas began to talk with each other, the postal worker always looking happy while the reporter merely talked and talked to no end. By a few seconds, the two were ignoring the Smashers completely.

"...I think they don't want us to disturb them," Luigi commented.

"Actually, I think that's Parakarry and not Kylie," Link said.

Chris shrugged. "It's pretty obvious that Parakarry has...you know what for her." He looked at Meta Knight. "By the way, have you ever fell in love with someone?"

Meta Knight stared at him for a moment. "Well, I haven't fallen in love with someone before, but I think my soul mate is somewhere out there. I like to think that there is such a person for me." He looked away and frowned. "However, that's all I'm going to say."

"Is it Jigglypuff?" Kirby asked suddenly.

"...No, Kirby," Meta Knight said in a bored tone.

Olimar looked at the ruins of the city. "...Do you think the city will be really repaired?"

"I doubt it..." Chris said unsure. "Isn't the city...500km long?"

"Actually, it's 10km long," Mario pointed out.

"What? But I heard from Master Hand that this city was..."

"He forgot."

"What?"

"Master Hand and everyone forgot how long the city actually is," Mario said. "Somebody would waste their entire time in their lives to build a 500km long city." He looked up confused. "But I'm confused as to why Master Hand said 500 instead of 10..."

Lucario narrowed his eyes. "He was surely trying to make Chris desperate to save the city. Since Chris doesn't know about this world, Master Hand took advantage of him."

"And we followed the flow..." Toon Link sighed. "That hand is surely an odd guy, I swear..."

The Star Warrior looked miffed for a bit before he saw that a girl walked in front of him. The girl in question had come out from the western forest, but once she turned to look at him, she instantly gasped and pulled her pink sleeve-covered hands back. "N-no way!" she said in disbelief. "T-the ribbon you're wearing...t-that's..."

Kirby looked confused at her. "Um...who are you?" he asked.

The girl clutched her fists on her neck before she took some long steps towards Kirby. By this time, the group had already noticed her. "That's the ribbon I lost!" she demanded as she pointed at Kirby. "I need it back to me!"

Kirby looked a bit worried. "W-well..."

Link stared down at the girl. The Hylian studied her appearance a little bit before he noticed that the girl fit perfectly the description that Parakarry told the group. However, apart from the fact that the blue-haired girl wore garments and had the small horn on her forehead, she also had some small wings on her back. "Er..." Link looked at her. "Hey...who are you?"

The girl looked up at Link. "Wow, that's a very wrong way to address a young lady like me, you know!" She pointed at Link. "Give me some respect here, will you?"

"I was just asking for your name," Link said. "So, what is it?"

"Hush!" the girl said with a frown. "I'm not gonna tell you!" she yelled before turning to Kirby. "You pink puffball gimme my ribbon back!"

Kirby looked at his ribbon and took it off. "Is this yours?"

"Why, yes, it is!" the girl said angry. "That's the memento of my late friend you're holding with your fingers! Even though you don't have fingers, I can pretty much say you are doing that!"

Chris studied the little girl a bit. "(Wait, I know who she is...)"

The girl quickly put her hands on her hips. "You don't know, but you're talking to Ms. Eiko Carol here!" she said as she looked at the group. "When I wanna get my belongings back, usually people do as I say!"

Eiko Carol is a little girl that comes from the destroyed tribe of Madain Sari that is located to the north of the Mist Continent. Eiko was met by Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi while the girl was stealing food in a nearby town of dwarves. Once they met her, she decided to let them come to her village. From that point on, she has been traveling with Zidane's group. (It should be noted that Eiko was told by her deceased grandpa to leave Madain Sari when she reached 16 years, but after she met Zidane, right at the time she was (and is still) 6, she left the village anyway). Eiko is known to be a spunky and snobbish girl and she will do anything to get what she wants (if it mainly involves romance).

Final Fantasy IX - Eiko's Theme

"Next time, introduce yourself when addressing a lady, okay?" Eiko asked with a pout.

"You introduced yourself first," Meta Knight pointed out.

"...Got a problem with that or what?" Eiko asked before grunting. "Ugh, why am I losing the time with you, anyway? I came here to reclaim what's rightfully me to have!"

Kirby looked at the ribbon before he started to walk to her. However, Link grabbed Kirby's free hand. "Wait a bit," Link told Kirby before looking at Eiko. "Are you by any chances...the maiden of Madain Sari?"

"Yep," Eiko said nodding. "I'm also known as Eiko Carol Fabool, princess of Lindblum," she said proudly, a sly smile almost reaching her nose. "You didn't think you were gonna meet a princess, huh?"

"You don't look like a princess but rather a spoiled girl to me," Wolf commented bored.

Eiko looked at him. "Spoiled girl?" She walked to him, not minding the fact she just barely passed his knees' level. The girl of Madain Sari put her sleeve-covered hands on her hips. "You don't know anything about loyalty at all, huh?"

Wolf rolled his eye and bent down to pick up the girl from her back. The lupine put her in front of his face as she stared at him annoyed. "Not at all," Wolf said," and I don't care either."

Eiko grunted before she began to flail her arms. "Why am I always being picked up by everyone like this?! Be glad you're not a dammed branch because if you were I'd break you in 2!"

"Wolf, I think you should let her go," Mario commented. "You don't want to have a problem with her, right?"

Wolf sighed and dropped Eiko back on the ground. "I guess," he said bored.

Eiko pushed herself up quickly and pouted at Wolf. "Why you..." She stared blankly at him. "Wait..." She tilted her head a bit. "...You fit the description Zidane told me about..."

"Zidane?" Link repeated. "Wait, you know Zidane?"

Eiko looked at Link. "Come to think of it, I think Zidane mentioned about you..." She turned to Chris. "You." She turned to Lucario. "You." She turned to Toon Link. "And you..." She looked at Link. "And yeah, Zidane's my ex."

"Zidane...is your ex-boyfriend?"

Eiko looked amused. "The guy was almost mine to have, but Dagger was around more with him, and then I saw that Zidane loved her more than me," she chuckled. "Needless to say, the guy's a little bit hopeless, but meh, what can you do with him?"

"I don't even think he ever fell in love with you..." Wolf muttered.

"Nobody ASKED you," Eiko said annoyed. "Sheesh, Zidane was right about you. He told me you were much of a lone wolf (which ironically you are) and somewhat rude. He surely made friends with you, though."

The lupine looked away. "Well, I could say I'm sort of a friend for him..."

"Ha! You're not that lonely then!" Eiko said before looking at the others. "So I take that you traveled with Zidane, right?"

"It was just for a small while," Lucario said.

"Yeah, he definitely said you guys left him when you arrived at Lindblum," Eiko said. "Soooooooo, do you know any personal secrets about Zidane? I wouldn't mind listening to some of them," she said amused. "I can ALWAYS go back to my words and do something more productive that benefits me..."

"We don't know," Toon Link said.

Eiko sighed. "Oh well, at least I tried..." she muttered before she turned to Kirby. "Okay, you're gonna give me back my ribbon or what?"

Link showed her the wing stamp. "Actually, we accepted the request to find your friend's memento."

Eiko gasped and took the stamp from Link's hand. "What? No way! Somebody DID accept my request?" She looked at Kirby. "A-ha, you were the one who found my Ribbon, right?"

Kirby shook his head. "No..."

"But you're holding on it," Eiko pointed out. "Why is it that you're holding it?"

Kirby simply pointed up at Wolf. "He found it, but he wanted to toss it away, and I caught it so I could wear it."

"...Whatwhatwhatwhat?!" Eiko asked shocked before glaring at Wolf. "Why the hell did you find my Ribbon?"

Wolf looked at her. "Hey, that thing of yours came out from nowhere, and it got stuck on my shoulder's spike," he pointed out. "It went to me, but I didn't find it."

The girl of Madain Sari walked to Kirby and took the ribbon back to her. Eiko stared at the ribbon on her sleeves before she rubbed her left cheek with it. "My Ribbon..." she muttered with a sniff."It's good to have you back..."

"What's up with you now?" Wolf asked confused.

Eiko looked back at him. "You see...this is a memento of a very special friend of mine," she explained. "It's a very important ribbon that Mog, my late moogle friend, left behind when she sacrificed her life to save me from getting killed by 2 evil-looking clowns..." She looked at the ribbon. "This was left behind by her before she turned out to be an Eidolon, a special entity with amazing powers, who saved me from dying..." She looked up at Wolf. "Well, I wouldn't be a lady if I didn't thank you for finding this for me. Even if you don't understand how much this is for me, I really am glad to have this back with me... Funny, I think I know Zidane befriended you."

Wolf rolled his eye.

"So!" Eiko spoke up, "Your guys (Wolf: My guys?) didn't find this but you. Well, that works out fine with me to give you your rewards!" she said happily as she kept the ribbon with her. The Madain Sari girl stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Now, where did I put them again? Lemme see, hmm..."

"Just what are you going to give him?" Mario asked.

"Oh, here they are!" Eiko said happily before she took out her hands and showed three different objects at Wolf. "Here, you deserve these for finding my most precious memento from Mog." She chuckled. "C'mon, don't just stare them down like that! You won't regret to have these with you!"

"...You're giving me jewelry...and a feather?" Wolf asked bored.

On Eiko's hands, there were two different gems: a sapphire, and a ruby. Next to the two gems, a bright feather shone a bit with the light of the sun. The lupine thought that the rewards looked worthless, but then again he could sell the gems...and probably the feather as well.

"Jewelry? Oh no," Eiko said as she shook her head. "You don't believe this, but these 3 items are quite powerful if you happen to know what summoning magic is... As a matter of fact, can you summon Eidolons?"

"I don't know what the heck they are nor I don't know how to call forth those creatures," Wolf responded.

"Oh well," Eiko said miffed. "Go ahead and take these with you, please."

"Whatever..." Wolf said as he took the three objects with him. "Hurray, we finished this," he said sarcastically as he stuffed the items in his pockets. "We got 2 gems and a feather. This is like the best day ever."

Eiko pouted a bit. "Hey, for the last time, those items are powerful!" she yelled angrily. "Why can't you believe me? Do you want me to show you their true power to you?"

Wolf rolled his eye. "I'm sure it's going to be useless in some way..."

Eiko grunted as she began to stomp the ground by jumping several times. "Grr! Fine, I'm showing you their true power myself!" she proclaimed as she took out a small flute from her back. "Once you see their true power, you're going to make up a smirk and say thanks to me. Zidane told me you wouldn't being stronger."

"Pfft, he doesn't know that much about me," Wolf said.

"W-wait, what are you going to do?" Luigi asked.

Eiko looked proud. "Simple: I'm gonna show you guys the power of the Eidolons so this mutt of a friend you have learns about them," she said as she looked around. "Now, I need an open field to showcase them all..." The girl from Madain Sari looked behind the billboard. There was a big open field behind it that she thought was perfect. "Perfect!" she exclaimed before motioning at the group. "You're gonna need to come here and see this!"

The Smashers looked at each other before they all walked behind the billboard, ignoring the seemingly busy Koopas on the counter that, by this point, have been ignoring them for a long while.

Once the group walked behind the billboard, they looked at Eiko as she held her flute with both hands behind her back, constantly moving it at the sides as she faced the open field. "Alright," she muttered before grinning, "time to call forth my Eidolons!"

Final Fantasy IX - Battle 1

Eiko gracefully spun her flute all the way to her mouth before closing her eyes to play a tune. The Smashers watched as several green spheres with mystic flames appeared around her and spun in the air.

Wolf narrowed his eye at this.

"O beast that leaps from cliffs to mountain peaks, come to me now and let out a roaring howl to call forth the ruler of mighty earth..." Eiko chanted softly before she opened her determined eyes. "Come right here...Fenrir!"

The Smashers noticed that the atmosphere darkened a bit before they heard an ear-splitting howl from somewhere. They all staggered for a bit at this sudden howl before they watched, from far away on the mountains, a big sacred wolf that leaped all the way to the open field, just landing close to Eiko. The beast itself had long white and purple fur, as well as some yellow fur around its head, with two long horns that pointed back. The wolf stared at Eiko for a bit as she stopped playing her flute.

Some of the Smashers hid behind the billboard in fear of the big wolf.

Eiko held out her right hand at Fenrir. "Now, Fenrir, use Terrestrial Rage upon the field!"

Fenrir nodded its head before he let out a mighty howl to the sky. The earth beneath it began to shake uncontrollably before a big mountain began to rise up high enough to 80 feet. The Smashers backed away as they found out that the very same mountain had a face with green glowing eyes. Some of them gasped as Fenrir let out another howl.

"W-what is that?" Link asked shocked as he stared up at the mountain with the face. "I-is that some kind of living mountain?"

Eiko turned to him. "That big mountain is the Eidolon Titan," she explained. "Fenrir itself doesn't attack directly, but it can call Titan instead to deal high earth damage on all enemies." She raised a finger. "And guess what; the attack never fails to hit the enemies since it seeks the enemies out!"

"D-don't tell it to attack us!" Olimar yelled form behind the billboard.

"Nah, I won't tell them that," Eiko said before she turned around to point up at Fenrir and Titan. "Fenrir, tell Titan to use Terrestrial Rage on the earth already!"

Fenrir let out a mighty howl. Titan's eyes shone brightly before the Smashers saw that a big portion of the earth in front of it began to rise up. Suddenly, a huge fist of earth dealt a long uppercut that reached 100 feet in the air, punching a big chunk of earth away into the sky.

As all watched surprised at the mountain, Fenrir let out a loud howl before leaping away into the mountains to the west. Titan itself, along with the fist of earth, began to retreat into the earth. The group watched as the earth itself began to fill the cracks that were left by Titan's appearance just as if it had a recovery effect.

And then, the big chunk of earth began to fall down from high above the air, spinning madly in its place before it crashed down, creating a big cloud of dust that flew everywhere. While some of the Smashers looked shocked, Eiko merely chuckled.

The summoner turned to Wolf. "Well, what do you think now? Do they look any worthless?"

The lupine stared at the space where Titan once was. Eiko blinked a few times as the leader of Star Wolf remained silent. Suddenly, Wolf slowly looked down at her and nodded. "Show me the other 2."

"...Alrighty..." Eiko said confused before she brought her flute to her mouth to play another tune, green spheres starting to spin around her. "O creature that lives only to serve and protect, shine your ancestral jewel on us to reach salvation..." She looked serious. "Come forth, Carbuncle!"

Instead of an environmental event, the air in front of Eiko shone brightly as a small creature appeared spinning. The creature then stopped spinning in the air, revealing to be some sort of green monster with a red jewel in its forehead. The Eidolon name's was Carbuncle.

"Use Ruby Light on me!" Eiko asked Carbuncle.

The creature nodded its head before the gem in its forehead began to shine brightly in a red light. The Smashers watched as the Eidolon's gem started to grow a horn before it grew out quickly, shining a red light that shot a red ray above Eiko. The red ray then stopped, creating a blast of red glimmering lights that dropped around Eiko, creating some sort of red barrier in front of her.

Meta Knight saw that Carbuncle, its ruby horn turning back into a normal ruby, nodded its head to Eiko before it disappeared in a green light that quickly vanished.

"How was it?" Eiko asked to Wolf. "Carbuncle showers the whole team of yours with Ruby Light to cast Reflect; a protective shell that, obviously, reflects magic back to the enemy. If you ever use its help, take in mind that healing spells will bounce off and heal the enemy instead."

Wolf shook his head. "That one looked a bit worthless..."

"...Well, even so, use it when you find an enemy that likes to use magic a lot...if you can even summon, that is," Eiko said. "One left! Do you want to see the last one?"

"Isn't that the whole point of the demonstration?" Toon Link asked.

Eiko chuckled. 'Yep, that's the point here." She turned around and spun her flute one more time before she put the pipe in her mouth and began to play another tune with the same spheres appearing around her. "O sacred bird whose feathers burn with intensity and retrieve unfortunate souls with them, I call upon you to burn my enemies to the ground and get back the souls of my allies..." She looked serious. "Come on, Phoenix, appear before me!"

Suddenly, a shower of red glimmers rained down upon the field. In a quick moment, the lights shone intensely as they all burst in searing flames that created a big inferno. The Smashers backed away once the flames reached them, but then they did, they didn't seem to be burning all of them. Link looked forward where he saw that the flames circled in the air to make a sphere.

The sphere of fire suddenly burst apart, revealing a big mythical bird of sacred fire that let out a cry of power. The big bird itself had a wide arrangement of multi-colored feathers, along with a long tail of feathers, red feathers sticking out the most between all the feathers together. The Eidolon Phoenix let out another cry as it began to flap its wings slowly while it began to rise up into the sky, releasing a bunch of sparkling lights that doused the flames and touched everything around them, shining brighter as they all slowly vanished.

As some of the Smashers watched stunned, Eiko turned to Wolf and nodded. "That's Phoenix for you. This one is surely helpful because not only it burns enemies, but it also revives downed members of you group," she explained. "What's more, if every single one of you gets knocked out, there's a small chance that Phoenix will appear and revive you to keep fighting."

"Hmm..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "How much is the probability of that bird appearing to revive us all?"

"It depends on the number of Phoenix Pinions, the same kind of feather I gave you some minutes ago, those then you need to divide by 256."

Wolf looked down at her. "So, in other words, a feather won't make much of difference for that small odd."

"I guess...but hey, luck's sometimes is useful," Eiko said. "You gotta wish for Phoenix to come back and heal you."

Final Fantasy IX - Eiko's Theme

"Aaaaaaaaaaaand that's my demonstration," Eiko said chuckling as she kept the flute behind her back. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I have to say..." Link trailed off. "I have to say that looked cool. But, we just saw the whole field getting ruptured and burned..."

"And even so..." Toon Link blinked at the seemingly calm grass in the open field, "the field looks the way it was before the demonstration...why's that?"

Eiko turned to see the big field in front of her. There weren't any signs of destruction after the Eidolons had appeared. The Madain Sari girl turned back to them. "Oh, that? Eidolons are good entities that coexist with nature," she explained. "Summoners only use Eidolons for protective means. In my case, I use them to aid me in ordeals. Eidolons themselves would hate that their power would destroy nature so they use their powers to keep it as it should be. However..."

"H-however?" Luigi asked as he slowly came back from behind the billboard.

"...There are people who'd like to cause destruction with them. An Eidolon's ultimate decision lies in the summoner that called it forth. It's the summoner's bidding that gives the Eidolon the necessary power to cause destruction that won't be repaired. Since I'm a good girl, my Eidolons won't try to harm nature," Eiko explained. "That's the reason why they don't leave destruction behind their path."

"I see..." Meta Knight said. "It is quite interesting to see entities with such powers to respect what they do."

'It's all in the summoner's will, though," Eiko said. "The summoner is the one who decides what the Eidolon will do. Fortunately, those bad people seized to have the affinity to obtain them all." She looked at Wolf. "I hope YOU don't turn out to be a bad guy. If you even dare to cause destruction, the Eidolons could turn and kill you off if they can."

"Thanks for the little warning," Wolf said. "The last thing I wish to do is taking over the world..." He frowned.

Eiko looked bored. "Geez, only a dummy would think something THAT stupid. Unfortunately, I know someone who would do such a thing...and that person died..." she said. "You're not going to misuse their power, right?"

Wolf shook his head. "I'll use them if I find myself in trouble."

"Good!" Eiko exclaimed satisfied. "I'm not so sure, but I think I can trust you with the 3 Eidolons, provided you know how to summon them." She smiled happily as she took out her Ribbon. "I can't just lose this that easily again! I'll be very careful this time around."

Link looked at Wolf. The lupine was staring down at the three items on his right hand. "...Wait a minute," Link began before looking down at Eiko, "don't you think you're being a little bit too nice by giving him 3 powerful entities?"

Wolf looked a bit amused at Link before Eiko held out the ribbon to Link. "Um, hello? This memento is from my best friend in the whole world who saved me from dying!" she yelled. "I'm feeling very generous today as well, but it mainly has to do with my friend's memento! If I just gave out the Sapphire to him that would be a jerk thing to do!"

Wolf grinned at Link. "Jealous because you won't get these items, perhaps?"

Link looked away annoyed. "No..." he muttered.

"Anyway!" Eiko spoke up, "do me a favor and don't go losing those items, okay? If you lose them, you won't be able to call forth the Eidolons to help you out unless of course you want somebody to take them off from your...claws. Since you, by some odd reason, made me think you're not that bad (which I'll regret at some point) and you lose those items, just come to me, and I'll give you more of them, okay?"

Wolf stuffed the items back into his pocket and nodded. "Thanks, I'll make good use of them."

Chris closed his eyes. "No burning Fox with Phoenix, okay?"

"No, that'd be too easy, then."

Eiko sweat dropped. "...And don't use them for revenge or something like that," she said.

"Oh, one last thing I wanted to ask you about," Wolf began, "...do I really have to say out loud those chants you just said?"

"The chants? Oh, those aren't really necessary," she said chuckling. "Those were just for show. The spell is actually much longer, but the Eidolons asked me to hurry up the pace."

Wolf stared blankly at her. "...They asked you?"

Eiko nodded and pointed at the little horn on her head. "See this horn? I need to focus my thoughts into the horn in order to talk directly with the Eidolons. Since you don't have this, you won't have the chance to talk to them. It's only an ability we summoners have." She looked proud as she quickly put her hands on her hips. "Ha-ha, we're something, aren't we?"

"I think so," Mario commented. "You're a very impressive girl."

"Teeheehee, I like to receive compliments, thank you very much," Eiko said with a bow to Mario before turning to the others. "So, I guess that's all you need to know about the Eidolons."

Wolf nodded, but then he felt that something was shrinking in the pocket where he had left the items. The lupine dug his right hand into his pocket to grab three stickers that weren't there before. "What the..."

Eiko chuckled as she looked at the others. "Thank you so much for finding my friend's memento!" she said happily. "This little accident will surely teach me to be more responsible. I have to show some manners since I AM Lindblum's mistress." She turned around to look at the expanse of forest behind her. Eiko remained silent as she stared at the trees for some seconds before she scratched her head a bit. "Now...where was the way home again?"

Most of the Smashers frowned at this. Chris kept frowning as he thought, "(Is the way to get to this universe by accident that messed up? I'm going to have to ask Master Hand more behind this...)"

"...Oh well," Eiko said before she turned to them. "I can fend off by myself pretty well. Even if I get lost, I'll be just fine." She thought for a moment, hitting the side of her head a bit. "I'm not sure about where the way back home was, though..." she muttered embarrassed."...I'll find it if I keep going to the same way I went," she said. "...Then again, from where did I come from exactly? I was looking frantically around for my ribbon all this time that I lost the way..."

"Do...you need any help?" Kirby asked.

"Oh, don't bother," Eiko said. "I'm a pretty strong girl, I'll have you know. If a monster sees me, it'll run away right in an instant." She smiled. "Okay then, see you around!"

Meta Knight cleared his throat. "What would you do if you get lost again?"

Eiko took a moment of silence as she stared at the masked knight for some seconds. "...Give me a hand until then, okay?" she responded before turning around to walk to the western forest. "I'll be fine, trust me!" Eiko turned her head to look and wave a hand at them. "Thank you very much for finding my ribbon again! Make good use of the Eidolons, and don't let anyone have them, you got that? Bye!"

The Smashers watched as the princess of Lindblum disappeared from sight once she entered the woods. Coughing to get Chris's attention, from his pocket, Kawashima said "'Find My Friend's Memento' side-quest complete in record time!"

"Find My Friend's Memento" Side-quest Completed!

Sapphire, Ruby, and Phoenix Pinion Obtained!

"Wow, that's surely a new record," Kawashima said. "Keep up the good work, okay?"

Mario smiled a bit at them. "It's good to see we were able to help her, don't you think?"

Wolf showed them the stickers that he held with his right hand. The Smashers stared at the stickers and looked confused after doing so. The three stickers that Wolf held were medium-size stickers that had the images of the Sapphire, the Ruby, and the Phoenix Pinion.

"Er...why are those stickers with you?"

"Who knows," Wolf said. "The items the girl gave me shrunk in my pocket, and these stickers replaced their places."

"Why is that?" Olimar asked. "Is it some kind of freaky spell?"

"Again, who knows," Wolf responded again. "Either way, I don't care as long as I can use them."

Lucario thought for a moment. "...Maybe any equipment that we receive will automatically turn into stickers..."

"That's...bizarre..." Luigi commented. "Why'd you think that?"

"That's just a theory I made up now," Lucario said. "I could be wrong..."

"Considering the fact that we're the only people who uses Trophy Stands and the stickers to enhance our powers, and the fact that Master Hand is the one who invented these items," Meta Knight began, "I wouldn't be surprised if he put on us a spell like the one Lucario mentioned."

"I think you're right," Link said. "Master Hand has his ways to mess up with anything..."

"Be glad he 'messes up' with anything and not anyone," Meta Knight said. "Everything is barely normal as it is, but surely you wouldn't want him to do...oddities with people, right? It's a mystery what he really does with his magic."

"...So true..." Toon Link muttered.

Wolf chuckled and stuffed back the stickers with his hands in his pockets. "Well, I must say that this little walk had its benefits," he said amused as he turned around to the direction of the mansion. "If you will excuse me, I have to go back and relax for the rest of the day."

Link narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not going to do something funny with those Eidolons, right?"

"None of your business, elf," Wolf said as he began to walk to the north. "I really want to relax for the rest of the day. Also, since the girl gave me these stickers, they're mine to use and not anyone else's use, okay?"

"As long as you follow her warning..."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Wolf said. "I don't want problems with anybody, anyway."

They all watched as Wolf walked up to the top of the hill. Feeling unsure, Link turned to them. "I think I'm going to go with him to see if he doesn't do something weird with those Eidolons."

"Fine, but please keep your jealousy under control," Meta Knight pointed out.

'I-I'm not jealous," Link said annoyed before he turned around and began to run up to the hill. "See you later, okay?"

Kirby sighed depressed and began to walk up the hill as well. "I'm hungry..." he muttered softly.

Meta Knight sighed with a frown and looked at the others. "I'd have liked to stay here a little bit more, but if I were to leave Kirby alone in the mansion, specifically in the kitchen while he's hungry...we would starve to death in a span of 3 days."

Luigi looked shocked. "O-oh, please, don't let him get close to my flan! I-I haven't finished that yet!"

"...I'll do what I can."

"Thanks..." Luigi muttered as Meta Knight pushed back his cape and began to walk up the hill with the others. Soon, the four Smashers reached the top and walked down to the other side. The green plumber sniffed a bit at this.

Chris looked a bit amused. "Don't you think Meta Knight is starting to open more to some people? When he first came here, he was very rude about getting the Halberd..."

"People change overtime, Chris," Mario said. "It's other people that help others to change. Their influence does all the work on others. If you were to hang out with the wrong crowd, would you change?"

"No..." Chris said. "If I did that, I'd be someone worse..."

"Maybe," Mario said. "Just stay with us and you'll be fine."

The World Traveler chuckled. "Thanks, Mario."

Mario looked at Luigi, Olimar, Toon Link, Chris, and Lucario. "Well, a smaller group has a lot more of control, right? Why don't we accept the second request to see who wants to get help?"

"Let's do that," Toon Link said a little bit excited. "I'm up for some exploring."

The others nodded at Mario. The red plumber smiled a bit and walked around the billboard together with everyone to get to the infatuated Parakarry and the talkative Kylie Koopa. Seeing that Parakarry wasn't even paying attention to Kylie due to the fact he looked up with hearts as eyes, Mario knocked the counter a bit. "Parakarry, we would like to accept the second request. Can you give us the wing stamp to show it to the other girl the request mentioned?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Parakarry didn't seem to look at Mario as he merely ducked to grab a wing stamp that he tossed at Mario's hat. "Leave me and the gal alone now, okay?"

Mario grabbed the stamp and looked at the infatuated Parakarry, Kylie still talking like there was no end about how amazing the Koopa Kronicle was. "And then, when I took a step forward to get the silver picture of the third page on my secret target, my curiosity grew wide enough to re-think my thought after I found out my target was wearing an alien costume during July...and the costume was 0 percent costume but a real alien!" Kylie narrated. "The damn hoopla ran away, though..."

"...The request said that the girl was waiting in the mountains of the east, right?" Chris asked as Kylie went on.

"Yes..." Mario muttered.

"And BAM!" Kylie said shocked. "I found the hoopla running right into a wall, and he turned out to be a scam. His mask fell off, and he was just a Goomba. Silly me..."

The Smashers looked confused at this conversation before they slowly walked away around the post office to head into the eastern forest to get to the eastern expanse of mountains across it.

Eastern Mountain Range

The group had walked out the forest to find a long expanse of mountains and cliffs that extended to the east. The land under them was arid with winds that usually swept some ground on their feet. Before them, across a long region of bare ground, a mountain had a path between cliffs.

"Look at this..." Toon Link said as he admired the scenery while everyone walked towards the mountain. "It's always green around the mansion, but here it's all dry."

"It makes you want to explore this unknown universe more, don't you think?" Lucario asked.

"What, you want to do that someday?" Chris asked.

"I wouldn't mind," Lucario said. "I'd like to go on a journey and see new places in this world. Like a journey of discovery."

Mario thought for a moment. "I have to say this universe that Master Hand created is very intriguing."

"W-wait, Master Hand created this universe?" Olimar asked.

"Yes, Master Hand was the one who created this universe," Mario said. "I remember him saying that it took an awful lot of time for him to make this universe all by himself. Crazy Hand was there with him, but he made his work harder because he used to destroy many things...because it was fun. But anyway, the only think I feel a little bit that makes me feel sympathy towards Master Hand is...that he forgot what he created here."

"You mean to say he forgot what he created?" Lucario asked.

"...Pretty much..." Mario trailed off. "It's been, according to him, thousands of years ever since he created this universe." He thought for a moment. "Actually, this kind of makes you think why Tabuu wants to have Master Hand so badly, don't you think?"

Luigi looked up. "Tabuu wants Master Hand's power then?"

"That could be a big reason..." Mario trailed off. "...But let's leave that for another time, okay? For now let's focus in the request of the girl of Ozette..." He looked confused. "Ozette is a town, right?"

"Ozette..." Chris repeated. "I'm sure I heard that name before..."

"Me too..." Lucario said before he closed an eye and tried to think. "Ugh, I know I saw that place before... How could I forget that?"

As some of them pondered about the name, they eventually reached the mountain with the path that spread between cliffs. The Smashers looked around to see if there were any signs of the girl of Ozette. However, they didn't see her anywhere.

"Where is that girl?" Olimar asked. "Wasn't she supposed to be here waiting?"

"She could get bored by waiting for so long," Mario suggested. "Maybe we should wait for her to come here?"

At that moment, Lucario's ears twitched a bit. The Aura Pokémon turned around to find someone looking at them. "...Everyone, she's here."

The other five Smashers turned around to look at their client who requested the side-quest. The girl looked at Chris and Lucario the most before she warmly smiled at them a bit.

"If isn't you guys..." the girl said.

"...Wait, I know you," Chris said. "You're...Presea..."

The requester turned out to be Presea, the girl that Chris and Lucario had met a long time ago. The girl of Ozette looked a bit cheerful after she saw the two, even if her tone of voice didn't exactly express the facial expression she gave them.

"It's good to see 2 again," Presea said as she walked to them. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Smash Channel

The forum was once again shown while Chris (in his Beastmaster job) stood in the middle and behind of the counter in front of a crowd sat on rows of chairs. Hearing some claps from the multitude of Toads, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys, Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, some Pokémon of many different types, humans, and even many of the Smashers who were spread across all the crowd, the World Traveler joined his hands together on the counter and smiled nervously.

"Well, it's time for the section of Smash Channel to make another appearance again!" he said chuckling. "We're awfully sorry that this section hasn't showed up ever since chapter 134..." He looked away. "We could say the forum was destroyed after Ms. Rita Mordio was here..."

"Ahem..."

"Oh, right, sorry," Chris muttered embarrassed. "Well, today we have a special guest as always. This guest isn't featured in SSBB, but as you know by now, this section's purpose is to give them a special highlight so they speak aloud their thoughts about the Smashers." He raised his right arm. "Today, please give a warm welcome to the girl of Madain Sari, princess of Lindblum, and above else the..." He took out a note from under the counter that he started to read. "The Queen of Moogles since I was raised by at least 30 of them..." he read before tossing the note away. "Give a warm welcome to Eiko Carol!"

"Eiko Carol Fabool!" the mentioned character yelled as she sat next to Chris, the crowd starting to applaud her. "I'm the adopted daughter of a king and queen, you know!" She pouted a bit. "For that matter, I have another last name!"

"O-oh, my bad..." Chris said before Eiko waved a hand at the audience. "S-so, okay, you're here now, Eiko. What are your thoughts of being the only Final Fantasy IX character to be here?"

Eiko smiled pleased. "If you have any of Zidane's gang in here, you MUST have me here as well, don't you think? They already came here once, right?"

"W-well, yes, but is this a rule you just made up?"

"Does my rank as a princess let me make rules?"

"...I...don't think so..."

"Then yes, I can," Eiko said. "Okay, beastmaster, throw me the question of the day. I wanna give some insight to anything or anyone my beloved crowd wants me to do. Isn't that right, people?"

Some people of the crowd began to cheer a bit.

"Seeing some enthusiasm here, let's begin," Chris said as he took out a paper. "Okay, Eiko, the topic of today is..."

What does Eiko Carol (Fabool) think of a character she would like to talk about?

The crowd began to clap at the topic. The World Traveler smiled a bit. "Seems like the people like the idea very well," he commented. "Okay, Eiko, give us your insight of a certain Smasher you would like t-"

"Wolf O'Donnell!" Eiko interrupted as she raised her sleeve-covered hands.

As the crowd cheered loudly, the World Traveler looked away and frowned. "Seriously, what's up with all the attention given to the Star Fox reps...and Star Wolf rep?" he asked before looking annoyed at the crowd while opening his arms wide. "We'd like to give more attention to Olimar here. Isn't that right, people?"

"Y-yes, please do that!" Olimar yelled from within the cheering crowd.

Eiko smiled slyly. "Well, I touched a good one, huh?"

"As long as you tell us your insight..." Chris said.

"Hmm-hm, I'd like so," Eiko said proudly. "Well, let me see what I can talk about him..." She took out a scroll from behind her back.

"Er, Eiko..." Chris looked unsure at how big the scroll actually looked like.

The Madain Sari girl unrolled the scroll that went rolling all the way across the right side of the table before it fell down on the floor. Chris, along with the crowd, looked at how long the scroll of 100 feet was. Being curious, Chris looked at the scroll's contents, finding many questions that mentioned Wolf.

"Let's see..." Eiko held the top of the scroll as she looked the questions she had on it. "What's the better way of knowing about someone? Asking, that's it!" she said. "Okay, here's a question that's been bugging me. Does Wolf want to have children sometime?"

"H-how am I supposed to know that?" Chris muttered through gritted teeth as the crowd looked interested. "That's a little bit personal."

"Nah-ah," Eiko said as she looked at him. "Everyone's starting to say that they're gonna have children. We all know the red fox is gonna have a child very soon, but that's just a misleading information that's better be a secret since he doesn't know himself." She muttered a small laugh. "That's like funny."

"What red fox is that? I don't know any red fox..."

"Mr. Best Leader," Eiko said chuckling, "better known, ironically, as the red fox, Fox."

"That was over with already!" Fox yelled from the laughing crowd.

"Anyway, I wanna know if he's gonna have children," Eiko said. "For a guy in his 50s, I'd suggest him to get a wife before it's too late. He has a team so why can't he get the girl of his dreams in order to keep the legacy living with a generation?"

Chris blushed a bit while the crowd cheered. "I-I still don't know that! Heck, nobody knows that!"

"I do," said Crazy Hand from the back row.

"Y-you don't," Chris said. "You're crazy..." He shook his head. "E-Eiko, can you ask another question?"

Eiko rolled her eyes, the crowd getting depressed. "Fine, let me take a look here..." She stuck out her tongue a bit as she looked at the scroll. "Ooh, ooh, I have one here. Does Wolf love someone?"

"Eiko, that's almost exactly the same question you asked before..."

"Nah-ah!" Eiko said moving her head at the sides. "If it's almost, it's another question. You answer me that question now before I call the guards to take you away!"

"..." Chris looked blankly. "...I-I don't know who he loves... Why are you asking things related to love, anyway?"

Eiko rested her chin on her arms on the counter as she looked away amused. "Well, what can I say? I like to gossip with romance..."

"You're playing with that, though."

"That's the point."

"What?"

"Answer the question!" Eiko said as she quickly pushed her chin up.

"Well...Wolf doesn't love anyone..."

"..." Eiko blinked a bit, her sly smile still intact. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not..."

"..." Eiko sighed and tossed the whole scroll away. "What point is there to keep asking if my questions revolve around romance?"

"What? Every single question you had there was about Wolf getting a wife?"

"Duh!" Eiko said annoyed. "The guy needs love or else he'll die as a lone wolf, which is a very ironic thing to point out!"

Chris grunted. "Eiko, I'm afraid the section's time is over. You lost your chance to ask a more important question."

Eiko took out her flute. "If you end this, I'm calling Madeen on you!"

"Wasn't the original name for that powerful Eidolon Maduin?"

"Blame my translators for messing up that one then! It's Madeen in my universe, and it will pummel you down the ground with this place you call forum!"

Chris looked annoyed. "Oh no, we're not repeating another Rita accident here again!" He took out a whistle that he blew on it. "Security!"

Eiko turned around to see Sonic (as a werehog) and Chip coming from the left. They both were wearing police hat on their heads, and the werehog looked annoyed at the chuckling crowd. "Why the hell am I wearing this ridiculous hat?" Sonic asked bored.

"Hey, it looks good," Chip commented. "Besides, we get paid."

Eiko grunted at Chris. "You're not going to toss me out of here, right?" She pointed her flute at him. "I'm a princess, you know!"

Chris took out a paper. "Sorry, but according to an anonymous source, she said that girls getting angry to have an excuse to beat on guys is so overused these days that she wishes it to end forever. As a favor, I'm actually going to listen to her...once."

"What? That's bias!" Eiko yelled. "That happens a lot because people don't know who they're messing with! Besides, if the person is even anonymous, why did you decide to say that the person was a gir-"

"SONIC, TOSS HER OUT!"

The werehog rolled his eyes and stretched his claws at Eiko. Soon, the princess of Madain Sari was flung all the way behind the werehog as she crashed right into a garbage can that rolled over and away through a door. "I'M SO SUING YOU ALL FOR THIS, YOU HEAR ME?!" Eiko yelled loudly.

The werehog looked bored at Chris. "This is the last time you'll have me randomly wearing a police hat..." he muttered annoyed before he walked away.

Chip saluted to Chris before he flew away with Sonic, the crowd cheering a bit as the Beastmaster looked nervous. He knew well that Eiko would surely come back. "W-well, the time for this section has come to an end! We're happy to return here again. Please, don't forget that the Smash Channel will be constantly featured during the remainder of the Side-quest Arc." He shifted his eyes. "W-with that in mind, thank you all for assisting to the show... See you!"

The curtains quickly fell down.

"Phew, the show's over and there were no damages done on the stage..."

It was not long before Chris heard footsteps from the left side of the stage.

"O creature of holy might, trap your enemies within sparkling and divine rays of judgment to mesmerize and annihilate them wi-ah screw it! Madeen, own that guy down!"

Explosions of light, along with a mighty roar of a beast, echoed behind the curtains as the beastmaster ran away for his dear life from a huge lion-like beast that chased after him.

"Send him to hell!" Eiko yelled loudly. "Nobody messes with Eiko Carol Fabool, nobody!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Eastern Mountain Range
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Final Fantasy IX – Eiko's Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when you meet Eiko in Conde Petie's mountain, or when she goes around Alexandria Castle to deliver a love letter to Zidane.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Eiko is a common Japanese female meaning "prosperous child." Ironically enough, Hironobu Sakaguchi's wife name is Eiko (the first person being the creator of the Final Fantasy series).

-Between all the Final Fantasy games Sakaguchi has created, his favorite is Final Fantasy IX, saying that "it's the closest to his ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be," because of the fact most Final Fantasy games are reaching a more futuristic era.

Please take in mind that this was an introductory chapter to set all the settings of the arc.

You got a chance to see Chris's parents. In truth, it was so hard to think of good names until I reached to the conclusion to use Alfonse and Elena. Ironically, these names were inspired after certain sources I've seen before.

I just liked to write for Kylie Koopa during the chapter. Her crazy and hyperactive demeanor made my mind write all the confusing blabbering she always uses. Since many of you could be thinking why she's still alive, well…either she came directly from the past, or she knows how to stay young… Either way, you'll love to see her around more.

And now, the start of the side-quests will begin. Remember that there will many mini-plots with each chapter. Also, there will be special battles included in the next chapters. The humor will also be present all the time where it needs to be. Don't worry, everything's just fine with this. We'll be using the Smash Channel segment for the next chapters of this special arc as well.

Please vote to break the tiebreaker with Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger in the poll. We need either one to appear in the next arc.

What will happen next with the side-quest put by returning character Presea from Tales of Symphonia? You will need to wait for that a little bit longer.

I encourage everyone to read and review as always. You're the ones that like to see such a diversity here after all, right? ;)

…Or Kylie Koopa will call the dibs on you.
*Chapter 160*: Achieving What One Takes to Strive For

And we've reached another 10 chapters mark with this new one. ;)

From ngrey651: Normally I have nothing against romance at all. But to ask questions about Wolf ever getting a girlfriend? That's asking to get beaten up. I'm surprised CHRIS was the one doing the ejection, not Mr. "Let my claw slowly kill you". XD

From me: Eiko is that interested in relationships. She seemed to be like that with that whole Love Letter event in Disc 3 of the game. :P Thanks. ;)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: Excellent chapter, as always.

About no one being willing to read and edit all of this, well, *points to the numerous reviewers* we read this. Why not get one of us to beta? I'd be happy to do it.

From me: Well…if you want to do it, I could ask you, but it'd take you awful lot of time to do this, and I don't want to bother you that much. I'll think about that, okay? Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Another good chapter once again.
Rayquaza could easily be either
A. Mind Controled
or B. Tricked by the army.
2nd the only con I have found with this story is the lenght between updates. It's agony.
3. How many disc are there in this story.

From me: A. It could be possible that Rayquaza was mind controlled, but I don't think so by person opinion.

B. And they tricked him with an Oran Berry, then?

Yes, sorry for the length between updates. :(

I don't know how many discs are there. You'll have to see by yourself, though. Thanks. ;)

From Decepticon Fan: You know what? This is the most epic, complex crossover fic I've ever read on this site! Despite the crazy long chapters, every word of it is worth it. That is rare. Most fanfics I've read tried to reach the level of awe your fanfic has and almost always never came close. The only exception is a very cool fanfic called Shades of Smash by pgasniper. I also love the character portrayals. Although I don't necessarily hate the loner Lucario, it's nice to see a change from the status quo. All your characters are IC which got my vote from jumpstreet. Very well done! Oh, and please update soon!

From me: Lucario isn't much of a loner as he used to be. He slowly interacts with the other characters such as Pikachu or Mewtwo (I guess Mewtwo). You'll see how he spends the time with the others. Thanks. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hmm, this definitely kept the humor that the Star Ocean arc showed, and the moment I saw the post signed by "the maiden of Madain Sari" and the Ribbon being mentioned, I thought Eiko was going to get mentioned. Things are going to get more interesting for Wolf now, considering he can (maybe) summon now. And I thought someone from Tales of Symphonia was coming in as well. And a big "YAY!" for the return of the Nintendo channel! Now for a…
ULTRA SPECIAL BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
Wasn't Chris's dragoon outfit colored blue?
What's the console limit for games we can recommend?
Did you look at my profile? Elena seems close to the name of one if my OCs (and older sissy)
KOTRT = Knights of The Round Table! Look at my review from 156 to know what I'm talking about.
Considering things, are you gonna include Yuffie and Vincent from FF7? Reason I'm asking is that they're optional characters from the game.
Well, happy belated thanksgiving and happy typing!

From me: Actually, Chris's dragoon outfit was blue…but…then again, this little mistake is going to give me a good and yet curious idea…so thanks for pointing that out. ;)

The limit is to all Wii games that are available with the current date of the fic, any ther game below the Wii's age, and some PS2 games. However, I won't accept any recommendations because the ones I have up are well-known enough (I guess).

I don't get the knights and the table thing, sorry.

Well, about Yuffie and Vincent…wait until FF7 wins as an arc, okay?

Thanks again. ;)

From DianaGohan: The opening was good with the subspace scenes and the mansion but the story started to fade once we got outside. Why? Seemed like a bunch of injokes or refrences to things that felt more like fanwanking then anything else. Really I know Kylie and Eiko had a point in the story but mean I liked they're appeaences and they DEFINTLEY could of been shorthened. Not as strong as 145's explore chapter since it didn't have the same character emphasis but I suppose an okay chap.

GRADE: B

From me: As I've stated before, this is just an introductory chapter. If it looked like it had 'fanwanking' or something, I'm sorry. I tried my best to include the characters as best as possible. Besides, this helps for some to understand them better, don't you think?

Thanks again for the review. ;)

From Yue Twili: Woah... Wolf can now summon? COOLNESS!! Oh, if you're confused, I'm still aquadragonsayian; I just changed my name. Sorry that I hadn't updated for a while. I've been busy doing my fanfictions (though everyone else has; though they have their own lives) but I'm still your fan dude! Say, have you played Ratchet and Clank? Just asking though. Update as soon as you can plz! ^^

From me: Oh, it's okay. I understand very well. It's not like I'm forcing you do review or something…I hope…

And no, I didn't play that series nor I'm planning to make it an arc.

Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From FF and STH: Nice sidequest Arc, that billboard thing with Paratroopa was that base on the sidequest in paper mario Thousand year door

From me: Well, the idea might have come from there. To be honest, I didn't think of it at all.

Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From True Hyper Sonic: LOL! I see you're keeping up with the crazy humor! Tabuu's an idiot; GO R.O.B.!! I liked the little side-quest thing you added; it makes the story seem a little more serious compared to the wacky side-quests! Oh, & nice interview! Hope Chris got away! FF7 gets my vote, obviously! TTFN!!

From me: Ah, I like when people say my story gets serious overtime. Thank you for reviewing as always. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: I like the chapter... although introducing that particualr cahracter at this point is a bit of a creepy coincidence for me becasue it has only been a few days since I acutally met her in FF9! (I'm on disc 3 now, BTW. A tip for playing it with emulators - NEVER use savestates on disc 2 until you're inside Cleyra. Otherwise you'll get a black screen when you try to enter.)

and of all the (3) summons I've seen in FF9 so far, Carbuncle seems the most useful (with Thundara around level 25, reflecting off a full party of 5 did over 2,0 damage to one opponent.), and I am NOT counting the 3 I've seen in FMVs (it'd be obvious which one seems the most useful if you include THEM.)

From me: Oh no, it's not coincidence. I just happened to be stalking you some days earlier…not.

And no, I will never use ROMs to play games. They're so low quality that it's sickening…

Thanks. ;)

From mognash898: This chapter turned out great. Chris gets more of a background when his parents visit. One question I got is what would be Chris's parents reaction if they met Lucario? Im getting the picture that they wont see Lucario until the Subspace comes to the Real World. Overall this was a great chapter.

P.S:: Sorry it took me a long time to catch up in this Fic.
-Mognash898

From me: Actually, Chris's parents will never see Lucario in the future. The reason behind this is that I don't want to make a big controversy between all of them.

And don't worry about taking up so long to catch up. Thanks. :)

From greendoom3: Ive been reading your story for a while and i gotta say its one of the best ive read. Its pretty close to novel status now if not past it. I like the characters and the whole concept you made in the story it makes it an interesting read. Well sometimes i do not get to finish a chapter in a sitting but at the same time i dont mind at all. I actually like the length, my opinion the more length to the story gives the reader more to read at a time. And with the way this story goes i would expect it to be pretty good. Gotta agree the one before this chapter was LONG but i enjoyed it. A well balanced length would be perfect, not too long not to short. Well anyway i typed to much in this review so i will let you continue with the good work.

PS. Btw is there a chance you may do Luigi's Mansion arc? Im not sure if you did one yet (-hasnt read all of it yet) But would like to see King Boo involved as a villain somehow.

From me: I won't make a Luigi's Mansion arc because Luigi is already with the Smashers, sorry.

Thanks for reviewing as everyone did. ;)

From PianistChris: I enjoyed the continuation from Smash Mansion where Tail's told the story about what happened at the temple, I found parts concerning Chip amuzing to read

I think my favorite part of this chapter was when Chris was in a zombiefied state, and he wouldn't respond.
Although... I am quite clueless as to whether or not James McCloud was real... Was he? Or was it acuately Chris' imagination? I mean... Wolf took his Wii Remote and walked off with James but... Is he real?

I enjoyed reading about when Chris returned home and finally found out more or less what his parents were like :)

Introducing the Side Quest with the one concering Eiko Carol was an interesing beginning, and the Eidolons add an interesting aspect in battles; which I look foward to seeing.

Overall it was a great chapter, and I look foward to reading about the next side quest, although... I forgot who Presea was so I'll have to look back.

Chris :p

From me: That scene with James shall be forever questioned a lot in this fic.

Oh, don't worry about Presea. She's going to introduce herself a little bit more to the Smashers.

Thanks again. :)

From Ultra Blader: A nice, long chapter this time. Full of information, planning, and the shortest sidequest in the history of this fic.

Okay, for starters, now we have a Summoner. Never of thought that it would be Wolf, though. I thought that one of the more mental, or strategic based characters might have been chosen for that particular power. But then again, that would have been a bit predictable, so I guess you are right in choosing Wolf as a Summoner.

P.S. I guess you were right in saying that P.W. didn't appear in Nintendo City. I thought that he did at one point. Guess I was wrong, though. It doesn't make much different in the long run, I guess, since according to those spoilers you set up on the 100th chapter pretty much stated that he would be showing up sooner or later. (Either him or Apollo Justice, but my money's on Phoenix.)

Until next time,

Ultra Blader

From me: Well, Wolf isn't exactly a Summoner; he's one of the sorts instead since he's not a full-fledged one.

Yes, I know those 'spoilers' could have him later, but I think I said many of those couldn't end up being real, so sorry if I tricked you by accident, though.

Thanks, though. :D

From SlasherMask: Geez, Taboo can't guess that Ancient Minister isn't exactly most trustworthy minion, you know with him being forced to be bad guy and all.

Chip is right about feeling good to be maniac sometimes =D

I guess screen time for characters that has have too little of it starts now. (Or at least in next arc after new arc.)

BTW shouldn't Kylie be like old?(Though Mario series do not make sense. If Mario and Luigi are toddlers while Peach is baby, then why the heck they look so much older than her...)

XD at "Is it Jigglypuff?"

P.S... Chrono Trigger better to win.

P.S.S... Kylie Koopa was for some reason one of chars I liked in Partners in time.

P.S.S.S... Considering how awesome Bowser is in Mario & Luigi 3 it is obvious that he is just too stupid to conquer mushroom kingdom. Or its because he isn't main char of Mario series =P(when player is in control of chars they always seem little more competent)

P.S.S.S.S... There were few grammar problems. Like "Funny, I think I know Zidane befriended you."(Unless she really talks like that)

From me: Remember I said Kylie either came directly from the past or…managed to stay young in some way? The Mario universe has such a messed up way to age…

I think that grammar mistake was one. I'm going to check up on it later.

Whew, this chapter grew long because of the finals I'm going to do very soon. To be honest, I'm feeling so pressured about this. This doesn't help when your teachers put those extra tests before the big ones, and worse yet when they make you do homework! Ugh, I hate to say this, but this could slow down the next update…I hope you can understand.

I don't have much to say in this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it. ;)

Oh wait, it turns out I have something very important to say. I'd like you to congratulate fellow author DianaGohan for her 23th birthday. Happy birthday, DianaGohan! I hope you like this chapter. ;D

I encourage everyone to read and review as always. :)

Disclaimer: Why is it that The Master is the only Toad in the Mushroom Kingdom that can defeat Mario? This is so weird…

Chapter 160: Achieving What One Takes to Strive For

Eastern Mountain Range

Tales of Symphonia - Water Symphony

"Presea..." Chris trailed off as he looked down at the young-looking girl. "Is that you?"

"I assure you it's me," Presea said. "Why, I still remember the day we met each other. How could I forget a face like yours? I always remember those who are my friends."

"Oh...thanks," Chris said as he blushed a bit.

Presea smiled warmly at them. "May I ask you what are you doing here of all places?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Lucario said.

"Lucario!" Chris yelled.

"Oh, s-sorry," Lucario apologized. "We just happen to live close to this mountain range..."

"Oh, really?" Presea asked. "You live nearby?"

"Yes, we live in the mansion across the woods from the west," Mario explained. "By the way, hi, my name is Mario." He held out his left hand at the others. "This here is Luigi, the one with the green hat is Toon Link, and the one with the helmet is Olimar."

Presea looked at the other three characters. After seeing how different they each looked like, she tilted her head. "As a whole, you don't look like you came from the same place..." She looked back at Chris and Lucario. "These are your friends, right?"

"Oh yes," Chris said. "This is part of the group we told you before. There's a whole lot of them in the mansion, but we came here as a smaller group."

"Then does that mean Marth, Roy, Pit, Ness, Lucas, Fox, and Falco are there as well?"

"Yes..." Chris said. "You weren't lying about remembering us..."

Presea chuckled a bit. "Like I said before, I wouldn't do such a thing. So, what are you doing here?" She looked confused by the expression of her face. "Did you come here for a walk? That'd be a very unlikely thing to do because this place seems to be inhabited by monsters."

"M-m-m-monsters?" Luigi and Olimar repeated in fear.

"Yes," Presea said simply before she pointed at the path along the mountains. "I began to hear some moans and howls from this direction. When I first came here, I started to sense some powerful mana that radiated from these mountains..." She looked up. "This is very odd, but I think I felt this mana before..."

"What is...mana, exactly?" Toon Link asked.

Presea looked at him. "It's the only force that can give life to nature," she explained. "It flows everywhere in the world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Only a handful of people can feel the power that mana radiates out from itself. If a world runs out of mana, it will wither itself and die...but thankfully, it will never deplete itself." She looked back at the mountains. "I'm very intrigued as to why this place exudes such a big amount of mana that I wanted to investigate but..."

"You don't know if you can make it alone by yourself," Mario finished.

Presea blinked surprised before she looked at him. "Weird, that's what I was going to say..."

Mario showed her the wing stamp.

"...You were the ones who accepted my request at the post office of that flying turtle?" Presea asked, the Smashers nodding afterwards. "Oh, then I think I feel more relieved after you were the ones who accepted my request." She made a happy expression. "What's more better than traveling with the people I know?"

"I-I don't know you..." Luigi muttered.

Presea looked at him. "That doesn't matter. You look like you're a nice person yourself who could easily like anybody."

Luigi blushed a bit and scratched his hat a bit. "T-thanks..."

"You're welcome," Presea said smiling warmly. "By how you look like, I can infer you're Mario's...older brother or friend?"

"N-no, he's the older brother," Luigi said. "I'm the younger one."

"I see..." Presea said as she looked at Mario. "(These people look different. They either have big noses or big eyes...but it's not my place to judge their looks...) In any case, you decided to help me with my request, right?"

"Yes," Mario said. "Is it okay if we go with you?"

"I don't have any objections with you," Presea said. "I'm sure I'm going to enjoy having the friends of Chris and Lucario, at least I can trust you all well."

Chris blushed a bit. "Oh, Presea..."

"Just..." Presea turned around where she began to walk behind a small rock formation, "let me make sure my charm is safe..."

"Charm?" Toon Link repeated.

Presea stopped walking and turned to them. "I'm a person who likes to make lucky charms and brooches," she said. "For that matter, you can say I have a knack to be a crafter besides the fact I'm a lumberjack."

As Presea walked behind the rock formation, Luigi, Toon Link, and Olimar looked at each other confused. "Lumberjack?" they all repeated.

"Yes, a lumberjack," Presea said from behind the rock formation as she dragged some kind of tall coffin with the image of a skeleton that had its arms crossed on the top of the coffin. "I wanted to be a lumberjack to take on the role of my dead father. I needed to have the necessary strength to be a lumberjack so I submitted myself to an Exsphere research." She stopped dragging the coffin-like charm as it stood calmly behind her. The lumberjack girl showed them a blue crystal that was embedded to her skin in her neck. The gem had some sort of yellow crest around it. "See this?"

"I-is that a jewel attached to your neck?" Toon Link asked shocked.

"Yes, this is an Exsphere," Presea explained. "Can you see the crest around it? That's a Key Crest, a special artifact that allows me to suppress the malicious effects of the Exsphere so I can use its power."

"Wait, I don't understand any of this," Mario said. "Can you explain more?"

"Of course," Presea said. "You don't seem to know what Exspheres are so... Exspheres are special gems that allow the user to develop special abilities such as increasing the strength or even allow someone to cast magic. Mine gives me the strength I need to carry heavy objects that nobody else can." She looked a bit depressed. "However, I blame myself for using the Exsphere because its malicious effects are very harmful..."

"Why?" Toon Link asked.

"Thanks to the Exsphere, I lost 16 years of my life due to the fact I didn't have a Key Crest when I was 12 years old."

"...You lost 16 years of your life?" Luigi asked confused. "But...you look very young..."

"That's the reason why I look like a young girl of 14 years," Presea explained. "While people see me as a young girl, I should be actually 30 years old."

"...T-thirty years old?" Olimar repeated in shock as he opened his eyes.

"Yes, I'm actually 30 years old," Presea said in shame. "Thanks to the Key Crest, I was able to age again. When I was under the effects of the Exsphere, I was an empty shell without emotions that couldn't even remember what had happened. I lived 16 painful years without knowing about what I had done... I was like a robot," she explained. "During that time, my father...he died on his bed...and I just kept working like there was no end...and my father's corpse...it was...still on the same bed where he died of a sickness..." She shed a tear and rubbed her eye a bit. "I was so ashamed that I didn't try to feel anything about my father...but I just kept working without taking him to his grave..."

Lucario looked a bit worried about Presea's past. The Aura Pokémon somehow felt that he understood Presea better than anyone in there. "(...She lost the time to enjoy her childhood and was turned into some sort of emotionless robot...)" He looked down. "(...Why am I feeling this bad, though? There's something that bugs me...)"

"P-Presea, wait, you're getting a bit overboard," Chris said worried. "You don't need to explain all that much, please..."

"...Thanks," Presea said as she smiled weakly. "I don't want to think about all those years again...but it's something that will keep haunting me forever because I won't able to recover all those years back...but..." she looked relieved, "nobody said I can't enjoy the life I have ahead of me...that's what makes me happy."

"Please, don't try to remember awful memories again," Mario said. "We just wanted to know what the Exsphere was."

"Sorry," Presea said. "Like I was saying before, my Exsphere allows me to carry bix axes that people wouldn't normally carry." She took out a big axe that was roughly the same height as her (as she was 4'11"). "Don't look freaked out, though."

"W-we are..." Luigi and Olimar said as they saw their reflections on the ax's blade.

"I have to thank Lloyd and his group for giving me the Key Crest in time," Presea said. "The Key Crest is what lets me be a normal girl again. Thanks to this, I've recovered my humanity as the girl I needed to be." She smiled a bit. "I hope that explains it all for you."

"It was...good knowledge, I guess..." Toon Link said a bit surprised.

Presea kept her big ax and looked at her coffin. "Well, it's time to hide this charm somewhere safe before we proceed."

Luigi looked freaked out at the skeleton with crossed arms on the top of the coffin. "W-what is that...charm?" he asked as he hid behind Mario (along with Olimar).

"This is a good luck charm from Lezareno Mystic Supply, a subsidiary of the Lezareno Company. Most of you don't know Regal, right? He's a friend of mine," Presea explained. "He's the president of the multi-famous Lezareno Company in Altamira." She looked back at the coffin. "This here is an iron maiden that the Lezareno Mystic Supply sent me since they wanted to collaborate with me. They sent me this as a sample for a product they wanted me to judge," she explained more. "Don't look scared, please. It's not really that scary."

"W-why?" Olimar asked.

"Well, the reason why you don't need to be scared by this is that they say that, if you put a hair from someone you love inside here, 765 days later, you'll find happiness together."

Chris looked a bit surprised at the ominous-looking 'charm' that Presea had. "...Is that right?"

"Of course it is," Presea said. "This product is becoming popular across Meltokio that 350,000 had been shipped. The Lezareno Mystic Supply said that, if the sales keep up good, they will soon ship this to other towns and cities. In other words, this product is becoming a big seller."

"...I can hardly believe that..." Lucario said.

Mario looked at the Iron Maiden. "If it does bring happiness to someone...do you have someone in mind?"

Presea blushed and looked away. "That is a secret..."

"Oh."

She looked back at them. "Well, I need to put this somewhere safe."

Luigi (surprisingly) approached the Iron Maiden and found out that it had two small doorknobs on the lids. "C-can I see what's inside?"

"You'll be cursed."

Music stops

An eerie wind passed around their feet as the others looked shocked at Presea's simple tone of voice. Luigi, his hands grabbing the doorknobs, stared blankly at the black paint of the iron maiden.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Off-Key

"...Excuse me?" Olimar asked. "Y-you can get cursed if you open that?"

"Yes," Presea said without even looking shocked. "Since the iron maiden has a hair of someone, and the fact 765 days haven't passed yet, the wish will be broken, and then a terrible curse will befall anyone who opens the iron maiden."

Luigi just kept staring at the lid of the 'charm' in front of him.

"...What kind of terrible curse is that?" Lucario asked.

Presea looked at him and raised a finger. "Once you open the lid while the wish hasn't been granted, first, you'll experience stomach-churning sickness and diarrhea for 77 straight hours."

Most of them widened their eyes at the utterly disgusting curse.

"F-for 77 straight hours?" Olimar repeated in shock.

"It's a very risky curse," Presea said. "But that's not all. There's something even worse than the stomach-churning sickness."

"(If you ask me, having diarrhea is worse than that...)" Chris thought disgusted.

"Anyway," Presea continued, "for the following seven hundred seventy-seven days, when you least expect, the king of demons will appear and stick his finger up your nose," she explained as she had some sort of poker face that didn't reflect any emotions or reactions whatsoever. "Every. Single. Day," she added.

Mario looked shocked, Olimar's eyes widened as he pulled his hands inside his helmet and covered his nose, Chris looked disgusted, Toon Link covered his nose with his arms, and Lucario just stared shocked at the good luck charm he considered it to be more like a misfortune artifact.

And Luigi just kept staring blankly at the lid.

"...Has anyone opened that before?" Mario asked. "I mean, does the...king of demons really appear to...stick up his finger up someone's nose?"

"Yes," Presea said as she looked completely normal. "I heard that 100 people had opened the lid, and they all could have sworn that someone got inside their rooms and stuck a finger up their noses," she explained. "10 of those people died between the 40th and 100th days."

"Oh my god..." Chris muttered disgusted.

Toon Link stuck his tongue out. "A-and does the king of demons stop doing that gross thing to them?"

"Of course..." Presea trailed off, "...not," she added. "There have been reports of people seeing a figure going into the graveyards at nights. It could be implied that the figure was the king of demons who dug out the corpses of the cursed people just to stick up his finger up their noses. So far, since the product barely came 500 days ago, the figure always is seen going into the graveyards when it's at its calmest atmosphere..."

The group remained silent.

"By the way, did I mention the last person who died by the king of demons was a child?"

They looked even more shocked than before.

Presea stared at them before she looked at Luigi. "But if you're all right with this information, go ahead and open it and be cursed."

The Smashers watched as Luigi kept staring blankly at the lid. It was not long before the green plumber's skin turned pale in a white color before he fell down on his back, Presea looking down at him.

"I guess that is a no," Presea said simply.

"Luigi!" Chris said worried as the others ran to check on the knocked Luigi. "Luigi, are you okay?"

Toon Link looked down at Luigi. "Oh boy, he didn't take it so well..." He blinked shocked. "D-did his eyes just roll back into his head?"

"T-they did!" Olimar yelled scared.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled as he ducked to shake his brother's head. "Luigi, wake up! You didn't open the lid-"

"Yet," Presea added to interrupt.

"Luigi!" Mario yelled as he continued to shake his brother's head on the ground.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh..." Luigi managed to say as he continued to look knocked out, his skin still white.

Chris looked shocked at Presea. "H-how can they even sell this product to the public if it really does call the king of demons to do...you-know-what?"

"Hmm, you have a good question," Presea remarked. "Well, my guess is that there aren't many reckless people out there that the group thinks is safe. Those who happen to open the lid before the wish is granted are unlucky enough to get the curse."

"..." Chris looked down at the pale Luigi.

Presea blinked a few times before she closed her eyes. "If you feel so unsure, keep your brother away from the iron maiden's lid. Do you want the king of demons to drop by?"

"Presea, I think you're not helping with this..." Lucario said as Mario kept moving Luigi a bit.

"My bad then."

Lucario sighed.

Presea temporarily joined your team!

A while later...

Tales of Symphonia - Search a Seal ~Tethe'alla~

As Mario grabbed his dazzled brother's right hand, the group looked up to the mountains; some of them towering almost to the sky. Presea had hid the iron maiden in a small opening of a crack where it could barely fit. The ax-wielder walked to the group and nodded. "Let's go," Presea said as she turned to the path. "We must see the source of the mana."

"Why are you so intrigued about this mana flow?" Toon Link asked.

"It feels familiar," Presea said. "I want to see what it is before I go away from here."

"That's right," Mario began as Luigi twirled his head a bit on his shoulders, "how did you come here?"

"To be honest, this land is entirely unknown to me," Presea explained. "I was just taking a walk in the forest of Ozette before I noticed that I came out from it, finding this expanse of mountains I never have seen before around the areas of Ozette." She looked confused. "How did I end up here in the land where you all live?"

Chris shifted his eyes a bit. "It's because...you haven't looked well enough?"

"That's very unlikely since I've explored the areas around Ozette to hunt down materials for my charms," Presea explained. "But...maybe you're right. I haven't been in some areas for quite some time…"

Chris sighed in relief.

"…Let's proceed," Presea said as she began to walk towards the path. "Be careful, I listened to some faint howls that came from further into the cliffs."

Olimar gulped. "Oh my..."

The Smashers finally decided to follow the seemingly young-looking girl, carefully looking where they were stepping on. Soon, as they all walked forward, they found out that the path wasn't necessarily attached against the rocky walls on the cliffs, but they were also dangerously forming a thin path between precipices. Some of them got scared after they glanced down to see pure darkness. Worse yet, the path divided into several paths that went to different caves across the cliffs.

"Strange," Presea commented. "The paths here remind me of the Temple of Earth."

"W-where's that?" Olimar asked as he peeked down the precipice.

"It's a mystical temple located north of Meltokio," Presea explained. "In there, the Summon Spirit Gnome lives to nurture the land's mana with his power of earth."

"Gnome?" Mario asked.

Presea smiled a bit. "Yes, he's the Summon Spirit of Earth. Unlike the other Summon Spirits, I should say that Gnome is...quite different."

"Why is he different?" Toon Link asked.

Presea pointed down at the narrow path that went all the way down to an entrance to a cave. The group calmly followed down the path as they talked with her. "Well, Gnome's appearance is that of a big mole who carries a shovel and wears a red bow on his head."

The only one that remembered how the Summon Spirit of Earth looked like and blushed at the thought was Chris.

Presea's chuckle echoed a bit even though it was very faint. "The best part is that Gnome has big paw pads."

The group suddenly stopped at the awkward information that the girl had given to them. Presea turned around and looked at them.

"Is something wrong?" Presea asked.

Toon Link looked confused. "Pardon me if I'm sounding a bit rude but...why is the best part of Gnome about his...paw pads?"

"Oh, that?" Presea said as she tilted her head to the left a bit. "I just like paw pads. They're so soft and spongy when you touch them..." She blushed a bit at thought of touching Gnome's paw pads. "I just seem to like paw pads, which reminds me..." She looked at Lucario. "Do you...have any paw pads?"

"W-what?" Lucario asked embarrassed.

"He does..." Chris said.

"C-Chris!" Lucario yelled.

Presea looked a bit interested at this. "Since you look like a dog to me, I thought you'd have some… Can I see them for a bit?"

"What?" Lucario asked again.

"Don't worry; it'll be quick."

Lucario shook his head. "S-sorry, but that request sounds very embarrassing to me…"

Presea looked depressed. "I see…"

Mario looked a bit worried and he turned to Lucario. "Let her do it."

"What are you saying now?" Lucario asked. "Why do you want me to…" Lucario saw that Mario was pointing at his head. "What?"

Mario motioned a bit at the depressed Presea. Lucario didn't get what Mario tried to say, so he used his telepathy to talk with him.

"(What are you trying to say, Mario?)"

"(Oh, good, you understood my message to talk to me through telepathy instead of muttering,)" Mario said.

"(...Mario, what are you trying to tell me? I'm confused...)"

"(Lucario, you should let Presea see your paw pads.)"

"(I...don't see the reason...)"

"(Wasn't she depressed when she talked about that Exsphere of hers? She got a little bit too far with it by accident.)"

"(And?)"

"(Why don't you cheer her up by letting her see your paw pads? You surely don't want to see her looking down the whole day, right? She's a friend of yours, right?)"

"(Mario...)"

"(What would you prefer to do for her?)"

Lucario sighed. "(Fine, I'll let her...do that...)"

"(Believe me, I just want to see her happy with herself. I don't want to see her like this again.)"

"(I suppose I should do the same... Well, here I go...)"

"Excuse me?" Presea interrupted as she stared at Mario and Lucario. "You 2 are staring at each other for too long now."

Lucario turned and Presea as he looked worried. "Presea..."

"Yes?"

"You...can see my...paw pads..." Lucario wanted to hit himself for saying the two words, "...if you want..." he finished.

This sudden response made the others look at Lucario surprised. Presea, however, blinked a few times at this. "…I can do it?"

"Yes…" Lucario nodded as he blushed a bit. "G-go right ahead…"

"…" Presea smiled a bit. "Thank you, Lucario. Do you have paw pads on your paws?"

"My paws?"

"Oh, sorry, I meant your hands... (He musn't like his hands to be called paws...well, I think I understand because it does sound offensive to him... Besides, they're not paws if they don't have paw pads.)"

Lucario showed her his hands. "I don't have any on them," he said.

"I recall seeing some behind your legs…" Toon Link muttered, taking a step back after Lucario gave him a death glare.

"You have them behind your legs?" Presea asked rhetorically as she walked around Lucario. The Aura Pokémon gasped and looked over his right shoulder to see the girl ducking to check the pink paw pads behind his legs. "Oh, here they are…"

Lucario's jaw dropped a bit after Presea…began poking his paw pads.

Presea chuckled as she touched the left leg's paw pad with a finger. "Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke," she kept saying, "poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke..."

Lucario closed his mouth as he tried to prevent laughs from coming out. "(S-stop it, please, stop it…)" Lucario thought as he twitched a bit, the others watching a bit amused at Presea and himself.

"Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke," Presea said faster as she poked the paw pad faster, making Lucario's tail twitch to the sides. "Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke…"

The Smashers' lips began to twitch uncontrollably before they all broke out laughing loudly, every single one of them dropping on the ground to roll a bit at the sides, holding their stomachs in pain as their laughter echoed in the cliffs and precipices. Lucario couldn't hold on much longer before he broke out laughing by the ticklish sensation that Presea's fingers put on his paw pads. Even though Lucario felt embarrassed by Presea's constant pokes to his paw pads, the Aura Pokémon felt a little bit happy with himself as he managed to look down where Chris was laughing.

Unfortunately, not even Chris's laughs made Lucario feel any better...

"Poke, poke, poke..." Presea continued.

"PLEASE, STOP IT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lucario laughed in panic.

"Poke, poke, poke..." Presea continued.

"T-THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW! S-STOP IT, HAHAHAHAHA, STOP IT!" Lucario pleaded, his right leg trying its best not to kick Presea away.

"Poke, poke, poke..."

"STOP IT! !!!"

A time later...

Lucario panted heavily after he laughed like never before in his life. A very pleased Presea smiled up and rubbed his chest, the Aura Pokémon blushing a bit. "Thank you, Lucario," Presea said without expressing the tone of voice of how happy she was. "You have very soft and spongy paw pads. I'm surprised that such a strong person like you has them."

Lucario looked away embarrassed. "P-please, stop rubbing my chest..."

"Oh, sorry," Presea said as she stopped. "Truthfully, I wanted to rub your head, but you're taller than me so..."

Lucario blushed even more, ignoring some chuckles from the other five Smashers. "C-can we just continue?" he asked annoyed.

Presea smiled happily. "Of course," she said.

Lucario looked at Chris who got closer to whisper him something. "Thanks for making Presea happy. That was very nice of you."

Suddenly, the embarrassing moment from before proved to be worthwhile for the Aura Pokémon.

"I-I wanted to make her feel happy..." Lucario whispered back.

Chris chuckled. "Thanks again."

Soon, the group continued their way down the thin path that leaded to the entrance of a cave inside a mountain. When they passed through the opening, they found themselves standing inside a cave where rocky cliffs made up the walls around. Light was able to come down between the small cracks of the walls that were enough to illuminate the inner room of the mountain.

As they all walked down a path, Presea, wanting to end the eerie silence from the cliffs, decided to talk more with the group. "What have you been doing ever since you left our group?"

"We've been fighting the Subspace Army," Chris said. "They're still at it..."

"I see..." Presea said. "It's the same group of people who ambushed us at the Temple of Darkness, right? Have you made any progress in halting their moves?"

"I could say we haven't..." Lucario commented. "The army changes every tactic they do in order to conquer their desired worlds..."

"...Worlds?" Presea repeated. "What do you mean by worlds?"

The Smashers suddenly stopped walking, Presea stopping on her tracks.

"Wait, do they want to conquer Sylvarant and Tethe'alla again?"

Toon Link slapped his forehead. "Lucario, I know it's safe to say to you that you're an IDIOT..."

Presea tilted her head. "Is...there something you didn't tell me before when we traveled together, Chris?"

Chris hopped a bit on his spot. "O-oh, well..."

"If there's some kind of secret that you don't wish anybody else to know, I'll keep as a secret to me," Presea said. "I wouldn't want to divulge personal secrets to anyone. I could end up breaking a promise."

Mario looked at her. "Are you sure you can keep this as a secret?"

"Well...I suppose so," Presea said. "If it's alright, I could tell this to Colette and the others when I go back to Ozette provided I can find them because we parted to different ways...but that's another story."

"Y-you won't tell this to everyone?" Luigi asked.

"You have my word."

The Smashers looked at each other and nodded before looking at Presea. Sighing, Chris began to say something. "...Mario, you tell her. You're in charge of the group since you were the one who called us here."

"Me? Oh well," Mario said before clearing his throat. "Presea, w-"

An hour later...

"And then we're currently taking a rest for the long work to stop Tabuu," Mario finished explaining, not telling Presea about the fact of 'video games' that Chris had explained before.

"...That's very incredible to believe," Presea remarked. "Now I see why most of you don't look alike."

Olimar looked down. "Is it because of my big nose?"

"Or my eyes?" Toon Link asked.

"...Sorry...but...yes..." Presea said worried.

"...Oh well..." Olimar and Toon Link said.

"In any case," Presea continued, "you have probably the most important job that others couldn't do right. I'm amazed to meet people like you." She looked up to the rocks that composed the rocky wall of the cave they entered. "To think you work every day to protect all the worlds apart from my world..." She looked back at them. "I take that I'm not in Ozette's region as well, right?"

Chris looked surprised. "So...you didn't believe me?"

"Sorry, but I have to say no," Presea said. "This whole land's look doesn't have the same look around Ozette's land. I figured out that I found myself walking in another place I didn't know before."

"...She's very clever..." Lucario remarked.

"How did I end up here?" Presea asked.

"Oh no, that's something we don't know either..." Chris said in defeat.

"I see..." Presea said before looking worried. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of force at work for my appearance in this universe...but...you're here so everything should be just fine, right?"

"Of course," Mario said. "Everything's safe here. You don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, then it's just fine," Presea said relieved. "I just need to go back from where I came from, and then I could get back to Ozette, right?"

"That's...possible..." Toon Link said. "Many people wind up in this universe by accident when they get lost..."

"..." Presea nodded. "Then let's forget about that. There's no point talking about it if you don't even know." She smiled a bit. "I'm glad to see you again, though. I'm lucky to see my friends again."

"Presea..." Chris smiled a bit.

The pink-haired girl chuckled. "With that away, let's proceed." She turned around to look at a path that turned around to the left towards the west wall of the cave. "Hmm..." She looked confused as she looked around the path they were going. "I can't help but think that this place looks like the Temple of Earth..."

"What is that?" Toon Link asked.

"The Temple of Earth is the same one I talked you about before," Presea said as they continued their way down where they reached the turning point to the left. "The mana that I feel in this cave is very strong...and so familiar to that of the temple..." she trailed off as they stopped in front of a small bridge over a deep precipice. To the other side of the cliff, there was a wide area where some steps leaded to some kind of altar.

"Look at that..." Luigi said as they all looked to the other side of the small bridge. "What is that?"

"...I can't believe it," Presea muttered before she ran across the bridge to cross to the other side. The others looked at each other before they all ran forward to catch up with her. Once Presea stopped running before she could pass a step to the altar, she looked around. "This is...the same thing..."

The Smashers found some kind of big mechanical-like formation that spread in front of the big rocky wall before them. The big pedestal that resembled some sort of machine was a pale purple with a glyph in its circle. They didn't want to approach the weird-looking mechanism as they stood forty feet away from it and its steps. Presea, however, took a step forward to take a closer look.

"...It's another place...but it contains the same mana of earth..." Presea muttered as she looked at the pedestal.

"What does that mean?" Olimar asked.

"It means that this place..." Presea trailed off before they watched as the pedestal glowed a bit, "...is a perfect replica of the Temple of Earth...no doubt about it," she finished.

The Smashers watched as the pedestal glowed brighter than usual. Soon, they all took steps back as the earth started to shake violently. Lucario narrowed his eyes, feeling an extremely amount of energy that radiated from the pedestal. Luigi and Olimar tumbled before they fell on their rears, looking shocked as the earthquake kept shaking the ground.

Music stops

"Everyone, be careful," Presea warned them. "If my assumptions are correct, we're probably going to meet someone..."

"W-who's that?" Toon Link asked as he tumbled to the sides.

Suddenly, from around the pedestal, stalagmites quickly sprouted out from the ground as they all pointed at all directions. The Smashers looked a bit shocked as more stalagmites came from the ground, completely covering the pedestal that they could see before. A big stalagmite took the place where the glyph once was, pointing all the way to the top of the cave's ceiling.

And then, the earthquake subsided, returning the silence of the cave.

"..." Mario looked around the pedestal. The stalagmites that sprouted out were still intact on their places. "...What was all that?"

Luigi gulped as he got up. "T-that was called 'How to Scare Luigi so Easily'..."

Presea shook her head. "Don't think it ends here either. Last time me and the others came here, he did the same thing before he finally showed up."

"Who is this guy?" Toon Link asked.

Suddenly, the earthquake came back with much more force than before, all the stalagmites shattering into crumbles of rocks that were pushed away as a big figure jumped out from within the big stalagmite that shattered into dust. The Smashers and Presea covered their faces to avoid coughing by the amount of dust. They all looked up to see the figure spinning a bit before it landed on the pedestal without actually touching the ground but instead floating over it.

However, after the Smashers looked at the figure, they all made very confused looks. Presea looked so confused to see that the figure looked a bit different...

...due to the fact the figure was wearing sunglasses. (It should be said Chris blushed and thought that the figure looked cute).

"...Gnome?" Presea finally spoke.

The figure before them was none other than the Summon Spirit of Earth called Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth looked like a big mole or some sort of big gerbil that stood roughly about 6'7" in height. He wore a big red bow on his head, his fur was brown with some pale brown horizontal stripes that ran on his wrists and back, and he was holding a small shovel in his right hand. However, the feature that made them all look weird at him was the fact that he was wearing big sunglasses that covered his dotted eyes.

"..." Gnome raised an eyebrow at them. "Hmm..." He took off his sunglasses with his free hand. "Who dares disturb my vacation...I mean...resting place?" he asked, his voice echoing across the whole cave.

"...Vacation?" everyone repeated confused.

"Er..." Gnome shifted his dotted eyes a bit before he tossed the sunglasses away. "I-I mean...er...um..." He cried toon tears. "Oh no, now I've done it this time..." he said ashamed."The other Summon Spirits are so gonna kick me out for this..."

"...Gnome," Presea said again. "Is that really you?"

Gnome blinked a few times to the ground before he looked at the group. "...Hey, wait a minute," he began as he narrowed his eyes at Presea. "...I know you. You're that little girl Presea, the friend of Sheena the Summoner, right?"

Presea smiled a bit. "It seems you didn't forget me, Gnome."

Gnome blushed a little. "How could I forget the girl with the inhuman strength who almost pushed me down the precipice?"

"I believe that was just a small mistake of my part," Presea said. "I didn't want to push you off the edge. I didn't see where you were standing."

Gnome sweat dropped. "...Okay..." he said a little bit scared."...Anyhow, hi!" he said happy. "What are you doing here, Presea?" He looked at the Smashers. "For that matter, who are those guys with you?"

Presea held out her left hand at the Smashers. "This people are my friends. They happened to be nearby the area before I went to see what was in here," she explained. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Gnome, the Summon Spirit of Earth."

"N-nice to meet you..." Luigi said a bit scared.

"S-same here..." Olimar said with a gulp.

"(S-so cute in person...)" Chris thought as he smiled a bit at the Summon Spirit.

Gnome smiled happily. "Hey you guys, nice to meetcha," he said as he waved a hand at them.

"The mana that flew out from here was so familiar that I could've sworn feeling it before. I take that the mana is here because of you, right?" Presea asked.

"Yep," Gnome said before he chuckled nervously. "This is a little secret between you and me but...right now, I'm taking a vacation..."

"...You're taking a vacation?" Toon Link asked.

Gnome sighed. "You dunno how a Summon Spirit has to be constantly watching the new world that was born from the union of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla," he explained. "Even if we're making sure everything goes well, well, I just...need a break, seriously..."

"...I didn't know Summon Spirits could take breaks..." Presea trailed off.

"They don't, but I decided to be the first one to do it," Gnome said. "And look, you found me here! I'm seriously gonna get busted when you go to them to tell them I'm here. They're gonna say things like 'Gnome, is your responsibility to watch over the earth' or 'Gnome, how dare you defy the rules of the Summon Spirits?!' or ' Gnome, you lazy bastard, go away from here!' or 'Gnome, you're so going to die now' o-"

"W-we understand already," Mario interrupted.

Gnome looked hopeless before sniffing. "I-I don't wanna get busted!" he cried loudly before he fell forward and began to flail his hands a bit. 'I-I just don't wanna get busted! I wanna have my vacation and rest peacefully for a small time! Is that so much to ask for?! !!!" he cried loudly to the point the whole earth began to shake uncontrollably.

The Smashers and Presea covered their ears as some stalactites began to fall down the abyss. Having enough of Gnome's agonizing cries, Toon Link gritted his teeth. "C-calm down, we're not gonna tell those Summon Spirits about you being here!"

"-really?" Gnome asked as he suddenly stopped crying, looking up to them as he blinked tears away.

Everyone in there sweat dropped at the sudden change of moods of the big gerbil.

"A-are you really gonna keep this is as a secret? Seriously?" Gnome asked as his dotted eyes turned wide, revealing they were all very teary. "Y-you promise?"

"Y-yes?" Olimar said.

Gnome sniffed a bit before he pushed himself back up his feet. "A-are you sure you're not gonna tell on me?"

Presea shook her head. "As long as they don't find out you're...skipping your work to take a vacation to rest...I guess we can make an exception this time..."

Gnome smiled happily at this. "Oh, oh, oh, thanks a lot, you guys!" he said pleased to the point he cried tears of happiness.

Some of them smiled confused as the big mole (or gerbil) rubbed his eyes with an arm.

"O-okay, I'm back to my cool," Gnome said. "Thanks, really. The others would surely maul me alive if they found out I'm skipping my work as a Summon Spirit..."

"It's all fine," Presea reassured him. "You don't have to be so scared."

"Thanks, girl..." Gnome said. "...Well...since you're here...what are you doing?"

"Investigating this place?" Mario said.

"...Oh, right, Presea did say that she was curious to come here..." Gnome said. "...Heheheheh," he chuckled suddenly.

The Smashers looked confused at Gnome's chuckles. "What is so funny now?" Lucario asked.

"Well, now that you're here...why don't we do something very...special?" Gnome asked before he winked at them.

"What is that, exactly?" Presea asked.

"Well..." Gnome spun his little shovel a bit. "You guys found me here so...why don't we have...a fight?"

Luigi gulped. "H-have a fight against you?"

"Yeah!" Gnome said enthusiastically as he made a happy expression. "C'mon, why don't ya fight against me for fun? It'll be fun!"

"But...I don't see why..." Chris said.

Gnome looked bored at them. "Hmm, you're the kind of guys who would like to do something as long as you get something out from it, huh? Hmm-hm, you're sharp, I give you that..." He looked amused. "...Okay, you want something out from me?"

"Well...not exactly..." Mario trailed off.

"Pfft, I insist!" Gnome said. "C'mon, it's gonna be so good for you."

Lucario sighed. "Just get to the point to see what you're trying to say..."

"Okay, dog guy (Lucario: Dog guy?), here's the deal," Gnome began, "We're gonna have a fight here, me against you seven, to see who can win. Don't worry; I won't kill you or anything. I'll just whack you hard enough to make you faint."

Olimar and Luigi looked at each other before gulping.

Mario looked a bit unsure. "...Continue..."

Gnome nodded. "You guys will fight me, and I'll fight you back. The winner of this single round will get the chance to use a very special ability that only some can use..." He closed his eyes. "I feel some kind of energy in all of you, except for Presea, which allows you to do a lot of stuff. Between all that stuff, you can try to use the power to call forth entities...like me," he explained.

"...You mean to say..." Chris trailed off.

Gnome chuckled before opening his eyes. "Yep, if you manage to win against me, I'm gonna give some of you guys the power to call me forth during battles!" he said. "You seem to have the power to use very special abilities in yourselves. So, if you defeat me, I'll become one of those abilities for you to use as much as you can...probably."

"Strange," Presea commented. "Don't you need a summoner to call upon you to fight? Sheena is a summoner, but none of us are one."

"Yep, I need a summoner, but I've spent these last years doing...things, should I say," Gnome said chuckling. "I've developed a safe way to make someone learn summoning magic. Just don't laugh at my method because...it took a lot of time... Heck, I'm a bit different for that matter."

Mario rubbed his chin. "...Well...coming all the way here just to meet you would feel kind of simple...so...why not?"

"W-what?" Chris asked.

"We should do it," Mario said. "After all, it's just a friendly battle. Nobody's going to really die or anything."

"That's right," Gnome said as he folded his arms. "It's just a friendly round of smackin' around."

Toon Link looked a bit unsure. "I-is it okay?"

"I guess..." Presea said. "Why don't we do it?"

"..." Lucario looked serious before his hands flared with aura. "I wouldn't mind fighting the Summon Spirit of Earth myself."

Chris looked a bit helpless after he saw Lucario's determined look. The World Traveler sighed and frowned. "Okay, okay, we'll fight..."

"Oh well," Toon Link said as he raised his shoulders a bit before taking out his sword and shield. "I'm ready for some fight against...a Summon Spirit..."

Presea nodded at them before she took out her big ax that she slammed down on the ground. She looked at Gnome with everyone else. "Everyone's alright with the decision."

"W-we don't!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

"The majority has spoken, though," Presea said without looking at them. "Gnome, please, let us fight against you."

"N-no!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

Gnome grinned under his cheeks. "Heheheheh, I like how that sounds," he said. "Okay, let's start the fight! I'm so fired up after you barged in here without my permission!"

"If I recall, this place's entrance didn't have any sort of gates," Presea pointed out.

"..." Gnome looked miffed. "You get what I mean, though."

Tales of Symphonia - Fighting of the Spirit

The Smashers watched as Gnome jumped forward to flip in the air several times before he landed on the ground, making a big crack that spread around as he twirled one time, his small shovel gracefully twirling alongside him before he stopped spinning to look serious at them. "It's time to taste dirt!" he said.

"H-he's huge!" Olimar panicked.

"H-he's fluffy..." Chris muttered.

"He's strong, I can sense a big power from him," Lucario said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Big..." Presea commented.

Everyone looked at each other before five of the seven actually went after Gnome. Obviously, the two that remained behind were both Luigi and Olimar.

As Gnome watched the five fighters going after him, he chuckled. "Heheh, gang up on me, will ya?" he asked amused before he grabbed both ends of his shovel, calling forth a brown glyph that glowed under him to cast a spell. It roughly took him two seconds to cast a quick spell. "Stalagmite!" he yelled, raising his shovel.

The fighters noticed that the ground glowed with earthly light before a stalagmite sprouted out, gradually increasing in size to deliver earth damage. Lucario and Presea were swift enough to evade the attack, but Mario, Chris, and Toon Link didn't have the same luck as they grunted in pain while being to the air.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled before he jumped to catch his trainer. The Aura Pokémon did a high jump to catch Chris on his arms, crossing over the stalagmite that began to retreat into the earth. Once he landed, Lucario looked at Chris. "Are you feeling all right?"

Chris twitched in pain. "I-I'm just fine, he just took me by surprise..."

Lucario put Chris's feet down. "Please, be careful."

"I-I will..." Chris said before he took out his whip. "However, that guy is an animal so my attacks will be doubled with thi-"

"Here we go!"

It was not long before both Chris and Lucario were crushed by the Summon Spirit of Earth as Gnome bounced his big body on the ground to land in front of them. Looking down, Toon Link opened his jaw a bit. "Y-you guys!"

"...Seriously..." Chris muttered as his face was buried in the ground with Lucario. "Gnome is...so damn heavy... It looks more painful than it does..."

"Sorry..." Lucario muttered. "He caught me off guard..."

Gnome chuckled pleased. "C'mon, you're not gonna surrender now, right?"

The two companions quickly pushed themselves up to back away from the big mole.

Gnome crossed his shovel in front of him to use another spell. "Read-uah! Uah! Uah!" he staggered multiple times as Presea began to slice his back hard with her ax.

"Infliction!" Presea yelled as she raised her ax upwards, forming a crescent moon that damaged Gnome. "Dual Punishment," she said before she spun on her spot two times to slice Gnome with the ax. "Beast!" she said to stop before she did a sharp spin, sending a roaring lion's face to collide hard on Gnome's back.

"UAH!" Gnome yelped in pain as he accidentally tumbled over. The big mole then flipped to stand up. "Ohohohohoho, Presea, your attacks keep their usual level of danger."

"Attack him, now!" Presea yelled at the others.

Gnome got an interrogation mark on his head before he received several arrows on his back. As the big mole grunted a bit in pain, someone spun behind his back to deliver several punches before one hit him hard. The one behind was Mario who used (the forgotten) Mario Tornado. The red plumber then pulled his cape out to make Gnome turn around.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" Gnome asked surprised. "You just needed to hit me with that?"

"And this," Mario said before he used a Super Jump Punch uppercut on Gnome's chin. However, the heavy mole wasn't pulled up as he merely received a hit.

"Owie!" Gnome moaned a bit in pain before he sneezed. "Ugh, that attack hit my nose. Now it's on!" he yelled. "Taste steel!" he yelled before he used his shovel to smack Mario on his head. "Yah!"

Even thought smacking someone with a shovel sounded a bit weak, Gnome's shovel, although small, dealt a fairly good amount of damage. Mario backed away from the attack before he shook his head. "That shovel felt like a brick…" he muttered.

"Here we go!" Gnome said as he leaped high up on Mario to crush him. The red plumber gasped and rolled away before Toon Link rushed under the big mole.

"Okay," Toon Link said with a grin before he aimed his bow at Gnome. "Here I-"

And thus Toon Link was crushed under the 250 pounds Summon Spirit of Earth before Gnome bounced on him and landed on the floor. Toon Link had his arms and legs stretched as he was lying down on the big crack Gnome had made.

"…Too…confident…" Toon Link muttered. "…Oww…"

"Hmm…" Gnome prepared another spell to use on the downed Toon Link. "Ready?" he asked before raising his shovel. "Stone Blast!"

Several rocks were raised beneath Toon Link, prompting him to be sent to the air before he crashed on the ground. "Oww…" Toon Link moaned in pain.

"Ha-ha, I'm getting so warmed up now!" Gnome said as he began to hop on his spot. "Bring it on!"

"Well, since you said that…"

Gnome looked confused before a harsh blow made him tumble forward four times enough to make him fall. The Summon Spirit of Earth looked around confused before he felt that someone was grabbing him from his stomach. Gnome looked shocked as he was being carried over Lucario; the Aura Pokémon struggle a bit to keep Gnome on his hands.

"W-wow, n-no way!" Gnome said surprised as Lucario grunted under his body. "Nobody has ever carried me! You have a lot of strength to carry the heaviest Summon Spirit, dude!"

"!!!" Lucario replied with a loud roar as he pushed Gnome to the air. The big mole then crashed harshly on the ground, making a big crack in the process. Lucario then proceeded to leap high up to deliver a harsh blow with Force Palm on the big mole. Gnome, after receiving the blow to his stomach, coughed a bit in pain as he managed to use his shovel to smack Lucario away from his body.

Gnome slowly got up and looked pleased. "Oh man, you're pretty much like Presea," he said to the grunting Lucario. "Hm-hmm, I sense a huge force in you. Why, maybe you could tear up the whole mountain expanse of this area with a single fist of yours!"

"I don't know if I can do that," Lucario said, "but don't distract me with that."

Gnome looked serious. "Oh, right, you're fightin' me," he said. "C'mon, doggy, show me your power!"

"How about if I do that instead?"

Gnome turned around in time to dodge a whip attack from the World Traveler. "Haha, missed!" Gnome taunted.

Chris blinked surprised before he grunted a bit while pulling his whip back. "Dammit!" he cursed before he went after the big mole.

"Ooh, determination, gimme more of that!" Gnome said playfully as Chris reached him. The big gerbil used his little shovel to guard himself from the whip attacks of the beastmaster. Soon, the beastmaster didn't know that Gnome was guarding against all his attacks.

"Dammit, stop guarding yourself!" Chris yelled.

"No can do," Gnome said chuckling. "You gotta give me your best, pa-" He abruptly stopped talking after an ax sliced his back. "Ouch!" he yelped as he accidentally lowered his guard, allowing Chris to whip his face several times. "Oww, oww, oww! Stop it!" Gnome demanded before he rushed at Chris and pushed him away, Lucario promptly stopping his trainer from falling back.

Gnome turned around to find Presea. "Remember that we're fighting against you. We can help each other if it's needed," she explained.

"Meh, I don't have any complaints with that," Gnome said before he leaped high up to crush Presea.

The pink-haired girl sidestepped away from the crushing attack. However, as Gnome was about to bounce off the ground, Presea yelled "Beast!" to swing her ax hardly in front of her to send a roaring lion's face to Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth yelped in pain as he rolled to the left.

Gnome blinked a bit before he rolled further to the right to avoid a slamming attack by Presea's ax. The Summon Spirit then got up from the ground and spun his little shovel a bit by his right side. "Oh yeah, now we're talking!" he said pleased. "Let's keep this fight going!"

Toon Link, still stuck in the crack, managed to push himself up. The Wind Waker hero shook his head before he looked a bit mad. "So he wants to keeps this fight going, huh?" he asked angry before he raised his sword, a familiar rainbow aura covering his self as a force pushed the air away.

"What?" Chris asked as he looked at the glowing Toon Link. "The Over Limit gauge was ready?"

Kawashima looked ashamed as well. "Really, REALLY sorry for not saying it... It was my responsibility to tell you after you used the last one in the fight against Shadow Fox..."

Gnome turned around to look at Toon Link. Judging the rainbow aura, the big mole looked serious. "Well, ain't this interestin' now? What are you gonna d-" Gnome's eyes looked shocked after he felt that something got into them after staring at Toon Link's glowing Triforce of Courage symbol on the back of his left hand. "H-hey, what the..."

It was not long before Toon Link trapped the Summon Spirit of Earth within a symbol of the three pieces of the Triforce. Gnome began to spin in the symbol as Toon Link slashed it continuously, sending golden bits of the symbol to all directions.

Presea blinked surprised at this. "Amazing..." she muttered.

"Uah! Uah! Uah! Uah! Uah! YIAH! Uah!" Gnome yelped continuously as he spun in thr symbol without having any control. Once Toon Link stopped slashing him madly, the Outsetian stabbed the big mole hardly on his stomach as Toon Link let out a loud yell. "YIAH!" Gnome was pushed away to the pedestal's steps. The Summon Spirit of Earth crashed on a step as Toon Link held his stabbing position before he landed on the floor.

Toon Link blinked surprised before the aura vanished. "...Cool..." he muttered pleased.

Gnome pushed himself up and grunted. "Like I said before...good move," he remarked before chuckling. "It's gonna take a lot more to take me out, though!" he warned them as he prepared another spell. "Ready?"

Chris gasped and quickly changed to his Black Mage job. The magician concentrated magic into his staff. "Burn to greater ashes..."

"Stalagmite!"

"U-uah!" Chris was quickly grabbed and taken away to the right by Lucario before the stalagmite could sprout down his feet. "L-Lucario, thank you..."

"Always there to help you," Lucario said.

Gnome grumbled. "I hate when people avoid my magic..." He noticed that Luigi and Olimar weren't fighting, but rather shaking in fear close to the bridge to the area. "Hey! You guys are gonna fight or what?"

"N-no!" Luigi and Olimar yelled.

Gnome rolled his eyes and prepared another spell by crossing his shovel in front of him. "Well, take this!" he yelled before raising his shovel. "Stone Blast!"

Luigi and Olimar looked down their feet before rocks slammed up to them, the two yelped in pain as the rocks forced them to come closer to the field of battle.

Gnome gasped and quickly blocked Presea's ax attacks. Soon, she was aided by Mario who began punching and kicking the shovel. Not sooner, Mario joined up; Toon Link came rushing to them to start slashing the big mole. "T-too many people!" Gnome said alarmed before his guard got broken. "Oh no!" he yelped before he began to receive all the attacks from the two close combat fighters.

Chris looked at Lucario. "Go help them!" Chris yelled as he prepared another spell. 'I'll be the magic caster here!"

"Be careful then," Lucario said nodding to him before he dashed towards the Summon Spirit of Earth.

Suddenly, as Chris wanted to use Fira, the Black Mage glowed for a bit. "A new spell?" he asked surprised before he automatically focused his power into the staff. "Bacteria that reside in every single inch of land, multiply in size and burst your illnesses out... Bio!"

The close combat fighters stopped attacking as they saw that several green bubbles began to grow in size all over Gnome. Once they reached a big size, they all burst in a chain reaction, causing great non-elemental damage to the big mole. "Y-yuck!" Gnome said disgusted as he stuck his tongue out. "W-who would have thought bacteria could be so harmful? Bleh!"

BioHidden bacteria start to grow in size before exploding, causing great non-elemental damage to all enemies. It may also inflict the Poison status.

As Gnome looked disgusted, he was quickly attacked by the fighters before Lucario joined up. Not being able to hold anymore, Gnome managed to slap them all away by swinging his shovel. "Now you're gettin' harder!" Gnome said. "Alright, gotta give it all!" He rushed at them.

"Danger," Presea commented. "Gnome is going to use other attacks now."

"What attacks are those?" Toon Link asked.

The four quickly back stepped in time before Gnome could even start his attack. Looking a bit unpleased at this, the big mole crossed his shovel in front of him to start another attack. "Ground Dasher!"

"Uh-oh..." Toon Link muttered before he looked down on his feet. A huge crack appeared all under him before it glowed brightly, releasing earthly energy out as it created a tremble around the area. Unlike Stone Blast and Stalagmite, this attack was Gnome's best spell as it deals great earth damage to anyone under the cracks. "YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Toon Link yelled in pain as he was slowly but painfully being pushed into the air. "Uaaaaaah..." The attack seemed to be too much for him as he lost consciousness. The Outsetian fainted in the air before the crack disappeared to let him fall down.

"L-Link!" Chris yelled before glaring at Gnome. "Okay, I'm not letting you get away with this..." He focused his magic into his staff. "Rise, o violent winds... Aero!"

Gnome was sliced a bit by some winds that circled around him. Angry by this response, a vein popped out from his forehead before he prepared another spell. "Ground Dasher!"

"O-oh my god!" Chris yelped in horror before Lucario quickly came to his aid by taking him away from the glowing crack that released earth energy out. Soon, the crack itself vanished as Lucario growled angrily at Gnome. "Lucario…thanks again..."

"He's going to pay for trying to hurt you..." Lucario said through gritted fangs before he quickly vanished from sight.

"UAH!" Gnome coughed weakly after Lucario appeared right in front of him, his glowing fist of aura upper cutting his stomach. "O-oww, you're so fast and strong..." The Summon Spirit of Earth gagged a bit at the harsh blow before Lucario grabbed him by the face and actually managed to carry Gnome over him to slam him down behind his back. "O-ouch!" Gnome yelped in pain before Lucario pulled back his hands to send a great blast of aura to the big mole. The Summon Spirit of Earth screamed as his body was burned with blue aura while he rolled away from the furious Lucario.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" Lucario grunted as he fully showed his fangs at the big mole, his aura flaring up intensely in his hands before it slowly covered his arms.

Presea was about to run at Gnome before she noticed the aura that covered Lucario. Due to her Exsphere, she managed to feel the power that radiated from the Aura Pokémon. "(That power...)" she thought as she blinked at Lucario. "(I can feel its an immense force...but...his strength is somewhat...alarming...)"

Gnome coughed a bit before he pushed himself back up. Shaking his head, the Summon Spirit of Earth looked at the only two fighters who weren't fighting at all. "You 2, fight me!" he demanded at Luigi and Olimar.

By the time Gnome had noticed, the two scared Smashers were standing very close to his altar as they both were hugging each other in fear to get dragged into the fight.

"Hmm, I don't like scaredy cats!" Gnome complained before he used a quick spell. "Stone Blast!"

"U-UAH!" Luigi and Olimar were once again pushed back to the battlefield by the rocks that were shot off from their feet. The two Smashers recklessly rolled all the way to the middle of the field.

"I-I don't want to fight!" Luigi complained as he sat up with Olimar.

"Here we go!"

Both gulped as they saw a shadow on them. The two looked up to see the leaping Gnome about to crush them with his weight. Luigi and Olimar embraced each other before yelling loudly for help. Their plea, fortunately, was answered by Mario who jumped to Gnome to use his cape to hit it with the big mole, forcing Gnome to turn around and crash down close to the panicked Smashers before Mario came down to the ground. "Are you okay?" Mario asked.

"Y-yes..." Luigi gulped before he and Olimar stood up.

"Luigi, you need to fight," Mario said worried. "Otherwise, Gnome will focus all your attacks on you."

"B-but isn't the same thing if we fight him head on?" Olimar asked.

"Well...yes," Mario admitted. "You have to help us, though. We need to defeat him as soon as we can."

Luigi and Olimar looked at each other worried.

"...Oww!" Mario yelped after he received a smacking attack from Gnome's shovel on his head.

"Nobody turns me back with a cheap move like that!" Gnome complained to Mario. The red plumber gasped as Gnome (on purpose) tumbled over to make his head touch the ground. However, this was all just a part of Gnome's attack as...incredibly as it sounds...the bow on the top of his head began to spin while Gnome was aiming his head down on the ground to move towards Mario. The spinning ribbon actually managed to tear the ground apart as it constantly hit Mario. The red plumber grunted in pain as Gnome's spinning ribbon kept hitting him with its two big ends, afterwards pushing Mario away.

"T-that was unexpected..." Mario muttered in pain.

Gnome pushed himself up and looked happy. "Yep, that's an attack I like to use oh so much. I just LOVE to hit my opponents with my bow."

Mario looked a bit confused at this. "...Okay..."

Gnome's ears twitched before he sidestepped away from an ax slam attack by Presea from behind. The Summon Spirit of Earth chuckled heartily at the pink-haired girl. "You missed, sorry!"

"Ugh..." Presea grunted very silently at this before she tried to slam down her ax on the big gerbil again, missing the big target once again. "Ineffective..." she muttered.

Gnome looked playful as he moved his hips to the sides. "You guys are going to stop playin' around or what? I can still go on!"

"W-well," Chris began as he prepared another spell, "y-you seem to be the one playing around here!"

"...Maybe," Gnome responded miffed.

"Grr..." Chris grunted at this response.

However, as soon as Chris was about to chant a spell, he felt the same sensation he always felt when he and another Smasher discovered a CFS. The Black Mage's surroundings suddenly froze as well as everyone in the battle.

"(T-that sensation again!)" Chris said as his voice echoed. "(W-who is the next one to learn a new CFS?)"

"(Does that have to do with mean now?)"

"(...Mario?)"

"(It seems so...)" Mario called over. "(So is this the feeling Peach told me about?)"

"(If you're referring to the CFS...well, yes.)"

"(Hmm, I see...and feel it as well...)"

"(But if I was able to find out your CFS while I'm using the Black Mage job...that means the Black Mage job is compatible with you...)"

"(I guess,)" Mario said. "(I studied a bit about this phenomenon after many of the others had to go through this.)"

"(Wow, really?)"

"(I like to be prepared for anything, Chris,)" Mario said. "(This isn't an exception. To be honest, I was looking forward to find out my CFS with you.)"

"(Oh...well...when you say it like that, you make me feel embarrassed...)"

Mario chuckled. "(No, I don't mean it to make you feel like that. It's all good.)"

"(Thanks, Mario...)"

"(If we can do this together...)" Mario trailed off thinking. "(Maybe...this could mean Luigi is compatible with this job as well...)"

"(Why are you saying that?)"

"(Well, I was just wondering if you could do it with Luigi because we're brothers,)" Mario said. "(Since you can do CFSs with Ness and Lucas with a single job, then I guess you can do the same with this one.)"

"(I think that's true...)" Chris said. "(...Mario, when I'm not looking at you, you prove to be a very insightful person about the situations.)"

"(Mewtwo is more of an insightful person that me...but I don't mind if you call me like that.)"

Chris chuckled heartily. "(Okay, then, shall we do this?)"

"(Please do.)"

Chris looked serious as the time began to continue its way. "Okay, Mario, let's do this!"

"Hmm-hm," Mario muttered with a nod as they both looked serious at Gnome.

The Summon Spirit of Earth blinked a bit as Mario began to rush forward at him. "Okay, the guy with the funny accent wants some piece of me again," Gnome said as his bow spun a bit on his head. "Lemme give you some!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Chris yelled from afar as his staff glowed with fire magic. "Harmless fire, make a human tornado of fire..." The World Traveler pointed his glowing staff to Mario. "Fire Mario Tornado!"

As the red plumber rushed towards Gnome, Mario's fists glowed with fire as he slowly began to use Mario Tornado. However, his fists with fire began to release fire as Mario spun towards Gnome. The Summon Spirit of Earth gasped as Mario turned himself into a human tornado of fire that swiftly reached him. Gnome then found himself trapped inside the human tornado of fire that burned him greatly. The others watched a bit surprised as the fire tornado spun quickly on his spot before it ended with Mario extending his fists inside to stop the whirlwind of fire that pushed Gnome upwards and away to the west.

"O-o-oww!" Gnome moaned in pain as some flames burned him around his body before he crashed on the floor. "Ouch!" he yelped after he crashed.

Mario looked at his hands. "...It was a nice move," he commented as he smiled a little at Chris. Although the World Traveler's face was covered in thick dark fog, his yellow eyes made a happy expression to Mario.

New ability learned! Fire Mario Tornado!Gives Mario the power of fire in his fists to use an upgraded version of Mario Tornado on a single opponent, dealing great fire damage.

"Ugh..." Gnome shook his head as he got up. "Man, you guys have some tricks under your sleeves that...well, I gotta keep fighting!"

After seeing his brother doing a strong fire attack, Luigi blinked a few times before he adjusted his hat and looked serious at Gnome. "I-I'm going to fight, Olimar," he said determined. "I-if Mario can do it, I-I surely can as well!"

"..." Olimar frowned worried. "Is it...okay?"

"...I don't know..." Luigi said with a gulp.

"..." Olimar clutched his fists to himself before he plucked out from the ground two Blue Pikmins, one Red Pikmin, two Yellow Pikmins, and one White Pikmin. "W-we can fight...we can do it..." he tried to cheer himself as his Pikmins raised their hands in approval.

"Y-yes, we can!" Luigi said as he looked more relieved. "H-hey, you big gerbil, we want to fight you!"

"Hmm?" Gnome turned to see the two Smashers rushing after him. "Oh, glad to see more people thrown into the mix." He smacked his shovel a bit on his left hand. "I'll smack you a hard one, though. No mercy from the Summon Spirit of Earth!"

As Chris prepared another spell, he noticed that Toon Link was still fainted some feet away from the fight. "Oh no, I forgot about him..." Chris muttered before he changed to his Fonic Hymn User job. The World Traveler crossed his rod in front of him to recite a spell. "Return this soul from the abyss of death... Resurrection!"

A light shone from above that touched Toon Link's fainted body. Soon, his body glowed with sacred light before he grumbled a bit and slowly got up, the light disappearing after a while. "Ugh...I'm back..." Toon Link grumbled before he blinked shocked. "O-oh, right, the fight!" he said alarmed as he prepared his shield and sword. "Tell me where the mole guy is!" he demanded.

Gnome looked around to see that the seven fighters were locking their eyes on him. "...Somehow, I don't think I feel safe anymore..." Gnome muttered under his breath before all of them rushed after him.

"H-here we gooooooooooo!" Luigi yelled as he rushed after Gnome.

Gnome blocked the flurry of swinging arms by Luigi with the shovel. The Summon Spirit of Earth grumbled at this and smacked Luigi hard with his shovel. "C'mon, that's your best attack? That's rather desperate if you ask m-" Gnome stopped talking after he saw that six Pikmins were latching on his face. "What are these bug-"

It was not long before the Pikmins began to smack the big mole hard on the face.

"O-oww! T-these little guys pack a punch!" Gnome complained as he felt some fire burning him. "A-and they hit you with elements as well!"

"G-go!" Olimar cheered. "S-smack him some more!"

Gnome shook himself to push the Pikmins back off. The Summon Spirit of Earth then turned around to see that Presea was looking at him with some fierce eyes. However, something seemed wrong as Gnome found his body unable to move. "H-hey, what's the big idea? I-I can't move!"

"This..." Presea began as her ax was behind her on the floor, "is the end," she finished.

"(W-wait a sec, she's in Over Limit?)" Gnome thought. "(O-oh nuts, she's coming!)"

Even though Presea ran slowly to the Summon Spirit of Earth, Gnome could tell that there was energy building up in her as she leaped high in the air, raising her ax behind her by using both of her hands on the hilt. The Smashers watched as the ax wielder brought down her ax hard on the big mole while yelling "Massive Devastation!"

Once the ax slammed hard on Gnome's feet, a long crack of energy opened up that ran all the way across the floor to the precipice of the left where the darkness didn't let them see how long it went down as it let out energy that dealt massive damage to the big mole who got pushed to the air and crashed on the ground, moaning in pain. The Smashers looked shocked at the length of the long crack as Presea pulled back her ax.

The pink-haired girl put her left hand on her chest and closed her eyes. "There's no way to turn back time..." she muttered. "You can't go back to correct your past mistakes like I did..."

Some of them looked a bit worried at Presea's sudden sad reaction. However, Lucario was the one who looked the most worried. Something about what Presea said made him think about something that troubled him...

The Summon Spirit of Earth slowly pushed himself up and shook his head. "Okay..." he said panting before he looked a bit miffed at this as he crossed his hands. "...Okay, time's up! I give up!" he called over.

"What?!" Toon Link, Chris, Luigi, and Olimar asked shocked.

Music stops

Everyone stopped rushing after him after Gnome had declared his renunciation. The seven fighters looked confused at this sudden decision that the big mole had taken. "Okay, okay, it seems very clear I just can't win against all of you..." Gnome admitted.

"What?" Presea asked surprised. "Why is that?"

"Well..." Gnome blushed a bit. "Let's just say...I'm not in the mood to be fighting..."

"...B-but you said that you wanted to fight!" Toon Link pointed out by yelling.

"I know, but you gotta admit when you have to give up before you regret it," Gnome said. "Besides, I wasn't even feeling so good. My battle style was SO messed up, I swear..."

"I think you just fought well, though..." Mario said.

"...Sorry, you guys," Gnome said. "...You gotta admit you all fight DIRTY."

"What?" Olimar asked. "W-why do we fight dirty?"

"...What the heck is up with the 7-on-1 garbage you're pulling on poor me?" Gnome asked worried before he closed his eyes and cried toon tears. "I'm just a little Summon Spirit who wants to relax in his vacation, and you guys come in here to make me feel so pumped up to fight you! If you ask me, that's very offensive!"

"Well..." Presea looked away. "You said something like that a long time ago..."

"Yeah, you know?" Gnome said as he looked happy. "Gotta surrender when you have to!"

"...Grrrrrrrrr..." Lucario slowly showed his fangs at Gnome.

The big mole sweat dropped while everyone stared at him in an eerie silence. "(Please, let them go away so I can relax in this nice little cave... I don't want to tell them I was chickening out because of the dog that carried me...)"

"!!!"

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled.

Gnome's eyes widened before he received a super hit of aura on his right eye by the furious Aura Pokémon's right fist of intense aura. Unlike the last hits he received, Gnome was actually sent flying across the precipice of the right side where he crashed right into the wall. The Smashers looked shocked after they looked at the furious Lucario.

"...Oh boy..." Olimar muttered in fear as his Pikmins hugged him in fear of the person they thought was a big monster.

"..." Chris looked at the panting Lucario. "...Lucario...why did you go ahead and do that to Gnome without reason?"

"...Hmph," Lucario grunted a bit as he crossed his arms and frowned. "It was his fault to forfeit the match when it was getting good to me."

"..." The Fonic Hymn User narrowed his eyes and walked towards Lucario.

The moment Lucario saw Chris's bored eyes was a signal that he was going to pull his appendages very hard behind his head. The Aura Pokémon gulped at this and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry, Chris," Lucario pleaded a bit. "I-it was an accident my blind state of rage made me do..."

"Oh, really?" Chris asked without showing any emotions.

Presea looked confused as the World Traveler stood in front of his Aura Pokémon. The ax wielder tilted her head. "(His...blind state of rage?)" she asked to herself. "(I did see him getting into a small fit of rage just around the same time he got that power boost...)" She rubbed her chin a bit as Chris argued to the worried Lucario. "(...It makes me think Lucario doesn't know how to control that unfair power boost...hmm...)"

Toon Link looked a bit freaked out by Lucario's force before he looked over to see that Gnome got stuck on the wall across the precipice to the right. "H-hey, are you okay?"

"M-my goodness..." Gnome said as he tried to get off from the wall. "T-this guy has a lot of strength to send me flying across this big hole... I-I blame myself for not using all my energies..."

"What?" Mario asked. "You weren't using all your energies?"

"N-no..." Gnome said embarrassed. "I was in the middle of a break before you guys came in here..."

"...Well, no wonder it was a little bit easy to fight you," Presea commented.

"(I just hope they don't find out I didn't give it all like I did some years ago... I got so rusty over the years that my strength was reduced... Why, oh, why did I have to start eating rocks even more than usual? I'm getting so fat...) U-uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!" Gnome tried to move off the wall before a popping sound was heard from his back as he finally stepped in midair. "Phew, there..."

The group watched as the Summon Spirit of Earth began to fall down the huge precipice. Screams of pain and yelps of agony echoed across the cave as Gnome hit many pointy cliffs in the darkness of the precipice. The group's only action was to sweat drop, Lucario looking guilty.

30 minutes later...

The whole group bowed down before the Summon Spirit of Earth who was on the pedestal. Gnome, after he returned from the abyss he swore was way too deep that he expected it to be, looked a bit mad at them.

Gnome had a very black eye. Along with his black eye, Gnome was using his little shovel as some sort of crutch. His left arm was cast in bandages, and a long bandage covered the top of his head. The Summon Spirit of Earth also had some over sized band-aids plastered in almost every region of his body.

Worse yet, Gnome looked very pissed at Lucario.

"We're really sorry for causing you this..." Presea said before the group pulled their heads back up. "It wasn't Lucario's real intention to push you down the abyss. He's very sorry for hitting you in the eye."

Lucario knelt down on the ground and placed his right hand in front of his right foot. "You have my condolences for doing this to you... I'm sorry."

"...You just be glad you're Presea's friend," grumbled Gnome with some irritation. "Otherwise you'd be stabbed right through your chest by my Grave attack."

"(I doubt that can even pierce my steel chest...)" Lucario thought.

Gnome's bored eyes looked at the others. "As for you..." he trailed off, "...you won the fight because I gave up... HOWEVER, I didn't see why it was necessary to PUSH ME OFF the FREAKIN' floor so I could fall down the precipice. Geez, now I regret making the precipices around here way too deep..."

"I-I'm so sorry..." Lucario muttered as he closed his left eye and used the other to look up at Gnome.

"You BETTER be," Gnome said in a threatening tone. "...Oh well, you guys won. As I've promised before, here are your spoils." The bored eyes of the big mole looked to his right where two floating papers appeared and went all the way to the Smashers.

Once Mario looked at the pieces of paper, he recognized them as two stickers that had images of Gnome as he was shown holding his shovel in some kind of a panicked pose. "...Stickers?" Mario asked.

Gnome wanted to nod, but his neck felt horribly sore after it hit a cliff by itself. "Yeah, those were the things I mentioned as the method I was telling you about," Gnome said bored. "I'm telling you that the method sucks hard, though. It was something I did during my free time just to lose the time a bit... You're probably not gonna find something useful." He sighed depressed. "And here I thought I made a worthwhile job..."

"Actually, we happen to know how to use stickers..." Luigi admitted before Presea gave them a confused look.

"..." Gnome raised his shoulders a bit (that made him twitch in pain) and looked a bit normal. "Oh, is that so? Well, I did something good." He managed to smile a bit through the pain. "If you guys can equip those, you'll be able to call strong me onto the battlefield."

"Really?" Toon Link asked.

Gnome nodded. "Yep, you need to use the Over Limit I saw you using in that battle that I DO NOT WISH TO RECALL WHATSOEVER," he said annoyed as he looked at Lucario before looking at Toon Link. "You kid used it to use a special attack, right? Well, if you equip one of those, you can sacrifice the Over Limit to call me and crush your enemies."

"S-sacrifice it?" Toon Link said unsure.

"Yeah, as in use something to help you," Gnome explained. "You can't ignore callin' me altogether, but I'm gonna feel alone if you don't call me..." He shed a tear. "Please, please, please, please, if you do equip one of them, call me and I'll be right there to CRUSH your opponents."

"You appear to crush people?" Mario asked.

"That's how I roll," Gnome said pleased.

"...But wait," Toon Link continued, "what if I call you but you end up not hitting the enemy?"

"Are you kiddin' me?" Gnome asked a bit mad. "Do YOU know why it takes an Over Limit to call pretty good me? Once you call me, a glyph will instantly appear under your enemy that will stop him, her, or it from escaping. Once your opponent is trapped, I'll appear with a flip over them to crush them down with my weight. Not only that, but I'll also cause a shockwave of stalagmites to go 4 different ways to damage others enemies." He winked at them with his other free eye. "Also, if you happen to be close to the glyph, instead of stopping you, my earth power will give you defense of 20 percent so you resist attacks."

"..." Toon Link quickly grabbed a sticker and swiftly put it on his Trophy Stand. "Yeah, besides learning how to use my bow more efficiently, I can summon big...gerbils..."

Gnome chuckled. "I dunno why you did that but...whatever rolls your way," he said. "Just gimme a call and I'll drop by. Heheh, get it? Drop by?"

"...Yes, I do," Toon Link said.

Luigi looked a bit confused as to why they got two stickers and not one. "H-hey, why did you give us 2 stickers, though?"

Gnome looked miffed. "I gave you 2 instead of 1 if you promise you're not gonna bring dogs to me ever again," he said as he looked a bit pissed at Lucario. "That stupid saying is just a lie. When dogs bark, they not only bite you but they give you an uppercut up to the chin!" He cried toon tears. "…And also because I wanna make sure you guys don't tell the other Summon Spirits about this…"

Chris sighed annoyed, making Lucario close his eyes in shame.

"…'K," Gnome said before waving at them. "If you happen to lose those stickers, come and see me so I think about giving you more to re-stock 'em. I'll give you more ONLY if you lose those stickers. For now, I wanna relax for the time being and heal as well… So…later!"

"Wait…" Luigi trailed off.

"Hmm?" Gnome looked curious. "What is it?"

"Y-you're floating now, right? You're floating on the pedestal, right?"

"Yeah, what about it? Summon Spirits can float because of the mana we have in our bodies."

"I-I see but…" Luigi thought for a moment. "…If you can float in the air…doesn't that mean you could have floated before you could fall down the abyss?"

"…" Gnome shifted his eyes a bit. "(…Crap…) Er…well…um…" He made a happy expression to hide his embarrassment. "Kthnxbai!" Gnome said quickly.

With a bright brown flash, the Summon Spirit vanished on the pedestal.

"H-hey, you could do it!" Luigi yelled. "D-don't run away like that!"

"Leave me alone and let me relax!" Gnome's voice echoed in the cave. "For that matter, take your dangerous dog away!"

"I already said I was sorry…" Lucario muttered with a sigh.

Presea sighed. "…Well, I guess that's over with," she said as she looked at the group. "Thank you for helping to investigate this place. It turned out this place wasn't dangerous or mysterious. It just happened to be Gnome's second home."

Luigi moved his arms down in depression. "D-didn't you say there were monsters?" Luigi asked.

"Well, I did say that, but we didn't see any of them…" Presea trailed off as she looked around. "Maybe those monsters are deep down the precipices that surround the area. We're lucky we didn't have to deal with any of them."

Toon Link sighed and sat down. "Can we leave now? Gnome was sure strong with those spells of his…"

"Yes, let us go back…" Presea trailed off. "…However, there's something I wanted to discuss with you after Lucario's strength got a power boost out of the blue."

"What?" Lucario asked.

Presea looked at Lucario. "Your strength greatly improved when you started to feel rage within you. After seeing how powerful it grew, I got a little bit of insight information I want to share with you and the others. Pushing Gnome to the other side across the precipice was a big feat if you ask me."

"Yeah…" Toon Link moaned a bit in pain. "When he crushed me, I fell like 20 anvils fell down on me… My back's aching…"

Presea closed her eyes and nodded. "Then…if I recall from your talk some minutes ago, you said that you needed to get stronger to fight off the army, right?"

"Yes," Mario said.

Presea looked at Lucario. "Let me ask you this: do you feel good when you get that power boost?"

"Honestly...yes..." Lucario said.

"But can you control it?"

"Control it?"

Presea nodded. "It seems you don't understand... Well then…" Presea turned around to walk back to the bridge. "Follow me. You have to listen to what I have to say about power."

"What?" Toon Link asked. "What's that about power?"

Presea stopped walking and turned to look at them. "You have to understand the burden that power has…"

The Smashers looked confused at each other before they decided to follow Presea. As they walked, Lucario pondered something to himself. It was something that Presea had said when she did that ultimate attack of hers against Gnome.

"There's no way to turn back time..." Lucario muttered. "(She lost many years of her childhood because she had an accident... It's just like as if she didn't enjoy the childhood she could have had...but...what about me?)" he asked to himself. "(I don't remember much of my childhood since I came from a game...)" He looked a bit depressed. "(...I want to have a childhood to remember and enjoy...a childhood I should have had...)"

"Lucario?" Chris snapped Lucario out from his state of thought. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes..." Lucario said. "Everything is just fine, Chris..."

Chris looked a bit worried. "Well...if there's something that's bothering you...talk to me about it, okay?"

"...Yes..." Lucario said. "(...A childhood...with Chris...)"

The World Traveler smiled worried as the Smashers followed Presea, Lucario looking away to think about what Presea had said about her own tragedies in the past that made him think about a past he barely remembered.

Peaks

Tales of Symphonia - Dry Trail

It turned out that Presea took them all to climb up a long path to a peak. After they left the cave of Gnome, the group had taken a different route that went all the way up to the peak of a mountain that Presea knew was a path to the highest point of a mountain. Once they reached the peak, the party found itself looking at the large expanse of land that lied on the west.

"Look at that…" Olimar muttered amazed.

"I never saw so much land on the top of a mountain before…" Toon Link muttered.

Before them was the long expanse of land to the west. The Smashers and Presea could spot many different locations. They all could see the forest that surrounded the long path between the mansion and the ruins of the city. Apart from that, they also found the Dojo's place, the Wings Post Office's small hut, the village of the Black Mages across the western forest, some kind of lake located a little bit to the northwest of the city, and some house that was located on the eastern forest (that was surely Agitha's castle).

Presea smiled a bit at the scenery. "Well, here we are; one of the peaks of these mountains. I wanted to take you all up here to see the whole mass of land you see before your eyes." She looked at them. "Tell me something, though. What do you see before you?"

Mario looked confused. "Do we have to respond by being specific?"

"Yes."

"Well...we see a whole land with villages, houses, forests, mountains, and...what else?"

"Is the sky peaceful?" Presea asked. "Is it calm enough for birds to fly into the horizon?"

"Oh yes, the sky looks fine, I guess," Mario said.

Presea nodded. "Right, now tell me what you can relate all of this to power."

"What?" Chris asked. "Relate all this land with power?"

"Yes, that's what I mean," Presea said. "What does power have to do with all the land?"

"Hmm..." Chris got confused. "I-I don't see what..."

Presea looked at the others. "You don't know either?"

Toon Link crossed his arms and thought. "Ugh, I can't find an answer to that..."

"I-I don't know either..." Olimar muttered as his Pikmins sat down on the ground.

"...I see..." Presea said. "I'm afraid to say this, but you all don't understand how great the power is..."

"Okay, we give up," Toon Link said. "What are you trying to say with all this?"

Presea looked worried. "I hoped for one of you to understand...but it's a little bit hard for you." The ax wielder coughed a bit to clear her throat before she turned to see the western land they were all looking at. "Tell me something about the fight against the Subspace Army..." She looked up to the sky. "...Do you fight because you wish to protect the different worlds out there?"

"Well...yes..." Chris trailed off. "It's our job to stop the army from conquering them..."

"Yes, I know, but..." Presea looked at them. "You want to grow strong very quickly in order to stop this meaningless fight, right?"

"I suppose so..." Mario trailed off.

"Have you ever fought enemies that are almost impossible to defeat, even with all of you together?"

The World Traveler, the Aura Pokémon, and the red plumber remember the only enemy that they couldn't defeat a long time ago when they tried to save the city from being obliterated: Culex and his crystals.

"...Yes..." Lucario muttered.

"Wait, I also recall the time where Kratos appeared and defeated you with ease," Presea said.

"...That as well..." Lucario said.

"And...did you wish to be strong enough to fight the first enemy you mentioned?" Presea asked. "Did you have the urge to think about getting so strong enough to defeat your enemy? Did it defeat most of you without any effort?"

"...That's all true..." Lucario said.

Presea frowned and closed her eyes. "As I expected..." she muttered, "you don't know what you're getting into if you seek greater power in a small span of time..."

"W-what?" Luigi asked.

Presea opened her eyes. "People would like to obtain the greatest power, right? Every single one of you wants to be stronger very soon, right?"

"Y-yes..." Luigi muttered.

"...I'm going to be blunt with you," Presea began, "whatever you're thinking about doing such actions...don't do it very quickly or else you'll regret what you've done to yourself..."

"Why?" Chris asked. "Why is it bad to get so strong in a small span of time?"

"Would you get used to the biggest amount of power you got?" Presea asked. "Would you carry the burden of holding all that power?"

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"Think about this," Presea began, "…imagine that you're walking along a straight path, carrying a box on your arms. You represent yourself and your will, and the box represents your power. Now, continue imagining that you're walking along the road with the box you have on your arms. Would you keep walking all the way like that?"

"W-well, if the box is small, I think so..." Olimar muttered.

Presea nodded. "Well...what would happen if you suddenly got another box?" she asked. "What would happen?"

Mario rubbed his chin. "Since you said the box represents our power...that'd mean we'd be stronger 2 boxes, right?"

"That is correct," Presea said. "As you carry 2 boxes, you then find yourself with a heavy box of metal in your path that you wish to carry as well," she explained. "However, that heavy box is so heavy that carrying all boxes together would represent a problem. The will you have will surely tell you that you can carry all of them together. So then, you carry 2 boxes and one metal box...but you don't stop walking. In fact, you can carry the 3 boxes just fine."

"And..." Toon Link trailed off.

"...And then, out of the blue, you find another person," Presea said. "That person wasn't doing something else, but that person was carrying 20 heavy boxes without even feeling the struggle to carry all of them. You can just stop and watch amazed as the person merely walks by and chuckles at you. Feeling a little bit discouraged, you look worried at the boxes you're carrying..." She closed her eyes. "You then wish to be as strong as the person that walked by. Your mind is set to get as strong as possible because you don't know where you walked into," she explained. "Assume that, as you walked the straight path, you found yourself in a place where everyone else is much stronger than you, not knowing that everyone there...was corrupted..."

"Corrupted?" Lucario asked.

"Yes," Presea said. "The very same person that walked by turned out to be a malicious person who could have easily punched you hard enough to kill you off. Wanting to be prepared, you panic a bit and look around. Then, unexpectedly, you get attacked by a person a whole lot stronger than you are... You are quickly taken out in 10 seconds, much for your frustration. The enemy that fought you decides not to waste time with a weakling like you and walks off. You get frustrated by the fact you lost, thinking you could win that you set your mind to become as strong as possible..."

"W-what happens next?" Olimar asked.

"You find many heavy boxes in the path you chose. Thinking how powerful you will become, you carry all of them, and then you find out you can actually carry 20 heavy boxes like the person you saw earlier. You look happy as you look up at the tower of boxes you're carrying, meaning that you got very strong in such a small span of time. Happy with yourself, you then resume the path you were walking on, feeling very proud."

"...But...I don't see what's wrong with that..." Chris trailed off.

"There's more."

"What?"

Presea nodded. "As you're walking without being bothered, your will to carry all the power in the boxes starts to feel weird. You panic a bit after you see that the tower of boxes of power start to tilt at the sides. You know very well that your power is enough to carry them all together...but your will just can't control it all because it didn't get used to have such a big amount in a very small time. In fact, your will needed to get used to get power little by little, not a lot by a lot. Your will is directly related to your mind, and your mind can't just keep up. Soon enough, the tower of boxes began to move on you. You yell loudly as all the boxes fall on you, burying you under all of them..." She closed her eyes. "...Then...everything starts to get even worse..."

"Y-you die?"

"Worse yet..." Presea continued, "…you later find out that you're alive, and you easily push the boxes away...but...everything you once controlled doesn't seem as pleasant anymore..." She looked worried. "Due to the fact you power crushed you, it also crushed the good self you had with you. The power that you got very quickly happened to destroy the strong will you had in you...and...you get corrupted by the power..." She frowned. "You don't look the same anymore. The power that you obtained changed your personality to that of a heartless person who won't care about anyone. You start to develop a twisted personality where you want to get more and more power. Soon, you're not a good guy anymore...you're a person who wants to fight without feeling anything good."

Mario looked away. "So, in other words..."

"You become corrupted by the huge power you obtained very quickly," Presea said. "Even if you have a strong will, it won't keep up for much longer maintaining the power you have in you. No one has what it takes to control all the power... Anyone is wide open to succumb to power..." She looked back at the land. "Now...imagine all of this in real life...and...imagine that everyone you know followed the same path as yours..."

The Smashers looked at the peaceful land.

"Would you like to see this whole land destroyed?" Presea asked. "You wouldn't like the army to destroy everything, right? However...what would happen if you were the one who destroyed all of this?"

"..." Chris looked a bit worried.

"You gained a whole lot of power that is enough to destroy big portions of nature," Presea said. "You meet up with someone of your same level, and you 2 start to fight, destroying everything that you see just to see your opponent dead on the ground. Trees are burned, ground is destroyed to dust, the animals that you don't see hiding in the trees die because of your reckless behavior due to your power, and you endanger whoever gets in the way."

"Wait right there," Lucario interrupted. "I'm pretty sure I can handle a whole lot of power lik-"

"You can't," Presea said. "Nobody can do that. There are no exceptions out there, Lucario. Let me ask you something: did you control the power you got through your blind state of rage? All I saw was you mindlessly punching Gnome away to the wall."

Lucario gasped a bit. "W-well..."

"You see now?" Presea asked. "If I can infer, you surely get those moments where your power is massively increased to a whole new feat nobody else can reach. However, since you obtained all that power in such a small amount of time...were you able to feel it without causing destruction?"

"..." Lucario looked away.

"Just as I expected," Presea said. "You get obviously corrupted by all that power that your will is crushed..."

"That's...true..." Chris said. "Remember when you killed that thief who tried to kill me? You got so furious that you..."

"...I killed him..." Lucario said. "...And you hate to see me killing someone..."

"Yes..." Chris said. "Even I told you before that your power was so powerful enough to destroy a whole house," he explained. "You agreed not to use it to kill somebody...but...later..."

"I...see..." Lucario said ashamed.

"...I'm surprised, though," Presea said as she looked at Lucario. "Fortunately, those states of huge power are just temporal. If it was permanent, you would be turned into a fighting machine..."

Lucario grunted and looked to the land before them.

"Right now, you can control the power you always have with you. Your will can keep up with that, right?"

"Yes..." Lucario muttered.

"That goes for everyone else as well," Presea said before she looked at the others. "Lucario is the only one that is easily driven off to madness with his power of his aura. However, you can be subdued to that same state if you're not careful..." She looked worried. "The first thing you're going to feel like when you get that amount of power is that you feel very good. After that...everything just turns out worse... Your will can carry the burden, but it's slowly crushed every second you're using that power...and then..." Presea turned to see the land, "...you lost common sense...and you start to kill people..."

Some of them looked shocked as they imagined catastrophic visions about the whole land before them. Some of them thought about the forest being set of fire while cries and yells echoed through every direction, some of them thought about seeing their beloved ones dying, some of them thought about all the environment being torn apart by monsters who would destroy everything out of pleasure, and some of them thought about a whole desert where skeletons were scattered around withered plants.

Presea blinked worried as the wind peacefully brushed her hair. "Power...affects anything...and it's not safe to use it..." she trailed off."It's power that makes wars happen. It's power that makes people die. It's power that makes a person feel hungry for more power. It's power that will slowly give pleasure to a person before it stabs the person on the back to take full control of his or her will to become corrupted. It's power that causes sadness and despair. It's power that drives someone to total madness. And it's power...that everyone wishes to have deep within them...even if it's a small bit..."

"...Oh my god..." Toon Link muttered.

Chris embraced himself. "T-that's a very scary thought now..."

Presea closed her eyes. "And if you don't believe me, trust me," she said. "You'd be surprised at all the events I went through just because of corrupted people who seek power to control everything. Power affects people in different ways, and it's even worse if the power manages to control the mind. People who are corrupted with power and have a very smart mind will only become in corrupt villains who think about either destroying or conquering the world..." She opened her eyes. "Now, I ask you, do you want that? Do you want to become so powerful in a very small span of time? Your will to control yourself won't keep up..."

"..." The Smashers remained silent.

The pink-haired girl watched as everyone began to shake their heads as negative responses as they continued to stare at the land.

"...Thanks for understanding," Presea said. "The last thing I'd wish to do is fight any of you."

"Don't say that..." Mario said worried.

"But it's sadly true," Presea said. "Mario, I know you have a very strong will to help others. You're so nice and all, but sadly, power can easily corrupt you. If you try to use that power for good, you'll soon find yourself destroying anything in your path, even your beloved ones..." She frowned. "Absolutely nobody is safe from that...that's reality..."

Lucario's eyes looked worried. "...You know a lot about this, Presea..."

"It's because of my Exsphere that made me realize this," Presea said. "I heard countless of stories about past wars between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla that involved a mastermind in each side to control the land. As a result of their hunger for power, wars broke out, and many innocent people are caught in the crossfire..." She looked around the land. "Fortunately, it seems this place doesn't have people besides you. It'd be quite impossible to imagine a war here."

Mario looked away. "(You could say a 'war' against the Subspace Army took place far away from here, though...)"

"...So..." Presea began as she looked at them, "if you ever get the chance to find an enemy that is super powerful who wishes to destroy you...what are you going to do? Are you going to fight it and get defeated so you find some way to get very strong, or are you going to think wisely and run away?"

"That's a very hard question..." Luigi muttered. "That enemy is super strong, right? If we run away...he or she could destroy anything while we get away..."

"..." Presea frowned. "...Unfortunately, that's for you to decide...but personally, I'd run away; I'd run away so I don't get corrupted with power. I'd hate to destroy anything and anyone... Besides, you're fighting to protect your home. Isn't it the same thing if you include the land you live on? What is the point in protecting the land you wish to protect if you tear it up yourself during the fights? You lose the whole purpose to why you wanted to get strong to protect your home; your world..."

The Smashers looked down in shame.

"It seems you understand..." Presea smiled a bit at them. "After telling you all this, I'm sure that the land you live will stay the same as it is now."

"...Thanks, Presea..." Chris muttered. "You made me think about protecting everything..."

"Y-yes..." Olimar sniffed. "I-I don't want to get corrupted with power..."

Luigi wiped out a tear. "I-I'm always going to remember this whenever I get the chance to get strong..."

Toon Link smiled a bit. "If we want to get so strong, we have to do it with effort, right?"

Presea chuckled and nodded. "Effort is the only way that keeps you away from getting corrupted with power. Small steps will make your path easier. Soon enough, you shall see that the power won't control you, but your will is going to be so used that it won't subdue to the power you have. You'll have the strength where you want it to be: under your own hard-earned effort."

Lucario smiled a bit and looked at Chris. "Chris, did you reconsider about my idea to get mus-"

"What, are you crazy?" Chris asked.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Off-Key

"W-what?" Lucario responded in confusion.

"I told you before that we're using the stickers to get stronger. I'm NOT letting you turn into a bodybuilder so you get muscles and grow to a 9 feet tall person."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Presea interrupted, "but I doubt Lucario can even grow to 9 feet because of muscle mass."

Lucario nodded. "I won't grow..."

"...He's going to reach 7 feet, though."

"What?"

"I personally object that you workout to get powerful, Lucario."

"W-what are you saying? W-why is it that you and Chris don't like my idea?"

"You're very dedicated in what you want to do. You're surely going to be so muscular in a small span of time, and then you'll be corrupted with strength," Presea explained. "And also, do you know how bad it'd be to see your legs getting so hard and bulky?"

"...I don't see why it's bad..." Lucario admitted.

"Your paw pads would become so hard, and their softness and sponginess would disappear," Presea said worried. "I don't want to see such a horrible thought happen to you."

Mario, Luigi, Olimar, Toon Link, Chris, and even the Pikmins started to chuckle silently at the mention of Lucario's paw pads.

Lucario groaned. "Presea, you don't want me to do workout just because of my paw pads getting hard?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The Smashers broke into laughter after the Aura Pokémon said paw pads. They all dropped the floor and embraced their stomachs in pain while they continued laughing.

Presea, ignoring Lucario's gritted fangs, shook her head. "No, I don't want to see that." She walked around Lucario and ducked to poke his paw pad on the back of his right leg. "Your paw pads are the softest paw pads I've ever poked..."

"Presea!" Lucario yelled before he began to feel a tickling sensation. "S-stop, please, stop!"

"Poke, poke, poke, poke..." Presea said as she smiled a bit and poked Lucario's paw pad with a finger. "Poke, poke, poke..."

'N-NOT AGAIN!" Lucario groaned loudly before he began to laugh. The sound of his laugh was loud enough to make a long echo that went across the whole expanse of mountains. This, combined with the laughter of the others, lasted for a long time as Lucario tried his best not to kick Presea away.

Presea suddenly stopped and looked at the others. "By the way, would you be interested to join a group of the Lezareno Group?" she asked as she showed them a card. "It's called the 'Paw Pad Playmate Society', a group sponsored by the Lezareno Company."

"W-what?" Lucario asked in pure disbelief.

Presea smiled a bit at him. "It's one of the famous groups that the Lezareno Company sponsors. Do you want to join us? A person like you would fit very well."

"I-I refuse to do such a thing..." Lucario said embarrassed. "N-no, thanks..."

"That's...a shame," Presea said a bit depressed. "I was hoping some of you would join..."

"Sign me in!" Chris said as he raised a hand.

"Me too!" Toon Link said.

"M-me three!" Luigi said.

"C-can I join too?" Olimar asked.

"Hmm, I think I'll join..." Mario muttered.

Lucario's jaw opened overwhelmed as Presea gave them all some cards to approve they were all members of the Paw Pad Playmate Society. "W-what the heck are you doing now?" Lucario asked as he shook his head.

"Hey, Presea convinced us," Toon Link said as he showed Lucario the card. "It'd be fun to be part of this group."

Presea chuckled. "I'd love you have all of you as honorary members. Welcome to the Paw Pad Playmate Society."

"U-ugh..." Lucario groaned and grunted. "(What kind of group is that Lezareno Company, anyway?)" he asked mentally in disbelief. "(...Please, tell me they didn't join just to make fun of me...)"

Entrance

"And remember," Presea said as the group walked back to the entrance, "we hold meetings almost all the time. We'd like you to come Sunday during 11:00 AM."

"Can we please stop talking about that society?" Lucario asked irritated.

"Just join the group, Lucario," Toon Link said.

"I'd rather not..."

"Party pooper..."

After the group got a second dose of laughter, a happy Presea and a blushing Lucario walked close to each other as they all returned to the entrance of the path to the inner areas of the mountains. Once they reached the entrance, they found C. Falcon and Kirby waiting for them. "Hey, you guys," C. Falcon called out with a salute. "I knew you were here."

"C. Falcon?" Mario said confused. "Kirby? What are you 2 doing here?"

"Just wanted to what you were doing all the way here," C. Falcon said. "Kirby here wanted to come as well. He said it wasn't just the same to be in the kitchen with Meta Knight around... I think Meta Knight told me to take Kirby away, though," he whispered the last part.

Chris smiled a bit. "I think it's nice of you to have Kirby around, C. Falcon."

"Really? I didn't think that," C. Falcon said before looking at Presea. "Oh, you're with that little girl?"

"Nice to meet you 2," Presea said as she smiled warmly at them. "Your name is C. Falcon, and the little guy's name is Kirby, right?"

"Heheh, it seems you memorize the names right after listening to them. I like that."

"It's good to meet the friends of my friends. My name is Presea Combatir and..." Presea trailed off as she looked at a familiar iron maiden next to Kirby. For her dismay, the lid was wide open, revealing the red soft walls of the iron maiden. "...Who opened that?"

Chris gasped as he saw that Kirby was the closest person to the iron maiden. If Chris recalled the curse, Kirby would surely receive a very spooky visit of the king of demons. Worried by this, the Fonic Hymn User ran to Kirby. "K-Kirby, tell me you didn't just open the iron maiden!"

Kirby blinked confused. "I...didn't open that..." He pointed at C. Falcon. "When we came here, C. Falcon found it and he opened it to see what it had inside...but we didn't find anything..."

The rest of the Smashers looked shocked at the racer. C. Falcon stared at them and looked confused. "...What?" he asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"(At least they don't know that the hair is hidden behind a veil in the iron maiden...)" Presea thought with a mental sigh. "...I'm sorry, everyone, but I have to leave for the time being."

"What? Why?" Toon Link asked.

Presea merely walked to the iron maiden and closed its lid. Glancing one last time to the racer, Presea felt ashamed before she began to walk away to the forest while she dragged the iron maiden behind her. "I need to return this sample to the Lezareno Mystic Supply to see if they didn't do something wrong with this..." As she walked away, she turned her head to look at smile at them. "Until then, please remember the talk we had about power. Effort is everything you need to control power itself."

"...W-wait!" Chris interrupted as he ran all the way to Presea. "I-I'm sorry to ask this, but weren't you going to give us a reward for helping you?"

Presea stopped walking and looked at Chris. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. After all, I was the one who put up the request," she said before she dug her right hand on the pocket of her skirt to hand something over to Chris. "Here, take this with you."

Chris looked down to see that Presea gave him a small blue statue with the image of a goddess embracing herself. "What's this?"

"It's a Blue Sephira," Presea said. "If you have this with you, you'll double the amount of money you get from the fights you take part of. As long as you have that, you'll receive more money."

"...Oh, thanks," Chris said. "It's going to be very handy."

Presea chuckled. "Well then, I'll be on my way back to Ozette. If I go to the way I came from, I could surely be taken back to Ozette. Remember that you can call me to help you guys out in your battles."

Chris smiled a bit. "Thank you, Presea."

"You're welcome, Chris," Presea said as she continued her way back to the forest. "Until then…good luck, okay? Effort is the only thing you need to handle power...and please do keep Lucario away from doing workout."

The World Traveler sweat dropped at this as he chuckled nervously, waving a hand to Presea as she went back into the forest where she disappeared after they lost sight of her.

"Investigate the Mysterious Cliff of the East" Side-quest completed!Obtained Blue Sephira, Gnome Stickers X2!

Presea has left your team.

The World Traveler looked at the statue on his hand before it glowed a bit and turned into a medium-size sticker. Chris looked a bit surprised at this, but once he remembered that the item doubled the received money from battles, that could only mean that they would get a lot more of money if he equipped it. However, he decided to stuff it in his pocket. "I'll equip it when the time is right..." he muttered before he saw that the group walked to him.

"Wow, that girl has a lot of strength," C. Falcon remarked. "That coffin thing was way too heavy for me to drag it out from the crack, and she barely even struggled to drag it behind her..."

"Er..." Luigi looked worried at C. Falcon. "You...don't feel like going to the bathroom now, right?"

"Huh? No..." C. Falcon said. "Why'd you ask that?"

"F-forget what I said..." Luigi muttered, C. Falcon looking confused at this question.

"Weirdo..." C. Falcon muttered before shrugging. "Okay, you guys wanna head back to the mansion?"

Olimar sighed. "I want to rest for the whole day..."

"Me too..." Toon Link said. "(...Oh yeah, I should continue with my bow training some more...)"

As Kirby smiled and hopped to Chris's arms, the Smashers decided to go back to the mansion, leaving the expanse of mountains behind them...

Agitha's Castle - Garden

TLoZ: Twilight Princess - Agitha's Castle

October 21 - Morning - Tuesday

"Did you guys hear about C. Falcon?" Link asked.

"Er..." Chris looked away.

"Marth told me that C. Falcon had been suffering from stomach-churning sickness and...something else for 77 straight hours during 3 days..."

Chris looked disgusted as he closed his eyes.

"Ever weirder than that," Link continued, "he stopped having those sicknesses, but he told me that his nose has been feeling so sore after his sicknesses were healed..."

"...Um...can we just focus in what we came here to do?" Lucario asked disgusted.

"...Oh well..." Link shrugged. "I don't want to think about that again..."

Two weeks had passed ever since the group met Presea. Sonic's group had been coming in and out from their world to rotate Smashers to check on the different continents of Mazuri, Holoska, Apotos, Adabat, and Shamar. In truth, the group had the most unfortunate of luck since they didn't find any of the Gaia Guardians. It was a very frustrating thought to Knuckles, but the echidna had to keep working with the others to find the tablets.

As for Chris, school kept him from doing something productive with the Smashers. It was only during a Wednesday, where he got a day off from school, which he decided to come and visit Agitha's castle with Link, Lucario, and Kirby tagging along in order to give her the bugs he received from Roger. Thankfully, Chris remembered where he saw the location to Agitha's castle thanks to the time where Presea took him to see everything to the west. The small group of Smashers only had to travel east in the forest.

"And here it is..." Link muttered.

The Smashers traveled a bit within the forest to find Agitha's castle located on the top of a small hill. The 'castle' itself wasn't exactly a castle but a big house with two floors that had several roots and plants covering most of its walls. A beautiful garden with white, yellow, and pink flowers surrounded the brick path to the door of the castle where some bugs flew over it to make it to the long patch of flowers, making small sounds that seemed to echo in the air.

"So this is her castle?" Lucario asked. "It looks like a normal house to me."

"That's Agitha for you," Link said. "She's as weird as usual...but hey, she gives you a lot of money to find bugs."

Kirby looked miffed as he was sitting on Chris's hands. "I want to see how the inside looks like," he said.

"Well, let's go right ahead," Chris (in his Swordsman job) said. "I bet she's going to be happy to see that we found some bugs."

"Let's do that," Link said. "Let's just calmly open the door and get in..."

The other three Smashers stared at him.

"...What? It always works for me," Link said. "I can barge in any house, and the people who live in there won't say anything. Weird, huh?"

"...Knock on the door," Lucario said simply.

"Okay..." Link shrugged.

Agitha's Castle - House

And then the small group opened the door.

"Link!" Chris yelled, Link being the one who opened the door.

"Oh, sorry..." Link said embarrassed. "It's just that...it's a bad habit I have, okay?"

"Make sure you stop that bad habit soon..." Lucario muttered bored.

Once the group looked inside...they found out the house's interior looked the same as the other 'castle' that Agitha had back in Hyrule.

"Wow," Link said. "She made this place look exactly like her other home..." He looked at a big tree in the middle of the interior that touched the ceiling high above on the second floor. "Yes, this place looks the same..."

"Grasshopper! Stag Beetle! Doggy! And...um...Pink Pill Bug!" called a somewhat high-pitched voice from upstairs.

The Smashers looked up to see an eager Agitha looking down to them from the second floor. The princess of the bug kingdom giggled happily as she carefully used the ladder to go down and welcome them.

"Welcome to the bug kingdom," Agitha greeted by making a small pose with her dress to them, "how's your day today?" she asked pleased. "I haven't received many visits from others lately. The bugs outside are the only ones who come here and have a nice tea time with me."

"Okay..." Link said before he looked at Chris and nodded. "Agitha, we brought you some bugs as we promised."

Agitha blinked surprised. "You actually went bug hunting for me? Honestly, I doubted you would... I hope this doesn't make you think I'm a poor-mannered princess..." she trailed off before giggling. "Well, may I see my friends?"

"C-certainly..." Chris said as he walked to her and showed her the two lady bugs that he received from Roger. "Here, 2 lady bugs: a male and a female."

Agitha looked down at the glowing bugs before she giggled happily. "~Li'l ladybugs, li'l ladybugs, if I was smaller, I would get on your backs and we'd fly around...~" she sang happily. "Who would have thought that you would find a pair of them? You're hard workers, I'm glad for that!" she said pleased.

"Is this okay?" Kirby asked.

"Oh yes, it is!" Agitha said very pleased before the two glowing lady bugs began to fly to the tree where they both began to crawl slowly all over it. "Heheheheh, just look at them," Agitha said as the lady bugs crawled over the tree's bark. "They're happy to be back to hold another ball..." She looked at them. "And you brought a whole pair! This will surely make them feel happier together. Now they will love each other very much, that's for sure!" she said excited. "Oh, that's right...I said I was going to share my happiness with you..."

The Smashers watched as Agitha dug a hand on her pocket. Once she touched something, Agitha giggled and showed them a big wallet.

"As I've promised, here's the bag where you will keep your happiness," Agitha said as she gave Chris the big wallet. "Now you can hold up to 20000 coins in there. Isn't that good or what?"

"Yes, it is..." Chris smiled a bit.

"Also, as a little bonus, there's an extra 5000 coins in there."

The others walked closer to see the swordsman opening the wallet to find 5000 Smash Coins in there. "Oh god...this is so good..." Chris muttered as he took out his wallet and poured the 3601 Smash Coins in there, reaching a sum of 8601 Smash Coins. The World Traveler tossed the old wallet away and stuffed his new one in his pocket.

Agitha giggled and joined her hands together. "And look! You reunited a pair of bugs!" she said. "For this, I'm going to share with you even more happiness!" She showed them a bag that contained 'at least' 10000 Smash Coins.

The Smashers' eyes widened a bit as Chris slowly took the bag from Agitha.

"Goodness gracious..." Link muttered as the World Traveler took out his wallet and poured the 10000 Smash Coins in there, reaching a bigger sum of 18601 Smash Coins.

Agitha giggled happily. "If you bring me a bug, I'll give you 5000 coins. If you join a pair, I'll give you 10000 coins instead." She looked at the two lady bugs. "As of now, I have 2 bugs with me, and there are 22 more to go..." She looked happy and looked at them. "I hope that you'll keep bringing them here! You will, right?

"(Bug hunting beats all the odysseys we go through every world we save...)" Chris thought. "O-of course we will."

"Really? Thank you very much!" Agitha said giggling. "I'm so sure that you'll reunite all the bugs in no time! Until then, please come back to call them all back here, okay?"

Link looked at Chris. "I guess this is a very worthwhile job, huh?"

"Of course," Chris said as he made a happy expression. "With this money, we're going to be able to buy very expensive abilities..."

"And we'll become stronger very soon," Lucario said.

"...Wait...become stronger very soon?" Chris repeated confused. "B-but..."

"Please remember the talk we had about power. Effort is everything you need to control power itself..." Presea's words rang inside Chris's mind.

The World Traveler looked down and frowned. "...We have to be careful or else we could become corrupted with power..."

"...Oh, right..." Lucario muttered. "That's what Presea told us... (...And that thought about not turning back the time to enjoy what you couldn't enjoy...ugh...)"

"Huh?" Link looked confused. "Presea?"

"Didn't we tell you? We met here some weeks ago," Chris said. "She told us that we had to be careful with gaining a lot of power in a small amount of time. We could become corrupted with so much of it that we could...possibly end up doing brutal things..."

"...Oh..." Link nodded. "I see what you mean..." He crossed his arms. "To tell you the truth, that's how Ganondorf became corrupted with his own greed of power. Once he got the Triforce of Power, he gained what he sought to get...and he became an evil madman..."

"...It's good to see you understand," Chris said. "You're something, Link."

"Hey, I know a lot about this," Link said. "If you have any doubts, you can come and talk about them to me."

Kirby smiled happily. However, he blinked a bit confused after he looked back to the tree. Behind the tree, he could see that someone was doing something on the other side. "Huh? Who's there?" Kirby asked as he pointed behind the tree.

Agitha blinked a bit before she looked at the tree. She later smiled a bit and giggled. "Oh, I didn't show you my special guest to the bug kingdom, did I, Pink Pill Bug?" she asked.

"Who?" Link said confused as everyone looked at the tree.

The group saw that someone took a peek of them from behind the tree. The figure then walked around to make them see the person. The four Smashers looked a bit confused at the person that stepped out from behind the tree.

"Um..." the person muttered as he walked closer to them.

From what they could tell, the figure was a young teen that was around Chris's height. The boy had light-blue hair; he wore a long white-and-blue sleeved shirt with dark blue pants and blue shoes. The boy also had a bag with a wing symbol hanging around his belt in front of him. The features that the Smashers noticed about the boy that were the most surprising were the fact that the boy's left hand was a large red claw, and the left red eye he had with the right blue eye. The boy himself looked like he was bored, but through the false face of depression, he blinked a few times and smiled a bit at the group. "Hi," he greeted without showing any emotions despite the small smile he gave them.

"H-hi..." Kirby said as he smiled nervously.

Agitha giggled and held out a hand to the young boy. "Allow me to introduce you to Sig," she presented the boy named as Sig. "He's a fellow bug fanatic who wanted to drop by and see the bugs who gather in here."

Sig looked at them and nodded. "It's good to meet you, I guess," he said.

Sig is a spacey boy. The red eye and the large red claw he has are directly derived from neutral parts of a real demon that he got. However, one thing for sure is that Sig...doesn't really care about the fact he has body parts of a demon and is ignorant of the origins of them or where he got them in the first place. Very little is known about Sig other than the fact that he was born in June 16th. Even if he doesn't look like it, Sig is able to use magic that derives from Blue Magic (the magic that is supposedly learned from the attacks that monsters use). Sig is very oblivious about everything that happens around him except for insects. In fact, Sig has a deep interest or even obsession in collecting bugs and makes a hobby of it all the time. Whenever he hears about bugs, Sig's interest will soon become obvious after he asks more about them. It should be noted that Sig shows little emotion to everyone. Even if he does smile, he lacks emotion in what he says, and acts passively towards things and people alike.

Agitha giggled. "I'm lucky to meet Sig. This morning, he was outside looking at the bugs with so much interested. I got a little bit captivated when he told me that he likes bugs a lot so I told him he could come in here to the bug kingdom. Sig, I'd like you to meet Grasshopper, Stag Beetle, Doggy, and Pink Pill Bug. They're the people who are looking for the bugs I told you about. Please say hi, Sig."

Sig smiled a bit. "Hi," he greeted them. "Do you like bugs?"

"I...guess so..." Chris said.

"(Wait, Agitha calls us with nicknames but she doesn't give him any nickname?)" Link thought bored.

"It's good to meet new people, I guess," Sig said. "Have you...seen a dragonfly around here?"

"A dragonfly?" Link asked.

Sig nodded. "It was a dragonfly I was following when I was on my way to Primp Town's magic school," he explained.

"Primp Town?" Kirby repeated.

"Don't you know Primp Town?" Sig asked. "It's a special place where people learn how to use Puyos."

Primp Town is a colorful town where the people who live there know how to use the magical properties that Puyos possess. It has had many different travelers that it's population grows a bit every day. People who wish to learn how to use the magic of the Puyos should enroll as students in the magic school of the town.

"Puyos?" Link repeated.

Sig nodded and took out from his bag some kind of red slime with big eyes. The Smashers looked a bit shocked after the slime itself blinked curiously at them. "This is a Puyo," Sig said. "Cute, isn't?"

"C-can you even call that cute?" Link asked a bit grossed out.

However, out of the four Smashers, Kirby seemed to smile happily at the Puyo. "A Puyo!" he said happily. "I haven't seen a Puyo in a long time!"

Sig smiled down at Kirby. "You know what a Puyo is?"

"Yes, a Puyo lets you use magic attacks, right?"

"Yes," Sig said. "Do you come from Primp Town?"

Kirby shook his head. "No, but I used to play with Puyos," he explained. "It's good to see a Puyo again."

Sig smiled a bit and kept the red slime in his bag. "Anyway...back with the dragonfly I was telling you about..." He looked outside. "Can you hear me out?"

"Well...go ahead," Link said.

"Thanks," Sig said. "You see, when I was heading to Primp Town's magic school, on my way there I found this glowing dragonfly. Smiling at the thought to see it closer, I decided to follow it where it headed...until I found myself in this place. When I noticed, I lost track of the dragonfly I was following. I got a little concerned as to how I got here...until I saw the garden with many bugs outside. I forgot the concern I had in me and went to see the bugs. Then, Princess Agitha spotted me and I talked a bit with her about bugs."

"Then I let him stay here," Agitha added with a giggle. "Sig knows so much about bugs that he's an honorable special guest to the bug kingdom."

"But...the dragonfly..." Sig trailed off, his tone of voice not showing any signs of depression. "I want to see it again..." He looked at Kirby. "Your name is Pink Pill Bug, right?"

"...It's Kirby..." Kirby said.

"...Oh," Sig said as he scratched his head with his large red claw. "Kirby...can you find that dragonfly? I think it's supposed to be around these parts but...I just don't know where to look..."

"Er, don't worry," Link said. "We'll look around for the dragonfly."

"Really?" Sig said as he smiled a bit. "Yay," he said without showing any enthusiastic tone. "Thanks a lot," he added.

An eerie silence soon followed after Sig spoke to the Smashers. Everyone in the house blinked a bit confused before Agitha decided to break the silence.

"Well, I'm sure Grasshopper and his friends will find the dragonfly, Sig," Agitha said. "Until then, stay here in the bug kingdom. We have lady bugs with us now."

Sig turned to the tree to see the mentioned bugs crawling slowly. "Oh, lady bugs," he said a bit interested as he walked closer to the tree to look at them. "They glow so bright..." he muttered with some fascination.

The Smashers looked at each other with odd looks before they looked back at Agitha. "N-now that we delivered you the bugs...we have to leave," Link said.

"Oh, wait," Sig began as he turned to them and walked to Kirby (who was still sitting on Chris's arms). "Take this with you," he said as he took out the red Puyo to Kirby.

The pink puffball blinked at the blinking Puyo. "I...can have this?" Kirby asked.

Sig nodded. "You said you used to play with Puyos before, right? Why don't you go ahead and take this one with you so you can remember how you played? I still have lots of them with me so I don't mind."

"Well..." Kirby smiled a bit at the red Puyo before he took it and wore it on his head. The red Puyo then looked up to the confused Chris while Kirby smiled happily at Sig. "Thanks, Sig," he said.

"You're welcome," Sig said as he smiled a bit at Kirby. "Come to me if you want to have another one."

"I'll put this in my room...or I'll wear it all the time," Kirby said excited as he looked up at the red Puyo.

"Just...please find that dragonfly," Sig said. "I wanna see it again."

Kirby chuckled heartily and nodded. While the two shared smiles, Chris noticed that the odd red Puyo was looking up at him. "...Er...hi?" Chris said confused at the blob of slime.

Agitha smiled happily. "If you happen to find a bug, come here again, okay? Sig here is eager to participate in the ball with us."

The Smashers took a glance at the boy with colored eyes. The only action Sig made was waving his large red claw at them with subtle smile. "...Can we leave now?" Lucario asked as he examined Sig a bit. "(There's something about this kid that doesn't make me feel comfortable...maybe it's the claw he has... Weird, the claw has an aura of its own... What? The aura of his claw is...a bit malicious...but...everything else dominates the malicious aura that his claw emanates...)"

"Oh, please find the bugs," Sig said. "Kirby, I'm counting on you."

Kirby raised a hand. "You got it," he said happily.

Then, the group decided to leave the castle, leaving Agitha and Sig alone before they began to talk about bugs. Lucario took one last glance to the bug boy before he walked away and closed the door behind him.

Agitha's Castle – Entrance

As the four left the area, Link couldn't help but cross his arms confused after they met Sig. "Just who was this Sig guy exactly?" Link asked to the others. "Did you see that claw of his?"

"Y-yes..." Chris said. "He looked like he didn't care about having that...I mean, did you see how he used it to scratch his head?"

"What about the red eye he has?" Link asked. "Wasn't it weird that he had 2 eyes with different colors?"

"Actually," Lucario began, "there was this malicious aura that came out from that red claw he had..."

"What?" Link asked. "That claw has its own aura?"

"Yes....but there was something very strange with Sig's aura," Lucario said. "When I looked at his aura, it looked like it was repelling the claw's aura. I can tell easily that, while the aura of the claw is perturbing, Sig doesn't seem fully...possesses by it. In fact, his aura makes the other aura stay away..."

"You saw all that?" Chris asked.

"I inspect people's auras when it doesn't look like it, Chris," Lucario said. "I don't want to glow while I do that so they can't tell apart if I'm looking into their auras or not. I do this to see if we can trust the people we meet..."

"Oh...that's like a security process?" Kirby asked as the red Puyo looked up at Lucario.

"You could say that..." Lucario looked a bit curious at the red Puyo. "...And...what are you going to do with that...Puyo?"

Kirby looked up happily at his Puyo. "I'm going to use it as a hat...use it as a pet...or maybe even use it as a decoration item..." He chuckled. "Just thinking about using this gives me good memories!"

"What good memories? What do you know about...Puyos?" Link asked.

"Well, a long time ago, there was this tourney that King Dedede made," Kirby said. "It was a tourney to find out who was the best at the Avalanche Competition. When I entered, I learned about Puyos because they were the things that help you play against each other," he explained. "I got surprised that Puyos let you use magic!"

"They let you use magic?"

"Yes...but..." Kirby looked miffed, "...I think I forgot how to use one..."

Chris closed his eyes bored. "Kirby...then what you said to Sig..."

"D-don't take me wrong, but I just wanted to remember those memories," Kirby said. "Besides, I think I can remember what I used to do with Puyos."

"Well...just don't do something weird with...this Puyo..." Chris said as he stared down at the blinking red Puyo.

Kirby chuckled heartily. "Heheh, I'll see what I can do."

After the small talk, the four Smashers decided to leave for the mansion...

"(There's no way to turn back time...)" Lucario thought. "(But...I wish I could do that...)"

Outside

October 24 - Afternoon – Friday

"I swear I hate it when I have to stay late all the night to wait for Sonic to come and ask me to get rid of Dark Super Sonic…" Chris muttered.

"Meh, what can you do? You have the ability to seal him in Sonic," Popo said.

"It's worse when they haven't found any of the Gaia Guardians yet… Oh god, how long am I going to keep doing this?"

Pikachu coughed. "So, this is the billboard where people put up requests..." Pikachu said.

"…Yes, this is it," Chris said.

It had passed three days after the visit with Agitha and Sig. Pikachu, bored, wanted to have some of the young Smashers to come with him and see what else they could do. Pikachu ended up taking Pichu, Diddy, Kirby (and his Puyo hat), Ness, Popo, Nana, and Chris outside. It was Chris who suggested to see if somebody came to the Wings Post Office and put up a request.

"Where's Lucario?" Diddy asked as he looked to Chris. "I thought he was going to come with you."

"Well...I don't know where he went..." Chris admitted. "I didn't see him this morning... When I came from school, I didn't find Lucario anywhere. And when I came here, he wasn't around either. I asked Mewtwo if he saw Lucario but he said he didn't…"

"Oh well," Pikachu said. "Lucario's losing time without us. Let's see what requests are here in the billboard. We don't have anything better to do than watch the cancelled channels in the TV."

"Let's see…" Ness narrowed his eyes. "…Looks like there are 2 requests now…"

The Smashers looked at the billboard…

Wanted: Butlers

The opening inauguration of the Wonder Restaurant will take place in 3 weeks. However, we're short on staff with the butlers! I know this is rather rushed out, but I need anybody to work as a butler! I don't care if you want to work here forever, but I care to have at least 1 butler before the restaurant even opens!

From Toad gal of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Diddy blinked a bit. "This sounds more like an application than a request…"

"A butler?" Chris asked interested. "Oh, it'd feel like having a part-time job." He looked a bit pleased. "Maybe I should take the request."

"Oh no," Pikachu began as he jumped to Chris's right shoulder, "we're taking the request together. Why send one butler when you can have more?"

"Do you…want to apply?" Nana asked.

Pikachu crossed his arms. "Hey, why not? Besides, the more people who works there, the bigger the reward will be, right?"

"I guess…" Pichu trailed off.

"Hmm, maybe I should take it…" Ness wondered.

"You know what? The people who want to apply for this should be here in 3 weeks," Pikachu said. "For now, let's see what the other request is, okay?"

"The other request?" Diddy said confused before he looked at another request on the billboard. "Hey, this one…um…"

"What's wrong?" Nana asked.

"…Take a look at this…" Diddy muttered as everyone took a closer look at the billboard's second request.

Inner Training of Discovery

I am a master in the ways of the aura. Unfortunately, I have not found people who would wish to take the request to help me to train my inner self so I can use my power to my full potential. If I could manage to tap into my hidden powers…I could become much stronger for a person I want to protect with my life… Please, anyone who is interested in my request should meet me at the wasteland in front of the eastern mountain range. I will be waiting for anybody.

From the Aura Master.

"…" The Smashers remained silent at the request's note.

"The Aura Master?" Popo said confused.

"Who's this guy?" Diddy asked.

"Well, I haven't heard of any Aura Master…but isn't Lucario one?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I think so…" Pikachu said. "You don't think this Aura Master is another Lucario, right? Maybe it could be a totally different person…"

"Maybe it's another Lucario," Popo said.

It was not long before mostly everyone looked at him.

"...Something on my face?"

"Weird, Popo's acting...just fine," Pichu said. "Why's that?"

Nana grunted and looked at Popo. "Popo, please turn around and don't see this."

"O...kay?" Popo said confused before he turned around.

Nana sighed in relief and showed the others a piece of paper that had something written on it. "Okay you guys, I'm going to be quick about this," she said. "This paper you see here contains the words that you SHOULDN'T say around Popo or else he'll become that stupid state again..."

"What?" Ness asked.

"Just take a look at this list and don't even think about saying it aloud," Nana said irritated. "I want to keep Popo in this perfect and smart state. Can you please understand the pain I'm going through?"

The other Smashers looked at each other before they stared at the paper. Reading it inside their minds, their eyes were dragged word by word in the paper...

Banned Words that you shouldn't say around Popo.

-Parent
-Father
-Mother
-Dad
-Mom
-Past
-Nocturnal Snowstorm
-Adoption (or any other tense)
-Dead Parents
-Grave
-Tombstone
-Abysses without floor
-Orphan
-Baby orphan
-(At this point, list will be gradually updated)

Most of them looked confused after staring at the paper that Nana later pulled back behind her. "Don't you DARE say those words or else my hammer will have a nice chat with you...if you know what I mean..."

"Okay, okay," Ness said. "We understand, happy?"

"Very much, you don't know how much," Nana said a bit pleased as she turned Popo around. "Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Aura Master..."

"Actually, why don't we ask Parakarry?" Nana suggested. "He's been here all day again. Maybe he saw how the guy looked like."

"He's our best source now," Ness said as they turned around to see an infatuated Parakarry watching as Kylie was arguing with somebody in her cell phone.

"What do you mean your guys need more time?!" Kylie argued to the cell phone. "I swear you hoopla said in 2 weeks! Now you're askin' for 2 more weeks?! Are you takin' my leg, seriously?!"

"…Looks like they're both in their own little worlds…" Nana muttered as she looked at Parakarry. The Paratroopa was resting his chin on his right hand as he stared up to the sky. Sighing loudly, Parakarry made a happy expression, ignoring all the rambles Kylie tossed to the phone. "Hey, did you see the guy who put the request to train?"

"What? No…" Parakarry responded without looking at them.

"Something is telling me he's been like that for all these days…" Kirby muttered.

"…Um…we're accepting the second request…" Chris said. "Can you give us the wing stamp?"

Parakarry's left hand went under the counter before he took out a wing stamp that he handed over to Pichu. "Leave me alone, you guys…" Parakarry muttered with a sigh. "I'm in my best dream ever now…"

The Smashers blinked at him before they turned to Kylie.

"I'm SO GONNA call the dibs on you now!" Kylie yelled at the cell phone. "You hear me, pal?! You better get here as soon as you can or else I'm SO calling the dibs on you!"

Diddy coughed. "Guys, let's ignore them and go to the east…" he muttered.

"Agreed…" the other Smashers muttered before they all slowly walked around the post office and left to the eastern forest.

Eastern Mountain Range - Wasteland

Once the Smashers made it to the wasteland in front of the eastern mountains that Chris had gone to before, they looked around to see if the requester was around. However, they didn't find anyone from where they were.

"Where is that guy?" Ness asked. "I thought he said he was going to be here."

"You don't think this was a joke or something like that, right?" Chris said.

"I doubt it…but then again, Parakarry was busily staring up to the sky," Pikachu said bored before sighing. "Okay, let's all head back to the mansion…"

As soon as Pikachu said that, the Smashers were quickly covered by a big cloud of dust that made them all cough continuously. As they all coughed, they found out that a dark figure in the cloud of dust was standing in front of them while the figure looked to the mountains in front of them.

"Welcome…" the figure said as the dust cleared out. "Thank you for accepting my request…"

"Yuck…" Nana gagged a bit. "W-who's the guy who did this?"

Once the cloud of dust cleared out, the Smashers shook their heads and looked forward to see the person. However, something about the person made them gasp a bit.

"…You know," Diddy began, "the guy looks just like the Lucario we live with…"

"Diddy, he's really the Lucario we know," Chris pointed out.

"…Oh."

Before the Smashers, there was Lucario who looked at them over his right shoulder. The Aura Pokémon turned around to look at them. "Thank you for coming here," Lucario said.

"Wait, you put that request?" Pikachu asked. "Why did you want to do that?"

"I wanted to do that because you would surely accept it," Lucario said. "I was…thinking some days ago to train myself…and then I recalled we were doing these requests so…"

"If you ask me," Nana began as she looked bored, "you could have just told Chris about this before doing that…"

"…I…kind of wanted to make more of you come as well," Lucario admitted. "…So…can you help me out?"

"A-are you crazy?" Pichu asked with a gulp. "We'll die in this training! You have that brute force of yours while we have our underdeveloped skeletons!"

Everyone stared at Pichu.

"...Well, I have fragile bones..." Pichu admitted embarrassed.

"...Anyway..." Lucario trailed off. "...I need your help to tamper with the highest level of aura I can achieve..."

"Say what?" Diddy asked.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Pikachu said as he jumped down to the ground, moving his hands forward. "You want to do what?"

"It's just like you heard," Lucario said. "Pikachu, Pichu, you 2 were there when Chris narrated the time where I...killed somebody out of rage...right?"

"Y-yes..." Pichu gulped as he stood close to Chris.

"...Well...I was able to recall that event..." Lucario said. "And honestly speaking...I could feel that my power, during that occasion...was very high..."

The World Traveler blinked worried at this.

"...And well..." Lucario trailed off unsure, "...please, I need your help so I can reach that level of power again..."

"..." Pikachu shook his head.

"What?"

"Lucario, sorry to telling you this, but you're stupidly crazy," Pikachu said as many of them nodded. "We've seen how crazy you get when you get utterly pissed."

Jigglypuff held out her hands to the sky. "~As the Aura Pokémon roars out loud, the land under his feet will disappear in a void,~" she sang. "~When the land disappears with brutal power, the people will die and climb the path to heaven we call an endless tower.~"

"...What does that mean?" Lucario asked.

Jigglypuff grunted a pouted a bit. "It means we'll die if you get in that state!" she yelled.

"But...I'm sure I can get a hold of it if I concentrate hard enough..." Lucario trailed off.

"The first thing you're going to feel like when you get that amount of power is that you feel very good. After that...everything just turns out worse... Your will can carry the burden, but it's slowly crushed every second you're using that power...and then...you lost common sense...and you start to kill people..."

The words of Presea rang inside Chris's mind.

"Even if you have a strong will, it won't keep up for much longer maintaining the power you have in you. No one has what it takes to control all the power... Anyone is wide open to succumb to power..."

"...Lucario, don't do this," Chris said worried. "Remember what Presea told us? What if you become corrupted with power?"

"It's just going to be temporal, Chris," Lucario said. "If I do get out of control...just call me back to my Poké Ball and everything will be just fine... Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

"I-I refuse!" Chris yelled. "You remember how bloodthirsty you got when you killed that thief?!"

"Y-yes...but...please..."

"It's like you're asking us to die!" Diddy said worried. "What if you can't control it? What will happen, huh?"

Lucario closed his eyes and tightened his fists on his hips. "Please, everyone, help me... If I can control that power, the fight against the army will be much easier..."

Nana shook her head. "Sorry, but we know what we're saying when we're saying no!"

"This will be one time only, I swear," Lucario said as he tried to convince the younger Smashers. "I won't even let that state kill any of you."

"Lucario..." Popo muttered.

Lucario knelt down to them. "Please, help me...I want to reach that state...and see if I can manipulate it..."

"Your will is going to be crushed, don't you get that?!" Chris yelled. "Presea said nobody can control a huge amount of power! Even if you do manage to do such a thing, it will slowly turn you int-"

"It's just temporal!" Lucario yelled loudly. "For that matter, it's not permanent! I won't be corrupted by power!"

"Ugh!" Ness threw his hands up. "You know what, I don't care! Let's give him what he wants!"

"W-what?" Pichu asked shocked.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Pikachu yelled annoyed. "Lucario is as stubborn as an idiot. He won't drop off the idea that easily, anyway!"

"Pikachu..." Lucario muttered.

Chris shook his head. "B-but...this is going to be dangerous..."

Nana pressed two fingers in the middle of her eyes. "Oh god...well, let's do the request..."

"What?"

Nana looked serious at Chris. "Look, if Lucario says that he can handle it, we may as well follow the flow and see what happens. If he can't handle it, then he's going to learn a very important lesson out of this. You rather have him look depressed all day?"

"W-well..." Chris looked down.

"...It's going to be just fine, Chris..." Lucario muttered as he stood up. "Trust me, please..."

The World Traveler thought hard about Lucario's request. Chris didn't want to see his Aura Pokémon getting into a huge fit of rage again, not after what he had remembered just now. Chris knew that Lucario would do anything his mind sets to do, but would he be able to achieve what he wanted? This question made Chris feel so unsure, but he had to decide now...

"...Fine..." Chris said before he pointed a finger at him. "One wrong move and you're going to get punished, okay?"

Lucario looked serious and nodded. "I'll be just fine, Chris. You're the main reason why I'm doing this. This is for your protection."

Chris closed his eyes annoyed. "Stop trying to encourage me and let's get this over with," he said a bit angry.

"..." Lucario looked worried. "...Just trust me..."

"..." Chris opened his worried eyes. "...Okay..."

Pikachu clapped his hands to get their attention. "Okay, I didn't think we would do such a thing in a beautiful day like this, but seeing that our client wants to do this so badly...group, form a circle and listen to what I have to say!" he ordered. "Everyone make a circle around me, kneel down, and keep Lucario from hearing us!" He pointed at Lucario. "You better not come any closer or hear the idea I just got..."

"I...won't listen..." Lucario said.

"Circle formation...HOOTHOOT!" Pikachu yelled before everyone except Lucario scrambled a bit around before the Smashers ducked to form a circle of themselves around the electric type, listening to Pikachu wanted to suggest as a plan to help Lucario.

The Aura Pokémon tilted his head confused as he saw that the group shook and nodded their heads. Lucario couldn't focus his hearing because of the fact they were all arguing with each other. Remembering what Pikachu told him not to do, the Aura Pokémon turned around.

"Okay!" Pikachu said as he stood straight. "Lucario, keep looking away! We need to get prepared to do this if you wish to get that huge power boost!"

"Fine," Lucario responded without looking at them.

Several claps from Pikachu's hands were a sign for the other Smashers to scramble around as they made many noises to confuse Lucario's ears (since they didn't exactly trust Lucario about not hearing them). The Aura Pokémon looked a bit worried as he stared at the mountains across the wasteland. Soon, Pikachu clapped his hands again. "Okay, turn around."

Lucario turned around and found Pikachu standing in front of him. The others had disappeared by the time Lucario looked around. "Where did everyone go?"

"Listen to me," Pikachu began as he pointed up at Lucario. "By no reason, you're not going to use your aura to detect ANY of them, okay?"

"Okay?"

"If you're asking why, that's because the others are just behind me."

Lucario blinked a bit before he looked behind Pikachu to the forest. The Aura Pokémon found Ness, Diddy, Pichu, Popo, Nana, and Kirby (holding a hammer) standing around a tree that they looked with worried looks.

"Why are them...there?" Lucario asked.

"Simple," Pikachu said. "At the count of 3, the guys back there are going to start the plan and attack the tree."

"But...where is Chris?"

"Don't move from your spot...but...Chris is behind the tree they're surrounding... The reason why they look worried is because they're going to start attacking Chris..."

Lucario's eyes widened. "Chris!"

"STAY THERE!" Pikachu yelled loudly, stopping Lucario from taking a step forward. "Lucario, by no reasons you're not allowed to go there and save Chris from getting hurt, you got that?"

"What? Are you crazy?" Lucario asked with a glare.

"I'm not crazy," Pikachu said in a serious tone. "I figured out that you reach those states where you get super powerful when you see Chris getting hurt. So then, I thought about hurting Chris in front of your eyes to help you reach that state."

"Grrrrrrrrr..." Lucario grunted as he slowly showed his fangs at Pikachu.

"See that? That's the look I wanted to get from you," Pikachu said before he raised a hand. "Okay guys, I'll start the countdown!"

"Chris!" Lucario yelled.

"I-it's okay!" Chris yelled from behind the tree as the Smashers looked up worried at him. "Lucario, trust me, I'll be just fine!"

"B-but they're going to attack you! I'm not going to be able to hold for much longer!"

"Trust me!" Chris yelled. "Ignore the pain I get and stay right there on your spot!"

Pichu gulped. "I-I don't want to do this..." his body started to release some sparks, "b-but we're going to help Lucario this way..."

Kirby looked worried. "Chris...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay..." Chris muttered. "You just go ahead and start attacking me!"

"No!" Lucario yelled. "I know you're not going to attack him!"

Final Fantasy IX - Battle 2

"Want to see for yourself?" Pikachu asked before he snapped his fingers. "Forget the countdown and start attacking Chris at will!"

Lucario's eyes widened after he saw the group gulping in unison before they started to attack the tree with all sorts of attacks. The Aura Pokémon's pupils shrunk in horror as he heard the agonizing screams of pain from the World Traveler behind the tree.

"!!!" Chris screamed in pain as he was smacked hard with hammers, fire, blizzards, and even a barrage of peanuts by Diddy's Peanut Popguns.

"Stay right there!" Pikachu yelled at Lucario. "If you dare move, this is going to fail!"

"B-but..." Lucario shook his head as he heard the World Traveler screaming loudly in pain. "C-Chris!"

"LUCARIO, HELP ME!!!" Chris yelled loudly as the young Smashers kept attacking him.

"CHRIS!!!" Lucario yelled loudly as he took a step forward. However, as soon as Lucario moved his foot, Pikachu send a bouncing Thunder Jolt that collided against Lucario's foot. The Aura Pokémon gasped and pulled back his foot, Pikachu standing in a fighting stance while gathering sparks in his cheeks. "Pikachu!"

"I told you NOT to move!" Pikachu yelled as he glared up at Lucario. "Stay there and listen to Chris's screams!"

"What?"

"Whatever he asks you to do for him, don't do it!" Pikachu yelled through Chris's screams of pain. "Try to resist listening to all his cries of pain!"

"I-I won't resist this blasphemy!" Lucario yelled loudly at Pikachu as he looked both worried and furious at the younger Smashers. 'Dammit, they won't stop!"

"STAY THERE!" Pikachu demanded. "Hold your position!"

"B-but!"

"HOLD YOUR POSITION!!!"

"U-ugh!" Lucario's feet twitched in horror as he remained in front of Pikachu, listening and watching how Chris screamed loudly in pain and the Smashers attacking him at will respectively. "G-g-g-grrrrrrrrrrrr..." Lucario started to pant heavily, his eyes reflecting the glittering lights from the attacks that collided against the back of the tree where he could imagine his poor trainer being assaulted by everyone against their will.

"(C'mon...)" Pikachu thought as he gritted his small fangs a bit. "(Lucario, try to build up your rage so you get that power...)"

"!!!" Chris screamed loudly in pain. "LUCARIO, HELP ME, PLEASE!!! !!!"

"G-g-grrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Lucario panted heavily as he slowly showed his fangs at the horrible event before him. His fists tightened so hard in each other that Pikachu was able to hear a cracking sound from both of them. The Aura Pokémon's fists then slowly started to flare up with his aura.

"(Yes...)" Pikachu thought. "(It's working...) Lucario, whatever you do, don't hurt anybody once you reach that power, okay?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario grunted silently as the aura of his fists began to cover his arms. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."

Pikachu gulped for a bit but kept his serious look at Lucario. "(He looks like he's about to explode...but...we have to keep going...)"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario began to pant heavily. His chest began to grow and shrink with the air he inhaled. His eyes were focused on the young Smashers that kept attacking without even thinking at the back of the tree where Chris was suffering the unfair treatment. Soon, Lucario's body flared up with aura, his feet were covered, his arms were coated, his head got engulfed, and his eyes began to shine brightly in a yellow light in the intense aura that covered him completely. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! !" Lucario grunted loudly as he fully showed his bare, gritted fangs. "!!!"

Pikachu grinned a bit at this and nodded. "(Alright, he's almost there...)" He looked down at Lucario's feet. "(...Um...wait...there's something wrong here...)"

The Electric type watched as the earth around Lucario began to shake uncontrollably. For Pikachu's surprise, the intense aura that covered Lucario pushed out some kind of force that made Pikachu get pushed back as he rolled all the way to the forest area. Once Pikachu crashed his back on a tree, he watched shocked as the area around Lucario began to get cracked up with some small fissures that slowly stretched across the spot he was standing on.

The Aura Pokémon grunted in rage as he flexed down his arms. It was not late before Lucario's grunts began to echo all over the air. The fissures that appeared on the ground began to expand quickly at every single direction that they even reached the forest area around Pikachu.

"Oh my god..." Pikachu shook his head as he sat down. "Lucario's getting out of control that fast?!"

"!!!" Lucario's mighty growl made the very earth beneath his feet shook with intensity.

The Electric type's eyes widened in shock as the area around Lucario began to shake uncontrollably. The trees behind Pikachu's back began to shake their leaves and branches slowly before they started to move around crazily. Shaking his head in pure disbelief as he saw Lucario's aura starting to grow bigger and bigger overtime, Pikachu closed his eyes and yelled between the screams of agony from the World Traveler, "GUYS, STOP IT! LUCARIO'S OUT OF IT NOW!!!"

"W-what?!" the Smashers said in shock as they noticed that the ground began to shake crazily while cracks and fissures began to reach their feet. The young Smashers panicked a bit as they all returned to where Pikachu was standing.

"O-oh my goodness," Nana said shocked as they all looked at the enraged Aura Pokémon. "L-look at his growing aura!"

"Holy..." Diddy muttered as some of them hugged each other in fear.

The young Smashers watched as the aura of Lucario began to expand in a great flaring flame that greatly covered 50 feet. The radiation that his aura emitted was the force that ripped the ground apart around him as cracks and fissures began to open all around. For their surprise, they saw the fissures covering great distances that went all the way to the eastern mountains behind the furious Aura Pokémon. "!!!" the furious grunt echoed all around the atmosphere of the air.

"G-guys," Jigglypuff began as she cracks extending under their feet, "I-I don't think this was such a good idea anymore..."

The earthquake that Lucario caused began to increase in magnitude as the Aura Pokémon let out a howl to the sky, his aura expanding even more that it almost managed to engulf the others within it. "!!!" Lucario's almighty roar echoed.

This roar, however, turned out to be very destructive. The young Smashers were all pushed away at least 50 feet away, crashing all on trees that stopped their forceful push. They all moaned in pain and looked back to the field where they gasped as they saw the ground around Lucario breaking into stalagmites that rose up all around him. The very same stalagmites rose about 10 feet each as they expanded over the fissures.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" Diddy yelled to make everyone climb to the nearest tree.

All the young Smashers climbed up to the trees behind them to evade the dangerous stalagmites that reached the forest and began push trees away from the ground. The young Smashers watched in horror as the roar echoed a very loud sound that caused the very dust to get pushed away as a growing ring of ground.

Pure destruction reigned over the land. Stalagmites rose up, trees were stabbed through or pushed away with force, dust flew everywhere as the aura reached a big territory, and some of the Pokémon that were hiding in some trees ran away in fear of the seemingly- looking catastrophe.

Having enough of so much destruction, Pikachu looked around. "CHRIS, COME ON OUT NOW!!!"

"I-I'm already out!" Chris yelled as he stood up from behind some bushes.

It turned out that the Smashers had tricked Lucario into believing they were attacking Chris while, in fact, the World Traveler was hiding behind some nearby pushes faking screams of pain and yells of agony.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled as he looked around to see the chains of stalagmites extending deep into the forest. "Lucario!" Chris yelled loudly as he spotted the big mass of aura glowing in the wasteland. "Oh no...t-this is worse than I imagined..."

"Hey!" Ness yelled from a tree. "We have to get to Lucario!"

"Are you insane?!" Pichu asked from another tree as the Aura Pokémon roared with all his might. "W-what if he attacks us?!"

"We're already in danger of being attacked!" Pikachu yelled. "If he combines this power with ExtremeSpeed, we're all screwed!"

Popo gulped and looked back at the mass of aura between the stalagmites. "W-we don't have any other choice, do we?!"

"NO!" Chris yelled. "E-e-everyone, let's just go and stop Lucario!"

The Smashers looked worried before they all jumped down the trees and began to navigate through the chains of stalagmites as fast as they could to get to the destructive Lucario. For their dismay, the Aura Pokémon seemed to be 180 feet away from them, but they pressed on forward to get closer and stop him.

Eventually, they managed to reach the point where Lucario's aura was. The trip was very short due to the fact Lucario's aura covered 120 feet of the whole terrain. "Lucario!" Chris yelled as the strong gust came from the aura's force. "Lucario, calm down! I am fine! They didn't hit me!"

"!!!" Lucario responded.

"L-look out!" Nana yelled loudly.

The chains of stalagmites were soon blown apart by big beams of aura that came from the Aura Pokémon's hands. What scared them a lot was the fact the beams of around 40 feet of height rose their bodies for mere centimeters. This caused everyone to look extremely frightened at the thought of dying instantly by someone of their side.

"…I-I saw my whole life flashing in front of me…" Jigglypuff muttered with a gulp.

Chris looked back at the forest. He knew that those beams were Lucario's Aura Storm that reached a completely new level of power. Once Chris looked back, he looked confused to see that the forest was torn apart by the beams that barely scratched their bodies. "O-oh my god…" Chris muttered as he shook his head, the wind produced by Lucario's aura blowing behind him. "T-this is…just so wrong…" he muttered before he turned around to face his Aura Pokémon. "Lucario, stop it! I'm fine!"

"!!!" Lucario let out a powerful roar that pushed all of them away for 60 feet, many of them spreading on the fissures of the wasteland while others crashed right on the trees.

"Ugh!" Kirby moaned in pain as he bumped and bounced off a tree, his Puyo hat still on his head. "L-Lucario!" Kirby yelled worried.

"T-this is not good at all…" Pikachu muttered as he peered out his head out from a fissure. "At this rate, Lucario will as well destroy everything in sight!"

"See? I told you this wasn't such a good idea!" Pichu cried from behind his back as dust flew everywhere.

"B-but I don't understand!" Nana yelled from the other side of the field. "Lucario should have calmed himself down after he saw that Chris is fine! W-why is Lucario still so angry?!"

Pikachu gritted his small fangs and tried to think. "…Oh no, Lucario's pissed because we tricked him!"

"T-that should be it…" Diddy muttered as he was sitting down against a tree. "W-we have to stop Lucario!"

Chris closed his eyes and decided to press on to his enraged Aura Pokémon. The others watched as the World Traveler covered his face with his arms to get through the force field of aura that covered Lucario. From what they could tell, inside the big mass of aura, Lucario's shadow looked like he was some sort of dreaded demon with yellow eyes that glowed ominously within the aura.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled as he walked inside the force field of aura. "P-please, calm down! I-I'm fine, Lucario!"

"!!!" Lucario grunted loudly as he pulled his right intensified fist of aura behind him.

Chris slowly uncovered his arms to look at Lucario. "S-stop, stop what you're going to do!"

"Oh my god, this isn't good!" Pikachu said as everyone watched the Aura Pokémon about to bring down his fist down the fissures he had created with his aura. "His power left this place so screwed up…and if he decides to use it on someone or…this place… LUCARIO, NO!"

"LUCARIO!!!" the others yelled loudly as they quickly stood up and ran to get to the Aura Pokémon and the struggling Chris.

"U-ugh…" Chris began to feel some sort of intense force as he spent more time within the aura field. "I-I…can feel it…" he muttered as he dropped to his knees. "T-this is…Lucario's…true power…"

"!!!" Lucario grunted loudly. "!!!"

Everyone froze on their spots as Lucario brought down his fist upon the earth, just in front of the World Traveler. Everyone watched as the fissures began to fill with Lucario's extreme aura that later began to spread out wide around everywhere. Pikachu and Pichu looked around to see that Lucario's aura had made everything much worse than before because his aura had made the fissures go all the way across the land, spreading even all over the eastern expanse of mountains. If they were right, the aura surely reached even further than the expanse of mountains, and maybe even the land where the Smash Mansion was.

"E-everyone…" Ness looked frightened as he embraced himself. "I-I…I-I can feel Lucario's power…g-going so far away…"

"W-what? You're using your power now?" Popo asked as he and Nana looked shocked at Ness. "H-how do you know that?"

"I-I haven't trained my mind to sense this power…b-but…" Ness shook his head, "…m-my PSI energy can't…it can't just follow the entire aura Lucario sent out…"

"…N-Ness, you're scaring me…" Nana gulped, "d-don't tell me that his aura reached out everywhere…"

"…I…I can assure you…I can assure you that…it did…" Ness said frightened. "A-and that's not the worst part yet…"

"T-there's more?" Kirby asked as he ran to Ness while Diddy, Pikachu, Pichu, and a frightened Chris went to him.

"T-that's not all…" Ness said as he shook his head. "H-his aura is building up massive energy in all those fissures he made…a-and if I'm correct…"

The others saw that Ness shook his head.

"…T-the aura building up all over the region…will blow up…" Ness said. "…A-and once it blows up, everything and everyone in the range of the attack will…be destroyed and annihilated…"

"…Oh my god…no…" Chris muttered as everyone looked down and everywhere where the fissures of aura were spreading. If what Ness said was true, then that would mean that a whole catastrophic event would occur just because Lucario wanted to see what level of power he could reach. The World Traveler felt not only scared but terrified as he turned to Lucario. "NO, LUCARIO, TRY NOT TO DESTROY ANYTHING, PLEASE! LUCARIO!!!"

"!!!"

It was too late. Lucario exerted a huge amount of aura through his fist into the ground that made all the fissures glow brightly that blinded all of them. Everyone covered their faces and screamed loudly as a massive explosion of aura managed to cover further than probably some miles of land that surely took everything and everyone standing around the immense horizon of land…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Smash Channel

Final Fantasy IV DS – Mystic Mysidia

In the peaceful and lively forum (that had to be quickly repaired due to a previous attack by an Eidolon of light), the World Traveler (in his Chozo Arts job) waved happily at the cheering audience. "And we're back again with the Smash Channel!" Chris said as he raised his hands to the air, calling for the public to applaud. "As we've promised before, here's our second round of the show for the special Side-quest arc. Okay, are you worried about what happened in this chapter?"

The audience only murmured things.

"I bet you're thinking that we all died. Well…" Chris closed his eyes. "…Wait until the next chapter comes in…okay?" he asked before opening his eyes. "There's a 95 percent that the whole good cast of people died…and the other 5 percent is to point out that, out of everyone that surely got killed in the explosion, Sig surely survived."

"Yay," came as a response from Sig between the audiences.

"And don't start asking how I'm here and all that because, well, this is non-canon, just to amuse people a bit… Okay!" Chris said enthusiastically. "Today, we've got word of a lawsuit that 2 characters filled in because they didn't get a chance to be in this show some time ago," he said as he looked annoyed. "And I'm pretty damn sure they were surely going to sue the whole section if I didn't call them today…" he muttered before looking happy. "So then, we ultimately decided to call those 2 here so they get their chance to participate in this special section."

The audience started to clap.

"Without further ado," the teen began as he held out both hands out to his sides, "give a warm and, if you can, magical welcome to the twin mages of Mysidia: Palom the Black Mage and Porom the White Mage!"

"Palom the Mysidian Genius!" said the mentioned bluffing character that sat left to Chris. "I told you before that's my title!"

"Hush now, Palom," said her somewhat angry sister Porom who sat to Chris's right side. "Be glad we're here today."

Chris looked bored. "It's hard to think you 2 put the lawsuit. It's not like Porom to do such a thing... Who did this?"

Porom merely pointed at Palom.

Palom folded his arms behind his head and looked proud.

"...Of course, that makes much more sense," Chris said as he rolled his eyes. "Well, you 2 are here, so let's not keep wasting words, sentences, and time, okay?"

"Shoot the topic, dude!" Palom said excited as he punched the air a bit. "I wanna get to the point here!"

"I hate to say I have to agree with my brother for once," Porom said with a bow. "Please, do present the topic to discuss."

"Hmm-hm," Chris nodded as he took out a paper, "the topic for you 2 is..."

Of the characters that went to help the FFIV gang, who do you think would be perfect to stick with the team for the remainder of your adventure?

Some people began to clap at this topic. "An easy topic," Chris said. "Since we have 2 people here, you each will get to say something."

Palom and Porom nodded to each other before they opened their mouths to sa-

"Ooh, sorry, you can't say Popo or Nana because that would be too obvious," Chris interrupted.

"Bullcrap!" Popo and Nana yelled from the audience.

Palom looked a bit pissed and Porom looked annoyed at this. "Hey, we don't have anyone else to mention!" Palom argued as he pointed a finger (with a swirl on it) to Chris. "You're being cheap!"

"Who else do you want us to talk about?" Porom asked a bit annoyed. "Our world only got 5 of the Smashers, and you're not even stated to be in the real deal you call video game."

"Well, that's true...but you still have Ike and Zelda," Chris pointed out.

"Pfft, Ike and Zelda? Are you kidding me?" Palom asked chuckling. "Do you think I want to mention how much of a dummy Ike is? He's all talky-talky about swords and what not. Why, if I were he, I'd GRAB his sword, POINT it at my butt, and MOVE it up m-"

Chris quickly took out a floating black sign from under the counter that read "CENSORED" and put it in front of the oblivious Palom as he began to say very disgusting things about hurting himself with Ike's sword. The words that he spoke were silenced as long as the sign was in front of him. "There," Chris said as Palom kept talking without noticing the sign. "Porom, it seems you have Zelda."

Porom crossed her arms and looked away as she shook her head.

"...Is something wrong, Porom?"

Porom turned to him and shook her head. "Sorry, but putting Zelda in there would destroy much of the fandom that has followed the game."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"You know Cecil, right?"

'Yes."

"You know Rosa, right?"

"Yes."

"You know how much infatuated Zelda was for Cecil in the arc, right?"

"Yes..."

"Well, if we let her come, there would be a horrible threesome," Porom theorized. "Cecil is constantly worrying about Rosa's welfare. If Zelda is put into the picture, she is bound to do something unneeded between the love between Cecil and Rosa. Fans have appreciated their love, but what would exactly happen if Zelda was in there?"

"C-can you please stop talking about me?" Zelda was heard saying from the crowd.

"Besides, she's not even engaged to someone. That means my theory could happen."

"O-of course not!" Zelda said embarrassed.

"W-well, at least those 2 universes haven't intervened with each other before..." Chris said.

Porom shook her head. "Oh no, they did intervene a very long time ago, actually..."

"...When?"

"Final Fantasy I, the glorious birth to the series," Porom said. "If you go to Elftown and visit the graveyard, if you see a grave it'll read 'Here Lies Link,' and Link is supposed to be the hero of The Legend of Zelda, right?"

True fact in you have the GBA version of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls.

"...B-but that's just a small cameo!"

"Besides, I'm never found in a grave!" Link yelled from the crowd.

"Oh no, it gets more obvious after that," Porom said. "In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, there's a special weapon called Master Sword. If you take a closer look to the sprite, you'll see it's modeled like the Master Sword that almost every single Link uses."

True fact if you have Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the GBA.

Porom crossed her arms. "You could say those small cameos are the way to say thanks for letting my creators do their production in your, our, games. But if we take those cameos at hand, you'll get a surprising thing that could happen as another way to say thanks."

Palom removed the sign by pushing it away. "Yeah, tell him, sis!"

"What is that other thing? That thing is destroying a pairing from the seeming less queen of Hyrule that is in fact a princess."

"...Time's up!" Chris said as the crowd began to clap. "Sorry, Palom and Porom, but your time has ended."

'No it's not!" Porom argued. "Our fellow Final Fantasy IX companion, Eiko, stayed her for a little bit longer! We deserve the same treatment!"

'Yeah!" Palom yelled as he showed Chris the CENSORED sign. "You better hear to what we have to say, or we're shutting you up with this little baby here!"

Before Chris could even say something, Palom put the sign in front of Chris's face to silence him.

Porom looked bored. "Palom, you should have let him say something before even doing that to him. People here will think we're brats when YOU are the true brat here."

"Oh, wanna fight or what?" Palom asked as he began to punch the air, Chris trying to take off the sign in front of his face. "Don't make me angry, Porom. You'll hate me when I'm angry!"

Porom rolled her eyes. "I hate you even when you're not angry... Now hush."

Chris removed the sign. "I said time's up!" he yelled before smiling happily at the crowd. "Well then, see you later!"

And then the curtains fell down. However, the crowd knew well that something was going to happen behind the curtains that they decided to stay and listen.

"Okay, you've made us reach a violent decision we didn't want to do to you," Porom said behind the curtain. "Do you feel regret for not letting us talk some more?"

"Look, you 2 came in here without stating how much time you want to be here. It's your fault that you didn't want to specify the time," Chris said. "And no, I don't feel regret."

"Sweet!" Palom called out. "Porom, can we use Twincast on him?"

"Oh well, this is just for once, okay? Once we cast our spell on him, we'll go away," Porom said.

"...Wait, what?" Chris asked.

"Comet!" both mages yelled.

Not long after they said that, a shower of stars began to crash down behind the curtain. It seemed like most of the newly acquired stage's props were destroyed once again...

"Seriously, it's been 3 times in a row that this place has been blown up to bits!" Chris yelled before a star hit his head and made him pass out. "I hope the next guests won't do such a thing here!"

"See you later, suckers!" Palom proclaimed before Porom yanked his ponytail. "Oww, not the hair, not the hair!" he yelled.

"Hush now!" Porom yelled as the forum kept being bombarded by the stars that came from the ceiling.

-Next Chapter's Title: Select Restart-

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

Eastern Mountain Range
-None-

References:

-"Tales of Symphonia – Water Symphony" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays as Luin's theme.

-There were small snippets about what happens in the sequel of Tales of Symphonia that were said through Presea. Take in mind they were all altered a bit so they don't look like they were copy and pasted so they could fit correctly with the scenes.

-"Tales of Symphonia – Dry Trail" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you descend or ascend the dreaded Fooji Mountains.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Presea's voice actor, Tara Strong, has been well known for doing many different voices for many characters in different media. The VA has also voice Norma Beaty in Tales of Legendia.

Gnome was a curious character, right? I'm pretty sure he will add very funny remarks once he's called on the battlefield to help the Smashers as long as Toon Link goes.

And yes, Toon Link has the ability to either use his FS or call Gnome. Think of this little experiment as some kind of alternate FS or something.

The character that probably confused you the most was Sig, right? Well, to share a bit of information, Sig comes from the famous Japanese puzzle game called 'Puyo Pop Fever 2', which was never released in America. However, the first game of the series did come for the GameCube and other platforms. Maybe the sequels didn't get localizations because they didn't get much attention.

Presea surely taught something very important to the group in this chapter. I'm pretty sure her advice will always be reminded for the long remainder of their quest. But as of now, they're just facing the horrible consequence by Lucario's search for power…

Just what will happen next? The next chapter's title will surely make you think many different things.

I encourage everyone to review as always. Remember that the next chapter is going to be published later next week because of my finals so…don't leave and wait, okay? I'll have it ready by then. ;)

…Or I'll make you all join the Paw Pad Playmate Society.
*Chapter 161*: Select Restart

Finals distracted me, so that's why this chapter reached 100 pages. -_-

From Kami of the Silver Flame: Gods, Chris must be SO happy he has Main Character immunities. He literally cannot die, not without you pulling a Dues Ex Machina, which is NOT something you would do. We won't let you. *brandishes pitchfork*

Oh yes, I don't have time to edit your story in my COMPLETELY EMPTY DAY PLANNER. No, seriously, I have time and more than enough time to help you with your editing, if you want me to. It's not like it's hard, really. It's something I do naturally. I read something, I see where things don't quite fit, I fix it in my head, and continue reading.

All in all, aside from the grammar mistakes you've made almost all of the story so far, great chapter. Maybe not the best, but certainly not the worst... does this story even have a worst chapter?

From me: I can't tell if you complained about Chris…

About the offering you're giving to me, I want you to send some examples of my constant grammar mistakes. I'd like to learn rather than letting someone else do it for me. Can you do that?

Thanks. ;)

From Yue Twili: Oh (beep)! Lucario's gone nuts!! And all of that stuff with power... that's deep man. Update real soon plz!

From me: I'm glad you liked the lecture about power. I hope you like this chapter. :D

From cerokelvin: Great Chapter.

I have some questions though:

1. What happened to Chris using masttered abilities outside the outfit he is using?

2: Will Mario and Luigi ever do Bro. moves from Superstar saga?

3: I know this is strange, but can you use DK more? He hasn't been used much and he hasn't been used lately. I'm not wanting something big about him, just use him soon please.

4:When will Chris start his training with Mewtwo on the psychic job?

From me: 1) Chris gave up that ability so he could have Lucario's jobs in the first chapter of the Tales of Symphonia arc.

2) Maybe Mario and Luigi will use Bros. Moves. That's a little bit debatable.

3) DK will be used more from now on.

4) Chris will train with Mewtwo once he gets around it (very soon, I guess).

I hope that cleared out your questions. Thanks. ;)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Holy #$&?! I didn't see that one coming!
Isn't Tara Strong involved in Metal Gear Solid?
P.S. After Chris got the 10 Smash Coins it would have been funny if you put in the hallelujah song.

From me: Yes, Tara did some voices for Meta Gear Solid: Portable Ops. She's also credited for voicing Bowser Jr. in Super Mario Sunshine.

Sadly, I didn't put that song up.

Thanks. ;)

From ngrey651: Poor Chris. Hoist with his own platard, as Shakespeare said. Or in this case, his own Lucario. And poorer Captain Falcon. That curse of the Iron Maiden is SICK-SICK-SICK. :P

You know, Presea has a point. Trying to obtain a lot of power in a short time usually can screw you up. But there are plenty of instances in which a hero HAS to gain a lot of power in a short time in order to fight a great evil. What makes them different than the villain is they DON'T let the power corrupt them because their heart remembers what they got the power for in the first place.

Though it looks like Lucario couldn't remember...:(

From me: And those heroes gain a lot of power through effort, you know that?

You'll see what happened in the funeral…I mean, in this chapter. Thanks;)

From PianistChris: This was a truly amazing chapter!

I now remember Presea :)
The curse of opening the lid was odd.. but it was a funny curse, and what was even funnier was when C. Falcon got the curse!

The funniest part of this chapter was the 'paw pads' which I found hilarious, espercially when Presea showed her unusual obsession with Lucario's 'paw pads' in the back of his legs XD

The fight with Gnome was great to read and I was completely captivated in the fight between them. It was hilarious as well that Gnome fell of and ended up with the black eye, and bandages; I love it when stuff like that happens because I find it absolutely hilarious!

The talk with Presea about power and corruption was interesting to read about, and your insight on power is very well thought of.

The request from Lucario at the end was one of the best parts in this chapter. The ending where you leave this chapter telling us, 'a massive explosion of aura managed to cover further than probably some miles of land that surely took everything and everyone standing around the immense horizon of land…' leaves eagerness to find out what will happen in the following chapter, and I am very curious as to what will happen to the land, the people and between Chris and Lucario.

I think that Lucario's 'travelling back in time' thing might happen next chapter as you write 'Next Chapter's Title: Select Restart'. So I think I might have an idea of what is to come.

Thanks for the great chapter!

Chris ;p

From me: Gnome is pure comedy gold. He's my favorite Summon Spirit of Tales of Symphonia. I'm glad you liked his battle style and his aftermath. XD

Phew, I'm glad my insight convinced you.

Hopefully your curiosity will go away once you scroll down. Thanks. ;D

From FF and STH: It a another good part of a sidequest arc and chris and other learn a good lesson about power and now that chris had over 180 smash coins, is he going to the smashing Abilities Over Limit Lvl. 2

From me: You'll see soon enough what he buys with his money in future chapters. Thanks. ;)

From Seitei: ~Seitei switches to Reviewer!~

Hey, it's me again! A fun side chapter to read. It's cute, characters get special abilities, and it's profound, too.

Of course, I have to say that you should give some of the others some spotlight, too. I don't think I've seen Marth or Roy for quite some time now.

Anyways, update soon!

Oh, and if the poll's still open, I'm voting for Chrono Trigger.

From me: Marth and Roy will have more spotlight in the incoming arcs. Of course, they'll be featured more in this chapter as well. Thanks. :D

From SlasherMask: ;-; My whole big review got deleted... I am crying...

It was about commenting something about bad foreshadowing, over long joke, about how I think that Gnome is more rude, bad metaphor about boxes, about how that felt like excuse not buy more abilities, and I was gonna write something about Lucario's "training" but I am too depressed to write it again...(...I HATE when my long texts gets deleted... Its painful for me to try to write it again... Its funnier when I am not trying to remember what I wrote...)

Note: I DID say positive things in review, but I am too lazy to remember every single thing I wrote in it... And I feel that negative things are important(which is why I wrote every one(Ok, 3 of them was nitpicking)) to point out for sake of improvement... Ok, I did write that paw pad joke was funny...

P.S... I'll join the Paw Pad Playmate Society in case it would help to ease my pain/angst/new found emo mood from destruction of my review...

From me: It's too bad you only mentioned the complaints. I'd have liked to see what liked… I got depressed; I just can't see to write more chapters…

…

…Just kidding.

Thanks. :D

From Safire Ranmato: Okay, first I have to tell you that the Hidden Boss Battle (Gnome) was totally SWEET!

Next I have to say that cliffhanger was a REAL pain in the **.

Now for my vote and questions,
1. just to get it out of the way my vote is for FF7
2. I noticed on your ID page that you haven't listed what Job is compatible with Snake. So just out of curiously, what Job is compatible with Snake?
and 3. just how far away are we from the Kingdom Hearts Arc?

And I just gotta say how awesomely sweet this epic fic is.

From me: I already listed Snake's job. However, I'm still thinking if it is the good job for him.

Once we make the FFVII and FFVIII arcs, Kingdom Hearts will be available for a possible arc. You'll see what happens in the next chapters, okay? Thanks.

From Light the Lucario: Indeed power is a dangerous thing... People always try and seek more of it... Anyway.. Just a few small typo errors I think in here but none that affect the entire seriousness of the chapter and I do believe that your story is getting darker and more interesting at the moment.

Grade: A-

Light The Lucario

From me: I'm glad you liked this chapter. Thanks. ;)

From DianaGohan: This chapter moved at a very good pace: Presea was well used (even if she just seemed Miss Exposition most of the time of her appearence explaining the history of her world, the Gnome and of course her own views on power corruping) and I enjoyed the Mole battle. Since it is rare we get to see team battles on not actually villanous foes. I still think some of these cameos are gratituous (Sig for example seemed to be here more just because he likes bugs then having a real reason to be in the story) but the main meat was great. Especially concerning Lucario and his "Aura Rage" powers. Glad to see that was actually addressed as a dangerous element and not just as dues ex power up or a way for everyone to be angry at Lucario. It was addressed as a dangerous issue that even if it could win them battles, what would the cost be? Which does make a lot of sense within the series continuity and really it only makes me wonder why this hasn't been addressed till now. Anyway solid enough chapter in this solid quest esque arc.

GRADE: A-/B+

From me: I hope you continue to like this arc with this chapter. Thanks a lot. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hm, interesting chapter to say the least. It did have some humor, but not as much as the star ocean arc (but it's longer, so I can't complain much.).
So another summon spirit joins the cast already? Things are definitely getting interesting once again considering Lucario's quest for power, but I do hope things get under control soon; Lucario's rampage, Captain Falcon's curse (lol), and the order of the story. Now for a...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
What evils are planning with this idea?
Hmm, so could we recommend SNES games then?
Considering Star Ocean's bonus chapter, will this be the last chapter to get the story back in order?
Well, happy typing!

From me: What idea are you talking about?

You can recommend SNES games as long as I know them and ASK for them.

The order of the story is going just fine for now, I think. Thanks again. ;)

Phew, finals are over with, and this chapter was written during the whole ordeal of this week. I'm glad to say I did very good at my exams. ;)

Anyway, back on the story, this chapter further has more character development in it. You'll see what happened after Lucario's request. Sorry, but I don't want to spoil you even more. See what happens here, okay?

I encourage the guy/girl in front of this part to read and review. ;)

Disclaimer: Is Chip supposed to be an imp or a dog?

Chapter 161: Select Restart

Eastern Mountain Range - Wastelands

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Interval of Frozen Time

It was hard to picture the horrible scene that had happened ten minutes ago; ten minutes ago where a massive explosion of aura took most of the environment across the landscape...

Winds from the horizon swept the ground of huge fissures where something came out of them and exploded. For a brief moment, it looked like there was no life left. An eerie silence followed the winds, and there were no signs of people around...

Until a lightning-shaped tail perked up from a fissure, then it was a sign that there was someone alive.

"...U-ugh...u-ugh...u-ugh..." a voice struggled to say anything.

From a western fissure, Pikachu, all bruised and coughing constantly, pulled his head up. The Electric type shook his head to dust it off from the crumbles that had fallen on him.

"Bleh..." he coughed some dust. "This is what happens when your curiosity grows so...oh my Arceus..."

Pikachu could hardly believe his eyes. The Electric type looked around at the new landscape before him...

From what he could see, Pikachu stood inside a small fissure, many other big fissures running through the whole wasteland before his eyes. For his dismay, many of the mountains of the eastern range had collapsed, save for the mountain where Gnome was resting. Turning his head to look back, Pikachu gasped once he saw that many different trees from the forest had been turned into dust. It was apparent that Lucario's aura had done everything around because, apparently, there were some small flames of aura that burned silently over the whole wasteland and forest.

However, something didn't make much sense for him. Apparently, there were still some trees that had some luck to be unaffected after the explosion of aura took place, and there were some patches of grass that were unharmed as well. It was even more surprising to see that there were some rows of trees behind where the main road to Nintendo City was still there.

"...B-but how?" Pikachu asked in pure disbelief. "I-I thought everything was destroyed...but...when you look back..."

Pikachu looked back to the eastern chain of mountains, finding some mountains still intact.

"...How did this happen?" Pikachu asked confused. "Why are some places...unaffected?"

"So, this is what happened because somebody had to go on and obtain ultimate power so foolishly fast...how pathetic is that?"

Pikachu's ears perked up before he turned around to look directly at Mewtwo's purple tail. The Electric type looked up to see at the Psychic type crossing his arms as he looked around the whole area.

"M-Mewtwo!" Pikachu said.

Mewtwo looked down at Pikachu. "It seems you're still alive as everyone... I'm glad."

"What?" Pikachu asked. "What do you mean by that? I-is everyone still alive? W-wait, how did yo-"

"Calm down," Mewtwo said, "First, let's get the others back here. They're not dead but alive."

"...H-how?" Pikachu asked.

Mewtwo frowned. "I can easily infer this had to do with Lucario...right?"

"...Yeah..." Pikachu said as he looked down, his ears dropping a bit.

"...Just as I thought, then," Mewtwo said before his eyes glowed. He then held out his open right hand in front of him. "Let's see..."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just retrieving everyone's bodies back to safe ground, or what used to be safe ground before this enormous catastrophe took place," Mewtwo explained. "...Yes, there they are..."

Pikachu blinked confused before he turned to the east. Gasping surprised, he watched as Pichu, Popo, Nana, Ness, Jigglypuff, Diddy, Kirby, and Chris's bodies all began to rise up from many different fissures. Perhaps what was more surprising was the fact that Lucario was between all the knocked out bodies of all the fainted Smashers, all of their bodies severely bruised.

While using Confusion, Mewtwo closed his eyes as he pulled everyone to him and Pikachu. Once everyone's bodies were brought down safely on the ground, Pikachu went over to check on a bruised Pichu. "Pichu, Pichu, wake up, Pichu!"

"...U-um..." Pichu's eyes slowly opened as they stared up to the sunset's sky. "W-what...am I doing here?"

"Pichu!" Pikachu's face moved up to Pichu's face. "Oh goodness, you're still alive..." he sighed in relief. "I'm so glad..."

"P-Pikachu?" Pichu said confused. "W-we're...alive?"

"Of course you're all alive," Mewtwo said, Pichu's eyes quickly moving to look up at him.

Not sooner he said that, the other Smashers moaned a bit in pain as they all slowly opened their eyes. This also included the downed Lucario who grunted and gritted his fangs a bit while he pushed himself up by using his right hand.

Pikachu, seeing that everyone was slowly pushing themselves up, sighed in a big relief. "You guys...you're all just fine..." he muttered.

Diddy coughed. "O-oh man, what did just happen here?" he asked as he rubbed his hat a bit. "W-where did...I mean...w-where did the..."

Everyone else looked around in shock to see the big scars of destruction that Lucario's aura had left behind on the wastelands. Most of them shook their heads in pure disbelief as they slowly looked around to examine what was left of the aftermath of the destruction.

"I-I...can barely believe any of this..." Nana said in shock as she stared down at the long fissures that ran all the way across to the east. "L-Lucario..."

"U-ugh..." Lucario frowned and looked down, his breathing becoming a bit heavy.

Surely, the one who looked the most shocked was Chris. The World Traveler could just close his eyes a bit and stare shocked at Lucario's destruction over the whole landscape. Lucario slowly turned his face to look at Chris, but Lucario later and slowly looked away in shame. He knew Chris was going to scold him.

The silence made Lucario feel worse while Chris kept staring away.

"...Goodness..." Ness muttered. "...This is what you call mass destruction, then?"

"I-I guess..." Kirby gulped as he grabbed his Puyo hat and embraced it in fear.

Everyone remained silent for a moment before Jigglypuff looked at herself, finding many bruises on her body. "B-but...there's something I just don't understand..." she muttered. "H-how did we survive? A-and..." she turned around to look at some of the unharmed trees in what was left of the forest, "why is it that there are...some trees left?"

Mewtwo looked at them. "After the massive explosion of aura that took many different areas, you, and everyone else in the range of 40 miles, were lucky to have survived."

The others looked back at Mewtwo. "...Forty miles?!" everyone else yelled in shock.

Mewtwo frowned. "Well, that's what I could sense with the scattered bits of Lucario's aura going a long way to every single direction," he explained. "Lucario, do you have enough energy to sense your aura scattered across everywhere? I know Lucarios should sense auras for half a mile, but since you come from a legendary lineage...can you sense your aura? I could be wrong with this wild guess..."

Lucario blinked a bit in shock. "W-well...let me see..." Lucario closed his eyes as he managed to glow with a more suitable aura than the one that he used minutes ago.

The silent World Traveler stared worried at Lucario. "(...Why?)" he asked to himself as he stared at his glowing Aura Pokémon with some preoccupation. "(W-why do I feel that his aura...looks scary?)"

It seemed that Chris had the unfortunate luck to have developed a small phobia against Lucario's aura. The World Traveler remembered how intense Lucario's aura glowed before everything was almost blown away to nothing, and Chris remembered how horribly strong the aura felt when he took a step inside the force field of aura to get closer to his previously enraged Pokémon. Before, Chris would feel very nice whenever Lucario let him feel his aura, but now, just looking at Lucario's aura didn't look the same anymore...

"(That aura...it felt a little bit...malicious...)" Chris thought. "(...It...couldn't have turned red, right? Lucario said before that red auras are with bad people...but...his aura felt malicious...)"

"..." Lucario opened his exhausted eyes. "...M-my aura...those small flames...they're...very far away from here..."

Every young Smasher gasped a bit, muttering things to each other while Mewtwo nodded. "Then, your aura did reach over 40 miles..."

Lucario tightened his fists a bit. "I...I just didn't know I could cause all this..."

"If you ask me, I knew this was going to happen beforehand," Mewtwo said.

"What?" Lucario looked at him.

"I didn't tell you this before because I thought you knew how powerful you were," Mewtwo began, "but seeing that you look so helplessly absent-minded, I may as well tell you before you repeat this same mistake and take our lives away just because your curiosity bothered you."

Lucario grunted a bit and looked away.

"You don't know, right?"

"...N-no..."

Mewtwo frowned. "Well...Lucario, what you just did some moments ago was using your true power to unleash its true and destructive potential."

Lucario nodded and looked ashamed at a long fissure that went to the south.

"I can tell that very well because of my own strength in my mind," Mewtwo explained. "At first, when I first met you, I felt a whole lot of energy within your aura that was waiting to be called upon."

"...Really?" Lucario asked as he and everyone looked at Mewtwo.

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "To be honest, I hoped you wouldn't resort in using that kind of power before because that could have easily killed anything and anyone, even me." He closed his eyes. "I can tell you were absolutely helpless when you went on and decided to 'explore' that power...right?"

Lucario frowned to himself and looked down on the cracked ground.

"I'll take that as a yes," Mewtwo said. "You thought you could tame that power, right?"

"...Yes..."

Mewtwo shook his head in shame. "I'm going to be blunt to you, Lucario. You were acting like a stupid fool for thinking you could take control of that power. Thanks to you, the ecosystem and environment alike within the range of 40 miles were almost obliterated to nothing, and that could have included everyone as well."

Lucario grunted and frowned one more time. "...I know what I did was...very dangerous...but...I'm so sorry for everything..."

"Take in mind saying sorry won't bring back what you destroyed," Mewtwo reminded him. "Don't you know? Power is not only used to save people, but it also corrupts anyone very easily."

Chris looked a bit surprised at this as he recalled in his mind Presea's words one more time.

"It's something very natural that a lot of people overlook. For that, I am careful about my own magnitude of power," Mewtwo said.

"B-but wait..." Kirby interrupted. "H-how did we survive?"

Mewtwo looked away before he looked back at them. "I can say I'm surprised that Lucario managed to make his aura less lethal that it was supposed to be..."

"What?" Ness asked. "He made his aura less...lethal?"

"Well, I can tell that much," Mewtwo said. "Isn't that right, Lucario?"

"..." Lucario nodded. "...Yes, I did ease the power of my aura..."

"How the heck did you do that?" Diddy asked. "I dunno anything about aura but..."

Lucario looked at everyone. "While I was being taken enraged by my power, I tried my best to calm it down..." He looked around a bit. "The aura I have is for my will to use. Whatever I tell the aura to do it does it. But...when I was being used, my aura grew immensely strong that I couldn't longer control it...and power took me..." He looked ashamed. "When that happened, my aura was going in a rampage. In my mind, I struggled to make it stop, but I couldn't do it. However...I concentrated everything I had left in me to make it less destructive and protect everyone...all in small amount of time..."

"A small amount of time?" Pikachu asked. "You were grunting and roaring all the time..."

Lucario looked at Chris. "It was because Chris himself yelled at me before I exerted the ground with my aura... When he yelled at me, I quickly used everything to stop the attack from being very lethal, and I guess I was able to do it..." He looked back at the forest. "As a result, my aura lessened its magnitude, and it didn't manage to destroy everything in its way. I made it not so destructive enough to destroy the various places across this land like the Smash Mansion, the post office, the dojo, Agitha's home, the village to the west, and everywhere where I sensed the auras of many people..."

Mewtwo nodded. "That's the whole truth. The Smash Mansion was completely engulfed with his aura, but oddly enough, it didn't cause any kind of destruction. Once it engulfed the mansion, everyone in there panicked for bit before noticing that everything was normal. I did notice that they were a bit hurt, though. Master Hand told me that Lucario was the one responsible for this, and he told me to find you and see what happened. Thanks to Lucario's control of his aura, a lot has been adverted from being completely erased from existence..."

"W-what do you mean by that?" Jigglypuff asked.

"If Lucario didn't stop his aura in time..." Mewtwo trailed off, "...we wouldn't be here, and all the range where his aura reached could have created the biggest crater known to this universe..."

"My...goodness..."

Mewtwo frowned. "Also, I saw that the other people living nearby weren't hurt by your aura. I can guess you didn't want innocent people to get hurt, right?"

"Yes..." Lucario said. "I...wanted to keep innocent people from getting hurt, and I thought that we could resist some of the attack..."

"That was a wise thing to do," Mewtwo remarked. "I was hurt a bit and so did everyone."

Kirby looked down. "That...was so scary..."

"Such is the power of Lucario's lineage, I see...but I can infer that it was pure negative energy that he shouldn't have used in the first place. I wonder, what did convince him to do it?" Mewtwo asked.

Lucario looked at him. "...I...wanted to feel that power again..."

"Oh right, and everything and everyone around here had to feel it the bad way," Mewtwo said sarcastically. "Lucario, I'm going to have to order you to stop thinking about relying on that power ever again."

Lucario looked down.

Mewtwo crossed his arms and glared at Lucario. "You should know that the power you used wasn't even the true one you hold."

Lucario looked back at him.

"That power was negative," he explained. "If you really want to obtain the positive power, then do like everyone does and train yourself. Everyone trains hard so they can become stronger little by little, not little by big, do you understand?"

"I-I...understand..." Lucario said.

"Besides, maybe you're thinking that the force you used would be very helpful in the fight against Tabuu, and I have to agree with you."

"What?" Popo said. "Didn't you say it was..."

"Of course, we can't forget the fact it kills us off as well," Mewtwo said. "You don't want that to happen, right?"

Lucario looked at the worried Chris. "...No, I don't want to..."

"Good," Mewtwo said annoyed. "Take in mind you're receiving a lecture from a Legendary Pokémon. I know what I'm talking about so you can understand the burden power has on everyone."

Chris gasped mentally.

"I-I know..." Lucario trailed off. "Presea gave me a lecture about power some weeks ago..."

Mewtwo closed his eyes and turned to the mansion's way. "That only makes you look even more like a fool, Lucario. If you did know about the burden, why go ahead and ignore it altogether?"

"I know...sorry..."

Mewtwo sighed. "I hope this made you learn a very important lesson." He looked at Lucario over his left shoulder. "By the way, rage isn't going to make us defeat the Subspace Army."

Lucario looked worried at him.

"Rage only makes you go blind enough to commit something very stupid. I know it's been very helpful in all our previous battles, but if I were you, I would stop relying on rage and wrath alike so it doesn't grow dangerous enough to make us all suffer the consequences...unless you want to repeat what happened here..."

Lucario shook his head. "I-I understand... I feel so ashamed, Mewtwo...really, I do..."

"I hope. Take in mind that this could have been even worse if you had the necessary stickers to enhance your powers," Mewtwo explained. "The magnitude of your force could have increased to a new feat of power...and you know the rest, right?"

Lucario nodded silently.

"That's all you need to know for now," Mewtwo said before he turned back to the mansion's way. "Everyone, let's go back to the mansion. Master Hand told me to tell you to come back. I guess he wants to have a talk with Lucario as well..."

"Mewtwo, don't you think you're being a little bit harsh on Lucario?" Nana asked.

"He needs to understand this through this way," Mewtwo said as he floated away. "My reasons are justified enough to do that."

As the Smashers watched Mewtwo hovering on the ground to the mansion, the Psychic type closed his eyes to think about something.

"(This didn't happen with the previous Lucario before him...)" Mewtwo thought. "(Even so, I could say this Lucario is more...sociable...I guess...)"

The young Smashers and Chris looked at the ashamed Lucario. They all stared at his ashamed look before they all began to walk back to the mansion, most of them hanging their arms on someone else's shoulder. The Aura Pokémon looked forward where Chris stared at him.

"...Chris..." Lucario muttered. "...If I made you feel angry...I'm very sorry..."

Chris kept staring at him.

"The only thing I'd hate to get is your rejection to me...that's a bigger punishment I wouldn't be able to tolerate for a time..."

Lucario watched as Chris shook his head and walked back to the mansion with everyone else. Lucario's jaw dropped a bit at this. "C-Chris, please, forgive me!"

Chris stopped in his trails and shook his head. "...Lucario...I'm not angry at you..."

"What?" Lucario asked. "B-but then..."

"I don't hate you either," Chris pointed out. "But...when you were so furious over what we did...you looked...like some sort of hellish demon..."

Lucario shook his head in shame. "...Sorry...I'm so sorry..."

"...Take in mind I'm not angry nor hate you, Lucario..." Chris said. "...I...want to be alone for a time so I forget that awful memory..."

"Chris..."

Chris looked back at Lucario before Chris turned around and walked back to the mansion, his body aching a bit in pain for surviving the attack that could have destroyed everything in its way.

Lucario blinked worried before Chris disappeared from his sight. Clenching his fangs, Lucario tightened his fists and looked down to find Pikachu looking up at him. "Pikachu?" Lucario said.

"Come on already, PMD," Pikachu said as he motioned to the mansion. "We have to go back. Don't look that sad either. Chris will surely talk to you before long, okay?"

"...Pikachu..." Lucario forced a small smile. "...Thanks for trusting me..."

Pikachu nodded. "You like Chris as much as I like Ash. I sort of know the bond between you 2," he said before he jumped to Lucario's head, lying down between his ears as Lucario's eyes looked up at him. "Let's go back and wait until he talks to you, okay? I'm sure time will fix you 2 up very soon... Even if you almost destroyed everything, you didn't which is good."

"Thank you..."

Pikachu patted Lucario's forehead. "You just trust me, okay? If you have doubts, I won't hesitate to help you out with them."

Lucario chuckled a bit before he began his way back to the mansion with Pikachu on his head.

"...Pikachu," Lucario began as they both walked pass by a tree, "can I ask you something else?"

"Yes?" Pikachu said.

"...Why did you say PMD to me?" Lucario looked confused. "What does it mean?"

"Oh, that?" Pikachu said. "Well, after you were about to blow up everything with your aura...I decided to call you PMD."

"And...PMD means..."

"Pokémon of Mass Destruction."

Lucario remained silent as he walked.

"Not to be confused with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon," Pikachu added.

"Pikachu..." Lucario trailed off with a sigh.

Suddenly, after Lucario passed a tree, he grunted and put a hand on his forehead.

"What is it?" Pikachu asked. "Do you have a headache now?"

"S-sort of..." Lucario muttered. "I...think it's some kind of bad aura I just can't seem to focus on because it's so twisted...but...maybe I'm just overreacting...after all, I'm still using my aura to see if it did go even further away..."

"You should rest for now," Pikachu suggested as Lucario walked away with him. "Let's take a nap."

Unaware of something, neither the Aura Pokémon nor the Mouse Pokémon noticed that they were being watched all along by a blond boy who was hiding just behind the tree Lucario passed. Sticking his face out, Barry watched as the rather huge Lucario walked back to the mansion.

"Holy Pidgey s(beep!)t!" Barry said astonished. "That Lucario's power is just frickin' amazing! He got so pissed enough to destroy the whole place!" he said surprised. "Man, that one surely beats that stupid Lucario from Maylene!"

Barry blinked in shock and looked around.

"Oh no, I gotta inform this to Dawn and Lucas. They need to know this before we make our moves!"

Carefully sneaking behind what remained of the forest's trees, Barry made sure he could sneak back into the mansion without being noticed. The hyperactive trainer, however, was thinking about having Lucario for his team in a near future.

Smash Mansion
Lucario's Room

Night came in, Chris had to receive a visit from Sonic the Werehog to get rid of DSS one more time, and Lucario was yelled by Master Hand after the hand noticed that many different areas around the mansion were almost annihilated through Lucario's blind rage. Many of the Smashers could only frown at Lucario when they locked eyes with him. They were all relieved that his aura didn't kill anybody, but even so, they were all a bit ashamed or worried about the Aura Pokémon.

But there was something else that made Lucario feel more guilty than anything.

By the time Lucario returned to his room, Chris was already sleeping. However, the World Traveler was sleeping in the middle of the bed, preventing Lucario from lying down. The Aura Pokémon silently walked to the bed to look down at the worried expression that Chris had on his face. Clenching his eyes, Lucario turned around and walked towards the window to stare at what he managed to save from the wrath of his aura.

Through Lucario's eyes, it looked horrible. Even if there were some trees where some Pokémon were sleeping inside, most of the landscape of trees had disappeared, turned into dust scattered all over the patches of grass. Lucario used a bit of his aura to see if he could sense the flames of aura across the land. Fortunately, it looked like they all faded away. He also took advantage to see if everyone around alive.

It was a relief to sense the auras that he was familiar.

Lucario sighed depressed as he stared outside. "After all I did, Master Hand said he wasn't going to kick me out or something...that's good," he said. "Everyone in here just looked worried or ashamed...and worse yet..."

Lucario turned to the right to see his sleeping trainer.

"...I don't think Chris is glad that I used all that power..." Lucario muttered in shame before he turned back to stare outside. He then moved up his face to look at the stars, finding a shooting star that went across to the west. "...I wish I could restart from zero again...I could sense Chris's aura getting a bit perturbed by my own aura...and by zero...I mean..."

The Aura Pokémon looked high up.

"...I wish I could be a Riolu again...so I can have a fresh start..." he looked at Chris, "...with Chris..." he finished. "...My memory when I was one is so blurry...and...to tell the truth...I would like to be a Riolu so Chris could raise me properly...but...that would also help me so Chris talks with me again..."

Lucario sighed in more depression as he frowned, his face looking down to the floor of his room..

"Even so...no matter how much I try, that's never going to happen..." Lucario muttered.

The Aura Pokémon looked back up into the sky. Soon enough, he could spot something coming down from the sky. Lucario blinked confused as he saw a small glittering star slowly coming down to the mansion. The Aura Pokémon's jaw opened a bit before the small star stopped going down when it reached the level where Lucario's room was, just outside the window.

Lucario could only stare at the little star before he opened the window's doors. The Aura Pokémon then stared directly at the star.

"...What is this?" Lucario asked confused. "Why did this come from the sky?"

"Well, mainly because I heard you wanted to make a wish."

Lucario could have sworn that the little star had spoken to him. The Aura Pokémon blinked surprised as he moved his face a little forward to take a closer look at it.

"That voice..." Lucario trailed off. "...Geno?"

"...Good," the star said. "It seems you still remember me, Lucario."

"Then...you are Geno?"

The star moved up and down as a sign it nodded. "Of course I'm Geno," the star pointed out.

"But...what are you doing here?" Lucario asked. "I thought you were working in the Star Haven in the sky..."

"To be honest, I'm still working," Geno said. "I just that I heard somebody here wanted to make a wish, and I decided to take the request personally because...well...I wanted to come here and see how you were all doing by yourselves."

"...Oh..."

"So, I heard you made a wish," Geno said. "What was it again? Oh yes, something about being a Riolu to have a fresh start with Chris."

Lucario stared at Geno with some surprise in his red eyes. "W-well, I did wish that, but...I didn't think that would come true..."

"It hasn't come true...yet," Geno said. "You would be surprised, but I've been watching every single thing you all have been doing this whole time."

"You did?"

"Yes, and Twink was there as well," Geno said before he chuckled. "Twink is always you all more than I do. He's becoming like some sort of stalker, but what can you do? He likes all of you."

Lucario nodded. "I see..."

"...Oh, wait," Geno said as he looked around. "Where's Lucas's room?"

Lucario thought for a moment. "His room is just to the left of this room...why'd you ask?"

"I need to see something first," Geno said. "I'll be right back. Stay here."

"...Okay..." Lucario muttered.

The star 'nodded' before it moved to the left to reach Lucas's window. The star could find the Nowhere Island resident sleeping deeply in his blankets on a bed that was leaning against the wall just aside from Lucario's bed. The star from Star Haven, however, wanted to look around to find something.

"...There it is..." Geno muttered as he found his doll idly sitting on a small drawer. Even though it was almost impossible to see, the star smiled a bit to Lucas. "...Thanks, Lucas..." he muttered before he went over to Lucario's window. "Okay, I'm here."

"What did you do?" Lucario asked.

"I just wanted to see if Lucas was keeping my doll safe and sound, and he's doing that well," Geno said. "That aside, let's get back to the topic of your wish."

Lucario blinked surprised. "Wait, you can make my wish come true?"

"Of course," Geno said. "Now that the Star Haven got back to business, I was granted my power to make wishes come true again. You're lucky tonight because you wished you wish when a shooting star fell down."

"Well..." Lucario trailed off.

"What is it?" Geno asked. "Are you worried about doing this?"

"But..." Lucario stared at Geno from the side, "can you really do that?"

"It's an easy thing to do," Geno said. "The wish itself is easy, but if you want that to happen, you need to be a little bit more specific."

"What?"

"You can specify how you want your wish to be," Geno said. "By that, you can set limits or things like that to it so you can be happy with your wish. That's an important rule Eldstar made up recently. Also, I can provide you with more specifications so you stay safe."

Lucario smiled a bit at this. "Does that mean you can take me back in time an-"

"OH, HOLD ON RIGHT THERE!" Geno yelled.

"W-what is it?" Lucario asked a bit startled.

"Lucario, you just can't wish very impossible things. I can tell you that I can take you back in time…but doing that will greatly affect this future in some unexpected ways…"

"But…"

"No buts, Lucario," Geno said. "I can't allow you to do that risky thing. Besides, you came from Chris's world. My powers can't affect his world because it's not part of any of the realms we live in…you remember the day where he showed us the reality?"

"…Yes…" Lucario said.

"I can't alter his reality. As a result, you can't go back in time," Geno said. "However, you still have a wish to make. What would it be? Why do you want to be a Riolu again?"

Lucario looked down. "I want to be a Riolu again…so I can experience a childhood I never had…"

"…Is that it?" Geno asked. "I thought you had a childhood like everyone does."

"No," Lucario said. "You see, the memory of my childhood is all blurry and very hard to focus on. No matter how much I try, I can't seem to remember anything about my childhood… In the game, I was being used by a trainer to fight battles, but that's almost everything I did…until Chris brought me to his home, then I started to think by myself," he explained.

"…I…see…" Geno said. "That's pretty twisted if you ask me."

"I know," Lucario said before he looked back at Geno. "Geno, since I have the opportunity to make a wish, I want to be a Riolu and experience a childhood…with Chris…"

The star kept floating in midair as he stared at Lucario for a moment. "…Well…maybe we can do this the way I'm thinking…"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Lucario, if you want to be a Riolu, you have to turn back into an egg until you hatch," Geno said. "For that, we need Chris to know you're going to undergo this process."

Lucario looked worried at his sleeping trainer.

"It's going to be a scary thought to see you as an egg in the morning," Geno said. "You should tell Chris you're going to do this."

"Well…" Lucario trailed off.

"Trust me, this is the best thing to do," Geno said. "Wake Chris up, please, Lucario."

"…Ugh…" Lucario grunted a bit and walked to the bed. The Aura Pokémon knelt down to put his right hand on Chris's right shoulder where he started to shake him a bit. "Chris, wake up, please. I…I need you to listen to me one more time…"

"…" Chris didn't respond.

"Chris…please, stop ignoring me…" Lucario muttered.

Geno slowly floated in and looked at Lucario. "Like I said before, I've been watching everything from above," he said. "I saw when your aura was about to destroy everything…and I saw how Chris seemed to turn you down…"

Lucario shook his head. "Chris…didn't turn me down…"

"…" Geno remained silent before the World Traveler began to grumble a bit.

"H-hmm…" Chris grumbled a bit before he slowly opened his eyes, finding Lucario's black hand shaking his shoulder. The World Traveler turned his head to the right to see his worried Pokémon and the little star. "What do you want now…Lucario?" Chris asked before he stared at the little star. His eyes widened a bit. "W-what is that star doing here?"

"Chris, please, I know you didn't like what I did today…but…can you listen to what I have to say?"

Chris looked a bit unsure. "B-but…"

Geno sighed.

A time later…

Geno had explained everything to Chris while Lucario silently watched as the star moved up and down a bit in his place. "Well, that's how things are," Geno said. "Lucario wants to turn back into a Riolu so he starts from zero again."

"I-I…I also want to do this so you can forget about what I did, Chris…" Lucario admitted. "I'm…I'm hoping you can forgive me for what happened…"

Chris sat on his bed and looked at Lucario. "Lucario…"

"You…you're scared of my aura, right?" Lucario asked. "Is that it?"

"…Ugh…" Chris frowned. "Lucario…it's just that…"

"...Please..." Lucario pleaded. "I want to solve this before you keep looking me down like this, Chris...

"It's just that I'm not looking you down, Lucario..." Chris trailed off. "...It's just that I'm a little bit scared of you..."

"See? That's why I need to do this," Lucario said. "If I restart my life as a Riolu again, you could like me again...like I want you to do to me..."

Chris looked worried at him. "...I...just don't know what to say..."

"Can I get in this conversation?" Geno asked. "Okay... Chris, I think you should let Lucario do what he wants for now. I believe in him for choosing this option so he can feel better with himself. Plus, it's surely going to convince you to like him again. Or do you really want to stop talking with Lucario?"

Lucario looked away ashamed. The World Traveler stared at Lucario's eyes for a moment, thinking hard about what to do with Lucario's decision to turn back into a Riolu. Chris had to admit that he was scared of Lucario for a bit. After all, Chris saw how demonic Lucario turned out to be just because he wanted to tamper with his true powers, which turned out to be negative energy as Mewtwo had explained before.

Chris closed his eyes and sighed. "...I...don't want to be like this with him any longer..."

Lucario quickly looked back at him. "T-then..."

"But...that doesn't mean my small phobia isn't going to go away that easily..." Chris said, making Lucario look worried again. "...If Lucario wants me to forget that phobia...and if I want to like him again..." he looked at Geno, "...please, make his wish come true."

"Hold on, then," Geno said. "First, we must set specifications here."

"What kind of specifications?" Chris and Lucario asked at the same time, the two looking back at each other before looking away.

"When I say specifications, I mean what Lucario wants to keep remembering," Geno said. "Once he turns into an egg that will later hatch into a Riolu, he won't have any memories of Chris, any of the Smashers, or anything that had happened until now. In a few words, he'll become an infant; a baby without memories."

Lucario looked down. "That's...true..."

"However," Geno continued, "nobody said I could make all your memories get back into you, Lucario."

Lucario looked at him. "What?"

"Once the time where you evolve comes, you'll turn back into your current form. The 'youth' wish you want to make come true will end once you evolve into Lucario again. All abilities, skills, experience, and everything else you have right now will instantly flood back inside your body, and thus you'll feel like you didn't change...provided nothing goes wrong with your childhood effect, that is..."

"I see..."

"Also, you'll be able to remember everything from the point where you first met Chris," Geno said. "Everything to this point will be instantly remembered the moment you evolve back. See now? Those specifications will keep you safe from forgetting many different things."

"That's...useful..." Chris said.

Geno nodded his star form. "Well then, shall we begin the process?" He looked at Chris. "Chris, you better take care of Lucario's egg. If you let it break apart, you'll know what could happen, right?"

"I-I'm not going to let that happen..." Chris trailed off. "...This is for Lucario...and if he wants to do this...I won't say no..."

"Chris..." Lucario looked at him with a small smile, shedding a small tear from his right eye.

"...Besides..." Chris looked away and blushed while he smiled a bit. "...having a baby Riolu as my Pokémon is going to be a very enjoyable experience..."

Lucario made a happy expression as he stood up from the floor.

"...And once the time comes for Lucario to evolve back..." Chris looked up at Lucario, "...I want to witness his evolution with my own eyes..."

Geno chuckled. "Well, that's good enough for me to listen," he said. "Lucario, are you sure you want to do this?"

Lucario looked at him and nodded. "I'm sure of it. Please begin."

"...Okay," Geno said. "I need you stand there still so I can sparkle you with my magic. You're going to feel a little bit funny before you glow and turn back into an egg. Chris, I need you to take care of Lucario's egg once the process ends, okay?"

Chris nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"Me too," Lucario said.

The two Smashers watched as Geno's form glowed brightly. "Without more interruptions...I, Geno from the Star Haven, will grant Lucario his wish to turn back into a Riolu so he can enjoy a new childhood he wants to have with Chris," he said before he started to fly above Lucario before Geno started to spin all over him. "As a star, I wish that your wish comes true...NOW!"

Lucario closed his eyes before the sparkles of light began to fall down all over him. Chris watched as the sparkles glowed brighter, blinding his vision for a bit while Lucario began to glow in a yellow light, reaching the outside of the mansion. The light glowed extremely bright as Geno circled all over the Aura Pokémon. Soon, Geno started to slow down his action before he eventually stopped.

The light that covered Lucario glowed even more, blinding everything in the scene of the room. Once Chris noticed that the glow became dimmer and dimmer, he slowly turned back to where Lucario once stood. On his place and on the floor, there was a blue egg had a little black mask-shape on the front. Chris blinked surprised as he stared down at the egg besides the bed.

"There..." Geno said as he floated down to check on the egg. "Chris, this is Lucario's egg. Inside, depending on how you take care of it, a Riolu will be born in a few days. Once Riolu is born, you'll have to be very careful about him, okay? You're going to have to be some kind of parent so he doesn't do something mischievous."

"...Heheh..." Chris chuckled. "I don't think Lucario was mischievous when he was a Riolu...but..." he reached for the egg with his hands to pull it back on the bed, "this is going to be a very fun thing to do..."

"I hope so," Geno said. "Weird, I think you're starting to like Lucario again."

"W-well, I could say I'm excited for him to be born as a Riolu again..." Chris admitted while looking embarrassed. "I'll make sure he has a fresh start as my Pokémon..." He placed the egg where Lucario rested before. "I'm going to keep it warm every single day. I'm also going to take it everywhere with me to see if he born."

"You do that," Geno said. "Well, my job here is done." He turned to the open window. "I'm going to come back here in another night again once Lucario comes back to his original form and see how everything went." He looked down. "Hmm...what's that little coin?"

"What coin?" Chris asked as he looked back to the floor, finding Lucario's Trophy Stand. The World Traveler blinked a bit before he reached for the stand. "Oh, this is Lucario's Trophy Stand. He uses this to use stickers to increase his powers...I guess it fell off because he doesn't need it for the moment..." The World Traveler looked at the small drawer besides him where he put the stand inside it. "There, I'll give it back to him when he evolves into Lucario."

"Good," Geno said. "...Before I go...Chris, do you know what Sonic was hiding all this time...right?"

"Yes..." Chris said. "...Thanks to that, I have to wait for him every single night to make that dark spirit of his go away..."

"Well...I knew he was going through that beforehand," Geno admitted. "Once I noticed, he pleaded me not to tell anyone..."

"...It's okay," Chris said. "That event is half-done with. Once we find the way to get rid of that curse, everything will be just fine like it should be."

"I just wanted to tell this to you so you would understand... Thanks," he said before he began to float out from the window, Chris leaving his bed to look at the star going back into the sky. "I wish you good luck in raising that egg, Chris! Please, tell everyone I said hi!"

"Y-you bet!" Chris yelled. "Thanks for coming!"

As Geno's star slowly disappeared into the sky, a blink of it made Chris realize he was gone and back to the Star Haven, smiling a bit to the night's sky, Chris chuckled and turned to see the Riolu egg on his bed. The World Traveler then got back under the blankets where he pulled the egg closer to him.

"...This egg is a little bit big..." Chris remarked after he measured the egg's height a bit. The egg's size was about a foot and a half or more when he compared it to the size of his head. "Now...let's rest, okay?" Chris asked to the egg before he leaned his left ear to hear if there was Riolu inside. "...I don't hear anything..." he muttered a bit depressed. "...Well, that's how eggs are supposed to be... In a few days, I'm going to be so excited when it rocks back and forth."

The World Traveler chuckled a bit as he lied down the egg beside him to cover it with the blanket. Once half of it was covered, Chris rubbed it one more time before chuckling to himself.

"A Riolu..." he muttered chuckling. "I can't wait to have a Riolu..."

With a yawn, Chris decided to go back to sleep, the egg silently resting besides him...

October 31 - Evening - Friday - Halloween

Main Lobby

Kingdom Hearts II - This is Halloween

A week had passed ever since the 'Aurageddon' (a name that Crazy Hand had come up with to describe Lucario's attack) took place. Chris had told almost everyone about Lucario's wish, and he explained that Lucario had turned back to a Pokémon egg, which Chris always carried around (except take it to school. Those days were the times where he asked Pikachu and the others to take care of it while they were in his house).

"How dark...so dark that it looks so pleasant..." Diddy said as he stared outside to look up at the ominous night's sky, some bats casually flying away to the full moon.

More convenient was hearing some howls outside.

"Ah, the children of the night… What sweet music they make..."

"Diddy, will you just stop standing there and come over here?" called Nana. "We're watching the special 10-minute CGI movie Chris wanted to show us!"

"Oh, right... Sorry, I just got in the moment..."

It turned out that, as well as Chris's world, there was a night of Halloween that the Smashers celebrated. At least some used disguises; disguises Chris haven't seen yet. However, he did see that the young Smashers were wearing different costumes...

Actually, could someone call those costumes real costumes?

"I have to say..." Chris trailed off as he, Popo, Nana, Ness, Lucas, and Kirby were all sitting on a sofa while Diddy, Pikachu, Pichu, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Toon Link, Red, Ivysaur, and Squirtle were all scattered around the floor with some popcorn buckets, "...some of those...costumes of yours do look...good..."

"I told you before," Ness began (wearing a pink hat, pink shoes, a white backpack, with a black shirt that had a small Mr. Saturn logo on it), "using our alternate costumes for the matches do look nice during Halloween."

"So is that the reason you're wearing an extra pumpkin on your head?" asked Pikachu (who was wearing a green bandanna above his eyes).

Ness was also wearing a pumpkin head with eyes and mouth as holes. "...That's an idea Tracy gave me, okay?"

"Shh," whispered Pichu (who wore some blue goggles on his forehead with a small blue knot of cloth on his neck). "We're watching a movie."

"Can you call this 10-minute short a movie?" Chris whispered back (he also wore something different. The World Traveler decided that choosing a job would make him look like some sort of cheater due to the fact he already had many jobs. To resolve this, he managed to find a Lucario trainer costume he had seen in a game. Chris wore black shoes, long blue pants, and a yellow shirt under his blue jacket, a black belt that had a small pouch on the back, and a hat with Lucario ears). "...And...have I told you before that you make a pseudo-reference to an anime character with that costume of yours, Pichu?"

"Do I?" Pichu asked.

"Well, your costume doesn't beat my costume," Toon Link (who wore a dark attire to his outfit, with really dark and red eyes, and also had white hair sticking out from his black hood) said proudly.

"I have to admit yours do give the scary feeling," Nana remarked. "Heck, I think you beat Link's dark attire."

"Ha, take that, older hero."

"Shh," Squirtle (who wore a white shell) whispered.

"Yeah, you guys should stop talking," whispered Ivysaur (whose color looked light while the bulb on his flower was a pinkish white).

Chris sighed, placing his hands on the Riolu egg that he had between his legs. "Okay, okay..."

It was a Halloween night where Chris had invited some of the Smashers to watch a special 10-minute short that was recently published over his world. The short was none other than 'Night of the Werehog', a CGI short that depicted Sonic and Chip going into a seemingly abandoned mansion that was inhabited by ghosts. Chris's Wii was hooked to the big plasma TV of the east wall, the console being the 'DVD' of sorts since it was using the Internet Channel to watch the short in Youtube.

"So it turns out Chip is not just a random guy but an actual character," Ness said. "Why am I thinking I saw that coming?"

"Yes, but unfortunately I don't know much about Chip..." Chris said. "All I know is that he appears in the Sonic game that will come out this November. I'm going to buy it and see if it has something about Chip."

"You guys think we should show this to Sonic and the others sometime?" Diddy (who had dark black fur and wore purple shirt and purple hat, the Nintendo logo being orange) asked as he watched the movie.

"Maybe," Jigglypuff said (who wore a white hat that made Red feel nostalgic about someone else). "But...let's watch this before doing that...if we even do it..."

"Agreed," Yoshi (who had blue skin) said as he took a sip of his soda.

Kirby (who was all white and wore the red Puyo hat he received from Sig) smiled pleased as he used a straw to drink his juice with a bucket of popcorn that he shared with Ness and Lucas. "I like this movie," he said.

"That's how wonderful the world of CGI animation is for you," Ness said.

Red (who wore a pale brown outfit (and oddly enough had brown hair)) looked back to the small movie. "Check that out, Sonic's being beaten by those 2 ghosts in bull form."

Pikachu pointed up at the TV. "That's what I call dumb people owning you so badly," he said before he ate a fist of popcorn. "If that happens, I'll shock those people until they die. Surely, nobody wants to be beaten like that around, right?"

"Right," everyone said.

"I'm glad to hear the popular vote from everyone," Pikachu said chuckling a bit before returning to watch the movie. He then looked at the egg between Chris's legs. "You've been taking care of it just fine, right?"

"Oh yes," Chris said. "I always keep the egg warm so it hatches faster...but I haven't felt Riolu inside it yet. I guess I need to wait even longer..."

"W-well," Lucas (who looked oddly familiar like his brother Claus) began, "eggs aren't supposed to take that long, right?"

"What's up with you?" Ness asked to Lucas. "Why did you decide to 'dress up' as your brother?"

"He told me in my dreams to dress just like him."

Everyone stared at Lucas for a moment, the movie still going.

"...I-I receive some visits from him and mom during my dreams...and they've said they're real..." Lucas explained. "...I-it's true..."

"...Back on topic," Pikachu said, "it's going to be some more days before that egg hatches up. When that happens, I'll admit Riolu to be one of our honorary club members."

"What?" Chris said.

Popo nodded. "Yes, why not go ahead and take advantage of the situation?" he asked.

Nana looked at him. "We may as well loose his personality of a loner a bit, right? That way, once he evolves, Lucario can become a little bit closer to everyone else."

"Well...I think that's a good idea..." Chris trailed off. "...By the way, this is a side note, but how come Popo and you aren't dressed up with alternate costumes?"

"That's because I'm wearing Popo's clothes," Nana pointed out. "Can't you see the differences?"

Everyone looked a bit surprised as everyone took a closer look at both Ice Climbers. Popo and Nana had made sure that they both looked like the other by going as far as to fix their hairs to resemble each one's hairs as well. They were both looking the same as their counterpart looked like which impressed some of the Smashers a bit.

"...Wow," Yoshi said. "I didn't recognize that you were dressing up as each other..."

"Heheh, pretty clever, right?" Nana said. "That's the advantage of being a twin."

Popo remained silent. "...Wait, did Lucas say mom?"

Nana gasped after she recalled the words that shouldn't be said around Popo. "Oh, no, no, no, no, Popo, don't you DARE go stupid now!"

"Too late."

"What?!"

The others watched as Nana quickly grabbed a cushion and hit Popo hard on the face. The blow was strong enough to knock him out of cold, his tongue sticking out a bit from his mouth.

"There..." Nana said panting heavily.

"Popo, was that necessary?" Pichu asked.

"Um, Pichu, I think you forgot that Nana's wearing Popo's clothes..." Squirtle whispered.

"Oh...even so, why'd you do that?"

Popo (I mean, Nana) looked annoyed at him. "Let's just say I hate when his stupid self comes out during this special time of the year...okay?"

The others looked at each other before shrugging. They then decided to return and watch the movie while Nana used Nana's (I mean, Popo's) body as a human cushion. "When is this stupid painful memory going to disappear for good?" Nana asked annoyed before sighing.

After they watched the end of the movie (which hinted the SonicxUnnamed Lady Ghost pairing), they turned off the TV and the Wii. This was a bad move since it left the whole lobby completely shrouded in darkness.

"Oh great," Jigglypuff said bored. "We forgot to turn on the lights first before turning off the TV."

"Well, what'd you expect?" Yoshi asked. "You want to have a dark atmosphere? We turned off the lights."

"I told you guys that we should have watched some horror movies before," Chris said. "You should see the Resident Evil movie. It has tons of blood and pretty scary zombies."

"Oh well, let's do it," Toon Link said. "There's a whole lot of popcorn left. It's still hot as well."

"Alright," Kirby said pleased. "I want to eat more until I faint."

"You don't necessarily faint when you eat a lot..." Ness pointed out.

"...Your point?"

"Forget it..."

"So then, did anybody remember where the lights were?" Red asked as he looked around. "I forgot where they were..."

"I'm pretty sure they're far behind the 8 creepy eyes that are staring at us just behind the sofa," Ivysaur said before they all turned back to see some glaring eyes staring at them in the plain darkness. "See them? The switches should be far off..."

"...I-I don't remember those eyes being there..." Lucas muttered in a high-pitched voice. "S-somebody..."

"..." Ness looked bored. "Okay, we know there are still some people here who like to do pranks to people like us. Whoever you are, show yourselves."

"But I thought we were already showing ourselves to you..."

The stupidly darkly and deep toned voice made them all widen their eyes.

"Heheheheheh..." multiple deep chuckles echoed around the lobby, making everyone look at each other in shock.

"!!!" every single Smasher that had watched the small movie screamed loudly in the dark, their yells actually shattering some of the windows' glasses.

It was not long before the very same eyes closed themselves before they were followed by people dropping on the floor. Several hysterical laughs soon followed that, making most of the other screaming Smashers stop their scared screams.

"H-hey, I recognize those voices!" Pikachu yelled between the laughs before he ran past the sofa to go all the way to the left wall where he, fortunately, found the switches that he had to jump to turn the lights on. "Oh, for the love of Arceus...I had a premonition you were the ones from the very beginning!"

Kirby, Chris, Ness, Toon Link, and Ivysaur went over the sofa to look behind it. They all instantly looked pissed when they found out that Falco, C. Falcon, Link, and even Fox himself were all rolling and laughing loudly on the floor, holding their stomachs tightly with their arms.

"Okay..." Ness began to pant heavily. "I did know for a fact that Falco, C. Falcon, and even Link would go so low as to prank us all...but Fox? What, did I miss the day where he got a childish personality?"

"Why the hell did you do that for?!" Toon Link asked and wanted to get to the point. "You guys, taking advantage of you dark attires to scare us!"

In fact, the Smashers who did the prank on them were all wearing dark attires. In a few words, Falco had dark feathers while he wore a dark brown jacket with dark pants and a light-blue scarf with a red scouter, C. Falcon's attire was all black, Link, as Toon Link, looked exactly the same, and Fox had dark brown fur while he wore a purple scarf with black-and-white tanker boots; the smallest details being the red scouter and the golden insignia on his belt.

Everyone else had walked around the sofa to look frustrated at the four laughing Smashers.

"I can't believe you guys!" Chris yelled. "I can't even believe Fox would do that as well!"

Their laughter slowly died down before they looked at everyone with amused looks, chuckling darkly. Those chuckles made most of them shook a bit in fear. After the dark chuckles, the four then broke out laughing again.

"K-knock it off already!" Nana yelled. "D-don't take advantage of your costumes and faces again!"

"S-sorry!" Link coughed between laughs. "B-but this is something C. Falcon planned to do to have some fun, and he convinced us to do this!"

"Y-yeah!" C. Falcon said before he returned laughing.

"Oh please, chill out!" Falco said between laughs. "We had some Halloween spirit in us. What's so wrong about it?"

"The part that's wrong is that we were almost going to have heart attacks!" Jigglypuff yelled. "I mean, look at Lucas!"

The others turned their heads to the front of the sofa where Lucas was fainted on the floor.

"Poor boy didn't deserve this!"

"Besides, I'm still surprised that Link and Fox agreed to do this prank on us!" complained Pikachu said before pointing down at Fox. "What's the matter with you? You're supposed to be mature enough to do this kind of thing!"

Fox stopped laughing and looked amused at the Smashers. What they could tell from the look of his face was that Fox seemed to be smirking evilly. Again, most of them felt some chills on their backs as they stared at the evil looking vulpine. "Sorry for barging in here, kids. C. Falcon convinced me to do this prank on you, and I had to admit I have some...mischievous side left in me...if you know what I mean…" he spoke in a deep tone that sounded evil, altogether with a chuckle.

The other Smashers gasped a bit at this, making the four laugh hysterically louder than before.

"T-that does it! I had it with them!" Yoshi said. "Who wants to gang up on them?"

Everyone that wasn't laughing raised their hands. The four laughing Smashers stopped their laughter and looked a bit shocked to see that the other Smashers surrounded them.

"…CHAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Toon Link yelled the order, pumping up a fist in the air.

In an instant, everyone but Chris, Red, and Kirby leaped right on the four Smashers. A small fight broke out soon as most of the young Smashers were trying to kill the older characters with their bare hands; strangling them sometimes. Chris, Red, and Kirby watched helplessly as Fox, Falco, C. Falcon, and Link struggled to get away from the brawl. Some of the younger Smashers were punching them to death, while others resorted to more barbaric means like biting off their clothes (it should be said Toon Link was the only one doing this on Link…)

Chris looked back to his egg on his legs. "I couldn't fight and leave you alone, eggy-weggy," he said as he rubbed a hand on the egg.

Kirby merely smiled while Red issued orders to Squirtle and Ivysaur. "Use Water Gun, Squirtle! You use Vine Whip, Ivysaur!" he ordered constantly.

"Yeah! Give 'em hell!" Barry said as he was standing on his knees just to Chris's left, close to Popo's dead carcass. "Ooooh, low hits! I like those!"

Suddenly, everyone stopped their brawl and quickly looked at the hyperactive blond trainer punching the air in front of him. Stopping the whole action made Barry look a bit mad at all of them.

"What's the matter? I wanna see more bloodshed action going on!" Barry said annoyed.

Everyone looked extremely confused as to why there was a kid in the mansion. The ones that looked shocked from the Smashers were Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur.

"Er...who's this guy?" C. Falcon asked.

"Who are you talking to? Who are you talking to?!" Barry repeated as he crossed his arms, looking proud. "You're talking to Barry: Super Mega Awesome Cooltrainer of Awesome!"

"No, seriously..." Falco trailed off. "...Who the heck are you?"

"I just told you all already!" Barry complained as he pointed an accusing finger to everyone. "You guys have been the most suspicious guys I've ever met before! You only reach the ranks of Team Galactic's secretive organization!"

Toon Link spat out a black strap of cloth from Link's tunic. "…What the hell is he talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, YOU tell me, Mr. Red Eyes," Barry said, narrowing his eyes a bit. "I have very good evidence of almost every single person living in this place!"

Chris gasped. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Wait just a minute," Link began, "how the hell did you get in here? Didn't the security system trigger when you came in here?"

"I dunno about a stupid security system, but I DO know you guys aren't from here!" Barry yelled.

"B-Barry, shut up now!" Red yelled annoyed. "S-stop saying that!"

Everyone else looked at Red, making the trainer gasp a bit. "Red…do you know this wacko?" Jigglypuff asked.

"HA! That's a good joke right there!" Barry said. "You see, Red here let me and my friends have a room in YOUR place."

Everyone looked either pissed or bored at Red.

"And we've been spying on you guys ever since we got in here!" Barry said.

"What?" Fox asked. "You've been here this whole time?"

Falco narrowed his eyes at Barry. "Wait, you're the same dork who tossed me a Poké Ball when it was freakin' winter!"

"And I still have a spare Poké Ball right here," Barry said as he took out mentioned item. "Stay there, mutated Taillow!"

"A what now?"

Before Barry could even toss the sphere at Falco's forehead, Ivysaur quickly used Vine Whip to stop the hyperactive trained from doing such an action. "H-hey, let go of me, traitors!" Barry yelled at Red and his Pokémon. "Red, I thought we were BFFs!"

Red flushed a bit in embarrassment. "W-what the heck are you saying? W-we're just friends, not BFFs!"

A creepy silence made Red feel uncomfortable. This grew worse as everyone stared at him with bored or pissed looks on their eyes.

"…I-I forgot what BFF meant…" Red muttered.

"Best Friends Forever," whispered Chris.

"Thanks," muttered Red. "…A-ah…I…well…you see…um…well…"

"Tell 'em, dude!" Barry yelled as Ivysaur's vine was wrapped tightly on Barry's right wrist. "Tell 'em your true reasons to be here! C'mon, tell them we're a team that will plan to conquer the world very soon!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, BARRY!" Red yelled loudly. "Let me say something before you say something very farfetched!"

"I'm just giving you my support!" Barry yelled annoyed. "Heck, I'm giving you a helping hand!"

"Can you please stop arguing?" Yoshi asked bored. "If you don't stop yelling at each other, this is going to keep going on forever…"

"The transfigured Cranidos says the truth!" Barry said as Yoshi looked confused at him. "We gotta shut up for a moment and let me handle things here!"

"Barry, why don't you shut up first?" Red asked. "By now, everyone knows how you are so…imaginative…"

"Pfft, you're just jealous because I can say the truth and you don't," Barry said.

"Oh no, it SHOULD be the other way around," Red said annoyed before he looked back at all the Smashers. "Well…you guys…you see…"

"Oh my goodness!"

Every single person in the main lobby turned to the stairs to see a shocked Dawn and a frowning Lucas (the trainer) staring down at the big commotion that was taking place.

"B-Barry, what are you doing now?" Dawn asked in pure disbelief. "Why did you decide to go on and go directly to them?"

"Seriously," Lucas began, "Barry, you screwed up many things before in the past…but this one takes the prize…"

Barry rolled his eyes. "You guys should be supporting me instead of scolding me like my mom!"

"Ugh!" Dawn grunted annoyed before she began to walk down the stairs with Lucas following from behind her. "Barry, for the last time, stop pulling us all in trouble!" she yelled annoyed. "It's been pure hell to make your compulsive nature from stirring up trouble!"

Ivysaur pulled back his vine on Barry's wrist as the hyperactive trainer walked all the way to Dawn. "Now hear me out, Dawn!" he began as he raised a finger. "We're here to discover what these guys do! Don't tell me you forgot about the whole crap of the Submarinepace Armada and those big feet!"

Most of the Smashers looked a bit shocked at this.

"Barry, I believe it was Subspace Army..." Lucas muttered.

"And they were hands, not feet," Dawn corrected.

"...It's the same thing!" Barry said in his defense.

"Oh god, no, no, no, no! No more extra guests again!"

Everyone turned to the hallway where Master Hand (wearing a black glove) and Popo were standing there, looking at them.

"P-Popo?" Nana said confused before she noticed that Popo wasn't on the sofa anymore. "Did you just sneak away and told Master Hand about..."

Popo only stuck out his tongue a bit and the hand floated towards the group. "Let's see here, who's the one responsible for letting these kids in?" Master Hand asked as he looked at Lucas, Dawn, and Barry.

"Hey, who are you calling a kid?" Barry asked as he put his hands on his hips. "I'll let you know I'm actually 29 years old, but I look like this because I know how to keep my youth! I take lotsa vitamins, you know!"

Master Hand stared at Barry in silence before the hand turned to Lucas and Dawn.

"He's not that old at all," they both said.

Master Hand looked back at Barry. "...You, shut up."

"And if I don't wanna?" Barry asked annoyed.

"Ugh!" Master Hand shook himself. "I'm being serious here," he said as he looked at the Smashers. "Who is the guy who let these people get in here? I know for one thing that they didn't sneak in because our security syste-"

"It's busted," Jigglypuff interrupted. "Remember? I destroyed all the cameras before we fought Sonic's dark spirit...and..."

"...Last time I recall, I didn't know you destroyed the cameras..." Master Hand trailed off. "...Jigglypuff...I haven't gotten the time to repair those cameras yet because I'm busy with some stuff I'm preparing...but...may I ask you how you got in the security room in the first place?"

Jigglypuff looked shocked and shifted her eyes a bit. "E-er...s-see you later! I want to have my beauty sleep!"

"Hey!"

Jigglypuff didn't listen to the hand and turned to the stairs where she quickly ran upstairs.

"You're not avoiding punishment!" Master Hand yelled. "Once I see you again, I'm going to do something REALLY painful on you!"

"Just try!" Jigglypuff yelled.

Master Hand sighed. "Seriously...who let these people in here?" He looked at all the dressed Smashers. "Let's see, I learned from a source that the one who did something and is hiding between everyone is the one that is sweating and looking worried..."

Unfortunately, Master Hand couldn't find the person he was looking for.

"..." Master Hand turned around to look at the sofa. "Oh, here he is..." he trailed off as he reached for the front side of the sofa and picked up a worried Red. Like the hand had predicted, Red was looking worried while sweating while Ivysaur and Squirtle were ducking behind the front. "You little rascal..." Master Hand muttered.

"I-I..." Red chuckled nervously. "...U-um...I-I..."

Barry began to punch the air. "You show 'im, Red! Give him an uppercut, then a knee smash, then a shoulder ram, then a-"

"Barry, shut up," Dawn muttered.

"Pfft..."

Red hit his palms against each other and bowed several times to the hand. "P-please don't kill me! I-I was the one who let them stay here for a pretty long time now!"

"So it WAS you after all!" Master Hand said as he dropped Red on the floor. "Red, what did I say about not letting people in here without my permission?"

Red stood on his knees. "I-I'm really sorry for not listening to that rule! I-it's just that they were Pokémon Trainers, a-and I wanted to meet some so I could get to be a better Pokémon Trainer myself, a-and so I let them stay here ever since before we fought Smithy, a-and they have been staying here all the time, a-and I've been doing my best to keep them away from looking at any of us...a-and...w-well..." Red looked down and frowned. "...T-that's all..."

"..." Master Hand remained silent as everyone looked at each other. "...Red..."

"Don't kill him off!" Squirtle and Ivysaur yelled at the same time as they both jumped to the sofa and looked up at the hand.

"Take me instead!" Squirtle panicked. "Red deserves to live but not me!"

"Yeah!" Ivysaur said. "Squirtle here will sacrifice himself!"

"Yea-" Squirtle did a double take and looked annoyed at Ivysaur. "I thought you were supposed to say you wanted to sacrifice yourself as well!"

"Well..." Ivysaur muttered as he looked away. "You said you wanted to do it first so..."

"Y-you cheater...cheap...cheater..." Squirtle muttered.

"STOP!" Master Hand yelled loudly. "Okay, everyone, calm down right now! First, we have to stay calm, relax a bit, and explain ourselves to see who die-I mean, to see who gets...um...er...gets...um..."

"Scolded?" C. Falcon spoke.

"Y-yes, that," Master Hand said before sighing. "Everyone, sigh..."

Everyone sighed.

"Now...tell me who started the panic here."

The first Smashers quickly pointed at the four pranksters.

"Hey, we didn't start the panic here!" Link yelled at them.

Barry decided to point at them as well.

"Barry!" Dawn yelled.

"What? They started it!" Barry protested.

"QUIET!" Master Hand yelled. "Okay...who started the second panic?"

All the Smashers pointed at Barry.

Lucas and Dawn looked bored at him. "I knew Barry was the guy who did all this..." Lucas muttered. "When you smell something weird, it's definitely the Barry..."

Barry crossed his arms and pouted a bit. "What do you know?" he asked annoyed.

"O...kay..." Master Hand nodded before he looked at Lucas and Dawn. "And who are you?"

"W-well, Mr. Hand..." Dawn trailed off thinking. "Y-you see..."

"Seeing that you're not getting freaked out that easily means you already saw me before, right?"

"Y-yes..." Dawn nodded. "W-we've been in here for a very long time to..."

Half an hour of explanations later...

Master Hand frowned continuously as he floated around the lobby. "No, no, no, no, no..." he muttered in disbelief as everyone watched him floating around the big space. "This is just...no..."

Apparently, Dawn had explained everything she, Lucas, and Barry had found out about the Smashers. Dawn proceeded to point out that they know a lot about the Subspace Army, the Smashers themselves, all the different events that had taken place, and a bunch of some embarrassing secrets that Barry 'conveniently' had read from some diaries of some Smashers.

"Hey, I don't see what's wrong in knowing about what you do here," Dawn said.

Master Hand stopped floating and looked at her. "Oh no, you just don't understand."

Lucas shook his head. "Mr. Master Hand sir, I don't think we should be kept out from understanding what the 'Smashers' here have been doing all the time."

"We know everything!" Barry proclaimed. "We know everything from that evil army, those weird worlds, and every single masculine guy that rules over the small population of women here, 2 which I consider sexy-sexy!"

Dawn stomped his left foot hard.

"Oww!"

"Please, ignore Barry," Dawn said annoyed. "He failed many tests during our childhood, and I still can't figure out how he became a trainer in the first place..."

"..." Master Hand shook himself. "No, you don't understand how crucial this is," he said to return to the previous topic. "I know for sure that you guys can know about our business in here...but letting many bystanders know about this will cause a lot of panic..."

"Oh, that?" Lucas said. "We can keep our mouths shut with the secret. We won't tell anybody."

Master Hand stared at Barry. "...Your friend here is the one that makes me feel so uncomfortable..."

"You should be!" Barry said as he kept bouncing on his spot while he grabbed his left foot with both hands. "I'm gonna fine you a million for giving me the worst treatment I've ever received!"

"I didn't even see you before, you dork!" Master Hand yelled. "Try it, but you won't be able to fine me that easily!"

"Ugh, please, ignore Barry," Dawn said. "We're not gonna let him say a word about anything you do behind everyone's backs, we promise."

Master Hand looked at Red. "I hope you're happy now, Red. Like EVERY SINGLE OTHER uninvited guest, I'll have to go and comply with these 3 about staying here..."

Red blinked surprised. "W-what?"

"I'll face it now," Master Hand said. "No matter how many times I try, uninvited guests will pop out from nowhere and live here for a time. If I could, I could kill them all, but fortunately for them, I'm a little bit benevolent to some people..." He sniffed. "It's just one trouble after another. I always have to ignore the mansion's rules every single time this happens, and there's no way I can remedy this at all..." He began to sob a bit. "What did I do wrong to deserve this bad karma? What?!"

The Smashers stared at the sobbing hand, some of them looking a bit apologetic.

While Barry shed a tear and blew his nose on a napkin he took out from his back, Lucas and Dawn looked worried at each other before Lucas walked to the hand and patted his wrist. "There, there, if you want us to leav-"

"Okay," Master Hand said as he quickly opened the double doors of the exit and grabbed the three trainers to toss them out.

Once their rears hopped a bit on the ground, the three trainers quickly stood up and ran back inside, Dawn pointing a finger at Master Hand. "H-hey, you should've waited a bit before we could say something!" she complained.

"Ugh," Master Hand grunted. "Fine, you people... Geez..." He frowned. "Okay, here's how we're going to do things here. You better agree with this or else is the forest outside for yo-"

"You mean what used to be the forest?" Lucas interrupted.

Master Hand recalled that most trees in the area were erased from existence while a small percentage of them remained behind. "...Either way, listen," Master Hand said. "By no means you're allowed to say ANYTHING about what we do here to other people you know. Each guest that has stayed here respected that rule just fine, and I don't wish you 3, especially Barry, to say our matters aloud, you got that?"

Lucas smiled a bit. "Don't worry about it. We don't have any kind of business here."

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, we just wanted to have some rooms so we could explore this place for new Pokémon."

"Can we still threaten you so I can create my own army of super guys and 2 sexy-sexy girls?" Barry asked.

"Thank you, I'm glad, and go to hell," Master Hand said respectively answering the three trainers. "You can't meddle in our matters either. By that, I mean you're not allowed to go to the command room on this floor, okay? You get close to that place, I'll smack you down."

Lucas and Dawn nodded while Barry saluted the hand.

"Now go grab a camera, take your photos, and go over the board to the left so you stick your photos on it," he said as he pointed at the board 'People That Have Entered the Mansion without Any Permission, Yet They Stayed Here for One Reason or Another.'

The three trainers walked to the board and looked confused at it. "May I ask why is this one...scribbled with red marker?" Dawn asked confused as she saw the photo of a familiar Genius Mage with red horns, now scribbled with newly acquired red eyes (this Genius Mage was Rita Mordio).

"...Someone wanted to make a prank," Master Hand said and the Smashers looked bored at him. "...What? Somebody did it...I swear somebody else did it..."

"...Er...am I safe from getting punished?" Red asked.

"Punishment? Oh, well, I guess you're safe from that," Master Hand said. "Besides, killing you off would mean I would go out and find a replacement. If it came down to that, I'd go for that boy with the white hair and black-and-red bandana from Hoenn," he said. "...But enough about that..."

Red gulped.

"Calm down, okay? It was just a saying," Master Hand said. "Well, everything's settled here again. We can all live together with happy days ahead of us," he said as he faked a happy tone. "Now-don't-do-this-again-or-else-I-will-really-kill-somebody-okay?" he asked quickly, annoyed before he snapped his fingers, and warped away to his room. "Happy Halloween as well," his voice echoed a bit.

"Alright!" Dawn said relieved as she lifted up her hands to the air. "Finally, we'll stop hiding from everyone!"

Lucas looked pleased. "I was getting a bit upset from all the lurking around."

"Sweet!" Barry pumped a fist in the air. "Time to celebrate!"

The Smashers could only watch the three trainers talking between each other. Chris looked worried at Red. "Are you sure they don't know about my reality? That would cause a lot of commotion..."

"I-I'm pretty sure they don't know," Red said. "Let's...not ask them, okay? They could grow curious about it..."

"Good idea..." Squirtle whispered.

The three trainers turned to the Smashers. "Okay, now that we can meet you all personally," Lucas began, "we're glad to meet such a diverse group like all of you."

"Especially the talking Pokémon," Dawn said before she locked eyes with Pikachu's eyes, the Electric type backing away a bit. "Ooh, he's so adorable!"

"E-er..." Pikachu gulped. "(W-which one is worse: this Dawn or the Dawn I know?)"

"..." Lucas blinked as the Smashers kept staring at them. "...Say something, you guys..." he muttered.

"Well, what do you want us to say?" Link asked. "We barely know any of you..."

"Oh, I guess that's right," Lucas said. "I guess most of you are not into Pokémon, right?"

Most of the Smashers shook their heads.

"...Well..." Lucas shifted his eyes a bit. "...I guess we should call it night for now?"

Dawn yawned a bit. "Oh well, I think tomorrow's gonna be a better day. Besides, I wanna use the kitchen to make my poffins. Now that I recall, I haven't made my poffins..."

"If you're doing that, do my Pokémon's poffins!" Barry said. "Torterra has been starving over your homemade poffins for a long time now!"

"That's something I'm looking forward to do..." Dawn admitted. "Seriously, that's one of the few things I'd like to hear from you."

"You hurt my heart, Dawn..." Barry muttered.

Dawn chuckled. "Meh, you'll be just fine...I guess..." she said confused before she began to climb up the stairs. "Let's rest for tonight, okay, guys?"

"Yeah," Lucas said as he followed her. "It's so late now..."

Barry let out a long yawn. "You guys can't just enjoy nocturnal parties like I do..."

As they all walked up, they looked back at the group of Smashers. "I hope we can get acquainted very soon!" Dawn said to them. "Good night!"

The Smashers watched as the three trainers walked up the stairs of the second floor, leaving the big lobby behind.

"..." C. Falcon looked at Red. "And here I thought I only met one of your group..."

Red looked annoyed at him. "T-they're not in my group, and I don't have a group!" Red said. "L-look, they're a pretty good bunch of people, okay? I'm happy to know I've made friends with more Pokémon Trainers!"

"Well, as long as they don't consider capturing Pichu or Jigglypuff, everything will be just fine," Pikachu said.

Pichu and Jigglypuff looked worried at each other.

"Relax, they won't catch you 2," Toon Link said. "We'll see what they do here, okay?"

"That's better," Falco said. "Just keep the blond idiot away from me and I'll be good to them."

"That reminds me," Popo began as he walked back to them, "weren't we having a brawl a moment ago?"

Fox, Falco, Link, and C. Falcon looked shocked before all the same Smashers that attacked them leaped at them and continued their previous revenge, Popo looking happy before he leaped to C. Falcon and started to whack his head together with Nana.

Chris sighed and frowned at this, the pranksters trying their best to fend the Smashers off, unfortunately failing to do so. "My god, why can't they act their age?" he asked confused.

"But Chris, don't you cry?" Kirby asked.

Chris looked defeated. "Kirby, don't say that again..."

"Sorry..." Kirby said ashamed while Red issued orders to Squirtle and Ivysaur to attack Falco.

And the Halloween night passed, the World Traveler rubbing the Riolu egg he had on his legs. Chris wanted Riolu to hatch from the egg very soon. He didn't want to wait any longer because of the fact Tabuu could invade a new world where a Gaia Temple would be.

And speaking of Gaia Temples, how was Sonic's group faring in their research to find the Gaia Guardians? The World Traveler's only choice was to wait and see what happened next...

Lucas (the Smasher) grumbled a bit and slowly sat up. "W-what did I miss? ...W-why's everyone beating on C. Falcon, Falco, Fox, and Link?"

Unfortunately, everyone ignored the confused Lucas/Claus...

Music stops

November 9 - Morning - Sunday

Lucario's Room

The sunlight touched Chris's face as he held the egg tightly between his arms. The World Traveler leaned his happy face against the upper part of the egg.

"...Hmm..." Chris smiled a bit as his face shook a bit. "...Hmm?" he slowly opened his eyes to look around the room. "Hmm..." he grumbled. "Who's...making some trembles now?" he asked annoyed and looked around the room a bit more. "I swear, this place is full of people that can't even stay still for a day so I can sleep peacefully..."

Chris yawned as he sat up, his lips moving like a wave for a bit.

"...Strange..." he said. "The tremble stopped..." he muttered before he groggily looked around. "I could have sworn something was making some trembles..."

Chris looked down to his left to see that the egg was hopping a bit on its spot, rocking back and forth.

The World Traveler smiled a little and rubbed the egg. "Funny, the way you're moving makes me think you're going to hatch in a few minutes..." he trailed off as he stopped rubbing the egg."...Actually..."

Outside

"HOLY CRAP, THE EGG'S GOING TO HATCH NOW!" Chris's voice boomed almost all over the mansion.

Main Lobby

The World Traveler (in his Racer job) ran as fast as he could to the lobby with the trembling egg on his arms. Chris carefully walked down the stairs to reach the sofa of the lobby where he placed the trembling egg on a cushion. "Pikachu, Pichu, anyone else awake, come here!" Chris yelled to the hallways. "The egg is going to hatch!"

"C-coming!" Yoshi was heard yelling from the kitchen as he ran all the way to the sofa.

Chris shook his head and looked at the excited Yoshi. "What's the matter with you?" Chris asked as Yoshi sat on the floor and looked at the egg.

"I like babies," Yoshi said. "Lucario's going to be born as a baby again, right? I want to see him as a baby."

"...Oh..." Chris said before he turned to look at the hallway. "You guys, come here! The egg's going to hatch!"

"Oh my!" called Peach from the kitchen. "I need to see this!" she said excited as she walked as fast as she could to the sofa.

"..." Chris stared at Peach. "Oh, why bother asking you..." he muttered.

It was not long before Pikachu, Pichu, Kirby, Jigglypuff, Ness, Lucas, Toon Link, Diddy, Popo, Nana, and even Luigi, Olimar, DK, Pit, Roy, Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all came from every single hallway that leaded to the main lobby. The group of Smashers gathered around the sofa to see the trembling egg rocking back and forth on its place.

"Seriously," Chris began as he looked at the multitude of Smashers, "were all of you waiting for this to happen?"

"The egg's cracking!" Luigi said suddenly.

Everyone stared at the egg's upper shell. It seemed that a small crack was starting to appear on the top before it gradually began to get longer across the upper part of the egg. Everyone watched closely as some small bits of the top fell off at the sides, revealing a small blue spot from within the egg.

"Here we go..." Pikachu muttered. "The birth of a new Pokémon..."

The egg began to move back and forth while more cracks began to appear all over it. Soon, something inside the egg began to push out the shattered parts of the egg as they all watched some small blue hands breaking through the egg. It was not long before the egg's upper part had been broken by a small creature that was inside of it. This creature in question was a newborn Riolu who everyone stared with some curiosity.

"..." Chris's eyes shook as the baby Riolu looked at everyone.

The newborn Riolu looked up at all the Smashers around him before he focused his eyes on Chris, the World Traveler gasping a bit. "..." Riolu remained silent and tilted his head.

"Aww..." Peach rejoiced. "How cute..."

"..." Riolu blinked a few times before he said his first word. "!" he said as some sort of long yawn.

The Smashers began to applaud the newborn Pokémon, Riolu looking at them with some curiosity.

"Ri?" Riolu blinked confused. "Riiiii..."

Chris looked happy and reached for Riolu to carry him on his arms. Once the World Traveler had the Emanation Pokémon on his arms, Riolu looked up at him. "Hello," Chris said as he rubbed the Pokémon's head, "welcome to your new life, Riolu."

"Ri?" Riolu looked confused.

"...What's the matter?" Pit asked. "Shouldn't he be at least a little bit excited?"

The Smashers stopped applauding before Riolu looked at them.

"I bet he's just trying to adjust to his new life," Roy said. "Be glad he didn't cry. His speech is a little bit high-pitched..."

"Compared to Lucario's deep and gruff voice..." Olimar shrugged. "C-can he stay like this? I like him this way..."

"Oh no," Chris said. "This little Riolu will soon evolve into a Lucario once he gets very friendly with me." He raised the baby above him. "Isn't that right, Riolu?"

Riolu blinked and looked down at Chris. "Ri?"

"..." Chris looked worried. "...But...now that Riolu is here...taking care of him will be a lot harder than he was a Lucario before... If I'm right, then I'll have to leave him alone when I go to school..."

"I'll take care of him," Yoshi offered.

Pikachu looked annoyed. "Oh no, he's staying with our group. Lay a hand on Riolu and you'll pay."

Yoshi looked annoyed at him. "Please, I want to take care of him!"

"How 'bout if I take care of the little guy?" DK asked.

"Pfft, you?" Ness began. "No offense, DK, but your strength is probably going to rip his head off."

DK looked annoyed. "Oh, and all of you surely are very sophisticated and careful."

"We DO happen to be like that," Jigglypuff said annoyed. "Riolu's a baby Pokémon, and baby Pokémon are welcome in OUR group."

"U-um, everyone..." Chris muttered as he put Riolu close to his neck.

Squirtle pointed at Pikachu. "You stay away from him!" he said. "I'm going to raise him to act just like me."

"Oh, by that, you mean acting like a slaved creature like you are to Red?" DK asked annoyed.

"Not that!" Ivysaur said. "We'll take care of him!"

"Everyone..." Chris muttered.

Popo (now back to normal) crossed his arms. "If we're the ones to raise Riolu, he'll become a Lucario once again, and he'll be in our group. Now that's what I call having a powerhouse in a team."

"You just want him so you have more reputation as a group? That's dirty, you know," Roy said.

"What's that?" Nana put a hand close to her left ear. "The kid swordsman wants to raise the baby himself?"

"Why not? I could make him get interested in swords."

"Hello?" Chris asked.

Jigglypuff gasped before pouting. "Y-you won't turn Riolu into a sword freak like you are!"

"A sword freak? He's not going to turn into a sword freak!" Roy yelled. "Tell them, Pit! You're with me in this, right?"

Pit looked unsure. "W-well, you, me, and some others are in some kind of a special team..."

Pikachu looked bored. "Coughswordsmengroupcough."

"Everyone," Chris said.

"P-personally, I want Riolu to join us..." Lucas muttered.

"We have a majority of votes, then!" Ness proclaimed.

"Hey, not fair! You guys are way too many!" DK argued.

"Too bad," Toon Link said amused. "Unless you have your own group, then you're not prepared for voting."

"Everyone," Chris said.

"I-I want to take care of him..." Olimar offered. "W-who knows, he could turn out nicer than he...was (I think he was) when he was a Lucario..."

"Yeah..." Luigi said. "I-I agree with him..."

The other Smashers shot death glares at the two.

"...M-mommy..." Luigi and Olimar muttered.

"Everyone!" Chris yelled.

"Okay," Diddy began as he cracked his fists, "since we can't get to an agreement, what we're gonna do here to resolve this is by having a free-for-all brawl at Kongo Jungle!"

"Pfft, why that place, anyway?" Roy asked. "I choose Castle Siege!"

"But fighting in Skyworld would be a great honor," Pit said. "Palutena could be the judge and criticize our performances as fighters."

"New Pork City for me!" Ness said. "What do you say, Lucas?"

"B-but that place is just plain evil!" Lucas said with a gulp. "T-the Ultimate Chimera paces around, remember?"

"You guys are so outdated," Squirtle said. "I say Spear Pillar so Arceus gives to us his words of wisdom!"

"Yeah, I agree!" Ivysaur said. "How 'bout you, Red?"

Red shifted his eyes. "W-well..."

"You 2 are way too religious for my tastes," Pikachu said to Squirtle and Ivysaur. "Let's all go to Pokémon Stadium 2!"

"P-Pokémon Stadium 1!" Pichu suggested. "Nothing beats the original!"

"Poké Floats!" Jigglypuff suggested.

"That stage isn't even here anymore," Nana pointed out. "Besides, that huge Venusaur scared the heck out of me."

"More of a reason to choose that stage, then!"

"That stage is NOT here," Nana said. "We all go to The Summit! That place is pure intensity on ice."

"Yoshi's Island," Yoshi said with crossed arms, "simple and yet basic for any fights."

Luigi didn't want to suggest going to Luigi's Mansion. The Boos in there scared Luigi a lot. "M-Mushroomy Kingdom!" Luigi suggested.

"Are you nuts? Moving stages are NOT good," DK said. "Let's all go to Rumble Falls instead!"

Toon Link looked bored. "If I recall, that stage is a M-O-V-I-N-G stage. Worse yet, it goes up."

"...Your point?" DK asked.

"T-the Distant Planet!" Olimar suggested. "Y-you better be careful about the Bulborb in there! ...And that counts me as well..." He looked down and frowned.

"Hey, why don't we ask Chris himself?" Roy asked. "He's the one who owns Riolu. We should ask him who he wants to be Riolu's guardian."

"Good idea," Pikachu said before he looked at Chris. "Hey, Chris, can you decide who you're going t-"

By the time the Smashers noticed, Chris, Riolu, Peach, and Kirby were all gone from the lobby ever since they began suggesting stages to fight to be Riolu's babysitter.

"Hey, where'd they go?" DK asked confused.

"Who cares?" Jigglypuff asked as she pouted. "We're all having a full-scale brawl right now at Poké Floats!"

"For the last time, that stage isn't here anymore!" Nana said annoyed. "That's it, we all go for random! Don't complain if we end up in Port Town Aero Dive. We all know that stage sucks for its crazy drivers and cars."

Everyone nodded before they all headed upstairs to issue the matches. As they went up, this attracted the attention of other Smashers who didn't get why the big group wanted to have a full-scale brawl, but it was surely going to be worth the time to fight until they all dropped down.

Peach's Room

"So, Peach, I want you to take care of Riolu the 5 days of school."

"Oh, thank you so much," Peach said. "I'll be happy to take care of Riolu."

Chris, Riolu, Peach, and Kirby were all sitting down on Peach's pink bed, the Emanation Pokémon stared up curiously at his surroundings while the puffball kept an eye on him.

"I just don't get why it is so important for all of them to take care of Riolu," Chris said. "Is it because they know that Riolu will evolve back to Lucario soon?"

"I guess so," Peach said before she shifted her eyes a bit. "...This is a little bit of a gossip, but I did hear some people wanted to take advantage of Riolu by...well...making him look like them..."

"...Bastards..." Chris muttered as he narrowed his eyes. "I knew there were wrong things with all of them..."

"Well, not most of them," Peach said. "People like Snake weren't interested..."

"...Snake who?" Chris asked. "O-oh, wait, where's Snake, anyway? I haven't see him for a pretty long time now..."

Kirby looked up at the ceiling. "I think Snake has been locked up in his room a long time ago... I don't know..."

Chris looked worried. "Oh no, if I ignore Snake for a long time, he's going to start thinking nobody cares about him..."

"What makes you think that?" Peach asked.

"Hello? Snake is some kind of cloned soldier," Chris said. "I don't recall much about his past in his game, but other than that, I know why he'd be secluded from most of us," he said. "I mean, Snake was invited to come here...then he got involved in all this mess... He's probably the only person in here who acts very serious."

"I understand that," Peach said worried. "Snake looks sharper than anyone here. So far, nobody has tried to get to be friends with him."

"I thought he wanted to stay here because he had feelings towards Samus."

Peach chuckled. "Love sometimes can make people do things they wouldn't want to do. That's why Snake is here."

"I guess you're right..." Chris said as he rubbed Riolu's head a bit. "...But in any case, I want you to take care of Riolu while I'm in school..." He looked down at Riolu. "Riolu."

"Ri?" Riolu looked up at him.

"Why don't you try to look happy for once?" Chris asked confused. "You've been looking blank for a time now..."

"Rii," Riolu simply said.

"...It's no use," Chris said defeated. "Riolu can't talk like Lucario did..."

"Riiii," Riolu said as he blinked.

"...No, I'm not going to try to guess what you're saying..."

Riolu looked a bit worried. "Riiiii..."

Peach looked worried at Riolu. "...It's a little hard to believe that Riolu was the one who was going to destroy everything, don't you think so, Chris?"

"I know what you mean..." Chris said as he grabbed Riolu and raised him up in front of them. "You're such a small Pokémon. It'd be hard for someone to believe that you have brute force..."

"...Rii," Riolu said.

"Just think about it for a moment," Chris said. "With the destructive power he showed us days ago, nobody would stand up against him... I bet that he could defeat anyone out there without even breaking a sweat..."

"B-but...he could kill us by accident..." Kirby said worried.

"...I know..." Chris said. "...Maybe...I'm going to remind this to you again..." he said to Riolu.

Riolu stared blankly at Chris.

"And of course, you don't know anything about it until you evolve into a Lucario... Speaking of which, do you have that brute force with you?" Chris asked.

"Ri?"

"...Okay, I'll try to guess what you mean..." Chris said without any other option to choose. "I mean to say that...do you possess a lot of power?"

"..." Riolu shifted his eyes a bit. "...Riiiiiii."

Chris looked at Peach and Kirby before looking back at Riolu. "Do you, Riolu?" he asked as he put Riolu on the floor. "Maybe this is a little bit too much to ask but...Riolu, can you lift up this bed with your hands?"

"Ri?" Riolu looked at the pink bed.

"W-wait, isn't that really too much?" Peach asked.

Kirby looked worried. "What if Riolu ends up getting hurt?"

"I-I wouldn't let him get hurt by no reason..." Chris said. "...Okay, Riolu...try to lift up the bed...but if you can't do it, stop."

Riolu looked confused at the bed before he walked to it and put his hands under it. The three Smashers watched Riolu standing straight while trying to carry the bed. Once Chris saw how Riolu looked like he was struggling, the World Traveler bent down to pick the Emanation Pokémon to put him back on his legs, Riolu staring blankly at him.

"That didn't work..." Chris said before he rubbed Riolu's head. "Thanks for doing it, though..."

"...Ri," Riolu said.

Kirby tilted his head a bit. "Why is it that he doesn't try to look happy for once?"

"Well, it may be mainly because he's just a newborn," Peach commented. "Riolu is probably trying to adapt to his new life..."

Chris smiled worried at Riolu. "I just hope you end up being a very happy and enthusiastic Riolu," he said as he carefully scratched Riolu's chin a bit, the Emanation Pokémon staring up at him. "If you can do that, maybe you'll evolve into Lucario."

"...Ri," Riolu said.

The World Traveler sighed mentally. "(The first day he's born, and now he's worrying me a lot... His calm attitude bothers me...)"

"Oh, that's right," Peach began, "Parakarry came here a while ago."

"Really?"

"Yes, he said he wanted us to go to the city... He said there's an important event there."

"Hmm, I wonder what that could be..." Chris muttered before he looked at Riolu. "Why don't we go all together now that we're alone?"

Chris looked at the smiling Kirby who nodded at him. Chris then looked at Riolu. "Do you want to go out?"

"Riiiiii..." Riolu responded.

"...I'll take that as a yes," Chris said confused. "...But...before we go...maybe we should try to invite him with us..."

"Who?" Kirby asked.

Wings Post Office

"I'm surprised you actually said yes for once," Chris said.

"Kid, I'm only doing this because there are a whole lot of people yelling in the mansion right now," Snake said. "My room had to be just a floor above the Brawl Room..."

"Brawl Hall?"

"The place where everyone can issue matches," Peach said. "It's just to the right of the Classic Mode Hall."

"And my room is just above both of those halls," Snake muttered. "Try having a moment of tranquility before it gets interrupted by a bunch of weirdoes on the floor below."

"Okay, okay, I know you're pissed because they randomly decided to have some sort of full-scale brawl...a reason which I have yet to know..."

"Riii..." Riolu said on Chris's arms.

The rather small group of Smashers (Peach, Snake, Chris, Kirby, and Riolu) decided to go back to the post office to visit Parakarry.

"And I'm surprised about another thing," Chris began as he looked at Snake, "I didn't think you'd change clothes."

The others looked at Snake's new attire. Unlike the alternate colors that most of the Smashers had used for Halloween, Snake was wearing a brown vest over his long blue-sleeved shirt, and he was wearing blue pants with black boots.

"I'm only wearing this because I don't want people to see me wearing my espionage clothes," Snake said. "I still carry all my weapons in this attire, though. I've got to be as a careful as possible around here."

"Why is that?" Kirby asked.

"It's because this universe has many messed up monsters. Also, since there have been people coming out of freaking nowhere, I had better be clothed right for the occasion to meet them. If you were me, would you go about wearing the clothes I wear for my undercover missions?"

"...You have a pretty good point..." Chris admitted.

"Thanks."

The five looked back at Quil on the other side of the counter. The Rito postal worker had his arms crossed over the counter as he looked at them. "I'm sorry for not being here the days you visited this place," Quil said. "The other settlements across this land requested our services to deliver mail. Even if we are tired, we like how much our work has progressed. Right now, Postman is doing many errands."

"I see," Peach said. "Have you seen Parakarry?"

"It'd be difficult not seeing him," Quil said before he looked to the south. "Parakarry and her seemingly talkative friend Kylie headed to the ruins of the city a while ago. He said he wanted me to tell you to go to him." He looked back at them. "By the way...do you know anything about the...'Aurageddon' that took place some weeks ago?"

Chris looked shocked while Riolu merely tilted his head in curiosity. "W-where did you hear about that name?"

"I heard about that name from that twin brother of Master Hand," Quil said. "Some days ago, after the event took place, I went to the mansion to deliver some mail and Crazy Hand received me. I asked him about the event, and he told me it was the 'Aurageddon' or something..."

"...That stupid big..." Chris muttered.

"Also, I've heard from a lot of people from the settlements that the strange event where that big dome of energy engulfed what appeared to be a massive amount of landscape across every direction was some sort of event that had to do with...aura..." Quil explained. "According to some mages, they managed to identify the source of the energy as aura..."

Kirby looked worried.

"But the oddest of things was that all settlements and people were left unharmed," Quil said. "However, that should have been said to the environment... There are many scars of destruction over the whole land such as caves being buried under rocks, chains of trees turned into ashes, and many patches of grasses being turned to dust... I just can't seem to understand why there are several spots where the land wasn't harmed at all... Do you know why?"

Snake grunted a bit at this and pointed at Riolu. "It was this little dog you see here that did all that."

Chris, Peach, and Kirby gasped while Riolu blinked confused as to why the scary man to his right pointed at him with a finger. "Snake..." Chris muttered through gritted teeth.

Quil looked at the curious Riolu. "...Yes...I'm surely certain a small creature like him did all that..." he said sarcastically.

"Tsk," Snake muttered with a frown. "I know you weren't going to believe me. Fine, be that way."

The other three Smashers sighed in relief.

"..." Quil looked around. "...Well...in any case, you should go with Parakarry and Kylie right now," he said before he pointed at the city.

The five Smashers looked at the direction of the city before they all began to head down the path to it, looking up at the clouds that stopped raining upon the ruins of the city.

"It stopped raining..." Kirby muttered.

"Weird, whenever I came to this place, I always saw it having rain all the time," Chris said. "Maybe it was just coincidence?"

"Let's see what those turtles want us to see," Snake said. "The more I stay away from the mansion and its crazy people, the better."

"Snake..." Otacon said over the codec.

"Quiet, Otacon."

"Hmm," muttered Otacon.

Nintendo City: The City of Despair
Entrance

The Smashers soon entered the territory of the ruined city. After Lucario had used his rampaging attack of aura, most of the remains of the city had disappeared. Unfortunately, about a fifth of the whole ruins were turned into bits, leaving a huge land covered in crumbles behind the destruction.

"And here I thought the dog had taken care of all the crumbles," Snake said as they walked along a destroyed street. "Look at this place; it's all lonely and so dead as a rat."

"I hate to say something similar to what you said, Snake..." Peach said as she looked around the destroyed buildings. "This city used to be so bustling with all sorts of people..."

Kirby sniffed. "I-I miss the bakery..."

"And now...it's all gloomy, wet, and destroyed," Chris added as they stopped walking on a corner. "...Where are Parakarry and Kylie?"

At that same moment, mentioned characters were seen to their left as they were looking to the south of another street. The Smashers walked all the way to see that Kylie was yelling out something.

"Come over here!" Kylie yelled to the south street. "You hoopla will have to give me a very detailed, DAMN explanation about your delay getting here!" she yelled as she hopped a bit on her spot.

Parakarry sighed. "They're not here yet, are they?"

"Course not!" Kylie complained before she turned around. "My pal isn't just showing his face because he knows I'm gonna put him in the humiliating section of the Koopa Kronicle!" She grabbed her camera. "Once I spot him, the picture will do the rest on the paper! I'm asking for justice, pal, JUSTICE ON PAPER!"

"Ahem..." Chris coughed.

The two turtles turned their heads to look at the Smashers. "Oh, here you are, my boys!" Kylie said pleased before she took a quick photo of them. "Nice to see here such a bunch of kiddos under the dead weather on this place you used to call a city, huh?"

"I...suppose so..." Peach said.

Kylie cordially bowed to Peach. "If isn't Your Majesty of the Mushroom Kingdom...what an honor to see some royalty comin' in here!" she said pleased.

Peach chuckled heartily. "It's nice to see a person with such a go-"

"PHOTO TIME!" Kylie quickly yelled, startling some of them before she began taking a bunch of photos of Peach as Kylie actually appeared on different spots around the surprised princess. As the flash of her camera blinded most of them, it looked like Kylie seemed to be warping all over Peach to take any possible angles from the princess, Kylie giggling like crazy all the way until she stopped, herself standing back on the spot where she bowed to Peach.

"M-my eyes..." Kirby said dazzled.

Riolu's eyes were spinning a bit. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..." he muttered dazzled, Chris looking worried at him.

Kylie gave them a thumb up with a wink. "I'm so gonna hit the golden rank now!" she said before smiling at Peach. "I didn't think the princess herself would come all the way from the kingdom to pay a visit to this dump!"

"T-that's because I live in the mansion close to this place..." Peach pointed out.

"...HA! You're takin' my leg now, aren't you?" Kylie asked chuckling.

"W-what?"

Kylie rolled her eyes. "You're not only very benevolent to everyone in the kingdom, but you also sport a very good sense of humor!" she said. "Please, do you really think you'd be livin' in some random mansion close to this place? I wouldn't believe that for a bit, princess!"

"B-but...I-I do live in a mansion as my second home..."

"...Well..." Kylie shifted her eyes a bit, "...a mansion would be a nice place for vacations..."

Snake coughed. "Can you stop talking about unrelated business and say why did you want us to come to this ghost city?"

Kylie looked at him. "Why, yes, my man of the sharp face," she said. "You see, my connections are coming here in a minute. They said they were arriving here!" She clapped her hands happily. "If that's true, that means this city will be pimped up after all this infernal waiting!" She looked around. "Now, I'm having a hard time deciding where to tell them to make the Koopa Kronicle's HQ building... Hmm... It's a hard choice, considering how gloomy this place looks like, hooligans..."

Parakarry chuckled before blushing. "I-I'm sure the place you choose will be the best of places, Kylie..."

"Thank you, sweetie," Kylie said without even facing Parakarry directly, her mind thinking had about a nice location. "...Hmmm...hmm...hmm..." She knocked her head a bit. "Don't jump to conclusions now, Kylie! You must wait until the time comes for you to make your move as an expert journalist!" She did her trademark pose and winked at the group. "Isn't that right, my boys?"

"...Ri," Riolu said as he raised a hand, his eyes still spinning while Chris tried to snap him out of his state.

"Good enough for me!" Kylie said before she heard many footsteps coming from the south. "Oh my, like, they're here already!" She chuckled deeply. "It's time for some fixin'-fixin', by boogity!"

The rest of the group looked to the south to see that a big multitude of Hammer Brothers were walking towards them, all formed in long lines that seemed endless from the group's point of view. Chris gasped, Kirby hid behind Chris, Riolu shook his head to snap out from his dazzled state to look curiously at the 'army' of hammer wielders, Snake narrowed his eyes and slowly reached for a grenade, and Peach took a step back.

"Goodness..." Parakarry muttered in awe as he saw the squad of Hammer Bros. walking towards them. "T-they're your connections?"

"Yup," Kylie said proudly, "quite a bunch of them, huh?"

"I-I'd say a lot..." Kirby commented behind Chris.

The Smashers couldn't see how many of them were, but judging by how the feet of the multitude of Hammer Bros. were making the very earth tremble, it could have meant that either the brothers looked very heavy or they were way too many as Kylie had explained before.

"And a one, and a two, and a three, and a four," one leading Hammer Bros. in front of the whole squad of Hammer Bros. commanded as they walked to the group. "And another one, and another two, and another three, and another four, people!"

"And a one, and a two, and a three, and a four," the multitude of Hammer Bros. said at the same time. "And another one, and another two, and another three, and another four, people!" they said in a cheerful manner.

Snake grunted. "Tell me these guys aren't with the stupid lizard dinosaur of Bowser…"

"Pfft, they're not with him," Kylie said. "The whole bunches of people you see in front of your eyes are renegades who dropped out from Bowser's army." She giggled a bit. "Man, you gotta admit their mom was very proud of having so many kids!"

"…W-wait, what?" Chris asked. "T-they all came from the same mom?"

"Ha, you wish, you hoopla!" Kylie said giggling. "That's technically impossible to do!"

"Really?" Kirby asked.

"…Maybe."

Chris, Peach, and Kirby shrugged.

The group looked back at the 'militia' of Hammer Bros. Soon enough, the civilized brothers stopped walking once they were ten feet away from Kylie. The leading Hammer Bro walked to her and bowed a bit. "Sorry for the delay, ma'am," he said. "We came to report to you that we're ready to repair this big place you call city."

Kylie nodded. "Very well, kiddo, I like how that sounds." She pointed around the mountains of crumbles, buildings that were slowly falling apart, and the cracks that completely covered all the streets. "You have a lot of work ahead of your minds, you know that?"

"Oh, that's no problem," the Hammer Bro said chuckling. "My guys here can get the job done in a few days. I gotta say this place is WAY on the edge to become some sort of a cemetery!" He turned to the whole multitude of Hammer Bros. "Okay guys," he began as he raised a hammer, "bang your hammers on all the stuff you can find! We gotta renovate this place by first clearing it up, then we move up to our favorite part: building blueprints!"

"HAMMER!" the Hammer Bros. let out some sort of war cry sound before they all scrambled around the whole city. Many of them made groups of four to ten to take care of the bigger buildings while others simply were simply picking up big stones that they carried out somewhere.

Overall, the scene looked like the city became inhabited by many Hammer Bros. The group watched as how every single one of them began to work arduously by either destroying the buildings or removing all the fallen crumbles.

The leading Hammer Bro looked pleased at Kylie. "There you go, ma'am. My guys will fix this place up in less than a Goomba can cry!"

"Excellent, excellent!" Kylie rejoiced as she clapped her hands together. "Do you have an estimate time?"

"Well, we calculated the width and the length of the whole city, and I gotta admit that the result will come out very nicely good," the Hammer Bro said smiling. "I really am sorry to know that this place used to be so populated, but man, rebuilding this MASSIVE place will be a great feat to achieve!"

Kylie nodded. "Good, good. I'm sure the outcome is gonna be the heading of the first page on the newspaper." She turned around to look at the Smashers. "Well, there you go; a city's being rebuild for your own pleasure."

The leading Hammer Bro looked at the group. "You guys live close to this place, right? Well, once we finish up the cleaning part, what do you want us to build first?"

Parakarry looked happy. "Oh, oh, can I request my old post office building?"

Hammer Bro scratched his helmet a bit. "Unfortunately for the moment, you guys will have to accept what we have for tools…"

"What do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

"Well, ma'am here called us in the worst of times," the Hammer Bro said as, from behind them, a group of ten Hammer Bros carried out a big chunk of cement. "Since we're way too many, we're always being asked to make buildings all over the Mushroom Kingdom. Because of that…we're a little bit short of materials to create buildings…"

Kylie looked a bit pissed at this. "Didn't you hoopla say you had everything?"

"W-well, you were asking us to hurry up so…yeah…" the Hammer Bro said embarrassed. "I tried and tried to convince you from giving us more time, but you said you wanted the job done as soon as possible…"

Kylie sighed. "Great, just great…"

"D-don't look that mad either," the Hammer Bro said sweating as three Hammer Bros were walking to the east, humming happily to themselves. "We still have enough materials to create some buildings…"

Kylie looked at him. "How many buildings can your guys make?"

"…Like…um…" The Hammer Bro turned around to look everywhere while the Hammer Bros. were yelling and banging their hammers on everything they could focus on. "…We can make like 20-old fashioned buildings to have a fresh start…"

"20?" Kylie repeated. "Hmm, would that make this place look like a city?"

"Well, if my assumption is correct, I'd guess this would look like a village than a city…" the Hammer Bro said as he smiled nervously. "…So…yeah…"

"…" Kylie sighed depressed. "Just make a small building for the Koopa Kronicle…"

"It'd have to look old-fashioned, though," the Hammer Bro said. "Unfortunately, we lack the materials to make modern-looking buildings. We have a lot wood and glass but very little mass for cement…"

Kylie banged her forehead against her camera. "This have to be some sort of bad joke, isn't it?!"

"That's…reality, ma'am…" the Hammer Bro said in defeat. "B-but see the bright side: this place is gonna be cleaned up from south to north. Once we start making buildings, we'll try to gather up more materials. Once you notice, the city will be back to its majestic splendor."

"I guess that's all we have to do; wait," Peach said.

Upon looking at the princess, the Hammer Bro bowed to her. "It's such a cloudy day to see the very same princess of the kingdom here! I'm not worthy enough for your presence!"

"Hey, little guy, stop the formalities," Snake said. "I thought you guys were supposed to be working for Bowser."

The Hammer Bro looked annoyed. "Bowser? Are you kidding me?" he asked. "We're the tiniest bit of people who had enough common sense to drop out of his army. The guy can't remember most of us AT ALL. Besides, we don't get paid much unless Bowser decides to rob a bank, something that he has never done before!" He crossed his arms while tapping a foot on a crack. "It's pure hell to work for him! Persuading the other guys of his army is a very stubborn thing to do because they don't understand that we don't make any progress in any of Bowser's plans. We're way sick to see that guy that we ultimately decided to silently sneak out from his castle without him knowing about it! Also, working with an honest job is much more worthwhile than cleaning cannons and Bowser's room!"

"…I see…" Kirby said as he blinked a few times.

The Hammer Bro chuckled. "Heheh, funny this is Bowser didn't even check to see how many of us dropped out."

"But if you are so many," Chris began, "how come he didn't notice all of you sneaking out from his castle?"

The hammer wielder looked bored at him. "Hello, this is Bowser, the stupidest guy you'll ever see in the world."

"…Oh…"

"Besides, he talks to posters," the Hammer Bro said. "I heard from a friend at Petalburg that he smooth-talked a poster of Princess Peach."

Snake frowned. "Now that's what I call a good example of a retard."

"I know," the brother said. "Anyhow, do you want to recommend some buildings?"

"Please-please-please-please-please," Parakarry pleaded, "make a post office! I want to have a big one!"

The Hammer Bro nodded and took out a notepad and a pen. "Okay," he began as he wrote the request down, "post office..." He pointed his pen at the group. "What else?"

"How about if you build a long, wide building for a restaurant for me?" Toadette asked.

Hammer Bro nodded. "Yep, a long restaurant, good start for the renovation," he admitted. "Should we make a hotel? You know, for travelers and stuff."

"Oh yes, that sounds good," Peach said.

"Hotel... What else?"

"A grocery store?" Chris asked.

"Oh, good one," Hammer Bro said. "Do you want anything else you want here?"

"A bakery!" Kirby rejoiced.

"Hmm-hm, bakery," Hammer Bro said. "What else?"

"The Koopa Kronicle HQ!" Kylie said.

"Got that one down," Hammer Bro said. "Hmm, we should make some houses for people who would like to buy 'em."

"I don't know much about it, but that would make this place look less gloomy than it is now," Snake commented.

Hammer Bro nodded as he wrote it all down. "Okay, so you wanna have a hotel, a grocery store, a bakery (Kirby: Yay!), the Koopa Kronicle HQ, some houses, and a wide, long restaurant."

"That's about it," Peach said.

Hammer Bro nodded again and kept both the notepad and pen. "Hmm, that sounds about right, I guess," he said. "Well, you'll have to wait some time before we get this place all clean. Once we do that, we're gonna start building."

Riolu looked curiously at Toadette.

"Oh well, I gotta join the guys and issue orders," the Hammer Bro said. "Until then, please wait, okay?" He chuckled before turning around to walk away; the group staring at bunches and bunches of Hammer Bros moving all around.

"...Ri!" Riolu said suddenly.

Chris looked at Riolu. "Is something wrong?"

"Ri!" Riolu pointed at Toadette.

The group soon noticed that the pink Toad was there. Some of them shook their heads in surprise to see Toadette appear out of nowhere. The young Toad chuckled and folded her arms behind her back.

"H-hey, when did you get here?" Parakarry asked.

Toadette looked at him. "Rude, I came here about a minute ago," she said. "Can't you see when someone arrives here?"

"With a bunch of hammer wielders going about, it'd be a little bit hard to spot someone like you," Snake commented. "Then again, that big mushroom of yours sticks out as a sore thumb."

Toadette rolled her eyes. "That doesn't matter for now," she said before turning to Peach. "Salutations, Princess Peach!"

Peach chuckled a bit. "It's nice to see you here, Toadette...but...what are you doing here?"

Toadette chuckled and moved her hips a bit to the sides. "Well, it's just that I'm gonna open my own restaurant here very soon, and I wanted to check out this place."

"You're opening a restaurant?"

Toadette nodded. "The Wonder Restaurant; that's the name," she said chuckling. "After I made a success by having a hotel, I decided to move on with a restaurant to create another small business."

"...The Wonder Restaurant?" Chris asked. "Wasn't that name dotted down on the billboard of requests?"

The pink Toad blinked a bit. "Oh, right! I already came here some days ago to request people to be waiters!" she said before looking worried. "You see, I have the chefs and some staff ready for the opening inauguration of the restaurant...but...I haven't had any luck finding waiters anywhere..." She sniffed to the point where she took out a napkin from her back. "It's horrible, I tell you..." she said as she blew her nose on the napkin. "When I came here to see that this place was destroyed by some sort of unknown event, my dreams were shattered, but then I went to Parakarry's place where he told me I could put up a request on the board..."

Kirby shed a tear and rubbed his right eye a bit.

"...And I've been waiting for people to accept the job..." Toadette said. "...But I thought that wasn't a request but rather an application request. I can hire waiters at a later time, and also open up the restaurant much, much later, but I want to experience the joy by hiring part-time waiters...just so I can make people happy with food and good service..." She looked up at them and joined her hands. "Waiting for so long has been killing me..."

"...Tough luck," Snake muttered.

In an instant, Chris, Kirby, Peach, and Parakarry gasped after Toadette leaped to Snake's neck and pulled his vest hardly where his face was shoved to hers. "Now you LISTEN to me well before I resort to violence here," Toadette began as she glared directly at Snake's eyes. "This is one of my most treasured dreams I want to achieve very soon. I didn't come all the way here so guys like you utter some annoying words to me!"

"Little girl, get off me before I get to be the one resorting to violence," Snake threatened.

"Oh my," Mei Ling began from the codec, "Snake, don't be such a harsh man on little girls. Your reputation could be hurt if you hurt her."

"Mei Ling, nobody asked you to comment," Snake said. "Also, I don't have much of a reputation to keep."

Mei Ling sighed. "Whatever you say, Snake..."

"U-um, Toadette, can you get off Snake?" Peach asked.

Toadette grunted loudly to Snake before she jumped back to the floor and closed her eyes annoyed. "Oh well, I'm not letting people putting me down. Just be glad you're not the butler I'm looking for!" she yelled at Snake.

"Like I want to be a butler," Snake said. "Would I look like one if I were to wear a tux?"

Chris, Peach, and Kirby imagined Snake in a black tuxedo as he held a plate on his right hand. They went as far as to think Snake asking, "Would you like some tea with your soup, madam?"

As the three Smashers were thinking of Snake handing over a grilled steak to some Toads, Toadette opened her eyes and examined Snake. "...I don't want to scare people with that face of yours. I mean, it looks SO cold..."

Snake rolled his eyes. "That's an offensive reason to me, but a good one to stay away from you."

"You just wait until my restaurant opens up," Toadette said and looked amused. "Once people start liking the food in there, you're gonna be starving yourself to death."

"I'll have to keep some rations for me then."

"Whatever," Toadette said bored before looking happy again. "So then, I'm waiting for some people to become waiters. I hope I can find some before the restaurant opens up."

"A-actually, I wanted to apply to be one for a time," Chris said, Toadette looking relieved at him. "There were some other friends I have who wanted to become ones as well."

"Like, no way!" Toadette said shocked. "That means my restaurant will have all the staff complete!" she rejoiced a bit by hopping on her spot. "Okay, if you are going to accept my request, you have to show me the wing stamp."

Parakarry floated to Chris and gave him a wing stamp. Even if this looked a bit bizarre, Chris showed the stamp to Toadette.

"Accepted!" Toadette said. "I'll send you guys a note to advice you when the restaurant is opening. I'm sure you'll be delighted to see our staff of expert cooks!"

"What staff is that?" Peach asked.

"Oh, I'm telling you that getting the cooks was a little bit hard. But I, eventually, found the most talented ones after looking and looking everywhere," she said. "I even went to Rogueport."

"Then what my sisters told me about applying for a restaurant job was true."

Everyone turned around to find none other than another Toad, The Master, standing behind the group with Lee (the Duplighost). The elderly Toad coughed a bit and looked at them.

"Hello," the Master greeted. "It's nice to see you."

"Oh, if isn't Mr. the Master!" Toadette said pleased. "Oh yeah, your sisters did apply to be the cooks of the restaurant. I'm happy to see such 2 talented cooks decided to join ladles and forks to create miracle cuisine!"

The Master nodded. "Nothing else makes me feel relieved to see my sisters working together. I hope they don't cause you any trouble. Their personalities can be...the perfect opposite of each other..."

"Don't be that worried either," Toadette with a chuckle, "they know each one of them is going to be working there."

"Well, I would like to visit the restaurant once it opens," the Master said. "They can argue with each other, but they know what they do when cooking is involved."

"I have 2 other cooks besides them so they all befriend each other," Toadette pointed out. "Plus, I have the master chef who will be the head of the team." She giggled happily.

"The master chef?" Chris asked. "Who's that?"

"Well...he told me not to tell anybody about his identity...but he did say he wanted people to enjoy his cuisine," Toadette said. "Sorry, but I'll have to keep his identity as a secret. If you're wondering who the other cooks are, well, they are from another...dimension, I should say..."

"Another dimension?" Snake asked. "(I swear these universes get more and more unbelievable. Soon enough, before I know it, I'll be eating mushrooms with eyes...)"

Toadette giggled. "Other than that, don't you worry, okay? I have everything under control."

The Master nodded. "Thank you. I hope my sisters find a way to get closer to each other through working together."

Chris looked a bit confused at the Master. "Wait, did you come here just because you wanted to express how grateful you were that your sisters applied for the restaurant?"

Lee shook his head. "No, the Master has come here because he's taking a walk...and also because he has something to tell you."

"What is that?" Chris asked.

The Master coughed. "I have sensed that the journey ahead of yours will become even harder than before..."

Kirby shrugged. "H-how do you know that if you didn't see us that much?"

"That's because I focused my mind with the nature," the Master said. "Rigorous meditation has allowed me to perceive calm winds and dangerous winds. The winds that swept the land of this location alert me from almost everything there is to know. Those very same winds also alerted me that the journey you're taking part of will become much harder than before."

"...You can do that?" Snake asked.

Lee nodded. "The Master knows what he does. He can sense practically anything by meditating in tranquility."

The Master looked at Chris. "I want you and some of the Smashers to come to my Dojo in a few days," he said. "It's clear that what you're all doing will ultimately lead to greater conflicts that must be resolved... The power you all possess won't be quite enough to confront those malignant forces you're about to face."

Toadette looked confused. "Pardon me?"

"Sorry, but it's something you better not know," the Master said.

"Okay..." Toadette lifted her shoulders, "either way, I gotta give that Hammer Bro a nice blueprint for the restaurant of my dreams," she said before humming and turning around to walk away, skipping a bit on the cracks of the street while she passed through groups of Hammer Bros.

"And there she goes…" Kirby said.

"~La Dee Dah, good cuisine, La Dee Dah, good palate, La Dee Dah, good business, La Dee Dah...~" she sang happily to herself as she walked away.

Kylie hopped on her spot a bit. "I gotta do the same and head down with my pal," she said before turning around to walk away and try to find the Hammer Bro between every single Hammer Bro. "Nuts, I need to recall who it was again! Everyone looks just...the same!" she cursed between the groups of Hammer Bros.

Parakarry saluted the group. "And I gotta give him a good, clean blueprint for the post office. Now, since it's going to be old-fashioned, I better try to think of a nice look for it..." he muttered to himself as he turned away and flew over the working Hammer Bros. Once he began to look around, he looked miffed at no one in particular. "Who was it again?" he asked. "...Oh yeah, that one over there," he said as he looked to the right where a Hammer Bro was issuing orders to a big group of Hammer Bros. The Paratroopa had a lot of luck since he was able to find the leader of the whole squad.

The Master coughed a bit to get the Smashers' attention. "As I was saying before, the path ahead of yours will become even thinner to walk on. I'm sorry to hesitate a bit...but I need some of you to come to my Dojo so you can train your minds and bodies for the incoming battles."

Kirby looked worried. "W-why are you putting a lot of trust on us?"

The Master closed his eyes. "I know I'm doing the right thing here," he said. "You're the only ones that can attack head-on to the bad omen that wants to conquer everything... I could join you in your quest, but I'm way too old..." he complained a bit.

"...No wonder," Snake muttered.

The Master opened his eyes. "Thus I need you to come to my Dojo and make some special training I have for you to take."

"What would that training be?" Peach asked worried.

"That training is challenging the Master or Jinx to a fight," Lee explained. "Believe me when I'm saying this: Jinx and the Master are expert martial arts fighters. Don't judge them for their appearances 'cuz they're going to hit you hard where it hurts the most."

Chris looked shocked at this.

The Master frowned and raised a fist above him. Upon seeing the action, Lee gasped and knelt down to him. "I-I'm sorry, sensei! Please, forgive my clueless tongue!"

"Hmm," the Master murmured as he lowered his fist down. "I hope you learned your lesson."

"Yes, sensei..." Lee said ashamed.

As Chris sighed in relief, the Master looked up at him. "Please, do come to my Dojo before it's too late. I'm aware that your fight against that omen will start to become more erratic than before..."

Chris nodded. "Okay...but I'm worried about getting so powerful in a small span of time..."

The Master stared at Chris. "...Don't you worry about that."

"What?"

The Master shook his head. "I assure you that this challenge will make every single one of you much stronger than you are now. It'll be very quick as well."

"T-that's...endangering..." Chris said worried before he looked at Riolu. "D-didn't you see th-"

"The event where your companion that can manipulate aura by his will where he was about to destroy everything over his lack of control of power?" the Master asked.

"...Yes..." Chris said.

The Master nodded. "I sensed that massive energy engulfing a whole expanse of land that wasn't harmed where living creatures and people live," he said. "I can tell that his power grew dangerously high to the point he couldn't control it perfectly."

Snake looked away. "One more reason to avoid making him pissed..."

"You know..." Chris began, "...a friend of mine explained to me the dangers that power has over anyone. I learned that getting power very quickly could lead someone to become...corrupted with power..." He hugged Riolu tightly, the Emanation Pokémon staring up at him. "Once you offered to give us that training...I...I don't think it's a good idea to do it because...I would hate to see some of us kill someone because they can't control power well..."

The Master stared at the Smashers for a bit before he lowered his chin and chuckled. "So, it's effort that you want to have so it prevents you from getting corrupted with power."

Chris blinked shocked and looked at the Master. "H-how did you know that?"

Lee stood up and crossed his sleeved arms. "People like the Master know that gaining ultimate power foolishly to resolve something is an unforgivable thing to do. Even if you are heroes or something, it's still not a good excuse," he explained. "Such people don't have what it takes to control their powers at their wills."

The Master frowned as he folded his arms behind his back. "I have battled such people before. It pains me to see how malicious they had become just because they wanted to achieve greater power... No matter how much you try, getting so much power can eventually lead you to insanity; insanity that is not visible."

Snake crossed his arms. "Explain the insanity part a little bit more."

The Master merely pointed down at the cracks on the street. "These cracks are fresh," he stated. "These cracks were made by aura; aura that wasn't controlled properly."

Chris looked shocked at the cracks on the floor.

"Also, this is further supported by the fact that there are more cracks expanding over the land as if was all dry like a desert or an arid region," the Master explained. "What good is there to use ultimate power if you're not caring about what your power touches? Are not you supposed to save? Power destroys, it doesn't save anyone. Power is only used to cause destruction and deaths. Are you going to simply look around at the scar of destruction you left behind and say something that could encourage you to keep using that power so you go on and on about using it more frequently?"

Peach shook her head. "I wouldn't do something so horrible like that..."

The Master looked down. "Such is the insanity of power, princess..." he muttered. "You're supposed to protect everything and everyone. You surely like to protect everyone than everything. It's like you're saying you don't care about nature as long as your beloved ones are there. Well, is that irresponsible to nature itself? Wasn't nature the fact that let you live? Why would you go on ahead and destroy it with power?" He pointed at them. "Every living being needs to protect anything and anyone. Power itself shouldn't exist...but there is no choice but to keep getting stronger to maintain peace..."

Chris scratched his head a bit. "This is...so confusing... All this talk about the consequences of power is making me get so confused..."

"Riiiiiiiii..." Riolu trailed off.

"I have to admit it's very crucial to accept what is good and what is not about power," the Master said as he looked back at them. "Only wise beings know how to manipulate their power so it doesn't destroy people or nature."

The World Traveler thought hard for a moment before he recalled something that Eiko had said about her Eidolons. "Eidolons are good entities that coexist with nature. Summoners only use Eidolons for protective means. In my case, I use them to aid me in ordeals. Eidolons themselves would hate that their power would destroy nature so they use their powers to keep it as it should be," her words echoed in Chris's mind.

"In order to keep power under your control," the Master continued, "effort needs to be used to protect your will from being corrupted."

"Effort?" Snake asked.

"Think about this for a second," the Master began, "if you ever saw someone copying answers from someone's test during an exam, what would you think?"

"I'd say rather to think that he or she should stop doing that."

"What is that called?"

"Cheating," Snake responded.

"Correct," the Master said. "Now, try to think of a same occasion but with power instead of knowledge."

Snake rubbed his chin for a moment. "Hmm..." He thought hard for a bit. After thinking for fifteen seconds, the mercenary looked back at the old Toad. "...The scene doesn't look good," he said. "The person I imagined didn't know how to manipulate his power."

"Shameful knowledge, I'd say," the Master said. "Why do you think people train their minds and bodies alike?"

"Simple," Snake said. "They want to achieve what they want to get through honest effort. Otacon didn't get to be hacker by stealing information of his colleagues."

"Hey, don't say things like that, Snake!" Otacon yelled from the codec.

"...Now I see what you mean by effort," Snake said.

Kirby looked surprised. "You're actually listening to someone's advice for once?"

Snake looked at him. "I'm just trying to prevent myself from getting crazy with power. Sure, it's crazy for me to think I can get stronger than I am now, but facing the difficulties we have to resolve...it's possible."

The Master nodded. "It is effort that helps us to shape up the places where we are," he explained. "It's effort that lets us find new discoveries as well."

Chris then remembered Presea's words echoing in his mind. "Effort is the only way that keeps you away from getting corrupted with power. Small steps will make your path easier. Soon enough, you shall see that the power won't control you, but your will is going to be so used that it won't subdue to the power you have. You'll have the strength where you want it to be: under your own hard-earned effort."

"...Effort will keep us from getting corrupted..." Chris muttered.

Lee nodded. "Alright, it seems you're starting to get the hand of it now."

"I'm glad to hear that," the Master said. "I'm sorry, but we must return to the Dojo for the time being. What have you decided to do now?"

"..." Chris looked a bit determined. "...We'll see you very soon as soon as we clear up some other businesses we have to do first."

"Very well," the Master said before he turned around and walked away with Lee. "I shall wait for you to visit the Dojo..." He stopped walking to look back at the Smashers. The Smashers stared at the Master as he chuckled a bit and continued his way back to the Dojo in the western forest, Lee walking close to him.

Kingdom Hearts II - Friends in My Heart

The World Traveler looked down at Riolu before he looked at Peach, Snake, and Kirby. "...I think I understand what we have to do..." he said.

"Get stronger?" Snake asked.

"No...that's just a small part of the main reason..." Chris said as he looked at the hard-working Hammer Bros. "The Master told us that we're the only ones who can defeat Tabuu, right? Don't you think that protecting the worlds we go to need to be kept away from destruction?"

Peach thought for a moment. "Well...it's our job as a group to stop Tabuu..."

"So then...I realized that our main job is to keep peace whenever we go," Chris said as he looked down at Riolu while he rubbed his head a bit with care. "No matter where we go, we have to keep the worlds safe from harm."

"...Ri..." Riolu trailed off.

"The Subspace Army is the main enemy to defeat here," Chris said. "You said you were defeated by Tabuu when you fought against him... That could mean you weren't strong enough, right?"

Snake nodded. "That's what happened, kid."

"But when the Master gave us that lecture about power...and if you add Presea's words to it...it makes me think that we have to be careful of what we do with what we have..." Chris said. "He said we could grow stronger, but we had to be careful to use our powers before we blindly destroy what we're trying to protect so hard..."

Kirby looked down sadly. "You're...right..."

"...I hope so..." Chris said. "After all those lectures, I realized that we have to protect even the smallest life we meet or find. If we don't think that way, it's just like we're showing them our backs like we didn't care at all..."

Snake thought for a moment. "Maybe you got a point, kid."

"A very good point," Mei Ling spoke. "It's like you do, Snake. You prevent weapons of mass destruction to be deployed. Isn't that a sign that you want to protect everything?"

"...Heh," Snake chuckled a bit. "I guess that's a very good example."

"You're...very good people..."

The Smashers heard a very different voice that came from the north. They all turned back to the direction that the Master and Lee walked away to find none other than the bug fanatic Sig walking pass by the Hammer Bros. The demon claw wielder walked to them and stopped.

"Sig!" Kirby said. "What are you doing here?"

Sig looked at Kirby. "I'm looking for bugs," he said. "Many of them fled when that weird blue light covered Agitha's castle. She cried and cried, saying that she wanted them to come back. I couldn't see her cry any longer so I offered to look for the bugs," he explained. "I wanted to see what was happening here, and I happened to overheard what you were saying about protecting people and nature alike."

"You're...a friend of Kirby?" Peach asked.

Sig nodded before he smiled a bit. "Yes, I am. When I heard that you were going to protect anything...I got happy to know people that care about anything and anyone. Does that mean you care about bugs as well?"

Chris blinked a bit shocked. "W-well...bugs should be protected as well..."

"...Yay," Sig said as he blushed a bit. "You're a good bunch of people," he said. "If you want to go as far as to protect bugs, then that means you care about every single living thing that you protect..."

"...Right..." Snake trailed off.

Sig continued smiling. "I'm glad to have people like you as my friends," he said. "...I'm so glad, actually..."

Kirby smiled a bit at Sig. "I'm happy you're happy, Sig."

"Thanks, it means so much for me to believe that there are people with nice hearts out there," Sig said. "For that, you're the nicest people I've ever met... I'd hate to see people who don't care about bugs...bugs are living beings as well as we are, right? Why can't they coexist with us a bit?"

"W-wait, we're not saying they don't deserve the same rights to live as we do," Chris said.

"I know that," Sig said. "You look like you're going to keep up your word to protect everyone. That's what makes me really happy."

Snake narrowed his eyes at the emotionless boy. "(It's hard to tell you're happy with that face you have...)"

Peach joined her hands together and looked happy. "You know, I'm starting to believe we're going to do things just nicely."

"If we keep thinking like this, nothing is going to make us look like heartless people, right?" Kirby asked.

"You could say that," Snake said. "It's better this way so people don't mutter things behind my back."

"That's how you need to think, Snake," Otacon said over the codec.

"Hmm-hm, I like how that decision sounded as well," Mei Ling commented.

Chris chuckled and raised Riolu above him. "What do you think, Riolu? Do you like how we're thinking?"

Riolu stared blankly at him. "Riiiiiiiiii..." he trailed off.

"..." Chris looked confused at the blank look of his Emanation Pokémon. "You really need to start to show more enthusiasm because I'm going to start to think you like to be emotionless..."

Snake merely pointed at Sig.

"I'm not saying Riolu will be like Sig!" Chris yelled annoyed before looking nervously at Sig. "N-no offense to you, Sig."

"I understand," Sig said.

Chris looked back at Riolu. "Please, you should have something in mind, Riolu..."

"Riiiiiiiiiii..." Riolu trailed off. "Riiii..."

The World Traveler pulled Riolu back to him and rubbed his head. "Well...even if you didn't decide yet, I can tell you agree with us, right?"

"...Ri," Riolu said.

Snake frowned a bit. "Just take in mind that I don't want to be a tree hugger or something like that," he said. "If I accidentally blow up a tree with a grenade, I'm not going to feel guilty."

"Snake!" Peach said a bit annoyed as she put her hands on her hips. "I can't believe you're saying that!"

Sig's smile faded away and looked at Snake. "Please, try not to be so reckless..." he said."You could end up killing bugs on the trees because of how reckless you are."

"Are you calling me reckless?" Snake asked a bit annoyed.

"I'm not," Sig said. "If you do destroy the trees...at least bring some seeds with you so you can plant it back. That's not going to bring back the dead bugs, but it'll look nice if you did it."

"Tsk, don't even think I'm going to be carrying seeds with me," Snake said. "Again, think about what I would do."

"...Okay..." Sig said. "But...just don't do it, okay?"

"...I'll try my best," Snake said.

"Thanks," Sig said. "I wouldn't forgive you for killing bugs... I wouldn't forgive anyone who didn't feel sorry for bugs..." Sig looked around the crowds of Hammer Bros. "I better find those bugs before Agitha gets even sadder than before," he said. "...Talk to you later," he said before walking away to the west.

The Smashers watched as the bug fanatic went into an alley and disappeared out from sight. Snake sighed and began to walk to the north. "Well, we're done here, aren't we?" he asked. "I think it's about time we return to the mansion."

Peach sighed a bit in relief and looked at Snake. "...I agree," Peach said as she looked around the hammer wielders. "I hope this city returns to its original form again..."

Kirby smiled happily and jumped to Peach's arms. "Is the bakery going to be ready very soon?"

Peach chuckled and rubbed Kirby's forehead a bit. "I bet it will."

"Okay, let's go back to the mansion," Chris said before they all began to walk back to the mansion. "...Snake..."

"What is it?" Snake asked without looking at him.

"I...was wondering if you're starting to...well...you know...like us a little bit more..." he muttered."You've been very aloof all this time and well...I think I'm honest when I'm saying I'm worrying about you not trying to like anybody..." Chris looked worried at Riolu. "...I'm telling you this so I can much better with myself..."

"..." Snake kept walking as they all followed him from behind. "...Don't get your hopes up, kid."

Chris opened his mouth a bit in disbelief.

"...Yet, though..." Snake added.

The World Traveler, the princess, and the puffball stopped walking as they looked at each other surprised. The mercenary kept walking ahead before he stopped walking and looked at them over his right shoulder.

"You are staying here or what?" Snake asked.

"U-um, coming..." Chris said.

Snake nodded before he continued walking ahead. The Smashers looked at each other with relieved looks before joining up with the mercenary, each of them thinking that there was still some hope for Snake to befriend the group. The World Traveler, although looking a bit worried, was excited to think about knowing more about Snake very soon.

"(Very soon,)" Chris thought, "(I'll become acquainted with Snake...and when that day comes, that could mean I can understand anyone without troubles...)" He looked happy as he looked up to the clouds. "(Until then, I have to do whatever I can to make him open up some more...)"

After the Smashers had arrived to the mansion, the day passed by...

Music stops

However, Chris couldn't get why there were around twenty Smashers having matches that didn't seem to go somewhere...

Lucario's Room

Kingdom Hearts II - Friends in my Heart

After the night came, both Chris and his Riolu were lying down on the bed under the blankets. The World Traveler was carefully rubbing the Emanation Pokémon's ears with care as Riolu merely stared at Chris.

"Please," Chris said, "you have to show some enthusiasm, Riolu..."

"Riii..." Riolu trailed off. "Ri..."

"...I just don't get what you mean," Chris said. "Then again, it's possible that you don't understand anything because you're still a newborn..."

"...Ri," Riolu said.

Chris looked worried. "You should have the blood of your family running through you," he said. "I mean, only the Lucarios of your family are able to speak through the mouth and not telepathy. I know that your family can do that without problems, but I'm sure there aren't any others like you."

Riolu stared at Chris as Riolu's tail tried to move a bit under the blankets. "...Riiiiiiiiiiiii..." Riolu said.

Chris pulled back his hand and sighed in depression. "I should be happy that you're here...but...why it's not the same?" he asked. "This doesn't feel like you're the Pokémon I expected to have. In my mind, I pictured you as being a cheerful Riolu...but...you look like you don't want to talk to anybody..."

"Ri."

The World Traveler looked down. "I just...hope you don't stay like this for a long time..."

Riolu blinked a few times. "...Riiiiiiii..."

Chris smiled a bit and chuckled. "I have to admit that you look...very cute..." He blushed a bit. "I'm not afraid of telling this to you, Riolu. I'm very happy to have someone like you as my starter Pokémon... I...just wish you could show some more...happiness, though..." Chris looked sad and looked down. "...I'll have to wait some time before you start to like me..."

Riolu noticed that Chris shed a small tear from his right eye. The Emanation Pokémon blinked a bit in curiosity at the tear before Chris sobbed a bit.

"...I want to be it soon, though..." Chris said. "It's going to be so hard to see if you even like me..." he sobbed more. "I-I don't want to think you don't like me or simply don't care about you..." He closed his eyes and sobbed a bit louder. "...I...I don't want to keep crying all night like this... I-I have to think positively or else I-"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Chris opened his eyes at the sudden cry of the Emanation Pokémon. His high-pitched tone startled Chris a bit before Riolu slowly went closer to him and stared at the tear on his right cheek. "R-Riolu?"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiii..." Riolu looked worried at the tear. Blinking a few times, the Emanation Pokémon lifted up his head to reach the tear. Chris watched as Riolu tilted his head a bit at the tear before he decided to lick it away with his small tongue. Riolu, however, kept licking the spot of the tear, making Chris chuckle a bit before he let out a small laugh.

"R-Riolu, stop it," Chris said between some chuckles as Riolu kept licking his cheek. "R-really, stop licking me that fast! Riolu!"

Riolu suddenly stopped to say something. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Riolu said before he continued to lick Chris's face. Something about Riolu's tone of voice made Chris feel like the Emanation Pokémon was having some fun because, once Chris managed to open his eyes a bit, he saw the Riolu was smiling while he licked his face.

"R-Riolu, please, stop it!" Chris pleaded as his little Pokémon didn't listen and kept licking his face. "Y-you're doing this on purpose, right?"

"Riiiiiiiiii!" Riolu said, his tone of voice sounding obviously happy as he hit the pillow with his head to look directly at Chris. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" he said happily.

The World Traveler stared in surprise at the happy look that Riolu had. It was the first time that Chris saw Riolu actually smiling for the whole day. Last time he recalled, Riolu didn't even think about smiling when he was born from the egg.

To think that Riolu didn't want to smile before, it made Chris think that Riolu didn't like him at all.

After seeing that Riolu smiled directly at him, Chris could only utter a sob before he began to cry a bit; Riolu's smile fading as he looked a bit shocked to see his trainer shedding more tears. "R-Riolu...y-you like me...right?" Chris asked. "Y-you just were trying to understand what was happening around you, right?"

The little Riolu stared at Chris.

"…I-is it because of that?" Chris asked worried.

"…Riiiii!" Riolu cried out sadly before he quickly began to lick Chris's tears away. The World Traveler, however, kept crying before he hugged Riolu tightly in his arms, making Riolu stop licking his tears. "Ri?"

"D-don't take it so badly, Riolu," Chris said with a sob before he smiled a bit at Riolu. "I-I'm not crying because I'm sad... I-I'm crying because...because...because...you...like me, right?"

"..." Riolu thought for a moment before he nodded a few times. "Ri!" he said happily.

"T-then, you don't hate me?"

"Ri!" Riolu shook his head.

"Y-you...like me?"

"Ri!" Riolu nodded happily. "Riii!"

"R-Riolu...R-Riolu..." Chris sobbed a bit before he pulled Riolu's right cheek against his left cheek. Feeling Chris's cheek, the Emanation Pokémon chuckled a bit and started to shed his own tears. "T-thank you...thank you...thank you..." Chris muttered between sobs. "I...I thought you didn't want me to be with you..."

"Riiiiii!" Riolu let out a cry before rubbing his cheek quickly with Chris. "Riiiii!"

Chris's tears stopped from coming out of his eyes as he rubbed them with his right arm. Riolu opened his watered eyes and licked some tears from the cheek of his trainer. The World Traveler could only laugh for some seconds before Riolu stopped and looked happily at him. "Riii, riii, rii, riiiiiiiii!" he said happily.

The World Traveler stopped hugging Riolu before looking back at him. "It's getting late now," Chris told Riolu. "We better go back to sleep."

"...R-r-r-riii..." Riolu shivered a bit and leaned his head closer to Chris's neck.

"Riolu, are you cold?"

Riolu shook a bit while closing his eyes.

"...Don't worry, Riolu," Chris assured him as he covered Riolu with more blankets. "I won't let you sleep with some cold. I'll keep you warm enough, okay?"

"Riiiiii..." Riolu rubbed his head against Chris's neck.

For a brief moment, Chris could have sworn that Riolu was blushing.

To tell truth, it wasn't even cold yet. The night was warm, and it looked a little bit suspicious that Riolu was shivering. The World Traveler thought about this for a moment, analyzing carefully about this some more.

And it hit him.

Chris smiled a bit at Riolu. "...You're not feeling cold, right?"

"Ri!" Riolu looked up surprised at him. He then looked away and blushed even more. "R-ri..."

"...Heheheheheheh," Chris chuckled for a few seconds. "You don't have to be afraid of saying it, Riolu..."

Riolu looked up confused at him.

"I know you want to sleep close to me, right?"

Riolu blinked in shock and blushed a bit more than before. "R-r-r-riii..."

The World Traveler made a happy expression as he embraced Riolu. "To be honest...you know what?"

"Ri?"

"I...wanted you closer to me...so I didn't feel alone..."

"Ri!" Riolu looked surprised before he hugged Chris. "Riiiiiiiii!"

Chris blushed a bit as he began to rub Riolu's head. "I can't just stand it," he said as Riolu looked happily at him. "You're just so cute!" he said before laughing with Riolu. "Besides, you're just a baby. I have to be responsible for you and take care of you until you evolve into a Lucario again..."

"Riiiiiiiiiiii, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Riolu said happily.

It was not long before Chris let out a long yawn. Soon, Riolu did the same, showing fully his small fangs for a bit before looking up curiously at Chris. "Time to sleep," Chris said before he thought about something. "...W-wait, I didn't tell you my name..." Chris said. "I forgot to tell you my name when you were born..."

Riolu tilted his head.

"My name is Chris, Riolu," Chris said. "You may have heard it from everyone by now, but I wanted to say it to you directly..."

"..." Riolu kept staring at Chris.

The World Traveler yawned before he closed his eyes and laid down his head on the pillow. "...Good night...Riolu..."

Riolu kept staring up at him before he looked happy. "...Chris!"

"..." Chris's eyes opened up in shock before he looked down at Riolu. "W-what did you just say?!"

"...Chris!" Riolu said with enthusiasm. "...Chris!" he said happily. "...Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris!"

"R-Riolu!" Chris said in pure disbelief. "Y-you can talk!"

"Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris!" Riolu repeated happily, his small tail wagging quickly under the blankets. "Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris!"

"I-I can't believe it!" Chris said in astonishment. "Y-you learned how to say my name just now?"

"Chriiiiiiis!" Riolu said happily. "Chriiiiiiiis!"

It looked like Riolu liked to say Chris's name as many times as he could. The World Traveler didn't know why, but since Riolu was just a baby, maybe it had to do something with the fact that Chris's name had the 'ri' part in it, and Riolu liked to speak by saying the same syllable over and over again.

It was obvious to tell Riolu liked how the name sounded since he continuously put a lot of emphasis on the 'ri' part. "Chriiiiiiiiiiis!"

The World Traveler shed more tears before he hugged his Riolu very tightly, the Emanation Pokémon repeating his name repeatedly. "I-it's like some sort of miracle," Chris said. "I-it surely has to do with the fact of your bloodline that you can talk so early..."

"Chris, Chris, Chris!" Riolu repeated. "Chris, Chris, Chris!"

Chris chuckled heartily before Riolu licked his face a bit. "Now...that I recall..." Chris began, "your sister could talk right after she was born..."

"Chris!" Riolu said happily.

Chris chuckled and rubbed Riolu's head. "You know what?"

"Ri?"

"I...I think I'm so fortunate to have the Legendary Riolu as my Pokémon..." Chris looked happy. "You're the Legendary Lucario of the prophecy of your home...but...you're the Legendary Riolu for now..."

"..." Riolu made a happy expression and silently rubbed his cheek against Chris's face.

Chris yawned one more time before he closed his eyes to sleep. "Good night...Riolu..." he muttered, "...and...thank you for calling me by my name, Riolu..."

"Chriiiiiiiiis..." Riolu muttered happily before he closed his eyes, yawned a bit, and rested the right side of his head on Chris's neck, the two smiling a bit before they drifted off to sleep during the peaceful night.

While they both were sleeping deeply, a small star spied them from the outside of the room. Geno chuckled a bit at this. "Looks like Lucario's wish was a good one," he muttered. "I hope he gets what he wished to have..."

The small star began to float up to the sky before he disappeared, a blink of light shining a bit on the night before it faded away.

The ensuing days...

For the following days, ever since the first night for him, Riolu started to show a little bit more of emotions and expressions to Chris. The World Traveler was happy to see that Riolu liked him a lot from the beginning, and even some of the Smashers began to start being friends with Riolu (by some of the Smashers meaning all the young Smashers).

Unfortunately, much for his dismay, Chris had to go to school. These were the times where he would leave Riolu at Peach's care. However, whenever this happened, the Emanation Pokémon would wander off around the mansion to explore it a bit. Taking advantage of this, some of the Smashers that wanted to take care of Riolu would find him and keep him away from Peach or someone else.

From all people, Mewtwo would easily track Riolu down and bring him to Peach. This was mainly because the Psychic type wouldn't stand seeing people running all over the place to look for Riolu (Yoshi being on the top of Mewtwo's list).

Soon enough, Chris learned that Riolu was able to speak full sentences after the first day he was born. Mewtwo had pointed out for Chris that Riolu knew how to talk the moment he was born, but the reason why Riolu was limited to talk syllables was that he liked to communicate that way with everyone else. Riolu made an exception by liking to repeat Chris's name, much for Chris's delight.

However, what made Chris get confused was the fact that Riolu didn't seem to evolve to Lucario. Surprisingly enough, Chris didn't care. He thought that making Riolu evolve so fast would screw up Lucario's wish to enjoy his childhood. Opting for Riolu's joy, Chris decided to make Riolu evolve into a Lucario if Riolu wished to do it.

And so, thirteen days passed quickly...

Real World
Chris's Room

November 22 - Afternoon - Saturday

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Behind Us!

The World Traveler looked shocked while he was sitting on the bed while Riolu played happily with a huge ball bigger than he did. The Emanation Pokémon chuckled heartily as he pushed the ball up to the big pillow where the ball would roll down back to him, Riolu pushing it back repeatedly.

"B-but..." Chris stared at the TV in shock.

It looked like he was playing a new game he recently bought a week ago...

"...So then..." Chris trailed off. "...This explains everything that we have to do?"

Riolu stopped pushing the ball and looked at his trainer. "Chris?" he said confused.

Chris looked away. "So...after finishing this game..." he trailed off, "...does it fully explain the path we have to take to resolve this conflict about..."

Chris looked back at the screen of the game he finished playing, seeing the title of it right on the main menu of the game...

Sonic Unleashed.

The World Traveler looked away with his blank look intact. After he managed to finish the whole game, a lot had been revealed to him...

The truth about who were the Gaia Guardians, the very same people Sonic and the others haven't found yet for this whole time...

The reason behind the Gaia Temples, the very same temples that had mysteriously vanished due to Chris's intervention with Sonic's world that Sonic and everyone were looking for... (It should be said that it was 'Temples of Gaia' and not 'Gaia Temples', something that Chris had to correct himself. Also, it was 'Temple Guardians' and not 'Gaia Guardians').

And lastly, and most importantly...Chip's true nature, the only being capable of stopping Dark Gaia from destroying Sonic's world known better as Light Gaia...

"Chip is...the being called Light Gaia..." Chris muttered in shock. "...He lost his memory because he awaked prematurely like Dark Gaia did...and Dr. Eggman is waiting for Dark Gaia to recover all its energies so he controls it... In a few words, both Chip and Dark Gaia didn't get what they were supposed to have: Chip's memory, and Dark Gaia's energy."

Riolu tilted his head a bit.

"...This...would actually help us a lot..." Chris said. "If I tell everyone about this, we could have a chance to find the Gaia Guardians...but...what if...I end up messing up the whole storyline even more than before?" Chris asked to Riolu. "What should I do about this?"

"Riiiiiiiii..." Riolu looked worried.

Chris sighed and looked down. "What to do here... If I tell them this, would this lead to bigger problems in the future?" he asked. "Riolu, what do you think should I do?"

"...Riiiiiiiiiii..." Riolu kept looking worried at Chris.

"...Maybe...I..." Chris looked away and frowned, "...I shouldn't do this...I don't want to cause some sort of mistake and spoil them about it..."

Riolu looked away for a bit before turning back to Chris. "Ri," he said. "Ri, ri, ri, ri, ri."

"Why can't you speak with normal words?" Chris asked. "Mewtwo already told me that you can talk just fine."

Riolu blinked a bit and looked worried. "…W-well..." he began, "...I-I don't know, Chris..."

Chris nodded. "Thanks for telling me your thoughts," he said before looking back at the TV screen. "(If I do it, they would find the Gaia Guardians faster and end their mission but that could end up in something getting even more messed up...but if I don't do it...they will keep looking and looking without taking a break...)"

With a sigh, Chris continued to play the game, Riolu taking this as a signal to play with his big ball.

"I'm not going to tell them this..." Chris said ashamed. "This is the best thing to do so their continuity doesn't get even more confusing... I hope they understand..."

Music stops

Smash Mansion
Command Room

November 23 - Morning - Sunday

The Smashers, along with the Sonic group, were called to have an important meeting in their meeting room. Chris cleared his throat and looked determined at Chip.

"Chip, you're Light Gaia," Chris simply said.

Chip gasped and put his hands on his head before looking at no one in particular. "I-I remember who I am now! I-I remember everything!"

"...So...let me get this straight..." Chris began with a miffed look, "I only had to say what your true name was so you could remember your true purpose in life..."

Chip nodded happily. "Yep."

"...Lovely," Chris said. "Now, I have something really good to say for this special moment, provided it was my first reaction after you remembered everything..." The World Traveler's jaw opened. "...WHAT?!"

Smash Channel

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Pert Girl on the Sandy Beach

"And welcome everyone again to the special segment: Smash Channel!" Chris (in his Hacker job) greeted the audience with open arms before they all began to give a round of applauses. "After having to repair this place for the third time," he grumbled a bit, "we're back once again to make you know we're still alive (and breathing)."

The World Traveler joined his hands on the counter.

"And here's some important info," Chris said. "Did you actually think we would kill off everyone in this fiction? If I did that, the story would have ended. We don't want that to happen, right? Well, I'm just going to say that these kinds of events won't happen ever again...but...it may or may not happen... Mwahahahaha, I just used some nice skill of suspense..."

The audience began to question about Chris's true self while he looked enthusiastic at them.

"Well, we now have 2 special guests who debuted in the Star Ocean 3 arc," he said. "And I'm pretty DAMN sure they won't try to destroy this place because, if they did, I'd call security again and make them leave this place before they regret it...and..." Chris chuckled nervously. "L-let's not make them think we're going to have to resort to that, okay?"

The audience chuckled for a bit.

Chris looked annoyed at this reaction. "Without any more chuckles for the spectators I think are trying to laugh at my demise..." he muttered annoyed before looking happy, holding out his hands at both sides of the counter. "Here we have the 2 special guests from Star Ocean 3: Roger S. Huxley and Peppita Rosetti!"

The mentioned Menodix and Velbaysian were both sitting respectively on each side of the hacker. Roger made a peace sign to the public while Peppita waved both of her hands cheerfully. "Hey, hey, hey, Roger's the man you called!" Roger said before crossing his arms. "This place ain't gonna be popular if I'm not here, y'know."

"Hi, my adoring fans!" Peppita said cheerfully. "Hi-hi, many greetings from the Rosetti Troupe by your truly, Peppita Rosetti!"

While the audience applauded the two young characters, Chris's eyes looked bored as he smiled amused. "(These 2 are the only people who don't know how to destroy this whole place like the previous guests did...) Welcome here to the show, you 2," he said as he tried to look professional. "You 2 have gotten the exclusive chance to debut in this small but interesting section."

"Heh, I had a premonition that I was gonna be called here," Roger bluffed.

"Same here," Peppita said. "After all, I was a very important partner character to a very, but very special (handsome) Smasher..."

Roger and Chris exchanged glances before Chris looked back at her. "Peppita, can you keep your feelings from...making so many unnecessary references?"

Peppita looked at him. "What? But I just wanted to be honest..." She played with her fingers a bit. "Is it so wrong to say why I'm so happy?"

"W-well..."

Roger slammed his right hand and pointed his left finger at Peppita. "You gotta be focused today," he said. "I'm not planning in screwing up our debut here just because you can't leave Mr. Bachelor alone for a minute!"

"For the last time, I'm engaged t-" Fox's response from the public was interrupted as Chris coughed loudly.

"A-anyway!" Chris yelled loudly to prevent an argument between the two Star Ocean members from erupting, "now you're going to discuss something here that regards the Smashers, the game, or something more," he said as he took out a paper, Roger trying to peek by slowly leaning to Chris. "Your topic for today is..."

Please tell us what you think about the Voice Actors that gave their voices to the whole cast of Smashers.

While the audience clapped their hands, Chris sniffed a bit. "Too bad anybody has barely heard my voice... It just sounds plain normal..." he said before shaking his head. "O-okay, let's stay focused here..." He cleared his throat. "You 2 can practically comment about anything regarding the voices that each Smasher has."

Roger rubbed his palms together. "Sweet, I'm gonna love talking about this."

Peppita chuckled. "I have some points to say as well."

"Well, we start with...Roger," Chris said.

Roger nodded and took out a paper from underneath the counter. The Menodix cleared his throat and began to read the paper. "Well, you see," he spoke in a gentle manner as he put on some small, squared glasses, "I want to talk about the funny accents that some of the 'Smashers' have. I like to say that the voice of the angel sounds very girly."

"Oh, for the love of Palutena, I don't see what's wrong with my voice!" Pit complained from the rows of people on the chairs. "Wait, who's chuckling in here?"

"Next we have the bird with the funny accent," Roger said. "So he began to live somewhere else? I can infer he grew up with the mafia or something. Furthermore speaking, I can't simply identify if he has a New Yorker accent or a Brooklyn accent. This fact is, unfortunately, severely discouraged between communities of people and fans alike."

As the audience chuckled at this, Falco crossed his arms and grunted loudly.

"And finally we have the racer," Roger said. "What's up with his voice? He sounds like a kid. I did some research, and I have to admit his previous voice in his last game sounded just about right. What's up with that? He talks like he's being choked."

"Oh, want me to give you a punch in your gut, little brat?" C. Falcon threatened from the last row of seats. For his dismay, nobody listened to him.

Roger looked proud as he put the paper down. "So there yah have my opinion," he said.

Chris looked at the paper that Roger was holding. The World Traveler narrowed his eyes as he found out that the paper had lines, circles, and other scribbles all over it. "Roger, your whole paper doesn't even have any words in it."

Roger tossed his glasses away. "Hey, this is top grade handwriting, yah know!" he complained. "You wanna make something out of this?"

Chris sighed. "No, I don't want to. Sorry if I offended you."

"Hmm-hm."

Chris rolled his eyes. "(I better not underestimate this guy...) Peppita, it's your turn to comment more about this."

Peppita gasped in excitement and inhaled a lot of air.

"And the person you're about to speak of must NOT have an 'F' as his name's first letter," Chris interrupted.

Peppita shook her head and looked at him. "B-but you just took away my whole comment!" she said. "W-why would you do such a thing?"

Chris shook his head. "If I let you say that name, you're surely going to be going on and on about very encouraging things that people will think you're obsessed."

Peppita sniffed a bit.

"...Oh no, please don't cry now..."

"I-I...I-I..." Peppita rubber her eyes as she laid down her hands on the counter, "I-I wanna talk about what I was gonna say... I wanna do it..."

The audience 'aww'd' at this while Chris slapped his forehead and frowned, Roger doing the same thing.

"Okay, okay," Chris said in defeat. "You may go on and say what you want to say..."

Peppita gasped, pushed herself up, and quickly looked very happy while blushing. "W-well then, I want to say lotsa things!" she said cheerfully, not noticing that Chris was making some gestures to the camera operators around the stage. "Here I go," she said before giggling a bit. "Firstly, I want to say that hearing his manly voice makes my heart race so fas-"

Bzzzzz!!!

The scene was quickly blocked by an interruption signal that stopped anyone from ever knowing who Peppita was talking of.

Once the channel changed to the warning signal (that had a white background where a fainted Pichu tried to energize a Christmas tree's lights through their cord that he was holding down on the floor), the channel got back to show the forum, finding Chris and Roger sleeping deeply on the counter while Peppita was still talking about many things about (take your guess who again).

"And that, no matter what happens, I'll try my best to like him," Peppita said with a giggle. "All done, you guys."

Chris and Roger yawned loudly before they began to wake up. The World Traveler looked at his left arm to see the time of his watch. "...It's been roughly 3 hours ever since she started to talk...and we just wanted to know above voices, not giggle over a whole biography... Goodness, she knows how to keep talking non-stop..."

Peppita giggled. "Well, I ran out of people to talk about. I hope you liked how I-"

"It's NO wonder," Chris grumbled annoyed. "Thank you very much for sharing your diary's secrets with us."

Peppita looked confused. "But I didn't say anything about my diary...and...I don't have a diary..."

"GOOD ENOUGH," Roger said tired. "Let's wrap up the show already. I wanna have some Haute Chinese Soup."

Chris sighed in relief before he looked enthusiastic at the audience. "Well then, we still have more chapters for the Side-quest arc, people!" he said. "Unfortunately, we have to expand this arc even more because there's something very special that will take place in the next chapter after the next one of this one, and also because there are some important matters to finish, meaning that this arc will have 5 chapters," he explained before the audience began to applaud. "Now we have a special message from one of our many special sponsors of the channel with Luigi. Luigi, please say it."

"R-right," Luigi was heard from the mike room over the back row of seats. "T-this special segment was brought to you by Team Chaotix Detective Agency," he said as a banner of Team Chaotix (that was all made up by scribbles of Charmy) appeared besides Chris. "If you lost your car's key, Team Chaotix will surely find it...so they later lose it so it ends up getting even more lost than before. Warning: Team Chaotix is not allowing armadillos to join the agency anymore."

Chris, Roger, and Peppita waved their hands at the audience. "Until then, stay tuned for another segment in the next chapter. See you later," he said with a smile before the curtains fell down. "Oh god, this place wasn't destroyed...now I can say I'm so happy..." Chris muttered in joy.

Roger gasped. "Star Fal-"

'Don't you even GO there," Chris interrupted him. "You call space junk in here, you'll get put in jail."

"Rats," Roger cursed.

Preview of the next chapter

"Somebody...shut her up..." Squirtle said. "She's been singing and singing every single morning, and I can't stand sleeping twice a day..."

"What you sell clearly outclasses Crazy Hand's shop..." Marth said.

"That's the business traveling moogles like me have to make a living while finding new lands, kupo. It's the wonderful world of finances."


"N-no more..." Chris pleaded. "I-I can barely believe that they like to eat here so much..."

Toadette turned around, ignoring the tired butler as Chris had enough energies to stand up. "Next order's coming up!"

"A-are you even listening to me?"


"We shall see how well you fare against me."

"If he punches me, it's going to be someone else's fault, okay?" Chris asked annoyed.


"Ugh, that stupid Sword Dancer can't just stop spinning!" Roy complained. "I hate this side boss battle!"

"Funny, I thought you were the one who said to come here..." Ike said bored.

"Why NPCs Are So Important to Any Story. I know, it is because that we need people who look inferior in power to us so we look more threatening," Ganondorf said.

"Right," Bowser said. "What point is there if you don't have puny guys who make you look strong?"

"Who the heck invited you 2 here, anyway?" Chris asked annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Riolu, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Interval of Frozen Time" is a song reference to the same game. This eerie theme always plays in the desolated planet we call Styx.

-"Kingdom Hearts II - This is Halloween" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays anywhere you go in Jack Skellington's world.

-Lucas saying that it's usually Barry who stirs up trouble was a reference to Larry of the Phoenix Wright series.

-The Hammer Bro telling the group about Bowser kissing posters is a reference to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where Bowser kisses a Peach poster because he thought the poster was Peach in person.

-Toadette singing 'La Dee Dah' was a reference to the Shy Away character in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. This underling is the one working under Valentina's reign in Numbus Land; Mallow's home.

-"Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Pert Girl on the Sandy Beach" is another song reference to the same game. It plays in the resort hotel of Hyda IV where Fayt, Sophia, and Fayt's parents are having a vacation.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Pit and Lucas were voiced by Rouge the Bat's first VA, Lani Minella.

So let us get this straight. We saw how Lucario almost destroyed a chunk of land, and then we saw how he turned into a baby Riolu… Isn't that rather…twisted?

Who cares as long as you see more fluffiness with him as a Riolu. ;)

So now Dawn's group has been revealed to the Smashers because of Barry's idiocy. Somehow, I think you saw that coming of Barry. Oh well, at least this will allow them to get some screentime in later chapters.

And we got the point where Nintendo City is finally being rebuilt by…a thousand Hammer Bros. by Kylie's request. You'll see how the city slowly gets back to its former glory. However, it has to start fresh before growing big. That way, interesting scenes will happen.

I think we're getting with something very big now that Chris discovered the meaning behind Dark Gaia by playing the video game. I assure you that the next chapter will have even more side-quests goodness.

For now, though, I have to write a Christmas fiction for a special contest I entered.

I encourage any souls in front of any PCs in the world to review as always. ;)

…Or you'll face an Aurageddon by Lucario.
*Chapter 162*: Why NPCs Are So Important: Part 1

I had a very nice Winter Break.

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Good Chapter
You know I was planning to ask about the trainers this review but it seems you took care of that one.
FIINNALLY you start Solid Snake's character development
though Snake actully has no romantic interest EVER. Usually you only see it in fanfiction.
Who's on the boss floor besides Sephiroth and yes we already know hes there considering his title is more reconizable than Ganondorf's.
FInally
(sarcasm) Yeah of course you're not going to tell them about Chip. You'll surely keep that a secret. Next you'll have a groth spurt.(un-sarcasm)

From me: I'm getting sick that Snake isn't receiving much attention. I'm going to d a sacrifice and start to play his games. Besides, I heard the Metal Gear series are good.

The Battle Floor will be visited very soon…in some chapters. Thanks. ;)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: No, it wasn't Chris I was complaining about. I wasn't complaining at all, actually. Just pointing out the fact that Chris literally CANNOT die, not without you pulling a Dues Ex Machina. And we, your loyal reviewers, would kill you in a horrible, horrible manner were you to do that. Just a heads up.

Lucario, Lucario, Riolu... have you never heard the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it?" You're probably really lucky that Geno likes you, otherwise you might have been in BIG trouble.

Chris, you broke your promise. The one you made to Geno. I know, everyone was arguing about who was going to look after Riolu while you were at school, but you never did mention that Geno said 'Hi' to everyone.

Everyone uses Ignore Chris!
*timeskip*
Chris uses Ignore Riolu and Ask Him Questioons He's Already Answered Twice!

*Kami uses Find Shorter Attack Names!*

Ahem. This was an awesome chapter, expect a couple of PMs about grammatical errors, or things that just don't make sense, soon. Before the day is done.

From me: I, of course, need to make any death scene believable...not that I'm saying there's going to be more, of course.

Chris could have said "Hi" to everyone during the days where a time skip had occurred.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

From StrawberryKiwiBanana: Um, wow. Some intresting twists in their. There's a bit of an overuse of flash backs and grammar mistakes. Now that the events of Sonic Unleashed are revealed, hopefully it will make things easier.
~StrawberryKiwiBanana
PS: Chris has really screwed up Sonic's storyline, hasn't he?

From me: I'd be happy if somebody pointed out to me about those grammar errors…

Well, this chapter will make the mission clearer for the Smashers regarding Dark Gaia. I hope I did a good job at it.

From FT and STH: so they now know Dawn's group, it a about time Also Lucario become a riolu, I didn't think that will happen, so will we see Riolu in other world arc or will he go back to a lucario before this sidequest arc end

From me: I'm still thinking here about Riolu becoming Lucario again. Ultimately, the final decision could occur in the next chapter so wait until that happens, okay? Thanks. ;)

From ngrey651: Aw, Riolu's are cute. Huggies!

And to think, Chip at long last remembers who he was. Since he's a being with nearly omniscient power needed to keep the planet in check and since everybody was mocking him for being weak before...this means he can laugh and gloat and say "I told you so" and milk the "Light Gaia" thing for WEEKS, maybe!

From me: You shall see how Chip deals with that part of himself to everyone… Mwahahahaha, giving you some suspense. You so want to scroll down and find out now. :P

Thanks again. :D

From PianistChris: Dang it...My guess was wrong... Well... It was partially right in some areas... Still, I prefered this idea to my guess.

It was a nice chapter and a good continuation from the previous will be interesting to see how Chris and Riolu progress.

Chris :p

From me: Those 2 are so going to become a cute pair of trainer and Pokémon. The future will bound to be interesting as well… I think. Thanks. ;)

From SlasherMask: (-)

From me: Dude, bear it with me. Your review is so long, but I can't put it here. I really like it, though. So now, I'll give you a small summary.

…

…Well…glad you liked the chapter. I'm happy you did… Sorry, you had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I don't want to put it all here. Sorry again. :(

But thanks. :)

From mognash898: Great chapter. I kinda saw a point back a little bit in the fiction where Lucario wanted to go back to his childhood. Its funny how he reacted when he was a Riolu. Update soon!

-Mognash898

From me: Riolu's just a little kid. Since he doesn't have any memories of Chris (for now), he acts like any other little boy…Pokémon…creature… Yes, that…

Enjoy the chapter, please. :D

From DianaGohan: I have to say it: I dislike Kylie. Anytime she's on scren for some reason the story gets dull and I find it hard to pay attention. Which is a bummer since I really liked everything else that happened: The aftermath of Lucario's Aura rage (still think it's weak to have him have more potential then anyone else combined but whatever), the wish (since it'd make sense Lcuario would want to go back after what happened) Barry's lines and the Poke Trainers finally being found out, everyone wanting to take care of Rilou, the promise about protecting everyone they come into contact with and... well I didn't like the gag but I am glad Chris is telling everyone what he saw in Sonic Unleashed. And funny Smash Channel. So yeah great chapter. Having Kylie in it though drags it down a bit to

GRADE: A-

From me: I…think I understand when some people hate certain characters… That aside, I'm glad you liked everything in here. And I hope you do enjoy everything here as well. ;)

From SnowGirl316: I've just read all of your chapters (it took me quite a few days to do it, but I'm finally finished-until your next chapter of course). Anyways, as you can tell I LOVE this fanfic! I wish this was an actual anime. It'd rock and you'd be making BIG money. You put a lot of thought and effort into this masterpiece and that what makes it such an awesome fanfic. The characters' personalities are dead-on which is always a plus. Amazing work and I can't wait for the next installment!

PS. I've noticed in previous chapters you don't care for the yaoi/yuri junk. I totally agree with you on that. I think it's character abuse.

C-Ya later!!

From me: I'm glad to see people who take some in-depth critiques to the characters of this fic.

And if I did this like an anime…I'd be sued by Nintendo right away… Thank goodness you don't sell anything here in the site…

I'm happy that you reached this far. Hope you keep enjoying the story. ;)

From MT-AT: hope the Sword Dancer is the vesperian one. And for the battle use Restless blade its the Sword Dancer's theme from the game. Good story.

From me: Nope, that's the Sword Dancer of Tales of Symphonia. I know I made the ToV characters appear before their game was chronologically released in the fic's timeline, but I'm not going to do that mistake again. However, the fight isn't going to take place in this chapter…you'll see why.

Thanks. ;)

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Wow, excellent chapter. I thought that there was going to be a twist concerning Lucario's, "Aurageddon", just seemed far too easy for them to die like that(especially Chris). I really liked the part where Geno came and had Lucario turned back into a egg, one of the things that was definitely surprising and unexpected from this chapter. And outta've all the smashers, Peach was the last person I was expecting to raise Riolu, but it's probably for the best. So the city is being repaired finally? That's good, and how it's being repaired makes me think of "Age of Empires", just not as ancient. And I'd personally like to say that Resident Evil.., IS NOT SO BLOODY! THE 1st LIVE ACTION MOVIE WASN'T EVEN THAT GOOD AND ISN'T EVEN THAT SCARY! *ahem* Now that has been said, here's a...
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! RANDOM EDITION!
The one about Chris's dragoon outfit.
What happened to the random battles when the Smashers leave the mansion?
Is the latest date for games we can recommend still September of 2008? Or will it keep going up as Chris spends time in the real world?
well, Merry Christmas! 8D

From me: The random battles don't take place very often because they don't venture into the wilderness so much. Since the whole place was 'blown up' by Lucario, almost all monsters were taken care of…but they will come back.

The dates that the fic reaches will be the time where new games will appear. HOWEVER, I'm not asking for recommendations.

Thanks. :)

From Shadow Midna: Hey Chris are you gonna use Mario&Luigi:Bowser's Inside Story as an story arc?

From me: Maybe, but if we take the fic's timeline, that game came out about a year later. There are no plans for an arc for it at all…

Also, please try to review next time. Thanks.

From Decepticon Fan: Nice chapter. So, Lucario's going to try again from square one...literally. I can't wait to see how this turns out! I see cuteness in the near future. Anyways, unless I'm wrong (I have a bad habit of forgetting what I read sometimes) you didn't do a Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga arc did you? If you didn't, can that be integrated into this story at some point?
I was playing that game recently and thought that'd be a great installment to this fic. If you do decide to put that game in your story, could you have Wolf be on the team that goes to that world? (Wolf's one of my faves) It's okay if you don't. It's just a silly thought I had :)
Thanks and update soon as always!

From me: I didn't do a M&L:SS arc at all. It can't be integrated because of the fact Mario and Luigi dealt with that time by now.

Keep enjoying the fic, please. :D

From Blueberrypeach: I was surprise what Lucario did to rebuilt his relationship with was unexpected and it made me enjoy the chapter of the parts I think it was touching was when Pikachu cheering him up and it was amusing when Pikachu called him thing I like was the pokemon trainers finally got discovered which means Barry will bring more craziness in the was really funny when the smashers tried to get the chapter was really great because there were a lot of things that were enjoyable to read and the each of the scenes didn't felt too the way,I wish you good luck on the contest.

From me: Very nice to see that you liked the chapter. I'm wishing here you like this one as much as you did with the previous one. Do enjoy it. :D

From Light the Lucario: This was a hard read... Reminded me too much of Digimon Season 1 when Patamon died... and was reborn... At least Lucario can finally have his real childhood now... If only if it hadn't come on a steep price..

Grade: A + because of it being totally unexpected and heartbreaking.

From me: Good thing Lucario didn't die at all, though. Besides, he didn't pay a steep price or anything. He seemed happy by it.

Here hoping you like this chapter. ;)

Okay, everyone, it's time for more TSSEWC goodness for you to enjoy. Before you go beyond the line beneath the disclaimer, I have some important news to say.

No, I'm not going to die nor drop this fic.

Kidding aside, here's what happened. As Winter Break kept going on, I played my new games (which I'm still playing to these days). And you know by now that, instead of the chapters getting short, they grow here for some reason. Because of that, this chapter came out SO HUGE that I ultimately decided to break it into 2 parts.

Yes, this arc isn't done yet. There are still some ideas I want to implement before moving to more crossover arcs. I'm taking this decision because I don't want to make you suffer to read the 'cascade' of sentences.

Well, I said why now, so I hope you understand.

Since this is going to have 2 parts, remind yourself that the end of this chapter could be very simple. But still, I hope you enjoy it very much. This chapter will introduce some explanations about lots of things to keep you entertained. Be warned that this chapter contains heavy spoilers for Sonic Unleashed if you haven't played it yet…but you surely know that by now.

You have only 2 chapters to vote for the next arc. Please vote as soon as possible before chapter 164 comes out.

With that away, I encourage readers/gamers to read and review. :)

Disclaimer: Who's the guy who smooth-talks posters? Bowser is the one.

Chapter 162: Why NPCs Are So Important to Any Story: Part 1

Smash Mansion

Command Room

Complete silence reined the air in the command room after Chip had said that he remembered everything about his past. Once Chris said Light Gaia, the imp's memory recovered right in an instant.

Chip looked happy.

Chris frowned in disbelief.

Riolu wagged his tail a bit.

Knuckles furrowed his brow.

Master Hand sighed.

Tails couldn't believe anything he heard.

And Marth ran a hand through his hair.

"...So..." Amy began as she looked at Chris, "...you know what we have to do?"

"...Yes..." Chris nodded, "I know everything about Dark Gaia, the Temple Guardians, and the Temples of Gaia."

"Wasn't it Gaia Temples and Gaia Guardians?" Knuckles asked.

"Gaia Temple, Gaia Guardians, Temples of Gaia, Temple Guardians, let's stick with the real names," Chris said bored before looking at Chip. "Chip, I can barely believe that it only took you to hear about your true name to recover your memory."

Chip nodded. "That's how things are," he said. "Now I can tell you guys the reason of my existence."

Nana rolled her eyes. "What a bizarre way to recover your memories. This was so easy, yet so damn fast."

Chip coughed. "Well, I got my memory back. I can say everything about the Temples of Gaia, the Temple Guardians, and my insane brother," he said before looking pleased. "I feel like I'm the ancestral ancient god I used to be."

"...Wait, did you just say brother?" Marth said.

Chip nodded. "Dark Gaia's my brother."

Many of the Smashers stared at Chip with very confused looks. Even Chris himself didn't know that Dark Gaia...had a brother like Chip.

"...Excuse me?" DK asked. "W-what's this all about...you know...that monster being your brother?"

Chris grunted. "I think I should demonstrate all of you about this...through...well...using the game itself..."

Mario looked confused. "Are we going to have to use a video game as a resource to know more about this whole matter?"

"I-I know it's going to be bizarre, but seeing that everyone here needs to see this with their own eyes...this is the best way to do it..." He turned to Master Hand. "If you would...can you take my Wii here?"

Master Hand. "We've got no other choice, right? Oh well, here," he said as he snapped his fingers, Chris's Wii appearing above Crazy Hand's counter.

The World Traveler looked very embarrassed at this. They were all actually going to have to rely on a video game to know more about how to stop Dark Gaia from ever coming out from the planet. Chris, eyes closed, turned the power button on, and thus the Wii started the game, the Smashers grabbing some seats behind the tables to look at the screen in front of everyone as Master Hand snapped his fingers to turn off the lights, the light of the screen illuminating the room a bit.

"(This has to be the weirdest moment I've ever done before,)" Chris thought as he pointed at the screen with his Wiimote, the title screen of 'Sonic Unleashed' appearing. "O-okay, the cutscenes are the things we have to look first."

Knuckles sighed and sat down on a chair. "I don't want to see you moving me around with a joy stick."

"...Don't worry," Chris said. "You don't even appear in this game."

"Oh, that sounds much better," Knuckles said.

...

"...Wait," Knuckles began, "I don't appear in the game?"

"W-well, I-I don't know why, but you, Cream, and Cheese aren't even mentioned once... D-don't think they're putting you down or something... Tails and Amy do appear, though..."

Knuckles started to get a little bit pissed. "The whole world is affected, and I don't get even a single damn mention?"

"N-not even me?" Cream asked.

Amy smiled nervously at the sobbing Cream and patted her back. "There, there, Cream, there's nothing to cry for..."

"Y-you're saying that just because you got to be in the game..." Cream muttered.

Amy sweat dropped. "U-um, I'm not saying that just because of that fact!"

"(This stuff about games is so damn annoying, I swear…)" Knuckles thought bored.

"Shh, the opening's starting," whispered Diddy as everyone focused their attention to the screen.

They all watched as a big fleet of Dr. Eggman was navigating the silent space. Once they saw the whole fleet, some mad laughs were heard in one of the longest battleships. "Oh ho ho ho!" laughed Dr. Eggman as he was shown inside the biggest battleship, his arms wide open to the ceiling.

"Can anybody spell insanity for him?" Ness asked.

"Hmmmm?!" Dr. Eggman suddenly stopped laughing as he spotted, from the tip of the battleship, a serious Sonic standing straight; apparently looking at Dr. Eggman from where Sonic was standing. Grunting loudly, Dr. Eggman began to deploy robot guards in Sonic's path to the inside of the ship while all the turrets turned to him and aimed at him. "Fire!" Dr. Eggman commanded.

Everyone watched as Sonic quickly ran towards the front of the ship, quickly dodging all the bullets and shot from the turrets and robots respectively. The hedgehog jumped high up to jump over a barricade of robots before he accelerated to push away a long line of robots as if they were bowling pins.

"Alright, that's how I roll!" Sonic said with a wide grin.

"We're supposed to understand what's going on with this game's plot, not show off about something you didn't even do with us," Snake pointed out.

Sonic chuckled and crossed his arms. "At least I can totally pull out some crazy stunts like that and everyone else don't."

Chris sighed. "Sonic, for once, shut up and watch..."

When Sonic (in the cutscene) was about to enter the battleship, a big black robot jumped down from the top of the ship and stopped the hedgehog from getting inside.

"Why you little!" Dr. Eggman, who was inside the robot, grunted loudly before he began to fire missiles at will to Sonic who ran to the left and ran along a big red wall as the missiles failed to explode on him. The hedgehog then jumped over the robot and began his way to the inside of the ship through a long corridor while Dr. Eggman's robot turned around to spin the right hand of the robot.

"How to Fool an Eggman 101 by Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic said with crossed arms.

"You're not getting away!" Dr. Eggman proclaimed as he turned around and fired the right hand of the robot to Sonic. Everyone watched as the hand went inside and actually managed to catch up with the hedgehog's speed before it grabbed him.

"NOT cool," Sonic said loudly.

"Wuh-oh!" the Sonic in the cutscene yelled as he was forced to go back with Dr. Eggman, a very tight grip squeezing Sonic while Dr. Eggman chuckled evilly.

"Sonic, no! Don't die!" Amy suddenly yelled.

"Amy, we unfortunately have Sonic here," Knuckles muttered.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked annoyed.

Everyone watched as the hedgehog was forced to look closer at the doctor. Once he struggled a bit, however, Sonic gave Dr. Eggman an evilly smirk before he closed his eyes and was somehow able to call forth the seven Chaos Emeralds which floated around him.

"Badass," Sonic muttered.

"Just what we needed," began Link, "Sonic's secretly a psychic guy."

Dr. Eggman watched in pure disbelief as the emeralds glowed brightly around the hedgehog trapped in the robot's fist. "What?!" Dr. Eggman yelled before he slowly tried to compress Sonic with both hands of the robot. However, once Dr. Eggman captured Sonic, a sudden burst of energy made both hands explode. Everyone watched as the newly called Super Sonic appeared in front of the robot and merely went thought its steel chest to deal a fatal blow.

"Even if he doesn't look like it anymore," Roy began, "that super form of yours gives me bad memories about when Tabuu took over your body..."

Seeing his robot falling apart, Dr. Eggman gasped and quickly retreated into his battleship through his usual method of transport: his flying seat. "Uh-oh, time to go!" he said with some panic.

Super Sonic, circling back into the corridor where Dr. Eggman had escaped, began to chase after him while the doors closed to prevent him from reaching the doctor. As he flew through the doors by destroying them, Super Sonic began to destroy the whole ship by leaving severe damages in the inside with his powerful energy. The main ship then began to explode and fall apart as the golden hedgehog flew to the nearby ship of the right and went though it to take it down.

"If I was Super Sonic forever, you guys would have to sit back and let me do the fighting here," Sonic said with an amused look.

"Show off," everyone else responded.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I'm just suggesting a way to defeat all our foes faster...just saying..."

The next scene then showed Dr. Eggman entering the tower through a hole. Unfortunately for him, before he could reach the lookout of the tower, his transport tumbled a bit enough to make him trip back to the floor, rolling all the way to the other side to stop in front of the grey wall. It was not long before a hole blasted the floor a bit where Super Sonic flew up to the ceiling and grinned down at Dr. Eggman.

"S-Sonic!" Dr. Eggman said in astonishment as he sat down his knees and pleaded for mercy to the descending golden hedgehog. "I-I'm sorry! Really! L-look, go easy on me! I'll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!" he pleaded continuously.

"If I'd get a penny for every time Eggman says that, I'd be stinky rich," Sonic said.

"And I'll have the half of your money, thanks," Amy said with a wink.

Sonic groaned a bit.

The Super Sonic of the cutscene chuckled and looked at the panicked doctor. "Well, this is new," he commented with a small snicker. "Showing remorse, Eggman?" he asked as he pointed a finger at the scientist. "If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all your toys."

"That's how you talk to your nemesis," Sonic said.

"Oh for the love of Nayru, can you just sit down and shut up?" Link asked.

"You're doing the same thing, Mr. Elf!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Zelda yelled.

"Yes..." both said embarrassed.

Everyone returned to watch the cutscene where Dr. Eggman began to chuckle evilly before he took out a button and pressed it. "Gotcha!" he said pleased as the floor beneath Super Sonic began to raise some sort of machine that trapped him inside.

"Wha-" Super Sonic looked around to see the weird machine of metal pillars. Soon, the machine trapped the golden hedgehog in a ring of energy that prevented him from getting away while Dr. Eggman went to the cockpit in front of the machine and the windows to prepare the tower to do something.

In truth, the tower itself was a huge cannon that aimed directly at the planet. The machine that trapped Super Sonic forced the Chaos Emeralds to come out from the hedgehog, prompting him to turn back to Sonic. The hedgehog began to yell in pain as the energy of the emeralds was being drained out from himself, empowering the tower to shoot a beam of energy down to the earth.

"And here I thought Super Sonic was that powerful..." Pit said. "It's a shame you're not completely invincible while on that form."

"Hey, he just took me by surprise," Sonic said annoyed as he crossed his legs and arms while sitting on a chair. "How the heck was I supposed to know he'd do that?"

"Er, I don't know, maybe because you didn't stop bluffing, showing off, and giving him the time to trap you?" Knuckles asked, making some of the Smashers chuckle at this. "Also, that didn't happen here, so why get so worked up over it? Oh, that's right, because you'd do it."

"Shut up..." Sonic muttered annoyed.

"Ho ho ho ho ho! Oh, I've waited a long time for this!" Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally before he raised a finger and pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. "Fire!"

The group watched the tower shooting down a beam upon the earth, going through an ocean that created a big force, which created some strong winds. Not long after the beam went down the planet, the planet itself began to tear apart. Fissures began to spread all over the earth before the continents were separated and forced to float into the atmosphere of the planet.

However, what were more shocking to see were the purple tentacles that began to come out from within the fissures to touch the continents in the atmosphere. The Smashers watched as a roar from a beast echoed through the whole planet, managing to see a small glance of the gigantic beast between some continents.

"D-don't tell me that's supposed to be..." Pichu trailed off.

"...Yes..." Chris said. "...That's Dark Gaia, the monster that Dr. Eggman wants to control..."

"And my brother..." Chip trailed off.

"...Seriously, Chip, you ruin these dramatic moments by saying that monster of hell is your brother," Chris said annoyed.

"I'm only telling the truth here, okay?" Chip asked.

Upon seeing the monstrosity from the tower, Dr. Eggman smiled wickedly and admired the gigantic beast that began to come out from within the earth. "Whoooa!" he said in pure amazement while Sonic was still being drained out from his energy through the machine.

The Smashers then caught a more detailed glance of Dark Gaia. The monster itself was huge enough to place its purple claws upon some continents while its tentacles moved around a half of the planet. The beast itself looked transparent, but it made many of them look disgusted (or scared like Luigi, Pichu, Lucas, and Olimar).

"Oh my f(beep)ng god," Falco said as his eyes widened to see the huge creature. "Please don't tell me that we're going to fight a thing THAT big."

"Pray we don't even get to see him..." Chip muttered. "My brother doesn't have the best of attitudes..."

"That's something we surely didn't know," joked Samus as she frowned.

The scene then depicted Sonic dropping on the floor, the machine still draining his energy. The Smashers watched as the hedgehog of the cutscene soon began to change in shape: his gloves were torn apart by huge claws, dark blue fur grew on every area of his body, his shoes gained some spikes around them, and his teeth grew bare, dirty fangs. The emeralds around the hedgehog soon turned black and fell down, having no more energy within them to drain out. As Dark Gaia let out a roar, the newly created werehog let out another roar as well. It was around this time that the werehog felt weak and dropped down with the emeralds, the machine lowering down.

"Amy, I hope you stop thinking about liking that form of mine," Sonic said.

Amy chuckled. "After seeing this transformation for the 58th time or so again? You wish."

Sonic slapped his forehead and grunted a bit at this.

"Ho ho ho! Success! A brilliant success! It's just as the Gaia Manuscripts foretold! The entity that was sealed within the planet has awakened. Now I just need to harness its power. Eggman Land will finally come to be! Nyah ha ha ha!" Dr. Eggman said before he maniacally laughed to the ceiling while admiring the view from the tower to Dark Gaia, the werehog struggling to get up.

"Eggman Land..." Tails trailed off. "It always has something to do with some kind of big park or Promised Land where he's the president or something."

"If you forgot, he's bald," Chip said.

"And...that is...relevant?"

"Not really, just reminding you."

Tails sighed with a frown.

Once the beam began to decrease its magnitude, the werehog shook his head and panted heavily as he turned to the left to look up at Dr. Eggman. "You've really...gone and done it this time, Eggman."

"Oh yeah, I should TOTALLY say that to him because he turned me into a FREAKY BEAST WITH FUR!" Sonic complained loudly.

"Yeah, and you should complain to him about the collar you're wearing," Chip said.

"Chip, you're not helping here."

"Ahh, Sonic. That's a good look for you. Festive!" Dr. Eggman rejoiced as he 'admired' Sonic's new look, the werehog not even noticing his new appearance at all.

"Okay, now we know Eggman is a furry," Knuckles joked.

Dr. Eggman proceeded to press a button to open the window behind the panting werehog. "So long, friend!" he said laughing before Sonic noticed he was being dragged away into the space.

The werehog tried to stay in the room by grabbing the floor, but the force of the air eventually took him out where he plummeted down to the planet, the emeralds also falling together with him. The Smashers watched as Dark Gaia let out another roar before slowly vanishing into particles that somehow released some kind of purple cloud that began to cover the planet's upper half as the scene panned out.

And thus the video ended, the Smashers muttering things about the colossal monster of darkness.

Chris sighed and looked at the Smashers. "There you have it," he said. "This is how Dark Gaia looks like..."

Cream gulped and hugged Cheese tightly. "I-I can't believe there was such a dreadful monster living inside the planet..."

"Me neither," Tails said. "But that's how Dark Gaia looks like. I know that because of the Gaia Manuscripts that Professor Pickle has."

"But seeing that monster..." Marth trailed off. "Dr. Eggman wants to control it, right?"

"Apparently," Tails said. "Now that we saw how it looked like, once it comes back, the planet may as well be doomed..."

Sonic smacked a fist to his palm. "That wacko's gonna end up screwing up at the last moment, and then that beast will destroy everything, right?"

Chris looked embarrassed at this. "W-well...Dr. Eggman didn't exactly manage to control Dark Gaia at the end and he...got pushed away very easily..."

"Is that so?" Tails asked. "Well, I kinda figured that would happen. After all, Dr. Eggman didn't manage to control Perfect Chaos."

"Or control the Space Colony ARK," Amy added. "Both always ended in the world in danger of being destroyed."

"But what about that big monster?" asked Diddy. "That thing is...just colossal and gigantic combined... What could happen if we didn't succeed and..."

Chris shook his head. "Dark Gaia is...actually less big than that for some reason..."

"...What?"

The World Traveler nodded. "W-well, in the game, when you get to fight against Dark Gaia...it..."

"He," interrupted Chip.

"...He's far less big than what you saw right now..." Chris said confused.

"How's that possible?" Cream asked.

"...That's...for the producers of the game to answer..."

This response called an unneeded silence in the room.

"...W-why are you so silent now? T-that's the whole truth!" Chris said embarrassed. "B-but let's not argue about how complicated games are, okay? We have to focus about Dark Gaia!"

"..." Master Hand shook himself. "Okay, that video gave us an image of what that beast can do. It's somehow big, according to Chris." He began to float back and forth between the walls. "However, this poses a threat... Judging how big that thing is, I doubt that, even if we all fought it together, we wouldn't be a match against Dark Gaia."

"That's a huge problem," Ivysaur said. "There's NO damn way in hell I'm going to cut that monster with Razor Leaf. I don't wanna get any closer to that as well...a-and I want to stay away from those fissures. T-they have lava..." he said as he shivered a bit in fear.

"I-I have to agree with Ivysaur there," Red said. "I honestly don't think we can defeat a monster that...hideous..."

Snake frowned with a grunt. "Everyone here should stop thinking badly about this," he said. "Provided we stop that monster from coming out, we have to stay focused and stop it before it's too late. It's not even out so stop thinking like we're going to fight it right away."

The Smashers looked at Snake. "Actually, that's true..." Mario said. "Dark Gaia hasn't even come out from the planet, right?"

"No..." Tails said. "It..." he looked at Chip, "...I mean...he's surely still trying to regain its...his energies..."

"Oh, that's a big relief right..." Pikachu said with a sigh. "I don't want think about facing a monster like that..."

Wolf closed his eye. "Currently, we have an advantage over that monster, don't you think?" he asked. "Since it's not doing any rampages, we can still stop it in time before it's too late, right?"

"I guess," Tails said. "If we can make the continents piece back together, then Dark Gaia wouldn't have to come out...at least that's what I think..."

"...Let's all think positive for the time being, okay?" suggested Peach. "We should all work hard to prevent it from coming out so it...he destroys Sonic's world."

"Besides, that thing is supposed to be some sort of god," Knuckles said. "I know you guys are strong, but...strong enough to bring that monster down?"

"Please, stop this!" Master Hand said. "Stop thinking we're going to face that monster!"

Chip sighed. "This commotion wouldn't happen if we weren't awakened so soon..."

"Oh, right," Chris said as he looked at Chip. "If you would...can you let me show them the video where you explain your true nature?"

Chip smiled and nodded. "I would love to explain it myself, but seeing that this machine can do it...well..."

"...I'll go ahead, then," Chris said as he browsed the videos of the game through the gallery, the Smashers returning their gazes at the screen.

Amy gasped, hopped on the spot, and pointed at the screen. "S-stop right there! T-there's a video of me dancing with someone who does NOT look like Sonic!"

"We're not watching the entire game," Knuckles reminded her. "(Besides, what's the point if I'm not there?)"

"B-but I have to watch that!" Amy complained.

"S-sorry, but you can watch that particular scene much later, Amy..." Chris said as he found the right video clip where Sonic and Chip were in a port in the continent of Adabat. "Oh, here it is." He clicked on the video so it could start.

Amy crossed her arms and sat down on her chair. "Fine, but you better let me play the game."

"Whatever..."

"What was that?"

"I-I mean, sure..." Chris said gulping as the video started.

The cutscene now depicted Sonic and Chip standing in a port of Adabat as the sun set in the horizon. Once the duo stopped walking to look at it, Chip walked on the floor and stared at the sunset, his hands clutched to his neck. "My... My real name is Light Gaia," Chip said. "I draw power from the day and light, and guide the planet to its rebirth. My job was to protect the planet from Dark Gaia. But Eggman broke the world apart himself, and Dark Gaia and I were awakened before we should've been."

"OH MY GOD," said Crazy Hand as a bucket of popcorn was shown on his counter. "This is like story of my life, except this isn't my life but Chip's life an-"

"Crazy, you can become a movie critic after we finish with this," Master Hand said in annoyance.

"Hurray for people's dreams coming true in a minute!"

Chip looked down worried at the wooden floor. "That's why Dark Gaia broke apart, and I didn't know who I was." The imp began to knock his forehead a bit. "I didn't remember what I was supposed to do. All because this isn't the proper time of awakening."

"Time of awakening?" Sonic asked.

Chip walked forward to take a closer look at the sunset. "Dark Gaia grows over millions of years, then rises to destroy the world. And I put it all back together. We've been doing this over and over, again and again...since the very beginning of time."

Luigi looked surprised at Chip. "Y-you 2...do that over and over?"

Chip nodded. "That's the role of each one of us. Dark Gaia breaks the planet apart, and I fix it. It's like some sort of never ending cycle that must keep going."

"Wow," Knuckles began, "and how come we didn't hear about this at all?"

"Maybe because you're so ignorant about all the stories that your world has," Chip said. "You should try reading some books."

"Oh, I see... Wait, did you call me ignorant?"

"Shh, the movie's still going."

"So you were asleep all this time? For millions of years?" Sonic asked.

The imp turned around and nodded at Sonic. "Yes. For ages and ages."

In the cutscene clip, because the sun lowered down, night came around the time they were talking, and Sonic instantly changed to his werehog form. "I'll bet it's thanks to you," he said with his gruff voice.

Chip looked up at him. "Hmm?"

Sonic looked around the scenery. "Even at night, when I'm like this, I'm still myself. Not like all the other people we've seen. You must have been protecting me this whole time."

"What does he mean with all the people they've seen?" Pit asked.

"Well, in the game, they both meet up with a lot of people who happen to be aggressive due to Dark Gaia's influence," Chris said. "At day, all the people of the world are happy and cheerful, but at night, they all become bitter and angry to anyone."

"Oh yeah," Tails said. "As we looked around for the Gaia Guardians, we did find some angry people during the night. They were really angry at us for some reason, and then we went to ask Professor Pickle why they were like that. He told us Dark Gaia's presence affects anybody in attitude during the nights..."

Cream shivered. "A-and I got scolded by a nice baker lady of Spagonia for something I didn't even do..."

"In a few words, people turn very aggressive at night," Tails said. "But...I wonder why we weren't affected by Dark Gaia's influence since we all live in the same world..."

Back to the cutscene, Chip shook his head in shame. "I haven't done anything, Sonic. You're the reason you haven't changed at all. You're too strong to lose yourself!"

"I'm the reason?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah! You never doubt yourself, no matter what. You never give in to the light, or to the darkness inside your heart. I think it's that because I knew about you."

Tails rubbed his chin. "So...Sonic didn't change because he has a strong will?"

Sonic grinned and crossed his arms with a chuckle.

"Pfft, are you kidding me?" Knuckles asked. "This guy can be easily driven to anything with his temptations. Just look at his face."

"Knucklehead, I told you to shut up," Sonic muttered annoyed.

"What's that?! You little son o-"

"Shh!!!" most of the Smashers whispered in annoyance, both characters shooting glares at each other before looking away annoyed.

In the cutscene, Chip flew a bit on his spot. "That's why I wanted you to help me. It's been so fun!" he said as he began to fly around a bit. "Getting to see the world: I've lived here since the planet began, but...I didn't know a thing about it. That it's so pretty, or that food tastes so good, or that people are so nice." He sighed and smiled a bit to Sonic. "I'm so glad I got the chance to discover all that with you. And I'm so glad that you helped me find my memory. Sonic, I will never, ever forget you."

Peach sobbed at this that she took out a napkin from her back and cleaned her tears.

"Peach, you really are easy to cry in dramatic scenes like this..." muttered Nana.

"Thank you, Sonic. Goodbye, friend!" Chip said in parting words as he turned around and flew away to the sunset.

The werehog gasped at this. "Hey!" he called out before he stretched his arm to grab Chip. Once Sonic's claw extended long enough to reach one-hundred feet long, the werehog grabbed Chip by his back.

"Whoa, wha-" Chip got surprised before he was pulled all the way back to the werehog.

"Where do you think you're off to all by yourself?" Sonic asked annoyed as he let go of Chip.

Chip began to shift his look around in a nervous manner. "What...but... My memory is back now, and..." The imp looked at the sunset. "Well, from here on out, it's my responsibility, so, um... I mean, there's no reason for you to come along, so I should just..." He looked back at the werehog.

Sonic looked away. "Do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?"

"That question is what dragged us into this," Ike pointed out.

Chip blinked a few times before he smiled and joined his hands together. "Thanks, Sonic!" he said happily before the two did a high-five.

"Yeah!" they both said before laughing with each other that the scene reached its end as it panned out.

The Smashers kept staring at the screen before Chris sighed and turned around to look at them. "And...that's all we need to know..." he said. "I hope we know what Dark Gaia is and what Chip's mission is."

"Man, talk about catastrophic," DK said as he scratched his head. "All this stuff about saving a WHOLE world from that monster..."

Chip frowned at this. "I'm sorry, you guys. That's the role my brother and I have..."

"Can you PLEASE stop saying that monster is your brother?" Ness asked annoyed. "You 2 don't even look alike!"

Chip chuckled at this. "Well, now you guys know my true purpose in life," he said. "My job is to save the planet from my crazy brother..." He looked serious. "So, I want every single one of you to help me out by restoring each continent back to its place before it's too late. Once I get my powers back to me, then we can stop my brother from destroying Sonic's world."

The Smashers kept staring at him.

"Heheh, I'm glad I was able to remember my status as a god," Chip said. "So what do you say? I say let's kick some butt and save the world together for the welfare of everyone on it!"

The Smashers kept staring at Chip for a longer period.

"...Um..."

More staring.

"...You guys..."

Even more staring.

"...Um...you guys...why are you staring at me with those looks?"

The Smashers looked at each other.

"Y-yeah, you're kind of...so silent today..."

"..."

Before his eyes, Chip watched as many of the Smashers began to laugh madly for no reason. Chip watched as some Smashers dropped to the floor and began to roll a bit while holding their stomachs, some began to chuckle uncontrollably, and even the most silent ones snickered a bit at this. Even the Sonic team and the hands began to laugh as well. The imp blinked in pure confusion as the room became filled with hysterical laughter; something Chip didn't foresee.

"I-I don't understand..." Chip said confused as he turned around to look at a chuckling Chris and a laughing Riolu. "W-why's everyone laughing like this? I-I thought they didn't believe me about my true purpose!"

"T-that's exactly why they're laughing..." Chris said as he chuckled with Riolu. "T-they think that you don't look like a god at all..."

"...W-what?" Chip said in disbelief. "B-but I'm a god! I-I'm Light Gaia! I-I mean, I can open up doors and stuff!"

The hysterical laughter behind Chip began to grow even louder than before.

"C-Chip, please, stop saying that already..." Chris pleaded between chuckles. "I-if you keep saying that, they're going to keep laughing until they die..."

Chip blinked sadly before he looked serious and narrowed his eyes at Chris. "You guys do know you're pissing off a god, right? I can mesmerize every single one of yo-"

"T-they know you don't have any powers at all..." Chris said.

Chip gasped loudly.

"A-and they surely won't help you if you threaten them...b-because you're powerless right now...a-and you need us so you can have your powers back...right?"

"...Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Chip groaned out loud to the ceiling. "I-it's true, I need them to recover my powers as Light Gaia!"

And the hysterical laughter grew even louder than before, the imp hanging down his head in shame.

"...I'm pathetic, am I not?" Chip asked sadly.

"P-please, don't look so down either..." Chris said between chuckles while Riolu pointed at laughed at Chip.

And everyone kept chuckling, snickering, or laughing madly for some minutes. The imp sniffed sadly at this as his ears twitched by all the laughter that came from behind his back, looking down at the floor in shame...

Some time later...

Everyone soon calmed down as Chip tried his best to look calm. The imp, however, felt very embarrassed to see that some people were still wiping out some tears from their eyes. "So..." Chip began, "that's my job, you guys... I have what it takes to repair the planet..."

"I-in other words," Tails began as he wiped out some tears from his eyes, "y-you're the key to open the doors of the Temples of Gaia?"

"Yeah..." Chip said. "My necklace here lets me open the doors so anybody can get further inside into the temple. I also happen to know the Temple Guardians as well."

A record scratched and everyone looked surprised at Chip.

"...Say what?" Knuckles asked.

Chip nodded, a grin of pleasure on his face. "Yep, I happen to know the Temple Guardians very well. They're the ones who were entrusted to protect the temples by taking care of the Sun and Moon Tablets." He chuckled mentally in his mind. "(Finally, they're gonna take me more seriously after this! Oh yeah, I just need to take them to the real Temple Guardians and...)"

Chip looked shocked before he realized something very important.

"...Chip, why do you look so shocked?" Amy asked.

"W-well...you see..." Chip gulped a bit, "I-I do know the Temple Guardians...b-but...er..." He smiled nervously and folded his arms behind his back. "...D-do humans live for a million of years as their life span? I-I'm asking this because I only know those guardians... A-are they still alive?"

For his dismay, Chip received many bored looks from every single person in the room.

"..." Chip gulped nervously. "C-can I take your silence as a sign of a yes?"

Everyone shook their heads in boredom.

"U-um..." Chris began, "I-I happen to know the current Temple Guardians..."

Tails blinked a bit. "You know the Temple Guardians and who they are?"

Chris nodded. "The game let me know about them. Luckily, I can show you who they are and where they live."

Everything and everyone around Chip turned black as the imp stared off at the empty space, his thoughts echoing in his little world. "(Why, why, oh why?)" he asked to himself. "(I-I should be the one to know everything about this, b-but it's pathetic to see that a normal guy like Chris knows way more than me, a god...)"

Back at the current scene...

The World Traveler looked relieved. "Well, I'm going to show you who they are now. I'd like someone to dot down their names and remember how they look like."

"I'll do it," offered Cream as she held a notepad and pen.

The World Traveler proceeded to show the group the Temple Guardians of Apotos, Spagonia, Adabat, Chun-nan, Shamar, and Holoska. After browsing the world map for about ten minutes, Chris finished giving the information about the Gaia Guardians.

"So, in other words..." Knuckles began, "we have to look for Gregorio of Apotos, the village elder Gwek of Mazuri, Otto and Lucia of Spagonia, Jari-Thure, Jari-Pekka, and Sarianna of Holoska, the village elder Zonshen of Chun-nan, Layla and Ehsan of Shamar, and finally we have Tenchai of Adabat..."

Amy tilted her head a bit. "Wait just a minute...all those people..."

Tails gasped. "We already met all of them!"

"What?" Master Hand said. "You met all of them already? How come they didn't say anything about the Temples of Gaia?"

"I-I'm pretty sure we met all of them before, but..." Cream trailed off, "...b-but they didn't say that they were the Temple Guardians..."

"Dammit," muttered Knuckles as he smacked a fist on his palm. "They were trying to be secluded about their ranks as Temple Guardians that they weren't going to say they were the guardians themselves..."

"We're trying to save the world here, hello," Sonic said annoyed. "Those guys can't escape now. Now we know who they really are."

"Well, in that case, does that mean you're all going off again?" Marth asked. "Since we know who they are, I'm pretty sure you're going to go after them, right?"

"Of course," Tails said. "We have to get to them as soon as possible."

"There's no time to waste now," Cream said. "The sooner, the better, right?"

"I guess..." Chris said. "Finding the guardians is our top priority."

"Yeah," Tails said. "We don't need to make up a group, but...if something were to happen...we should make a group and set out to those places again."

"Finally, this search will end very soon," Knuckles said. "Alright, let's prepare t-"

"H-hold on a second..." Tails trailed off.

"What is it now?"

The 2-tailed fox began to think. "...Apotos, Spagonia, Mazuri, Holoska, Shamar, Adabat..." he said as he looked up to the ceiling. "There are supposed to be 7 continents...but...there are 6 of them..."

The World Traveler looked worried.

"Is there a continent we're missing?" Olimar asked.

"Yeah...but...which one is that?" Tails asked.

"A-about that..." Chris said. "There's this extra seventh continent in this part of the world..." He looked back at the screen with everyone else to rotate the world map.

Once the world spun a bit, there was a small chunk of a land that was floating between some continents. The spot itself had lights and black layout, and there was a small portion of ocean around the land.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the spot. On the spot, there was a title for the location of it. "...Eggmanland..." he muttered.

"That's the seventh continent," Chris said. "Oddly enough, this continent doesn't have any guardian. But if you think about it, Dr. Eggman could be the 'guardian' of this place since he owns the continent as his base of operations..."

"You mean to say there's a temple in that place?" Snake asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "Deep under the facility, the seventh temple rests there," he explained. "That's the only temple that doesn't need tablets or guardians since Dr. Eggman built his base on top of it."

"So basically, that would be his HQ," Master Hand said.

"Technically speaking, yeah," Tails said. "But to think he guards a temple..."

The Smashers began to think in silence for some minutes.

"...If we go there, we'd have to make an assault, right?" Ike asked.

"Yes," Tails said. "But if we think again...shouldn't we leave that place for last? You know, that place being the last place where the temple is? It would be best to go there after we finish with the first 6 temples. Besides, in the event where Dark Gaia awakens..." he trailed off in thought, worried about the event. "...Let's save that place for last and hope we don't end up fighting that monster, okay?"

"I agree with that idea," Master Hand said. "Making first an unnecessary uproar in their HQ isn't a wise thing to do. The last thing we need is make an uprising in that world."

"Okay, then it's settled," Amy said. "We should make the team and go to our world before it's too late."

Sonic looked away. "Can you guys...go alone without me?"

"What?" Knuckles asked. "What's gotten into you now? This is our world we're talking about here. We have to make sure we find those guys first!"

"Yeah...well, thing is, I wanna take a break from this."

"You're asking for a break now?" Knuckles asked before crossing his arms. "We're all exhausted right now, sure. However, time's running out and we need to get a move on."

"Can we just relax for a day?" Sonic asked annoyed. "Nobody's making a move now."

"Sonic, we're going there and that's that," Knuckles said annoyed.

Cream sighed depressed. "I'd rather rest a bit before we go..."

"...What?"

Amy yawned. "Y'know, I need a rest as well..."

"Come again?"

Tails looked a bit weak. "I wouldn't mind having some relaxation today as well..."

"B-but..."

"Chaaaaaooooooo..." Cheese yawned a bit.

Knuckles looked a bit overwhelmed. "B-but you guys, this is our world!"

"Knucklehead, admit it," Sonic said bored. "We've been around the world in less than 80 days, and we're all exhausted of searching, looking, spotting, asking, resolving, traveling, and flying. Aren't you tired as well?"

"W-well..."

"Chill out, okay?" Amy asked. "We can resume this tomorrow. The guardians aren't going anywhere."

Knuckles grunted and gritted his fangs. "Ugh, fine! Be that way!" he yelled. "But if something happens, it's going to be your fault, okay?"

Sonic grinned. "Gotcha, Knucklehead."

Amy looked pleased and joined her hands. "Great, I think it's time to hit the little hot spring this place has!"

"Oh, can I come with you, Amy?" Cream asked excited.

"Sure thing, come with me," Amy said pleased before both girls (and Cheese) walked away from the room.

Tails hopped off his seat and walked away to the hallway. "I need to get some rest and think thoroughly about this some more..." he muttered.

Knuckles grunted and began to walk away. "I'm just going to rest, but that's it," he grumbled before he left the room.

Sonic chuckled and looked at the Smashers. "Anything new to talk about?" he asked as Chris turned off the Wii while the lights came back on.

Not long after Sonic asked that, the Smashers began to hear somebody singing. For some odd reason, most of them began to yawn loudly as the singing kept going and echoing.

"Not again..." Red muttered as he rubbed an eye. "I thought this wasn't going to happen anymore..."

"Great, just great..." Ivysaur said as his eyes were slowly closing. "It's like the 60th time this happens..."

The reason why Ivysaur said that was because of a simple person of the Smashers: Jigglypuff.

Ever since the sudden break that they all had began, Jigglypuff had been in very high spirits. This was supposed to be a good thing until she resolved to sing every single morning with her song. Not only this boosted her self-esteem, but this also caused any unfortunate soul to drop down the floor and snore for about half an hour. It was almost impossible to stop her from singing since, even if she got scolded, it would make her sing even more.

"Somebody...shut her up..." Squirtle said. "She's been singing and singing every single morning, and I can't stand sleeping twice a day..."

Master Hand began to tilt at the sides. "Oh god, I really had enough of this..." he muttered as he saw that Chris himself was tilting to the sides while Riolu was about to fall asleep while leaning against Chris's legs. "This singing has to stop..."

"Why the hell can't you just...put a lock on her mouth or something...huh?" asked an annoyed Pikachu.

"If I did that, she would complain to me all day about it..." Master Hand said as he let out a yawn.

"Duh, that's why putting a lock on her would...make her shut up...so she doesn't complain..."

"Really, somebody, stop her..." Zelda said drowsily. "Sleeping so many times...during the day...ruins my metabolism..."

"~Jiiiiiiiiiiigglyyyyyyyyypuff, ...~" Jigglypuff sang happily as she came into the command room, some Smashers already falling asleep by falling down on the floor. "~Jiiiiiiiiiiigglyyyyyyyyypuff, ...~"

"S-shut up!" Ness yelled before he fell asleep on the floor.

"I-it's useless..." Pikachu muttered as he saw C. Falcon falling asleep and hitting his head on the desk. "Jigglypuff has the special ability Soundproof..."

"W-what kind of ability is that?" Pichu asked before he rolled back and fell asleep.

"T-that's an ability that allows her to be immune to...any sound-based move...and she's probably using it now...to hear anybody...and...yaaaaaaaaaawwn..." Pikachu sat down on the floor and curled up.

Master Hand yawned loudly. However, he was able to overhear what Pikachu had said about the Soundproof ability. "Soundproof...ability...to prevent sound-based moves from...affecting..." he trailed off. "...Prevent sound-based moves...from affecting..." he looked at the yawning Smashers, "...from affecting...people..."

Idea.

"...Soundproof...to prevent people...from being affected...from sound-based moves..." Master Hand reiterated. "...Soundproof...as an ability...for...all of us... If we had...that ability...we wouldn't have to suffer...from Jigglypuff's singing...anymore...right? ...Am I...having an...idea here? ...Wait... Soundproof..." The hand gasped a bit. "...Soundproof!" he said loudly. "Oh my god, why didn't I think of this before?" he asked before he went over to Jigglypuff and put a tight grip on her to stop her from singing more.

"H-hey, what are you doing, moron?" Jigglypuff asked inside the hand's grip.

"Something I should have done a LONG time ago, believe me," Master Hand said annoyed before he looked at his insane brother (literally) on the counter. "Crazy, come over here! We're doing a special ability creation emergency situation!"

Crazy Hand yawned loudly and floated over his brother. "We're doing that?" he asked groggily.

"Yes, we're doing that so we don't have to go through this pandemonium EVER again," Master Hand said as some Smashers managed to stay awake long enough to prevent falling asleep. "It's staying awake or dream unnecessarily all the time."

"That sucks," Crazy Hand said. "I dreamed I was Mario."

"Again, that's one of the many reasons we're doing this," Master Hand said while Jigglypuff took a peek of the outside of his grip to look out. "You know what we're doing?"

"Take some of her DNA and use our hand powers to alter it and provide everyone with a new ability?"

"Yep."

Jigglypuff looked shocked before both hands vanished in thin air along with her.

As many of the Smashers were trying to wake the ones on the floor, they could hear some crashing sounds with some girly screams of the singer puffball. This surely was shown like this because the hands wanted to let the Smashers know about what they were doing with Jigglypuff in some room...

"OH MY GOSH, PUT THAT HUGE SYRINGE AWAY FROM ME!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"It's a bigsy-itsy-hugesy-little pinch," Crazy Hand said. "It won't hurt you...that much... Wait, I'm lying here. Just pulling your leg, you know. Heheheheheh, it will hurt you...that much."

"KYAH!"

"Don't scare her more, Crazy!" Master Hand yelled. "Jigglypuff, don't move or else it'll hurt...that much."

"See? You're even saying it as well," Crazy Hand pointed out.

"Shut up and just pinch her already!"

"I'm doing that but she's so fast while she hovers in the air than running on the ground!"

"LET ME GO AWAY FROM THAT SYRINGE!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"It's going to benefit every single Smasher (and hands) in the mansion!" Master Hand yelled. "It's going to make them listen to your drowsy songs as well! Don't you want that? People will ACTUALLY listen to your songs till the end!"

"Y-yeah, that's good and all, but it's not good when I'm about to be PINCHED BY A 7-feet tall SYRINGE!" Jigglypuff screamed as the sound of a needle crashing into a wall was heard. "MISSED!"

"I won't fail this time, though!" Crazy Hand said with a chuckle.

"HOLY MOLLY!"

"Right there!"

"Missed again!"

"How 'bout there?"

"MISSED!"

"A-ha, right here!"

"MISSED AGAIN, HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Don't you dare laugh at my face on my middle finger!"

"AAAH!!!"

"It's just right there now!"

"Not quite, you missed again!"

"NOW!"

"S-SO CLOSE!"

"STOP IT!" Master Hand yelled.

And thus Jigglypuff received a pinch.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, I'M DYING HERE!" Jigglypuff screamed.

"If you keep moving, then you might die!" Master Hand yelled.

"What?!"

"I-I mean, treatment is...complete! Now, hand over this syringe to me... We take the little sample of blood..."

"Why the heck was the huge syringe for if you just took a bit of my blood?!" Jigglypuff asked.

"Crazy here wanted to show off the huge one."

"Heehee!" Crazy Hand laughed merrily.

"And we pour this sample of blood on the glass... We use a microscope and remove any Pokémon DNA with a little needle from it so no one here gets your DNA... We make sure the necessary DNA is here so the ability is there... We apply some hand magic into it... We revise that it doesn't have any unnecessary DNA...and...hmm...there. It's done..."

Jigglypuff sniffed a bit.

"There, there, you get yourself a green lollipop for being brave enough to withstand my syringe of doom," Crazy Hand said.

"T-that's not a lollipop, t-that's a scalpel!" Jigglypuff complained.

"Imagine it's a lollipop, then. I ran out of candy. Question: is never having any candy an expression to say I ran out of candy? Like if I didn't have any candy in the beginning, can I say I ran out of it?"

"Knock it off already!" Master Hand yelled.

With another cloud of smoke, the hands (and a dizzied Jigglypuff) appeared before all the Smashers, the Balloon Pokémon rolling back to hit her head on the counter.

"My god," Master Hand began, "and when I say my god, I mean me. I can't believe I didn't think of doing this a long time ago. But I have to say it's brilliant!"

Chris yawned. "W-what do you mean by that?"

"I mean I took some DNA from Jigglypuff here so I could make a nice ability for everyone to use," Master Hand said. "We now have new stuff at the shop!"

Crazy Hand nodded. "Yup, we also have new improvements, right?"

"Oh right," Master Hand said. "You see, you might say we haven't done anything productive during all this time, right?"

Chris looked away. "Well...I haven't seen you doing anything..."

"Thing is, we've been doing lots and lots of productive stuff," Master Hand said. "You remember that some Smashers here received some special benefits with abilities, but everyone else didn't have the same luck, right? Well, during this whole time, me and my brother here came up with the best of the best in permanent abilities so everyone has the same advantage of having the best there is for each one of them."

"In other words..."

Master Hand could have rolled his eyes if he had them in the first place. "The shop's been heavily upgraded. Check it out for yourself."

"...Okay..." Chris looked at Crazy Hand.

Crazy Hand nodded. "Whatcha gonna buy today, lad?"

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items

Smash Coins in hand: 18601

"Hey, hold on right there," Master Hand said. "Where'd you get that big wallet?"

"Oh, you mean about the wallet… Well, there's this girl named Agitha who lives in the eastern woods who gave me this wallet for collecting some bugs she lost," Chris explained.

"..." The hand looked away. "(To be honest, I put up those expensive abilities there because I didn't think they would actually get a big wallet... Those abilities were just for show; a joke...)"

"With a big wallet like this, I'll be able to buy more."

The hand turned to Chris and chuckled a bit. "Heheheheheh, right... (Oh man, oh man, oh man, I haven't made those abilities yet. I swear to myself he doesn't buy those yet...)"

"Ehem," Crazy Hand coughed. "Now that we have a whole bunch of new stuff, we've decided to separate all abilities for each Smasher in their respective area so we don't have to show EVERYTHING with one strike. You just need to ask which Smasher's abilities you want to see and I'll show 'em for you."

"Okay, that sounds good," Chris said.

"So here it is."

-Miscellaneous Abilities (New!)
-Smashers' Abilities (New!)

"Where'd like to see first?" Crazy Hand asked.

"Hmm... Miscellaneous Abilities, please," Chris said.

"Okay, there you go."

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Final Smash Extension - 4000 Smash Coins

Last Breath – 5000 Smash Coins

Professor Kawashima Party Screen - 1000 Smash Coins

Soundproof - 2000 Smash Coins

Gives all party members the ability to be 100 percent immune to any sound-based attacks.

"...Wait a minute, besides the Soundproof ability, there's a new ability here..." Chris trailed off.

Combined Final Smash's Partner - 4000 Smash Coins

Any Smasher can perform a CFS with any other Smasher who isn't Chris. This special ability enables possible partners to use CFSs without having the need of Chris being in the pair. Examples of people who can perform a CFS would be Ness and Lucas either using PK Detonation or PK Volcano, or a Smasher who knows summoning magic to collaborate together with Zelda and perform a known CFS. (However, only discovered CFSs can be performed with anybody. More unavailable CFSs can be available only after Chris is the one who goes through the new CFSs first with another Smasher).

"I guess you noticed that new ability, right?" Master Hand asked.

"Y-yes..." Chris said. "This one sounds very beneficial..."

"Yes, I know what you mean," the hand said. "I've been using a lot of time in you that I'm starting to think I'm being so unfair with everyone else. So I said screw it and made this special baby." The hand nodded a bit. "If you were to be knocked out in battle, it would disallow many abilities to be used later. Why not have other people to do the same with others as you, though?"

The World Traveler thought for a bit. "...Yes, that sounds very required."

"However, take in mind you're going to be the 'key' to discover new CFSs," Master Hand said. "Apparently, you're able to mix up with anybody by spending time together and such. Seeing Pichu discovering a CFS with Snake through partnership seems...very wrong...if you know what I mean..."

"..."

"...In other words, since you can cope well with anybody that doesn't seem so WRONG, you're going to be the 'key' to get more CFSs."

"Oh, I see."

"So, wanna buy this?" Crazy Hand asked.

The World Traveler rubbed his palms together, Riolu noticing this and doing the same out of curiosity. "I have an insane amount of money this time..." He coughed to clear his throat. "First, I want the new ability; the one you just showed me."

"Right-o," Crazy Hand said as the teen gave 4000 Smash Coins to him. "What else?"

"Soundproof, Soundproof, Soundproof, Soundproof," Master Hand muttered.

The teen sighed. "Fine, I'll buy the Soundproof as well... Wait, how come you didn't give me that one for free if we needed it so badly?" Chris asked annoyed.

"I might be smart, but I'm not stupid," Master Hand said. "I need to take advantag-I mean, the chance to...well..."

Chris looked annoyed at him.

"...You want to sleep twice a day?"

Chris and Riolu looked at the fainted Jigglypuff to their left.

"..." Chris looked back at the hand and narrowed his eyes. "This time I'm going to listen to you...but no more tricks, okay?"

"You have my word," the hand said.

"Seriously?"

"Want to wait to see if I do it?"

"..." Chris merely gave the insane hand 2000 Smash Coins while Chris stared at Master Hand. "…Wait, if Soundproof does block sound-based attacks, then how did Jigglypuff get pushed by Lucario's roars back then?"

Jigglypuff instantly pushed herself back up and smiled a bit at Chris. "Oh, that's why I didn't get affected by it all. In fact…I think I got pushed away by his aura rather than his roars…"

"…Oh…I see…"

The Balloon Pokémon smiled happily. "And if everyone here is immune to sound-based attacks like me….then…that means…" her eyes swelled up with tears, "a-anybody can finally listen to my singing without sleeping?"

"Yes," Master Hand said. "Lookie here, I made someone's dream come true."

Jigglypuff began to cheer loudly at this before she began her way to the hallway. "Oh my Arceus, I've achieved a new feat! Oh my gosh, this is like the best day in my life!"

It was not long before Jigglypuff began to sing while walking away. Many of the Smashers blocked their ears so they wouldn't hear, even though it would be useless to do it. However, unlike all the times, they actually were able to listen to Jigglypuff's singing without even yawning a bit.

Peach smiled and joined her hands. "Oh my, I can listen to her without having the fall asleep… She has a nice voice for singing as well."

As many of the Smashers sighed in relief, Chris turned around to look at Crazy Hand.

"Anything else you want to buy?" Crazy Hand asked. "Right now, you have 12601 Smash Coins."

The World Traveler looked at Crazy Hand. "I want to buy the Last Breath ability as well."

"One Last Breath ready and coming," Crazy Hand said as Chris gave him 5000 Smash Coins. "You have now 7601 Smash Coins. Boy, you like to buy expensive stuff a lot, huh?"

"That's not all," Chris said. "I want the party screen of the professor as well."

"Hurray for new upgrades to my system!" said a happy Kawashima while Chris gave 1000 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand. Right after the money was given, the DS glowed for a bit before it stopped. "We've got ourselves a new upgrade. Now you can check the health of all party members in your group, as well as having the ability to see if they have any illnesses, buffs, and debuffs caused by attacks or/and magic."

"Sweet," Chris said pleased. "I have 6601 Smash Coins now...but...I want to save money for the time being."

"You forgot to see 2 new abilities," Master Hand pointed out.

Chris looked confused before looking back at the list to find two other new abilities he had ignored by accident.

Anti-Stagger - 7000 Smash Coins

During Over Limit, the user won't stagger at any single attack he or she receives from the opponents. However, be aware that you can still lose your chance to use a Final Smash if you receive too many hits.

Smash and Bash! - 7000 Smash Coins

During Over Limit, the user can constantly use as many special attacks as possible in a quick succession without tiring out. Take in mind that the Over Limit wears out if the time isn't taken into account.

The World Traveler looked shocked to see the two abilities. Chris had just lost an important chance to get the most benefitial abilities. He looked down in shame. "T-this was all your doing, right?" he asked to Master Hand.

"Nope," Master Hand admitted. "You just didn't look at everything."

"..." Chris sighed and looked forward again. "Fine, it was my fault...but I'll later buy those."

"Besides, you got nice abilities," the hand pointed out. "Those are going to help a lot."

"...Well, I guess you could say that..."

"Don't you want to see some of the character specific abilities to see how they work?" Crazy Hand asked. "You'll be overwhelmed."

"...Okay, show me..."

"Right away, sir," Crazy Hand said. "Okay then, ask for any Smasher of the group and I'll show you what I can buy for him, her, or undecided gender person."

"I hope the last one didn't refer to me," Mewtwo said annoyed as he was leaning to the right wall close to them.

"Er...no..." Crazy Hand said as he sweated a bit. "A-anyhow, Chris, ask for any Smasher."

"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment. "I want to see what I can buy for..." he looked down at his curious Riolu, "...Riolu..."

"Ri?" Riolu looked confused.

"Well, I don't have any abilities for Riolu, but I DO have abilities for his adult form," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, here they are: 5 little abilities for him."

-Lucario

Metal Claw - 2000 Smash Coins

Lucario can use Metal Claw, a Steel type attack that rips the targets with steel claws, that can also boost attack sometimes. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Reversal - 4000 Smash Coins

Lucario can use Reversal, a Fighting type attack, that becomes much stronger depending how much health left the user has. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Close Combat - 8000 Smash Coins

Lucario can use Close Combat, a Fighting type attack that is one of the strongest Fighting type moves, but can also lower the defense of the user (up to six times will the defense be decreased). This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Resist lvl. 1: Aura - 1000 Smash Coins

Lucario will reduce any received Aura-based attacks by a half (1/2). A side effect of this defensive ability is that the user won't be affected by darkness anymore so he can use the usual level of his strength.

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Lucario will reduce any received Fire-based attacks by a third (1/3).

"...Wow..." Chris said. "These abilities sound very useful..."

"Yep, that's how it is for all the Smashers," Master Hand said. "Each one has gained the ability to get 5 new abilities. We have created offensive and defensive abilities to balance everyone because it'd be a waste to keep making their offensive much stronger while their defensive is low."

"I see..." Chris said.

"As for defensive abilities, some Smashers can reduce received attacks by a half while others can only reduce the attacks by a third. This is like this because most of them are used to those elements by experience while others don't."

"Can you...give me an example?"

"Sure thing," the hand said. "Let's compare Mario with C. Falcon. Both use fire attacks, but in truth, Mario is the one who has really been used to fire while C. Falcon didn't get used to it in his world."

"That's because C. Falcon doesn't have any of those moves in his world."

"Yes, I gave him his moves," the hand said. "I did that with every single Smasher here. But back on topic, Mario can reduce received fire-based attack by a half while the captain can only reduce his by a third. If you buy their defenses, you can keep buying their next level so they can resist their attacks by more, and then you'll get the chance to have them be completely immune to those attacks...and maybe even more..."

Chris nodded. "What's more?"

"You'll see once you buy everything..." the hand muttered. "I hope this is the last thing I do for you guys. I think I ran out of all my ideas to help you out. From here and on, you're all good to go by yourselves."

"Less talk and more money," Crazy Hand said. "Want to buy something else?"

"Well..." Chris looked at Riolu for a bit. "...I'll just buy Riolu the defensive aura one so he doesn't get perturbed by darkness anymore." He gave the hand 1000 Smash Coins.

"Lucario's resistance to aura has been updated with the second level," Crazy Hand announced. "You have 5601 Smash Coins now. Anything else you want to buy?"

"That's all," Chris said. "I'll browse everyone's abilities when it's necessary."

"Okay, nice doing business with you," Crazy Hand said. "Whew, that was tiresome..."

"I just hope I don't need to keep track of everyone's abilities, though..." Chris said.

"Oh, it's okay," Master Hand said. "Just fight and don't think about it. They'll use their abilities when they want." Master Hand noticed that most of the Smashers had already left the room. "Oh, I see everyone wants to return to their usual activities. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to do my stuff as well. See you."

The Hand of Creation nodded to Chris before he vanished.

"And I need to do something-something as well," Crazy Hand said as he gave Chris a thumb up before vanishing.

"Riiiiiiiii..." Riolu tugged Chris's leg a bit.

The World Traveler chuckled and ducked to grab his Pokémon with his arms. "Do you want to go to our room?"

"Ri!" Riolu nodded.

Chris chuckled more before he turned around and found Pikachu looking at him from a chair. The World Traveler noticed he, Riolu, and Pikachu were the only ones left in the room. "Pikachu, is something wrong? You look a little bit...skeptical..."

Pikachu nodded. "I heard everything the hand told you," he said.

"About what?"

"It was about giving us special abilities," Pikachu said.

"I-I didn't see yours yet..."

"No, that's not what I mean," Pikachu said before pointing at Riolu. "It's about little PMD here."

Chris looked at Riolu before looking back at Pikachu. "What do you mean by...PMD?"

"Pokémon of Mass Destruction."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at this.

"Not to be confused with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon," Pikachu added.

"Y-you're calling Riolu like that just because of the accident?" Chris asked.

"Look, I know it was an accident, but he was so going to take us all to the skies," Pikachu said. "But that aside, you should be extremely careful in making him even stronger now that Master Hand is giving everyone abilities."

"Riiiii..." Riolu stared blankly at Pikachu. Maybe the Emanation Pokémon didn't understand what Pikachu was talking about.

Chris thought for a moment. "Well..." he looked at Riolu, "...I'll be careful with that..."

"I hope so," Pikachu said. "You better keep little PMD here from getting even more powerful. What if Lucario didn't learn his lesson and ends up blowing up everything and US during a battle?"

Chris looked down worried while Riolu stared up at him.

"I'll be there so he doesn't do that," Pikachu said. "We should be the only ones getting stronger before he does. He's the brutal Smasher who could possibly defeat pretty much anybody, but there should be balance between everyone so we don't get out of shape. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I know..." Chris said.

Pikachu smiled. "Don't look so down either, okay? Let's wait until Riolu evolves and see if he learned his lesson fully."

The Electric type hopped down his chair and began his way to the hallway while the World Traveler and his Pokémon soon did the same, Chris thinking hard about what Pikachu told him.

What if Lucario's power could get even worse and ended up being more catastrophic? The World Traveler met a very hard question to answer...

That night...

Lucario's Room

Chris and Riolu were already under blankets. The World Traveler rubbed Riolu's head a bit before chuckling and smiling a bit.

"Well, good night, Riolu," Chris said. "Have good dreams, okay?"

"Riii," Riolu nodded and closed his eyes. "Riiii..."

The World Traveler's smile faded before looking worried. "(I hope you learned your lesson...I'll just have to wait until you evolve into Lucario...)"

With a yawn, the World Traveler fell asleep.

"..." Riolu turned to the left and slightly opened his eyes. "...Ri?"

In front of the Emanation Pokémon, there was a drawing of Lucario stuck on the wall. Riolu stared at the drawing in curiosity and approached it to take a closer look. Upon a closer examination, Riolu found out that there were some sentences around the Lucario in a fighting stance.

Protect me from all danger, Lucario...

I will...

Thank you...

"...Riiii..." Riolu blinked a few times at the sentences before looking at the Lucario in the drawing. The small Pokémon began to examine the strong-looking Pokémon in the drawing.

It looked like Riolu studied the drawing for the remainder of the night since he seemed to look very interested on the drawing that Chris had made.

More so, Riolu started to think about becoming a Lucario very soon...

December 6 - Saturday - Morning

Outside

During a shining morning of Saturday, a proud squad of Hammer Bros. stood on the big hill to see a majestic site before their eyes. The head of the Hammer Bros. was on the top of the hill together with Kylie, Parakarry, Quill, and Postman.

"Just look at that..." Parakarry trailed off.

"This is sure to be a miracle," Quill said with crossed arms. "It's been a long time, but we've finally reached this day."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man, I can't wait for people to come in for me to deliver mail through our new post office!"

Kylie chuckled and looked at the head Hammer Bro. "You pal did a nice job," she said pleased.

The head Hammer Bro nodded. "Yep, everything's ready, ma'am," he said. "The new look still can be upgraded, but we need to gather more materials before going over new blueprints. It's gonna take some time, but with patience everything can be done!"

The five looked back at the newly created settlement in front of them...

Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings

Chrono Cross - Another Termina

The whole expanse of land was entirely cleaned. Because of this, a lot of land was left unattended, prompting a big land of grass to grow. However, the whole land wasn't covered by green patches of grass. A small village was located close to the big hill.

In front of the big hill, there were around twelve five blocks of different buildings of five by five. In those blocks, there were several buildings that were either hotels, individual houses, shops, and several other establishments. The squad of Hammer Bros. was able to make stoned streets and sidewalks between every block so the village would look a little bit more sophisticated.

Overall, the scenery of destruction was completely replaced by a small village.

"It looks very simple, but it's enough for me to consider it a village," Quill commented. "You've done a very good job in cleaning the whole mess of buildings."

"HAMMER!" all the Hammer Bros. exclaimed while raising their hammers before they all broke into laughter.

Kylie clapped her hands together. "Yup, this is a nice fresh start for this newly born village, my boys!"

"We need to run some checkups on the buildings before we let people in, though," the lead Hammer Bro said. "In the meantime, please have a look at your new establishments."

Since there was a new post office building, the previous post office was wrecked down, and its pieces were used to make some small additions to the new post office. Parakarry and Postman shed some tears at this but later smiled at each other.

An hour later...

The big hill was cleared out from all the Hammer Bros. However, after it was cleared out an hour ago, some Smashers (Chris, Riolu, Popo, Nana, Marth, Pikachu, and Kirby) emerged from the other side and stopped walking to see the new village in front of them.

"Wow," Nana began, "they surely did clean everything from here."

"It's nice to see something more peaceful than seeing some kind of dungeon," Marth said. "Besides, I think I like how the place looks like."

"Says the guy who has visited villages, villages, and more villages his entire life," Pikachu muttered in amusement. "You need to update yourself badly. You need to live the city life."

"Oh yeah," said Sonic as he appeared right besides the group. "City life's awesome if you ask me."

Chris (in his Chozo Arts job) looked bored at him. "And you're here with us and not with your group today because..."

Sonic chuckled and crossed his arms. "I told 'em I was gonna check out the Mazuri temple here. Since we haven't checked that temple in a time, I'm going to make sure nothing weird happens there. Knucklehead objected, but I did get away with it, heheheheh."

"That means we get to stay with you guys as well," Chip said as he appeared from behind the hedgehog's back.

Sonic looked bored at him. "You should have stayed with them, y'know..."

"Nope," Chip said. "I wanted to make sure you followed your word and not sneak away so you wouldn't look for the guardians."

"(Please, don't let him know I made up that excuse so I could relax...)" Sonic thought.

Chip chuckled and looked at the Smashers. "Also, after so much thinking, I found out my life as Light Gaia is so dead boring that I want to live my new life to the fullest."

The Smashers looked at him. "What? You find your job as Light Gaia boring?" Popo asked.

Chip looked annoyed. "I have to face it!" he said upset. "Living inside a boring sphere of lava for millions of years with a bothersome brother who has the urge to break up the planet from time to time has to be the most boring job EVER!" he said annoyed. "I mean, sure, I have the job to piece back the continents together so life can keep its track, but where's the fun in that for a little guy like me? It is B-O-R-I-N-G, you know, boring!"

"Are you...neglecting your job as Light Gaia?" Marth asked.

"Sadly, I can't neglect it," Chip said. "I have to follow the same boring cycle since that's supposed to be my task. My brother doesn't mind destroying the planet, but I do mind to piece everything back together. Also, if you guys were to call me Light Gaia, I'd just yell at you and correct yourselves to call me Chip instead." He crossed his arms and looked away annoyed. "'Light Gaia' sounds like some name you'd give to an old man. 'Chip', on the other hand, has a nice sound to it."

Pikachu shifted his eyes. "Cheer up, Light Gaia."

Chip pointed an accusing finger at Pikachu. "It's Indiana Chip, dude, Indiana Chip! Call me Chip, but I'm known to be Indiana Chip!"

The Smashers stared at him for a few seconds before Chris spoke. "So, since you hate your name so much as Light Gaia...you have some sort of freedom to keep changing your name illegally as you please?"

"Yep," Chip said. "I'm a god, so I know what I'm doing her-"

Once the imp said the word 'god', the Smashers began to chuckle silently to themselves.

"You guys will respect me more once we get to complete our mission," Chip said. "Before that days comes, it's all fun and merriment for little Indiana Chip here to enjoy the world outside the sphere of lava we call the core."

Pikachu thought for a moment. "Wait, if we do get to save Sonic's world, doesn't that mean you'll have to go back into the planet?"

Chip thought for a moment. "Hmm, that's kinda true... Well... I don't want to think about grim stuff yet, okay? Let's enjoy the time together as a big happy family!"

"...Oh, look at the village," Nana began, "who wants to go in there?"

The Smashers agreed to visit the village while Chip merely lifted up his shoulders and looked at Sonic. "You said you wanted to be a guard in the temple. Let's go to the temple!"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaah...no," Sonic said before he disappeared from Chip's sight, a blue bur quickly disappearing into the village.

Chip blinked a few times before looking angry. "Hey, you should be helping me out here! Come back here and let's go to the temple, Sonic!"

The imp was about to complain more. However, Chip recalled what he said about his job as Light Gaia.

"...On the other hand..." Chip muttered before smiling, "if Sonic 'accidentally' does other stuff that doesn't have to be about me...that means I get to enjoy more time out here than being inside the planet!" He rubbed his palms together and chuckled. "Mwahahahahaha, little Indiana Chip gets away with what he wants to do in life... He's as free as a little birdy. It's time to taste chocolate, candy, sweets, and more chocolate goodness!" he said cheerfully before he began his own way into the village.

Sidewalks

The group of seven Smashers were walking on a sidewalk while admiring the new look of the village. Very soon, after crossing a street, they found the new Wings Post Office located on the corner of the second block.

The establishment itself didn't look that different from its previous look. The only new things of the office were the fact that it had a new second floor, the fact that it looked a little bit more updated, and the fact that the billboard of requests was occupying half of the counter's desk, leaving the other half-wide open for Quill to look at the Smashers.

"Welcome to the new Wings Post Office," Quill greeted them.

"So, the city got renovated?" Pikachu asked.

While this conversation started, Chris began to rub Riolu's chin, the Emanation Pokémon's tail wagging a bit.

"You could say that," Quill said. "It was only renovated to a village since there weren't any materials left for more construction. However, this is the best we can have now, and I'm grateful that at least we have this instead of a barren land of ruins." He looked around the sidewalks. "It's going to be a matter of time before people start coming here."

"I'm glad to hear that," Marth said. "I was getting a bit freaked out because we live close to a huge city cemetery."

"Well, since that's in the past, I'd like all of you to enjoy the new life of this place," Quill said. "By the moment, Parakarry and Postman are setting up the new mail boxes of the houses with some Hammer Bros. Right now, all Hammer Bros. are making sure that the buildings are in perfect conditions for people to come in there." He pointed at the billboard. "Right now, there's been some people who would like to get help, though. You should take your time and hear them out before you anything else."

"Well, that gives us benefits," Nana said before everyone looked at the billboard.

It looked like there were three new requests besides Toadette's request...

The Search for Arle Nadja

It has been painful. My search to get to Arle has not leaded me anywhere. I am at the risk of becoming enraged by this that I must ask people to give me some aid and find this girl for me. I will not present myself right away, but I am going to do my best to make some contact with my helpers.

Once I find Arle...at last, she shall be my desire!

From: Dark Magician.

"Ain't that cute or what?" Popo asked. "A magician wants to get the girl of his dreams."

"Er, I'd rather take that request later," Marth said. "Something about that request makes me feel very...uneasy..."

"Oh well," Kirby said. "Let's see the next one!" he said cheerfully as he made sure his Puyo hat didn't fall off his head.

Vanquish the Monster Threat

Well, yep, er, there's this annoying roar that has recently appeared very close to my vacation spot. The roar keeps roaring, roaring, roaring, and roaring every single day, and I can't get my beauty sleep if it keeps up like that! I-I would go see what the cause is but...thing is...I'm very scared...so...yeah... I'm asking some nice guys (like the ones in front of this billboard (that means you)) to come here and see what you can do about it... I'm certain it's a monster...

From: Summon Spirit of Earth.

The World Traveler, still rubbing Riolu's chin, blinked confused at the requester of the request "Summon Spirit of Earth...you don't mean..." He looked at Quill. "Excuse me, but, did the guy who put up this request looked like some sort of...big gerbil?"

Quill took a peek of the posted request before he pulled himself back and nodded at Chris. "Oh yes, there was this person who looked like a big doll with this huge bow on his head who came here and asked me to hear him out... I have to tell you that he looked very peculiar..."

"(Gnome came all the way here?)" Chris thought to himself.

"Chris, don't keep us in the dark and tell us what you're talking about," Nana said. "Do you know the requester?"

"Well, yes," Chris said.

The World Traveler decided to explain who Gnome was to the Smashers.

"Oh...that's pretty bizarre," commented Popo. "You fought a big gerbil with a spinning bow?"

"I-I know it sounds weird, but that's how the story goes..." Chris said as he kept rubbing Riolu's chin.

"In any case...let's see the other request," Marth said before everyone looked back at the billboard.

Find my Mime Jr!

Help, help, help! I need some nice people to help me find my dear Mime Jr! The little guy got lost after an 'accident' happened to both of us, and we got separated from each other! I can't stand sleeping alone anymore. I can't stand looking at the empty spot I always had reserved for Mime Jr. to sleep! Please, I'm begging you to find him before I lose all hope! When you find my Pokémon, I'll show up to you once I have the time, but please keep Mime Jr. somewhere safe!

From: Master of Disguise.

"Oh, finally, this request sounds a little bit more normal," Chris said.

"Actually, this request sounds kind of odd," Nana said. "The guy surely likes his Mime Jr. a lot."

Pikachu shrugged. "Something about this request doesn't make me feel very good, though..."

Quill crossed his arms. "Well, what requests are you going to accept?"

"Let's take Toadette's request!" Kirby offered. "We came here to do that, right?"

"Yes," Pikachu said. "We all want to work, right?"

"I guess..." Marth said.

Quill gave the group a wing stamp. "Very well, you're accepting Toadette's request, then," he said. "You can find her restaurant 2 blocks to the south of this place. The restaurant is easy to spot so you can't miss it."

Pikachu looked at everyone. "Everyone here wants to be butlers?"

"I just want to do it because I want to do something different for a change," Marth said.

"Oh well, let's all head down to the restaurant," Nana said.

Once the Smashers turned to the south, they noticed that a small figure was standing in their way, blocking their path. They all looked down at the rather chubby-looking character. This character, who was in fact a moogle, of around 1 or 2-feet tall of height had fur all over his body, had two small red wings on his back, wore several garments with a little cap that allowed his little red pom-pom to stick out from his head, and wore a small pouch on the front of his stomach. It should be said that, even if there were moogles like him, this moogle was from a different species since it didn't have any arms or hands. This figure, his face always having a happy expression (with eyes shut all the time), looked up and hopped on his spot a bit.

"Hello," the small moogle began, "greetings to all of you."

"…Er…hi…" Pikachu said confused. "And…who are you?"

The little moogle stopped hopping. "Oh, I see that you don't know me," he said. "Well, I'm just a little traveler who goes from place to place to know more about the vast land in the horizon." He hopped a bit more on his spot. "I'm suited to life on the road with no roots to tie me down."

"You must have a name, though," Marth said.

"…Whoops," the moogle said. "My name is Stiltzkin. It's very nice to meet such a colorful group of people like you."

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm…you said you're a traveler?"

"Of course I am," Stiltzkin said. "I go from place to place in order to gain more knowledge about the world." He looked up to the sky. "I have to say my travels have taken me to a very different…air. Somehow, I think this is a new place I have yet to travel." He looked back at them. "It's probably just me, right?"

The Smashers shifted their eyes a bit.

"Your faces tell a lot," Stiltzkin said. "I must surely have walked into a different world! If that's so, that means this place is 100 percent real!" He hopped more on his spot. "Sightseeing is believing, as they say!"

"Who says that?" Nana asked.

"The people I get to know," Stiltzkin said. "It's one of the many things I've learned in my travels. The more you get to go anywhere, the more you know more about everything. One of my biggest dreams is to discover new places. If there are people who would like to give me their aid, I'll be glad to do it as long as they help me."

Riolu was starting to get a bit tired of the rubbing on his chin that he began to look worried.

Marth crossed his arms. "I think that's an interesting dream you have."

"It is," Stiltzkin said nodding. "I'm glad that I'm the only moogle who dares to do such a huge feat. It makes my fur get so fuzzy to think about the new places yet to visit!" He chuckled a bit at the thought. "Anyhow, who are you?"

The Smashers introduced themselves to the little traveler.

Stiltzkin nodded. "Hmm-hm, nice to meet you," he said. "Would you be interested in…helping me a bit?"

"Helping you?" Kirby asked confused. "Why do you need us?"

Stiltzkin turned around and looked away. "You see, traveling far and wide isn't easy," he explained. "You think I have everything set to go around some more, right? Well, that's not true, sadly…" He turned back at them. "Traveling is not easy. For traveling, you need…um… How do I put it? …It needs…money…"

"…Money?" Kirby asked.

"…Lots of money," Stiltzkin admitted. "I need to spend lots of money to wherever I go."

Nana looked bored at him. "You're not thinking about us giving you some money now, right?"

"Oh, please, don't think I just want to ask for money like that!" Stiltzkin said embarrassed. "Since I go from here to there, I get on my hands lots of goodies."

"What does that mean?" Popo asked.

"It means I have special stuff to sell to people." Stiltzkin looked at his small pouch. "I might not look like it, but I do carry a lot of stuff in here. You could say I carry a magic inventory!"

"Weird, we could say the same here," Pikachu said.

"Ooh, we're kindred spirits now," Stiltzkin said. "Care to look at my wares? I'm sure I can find anything good for you. Traveling and meeting people so much has allowed me to get anything you would find useful for pretty much anything. There's stuff for everyday things, medicines, and even stuff for fighters." He stared at them. "Something about you all makes me think you're…fighters."

Nana crossed her arms. "What makes you think we're fighters?"

"The guy with the little creature on his arms has a gun," Stiltzkin pointed out. "You and your twin look like you would wield something like hammers, the guy with the thunder-shaped tail looks like he knows how to use lightning, and the little guy with the strange hat…does a lot of stuff."

Kirby made a happy expression.

"Oh, and the lady wields a sword."

The Smashers chuckled a bit at Marth as the prince looked a bit annoyed. "Is it because of the tiara, right? I told you I wasn't going to get rid of it," Marth said with a sigh.

"…Oops, you're a guy, sorry," Stiltzkin said. "Anyway, you're all fighters?"

"…Yes…" Popo said. "You…could say that…"

The moogle nodded at this. "Okay, I've got just the stuff you would need so badly." With his mouth, the moogle dug out from his pouch a list that he let go on the pavement. "Here's a list with special stuff I sell. This stuff is kind of odd, though."

Pikachu picked up the list and looked at it.

"I'm saying it's odd because…the stuff itself is enchanted stickers with magic fused into them…"

Chris shook his head. "Wait, magic-fused stickers?"

"Do any of you have any use for these?" Stiltzkin asked. "I brought it up because…that's the only idea I had in mind for you to sell…"

"Oh, we do use stickers…as odd as it sounds…" Nana said embarrassed. "In fact, we rely too much on them to get more abilities…"

Stiltzkin hopped a bit. "Ooh, then I was right! Please, do browse through the list to whatever you would like to buy from me! If I can, we can come up with a deal and reduce some money from the stickers."

The Smashers decided to take a peek of Stiltzkin's list…

Stiltzkin Wares

Smash Coins in hand: 5601

Counter – 4000 Smash Coins

A common ability used by monks. This attack will instantly make the user retaliate an attack.

"I have no use for that one," Marth said.

Fury – 4000 Smash Coins

A special ability that Fayt and his group can use. This ability doubles the attack of the user when a party member (preferably close to the user in terms of friendship) is knocked out.

"…Fayt?" Chris asked before looking at the moogle. "You know who Fayt is?"

"Er, like I said before, I've traveled to many places," Stiltzkin said. "In fact, I may have winded up in other…universes… Really, I don't know how I did that, but I guess you could achieve universe traveling by going to lots of places."

Marth rubbed his chin. "(I think I know why… Maybe the fact that we have been in so many worlds has leaded to some people to go anywhere… I have to tell Master Hand about this before it gets a little bit out of the hand…)"

"I've met lots of people," Stiltzkin said. "I think I have met some Fayt before. Thing is, you tend to forget some people when you meet more."

Bad Breath – 9000 Smash Coins

The user releases a gastric and sickening breath to the enemies. This breath causes a wide variety of status effects such as Confusion, Blind, Silence, Poison, Slow, Berserk, and Sleep (and somebody could say the victims lose all common sense…). This attack has slim chances of inflicting all illnesses to bosses than normal enemies, though. Constant use of the attack should be required if the user wants to make a boss sick.

"Even though this ability sounds disgusting…it does sound very useful," Pikachu said.

"Actually, this one would help a lot," Nana said.

Chris shook his head. "I just have about 5000 coins, though…"

"Oh, I see," Stiltzkin said. "Well, maybe I can come here again and see if you get more money. Would you like that?"

"Wouldn't that interrupt your travels?" Marth asked.

"Hmm, maybe a bit, but I can handle it," the moogle said. "Okay, try to look for me if you want to buy more expensive stuff."

"Well, let's see what else is here," Popo suggested.

Life – 5000 Smash Coins

The user can revive fallen party members through this spell.

"Useful," Pikachu said. "We need more healers in our team."

"Wait, let's see what else is here," Popo said.

Null-Physical – 7000 Smash Coins

The user will be immune to all physical attacks. However, this ability won't work if the physical attack has elemental attributes.

"Hmm, this ability would be good for Peach, don't you think?" Pikachu asked.

"I guess so," Chris said. "I'd hate if she got punched in the face…"

Riolu started to get annoyed that Chris was still rubbing his chin. The little creature began to growl silently at this.

Death – 3000 Smash Coins

The user can use a deadly spell to knock out a victim instantly. Unfortunately, this spell won't work for bosses.

"I see why the price is a little bit low now…" Nana said bored.

"I know," Stiltzkin said.

Twincast – 4000 Smash Coins

Palom and Porom's signature move. This ability allows two users to cast a strong spell in tandem with each other. The spells are Pyroblast (deals moderate fire damage to all enemies (high chances)), Comet (deals moderate non-elemental damage to all enemies (high chances)), Bubble (doubles all party members' vitality (slight chances)), Faith (increases all party members' magic power (slight chances)), Bravery (increases all party members' strength (slight chances)), and Ultima (deals extreme non-elemental damage to all enemies (very slight chances)). Take in mind that the spell requires some time to be executed.

Popo and Nana blinked shocked. "W-wait, isn't Twincast the same ability that Palom and Porom use?" Popo asked.

"T-that's their ability," Nana said.

"Think about what we could do with it…"

The Ice Climbers thought for a moment…then turned to Chris.

"Buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it, buy it!" Popo and Nana said in unison while they both jumped constantly on their spots, tugging Chris's arms for a bit.

"H-hold on!" Chris yelled to calm both of them. "W-we haven't looked through the whole list yet!"

"Actually, that's all," Stiltzkin said. "You want to buy anything, kupo?"

Popo dropped to his knees and joined his hands while looking up at Chris. "I'm begging you here, buy the ability for us!" he yelled before he began crying dramatically.

"Just think about all the stuff we could do," Nana said worried. "It's the only ability that sounds powerful enough, and we're the people who can use it!"

"Please, man, do us a favor and buy it for us!" Popo pleaded. "It's a good memento to have for how they sacrificed that time!"

"Really, buy it," Nana said. "The last thing we'd like to have is their ability to cast magic together…"

The World Traveler stared at the worried faces of both Ice Climbers. Chris knew well that Popo and Nana had befriended Palom and Porom very well since they were all twins in pairs. Sighing, Chris thought for a moment before he smiled a bit and showed the moogle 4000 Smash Coins, making Popo and Nana gasp.

"A deal?" Stiltzkin asked. "Very well!" he said cheerfully before he dug out from his pouch two medium-sized stickers depicting Palom and Porom in their DS versions: Palom with hands on hips and Porom with a rod pointing to the right. "If the 2 want to use Twincast, they each need to have one of these." He took the money from Chris's hands and put it inside his pouch.

"Oh my, oh my, and oh my," Nana said excited as she grabbed a sticker and happily put it on her Trophy Stand. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you!" she said repeatedly at Chris.

"You're like 10 more levels of awesome, I swear," Popo said happily as he put his own sticker on his Trophy Stand.

Chris blushed a bit. "U-um, you don't need to be THAT thankful, either…"

"Oh, we should," Nana said happily. "You made us get a very sweet ability in memory of Porom."

"And Palom as well," Popo said before looking at his stand. "Just look at my…Porom…sticker…"

Nana looked bored at him. "…Hey, you're supposed to have the Palom sticker," Nana said before looking at her stand. "I mean, I have the…Palom sticker…"

Pikachu, Chris, and Marth looked at the stands, and apparently, they found out that the twins had made a huge mistake and placed the wrong twin they had befriended more in the wrong stand.

"…Oh no…" Nana muttered. "T-this was just a little mistake, I swear! I-I can't believe we didn't' notice this!"

"Quick, we need to remove and change them!" Popo said in panic.

"W-wait right there, you 2!" Pikachu yelled before the twins could take off the stickers.

"What is it now?" Nana asked.

"If you remove those stickers, they'll disappear!"

After recalling the rules of the stickers, Popo and Nana instantly turned white while they stared at Pikachu.

"…Wow, they turned dead white…" Chris muttered.

Stiltzkin tilted his head to the right a bit. "Um, you seem to have made a big mistake. I did hear somewhere that removing those stickers would make them disappear. I guess nobody uses that way to get new abilities because one needs to think carefully about the consequences…something that you both seemed to forget… Of course, I'm not offending any of you…"

Both Ice Climbers remained staring at Pikachu before they got their colors back and looked down in shame, their stands falling off their hands and to the pavement.

"…This must be some kind of a bad joke, isn't?" Nana muttered in shame.

"I myself think it's not," Stiltzkin said. "Don't look like that, okay? At least you have the ability."

"It's just that this mistake is going to haunt us forever…" Popo muttered with a sob.

"Oh well," Stiltzkin said. "What can you do about it? I could give you 2 more stickers, but it'll cost you, I'm afraid." Stiltzkin hopped a bit on the spot. "What do you think of my wares?"

"What you sell clearly outclasses Crazy Hand's shop..." Marth said.

"That's the business traveling moogles like me have to make a living while finding new lands. It's the wonderful world of finances."

As Popo and Nana kept looking down, Chris closed his eyes nervously. "Don't look like that, okay?"

"It's easy said than done…" Nana muttered.

"…" Stiltzkin looked at them. "Well, I guess that's it. It was nice doing business with you."

"That's too bad," Marth said. "You seem to sell very good abilities. It's a shame you have to leave this village."

Stiltzkin thought for a moment. "…Actually, maybe I can leave this place…and give you a special item to call me anywhere you are."

"What?" Marth asked.

Stiltzkin dug out from his pouch a little golden bell (with a red pom-pom on its top that acted as the handle) that he put on the floor. "See this bell? It's a special item I like to call the Stiltzkin Bell."

Pikachu went over to pick the bell. "The Stiltzkin Bell?"

"Yes, that's a bell I specifically designed using some materials I've gathered thorough my journeys," Stiltzkin explained. "If you ring that bell, I'm going to do my best to report to you and see if you want to buy any of my wares."

"Oh, so is this some kind of magic bell?" Chris asked.

"Yes, it is," the moogle said. "Do you want it?"

"Well…I guess."

"It's yours, my friend," Stiltzkin said as he hopped on the spot.

Obtained Stiltzkin Bell!

A special bell that can call the wanderer Stiltzkin wherever you are just to sell you his stuff.

Pikachu rang the bell a bit. "Nice sound."

"Oh yes, I'm going to tell you some pointers you have to hear first," Stiltzkin said. "I can only go to you if you're not fighting in a battle. I don't like to get close to dangerous situations. Also, there are times I'm not going to appear because I could be busy doing something else."

"We can call you anywhere?"

"As long as you're not in a battle, yes," Stiltzkin said. "Shall we try the bell out? I'm going to walk away to a spot where you can't see me, and then you're going to ring the bell to call me, okay?"

Chris looked bored at him. "You're certainly going to hear the bell's ring, though…"

"Oh, you'll see how I appear," Stiltzkin said before he began to walk away to the south where he reached the corner of the sidewalk and walked away to the east.

"…" Pikachu looked at them. "Ring the bell?"

"Do it!" Kirby said excited.

The Electric type rang the bell a few times, and the Smashers looked around the place (while the Ice Climbers were still looking down).

However, there were no signs of the traveler moogle around the place.

"…Is he deaf or what?" Chris asked confused. "The bell's sound should have reached at least a block of the village…"

"Well, he was peculiar as well," Quill noted as he was still behind the counter, listening to the whole conversation. "I guess he'll come back to you."

"In fact, I'm back!"

The Smashers and Quill quickly looked behind the counter where the moogle was sitting down on a chair to look at them. The Rito postman and the Smashers gasped and took a step back, not seeing when the moogle appeared besides him.

"W-what the, how did you get here?" Quill asked in disbelief before he looked inside the post office. "I don't recall a back door being built to this place…and there's not an alley behind the office either!"

"I have my ways to appear," Stiltzkin said before he flew over the counter and landed on the safe floor of the sidewalk. "I know how to get here instantly."

"T-that was creepy…" Kirby said shrugging.

"I guess I freak you out," Stiltzkin said. "Well, now you know you can call me anytime, it's time for me to take my leave. See you around! Don't hesitate to call me if you want to buy something else. I might get new stuff as well, so ringing the bell would 'sound' very tempting, heheh." He turned around and began to walk away to the south. However, they all saw as the moogle turned to look up at a sign of a building before he got inside.

"…What kind of person was he?" Quill asked in disbelief. "I didn't see him getting inside the office at all…"

"Maybe this bell is…creepy," Pikachu said as he stared at the bell.

Marth smiled a bit. "At least we can call him so he can sell his inventory to us. Think of the possibilities."

Chris looked away worried. "(I hope this doesn't make us get crazy with power…)"

For some odd reason, the World Traveler began to feel a lot of pain on his hands.

"W-why am I feeling like I'm getting hurt by no reason?" Chris asked confused.

The Smashers looked at him. Pikachu gasped once he saw that Riolu, having enough of the rubbing on his chin since he wanted Chris to stop about ten minutes ago, began to get enraged and started to chew Chris's hands off with his small but sharp fangs. Chris's eyes widened in shock before the Emanation Pokémon looked up at him and showed him his fangs bathed with some blood.

"Riiiiiii…" Riolu muttered through gritted fangs.

The World Traveler's jaw dropped once he saw that, despite Riolu looking not that threatening, his hands were bleeding heavily. In fact, a lot of blood was falling down from Chris's shredded hands.

And the fact that Chris himself didn't like seeing the sight of blood, he would have screamed. He could stand and watch his own blood for a bit…but not seeing a lot of it being dropped to the floor.

"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" In a panic, the World Traveler accidentally let go of Riolu, and the Emanation Pokémon fell down and hit his forehead hard on the floor. Since Chris was in a panic, he quickly turned to Quill. "I-I need a First Aid kit, please! I-I can't stand all this blood!"

"S-sure," Quill said before pointing at a door at the right side of the billboard. "Come in here through there."

The World Traveler quickly opened the door and went inside the post office, the Rito postman walking inside the post office to treat Chris's wounds. It was not long before the Smashers began to hear screams from within the establishment since Chris felt pain with the alcohol being applied to his hands.

"Stop screaming!" Quill yelled through the screams.

Popo, Nana, Marth, Pikachu, and Kirby looked at each other while the screams kept going. "I…have to admit that this looked very embarrassing for Chris…" Marth said.

"Yeah, the guy can't stand seeing blood for so long," Pikachu said before looking at Riolu on the floor. "You okay, Riolu?"

"…" Riolu slowly sat up and blinked a few times. Pikachu watched as Riolu's eyes began to fill with tears before Riolu covered his eyes and began to sob silently, a red spot on the center of his forehead appearing to indicate where he got hurt by the fall. "Ri-ii-ii-iiiiiiii!" Riolu cried. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Pikachu sighed, his ears moving down. "Oh boy, this was just so random…" he muttered.

"Agreed…" the others said as Riolu cried and Chris screamed in pain.

Some time later…

The group headed down the sidewalks to reach a building; the building that had some roses and sunflowers adorning the front of a long window with a big sign on the top that read 'Wonder Restaurant' in yellow letters.

An ashamed Riolu kept licking Chris's bandaged hands as a sign of his shameful treatment to his trainer. While Riolu kept doing this, the World Traveler pulled him close to his neck. "Riolu, I know what I did was wrong to you. I should have stopped it before you…would chew my hands' skin off…"

"R-riiii…" Riolu's eyes filled with tears.

The World Traveler rocked back and forth the young Riolu in his arms. "There, there, you don't have to cry anymore. It was my fault, not yours…"

"I have to say you screamed pretty loudly, though…" Popo remarked.

"Popo, shut up," Chris muttered annoyed.

Pikachu looked at the restaurant. "So, this is the Wonder Restaurant," he said. "Looks a bit normal to me."

"Well, this is just the exterior," Marth said before spotting the double doors that leaded inside. "Shall we go inside?"

The Smashers decided to enter the restaurant…

Wonder Restaurant

Final Fantasy IX – Vivi's Theme

Once they all got inside, they admired the interior's look. From what they could see, there were several lights nicely hanging over the ceiling across a hallway that had a counter with a casher machine on the end. The hallway itself had a long wall to the left that leaded to an arch that leaded to the big dining area where a long counter was located on the front wall, overlooking the outside of the restaurant with the long window they had seen before. There were around twenty tables with nice-looking red chairs (each table with four chairs each) and some candles with all utensils across the front of the counter, and some of the tables were close to the left wall where the chairs were long sofas instead to accommodate more than four people. The floor was covered by a soft red mattress that extended to every single corner of the establishment, and the wall depicted several dishes that looked appetizing to Kirby.

"Ooh, nice look," Popo remarked as the group walked forward and stopped right in front of a counter where someone would greet them. "I wonder who works here, though."

"My guess is that there are chefs here," Pikachu said.

Just then, two familiar girls appeared from behind the counter and raised their arms.

"Welcome to the grand inauguration of the Wonder Restaurant!" a girl said.

"Please let us know if you find our service to your liking," the other girl said. "So anyway, what will you…"

Popo and Nana gasped after they both looked up at the familiar girls before them.

"…Kat! Ana!" Popo and Nana said in unison.

"Popo! Nana!" the ninja girls said in unison.

Apparently, the Smashers found both Kat and Ana standing behind the counter of the hallway. However, both of them weren't wearing their usual attires, but they were wearing small pink hats with small pink dresses that had mini skirts each. The two ninjas smiled a bit after seeing the familiar faces of Popo and Nana.

It could be said they didn't have good memories of Popo, though…

"Wow, you're here?" Ana asked surprised. "I thought we would never see each other again!"

"It's very fortunate to see you all again," Kat said pleased as she joined her hands. "Do you live close to this village?"

"Well, yeah," Nana said. "We live in the Smash Mansion. It's a big mansion located to the north of the big hill."

Ana chuckled a bit. "Okay, we'll be sure to drop by and visit all of you."

Kat made a happy expression. "Anyway, why are you all here? Are you coming here to be the first clients of the grand inauguration?"

"Er, we came here to apply for waiters…" Chris trailed off.

"Is that so?" Ana asked. "How lucky for you! We just needed some waiters right now. The restaurant doesn't have any waiters yet, but we'd like to have you working with us as well."

"Especially if Nana wants to do it as well," added Kat.

"…Hey, what about me?" Popo asked as he opened his arms.

Kat and Ana looked at each other. "Uh, well…" they both trailed off.

Nana sighed. "Relax; this guy is in his normal state. He's not in his crazy state right now."

Both ninjas looked at each other worried while Popo tilted his head confused.

"…If…you say so…" Ana muttered unsure.

"…Well…you guys want to apply for the job?" Kat asked. "If you want to apply, you should go over the counter of the dining room with Toadette. She's in charge of the place."

"Okay, thanks," Marth said. "…By the way, aren't you too young to be working?"

"Oh, that? Well, we were already working for Wario," Ana said. "However, when he escaped, we have gained some well-earned vacations…then we got bored and decided to do something to kill the time….then we got the word that Toadette was opening a restaurant and she needed some people. We both agreed to be working as the receivers of the establishment."

"Truthfully, you could say we're workaholics…" Kat said embarrassed.

"W-we like to work a lot, despite the fact we're too young…" Ana added with a nervous chuckle. "R-really, don't think badly of us… We like to do lots of stuff."

"…Anyway, go with Toadette," Kat said as she pointed at the long counter inside the dining area. "She should be sorting out some stuff behind the counter. Hope you guys get applied for the job as well."

"Try to meet our chefs, okay?" Ana asked. "There's this special guy who Toadette told us about who will become the head chef, though…"

"The head chef of the chefs of this place?" Kirby asked curiously.

"Well, yeah, there's this guy who Toadette hired that showed her some 'amazing chef moves that made her get inspired to open a restaurant' or so she says…" Kat said. "Truth is we haven't seen the guy yet. We just saw the chefs of the place, but not the head chef himself…"

Ana smiled. "It's going to be so awesome to work with you, though. Go, go, go! I know she'll accept all of you!"

The Smashers looked at each other before they all walked inside the dinning area and walked to the long counter. They noticed there was a small window that peered inside the kitchen just behind the center of the counter.

And just in time, from behind the counter's floor, Toadette lifted up her head and smiled at the Smashers. "Ooh, you came!" she said excited before she jumped to a chair to be visible from behind the counter. "Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant!"

Pikachu showed her the wing stamp. "Here's our application for part-time waiters."

"Nice, nice," Toadette said pleased. "So, how many of you are applying?"

"Everyone but…Riolu," Chris said as he looked at Riolu. "Oh no, I shouldn't have brought you here. I need to go back and leave you with Peach…"

Riolu blinked a few times before he clutched himself to Chris. "Riiii, riiiiii!" he cried.

"R-Riolu, I need to take you with her so I can work here," Chris said worried. "P-please, let's go back with Peach…"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Riolu cried loudly.

Toadette looked worried. "Aww, that's the cutest creature I've ever seen before…" she said with a sigh. "Well, he does look like he doesn't want to leave you…"

"B-but how can I work if he's here?" Chris asked. "It's going to be weird if I carry him around all the time while taking orders…"

"Hmm, that's a problem…" Toadette muttered. "…Oh, I got it!" she said while snapping her fingers. "You could leave him in the corral!"

"The…corral?" Chris repeated.

Toadette pointed over a small corral located at the far left corner of the dinning room. The corral itself was surely for babies, and it had several toys like balls with some slides and a ball pool.

"I figured there would be some people with babies so I thought about making a corral," Toadette said. "You can leave Riolu there."

Riolu looked at the corral from Chris's arms. "Riiiii…" he muttered with some interest.

Chris smiled a bit. "Oh god, that's a big relief now…" he said before he went over to the corral to put his Emanation Pokémon in it. Once inside, Riolu wagged his tail and went over to play with a big ball that he used to push it to the wall to bounce back to him. "(How cute…)" Chris thought happily before he returned with the others.

Toadette clapped her hands. "Okay, you better get dressed up! You need to show some etiquette around the clients, you know."

"Wait, we're going to wear uniforms?" Popo asked.

"Of course, this place needs to show good etiquette as I've said before," Toadette said. "Luckily, I have your uniforms ready. I want this casual dining restaurant to become a fine dining restaurant some day. If I can't reach that status, I won't be recognized as a professional restaurateur."

Nana looked at Pikachu. "How are you going to serve food, anyway?"

"Oh, I can do something else than serving food," Pikachu said. "Just you wait."

Kirby looked happy. "Can I be the first client instead of a waiter?"

"Didn't you want to be a waiter?" Popo asked.

"It's going to be painful for me to serve food rather than eat it…" Kirby admitted.

"…Trust me, he's better off as a costumer," Marth said.

Some time later…

"Hmm-hm, you look good in those uniforms now!" Toadette said happily. "Yep, they fit you very good."

After Toadette provide the attires to the Smashers, a time had passed, and they all dressed. For both Chris and Marth, both were wearing black shoes, black pants, black vests, black ties, white gloves (which covered Chris's bandaged hands), and wore long white sleeved shirts under the vests. As for Pikachu, he wore a small version of the uniform.

Perhaps what was more curious to see was the fact that Toadette had black parka uniforms for both Popo and Nana. The World Traveler thought it was a little bit unfair that he never got the chance to see neither Ice Climbers' heads, and he thought it was just as if destiny itself protected Popo and Nana's heads from being seen by any other person.

Chris blushed a bit. "And here I thought I'd never have a part-time job…"

"Oh, you don't worry about that," Toadette said. "I can still look around for waiters. I just need you today for the grand inauguration. Once I find the waiters I want to have, you can renounce. Of course, you're all going to get paid depending how much we win today."

"Well, that's going to be hard," Marth said. "We didn't see many citizens out there."

"We still have the Hammer Bros., though," Toadette pointed out. "Besides, I heard they spread the word about the village so we might have some costumers here."

"By the way," Nana began, "we never got to see the chefs."

Toadette blinked. "Oh my gosh, I didn't present them to you yet!" she said before clapping her hands. "Okay girls, you need to meet our waiters so come on out the kitchen!"

A door situated to the left side of the counter suddenly opened up and four chefs walked out. The chefs of the restaurant were all females, but half of them were older while the other half were younger.

The first chef was a sweet elderly yellow Toad who wore a yellow shirt. Her white hair was curled up at the sides of her face. She giggled sweetly after she looked at the waiters. "Nice to meet you," she greeted. "My name is Tayce T.," she introduced herself.

The next elderly chef besides her right didn't look as sweet as she did. In fact, this Toad shared the same top yellow-spotted head and curled white hair as Tayce T., but the biggest differences were the fact that this Toad had a somewhat angry looking face, had red lipstick, had some contact lenses on her eyes (that weren't visible but were there), and wore a black shirt underneath her red apron. "Hello," she said. "You don't happen to be clumsy people, right?"

"Er, no…" Pikachu said.

"Well, I hope so," she said. "By the way, my name's Zess T.," she introduced herself. "I WISH you don't make any mistakes here or else you're going to get a good scold by me."

"Oh, Zess, please don't say such things," Tayce said. "They haven't done anything yet. Let's see what they can do, okay?"

"Oh sister, you're always being utterly sweet to people," Zess said annoyed.

"Well, why can't you?" Tayce asked.

"Once I set my eyes on people, I know what's going to happen next," Zess said. "I remember Clumsy Crush-a-lot to these days."

Toadette looked at the Smashers. "These 2 are sisters. They're the sisters of the Master."

"You mean they're all siblings?" Marth asked.

"Unfortunately, we are siblings," Zess said. "You met the guy, right? Did my brother tell you some weird training philosophies to you or what? He likes to train a lot that he can become quite annoying with what he says. It's always training this, training that, focus on this, focus on that, meditate to have a healthy body, things like that."

"I hate to say this, but I have to agree with Zess there…" Tayce admitted. "That's why I moved to a house to stay away from his dojo."

"Well, you only get to hear that a lot from him if you LIVE with him," Zess said. "That's my whole reason why I moved to Rogueport."

"Let's not talk more behind his back, okay?" Tayce suggested. "You know how he gained that odd ability to sense things…"

"True," Zess said. "Our brother's the biggest weirdo we've ever met before."

"Okay, that's enough about the Master," Toadette said. "Please do meet our other chefs, you guys and girl."

The Smashers looked at the third chef. Unlike the two previous elderly Toads, the third chef looked extremely different in terms of appearance. The third chef was a young girl of light green skin. She had (literally) a hexagonal-shaped orange hair behind her (literally) squared head (and she had a squared-shaped nose as well). Not only that, but she had very thin arms and legs due to the fact they were just straight lines, and she had round hands without fingers. The third chef wore a pink apron with a cream-colored skirt that had some pinkish squares around the lower end, and she wore reddish shoes. Like Tayce, this girl looked always cheerful with her happy eyes.

"Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant, where we will turn your frowns upside down!" the third chef greeted. "My name is Saffron, chef from Flipside's Sweet Smiles, and a Flipper resident!" she said cheerfully.

"(Look at that squared shape she has,)" Popo thought.

"…Wow, she looks…peculiar…" Pikachu muttered.

"I know, right?" Toadette asked. "But you shouldn't judge her by her looks. She's a very talented chef like Tayce and Zess."

"Teehee," Saffron giggled. "How nice is to have such nice-looking sugars! I bet our establishment is going to be even more fun with them here."

"I hope so," the pink Toad gal said. "Well, here's our last chef."

The Smashers looked at the last chef. Like Saffron, she looked almost identical to her (just as Tayce looked identical to Zess). However, as with the first two Toads, the fourth chef looked very different than Saffron. This chef was another young girl with light violet skin who had the same appearance as Saffron, but this one had light blue hexagonal hair behind her squared head (and, unlike Saffron, had a pointed-shaped nose). She wore a lime-green apron with a green-yellow skirt that had green triangles in some up-and-down pattern around the lower end, and she wore dark green shoes. Like Zess, this girl looked…quite in a bad mood with her bad-looking eyes.

"Und what do vee have here?" the girl asked in a German accent a little bit harshly. "More schnitzels? Finally, this place NEEDS good staff!"

"Um, why don't you introduce yourself?" Toadette asked.

The girl crossed her line arms. "The name is Dyllis, frankfurters!" she introduced herself. "Und I live und work in Flopside's Hot Fraun, und that means I am a Flopper!" she said. "I'm NO Flipper like Saffron is, so don't confuse US!"

"Geez, no need to be that harsh to us…" Nana muttered.

"Vhat vas that?!" Dyllis asked angrily. "You COME over here and vee vill have good fight!"

"Er, Dyllis, sugar, I think you should calm down a bit…" Saffron whispered worried.

"I shall NOT stand up for this again!" Dyllis complained. "You schnitzel are lucky I'm not going to SPANK you hard!"

Nana looked bored. "(I'll spank you harder, though…)"

"Don't give me that look!"

"AHEM!" Toadette coughed loudly to call everyone's attention. "Girls, guys, let's all calm down and start working now! Customers are going to start coming here in a bit and we must be prepared for anything they want to order!"

Zess sighed. "Are we finally gonna work for once? I'm tired of not doing anything."

"Let's all join together and cook the best dishes," Tayce said. "What do you say, girls?"

"Sugar, now you're talking my language," Saffron said giggling. "I hope Dyllis has the same thought."

"Vee shall SLICE und SIMMER!" Dyllis proclaimed. "I don't like slacking off. You better listen to orders or else!"

Toadette stared at Dyllis. "And…that means…"

"Yes, let's do this!"

Pikachu looked up at Chris. "Is it just me, or are Tayce and Saffron the happy chefs while Zess and Dyllis are the grumpy ones and their counterparts?" he asked.

"I think they are…" Chris muttered.

Marth looked a bit confused at the four chefs. "Wait, I forgot there was this head chef. Is any of you the head chef?"

Zess shook her head. "We're not Crazy McWeirdo if that's what you mean."

"What?"

Tayce looked confused. "You see, there's this chef who happens to be very merry and happy, but thing is…even if he looks crazy, he does a perfect job at doing dishes."

"That sugar is such a curious one," Saffron said. "His cooking skills can defeat any of our cooking skills without breaking a sweat onto the frying pan. His happy behavior is like mine, but he's extremely cheerful at anything he's asked."

"I hate that guy is the head chef," Dyllis commented. "However, I have to admit he's good in vhat he does!"

Popo walked around the left side of the counter and spotted the door. "Is he in there?"

"Definitely," Tayce said. "He's busy arranging the frying pans and bowls."

Just as Popo was about to reach for the doorknob, Toadette stepped between him and the door. "Sorry, but we don't have time for more introductions anymore. You can meet the guy later."

"What?" Popo asked.

"We're getting customers now!"

Everyone turned their faces to the right side where Kat and Ana were receiving a Hammer Bro. It looked like the hammer wielder wanted to eat something since he walked inside and sat down a table where he rang the bell a bit.

"Oh my goodness!" Saffron said in surprise. "Quick, we must return to our posts!"

"Make vay!" Dyllis yelled before she charged at the door, Popo and Toadette stepping aside to let the four chefs rush into the kitchen.

Toadette quickly went over to her seat and pointed at the waiters. "One of you has to attend the customer! Quick, we need to provide the best service there is!"

"W-what do we do first?" Chris asked.

"Walk around the place, wait for a person to call you, answer whatever the client wants to eat, dot down the order with the notepads and pens I have here," she said as she put notepads and pens on the counter. "Make sure you get the order right, come over here and tell me so I can tell the chefs what to make, deliver the order, and receive some tips if you can! By the way, nobody likes incomplete dishes or have a lot of them so be very careful!"

Pikachu was shown sitting on a chair besides Toadette. "I'm going to be the boss of all of you. I'll make sure you don't ignore a customer."

Nana looked bored at him. "Oh, since you're so small, you can't serve dishes, huh?"

"Yep," Pikachu said. "You guys won't have to worry about unattended tables."

Toadette clapped her hands. "What are you waiting for? We have 2 customers now! Chop-chop!"

"T-two? Who's the second one?"

Toadette pointed at the Hammer Bro.

"W-wasn't he the first?"

Toadette shook her head and pointed over to a table where Kirby was looking at the menu.

"W-wait, he doesn't have any money with him…" Chris said.

"We accept credit cards and any kind of money currency here," Toadette said. "I've browsed through lots of different money currencies before, and I ultimately decided to accept everything. We accept anything: Mushroom Coins, Bean Coins, Gil, Fol, Bells, Rupees, Rubies and whatever you name. Now go!"

"B-but Kirby doesn't hav-"

"Correction, he does," Marth corrected.

The World Traveler looked back where Kirby waved a Gold Credit Card at them.

"…Where in the name of Dreamland did he get his hands on a credit card?" Chris asked.

"Hello, we all have credit cards," Nana said as she showed him her own credit card. "You get many benefits from participating in Master Hand's tournaments. It's completely legal."

"And even some already had credit cards," Marth pointed out. "In your case…you have a wallet."

Chris looked miffed at Marth.

"…Just saying…"

"GO NOW!" Toadette yelled loudly. "And don't forget to greet them!"

"Chris, you take care of table number 12! Nana, you take care of the sixth table!" Pikachu ordered. "(Heheh, being the boss is very pleasing…)"

Nana looked annoyed before she went over to the Hammer Bro while Chris went to Kirby.

"(Uh-oh,)" Chris thought as he walked to an anxious Kirby. "(Kirby has a stomach without a bottom. I'm so worried about this now…)" He stopped by Kirby's side and chuckled nervously. "W-welcome to the Wonder Restaurant, sir, might I take your order?"

Kirby nodded. "I want 2 Mushroom Steaks and 1 Goomba Soda."

The World Traveler looked a bit surprised at the seemingly normal order from the black hole wielder.

"Is…something wrong?" Kirby asked.

"E-er, no…" Chris said before he dotted down the order. "Okay, 2 Mushroom Steaks and 1 Goomba Soda… I'll be right back, sir…"

Kirby looked happy as Chris made his way back to the counter.

Toadette crossed her arms and looked at Chris. "Well?"

"2 Mushroom Steaks and 1 Goomba Soda," Chris said while the rest of the waiters began to walk around the tables. "An easy order."

The Toad gal nodded and turned to the window behind her. "2 Mushroom Steaks!" she yelled loudly.

The World Traveler smiled a bit in relief. "(Well, this isn't going to be so bad. With such easy orders, I think we can make it just fine…)"

However, his thoughts of relief were quickly silenced after Chris looked at the window of the kitchen. What Chris couldn't understand was the fact that, from the window, the mentioned Mushroom Steaks came out pretty quickly. In fact, the dish looked very extravagant-looking since it was nicely simmered with a very fragrant and tasty aroma.

"…What?" Chris asked confused as Toadette merely grabbed the order and put it down in front of him on the counter. "H-how did… I mean… Er… Was the order already being made or what?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Toadette said. "You need to get the drinks from the machine over there, though." She pointed at a machine located to the left side of the door of the kitchen that had several beverages, many of which Chris didn't even think existed. "Get a red glass, fill it with the drink, take a straw, and take the order to the customer."

"…B-but…" Chris stared at the fresh steak in front of him. "H-how did this order…"

"Hello, we have people waiting!" Toadette recalled Chris. "Get working or no pay!"

The World Traveler shrugged and decided to bring the order to Kirby, wondering how the two steaks could be done so fast.

"Here…" Chris said as he gave the steaks to Kirby. "Hope you enjoy it, sir."

"Steak!" Kirby said happily as he grabbed his fork and knife and began to chow down the steaks by cutting them into little pieces.

"I-I'll go get your drink…" Chris said confused while he turned around and walked away. "(Phew, at least he didn't order everything…)"

By that time, Nana had already dotted down the Hammer Bro.'s order and walked to the counter. "1 Koopa Soup with a Bean Cappuccino."

Toadette turned to the window. "1 Koopa Soup!"

Nana smiled a bit as the bowl with hot soup was pushed through the window and given to Toadette…then after recalling how fast it was done, the pink Ice Climber looked a bit shocked. "What?" Nana asked.

"Take it away while it's hot," Toadette said simply.

"B-but…"

"Just take it, okay?" Toadette said. "The warmer, the better!"

Nana stared at her in confusion before she took the plate with the bowl on the top and carried it to the Hammer Bro. before she went over to get the drink.

Once Chris found Nana taking a glass, he looked worried. "Let me guess. The order came out in 3 seconds," he muttered.

"Yes…" Nana muttered back. "It was so weird…"

"...Well…we eat instant food at the mansion, don't we?"

"But Master Hand's not here," Nana said as she filled the glass with Bean Cappuccino. "Who is capable of making the orders so fast?"

"The chefs?" Chris asked.

"Maybe, but something sounds very fishy…"

"…Let's…work and see what or who makes the dishes so fast…"

"…Agreed…" Nana said before she walked away with a straw and the glass on each hand.

And so, some hours passed by in the restaurant. For their surprise, different kind of people began to come into the restaurant. The waiters were amazed to see that the restaurant had a fourth of the tables filled with different kinds of people such as Piantas, Goombas, Nokis, anthros, humans, Yoshis of different colors, Monty Moles, Goombas, Koopas, even Waddle Dees. In fact, there were many kinds of people who began to eat at the restaurant, and this fact was further supported once Marth looked outside the long window to see some people actually walking around on the sidewalks.

Toadette was possibly the most delighted person of the whole staff since she received big amounts of money that she put inside the cashier. Truthfully, she was very proud that the establishment gained some popularity.

"Amazing…" Marth muttered as he stared out of the window to look at the people. "The village is slowly gaining more citizens…"

And close to him, a bell rang on the ninth table.

"Well, time to get back to work…" Marth muttered as he turned around and walked over to the ninth table. "Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant…"

Marth blinked surprised to see both Link and Zelda sitting on the ninth table's chairs, both of them holding menus. The Altean blinked a few times at this while the other two did the same.

"…Hi…Marth…" Link said as he looked at Marth's attire. "Nice…uniform…" he added.

"You…work here, Marth?" Zelda asked surprised.

"…Yes," Marth said. "I wanted to give it a try with everyone so…yes…"

"…Oh…I see…" Zelda said as she and Link stared at Marth in an awkward silence. "…Well…since you're the waiter…can you take our orders or give us a recommendation?"

Marth shifted his eyes between the two. "Are you 2…er…" He raised a finger on each hand and put them close together to avoid saying a romantic word.

Both Hylians looked at each other shocked and looked back at Marth. "N-no!" Link and Zelda yelled embarrassed.

"I-I… W-we just wanted to eat some food here, okay?" Link said embarrassed. "I-I invited Zelda here as well…b-but it's not what it looks like, I swear!"

"T-totally to the whole extent of the word," Zelda added while she blushed slightly.

"…Oh…" Marth muttered. "Sorry for making conclusions…" He looked at Link. "Well, since Zelda asked me for a recommendation, I'm going to go ahead and give one to Link."

"Oh, nice," Link said a bit pleased. "Give me one, then."

"Would you like to eat some Octorok, Link?"

"Oh, I think I'm going to eat some of i-" Link shook his head and glared at Marth. "Hey, don't joke to me like that!"

Zelda stifled a chuckle behind her hand.

"A-and you don't do it, either!" Link said embarrassed.

"S-sorry, I couldn't resist…" Marth muttered with a chuckle. "A-anyway, what do you want to order?"

"I'd like to have a Royal Hyrule Salad and a small glass with Zora Tea, please," Zelda said.

Link sighed and looked annoyed at Marth. "1 Ordon Fish and a Red Chu Jelly drink, if you would…Marta."

Marth nodded and dotted down both orders. "Okay, I'll be right back with your orders…" He shook his head and gave Link an amused glare for the name. "…Be careful what you call me, Link… You wouldn't want me to be upset with you," he muttered before he walked away.

Link chuckled a bit while Zelda looked bored at him. "I think that was a bit rude of you," she commented.

"Serves him right for the Octorok thing," Link said amused. "I shouldn't have told him that part of my life."

Zelda sighed. "Oh well, I did the same thing with some people as you did…"

"Want to see your father?"

The princess looked annoyed. "No."

Meanwhile, in the baby corral area, a confused Chris watched as Riolu cheerfully played using the same big ball with none other than Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. More surprising to see was the fact that Baby Peach was staring with pure glee at the trio from the ball pool. The World Traveler looked extremely confused as to why the three were there. "W-what? How can they…" He thought for a moment. "Well, their baby versions were inexplicably around even during tourneys…" Chris looked back at the tables. "But…who brought them here?"

Chris spotted Mario, Luigi, and Peach talking and chatting with each other on the eighth table on the wall.

"…Maybe…they brought them here somehow…" Chris muttered before he heard a bell ring. "Oh, I need to respond to the call…" he muttered as he left the baby corral and walked to the seventh table, just besides the one where the three Mushroom Kingdoms residents were. There was probably a small person covering the face since the customer was still looking at the menu that he or she held. "Welcome to the Wonder Restauran-"

The menu was put down, and Chris's eyes widened in shock after he stared at the person's face…

"We meet again," said the little brown Toad girl with blue ribbons on her head and brown pigtails.

"(I-it's her!)" Chris thought in panic. "(I-it's the same freaky Toad girl I met when the village was a city!)"

"Now, shall we resume our talk?" the little girl asked.

"E-er, h-how did you come in here? A-are you alone or what?"

"My parents are in the bathroom," the little brown Toad girl said. "But that doesn't matter. I want to question more stuff and relevancies about the true nature of lif-"

"S-sorry, I need to go to the bathroom as well!" Chris interrupted as he turned around and walked as fast as he could from the freaky girl.

Once Chris got away, he stopped walking in front of the counter where a busy Pikachu was organizing every single order made by every single customer.

"I-I'm sorry, but I want someone else to attend table number 7…" Chris said between pants.

Pikachu, with glasses, adjusted them and looked at Chris. "That's so going to be reduced from your pay."

"H-hey, don't say that!" Chris said annoyed.

Pikachu sighed. "Fine, you lazy dude," he said annoyed. "Marth!"

The prince of Altea came to him. "Yes?" he asked.

"Chris here got scared and he refuses to answer table number 7's order. Would you attend it?"

"H-hey!" Chris said annoyed.

Marth looked confused. "Oh, I see. Well, I'm free so…" He turned around and went over to the seventh table.

The World Traveler shook his head in disbelief at this and looked at the busy Pikachu. "Y-you've made a big mistake, Pikachu…"

"Oh yeah, I should have made a sum about our salary befor-"

"N-not that!" Chris yelled. "I-I meant about the girl I saw before when this place was a city! S-she's here!"

Pikachu looked bored at him. "Chris, you need to let go of those memories now. The city's slowly coming to what it was before, and you're remembering how we lost tragically. I think you need some air."

"…N-no!" Chris said. "Y-you don't understand! T-that girl is probably the freakiest little Toad girl who you will ever meet! I swear she can make the brightest person get some kind of confusion that nobody could ever solve!"

"You seem normal so you must be exaggerating," Pikachu said before Marth returned. "Okay, tell us the order."

Something looked different from the Altean. Chris and Pikachu stared at Marth's blank face. His eyes were staring forward, he stood straight, and he looked like as if he saw a dead parent coming to life before him…or saw a ghost.

"…Marth, hello, I'm asking you to tell us the order," Pikachu said while Chris's jaw dropped.

An awkward silence soon followed when the Altean didn't reply back since his eyes were still staring forward.

"…Marth, I can't read minds."

"…Is everything we see…real?" Marth asked.

"…The hell does that mean?" Pikachu asked confused.

"I began to think that…we're all probably illusions created by our subconscious…" Marth muttered. "Life itself could be a lie…or it could be controlled by a puppeteer who pulls our strings and moves us around…and that puppeteer can make us see anything we want to see…and feel…"

The Electric type shifted eyes with Chris in an uncomfortable fashion. "…Marth, can you speak English or Japanese? Is that some kind of Japanese meaning or what? I can't seem to understand what you're even talking about."

"Let me ask you something," Marth said without even staring at any of them. "How do you know you're alive, Pikachu?"

"I'm breathing oxygen, duh," Pikachu said annoyed.

"But what makes you breath oxygen?" Marth asked. "Your lungs make you inhale oxygen, but what made your lungs?"

"My biological parents did," Pikachu said bored.

"Who made your biological parents?"

"Arceus did, and go to work already! You're starting to make no sense!"

"Maybe life doesn't make any sense…"

"Get out of my sight and attend the customers!"

Marth silently turned around and walked between all the tables. Pikachu looked miffed as Marth walked in a perfectly same manner without any small details. In fact, Marth looked like he was a statue that couldn't stretch anything else than moving.

"N-now you see!" Chris said.

"Of course I see," Pikachu said bored. "He forgot the damn order."

"…W-what?"

"He forgot the order!" Pikachu said. "Chris, sorry, but you'll have to resist whatever stupidity Marth heard and take the order of the customer."

"H-how am I going to resist the girl's philosophies about life? S-since Marth got like this, maybe she has more complicated and brain shattering questions than before!"

"There's no such ridiculous thing like that," Pikachu said. "Now go and attend the girl's order!"

"B-but…what if…I get…er…uh…um…er…"

"Go now before I resort to electrocution!"

Chris gulped and finally turned around to the seventh table way. As Chris was walking to the seventh table to attend the girl, Luigi seemed to be staring at the whole event from the eighth table. With a gulp, Luigi tapped Mario's right shoulder. "D-did you hear anything the girl aside our table said to Marth?" he asked terrified.

Mario looked at Luigi. "Um, no, I didn't… What did she say?"

"V-very scary stuff about life being a…lie…" Luigi shifted his eyes. "…I-is it a lie?"

Mario and Peach exchanged glances.

"…I-is it?"

"Ahem," Popo interrupted as he carried a plate on each hand with pasta and meat that he put on the table. "Here are your Poshley Pasta dishes for Mario and Luigi. I'll go for Peach's Sarasaland Deluxe Meat."

Mario looked surprised at the fresh pasta. "That was fast…"

"Believe me, everything's fast here," Popo said. "This place so lives up to his fast-food style." He turned around and walked away to the counter.

Peach looked a bit amazed at the dishes that both Mario and Luigi began to eat with forks. "Um, this restaurant is sure…elegant and very nice in service…"

"A-and very good at making pasta," Luigi commented before he resumed to eat his pasta.

And of course, Luigi didn't want to hear any truths about life at all. He just wanted to relax.

It looked like it was going to be a long day for the Smashers in the Wonder Restaurant…

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2…

Would you like to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

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Wonder Restaurant

Chris, Riolu, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Chrono Cross – Another Termina" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays in the alternate Termina of the other parallel world.

-Stiltzkin is a moogle that comes from the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. His knowledge is big as he likes to know about all the places he goes.

-"Final Fantasy IX – Vivi's Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It only plays the first time in Disc 1 where you get to control Vivi around Alexandria.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Stiltzkin is one of the few moogles in the Final Fantasy series who never says "Kupo" whatsoever.

And the first part is done.

If you think about it, Chip should be threatening since he's Light Gaia… However, once you see the Giga Colossus, and you then imagine Chip inside it…the thought you get instantly forgets how threatening Chip is…

And Master Hand further gives more abilities, but this time for all the Smashers. This happened mainly because it was unfair for some to have special abilities while everyone else was left in the dump. Don't worry, you don't need to keep track of their abilities. That's my role to follow.

The introduction of Stiltzkin will mark the opportunity to gain very special abilities. But unfortunately, they all will cost a lot of money. The little moogle is going to appear frequently whenever he's called outside battles.

And now, we have the main attraction: the Wonder Restaurant. This place is going to be the funniest side-quest you've seen until now. Remember that it ended a bit too soon because of how long this chapter turned out to be. You'll see what happens next in the mysterious restaurant in the next chapter…where you will see new and old faces appearing.

The next part will resume the planned scenes I have in mind, as well as the Wonder Restaurant. Again, I'm sorry for not publishing in a while. This story WILL never die for that matter.

Remember that you can vote in the profile's poll until chapter 164 comes.

Phew, I'm glad this went well. I hope you all got interested in the weird restaurant. Expect part 2 to come out very soon (like 2 or 3 days).

As always, I encourage readers to review and express how much you liked this chapter. ;)

…Or I'll send the little brown Toad girl with blue ribbons on her head and brown pigtails to your home. (By the way, she's just a small NPC used for humoristic purposes).

…Seriously, I'll send her to you.
*Chapter 163*: Why NPCs Are So Important: Part 2

Prepare yourselves for a long read. You've been warned, okay?

From TARDISreviewer: hm... nice to see moar abilities. This is more of a gap really, huh?

I also think this is the longest fic I've seen ever. (365 does have more chapters, but each one of those is very short. Not like this :))

From me: Well, I guess it's a gap.

Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: Send her to me anyway. I'd like to see who'd drive who insane first. NO COMMENTS ABOUT THE SMALL DRIVE, CHRIS!

This is a great chapter, I can't wait to meet Head Chef... *thinks it's Master Hand*

*predicts you'll say, "You'll see,' mysteriously*

Eh, I'll call this an A+/S-.

From me: The head chef of the workplace is going to be revealed in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this. ;)

From ngrey651: I believe one phrase can sum up all the adventures video game characters have involving asking the help or Gods in any way, shape or form. And it's this: The gods must be CRAZY. They're either evil, all powerful, or "old man NPCs" who give out advice that's about as useful as "Dodongo dislike smoke". XD

From me: At least side-quests help to give nice spoils. However, I don't know about the Dodongo part much…

Thanks again.

From PianistChris: Nice Chapter,

I liked the new side mission and the little toad girl seems scary...
The addition of the special abilities for each character, along with the threat of Lucario's Aura is something I look forward to reading.

Chris :P

From me: I do hope you enjoy what is to come next. And for that girl…let's hope she doesn't make any character get a mental trauma… Thanks. :D

From FF and STH: Great chapter man, the Restaurant was the fuuny part of it

also a question, you know that classic mode you did and how you said you were going to do one with event mode, are you going to do one with the Tourney

From me: I don't recall about making a tourney or the event mode, sorry if I disappointed you. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From StrawberryKiwiBanana: This is a good chapter. The little toad girl was priceless. But there were some grammar errors. Like, you wrote "What kind of person was him" when it should be "What kind of person was he". It's a small mistake, but could ruin the flow of a fic. Overall, though, you did a good job.

From me: Fortunately, I saw that error, so I corrected it. (I have to admit it was a small typo from my part…) Thanks.

From DianaGohan: Overall though this was a fairly strong chapter. It was mostly interspliced iwth exposition, new characters, new moves acquired, and attempts at humorous subplots. The scenes at the beginning IMHO were stronger then the scenes at the ending (Personally I think Wonder Resturant will be funnier next time since the set up was in this chapter and next time it will be able to stand more on it's own, and have an ending zinger that will make it stand out more) but there were good moments from the cast. Sonic Friends, the blue blur himself, Pikachu, Marth (mainly for his attempt to burn Link at the end), Kirby, Popo, Nana and others had amusing moments. Since this arc is more just building on the world then it is any slam bang action there wasn't any truly surprising or awesome scene but the story did move well (though like I said the ending moved slower then the beginning) which makes a good, decent read.

GRADE: B

From me: Well, remember I said this was a chapter that was split into 2? I did my best to adapt it, so I hope that's enough of an explanation. This chapter resumes that, though. Thanks. :D

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: FINALLY YOU POST! I've been super #%&* at you for not updating. But anyways good chapter.
Are there going to be anything Xbox only games. And just close the pole and announce the next world the suspense is killing me. Finally update soon and cheer for the release of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep in Japan cause that means its soon to be in the U.S.

Oh and thanks for updating!

From me: I don't think I'm going to do any Xbox games. However, I think I found a bit of an interest in Eternal Sonata, but it's very unlikely.

Thanks again. ;D

From SlasherMask: Liked Chris showing Sonic Unleashed cut scenes it was funny. BTW it reminded me of other person who has chars comment on cut scene moments.

Geez, Gnome is clearly mole.

Was funny chapter. BTW was it shorter than usual, or was that my imagination?

I dare you to send her to me. I dare you.

From me: Since you asked… "Sends little brown Toad girl with blue ribbons on her head and brown pigtails to you."

I know Gnome's a mole, but he kind of looks like a gerbil as well (a 'cartoonish' one).

Thanks. :D

From Blueberrypeach: There were a lot most of the subplots I like and other were just of my favorite parts is when the hands getting the DNA from Jiggypuff which is pretty part I like is Sonic messing with Knuckles and Chip complaining his Chip's job sucks because he live in the sphere for million years doing nothing until his brother went nuts and he has to tame his brother.

I like the idea that the smashers get to use the CFS and have their own abilities beside Chris the only one to have last side quest sounds interesting... I wonder if it's J.. naw it can't the ending,it was kinda slow and despite the Wonder Restaurant was entertaining to read and chaotic,it didn't feel complete and not as much lively as I thought due to the part it was cut , it caught my attention and it made me look forward for how hectic it's going to be.

From me: Hopefully, this second part will complete everything…I hope.

Thanks again. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hm, not a bad chapter overall. Considering all the things that Chris can buy now, it'll be shocking if it ever runs out, but it's still interesting to see it all. The reaction that everone gave to Chip's true identity was hilarious, though they'll be singing a different tune once thet fight dark gaia. The restaurant scene was really enjoyable, especially the scene with the toadgirl. With Riolu's development, it's good as well, it'll hopefully be a childhood Lucario will always remember. However, the only real small complaint is that most of the NPCS I've been seeing have been coming mainly from the mushroom kingdom. It's not that I hate that, but I'd like a bit more variety of NPCS from other games. Now for a...
ULTRA SPECIAL, BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
Will Vivi be appearing again?
Will Olimar be getting more screentime?

From me: I don't think Vivi will appear ever again. I don't know, though.

Olimar is going to have more screentime. He's going to appear even more in this part so be on the lookout for him. Thanks. :)

From ChrisCLX898: This wasn't one of the funnier chapters. Overall it was a good chapter. Just needs more comedy in it. I didn't see that coming where Riolu bit Chris's hands. That got me. It's great that there were some new moves and smash actions in this chapter. Well, update soon.

-Mognash898

From me: I hope there's more comedy here. However, there are rare instances where comedy isn't going to be portrayed (though these parts together should add comedy). Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From SnowGirl316: This chapter isn't bad. You know what would've been a great saga? Back in the Sonic X arc, the Metarex saga in this story would've been awesome. I can see Yellow Zelkova acting like the idiot that he is in the those chapters if you had added them in there. Oh yeah, Dark Oak, Black Narcissus, Red Pine, Bay Leaf Heh... bring them back from the dead-just kidding ;) Maybe you will, maybe not. Oh well, it's still my #1 favorite fanfic on the site! Nothing comes remotely close to this fic. I already told you but, I'm amazed at how on- point the character personalities are! I mean wow! You're a natural born fanfic writer, there's no other explanation. Keep it up 4 EVER!

From me: No, the Metarex Saga would have been a weird one to me to write for. Sorry, but there's no way that is going to be portrayed here ever again.

Thank you so much for liking my fiction. I hope you keep enjoying it to your heart contents. :D

From Decepticon Fan: Heh, funny! At least the Smashers won't fall asleep during Jigglypuff's song now. Can't wait for part 2!

P.S Sorry that this review is so short. I was REALLY sleepy at the time. Next review will be longer.

From me: Oh, don't worry about that. I don't demand for reviews unless they seem very stupid or if they are flames.

Okay, this chapter both was a pain in my fingers to write, but at the same time very pleasing. However, I REALLY dislike that my chapters get so long. I know I said it was going to be only a few days for this chapter to come out, but unfortunately, it grew very big so it would meet the requirements I wanted to have.

I promise the next chapter won't be much of a hassle and wait.

…

…Screw that! Promising is such a strong word and action. I'll do it instead.

This second part contains lots of things, from resuming the restaurant, to a special segment at the very end. There was no point in adding a Smash Channel section because no particular known characters came to mind. The section, however, will be featured in the next chapter.

The poll is officially closed. Check the profile to see who won. A new poll will start once I give out an announcement.

I highly recommend people to read this big(beep)s chapter in segments and not entirely in one sitting. I DO care about the welfare of the readers.

…

…Really, I do care.

...

...I'm warning you, really.

As always, I encourage readers to read and review to express how much you liked this chapter. :)

Disclaimer: Telma is Link's mother figure.

Chapter 163: Why NPCs Are So Important to Any Story: Part 2

It seemed the restaurant's popularity began to grow with the clients coming in and out. This not only made Toadette very happy, but it also made everyone else work harder until they got used to carry plates that were mysteriously cooked in the small spans of five seconds, something that bothered most of them.

Exactly, what or who was behind the mystery behind the fast cooking? Some of them thought Toadette hid a cooking machine in the kitchen that was able to cook anything at the speed of light. Whatever they thought would be a possible thing.

Unfortunately, it was still a mystery since Toadette and the clients kept all of them busy. However, there were times where the waiters would do something else when the tables were full (very unlikely events due to the fact they were all always busy).

Back at the reception area, Nana seemed to be taking her time to chat with Kat and Ana. All of them were chuckling for some reason. "A-and then the Topi said to the seller that the furred monster on the mirror wasn't a monster but him!" Nana said before all the girls broke out laughing loudly.

"N-nice, v-very nice…" Ana muttered as she shed a tear from her right eye that she wiped off. "I-I told you it was going to be nice to have you work with us."

"See how fun it is?" Kat asked. "We work and have a fun time as well."

"Oh my, why I didn't think of this before…" Nana said with a pleased sigh.

The doorbell of the double doors suddenly rang, signaling the arrival of a new customer.

"I need to get back to work," Nana said. "See you guys later."

"Laters," Kat and Ana said in unison before the pink Ice Climber walked away to the dining room.

Nana cracked her hands a bit in preparation for the next client as she saw the next customer coming in. The pink Ice Climber was surprised to see that the customer, who was nicely greeted by Kat and Ana, looked very young. However, instead of an adult, the customer was in fact a very young girl. This particular little red-haired girl with pigtails was around the same height as Nana, had brown eyes, wore a green apron with a skirt (that had the image of a very familiar leaf emblem printed on the right side corner) and yellow shirt underneath, blue-and-white striped socks, and brown shoes.

Something about the girl didn't make Nana feel so sure since she looked very young. Carefully thinking about receiving her, Nana walked to her in the least suspicious manner possible. "Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant," she said to her. "Do you come with your parents?"

The girl seemed to be looking around rather than listening to Nana, though…

"…Excuse me…" Nana muttered.

The girl smiled a bit as she still kept looking around.

"…AHEM!"

The girl shook her head in surprise and looked in shock at Nana. "O-oh my, I-I'm so sorry for not paying attention!" she said ashamed. "Really, I'm so sorry but I was just admiring the nice look of the restaurant…that's all…"

"Well, admire the people more and then I won't get angry…" Nana muttered bored.

The girl chuckled and bowed a bit to her in apology. "V-very sorry, really…" she said before looking back at Nana. "So…are there any available tables here for me to eat something?"

"Of course we have tabl-" Nana shook her head. "Wait just a minute now," she said bored. "You look awfully young to be alone, don't you think?"

"Am I?" the girl responded confused.

"Duh," Nana said. "You look very young to be around here. Where are your parents? Are you lost or something or what?"

The girl thought for a moment before she chuckled. "Oh no, you don't understand," she said. "My parents aren't here because I live alone."

"…" For a split second, Nana could have sworn Chris was standing in the same place where the girl was standing. "…Did…they leave you?" Nana asked.

"…" The girl tilted her head and shook it. "No… I…decided to start a life on my own…and they agreed…"

Nana narrowed her eyes at the seemingly nervous girl. "(Okay, this whole stuff about this girl is just plain weird. She's barely like…what…9 years old? But then again, Red's 10 years old and he lives his own life in the wild… That sounded pretty twisted… Whatever it is about this girl, though, something is very fishy about her… Who let their children have their own life so soon?)"

"U-um…" The girl looked back at Kat and Nana before looking back at Nana. "Aren't you all…children like me? And…aren't you working here?"

A record scratched in Nana's mind.

Nana stared in surprise at the little girl. "(…Wow…clever…)"

"…So…I think I have a reason since you seem to be like me…"

Nana sighed and dropped her shoulders a bit. "Oh well, you have a very valid point… (Dammit, she outsmarted me…)"

The girl clasped her hands together behind her back and smiled at Nana. "Anyhow, is there an available table? I'd like to eat something in this nice-looking restaurant before I go to the Smash Mansion to deliver a special letter."

Nana nodded. "Yes, we have 9 tables open," she said. "Follow me this wa-"

The pink Ice Climber recalled the girl's words again.

"…Deliver a special letter to the Smash Mansion?" Nana asked.

The girl nodded. "Yes, Mayor Tortimer personally requested me to deliver this mail to the mansion… Well, he was going to tell the mailman to deliver it, but I was around in the Town Hall and I happened to be a bit bored since I had 2 weeks off work so…I asked him if I could deliver the letter myself and I set out this morning to get there…" She looked around a bit before looking worried at Nana. "However, I didn't know where the mansion was... I rode my bike and went anywhere without even knowing the destination…then I think I got lost and ended up in this village…"

"…I…see…" Nana said. "(She's a victim of the random people appearing here just like Stiltzkin…)" She looked at the familiar emblem on the girl's skirt. "(…Wait, that emblem…)"

"But…do you know where is it?" the girl asked. "I really need to deliver the letter before it gets late…"

"…Say, that emblem you have on your skirt…" Nana trailed off.

The girl blinked and looked down at her emblem. "Oh, you mean Nook's Cranny emblem?" She looked at her attire a bit. "This is just a small uniform for Tom Nook's employees. Right now, I'm not wearing any of my dresses."

"That's good, but…" Nana tapped her gloved hand on her forehead, swearing in her mind that she had seen the emblem somewhere else. "Are you…from…"

Then, it hit Nana's mind.

"…Oh yeah!" Nana recalled. "Are you a resident from Animal Village?"

The girl nodded. "That's right, I live there," she said. "Wait, how do you know?"

"I know that because of… Do you know something about a Smashville?"

The girl looked confused. "Smashville… Smashville… Smashville…" she repeated constantly before recalling the name. "Right, I do know about Smashville! It was the town's suggested name!"

"…What?" Nana said confused. "Come to think of it, I thought the name was Smashville… I happened to hear it was Animal Village before…"

The girl shook her head. "No, it's Animal Village," she said. "There were 2 reasons why Mayor Tortimer wanted it to be Animal Village rather than Smashville…"

"What were those reasons?"

"Well, the fact that the town's billboard had enough space for 8 letters, and Smashville has 10 letters…" the girl explained. "…And since Smashville was a suggested name for a person named Master Hand, the supposedly owner of the Smash Mansion…well…thing is…Mayor Tortimer thought the name sounded so barbaric and primitive and offensive and…sort of discriminating…"

"…"

"…I-it's the truth," the girl said. "Even most of the people of Animal Village said it sounded so barbaric…e-even I did…" she said. "N-not only that, but Mayor Tortimer said that the people who were working under Master Hand's command were some persons called Smashers… Mayor Tortimer defined every single one of them as 'barbaric morons who only know how to throw fists and kicks without even caring about disrupting a nice tea time for us spectators' or something along the line…"

Surely, Nana understood the girl's message. However, she got very offended after Nana herself was defined as a barbaric moron who only knew how to throw fists and kicks without even caring about disrupting a nice tea time for the spectators of Animal Village.

Nana wanted to point out she was a Smasher…

"…And Animal Village is an acceptable name that exceeds that 8-title letter limit because…" Nana trailed off annoyed.

The girl chuckled nervously. "T-to be honest, 'Animal' was the only word carved into the billboard…and then, besides it, we put up another billboard with the word 'Village' carved into it…"

"…And the village didn't have a longer billboard because…"

"The wood of the trees aren't long enough…and putting pieces together would make the billboard look decrepit…" the girl pointed out. "…Besides, 'Smashville' was already defined as a barbaric name for the village…"

Nana faked a smile. "Oh, it is a barbaric name because it comes from the barbaric morons who only know how to throw fists and kicks without even caring about disrupting a nice tea time."

"…You…could say that…" the girl said. "…T-thing is I don't know…"

"…Well," Nana began with an amused smile, "please tell that stupid mayor something for me…"

The girl didn't understand why Nana resorted to the small harsh words at all. "…Yes?"

"Tell him that I wanted to tell him that I'm NOT a barbaric moron who throws fists and kicks without even caring about some tea time…and that I use a FREAKING hammer to smack down idiots like him instead of punches or kicks!" Nana yelled.

The girl took a step back and moved her arms close to her chest. "W-why are you looking angry? A-are you…related to the…um…barbaric morons?"

Nana's eyes widened in fury at the seemingly naïve girl. "I AM a barbaric moro-I mean, I AM a Smasher myself!"

The girl studied Nana's uniform for a moment. "…You're…a Smasher?"

"…" Nana looked at her black version of her parka. "This is just a uniform…"

"W-well…" the girl began with a gulp, "I-I don't see why you need to let out your anger towards me… I-I didn't even do anything wrong…"

Nana's quick breaths suddenly came to a halt after realizing she had yelled to an innocent girl who didn't have most to do with the offensive nickname. The pink Ice Climber sighed in shame and looked a bit worried. "Oh my goodness, what was I doing…"

"Y-yelling at me…"

"I know," Nana said. "…But anyway, I'm a Smasher of the Smash Mansion…"

For Nana's look, Toadette had been busy assorting the gained money that she didn't see anything that Nana did to the girl.

"…And…you came to the right place…" Nana added. "…In fact, the mansion is just up north of the big hill… You can't miss it if you go that way…"

The girl shifted her eyes a bit. "…Thank…you…whoever you are?"

"…Nana," Nana said sighing. "I'm Nana of the Ice Climbers…"

The girl sighed in relief and bowed again to Nana. "It's a pleasure to meet a Smasher…I guess… My name is Ai."

"Ai?" Nana repeated. "Ai as in Artificial intelligence?"

"Er…uh…no…" the little girl named Ai said. "It's just Ai…"

"I see…" Nana said. "…Well, nice to meet you too, Ai. Sorry for yelling at you."

"I-I should be sorry for not knowing about you," Ai said with a nervous chuckle. "I-I don't know much about the Smash Mansion, Smashers, or you…t-that's because I recently moved to the village… Even I think there's more to the name Smashville but…I just don't know much…"

The pink Ice Climber understood the girl. "Oh, I see… Well, hopefully you're going to start knowing about us, right?"

"If I take my time, then I guess I can…" Ai said. "I like to meet a lot of people and become friends with them. It's much easier for me to be in a happy mood by having lots of friends."

Nana knew right away that Ai was a very innocent girl. Ai herself made Nana think that the girl from Animal Village was very sincere.

Ai made a happy expression. "That way, living my own life is much more enjoyable, don't you think?"

Who cared if the girl could fend life on her own? Ai looked very sure of herself to Nana. Judging Ai surely was a big mistake for Nana to do.

Perhaps the fact that Nana smiled was a sign of a small bond between the two had just begun.

"You know, it was rude of me to do all those things on you," Nana said. "So you live your own life?"

Ai nodded. "It's a really easy thing to do. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to live in such a peaceful town like Animal Village. At first I thought I wasn't going to make it through, but once I settled down in my home, everything became much clearer than I thought." She smiled happily at Nana. "You should drop by in my house…if you want… You don't look like a barbarian…I-I mean…like one at all…"

Nana rolled her eyes. "It was your mayor's fault, not yours," she said. "I can guess you know we had a…stage there…right?"

"…" Ai looked away. "N-no… I barely arrived at the village some months ago… I heard very little about that detail… I think I'm the only one of the whole village who is clueless about it…"

"Oh, that's okay," Nana said. "If you want, I can take you to the mansion to deliver that letter you're supposed to deliver."

Ai looked at her with a relieved expression. "Would you do that for me, Nana?"

"Sure, I don't mind," Nana said. "That way, your misunderstandings about us aren't going to make you believe we ar-"

"O-of course not!" Ai said. "I can tell there's decency in you so I think there's more decency with the Smashers, right?"

Nana's eyes looked away. "There are just a few who are like that, though…" Her eyes looked back at Ai. "But we're nice people."

Ai looked very pleased. "Maybe I can end up being friends of them?"

"Just stay away from the adults because…here between us…" Nana got closer to Ai's left ear, "they're shady and scary-looking. I'm friends with some of them, but can you make it pass through them?"

Ai thought for a moment. "Does the fact I'm friends with everyone in Animal Village makes it good enough?"

Nana pulled herself back. "Hmm…I guess it's enough… We'll see later, okay?"

"Sure!" Ai said excited. "I can't wait to meet all of them so soon."

"Just meet a few though because it's hard for me to cope well with everyone," Nana said. "Okay, Ai, since I should be back to work, you should find a seat."

Ai nodded and chuckled. "Would you…show me a seat, please? I just came here…"

"Of course," Nana said. "Lead the way. You'll have to act like you didn't know me because Toadette is a bit bossy about us talking with the customers for so long. I had luck she didn't spot me talking with you."

"Don't worry; I can do that just fine," Ai said.

"Good," Nana said as both girls began to walk to the twelfth table. "(You know, she's not half-bad at all. She lives alone by herself because she wanted to, and Chris does share the same trait… Maybe I can make Ai meet Chris… Yes, that'd be a nice move from me. Those 2 could become acquainted in a short time…and maybe even me.)"

Nana looked back at Ai.

"(…Actually, I already did.)"

Ai smiled a bit at Nana as she did the same while they walked to a table.

Some tables away from them, a freaked out Chris was there embracing himself tightly while walking around. Fortunately for him, he managed to withstand the little girl with blue ribbons on her head and brown pigtails' talk, unlike Marth the Zombie who was somehow still dotting down orders with a blank look that made some customers get scared a bit. "L-life…is not a lie…" Chris muttered with a gulp. "I-it's not definitely a lie…"

His scared murmurs were soon interrupted by the sounds of a bell close to him.

Chris closed his eyes and slowly regained his composure. "(Get a hold of yourself, Chris… You need to keep working and forget you ever met that girl…well, that's a hard part…but you need to focus…)" he thought to himself as he turned around to face the customer of the nineteenth table on the southeast corner of the restaurant. Opening his eyes, he bowed at the client. "Okay, welcome to the Wonder Restaurant. May I take your or…"

The World Traveler blinked a bit surprised after he saw his next customer waiting for him to take the order. (Hopefully, it wasn't the girl…)

Out of the different kinds of people of the restaurant, the client would stick out from the whole crowd. The customer was a very elegant, gorgeous-looking woman with a straight face that implied she was insightful. This silver-haired woman wore mostly black: black boots with long black heels that reached her black tight shirt. The woman also wore a long jacket that reached behind her calves. The woman wore also some long earrings and black pearls necklaces around her neck. To combine her long silver hair (that reached her back and chest), she had silver eyes as well.

It was easy for Chris to define the woman to the ranks of Snake since they both wouldn't surely take a step into the universe. However, Snake already did…and so did the woman.

"…Aren't you supposed to finish what you said?" the woman asked.

Being the video game fanatic of the Smashers, Chris had played many games before. The knowledge he had gained from all his games allowed him to recognize the sharp-looking woman very easily. However, it would sound very suspicious of him to address directly the woman's name to her without even having met heard of her of another way than from the usual TV screen of his room.

"…der?" Chris finished.

The woman looked a bit amused at this. "Not literally…but that's okay for me."

"Right…" Chris said before he shook his head. "What would you like to eat?"

The woman didn't have to glance at the menu at all. "I would like to have some tea. I don't care which one you bring me unless it's cold or has a bad taste."

"I-I'm sorry, but you have to specify the order…" Chris said.

"…" The woman glanced at the menu and looked at him. "...Koopa Tea…" she said, somehow not liking how the name of the drink sounded.

"…R-right away, madam," Chris said before turning around to walk to the drink machine. "(But…how? How did she end up here?)"

"Hey."

The serious tone of the woman made Chris stop in his tracks. The waiter World Traveler closed his eyes a bit in preoccupation before he turned around to face her again, his eyes opening once more. "Yes?" he asked, trying to keep his calmest state.

The silver-haired woman looked around, her eyes fixing on the odd-looking people such as Piantas and Nokis. "Normally I wouldn't ask something like this since it's not common, but…is this some kind of village that likes to hold costume festivals?"

The World Traveler stared blankly at the woman's guess and herself. Of course she would ask something like that since she herself came from a world where it could be an almost-perfect replica of Chris's world. Would Chris tell her the truth, though? "W-well…about that…"

"Please don't say more."

Chris gasped a bit in his mind.

The woman closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's clear to see the obvious. You don't need to explain anything to me."

"(…My god…)" Chris thought worried as the woman kept her face from changing. "(D-did she just find out that this is not her world? …Of course, she did… She isn't stupid at all…)"

"I would like to have my tea," the woman interrupted Chris's thoughts.

The World Traveler nodded to her. "Certainly," Chris said before he turned around. However, the waiter had to make some talk with the woman or else it would bother him that she would be walking around the village through the countless amounts of different-looking people. With a gulp, Chris turned back at her. "By the way…"

"Yes?"

It seemed that the woman was still staring at Chris.

"…" Chris closed his eyes before he opened them again and stared at the woman. "My name is Chris, nice to meet you."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "I thought the waiters weren't supposed to have talks with customers."

"I-I know, but…you look…kind of…interesting to me…"

"…"

Chris kept staring at the woman in silence before she leaned her back to the chair and crossed her arms.

"Sorry, boy," she said fairly amused to him. "But I'm going to be frank with you."

The World Traveler's eyes widened in shock at the amusing look that the woman gave to him. Many different thoughts raced through Chris's mind that made him feel very uncomfortable, and one would tell it was all because of the woman he just met a few minutes ago. Sweat began to run down across his forehead, and his eyes began to shake a bit in fear. Just staring at the woman made Chris think he was trapped in a cage where she could use interrogation as no other person would use.

"I don't like to love younger people than me. With that said, you're not my type either."

…And suddenly, Chris's panicked look changed to one which hinted traces of embarrassment.

"…Oh…" Chris muttered in a low tone as he blushed.

"…But I guess it doesn't hurt to say my name to you," the woman continued. "My name is Nozomi Weaver."

At least the World Traveler was able to communicate with the enigmatic woman named Nozomi. "(Nozomi Weaver...)" Chris thought. "(…A special doctor and surgeon known for having a supernatural ability to cure patients in a very unusual way that only a few possess... If I recall, she lost her license as a doctor in Japan but then later got a new license and name by an organization that developed very dangerous man-made diseases and used her to cure their guinea pigs for further tests... Also...she comes from a futuristic era than mine like 10 years in the future... However, I know that isn't her real name at all because that's her fake one...)"

"I'm glad we got to be acquainted," Nozomi said. "Personally, I was getting a bit confused to see such a weird amount of people in here. At least there are people who don't like to dress up in costumes."

Chris sighed in relief. Nozomi surely thought they were all wearing costumes.

"However, most of their costumes seem very realistic..."

Chris looked shocked.

"...But I'm not going to keep talking about people I barely know about," Nozomi said. "I'm sorry for being a bit pushy, but I'd like to have my tea now...Chris."

The waiter snapped out from his shocked look and nodded to her. "V-very well," he said before turning around, wondering many things about the silver-haired woman. "(How did she end up here?)" Chris thought in confusion. "(She was the last person who would stumble into this realm... Well... Snake shouldn't be here yet he is here...so I think I can draw a comparison between him and her...)" He looked forward with a worried look. "(But the fact she comes from an era where that malicious disease exists... It doesn't mean we could be facing that as well...right?)"

Chris made a mental sigh.

"(You're over thinking too much...)" he thought to himself. "(Just try to relax and hope she doesn't get involved in any of our matters because she wouldn't believe it...)"

Back at the nineteenth table, the woman interlaced her fingers while putting her elbows on her table. "(What is this place exactly?)" she thought with some curiosity. "(I haven't seen anyone like these people before. To be honest, I haven't seen anything like this at all... Man, what did I just get myself into?)" She looked at a black umbrella and a black briefcase leaning to the wall that she had with her. "(Normal walks through the Royal Park in London during the rain usually don't take you to unknown villages...)"

Her silver eyes narrowed a bit.

"(...Maybe…I could stay here and find out what's going on here… This could prove to be a bit worthwhile...)" she thought interested.

As Nozomi pondered more about the realm she didn't know about, Popo silently walked in front of her and went over to table number fifteen located to the front of the window. The blue Ice Climber had already heard that a bell rang on the same table where a customer was still looking at the menu from the other side of the table. Because of that, Popo didn't see the customer's face. "Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant. What would you like to eat?"

The customer lowered the menu and looked at him. "I would like to eat some Miso Stew only, you..."

Popo's eyes widened, and so did the customer's.

"…YOU!" Popo and the customer muttered loudly so they wouldn't attract the attention.

"What are you doing here?" Popo asked in pure disbelief. "I thought you left with that Raven guy and the others a long time ago!"

From all the people the Smashers had met before, surely the Genius Mage was the most dangerous person to take a step into the mansion. Popo had found none other than Rita Mordio in the very same restaurant he was working.

"Y-you again!" Rita said surprised. "Y-you're that weirdo twin with the wacky attitude!"

"And you're that girl with the dangerous magic who almost assassinated Master Hand…and everyone else!" Popo said.

Rita crossed her arms. "What are YOU doing in a place like this? I thought you were supposed to be somewhere else where you wouldn't weird people out!"

"Duh, I work here part-time," Popo said mildly annoyed. "I mean, didn't you see the other guys?"

"Well, how should I know?" Rita asked annoyed. "I didn't know there was this village where the cemetery of wrecked buildings was before." She looked away. "So this place got a renovation?"

"Yeah."

"At least it looks good enough," Rita said before looking back at Popo. "And if you're asking why I'm here, I have a pretty good reason."

"What would that reason be?"

Rita closed her eyes. "We defeated Alexei back at Terca Lumireis," she explained. "After that happened...we're going through a lot to stop another menace but by the time being we're resting now."

Popo stared at her. "And...you came here?"

Rita opened her bored eyes and looked away. "To be honest, I didn't want to come back here again. I just took a walk in a forest to look for some Blastia because I was bored...then I ended up here...again." She looked back at Popo. "I think I can go back to Aspio from where I came from, but well, maybe it's good to see a familiar face...b-but don't even think I haven't forgotten everything I went through in my stance at that mansion with the bunch of weirdoes!" she said annoyed. "I'll have you know that I've become even stronger than before so watch your mouth, okay?!"

"(Geez, she didn't change with that explosive attitude of hers...)" Popo thought bored.

"…Why are you staring at me like that now?" Rita asked upset at the face Popo gave her. "Where's my Miso Stew?"

Popo rolled his eyes. "Right away, my nice client," he said before he walked away to the counter.

Rita's pupils shrunk as a sign of annoyance while she looked up bored at the ceiling. "Why the hell do I have to make such bad impressions to people? Thanks to that, Estelle will never forgive me..." She sighed and stared forward at the rows of tables with people. "Whatever, I'll just relax for the time being...but…better think to listen to Estelle…"

As the Genius Mage waited around a minute for Popo to bring the suspiciously, quickly done stew to her, Nana, having left Ai to eat her bowl with Topi Ice Cream, was struggling on her own by a undecided customer with other people at the fourth table.

"I dunno," Barry said as he scratched his head a bit at the menu. "I can't decide between both the Viridian Rodeo Meat and the Rustboro Omelet."

Lucas (the trainer) slapped his forehead for the fifth time. "Barry, just decide already! You're taking her time away..."

"Oh no, no!" Barry said annoyed as he kept staring at the menu. "You guys already ordered, and I don't wanna be looking at both of you eating while I'm not even eating! I need my food to grow, y'know. Do you want me to eat a napkin?"

"Only you would think about actually doing it, Barry..." muttered Dawn annoyed.

Barry rolled his eyes before looking back at the menu while Nana impatiently tapped her right foot on the floor. "Hello, you need to order now before I go," she reminded Barry. "Decide now or else I'll go."

"You wait right there!" Barry demanded, his eyes still fixed at the menu. "I'm about to decide. Just you wait!"

Nana looked annoyed at him. "I've been waiting here for some 10 minutes now!" she complained before turning around to look at the busy restaurateur behind the counter. "Toadette, this guy just won't pick up an order! Can I leave him?"

"No!" Toadette yelled back as she sorted out the different money currencies they had received from satisfied customers. "You're bound to listen to what they want! Until they tell you what they want, then you can leave!"

"What? That's bias!" Nana yelled.

"Ha-ha, you need to hear me out before you go-o," teased an amused Barry as he kept staring at the menu.

The pink Ice Climber wasn't going to stand up for this for even longer, but she had to listen to Barry or else she wouldn't receive her pay. She'd rather smack his head down, but violence wasn't required in the establishment, much for her dismay.

"Please, forgive him," Dawn whispered at Nana. "He had a very difficult childhood with me..."

"Oh, thank you," Nana said with sarcasm. "I didn't even NOTICE that the first time I saw him."

Lucas smacked down his head on the table. "Please, bear with him a bit more..."

"You guys are just lucky you get to stay at the mansion," Nana said. "Fine, I'll wait here until he decides..."

"Yes, that's right. You're my little slave for the time being," Barry said without making eye contact with a fuming Nana.

While this happened, a shrugging Chris passed close to the zombie Marth as the World Traveler headed to the ninth table to attend a family of three Piantas: a father, a mother, and a daughter. Upon arriving there, Chris greeted them with a smile. "Welcome to the Wonder Restaurant. What would you like to eat?"

The green Pianta, the father of the family, spoke to Chris. "Yes, we would like to order 9 Fungitown Mushroom Pastas, 4 Deku Stews, and 5 Sirena Salads."

Chris dotted down the seemingly big order. "Okay... I'll be right back in a minute," he said.

The World Traveler thought that the order itself was just too much for the whole family to eat. In fact, all the given orders to the waiters had been pretty straight forward by now, but not like the order Chris had taken. It was surely going to take the five chefs of the restaurant some time to prepare all the dishes.

Chris stopped in front of Pikachu and the counter. "This is a big order... 9 Fungitown Mushroom Pastas, 4 Deku Stews, and 5 Sirena Salads!"

Pikachu looked a bit surprised. 'That's sure a big order for a family of 3," he remarked before turning to the window to the kitchen. "9 Fungitown Mushroom Pastas, 4 Deku Stews, and 5 Sirena Salads!" he yelled before turning to Chris. "Well, there you go."

The World Traveler nodded at the order. "I'm going to be attending other people's orders in the meantime...and..."

Were Chris's eyes deceiving him, or did the huge order appear on the window to the kitchen? In fact, plates began to be pushed out from the window at the same pace that they soon filled the whole window. Chris hadn't noticed the fact the window itself was long enough to hold all those dishes together.

"Looks like they're ready," Pikachu said without showing signs of surprise or shock. "Go now."

Chris stared at pure disbelief as Pikachu began to bring all the plates to the counter. Thinking quickly, the World Traveler took as many plates as he could carry to the ninth table. It was pure luck that the ninth table was just close to the counter. Chris had to make several trips back and forth to bring all the plates to the pleased family.

"Thanks!" the little Pianta girl said happily before they all began to eat their plates in silence.

The waiter just couldn't believe that the whole table was occupied by a big amount of dishes. It looked extremely awkward to see that none of the customers had said a complaint about what they ordered and plainly ate all the dishes in perfect peace.

No, it was IMPOSSIBLE to see something like this. Heck, Chris even thought he gave a whole buffet to a family...and they were happy about it? What did just take place in the restaurant?

Shaking his head, Chris began to hear more ringing sounds from the tenth table to the right where a purple Toad waited anxiously for him. Upon arriving, Chris greeted the Toad. "What would you like to eat?" he asked as he prepared his pen and notepad.

"I'd like to have 8 Saffron Fondues, 9 Pagoda Peak Rice Plates, and a Petalburg Soda," said the Toad simply.

Chris carelessly let go of his pen in disbelief after hearing the order. He stared in shock at the small Toad, and a split second at the small stomach of the customer.

"..." The Toad tilted his head confused. "Is something bothering you?"

"E-er..." Chris shook his head and picked up his pen again. Trying not to sound very shocked at the order, he asked the customer with a clever question, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you ordered... Care to repeat?"

"Oh, of course, I can tell you again."

Chris sighed in relief. His ears were surely a bit sore after hearing so many ringing sounds from the tables' bells. The Toad surely didn't just order...

"8 Saffron Fondues, 9 Pagoda Peak Rice Plates, and a Petalburg Soda."

The World Traveler stared in shock at the Toad. However, Chris reminded himself not to look weird to anyone, and he tried his best not to look shocked at him while Chris, shaking pen in right hand, wrote down the big order from the only Toad. "O-okay, I'll bring them all to you..." he said before turning around and quickly walking as fast as possible to the counter. "U-um...w-we have another big order..." he said to Toadette.

Toadette smiled. "We do?"

"D-do you see that Toad in the tenth table, close by the reception?" he asked before Toadette took a peek of the purple Toad. "H-he just ordered...8 Saffron Fondues, 9 Pagoda Peak Rice Plates, and a Petalburg Soda..."

Surely, Toadette would see this as a strange happening...but for Chris's dismay, Toadette lifted her shoulders a bit and turned to the window to the kitchen. "8 Saffron Fondues, and 9 Pagoda Peak Rice Plates!"

"...What?" Chris just couldn't understand why Toadette didn't even get shocked at the order. Nothing about the whole nonsense made any sense to him for the most part. "Y-you're not..."

And the orders were merely pushed out from the other side of the window, all of them having that fresh aroma of high rate food. Toadette chuckled at this and began to bring every single plate in front of the terrified waiter. "C'mon, show some spirit!" she said once she finished bringing all the plates.

"...B-but..." Chris's lips trembled as he looked down at the line of plates for the lone costumer.

"Once you bring all the plates to the table, give him his soda."

"A-aren't you even thinking this looks odd?" Chris asked.

"Not at all."

The hell did Toadette just respond to Chris?

"Go now! Chop-chop!" Toadette said cheerfully.

"T-this...this is just...just so...but...I..." Chris shook his head continuously before he was forced to bring every single dish to the Toad. It was just entirely impossible that the small Toad would eat everything on sight. Chris even thought the customer was probably Kirby in disguise, but the Toad was surely a normal guy who just wanted to come and eat whatever his little stomach wanted to eat.

Of course, it looked extremely bizarre to think about something like that.

While this happened, a skeptical Popo walked to the counter. "There's a big order from a Noki," he said, "6 Spicy Pasta Dishes, 7 Hot Dogs, and an Herb Tea."

Toadette turned to the window. "6 Spicy Pasta Dishes and 7 Hot Dogs!" she yelled.

And for Popo's surprise, the orders appeared right inside the window's frame.

"What?" he said confused before Toadette began to bring all the plates to the counter. Shaking his head and pondering many times the fast service, the blue Ice Climber shrugged for two seconds and began to bring all the plates to the red Noki he was serving. He later went for the Herb Tea.

The still terrified Marth walked to the counter, and in a monotone voice, he said "8 Lovely Noodle Dishes, 5 Shroom Steaks, and a Veggie Set."

Unlike Popo or Chris, Marth didn't question that all fourteen plates were soon delivered to the window before being taken by Toadette to the counter. With plates on each hand, Marth silently made his way to the eleventh table.

It should be noted he was serving Kirby, who now decided to eat more than before.

Soon enough, the quartet of waiters noticed (with Marth as an exception) that the customers had very crazy orders to give them. Occasionally, they all would deliver extremely hard orders to any customer that would range from almost everything in the long menu. It became impossible to think that many people had the guts to challenge themselves by eating huge amounts of dishes. What was more terrifying to see was the fact that, to add further the craziness of the orders, the customers had actually eaten everything on the table.

It just didn't make any sense for the waiters. How could normal people like Toads, Nokis, Piantas, Yoshis (although they could be a bit understood from this), and Monty Moles eat so much? Nana wondered if they asked Kirby to have his bottomless stomach's ability; a thought she later discarded.

It was scary to see that a little Toad was eating ten whole Fried Shroom Plates. Chris saw horrified the tower of roasted mushrooms that the little Toad was eating in complete peace. Hell, the plate itself over passed the little Toad's height. Without being noticed, Chris walked close and overheard the mother telling something to the child, the kid apparently wanting to order a Honey Shroom.

"Not until you finish your 10 Fried Shroom Plates! You need to grow strong, honey."

Bizarre, it was bizarrely bizarre to hear such an easy yet twisted sentence to a little child.

For Chris's dismay, there was another order from the eighteenth table; a very crazy order as he had expected that were Nine Dyllis Lunches and seven Ink Pasta Dishes.

And the World Traveler, once having said the order to a busy Toadette, slammed down his head hard on the counter. "N-no more..." Chris pleaded. "I-I can barely believe that they like to eat here so much..."

Toadette turned around, ignoring the tired butler. "Next order's coming up!"

"A-are you even listening to me?" Chris asked annoyed before he saw plates being taken around his head.

"9 Dyllis Lunches and 7 Ink Pasta Dishes!" Toadette yelled with enthusiasm.

While Chris wished to die a silent death for the whole nonsense, Nana passed behind him holding a Mango Juice for a blue Yoshi. The pink Ice Climber thought by herself that she needed seriously a break (since she had already delivered six Mushroom Crepes and eight Mushroom Delicacies). "Insane," she muttered under her breath as she gave the juice to the happy Yoshi. "This is just insane," she said with more emphasis.

She noticed Marth passing behind her. As always, the only words beside the greeting words of the restaurant that Marth said were "I'm breathing…but am I real?"

Nana thought he was a lost cause now. Poor prince shouldn't have met the little girl from before.

Was there anyone in the whole establishment who would have liked to order something more believable and less threatening to the common stomach? The waiters wanted to wait for such a person to order few plates. Sadly, this never took place, much for their dismay.

The only ones that didn't even think about ordering huge amounts of dishes were the people that the Smashers either met or knew well. Ai could barely believe the Monty Mole family behind her was eating around twenty different plates. Rita just looked fairly disgusted at the group of three Yoshis behind her eating eighteen bowls of Miso Stew. And Nozomi…didn't care much about the whole scene whatsoever.

Chris was called by Olimar to the first table. Sighing in relief, Chris smiled at Olimar. "Oh, Olimar, are you here to eat?"

Olimar shook his head. "No, I'm here because I'm inviting my friends to eat here."

"What friends are those?"

Olimar pointed at the Red, Blue, Yellow, Purple, and White Pikmins spread across the table, all of them sitting on their own chairs.

The World Traveler blinked shocked to see that each Pikmin was holding their menu. It was more shocking to see that they set the menus down and looked at him, producing silence.

"…Can they even eat?" Chris asked.

"Of course they do," Olimar said.

"…Well, I didn't hear them saying what they wanted…"

"Oh, I can understand them very well," Olimar said. "They said they would like to eat 18 Fruity Hamburgers, 20 Heavy Meals, 15 Omelet Plates, and 7 jars of Sap Syrup please."

"…" That was it. It was by far the biggest order Chris had ever received, and from Olimar's Pikmins no less. Chris, fortunately, kept holding his pen and notepad in shock. "T-they want to eat ALL that? T-they don't have mouths except for the Blue Pikmin!"

"Yes," Olimar said in simplicity. "My Pikmins like to eat a lot. At first, when they sucked biggest pools of flower nectars, I got shocked, but then I got used to their big appetite."

"(B-but that's a big order still!)" Chris thought.

"Would you bring them here what they want?" Olimar asked as he showed Chris a credit card. "I have my own money account. Good thing I retrieved enough materials in my adventures to get lots of Pokos."

The World Traveler was afraid of this, but he turned around and decided to take on the order by himself.

"Hey, you only brought 9 Town Specials and I wanted 10!" complained a Goomba in the second table to Popo. "I'm not eating this!"

"W-wait, I just forgot 1 of them!" Popo said in his defense before the Goomba hopped down his chair and walked away through the corridor. Popo looked at the table with around nineteen dishes. "Who's going to eat all that now?"

"Waitress!"

Nana stopped walking around on her tracks. The pink Ice Climber just had enough about the whole thing since she had served around two hundred plates, and it was amazing to see that they didn't run out of ingredients yet. But she just had to attend the order either way. Her temper was surely going to explode in any moment now, and her pen was surely about to break in half.

Sighing loudly, she turned to the tenth table with a single Boo. "What would you like to eat?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I would like to eat 1 Block Meal."

Music stops

At last, Nana heard a very easy order after two hours had passed. It was the hugest relief she had gotten through the entire day, and she was going to thank god for giving her what she wanted so much to hear from a normal costumer. Smiling relieved, she dotted down the order on her notepad. "Okay, sir, I'll be right bac-"

"I'm not done yet! I want 25 Koopa Dumplings as well!"

And after so much previous pressure, Nana's pen finally snapped in half.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The pink Ice Climber's yell echoed through the whole establishment. Everyone in there suddenly stopped eating in peace and looked a bit surprised at the fuming Ice Climber. This yell also caused Marth to snap out from his state and look around in confusion of the whole scene.

"I HAD IT with this place!" Nana yelled loudly.

But then, a bell of another table rang a few times.

"SHUT IT!" Nana yelled without facing the customer before she began his way to the counter.

Meanwhile, on the table Nana had ignored, Falco crossed his arms and grumbled angrily to himself, wondering why he was yelled by her by no reason at all.

Back with Nana, the pink Ice Climber stopped her angry stomps in front of the counter where, from the seat, a bored Toadette looked down at her. "I'm sorry to be this rude, but it's already enough!" Nana complained to Toadette while Kat and Ana left their places and went to the dining area. "It's hard for me to believe that everyone here can eat a whole buffet by themselves that I'm just SICK of it!"

"Y-yes!" Chris joined in as he appeared behind Nana. "S-she's very right in that! I can't barely believe that the orders come out so fast just right after we said them to you!"

Popo walked close to them. "It's crazy! I've served at least 300 dishes today!"

"You guys know what I've been doing these last hours?" asked a confused Marth as he walked to them. "I remember talking with a little girl before everything went so blurry..."

Nobody paid any attention to Marth at all.

Toadette just shifted her eyes around to see a multitude of customers staring at the whole commotion from their tables. The pink Toad glanced around to see that all eyes were focused on the waiters and her. Toadette only sighed silently and looked at Pikachu. "Okay, I guess we shouldn't hide our staff what we have in the kitchen."

Pikachu nodded. "It seems so."

Chris blinked a few times at this. "Wait, Pikachu, you know what's been happening this whole time?"

"And you didn't tell us before?" Nana asked annoyed.

"Rules of the special rank of staff like me," Pikachu said. "I know much more than any of you do."

"Yeah," Toadette said. "He's allowed to go into the kitchen when you work. He does all the checkups and whatnot to keep everything in order. He's my right-hand mouse of the sorts."

"...Okay, I had it now," Nana said annoyed as Kat and Ana joined them. "Tell us what the hell makes the orders so damn fast before I resign!"

Toadette sighed. "You're just not going to let this go like that for some more, huh?"

"I-I'm sorry, but this is so unbelievable!" Chris said.

"...Okay, follow me," she said as she hopped down her seat and went to the door. After recalling that all the customers were staring at them, the restaurateur turned around and smiled. "Move along, people. There is absolutely nothing to see here! Please do keep enjoying our service here at the Wonder Restaurant more!"

The customers looked at each other before they all slowly returned to eat in silence while chatting in peace.

Toadette looked at her staff. "Whatever you see in here...you shouldn't tell it to anyone else...okay?" She grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door to the kitchen.

"Why shouldn't we tell this to anyone?" Marth asked.

When Toadette opened the door, they all began to walk inside to the kitchen. Once inside, they found many ovens on the front wall, long tables with a wide assortment of ingredients to the left wall, and dishwashers located to the right wall. Inside, Tayce, Zess, Saffron, and Dyllis were all cooking different sorts of food in a seemingly normal pace, some of them cutting vegetables and meat while some were cooking stews on big bowls over the ovens.

Zess turned her face at them. "Can't you Meddling Interrupt-a-lot leave us alone to cook or what?" she asked angrily.

"Sorry, but they wanted to meet the head chef," Toadette said. "Where's the guy?"

Tayce turned around and pointed at a door to the right side of the ovens. "He's getting some frozen meats to replenish the shortage of meat for the Shroom Steaks."

Right in an instant, said door opened quickly, and a cheerful man walked out from it, holding a big meat with ribs that he held with both arms. The man himself had a chef hat, wore green trousers, long-sleeved white shirt, brown boots, and a long red cape around and behind his neck.

"There you are!" Toadette said.

The man looked at the group and smiled happily at them. "Hey there!" he said enthusiastically.

None of the staff knew the man at all...but Chris did. The World Traveler couldn't forget the face of the mysterious chef who appeared before him and some others a long time ago. Pointing a finger at him, Chris said, "I-it's the Wonder Chef!"

The staff looked confused at him. "The...Wonder Chef?" Popo said confused.

"Y-yes, he's the guy who taught me how to make Curry during the Festival of Sports!" he said. "H-he was posing as a poster of Raine when we were resting in our room..."

"Ahh, I remember you!" the Wonder Chef said with a wide grin at Chris. "You're the same fellow I taught the Curry recipe! Have you been making recipes?"

"N-not that much, but... F-forget it, okay? You work here of all places?" Chris asked. "I thought you were in a journey of discovery or something like that..."

"Oh, that's because I decided to stay here and learn more about these new recipes I've found recently," the Wonder Chef explained. "I haven't seen such wonderful and tasty dishes before!"

"What dishes are you talking about?"

"Dyllis Breakfasts, Fried Shroom Plates, Shroom Steaks, Spit Roasts, Sap Syrups, Gingerbread Houses, Koopa Tea, everything these wonderful chefs know!" the Wonder Chef said in excitement. "I just had to stay here and learn more!"

"Wonderful chefs..." Zess muttered bored. "Flattering isn't gonna take you anywhere with me, Mr. Chef-who-dreams-a-lot-of-crazy-dreams."

"And they've got such wonderful personalities as well!" the Wonder Chef said in excitement. "This just makes me even more excited!"

"Oh dear, he's such a handful when he gets like this..." Tayce muttered.

"I know, sugar," Saffron said. "He's the happiest guy I've ever met before."

Nana looked bored at the Wonder Chef. "So...are you the one who prepares those dishes inhumanly fast or what?"

"O-oh, right," Chris said as he took out a notepad from his pocket. "I have a huge order of 18 Fruity Hamburgers, 20 Heavy Meals, and 15 Omelet Plates..."

Nana turned to him. "Chris, we're interrogating this weirdo and you're asking him to make that impossible huge order?"

"Right-o!" the Wonder Chef said excited.

The Smashers looked back at the hyperactive chef starting to run over the entire place at some unbelievable speeds. It was completely surprising to see that the chef himself was able to make every single plate he was asked to do that he nicely put on the window. Everyone but Pikachu, Toadette, and the chefs looked shocked to see the available ovens and frying pans frying meat for hamburgers, fried eggs, and whatever the Heavy Meals were being made at a span of five seconds each. Soon enough, the window was filled with forty-seven plates.

"All done!" the Wonder Chef said.

"…Did he just…cook at the speed of light or what?" Nana asked in disbelief.

"I-I think he even surpassed Sonic's speed…" Chris muttered. "I-I didn't see him standing in front of an oven for 4 seconds at all…"

"Chris, I think it's an overstatement to say this guy surpassed Sonic's speed," Marth said. "…He mimicked it through his own way…"

The Wonder Chef smiled happily. "Well, we should deliver the dishes before they get cold!"

"H-how can you say that?" Ana asked. "Y-you just cooked all these dishes that fast!"

"I don't see why we should be making the clients wait for their orders," the Wonder Chef said. "They could get hungry."

Toadette looked happy. "Isn't this guy something? He was my main inspiration for opening the Wonder Restaurant."

Kat thought for a moment. "Wonder Restaurant…the Wonder Chef…"

"…Oh, I see a pattern here…" Ana muttered.

Pikachu sighed and looked at his waiters. "Just to let you know something. I got the same look with him as you did. But once you make trips to the kitchen, you get used to him."

"B-but…this is all just…insane…" Chris trailed off. "H-he can cook at that speed? I-I mean, how does he do that?"

The Wonder Chef smiled happily with a chuckle. "That is a secret only known for the Wonder Chefs!" he said. "A chef never reveals his secret ingredients to anyone."

"I thought it was a magician never revealing the secrets behind magic," Popo said.

"There are many sayings for the Wonder Chefs that you probably will never see," the chef said. "Sorry, but I just can't tell you that!"

Nana looked defeated. "So, all this time, this guy has been making all the plates by himself?"

"Yep," Toadette said. "He's not the Wonder Chef for nothing."

"Then what do the other chefs do?" Marth asked.

Saffron giggled a bit. "We teach him how to make our special recipes."

"This schnitzel is such a handful," Dyllis complained. "He will go on und on about this und that dish und that other recipe und this different ingredient!"

Chris thought for a moment. "…But if the chef learns all the recipes…wouldn't you be resigned?"

"Actually, the Wonder Chef and I made a contract," Toadette said. "He said he wanted to stay here for a time because he's in that journey of his to discover new recipes. I eventually came with an agreement with him, and he will leave this place like in a week."

"Until then, it's all fun and merriment for me," the Wonder Chef said with a pleased grin. "I'm telling you that this is the best day of my life!"

"…Wow," Kat commented. "…Nice story…"

"…B-but wait a minute!" Chris suddenly said. "I-I can understand all this, b-but how can the people out there eat so much?"

"That…" the Wonder chef trailed off, "…is…a secret."

"…Are you kidding us?" Nana asked. "There should be a reason why everyone eats so much! We didn't come AND suffered the entire day to come here and hear that it's a secret you don't want to tell!"

"Maybe they like the food so much," the Wonder Chef said. "They ignore more than they can chew, apparently."

"T-that doesn't make any sense and neither does you!"

"Oh well, you'll understand the true nature behind all this very soon," the Wonder Chef said with a wink. "If you don't understand it, I pity you for not having a good appetite."

"That's because we have common sense," Nana said annoyed.

"Good! I'm glad you're starting to grasp the magic of restaurants and dishes!" the Wonder Chef said. "Let's all get working again!"

Toadette folded her arms behind her back. "Well, you heard the guy. Everyone go back to your posts!"

Ana looked back and forth between the chef and Toadette. "A-are you saying we should just shrug this off now?" she asked.

"Of course, it's not like we have to keep the customers waiting even longer," she explained. "Besides, you all know everything you needed to know. You seem to understand everything as well."

"To the contrary, we can't just grasp any of this at all!" Nana complained.

Toadette sighed and frowned. "Let's just go back to work already! It's already late afternoon and we have to close the place at 8 PM!"

"Now you're going to tell me what exactly IS happening here o-"

"I'll toss you out from here if you don't listen!"

Nana grunted. "You little…"

The staff exchanged looks with each other before they all sighed in unison and decided to go back to work, leaving the five chefs working with the dishes. The Wonder Chef put his hands on his hips and chuckled. "Alright, my ladies, let's do our best to make some dishes! C'mon, get yourselves together and simmer those steaks with grace and delicacy!"

Zess sighed. "My god, Mr. Happy Happiest can't just keep himself quiet for 8 seconds…"

"That fraun vill taste very spicy curry very soon," Dyllis muttered with a grunt. "It vill taste as if vas lava itself!"

"Sugars, let's just keep making dishes…" Saffron muttered.

"This is sure going to be such a long day…" Tayce muttered.

And so, the day went on…

After having served around a thousand and nine hundred dishes in a single day (which made everyone get tired out), the restaurant said farewell to a small family of Shy Guys. Once the doors closed, the whole staff reunited to the long counter of the dining area to receive some news from Toadette, some of the Smashers (all of them wearing their usual attires with the uniforms in some bags) already tired as they sat around a table (with Chris having Riolu sitting on his lap).

"Seriously, what happened to me?" Marth asked to the others. "I can't seem to recall anything for some hours…"

"Marth…you seriously don't want to know…" Chris said.

Toadette looked around at the staff before she giggled a bit. "Okay, everyone's here. I'm happy to say that we made big winnings during the first day of the Wonder Restaurant. I thank all of you for your hard work and indomitable spirit for attending all the customers with respect and courtesy."

"At least be glad my hands went through the whole ordeal…" Chris said as he felt a small surge of pain in his gloved hands.

"Riii…" Riolu said worried to him.

"It's not your fault, Riolu. We already said why…"

"I have to say that the experience was worthwhile," Kat said. "This definitely makes up for the lack of work we have for Wario's absence."

"I just can't wait to continue working some more tomorrow," the Wonder Chef said before turning to the Smashers. "And for your hard work through effort, I will teach you how to make Quiche!"

Marth looked confused at him. "You're going to teach us how to make Quiche right now?"

"It'll be quick," the Wonder Chef said before raising his big fork to the air. "By the delicacies of the frying pans, I am letting these chefs-to-be the necessary knowledge to make Quiche!"

Everyone stared at him in complete confusion.

"…I'm sorry, sugar, but what are you doing?" Saffron asked.

The Wonder Chef grinned to himself and lowered down his fork. "I already did it."

The Smashers looked at each other after they felt that something in all of them just…became learned. "…Guys…don't you feel like you suddenly know how to make Quiche?" Popo asked.

"A-actually, that's what I was feeling…" Pikachu admitted.

Nana looked defeated and slammed down her face on the table. "This place…doesn't make any sense…I swear…"

Marth, Popo, Nana, Pikachu, Riolu, and Chris have learned how to make Quiche!

Zess rolled her eyes. "And here I thought he couldn't get any weirder than he is now…"

The Wonder Chef chuckled to himself. "Please do drop by here again to please your stomachs. Food is always important for your health."

"Thank you for the childish advice," Toadette said (showing some signs that she was starting to get annoyed by the chef's attitude). "Oh, you guys, I have some news to say to you. Today's the last day you're going to work here."

"What?" Popo said confused. "You mean you found full-time waiters?"

"Yep, and I helped," Pikachu said. "As you all worked, Toadette and I made many calls to potential waiters until we found some."

Toadette made a happy expression. "Thank you SO much for helping me to achieve one of my biggest dreams I've ever had before! Really, I'm so happy that you decided to give me your hands and work here!" She ducked behind the counter to bring a bag to the counter. "I'd like you to have your pay."

Marth got up from his seat and walked to the counter to see the contents of the bag. A shining light radiated from the inside as Marth looked surprised at the inside of the bag. "Wow…you're giving us these?" he asked as he brought out from the bag five Gold Bars that made the Smashers stare at them in surprise.

"Of course, we made lots of money on the first day," Toadette said. "Thanks to your work, we became a little bit too much rich…and so you got the 15 percent of our winnings."

"Riiiiii…" Riolu wagged his tail in excitement as he stared at the Gold Bars on the counter.

Kat and Ana took out Gold Bars each one of them. "This place DOES pay you," Ana said. "This is not like Wario's work at all."

Kat smiled pleased. "If we keep working, we're going to become rich in no time."

Toadette nodded at the Smashers. "You guys can redeem these bars by big amounts of money. Sell it anywhere and you're probably going to get thousands and thousands of coins."

Marth brought the Gold Bars to the Smashers' table, all of them staring surprised at the bars. "Can anybody say shopping spree?" Pikachu asked.

"Can anybody say villa?" Nana asked.

"Wait, we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet," Marth said. "We should think first about to do to spend them into something more beneficial."

Pikachu thought for a moment. "Maybe…we could sell these to Master Hand to get some abilities for us."

"I second that!" Popo said. "Let's sell these for Smash Coins!"

"That's a plan," Marth said.

The Smashers looked back to the counter where the four female chefs walked to them. They were all holding different dishes on their hands. "We shouldn't just let you leave with money alone," Tayce said. "Please, have these."

Tayce was holding what looked to be a blue spiral: the Dizzy Dial (an item capable of dizzying all enemies).

"Here you go!" Zess said as she gave them a blue snowflake: the Ice Storm (an item capable to attack all enemies and freeze them). "Don't go wasting this, okay?"

Saffron giggled as she gave them a plate with a transparent block (with an orange piece): the Block Meal (an item capable of making the user invisible, therefore making the user invincible for a time). "Please, do enjoy this, sugars," she said.

"Heh," Dyllis, instead of all the chefs, gave the Smashers what looked to be a recipe. "Here! It's vun of my recipes!"

The Smashers stared at the items. "Why are you all giving us these?" Chris asked.

"You deserve them," Tayce said. "You were very good when you were working. The girls and I wanted to give you these gifts for your hard work."

"Tayce sugar here proposed this," Saffron said.

"And we should better give you something or else you'd think badly of us," Zess said.

"So don't vaste anything, you heard, Schnitzels?" Dyllis asked. "Don't lose my recipe!"

Popo took the small note and looked at it. "What is this? Hmm... Mega Mushroom Recipe?"

"Yes," Dyllis said. "That'd be vun important recipe for you, Frauns. You show try to do that and you'll have nice item!"

"A recipe for making a Mega Mushroom?" Marth said. "Hmm...this could be useful..."

"I guess," Pikachu said as he stared at the recipe.

Obtained Mega Mushroom Recipe!

A special recipe to make Mega Mushrooms. You should show this to somebody who would like to make this in masses.

Nana sighed in relief. "Well, thanks for everything... I guess this means we completed the side-quest at last..."

"Wanted: Waiters" Side-quest completed!

Obtained Gold Bar x5, Dizzy Dial, Ice Storm, Block Meal, and Mega Mushroom Recipe!

"Really, I'm so thankful for you all," Toadette said. "Please do come back some of these days to enjoy the food here."

"And if we can, we could cook you some dishes," Tayce said. "If you bring us some ingredients, we'll cook them for you. It won't cost anything so don't worry about it."

"Bring you some ingredients to cook?" Nana said.

"Yes, sugars. We like to cook a lot," Saffron said. "We can cook you anything unless you don't bring ingredients."

"You guys are lucky that we're doing this for you," Zess said. "You better be thankful of this, okay?"

"Till then, you EAT, and you VILL like it!" Dyllis said. "Nothing gets wasted here!"

"Except of course if the dish turns out to be a Mistake..." Tayce muttered.

"Great!" the Wonder Chef exclaimed. "I can't wait to cook some more for you! I feel like we're going to have a good time by talking about the wonderful world of cuisine!"

The Smashers were starting to be freaked out by the Wonder Chef's attitude. "Yeeaaaaaaaaah... We better leave now," Pikachu said.

"As a free gift, I'll let you take the uniforms if you ever want to come here again," Toadette said. "Remember that this place is always going to be open for you to eat."

"Thank you," Marth said. "We appreciate this."

"(Though I'm not going to wear this for even longer...)" Chris thought.

As all of them got up from their seats, Nana went to hug both Kat and Ana. "I'll come here, don't worry," she said to them.

"Thanks," Kat said. "This is surely going to be very worthwhile."

"I know," Ana said. "This place will be always open for you."

"Thank you," Nana said before the Smashers started to head for the exit. "See you later."

The staff of the restaurant waved their hands together before the Smashers left through the door.

"It still bothers me that the people here eat so much..." Chris muttered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Wonder Chef had something to do with it," Nana whispered. "He surely did something..."

"Maybe his presence makes everyone starve," Popo whispered.

"...Knowing the guy's weird power...that's a big possibility..."

Sidewalks

Once they all walked out, they found the sidewalks almost empty as some people walked around. Upon seeing that there were people in the village, Pikachu sighed in relief. "It's good to see that this place is getting more people."

"I know," Marth said. "It's about time that this happened."

Looking to the left, Chris found Sonic (in his werehog form) walking to them. "Oh, there you are, Sonic," Chris said.

"Hey," Sonic began with his gruff voice, inspecting the clothes they were all carrying in the bags that some of them carried, "you guys work for restaurants or what?"

"We worked for this one for just today," Popo said. "Where were you?"

"Checking out the Mazuri temple," Sonic lied, his real place being another different place that the one he said. "I came running all the way here before I could turn into werehog again. You guys know that between the village and the temple there's a big field of grass, right?"

"No, we didn't know..." Chris said.

"Well, there's this big open field back there," Sonic said. "And man, do I feel good for running a few times there..."

"Are you heading for the mansion?" Nana asked.

"Yeah, and I'm here so Chris stops Mr. Dark Shadow of Evil."

At that very same moment, DSS came out from Sonic's back and desperately tried to leap at Chris without having any success at all. "THERE YOU ARE, SON OF A MOTHERF(BEEP)R, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Riolu got a bit frightened by the spirit that he cowered in fear. Chris rolled his eyes annoyed before he changed to his Beastmaster job and whipped Sonic's forehead hard, forcing the dark shadow to retreat into Sonic's back. "For the gods, when is this going to stop?" Chris asked annoyed, Riolu sighing in relief.

"It'll stop until I freaking die or when we hire an expert exorcist to take him out," Sonic said annoyed. "Well, let's go to the mansion. Chip surely went there by now."

The Smashers decided to call it a night for the time being.

Lucario's Room

Time passed, and Chris and Riolu were already sleeping deeply. However, as Chris moved himself a bit under the blankets, the Emanation Pokémon slowly opened his eyes. It looked like he woke up by accident because of his trainer moving a bit. Before Riolu could go back to sleep, he looked at the drawing of the fighting Lucario. "...Riiiiiii..." Riolu muttered as he stared at the drawing.

The small mutter made Chris grumble. Riolu turned around to see his trainer opening his eyes a bit. "...Riolu...go back to sleep..." he muttered.

Riolu blinked a few times. "...U-um...Chris..."

Since Riolu only liked to say small syllables instead of full sentences, the World Traveler decided to hear Riolu. "Yes?"

Riolu looked away for a moment. "...Um...well...can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"...What is...the Subspace Army?"

The beastmaster looked confused at him. "What is it? Didn't I tell you before?"

Riolu shook his head. "N-no, you didn't... I'm asking that because I'm confused..." he said. "I heard that a few times from Ness and the others...but I didn't ask what it was..." He looked back at his trainer. "Can you tell me, please?"

"..." Chris smiled a bit. "Well, of course," he said. "Listen well to this."

Riolu made a happy expression and wagged his tail a bit.

"The Subspace Army is a bunch of bad guys who are trying to take over the worlds," Chris explained. "They're the ones who keep all of us busy."

"All of us?"

"Yes," Chris said. "Thanks to the army, we always go to different worlds to stop them from taking them over."

"Do…we fight?"

"Yes…" Chris said. "We fight against them to stop them…"

Riolu looked worried. "And…we don't have any other way to stop them?"

"Sadly…no," Chris said. "Personally, I'd like to stop the fighting…but it's impossible to stop it because words aren't enough to stop the army…"

Riolu thought for a moment. "Um…do you…get hurt…Chris?"

"Well…yes, I get hurt in all the battles…" Chris said. "That's the worst part of any fights I take on…"

Riolu looked worried. "W-why do you have to fight if you don't like to get hurt?"

"That's because…well…I'm supposed to be the World Traveler…"

"The World Traveler?"

"Yes, that's a nickname I got," Chris said. "I'm supposed to be the one to protect the worlds from being attacked… It's my job to take care of every single world I go to and there are no exceptions for that…"

"So…when you go to a world…is your job to save it?"

"…I think so…yes," Chris said. "Because I'm the World Traveler, I'm supposed to be saving all the worlds I go to from their menaces… Well, everyone else is a World Traveler, but I think I should reserve that title for me because I need to have a title… But…now that I think about it, I always help those worlds in need…and all of them have conflicts that have to stop…"

"Do you like to go anywhere?"

"Well…yes," Chris said. "If I can, I take advantage of the situation to enjoy the worlds with everyone else."

Riolu shook a bit. "A-and do you still get hurt, Chris?"

"You already asked that…but yes…" Chris looked confused at Riolu. "Why are you so worried about me getting hurt?"

"I-I just… I-I just don't want to lose you…"

Chris stared at Riolu's frightened look.

"I-I don't want you to…go away forever from me…" Riolu muttered. "A-and if you get hurt…y-you could leave me all alone…" Riolu sniffed a bit. "I-I don't want to lose you like that... I-I just don't want to see you…go away…"

Chris gasped as he saw Riolu starting to shed some tears. The World Traveler put a hand on Riolu's head and rubbed it. "P-please, don't cry either! I-I'll never leave you alone, Riolu!"

Riolu rubbed his eyes a bit and looked at Chris. "Y-you will never leave me alone?"

"I-I wouldn't do such a thing," Chris said. "I really like you because you're my starter Pokémon…and besides the fact I like to have you…"

Riolu sniffed a bit before he forced a small smile. "You're not going to leave me alone?"

"If I did that, I wouldn't be worthy to be called a trainer…" Chris said. "Besides, you're my favorite Pokémon as well…"

Riolu made a happy expression and chuckled to himself. "You like me?"

"I like you as a friend and my Pokémon," Chris said. "I need to take care of you so you can grow strong."

Riolu's happy expression faded as he looked down. "…Grow…strong?" he said confused. "…Can I grow strong?"

"Well, yes, you can," Chris said. "If you do grow strong, you could evolve into Lucario…"

Riolu looked back at him. "Lu…ca…rio?" he said slowly. "What is a Lucario?"

"You…don't know what a Lucario is or looks like?" Chris asked.

Riolu recalled the drawing behind him. The Emanation Pokémon turned around and stared at the drawing of Lucario. "Is…that a Lucario?"

"O-oh, yes," Chris said embarrassed. "I-I made that drawing when I was bored…"

Riolu inspected the drawing closer. He examined the Lucario from bottom to top and from top to bottom. "…He…looks…so cool…and strong…"

"Well…I think Lucarios are very strong…" Chris said. "Ever since I got you, Lucarios have been my favorite Pokémon ever, along with Riolus."

Riolu turned to him. "You like both?"

Chris smiled a bit. "I really enjoy having you or a Lucario. If I can do it, I'd make a hobby and train Riolus and Lucarios alike in some place in this world."

"Train?"

"Yes," Chris said. "Riolus and Lucarios are so obedient. I…personally think that Riolus are very cute and Lucarios are the strongest Pokémon ever…"

"Oh," Riolu said before he looked happy. "Am I…your best Riolu?"

"Of course," Chris said. "Nobody will ever take your place as my best Pokémon of my one-man team."

Riolu thought for a moment. "Can I…evolve to a Lucario?"

"Yes, you can," Chris said. "If you train with me, you'll surely become a Lucario right away. I mean, you can evolve based on how close you are to me…"

Riolu looked back at the drawing before turning back to Chris. "Lucarios…are very strong?"

"Yes, they are…but…are you thinking in turning into one soon?"

"If I evolve into a Lucario…would I be strong enough to…u-um…" Riolu flushed a bit, "…protect you from danger?"

The World Traveler stared at the shy look of his Riolu. "…Well…you're one very special Riolu…and if you did evolve…you could do a whole lot of stuff because…you would be very unique…"

Riolu looked worried. "And…would I be very brave?"

"…Yes, when you evolve, your attitude changes, but you don't forget the most important things…"

The Emanation Pokémon stared at his trainer while Riolu thought about his ideas of becoming a Lucario. Riolu thought that being a Lucario would let him protect Chris from harm and danger alike. "…If I evolve, would I make you feel proud of me, Chris?"

"…Yes," Chris said. "I'd be very proud to have you as a strong Lucario…"

Riolu looked happy. "I want to become a Lucario to make you proud of me!" he said happily. "I want to be strong enough to protect you!"

Chris got a bit surprised at this reaction. "B-but wait, you're just coming with fast conclusions, Riolu! Don't you want to think before doing that?"

Riolu thought for a moment. "Hmm…do you know how I am going to look like?"

"Well…" Chris began as he sat on his bed and grabbed Riolu by his sides, "let me show you," he said as he stood on the floor while holding Riolu at his neck's level. "You're going to be this big. This is the usual height Lucarios have."

Riolu looked around. "…No!"

"W-what is it?"

Riolu looked upset. "I'm so small! I don't want to be so small!"

"B-but this is the height Lucarios have…"

"No!" Riolu complained. "I want to be bigger!"

"…Well…" Chris moved Riolu to his chin's level, "what about this?"

"I'm still small!" Riolu complained.

Chris moved Riolu to his face's level. "Okay, now you have the same height I have. Happy?"

"…" Riolu looked around. "…No!"

The World Traveler looked confused at this reaction before he moved Riolu a bit over his head's level. "Okay…that height is a bit high because I would reach part of your snout…"

Riolu looked down at the height he was. "…Yes!" he said happily. "I want to be so big!"

Chris moved his happy Riolu down. "But tell me something. Why do you want to be so big? (I have to make sure I don't tell him he's going to be that big or else I'd spoil his fun time…) Is there some reason?"

Riolu stared at him. "…I…want to be bigger than you so you can hide behind me from getting hurt by others…"

Chris's eyes widened a bit at this.

Riolu made a happy expression. "I want to be so big and strong! If I'm big, you can hide behind me, and if I'm so strong, those bad people are going to run away from me so you can stay safe!"

"R-Riolu…" Chris muttered.

"I want to be a Lucario like that!" Riolu said happily, his tail wagging quickly at the sides. "I want to make you proud of me, Chris! I want to be a powerful Lucario for you!"

The World Traveler kept staring at his happy Riolu before he put Riolu back to bed. Chris then put himself on his side of his bed and covered he and Riolu under the blankets. Seeing that Riolu was still excited, Chris decided to talk some more to him. "Okay, you want to be a powerful for me."

"Yes!" Riolu said happily. "If I become a Lucario like that, nobody's going to have to hurt you!"

Chris chuckled. "I know you're very excited to become a super Lucario or something, but why don't you...well...think about evolving much later?"

Riolu stopped wagging his tail and looked at Chris. "What?"

"(When he was a Lucario, he told me that he wanted to enjoy his childhood to the fullest...)" Chris thought as he stared at his confused Riolu. "(He looks very happy now...but...I don't know if I should listen to what he wants to do right now...)"

"Why don't you want me to become a Super Lucario?"

Knowing Riolu, he would surely want to think all the time that he could become a 'Super Lucario'.

"W-well...I-I would like you to stay like this for a little bit longer," Chris admitted. "I-I want to have you like this because...well...um..."

Riolu tilted his head a bit.

"...I want to have you like this because...I think...that I'd be happier to have you...stay as a Riolu for while longer...before being a Lucario..."

Riolu stared at him.

"...So?"

"..." Riolu looked down. "...Can I still become a Super Lucario?"

"O-of course you can," Chris said. "T-tell you what... You can become into Lucario sometime this month...okay?"

Riolu looked happily at this before he looked down and made a worried look. "...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"...Are you still...mad because I bit your hands?"

Chris looked at his bandaged hands. "...I'm...not mad... It's just that you were biting me all of a sudden..."

Riolu looked up at him. "I-I was getting really upset because you wouldn't stop scratching my chin...a-and I grew really angry at that s-so I didn't know what I was doing..." He sobbed and covered his eyes. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you, Chris... I-I wanted you to stop, that's all... Ri-iiii..."

The World Traveler gasped and hugged his sobbing Riolu tightly. "P-please, it was my fault, Riolu! P-please, don't cry anymore!"

Riolu sniffed and looked up at him. "Y-you're not mad at me?"

"N-no, I wouldn't be mad at you," Chris said. "You're...my only Riolu...and you're just very young to understand...but...it was my fault and not yours..."

"..." Riolu sniffed.

"...So please...don't cry, okay? Everything's just fine," Chris said with a relieved expression. "My hands will heal soon, don't worry."

Riolu blinked a few tears away before he looked happy. "...Riiiiiiii!" he exclaimed happily.

Chris blushed a bit at this. "They'll heal very soon, Riolu," he said. "And...as for your evolution to a Super Lucario...well...wait like 2 weeks or so, okay? I want you to be like this some more so you can enjoy playing around."

Riolu looked up at Chris and began to lick his face, his tail wagging quickly at the sides.

"R-Riolu!" Chris said before he was submitted to chuckles by his Pokémon.

After about two minutes, the two decided to sleep, Riolu facing the drawing as he imagined himself to be the 'Super Lucario' he wanted to become very soon. And so, the night went on...

December 14 - Sunday - Morning

Outside

"So, Red, where are Lucas, Dawn, and Barry?" Chris asked.

"They went out to explore the forests around the area," Red said. "They said they wouldn't come back until afternoon."

"Well, I hope they don't run into some monsters..."

Since the winter season was starting to become apparent by the cold weather, it was the time of the month where Christmas was going to be celebrated. For the Smash Mansion, it wasn't an exception. Since there were around thirty weirdoes, each from different worlds or realms, living in the mansion, it was almost like having to fetch the weirdest of gifts for each one. Not everyone gave gifts to everyone, but there was a limit where someone had to give a gift for four people each.

However, there was an important question to another matter...

If the Smash Mansion liked to celebrate Christmas...then why wasn't it decorated with candy canes, mistletoes, and the big Christmas tree? Moreover, why were all the Smashers and their belonging outside the mansion for about eighty feet away from the entrance?

"Okay, everyone," Master Hand began as he looked at the several groups of Smashers talking to each other, "it's that time of the year where we have to renovate the mansion with a new one."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Chris (in his Swordsman job) as he was grabbing Riolu (who wore a small red robe that Peach had sewed for him).

"Oh, right, you and some newcomers don't know about this," Master Hand said. "Well, as you can see, we have a rule that says that the mansion needs to be changed from year to year."

"By that, he means he's going to re-arrange everyone's rooms," Mario explained.

"Yes, and we're going to re-arrange everyone's rooms in alphabetical order this time," Master Hand said. "The last time was who liked to be close to who, but we're doing it in alphabetical order."

"What is going to happen to the other rooms that don't have anyone?" Pit (wearing a blue rob with holes for his wings) asked.

"They'll be re-arranged to the higher floors," Master Hand said. "As for the Battle Floor, it'd be placed higher so we have more space for some other rooms, and I'm going to make some more bathrooms for all the rooms. We just have to do this through my hand magic. With a snap, I'll re-arrange everyone's rooms."

Crazy Hand appeared behind him. "Hey, no fair! You said it was MY turn to do the changing!"

Master Hand turned to him. "Ugh, okay, you can do the honors. HOWEVER, be careful because I don't want the mansion to get destroyed by your 'cluelessness', okay?" He turned to the Smashers. "And since there was an 'Aurageddon' some weeks ago, the sports area didn't receive a good visit from that attack, and thus it was blown apart."

"O-oh, so that's why I couldn't play soccer at all," Falco (wearing a gray robe that had much more cotton on the collar and the sleeves' ends) said while shivering a bit at the cold air.

"Yeah, that's why," Master Hand said before he turned to Crazy Hand. "Okay, you better not do something reckless because if you d-"

"Snappity-snap!" Crazy Hand interrupted while snapping his fingers that released some spores of light that came out from the snap.

The Smashers looked back at the mansion...and nothing seemed to happen.

"...Did the floors change now?" Lucas (wearing the same shirt but with longer sleeves) asked.

"They...should have..." Master Hand said.

Before their eyes, the mansion's base shot out dust, and soon the whole mansion went down to the ground. Most of the Smashers took some steps back as their home was brought down by a single snap from the insane hand. Bricks, glasses, wrecked walls, and remains of the rooftop were scattered around a big portion of the area that even reached their feet. Since a big cloud of dust came out from the destruction, they all were covered by it, causing everyone to cough several times.

Master Hand, somewhere in the cloud of dust, grumbled to himself and snapped his fingers to make the dust disappear as soon as it came to cover the whole perimeter. The Smashers, some still coughing, looked back at the remains of the mansion before most of them glared at Crazy Hand.

"There!" Crazy Hand said. "We can now start rebuilding it!"

"You stupid son of..." Master Hand grunted and turned to the Smashers. "Okay, you people, there's nothing to be worried about."

"What are you talking about?" Roy began. "Our home was brought down before our eyes!"

"And that's surely something Tabuu would want us to do through stupidity," Pikachu (wearing a red robe) said bored. "He'd want us destroying the mansion like this."

Chip sniffed at this that he began to play a sad tune with a harmonica he just took out from his back.

"Calm down, calm down," Master Hand said. "I can bring back the mansion with a single snap of my fingers, don't worry."

"Would that also mean the musicians you left in there?" Popo asked.

"Yes, that would..." Master Hand looked back at the remains of the mansion. "...Oh my GOODNESS!" he yelled shocked as he saw some of the musicians miraculously coming out from the wrecked pieces of the mansion.

Zelda sighed. "You forgot to tell them that we were going to do this?"

"H-hey, I swear this was not intentional," Master Hand said. "T-this was just a little accident that later became a big one because SOMEBODY thought we were going to destroy the mansion INSTEAD of changing it!"

"You can thank me later," Crazy Hand said. "Changing, according to my dictionary, means destroy and obliterate."

"You and your stupid excuses to... Ugh!" Master Hand grunted and quickly went over to check on the musicians. "Y-you guys are still alive, right? Please, tell me you can breath!"

"Y-yes..." said a frightened Chunky. "W-we were doing some music...a-and everything went down...f-for some reason..."

"W-what did just happen?" Makar asked as he looked around for his instrument. "Why did everything go down?"

Master Hand chuckled a bit. "...The building had poor bases and I didn't remember that..."

"What kind of...explanation is that?" Penny asked confused.

"B-believe me, the guy who I told to build the mansion didn't have high rate materials."

Red (the devil) looked miffed at the hand. "What kind of people do you contract?"

Master Hand looked all the way over to the group of Smashers where Crazy Hand waved at him. "People who are so damn stupid no matter what you do to change them..."

Mona shifted her eyes around. "O...kay..."

"A-anyway, you should leave this area. I'm going to use my hand magic to bring the mansion back to its usual form."

Once the hand fixed his look on Ashley, he noticed the little witch was staring blankly at him. Her eyes were focusing solely on Master Hand and not anything nor anyone else.

"..." Master Hand felt weird and shrugged. "L-let's all leave this area...please. If there was anything broken, I'll fix it, okay? Now please go with the Smashers and wait for me to bring back the mansion."

"Okay..." Lanky said confused before all the musicians began to walk away from the area.

Once everyone was brought together, Master Hand turned to the mansion and nodded to himself. "Well, here goes," he said. "Crazy, you better behave now or else I won't let you have special chances ever again."

"Fiddlesticks..." Crazy Hand muttered.

Master Hand frowned to this before he snapped his fingers. Once everyone had heard the snapping sound, they watched as a huge cloud of smoke appeared right on the spot where the wrecked remains of the mansion once stood. In about ten seconds, the cloud of smoke disappeared, and the huge mansion of ten floors (not counting the attic) came back.

"THERE!" Master Hand said to Crazy Hand. "That's how you do it!"

"Ooh, ooh, I learned something today," Crazy Hand said excited.

Chris examined the mansion. "It...doesn't look that different from the outside..."

"Well, we did change everything from the inside," Master Hand said. "We kept the lobby and the kitchen on the first floor, though. The Battle Floor is now at the tenth floor (so it has this eerie feeling of darkness on the top area of the mansion), and the floor occupied by the musicians is in the ninth floor."

"Oh, I would like to see my room overseeing the landscape," Medli said excited.

"Okay, everyone, it's time to start thinking the decorations for Christmas," Master Hand said. "I COULD make it automatically, but some of you like to do it manually so..."

Peach interlaced her fingers and looked happy. "I'm going to start thinking how to make this year's Christmas tree."

"I'll help," Mario said.

"M-me too," Luigi said.

"Thanks, you 2," Peach said with a giggle.

"Everyone, grab your belongings and let's all move to your rooms," Master Hand said.

All the Smashers began to gather their things before they, along with the musicians, went inside the mansion. As Chris was grabbing some boxes where he kept his consoles in, Master Hand went to him. "Chris, I put that big bed for you in your room. Why'd you want that, though?"

Chris chuckled. "Riolu wanted to have a bigger bed because he wanted to have more area for him bounce around."

"Riiii!" Riolu said happily as he carried a bag on his arms.

"Oh, I see. Pleasing your little Pokémon's wishes, huh?" Master Hand said. "Well, just to let you know that you have your own room now, Chris. That means when Riolu evolves into Lucario, he'll have his own room."

"I know," Chris said. "But...Riolu can keep sleeping with me, right?"

"Oh, no problem with that," Master Hand said. "Besides, once he does you-know-what, he's going to dislike staying away from you and he'll surely have some sort of vendetta on me...so I don't want to have any of you guys to dislike me."

"I think Snake hates you."

"Thank you for reminding me that," Master Hand muttered. "Now, let's go into the mansion so you decorate your room with your stuff, okay?"

Chris and Riolu nodded before the two walked inside. Once they entered, Master Hand turned around to see that Ashley (with Red by her right side) was staring at him.

"...Er..." Master Hand stared at the witch. "...Is something bothering you?"

"..." Ashley merely made a small smile. "Your magic... I want to know more about it."

"...W-well...I...don't tell anyone about my magic..." Master Hand said. "It's top secret...sorry..."

"...Oh," Ashley said, her smile fading away.

Even though her request was answered, she kept staring deeply at the hand.

"..." Master Hand silently moved inside the mansion through the entrance, his gaze still focused on Ashley before he shrugged and went inside, quickly floating away from the little witch.

Red looked at Ashley. "Ashley, why don't you just capture him? He seems freaked out by you."

"If I captured him, he would kick me out from the mansion," Ashley said. "My magic isn't developed enough to take on his magic. Besides, I think I will never be able to face him in battle head-on… However, we will wait until the right time comes for him to lower his guard..."

"Oh, right, Ashley. I know he's gonna be ours very soon," Red said with a snicker before the two went inside and closed doors.

After a time had passed, DK, Diddy (wearing a red robe), Pit, Olimar, Chris, Riolu, and Yoshi (wearing a blue robe) came out from the mansion. The group walked outside before Pit began to talk. "So we're going to challenge the Dojo?"

"Yes," Chris said. "I think we should see what the Master has for us there. He said it was important for us to go there so...we should go."

"Ooh, I foresee a fight," DK said. "Count me in. I want to have some fun with fighting that old Toad."

Diddy chuckled. "Yeah, that guy's pushing his luck with us. He'll go down very quickly before he can say 'begin'."

Chris looked away. "You...should be really careful with him, though... Appearances do trick you..."

The Kongs looked at each other and lifted up their shoulders. "You don't worry, you have me to pummel him down," DK said.

"DK, it's not all about brute strength," Chris said worried. "The Master said that we should be careful in handling power because...it could corrupt us without us knowing about it..." He turned to look at Yoshi having Riolu riding on his back. "You just came because Peach is busy with the decorations inside and thus there's no one to take care of Riolu, right?"

"You're going to fight the Master," Yoshi said. "Somebody has to look after Riolu."

Riolu looked happy as he rode on Yoshi's back.

"Oh well," Chris said. "Riolu seems happy with you so it's okay with me."

Olimar gulped. "I-I want to go because I don't want anyone to think I'm not brave to face enemies... I-I mean, Snake gives me those looks that makes me feel my soul escaping from me..."

"...Okay, that's...good to hear," DK said.

"S-seriously, I'm doing this because I have to show some sportsmanship or something..."

Pit looked to the western woods. "Shall we get going?"

"YES! I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!!! YEAH!!!"

The Smashers heard some excited yells coming near from them. They all turned to the left to see that Toon Link, lying down on the grass around a bunch of arrows stuck on the grounds, was running around in circles on the floor as if he was running while standing. The Hero of Winds ran around the same spot, his head being the center while the legs made the circle.

Confused to Toon Link's excitement, the Smashers walked to his spot and looked down at the excited Hylian. "Link, what's wrong with you? Why are you running in circles all over the ground?" Diddy asked.

Toon Link kept running, but he did listen to them. "I mastered Raven's second arrow technique just now!" he said. "Finally, after so much training, I did it!"

Olimar looked around the wide area with arrows stuck on the ground. "W-well, you did train all these days nonstop..." he said.

"Yeah, and I did it!" Toon Link said. "Oh man, oh man, oh man, this is like the best day of my life after the day I wielded the Master Sword!"

Chris looked at the Master Sword's handle behind Toon Link's back. It was surely some sort of fake since he remembered he took Toon Link to join them after he finished the Phantom Hourglass storyline. The World Traveler thought Master Hand was the one behind this perfect replica...

Master Hand...

Master Sword...

Chris saw a connection of the sorts.

The young swordsman stopped running and quickly scrambled to get up. "Check this out!" he said energetically as he brandished his bow and shot an arrow to the sky. The Smashers watched as the arrow then began to come down with its blade pointing down. Toon Link, while staring at the arrow, took out another one and aimed it to the first arrow before he shot it to the first arrow's blade. Upon making contact, the first arrow's direction changed, and it went down much faster as if it was shot from the air. The Smashers saw as the fast arrow was stuck in the ground to the far-right edge of the mansion's wall, perfectly on the very same corner.

"Ouch..." Diddy said surprised. "That was kind of cool."

"Kind of awesome? It was awesome!" Toon Link said. "Now that I know how to do this, I'm SO going to shock my enemies during battles, especially that Ganondorf. He won't know who hit his back."

"That's very useful," Pit remarked. "I think it makes you better in marksmanship than Link."

"Ha, that guy needs to understand from us who the better one is," Toon Link said with crossed arms and a grin. "And now that I know 2 bow techniques...I can finally return to my usual affairs." He sighed pleased, uncrossing his arms. "Man, it took me a lot of time... Raven wasn't kidding there..."

"Plus, you made our group look better," Diddy said.

"Actually, I made the Swordsmen Guild look better as well..."

"...What?"

Toon Link chuckled. "Y-you see, I'm part of a swordsmen group called Swordsmen Guild... That group has Marth, Roy, Ike, that other Link, and even Meta Knight with them..." He pointed at Pit. "Heck, even Pit is there with me!"

Diddy looked up at Pit. The angel chuckled and scratched the back of his head with a hand. "T-that's true, we made up that group a time ago..." Pit trailed off.

Diddy turned to Toon Link. "W-what do you say about it?" Toon Link asked.

Diddy thought for a moment while looking up at the sky before he looked back at Toon Link. "...I have something to say: Ness is going to beat you to a bloody pulp for that once he finds out you're with 2 groups at the same time."

Toon Link remained speechless at this fact.

"And everyone will probably do the same," Diddy added. "They'll think you're a double agent."

"I-I'm not going to tell secrets or something!" Toon Link said embarrassed. "I-I follow both groups' rules and laws to the step of every word, I swear!"

Chris looked surprised. "Wait, Meta Knight is in that group as well? I thought he liked to be in solitude."

"Well, I heard he joined because of boredom," Toon Link said. "He said he could find some excitement out of this, but he did say that some rules were a bit stupid...though they didn't stop him from joining... Anyway, where are you heading?"

"We're going to the Dojo to challenge the Master," Yoshi said. "Want to come?"

"Oh, sure," Toon Link said. "I want to test out Gnome. You remember, right, Chris? I had this sticker that Gnome gave me to call him here."

"I remember," Chris said. "I wonder what he will say once you call him to battle..."

"I bet he's going to comment...or not," Toon Link said. "The guy's a bit bizarre, you know..."

DK grumbled. "Can we just go to the Dojo already? I'm itching to some fighting..."

"W-why did you have to ask?" Olimar asked.

DK narrowed his eyes at the small Smasher. "I want to fight, we want to fight, we WILL fight, understand?"

Olimar and the rest of the Smashers exchanged shocked looked before they all took some steps away from the crazy ape.

The Dojo -Arena-

After wandering through the woods, the Smashers spotted the Dojo's building. Once they arrived there, they didn't waste more time to enter inside and find the masters and the disciples on the far end of the other side of the Dojo's entrance.

"It seems you have come," Jinx said. "It was about time you showed up here."

The Smashers found both the Master and Jinx sitting on their legs above some red cushions while Lee (the Duplighost) and Chan (the Buzzy Beetle) were standing by the Master's side. However, it looked like Jinx had a disciple of his own since there was a Koopa Troopa with a white helmet standing by his side as well.

"Sensei," the Koopa Troopa began before he looked at Jinx, "are they the ones you spoke about?"

"Yes, they're the Smashers," Jinx said. "They're a nice bunch of fighters."

"Oh, I see," the Koopa Troopa said.

"I'm sorry, but you weren't here the last time we came here," Pit said. "Who are you?"

"Sorry for not introducing myself," the disciple of Jinx said. "My name is Jagger. I arrived here some weeks ago after my sensei, Jinx, moved here to train with the Master in the same Dojo. I used to be in Bowser's army before some events happened and I decided to become stronger by training with my sensei here." He looked down. "Thing is...I haven't become much stronger enough to go back with King Bowser..."

"I have told you many times before that working for Bowser is the lowest rank you could ever get," Jinx said. "You're still thinking about joining him?"

"I-I had some good times there..." Jagger said. "I still want to see some friends there..."

"If you go there, you will probably never return," Jinx said. "Once Bowser fixes his eyes on you, you can bet your shell you're not going to come back here ever again."

"B-but I like to be under your hand, sensei!" Jagger said. "H-heck, you taught me lots of things about your disciplines!"

"And yet, you're undecided," Jinx said.

Jagger sighed. "Oh man..."

Yoshi tilted his head a bit. "(He's stuck in deciding to side between good and evil, huh?)"

"Ahem," the Master coughed to get their attention. "I had feeling you'd come here," he said before he stood up. "Normally, we would put you through some fights against our disciples..."

"Actually, let's do that," Jinx said before he stood up. "Let's see if these guys can beat our disciples one by one before facing us in battle."

"We already came into terms that one of us would fight them," the Master said.

"Yeah, we did," Jinx said. "They'd decide who, though."

"It's fine with me," the Master said before looking at the group. "We won't start the fights right away unless you want to fight now. I'd like you to prepare yourself through the ordeals we have in hands for you."

"I'm sure this is going to be a good experience for all of us," Chan said. "I can't wait to see how you fight. You guys put those 2 idiots who attacked the Dojo to misery, anyway."

"Prepare yourselves to face the Dojo's disciples!" Lee said enthusiastically. "Our masters are very strong, but we shouldn't be underestimated at all!"

"Pfft, I'll prove those 2 that Jinx's disciples are far better," Jagger said.

Lee and Chan looked angrily at Jagger. "Oh, says the ONLY disciple of Jinx," Chan said.

"Numbers aren't important!" Jagger complained.

"You said 'disciple' in plural," Lee pointed out. "You MUST care about it."

"S-shut up, you!"

The Master and Jinx frowned at this. "The 3 of you stop," both said.

"Y-yes, senseis..." the three disciples said embarrassed.

The two masters remembered that the Smashers were staring at them. Jinx looked back at them. "Prepare before fighting," he said. "It's going to be a rough day for all of you."

"I should explain the rules," the Master said. "In here, we only have 1-on-1 fights against our disciples, and then we have 3-on-1 fights against me or Jinx."

"Why is there a difference?" Toon Link asked.

"Fighting our disciples 1-on-1 will make us judge your individual performances," Jinx said. "If you do beat them, then that would mean you're capable of fighting us. However, cooperation is crucial when fighting against stronger opponents than yourselves."

"Why not have everyone fight instead?" DK asked.

"We don't do that here because that's kind of dirty," Jinx said. "We COULD allow all of you to fight against 1, but that'd be considered cheating. Even worse, if we did allow that and you all ended up knocked out by a single opponent, it would hurt morale."

DK stared at Jinx's diminutive size. "(...I could step on him...)"

Chris recalled some similar words by a familiar big gerbil he met some time ago. "What the heck is up with the 7-on-1 garbage you're pulling on poor me?" rang in Chris's mind.

"Please, prepare yourselves," the Master said.

The Smashers formed a circle and began to prepare themselves. "Okay, we should probably stick with stepping on Jinx. He's so small..." DK said.

"We're not stepping on him," Pit said. "Besides, don't judge him because he's small..."

"Right..." Chris said. "Jinx is very strong."

"Is he?" DK asked.

"Yes, now let's see what we can do to prepare for battles..." Chris said before he thought for a moment. "...Hey, we still have the stickers that Peppita gave us."

Pit snapped his fingers. "Right, I forgot we had them with us."

Chris took out the eleven stickers he had with him: Fayt, Sophia, Cliff, Nel, Roger, Albel, Maria, Peppita, Mirage, Adray, and the Boots of Prowess were all the stickers. "My Nayru, those are so many," Toon Link said. "What do they have on them?"

"...I...have no idea..." Yoshi said. "Really, what do they have for each one of them?"

Diddy looked confused. "What do they enhance? What do they do? Do they make you feel weird? Do they turn you into a zombie or a vampire? Do they make you get ill? Do they make you get heat vision? Ooh, let one of them have heat vision. I'd be cool to shoot fire out of your eyes. You could say HEAT VISION, then boom."

The Smashers stared blankly at Diddy.

"...One can dream," Diddy said.

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm, what to do..."

"Maybe you can show them to me and find out their abilities," Kawashima suddenly said from Chris's pocket. "I have a sticker checker system built into me. If you show me the stickers, I can find out their attributes."

"Good..." Olimar remarked. "I-I wouldn't like to have the wrong sticker..."

Chris took out his DS and showed Kawashima the stickers. "Scanning..." he muttered before a little sound rang in the DS. "Okay, examination is done… I have to say that these stickers are very unique."

"That was fast," Yoshi said. "What are their properties?"

Kawashima showed them a list. "Well, here's the list with their abilities. They're very useful because they have 2 abilities each."

"2 abilities?"

"Yes, they were perfectly made," Kawashima commented.

"(I guess Peppita worked so hard in them...)" Chris thought.

Olimar looked at the list. "Ooh, look at that..."

Name - Size - Attribute - Character

Fayt - Medium - Abilities: Side Kick, Shotgun Blast - All

Sophia - Medium - Abilities: Healing, Thunder Flare - All

Cliff - Medium - Abilities: Sphere of Might, Hammer of Might - All

Nel - Medium - Abilities: Shockwave, Whirlwind - All

Roger - Medium - Abilities: Charge, Piercing Claw - All

Maria - Medium - Abilities: Laser Blast, Protection - All

Albel - Medium - Abilities: Double Slash, Hand of Doom - All

Peppita- Medium - Abilities: Kaboom, Healing Dance - All

Adray - Medium - Abilities: Chaos Tide, Fairy Light - All

Mirage - Medium - Abilities: Crescent Locus, Triple Kick - All

(Note: Symbology's Mental Death won't occur).

"I have something to say," DK began with a grin, "these stickers kick sorry butts so hard."

"And that's not all," Kawashima said. "We still have the Boots of Prowess."

Boots of Prowess - Large - 30% ATK/DEF increase

"This one increases base strength and base defense by 30 percent," Kawashima said. "If somebody of you would use this, I'd presume he or she would get a very nice boost for attack and defense in ALL attacks..."

Olimar raised his hand. "I-I need that one! I-I need to survive more through battles!"

"Pfft, step back, you," DK said. "If I get it, I'll be a tank fighter. Nobody would stop me if I used it on me."

"I would like to use it," Pit said. "I need to have more defenses because I admit that I'm a bit fragile myself."

"Oh no, I'm the most fragile here," Diddy said. "I'm small so I should use that one."

"I'm a bit unsure," Yoshi said. "Can I use it?"

"If I were to use it on me, oh man, my arrows would deal even more damage!" Toon Link said. "That one's mine!"

Chris looked worried at them. "You...did know that none of us can use this sticker...right?"

The six Smashers stared at Chris. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I heard you saying we couldn't use it," DK said annoyed. "What did you say?"

"I-it's true," Chris said. "I-I mean, didn't you see that there's someone who can use it than any of you?"

The Smashers looked back at the list and found out that the had ignored the character column where it read that, unlike all the previous stickers that were compatible with anyone, the last one had just an owner...

"...Fox..." muttered Yoshi after he read the name.

Kawashima digitally sweat dropped. "Well...it seems none of you but Fox can use this sticker... Sorry."

"...Awww!" Diddy groaned. "That's a really huge let down! Why can he use the sticker and not us?"

"It seems he can use it because of...romantic reasons..." Kawashima explained. "...That's what I can theorize..."

"Romantic reasons?" Chris said confused. "...Oh god, I hope Peppita isn't still thinking her and Fox...oh god..."

"That's a big shame," DK said depressed. "He gets the good stuff while we're left in the dumps..."

"E-er, don't look so down!" Kawashima said. "You still have these stickers for you to use!"

Pit sighed. "I guess that makes up for this..." he muttered.

The Smashers heard some coughs from the other side of the Dojo. They looked back at the Master. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"G-give us a minute!" DK said before everyone looked back at each other. "I take the Cliff sticker!" he said as he grabbed the medium size sticker and placed it on his Trophy Stand. Upon placing it on the stand, DK felt a bit odd. "Ooh, I suddenly know how to use those abilities... Very weird, but so useful, heheheheheh..."

The rest of the Smashers exchanged odd looks before Pit took the Nel sticker. "I'll use this one," he said before placing it on his Trophy Stand.

Toon Link chuckled and grabbed the Roger sticker. "This one is going to have my name on it...now," he said as he placed the sticker on his Trophy Stand.

Diddy and Olimar looked unsure at the remaining stickers. "U-um..." Diddy shook his head. "None of those abilities sound very good to me..."

"M-me neither," Olimar said. "Many of them sound a little bit strange for me to use..."

Yoshi stared at the stickers and shook his head. "No, I don't think these stickers would look good on me either. I'll pass."

Chris took out the Dr. Crygor sticker. "This one here increases a bit of strength for arm and leg atta-"

"Takey-takey," Diddy interrupted as he seized the small sticker and placed it on his Trophy Stand.

"And...that's all I have," Chris said. "The other stickers won't give any of you a specific enhancement... Sorry, Olimar, Yoshi..."

Olimar frowned and looked down. "It's okay..."

Yoshi looked happy. "Besides, I'm not going to fight. I'm going to take care of little Riolu here."

At that moment, Riolu climbed Yoshi's back and got to the top of his head where he looked at Chris and wagged his blue tail at the sides. "Riiii!" Riolu said happily.

Chris smiled at Riolu. "Please, cheer me, okay?"

"Ri!" Riolu nodded.

Yoshi looked to the right and spotted some red cushions. "Oh, we'll watch the fights from over there," he said before he and Riolu went to the cushions and sat down (Yoshi being the only one who sat down since Riolu was grabbing to Yoshi's head to look to the others).

The Smashers turned to the Dojo's members and nodded in unison. "We're ready to fight," Pit said.

"Great," the Master said. "Please, choose the first opponent against Chan."

Chan looked serious and walked in front of the members. "I'm not going easy on you. Bring it on!" he said with a fierce face.

DK chuckled and walked forward. "I'll be your opponent," he said.

"Alright, big guy, let's start this!" Chan said as he ran his feet on his spot.

The Master coughed and raised his right hand. "The first match: DK VS. Chan...can now commence."

Jagger picked up a hard stick with an iron ball on the tip of it and hit hard a nearby gong behind him.

Paper Mario - Battle Theme

"Here I go!" Chan said as he hid in his shell and began to spin on the spot before he shot himself to DK. "Try to stop me now, ape!"

DK narrowed his eyes, waited for the shell to get closer to him, and grabbed it with both hands. Everyone watched as DK raised the shell above him and crashed it down hard on the floor. The Kong then tossed the shell forward, landing upside down, and a knocked out Chan emerged from it.

"...Owie..." Chan muttered.

Music stops

"Enough," the Master said. "The winner of this encounter is DK."

"YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAWWWW!!!" DK yelled excited before he began to pound his chest with his fists.

The Smashers looked bored at the rather fast ending of the battle. "...That was it?" Olimar asked. "He just needed to do that to him..."

"Chan!" Lee yelled worried before he ran to Chan's spot and ducked down to check on him. "Hey, are you okay? Chan, answer me!"

"Fine right here..." Chan muttered weakly. "I pushed my luck so much, didn't I..."

"Y-yeah, you sure did," Lee said. "Come on, you have to leave the arena. It's time for me to uphold the next match in your name."

Jagger rolled his eyes at this. "Are you serious? I thought he was going to last much longer than that..."

Lee turned around and glared at him. "Hey, Chan here just needs more training, that's all! Don't go showing off now because I haven't even taken the match yet!"

"Well, hurry up," Jinx said. "I'd like to see more matched before our match."

"Okay, okay," Lee said as he grabbed the knocked out Chan to take him all the way back to the left side of the Master where a sole red cushion rested. The Duplighost flipped the Buzzy Beetle so he could lie down on the soft square and rest. Lee turned around and walked forward to the arena. "Time for me to face somebody now," he said. "Who shall be my opponent?"

"Oh, I'll be the one," Diddy said as DK passed besides him (the two doing a high-five). Diddy chuckled a bit before he walked forward and looked serious at the Duplighost.

The Master raised his right hand again. "The second match: Diddy VS. Lee...can now commence."

Jagger took this sign as an order to sound the gong.

Paper Mario - Battle Theme

Diddy interlaced his fingers and cracked them a bit. Lee chuckled a bit before he stared at Diddy without focusing his view on anyone else. "I hope you don't mind but I'll have to scan you a bit to make this fight more interesting," Lee said.

"What do you mean by that?" Diddy asked.

"I mean THIS!" Lee yelled before his eyes turned a shade of yellow. Diddy suddenly became petrified by the stare as some sort of green flat square appeared above him and went down to run some kind of scan of his body. Once Diddy was scanned, Lee's eyes turned back to normal, the chimpanzee regaining his movement. "Heheheheh, now's time for the surprise," Lee said before he removed the blue sheet on himself (the blue sheet technically a sign of him being a ghost), tossed it aside to the left wall, and chuckled to Diddy. "Who do you see?"

Diddy gasped shocked after he saw that Lee had revealed to be...himself. In fact, Lee was now a perfect replica of Diddy.

As some of the Smashers gasped at this, Riolu saw this very entertaining and he clapped his hands together. "Riii! Riii! Riii!" he exclaimed happily.

DK gasped. "D-Diddy, you never told me you had a twin brother!"

"But I never did!" Lee said as he perfectly mimicked Diddy's voice. "In fact, I don't have a twin brother! This one over here is an impostor!"

Diddy shook his head and grunted at the false Diddy. "Hey, don't call me an impostor," he said before he brandished his Peanut Popgun. "You're going to get a good smack for that."

Lee chuckled and took out a Peanut Popgun of his own. "We shall see who the real Diddy is here."

"Lee, stop playing around and get fighting," the Master simply ordered.

Lee sighed. "Always reminding me that I have main tasks to do..." he muttered before he smiled happily at Diddy and aimed the gun at him. "Take this...peanut," Lee said skeptically as he shot a peanut at Diddy.

Diddy looked serious and shot another peanut at the peanut, and both peanuts broke apart upon impact, making some crumbles of the shells fall down on the floor.

"You know what, I'm not going to use this thing," Lee said as he kept the gun away. "Let's go physical now!" he said before he ran to Diddy (in his usual running style).

Diddy gasped and ran forward towards Lee. Once both Diddys were close to each other, they both smacked each other by using spinning attacks with the back of their hands. Both of them grunted in pain and stepped back, each one carefully staring at each other.

"You're fighting yourself, Diddy," DK said in a creepy tone. "Whatever you do, your reflection will do it as well..."

"Something much more helpful to say, DK?" Diddy asked.

"Er...break the mirror..." DK said, keeping his creepy tone. "Shatter it...with...slaps..."

The Smashers looked at DK.

"...Yeah," he added.

"...Thanks...DK..." Diddy said. "As always you're a big help..."

Lee rolled his eyes and leaped towards Diddy. "Angry Chimpanzee Attack!" he yelled loudly.

"Avoid Angry Chimpanzee Attack!" Diddy yelled before he dove under Lee and quickly turned around to fire several fast peanuts at the Duplighost's back. Lee yelled in pain (pondering why the peanuts actually hurt him) and fell down in front of Diddy.

...And Lee remained there, knocked out unconscious on the floor.

Music stops

"Enough," the Master said. "The winner of this encounter is Diddy."

"What?" Diddy asked confused. "B-but I thought he was just getting harder to defeat..."

"Lee hasn't developed his mimicking skills well enough, it seems," the Master said. "He has had trouble to maintain his stamina and energy while copying someone else's body. Personally, I'd like him to go through a rigorous training before he can achieve what he wants to get soon."

"Master...you're so awesome..." Lee muttered weakly.

Jagger sighed in depression. "I have to give him that he did give a decent fight... He fought much better than Chan did..."

"...Shut up...you..."

Jagger frowned at this and he went over to drag Lee all the way back to the Master's side. The Terrapin put the knocked out Duplighost beside the unconscious Buzzy Beetle's left side on a red cushion. Jagger then went to pick up Lee's blue sheet to put it back to the mimicker's body. "Well, is it my turn now, sensei?" Jagger asked to Jinx.

"Of course it is, Jinx said. "Please do your best out there."

"I will," Jagger said before he stepped forward in front of the two senseis and crossed his arms while staring at the Smashers. "Who shall be my opponent this time?"

As Diddy shrugged and walked back to DK's side, Pit stepped forward and brandished his dual blades. "I shall be the next one to fight," Pit said.

Jinx nodded at this before he raised his right hand. "The third match: Pit VS. Jagger shall now begin," he announced before he went over to the gong to give it a hard punch that made it ring loudly.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Battle Theme

Jagger winded up his right fist. "Prepare!" he warned Pit.

Pit narrowed his eyes and waited for the terrapin to come closer to him. "(All right, I think it's time to put those new abilities into test now,)" he thought.

"TERRAPUNCH!" Jagger yelled as he sent his fist forward, which prompted him to ram his fist towards the angel.

Once Jagger came closer, Pit began to use the offensive. "Shockwave!" he yelled, slashing the ground with both blades to create red sparkling energy that acted as a barrier and damaged Jagger's feet, causing him to lose his footing.

"Yaaaaaaah!" Jagger yelled before he tumbled back, being stuck in a position where his shell was upside down. "N-noooooooooo!" he yelled as he tried to put himself back to feet.

Pit decided to go on with the battle and use the second ability he got. "Whirlwind!" he yelled, slashing the air in front of him to call forth slicing winds that shielded him. Since Pit was very close to Jagger, the terrapin got stuck in the winds that he got severely sliced by them, his shell levitating off from the floor.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Jagger yelled as he continued to be sliced in the winds.

"(He is stuck right in front of me,)" Pit thought while Jagger was some feet away from him. "(Maybe I can still attack him...) YIAH!" Pit used his dual blades and sliced the terrapin, prompting Jagger to get pushed out the slicing winds where he fell back on the floor and let out a grumble, indicating he was knocked out. "There..." Pit muttered before the winds disappeared.

Music stops

"Enough," the Master said. "The winner of this encounter is Pit."

Olimar looked confused (which was a bit hard to point out since his eyes were closed most of the time) while Pit came back to them. "I...don't know what to say about this... I think Pit did it very good, but the battle itself...felt short..."

Jinx sighed and went over to check on his disciple. "Jagger, you do know that you lost because you're still lacking some training, right?"

"Y-yes, sensei..." Jagger muttered, his face resting on the floor.

"You're dismissed," Jinx said. "Now please clear the arena."

Jagger slowly got up but himself and walked over to Jinx's side where he sat down a red cushion...then fell back on his shell and fainted out of exhaustion.

"And you said...you were better..." muttered Lee from the other side of the Master while Jinx returned to take his seat.

The Master sighed. "It seems you have proven yourself worthy of facing us," he said. "I'm impressed by your determination in battles. Now, for this match, it will be a 3-on-1 match against me or Jinx."

The Smashers looked at each other while Riolu clapped his hands happily on the right side of the Dojo. "Okay, those 3 were pushovers. Who are we going to fight now?" DK asked.

"Let's fight the old man," Toon Link said. "I think he's easier to defeat than the small guy."

"You guys are seriously being overconfident..." Chris muttered. "Really, each one of them is far more dangerous than Lee, Chan, or Jagger."

"Well, we'll see how dangerous they really are," Pit said. "I want to see by myself how they fight."

"Then...it's the Master?" Olimar asked.

They all nodded before turning to the senseis. "We'd like to fight the Master," Pit said.

"Who shall be my opponents?" the Master asked.

Toon Link took a step forward. "Me," he said.

Chris gulped and took a step forward. "M-me," he said unsure.

Olimar sighed and took a step forward. "M-m-me," he said very unsure.

The Master nodded this and slowly got up, coughing a bit. "I see," he said. "Very well, then."

Jinx looked at him. "You're not going to give them the true extent of you true power yet, right?"

"Of course not," the Master said. "It'd be better if they started off in the easy level."

DK looked a bit annoyed. "The guy's taunting us!"

"I'm not taunting, the Master said. "I am merely doing this so I can see if you're worthy enough to proceed to the next level of my power. For now, we shall follow this rule… Also, I'd like to add that you can rotate between all of you if you think you need someone else to fight. However, you'll have to keep in mind that this is a 3-on-1 fight."

"Rotation… It sounds useful," Toon Link said.

"Ooh, yeah, I do get to fight," DK said pleased.

Diddy looked away. "(DK, I think you're overexcited today…)"

The Master coughed and looked at Jinx. "Please do the honors," he said before turning back to the Smashers.

Jinx nodded and went for the gong where he gave it a hard punch to ring it loudly.

Paper Mario - Master Battle

The Master coughed a bit more before he took a fighting stance. "We shall see how well you fare against me," he said. "Prepare to do battle."

"If he punches me, it's going to be someone else's fault, okay?" Chris asked annoyed.

"Chris, are you that scared about him?" Pit asked.

"W-well, it's just that I've seen...um...heard how powerful he is..."

Toon Link chuckled. "Please, how bad can he be?"

The three swordsmen saw that the Master was running at them. Pit looked confused as to why the elderly Toad could run if he was old. "Is...he running?" Pit asked.

"Wow, he ignores his aches," Toon Link said.

"Prepare," the Master said. "I want to have a nice match against all of you."

Toon Link looked serious and ran towards the elder. "Okay, here I go!" he said before he took out his Hookshot to pull the Master to him.

However, in a swift move, the blade of the Hookshot was grabbed instantly by the Master's hand. Toon Link gasped in shock at this before the Master, amazingly, used the Hookshot against Toon Link by using the item as a long lash. Pit and Chris looked shocked when they saw the Master lashing down Toon Link around the floor. "A bad initiative," the Master commented as he lashed the young swordsman around.

"OWW!" Toon Link yelled in pain as he was continuously lashed on the floor. "OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! OWW! YOU GUYS, OWW, HELP! OWW!"

Pit looked back at Chris. "T-that elder has insane strength for his age!" he said.

"W-what are you doing standing there?" Chris asked in a panic. "We have to help Link before he gets his skull cracked!"

"R-right!" Pit said before the two rushed towards the Master.

The Master, his gaze focusing on the other two while he lashed Toon Link down, frowned at this. "I have taken care of precautions," he said. "I didn't forget about you 2 at all."

In an instant, Pit and Chris were quickly pushed away by Toon Link being used as a wrecking ball. The three swordsmen grunted in pain as they all rolled to the right and nearly reached the wall. Seeing his trainer getting hurt, Riolu gasped and jumped down Yoshi's head. "Chriiiiiiiiis!" he yelled.

The World Traveler slowly got up and twitched a bit in pain while the angel and the Hero of Winds were getting up as well, Toon Link being the one who moaned in pain the most. "I-it's okay, Riolu..." Chris muttered. "T-the Master is not going to kill us or something..."

"B-but..." Riolu muttered before Yoshi grabbed him and put him on his back.

"Don't you worry," Yoshi said as he looked at Riolu. "Chris is going to be just fine. Just watch him fight, okay?"

Riolu sniffed a bit before the trio went back to the arena. "O-okay...ri..." Riolu muttered.

The Master watched while the Smashers looked serious at him. "Shall we continue the fight?" he asked.

Toon Link coughed a bit. "M-man, this old guy is tough..."

"I-I told you he's tough..." Chris trailed off. "Now everyone here knows we have to be careful around him..."

Pit rubbed his chin a bit. "Well, now that we saw that frontal attacks don't work..."

Toon Link grumbled annoyed at this fact.

"...Maybe we should come up with strategies," Pit suggested.

The Hero of Winds sighed. "I guess that'd be for the best..." he said.

Not sooner he said that, the Master was already charging at them. Panicking, Chris looked at the two. "W-what do we do now?" he asked.

"Use Combined Final Smash attacks!" Toon Link suggested.

"Use Over Limits whenever they're ready!" Pit suggested.

"You 2 go forward and protect me!" Chris suggested.

The two swordsmen stared angrily at him.

"...Let's use both of your ideas!" Chris said.

Toon Link grabbed his right hand and looked back at the Master. "Quick, let's do our stuff!" he said.

The Master was about to reach them. "Have you come up with a good idea to attack?" he asked before he focused his view on Toon Link.

Toon Link and Chris looked serious at him. "Okay, at the count of 3..." Toon Link trailed off.

The Master, however, stopped Toon Link from further speaking as the Master sent a flying kick right on the young swordsman's waist. Toon Link coughed weakly before he was sent tumbling back to the entrance's way. Chris gasped at this before he turned back in time to see the Master jump at him and punch his face hard enough, prompting Chris to tumble back as well (making Riolu cry out for his trainer's name).

However, Pit was much better in avoiding attacks than any of them. The angel quickly took a step back from the roundhouse kick of the Master before Pit used Angel Ring to move himself closer to his opponent to slash him continuously. "I-I have him trapped!" he yelled.

But just then, his dual blades were stopped by the Master who managed to grab Pit's hands. The angel gasped shocked at this before the old Toad did a quick turn and lashed Pit down hard on the floor. "U-ugh!" Pit grunted in pain.

"Have you learned yet that trapping your opponents isn't enough to keep them from attacking?" the Master asked.

Pit looked up at him while he gritted his teeth in pain. "I-I thought it would work..." Pit muttered.

The Master quickly back stepped away from the impact of two arrows that came from both swordsmen some feet away from him. "Darn it!" Toon Link cursed.

Chris lowered his bow and looked ashamed. "And here I thought he was distracted..."

"It would be foolish of me to let my guard down for a second," the Master said while Pit pushed himself up and took several steps back from the adversary. "Don't forget that you're dealing with a martial arts master."

"We're forgetting about the things we shouldn't be forgetting about!" Toon Link yelled.

Chris looked confused at him. "Um, how does that work, exactly?"

"We could stand here talking about my confusingly confusing comments or we could be fighting together against that super old Toad."

"...Are you saying it's my fault you're talking like this?"

"Yeah."

"Link!" Chris yelled annoyed.

"You 2, give me some help over here!" Pit yelled to the two as he back stepped from some triple kicks from the Master. "I-I can't handle him alone!" He then received a harsh blow on his gut. "U-ugh... I-I'm...done for..." Pit muttered as the Master pulled back his fist and let him fall down on the floor, loosing consciousness.

"P-Pit!" Chris, Toon Link, DK, Diddy, Olimar, Riolu, and Yoshi yelled.

The Master folded his arms behind his back and coughed a bit. "Well, it seems he lacked some more training," the Master commented.

After he said that, he looked a bit surprised to see that a divine light shone down on Pit, gently touching his back to make the image of some glowing wings appear and flutter a bit. The shining wings, however, disappeared, and Pit suddenly opened his eyes and slowly got up from the floor.

"W-what...just happened?" Pit asked confused. "I thought I was knocked out of cold..."

Diddy looked confused and tilted his head. "What did just happen? Why did that light appear out of nowhere?"

DK gasped and looked up at the ceiling. "A-are our guardian angels watching over us, perhaps? A-are they giving us their blessing?"

"If that were true, then we would have finished this fight a long time ago," Kawashima was heard saying from Chris's pocket. The professor sounded a bit bored at this as well. "Well, no. That wasn't the reason behind Pit's recovery. You see, Chris bought the 'Last Breath' ability, and it allows any Smasher to recover from being knocked out in a fight. However, this ability recovers 50 percent of the health of any fainted Smasher."

Chris looked at his pocket. "So we can keep coming back until we finish the fight?"

"Sadly, no," Kawashima said. "This ability only works once with every single Smasher per fight. If Pit is knocked out again, then that's it for him and he will get knocked out for real this time. You better be careful because you don't want to rely on it that much."

"Impressive," the Master remarked as Pit rejoined with the other two. "You were prepared for this fight."

"(I'd say it was just luck I bought that ability before this day...)" Chris thought.

The Master coughed a bit. "Let us resume the match," he said before he ran towards the group.

And that's where panic once again took over all of them.

"We JUST have to do SOMETHING," Toon Link said in shock. "There's no unbeatable enemy out there and he's no different!"

"True," the Master commented.

"Y-you heard him out!"

Pit thought for a moment. "Maybe we should try to attack with different attacks like magic?"

"But then if you say that, that means I'm the only one who can attack with magic," Chris said. "...Then I should rely on magic while you 2 fight him?"

"Yes."

Without having second doubts, Chris changed to his Black Mage job. "Okay, magic user ready here," he said. "You 2 go forward and try your best to land some hits on him."

Pit looked at Toon Link. "Should we try a double attack?"

Toon Link looked worried before they all looked back at the Master about to reach them. "DISPERSE!" Toon Link yelled loudly, causing the trio to run at different directions before the Master could attack them.

Chris, being the only Black Mage of the group, ran to the farthest area so he could cast magic from afar. The World Traveler held his staff tightly with both hands and focused his magic. "Burn into greater ashes.... Fira!" he called out.

The Master found himself unable to dodge the attack as a burst of flames appeared and burned him greatly. The sensei of the Dojo shook his head at this attack...and went after Chris after. "If I let you attack from afar, I won't have many more chances to attack," the Master said.

Chris's yellow eyes widened in shock before he turned somewhere else and ran away from the Master. As the Master ran after Chris, Toon Link and Pit were chasing the Master from behind his back. "Hey you!" Toon Link yelled. "Don't forget about us!"

The Master stopped on his tracks and turned around to them. "I haven't forgotten you at all."

"That's good, because we want to see how you dodge this," Pit said.

The Master became wary about their movements. However, he then looked disappointed to see that the two swordsmen were doing a frontal attack on him. "Have you not learned your lesson yet?" he asked before rushing at them.

"(3...2...1...)" both Pit and Toon Link thought while they ran towards the Master. "GO!" they both yelled.

Just before the Master could send them a flying kick, both swordsmen rolled around the elder to perform a familiar attack in which they sliced the Master's back hard with an X-slash before turning back their blades to deal another X-slash. The Master grunted a bit in pain as he was sent rolling forward, but he quickly regained his composure and performed a flip to stand back up.

The Black Mage looked surprised at this. "T-that was the parry attack that I found with Link..." he muttered. "T-then the ability I bought from Master Hand does work..."

The Master coughed a bit and turned to the two swordsmen. "That was unexpected," he remarked. "I didn't expect a parried attack like that. I blame myself for not knowing that much about swordsmanship."

"Ooh, we have an advantage now," Toon Link said pleased.

Pit smiled a bit at him. "I have to say that it was good for us to perform that attack."

"However," the Master began as he ran to Pit, "can you perform it again before you're knocked out?"

The angel looked shocked before he quickly found himself being attacked by the Master. Pit had to block several kicks and fists from the elderly Toad before Toon Link reminded himself that he was close to him. The young swordsman went to attack the elder, but this was quickly interrupted after the Master sneaked a surprise fist attack at Pit's face. The angel, having been revived with only fifty percent of his health, grunted in pain as he back away, a hand trying to ease the pain on his face.

The Master did a back flip over a shocked Toon Link before landing behind him and use a strong palm attack on his back. Toon Link yelled in pain as he was sent rolling forward where he reached Pit.

"Fira!" called a familiar voice to burn the Master with another burst of fire.

The Master then fixed his gaze at the Black Mage on the upper left corner of the arena. The elder then decided to attack Chris to stop magic at once. Toon Link and Pit gasped before they both ran after the Master, a panicked Chris looking around to find a way to escape.

Riolu, having been interested in the fight, began to grow curious about fighting that he decided to climb down Yoshi's back and stand by his side. He looked down at his palms for a bit and thought about something that he would like to do while the battle kept going on.

The Master then turned around and quickly went after Pit. The angel didn't foresee that the elder would turn around and attack him, something that the elder Toad defined as a quick uppercut on Pit's chin. Toon Link gasped as Pit was sent up into the air before the Master jumped high and used a triple kick attack on the angel, the last kick pushing Pit away to the entrance's area. The young swordsman's, for his dismay, saw that Pit didn't get back up. "Pit!" Toon Link yelled.

"Sorry..." Pit muttered. "It was...just too much for me to handle..."

Chris looked worried at this. "(I don't think using healing magic would be good enough... The Master will probably try to stop me from using it, so...)" He forgot that they could rotate Smashers after DK went to pick up Pit to take him to the entrance's area. "U-um...Olimar, come here!"

Olimar looked up from his spot. "W-what? D-do I have to?"

Chris noticed that the Master was going after him. "YES!"

"O-okay…" Olimar shyly walked into the arena and plucked out a Blue Pikmin, a Red Pikmin, and a White Pikmin. Recalling that he just plucked out the Pikmins from the bare floor, the captain sighed. "Oh, this doesn't make any sense… I can pluck out Pikmins randomly from impossible places where they are…"

Once Olimar looked forward, he watched as Chris tried to run away from the Master while Toon Link gave chase to attack the elder Toad. It surely did look odd for him to see a teen running away from an old man that was being chased by a young teen.

The captain gulped and looked at his Pikmin. "Y-you need to give me your support, okay? A-and when I mean support, I mean you latching on the Master…"

The Pikmins looked at each other before they all went after the Master. As for Olimar, he just remained there as far away as he could be from the fight.

"…L-latch!" Olimar yelled. "B-beat him down!"

As Olimar issued orders, DK grunted a bit at this. "Olimar needs to get closer to fight."

"Meh, I saw a mile away he would stay away from getting hurt," Diddy said.

Back at the fight, unfortunately for Chris, he tripped and fell down on the floor. "H-HELP!" he yelled as the Master came closer to him.

Fortunately, for Chris, the Master sidestepped from a boomerang that Toon Link tossed at him. Scrambling back to his feet, the World Traveler got up and took several steps away from the elder.

"I-I think it would be a good idea for me to change to a job I haven't used…" Chris muttered before he changed to his Fake King job. "Okay, dat oughta do it…"

…

"…What dah hell is wrong with mah speech?" Chris asked confused. "I'm talkin' as if I was that there blue penguin! …W-what's wrong with me?!" he asked shocked. "I-I hate to talk like this!"

"Oh," Kawashima began, "it seems you have earned experience enough to start talking like King Dedede does, Chris."

"...WHAT?!"

"T-that's the truth," Kawashima said embarrassed. "You didn't expect that his manner of speech could be that ability, huh?"

"T-this is just some kinda joke, ain't it?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"Sadly, you'll have to abide by the rules."

"T-this sucks!" Chris complained angrily. "I-I don't wanna be talkin' like that fat dude!"

The World Traveler then felt that someone grabbed his robe from behind. In an instant, the hammer wielder yelped as the Master spun Chris above him and rammed him down on a running Toon Link, both Smashers yelling in pain. Right after Chris crashed down on Toon Link, Olimar's Pikmins came from behind them and they leaped to the elder Toad.

Unfortunately, the Master merely punched them away, instantly killing them off. The elder Toad coughed a bit and folded his arms behind his back. "Please do show some more strategies," he said as Chris and Toon Link got up from the floor, panting heavily. "I know there must be something in you that could change the tides of this battle. You haven't defeated all the enemies you've faced before without having a strategy."

"U-ugh..." Chris grunted in pain. "I-I bet dat there's some kinda strategy to beat dah guy..."

Toon Link stared at him with an odd look. "Chris...why are you talking like if you had some sort of weird accent?"

The fake king grunted annoyed at this. "I-I dunno! Dah job's dah one who's makin' me speak like this!"

"Creepy..." Toon Link commented before the two focused back to the Master rushing directly at them. "W-we have to think of something!"

"Easier said than done!" Chris complained. "Y-ya better have a good plan or we can kiss our butts good bye!"

Toon Link stared at him.

"I-I don't normally say this, I swear!" Chris said in his defense.

"Prepare yourselves," the Master called out, his straight look freaking the two Smashers.

Chris gulped at this and readied his hammer. "I-I better do somethin' before we regret it..." he muttered. "Y-YIAH!" he yelled before he used a Super Dedede Jump to jump over the Master. "Heheheheheh!" Chris snickered in a weird manner. "Didn't expect dat, did y-"

And the fake king forgot the fact that the ceiling wasn't exactly that high, thus giving himself a good smack to his head. The World Traveler turned upside down and crashed right on the floor.

"O-owie..." Chris muttered in pain. "...Who put dat ceiling up there?" His look quickly turned shocked as he heard the footsteps of the Master going after him. "H-HELP!" he yelled.

"C-coming!" Toon Link yelled as he took out his Hookshot before he ran towards the Master. "(I-I know this didn't work before...but I better find out another use for this...)"

The young swordsman looked around before he glanced up at the wooden ceiling.

"...Wood..." Toon Link muttered before looking at his Hookshot. "My Hookshot can attach itself in wood..."

The fake king quickly got up and turned around in time to see the Master leaping at him, his small right foot with intentions to give Chris a triple kick on the face. "This shall be over soon..." the Master muttered.

However, before the Master could even land a hit on Chris's terrified look, Toon Link, hooking up his Hookshot on the wooden ceiling, leaped towards the Master and used the Hookshot's chain as a rope in order to reach him faster and slash him across from the left side, prompting the elder Toad to be pushed away to the floor. Chris watched surprised at Toon Link's quick thinking by the use of his Hookshot.

Toon Link chuckled as he spun around while keeping a tight grip on the Hookshot's handle. "You okay, Chris?" he asked.

Chris smiled. "O-of course I'm fine, thanks to ya."

The young swordsman kept spinning around a bit before he pulled back the chain back to the Hookshot. The two then looked back at the Master standing up by pushing his feet back up. "Nicely done," he remarked. "I'm sure I didn't expect such quick thinking."

Toon Link closed an eye and scratched his head a bit. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Yes, but will it be enough to make you win the fight?"

Toon Link and Chris gasped before the Master rushed towards them. Surprisingly, from behind the elder, Olimar came closer and tossed three Red Pikmins at the Master's back. The elder Toad was taken by surprise to this attack before the Pikmins began to smack him down everywhere. "T-take that!" Olimar yelled before he plucked out two Yellow Pikmins and a White Pikmin that he tossed them all at the struggling Toad. "A-and that!" Olimar added.

The previous two Smashers sighed in relief at Olimar's action before they looked serious at the Master. The two looked and nodded to each other before they went after the Toad, Chris pulling his hammer high up to begin charging the Jet Hammer. "Ya little toony swordsman, distract dah ol' dude!" Chris ordered. "P-please don't mind how I talk right now!"

Toon Link decided to ignore the weird speech as he ran to the Master. As the Toad managed to toss some Pikmins away, Toon Link saw the perfect opportunity to use his Hookshot. The young swordsman fired the blade to make it latch on the Master. The elder Toad gasped at this before Toon Link pulled the Master to him and rolled his back on the floor to push the Master away to Chris's direction.

"THERE!" Chris yelled as he did a hard swing to the Master's head. Thankfully, the attack was strong enough to send the Master away to the entrance's area, his body rolling recklessly on the floor before he stopped by using a flip to get back up to his feet. "Alrighty, dat's what I call a good smackin'!" he yelled before laughing loudly in an usual way, his hands resting on his hips.

Seeing Chris laughing like some maniac was surely a very strange sight for the rest of the Smashers. Toon Link and Olimar exchanged looks with each other while DK and Diddy did the same thing.

As for Riolu, the little creature looked happy at his trainer's happy mood, oblivious of the fact Chris had never laughed at an enemy like that before. Yoshi, however, looked a bit skeptical at this.

"You're starting to get livelier," the Master said. "It's good to see such a happy mood in battle. That usually boosts confidence in one's courage."

Chris stopped laughing and he grinned (which he had never done so much before). "Ya bet AM happy, ol' man!" he said before he looked shocked at what he had done and said. "...W-what's happenin' to mah speech?"

Yoshi looked confused at this. "Huh, weren't you noticing that you were talking like Dedede?"

Chris shook his head. "N-no, right after I used mah hammer...s-something kinda made me say those things...a-and I even grinned? ...W-what is wrong with this job?!" he asked terrified.

The Master blinked a few times before he shook his head. "It must be the use of the power you have on that form. It's clearly obvious that the person who was used to base your power surely did act in such a...unique manner."

"Can ya call this a unique manner?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"It...sure is unique around these parts..."

"..." Chris slapped his forehead and frowned at this.

"Let us continue the fight," the Master said before he charged towards Chris and gave him a harsh blow on the stomach. The fake king coughed weakly at this as he accidentally moved his head down, allowing the martial artist to hop a bit from the ground to do a flying spin kick to his face. The World Traveler yelped in pain as he rolled back recklessly before he stopped and started to pant heavily on the floor.

"Chris, be careful!" Kawashima yelled. "According to the new application you bought for me, which I'm very thankful about, you're at the verge of being taken out!"

"I-I know..." Chris muttered as he slowly pushed himself up. "B-but I'm not gonna let the ol' man own me dat badly agai-"

The World Traveler's comment was soon halted by a flying kick that the Master impacted on his face. Having enough of all the damage he had received, Chris's eyes spun a bit at this, and he fell down on his back, letting go of his hammer as he lost consciousness.

Riolu's tail pointed up in shock as he saw his trainer knocked out on the floor. "CHRIIIIIIIIIS!!!" he cried out loudly, Yoshi twitching a bit at the high-pitched scream.

Suddenly, the same divine light that had shone on Pit appeared on Chris and gently touched him. The light wings from before appeared on his back to flutter a bit on the sides before disappearing in spores of light, giving Chris another chance to fight in the battle.

Once Riolu blinked some tears away, he saw that his trainer moved his head up before he slowly got up. This sign made Riolu look surprised before he clapped his hands together with glee. "Chriiiiiiiiiiis!" he exclaimed happily.

"R-Riolu...I-I'm just fine..." Chris muttered with a sigh as he stood up. "I-I'm not gonna fall down to dah floor again!" he complained as he turned around...just to see the Master in the air about to give him a spin kick. "CRAP!" Chris yelped.

Fortunately, for Chris, a chain of six Pikmins pushed the Master away in time. The World Traveler looked to his right where a gulping Olimar pulled back his Pikmins on the floor. "A-are you okay?" he asked. "I-I was conveniently standing close to you..."

"Olimar...thank ya..." Chris said in relief.

"...Thank 'ya' too..." Olimar said confused.

"The Over Limit gauge is ready," Kawashima said. "You may now use a Final Smash."

Toon Link gasped at this. "W-wait, let me use my Final Smash!" he said. "I-I want to call Gnome into battle!"

"O-oh, right," Olimar said. "You have that sticker..."

Toon Link coughed a bit before he used the Over Limit, instantly engulfing himself in a rainbow aura. The young swordsman put his sword across in front of him and closed his eyes to chant a spell while the Master ran after him. "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth!" he chanted loudly.

The Master suddenly found himself unable to move due to an earth glyph appearing under his feet. The elder Toad coughed a bit as he tried to escape from the glyph, but it was just too much for him to move even an inch from his spot. A bigger brown glyph appeared right around Toon Link's feet as he continued his spell. "I summon thee...come...Gnome!"

The Smashers looked up of the Master where they saw that smoke appeared, and from it appeared Gnome, flipping several times in the air as he fell down upon the elder Toad. "I'll...crush ya!" Gnome said happily before he crushed the Toad under his weight, creating a 4-way shockwave of stalagmites that spread around upon the Dojo. The attack itself, however, didn't cause any damages to the floor or the walls. The Summon Spirit of Earth playfully hopped on the spot he had fell on the Master before he turned at Toon Link, gave him a wink, then disappeared right after.

Toon Link chuckled. "I don't know why, but I think I'm going to use this attack more often."

The Master, lying down on the spot where Gnome had fell on him, slowly got up and shook his head. "Well done..." he muttered. "You're all full of surprises...but I can still hold my ground against all of you." He took a fighting stance. "Let us continue this battle."

Olimar couldn't believe that the elder Toad was able to fight back even after the big mole crushed him down. However, the captain did recall that the Master could run and even perform roundhouse kicks without showing traces of sweat. Shrugging at the thought, Olimar decided to attack the sensei with Pikmins trailing off from his back. "H-how can you still fight?" Olimar asked. "I-I thought you were retired."

The Master coughed and went after Olimar, making the captain make a sharp turn around and escape from him. "Years and years of training and meditation have allowed me to withstand my age," the Master explained. "This is the result you get for following the routine."

"(It must have been a bit boring to do all that...)" Olimar thought.

As the Master gave chase to Olimar, a determined Toon Link chased the old Toad from behind with a boomerang ready. As for Chris, his job didn't make him run all the fast with the big hammer he was carrying around. Before Toon Link could even throw his boomerang at the Toad, the Master stopped running after Olimar to perform a back flip and pass over the shocked swordsman. The Master then landed behind Toon Link and used a quick palm attack to his chest, delivering a strong blow that pushed Toon Link away.

It was made clear that Toon Link couldn't resist the attack for much longer since the same divine light shone on his back, prompting light wings to appear and flutter a bit on his back before disappearing. Soon, the young swordsman regained his senses and slowly pushed himself from the floor. "Uaaaaaaahh..." Toon Link sighed. "I better be more careful for those surprise attacks..."

"That would be a nice plan to do," the Master commented behind Toon Link.

The young swordsman yelped, turned around, and took several steps back to stay away from the Toad. The Hero of Winds then recalled that he had learned new abilities thanks to the stickers. "Piercing Claw!" Toon Link yelled as he raised his sword to the air. The blade of the sword then formed an iron drill that he quickly moved forward to the Master.

For Toon Link's dismay, the Master easily dodged the attack by taking a side step. Toon Link grunted at this and quickly made a sharp turn, the drill of his sword disappearing. "Charge!" he yelled, a force shield forming in front of him as he used a quick rushing attack with his sword to the elder Toad.

The Master couldn't evade the attack due to the fact the force shield reached him and made him get stunned for a split second, enough time for Toon Link to deliver a harsh slash attack. "Very good..." the Master muttered as he tumbled back a bit while Toon Link stepped away from him.

Before the Master could take a step forward, he dodged a Gordo bouncing to his way before it disappeared.

"Damn that ol' man!" Chris cursed. "He's movin' around like a sneaky rat with hyperactivity for nearby cheese!"

Olimar, being the one the farthest away from the Master, rubbed his helmet as he tried to think of an attack. "I know latching you 6 on him is going to look stale…" he muttered to his six Pikmins. "…But I have to fight…even though I didn't want to be a fighter at all…"

The captain resolved himself to run towards the Master while Toon Link used his shield to block the fist attacks of the elder Toad. Eventually, Toon Link's shield was moved away, allowing the Master to deal several fists attacks to his waist. The young swordsman coughed weakly as he clutched himself in pain before the Master hopped a bit to do a spin kick to his face, making Toon Link lose the last of his breath as he rolled back and fainted, face lying on the floor. "Sorry…you guys…" he muttered before falling unconscious.

"L-Link!" Chris yelled as a scared Olimar reached a point where he could toss three Pikmins to the Master.

"Coming!" DK yelled as he ran around the right wall and went to pick the fainted Toon Link. The Kong reached for the small swordsman to put him on his back before walking away.

For Olimar's dismay, the Master easily punched away the three Pikmins he had tossed to him. The Hocotate employee gulped as he glanced as his Yellow, White, and Red Pikmins, all of them trembling in fear. "I-I know it's very likely that you're going to be taken out that…"

His Pikmins blinked in shock at this statement that they, as odd as it sounded, burrowed themselves back to the floor and disappeared.

"…" Olimar's eyes opened in bewilderment after he saw that his very own Pikmins retreated by their own. It looked even more bizarre when they had burrowed to the floor and didn't leave traces of dirt or crumbles of wood. The captain began to question the physics of the universe he was in before he shrugged the thought away. "…T-they could do that?" Olimar asked utterly confused.

Thanks to this distraction, Olimar was pushed away by a palm attack on his back from the Master. The captain went stumbling on the floor before he fell down and moaned in pain.

Chris looked over at DK and Diddy. "Hey, ya big ape, c'mere and fight already!"

DK blinked surprised before he cheered a bit at this and ran into the arena to assist the team while Diddy kept looking after Pit and Toon Link.

Chris had enough of the Fake King job's weird accent that he decided to change to his Monk job. "Phew... This is much better..." he muttered as DK ran to his side. "Honestly speaking, I like to talk like I usually do because I'm not that used to change speeches..."

"Ooh, I know," DK said. "You were so out of it just now."

The World Traveler stifled a small nervous chuckle before he looked at his claws. Chris noticed that he was wearing two familiar claws: the Ice Claw on his right hand, and the Lightning Claw on the left hand. "These claws..."

DK looked at the claws. "What about them?"

While Olimar kept tossing Pikmins wildly at the Master, every Pikmin having the unfortunate result of dying by a single fist, the World Traveler remembered something about the claws. "These claws were given to me by Yang when I was in Baron in another world... I thought these were going to turn into stickers but they didn't... Why?"

Kawashima coughed. "It looked like your job was...kind of incomplete."

"What do you mean by that? (Olimar: K-keep him away from getting closer to me! O-oh my god, my Pikmins, they're all dying so fast!) My job was incomplete?"

"To be honest...it lacked its weaponry," Kawashima explained. "Master Hand forgot that part, and thus you didn't get the full extent of your power. However, once you obtained those claws, they became part of the job to fill in the gaps."

Chris sighed annoyed. "So Master Hand screwed this job?"

"...People tend to forget even what matters the most."

DK chuckled. "Hey, at least you pulled through it."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Sure, I pulled through all the battles because I didn't even use this one that much. (Olimar: H-hey, guys, can you give me a hand here? M-my goodness, h-he's getting closer!) Thankfully, I'm going to use right now."

DK looked serious with a grin. "That job gives you more power, and I don't like to brag much but I do have a lot of strength."

"What do you mean?"

DK began to punch the air boxing style. "You and I are going to beat that old man down with brute strength. If he doesn't go down, then we're gonna have to keep trying until he DOES go down."

Chris looked at the very enthusiastic look that DK had. The World Traveler began to think that DK, even though being more of a muscle brain, was energetic about almost everything. In fact, DK even liked the fight, showing some enthusiasm that made Chris smile a bit. "...I think we can actually pull it off."

DK stopped punching the air and he looked at Chris, showing his teeth a bit. "You gotta think about good stuff so you don't feel so down. (Olimar: Oh my god, he's so close! M-my Pikmins, t-they're dying too much!) That way, you get to enjoy what you do."

"(Heheh, I guess I'll just have to be as optimistic as you.)"

"(Yep, that's how you need to do it.)"

"(But I really dislike the idea to fight...)"

"(Pfft, what can you do?)"

"(Nothing...for now, I think...)"

"(Good, good... Well, now that you're looking better...can you explain me why everyone froze around us?)"

The World Traveler ignored that the two of them were talking through the same way when anyone and Chris would obtain a new CFS. Around them, everyone and everything froze into place, and they couldn't even move as well. Chris gasped a bit at this that he could right away that he had found a new CFS. "(D-DK, you're the next one to get a new CFS!)"

"(...Huh? Really? Is it my turn?)" DK asked surprised. "(Ooh, this weird feeling feels...weird...)"

"(...That weird comment aside...the Monk job...the job is the one compatible with you.)"

"(No wonder why I felt that energetic around you.)"

"(W-well, wasn't it because I started to talk?)"

"(Aww, man, I thought it was because of that!)"

"(...DK, I think you're being a little bit helpless if I'm not using the Monk job. You're...just itching to pummel enemies down today more than usual, that's why...)"

"(...Is that it?)"

Chris sighed mentally. "(Yes, you're really wanting to punch someone today that you think you HAVE to do it out or urge...)"

"(Well...if that's true...can I punch you then?)"

"(N-no, that's not what I meant!)" Chris yelled. "(B-besides, would you ever bring yourself to punch me?)"

"(Er...no...you're a buddy to me like Diddy.)"

"(...I seriously feel a bit of pity for Diddy for having to hang out with you sometimes...)" Chris muttered.

"(What was that?)"

"(U-um, DK, l-let's stop talking now and use our CFS on the Master! W-we have to see if we can defeat him with this one!)"

"(You know, I think I'm feeling the urge of punching someone now. It's just like you said.)"

"(...Please tell me you're not talking about me...)"

"(It could be you if you keep talking.)"

"(Oh, well, let's do this... Wait just a minute; am I the one talking too much here?)"

"(Yeah, you're talking so much that you're keeping me from using my new CFS!)"

"(Y-you hypocrite, I-I...I-I... Oh, screw it already!)" Chris gave up before time began to move on again. "DK, prepare yourself!"

DK smacked his fists together and chuckled deeply. "Yeah, now we're talking my way..."

Chris looked miffed and annoyed at the ape. "(I swear that he can scare me really badly with those straight comments of his...)"

Olimar gulped in fear as the Master reached for him and lashed him down on the floor. The captain yelped loudly in pain before he was tossed away to the left wall where he bounced off from the wall and fell down on the floor, moaning a bit in pain. "You gave a decent encounter, but you can do better if you put your mind into it."

Olimar slowly pushed himself back to his feet and shrugged. "I-I'm hurt...b-but...maybe I can fight..."

"Have confidence in yourself," the Master said. "However, having overconfidence can lead to very disastrous results such as...death."

The Hocotate employee's eyes opened in shock. "I-I'll just have confidence..." he muttered.

"Good choice," the Master said. "Now, can you uphold to that vow in this match?"

Olimar scrambled around to take out three Blue Pikmins, one Purple Pikmin, and two White Pikmins. The Smasher then began to toss the Pikmins wildly at the Master's direction, but the constant repetition of the attack made the Master very wary that he easily used several spin kicks to kick them away to their demises. Seeing this fast yet gruesome result only made Olimar sniff sadly as he saw the ghosts of the Pikmins disappearing in the air.

"Losing confidence?" the Master asked.

Olimar nodded a few times. "H-how can I keep my confidence like that if all my Pikmins are getting themselves killed against you?"

"You don't have another way to attack?"

'N-no, I rely on my Pikmins to do the fighting..." Olimar muttered. "I need to send them to battle...but I-I just can't stand watching them die so easily. T-they used to survive for a longer period of time for simpler tasks...b-but not fighting..."

The Master closed his eyes. "Your case carries the burden of their sacrifices."

"Y-yes..."

"You're very fond of them, yet you toss them at your enemies. You wish they could live longer, but they can't survive through harsh ordeals..." He opened his eyes and nodded at Olimar. "You're probably forever locked into using that strategy to keep yourself alive. Without you, they wouldn't have someone to listen to."

Olimar sighed. "I know... I don't have another way, though..."

"Maybe if you struggled, you could find out another way..."

"...Can I?"

"Yes, but today is not the time," the Master said before he began to rush at Olimar. "Today is the day where you will have to think of the best solutions to defeat me."

Olimar yelped at this and quickly turned around to run away from the sensei.

"And one day, soon, you will stop from running awa-"

"Hammer of Might!"

The Master was interrupted by a yell and a impacting force on the floor that reached his feet and made him go to the air where he flipped and landed back on his feet. The Master looked back to see DK landing back on the floor with tight fists ready. "It was reckless of me in forgetting about you," the Master said.

DK grinned. "Liked my new attack? I just LOVE smackin' people around when I have an excuse like this fight."

The Master frowned. "You, my friend, need to change that attitude of beating people for joy. If you keep going like that, you will eventually start to bully your friends, and you will laugh at what you do to them."

DK looked confused. "I can turn into a bully?"

"It's one of the many reasons that power should be used for better goals than using it on the people you care the most," the Master said. "Would you use your imposing figure to take advantage of others and hurt their self-esteem?"

"I-I..."

"Would you?" the Master asked. "Why not keep that strength from hurting people? Why not just ignore it altogether and be a normal person?"

"H-hmm..."

"Even the smallest of people take advantage of bigger people," the Master said. "That is still a sad thing to see, in my point of view."

DK looked away worried.

"I hope that gives you an insight of what you should do for the best. I'm only trying to keep a good sense of trust between you and your companions. Don't take this as some sort of offense to you."

The Kong nodded a bit at this and looked back at the Master. "T-thanks, mister..." he said embarrassed.

"I'm glad to provide you with this advice," the Master said. "Now, let's resume the battle where we left on."

Chris appeared from behind DK. "DK, I thought we were going to use our you-know-what after you used Hammer of Might."

DK gasped and looked at him. "I-I was going to but he started talking about strength and stuff..."

"At least I gave him good tips," the Master said. "However, that aside, I'm intrigued to see what you 2 want to show me..." He thought for a moment. "I wonder what it is..."

"DK, HE'S WONDERING WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO TO HIM! ATTACK!" Chris suddenly yelled before the two quickly reached for the Master. The elder Toad looked a bit surprised at this as DK grabbed him from both sides and tossed him up. The two physical fighters quickly took positions by standing by each side where the Master was about to fall.

DK and Chris pulled back their fists. "3, 2, 1," DK counted down.

"Go!" Chris yelled.

"HAAAAA!!!" they both yelled as they began to send a flurry of upwards fists to the Master. The elder Toad couldn't move from his spot in time before the quick barrage of fists began to hit most parts of his body, prompting him to spin madly in the air. Everyone watched as the two seemed to be sending a blinding flurry of attacks to the Toad.

After sending their punches, the Master kept spinning in the air before DK leaped high up, joined his hands together behind his back, and rammed them down hard on the Master. "One more..." DK muttered as the Master was sent down to the floor.

"...for you to stop!" Chris finished as he swiftly did a quick turn and delivered a hard spin kick on the Master. The elder Toad grunted in pain as he was sent to the north area of the arena while he bounced several times on the ground and stopped sliding on the floor.

DK landed back on the floor and high-fived with Chris.

New ability learned! Beat of the Jungle!

One target is thrown high up for 2 users to deliver a flurry of fast punches. After that, both users perform individual attacks to add more damage. Deals great damage to a single enemy.

Jinx, having seen the Master being knocked out very close to him, nodded in surprise. "That was a nice move," he remarked. "Can you still fight, though?"

The Master slowly got up from the floor and looked at him. "I'm reaching my limits now...but would it be wise to keep fighting?"

"That's for you to decide," Jinx said. "It's not my place to tell you what."

"I thought your advice would have sounded nice to hear...but...I'll continue," the Master said before he rushed towards the duo.

Chris watched surprised as the Master went after them. "W-what? Is not enough yet?" he asked in disbelief.

DK gasped and quickly put himself in front of Chris. "Stay back and leave him to me!" DK said.

"What? Can you handle him solo?"

This little distraction was enough for the Master to jump over DK and go towards Chris. The monk got a shocked look before the Master delivered a donwward kick to his face followed up by some palm attacks on his chest. Chris tumbled back weakly as he began to pant heavily before the Master leaped at him and delivered a flying kick to his gut. The World Traveler then was sent bouncing along the floor before he fainted close to where Yoshi and shocked Riolu were. "And...here I thought I was about to...ugh..." Chris muttered.

"C-CHRIIIIIIIIIIS!!!" Riolu cried out before he jumped off from Yoshi's back and went to see his downed trainer. "W-wake up, Chris, wake up!"

Yoshi got up from his spot and went over to check on Chris. "Riolu, don't worry... Chris is just fainted. He's going to wake up in a bit."

Riolu sniffed a bit and looked up at Yoshi. "R-really?"

"Yes," Yoshi said. "Let him rest for a while."

Riolu looked back at the painful expression of his trainer. The Emanation Pokémon looked worried at this as he kept staring at Chris. "(...Maybe...this wouldn't have happened if...)" He looked at his hands. "(...)"

Yoshi blinked a few times at this as Diddy made his way to the match.

The Master coughed a few times before turning to an angry DK. "I don't have much energies left...but I shall keep fighting until someone is defeated."

DK cracked his fists a bit. "You're gonna pay for taking Chris out like that," he said before he jumped high into the air while pulling his fists back. "Get this!"

The Master quickly rushed away from a Hammer of Might attack from DK. However, when the Master side stepped away, a Purple Pikmin was flung to his head, making him lose his balance and fall down before the Purple Pikmin walked back to a gulping Olimar. "I-I can do this... Maybe I can pull this off..." he muttered to his Purple Pikmin.

As the Master got up, Diddy came in and used Monkey Flip to latch himself on the Master's head. The spider monkey then began to smack the Master hard over all parts of his heads before the sensei grabbed him and tossed him away to the right where DK quickly reached for Diddy and caught him on his hands.

Next, Olimar rushed to the Master and used the sole Purple Pikmin as his weapon (as much as Olimar pained to hear) by smacking it hard on the Master. The sensei of the Dojo did some back flips to escape from the Hocotate employee just to be attacked by DK's Hammer of Might right on the very spot of the attack, making the Master bounce to the air in pain.

While the Master bounced to the air in pain, Diddy came back and used a quick Rocketbarrel Boost to slam himself hard on the Master's back. Before the Master could even regain control, Olimar decided to attack once more by jumping to the air and toss his heavy Purple Pikmin right on him.

Music stops

"Re...markable...all of you..." the Master muttered.

And then, the Master fell down on the floor, panting heavily before he fainted.

The Smashers gasped after they saw that the Master didn't move anymore from his spot. Olimar, DK, and Diddy all looked shocked to each other at this, and they didn't think that they would actually defeat the Master.

Jinx, together with the weakened Lee, Chan, and Jagger, watched this from his seat before he stood up and raised his right hand. "That is enough for now," he said. "The winners of this match are the Smashers."

"..." Diddy smiled a bit at this and looked at a happy DK. "We did it...we did it!"

"Yeah, we did it!" DK said before the two high-fived each other.

Olimar sighed in relief and sat down on the floor with his Purple Pikmin. "Phew...that's over..." he muttered. "...Thanks for helping," he said to his Purple Pikmin, who in turn tilted his head.

Yoshi sighed at this and looked at Riolu, who was still looking at his trainer. "Riolu, the fight's over," he said.

"Riiiii..." Riolu muttered as he looked down at his trainer.

However, Riolu blinked some tears away as he watched his trainer's right hand twitching a bit. Soon, he saw that Chris slowly woke up from the floor and looked up at Riolu. "Riolu...I'm...just fine...see?" he said, giving Riolu a small smile.

Riolu sniffed a bit at this before he dropped to his knees and lied close to Chris, his blue tail wagging at the sides. "Chriiiiiiiiis!" Riolu exclaimed happily before he hugged his trainer.

Chris chuckled heartily at this before Riolu began to lick his face. The World Traveler embraced his Riolu before he looked up at Yoshi, who smiled a bit at this and nodded at him.

Some minutes later...

The Smashers (Pit and Toon Link having regained consciousness back) were standing in front of the five members of the Dojo while the Master had an ice bag on top of his head. "Congratulations," the Master said. "You have won the match against me."

Toon Link sighed. "You sure hold many surprises for a guy your age..."

"It's my routine that allows me to be like this," the Master explained. "However, I don't want to talk more about that."

Pit looked a bit worried. "Is...something else that you want to say?"

The Master nodded. "In recognition for your efforts to take me down, after seeing all of you work together as a team despite the big differences that each one of you have with each other..." he took out a badge from his back with a silver ring and a red '64' imprinted in the front, "I would like you to have this."

The Smashers stared at the small badge. "What's this?" Yoshi asked.

"This is a badge that proves that you have beaten the Master," Jinx said. "Not only it is a diploma of the sorts…but it also gives all of you a very useful ability."

"That badge gives us an ability?" Olimar asked.

"Yes," the Master said. "Once you grab this badge, it's going to double your strength."

The Smashers looked a bit surprised at this. "This…badge does what?" DK asked surprised.

The Master closed his eyes. "This special badge doubles all of your team's strength, vitality, defense, magic attack, magic defense, and luck in giving strong hits. It will only raise your base attributes, though. It won't raise those extra attributes you receive from the equipment you have."

Chris looked surprised at the badge, but after he recalled the Master's words, he looked away worried.

Diddy took a closer look at the badge. "How did you get to do this?"

"We were able to create this through intense hours of meditation to channel vital energy and dexterity into this material," Jinx explained. "We've been trying so hard that all of us had to work together and produce this."

The Master coughed. "And this badge is only destined to be used by your hands. It was meant for you to use it."

"…But…" Chris trailed off, "…that's going to make us stronger…right?"

The Master opened his eyes. "Ah, you're worried about the talk I gave you a few weeks ago, right?"

Chris looked back at him. "Yes… After you said that the badge is going to increase our strength…well…it's going to…"

The Master shook his head. "Do not think such a thing will happen."

"W-what?"

The Master nodded. "You're not going to become corrupted with power because of the badge. Besides, if you think again, why would we go ahead and put the very same world we live in danger through giving this to you? It wouldn't make sense, would it?"

"…No…"

Jinx cleared his throat a bit. "You gained this through hard effort, you know."

The World Traveler looked a bit surprised at this. "W-well, we did fight hard to win…"

"Hard effort should be rewarded for those who put their minds into what they want to achieve without having to cheat," Jinx said. "You have done this flawlessly."

"And in recognition for your hard efforts, you shall have this with you," the Master added as he moved his hand with the badge forward. "Please, take it. We know what we're doing."

Toon Link approached to the badge and stared at it. "Once we take it...will it make us stronger?"

"Yes."

"…" The Hero of Winds gulped a bit and slowly reached for the badge. He stopped right before grabbing to think about the effects. The young swordsman closed his eyes and quickly grabbed the badge, waiting for the effects to take place as everyone else did the same.

Obtained 64 Badge!

A vital energy-infused badge that doubles the base strength, vitality, defense, magic attack, magic defense, and luck of all party members.

At first, none of them felt anything in particular. They just looked confused at the five members of the Dojo.

"What is it?" Jinx asked. "Your power has doubled."

"But…that's it?" DK asked. "No swelling, no tickling, no grumbles inside stomachs, nothing at all?"

"What, did you really think you were actually going to feel anything?" Lee asked.

"Why should you feel the power?" Chan asked.

"It sounds so wrong to feel the power because it might sound perverted," Jagger said.

Jinx shook his head. "Your power DID double, but we removed the part where you feel it."

"What? That should have been nice…" DK muttered.

The Master shook his head. "Believe me; there are foolish people who, as soon as they feel that their power have doubled, want to test it out on some unfortunate living being or object just to show off," he explained. "We wanted to make the effect like this so none of you would "give it a try" on something or someone."

"Besides, feeling stimulates people to do all sorts of crazy things," Jinx said. "Some of which…we don't want to refer to."

Olimar sighed in relief. "O-oh, I think that was a good choice…"

The World Traveler looked at his Riolu before he gasped. "W-wait, if our power did double…then…wouldn't that mean…"

Chris imagined the devastating attack Lucario had used weeks ago. However, this time, he thought that the attack would grow immensely dangerous in size as it took a much greater expanse of land, and it didn't let anything get alive. He imagined that the attack would completely obliterate anything and anyone except for Lucario.

"…" Chris looked worried at this. "…We…just made everything…"

"Of course, we took all precautions," the Master interrupted.

The World Traveler looked at him. "What?"

"We didn't even think about making your attacks much bigger," Jinx said. "To the contrary, we just intensified them in damage, not magnitude."

"If we did otherwise, we would've done a big mistake," the Master said. "We do our best to maintain a balanced level in power. We know that it would be very good to have a bigger magnitude, but it would also be a bad idea."

"You guys seriously want to destroy everything with the opponent you want to defeat?" Lee asked. "You must be out of your heads if you're thinking that."

"In a few words, your attacks can deal more damage besides your attributes doubling as well, but just that," Jinx said. "You don't have to worry about anything else."

The World Traveler took another look at his Riolu before he chuckled at him and looked back at the Master. "…Thank you for everything…" he said.

The five members nodded at them. "This was for the best," the Master said. "You are the only ones who can vanquish the menace that threatens all the worlds out there. We're just trying to give you some advice before you do something very reckless."

"And giving you a helping hand whenever you find yourself in trouble," Jinx said.

Pit smiled a bit at this. "We're thankful for your help."

"You can always come back here and train some more," Chan said. "I'm sure the Master and Jinx will have new challenges for you to face."

Jinx nodded. "You can achieve even more here...but now it's not the time. You need to gain even more experience in battles before you take another step further to improvement as a group."

Toon Link looked at the 64 Badge. "You mean to say...there is more stuff you can give us?"

"We could give it to you...but that would be cheating without using effort," Jinx explained. "You have to do more effort before you can do the next challenge here."

The Master nodded. "Until then, please do take care of each one of you," he said. "You're the first group of people who had showed partnership and an indomitable devotion to protect anyone, even yourselves."

Chris looked relieved at this and he and the Smashers bowed to the members. "Thank you so much for everything."

"You guys are something to defeat the Master," Lee said. "However, it won't be easy the next time so you better be even more prepared to what's to come to your way."

DK gulped. "Y-you mean we can challenge this place again and fight another harder battle?"

"Yes," the Master said. "For now, I need to take a rest."

Pit looked at the badge. "Why does it have the 64 number on it, though?"

"That is because we thought about giving it some kind of special reference to the very same tournament Mario assisted a long time ago," the Master said. "We decided to name the badge after the first tournament. We know it didn't have 64, but it did sort of elude the number..."

"...I...see..." Pit muttered.

Chris looked at Riolu, who in turn looked up at him. "Well, I guess we should go back to the mansion now."

Riolu blinked a few times at this before he looked at his hands and began to punch the air in front of him. "Ri, ri, ri, ri ri, ri," he said several times as he punched the air.

The Smashers looked a bit amused at this sudden display of a small training. "Riolu, what's up with you now?" Diddy asked. "You want to train or what?"

Yoshi chuckled at this and walked by Riolu's side. The Emanation Pokémon stopped punching the air and looked up at him. "Okay, you want to play a battle? I'll be your opponent," he said before he falsely punched the air in front of Riolu. "C'mon, give me your best punch."

Olimar tilted his head at this. "Yoshi, why are you..."

Yoshi looked at him and looked happy. "I like babies. I like to play with them a lot."

"But Riolu is no longer a baby," Chris said. "He's a young kid."

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "Well, I did raise him when he was a baby."

"Thanks to you sneaking into Peach's room just to take him away from her," Chris added annoyed.

"Hey, Riolu likes me," Yoshi said before looking back at Riolu. "Isn't that right, Riolu?"

Riolu stared at Yoshi before he looked serious and prepared a single palm to use an attack at Yoshi. The Yoshi saw as Riolu's right palm glowed brightly before Riolu thrust it on his stomach.

Yoshi's eyes looked forward in shock before some sparks radiated from his body, prompting him to fall on his back, stunned.

"Riiiiiiii..." Riolu muttered as he made a small glare at Yoshi.

"...G-good...boy..." Yoshi muttered as sparks flew out from his body. "O-ouch...h-he has a killer punch..."

The Smashers looked shocked (no pun intended) at this before looking back at Riolu. "R-Riolu, you didn't have to use Force Palm on Yoshi!" Chris said in disbelief. "S-say sorry to Yoshi right now!"

Unfortunately, Riolu didn't listen to Chris before, surprisingly enough, the Emanation Pokémon flexed down his arms and let out a fierce cry to the ceiling. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

And then, it occurred...

The Smashers gasped once Riolu began to glow brightly in a sparkling light. The members of the Dojo, being the ones that were sitting in front of the small creature, watched a bit surprised at this event. "W-what is he doing?" Toon Link asked.

"H-he's going to explode!" Olimar yelled.

"N-no!" DK yelled. "Riolu's evolving!"

"W-what?" Chris asked in shock. "H-he's evolving to Lucario now?"

"Well, wasn't that his evolution?" DK asked.

"B-but...I-I don't know if Riolu should evolve now!" Chris yelled before looking back at the glowing Riolu. "H-how did he need just a punch to Yoshi just to evolve, anyway?"

The World Traveler quickly recalled that the only way that Riolus could evolve into Lucarios were the fact that their evolution was based entirely on the friendship with the trainer. Chris knew very well that it was obvious that Riolu liked him very much, and he presumed that Riolu would evolve very quickly in a short period.

Of course, damaging Yoshi wasn't expected...

But back on the matter, Chris tried to think if he should just let Riolu evolve...or stop him so he could enjoy his childhood some more as Lucario had requested...

Then, the decision came...

"RIOLU, STOP EVOLVING!" Chris yelled loudly.

Riolu's glowing image suddenly looked at Chris before the image began to stifle some grunting sounds of pain. Soon, Chris saw that Riolu's glowing form stopped shining, and the Emanation Pokémon dropped weakly on his knees and panted heavily. "R-riiii..." Riolu muttered.

"Riolu!" Chris yelled before he went to grab his Riolu in his arms. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Ri-ri..." Riolu coughed a bit before looking up worried at Chris. "Riiiii..."

"I-I'm sorry...b-but...I-I'm just a bit unsure if you should evolve right now..."

"Why?" Toon Link asked. "Why don't you want him to evolve into Lucario?"

Chris turned to the Smashers. "W-well...the thing is that Lucario wanted to enjoy his childhood as long as he could...so I agreed with him..."

Riolu looked confused at the mention of his older form. He remained listening to the conversation.

"B-but...is it...really the time now?" Chris asked. "It's been a long time after I got Riolu..."

"Pardon me for interrupting," the Master began, "but there is something you would like to get help?"

Chris turned to the Master. "...No...everything's okay..." Chris said. "We don't want you to get involved in almost everything we do...n-no offense, of course..."

"None taken," the Master said.

Yoshi slowly sat up and shook his head. "So...he just needed to punch me to evolve? T-that's kind of...just too much..."

Toon Link chuckled. "That's what you get for sneaking him out when it's not the time for you to take care of him."

More sparks flew out from Yoshi before he looked annoyed at him. "O-oh, you shut up..."

Chris looked back at the Master. "If...you'd excuse us..." Chris muttered before he turned to the exit's direction with the Smashers, an exhausted Riolu sighing weakly to himself after having to halt his evolution.

As the Smashers walked to the exit, DK walked close to Chris. "You sure you don't want Riolu to evolve just yet?"

Chris looked away as he held Riolu on his arms. "I...need to think more..." he muttered.

"Hmmmm..." DK grumbled a bit before the group left the Dojo.

The five sole figures of the Dojo looked at each other before Jagger spoke. "Sensei, are you sure we're not putting a lot of stress on them?" he asked. "I mean, I've heard from you that they're trying to stop that so-called menace...but..."

Jinx nodded. "I know what we're doing with them," he said. "Trust me, Jagger."

"If...you say so..." Jagger muttered.

"You don't worry," Chan said. "Those guys are something to be recognized."

"Yeah," Lee said. "Let's put faith in our senseis' words. They know what they're doing...unless you doubt Jinx."

Jagger gasped. "N-no, I-I don't doubt Jinx at all!"

The Master sighed. "(We shall see how they come along in their long journey... Their progress is something I'm going to be looking forward to.)"

December 15 - Monday - Morning

Smash Mansion
Main Lobby

Days passed after the fight at the Dojo. By now, the Smash Mansion was already prepared for the Christmas season. In the main lobby, a huge tree pine of twenty-five-feet tall of height stood proudly, the tip wig touching gently the ceiling as glittering lights sparkled and blinked several times around the braches of the tree. Underneath the tree, there were rows and rows of presents carefully wrapped in nice-looking wrappers with all sorts of different names on the tags.

From the left side, a curious Riolu walked to the tree and looked down at a present that had his name on the tag by Pikachu's name. The Emanation Pokémon looked happy and wagged his tail at the sides.

Chris (in his Hacker job) came behind him and chuckled. "You're very happy today, aren't you?"

"Riii!" Riolu said happily as he grabbed the present and showed it to Chris.

"Oh no, no, no, no, put it back," Chris said. "Christmas is almost here, but you need to wait some days before you get to open your presents."

Riolu looked down sadly and returned the gift to its spot. "Riiii..."

Chris smiled nervously at this while he ducked down and rubbed Riolu's head. The World Traveler glanced to the presents and spotted the names of Tiny, Penny, and Medli between other names. "I did hear that the musicians were going to celebrate Christmas as well..." Chris muttered while, from behind him, Lanky climbed up the stairs, holding a bag with some things that he wanted to wrap up inside boxes as he went up through more stairs.

"Riiii," Riolu said as he turned around and looked up at his trainer.

Chris grabbed Riolu on his arms and gently rubbed his chin. "Try to look happy, Riolu. You woke me up this morning because you started bouncing around all over the big bed."

"Ri, ri, ri," Riolu chuckled happily.

"And then you were shouting out while you were taking a bath," Chris said. "My god, you grew up so soon for having to take a shower by yourself."

"Riiiii."

"You're just so full of surprises," Chris said before he and Riolu hugged each other tightly. "I'm so glad you learn so fast..."

Riolu chuckled at this before he began to lick Chris's face. The World Traveler laughed together with Riolu before Crazy Hand appeared from above the tree and went down to see them. "Hey, you two, 's up?"

The two looked at him. "Oh, hi...Crazy Hand..."

It was weird for Chris to have a conversation with the insane brother of Master Hand.

...Thinking again, Chris had never spoken to Crazy Hand in solitude.

"Whatcha doing?" Crazy Hand asked. "Ooh, ooh, thinking about what to give me?"

"...I-"

"BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!" Crazy Hand suddenly burst out crying loudly.

Riolu covered his ears while Chris twitched a bit at this. "N-no, please, stop crying like that!" Chris yelled. "(Okay, I haven't even decided yet to get a fifth person to give a present...maybe...I could give one to him... But then, what does he want?)"

Chris stared at Crazy Hand.

"(...Anything he considers fun...)" Chris thought. "I-I'll get you a present if you stop crying!"

Crazy Hand instantly stopped crying. "Oh, okay, that makes me feel better."

"Riiii...." Riolu uncovered his ears.

"Nice of you to do that," Crazy Hand said. "Here I thought nobody was going to give me a gift... Well, Luigi's giving me one and I'm wondering if it's a doll. I like to play like I'm a girl who voices dolls. I call it the Girl Doll Game. Wanna play with me when I get dolls?"

Chris looked unsure at the idea. "...I-I'll...think about it..."

"Awesome!"

"(When I mean that, I mean forget it...)" Chris shook his head and recalled something important. "Oh, Crazy Hand, I actually wanted to see you for something."

"No, you can't see what I have inside my wrist," Crazy Hand said. "I know it's the best place to hide but there are limits, y'know."

"I-I wasn't talking about that," Chris said before he put Riolu down and took out a bag with five Gold Bars. "Can I sell these to you?"

Crazy Hand gasped at the sight of the Gold Bars. "H-HOLY MOTHER GOLLY!" he yelled surprised. "120 percent real gold chocolate bars!"

"..." Chris shifted his eyes between the hand at the bars. "T-these are not chocolate covered in wrap-"

"Okay, how much do you want for the chocolate bars?"

"But these are no-"

It was either correct Crazy Hand's belief or stay silent. Chris figured out that arguing with Crazy Hand would surely make him get blasted away out of stupidity.

"...Yes, these are chocolate bars wrapped in golden wrappers," Chris said, Riolu giving him an odd look.

"Hmm-hm! Alright, lemme think," Crazy Hand said before he turned away and quickly turned back to Chris. "How 'bout 3500 Smash Coins each?"

"Hmm...that sounds very good to me," Chris said.

"Deal!" Crazy Hand said before he snapped his fingers and produced a bag with 17500 Smash Coins, and the hand instantly took the bars away from Chris's hands. The World Traveler took the bag (increasing his money count to 19101 Smash Coins) and looked at the giggling Crazy Hand.

"Oh gosh, this is like the best day after the day I made a party at the Electroplankton stage..." The hand looked inside the bag before he seemed to look confused. "Hey, what's this?" He took out what looked to be some sort of recipe. "A...Mada Mishboom...recipe?"

Chris recalled. "Oh, that's...a Mega Mushroom Recipe," he said.

"Oh, oh, sorry, I-I failed my reading test when I was a finger."

"...You were...what?"

"Mega Mushroom Recipe, huh?" the insane hand said. "Where'd you get this?"

"(Wait, is he trying to evade about why I asked?)" Chris thought. "(...Never mind...)" he thought with a mental sigh. "I...got the recipe for working at the restaurant. The chefs there told me that I could make Mega Mushrooms with the recipe...but...I simply don't understand how they make them...even if there are instructions..."

Crazy Hand stared at the paper. "...Chris..."

"Yes?"

"You just made my IQ thingy much smarter...whatever IQ means, anyway," Crazy Hand said. "Why, this note thing is going to let me suggest something very nice to Master Hand!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh ho ho ho, you'll see soon enough," the hand said. "For now, I'll keep this recipe with me with the chocolate bars you sold me," he said before grabbing the bags. He turned and quickly floated away to the second floor. "First, I gotta make up a Goomba chocolate statue!" he yelled before disappearing.

Chris could only make a strange expression with Riolu before he kept the bag with him. "Just what is he going to do with the recipe? ...Oh well, I guess I'll just wait..." He sighed. "And now I have even much more money than before," he said pleased. "I...hope Crazy Hand doesn't get depressed that the Gold Bars aren't chocolate... Oh well, he can use them to buy real chocolate."

Riolu looked worried. "Riii..."

"Is something bothering you now?" Chris asked.

"…Chris…" Riolu muttered. "…I…I want…I want to…evolve…"

The World Traveler gasped a bit at this.

"I want to evolve now…" Riolu said. "I want to evolve…"

"R-Riolu, why are you saying that now? Are…you sure you want to do it?"

"W-well…I want to…" Riolu said. "I…I just want to evolve because…I want to see how strong I can become…"

The hacker thought hard for a moment. He began to ponder about if he just let Riolu do the evolution phase or stop him from doing so and keep being a Riolu for a time longer. The World Traveler looked back at Riolu. "…Well…I-I just don't know if I…"

"Please!" Riolu yelled. "I want to evolve before you get hurt!"

"W-what?"

"I remember when you fought the Master," Riolu said. "I saw how you got so hurt by him that you fainted…a-and I was so worried about you…" He shrugged at the thought. "I-I thought…I-I thought you were going to leave me alone…ri-iiiii…"

The World Traveler gasped as Riolu began to sniff silently while covering his crying eyes. Chris took a step back before he quickly embraced Riolu and stood up to hold his Pokémon on his arms. "I-I'm not going to leave you, Riolu! P-please, don't cry!"

"I want to evolve!" Riolu cried. "I don't want to see people hurting you anymore! I want to grow strong and beat those bad guys for hurting you!"

"B-but…what… (What can I do? Lucario never said a specific date to evolve! W-what am I going to do now?!)" Chris thought in panic as Riolu kept sniffing.

Suddenly, the hacker noticed some kind of sweet aroma passing in the air. For Chris, the aroma wasn't very sweet but just a bit, but for Riolu, it was a very sweet one that he couldn't help to ignore. Riolu stopped sniffing sadly before his nose picked up the scent, some tears still strolling down his cheeks. "…" Riolu smelled the aroma. "…Hmm…"

Chris overheard Riolu's pleased hum. "Where…is that scent coming from?" he asked. "It smells like fresh bread…"

Riolu slowly looked at the kitchen. The hacker then followed Riolu's direction.

"It's coming from the kitchen…" Chris said.

Riolu's stomach suddenly growled a bit, making him blush embarrassed before he looked upset. "I'm hungry…" he stated. "I want to eat something…"

Chris stifled a chuckle. "O-okay, I'll give you something to eat now," he said. "(Hopefully you'll forget about evolving for a small while…)"

The two decided to go to the kitchen and find out the source of the scent.

Kitchen

Once the two reached the kitchen, they found out that there was someone there working alone in making some different-colored buns that were all placed in piles on steel trays. Looking around, the duo found a trainer (wearing a pink apron) doing all the buns.

"Whew!" the trainer sighed as she stood up and rubbed her forehead with her left arm. "I've never been so relieved to make Poffins again!" she said before stretching her arms up to make a long sigh. "Seriously, I was getting so bored about just looking around for Pokémon all the days..."

"...U-um...excuse me?"

The trainer looked to her left and found Chris and Riolu staring at her. "...Oh...aren't you...um..."

"Chris," Chris said. "You're...Dawn, right?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, that's my name," she said. "I-I'm sorry to say, but we've never had to talk with each other personally, right?"

"No..."

"Well...sorry for that," Dawn said. "It's just that, ever since you guys let us stay here with you, Lucas, Barry, and I have been outside even more than before," she explained. "To be honest, Barry, Lucas, and Red aren't here. They're outside looking for the same Digletts who attacked Barry with their noses with Fury Swipes..."

Chris and Riolu stared blankly at her.

"...I-I know it sounds very ridiculous that Digletts attack with their noses..." Dawn said embarrassed. "Barry is just...being himself..."

"...Digletts attacking with their noses..." Chris muttered confused. "...Okay..."

"Yeah..." Dawn said embarrassed. "(Man, what do I have to tell people about Barry's doings?)"

Riolu blinked a few times before he stared at the trays with the Poffins that Dawn surely made by herself. "Riiiii..." Riolu muttered with interest.

Dawn noticed the Emanation Pokémon. "Oh, is that your Riolu?"

Chris looked at his Riolu. "Yes, he's my starter Pokémon."

"Aww, he looks so cute," Dawn said smiling. She then noticed that Riolu wasn't paying any attention to her as he fixed his gaze at the Poffins. "Hmm? Hey, look, he's looking at my Poffins."

Chris noticed that Riolu was staring at the Poffins. After a few seconds, Riolu's stomach grumbled. The Emanation Pokémon gasped and blushed at this, but his eyes were still looking at the buns.

Dawn chuckled. "It's obvious, so don't try to hide it," she told Riolu. "You want to eat some of them, right?"

Riolu blinked a bit before he looked at Dawn. "...Riii..." he said.

The Twinleaf Town trainer chuckled more before she looked at the wide array of Poffins on the table. "Let's see, you want to eat some of my Poffins?"

"I-is it alright for him to eat your Poffins?" Chris asked.

"Oh, it's not problem," Dawn said. "Besides, I think I was very excited today that I just couldn't help myself but bake lots and lots of Poffins...I mean..."

The trio stared at the eighteen trays with piles over piles of different-colored Poffins.

Dawn blushed and scratched her forehead a bit. "Yeah...too many of 'em to stuff them in my Poffin Case... Guess I'll need to have somebody to eat...at least 8/9..."

Chris looked miffed at her. "Do you expect Riolu to eat all that?"

"N-no! I-I didn't mean it that way!" she said embarrassed. "M-maybe I just call my Pokémon out!"

"Riiiiiiii!" Riolu struggled to get off from Chris's arms. The scent that the Poffins released made him get very hungry.

"O-okay, I'll let you eat!" Chris said.

Dawn gasped. "W-wait! Let me see which Poffin would be best for him!" She looked at the piles of Poffins. "L-let's see...hmm...er...uh...hm...um...here!" she said as she grabbed a yellow Poffin with some red sprinkles on the top. "This one is a Sour-Spicy Poffin. Give this one to him."

Chris grabbed the Sour-Spicy Poffin from Dawn and showed it to Riolu. "Will he like this one?"

"...Riii..." Riolu stared at the Poffin before he smelled it. "Rii-ii-iii," he muttered as he smelled the Poffin. Before more time could pass, Riolu gave a small bite to taste the flavor. "...RiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIiiii!" Riolu said pleased, his tail wagging to the sides. It was not long before he grabbed the Poffin and began to eat it rather fast. "Riii!" Riolu cried out happily.

Dawn clasped her hands. "Alright, my guess was correct!"

"Riii!" Riolu raised his arms.

"I think he wants more," Chris said.

"Oh, sure," Dawn said as she went for a tray full of Sour-Spicy Poffins. "Here, there's a lot for him to eat."

Chris watched as Riolu struggled to get off from his arms. The World Traveler chuckled and sta Riolu on a chair in front of the tray. The Emanation Pokémon didn't waste more time before he began to grab Sour-Spicy Poffins with both hands. The two trainers watched as Riolu tasted every Poffin he grabbed with glee and happiness. "Riiii!" Riolu said happily as he ate the Poffins.

Dawn chuckled at this and rubbed Riolu's head. "You eat as much as you like, okay?"

"Riii," Riolu said happily to her before he resumed to eat.

As Riolu kept eating, Dawn looked at Chris. "I think you're lucky to have a Riolu."

"Why is that?"

"Not many people can find Riolus in the wild," Dawn said. "There's only a few people who have at least a Riolu or a Lucario. So far, I've only seen 3 people who have a Lucario: Veilstone's Gym Leader Maylene, Riley, and the Champion Cynthia."

"(And I've met all of them a long time ago...)" Chris thought.

"But now that I see you have a Riolu and a Lucario...you must be lucky."

Chris looked puzzled at her. "Wait, I have both?"

"You don't?" Dawn said. "But I could've sworn Barry said he saw a "gigantic Lucario" or something like that... Was that Lucario yours?"

Chris glanced at Riolu. The creature didn't seem to be listening since he was very focused in eating the Poffins before him. The World Traveler looked back at Dawn. "Well...about that... (Would it be fine if I tell her that this Riolu is the same Lucario? That would make her...get a bit freaked out...) ...This is a different one."

Dawn tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

"I mean to say I have my Lucario...somewhere else, in my PC box," Chris said. "Right now, I'm having my Riolu with me for the time being."

"Oh, I see," Dawn said. "You're going to have 2 Lucarios very soon, then."

"You...could say that..."

"Are you and Riolu very close to each other?"

"Very much..."

Dawn smiled. "Then I guess he's going to evolve into a Lucario if you gave him a little bit of training. That's a big advantage for Pokémon who can evolve through friendship. Are you planning to evolve him?"

Chris looked away. "That...I'm not sure..."

Dawn looked confused. "Why's that? You don't want him to turn into a Lucario?"

"It's just that...I...I don't think it's the time..." Chris said. "I don't know if he should evolve so fast now..."

"You think?"

"Yes..." Chris said as he looked back at her. "(I could tell her truth...but...it would be just too much for her to believe that a wish made Lucario turn into a Riolu... She'd think I'm insane...) Right now, he looks very happy as a Riolu, as you can see."

Dawn rubbed her chin. "Hmm...so you don't want him to evolve yet?"

"No..."

"And..." she glanced at Riolu, "...does he want to evolve?"

"What?"

Dawn looked back at him. "Did Riolu say anything about wanting to evolve?"

Chris looked away. "Well...he did say it many times..."

"...And...you said no to all those times?"

"..." Chris nodded.

Dawn stared at Chris before she stared blankly at him. "If you ask me, I guess he has the right to say what he wants to do."

"What?"

"It's true," Dawn said. "He's the one who can evolve, not you. I don't see why he shouldn't evolve now at all. If Riolu wants to evolve so badly, why not make his wish come true?"

"(His wish WAS to become a Riolu...)"

"The Pokémon has the best opinion," Dawn said. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here. During my journey with Lucas and Barry, I've seen many trainers' Pokémon who liked either to evolve or stay as they are. Heck, even some of my Pokémon wanted to do either thing!" she explained. "And Riolu is no different."

Chris looked back at his happy Riolu.

"Just listen to him if you like him," Dawn said. "You should know which option the best is for him to take. It's not your place to decide what he should do... You're supposed to make sure he's fine with whatever he chooses, not make him go somewhere you want him to go. Doesn't your decision sound a bit selfish as well?"

"I-I...I think it sounds a bit selfish..." Chris admitted. "(But...what he wanted to do...and what he wants to do now...it's just making everything confusing to me...)"

"Make him happy," Dawn said. "Riolu deserves the best of what he wants."

The World Traveler thought hard at this before he looked back at the Twinleaf Town trainer. "...I'll...think about it..."

Dawn shook her head. "Don't think; do it. It's something you have to do."

Chris looked down and sighed. "I understand... (...I'll see if I can decide today... I need to do this fast or...remain thinking regardless of what Dawn said...)"

And suddenly, Riolu burped.

The two trainers looked back at the Emanation Pokémon. They were surprised to see that half of the big pile of Sour-Spicy Poffins was gone from existence but inside Riolu's rather small stomach. Riolu sighed loudly leaned back to the chair, his hands on his pleased stomach.

"Riiiiii..." Riolu said in a low tone before chuckling to himself.

Dawn sweat dropped at the half of the pile. "Goodness...he WAS hungry..."

"Or he liked the Poffins very much..." Chris muttered.

"Well, he looks tougher and cooler now."

"...What?"

"You can't see? Those Poffins made him look tougher and cooler," Dawn said. "I can't understand why you can't see it when it's plain to see."

Chris stared at Riolu. Nothing about him looked tougher or cooler at all.

"...Okay..." Chris muttered before he grabbed Riolu and looked back at Dawn. "Thanks for talking with me."

"No problem," Dawn said smiling.

Chris looked back at the Poffins. "Say...if you can...would you teach me how to make Poffins?"

"Why?"

"I'd like to make Poffins for Riolu," Chris said, Riolu looking interested at this.

"Oh, sure...if you can do me a favor as well."

"What's that?"

Dawn looked at the piles of Poffins. "Would you...call those talking Pokémon here? I need people to eat these Poffins because I don't have anywhere to keep these..." She looked back at Chris. "Besides, I'd get acquainted with them much easier this way...and probably catch them."

Chris gasped at this. "T-they're all already owned, though..."

"...Really? By who?"

"...Red...is taking care of them for some other friends he has...yes..."

"...Oh, I see," Dawn said. "Well, no matter. Call them here so I can get rid of these Poffins."

"Sure...see you," Chris said to Dawn before he and Riolu left the kitchen. The trainer was thinking hard if he should let Riolu evolve. After Dawn told him about Riolu's decision, it made Chris's final answer much clearer, but at the same time much harder.

Chris would think this through the entire day as he went everywhere with Riolu.

As Dawn watched the two walking away to the lobby, she sighed to herself and looked back at the Poffins. "Well, guess I should put everything away except the Poffins," she said to herself before she heard footsteps from the lobby's direction. Turning around...she gasped loudly. "KYYYAH!"

Dawn couldn't believe her eyes, but for some random reason, Barry, Lucas (the trainer), and Red (with Squirtle and Ivysaur) were all brutally scratched to death. In fact, their clothes, their backpacks, even their faces and hands had some scratch marks (that some could be even considered scars) all over the place. The Twinleaf Town female trainer watched Squirtle falling back on top of his shell.

"O-oh my god, what did just happen to you?!" Dawn asked in shock. "Y-you look like you fell off a cliff!"

"T-that's not what happened!" yelled a frightened Lucas before he embraced himself.

"Y-yeah, that didn't happen!" Red yelled. "I-I'd have wished that happened instead of what REALLY happened!"

Dawn took a step back. "W-what really happened?"

"Dawn, we've got to stay away from those moles from hell!" Barry yelled.

"W-what moles?"

"The Digletts are coming!"

"W-what?"

"T-those Digletts he mentioned attacked us!" Lucas yelled. "At first, neither of us believed Barry at all until he took us to them...b-but after he tossed them a pebble...hell...started...Dawn... T-they scratched us to our deaths...almost! We barely escaped them all!"

Dawn couldn't believe what she just heard from Lucas. She wouldn't believe the insane Barry, but Lucas...was an entirely different person. "H-how did they scratch you if they don't have claws or nails?"

"T-they used their noses!" Red yelled as Ivysaur fell to the left side. "W-we saw how they did it!"

"...Are...you 3 really sure?"

"YEAH!" Barry, Lucas, and Red yelled.

It was farfetched to believed that noses could actually scratch people so badly...

Dawn's right eye twitched a bit at this before Barry freaked out and looked around for a hiding spot. "Quick! We need to seek refuge!" he yelled. "I don't wanna fine those Digletts after facing 'em again!" He spotted a door under the table big enough for him to get inside and hide, a thing he just did in 3 seconds. "Tell them Barry's not home!" he yelled, the door shaking crazily.

Dawn looked back at Lucas and Red. "H-hold on, I'll go get the First-Aid kit for your injuries!" she said before she looked around for said kit. "W-where do they put the kit in here, anyway? T-this place is so big!" she complained.

Lucas and Red looked at each other before their eyes rolled back to their heads and both fell on the floor in defeat.

That night...

Chris's Room

Under blankets, there was a moving bump that went around over the bed. The bump chuckled continuously to itself as it moved rather fast around. On the left side of the bed, Chris watched as the bump went around until it moved up and revealed a face that popped out from the blankets and licked his face a bit.

"R-Riolu!" Chris said between laughs. "Y-you're getting very excited with the big bed!"

Riolu stopped licking his face and wagged his tail. "It's so big and wide!" he said. "I can bounce and do many other things!"

"I-I know," Chris said between chuckles. "You're very energetic for that."

Riolu looked up at the ceiling. "I can reach the ceiling if I bounce high enough."

"E-er, no, don't do that," Chris said. "You might end up hitting your head..."

Riolu looked miffed. "But I want to touch the ceiling..."

"It's okay if you stay out of reach," Chris said. "Besides...it's a bit high for you..."

Riolu shook his head. "Nope, I can reach it. Want to see?"

"N-no," Chris said. "I-it's okay, Riolu, really..."

Riolu sighed. "Okay..."

"There, we have to go to sleep now," Chris said. "Christmas is going to come in a few days now. You want to open your presents, right?"

"Yes," Riolu said. "I want to see what Peach is going to give me...and Pikachu, Yoshi, DK, and Mario." He looked at Chris. "What are you going to give me?"

"(Say something so he doesn't find out I haven't thought of a present yet...) Something very nice," Chris said embarrassed. "You'll see."

"Riii!" Riolu exclaimed happily. "I'm going to give you a special gift as well!"

"What? You were able to get a gift?"

Riolu nodded. "Yes," he said before he turned around to look at the drawing of Lucario. "I'm going to evolve so I can do what it says there."

Chris gasped as he looked at the drawing he had drawn of the Lucario in the fighting stance. Chris went as far as to read the same lines that were written around the Aura Pokémon...

Protect me from all danger, Lucario...

I will...

Thank you...

Riolu looked back at Chris. The creature looked a bit upset. "...But...I want to evolve sooner than that..." he admitted. "I don't like to wait... The more I wait, the more you get hurt, and I can't stand it anymore..." His eyes began to get a bit watery. "I-I...I want to evolve now..."

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Defend Globe

Chris gasped as Riolu covered his eyes. "I...I want to evolve..." he sniffed. "I...I want to grow so strong... I want to be so big... I want...I want to make you proud of me..." he sniffed. "...A-and...a-and...and I want...I want to protect you...ChriiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiis!" Riolu cried loudly before he began to cry in a high-pitched tone that made Chris twitch.

The World Traveler was at a loss now. The situation had turned out for the worst the moment Riolu saw the drawing. Riolu's cries made Chris feel very guilty about the whole matter of the evolution that he would wish to evolve Riolu very soon before the Emanation Pokémon would get even more upset and sad.

Riolu began to sob as Chris looked painfully at his eyes full of tears. "I just want...I just want to evolve..." Riolu muttered. "I...I want to do that so you get safe..."

"Riolu..." Chris muttered.

"I...I really want to evolve..." Riolu muttered between sobs. "I want to be so strong for you...Chris..."

The World Traveler thought hard as Riolu stared at him with tears scrolling down his cheeks. All the tears went down upon the pillow Riolu was resting his head on. Chris knew that Riolu would surely refuse a negative response to his claim to evolve. Chris glanced back at the drawing of the fighter Lucario, and then glanced back at Riolu's saddened expression.

What should Chris think, do, and choose? Did Chris have a place to decide for Riolu?

"He's the one who can evolve, not you. I don't see why he shouldn't evolve now at all. If Riolu wants to evolve so badly, why not make his wish come true?"

The World Traveler recalled the words of Dawn.

"Just listen to him if you like him," Dawn said. "You should know which option the best is for him to take. It's not your place to decide what he should do... You're supposed to make sure he's fine with whatever he chooses, not make him go somewhere you want him to go. Doesn't your decision sound a bit selfish as well?"

Chris stared at Riolu's eyes.

"Make him happy," Dawn said. "Riolu deserves the best of what he wants."

Sadness was the only term that could define Riolu's hurtful expression. It wasn't helping Chris to feel better at all.

"I...just want to evolve so you can be safe..." Riolu added before he started sobbing.

"I think you're lucky to have a Riolu."

"I want to be strong..."

"The Pokémon has the best opinion."

"And...if I'm strong..." Riolu muttered before looking at Chris, "...you can hide behind me...and you won't never leave me all alone..."

"Don't think; do it. It's something you have to do."

"There won't be somebody out there who would bother you...or hurt you...if I'm super strong..."

"Just listen to him if you like him."

"..." Chris sniffed after recalling Dawn's words while listening to his Pokémon's pleas.

Quickly, Riolu's eyes widened after Chris hugged him rather fast. The Emanation Pokémon blinked his tears a bit before Chris began to sob. "I-I'm sorry...Riolu..." Chris muttered between sobs. "It was...n-not my place to decide what was best for you..."

"..." Riolu kept staring forward where he was forced to look.

"It's your opinion that matters...not mine..." Chris muttered as he sniffed continuously. "I...I was selfish, Riolu...so selfish about you not having to evolve when you wanted to do it so badly..."

"...Chris?"

"W-what?"

Riolu sniffed a bit before he pushed himself away from his trainer. As their wet eyes stared at each other, Riolu cleared his throat a bit. "...Are you going to miss me being like this?"

"W-what?"

Riolu looked down. "Do you like me more in this form than a Lucario?" he asked. "I...I wouldn't like to evolve if...you want me like this..."

"...No!" Chris said. "Don't think about me, Riolu! Think about what you want to do the most...so I can...accept you..."

Riolu sniffed at this. "...I...I-I mean...would you still like me even if I evolve into a Lucario?"

"I would like you a lot even if I got another Pokémon...a thing I will never do," Chris admitted. "Nobody can take your place...and neither will any form you turn into... You're the same Pokémon; my starter Pokémon, who knows what he wants to do."

"I...I want to grow so strong so you stay safe, Chris..." Riolu said.

"Then...do it...do that favor to me..."

Riolu gasped at this. "Y-you want me to evolve?"

Chris looked away, but he smiled a bit. "You're the one who wants to evolve so badly... You're you, the person who wants to grow up, not me." He sobbed a bit before he looked back at Riolu. "Besides...am I going to stay very safe behind the back of probably the strongest Pokémon who can defeat even the strongest of foes?"

"...Who will be that Pokémon?" Riolu asked interested.

"It's...going to be my Riolu..."

Riolu's eyes widened.

"My Riolu...who will become the strongest Lucario the world and the people have ever known... The one who will show every Lucario out there that you're the strongest..."

The Emanation Pokémon looked down after hearing Chris's words. Riolu thought things for a bit before he cleared his tears and looked back at Chris.

"...So?" Chris said.

"...RiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Riolu cried out loudly in happiness before he lunged at his trainer and hugged him tightly. Chris couldn't help himself but embrace his Emanation Pokémon back while Riolu licked away the tears Chris had shed.

"Riolu, thank you for everything you've experienced with me all these days!" Chris said happily. "I'm so grateful for having a Riolu like you, really... This is going to be the final time I'm going to have a Riolu...before having the strongest Lucario..."

"A Super Lucario?" Riolu asked smiling.

"...Of course, a Super Lucario," Chris said chuckling before rubbing Riolu's head. "You'll become the best Lucario the world...no...the universes have seen before..."

Riolu pushed himself back from Chris. "Make me strong, Chris!"

"What?

"I'm not going to be so strong when I grow into a Lucario!" Riolu said determined. "I want you to make me so strong!"

"W-why are you thinking you're not going to become so strong?" Chris asked.

Riolu showed Chris his fists. "If we want to become strong, we have to...we have to do this through effort first!"

The World Traveler gasped at this statement.

"Effort makes everything easier!" Riolu said. "The Master told us that, and I want to follow that fact...with you!"

Chris stared at Riolu before the World Traveler made a relieved face with a sigh. "Yes...thank you for reminding me how to become strong without turning crazy..."

Riolu looked happy before he wagged his tail at the sides.

"I'm...so happy for having a clever Riolu as well..."

Riolu chuckled to himself before he looked around. "I want to evolve right now!" he said before he stood up and jumped over Chris to land on the floor. "I'm going to evolve right here, right now!"

"What?" Chris asked. "How are you going to evolve right now if you don't have a battle or..."

The World Traveler watched as Riolu began to punch the air with rhythm. He saw that Riolu was using Force Palm with both hands while hopping a bit on his spot as if he was using a boxing style. Chris couldn't avoid some of the amused chuckles he stifled. "R-Riolu, I think you should wait tomorrow fo-"

"RiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" Riolu let out a fierce cry to the ceiling, stopping punching the air to flex down his arms.

Chris looked a bit nostalgic about the cry. "...Wait...that cry you just made...it sounded the same as the one you did back at the Dojo...then after that...you..."

And it happened at last.

Riolu's body began to glow brightly with a light that made Chris narrow his eyes a bit. The World Traveler gasped loudly as the light covered completely the little Riolu. Chris fought back the light to watch how Riolu would evolve. "N-no way, you're evolving after doing that small demonstration?!" Chris asked in utter disbelief.

"Then I guess he's going to evolve into a Lucario if you gave him a little bit of training. That's a big advantage for Pokémon who can evolve through friendship."

The final words that Chris recalled from Dawn made his shocked look fade. Even if the light was strong, the World Traveler smiled a bit at this and shed another tear. "(...Dawn...you really helped me here to decide what to do...)" he thought. "(...Thank you so much... I'll thank you in person tomorrow...for this.)"

However, Chris noticed something weird from the evolution. His eyes could see that Riolu was starting to grow in size...but...not the same size Lucario used to be... In fact, the image only reached about 4 feet of height.

"W-what? H-he's not staying as the Lucario he was before?" Chris asked in disbelief. "W-what did just happ-"

"GUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Chris gasped once more after hearing the menacing roar that the image in the light had made. The body of light soon was covered by blue aura that flared up very quickly. Perhaps what was most shocking to see was the fact that the image began to grow in size, slowly surpassing 4 feet, then surpassing 5 feet, and finally surpassing a bit of the 6 feet limit. The image itself had surpassed the place where Chris was sitting down. The roar kept echoing, and it suddenly grew deeper in tone, making it sound even more menacing than it was.

Was the aura the thing that made all that? It was very likely...

The body of light in front of Chris was huge from the point he was looking at it. He could tell that a Pokémon stood in a fighting stance, the face looking up at the ceiling. Soon, the aura around the light began to fade, and the light then began to fade as well.

And before Chris's eyes, there stood the Legendary Aura Pokémon who would be his guardian...and starter Pokémon... The only Pokémon who would be capable enough to protect him from all danger was…

Lucario.

Chris blinked in surprise as he looked up at his evolved Riolu. He could barely recall that he once had a small creature that he could easily carry with him at all times, play with him, even feed him with the food he needed to eat. Now, it was a very different story. That very same Pokémon was strong enough to act as a 'tank' and deal fatal attacks that would defeat foes most of the time.

The Aura Pokémon still had his long arms flexing down, his chest sometimes inflating a bit between heavy pants, and his face still looking up while showing the fierce, sharp fangs that he had under his long snout. Chris could only see the fangs and the underneath of the snout before the head slowly began to move down towards him, revealing some closed eyes. Once the face stopped moving, the eyelids slowly began to open, revealing a menacing glare with red eyes that would easily intimidate almost all foes...

But for Chris...it was a glare that the Pokémon before him would never change...because he knew his evolved Pokémon didn't mean harm with the glare he always had once that glare would look at Chris.

Instead, Chris thought he was very safe.

"...Finally..." Chris muttered.

The Pokémon before him stared down at him before he made a small smile. "...Finally...I am the Lucario I wanted to be...for you...Chris..."

"..." Chris began to sniff at this. "Lu...Lu...LUCARIO!" he cried loudly before he left the bed and ran to his newly evolved Pokémon to give him a tight hug, Lucario returning it with an embrace with his left arm. "Y-you evolved at last like you wanted!"

Lucario closed his eyes and shed some tears. "Yes...I feel much stronger than when I was Riolu before..."

Chris leaned the side of his face to Lucario's left shoulder and looked up at him. "I-I'm...I-I'm so happy that I have my Lucario here again!"

Lucario looked down at him. "And I'm happy you're still the trainer I always knew from my birth..." He hugged his trainer tightly with his left arm.

Chris grunted a bit. "A-and you have a very strong strength with you...like...I expected you to have..."

"Guuuuuuoooooooorrrrrrgghhhhh..." Lucario growled happily while Chris chuckled heartily at this.

"It's all over..." Chris muttered. "You finally are a Lucario...and...you enjoyed the childhood you want to experience with me after all..."

"Of course," Lucario said. "I enjoyed my childhood very much. I'm happy to be raised by you. After all, I was born a month ago, and I evolved into this like I wanted," he said. "I wish we knew each other sooner."

"D-don't be clueless," Chris chuckled. "You did know me before. Why, we met each other like a year and a half ago."

"Really? I don't remember ever meeting you a long time ago," Lucario said. "After all, I met you a month ago..."

Music stops

The World Traveler suddenly looked confused at this claim. "...What?"

"I...never met you a long time ago," Lucario said. "I met you in...November..."

"...No, you met me during summer vacations of the last year," Chris said. "That's when you met me."

"No...I met you a month ago."

"What? I thought you would retain the memory you had with me..."

Lucario shook his head. "What memory are you talking about? I can't glance to the past or something... I'm...not a Xatu..."

The World Traveler looked away from his Lucario. He specifically heard from Geno that Lucario would regain his memory right after evolving; a thing Lucario didn't even recover at all. It was very confusing and puzzling to Chris to see that the wish didn't fully become true.

"...So...in other words..." Chris trailed off, "...you think we've known each other for a month?"

"Pretty much..." Lucario said. "...Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"

"I-I'm asking this because...you should HAVE gained back the memory Geno spoke about..."

"Who...is this Geno?"

Chris was speechless for a bit. "...You mean to say you don't even know who Geno is?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"Unless it was a secret character from all the characters I saw in the Final Fantasy games you showed me...then...no... I'm afraid I don't know a Geno..."

"..." Chris pushed himself back from Lucario's left shoulder. Looking up at his Lucario, Chris smiled a bit and tilted his head. "Would you please stay where you are?"

"Why?" Lucario asked confused.

"I...need to call a bastard...I mean, someone here..."

From what Lucario could tell, Chris's voice turned a bit angry once he said 'bastard' in his words. "...Is it Pikachu?"

"No, another guy," Chris said before he turned to the window. "It'll be quick, don't worry."

"..." Lucario nodded. "Fine..."

Chris sighed deeply...before he ran at the window, opened it, and stuck his head out to the night's sky. "GENO, YOU DIMWIT, COME HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" he screamed loudly.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky - Guildmaster Wigglytuff

Lucario's mouth opened a bit after he heard his own trainer cursing at the sky for some reason he couldn't grasp well enough. "Dim...wit?" Lucario muttered confused. "Chris, is something wrong?"

Chris pulled his head back and smiled at Lucario. "Oh no, nothing's wrong," he said before he stuck his head out. "YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A STAR GUARDIAN, COME HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"

"Hey, there are people sleeping, you know!" yelled outside an irritated Roy from some floors above.

"You go back to sleep!" Chris yelled to the swordsman, who in turn grunted at this and closed his window. "GENO!!!"

It looked like Chris's angry call did make something happen. In the sky, a blink of a small star was seen going down at an alarming speed. It was Geno in his star form. "W-whew, I-I'm here, what happened?"

Chris stared angrily at him. "You said Lucario was going to recover his memory!"

Geno tilted himself at the side (even though it was a bit hard to tell). "What? Oh no..." He looked behind Chris where the Lucario stared confused at him.

"Who...is this thing?" Lucario asked.

"Oh Eldstar, what did I do?" Geno asked to himself as he entered the room.

Chris pulled his head back and put his hands on his hips. "Can you explain to me why did this happen?"

Geno turned to him (it was hard to tell that as well). "I...seemed to forget that part of the wish..."

"...You...forgot the MOST important part?" Chris asked irritated.

"P-people tend to forget the most important of things," Geno said in his defense. "E-even the most obvious of things as well..."

"So...is he going to stay clueless to what has happened a long time ago?"

Geno turned at the confused Lucario. "O-oh, no, don't worry about that..."

"Well, do something!" Chris yelled. "It's not going to be the same if he doesn't remember anything! I can stand repeating things myself, but I can't stand Lucario not knowing anything!"

Lucario shifted his eyes between his trainer and the little star. "What is going on here? Why are you talking about a memory I never had?"

Geno 'seemed' to frown. "This is just unbelievable..."

"Oh, how ironic you say that," Chris joked sarcastically.

Geno cleared his throat and looked at Lucario. "Okay, you, my name is Geno, and I'm going to give you something you should have right now with you. I'm going to give you back the memory you need to have with you about the past events as you wished before."

"What?" Lucario asked.

"Listen to him," Chris said irritated. "Don't move and let him do his thing."

The Aura Pokémon didn't understand what was happening just now. However, he obeyed Chris with a nod. "Fine...but...I'm still very confused at this..."

"Well, with that away...let's do this," Geno said.

The star began to shine brightly before he began to fly around Lucario before going up on his head. Lucario looked up to see that Geno began to make sparkles of light that rained down around Lucario. The Aura Pokémon blinked a bit surprised at this while Geno kept flying around in circles, dropping sparkles of light. Suddenly, Lucario looked forward in shock before Geno stopped and flew down between Lucario and Chris.

"That should do it...I guess..." Geno said.

Chris looked skeptical. "So you say," he said annoyed before looking at Lucario. "However, just to make sure you did it right, I'm going to interrogate Lucario with some questions that only the real Lucario would know very well."

Lucario looked at Chris. "What?"

"Bad start," Chris said. "But even so, let's do this now."

"What are you going to ask him?" Geno asked confused.

"Just listen," Chris said before he gave Lucario a determined look. "If you're the Lucario I met a long time ago, then that would mean you know a lot of our personal lives. If that's so, then that means you know what happened in every single event I'm going to ask you about."

"Oh, I see," Geno said. "You're going to ask him about the Subspace Army?"

"Hell no!" Chris said. "There's something even more useful than that topic!"

"What is that, then?"

Chris cleared his throated and stared at Lucario. "Lucario...I want you to respond to these questions...are you ready?"

"..." Lucario nodded.

"..." With a sigh, Chris pointed his finger at Lucario's face and said "Who are the 2 Gym Leaders who use Flying types?"

"Falkner and Winona," Lucario responded.

Geno 'looked' confused at this question.

"What is Diddy to DK?" Chris asked.

"Diddy is DK's nephew," Lucario responded.

"Why people consider Marth a girl?"

"He wears a tiara of his sister that he doesn't like to take off."

"Does Pit look so different than his real form?"

"Yes, he looks a bit bishonen...as Pikachu said to us before."

"The hell?" Geno said confused.

"Who of the six main characters of Final Fantasy VIII didn't grow up in the orphanage?" Chris asked.

"Rinoa Heartilly didn't grow up with them," Lucario responded.

"Does Mario ever seem to age?"

"No, he always stays the same for some reason."

"Is Toon Link a descendant of Link?"

"No, they're not connected at all because of the separate timelines that were created in Ocarina of Time, and there's still a big controversy behind the timelines of the series."

"Does Olimar's name mean something?"

"It means some partial anagram of Mario's name."

"Who's the mother of Bowser's 8 children?"

"Nobody knows."

"Why did I think Azurill's nightmare, in PMD: Explorers of Time and Darkness, was in fact a nightmare, despite it had countless of cute Pokémon?"

"You thought it was a nightmare because there were Wigglytuffs in there, and you said Azurill surely had seen Guildmaster Wigglytuff's power to have a nightmare like that."

"What?" Geno said confused.

"How was Samus trained?" Chris asked.

"She was trained by the Chozo, that's why she is so athletic," Lucario said.

"Does Zelda use a sword?"

"In Twilight Princess, she does, but she's never seen attacking someone with it in battle while she wasn't controlled by Ganondorf."

"Who are Roy's parents?"

"Lyn and Eliwood are his parents."

"Are Popo and Nana related?"

"They could be twins, friends, or a couple, but they're most likely siblings."

"Who's my favorite character in the Phoenix Wright series, and who's your favorite character?"

"Maya Fey is, but then again, you like Trucy Wright as Maya as well. My favorite character is Pearl Fey."

"What was wrong during the scene where Sora imagined himself dancing with Kairi?"

"The fact that he imagined the dance with the younger version of Kairi while he was currently a teen."

"What does Ness mean?"

"It's an anagram for SNES."

"Why does almost all the world hate Sonic instead of liking him?"

"His series, according to the sources, are getting boring as of late, and with the sudden voice actor change, he's getting annoying."

"Do we like Sonic still?"

"Unless he doesn't pull us to trouble in here, then yes."

"Is Meta Knight the creepiest guy I've ever met?"

"No, he is the second one. The first one is any Grovile you see."

"It's very impossible to say that the Lucario who appears here in the game is the same Lucario of the movie because..."

"The developers stated that anime characters were not allowed. Also, if that Lucario would be here, then whatever happened to Sir Aaron? He gets free but not his trainer? I find that very hard to believe. Besides, it'd look hypocrite to allow anime character from Nintendo."

"If the Pikachu here knows Ash, why does it contradict this?"

"He contradicts this because Master Hand did his own agenda behind the scenes."

"Is Joshua gay?"

"No, he just likes to tease Neku a lot."

"What can't Locke tolerate?"

"He can't tolerate ship voyages because they make him seasick. This happened when he, Terra, and Shadow were going to Thamasa."

"Why did Adel Tulba join the Hands of Asclepius?"

"He joined that organization because Derek Stiles couldn't use the Healing Touch when Adel had high fever with massive bleeding on his body. Adel took this bad, thinking that Derek thought he wasn't worthy of being saved by the Healing Touch."

"Does Kai hate the Elebits?"

"He hated them, but he eventually befriended them."

"Does Fox hate Tricky?"

"He likes Tricky but can't stand him most of the time."

"Did Luigi have an adventure that sounded very crazy?"

"He had an adventure called "Super Luigi," that was also the name of the book series."

"Why can't you use a Phoenix Down on Aerith when she died?"

"Nobody thought about it."

"Marina turned into a human?"

"Yes, she did...or does if you get all the gems."

"Why does Mumbo hate Humba?"

"They're both rivals in magic. Besides, Humba does the transformation phases, not like Mumbo did before."

"Why do most people hate Yukari?"

"If she hadn't argued about what to do in "The Answer", nobody would have to fight their friends, and she caused the argument."

"Who has the Squall card, and where is this person?"

"Laguna has the Squall card, and he can be challenged in the Ragnarok with a Triple Triad card game."

Geno didn't get anything about what Chris asked to Lucario. It was something...no, many things he couldn't understand at all. He did know a few, but everything else was very confusing and a total blank for his mind.

Chris narrowed his eyes at Lucario, who in turn crossed his arms. "...Okay..." Chris said. "You seem to know very much about all those games..."

Lucario nodded. "Why ask all that if I know every single detail?"

"That's because you know me a long time ago."

"Correct," Lucario said.

"And...when did we begin to live with each other?"

Kingdom Hearts II - Friends in My Heart

"It was during your summer vacations," Lucario said.

Chris's eyes began to shake a bit at this. "And...how did come to me?"

Lucario closed his eyes. "I came when a lightning struck your DS. I came out from the game with a high fever. You were the only one who attended me during that time, and you took care of me regardless of the surprise you got..." He opened his eyes and looked at him. "That was the beginning of my life with the trainer who would become the World Traveler, and I turned into his guardian."

"But nevertheless..." Chris began to sniff a bit, "you're...my...Pokémon..."

"And I'm...your Pokémon," Lucario said. "And we both will always stay together because we detest being alone."

"..."

"..."

Geno sighed as the two kept staring at each other, some small smiles growing on each other's faces. "Well...it worked..." he muttered.

"...Lucario..." Chris trailed off, "...now...it's really you..."

Lucario put his arms back to his sides. "Why would I forget those memories? They're the most treasured ones I will always have with me at all times."

"(You'd forget if I wasn't here...)" Geno thought with a mental sigh.

The World Traveler kept staring at Lucario before he ran to him and gave him a tight embrace, doing the very same one he gave Lucario a few minutes ago. The Aura Pokémon also did the same move while both chuckled heartily at each other.

"Good," Geno said. "Everything's fine now."

"Lucario..." Chris muttered with a sniff. "Did you...enjoy your new childhood?"

"I enjoyed it like never before," Lucario said. "I know it sounds weird to experience it again...but at least I grew up with you, like it should have been from the beginning."

Chris looked up at him. "You're not angry for evolving in a month?"

Lucario shook his head. "I just couldn't stand watching you getting hurt in those battles," he said. "I was so upset that I was so weak...but now..." he looked at his right hand before making it a flaming fist of aura, "I have the power to keep you safe."

Geno looked away in boredom. "(Like I said a long time ago, these people are just a bunch of barbarians almost all the time...)"

Chris chuckled. "So, you wanted to evolve for me?"

"I...think it's hard to avoid seeing you in pain," Lucario admitted before blushing. "I'd prefer that you hide behind me so I take care of those idiots who want to lay a hand on you."

"You and your insecurity for me..." Chris trailed off before chuckling. "That's what makes you the perfect Pokémon for me, Lucario."

Lucario blinked a few times before he hugged tightly his trainer while growling happily. Seeing that the two Smashers were having a good time, Geno decided to speak. "Well, my job here is done," he said, interrupting the two. "I'm glad I did something else for you guys."

"Thank you," Lucario said to Geno. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to do this."

"I wish you learned your lesson about power as well," Geno said. "I mean, there are still some big portions of land where there's no grass or ground..."

Lucario stared at Geno before he looked back at Chris. "Chris...I'm so sorry for what I did..."

"...I know," Chris said. "You felt very guilty about the whole deal."

"I didn't..."

"What?"

"I felt like an idiot because you didn't want to talk to me," Lucario said. "I...only care about your opinions more than anything or anyone else...Chris..."

"..." Chris closed his eyes. "I forgive you."

"What?"

Chris smiled a bit at him. "You already pardoned for your destructive behavior back then. When you were a Riolu, you managed to make me change my mind...although...I don't know if you're going to do the same thing again..."

Lucario looked away and shook his head. "...I won't use my wrath just to increase my power anymore."

Chris and Geno stared at Lucario.

"I learned that using wrath to make me stronger...is unforgivable," Lucario said before turning back to look at Chris. "What point is there if you end up getting hurt by me? I'm supposed to protect you, not hurt you in any way..."

"I...see..." Chris looked down.

"So...from now on, I'll stop using my fury to increase my powers," Lucario said. "I'm already powerful as I am now. Why do I need a power boost if I'm already the strongest of Lucarios?"

"...Heheheheh..." Chris chuckled at this before looking up at him. "Duh, you're the strongest of Lucarios. That's the biggest fact out there."

"And there's always room for improvement," Lucario said. "I can't become the strongest if I don't have someone to look after me."

"And in turn, I need someone to look after me as well."

"..."

"..."

"...Thank you so much, Lucario," Chris said. "I...I promise I'll make you even stronger."

"With effort, don't forget it," Lucario added. "Presea and the Master taught us that."

"Of course with effort," Chris said. "Effort makes everything easier."

Geno chuckled at this. "Okay, now my job is really done here," he said to call the attention of the two. "Sorry you guys, but I have to go back to Star Haven. More wishes are coming as we speak."

"O-oh, right," Chris said. "Thank you, Geno. Thank you for helping Lucario."

"No problem," the star said. "You can always call me whenever you wish upon a falling star. As long as your wishes aren't insane, then I'll make them come true." He turned to the window. "For now, there's a wish of C. Falcon, saying something about getting rid of the sore nose he has..."

"Sore...nose?" Lucario and Chris repeated confused.

Geno turned to them and 'nodded' himself. "Yes...I don't know what it is...but...I'll see if I make the wish true or not..." He began to float away to the window. "And with that...see you two later! Keep wishing as well!" he said before he went outside through the window and went up to the sky where he disappeared in a small blink between the stars.

The two Smashers stopped hugging each other before Chris folded his arms behind his back. "Well, Lucario, you have to go to your room now."

Lucario shook his head. "What?"

"It's true," Chris said. "Master Hand gave everyone a new arrangement of rooms, and I got my own room. Yours is in the third floor, the floor above this one, between Link's room and Lucas's room. Each floor has ten rooms for the Smashers in alphabetical order. I'm between C. Falcon and Diddy."

"B-but...I-I want to stay with you..." Lucario said.

"...It's a joke," Chris said chuckling. "I hate to sleep alone, anyway."

Lucario looked at the big bed.

"Do you want to bounce and touch the ceiling?"

Lucario blushed and looked back at him. "I-I'm not a kid anymore."

"Liar, you're a month old now."

"N-no, I'm a year and a half old..."

"Which puts you as a baby; a big baby, Lucario."

"I-I'm not a baby anymore!" Lucario yelled. "I can think like a mature adult now!"

'I'd say you're a mature teen," Chris said, "a wise one, to be precise."

"Ugh..." Lucario grunted annoyed at this.

Chris chuckled. "A mature teen suits you better, don't you think?"

"...I guess..."

"Come on, let's go back to sleep," Chris said. "Tomorrow is going to be another day. I want everyone to know you evolved now."

"I wonder if Peach is going to get depressed because she won't have to take care of me anymore..."

Chris looked away. "...Tell her thanks and give her a hug."

"...Okay...that would do..." Lucario muttered.

"Besides, maybe she'd sew you a big red robe," Chris said as he looked back at Lucario. "The one you wore as a Riolu won't fit you anymore."

"I...I...I'll wear it if she does make me one..."

Chris looked relieved. "Well, this experience made you get closer with some of them. I'm happy you did."

Lucario smiled a bit at this. "I'm very happy everything went well."

The two Smashers chuckled to each other once more before they went to sleep back on the bed. Chris took another glance at Lucario before smiling at him. After that, they both fell asleep, anticipating the Christmas day.

Music stops

"...?" Lucario opened his eyes and looked around as if something was bothering him.

Chris slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. "Is something bothering you?"

"I-it's just that..." Lucario trailed off. "...Is C. Falcon next to your room?"

"Well, yes, he and I have a 'C' in our names... Why are you asking that?"

"...I'm sensing...some kind of dark presence entering his room..."

The World Traveler looked confused. "A dark presence?"

"Listen..."

They both remained silent. Once they were very silent, they overheard some footsteps slowly walking somewhere, probably to where C. Falcon was sleeping. Suddenly, the sound of the footsteps stopped, but then they were slowly being replaced by some loud snorts and snores from the racer. After that, silence came in, but the same footsteps were heard slowly walking away to the hallway where they heard them clearly enough than before, echoing a bit in the middle of the night.

"..." Chris's eyes widened. He knew that there was something familiar he heard from Presea. "...Y-you don't think that...the king of demons paid a visit to C. Falcon as Presea told us about the curse before, right?"

"...I'm...going to be honest..." Lucario said. "...Lately, I've been sensing that same presence coming in here every night...and...when I notice, it disappears in the middle of nowhere..."

Chris stared in pure shock and disbelief at Lucario. "...T-then...t-that curse...the very same curse of the king of demons coming every night to stick his finger in somebody's nose...is..."

Lucario silently nodded.

"..." Chris looked back at the door, his body shaking in fear.

"Mwahahahaha...hahahahaha...hahahahahaha..."

The sudden silent laugh made Chris feel even more uncomfortable than before.

"...Chris..." Lucario muttered, his eyes focusing at the door.

"Yes?"

"If you don't want 'somebody' else we know to rub the curse on you..."

"Yes..."

"Get close to me, quick."

"D-don't mind if I do..."

Chris quickly went over to Lucario where he covered his head with the blankets and ducked a bit. Lucario placed his left hand on Chris's head and glared at the door for any signs of the king of demons...

But for the time Lucario found out, the presence had vanished mysteriously...

Some days passed, and everyone else soon knew about Lucario's evolution. It was surprising to see that it all happened so fast, but it was a decision Lucario decided to take. As promised, Chris thanked Dawn for what she talked about with him.

However, once she looked at Lucario, she remarked that he was rather big. Chris only chuckled at this fact and said that he was lucky to have two big Lucarios (even thought he only had one so Dawn wouldn't get suspicious).

And for the time being, the duo resumed to be the same duo they used and always be…

December 20 - Saturday - Afternoon

Battle Floor - ?

Tales of the Abyss - Bloodthirsty Fang

"Gah..."

"Y-you okay?"

"Y-yes, but...I-I just can't believe this!"

A cave filled with tracks and pickaxes was shown. The cave itself currently had a battle going on in the depths of it (even if the entrance was directly straight ahead of the depth). There were two badly injured Roy and Ike as they looked up at a dreadful creature: a big dark blue horned skeleton monster that held four swords in four hands, looking down menacingly at them.

Roy gritted his teeth as he looked around. He grew with desperation as he saw the fainted bodies of Link, Toon Link, Pit, Marth, Chris (in his Swordsman job), and even Meta Knight. They all had been severely attacked by the monster, even to the extreme where they used their second chance to stand up to fight back, but were easily taken out.

The monster roared at the two standing Smashers. Both Ike and Roy had already been knocked out once, but they had one last chance to fight.

"Ugh, that stupid Sword Dancer can't just stop spinning!" Roy complained. "I hate this side boss battle!"

"Funny, I thought you were the one who said to come here..." Ike said bored.

"S-shut up, you're not helping here!" Roy said annoyed as he put a tight grip on the Swords of Seals. "We better take that thing down or else we'll lose the fight!"

Ike looked up at the monster. "Even with the badge Chris told us about doesn't make much difference... Why?"

Roy looked away in embarrassment. "D-don't mind that and help me take that thing down alread-"

"LOOK OUT!"

The two swordsmen looked to see four swords being brought down hard on them. Ike and Roy screamed loudly in pain, their energies finally depleting as they let go of their swords and fell down to their knees to collapse on the cold ground... After that, everything went blurry...

"STOP THE BATTLE!" yelled a familiar voice as everything and everyone stopped from moving anymore. "The match has been lost, and thus the battle is officially over. No contenders are longer able to fight anymore!"

Everything in the scene suddenly was replaced by black and grey lines that scrambled all over the screen...

Battle Floor - Main Floor

The scene then changed to a big screen that had the very same lost transmission signal in it. In front of the very screen, there were all the rest of the Smashers with Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Apparently, the fight was being shown to everyone, and most of them felt a bit sorry for the outcome of the battle.

"Ugh, the first time they have to fight a side boss battle and THIS has to happen..." muttered Master Hand before snapping his fingers. "Okay, you guys lose!"

Everyone turned their looks to the right where, in front of a door (with a dark blue skeleton insignia on it), the whole group of swordsmen appeared without having the severe lacerations and blood loss on their clothes. They all looked at each other before looking back at the group.

"Man, what a way to lose..." Link said ashamed.

"Hmph," Meta Knight frowned, "of course we lost the battle against that monster."

"Well, I DID see you fighting it back," Toon Link said, "but you were taken out rather quickly."

"Unfortunately, I lacked knowledge about the monster's strength," Meta Knight said. "Its strength with 4 swords was surprising and too much for me to handle."

"Same here," Ike said. "That monster did fight well, though..."

Chris shivered. "P-please, no more monsters who can wield more than 2 swords...I-I had enough with that thing!"

"I-I agree," Pit said. "I-I'm glad those injuries were just temporal..."

Master Hand floated to the group of swordsmen. "You guys were so pushing your luck in that battle," he said. "Because of that, you were taken out very quickly...all of you..."

"I-I don't understand..." Chris trailed off. "I-I was sure the 64 Badge was going to give us more strength...but yet that monster took us out so easily like nothing!"

Roy looked away, Marth noticing this action.

"That thing shouldn't be that strong!" Chris said. "In fact, we could have easily defeated it without effort...but...this happened!"

Marth looked bored at Roy. "Roy...did you have something to do with this?"

Roy chuckled nervously at this and looked back at the door's sign.

"This lost soul only lives to fight the strongest for the welfare of its growth in swordsmanship."

Roy looked at a small rotator that had the words "Very Intense" on it. "L-look at this, somebody accidentally changed the difficulty of the battle..."

Some of the Smashers groaned at this, Chris taking a closer look at the rotator. "Wait, I forgot why this was here before..."

Master Hand grumbled. "Okay, you need more explanations, so I'll give them to you," he said. "Let's walk back with the others."

The defeated Smashers nodded at this before they all walked back to the group in front of the TV (the stairs leading to the floor just behind the group). Once reuniting with them, they all looked at Master Hand in front of the TV screen.

"Well, the first battle that took place here ended in defeat for you," Master Hand said. "If would have been much easier for you to win it if Roy DIDN'T change the difficulty."

Most of the Smashers glared at the red-haired swordsman. Roy smiled nervously. "H-hey, I was just thinking if we could beat it at a harder difficulty..."

Zelda frowned. "Master Hand, I don't think I saw the option of increasing the difficulty of the battles here the last time we came here... Did you recently add that?"

Master Hand nodded. "Well, yes, I did," the hand said before showing the small rotator on the TV screen. "For those who forgot already, this is the Rotator of Difficulty. I recently added this feature so you guys want to have a bigger challenge."

Mewtwo looked at his right where all the doors had the rotators by their sides. "It's clear to see every door got one," he said.

"After so much thinking, I decided to allow you to increase the difficulty for each battle if you're aiming to get a bigger challenge," Master Hand explained. "There are 5 different settings: Hard, Very Hard, Intense, Very Intense, and Unknown. The bigger the challenge, the better the prize will be."

"And somebody here thought we could defeat a skeleton monster at Very Intense without us having to know in the first place," Toon Link grumbled to himself, Roy giving him a nervous look.

"So changing difficulties give better spoils, then?" asked DK.

"Exactly," Master Hand said. "However, there are some doors here that have set difficulties that can be increased to harder difficulties. There are doors with the Intense difficult already on, and it can be increased to Unknown but can't be reduce to Very Hard. This is like this because there are some bosses who are, in fact, hard as they are."

"It's suicide if someone increases the difficulty..." Ike muttered.

"Like SOMEBODY we know here," added Link.

Roy groaned. "Okay, okay, okay! It was my fault, not yours, geez!"

Master Hand cleared his throat. "Well, after seeing how badly the last fight went..." he looked at Crazy Hand, "I want you to provide them with the shop so they buy something."

"Right-o," Crazy Hand said before he snapped his fingers and made a counter fall down from the ceiling...making a hole in it.

Master Hand sighed at this. "At least you made a counter appear... That's progress."

"Hee hee!" Crazy Hand giggled.

The Hand of Creation frowned at this and looked at the Smashers. "Everything's set for you to take another challenge. I wonder, what will it be this time? Does anybody want to take on a boss here?"

Almost everyone looked at each other and began muttering and whispering things between each other. As each one talked with each other, Chris felt that a claw tapping his left shoulder from behind. Turning around, he looked a bit shocked at Wolf.

"Kid, the time is now," Wolf said. "Time for you to do the deal you made with me."

Chris looked unsure. "W-wait, how come you just remembered this now?"

Wolf crossed his arms. "I thought about asking this earlier, but seeing how we ended up having to rest all this time, I wanted to have some relaxation and not sound too harsh," he explained. "It'd be very selfish of me to ask to come here right after our break started. If I did, you'd be annoyed, and you wouldn't want to cooperate in battle."

"I-I was happily wasting my time reading fan fiction..."

"Be glad I was there to pull you out from the PC," Wolf said annoyed.

"I-it's not my fault you saw a heading where you saw your name and...a-and another guy's name in a romance fiction!"

"I heard you were complaining about seeing gay pairings."

"T-that's...kind of...well..."

"True," Wolf finished for Chris. "But that's for another day. So what will it be?"

"...I...made a deal with you..." Chris said. "...I'm not going to go back to my word."

Wolf nodded. "This is how it should be," he said. "Now tell the hand you want to take the challenge...for that door over there."

Chris glanced over to the door with the several claw marks all over it. He also saw the splitting image of someone who looked like Wolf and read the sign hanging in front of it.

"The lunar howls of the Werehogs shall be the last roars you hear before you die a fast, but painful death."

"…That door?" Chris asked.

"That very same door," Wolf said. "That's the one we're going in."

The swordsman stared at the door. "…You know…Wolf…don't you find it odd that this door has the word 'werehog' in its description?"

Wolf looked back at the door. "Now that you mention it…it does sound odd…" He rubbed his chin a bit. "To tell the truth, what does it even mean? Why would the transformation of the hedgehog be worth mentioning in that door?"

"…" Chris turned around and raised his hand. "U-um, excuse me, Master Hand…"

"Yes?" Master Hand said. "Do you want to take on a boss?"

Chris nodded unsure. "Yes…I'd like to take on the boss of that door over there," he said before he turned around and pointed at the door with claw marks to the left of the entrance.

"Oh, I see," the hand said before floating over to the door, the Smashers following him with their eyes. "Well, okay, you guys will be facing whatever is behind this door."

"What do you mean by whatever is behind the door?" Olimar asked. "You don't know?"

Master Hand turned to them. "Well…you see…this door here isn't like any of the doors of this place…"

Mario crossed his arms. "Why's that?"

"Unlike any of the doors, which will take anyone to a different world…this door takes you to…another alternate dimension," the hand explained.

Snake sighed at this. "First our task is to travel between worlds to save them from the Subspace Army, and now we're going to intervene with dimensions? I swear that this is getting really wacky for my tastes…"

"Hey, don't say that, it's not what you think it is," the hand said. "You see, I wanted to give it a test with this; a test where I want to conduct some research of how parallel dimensions work."

Sonic looked annoyed at this. "Hey, I'm not someone else's guinea pig…"

"N-no, I'm not using any of you like guinea pigs at all, I swear!" Master Hand said. "I-it really looks like it, but it's not!"

Samus sighed. "We're always being used as guinea pigs, and we always say the experience was enjoyable…"

"But still, I don't like to be one," C. Falcon (with a piece of paper sticking out from his right nostril) said. "I didn't join this place for this!"

Master Hand chuckled. "That's what happens when you don't read everything in the contract. You get yourselves submitted to me for any new experiment I'd like you try out with you…not threatening your lives, o-of course…"

"That…pretty much says we're a bunch of guinea pigs for you…" Ness said bored.

"…A-anyway! You want to challenge this boss to a battle?" Master Hand asked (many of the Smashers giving him bored looks). "T-then you should get prepared for what is to come in there!"

Chip joined his hands. "Ooh, ooh, can I join Sonic, pretty please?" he asked before he flew over to the sign with the selected characters on it. "It says here he's going there. Can I be his loyal partner?"

"That…I'm not sure…" Master Hand said confused. "Well, you're not technically a fighter…but you're some sort of a spectator…"

"Then can be I watching the fight from a safe distance?"

Master Hand looked at Sonic.

"If he gets hurt, he won't have to follow me everywhere," Sonic whispered.

Master Hand looked at Chip and nodded. "Okay, you may go as long as you don't do something reckless."

"Oh, don't worry," Chip said before he took out a small brown hat with a small whip around his left arm. "Indiana Chip's ready for action."

The hand stared at Chip's odd costume before he shrugged. "Okay…Indiana Chip…"

Chip smiled pleased before he looked back at the sign. "…Hey, it says werehog in plural… WAIT A MINUTE!" he suddenly yelled and turned to Master Hand. "How come this door has that word in there? I demand answers right now because I AM the one who made the word before!"

"Hmm?" Master Hand read the sign. "…Oh, right, I forgot about this little detail…"

Sonic looked shocked. "Wait a second, WAIT A SECOND THERE," he warned before he quickly went to read the sign. "Something about this isn't JUST going my way at all…"

Master Hand thought for a second. "Well, the description of the door sounds a little bit…dangerous…I admit…" he said.

Sonic looked back at him. "Then since it says that there's more than one werehog…doesn't that mean…"

The Smashers thought for a moment before multiple groans came out from most of them, many of them starting to complain about seeing one more werehog.

"Oh no, NO, NO, NO, NO," Chris said gulping. "T-there's no way there's more than one werehog than Sonic out there!"

"I agree totally with you there…" Diddy muttered. "I-I mean, don't we still remember what happened the last time we fought that evil spirit inside Sonic while he was a werehog?"

"The very same night Chris died…" Lucario muttered before glaring at the door. "I don't want to see another monster like that ever again."

"I'm pretty sure NONE of us want to see one again," Roy said. "That excuse for a wolf was pretty insane and stupid, remember? He enjoys making people suffer through his power out of pleasure!"

"But now we have to watch more than one of them?" Falco asked before he shook his head. "Bleh, I'd rather puke than seeing another one…"

"B-but…do we know that the monsters in there are the same?" Pichu asked. "W-what if…they end up turning out worse than Dark Super Sonic was?"

"If…that was true…" Link trailed off, "…I don't want to think about it at all."

"Everyone, calm down now," Master Hand said. "Like I said before, there's no way you can die in these side boss battles. If you were to die, you'd get transported back here. You don't have to worry about dying or losing."

"We know that, but…it's just that we're awfully sick of seeing this thing brought up again," Samus said. "What if whoever is waiting for people like us to show up there turns out to have been driven to madness with the power that Sonic gets when he transforms?"

"Not to mention how I lose my speed…" Sonic muttered in annoyance.

"Actually…would it be possible that there's a way for someone to…um…well…become a werehog?" Lucas asked terrified.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Lucas, this is not like typical werewolf fairytales where you get turned into one if an infected werewolf bites you. Also, I don't think there's a way to turn into one without having to go through the same thing Sonic was trapped with, and fortunately none of us will be like him…to the full extent to the word. (Sonic: Hey!) Do you still believe in those tales?"

"N-no…b-but it was just a guess…" Lucas admitted.

Wolf grumbled a bit at this. "Would you all please stop arguing? If we hate that transformation so much and how the victim turns out to be, why we don't get rid of the scourge by fighting them head-on? It'd be for the best if we ended it that way."

"Y-you're saying that because you're the one who wants to go IN there," Chris pointed out. "I-I don't know you, but I think this is a very bad idea… I can barely stand watching Sonic turn into a werehog…"

"And I can barely stand myself from scratching my neck with my foot, and that isn't a very pretty sight, y'know," Sonic said annoyed.

"T-too much information…" muttered Kirby in disgust.

Master Hand sighed. "If you guys hate Sonic's transformation so much, you either can go and challenge the boss in there or nuke Sonic to his oblivion instead."

Chris frowned. "I…guess the fight would be better…"

Wolf grinned a bit at this. "Good enough for me."

Chris turned to the sign to see the allowed characters. "...For this battle, Wolf, Popo, Nana, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Toon Link, Yoshi, Sonic, and I are going to be let in..."

"Me too!" Chip yelled.

"And...you too, Chip..."

"Hurray!"

Persona 4 - Backside of the TV

The Smashers began to talk with each other before Sonic noticed something he ignored a moment ago. "Wait, nuke me to my oblivion?" he asked to himself.

Chip floated to him. "Let's call an exorcist so we don't have to nuke you to your oblivion, Sonic!"

Sonic stared annoyed at Chip. "You're not going to nuke me, right?"

"Depends of what everyone says."

"Chip, you're just…ugh… Forget it…" Sonic muttered in shame.

Chip looked a bit pleased at this while Chris seemed to be talking with Wolf from behind their backs.

"Okay, kid," Wolf began with crossed arms, "I'll let you handle what we should need to have for that fight. Once we go through that door, I'll be the one in charge."

The World Traveler looked unsure. "Well, it concerns you in some way or another… I'm fine with what you want to do as long as you think about us as well."

Wolf nodded. "It's obvious that the boss is going to be allied with more of those worthless monsters. If they happen to gang up on me, I'll need as much as help as possible."

"…You're…actually thinking about relying on us?"

"Selfishness is going to be my death one of these days," Wolf said. "If I am selfish, I wouldn't change like a certain someone told me I would do."

"…" Chris shrugged at the memory. "P-point taken…"

Wolf nodded. "However, don't think I'm going to be friendlier than before. I'll just help out during the battle, not foster other things."

"I-I know…" Chris muttered.

Wolf looked up at the ceiling. "If it comes down to it, I'll use my new power that the pesky girl with the horn we met some months ago gave me."

Chris blinked a bit. "You mean Phoenix?"

Wolf looked back at him. "Yeah, I'm talking about the fire bird. She said not only it attacks all enemies, but it also heals fallen fighters." He shook his head. "But it's enough about all that. Go with the hands to get stuff necessary for the battle. You're in charge of the inventory."

"W-why?"

"I hate to admit this, but I barely know a thing about items," Wolf admitted. "You're much of a know-it-all in that area. Whatever you think is good for us, we'll use it."

"…" Chris nodded with a sigh before turning around to walk towards Crazy Hand's counter.

"Ooh boy, hi," Crazy Hand said.

"Hello," Chris said. "Crazy Hand, whatever did you do with the recipe I gave you?"

Crazy Hand moved his fingers a bit. "Well, thanks to that piece of paper, there's a new selection of items at this shop. Now you can buy Mega Mushrooms!"

Chris smiled a bit. "T-that's actually good to hear."

"You can buy one for 5000 Smash Coins!"

"…Now it suddenly turned bad…"

Crazy Hand grumbled. "Hey, this item makes you grow 3 times instead of 2 times like the Super Mushroom does," he explained. "Battles would be really easier if you bought this one. However, it takes some of the fun away, so that's why its price is high."

The World Traveler looked a bit miffed at this. "Okay, I'll have to agree with you."

"So, my boy, what are you going to buy from little good ol' me?"

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items (New!)

Smash Coins in hand: 19101

Chris thought for a moment. "First, I'd like to store some items."

"Okay, what are those items?" Crazy Hand asked.

The swordsman put the Block Meal and the Superspicy Curry on the counter. "These ones," he said.

Crazy Hand nodded and took the Block Meal and the Superspicy Curry behind the counter on the floor. "Okay, they were stored. What are you going to buy?"

"Hmm, I would like to see items first, please."

"'Kay," Crazy Hand said.

-Items

Assist Trophy - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Mega Mushroom - 5000 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Items in hand:
Green Shell

Ice Storm

Dizzy Dial

Poison Mushroom

Stored items:
Superspicy Curry
Block Meal

Chris pressed his brow a bit with two fingers. Thinking hard enough, he managed to think what he wanted to buy. "I have a lot of money this time around, so I'm going to buy...hmm...a Timer, an Assist Trophy, a Deku Nut, a Smash Ball, a Motion Sensor Bomb, and a Warp Star."

Crazy Hand chuckled deeply. "Dude, you're going on a shopping spree with me now! I'm flattered and impressed."

Chris nervously chuckled a bit at this. "W-well, I want to be prepared for anything in that boss battle so experimenting a bit wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Yeah," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, adding all that up, you'd spend...2900 Smash Coins in total."

The World Traveler nodded at this and gave the insane hand the amount of coins. Upon receiving the coins, Crazy Hand snapped his fingers to produce the six requested items that Chris took with him, the money count dropping to 16201 Smash Coins.

"Oh yeah, that was good, alright," Crazy Hand said. "Anything else you want to see?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Let's see... Most of the Smashers who are going to come with us have some good extras...but..." he looked up at him, "I'd like to see the specific abilities for...hmm...Wolf, Yoshi, Squirtle, and Ivysaur, please."

"Nice," Crazy Hand said before showing Chris a list. "Here you can see the abilities for 'em."

The World Traveler took the paper and looked through the list for the specific abilities.

-Smashers' Abilities

-Wolf

Wolf Flash EX - 1000 Smash Coins

Instead of performing a diagonal attack, Wolf can perform the attack at any direction. The Meteor Smash will remain.

Charger - 2000 Smash Coins

Gives a new function to Wolf's Blaster. Wolf can charge his next shot to make it bigger, faster, with a much longer paralyzing effect. The charged shot will remain unless fired.

Fire Wolf EX - 3000 Smash Coins

Once executing the last kick, Wolf will start a series of close combat attacks (claw, knees, kick attacks) in midair before using a strong Meteor Smash on the target, delivering great damage to a single enemy.

Poison Inflicter - 4000 Smash Coins

All physical attacks will have an average chance of inflicting Poison or Deadly Poison.

Resist lvl. 1: Dark/Shadow - 1000 Smash Coins

Wolf will reduce any received dark/shadow based attacks by a third (1/3).

Chris thought for a moment. "...Maybe I should buy him 2 so he becomes a bit stronger..." He nodded to himself and looked at Master Hand. "I'd like to buy for him (balance between strength and defense), Wolf Flash EX, and the resistance." He gave Crazy Hand 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 14201 Smash Coins.

"Nice, kid."

Chris nearly got a bit of a heart attack before turning around to look at Wolf. "D-don't appear out of nowhere like that, it's creepy!" Chris complained.

Wolf rolled his eye. "What, I can't thank you for buying me 2 new things?" he asked.

"W-well..."

"Heh, I just enjoy seeing people realizing what they forget because I point it out for them, and you're not an exception, kid," Wolf teased a bit. "...But anyway, thanks for giving me those abilities, I guess."

"...O...kay..." Chris said a bit freaked out. "(I shouldn't have bought those abilities if this was going to happen...) You're...not upset because I didn't want to buy the rest?"

Wolf shook his head. "If you did that, I'd look selfish to others. I don't want you to make me look like a jerk, kid."

The World Traveler stared at Wolf for a bit. "...R-right, sir..." Chris nodded.

Wolf grinned a bit. "Make up your mind and get things ready. I'll wait for everyone close to the door," he said before he turned around and walked to the door.

Chris shrugged at this and looked back at the list.

-Yoshi

Egg Ammo - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will be able to swallow 7 things/enemies to turn them into eggs for him to have as ammunition. These 7 can be fired at a quick pace to deal great damage to one or several enemies.

Color Change - 2000 Smash Coins

Sometimes, Yoshi will change colors right after using Egg Roll. Anything he swallows will give him a different ability depending of the color (blue for wings, red for fireballs, pink for charm, white for invisible defense, and black for heavy hits).

Ground Pound Stomp - 3000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will use Ground Pound on an enemy, but, depending of how much energy he has left (preferably high), he will pound the enemy 7 times maximum.

Resist lvl. 1: Water - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will reduce any received water based attacks by a third (1/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Yoshi will reduce any received fire-based attacks by a third (1/3).

"Hmm, Color Change..." Chris mused. "I want the Color Change ability, please."

"Money talks even more than your own words, if you know what I mean," Crazy Hand said before Chris gave him 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 12201 Smash Coins.

Yoshi walked to Chris and shrugged a bit. "I-I don't want to see more of those...monsters anymore... I hated to fight Sonic's transformation back then..."

Chris sighed. "I'm as scared as you, Yoshi... But this is a favor I have to do for Wolf."

"W-well, make sure that favor doesn't end up making all of us have nightmares with werehogs because I'm a bit fragile with nightmares."

"I-I'll see..." Chris muttered before Yoshi shrugged more and walked away from him. The swordsman looked back at the list once more.

-Squirtle

Aqua Ring - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will cast rings of water around him. He will recover energy overtime (in small amounts). This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Ice Beam - 2000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will shoot a frigid shot of ice to the enemy, having small chances of freezing the enemy. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Brine - 3000 Smash Coins

Once a foe's health has been reduced to a half, this weak attack will grow to a much stronger level to cause even more damage. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Resist lvl. 1: Water - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will reduce any received water-based attacks by two thirds (2/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Electric - 1000 Smash Coins

Squirtle will reduce any received electric-based attacks by a third (1/3).

-Ivysaur

Growth - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will gather energies to grow (even if the attack states he will grow, he won't grow at all) to increase his Grass type attacks by 10 percent. It can be used up to 6 times. This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Spore - 2000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will release spores to make all enemies fall asleep always (except the effect is halved against the same type). This special attack ignores the 4-move limit that all Pokémon have.

Sunny Day - 3000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will release a bright sphere to represent the sun. This attack allows Solarbeam to be ready at any moment, reduce Water type attack by a quarter, and make Fire type attacks much stronger (but this also affects everyone in battle).

Resist lvl. 1: Grass - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will reduce any received grass-based attacks by two thirds (2/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Ivysaur will reduce any received water-based attacks by a third (1/3).

"(More abilities for each one of them,)" Chris thought. "I'll buy...um...Aqua Ring for Squirtle, and Spore for Ivysaur."

Crazy Hand nodded at this as Chris gave him 3000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 9201 Smash Coins. The World Traveler felt that the mentioned characters would show up in a few seconds, so he turned around to see Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur.

"This is giving me the creeps," Red admitted. "I-I wouldn't want to see more monsters like Sonic is when he's that werehog thing."

"Hey, at least you're not FIGHTING them head-on," Squirtle said. "We have to be the ones FIGHTING head-on while you sit back and relax and...stuff."

Red blushed a bit at this. "I-I'm seriously not trying to save myself first while you 2 are battling, I swear!"

Ivysaur looked bored. "Pfft, we know how this works by now. It's always going to be the same for us 3, anyway. No need to say sorry."

Red sighed. "Oh well...but I'm going to issue the best orders I can give to you 2."

"I suppose that's how we work and do things our way," Squirtle said.

"You 3 are scared like me, right?" Chris asked.

"Let me see now..." Ivysaur wondered, "we're going to fight more than one beast with claws and fangs, night is surely going to be involved, considering how things went with our battle with that spirit inside Sonic..." he smiled, "yeah, I'm pretty damn sure we're scared."

"..."

Ivysaur glared at Chris. "Of course we're scared, dammit! Are you blind or what?"

Red gulped. "No need to be scared for this, you guys... If we pull through this, then everything will end sooner than we expect."

Squirtle shrugged a bit. "I hope we can have the same confidence you have, Red..."

Red chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, follow my lead, you 2..."

Squirtle narrowed his eyes at Ivysaur. "We're definitely screwed, right?"

"Yeah," Ivysaur muttered back.

Chris sweat dropped at this before the trio walked away, wondering how things would turn out to be on the other side of the mysterious door. Turning around to look at Crazy Hand, Chris exhaled. "Finished..." Chris said with a sigh. "...Oh my god, I spent almost everything..."

Crazy Hand giggled. "Money comes to you, money goes to me," he said. "Every single coin in your wallet is destined to go with me someday."

The World Traveler looked a bit defeated. "Please, don't say that..." He blinked a few times. "Wait a minute, I think there's somebody else I can buy things from..."

Crazy Hand watched as Chris took out a small bell with a red pom-pom as a handle. After taking it out, the hand tilted himself to a half circle. "What's that little thingy?"

"This is the Stiltzkin Bell," Chris said. "Supposedly, if I ring it, Stiltzkin will come so I can buy stuff from him..."

Crazy Hand grumbled. "Hey, you're supporting my rivals in business? Not cool, man, not-cool!" he said angrily. "I'm supposed to be your #1 main source of goods here, not some guy you just met a day where I wasn't there to see you meet the guy!"

Chris stared at him before he rang the bell a few times, the sounds of the little instrument ringing hard in the floor (although it wasn't loud enough to interrupt the others talking to each other). "Well...let's see if he does appear," Chris said.

Master Hand went to Chris. "Oh, sorry, Chris, but nobody's allowed to play instruments outside the music room."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at him. "You just made that rule right now!" Chris yelled.

"Well, I'm the boss, so your logic fails, ha-ha," Master Hand said.

Chip suddenly floated close and showed them his hat. "You guys wanna give me some refunds for my next exploration after this fight? I'm short of money right now..."

Master Hand frowned. "Chip, drop that weird persona from you. It's making you look...wackier than usual."

Chip pouted a bit. "Hey, don't you dare say that to Indiana Chip again!"

As the imp looked angrily, Chris looked around the floor for any signs of Stiltzkin. "...Where is he? I thought he was going to appear..." he muttered.

Chip looked at his hat on his hands. "I need money so I can buy myself a compass. You need one when you're lost inside a cave filled with traps, arrows, pits, monsters, some boulders, more arrows, puzzles, some more pits, bigger boulders, vines that hide passages, more arrows, more tra-"

And suddenly, from Chip's hat under side, Stiltzkin appeared by falling down from the hat. Chris, Chip, Crazy Hand, and Master Hand turned to look at the little traveler 'businessmoogle' with some shocked looks. "Greetings," Stiltzkin said. "Did I hear a bell ringing here or what?"

Master Hand 'seemed' confused as to why the little shopkeeper appeared from within an unlikable area like Chip's hat. He was a bit freaked out that someone like Stiltzkin could actually appear from a hat. "W-what the… Who are you and what were you doing in there?"

Stiltzkin hopped a bit on each foot. "My name is Stiltzkin. I just happened to come out from the guy's hat, Mr. Hand."

"Yes, I SERIOUSLY believe that you just happened to come out from that little hat," Master Hand joked. "Really, how did you get there?"

"I have my ways," Stiltzkin said. "Many, many ways," he added.

Chip looked at his hat in curiosity. "Hmm, he appeared from my little hat... Well, at least he didn't appear from my Crystal Skull."

The Hand of Creation ignored Chip's comment before focusing back on the moogle. "…Nothing else to say besides that?" Master Hand asked. "You just appeared from his hat?"

"Hmm, not much," Stiltzkin admitted. "There's not much to it."

"…"

Stiltzkin looked at Chris. "Oh, if it isn't my friend with the hobby to change between extravagant-looking clothes to old-style clothes… Well, did you want me to buy something from my wares?"

Chris nervously chuckled a bit before Crazy Hand 'glared' at the shopkeeper/traveler. "Me don't likes competency…" Crazy Hand muttered, the moogle ignoring him totally.

"A-ah, well, I wanted to see what else I could buy from you," Chris said to Stiltzkin while Crazy Hand grumbled angrily to himself. "Do you have new stuff or do you still have the same?"

Stiltzkin tilted his head to the right. "Hmm, I have the same stuff, sadly," he admitted. "However, you have some kind of a keen eye for buying what you need the most. I'll be glad to sell you anything as long as you have money."

Master Hand shook himself. "Wait, are you supposed to appear whenever someone rings that little bell?"

"That's how I and the bell work," Stiltzkin said. "I have my ways to get to my customers, which happens only to be the whole bunch of you."

"But…you can get here from anywhere?"

"Like I said, I have my ways," Stiltzkin said. "Anyhow, what would you like to buy from me?" he asked to Chris.

Stiltzkin Wares

Smash Coins in hand: 9201 Smash Coins

Counter – 4000 Smash Coins

Fury – 4000 Smash Coins

Bad Breath – 9000 Smash Coins

Life – 5000 Smash Coins

Null-Physical – 7000 Smash Coins

Death – 3000 Smash Coins

The World Traveler couldn't think of a good ability to buy from Stiltzkin. Chris began to knock himself on the forehead a few times as he tried to get something from the moogle. "(Oh, please, these abilities are very different than Crazy Hand's abilities... I need to decide...but...for which one?)"

Out of nowhere, Popo came in and pouted at Chris.

Chris looked at Popo. "U-um...is something wrong? Why are you looking very upset at me?"

"I'm pissed," Popo said. "VERY pissed right now," he added.

"But...why are you pissed?"

A bored Nana appeared from behind Popo and sighed after. "It's my fault, Chris. I accidentally said a banned word I shouldn't have said when Popo's close."

Chris looked back at Popo's pouting face before shifting back to Nana. "What word?"

"Well, I was wondering if there was going to be a nocturnal snowstorm very soon this month, and that's when Popo's Wacky Mode turned itself on."

"Yeah, and I'm PISSED off!" Popo said pouting. "I just remembered I had some business to settle with some furred beasts who happened to be such a bunch of immature jerks to me when I went to look for a close bathroom!" he yelled angrily. "Remember that time where I was trying to fine some super cool bathroom through the door? Well, I met these guys who ticked me off: TICKED me off badly."

"...What?" Chris muttered.

Popo crossed his arms. "That door over there has probably the weirdest of weirdoes I've ever met before! Not only they smelled weird, they looked like poor imitations of wolves, I swear! Wolf-looking weirdoes with fur and stuff..." Popo thought for a moment. "No, wait, they were werehog weirdoes just like Sonic...except even weirder and creepier."

Chris shook his head at this. "W-wait, hold on there... You went into that door?"

Popo nodded. "Yeah, they were all hairy, had these big huge fangs, and liked to howl almost every single minute I could count with 2s and 5s." He pointed at Nana. "You DO remember, right? I told you about them once during my 'wonderful voyage' to get to a nice bathroom."

Nana rolled her eyes at this. "I UNFORTUNATELY remember, Popo... But I do know for sure you're just making up those weird facts just so you can get attention, which you're doing nicely because it sounds very weird!"

"Cool, but enough about that. Those guys were cuckoo ala Kakariko Village for sure!" Popo took out his hammer. "They broke my hammer, and I had to get a new one. Not to mention the fact that, while they had a nice bathroom, they were all total jerks to the extreme... I mean, Were-Falco and Were-Snake kept swearing, Were-Link kept asking me a bunch of dumb questions which I didn't get at all, Were-Olimar made up a bunch of weird words, and, oh, Were-Zelda was just so lesbian and emo that she looked so lesbemo! She was moaning about losing "Zesu" or something, and I was like "who is that" an-"

"Popo, shut up!" Nana yelled and raised a finger. "Look, I don't know what you saw in there, but I know you didn't see all of us as werehogs. I mean, puh-lease, Popo!" She looked at the others. "Do you really think we're going to believe any of that bull?"

"Yeah, like I so did that! ...Well, I didn't see us as werehogs, though. They said I was dead and you had gone super crazy but like all of rest of them were werehogs an-"

Nana grunted again and slapped Popo hard enough to make him fall on his back. "Shut up, shut up, shut up already, Popo!" She turned to the others and sighed angrily. "Don't believe in anything he's saying at all! When Popo is like this, it's so hard to understand what his mind is trying to say!"

Master Hand stared at the fuming Nana for a bit. "...Alright...we'll have that in mind for sure..."

Nana sighed. "Thank you, really, thank you," she muttered a bit pleased.

Popo sat up and raised his hand. "I want the Fury ability!" he demanded. "I'm furious with those guys, so I'm going to use that sticker to get back at 'em!"

Nana slapped her forehead. "...Chris...would you please buy what he wants so he stops being this...irrational?"

The World Traveler stared at Popo's pouting look. Shrugging at this, the World Traveler showed Stiltzkin 4000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 5201 Smash Coins. Stiltzkin nodded at this. "I don't have a clue about what the seemingly absentminded guy said, but if you want to buy anything, then I'll have to comply," he said as he took the coins and dug out from his pouch a small-sized sticker that read 'Fury' in red letters.

Before Chris could take the sticker, Popo suddenly got up and grabbed it, placing it quickly on his stand. "There, now I feel the boost," he said pouting.

"That's not how it works," Stiltzkin said. "Your power will be doubled once you see a party member fall down."

"Bummer!" Popo groaned. "Fine, I'll go get myself ready with other stuff!"

"Popo, what do you mean by that?" Nana asked bored. "(I'm going to hit myself for asking him while he's like this...)"

Popo pumped up a right fist. "You'll see once I get back!" he proclaimed before turning around to the stairs where he walked down through them.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I think he's just doing this so he can have fun..." she muttered before moving up and down her right hand to the others. "You ignore him, okay? I can't do anything for the moment... I'll wait until we're ready..." She turned around and walked away from them.

Master Hand frowned. "How wonderful is the group of fighters, huh... You'll see pretty much a lot from each one of them..."

"You're feeling kind of guilty for this because you gathered them?" Chris asked.

"Meh, not really," Master Hand said with a chuckle. "It adds for the craziness, and I like to see some of it a lot."

Chris frowned at this with a sigh before looking back at Stiltzkin. "Well, that's going to be everything," he said.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Stiltzkin said. "I wish you good luck with whatever you're going to do in this eerie floor. I'm getting the creeps by just staring at the torches around here..." He hopped a bit on each feet. "Okay, I'm off. There are many places where I'm required to know more about."

Master Hand sighed. "Well, you can use the stairs and go directly to the lobby where yo-"

Stiltzkin didn't listen to Master Hand. Instead of going through the stairs, the moogle traveler looked up at Chip (still staring at his hat) before Stiltzkin flew over to the underneath of the hat where he nicely entered through it and disappeared, the imp blinking surprised at this.

"Wow," Chip said, "this hat must have been created for the only purpose to use it for magic."

"Burn it," Crazy Hand muttered. "Stop that guy from ever appearing here."

Chip looked worried. "But I like my hat! It's like getting a hat at the circus except I got this from Peach and not from a circus where it should have been more entertaining to do."

Master Hand ignored Chip once more and looked at Chris. "It's incredible how you get to meet weird people like Stiltzkin, huh?"

The World Traveler looked at the hand. "…Just…well… How does Stiltzkin appear like that?"

"Beats me," Master Hand said. "As far as I know, there are many peculiar people out there."

Crazy Hand grunted at this. "If I ever see that little client-thief furry guy again, I'll smash him down…twice…followed up with FOUR more smacking…then twice again!"

Master Hand turned to his brother. "Oh, Crazy, please don't start another riot with other sellers. I know you think they're trying to take clients (AKA. Chris) away from you, but you're just exaggerating."

"I didn't wreck that raccoon's shop for nothing!" Crazy Hand said annoyed. "I was very pleased with myself!"

"And thanks to that, now I know I can foresee a bill from Tom Nook in a near future!" Master Hand complained. "Besides, neither Chris nor anyone else buys from him at all!"

Crazy Hand moved his thumb and pinky finger up a bit. "You never know if they'll buy from 'em very soon. Gotta destroy the competency before it's too late."

"Not destroy their stores literally, you dumb idiot!" Master Hand yelled. "Ugh, you're a big lost case, sincerely…"

"Thanks."

Master Hand grunted and turned to Chris. "Anyway, you get the guys ready for the next grueling battle. Everyone seems eager to watch this now."

Chris shrugged. "I-I'd prefer if we didn't fight again…" He turned around and walked to the front of the door where Wolf waited patiently for Chris. Soon enough, Toon Link, Yoshi, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Sonic, Chip, and Nana walked to them to join the group. "Ready."

Wolf nodded. "Alright," he said.

Nana looked around and grunted. "Where the hell is Popo now? We're going in without him if he doesn't show up in time!"

At that moment, Popo appeared behind her. However, the blue Ice Climber was wearing what appeared to be silver crosses around his neck, a silver crown spoon around his head, silver wrappers around his gloved hands, and even silver glasses. "Okay, my anti-werewolf armor is ready," he said.

Everyone looked at his weird attire before Nana grunted. "Popo, why did you go ahead to wear that ridiculous attire made out of silver?"

"Hey, Jiggs here said that silver stuff worked with werehogs (Jigglypuff: Did not!)," Popo said. "I'm being smart here so I outsmart those guys out their fur suits."

Wolf stared at Popo's attire. "So far, you've managed to make it clear for me that you're a big retard."

"Geez, you just noticed?" Nana asked annoyed before looking back at Popo. "Popo, take those off, now."

Popo shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not going to get naked just because you hate silver!"

"You're wearing freaking silver glasses! What are they going to do?"

"They give me silver vision."

Nana grunted and began to take off every single silver material from Popo until everything was scrapped off from him. "There, you don't need any of those things for this battle."

Popo sighed. "You want me to die so badly, right?"

"For the last time, you won't die in these battles!" Master Hand reminded them.

"You got your answer now!" Nana yelled at Popo as she tossed the silver stuff away. She turned to Chris. "Let's begin this encounter before the day ends! The sooner we get this done, the smarter Popo will become!"

"But you just made me get naked!"

Wolf had enough of the whole argument that he decided to open the door, revealing a blue vortex that leaded somewhere. "If you had enough of that, let's all go in."

The selected group looked at the swirling vortex with some worry. Many of them gulped at the sight of the vortex before Chris turned around and looked at some of the other Smashers. "S-somebody please wish us good luck…"

"Good luck," DK said with a thumb up.

"B-be very careful, okay?" Olimar said.

Lucario stared at Chris. "Please, don't let anything or anyone hurt you badly."

"I won't so don't worry… I-I'll worry about it, though," Chris admitted.

Toon Link made a serious look. "Let's skin them alive!"

"Y-you do that part…" Yoshi muttered.

Wolf sighed at this before he grabbed Chris's right shoulder and entered through the portal. Toon Link, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Yoshi, Popo, and Nana looked at each other worried before they all went through the vortex. Once they crossed, Kirby walked to the door and silently closed it, creating a bit of a crackling sound.

Master Hand looked at the Smashers. "Well, the next match will start in a few. We should better watch it from the screen over there."

"Can we still talk to them?" Luigi asked.

"Sure, we'll use Chris's DS to cheer from here. The screen will show how the battle goes," Master Hand explained. "Okay, let's go now. Let's give them good morale, unlike how it went with the previous battle."

Roy groaned. "Would you knock it off already?"

"Okay, okay…"

The Smashers began to walk back to the screen where they all stared at the blurry screen before it got clearer, showing a different setting for the next match…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Night of the Were-Wolf... U-um...didn't we already have Night of the Werehog?" Chris asked.

Silence...

"...H-hello?"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-The Wonder Restaurant was an inspiration of the Waitress minigame in Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. Colette and Tear (respectively for each game) have to attend clients. However, many of the clients order a lot of food, and it's even worse when you have to take note for 7 clients' orders at the same time, and they won't repeat themselves. You HAVE to memorize what they say.

-The Wonder Chef appears once again.

-And so does Rita.

-While not really the main character of the Animal Crossing series, Ai is the main protagonist of the anime movie of the same series. She was chosen to appear here because of the fact that the character you get in the games is one that you can give a name and look, unlike an already predetermined character like Ai.

-Nozomi Weaver…well…she's a special character. It's up to you to know more about her.

-The number '64' used in the special badge is referenced as the number of the console where the first Smash Bros. game came out: Super Smash Brothers.

-"Tales of the Abyss - Bloodthirsty Fang" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays with all normal bosses. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find the name for the Tales of Symphonia real boss battle. Sorry for the incovenience).

Out Of Curiosity…"

-Every single question Chris asked to Lucario was the whole truth.

Whew… We ended this chapter with a nice cliffhanger.

Firstly, I'd like to mention that I had planned to have Lucario as a Riolu for much longer. However, thinking again, I found out that it was going to be very hard to make such scenes all the time, so I ultimately decided to have him turn back to a Lucario. I did the best I could do with this part to make those scenes.

And, since there were some requests that asked Olimar to appear more…I have to say that I have a whole bunch of ideas to use on him. I can't believe this, but Olimar suddenly gave me a huge appeal. I can't wait to write more for him in future chapters.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Since we ended the chapter with a cliffhanger, it's time to reveal that the next chapter…isn't going to have much impact on the actual story. Truthfully, it's a small but long different plot altogether. The next chapter is going to be a single chapter, which will show…very curious fights…

This chapter is, in fact, a small collaboration with another fellow author of the site. I've been reading the stories of this author, I've been a bit enjoyed with them; pleased enough to collaborate together for this chapter (though I have to say it's my tastes that make me interested about the author's fictions, despite the stories being a little popular). This special chapter is going to take up some time to make, so please be patient. I'll do the best of my skills to adapt this chapter in some way or another with this story, along with the fellow author. (This author is going to be anonymous until the actual chapter is published).

This is going to give a good start for the Battle Floor as well. However, will it be a good start for the Smashers right after losing one?

THE POLL HAS BEEN CLOSED. Check the profile for the results.

I encourage readers to review to express how much you liked this chapter. ;)

…Or the Digletts will come.
*Chapter 164*: Night of the Were Wolf

This chapter might kill your brain cells... You have been warned.

From Furryfur: I loved this chapter but boy is it long! It took me at least an hour just to finish it!

From me: Sorry for it being too long. It seems I've been used to write long lengths a lot... Thanks for reviewing. :)

From ngrey651: So...many...NPCs...can't...keep...track...

You know though...Chris's little "experience" with Riolu wanting to grow up is indeed a thought-provoking one. We all wish at some point to stay young and carefree forever, or to keep those we love that way...:(

But we have to let them out of the nest eventually.

From me: Hard to say no to a little child that has the potential to grow quickly, right? I understand your notion very well. Thanks again. :D

From PianistChris: Great Chapter,

I enjoyed the scenes at the dojo a lot, the fights were well thought of :p

Riolu turning back into Lucario was great, I don't think it was a short time, although it was only a few chapters I think it was a good idea to have him turn back to Lucario.

Can't wait for the next chapter, the title sounds great, and it will be interesting to see an alternative reality.

Chris :p

From me: During these times, I blame the time skips I've done. If only there was a way to show what Chris has done with Riolu... Thanks for reviewing. :D

From super star kirby4898: AuraChannelerChris, please don't put anything else from Persona 3 FES the Answer I not that far in the game yet :(

From me: Oh, my apologies for that. I didn't think there were people interested in PS2 games... Wait, there are KH fans in here, so... Yes, sorry...

From FF and STH: Well I didn't think the Wonder Chef was the head chef, kind think it would Quina from final fantasy 9

The Battle Floor will be great to see, ever greater with the new smashers' abilities

From me: If Quina was here, then he/she/it (screw it, Quina is a she for me) would have gobbled all the food...though I do think she could've been a good option. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From wereAuraknight: Hi there chris its me once more with another review. I'm here to say 2 major points. 1st off I read this story in 3 hrs in the same day. And 2 you left out a refrence *Gasp* for zesu and what not that is from a diffrent story on by the author of "smashing something new everyday" .For a while there I couldnt beleve you put that in there for the kirby in that story is EVIL. EVIL I tell you he eats smashers and keeps there abilitys killing the smashers.

happy typeing

werelucario soon to be wereAuraknight

p.s. I for one like long chapters.

p.p.s. i've played all three super smash bros games

From me: Uh...I hope you enjoy this chapter, then... Okay? :)

From ChrisCLX898: This was a very long chapter. WOW! Took me a while to read. I had a guess that the chef would be Wonder Chef, but i bet more on Master Hand. Whoops. I think that the time that Riolu had till he evolved wasn't short at all. I had the feeling that when he saw the image of Lucario, he would evolve sooner than he did.

Again, a very good chapter! Update Soon!

-Chris

From me: Why would Master Hand be a chef is a little bit beyond me, but I think it could work SOMEHOW... Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Gloom-shroom: Finally, I get to review after a year of waiting for my 13th birthday! Seems like Chris and co. don't understand the insanity that is game logic yet.

I would like to commend you for your (awesome) spin on the duel with Master, just like every other battle in this story. Also, it seems that Chris asking Lucario every single question he should know after he recovered his memories is a bit interesting, but doesn't it look like you just wrote that just to increase your word count? Anyway, I'm very excited for the next chapter.

OH my goodness how did the zombies get into my house! I'd better go now.

Sinerely,

Gloom-shroom (not the zombies)

From me: Nope, I didn't write that to increase the word count. If anything, I'd DECREASE the word count... Really, I'd love to do the latter. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From DianaGohan: The best scenes in this one were like in most other chapters, the Chris/Rilou scenes (well in other chapters it's Chris/Lucario but you know what I mean). Chris did face an interesting decision on whether or not to follow his Lucario's wishes on wanting to stay a kid or his Rilou's wishes on wanting to grow up. Since afterall can you trust someone only speaking from their child mindset? But it defintley made for some touching scenes (and though weird I did like trivia off between the two). Truthfully the Wonder Resturant scene with it's weird cameos and cliched humor didn't really work for me, but the rest of the story was good: Mansion rebuilding, the fight at the dojo (not the best battle but since the master is a close range fist fighter that's understandable), Dawn and the Poffins. And the intrugue of the boss floor. I'm sure whatever happens next time will be some sort of important milestone of the story if only for the fact it's the first fully done boss fight, unlike the swords master teaser. So yeah good chapter (besides wonder Resturant). It was long but enjoyably so.

GRADE: A-/B+

Oh and P.S: Look behind you.

From me: Ignoring the weird last note, I'm glad you liked the chapter overall... Man, I don't know what else to say, but thanks for reviewing. :D

From Safire Ranmako: Exellent!

And seriously, tell me, what is Snake's Companion Costume? If you don't want to tell me at least tell me what chapter the answer is in.

Oh yeah, did Master Hand ever finish Kirby's Companion Costume and if so what is it? (*_*º)

From me: Snake's "Companion Costume" is not going to be revealed yet. Wait a few more chapters, okay? And as for Master Hand...he hasn't.

Thanks again. :D

From SnowGirl316: Next chappie is 'Night of the Were-Wolf'? Uh-oh, I sense trouble... I'm not gonna guess what'll happen. I'll wait anxiously until next time. You mentioned you hate long chapters, I checked out the length and it's 120 pages. But, it's 120 pages of humor and suspense! There are other fics out there that have long chapters and make no sense whatsoever. I assure you, yours isn't one of them. Anyways, I CAN'T WAIT for the next installmemt! Please update soon!

From me: Phew, I'm glad my fic makes a lot of sense to you. But I do wonder if what you're saying is true... I guess it is, maybe? I can't really tell... Hope you enjoy this new chapter. ;)

From DecepticonFan: So the mystery of the door is going to be solved at last. Or is it a lead-in to something more? I'll see in the next chapter! ^^ I have a prediction for 'Night of the Were-Wolf', so I'm psyched for the chapter coming up. Well, c-ya later!

From me: I'm actually frightened of what this chapter could do to most of the writers'...mentalities... So try to stick with "my side", okay? Hope you enjoy the chapter.

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: Hmm, quite a excellent chapter. I was wondering when the Wonder Chef was gonna get introduced, it was obviously him considering the name of the restaraunt. With Riolu evolving already though, not quite the high point, but it's understanable why you had to make him evolve sooner. With the questions Chris asked Lucario, really hilarious. So the 1st enemy they tried to tackle was the Sword Dancer? Pretty interesting to say the least, but shame on Roy for turning the difficulty far to high for them at the moment. So the next fight will be against the supposed Were-Smashers now? Things are looking quite interesting now. Now for a...

BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

Didn't the Wonder Chef teach Chris how to make steak, and not curry at the sports festival?

Do you know about "We Love Katamari?"(And only know, nothing more)

Well, happy typing!

From me: Well, that was changed at the last moment. That very same chapter was corrected because it had many problems.

Yes, I know some about We Love Katamari.

And as for the next fight...it's going to be real hell, let me tell you... Thanks again. :D

From NilPirate: Wow. I read slow. I started on chapter 132 and only just caught Anyway, I really liked this arc. It had lots of char development and loose ends tied up. The only part that I didnt really enjoy was with that whole load about power and corruption. I can foresee them questioning every beneficial object they obtain. Oh well, I guess it at least kept some characters in check. Keep Writing!

*Grumbles*Can't believe Chrono Trigger lost by TWO percent...

From me: They're not really going to keep talking about power and corruption all the time anymore, don't worry. Even I know when to stop overused themes. ;) Hope you enjoy this chapter with everyone else!

Well then, I've got nothing else to say...but why that particular review from that girl told me to turn my back?

"That's because I'm right behind you!" *Chris turns around to see a young woman with curly hair behind him, waving. Chris backs away some, surprised"

"Who the heck are you? Some kind of stalker?"

"I"m DianaGohan, and I'm no stalker. I'm actually "Hey you behind the bushes!" *Chris looks a bit freaked by this* Oh just kidding Chris. I'm here to help you write the chapter. Remember, this chapter was a crossover with a version of MY universe.

"Your universe? You rule...a universe?"

"Well it's what I call story. As in an alternate version of the events of "Night Of The Werehog: Brawl Edition". *Winks to audience* A story you should totally go and start reading, plug plug"

"Er... Oh...you mean the one it's on a hiatus that I've read to the last point?"

*Looks away embarrassed* "Uh... yeah. There were some complications and I... had to focus on making another story that... took me awhile to get through, but the point is I'm back, and ready to help you with this chapter."

"Oh...well...helping isn't a bad thing..."

"Well these are my characters or a version of them after all. Yeah just to note this doesn't happen in the main continuity of "Night Of The Werehog: Brawl Edition" but was an idea I pitched to Chris like what a year or so back?"

"Aww, it could be kind of cool if it did...in some twisted manner... But of course, that would cause a lot of complication."

"Yeah that's the same thing you said a year ago Chris, which is why we agreed that the crossovers, this chapter and my latest chapter of Night Of The Werehog: Brawl Edition that your helping me with, plug plug, wouldn't take place in the same continuity. Would be a bit too hard to make it really work."

"I guess..."

"Well anyway people prepare for a real whiz bang chapter. As you may of guessed due to fact we're only getting around to making this now, it's not a super important chapter for the Subspace Emissary, but it still counts. And know that we don't own any of the Nintendo or other video game companies characters seen here. Well I own me and Chris owns Chris, but that's about it."

Disclaimer: No sparkling vampires were thought about in the making of this chapter, but a lot; lots of wolf transformations.

ACC noticed Diana's odd look at him. "...What?"

"Hey I'll have you know that my story has nothing to do with Twilight or it's brooding, pretty boy vampires. Or Kristen Stewart being a terrible role model of what females should act like when their boyfriend dumps them. The real disclaimer should be

DISCLAIMER: I am never doing another crossover chapter of this story ever again."

"...OH, I SEE NOW. Heheheh, sorry... Okay, people, I encourage any Twilight fanboy about to rip DG's head to read and review."

"As well as anyone else who isn't a fan of that franchise but is a fan of this one. Oh and for all you Twilight fanboys/fangirls, I'll take you any day of the week, when you aren't gushing over how stupidly in love Bella and Edward are with each other."

"..." ACC looked nervously at the audience with a worried smile. "U-um...s-start scrolling down now, please!"

Chapter 164: Night of the Were-Wolf

Mysterious Realm

Tree Hole

In a different place and time, the moonlight shone into a small hole of a tree. The light was enough to illuminate the big space inside the hole, where some darkness still lingered.

From within the corner of the hole, smoke appeared for a bit, and then a door suddenly appeared within it. The mentioned door opened up, and Wolf, Chris, Sonic, Chip, Toon Link, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Yoshi, Popo, and Nana stepped into the space. Nana carefully closed the door and looked around with everyone.

And Sonic suddenly experienced the effects of the transformation. His gloves ripped off, and his physique changed to a brawnier one. "Aww, dammit!" Sonic cursed. "Now I'll have to be a mutt for the whole thing!"

"See the bright side, Sonic," Chip began, "you'll have me to make you behave like you're supposed to."

Sonic grumbled. "If you ask me, that's the worst part of this," he muttered.

At that moment, DSS appeared from within Sonic's back and crackled evilly at them. Chris turned to look at the spirit and sighed in annoyance. "What the hell are you doing here now?" he asked.

"I'M GOING TO $*$ KILL ALL YOU $***!" DSS loudly swore. "ESPECIALLY *$*$IN CHRIS AND *$**$ CHIP AND THAT *$*$* RD! I'LL *$* ALL YOU $**$ RIGHT IN THE *$*$!"

Popo looked happy. "Aww, he's doing the same thing he always does when he comes out from Sonic's back: swear eternal hatred towards us. Ain't that cute of him?"

Nana grumbled a bit at this before Yoshi looked at Chris. "Um, can you make him go away? I'm starting to feel kind of bad when he's around..."

Chris sighed and changed to his Beastmaster job. "You don't have to tell twice..." he muttered before he whipped Sonic's forehead hard, making the spirit retreat into his body. "There, problem solved."

"You know, he's getting more bloodthirsty every time he comes out from Sonic's back," Toon Link said. "Should we worry?"

"Pfft, I'll worry for our ears first," Sonic said. "That guy only knows how to swear our names all day."

"A-anyway," Chris began, "now that we're all here...inside some kind of hole...I believe Wolf has total command and order of the group," he said before looking at Wolf. "You do something, Mr. Leader!"

Wolf rolled his eye and crossed him arms. "Well, that's a fact for now," he said before looking at the hole where the light was coming from. "We're gonna get out from this hole and see what we can find out there."

"It rhymes with wolves," Squirtle muttered. "It WILL rhyme with wolves."

Wolf frowned. "I don't care if it if rhymes or not. I care about finishing business with that guy in this place."

Red gulped. "Since you're the leader...you go first!" he said quickly.

"Fine, I'll go first," Wolf said with another frown before he went over to the hole and peeked out from it.

Forest of Darkness

Wolf stuck his head out from the hole and examined the area around him. From what he could see, there were trees with odd shapes. The trees had roots being used as some kind of platforms to make them look like they were trying to separate themselves from the ground. Wolf even found out the hole was underneath a tree's roots where the moonlight managed to reach out for it.

"What do you see?" asked Chris. "Are there any monsters out there?"

"Nothing but some kind of a setting for a horror storybook," Wolf said before he slowly crawled out from the hole and out from the roots. He stood up and looked around more before he looked back under the roots. "You can come outside. Nobody is out here."

"You sure?" Squirtle asked. "Maybe they're hiding!"

"I'm damn sure of it, so get out now," Wolf demanded.

The vulpine watched as every single Smasher crawled out from the hole and into the open. Once they were all out of the hole, they looked around their surroundings. Chris embraced himself and kept looking around. "T-this place gives me the creeps..." he muttered.

"Nah, you're just feeling things," Popo said before pointing up. "I mean, if we put aside the fact that the moon looks very big and doesn't move, and that the clouds around it look kind of green, everything else looks pretty normal."

The group looked up to a see big, yellow full moon. They also saw several ominous green clouds floating about the sky.

"...Is it just me, or isn't it weird that the moon looks kind of...I don't know...still?" Toon Link asked.

Nana looked skeptical. "What are you saying? How can you tell it's not moving?"

"Oh, I think he knows that because his eyes are so big that they see anything from afar," Yoshi said.

Toon Link closed his eyes. "H-hey, that's not true. I just believed in Popo."

"You believe in him when he's a wacko?" Nana asked. "Sorry, but you shouldn't listen to him when he's like this."

"Yeah, I might scare you about the realities of life," Popo admitted.

"See what I mean?" Nana asked in annoyance.

"Okay, everyone, stop it now," Wolf said. "Since we're not moving right now, we'll do it...now."

"Where?" Sonic asked before shifting his eyes. "Everywhere is good to go?"

"I'll have to say that's the only thing we can rely on," Wolf said. "We should eventually find our target."

"YOUR target," Chris said.

"Okay, my target, but we're still fighting the same thing," Wolf said before turning to the north (or where it was apparently the north). "I'd say let's go over that direction."

The group made a group sigh before they followed the serious vulpine from behind. As they were all walking, they occasionally stepped on small twigs that made some of them feel uneasy about the environment, and the fact that the trees looked weird didn't help much at all.

And suddenly, they began to listen to some howls.

Toon Link looked around. "W-what was that?" he asked, sweating a bit.

"A howl," Wolf said. "And if I'm right, it must have been a howl from a werehog monster."

"Oh, sweet," Yoshi said. "Now we know there are more like Sonic around these parts..."

However, it was not long before they heard a multitude of howls crying out in pain. The group stopped walking as they heard echoes of howls sounding as if they were quickly being shut up and there were some that suggested that some were still alive. All the howls mixed up with each other, causing extreme confusion and fear to many of the Smashers.

"I-I don't know you guys, but I think we just stepped across the wrong line..." muttered Squirtle as he slightly covered his head.

"You know what I'm thinking now?" Red asked. 'I'm thinking about pissing my pants and run away from here before I get killed off from getting seriously bitten..."

"Red...don't say gross things like that ever again, please..." Chris muttered with a gulp.

Wolf looked around the area before saying, "If I'm right, there's some kind of battle going on..."

"Not a battle...but...something even bigger; a war, maybe..." Wolf muttered.

"...A war...full of...w-werehogs?" Ivysaur asked in fear. "Y-you're pulling our legs here, right?"

"Maybe," Wolf said. "I'm not sure if my guesses are right, but I think I can distinguish which of those howls are still howling while others are quickly being silenced."

"Oh, says the guy with the wolf-look," Sonic said. "Makes sense to me."

Wolf shook his head. "I'm not an animal, hedgehog. I don't have animal instincts like you do now."

"..." Sonic looked down. "...Touché."

The group continued their walk, as the howls started roaring more frequently. The group started peering around, a few of them fairly panicked about their surroundings.

"O-okay, this has definitely become more than just creepy," Nana muttered. "I don't know who let this happen, but I'm sure as hell they didn't want this!"

Toon Link nodded. "Yeah, I k-know. I mean, do you think things spiraled out of control so quickly, or this war has been going on for awhile?"

"If that did happen, then those guys are a bunch of clueless people," Wolf commented. "But I don't care either way. Let's just ignore all those annoying howls until we find and corner that guy."

"It's easy for you to say!" Chris complained. "We're not that brave and adventurous like you are. Red here should be, but he isn't!"

"Hey!" Red said angrily.

"You can ignore them just fine," Wolf said. "They just don't stop howling. Now keep walking."

But the howls seemed to grow louder and louder with every second it passed. They also seemed to become a bit high-pitched as if someone had kicked a dog very hard before they slowly faded into silence.

"...That's it," Yoshi began, "this place is officially my true definition for the word 'hell', you know..."

Chris smiled nervously. "A-at least this is just a hard boss battle," he said. "It's not like is that bad…"

"Actually, now that you mention it," Wolf began as he kept walking, "I set the difficulty to Very Hard."

And everyone suddenly stopped walking. They all looked extremely shocked at this revelation. Wolf stopped walking a few feet away from the others and turned to look at them to receive multiple, "You did WHAT now?"

Wolf raised his shoulders a bit. "What? It's not like the guy in here was that hard already."

"Seriously, did you forget how badly my previous boss battle with the Sword Dancer was? Did you now?" Chris pointed at Wolf. "Thanks to Roy setting it to Very Intense, it was an impossible HELL!"

"No, this place is hell," Yoshi said.

"Y-Yoshi, don't say that now!" Chris said before looking back at Wolf.

"Please, first of all, I only changed it to Very Hard, not Very Intense like that stupid swordsman did," Wolf said. "Secondly, you lost because you didn't have good strategies. With me as the leader, that won't happen unless you screw up."

"Aww, how nice of him," Toon Link said sarcastically.

"Your nice action will be our tickets to hel-" Squirtle stopped and looked at Yoshi. "Don't say it now!" he yelled before continuing. "They'll surely maul us to death!"

Wolf sighed. "Look, everything is going to be fine as long as you don't screw up like the kid and the cat eyes."

"Don't you mean unless YOU screw up?" Chris asked.

"Maybe," Wolf said simply.

"…Listening to you saying it like that makes me think you're so sure of yourself..."

"I am."

"Dammit!"

"Just listen to what I say and everything will be fine," Wolf said. "We will watch each others' backs when necessary."

"I'm already afraid," Red said.

"Good enough for me," Wolf said before they continued walking towards where the north was suggested to be.

But the howls kept being annoying and scaring to them. Sonic sighed annoyed and looked around with a glare. "Seriously, how in the name of Knuckles' island can they keep howling? They sound like they're scratched records!"

"Maybe they're robot wolves," Chip suggested. "I've seen some of them at the toy store."

"Chip, there aren't any toy wolves with THOSE kinds of howls."

"How's everything over there?"

The group stopped walking once more before Chris took out his DS and opened it wide, finding that the screen showed the hall where the other Smashers were watching them. "Y-you're watching us?" Chris asked.

"Of course we are," C. Falcon said. "This is much better than the 1,000,000 channel cable I have back at my hideout."

Popo pouted a bit. "I wanna have over a million channels, Nana!"

"Popo, we don't live in his era," Nana said annoyed.

Chris looked worried at the screen as some of them gathered close to him to look at it. "A-are you sure we're just fine out here?" Chris asked. "D-don't you hear all those howls coming from all directions?"

"You can't die," Master Hand said. "This is still an extra, side boss battle. If you're all defeated, you'll be returned here. How many times do I have to explain myself, really?"

"As many times the kid gets the urge to do it," Snake muttered.

"Anyway, you're all just fine," Master Hand reassured them. "If you happen to get in trouble, we'll cheer you on."

"And if you happen to get really screwed up, then run the hell out of there," Crazy Hand said, appearing to be floating upside down.

Master Hand pushed him away. "You don't get worried and press on, okay?"

Red sighed. "I hate this so much..."

"Me too," Nana, Yoshi, Chris, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Sonic, and Toon Link said in unison.

Chris closed his DS and kept it inside his pocket. They all looked at Wolf, who motioned towards his direction to keep walking while the howls kept echoing loudly across the forest of darkness.

After walking for a small while, Wolf managed to catch a glimpse of a field to their left. He stopped walking, making everyone else stop as well. The vulpine looked around the area before he pointed towards the field. "There's something that's bugging me about that field over there," he said.

Chip looked at the field. "Hmm, you think there's some kind of secret entrance to a secret dungeon where lost treasures are hidden down?"

"Chip, stop your monologue about your tomb raider look and just follow him," Sonic muttered in annoyance.

Chip fixed his hat so that his left eye was uncovered. "Indiana Chip knows where to find treasures, Sonic. Don't you question him, you."

"I'll question why you have to change to ridiculous titles," Wolf commented before he began to walk forward, crossing over some bushes. "But for now, start questioning yourself where that doppelganger might be."

"Don't believe the guy!" yelled Falco from the mansion. "You're all walking with a bandit, after all!"

The group shrugged at the thought before they all followed the vulpine, crossing over the bushes to reach the field on the other side of the dark forest.

After they got out from the forest, they all found themselves standing in a big corner of a big, circular field of grass. The field was about half a mile long, by trees with rather thick branches. The center of the field had a small hill, perfectly still on the very center. A western wind swept the grass of the field as they looked around it.

"...Big open field..." Ivysaur muttered with a gulp. "There's a big open field in front of us..."

Yoshi looked at Ivysaur. "So what's wrong about a big open field?"

Ivysaur looked up at the Yoshi. "Don't you see? Things ALWAYS happen in big open fields! That's a rule, like, in every single battle out there in plain field like this one!"

"I-I hate to say this, but I agree with him..." Chris muttered.

Wolf chuckled and stepped forward. "If what you say is true, then we should wait here for the doppelganger to show up."

Ivysaur gasped. "Rule number 2: if you stay in here, THEN something will happen!"

"P-please, you're just being paranoid, Ivysaur..." Red muttered with a chuckle. "...You're being paranoid, right?"

"N-no, I'm not being paranoid!" Ivysaur said as the wind brushed his flower's bulb.

Nana closed her eyes in defeat as the howls started to become annoying instead of being scary. "For the gods, why can't anybody just shut up with those howls? They're really getting overused in this place!"

"Who knows, maybe you need to do it when you have to," Popo said.

"I think that'd suit better when you want to go to the bathroom," Toon Link commented.

Chris took out his DS and looked at the upper screen where Kawashima was. "Do you detect something?"

Kawashima shook his head. "Nope, the howls just happen to be out of range for me," he said. "We're away from any enemy attack, though, so that's good."

"Okay, I guess it is..." Chris's eyes moved at the clock of the screen where he found something weird. "...Wait a minute..."

"What is it?" Kawashima asked.

"Um...does my DS clock get updated with the current time of a world we go to?"

"Oh, right," Kawashima said. "That's just a small feature I manipulate. Why'd you ask that at a moment like this?"

"...Well...I'm asking this because...the clock says it's 2:30 PM..."

Kawashima blinked confused at this before he looked to the upper right hand corner of the upper screen where "2:30 PM" was displayed as the current time of the world. "Wait, this is just a small mistake of my part," he admitted.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked before Red got closer to him and looked at the screen.

"Let me see... I'll update it," Kawashima said before a small bar appeared on the screen. The bar itself then quickly loaded completely. "...Er..." Kawashima looked back to the clock, but the time was still the same. "What?"

Red looked a bit clueless at this fact before asking, "I-I don't understand. What's happening?"

"Well...it seems the time is right..." Kawashima trailed off.

"What? That's crazy..." Red trailed off before looking up to the ominous moon. "It's clearly evening now, right? It's definitely not afternoon..."

"Sorry, but this update is not wrong," Kawashima said in skepticism. "I find it quite hard to believe there are worlds out there with such messed up time."

"You know what else I find quite hard to believe?" asked Toon Link as he was shown standing next to them. "I find it hard to believe we can't have a moment of silence with all these annoying howls!"

"At least somebody here agrees with me!" Nana yelled as she sat down on the ground with Popo. "I know we have immunity to sound-based attacks, but wouldn't it be nice to be deaf when we're all listening to these howls without having another thing to do in this stupid world of darkness?"

At that moment, the howls around the area started to fade into silence as if they heard Nana's complaint.

Most of them gasped at this that most of them slowly got closer to each other. Popo and Nana took out their hammers, Red stood behind Squirtle and Ivysaur, Chris stood next to Sonic and Chip, Toon Link stood close to Yoshi, and Wolf stood on the center. Everyone was only a few feet away from each other.

"...B-besides the wind, there's so much silence around here..." Yoshi muttered as he looked around with a frightened look.

Wolf scoffed a bit at this. "There's no damn chance in hell all these howls suddenly wanted to stop at the same time... Something must've made them all stop that quickly."

"A-a monster?" Red asked.

"M-more likely a monster," Toon Link muttered with a gulp as he twirled his Master Sword a bit. "Trust me when I say these things have their reasons, guys..."

"W-whatever happens in there, I-I'm always rooting for all of you!" Peach yelled.

"Peach, everything is fine," Mario said.

"B-but all this silence scares me..." Peach admitted.

Sonic gritted his fangs and sniffed the air. "...Bleh!" he said in disgust before he grunted loudly. "Guys, get prepared, quickly!"

"W-what is it? W-why are you getting so upset?" Nana asked.

"There's a really sickening smell in the air," Sonic said before he looked bored at no one in particular and raised a finger. "Before I continue, I hate to do this. Don't you go thinking I'm an animal or else," he said before looking back at everyone, looking a bit confused at him. "There's so many smells that make my stomach... Ugh..."

Wolf looked at Sonic. "What smells are those, exactly?"

"You're not gonna believe this...but they all smell almost exactly like I do..." Sonic trailed off with a serious look on his glare.

"...That world is infested with Sonic-look-alike people!" Pikachu yelled. "Sonic finally found his roots!"

"You shut up!" Sonic yelled. "Like I ever wanted to have people ACTING and LOOKING like me!"

"Yeah, because that'd be a world I'd never want to live," muttered Yoshi in boredom.

Sonic nodded. "Offensive, but I actually agree. The world needs only one hedgehog."

"What about Shadow and Amy?" Chris asked suddenly.

"Well, those are the exceptions," Sonic said. "And weren't you frightened?"

Chris smiled nervously. "I-I want to think about something else more cheerful than something about fighting. Everyone agrees here, right?"

Wolf coughed a bit to get their attention. "I know everyone agrees, but we should try being careful now." Wolf stared at Sonic. "How close were those smells, anyway?"

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Well, they kinda were...like...behind the trees around us."

The group quickly looked to the direction of the trees where a pair of red eyes flashed, staring directly at them.

And Chris let out a girly scream.

"Pull yourself together, man!" Popo encouraged.

"I can't pull myself together!" Chris cried. "Those eyes look WAY too nasty!"

A dark haunting laugh was heard in the trees in front of them. "Oh, trust me, boy, my eyes are the least of your worries," called out a rather haunting, yet at the same time familiar voice. "Not when you see the rest of me."

It was not long before a pair of fingers snapped a sound.

"Attack," the dark, familiar voice ordered.

Suddenly, two vine whips shot out from within the trees surrounding the open area. In an instant, the two vine whips reached the group. One whip grabbed Ivysaur hiding behind Red. The Seed Pokémon gulped and looked up frightened at Red. "T-tell my mom I hate her for leaving me alone to fend by myself in this crazy world!" he cursed before the vine pulled him away to the east.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Red yelled before looking at Squirtle being wrapped in another vine.

Squirtle gulped. "You know what I hate? I hate we're here. I know, very obvious, but that's the whole POOOOOOOINT!" he yelled as he was dragged away to the same direction as Ivysaur.

"Squirtle, Ivysaur!" Red yelled before he fixed his hat and ran after them. However, another vine came, wrapped around his waist, and dragged him away. "Y-you guys, heeeeeeeelp!" he yelled before disappearing into the forest.

"Red, no, come back here!" Chris yelled. "T-this is… W-what's happening here?"

Yoshi gulped and began twiddling with his fingers.

Chris looked at the Yoshi and frowned. "This is not the time to be playing with your fingers!"

Yoshi looked annoyed. "What do you want me to do? I'm very frightened and I need to distract myself with something distracting like this! What else is there for me to get distracted?"

As soon as he asked, another vine extended from the forest. However, this wasn't a vine. Close inspection revealed that this was, in fact, a rather long, slimy tongue. A tongue wrapped around Yoshi's body, shocking him.

Yoshi gulped, "T-this wasn't the thing I was talking abou-" he stopped abruptly before the tongue pulled him away to the south.

Toon Link quickly brandished his sword and shield, looking around the area with fright. "Okay, nothing's going to caught me off guard here like everyone else did. Oh no, I'm way more aware about surprise attacks."

At that moment, a chain quickly hooked up on his back.

Toon Link looked over his shoulder and gasped. "Aww, attacking from behind me is a cheap shot, you KNOOOOOOW!" he yelled as he was dragged away into the forest as well.

Nana gulped and looked at Popo. "Whatever happens, you'll be my human shield."

Popo gasped excited before he stepped in front of Nana. "Ready to go, ma'am!"

Nana sighed mentally. "(Phew, there are benefits for when he's stupid...)"

Unfortunately, since the two were standing right in front of each other, an ice beam came out from the forest and quickly pushed them both away into the other side of the dark forest to the north, Nana cursing loudly about brothers being pathetic excuses for human shields.

The World Traveler gasped before he noticed that only he, Sonic, Chip, and Wolf were left behind in the big open field. The swordsman looked frightened at the whole thing and gulped. "...S-Sonic...if you're kind enough...can I hide behind your back?"

Sonic walked over to Chris, letting the swordsman duck behind him.

"Phew..." Chris sighed. "O-okay, with that away...WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

"It's very simple," said the similar dark voice from before. "A little thing, I like to call 'divide and conquer'. Taking you on all at once might be troublesome, so I had a couple of my 'troops' to take on the ones I wasn't interested in."

Half a mile away from them, Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur were being dragged by the vines before the vines let go of them, making them land brusquely in a small clearing where they rolled recklessly and stopped.

"Ha, told you I could reel all three fish in at once," said a voice, hidden behind one of the trees.

"Okay, fine, just remember that we both get to play with them. I mean, if there's one thing better than getting to torture one stupid trainer tonight, it's getting to torture two. Not to mention a couple of inferior species," another voice was heard saying.

"W-what's going on?" Squirtle asked scared. "W-what's happening here?"

Red gulped. "I-I don't like how those voices sounded just now... I-it makes me think w-we're about to die or something..."

"Oh I think your 'friend' has the right idea," said one of the voices, as two figures jumped out. Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Red looked shocked at the two.

Before them were another Squirtle and Ivysaur. However, these two were covered with dark brown, grizzly fur, and had gigantic fangs sticking out of their mouths. They were also a bit bigger than the two Pokémon, and glowed with a dark black aura covering their body. The shell of the furred Squirtle was also pitch black, and his tailed was jagged and curved. The bulb of the furry Ivysaur's bulb was a similar color, and its vines were literally shivering with dark energy.

"Never thought, I'd get to crush an alternate version of me tonight," the furry Squirtle (also known as Were-Squirtle) stated, smacking his hands together. "Oh, is this going to be fun…"

"Indeed," the furry Ivysaur (known as Were-Ivysaur) stated, smiling wickedly. "Though, I don't know whether I want to break all of their bones first, or start with rupturing a major organ or two."

Back to Chris's group, they heard Red screaming out in horror. "T-that was Red!" Chris gasped.

The dark voice chuckled once more. "I believe your friend found his 'playmate'. How very unfortunate for him…"

To the south of them, Yoshi was being pulled by the tongue on his waist before it let go of him, making him crash his head square on a tree's bark. The Yoshi shed some tears before he fell down on the ground and got up, rubbing his head in pain.

"Of course, he at least isn't alone, unlike some of your other companions. Who I'm afraid, have an even smaller chance of surviving."

Yoshi continued rubbing his head (whatever was over his eyes) and looked around. "O-oww, why did I do to get my head smashed into a tree?"

"My bad," said another familiar sounding voice, making Yoshi look around confused. "I would never wish to hurt a member of a superior race, such as you."

Yoshi then saw someone jump in front of him, his eyes widening in horror. There stood another Yoshi; however, this one was colored dark brown, with a thick layer of fur covering his entire body. His tail seemed longer as it wagged behind him, and his eyes were cold and red. Instead of a stumpy hand, the dark furred Yoshi had sharp claws, which he extended in Yoshi's direction.

"Of course, you aren't quite up to my level yet." The dark Yoshi (known as Were-Yoshi) smirked and took a step towards Yoshi. "Join me, fellow Yoshi. Become a member of the glorious werehog race. Together, we can rule this world of the other puny specimens that inhabit it. We can become gods, and rule as destiny intended! Imagine a perfect world where only the Yoshis, and all others the master deems worthy of living. You must join me in making that world!"

"...Say...what again?" Yoshi asked.

The scene shifted back to Chris, Wolf, Sonic, and Chip. Chris looked confused at Wolf. "I-I didn't listen well enough, but were you saying those things just now?"

Wolf looked seriously at Chris. "Hell no," he simply said.

The dark voice snickered. "Oh no, that isn't me. I'm sure you'll find me quite...familiar, though."

Far away to the west, Toon Link was being dragged by the chain hooked up on his back before he was promptly slammed down hard n the ground between small spaces with trees surrounding him. The Outsetian grunted in pain before the chain pulled back into the darkness.

"In fact, every member of my team should be quite familiar to you. You've all met them...more or less."

Toon Link twitched in pain before he sat up and rubbed his rear. "C-cheap shot..." he trailed off. "T-that was a really cheap shot..."

"Oh, you just can't admit to being punked!" yelled out a voice.

Toon Link looked above to see someone standing on top of a tree branch. "W-who said that?"

On the tree branch, the person appeared to be Toon Link, except covered in dark brown fur. He had a rather large, canine like muzzle in the middle of his face, as well as sharp black claws at the ends of his hands. His tail shot down from his backside and wrapped around his body. He smiled evilly at Toon Link. "I'm the ultimate werehog prankster. You may call me something else, though." He then leaped down the branch, as he was shown standing right in front of Toon Link. "You may call me…your executioner."

Back again, with the quartet, Toon Link screamed out in fear, his scream reaching them out. "L-Link!" Chris yelled. "W-what's happening here?"

"Another member of your team meeting their fate," the dark voice stated, as Wolf was shown looking angrily at it. "However, it's the last members of your team I'd be the most worried about."

To the north of the field, Popo and Nana were being pushed by the ice beam before it vanished, letting them fall and roll forward on the ground. The two closed their eyes and shook their heads.

"My other team mates have a far better sense of self control. However, she, well...one look at the blue parka boy may be all it takes to set her. And once she goes off, there won't be anything, besides me, that could get her back on again."

To the north of the field, Popo and Nana were being pushed by the ice beam before it vanished, letting them fall and roll forward on the ground. Nana had closed her eyes, but quickly opened them, looking around in confusion.

"W-who shoots an ice beam that powerful?" Nana asked before she managed to sit up. "Popo are you-" Nana gasped as she saw Popo on the ground, completely still. "…Popo!" she cried out, running over to him. "Dammit, don't you die on me right now!"

"Na...na…" Popo opened his eyes and looked up at Nana. "I...I..."

Nana suddenly got a bit worried by the weak response. "O-oh my god… P-Popo?" she asked

Popo then put on a big goofy smile and leaned right in front of her face. "I was frozen to-day!" he yelled out before laughing, making Nana fall back on her rear.

"W-why, you..." Nana trailed off before she grunted and grabbed him by his neck. "Why the hell do you trick me like that, Popo? I thought you were dead for a second there!"

"Cause it was funny," Popo simply retorted. "You were all worried and I was all like 'I was frozen to-day' an-"

"Shut up!" Nana yelled out. "Goodness gracious, I thought you were dead, for god's sake!" She looked pissed at Popo. "Popo…you…are…"

"THE CRUELIST, MOST HURTFUL BASTARD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!" a voice yelled out.

Popo blinked and looked around. "Wow, Nana, your scary voice is now super scary."

Nana pushed him away and blinked a few times. "That...wasn't me…you know…"

Suddenly, another ice beam shot at the climbers from the west, which this time they were able to dodge it by ducking down on the ground.

Nana sat up, putting down her hands. "H-hey, who's doing all that here?"

"The ice beam itself?" Popo asked.

"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY!" yelled out the voice.

The Ice Climbers looked back to the west where a big stalactite of ice stood with a figure standing on top of it; a figure who seemed to look like Nana.

However, the Nana look-alike was shown wearing a blood red coat, with dark fur covering her entire body. She had a dark, icy aura that lit up the entire column, as she howled to the sky, making the nearby tree branches shake. "YOU WILL DIE FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!" she screamed, making a fist in the air. "YOU WILL DIE!"

Popo and Nana blinked confused at each other before Popo looked at her. "Let's make something clear here," he began, "that monster over there was referring about you."

Once again, back with the quartet, Wolf slowly retreated to Sonic, Chris, and Chip before he grunted and rested his right hand on his holster. "Okay, I had enough about this whole thing," he said. "Whoever is hiding and using my voice here, show yourself before I force you."

"WE force you," Sonic corrected.

The voice chuckled. "An amusing prospect, but I think I'll just humble your request."

A figure then darted along some of the near by trees. An aura of fire then enveloped the creature before it blasted itself several yards away from the Smashers, near the middle of the open field. Sonic glared, Chris looked horrified, Wolf looked angered, and Chip was simply looking at his hat.

Unlike the other doppelgangers, this one looked exactly like Wolf. The only real difference was that he had black, glowing eyes, and a dark aura circulating his body. "Greetings, my name is Wolf. I'm sure you would have guessed that by now, though."

"..." Chris's right eye twitched at the sight of another Wolf before he quickly took out his DS and looked at the upper screen in panic. "Master Hand, what is the meaning of this?" he asked in demand.

"Hmm, interesting..." Master Hand muttered while everyone else in the mansion looked shocked, surprised, and horrified in a mixture of the three.

"Interesting...pardon me?" Chris asked before pointing a finger at the second Wolf. "How can you call that other Wolf with the creepy dark aura interesting? I-I'm starting to hate all this!"

"Funny, I thought you hated it from the beginning."

"A-actually, I did!" Chris yelled.

Sonic pulled the DS to his eyes' level. "Don't you go forgetting that we're in this mess as well, you hear me?"

Chris pulled back the DS. "W-what do we do now?"

"First of all, are you done with your idiotic little comedy routine?" Were-Wolf asked, crossing his arms. "Is it a common practice in your dimension to chat amongst yourselves endlessly, and just pray that your enemy just waits there, and doesn't attack you?" Wolf looked up, sighing. "I sure wouldn't want to meet the geniuses who let you get away with that," he sarcastically added.

Chris looked back at him. "S-shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion!" he yelled before looking at the upper screen. "Seriously, I don't like any of this, Master Hand!"

"Look, just get going with the battle already!" Master Hand suggested. "Think this is a battle where you're facing a CPU Wolf!"

"O-okay, think I'm fighting a CPU Wolf..." Chris muttered before he closed the DS and kept it in his pocket. He gulped and turned to face the "CPU" Wolf. "I-I'm facing a CPU Wolf...nothing else..."

"You're one dead kid," Snake muttered.

"I-I heard that one!" Chris yelled.

"A CPU Wolf?" Were-Wolf chuckled loudly, making Chris look even more nervous. "I'd hate to judge your entire dimension by your group's actions, but your team isn't saying anything positive about your 'home' universe." Were-Wolf walked a bit closer. "See, I hate to break it to you child but I am no machine. I am merely him," Were-Wolf pointed over at Wolf, "from this universe."

Chip looked at Wolf. "Hmm, I knew it."

Wolf frowned at this and chuckled at the other Wolf. "Right, it makes a lot of sense that you're a CPU thing of me. I don't believe any stupidity about this world at all. All I see is just someone who happens to look like me except he's a walking flashlight for darkness."

"Oh, don't like the darkness then? I can turn it off." Snapping his fingers, Were-Wolf's dark aura dissipated. "See? Without that, physically we aren't too different. Even if you are quite inferior to me…"

Wolf narrowed his good eye. "Inferior? Oh god, not another copy who thinks he's the superior being."

Sonic grumbled. "I've had enough of those monsters as well. You're not the only one here."

Chris gulped. "B-but he's not some kind of Shadow Nightmare... He looks pretty...real..."

"Are you kidding me, kid?" Wolf asked with a frown. "This guy in front of us happens to be somebody who is very talented at mimicking other people. Imitating me, however, is asking for a beating."

Were-Wolf narrowed his eye. "You guys just don't seem to get where exactly you are." He then pointed at Chris "I mean, honestly, aren't you supposed to be a World Traveler? Doesn't that infer that you've been to different planets, and different dimensions? Why can't you seem to grasp that you have now fallen into a parallel reality?"

Chris looked a bit serious. "Y-yes, I know that very well. I mean, I'm not that..." he trailed off before he shook his head, Sonic, Chip, and Wolf doing the same. "Wait...World Traveler? H-how...just how do you know that?"

It was very strange for them to see that somebody else they haven't heard off or met knew about Chris's position. It was literally impossible for people outside to know that Chris had a title like that. The World Traveler looked puzzled at this statement coming from somebody who would have never heard of him before.

"Things work differently in this, then in yours," Were-Wolf replied. "Truthfully, I only know a few details, which I gathered from a certain "fanatic" of yours. One who just loves praising, every single little detail of every one of your adventures; one whom I'm sure you'd find quite familiar... Chris."

"Fan…atic?" Chris muttered before he blushed. "O-oh, no, I'm not ready to start having any fanatics, and… W-wait, I don't want to have fanatics! That's a little bit too much to ask for me!"

Wolf rolled his eye. "Kid, we're not here to talk about fans; we're here to beat that guy down to a pulp. Ignore everything he's saying because I don't care either way."

Sonic looked bored. "Geez, you're dead serious about the fight and nothing else... Oh well, I think the same as well." He raised his fists to his neck level. "I'm not here to get shocked or surprised because it doesn't have to do with us."

"That's where you'd be wrong, Sonic," Were-Wolf said, making the formerly speedy werehog look at him. "See, if your "plans" involving beating me, then I'd suggest throwing those plans away now, because you have no chance of doing that." He began pacing in front of the group. "In fact, the smart thing to do would just surrender to my plans. Normally being heroes, I'd doubt you'd think about surrendering. From what I've heard though, you have been trounced by enemies far out of your league." Were-Wolf then stopped pacing. "Those opponents may have let you go, but trust me; I won't."

Chris looked sullen. "W-why is he talking as if he knew important things about us?"

Wolf looked serious at Chris. "Kid, for the last time, stop caring about what this idiot is telling us."

"Well, then why aren't we doing something yet?" Sonic asked in irritation. "You're the leader of this group, aren't you? What are your orders, captain?" he asked sarcastically.

Wolf glared back at Were-Wolf. "We stop talking and actually fight. I want to have a fight where we don't need to chit-chat after every punch we throw."

Were-Wolf sighed. "My, my, so impatient... You act as if I was going to go on and prattle endlessly, about how I was behind all the various circumstances you had along your journey." He looked darkly at Wolf. "Though, I admit, I am also getting a little bored." Without warning, he sped right behind Wolf. Before the Star Wolf leader had any time to react, Were-Wolf elbowed him hard in the back, making Wolf gasp in pain. He then grabbed Wolf with his left claw, and threw him away from the group. The others looked shocked to see Wolf tumble a few times, as Were-Wolf turned to them. "Relax, he's fine. Even I wouldn't be able to take out myself so quickly. Still, this should serve as an example of what would happen, if you were to fight against me.

Sonic looked surprised while Chris yelped. "W-what was that just now?" Chris asked. "I-I didn't see him running at Wolf!"

The werehog gritted his fangs. "This guy just ran at the speed of light!"

The World Traveler looked at Sonic. "W-what? How can you tell that?"

"Trust me in this one," Sonic muttered as he glared at Were-Wolf. "It looked like he teleported, but I did see the grass moving for a bit."

Chip looked at Sonic. "Wow, Sonic, you checked that?"

"I...was looking down at his spot where his feet were," Sonic admitted. "I looked randomly...and checked all that out..."

"..." Chris looked worried at Were-Wolf. "B-but...how is it possible that somebody else can run at the speed of light?"

"Speed of light?" Were-Wolf chuckled. "How unrealistic… If I was truly that speed, this war would have been over by now..." He held out his hands. "As for how I am able to do it, it's thanks to the very powers of the moon." He looked up to the moon. "I don't know if you've had one on your world, but this world is in the middle of a specific planetary rotation; an incredibly rare cosmic event, that grants wolves and other lunar creatures incredible powers." He then pointed over at Chip. "Of course, since you have a Light Gaia with you, I may as well share another source of my power." Dark energy was then shown flooding around Wolf. "The source of my power is the incredible power of a Mobian god, Dark Gaia!"

"..." Chip blinked a bit.

"Oh, come now, don't play me for a fool." Were-Wolf pointed over at Chris. "I know that the kid over there's a gamer, and by now must have played through Sonic Unleashed, so I'm certain you know what Dark Gaia is."

The World started to be freaked out by the second Wolf. "I-I do happen to know about Dark Gaia and all that, but I'm still puzzled as to why you know all that much about me. W-what are you, some kind of parallel stalker?"

"Like I told you before, I only know a few details. The 'stalker' you speak of, refers to another Smasher." Wolf rubbed his chin. "I'm sure if he was the one stalking you, you'd surely know that by now." Were-Wolf then turned to see Wolf slowly starting to get up. "Ah, up from your nap already, I see." He flashed his fangs. "Want to try proving 'your' superiority now?"

Wolf stepped back to the others and took a fighting stance. "This guy...is just annoying..."

The other three quickly stood around the vulpine, all of them focusing on Were-Wolf. "Are you okay, Wolf?" Chris asked concerned. "If he beats you really bad, you can count on me in healing your wounds."

"Thanks, kid, but I'm fine for now," Wolf said. "But that strike was a hard one..." he muttered, glaring at his copy.

"Trust me; I can strike far harder than that."

Energy coursed around Were-Wolf's left claw. He then held out his hand and flicked his fingers, sending out a small wave of energy. This hit Wolf in his face, knocking him back into Sonic.

"I'm just testing you out some."

Sonic grabbed Wolf's back before he slightly pushed him to the front. The vulpine grunted at this and wiped his face with his right arm. "This guy is no joke, then," Wolf muttered. "Whatever he was tested with, it's absolutely not a joke."

"I-it's as if he was altered in some way or another," Chris said. "He said something about the moon giving strange powers to..." He looked up at the ominous moon. "...What is happening here, exactly?"

"Well, I suppose I could give you a quick explanation." Were-Wolf pointed at the moon. "You may have noticed that the moon is out, even though it's only a bit after 3PM. Want to guess why that is?"

Chris looked worried before he crossed his arms and looked down at the ground. "Let's see... The moon is out at 2:30 PM, but it should be afternoon and the sun should be in the sky... However, if the moon is taking the sun's place, and the fact that there's no sun anywhere... Thinking again, if the moon is here, then the sun should be here as well, but there's only the moon..."

"That's because we're billions upon billions of light years away from what you call 'the sun', boy," Were-Wolf stated. "In fact, the nearest star that will be shining around on this planet will be in about..." he then looked at his wrist, imitating looking at a watch, "about 3 or 4 weeks."

"...This planet is here on this place in the system what?" Sonic asked.

"Actually, I'm fairly sure your world was located in about the same solar system my world is. However, this area is on an entirely different planet." Were-Wolf outstretched his arms. "You see, I moved the region surrounding the "Smash Mansion" as some would put it, to an entirely different planet…"

Around the large forest surrounding the field, a black energy barrier was shown. And beyond that, a few miles away was shown to be a city.

"Specifically, Planet Wotan VII," Were-Wolf specified.

Chris took out his DS. "Master Hand, this other Wolf is starting to make less sense than before! I mean, I don't know anything about some planet thing called Wotan VII an-"

"That's a planet I know about," Samus suddenly interrupted. "And I hate to say this, but that's an actual planet."

"...Oh god, no..." Chris muttered.

"You know, if your going to keep interrupting me to play with your DS, I'm going to have to take it away." In an instant Were-Wolf appeared in front of Chris and grabbed his DS. "I'll be taking that." He sped several meters away, shocking the other Smashers. "Hmm, nice little toy you have here kid," Were-Wolf said, looking into the dual screens. "Oh, look, I can even see Fox and Falco in this thing," he said smiling at the two. "My, you're even stupider then my world's pair of Team Star Fox trash."

"G-give that back to me!" Chris pleaded. "I still have my Final Fantasy III DS copy in that, and I still need to train my team to level. 99!"

"Chris, this isn't the time to be complaining about a game file!" Sonic yelled.

"You don't understand the pain someone goes through to fight Red Dragon after Red Dragon after Red Dragon, so you can't say anything about that!"

Were-Wolf's hand was shown glowing black, making Chris gasp in horror as the energy was shown tangling around his DS. "Though it would be interesting seeing you cry in anguish, about your precious electronic handheld console being eradicated, that would be rather petty. Besides I could always use this device later." He then threw it back at Chris, who quickly caught it on his hands "For now, though, you can hang onto it, though I would stop making rather pointless calls with it."

Chris looked at the Smashers. "I'm so sorry for letting him see you, you guys!"

"No, we didn't see his face directly," Master Hand said. "We're looking at the fight from above the field where we can see everything. Your DS sends out signals to analyze the surroundings and give us a clear image about what is happening. However, we can only talk through your DS."

"But don't let that guy do that again..." Ness trailed. "At least Lucas is still on his feet."

"Correction, Lucas fainted by the time Red was taken away," Diddy corrected.

Ness sighed. "I thought he was going to become brave soon... Well, you can't just change to another personality that fast, anyway..."

"Honestly, do you think we want to see faces at full screen?" Master Hand asked. "That's a bit creepy."

Kawashima sighed. "And honestly speaking, screwing my system slowly is much worse that shutting off forever. Do you remember that Rita girl?"

"..." Chris shrugged. "D-don't remind me about her. She can kill anyone and make you have nightmares for the rest of your life... Luckily, I don't have nightmares with her..."

"Tsk, tsk, even when your precious electronics is stolen, you still don't learn your lessons about chattering? I'm afraid I'm going to have to teach you a lesson" Were-Wolf then flicked the air hard again, sending another powerful shock wave, which knocked Wolf down to the ground.

Chris kept his DS inside his pocket and looked at Wolf, slowly getting up from the grass. He then looked back at Were-Wolf and forced a glare. "S-stop this! Who do you think you are to treat us like trash, our boss?"

"Actually, I will be your 'boss' fairly shortly, so until then I'm trying hard not to damage you," Were-Wolf explained. "As I was saying before, I transported this area within a few mile radius millions of light years away." Were-Wolf was shown glowing. "Not only to keep my powers constant, but also my control over the other were-Smashers."

Sonic slowly shifted his eyes around. "Were-Smashers..."

Wolf snarled a bit. "You don't mean..."

"That this world is..." Chris trailed off.

"Full of people like Sonic?" Chip finished.

"You mean turned into werehogs? Why yes, there are." Were-Wolf pointed behind him. "I'm sure by now your friends have realized this too. And what they may be realizing just how much strength and speed can be amplified by just one little bite."

It was not long before multiple groans came out from Chris's DS. It wasn't necessary for the group to hear that there were complains coming from the Smashers in the mansion. "Oh, COME ON! First we see this monster Wolf guy appearing, then we learn there's a stupid planetary shift, and now we're dealing with people who try to look like us but are ALSO werehogs every single one of them?" asked Ness.

"I swear that this is the worst side extra boss fight we've ever seen!" Pikachu complained.

"Hey, you didn't face a twelve feet tall skeleton monster with four..." Roy stopped talking, Chris thinking the others glared at him. "...Okay, it's not the worst..." he muttered.

Chris faked a sniff and covered his face. "Why, oh why there has to be some kind of alternate dimension like this?"

"It's my annoyance multiplied by a million," Sonic said with scorn.

"And it's my least of my interests now," Wolf admitted. "Screw all of them. I only care in finishing things up before we get to see any of them."

"Can Chris try to make them all pets for me to control?" Chip asked. "They could be nice for ruin explorations."

"Chip, I'm not going to make you have more than one werehog under your command," Chris said before gulping. "You only have Sonic because you HAVE to, not NEED to."

"Hmm, party pooper," Chip commented with skepticism.

"You all don't seem to get the seriousness of your situation," Were-Wolf said, pointing over at the group. "I suppose you think this is just going to be another battle for you, right? Sorry, that's not going to be the case here. See, I have plans for all of you." Were-Wolf pointed at Sonic. "You are going to be a good spare battery. My dimensional transporter runs on this world's local annoying blue speedster, and it's always good to have an extra in case things go awry."

Sonic pointed at himself and looked at Chris. "When was I a battery?"

"You're not a battery..." Chris trailed off before looking at Were-Wolf. "He's saying there's another you in this place..."

"Pfft, blasphemy," Sonic muttered. "I don't want to think there's another guy like me in here."

"Oh, but there is," Were-Wolf informed him. "Out of all the Smashers, you probably have the biggest collection of alternates. From what I heard of, there are literally billions of Sonics running around. Except the one here doesn't run, he just stays in stasis, powering my device. A fate you'll also be given." Were-Wolf smiled evilly at Chip. "As for you, I, unfortunately, only got to try out one of the many torturous ideas I had for my world's Light Gaia. Perhaps I can use you for a couple more, Mr. Quote Unquote Explorer."

Chip looked excited, despite the fact it could end up getting him hurt. "If there are torturous ideas, then maybe I can do a very epic escape!"

"You could try," Were-Wolf offered, "and end up being put into an even deadlier, more torturous trap." He made a fist. "And since you're an immortal god, it could take awhile for you to die. The Chip I knew suffered for hours before succumbing to his ultimate fate. Think you would last any longer?"

"Yep," Chip said.

Chris gasped. "Chip, no! He could stab you or something!"

"Indiana Chip doesn't fear the fear," Chip proclaimed. "It's just a simple poke in my body. What's so bad about it?"

"It's bad because it'll PIERCE through you!" Sonic yelled in annoyance.

Chip rubbed his chin. "Hmm, that sounds kinda bloody..."

"Trust me, you'll be wishing you'd have visited the 'space between spaces' when I get done with you." Were-Wolf said, chuckling before looking at Wolf bored. "You, I don't really need. You're just most likely going to die in this battle, probably due to your own overwhelming ego."

"News flash: you're so late in saying that," Wolf said. "I stopped letting my ego take a hold of me a long time ago. Today, I surpassed myself over my mistakes in life. I only go with my rules here, so don't you go mocking my ideals."

"You sure about that?" Were-Wolf asked. "You seemed quite confident, thinking that you could take me down easily. And still believe me to be nothing more than an annoying nuisance, right?" Were-Wolf looked into his eyes. "Also no matter how much you claim to let go of your ego, it's obvious you still carry it around." Were-Wolf pointed to his ear. "I was listening to some of your conversation in the forest you know. I heard how you claimed to be leader, and that your strategies would take me down easily. And yet here I am, still standing, and have knocked you around quite easily. What do you say to that?"

"I have something to say," Wolf said. "You're a stalker.":

"A-a bully!" Chris added.

"A bastard," Sonic added.

"Our lupine guy, but not quite the same," Chip added.

The previous three stared at the imp in silence.

"What? That's true, isn't?" Chip asked.

"Well...yes..." Chris trailed off.

"Hmm, doesn't it just show how childish all of you are, if I make a valid point and all you can do is throwing insults back at me?" Were-Wolf asked. "Though, really, I'm sure once the battle begins, I can make you say different things," he then turned his attention to Chris, "which brings me to your fate, boy. See, I have more practical uses for you." He flung his hand around. "It has often been said not to judge a book by it's cover. I mean, if I went with that, I'd assume Chip would be the weakest, when he clearly has the most destructive potential."

Chip smiled. "Finally, somebody says my whip is a deadly weapon!"

"I don't know the exact limitations, but I do know you have a wide array of abilities. From what I heard, the 'Job System' you possess gives you powers similar to most of the Smashers, as well as powers none of them could even hope to duplicate" Were-Wolf's fist glowed with a dark power. "Imagine that kind of power being used practically. Switching into various modes in an instant, one second dealing massive damage and the next healing wounds not even normal werehogs could recover from. It's a fascinating power, and amplified with the strength of a werehog, could turn you into one of my ultimate weapons." Were-Wolf moved a bit closer. "Even better, you have a wide array of knowledge of multiple dimensions. Dimensions I can expand into, and further build up my army." He cocked his head, smiling once more. "So what do you say? Are you going to join me willingly, or am I going to have to force you to see the light?"

"..." The only thing Chris replied back to Were-Wolf was turning all white before fainting and falling hard on his back. "...I...really...want to die now..." he muttered extremely dazzled.

Sonic walked over to Chris and slapped his cheek a few times. "Chris, Chris, wake up, daydreamer!"

"Night dreamer," Chip said.

"Whatever it is, I don't care!" Sonic yelled and pulled Chris back up, shaking him by the shoulders. "Wake up, man, wake up!"

Chris shook his head and looked a bit dazzled. "S-Sonic...what just happened?"

"That guy over there said he was gonna turn you into what I am now."

Chris turned very pale.

"Stop doing that, dammit!" Sonic yelled.

The swordsman shook his head and regained his composure and skin tone. He imagined himself turning into a-:

"Aww, my god, no!" Chris complained in horror. "I don't want to become a werehog like Sonic is! Sorry, but I just don't want to!"

"Chris, for the last time, nothing is going to affect you in that world!" Master Hand yelled. "If you all lose this fight, you'll be simply teleported back into the mansion! There's nothing to fear about!"

The swordsman sniffed. "B-but I just don't want to turn into a..."

"Chris, just stop it!" Lucario yelled. "Don't let him scare you any longer!"

"B-but..."

"Listen, Chris. You need yourself back together. Whatever he says to you, you need to stop listening. Do you really want to become part of the whole blasphemy that dimension is going through? I know it's very hard for you to tolerate it, so then finish it off so it stops bothering you!"

The World Traveler sniffed silently at this before he shut his eyes and shed some tears. "...I-I...I-I...I-I don't want to become part of this sick place..." he trailed off. "...T-there's no way I'll help a bastard like him by turning myself into a monster..."

Sonic grinned at Chris. "That's the way to say it, alright."

The World Traveler slowly opened his eyes and unsheathed his sword. "It's my job to save the worlds from pests like him," he said. "I'm the World Traveler, and my job is ensuring peace in the realms. No matter how hard it is...I won't promise anything...but I'll try until I get the job done. And my job here is purging this realm from every single werehog from sight, including him!"

"Aww, Chris is slowly starting to give heroic speeches, everybody," C. Falcon teased. "Soon he'll be wearing a cape."

"S-shut up, I don't need to hear that!" Chris yelled in embarrassment.

Sonic looked excited. "You can purge werehogs? Oh, purge me! Purge me!"

"T-that's just a saying, Sonic! I DON'T know if I can really purge werehogs! I just...kill them off or...maybe make them fall asleep!"

"You know if I wasn't such a nice guy, I could have just converted you right when you were out of it," Were-Wolf pointed out. "Also I wouldn't exactly trust what the hand says. Does he really know all dimensions would work like that?" Were-Wolf hitched his thumb back. "And even if he is right, that wouldn't necessarily save you. As I've said before, I used my Sonic to warp from our world to this one. What makes you think I won't use him to warp to your world and take you there?" He pointed at Chris's pocket. "And don't think that you Smashers would be able to stop me, or my army of were-Smashers. That includes you hands." Were-Wolf's eyes glowed red. "I took out this world's Master Hand and Crazy Hand with a glare, you know."

"Okay, that's it," Master Hand said. "Sonic, Wolf, Chris, and...Chip, shut that guy up now!"

DK chuckled. "Heheheh, his look can kill people? Wow, that's funny."

Diddy chuckled. "Y-yeah, I thought that was just an expression."

Sonic chuckled. "That's a bit funny."

Wolf grinned at Were-Wolf. "As you can see, we don't care much about anything happening here. We only care about finishing this fight, so be a nice boss and start this battle before we talk all day long."

"(Quick, think of something to keep talking!)" Chris thought in panic. "Y-yes, what he said! (Dammit!)"

Were-Wolf shrugged. "Eh, should have figured you wouldn't want to go down without a fight. Not like I didn't entirely want one, but thought I'd at least offer you the option" Were-Wolf struck a fighting pose, gesturing them to come at him. "So if you want to do battle, come at me then. Just remember, you had this coming."

Kingdom Hearts II - Spooks of Halloween

In a flash, Were-Wolf charged at the four. This time, Wolf tried intercepting him with a right hook. Were-Wolf dodged out of the way and rushed past him, kicking Sonic hard in the chin, knocking him backwards to the ground. Chris gasped and held out his sword defensively. Without even turning around to face Chris, Were-Wolf grabbed Chip by the throat and threw him at the World Traveler.

Chris saw Chip coming and managed to duck the mauve dog, as Were-Wolf appeared right in front of him. Still not turning around to face Chris, he backhanded the World Traveler hard in the face, knocking Chris back a few steps. The Swordsman checked his nose to see it wasn't bleeding, as Were-Wolf turned and smiled at him again.

"Still want to try and fight me?" Were-Wolf asked.

Chris shook his head. "M-my god, he dealt all those hits in so little time!"

Sonic pushed his feet back up and cracked his fists. "You wanna give up now?"

The World Traveler shook his head once more. "O-of course not! I made up my mind about fighting!"

"Glad to hear that because I'll start fighting right now!" Sonic yelled as he tossed his stretchable fist at Were-Wolf. Unfortunately, the attack was easy to dodge for the nimble lupine. "Curse this stupid, slow form!" he blurted.

In an instant, the werehog noticed that the second Wolf was standing right in front of him. He blinked in shock and gritted his fangs.

"You know I'm using my werehog power to enhance my own speed," Were-Wolf pointed out, delivering a swift punch to Sonic's chest, making the hedgehog lower his head down and hold his stomach. Were-Wolf delivered a powerful smack to Sonic's head, which smashed him into the ground. "Don't blame the fact that you are slow in that form, on the powers of Dark Gaia. Blame your own ineptitude on how to use them properly."

"A-as far as I know, Sonic loses speed but gains more strength while being a werehog," Chris said. "It doesn't make any sense that he can get to keep his speed!"

"Like I said, it's because he doesn't know how to control his Dark Gaia powers fully," Were-Wolf explained. "He may retain his own personality while in that form, but that doesn't mean he knows how to use all those powers he was given properly." Were-Wolf turned to them. "Unlike me, as I have mastered-"

Suddenly, Wolf, using his enhanced version of Wolf Flash, sped right next to Were-Wolf and smashed him hard in the face. The surprise attack actually knocked Were-Wolf back while Wolf came after him with another Wolf Flash. Were-Wolf was able to regain his balance and charged at Wolf with an energy charged tackle of dark aura.

Wolf saw this coming though and jumped in the air right before he was hit, getting above his enemy. He used Wolf Flash to smash into Were-Wolf, before quickly jumping off from him.

Wolf landed back on his feet and grinned at Were-Wolf. "Hey, never lower your guard down. Save the chit-chat for later," Wolf said.

"True," Were-Wolf admitted. "I did underestimate you. I didn't think you could perform a non-diagonal Wolf Flash." The second lupine sped right in front of Wolf, standing right in front of him with a finger pointing straight at Wolf's forehead. The dark vulpine chuckled, grinned, and said, "Bang," before he shot a flick of energy that pushed Wolf back to the ground.

Chris gulped a bit before he put a tight grip on his sword and charged at Were-Wolf. "Y-you leave him alone!" he yelled.

"Oh, so you want to play with swords, eh?" Were-Wolf held out his laser gun. Chris stopped for a second, taking out his shield which he hid behind. "I wasn't going to use it for that…" Energy coursed around Were-Wolf's gun. The dagger claw at the very end of the gun started to grow, as it shot out with dark energy. Were-Wolf then held out a laser saber, pointing it towards Chris. "Still want to try taking me on?"

Chris looked frightened. "O-oh, please, not only he's like Wolf, but he uses light sabers? ...N-no, I'm not getting surprised for any longer now!" He readied his sword and charged forward at Were-Wolf.

"Come on, kid, let's see what you got," Were-Wolf said as he charged at Chris as well. The two swords clashed against one another, with Were-Wolf easily pushing Chris back. Chris tumbled and regained his footing, slowly trying to strike Were-Wolf.

Chris's blows were slow, as he kept turning to try to hit Were-Wolf, who was easily able to dodge all of his thrusts. Were-Wolf parried a sideways strike and pushed Chris back. He charged quickly at Chris, and swung down a series of lightning quick blows. Chris gasped and desperately flung around his sword and shield, desperately trying not to be hit. Amazingly, Chris managed to block all the blows. This, however, just caused Were-Wolf to laugh maniacally as he increased his speed.

Chris switched to use the shield to try blocking all the blows, as a few wild strikes landed on the shield. Were-Wolf raised his sword and struck hard on the shield. Chris barely blocked it and he was knocked back by the force. Were-Wolf suddenly pressed a button on the bottom of his laser saber/gun, making the beam glow bright red.

"Let's see how well you can block them now," Were-Wolf simply stated.

Chris gulped and looked around a bit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sonic and Wolf charging at Were-Wolf, coming at him from opposite sides. Without even turning his head, Were-Wolf jumped up at the last second, looking down at the two barely avoiding smashing into one another. "HOWLING LUNAR FANG!" Were-Wolf shouted.

Were-Wolf's sword glowed dark black as he raised it above his head. He swung it down, shooting a powerful slice of dark energy. The attack slammed into the ground, causing a powerful explosion. Chris looked in horror to see Wolf and Sonic being knocked away by the blast, both of them looking charred.

Were-Wolf landed right in front of Chris. "I didn't want them getting in the way of our little sword fight," he stated, Chris backing away from him. "Truthfully, I'm not that much of a swordsman myself. Still, who needs to be when you can attack with a sword from long distances?"

The World Traveler gulped, but he kept a serious look at Were-Wolf. "I-I don't care if you have a whole lot of attacks under your sleeve...but I'm not going to get scared... I...I need to press on!"

After the teen said that, Were-Wolf merely smirked and pulled back his laser sword, charged it with energy, and swung it hard towards Chris while shouting out, "HOWLING LUNAR FANG!"

Eastern Forest Clearing

Back at the forest clearing of the east, Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur were backing away from the werehogs, slowly walking towards them. "W-what is going on in here?" Red asked. "W-why are those other two like that?"

"Dear god, your almost as stupid as OUR trainer," Were-Ivysaur stated, rolling his eyes. "Do you really need to know what we are, to know you're going to die by my hand?"

"Hey, OUR hands," Were-Squirtle pointed out. "I told you that you're not killing him alone."

"Oh, how could I forget?" Were-Ivysaur sarcastically questioned, his vines appearing above his body. "Look, all you need to know is that you guys suck, and are going to meet a rather grisly, messy end."

"Normally, I don't like killing other Squirtles," Were-Squirtle said, looking over at Squirtle. "But the fact you appear to be loyal to that fool, is enough to make me want to end your existence."

"W-what does he mean by as stupid as their trainer?" Red asked.

"What do they mean by killing us by their hands?" Ivysaur asked.

"What does he mean by dying just because I like Red?" Squirtle asked.

"Look, save all questions for the devil, 'cause I'm sending you morons to hell!" Were-Ivysaur shot two powerful vine whips out. Before they reached the three though, they were knocked back by a powerful water gun. "Hey!" Were-Ivysaur turned to him. "What'd you do that for?"

"I told you to stop hogging all the kills to yourself," Were-Squirtle pointed out.

Were-Ivysaur looked away. "Oh, name one time I ever did that".

Were-Squirtle pointed at him. "What about the time you strangled Charizard from behind after he burned you?"

Were-Ivysaur looked at him. "Oh, so you wanted him still around?"

"No, but you hogged that kill!" Were-Squirtle pointed out. "You're not hogging this one, you stupid frog plant!"

"Blue turtle freak!"

"Ivygore!"

"Squirturd!" The two looked at each other angrily and charged at one another, erupting in a cloud of violence.

As the two rabid werehogs fought each other mindlessly, Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur slowly backed away while they talked in whispers. "D-did they just say they killed a Charizard?" Red asked.

"They so said that..." Ivysaur muttered. "T-that's...just too much!"

"I-I know, I hate our Charizard, but I don't really want to kill him off... That'd ruin my look as a cute and docile Squirtle," Squirtle said.

The other two stopped and stared at the Tiny Turtle.

"...What?"

"...N-never mind..." Red muttered before they resumed backing away into the bushes behind them. "So what do you guys want to do now? Should we escape?"

The three reached the bushes and ducked down to stay out of sight. "That was the FIRST thing I wanted to do," Ivysaur whispered.

"Me too!" Squirtle whispered.

Red peeked from the bushes to see that the werehogs were fighting each other. "They both are busy beating each other to death..." He ducked down back and nodded at his Pokémon. "Okay, guys, let's get the hell out of here and reunite with everyone else."

Back with the werehogs, Ivysaur pushed Were-Squirtle back with his vines. "Time to..." he looked around and gasped. "Oh crap, they're gone!"

"What?" Were-Squirtle looked around. "Oh, way to go, idiot! Thanks to you we lost them!"

"Hey, you're the one who picked the fight!" Were-Ivysaur pointed out.

"That's because you were being a kill hog" Were-Squirtle sniffed around the air. "Luckily they didn't get far, just behind that bush over there." He pointed over to the nearby bush, making Squirtle, Ivysaur and Red panic.

"RUN!" Ivysaur yelled.

"Got it." Were-Ivysaur began to release a load of razor leaf.

"RUN, I SAID!" Ivysaur yelled, as the three were able to run off just before the bushes were sliced to pieces.

They tried running off deeper into the forest, only to see Were-Squirtle standing right in front of them. "Where do you think your going?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Holy crap, when did he get there so fast?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't know, man, I don't know!" Ivysaur yelled in panic.

Red pointed to the right. "Quick, let's run over there!"

Were-Ivysaur sped right where Red pointed. "Oh, you're not going there either" he commented. "You are just going to stay there and die."

"You're just going to kill them right there?" Were-Squirtle asked. "That's pretty lame, man. Why can't you try at least picking a more fitting location than generic eastern forest area?"

"What, you want them to get away again?" Were-Ivysaur asked.

"Well, think about it: we could let them get away for awhile and chase after them." Were-Squirtle made a fist. "Imagine their screams of terror the closer and closer we got, as they desperately try running off but finding they had nowhere to go."

"Yeah, exactly, not to mention that we could try leading them off a cliff-"

"Where I would tangle them off of it, before strangling them one by one…"

Were-Squirtle narrowed his eyes. "First of all, no more strangling people to death, it's played out. Second, what did we talk about with sharing the kills?"

"Fine, fine, we'll share them. Just don't try killing them with your little water gun."

"Why not?"

"Because that is by far the lamest way to die," Were-Ivysaur retorted. "I mean, really, it's like trying to splash someone to death."

"Hey, water is a lot more versatile than your stupid leaves and vines. Besides, I could create a powerful enough water gun to pin them to a tree. And keep blasting them until their skin starts falling out."

"...Okay, I will admit that's kind of cool."

"Yeah, so don't knock water, okay?"

"Hey, I'm still super effective against your turtle butt."

"Don't bring types into this, you half plant, half-mon freak!"

"Squirt of a turtle!"

"I'm going to make you sore!" The two jumped at each other and were shown fighting again.

The two, once again, kept fighting mindlessly to each other while the trio, this time, looked horrified at all the many ways to die. They could easily picture each one of them being killed off by any of the threats. "...T-these guys...are...super sadists..." Squirtle muttered.

"I-I'd say EXTREMELLY sadist..." Ivysaur corrected with a gulp.

Red saw that the werehogs were still fighting against each other. "G-guys, should we try one more time to escape?"

Squirtle gulped and sweated a bit. "Y-yes, but this time, let's tip-toe the ground so we don't make any noise..."

The three tip-toed the ground as they backed away from the two werehogs. The trio perfectly made no sound as they retreated further into the forest. Squirtle and Ivysaur looked relieved at each other while Red sighed mentally to himself...

And Red pressed a bent twig, causing a loud, snapping sound to be heard.

"RED!" Squirtle and Ivysaur yelled in dismay.

Were-Squirtle turned to them. "Hey, stop trying to get away!" He blasted the three with a wave of Water Gun, knocking them down to the ground. He then turned to Were-Ivysaur. "Okay, we can argue later, but let's kill them now."

Were-Ivysaur sighed and used his vine to shake Were-Squirtle's hand. "Agreed," he said as he smiled. "In fact, I have the perfect idea of how we can both kill them: we'll club them to death."

"What do you mean by that?" Were-Squirtle asked.

"Follow my lead." Were-Ivysaur used the vine that was still shaking Were-Squirtle's hand, and raised it high into the air. He started to spin the vine, along with Were-Squirtle.

"Hey, watch who you're sending right round," Were-Squirtle commented. "I'm not a record...oh, I get you." He smiled as he retreated into his shell. "The old spin and smash." Were-Squirtle started glowing with dark energy, as Were-Ivysaur slammed him down, right where the three Smashers were standing. They gasped and managed to dodge out of the way, seeing Were-Squirtle smashed the ground where he hit.

"S-sadists, they're sadists!" Squirtle yelled.

It was not long before the two werehogs started to smash down all of them with Were-Squirtle's shell. The trio ran around in panic, surprisingly avoiding being hit by the slams. "We're going to die!" Red cried loudly. "We're SO going to die now, and I haven't gotten my first badge yet!"

"Screw badges! I'm far more important than a small medal!" Squirtle yelled, barely jumping out from a slam attack of the maniacal Pokémon. "W-watch it!"

Ivysaur looked scared before he shook his head and looked at Red, while all of them ran around in panic. The Seed Pokémon thought for a bit before he stared at his trainer. "Red, get somewhere safe!"

"W-what?" Red asked, running around the place. "W-what are you saying now?"

"Look, it's clear they're not going to leave us!" Ivysaur said with worry. "Do you want them to follow us and let them hurt everyone? W-we can't let that happen!"

"B-but are we three enough to beat those two monsters?"

"It's better to try that never doing anything!" Ivysaur said with a gulp, his eyes still shocked as he avoided the slams. "You're the one who issues orders, so get somewhere safe and command us two!"

The were-Pokémon laughed at this. "You're going to trust him to issue you guys some commands?" Were-Squirtle asked, once again being brought down to try and smash Ivysaur. "How pathetic."

"Yeah, that kid is nothing but useless baggage, just like our idiotic trainer." Were-Ivysaur observed. "If you were smart, you'd get rid of him if you wanted to try facing us. Not like you'd win, but you'd at least have a better chance."

"W-what are you saying? W-we work with Red!" Squirtle yelled back as he ran around. "H-he's like our second set of eyes!"

"Ha, with a set of eyes like that, it'd be better off if you were blind!" Were-Ivysaur said, chuckling some.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Were-Squirtle pointed out.

"Shut up." He threw Were-Squirtle away, making him smash into a tree. "Look, I'm feeling generous so how about I cut away those extra eyes now, so you guys have a sporting chance?" He grabbed Red with his vines, making the other two Pokémon gasp. "I'll even let you pick how he goes out. Do you want me to rip him up limb by limb, or just crush every bone in his entire body?"

Squirtle covered his head. "Why aren't they giving us options that don't involve someone dying so brutally?"

"I think THAT'S the whole point," Ivysaur said with a gulp.

"Um, you guys?" Red called over. "HELP!"

"O-oh, yeah, yeah, Red's in trouble," Ivysaur said with a gulp before he walked forward and looked up at Red. "Y-yeah, let me think of something here!"

Squirtle groaned. "Just pull him back to us!"

"You're not the one standing in front of a demon, so shut up!" Ivysaur yelled with a gulp. "O-okay, Red, stay there, I'll think of something in a second..."

"Oh, you don't have a second." Were-Ivysaur said as his vines began charging with dark energy. "See, I decided on a much better way to kill off this moron. I'm going to cover his entire body with werehog energy, externally and internally." Red's eyes went wide as he looked to see the energy continue spreading along the vines. "The fool won't know which will be hurting him more, making his torture screaming even more enjoyable."

Red recalled something important in his mind. "I-IVYSAUR, USE SPORE!" he yelled.

Ivysaur blinked. "Spore? I don't... Oh, wait, I know that!" he said before getting serious. He aimed his flower bulb at the werehog and shot several white spores that dispersed through the air and reached Were-Ivysaur's nostrils. He smelled the spores and shook his head.

"Ugh... what are you…" Were-Ivysaur's eyelids started to lower as he stumbled around. "Why do I feel so woozy?" he asked, the darkness energy around his vines retracting. "Oh wait, I know what this is you...you..." he then fell asleep, his vines releasing Red, who started falling to the ground.

Ivysaur used Vine Whip to grab Red from falling down. The trainer sighed in relief as Ivysaur pulled him back and set him down on the ground. "T-thank you, Ivysaur..." Red said with a sigh of relief.

Ivysaur gulped. "Q-quick, now that the two aren't doing anything, run to a safe spot!"

"W-what?" Red asked. "We could run away for sure now!"

"No, we can't! They'll just appear out of nowhere and attack!" Ivysaur said. "Seriously, hide somewhere and issue orders!"

Squirtle looked frightened. "A-are you sure about that?"

"I don't know anymore!" Ivysaur cried out. "I just want to stop them from saying those bloody ways from killing all of us!"

Red thought for a moment before he quickly ran behind some bushes and ducked down. "I-I'll watch from here, but you need to stop both of them from attacking me, you heard me?"

Squirtle pointed his shaking hand at Ivysaur. "You're the one who came up with this. Don't you GO forgetting that so you don't blame me later!"

"S-so, are you in?" Ivysaur asked.

"You already put me in this forcibly!"

"Sweet..."

Squirtle turned to Red's direction. "W-what do you want us to do?"

"U-um..." Red thought for a bit. "...I-I'm not experienced in double battles yet!"

Ivysaur groaned. "J-just try to come up with something!"

"U-um, Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf on that other Ivysaur! Squirtle, get behind him and use Withdraw to slam right into him so he goes over Ivysaur who will use Bullet Seed!"

Ivysaur and Squirtle looked at each other.

"...Put it simpler, Red!" Ivysaur suggested. "That's too many things to remember for us!"

"O-okay, Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf on him!"

"G-got it," Ivysaur said before he turned around and shot several razor leaves at the sleeping Were-Ivysaur, who was grumbling bloody words about decimating all trainers.

"Squirtle, you go behind him and use Withdraw to slam him back to Ivysaur!" Red commanded.

"Ivysaur, now change attacks and use Bullet Seed!" Red yelled.

Ivysaur stopped using Razor Leaf before he put his feet apart on the ground and launched several rocketing seeds above where Were-Ivysaur was attacked by the seeds damaging his body, forcing him to stay on top of Ivysaur. "I-it's working!" Ivysaur yelled with relief.

"Y-yeah, you keep going, Ivysaur!" Red said, confidence coming back into him. "We'll finish this very soon, so hang in there a little longer!"

"The only ones who will be finished soon, are you," said a voice right behind Ivysaur. The Seed Pokémon turned around and saw Were-Squirtle standing there. He quickly kicked Ivysaur away, making Were-Ivysaur fall to the ground. "Time to make you MY weapon," Were-Squirtle sadistically stated as he grabbed Were-Ivysaur's vine, spinning him around and making him smack into Ivysaur. This caused the dinosaur-plant monster to smash hard into a nearby tree.

Red gasped. "I-Ivysaur!" he yelled.

"Heh, thanks for getting rid of this retard," Were-Squirtle commented, as he threw Were-Ivysaur several yards away. "Now I can kill all three of you myself." He sped right in front of Squirtle. "Think I'll start with my inferior copy." He jabbed Squirtle hard in the face, pummeling the young turtle Pokémon with an incredibly fast series of punches. He uppercut Squirtle in the chin, making the blue turtle sail into the air. Looking up, Were-Squirtle shot a powerful stream of water gun, sending Squirtle further upwards. "(I bet if I can get him up a half mile, his shell will break into a thousand pieces smashing into the ground,)" Were-Squirtle deviously thought.

"Red!" Ivysaur yelled.

"Use Vine Whip and slam that monster down before it hurts Squirtle, Ivysaur!" Red yelled. "Slam it as many times as you can!"

"Um, Red, I think he's a male!"

"It's an 'it' for now! Now use Vine Whip!"

Ivysaur shrugged and used Vine Whip to wrap his vines on Were-Squirtle. The Seed Pokémon lifted him up and slammed him down as quickly as possible. He started to slam him down as many times as possible to leave Squirtle alone from falling back to safe ground. Squirtle landed on the ground and quickly scrambled back to Ivysaur's side.

"Ha, bad move," Were-Squirtle stated. He used Withdraw, curling back into his shell and spinning along the ground. Still grabbing onto him, Ivysaur soon started moving along with him as well. Ivysaur stopped when he crashed into a tree. This caused him to let go of Were-Squirtle, and slowly fall to the ground, moaning in pain. "You guys are such idiots." Were-Squirtle looked over at Squirtle. "Listening to a trainer is STUPID in battle." He pointed at the bush. "First off, you're being led by a fool. And secondly, I can HEAR your strategies before you can even implement them. How do you really expect to win a battle against someone smart enough to actually go against our series idiotic conventions?"

Red remained silent for a brief moment. "...U-um... You don't know the benefits of this, you!" he yelled. "I mean, if you happen to faint in battle, who's going to look after you, huh?"

"I don't need anyone else looking after me," Were-Squirtle pointed out. "I don't need anyone else looking after" He held out his arms. "I mean, doesn't that make us seem weaker than the other Smashers? Do they have people looking out for them, when THEY are knocked out? Or to call them back and give them ridiculous commands, huh?"

"U-um..." Red thought for a moment, panic trying to take over him. "Y-you're wrong! People like me grow together with each other so we can have a good time. Besides, Trainers are there to help their Pokémon get stronger! With a trainer, a Pokémon can surpass big feats while somebody looks after them and cares about them!"

"Yeah, if they were a WEAK Pokémon, that is." Were-Squirtle flexed his hand. "Luckily, thanks to Master Wolf, we don't need anyone like that. We can finally be ourselves, and fight our own battles." The tiny werehog turtle sped in front of the bushes. "Fools like you are nothing but distractions; annoyances that need to be dumped, preferably in the most painful way possible."

"(Master Wolf?)" Red thought in confusion. "(What did he mean by that? He doesn't mean the Wolf I know, right?) P-pardon me to ask, but who's this Master Wolf guy?"

"He's the leader of all the Werehogs," Were-Squirtle answered. "Our glorious leader has given us more power and knowledge than we ever had before. And made us realize the truth like not needing a stupid trainer like you for instance." Were-Squirtle looked around. "By now our Master has probably killed your Wolf, just like I'm about to kill your you, your me, and your stupid dinosaur plant."

Were-Squirtle suddenly was pushed away by a Water Gun from an angry Squirtle. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon listened to everything Were-Squirtle had said. Squirtle panted weakly, trying to overcome the pain dealt to him. "Y-you're not going to do such a thing to OUR trainer, you!"

"Oh, you want to go first?" Were-Squirtle asked before laughing. "Okay, but I'm only going to beat you within an inch of your life. Then you can watch helplessly while I break your precious little trainer into itsy bitsy pieces." Were-Squirtle charged at the other turtle pocket monster.

Before he could reach the scared Squirtle, Red decided to cut in. "Even if they are strong Pokémon, they can become even stronger!" Red argued, gaining a bit of anger at this point. "You're just a pathetic excuse for all-mighty Pokémon who wants to have its way!"

Were-Squirtle turned to him. "Like I need someone like you to make me stronger-" Were-Squirtle was interrupted when Squirtle head butted him hard on the fight side of his face; knocking the werehog-turtle back. Were-Squirtle grunted and turned away from Squirtle, using his powerful werehog tail to smack Squirtle several feet away. "See, even my tail whip is stronger now. Think I could have gotten that way with a measly trainer like you?"

"...You can, actually!" Red yelled back. "I dare you get stronger without turning into a stinky werehog! I know for one thing that you're cheating in getting stronger! Y-you need...you need... You need to do effort to get stronger!"

"That's stupid," Were-Squirtle pointed out. "You can get stronger any number of ways. Not all of them have to be about going around a region with a nitwit, his pack of brain-dead monsters, and battling every random trainer you see." Were-Squirtle made a fist. "My new power has given me more strength than I ever could have gotten with someone like you. And for that matter, even if growing and evolving makes you strong, what difference does that mean if you die?" Squirtle turned away. "It's not those who try the most who win, but who are the strongest. Effort means nothing if you are killed before you even reach your pinnacle of strength. What good is all your training going to do you when you're lying down in a puddle of your own blood? Nothing, that's what!" Were-Squirtle started shaking with black energy. "So shut up and watch, human. I'm going to show you what real power is, and how it can never measure up to your precious effort."

"(T-this is...horrible...)" Red thought as he watched his Pokémon shook in fear at the dark aura. "(So this is what Chris said about power corrupting your mind... You stop caring about everyone if you turn into a power-hungry...)" He shook his head. "(N-no... I need to keep going or else we're all doomed! ...Well, didn't Master Hand say we couldn't die here? But still...)"

"R-Red! What do we do now?" Ivysaur asked. "Did I ever tell you I'm allergic to dark energies of evil?"

"...Use Spore..." Red trailed off.

Ivysaur looked serious at this. "Okay, then… Wait, what are yo-"

"On the air above you two!" Red finished.

Ivysaur looked shocked before he accidentally released cotton spores on the two. The spores flew into the air, making Were-Squirtle look confused at this.

"You must be stupid" Were-Squirtle said. He opened his mouth, letting out a piercing howl, which actually knocked the spores far away. "I know you tried that lame-ass trick on me, Ivysnore. What makes you think that will work on me?"

The werehog noticed the two had gone out of sight.

"Pfft, trying to distract me, eh?" Were-Squirtle sniffed the air. "Ha, I can sense your right-"

Were-Squirtle suddenly was grabbed by two vines that came out from the bushes to his left. The werehog cursed before the vines turned him upside down and slammed him hard on the ground, getting his head stuck. He flailed his small legs a bit, as he tried to get out.

"Great job!" Red cheered from the bushes. "Alright, nothing's going to make things worse now!"

"GROOOOOOOOWL!" Were-Squirtle howled into the dirt. The force of the howl knocked him up into the sky. The tiny werehog grinned as he glowed with black energy. Were-Squirtle withdrew into his shell and used Water Gun to rocket himself downward at amazing speeds. The werehog smashed himself right down on Ivysaur's bulb. The dinosaur plant monster screamed out in pain as he was knocked halfway into the dirt.

Red looked panicked. "I-I take it back! I take it back!" he pleaded.

"Too late, idiot." Were-Squirtle grabbed Ivysaur's leg and punched him hard in his underbelly, making Ivysaur cry out in pain. "Only an idiot like you would be stupid enough to say something like 'Nothing bad's going to happen now' or whatever the hell you said." He saw Squirtle charging at him, as he threw Ivysaur at his Pokémon companion, making them both tumble along the ground.

"I-Ivysaur! Squirtle!" Red yelled before he stood up from the bushes and ran towards them. The trainer took out from his backpack two red containers and focused on the two. "Hang in there. I have Super Potions right here!" He reached both of them and quickly poured the liquids into their mouths. "(These are the only potions I have left... Dammit, I should have asked Dawn for more before!)"

"Oh yeah, like I'm going to just let you heal them." Were-Squirtle then sped right in front of Red, grabbing the trainer by the neck. He then dragged the trainer away, smacking him into a tree. "Now would be a good time to shut that mouth of yours." Were-Squirtle out his left hand, as his claws extended. Red gasped as Squirtle grinned sadistically. "Have any last, idiotic words before I tear that mouth of yours out?"

Red took out from his backpack a Clefairy doll and laid it close to the werehog. For some reason, Were-Squirtle seemed extremely focused on the cute doll, allowing Red to escape from him.

"Aww, what a cute... WAIT A MINUTE!" He sliced up the doll with his claws as he leaped up and grabbed Red by the throat, looking down angrily at him. "Did you really think that stupid doll would save you?"

Red took out another Clefairy doll, infatuating the werehog to let go of him. The trainer gasped and quickly ran behind some other bushes and ducked down to stay out of sight.

"Oh no, you don't!" Tearing up yet another Clefairy doll, Were-Squirtle jumped into the bushes. He then threw Red out of the bushes, making him hit the ground hard. Were-Squirtle jumped out and landed right on his stomach, holding out his sharpened claws. "I was going just to maim you now, and wait till later to end you, but you had to show me your damn dolls." Red gasped as he was shown shaking some in fear. "That's right, squirm. Squirm like the little worm you are. Nothing can save you now."

"I disagree," said a voice. Squirtle gasped and turned around to see another Pokémon Trainer a few feet away. This trainer looked near identical to Red, except he was holding out a Poké Ball. "It's time for me to save the daaayyy…" The Poké Ball emitted a red glow, hitting Squirtle. However, it quickly bounced away, making the Trainer gasp some.

"You idiot!" Were-Squirtle jumped off Red, turning to the Trainer. "You should know by now that doesn't' work."

"But I believed it would," the trainer held out a fist. "And surely believing in something makes it stronger, right?"

Were-Squirtle groaned. "Uuugh, I'm so glad I don't listen to you anymore." Were-Squirtle blinked. "Hey, wait a minute. We left you tied to a tree like hundreds of yards away. How did a powerless dolt like you escape?

"Cause I believed I would," the trainer pointed out. "Also, there was this really fast set of slashes or something that cut the rope." The trainer smiled. "Dreams can make anything happen, including slicing rope"

"…Whatever." Were-Squirtle pointed over at Red trying to scamper away. "As soon as I kill him, I'll get to work on killing you."

The Pokémon Trainer gasped. "You can't kill anyone, Squirtle. What would the 5-10 year old demographic say." The Trainer pointed at him. "Besides, he's a random trainer in the woods. We have to help him with his random problem, learn a valuable life lesson, beat Team Rocket a few times, and continue on our journey."

"He's not a random trainer, he's you from a parallel reality," Were-Squirtle pointed out.

"Oh, really?" The Pokémon Trainer looked over at Red. "Hey me, how are you doing?"

Red blinked in pure confusion to see the person looking at him with what he could consider a bit of a dorky expression. "...U-um...I'm...doing...great?" he said in confusion.

The Pokémon Trainer smiled. "Good to hear, fellow Trainer." The Pokémon Trainer scratched his head. "Hey, what's your name?"

Red shifted his eyes around, seeing Ivysaur and Squirtle slowly getting up before they looked at the extra trainer and got stupefied expressions. The trainer looked back at the other trainer and looked skeptical. "...My...name is Red..." he trailed off. "...What's yours?"

"Pokémon Trainer," the Pokémon Trainer said proudly.

"You don't have a name, stupid," Were-Squirtle pointed out.

"Yeah, I do, it's Pokémon Trainer," the Trainer replied, still proudly.

"What th- THAT'S NOT A NAME!"

"Oh, now you're just splitting hairs," the Trainer said, causing Were-Squirtle to fume. "Oh, hey, speaking of splitting hairs, that reminds me of this one time I was at the Pokémon Salon and-"

"THAT'S IT!" Were-Squirtle yelled. "YOU DIE NO-" Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by Ivysaur, who used Vine Whip to pull him away. "Crap," Were-Squirtle grumbled as he was pulled towards the two. Squirtle jumped up and appeared upside down, giving his werehog a harsh tail attack, making him fall hard into a nearby rock. "Oww," Were-Squirtle muttered.

"Wow, that was an awesome move!" Pokémon Trainer yelled out happily. "You should definitely try using that move in a contest. That reminds me of when I tried entering a contest, even though I usually just do gym battles, an-"

Red pushed himself up from the ground and grabbed the trainer's left hand. The trainer stared at Red before he ran into the bushes, dragging the trainer along. The two knelt down on the ground and Red stared at the trainer.

"Hey, heroes don't sneak around in the bushes," the Trainer pointed out. "That's what Team Rocket does…" The Trainer gasped. "Oh my god, you must be James, or probably Jessie in disguise. Well, I'm not going to let you steal Pikachu, even though I don't have a Pikachu." The trainer held out his fists. "I hope you're prepared for trouble this time yo-"

Red merely slapped him hard enough to make the trainer fall down to the side. "...You...idiot!" Red cursed loudly.

The Pokémon Trainer got up, rubbing his chin. "Ow, what kind of trainer slaps another trainer?" the Pokémon Trainer asked. "Besides, I'm not the one named after a color. That's only for the manga protagonists." The Pokémon Trainer looked at him closely. "So, are you from the manga?" he asked.

"I'm not from some stupid manga!" Red yelled. "...F-focus on the matter, you...copy of me!" he struggled. "I slapped you because this is ALL your fault!"

"Hey, this isn't my fault," the Pokémon Trainer pointed out. "I was just trying to have the best Poké-Halloween special ever, and then Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard got bitten by some werehog Pikmin. Next thing I know they were chasing me around, tying me to trees, talking about killing me, and then I get to meet an alternate me." The Pokémon Trainer leaned closer to him, the two looking at each other in the eyes. "I think I saw this in a movie preview once. So does that mean that one of us is the bad Ash, and one of us is the good Ash?"

Red yelped and pushed him away. "D-don't you get that close to me again!" he yelled in embarrassment. "A-and it's your fault that this happened! I mean, you let them get bitten by a werehog...Pikmin..." Red blinked at this. "...Wait, werehog Pikmin?"

"Oh yeah, like most every Smasher has turned into a werehog," the Trainer explained. "See, some people were bitten by Sonic in his werehog form and uh...Wolf took control of them and uh...now there's this war and stuff…" The trainer rubbed his head. "It's kind of confusing but the point is we've gotta save everyone, like my Poké Pals" The trainer looked out of the bush. "Oh, and your Poké Pals too." He pointed to Were-Squirtle body slamming Squirtle hard into the dirt. Ivysaur tried using vine whip again, but Were-Squirtle sped behind and punched him hard in his back. "They aren't looking too good."

Red ignored the fight and looked particularly shocked at the fact. "...So let me get this straight," he began, "everyone in this world was turned into a werehog because...someone who happens to have the same condition as Sonic but can infect other people to turn into wolves bit them all, and there's a war going on...and then you didn't get turn into one..."

The Pokémon Trainer nodded. "Yeah, they said I wouldn't make a useful servant or something." The Trainer made a muscle. "But I have the greatest powers of all: the power of believing in myself, and of friendship, understanding, and caring. Those are stronger than werehog powers, right?"

"..." Red glared at the trainer. "That's the cheesiest thing I've EVER heard before in my life!" He tried to get back to topic. Red suddenly looked frightened. "B-but if there's a war going, then how come it's not over yet?"

"Hey, nothing's cheesy about the power of miracles, I think." The trainer scratched his head. "As for why the war's still going, well, some of us in the 'resistance' are trying to fight back against the bad werehogs and stop Wolf from taking over the world, of course." The trainer looked back at the fight, as Were-Squirtle was shown scratching Squirtle hard in the face, making him cry out in pain. "Oh, hey, since we're both here, we should give them battle instructions, or do some great sideline commentary."

"...Sideline commentary?" Red said confused.

Squirtle shot Were-Squirtle with a Water Gun, making the were-Pokémon move back. "A Water-type move isn't that affective against another water type, but maybe if his fur is soggy, it will make it harder for him to run fast," the Pokémon Trainer announced before turning back to Red. "You know stuff like that. Want to give it a try?"

"...No thanks," Red said stupefied before he thought about something more important. "...Wait, if everyone here is a werehog...does that mean that everyone in that resistance you mentioned is a WEREHOG as well?"

"Well, some of them are werehogs too and…" The Pokémon Trainer looked to see Were-Squirtle elbowing Ivysaur hard in the face, making the dinosaur plant fall on his back. "Ow, that looked to be super effective," the Trainer noted, turning to Red. "Shouldn't we try helping? After all, if a Trainer has to try and fly into the sky to get by. That's going to be the lyrics in the season thirteen opener, I just know it."

Red thought gruesome things about more werehogs going about. He grabbed the sides of his head and looked shocked as if he was about to scream in bewilderment.

"(Uh oh, he's going through a freak-out,)" the Pokémon Trainer mentally noted. (Usually that only happens after arrogantly losing against gym leaders the first time,)" the Trainer rubbed his chin. "(I have to do something...)" He snapped his fingers. "(Oh, I know. Using the power of friendship, I'll have a random Elite Four member show up to cover our exit and save the day, before finding out more of the grander scheme going on.)" The trainer looked around, seeing no one around. "(…Yup, anytime now…)" he noted to himself.

And Red began to scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Southern Forest Grove

Meanwhile, on the southern area of the thick forest, Yoshi looked frightened at his werehog counterpart. However, it looked as if Yoshi haven't moved from his spot from a long time ever since...the other Yoshi began ranting, complaining, and proclaiming nonsense about the Yoshis overturning all races in the world and what not. Yoshi himself didn't understand anything that Were-Yoshi was talking about. In fact, Yoshi, still looking frightened, tuned the other wolf out completely.

"(W-when is he going to stop saying all that stuff about Yoshis dominating the universe?)" Yoshi asked to himself. "(I'm starting to lose my fear by his stinky look...and...)"

Suddenly, a familiar scream echoed loudly, coming from the northeastern direction where Yoshi was standing. The Yoshi turned to the direction of the voice.

"W-what was that just now?" Yoshi asked to himself. "I-I think I know that scream's voice..."

"Hey, I was just getting to the part about how we'll dominate even the skies with our vast superiority!" Were-Yoshi yelled. "Oh, stupid screams of terror from inferior beings. I mean, I know it's all they're good for, but still!" Were-Yoshi turned to Yoshi. "Still that should give you a pretty good idea of our goals, in shaping this new world. Any questions?"

Yoshi looked back at the monster. "Um...can I go now?" He looked away. "I was scared by you twenty minutes ago, but after you started saying really crazy things about Yoshis dominating the world...well...you kind of...aren't that scary anymore...and I'm bored... I want to g back with the others..."

"Others? Those weaklings of an inferior race?" Were-Yoshi walked closer. "Don't you see, Yoshi? You could rule over all of them easily. You come from the supreme bloodline. Not a Hyrulian, or a Pokémon, or even just some mushroom, but a member of the Yoshi!" He raised his hands. "We were kings once, feared even more than the dinosaurs most humans know. And we can be once again, if we work together."

"...I beg your pardon?" Yoshi said in confusion.

"It's simple." Were-Yoshi pointed at his fangs. "Allow me to transform you into the only thing more powerful than a Yoshi: a Yoshi werehog! Your strength and abilities will increase ten fold, and your mind will be cleared of those pathetic feelings of emotions." Were-Yoshi sighed and looked down. "Before, I couldn't see the light, but thanks to Master Wolf, I realized my true destiny." He looked back up. "You can as well. And with you, we can find other dimensions of other Yoshis, and start up the most glorious Reich the multi-verse has ever seen!"

"...No thanks," Yoshi said with a straight look, his eyes blinking normally. "I don't like to become something as...scary as you. Besides, I already got stronger with a badge. And honestly speaking, you look...kind of stupid with that fur suit on." He shrugged a bit. "I'm happy the way I am. I don't see why I need to have more power. I just want to relax."

"How can you simply just want to relax?" Were-Yoshi retorted. "This 'fur-suit' as you call it gives you a wider arrange of abilities than you could possibly imagine." Were-Yoshi rubbed his chin. "In fact, perhaps you need a demonstration of its powers. Even a superior mind such as you can't comprehend such powers, without truly experiencing them." Were-Yoshi sharpened his claws. "And though I hate hurting a fellow Yoshi, it's much easier to convert someone whose injured and unable to fight back." He then narrowed his eyes. "So I'll ask you one more time, do you want to join my new Reich, or do I need to mold you into doing so?"

"..." Yoshi seemed to get a bit mad at the offer. "Why are you like this? I think you should accept a no for an answer. Nobody is going to listen to you if you do it that way. Also, why should Yoshis rule the world? We're all happy living in our island."

Some thoughts about fruits came to Yoshi's mind.

Yoshi sighed. "I want to eat a melon right now..."

"See, you don't get it because you haven't been properly enlightened." Were-Yoshi appeared right in front of Yoshi. This quickly snapped Yoshi out of his thoughts as he was punched hard in the face, causing him to roll along the ground before his back slammed against a nearby tree. "Once again, I do not like hurting a member of our race, but now you must realize why this power is so great."

"O-oww..." Yoshi moaned a bit. "W-what's wrong with you? N-now I know why none has joined with you yet. You're not a leader or 'example' of a Yoshi...you're a crazy brute!"

"I'm not crazy!" Were-Yoshi yelled out. "It's the world that's gone mad. It's up to me to show them the truth, starting with you." He sped in front of Yoshi again. This time, Yoshi dodged his punch, which struck the tree behind him, causing it to shake. Were-Yoshi smirked and used his two claws to slice the tree. Yoshi gasped as he saw the tree starting to fall to the ground. Were-Yoshi, however, grabbed the fallen tree and swung it at Yoshi. The green dinosaur managed to jump over the first strike, and quickly ducked from the second. "I will make you see the light, even if I have to beat the lies out of your body!" Were-Yoshi yelled as Yoshi continued ducking and jumping over strikes with the tree.

"(G-goodness, his strength is stupidly strong!)" Yoshi thought as he continued dodging in fear. "(A-at this rate, he'll kill me off! ...Well, not exactly. I'm going to get beaten and return to the mansion, but still...)"

"Sooner or later you will tire," Were-Yoshi pointed out, continuing to strike with the tree. "The powers of a werehog not only increase your strength, but also how long you can fight." He looked at the scared Yoshi. "Surely by now you must realize it's best to give up and accept your destiny."

Yoshi, once he jumped over a swing, landed in a hole of the tree and latched himself inside, screaming loudly for help. "HEEEELP!" he pleaded.

"Only inferiors plead for help," Were-Yoshi noted. "Act like the Superior Yoshi you are!" He slammed the tree hard into the ground. The tree broke into pieces, freeing Yoshi but also leaving him pretty dazed. Were-Yoshi took the stump he was still holding and threw it at Yoshi, making the green dinosaur fall back. Yoshi felt his head and moaned in pain as Were-Yoshi jumped in the air. "It's only going to get worse the more you try fighting me back," he warned.

Yoshi shook his head and ran for the bushes. He dove into it and peeked out to see Were-Yoshi fly over him. The werehog spun in the air before he descended, using Ground Pound. Yoshi gasped and leaped out of the way before the attack could land on him, but it landed on the ground, creating a big crack that extended a bit to the sides. "Y-you're just insane!" Yoshi yelled.

"If you mean my power is so insane, that it is beyond what a normal Yoshi can do, then yes, it is." Were-Yoshi sped right behind Yoshi again, using his right hand to slam Yoshi's head into the ground. "I think you've seen enough of a demonstration of this glorious power. Time for you to join the ranks." He opened his mouth, showing his fangs at the frightened Yoshi. "Relax; this will only hurt for a second things, then beyond your wildest dreams will come true."

Yoshi acted quickly and stuffed an egg inside the werehog's mouth. Were-Yoshi looked shocked before he grunted and broke the egg with his fangs, just in time to see Yoshi using a head butt to push the werehog away. Yoshi, however, looked frightened and joined his hands. "I-I don't like to get bitten, you know!" Yoshi yelled with a gulp.

"It's the only way to convert you…" Were-Yoshi sighed. "I wish there was another way, but there isn't." He held up a fist. "The cause is too great, and those who can't be changed must perish; something I will not let happen to you." He rushed at Yoshi speeding in front of him. He then tried nailing Yoshi with a powerful upward kick, but the green dinosaur ducked down and swept him with his tail, knocking Were-Yoshi off balance enough for Yoshi to grab his arm and throw him a few meters away.

"L-look, I don't really want to join you!" Yoshi said while Were-Yoshi got up from the ground. "You're crazy because power corrupted you! It's sad to see you turned like this because you grew too powerful! I know you didn't have to get like this before, so you were forced to become like this just like you're trying to do with me!"

"I was only 'forced' as you put it because I didn't see the light," Were-Yoshi commented, shaking the dirt off his body. "This power has given me more than any basic training could have accomplished, and will do the same for you."

Yoshi then shot out his tongue, attempting to use Egg Lay. However, Were-Yoshi extended his tongue as well, the two tongues started to entangle. Yoshi tried pulling back, but Were-Yoshi simply moved his head up and brought Yoshi closer. He then spun around, making Yoshi go around in a circle. After about a while of this, Were-Yoshi finally let go, making Yoshi fly back and land into a tree, causing Yoshi to whimper a bit in pain, before slowly getting up and feeling his tongue hurt.

"(I-it's no use...)" Yoshi thought with a sniff. "(W-whoever made him like this needs to be punished... Y-Yoshis are supposed to be really nice people... Well, except for Boshi. That guy thinks he's so tough and cool to be hanging out with Yoshis...)"

"I don't get why you keep trying to struggle." Were-Yoshi held out his hand, producing an egg. "Just accept the inevitable, and then your life will truly begin." He smirked as he threw the egg at Yoshi. While in midair, the egg started to glow with dark purple energy. Yoshi looked up, gasped, and jumped quickly out of the way. He looked to see the egg land and explode upon impact. The shock wave knocked him back as Were-Yoshi threw yet another egg, exploding and hitting Yoshi in midair, making the dinosaur cry out in pain as he fell to the ground, his body letting out smoke. "Before, my eggs, like yours, weren't all too powerful," Were-Yoshi noted, the other dinosaur slowly picking himself off the ground. "Now, though, they pack much more of a punch. Don't you agree?"

"I-I don't!" Yoshi yelled as he stood up, panting a bit. "I-I dare you to stop being powerful and become a nice Yoshi! Who do you think you are to be hurting me? Y-you'll never achieve anything of those crazy things you're thinking because you have a crazy mind!" he argued. "Seriously, everyone would be better off if you just go away! You're not even that good of a supreme leader or whatever!"

"Nice doesn't change the world!" Were-Yoshi screamed. "The only thing that will actually make people listen is POWER!" Were-Yoshi pointed at him. I've been cutting you slack, because you're a fellow Yoshi, but I'm starting to lose my patience. I don't know why you keep yammering about me being corrupted and not being leader material, when you're the one who's losing." Were-Yoshi stepped closer. "You've only managed to get a few hits on me while I've come close to demolishing you! How can you stand there, and claim that I'M the one who needs to change?"

"T-that's because I know how to resist!" Yoshi argued back. "(That's it; this Yoshi needs to be taught a lesson...)"

"Resist what?" Were-Yoshi asked. "You're not resisting anything! You've just been narrowly escaping till now, but that time is over." Were-Yoshi started to glow with black energy. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to knock you out before admonishing the truth. And this is the best way to do it." Were-Yoshi got into a dark egg, and started charging up an Egg Roll, as Yoshi started to move back. "Oh no, you're not escaping this!" he warned as he shot towards Yoshi.

"(T-think of something, use something, think and use something!)" Yoshi thought in panic before he realized something. He took out from behind a Dizzy Dial. "(I-item!)" he rejoiced before he held it up. "D-Dizzy Dial!" he yelled.

Suddenly, something weird was happening to Were-Yoshi. He came to a stop and broke out from his egg before his eyes began to spin madly. Everything around him suddenly spun at crazy speeds, making him feel extremely dazzled. He began to tumble at the sides. "M-man, why is everything spinning?" Were-Yoshi muttered in a daze. "Must…make…sure...Yoshi race...becomes...masters...of..."

Yoshi looked up to the Dizzy Dial disappearing within a poof of smoke. He looked back at the tumbling monster before he looked serious and used Egg Roll, rolling all the way to the werehog and crashing right into him. Were-Yoshi yelled in pain as he was pushed away, but Yoshi followed up with the move and rammed himself against Were-Yoshi, making him crash his back to a tree.

Were-Yoshi grunted in pain, but his eyes were still spinning madly. He couldn't regain his composure in time before Yoshi used a fully charged head butt on his stomach, pushing him against the tree's bark. "T-take that, monster!" Yoshi yelled.

Yoshi pummeled Were-Yoshi with a few fast kicks. He leaned back, ready to nail him with a smash kick. Though still dizzy, Were-Yoshi was able to move his head enough to see the kick coming as energy formed around his body, knocking Yoshi back as he saw Were-Yoshi glow even blacker than before. He was encased in another egg, except this one was about seven feet tall, and made of the same black energy that had surrounded Were-Yoshi.

"W-what?" Yoshi asked in shock at the big egg. "Y-Yoshi eggs are normally about a feet tall and others are about three feet tall!"

Yoshi shook his head and decided to forget about it. However, he recalled that the monster was dazzled inside the big egg. Yoshi thought about running away now that the werehog was dazzled. Yoshi could escape from there and not see the monster again...

...But on the other hand, Yoshi thought that the monster would chase after him with the tremendous speed he possessed.

Yoshi closed his eyes and gulped. "(N-no way I can escape from here...)" he thought. "(I-I have to go on and beat him...)" The Yoshi charged a head butt before smacking his skull right into the shell...and it made Yoshi's head shake uncontrollably. Yoshi grabbed his head, thinking he just hit hard steel. "O-oww!" Yoshi moaned in pain before he stopped shaking. He looked at the egg with worry. "W-what kind of egg is this?" he asked to himself.

Yoshi shook the thought. He looked serious at the end before he started kicking it. Unfortunately, he felt that the dark egg was stupidly hard to break or even budge. After kicking it a few times, he stepped back and looked worried. "W-what is this? I can't break it!" he complained.

Yoshi crossed his arms and thought a bit about the situation. "(Hmm, I can't break it... Hmm, maybe I can boil it on a big frying pan...)" He shook his head. "(I-I don't have a big frying pan! Even so, I don't even have fire! ...What am I thinking about boiling it? I can't boil that egg that easily!)"

Yoshi grumbled in thought, trying to think about a way to break the egg apart and force the werehog to come out...

Western Forest Area

Meanwhile, on the western area of the forest, a blurry figure jumped branches as arrows tried to hit it. Down below on the ground, Toon Link looked very pissed as he tried to shoot down the speedy figure, which seemed to be laughing with glee. "D-damn it, stop it!" he yelled. "It's been like an hour ever since you've been doing this, you stupid kid!"

"Oh, come on, you're the same age as me, kid," said the speedy figured, revealed to be Were-Toon Link as he continued hopping along branches. "Besides, it's only been like what, twenty minutes? Geez, over-dramatic much?"

Toon Link looked angry at his yellow hair, where once a long, green hat used to sit on his head. He looked back at the jumping werehog. "Fighting you is a thing, but taking my hat away from me is ASKING for trouble!" he yelled. "Give it back to me right now! (Well, I don't like to use it, but I still need it to match my clothes...)"

"Why don't you make me give it back?" Were-Toon Link stopped on a branch and turned to him, sticking out his tongue and laughing some. "What's wrong? Too scared to get it back?"

Toon Link gritted his teeth and aimed an arrow at the werehog. "On the contrary, you move way too fast!" he complained before he shot the arrow, making Were-Toon Link jump nimbly to another branch. "Dammit, stop! It's not funny to steal my hat!"

"Says you," Were-Toon Link chuckled loudly. "I mean maybe if you could see your face, you'd see why it's funny." He gasped suddenly. "Oh wait; underneath all this fur, I HAVE your face. So let me show you what it's like." He began to imitate Toon Link crying as he continued jumping along the branches. "Oh boo hoo, I'm Toon Link. I need to get my hair back so no one notices how girly I look. Oh boo hoo!" He laughed as Toon Link shot him a dirty look. "Oh, come on, you know that's funny. Though you know what would be even funnier?"

"It'd be funnier if I skin you alive and sell your fur to a fur shop!" Toon Link shouted, shooting another arrow that was easily dodged by Were-Toon Link jumping to another branch.

"No. What'd be even funnier is if I did...this!" Were-Toon Link stopped running. The werehog Hyrulian threw Toon Link's hat in the air, and sliced it into two pieces. Toon Link gasped at this as Were-Toon Link chuckled hard. "Oh man, that is Classic!" he said, actually falling on his back as he continued laughing. He fell down to the ground and quickly picked himself up. "Man, you were trying to get that hat back for so long, and BOOM, it's gone! Man, it must suck being you!"

"T-that was made by my grandma..." Toon Link muttered before he grunted loudly and took out another hat. "L-luckily, I still have many spare ones with me, and they're all made by my grandma!"

Were-Toon Link rolled his eyes. "Gee, I didn't know it was made by your grandma," he sarcastically stated before rubbing his chin. "Oh wait, yes I do, 'cause I'm you from this dimension!" Were-Toon Link pointed at him. "Honestly, why tell me something I already know? What, are you trying to make me see the errors of my 'evil' hat cutting up ways or something?"

Toon Link grunted and gritted his teeth. "I don't see why I shouldn't! You're just a bratty kid who wants to get his way with everything with no responsible people telling you to stop!" He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Were-Toon Link. "Sadly, I'll teach you to be a good puppy, you mutt!"

"Uh, news flash: I'm not so much a puppy as much as I am a werehog." Were-Toon Link pointed his sword at Toon Link. "And where do you get off, calling me a brat? Besides the fur, you aren't all that different from me."

"There's a big, obvious difference between you and me," Toon Link muttered before taking a step forward. "I'm the valiant Hero of the Winds while you're just an annoying prankster!"

"Hey, I was a hero, too," Were-Toon Link pointed out, taking a step towards Toon Link. "Now I'm just playing for the other team. I mean really, if you think about it, doesn't it vary on someone's perspective on what's good and what's evil? You call me evil because I cut up your hat; I call you bad for saying I'm a jerk. Seems about the same to me, even if it doesn't to you."

Toon Link gasped a bit before he shook his head and glared at his evil counterpart. "What are you saying? I'm surprised you're evil when you're supposed to be a good guy! ...Also, since you say we're the same person...I'm going to tell your grandma and Aryll about all this!"

"You're going to tell on me?" Were-Toon Link asked, blinking a few times. "What kind of hero of the winds defeats his opponents tattling? Oh I bet your Ganondorf was shaking in his boots when you told his mommy just what a baaad boy he was being," Were-Toon Link chuckled. "Besides, did you ever think about the fact you're in a reality DIFFERENT than your own? How do you know that the standards of good and evil are the same here? Maybe from our perspective, you're the villains."

"Oh, believe me when I'm saying you're the villain in here, otherwise, we could have spent the time talking with each other...probably!" Toon Link pointed out. "I'm the good guy, you're the bad guy, you need to scram, and I do my happy victory dance. It's that simple."

Were-Toon Link held out his hands. "Oh please, do you know what you are?" Were-Toon Link moved closer. "You're just a freaking, annoying cockroach, someone who needs people like me! You know, people like me that you can point your freaking finger at and say 'That's the bad guy,' well..." Were-Toon Link glowed with energy, grinning sadistically at Toon Link. "Say goodnight to the bad guy!" He charged at Toon Link. The Hero of the Winds readied his sword, as Were-Toon Link stopped a few feet away, grinning widely. "Ha, I'm only quoting Scarface. Always wanted an excuse to do that."

"..." Toon Link had absolutely no idea what the werehog was talking about the random statement. "...I don't know why you just became a lot more...boring..."

"Oh well, sorry that you aren't a fan of good cinema, hat-less me," Were-Toon Link retorted. "But if things are getting so boring, how about we fight?"

Were-Toon Link raised his sword as Toon Link raised his. The two blades clashed several times, with both sides striking at the other, but neither side making any headway. "Trust in your feelings, Skywalker," Were-Toon Link taunted as they continued parrying each others attacks. "It is the only way to defeat the dark side…" This caused Toon Link to grunt simply. "Oh, not a Star Wars fan either, eh?" He raised his other hand, clawing Toon Link hard in the face as he was knocked back. "That is why you fail!"

Toon Link shook his face and raised his shoulders. "Wait, why am I even bothering with you?" Toon Link asked before he turned around and walked away. "You just want attention, that's what every single prankster out there does! I'm really sad you didn't get enough attention before, but I really have to go somewhere else like go help my friends. See you later, sucker!" he yelled.

"Oh no, he didn't!"

Were-Toon Link appeared right in front of Toon Link, making the hero of winds back up a bit.

"I was assigned to fight you and either kill you, convert you into a werehog, or you know, just take care of you however I wanted. But I think the one thing specifically stated was to stop you from helping out anyone else." Were-Toon Link pointed at himself. "Furthermore, what made you even think you could run off anyway? Did you think I would just let you go? Really, if I'm desperate for attention, then you're a damn fool, other me."

Toon Link quickly retaliated by slashing Were-Toon Link's nose, making him cry out in pain and back away from the pissed Outsetian. "By the way, I was told by my grandma I shouldn't listen to people who wish to put me in a depressed mood," he said, walking away to the direction he came from.

Were-Toon Link appeared in front of Toon Link, slicing him hard in the right arm. "Yeah, well, my grandma told me you can't just run off from a fight after slicing someone once. You either let them get a hit back, or stay and finish the job."

Despite the harsh slash, Toon Link kicked the werehog down to the ground. "You lost all common sense now!" he yelled, twitching a bit. "You're really annoying for anyone to listen to you! Also, whatever that mouth full of dirty fangs says is surely going to be something really idiotic as yourself!"

Were-Toon Link rolled his eyes, quickly getting up. "Do you hear yourself talk? I mean, you call ME hard to understand. That barely even began to make sense." Were-Toon Link took out his Wind Waker and smacked Toon Link hard in the face. "Bad, bad Toon Link," he said, smacking him a few more times. "Learn how to taunt people right, or don't do it at all."

Toon Link yelled before he blocked the baton with his shield. "Like you're the best one taunting other people!" he complained. "I-I know you're taunting me, but what gives you the right to show off something you SUCK at?"

Were-Toon Link gathered some dark energy in his hand, smacking Toon Link's shield hard with his baton, knocking him back. "Oh, I suck at it? What about you, then? None of what you said actually means anything. Just sounds like more of a ramble than anything else. And trust me; I got enough of that with Mr. Bore and Watch."

"Who gives a damn about you?" Toon Link asked, regaining his composure. "Well, since you're saying we're the same, then that means you're rambling as well."

"No, we WERE the same. Now we're different." Were-Toon Link pointed at himself. "In fact, I'm 'WERE' different. Get it?" Toon Link simply looked annoyed at him. "Anyway, though we are about the same, there are some differences. For example, you're a rambling whiner who can't even think of a good insult," Were-Toon Link appeared in front of him, booting him hard in the gut as Toon Link was knocked back a few feet, "and I'm a werehog prankster, giving you a dose of kick ass!"

Toon Link lifted up his face from the ground and looked over his right shoulder at the beast. "Oh, like, THANK YOU for pointing that out, Captain Obvious! I'm dying laughing here! I SO want to keep listening to you a bit more so I get to rest and have some dreams where you're NOT there!"

"See, there's your problem; that last parts of that taunt sounded good, but put together with the first part, it doesn't make any sense." Were-Toon Link sighed and crossed his arms. "Just what am I going to do with you?" He paused for a second. "…Oh, I know," he uncrossed his arms and snapped his fingers. "I can pound you into a bloody pulp, and then infect you. Making you better, faster, stronger, and most importantly, having the ability to actually use witty banter!"

Toon Link stared forward in disgust and imagined himse- "OH NAYRU, NO!" he interrupted his train of thoughts before he pushed his feet up and stood in front of the monster. "Sorry, but I don't want to turn into the crap you turned into! There's a room for the good Toon Link, and there's another room for the evil and annoying beast. We can't be in the same room!"

Were-Toon Link bonked him on top of the head. "We're in a forest, not a room, STUPID," Were-Toon Link clarified. "Besides, I'd only turn you into a werehog if you survived the pummeling. And knowing how weak you are, that's a pretty big if."

"Ever heard of sayings before?" Toon Link asked in annoyance.

"Yeah and here's a good saying." Were-Toon Link clawed him hard in the face, leaving a large scratch mark near Toon Link's left eye. "You're about to get cut." Were-Toon Link thought for a second. "That's one I should've said BEFORE I hit you, though. Oh well, live and learn. Well, I don't know how much more living you'll be doing-"

The werehog was interrupted by Toon Link slamming a bomb right to his face, blowing up in the process as the beast growled a bit angrily. "Of course, live and learn. In your case, you need to learn!" Toon Link shouted.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Were-Toon Link wiped the smoke off his face. "Oh, here's a good one" He took out his Hookshot and grabbed Toon Link, reeling him in. He took out a bomb, shoved it down Toon Link's shirt, and threw him a few feet away, causing an explosion behind the young werehog. "Anything you can do, I can do better."

Toon Link landed on the ground with his back, coughing a bit in pain before he got up and pouted a bit. "Oh, yeah, because wolves with smelly rears can do better than the real deals. Oh yes, that's not happening here!" he yelled.

"You're not any more real than me, jerk." Were-Toon Link took out his boomerang. "Do I need to go over the concept of alternate dimensions again?"

"Do I need to listen to you?" Toon Link asked with a sarcastic, happy look.

"Well, you could just die, would that be a better alternative."

Toon Link grunted and took out his boomerang. "No!"

"Guess not…" Were-Toon Link glowed with dark energy as he threw his boomerang. Toon Link threw his as well, the two boomerangs colliding with each other. However, the dark boomerang shredded through Toon Link's, heading for the young swordsman. Toon Link gasped and quickly jumped out of the way. The boomerang collided with a nearby tree, causing an explosion. "Since you don't like listening, maybe you just need to see to realize I'm way out of your league." The dark boomerang flew back into Were-Toon Link's hand, putting it away.

Toon Link took a moment of silence after watching the explosion that he thought was a bit too much. "(Okay, he's starting to get a bit serious...but that's a bit questionable by now because 'serious' doesn't go well with him... Focus, Link, focus! You're the one using the sword of evil bane here. It can punish those evil souls like that stupid doppelganger!)" He noticed his boomerang was shredded to pieces in front of him. "...Dammit!" he cursed.

"Ha, one weapon down, only three specials to go." He ran at Toon Link taking out his sword. "Let's try taking out that blade next." He raised his sword and brought it down on Toon Link, who blocked it with his sword. Were-Toon Link smirked as his sword started glowing with black energy, starting to push Toon Link back. "Come on, surely you can do better than that," he taunted.

"(D-don't fail me now!)" Toon Link yelled, his sword shining brighter as it suddenly began to push Were-Toon Link's sword back, making the werehog gasp a bit. "J-just what I expected! You're plain down evil! The Master Sword knows very well whose good and whose bad here, and it says you're the evil one!"

"(He has a good point,)" Were-Toon Link thought to himself. "(The Master Sword is the sword of light, which means it's strong against negative werehog energy.)" Toon Link started pushing Were-Toon Link back. "(That means his sword is stronger than mine. But I wonder...is it faster?"

Were-Toon Link jumped back before charging forward. He unleashed a quick series of sword strikes on Toon Link, hitting him quite a few times. He did a quick, uncharged spin slash to knock Toon Link back and make him fall to the ground.

"J-just as I thought," Were-Toon Link said, mocking his non-werehog counterpart. "You're just plain dumb, stupid! The Master Sword won't help you if you can't hit me with it!"

Toon Link rolled back and stood up on his feet. "Think that again!" he demanded, pointing his sword at Were-Toon Link. "That cheap copy of the Master Sword you're holding is but a mere false sword! You're just using that dumb black energy to make it look stronger! Even though you're stronger, the Master Sword will repel yours very easily! Actually...I should break yours, idiot!"

Were-Toon Link rolled his eyes. "It's not a fake sword, stupid. It's the same sword as yours. Parallel reality doesn't mean fake reality." He smirked evilly. "Like I said, I'm as real as you are. I'll break more than just your sword. I'll break your back."

Toon Link gasped as Were-Toon Link appeared behind him, swinging his sword. Toon Link jumped just before the attack could hit. Were-Toon Link crouched down, and he jumped as well, appearing above Toon Link, aiming his sword downward. The non-werehog Toon Link quickly took out his shield as Were-Toon Link's sword smashed against the shield. This propelled both of the Toon Links downward, smashing hard into the ground below. Toon Link quickly took out his sword and struck Were-Toon Link hard in the cheek before rolling away.

"You're not getting away that easily," he said as Were-Toon Link took out his boomerang again. This time, his throw made contact, hitting Toon Link in the back and making him hit the ground hard.

"(D-don't give up now. Who really wants to lose to a freak like him?)" Toon Link asked to himself before he rolled forward and stood up. He turned around and narrowed his eyes at his enemy. "(Well, since he's surprising me so much, I should surprise him as well...)" He took out his bow and aimed an arrow at his enemy's face.

Toon Link merely stepped aside and dodged the black arrow, which hit a tree and rapidly burned it before it could pass on any flames to any other plants nearby. The swordsman aimed at Were-Toon Link...before he turned to the right and shot his arrow.

"What are you doing?" Were -Toon Link asked, seeing him shoot the arrow in a different direction.

Toon Link gasped and looked stupefied at the beast. "W-what did I just do? I thought you had other people hiding somewhere around here to make an ambush!"

"Yeah, we do, but there's none around here," Were-Toon Link informed him. "I would worry a lot more about yourself than anyone else, though. Since like I was saying, only that sword gives you an advantage." He appeared right in front of Toon Link, smacking him hard in the face as he knelt on top of him. "That won't do you any good now. All it should take is one more arrow." He aimed the arrow at Toon Link's forehead again, this time only centimeters away from his head.

"Any last stupid words?"

"Yes..." Toon Link trailed off. "Arrow-to-the-butt."

"Arrow-to-the-what?" Were-Toon Link asked, moving forward. "That doesn't make-" he was struck from behind, making him cry out in pain. "OOOW!" He yelled out, dropping his bow as he looked around. "W-what hit me?" he asked, screeching out in pain. He winced and reached behind his back. "...What the..." He pulled an arrow from his rear, inspecting it a bit. "This is...your arrow…" He gasped. "How did it-"

"Too late!" Toon Link interrupted as he swept his right foot along the ground and made the werehog trip down. Acting quickly, Toon Link mid-charged a Spin Attack, delivering several slashes to the beast before the swordsman pushed him away. The werehog growled in pain as he rolled back recklessly before stopping. "As for the arrow, I know where to hit you no matter where you are! (Even though I wanted to strike your head...but your butt sounded funnier to me.)"

"But how did..." Were-Toon Link blinked. "Wait a minute; you aimed that arrow the wrong way on purpose so it could bounce off the trees, didn't you?"

"Oh Din, you're smart? I didn't know that!" Toon Link said sarcastically before chuckling to himself. "Well, yes, I did just that. It's something I learned through hard effort with a pretty cool guy I met. He's awesome. He taught me this technique so I could become better at my marksmanship."

"Aww, so you found yourself an arrow teacher. How cute," Were-Toon Link said sarcastically while getting up. "He couldn't have been too good a teacher if he taught you to aim AWAY from your enemy." Were-Toon Link pointed behind him. "If you had bounced an arrow in back of me, you might've gotten me in a better spot." He smiled. "Though I have to admit, a butt shot is funny. Perhaps deep down, you are a fun loving prankster, just like me."

"Perhaps deep down, I'm lovable," Toon Link said. "And maybe perhaps...I'm a hell lot better of a pathetic prankster than you. Why, your pranks are third-rate compared to mine. I mean, even Ness knows how to be a really good prankster, but I know I'm better than him. Oh, and then, you're on third place. You know why? Because you're a third-rate prankster. Stealing someone's hat is so old, I swear."

"Oh, I had more planned, but that was just the first thing to come to mind. If you want to have a prank war, I'm game." Were-Toon Link sped away. Toon Link looked around a few times confused before he was grabbed by another Hookshot; this one attached to his tights. Toon Link gasped as he saw Were-Toon Link on a branch above him. He then pulled on the Hookshot, making it go up. Toon Link cried out in pain as he was suspended in the air by his pants. "Word of advice: Even butt shots can be topped by atomic wedgies," Were-Toon Link said chuckling.

"Word of advice...you must LOVE butts!" Toon Link yelled out before he tossed a bomb to the tree and made it explode, making the werehog jump away, releasing Toon Link. The swordsman winced in pain before he shot an arrow to another direction, finally hitting Were-Toon Link square on his nose. "Oh, and I like to hit noses."

"That makes you pretty nosy," Were-Toon Link laughed at his own lame joke before pulling the arrow out. "And now I don't like butts, except making you the butt of my jokes." Were-Toon Link took out his bow again, launching several arrows at his opponent. Toon Link quickly rushed away, managing to jump and dodge all the arrow shots fired at him. Toon Link jumped on top of rock and shot his own arrow. However, this arrow was shot by one of Were-Toon Link's, breaking it into pieces.

Toon Link gasped as Were-Toon Link appeared below him. He grabbed the rock he was standing on and held it above his head. Toon Link jumped off as Were-Toon Link broke the rock into pieces. As the rock crumbled, Were-Toon Link kicked one of the pieces, hitting Toon Link Square in the nose, screaming out as he hit ;the ground.

"See? I can go for noses too, as well as HEART!" He jumped right in front of Toon Link, punching him hard near his heart. "KIDNIES!" He kicked Toon Link on the kidneys. "LIVER! STOMACH!" He hit both areas, making Toon Link moan in pain. "Yeah, my target is my entire body" Were-Toon Link grinned devilishly. "Oh, and by the way, don't think your little arrow trick is going to help you anymore." Were-Toon Link shot another arrow at him, Toon Link jumping back enough to dodge it. "I can fire my arrows fast enough to break yours, so no more bouncing along the tree shots for you."

Toon Link didn't seem to mind all the pain. He chuckled and stuck out his tongue. "Nah-nah, nah-nah, naaah-naaah, he can't bring himself to kill me off, nah-nah, nah-nah, naaah-naaah, he really sucks that mu-uch."

"Pfft, you call that a gloat? How about this?" He took out two bombs and charged them with black energy, throwing them on the ground in front of Toon Link. A smokescreen surrounded the Hero of Winds, causing him to cough. He felt himself get pushed to the ground as the smokescreen cleared, Were-Toon Link standing in a tree above him. "Nah, nah, nyah, nah, nyah, you lost your weapons." Were-Toon Link held up Toon Link's sword, shield, and quiver of arrows. "You want to insert a 'Toon Link got your stuff' jingle in your head?"

Toon Link looked angrily at this. "Idiot, you shouldn't have taken the Master Sword with you! It will burn your hand for having an evil heart!" Were-Toon Link gasped before he looked at the Master Sword shining brightly. The light made the hedgehog lose his balance before he fell down and crashed his head hard on a rock that he broke into pieces. Toon Link ran forward to catch his weapons, managing to grab them all with his arms. "Phew, what an idiot he is... He should know better that evil can't wield the Master Sword..."

Were-Toon Link grunted and threw his Boomerang as it glowed with black energy, hitting Toon Link hard in the chest, as the air around him burst into flames before turning to smoke. "And you should know better than to count me out so quickly, moron" Were-Toon Link mocked as the smoke covered the area.

The smoke cleared out in a few seconds. Were-Toon Link gasped as he saw that Toon Link wasn't around anymore. The werehog grunted annoyed before an arrow struck his throat hard from behind. The werehog grunted and turned around to see Toon Link aiming an arrow at him. The swordsman put his bow away and unsheathed his Master Sword. "(Things won't get easier now. He looks mad...)"

Were-Toon Link narrowed his eyes and covered his sword with dark energy. The two glared at each other before they both ran against other, clashing one single sword attack that made sparks fly.

Northern Spring

Right after the werehog version of Nana appeared, Nana looked annoyed at Popo. "Hello? That monster over there said your name clearly."

"No, you don't understand," Popo said happily. "She said your name, but it's just that she's color blind."

"W-what does that have to do with anything?" Nana asked skeptically.

"Well, maybe she sees blue instead of pink and pink instead of blue. How can you tell she has a good vision?"

"Popo, I'm PRETTY sure sh-"

"SHUT UUUUUUUUP!" Were-Nana roared, flashing with more ice energy as she pointed at Popo. "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO RUINED MY LIFE!" she screamed out, her eyes narrowing. "YOU LIED TO ME, BETRAYED ME, USED ME, ALL FOR YOUR OWN SICK, TWISTED ENDS!"

Popo laughed at this. "Wow, did I do all those things in just ten seconds? I must be so l33t, then!"

Nana saw the fearsome glare that the werehog shot at them, particularly more to Popo. "P-Popo, I think you should really watch out about what you're going to say... She looks...so pissed..."

"Why?" Popo asked, putting his hands on his hips that he began to move to the sides in rhythm. "I'll make her eyes bleed with fury? Oh, oh, maybe she'll yell so loudly that the trees will shake with a fearsome echo?"

"I-I think th-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Were-Nana took out her hammer and broke the stalagmite she was standing. It shattered to pieces, making the Ice Climbers move back a bit. She landed directly in front of Popo, dark energy surrounding her. "DON'T TRY AND PLAY DUMB!"

Nana walked to her side, carefully trying to stay cautious. "S-sorry, but he's going to stay like that for a while. I mean, I have a very hard time... W-wait a minute, I should run away with Popo from you!"

"Hey, I'm not trying to act dumb here," Popo said. "I'm playing to act dumb."

"Popo!"

"YOU'RE NOT POPO!" Were-Nana grabbed him by the collar, shaking him many times. "THAT'S JUST THE NAME YOU TOOK! THE NAME YOU USED TO TRY AND MAKE ME PRETEND WE'RE SOUL MATES!" She stared directly into his eyes. "BUT I KNOW YOUR REAL NAME...OPPON CODL!"

Popo and Nana remained in an eerie silence, as the werehog kept glaring fiercely at Popo. Nana shifted her eyes around for a bit before Popo looked at her. "Sweet, there are people out there who can break the rules and give names to other people!" Popo rejoiced.

"P-Popo, she's nuts!" Nana yelled aggravated. "Just listen to those panting sounds, those heavy breathings shooting at your face, and the fact she's showing some fangs to you!"

"Pfft, she's just showing off her high speed thingy, her ridiculous super power thingy, and her whatschamacallit ice energy," Popo said, waving a hand boringly. "What, is she going to punch me in the gut or blow my brains out combining her skills together?"

Nana rolled her eyes, frowned, and slapped her forehead. "I think it's something a little bit to-"

"THAT STILL WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH!" Were-Nana shook Popo a bit more as he continued smiling happily at her. "YOU GAVE ME THIS DAMN INFINITE CHILL!" She held out her hand as it glowed with black energy. "THIS CURSED POWER THAT...that took everything away from me..." She let go of Popo. "My family…they're... they're all gone and I... I can never get them back…" Were-Nana muttered, a few tears dropping out of her eyes.

"...Infinite Chill?" Nana repeated in confusion. "Family gone?"

"Get?" Popo questioned the single word.

"P-Popo!" Nana yelled before noticing the whimpering werehog. "O-okay, something is awfully wrong here for a beast to have those dangerous mood changes. I-I mean, look, she's even sobbing!"

Were-Nana looked up at her, wiping away some tears. "You should know what he's like" she whispered, still holding herself. "More than anyone else, he...hurt and lied to you, right?"

Nana backed away from the rather depressed yet creepy look of the crying monster. "I-I-ah...I-I-ah..."

Popo sat up and looked annoyed at Nana. "Nana, will you just say something before she makes a river of tears? I don't want to taste salty water because you don't respond!"

"Popo, for the last tim-"

"You don't have to say it…" Were-Nana slowly got up, putting her hand on Nana's shoulder. "I can see it in your eyes that he...hurt you as well."

"..." Nana gulped as she glanced at the ripped glove with claws on her shoulder. "...E-er...w-well...h-he...kind of...hurt me...b-but everything's fine now..."

Popo rolled his eyes at this. "Not the kind of answer I was waiting for, Nana."

"Popo!" Nana yelled in annoyance.

"Nothing can ever be fine...not with him around." Were-Nana bowed to her counterpart. "Don't worry, though; I won't let him hurt you anymore. I promise you that." She turned to Popo and, without warning, punched him hard in the face, knocking Popo back. "No matter what universe you're in, all you are is a liar and a bastard! Well, no longer…." She jumped on Popo, pinning him hard to the ground. She took out her hammer and smashed his right kneecap, breaking it as he cried out in pain. "That's only the start of your agony!"

Nana looked shocked at this before she shook her head and looked pissed at this. "W-what the HELL is wrong with you, you monster?" she demanded. "Leave my stupidly absent-minded twin brother alone before I stop you by force!"

"N-Nana...I see a light at the end of the tunnel from down here..." Popo said dreaming.

Nana sweat dropped. "P-Popo, you're not helping here!"

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID VOICE!" Dark and ice energy gathered in her hammer as she brought it down directly onto Popo's head, freezing his upper body before Were-Nana started pounding on him with her fists. "This...will...teach...you... not….to...hurt...me!" she screamed out before seeing Nana walking closer. "Stop!" she yelled out, turning to her. "Look, I know you're upset, but...that's only because you still don't know the full truth. You...you don't know what kind of monster he is."

"W-what the hell is wrong with you? Popo isn't a monster!" Nana yelled. "You're the monster here! He would never try to take away some family, even if he did it by accident...although I think he could..." She shook the thought away. "A-anyway, don't go attacking him...o-or else...I-I'll...I-I'll..." she gulped and took out her hammer from behind, "I-I'll knock you out for good!"

"Nana, I don't want to hurt you," Were-Nana said softly. "I know you're just a victim of...HIM." Were-Nana looked darkly at the frozen Popo. "I know you think you're soul mates...siblings, but you're not. Just like how my Popo used me I...I know he used you, too."

"...Okay, that is IT!" Nana shouted angrily, standing in a fighting position. "Stop the stupid drama now. Popo is still a bit annoying to me, but I don't want to get rid of him! H-he's an idiot most of the time, but he already explained why he did so! To tell you the truth, you don't know anything about us!"

"I know enough." Were-Nana moved away from Popo, stepping closer to Nana. "I know that he lied to you, and that he pretended to care about you. And I know that bastard Master Hand altered your memories, so you forgot the one time he was really open to you, but...no more." Were-Nana smiled. "Once I kill him, we can be free, Nana. You can be happy without him and we can form…the new Ice Climbers: one free of idiotic hateful monsters...one where we never have to be hurt ever again." Nana looked at her at her fairly confused. "Trust me; you'll...be better off so just...forget about him, okay?"

"...N-never!" Nana yelled, smacking the werehog hard on the face to push her away. "Popo!" Nana yelled before she went over the frozen Popo and banged her hammer against the ice, shattering it after pounding it. Popo shook his head and blinked confused. "P-Popo, are you okay?"

"I-I think so..." Popo muttered in pain. "I-I feel like an anvil was tossed at me..."

Nana sighed. "P-phew, you're still okay..." She stared at Popo before she looked bored at him. "...Wait, why am I thinking you're sounding...smarter now?"

Popo rubbed his chin. "Was I acting stupid now?"

Nana rolled her eyes. "You know what? Forget about it..."

"I'm sorry for this, Nana…" Were-Nana muttered as she smacked her hands before putting them on the ground. "ICE PRISON!" she screamed as ice energy shot along the ground. The energy formed a block of Ice around Nana, separating her from Popo. "I guess you're still under HIS influence…" She shot daggers of hate at Popo before sighing. "Don't worry, you'll be free soon, I promise. And even if you still don't want to be a team, well...at least you won't be stuck being his puppet…" She warped right in front of Popo, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him against a tree. "As for you," she said, holding out her hand and shooting a layer of ice energy that froze him to the tree, "it's time for you to go."

Popo looked a bit shocked at this. "O-okay, so when did we get in this place again?" he asked. "A-and why the HELL are you putting my sister in an ice cube?"

"That's so she doesn't get in the way," Were-Nana stated, "so you can't try tricking her into saving you, like you have with me so many times before."

"S-say what?" Popo asked in confusion.

Were-Nana grunted. She sped right in front of Popo, pushing his neck further into the tree. "You know what," she said darkly, starring directly into his eyes. "You aren't my Popo, but you're as much of a liar and a monster as he has." She pointed to the frozen Nana. "And you've hurt her, just as much as my 'Popo' hurt me."

Popo started to get mad at the monster. "Has somebody ever told you that you're a psychotic monster with fur that doesn't have common sense at all?"

Were-Nana elbowed Popo hard in the nose, making the blue parka Ice Climber cry out in pain. "HOW DARE YOU!" she yelled, dark energy surging around her. "IT'S ONLY BECAUSE OF A(BEEP)HOLES LIKE YOU THAT I'M IN SUCH PAIN!" Were-Nan raised her hammer. "YOU PRETEND TO BE OUR FRIEND, OUR BROTHER, OUR SOULMATE, BUT REALLY ONLY PLAN ON USING US UNTIL YOU'VE FUFILLED ALL YOUR SICK THRILLS!" She then breathed in once, pointing over at Nana. "I'M NOT THE ONE WHO LIED TO HER FOR YEARS! WHO HURT HER BY PRETENDING TO BE AN IDIOT?"

Popo twitched at the harsh blow on his nose. "G-god, you have anger issues, you know!" he yelled. "At least I'm not the one with fur spread all over my body and the ridiculous thirst for blood from an innocent guy like me! I acted like an idiot all this time so we wouldn't get hurt emotionally by our pasts! You should be ashamed for accusing me of my excused actions on Nana!"

"I HAD TO BECOME THIS!" Were-Nana showed Popo her claws, looking down at them sadly. "It was... the only way I could learn the truth. About my own Popo betraying me... and getting the strength to take him out, once and for all" she then glared up at Popo. "And his fate is YOUR FATE!" She then slammed the hammer on the tree above Popo, shaking it some. "You really think just trying to hide -what happened will make the pain go away? It won't." She pointed at herself. "When I lost my family, I tried that too. I tried just living with Popo, pretending that nothing happened before that." She turned away. "That was the BIGGEST mistake I ever made. Not only did that fit right into that bastard's plans, but also it made me forget just who I was, and what I came from. Something you have clearly forgotten!"

Popo shook a bit with the tree. He shook his head and pointed at Were-Nana. "Well, excuse me if you're so weak emotionally!" he yelled at her. "Look, I don't care what happened to you in the past or what supernatural thing made you look like this, but I KNOW Nana and I have to make you understand that you're just an enemy to us, and that we need to stop you from yelling at us for nothing!"

"I'm not yelling at her," Were-Nana pointed out, narrowing her eyes at Popo. "I only trapped her so she wouldn't stop me from killing you" images of a different Popo scampered through Were-Nana's mind. "Because she was like I was: 100 Percent loyal to you, because of the bond she believed you shared." Were-Nana smiled a bit. "But when you're dead she'll be happy. It may take awhile but... it will be a much better life then being tied to you!" Were-Nana slammed her hand along the tree, freezing it again, so this time only Popo's head wasn't covered with ice. "You're the real enemy here, always have been." She then pointed At Popo, using a small beam of ice to freeze his mouth shut. "But now is the time to turn you from enemy, to corpse" Energy then started gathering in her hammer, as Popo desperately tried to shake himself out of the ice.

"N-NO!"

Were-Nana turned around confused. "What?"

The ice that had Nana trapped suddenly shattered into pieces as she lunged towards the monster and pulled her to the ground. The two pink Ice Climbers began to roll around the ground while Popo painfully removed the ice from his mouth to yell, "Nana!"

"I didn't expect you would break out so soon," Were-Nana admitted, as Nana looked down at her angrily. "Then again, if you are doing it for him, or the 'him' you think you know, I understand." She pushed Nana away, looking up at her sadly. "Please just...leave," Were-Nana whispered out. "I know it will be hard but... you need to see just what he is, and-"

Popo grunted loudly and whacked hard her head, making her yell in pain before Nana joined in with that attack and pushed the monster away by whacking her at the side with her hammer. Were-Nana went rolling to the right where she stopped and growled angrily at the attacks. Popo and Nana looked worried at each other before standing close to each other. "L-leave us alone, you!" Nana yelled.

Were-Nana wiped a couple of tears from her eyes. "(No... I'm not sick. I'm...not sick...)" she thought over and over in her head. "(But then why... why did it hurt to take his life?)" She then recalled her hammer glowing with a powerful mix of werehog and ice energy, smashing this dimensions' Popo hard into the ground, in pieces. "(And why does it hurt now to... hurt him?)" She looked at the other Popo starring angrily at her. Were-Nana then shook her head. "No... No… NO!" She yelled, pointing her hammer at Popo. "You... you aren't tricking me again!"

"You're tricking yourself here!" Nana yelled. "When did Popo EVER trick you before? Never!"

"Yeah, she's right!" Popo yelled. "You aren't doing anything good: you're a a monster who keeps bringing up this stupid nonsense about me having some kind of influence on you when I haven't even done anything in the first place!"

"What do you have to say to that, idiot furry?" Nana asked, readying her hammer with Popo.

"I know what I'm doing," Were-Nana said determined, looking at the two. "I'm getting rid of the toxic slime," she pointed at Popo, "that would corrupt a pure soul," she then pointed at Nana, "so she won't have to suffer like I suffered."

"You mean Popo is making you go wild...literally," Nana said bored. "Geez, you like to be this dramatic?"

"Go sign up yourself in a theater," Popo said bored. "You'd most likely get the main role."

Were-Nana sped right in front of Popo and punched him hard in the stomach. "I-AM-NOT-INSANE!" Were-Nana yelled, punching him every time she said a word. "You're just trying to treat this as a joke." She then slapped him hard to the ground. "Do you think that's fair? Treating my life as a joke?" She looked away. "I should expect that though since...you're just like him."

Nana grew angry at this that she slapped Were-Nana several times. "You-stop-hurting-my-brother!" she demanded while Popo gasped for breath.

Were-Nana grabbed Nana's fist, moving back her other hand, ready to punch her. She then looked into Nana's determined eyes and sighed. "No, I'm... I'm not going to hurt you," Were-Nana said backing away before Nana could punch her. "You aren't my enemy. HE is." She screamed out and tackled Popo, pinning him to the ground before punching him several times the face. "YOU, WILL, PAY, FOR, HURTING, HER!" Were-Nana screamed down.

"AAAH!" Nana screamed out as she rammed herself against Were-Nana, keeping her brother safe from being brutally attacked. Nana pinned the monster down and turned to Popo. "P-Popo, help me over here or run away, now!" she yelled.

"I-I'm coming to help you out...wait a bit..." Popo gasped for breath as he stood up and rubbed his face a bit.

The ground around the two Nanas suddenly turned white. Nana looked down in confusion as she saw Were-Nana glowing bright white, pushing the non-werehog Ice Climber off her once more. She jumped high into the air, making a stalactite platform to rise above the two. "I didn't want to have to do this with Nana still around, but you leave me with no choice," she said darkly, looking at Popo. "You are now going to face the power of Infinite Chill."

Popo rubbed his face a bit and groaned. "Oh, for crying out loud, now you're being just ridiculous!"

"U-um, Popo, I think she was already ridiculous enough," Nana said as she stared at the stalactite.

"Lunatic people like her can become even more ridiculous!" Popo yelled. "I mean, since she has THIS awful interest on me, that'd mean she loves me so much!"

Nana looked disgusted. "W-while I think that could be true, I REALLY thin-"

"I HATE YOU!" Were-Nana yelled, looking directly at Popo, "AS IF I WOULD EVEN TOLERATE LIVING WITH YOU, LET ALONE CARING ABOUT YOU!" She looked at Nana. "I'm warning you once more, Nana, leave. Get far, far away from here; at least twelve Kilometers. Then... then you'll be safe."

Nana blinked at her. "At least twelve kilometers?"

"And I have to add this is really unfair!" Popo yelled. "Nana gets all the nice warnings while I'm getting the bad red eyes on me!"

"H-hey, I'm helping you out here!" Nana yelled angrily.

"W-well, then tell her to STOP looking at me like that! I've never been insulted like this before!"

"You think that's bad? You haven't even begun to suffer yet." Were-Nana crouched down, crossing her arms in front of her face. "But you will. You will suffer ten times as much as I ever did, and only then will you be allowed to die." Looking up at the sky, Were-Nana started to glow even whiter as she spread apart her arms. "FROZEN STORM!"

The two Ice climbers looked to see a powerful ice wind came from Were-Nana. They covered their faces to try protecting themselves against the wind blowing at furious speeds. The winds blew hard enough to knock Popo down, as Nana quickly helped him back up. They looked in horror to see the ice wind flowing all around them. It quickly started to freeze everything within the area: every rock, every tree, every fallen branch, and even the very ground they were standing on.

The two climbers quickly jumped up, as Were-Nana let out a ferocious roar. Within seconds, the entire frozen area crumbled. Over a hundred square feet was now nothing more than muddy slush on the ground. The two climbers fell back to the ground, slipping the mud before getting up. They turned their attention on Were-Nana, who glared nastily at Popo. "That is only a sample of what I am going to do," she warned, pointing at him. "You will crumble into nothing but frozen dust, then I will never have to see you're stupid face, hear your stupid voice, and see you hurt another Nana ever again."

Popo and Nana hugged each other, seeing the devastation of ice around them. "N-Nana...w-we're going to die, right? We're going to effing die in here, right?"

"D-don't say that!" Nana yelled. "W-we'll just lose this fight, and we'll return to the mansion! T-there's nothing to fear!"

"Y-you're kidding me! We have #1 Popo Assassin trying to see me die on her hands!"

"Claws!"

"Whatever, it's the same!" Popo yelled.

Nana gulped as she tried to come up with a plan against the brutal monster. "(C-come on, something needs to give you some kind of idea to stop her from hurting us like this... S-something, anything will work!)"

Were-Nana looked into Nana's eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, Nana, I'm not going to kill you." She started to glow with slightly less with energy. "I can control these powers enough to avoid hurting you." She sighed. "Though, I warn you. It...will probably hurt to see him gone. You need to remember though." She then started daggers of hate at Popo. "It is for the best," she remarked as she held out her hand, shooting a powerful beam of ice right at Popo. The Blue Ice Climber jumped out of the way right before he was hit. "Sooner or later, even if it means traveling to your dimension and killing you there, you're going to meet the same fate as this world's Popo!"

Popo and Nana hugged each other and cried, "DON'T LEAVE ME ALON-" before they abruptly stopped after recalling the werehog's words.

"Wait, this world's Popo?" Nana asked confused, forgetting the sense of fear both of them had before.

Nana nodded. "Yes" she narrowed her eyes. "I killed this world's "Popo", even though that was only his cover name, and now I will kill yours, and if necessary, any other lying, hurtful Popos to exist! No version of me will ever be hurt by him again!"

"...Okay, now we now you're a psychotic beast," Popo said.

Nana looked angrily at him. "P-Popo!"

The pink Ice Climber suddenly got an idea. "...I hate you, Popo, I hate you!"

Popo gasped at this and looked at Nana. "W-what are you saying?"

Nana flashed some winks at Popo. The blue Ice Climber looked confused before he got the message Nana tried to say.

"W-why are you saying that?" Popo asked as Nana faked pushing him away from her.

"Y-you dimwit! You need to die for causing me emotional pain!" Nana yelled. "I was so blind all these years for believing in you, Popo, but you leave no choice but to kill you!"

Popo faked a serious expression as he pulled out his hammer and let go of it towards some bushes. "Oh no, my hammer! How clumsy of me! How can I be so stupid?"

"Yes, you're stupid for acting so corny and false! Seriously, who does that? You, of course!" Nana yelled as she took out her hammer. "Now, to dust with you, Popo, I don't need to have you around with me, so I'm going to do the world a favor by exterminating you once and for all by myself!"

Popo gasped. "N-no, you knew I was using you, then? Curses!" he cursed. "S-so you know my name is...Oppon...Codl...um...yeah, Oppon Codl!"

"Ha! You can't even remember your name as the fugitive you are? You're making me laugh!" Nana yelled. "You're trying to get out of this one by thinking you're someone named Popo, huh? Well, I'm not falling for that! (THANK GOD he remembered the extremely weird name...)"

"C-curses, you're uncovering my schemes!" Popo said in extreme shock.

Nana raised her hammer over her head. "As for the closing ending, I shall kill you by myself because I'm the one who suffered the most!" She looked over at Were-Nana. "Don't you worry! You helped me uncover the lies of my supposed brother! Thank you so much for your help, but I'll take over here!"

Were-Nana smiled blissfully as she leapt of the stalactite. "That's... that's so great to hear," she said, going over and hugging Nana tightly. "It will be tough, but... I know you can do it..." She quickly warped back, looking at the two. "Still, I know just how tricky this monster can be." Were-Nana looked into Popo's eyes. "So I'm going to stay here and make sure he goes down. Then... then you can finally be happy."

"(FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST GO AWAY!)" Nana thought in irritation. "Y-yeah, exactly!" She forced a glare at the panicked Popo. "Prepare to die, Dumby McDumb!"

Popo gasped as Nana rushed towards him. The pink Ice Climber ran after Popo before she rammed against Popo's back and crossed over some bushes where scream of pain filled the air.

"Good start," Were-Nana said cheerfully, pumping her fist in the air. "Still, that won't be enough." She quickly rushed into the bushes, grabbing Popo before he could scamper away. "Even though he's admitted his true self, he's still going to try fighting back, or in this coward's case, running. You have to be careful; otherwise you'll get him get away, and have a chance to harm you again."

Nana fumed in anger at Were-Nana. "Didn't I JUST say I was handling this? Go away! This is between him and me!"

Were-Nana looked down embarrassed. "Sorry," she said quickly, backing away from Nana. "I just wanted to make sure he didn't get away but... this is your fight. And it should be done alone like... mine." She smiled and turned away. "I know it will hurt when you kill him Nana, but trust me it will be for the best. And I'll be there for you as soon as you are done." She then glared angrily at Popo. "And just to let you know scum, I can sniff you out anywhere around here for miles. So if by some chance you manage to get away from her, you WON'T get away from me". Were-Nana jumped on a tree branch, as she was shown quickly rushing away from the two climbers.

Nana let out a scream as she began banging her hammer against the ground to fool anybody into believing she was attacking Popo. "Dammit!" she cursed loudly. "She's way so annoying!"

Popo thought Nana was actually taking her stress out by banging her hammer on the ground. "I-I know, but what do we do with her?" Popo asked. "She's psychotic, lunatic, and so out of her mind! Do you have some sort of plan to take her on?"

Nana kept banging her hammer on the ground. "Let me think here!" she yelled. "She said something about killing her Popo!"

Popo looked worried. "Wow...then I feel so bad about the monster who made her kill her Popo because that's absolutely cruel and inhuman..." He looked up at the ominous moon overlooking the area. "If we could just think about some way to own her but good..."

Nana banged her hammer hard against the ground. "It's going to take a time to come up with a plan, so wish for me to have enough strength to keep banging the ground here! We need to think about a plan and fast!"

Popo kept staring at the moon. The blue Ice Climber blinked worried at it. "(I just wonder how everyone else is doing... I hope they're okay, but I saw how everyone was pushed away...)"

Open Field's Hill

The moon kept shining its eerie moonlight over the area as a familiar teenager scampered on his feet to slam his back on a tree. The World Traveler put a hand over his beating heart as he heard the loud grunts from Wolf and Sonic as they fought Were-Wolf, failing to land a hit on the swift enemy. "T-this...place...is...the manifestation of hell..." Chris said between pants.

The teenager, although listening to the grunts of pain, sighed in relief and slid his back all the way down to the grass where he sat down to regain his energy. Suddenly, his DS shook, and he took it out to see a worried Kawashima on the upper screen. "T-this is horrible!" he said. "E-everyone is losing health pretty fast!"

"W-what?" Chris asked.

Kawashima nodded and showed Chris a menu screen where every single Smashers' health bar was displayed. The teenager gasped as he saw the icons showing all of them making painful expressions while the bars slowly depleted at an alarming rate. Chris's own icon, however, didn't move as he was safe for the time being. "They're starting to get weaker, Chris. They only have forty percent health left!"

Chris gulped. "W-well, this wasn't as bad as the last extra boss fight, was it?"

"Hmm, maybe...or maybe not, but the point is, it's still very bad!" Kawashima said. "At this rate, they'll faint in no time! They need some healing magic or healing items to recover!"

Chris looked upset. "H-how do you expect me to go over each others fights and heal them? I have the big baddie right behind this stupid, creepy-looking tree, and he wants me to go furry on anyone I come across!"

"Not to mention you'll start calling him your master."

"S-stop, just stop!" Chris yelled, the loud grunting sounds coming to a sudden halt. "I can't leave Wolf and Sonic behind with that monster beating them around! He'll surely use his stupid and powerful smelling powers to track me down and stop me from going away from here, and I'm even starting to think that he'll show up right before m-"

Suddenly, the tree Chris was hiding exploded. This sent the world Traveler rolling back some, as he gasped and saw Were-Wolf in front of him, smiling devilishly. "Or I could hear you're inane attempts at planning a strategy, and just come and find you again" Were-Wolf crossed his arms. "Don't you think that's a more likely option?"

"(...Mommy,)" Chris thought in a high-pitched voice before chuckling nervously. "I-I was merely playing my video game in solitude to release some stress on this bloody superboss I have in my file and...you don't believe anything I'm telling you right now, do you..." he trailed off in boredom.

"No, not really," Were-Wolf admitted. "Though I do find it ironic that you're calling me boss now." He appeared right in front of Chris, wielding his gun/saber. "Since you'll also be calling me that once I infect you." He brought down his weapon, which Chris blocked with his sword. "That or master, I haven't quite decided yet. Either way, play time is over."

Chris groaned. "Y-you just did NOT say that to me!" He remained struggling against the lupine before he thought things over. "...Oh, wait, I think there was actual meaning for saying that... Wait, why am I ever bothering with that? HELP, SOMEBODY!"

"I made sure to temporary incapacitate your nearby allies" Were-Wolf said, motioning over at the knocked over Wolf and Sonic. "And those are the only "friends" you still have around here. Everyone else well... probably best not to think about." He appeared right behind Chris. Were-Wolf's blade glowing, he struck Chris hard in the back with a powerful strike. "HOWLING LUNAR FANG!" Were-Wolf roared, the energy around his sword exploding. This attack made Chris scream out in pain as he smashed into the ground several yards away, moaning in pain. "I didn't want to try damaging too much, but I wanted you to feel the force of this close up at least once" Chris was slowly able to get up. "Tell me, was once enough to make you realize you should submit?"

Chris winced in pain. He shook his head and looked back at Wolf and Sonic on the ground, trying to push themselves up. "(T-they're in a bad shape... I-I need to heal them somehow, but I doubt I could get to the chanting part in time before that bastard attacks me...) U-ugh! I hate you!" he yelled. "You just keep spamming the same moves over and over again! It's HOWLING LUNAR FANG this, HOWLING LUNAR FANG that! Honestly, why can't you be more original? I see many swordsmen in my daily life, but not a thief who happens to be a swordsman!"

"Hey!" most swordsmen back at the mansion yelled annoyed.

Were-Wolf chuckled. "That I agree with you with" he said, looking at his glowing black fang saber. "It would be awfully idiotic to be only able to use that move, over and over again" he turned his attention over to Chris, pointing the sword at him. "Fortunately I know others" Suddenly Were-Wolf's fang sword extended. In an instant, it doubled its length and kept going. Chris gasped as he saw it reach him and tried jumping away. Were-Wolf managed to pierce slightly his shoulder. Chris cried out, seeing the cut had made him slightly bleed. "See, I also have that trick." Were-Wolf then unexpanded his sword, making it normal length again. He licked the energy blade, disturbing Chris. "Normally I wouldn't do something so barbaric, but I wanted a little "taste" of the World Traveler, before making him mine."

Chris was having enough of the attacks. "A-at least Sephiroth is going to be way harder to defeat than you..." he muttered before changing to his Scholar job. "I...I shall heal our injuries now..." He focused his magic into his tome.

"Big mistake." Were-Wolf appeared right in front of Chris, punching him hard in the face as Chris was knocked back some. "That job only works when you have time to concentrate your magic, right? You should know I wouldn't give you that..." Were-Wolf saw something coming at me. "Oh, pardon me a moment." He snatched Chris's scholarly glasses. Chris looked around confused as he saw Wolf charging at Were-Wolf.

"Look" Were-Wolf quickly slammed the glasses right onto Wolf's eyes. "It's the Angry Video Game Wolf." He then punched his Wolf counterpart hard in the snout, making him fall to the ground. "I hope you didn't think I was above hitting a me with glasses," Were-Wolf said, chuckling darkly.

"AERO!"

Suddenly, Were-Wolf saw winds circulating around him. Even though he warped away, the winds still warped along with him, slicing his body several times before pushing him to the ground.

Were-Wolf looked at Chris. "Ah yes, forgot you can't escape magic, which means I have to strike you BEFORE you cast it. Not a problem."

"Nobody takes my DAMN glasses off," Chris said angrily as he took out a spare pair of glasses from his coat's pockets. The scholar turned to Wolf, who covered his eyes in pain. "Hang in there, Wolf... Heal the wound...Cure!"

A pure light shone on Wolf, who stopped grunting in pain before taking off his hand from his face, revealing that he looked healed. "That damn bastard is gonna pay for putting glasses on me..."

Sonic raised a finger from the ground. "Actually, he only hurt your good eye 'cuz your other eye is protected by that headgear piece you're wearing..."

"Even so, once he closes in again, he'll get severely cut to pieces," Wolf muttered, gritting his fangs.

The scholar ran to the lupine's side while Sonic pushed himself from the ground and stood next to them. The trio glared daggers to their single enemy. "We can do this..." Chris muttered, "just like we did with Shadow Fox. This is just another speedy enemy that needs to be SERIOUSLY hurt."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, we'll gang up on him."

"I hate to say this, but we're actually a small but nice trio," Wolf muttered, reaching out for his Blaster. "Kid, you rely on magic while the hedgehog and I beat him up. Should he get close on you, change to a physical fighting job to hold him off long enough for us to reach over your side so you go back and rely on magic either to heal or attack."

"W-what if he overpowers us?" Chris muttered.

Wolf looked at Chris. "Nothing bad is going to happen here, kid," he said. "That bastard only says s(beep)t about his beliefs, but that's all. Don't get bothered... When the time comes...just act."

"(...When the time comes...just act...)" Chris thought. "(...Those were the same words he told Fox when he had doubts about facing the Aparoid Queen...)"

"Hey, daydreamer!" Sonic called out to Chris. "If you forgot, we're gonna resume the fighting!"

Chris snapped out from his thoughts and nodded, opening the pages of his tome. "Y-you go on ahead, then! I won't let that... thing interrupt my magic!"

"Good enough for me," Wolf said, facing towards the amused Were-Wolf. "Hedgehog, you'll be the one to protect the kid since you can stretch your hands anywhere!"

"Gotcha!" Sonic nodded before the two started rushing towards the lupine, Chris starting to chant a fire spell.

"You know, from what I heard about your fight with Shadow Fox, you only won because of having a dozen Star Ocean fighters helping your out" Were-Wolf pointed out, as the three looked at him confused. "This is different though. After all, you're fighting three on three"

But the trio didn't care what the enemy told them. "I give a Bidoof more attention that you!" Chris yelled, closing his eyes. "Burn them to ash-"

"That's a shame" Were-Wolf snapped his fingers. "Attack!" He he yelled. Right before Chris could cast his spell, he was then slammed by something from behind, knocking him down to the ground. Sonic's face was then kicked into the dirt. Wolf just looked confused, seeing Were-Wolf still in front of them. "See, I have more than just incredible speed," Were-Wolf boasted. "I have my own sort of "magical abilities." Namely using the power of Dark Gaia, and the power of the moon to initiate Triplification."

The three looked around shocked. They saw another Were-Wolf in back of Chris. This lupine Star Wolf captain looked the same as Were-Wolf only with dark blue eyes. There was another Were-Wolf in back of Sonic, who was the same as the original but with glowing white eyes.

"Pleasure to beat you" The second Were-Wolf said, cracking his knuckles.

Were-Wolf three then stuck out his tongue. "Didn't know we could do this, did you?" he asked his enemy.

Were-Wolf then walked closer to Wolf, who stared into his eyes. "See, perhaps most overconfident fools would just let you plot out whatever strategy right in front of them, but you're going have to forgive me for not doing that" he pointed over at Wolf. "See, your plan was actually pretty good. Attacking me with quick melee combos while the boy cast magic in the backgrounds. Which is why I stood there, thinking of a way to counter it" he pointed at the other Were-Wolves. "Which is where they come in."

"Can't really cast quick magic if you're just going to keep getting pummeled, can ya?" Were-Wolf 2 asked, taunting Chris.

"And you can't help the kid out if you're busy fighting me, can you were-brethren?" Were-Wolf 3 asked Sonic, who gritted his fangs in annoyance.

"Meanwhile, I can deal with you," Were-Wolf said, pointing at Wolf. "I admit I didn't have too much interest in you before, but there are some things I think we should 'discuss' before your death."

"Honestly, is anyone thinking that this battle is becoming really unfair for us?" asked Diddy.

"No, I actually think it's very unfair to mess with FREAKING PARALLEL DIMENSIONS more than anything else we've faced before," Link said.

"I-I share the pain, everyone, I share the pain!" Chris yelled.

Sonic tightened his fists. "Grr, you've got to be kidding me! I won't stand for this crap!"

"Hedgehog, I think no one wants to stand up for this crap," Wolf said. "Whatever we're dealing with, we'll beat it down."

Chris looked worried over at Wolf. "B-but...I-I'm..."

"Are you going to cry and let this son of a b(beep)h turn you into an idiot furry? Let me tell you something, kid: don't make me feel bad once you get knocked out, please."

"(H-how can he be so sure?)" Chris thought. "(I-I don't have the same courage he has...)"

"Psst, Chris," Kawashima whispered. "I'm here to support you, so you should hear this little info I have for you."

"(What info is that?)"

"Sorry, information time is over," Were-Wolf said, walking closer to Wolf. "I'm collecting not only you, but your other entire little mansion friends. And the time to start that is now." He held out his hands. "Attack, my fellow wolves."

"Roger," Were-Wolf 2 said as he started to glow with dark black energy. "FIRE FLASH!" he screamed out. Chris looked surprised as the Wolf disappeared right before his eyes. Suddenly Chris found himself knocked back some, feeling he had been hit slight on the cheek. He was hit from behind, stumbling forward some, as he looked around confused. "What's wrong, can't hit me?" Were-Wolf 2 taunted, as Chris was knocked back and forth a few times.

"(These stupid copies do not really want me mad, I swear!)" Chris thought as his pages flipped themselves wildly. "Shock the-oww!" he tumbled forward after receiving a slight hit on his head. "T-that hurts a bit, you know!" he complained.

"That's the point," Were-Wolf 2 commented, hitting Chris in the knee, making the World Traveler wince a bit. "See, you may have powerful spells." Chris tried chanting again, only to be smacked in the stomach. "But if you don't have the time to chant them, what good are they?"

"(U-ugh, his attacks are weaker than the real Were-Wolf, but...what if I try experimenting a bit with him? ...That is it. He shall be my guinea pig so I can find out more about how to overthrown the real one... For now, let us play his game...) Oh, you are so right," Chris said, fixing his glasses. "Heheh, I never met such an intelligent person before. I am honored."

"Ha." Were-Wolf 2 smacked Chris around several times in a few seconds, one of the shots even breaking Chris's second pair of glasses. "Flattery doesn't work on me, kid." He kicked him in the butt, making Chris stumble forward. "Since you won't be a nice little victim and just give up, we're going to have to do this the hard way." Chris was knocked around a few mores times.

"Y-you just keep amusing me, nevertheless," Chris said, smiling happily despite being knocked around the spot. "Keep on going. The more I know the more chances I will have to make you stop."

"You put on a brave front boy" Were-Wolf 3 was able to elbow Chris's back hard, making the World Traveler cry out once more. "But I can see right through it." He hit Chris's left cheek. "You're confused." He hit Chris's left cheek. "You're angry." He smacked Chris right on the nose. "But deep down, you're just scared. You don't have any clue how you're going to beat me, let alone win this battle. You're frightened about what will happen to you. And no matter how many times you tell yourself this is just a 'boss battle', deep down you're starting to realize this is actually a fight for survival; a fight you are going to lose."

"Ha, hahahahahahaha!" Chris laughed amused, managing to put back on his glasses. "You make me laugh despite the fact about the outcome. You are truly a funny individual, so keep beating me as many times as you can! Nothing will make a small difference! (Somebody needs to shoot my head with a bullet now...)"

"Is anybody else thinking Chris has become insane at last?" Pikachu asked.

"Nah, I think he's just being optimistic," C. Falcon said. "That should make him feel better...right?"

"I have faith he'll shrug all of this off," Master Hand said. "That is how a true Smasher fights."

"I guess. We do the same every day after every match..." Ness trailed off. "Let's see how Sonic is doing now."

Meanwhile Were-Wolf 3 pulled out his blaster and shot a powerful blast at Sonic. The werehog was able to duck the shot as Were-Wolf 3 fired again. "Don't think these shots are any less real, because I'm only Wolf 3," Were-Wolf 3 taunted, hitting Sonic, who was blasted into a three. "I'm sure you know by now that's not the case."

"HA!" Sonic yelled, stretching a long fist attack that managed to punch the copy away. The werehog pushed his back away from the tree and rushed towards his opponent. "(I'm not gonna let that guy get into my nerves. If he does, he's dead meat!)"

"It will take more than that," Were-Wolf 3 commented, rubbing his face. "(I can't let him hit me again,)" Were-Wolf 3 thought, "(which means I better kick this into overdrive.)" He pressed a button on his blaster as it glowed for a second. He shot with it again, but this time a very fast, quick bevy of shots. Sonic dodged this as he stretched another fist, only for Were-Wolf 3 to shoot at it several times. Sonic cried out as he retracted his fist, only to be hit by another batch of laser blasts. "I'm not done with you!" Were-Wolf 3 yelled, shooting a continuous stream of laser blasts, whose shots hit Sonic and made him roll back.

"M-me either!" Sonic yelled, crossing his arms in front of him to block the blows. The werehog began to advance forward. "(Wait...his attacks aren't that strong... In fact...I think I can rush at him and just shrug them all off!)" Sonic thought with a wicked grin before he began charging towards the third Were-Wolf, managing to close on him to deliver a harsh uppercut, jumped up and slammed his claws down on the copy, slamming him hard against the ground. "Ha-ha, so much for th-"

Were-Wolf 3 appeared right behind Sonic, doing a double handed sideways smash that made Sonic tumble back some. "Okay, you've had it," Were-Wolf 3 said. "(Actually, two more hits and I've had it. So how can I...)" He thought for a second and smiled. "Oh, I just thought of something amazing." He held out his right hand, concentrating some as a stream of energy appeared above it. "After all, I'm just a copy…." Another blaster then appeared in his right hand, which he grabbed. "So why not have a copy of this?" he asked, as he pointed two guns at Sonic.

"You and your stupid speed make me GO MA-"

"Oh, only one of them is for speed." Were-Wolf 3 blasted Sonic with his left gun, shooting a bevy of shots, which knocked the werehog back, some as continued charging at Were-Wolf 3. "However, the other one isn't." Were-Wolf 3's right gun was shown charging with a bright yellow energy. He shot it at Sonic, making the Hedgehog fly back a few dozen yards, hitting a rock at it exploded into pieces around him. Sonic's werehog fur was charred as he slowly stood up. "And that, by the way, was a level 2 shot. I still have another, HIGHER level I can hit you with."

Sonic gasped as he tried charging at Were-Wolf 3 again, only to be hit by several more of the left gun's quick shots. He was fried by another charged right shot, blasting him even further back, making Sonic cry out in pain. "I hope you haven't thought of giving up yet," Were-Wolf 3 taunted.

"(He doesn't really know that it's going to be even more enjoyable once I pound him down...)" Sonic thought with a snicker as he stood up. "Heheheheheh...come on, that isn't even your best shot."

"Doesn't need to be!" Were-Wolf 3 was heard yelling, before another volley of quick laser blasts pelted Sonic, before he was blasted by another Level 2 shot. This one hit Sonic right in the gut, making him fly back and hold his stomach, moaning in pain quite loudly. "Remember, you're the only werehog who DOESN'T have an increased of speed, which means even if you try stretching, I can see all your moves coming." Sonic tried running towards him, only to be hit by another quick round of laser blasts, and another charged blast, which made him skid hard into the dirt, "That fur of you gives you a layer of protection, but even that won't help after a dozen of so more of these!" This time Sonic tried jumping in the air, only to be hit by another round of laser fire, and another charged shot, which made him hit the ground once more. "Still have that ego, Sonic the Wasted-hog?"

"Oh yeah!" Sonic rejoiced, making the copy look confused. "(I saw Chris trying to stay optimistic a moment ago...and I have to say that this makes the battle far more tolerable...)" He pushed himself up and rushed towards the third copy. "You just NEED to get smacked down hard!" he yelled, letting out a laugh as the third copy aimed at him.

"Oh, I get it, trying to act crazy." Were-Wolf 3 blasted him both guns, knocking Sonic to the ground. "Sorry, that may work on some idiots, but that definitely wouldn't be us," he said, as the hedgehog/werehog grumbled, and dusted himself off, only to see more laser fire coming at him.

Meanwhile, Were-Wolf and Wolf continued their fight. Wolf threw a few punches, as Were-Wolf easily dodged them and grabbed his arm. "Oh, sorry, not good enough." He twisted the arm, making Wolf cry out in pain. "Then again, you never WERE good enough." He kicked Wolf hard in the stomach, making him stumble back, "especially if what I heard about you is true."

Wolf did a quick turn and slashed Were-Wolf on the face. "Don't get so cocky now," he said. "You just might lower your guard, idiot." He backed away from his enemy, claws ready to slash at anything dangerous that came to his direction.

"I'll keep that in mind." Were-Wolf held out his right claw. The claws grew about one foot long on his right hand. Wolf looked a bit shocked at this, as the claws shot out of Were-Wolf's hand. The lupine was able to dodge his evil furry alternate by twirling over them. Soon as he landed though, Were-Wolf appeared behind him, having grabbed one of the claws he shot and slashing Wolf hard in the back. "Though really, how much of a guard should I put on fighting you?"

Wolf was able to take out his Blaster and slash Were-Wolf across his face. "Time to go brutal on you... Ha!" Wolf yelled as he began slashing continuously the real enemy, slashing him upwards before he took a step forward and delivered a harsh downward slash to knock Were-Wolf along the ground, Were-Wolf making a quick spin, twitching a bit in pain. Wolf grinned and crossed his arms. "What do you know, a critical hit," Wolf muttered with a chuckle.

Were-Wolf spun on the ground, kicking Wolf in the leg and making him stumble back. Were-Wolf then jumped forward, grabbing his alternate by his tail and slamming him down on the ground. "You want a critical hit?" He shot out his claws again, pinning Wolf's jacket and pants tops to the dirt below. "How about this?" Were-Wolf held out his blaster, showing its fang. The fang extended, hitting Wolf hard in the stomach before turning back to normal. Wolf coughed a few times, looking down and seeing a rather large wound, which had blood trickling out of it. "Tell me, which hit is more critical, weakling?" Were-Wolf asked with a knowing sneer.

Wolf chuckled. "As if I gave a damn," Wolf taunted, making Were-Wolf roll his eye. However, this was an actual plan Wolf was thinking about. He reached out for Were-Wolf's right leg and pulled him to the ground. The leader of Star Wolf (the good one) made a swift move and used his Blaster's knife to leave a deep wound against Were-Wolf's face, making him twitch even more in pain while Wolf got up and backed away. "We're even now," Wolf said darkly.

Were-Wolf sped right behind Wolf, glowing with black energy once more. "We could never be even" Were-Wolf stated, chopping Wolf hard in his left shoulder. The good Star Wolf leader groaned as he tried backhanding Wolf, who was able to turn away and grab his arm. Wolf tried punching him with his other hand, as Were-Wolf grabbed that as well. With his arms pinned, Wolf tried struggling away as Were-Wolf simply smirked at him and leaned his head back. He smashed Wolf hard in the face with a powerful head butt, letting go as Wolf quickly hit the ground. "Normally no one wins with a head-butt, but I'm an exception" Were-Wolf taunted. "And you want to know why?"

Wolf grunted and rolled back, feeling worn out as he knelt down and looked up at his enemy. "D-do I even want to know?" he snarled.

"It's rather simple. I am a soon to be universe conqueror dripping with the power of an ancient god, and you are a stereotypical gruff rival trying to play tough, even though deep down your as soft and vulnerable as all the other smashers. From those equally trying to play tough, to the goofy fools hiding their own secrets, to of course the boy you seem to be growing a fondness for."

"At least he's not like you, you power-hungry foo-" Chris yelled before being knocked away by Were-Wolf 2.

"That yell is all I need to remind myself...I'm not a power-driven bastard like you..." Wolf said as he stood back up. "I've got common sense to live a life where...people start fearing me...instead of hating me..." He shook his head and forced a grin. "But not fear me out of power...fear me out of my actions..."

"You think people are going to really fear you?" Were-Wolf asked as he grabbed Wolf, and picked him up with his left claw. "That only would be if there's something to actually fear about you, which there isn't." Were-Wolf spun Wolf around a few times before letting go. The lupine leader of Star Wolf was flung over away, tumbling along the ground a few times before landing in a bush. He slowly picked himself up, before realizing that Were-Wolf was right in front of him. Were-Wolf kicked him, making Wolf tumble along the ground right outside of the open field. He picked himself up, once more finding Were-Wolf in front of him. "At least, once people find out your secret anyway" he smugly replied.

Wolf chuckled, despite he coughed out a bit of blood.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." Were-Wolf then stomped on Wolf's stomach, making him spit out some more blood. "Not only because you literally only have minutes until the end of your existence, but because of what I found out about you." Were-Wolf looked around. "You probably wouldn't want to discuss this around everyone else, which is why I knocked you away. From what I've seen, that little handheld the child uses can't communicate with others in your group. Otherwise he would've used his DS to check in and hear my group slaughtering yours. Which means there's no one around to hear us" Were-Wolf leaned closer to his alternate world counterpart. "Good thing too, because you probably wouldn't want it getting out that your nothing more than James McCloud's little errand boy" Were-Wolf whispered out.

Nimbly, Wolf tossed a hard punch to Were-Wolf, making him back away a bit. The lupine rolled to the right and stopped by kneeling down, looking a bit amused at Were-Wolf. "I wouldn't...want you to mock me with that... I tend to get rougher," Wolf said. "A real shame you can't... even have a clean rivalry... Heh..."

Were-Wolf rubbed his cheek some, looking bored at Wolf. "You do realize even by getting 'rougher' you still aren't hurting me," he commented. "Now that I've strengthened my defense, your attacks can't really inflict damage" Were-Wolf punched hard in the snout, making him hit the ground as Wolf moaned some in agony. "Unlike mine" He moved a bit closer. "Also, what's so "clean" about a rivalry when you were asked to take care of your foe's kid, and you actually agree? That's not rivalry, that's babysitting."

"...Just...look at yourself...and everything around you..." Wolf muttered weakly. "By now...the James McCloud of this place...would have grown sick of you... What good is there...when your rival considers you...a power-driven trash? That's what I meant...by a clean rivalry... (Stay on your feet...)"

"The James McCloud of this world is dead, first off," Were-Wolf pointed out. "And not the ambiguous there is a slight possible chance he could come back. He's dead in pretty much every sense of the word." The power hungry dark Wolf held out his claw as it glistened with energy. "Furthermore, I see no point in caring what your rival thinks of you. Your suppose to think differently than him for a reason, and that's the reason why you fight. Thus if you did think the same as he did, there would be no point in even starting a rivalry." Wolf tried rushing at Were-Wolf with a Wolf Flash, but Were-Wolf merely sidestepped it without any effort. Wolf stopped and looked annoyed at his near duplicate copy. "Besides, rivalries are only good when you actually respect the person you're fighting against, and see him as a threat. Things that my Fox McCloud stopped being, and reasons why the next life I take after yours, will most likely be his."

Wolf shook his head. "Pfft...no wonder this place is the REAL hell hole..." he muttered. "It must be really...disappointing that you don't enjoy things I can enjoy by myself... I'll die happy knowing I'm better than you," he sighed with a frown. "That's all I need to know...to feel very satisfied with myself... Enjoy you reign 'cause it won't ever get to be like my life..."

"What have you even done that's so enjoyable anyway?" Were-Wolf asked. "Even though you're soft you act like your so much tougher than everyone else and don't bother to actually socialize with them. Thus it's not like you've had any good memories with them in your mind" The energy around Were-Wolf's claw started to glow even brighter. "From what I heard from my 'source', the only enjoyment you've gotten is the occasional smirk or prank at someone's expense, or getting to keep your secret for another day. If that's what you considered a good life, then you really are better off dying". Were-Wolf walked a step closer to him. "Before you go, one last question: Even if you'll hold on to your mental and emotional superiority until you burn in the real flames of hell, can you at least see that physically I am your superior?"

"Do I even want to know?" Wolf asked with a chuckle. "If you haven't noticed...you've been saying the same stuff over and over again all night long... Sheesh, you need a life..."

Were-Wolf rolled his one good eye. "Ah, I see your going out on one last sarcastic quip. Not even a good one but hey, there's been more idiotic last words... probably." The energy around Were-Wolf's claw released as it slashed right in front of Wolf. "SLASHING WOLF CLAW!" Were-Wolf called out. The good lupine of Team Star Fox cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, with a large wound across his right arm. Were-Wolf charged more energy into his claw, as was able to look up once more. "Don't worry my inferior alternate: You'll soon be leaving this 'hell' and joining the real one," he darkly added, glowing as he raised his claw above his head.

Wolf grunted angrily. "It's funny to think...I'll go to heaven instead!" he yelled.

Wolf blinked and turned towards the left where a figure came swinging between the two wolves. Were-Wolf was unable to notice as he brought down the energy of his claw upon the new figure. Oddly enough, his attack backfired, and his same energy turned directions and pushed him hard enough to make him grunt, sending him flying out of the forest.

"..." Wolf saw the figure crashing against the nearby tree besides him. The figure fell down to his lap with a dazzled look. "...You?" Wolf muttered in boredom.

Chip stood back to his feet, his eyes rolling out of sync. "I-I knew swinging a bit too fast wasn't such a good idea..." he muttered, tumbling along the ground. "O-oww..."

"What in the name of... Ugh, I don't care by now..." Wolf muttered, pushing Chip aside to stand back up.

Chip's eyes rolled before he gained his composure and sat up, looking up at Wolf. "Oh, what do you know? I think my rescue entrance actually worked..." He showed Wolf his little whip. "I LOVE this attire."

Wolf grunted. "Why...why did I have to be...saved by you, of all people?" he asked.

"...Because that's what heroes do?" Chip asked. "Wow, you look pretty beat up... Have Chris heal you," he said. "If you ask me, that bad copy of you has a big mouth. Pfft, he likes to talk about strength all night long, don't you think?"

"You...were listening?"

"...No," Chip said. "The last time I saw him, he talked about that nonstop. What, did he repeat the same stuff to you?"

"..." Wolf looked away. "I knew I wasn't wrong about his...stupid speech about power..."

"...Meh," Chip lifted his shoulders. "That's your typical conqueror. They think too highly of themselves, and when they least expect it, they get brutally murdered...sort of," he said.

"...Anyway..." Wolf began with a sigh, "what the heck did you to reflect his attack?"

"Dunno," Chip said. "I thought I was shielded with my heroic entrance. Normally, that always works for a last chance rescue." He smiled pleased. "I knew movies weren't lying to me! I'm so happy!"

"No, seriously..." Wolf trailed off as he tried to regain his energies to keep talking. "I think something else did that... I don't honestly think your entrance had anything to do with it."

"Light Gaia repels Dark Gaia?"

"...What?"

Chip looked away and folded his arms. "Well, that guy was talking so much about my brother, and while I was hiding, I decided to get serious... I got a headache of thinking too much, but he claims to have Dark Gaia on his side..." He looked up at Wolf. "This isn't really true with my brother and I, but here, our beings repel each other..."

"..." Wolf stared at Chip.

"...I know it's sort of crazy, but it might be just not that crazy here," Chip said. "...Please, don't hit me."

"...I wouldn't be surprised by anything now," Wolf said. "I think I can put that crazy theory to good use somehow..."

"It's not so crazy." Were-Wolf appeared behind Chip and Wolf, as the two turned to look at him. "Gaia energy works differently in various universes. How else would you explain your world's Dark Super Sonic?" Were-Wolf asked.

"Err, we don't really wanna talk about that guy..." Chip said as he itched closer to Wolf. "Besides, we don't really know what works here. We're not that into foreign terms..."

"Point is, I wouldn't be calling your miraculously save stupid by any means" Were-Wolf pointed at Wolf. "If anyone else had come you would've died. You should be grateful to the little imp he happened upon you" Chip actually smiled at this some as Wolf groaned. "Actually I'm a bit grateful as well. See it's been getting oh so boring chatting with someone who believes I go on and on about the same thing, when he is the very definition of repetitive." Were-Wolf pointed at Chip. "And like I said before I have been waiting to use some torture techniques I've thought up on my world's Light Gaia on you. Want to see a few of them now?"

"That will have to wait," Wolf said as he grabbed Chip's head.

The imp looked unsure. "U-um, what are you doing with my head? You're squashing my hat..."

"This!" Wolf yelled as he flung Chip to Were-Wolf. The enemy stepped aside and let the imp fall behind. "Hmm..."

"Trying to come up with an idea using the imp, eh?" Were-Wolf asked. "Probably the brightest idea you've had all night. Well that, and realizing your fate before."

Chip floated back up and used his whip to lash his head. "I-Indiana Chip fears nothing! Bow down to your maker!" he yelled out of panic.

"You do know that's pointless, right?" Were-Wolf asked, turning his attention to Chip.

Were-Wolf turned back to Wolf and the first was met by a Deku Nut exploding against his face. The resulting explosion let out a fierce flash that blinded his eyes, and he was pushed down to the ground. Chip shifted his eyes uncomfortably and saw Wolf pointing at Were-Wolf's face. Out of panic, Chip latched himself hard against the enemy and plugged his ears.

"W-what are you doing?" Chip asked as Were-Wolf twirled his head around, paralyzed.

"You distract that spawn of the demon while I go back and aid the others!" Wolf commanded as he painfully ran back to the open field. "Your weird Light Gaia stuff should hold him off long enough!"

"I-I don't have much confidence in myself!" Chip yelled.

"Well, dammit, get some and help us here!" Wolf yelled as he went out of sight.

Chip sobbed a bit. "Is this how I was supposed to help? Latching my fuzzy, soft body against this guy?" he asked to no one in particular. "Eww, I think my butt is sitting on his bloody snout..."

Back on the open field, on the western side, Chris tripped down because of a fast attack from behind. The scholar yelped before hitting the grass, keeping a tight grip on his book. His face looked bruised along with his hands, but he was able to keep his composure. "Such brutality...you must be a monster..." he muttered before standing back up, adjusting his glasses. "But I am surprised...that I can still stand up..."

"Oh, relax," said the second Were-Wolf, smacking Chris from behind again making him lean forward. "The hits are fast, not powerful." He hit Chris on the face again. "It will still take awhile to knock you out" he then chopped him in the back, making Chris yelp. "But since you can't do anything to attack me back" He hit Chris on the nose again, "I'd advise just trying to stand there until I make you fall.

Chris shook his head. "Y-yes...I did notice your attacks are rather feeble..."

"An Over Limit is ready to be used!" Kawashima said.

"(I do not think I should use it with this job... The items I have will not be very helpful in this situation... But...but I am getting so sick of that brat of a lupine...)" Chris thought.

Were-Wolf 2 smacked Chris in the side, making him spin around some. "Must be frustrating having the power to potentially defeat me, but not being able to do it." He attacked the other side, knocking Chris in the opposite direction. "Actually, it's more like pathetic, and considering how pathetic you were already, that's just another level of 'patheticness'." He tapped Chris in the right side again, knocking him back.

"D-dammit..." Chris muttered.

"Face it kid, you're too slow." Were-Wolf 2 hit him again. "You're too slow." He smacked Chris again. "You're too slow." And again. "You're too slow."

Chris grunted mentally while a vein popped out of his forehead. He smiled sadistically and opened his frustrated eyes. "You shall NOT mock me like that, you filthy, son of a-!" he interrupted his yell as he quickly raised his book and slammed it down in front of him.

The hit made contact with his enemy, prompting dizzying Were-Wolf 2. The scholar closed his eyes and, angrily, shoved his open book to his face and shut it countless of times, painfully pulled Were-Wolf 2's nose with the closed book. Chris screamed out and dealt a harsh smack on the face, causing the copy to fall back with a dazzled look.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Chris yelled to vent off his anger.

"...And thus, Chris finally snapped out of it," Pit commented. "I grieved to see this day coming..."

"Oh my, I hope he feels okay..." Peach trailed off worried.

"I'm sure he is, Peach...I'm sure he is..." Mario trailed off.

Chris opened his eyes and looked down at his dazzled foe. "...O-oh, what did I just do?" he asked.

"Congratulations," Kawashima said. "You have pulled out your job's personal critical hit, and you've gained a free turn to keep attacking!"

"I-I do not want to have such a stressing critical hit like that!" Chris said.

"Um, Chris, do something before your enemy gets back on his feet," Kawashima said.

"...O-oh, right! I-um-am going to change jobs!" Chris said out of panic as he changed to his Swordsman job. "I-I'll use my Over Limit on this guy!" He raised his sword. "D-don't get so cocky now!" he yelled, causing a rainbow aura to explode in him, pushing Were-Wolf 2 some feet away.

"What in the..." Were-Wolf 2 quickly stood up as energy gathered around him. "I don't know what happened but I won't give you a chance for a counterattack. WOLF-"

"Too DAMN slow!" Chris said, delivering a fast slash to hurt the lupine. He stepped forward and unleashed his Final Smash. "This is it," he muttered before he swiftly sliced the lupine across all his body while the teen stood calmly on his spot. The lupine grunted louder and louder with every slash slicing his body. Chris pulled back his sword and aimed it perfectly Were-Wolf 2's chest as he tried to regain his composure. "You shall fall by MY hand. Grand Cross!" he shouted vigorously, delivering a harsh stab on Were-Wolf 2's chest. The harsh stab ended up crossing right through the lupine's chest as his eyes widened in pain.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" Were-Wolf 2 cried out in agony. Before Chris's eyes, the lupine started to vanish in a stream of purple and black energy. After a few seconds, the only remains of Were-Wolf 2 were the small amount of blood dripping along the World Traveler's sword.

Chris, disgusted, took out a napkin and cleaned his bloodstained sword. He smiled pleased and put the sword back into his sheath. "On to the next one," he said relieved.

"Great job, Chris!" C. Falcon cheered with some others.

"That was a nice finisher," Marth remarked. "Keep on the good work."

Chris blushed embarrassed. "O-oh, don't say those things. I'm really embarrassed..."

"You kinda looked cool with your lines, so don't look like that and screw up your image," Falco said.

Confidently, Chris nodded. "Now I just need to do the same thing with the big baddie, and THEN I'll be really happy," he said before he shone brightly. "W-what's happening to me now?"

The Smashers back on the mansion saw as Chris stopped shining brightly. The World Traveler's Swordsman look had disappeared, and its place, he wore a new set of clothes. Chris wore a red cape with a red-and-white open robe with a red shirt underneath, together with black pants that were slightly covered with the thin robe, and brown boots. He was also wearing a red hat with a long white feather on the left side. His sheath was holding on under the robe on his brown belt.

The World Traveler looked at his finger-less black gloves. "T-this...this is a new job..." he said. "My Swordsman job...evolved?"

"Nicely done," Kawashima said pleased. "You have obtained the Red Mage job class after gaining enough experience for the Swordsman job!"

-Red Mage

D: Red Mages are able to use a wide assortment of weapons, including both Black and White Magic. However, they are unable to become true masters of either school of wizardry. With enough training, they are able to attain the powerful skill Doublecast, capable of casting two spells at the same time.

"I-I'm now a Red Mage? I didn't think this job could evolve..." Chris trailed off.

"Nice hat," Diddy said with a chuckle.

Chris looked at his red hat with the feather. "B-but I like this hat. It's unique," he said.

"Will you stop discussing your clothing and go help Sonic?" Fox asked. "He needs help!"

"I-I was just mesmerized by this job, sorry!" Chris apologized as he watched Were-Wolf 3 shooting lasers from his Blaster at an area where Sonic was hiding. "(But now that you mention it, since I'm a Red Mage and he hasn't noticed me yet, I should use spells from far away...)"

The World Traveler was doubtful in getting closer to their fight. He gulped and looked around.

"...I need a hiding spot," Chris muttered. "I don't care if I get spotted... I'll muster up my courage and fight him head on if he does get here." He hid back into the forest where he leaned his back against a tree. He peeked out and looked back at the lupine. "(Alright, you bastard. I hope you're ready to be ganged up from close and afar...)"

Over on the other side of the field, Were-Wolf 3 was shown holding both of his blasters out. A quick barrage of fast shots came out of one gun, shooting holes in surrounding trees and rocks. The other blaster shot out a long stream of energy, eradicating every part of the environment it met. "Come out come out wherever you are" Were-Wolf 3 taunted, turning his head and looking at all the nearby trees. "Sooner or later I'm going to get you. And you know it's only going to take a few more shots to take you down."

"(I could SO totally own him if I wasn't a werehog, but noooooooooo, I'm stuck in this form all night long,)" Sonic thought. "(Hmm, now that I think about it, I should file a sue letter to my creators... Stay focused, Sonic, because you need to be ready for an opening.)" He ducked down to evade a laser shot crossing the tree. "(But when is that gonna happen?)"

Were-Wolf 3 looked around bored. "I have to admit I'm starting to get bored at just shooting around" he admitted, as the fairly charred Sonic looked from behind a tree. "I think it's time I ended this, don't you agree?" He pressed a button on the side of his blaster. "I think you'll be able to survive a third level charged shot from one of these. Sure you'll be unconscious and in an unbelievably agonizing amount of pain afterward, but I don't really care about that."

Meanwhile, on the western side of the field, green sparkles rose up around Chris's feet as he focused. "(A new spell!)" he thought before holding out his hand out of tree towards Were-Wolf 3's direction. "Thunder!"

Were-Wolf 3's gun started to glow with a dark purple energy as he pointed it at a group of trees right in front of Sonic. "Say goodnight, you inferior wereho-" Suddenly Were-Wolf 3 was blasted by Chris's bolt of Lightning. The shock not only knocked him to the ground, but also knocked away the gun he was pointing Sonic with, making it fall several yards away. "Huh?" Were-Wolf quickly got up, moaning some in pain. "What hit..." he then sniffed the air and turned behind him. "Wait, that's the kid's smell."

Chris gasped and looked serious. "(Yes, I knew this place is one big animal kettle where everyone can sniff you out,)" he thought. "(In other news...he's targeted me!)"

"Thinks he can hit me from behind eh?" Were-Wolf 3 held up his other gun as it started to glow with energy. "I can smell you brat. I'm not sure how you defeated the other Wolf, but one shot of this an-" Suddenly Were-Wolf 3 was knocked to the ground again by a harsh kick, making his other gun fall to the ground as he was knocked a few feet away. He looked up to see a severely injured Wolf looking down angrily at him. "You?" he asked confused slowly picking himself up. "Where did you come from?"

"Does it matter?" Wolf asked before he stepped away where Sonic jumped out from his hiding spot and slammed down his fists on Were-Wolf 3, making him gasp in pain.

Sonic roared angrily and began smashing down his fists on his enemy. "GEEEEEEAAAAAARGH!" Sonic roared angrily as Were-Wolf 3 found himself unable to move from his spot.

Chris peeked out and gasped at the scene. "T-those two are okay!" he said.

"Chris!" Kawashima called out. "Something's happening to Sonic's health!"

"What do you mean by that?" Chris asked, hiding back behind the tree.

"Because Sonic has been attacking many times under his form, his health as a werehog just increased by twenty percent," Kawashima said. "He has fully recovered all the life he lost!"

Chris sighed. "(I thank thee, game mechanics... I thank thee...)" he thought mentally.

Back on the fight, Sonic forcibly grabbed the badly hurt Were-Wolf 3 with his claws and smirked at him. "Not so tough now, are we?" he asked.

"You...haven't won yet," Were-Wolf 3 claimed as he held out his hand. Energy started to form around it as another gun appeared in it. "Not...by a long shot."

"True that," Sonic said as he extended his claws towards the sky with Were-Wolf 3 in them. "Bye-bye, though!" he yelled as he jumped and strongly slammed down Were-Wolf 3 onto the ground. The magnitude of the attack left a big hole around the copy as he yelled in pain.

"We will... still win..." Were-Wolf 3 was able to mutter out before he disintegrated into a mist of purple and black energy, before nothing but the hole in the ground was left of him.

"Think not!" Sonic said with a scoff.

Chris peeked out his head and ran out from his spot to join up with them. "Oh, you're both safe!" he said relieved before looking happy at Sonic. "Nice job, Sonic. You managed to beat your own copy!"

"What can I say?" Sonic asked with a grin. "They're all bark and no bite."

Chris looked at Wolf. "Oh my god... You look pretty...bad..." he trailed off.

"And you look pretty red..." Wolf shot back.

"I-I like this job's clothes, thank you," Chris said. "I-I need to cure you as soon as possible. Just let me see if I can do it..." He put his hands close to each other as white sparkles circled around him. "(Another new spell!)" Chris cheered on his mind before opening his arms towards Wolf's direction. "Cure!"

Green sparkles rained down upon Wolf, and his severe wounds were healed and closed, leaving no marks of blood. Unfortunately, he still looked bruised, but his recovered health allowed him to stand firmly. "T-thanks..." he muttered.

"Phew, I'm starting to like this new job so far," Chris said pleased.

Sonic turned to Wolf. "Please, tell us you beat your own copy of the main bad guy. Oh, that's right, that copy IS the main bad guy," he said. "Did you?"

Wolf shook his head. "Sadly, I didn't do much," he said. "That imp guy appeared out of nowhere and he reflected his attacks with his body."

Chris and Sonic stared dumbfounded at Wolf.

"...Don't stare at me like that," Wolf said annoyed.

"No, that's not it..." Chris trailed off. "I'm surprised you left a cosplaying imp with a mauling, power-hungry lupine in the forest while coming all the way here... You did save us, though..."

Wolf frowned. "We won't die in here," he said. "The hand said so. Stop thinking we'll die."

"We can't die, but our minds CAN be mentally scarred," Chris said. "I'm worried about Chip. The poor guy doesn't even know how to attack!"

"Pfft, he'll be just fine," Sonic said. "It's a rule for ridiculous characters like Chip to avoid certain death under the hands of serious people. You can't break that rule."

"B-but even so..."

Out of a cue, something was tossed right against Sonic's face, making the werehog fall back. Chris gasped as he saw a dazzled Chip lying down in front of the werehog. "C-Chip!" Chris yelled, ducking down to pick the imp. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Why's the world spinning around me?" Chip asked. "I can pretty much remember we didn't enter a huge washing machine..."

Wolf grunted and crossed his arms. "Oh, great. If I'm not mistaken, which I'm CLEARLY not, we'll get a despicable guest right behind our backs..." he muttered.

"Actually, I'm right in front of you" the three gasped as they saw Were-Wolf warp right in front of them, looking fairly annoyed. "And don't worry about the imp. Fortunately for him the torture techniques I was thinking of didn't work, due to needing to exert some of my own force to use them. And considering you limped away," he pointed at Wolf, "and you were able to defeat my copies," he pointed at Sonic and Chris. "I couldn't stay back any longer and try more things out." The lupine sighed and crossed his arms. "I suppose I should congratulate you on managing to defeat my copies. It's not like it was an impossibility, but it was impressive all the same." He looked over at Chris. "I can also feel an increase in your power boy. Though you know that only makes you more valuable to control, right?"

"...You're imagining things," Chris said, shaking head, as he held the dazzled Chip on his arms. "My power didn't increase at all..."

"I'm sure you know by now power isn't all about strength," Were-Wolf remarked. "It also has to do with the abilities you possess" he moved closer, looking specifically at Chris. "Remember I fought you before in your swordsman job, and felt you possess no magical abilities. Yet sense similar magic to the job you had with the book." Were-Wolf rolled his hand. "The fact you were able to evolve in the midst of combat is fairly impressive. And will make you a much better weapon than I previously thought."

Chris snapped out.

"I HAD IT with this whole nonsense about werehogs stuff, I SIMPLY had it!" Chris yelled, tossing the dazzled Chip on top of Sonic's stomach. "It's so DAMN clear all the werehogs in this pathetic world need to be taught how to behave properly. This place is just heading to the road of destruction through the toilet's hole!" He unsheathed his sword. "I'll set things right by changing EVERYTHING back to normal! I just need you to shut up and let me do my job by returning peace to this place!"

"G-go, Chris..." Sonic said dazzled on the ground.

"...Kid, I think you're getting out of control," Wolf commented. "...But it's no real wonder, considering we're dealing with this pest..."

Chris turned to Wolf. "I'd really like to put a real end to this world's path," he said. "Something's telling me that just defeating this guy won't solve everything... After we beat him down, I'll demand him to cough out his words. I hate this place so much that I want to put everything back the way it was..."

"Can I suggest you something?" Pikachu asked. "Just leave that world screw itself over. Just like you, we had enough."

"Sorry...but I made up my mind," Chris muttered. "I'll give back this world the sun it lost because of that guy... Sorry, but it's my job, after all..."

"I'll cheer you on with your ideas," Lucario said.

"...Thank you," Chris said before turning to Were-Wolf. "Enough of this whole talk. I'd like to finish my stuff here!"

"God, Chris, this is just a side-boss battle. No need to get so dramatic..." Master Hand muttered.

"...Err...w-whatever," Chris said as he blushed.

"Oh, once I come to your world, you'll see how much of a "side battle" this really isn't hand" Were-Wolf taunted as he held out a glowing claw. "And I must agree with one of your sediments: this conversation needs to end" He warped right in front of Were-Wolf. "HOWLING WOLF CLAW!" he yelled. The good lupine of Star Wolf put up his deflector. Were-Wolf smirked as he aimed his attack on the ground, causing a wave of smoke to sweep around him. Wolf coughed some as Were-Wolf appeared right behind him, punching him in the back as he grabbed him by the neck. The dark Wolf threw his counterpart around and slammed him into Sonic, who was just getting off the ground. As the two laid there, Were-Wolf's claw glowed again as he held it above him. "HOWLING WOLF CLAW!" He yelled, shooting a powerful blast of energy from the claw which hit the two. It caused an explosion, knocking the two back as they were shown burnt all over. "In case you forget my inferior counterpart this 'pest' can easily smoke you whenever he chooses," Were-Wolf taunted, looking over at Chris. "And that includes you too, brat."

Chris made a fist besides his belt and quickly put his hands together. "You'll regret for that... (Oh yes, I'm on a roll tonight!)" he thought before shoving his hand forward, green sparkles rising around him. "Fire!"

The dark Wolf was covered by flames that quickly disappeared. "That slightly stings, but now that I've bumped up my 'aura' it's not really too harmful."

Chris grunted and put his hands together. "(And there goes another one!)" he cheered as he shoved his hands forward, green sparkles floating around him. "Blizzard!"

A small sleet of ice blew hard against Were-Wolf, but he called forth a shield that received the attack. The shield shrunk a bit before it disappeared.

"Oh, now that's WAY too cheap!" Chris complained. "They're using shields! I knew they were cheap!"

"Actually, that's the actual shield anyone can use inside the matches," Master Hand pointed out.

"..." Chris sighed. "So then...why don't we have those shields with us?"

"Because I can only pull those out inside the official matches," the hand explained. "These people think they can just get away with it and use my OWN benefits for themselves. Show them not to take advantage of myself!"

"But you're not even from that place..." Olimar trailed off.

"Then I'll sue them!" Master Hand said.

"U-um, how about if we take care of them?" Chris said. "I believe their shields will only be hazardous since they're easy to break apart..." He shook his head and pointed his sword at Were-Wolf. "Prepare yourself...w-when my allies get back on their feet..."

"Feh, I wouldn't underestimate my shield, child," Were-Wolf taunted. "Furthermore this was an ability given to us by our Master Hand since he felt we might have to use it in combat outside of matches in the mansion."

"No wonder why this place is so messed up..." Chris muttered bored.

"Was that an insult to me?" Master Hand asked.

"No, I think you're a pretty nice guy."

"Oh, then continue."

Chris frowned with a sigh.

"You know I find it ironic you and your friends call me repetitive, when you have said the same thing over and over again. But once again I admit I do share that sediment." Were-Wolf appeared right behind Chris, his left claw glowing with energy. "HOWLING WOLF CLAW!" He screamed out, hitting Chris hard in the back, making the World Traveler scream out in pain. Were-Wolf warped in front of Chris, punching him hard in the face as he rushed forward. He grabbed the teenager with one hand and lifted his up, choking him as Chris tried struggling out from his grip. "You may have a lot of techniques, but in pure strength I obviously outclass you," Were-Wolf smugly stated.

"Chris, try slashing him!" Link encouraged.

"I-I...can't..." Chris muttered. "I-I need...medicine... S-somebody!"

"That's such a cowardly way to fight a foe!" Zelda shouted. "I disapprove of this! Somebody, help him!"

"You sideline commentators really have no say in this battle," Were-Wolf said. "Furthermore, anything goes in battle so-"

"You, kid, are always needing somebody," Wolf spoke from behind as he rushed at Were-Wolf. The first lupine tried incrusting his claw on his enemy's back, but Were-Wolf jumped away with Chris in his grip.

Sonic opened his eyes and quickly extended a fast fist, surprising Were-Wolf. The enemy got punched away, letting go of Chris as they both fell down. Sonic was able to use his other claw to catch Chris and pull him back to his side. The teen rubbed his throat and smiled a bit at Sonic. "Thank you, Sonic..." Chris muttered.

Sonic grunted. "That guy has no right to lay a single dirty hand on you," he said. "Stay right behind me, Chris! I'll protect you at all costs!"

Chris pressed his brow. "I need to know how much health he has left..." He changed to his Scholar job and quickly flipped his pages. "I shall use Study and see what I can find... Here... Um... You have to be kidding me! We have just reduced fifteen percent of his total health!"

"I don't know why you're that surprised" Were-Wolf pointed at himself. "None of your attacks really inflicted any major damage. Unlike mine, where if you weren't able to heal the others brat, they'd be dead. Or sent away to your world, or whatever nonsense you were going on about."

"My book has all the information I need to know," Chris said with a calm expression. "I am guessing that this battle will have a successful ending by our par-SONIC, GO ATTACK HIM!"

Were-Wolf looked to see Sonic charging at him. "Not your brightest idea," he said.

Sonic sent a flying punch, but Were-Wolf stepped aside and evaded another flying fists attack from Sonic. He jumped high, and Sonic followed him by sending another stretching punch. Were-Wolf was able to fall faster and avoid the attack.

Chris took out an Assist Trophy. He muttered a few words to it and the item shone for a second. "Now, let us see what this Assist Trophy has for us..." He pointed the Assist Trophy forward as someone broke out from it and stood in front of Chris. "...Oh, now this is a surprise..."

The person who came out from the Assist Trophy was Blaze, who blinked and looked around confused. "This...is quite strange," she said before staring at Chris. "What am I doing here?"

Chris groaned mentally. "(Did I mess up somewhere along the chant? They are supposed to attack and not talk with me...)"

Blaze stared at Chris, oblivious of the fact there was a fight behind her back. "Are you that kid named Chris from the Olympics?" she asked.

"...I have no idea, and I do not wish to know why this trend is so popular around here, even though it is an overused cliché," Chris said in his defense before shaking his head. "In a few words, go aid Sonic before he gets mauled even more by that wolf!"

Blaze turned towards Sonic, who was pushed away by a fist from Were-Wolf. The flame user looked serious and opened her hands, calling forth small fireballs over them. "I won't let that person do any more damage..." she muttered.

"...Blaze..." Chris trailed off.

"Yes?"

"You are looking at the wrong wolf," Chris pointed out. "The one you are looking for is the one with the sickening dark aura. You know, the one hurting Sonic..."

Sonic and the Black Knight – Vela Nova

Blaze turned towards the correct enemy. "Oh, my apologies," she muttered, blushing slightly. In a blink of an eye, she quickly took off from the grass and appeared between Were-Wolf and Sonic. "You stay right there," she said with a serious expression.

"Or what?" Were-Wolf asked. "I'm not sure exactly how the kid summoned you but don't think your going to turn the tide of this battle." Blaze held out her hand, shooting fireballs Were-Wolf smirked and activated his deflector shields as the fireballs bounced away, hitting right around her. "See? Your precious fire won't help if-"

Wolf appeared from behind and held Were-Wolf back by grabbing his throat with his arms. The enemy was took by surprise at this while Wolf shouted at Blaze, "Attack him with everything you got!"

Blaze looked confused before regaining her focus. "Alright, then," she said as she began tossing fireballs against Were-Wolf, causing him to grunt in pain. As Sonic was on the grass mesmerized by Blaze's appearance, the fire cat quickly rushed to Were-Wolf and began punching his fists blazing with fire. "Burn with my flames!" Blaze yelled as she punched the enemy hard.

Chris gasped and started chanting a healing spell. "(I need to buy this time to heal everyone...) Heal the wounds... Cure!" he chanted, making green sparkles rain down on his allies and himself. "Twenty percent of our health has been restored," he sighed.

Blaze drew back from her spot as Wolf pushed Were-Wolf forward. The werehog regained his senses and took a hold of Were-Wolf to toss him up. "Blaze, he's all yours!" Sonic yelled.

"Right," Blaze said as she created fireballs over her hands and sent a full blast barrage of them to Were-Wolf, causing a big explosion of fire to fully engulf the enemy. She maintained a steady rhythm before shooting one last fireball, making Were-Wolf fall hard to the ground, grunting in pain.

Sonic sighed. "Phew, nice combo, Blaze," he said with a grin. "You really helped out."

Blaze turned to Sonic and nodded to him. "It'd be natural for me to defend you, Sonic," she said. "Also...um..." she looked away, blushing a bit.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"U-um...no," Blaze muttered before looking embarrassed at Sonic. "Just be careful with that guy. I know you guys will take him out by yourselves... I have to go for now, so...good luck," she muttered before she disappeared in a quick, blinding light.

Sonic looked at no one in particular. "Why'd she look embarrassed, anyway?" he asked before shrugging.

Kingdom Hearts II – Spooks of Halloween

Chris groaned a bit. "Oh, her time just expired... I need to see how much damage she gave Were-Wolf... Study!" he yelled, analyzing his book. "...She took ten percent out by herself? My god, she is a really talented fighter..."

"That's why Assist Trophies are so useful," Master Hand said. "They really come in handy...except Stafy."

"Starfy," Chris corrected.

"That's the name? Oh, I made a mistake..."

"Tell your hand he's made another mistake: thinking you could win this battle." Were-Wolf got up. "I don't know much about RPGs, but I do know summons are invincible, the only reason your little cat friend was able to injure me so." Were-Wolf crossed his arms in front of him. "I've also been taking it easy on you, since I want to conserve my power. But I suppose you do deserve more." He extended his hands as black and purple aura shot all around.

"(Something's amidst…)" Wolf thought.

"(I knew this guy was holding back!)" Chris thought seriously.

"Yes, this amount should do fine," Were-Wolf said as his claws starting glowing with energy.

Without warning, he sped right in back of Chris. He grabbed the World Traveler by his left arm and rushed away, as Chris looked to see purple strings of energy attached to his arm. Were-Wolf quickly repeated the process with Sonic and Wolf, and then started spinning around the group.

"This is bad," Pikachu said. "You guys, hold on! Resist his attacks!"

"And now it's time for CLAW STRING BLAST!" Were-Wolf announced. He grabbed the strings of energy near his hand and pulled on them, making Chris, Wolf and Sonic slam into each other, creating an explosion as the three were knocked into the dirt, moaning in pain.

"U-uncool…" Sonic muttered weakly.

"Let's see..." Were-Wolf rubbed his chin. "I don't have a fancy scholar job, so this may be off, but I think I figured out how much 'damage' that did to you." Wolf, Chris and Sonic picked themselves up as Were-Wolf walked closer to them. "Let's see if you healed 20 percent of your damage before, and what your cat friend did was 10 for me, I estimate that attack knocked you down about... thirty percent damage." He smirked at Chris. "Am I right, kid?"

The trio tried to remain on their feet as they shook their heads. "T-this job will not help me much..." Chris muttered before changing back to his Red Mage job. He coughed a bit and looked at his allies. "A-are you two okay?"

"H-hate to admit it, but I got a damn beating this time..." Sonic muttered.

"I hate...when people hide their most powerful attacks for the last moment..." Wolf trailed off as he panted a bit.

"Hate to drain the little bit of confidence your trying to muster, but that isn't my strongest attack," Were-Wolf said to them. "In fact, I've got one about twice as strong. Want to see it?" Were-Wolf started gathering energy as the three stood there ground, as Were-Wolf smirked at them. "Oh, and don't try avoiding this one. Trust me; at your speed you won't even see this coming."

"Chris, don't get discouraged by that imbecile!" Lucario encouraged. "I know you can remedy your situation somehow!"

Chris closed his eyes. "(I just don't want to deal with this guy's speed. If there was just a way to cut his speed in half, then he wouldn't have much luck in scoring hits all over us... Sheesh, I thank god for having the 64 Badge...)" He opened his eyes and put his hands together.

Sonic gasped at this. "Chris, don't chant a spell right in front of him!" he yelled.

"Kid, are you wishing to get beaten now?" Wolf asked frowning.

"(When I'm pushed to the edge...I...I just need to do it...)" Chris thought.

"Hmm, seems that your friends actually know better you do, boy," Were-Wolf said, his left claw radiating with a malicious dark aura. "I can either hit you before you finish casting your magic, or shield the more basic spells you try throwing at me." He disappeared from sight, as the three tried looking around for him. "Nothing you do will work" Were-Wolf was heard saying, as he appeared behind the group, ready to strike.

"(Just what I needed!) Afraid not!" Chris yelled, causing everyone to gasp as he swiftly turned around and held out his hands towards Were-Wolf. "Let me catch on with you. Slow!"

Were-Wolf was suddenly surrounded by clock images that spun their hands crazily. The hands' speed suddenly dropped down and waves of distortions trapped Were-Wolf, causing the enemy to feel sick in his body. The clocks floating around him vanished in thin air by fading away, and Chris and the others backed away from him.

"(What in the...)" Were-Wolf thought as he tried moving forward, his body starting to shake. "(Why am I... having trouble moving?)" The energy around his claw started to dissipate, as he struggled a few inches closer to them.

Wolf turned to Chris. "What the heck did you do to him?" he asked.

"I used Slow to cut down his insane speed by a half," Chris said. "He won't be able to warp, run, or appear somewhere in a second now. But be careful because his speed fell down behind Sonic's true speed!"

Sonic growled and charged towards Were-Wolf. "Then let's punish this guy for being an idiot now!"

"The Over Limit is fully charged now," Kawashima said. "Use it now!"

"Sonic, use the Unleashed Mode!" Chris ordered as he changed to his Beastmaster job. "Here's our chance for all-out attack on this son of a-"

Chris's curse was interrupted by Sonic howling loudly as a rainbow aura to engulf him. The World Traveler rushed to his side and chanted his mind-control spell on him while Wolf grabbed Were-Wolf and slammed him down behind him.

"O beast that roams nocturnal meadows and searches for unaware prey... I order you to listen and obey to my orders..." Chris trailed off as his eyes turned crimson red and small fangs stuck out from his lips. "Control: Wolf!" he yelled, whipping Sonic's forehead hard.

Wolf took Were-Wolf by the arm and tossed him towards the two. "Give him a good beating of my part, will you?" Wolf asked seriously, as Sonic growled and lunged towards the stunned enemy.

"Alright, Sonic, use Earthshaker!" Chris ordered.

Sonic growled furiously as he stopped and waited for Were-Wolf to reach him. The werehog's fists flared with an orange aura, and he pushed down Were-Wolf on the ground. Sonic growled angrily as he banged his fists hard against Were-Wolf, causing him to grunt in pain at every fist pounding against any part of his body.

"Try to think of something else rather than relying on Sonic all the time!" Roy encouraged.

"(But how are we supposed to do that?)" Chris thought.

Sonic stopped pounding Were-Wolf hard, grabbing him by the leg. The werehog tossed the enemy to the air, making Chris and Wolf look up as the latter used Fire Wolf to collide a harsh kick against Were-Wolf's face. As Were-Wolf was pushed away in the air and while Sonic rushed to his landing point, Chris caught sight of Were-Wolf's Blaster.

"(I wonder if I can somehow take his weapon away and use it against himself...)" Chris thought. "First things first... I need to keep a hold of Sonic before the mode wears off. Sonic, use Beatdown to stun him a little while longer now!"

"GEAAAAAARGH!" Sonic growled angrily as he lunged towards Were-Wolf and madly swung his fists against his head, causing Were-Wolf to become stunned by a severe hit on the head. Lastly, Sonic winded up his right fist and punched Were-Wolf several yards away, still being stunned as he got up and tumbled to the sides. The aura covering Sonic's body vanished as he grunted angrily.

"(Here's my chance to steal his weapon!)" Chris said as his wild look disappeared from his face. He changed to his Thief job, brandished a dagger from under his cape, and dashed rather fast to Were-Wolf while Sonic took this chance to rest a bit.

The thief's right hand glowed blue as his senses confused solely on the Blaster in Were-Wolf's belt. While the enemy tumbled to the sides, Chris swiped off his Blaster from his belt, and the teen backed away with the Blaster in hand. He stopped and turned around to face the stunned Were-Wolf.

Chris aimed the Blaster to his face. "Right there!" he yelled, shooting a blue blast of energy that collided against Were-Wolf's face. "...This is kind of lame," he admitted, staring at the Blaster. "I thought this had some kind of secret power."

Wolf approached Chris as Were-Wolf slowly started to get back into his senses. The lupine found a small sliding bar on the right side of the Blaster. He pushed it halfway and aimed the gun at Were-Wolf. "Let's see what this heavily altered gun can do," he said.

The altered Blaster charged up for a bit before it shot a huge yellow blast that quickly exploded right into Were-Wolf. The enemy grunted louder in pain as he was pushed away more yards away, bumping recklessly along the grass. Once he stopped rolling, he grunted and slowly got back up while Sonic regrouped with Chris and Wolf; the first two looked surprised at Wolf.

"Tsk," Wolf muttered as he moved down the altered Blaster. "Like I said before, this place has become the true hell hole."

"B-but you've got to admit that was a rather strong attack," Chris said.

"Personally, I like my equipment better," Wolf commented. "But it does feel good to use his weaponry against himself."

"Nice job, everyone," Kawashima said pleased. "I think you've dealt a whole bunch of damage on him in a single move. That's absolutely remarkable."

"We'll see how much we did after we take a look at him," Sonic said as the trio glared back at Were-Wolf several yards away from them.

"Hahahaha…" The three looked confused as Were-Wolf dusted himself off, cricking his neck as he smiled at the group. "I have to agree, that was pretty impressive," he admitted. "I mean, sure, you only caught me by surprise, and since I had warped while you slowed me it stunned me, but that was still a good combo." He looked down at his belt. "And taking away my blaster while I was stunned? That was a good bit of strategy." He held out his hand. "Do you think I can have it back?" He asked.

"...How about no?" Wolf said with a frown.

"B-but you have to give it back to me," Were-Wolf said in a tone similar to Chris's voice. "I-I have 4 level 99's saved in the latest Final Fantasy game that I need to play be-because I'm such a whiny fan boy," he laughed a bit. "Seriously though, keep the blaster if you want." Were-Wolf held out his hand as energy formed around it. The energy formed the shape of a Blaster as the dark lupine grabbed it and aimed it at Wolf. "I can make my own. Though know that since you aren't fueled with Dark Gaia power, you won't be able to use Level 3 of that, which, believe me, would almost give you a chance of winning this battle."

"Show that idiot not to mess around with us!" Fox encouraged. "C'mon, don't look down now!"

Chris sighed please and looked serious at Wolf. "(Their cheers really make me feel good... Thank you...) Whatever the case is, we always have the last laugh at the end of these battles," he said.

"Yeah," Sonic said with a wide grin. "Don't grow so overconfident because we'll give you a good smack otherwise."

"No matter what happens to any of us, your play time will be over," Wolf said.

Chris chuckled. "You know, I do think he's playing more than hitting us," he said. "Well said, Wolf."

"I knew it was the right time to point that out," Wolf said with a chuckle.

Sonic looked away. "(Chris, don't get so close to him. He's still a bad guy...)" he thought before looking over at Were-Wolf.

"You make a couple of good points, though stupid points." Were-Wolf pointed at himself. "I admit I did underestimate you, but I think you're still underestimating me." He tried rushing forward and ran a couple of feet before stopping. "Your slow spell may have prevented my 'warping', but I'm still currently faster than any of you," he pointed out. "Also, if I can't rely on speed, I have a huge other bag of tricks up my sleeve." Dark purple energy continued glowing around Were-Wolf. "Trust me, though it is a rather cliché line, this battle is far from over."

(We need to keep fighting on,)" Chris said. "(We need to make some time before everyone else comes back, and then, we'll show this idiot not to mess with us anymore!)"

"I'm worried about Yoshi..." Kirby muttered. "I want to see Yoshi."

"Oh well, I guess I could increase the range...provided we don't see any more of those werehogs," Master Hand said. "Nobody ask me why I didn't do this before. Just stay quiet and don't say anything because they're out of the range to hear our words of encouragement."

After Master Hand increased the range...

"Dammit!" he cursed at the sight of screen.

Southern Forest Grove

In the southern area of the forest, Yoshi was kicking the egg several times to break it. Unfortunately, he was unable to do a single crack. The Yoshi sighed and sat down in front of the gross-looking egg. "I hate this place," he complained with a worried look. "I hate this werehog stuff, and my feet hurt for kicking this sad excuse of a Yoshi egg..." He looked up at the sky. "I want to go home..."

Suddenly the egg cracked into several pieces. Yoshi looked confused as he saw Were-Yoshi's eyes glow as the eggshell collapsed around him. Without warning, he warped right in front of Yoshi, clawing him hard in the stomach as the green dinosaur cried out in pain. He kicked Yoshi hard in the nose, making him fly into the sky. Were-Yoshi jumped quickly appearing right below Yoshi as he grabbed him with his tongue, making him spin in midair.

"And it isn't over yet" Were-Yoshi exclaimed as he threw Yoshi below him. Were-Yosh glowed with energy as he fell to the ground with a powerful ground stomp. Yoshi hit the ground with a tumble, moaning in pain before being crushed by Were-Yoshi. The green dinosaur cried out before falling unconscious under his alternate were-hog self.

"Sorry to have to knock you out like that," Were-Yoshi apologized before jumping off Yoshi. "But you've proven to be an even more serious threat then I thought. For the sake of your transformation I'm going to have to keep you knocked out until I-"

The were-Yoshi was interrupted by a holy light shining down upon Yoshi's back. The light sprouted wings on his backs that fluttered for a bit and disappeared along with the light. Soon, Yoshi's eyes opened up normally and he stood back up, shaking his head. "Phew," he said. "That was some serious attack..."

"What in the..." Were-Yoshi blinked a few times. "I swore I knocked you out. I know Yoshis are obviously superior creatures, but how did you come back so quickly from being unconscious?"

"...Because I wanted to? I don't know," Yoshi shrugged. "I seriously don't know, but I think it's a nice thing to have for emergencies."

"It is an impressive ability, I'll admit." Were-Yoshi made a fist. "However, even if you do come back from being knocked out again, it seems it takes a couple of seconds for you to revive. Just enough time for me to sink my teeth into you, and turn you into a superior werehog being," he said before he warped again, slicing Yoshi in the face to make Yoshi tumble along the ground. "Like I said, fighting such an incredible Yoshi specimen, I can no longer afford to be so careless. So sorry, this is going to hurt a lot more than my previous attacks. Just know that in the end, the reward will be worth it."

Yoshi shook his head and stood back up. "I really don't want to fight... I'm bored," he stated with a sigh. "I'm so bored I'm not even minding listening to your crazy logic or getting hurt... but... if you say so, I'll fight..."

"You WHAT?" Were-Yoshi said as he created a dark egg in his hand. "How could you feel bored, knowing that soon you will join the glory of the werehog Yoshi race?" He threw it at Yoshi, who was barely able to dodge it. "At the very least, how can you feel bored fighting a superior breed of Yoshi, such as me, and knowing you have no chance of winning?"

"No offense... but I don't really care," Yoshi said with a blank look. "Hmm, I don't know if this is a wild guess or anything, but... were you hurt so much before that you changed into this? There should be a reason besides the fact you were turned into this..."

"Only hurt by the ignorance of the other Smashers, not recognizing Yoshis for the ultimate breed that we are." He pointed at himself. "I am of the super elite class of Yoshis destined for greatness and..."

Yoshi continued looking bored at him.

"Hmm, I guess you won't be able to see how great I truly am until I transform you. Better put hurry on that then." Were-Yoshi held out his hands, producing a black egg from each of them which glowed with energy. "DARK EGG BARRAGE!" Were-Yoshi cried out, throwing a bevy of powerful black eggs. Yoshi jumped and ran around to avoid them, the eggs exploding upon contact. Though Yoshi was able to dodge them the knockback did knock him around some as Were-Yoshi continued tossing them.

Yoshi, even though he was knocked back a bit, managed to use his tongue to pull Were-Yoshi into his stomach. Yoshi closed his eyes and bit the werehog inside his mouth before spitting him out to a tree, making Were-Yoshi crash his back and slide down to the grass. Yoshi took advantage of his condition and tossed an egg to hit the evil monster on his head.

"Not bad, but try this!" Were-Yoshi threw an egg right in front of Yoshi, making the green Dinosaur jump back some. The werehog dinosaur warped behind Yoshi, and kicked him into the tree he had just been hit. He took two eggs glowing with energy and threw them, hitting Yoshi and the tree. This caused an explosion that Yoshi crawled out of, coughing a bit as he saw Were-Yoshi charge at him.

"(I-I just know everything will be fine either way... If I'm defeated, I'll go back to the mansion automatically...but that doesn't mean I should just let him trash-talk me...)" Yoshi stood up and tried to look serious. He hopped in midair and used Egg Roll to crash right into Were-Yoshi, making him tumble back and fall on his back. Yoshi broke free from the egg and looked at Were-Yoshi.

"Ha, your rolls aren't enough to..." Were-Yoshi blinked a few times confused. "Strange, since when were you white? I mean any color is superior as long as it's on a Yoshi and not on some pathetic human or Pokémon or monkey, but weren't you green before?"

Yoshi tilted his head. "So... you mean to say I should have fur instead of skin... or... what did you say again?"

"I'm talking about your skin color, fellow Yoshi." Were-Yoshi pointed at the now white colored Yoshi. "You changed from green to white. Is that another one of your weird items in use or something else?"

Yoshi looked at his body, having changed from green to white. He gasped and looked at his white tail before looking back at Were-Yoshi. "U-um, I think I remember getting this ability from the shop because I wanted to buy it... What does this do again? I forgot..." He looked disappointed. "Sorry, my mind's in another place..."

"Well, don't worry. Your mind will soon be Master Wolf's, as your brain will realize what your body was destined for!" He appeared right in front of Yoshi again, raising his fist and preparing a powerful right hook to the face.

Yoshi yelped at this before his eyes focused on a random rock sitting nearby. Thinking he could shoot it at Were-Yoshi, Yoshi swallowed the rock and stuffed it into his mouth, but Were-Yoshi was fast enough to slice through his body...literally.

"Huh?" Were-Yoshi looked in front of him confused, not seeing anyone there. "Strange, he was just there a second ago..." Were-Yoshi looked at his claw. "I couldn't have...evaporated him with one hit, could I?" He gasped. "Oh no, not a fellow Yoshi!" he cried out, running off. "Any other member of any other pathetic race would be acceptable, but a Yoshi? Now he won't even be around for our glorious uprising throughout the entire multi-verse..."

"(...Um, wasn't his whole intent to kill me off in a gruesome manner?)" Yoshi thought confused, standing on the same place where Were-Yoshi was. "(He's really weird, but...)" Yoshi noticed that his body was nowhere to be found on his spot. His body has turned invisible for some reason he couldn't grasp so easily. "(O-oh my god, my body just vanished!)"

Yoshi closed his eyes as Were-Yoshi kept talking to himself. Soon, realization came to Yoshi's mind.

"(...Wait, I think my body just turned invisible because...because I swallowed a rock into my mouth, so...so, with the color change, I turned invisible... Yes, that must be it,)" Yoshi thought before sighing mentally. "(Phew, this ability is a life saver... B-but...u-ugh...I can't keep holding this rock in my mouth...) Bluah!" he spat out the rock to the ground. The rock shattered into pieces and Yoshi's body turned visible again. His eyes' pupils shrunk at this as he froze into place.

"And then all the Yoshis will have to mourn for the one who unfortunately met his fate at my hand and-" He looked to see Yoshi standing in front of him again. "Hey, where'd you get to?" Were-Yoshi asked. "I thought I had vaporized you with my mighty werehog Yoshi fist. How did you survive the fist?"

Yoshi gasped mentally. "(He doesn't know what happened to me. Don't tell him what happened to me, for god's sake!) U-um, I...kind of...didn't survive and just...ran at the speed of light to think of a way to beat you... Yes, that!" Yoshi said.

"Oh, please, do you think I'm stupid?" Were-Yoshi crossed his arms. You simply used another one of your devices like that confusing clock you threw at me before." The werehog moved a couple of steps closer. "You slipping as that other device were actually useful. Disappearing for a few seconds, though, isn't, especially now that I can see you again?" Were-Yoshi ran at Yoshi, holding out his hand and producing another dark egg.

"(Did he really think that item I used on him was a clock? Wow, he doesn't pay attention to me at all... Um...focus.)" Yoshi hopped and used Egg Roll to smash himself against Were-Yoshi, who let go of the egg as he stumbled back again, Yoshi broke free from the shell, yelped at the dark egg by his feet, and kicked it away where it exploded against a tree.

"Another good shot my..." Were-Yoshi blinked a few times, looking at the Pink Yoshi in front of him. "Wait, how did you change colors again?" he asked. "Seriously, first you were white, and now you are pink." He held out his claw. "Look, I know there are many colors of the Yoshi rainbow and you have to make those colors shine, but that's as a group, not as one Yoshi."

"U-um...I know that..." Yoshi muttered, feeling particularly embarrassed at his white skin turning pink. He could swear many people back at the mansion were laughing loudly at him (which was literally a fact, much for his dismay).

"Well, regardless, I don't judge by the color of one skin. That's ignorant. It's their value as a race that proves whether or not they deserve to be gods compared to the others, but you still have to earn your godhood," Were-Yoshi said, jumping back as he held two black eggs that started radiating with more and more Dark Gaia energy.

Yoshi yelped in an oddly high-pitched manner and, again, out of desperation, used his tongue to swallow one of Were-Yoshi's dark eggs. An odd dark aura filled Yoshi's mouth before it died down. He sweated a lot as he stared back at Were-Yoshi.

Were-Yoshi looked into Yoshi's eyes as he gasped, blushing. "I never noticed just how...superior you were before." The egg he was holding dropped, causing an explosion that pushed him aside, charring him a bit. He didn't seem to mind as he touched his fingers together. "I...I think I want you even more than before," he quickly muttered out.

"..." Yoshi wanted to gap his mouth at this response. He felt his dignity was dying out against his will, and he could swear the Smashers were laughing louder (which was, sadly, another cruel fact).

"T-there's no need to be upset," Were-Yoshi said as he moved closer to Yoshi, grabbing him by the hands. "I just want you to know that I...I would do anything for you...Yoshi-kun," he said, giggling a bit to himself.

Yoshi looked at no one in particular. "(I-I don't know if I remember, but isn't saying '-kun' used to denote someone else you like in Japanese culture...or something like that?)" His mind begged him to believe the gruesome truth. "(O-oh my god, it's true! T-this color change thing isn't helping me out here! I-I've got to stay away from him!)"

Yoshi gulped mentally and stared back into the charmed werehog.

Struggling to say something because of the egg in his mouth, Yoshi managed to utter, "G-go hit your head against a tree!"

"I-if that is what you wish, Yoshi-kun, I will do so because I..."

The wind blew around the two as Were-Yoshi smiled happily.

"I love you, Yoshi-Kun…"

Yoshi looked freaky out by this as Were-Yoshi went to the closest tree and starting hitting his head against it, fairly hard.

"Ow, ow, I still love you Yoshi-ow-kun!" Were-Yoshi yelled out.

Yoshi spat out the rock, gasping for breathe not because he felt sick physically, but because he felt embarrassed of the awkward effect on Were-Yoshi. "I-I won't use this particular color if everyone will fall heels over me like...that!" he complained to himself.

Were-Yoshi looked over at Yoshi. "Huh?" he moved away from the tree. "Owwww," he moaned, rubbing his head. "I don't know what that was, but I'm not going to let you do it again." H charged at high speeds, tackling Yoshi to the ground, making the pink dinosaur roll into a nearby bush. "This time, I won't give you a chance to attack!" Were-Yoshi yelled out, throwing another barrage of dark eggs as Yoshi started running to avoid them.

"(I-I liked him when he was hitting his head against a tree...without being infatuated with me!)" Yoshi thought before he hopped and used Egg Roll to roll away and evade the exploding eggs. The barrage of eggs stopped, and he broke free from the egg, his body's skin turning blue. He looked at himself and groaned. "Oh no, is this going to make him have weird feelings with me again? Please no!"

"Ha, changing colors isn't going to work anymore!" Were-Yoshi pointed out, continuing to throw eggs at him. "All I need to do is just keep chucking until your down, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Yoshi gulped at this and swallowed one of the dark eggs. After the dark aura died out in his mouth, small wings sprouted out from his back. Desperately, he flew up, accidentally hiding inside a tree's branches.

"There's no way you can escape from me!" Were-Yoshi exclaimed as he continued throwing his dark eggs around the grounds of the forest. "I'll hit you eventually, my Yoshi counterpart." The blue Yoshi quickly few upward from branch to branch, higher away from the psychotic werehog Yoshi.

"(I'm a scared little blue Yoshi,)" Yoshi thought in fear. "(I'm one scared little blue Yoshi! I-I need to attack him! I can hold this egg inside my mouth for much longer, I think...)" He turned around and went towards Were-Yoshi without being noticed inside the tree's branches. Once the blue Yoshi flew right over Were-Yoshi, Yoshi used Ground Pound, falling down hard on Were-Yoshi's back. Yelping at this, Yoshi flew back into the tree's branches to hide away as Were-Yoshi grunted in pain and stood back up.

"Oh, there you are!" Were-Yoshi held out his hands, creating more dark eggs as he threw them into the branches this time. The series of explosion set the tree on fire as Blue Yoshi was able to jump down, only to be side tackled hard into the ground by Were-Yoshi, who grabbed him by the tail and threw him into a tree branch that had fallen down and been set on fire.

Yoshi shook his head and hopped again to use Egg Roll, he rolled a few feet away from Were-Yoshi. Yoshi broke free from his egg and his skin turned black. He looked at himself and wagged his tail a bit. "Hmm... I think I like blue better than black does, though... Black Yoshis are always ruder than other Yoshis..."

"Ah, finally, you've chosen a good color for yourself" Were-Yoshi approached Yoshi, smiling some. "I don't know what tricks you're using to gain these powers, but I know it has something to do with your color change." Were-Yoshi made a fist. "No matter how powerful your new techniques are they are still no match for the mighty boost of a werehog and-"

Yoshi spotted a rock and swallowed it quickly. Thinking fast, Yoshi used a head-butt on Were-Yoshi. Unlike a normal head-butt, the attack made Were-Yoshi lose his breath as he was sent spiraling several feet away towards a tree where he crashed his head hard into it, instantly feeling dizzy. Yoshi blinked surprised at this. "(I-I think this color change gave me more power... I need to attack quickly before he comes back to his senses!)" he thought alarmed as he charged towards the dazzled Were-Yoshi.

Before Were-Yoshi could regain his senses, Yoshi rammed his head against him, making him gasp for more breath as he broke through the tree and crashed against another one. Yoshi took advantage of his dazzled foe as he approached him once more and performed a flutter kick. The swift kicks kicked Were-Yoshi's head like some sort of punch bag before a harsh kick pushed him aside a few feet away. Yoshi looked relieved at this but he soon spat out the rock.

"Aww, that was too good to be true..." Yoshi muttered as he saw the rock shattered into pieces.

"Ugh, that...actually hurt," Were-Yoshi admitted, rubbing his stomach. "You are indeed exceptional, even for a Yoshi." Were-Yoshi sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this again but... you leave me with no choice." A circular glowing dark energy surrounded Were-Yoshi as Yoshi looked at him, somewhat perplexed. "ULTIMATE EGG DEFENSE SHIELD!" Were-Yoshi yelled out.

"(Why does everyone here yell their attacks like that?)" Yoshi thought confused.

The dark energy grew into the form of a giant version of a Yoshi Egg. Like before, it stood over seven feet tall and was glowing with a dark purple color.

This time, the egg actually started moving along the ground. Yoshi looked in shock to see the egg rolling at high speeds as it slammed into the black dinosaur creature, knocking him through a few trees before he fell to the ground, moaning a bit in pain. "This time my ultimate defense can also attack," Were-Yoshi pointed out. "Not even changing colors will be able to break through its defenses!"

Yoshi stood back up and shook his head. He turned around to see the humongous egg rolling on the same spot, aiming at his direction. "(I-I'm frightened, I'm SO frightened now,)" he thought. "(Maybe I should listen to him this time and...try to use something else...but what?)"

Closing his eyes, Yoshi swallowed a rock and charged forward towards the charging egg. Yoshi tried hitting it, but he was pushed aside as the big egg crashed against the trees and stopped on another spot to charge energy once more. The Yoshi groaned annoyed and stood back up.

Yoshi spat the rock out and looked worried. "T-that didn't work out too well... I should try to figure out how to break that stupidly big, yet impossibly tough Yoshi egg..." He thought for a moment and took out a Smash Ball. "...I-I'm desperate enough to use this and that egg is kind of thick for my head, so... Hmmmmm!" he grunted as he smashed his head hard against the sphere, gaining a rainbow aura over his body.

"Wait, is that..." Were-Yoshi gasped as he was charging at high speeds at Yoshi in his giant egg. "Oh no, you don't!" he yelled out, quickly appearing right in front of the glowing Yoshi.

Yoshi managed to push the egg back as he grew wings from his back. Putting up a serious look at the egg, Yoshi started using a flamethrower attack that completely trapped the egg in flames. Were-Yoshi seemed to be struggling, trying to resist the hot temperature boiling inside the egg. Yoshi flew away to allow the egg to crash against a set of trees as he stopped rolling on a single spot.

"No, this...this can't be!" Were-Yoshi cried out as Yoshi started shooting a set of fireballs, making the egg turn a bright red color. "I am the supreme...ultimate first class...Yoshi warrior of..."

Yoshi stopped firing fireballs from his mouth to fly up. The big egg suddenly exploded in a big explosion, causing smoke to push all the trees' branches wildly as a foreign figure, Were-Yoshi, spiraled out of control towards the sky as he screamed in extreme pain. The monster fell down back to the grass where he clumsily rolled and lied down weakly in pain on the grass, his eyes barely open.

Yoshi stared down at the werehog as he landed back on the land, his wings and rainbow aura disappearing. He twiddled his fingers a bit and slowly approached the monster. "...Hello?" he called out.

"I... am... still here" Were-Yoshi coughed out a bit of blood and slowly got up, managing to open his eyes enough to stare at Yoshi. "And you will... be mine." He walked a few steps closer, opening his mouth to reveal a large set of fangs. "You will... become a superior werehog warrior and then... we'll...take over everyone and...the Yoshis will forever be worshiped as...the superior gods they are."

Freaked out by Were-Yoshi's hurt look, Yoshi yelled out and took out a Green Shell that he promptly tossed right on Were-Yoshi's head. The Green Shell bounced back to his hands before he stared back at Were-Yoshi, his eyes spinning in a dumbfounded manner.

"You... can't treat... the... Yoshi elite…like...that…" Were-Yoshi lost consciousness and fell to the ground, unconscious right in front of Yoshi.

The Yoshi let out a big sigh of relief as he sat back on the grass to look at the Green Shell. He smiled pleased to remember who gave him the shell before putting it away in his inventory. Yoshi stood back up and looked around to see the place.

"Now, let's see... Where did I come from? I think I came from...that way," he said as he pointed his finger to the north. He embraced himself and walked towards the north, purposely stomping over the unconscious Were-Yoshi. He looked back at him and frowned disgusted before resuming his way. "I wonder if everyone's doing okay..." he wondered aloud as he disappeared into the forest.

"Phew...he made it," Peach said relieved. "I knew he could pull it out. I'm so glad he succeeded."

"T-that's my Yoshkins..." Luigi sniffed, receiving a pat from Mario. "...Oh, wait; he's not the same one. Forget what I said..." he trailed off embarrassed.

"So, who's next to see?" Pikachu asked. "I vote for Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Red."

"Nobody spoke up until now, so let's see what they're doing. HOPEFULLY, this won't relate to werehogs or something," Master Hand said as he monitored the screen to change scenes to Red's fight. "Okay, forget what I said..."

"Aww, how cute!" Peach exclaimed.

"You mean...how...weird..." Zelda muttered.

Eastern Forest Clearing

Back at the eastern area of the area, there was Red hiding behind the bushes as he took out several Clefairy Dolls from his backpack while the trainer looked happy to see the dolls making a wall to hide them. Red sat back and sighed at the wall while he put one last doll on the top (this doll making a peace sign with a wink). "There... That should draw their attention away from us..." Red muttered.

"Whose attention would be drawn away from nice dolls like that?" the Pokémon Trainer asked, as Red looked at him annoyed. "Besides, didn't he already destroy some of those dolls before? How do you know these will work?"

"Because...that's what these dolls do! They're meant to distract wild Pokémon!" Red said. "Now keep your voice down if you want to be safe from those beasts you call your Pokémon!"

"Hey, they aren't wild Pokémon. The werehog virus...thing just won't let me call them back to their Poké Balls," the Pokémon Trainer pointed out. "Besides, you should probably be worried about your own Pokémon's safety, too."

Red looked back at the fight to see Were-Squirtle grabbing Ivysaur and Squirtle by the throat, smacking their heads together. The two fell to the ground, unconscious. "Finally, I'm done with those fools." Were-Squirtle looked at his claws. "It took awhile, but now I can finally focus on..." He looked to see a bunch of Clefairy Dolls in front of him. "What in the hell is that?" he asked.

"There's nothing but, uh...us Weedles here!" the Pokémon Trainer said from behind all the Clefairy Dolls. "Quick, act like a Weedle," he ordered Red, who hit him on the head. "Oww, that's not what a Weedle would do!"

Red gulped and stuck out his head to see that Were-Squirtle was in a state of trance by the multitude of Clefairy Dolls. While he was dazzled, from behind him, saint lights came from the sky and touched Squirtle and Ivysaur's bodies, making wings appear on their backs. The wings fluttered a bit before vanishing with the light, and the two Pokémon slowly woke up.

"(D-did they just...)" Red trailed off in thought.

"Hey, why's he dazed?" the Pokémon Trainer asked, before snapping his fingers. "Oh wait, that Clefairy Doll trick did work. That, or Squirtle has a crush on Clefairy. It would be like the time Totodile crushed on Azumarill." He poked Red a few times. "Hey, remember that? You think it's like that o-"

Red interrupted with a loud grunt as he grabbed the trainer's hand, sneaking away from the wall of dolls. Squirtle and Ivysaur looked around confused before spotting Red and the trainer, the first signaling them to attack Were-Squirtle.

Squirtle looked at Ivysaur. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon grabbed some leaves from the ground and tossed them forward, signaling Ivysaur to use Razor Leaf. Squirtle pointed at his mouth, filling it with water. Ivysaur gasped at this before focusing on Were-Squirtle "...NOW!" Ivysaur yelled.

The two shot their attacks separated from each other at the same time. Both attacks crashed hard against Were-Squirtle, who came back to his senses and yelled as he was sent across the bushes towards the wall of Clefairy Dolls. The dolls scrambled around the area; with one, lucky enough, that flew away back into Red's open backpack without the trainer noticing at all.

"What in the..." Were-Squirtle shook himself off and jumped back. "Wait I knocked you two out" he looked back at Squirtle and Ivysaur. "How did…" He thought for a second. "Oh well, I can always kill you later. First, I need to take care of the real problem." He closed his eyes and jumped in the air, using water gun to blast any of the Clefairy Dolls around into small little pieces as he fell to the ground. "There, that stupid trick won't work on me again"

"That's what they all say, Squirtle buddy," the Trainer said, hidden behind the bush Red and he were hiding. "But they all turn out wrong, because overconfidence is bad. You remember the episode wher-"

"Would you SHUT UP for once?" Red asked annoyed.

"But I have many important things to say…"

Red grunted angrily at him.

"Fine, fine, I'll shut up, until more sideline commentary is needed."

"I'm going to enjoy eradicating the sideline, once I take care of the foreground players first." Were-Squirtle sped right in front of Ivysaur, punching him hard in the stomach as he rapidly started punching the frog Pokémon several times around his body. "Ha, thought things would be different now? You're still no match for me," Were-Squirtle taunted before dodging an attack from Squirtle and kicking the tiny turtle hard into the ground.

"Too slow!" Squirtle said as he used his tail to swipe Were-Squirtle's feet. The werehog lost balance and fell on top of his shell. Ivysaur grunted loudly and used Vine Whip to smack the werehog hard, constantly hitting his face. Squirtle rushed to the monster and rammed his head hard against him, causing Were-Squirtle to spin madly towards a tree that he crashed with his head.

"Oww." Were-Squirtle rubbed his head. "Oh, you're going to pay for THAT one." He started glowing with dark purple energy. "Think I'm too slow, huh? Well..." Were-Squirtle sped at high speeds all around the area as the two tried to see him. He appeared right behind Squirtle, grabbing him by the tail as he repeatedly slammed him into Ivysaur several times. "How's, this, for, too, slow?" he asked before he smashed Ivysaur up into the sky with Squirtle. He threw the tiny shell Pokémon as well, using Water Gun to knock them higher into the sky.

"Uh oh, this isn't good," the Trainer noted. "I don't think your Squirtle and Ivysaur are good at midair combat?" He looked at Red. "Are they?"

Red groaned. "Why, oh why do I have to agree with this guy for once? I can't believe it..." He looked back at the fight, ignoring the Trainer sulking at him. "W-we need to help them...but that monster is so fast... Hmm..." He took out from behind a Timer. "...Yes, this is just the thing we need!"

"Hey, I have a watch," the Pokémon Trainer looked at his arm. "Oh wait, no, I lost it. Don't know where. I mean, I checked my room for hours, and the mansion, and the grounds around, and-"

"I thought I told you to SHUT UP!" Red yelled as he held out the Timer towards Were-Squirtle.

The background around the area turned darker as the monster's attack speed drastically became slow. Were-Squirtle slowly noticed what happened as Squirtle and Ivysaur stopped ascending higher into the sky before falling down.

The Pokémon Trainer looked to see Were-Squirtle slowly turn to look at them. "Hey, why's he all super slow mo?" the Pokémon Trainer asked before gasping. "Wait, that watch has magical time powers, just like the watch May had that allowed her to travel back to the past, and alter history without any repercussions, just like all time travel stories work." He snapped his fingers. "If that's the case then my Squirtle is vulnerable. Squirtle and Ivysaur, propel yourself down at high speeds using Squirtle's Water Gun to smash into him while he can't run away!"

Red smacked the trainer's head, knocking him on his back. "Don't listen to this weirdo! Squirtle, retreat into your shell! Ivysaur, use Vine Whip to slam Squirtle on that monster!" he ordered as his team continued falling down.

"Jeez, you act like me issuing your Pokémon one time would've been so wrong," the trainer said, rubbing his head. "You're such a Poke-Nazi, whatever that means."

"Rule number 1, NEVER order someone else's team," Red muttered angrily.

Back with Squirtle and Ivysaur, the two opened their eyes after listening to the last order from their trainer. "T-that's weird, Red called himself a weirdo...didn't he?" Squirtle asked.

"Who cares? This world is just so confusing!" Ivysaur complained. "Let's do what he told us to do! Hide in your shell!"

Squirtle grunted in pain as he hid inside his shell. Ivysaur looked down and saw the slow Were-Squirtle blinking in shock. The Seed Pokémon raised his vines over Squirtle's shell and slammed them down on him, causing the shell to propel down hard right on Were-Squirtle's head. As Squirtle bounced off to a bush, Were-Squirtle slowly and painfully reacted at the attack.

"Ivysaur, use Bullet Seed now!" Red ordered.

The Seed Pokémon turned upside down and used Bullet Seed right over Were-Squirtle's face. The werehog slowly grunted loudly in pain as the seeds crashed right into his face, making Ivysaur use the barrage of seeds to make a slow descend. After a little while, Ivysaur fell on Were-Squirtle, getting off from him and joining Squirtle's side.

Squirtle peeked out his head and looked up at Ivysaur. "D-did it work?" he asked.

Ivysaur, panicked, stared at Were-Squirtle, who stumbled to the sides as his red eyes spun uncoordinated. "I-I guess it did work well..." he trailed off.

Red sighed. "Phew, that was close..." he muttered.

Unfortunately, their moment of relief soon ended as the background turned back to normal. Time itself came back to normal to Were-Squirtle, making the trio groan aloud.

"Hey, you think you're angry? I'm the one who was slowed down and battered by a bunch of pathetic weaklings!" Were-Squirtle's dark energy shot around him as he charged a water gun in his mouth. The water gun turned out to be a dark water gun he shot it at the two Pokémon, causing an explosion, which blasted them several yards away.

"Wow, and here I thought only bubbles could explode like that" the Trainer commented.

"Shut up, you!" He warped at great speeds, appearing behind the two Pokémon trainers, who turned to see him glaring angrily at them. "You've had this, and far more I'll issue later, coming for years." He backhanded the trainer away a couple of feet, before grabbing Red by the collar and looking into his eyes. "And you aren't the only trainer around here to get what's coming to him."

"H-hey, stay away from me!" Red demanded, pushing the werehog away from his collar. "(Eww, his fur smells so badly...) I-I'm just trying to save you from being like this, you monster!"

Were-Squirtle pushed the trainer back a couple of feet with a mere motion of his palm. "Who are you calling names, you damned stupid trainer?" He jumped right in front of Red and elbowed him in the head, quickly knocking the child out as he hit the ground. Were-Squirtle kicked him into a nearby thorn bush and smiled gleefully. "Ha, ha, no stupid Pokémon or even stupider Clefairy Dolls can save you now!" he yelled out, glowing energy as everyone around looked shocked. "Time for you to really experience tortur-"

"A torture too far from your understanding!" a voice called out. Were-Squirtle looked around confused before he was hit with a powerful blast of energy. The werehog turtle was blasted back into a tree, which exploded upon impact.

"Lousy..." Were-Squirtle muttered before finally falling unconscious.

"Wait, who did that?" Pokémon Trainer asked, looking around confused.

"Who do you think?" Were-Ivysaur ran in front of the group, looking angry at them. "I take one little nap and that fool tries claiming all the glory for himself!" he roared, shaking his head some. "Well, I'm back and better than ever." He looked over at Squirtle and Ivysaur, narrowing his eyes. "You guys may've gotten me good while I was out, but I guarantee you that won't happen again." He raised his vines to try to hit them, as the two were able to dodge them. "I'm not like that idiot Squirtle who was probably going to get himself knocked out soon anyway! I am a superior evolution, and your ultimate executioner!"

As Squirtle and Ivysaur looked scared at Were-Ivysaur, a light shone down on Red. Wings appeared on his back, passing through the thorns. The wings pushed him off from the thorn-filled bush, putting him back to his feet. As the wings disappeared, he opened his worn out eyes and looked around. "W-what happened?" he asked before noticing Were-Ivysaur looking up angrily at him. "E-eek!" he yelped.

"Ah, there's the pathetic alternate trainer," Were-Ivysaur said, his vines twirling in the air. "I'm glad you're still conscious. It wouldn't be fun killing you if you weren't awake to feel it."

"Hold on a sec, Ivysaur buddy," the Pokémon Trainer interrupted as he took out a Poké Ball and aimed it at Were-Squirtle. "Return!" he called out at the werehog turtle, sending him back in the ball.

"WHAT?" Were-Ivysaur yelled, gasping in shock. "How...how did you do that?"

"Well, your werehog power...thing keeps you from returning when you're awake, but knocked out I guess it doesn't," the trainer explained, spinning the ball on his finger. "So all we have to do is knock you out, get you 'unwerehoged', and everything will be back to normal, or kind of back to normal." He looked at the other Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Red. "Right, guys?"

"...I'm confused," Ivysaur whispered to Squirtle. "That guy over there isn't Red, but..."

Squirtle shook his head. "Insanity has finally come to us," he muttered with a depressed sigh. "Now we just need a third Red to show up..."

Red pressed his brow. "(Oh, NOW he's sounding smart for ONCE,)" he thought annoyed. "Yes, you, I knew that was going to happen since, well, it's obvious that something works after someone gets defeated. It's how things work, anyway..."

"Bah, you fools won't get a chance to try that on me." Were-Ivysaur glowed with black energy. "That idiot made the mistake of attacking you up close and letting you rack damage on him. I have much better methods of combat, however."

"Oh, like Frenzy Plant?" the Trainer asked.

"Shut up, you!" Were-Ivysaur's bulb shone an ominous black. "I'm talking about what I used to take out that pathetic little squirt…le. The ultimate dark variation of the ultimate grass move Solar Beam, fear the power of my...MOONBEAM!"

Trainer gave a thumb up. "Well, show me this moon beam I'd love to see it-" He quickly ducked as a powerful dark energy blast shot out of Were-Ivysaur's bulb. The group looked to see the attack hit a tree several yards away, blowing it and the surrounding area into nothing but dust. They looked a bit in shock as the bulb started glowing again. "...Wow, that'd be great in night contests," said Trainer.

"I'm going to have to find a really special torment for you," Were-Ivysaur muttered before firing a beam at Squirtle and Ivysaur, which they both managed to barely dodge. "I'm fine with using it on you two though."

Red rolled his eyes. "Moonbeam? That doesn't make any sense!" he complained. "Why, it doesn't match up with Solarbeam. If Moonbeam was its true name, then Solarbeam should've been called Sunbeam instead. Don't you mean Lunarbeam? It sounds much better than Moonbeam, that's for sure," he commented. "...N-never mind what I said," he muttered embarrassed.

Were-Ivysaur shot a Moonbeam at him, whom the trainer was able to duck to avoid, seeing it blast a bush to bits a few feet away from him. "Crack again about its name brat and that bush will be you."

Red stuck out his tongue. "Pfft, I have freedom of expression against people SO stupid like you," he said confidently while Squirtle and Ivysaur took this as a signal to come up with a surprise attack. "You sure your hair isn't sapping into your brain?"

"Yeah, that's really funny," Were-Ivysaur said sarcastically. He grabbed the trainer's arms with his vines while spreading them out. "Too bad your meager strength and unfunny quips won't save you from this." His bulb started to glow again, the werehog's eyes narrowing. "MOON-"

"USE SPORE!" Red yelled loudly.

Were-Ivysaur gasped at this before cotton spores surrounded him. The werehog's nose caught some spores, and with a single sniff, he felt drowsy and released Red from his vines. Were-Ivysaur soon cuddled himself on the ground while Red ran back to Ivysaur and Squirtle. "I'm getting sick..." Squirtle complained. "I-I want to finish this so we can go home and forget all this happened..."

"I-I know," Red said. "I wouldn't want to recall this ever again. That's reason enough for me to use a plan that will surely take that monster out. He already did a favor to use by taking that other monster down, so let's finish him."

Ivysaur tilted his head. "Red, you got a plan?" he asked.

"Desperation has mentally scarred me, but that mental scar will heal after we leave from this place," Red said as he knelt down to them. He signaled both of them to approach their ears to whisper something at them.

Squirtle and Ivysaur continuously nodded their heads as Red kept whispering a plan to them. The two walked back and sighed together. "Oh well, there's nothing else I can think of..." Squirtle muttered.

Ivysaur nodded at them. "I say let's do it," he said. "I know we can pull this out together as a team...that doesn't sound cheesy, of course."

Red chuckled and rubbed both of their heads, the two closing their eyes pleased. "No, they don't know how to work together like we do," he said. "Him taking out his ally proved that pretty much."

Squirtle looked serious and nodded. "Alright, we'll just smack him a few times so our plan hurts him the most," he said. "There's no way that monster wil-"

The Pokémon Trainer looked to see Squirtle and Ivysaur scramble to get back up. "Stop this Ivysaur buddy," the Trainer pleaded, peaking out from a nearby bush a few yards away. "Remember the good times like when we came in the Quarter Finals for the tourney. Next region it will be the semi finals, then the finals, and then maybe in 10 years we'll finally win it for once-"

"How many times do I have to say shut up?" he yelled, looking back at the trainer. "God, you're almost as stupid as THESE idiots," he said, looking at the three and smirking. "I heard you talking about 'working like a team' and that is just a load of stupid bull." His black bulb started to glow brightly. "I'm far stronger than all of you combined, and I don't need orders from some tard of a trainer to help me out."

The Pokémon Trainer gasped. "You can't say the T-word!" he pointed out.

"I can do whatever I want, like THIS!" He shot a moon beam that Ivysaur and Squirtle managed to avoid. Were-Ivysaur shot out his vines, slapping the two Pokémon hard to the ground as he chuckled darkly. "Ha, let's see how training stops that."

Squirtle grunted and reached out to bite the vine that was pinning him down. Using all his energy, he managed to make Were-Ivysaur grunt in pain and take his vine back. Squirtle used Water Gun to spray Were-Ivysaur's eyes, causing him to grunt more. The water spraying on his face made the vine pinning Ivysaur go back to him, setting Ivysaur free.

"Phew..." Ivysaur sighed as Squirtle kept using Water Gun. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon stopped and chuckled pleased. "Nice thinking there..."

"You guys, concentrate!" Red called out from behind some bushes, walking back to the Pokémon Trainer (much to Red's dismay).

"Yeah guys, concentrate, like orange juice, preferably from Orange Islands," the Trainer said before Red smacked him on the head. "O-oh, I get it... you must be a fan of Whitney's Miltank milk, right?" he asked smiling while Red just rumbled at him.

"Okay, I'm tired of playing these games." Were-Ivysaur's back bulb glowed, but this time, instead of shooting out a Moonbeam, it shot out black bullet seeds. It shot out hundreds of them, pelting Squirtle and Ivysaur several times as both once more fell hard to the ground. "Your tricks aren't going to work anymore, and it won't take long for me to take you out for good!"

"(He's getting serious now, so it's time for us to do the same here,)" Red thought serious before shouting, "Guys, get serious now!"

"Why so serious?" the Pokémon Trainer asked. "Are you going to tell of the time I got this scar?" He pointed to a little mark on the elbow. "Well, it all began at the cafeteria. Squirtle was trying to put sneezing powder in my pepper when I was telling my story or at least someone's story about conquering the Indigo Plateau-"

Red's eyes widened as he stared at the trainer with anger. "For the love of crap, SHUT UP!" he yelled as he tossed a punch right on the trainer's face. The hit was just too much for the trainer to handle. Red drew back his fist and saw the trainer's dumbfounded face.

"It's all... a part of the plan..." the trainer mumbled, before hitting the ground, knocked out.

:

Were-Ivysaur laughed. "Okay, okay, that was funny," he admitted. "I guess you are better than that guy. You know not by much and I'm still going to kill you horribly, but still better." Were-Ivysaur's bulb glowed black again. "So who wants this first then?"

"Don't take me wrong. Your trainer is the weirdest guy I've ever met before! I don't want to have something in common with a monster like you!" Red yelled angrily. "...T-that also goes for him as well," he added.

Ivysaur grunted and stepped forward while Squirtle tried to stand back up. "Your lame Moonbeam ain't no match for my Solarbeam," he taunted while spinning his leaves a bit. "I challenge you to a Beam Contest. Sun VS. Moon. Good Guy VS. Bad Guy."

"You're challenging me? Alone?" Were-Ivysaur laughed out as he focused his attention on Ivysaur, the wind blowing between the two. "This is just too amusing to pass up" he said, energy slowly gathering in his beam. "Tell you what; you give it all you got as much of a full power solar beam as you can get in this area." The werehog smirked. "Still, even if you were on the freaking moon, you still wouldn't have enough power to stop mine."

Ivysaur's bulb glowed as pure sparkles of light gathered inside. He hopped once to stand in position to aim his bulb at Were-Ivysaur. "That makes everything better for me," Ivysaur said with a serious expression.

While Red watched intently how each Ivysaurs charged up their bulbs, the two yelled aloud and shot their beams at each other. The beams met at a central point, and naturally, Ivysaur's Solarbeam was being pushed back by Were-Ivysaur's dark Moonbeam. Red narrowed his eyes as the beam overwhelmed the Solarbeam and created a big explosion that shot out smoke. Were-Ivysaur stepped back a few steps while Ivysaur bumped along the ground several feet away. Ivysaur grunted weakly in pain as, from behind the thick cloud of smoke the beams made, Were-Ivysaur chuckled darkly.

"Ahhh, I told you, man," Were-Ivysaur taunted taking a few steps closer. "Nothing can match the power of my Moonbeam, especially a weak little solar beam from weak little you." He gathered energy for another one, aiming it at Ivysaur who was still trying to get up. "Tell you what though: you can at least die by the superior attack. Maybe then you'll-"

Through the smoke, a rainbow aura erupted close to where Ivysaur stood. The aura had erupted on Squirtle, who got back on his feet while staring directly at Were-Ivysaur from the other side of the smoke. "Hope you have enough time to check this out!" Squirtle said as his mouth filled with water.

Red stood up from the bushes and held out his fist. "Now, Squirtle, use Hydro Cannon at full potency!" he ordered.

"Oooh, Hydro Cannon" Were-Ivysaur said in a mocking tone. "I'm so scared of a water attack," he said as energy gathered around him. "Go ahead take your best shot."

Before Were-Ivysaur could even use Moonbeam, Squirtle pulled back his head over his back before he stood forward; releasing a huge stream of water from his mouth that almost immediately took Were-Ivysaur away inside. The werehog, having stopped charging, looked shocked inside the stream of water that collided against the several trees, which were taken down thanks to the pressure of the Hydro Cannon. Squirtle closed his eyes as he exerted a lot of energy to use in the devastating water attack.

"Keep going, Squirtle!" Red encouraged, pumping up a fist in the air.

Squirtle's Hydro Cannon continued for ten more seconds before he stopped and panted heavily while the rainbow aura vanished. Exhausted, he looked forward.

Right before him, a row of soaked trees that extended over sixty feet was taken down. On the end of the path full of fallen trees, a soaked Were-Ivysaur was leaning his back against a tree that was spared from being cut down by force. Red and Squirtle looked serious at the werehog, who opened his eyes and smirked, getting back on his feet.

"Okay, I have to admit that was pretty good," he said, shaking the water off him. "More powerful than I thought you specks could get. Still, it's not enough." Were-Ivysaur quickly gathered more energy for another attack. "I mean, honestly, did you think a water attack would do much against a stronger grass type like myself? Surely you can't be that stupid."

"Not so fast!" Red interrupted as he took out from behind a big snowflake with beady eyes.

"What in the hell is that?" Were-Ivysaur asked.

Red grinned confidently. "Before you get defeated, let me ask you a question. What do Grass types are weak against?"

"Well, fire and ice." He smirked. "But I'm guessing your measly Squirtle doesn't have any ice attacks, and if you had a Charizard, you would have used it by now, unless you're even stupider than my fool of a trainer."

"You're forgetting I'm holding an ice item here," Red pointed out, his grin intact.

"What, a Freezie?" Were-Ivysaur asked. "That's not going to do much. And neither would any weak flying or bug attacks you could try throwing at me," he pointed out. "Weaknesses don't mean a thing to a superior specimen such as me."

"This thing isn't a Freezie but an Ice Storm," Red pointed out. "Also, Grass types are weak against ice attacks. HOWEVER, what happens when those very same Grass types are soaked in water?" he asked with a chuckle.

"(Why am I getting X-Men flashbacks now?)" Were-Ivysaur asked himself. "Still, you shouldn't flaunt it's so dangerous," Were-Ivysaur said as his vines lunged at Trainer. "That makes me want to grab it from you all the more."

Red's item shone brightly as it called forth a harsh blizzard. The blizzard went all the way to Were-Ivysaur, who widened his eyes as he saw his vines freezing in midair. He yelled as the water soaking the trees covered them all in thick ice. The blizzard froze the whole length of his vines until he was slowly frozen into an icicle. Inside the icicle, he blinked in shock and looked around, feeling cold all over his body.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-you p-p-p-p-p-prick," Were-Ivysaur was able to mutter out. "I'm g-g-g-g-going t-t-t-to-" Before he could say anything else, the ice completely froze his body, making it impossible for him to move.

Squirtle gasped after he saw the tree behind Were-Ivysaur leaning forward over him. "The tree...it's falling on top of him!" he said.

Red grunted. "Now, Squirtle, use Water Gun on the tree's center to make it fall down on him, quick!"

Squirtle quickly dashed forward and jumped to use Water Gun. He exerted more energy so that the stream of water would crash hard against the center of the tree. With enough force applied into the wood, the tree started falling down over Were-Ivysaur. As soon as it shattered the icicle, Red and Squirtle heard an ear-shattering yell from the werehog.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Were-Ivysaur was able to yell out before the tree hit him hard in the face. Though the icicle around him was broken, the werehog Pokémon was still covered in ice and shivering as he managed to move the tree away from him and look at the others. "You think... some ice and... a tree will stop me?" he asked, before he fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur were speechless after seeing the wild werehog knocked out. Red and Ivysaur joined Squirtle as they stared at the unconscious werehog several feet away from them. "...W-we did it..." Ivysaur muttered before lying on the floor. "We did it..."

Squirtle sighed and sat down. "We pulled through after all... What a relief," he said.

Red frowned and lowered his hat. "I'm sorry for stopping you from going on a rampage around this place...but this had to be done for the better," he muttered

Squirtle looked up at Red. "You're sorry for that monster?" he asked.

Red looked skeptical. "I-I don't know, but I think he and that crazy Squirtle were...kind of forced to act like this," he said. "There's no way they did this on their free wills, didn't they?"

"I...guess," Ivysaur muttered. "But who cares, really? We won this battle... Speaking of which, where's that guy that looks just like you?"

"He looks like me, b-but he DOESN'T act like me at all!" Red argued.

"Or does he?"

The three looked shocked to see the Pokémon Trainer running up to them, smiling.

"Because like you, I also believe in the super incredible power of teamwork and friendship!" He gave them a thumb up. "Thanks to you special guest star help the day is saved, and now our heroes, or at least me, can continue on with my amazing trainer journey."

"..." Squirtle and Ivysaur slowly itched behind Red, who smacked his forehead with a frown.

"Oh, don't be like that, guys." The Pokémon Trainer took out another Poké Ball. "Ivysaur, return," he said, pointing it to the knocked out Ivysaur to transport him into the ball. "You need a good long rest from being all furry and evil...er." He waved at the group. "See, thanks to believing in each other and making our dreams come true, we defeated the awful power of the werehog."

"...Red, did this guy do anything?" Ivysaur muttered.

"N-no, he just annoyed me with those weird comments. H-he's unbelievable in a bad way," Red muttered.

"That's so obvious to see..." Squirtle trailed off.

"Hey, it's all part of a trainer's job," said the oblivious trainer, walking closer to the group. "Anyway, we should probably go and help your friends out right? Didn't you say they were in trouble or something?" The trainer made a fist. "I'm sure together we could defeat anything, even a level 100 Darkrai, unless it was our opponent in the semi final round. Cause we can't win the tournament until the 8th generation, or maybe never. Whichever may come first?"

"...Red, can I use Spore on him? He's freaking me out," Ivysaur whispered.

"Someone say spore?" the Trainer asked as he looked around. "Oh no, there must be more werehogs still around. And it's up to me to give the order to stop them." The Pokémon Trainer pointed at Ivysaur. "Quick Ivy-pal, use Spore!"

The trio looked upset at this. "Who the hell do you think you are to GIVE me orders?" Ivysaur asked upset.

"Ivysaur, use Spore!" Red yelled annoyed.

Ivysaur released cotton spores that gently flew to the trainer's face, gently rubbing his face. The trainer began stumbling to the sides as drowsiness slowly took over him.

"Man, is it night time already?" the trainer asked, yawning some. "Oh well, wake me up if...Team Rocket comes 'cause then I'll...just stand there and let them...kidnap Pikachu for the...589th time," he muttered before falling to the ground asleep.

Squirtle looked freaked out at Red as the trainer snored aloud. "L-let's leave this place behind!" he suggested. "L-let's go back to the others before this guy wakes up! I-I had enough of this weird place!"

"I second that!" Ivysaur agreed.

Red looked serious and adjusted his hat. "Quick, you two, let's move on! We have to go back from where we came from and fast!" he ordered.

"W-which way?"

"Over there!" Red pointed over to the west.

The trio scrambled on their feet before running away from the clearing, leaving the odd trainer sleep talk. "No, Squirtle, that's my pot pie," the trainer muttered in his sleep. "Oh wait, that one's mine? But why does it smell like Snorlax snot? Oh wait, it's supposed to smell like that. Yeah, that makes sense," the trainer muttered to himself.

"...I have no comments for what happened here," Mewtwo muttered annoyed.

"I feel like my reputation as a Pokémon was just demolished before my very eyes..." Pikachu muttered.

"...Can we move on to the next fight?" Zelda asked. "I'm worried about Link...the other Link, I mean."

Master Hand sighed. "Oh well, let's see another furry mock us all again. Moving on..."

"..." Link frowned with a sigh. "Oh Nayru, what happened here now?"

"Do we want to know, honestly?" DK asked.

Western Forest Area

For some reason or another, the Smashers found Toon Link glued upside down against a tree. The swordsman was staring into space with a bored look that was about to erupt in fury. Toon Link blinked a few times and decided to speak. "And I ask, how did I end up glued to this tree?" he asked out of boredom.

"That's because you fell right for my trap," Were-Toon Link said, appearing right before him and crossing his arms. "Man, I've gotta say, it sure was dumb of you to accept a prank war, if you can't prank worth a 1/8 carton of diet Lon Lon milk.

"...Lon Lon Milk?" Toon Link wondered confused. "I swear, you don't make any sense at all! Screw this place, screw werehogs, screw you! I'm getting sick of this!" he complained. "If you can't even fight seriously, I'll have to wonder how the hell you were able to defeat Ganondorf!"

Were-Toon Link rolled his eyes. "Cause Ganontard's even stupider than you." Were-Toon Link poked Toon Link a few times with his sword. "Besides I was fighting you seriously for awhile. But that got SOOOOOOOO boring. You kept trying those arrow tricks and sword slices and well, I got enough of that in my adventures. You really think I want to do that here?" he shook his head. "Nah, this is a lot more fun. Besides, if I wasn't pulling pranks on you, I would have killed you by now." He poked Toon Link again. "Think about that next time you open your mouth, stupid."

Toon Link grunted loudly as he started shaking his hips. A single Bomb slipped out and exploded right on the tree. The explosion was enough to push Toon Link aside and fall on the grass. He stood back up and raised his sword and shield to Were-Toon Link. "E-enough talk!" he demanded. "Pranks or not, you seriously need to shut up!"

"And you seriously need to stop ruining my good time, man." Were-Toon Link warped behind him, licking his finger and sticking it in Toon Link's ear. "Wet Willy!" he said before pushing Toon Link to the ground and laughing loudly. "Oh man, that is one of those oldies you never think you'd get a chance to try and then you do and...it's even funnier than you'd think it'd be you know?"

Toon Link shook his head and chuckled. "There's something better than a 'Wet Willy' thing," he said before a bomb close to Were-Toon Link exploded, pushing him aside to the grass. "Your everyday bomb," he said pleased.

"That was okay…" Were-Toon Link quickly got up, not looking damaged. "I've got something better for you though" black energy circulated around his hand as he took out a bomb. The normal Toon Link ran to the side and was able to dodge the bomb, but was hit with a second powered up bomb that Were-Toon Link threw. Instead of exploding, this bomb was shown shocking Toon Link with a purple wave of electricity. "An electric bomb. And don't worry that won't kill you... unless I up the voltage" Were-Toon Link's hand started to glow even more as he took out another bomb.

"T-the hell? An electric bomb?" Toon Link complained. "W-what kind of bomb is that, anyway? It doesn't make any sense at all! Blasphemy!"

"Pfft, you really think that makes sense than what we normally have to go through?" Were-Toon Link asked before throwing away the bomb as it caused an explosion behind them. "I mean next you'll be complaining about our 'implausible' inventory system or something."

"Er, no, I respect how weird it is for us to have that magic satchel thing..." Toon Link muttered before he shook his head. "I-I mean, get focused!"

"Ha, you admit our inventory system's weird." Were-Toon link appeared in front of him again, kicking him to the ground as he took something out of his sleeve. "Besides, I don't get focused, I get 'foked'," he said, holding up another bomb. "It's like getting focused, except more extreme."

Toon Link groaned. "Would you STOP IT with the prank talk? It's starting to get so annoying to the fact I'm ignoring I'm hurting here on the grass while you come up with those lame lines!"

"Lame lines? Lame LINES?" Were-Toon Link narrowed his eyes, staring directly at his counterpart. "Excuse me, but do you hear yourself talk? That, my friend or alternate, is the very definition of lame. I mean, it sounds like you can barely piece a sentence together, let alone an actually intelligently constructed one. Or one that even had a decent insult to it." Were-Toon Link rolled his arm. "Your delivery is pathetic, your jokes are lousy, and your sense of timing is-"

Toon Link took Were-Toon Link by surprise by shooting a fast arrow to the bomb. The bomb exploded, making Were-Toon Link grunt in pain as he fell on his back. Toon Link gasped and rolled back to stand back up on his feet. "HA!" he said pleased.

"... Okay, your timing is decent," the werehog admitted as his cap was blasted to pieces and his clothes showed a few burn marks "Still, you have a long way to go, young Padawan. Allow me to instruct you in the ways of the comedic force."

Toon Link looked bored. "Something is telling me it's not even going to be comedic. I mean, it needs me to be laughing," he said as he raised his shield.

The were-fied Toon Link quickly rushed over and grabbed Toon Link's arm, throwing him into a tree. "Lesson one: Physical humor has to be done correctly; otherwise, it's more disturbing than it is funny." He quickly appeared in front of Toon Link again, kicking him lightly in the chin before smacking him to the ground again. "Secondly, the classics will always be classic no matter how many times they're overused."

Toon Link grunted and glared at Were-Toon Link. "T-those are called clichés if they're overused, idiot!" he shouted angrily as he felt pain running through his body. "(Hold up...hold up, dammit!)"

Were-Toon Link held up two bombs as they glowed with a dark black energy. "And third, always try to make the sound effects sound funnier than they normally would be." He threw both bombs at Toon Link. It caused a rather large explosion as Toon Link was knocked several yards away from the blast. The damaged swordsman smashed his head against a tree, knocked out from the hit. "KABOOOM, WHOSSSHHHHHH, and CRACK!" Were-Toon Link said, laughing at this.

While Toon Link lied down unconscious, he was forced to have a vision in his dreams. The swordsman woke up and looked around; finding himself sitting down in the same forest, except for the fact wavy distortions floated about and Were-Toon Link was frozen into place, laughing at his direction. "O-oh my goodness, what's wrong here?" he asked.

From behind a tree, a familiar person walked out. "Kid, this is obviously a dream," he said with an amused grin. "'Course everything looks wrong when ya're havin' these kinds of moments."

Toon Link turned to the person and gasped out of excitement. "Holy Crap, Raven!" he rejoiced. "I don't care if this is some kind of nasty dream, but I'm glad to see you again!"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Too bad I'm not the real me," he said. "What you're seeing is your mind playing tricks on ya so ya could...ya know...create a strategy to take that demon full of fur over there."

At this, Toon Link's excitement died down. "Oh...well, that sucks much more," he said with a sigh. "And here I thought you'd be here to take that guy out for me..."

Raven shook his head. "Puh-lease, even if I'm not the real Raven, I can tell I've faced much worse enemies than that kid of the devil," he said with a chuckle. "Compared to that, he ain't nothing but a rat on crack."

"...Really?" Toon Link looked doubtfully.

"Kid, I told ya I'm not the real Raven. How am I supposed tah know?" Raven asked.

"Then what the heck am I supposed to do with that idiot over there?" Toon Link asked aggravated. "I remember all that talk about power corrupting you, but this is just ridiculous!"

"Ya tell me, kid," Raven said bored. "This is just another example of that from what your mind thinks, anyway."

"So you're just basing your thoughts from my own thoughts?"

"...Didn't I tell you I was made from your mind?"

"Ugh!" Toon Link grunted as he tossed his arms up before crossing them as he looked back at the laughing Were-Toon Link. "This is just dandy. The crazy representation of Raven (Raven: I heard that!) before my eyes isn't giving me any helpful hints, and I don't even know how to wake up from this state!"

Raven shrugged his shoulders. "Well, why not use this time to device a plan to attack that devil?" he suggested. "C'mon, kid, you gotta have something else than the bow skills the real me taught ya."

"I didn't even overuse them at all!" Toon Link complained.

"Focus, kid, focus," Raven reminded. "Take a deep breath and think about an alternative to perform attacks."

Toon Link grunted, but he listened to the imaginary Raven's suggestion. After taking a deep breath, he rubbed his chin. "An alternative to perform attacks... How can I do that if his attacks connect?" he asked.

"I dunno," Raven said, his eyes looking away. "Ever tried to surprise your enemies while they're about to land a blow on you?"

"Hmmmmmmmmm..." Toon Link thought harder.

"Ya know, dodge their attacks and then surprise them with a quick move that makes them gasp?"

"..." Toon Link's eyes widened at this. "Parry Attacks...that's it!"

Raven nodded. "So ya remembered all that sword training you used to have back at your home, huh?" he asked.

"Of course I do!" Toon Link said before slapping his forehead. "God, I forgot all the basics Orca used to teach me all this time. Parry Attacks are the only way to land certain blows on an enemy after dodging their initial attack on you! Well, that's what I used against heavily-armored enemies to take off their armors."

"Ya mean rolling around all the way behind their backs and slash them upwards, and jumping over their weapons and do a slicing attack over their heads to get behind their backs and use a fast attack to rack up damage?" Raven asked.

"Pretty much..." Toon Link muttered. "Two simple Parry Attacks, but they worked against enemies around my size."

Raven grumbled. "Are ya gonna rely solely on that, though? Try to come up with a surprise move," he suggested.

"Hmm, well... I'll have that in mind as I go along," Toon Link said. "Even though my mind is using you to play tricks on me, you're still reliable."

Raven chuckled. "Thanks, but here's another word of advice. That kid is supposedly you...kind of, so he should know what you'll do. Use that to outsmart the heck outta his mind."

"...Okay, I'm worried about that," Toon Link muttered. "Now, how am I supposed to fight him if I'm knocked out?"

Right after wondering that, a saint light shone down on his body. Wings appeared and fluttered a bit behind his back. He gasped as he felt that the atmosphere was turning heavier. He took one last look to the imaginary Raven, who muttered, "Good luck, kid."

"Uuuuuuuuhhh... I-I feel a little bit dizzy now..." Toon Link muttered as he sat back up, looking around to find the werehog laughing at his direction. He gasped at this and got back up to his feet. "I-I think I can pull this out!" he said determined.

"Hahahaha, Crack. Man, I could laugh about that for hours..." He blinked and saw Toon Link in front of him. "Oh hey..." His eyes bugged out. "Wait, I knocked you unconscious. How'd you get up so fast? Is someone around handing out extra lives?"

Toon Link stuck out his tongue. "Sorry, but I don't want to say!" he said aggravated as he pointed his sword at Were-Toon Link. "I've been an idiot for spending time with you. I've tried to attack you so many times in the past, but I've should've played the defensive, so I'm just going to do that!"

"I've been an idiot for spending time thinking I'm going to win," Were-Toon Link said in a mocking voice. "I tried to attack you and epically failed so many times, but this time I'll succeed because I'm telling my strategy before I actually do it, and end my idea the most mundane way possible." Were-Toon Link jumped high into a tree, aiming his arrow at Toon Link. "Yeah, play defensive against this kid," he said, shooting a barrage of arrows at Toon Link who jumped around to avoid them.

Toon Link grunted as he hid behind a tree. "(I should listen to the imaginary Raven and think about a surprise move to get that guy,)" he thought as he saw some arrows landing on the ground. "(Arrows...items...hmm...)" He looked to a patch of grass and smiled a bit. "(Oh yes, that'd do nicely.)"

"Hey, come out from over there," Were-Toon Link smirked as he began glowing black again, "'cause I'll just make you come out then." Energy shot into his arrows as they exploded on contact, knocking the tree Toon Link was hiding under back. The young Hyrulian was able to roll out of the way in time and avoid being smashed by the tree. "Got you now," Were-Toon Link said aiming another arrow at him.

Toon Link reacted quickly and shot his Hookshot at the branch where the werehog was. "Charge!" Toon Link yelled as he swiftly went over to the werehog and smacked him hard with his shield. The werehog gasped as he fell down back on the ground, rolling aside to avoid Toon Link impaling him with his sword.

"Wow, pretty stupid if you to only try that actually fast charge now" Toon Link remarked, taking out his sword. "Still not nearly as fast as my" he appeared right in front of Toon Link. "CHARGE"! he yelled out, striking with his sword.

Toon Link's senses reacted to this. The swordsman swiftly avoided the slash, making the werehog gasp in surprise as Toon Link rolled around Were-Toon Link's back and performed an upward slash that pushed Were-Toon Link to the air before falling on the grass. Toon Link sighed and smiled pleased. "Phew, that worked," he muttered.

"(Huh, that move seems strangely familiar,)" Were-Toon Link thought, quickly getting up. "Not bad, not bad," said the werehog, dusting himself off. "But can you handle the uh...uh...what should I call this? Oh yeah, DANCE OF A THOUSAND BLADES!" he quickly yelled out, rushing at Toon Link. He moved his hand at great speeds, making it appear that there were literally hundreds of swords jabbing the air. "Ha, try getting around this!" he taunted.

Toon Link looked serious as Were-Toon Link approached him. "Lame!" he called out before the werehog came about ten feet close to him. The good swordsman jumped over the werehog's jabs, making the enemy look above him to receive a harsh slash across the face. Were-Toon Link grunted loudly in pain as Toon Link used the slash to bounce behind his back. "Piercing Claw!" he yelled as his sword turned into a drill that he used to drill the werehog's back, dealing damage to both his health and energy. Toon Link yelled out as he pushed the werehog forward, making Were-Toon Link roll recklessly several feet away from him.

"Owwww..." Were-Toon Link moaned, rubbing his back. "Stupid light sword," he grumbled, looking at his black blade. "Okay you have your tricks but I have my own drill, that's going to break yours. I dare you to even trying fighting it's powah!" Were-Toon Link laughed, making Toon Link roll his eyes. "Yeah, you wouldn't get the reference uh...stupid. So take this." Were-Toon Link started doing spinning around several times swirling with purple energy. He jumped off the ground and started spinning horizontally, the energy forming into a drill as he rushed over at Toon Link.

Toon Link, however, jumped over the drill, once again slicing Were-Toon Link's head behind the drill. The werehog lost control of his drill and fell back into the ground as Toon Link landed on his feet, pointing his sword at the werehog. "That's how a real man does it!" he scolded. "...Uh...I mean, ha!" he corrected himself.

"What, you're not a man." Were-Toon quickly sped all around Toon Link at high speeds before appearing right in front of him, punching him hard in the gut. "I AM A MAN!" he yelled, knocking Toon Link to the ground as Were-Toon Link looked at his fist. "Hmmm, why didn't I just do that before?" he asked himself.

"Because you're lame," Toon Link taunted as he got back up. "I mean, how lame can you get if I can catch you off-guard like that? That's it, from now on, you're Mr. Lame-o Furry," he said with a chuckle. "(Can I hold on with what I have? I guess I can.)"

Were-Toon Link breathed a few times, wiping sweat off his brow. "Oh, I'm lame? You've only been getting in some hits thanks to some weirdo attacks, and basic parry techniques, which won't work anymore." He pointed at himself, wiping some blood off his face. "I know how to parry too you know and I can fight weirdo with werehog, or a good gut punch at least." He backed away some. "(I should try ending this quick,)" he thought. "(I've been running around too much with this guy and exerting too much energy. And unlike Mr. Nap over there, I haven't rested in...ages.)" He shook his head. "(I'll rest later. First, this guy.)" He disappeared in a flash, warping all around Toon Link.

Toon Link frowned. "All they do is run around like a kid high on sugar..." he muttered as he spotted a branch and used his Hookshot to latch into it. As he was being pulled, he laughed loudly and said, "Hey, Mr. Lame-o Furry! You can't catch me!" he taunted as he crossed over a small patch of grass below the branch.

"Ha, no problem!" Were-Toon Link charged at him. "You think your Hook-shooting is fast?" Well-" As he stepped over the patch of grass, an explosion went off right below the werehog's feet. "YAAAAAAAAH!" he yelled out as the explosion blasted him through the air, making him crash into a tree. "Ahhhhowwwwwwwww!" he yelled out before bouncing onto the ground. The werehog lied face down on the ground, moaning weakly as he tried turning himself over. "What...hit me?" he muttered.

Toon Link raised his sword in the air as a rainbow aura burst around him, making the grass around get pushed aside by the wind. He put his sword in front of him horizontally to rest his left hand right next over the tip. "There was a Motion Sensor Bomb I put in a patch of grass while you were laughing your butt off," he explained as a earthly glyph appeared around him. "It's the banana peel joke with a twist; a really nice twist!" he said as a Poison Mushroom fell off from his side and went all the way to Were-Toon Link. The werehog gasped as he tried to stand back up, but it was too late after the mushroom lightly touched his shoulder, shrinking him to Toon Link's knee size.

"Oh, weak!" the tiny werehog cried out, before gasping. "Oh great now I'm tiny too?" he asked, slowly trying to stand on his feet. "What are you going to do now? Try grabbing me and squeezing my bones, 'cause that's been done man."

The swordsman didn't hear the werehog. Toon Link started to chant as he closed his eyes. "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth!" he chanted aloud as the glyph around his feet glowed brighter. Yellow spheres of energy rose around the glyph as they started circling around Toon Link. He pointed up his sword to the air and chanted, "I summon thee... Come, Gnome!"

"Gnome? What Gnome?" Were-Toon Link asked, seeing a rather large shadow now above him. "Uh" he slowly looked up. "Is that Gnome Big Fat Guy-"

An earthly glyph appeared right below the two. While the glyph trapped Were-Toon Link, it increased Toon Link's defense by twenty percent. "I'll..." came Gnome's voice from above the werehog as he appeared out from a puff of smoke and fell down right over the shocked Were-Toon Link, "CRUSH YA!" he said merrily as he crushed the small beast, his fall making stalagmites of twenty feet rise up from the ground, going to four different directions.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Were-Toon Link screamed at the top of his lungs.

Toon Link pulled down his sword as a row of stalagmites passed right next to him. He looked serious as the four rows of earthly spears retreated into the soil. Gnome pushed himself back on his feet and chuckled as he saw Were-Toon Link stuck on the ground. The Summon Spirit turned to Toon Link and winked at him before disappearing in a quick flash.

However, Toon Link gasped as the tiny werehog sat back up, his red pupils spinning out of sync as he twirled his head. "Oh, come on!" Toon Link groaned. "Even tiny you're still fine?" he asked in disbelief.

"Ahahahaha,"said the tiny Were-Toon Link, who then grew to normal side. Toon Link saw the beast had become severely damaged. Parts of his fur had come off, his muzzle had been crushed and was severely bleeding, and his eyes, while uncoordinated, were also looking in different directions. The beast in fact started spinning around woozily as he spit out a fang. "That's a good story, Mark," Were-Toon Link was able to comment woozily.

"..." Toon Link shifted his eyes uncomfortably at this. "Uuuuuuh..."

"Don't touch me mother (beep)er," Were-Toon Link slurred out, slicing up a piece of nearby grass. "You just a little chicken, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep," he said, spinning around some more and laughing.

"...Okay..." Toon Link muttered bored.

"I did not hit her," Were-Toon Link slurred out, still spinning around. "It's bull(beep). I did not hit her." He threw his sword to the ground. "I did noooooooot." He turned around, saw Toon Link, and waved at him. "Oh, hi Mark," he said with a smile.

"..." Toon Link waved a hand lazily. "Just knock yourself out already..." he said.

"Let's toss the football, huh?" He tossed his boomerang in front of him, which traveled a few feet before winding back and hitting him on the head. "Ahhh! Everyone betray me! I fed up with this world!" He yelled out, weakly kicking the grass. "Rawahhhh," he said, managing to stumble over to a nearby bush and slap it several times, knocking some leafs down.

"I SAID KNOCK YOURSELF OVER!" Toon Link yelled aggravated.

Were-Toon Link pumped his fists in front of him. "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA! I'm going to end it now," he muttered, spinning around before imitating putting a gun to his head. He fired and hit the ground, blood dripping from his forehead as he finally fell unconscious.

Toon Link tossed his arms up and started walking the same way where he came from. "Finally!" he complained. "It was about time I went back with the others! Don't you expect me to tell them what happened here because it makes me sick just thinking about it, period!" he yelled annoyed as he left the area with the knocked out werehog.

"Every time I see one of these fights, I feel like my brain cells are being obliterated..." Ness muttered.

"Same here, Ness, same here..." Pikachu agreed.

"Well, now we need to see how Popo and Nana are faring with all this craziness," Master Hand said. "Like always, they're going through hell, that's for sure... Scene change!"

Northern Spring

Meanwhile, in the northern spring, Nana was standing in front of a seemingly knocked out Popo. The blue Ice Climber was lying down on his face with Nana's hammer resting on top of his head. The pink Ice Climber panted heavily as she spotted mud all over Popo's clothes. "That...should do it..." she muttered. "Hey, I killed the bastard at last for us! You can come here now!" she yelled. "Let's celebrate our victory over this fool!"

Several dozen yards away, standing on top of a tree, Were-Nana's werehog ear pricked up. "Wait, she...she did it?" The werehog smiled happily, as she rushed along the tree tops. She leaped down right in front of Nana, looking at her joyously. "It's true? You...you killed him?" she asked.

"Yes!" Nana faked rejoice. "He's right there, eating mud and bugs with his mouth on the dirt!"

"He shouldn't be eating anything. He should be wallowing in the despairs of hell, tormenting for eternity." She slowly walked over, looking down at Popo's body. "Are you sure he's dead?" She looked at Nana. "I don't like doubting you fellow Nana but I can still smell his disgusting living flesh."

Nana rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease, you're relying on your nose to tell who's dead and who's not? Take a close look, girl," she said, twitching at her false happy look at the werehog, who she thought looked disgusting.

"Well, I should inspect the body." She picked up Popo, holding the boy with the blue parka in one hand, looking him over. "Well, he does appear unconscious but-"

As soon as she stared at his closed eyes, Popo's eyes opened up before he used Blizzard to freeze the werehog's front body. Nana took this as a signal to use Blizzard behind the werehog's back, trapping her inside an icicle. The two Ice Climbers stood next to each other and began smacking their hammers right on the icicle, slowly tearing it apart.

"Faster, faster, faster!" Nana yelled.

"I'm on it!" Popo yelled as they reached werehog's head, banging right on it harder. "Quick, keep on going!"

"ENOUGH!" A black ice wind circled around Were-Nana, knocking the two Ice climbers back. The werehog Ice climber broke out of the ice, glaring daggers of hatred at Popo. "So you are still alive," she said, looking down sadly. "I guess it was...too much to hope for that Nana would see the light so quickly. Not with you still filling her heart with darkness!" She warped and hooked Popo hard in the face, making the boy roll along the ground, bleeding some from his lip.

"(Yes, she's easy to make angry...and easy for us to go along with the plan,)" Nana thought seriously before she dropped to her knees. "Oh no, I knew this wasn't over with! He used his cunning words to make me hurt you! H-he's such a bastard!"

"Darn it, you big dummy!" called Popo from his spot. "If only I had the chance to finish off both of you!"

Were-Nana looked at her counterpart sadly. "He...he tricked you again?" she asked, crying a bit as she quickly went over and hugged Nana, making the pink Ice Climber squirm some. "I'm so, so sorry," she whispered. "I know how much he can mess with your mind and how much he can confuse you." She stepped back, looking seriously into Nana's eyes. "You...you should probably just leave." She pointed over at Popo. "So he won't have a chance to EVER trick you again."

"(Super Drama Queen Mode, go!) No! Never!" Nana said as she faked some sobs. "I must kill him with my own hands! I don't want you to steal my kill!"

"(Super Drama KING Mode, go!) Darn you and your overly complicated mood changes! They prevent me from controlling your thoughts!" Popo said as he faked dismay. "With such a mind like that, I must crush it before it crushes me!"

"I understand," Were-Nana said sympathetically to Nana. "Just like how I had to take my own Popo you must take yours. " He turned her attention to Popo. "This time though, I have no choice but to watch you do it, so he doesn't try tricking you and hurting you again."

Popo raised his hands. "Fear me, you both!" he said. "I shall use my telepathic powers to mind-control Nana!" He held out his hands to Nana. "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhh..."

Nana gasped and slowly started walking to him. "N-no! My body isn't listening to me!" she said, faking horror. "I-I won't let you!" she said as she "broke out" from Popo's mind-control and rushed to his spot with a hammer ready. "Prepare yourself, you stupid fool!"

"Curses! My telepathy didn't work!" Popo cursed before holding out his hand, a rainbow aura bursting out from him. "But I'll force you to attack that monster you like to call your friend!"

"No!" Nana said as she "forcibly" high-fived with Popo. The werehog blinked shocked as a huge iceberg rose up from below their feet and pushed her into the air while the two Ice Climbers slid down to opposite directions. "Look at what you've done!" she said dramatically as she spotted the werehog spinning in the air. "(She didn't freeze because she's not close to the iceberg, dammit!)"

"Oh no!" Were-Nana said hurried looking at Popo. "I didn't know you had psychic abilities. You must of found some of your former power, Oppon," both of her fists clenched. "That means you tormented Nana even worse than I thought." Dark energy gathered around the werehog. "Fortunately, I upped my guard after your last attack you foul bastard. Thanks to the power of infinite chill, your ice attacks won't work on me anymore. Not even this Iceberg, which used to be a representation of our combined power. Now it will be nothing but dust!"

"You mean snowflakes!" corrected Nana.

Were-Nana raised her fists up as she slammed them in front of her. The iceberg slowly started to crack into little pieces. Bit by bit the giant iceberg slowly become nothing but little ice clumps. Were-Nana screamed, as her energy thrashed around her, making the ice slowly disappear she landed on the ground, her eyes looking like they were aflame.

"When I say dust, I MEAN dust" Were-Nana clarified.

"Technically, ice is water, so how can it be dust?" Nana questioned. "(For the love of god, she's nuts!) I-I mean, you saved me!" she rejoiced.

"Darn you and your fuzzy fur!" Popo cursed. "I should've known better not to underestimate the female gender!"

"This has nothing to do with gender!" Were-Nana yelled pointing at Popo. "Boy, girl, man, woman, creature, god, insect. No matter who you are, what you did can NEVER be forgiven. And I'm sure Nana will make you pay for all the torture you ever inflicted on her."

"Yeah!" Nana said. "I'll make you pay, alright!"

"Not so fast!" Popo proclaimed as he held out his hands at Were-Nana. "Using my broken telepathy powers, I'll make you do my bidding!"

Nana gasped dramatically. "Oh noes! Close your eyes and stay still! That way, he won't take over your mind!" She took out her hammer. "While you defend yourself, I'll hit him with everything I've got!"

"No way I'll let him hurt you" Were-Nana said as she closed her eyes and held herself tightly. "No Popo is EVER using me again, especially to try and hurt a fellow Nana!" she yelled out.

"In the name of all that is good...and pink, probably, I'll kill him off!" Nana proclaimed as she used Were-Nana's state to fake some footsteps rushing towards Popo. "HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Popo took out a Warp Star, which instantly took him along the air. "Fear my explosive air powers!" he yelled as he shot up towards the sky and dove down upon Were-Nana. "SUPER EXTRA BIG(beep)SS EXPLOSION!"

The Warp Star crashed right over Were-Nana, causing a small but fierce explosion that sent her spiraling towards a tree. The werehog grunted in pain as she smacked her head hard into the tree's back before bouncing back to the grass in pain. Nana gasped as Popo got back up on his feet. "You stupid bastard!" she yelled angrily.

"Fear my powers as Brad the Bad!" Popo proclaimed.

"Oppon Codl!"

"Y-yeah, that!" Popo said before laughing maniacally.

"You... had an item?" Were-Nana asked, burnt in several places. She softly winced as she got up. "Does your evil trickery know no bounds?" She warped in front of him grabbing him by his hood yet again. "I should END you right here" she said darkly, ice energy gathering all around her. "But I know this is Nana's fight more than it is mine." She threw him to the ground, looking away. "And if I have to get hurt some to see you gone forever, so be it" she muttered.

"You're such a pussy," Popo taunted Were-Nana. "You're so stupid for letting me lay a hand on her delicate face. Your foolishness will make her pay with her life, foolish fool who thinks foolish things out of her foolish thoughts full of foolish trash!"

Popo stared at Nana, who shook her head continuously as a sign of a bad mistake.

"(...Oh, crud, I went too far with that,)" Popo thought.

"(You're so stupid, Nana,)" a version of Popo's voice was heard buzzing in Were-Nana's head. "(It was so easy for me to crush that cute, delicate face of yours, but I still needed you.)" His words spun around her head more, making the werehog start simmering with rage. "(One day when I don't need you, your foolishness will cost you your life. But for now, better you just forget this ever happen, trash.)"

"NO...NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Were-Nana screamed as dark black and violet energy flowed around her even more than before as it began pushing the two climbers to the ground. "YOU WON'T DO IT TO ME AGAIN!"

"(S-she looks ticked off!)" Popo thought as he backed away from the werehog.

"YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY!" Were-Nana leaped high above the air, using an ice wind to float above the two. "TIME FOR YOU TO PAY! FROZEN ICICLE HUNDRED MALLET FUNERAL!" Were-Nana screamed as she made a fist pointed at Popo. The blue Ice Climber suddenly found himself encased in a block of ice. The block of ice then started rising to the ground as Popo tried pulling out of as much as he could.

"(Uh-oh, we went too far with her already unstable mentality,)" Nana gulped as she went to hide behind a tree. "(Sorry, Popo, but it's obvious I'll get hurt if I go over to help you! Please, resist!)"

"YOU WILL DIE, POPO, DIEEE!" Were-Nana Screamed out. The ice block started getting larger and larger, rising over a hundred feet in the sky. Were-Nana pounded the air several times. Each time she pounded, an ice hammer appeared in the frozen block. Popo looked to see literally dozens upon dozens of hammers around him. "YAHHHHHH!" Were-Nana screamed as one of the hammers suddenly melted into a bunch of slush as she pointed at Popo. "ONCE ALL 100 HAMMERS MELT, YOU'RE DONE FOR YOU MONSTER!"

"(Oh, f(beep)!)" Nana thought in shock.

Were-Nana pounded the air again as another hammer disappeared. Popo desperately tried struggling out, not being above to move any part of his body. Nana looked in horror to see ice hammer after ice hammer start shattering apart and breaking off the gigantic ice block. Were-Nana made the motion of an overhand smash as all the remaining ice hammers disappeared. The normal pink ice climber looked in shock to see the ice block break down, and then explode. She saw through the smoke Popo fall to the ground, smashing into the dirt and falling unconscious.

"(Popo!)" Nana thought terrified at his brother lying down on the ground. "(That sick...monster!)"

Were-Nana breathed in deeply a few times, looking fairly warn out as she looked at her hand. "He...he won't hurt me anymore," she said shaking before turning to Nana and gasping. "Oh no, Nana!" she said quickly running over to her. "I'm so sorry! I forgot this was your fight but he...but he got to me and...and..." Were-Nana fell to the ground, crying some more.

"D-don't worry," Nana said as she gritted her teeth. "J-just let me bury his corpse behind a bush so he rots inside the earth," she muttered.

"Very well…" Were-Nana bowed her head. "And I'm so sorry about killing him but... it had to be done and..." Were-Nana gasped at the site in front of her. "What... what is that?" she asked.

Nana gasped after she saw a holy light shining down on Popo. Wings appeared behind his back, fluttering a bit before disappearing. He grumbled a few words as he sat back up, looking around confused. "W-what happened?" he asked dumbfounded before Nana tackled him all the way behind a bush. "Uah!" he yelped.

"I-I just knew I had to deliver the killing blow myself!" Nana yelled as smacking sounds came out from the bush. "H-he's mine this time! I'll make him pay for hurting your feelings!"

"Thank you," Were-Nana whispered, turning away. "It's good to know you care," she said, smirking some. "And I hope you give him an even worse thrashing than I did."

Behind the bush, Nana was venting off her anger on a rock with her hands as Popo sat behind her. "How long are we supposed to keep playing around with her?" Nana muttered in anger.

"Beats me," Popo said with a sigh. "You'll be excused from dying while I'm destined to rot in this world because of her... It's a good thing she can be fooled so easily by going Drama Queen on her."

"I know!" Nana complained. "But time is running out here, and we need to come up with something that will definitely take her out of commission!"

"Shave off her fur?"

"We'll do that after she's out of commission!"

Popo rubbed his chin while he waved the fork. "I don't know... She's some kind of werewolf, isn't she?" he asked. "And this fork happens to be made out of silver."

"Are you nuts? Do you think that fork will do ANYTHING to her besides a little pinch?" Nana muttered.

"Do we have anything else to rely on?" Popo asked worried. "Let's use common werewolf folklore here and burrow this into her back!"

"I really doubt that'll work... I mean, it's so obvious that it looks so fishy," Nana muttered as she slapped the rock.

"I don't know you, but this little fork will serve her the medicine she SERIOUSLY needs."

"Please, it's not like that the fork will deliver the final blow on her," Nana hissed. "...But I'm desperate enough to resort to desperate and ridiculous measures, so let's do it. HOWEVER, I just recalled that we have Palom and Porom's Twincast, so I want to use that first."

"Aww, those two..." Popo sighed. "Their ability will surely get her to her knees for sure..."

"But for that to work, we still need to buy time to finish a Twincast," Nana muttered.

"Drama Queen Mode is the way to go."

"...Sweet."

Were-Nana looked at the bushes. "Is everything okay in there, Nana?" she asked her alternate counterpart. "Remember, if you need any help in vanquishing that monster, I'm ready to assist you."

Nana came out of the bush, walking to the maniac werehog. "I immobilized him," she said, faking a pleased smile. "I will now use my magical powers to burn him to cinders."

"You... have magic too?" Were-Nana rubbed her head. "I guess things are really different in your world, even if... SOME things are the same." She walked closer to Nana. "Is there anything I can do to assist you in eliminating him for good?"

"N-no," Nana said. "P-please, just let me do it this time. Whatever he shouts at you, IGNORE IT, please. He's mine and mine alone."

"I know he's yours to vanquish," Were-Nana muttered. "I guess I just..." she shook her head. "No I... I trust you can do this" Nana looked at her a bit confused. "If anyone else was here, I would have snuffed him out already but... but you have to do this alone, just like I did. Just... promise me you made sure he won't be able to hurt you, okay?"

"(Hell no!) Hell yes," Nana said before turning to the bush, calling forth a light that rose around her feet. "(Please, let her be distracted long enough to finish the spell...)"

Behind the bush, Popo hid behind the rock Nana was slapping to concentrate his magic along with hers. "(Yes, I can feel it,)" he thought. "(Twincast tandems both of us together to create a very strong spell... Palom, you're awesome, dude!)"

"So...are you going to attack him?" Were-Nana asked, leaning closer to Nana with a concerned look in her beastly eyes. "I know it's hard but... you shouldn't stall for too long. Remember, I'll be there for you afterward, no matter what happens, okay?"

"Pyroblast!" Nana suddenly shouted as she opened her arms towards the bush's direction. She gasped at this and turned to Were-Nana. "O-oh no, he reflected the attack on you!"

Were-Nana gasped before scorching flames engulfed a big area where she was standing. The werehog was brutally pushed around as fire burst around the air, burning her within intense fireballs that shot at her body at will. She screamed loudly in pain as Nana watched how the werehog went sailing into the air by the intense fire spell she made with Popo. As Were-Nana kept screaming, she was burned even more over time until a huge explosion of fire burst out from the middle, sending her spiraling into the air before crashing her head hard against the ground.

"(...Awesome,)" Nana thought pleased, faking a gasp of concern as she stared at the scorched werehog lying down on the ground. "Oh my goodness, other me!" she yelled. "(She doesn't seem to be moving at all... D-did that do it, really? Oh, Porom, thank you so much!)"

Popo peeked out from the bush to look at the werehog. "...Serves you right for thinking I'm so easy to eliminate, fool!" he yelled with a maniacal laugh.

"YOU BASTARD!" Were-Nana roared. The two Ice Climbers looked on in horror as Nana quickly jumped up and looked at the bushes. Most of her fur had been severely signed as a lot of her jacket had been torn off. Even part of her tail had been reduced to cinders. The burn marks around her body though were quickly covered by a powerful white energy as she pointed at the bush, holding out a glowing hand. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU TO DEATH! FEEL THE FURY OF MY ICE GOLIATH!"

Popo turned pale while staring at the werehog's enraged look. "Y-yikes, she looks SUPER REALLY ticked off now!" he shouted, frozen into place. "T-there was no plan to avoid one of her broken attacks, was there? D-dammit, I'm toasted!" He thought things over. "F-frozen!"

The ground around the area started to shake. The entire field the three were one started to shimmer white for a second before large stalagmites started shooting out from the ground. These stalagmites grew higher and higher, and began to merge. The ice stalagmites started to glow as they began to form a humongous creature that towered over all the creatures, with jagged teeth and jagged claws for hands. The creature roared as Nana roared, which made the creature grown even taller as he began to stand up.

"..." Nana stared up at the ice monster in shock. She looked down on her right hand to see the fork Popo gave her. "...Oh well," Nana said with a depressed sigh. "It's a very desperate situation, so...no hard feelings..." She shook her head and looked pissed. "Oh yes, there are hard feelings! You won't lay a filthy finger on my brother anymore! YIAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed loudly as she leaped on top of the enraged Were-Nana's back.

"MEET YOUR DEATH YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!" Were-Nana roared, pointing over at Popo. "ONCE MY GOLITATH SMUSHES YOU, IT WILL ALL BE OVER! THIS IS TEN TIMES STRONGER THAN MY LAST ATTACK, SO THERE'S NO CHANCE YOU'LL COME BACK AND-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU FURED BAAASTAAAAAARD!" Nana yelled loudly as she promptly stabbed the werehog's back with the fork.

"HUH-AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Were-Nana cried out as Nana jabbed her hard with the fork, sticking it in as she backed up. The werehog gasped and then turned to the Pink Ice Climber. "Nana... how could you... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Were-Nana let out of a surge of purple energy which pushed Nana back, making her go tumble for a few feet. The young lass quickly pulled herself up and looked in shock at the site in front of her.

"HOLY CRAP, SHE'S GOING TO BLOW!" Nana yelled as she ran away from the spot.

The gigantic ice behemoth quickly evaporated into nothingness, not leaving a sign that he had even been formed. As for Were-Nana, all the fur that had surrounded her started to evaporate. Her tail disappeared completely, as her snout retracted, forming into a normal nose. The dark eyes soon turned a rather sad blue, as she fell to the found. She slowly picked herself up, appearing just like the other Nana, except with parts of her parka ripped off, burn marks around her body and her hair a frizzy mess.

"What... what happened?" the other Nana (aka Alternate Nana) asked, reaching behind her and taking the fork out of her back. "This...this is..." She fell to the ground, her face buried in the dirt, as she simply lay motionless before the Ice Climbers.

Popo stared at the scorched Ice Climber before him. "...Uh, Nana, I think our desperate strategy worked," he said. "You can come out now."

Nana peeked out with a worried look. "Did we win, really?" she asked as she looked at the other Nana on the ground. "...Looks like it really worked..." she muttered.

Popo walked out from the bushes to reunite with Nana. "If I was crazy, I'd compliment the fork a lot," he said as he picked up the fork from the other Nana's hand. "Who would've thought this was going to change her back?"

Nana sighed. "Werewolf folklore really helped us out here, huh..." she trailed off.

"It...seems so," Popo said as he put the fork away. "Well, our crazy girl enemy is lying down on the ground here. She should learn the lesson about not to mess with us now."

Nana nodded. "I guess you're right," she said. "Through all that stupid madness of her trying to kill you off, she really seemed depressed."

"Meh, she's a tragic villain for sure who thought bad stuff was good stuff to her," Popo said. "But...in any case, we should go back with the others now."

"W-wait!" The other Nana got up, tears swelling from her eyes as she quickly rushed over to the two Ice Climbers. "I...I can't let you leave yet!"

Popo and Nana groaned. "This isn't some kind of stupid trick where you'll rip Popo's brains, is it?" Nana asked annoyed.

"Besides, we thought you were knocked out unconscious!" Popo said. "How can we trust you after all those bloody moments I experienced ALONE?"

"I... I didn't mean to do that," she muttered, trying to rub away some tears. "I was under Wolf's control and he... messed with me," she pointed at Popo. "Made me think that Popo... that you were behind the death of my family that... you cursed me with the power of infinite chill." She held herself tightly shivering some. "But I know that's wrong. It was just his way of trying to use me and it made me do such awful... awful things." She knelt in front of them. "You... you don't have to forgive me, you'd have no reason to but... I need to at least say I'm sorry. I can never forgive myself for what I did to you and... what I did to him and... need to try making it up as much as I can."

Popo and Nana exchanged glances, blinking a bit. "...This world is on the road to hell, isn't it?" Popo whispered.

"Pfft, I knew that the moment I saw the moon stuck in the sky," Nana whispered.

"Well, what do we do with her?" Popo whispered, giving the other Nana a glance. "We can't leave her behind like this after all those scary things about how she killed her own Popo."

"...Sadly, I agree," Nana whispered. "I've got a nasty feeling that's telling me this battle isn't over yet..." She sighed and looked down at the other Nana. "You, stop sobbing now. We need your help here."

"O... okay" the Other Nana said shaking her head. "After what I did I... I know you don't trust me. And I know you have every right not to. But... but I promise you" her fist was seen shaking in front of her. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure you guys leave her safely. So at least... there's a happy pair of Ice Climbers out there who didn't... didn't..." She then started crying again, desperately trying to get herself to stop.

Nana gasped and helped the other Nana to get back up on her feet. "(I need to make her stop lamenting all the stuff that happened here or else she'll keep crying all the time. Seriously, if she's supposed to be a variation of me, then what does Wolf's variation has to do here? I bet he's a real jackass unlike the one we know... But she is really sorry, so she's excused...) Stop crying, please!"

"Y-yeah, stop crying!" Popo said. "We're sorry to rush things here, but we have to go back with the others and aid them! I-I don't really know if they're in danger or something, but I have feeling they are! Please, get a hold of yourself and help us here!"

The other Nana looked into Popo's eyes. "(Have to be strong... for him. Even if he isn't my Popo, he's still a good person. And the... the Ice Climbers need to stay together no matter what.)" Other Nana then finished wiping her tears, nodding some. "Okay I'm... I'm fine now" she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry but there are so many thoughts rushing through my head at once. A lot of them about... what I did before." She stared at the two. "But one thought is stronger than the others: the one that knows I need to help you. And if that means taking out Wolf." She took out her hammer, smiling a bit. "Then that's a cause definitely worth fighting for."

"Okay, then," Nana said. "We're in a hurry here, so let's move back to the south."

Popo looked up at the sky. "(Whatever happened here...is going to be put back into its peaceful course...maybe...)" He looked at the two girls and nodded. "Let's go, quick! But...as we go there, can you tell us how the Popo of your team was?" Popo asked.

"Sure. It'd be nice to talk about... happier times," the Other Nana stated, as the three started running The two other Ice Climbers ran together, with the Other Nana right behind them. "You and Nana are brother and sister right?" she asked as the two nodded. "Well, I and my Popo weren't related. We did end up becoming soul mates though, thanks to both possessing the Infinite Chill. You see, long ago on Icicle Mountain..."

"...You know, I'm getting sick of seeing werehogs running around the whole place," Pikachu said.

"But it looks like everyone is going to reunite in the last fight, so we should be safe in seeing those demons," Link said.

"...Are we sure?" Luigi muttered.

"...No...no we aren't," Zelda said.

"...A-and...t-they did say everyone there is...u-uh..."

Master Hand sighed. "If we do see one more of them, I'll turn off the screen. I can't stand all the craziness going there," he said.

"But wouldn't that mean we won't get to see the others back there?" Peach asked concerned.

"I...really hate to say this, but we have to make sure they're okay," Marth said.

"I know we can tolerate seeing one more of those monsters...right?" Fox muttered.

"...You people... Fine, I'll leave it on," Master Hand said. "But if I get VERY sick, I'll turn it off. Now, we move on to the last fight...finally."

"I'll have nightmares tonight, but I'll brainwash myself with TV nonstop," Pikachu said. "Who's with me?"

"Alright, let's move on already!"

Open Field

"GEARGH!" Sonic was shown using an uppercut on Were-Wolf, who was sent to the air as he furrowed his brow.

Several feet away from them, Chris and Wolf both had yellow lights rising around their feet. The Red Mage and thug held out their hands to the enemy's direction. "Shock him in paralysis. Thunder!" they both yelled as several bolts of lightning crashed down on Were-Wolf, pushing him down to the ground where he hopped a bit on his back.

"HERE I GO!" Sonic yelled as he leapt to Were-Wolf to crush him under his fists. The enemy, however, rolled to the side and avoided the fists shattering the ground apart. Sonic grunted angrily as he looked at Were-Wolf while Chris and Wolf remained far away from them. "You're nothing without that speed of yours," Sonic said, showing his fangs. "You're about to fall soon!"

"I really doubt that," Were-Wolf said, dusting himself off. "I've damaged you far more than you have me." He looked over at the injured Chris, Sonic and Wolf, holding out his left claw. "Furthermore thanks to my increased defenses, your attacks really aren't hurting me. Even the magical lightning bolts I'm surprised my counterpart has the intelligence to muster together."

"Increased defenses..." Chris muttered grudgingly.

"It's a real shame the Red Mage job doesn't have Dispel for now," Kawashima said. "If you had it, you could easily remove any buffs he has."

Wolf shook his head. "We don't need it if we don't have it," he said. "That bastard will go down tonight."

Chris looked away. "(Don't lose confidence now...) Bad guys are always going to have what's coming for them," he said, closing his eyes annoyed. "It's their one great flaw to fall down eventually. There won't be any exceptions anywhere..."

"Well said, kid," Wolf muttered. "The same thing you said could be applied to me at some times...but I'm certain this ain't the one."

"The duality of both heroes and villains really can be argued, depending on what your conceptions of right and wrong are" Were-Wolf pointed at the three. "For example I consider you "villains" for trying to stop my plans, and agree that "bad guys" such as "yourselves" are going to go down. And I have just the move for that." He held out his claws. The blades on his fingers started to glow even more darkly than they had before, energy tingling around each of his ten digits. "Tell me Wolf," he looked over at Wolf specifically. "Considering we have different back stories, what ever happened to your family?"

Wolf grunted at this question before Chris stepped up in front of him. "Like hell he's going to say a word to you!" he yelled. "You're a villain, obviously! You're causing a lot of grief in this world because you're so selfish with power! I can't tolerate villains who think they're right in their selfish visions for the future! They're all the same, and so you are!"

"(...Heh...)" Wolf chuckled mentally.

Were-Wolf sighed. "There we go with that simple minded villainy talk. Though really, if you want simple minded oafish rouges, you should've met the beasts that terrorized my home World" the beast up, narrowing his eyes. "They practically annihilated all of my culture and family and forced me to move to a different tribe. I suppose I should've thanked them, since it's what helped mold me into the Wolf you see before you." He looked at the group. "Instead, I decided to repay the favor earlier tonight and decimate their remains, with this little number. DECA DEATH SLICE!"

"(And the moment to use his ultimate attack has finally arrived... Oh my god,)" Chris thought with a gulp.

The two claws Were-Wolf held up shot out right in front of him, growing a foot longer. Energy started to gather as the three looked to see the claws starting to slowly twirl closer, extending as they moved along the air. Suddenly they shot out at much faster speeds, growing long enough to slice at the three smashers. Sonic took four claw slashes to the stomach, causing him to get knocked hard to the ground. Chris took three claw slashes at his sides, making him tumble back before getting up. Wolf however took three claw marks in right in the face. This knocked him back but didn't knock him down, as he looked angrily at Were-Wolf, some blood dropping from his face.

"Impressive, is it not?" Were-Wolf asked, the claws still moving around the smashers. "It's not my strongest attack or anything, but I do enjoy it's effectiveness. It's inescapable, and very painful. Plus, it's an attack I can use even with diminished speed. After all, these claws are still faster than you, and will keep attacking until your down." The claws swiped again. The three managed to dodge one of the claws but were hit by the others, being knocked back again.

Chris shook his head as he changed to his Dragoon job. "(Freya, please, aid me here!)" he thought as he performed a high jump, easily reaching over a hundred feet. The World Traveler looked down on the field where the swirling claws were after Sonic and Wolf. He shook his head worried before he noticed that Were-Wolf fixed his gaze at him. "He's looking at me!"

"Indeed I am." Two of his claws shot at high speeds towards the World Traveler. Chris quickly fell down to dodge the attacks, seeing the claws coming at him.

"(Don't jump all the time. Strike them all!)" Chris encouraged himself as he jumped high while making a hand sign. "Dragons, lend me your aid! Lancer!" he yelled as he struck a claw with several mist dragons roaring around him. The claw moved aside, allowing Chris to jump higher, only to then notice another claw was chasing him from behind. He grunted and quickly fell down, rolling forward to avoid a claw burrowing into the ground. He panted a bit before he jumped high again.

"Hmmm, perhaps I should focus on you lot one at a time." Were-Wolf then smirked, looking at Sonic. "Starting with the easiest to hit." The claws that surrounded Chris quickly retraced as they all sped at Sonic. The hedgehog turned werehog jumped in the air to avoid the ten claws. He looked to see the claws gathering more energy before rising into the air at great speeds. The ten claws hit Sonic, making him howl out in pain as he crashed into the ground, seeing various cuts appear all of his body.

While Were-Wolf was busy with the werehog, Wolf took this opportunity to hide behind a tree. He looked into space before he shook his head and called forth a red light around his feet. "(Time for me to get serious as well... Girl, I hope your fire bird lends me a hand here,)" he thought as he focused.

Chris landed back on the grass, seeing Sonic being assaulted by the claws. "S-Sonic!" he cried loudly. "P-please, hang in there!"

"I-I'm doing the best I can!" Sonic yelled, forcing his feet to jump away from more claws. "Bastard isn't letting me get a rest without getting hurt!"

"I'm supposed to allow you to recover instead of constantly attacking you? No thanks that seems a bit too...idiotic for my tastes." Were-Wolf swung his hands around, making his claws travel in arcs all around Sonic. "Besides you can rest." The claws then slammed forward and struck Sonic from all sides, this time making him fall to the ground unconscious. "Rest in defeat at least." Were-Wolf turned his attention towards Chris. "Now let's see how you fare 10 against one, brat," Were-Wolf said as his claws shot out at Chris.

"Hang in there!" Lucario shouted.

Chris's eyes widened as he was forced to perform a high jump to avoid the claws, who still chased after him. The World Traveler closed his eyes and tried to keep his composure. "(T-that reminds me. W-where's Wolf?)"

The World traveler saw the ten claws surrounding him from all sides. "Now for some fun" Were-Wolf said with a malicious grin. Chris closed his eyes as four of the claws quickly lunged towards him. They tied around his arms and legs as they let loose a powerful shock of electricity, making the world Traveler cry out in pain. "Claw String blast" Were-Wolf called out, as he set forth more energy from his claws, causing an explosion around Chris. The World Traveler fell to the ground as the claws followed him. The teen received a fatal blow with the claws slamming down on his back.

Losing consciousness, Chris fell on the grass, knocked out unconscious. "I'm...sorry...so...but so sorry...everyone..." he sobbed sadly before he lost his vision, eventually fainting.

Wolf gritted his fangs, having heard Chris's body falling hard on the grass. "(Kid...not you... That bastard is ticking me off now,)" he thought, enraged.

"Chris!" many of the Smashers yelled.

"Ah don't cry too much for your fallen comrade," Were-Wolf said, seemingly looking at the DS. "All of you will join him as my servants soon, but first," Were-Wolf held out his hand, imitating pointing a gun at a nearby tree. "Bang," he simply said as a claw piercing with yellow energy struck through the tree, and hit Wolf hard in the back. The captain of Star Wolf cried out in pain as the tree he was hiding under fell on him, causing him to lose consciousness. "And that's three" he said simply. "Of course, there's still the imp to worry about, but with him in idiot mode, he should be easy enough to find." He looked over at the fallen smashers. "First though, there are you, my unconscious prey."

Were-Wolf noticed that some rainbow feathers started falling down across the entire field. The enemy looked confused at this as the feathers gracefully avoided the dark claws and landed over the grass. Around that time, Chris, Sonic, and Wolf were all being revived by sacred lights shining down on them, making light wings flutter on their backs. They all slowly stood up and noticed the feathers.

"How did you," Were-Wolf blinked for a second. "Hmmm, he did mention something about your group receiving a 'second chance' in battle. You are still no match for me and my claws-"

All feathers around the field suddenly burst together to form a gigantic explosion of fire that easily incinerated the dark claws and reached out Were-Wolf, who was sent sailing into the air, grunting loudly as his body was set ablaze. The trio gasped at this as, from out of the explosion, a loud chirp echoed across the forest. From the burst of fire, a huge bird with golden wings, rainbow feathers, and a long red tail appeared.

"Phoenix!" Chris said amazed, watching as how the intense flames swept through the field, creating a big inferno as it illuminated the entire area. "It's the bird of eternal life!"

"Holy crap..." Sonic muttered, staring in shock at the bird.

Wolf stared at Phoenix for a while before he chuckled and looked down. "(I guess you deserve my thanks, girl,)" he thought. "(...Thanks.)"

Phoenix flapped its majestic wings as it let out a loud chirp. It began to fly around the field before flying up into the night sky, dispersing a multitude of red glitters that dispersed around the inferno of flames to make it disappear. The trio felt energy radiating out of all the glitters, briefly feeling energy being brought back into the grass below their feet.

"The power...of an Eidolon," Chris muttered.

Sonic grinned for a bit before noticing the blazing body lying down on the ground several feet away from them. "Hey, look! That huge fire bird set him on fire!" he said.

Wolf noticed the blazing body. "Something's telling me that didn't deliver the last hit..." he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

The teen noticed the blazing body's fire slowly dying out until it vanished completely. "...We're not done yet," Chris said grimly.

Were-Wolf slowly stood up on the scorched field. The dark evil Wolf had second and third degree burns around his entire body, his jacket completely burnt and his face severely scared on the left side. He was shown gritting his teeth in anger, his entire body shaking. "(No... wait,)" he thought to himself, looking at the three. "(Losing your temper ALWAYS leads to defeat. Now isn't the time for anger...)" He took a few deep breaths before sighing and shaking his head. "That... actually hurt," he admitted, looking over at Wolf. "I must admit you actually do have a very powerful move in your belt. Perhaps you aren't as worthless as I thought."

The trio kept staring at him. Chris gulped and forced a glare, Sonic raised his fists to his side, and Wolf merely scoffed the reply. "It looks like he's not emotionless at all..." Chris muttered. "I could've sworn he looked angry at us for once."

"Tsk, serves him right," Sonic said. "He had it coming a mile away."

"I wonder how long it will take him to look tough," Wolf said. "Before, I didn't think it was possible, but he will have a breakdown tonight. (But I'm not sure I'll be able to summon that bird again. He'll surely eye me a lot more than before... At least he's taking me seriously.)"

Were-Wolf shook his head once again, holding out his hand as the smashers saw his broken claws. "See, losing one's temper and letting anger get the better of them always leads to defeat. I admit I never saw that attack coming, but I'm not going to let it get the better of me. If I did I may as well give up now and let you kill me, which I have no intention of doing." Were-Wolf made a fist as he aimed it at the ground. "Besides, you aren't the only one with a summon ability, my foolish counterpart. Let's see how you handle my Wolf Death Pack!"

"And here we go again with the 'you're good but I'm better' monologue," Chris muttered. "That's so cliché in Wolf."

Were-Wolf pounded the ground hard a few times. The three looked to see the scorched field start lighting up on either side of Were-Wolf. From the light yellow and purple energy began to form as Were-Wolf turned and howled to the sky. The energy soon began to take shape, as twelve figures emerged from the energy. These energy creatures took the shape of yellow and purple wolves. However instead of the more anthro Wolf, these were more normal looking wolves with dark red eyes and gold energy fangs as they snarled at the smashers. They turned and howled at the moon as well before turning their attention to Wolf.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually going to break a bit away from cliché," Were-Wolf said, pointing at the wolves. "My Wolf pack isn't as dangerous as your legendary Phoenix. I have things I need to do before I obtain that level of summoning power. Still they are quite dangerous, and will rip you to shreds if you try running from this battle."

"Wolves, wolves, wolves, THIS IS JUST A BIG WOLF PLAYGROUND!" Sonic said aggravated as a shadow wolf rushed to him. He winded up his right fist. "I'm SO sick of all this nonsense!" he yelled as he waited for the shadow wolf to come close to him. Once it did, Sonic punched it hard enough to punch it back.

"Ooooh, big mistake" Were-Wolf said with a grin. As soon as Sonic punched the shadow energy Wolf, it started to glow. The hedgehog gasped in surprised as a giant explosion engulfed him and the energy Wolf. This attack blasted Sonic several yards away, hard to the ground as he was shown groaning in pain, patches of fur burnt off his body and looking fairly dazed. The energy Wolf was nowhere in site though as Were-Wolf pointed at him. "should've mentioned that they explode upon contact. Which means punching one is probably the STUPIDEST thing you could've possibly done."

Chris shook his head, despite the fact Sonic was grunting in pain. "(That guy is getting desperate now,)" he thought. "(Once we push his buttons, he'll go insane...hopefully.) I'm not scared of some explosive wolves made out of that gas-looking energy of yours!" Chris said. "We'll retaliate back using the same strategy!"

"Kid, we don't have a strategy," Wolf said. "For that matter, we've been improvising all the time."

Chris chuckled nervously. "A-at least that means we're pretty good to surprise the enemy," he said, scratching his hat.

"...Hello? I'm hurting here," Sonic said, sadly being ignored.

"I wouldn't be calling me that desperate," Were-Wolf stated. "Calling the phoenix is a far more desperate move than mine. A move I won't let you repeat again" Were-Wolf snapped his fingers. "1 through 6, I want you on my alternate. Give him no breathing move to cast magic, or no breathing room period." The energy wolves howled as they surrounded Wolf, who started desperately avoiding their claw swipes as he tried Wolf Flashing around them, as the energy wolves followed his every zigzag. "7 through 11, take out the hedgehog. Not permanently of course." The group of wolves howled as they chased after Sonic, who was able to get up and start running from them. "Looks like that leaves us alone boy" Were-Wolf said, turning to Chris.

Chris looked miffed at this. "...And why do I have to be pitted against you again?"

"I find you an interesting opponent," Were-Wolf admitted. "And before you submit to me, I want to utterly crush you first."

"...You do know that goes against that crazy policy about turning me into a wolf, don't you..."

"Not so crazy wanting you in my army" Were-Wolf took a step closer towards him. "What may seem crazy to you now won't once you become mine."

"..." Chris shook his head, spinning his spear by his side a bit. "There's absolutely no logic in what you're saying. You're just bluffing." He pointed his spear at his enemy's face. "You've saying very crazy stuff all this time. I'll just have to crush you myself. After that happens, I'll leave your body rot in this sick world!"

"I'm not bluffing" Were-Wolf pointed at himself. "First I am going to knock you out, then I am going to infect you and turn you into a werehog. As for the part about you crushing me well..." Were-Wolf ran at Chris. The World Traveler aimed his spear and tried striking him. Were-Wolf was able to avoid his blows by moving back and forth as he rushed forward, punching Chris in the gut. He spun around and kicked Chris in the face, knocking the teenager to the ground. "That's what I would consider to be a bluff."

"Too slow!" Chris yelled as he swept his spear along the ground and made Were-Wolf trip. The World Traveler rolled back and formed a hand sign. "Dragons, suck the life out of him! Lancet!" he said, extracting health and energy out from Were-Wolf's body. Chris felt his injuries healing, feeling much better. "Another hit you give will just make me absorb your life. Think before attacking!"

"A wise strategy." Were-Wolf closed his eyes. A black shield surrounded his body as he rushed at Chris. The world Traveler struck with his spear, which nearly bounced off the shield, as Wolf body slammed him, knocking Chris hard to the ground. "Now you won't be able to absorb any of my energy" Were-Wolf pointed out, crossing his arms within his shield. "And don't think this shield is going to be easy to break like my previous one. With my speed gone my defense is far higher, especially once I've focused it."

Chris rolled back and changed to his Scholar job. "You have made a great mistake with that shield," he said as he flipped through his pages. "Time to do a little Study!"

Were-Wolf saw his shield disappear. "Ah, a shield-disappearing spell, eh? Not a problem." A shield reformed around him. Chris tried calling out the name of the attack again as Were-Wolf merely rammed into him, knocking him back down to the ground. "You forget that your magic is only useful when you have time to cast it." He charged at Chris again, pushing the teenager once more to the ground as he jumped on him, making Chris cry out. "When you don't have time to use it, it's not really that helpful is it?"

"Study!" Chris called out, breaking through Were-Wolf shield. Out of desperation, Chris stood up and rammed himself against Were-Wolf, pushing him back to the ground. The scholar stepped back, glaring down at Were-Wolf. "Idiot, Study is not a spell whatsoever," he said, adjusting his glasses. "It is just an improved version of Scan, except faster and more useful. I swear, you do not have your facts right."

"Forgive me for not being a nerdy fan boy." Were-Wolf punched Chris hard in the face, breaking his glasses as Chris stumbled back a few feet. "Still if all that does is break shields than I won't use them. I'm still close enough from stopping you from using any actual harmful spells, still rendering that job useless."

Chris merely tossed his glasses away and replaced them with a new pair. He glared fiercely as he changed jobs to the Fake King. "Ya will get one heck of a beatin'!" he yelled, putting his heavy hammer over his right shoulder. "Don't ya get cocky now!"

"You're using Dedede's job?" Were-Wolf laughed at Chris. "Interesting choice, though quite foolish. Then again, everything about that pathetic wanna be villainous penguin is very foolish. Especially his badly added accent."

"Forget about that penguin, because it's another story when it's 'bout me!" Chris said before holding out his right sleeve to the enemy. "And since I'm such a crazy nut job in these clothes, I'll let my servants do the fightin'! Go, Waddle Dee..." He shook his head and looked inside his sleeve. "Anyone there?"

"Yes!" replied a multitude of Waddle Dees.

Chris sighed and looked back at Were-Wolf. "Go, my peasants!" he yelled, holding out his right sleeve.

"Sorry, they don't want to come out" said a voice. Chris looked in confusion to see only one Waddle Dee walk out of his sleeve, jumping on Chris's arm. "Bunch of cowards. But I ain't afraid of some wolf... hog... whatever he is."

Chris looked miffed. "Alright, Diana, why did they say yes just now? I saw 'em all with my own eyes!" he said.

The Diana Waddle sighed. "They heard you, but didn't want to come out" she explained. "But I wanted to since it's been... ever since I've been out of your sleeve. I think back when we were in that Mirror World. Remember that? That was fun times."

"..." Chris shook his head and pointed at Were-Wolf. "You go beat on that furry ball over there! I dunno how ya're gonna do that, but...I-I like to give my peasants a chance to shine!"

"Alright a chance to shine and serve the master..." Diana waddle gasped as she pulled Chris's hand down, making him hit the ground. Chris then looked up to see Were-Wolf's left claw pass above him before retracting back into Were-Wolf's hand. "Alright, I saved the master. That means I'm the master now, right?"

"I would stop gabbing if I were you," Were-Wolf said, holding out his other hands as five glowing claws started to extend around. "My patience has been severely drained by this battle."

"Yeah well... take this!" Diana Waddle ran along the ground, charging at Were-Wolf. "For the glory of the master!" she cried out. Were-Wolf merely aimed his extended claws at the waddle. Surprisingly, the waddle barely avoided one of the claws, as she extended her hands and started feverishly rubbing the claws. "Tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle!" she yelled out.

"What are you..." Were-Wolf then quickly closed his mouth, stifling a giggle as his body started to shake some.

"Ha, I may not be strong, but I am an expert at tickle Fu. Just ask the Sweet Waddle." She looked over at Chris. "You've got an opening now Master!"

Chris pulled his face back up, looking mildly annoyed as some mud patches were covering most parts of his face. "I don't remember you pulling me into the mud..." he muttered annoyed.

"Hello, tickling here," Diana said still tickling the claw. "I don't know how long tickling works on super powered werehogs, but I'm thinking you may want to try attacking him... uh my lord."

The fake king got back up to his feet and dusted off his face. He looked serious at Were-Wolf (whom he thought looked more ridiculous as time went by, according to himself). Chris picked up his hammer and held it all around his back, turning it into a machine. "Let's see how ya handle mechanical power on your face!" he said as he slowly approached the ticklish enemy. Once reaching him, Chris started to feel pressure from his Jet Hammer. "Reach the stars! OUT!" Chris yelled as he severely smashed his fully charged Jet Hammer against Were-Wolf's face.

The enemy went sailing across a big portion of the field while Diana fell on the grass. Chris put a hand over his hat and followed after Were-Wolf, who at the time bumped along the ground several feet away from him

"Yeah take that you jerk" Diana waddle said raising her fist. "You didn't know that my mad tickle fu skills allow me to tickle any living part of your body, including your energy claws. Now master's gonna twhomp ya, and gomb ya and...another word that rhymes with Twhomp and-"

Were-Wolf took out his laser pistol and shot the Diana Waddle, making her disappear instantly. Chris looked over shocked for a second as Were-Wolf fired at the teenager, blasting him and making him fall to the ground several feet away. "You are going to pay for that one, BRAT" Were-Wolf said, barely containing his temper as he shot more blasts at Chris, causing the Fake King to desperately run around to avoid the attacks.

"Run, run, run!" Chris desperately yelled, sweating bullets as he ran around comically to avoid the blasts. "I ain't seeing a single blind spot to hurt him while angry! I need assistance!"

The World Traveler swung his right sleeve to release a Waddle Doo that landed several feet away from the blasts. Chris screamed loudly as he continued running around comically.

"Oh dear" said the Waddle Doo who looked around confused. "What seems to be going on around here?"

"Angry pup is angry!" Chris yelled desperately. "Scared me is scared!"

"Call me a pup will you?" Were-Wolf blasted the ground right in front of Chris, making him stumble some as he shot again, blasting Chris to the ground. "Think I'm a Pup now?"

"Please Mr. Wolf there is no need for this" The Waddle Doo (called Susan) stated, looking up at him pleadingly. "Can't we work out a non violent way of resolving this matter?"

Were-Wolf glared at her. "Have your 'Master' submit me to me, so I can go and turn him and the rest of his friends into my slaves." Were-Wolf shot at the Waddle Doo who was able to duck to avoid the blast. "Or just die since you know that won't happen."

"Why transform anyone or make anyone your slaves?" The Waddle Doo asked, cupping her hands. "Violence and suffering are never the answer. Your quest for power will wind up only hurting yourself" the Susan waddle looked down sadly. "I've heard some of Master Chris's struggles, and heard about some of the awful things that happens when you let your own strength corrupt you-"

"You think I care about such foolish, ignorant sentiment?" Were-Wolf fired on the waddle some more that desperately was able to roll out of the way. "My power and cunning are going to make me king of this universe and thanks to this brat, others. And when I am lord, I will never again have to hear about such ridiculous, one sided tripe ever again!"

"Corrupted people like yerself have no right to rule an universe! It doesn't make any logical sense!" Chris yelled as he tossed a bouncing Gordo towards Were-Wolf.

"This (beep)hole knows nothing about logic!" Cried out the Gordo (named Samantha) as she bounced towards Were-Wolf. "I'm going to smack him down a peg, right here and now."

"Oh really?" Were-Wolf turned to the Gordo and merely sidestepped it. "Shouldn't announce your-"

The Gordo smashed Were-Wolf in the back of the head, knocking him back a few feet. "Yeah, didn't know I could do that, did ya?" Samantha asked bouncing on his head.

"Samantha, please that is not the path to peace" the Susan Waddle Doo pleaded.

"No, but it is the path to sending him to PIECES," Samantha added. Were-Wolf grunted and grabbed the Gordo with his bare hand. He threw it into the Waddle Doo before aiming his blaster and firing at Chris's servants. "You jerka-" Samantha tried calling out before she was evaporated.

Chris's eyes turned into white holes. "...Did that Gordo just talk?" he asked dumbfounded.

"You are taxing the last of my patience" Were-Wolf turned to Chris, running at him as quickly as he could. The World Traveler tried swinging his hammer, but Were-Wolf jumped over it and kicked him in the chin, making him fall to the ground. He grabbed the hammer away from the World Traveler and started to punch him hard in the face. "It's time you fell." He then threw Chris into a tree, making the world Traveler moan in pain as he looked up into Were-Wolf's dark eyes "Now I-" Suddenly several explosions were heard in the background, as Were-Wolf smiled some. "Oh good, that would be my wolves finishing off your friends, which is good because I was just about to knock you out and finally make you what you fear most."

"You're out of luck if you think you'll lay filthy, burnt finger on him!" yelled a gruff voice.

"What the?" Were-Wolf turned to see Sonic and Wolf standing several yards behind Were-Wolf, looking over at him angrily. "Impossible…" he muttered. "Even if you were able to avoid the Energy Wolves, you should be far more drained and battered than that." Were-Wolf pointed at them. "Hell, you should be knocked out yards away, not-"

Were-Wolf was interrupted as an arrow came out of the forest and struck his head hard. The enemy tumbled a bit to the right as a stream of water came out from some bushes and pushed him down to the ground. From the same direction that the water came from, two vines extended all the way over to the lupine and entangled themselves around his waist. The vines slammed Were-Wolf hard against the tree, right over Chris's head. The World Traveler yelped at this and made a run for it to Sonic and Wolf's side as a Yoshi egg was flung to Were-Wolf's face, causing it to shatter into pieces upon contact as Were-Wolf slid down to the grass.

"Get here, quick!" Sonic yelled at Chris, who panted heavily as he fell to his knees between the werehog and Wolf. Sonic knelt down to check on the teen. "You okay? Did he insult you very much?"

"I-I'm fine," Chris said. "A-and yes, he kept insulting me, but...but what did just happen?" he asked. "I thought you were all being chased by those explosive shadows..."

Wolf looked away. "You could say we received some help while that idiot was spending his quality time with you," he said.

Chris turned back towards Were-Wolf's direction where several cheers echoed from the forest. The World Traveler beamed in relief as he saw Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Toon Link, Yoshi, Popo, and Nana appearing from individual trees. They all ran to the trio to reunite once more. "E-everyone, you're all okay!" Chris said relieved.

"Of course we're okay," Toon Link said upset. "You expected us to be defeated by some furries with crazy minds or what? Sorry, but that isn't happening!"

Yoshi shrugged while nodding. "I-if there's something we can agree is that werehogs...suck hard," he said.

Ivysaur nodded. "Yup, all of them suck," he said. "They need to go to rehabilitation centers. They NEED them."

"U-um, yes, let's not talk about that anymore," Chris said, mildly disgusted at the thought. "Did you all happen to help Sonic and Wolf?"

"Yes we did," Squirtle said. "Long-range attacks from the bushes are their fatal weakness. They went down with one hit. Heheh, they exploded with one hit!"

Toon Link bowed. "Courtesy of Yoshi's eggs, Ivysaur's leaves, and arrows by yours truly," he said.

Red sighed. "I know this isn't the time to say this, but...let's not get separated again like that," he said with a serious look. "We need each other to stay focused and look after each other's backs! You don't know the hell we went through!"

"I'm pretty sure we all went through the same hell...one being a little bit different than the other, but still..." Nana said bored. "And we honestly want to douse hell's flames by beating all these sick werehogs inhabiting this sickening world!"

"Please, tell me I'm not a target," Sonic muttered.

"Duh, of course not," Toon Link said. "Unlike those demons, you're far better than they'll ever be."

Chris raised a finger. "That's because Sonic has a very rational mind," he said. "That puts his miles away from turning into them."

Sonic looked up at Chris and grinned. "Thanks, Chris," he said.

The teen chuckled. "You can count on me whenever you feel sad, Sonic." He looked at each one of them, who smiled and nodded once. "And everyone else here is going to make sure none of us is in a bad mood."

Red pumped up a fist. "Let's win this and wrap this battle!" he encouraged; making most of them pump up their fists together.

Wolf shook his head with a chuckle. "I hope this little reunion party changes something here," he said before glaring over to Were-Wolf who was standing on his feet. "We've got a pest to take care of before we claim victory."

Everyone turned towards Were-Wolf, shooting glares at him while Sonic walked in front of Chris to shield him.

The dark werehog rubbed his temple, closing his eyes as he snorted some. 'USELESS minions' he thought to himself before looking up and sighing. "Well I was hoping on my slaves taking you out, but I suppose injuring you and leaving you for me is the next best thing." Were-Wolf smiled to himself. 'Especially since they missed one of my energy wolves' he thought to himself, seeing an energy wolf leaping between the trees and ready to pounce down on Chris.

Sonic's ears perked up, his eyes darting to the right as a energy wolf leapt into the sky towards Chris. "CHRIS, LOOK OUT!" he yelled.

As Chris turned around, he quickly changed jobs to the Beastmaster job, extending his whip to smack the energy wolf. The explosive shadow burst in midair. The teen grimaced and looked at Were-Wolf. "Were you trying to hit me with that coward attack?" he asked.

"Calling me cowardly for having one of my wolves used a surprise attack on you? Seems like a rather inaccurate and stupid statement." Were-Wolf extended his arms as energy starting coursing around him. "I'm no coward, brat. I'm perfectly fine with taking on all of you at once."

"That isn't happening!" Red yelled. "All your stupid werehog servants were taken out by normal people like us! That proves an important fact: werehogs aren't almighty at all!"

"Physically they are, but I'm sure you were able to trick the ones you fought into defeat" he looked over at Yoshi. "Your alternate probably just went on and on about Yoshi superiority." He looked over at Ivysaur and Squirtle. "I'm sure those Pokémon fools argued with each other more than fought you." He looked over at Toon Link. "Yours probably focused more on pranks than on attacking." He then looked over at the Ice Climbers. "I admit though I am curious as how you won your fight. At the very least," he pointed over at Popo, "YOU should be dead."

Kingdom Hearts II – Tension Rising

"Let's get this over with already!" Chris shouted.

With this statement, everyone got into their positions. "Everyone, you better watch out for this imbecile," Wolf said. "Strike him hard...and take him down with the kid's strongest attacks!"

Chris looked at Wolf. "W-what do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Kid, no matter what happens, pull out those combined attacks with every single one of us," Wolf instructed. "Let's inflict some real pain to this idiot once and for all."

The teen looked doubtful. "But...I don't have one with yours..." he muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Wolf said. "Everyone, assist the kid while some others distract the fool!" he ordered.

"Bah, enough chatting." Were-Wolf started to rush at him. "You're mine, fools!"

Everyone soon dispersed throughout the field as Chris changed to his Dragoon job and grabbed Yoshi. "Yoshi, assist me now!" he said as he jumped to ride over Yoshi's back.

Yoshi looked serious and nodded. Focusing, the two performed an extremely long jump, disappearing into the night sky.

As they were gone from sight, Squirtle and Ivysaur used Water Gun and Razor Leaf respectively to hit Were-Wolf, who sidestepped away from the attacks. As he rushed to the Pokémon, he was nimbly attacked by Chris and Yoshi coming down instantly from the sky. The World Traveler extended his spear right on Were-Wolf's chest, pinning him down and making him grunt in pain. "Dragoon Spear Impact!" Chris and Yoshi yelled before jumping off from Were-Wolf's body.

"Stupid Dinosaur!" Were-Wolf yelled out in pain as he jumped and tried slicing Yoshi. Popo and Nana appeared behind him, shooting a blizzard, which Were-Wolf quickly jumped over. He held out his claw and sliced energy from his fingers, which the two were able to barely avoid.

"Toon Link, assist me now!" Chris said as he got off from Yoshi's back and changed to his Red Mage job.

Toon Link rushed to his side and stared at Chris. "...Nice hat," he said.

Chris blushed slightly. "F-focus, please!" he said.

Several feet away from them, Sonic came rushing in to leap on top of Were-Wolf, who stepped back from the werehog pinning him down to the ground. The two swordsmen nodded at each other and ran towards the evil lupine.

"Now!" Toon Link yelled as he and Chris dodged a slash attack from Were-Wolf by rolling all the way around his back to deliver a harsh cross slash. As they stood back up, they delivered another crossed slash on the same spot, pushing Were-Wolf several feet away from the two. "Crossed Parry!" they both yelled.

"GRRRRRRRRR!" Were-Wolf looked to see blood coming from his arm. He grabbed his bleeding arm, energy pouring around it. "BLOODY BLAST!" He yelled out, shooting balls of energy mixed with his own blood at the two swordsmen, who were able to run back enough to avoid. Popo and Yoshi came on each side of Were-Wolf, trying to hit him as he flipped over the two and tried kicking them. He then saw from the corner of his eye Nana in the back of him as he rolled away to avoid another one of her blizzards.

Wolf ran to Were-Wolf, performing Wolf Flash to slash the evil lupine over his head. Were-Wolf stepped aside from the attack, also barely avoiding a Water Gun from Squirtle. As the battle kept going, Red adjusted his cap and ran away from the scene. "(I need to stay put and take care of Chip,)" he thought as he hid behind a tree, finding Chip lying down behind it. "(I can't be there with them, but at least I can protect Chip from harm.)"

Were-Wolf wasn't able to dodge Ivysaur's vines that entangled around his feet and made him trip. The three hammer wielders took this as an opportunity to join forces and jump high into the air. "Smashy-smashy!" Popo said.

"Hammer Squash!" they all yelled as they put each other's hammers over the other and fell hard right on Were-Wolf's stomach. The evil lupine coughed out in pain as a big crack extended all over the ground thanks to the magnitude of the attack. The three hammer wielders pulled up their hammers and jumped back from their enemy, who gasped a bit for breath.

Were-Wolf spit out a bit of blood, glaring at the Ice Climbers. "YOU MISERABLE RUNTS!" He yelled out. He quickly rushed over, grabbed the two by their collars, and smashed them into each other. The attack caused the two to yell out in pain as Were-Wolf through them to the ground. Were-Wolf rushed at Chris, but was stopped, seeing a tongue grabbing his arm. Yoshi was behind the werehog, reeling him away with his tongue. "Oh no, you don't!"

"U-urp!" Yoshi yelped.

Were-Wolf slammed on the ground hard, stopping him from moving backward. He pulled hard on his arm, propelling Yoshi forward as the green dinosaur met the dark Wolf's elbow. This sent Yoshi hard to the ground, rubbing his aching nose. Were-Wolf quickly kicked him away as Wolf charged at the evil lupine with a Wolf Flash. Sidestepping this again, Were-Wolf attacked him with his Wolf Flash and smacked his alternate hard into the dirt. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a bomb coming at him as he quickly aimed his gun, mangling to blast it only two feet from his face.

Sonic, fed up by this, grabbed Were-Wolf with both of his claws as he tried crushing him. "ATTACK HIM, NOW!" he yelled.

Chris changed to his Scholar job. He adjusted his glasses as his bored eyes fixed on Were-Wolf. "Squirtle, Ivysaur, it is time for class to begin," he said, calling the two to his side as he flipped his pages, calling forth a magic circle around them. "We shall now be teaching a class associated with pain, though."

Red stuck his head out from behind the tree he was hiding. "Ivysaur, use Electro-Whip!" he called out.

"Roger that!" Ivysaur said before shooting his vines to Were-Wolf. Sonic let go of the evil lupine as Ivysaur's vines caught electricity and greatly electrocuted Were-Wolf, who grunted loudly in pain as his internal skeleton was briefly seen a few times. Ivysaur pulled back his electric vines, having paralyzed Were-Wolf on his feet.

"He's paralyzed!" Red said. "Squirtle, use Stalag-ice Gun!" he ordered.

"I'm right on it!" Squirtle said before his mouth filled with water and shot a long stream all over Were-Wolf. The evil lupine looked down on his feet to see the water shining brightly as icicles sprouted out and sliced his body severely. He grunted louder in pain as the icicles shattered into pieces, creating some mist that quickly faded into the air around him.

Chris chuckled in a mocking manner. "Class adjourned, but we still have homework to do with him, I am afraid," he said.

"You're never going to school again, boy!" Were-Wolf held out his hands quickly. Energy claws quickly shot from them as they wrapped around each of the smashers, who tried struggling out of them. "Claw String Blast!" He yelled out. An explosion appeared that knocked the group down to the ground, looking a bit more charred than before. However, they all quickly got up glaring daggers at him. "(Is...my power reaching its limit?)" he asked himself, breathing hard as he looked at his body. "(I'm not even sure how many more I would be able to take. I...I have to end this quickly,)" he thought, narrowing his eyes.

"I-I have got to go to school next Monday!" Chris said as everyone stood back up, the scholar dusting off his green robe. "T-there is a place where you should go and learn about the right mannerisms and the rights everyone has to overthrow your useless dictatorship!" He changed to his Beastmaster job. "Or rather, I'll better put you in your cage as the filthy animal you are!"

"Oh no, I'm not letting you attack me again!" Were-Wolf rushed head on at Chris, his eyes glistening with hatred. "It's time you lost you-" He was interrupted as most of the other Smashers quickly jumped around Were-Wolf and tried pounding on him, stopping him from getting closer to Chris. "No!" He punched and kicked most of the smashers away. "You won't hit me again!" The Ice Climber hit Were-Wolf with a blizzard attack, which he blocked with a shield.

The World Traveler gasped and ran away from the spot. He was stopped by Sonic grabbing his right arm. "Chris, let me beat his butt now!" he said determined.

"The Over Limit gauge is ready," Kawashima said. "Use it, quick!"

"B-but Sonic needs to get close to that guy!" Chris said. "He's pretty mad now, but he will perceive Sonic coming to him!"

Just then, the two noticed Wolf appearing from behind Were-Wolf's back several feet away. The lupine broke through the shield by grabbing Were-Wolf and tossing him aside towards Chris and Sonic's direction.

Chris gasped at this and looked at Sonic. The two nodded to each other, prompting Chris to grab his whip with both hands. "O beast that roams nocturnal meado-"

"We've got no time to waste in a chant! Hurry!" Sonic hurried Chris.

"-blah, blah, blah! Control: Wolf!" Chris yelled as he smacked Sonic's forehead with his whip. The werehog howled loudly as a rainbow aura burst around him. He opened his yellow eyes while Chris grew small fangs that stuck out from his lips. "Were-Hammer at full potency, now!"

Sonic looked skeptically at the rushed chant before he shook his head and leapt high into the air, slamming down his fists continuously on Were-Wolf's chest. "GEARGH!" Sonic roared furiously while Were-Wolf gasped loudly in pain. The werehog stopped his rain of fists and grabbed the evil lupine with both claws, tossing him high up.

Chris whipped his whip on the ground. "Wait for it and use Were-Claw at full potency!" he ordered.

Sonic raised both of his fists as Were-Wolf fell back down. Once the evil lupine was about to hit the ground, Sonic roared and rushed forward, throwing a fist barrage that kept Were-Wolf in the air, making him spin recklessly right in front of the werehog. After dealing a harsh uppercut on his chin, Sonic winded up a fist and punched Were-Wolf, seeing him bumping along the ground several feet away

"Time's running out, so just grab him by the legs and slam him down!" Chris ordered.

Sonic growled as he extended his claws and grabbed Were-Wolf's feet. The evil lupine grunted in pain before he was pulled high up in the air to slam him down against the ground, creating a big hole under his back. The werehog grinned maliciously as his claws pulled back to his side, the rainbow aura fading. Chris walked to Sonic and hit him with a hand chop on his head. "Oww! What was that for?"

"No monster under my command will grin maliciously on my watch," Chris said, his fangs shrinking into his lips. "I don't want you to go evil. Sorry, but those are my rules."

"So much for those jobs of yours that change your views at the wrong times..." Sonic muttered with a small snarl.

A piercing howl was heard from the cracks as Were-Wolf, using a dark Fire Wolf burst from the ground, landing several yards away from the group. He looked severely battered, as one of his fangs had even been knocked out of his mouth. He breathed in intently, looking at the group. "I tried being civil," he muttered, a slow, ominous black glow around him. "I tried taking my time and seeing what you were made of." The glow focused around his right hand, specifically on the gun he had pointed at the group. "And I have to admit, you far, FAR exceeded my expectations. To think I would need to use this but, like you would say, it can't be helped." He narrowed his eyes holding his finger on the trigger. "CLAW BLAST, LEVEL THREE!"

A huge purple stream of energy emitted from his gun, even knocking Were-Wolf back a bit. The blast was nearly 50 feet wide and shot out at higher speeds than his other blasts had even fired. Wolf and Chris quickly jumped and rolled away as fast as they could, barely avoiding the blast. Everyone one else though was hit by the powerful beam, screaming out in pain as their entire bodies started to fry and twitch in pain. The blast shot past them along the forest, eradicating, rocks and bushes it. The blast traveled for over a half mile before stopping, causing a tremendous explosion. Everything within the blast radius was pushed back as Wolf, Chris, Red and even Chip were pushed back some as a huge pillar of smoke covered the entire radius of the attack.

Were-Wolf smiled gleefully, seeing the severely burnt and knocked out group of smashers in front of him. "There's no...coming back from that one" he muttered out, his body shaking some as he glared around, tilting his head back and forth. "I know you... ran off from the blast brat, but your luck won't happen twice. I can assure you of that."

Wolf had his arm right over Chris's back as the two got back up. They shook their heads and looked behind, gasping as the trail of barren land left by the laser. "Oh my god, everyone!" he said shocked.

Wolf stopped Chris from stepping forward. "No, wait," he said.

Chris blinked and saw Nana's body being touched by a holy light. The light made wings appear and flutter on her back before fading out. Mumbling a bit, the pink Ice Climber pushed herself back to her feet, holding her hammer tightly in a grip. "I'm back for more..." Nana muttered, glaring daggers at Were-Wolf. "I won't go down just yet!"

Chris clasped his hands and looked up at the night sky. "Thank you, god!" he rejoiced.

"Kid, if you forgot, that girl alone isn't really going to do much," Wolf said.

"Wolf, I'm having my happy moment here. Don't bug me, please," Chris muttered in a "know-it-all" manner without looking at Wolf, who rolled his eye and frowned.

"Feh, that idiotic servant couldn't even knock you out." Were-Wolf grimaced as he glowed with energy. "Fine, I can take you down again." He used Wolf Flash to rush along the field. Nana tried hitting him with Blizzard, but he zigzagged past all of her attacks, as he appeared right in front of her. "LUNAR BARRAGE!" He screamed out. He pummeled Nana with a fast and ferocious series of blows. Chris and Wolf looked shock at the site of Nana repeatedly being hit again by the dark wolf's raging fists as she tried screaming out in pain. Were-Wolf smacked her hard to the ground, making Nana bounce as she tried getting up. "And now to finish you," he said coldly, holding out his hand as energy glowed in his gun.

"TOTAL FREEZE!" A voice called out. Wolf saw a powerful blast of ice hit the arm holding his gun, freezing it solid. Nana quickly used the opportunity to back away from Were-Wolf a few feet, taking out her hammer.

"What the..." Were-Wolf glowed with energy, breaking away some of the trail of ice, but noticing that there was still a block of frozen ice on his arm. "How is this possible?"

"ME!" A voice said, appearing behind Were-Wolf and hammering him hard in the back. It was revealed to be the Other Nana, who glared at him angrily. "Total Freeze concentrates my remaining Infinite Chill into one blast, and permanently freezes whatever it is," she said, pointing at him. "No matter how strong you are, you aren't going to break that." She tried slamming him again, as Were-Wolf leaped over her as the Other Nana landed by the original pink parka ice Climber. "Now you can finally pay for all your crimes."

"What 'crimes' are you referring to?" Were-Wolf asked, sneering evilly at her.

The other Nana started shaking in anger. "Hurting us, turning half of us into disgusting lunatic beasts, making me try and hurt fellow Ice Climbers and most importantly..." she pointed her hammer at Were-Wolf. "MAKING ME THINK POPO WAS MY ENEMY! YOU MADE ME KILL MY SOUL MATE! THERE IS NO WAY YOU WILL LIVE FOR THAT!"

"Oh really?" Were-Wolf made a "come-at-me" motion with his unfrozen hand. "Then come girl. Try and avenge his death. After all, what else is your life good for? After you killed who was most precious to you."

"Why you..." the other Nana tried attacking but she was held back by Nana.

"Control yourself!" Nana scolded while Chris and Wolf remained on their spots several feet away from them. "How many times do you have to get angry over this idiot? Pull yourself together and work with us for once!"

The other Nana sighed, looking down sadly. "I know he just... gets me so angry," she muttered. "Still... your right" she looked into Nana's eyes. "Letting him control me caused so much pain, so... much I can't take back, I can't let him do it again." She held out her hammer, standing right next to Nana. "It took me awhile to focus that ice to freeze him, but I was still only able to get his hand" she said looking at Were-Wolf's frozen paw. "Still I can see you guys damaged him a lot so... we should be able to take him out, together."

"...Wolf...why are there two Nanas?" Chris whispered.

"...I have an answer for you in only two words," Wolf muttered, "This world."

"...Oh, yes, it makes a lot sense," Chris said with a sigh.

Nana, unpredictably, swung her hammer hard against Were-Wolf, pushing him aside. "We've got to attack now!" she yelled.

Chris and Wolf overheard footsteps from behind their backs. They turned around to see Red sticking out behind the tree. "You guys, go help them! I don't think they'll beat him alone!" he said worried, carrying Chip on his arms.

"It's too late now," Wolf muttered, looking back at them. "They're starting without us."

"N-no!" Chris said.

The two Nanas lunged at Were-Wolf and slammed down their hammers together on his body. The evil lupine grunted in pain and kicked them away, making them stumbled back together and fall on the ground. They shook their heads together and rolled to different sides, making Were-Wolf look at each one of them running to different directions.

"CLAW STRINGS!" Were-Wolf held out his left arm, setting a series of energy twisting claws at them, three claws coming at Nana and two at the other Nana. Both Nanas held out their hands, shooting a powerful set of blizzards, which started to freeze the claws. Were-Wolf gasped and started retracted them as the two got closer and swung their mallets. Were-Wolf jumped over their attacks as the two Nanas used belay. The other Nana threw Nana into the air, making her slam into Were-Wolf as she jumped above her, holding out her hammer.

"Take this!" The other Nana said slamming her hammer down on Were-Wolf's head. This made him hit the ground, as the two Nanas were able to tumble away. Were-Wolf tried smacking him with his ice arm but the two shot two icebergs at him, knocking his ice arm and making him twirl around. They used Squall Hammer, spinning around in a circle and whacking him a few times before sending a powerful hammer smash to make him hit the floor.

"ARRRRRRRR!" Were-Wolf said quickly getting up seeing the two charge at him again. He grabbed a fang and pulled it out of his mouth as it glowed with energy. "BLAST FANG!" He yelled throwing it to the ground. This caused a powerful explosion, which knocked the two Nanas back several feet. "And now to end it!" Were-Wolf rushed at them with Wolf Flash. He started rapidly kicking them, his foot glowing brighter as he applied more energy into their pummeling. He then spun his foot around, sending a powerful smash kick which knocked the two hard into a tree several yards away, both of them appearing knocked out. "And that's... the end of you" Were-Wolf muttered, wiping some sweat off his brow.

"Oh my god, no!" Chris said.

"That...douche bag!" Red muttered in anger.

"My thoughts exactly..." Wolf muttered.

The World Traveler looked away. "We're coming so close in beating him...we can't lost now!" he said. "I want to win this and have our prize given to us after this!"

Red looked worried. "But...without counting me, you two are pretty much the only people still standing up to fight him..." he muttered, making Chris face-palm.

"You morons!" Were-Wolf used Wolf Flash to rush in front of the world traveler. He right hooked him as hard as he could in the face, knocking Chris back several feet. Were-Wolf held out his left hand, shooting two sharp claws, which hit Chris on his Beastmaster's vest, pinning him to the tree. The claws sparkled with electricity, shocking Chris as Were-Wolf laughed "I'm the only one claiming my prize here: turning you into my slave!" Were-Wolf then showed his open mouth as fangs reappeared between his teeth. He pulled out of those fangs out, holding it like a dagger. "And that time…is now!" He rushed at Chris, holding out his fang at the shocked World Traveler.

"CHRIS!" Red yelled out.

"AAAAAAH!" Chris screamed loudly.

"CHRIS!" most of the Smashers yelled out.

Chris opened his eyes and looked up to see Wolf blocking Were-Wolf from impaling him with the fang. The teen's eyes widened as he saw the fang incrusted into Wolf's left arm. "N-no...no, Wolf!" he yelled out.

"...Heheheh..." Wolf chuckled. "...Kid...the things you make me do for you... I'm such an idiot for doing this kind of thing just for you..."

Red and Chris exchanged confused looks before turning to Wolf. "W-Wolf...w-what do you mean?" Chris asked.

"Thanks to you bothering me...I anonymously developed a sense to protect you...because I don't want anyone else to take you down..."

"That...is supposed to be reassuring?" Chris asked skeptically.

"You don't get it..." Wolf panted. "Would you...prefer to be defeated...by a scum...like this guy...instead of someone...like me...huh?"

"I-I'd prefer if nobody beat me at all!" Chris scolded. "I'd prefer if you just saw me as...as a friend! I don't get why this rivalry thing has to be so damn important! You're not a rival to me, b-but a person I care for!"

"How can you worry about me...kid..." Wolf muttered, trying to resist the pain on his arm. "I'm...I'm a criminal...a thug..."

"Y-you might be so, but you're still a good person in my eyes!" Chris scolded. "You're probably the only bad guy I can comprehend honestly unlike the others! You've got so many good qualities that I'd like to know! So please, Wolf, don't be so hard on yourself!"

Red watched shocked at Chris's outburst. The trainer looked very shocked at what Chris was saying that he couldn't say a word, but he could only watch helplessly from behind the tree.

"Aww, don't worry so much, boy," Were-Wolf grinned sadistically, sticking his fang even deeper in Wolf's arm making him twitch in pain. "It's obvious he cares about you as much, or even more than you care about him. Otherwise, he wouldn't of bothered taking a fang for you." Wolf glared angrily into Were-Wolf's eyes and tried punching him, as Wolf blocked with his ice arm. "He didn't know that wolves like us are immune to being bitten unless we want to be infected. Even I had forgotten that," Were-Wolf stared coldly at Wolf, energy coursing around his body. "You may be able to lie to others, but I know you're soft Wolf. And like it or not, you want to be the boy's friend."

"I-idiot," Wolf muttered through his gritted fangs. "If there's something...you'll never have...is someone looking after you…"

"I don't need people looking after me." The fang in Wolf started to glow as it shocked the Star Wolf captain, making him twitch several times. Chris gasped as he saw Were-Wolf pull his fist back and right hook Wolf in the face, giving him a black eye as he continued punching him. "There is a benefit to working with others, I'll admit, but not by something like friendship. Using that as a crutch will get you nowhere in life." Were-Wolf continued pummeling him with a series of fast punches, laughing manically. "Nowhere except getting the beat down of a lifetime!" he said, gleefully continuing his attack.

Chris looked away, the background around him turning dark. "(D-did Wolf just say what I thought he said? Does he really care that I care about him?)" he thought. "(...He does care about me after all... I never thought he'd care... But...but how can I help him out now?)"

"(When the time comes...just act.)"

The teen yelped mentally, remembering what Wolf had told him before. "(J-just acting will help me here? How can that help all of us?)" he questioned himself. "(So I just need to act normally to any dire situation? I...I just need to act...)" He closed his eyes, shedding a small tear. "(...I'm so glad you don't mind that I care about you, Wolf... Think of this as a reward for being...for being a thoughtful person to me... Thank you.)"

The background turned back to normal. Red saw Chris changing jobs to his Thief job, instantly getting himself out from the tree. The teen then stood back up and sneaked between the two wolves. "C-Chris!" Red yelled.

"Let's slice and dice now! HAH!" Chris yelled as he performed a harsh upward slash with his knife right on Were-Wolf's nose, stopping him from pummeling Wolf who backed away surprised. The evil lupine yelled in pain as his nose started to bleed badly while Chris brandished a second knife from under his green cape. "No loot, no mercy!" he yelled as he sliced Were-Wolf's body madly in a mad rush. Wolf and Red watched shocked at this outburst as they saw the teen performing a last upward slash that sent Were-Wolf spiraling into the air before falling down. "You should've paid your respects. Now, you'll suffer the consequences!"

Red chuckled relieved at this, pumping up a fist. "You go, Chris! Yeah!" he encouraged.

The teen turned to Wolf, smiling relieved at him. "Wolf...are you okay?" he asked.

The lupine stared dumbfounded for a bit. He shook his head and chuckled a bit. "Yeah...thanks, kid," he muttered.

Chris put his second knife away and clasped his hands. "That was the least I could do fo-"

"CLAW BARRAGE!" Were-Wolf quickly appeared in front of the two, slicing them a multiple of times with his glowing claw. The two yelled out in pain as they were knocked back and forth in front of Were-Wolf by the attack. He struck them even harder, pushing the two away as Were-Wolf held out his non frozen hand. "ELECTRIC LASER CLAW!" Were-Wolf's hand glowed yellow as he shot out energy claw that hit Wolf in Chris, shocking them before it exploded. The two hit the ground several yards away before slowly getting up.

Red hid back behind the tree, wishing Were-Wolf didn't notice him. "(Oh, come ON! Can't the guy stop showing off attacks for once?)" he thought dismayed.

The three combatants were a wreck by this point. Though the fang had fallen out of Wolf's arm, it was still bleeding as he had cut marks all around his body, not to mention a swollen black eye. Chris was also cut, his Thief's attire having the sleeves and pants torn in several places and a slash right across his cheek. Were-Wolf however looked worse. His entire body was covered from cuts, a lot of which he was bleeding form, especially his nose, which was pooled with blood that dripped along the ground.

"...I...seriously...hate this guy..." Chris muttered, his face on the ground. "He...ticks me off...SO MUCH..."

"So do I...kid...so do I..." Wolf muttered close to Chris.

"Oh, for the goddesses, hang in there!" Zelda encouraged. "You can still pull this out. I just know it!"

"Stand up and give that bastard a good beating he'll never forget!" Roy encouraged.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" Were-Wolf yelled out. "AFTER I TAKE CARE OF THEM, I AM SENDING THEM TO YOUR MANSION AND HAVE THEY INFECT YOU! AND YOU WANT TO KNOW THE FIRST COMMAND I WILL GIVE YOU WERE SLAVES? NEVER TALKING EVER AGAIN!" Were-Wolf took a few breaths in, calming himself as he turned to the two who slowly stood back up. "First you…will pay for this" Were-Wolf muttered, breathing heavily several times. "I can still take at least a few of your... barrages but you... I don't need that idiotic gadget of yours to know how far your health has dropped" Were-Wolf held out his finger. "It will only take ONE more attack to knock you out for good. And then... this match will be over!" He rushed at the two, his eyes manically focusing on them. "And this is how we will end it! LUNAR BARR-"

The maniac lupine was interrupted by a Green Shell striking and bouncing off from his scouter directly. The hit was so hard that it made him get into a dazzled state, turning him around.

"OW, my scouter!" Were-Wolf cried out. "After all the attacks, THIS is what breaks it? You will pay for-"

The same Green Shell hit his other good eye, making Were-Wolf lose his footing and fall down to the ground.

The teen and lupine blinked confused at this as they saw the direction where the Green Shell appeared. They looked back at Red, who was standing out from the tree with the Green Shell on his right hand. "How do you like that?" he asked seriously. "Never thought I'd do something useful, did you now?"

"R-Red!" Chris said relieved.

Wolf let out a small laugh. "What do you know; the kid gave him a real beating? How pathetic is that?" he asked.

Chris looked bored at him. "I hope that wasn't supposed to ridicule Red..." he muttered while Red looked upset at this.

"I'm risking myself for you, you know!" Red yelled upset.

"That's not a risk...that's an act of war!" Were-Wolf got up, rubbing both of his eyes. "Hitting me twice in the eyes? You have officially earned my ire, you Poké-brat!" Red quickly screamed out in fear as he started running away. "Hey, get back here!" Were-Wolf quickly rushed after him.

"Oh god...Red made him say a made-up word with 'Poke' in it..." Chris muttered.

Wolf shook his head. "If you didn't notice, he's giving us a chance to strike the guy back," he said. "Don't you think it's time we end this?"

"(How do you expect me to do something at this point? He'll notice before we can strike him!)"

"(Well, damn, he's pissed. That should give us a very nice advantage.)"

"(That it's easy to tell... He's ticked off because his plans are starting to fall down on him... I guess we can still hit him, but...I don't know... I'm not so sure... Should we get help from Red that much?)"

"(Yeah, let's take the opportunity while we... Hold on. Why's everything stopped?)"

The teen noticed that time itself stopped around them. Chris couldn't move from his spot, staring directly at Were-Wolf chasing after a screaming Red from behind. "(...Wolf, everything stopped because you've bonded with me!)" Chris said surprised. "(I-I can't believe it, but you DID bond with me!)"

"(What? Is this the Combined Final Smash thing I've heard from everyone else, then?)"

"(Y-yes, it's about time for you to perform something new with me because you trust me a lot!)"

"(Trust you? Hell no, kid. You have my respect, that's all you'll ever get from me.)

"(Wha... But...that's kind of...a disappointment...)"

"(So what? Isn't it nice that I at least give you my respect for being an annoying brat who doesn't have anything better to do than bond with people?)"

"(...Tell me something. What's so bad about it?)"

"(For one, I didn't ask for it.)"

"(And for another, you'll get stronger out of this! You better be thankful, old man!)"

"(Don't call me an old man now, kid...)"

"(S-sorry... A-anyway, we have to join forces and take him down for real this time!)"

"(You're starting to talk my language... Well, you got it, kid. We'll take him down and end his play time.)"

Time itself returned to its pace as the two looked serious at each other. "I'll give you my full support, Wolf!" Chris said as he took Wolf's right wrist with both hands.

"...I don't like where this is going one bit," Wolf said disgusted.

"T-this isn't what you think it is, so shut up!" Chris scolded as he closed his eyes, his hands catching up an ominous green aura that engulfed Wolf's claw. The lupine blinked as he felt that his claw became intangible thanks to the green aura. He heard the thief chanting something that he couldn't make out. "Neb drec vuum'c cuim fedr dra vunpettah cbamm uv dra dreav'c lmyf..." Chris whispered.

"What did you say?" Wolf asked confused at the foreign chant as Chris let go of his right claw, which flared up with an ominous green aura. "What in the world..." he trailed off before he made a fist with his claw and nodded to Chris. "Fine, I'll go," he said.

Chris turned back to Were-Wolf. "Oh no!" he gasped loudly.

The two saw Were-Wolf still chasing Red, this time right towards them. The dark Wolf used Wolf flash to speed right behind Red and pound him hard to the ground, making the trainer scream out in pain as Wolf picked him up. "I wanted you two fools to see this first hand," he said, tightening his grip around Red's collar. "The idiot servants of mine let the Trainer go due to the fact he was deemed as useless. A mistake that shouldn't be made with this one." He then spit out a fang, putting it towards Red's neck. "You are going to be my first alternate dimension servant, then the world savior, and then all your other friends here, and then those at the mansion! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Think again, douche bag!" Red yelled as he tossed the Green Shell right on Were-Wolf's right eye. The evil lupine yelled in pain as he let go of Red, who fell down on the ground. While Were-Wolf was rubbing his eye, Red picked up the Green Shell and ran towards Chris and Wolf's direction. "H-help me, you guys!" he yelled.

"Ow my eye! Why is it always with the blasted eye?" Were-Wolf tumbled around some, rubbing it. "Ugh, between the magic, the phoenix, the combined smashes, the multiple, MULTIPLE surprise and sneak attacks, and all the other tricks you brat have up your sleeves, you've actually weakened me. Weakened me to a point where a mere shell would hurt me so..." He blinked his eyes a few times, slowly turning to Wolf and Chris. "It won't be enough though." Still rubbing his eye, he rushed towards Red (who was hiding behind the other two smashers) holding out his one free claw. "I will never stop hunting you, no matter how long it takes. Do you hear me?"

"We don't want to hear you, idiot," Wolf muttered as he let out a yell and rushed towards Were-Wolf with his right claw flaring up in the green aura. "What we want to do is RIP your soul because you won't need it anymore! HYAH!" he yelled loudly as the two wolves came close to each other, giving Wolf a chance to strike Were-Wolf's chest with his right claw. The claw, instead of hitting the chest, passed through it without causing severe damage. However, even though it passed right through it, Wolf grabbed something inside and pushed it out from behind Were-Wolf's back. The evil lupine's eyes widened as he felt that his soul's energy was being forced out from his body, freezing him into place as he gaped his mouth in pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Were-Wolf kept howling out in agony.

Wolf gritted his fangs as he saw the dark sphere of energy that he was trying to rip out from Were-Wolf's body. "This...is the thing that lets you keep breathing..." he muttered through his fangs as he spotted some dark strings attached to the sphere and Were-Wolf's back. As he pulled harder, the strings would break, and Were-Wolf would scream even louder. "Don't cry...because I'll rip it out now! Steal: Will!" he yelled out as he applied more force on his grip.

New Ability Learned! Steal: Will!

Applies a forbidden spell to a claw used by thieves of long ago. Allows the user to rip out a single enemy's soul from their body, instantly knocking out the target. Occasionally will work if the target's health is reduced after a half is taken away.

Music stops

The dark soul that Wolf held in his claw ripped out the last strings, pulling it up from Were-Wolf's body. Wolf gritted his fangs as he held the dark sphere above while the evil lupine was frozen into place, his mouth wide open. "...My apologies," Wolf muttered with a smirk. "You won the match...but we stole your victory."

"No, I...lost," Were-Wolf admitted, managing to look up at Wolf and Chris. "I guess your combined power was...stronger," he said as he smirked evilly. "Heh, guess now you won't be able to... get away with trying to hide the truth. You may deny it...but everyone knows you care about Chris. And one day they'll...also find...out..." Were-Wolf finally fell unconscious, his eyes closing as his head hit the ground.

Wolf closed his eyes. "Like they will care," he replied with a scoff.

"...WE WON!" Chris and Red cried out as they made Wolf stumble with a hug on his back. The two cheered loudly as Wolf held up the dark sphere.

"W-what are you two supposed to be doing?" Wolf scolded as the two kept cheering loudly by his sides. "Stop acting like little children and back off!"

Chris looked up at Wolf. "Oh, please, we won, for crying out loud," he said. "We should be happy that we overwhelmed the entire odyssey we went through this place! It really is a matter of celebration to be happy!"

"Yeah," Red said. "I didn't think I'd be saying this, but you owned that guy with style!"

"Hmm-hm," Chris hummed happily. "Can't you hear how everyone is cheering back at the mansion? You defeated your evil doppelganger! (I don't want to say he's so cool or else I might get some odd looks from everyone else...)"

Wolf raised an eyebrow as he overheard many of the Smashers cheering from Chris's DS. The lupine frowned with a pleased chuckle. "Okay, okay, I get it," he said. "I am the leader of this little extra boss, anyway. I should show some more optimism for claiming victory."

"Exactly," Chris and Red said, the trio chuckling together.

"But I suppose it's time to break this idiot's soul," Wolf said as he lowered the dark sphere between the three. "This creepy-(beep)s looking sphere is sending shivers to my spine just by staring at it."

Red stared intently at the dark sphere. "U-ugh, it's giving me shivers as well..." he muttered.

"...That thing shouldn't be crimson red, though..." Chris muttered.

"What?" Wolf asked.

"It should be blue, and you should break it into pieces to really beat your enemy..." Chris trailed off worried. "But...why is this...thing crimson red?"

Red looked back at the evil lupine dropped on the ground. "B-but he's knocked out!" he pointed out. "Why'd he get knocked out?"

"I guess he got knocked out because all the damage done to him during the entire fight overwhelmed his real health after this was removed," Chris said. "But...what is this ominous sphere then?"

"FOOLS! YOU DARE MOCK MY POWER!" a dark, booming voice echoed from the sphere. Wolf gasped as the sphere fell from his hand and landed on the ground, as it started glowing with purple and black energy. "I NEEDED A HOST BODY, AND NOW I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOURS! FOR SOON YOU WILL BE A THE SUPREME ANCIENT DEMON OF MOBIUS. OR AS YOU MORTALS KNOW ME... DARK GAIA!"

Chris and Red yelped like girls as they hid behind Wolf, who looked grimly at the sphere. "What in the name of Ivalice is that thing?" Chris asked scared.

"I-it can't be Dark Gaia," Red muttered. "T-that monster was HUGE, but this sphere... I-it can't be it, can it?"

Wolf shook his head. "This world is way too much different than ours...so anything here might be interpreted in another unique point of view than our own," he said. "In a few words...anything crazy enough is possible here."

The dark sphere started to grow in front of the three heroes. It rose up over 5 feet (just about Chris's height) as it took form. The creature resembled a red snake beast with purple tentacles for hair, which looked to be slicing through the air, a large mouth with purple energy streaming from it, and large red claws that started striking the air. The beast roared, knocking the three back as they stared into its eyes.

"O-okay, now it does look like Dark Gaia!" Chris said in shock. "...Except mini."

"U-uh, okay, we have a Mini-Dark Gaia in front of us," Red muttered. "Y-you don't think that thing is the real extra boss, do you?"

"Oh no, that thing isn't the boss," Master Hand said. "You...just happened to find it there."

"Then what should we do with it?" Wolf asked. "We just can't leave it alone, can we?"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!" The miniature dark Gaia pointed a claw at Wolf. "YOU COST ME MY PRECIOUS HOST. AFTER BEING WEAKENED BY THAT FOOLISH HEDGEHOG AND PATHETIC REPRESENTATION OF MY MORTAL NEMESIS."

Chris tried to calm himself down. "U-um, you mean Chip?" he asked. "Isn't he supposed to be your brother of sorts?"

"OUR RELATION RUNS DEEPER THEN YOU CAN UNDERSTAND, YOU MORTAL INSECT!" the mini-Dark Gaia roared. "AFTER THAT DEFEAT, I NEEDED TIME TO REGAIN MY POWER. I THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE CENTURIES UPON MILLINEA, BUT WHEN I FOUND MY WAY HERE, WOLF SHOWED ME A WAY TO DO IT A LOT FASTER: BY ABSORBING THE POWER OF SUBSPACE!"

Wolf sighed. "Look, we couldn't care less about how crazy you are," he said. "For that matter, we don't care about your gender either."

"WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT GENDER?" Little Dark Gaia asked. "I AM A GOD YOU'RE INTERFERING WITH, LUPINE! I AM SOMETHING THAT IS FAR BEYOND A MERE SEX!"

"...Female, then?" Red asked confused.

"Eww, we've been hitting a girl...inside a dude?" Chris asked disgusted.

"Gross!" Red exclaimed.

"So...does that mean they're both bi?"

"Yes, sure they are," Wolf muttered sarcastically.

"T-then that explains why your evil counterpart was so fixated on me..." Chris muttered. "No wonder why I was so important to... U-ugh..."

"...That explains a thing, actually," Red said, making Wolf face-palm with a frown.

"SILENCE!" One of the mini Dark Gaia tendrils smacked the three to the ground as they quickly got up. "THE ONLY THING WE WANTED FROM YOU WAS POWER! BUT THEN YOU HAD TO RUIN IT, AND ME, BY DEFEATING HIM!" Dark Gaia roared, its tendrils flailing about. "NOW I HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO REGAIN MY FULL POWER." The tendrils pointed at Wolf. "AND I THINK I FOUND JUST THE WAY. I'LL HITCH A RIDE ON YOU OR YOUR PATHETIC HUMAN FRIEND AND GO TO YOUR WORLD. WHERE I'LL BE ABLE TO MERGE WITH YOUR DARK GAIA!" the miniature Dark Gaia laughed evilly. "UNLIKE ME, I BET IT DOESN'T HAVE SENTIENCE SO IT WILL BE EASY TO MAKE MYSELF THE DOMINANT MIND. THEN I'LL TAKE OVER YOUR WORLD, THIS WORLD, AND ANY WORLD I SEE FIT!"

"...Er...how about no?" Chris asked annoyed. "Really, we don't want to have anything to do with you."

"And I don't want to have a girl inside me so I can be a bisexually confused person," Wolf said disgusted.

"I-I second the thought..." Red added.

"YOU ACT AS IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO DENY MY DEMANDS!" Little Dark Gaia commented, looking at the three weary fighters. "YOU ARE STILL ONLY ONE STRONG HIT AWAY FROM DEFEAT, AND YOU BURNT OUT ALL YOUR SURPRISE AND COMBINED ATTACKS ON MY FORMER HOST!" The dark purple energy in the small Dark Gaia's mouth started glowing more. "ONE HIT IS ALL IT WILL TAKE TO END THIS!"

"Funny, that's what I was thinking," said a nearby voice. The Little Dark Gaia looked around confused before a powerful charged blast it hit dead on, exploding it into pieces.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The small Dark Gaia said as many of it's little tendrils hit the floor.

"Actually, it will take more than one attack to finish this beast," another voice remarked, as the three looked to see the tendrils being sliced into several pieces before them, leaving only a little gooey remains of Dark Gaia.

"Ha, finally caught up to you," said a third voice, making the little blob gasp. "Now WE can end this once and for all."

"CURSES!" The little mini dark gaia blob desperately rushed away as quickly as it could. "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!"

"I know," said the third voice as something flew out of the bushes. The three smashes gasped to see something that looked exactly like Chip appear with a glowing fist, pounding the Dark Gaia blob into nothing. "But I'll make sure next time you come back you don't hang around any jerk wolves with ridiculous plans of universal domination."

"Though if you do have it around villains, those stupid enough to loudly announce their goals several times before attacking make for good play dates," the first voice suggested. "If you want to be the one victorious in the end, anyway."

"...Oh god, we were here for too long that we're going to suffer the consequences," Chris sighed. "...But I'll go ahead and ask anyway. What did just happen here?" he asked annoyed.

"Oh, don't worry. You're not hearing voices," said the first voice as two figures appeared out of a bush, revealing to be versions of Samus and Meta Knight. "We just thought we'd help you out" Samus saluted them. "After all, you guys are the real heroes, taking out Wolf and all."

"A most impressive feat," the other Meta Knight said, lowering his wings before them. "Especially considering how powerful he was, thanks to directly absorbing Dark Gaia."

"Oh, he did more than that," said the other Chip, who started pounding the former Were-Wolf hard in his unconscious face. "That bastard left me poisoned in a ditch somewhere for hours, on Halloween no less! Do you know how much trick or treating I missed, DO YOU?" he said weakly pounding the still KO'd Wolf.

Chris, nor the others, couldn't comprehend what the hell was going on before them. The teen was focused on the second Meta Knight and the second Samus, not minding the other Chip much. Sighing, Chris looked bored as he took out his DS, not even opening it. "Meta Knight..." he muttered.

"Yes, I am here," Meta Knight replied.

"..." Chris sniffed. "...Yes, I'm going crazy now," he muttered as he put his DS away.

"What in the name of Fichina was happening here?" Wolf scolded as the three got back up. "I demand answers at once."

"Y-yeah, I second that as well!" Red complained. "What went downright wrong so everyone went furry on our backs?"

The other Samus took a few steps closer to them. "Well you deserve at least an explanation of that." She held out her hand. "From what I gathered, our dimension's dark Gaia tried escaping to this world to try and find and infect Sonic to get revenge for what happened in Sonic Unleashed. However, Dark Gaia found Wolf instead, and the two formed a plan of turning everyone around into werehogs in order to conquer this area and have enough slaves to try and conquer this world."

The other Meta Knight pointed up. "Wolf was able to tame or at least work with the beast thanks to a power up from the current lunar rotation of the planets. He had hoped that by attaching Sonic to a device that would use his initiate chaos control abilities, he could keep this area within the span of the rotation long enough for all the smashers and other residents to be on his side." The masked warrior made a fist. " However, he didn't count on there being a resistance who used the power of the werehogs against him and his already infected minions."

"And us," Samus said as she reached over and grabbed Meta Knight. "See, we had a date at a Halloween Party light years away from here. Which just happened to be the place where Wolf eventually dumped the area into" Samus grumbled some. "So instead of enjoying a nice relaxing night out, we ended up getting dragged into this mess as well."

"It had to be done, dear Samus," Meta Knight said, lightly hugging her as the three smashers gasped. "You wouldn't have wanted the alternative would you?"

"Yeah, I guess not," she said, tightly hugging him back.

"...What?" Chris asked, still not comprehending what the hell was going on.

"...I-it's true!" Red groaned loudly. "Everyone here, even the good guys, is a filthy-looking werehog!"

"For crying out loud, this place is worse than hell," Wolf commented. "Everything is stupid, everyone makes no damn sense, and anything doesn't add up too well."

"And what's this SamusXMeta Knight pairing I've never heard about?" Chris asked, expecting a reply from his side. "...Er...hello?"

"They're dumbfounded over our side..." Zelda replied. "They're staring dismayed at what's going on..."

"...Yes, I expected something like that from them..."

The other Samus rolled her eyes. "Wow, you guys are more judgmental jerks than the fan boy let on," she muttered before taking off her mask, showing her normal, human face. "First off, I'm not a werehog, and neither is Meta. Secondly, I can understand you guys being confused on what's going on, but unless you wanted to spend hours hearing it, I don't think you're going to get the full story. Thirdly, what right do you have to judge what makes sense here and what doesn't? You've only been in this world for a few hours at most right and all you've seen from it until now have been evil maniacal jerks. Doesn't really give you much breathing room to talk smack about us."

"You know, to be fair, I also rode all of you sans Sonic off for awhile after what that Wolf monster did to me," the other Chip admitted. "I mean I heard him go on for 10 minutes and I wanted to rip my ears off. Imagine having to battle for him a dozen times as long."

"True, but that's no reason to judge us all like that." Samus pointed over at Meta Knight. "Also, yes, I am in a relationship with him, so what? Would you judge one of your friends harshly if they were in love with someone you didn't expect them to be?" The other Samus crossed her arms. "Really, seems like they have more issues than we do if they aren't comfortable with the idea of variations of themselves finding happiness."

"Oh, excuse me, but you forgot we went through hell?" Chris complained. "How do you expect us all to think the rest of the people in this world are dandy-looking people while we were met by demons?"

"Y-yeah!" Red complained. "First impressions give a lot of information about somebody beforehand! And our first impression of this world was a NASTY one!"

"If anything, you should be blaming the people you live with," Wolf said with crossed arms. "Why, you should've arrived here sooner before we met those guys."

"We had other things to do before coming here you know." The other Samus held out her fingers. "Getting into this dome in the first place, finding Chip and healing him from his poisoning, rescuing Sonic from his capture, and a lot of minor werehog battles all throughout the area. Not to mention we found all the other guys you knocked out and turned them to normal"

"Whose we?" the other Chip asked. "I'm the one who did that."

"True" other Samus smiled at the group. "Oh BTW They said they were sorry about what happened before running off. If they actually had any decency they'd probably apologize to your face but I guess they had other things they wanted to work out first or something." She then put her helmet on. "By the way, I get your point about hating everyone here. You obviously had a rough time fighting Wolf before. It's still rather rude to write us all off like that though. I mean, do you always write off one group of people, just because of one bad experience?"

"No, but this is a big exception!" Red said. "How can we forget the demons that wanted to KILL us off?"

"Do not forget them, but do not assume they are all the same," the other Meta Knight wisely stated. "Also to be technical they did not want to kill you but rather infect you and transform yo-"

"That's worse!" the trio complained.

"Not really helping, Meta," Samus gently pushed him back turning to the group. "Point is, just because you fought werehogs in our world, doesn't mean everyone in our world are screwy psychotic nuts. I guess there are a few, but not everyone. And certainly not us."

The three looked doubtful at them.

"... Awkward," the other Samus rubbed her neck. "Look, I'm sure you've met people in your travels you haven't gotten along with at first, and then wound up befriending them right? So what's wrong with giving people who helped you out a little respect?"

"I hate to break this to you, but we've bonded pretty well with every single one of them," Chris said. "We CERTAINLY didn't get attacked the first second we set foot on a world."

Wolf sighed. "Kid, I'm getting sick now," he said. "Let's just thank them for getting rid of that bug. It's clear we're not going to mix well in this place if we keep arguing all day with...these people." He held out his hand to the other Samus. "What do we say if we clear things up with a handshake?"

Red nodded. "...I agree," he said. "That's the least we can do for them: giving the only sane-looking people our gratitude."

"I suppose you're right..." Chris said.

"Eh, I'll take that," Samus and Meta Knight went over and quickly shook the Wolf's hand before moving back. "(Besides, from what the fan boy was blabbering on about, this Wolf was a 'Boss fight' to these guys, so I guess they didn't expect to really make allies here,)" she thought before moving away. "I guess maybe under different circumstances we could've gotten along better. Oh well like they say, what's past...is prologue."

"Who says that?' the other Chip asked.

"I do." Samus pointed at herself. "Besides, we should probably get going anyway. Just because Dark Gaia's gone doesn't mean the clean up is, right?"

Chip nodded. "Yeah I still have to disinfect all the other werehogs he made and..." Chip turned and gasped at something. "It's... it's me!" He said suddenly.

At that moment, Chip came back from the tree he was hiding. He mumbled some words as he landed and sat on Chris's head. "Aww, what a nice nap I had..." he muttered groggily. "I was dreaming about drowning in a chocolate sea, dying a happy death..."

"...Okay..." Chris, Wolf, and Red said skeptically.

"...So, what did I miss?" Chip asked. "Did we win?"

"Yes..." Chris said.

"Hurray!" Chip cheered, making the trio sigh dismayed.

"Oh great, he's stuck in stupid naive mode," the other Chip groaned, flying right next to Chip. "Cut that out man. Don't you know how many people you ticked off when they saw you act like that?"

"Well, pretty much everyone who bought Sonic Unleashed," Samus pointed out.

"And, uh... I'm sure others," the other Chip pointed at the smashers. "I'm sure he ticks these guys off too. Being all stupidly obsessed over chocolate" the other chip sighed, looking up. "That is so pathetic."

"Uh, YOU were poisoned by Wolf because of your love of chocolate" Samus stated.

"UGH! They didn't need to know that!" the other Chip whined.

Chris embraced Chip, the imp looking happy. "Chip doesn't tick us off. Rather, he's pretty funny himself," he said. "He's pretty much a Kirby who likes chocolat-I mean..."

"Aww, thank you," Chip playfully said, resting on Chris's arms.

"(I'd like to have his ignorance right at this moment...)" Wolf thought bored.

"Yeah, I know what he's... I'm... whatever like," other Chip sighed, as he floated right in front of Chip. "Just remember when it comes to deal with your world's Dark Gaia, you have to be serious. Otherwise he will take away all you hold dear."

Chip looked blankly at him. The imp yawned and accommodated himself on Chris's arms. The World Traveler, focusing on Chip, rocked him playfully.

"Hey, pay attention to me!" other Chip whined, closing his eyes as his arms moved back and forth.

"Hard to tell which one is acting more like a baby," Samus said with an amused smirk to Meta Knight. "Well, hope you guys get back to your world safely. Don't worry we'll take care of ours fine." She then grabbed Chip and turned to them. "Once again, thanks for taking out our Wolf. That will make this little war end all the sooner." The bounty hunter rushed off.

The other Meta Knight turned to follow her, taking one last look at the three. "Be careful," he warned. "Though Wolf is gone and his control should be broken, I am sure there are still some who will be interested in you. Especially...I probably should not say." Meta Knight quickly took off after Samus. "(I probably should have said something to their world's Meta Knight about relaxing some,)" Meta Knight thought to himself. "(If he is unable to even open up to the idea of love, it would probably be a moot point. Especially considering how almost offensively judgmental that group can be,)" He took off into the night beyond the group's sight.

"...And they're gone...at last," Chris said. "I really couldn't tell what he said about that...but all ends that ends well here."

Red nodded. "Well, we shouldn't get the bad eye. I mean, we did those three a favor, didn't we?"

"Exactly," Wolf said. "Besides, they warned us about what could happen to us here. That alone gives me an impression that they're good...only them, though."

"I'm fine as long as I'm the friend of only one werehog," Chris said. "I'll swear to god if I see another one of those demon-looking furries stalking us ever again."

Chip sat up from his arms. "Can we go now? I want some chocolate."

"Until we round up everyone dropped unconscious around..." Chris trailed off.

"Heh...just going to leave, then?"

"...Who was that?" Red asked.

The group turned and gasped to see the former Were-Wolf awake (even more beat up around his face) though lying on the ground completely still. "Relax I... can't do anything." He looked at Wolf. "And even if I did... I don't feel like doing anything... thanks to you."

"...Well, you're a wreck now," Wolf said. "You're no longer some kind of werehog. You're just another Wolf, somebody who is NOT me at all."

"Yes..." Chris said. "It's a shame you had to turn out like this, but you had it coming for being such an ambitious idiot to this world."

"I can't...argue that," the former werehog admitted. "I wanted power so badly I wound up with... nothing. Just an emptiness that... I didn't think possible" he looked up to the sky. "I guess all those...cliché moral speeches about power corrupting were true. Who'd have thought I'd find that out from... a version of me of all people?"

"Because you're an idiot," Red said worried. "You were defeated now, so you might as well leave us all alone."

"You did a lot of foolish stuff here," Wolf said. "It's time for you to rest and reconsider what happened here thanks to you. You've got almost no chances for redeeming yourself...and with that, we bid you our farewell."

"I want...no redemption." The former werehog spit out blood. "I do not believe in... second chances... about taking things back. What happened... happened. Trying to be a better person now... isn't going to change that." His ears moved back and forth, as he tried smiling evilly at Wolf. "Besides I... may at least get to see your death."

"...Keep on wishing," Wolf said, "but it'll never come true."

"Yeah... can't hold on... much longer" the dark Wolf's eyes started to close. "But they are coming and... they will..." He fell unconscious again much to the others' delight.

Chris, fed up with the evil lupine, kicked his head out of frustration. Wolf placed a hand over Chris's right shoulder and chuckled confidently, making Chris and Red chuckle together.

After healing everyone with the Red Mage job's Cure spell and having told them all that happened, cheers and jumps of joy were welcomed. The only one who wasn't cheering was Wolf, who was staring at his alternate version leaning unconscious against a tree. The lupine chuckled at this as he turned back to the others. "Well, we finished things up here," he said

"Yes, the rest we can do on our own," the other Nana said quietly before turning to the group and bowing. "Thank you... thank you so much for defeating him" she said, as she wiped away some tears. "I wish the people in this world were as strong and kind as you like... like he was" the other Nana quickly shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memories. Seeing they were still there, the other Nana turned away. "I should leave now," she said solemnly. "There are still a lot of things I need to think over and I... don't want you to be involved in it."

"So, what are you going to do now that you...well...kill your...you know..." Popo trailed off. "...I think we shouldn't talk about that, so... Yeah, we wish you the best of luck," he said nodding.

As Popo went to hug her, Nana hugged her next and stepped away with Popo. "Hang in there, okay? You can do it if you put your mind into it," she said.

"Thank you." The other Nana quickly hugged the two before separating. "I'll try my best to survive alone but... I'm sure it will be a lot harder than fighting together. Still if wonderful people like you believe in me I just have to keep fighting." The other Nana quickly waved as she ran off away from the group. "(Please, please Ice Gods,) Nana prayed up to the skies. "(Make sure nothing separates them like me and Popo. They at least should be happy together...)" And with that, the other Nana ran off far enough so the others couldn't see her.

"...Phew, she's gone," Nana sighed. "Well, we gave the chance to redeem herself, and now we can rest assured that we won't have to deal with other alternations because this world is so messing everything that was supposed to be in a peaceful way."

"You told me she killed her...well...when she was..." Yoshi stuttered before shrugging. "A-anyway, you know what I mean, but I don't want to talk about it anymore..."

"Please don't," Nana said dismayed. "I swear that if I see another werehog that it isn't our Sonic, I'm gonna go on ahead and slit my throat to die a happy death."

Everyone stared at her for a long while.

"...Figurative speech," she said bored.

"Oh," everyone else said relieved.

Squirtle jumped to Red's arms. "And you're full of awesome, you know that?" he asked. "You, stepping up to beat on the main baddie? Goodness, you're something, Red!"

"I-I didn't want things to go so wrong," Red admitted embarrassed. "M-my body moved on its own after Chris and Wolf were in danger, and well..."

"Oh, yes, right," Ivysaur said sarcastically, lifting up a foot to point up at Red. "You fought and you should be happy about it. It's not so common to see trainers like you actually tossing shells at feral enemies. Now stop putting up that embarrassed look and be proud of what you did!"

Red thought for a moment before he nodded optimistically. "Y-yeah, I should be proud of it," he said. "Thanks, everyone."

"You were a big help, that's for sure," Chris said as he put his red hat hanging onto his neck from his back. "Everyone worked out flawlessly today."

"Tonight," Popo corrected.

"Screw that fact," Chris said without looking at the blue Ice Climber.

Wolf chuckled once and turned to the direction where they came from. "Everyone's done for now? Good. Let's go back to the mansion and leave. I had enough of this...filthy place," he said.

Chris looked down. "...Wolf...everyone...can I ask for a little bit of time?" he asked. "I...I want to thank Wolf for giving me the inspiration I needed to act and save him from being knocked out..."

Everyone else turned to Wolf, who in turn stared at them. "He saved you?" Yoshi asked. "Oh, I think you did say that..."

"You, of all people, saving Chris?" Toon Link asked bewildered. "Wow, now that's a big change of heart coming from people like you...if there are any of those people, that is."

Wolf rolled his eye. "So what? I saved the kid from getting mauled alive," he said. "Shouldn't I be thanked for risking my dignity for him?"

Chris chuckled heartily. "And you really deserve it," he said. "I never thought you'd step up to save me lik-"

"He's fooling you!" Fox shouted from the mansion. "He's just trying to manipulate you into doin-"

Chris lowered the volume in the DS so he couldn't hear any protests from the vulpine. "I never thought you'd step up to save me like that...and frankly speaking, you looked so cool when you did so!" he said. "You looked so awesome back there when you protected me like that!"

"Oh...well, yes," Wolf admitted, looking away from the delighted teen. "Dammit, kid, don't put it that way when you're referring to me..."

"Aww, he's blushing under his facial fur," Nana teased playfully while some of them chuckled. "C'mere and let me scratch your ears a bit."

"Quiet, girl," Wolf scolded.

Chris chuckled heartily. "See, Wolf? Thanks to you saving me, everyone is starting to get along with you," he said as some of them nodded. "I think they respect you for saving me from defeat."

Wolf narrowed his eye at them. "You're not kidding, are you?" he asked.

"Would you step up and push me aside when a boulder is coming my way?" Sonic asked. "No, I'm serious here. I get ran over once in a week by one of 'em."

"...Okay, now I'm not so looking forward to that," Wolf muttered, turning back to Chris. The lupine crossed his arms and grinned a bit. "Geez, you like to tease me indirectly, huh, kid?"

Chris shook his head and crossed his fingers. "Nope, I'm being very honest here," he said, closing his eyes. He brightened up with a small smile. "I know some people hate you to death, but they don't know a thing unless they get to spend the time with you. Don't you think it's nice that you opened up to us?"

Wolf looked down for a bit. "...I guess..." he muttered while everyone else smiled a bit at this.

"So then, don't be embarrassed," Chris said, his eyes still closed in a happy look. "You look so damn cool when you appear out of nowhere and save someone in need for help! I can't really stop thinking how you did it with me, and well, I'm so pleased, Wolf. I think you're one of the coolest people I've ever met in my life! ...I totally respect you for that, even though Fox might say otherwise." -

He turned back up the volume, hearing no complains from the vulpine. "(I guess Fox is looking dumbfounded ay what I said...)" he thought as he opened up his glittering eyes. "Wolf...you are absolutely...gone?"

The teen blinked in confusion as he looked around to see Wolf was gone from his spot. Chris's glittering eyes turned back to normal as he looked back at the group, all of them, which were looking at another direction with their eyes wide and pupils small like dots. None of them paid Chris any attention as they were staring away from him.

"...Guys?" Chris asked. "Um...I wasn't looking, but...where'd Wolf go?" he asked. "Did he run off to the mansion? Did he go to the bathroom or something close to that?"

Sonic, without giving him a look, grabbed Chris's head with a hand and twisted it to make the teen look at the general direction. A look of dismay soon splattered all over Chris's face, shaking his head slowly in disapproval.

"...No...hell no," Chris muttered. "T-this...this has to be a nightmare. Oh yes, I surely fell asleep for closing my eyes."

"...It's real," Sonic muttered.

"...Dammit!"

In front of the group, they looked horrified to see Wolf had been knocked unconscious and was still being beat up by two figures. Upon closer inspection those two appeared to be versions of Fox and Falco, except with dark werehog fur all over there body. "DIE MONSTER!" Were-Falco screamed out, continuing to beat up on the unconscious Wolf. "You have no business in this world!"

Were-Fox glared down with intense anger in his eyes "This is what I should've done when you came to this damn tournament instead of Krystal!" he roared as he pummeled the lupine as well.

"...Werehogs..." Toon Link muttered.

"Two more of them..." Red added.

"Beating up on the person who had a change of heart who was starting to look beyond decent to me..." Nana added astonished.

The group was astonished by this gruesome scene but Chris had a totally different point of view. The World Traveler, honestly speaking, had enough of the business with the foreign werehog world. That, and the fact he was making a really nice progress to be friends with an anti-hero just for some imbeciles (as he thought they were) to barge in and beat him up made it so clear that the teen was going to think of castrating every single monster his eyes would focus. In reality, Chris was going to do something horribly bloody like that. As his fists tightened hard on the sides, his blank look dangerously furrowed its brow, closing his eyes to wait for his inner anger to erupt and make homage to Rita being peeked on by Raven in the shower.

"You know, that was kind of going too far there," Sonic said to no one in particular, only for his fourth wall-breaking moment to be easily overwhelmed by Chris's war cry as he called forth a magic glyph under his feet.

The World Traveler was going to stain the whole field with foreign werehog blood, and he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.

The teen's rage suddenly unlocked a new spell in his arsenal. The light around his feet turned red as he pointed his sword at the werehog. "BURN MY BUGS TO GREATER ASHES, DAMMIT!" he demanded loudly, altering his chant's prose to reflect his anger. "FIRA!"

Were-Fox's ears perked up. "Fi what-"

The two werehogs eventually stopped as their bodies were engulfed in flames that made them fall down to the ground, screaming loudly in pain. The Smashers noticed that the flames somehow were lasting a little bit too longer than Chris's previous spells, possibly because his anger boosted the fire. The teen wasted no time to rush all the way over to the field where he spotted Wolf dropped between the two burning werehogs. Casting a fast Cure spell to return his consciousness and helping him get back to his feet, the two ran back to the group as fast as possible until they made it, Wolf supporting himself by hanging his right arm over Sonic's shoulders. "T-thank you...kid..." he muttered weakly.

"Oh my god, Wolf, I'm so sorry!" Chris apologized. "I-I shouldn't have distracted myself like that!"

"N-no need..." Wolf muttered. "T-thank you for saving me...from those two jackasses..."

Everyone then turned back to look at the burning bodies, which now had stopped burning within the flames (of fury).

"Owww," Were-Falco moaned as he and Were-Fox quickly got up, dusting themselves off. "Now you'll all in for a red a*$ beatdown-"

"Wait" Were-Fox narrowed his eyes, looking past the group and seeing the former were Wolf knocked out several yards away. "Hold on, that's OUR Wolf" Were-Fox pointed over to him. "I'd recognize that psycho's scent anywhere, especially with this nose."

"Oh..." Were-Falco looked over at the Wolf they had just beat up. "Then who's this guy?"

Were-Fox shrugged. "I'm guessing some alternate version of Wolf."

"At least you DUMBASSES know how to tell RIGHT AFTER beating someone without thinking!" Chris interrupted with a loud scold.

Were-Falco looked at the group. "Can we still kill him and those other people?" he asked.

"Uh, we don't even know who they are" Were-Fox pointed out before looking at the group. "Okay who are you guys, and what are you doing in our dimension?"

"People...with actual common sense..." Wolf coughed up.

"And I find the 'dimension' thing rather insulting," Popo added with hands on hips. "Just think we were strolling about and stumbled upon this place."

"Yeah that's what usually happens" Were-Fox stated. "Actually usually Master Hand snaps his fingers and makes them appear or they just are heard shouting something for some reason." He looked at the group. "Besides I guess we know you guys are just us except." He looked over at Chris. "Who is that weirdly dressed kid?"

"Someone with more common sense than you?" Chris asked upset. "Seriously, what the hell do you think you are, barging in here and beating on an innocent bystander? Have you no shame for that?"

"Hey, he looked like our Wolf," Were-Falco said, smacking his hands together. "And if you ask me, he's still in need of a beatdown-"

"Hold on a second." Were-Fox starred into Chris's face for a second, blinking a few times. "(His appearance...looks familiar,)" Were-Fox thought to himself before pointing at Chris. "Hey, what's your name?"

"First, beat this guy again and I'll make sure fashion fur hunters don't go after you," Chris said. "Secondly, my name is Chris, and that's all you'll get out from me. Now apologize to Wolf before I resort to castrating measures here!" he said as he pointed at Wolf, who was shaking his head in disapproval. "And let me tell you I'm bad at it, so expect more pain out of it."

Were-Fox gasped. "So it IS him"

Were-Falco looked confused. "Him who?"

"The guy the annoying fanboy always gushes about. The legendary world traveler who goes to various video game worlds to save them?"

Were-Falco's eyes went wide. "That guy is actually real?"

"Apparently in their dimension he is."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Were-Falco thought for a second. "From what that idiot said, that version of Wolf is actually somewhat tolerable, so it almost makes sense why someone would try standing up for him."

Sonic looked bored. "And there they go with the same story that guy was repeating all the time..." he muttered.

Out of Chris's forehead, a vein popped out. "That is IT!" he yelled.

"You tell me!" Falco was heard from the DS. "C'mon, Chris, do me a favor and burn that idiot for me!"

"I need a reward out of it!"

"I'll treat you with some ice cream!"

"Deal!" Chris yelled.

"Hey, where did that voice come from?" Were-Falco looked around. "Try and come here and beat me yourself, you a*$hole!"

Were-Fox narrowed his eyes. "Uh, Falco, I think that was their dimensions' version of you," Were-Fox pointed out.

Were-Falco turned to him. "Well, he still sounds like an a*$hole to me" Were-Falco muttered.

"Look who's talking, filthy mutt-bird!" Falco yelled back.

"Stupid whiny voice who I'm about to give a serious smacking to!" Were-Falco threatened.

"Falco, don't let...you provoke yourself." Were-Fox held out his hand. "I mean, you don't hear their version of me making stupid insults do you?"

"I can seriously object to that because I want to wash my eyes five times right now," Fox said, making Chris look dumbfounded.

"(Well, he surely is ticked off as well...but not as much as Falco,)" Chris thought.

"See? He insulted you to!" Were-Falco pointed at Chris. "I say we tag team these alternate freaks so bad and then find out where those other voices are coming from and-"

"Hey, are you guys finished killing the a Wolf?" A voice was heard from a nearby tree, confusing everyone but the two werehog Star Fox members.

"Not yet since there was an alternate Wolf we hadn't counted on," Were-Fox pointed out.

"Oh a great, more alternates." Someone jumped down next to them. To the group's horror, it was revealed to be Mario, only turned into a fairly vicious, arrogant looking Werehog. "Well do they have an alternate a version of me? Because no universe could survive without Nintendo's number one a player making all of you a shmucks look a good."

"Werehog alert!" Sonic yelled out.

Chris quickly turned down the volume to avoid hearing more people arguing. "What the hell is WRONG with this place?" he asked loudly to the ominous moon.

"Hey what the hell's a wrong with that kid?" Were-Mario asked. "Why is he dressed like some gay a swordsman?"

"Oh, that's the Chris you know who talks about," Were-Fox pointed out.

"WHAT?" Chris asked enraged, Sonic quickly holding him by his arms. "You get over here and let me stick my sword up your b-"

"Chris, calm down!" Yoshi pleaded. "We sure don't want to pick up a fight with these monsters!"

"He's a real?" Were-Mario crossed his arms. "Geez I don't know why the fanboy would be such a fan of this garbanzo bean. Besides, I'm not even the star of his stupid little a group. Me, the ultimate a mascot of Nintendo. If anyone's a world traveler it's me, not the a kid over there."

Back at the mansion, Mario looked away. "Is it just me...or is he trying to make me look like a bad guy with a big ego?" he asked.

"...I hope it's just us," Luigi muttered.

"So why haven't you a killed the a Wolf anyway?" Were-Mario asked.

Were-Fox sighed. "Like I told you-"

"That is a job for the superior gender, you pathetic male specimens!" Two figures were shown jumping down near the other three were Smashers. One appeared to be Zelda, except looking more furred than Hyrulian, and the other was the werehog version of Samus in her Zero Suit. "There's no way you simpletons carrying the Y chromosome should be trusted with such a task!"

"Yeah, besides, we suffered far more than you guys did," Were-Zero Suit Samus pointed out. "So we should be the ones to kill him."

"...Goddesses, these people are all...so damn bloodthirsty..." Toon Link muttered.

"I heard that!" Wolf Zelda pointed at him. "Just because you are a variation of the hero of time, doesn't make you any less of an inferior male waste of air." She then looked over at Were-Fox. "Like I was saying we are slaying the pathetic Wolf beast."

"He's my enemy, so no, I kill him," Were-Fox pointed out.

Were-Zero Suit Samus pointed at him. "Do you know how much were SUFFERED because of him?" her arm was shown shaking some. "He made me try to attack the only person I care about and... make me think the only part of me that mattered was my anger."

"That is ridiculously, dear Zesu," Wolf Zelda said smiling some as she gently rubbed her face. "You are a powerful and intelligent woman who should not listen to fools, who dare sully your good name with their ignorance."

Were-Zero Suit smiled some as she leaned closer. "You always know how to make me feel better" she said as the two smiled at each other. The regular smashers looked horrified as Were-Zero Suit Samus kissed Zelda on the mouth. "I love you so much," she whispered.

Were-Zelda giggled and kissed her back. "I love you too," she said happily as the two continued kissing one another..

The Smashers watched disgusted as the she-beasts continued kissing for a pretty long time, much for the chagrin of the others in their pack. "...Something is really wrong here," Nana whispered silently.

"You just noticed that?" Toon Link whispered back.

"No, I'm saying that again because decency of this world has been crushed yet again..."

Chris could tell Zelda and Samus were both mentally scarred at this scene. He was telling the truth, since the two were literally silenced completely. "...Turn away, turn away!" Link ordered, the two girls turning away to avoid their brain cells to implode.

"This is...sickening..." Meta Knight muttered with a frown.

"150 percent..." C. Falcon muttered.

The two female were smashers turned to the group. "How dare you say something is wrong with our love you..." She looked over at Nana. "Oh well, I guess if an obvious superior female said it I can forgive you for this one transgression." She made a fist. "However dare insult me and Zesu's love again and I will burn you into ashes. Understand?"

"..." The group only stared at them.

"Oh, they just can't handle the falcon hotness of you girls!" a voice called out. The main group of smashers looked up to see another werehog jumping down. This time the werehog version of Captain Falcon, who made a heroic flexing pose. "However, Captain Falcon understands said hotness, and Falcon approves of it!" He flexed again. "However if your world's Zelda and Samus need some falcon loving, they should call me. I'm always up for a three way... actually wait I know another alternate Zelda so that could be a four way. That would be even hotter"

Yoshi groaned. "I know they said they had more of them, but this is utterly ridiculous..." he said.

"If you haven't noticed, everything here doesn't make the slightest sense at all," Wolf muttered frowning.

"And what does our sane guy has to say to this?" Link asked, seeing C. Falcon was put out of the talk as he looked away, disgusted at the sight. "...Don't worry, I respect you," he said sighing.

"Hey, I make total Falcon sense!" Were-Captain Falcon yelled out, looking over at Were-Fox. "Hey, I thought you guys were suppose to be killing Wolf. Why the Falc are you talking to alternate universe versions of us?"

"Weren't you listening?" Were-Fox asked.

"Yeah, but mostly just to the girl on girl stuff," Were-Captain Falcon pointed out as everyone in his group groaned at this.

"Look," Were-Fox pointed at him, "apparently these alternates, from the universe the fanboy always talks about, appeared here and we mistook their Wolf for ours."

"That's because you guys are way past lame!" a voice called out. The group looked around confused as they saw another werehog Sonic dropping down next to them, pointing at himself. "Chip told me there were some guys from some other universe here, and it was way past wrong of you to attack them. Like Sonic says you have to look before you leap otherwise you'll be in mondo trouble."

"The only mondo around here is you, mondo idiotic!" Were-Mario pointed out.

"Hey, you should do it, you pasta stuffer," the alternate Were-Sonic said pointing at himself. "You all just can't be cool like the main hedgehog" he pointed over at Sonic. "The rad blue guy knows how to handle alternates versions okay? I've seen like a million versions of me and kicked way past butt with them all." He moved closer to Sonic. "In fact he was probably there. Hey me, you remember that Giant Borg fight from way back?"

At that moment, Sonic turned away and covered his eyes. "...Sonic, what are you doing?" Red asked.

"If I don't see anything, it's not real," Sonic said. "Let me be in my happy place."

"(...I'm jealous that he can do that so easily...)" Red thought ashamed.

"Hey don't ignore me...me," Alternate Were-Sonic pointed at himself. "Everyone knows I'm the most awesome radical dude around which makes you the second most awesome radical dude around-

"So it WAS you who made all of us fight those demons from hell!" Squirtle interrupted.

"Really, our Sonic wouldn't really fall so low as to cause all this mess..." Popo muttered. "No, saying this is a mess is like a compliment. This is pure trash you made us clean after yourselves!"

"I second that!" Nana said. "You guys were weak enough to take out these demons that we took out ourselves! You should be thankful that we did the work for you, you lazy bu-"

Toon Link covered her mouth. "Do we really want to tick them off and fight them here again?" he whispered through gritted teeth.

"You're going to get your butts kicked for blaming me!" Were-Sonic said pointing angrily at them. "This way past wasn't my fault! It was Wolf, and then before that Dark Gaia weirdo and-"

"No one cares, Sonic," Were-Fox pointed out. "Still, we don't really need to attack them if they aren't doing anything wrong."

Chris grabbed his head, hanging it down. "I want to leave this place behind..." he stifled a sniff.

Wolf sighed and stood up. "Kid, let's head back for now," he said. "I'm pissed off that I was unfairly attacked by someone who is still a poor excuse of a bachelor who can't even make his girl fall in love with him. Seriously, how stupid can he be?" he said, rolling his eye. "The proof he attacks people like a beast proves pretty much he ain't gonna cut it for a family."

"...O...kay.." Chris muttered skeptically.

Were-Fox's eyes lite up. "What...was...that?" He said, pointing at Wolf. "It's your damn fault I'm not with Krystal! She should've been in this tournament, not you!"

"Not my problem," Wolf said, burrowing his hands in his pockets. "I was just dragged into this mess against my will. By now, I don't care if I took some stupid girl's spot in some lame tourney that has not even taken place at all." He turned to Chris. "Am I right, kid?"

"Well...yes?" Chris agreed in confusion.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Were-Fox glared angrily at the group. "You know what? I was going to let you go, but thinking about it, if you're still with a Wolf, even if it's not our Wolf, you're still a danger that needs to be taken care of."

"Gosh, you're such a beast, alright," Wolf said frowning. "And you think you can make a family with that attitude? I've got more etiquette that you'll ever have. Why, I don't even growl like that. I got much better chances in making her fall in love with me instead of you."

"..." Chris stared at Wolf.

"...Of course, she's a waste of time," Wolf added, looking away.

Were-Falco pounded his fists together. "I should've figured. An *$hole's an (beep)hole no matter how much he tries saying otherwise. No one talk's smack about a member of Team Star Fox, especially not a bunch of Wolf supporters"

"And besides Nana you are a bunch of ignorant men who are in desperate need of elimination," Were-Zelda pointed out, a fireball forming in her hands.

Were-Zero Suit Samus pointed her blaster at them. "And I do not like being insulted, especially by people who don't even know me."

"I've never been insulted by a someone who didn't know the wonder of a Mario" Were-Mario said, a fireball gathering in his hand as well. "However I am sick of hearing that stupid a fan boy's stories about a you. Maybe if we take you a out he'll finally a shut up."

"Fanboy...fanboy..." Red repeated. "Dammit, why do they all keep saying that all the time?"

"I have a bad feeling we shouldn't know that..." Chip muttered with a shrug.

"Don't worry, once we Falcon beat you up you won't remember what happened," Were-Captain Falcon started punching the air. "I don't have a problem being falcon insulted, but no man makes jokes about another man's love life. That's part of my falcon code of honor."

"Yeah and no one way past tries forgetting the supreme blue speedster... well I was a speedster before this lameo werehog thing," The alternate Were-Sonic held out his claws. "You lameos are going to pay for your cracks, cause Sonic says... you lameos are going to pay for your cracks!"

The Smashers had worried looks as the pack of werewolves slowly itched towards them. They slowly backed away into the forest behind their backs. "T-talk about stupid!" Nana complained. "They all are so easily to make angry! They have some issues, even though they are supposedly the good people!"

"Well, damn, that makes them all lazy bums," Wolf commented. "We did their dirty job, and all they can do as a sign of thanks is giving us a beating? Man, that sounds something their leader, whoever it is, would do if he was a total jackass."

"Hey, I'm the leader," Were-Fox pointed at himself. "And I would've taken out Wolf but we had to take out the other minions first." He smirked evilly as he held out his hand. "I'll show you how good a leader I am. I'm going to organize an attack to take you all out at once. You won't be able to make crass comments anymore as a corpse, Wolf!" Were-Fox snapped his fingers. "Everyone, time for attack pattern 514!" the were-smasher group looked at him confused. "Surround them on all sides and attack before they have time to counterattack! So go and-"

Wolf laughed. "Oh my god, no wonder why everything around here is so messed up!" he laughed playfully. "You should be a comedian instead of everything else you want to be!"

"WOLF, STOP IT!" Chris yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm real funny. So funny in fact we'll just take you out all in a simple row," Were-Fox turned to the others. "Team, power up!"

"RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" The were-smashers all roared out as purple energy surged all around them as they glared daggers of intense hatred at the other group.

"Have anything left to say, scum?" Were-Fox looked at Wolf. "I mean, you should have one last crack before you die. And remember to make it good. Remember they don't tolerate sass..." his nostrils flared up as his eyes went yellow, "IN HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

Wolf just stood there amused, as everyone else looked freaked out, Sonic being the only one raising fists. However, Chris closed his eyes for a moment, changing to his Thief job. "...We got no time to waste with all of you, furred bastards..." he muttered as he opened his eyes, stepping back to chant something while holding his knife in front of his face. "Fleet of foot, lead us to salvation!" he chanted. "3, 2, 1! Everyone ready? GO!"

Everyone's feet shone brightly as they all screamed and turned around with a sharp turn. All of their feet combined made mud stick behind them, pushing it all out to all the beasts' eyes that were about leap on them. As the group of werehogs yelled in pain, they were forced to stand in front of a big cloud of dust where the Smashers were standing previously.

Final Fantasy IX - Run!

Were-Falco coughed some, as the dust cloud disappeared. "Where the hell did they go?" he roared out.

"They must of used some stupid magic a spell" Were-Mario pointed out. "The fanboy said Chris uses those a lot-a."

"Well that's not going to save them," Were-Fox pointed out. "We should still be able to sniff them out easily enough and really hammer them in."

"What about him?" Were-Falco asked pointing out at the knocked out Were-Wolf.

Were-Fox thought for a second. "He's out cold so we can take care of them later. For now though let's take these smashers on..." the group nodded as they were shown speeding along the forest, spreading out to try and find the good group of smashers.

The group of were-Smashers didn't know that that was easier than done. They soon entered a big cloud of dust that had covered all the area around where the Smashers had fled. The cloud severely disrupted their noses, as the group of Smashers were running fast thanks to Chris's incantation.

"Run, dammit, run!" Chris yelled. "There's no way in hell they can see where we ran with all the dust we're leaving behind!"

"I love you, Chris, really, I do!" Squirtle cried out as he was being carried by Red on his arms. "We're gonna leave this hell soon. I just know we're going to make it alive!"

Toon Link panted heavily as the whole group raced down the forest. He darted his eyes around to see if there were signs of them, but all he saw was some red eyes quickly disappearing from behind some bushes after they were spotted by him. "KEEP RUNNING!" Toon Link yelled. "They're closing in on us!"

"What? No way!" Nana yelled. "I thought they were far behind! I mean, we're running pretty fast now!"

"T-the tree!" Chip yelled as he pointed forward to the tree where the tree with the hole to the portal of the mansion was waiting for them. "T-there's our last exit back home!"

Wolf rushed ahead and slid down between the roots, successfully falling down the hole. Everyone took his action as an order as each one of them, synchronizing, slid down one by one, falling down to the hole. They looked around frantically as Wolf spotted the door. He slammed it open and pointed it. "Go, go, go!" he ordered.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" everyone else screamed for their dear lives as they crossed through the door. After everyone left the place, Wolf scoffed at the underground hiding spot and went through the door, not noticing that some red eyes were stalking them from the hole...

-Smash Mansion-

Battle Floor

The other group of Smashers gasped as they saw the door swing wide open, revealing the distortion of light that lead to the werehog world. Everyone ran to the door as the group jumped out one by one until Wolf was the last one to jump. Most of them lost their footing and fell down to the floor, panting heavily after running a long way. "You're back!" Master Hand said relieved.

"Mansion, sweet mansion!" Yoshi cheered as he hugged Mario and Luigi.

Toon Link jumped to Zelda's arms, hugging her tightly. "Please tell me they're gone. Oh Din, please!" he pleaded.

"U-um..." Zelda stammered in shock.

"COME OUT YOU INFERIOR MALE SCUM!" Wolf Zelda was heard roaring on the other side of the portal. "YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME BUT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE FROM THE SUPERIOR SEX! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU SAID TO MY DEAR ZESU!"

Zelda screamed out with Toon Link while Link grabbed his head. "For crying out loud, somebody close the damn door already!" he yelled.

Wolf grunted and reached for the doorknob. "Fine, I'm getting to... Oh crap..." he muttered, looking away while gritting his fangs, hearing most of them screaming in displeasure.

Chris heaved a bit. "(Okay...this was probably the only thing I didn't want to see during my whole stay in that world I like to call hell...)" he thought dismayed. "(Well...I guess I'll just have to push this abnormality down that portal...)"

A figure from the portal quickly emerged and landed in front of all the smashers. From the door emerged another werehog, this one being an alternate of Lucario. However, despite having red eyes, this werehog acted differently than the others. Instead of appearing in front of them smug, angry, cocky, sad or annoyed, the Were-Lucario appeared absolutely giddy. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod," he muttered out, bouncing back and forth. "It's you... it's really really you!" He said, letting out a squeal of pleasure. "I mean I had thought there was a possibility ever since Popo went through a door containing werehogs before you guys went to fight Smithy, which BTW was one of the best fights ever, and the best yet saddest twist ever when Culex defeated you and destroyed Nintendo City, but I didn't think I could actually find you guys." He then twirled around (Sonic: Queer) excitedly. "I mean the REAL Subspace Emissary Conquest Smashers? This is almost too good to be true."

Silence soon followed after that. Suddenly, the panic everyone had become used to do was crushed over by pure confusion. Chris was particularly confused as he stared down at the werehog. "...Um...what did you just say?" he asked confused.

"Weird, all that he said was actual facts about what we did..." Ivysaur muttered.

"It's more than facts: It's the most absolutely legendary stuff in the history of all history!" Were-Lucario quickly sped around the group of smashers. "I saw it all: The Melee smashers coming here to fight against the subspace emissary, Sonic being used by Tabuu to try and take out everyone in the Pikmin and Mother 3 Worlds, the awesomeness of Rita and Etna staying when they accidentally broke all those music tracks, learning about not letting power corrupt you, and all the great new pairings that should never be like Jigglypuff and Chip or Fox and Peppita."

Master Hand groaned loudly. "Oh my god, this...thing is a fan boy or something!" he yelled annoyed. "They're like paparazzi, but even worse!"

Fan boy!

Fan boy!

Fan boy!

Fan boy!

Fan boy!

The word rang several times in the heads of Chris, Wolf, Sonic, Chip, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Red, Popo, Nana, Yoshi, and Toon Link. All of them looked at each other as if they had realized an very unimportant fact they were always shrugging off the entire time they were in hell (or the werehog world).

"..." Red hid his eyes behind his right hand. "Don't tell me..."

"Afraid so..." Toon Link muttered.

"And here I thought they were just joking about that..." Wolf muttered frowning.

"But seriously, it was an actual fact?" Yoshi asked.

"That fact is running around here like a Pachirisu on sugar," Squirtle muttered annoyed. "OF COURSE it was a fact! Everything so stupidly unbelievable they said was ALL true without exceptions!"

"Except their lame-crazy visions of the future..." Sonic muttered. "...You know, this is why you shouldn't have more than one really fast character around. It gets so repetitive to see everyone else doing the same thing I do."

Chip tilted his head. "Was that something you should really ask now, Sonic?" he asked.

"Nope, but I'm speaking my mind here. Sue me if you wanna," Sonic muttered.

Were-Lucario then laughed loudly as everyone turned his attention to him. "Hahahaha, Classic Sonic. So consumed by his ego though learning to control it more after what happened during 143: The Gift Of The Bloody Messenger." He glared angrily at the door, pointing at it. "Though yeah I agree with you on all werehogs being evil jerky jerks who deserve to die. I mean Sonic was under DSS Control but those guys were just being jerks. They can't comprehend how you guys are seriously 10 times billion a better smasher team than they ever could be."

"...I hate to break this to you, but you ARE a filthy werehog monster," Sonic said very annoyed.

Were-Lucario sighed. "Yeah I know. I had to transform in order to fight those other evil werehogs." He looked at his hand. "I know it's disrespectful appearing to you all like this, but when I felt your aura and saw the portal, I knew I just had to meet you all. Especially the main stars" Were-Lucario jumped ecstatically around Lucario before kneeling in front of him and closing his eyes. "After all, I never thought I'd be able to meet the legendary and greatest Lucario of them all. One with strength unmatched and the most dedicated and loyal heart I've ever seen. One who has served your group well and though has gone through a lot, always comes out stronger for it. Besides your friendship moments are by far the best friendship I've ever had the experience of ever witnessing. Baby Riolu interacting with Chris and wanting to evolve but Chris wanting Lucario to enjoy his childhood after Aurageddon? Genius, absolute genius. Especially the trivia off the night you evolved back. That was a serious ROTFL moment for me."

Chris looked at Lucario, who seemed to make a sick expression. "L-Lucario, what's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I...I'd rather tell you in another moment..." Lucario said, shaking his head. "S-sorry, but I don't want to say it here..."

"...If you say so...but you're not feeling weak or something, are you?"

"N-no, I'm feeling okay, but... I'll tell you later..." Lucario muttered.

Master Hand grunted and pointed at the furred monster. "Okay, you go back in there. It looks like I forgot to set up the barrier to keep anyone else not from here to come out. I'm sorry, but I know I'm speaking from everyone that we want all of you to go away." He looked at the others, who turned their backs at the werehog. "See? Now go, shoo, you filthy beast...fan boy..."

"Ohhh, but I loved the Lucario-Chris Friendship bond. It is the greatest friendship bond in the history of all friendship bonds!" He appeared quickly in front of Chris. "Besides I can leave without saying how much I love all your interactions, quirks, hilarious references, dramatic moments and powers Chris. You are by far the greatest added... no second greatest smasher ever, behind Legendary Lucario at first," Were-Lucario giggled happily. "Man, I've dreamed of moments like this. Except in those, you weren't wearing a shirt"

Chris was grossed out that he started to back away from him. "S-stay away from me!" he yelled. "Y-you're way too creepy for even being a Lucario AND a werehog!"

Were-Lucario smiled widely. "I knew you'd say that" he said proudly as his eyes glistened. "It is totally in character for you to be grossed out by a Lucario and someone who knows about you. If you weren't, you wouldn't be the Chris I love." The werehog aura Pokémon got on his knees, closing his eyes. "However since you were able to make such incredible endearing friendship bonds with everyone here and almost every other good person you met, I was wondering if I could stay. Even if as a secret visitor who hid themselves away for weeks like Raven or Barry's group. It would be an honor beyond honor serving as your other Lucario Master Chris" Were-Lucario gasped. "Oh whoops sorry, I mean Chris. You not wanting to be called master is a great gag and character bit."

"NO!" Chris yelled loudly, causing everyone to look back. "I told you to stay away from me!"

Lucario stared at Chris shedding a small tear. The tear ran down his face until it hit the floor, triggering Lucario's anger. The Aura Pokémon growled silently as he communicated to Chris through telepathy. "(Chris, let me handle this,)" he spoke. "(I have an idea to get rid of this bastard.)"

"(Y-you have?)" Chris asked.

"(Yes, now listen...)"

Chris remained silent for a moment before he nodded to himself. Gulping, he seemed to fake a sigh and look a bit relieved at the monster. "Well...if you put it that way, then I guess I'll make an exception..."

Everyone else around him gasped. "C-Chris, you don't have permission to do this kind of thing!" Master Hand scolded.

Mewtwo stared at Lucario, who in turn looked at him and explained what he had in mind. Chuckling amused, Mewtwo decided to pass on the message to everyone else around the room through his mind.

"...Actually, who am I kidding?" Master Hand asked. "He'll be helpful in some way or another."

"R-really?" Were-Lucario asked as Chris nodded. "YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He cheered happily, jumping around the room, and running around everyone in glee. "This is going to be awesome! We'll all become friends and get to see all the Postman in Nintendo Town, and fight the Shadow Nightmares, and go on side quests and-"

"But first, you got to stand in front of me so I can give you your initiation as one part of our group," Chris said. "Oh, also, you have to close your eyes and not open them until I say so. No matter what happens, you need to have your eyes closed."

"No problem Mas- I mean Chris" Were-Lucario said obediently as he jumped in front of Chris and closed his eyes. "(Man I wonder what the imitation's going to be like?)" Were-Lucario thought. "(Is it going to be like the time he made a deal with Wolf to beat up Fox and Falco 11 times a week? Or is it going to be like when Snake agreed to join after Chris said he'd tell them the truth about his world when all the hero smashers joined.)" Were-Lucario gasped. "(Oh oh, maybe it will be like when Kirby joined and Chris said screw Drawcia and the Squeak Squad and ask me to jump into his arms for a hug. That would make this awesomeness thing ever even better!)"

Chris stepped aside to let Lucario stand directly in front of the monster. Lucario stared down at the hyperactive character as his right fight caught up intense blue aura. Looking at Chris from the side of his eyes, Lucario nodded to tell him that he was ready.

The teen sighed relieved and snapped his fingers. "Fine, you can open your eyes now," he said.

Were-Lucario opened his eyes. "I'm ready to jump on your hammer Master Chris-"

The next moment he saw was Lucario's aura fist colliding right into his face, making him see stars flying out from his eyes. Wolf stepped aside as a fast blur was sent flying right through the portal until he heard the foreign monster crashing right against the dirt of the hole under the tree. The ones around the door even felt a strong wind brushing against them when the werehog was punched away by Lucario, who still glared fiercely at the portal with his right fist over the spot Were-Lucario was standing.

Wolf whistled a bit and grinned. "That's what I call a punch," he remarked.

Chris smiled at Lucario, who in turn gave him a happy expression. "Thank you so much, Lucario. That reall-"

"That... was awesome!" Were-Lucario said dazed from the other side. "Just like how Sonic was tricked in...40 and 66. Hope it says I... joined your team... and then left it!" Were-Lucario squealed. "And then being hit by the legendary Lucario's... awesome punch is... even better. I will... never was this aura ever again" he was then heard passing out on the other side of the field.

Hearing the monster's voice suddenly made Chris sniff sadly. Everyone turned to him, seeing the teen covering his face with both hands. "L-Lucario..." he muttered.

"Y-yes, Chris?" Lucario asked. "W-why are you crying?"

"Kill him off!" Chris cried. "I-I don't want to deal with this stupid crap anymore! Kill him...KILL HIM!" he cried out.

"W-what?" DK stammered. "B-but what about that rule about not killing anyone?"

Snake furrowed his brow. "There have to be exceptions," he said, looking away. "Or are you telling me that we all liked them seeing how screwed up they were in their little heads?"

Zelda looked serious, Toon Link doing the same. "My dignity as a princess was never humiliated in this way before," she said. "I support the idea."

"Yeah!" Red said, pumping up a fist. "I'd say let's do it as a way to tell them the consequences for messing with our minds like that!"

"And our image!" the young Smashers added.

Lucario looked doubtful at Chris, who was sniffing sadly under his hands. The Aura Pokémon thought hard for a moment until he sighed and looked serious. "...All right," he said. "If you wish me to do so like that...I'll gladly do it. But if I want to do as you wish, I need to have more power."

"Oh, did I mention the Over Limit is ready to be used?" Kawashima asked playfully.

That fact was all Lucario needed to be engulfed in a rainbow aura. He walked forward and stood in front of the portal as he stepped his right foot back and charged up a shining aura between both of his hands. Some of the Smashers covered their eyes as the aura between Lucario's hands shone brightly until he roared loudly and pushed his hands forward, releasing a streaming of gleaming aura in the form of a big beam that crossed right through the portal and caused a massive explosion on the other side while a strong wind pushed out from said beam.

"OWWWWWWWW, this hurts so good! I Love Aura Rage!" Were-Lucario was heard yelling as he laughed. "Man look at my aura flare up... wait... why is it flaring up that much? I think that's a bit too dangerous to me. Heh heh, to me, that's so-"

"!" Lucario roared angrily as he shot the beam at full force through the portal. Everyone backed away a bit until they saw the beam slowly fading in thin air. The Aura Pokémon stood still in place with his hands facing forward. With a grunt, Lucario stood firmly as he glared at the portal.

After not hearing anything from the other side of the portal, Link turned to Mewtwo. "So..." he trailed off.

Mewtwo nodded. "Whatever life was on the other side was obliterated into dust," he said. "...In other words, Lucario killed him."

Kingdom Hearts II - Roxas

Wolf let out a sigh as he closed the door. "Finally, this whole werehog war crap is all over with," he said before he saw Chris dropping to his knees, crying under his hands. "...Kid? Hey, don't you cry like that now."

"H-how do you expect me to shrug all of this off after I went in there in that world full of sickening monsters who tried to convert all of us like them?" Chris cried loudly. "I-it's just too much for me to handle! I-I'm so scared, even after we finished the battle!"

Most of the Smashers looked a bit sad as they reconsidered what Chris said. "Yes...he's right," Popo said. "All that they said and did looked so horrendous for my tastes..."

Marth nodded. "It was truly a mentally scarring image to see," he said.

"But...some of them looked like good people..." Pichu muttered. "Like that other Nana, remember?"

"Well, she was okay BEFORE she was a crazy werehog," Nana said depressed. "...I don't know if I'll stop thinking about those moments after going through them..."

"It's all hopeless..." Chris sobbed. "Whenever I look at Sonic...I-I'll always remember all the people in there that tried to kill us off! A-and don't get me started on that monster that came in here that freaked me out so much!"

Sonic looked at himself, seeing that he was back at his usual self. He looked back at Chris with an ashamed look and walked to his side, kneeling down to pat his back. "You don't have to think about them every time you look at me, Chris," he said.

"I-I know, but how will I do that, Sonic?" Chris asked, looking at Sonic with tears rolling down his face. "How will I stop thinking about what we went through in there? How?"

"I...I...well..." Sonic stammered as some of the young Smashers went to pat Chris's back. "...Dammit...this is too hard for me to explain..." he complained.

Lucario looked away. "Chris..." he muttered with a sigh.

As everyone looked depressed at the thought, Wolf, with crossed arms, was thinking hard about it. He stared down at Chris until he brought himself to walk and kneel down in front of Chris to look directly at him. "Kid, look at me," he said.

Chris looked at Wolf, sniffing a bit. "W-what do you want, Wolf?" he asked. The teen was taken aback once Wolf put his right hand over Chris's left shoulder.

"The memory of this dreadful fight is gonna be in our minds," Wolf pointed out. "We'll never forget about what happened in that filthy world full of imbeciles."

"H-how's that even going to help me at all?" Chris demanded.

"It won't help you," Wolf said. "And it'll be difficult to forget about it...but you know something?" he asked.

"What?"

"Time always helps cure these wounds we have now," Wolf said. "All we have to do for this to stop being brought up is to wait for the time to make the memory something that we will eventually forget it happened," he said. "We won't forget this, but we can at least make it the most obscure memory that will hide under all the cherished memories we'll keep making over time."

Chris stared at Wolf for a moment. "O-our cherished memories...will bury this stupid memory?" he asked.

"Yeah," Wolf said nodding. "Those dreadful moments we went through will all be buried down with all the happy memories we make along our long struggle against our main enemy. Once this is buried down, we'll eventually stop thinking about it," he said. "Think that it'll be something that no matter how much you'll try unconditionally to remember will never get to be remembered."

Chris looked down. "But...it's still going to be there...isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, so what's the point?" Wolf asked. "Once time passes, it's going to become a strange memory." He chuckled playfully. "Why, once it becomes buried down and we try to remember it, we'll ask ourselves 'Did this even happen at all? I'm pretty sure it was something bad...but I guess nothing like that really happened' or something close to that."

The teen looked at the lupine. "No matter how much we try to forget, the memory will still be there... However, it's going to become so obscure that we won't even remember it anymore?" he asked.

"Just like that, except that we won't remember it so much," Wolf said.

"...Yes...Y-you're right," Chris said, brightening up with a smile. "It'll become so obscure that we won't bring it up ever again!"

The other Smashers overheard the conversation and smiled a bit, finding hope in the lupine's words. "But of course," Ike said. "All grief we go through is soon buried down with all the cherished memories we make. This is the whole truth."

"With more happy moments we make, all our sad moments will be overcome very easily!" Pichu said in high spirits. "I just know this frightening memory will stop haunting us very, very soon!"

Olimar nodded, clasping his hands. "P-people do forget sad stuff when they make happy memories," he said. "It's just like when I crashed into that planet, and I soon forgot how dreadful it was for me to get back home..."

Wolf looked at everyone for a bit until he grinned at Chris. "So, what do yo-" he was interrupted as Chris hugged him tightly. "W-what the..."

"T-thank you so much, Wolf..." Chris muttered while everyone else looked surprised at them. "I-I didn't know you could make me think like that to feel relieved with myself..."

"O-okay, I get it," Wolf said. "W-would you mind stop hugging me now? I don't like when people hug me like this..." He looked at everyone, with most of them smiling a bit at him. Sighing in defeat while grumbling a few words, Wolf did, what he considered unthinkable of his part, go ahead and hugged Chris back. "...Dammit, kid. The things you make me do for you," he complained.

"At least be grateful somebody here cares for you so much," Chris said.

Wolf looked away and hid a small grin. "(True that, kid...true that...)" he thought with a chuckle.

The two eventually stopped hugging each other and stood back up. Master Hand floated to the door. "And now, let's get rid of this door to hell," he said as he snapped his fingers, making the door fade in thin air.

Toon Link sighed. "We finally got rid of that door..." he muttered.

The hand turned back to face the Smashers. "And I'd like to congratulate all of you for beating some really nasty monsters back there! In recognition for your victory, I shall increase your Trophy Stand space by two, enough for you to put more stickers and further grow stronger!" He snapped his fingers once more, making shiny glittered fall from the point where he snapped his fingers.

Congratulations for your earnest victory! Trophy Stands' size increased by two!

"Seriously? You're giving us that after fighting those demons?" Toon Link asked annoyed.

"You want me to throw you in there?" Master Hand asked.

"N-no!"

"Pfft, don't worry. I won't let you guys get in touch with alternate dimensions ever again," the hand said. "I learned my lesson. We only have to visit worlds that we have at our reach. And while doing so, take advantage of the added space I gave to all your Trophy Stands. Who knows, maybe I'll give you more space once you fight more of the bosses I have here."

"I think it's worth it, as long as we don't suffer mentally..." Roy muttered.

"Nah, it won't hurt your minds, I swear," Master Hand said.

Pikachu walked to Lucario, who looked relieved at Chris. The Electric Pokémon tapped Lucario's left foot. "So why did you twitch when that...idiot came in here?" he asked.

Lucario looked away from Pikachu. "His aura..." he trailed off.

"Was it red?" Pikachu asked.

"N-no, it wasn't red..." Lucario said. "He was good, but his aura... It was...spinning madly like as if it had some kind control over him... It was so crazy that it literally zoomed in and out...and I really didn't stand it so much..."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Why am I thinking it was obvious?" he asked amused as he looked at the others besides him, who stifled some chuckles.

Chip yawned loudly. "WHEW! That was so tiresome," he said aloud before yawning. "Why don't we just go back to do whatever we like to do every afternoon and leave this place behind?"

Everyone agreed with the imp's suggestion. As they were walking away, Lucario went to Wolf. "Thank you for cheering Chris," he said.

"Somebody had to do it before I'd puke," Wolf said. "That kid ain't half bad, let me tell you though... You better take good care of him," he whispered. "He still needs to grow into a mature person."

"I'll have that in mind," Lucario said. "But still, I'm grateful for what you did."

"Yeah, yeah," Wolf said. "Go with him so he forgets what happened here, will you?"

Lucario nodded as he stifled a chuckle.

Music stops

Before Wolf could leave, he spotted Fox with an angry look. "What do you want?" Wolf asked.

"You're not trying to do something funny here with Chris, are you?" Fox asked.

"If you're pissed about what I said about your girlfriend back there, it was all a lie," Wolf said, looking away. "I just wanted to tick someone else off for my amusement. And look, it really was amusing to watch... As for the kid, no, I don't wanna do something to him." He started walking away while Fox stared blankly at him. "Chill out and just leave me alone, will you, Fox?"

Once Wolf walked down the stairs, Fox blinked a few times and turned to Falco. "Hey, Falc-"

"I'm SO not his rival. He's yours. Deal with it yourself," Falco said annoyed as he walked faster to leave Fox behind.

"...Okay..." Fox muttered as he clenched his fists and left the floor.

Just as soon as Red was going to leave, he was stopped when he saw Barry running up the stairs. The blond trainer panted heavily and pointed at the Kanto trainer. "There you are!" Barry yelled.

"B-Barry, what are you doing up here?" Red asked confused as Squirtle and Ivysaur stopped walking by his sides.

"Where have you been all this time, man?" Barry asked. "I've been looking all over for you in this maze you like to call mansion!"

"O-okay, I was busy with some...really bad stuff in here," Red admitted. "So...why were you looking for me?"

"Give it all back to me!"

"Give what back to you?"

Barry groaned and went over to Red's backpack, rummaging through everything he had in there. "B-Barry, stop!" Red yelled.

"A-ha, there it is!" Barry said triumphant as he took out from Red's backpack a Clefairy Doll that was making a peace sign. "Here's one of the Clefairy Dolls I personally hid in your backpack!"

"...Clefairy Dolls?" Squirtle and Ivysaur asked confused.

Red looked at Barry in disbelief. "Y-you were the one who put all those dolls in there?" he asked dismayed.

"Yeah," Barry said as he clutched the Clefairy Doll with his arms. "I ran out of space in my room, so I went ahead and stored all of 'em in your backpack... Hey, wait a minute," Barry said. "I thought I left more of these with you..."

At this, Red lowered his cap and made a run for it down the stairs, with Squirtle and Ivysaur following him from behind.

"...HEY!" Barry yelled out as he chased after Red. "Did you get rid of all my dolls? You owe me around ninety-nine Clefairy Dolls! I'll fine your butt, Red; I'll fine your mom for losing all my property! I'll even find your dad and fine him like I've never fined someone else before! Mark my words, Red! I'LL FINE YOU UNTIL YOU DIE!"

"SHUT UP, BARRY!" Red yelled out as he ran around the mansion with Barry chasing after him.

It was clear enough for Red that the battle he went through was going to be eliminated rather than being forgotten...or perhaps not.

TO BE CONTINUED...

-Smash Channel-

"Well, it seems this channel has been in its brightest ever since the start of this REALLY long side-quest arc, kupo," Chris (in his Moogle Knight job) said to the audience that was somehow pretty silent. "We'd like to thank you all to stick with us through this little cross-over of sorts and... Wait a minute. Why is everyone so quiet today, kupo?"

"Burn her alive!" a Toad proclaimed. "She has ruined Mario's image as a honest hero!"

The moogle blinked a few times before groaning. "Oh, yes, I forgot my own audience likes their respective heroes a lot..." He slammed his head on his desk, looking over to the right side of the counter. "So...after enduring a hard-fought battle, here we got a special guest of sorts...who is totally not an actual character in a game, kupo. I'd like some of the enraged people in this place to give a warm welcome to fellow authoress DianaGohan!"

The moogle heard several coughs from some of the people in the audience.

"...Here she is, DianaGohan!" Chris said as he tried to force excitement to himself.

DianaGohan (a young adult female with long curly hair, wearing a tight red and blue blouse, long light blue skirt, and light brown boots) smiled and walked into the studio. She marched over, hugged Chris, and sat on the chair next to him, crossing her legs. "Great to be here, Chris. Ironic that last year, you were in my position and I was in yours."

Chris sat back up confused. "What do you mean by that, kupo?" he asked.

"Oh I thought you were the one hated by the characters in your story-verse last year." She thought for a second. "Oh wait, that was still me. Sorry about that. Then again, last year I was actually doing stories instead of letting them sit for months." She blinked a few times. "Hey why are you in your moogle job anyway?"

"Because of the fact I have all the authority to be the author AND the character in this fiction, kupo," Chris stated. "This is the ONLY time I get to talk like the author while being the actual character, kupo."

"Oh yeah, me too." DianaGohan rubbed her chin. "Well except years ago when I made all those fourth wall stories on a message board only two people went to, and some of my other weirder, more meta tales." She then held out her hand. "Speaking of years, feels like years since we've even been talking about writing this story together, hasn't it?"

"It was roughly a year that we started thinking about this," Chris said bored. "Also, you're very prone to several...technical difficulties that kept both of us from finishing this even sooner, kupo."

"Well actually it was my old computer that crapped out on me for months so we couldn't even write together" DianaGohan waved her fist. "But I took care of that" a quick flashback shows DianaGohan beating on a computer tower several times with a baseball bat. "Good times" she said before looking back at Chris. "Also it's been over a year at this point. We've been writing this, on and off for at least a year" she rubbed her chin. "Actually from what I remember I asked you sometime in March in 2009 when I was really getting into your story if we could do a crossover. Since you had introduced Chip into the story, and I was doing my whole werehog thing. And you said... no."

"Exactly," Chris said nodding.

"Yeah that's because I wanted to do a direct crossover with both our worlds, which thinking about it, was a pretty stupid thing to suggest" DianaGohan admitted. "I wanted it to be this big crossover in my story but it didn't really pan out. However then you came to me and suggested what if some of my characters were a boss in your Boss Floor, when you were first planning out the concept of the whole Boss Floor battles."

"That worked much better for me, kupo," Chris said.

"But you never took into account about ruining our fair Princess Zelda's image!" a Hylian farmer yelled from the crowd. "That girl over there turned her into some kind of demon in black fur!"

The moogle closed his eyes to shut off the thought. "I know, I know..." he muttered.

"Hmmm I thought you guys from LoZ's world would've tried burning me at the stake by now for all I've done to warp Zelda's image" DianaGohan admitted. "And yeah I agreed to that, on the grounds that it was not my smashers directly, but an alternate universe version of my Smashers. In other words, these aren't the same characters from my story that fought your guys so it was okay that they were defeated." DianaGohan smiled widely. "And of course once I got Chris to agree to that I got him to agree to doing a chapter of my story that featured an alternate form of his characters" DianaGohan pointed upwards as the words "NIGHT OF THE WEREHOG, BRAWL EDITION" were shown in bright neon lights flashing several times. "... Plug plug" she coughed.

"What's that doing over our heads? I didn't ask for that in the stage, kupo!" Chris complained, clapping his hands. "Luigi, lift that thing away from your spot!"

No response.

"LUIGI, WAKE UP!"

"Y-yiah! I-I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" Luigi panicked from the cabin behind the audience, pulling up the sign away behind the curtains.

"Good..." Chris muttered sighing. "Anyway, what were we going to do here again?"

"Burn that insolent girl for making Toon Link a prankster!" yelled a familiar voice.

"...Is that you, Toon Link?"

"No!"

"Oh, okay..." Chris muttered skeptically. "Anyway, what were we going to do?"

"Well you were supposed to first plug my story Chris" DianaGohan pointed at him. "Remember?"

"Um, what's a plug again, kupo?"

DianaGohan rolled her hand. "It's where you talk about my story, specifically the chapter we're doing about it, and gush over how much everyone should see it and what not."

"You mean the chapter we just did for my side?"

"Uh no, I mean the chapter of MY story" DianaGohan snaps her fingers as the words "NIGHT OF THE WEREHOG, BRAWL EDITON" show up in bright neon lights again as Luigi pulled the sign away again. "The chapter we did of that for MY side. Remember?"

"...Oh, here I got the paper for it," Chris said, taking out a piece of paper with something written on it. "You people should read the other crossover chapter I did with this girl over here. While it's not canon to my own side, as well as her side in my side, it is still entertaining to watch. Just watch out because our points of views are REALLY different from each other. Even so, you should go ahead and read it altogether," he read, looking worried at the group. "You're entering a foreign territory, so best of luck to you if you want to go there with her and read the chapter I made for her side."

"Oh and all other chapters if you can," DianaGohan pointed out. "Cause it's a good story. Though, yeah, it is different than Chris's, obviously." DianaGohan wagged her finger. "Still this chapter is the only crossover chapter you're going to ever do, right Chris?"

"Hell yes!" Chris said, the crowd suddenly going wild at the response. "I pretty much think the crowd wants to forget seeing how you...really screwed up their heroes...kupo..." he muttered.

"Uh well obviously this is the only crossover chapter we're ever going to do" DianaGohan pointed out. "Since this chapter is probably the most important Subspace Emissary World's Conquest chapter ever. I mean so what if it only came out after Chapter 178 and wasn't mentioned in the last several months at all either by you or the characters in the story and the fact everyone didn't want to remember that it happened and..." DianaGohan thought for a second. "Uh... well I guess it's not really... too important" she muttered. "But hey it's still the first full on boss battle right? That's something."

"That's probably going to be overshadowed with the next extra boss fight, kupo..." Chris said miffed. "Well, the next one won't be so lengthy. It's going to have a more canon-esque scene more than what we did, kupo..."

"Well hey it did happen to them and Chris and Wolf got their first combined final smash so it is still cannon" DianaGohan grinned. "Nick Cannon." Chris just glared at her confused. "Thought uh actually I was talking about everyone else who may want to try collaborating with you after this. Shouldn't you tell them now this is a one time crossover with someone else that will never happen with any other fanfic writer in your story?"

"After how my mentality with your side was challenged and mentally scarred, of course not, kupo..." Chris muttered with a shrug. "Don't you know I'm...very fond of something more...something sticking more to the actual representations of characters, right?"

DianaGohan waved her hands. "Hey I'm just making sure all your fans know you won't be doing this again," the authoress pointed out. "I mean I only got in since not only was Chris a fan of my stories back before he posted Subspace Emissary Conquest, but I also posted a lot of full up to ten thousand character length parodies on a lot of his chapters. And since no one else was an inspiration or a paroddess for you, that means I had rights to claim a crossover" DianaGohan grumbled some. "Still I also admit to having some frustrations on working on this with you," she admitted. "After all the stuff you made me cut out and change from my original draft of this."

"I told you I wanted to make it look like an usual T-rated story," Chris muttered annoyed. "And by that, I mean no unrequited...love, no dying stuff, no...well, anything people consider not appropriated for the rating T."

"Hey I'm not talking about that stuff" DianaGohan held out her fingers. "I'm talking about characters I wanted to appear but you didn't. Lines or jokes I thought were funny that you didn't get, conversations I wanted to see happen we never got around to, attacks and abilities that had to get shifted around, and a whole bunch of other stuff" DianaGohan looked at the audience. "Seriously folks I really love Chris and he did put a lot of my stuff in, but I had to fight and argue for a lot as well. Seriously there was a bunch of stuff that I had to do redo, though to be fair I guess you could say the same thing, right Chris?"

"However, the one thing we argued about the most, even more so than musical choices, characters, attacks and locals was the ending" The female author got up. "Seriously we must of had at least 8 versions of the ending we had to talk through several times to get right. Even though ironically the ending's one of the first thing we wound up going into detail about. So as you can imagine, a lot of parts of the ending didn't make it to the final version of the story."

Scrapped Ending #1 - The Violent Genius Mage of PAIN Revenge

The other group of Smashers gasped as they saw the door swing wide open, revealing the distortion of light that lead to the werehog world. Everyone ran to the door as the group jumped out one by one until Wolf was the last one to jump. Most of them lost their footing and fell down to the floor, panting heavily after running a long way. "You're back!" Master Hand said relieved.

"Mansion, sweet mansion!" Yoshi cheered as he hugged Mario and Luigi.

Toon Link jumped to Zelda's arms, hugging her tightly. "Please tell me they're gone. Oh Din, please!" he pleaded.

"U-um..." Zelda stammered in shock.

"COME OUT YOU INFERIOR MALE SCUM!" Wolf Zelda was heard roaring on the other side of the portal. "YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME BUT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE FROM THE SUPERIOR SEX! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU SAID TO MY DEAR ZESU!"

Popo looked mad, despite the fact most of them looked panicked. "You know what? That's it! This is the drop that spilled the glass! I thought this method was a little bit too much, but they deserve it all the same!" he said annoyed as he ran away down the stairs.

"W-where are you going?" Nana shouted.

A few seconds later, Popo came back up, dragging someone else by the hand until he stopped. "Guys, I've got the solution here," he said. "It's too risky, but it's time for them to know the meaning of REAL pain..."

"...And by that, you somehow got Rita, of all people out there, to come here?" Lucario asked.

The Genius Mage looked ticked off, taking back her hand from Popo. "What's the meaning of this?" she demanded. "I was just waltzing around the mansion until this guy dragged me all the way here! I was doing other stuff, you know!" Rita complained.

Master Hand looked back and forth between Rita and the door. "T-this is a very tight situation, but do you think you can help us?" he asked as nicely as possible.

Rita narrowed her eyes. "Why should I?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"There are these...monsters trying to kill us off from the other side of that door," the hand said. "And we SERIOUSLY need your powerful magic to turn them all to ashes..."

"I'm not doing it if there's not a catch," Rita said.

"All my guys with technological stuff will SURELY give you their stuff gladly," the hand chimed.

Rita smiled pleased at the offer. "Ooh, now you're talking my language. I like that," she said as she crossed the other side of the door. "So then, you want me to beat on some monsters? Pfft, great deal, I deal with bigger monsters all the time. This is gonna end in a cinch."

Yoshi closed his eyes and raised three fingers. "And a-three, and a-two, and a-one..." he muttered.

"Hey, who the hell are you?" asked Were-Falco on the other side of the door.

"Your BIGGEST nightmare your eyes have ever seen before!" Rita yelled.

"Oooh, yeah like I haven't heard a that line before" Were-Mario was heard sarcastically replying. "Look you a b(curse), get out of here-a. We have better things to do then play with some little a girl."

"Nice knowing them..." C. Falcon muttered, "...not."

"...Okay, you freaking furry bastard," Rita muttered. "I'm SO gonna make you hurt!"

"That's right, crush the male opposition!" Wolf Zelda was heard cheering.

"Shut up Zelda, we have more important things to deal with," Were-Fox commented. "Like taking care of this random girl and then taking out those other smashers. Okay everyone on the count of three we surround her and-"

"We already did that lameo plan" Were-Sonic was heard saying. "Think of something else to deal with this weirdo."

"You're getting on my nerves here already," Rita said. "Time for you to go bye-bye, monsters!"

Were-Falcon was heard gasping. "Hey why is she falcon glowing like that? Quick Fox, tell me what the scouter says about her power level-"

Any words were muted out after the Smashers heard a multitude of quick chants being yelled out.

"Blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-blah, blah, blah, Violent Pa-" Rita kept chanting in succession, the Smashers hearing cries of agony coming from the monsters that were being assaulted by arrows of pure darkness impaling their bodies without mercy.

Toon Link sighed as he put a hand close to his ear. "Don't you guys love when you hear cries of agony like that?" he asked.

"OWWWWWWWWWW, MY A MEATBALLLLLLLS!" Were-Mario was heard yelling out.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH!" Were-Zero Suit Samus screamed.

"OWWWWW OWWWW THIS IS WAY PAST NO GOODDDDDDDDDDD" Were-Sonic agonizingly let out.

"O resplendent mystery! Mystic Drive!" Rita yelled out, apparently casting a force field of light that greatly dealt severe light damage to all the werehogs. Suddenly, the Smashers heard that the Genius Mage had stopped her barrage of magic attacks. "Had enough yet, or do you wanna keep pissing me off?" Rita asked.

"Oh god, what is she doing?" Roy asked dismayed.

"Having her moment of awesome..." Sonic muttered.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh" the werehogs were heard moaning out, none of them sounding like they had the energy to do anything else.

"Oh my god it's really you!" Were-Lucario's voice was heard jumping in front of the other werehogs. "It's the Genius Mage of Awesomness, Rita Mordio!" He cheered out. "Man I love your appearances in Subspace Emissary Conquest. How you unfairly pummel Raven for thinking he's a creepy pervert stalker, how you make everyone quiver in fear at your ridiculously unfair god like can't be beat strength, how you get away with pretty much doing whatever you want unless you let someone talk you out of it. It's all so cool!"

"Ugh, forget it! I'm gonna bring you your deaths!" Rita yelled out.

"Lucario... shut... up... fanboy" Were-Falco was heard weakly mumbling.

"Pfft, why do you guys always have to be haters?" Were-Lucario asked. "Don't you know you're in the presence of-"

"BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! METEOR STOR-" Rita chanted even louder as the Smashers heard meteors crashing down upon the field on the other side of the portal, hearing even more cries of agony than before. They even saw how some dust was pushed out forcibly from the vortex.

"Right now as we speak, there is new place to call hell being made right across that door..." Snake muttered. "...Perfect," he remarked, hearing meteors breaking bones.

"Oh man this is awesomeeeee- owwww Were-Lucario cried out. "My aura is increasing, and I'm meeting a Genius Mage. This is the best day ever-"

"You're dead!" Rita yelled. "O power that lies at the root of all creation, o memory inscribed in ages past, hear my call and arise before me!" she chanted loudly. "ANCIENT CATASTROPHE!" she yelled out as a massive explosion of elements incinerated what was left of all the were-Smashers. The Smashers back at the mansion backed away from the door, feeling a strong wind flying out.

A little while of silence later, they saw a satisfied Rita walking out from the door, Wolf closing it behind her. Master Hand sighed and went over to her. "Really nice job," Master Hand said. "When we want somebody to inflict real torture, we can always call you."

"I like beating on bastards all the time," Rita said nodding. "Bastards are always in need for an ol' good beating anyway."

"Yes, and to show you our earnest gratitude, all the people who have technological stuff will show you their weaponry for you to tinkle with it as much as you like," he said, turning to the Smashers. "Alright, you show her to your rooms."

Some of them grumbled a few words as Rita crossed her arms and followed them from behind. "You know, this kind of sucks a lot when we are the only ones to pay for her services," Falco muttered.

"Fine by me," Rita chimed in.

"I hate you..." Falco muttered annoyed.

-End-

The clip ended. Though a lot the studio was cheering at this, Diana was shown crossing her arms annoyed. "Yeah that's why I didn't want to go with that ending" she said miffed. "I really hated the idea of a version of my smashers being killed by a ridiculously over powered character from some other series. I mean what's with that anyway?"

Just because they're fighters, it doesn't really have to mean that they are the best of the best, kupo," Chris said. "Ever heard of the saying 'there's always someone better than you', kupo? Well, it's a reason enough for them to aim to get stronger so there's development."

"Oh so you mean the smashers will at the very end of your story be ridiculously stronger than Rita and be able to beat her quite easily?" Diana asked.

"I'm not saying those who are not in their team are going to stay that way either, kupo," Chris said. "Why, they get even stronger...but why bring Rita all the time? She's a temporal character, not a permanent one..."

"She can't accept reality!" a Deku yelled. "It's reality that makes our heroes become better!"

DianaGohan laughed hard at this. "If we're accepting reality, then only me and Chris would still technically be here," she pointed out as the audience looked miffed at her. "But speaking of Rita endings, I came up with my own I wanted to use. I should warn you though, if you thought Chris's ending was wild, then you may not be prepared to handle this" Diana snapped her fingers and pointed in front of her. "Roll it" she commanded.

Scrapped Ending #2 - The Violent Genius Mage Has A Catastrophe

The Camera panned to the seven were smashers scanning the nearby area where the door to the Boss Floor was located. "Where are they?" Were-Falco asked.

"Don't worry, we'll find them and..." he then paused and narrowed his eyes, stopping his pursuit. "Oh great, it's THEM" he said annoyed as this world's version of Master Hand and Crazy Hand teleported in front of the smashers.

"Hey guys, wakkawakka the other Crazy Hand said, dancing around.

"Quiet you" the other Master Hand hit him looking at the smashers. "Uh guys weren't you suppose to be finding Wolf and detaining him?"

"You mean killing him?" Were-Falco asked.

"What? No!" The other Master hand pointed at the group. "No killing anyone. I don't care if he tried enslaving our entire group, killed off hundreds of bystanders and nearly took over the entire planet, we aren't having any smashers death. I mean what am I suppose to tell Nintendo if you guys kill off one of the Brawlers?"

"Say he was a asking for it for what he a did" Were-Mario pointed out. "But first off we need to take off the stupid kid and his a group of smashers."

Master Hand looked at him confused. "The what now?" he asked.

"The guy the fanboy loves came here along with a group of their world's smashers" Were-Fox explained. "And we have to hunt them down and end them."

"Uh, why?"

"Because those jerks had a damn Wolf who acted like an ass(curse)" Were-Falco retorted.

"Plus they said most disrespectful things and must be purged from the earth for being disgusting male slime" Wolf Zelda pointed out.

"... So you ran into a group of smashers from another world and want to kill them because they insulted you" the other Master Hand looked disgusted at them. "That is so beyond not cool."

"Yeah that's like ice hot, with three kids of iceeeeeeeee the other Crazy Hand agreed.

"Shut up you," the Master Hand said before pointing at the group. "Seriously you just can't just go around offing people who insult you, especially other smashers. What, did becoming werehogs made you all bloodthirsty against your own people, even when it isn't controlling your mind? That's just..." the other Master Hand heard some rustling in the bushes. "Hey, who's there?" he asked.

"Alright, this is how we're going to do things around here," Rita began as she appeared into view, "you guys lie down and die by my magic. It's gonna be that simple, and you won't have to make thing so complicated."

The other Master Hand looked at her confused. "Uh, who are you?" he asked her.

"Duh she's a stranger," the other Crazy Hand pointed out. "And you remember what Sonic said about strangers, right?" He floated over to Rita and poked her. "No!" He yelled before flying off. "And then you get out of there!" he yelled out.

"Shut up brother!" the other Master Hand yelled out. "We've got some actual problems with all the smashers acting super violent, characters from another dimension crossing over and this whole war to clean up" he pointed at him. "So focus on the real catastrophes and not just the one you made up"

"Catastrophe?" the other Crazy Hand thought for a second. "Hmmmmm..."

Rita rolled her eyes. "Talk about stupid," she muttered, looking blankly at them. "Well, since you already got on my nerves, I should just finish this of-"

Suddenly Crazy Hand snapped his fingers. Yellow energy glowed around Rita as the genius mage disappeared from site. In a puff of smoke, something appeared where she was standing. It was shown to be a young little red kitty, with giant yellow eyes looking around confused. She was wearing blue goggles on her head and was holding a small white scroll, which had some scribbled drawings on it. She giggled and turned to them.

"Let's play with cloth balls!" the little cat exclaimed happily.

The other Master Hand glared at the alternate Crazy Hand (or would if he had eyes) very annoyed. "What the hell did you do now?" he asked.

"I made a kitty" Crazy Hand grabbed the young little cat girl and started bouncing her around. "Her name is Rita Mewbito and she's the most adorable furry genius mage you've ever seen." He tickled the Rita anthro cat, who happily giggled out. "Who's a cute cat girl? You are, oh yes you are".

The other Master Hand groaned at that. "You and your obsession with kitties" he muttered out as he looked to see the little Rita cat was glowing. "Oh now what?" he asked as the glow expanded around the entire area. Master Hand looked around confused as he saw the other smashers being hit by the blast and screaming out. The smashers were shown shrinking down, as the dark wolf hair around their body was replaced soft, multicolored cat hair. "Oh you didn't."

"Oh I did" the other Crazy Hand proclaimed happily. "I made little Rita kitty be able to make the entire little cat girl play friends she could ever want". The two hands were surrounded by seven children anthro cat girls.

If he could, the other Master Hand would have slapped his forehead. "Crazy Hand, PLEASE tell me you can change them back"

The other Crazy Hand shook his glove. "Nope, only little Rii can," he looked at the little cat girl. "So you want to change them back Rii?" The little cat girl shook her head. "Rii says no."

The other Master Hand groaned angrily. "Look you aren't going to transform everyone around to little 5 year old cat girls!"

"Oh but they're so much cuter," the other Crazy Hand pointed at the little catgirls playing happily with one another. "Hey maybe we could get them to have a super exciting death race around the planet. We can brainwash people to be hosts and call in other world for more contestants and have the villain be some obscure guy no one's ever heard of-"

"NO!" The other Master Hand yelled out. "None of that. Transform them back right now, or else I'm taking the kitty."

"No way man," the other Crazy Hand said defensively. "Nothing is getting me to let go of this kitty-" The other Master Hand threw some string on the ground. "Yeah, random string!" he yelled out, quickly dropping the cat to play with the string.

The other Master Hand quickly grabbed her. "And now what am I going to do with you?" he asked as he was shown looking around the forest. He spotted something nearby. If he had a mouth, he would have smiled evilly at it.

"...She's not responding," Toon Link said. "Nothing seems to be happening at all..."

"Wow, can she kill people silently? She's one heck of a magic user..." Chris muttered.

The smashers waiting on the battle floor saw a small little red cat girl fall through the door looking over at them confused. "She's your problem now suckers!" the other Master Hand's voice was heard yelling out.

It was not long before the other Master Hand heard a multitude of cats meowing as if there was no tomorrow. He heard Master Hand yelling aloud "What the hell happened here? Okay, turn back! ...Turn back to normal, dammit!" he yelled, constantly snapping his fingers. "Ugh, whoever did this, I'm going to sue you!"

"Ha, you did that, alternate version of me," the other Master Hand cried out. "And furthermore I have a contract that won't allow any version of me to sue myself. Not after Jamaican Master Hand took me to court for five billion dollars..." The catgirls all started twirling and dancing around as Master Hand looked at this horrified. "Enjoy your cat problem... uh if I had a better line here I would say-" An explosion was shown as the doorway connecting the two worlds was quickly destroyed.

"Alright, time to embark on a journey of discovery for a cure to this mess of furballs!" Master Hand yelled. "Okay, you bunch of kitties. Let's all go to your room while I look for a cure!" he ordered as he kitties diligently followed him from behind.

-End-

Chris blinked a few times, looking at the silent crowd. "...Compared to your ending, mine looks a bit...more believable, no offense, kupo," he muttered.

"Hey, Crazy Hand would believably turn everyone into little cat girls and they would play together forever." DianaGohan commented. "Also that ending didn't cover when Master Hand realized there is no cure for my Crazy Hand's 'kiffiication' as soon pretty much everyone in the entire world, and the entire universe was turned into a little cat girl. Even Tabuu and the villains from subspace, who all had to be taken care of by Master Hand and Crazy Hand" She pointed at the screen. "That's the ending that should've been used by Chris said it would've totally destroyed the rest of his story, but hey it was worth it for cat girls right?" the audience looked at her bored. "Uh... someone must have liked it right?"

Her only reply was a few coughs coming from somebody in the audience.

"...You suck!" somebody muttered somewhere.

DianaGohan looked around embarrassed. "Uh well... I wrote that version for a friend of mine," she muttered out. "I would have just had Knuckles come in and kill Rita with his super guardian chaos powers and given that annoying twerp her just desserts."

"...I have really vague memories about it, but I DON'T accept comic stuff at all, kupo," Chris said annoyed.

"Oh but I love the Archie Sonic comics... well most of them," DianaGohan moaned out. "Besides no offense or anything but the Archie sonic comics have more to do with Smash Brothers than, say, Tales of Vesperia."

"Don't believe so, kupo," Chris said, looking back at the audience with a smile. "And that's all we have to show you for now!"

The audience suddenly started cheering loudly as if they were waiting for the channel section to end.

"Hey what's wrong with you guys?" DianaGohan asked. "I'm a cool authoress who should be shown respect."

"Like always, I'd like to say that this is going to be the LAST, no, FINAL time I do this kind of thing so we don't introduce weird plots than the ones we already have... Oh wait, we only got one..." he muttered. "And be careful of what you say, because the audience might say you don't show respect to their heroes...kupo... I-I'm just warning you..."

"I totally show respect for all my smashers and would only treat them with the utmost of dignity!" DianaGohan called out. "And if I'm wrong, may lightning..." Diana looked through the windows to see storm clouds had gathered around the building. "Uh... I think I'll just try leaving now." DianaGohan quickly sneaked out of the studio, and ran off as fast as she could.

Chris raised his arms. "And now, time for our sponsor's little add!" he said cheerfully. "Luigi, if you're still awake, say it!"

"This special section has been brought to you by the PETA..." Luigi trailed off. "Please stop violence to all animals, and that also includes anthros...or else they'll do nasty things to you..."

As Chris looked miffed at this, the curtains fell down while the crowd kept cheering. "Oh, finally..." he muttered. "It was about time that this whole werehog war deal was over... Well! Now's time to get back on track, kupo."

"Hey, hold on a second," the Pokémon Trainer's voice was heard on the other side of the curtain. "Is Barry around? I want to challenge him to a Pokémon Battle. He's the only trainer I know who's almost as cool as me."

"You mean almost as annoying as you are!" the other Ivysaur's voice called out.

"Yeah that," the Pokémon Trainer agreed. "I mean he would actually want to talk with me about what his favorite filler was from Johto Journeys. Mine was the one with the Sunflora contest because Sunflora... have sun in their names. Right?"

"You people get out of here, kupo," Chris said. "Your spotlight ended like ten lines ago. You may as well leave before I call security."

"Ohhhh, come on," the Pokémon Trainer whined. "Can I at least tell you about the time I heard these guys say Diglett sucked and wanted a Dugtrio? And nicknamed their friend Dugtrio to mess with him and-"

"TSUNAMI BUTTON, GO!" Chris yelled as he pressed a button, calling forth a big tsunami that washed the trio away from the stage.

"Surffssssssss' up!" the Pokémon trainer was heard yelling.

"I hate youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" the other Squirtle yelled out as the three were washed away.

"And yet again, this stage gets destroyed somehow..." Chris muttered. "...Oh well, the janitor will do his job. C'mere, kupo."

"At least be glad I get paid a lot for this," Yoshi muttered.

"Sure you do, kupo."

References:

- Popo yelling out "I WAS FROZEN TO-DAY" is a reference to Christopher Lloyd's character from Suburban Commando.

- Were-Wolf admitting that he uses his howling Wolf Fang attack too many times is a reference to Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, whose only attack seems to be his howling Wolf Fang.

-When Were-Toon Link was hit by Gnome and stumbling around incoherently, he was quoting various lines from the Tommy Wiseau film "The Room."

Out of Curiosity...:

-That's wasn't me who wrote those references. Those were DG's references instead. Really, would you really think I'd reference movies, TV shows, and animes? Think again, dudes.

After so many ordeals, this chapter was finally completed. GOD, this collab took a lot of my time, and I'm grateful to know it's all over with. Now I can finally continue with the actual plot without having to stay here any longer. Oh, by the way, this chapter is not going to be referenced ever again from now on, so, if any of you say something relating to this chapter in other chapters...prepare to get a scold from me. I don't wish to give DianaGohan so much attention so you guys don't think I give her a lot of attention. This is the ONLY time you get to see me doing a collab with somebody else, so DON'T ask me to do something with you.

And for the sake of recalling events, I'll remind all of you that the Smashers are having days off from fighting the Subspace Army. Yup, that's the only important thing you need to remember at all times.

I encourage all AU authors and readers to review...

DIANA: And if you don't read and review his story, at least do that with mine, because it's the best, best ever! *Laughs* "But seriously if you don't I'll chew you off and spit on you and spit you up and stomp on you-

You're not forcing them to do stuff they don't want to do...and you can't either hurt them... Are you done?

DIANA: No I'm not finished yet (thinks for a second) And slap. And push. And kick. And... push. And... kick. (Pause) Okay I'm done now, and yeah I'm joking about the insults. But I'm serious about the reviews for me and Chris's story guys. Authors need review to life, right?"

...Like I said before, it's up to them.

DIANA: Oh yeah of course... for now. (Everyone glares at her) I mean for...ever. Yeah that's what I meant to say.

...Whatever. Lights off!
*Chapter 165*: New Year's Resolution

I want to say hi to all my readers currently in front of this sentence.

As you may know, there have been some sudden slow updates. Well, firstly, there have been happening so many things in the making of the supposed chapter 164. Also, school has been attacking me very hard this time around, and I was barely able to write this chapter.

However, this doesn't mean the previous chapter will be forgotten. It's still on the works, but the author I'm working with has had really nasty issues over the past weeks. This doesn't mean I'll stop writing, though.

This message will be erased after the previous chapter is posted and after it gets reviews. By NO means will the previous chapter be ignored since it may stop the flow of the storyline when I announce it. It does not contain very important events related to the plot that will affect it in any way to the characters, so it's all good. I repeat: it DOES NOT have anything of importance to the actual plot.

Please, do NOT ask whatever happened to it in the review of this chapter. All reviews shall be answered in chapter 164. This chapter will only contain the reviews of said chapter, and not the previous one before it. Just review what happens here so you don't waste words about chapter 164.

News: My profile has been updated with some more order to Chris's job list. It now contains what attacks he has for each job.

News pt. 2: Chapter 12: Killer Bees Club has been re-edited. It now contains even more scenes that help to stay true to the title.

With the little announcements out of the way, I encourage people to read and review to express how much you liked the chapter (as well as giving criticism to anything, since it'll make me a better writer). ;)

Disclaimer: Expect many roars here. They're written in actual dialogue so they can be the actual speech of a key character…

Chapter 165: New Year's Resolution

-Smash Mansion-
Main Lobby

December 23 - Tuesday - Morning

In the lobby of the mansion, there was Pikachu putting a present under the rows of presents of the tree. He sighed a bit after doing what he wanted. "Just in time..." he muttered. "This is what happens when Lucario has to evolve. I have to get him a new gift because the previous one would look childish for his age...or how old he appears to be, anyway..."

At that moment, Chip appeared from behind the tree and looked at Pikachu. "Hey!" he greeted cheerfully. "How's it going?"

Pikachu looked at him. "Oh, hi, Chip," he greeted. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out doing some sightseeing."

"Yeah...I don't feel like doing it today," Chip admitted. "I feel like staying here all day for the time being."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Pretty much," Chip said before he looked at the presents. "...Hey, there's a gift for me here."

Pikachu looked to his right where a mauve gift (a bit bigger than Chip) had a tag with his name on it. "I guess somebody wanted to give you one. Actually, the tag reads it's from...Sonic."

Chip looked pleased at this. "Aww, I'm officially part of the gang of the house."

Pikachu looked bored. "Yeah, you are because you barged in here..."

"Anyhow," Chip began, "I haven't heard of Tails and the others yet..."

"You know...that's true," Pikachu said before crossing his arms. "It's been a long while after they last were here. To be honest, their search for the Temple Guardians hasn't come along very well..."

Chip rubbed his chin a bit. "I wonder why this is happening..."

"What, you have some kind of a wild guess?"

"No, but...it should have been over sooner," Chip said. "I mean, I know they all have to fly around the world and get to their destinations, and I know it takes days to go from here to there, but...I feel like something is awfully wrong..."

Pikachu raised a finger. "Chip, there's the biggest spawn of the demon waiting to sprout out from Sonic's world and devour us. OF COURSE there's something awfully wrong."

"I-I know..." Chip said. "...But...that's not it..."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just...well...it's about the Temple Guardians..."

"You mean the same guys of the cult who don't want to say, "Hey, look at me, I'm a Temple Guardian but I'm not telling you that even if you asked me many times" or someone else?"

"No, those guys," Chip said. "I have this weird feeling that...they're not safe."

"NOBODY's safe, Chip," Pikachu said. "Remember Mr. Dark Gaia? He would like to cause damnation and the like very soon to anyone but himself."

"N-no...it's just that..." Chip trailed off, "...I think that...they're in danger..."

"Everyone's in danger, Chip," Pikachu said. "You, me, that sofa over there, the mansion, and everything else are in danger. Be a little bit more specific."

Chip grabbed his head. "...The Temple Guardians...they're not safe right now..."

Pikachu looked miffed at him. "Okay...what else?"

"..." Chip looked down. "...I can't shake off this feeling...but...maybe I feel it because I'm Light Gaia...but...if I'm right...the Temple Guardians were all...um...well...you see...er..."

Pikachu watched as Chip floated around for a bit as if he had a sudden headache.

"..." Chip stopped flying and shook his head. "...I...can't tell..."

"...Look, Mr. Clairvoyance," Pikachu began, "you're probably just so worried about what is going to happen. You need to chill down and relax."

The imp sighed. "Well, I guess you're right... I shouldn't look down right now," he said. "I need to stay with high spirits as much as I can."

"Just stay away from eating too much sugar and you'll be...probably fine," Pikachu said.

Chip looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'll do that," he said. "Or my name isn't Chip Norris."

Pikachu tilted his head confused at him. "...Weren't you Indiana Chip yesterday?"

Chip shook his head. "Indiana Chip died in an incident. He got his hand bitten by a snake during an expedition to get the infamous Peridot Jewel. However, Chip Norris was born thereafter." He put his hands on his hips. "Besides, if Chip Norris gets wet, the water gets Chip Norris instead."

Pikachu rolled his eyes at this. "You and your constant name changes..."

Chip pointed at him. "You shall respect Chip Norris. You don't want to make him angry."

"Depends on how threatening Chip Norris is."

"I can do a lot of stuff," Chip said.

Pikachu frowned. "Look, just don't do something stupid and you won't be in danger or something."

"Chip Norris doesn't fear danger because danger fears Chip Norris."

Having enough of the imp, Pikachu turned around and walked away to the hallway of the first floor.

Chip crossed his arms proudly. "Time for me do to some little roundhouse kicks around the front yard," he said chuckling before he flew away outside.

-Real World-
Chris's Room

As the morning light shone into the room of the World Traveler, a sleepy Lucario grumbled a bit before he yawned aloud, opening his mouth fully to reveal his sharp fangs before closing it. The Aura Pokémon looked around a bit before looking down at his sleepy trainer close to him. He smiled a bit after seeing the happy expression on Chris's face. "(He seems so happy after I evolved back…)" Lucario thought.

Since Chris had told Lucario that he didn't like to oversleep, the Aura Pokémon decided to shake his trainer a bit to the sides.

"F-five more seconds…" Chris muttered, as he was asleep. "J-just let me get that damn high score… Oh my god, I got hit…"

Lucario blinked at this. "…Well…since you're not going to wake up that easily…that means I can do this instead."

"…" Chris was slowly pulled to Lucario where the Aura Pokémon began to lick slowly his cheek. "…H-heheh, heheheh, hahahaha, hahahahaha!" Chris began to laugh while Lucario looked happy. "P-please, stop, I beg you, Lucario! I-I'm awake now, please!"

Lucario stopped and looked at Chris. "Good morning, Chris."

Chris wiped some tears away. "G-good morning, Lucario… I-I knew I should've said something else for you to wake me up. You'd resort to other things…"

"I thought shaking you wasn't enough so I…did that instead."

The World Traveler smiled a bit. "Oh well, I like whatever way you want to wake me as long as it doesn't resort to some little violence."

Lucario shook his head. "I wouldn't do such a thing."

"I know that," Chris said before he yawned loudly. "Aaaaaaaah, I feel so excited today…"

"Why is that?"

"We haven't had any missions to other worlds for a long time," Chris said. "We've been resting all these days without having to do extreme fights of the sorts, and I'm glad I can socialize with others like this."

Lucario nodded. "I wonder how long this break will last, though…" he said. "The Subspace Army may be planning something in hands…"

Chris looked away. "I…think so," he said. "They wouldn't do this, but maybe there's something that it's making them not attack a world…"

Lucario sat up. "Let's not think about that. I don't want to talk about them right now."

"Right," Chris said. "Christmas is almost here. I can't wait to see what I'm going to get from my parents and the guys at the mansion. Are you excited or what?"

Lucario blushed. "W-well, I did see some people's gifts are directed to me…"

His trainer smiled a bit. "That's very good. Now you're going to be the only Lucario of the whole world to not be a lone wolf as many think you are."

"Do you think I'm a lone wolf?"

Chris shook his head. "You were one when we first got to the mansion, but ever since that, you've changed a lot, and I'm glad you did."

Lucario smiled a bit. "Thank you."

"Thank everyone else as well," Chris said before sitting up. "Let's take a bath and go to the mansion today. We finally set the Christmas tree in our house."

"And why didn't you want to set it up before?"

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I forgot about it because I was busy in the other world… At least you evolved in time to help me with the tree." He sighed depressed. "It would have been fun if you helped me when you were a Riolu."

"It's okay," Lucario said. "I like to be a Lucario more than being a Riolu. I don't want anything bad happen to you."

The World Traveler made a happy expression. "Thank you so much, Lucario."

"Guuuuuuooooorrrrrgghh…" Lucario growled happily.

-Smash Mansion-
Main Lobby

Back at the mansion, Lucario and Chris (in his Black Mage job, except without wearing the magic hat) reached the lobby where they found a skeptical Sonic staring at the double door, tapping his right foot on the floor in impatience. "Hmmmmm…" Sonic grunted and crossed his arms. "Just when are they gonna get here?"

"Um, Sonic?" Chris spoke from behind.

The hedgehog's ears perked up and he turned around to look at them. "Oh, it's you," Sonic said. "What's up?"

"I…could ask you the same thing," Chris said unsure. "You seemed like you were thinking about something…"

"Hey, it's rude to find out what a person is thinking," Sonic said.

"W-well…"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't hurt if I tell you, anyway," he said before crossing his arms. "If you're wondering what I'm wondering, it's about Tails and the others."

"What is it about them?" Lucario asked.

"Thing is, I think it's been enough time after they last were here," Sonic said. "I'm starting to wonder what's going on over their side."

Chris rubbed his chin. "Now that you mention it, I think it's been enough searching for the Temple Guardians…"

Lucario crossed his arms. "I thought it was enough as well."

Sonic grumbled a bit. "C'mon, they had to find them by now…" He stared at them. "Normally, we'd have things done very fast, but they're taking way too long...and it doesn't give me a good feeling, y'know."

Chris sighed. "That is something I can agree with you," he commented. "This doesn't make me feel just fine at all."

"See? I've made my point," Sonic said. "So then, if I'm right, there's gotta be something or someone doing something weird somewhere so this someone makes something bad and does something really bad to somebody like us, so this somebody has to do something very bad to stop us from doing something about the Temple Guardians."

The two looked at him with confused looks.

"...Hey, understand me!" Sonic said annoyed. "I'm trying my hardest to sound intelligent. T-that's not my strongest area, b-but still it didn't hurt trying!"

"I'm...just so confused..." Chris admitted in embarrassment. "T-to be honest, you didn't sound intelligent but confused at what you even told us..."

Sonic blinked a few times before he looked down. "Hmmmm, I screwed it up, didn't I?"

The World Traveler smiled nervously. "N-no, you didn't screw anything. Y-you're trying hard to come up with a logical explanation, so I guess it's a first for you to think like that."

"I dunno if I should be happy or sad..." Sonic frowned and looked up at them. "Well, doesn't matter now. I tried my hardest, right?"

"That...is right," Lucario said. "(I doubt he's going to try it again, though...)"

Sonic grinned. "Oh, then I was about to get into something important." He closed his eyes while growing his grin a bit wider. "Soon enough, I won't need Tails to think about everything we need to do."

The two sweat dropped at this. "...Don't you think that sounds a little bit...offensive to Tails?" Chris asked.

Sonic thought for a moment. "...Whoops, I think it was."

"It IS," Lucario corrected.

Sonic chuckled. "Oh well, that was a bit interesting to do, don't you think?"

The World Traveler put a hand on his forehead. "Sonic, I can't just tell if you were really trying to get to something now..."

"You're making everything look even weirder than before. Your looks make me think you're doing it just for fun," Lucario said.

Sonic sweat dropped. "U-um, maybe you're just jumping to conclusions too fast..."

"You are," Chris pointed out.

Sonic looked bored. "Alrighty, then..." He folded his arms behind his head. "So, what are you gonna do today? I was going to head down to the Mazuri Temple in a bit, but...you know what I was doing, so..."

Chris thought for a moment. "What we were going to do?"

Lucario looked up. "Haven't you gotten the presents for the people you want to give gifts, Chris?"

His trainer looked at him. "O-oh, yes, I need to get some presents... Where do I get those? I need to think what would be nice to give..."

Lucario looked at him. "Do you have a present for me?"

Chris looked away. "U-um, yes, I have yours ready..."

Lucario looked down. "Oh, I see... I should see where I can you a nice gift you like..." He thought for a moment. "(Just what can I give Chris? I don't think I can find something I can buy for him. Now that I can go anywhere, maybe I can find the right gift... Hmm... Maybe I can... Actually...) Do you mind if I leave? I need to go somewhere else to get you a gift."

"Where?"

"I...can't tell you, sorry... It's going to be a surprise for you," Lucario said. "Please, let me go for a little while."

Chris looked a bit unsure. "Okay...I'll let you go..."

Lucario nodded. "Thank you. You won't regret this, Chris."

Chris watched as Lucario turned around and walked up to the stairs where he walked away from sight. The World Traveler kept staring at the same direction before he turned around and found Sonic looking amused and deviously at him. "S-Sonic, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Don't lie to me, Chris," Sonic said deviously with a grin. "You don't even have a gift for him, do ya?"

Chris blushed. "Y-you little... I-I admit I don't have one, b-but I didn't want to hurt him, that's all there is to it!"

Sonic crossed his arms. "Oh, you're planning to get one for him soon, then?"

"O-of course I'm going to!" Chris said. "I still have 2 days before the date comes. It's enough for me to look for a gift for Lucario!"

Sonic lifted his shoulders and closed his eyes. "Good luck, dude. You're gonna need luck to get a gift for him. I hope you don't end up giving him some clothes because that's the lowest stuff you can get to someone."

Chris looked annoyed. "I-I gave him a scarf last Christmas..."

Sonic opened a bit his amused eyes. "Told ya."

"B-but this year is going to be different," Chris said. "I'm going to look around for the best gift there is for him!"

"How are you going to do that?" Sonic asked. "You know a place?"

Chris thought hard. "U-umm...I-I don't know...b-but that won't stop me, either..."

"Weak idea."

"Y-you stop discouraging me!" Chris yelled. "Y-you'll see the gift very soon. In fact, I'm going out to see where I can get a nice one right now!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "It's not like you'll find it doing something like those jobs you've been taking at that post office."

Idea.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-
Wings Post Office

As the last time, Quill was in charge of taking care of the office while Quill and Postman were doing their errands around the village. The Rito crossed his arms and looked at the group (which was Sonic, Chip, Chris, Pichu, Ike, and Diddy). "Have you decided which request you want to take?" Quill asked.

Chris stared at the billboard. "Well...how about if we take Gnome's job? I think it sounds a bit more intriguing."

"I guess," Ike said. "I don't think the others sound good enough to me. The other 2 involve looking around for lost people while this one has specific places."

"Chip Norris says it's a good idea," Chip said.

Chris stared at Chip before he shrugged and turned back to Quill. "W-we're accepting Gnome's request."

Quill nodded and gave the group the wing stamp. "Here you go. You need to present yourselves to the requester at the eastern mountain range, deep inside the cliffs... What an unlikely place to meet up, don't you think?"

"It is..." Pichu muttered before shrugging.

"...Oh, that's right," Quill said. "By the way, I have some important news to tell all of you."

"What is that news?" Diddy asked.

"Well, it's about some strange events that happen during the night," Quill said. "I haven't seen nor heard much, but there are some reports that there are some roaming creatures that appear during the night when there's no one outside."

"What?" Ike asked. "Roaming creatures that appear during the night?"

Quill nodded. "It's just a thought, but I think these creatures are the same ones I've been hearing about from Parakarry... However, I just don't know. The rumors are just a few, but there are some people who claim they've seen them."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Nocturnal monsters..."

Chris frowned. "N-no, you don't mean those dreadful monsters called Nightmares..."

Quill blinked. "You know those creatures?"

"I-I do, but...I didn't know they could roam freely anywhere..."

"They don't do it here," Quill said. "The people who said this added that the monsters only appear only if a wide area doesn't have people. Unfortunately, these people were only a few, so it's a bit hard to believe that this is true or not."

Ike crossed his arms. "It might be true, but it's not certain yet."

"I'll tell you more if I can get more information about it," Quill said. "Right now, do whatever you want to do. Besides, Christmas is going to come soon. It's the time of the year where you need to be cheerful and get gifts."

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I hope Gnome has some kind of a nice prize for us..."

Quill nodded. "Go meet him."

-Eastern Mountain Range-
Gnome's Altar

"So I take from you that you didn't bring that dog here to push me off again, right?"

"F-for the last time, Lucario is NOT here!" Chris yelled at Gnome.

The group had walked all the way to Gnome's domain. And as the last time, the Summon Spirit of Earth was found wearing sunglasses. The big mole was sitting down on the pedestal as he looked at the group in front of him.

"Goodness..." muttered Ike. "He looks...fluffy, as they say?"

"Hmm," Gnome mumbled a bit. "Well, what brings you here, anyway? I was relaxing very nicely without people pushing me off down the abysses."

Chris grunted. "I-it was just one time, and you're starting to think we're going to do such a thing to you again!" he argued. "Besides, none of us can push you down! You're so big and heavy!"

"Who knows," Gnome said. "You guys could be the same as the dog guy."

"Ugh, you're just unbelievable..." Chris muttered. "A-anyway, here," he said as he showed Gnome the wing stamp.

Gnome stared at the small stamp. "Oh! You took my request? Aww, man, I didn't want the dog's team to be the ones t-"

"Drop the whole thing already!" Chris yelled annoyed. "None of us is going to push you off the cliff!"

"Really?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Really..."

"...Oh, why didn't you say so?" Gnome asked. "For a second there, I thought you were going to."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "ANYWAY...what's your request?"

Gnome rubbed his chin. "Well, you see, there's one bad neighbor close to my place, and I can't seem to stop him or her from doing something so annoying..." He grumbled a bit. "It's been some time after he or she last arrived here, and he or she does a lot of stuff up there that can't make me feel at home at all! I'm so sick of it!" he complained.

"...One bad neighbor?" Pichu said confused.

"At least I think it's a neighbor 'cuz he or she hasn't left yet," Gnome said. "...Really, need some help here with the neighbor! You guys are brave enough to do it, right? Please, say so!"

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Chip asked.

Suddenly, they all covered their ears after a menacing, long roar echoed within the cliffs that reached all the way into the caves. The roar was strong enough to cause several huge rocks from fall down into the abysses of the caves. After five seconds, the roar calmed down, and the group saw that Gnome cowered in fear with his hands on his head.

Gnome looked up at them. "W-well, that's the something I was tellin' you guys about," he explained. "T-that something is always that roar that makes my fur point out to all directions!"

"T-that was certainly some roar..." Pichu muttered in fear.

Gnome cried toon tears. "I know," he said. "Those roars are keeping me from meeting this bad neighbor because I think that I could get chewed to death if I said stop..."

"Haven't you thought that it could be just a possibility?" Ike asked.

"...I did that 50 times," Gnome said. "I even have the count in mind."

Chris frowned. "Okay, it looks like you'll never see the person behind these roars unless we go, right?"

"That's the plan," Gnome said. "You guys need to reach the guy and tell him or her to stop roaring. I have had NASTY insomnia problems the last days 'cuz of those roars, y'know! My vacation spot is gettin' torn down to pieces as well!"

Diddy looked up. "Strange...that roar did seem familiar to me for some reason..." he muttered.

"A-anyhow, can you go up this mountain?" Gnome asked. "You can reach the top if you go through back here," he said.

The Smashers saw Gnome pointing to his right where a small entrance rested on the wall. It was dark, but there was some light shining through some small cracks that made it possible to enlighten some stairs that went up.

"I'm pretty sure the monster's up here," Gnome said. "See if you can knock some sense to the guy, will ya?"

Pichu gulped. "I-is this going to be a nice thing to do?"

"Duh! You'll make the guy leave! Your task is to tell him or her to stop roaring. If he or she doesn't want to, then use force! He or she deserves some punches for getting into my domain without my permission!" Gnome said with hands on hips. "Ya're gonna be the voice of reason!"

Ike looked at the small entrance. "Let's see if we can do that first..." he muttered. "Let's go."

The group nodded before they all walked to the right around the pedestal before entering the small entrance, one by one. Once they all were gone, Gnome nodded to himself and fell on his back to lie down. "Aww, man, I'm exhausted..." he muttered. "...I hope none of the Summon Spirits gets a word about this... Celsius gets so angry if I slack off even a bit..."

Peaks

After walking around the mountain's inner stairs, the group emerged from a hole on the top of the mountain. Once they all came out, they found out that the top of the mountain had a long ground floor, long enough to set up a camp. They all looked around the highest elevation to overlook the different chains of mountain around it.

Chris looked worried once he saw that there were huge piles of rocks between some of the mountains. He thought that they could have been taken down by Lucario's blind state of rage.

The World Traveler shook his head and looked around. "So...Gnome said the monster was around here..."

"I don't see any monster," Sonic said before yawning a bit. "If there's no monster, I'm getting outta here."

"Patience," Ike muttered as he looked around. "That monster should be around here. We need to be patient here, Sonic."

"Um, sorry, but the hedgehog doesn't know the word patience," Sonic said with a grin. "In fact, if he doesn't know the word, he'll be pretty damn fine."

"Sonic, can you please lower down that ego of yours?" Chris asked bored. "I'm starting to think you're not going to change your ways."

"I-I was just saying...I swear..." Sonic muttered embarrassed.

Chip flew around the place. "Hey, Mr. Roaring Monster, come on out! We have some stuff to tell you!" he announced. "There's this guy down here who wants you away from his vacation home. Can you listen to us for a few minutes, pretty please?"

Diddy looked at Chip. "I think that's going to make the monster irritated..."

"Oh well," Chip said. "That guy's gonna show up faster, then."

Pichu gulped. "I-I don't want to look or even meet the monster in person. I-I want to finish this without having to fight!"

"Unfortunately, judging by the silent atmosphere around here, I can easily tell we're going to end up fighting..." Ike commented, his right hand resting on Ragnell's hilt. "I suggest we should be prepared for the worst."

"Ike, tell your fight sense to turn itself off," Chris said frightened. "I-I didn't like how it sounded just now..."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!"

The group gasped at the sudden roar that came out of nowhere. They all looked around the mountain range to see where it came from, but it was hard to tell the exact location of the loud shout.

"W-where did that come from?" Pichu asked.

"It's hard to tell..." Ike muttered. "I didn't listen to it long enough to see where it came from."

"W-well, it could've appeared from around the mountains, right?" Chris asked.

Sonic looked serious as he looked around. "I didn't like how it sounded either. Better be prepared to do some fighting because that monster's gonna show its face around in a few seconds."

Diddy looked worried, his legs shaking crazily at the sides. "W-why am I thinking that roar was so familiar? I-it's making me feel so heavy a-and stuff..."

Chris looked at Diddy. "What do you mean by that?"

Diddy gulped. "I-if my assumptions are right... I-I think I-I already saw that monster before..."

"...Diddy, please tell me it was a big gerbil..."

"Y-you mean Gnome?"

"N-no, the other huge gerbils you and DK fought before..."

"T-those gerbils DIDN'T roar like that!" Diddy said. "I-in fact, the only scary roar I can think of, after hearing that same roar, is probably about that big snake thing..."

"Big snake thing?" Ike said confused. "What kind of...big snake thing are you talking about exactly?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!"

Chip gasped and looked up to the sky. "U-up there, in the sky, there it is!"

The group quickly looked up to the sky where they saw a spiraling figure going down to their area. They all gasped and quickly back stepped away to leave space for the figure to land. From what they could tell from their perspective, the figure itself was a large, green, flying snake-like creature with rudder-like wings. Some yellow rings were running across the creature's body, and it had an additional yellow ring on top of its head. The figure also had two limbs with three-clawed carpals, and two long, flat, horn-like structures on its head, with two smaller horns below them. Its eyes were dark, but its pupils were yellow.

"..." Chris's eyes widened. "W-what the hell is Rayquaza doing here?"

The name of the monster was thus given away. It was the Sky High Pokémon, Rayquaza. The big Dragon/Flying Pokémon descended from the sky and, instead of doing an attack, landed gracefully in front of all them in its usual stance, locking its yellow eyes on all of them. "ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" it roared furiously.

"R-Rayquaza is the neighbor Gnome was talking about?" Pichu asked frightened.

Sonic smirked and smacked his fists together. "Alright, I thought the monster looked lame, but this one isn't lame at al-"

"W-wait a minute!" Chris interrupted Sonic. "I-instead of fighting, w-why don't we try to talk with Rayquaza instead?"

Ike glared up at the wary Pokémon. "I don't think words will suffice its anger."

"I-it's angry?"

"Well...I don't know. It has that glare on us..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared loudly, creating a long piercing sound that echoed all over the mountain range.

Chip covered his ears. "C-Chip Norris doesn't like dragons because dragons kill themselves when they know they can't beat Chip Norris!"

"Chip, shut up for a sec..." Sonic muttered.

The World Traveler, hands on ears, looked up at Rayquaza. "P-please, there's no need to fight o-or eat anybody here!" he yelled. "W-we didn't come here to bother you, we swear it!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Chris twitched a bit. "W-we're serious about it! We don't want to bother you!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRR!"

Ike looked confused. "I don't understand this... That monster seems to be angry at something..."

Sonic looked at Ike. "What, we came here uninvited to its home or something?"

"That would be one reason...but I think there's something else; a main factor of the sorts..." Ike said. "But what could it be?"

Pichu gulped. "I-I hope it's not hunger to eat us!" He looked at Diddy. "D-Diddy, why haven't you said som-"

Once Pichu turned to see Diddy, the spider monkey's legs were shaking, and he had a very frightened look since his eyes were staring in fear and shock combined at Rayquaza, who in turn glared down menacingly at Diddy. Pichu blinked confused at this before he looked back and forth between the Kong and the Sky High Pokémon.

"U-um, Diddy...what is wrong with you?" Pichu asked.

Diddy only responded with a gulp.

Chris noticed this odd behavior from his spot. "(Wait a minute... If I recall, the Subspace Emissary had Diddy being attacked by Rayquaza... He looks like he's the most frightened person out of all of us... Well, Pichu could be more scared, but still... Yes, it makes sense...)" he thought. "Diddy...do you and Rayquaza have something to say?"

Diddy shook his head and looked at Chris. "U-um, k-kind of..."

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!" Rayquaza roared in disagreement.

Sonic cleaned his right ear with his finger. "Man, somebody gotta shut its mouth or else my ears will bleed."

Ike crossed his arms. "So Diddy and Rayquaza have something to say? What is that?"

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I-I'm afraid we can't understand what you're saying..." Chris said. "We're not Pokémon like you... If we were, then we could be able to unders-" He shook his head and looked at the frightened Pichu. "T-that's it! Pichu, you're a Pokémon!"

Pichu looked at him. "S-so?"

"So speak to Rayquaza!" Chris suggested. "You can probably tell what it's trying to say to us, can't you?"

Pichu looked down. "W-well, I can understand Rayquaza very well..." He gulped a bit at the thought. "O-okay...I-I'll talk to Rayquaza..."

Diddy gulped. "I-if you can do that, can you tell him to stop looking at me with those eyes? I-I have some phobia to those kinds of eyes…"

"I-I'll try..." Pichu muttered before he took some steps forward to get the attention of the Legendary Pokémon. "H-hi, Rayquaza...sir... H-how are you doing today?"

Chip nodded. "Oh yeah, we must be formal to the snake-thing."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

Pichu shook in fear and looked at Chip. "H-he just said he wanted you to shut up..."

"...Oh, I see," Chip said. "Sorry, snake-thing."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "H-he said he doesn't want to listen to you any longer..."

"Oh well," Chip said.

Pichu looked up at Rayquaza. "W-what should I ask him now?"

Ike thought for a moment. "Ask why he's angry."

"Oh, and tell us word by word," Chip suggested.

"O-okay..." Pichu nodded and looked up at Rayquaza. "U-um, why are you so angry?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu rubbed a bit his chin. "My rage is very upset because of an intruder who got into my domain of the skies some time ago. I have been looking for this imbecile who dared enter my skies while I was making sure the peace around them was right," he translated.

"An intruder entered into his domain of the skies?" Sonic said.

"I-I don't know what he means by that…" Pichu said unsure. "M-maybe I'll ask him more… U-um, Rayquaza, who is the intruder who got into your domain?" he asked.

"ROOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared at the frightened Diddy.

"This very same person was the one who wandered in my skies," Pichu translated. "…Diddy is the intruder?"

Diddy shook his head in fear. "I-It wasn't me, I swear! I-I don't know what you're talking about at all!" he said scared.

"ROOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared again.

"Liar, I saw your presence with my very own eyes," Pichu translated. "I do not forget a face when I see it. You have no rights to wander into my domain and cause chaos."

Diddy shook his head. "I-I wasn't even in the sky. I-I was on the ground this whole time!"

"ROOOOOOOOOAARR!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

"How can you prove what you have not done?" Pichu translated. "You have caused chaos in my skies. I can tell that it was you who did all the commotion."

Diddy gulped. "B-but it wasn't me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You still claim that you are not the culprit?" Pichu translated. "You are but a big fool. I am having enough of your useless claims that will not prove that you were not the intruder."

Chris was a bit frightened at the whole situation. He thought that Diddy was going to be Rayquaza's meal if they didn't do something to stop him. "W-wait, Rayquaza, please, listen to us!"

Rayquaza turned its head to him.

The World Traveler gulped. "A-are you really sure Diddy was the one who caused chaos in the sky where you were?"

"ROOOOOARR! ROOAAAARR!" Rayquaza roared.

"It seems you are an acquaintance of this imbecile," Pichu translated. "However, you do not have proof that he was not the intruder. I saw this intruder getting into my domain. He has no right to do such a thing, for I am the lord of the skies who has the task to calm down the weather abnormalities that Groudon and Kyogre cause," he translated more. "I do not like it when chaos is created in the skies. Therefore, I have a mission to accomplish: punish those infidels who dare discrupt the peace where I am."

Sonic blinked. "Did he really say all that just with 2 roars?"

"ROOOOOAARR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are but an ignorant," Pichu translated.

Sonic grumbled at this that he crossed his arms.

Diddy gulped. "C-can you tell him I didn't do any of that?"

Pichu nodded. "R-Rayquaza, Diddy wasn't the one wh-"

"ROOOOOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared angrily.

Diddy looked very frightened. "I-I didn't like how that roar sounded just now... W-what did he say?"

Pichu gulped. "I have had enough already. All I have heard from the animal is that he was not the one to cause the chaos in the skies. I am getting very sick of his worthless claims. Unless he has something valid to say, I will punish him for his deeds today."

Diddy thought for a moment. "W-well, it's hard to say how I can prove my innocence..."

Ike stared at Rayquaza. "Maybe...there was someone who was the real culprit behind the chaos in the skies..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu's ears twitched a bit. "W-what did you say?"

"ROOOOOOOAAARR!"

Pichu looked confused before looking at the others. "H-he just said this..." he trailed off. "I remember the event very well. It was the day where the land was being overrun by malevolent creatures who decided to take everything for them through the strange method of using hazardous technology that took great masses of land to nothingness itself. Not only was it attacking the land, but it was also attacking the skies with an enormous metal monstrosity."

"Enormous metal monstrosity..." Chris trailed off. "...You don't mean...the Halberd?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu twitched a bit. "I do not know the name of the metal monstrosity, but it was one of the many intruders who dared start the chaos in the skies," he translated. "However, there was more than the metal monster."

"There...was more?" Diddy asked.

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" the Sky High Pokémon roared.

Pichu looked confused, but he later shook his head to regain his composure. "Among the metal monstrosity, there was this unknown vessel of metal. It was swift, but it got taken down after fighting the metal monster you call the Halberd."

Chris thought. "An unknown vessel that was taken down by the Halberd..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I still remember the vessel's appearance. It was rather small, but it boasted speed and aerial prowess much better than the Halberd did. However, what it lacked was power; something that brought it to its demise...apparently," Pichu translated. "That cursed vessel caused a big riot, and it plummeted down to the ground where it crashed, close to where I was watching the event unfold. After it crashed into the lake's shore, I came out and found this imbecile before me."

Diddy gulped. "T-that wasn't me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared furiously.

"You were close to it. I did not see anybody else besides you," Pichu translated. "I watched carefully from the lake's water. There was chaos across the land, and it involved the very same skies I was guarding. I did not want to go after the metal monster because there was an ominous energy radiating from it that it made me feel unsure. However, the small vessel did not have that, and it was one of the intruders."

"ROOOOARRR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAAAAARRR!"

"It was because of you that this whole war in the skies broke out," Pichu translated. "What is making you think that you were not the one behind the attacks in the skies? You are only trying to fool me so you can be excused from the matter."

Diddy shook his head. "I-I wasn't the one who flew that vessel!"

Chris suddenly got the answer to the whole argument. "W-wait a minute, Diddy wasn't really the one behind that!"

Rayquaza looked at Chris and grunted loudly. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!"

"Why are you trying to fool me?" Pichu translated. "Do you have proof?"

Chris nodded. "O-of course I do!"

"ROOOOOOOAR!" the Sky High Pokémon roared.

"Then, please do show me the proof you are trying to make up," Pichu translated before gulping. "S-so, who was the one, then?"

Chris thought for a moment. "There's only one cocky idiot who did the hugest racket in the skies while the Halberd was doing its task to spread the Subspace Bombs...and there's only 2 people who know how to handle those vessels. However, since Rayquaza claims that this vessel crashed close to the lake where it was watching... Then...the culprit behind all that wasn't Diddy, but..."

The World Traveler gulped at the menacing glare of the Dragon/Flying type Pokémon.

"D-don't you remember that there was someone else with Diddy?"

"DK?" Diddy said.

"N-no, there was another person after DK who partnered with Diddy!" Chris said before pointing at Rayquaza. "Did that person look rather shady?"

Rayquaza remained silent for a moment. "...ROOOOOOOOARR!"

Pichu blinked surprised. "Now that you mention it, there was this cocky-looking character that interrupted me from finishing off the imbecile... That very same fool attacked me as well."

Chris looked unsure. "Then...that person was the real one who fought the Halberd..."

"ROAAARR!" Rayquaza roared.

"He was an accomplice of the imbecile. I did not think he was important because I did not see where he came from. Are you claiming that this character was the one who caused the riot in the skies and not your friend?" Pichu translated.

Chris nodded. "Yes... In fact, I can bring him here to confess."

"You can?" Sonic asked. "Who's the guy?"

Chris walked to Sonic and whispered something in his right ear.

The hedgehog grinned at Chris. "Oh, you want me to bring him here?"

Chris nodded. "Can you do it quickly?"

Sonic chuckled and frowned. "Chris, haven't you learned yet? I'm the world's fastest hedgeh-"

"Just go back to the mansion and bring him here quickly!" Chris interrupted.

Sonic looked bored and annoyed at him. "Fine, party pooper..." he muttered before he disappeared in a blue flash into the hole of the mountain.

As Rayquaza stared angrily at them, the Smashers turned to the west where they saw Sonic's blue bur running into the eastern forest where he crossed it quickly and reached the mansion's doors. Once Sonic made his way inside, some three seconds passed before he came out from the mansion and ran all the way back into the eastern range of mountains. As soon as he entered the mountain range, Sonic appeared right in front of them, carrying someone above him, struggling to get off from Sonic's hands.

"L-let me go!" Fox complained to Sonic. "What the hell is wrong with you today? I said let me go now!"

Sonic looked shocked. "Person...too...heavy...oof..." he muttered before he fell on his back, Fox landing on his stomach.

Fox looked over his right shoulder at Sonic. "You better have a good damn explanation to wake me up while I was resting in my room because if you don't have one, I'm going to make you regret i-"

"ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!"

Fox's ears perked up at the loud roar before he looked forward and up to the Sky High Pokémon. "W-what the... It's you again!" Fox yelled with a glare.

Ike looked at Fox. "Oh, right... Fox was the one who caused the whole aerial battle..."

Fox looked confused before he looked at Ike. "What aerial battle?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!"

Fox grunted and stared back at Rayquaza. "What, you want to get more revenge on me or what?" he asked aggravated.

"ROOOOOARRR!"

"I don't speak your stupid language of roars!"

Pichu walked to Fox. "I-I'm going to translate to you what he's saying," he said before clearing his throat. "So you claim to be the one who fought the Halberd in my domain?"

Fox looked back at Rayquaza. "What domain are you talking about?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are such a big ignorant. Have you forgotten the fact that you became an intruder when you fought that metal monster in the skies where I was?"

"An intruder in the skies?" Fox asked confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Chris looked scared. "W-well, Rayquaza is the lord of the skies, Fox... You happened to invade his domain, the skies, when you were fighting the Halberd during the war against the Subspace Army..."

Fox thought for a moment. "I...did what?" he muttered before glaring up at Rayquaza. "Hey, what makes you think you own the WHOLE sky? So what if I invaded your precious domain? I was doing it for a good reason, you know!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu gulped. "That does not change the fact that these people claim that you created the biggest riot. They even said you were in charge of the aerial battle against the battle. In a few words, you were the one who did the first shot that triggered the aerial war in my skies."

Fox glared at the others, who in turn looked away nervously (with Chip whistling innocently). "Thank you so much, you guys..." Fox muttered through gritted fangs.

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You are the one, then?" Pichu translated.

Fox pushed himself off from an asphyxiated Sonic (Sonic: My...spleen...) and stood up with crossed arms. "Okay, I admit I did the assault on the Halberd because I was the only one who had the resources to do so, but what of it? I was doing it for a good cause."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"Why did you not choose another method? Thanks to you, the aerial war triggered, and you made me upset about the welfare of the skies."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I'm not a freaking pacifist who uses words to calm down issues, and neither are you."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!"

Chris looked unsure. "U-um, Fox, Rayquaza...is a pacifist; a mediator of the sorts..."

Fox sighed and looked at Chris. "You're trying to say this monster is a pacifist?"

Pichu coughed a bit to get Fox's attention. "I-I'll tell you what Rayquaza said," he said. "Fool, I am the only one who can calm down the wrath of Kyogre and Groudon. I do not use my power to cause destruction upon their domains because I do not want the skies to be involved, but I rather use my presence itself, which is enough for me for to nullify their weather catastrophes."

"...So you claim you have the power to make weather normal?"

"Rayquaza knows Air Lock," Chris explained. "Rayquaza is the only Pokémon who knows that ability. The ability makes all weather changes null if Rayquaza is nearby, thus is why he...it...um...Rayquaza can calm down both Kyogre and Groudon."

Fox frowned and looked up at Rayquaza. "What do you want from me, then? You're so angry at nothing?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You deserve to be punished instead of the false imbecile (Diddy: Phew...)," Pichu translated. "You are the one who made the whole issue worse. You shall not escape the punishment you rightfully deserve from me."

Fox looked nastily at Rayquaza. "Bull-crap," he muttered. "One, you're not the damn lord of the skies. Two, you can't say who can go into your domain and who can't. Three, you're the one who's being unfair. And four, you're the one who should be punished because you're claiming I was the culprit when the Subspace Army was the REAL culprit here."

There was a dead silence around the mountains after Fox told his mind to Rayquaza. None said anything at all, but they all stared at Fox with some disbelief.

Feeling odd at the event, the vulpine looked at his group. "What's the matter now? Why's everyone so silent?"

Pichu looked frightened. "P-please, tell me you just did NOT talk back at Rayquaza with those words..."

Fox looked angrily at Pichu. "What the hell? I did so, so what?"

Rayquaza began fuming at the sight of the fox. The Sky High Pokémon narrowed its eyes at the vulpine.

"F-Fox...did you ever fight Rayquaza?"

Fox shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Chris looked confused. "You didn't fight Rayquaza with Diddy? I-I thought you two fought it and won..."

"What makes you think that?" Fox asked annoyed. "None of us never took this idiot down."

The World Traveler looked at Diddy. "Diddy, you and Fox never fought Rayquaza?"

Diddy looked confused. "We did? Er, no, we didn't... Last time I remember, that's not how things went..."

Fox looked shocked before glaring at Diddy. "W-wait a minute, don't say i-"

"Right after Fox reflected back Rayquaza's shot, Fox told me to help him out...but when he was looking at me, Rayquaza came out from the shore, swallowed Fox, and went back into the water again."

The Smashers looked blankly at the annoyed vulpine.

"When that happened, I...was wondering if I could go into the water and rescue Fox...but...I was in a hurry to look for help to rescue DK so we could all meet up at some point..." Diddy admitted in embarrassment. "T-then I just ran off..."

Fox slapped his forehead. "Why did you have to go and say it?"

Diddy chuckled nervously. "I-I just wanted them to know..."

Sonic chuckled. "S-so this guy swallowed you as a whole?"

"So what?" Fox asked annoyed. "I was swallowed, but I DID come back out."

Diddy rubbed his chin. "When I was running to the swamp, I met up with Toon Link...I mean, Link on a shore where he was using a small boat to go around the water. I told him what happened, and we both went to the swamp. Bowser attacked us on the way there, and I was so angry at him, but Link grabbed me by the hand and dragged me away into the forest before we could get turned into trophies."

Rayquaza kept listening to the spider monkey.

"A-and after much running, while I was talking with Link, I was shot by those big guns and turned into a trophy. Link told me that Bowser came out again, and he tried to finish him before Falco appeared and destroyed the gun by himself."

Chris thought for a moment. "But then whatever happened to Fox?"

"W-well..." Diddy looked at the annoyed Fox. "Right after Falco destroyed the gun, Rayquaza appeared from the deep waters of the cliffs. As usual, he roared at us, but then he spat Fox out...on Falco before Rayquaza went back into the water..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu looked at Rayquaza. "I still remember that event very well. After I gave halted the animal, I kept watching the events from the waters to see what was happening. In truth, I was chasing after the false imbecile (Diddy: It's Diddy!), but when I investigated the war again, there was no hope for me to intervene. I did not completely digested the animal because he struggled to keep himself alive. I grew upset with this, and I appeared before them to give them back their ally."

Fox grunted. "And I was covered by your smelly saliva everywhere... Bleh..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"After I gave their imbecile back, I retreated into the water to make sure I was safe from the war. I knew I could stop it, but the ominous air that those dark spheres emanated made me feel unsure of what to do..." Pichu translated. "An immense concentration was radiating from every single sphere of darkness. Its energy was malevolent and very dangerous to stop. As the lord of the skies, I know what I did… However, it seemed that the war had taken over beyond the skies I guarded."

Ike looked surprised. "You know what happened after?"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARR!" Rayquaza roared.

"Of course I do," Pichu translated. "I watched how the hugest of the spheres of darkness slowly disappeared over the ocean…" Pichu shook his head. "W-wait, w-what did you see?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!"

"It is not important to address that meaningless event now," Pichu translated. "I care about to teach the intruders of the skies to not invade my domain ever again. Thanks to them, you endangered many living species. You shall not escape punishment now."

Fox looked pissed at this. "Wait a minute ther-"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You shall not excuse the inexcusable," Pichu translated. "Those who go unpunished will then repeat the same event very soon in my skies. I will not allow such a thing happen ever again. And for that, you are all to be punished…" Pichu looked shocked. "A-all of us?"

The Smashers gasped at this statement that some of them took a step back. "W-wait, what did he say?" Diddy asked. "A-all of us has to be punished for this?

"ROOOOOOOOAAARR! ROOOOAAAARRR! ROOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared continuously.

Pichu shook in fear, but he kept translating the roars. "You are clearly accomplices of this threat to the skies. Anyone who is an ally of this sick bastard is clearly the same as he is."

Sonic shook his head. "We don't know the guy. In fact, we just met him. I don't think we have to be in this. He should be punished alone."

Fox gave a nasty glare to Sonic.

"ROOOOOOOAAAARR!" Rayquaza roared.

"There is no fooling me around," Pichu translated. "You all need to be punished, regardless of your lies. You have threatened the skies, and therefore you must be taught not to do fighting."

Fox grunted. "If you want to punish people, then you should better punish the Subspace Army because they're the ones who started the whole thing."

"ROOOAARR! ROOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I do not know where that force went, but I did find you," Pichu translated. "You were involved, and thus you must suffer the pain you have inflicted on the skies. Prepare yourselves to stop dwelling my skies to pester them…forever…"

The Smashers gasped at this. "H-hey, he's gonna kill us?" Sonic asked.

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"It is another way to put it," Pichu translated. "Once I am done with you, I will try to find the other intruders who started the war. After I punish all of them, then there will be no more chaos."

Diddy gulped. "O-oh, great, now we're all gonna die because Fox had to go nuts in the air against the Halberd…"

Fox stomped his right foot on the ground and pointed at Rayquaza. "You're just being an idiot here! We were ALL fighting the army so they wouldn't attack any other place in your precious skies!"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR! ROOOOAAAARRR! ROOOOAAAARRR! ROOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared furiously.

"As I have explained before, that does not excuse you that you harmed the skies with those dangerous weapons," Pichu translated. "You have all sinned against your own wills. Now, I shall commence the punishment for you. Prepare yourselves for threatening the peaceful skies I try to guard!"

Pokémon Colosseum/XD: Gale of Darkness - VS Battle 2 (Hoenn Gym Leader Battle Theme Remix)

Fox grunted and made fists on his sides. "Okay, you're going down now!" he yelled.

Pichu shook his head. "N-no, we have to escape! Nobody can defeat Rayquaza in battle!"

Fox looked down at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"L-look, I know you're a legendary pilot and all that, but it's technically very hard to bring a Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza down with a battle!" Pichu yelled. "Even if we're so many, it's going to be really hard to defeat him in battle!"

"We'll have to try, then."

"Y-you're being very stubborn, Fox!" Pichu yelled. "I-I know you're against Rayquaza, b-but you and the others are no match for him! I-it would have been a huge feat if you DID beat Rayquaza...but you didn't, so..."

Fox took out his Blaster. "I don't care if this is a Legendary Pokémon or not. It's going down for being unfair to me!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"What's he saying now?"

Pichu gulped. "You shall suffer the wrath of the skies for endangering the very same earth you walk!" he translated. "T-this is bad... T-this is soooooo bad now!"

Ike took out Ragnell. "Damn, we'll have to fight Rayquaza to stop him from killing us!"

Chris looked frightened. "W-we're actually going to fight Rayquaza by force?"

Diddy shook his head. "T-this is all very unneeded! R-Rayquaza, please, don't do this!"

"It's useless now," Ike said as he stared at Rayquaza's angry look staring at them. "Rayquaza has lost it. He won't listen to reason anymore because he thinks we don't have anything else to say."

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"What did he say this time?"

Pichu shook his head. "T-that was actually a normal roar..."

Sonic looked bored. "How can you even tell he's talking anymore again?"

The group watched as Rayquaza took off to the air around them. The Sky High Pokémon began circulating before he went down to hide around the cliffs.

"This isn't good," Ike said. "He'll try a surprise attack from anywhere for sure..."

Fox grunted and shifted his eyes around with his Blaster pointing up to prepare a shot. "Everyone, be on your guard!" he yelled. "This bastard will try to swallow anyone like he did before!"

"H-how do you know he's going to do that?" Chris asked as he held a tight grip on his staff. "H-he could have different attacks this time around!"

Sonic smirked. "Alright, now there's a good fight here."

"Y-you're not helping!"

The group suddenly heard a roar before they all turned to the right to receive quickly a harsh tackle by Rayquaza's swift appearance, forcing all of them to roll away in reckless manners. The Sky High Pokémon roared loudly while everyone yelled in pain on the ground before he went back into hiding between the cliffs.

Sonic grunted on the floor and pushed his feet back up. "D-damn, I didn't see him at all!"

Chris moaned in pain before he sat up. "I-I think Rayquaza used ExtremeSpeed... T-that would explain why he moved so fast..."

Chip, who had been hiding inside the hole into the mountain, came out and punched the air a few times. "C'mon, guys. C-Chip Norris knows that we're gonna win, and that's because Chip Norris knows the outcome very well!" he cheered before he gulped and went back into the hole. "C-Chip Norris knows he can't fight this one, though!" he yelled.

Everyone ignored the comment of the imp as they looked at all directions to spot the Sky High Pokémon. Chris, Diddy, and Pichu were all looking scared while Fox, Ike, and Sonic were the ones who looked serious at the whole event. "Come on out now..." Fox muttered. "I'm prepared to take you down this time for sure..."

Diddy gulped. "W-why couldn't we just let the Halberd go alone before? T-this fight wouldn't have happened if we didn't stop the Halberd back then!"

Fox glared at Diddy. "If we let the Halberd go away, we could have died. However, since this idiot wants to kill us for no good reason, then we'll have to teach him that we were right in attacking the Halberd."

"We?" Ike said confused. "I'm sorry to say this, but you were the one who did the most fighting in the skies."

"Now you're agreeing with him?"

"Hey, I'm just using common sense here," Ike said. "What if Rayquaza had a right to punish us for endangering the skies?"

Fox looked pissed. "Look, I don't know you, but if we let the army do whatever it pleased, Rayquaza could have been killed, or worse, taken away by them. He didn't have any kind of connection with them as well, so that would explain why he wasn't with them."

Diddy thought for a moment. "W-well, he didn't look like he was being controlled..."

The group heard the same loud roar before they were all quickly tackled away by the swift Rayquaza. Even Sonic couldn't react in time to evade the attack, which frustrated him a lot. "Less talk and more fight!" Sonic yelled as he pushed himself back on his feet. "Crazy guys like him need to be smacked hard so they listen!"

"Eggman was smacked many times before and he didn't listen..." Chris muttered.

"Y-you get what I mean, anyway!"

Ike looked around. "If this keeps up like this, we'll never land a hit..." he muttered.

Sonic grinned. "Leave that part to me. I'll kick it hard on its face once it appears."

"(Would that be enough?)" Pichu thought worried.

They all heard the roar coming from the south. They all turned around and saw Rayquaza coming out from the cliff where he charged swiftly at them. This time, Sonic had the right momentum to jump at the dragon and deliver a hard kick on its face. However, once Sonic kicked Rayquaza, he felt that his foot felt as if it had kicked a hard wall. The hedgehog twitched a bit in pain before Rayquaza stopped his attack and chomped him hard in its mouth. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sonic yelled in pain as Rayquaza began to shake him to the sides.

Diddy gasped. "H-he's trying to chew Sonic to death!"

"Not today, you!" Fox yelled as he jumped twice to reach Rayquaza's height. The Star Fox leader then aimed for the mouth and used Fox Illusion to slash it hard. Unfortunately, even the attack wasn't enough to make Rayquaza flinch. "What the..." Fox muttered in shock before he landed back on the ground and looked up at Rayquaza. "That didn't work?"

"I-I told you that it's hard to fight Rayquaza!" Pichu yelled.

Fox grunted. "Then how the hell do we save Sonic?"

"I'll do it," Ike said before he ran towards Rayquaza. "Taste this!" he yelled, slamming hard Ragnell on Rayquaza's body.

Fortunately, the hit seemed to make Rayquaza flinch a bit. It was enough to make Rayquaza release a weak Sonic to the ground before it roared angrily and stared down at them.

"S-Sonic, are you okay?" Chris asked.

Sonic grunted and slowly got up from the ground. "I-I'm fine... J-just a scratch here and there...and some icky stuff everywhere..."

"Don't act so tough now," Chris said. "(Rayquaza has a very thick skin so most attacks don't seem to work. But Ike's Ragnell was strong enough to make it flinch... I'll have that in mind...)" he thought.

Rayquaza roared angrily at the group before it flew up and began spinning in a tight circle. The group watched as Rayquaza's body began to radiate electricity before bolts of lightning hit the entire group at the same time, making them all scream in pain before Rayquaza returned to its position and grunted at the group.

"W-what was that attack just now?" Ike asked.

Chris shook his head. "I-I don't know what it was...but...maybe it was...Thunderbolt..." He looked confused. "B-but if that's true…why did it end up hitting everyone?"

"Legendary Pokémon are known for having very strong attacks..." Pichu muttered. "They differ greatly from the common Pokémon so that would explain why Rayquaza hit all of us..."

Diddy gulped and took out his Peanut Popgun. "O-okay, let' focus back into the fight!" he said unsure. "I-if Rayquaza wants to kill us...t-then we'll have t-"

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza interrupted as it pulled back its tail. It then swiped a big area of the ground with a hard spin, reaching Diddy and Fox to push them back.

"T-that was Iron Tail..." Pichu muttered. "A-are you okay?"

Diddy twitched in pain. "P-please, tell me we're going to live after this!" he pleaded on the ground.

Fox grunted and got up quickly. "We're going to live after this," he said before he pulled his fists back and began to be engulfed with flames. Fox then shot himself in flames towards Rayquaza's body.

However, Rayquaza merely floated there before its eyes shone a bit. In the next second, before Fox could even land a hit, he was stopped by a harsh explosion of flames that pushed him back to the ground where he grunted in pain and gritted his fangs.

"What was that attack just now?" Chris asked.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "It could have been Secret Power or Hidden Power... I don't know for sure…"

Fox grunted and looked up at Rayquaza. "What the hell is your problem, anyway?"

Rayquaza only responded by taking off to the skies. Fox grunted more at this and got up from the ground where he looked at the Sky High Pokémon soar the sky.

"Damn that idiot…" Fox muttered.

Chris tried to think. "(We're not ready to fight Rayquaza head-on yet… We have to do something…)" He looked at Fox. "(…Wait, maybe I can tell him he can get stronger with the stickers we have…) Fox!"

Fox turned to him. "What is it now?"

Chris ran to Fox and showed him the Boots of Prowess sticker. "Here, use this."

Fox stared at the sticker. "Hey, that's one of the stickers Peppita made for us…"

"This one doesn't work for anybody else but you," Chris said. "If you put it on, you'll receive a 30 percent power and defense boost… Maybe it'll help a lot…"

Fox blinked at the sticker before he glared up at the flying dragon. He grunted and looked back at the sticker before he took it and put it on his Trophy Stand. In an instant, he felt that his body swelled just a bit. Fox grinned at this and kept his stand in his pocket. "Okay, now it's all better," he said.

"Hmm…" Chris took out the Fayt sticker. "Why don't you put this one on as well? It has Side Kick and Shotgun Blast, 2 for 1."

Fox smiled a bit and took the sticker. "Well, much, much better, then," he said before he took the sticker and put it on the Trophy Stand, instantly gaining the ability to use Side Kick and Shotgun Blast. Fox smacked his fists together and looked up at Rayquaza. "Come and get us now!"

Chris gasped. "W-wait, don't get so confident either! W-we have yet to see if it really makes a chang-"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared angrily before it began to descend to the group.

"Everyone, prepare to attack!" Ike yelled. "We have to force him to stop before we land attacks!"

Sonic grumbled. "That monster's gonna go down this time…"

Chris gulped. "L-let's see…since Rayquaza is a double type that is weak against ice… I should rely on ice magic to deal massive damage…" He cleared his throat before his staff glowed in a blue mist. "Freeze to greater cold…"

Pichu gasped after he saw that Rayquaza decided to go after Chris. Since Chris was busy chanting, the Electric Mouse Pokémon ran after him. "C-Chris, look out!"

"W-what?" Chris stopped chanting before he looked up and screamed at Rayquaza. Pichu closed his eyes and used Agility to push the Black Mage away before Rayquaza could take him down the earth where it burrowed into the ground and disappeared from sight. Both Chris and Pichu were rolling on the floor before they stopped. "U-ugh, thanks, Pichu…" Chris muttered.

"N-no problem…" Pichu muttered as they got up from the ground.

Diddy looked frightened to the ground. "H-he just went underground…"

"That means he could perform a surprise attack again…" Ike muttered. "Let's be careful now!"

"Weren't we careful before?" Sonic asked.

And the earth started shaking before Rayquaza appeared right under Diddy, which meant that the Sky High Pokémon finally was able to swallow Diddy as a whole like it planned to do before. The Smashers gasped after Rayquaza merely floated in the air before releasing a loud roar.

"H-he just swallowed Diddy!" Pichu said.

"Oh no, this is so bad now…" Chris muttered. "W-what do we do?"

"Get him out, of course," Ike said. "But if we damage Rayquaza, we could end up damaging Diddy as well…"

Fox grunted at this. "Damn, we have to think of something or else Diddy is going to get digested for real this time!"

"Pichu, try to convince Rayquaza to stop all this!"

Pichu looked worried. "H-how do you know it'll work?"

"We don't have anything else to think about. We have to bring Rayquaza to reason. Hurry before Diddy dies!"

Pichu gulped frightened before he ran to Rayquaza and looked up at him. "R-Rayquaza, please, you have to stop all this! P-please let Diddy go!"

"ROOOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"W-what do you mean this should be this way? I-it's doesn't have to!"

"ROOOARR! ROAAARRR!"

"N-no, you shouldn't kill anyone! P-please, listen to us!"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!"

"W-we know we shouldn't cause trouble in the skies. We learned our lesson, we swear of it!"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared one last time before he spat Diddy out to the ground. The Sky High Pokémon then proceeded to shoot an energized sphere on both Pichu and Diddy to create an explosion that pushed them away from it. Rayquaza roared furiously before it took off again.

"D-Diddy!" Chris yelled before he ran to Diddy and Pichu's side. "A-are you sure you're okay?"

Diddy sniffed a bit. "W-when is this going to end without anyone having to die, Chris? I-I'm so scared now!"

Sonic looked up. "It's either escape and let the flying snake ambush us anytime or finish this right now before it gets even worse…"

Chris clenched his hands on his staff before he turned around and resumed his spell. "Freeze to greater cold…"

"He's coming back down!"

Chris stopped his spell in annoyance. "Oh, for the love o-" He was quickly shut up by a swift downward Iron Tail attack from the Sky High Pokémon, prompting Chris to roll recklessly away before stopping. "O-oww..." Chris moaned in pain.

Diddy looked scared before he shook his head and looked serious at Rayquaza. "W-well, I-I'm sick of getting this frightened by you... I-I'm gonna shut you up this time!" he yelled.

Rayquaza turned to Diddy. "ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!"

Diddy's legs suddenly shook in fear, and his lips started to move likes waves, but his look kept the serious face intact. "N-no backing away now..." Diddy muttered. "T-this has gone long enough! YIAAAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly as he rushed towards Rayquaza.

Chip took a peek from the hole and pumped up a fist. "Go, you brave but stupid monkey, go!" he cheered before retreating into the hole.

The Smashers watched as Diddy used Monkey Flip to latch himself on Rayquaza's body. The Sky High Pokémon roared furiously before Diddy began to smack as many times as he could to it. "D-Diddy, no!" Pichu yelled.

Chris grunted and focused his magic. "I won't fail this time for sure... Freeze to greater cold..."

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!" Rayquaza roared furiously as it prepared to use another energized sphere on Diddy.

However, before Rayquaza could release its attack, Ike came out from nowhere with a fully charged Quick Draw, delivering a harsh blow on Rayquaza. The Sky High Pokémon roared in pain and lost focus to charge the sphere that it slowly vanished. Rayquaza grunted at this before glaring down at its opponents.

Once looking down, Rayquaza's eyes widened after seeing Fox about to deliver a kick attack. Rayquaza acted quickly and shook Diddy off from its body in time to prepare a sweeping Iron Tail attack. As soon as the Sky High Pokémon turned around, Fox had already used a new learned attack. Rayquaza quickly swept the ground, but before it could hit the vulpine, Fox used a sideway jump over the tail to evade a hit, and he quickly turned around and jumped straight to Rayquaza to deliver an energized kick to its thick skin. "Side Kick!" Fox yelled.

"ROOOOOOOOAARR!" Rayquaza roared in pain as it received the full attack. The Sky High Pokémon then shook its head and took off to the skies.

Fox grinned. "What, can't you resist a kick or what?"

"Fox, I'd shut up if I were you," Ike muttered. "You don't want to make Rayquaza angrier than he is."

"Cocky person is cocky," Chip commented from the hole.

Fox looked annoyed. "Okay, I admit I got too cocky..."

Just then, Chris had finished his chant with the spell as he pointed his staff to the sky. "Blizzara!" he yelled.

Rayquaza's roar of pain in the sky meant that the freezing attack successfully hit without problems. The Sky High Pokémon suffered from being trapped in a big concentration of ice before it shattered into pieces, dealing a great amount of damage on it.

"Effective!" Chris rejoiced.

However, not only the spell inflicted a big pain on Rayquaza, but it also made it angrier than before. The Sky High Pokémon flew around the skies before locking eyes on Chris, and then it began to descend into an area where there wasn't anyone around to burrow itself into the ground. The Smashers quickly looked at all directions before Rayquaza sprouted out from underneath Chris and trapped him in its mouth.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" Chris pleaded for help as Rayquaza took him into the skies in order to stay away.

"No!" Fox yelled as they looked up at the circling Rayquaza. "Dammit, let him go right now, you bastard!"

Rayquaza, obviously, didn't listen to anyone or anything. Instead of that, it tossed Chris higher up. The Black Mage still felt agonizing pain on his left arm as he tried to move. Unfortunately, Rayquaza quickly rose up under him and rammed its head against Chris. The World Traveler yelled in pain as he spun crazily on the air. Rayquaza then shot an energized sphere to Chris to further deal even more damage while the Black Mage was unable to move. Once the sphere created an explosion, Rayquaza passed the immobile Chris before it used a downward Iron Tail to make Chris descend quickly into the ground.

"Somebody get him before he dies!" Pichu yelled.

"On the job!" Sonic yelled as he quickly rushed under Chris and pulled out a spring to use it as a means to jump high towards the Black Mage. The hedgehog went directly at the unconscious Chris to catch him on his arms. Sonic sighed in relief before he landed back on the ground and looked down at Chris. "Chris, Chris, c'mon, respond!" Sonic said as he shook Chris.

The hedgehog watched as a divine light shone on Chris, allowing some light wings to spread on his back before disappearing. The Black Mage slowly opened his eyes and gasped. "O-oh no, Rayquaza was about to kill me off..." Chris muttered before Sonic put him back to his feet. Chris sighed in relief. "I-I can still fight back, though..."

"Phew, that was a close call," Sonic said.

The Smashers looked up into the sky to see Rayquaza. The Sky High Pokémon roared loudly before it dove down between the cliffs to use another surprise attack.

Ike narrowed his eyes. "He's going to attack us from anywhere again," he said.

Chris gulped. "I-I think chanting magic will only leave me very vulnerable..." he muttered before he changed to his Ranger job. "L-let's see how I do it with this job instead..."

Ike looked at him. "Oh, I forgot you had that job. Now you look as if you were...my fan, as they say?"

"...I-I'm not your fan or something like that!" Chris said embarrassed. "At least be a bit flattered that I'm kind of following your example as a Ranger!"

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Ike said. "I didn't mean to say it that way."

"(Good, I hope you're telling the truth,)" Chris said. "(Now please don't get too excited or something. The least I want to do is you becoming a role model or something like that.)"

"(I'll make sure I don't get you to do that... I could get embarrassed...)"

"(...Wait a minute. Are you trying to say something else with that? It sounds a bit offensive to me.)"

"(N-no, you've got it all wrong,)" Ike said. "(Really, I'm not trying to make you feel miserable or me...)"

"(Good... Now for the actual fight...)" Chris noticed that everything and everyone had stopped moving. "(...Ike...)"

"(We've discovered our CFS for me, right?)"

"(Can I infer that somebody told you how this works?)"

"(Marth.)"

"(I expected as much...)" Chris muttered.

"(...So, is there something I'd need to know in order to do one attack?)"

"(Not much... The attack comes right after we go through this.)"

"(Oh, I see,)" Ike said. "(Do we have to think of one?)"

"(I-I don't know, but it should be appearing right...now...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)"

"(...)" Ike tried to look surprised (due to the fact time had stopped for them to realize their attack). "(...Oh, there it is.)"

"(Bizarre...)" Chris muttered. "(This way to get abilities is just bizarre, I swear...)"

"(I've had weirdest moments before,)" Ike said. "(This isn't the weirdest one yet.)"

"(Is that really true?)"

"(Depends... I mean, I have these weird visions sometimes at nights. They are very odd and strange. It's not like you've seen before.)"

"(...Ike, those are called nightmares... I can't believe you're that tense...)"

"(...)" Ike mumbled. "(What is wrong with me today?)"

"(We can keep talking between each other or stop Rayquaza from killing us by being digested. Which one will you choose?)"

"(Can I choose both? We can take advantage of the sudden stop of time, can't we?)"

"(...Ike...)"

"(...Fine...)"

Time itself began to continue its path, and Chris looked serious at his surroundings with Ike. "Are you ready?" Ike asked.

Chris stepped in front of Ike. "Ready when you are," Chris muttered. "Start charging a Quick Draw attack!"

"Right," Ike said with a nod before he crossed his arms in front of him while holding Ragnell with a tight grip. Chris merely used his sword as a shield as if he wanted to use Counter.

Suddenly, the Smashers heard another roar. They all turned north where Rayquaza came from the cliffs while using ExtremeSpeed to hit every single one of them. However, something happened, and none were rammed to the sides once Rayquaza made contact with Chris's sword.

Time itself stopped, and Chris and Ike were the only ones able to move. Chris turned to Ike. "It's all yours," Chris said, giving his copy of Ragnell to Ike's left hand before stepping out of the way to let him face the immobile Rayquaza.

"COUNTER DRAW!" Ike yelled, instantly reaching Rayquaza's head with a serious cross slash with both swords. Once he inflicted damage, time began to move again, and Rayquaza roared in pained as it was obliged to fall down on the ground where it grunted in pain.

New Ability Learned! Counter Draw!

Two users wait for an enemy to attack. The first user will use Counter, and the second user will use Quick Draw. Once being touched while using Counter, time will stop and the first user will give a sword to the second user, who will then reach out the enemy whenever it is to deal a harsh cross slash. Deals great damage to a single enemy.

Pichu stared at Rayquaza. "Rayquaza is down!"

"D-did we stop him?" Diddy asked.

Rayquaza twitched in pain before it slowly got up and floated on the ground. The Sky High Pokémon roared furiously.

Ike gave Chris back his sword and looked at Rayquaza. "Did that do it?" Ike asked.

Something looked wrong the moment they saw Rayquaza trembling randomly. The Sky High Pokémon retained its angry look, but his body seemed to be acting in a strange manner. Soon enough, they noticed that Rayquaza's body began to produce some steam.

Chris looked shocked. "W-what is going on with Rayquaza now?"

Pichu thought for a moment. "W-well, if I'm correct, I could say he's about to use..."

"ROOOOAAARRR! ROAAARRR! ROAAARRR! ROARRR! ROOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared continuously in fury before it turned red in rage and started to slam down its long tail against the ground, creating huge cracks that almost covered the whole portion of the floor.

"O-Outrage!" Pichu yelled. "H-he's using Outrage!"

The Smashers gasped as Rayquaza started to move around in a violent manner. Rayquaza didn't know where it was going, but it didn't stop it from going around to land a hit of its blind state of rage.

"Move!" Fox yelled. "Stay away from him!"

"O-one of those attacks could take us out very easily!" Pichu yelled. "S-spread out or avoid him!"

The Smashers scrambled around to stay away from Rayquaza. Unfortunately, for some of them, Rayquaza managed to reach them out. The one that got the baddest of luck was Chris, who was slammed down hard on the ground before the Sky High Pokémon began a series of powerful slamming attacks with its tail. The World Traveler, under the cloud of dust that Rayquaza created, yelled in extreme pain before he was pushed away from Rayquaza's sight as it then went to another way, leaving Chris knocked out.

"Chris!" Ike yelled to the unconscious ranger. "Chris, can you get up? Chris!"

There was no response from Chris.

"Dammit…" Ike muttered. "He was taken out for real this time…"

"IKE, BEHIND YOU!" Pichu yelled.

Ike turned around in time to receive a harsh tail attack. The ranger was later submitted to a series of mad slam attacks from the Sky High Pokémon, continuously screaming in pain before Rayquaza performed a sweeping attack and pushed Ike away, instantly knocking him out.

A light shone on Ike, calling forth some lights wings that later disappeared. The ranger grunted in pain and slowly got back up. "This is just insane…" Ike muttered under his breath.

Ike watched as Rayquaza wildly slammed its tail around the terrain. The rest of the Smashers were trying to stay away from the mad rampage or else they would be instantly taken out. A slight mistake and it would be over.

"Hey, can't we like stop him from moving around?" Sonic asked.

"I-I don't know, but it's dangerous to do so!" Pichu said. "Outrage is a very strong Dragon type move…"

Fox back flipped away from a sweep tail attack before he landed on his feet and grunted at the rampaging Rayquaza. "There should be some way to stop him from going nuts…" he muttered. "But what is that way?"

"ROOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared loudly before it slowed down its pace. Eventually, the Sky High Pokémon's mad rush stopped, and the Smashers stared at it remaining on the same spot.

Diddy, hiding behind a rock, took a peek of Rayquaza. The spider monkey blinked confused and looked at the Dragon/Flying type's head slowly circling around. Upon closer inspection, Diddy saw that Rayquaza's eyes were spinning a bit as it seemed to moan. "What is wrong with him?" Diddy asked. "He…looks like he's dazzled…"

Pichu gasped. "Of course… Outrage is a very strong move, but it leaves the user confused after a while…"

Sonic looked at Pichu. "Does that mean it has a price?"

"W-well, in a way," Pichu said. "Rayquaza is now confused…"

Sonic looked back at the dazzled Rayquaza before he grinned. "Heh, looks like you didn't think what to do, snake," he taunted.

Ike glanced over to the fainted Chris. "Oh no, we don't have any food items or healing magic to heal ourselves…"

Pichu looked serious at Rayquaza. "We have to attack now that Rayquaza is confused!" he proposed. "Quick, before he regains his composure!"

"Charge, then, charge!" Fox issued the order as everyone but Ike (who decided to check on Chris) ran after the confused Rayquaza.

Rayquaza circled its head around before it roared suddenly and started to use Iron Tail around itself to try to make everyone stay away. The Smashers gasped and quickly turned back to evade the wild sweeping to stay cautious. "Oh, great, now we can't even reach him out!" Sonic complained.

"It's risky to use midair attacks as well…" Pichu muttered. "He's swinging his tail to all directions…"

"ROOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared in pain.

The Smashers looked surprised after Rayquaza accidentally smacked itself hard with its own tail. The Sky High Pokémon, after receiving the smack, got even more dazzled than before.

Fox chuckled. "Well, that's what I call luck," he said. "Now, charge forward!"

Sonic instantly appeared in front of the dazzled Rayquaza before he performed two upward kicks. The hedgehog then curled himself down to use a Spin Dash, ramming himself hard on Rayquaza. Pichu gathered his courage and ran close to Rayquaza to call forth a thunder to hit himself, but deal a strong hit to Rayquaza. After that, Diddy charged his Rocketbarrel Blast to blast himself onto Rayquaza's dazzled head.

Once the attack connected, Diddy was pushed away by the impact. Unfortunately, Rayquaza's confusion seemed to have been worn off after it shook its head and looked down at them. "ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Fox managed to get closer to the Sky High Pokémon and use a new attack. The Star Fox leader moved up his right hand before swinging it down in front of Rayquaza, creating a downward wave of mini explosions that burst on Rayquaza. "Shotgun Blast!" Fox yelled.

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared angrily before it quickly used Iron Tail to push Fox away.

Fox fell on his back before he grunted and got back up. "How long is this fight going to take?"

"A-a lot," Pichu said. "That attack you just did wasn't effective... Fire attacks aren't strong enough against Dragon types."

"Now you're telling me..." Fox muttered under his breath.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Here he comes for mor-"

"W-wait!" Pichu yelled. "T-the battle ended now!"

Music stops

The whole group (including Chip) stared at Pichu from their scattered spots across the terrain of the peak. "...What did you say just now?" Sonic asked.

Pichu nodded. "Rayquaza just said that the battle was over..." he said. "I-I heard him say that..."

Fox glared at Rayquaza. "Hey, what's the big deal now? Are you surrendering?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu blinked a few times before he decided to translate Rayquaza's words. "Yes, the battle has ended. I have decided that this battle has no real purpose to solve the conflict I have with you."

Ike walked to them as he carried the unconscious Chris on his back. "Wait, what?" he asked.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"It is as you have heard," Pichu translated. "I do not see the reason to further prolong this fight. I should not have made this violent decision before."

Fox crossed his arms. "But you were the one who said we should be punished through this way: by battling!"

"ROOOAARRR! ROOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I acknowledge that I did say that, but after fighting against all of you, I have realized that I was going against my principles," Pichu translated. "I mentioned to you that you did not find another way to solve the problems you faced that time long ago. And once I compared that event to this one, I found out that this one can be talked through with words and not attacks. After all, I am in favor of pacifism."

"Tsk," Fox muttered before he frowned. "Now you're trying to find an excuse t-"

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I believe you wanted me to listen to you, so I am going to do that," Pichu translated. "I do not need to listen twice, though. I have understood everything now."

Fox looked skeptical. "So what have you understood from all this?"

"ROOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I have understood that everyone but you are not deemed to punishment," Pichu translated. "I should not have attacked everyone. You all have my apologies for resorting to violence. Phew..."

Chip sighed in relief. "Well, he understood this so it's just fine... I guess..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared to Fox.

Fox looked confused. "What is it?"

"Please do not move. Your punishment shall now begin," Pichu translated.

Fox stared at Rayquaza. "Oh, I see..."

It took about three seconds for Fox's mind to realize what he just heard from Rayquaza.

"...What? I thought you already did it with the fight!" Fox argued to the Legendary Pokémon.

"ROOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I know that, but you still need to be further taught about your wrongdoing," Pichu translated worried. "You have caused the deepest damage in the skies. In order to make myself sure that you will not repeat the same mistake, I shall punish you right now."

Fox glared nastily at Rayquaza. "You're just being unfair to me and no one else!" He pointed at Rayquaza. "You're but a big imbecile!"

Rayquaza shook its head before it moved it up to start charging a Hyper Beam attack. Fox saw the concentration of energy building up slowly on top of Rayquaza's mouth that he looked shocked at it while the others silently backed away from the spot.

However, Fox recalled that he had reflected a shot from Rayquaza a long time ago. The vulpine blinked at this before he grinned and slowly reached for his Reflector. "Heh, now you're just going to make a big mistake," Fox said grinning as he touched his empty belt's left side. "Once you shoot that beam on me, I'll just reflect it back to make it even stronger so you end up being..."

Perhaps what was able to make Fox's grin fade away was the fact that his Reflector had gone missing from his belt. The vulpine's grin faded away before he looked down at his belt where the empty spot of his Reflector was found.

"...H-hey, where did my Reflector go?" Fox asked confused before he looked up and saw that said device was hanging on the horns of the Sky High Pokémon. Fox's jaw opened in shock at this. "H-how did you... Wait, did you take that away from me when you attacked us after you were going around the cli-"

And the vulpine was shut up when Rayquaza instantly used Hyper Beam at full potency on him. The extreme beam of energy made everyone gasp as it later created a big explosion of fire, seeing a black blur bouncing out from the cloud of smoke. They looked up to see what looked to be Fox spinning madly in the air before he stopped ascending into the air to begin his descend into the ground where he accidentally hit his head hard on the ground. The group watched as Fox made a shocked expression while his feet moved forward, making him look like as if he was going to roll, but looked like he leaned to a wall that stopped him from rolling.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared before he gave the Reflector back to Fox, nicely landing on his butt (Sonic silently chuckled at this).

"Punishment given," Pichu translated. "You have been pardoned, ruthless inferior being."

The group looked back at Fox's ridiculous black look and position on the ground. "..." Fox could only look away forward in an upside down fashion.

Diddy stared at Fox in pure disbelief. "...And...he's still alive after all that?"

At that moment, Chris regained consciousness and looked around over Ike's back. "W-what happened? ...W-why's everyone so silent? ...Why isn't Rayquaza attacking us anymore? ...Why is Fox covered in soot while he's rolled back like that?"

"..." Fox blinked. "...I...hate...dragons so much now..." he muttered.

Ike looked at Chris. "Oh, you're fine," he said. "Rayquaza wanted to stop the fight, and then he punished Fox by using a beam attack.

"..." Chris looked confused. "Was it...really necessary to cause all that to him?"

Pichu nodded. "Legendary Pokémon know what they're doing... You shouldn't talk back to them when you can do it..."

Ike rubbed his chin. "I don't know if this situation was excused or not, though..."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"It was not excused," Pichu translated. "It was necessary for him to understand not to start a war in the skies. I am honest when I said I could have used another less painful method, but he would surely not listen to me..."

"Yeah...right..." Fox muttered in annoyance.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu's ears twitched a bit. "I have finished my task. I shall now wander the skies to make sure they are protected from more intruders," Pichu translated.

Diddy sighed in relief. "Phew, this is over now..."

Sonic grumbled a bit. "Bummer. I wanted to kick 'im hard."

Ike looked away. "Wait a minute... Rayquaza told us...about something… What was that, though? I forgot..."

Chris gasped before he hopped off from Ike's back and ran to Fox's side (although it could be said he ignored Fox altogether). "W-wait, Rayquaza! T-there's something we want to ask you!"

Rayquaza looked down at Chris.

"Can you listen to us?"

"...ROOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"What is it?" Pichu translated. "What do your minds want to know from me? I hope it is not regarding some kind of fight in the skies."

Chris shook his head and looked down. "W-well...it's about the Subspace Army..." He looked up. "You mentioned that you saw the sphere disappearing over the ocean, right?"

Rayquaza nodded its head.

"Did you happen to...oversee what happened after?"

Diddy blinked and rubbed his chin. "Wait, that's right... Rayquaza said he was watching the whole event from the waters..."

Ike snapped his fingers. "He could have some information about the army."

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"Why do you want to know?" Pichu translated. "Why is it important for you to pursue this?"

Ike took a step forward. "We're still fighting against the army so they don't have to threaten another place like your skies," he explained. "We don't remember what happened after we couldn't win against their leader. But since you know what happened after..."

Rayquaza kept staring at them. "ROOOOOOOOAARRR! ROOOOAAAARRR!"

Pichu looked confused. "I am sorry to say this, but I do not know much more than the fact that the sphere of darkness disappeared in the horizon as if nothing had happened at all," he translated. "After that, I lost sight of it."

The Smashers looked a bit helpless at this information. They thought that they had found some vital information, but it was just a false alarm.

Sonic thought for a moment. "...So...um...have you looked around for 'em? You did say you were going to punish the intruders who got into your domain, right?"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"I am honest when I say that I have been looking for either one of the intruders this whole time," Pichu translated. "I have not had luck in finding the one who began deploying those dreadful creatures. It is just as if their existence had vanished entirely from the skies."

Diddy knocked his head a few times. "So you just saw the Subspace vanishing in thin air?"

Rayquaza nodded. "ROOOOOOOOAARRR!"

"At that time, I was away," Pichu translated. "The sphere, along with the rest of the spheres outside, disappeared and took big portions of land with it. Thanks to that, only the ocean's water had covered the craters left behind."

The group looked confused at this added information. Ike thought for a moment before speaking. "...Excuse me, but what do you mean by "along with the rest of spheres outside" exactly?"

Diddy crossed his arms. "I-I don't remember any more Subspace spheres being deployed..."

"ROOOOOOOOAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

"You do not know?" Pichu translated. "I watched how the entire group of yours went into the biggest sphere of what you call the Subspace. Once you went inside, you surely did not see that portals began to appear out of nowhere from the spots where those creatures had deployed those bombs. From inside those portals, those dreaded machines were taken out and they all burst instantly, sacrificing those other machines that were carrying the bombs."

The Smashers (except for Chris) stared at each other, giving odd looks while thinking what had happened outside the Subspace. Diddy rubbed his head a bit before looking up at Rayquaza. "U-um...but..."

"...No, Diddy," Ike suddenly said. "I don't think Rayquaza knows how those Subspace Bombs and the portals were able to appear while we were all going after Tabuu."

Diddy looked down in shame.

Chris put a hand on his cheek and looked down at the ground. "(Just...what exactly happened?)" he thought in confusion. "(Are there more events that took place when they were all fighting the army? Or is Rayquaza having trouble recalling what he saw?)"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAARRR!" Rayquaza roared.

Pichu looked at the group. "Do you have anything else to ask me?"

"..." Chris shook his head. "U-um, Rayquaza, there was something else we needed to ask you... It's about an ancient spirit who resides in these mountains. The...spirit became so restless because you have been roaring many times, many days ago, and that spirit asked us to tell you that you should stop because the spirit can't tolerate any more roars..."

Rayquaza stared at them. "...ROOOOOOAARRR!"

Pichu's ears perked up. "I admit that it was a mistake of my part to be so rude. I became frustrated that I could not find any of the intruders that my rage took over me in this very same place," Pichu translated. "Rage tends to make any individual blind and unethical. Only a fool would fall so low, and I have fell into it, and I am sorry for that mistake."

Chris sighed. "Phew..."

"(Actually, all Legendary Pokémon have really short-temper issues, and they get very wild...and that's why nobody makes them angry...)" Pichu thought with a gulp.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!"

Pichu looked up. "But before I go, I have a request to ask you."

Sonic crossed his arms. "What's that?"

"ROOAARRR!"

"Since you all are looking for the Subspace...I want you to stop them," Pichu translated. "I cannot afford to see the skies being plagued by their presence any longer. I can still feel the intolerant odor of that atmosphere of darkness, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere I go..."

Ike nodded. "We'll make sure that we meet your expectations, as long as you don't blame us for starting an aerial fight."

Rayquaza looked back at the paralyzed Fox before roaring to them. "ROOOOOOOAAARRR!"

"I will judge your actions to see if you need to be punished," Pichu translated. "For now, I will resume my search for that realm of darkness for the time being. I shall not allow it to endanger further the skies anymore. With that, I shall take my leave."

"ROOOOOOAARRR! ROOOOOOAAARRR!"

"May the skies aid you all in your battles," Pichu translated.

The Smashers watched as Rayquaza began to circle around its spot before it started to ascend slowly into the sky, his long body trailing in a perfect and accurate manner along the air. With a mighty roar, the Sky High Pokémon's silhouette disappeared into the horizon of the east.

Everyone sighed loudly in relief, and most of them fell down on his rears and sat down. "Man, that's over..." muttered Sonic before yawning.

Chip flew out from the hole and looked happy. "Told you everything was gonna be fine," he said. "You showed 'im who the boss is."

Pichu shook his head. "I-I don't think we caused a lot of damage on Rayquaza..."

Everyone looked at the Electric Mouse Pokémon.

Pichu looked at everyone before he shrugged. "L-Legendary Pokémon are extremely tough to beat, you know... I-I admit we did well, but it wasn't enough to defeat Rayquaza. It'd be hard to believe than a normal person can take down Rayquaza by their bare hands as well. And...it doesn't matter that we're Smashers. We still didn't have any chances in defeating Rayquaza..."

Diddy mumbled. "So all that we did was for nothing?"

"I-I'm sorry to say this, but it looks that way..." Pichu admitted. "...Even so, we managed to survive before Rayquaza said he didn't want to fight anymore...so that's a plus."

Diddy looked defeated. "W-well, that's good... Besides, if I did beat Rayquaza, which would seriously look a bit out of place…that would look a bit wrong..."

Chris looked away. "(You have to thank Brawl for being a bit illogical at some fights...)"

Ike chuckled nervously. "A-anyway, not only did we complete the task, but we also got valuable information about the Subspace...and..."

Pichu blinked a few times. "W-we forgot to ask what Rayquaza meant by craters!"

"No, wait, it's okay," Ike interrupted Pichu's panic. "We can assume it took place in the areas where we fought the army."

Chris looked back at them. "Wait, that reminds me... Is this universe supposed to have the place where you all fought the Subspace Army?"

Ike looked at him and nodded. "It is," he responded. "The areas where the fight took place are far away from here, up north the mansion's grounds," he said as he pointed to the north. "It's quite a long way to get there, though."

Chris stared to the north where the naked eye couldn't see clearly. All Chris was able to look were some rows of peaks that extended all the way north.

Pichu moaned before he sneezed. "C-can we leave this place and report to Gnome? I-I'm starting get a small cold by the winds..."

"That'd be nice to do right now... We could discuss this with the others at a later time as well," Ike muttered. "Well, let's go back to Gnome."

Chris looked at them and nodded. "Yes. I also want to see if Gnome can try to give me a present for Lucario in Christmas."

The Smashers decided to leave the peaks through the hole in the ground. Once they left, a peaceful windswept the dust of the terrain away...

…Then, Ike came out from the hole and went to pick up the downed Fox on his back, placing carefully the Reflector back on Fox's belt. The Crimea soldier stood up with the shocked Fox on his back, hanging to his neck from before they both left the peaks by going down the hole.

Now all that mattered was to get Gnome's reward...

Gnome's Altar

"Are you out of your box or what?" Gnome asked annoyed.

"I-it's just a small present for me to give to Lucario. That's all I'm asking for!" Chris demanded.

Gnome removed his sunglasses and looked annoyed. "Look, I'm not gonna get the dog a present. I still remember the painful moment where I was brutally pushed down the abyss..."

Chris grunted. "He's awfully sorry for doing that to you!" he argued. "H-heck, he's really, REALLY sorry, I swear!"

"Pfft, I don't buy that," Gnome said bored. "They say they're very sorry, and when you least expect it, you wake up in the depths on an abyss because SOMEBODY wants you out of their sight."

"F-for the last time, he won't do that again to you!"

Ike sighed and took a step forward. "Please, listen to him, Gnome... We went through a lot to get rid of Rayquaza..."

"Even so, my nightmares with bratty dogs persist," Gnome said before crossing his arms. "For telling the guy up there to scram, I'm gonna give you guys...this little freebie." He took out from behind a small red gem. "Here ya go, a Ruby."

Sonic looked annoyed. "That's it? You're giving us just a jewel for having to fight that snake?"

"Rayquaza," Pichu corrected.

"Hey, watch your mouth, bluish porcupine!" Gnome said annoyed. "Fine, fine, I'll give ya something else since I think having to suffer those roars at midnight was a pain in the butt for sure..." He took out from behind a red cape (the upper part having normal red color while the bottom part had the image of flames). "Oh, here," he said. "Take this Flare Cape with ya as well."

Diddy walked to Gnome and grabbed both items from him.

"The Ruby gives earth resistance and also gives the earth power to your physical attacks," Gnome explained. "And the Flare Cape gives a small boost for defense and your evasiveness actions, altogether with resistance to fire and earth attacks." He made a happy expression. "That's very useful, huh?"

"I guess," Ike said. "Thanks."

"No problemo, you guys," Gnome said.

"Vanquish the Monster Threat" Side-quest completed!Obtained Ruby, and Flare Cape!

Chris looked a bit relieved. "Oh well, I'll look around for a gift..."

Gnome closed his eyes and took out another item from behind. "Okay, ya wanna have something to give to that dog? Well, here ya go. Catch it."

Chris looked back at Gnome before the Summon Spirit of Earth tossed at him a small item. The World Traveler gasped and managed to catch the item before he looked down at it and... "..." Chris held a small key-chain with a mini-figurine of Gnome hanging from a small chain. "...What is this, exactly?"

"One of my creations," Gnome said proudly. "I make key-chains. That's a personal hobby of mine."

Pichu stared at the key-chain. "...I don't think that's going to be a nice gift..."

Gnome opened his annoyed eyes. "Hey, that's Summon Spirit Craft-made. You can't find it anywhere else!" he complained before nodding with crossed arms. "It's a Must-Have key-chain."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at the key-chain. However, Chris had to admit that the mini-Gnome looked peculiar to him. It was nicely crafted to the perfection and... Chris shook the thought away and stuffed it into his pocket. "I doubt this will make the cut for a gift...but it won't hurt to try..."

Obtained Gnome Key-chain!It's an adorable key-chain with a perfect mini-Gnome figurine hanging to it. What else do you want for some cuteness?

Gnome looked happy. "Maybe that'll remind the guy to avoid pushing m-"

"Did you just give me this for that purpose?" Chris interrupted annoyed.

Gnome shifted his eyes around. "...Maybe."

While Chris stared bored at Gnome, Fox (now back to normal, except for the fact that he was mostly covered with soot) grumbled. "Can we go back to the mansion now? I really need to take a shower now."

The group looked at him. "Oh, are you still pissed for what happened up there?" Ike asked.

Fox grunted. "After I was attacked by a beam out of unfairness from a big snake-dragon thing...how do you think I feel?"

Chris looked at Pichu. "Wait, Hyper Beam, Secret Power, Iron Tail, ExtremeSpeed, Thunderbolt...that's 5 moves..."

Pichu shrugged. "I-I don't even know if Rayquaza can make his own attacks because it's unclear to me if he knows Secret Power... He's a big mystery...isn't he?"

Chris frowned at this. "I'd like to see what those energy spheres were, then..."

Fox frowned. "I feel really pissed now. I was taken here while I was resting, then I was attacked by that thing. OF COURSE I'd feel very pissed."

Sonic chuckled nervously. "Chill down, man. At least this conflict got over with."

"Yeah," Chip said. "Chip Norris knew good things were going to come from a mile...no, TWO miles away… Hmm…make that many UNLIMITED miles away."

Fox fumed a bit. "Yeah, it got over by me getting almost killed by a beam," he recalled them. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time alone in my room to relieve my stress."

Pichu looked worried. "But Rayquaza had a point..."

Fox closed his eyes. "I don't care anymore. I don't give a damn about Rayquaza."

Chris did think that Fox would take this very seriously. The World Traveler got a little bit worried at Fox's angered attitude that he wanted to do something to make Fox relieve his stress without having to think more about it. Then, the thought suddenly gave Chris an idea.

The Smashers looked at each other before they turned to Gnome. "We hope we did our best to help you out," Ike said.

Gnome nodded. "Aww, I'm gonna enjoy my beauty sleep again. Thanks a bunch," he said happily.

The Smashers turned around and began their way back to the mansion. As they were walking, Chris tapped Fox's right shoulder. "What is it," Fox asked without turning to Chris.

"U-um, Fox, I know you're still angry at the whole event...but...I...was thinking if you..." Chris thought things over for a bit, "...would like to play...Star Ocean?"

Fox stopped on his trails and looked at Chris. "What?"

Chris looked away. "W-well, I have the game with me so I thought it'd be a nice thing if you played it so you could relieve your stress..."

Fox thought for a moment as he tapped his head a bit, thinking hard about the offering that Chris gave him. "Hmm, it wouldn't be so bad to play a little game now..." He smiled a bit a Chris. "Alright, I'll play it."

Chris smiled a bit. He didn't think Fox would agree. "T-then let's go. You'll surely like the game very much."

Fox nodded and grinned before the two continued their way with the others to the mansion. "Show me the hardest difficulty."

"...What?"

"What you heard, Chris," Fox said.

"...O-okay, but I doubt you'll pass the first storyline fight... It took me a time to get pass that fight in the hardest difficulty..."

"I'll see by myself," Fox said confidently.

If only Chris had questioned Fox about his decision... It would have been a bad idea to question Fox since he was still pissed. Chris decided to forget the thought before they all left the area.

Gnome sighed loudly before falling on his back to lay down on the altar. "Man, now I can dream some good ol' dreams without listening to roars..." He curled himself. "And a good morning sleep wouldn't hurt..." he trailed off before he fell asleep and began to snore loudly, creating some echoes in the cave.

-Smash Mansion-
Lobby

December 24 - Wednesday - Evening - Christmas's Eve

The night of Christmas's Eve was a bit lively one since people were putting even more gifts under the tree. One such person of the group of people was Chris (in his ISOKFMG) who placed down a light blue present between the other rows of presents that had Lucario's name on the tag. The World Traveler looked worried. "I hope this is enough... It was hard to look around for an appropriate gift..." he muttered.

"Make way. There's another gift coming in."

Chris turned around and looked down at Ness (wearing a red scarf around his neck), carrying a red present with Lucas's name on the tag. "O-oh, sorry," Chris said as he stepped away from the rows of presents. Ness ignored him and went over to drop the gift to the rows.

"There," Ness said. "I hate to do last minute searches..."

Chris chuckled nervously. "H-how convenient, we think the same things..."

Ness looked up at Chris. "So, you found a gift for Mr. Aura Master?"

Chris folded his arms behind his back and looked away. "T-that...yes... Going around the village and my world's home to get a better gift from last year's was kind of tedious, but then I found one...or some..."

"It's hard to think of a gift for a guy who barely likes anything, huh?" Ness asked amused. "I know that very well. Last year's Christmas was a hard one because I barely found a gift for Mewtwo."

Chris looked back at Ness. "You gave Mewtwo a gift?"

Ness looked away. "A Twistedspoon item or something like that I found in his world," he said. "It looks ridiculous, but he said he liked the gift because it would help him to meditate better... Those psychic guys are psychos sometimes. If I knew he liked spoons, I'd have given him a basic kitchen set from the beginning."

"You are a psychic kid," Chris pointed out.

Ness looked at Chris. "Yeah, but I'm not that into my abilities, you know. You know how Mewtwo is too smart and stuff? I don't want to turn into some sage. Well, I balance what I do between a kid and a psychic guy. After all, I'm still young."

"...Wait a minute..."

"Yes?"

"Do you age?"

Ness thought for a moment. "Well, for that, I do age, but there's something you should know..."

"What?"

"The universes that we all come from have their own fabrics of time," Ness said. "We all have different paces of time that greatly differ from each other. Thanks to that, the next Smash tournament is always going to be the next month every time I go back to my world."

Chris looked in disbelief at this.

"I know," Ness said. "Thing is, Master Hand doesn't want me to age because that would "take the charm" away from the tourney since he likes how peculiar it looks like with all the different people he requested to come here..."

"...Then...what about the others? Do they age?"

"As long as we're all here, we don't age a day," Ness explained. "Actually, whenever we come here, Master Hand uses his weird magic to stop the aging time of all worlds so he doesn't interfere with some "important time-line events" he doesn't want to deal with."

For Chris, it was easy to understand that Master Hand didn't want to mess up the actual time-line events that occurred in the games.

"I find this really good, though," Ness said. "We can stay here all days without aging."

"...That's messed up..." Chris admitted.

"Too bad you can't take advantage of it," Ness said. "You have to age because your world is original. It's a bit depressing that we don't celebrate others' birthdays, though."

"I see..."

Ness nodded. "Enough about that," Ness said. "You ready for tomorrow's Christmas?"

Chris gasped a bit before looking back at the rows of presents. "I-I think so," he said. "But Lucario hasn't come here ever since yesterday's morning..."

"He's right behind you, you know."

Chris hopped a bit on his spot and turned around to see Lucario holding a blue present under his left arm. "L-Lucario, you're home!" Chris said nervously. "I-I was a little bit worried that you were gone..."

Lucario shook his head. "I wouldn't be gone enough to miss Christmas," he said. "Besides, I found you a nice present that...I hope you'll like..."

Chris looked at the present. "O-oh, I see..."

Lucario silently put down the gift with the rows of presents before standing back up. "It was hard for me to find one."

"Same here," Chris said. "Where'd you go, anyway?"

"I went to different worlds to find you gift."

"...What?"

Lucario nodded. "I thought that I could find you a gift somewhere in the other worlds we had visited. Not only did I find the gift, but I also got the chance to travel for a little while, and it was very enjoyable." He closed his eyes and smiled a bit. "It feels so nice to leap from cliff to cliff when you have the chance to do it."

Ness and Chris exchanged glances before looking back at Lucario. "Um, that's nice to hear..." Chris muttered.

Lucario opened his eyes in shock. "B-but it's boring if you're not around, Chris. In fact, it was so boring to do it without you."

Ness looked bored. "Liar, liar, super strange thighs on fire."

Lucario glared down at Ness before looking back at Chris. "S-so yes, that's what happened while I was away," he said. "I even met up with Zidane and Colette (and she hugged me very tightly...)"

"..." Chris looked away. He had to admit that Lucario had a good idea to look for a gift. It would have been easier for Chris to find one if he took Lucario's idea before. "(Dammit, outsmarted by my own Pokémon... I don't know if I should feel proud or embarrassed...)"

"...So..." Lucario began, "...are you ready for tomorrow?"

Chris looked at Lucario. "O-oh, yes, I'm ready and all set," he said. "Let's hope everything goes well."

While the duo started to talk with each other, Ness looked away to think about something. "(I'm starting to think that this long break is going end soon... Actually, I don't think so, but... Nah, I'm just imagining things. But then, how are the others doing in finding the Temple Guardians?)"

Ness kept pondering this question for the remainder of the night as it went on...

December 25 - Thursday - Morning - Christmas

And once the night hit 12 PM, Christmas arrived at the Smash Mansion; said celebration taking place at 9 AM.

Unlike any other idea, it was expected to see many of them gathered in small crowds with presents on the floor. Even though the event would also involve the coldest ones, they were alone by themselves, usually somewhere a bit far away from the other crowds like the area where there were sofas.

Snake, for example, was sitting down on a sofa with crossed arms. Like he expected, nobody went to get a present for him. However, that thought was dropped once Meta Knight walked to him and showed him a black gift. "Here," Meta Knight said.

Snake looked at Meta Knight. "So, you thought you could get me a gift?" Snake asked.

"Aww, that's very thoughtful of you, Meta Knight," Mei-Ling said over the codec. "There's a soul out there who cares for Snake besides us."

"Yeah," Otacon said. "By the way, where's my gift, Mei?"

"Oh, that. Hold on, let me go for it."

Snake ignored the conversation. "What made you decide to give me a gift?" he asked to Meta Knight. "I don't think that whatever is inside this box is going to appeal me."

"Maybe," Meta Knight said. "Unless you open it, you will never know what's inside."

Snake raised an eyebrow. "Acting smart, huh?"

"No, I'm just giving you a feeling of suspense that will ultimately make you open the gift."

Snake stared at the present.

"And it seems it's working," Meta Knight said. "Merry Christmas, Snake," he said before walking away.

Snake narrowed his eyes at Meta Knight's back before he stared down at the gift on his lap. The mercenary's hands slowly opened the present before he eventually saw what was inside of it. Snake could only nod as if he said that the gift did appeal to him. "Hmm, what do you know? He found a suitable gift..."

Suddenly, a pink gift appeared right besides his right side on the sofa. Snake shifted his look at it before looking up at Peach. "Merry Christmas, Snake," Peach said warmly.

Snake blinked a bit. "Odd to see you giving me a gift today."

Peach chuckled. "Oh, it's not only you," she said. "I gave a present to everyone."

"What, you didn't find the 5 adequate people for you?"

"Um, no, it's just that I like to do this every year," Peach said. "Being the princess of a kingdom has its advantages. I use those advantages for good."

The mercenary expected such a response from the princess. "Yeah, I'd figured you'd say something like that."

Peach chuckled heartily. "Well, I hope my gift is of your liking, Snake."

"Well, I'll see that by myself. Unfortunately, I didn't get one for you."

"That's not a problem," Peach said. "I know you haven't spent enough time with us. I understand that pretty well."

Snake looked at the pink gift. "Thanks, though."

"You're always welcome," Peach said before walking away to another direction.

As Snake was about to open the pink present, Yoshi passed from behind the sofa and went to Olimar. The Yoshi took out from behind a red gift. "Hmm, here," Yoshi said. "Merry Christmas."

Olimar gasped. "Oh god, what is inside?"

"Open it, then... It was hard to find a present for you."

Olimar took the red gift from Yoshi's hands and began to open the present. Once Olimar tossed the wrapper away, he opened the box and found a long pot with fertile ground in it. "G-goodness, a pot for my Pikmins to sleep!" Olimar said.

Yoshi sweat dropped. "D-do they burrow themselves into the earth to sleep?"

Olimar nodded. "Yes, I was thinking of buying one for them...but now I don't have to do it... How did you know I wanted this?"

"...I didn't know..."

"..."

Yoshi looked away. "I was running out of ideas, and since you looked like you'd like something related to gardens...I bought that for you."

Olimar stared at Yoshi for a few seconds. "...Oh..." Olimar muttered. "...Thanks, Yoshi..."

Yoshi looked back at Olimar. "...You're welcome..."

The two remained silent while Pikachu carried a big green gift on his head to an excited Pichu. The older Electric type set the gift down and smiled a bit at Pichu. "Go ahead and open it," Pikachu said proudly.

Pichu didn't waste any more second to pass as he leaped on top of the gift and frantically tore open the wrapper. The young Electric type opened the box, gasped, yelled in glee, and dove into it. Once Pichu dove in, a big spongy cushion pushed out the box's sides. Pichu's head popped out from the top and looked at Pikachu. "Yes, a super soft cushion!" Pichu said happily.

Pikachu nodded. "I knew you still liked very soft stuff so I got you that."

Pichu looked happy before he dove deeper into the cushion. "Oooooh, just you wait until I sleep in here. It's all soft and...so fun to swim!"

"(The more childish the mind, the easier is to find a gift)," Pikachu thought. "Don't cut it or something, okay? It was one of the last ones at the shop."

"You bet!" Pichu yelled before he kept swimming inside the cushion.

As Pikachu kept watching Pichu shaking the cushion, an enthusiastic Lanky juggled a big yellow gift in the air as he walked towards the group of Kongs, specifically DK. The Kong Smasher grinned at the juggling gift before it fell down in front of him. "There you go," Lanky said. "It was hard to look for the best one, but I got it!"

DK quickly grabbed the gift and tore it apart with both hands to reveal a set of fresh-looking bananas. The Smasher gasped in excitement. "B-Bananas from the Banana Fairy Island!" he said as the others looked at the fruit. "M-man, these are the hardest to find out there!"

Lanky sighed. "You know how hard it is to find the freshest ones? It is almost impossible," he explained. "You can't tell which one is the good one until you taste one. I had to compare every single one until I found the right one."

Tiny looked disgusted. "D-don't tell me you were filled with gases while you did all that."

Lanky smiled a bit. "What do you think?"

Diddy shrugged. "T-too much innuendo..."

"Agreed..." Chunky muttered.

DK made a happy expression before he began to ate the banana he received. Since there were many bananas, he offered the others to eat along with him.

Several feet away from all of them, Chris (in his Chozo Arts job) ducked under the Christmas tree to take out the gift that Lucario had brought before. The World Traveler stared at it before he looked to his left where Lucario ducked to get the gift Chris brought for him. The Aura Pokémon looked at Chris. "Please, open it," Lucario said.

Chris looked a bit embarrassed because of the gift Lucario was grabbing. "O-okay," Chris said. "I wonder what you got me..."

"I'm sure you'll like it...that's what I think."

The World Traveler began to tear slowly open the wrapper of the box. Chris then opened the box and looked what was inside.

Chris's eyes widened as he took out from the box a perfectly well made Wii statue made out of pure minerals and glittering gems. The World Traveler's jaw opened a bit in awe at the sight of his reflection on the light blue surface of the statue. Every single detail that someone would find in a normal Wii was there. What's more, it was nicely sculptured to the smallest of details that it almost looked as if a Wii was turned into pure ore. "L-Lucario...this...this is so amazing..."

Lucario looked a bit proud with the small smile he had on his face. "I'm so glad you liked it, Chris."

Chris looked at Lucario. "How did you get this?"

"Simple," Lucario said. "I went to Zidane's world."

"You...went there?"

Lucario nodded. "I arrived at the dwarf settlement of Conde Petie and there was Zidane taking a small vacation. When Zidane saw me, we started a conversation with each other and I explained the purpose why I was there. Once I told him that, he offered me a big amount of Ore that he had with him. At first, I said no, but he insisted me to take it."

"And...what happened after that?"

"Well, I was honest when I told him that the Ore wouldn't be enough because it looked like it to me, so then he said the Ore could be used for making sculptures. That's when I got the idea to use my spikes and make you a sculpture...of a Wii."

Chris looked back at the sculpture.

"I was having trouble, so I asked Zidane for help. He helped to make the sculpture's sides vertical, and I used my spikes to make the small details. I stayed there for a whole day until I was done by night, and that's when I said good bye to him and got back yesterday during the night."

The World Traveler was thrilled by Lucario's effort. However, it made Chris's gift look pathetic. Chris thought that Lucario did a lot more effort than he did. Heck, his Pokémon made a gift out of pure minerals while Chris used the old-fashioned way to go to shops and buy something good enough for him. Chris's smile suddenly faded.

Lucario noticed the somewhat depressed look of his trainer. "Is something the matter, Chris? You don't like my gift?"

Chris gasped and looked nervously at Lucario. "N-no, it's just that I was hoping you'd like my gift..."

Lucario chuckled and started to open Chris's gift, much for the dismay of the owner. "Well, that's what I'm holding it. I'm sure you got one for me after all."

Chris looked in disbelief as Lucario opened the gift. Once Lucario did so, he opened the box and looked inside. As Chris had expected, Lucario stared confused at what Lucario found in the gift. "..." Chris gulped.

"..." Lucario looked back at Chris. "U-um..."

Chris's lips trembled like a wave before he groaned aloud. "L-Lucario, I'm so sorry! It was so hard for me to find a gift for you, I'm so sorry!"

Most of the people who were opening their gifts looked at their direction.

Lucario looked inside the box and began to take out what was inside.

Apparently, Chris had gotten many different items. Lucario took out some sunglasses, a DS protector case (because he had a black DS Lite), some black earphones, a dark blue iPod (shockers), and a gold watch. "...I..." Lucario trailed off, completely confused at the gifts.

Chris looked defeated and bowed down to Lucario. "I-I'm really sorry, seriously... I was running out of ideas..."

Lucario's mouth opened a bit. "W-well..." He looked inside the box, and Lucario didn't want to ask why there was a small key-chain with a figurine of Gnome inside. He took it out and stared at it in confusion (especially the little Gnome figurine at the end of the little chain). "...Where'd you get this?"

Chris looked up. "T-that's one of the things I got just for you... I got that for having to put my life in danger by fighting none other than FREAKING Rayquaza two days ago..."

Lucario looked shocked. "W-what? You fought Rayquaza over this?"

"I-it was hell!" Chris yelled before he started to talk fast, "I-I thought I could find a gift by doing a side-quest so I went to Gnome to help him out but then I found out Rayquaza was the one making all those roars over his home and I had to fight him to make him go away but then the battle was so hard that we were almost going to die then Rayquaza called quits and he left and we went to Gnome and he still had a grudge on you but he said whatever and gave me that key-chain so I could give it to you as a gift but I was worried and stuff and more stuff a-"

Lucario covered Chris's mouth. "P-please, don't talk too fast. I can barely understand what you're saying..."

Chris moved Lucario's hand away. "I fought Rayquaza but then I got that key-chain from Gnome..." he summarized.

Lucario looked at the little key-chain. "...But...you got this because you fought a Legendary Pokémon?"

Chris sniffed a bit. "I-I almost died..."

"...I can't believe you did so much for me, Chris."

"I-I know, but it was so scary. Rayquaza was SO pissed that he wanted t-" Chris did a double take and looked shocked at Lucario. "You say what now?"

Lucario looked a bit worried. "I mean to say that it was so amazing of you for having to fight none other than Rayquaza to get a gift for me..." He shook his head. "It was...so admirable of you."

Chris blinked shocked at this. "W-well, I fought in a group..."

Lucario shook his head. "Even so, you fought Rayquaza. It makes my gift look so pathetic, I swear..." Lucario muttered. "I made one for you, but you fought a big entity for my gift... Why didn't I think of doing something like that before?"

Chris's jaw opened.

"I feel so ashamed now..."

The World Traveler looked in pure disbelief at Lucario. What did just happen? That was the only question that was puzzling Chris so much. He never thought Lucario would react the way he did. In fact, it looked so ironic that what Chris feared what was Lucario feared the most. If there was a lady of irony, Chris would have mauled her to death by now.

Unfortunately, there wasn't such a lady.

"..." Chris sighed loudly. "Oh my god... T-then I'm glad you liked my gift..."

"I'd have liked if you didn't have to risk your life, though," Lucario said. "I'd have liked some clothes instead."

Chris looked in disbelief at Lucario. "I would've gone for clothes but SOME HEDGEHOG told me it was pathetic to give some to you."

Lucario instantly glared sideways at Sonic, who at that point was innocently whistling to himself while looking away embarrassed. "I should have known before," Lucario muttered.

Chris looked worried. "But still...do you like my gifts?"

Lucario looked back at Chris and nodded. "I'm very happy. You gave me some random things, but it's the way you got them that matters to me."

Chris smiled a bit at this.

Lucario made a happy expression. "Only you would go to such great lengths for me, right?"

"Honestly speaking...no," Chris said bored. "Don't expect me to do this kind of thing EVER again if it puts my life in danger."

"...At least you did it," Lucario said. "Thank you so much, Chris, and merry Christmas."

Chris hugged sideways his Lucario and chuckled heartily. "Merry Christmas, Lucario," Chris said happily before Lucario growled and hugged him back.

As the two kept hugging each other, an annoyed DK looked away and mumbled to himself, "But I wanted my own iPod..."

And so, Christmas went by very nicely. The celebration ended with a dinner during the night where everyone enjoyed the food and talked. However, as the celebration kept going, some of them wondered what happened to Tails and the others back at Sonic's world. The fact that they haven't reported back yet made most of them get worried. The only option for them to take, for now, was to wait and see what happened...

December 30 - Tuesday - Afternoon – New Year's Eve

The wait had prolonged for a long time. It was New Year's Eve, and there wasn't any news about Tails's team yet. A restless hedgehog sat down on the sofa of the mansion with folded arms behind his back while Master Hand and Peach were removing the Christmas furniture from everywhere.

Sonic sighed loudly. "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN, when are they gonna drop by?" he asked to himself. "It's almost New Year and they even skipped Christmas... That's weird because Amy would usually freak out and go around to look for a gift to me..."

"Well, you gotta be patient," Chip said as he appeared from behind Sonic and flew over the sofa. "Chip Norris says patient is a good option."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Chip, you're not helping."

"Chip might not be helping, but Chip Norris is."

Sonic slapped his forehead. "Ugh, now you're getting me confused to who you are..."

"Chip Norris is the name."

Sonic grunted. "Whatever, Chip...Norris..."

"Hurray, you got my name, Sonic!" Chip cheered. "Now you'll see what Chip Norris is capable of…" He looked around and stared at the double doors of the mansion. "Oh, right there! I'm gonna use my super powerful roundhouse kicks on those doors to break 'em."

Sonic frowned. "Chip, I'm not in the mood t-"

"BANZAI!" Chip interrupted as he went towards the doors with a flying kick ready.

However, just as Chip was about to make contact with the double doors, said double doors suddenly slammed opened (crushing Chip behind one) and a desperate Parakarry came in. "G-guys, guys, guys, where are you? Guys!" he said in panic.

Sonic looked confused to this unexpected visit. One, he wanted to know why Parakarry was so tense. Two, he wanted to see if Chip (Norris) was fine. Sonic chose the first over the second. "Hey, calm down, you," Sonic said. "What's the hurry?"

Parakarry stopped panting heavily. "S-something so bad happened at the village today…"

"It didn't get destroyed by another sword, right?"

"N-no, that's a thing of the past!" Parakarry said. "T-the village…the whole village is…is under martial law!"

"Under what?" Sonic asked confused.

"Y-yeah, just as you heard. The whole village is under martial law by..."

Outside

Outside of the mansion, to the left wall, there was a training session going on. A preoccupied moogle of the name Chris (obviously in his Moogle Knight job) shyly held a sword with both hands as he stared forward at a serious Meta Knight. It happened that Meta Knight had asked Chris to start some training lessons of swordsmanship whenever Chris was ready for the task. The World Traveler was unsure at first, but he ultimately agreed to partake the training.

"W-why did I agree again, kupo?" Chris asked.

Meta Knight unsheathed his sword. "You wanted to make yourself better in swordsmanship. I offered you my help, and so you said yes," he said. "I was looking for a sparring helper as well. You will serve me very well, and I'll do the same for you."

Chris gulped. "J-just don't kill me, kupo..."

"If I did, I would have a grudge by someone close to you," Meta Knight said as he glanced sideways to the left. "Isn't that right, Lucario?"

Chris looked to the right where Lucario meditated in peace below a tree's branches. The Aura Pokémon had his eyes closed, but he was still watching the whole training. "You're absolutely right," Lucario replied. "Don't end up hurting Chris, you heard me?"

Suddenly, Falco (wearing a grey coat) appeared from behind the same tree and chuckled at the scene. "I predict a pretty bad bloodshed very soon today," he joked. "No poking the little guy with the tip of your sword, you got it?"

Chris pouted annoyed. "Y-you come over here and use a sword to spar with us, kupo!"

Falco shrugged as he stared at Meta Knight. "N-no, thanks. I'll rather use fists than a sharp knife..."

Several feet away from Falco was Zelda sitting on a table while drinking hot tea. She was there to see the training session. "I wouldn't mind if the training started," she said interested. "Maybe I could get inspired to get a new training regiment for the soldiers of Hyrule out of this. They need to have that courage because they seem to be lacking a lot of it."

"You're just here to enjoy yourself..." Falco muttered. "After all, you're a princess. The royalty always expects something amusing like fights."

Zelda looked annoyed. "Oh, I'm not in favor of bloodsheds if that is what you mean. I don't like to see such events at all."

"Enough," Meta Knight interrupted as he stared at Chris, Lucario opening his eyes. "Let us commence the session. Are you ready or not?"

Chris gulped and slowly pointed with a hand his little sword at Meta Knight. "I-I'm ready for anything, kupo..." he replied.

"Good," Meta Knight said before he tossed his cape away and extended his bat wings. "En garde."

Chris's eyes widened as he saw Meta Knight taking off from the ground to hover all the way to him. The Moogle Knight yelled in fear before he crossed his sword in front of him before Meta Knight reached him out and started a series of fast slashes that scratched the sword of the moogle. "K-kupo!" Chris yelped in fear as he was constantly forced to step back.

"You should find a way to retaliate," Meta Knight between the swift attacks. "Don't just defend. Retaliate to stop your opponent from attacking many more times like I'm doing."

"(T-this guy is talking so seriously...)" Chris thought worried as he was forced to back away to the wall of the mansion. "(H-how am I supposed to attack back with all those swift attacks, kupo? O-one second without guarding and I'll be severely cut to death, kupo!) A-aah!"

Chris lost the grip of his sword by a strong leftward slash from Meta Knight, who decided to stop the mad assault right now.

As for Chris's sword, it went slicing the air in circles right towards Falco's face. "HOLY CRAP!" Falco yelled as his eyes widened in shock before he ducked in time for the sword to be stuck on the tree's bark, right on top of his head, cutting off some feathers in the process. Falco looked up at the dangerously close weapon and rubbed his head a bit to take some feathers. He stared at them before he got pissed. "Hey, watch where you toss that sword! It cost me some feathers of my head!" Falco complained.

Back at the actual fight, a panting Chris was forcing himself up from the ground at the mercy of Meta Knight's Galaxia right an inch away from his nose. The moogle panted heavily in fear as Meta Knight stared down at him. "Now how are you going to fight back without a weapon?" Meta Knight asked.

"I-I don't know, kupo!" Chris yelled. "I-I'm out of ideas, kupo!"

"Hmph, as I expected," Meta Knight said. "You rely solely on your sword than any other way to attack. Continuing to use that tactic is ultimately going to take you to defeat."

"B-but what am I to do in a situation like this, kupo?"

"That is for you to find out," Meta Knight said before he pulled back his sword from Chris. "The training is over."

Chris kept panting before he stopped and sighed loudly in relief. Zelda looked a bit shocked, but he she was more disappointed. "Aww, it already ended?" she asked. "That ended so fast..."

"A-at least I survived, kupo!" Chris yelled.

"I didn't plan in hurting you at all," Meta Knight stated. "I said that before."

Chris looked back at Meta Knight. "Y-you looked so serious, though..." He gulped. "M-maybe if I had used some stickers..."

"Do you honestly think that you should rely on those?"

"What?"

Meta Knight shook his head. "If you keep relying on those enhancing equipment items, your skill with your abilities will start to become so sloppy and reckless that you won't be able to execute them properly as you do right now," he explained. "Those only help you to become stronger, but what about your natural abilities? They can be further enhanced without relying on equipment if you train by yourself."

Chris blinked at this. "W-well..."

"Train yourself," Meta Knight said. "When you do that, you'll find out your true potential in your skills that the stickers won't grant you. I know that everyone here got those attacks just because Master Hand intervened, but that's not enough," he said. "Master all your abilities before you make yourself stronger."

The Moogle Knight kept staring at the Star Warrior. "H-have you become this strong like that?"

"Yes," Meta Knight said. "Thanks to that, I can easily stop any ridiculously fast opponent from landing a hit on me. It doesn't matter how fast my opponent is, I can find the exact momentum to execute an attack and retaliate back."

Chris recalled that Meta Knight did stop Sonic one time long ago. Meta Knight even pinned the hedgehog down, even if the knight was looking away. "I-I think I remember you doing something like that..."

"I could do that because of training," Meta Knight said. "From now on, be sure you train your abilities. You might get better with time, who knows."

Chris nodded at this before he stood up. "I-I'll have that in mind, Meta Knight..." He bowed to the knight. "Thank you so much for today's training."

Zelda looked a bit pleased at this. "Hmm, this was interesting despite being so short... I enjoyed it."

Falco grunted as held his cut feathers. "You weren't the target of the flying sword of death, THAT'S why you enjoyed all this."

The princess shook her head. "No! I was talking about Meta Knight's lecture, not the fight!"

Lucario looked a bit worried at the training session. "(Be less serious on Chris because you're going to put him in a trauma soon, please...)"

Suddenly, the five overheard the double doors of the mansion slamming open by a blue blur that went directly to the direction of the village. They turned their gazes to the south where a panting Parakarry came around and landed weakly on the ground. "Y-you guys..." he muttered. "I-I... N-no... W-we need some help...please..."

Zelda pushed herself from her chair and walked all the way to the tired Paratroopa. "Please, hold your breath for a moment."

"HIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUU..." Parakarry inhaled air before he exhaled and sighed loudly. "Phew...that feels much better..." He looked up at Zelda. "I-I need you all to come to the village. It's in danger right now!"

"In danger, you say?" Meta Knight asked.

"Y-yeah, danger as in DANGER," Parakarry said alarmed. "Y-you see...the whole village fell under martial law!"

"Under martial law?" Zelda said confused. "What do you mean by that? Is there an army taking over the city for security measurements?"

Parakarry frantically shook his head. "Not that kind of martial law! I mean a much bad one!" he said as the others walked to them. "I-in fact, as we speak, there are some weird robots holding civilians at gunpoint!"

"The hell?" Falco said skeptical. "What kind of army is that, anyway?"

"I-I dunno, but the army is a whole army of robots in egg-shaped bodies. T-they said that the civilians shouldn't move or else they'll destroy the village! I-I managed to sneak away from over the roofs, b-but they're even threatening Quill and Postman as well... Y-you've got to help the village before it's destroyed!"

"Egg-shaped robots, kupo?" Chris asked confused before he rubbed his chin. "Hmm, why do I think I remember those robots, kupo..."

Parakarry looked serious. "L-look, you can ponder while you head down to the city. I already told Sonic to go and he said he knew what was happening. I don't know what he was talking about, but he should need your help! The more, the better!"

Meta Knight looked at the direction of the village. "Then we should better be on our way."

"I wonder who that army is..." Falco muttered.

Chris gulped. "T-this will probably serve me as training with my sword, kupo..."

Falco grumbled and handed Chris his sword. "And make sure it stays in your hands, got it?" Falco asked annoyed.

"O-okay, kupo..."

Lucario glared at the south. "Let's go."

The six then began their way to the village as fast as they could.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-
Sidewalks

Meanwhile, in the village, there was a gun aimed directly at the forehead of a young girl. Said girl happened to be a shocked Ai who had recently come out from a clothes' shop with a bag with dresses. The Animal Village resident's eyes shook in fear as she eyed the big robot in front of her. "W-what is happening?" Ai asked in fear. "W-why are you aiming that weapon at me?"

The robot itself had an egg-shaped body. It stood around 6-feet, had blue, white, and green steel markings around its body, and it had a machine gun attached to its left hand. "Civilians are not to cause any trouble," the robot said. "Any kind of misbehavior shall be punished severely."

"W-what?" Ai asked. "B-but I wasn't doing anything wrong!" she argued before the robot moved the gun closer to her forehead. "P-please, don't scare me like that!"

The Animal Village resident moved her eyes around to see what was happening. Not only she was being threatened, but also there were many other residents standing still on place as many other robots surrounded them. Families, children, and lone civilians remained standing still in order to avoid being shot.

Ai gulped at this and looked back at the robot. "I-I don't understand any of this," she said. "Why are all these robots doing this to everyone? It wasn't like that yesterday!"

"Silence," the robot replied. "You shall not question our authority."

Ai forced a glare. "B-but it's so unfair!" she yelled. "I don't see why you have to do this!"

"That is enough," the robot said. "Prepare to suffer, insolent girl."

Ai gasped and took a step back from the robot before she ducked and screamed loudly for help. "HELP, SOMEBODY!" she yelled loudly.

The robot took a step forward and aimed down its gun at Ai's head. The crowd looked at their direction, and this little action made all the robots charge forward every single one of them, creating panic as everyone screamed for help.

And said help was responded as the form of a blue blur swiftly slamming into every single robot in the vicinity. Metal exploded into bits, machine guns were scrapped, and each robot exploded. The public still screamed before they all saw that all the robots were destroyed, leaving wires and metal all over the streets.

Ai kept ducking in fear before she noticed that nothing was happening anymore. The Animal Village resident opened her eyes and lifted up her head to look around in confusion. Her eyes instantly looked to a machine gun in front of her, causing Ai to jump from the floor in fear. "K-kyah!" she yelped before looking around to find the robots all gone. "W-what just happened here now?"

"Oh, it was nothing. I was just taking a stroll around and I saw these robots messing so I beat them, no big deal."

Ai blinked confused at the voice before she turned around and gasped at the blue hedgehog in front of her. "O-oh, w-who are you?" Ai asked.

Sonic grinned and gave her a thumb up. "The name's Sonic the Hedgehog," he said with a wink.

Ai stared at Sonic. "W-what…" She looked around to see the people looking in confusion at the scraps of metal scattered all over the place. "I mean, you destroyed all the robots?"

"Yeah," Sonic said simply. "They were about a hundred, but they were nothing. They're all gone like the wind."

Ai looked a bit surprised at this claim. She looked around once more, and sure enough, there wasn't any other robot menacing a person. The Animal Village resident blinked confused before looking up at Sonic. "And…you said you destroyed them by yourself?"

Sonic looked worried. "What the heck? Didn't anybody see me at all?"

"…I…was ducking down…" Ai responded.

The hedgehog looked at the people, and none of them was paying any attention to him. "…Noooo!" Sonic groaned before slapping his face. "I knew I was doing it so damn fast and nobody noticed I took all those robots down!"

"So I take that you just were going to save people only to get famous?"

Sonic gasped when he saw that Chris, Lucario, Zelda, Meta Knight, Falco, and Parakarry appeared behind Ai, the latter turning around to look at them. "N-no, it wasn't what you think it was…I-I swear of it!" Sonic said in his defense.

Zelda looked annoyed. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did as I've thought."

Sonic groaned once more. "You guys, I saved these people because I HAD to do it, okay?"

Chris grumbled. "Well, at least show some dignity and respect next time you talk with a girl, kupo."

Meta Knight looked around the streets. "At least Sonic took these robots out. That's all that matters to me."

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Heh, told you I was doing my job."

Chris looked at the Star Warrior. "You're just going to say that, kupo?"

Meta Knight nodded. "I don't see why we should care about Sonic's intentions as long as he saves people."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, you shouldn't care about me."

Falco chuckled. "That means we should ignore you altogether."

"Of course I know… Hey, wait a minute now!" Sonic demanded.

Parakarry looked happy. "Well, it was a good idea to call you all here after all! The village is saved, so all is good once again. Thanks a lot, everyone!"

Lucario looked a bit skeptical. "But where did these robots come from?"

Zelda rubbed her chin. "Actually, that was bothering me just now…" she muttered. "Parakarry, did these robots just appear out of nowhere?"

Parakarry thought for a moment. "Well, last time I recall, these robots suddenly appeared from all sides of the village…but…I think there was more to that…"

"What do you mean?" Meta Knight asked as Chris inspected a dropped machine gun.

"I think I recall seeing a maniac in some kind of hover machine with the robots…" Parakarry recalled. "The guy looked insane, I swear. He laughed like if it was so funny to destroy a village, and he was the one who told the robots to keep all citizens in here…"

Sonic knocked his head a few times. "Did he…look like an egg?"

"…Not literally, but he had an egg-shaped body for sure," Parakarry said before he shrugged. "He looked like a maniac…"

Sonic gasped. "Eggman!" he said. "Oh, so that's why this looked so familiar with all these robots doing this… Eggman is here!"

"You mean that guy with the fat stomach?" Falco asked.

"There wouldn't be someone else like him," Sonic said. "So where is Eggman?"

Parakarry rubbed his helmet. "Geez, I forgot where he went... Wait a minute," he began, "last time I recall, that "Eggman" guy headed to the south, saying something like staying away from some temple..."

"The temple..." Meta Knight trailed off. "...Yes, I heard there was some kind of temple nearby."

Chris blinked. "Oh, he means the Mazuri Temple where some of us took refuge from the rain that time, kupo..."

"And aren't we supposed to protect the temples?" Zelda asked.

The group looked to the south...where a long wall blocked their sight. "Er...was that wall over there before, kupo?" Chris asked.

"Heheh, apparently, the Hammer Bros. put that wall there," Parakarry explained. "They said that the sight of temple in the distance looked out of place for a little village like this so they built that wall to prevent anyone from seeing it. They also said that "mystical places are ALWAYS bound to be attacked no matter what happens, and that will SURELY include the closest place like a village, town, or city" or something like that..."

The Smashers looked bored at the wall. "...Dude, that sounded incredibly ironic just now," Falco commented.

"..." Parakarry slapped his helmet. "See? They were right all along! Putting that wall over there was useless! They should've destroyed the temple so this wouldn't have happened!"

"A-actually, we need the temple to be perfectly intact," Zelda said. "So please...don't destroy it... It's very valuable for us..."

Parakarry looked bored. "Geez, I knew it was a place of importance all along..."

Sonic took a step forward. "No time to waste. We gotta get to the temple and stop Eggman!" he yelled before he disappeared from sight.

Lucario sighed. "There he goes again, alone by himself..." he muttered.

Meta Knight frowned. "One day of these, Sonic will understand the meaning to be patient."

"Unfortunately, I'll have to agree that we have to hurry this time," Falco said.

"Then let's go," Zelda suggested.

The group nodded in unison before they all ran to the south before turning to the right to cross the wall around it. Parakarry kept staring to the south before he sighed and looked back at the people cleaning the streets from the scraps of metal. "Well, it's going to be New Year tonight. We should be getting ready for the celebration and make sure there isn't any alcohol being sold..."

The Paratroopa looked down to see that Ai was there still, completely ignored by the Smashers.

"...Oh..." Parakarry muttered. "...Sorry, I didn't see you were here..."

Ai kept staring at Parakarry without looking at any other way.

"..." Parakarry shifted his eyes around before he chuckled nervously. "I-I've gotta go for now... See you!" he said before he turned around and flew away to the direction of the office.

Ai stared at Parakarry's direction before she put a hand under her left cheek and looked at no one in particular. "What did just happen now?" she asked confused. "Why do I think I shouldn't have heard anything those people said?"

The Animal Village resident shrugged at the thought before she picked up her bag and walked away to the north before turning to left corner of the sidewalk, still wondering what happened a few seconds ago.

-Mazuri Temple-
Entrance

Meanwhile, in front of big grass fields, there stood the Mazuri Temple. The temple itself wasn't affected by the renovation of the village that it remained the same, except for the fact that now a long field was situated between the temple and the village. The temple had served as some sort of historical monument where almost nobody ever went.

However, today was much different than that.

In front of the temple, there were two figures. One was Dr. Eggman in his hover machine, and the other one was another different person. This white-bearded, short old man looked like a chief from a tribe since he wore red garments, wore a golden necklace around his bald head, wore yellow rings hanging on his long ears, and he carried a wooden staff with his left hand.

Dr. Eggman grunted at the old man. "You don't want to open the Gaia Gate, then?"

The old man shook his head. "I am sorry, but I'm not obliged to do such a thing at this time," he said with a frown. "I'm not required to open the Gaia Gate right now."

"Why is it that you're being so stubborn in that?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You should know better that opening the gate will grant me a better way to resolve this problem."

The old man shook his head. "Even I know you have malicious intentions with the Gaia Gate," he said. "I only grant permission for outsiders to enter the temple when they have good intentions for it. Unfortunately, I haven't found such people because they tend to appear and ask for admission to the temple, and it is risky to do it without being careful about them."

"Grrrrr, just open the gate for me now!" Dr. Eggman demanded.

"No," the old man said. "Taking me here by force and then request me to do that isn't going to help you."

"Look," Dr. Eggman began irritated, "or you go in there and open the Gaia Gate, or I'll eliminate you right now!"

"If you do eliminate me, then how are you going to open the Gaia Gate?" the old man asked. "I'm the only one who can do that."

Dr. Eggman grunted before he grinned and chuckled. "Well, smart old man, since you're saying that...you wouldn't mind if I cause some havoc at your village, right?"

The old man narrowed his eyes. "Threatening to endanger the lives of my people... You're clearly not worthy to go into the temple."

"So, how will it be?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You have the decision to save the trouble...or have the trouble on your humble home."

The old man thought for a moment. "Hmm..."

"Eggman!"

Dr. Eggman and the old man turned to the north where they saw a cocky blue hedgehog looking at them with a grin and crossed arms. Dr. Eggman grunted at the sight of the hedgehog. "Sonic!" Dr. Eggman yelled. "I knew you were going to show up here very soon..."

Sonic chuckled. "Nice to see ya around these parts again," he said, wiping his nose with his thumb. "You know, thanks for trying to attack the people in the village back there. You gave me good nostalgia by eliminating all your robots at top speed."

Dr. Eggman slapped his forehead. "Every single robot is someday destined to turn into scrapped metal..." he muttered before he glared at Sonic. "Sorry, Sonic, but I don't have time for you."

"Oh, but I have time for you," Sonic said. "Why is it that you and that army weren't doing their evil plans? It's been a pretty long time and I got bored."

The scientist chuckled. "Sorry for making you wait. I forgot you hated to wait because you're so impatient."

The hedgehog narrowed his eyes at this.

"You see, we had some technical issues," Dr. Eggman explained. "We couldn't resume any of our plans because we didn't have the necessary ideas to use. We took a long time, but it's finally over," he said. "Now, it's time for us to get a move on and resume our main mission again."

"And what are those plans?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"Pfft, it should be pretty obvious for you, hedgehog," Dr. Eggman said. "I don't want to waste any more words with you today. Now be a good guy and leave us."

Sonic smirked. "Since I'm a good guy, I'm gonna have to kick you outta here before I leave."

"Persistent, aren't we?" Dr. Eggman asked. "Well, since you're being such a pest today, I'll have to take care of you."

The old man looked at Sonic. "Now what is going on here?" he asked. "Besides being taken here by force from Mazuri, I have to witness a feud?"

Sonic looked confused at the old man. "Er…who are you?"

"Pardon me for not introducing myself," the old man said. "I am Gwek, the village chief of Mazuri," he introduced himself. "And you are Sonic, right?"

"Well, yeah, you heard that from human egg here."

Dr. Eggman grunted. "Like I said before, I don't have time to waste for you or more conversations." He pointed down at the old man. "You, start opening the Gaia Gate!"

The village chief of Mazuri shook his head. "I have said and will keep saying no," he said. "I won't allow you to open the Gaia Gate. I don't like people like you to go inside."

The scientist looked at Sonic. "Not only I have to deal with this pathetic fool, but also I have to deal with you, Sonic," Dr. Eggman said aggravated. "This couldn't have turned out like this. I expected to finish things up right after I came here."

"Guess your way isn't just going to happen," Sonic said grinning.

At that moment, the Smashers caught up with the hedgehog from behind and looked at Dr. Eggman. "Oh no, he's here, kupo..." Chris muttered.

Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes. "And I was also foreseeing all of you here as well. The logical thing would be that because Sonic has a collar and you're his owner. He's been such a bad "dog" for sure, hasn't he?"

Sonic looked at the collar of his neck. "Well, of course I have to be wearing this crap daily!" he complained. "Thanks to you, I have to deal with a wolf transformation that looks so cliché, and a psycho guy in me trying to take over my body!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "What, you don't like that surge of power, Sonic? I thought you were into physical stuff. I also let that friend in you to become acquainted with you."

Sonic grunted. "You'll pay for letting that guy go nuts on me!"

"Sonic, calm down," Meta Knight cut in. "I presume you were already taunting Dr. Eggman before we came here."

"That is exactly what happened," Gwek suddenly said.

The hedgehog shook his head. "What side are you guys with again?"

"Obvious," Zelda said before glaring at the scientist. "We're not surely on his side."

"And I'm glad that it's that way, milady," Dr. Eggman said cordially. "But enough chit-chat, you should all better be gone from my sight before you suffer the consequences of meddling with me." He turned to Gwek. "You shall open the Gaia Gate or else your village will burn down to the ground!"

Gwek tapped his staff on the ground. "I'm not willing to help you," he said. "I trust that you will never attack my village."

"Grrrrr!" Dr. Eggman grunted. "That's it, now I'm getting mad at this whole nonsense," he said while gritting his teeth. "Since I need to finish my task as soon as possible here, I'll let everyone here be friends with my little new friend here..." he said as he took out a button from behind his back and pressed it with his thumb.

Suddenly, the Smashers looked up to see a huge bug-like robot flying over the temple of Mazuri. Most of them gasped before they ran back to avoid being crushed by the robot's immense size. Gwek backed away to the wall while Dr. Eggman snickered and flew over the big robot's head where he attached his hover machine into its head and laughed maniacally at the Smashers. "This, my friends, is Egg Beetle!" he yelled. "Behold this powerful creation of my genius!"

The robot in question looked like an oversized beetle. It was purple, big, and had long pincers with glowing pink lights. It had a green barrier that protected Dr. Eggman from being harmed.

The Smashers took their positions as they faced the robot. "Is this going to take too long?" Falco asked.

"I don't think it will," Lucario said. "It's not a strong robot."

Dr. Eggman snickered. "Well, since you're all so confident about destroying one of my ultimate creations (Sonic: He always says that. Ignore him.), let's see if you can make a scratch on it!"

The robot closed quickly its pincers several times in front of the Smashers.

Sonic Unleashed - Boss Stage - vs. Boss - Day

Chris gulped and crossed his sword in front of him. "Will we be able to defeat him on that thing, kupo?"

"Why don't we see how much it lasts?" Meta Knight asked as he unsheathed Galaxia. "This will be a fair battle."

"Heh, bring it on," Falco said as he brandished his Blaster. "Let's start by SHOOTING it down!"

"Then let's all use projectiles," Zelda said.

Lucario moved back his left foot and began charging an Aura Sphere. "Let's do this," he muttered.

"Now!" Sonic yelled.

The group began a full assault against the Egg Beetle by using different projectile attacks: Chris used Mog Lance to send forth slicing shockwaves, Zelda used Din's Fire to direct them all the way to the robot, Falco began shooting the robot at will, and Lucario fired fully Aura Spheres. For the close combat attackers, Sonic used charged Spin Dashes while Meta Knight rushed forward and used Drill Rush on a pincer.

The Egg Beetle backed away from the group. Dr. Eggman grunted angrily at this while they all kept attacking. "Ugh, you seem to become stronger during all this time..." he muttered. "Well, how about this, then?"

The Egg Beetle began to throw some purple boxes from behind its back towards the Smashers. Lucario looked up and grunted. "Destroy those boxes!" he yelled.

"Aim up at 'em!" Falco yelled.

The four long-range attackers directed their attacks at the falling boxes, successfully destroying every single box on midair before they could make contact with any of them.

As Dr. Eggman cursed at this, both Sonic and Meta Knight used their same tactics and rammed themselves against the robot's pincers. The Egg Beetle began to shoot out smoke from some small openings around its pincers that made the scientist alarmed. "N-no!" Dr. Eggman gasped. "T-this can't be happening! I thought this machine was going to be enough to crush you all!"

"Over Limit ready!" Kawashima announced. "It's ready for anyone to use!"

Meta Knight took this opportunity to use the Over Limit by pushing back his cape, sending out a force that pushed back the robot to the temple's direction. Dr. Eggman grunted angrily at this before he looked forward and saw Meta Knight flying directly to the green shield in front of him. With a swift movement, Meta Knight swept the shield with his cape, causing darkness to engulf the whole area with everyone in it.

...

And suddenly, a swift and deadly slash cut both of the Egg Beetle's pincers in half, making them blow up into pieces of metal. Not only the pincers were cut in half, but the whole robot was cut in half as well. Dr. Eggman looked around in panic before he started to type quickly on the control panel of the machine to do something. "I-it's falling apart!" Dr. Eggman yelled. "T-this is extremely ridiculous!"

Meta Knight, standing just in front of the shield, frowned at Dr. Eggman and jumped back to the group, who at that time had stopped their attacks.

Music stops

As Sonic rolled back to the Smashers, they all watched as the robot began to shoot smoke everywhere. Dr. Eggman typed frantically on the control panel before the robot blew up completely, creating a big explosion that made all of them cover their faces with their arms. Now there was a smoke cloud in front of them, and Dr. Eggman flew out from the top and raised a right arm covered in soot at them. "Y-you!" he yelled. "T-this isn't going to end right here, you heard me?"

Zelda looked a bit surprised at this. "Wait...we beat him already?"

"Hmph," Meta Knight muttered as he sheathed Galaxia. "It seems we have to thank the badge Chris mentioned before."

Chris gasped and took out said badge from behind. The Moogle Knight stared at it in surprised with Falco, Sonic, and Lucario. "...Thanks, the Master..." Chris muttered with a pleased smile.

"Grrrrr!" Dr. Eggman grunted loudly through gritted teeth. "You'll pay for destroying one of my robots!" He sat back into his hover machine. "Just you wait until we resume our plans. It'll be all over soon, that I assure you!"

"Shut up," Sonic said grinning. "You'd rather leave now before you stay here more."

"Good idea," Dr. Eggman said as a dark portal appeared in midair. The doctor looked over to the temple where Gwek stared up at him. "Your village will pay for this..."

Gwek shook his head. "I'm aware of that," he said. "My village won't fall down because of you since it will be just fine. I know that the dreadful event you're planning to do with Dark Gaia isn't going to see the light of day."

"Literally," Dr. Eggman added. "I need the night than the day." He looked down at the Smashers and pointed a finger at them. "I hope you're all ready for what's to come... You haven't seen the last of me yet," he muttered before he directed his hover machine into the portal before it disappeared.

Falco kept glaring at the spot where the dark portal disappeared before he spun his weapon on a finger and kept it in its holster. "He's gone now," he said, "so much for a day without battling."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Eggman...you're gonna pay for doing this to me..."

Chris looked worried to Sonic before he flew over to him and placed a hand on his right shoulder. Sonic turned to him, and Chris smiled a bit. "Sonic...I know you're still angry at him for doing this to you, kupo."

Sonic looked away. "Even if I keep taunting him..."

"It's alright," Chris said. "You'll see that I'm going to do something about all this..." he turned to look at the others, "and that also goes for everyone here."

Zelda nodded. "We don't want to see you in that hideous look again."

Lucario nodded in agreement. "It's better when you're are the normal you."

Meta Knight nodded as well. "Until that day comes, keep relying on our help, Sonic."

Falco grinned and crossed his arms. "Yeah, you'll get rid of that transformation before you get really sick of it."

Sonic stared at the group before he smiled a bit and nodded. "Thanks, you guys..." he muttered.

"Ahem."

The six Smashers looked forward to the temple where the old man Gwek was smiling at them. "O-oh, we forgot you were here," Zelda said embarrassed.

"It's not necessary to say that," Gwek said. "But what I want to say to all you is this: thank you for saving me from that person a moment ago."

"It was what we had to do," Meta Knight said. "It was clear to see that Dr. Eggman was about to force you to do something against your will, am I right?"

Gwek nodded. "In fact, this Dr. Eggman wanted me to open the Gaia Gate for him," he explained. "He found out I was one of the Temple Guardians..."

Sonic nodded at this. "Yeah, I see... Wait..."

Zelda looked confused at this. "Wait...you mean to say you're a Temple Guardian?"

"Yes, I am," Gwek said. "I'm not only the village elder of Mazuri, but I'm also a Temple Guardian."

Lucario tilted his head bit. "But...I thought you were supposed to be hiding from anyone else from knowing you were a Temple Guardian..."

Gwek rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky. "I was supposed to do that," he said. "Lately, people have been asking about the people who are the Temple Guardians right after the planet was split into pieces," he said. "It looked so strange to me that people started to do that, so I had to keep my status in secret for security reasons."

Sonic grumbled. "I have a question for you, old man."

Chris looked annoyed at Sonic. "S-Sonic, you should call him by his name, you idiot, kupo!" he said through gritted teeth.

The hedgehog ignored Chris altogether, much for the dismay of the moogle.

"Did one of those people happen to look like a fox with two tails?" Sonic asked.

"Hmm..." Gwek thought for a moment. "...Yes, there was such a fellow coming into the village with some other people some time ago... They were looking for the Temple Guardian, me, in my village. However...I distrusted them to stay cautious, so I lied about the fact that I was a Temple Guardian myself."

Sonic groaned a bit. "B-but they're good guys! They're my friends, you know!"

"So?"

"So?"

Zelda blocked Sonic's face and she nervously chuckled a bit. "P-please, forgive our friend here," she said embarrassed. "He's a little bit tense today..."

"Oh, I see," Gwek said as he looked back at them. "Well, as I was saying before, I hid my status as Temple Guardian in order to keep malicious people like the Dr. Eggman from getting inside the temple; the same one you see behind me," he explained.

Sonic pushed Zelda's hand away. "The people who came to your village were trying to find you to stop Dark Gaia from destroying the world!" Sonic argued.

Gwek kept staring at Sonic. "Unfortunately, it was hard for me to tell who was good and who was bad...and I guess I was too late to guess," he said ashamed as he frowned. "Thanks to this, all the Temple Guardians had been kidnapped by that same man..."

Lucario blinked a bit. "...Pardon me? Did you say Dr. Eggman kidnapped..."

Gwen nodded. "Yes, this Dr. Eggman kidnapped every single Temple Guardian from their respective places around the world," he explained. "What is more is that he is holding them captive somewhere in a place I couldn't know its location..."

Falco narrowed his eyes. "That bastard is holding them all in the army's HQ, no doubt about it."

"Well, if you know such a place, please do something," Gwek requested.

Chris looked worried. "But...what happened exactly, kupo?"

Gwek sighed. "It happened not too long ago..." he trailed off. "As the continents were still drifting in the skies, Dr. Eggman suddenly began to attack every important place where the Gaia Temples were located. He threatened to destroy the cities, towns, and villages if the Temple Guardians didn't show up. It all happened so fast that it didn't seem it took place... Mazuri was put in a state of panic very quickly as soon as he stated his plan. I couldn't see my people in such an event that I couldn't stand watching anymore. Then, having no choice, I revealed my status...and thus got kidnapped..."

Meta Knight nodded. "I understand the pain of seeing your own village in a dangerous situation."

Gwek nodded. "After Dr. Eggman took me into the unknown place through the very same dark portal he used a moment ago to go away, I was shocked to see that the rest of the Temple Guardians of the rest of the world were being held in steel cages. Most of them were trying to stay calm at the situation, but some were a bit desperate... Then, Dr. Eggman came to us and told me to follow him to this very same place..."

The Smashers kept staring at the village chief, each one of them thinking about the problem Gwek was facing.

"..." Gwek looked down and frowned. "I feel sorry for them now. They have to be close to Dr. Eggman before they're called to the temples to open the Gaia Gates."

Sonic grunted and made a fist on his right side. "That Eggman now crossed the line..."

"However, I don't see why he needs to go through all that trouble if I can't even open the Sun and Moon Doors alone."

The Smashers looked confused at him. "What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

"Well, you see, you need to have something else to open those doors," Gwek said before he took out from behind the Sun and Moon Tablets of the temple. "Typically, you would need to insert these into the slots of the doors. However, that will only activate the second lock of those doors."

"A second lock?" Meta Knight asked.

Gwek looked back at the temple. "I myself don't know the second key to those doors, though," he said. "My job as a Temple Guardian is to keep the temple safe from bad hands while keeping myself informed of how to piece back the special Planet Tablet of this temple. Unfortunately, I don't know much more than that nor the second key to those locks."

Sonic thought hard for a moment. "Second lock..." he muttered before knocking his forehead a bit. "Let's see... One time, we were at a temple, and we opened those doors before..."

"Hmm?" Gwek looked at Sonic. "You're saying that you opened those doors before? But that's impossible."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, now I remember!" he said shocked before he turned around and dashed away to the north.

"S-Sonic!" Chris yelled. "Where are you going now, kupo?"

Chris's words fell to deaf ears as they all watched Sonic jumping over the wall of the village where he ran quickly all the way across the big hill to the mansion's area. Soon enough, the hedgehog's blue blur raced back to their spot, and Sonic appeared in front of them, holding a knocked out Chip (upside down) between his hands. "This...is the key," he said. "And I'm sorry he looks like this, but he was crushed by the door."

They all stared at Chip's dazzled eyes. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey..." Chip began as he saluted them, his tongue sticking out a bit. "For is what chocolate huh today's?" he asked in broken words.

"..." Gwek rubbed his chin. "Who is this little fellow you've brought here?"

Sonic looked annoyed at Chip before he shook the imp a few times. The imp shook his head and regained his composure before he smiled at the Smashers. "Hey, guys!" he said cheerfully. "Wow, why's everything upside down today? Has gravity finally rebelled against all of us? It seems so."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Hey, dude, you're the one upside down."

Chip looked down (or to the sky) before he got off from Sonic's hands and flipped himself to regain his stance. "Oh, that would explain everything," he said. "Chip Norris knew the answer all along because the answer itself comes to him."

Meta Knight stared at Chip. "Can you open those doors of the temple?"

Chip looked at the temple. "Oooooh, you mean those doors that can open only if I touch them?"

Gwek stared at Chip. "How is this this little fellow able to open those doors?" he asked. "Do you have some kind of proof that he can do such a thing? More so, who are you?"

Chip looked at Gwek. "I'm Chip Norris."

"AHEM," Chris coughed loudly in annoyance.

Chip rolled his eyes. "I'm Chip Norris, but I'm known in other parts as Light Gaia."

Gwek looked interested at this. "Light Gaia... Hmm... That name sounds familiar..."

Chip stared at Gwek in disbelief before looking down. "I told you guys," he muttered. "Nobody even knows I exist..."

Gwek tapped his staff on the ground. "Since you are this supposed Light Gaia, wouldn't that mean you're the counterpart of Dark Gaia?"

The imp nodded and looked back at Gwek. "That's how it is."

"Then...follow me," Gwek said as he turned around to the temple. "We should do this quick before we lose more time."

"Do what?" Falco asked.

Gwek looked at them. "We will open the Gaia Gate to restore Mazuri to its former state in the world."

Gaia Gate

The group had gone inside where the layout of the Mazuri Temple was different. It was gloomy-looking with all the torches that ignited some light around the room. The group walked all the way to the three doors in front of them.

Gwek had placed the Sun and Moon Tablets in their respective slots, triggering the doors' glowing light to shine brightly. "There," Gwek said as he looked at the Sun Door. "Now I need to see if Chip can really open these doors."

Chip looked serious as he flew to the Sun Door. The necklace on his neck started to glow brightly as he approached his right hand on the door. Suddenly, the door shone brighter, and it slid upwards, revealing a small passage to one of the Planet Tablet's fragment. The Smashers took closer looks at the short corridor with the village chief on the front. "Aah," Gwek said. "Interesting..."

Chip nodded. "I told you that I was Light Gaia."

"Well, this is surely a surprise," Gwek remarked. "Let us get the fragments of the Planet Tablet at once."

A time passed, and Chip had opened the Moon Door to get another fragment of the Planet Tablet. They all gathered in front of the middle door (Planet Door) as Chip gave the right tablet fragment to Gwek. "Here," Chip said. "They're kind of broken right now..."

"That is because they both have to be in pieces," Gwek explained. "Having the full product would be dangerous for those malicious people who want to go into the temple. However, I doubt they can piece the fragments back together."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

Gwek began to twist some small bits of both fragments. "Temple Guardians possess the required knowledge to piece back the Planet Tablet," he explained. "Only us can do this as means of protection of the temples."

"In other words, the temples have many locks," Meta Knight said. "They have the Temple Guardians, the tablets, and Chip."

"It looks that way," Gwek said. "Press...push...twist..."

The Smashers saw as the Planet Tablets pieced back together to form one single tablet. Chip looked surprised at this.

Gwek chuckled. "The product is complete," he said pleased. "It came out quite well, wouldn't you say?"

"It's the first time we see this so I guess, kupo..." Chris muttered.

Gwek turned to the Planet Door. "Well then, let's go further into the temple," he said as he placed the Planet Tablet on the slot of the door, triggering the door's shiny form.

Chip acted quickly and touched the shining door to make it open. It shook a few times before it slid up, revealing a long corridor to the deepest part of the temple. Chip stared at the corridor before turning to the others. "W-we did it!" he said.

Gwek shook his head. "Not quite yet," he said as he began his way into the corridor. "Once we restore the continent, then it'll be done."

Lucario began to walk forward into the corridor. "Let's go," he told the others.

The Smashers decided to walk through the corridor. After walking for a small lapse of time, the group finally reached the other side of the passage, stepping inside a spacious area where torches with green fire illuminated the place with pillars. The room looked the same as the last time Chris got in, except for the fact that it had a lock before. They were all focusing their attention to the altar at the far end where Gwek walked to it.

"Hmm," Gwek wondered as they all surrounded the altar. "This must be the place..." he muttered as he stared at a hole in the middle of the pedestal. "Then..." he looked at Chip," would you please touch the hole?"

"U-um, okay..." Chip said unsure. The imp flew on the altar to touch the little hole.

Suddenly, a small pedestal came out from the hole. The Smashers took a closer look at it to see that the pedestal had a empty slot on its top that had a shape. "..." Gwek shook his head. "I'm afraid to say I don't know what to do next..."

However, Chris knew better than the village chief did. The moogle tapped Sonic's left shoulder to get his attention. "Pss, Sonic, place a Chaos Emerald on it, kupo"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Just do it, kupo!"

Sonic looked confused at this direction before he took out from behind the pale green Chaos Emerald. The hedgehog then placed the emerald on the pedestal, and it actually fit nicely in it. Sonic looked a bit surprised at this, as well the others, before said emerald began to glow. "W-what the…" Sonic trailed off.

Gwek watched carefully the glow of the emerald. "Now what will happen now?" he wondered.

Suddenly, the emerald shone so brightly that they all had to cover their eyes. The emerald then sent green lights all over the temple, provoking some kind of tremor that shook the area around it. Some of them looked around to see the cracks of the floor and walls being filled with the emerald's light.

"W-what is happening?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think it's something bad," Meta Knight said.

Out of a cue, the tremor stopped, and the lights dimmed down until they vanished completely. The group uncovered their eyes to look back at the emerald on the pedestal.

For their surprise, the green Chaos Emerald had returned to normal since its shiny glow was there again. Sonic stared in awe at the glow of the emerald before he slowly reached it and took it out from the pedestal. The hedgehog pulled closer the emerald to inspect it. "…The Chaos Emerald…" Sonic muttered. "…I can feel its power again…"

Chris took a closer look at the gem. "Hmm, so it got its power back, kupo?"

Sonic grinned and raised the emerald in the air. "Yeah, the green Chaos Emerald's power is back!"

Lucario looked a bit skeptical. "It…looked weird that there was a pedestal like this for the Chaos Emerald…"

Falco crossed his arms and grumbled. "I'd say it looked SO convenient for some reason."

Gwek stared at the Chaos Emerald. "That item certainly gave back the power to the Mazuri continent."

The Smashers looked at him. "The continent has been restored?" Zelda asked.

"Well, if you look around…" they looked around the temple, "the temple's energy should be back now. I can sense its force emanating from every single part of this sacred shrine." He smiled a bit. "Now the Mazuri continent should be piecing itself back to its place on the planet."

Chip pumped up a fist. "And so, Chip Norris has completed one of his goals in life, my friends!"

Chris looked bored at the cheerful imp. "Do you have to talk in third person every now and then? It kind of takes off the mood of your job, kupo…"

Chip shook his head. "Chip Norris knows the future well, and the future is Chip Norris's pet and slave."

Gwek stared at Chip for a moment. "(It is hard for me to believe that he is the supposed Light Gaia…)" he thought before speaking. "It seems my judgment of you was right. You are people without bad intentions."

"We never intended to be," Zelda said. "We're trying to save Sonic's world from staying like that."

Gwek looked down. "If that's like that, then I know that I'm speaking for all the Temple Guardians that we're sorry for having to hide from you," he said. "We had to hide, unfortunately."

Sonic scratched his right ear. "Well, you had a reason so…"

"Wait," Meta Knight interrupted. "Since the continent of Mazuri was restored, wouldn't that mean that the others should notice by now?"

"I'm certain a tremor also took place there so there's a possibility most people noticed," Gwek said. "Mazuri should be on its place."

Chris looked at Sonic. "That means we're done with 1 of the 7 temples, kupo"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah," he said before looking at the green Chaos Emerald. "And now this little baby has its energy back."

Gwek coughed a bit. "I'm glad Mazuri got back to its rightful place," he said. "But for now, I'm afraid of what the people of my village are doing with this sudden change, and I don't know my way back there."

"I can take you there," Chris said. "We can travel between worlds, and going there isn't going to be such a problem, kupo."

Gwek rubbed his chin. "Perhaps you can save the rest of the continents as well…" he wondered. "…Are you sure you want to take on this task?"

"We're already tied to this," Falco said. "And there's no turning back now, sadly."

"In that case…please do save the planet," Gwek said. "You have to save the other Temple Guardians as well. Besides being guardians, they're all human beings. They should come on out once when Dr. Eggman needs to take them to their respective temples. You must interfere with Dr. Eggman's plans before it's too late for the world to stay away from Dark Gaia's presence…" He nodded. "I'm sorry to be putting a lot of trust in you, but I've no other choice left."

Sonic grinned and wiped his nose with his thumb. "Just leave it to us. Eggman isn't going to have what he wants as long as we beat him to the temples."

"I admire your determination," Gwek said before turning to Chip. "And you, Light Gaia, must open the doors in order to unlock the path to the deepest parts of the temples."

Chip saluted him. "Chip Norris's hands are in good hands because they're on their own hands."

Chris looked confused at this claim. "…Chip…stop doing that, kupo…"

Gwek chuckled. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go back to my village now. I have to make sure Dr. Eggman doesn't attack my people."

The moogle looked at Gwek and nodded. "Okay, then, follow us."

The group decided to leave the sacred temple behind for the time being. Chip stopped flying to look back at the pedestal and the antique carvings around the room before he sighed and flew away from there.

-Smash Mansion-
Command Room

Once they returned to the mansion, Zelda had called Master Hand to advice the others about what happened earlier. The hand agreed to call everyone to the command room in order to know more about what was going on. Thanks to Gwek, they all knew exactly what had been happening the whole time.

After the explanation was over, a portal was opened to the way to Sonic's world thanks to Chris, who was standing besides it. "The portal is directly connected to the outskirts of Mazuri, kupo," Chris said. "It was hard to set the portal's location, but Master Hand helped a lot with that, kupo."

Gwek walked towards it and turned around to look at the multitude of Smashers before him. "Please, save the planet," he reminded them. "Save the Temple Guardians' lives as well."

Sonic nodded. "You betcha."

"Then, I'll be on my way," Gwek said as he turned to the portal. "Good luck, everyone. You're probably the last hope we have for the planet to go back to the way it was."

The village chief then stepped into the portal before he and it disappeared from sight.

Chris sighed and frowned. "Oh no, things are just starting to get even worse, kupo…"

"You tell me," Master Hand said. "I saw this coming from a mile away, anyway. Our break wasn't going to last forever as well... But enough about that!" he said. "I was getting bored of not doing anything these past days."

"I was relaxed doing that," Roy said.

Master Hand shook himself. "As long as Tabuu is around, we're all bound to stop him with whatever plan he comes up with," he explained. "And when he's getting others to do his job, it's even worse."

"Now, back on the topic," Mewtwo said. "For now, we know that Tabuu is about to do one of his moves very soon. That would mean the time for our break is going to be over very soon."

"I presume it'll be in a few days," Master Hand said. "Also, this means Tails's group will come back here before we get back to our usual schedule with the army... In fact," he began as he looked to his left to see a portal opening up, "there they are."

However, the portal only took out Knuckles with Cream and Cheese. The portal then closed down, and the echidna looked alarmed at the Smashers. "E-everyone..." Knuckles muttered.

"We know, Knucklehead," Sonic said. "The Temple Guardians were all kidnapped, and the Mazuri continent returned to its place on the earth."

Cream cleared her throat a bit. "Y-you mean you all know now?"

"Yes," Zelda said. "We can explain it to you how."

After the echidna and the rabbit were told about what had happened, Knuckles understood everything.

"Okay, now you know," Knuckles said. "A lot of crazy stuff has been happening around the world... I told you that something bad was going to happen, didn't I?" he asked annoyed.

"CHILL DOWN," Sonic said with emphasis.

Knuckles grunted at this and looked away with a grimace.

Cream looked worried at the Smashes. "About what Mr. Knuckles was talking about, that mainly involves the Temple Guardians," Cream said. "T-they...were all kidnapped by Dr. Eggman..."

Knuckles looked back at the group. "We know that because news came out from every single continent about Dr. Eggman threatening the cities to look for the guardians. We gathered some information about what happened, and then it was clear they were all gone because they were kidnapped."

Cream hugged Cheese. "And there were some sad moments where the family of Marketa from Holoska was all kidnapped but her..." She looked depressed. "She was so sad, and she was crying out for them..."

Chip looked at the two. "Um, where are Tails and Amy?"

"They're at Holoska with the Marketa girl," Knuckles said. "Well, Amy wanted to stay with her, and Tails was going to do some patrol around the world to make sure everything was fine. As for the 2 of us, we wanted to come here."

Sonic crossed his arms. "It's not like Amy to miss the opportunity to lose both Christmas and New Year."

Cream looked at Sonic. "We celebrated Christmas at my house, Mr. Sonic," she said, forcing a smile. "But it's going to be lonesome without Tails and Amy...but this is for our world."

"Besides, Amy didn't want to leave the girl alone at Holoska," Knuckles said. "You wouldn't surely do that, but it had to be done." He shook his head. "Too bad we're not going to count on their help for the time being, though."

Cream smiled happily. "But thankfully, we found a replacement."

Knuckles grumbled. "Cream...I didn't want you to bring him up now."

Lucas tilted his head. "Um, who are you talking about?"

The echidna frowned and closed his eyes. "Well, you see, when we were at Shamar, we met an old friend again...and he pleaded and pleaded us to let him come with us. He just COULDN'T stop pleading and he got on my nerves. Whatever we tried to tell him, it wasn't enough AT ALL. I was going to snap out and beat the living sh-"

"So we let him come," Cream cut in. "A-and we're doing this so he doesn't have to fret over his lost friend."

"A lost friend?" Mario said confused. "Who is this lost friend?"

"A damn frog," Knuckles muttered annoyed.

Chris rubbed his chin. "Let's see... This said guy wanted to find his lost friend who is a frog, kupo..." He thought for a moment with closed eyes. "...Who has a frog as a best friend, kupo?"

Chris carefully tried to use logic. Since this said character was from Sonic's world, and the fact that he had a frog as a best friend, it made the connection apparent for the World Traveler.

Knuckles took out a Wiimote from his back and opened the portal to his world. "Well, you there! Stop crying and come over here so we get done with this!" he yelled angrily.

And from the said portal, a big figure came out sobbing loudly. Cream joined her hands and looked up at the sobbing figure before the portal could close down. Some of the Smashers recognized the familiar face of the big figure before them.

And that mentioned figure and friend was none other than...

"Please, Mr. Big, you have to be strong," Cream encouraged the sobbing huge, purple cat. "Froggy is alright, I know that."

"Froooooooggyyyyyyy!" Big cried out as he rubbed his eyes with his right arm. "Where are yooooooouuu? Froooggyyyyyyyyy!"

Some of the Smashers twitched a bit at the loud cry while some of them stared confused at the crying cat. Chris blinked in shock as he looked up at the huge cat before him before he shook his head and moved his hands up. "P-please, don't cry anymore, kupo!" Chris said. "F-Froggy is going to be alright, wherever he is right now!"

Big sniffed at this and looked at the Smashers with teary eyes. "I want Froggy back..." he sobbed before he took out a napkin from behind and blew his nose on it. "This is the second time Froggy is taken away..."

Mewtwo frowned and placed a hand on his face. "Why do we have to become helpers for any person out there again?" he asked.

Master Hand sighed. "Oh goodness, this...wasn't expected to happen," he said.

Sonic took a step back from the sobbing cat before looking behind at Knuckles. "Couldn't you just run away from him?" he asked by whispering.

"I wanted to do that, you know," Knuckles muttered back through gritted fangs. "But Cream got all sad with him, and they both asked me to take the guy with us. What the hell was I supposed to do when Cream wants to get her way? I can't stand TWO people crying on me!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well, she pretty much had you where she wanted you to be..."

Knuckles grunted. "Next time, I don't want to be with her anymore, got that?"

"Froggy..." Big muttered sadly. "W-what am I to do now?"

Chris floated in front of Big. "Y-you have to calm down, kupo," he said. "S-since you're that worried about Froggy, I-I think it's going to be fine for you to stay with us, kupo..."

"CHRIS," Master Hand suddenly spoke up.

The moogle looked at the hand. "Look, we're pretty much going to help Big out, kupo," he said. "Besides, it's not going to do any harm to take Big alongside...right?"

Master Hand sighed. "I know he got in this because his friend was kidnapped..."

Big sniffed and looked at the hand. "I...I saw how Froggy was taken..."

The hand stared at the huge cat. "You did?"

Big nodded. "Y-yeah, Froggy and I were at Shamar," he explained. "We met a nice girl who gave Froggy some good frog food that he liked a lot. The girl was pretty and nice. She was dressed like everyone else in there... But...then...s-something awful happened..." His eyes became teary. "O-out of nowhere, Dr. Eggman came with his army of robots to hurt the people in there. He demanded to see this Temple Guardian, and that's when I found out that the girl, Lyla, was the Temple Guardian he was looking for. She grew upset with him, and so she confronted Dr. Eggman...b-but then he caught her in a cage thanks to some of his robots, and I noticed she was holding Froggy...and he was in the cage as well..."

The Smashers kept listening to the huge cat.

"A-and then, an old man came sneezing, and he revealed to be another Temple Guardian. Dr. Eggman then caught him as well, as he left the city with the robots, the girl, the old man, and Froggy..." Big broke into tears. "F-Froggy was taken away from me ever since!" he cried out. "FROOOOGGYYYY!"

Many of them had to cover their ears from the loud cries of the cat. Cream twitched a bit at this and looked up worried at Big. "M-Mr. Big, everything will be just fine!" she yelled preoccupied. "Y-you don't have to cry because we're going to find Froggy with you!"

Big stopped crying and he sniffed a bit. "W-will you help me, then?"

Knuckles frowned and sighed. "That's the reason you're here...crybaby..." he muttered the last part in annoyance.

Big sniffed more before he made a happy expression. "T-thank you so much for helping me out to get Froggy back," he said. "I-I could've been stuck in panic if it wasn't for all of you..."

Peach smiled a bit and interlaced her fingers. "You don't worry. Everything will be just fine with us to help you."

Pikachu looked bored and sideways at Ness. "Why am I thinking Peach doesn't understand the fact Big is...a bit..."

Ness closed his eyes and shook his head. "Let her be. You can't change her super nice nature at all."

"True enough..."

As Big cleared his tears again, Master Hand decided to speak up. "Besides the fact we've got ourselves a temporal member, there isn't anything else to talk about by the moment. However, since we shouldn't think about bad things at all, I'd like to remind you that today is New Year's Eve," he said. "Today's the day where you get to make up your resolutions for the next year. I'd like some of you to do a resolution to stop Tabuu's army soon."

"That's going to be a little meaningless," Snake commented from the far end of the room.

"It might be, but it's not bad to do it," Master Hand said. "Expect a party by 9 PM, everyone. Musicians are also included." The hand snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Chris tried to cheer up the purple cat. "Cheer up, Big. Froggy will return to you very soon. For now, act optimistic, kupo."

Big sniffed and nodded. "Thank you, little furred guy..."

"Chris."

"Chris, yes..." Big said before he shook his head and put up a simple blank stare. "I've gotta think optimistic for Froggy... Maybe I should just walk around for a bit."

Unfortunately, Big's first step to optimism was a reckless one. The purple cat took a step forward, and he accidentally slipped back his right foot. Big got alarmed as he tried to balance himself, but it was useless since he went forward and fell down on the floor, causing a small tremor around him.

"...Oww..." Big muttered on the floor.

"..." Cream tilted her head. "...Wasn't Chris just in front of Mr. Big?"

The Smashers looked down at the floor where a red pom-pom was sticking out from Big's belly. Some of them got shocked as it twitched a bit at the sides. "...Just be glad you're helpless right now, Big, kupo..." Chris muttered under Big.

"Sorry..." Big trailed off as he pushed himself off the floor, revealing Chris to be stuck in a small crack that had his shape on the floor.

Chris pushed himself up and stared up at Big. "I should've changed jobs before..." he said dazzled.

Lucario sighed at this with some depression while Big merely rubbed his head a bit. "(Whatever is ahead of us, it's going to be rather amusing with Big...)" he thought. "(...I'll keep Chris away from him.)"

Main Lobby

Kingdom Hearts II – Lazy Afternoons

The day went on with Cream trying to cheer up Big as she explained everything to him, but he just cared about getting Froggy back, much for her dismay. The purple cat only seemed to be mainly focused on his lost friend. However, Cream managed to pull Big back to optimism, just in time for the celebration during midnight.

"Froggy and I liked to sit and watch the stars during this time of the year," Big recalled as he was sitting down the sofa with Cream and Cheese.

Cream forced a smile, this fact being the twentieth one she heard from Big. "T-that's nice, Mr. Big, but I think you should stop thinking about Froggy for a little while... It wouldn't hurt..."

Big looked up at the ceiling. "But I don't wanna forget Froggy..."

"T-that's not what I meant," Cream said with a sigh.

Aside from the fact Cream was trying her best to calm Big, there was a bigger celebration in the mansion. All the people made up the Smashers, the musicians, and even the trainers, all of them having a nice time between friends.

It was about to be first of January in a few minutes, and Chris (in his Hacker job) was staring outside from the window with some solitude. At that moment, Mario walked to the World Traveler. "Chris," Mario said.

Chris turned around and looked at Mario. "Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering what you were doing here alone," Mario said. "Where's Lucario?"

"He went to get me a glass with juice from the kitchen," Chris said. "As for me, I was…just trying to recall everything I've been doing to this moment."

"Ah, I see," Mario said. "You're the only representative from the real world, after all. I've figured you'd remind some events. You're the kind of person to do that, right?"

Chris looked away and smiled a bit. "I-it's just that this whole experience has been really enjoyable to me… I got to meet my favorite characters while facing a threat to my world…" He looked embarrassed. "I-I think it's a little cliché that this is happening to me, but…"

Mario shook his head. "Cliché or not, it's happening," he said. "You were probably the only one who was up to the job."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you had what it takes to be here," Mario explained. "If there was another person instead of you, who is not surely going to be here, what would you think?"

Chris thought for a moment. "I think that person would have been chosen over me for some differences…I don't know…" He looked at Mario. "But, when I think about it, I think it was weird…" He frowned. "Just…what was the fact that called me here to help out?"

"It was probably Master Hand."

"No, I don't think that was," Chris said. "I mean, this place really exists, and it wasn't supposed to be… Sometimes I wonder what made this place real and what made me come here to help out…" He looked worried. "Sometimes I even think this is just a dream…"

Mario stared at Chris before he walked to him and knocked his forehead a few times.

"U-um, Mario, what are you doing?" Chris asked.

Mario stopped knocking on his forehead. "Did you feel that, Chris?"

"I-I surely did, but why was that for?"

Mario smiled a bit. "That means you're not in a dream. Everything around you is really happening."

Chris scratched his right arm. "B-but…even so…I still wonder what took me here…"

Mario closed his eyes. "Maybe it was the fact your belief in fantasy was very strong…"

"N-no, that shouldn't have been…" Chris said embarrassed.

"Or…maybe…" Mario opened his eyes and shook his head. "…No, I can't think of an answer…"

Chris looked down and sighed. "It's no use, is it?"

"Relax," Mario suggested. "I'm sure there's a logical answer for your question, and maybe someday it will come."

"…Yes," Chris muttered. "I've got to enjoy everything while I can…" He looked at Mario and smiled. "Thank you, Mario."

Mario chuckled. "Until then, let's stay together. You have a reputation as the 40th Smasher."

Chris blinked at this. "The fortieth…Smasher?"

Mario nodded. "You're the 40th Smasher in the entry of the group," he said. "Since Mewtwo, Roy, and Pichu are here, they add up to 38 people in the roster. And if that's true, that means my alter-ego as Dr. Mario counts as well, adding up to 39 people."

"Alter-ego as Dr. Mario?"

Mario nodded. "What, did you think there was another Mario running around here?" he asked before chuckling. "Master Hand said himself it was pointless and confusing to do that. He could do it, but he said he didn't want to. He wanted me to change to my other attire whenever it was needed. In times where I had to face my alter ego, he merely used a clone of me and made it fight against me. I have to say that the clone acted pretty much like I do."

"I...see..." Chris trailed off. "...Can you still change to Dr. Mario, then?"

Mario thought for a moment and rubbed his chin. "I haven't thought of that before, but I think I can," he said. "But I don't think that other me is necessary right now. I like to be me as the real Mario, not the real Dr. Mario."

The World Traveler had found out an interesting fact that he would remember from the red plumber.

"Back on the matter, you're the 40th Smasher, Chris," Mario said. "I have to say that the number 35 was a bit weird, and the number 39 looked a bit random. Thanks to you, though, we reach 40 Smashers." He smiled a bit. "You have the honor to be the last Smasher of the group."

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I don't know what to say or how to feel right now," he said. "I-I should be embarrassed, and I'm at the same time honored, but I can't decide which one is bigger than the other."

"I'd say you should be happy instead," Mario said. "To me, everyone is special in their own way. You're different than others, and that makes you unique. You could say each Smasher is unique as well."

Chris smiled a bit at Mario. "W-well, I personally think it's such a honor to receive a talk from the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom himself. Besides, you're the first Smasher, right?"

Mario nodded. "Yes, I'm the first, then DK is the second one, then Link is the third one, then Samus is the fourth one, then Yoshi, then Kirby... I could go on all day, but you get the idea."

Chris nodded, but he hid an annoyed look in his mind. "(Oooh, Mario, I wanted to know which ranked numbers were the others!)" he thought with dismay. "I see," he simply said.

"So then," Mario began, "be glad you're here with all of us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be experiencing our reality as video game characters. You've done so much for us already, and we're all grateful you're here."

The World Traveler made a happy expression and bowed to Mario. "Thank you for making me feel so happy for being with such a group as this one, Mario."

"Just try to stay like that and we're surely bound to get over our problems," Mario encouraged.

Chris nodded at this. However, once he stayed silent, he then remembered something when he recalled about the amount of Smashers. "...Mario..."

"Yes?"

"Now that I think about it...most of us aren't here because they're with the Subspace Army."

"Well, yes, Bowser and the other villains are there."

"But...then there's the only person I haven't thought about this time at all..." Chris muttered. "..." He shook his head and looked serious at Mario. "I was thinking about Mr. Game & Watch."

Mario blinked at this before he looked away. "Now that you mention it, I haven't worried about him at all as well..." he muttered. "Mr. Game & Watch must be with them against his own will..."

"He...was taken away by force, right?"

Mario nodded and looked back at Chris. "Mr. Game & Watch was a likable person. Even if he looked weird, he was a very nice guy. I haven't seen him ever since the Melee tourney ended, and so he somehow wound up being taken by Tabuu... I, for one, think Mr. Game & Watch didn't say yes to Tabuu. I never thought he had those Shadow Bugs as well...and probably he never knew as well."

Chris looked worried. "So...right as we speak...Mr. Game & Watch could be suffering?"

"...That's very possible," Mario said. "He's an unlimited source of Shadow Bugs. They would exploit him until he...dies...but he can tolerate the pain..." He looked down and frowned. "But...he surely wants to escape from there as soon as possible..."

The World Traveler felt guilty that he never asked about the flat character at all. Worst yet, Chris never knew the personality Mr. Game & Watch had. Mario gave out that the Flat Zone character was a nice person, but that was it. Chris bit his lip a bit before Mario placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"For now, don't think about those things," Mario suggested. "If you really want to save him, then say so or do it. After all, he's like all of us."

"...Yes," Chris said with determination. "If I ever get the chance to see him...I'll make sure he comes back here."

"That's the spirit you need to have," Mario said with a chuckle.

At that moment, Lucario came in holding a glass with fresh orange juice. He saw that Chris and Mario were talking to each other. "Chris, here," Lucario said.

Chris turned to Lucario and smiled a bit. "Oh, thanks, Lucario," Chris said as he grabbed the glass with juice. "I was just talking with Mario about some things."

"I see," Lucario said. "Well, New Year is going to come in 5 minutes. Have you made your resolutions yet?"

Chris looked up and touched his chin with a finger. "Let's see... My resolutions for this year would be to visiting new worlds, get more video games, stop the Subspace Army, rescue Mr. Game & Watch from them, have some relaxation now and then, and...of course..." he smiled and looked at them, "I want to keep staying here with everyone, and also go to new worlds together." He looked at Lucario. "I want you to be there as well."

Lucario smiled a bit and nodded. "My only resolutions are to make sure you're happy and safe from anyone who wants to hurt you, and I want to..." he trailed off in thought before he blushed and looked away. "I-I'd rather keep them as secrets for now..."

Chris and Mario looked at each other.

"(I didn't want to say I wanted to make him proud of me. That was a little bit too much to say after the first resolution...)" Lucario thought in embarrassment. "...B-but I want to keep traveling to worlds with everyone as well, and I wanted to become more acquainted."

"Oh," Chris said. "I'm glad you're ready."

Suddenly, a little but loud tingling sound came from the center of the lobby. The whole people turned to the said direction where Master Hand set down his own martini (puzzling some to believe he actually drank something from somewhere) on a table and chuckled a bit. "Well, New Year is going to come in about 4 minutes, everyone," he said. "Now that we're all here reunited as a big group, thanks to the fact we have the presence of our beloved musicians and the Smashers, I'd like to thank all of you for being here," he thanked. "Before we reach the new year, anybody wants to say some kind of speech to welcome the next day?"

"I do!"

The whole crowd turned to the left side of the lobby where Barry was standing on top of a chair. The blond trainer took out from behind a long scroll that fell down and rolled all the way between the people.

"I'd like to say lots of things, firstly," Barry said as his eyes began to move from side to side to read the ridiculous long scroll. "I'd like to say that the service of this mansion could be more refined than it is now. Also, if I could be allowed to capture these cool Pokémon, that wouldn't be so bad at all! For my next thing to talk about is about having the necessity to interact with some of the girls in here for at least 7 hours straight a day so I can make some moves on the-AAAAA-OWW!"

The chair where Barry was standing was removed by a blushing Dawn while Lucas (the trainer) stood several feet away from them with a nervous look on his face. The Twinleaf girl trainer grunted, then forced a smile at the crowd of people. "H-he's technically saying he's so glad to be here as all of us!" Dawn faked a summarization.

Barry raised a finger from the floor. "Nah, you got it wrong, Dawn. That was actually reason number 124 on the lis-OWW!"

Dawn kicked Barry's side while looking at all the eyes on them. "H-he wants to say he's grateful to be here as well!" she said, faking a laugh.

Penny looked bored at Mike. "It's obvious to know we shouldn't see what he wanted to say..."

"Affirmative, Penny," Mike responded in confusion. "I completely agree..."

"..." Master Hand shook himself and looked at the clock hanging on top of the second floor. "Oh, look at that, New Year is 30 seconds away now!" He looked at the some of the eager people. "Let's all begin a countdown at 10!"

The people waited for the clock to have ten seconds until 12:00 PM. Once it did, they all started a countdown, some of them not wanting to participate in it. The rest then began a countdown by saying it aloud. "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

And then the clock hit 12:00 PM.

"Happy New Y-"

"BUNCH OF LITTLE MOTHERF(BEEP)RS SONS OF B(BEEP)S!"

Music stops

Most of the people gasped at the sudden yell of rage coming from the right side of the lobby. They all found out that, on top of a pissed werehog's back, a dark spirit came out and crackled evilly to the ceiling with extended arms to the sides. The spirit made fists and looked at everyone before him.

"Oh, for the love of Arceus, that guy just won't stop coming in every night..." muttered a frustrated Ivysaur.

Chunky covered his face and ducked down in fear. "W-who's that guy?" he whimpered.

Dark Super Sonic pointed a finger at everyone. "You're gonna be sorry very soon, bunch of b(beep)bs. You're gonna feel the awesome power of my awesome self that you'll beg for you lives to be spared, and I'm not even gonna do something to f(beep)ng sappy like that!" he proclaimed with crazy laughs. "Oh f(beep)ng yeah, my resolution for this year will be making you b(beep)s turn into big piles of s(beep)t under my foot! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Big tilted his head at the sight of the malevolent spirit. "Ooh, look. That ghost person who looks like Sonic is trying to hurt us. I hope he doesn't call me with those bad words again because they sounded so offensive..."

Cream sweat dropped at this. "Um, Mr. Big, I think you should try to avoid getting looked by him now…"

Sonic made a wild look. "Can somebody in the crowd PLEASE shut this guy?" he asked in anger.

Dark Super Sonic pointed down at Sonic. "SILENCE!" he demanded. "You're gonna be the first b(beep)h to kneel down before your maker, motherf(beep)r! Then, after you, everyone else in this poor excuse of a sh(beep)y party wil-AAAH!"

Sonic was suddenly whipped hard on the head by Chris in his Beastmaster job, who looked very annoyed at the interruption. The spirit's eyes widened before he was forced to go back into hiding, leaving a silent crowd staring at the sighing Sonic.

Chris turned at them and looked bored. "...Now that he's gone from here..." he trailed off.

Kirby smiled happily and jumped high. "Happy New Year!" he yelled.

Everyone else returned to their enthusiastic looks before they all yelled in unison "Happy New Year!" before most broke into cheers and hugs.

The party resumed with everyone wishing a happy new year to each one. Most of them did this while some of the loners merely talked and didn't do any other action.

Outside

Not only the mansion was the only lively place, but also the village was very lively. Many cheers echoed through the land around the places that counted the several villages located in the west with the small places like Agitha's Castle and the Dojo as well. Even in the most desolated of places there were some people cheering like Gnome.

Overall, the New Year was well received by everyone, and it meant that the break of the Smashers from the Subspace Army...was finally over.

As the celebration kept its way, nobody noticed that Nightmares carefully watched anything from the shadows of the alleys of the village…

TO BE CONTINUED...

"And the next chapter will be "Yuffie", then?" asked Pikachu.

"It seems like it," Samus said.

"Pfft, wasn't there a simpler title?"

"No."

"Well, screw it, then."

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, ChipReferences:

-"Kingdom Hearts II – Lazy Afternoons" is a song reference to the same game. It will always plays in Twilight Town as long as you keep playing in the opening as Roxas. It'll change once you play as Sora.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Would it be hard to imagine a Lucario…with an iPod?

-Really, think about the above question for a bit more.

Hm-hmm, the Side-Quest arc was a success. It was long, but it was very enjoyable.

It's been a little bit puzzling about Rayquaza. However, once I used some logic (thankfully not the same style as Miles Edgeworth's style), I thought that Rayquaza would get upset for people invading its territory in the skies. I hope its reasons were enough to make a point about its appearance. (Face it, people. There are NO ways guys like Fox and Diddy would take down a friggin' Legendary Pokémon by themselves.)

Lastly, we have the return of Dr. Eggman. I thought it would look nicer if I had him kidnap the Temple Guardians instead of taking away the tablets. In the game, they're the ones that help assemble the Planet Tablets' pieces together, so it'd make sense they were kidnapped. Too bad, they don't know Chip is Light Gaia. None of them ever mentioned Light Gaia ever existing in the game as well, and Sonic and Chip were going around the world to see if somebody knew Chip, in which case nobody knew who he was, even the Temple Guardians. (They do a bad job at recalling deities, don't you think?)

As for the addition of Big…maybe this will foreshadow some future appearances of other Sonic characters?

And so, we finally move on with the next arc. It was the people's decision that ultimately helped to shape up the storyline.

A new poll shall be up. This poll, however, will focus on platformers. Check the profile to vote for the next arc after this one.

I encourage people to review so I know what criticism you want to tell me. ;)

…Or Big will be in every single chapter of the story to boost his small popularity.
*Chapter 166*: Yuffie

And so, we start with probably the most popular (and in some cases overrated) Final Fantasy game of all times.

From FF and STH: That fight with Rayquaza was awesome with his reasons of people invadig his territory to fight and it did seen unlikely for Fox and Diddy to beat Rayquaza by thenselves

Big coming in the story was somthing I did not see

From me: I used logic through the whole writing. I had to find an explanation about Rayquaza's appearance in the game, so I gave it what was most suitable. I'd also like to say that I used biographies of Rayquaza to get down to this. Thank you for liking this. ;)

From Kami of the Silver Flame: You just couldn't wait to get this chapter up, could you? Also, Chris is annoying me right now. He lacks the creativity and imagination of a really good fighter. LEARN TO SEE HOW EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IS LETHAL, CHRIS! YOU HEAR ME? I could teach you, if you would like. *demonic grin*

Also, Legends aren't really all that hard to beat. I can OHKO Legends. They're just a pain in the rear to capture.

Can't wait to see 164, or the FFVII arc.

From me: At least Chris doesn't know everything. After all, he's slowly developing into a fighter.

I know some Legends can be brought down with just a hit, but seriously, what's the point for them of being Legends if they can't even resist a single attack? I used some inspiration from the actual anime to give them their "real power".

I hope you liked the chapter still, though. ;)

From ngrey651: Chip...Norris.

...pfft. Well, if we're going that route...end this sentence! Chip Norris's tears can end cancer. Unfortunately...

From me: Unfortunately, I don't even know.

Well, I was actually waiting for something a bit more…related to the chapter, but…I guess it's okay…

Thank you for reviewing. ;)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: FINALLY YOU UPDATE! Dude don't co author ever because it will take forever. Oh and this better mean weekly updates again. Or Else. Oh and good chappy

From me: Sorry, but I want to get down with this as soon as the author I'm working with is ready. In the meantime, I'll keep writing the next chapters. And "thank you" for saying my chapter was simply good. :)

From the true dragon fanatic: Great chapters chris. That actually is a good reason that rayquaza would attack. He's a pretty fun boss to fight (though he's a pain to catch in pokemon pinball).

great writing chris, I hope to see how the next ark will turn out.

From me: Phew, another person I've managed to convince through my reasoning! Maybe I'm starting to get even better overtime…just maybe, though. Thank you for pointing out the mistakes as well. They were all corrected as of now. :)

From Kimoto: Your story is going great! I love it!

A Lucario with a I-Pod... I can only see that if Lucario is doing that I-Pod dance thing.

And DSS interuppted the new year... Well it was funny enough.

From me: iPod dance thing? Hmm, I haven't seen that…(and I don't want to see it now, either). At least this showed how much confused Chris was while trying to look for a gift. It ended up quite amusing in my point of view.

Hope you keep enjoying the story. ;)

From Chaos Lucario: Awsome chapter. By the way could you do a Legend of Dragoon chapter?

From me: Of course…not. Legend of Dragoon doesn't ring a nice bell to me. There aren't any chances for it to become an arc. Sorry, but I only do the most popular games that I consider suitable for the story (in both character development and setting).

Thank you for reviewing, though… ;)

From ChrisCLX898: Great Chapter! Too...many...roars...can't...keep track. There was a lot of roars. Well, continue with the story. It's great!

-Chris

From me: Did you really want "Rayquaza roared" in their own paragraphs? Roars had to be depicted as actual dialogue so Rayquaza "wouldn't be mute" if you know what I mean… Thanks again. ;)

From PianistChris: It's understandable why the chapter updates have slowed, and it was gladly worth the wait :)
I liked the Christmas scene between the characters and it was interesting to see what the characters would get each other. The battle against Rayquaza was great to read and the battle was nicely thought out.

I always find the scenes with gnome very humorous, and I still find the part where Lucario threw him off the cliff funny. I don't think any battle against Eggman will be very endangering no? He's always building weak robots lo. It was a good idea on the part of the temple on how they got into the temple to move the continent back into place.

And of course the ending with DSS was hilarious in the moment where he came out
All in all, great chapter!

Chris :p

From me: There could be battles where Eggman will be really threatening. He just happened to overlook the fact that the Smashers had grown in strength.

Was the ending that hilarious? I thought it was a simple joke to me.

Well, I hope you keep reading. :D

From Decepticon Fan: I'm not asking what happened to Ch. 164, I'm a little let down and ** at the same time (I just wasted bus fare-it ain't cheap either- going to the one place I could read fanfiction). I was so excited and Night of the Were-Wolf isn't even here yet. UBER FRUSTRATING! I'll have to scrape up some more bus fare whenever the real chapter is updated. Which is looking like it's going be another long while... I'll wait in a depressed corner until it is.

From me: I'm really sorry for disappointing you, but the author I'm working with is doing the best to fix the troubles with the CPU he/she has. I know for sure that he/she is awfully sorry about the whole thing, so please, hang in there until the chapter is ready, okay? Don't go hating the fic as well. Enjoy the next chapters for the time being…

…And you, in some way, ignored the notice about the "collab", so please don't refer it again, okay? Thank you for reviewing…not the actual chapter…

From Gloom-shroom: Hi again Chris!

I just like these battles you create; they're just so good to read.
Especially Dr. Eggman's battles. Eggman seems to be so, um, weak.
But I noticed that there were some grammatical errors in the dialogues.

Oh, now the zombies are reading your story, too. They seem to like it so much they want to go to your house and watch you make the next chapter. And soon enough they're going to eat your brains 'cuz they're on the way to your house right now. (I tried to stop them, but they didn't listen.)

From me: Eggman just happens to know that the Smashers grow stronger at the worst moment. He will surely try to become better in his next assaults with his robots.

And I'd like to hear about those grammatical errors.

And…what zombies are you talking about, exactly? Thanks for reviewing.

I have to say that my writing sense (assuming I have/had one) is slowly getting back into me. This chapter was a little bit fun to write so I hope it came out nicely from the oven (called Microsoft Word 2003). Also, since many people think this arc (or game) is overrated…we will just ignore how overrated it is and think about how it should've been.

These bold letters will tell you that there's a poll open in the profile. Vote for the next arc while this one is going.

With that away, I encourage whoever is in front of this screen to read and review the chapter to your fingers' tips contents. ;)

Disclaimer: This chapter now includes a new sort of censoring method for curses being used in another singular character.

Chapter 166: Yuffie

-Subspace-
Deep Inside the Great Maze

January 1 - Wednesday - Morning

In the dark realm of emptiness, there floated Tabuu in midair (with the Ancient Minister) as he looked down at Ganondorf, Bowser, Wario, Charizard, King Dedede, and Dr. Eggman. The leader of the Subspace crossed his arms and grunted a bit. "I hope that we are ready to move on with our duties," Tabuu said. "It has been a long time since we last made a new plan."

Dr. Eggman folded his arms behind his back. "I'm assuring you that everything is ready," he said. "I've successfully kidnapped all the Temple Guardians to keep those pests from getting their hands on the tablets. It was better to kidnap them because they have more secrets that they seem to have. We can use all the time we want to do anything."

The Ancient Minister looked at Tabuu. "Lord Tabuu, I have finished my requests as of now," he said. "However, there are some issues with the Shadow Bug retrieval chambers, and as such, extracting Shadow Bugs takes a while to do."

Tabuu frowned. "Have you found the perpetrator?"

"Not yet," the Ancient Minister said. "We have yet to find a clue about the whereabouts of the culprit. I will do anything in my power to stop the imbecile from further hindering your plans."

"I will leave that in your hands."

"(I'll make sure this lasts even longer, though,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(The extraction of Shadow Bugs has been slowed down to the point you'll need to wait quite a time to get enough to produce those Shadow Nightmares.)"

Bowser glared up annoyed at Tabuu. "Can I PLEASE have the pleasure to do a mission this time? I think it's my turn to do SOMETHING for a change after I was put in that chamber of torture for a whole month!"

Wario grumbled at the thought. "I didn't like to laugh with that tickling machine for a straight month either! I didn't even know you had such a stupidity like that here!"

"Actually, that credit goes for me," the Ancient Minister said. "I was the one who came up with the idea of the torture chamber as well."

"That would explain why Tabuu wasn't the one, then," Bowser said annoyed. "Anyhow, I demand my turn to go on a mission. I don't want people to think I'm lazy."

"What kind of people are they?" Charizard asked.

"Why, the people who...hmm...um...look and watch every single move we make...from...somewhere..."

Everyone in the space of darkness stared at him.

"...Ignore me on that one!" Bowser demanded before he stomped the floor. "What I want to do right now is to go on a mission this time!"

Ganondorf chuckled at this and looked sideways at Bowser. "So the turtle buffoon will go out and fetch a temple for us? That is something new for an old guy like you."

Bowser glared at Ganondorf. "Says a guy who keeps reincarnating to conquer a kingdom he will never take over!"

"Then how ironic you say that, Bowser," Ganondorf said amused.

The Koopa King made fists before he crossed his arms and looked away in annoyance.

King Dedede smiled happily at this. "At least ya guys don't own a kingdom like I do."

Charizard looked at Dedede. "Do your people even listen to you?"

Dedede rubbed his chin. "Hmm, good question..." He shook his head and looked annoyed at Charizard. "I-I mean, course they do!"

While the presumed kings argued against each other, Tabuu looked at Dr. Eggman. "Have there been any signals for a temple?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "I've getting energy readings for the Adabat Temple in another world," he confirmed. "You should send the turtle guy in there so he stops complaining about not doing anything."

Bowser stopped arguing to Ganondorf before he looked at Tabuu and smirked. "Oh yeah, now we're talking."

Tabuu looked at Wario (who at the time was "digging for treasure" in his nose). "And to be safe, Wario will accompany you in this task so he does not look as if he does not do anything."

"Eh?" Wario suddenly said before (censored grossness) from his nose. "But I don't wanna do anything," he said. "Heck, I don't even want to be here."

"Then I will make your last wish come true by sending you with Bowser."

"Then can I do nothing while I'm with him?"

"That will not do," Tabuu said. "If you dare do nothing, you shall be punished severely by your actions, or should I say laziness?"

Wario sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll do whatever you want me to do... But don't expect some "nice things" like being grateful."

"Name a price, I will pay it."

"Definitely nothing wi-" Wario did a double take. "Say how much money again?"

The other villains looked bored at each other.

"I will tell you once you do what I want you to do," Tabuu said. "You will have to earn what you want through work."

Wario grumbled. "You've got a deal, as long as you KEEP it in mind. I don't want any tricks or else you'll get it, got that?"

"I will remind myself of that," Tabuu said. "Now, Dr. Eggman, tell them where they have to go. Is the next Shadow Nightmare ready to be deployed?"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "It's about to be finished, but I need some more Shadow Bugs before it's completed. I blame the fact the process of extraction for Shadow Bugs has been severely slowed down. However, the next one should be ready soon."

The Ancient Minister nodded. "You will have to stay behind to see the completion of the Shadow Nightmare. We shall leave everything to Bowser and Wario to find the Adabat Temple."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Dr. Eggman said. "Once they find the temple, I'll send them the Temple Guardian of Adabat...or should I say Temple Guardians?" he asked with a small chuckle. "Either way, I'll resume my work here."

The scientist chuckled more to himself before he walked away and disappeared in the darkness.

Bowser chuckled evilly and smacked his fists together. "Well then, I'll go get myself ready for some action, if you don't mind," he said before walking away into the darkness.

Wario narrowed his eyes at Tabuu. "You better give me some gold outta this," he muttered before he grunted and walked away from them.

After both assigned villains were away, Ganondorf grinned. "The plan to get Dark Gaia is coming together, right?"

The Ancient Minister looked at Ganondorf. "It'll be ready soon, but we'll have to make sure everything goes according to the schedule."

Tabuu nodded. "Speaking about schedules, are you still working on the tasks I gave you?"

"For that...I still need more time," the Ancient Minister admitted. "It's such a difficult process to do, but I'll eventually have it done soon, Lord Tabuu."

"I hope you do as you say, Ancient Minister," Tabuu said before looking at the rest of villains. "As for you, I want you to look for this perpetrator. We need to stop him from further halting our manufacture of the machines in the factory."

Charizard nodded. "If I can burn that bastard to a crisp, then I'll look for them."

"You are allowed to resort to violence," Tabuu said. "It is better to get rid of the intruder through drastic means. This imbecile shall face the consequences of meddling with the Subspace Army."

The Ancient Minister looked away as the villains walked away into the darkness. "(It gets much more dangerous for me to keep going, but it has to be done so I can outline my own plans...)" he thought.

Tabuu looked at the Ancient Minister. "Is something bothering you? You are being unusually quiet now."

"(The main problem that's bothering my mind is your filthy and disgusting presence being so damn close to me...)" the Ancient Minister thought with disgust. "Nothing is bothering me, Lord Tabuu. I was merely thinking about the next steps of the schedule you gave me."

"I see," Tabuu said. "I need to stay in solitude for the time being. Do not forget your duties while I am gone."

"I won't."

The leader of the Subspace nodded at this before he warped away from the place. The Ancient Minister looked forward where he floated away from the Subspace, cursing mentally about the schedule Tabuu had given him.

-Smash Mansion-
Chris's Room

In the peaceful morning, Lucario rested in a meditating position on the bed as he waited for Chris to come out from the shower of the room. The Aura Pokémon was waiting for his turn to take a bath. He waited patiently with closed eyes for his trainer to come out while some steam flew out from the small space under the door of the bathroom.

Perhaps what was a little bit entertaining for Lucario to do was to listen to Chris singing in the bath.

"Grab the key, let's go out and have-some-fun. Have you ever seen such a-perfect-day? What's in your mind? Let's do it one-by-one. Have you ever though such a day-would-come? Time's up! Forget the theoryyy. Staaart up the brand new storyyy, Straaaight up and put-it-shortlyyy. This-is-the way my-life-goes!" Chris sang from the shower.

Lucario looked a bit embarrassed at this. "What is it that makes him sing, even though there's no music playing anywhere?" he asked to himself. "He should be embarrassed for having to sing while taking a shower..."

At that moment, Snake walked pass the front door. The mercenary stopped walking once he overheard Chris singing freely in the shower. "Wait a minute; it's all been done before. How long it takes to do it all over again? What's in your hand? Now drop them one-by-one. Have you ever thought such a day-would-come? Shut up! You're-so-wordyyy. Forget about all-those-worriiies. Show me your smile, how-charmiiing. Go home and kiss-your-mommyyy!" Chris sang loudly.

Snake frowned at this and looked at Lucario. "Tell the kid he's going to hit stardom very soon."

"Very funny, Snake," Lucario said sarcastically. "I don't see why he can't sing what he wants to sing."

"I'm just saying that's a little bit random of his part," Snake said.

"He's just trying to have some excitement, that's all," Lucario said. "You do embarrassing things too, Snake."

"Maybe, but not as embarrassing as the kid's singing," Snake commented.

Lucario rolled his eyes. "I think I know what: your necessity to use cardboard boxes to do your undercover missions."

"Oh, please, I use those because they're the perfect stuff to hide and cover from unsuspecting enemies," Snake said. "I don't see what's wrong with them."

"Funny you say that," Lucario said. "Chris would pretty much say the same thing as well."

Snake looked back at the door of the shower.

"Somehow I hate to see you liiieee-and-lie. I knooow how dumb I am but sooooo are yooou! Sometimes I want to laugh and cryyyyyy-at-once. Eeexplain...to me what is justice, whaaaat is riiiiiight?!" Chris sang loudly.

Snake chuckled a bit. "I can infer he likes to be a drama queen, huh?"

Lucario glared at Snake. "Just stop making fun of him, Snake. Let him be."

"Fine, I'll let the singer be himself," Snake said. "I need to have some relaxation in the lobby in the meantime. If you'll excuse me..."

The mercenary walked away to the first floor while Lucario kept glaring at the spot where Snake stood on. The Aura Pokémon then sighed a bit at Snake's comments before Chris stopped singing in the bathroom, the water's sound coming to a sudden halt.

"...Should I tell Chris that Snake heard him sing?" Lucario asked to no one in particular.

Command Room

Everyone was called in to the command room. A flushing Chris (in his Dragoon job) stared forward in complete embarrassment after Lucario told him that Snake heard the World Traveler singing merrily in the shower. The World Traveler blinked a bit and stared forward. "L-Lucario..." Chris began, "...p-please stop me from singing so loudly next time..."

Lucario sighed. "It was fine for me to see you in high spirits, but if that's what you wish..."

"Y-yes, I'm pretty sure this is the best decision," Chris said embarrassed. "At least Snake didn't tell anybody else that I sang in the shower..."

"That's good to hear..."

"May I get your attention, please?"

Everyone turned to the front of the room where Master Hand was looking at them.

"As you might know by now, a new temple has been discovered, just as I've had expected. Our break from the army has finalized, and now we're back on the schedule," Master Hand said before looking over to the computer where Tails had installed the radar. "Little Cream, what's the reading of the radar?"

Apparently, Cream turned out to be a very good computer user (or at least at how the radar worked). Knuckles had tried to make the damn thing work, but he grew frustrated that he ended up playing Solitaire for some reason (and lost). Cream, on the other hand, knew very well how to get around a computer, putting Knuckles in dismay.

Cream raised a hand. "The reading says the next temple to go to is the Adabat Temple," she said. "It's located around some continent in another world."

Knuckles looked away in annoyance. "(Outsmarted by a little girl who can barely put up a good fight... Dammit, I've never felt so embarrassed...)"

The rabbit smiled. "Hmm, let's see, where I can put the image on the main screen?" she asked as she examined the menu of the radar. "...Oh, here it is."

The main screen to the front of the room then blinked a few times before it displayed the image of a world map. The map depicted two large continents on the west and east with a thin, long continent located to the west of the western continent, and a continent of snow located to the north. An orange square then closed in to the landmass to the west of the western continent, specifically to the northern end of the land.

Master Hand looked up at the screen. "The temple should be located around that area, then?"

"It appears so," Cream said. "There's energy radiating from there."

"Okay," the hand said before he went over to get a paper from Cream about the status of the world. "And now, our next destination is...this one. I'll read it aloud."

Final Fantasy VII
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Anyone
Number of protagonists: 9
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Anything

Chris accidentally gasped loudly enough for everyone to hear and look at him. The World Traveler then blushed embarrassed at the sight of around sixty eyes focusing on him. "T-that's a world I know very well..." he said. "T-that's the world where Cloud Strife lives..."

"Cloud..." Samus trailed off. "Wouldn't he be the same one you met when you were...you-know-what?"

Chris nodded. "I-I'm pretty sure I'm not mistaking this," he said. "That's the world where he lives."

"Oh, I see," Master Hand said. "Well, this is sure a small advantage now. Since Chris knows this Cloud, then maybe you can find t-"

"A-actually, Jaydes told me that Cloud forgot everything that took place in the Underwhere, and he surely doesn't know me anymore..." Chris interrupted with a small chuckle.

"..." Master Hand shook himself. "I take that back. We don't have any advantage in this world. We're as clueless and wild as Sonic's werehog look."

Sonic looked annoyed. "Hey, I heard that, you know!" he yelled.

Master Hand ignored the hedgehog. "Well, in any case, since the next mission involves going to this world, I'd like all of you to be prepared for what's to come in there," he said. "Chris, since you're the biggest otaku guy of this place, you're going to be the guide to go around this world."

Chris looked upset. "W-would you please not call me an otaku again?"

"You're going to be an otaku, and you will like to be called like that," Master Hand said. "Okay, people, prepare!" he said with some enthusiasm. "I'm eager to see good results from this mission this time around! I expect you to do as you always do, so be on the lookout for anything dangerous."

Final Fantasy VIII - The Timber Owls

The Smashers began talking with each other while Chris grumbled to himself and crossed his arms. "By no means, I shall be called an otaku..." he muttered. "I'm just a normal fanatic of the series. I hate when people give me those nicknames..."

The World Traveler sighed to himself and went over to Crazy Hand's counter where said shop owner looked away in annoyance. Chris noticed this odd behavior, and he tilted his head to the right.

"Um, Crazy Hand, I'd like to buy some stuff from you today," Chris said.

"Oh, hell no," Crazy Hand said. "Why don't you buy some better stuff from Mr. Plushie?"

The World Traveler blinked confused at this. "W-what? W-who is this Mr. Plushie you're talking about?"

Crazy Hand grunted and turned to Chris. "That Mr. I-Can-Appear-From-Pretty-Much-Anywhere guy, that's who!" he explained. "You looked SO happy when you bought his stuff that time. Well, that's insulting for a guy who doesn't have a visible part for a heart, you know! Do you know how hard it is for me to see where my heart beats, even if I don't know if I have such a thing in me?"

"..." Chris knew that Crazy Hand's heart didn't have much relevance in the matter. "...You mean Stiltzkin?"

"Yeah, Stealclientzkin!" Crazy Hand said. "That guy who barged in here and wanted to make his business territory where I was the owner!"

Chris groaned a bit. "Oh, for the love of god, he sells different stuff than you! Besides, your stuff benefits the same as his stuff does!"

"How much better is my stuff than his?"

"W-well, for one, your stuff gives all of us new abilities..." Chris had to resort to "uber flattery words" to appeal the insane hand. "...New oh so cool stuff..."

"..." Crazy Hand kept staring at Chris.

"...I-it's so cool that my wallet wishes to have a lot of sweet money to buy as many cool stuff from an awesome hand like you," Chris said, trying his best to sound as convincing and appealing as possible. "Hell, I'm always thinking every single second of my life about what new stuff you'll sell me the next minute!" he said, faking a wide smile. "I JUST CAN'T hardly wait to see what else I can buy from the greatest of shop owners like you!"

An eerie silence took place in the atmosphere between the insane hand and the World Traveler. Chris kept smiling wide to Crazy Hand while the silence remained between the two. The insane hand didn't even move or budge any body part as he kept staring at the sweating dragoon.

"...You should really become a professional actor one of these days," Crazy Hand muttered.

Chris blinked in shock but kept smiling. "(O-oh my god, he found out?)"

"...But I should be hyper to say that because you sounded pretty convincing enough to me!" Crazy Hand said with a lot of enthusiasm. "Damn, I didn't know my stuff was THAT super seriously important to you! I'm mega flattered that I'm a prodigy shop owner!"

Chris wanted to smack himself hard on the head for saying all those flattering things to the clueless hand.

"Okay, apology accepted!" said the hyperactive hand. "Whatcha wanna buy from awesome biggie me?"

"..." The World Traveler sighed to himself. "Let me see what you have, then..."

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hands: 5201

"What do you want to see in my list with kewl stuff?" Crazy Hand asked.

Poor hand was thinking he was the best person in the world Chris had ever met.

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'd like to see some of the specific abilities for some Smashers... Wait a minute..." He crossed his arms. "If I'm going to look for specific abilities, I should first go get the people I'm going to take with me to the next world..."

"Hmm," Crazy Hand grumbled. "Let Lady Luck give you a chance to get something from me."

"Oh no, I'm not taking any chances," Chris said. "I'd better have the people before buying something for someone else I'm not going with."

Crazy Hand grumbled more. "C'mon?"

"N-no!" Chris yelled. "If you keep insisting, I won't buy from you today!"

"Okay, fine, dude," Crazy Hand said in annoyance. "You'll miss the 10 percent sale deal, though."

Chris looked angry. "You never said that before!"

"Well, I'm saying it now."

"Ugh, I'll come back in a few," Chris muttered before he turned around and walked away from the hand.

Crazy Hand pumped himself up in a fist. "Mark my words, World Traveler, that you WILL come back here in 5 minutes!" he proclaimed loudly, the World Traveler ignoring his claim altogether.

Once Chris was some feet away from the crazy shop owner, he grunted and sighed in relief. "...Okay..." he began by muttering, "it's time to get the team ready for the next mission." He closed his eyes with some worry. "I really didn't want to go out and risk my life for the sake of the universes, but...that's my job, sadly..."

"That's everyone's job here, so don't think you're alone in this."

Chris opened his eyes and looked to his right where Marth was staring at him. "O-oh, right, I'm not alone in this."

Marth nodded. "Besides, if you were alone, you'd probably be dead by now."

The World Traveler looked a bit frightened at the frank statement. "O-okay, I seriously think I could've been dead by now, b-but why state it like that?"

"That's the most logical thing to think about," Marth said. "Don't think it's just you, though. Pretty much anyone here would be dead if we were alone by ourselves. Even I could die."

"T-that's enough, Marth," Chris said scared. "Stop talking about that, please..."

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Marth said. "The good thing is that we're all together in this, and the fact that we never fight alone." He frowned a bit. "While I think fighting alone is a courageous thing to do, it's a bit risky, don't you think?"

Chris calmed down his shaking and rubbed his chin. "Well, fighting together in a battle feels safer than fighting all alone..." He shrugged a bit at the thought. "I think it's really stupid to fight all alone. I really hate to be alone..."

"If that's so, be sure to stay together with the group," Marth said. "We all are going to watch our backs for anything dangerous out there."

"Phew, that's good to hear," Chris said with a sigh. "Anyway... Marth, can you come?"

"Are you asking me that just because I gave you some advice?"

"I-I'm going to honest in this. Yes," Chris responded. "But even so, do you want to come?"

"Yes, I guess," Marth said. "I'm intrigued to meet this Cloud person you met."

"Just hope that he doesn't shrug us off... He was a bit serious when I met him."

"I'm pretty sure he'll understand our motives," Marth said. "Okay, tell me when we're ready to go."

Chris nodded to Marth before he walked from the Altean prince. The World Traveler looked around to the other talking Smashers. "Let's see now... Since this world allows anyone to go there, I can take with me practically anyone..." He looked to his left where he saw Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Cream, and Cheese talking to each other. "And since this involves their world..." he trailed off and walked to them.

Knuckles noticed Chris. The echidna crossed his arms. "Take me with the group this time around," he said.

"(Wow, that was fast,)" Chris thought. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Knuckles asked. "Amy went with you, as did Tails. I think it should be right for all us to have a chance to go do some missions. That way, I'm not going to think I'm lazy for having to sit back and see how everyone does something," he explained. "Besides, unlike Sonic, I DO focus on the main task."

Sonic grinned at Knuckles. "Oh, so Knuckles is gonna be a babysitter and tell me where I should paint?"

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "I'm not going to be your babysitter!" he said annoyed before crossing his arms. "I'm just going to head down to that world and find that temple. Who knows, maybe I can end up being more reliable than you are."

"You'll end up getting lost in a forest," Sonic taunted. "You're good at looking for Master Emerald shards, but in anything else, you're stick in the deep mud."

Knuckles grunted angrily at Sonic before Cream shyly made a nervous, happy expression. "U-um, would you two get along a bit more today?" she asked innocently. "We should focus this time now that we found the temple..."

Sonic chuckled a bit. "Oh, don't you worry, Cream. Knuckles here is just pretty mad that he's not guarding the precious Master Emerald."

"WHAT?!" Knuckles asked angrily, his fangs gritting each other hard.

The hedgehog raised his shoulders and open hands a bit. "Staying away from the Master Emerald makes you really angry, Knucklehead. Why, the emerald could be as well your stress-reliever. No wonder why you need to have it close to you so you can have some relaxati-OWW!"

An annoyed Chris hand-chopped Sonic's forehead, interrupting the hedgehog's taunt. "Sonic, I even know you were acting like a big jerk to Knuckles right now," Chris said annoyed. "And you said you were going to change, so I'm reminding you now about that."

Knuckles grinned pleased, stopping his grunts. "Oh, thanks, Chris. He was getting on my nerves just now."

Sonic rubbed the spot where he got a hand chop while he grunted a bit and looked annoyed at Chris. "You should be thankful, Knuckles. Chris is pretty much on favor with anyone here. He's not the Chris I used to be with."

Chris's pupils shrunk in annoyance. "You mean the same Chris whom you always ran away from most of the time?"

Sonic looked away. "I-I didn't run away from him... It was the other way around..."

As some of them looked bored at Sonic, Chip made a happy expression and folded his arms behind his back. "~Liar, liar, legs on fire,~" he sang merrily.

Cheese looked happy. "~Chao, Chao, Chao-Chao-Chao,~" he sang happily.

The hedgehog scoffed a bit at this. "Oh, what do you two know, anyway..." he trailed off in boredom.

Chris blinked a bit for his pupils to turn back to normal. "With that out of the way... Knuckles, I want you to come with us."

Knuckles nodded. "Nice."

"And then, I'll have to take both Sonic and Chip since they need to come."

"Bad," Knuckles commented. "Leave Sonic behind and just bring Chip. Sonic is bound to run somewhere and leave us alone until something attacks us... Then, you can think he likes (or loves) to be stalking people just to come to the right moment and show off by saving us."

Sonic looked up at the ceiling. "That wouldn't be a bad a thing to do, now that you say it..." he said.

Chip looked proud. "Fear not, Mr. Knuckles," he said. "I, Chip Norris, shall tell his dog how to sit down and bark when needed." He looked at Sonic. "Sonic, sit down."

Sonic looked bored before his feet moved forward and let him fall on the floor. "O-oww!" Sonic moaned a bit in pain.

Chip chuckled. "Now, Sonic, bark for us."

Sonic looked up annoyed at Chip. "You and your stupid collar-controlling powe-woof! Woof! Woof!" Sonic barked suddenly.

Chris, Knuckles, Cream, and Cheese exchanged glances before they all began to chuckle silently at the orders Sonic was forced to do thanks to the collar on his neck.

The hedgehog stopped barking, and he glared at Chip. "Chip, one more stupid order an-"

"Now, now, Sonic," Chip interrupted. "You're being a bad doggy. For that, you shall sleep as your punishment!"

"I'm not going to sleep just because you're telling me to d-" Sonic suddenly yawned a bit and lied down on the floor, curling before he began snoring a bit.

The group stifled some chuckles on their hands as Chip looked happily at the snoring Sonic. "O-okay, no more, please," Chris said, stifling a chuckle. "I think Chip will serve very well in that world. Chip, you're coming."

"You need help disciplining Chip Norris's dog?" Chip asked.

Chris chuckled. "S-something like that..."

Knuckles nodded at Chris. "Call us when everything's ready."

"I will," Chris said. "...Hmm, that's strange..." he trailed off as he looked at the group. "I thought Big was going to be with you..."

Cream made a happy expression. "Mr. Big was still fretting over losing Froggy again, but fortunately, he's calming down right now."

"He is?" Chris asked. "But where is he?"

Cream pointed behind Chris where the World Traveler turned around and found said purple cat sitting on a chair. Big was busily taking tea with both Peach and Zelda while all of them were talking to each other. Curiously, Big looked refined with the little cup of tea he was drinking.

"Thank you for helping me during this time," Big said to Peach and Zelda. "Tea time makes me feel so much better."

Zelda nervously smiled a bit. "You don't worry, Big."

"Yes," Peach said without having to smile nervously. "We're here to make you feel better about Froggy."

Big sniffed a bit. "I-I hope we can get Froggy back from Dr. Eggman... Froggy said he didn't like to be with him because it was scary and dangerous..."

Peach and Zelda exchanged glances to each other before they looked confused at Big. "Um... You can understand Froggy?" Peach asked.

"N-no, wait, can he even talk?" Zelda asked.

Big looked up at the ceiling. "Froggy can talk," he said. "I don't see why people can't understand him." He looked back at them. "Can you understand Froggy?"

Zelda remained silent with Peach. "...O-of course we can," she said.

Big looked happy. "Oh, I thought I was the only one who understood Froggy. I'm glad to hear you 2 can understand him as well."

Zelda and Peach nervously chuckled a bit, wishing to see that Froggy could really talk.

Chris sweat dropped at this scene before turning to Cream. "Well, at least he's having a nice time."

"That's all that matters," Cream said. "It's a good thing he hasn't thought about going to a world..."

"It's not going to be long before he actually asks..." Chris said. "...I'll see you later."

Cream nodded to Chris before the World Traveler walked away from the group, leaving Knuckles to wonder what he could ask Chip for Sonic to do. It was a big advantage that Chip was so dense at times for the echidna.

The World Traveler stopped walking and thought more. "I have 3 people ready… I need 5 more, then," he said. "Let's see, since I'm going to a world where someone I know happens to be a big fanatic of a certain protagonist, it should be obvious that he wants to come…" Chuckling, Chris walked close to the exit of the room where Lucario was leaning against the wall. "Don't you hide it anymore, Lucario," Chris said. "You REALLY want to come with us."

Lucario looked at Chris before he looked away and blushed a bit. "H-how did you know?" Lucario asked.

"One name: Cloud," Chris said. "You're a big fanatic of Cloud. You have a chance to meet him in person, and you REALLY want to do it because I met him while I was…you-know-what."

Lucario looked back at his trainer. "T-that might be true…but…"

"For the gods, you're bad at hiding stuff like that from me, Lucario!" Chris said. "No matter how much you hide it, I always know what you want to do. It's the same with you to me, but this time is from me to you."

Lucario sighed. "Fine, it was pathetic…" he trailed off. "…I want to go with you and meet Cloud in person."

Chris smiled a bit. "Was it so hard to say?"

"A-a bit…" Lucario said. "…I only do this because I don't want to look so weird."

"Why'd you look weird?" Chris asked. "You just need to act coolly so you don't look weird. I know Lucarios are Pokémon with pride, but I know you can keep your attitude intact."

Lucario looked down. "…Am I weird?"

"…" Chris shook his head and chuckled. "You're like any other Lucario, except for the fact that you're more special than any other out there." He crossed his arms. "Really, you're a LEGENDARY Lucario. That makes you much more important than your everyday Lucario we've met out there."

Lucario looked back at Chris, blinked a bit at this, and smiled a bit. "I'm…not only special because I'm a legendary, but it's also because I have my trainer who fights alongside me, and trainers don't usually fight with the Pokémon in a battle. They just give orders."

Chris chuckled. "So anyway, you're not weird at all, Lucario," he said. "Today, I'll make sure you meet Cloud."

Lucario nodded. "I hope he doesn't attack me because of how I look."

"(Chances are he'll have a hand on the grip of his huge sword ready…)" Chris thought. "Okay, wait until I call everyone, okay?"

Lucario nodded once more before his trainer walked away from him.

"Now I have 4 people," Chris muttered. "4 more to go…" He thought more for a moment. "Maybe… Hmm… Actually…that isn't a bad idea," he mused to himself. The World Traveler looked around before he found Mario sitting on a chair to the left side of the room. Chris smiled a bit and walked to the red plumber.

"Hmm?" Mario looked up at Chris. "Oh, you want me to come with you?"

Chris nodded. "I thought it would be kind of amazing to see Nintendo's mascot meet up with Cloud," he explained. "I mean, Cloud is regarded as one of the best protagonists from the Final Fantasy series."

"When…you put it that way, it sounds a bit…off?" Mario said confused. "I know I'm a mascot for the company that created all of us, but saying a thing like that…"

"…O-oh, sorry!" Chris said embarrassed. "I-I swear my mind sometimes makes me say things I don't wish to say!"

"That's fine," Mario said. "Maybe you're just excited for the idea that you didn't give it second thoughts. That can make some more problems to you, sometimes."

The World Traveler looked away. "D-did I make some now?"

"Not really," Mario admitted. "I was thinking about meeting Cloud as well, so it's all good, don't worry."

Chris sighed. "I thought I screwed it up just now…"

Mario chuckled a bit. "Well, let's make sure everything goes well," he said. "We need to give Cloud a good impression. People often judge others by the first impression so we have to make sure our first impression goes like we want it to go."

"Knowing Cloud, he'd probably label us as quite the unusual group…" Chris shook his head. "I need to be optimistic right now. I don't need to think about the bad stuff."

The red plumber nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready to go anytime."

The World Traveler nodded to Mario before he walked away from him to seek out more people.

Chris could choose three more people. Since the world admitted anyone, anyone would be good. The World Traveler knew that some should go so they would go nicely with the world. Thinking hard, he got another person in mind; one that could go along with the world.

"And why I can go in the first place?" Fox asked with crossed legs while he was sitting down on a chair. "Do you have a reason for this?"

Chris looked away. "Maybe because there was some guy who didn't stop playing a certain game at the hardest difficulty these last days...in my room," he muttered.

Fox blinked a bit shocked at this.

"And that guy didn't even leave my room until it was around midnight, and he didn't even move forward from the two obligated battles; the second one where he died exactly 79 times," Chris said bored. "I recall that the unlucky gamer has been so addicted to the game as well, and he decided to listen to me to choose the normal difficulty, but he still looked pretty pissed that he had to take the basics before he could catch on..."

The vulpine looked away.

"And I'm doing this so his newly obtained gamer sense shuts off for a moment," Chris explained more. "I REALLY think he needs to release some stress by breathing fresh air."

Fox grumbled at this and looked back at Chris. "Okay, so yeah, I need to vent off some stress," he said.

"I know it's courageous of you to take on the hardest difficulty, but it's also very stupid to attempt to d-"

"I KNOW," Fox interrupted. "Since I'm stressed right now, I should really get going to that world. Can you hurry it up a bit?"

Chris shifted his eyes. "Okay... Wait here until I call you."

"Thanks," Fox said nodding.

Shrugging, Chris walked away from the stressed vulpine. "It was fast," Chris muttered to himself as he looked around to get another person. "Hmm, I think I should add a girl to the group because I don't want to think there's so much testosterone in the team..."

The World Traveler went over to the bounty hunter.

"So, you want me to go, I assume?" Samus asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "I-it's for the sake to have a differentiation in genders..."

Samus crossed her arms. "Oh, the testosterone matter," she said, surprising Chris a bit. "Yes, I do think it'd look odd to have a group of men for a mission. It's not bad to include a woman in there."

Chris shrugged. "I-I know there are a small number of female characters in this tournament..."

"I know that very well," Samus said. "There isn't a big amount of female fighters out there, so I guess it's understandable."

"I could name a few, but I don't want to do that around Master Hand."

"Nice move," Samus said. "He's the one who made this entire tourney, anyway. You wouldn't want him upset when these things are brought up."

"Because he'll probably avoid talking about it, or because he'll probably have a poor excuse?"

"Mainly because he hates to admit he did a lazy work at certain tasks."

"HEY, I heard that, you know!" Master Hand called from several feet away from them.

Samus sighed. "See what I mean? It's better not to argue about that to him."

"I think I understand..." Chris trailed off. "...Well, I want you to come with us, Samus."

Samus nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready by the time you call me."

The World Traveler nodded and walked away from the bounty hunter, ignoring some calls from an excited C. Falcon (who still had a paper sticking out from a nostril, for some kind of reason). Chris stopped to think about the last person to take. "Just one more and it's done..." he trailed off. "It's going to be hard to think for a last person..."

As Chris kept pondering who, he noticed that Snake was all alone by himself on the right corner of the command room. The World Traveler began to think that he had to do whatever thing possible to get to know Snake better. Thankfully, Chris had played his series, but unfortunately, Snake was one harsh person to talk to.

Nevertheless, the teen knew there were ways to know Snake.

Chris gulped in fear at the thought before he went all the way to the corner to speak to the former FOXHOUND operative. "Snake..." Chris trailed off.

The mercenary looked at him. "What is it this time, kid? You are calling me to do a mission with the group?"

"T-that's what I was thinking to do," Chris said. "I think you want to do something this time, am I right?"

"Tsk, you may be right on that," Snake said. "I'm not some kind of lazy bum. I'm the type of man that likes to take some "retirement" times, but when my help is needed… You get the drill."

The World Traveler nodded. "So…would you rather be in retirement right now?"

"I'd like to do so," Snake said. "But after I was dragged into this whole mess about fantasy, anthros, really wacky worlds, it's hard to ignore such things, or even forget about them," he explained. "Do you really think I'd forget I met Mario?"

"Oh, of course you wouldn't forget about Mario," Otacon said over the codec. "I mean, I have some figurines here with me. I even have one of Yoshi."

"Otacon, that was unnecessary to say right now," Snake said.

"Hey, I'm just saying…" Otacon trailed off.

"Sure you were," Snake said. "In any case, kid, I'd like to see what else is in this whole matter about the Subspace and what not. The fact that they can target any world makes me feel uneasy."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"I come from a world where you have to deal with Metal Gears," Snake said. "Do you know what they are?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Let's see… I've played the game a long time ago, but what I can recall about Metal Gears are that they…um…hmm…um…"

"Metal Gears are armed bipedal tanks with nuclear weapons, kid," Snake said. "Hearing the name makes me upset. Those weapons are probably the deadliest things you'll ever see in your life," he said.

"N-nuclear weapons?" Chris asked with some fear.

"Yes," Snake responded. "Facing one is just crazy, but you might find a way to stop them from obliterating you…or any country of the world to bits. Anyway, I don't know if Metal Gears could be disabled by all of us, but I honestly think we could be in for hell if the army were to get on their hands that dangerous technology."

Chris looked away, worried about the thought.

"Do you see why I need to be here?" Snake asked. "They get their hands on a Metal Gear and we're all pretty much screwed. The army doesn't have the same level of competence as the people I've faced before, and that's why letting them have one of those infernal machines is just crazy and stupid."

The World Traveler looked back at Snake. "So that's your reason to be here?"

"Yeah."

Chris bit his lip a bit. "Well...I always thought you were here just because of Samus..."

"About that..." Snake shook his head. "No, of course it wasn't because of her..."

In the codec, Mei-Ling chuckled a bit. "Snake sometimes hides his true feelings towards women. Samus isn't the first woman Snake has been infatuated with."

"Mei-Ling, I never implied some romance," Snake said.

"It's obvious you attract most women. Too bad, you can't attract Samus, though. You two would make a nice pair if you were to ge-"

"Kid, just tell me when we're ready," Snake interrupted hastily. "You don't want to know more about this whole thing, right?"

Chris thought for a moment. "But I was actually wishing t-"

"Not in this life, kid."

Chris sighed in depression. "Oh well, that's okay. Since you're the last person, we're ready to go."

Snake nodded. "I hope you don't bring up more stuff about romance while we're on the mission."

"Can I do it, though?" Mei-Lin asked.

"Not even you, Mei-Ling. You like to do this a lot, so I'm going to have to ask you to avoid doing that as well."

"You're no fun sometimes, Snake."

"That's how I am."

The World Traveler walked away from the mercenary. Chris walked back to Crazy Hand, who at the time was still waiting for him to get done. "Done?" Crazy Hand asked. "There are some items that would REALLY like to hang out with you for a very long time."

Chris rolled his eyes. "I know what to ask for. I have the team assembled already."

"Aww, no fun," Crazy Hand said. "I hoped you'd go for random..."

"Just...show me the list, please..."

"Fine, party pooper," Crazy Hand said, muttering the last part.

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hands: 5201

"So, what will it be this time?" Crazy Hand asked. "What do you want to see?"

"I'd like to see specific abilities for a single character."

"Okay, which character do you want to see first?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'd like to see what...um..." He scratched his head a bit. "I-it's a bit hard to think which one I want to see first..."

"Take your time."

"...I know," Chris said. "I want to see Samus's abilities."

"Oh, nice," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, here it is."

-Smashers Abilities

-Samus

Screw Attack EX – 1000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Screw Attack its true nature. Samus can cross over long gaps by jumping 5 times. This move can constantly damage enemies on the way she goes.

Ice Missiles – 2000 Smash Coins

Samus will be able to launch ice missiles. These missiles are guaranteed to freeze an enemy for a short period of time.

Morph Ball – 3000 Smash Coins

Allows Samus to use the Morph Ball. Along with using this to cross through small spaces, Samus will be able to use Bomb (module), Boost Ball, Power Bomb, and Spider Ball (for climbing magnetic surfaces).

Annihilator Beam – 4000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Arm Cannon the potent Annihilator Beam; a beam infused with light and dark energy that gives a lot of damage to enemies weak to light and dark attacks alike. Charging this attack will create the Sonic Boom, creating a rift in space to deal damage to all enemies.

Resist lvl. 1: Status Ailments - 2000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus immunity to some kinds of status ailments as long as she remains using the Varia Suit.

The World Traveler stared at the list. "My god, all these abilities sound very useful..." He shook his head. "I don't think I should be the one choosing, though. They're their abilities, not mine..."

Crazy Hand groaned. "Oh, please, don't tell me you're going to call them here before you get to buy something from me!"

Chris looked annoyed at Crazy Hand. "Hey, last time I bought abilities was because I was the one who did all that. I want the others to see by themselves what they want...because the money we get is supposed to be shared by everyone!"

Music stops

The World Traveler heard many people turning to look at him from their spots. Chris shook his head in surprise at the sudden response from almost every Smasher. Somehow, an unneeded feeling of tension began to rise in Chris. His mind told him that, if everyone were to use the money freely...there wouldn't be control in what they wanted to buy.

"...I-I meant to say I-I'm...u-um..." Chris trailed off, "I-I'm in charge of the money here so there's no pointlessly spent stuff for a single person! T-there should be someone here who thinks equally for every single character in this room!"

The Smashers kept staring at the World Traveler before most of them frowned and returned to talk to each other, giving Chris a sense of tranquility and peace.

Final Fantasy VIII - The Timber Owls

Crazy Hand chuckled a bit at this. "Bummer," he said. "And here I was thinking you were going to promote randomness; my favorite hobby in the whole world."

Chris turned to the hand and looked angrily. "You're enjoying all this, aren't you?" he asked.

"160 percent I am," Crazy Hand said.

Chris grunted annoyed.

Several minutes later, Chris had called Samus to see the abilities that she could get. Of course, she took in mind the current amount of money they had. "Hmm, all of these abilities give me some good memories about my past missions," Samus remarked. "I wish I could use all of them, but maybe I should just get one for the time being."

Crazy Hand nodded. "There will be a time where all my stuff will be bought," he said. "If only Chris would rob a bank..."

"I-I'm not going to do that sort of thing!" Chris yelled in annoyance. "I-I'm a very good guy!"

"Aww, c'mon, you wanna do it sometime in your life," Crazy Hand said. "Everyone has some dark thoughts that they wish to do, and there are darker thoughts...and then there are more besides those...and the ones besides the ones besides the darker thoughts..."

Samus frowned. "I know for one thing that Chris won't fall that low, ever," she commented, making Chris sigh in relief. "Back on the stuff...I'd wish to have Ice Missiles again."

"Ice Missiles?" Chris said in curiosity.

Samus nodded at Chris. "Believe me when I'm saying that ice helped me to stop those vicious Metroids from sucking my life force," she said. "They work with other enemies as well. I'm thinking about building a strategy that revolves freezing enemies so I can charge my shots."

The World Traveler nodded. "Okay, Ice Missiles, then," he said.

Crazy Hand nodded himself as Chris gave him 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 3201 Smash Coins. Once the money was given, the insane hand snapped his fingers. "Alrighty, Samus can now use Ice Missiles, and I took a step closer to achieve my dream to get a bank in the future," he said.

Samus looked at her Arm Cannon. She saw as some icy mist leaked out from some of the small openings of the weapon. She nodded at her weapon before looking back at Chris. "This is going to become very useful to me now," she said. "Thanks."

"You deserved it," Chris said.

"Oh," Crazy Hand began, "since Samus has 2 forms, she has another assortment of abilities as Zero Suit Samus," he explained. "However, take in mind she can't use both areas in the same form, though. You wanna use the other assortment? Give up the form you're using, then."

Samus thought for a moment. "...That helps me more, I guess," she said.

"That same goes for Zelda and Red," the hand said. "Anyhow, what else would you like to buy? You could buy some stickers that increase defense. I think you have one or two items stored here as well. What will you do?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "Hmm, there are a few people in the group who don't have any points in defense..."

"If you give them some defense, they could withstand some attacks to keep fighting," Crazy Hand said. "You'd rather have dead bodies around you?"

"O-of course not," Chris said, shrugging at the thought. "Well, I think I'll buy some defense stickers to Marth and Samus for the time being."

"High boosters, medium boosters, or small boosters?" Crazy Hand asked. "High boosters are 2000, medium boosters are 1000, and small boosters are 500."

Chris thought more. "Medium boosters are affordable... I'd like to buy 2 medium defense boosters, please."

"Right-o," Crazy Hand said before he ducked behind the counter to get the requested stickers. "Here you go, 2 medium-sized defense boosters: a Dark Samus sticker, which boosts defense, or battering resistance, plus 11, and a Rutoga sticker, which boosts defense, or slash resistance, plus 18." Crazy Hand twirled a finger. "It doesn't really matter which resistance is for which kind. All counts as defense...but the specific attributes that boost certain kinds of attacks could end up having more boosts in their respective areas..."

"So...even if we raise a certain kind of defense, it still counts as defense for everything else?" Chris asked.

"In a way, yes. BUT! Elemental resistances won't give that benefit because those vary a lot from slashing or battering."

Samus's look became a bit stern at the Dark Samus sticker. "Ugh, isn't there any other sticker besides that?"

"But it's made specifically for you," Crazy Hand said. "Just ignore the sticker and mind the boost, okay?"

"...I...suppose so..."

Chris nodded at this. He took the stickers and gave Crazy Hand 2000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 1201 Smash Coins. The World Traveler gave the stickers to Samus. "Put this one on your stand, and go give Marth the other one, okay?"

"Yes," Samus said before she turned around and walked away to the Altean prince.

"Any items you'd like to withdraw?" Crazy Hand asked. "Currently, you have this."

Stored Items:
Superspicy Curry
Block Meal

"All of them, I guess," Chris said. "I don't have any item right now. I should better take everything just in case."

Crazy Hand nodded and took out from under the counter the mentioned items. The World Traveler took the items with him to the inventory and sighed. "Well, that's that…" he trailed off. "It's time to go now. Wish me luck, okay?"

"I'll wish you luck if you get money."

Chris rolled his eyes. "You really like this job, don't you?"

"I like it even more than I like myself."

The World Traveler was a bit freaked out by this statement (or fact) before he slowly walked away from the seemingly calm hand.

A time later passed, and Chris had called everyone to prepare to go to the next world. Master Hand floated close to the group to talk to remind them about their mission. "Remember that your mission is to find the Adabat Temple," he said. "Also, be on the lookout for the Subspace Army's henchmen. They're surely going to be there around the area. You either can avoid them, or fight them. It's your choice, but I'd prefer you avoid them so they don't slow us down."

"I'll fight them if necessary," Marth said.

Samus crossed her arms. "Most of them are not really that intimidating. Ganondorf is the only one smart enough to make plans."

Mario nodded. "We don't know if Ganondorf is even going to show up, though. I get the feeling that the others will appear."

"Let's just focus in finding the temple," Knuckles said. "I hope we don't have to get involved in something to distract us from this…" He pointed at Sonic. "And you better stick with us, or I'll tell Chip here to make you sit down like the dog you are!"

As Chip made a happy expression, Sonic rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm having second thoughts about removing this idiotic collar from my neck now…"

Chris shook his head many times. "And let that spawn of the demon's butt menace us with his sadistic comments? H-hell no, Sonic! Hell no!"

Sonic sighed and looked away. "And that guy's the reason why I have to be wearing this…"

"I completely agree with Chris," Fox said.

Sonic looked up in annoyance. "I know for sure that EVERYONE agrees about this…"

"(I hope I get to meet Cloud properly…)" Lucario thought. "(I need to make sure he doesn't see me as a monster…)"

The World Traveler stared at the Aura Pokémon in deep thought. Chris smiled a bit, thinking that Lucario was thinking solely about the enigmatic character.

Snake grunted a bit. "If everyone's ready, let's just go." He looked at Chris. "Open the portal."

"O-okay…" Chris trailed off as he pointed forward the group and made the portal appear.

The group then proceeded into the portal, leaving behind the command room before the vortex shrunk in place and disappeared in a small blink of light. Master Hand sighed and turned to the others. "I personally liked when we had that unexpected break," he said. "Maybe we can get another one when we least think about it."

Ike scratched his head a bit. "Well, it wasn't like we expected one."

"I know, but I wouldn't mind have another one... I guess you can't get everything in life," the hand said. "For now, let's all work so this ends someday."

Big raised his right hand. "Can we have Froggy before someday comes?"

"...Of course, we will have the toad with us before then..."

"But Froggy is a frog..."

"I KNOW," Master Hand said. "(Geez, why are Sonic characters...so annoying?)"

As the hand pondered this, the mission was starting to develop its plot...

Music stops

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Planet-
Western Continent – Wutai Province

Final Fantasy VII – Main Theme

While the location of the Smashers was still unknown by the time, meanwhile, in a mountainous region with long, wide forests, there was a person merrily humming to herself as she walked across the forest to the north, carrying a bag with glowing, sparkling spheres behind her back.

The black-haired short girl in question was 16 years old. Unlike any other person in the world, she wore many different kinds of stuff. She wore a white headband with a green, sleeveless turtleneck jumper that bared her stomach and unbuttoned tan shorts. Over her left arm, she wore some kind of a protective gauntlet that originated from a single pauldron over her shoulder (possibly to act as a shield). She also wore typical ninja-mail mesh covering part of her right arm and left leg as well, as an additional piece of armor, which covered the rest of the thigh of the leg. Not only she wore all this, but she also wore a smaller wrist-covering gauntlet on her right arm, both hands being covered with fingerless gloves while she wore brown sneakers with white leg warmers.

The girl, despite she looked like a thief, was a ninja.

The girl stopped humming to herself with a heartily chuckle. She then proceeded to sigh loudly in a cheerful manner. "Aww, man, this is great!" she said to herself. "I knew I was going to steal these precious babies from that clueless Cloud. Teehee, he didn't see this coming from a mile away now, did he?" she asked with another chuckle.

The ninja kept walking to the north where she walked to the left side of a long row of bushes. She was just walking besides a wide area where a cliff was situated on the far right side, overlooking the long sea of the west.

"I was lucky, though..." she muttered. "I was lucky that those Shinra soldiers appeared out of nowhere. Hmm, maybe they are here as well? Well, who knows?" She smiled happily. "What matters now is that I've got in my hands these precious Materia I've wanted to have for a long time now!"

Materia is an artificial gem created from Mako (the liquid that the Planet has in the Lifestream, a stream of spiritual energy where all living things end up after dying, namely being the blood of the planet), and presumably a natural-created item as well. The Materia, since it's born directly from a potent source of energy, often have a wide assortment of abilities for those who know how to handle them with the knowledge of a forgotten race. Materia is a very valuable item across the Planet that many people seek out to discover about more powerful Materia.

The ninja showed her teeth with a smile. "I can see how all this will help me out in mission," she said. "If my father isn't going to do a thing to renovate the country, well, I should do it with the Materia instead," she said before her look became stern. "...This is for the good of the country..."

The girl remained thinking before she shook her head and looked happily to the north.

"Who really cares about my old man?" the girl asked with a chuckle. "He's so gonna be jealous once I become a heroine for the village."

She stopped walking on her tracks to the north by sighing loudly. She closed her eyes, dropped the bag to the ground, and sat down.

"Man, I'm tired..." she muttered. "It was not an easy task to run ahead to stay away from all of them..." She looked away. "Cloud is ought to get me now. He's so stubborn; I know that very well..." She embraced her legs and looked up at the sky. "Hmm, wonder if they're coming for me... Of course, they're coming for me. I stole their Materia before they were about to fight. Good think those good-for-nothing Shinra soldiers helped to slow them down..."

The girl remained silent as she heard the several birds chirping in the trees. She blinked a few times at the sky before she looked forward. It was not long before her stomach grumbled a bit.

The ninja blushed. "I can steal when I have a full stomach, but I can't go on if my stomach gets empty... Oh, hell no! I need to get to my hometown before Cloud and the others catch up with me!" she said before standing up. "No use resting in the middle of nowhere. I've gotta get going before something else happens!"

Out of a cue, the girl looked to her right to the wide area where, in plain midair, a mysterious vortex appeared.

"..." The ninja's mouth opened, and she took a step back away. "W-what the heck?" she asked to herself before she ducked down and took a peek of the weird portal from behind the bushes. "W-where did that thing come from?"

As the girl kept staring at the portal in curiosity, people began coming out. The ninja got a shocked look after he saw the strangers plainly walking out of the portal, which vanished after it took out ten people from it.

At first, it looked strange, but later, it looked really and very strange. The ninja examined the looks of the people. From what she could tell, there were an old man in soldier uniform, a guy who dressed as a prince, a teen who dressed as a dragoon, some kind of mutated, humanoid dog with strange thighs, a robot with ridiculous wide shoulders, some kind of a humanoid red dog, a humanoid blue hedgehog with joined eyes, a seemingly short guy in blue overalls, some kind of a flying dog, and some kind of humanoid mutt with a menacing glare.

"(W-what in the world?)" the girl asked mentally to herself. "(J-just...j-just, what just happened here? W-who are those people? W-what was that portal? ...Why do I have to see all this by myself?!)"

"So..."

The girl gasped mentally after she saw the old man talking while glancing around.

"We're here," Snake said, looking around the vicinity. "Kind of straightforward, if you ask me."

"I'd say it's nice," Marth commented. "So far, it's just a normal panorama."

Chris breathed in the air. "And the air is nice as well," he added. "For once, I'd like to be out in the field." He looked to the right where he saw the long ocean. "We're close to the ocean. That should explain why it feels a bit warm around here."

"Hey, we shouldn't get distracted by all this," Knuckles said. "Weren't we supposed to look for the Adabat Temple?"

"Killjoy," muttered Sonic. "I knew you were gonna wreck this moment, Knucklehead."

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "Will you just shut up!" he yelled. "I'm just trying to remind everyone here our main mission, that's all!"

Mario forced a happy expression with some hint of nervousness. "Knuckles, I think you shouldn't listen to Sonic if he says something offensive to you. If there isn't any reason to listen him, then don't fall for his tricks."

"...Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked annoyed.

"I-I'm sorry to say this, but you should mind what you say, Sonic," Mario said. "You don't want people to hate you, do you?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "The guy can't just stop being himself, you know. He's going to stay like that forever." He crossed his arms and frowned. "You know Sonic very well if you spend enough time with him..."

"I think I'm going to have to say that I agree with Knuckles...about looking for the Adabat Temple, that is," Samus said. "So then, why don't we get started?"

"That was what I was thinking about just now," Fox said. "The faster we find the temple, the more advantages we'll have over the Subspace Army, don't you think?"

Chip nodded and joined his hands. "Yep, that's how it is," he said. "Once Chip Norris beat the army in finding the temple, then I'll be able to make more of this awesome facts about myself."

Chris stared at Chip before he sighed. "Anyway...we should be on our way..."

"And maybe we can meet Cloud," Lucario said.

Marth looked a bit skeptical. "But is he really going to help us out? I wonder if he's going to turn us down."

Snake crossed his arms. "Judging by the fact we're an odd bunch, thanks to a certain people we have with us, chances are he'll shrug us off right from the start," he said. "Even if we told him about our motives, will that be enough?"

Fox glared at Snake. "Oh, please, just because some of us look out of plac-"

"Unfortunately, Snake has a point," Mario interrupted. "We have to face that we're going to stand out from a big crowd."

The vulpine grunted and looked away. "I hate when people have to judge us by our looks... I hate discrimination to an extent..."

Chris looked serious at this. "P-please, let's not think about that right now," he said. "Let's hope everything turns out fine. We won't know what will happen unless we try."

"That's right," Marth said. "Let's be optimistic and think about how we'll do here."

"That's the spirit," Chip said. "Chip Norris says so."

Samus sighed at this before she looked around. "If we're all ready to go, we should start searching around the area for the Adabat Temple."

"I suggest some order here first, though," Snake said. "We're a bit unfamiliar with this world."

"With that thought in mind...let's think about what we can do first," Mario offered.

The group began to talk with each other to discuss about their moves. While they were all talking, the ninja behind the bushes looked a bit confused at what she heard from all of them. Her eyes began to shift around. "(Wait just a minute here...)" she trailed off in thought. "(...Just...who are they exactly? Were they just talking about...Cloud? But how?)" she asked to herself. "(How do they know who Cloud is? I don't remember them ever meeting him at all...)"

The girl put her hands on her head before she started rubbing her hair.

"(But...they said they hoped they'd meet him in person... So...how does this work?)" she pondered. "(Maybe they heard about him somewhere, but then again, maybe Shinra spread the word about Cloud...or... Ugh, it's not my thing to think so hard about this! This is usually Cloud's area of expertise, not mine!)" she yelled mentally. "(...Okay, I've gotta stay calm... Hmm... Wait a minute...)"

The ninja had realized something very important about the whole event across the bushes.

"(...This doesn't have anything to do with me at all!)" she realized before sighing mentally. "(Oh god, I don't have a reason to be spying these bunch of guys...animal...robot...whatever...)" She looked happy. "(Well, since I'm not required here, I'll just sneak away from them and go back to my hometown.)"

With a silent chuckle, the ninja looked away...

Final Fantasy VII - Stolen Materia

However, a tempting thought stroke her mind once she reminded herself about how the group looked like. The girl's eyes turned bored before she looked back to the group conversing.

"I propose that we should separate in groups," Marth said. "That way, we could cover more area."

Samus shook her head. "I'm a bit worried myself, though," she said. "What if there are strong monsters around? What if a group gets ambushed?"

"No worries," Chris said before looking at Lucario. "Lucario can alert anybody. He could use ExtremeSpeed to get anyone anywhere, right?"

"I think I can do that without troubles," Lucario said. "My aura should reach out anybody. It covers a long area to detect anyone's aura."

"Even so...it stills makes me worried," Mario said. "I know we have two speedsters in the group, but, will they be enough?"

Sonic grinned and chuckled. "Do you doubt the world's fastest hedgehog now?"

"No, we do doubt the world's most annoying hedgehog ever," Knuckles said.

"Will you 2 just drop it already?" Fox asked. "None of you are even giving us a hand."

"I don't see you giving one," Sonic said.

Snake sighed as Fox glared at Sonic. "This is why we're never going to get moving from this stupid spot..." he muttered.

Back at the bushes, the ninja's lips took a shape of that of a cat as she wondered something in her mind. "(I know I don't have any business with them...but...)" Her eyes focused on the Smashers.

However, her eyes weren't exactly focusing on the Smashers themselves. Her eyes were actually eying what they were all carrying with them.

"(Now that I think about it...they sure have really interesting stuff carrying with them...)" she thought, raising an eyebrow. "(I mean, the old man carries a lot of stuff...and the short guy with the red hat looks really peculiar, particularly his red hat with the little "M" in the front...)" She chuckled mentally to herself. "(Wait, didn't they come out from a portal? ...Wouldn't that mean their stuff is from... Ooooooohh, they're from another dimension...aren't they? ...Yeah, I guess that's very logical...)" she thought. "(If I think right here, their stuff could end up being really good to have in here. If I were to get my hands on their stuff...what good would it make? On what could I use their stuff?)"

The girl looked back at the bag with Materia.

"(Of course!)" she thought. "(I could grab their stuff and sell them for big prices to collectors! And if I could do that, I could use the money to buy even more Materia from other people!)" she thought before chuckling mentally. "(Oh yeah, that's a very nice idea now! I'll end getting even more Materia for my plans to get done sooner!)"

The girl looked back at the group with a hint of seriousness in her look.

"(First things first, though,)" she thought seriously. "(What could I do to steal their stuff? They're so many, and what they said about the dog and the porcupine could mean they're fast in running around... Well...that's what I think. You don't see people coming from a portal everyday, anyway...)" She shook her head. "(So then, I should take those 2 out with...hmm...what? ...Oh right...)"

The girl took out from behind a pipe with some darts charged with sleeping shots in them.

"(Teehee, I was gonna use these on Cloud and the others, but thank goodness those Shinra soldiers were close. I didn't have to use these at all! Now that's luck!)" she thought with a small giggle before looking back at the group. "(Okay, who's going down first?)"

Back with the group, Lucario crossed his arms and looked a bit upset. "I can alert anyone about anything happening anywhere."

"And I can do that," Sonic said.

"I think Lucario is more reliable than you, Sonic," Marth said.

Sonic looked away and faked a sniff. "You guys hurt me emotionally so much..."

Knuckles stared angrily at the hedgehog. "You and your stupid crocodile tears aren't going to work this time!"

The girl focused on the Aura Pokémon. "(Since he's more reliable as they say, he's gonna go down first... Now, where should I shoot him?)" she wondered. "(Hmm, the back of his head sounds like an easy spot, but it's a little bit cliché to strike the back... So...I'm going to be original and strike his...)"

Her eyes looked down where she found two pink spots, each one of them on the back of Lucario's legs.

"(...Paw pads!)" she thought with glee. "(And they're surely spongy and so pinky! ...W-wait, I shouldn't distract myself with those paw pads right now!)" She thought a bit more before she got an idea. "(...Instead, I'll shoot one of them!)" She aimed for the right paw pad. "(Aim...)"

Lucario grumbled a bit before he sighed and looked at Chris. "Can we just decide? I think we're losing more time talking than moving..."

"That was what I was thinking about just now..." Chris said embarrassed. "Don't worry, Lucario. We're going to get moving in a bit so you meet Cloud. I'll think about a good outcome, okay?"

Chris stared at the straight look Lucario was giving him. Oddly enough, there wasn't any other response like a little bit of blushing, some stutter, or even a blink of eyes.

"...Lucario..." Chris began in confusion. "Why aren't you saying anything? I-I thought you were going to say something like not wanting to really meet Cloud while it's clear you really want to meet him..."

Again, there weren't any more replies from the Aura Pokémon.

"...Lucario?"

Before Chris's eyes, he saw that Lucario's eyes, for some reason, rolled back into his head. The World Traveler gasped loudly at this, enough to make the others look back at Lucario. They all saw as the Aura Pokémon closed his eyes and fell back on the ground, where he remained still, not moving any muscle of his body.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled before he knelt down. "O-oh my god, what just happened?"

The others walked closer to check on their fallen teammate. Snake rubbed his chin. "Ever heard of fans dying to meet their heroes?" he asked. "Well, we just saw that it's true."

Chris looked up annoyed at Snake. "T-this is not the time to be cracking jokes!" he said. "L-Lucario just fainted for some kind of random reason!"

Snake took out a cigarette that he began to smoke it. "I told you why, kid."

"Um, Snake, I think you should stop here," Otacon said over the codec.

Sonic chuckled a bit. "I'm with the guy's suggestion here..." He looked over to Lucario's feet where he spotted a small dart stuck on the right paw pad. "Huh? Hey, lookie here. There's some kind of needle stuck on his paw pad."

"W-what?" Chris asked confused. The others fixed their gazes at the dart. "H-how did this..."

Back at the bushes, the ninja pumped down a fist. "(Bull's-eye!)" she thought in victory. "(Okay, I'll load the next one for the hedgehog... But...)" she trailed off as she saw that Chris was wondering about the unknown dart. "(...Oh no, I won't let the people who wonder hard about this keep going...)" She carefully aimed at Chris's throat.

"Hmm..." Chris looked worried at the dart before he took it off from the paw pad. "It's...a smart move to strike his paw pad..."

Chip flew down to look at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Lucario's body is strong enough to withstand bullets," Chris said. "It's hard like pure steel, but I'm impressed his hands are a bit soft. However...his paw pads...well...I don't think they share the same defense..."

Samus thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean to say that because his paw pads are very soft?"

"..."

"...O-oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't want to say that, but I'm a girl, so I think I..."

"..."

"..." Fox tilted his head as he looked down at Chris. "...Chris?"

"..."

Suddenly, they all watched as Chris fell on top of Lucario's back without moving to avoid falling down. The look on his face indicated he had fainted. Most of them gasped at this sudden action before noticing that there was a dart stuck on Chris's throat.

"W-what the heck is happening here now?" Knuckles asked as he knelt down and inspected Chris. "There's someone here who's doing this, or what?" He looked at Sonic. "Hey, now's the time for you to do something here! You're the fastest to catch anyone on foot!"

Marth crossed his arms. "I think you're right. If there's someone around here who is doing all this..." He looked at Sonic. "Sonic, you should see who it is."

Unfortunately for them, they watched as Sonic dropped to his knees before falling to his right side. Again, most of them gasped after seeing Sonic's face intact with a fainted look. There weren't any more responses or movements from the hedgehog anymore.

"A-again?" Chip asked. "W-what is going on here?"

Mario took a closer look at Sonic's back. "He was taken down like Chris and Lucario, right? If that's so, where is the dart?"

They all inspected the hedgehog's back until they found the dart logged on Sonic's...

Back at the bushes, the ninja blushed a bit. "(W-whoops, I wanted to strike his back, not his butt... Oh well, accidents tend to happen...at least that's what I think...)"

Snake rubbed his chin. "What an unusual turn of events, don't you think?" he asked. "All of them were put to sleep by those darts."

Fox grabbed the dart on Chris's throat and looked at its needle. He found some liquid spilling over the very tip. "...These darts have sleep-inducing liquid," he said. "They're sleeping darts."

Once more, back at the bushes, the ninja gasped mentally. "(O-okay, this is getting a bit worse for me now,)" she thought as she lowered down her pipe. "(I just can't keep repeating the same thing over and over again. They'll spot me from here, anyway! It's going to be curtains for me if I don't think of another strategy to cover myself!)" she thought in panic. "(There's no turning back now for me... I have to keep going with this with another idea... But...what idea could I use now? Pretend I just came here and find them all like this...)"

She blinked in surprise and looked to her right where a tree stood.

"(...I could...maybe...)"

Samus checked Sonic's chest. "...Yes, he's sleeping," she said. "His heart is beating."

"Well, that saves them from a funeral," Snake said before he rubbed his chin a bit. "But still, it strikes me odd that we were ambushed so quickly..."

Mario looked worried. "Hmm, if you think about it, maybe we can say these darts didn't come from the sea's direction," he said. "Sonic, Chris, and Lucario were all struck from behind."

Marth nodded. "Of course," he said. "If that's true, that means the darts came from..."

"Oh my!"

The remaining seven turned their looks to the west where they saw a girl (the same one) appearing running from behind some bushes and trees. The girl blinked in shock as she looked at the fainted Smashers. "And who are you?" Samus asked.

The girl looked worried as she looked at the odd group. "I-I'm sorry to appear out of nowhere, but I-I heard some yells coming from here..." she said before focusing on the people on the ground. "I-I knew it!" she said. "They were assaulted like everyone else as well!"

"What?" Marth said confused. "What do you mean?"

The girl crossed over the bushes and went to get closer to them. "I-I mean to say they were assaulted by some lousy criminals around this area..." she said. "And it looks like you didn't know there were criminals here, right?"

"No, we didn't," Mario said. "Are you from around these parts?"

"Y-yeah," the girl said. "I live very close to this place...and I was taking a stroll..."

Snake noticed the protective gauntlet covering the girl's left arm. "You sure are one who wants to be protected, huh?"

"Huh?" the girl said before she looked at Snake. She then looked at her piece of armor. "Oh, you mean my gauntlet? Well, yeah. Sometimes I get attacked by monsters that I need to have some armor with me."

"And you still take a stroll around these parts, knowing that there are monsters around here?" Marth asked.

"...I like danger," she said with a smile. "What can I say? I like to have some action. It seems you guys like danger because you're in the plain field as well."

"Maybe," Knuckles said. "We don't like to do that, though."

However, questions arose in Snake's mind as he stared at the ninja. One, the girl who they just met looked a bit out of place. Secondly, the same girl's happy nature wasn't giving Snake some nice impressions. In fact, Snake considered the girl to be a bit strange. He knew he wanted to know more about her.

"Pardon to ask you this," Snake began, "but can you tell us your name first?"

The girl blinked before she chuckled and closed her eyes. "Oh! Right! I didn't get to introduce myself, did I? Silly me, I was caught up in the moment," she said before giving them a peace sign. "Nice to meet all of you, my name is Yuffie; Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Yuffie Kisaragi is a rebellious and cocky tomboy who is very clever and cunning. She wants to return the glory of her nation to what it was before. Due to the fact Shinra had banned the use of Materia in her country, she has an ambition to go out and steal Materia from any traveler she finds (and it's possibly that she has a really big obsession with Materia, even though it's needed), even though her father doesn't want her to do that (thus explaining why she's rebellious). She originally traveled with Cloud's party, but she did this only to get a chance to get a hold of all their Materia when they least expected it (which just happened). A little side note is that Yuffie suffers from motion sickness, whether she is on an airship or a boat.

"Okay...Yuffie," Snake said. "Do you have any more information about these criminals?"

Yuffie nodded. "Like hell I do!" she said. "They like to play pranks on people who have valuable stuff with them."

Fox put a hand on the right side of his face to scratch it. "So they're after our stuff?"

Yuffie looked at Fox and nodded. "(My god, he looks way shady with that face.) Yep, that's it," she said. "You guys surely have really valuable stuff that they want to get their hands on them."

Samus thought a bit about the matter. "Hmm, well, I could say we have stuff that could be considered valuable..."

"I knew you had valuable stuff," Yuffie said. "So then, I'll advice you guys to stay careful because you're bound to get shot down. Luckily, you're many and you're taking care of each other. Those criminals wouldn't want to have at least one of you standing."

Chip blinked. "Wow, you're so smart!"

"Heheh, I know my thing, alright," she said. "You're lucky I was around to warn you about 'em."

Snake kept staring at the girl. "Yeah, thank you so much to coming out from your hiding spot. You saved us a lot of work "

Yuffie looked at Snake and nodded. "Aww, it was nothing. I thought you weren't going to find out it was me who shot down you-" She shook her head. "W-wait just a minute!" she said. "W-why are you suddenly thinking I had to do with this?"

Snake frowned at this. "Please, wasn't it more obvious?"

"W-what was obvious?" she asked before she looked up and rubbed the side of her face. "I don't get what you mean..."

Snake pointed at the bushes. "I saw you were there all this time."

The Smashers looked at Snake. "What? You saw her behind those bushes?" Marth asked.

"Well, technically, I found her after the second dart was shot," Snake explained. "Since all shots came from the west, there should have been somebody hiding close to this place. Then, I saw the third shot coming out directly from the bushes, and I caught a glimpse of the girl's gauntlet."

Yuffie looked at her gauntlet. "W-what?"

Snake nodded. "You were about to hide behind the tree and pretend you came running here. However, you gauntlet was a bit big. I saw it before you hid behind the tree. If you didn't wear it, I would have been forced to listen to you lies about the criminals you were talking about... Well, guess what, I found the criminals, and they're all a single person, namely some girl who wants to do something to us: steal our stuff."

Yuffie began to sweat bullets. "B-but why would I do such a thing like this?" she asked. "I-I just came in here..."

Mario thought for a moment. "I think I believe Snake."

The ninja gasped a bit. "U-um, w-well, I-I..."

"It's over for you," Snake said. "You're even holding a pipe with a dart sticking out from its hole just behind your back."

Yuffie gasped at this before she looked behind her back and saw said pipe sticking out from her shorts' pocket. The ninja looked back at the group, many of them looking at them with suspicious looks. "..."

And the point where she sighed depressed gave away that she wasn't going to lie more.

"Okay, you guys found me out..." she trailed off, giving them a worried look. "I was the one who shot those sleeping darts..."

Marth crossed his arms. "But why would you do that to us?" he asked.

Yuffie began bumping her fingers a bit with each other. "Y-you see, you were carrying lots of really neat stuff that...I wanted to...sell them for money..."

"...You what?" Samus said confused.

Knuckles glared at her. "You wanted to steal our stuff to sell them for money? What the heck is wrong with you?"

Yuffie smacked her palms together and bowed down several times at them. "I-I wanted to have your stuff to sell them to get money to buy Materia," she said. "I-I'm really sorry for doing this to you, b-but I need Materia for my home!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Mario said. "You need calm down. We're not going to hurt you or something."

The ninja stopped bowing before she sighed. "Phew, I thought you guys were gonna throw me down the cliff..."

"...That wasn't a bad idea," Snake commented.

"Snake!" Marth said.

"Seriously, I don't know you, but this girl is still acting fishy to me," Snake said. "Why, she has this air I can't just shrug off."

"Yeah, I agree with the guy," Knuckles said. "This girl isn't making me feel good at all. Just a look at her gives me this air of suspicion."

Yuffie shook her head. "I-I know I look fishy, but I'm sorry, really!" she said. "I-I'm trying to do this to save my country's honor!"

"You're trying to save your country's honor?" Chip asked. "What country is that?"

Yuffie looked at the imp. "That's Wutai for you," she said. "That's the name of my home and country." She pointed to the north. "The village is just some miles to the north of this place...but that's not important right now," she said before sighing. "I-I know it was for me to do this to helpless travelers like you...but I had my reasons..."

Fox crossed his arms. "What are those reasons?"

"You see, Wutai...is not what it used to be," Yuffie said. "In fact, Wutai has forgotten its independence because of a malevolent company...Shinra..."

"Shinra?" Snake repeated. "Hmm, that name sounds a bit weird to me..."

"(How is it weird to you?)" Yuffie thought. "(I mean, if you know Cloud, then you should've heard about Shinra... I'll just play along...) Well, you see, Wutai was once a proud nation before Shinra came in and started the Wutai War..." She shook her head. "Do you want to listen to this, though?"

Samus nodded. "If it will give us reasons not to punish you, then continue with your little story."

"Okay..." Yuffie cleared her throat. "Long ago, when I was younger, Wutai was the last nation that had independence in the Planet from Shinra. Shinra is a bad company that wants to have total domination over the whole world with Materia. Thanks to them, many people are suffering because they enforce their power on everyone. Anyway, when they came to Wutai, a war erupted, and we lost. The leader of Wutai then signed a treaty that said Wutai wasn't allowed to use Materia...and then...it...became..."

"What did it become?" Knuckles asked with a stern look.

Yuffie struggled to say whatever she wanted to say. Her lips twitched a bit, but she managed to say her words. "...Wutai...turned into a tourist resort..."

"..." Marth blinked a bit. "...It became a tourist resort?"

"Yeah!" Yuffie said with an angry look. "Thanks to those Shinra scum, Wutai forgot its proud dynasty! The stupid weakness of the leader caused Wutai's downfall by being under Shinra's monopolizing actions!" She shook her head and looked away. "I hate how my home became like this... I hate it to the very end!"

Mario looked away. "It must have been really painful for you. You seem to care about your home a lot."

Yuffie nodded and looked back at them. "That's right... Since we're not allowed to use Materia, I decided to go around and steal Materia from the people to get as much as I could to restore Wutai's to its glory... I know that if I gather enough Materia, the people of Wutai would stand up against Shinra and recover its freedom... I'm surely sure, though..." She looked worried. "A-and that's how I ended up trying to steal other people's Materia..."

"And you wanted to steal our stuff so you could buy more of that Materia," Snake said.

"(Geez, these guys don't know what Materia is, either?)" she asked mentally. "So that's my reason...and I hope you guys can forgive me..." She looked at the fainted Smashers. "And I'm sorry for doing this to them as well..."

Marth sighed. "Well, you had a reason, but you shouldn't have thought about stealing our stuff."

"I know...so that's why I'd like to say I'm sorry..." she said. "If you can forgive me, I won't do this..."

"So if we don't forgive you, you'll do it?" Snake asked.

"I-I mean, I won't do it either way!" Yuffie said in a bit of panic. "C-can you forgive me? I-I had a good reason; an honest one..."

Mario looked worried before he smiled a bit. "Don't worry, we'll forgive you."

Yuffie gasped and put a hand close to her mouth. "Y-you mean it?" she asked.

Fox nodded. "Yeah, you just were doing a good deed for your country. I think it's a reason enough for us to forgive you."

"I agree," Marth said. "You're not a bad person for doing that."

Knuckles frowned. "You guys are always letting people go that easily, huh?"

Chip looked angry at the echidna. "Hey, you be a good mutt and forgive her! If you don't say that, Chip Norris will give you a nice roundhouse kick!"

"If you call me a mutt one more time..." Knuckles muttered through gritted fangs.

Samus frowned at this. "Please, ignore him. He gets angry really easily."

"Hey!"

Yuffie chuckled and folded her arms behind her back. "Heheh, I see," she said confidently. "Thank you so much for forgiving me, you guys! I thought I wasn't going to convince you... I guess I was wrong." She extended her left hand at Samus. "So, in order to make this official, I'd like to do a little handshake as a sign that we're friends."

"Tsk," Snake muttered. "Don't think you convinced me, though."

Yuffie ignored the mercenary. "I'm sure we're going to be very good acquaintances," she said. "So please, Ms. Robot, let's be friends."

"...Um..." Samus shifted her eyes a bit. "This isn't a robot... I'm a woman inside a suit..."

Yuffie got a curious look. "Really? Wow, I thought you were a robot... (So she's wearing a suit... Hmm... Maybe I could...) Okay, give me a little handshake," she said as she moved her hand behind her back before extending it to Samus.

The bounty hunter stared at Yuffie's hand. "Why did you do that just now?"

"I had some dirt on my fingers," Yuffie said. "I shook them off behind me."

"But why behind you?" Marth asked.

"I have some stupid habits I really wanna stop, but I just can't," Yuffie said. "C'mon! Gimme a handshake!"

Samus looked a bit confused at this. "Okay, but don't act so weird about it..." she muttered as she extended her left hand and shook hands with Yuffie.

Snake stared at the hands from both girls before he noticed something stuck between Yuffie's fingers. "Samus, stop shaking that girl's hand, now!" he yelled.

"What?" Samus asked.

Yuffie suddenly took an amused look. "Too late..." she muttered.

Before their eyes, Samus's left hand moved down along with her owner. They all watched as Samus dropped forward on the ground, suddenly turning unconscious for some reason. Most of them knelt down to see what had happened to the bounty hunter before Snake narrowed his eyes at Yuffie. "You little brat..." Snake muttered.

Yuffie giggled a bit. "What? I just knocked her out unconscious with a sleeping dart," she explained as she showed them a dart's needle sticking out from between her left hand's fingers. "What's so bad about this accident?"

"Accident? You weren't holding that dart before!" Knuckles yelled. "In fact, you never did that!"

Yuffie looked away. "Hmm, maybe it got stuck the moment I pulled my hand behind me? Who knows, exactly..."

"Stop lying," Snake said. "You were planning the whole thing from the very beginning, you cunning little bastard. Besides, how the hell did you even pinch Samus if she's wearing a suit of armor?"

"Since it was kinda hard to pinch her with all that armor she had on, I aimed for the small opening she had around her hand," she explained. "I used a needle charged with sleeping liquid to pinch her with the handshake I wanted her to do with me, and that's how she fainted. It was a bit hard, but I did it, so it was a success."

Knuckles turned his hands into fists. "You little bastard! You're still thinking about stealing our stuff?!"

Yuffie looked mildly annoyed at the echidna. "So what if it was my real intention?"

Fox glared at her. "What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to become acquainted with us."

"Pfft, I don't need any of you," Yuffie stated as she waved a bored hand back and forth. "In fact, I just need to pilfer you from your stuff, and I'll be just fine on my own to get more Materia! It's quite simple, don't you think?"

"But I thought you wouldn't mind us helping you about the problem with your nation..." Marth trailed off.

"..." Yuffie looked away and folded her arms behind her back. "...You don't really understand anything, still..."

Mario looked confused. "What is it that we don't understand? Was there something else you wanted to say or talk about?"

Yuffie's eyes opened up a bit and looked back at them. "...Well, the thing is..."

Snake glared at Yuffie. "Don't you even try to pull out another trick on us, you heard me?!"

Yuffie raised her shoulders a bit. "Oh well, it's not going to be a trick if I tell you that I'm going to use a smoke ball to escape from all of you."

Chip tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean..." she took out from behind a black smoke ball that she slammed down on the ground, "this!"

The area was quickly covered in a smokescreen. The Smashers gasped before they all began to cough loudly. They all quickly lost sight of Yuffie and from each other. The smoke spread out to all directions, despite the fact the ball was very small.

Knuckles coughed. "W-where the hell did she go now?!"

"I-I don't know..." Mario said as he coughed. "I-I think she ran away as she said..."

"W-well, the hell with this! Once I see her again, I'm going to give her a good and nice talk about..."

"...Knuckles?" Mario asked before he heard a sound of something hitting the ground. "Knuckles, why did you stop?"

"W-what's wrong?" Fox asked.

"K-Knuckles just stopped talking out of a sudden..."

"B-but this isn't sleeping gas," Fox coughed out. "A-are you sure he didn't..."

Another sound of something hitting the ground was heard.

"...Hey, Mario, did you hear that?"

There weren't any more responses from the red plumber.

"...Mario!" Fox yelled. "Dammit, Mario, talk to me!"

"I think you shouldn't waste more words..." Marth said before coughing. "H-he surely was..."

Marth heard another sound of something falling on the ground.

"A-and there is another sound..." Marth trailed off. "Fox, you heard that, right?"

Oddly enough, Fox didn't reply back. Marth waited for a few second for any other reply, but he just received silence.

"...Fox?"

Marth suddenly saw Chip flying in front of him. The imp coughed and looked worried at Marth. "H-hey, what's happening here?" he asked worried. "I-I can't find anybody in this smoke!"

"N-neither can I..." Marth muttered. "But...what's happening, exactly?"

Marth saw that Chip suddenly looked shocked at him.

"...Chip?"

Suddenly, the imp's wings stopped fluttering before he fell and dropped unconscious in front of his feet. The Altean prince looked down in shock.

"C-Chip!" Marth yelled. "W-what did just...u-ugh..."

Marth felt that something was pinched on the back of his throat. Unfortunately, the Altean's eyes slowly closed before he fell to his knees and fell on the ground, fortunately for him, he avoided crushing Chip with his body.

The smoke suddenly cleared out, and most of them had fallen down unconscious on the ground. However, the reason behind all this was just standing behind Marth's feet. Behind the Altean, there was Yuffie holding a dart on her right hand just above her shoulder. The ninja looked down at them before she looked happy. "Heheheheheh," she chuckled. "Guess my plan worked out after all," she said to herself. "Now I'll just have to be quick on this matter and take everything off from you...except your clothes, of course."

The ninja stared forward with a small hum. However, she suddenly noticed that Snake was standing a few feet away from her.

"W-what the..." Yuffie blinked in shock. "I-I thought..."

Snake frowned. "You just forgot about me, huh? Not so smart for a cunning thief like you."

Yuffie looked angry at this. "B-but I... Dammit!" she cursed. "I thought I had everyone! I completely forgot about you for a split second!"

"Or I just ducked down," Snake said. "You knew where we were standing, but you didn't see who moved and who didn't. I turned out to be the only one moving down, and you passed right next to me, wondering where I went, right?"

Yuffie thought for a moment. "Actually, that was... Yeah, that was it... But still! I need you knocked out right now!"

Snake cracked his fists. "That isn't going to happen unless I say so," he said. "You're some kind of enemy, and you need to be taught a lesson about not meddling with me."

The ninja gritted her teeth a bit and took a step back. "N-no! I-I came all this way to get what I want from all of you!" she yelled before she pulled back the dart, preparing to toss it at Snake. "You stay there and don't move!"

"Please, do you really think I'm going to stand stil-"

"YEAH!" Yuffie suddenly yelled as she tossed the dart as fast as she could at Snake's neck. The mercenary quickly rolled at her, evading the flying dart that fell far away on the ground. Yuffie gasped as Snake rolled around her feet and quickly stood up behind her back. The man then quickly applied a grab on Yuffie's neck, preventing her from escaping. "N-no!" she said in disbelief.

"Guess you weren't that dangerous," Snake said behind her head, holding her a bit above the ground. "Now, you bette-"

Yuffie struggled a bit to survive the grab. Suddenly, she noticed that her feet were touching the ground again. The ninja blinked surprised at this before she looked back at the arms around her neck and gasped loudly. She pushed the arms away and looked behind her where Snake stared forward, frozen in place. "...What happened?" she asked.

"...Damn you..." Snake muttered.

"Huh?"

Yuffie saw as Snake's body slowly tilted back before he made full contact with the ground. The ninja shook her head in complete disbelief. The mercenary that got a hold of her suddenly fell down unconscious for some strange reason. Yuffie was completely puzzled as to why that happened unexpectedly.

"...B-but...what did just happen here?" Yuffie asked to herself. "I thought I didn't pinch him with a dart...or..." She looked behind her back. "...What the..."

Yuffie herself didn't find out the fact that her pipe was still sticking out from her pocket of her shorts. Her eyes quickly focused on a dart that was sticking out from said pipe on the tip of the hole. She then recalled that Snake had pointed it out for her.

"Oh, yeah, the old man said there was this dart sticking out... It surely pinched the guy's belly when he pulled me into that grab..." Yuffie muttered before she got a cocky smile. "Hah! What do you know? Luck's smiling on me today, baby!" she said in complete excitement before looking forward. "Take that, idiots! I'm gonna get myself a big loot of Materia very soon thanks to your cooperation for appearing out of a freaking portal!"

...

"...Wait..." Yuffie got a confused look. "Just how did they know about Cloud, and why did they come out from a portal?"

She wondered this for a little bit. The question made her think so many things that she wanted to ask them, but seeing how confusing and twisted the situation looked, Yuffie thought it was impossible to get more information out of the Smashers.

Chrono Cross - Optimism

"...Nah, who cares? What matters now is that I'm gonna get more Materia out of their stuff!" she said happily before looking down at the unconscious Samus. "How am I going to get that suit? Maybe I should find something to tear it open..." She looked around and found a rock sitting down on the ground close to her. It was about a feet tall. "Hmm, let's do this the old way: bang it till it opens up! After that, it'll be the time to get everyone else's belongings!" She made a fist. "Oh yeah, it's Yuffie's time!"

The ninja merrily picked the rock from the ground and went over to Samus. Time passed, and Yuffie went on everyone to get as much stuff as she could get from all them. Her only thoughts were about getting more Materia, and get back to her hometown close to her current position...

An hour later...

"...G-grrrrrrrr..."

A sudden deep growl sounded from Lucario's mouth. The Aura Pokémon slowly opened his eyes where he found out that he was dropped on the ground. "...Damn..." Lucario muttered before he slowly pushed himself from the ground. "W-what the hell did just happen to me? Why did I just fell asleep?"

Lucario felt that there was a body on his back. He turned his head around to see his trainer fainted on his back.

"Chris!" Lucario yelled before he quickly turned his body around and grabbed Chris on his arms. "Oh no, Chris, wake up!"

"..." Chris slowly opened his eyes. "Did I...win against that damned Iron Giant in Final Fantasy III?" he asked groggily. "B-because if I did, that would explain why I ran into the wall in excitement..."

Lucario blinked a couple of times before he shifted his eyes around. "Um...you didn't...yet..."

"...Dammit!" Chris cursed loudly as he fully opened his eyes. "I thought that was it because..." He shook his head before he realized what had happened. "W-wait, that didn't happen at all... I-I was stuck down on the throat with something, and I fell down on the ground!" he said before looking at Lucario. "I-I remember you did the same!"

Lucario nodded before looking worried. "B-but I don't know what happened... I felt that something pinched me somewhere on my leg..."

Perhaps, if somebody pointed out that he was struck on his paw pad, it was going to be embarrassing.

"You were struck with a dart on your right paw pad," Chris pointed out.

Forget the previous statement...

Lucario looked annoyed, but he also blushed embarrassed. "I-it was clever for somebody to pinch me where I don't have much protection for sharp things like darts..." he admitted. "B-but other than that..."

The two looked forward where they saw everyone else dropped on the ground.

"...Were they all..." Chris trailed off.

"...I...assume so..." Lucario trailed off.

The duo quickly stood up and went over to check on everyone. Chris knelt down to shake Mario by the arm. "Mario, wake up! Wake up, please, Mario!"

It was not long before every single one of the Smashers began to wake up with some grumbles. They all slowly sat up from the ground and looked around their surroundings. "W-whew..." Chip yawned as he extended his arms to opposite sides. "Hmm, I was dreaming I was drowning in a sea of chocolate...and I actually died a happy death in what I love to eat the most...but before I died, I sang under the chocolate sea, and there were chocolate sea horses that I chomped down, and they didn't mind being eaten by me."

Chris closed his eyes helplessly. "Chip, at least think about what happened BEFORE you had that weird dream..."

Chip pinched his chin and looked up. "Oh yeah, I remember I was struck by a needle between my wings."

The Altean looked at the imp. "You...too?" Marth asked. "I was struck by a needle as well..."

"So do I..." Fox trailed off.

Knuckles grunted. "And I was pinched as well... It got to be that pesky girl we met!"

Mario crossed his legs and arms. "Hmm, it was her, alright..."

The World Traveler looked confused. "A girl did all this?" he asked.

Snake nodded as he stood up. "There was this girl with the oversized gauntlet who came out from the bushes and tried to lie to us about being friends. However, it was all a trick to make us all fall asleep with some sleeping darts she had with her."

Chris looked worried before looking down. "Girl with the oversized gauntlet..." He gasped and quickly stood up. "Y-you don't mean that girl was named Yuffie, right?"

"Actually, that was her name," Samus said before everyone looked at her. "It was Yuffie Kisaragi who did all this to us. I think she mentioned something about stealing our stuff to sell them all for money to get this Materia thing she was talking about..."

"...Yuffie!" Chris said. "I-I know her. She's one girl who likes to steal stuff from people!"

"Sorry to tell you this, but that's what happened,"

"Then...that means she wanted to steal something from us?"

"Yes."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at Samus. "So...that happened?" he asked.

"Yes, that's what happened when she appeared," Samus said.

"And...why did you change forms?"

"What?" Samus asked. "Why are you asking that so suddenly?"

Lucario looked confused. "He means that because of the fact you're not wearing your suit anymore..."

Samus blinked confused before she looked down and found herself in her Zero Suit. The bounty hunter gasped as she looked at her hands. "W-what? How did I end up changing to this? Where is my Varia Suit?" She looked around. "Where is it? It's impossible to take if off from me...unless it was damaged to the point it broke into pieces..."

Snake grumbled. "If I use some logic, I'd say that girl had to do with this," he said. "She took Samus's clothes off."

Samus glared at Snake. "They're NOT clothes, you know."

"Oh, my bad," Snake apologized.

"Since you're having a bit of an amusing time with this, I should point out you had your stuff stolen as well."

Snake looked to his body to see that his equipment was all gone. "...Crud," he muttered. "She took it all off from me as well..."

"Luckily, codec calls weren't taken off," Mei Ling said over the codec. "You were lucky that she didn't interfere with codec calls, Snake."

"Oh, you're there," Snake said. "Mei Ling, did you see what happened when everyone fell asleep?"

"Well, all I could tell was that she was going on every single one of you to steal your things," Mei Ling explained. "Namely, Snake, you were the only one who "suffered" the most since she stole every single little weapon you had. That means she took away your grenades, remote controlled missiles, cypher, landmines, mortar, C4s, and RPG-7...and she even took your..."

"Utility belt," Otacon added suddenly, "meaning she pretty much scrapped everything from you, Snake."

Snake looked away. "...That little b(beep) is gonna pay me if she breaks all those weapons..." He lifted his head up. "Wait, did you try to stop her?"

"About that..." Otacon trailed off, "we tried to stop her by making the codec reach her out by shouting, but...thing is...she stopped for a moment, but then she resumed what she was doing, thinking that her mind was playing tricks on her."

Mei Ling chuckled. "It was kind of funny, though. She thought she was seeing ghosts in plain daylight."

Snake grunted at this. "Mei Ling, this isn't the time be cracking jokes."

"Oh, heheheh, my bad."

Chris looked at Lucario. "I don't understand..."

"I know what you mean..." Lucario trailed off.

"N-no, it wasn't about Yuffie..." Chris trailed off. "...How the heck did Mei Ling and Otacon see all this if there aren't any cameras around here?"

"...I have no idea..." Lucario admitted.

Marth sighed. "I wonder what else she took..." He looked at his belt. "...For the love of Altea, what did she do to me?!" he asked in a panic.

They all looked at Marth's belt where the sheath of Falchion was completely empty. The Altean Prince looked a bit horrified at his empty sheath. "Oh no, they took his main and only way to fight..." Chris muttered.

Marth looked upset. "O-okay, I'm a bit pissed at this now," he said. "Stealing stuff like Snake's is a bit common, but stealing a sword as my father's Falchion? T-that's preposterous and inhuman!"

"C-calm down, Marth," Chris said worried. "I-I'm sure Falchion is alright..."

"Oh, that's what you think," Marth said. "I can't let this go on like this...not on my watch!"

Sonic chuckled. "Chill out, at least we know you don't have trouble with your gender anymore."

Marth glared at the hedgehog. "Why bring up that unrelated and annoying matter? I think you all know better than I'm 100 percent a man."

"Good to hear that," Sonic said. "So that's why you removed the ridiculous tiara on your head, Martha."

"...Sonic...what do you mean by that exactly? Y-you don't mean..."

Sonic merely pointed at Marth's head.

Marth's eyes widened a bit before he touched his hair and found nothing sitting on top of it at all. The tiara that was given to him by his sister Elice was completely gone from his head. "...AAAAAAAAHHH!!! N-not the tiara, dammit!" he cursed. "N-not my sister's tiara of all things, please! Why, I ought to get her by the throat and choke her to death to make her feel the pain I have an-"

From this point onwards, the Altean began talking in Japanese, completely confusing the rest of the group. The only one who knew what Marth was talking was Snake. "… Hmm, he said b(beep) at least four times," Snake said.

The World Traveler looked surprised at Marth's sudden change of moods. Chris never had seen Marth being so shocked over the loss of his items before. In fact, he thought Marth was very sophisticated, and that thought was forever lost after seeing the Altean's calm demeanor crushed by a panicked one. "M-Marth, calm down, please..."

"Calm down... Calm down?!" Marth asked in panic. "I let that stupid girl take my father's sword and my sister's tiara away from me! Those are the most important things of my life, I'll have you know! I bowed to my sister that I'd never lose the tiara as well, and look what happened!" he said as he as stood up. "I lost both of them from coming to this stupid world with uncivilized people!"

"..." Samus frowned. "Marth...calm down...now..."

"..." Marth sighed and looked down. "...Sorry...i-it's just that..."

"We understand to the full extent of the matter, don't worry..."

Marth clenched his hands into fists. "...I...I...I won't forgive this...but...why my tiara of all things?"

"Dude, she's a girl," Sonic said. "It was obvious she was aiming for girly stuff like that tiara. You sure the tiara didn't have gold or something?"

"No..."

Mario looked around. "Well, she certainly ran away from here when she had the chance," he said. "And...why does it feel a bit cold?"

Chip looked at Mario. "Oh, so you finally removed your hat, Mario!"

It was easy to tell that Mario had his signature red hat stolen by Yuffie. The red plumber touched his head and found nothing on top of it.

Mario sighed depressed. "Well, she surely took my hat because she thought it looked peculiar..."

"At least I think you were the least affected," Snake said. "The fox here looks awfully different for some reason."

They all looked at Fox. The vulpine looked at them in confusion. "Um, what?" he asked. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Chris crossed his arms. "W-well...I don't know why, but you look really different now..."

"Could you please just get to the point?" Fox asked annoyed.

"But that just ruins the..." Chris noticed Fox's glare. "...She stole your headgear, Reflector, and Blaster."

Fox gasped before he began to touch the areas where he held his weapon, headgear, and Reflector. "D-damn!" he cursed, making a fist to his right side.

Snake rubbed his chin a bit. "I have to admit that, without the headgear, you look so straightforward."

Fox grunted at Snake. "Look, I'm pissed right now because I'm always the victim to have my stuff either broken or stolen. This happened before, and I don't want to revive those moments right now."

Chris stared at Fox. "W-well, I hope you get used to walk in socks..."

"...What do you mean?" Fox asked as he looked at Chris.

The World Traveler pointed at Fox's feet. The vulpine looked at his feet to find out that his tanker boots were gone, only leaving the white socks he was wearing. Fox's jaw dropped a bit at this in a bit of shock.

Chip looked up and thought for a moment. "Hmm, maybe she stole your boots because she thought they looked kinda funny."

Fox glared at the imp. "Kinda funny?"

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen boots before, but I think yours had really big ends for your toes..."

"Big ends..." Fox crossed his arms in annoyance. "Well, those are like that to give my kicks some extra power."

Samus looked bored at this fact. "Personally...I think it looks stupid."

"Are we here to discuss my boots' look, or are we here to discuss about that thief girl?" Fox asked aggravated,

Chris sighed. "We're here to discuss about Yuffie..." he trailed off. "...Since she went on everyone to steal stuff...wouldn't that mean I was also..." He slowly touched his pockets. The rectangular-shaped object that was once in his right pocket was gone. "...M-my DS...i-it got stolen!" he yelled before he frantically looked for his DS around himself. "N-no! N-not my DS, please! I-I had my copy of Final Fantasy III just close to that stupid Iron Giant, a-and I had my party at high levels! I was so close to getting to level 99 too!"

Mario ignored the fact about what Chris was panicking about. "Wouldn't that mean Kawashima got sort of...kidnapped?"

"N-no!" Chris said. "N-not him too!" He looked around more. "...Oh no, not my Wiimote! Not that one as well!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Relax, I still have one of those weird remotes that the hand gave to me to come back from the searches I was doing with the others," he said as he reached his back. "...OH, DAMMIT!" he yelled loudly. "She stole mine!"

"Doesn't that mean we're stuck in here?" Lucario asked.

The World Traveler froze into place, his eyes staring out to the ocean. "...W-we're...w-we're..."

"Wait, hold on, Chris," Mario interrupted. "Master Hand and the others are watching our movements, probably. He can make a portal to rescue us, don't you think?"

Sonic nodded. "Of course he can do that," he said. "Man, I was worried there. I didn't want to get stuck in here with all this water close to me..."

Snake frowned. "The hand wouldn't leave us in the middle nowhere. After all, we're kind of his employees, if you know what I mean."

"I...hate to admit it, but it's true," Samus said. "Master Hand surely knows what's been happening here."

-Smash Mansion-
Command Room

Unfortunately, the group that had went to the world was unaware of the fact that an accident had occurred in the command room right after they left. For some reason, the main screen was having technical difficulties as it buzzed loudly, its image showing lines and dots scrambling around.

"I-I'm so very sorry!" Cream apologized as she and Cheese were bowing down to a depressed Master Hand. "C-Cheese didn't mean to do any of this. I-it was just an accident!"

Master Hand looked back at a computer where sparks and smoke constantly came out from the CPU, PC, and keyboard. There was a relatively big area covered in orange juice, somehow potent enough to make all computers, along with the main screen, to go offline. A big glass with some drops of juice was leaning against the top of the computer where a trail of juice was spilled over all the previously mentioned machines.

Cream looked at Cheese. "Cheese is sorry for dropping his juice while he was flying over the computers. H-he didn't mean to let go of his glass at all!"

"C-chao, chao..." Cheese sniffed sadly.

Master Hand sighed. "Why the heck did I make all computers in this room be connected to the same main server? If just one has a malfunction, the system goes down with it..."

Jigglypuff looked confused. "If that's true, then why that didn't happen when Ike destroyed some?"

Ike looked away. "T-that was an accident, okay?"

"Well, Ike just ended up destroying one completely," Master Hand explained. "If you recall, static didn't come out from it. However, since liquids were spilled over one, it released a lot of static; static enough to make it to the system and...blow it offline..."

Cream sniffed. "C-Cheese is so sorry, Mr. Master Hand..."

Master Hand could only repeat one action: sigh to himself. "Don't worry, Cream... I'll make sure I can bring the system back up right now... It might take a long time, though...maybe a few days..."

"Way to screw it up with a single shot," Falco muttered before rolling his eyes. "And here I thought this place had top-notch technology."

Roy chuckled nervously. "W-well, pray we didn't miss anything that important from them. I'm sure the guys are doing just fine in their mission..."

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Planet-
Western Continent - Wutai Province

Back with the group stuck in the world...

"We're not stuck, okay?" Samus reassured the group.

"I hope that's true..." Mario muttered.

Chip was holding a notepad with a pen as he stared at the little notebook with some glasses he was wearing. "Let's see, so that Yuffie girl ended up stealing Snake's weapons, Samus's suit, Fox's weapons, Chris's stuff, Knuckles's remote, Marth's sword and girly tiara (Marth: Hey!), and Mario's pretty awesome hat," he summarized.

Mario tilted his head at Chip's interest on his hat. "(Hmm, maybe my hat is very popular...)" he thought. "(Or maybe it just looks peculiar...)"

"Ouch..." Sonic muttered. "She took everything from us..."

Lucario looked at Sonic. "Actually, there were 2 things she wasn't able to take from us."

Sonic raised an eyebrow before Lucario pointed at his neck. The hedgehog blinked a couple of times before he groaned and looked down at his neck to find the same collar he was forced to wear. "Not cool, man!" he cursed. "Dammit, this collar can only be taken off by Chris or Chip!"

Chip looked at his wrist to see the little wrist collar. "Oh, I guess she couldn't take mine off as well. You have to thank this weird magic for "locking" this to us, right, Sonic?"

Sonic grunted before looking away pissed. "Chip, don't make me strangle you to death..."

"Bad Sonic!" Chip said angrily. "Slam your face on the floor, boy! You shall listen to Chip Norris!" he ordered.

And the hedgehog's face crashed hard on the ground, making Sonic grunt loudly on the hole his face made before he pushed his face off from the hole.

Chris sighed. "I hate to add this to the list, but she also stole all our items..." he trailed off.

Chip nodded and wrote it down on the notepad. "Okay, what else?"

Fox took out from behind his Trophy Stand. He sighed in relief at the sight of his little way to equip stuff. "Thank god she didn't take our stands..."

"Well, Master Hand said nobody else except us could take the stands out," Mario said. "That's very clever of him to do."

"And it wasn't clever for us to let HER steal our other stuff; the most valuable stuff!" Marth argued. "I don't know you, but I'm going to make a full search to find her and get my belongings back!"

Snake stifled a chuckle. "Is the prince pissed today? I haven't seen you this angry before."

Marth glared at Snake. "If I recall, you got everything stolen from you as well."

"..." Snake grumbled a bit. "Well, I guess you got me there..." He shook his head before looking at everyone. "Anyway, I know I speak for everybody here that we have another task to do here."

Samus narrowed her eyes. "Get my Varia Suit back."

Marth glared forward. "Take Falchion and my sister's tiara back to me."

Fox got a very stern look. "Recover my weapons and my boots."

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "Teach that little brat a lesson."

Chris looked helpless. "G-get my hard-progressed saved file back as soon as I can before I buy a new copy..."

"And let's not forget the controls; our only ways to go and leave worlds," Lucario added.

"T-those too..." Chris muttered.

Snake thought a bit. "We could simply put them all together and say something like getting everything back..." He shook his head. "Finding our weapons is our top priority here. Without them, we might not stand much of a chance against any enemies we stumble upon."

Music stops

Lucario looked around. "Well, if we want to get our stuff back, we should get going."

Fox stood up. "Where, though?" he asked. "Where should we go to find her?"

Marth rubbed his chin. "It's true... I don't know where we are, and she didn't say where she was heading to." He looked at Chris. "Do you know anything?"

Chris shook his head. "I'm so sorry, but it's been a long time since I last played the game, and I just remember the characters and not much of the plot..."

Samus furrowed her brow a bit. "Let's see, I think I recall something she told us about..."

The group that had met Yuffie thought hard about the conversation they had with her while Chris, Lucario, and Sonic were left out from thinking together. The trio felt a little embarrassed that they were useless to help in this situation.

"...Right!" Knuckles suddenly said. "She said something about a village called Wutai close to this place!"

Snake nodded. "And she said that village was supposed to be located up north here."

The Smashers fixed their glances towards the north where they saw that the cliffs slowly went down a slope, reaching down a long beach along the coast. Taking a closer look, Chip looked further ahead where he noticed something. "I think...I can see some weird-looking houses far away from here..." he said.

"That must be Wutai," Mario said. "But...is she there?"

Chris thought for a moment. "Hmm, maybe she isn't there...but...we don't have anything to lose... I have a hunch that we're supposed to go there..."

"Of course we don't have anything else to lose by pilfering," Marth said annoyed.

The World Traveler sweat dropped. "(I think Marth is scary when he gets this angry... I should never think about losing his sword if it's me...)"

"If everyone's done talking, let's get moving," Snake said. "Oh, by the way, the hedgehog needs to stay with us."

Sonic groaned. "Fine, old man..."

And the group began their way to the far away village, hoping that they could find Yuffie and try to get the stolen items from her. As they all walked down the long slope (with Fox twitching in pain for the fact that he was only wearing socks and stepped on some pebbles), Chris looked at Snake. "...Snake...can I ask you something?"

Snake looked away. "Whatever it is, let it be quick."

Chris nodded. "Well...I was thinking something just now..." he trailed off. "...Do you think you're starting to...um...open up to people?"

Snake shook his head. "Sorry, kid, but you're not going to pull me into this group," he said. "I don't trust people that much."

"What?" Chris asked. "Why do you mean by that? Nobody here is bad..."

"You don't know what I've been through, kid," Snake said. "When you trust so many people, you tend to get betrayed when you least expect it."

"B-but..."

"When you work together with another person, there's going to be a point where he or she will turn their back on you and drop you down to your death," Snake explained. "I've faced that so many times in the past, and I'm not planning to commit the same mistake."

Chris thought that Snake's reasoning was a bit off. The World Traveler kept walking as he pondered more about the mercenary's intentions with people. "...But I can assure you that I won't betray you, Snake."

"Maybe," Snake said.

"I-I'm sure I won't betray you, Snake!"

Snake gave Chris a serious look. "Kid, stop it, now," he said. "I want you to know that I don't care much about other people surrounding me, let alone this weird group I had to join against my will."

"Against your will?"

Snake nodded. "The hand had called me a long time ago. He asked me about joining this tourney thing, but then the Colonel gave me the order to..." He shook his head. "Sorry, but I won't explain anything else with you."

Chris sighed depressed and looked away. "...I-it's just that...you seem..."

Snake kept walking ahead at a slightly faster pace.

"...You seem to give up on people so easily..."

Unaware of this, Chris didn't notice that his words had triggered something in Snake's mind. The mercenary kept walking, but some words echoed in his mind. Those very same words had some coughs of pain from a mysterious woman that Snake knew. The mercenary narrowed his eyes as his mind recalled a sentence.

"Go on living and don't give up on people!"

"..." Snake shook his head.

The group continued their way to the village they had seen over the horizon of the cliffs, the mercenary trying to shake off the thought he got.

After walking about three miles or four, the group eventually reached the village's gates.

-Wutai Village-
Residential Area

Final Fantasy VII – Wutai

And what they found...surprised them at most.

For some reason, the village, at first, looked common. There were several pagodas located across the village, a largest one over the west that seemed to overlook the whole village. There were small red bridges over running waters that ran across the whole village's terrains. All the buildings had red wood as their walls, adorned together with Japanese letters on boards and flags. However, some flags depicted some kind of serpent that looked mythical. Overlooking the village, a mountain was located right in front of the village that depicted several deities carved perfectly in stone.

Although all this was what someone would expect to find in a Japanese village, there was something very out of place. This was actually the fact that surprised them the most.

"Tourists..." Mario muttered.

"Lots of 'em..." Sonic muttered.

"With cameras..." Marth muttered.

They expected people wearing Japanese-looking clothes like furisodes, hakamas, happis, yukatas, kimonos, zoris, or getas. They did spot some people, but it looked very pathetic in terms of numbers. That was because of the fact that the tourists easily overgrown the native people of Wutai. It was easy to tell they were tourists since they were wearing typical things such as shorts, t-shirts, hats, sandals, and travel guides. Perhaps the most noticeable fact was their cameras hanging from their necks.

"..." Chris's right eye twitched. "...This...is a tourist resort..."

"Okay, now I believe what she said about her village turning into this..." Samus said as she spotted several children running around (tourist children). "This is...kind of sad, really..."

"I know what you mean," Snake said. "The culture of this place isn't surely growing all that well with all these people running around and taking photos of what they find..."

They all then met a bright flash coming from their right side. Everyone looked to the right where a little kid was holding a camera. "Cool!" he exclaimed before running away. "Mom! I just took a picture of some cool-looking Japanese heroes! They're surely from an anime!"

Knuckles closed his eyes and smacked his forehead. "Please, tell me we didn't just become part of this place's attractions..."

Sonic grinned and crossed his arms. "Alright, we became famous the first time we stepped in here."

Mario sighed. "Sonic, that's the least of things I want to know by now..."

Chris looked at Lucario. "And do I look like I come from an anime?" Chris asked confused.

Lucario shrugged at the question. "I don't know... Maybe you do with those dragoon clothes..."

"I don't want to know that," Marth said. "What I want to know now is that girl's whereabouts."

"I'm pretty damn sure that's what everyone wants to know," Fox said annoyed. "Once I find her, I'm going to reclaim her for forcing me to walk on socks all the way along the road." He looked down at his socks. "How am I going to resist all the pain for having to walk on pebbles if we go around this place?"

Out of pure coincidence, Chip looked down to his right and found a box where a geta was abandoned. The imp went over to pick the box to see the wooden shoes. "Hmm, somebody threw this," he said before he looked forward to see some boxes dropped and scattered behind a building. "I guess people trash away their stuff. Chip Norris says they should take care about their stuff before he comes around and finds golden treasure."

Fox looked at the box that Chip was holding before he grabbed it from him. The vulpine stared at the geta before he shrugged his shoulders and ducked down to put them on. Fox stood up and looked down at his newly obtained replacement for his boots. "...I look ridiculous with these on," he said annoyed.

Chris chuckled a bit and looked at the geta. "See the bright side; they make you look taller...than me." The World Traveler noticed the fact that Fox now passed him in height by some inches.

Fox grumbled. "Chris, don't make me feel better now..."

"That aside," Snake interrupted, "we need to see where that girl went."

Mario looked back at the village. "Is she going to be around here, though? There are a lot of people walking around, and she could be everywhere..."

Samus sighed. "I guess we might as well stick together. We could end up getting lost between all this public if we separate to different ways, and we also don't know how large this place is."

"If we were to get lost, I'll track everyone down using my aura," Lucario said. "I admit there are a lot of people, but your auras are very recognizable."

"I don't want to take any chances," Knuckle said. "Besides, we need to keep an eye on Sonic."

Chip chuckled. "Sonic can't go. He's under my hands."

Sonic looked annoyed. "Can we please just look for that girl?"

"I'm going ahead," Marth stated bluntly before he went into the crowd.

Sonic grinned at this. "Losing his stuff made him so angry, huh?"

Most of them sighed in depression before they all decided to follow the angry Altean into the crowd.

And that little action was the biggest mistake they did in the village.

Upon mixing up with the tourists, the group ended up getting in many different situations. They all accidentally pushed some people away, and some of those people pushed them away out of anger. There were times where some of them pushed some kids to the ground, and unfortunately, most of them cried loudly enough for their parents to scold the Smashers (Chris wasn't too good at apologizing, resulting in him getting slapped and Lucario growling at the tourists).

Pub "Turtle's Paradise"

Forcibly, the Smashers were pushed into the most popular Japanese restaurant of village. Most of them looked very tired after having to go through the whole ordeal of "swimming" through the crowd.

A Chris with slap marks on his face's cheeks sniffed sadly. "S-status report..." he requested.

"I was punched in the stomach by a girl," Knuckles said annoyed. "What's more, it actually hurt."

"A woman began ranting me about being very rude for pushing her accidentally," Marth said annoyed. "She then slapped me hard."

"I tried to calm down a crying kid, but then he spat me on my face and ran away to get the police," Samus said annoyed.

"Two snotty kids stomped my feet," Fox said annoyed. "These stupid geta don't have anything to shield you from stomps, unfortunately."

"A girl hugged and cuddled me to the point I was about to lose my breath," Chip said. "Chip Norris can resist death hugs, though."

"Some kids pulled my tail because it looked funny," Sonic said annoyed before he twitched.

"A girl begged her father to let me carry her on my shoulders," Lucario said annoyed. "Chris told me to do it, and the girl put her fingers in my ears."

"A man got angry at me for bumping into him, but then I grabbed him by the throat and threatened him to warn him about not pissing me off," Snake said annoyed.

Sonic looked bored. "Let me guess. Self-defense?"

"Pretty much."

"Hmm..."

Knuckles looked at Mario. "How about you? What did you have to go through?"

Mario looked up. "Hmm, I took some photos with some families, and I had some nice talks with some children and their parents."

Everyone (but Chip) looked annoyed at the red plumber.

"How the hell were you the only one who didn't have to get something bad out of this like everyone else?" Knuckles asked angrily.

Mario lifted his shoulders a bit. "I guess I was polite enough to the tourists."

Chris dropped to his knees and fell on the floor. "I-I don't understand why Mario went just fine while I was slapped until I began to cry silently..."

Mario smiled nervously. "Maybe I just happen to be very nice..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, that would explain all the handshakes you gave to pretty much everyone you met even though nobody here knows a thing about you."

"You're just jealous of him, aren't you?" Sonic teased Fox.

Fox looked away. "Shut up, you..."

Snake sighed at this before he looked forward. "...Strange..."

"What is it?" Samus asked.

Snake merely pointed forward.

The group looked forward to see where they arrived. They got surprised looks once they saw that the pub they forcibly got in was...deserted. In fact, there weren't any people in there. A lone owner paced about behind the counter to their left, minding his own business with the kitchen across a door. The restaurant was ornamented with Japanese letters displayed on all the tables, lights inside papers, and red tables with red chairs. Several bonsais were displayed along the front wall of the counter, along with a stone monument covered in vines sitting on the upper left corner.

"...No way," Marth muttered. "There's actually a place where angry women don't dwell?"

Mario frowned at this. "Marth, I think you really need to calm down before you get a bit poetic...no offense."

The owner of the bar stopped pacing around before he noticed the Smashers standing in the entrance. "Oh, hello there," he said. "It's about time the Turtle's Paradise got some clients."

Marth and the others looked at the owner. "Um, we came here because...we wanted a place to have some space... You know what I mean, right?"

The owner looked up to the ceiling. "Hmm, maybe I can tell why," he said before looking back at them. "Anyway, are you interested in some promotion for a campaign? The Turtle's Paradise is holding a publicity flier campaign right now. If you'd like to participate, all you need to do is find the 6 fliers that read the bar's title. If you gather all, you win a prize!"

Snake shook his head. "We're not interested in a campaign like that. We have other better things to do."

"Oh, I see..." the owner said with some depression. "Well, do enjoy our service at the Turtle's Paradise, please. We haven't had any customers as of late."

The Smashers looked at each other before they all went over the counter to talk to the owner for information. "What do you mean?" Knuckles asked before pointing outside. "There's a river full of tourists out there, you know!"

The owner nodded. "I know the village has had a lot of tourists lately, but this place could as well be filled to the top any day."

Chip sat down on spinning chair. "So then, why isn't anybody here?"

The owner tilted his head once he took a closer look at some of them. In order to stay quiet, he shrugged the thought away. "Well, my weird-looking friend, that is because..." the owner trailed off in thought as he slowly looked behind the Smashers for a moment. "...Sorry, but I can't tell you right now."

Mario looked confused at this. "Why is that?"

The owner shifted his eyes a bit before he rested his elbows on the counter to whisper something to them. "It's because of the people sitting on that table just behind all of you..." he whispered. "They're the reason why nobody comes in here, and they've been here for two hours..."

The Smashers looked behind them.

Final Fantasy VII - Turks' Theme

Behind the group, there were three people sitting around a table as they peacefully and silently ate their food and drank wine. Unlike any other person out in the streets, the people around the table all wore blue business suits with black ties.

The first person of the three looked serious. He had short, spiky red hair with a small ponytail that ran to the back of his shoulders, had a small red tattoo over his left cheek, wore some goggles over his forehead, had his suit unbuttoned, untucked dress shirt, and he carried a small baton attached to his belt. The red-haired person turned his eyes at the group, but he shrugged them off with a "Tsk" sound before returning to drink his small glass with wine.

The second person was a big bald man who wore sunglasses, and he had a little goatee. The most noticeable fact about him was the fact that he was spinning his head around his shoulders because he had drank a few too many drinks. He ignored everything and everyone for now.

And the last person was a young blond woman with short hair...and she was directly looking at them with curiosity.

"!" the woman gasped before she quickly turned back to eat in silence, hastily trying to eat her rice in some sort of panic. The red-haired guy frowned at this as he continued to drink his wine.

The Smashers exchanged glances before turning back to the owner, ignoring that the woman in formal clothes slowly turned her gaze at them. "You saw them, didn't you?" he muttered. "They're with Shinra..."

"Shinra..." Fox muttered. "...I heard that from that girl before..."

The owner sighed. "The people you just looked at are...dangerous," he whispered. "They're Shinra's main elite; the Turks."

"The Turks?" Samus muttered. "Who are these Turks?"

The owner looked very shocked. "You don't know who they are?" he asked. "I'm impressed you don't know about them... You should be informed, though," he said. "Care to know more about them?"

Behind them, the woman narrowed her brown eyes at the group.

"It wouldn't hurt..." Marth muttered.

The owner nodded. "Well, for starters, they're part of Shinra. They're the ones who perform black ops on behalf of the corporation."

"Black ops..." Snake trailed off. "You mean they do kidnappings and assassinations?"

"Yes, they do that just because they're told to do it," the owner muttered. "Not only that, but they also go around asking people to join the SOLDIER elite fighting force..." He shrugged a bit. "You know SOLDIER, right?"

Most of the Smashers shook their heads at this. The owner got a little bit perturbed at their accidental ignorance about the whole matter.

"Well...SOLDIER is...well...a very bad unit..." he muttered. "The unit consists of altered humans who have many different abilities...or so I heard about the rumors," he said. "The Wutai War that occurred here years ago came to its end once Shinra employed those SOLDIERs." He shook his head in shame. "If they didn't bring those people...Wutai could've been spared from becoming what it is today..."

Chris looked away. "That must've been sad..."

"Don't take it that badly, though," the owner said. "Wutai has become a very popular place. Thanks to that, people around the world get to know more about our culture... However," he began, "if it keeps like this, tourism could ruin the honor and glory of the nation, but that's in the hands of the leader of Wutai to decide. If we were to say no to Shinra, another war could erupt, and we might lose..."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Ouch, you got really owned, right?"

"S-Sonic!" Knuckles muttered angrily.

"That's another way to put it, sadly," the owner said. "But we may as well embrace this. We don't have anything else to do about the whole matter."

Snake looked away. "(These people don't have courage at all...)"

The owner chuckled and smiled. "For now, we'll be true to our nation by showing people our culture that we hope doesn't fade someday."

"Thank you for telling us," Fox said. "...Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask."

"Hmm? Well, ask away."

Fox crossed his arms. "Do you know any Yuffie Kisaragi?"

The woman behind them suddenly gasped loudly after hearing the name. They all turned around to see that the woman was eavesdropping on all them. In a hurry, she clumsily turned around and pretended she didn't hear anything that they talked about. Unsure about the sudden silence she made, she slowly looked back over her shoulder to see that they were still staring at her.

"...U-um...y-you got a problem or what?" the woman asked. "I-if not, then don't bother me!" she yelled.

Most of them exchanged glances before Snake spoke up. "Oh no, we don't have a problem with you...but it's you who has a problem with us instead."

The woman gasped silently at this. She completely ignored her red-haired companion shaking his head slightly to prevent her from talking further to them. Unfortunately, for his dismay, the woman decided to take action by slowly turning around to face the Smashers. "S-so what if I have a problem?" she asked before standing up, making her companions sigh in boredom. "You're just coming in here asking about what you should know!" She crossed her arms. "Besides, what are you, anyway?" she asked as she glanced at the Smashers who were not even human for the most part. "I haven't seen any mutants around these parts, except for some monsters!"

Fox glared at her. "You just did not call me a monster, did you?"

"Pfft, of course I meant that," the woman said. "Why, you stick out from the whole crowds of tourists out there. One would be blind if they didn't spot you right from the start."

Lucario grunted at her. "So what is your problem with us?"

"My problem?" she asked. "My problem is that there is a weird and shady group of people coming in here to ask about something that was established a long time ago, that's my problem," she explained. "You're surely such ignorant to ignore what Shinra really is."

The owner, worried about what he told, slowly walked away from the scene.

The woman crossed her arms. "Now, I ask you, where were you this whole time?"

The group suddenly saw the red-haired man grunt annoyed at his partner's interrogation. He turned his gaze at her with a glare. "Elena, knock it off now."

The woman named Elena gasped and turned to the red-haired man. "W-what are you saying?" she asked confused.

Elena is a junior member of the Turks who recently was admitted after an small incident happened to another member. Unlike her other fellow Turk comrades, Elena takes her job as one very seriously to the point she tries to sound as intimidating as possible. Unfortunately, for her, she has a rather clumsy nature (such as spilling information she wasn't meant to say, much for the annoyance of the other Turks).

The red-haired man grunted once more. "Have you forgotten why we're all the way here in the middle of nowhere?"

Elena shifted her eyes a bit. "W-we're taking a vacation from work..."

"Exactly," he said bluntly. "And what are we supposed to do in vacations?"

Elena gulped. "T-that's easy...we need to rest and relax before we can work again..."

"Correct," he said. "Now sit down and relax."

"Okay..." she trailed off. Once she was about to take her seat, she quickly shook her head and took a step back. "W-wait a minute! This is all wrong!"

"You know what else is really wrong?"

"What?"

"You."

Elena bit her lip so hard that she ended up hurting herself a bit.

The red-haired man sighed with a frown. "Now our vacation is ruined thanks to you, Elena."

The bald man across the table frowned. "Even the booze tastes bad..." he said drunkenly.

"B-but..." Elena staggered a bit at this. "B-but what about these people? T-they should know who the Shinra AND the Turks are! D-don't you find that really fishy?!"

The red-haired man thought for a moment. "...I would mind it...but right now, I can't mind it since we're takin' a vacation; a ruined vacation you just cracked."

Elena blinked shocked. "T-this is just unfair, Reno!" she complained. "I-I can't stand any of this foolish ignorance at all! I can't believe you're just going to shrug it off as if it was nothing!"

The red-haired man named Reno returned to drink his wine. "Elena...for the last time, ignore them and relax, please."

Reno is a prominent member of the Turks who usually is the second in command. He takes his job with pride. He had an accident during a mission, and after that, Elena was signed in for the Turks. He is a cocky, cynical, and somewhat lazy person who shrugs off some matters that he finds not that relevant to Shinra or him. Despite these traits, he does his job accordingly without hesitation, dedicating his life to Shinra. He also possesses a rebellious attitude temperament with sadistic actions, which could be contradictory for his laid-back personality.

The Smashers kept staring at the whole scene without interrupting. "I don't know you, Reno, but I have very big issues with these people," Elena said. "I'm not going to let them go like this, not on my watch!"

Reno rolled his eyes and looked away. "Too bad, you'll have to let them go for this time."

"N-no, I won't!" Elena yelled back before turning to the Smashers. "Now you listen to me wel-"

"Shut up," Snake simply said.

"I won't shut up!" Elena yelled. "You're by far the weirdest bunch I've ever met around these parts. For that, I'm going to have to ask you some questions about what you know, what you don't know, and what you don't really know that you should know."

Sonic circled his head a bit. "I think I got lost somewhere with what you said..."

"Shut up, porcupine," Elena sneered. "Now that I have your attentio-"

Elena stopped talking once the Smashers turned around to ignore her.

"H-hey, what do you think you're doing now?" Elena asked. "I'm asking you a question. Answer it!"

Mario looked at her. "I'm sorry, but we're kind of a hurry to find someone," he said before turning around.

Reno sighed. "Elena, would you PLEASE leave them alone before you end up spoiling what we have left of our vacation?"

Elena grunted at this. "Reno!" she groaned.

As the blond Turk kept ranting to the seemingly uninterested red-haired Turk, the Smashers stared forward to the wall in complete boredom while the owner tried his best to ignore what was going on in his establishment. "...We're in quite fit, aren't we?" Knuckles asked.

Marth sighed. "I hate to say it but you're right," he said.

Lucario looked to the entrance and frowned at the whole event. His eyes drifted off where he found that there were three people standing in the entrance, staring at the scene in silence. The Aura Pokémon suddenly widened his eyes after he looked at the blond man in the middle of the other two.

Chris, bored, looked at Lucario's shocked expression. "Lucario, is something bothering you besides all the ranting she's making?" he asked.

"...C-C-C-C-C-C..." Lucario stuttered as he kept staring to the entrance.

Chris looked confused. "Um...would you stop stuttering like that?" he asked. "You're acting weird today. I don't want to deal with another issue right now."

Lucario gulped a bit and tried his best to remain calm. Once he managed to get into a calmer and collected state, he slowly pointed at the entrance.

Chris followed Lucario's gaze before his jaw opened a bit. The World Traveler quickly began tapping the others' shoulders to direct their sights at the entrance to see the people looking in confusion at what was happening in the pub.

"…T-there he is…" Chris muttered.

The Smashers (and Elena) turned to the entrance to see the three people. One of them was a blond adult with a cigarette hanging on his lips. He wore a navy blue jacket over a dark shirt with dark green pants, wore a white pilot's scarf that covered most of his shirt, wore a pair of goggles with a packet of cigarettes strapped underneath the band, and wore leather gloves and boots. There was also a very closely cropped beard. The man narrowed his eyes at the Turks, muttering some harsh curses under his breath as he exhaled some smoke out from his mouth.

The second person, unlike the serious-looking old man, was a brown-haired lady in his late teens. The longhaired lady wore shin-length pink dress with a slit up the front that buttoned up. She also wore a red bolero jacket over it with metal bracers, along with brown boots. Her hair was drawn back in a thick plait with a large pink ribbon tied around it. Her bangs were segmented, framing her face on the sides, and she had clean, emerald eyes.

And in the middle of them, there was the supposed leader. The leader was an older blond teen with spiked hair. He wore simple pants with a no-sleeved shirt, which were indigo in color, and a simple belt. The teen also wore brown boots and gauntlets with a single pauldron over his left shoulder, and a big sword of about four or five feet (called a broadsword). If anyone could see his blue eyes, anyone could spot a small and strange glow in them. These very same eyes were staring blankly at the whole scene.

It was without a doubt, Cloud Strife, the man whom Chris had met before.

"..." Sonic shook his head. "What? Why did we stop talking just because these people came out of nowhere?"

His question made the three newcomers look at their direction.

"Great, you idiot," Knuckles muttered through gritted fangs. "Now they're going to start thinking things about us!"

Instead of any words from the three, the teen just stared at them for a moment while the lady tilted her head in curiosity as if she had never seen any people like the Smashers.

However, silence broke once the older man of the three fixed his eyes on the Turks. He spat smoke out from his smoke before yelling aloud "F($#&%($#&^%(#&(^%$&^%($#%$(#&^(#&(&(!!!"

Some of the Smashers gasped at the sudden breaking of the silence from the older man. His two allies looked at him before he stomped his way to the table where the Turks were sitting. Elena gasped and quickly sat down in fear, thinking the old man was very dangerous and menacing-looking.

"You biggest pieces of s^%#!" the old man cursed loudly, pointing an accusing finger at them. "Thanks to you, dips*%&, I won't be seeing what else is beyond the skies! You b^*&$% destroyed my dreams!"

Reno and the bald man merely kept drinking their wine, ignoring the ramblings of the old man while Elena was the only one paying attention (with a terrified look on her face).

"Are you motherf*$^&#$ listening to me?!" he demanded. "I'm standin' right here!"

Elena gulped. "C-calm down, please," she pleaded a bit. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

The old man glared menacingly at the junior Turk, making her move back a bit. "You...you...YOU...YOU...YOU!!!"

Reno turned to the old man. "I'm very sorry, old man, but we're takin' a vacation right now," he said bluntly. "Right now, we can't attend to any of your rants. Please come back once we're back from our break."

"WHAT?!" the old man asked furiously. "What the f%*^ does that mean?!"

The Smashers looked back at Cloud sighing in annoyance before he walked behind the old man and put a hand on his right shoulder. "Cid, leave them alone for now," he said. "I don't see why they need to have a vacation right now, but it'd be best if we don't bother them for the time being."

The man named Cid grunted and closed his eyes. "Fine! I don't care about these f&*^%$, anyway!" he said as he did a sharp turn and crossed his arms, cursing harsher words under his breath.

Cid Highwind is a foul-mouthed man who lost his dreams of becoming the first man in space. An incident that occurred years ago prevented him from releasing the first flight, and Shinra was supporting the cause before the discovery of Mako changed their minds, ultimately dropping the project altogether, much for the dismay of Cid. Because of this, Cid has a grudge against a person he knows that stopped him from doing the launch, and Shinra because they lost interest to further give funds to the project. He joined the group to get revenge of Shinra for destroying his dreams. (This Cid is not to be confused with the previous shown Cid of Final Fantasy IV).

The teen nodded at this before he gave Reno a stern look. "Is this true about the Turks getting a vacation so suddenly?"

"So what?" Reno asked uninterested. "We're people, y'know. Even we can have vacations from work."

"I find it fishy, though," Cloud said. "It's fishy to find the Turks in the middle of nowhere without raising arms against us."

Elena grunted. "I-I'm raising my weapons, though!"

Reno slammed his right fist on the table, instantly shutting Elena up. "If you don't have anything else to say, please, leave," he said. "Elena gets easily agitated."

The blond girl blinked shocked before she crossed her arms and grunted even more.

Cloud narrowed his eyes at Reno before shaking his head. "Whatever," he said. "The less we see each other, the better."

"Likewise," Reno said before taking another drink.

The Smashers watched silently at the event in front of them. It looked as if everyone of the native world was ignoring them completely. Some of them felt a bit offended at this at first, but most of them didn't want to get involved in so much trouble. "...We turned invisible or something?" Sonic asked. "They're not looking at us anymore."

Snake frowned and sat down on a chair. "It's not our place to get involved in others' affairs," he said.

Chris looked at Lucario. "...Do you want to meet Cloud?" he asked.

Lucario looked away. "W-well...i-if it's okay for him..."

The World Traveler looked back at the teen. Somehow, it looked like Cloud wasn't in the mood to meet anyone for the moment. "(...Hmm... Wait, I'm starting to recall some events of the game now...)" he thought. "(If I recall correctly, this is the part where Yuffie stole Cloud's Materia, and the group doubted her for a long time now... I guess that'd explain why Cloud looks a bit pissed...)" He looked to his right where the lady was rubbing Chip's head. "I don't know what to do now, sadly," he told Lucario.

Lucario sighed. "I don't want to make a bad impression to him..."

"Don't worry, I'll see if I can get him to..."

And Chris recalled that Chip was being cuddled by the lady.

"W-wait a second," Chris muttered as he looked back to the lady and Chip. "L-look!"

Final Fantasy VII - Flowers Blooming in the Church

The Smashers looked to their to see that the lady rubbed Chip's head with care. She laughed for a bit as Chip sighed loudly in pleasure. "How cute," she said. "I haven't seen a person like you around here."

Chip looked seductively at her. "I wouldn't mind if I was your tiger for a pretty long time," he said. "Chip Norris makes girls get attracted to him very easily, grrrrrrr..."

"Heheheh," the lady chuckled a bit at this before she stopped rubbing Chip's head (much for his dismay) and folded her arms behind her back. "Oh, so your name is Chip Norris?"

Chris wanted to slam his head on the counter for hearing that nickname being said by the lady.

"Excuse me..." Mario trailed off.

The lady turned to them. "...Oh, sorry!" she said embarrassed. "I forgot that you were all here... My apologies, but I was a little bit distracted by your little friend here."

Chip floated besides her. "Aww, come on, baby, tell them I'm your so special gu-" Chip received a hit by a fortune cookie straight on the face by an annoyed Sonic.

The lady looked as Chip fell down on the floor. Sonic got surprised once she ducked down and picked the downed imp (who was at the time very dazzled at the hit). She stood up and looked at them while she held the dazzled Chip on her arms. "I don't think that was a nice way to interrupt him," she said.

Sonic looked away. "I-I, er, ah..." He sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry..."

The lady chuckled heartily. "At least I can tell you're sorry for hitting your friend with a cookie," she said.

Sonic chuckled nervously, hiding some traces of blushes from the others.

Through the Smashers' eyes, they saw that the lady was a very warm and nice person. She would surely be one of the fewest kinds of girls that would take and carry around an atmosphere of pure tranquility...

...However, through Chris and Lucario's eyes, they saw one heck of a dead innocent girl; a very, very dead girl who would be brutally killed in the near future. The two shook the gruesome thought away before looking back at her. Chris shed a small tear that he wiped away quickly.

The lady nodded a bit. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself yet," she said. "My name is..."

Chris was pleading many times in his mind something. "(Please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris, please don't say Aeris!)"

"Aerith," the lady introduced herself. "Aerith Gainsborough."

Aerith Gainsborough is a highly upbeat and cheerful person who during several times cheers up the others when they're having problems. During her early childhood, she and her biological mother were running away from Shinra. Her mother, weakened after being wounded, became weak and was about to die but was able to give Aerith to her adoptive mother, who gave Aerith her last name. Years later, she began selling flowers, known as the "flower girl" by some people. Cloud rescued Aerith after she was about to be captured by Shinra, who still are keeping tabs on her, seeing that there's a lot of potential for her to become part of SOLDIER. She decided to leave her home and travel around the world with Cloud and company to find out more about whom she really is and what she has to do.

Chris looked shocked at this before he began thanking in his mind about hearing the correct name.

The lady named Aerith smiled warmly at them. "Nice to meet you, everyone," she said. "Normally, I don't get to see such..." she looked at the non-humans, "...unique people..."

Sonic looked bored at Chip on Aerith's arms. The imp's dazzled stated lifted off, but he took advantage of the girl by pretending he was still dazzled.

"Why are you talking to us?" Snake asked.

Aerith tilted her head. "Huh? Well, I wanted to meet some people of these parts," she said. "And, you know, you look like travelers to me."

Fox looked bored. "(Just get on with it and say we don't fit here.)"

Aerith chuckled. "I don't see what's wrong with it," she said. "We're travelers as well. We're currently chasing a-"

"Aerith," Cloud interrupted.

The girl turned to Cloud. "Yes? What is it?"

Cloud took a glance of the group before looking back at her. "It's time for us to go."

"Already?" Aerith asked with some disappointment. "Oh well, it can't be helped, I guess..." She looked back at the group and bowed a bit to them. "Sorry, but I think we have to go for now."

Lucario looked at Chris. "They're going, Chris..."

Chris sighed. "Okay, I'll do something to stop them, but I don't think Cloud will like me to... Wait a minute," he began, "now that I remember, Cloud told me that if he didn't know me, I should yell at his face..."

"Do it."

The World Traveler got annoyed. "Oh, just because Cloud is telling me to do it I should definitely do it? If he told me to get stabbed in the heart by a knife, should I do it?"

Lucario shook his head quickly. "N-no, I didn't mean that sort of thing..."

Chris grumbled a bit. "Okay...here I go..." he muttered as he made his way to the blond mercenary.

Cloud kept staring at Aerith before Chris showed up. The blond turned to look at him. "Yeah?" he asked.

The World Traveler gulped. "U-um...C-Cloud..." Chris stared at the small glow that Cloud's eyes had. It looked very ominous to him. "...D-do you know who am I?"

"..." Cloud shook his head. "I've never met a person like you before."

"...Okay..." Chris muttered before he thought about what Cloud told him to tell him. Taking a deep breath, the World Traveler decided to yell at him. "CLOUD, IT'S ME, CHRIS! DON'T YOU REMEM-"

And Cloud instantly punched Chris right on his left eye. The World Traveler's look turned dumbfounded as he fell on the floor, getting a knocked out expression afterward. Some of the Smashers (and Aerith) gasped at this as they looked down on Chris.

"...Bad...idea..." Chris muttered on the floor, his left eye darkening a bit. "Very...very bad...idea..."

"Ouch..." Samus muttered.

Snake looked away. "Priceless, should I say," he commented.

Cloud looked down on Chris before a worried Aerith walked close to him. "Cloud...was that really necessary?" she asked with a stern look.

Cloud looked away. "I guess."

"You guess? You just punched him and knocked him out of cold!" she complained.

"Hey, he was yellin' at me straight on the face by no reason," Cloud said in his defense. "What else could I do?"

Mario, Lucario, and Knuckles went over to see if Chris was fine while Aerith blinked at Cloud. "Well, you could just hear him out."

"I don't even know him (Chris: T-that's cold...), y'know," Cloud said. "Hell, I don't even have a business with him at all."

Aerith sighed before she playfully put a finger on Cloud's nose. The mercenary looked a bit shocked at this before the flower girl approached her face at him. "Do you promise not to do this again?

"I...well..." Cloud trailed off.

"Do you?"

"..." Cloud silently nodded.

Aerith chuckled. "I hope you keep your word, or else there will be more people knocked out on the floor."

"Why do I think...that didn't sound too funny to me...huh?" Chris asked.

Aerith kept rubbing (the growling) Chip. "Now, Cloud, please apologize."

"...Okay," Cloud muttered. "I'm sorry."

Aerith shook her head. "Not to me, Cloud. Him."

Cloud sighed and turned around to look down on Chris. "Hey, you, sorry for the punch I gave you."

"..." Chris raised a hand. "A-apology accepted..."

"There," Cloud said.

Aerith chuckled a bit at this. "I saw your eye twitch a bit. Was it hard to say?"

Cloud closes his eyes annoyed. "Hey, it wasn't that hard to say!" he complained. "And please, stop teasing me with this!"

"Okay, I won't tease you any longer," Aerith said.

Chris slowly got up from the floor and looked a bit frightened at Cloud. "I-I'm sorry for yelling at you a moment ago, b-but I was just trying to..."

Cloud shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"(Phew! I didn't have anything good to explain myself!)" Chris thought in relief. "O-okay, whatever you say..."

Cloud looked at Aerith. "I think Cid wants to leave this place right now," he said. "Let's go outside and look for Yuffie."

The sound of name made most of the Smashers grunt in annoyance. Recalling the cocky smile of the ninja girl, the Altean looked serious. "Wait," Marth interrupted, "you know who Yuffie is?"

Cloud and Aerith turned to them. "You know Yuffie?" Aerith asked.

"Know her?" Marth asked. "She stole my sword and my sister's tiara!" he complained.

"She stole my boots and my weapons," Fox said in annoyance.

"S-she stole my game console…" Chris muttered.

"She stole my suit," Samus said.

"She stole all my weaponry," Snake muttered.

"She stole a control that isn't even mine," Knuckles said.

"And she stole my hat," Mario added.

Cloud and Aerith exchanged glances. "…Wow," Cloud muttered. "You…happened to stumble upon her on your way here or what?"

Aerith gasped. "Did you see if she was carrying some Materia with her?"

"Materia?" Samus asked. "Hmm, I didn't see any of that."

Cloud thought for a moment. "Where did you meet her?"

"We met her close to this village," Mario said. "Once we met her, she made us all fall asleep to steal all our belongings to sell them to get money to get more Materia…or something like that. After that, we came here to see if she was around these parts. It wasn't long ago since we arrived."

The blond mercenary thought more about the matter. "Then...she probably had the Materia with her around the time where she decided to pilfer you."

Aerith looked a bit upset. "Yuffie has to be here. She told us she knew the area very well, so she surely meant that she lived here..."

Cloud nodded. "If that's the case, she must be somewhere in the village. Okay, Aerith, Cid, let's go out and find her," he said as he turned to the entrance.

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted.

The blond mercenary turned to Chris. "What do you want now?"

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Hey, if you forgot, we got our stuff stolen by that girl. Do you think we're just going to sit here and do nothing?"

"It's the s&^%..." muttered the bald man Turk from the table.

"..." Cloud shook his head. "Sorry, but this only involves us. Yuffie, the girl you met, was part of our group until recently. It's better if any of you doesn't get involved in our affairs."

"Wait a minute," Fox began, "we can't just let her get away with it."

Aerith looked up. "I don't see why they shouldn't come with us, Cloud..."

"Aerith, don't support them," Cloud said. "If we let more people come with us, they're going to slow us down. Yuffie is very nimble, you know."

"But, the more, the merrier, right?" Aerith asked before looking at Cloud. "I'm sure that it'll be easier to find Yuffie if we use some help."

"We don't even know these guys," Cloud said. "Besides, most of them...aren't even human like one person we know."

Aerith chuckled. "So? I got pretty used to meet non-humans."

Cloud sighed. "Aerith, he's the only person we met that isn't human..."

"Even so, I think it's just fine," Aerith said. "Also, I haven't seen any of them destroying anything in here. That's a plus."

"But my decision stands," Cloud said. "They're not coming with us."

"Hey, you," Snake called from the counter.

Cloud looked at Snake. "Yeah?"

Snake got off from his chair and looked at Cloud. "Normally, I'd say I don't want to meddle with any of you."

"S-Snake!" Chris muttered.

"...But there's something," Snake continued. "Since I got my weapons stolen, it was natural that I was going to follow after her."

"So?" Cloud asked. "I'll get your stuff if I find Yuffie."

Snake shook his head. "That won't do, sadly," he said. "Like I said before, I'm following that girl to get what it's rightfully mine. I'm not going to let a kid like you tell me what I should do."

Cloud shook his head. "Forget it, old man. I'll find Yuffie an-"

"We'll find them together and that's that," Snake said as he took a slow step forward. "She even stole more valuables that she doesn't need to play with. If you don't like the idea of us tagging along with you three, then you'll have to tolerate us as much as you can, but we'll stick together until we find her."

The ex-SOLDIER glared at Snake. "What is it that you don't understand about this? She was with us before, and she needs to understand the consequences about stealing what she had been "borrowing" from us. You don't know what you're getting into."

Cid turned to them. "That little b&^*$ isn't gettin' away from me," he said.

"Well, we could say the same thing," Snake stated. "She'll get a consequence from us for stealing our things. And since you know a lot about her...maybe we should partner up for the time being."

Lucario gasped mentally. "(Please, let us join you. Please, let us join you.)"

The World Traveler, unaware that his Aura Pokémon was thinking (or maybe begging) about letting join them, looked away. "(I'm pretty sure there are some crazy thoughts running inside Lucario's mind by now...)" he thought.

Aerith smiled a bit at the offering. "I think it's OK," she said. "As long as you listen to what we have to say, things could go pretty well." She looked at Cloud. "What do you say, Cloud?"

Cloud looked away and frowned in disappointment. "Aerith..."

Aerith chuckled. "C'mon, it's not going to be so bad. I started to cope well with some of them already."

"..." Cloud looked back at the group of Smashers. "...Fine, you can come with us."

"Really?" Sonic asked.

Cloud looked away again and nodded. "However, take in mind that we'll separate once we recover your stuff from Yuffie," he said. "We don't want to grow more in numbers since we were 9 people in total. Having 10 more is just...crazy."

Snake nodded. "Don't worry, I have the same thoughts as you."

"Whatever," Cloud said with a frown. "If any of you are ready for this, don't try to make any kind of oddities around or else Yuffie will know we're close."

Aerith put a finger on her chin (stopping rubbing Chip's forehead, much for his disappointment). "Um, Cloud, Yuffie is in the village. We caught her walking around the gate, don't you remember?"

"Oh...right," Cloud said.

Marth glared forward. "Then she IS here!" he said.

"Yeah, she is, alright," Cloud said. "There's one more thing I wanted to tell you if you're all going to join us."

"What is that?"

"You're going to have to listen to us," Cloud explained. "That's the simple rule you have to follow if you want our help to find Yuffie."

Final Fantasy VII - Wutai

Snake nodded. "Sounds about right to me," he said before turning to the others. "Are you okay with this?"

All the other Smashers looked at each other before looking back at the mercenary. They all nodded in agreement.

"Good," Snake said.

The Smashers have joined Cloud's party!

Aerith chuckled heartily at this. "It's going to be an enjoyable experience," she said. "We have a lot of people here to look for Yuffie while the others are doing some recognition outside the village."

"The others?" Samus asked.

Cloud nodded. "We're a total of 9 people before Yuffie left our team. There are 5 others investigating the surroundings of this continent to see if Yuffie went anywhere else. I know she is in the village, but maybe she could have escaped from here..."

"I think she's still in here," Aerith said. "Cloud, what do you think?"

"I think we better get a move on," Cloud said. "You guys will have to reduce your numbers a bit. We don't want to attract much attention outside with all those tourists walking around."

"That...is actually a good idea," Fox said. "We shouldn't just stay all together in a big group."

"What the fox guy said is true," Cloud said (Fox getting a bit annoyed at the "remark"). "Alright..." he took a quick glance at the Turks on the nearby table where Elena kept an eye on them, "...let's all first go back to the main gate of the village. That should be a place where we can plan out our movements."

"Heh," Cid chuckled a bit. "I know what you mean. You don't wanna have Shinra scum eavesdroppin'."

"S-Shinra scum?!" Elena repeated enraged. "W-why you..."

Cid turned to her, giving Elena a fierce glare that forced her to gasp and drink her tea in peace. "Better..." he muttered with an amused chuckle.

Cloud sighed. "Please, let's just leave this place already..."

The Smashers and Cloud's party started to leave the pub. While they did so, Chris walked to Snake. "Snake, thank you for convincing Cloud to let us join them."

"Kid, I'm just doing this because this problem has to do with us," he said. "Hopefully we'll find that girl before the day ends. I don't want to stay a lot in here with Cloud because he's giving us the bad eye, if you know what I mean."

Chris looked worried. "And what if we don't find Yuffie?"

"We'll chase her as much as we need to do so."

"I just hope we don't give Cloud or the others a bad impression while doing this..."

Snake looked forward. "That's a little bit far from impossible as of now."

"Why?"

Snake pointed forward where an amused Aerith rubbed Lucario's left ear with care. The Aura Pokémon growled happily at the treatment, making the flower girl laugh a bit while she still carried the "seemingly" dazzled Chip on one arm.

"(She's so gonna be my girlfriend now,)" Chip thought with pleasure.

Chris stared at this for a while before he smiled. "Yes...I think everything will be just fine..."

Once the Smashers had left the pub, back on the table where the Turks were sitting, Elena quickly looked back at the exit with a glare. The blond Turk, clenching her eyelids a bit, then stood up from her seat.

Reno saw her action and looked up at her. "What do you think you're doing now, Elena?"

Elena shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, Reno, but I just can't allow this to continue!" she said. "I must follow those guys to see what they're planning to do. I'm going to see

"Tsk," Reno muttered as he shook his head. "It's gonna be a heck of a trouble if you end up gettin' in trouble, Elena. If you don't want to relax, fine by me."

"W-what?"

"You're on your own for this time," Reno said. "You're gonna be working by yourself, and we won't have anything to do regarding your issues with those guys. Whatever happens to you will be your full responsibility."

"..." Elena looked down worried before she made a serious look. "...I'll be just fine!" she yelled. "You will see that I'm doing the right thing for Shinra, Reno! Just you wait until our boss gets a word of my actions!"

"I wish you good luck, then."

"Ugh!" Elena grunted annoyed before she sprinted outside to follow the group.

After the Turk ran away from sight, Reno sighed at this and looked at the bald man across the table. "There goes one stubborn and stupid girl of the Turks..." he trailed off.

"I can see dah futurh," the bald man said. "I seeh our bossh daing by being crushed by a big^$ cannun," he said drunkenly before chuckling loudly.

Reno sighed. "Seriously, the booze of this place is really sapping your brain now, Rude..."

Rude is the silent member of the Turks. He is rarely seen without his long-time partner Reno, and he is rather quiet and taciturn, tending to relegate the talking to Reno. Rude is a superb physical fighter and prefers to use his fists in battle. Some rumors circulate about Rude having a crush with another woman; one who is traveling with Cloud at the time.

Rude laughed oddly. "I want my intro description sooner!" he yelled at no one in particular. "I wanna be...so much more important...damn you..." he muttered before he slammed his face on the table, fainting out of drunkenness.

Reno looked at no one in particular and frowned at this, drinking his wine one more time while Rude began to snore loudly on the table.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Elena of the Turks. Why am I thinking that we're gonna have one more problem for us?" Cloud asked. "I'm serious that I don't like any of this..."

"Cheer up, okay?" Aerith asked.

"I'll try...just maybe, though."

"Heheheh."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Wutai Village
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckles, Cloud, Aerith, Cid

References:

-"Final Fantasy VIII – The Timber Owls" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when you have to listen to the infamous faction called "The Timber Owls". This music track has some perkiness in it, don't you think?

-"Final Fantasy VII – Main Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the world map before you finish the events of your first visit at a key location. My god, this theme is so long, I swear…

-"Final Fantasy VII – Stolen Materia" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in all Yuffie's scenes. Just say you want to steal Materia, dammit!

-"Chrono Cross – Optimism" is a song reference to the same game. It plays most of the time when you face Solt and Peppor. They're unbelievably unbelievable that I can't just seem to shake them off from my mind…

-"Final Fantasy VII – Wutai" is even another song reference to the same game. It always plays when you enter Wutai's grounds. I wonder if their culture is Chinese or Japanese. I always confuse both…

-"Final Fantasy VII – Turks' Theme" is even yet another song reference to the same game. This song plays when you get to talk with any of the Turks. Good thing they're not gangsters since this song has a lot of vibe for a real gangster…

-"Final Fantasy VII – Flowers Blooming in the Church" is EVEN YET another song reference to the same game. It first plays when Cloud clumsily falls through the roof of the abandoned church on a flower bed where he met Aerith for the first time.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-The reason why Chris wished Aerith's name wasn't "Aeris" was because "Aeris" was originally a mistranslation of her real name. The games after Final Fantasy VII have then written the correct name.

-What was Chris singing in the shower? Can you guess?

Since I've done a lot of research about Snake, I'm safe to say that I know his background story much better than before. As such, he's going to be the protagonist Smasher of this arc. Get ready for some more development for the ex-FOXHOUND operative because I'm ready to write much more for him.

As for the Final Fantasy VII team, there's a big possibility that all characters won't be shown in the arc. This is mainly because most of them don't really have to be shown. Besides the first three, I could end up showing 2 more of the cast of the main 9. I also hope the descriptions for each new term were good enough to make any newcomer know more about the Final Fantasy VII universe.

As for some last words, I'll do my very best to adapt the Smashers with Cloud's party.

Remember that there's a new poll on the profile. Please, vote as soon as you can (or if you want, of course). It rests in your hands the decision to shape the story's path, and I'm the mason to make it look as good as possible.

I encourage anyone reading this sentence and losing some seconds of your time to review to express how much you liked the chapter. ;)

…Or Yuffie will cunningly steal your stuff…preferably a Wii and any other console you have in your room.
*Chapter 167*: Elena of the Turks

The quest to recover a man's tiara continues…as strange as it sounds.

From FF and STH: This chapter has no action but all of it was so funny,like cloud punching chris and what ever chip dose and say

From me: I think I said before that this fic doesn't really focus in battles all the time. If it were to be like that, then nobody would read this in the first place. Straightforward fics with just battles are boring, in my opinion, so you need to add something else to attract more people. That's my usual strategy, and it works pretty well. Ironically, I don't like to write battle scenes, but the style seems to appeal the readers…

Well, thanks again. ;)

From Zindakku Hirokai: Going along pretty well. Say could you do an arc on the new Wii Fighter:Tatsunoko vs Capcom?

From me: HELL NO. I mean, dude, that's really impossible. I don't know anything about much of that cast of characters, and all anime cartoon characters are so obscure to me. Sorry, but I just do fine with this massive crossover game (SSBB). Also, did you forget I don't accept requests?

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Kami of the Silver Flame: Sorry, but Yuffie wouldn't be able to steal any of my stuff, I don't have any videogame consoles in my room, and if she dared to touch my books, I would have her head on my wall.

So, they've finally journeyed to Midgar? Took them long enough, that's for sure.

Someone should tell Chip that Aerith is a dead girl. ...Maybe Chip will die in the same swipe of Sephiroth's blade, if you go that far, which I doubt. Well, I can hope, but not even Sephiroth could kill a god... probably. Awesome as his katana is...

There were numerous things that don't make sense the first time you read it, but reading it again renders what you meant to say clear. All in all, not a bad chapter.

From me: Can you do that knowing that she's a ninja?

Midgar is the city, not the whole world.

Oh, that's actually, I might consider some kind of joke about Chip to Aerith…

Hopefully, you helped me to correct those sentences. I really appreciate it, my fellow beta reader. Thanks. :)

From ngrey651: I'm just going to totally geek out at the fact that you've included Final Fantasy VII, the greatest FF of all time, in your story. And that Aerith ISN'T dead. YES! I kiss your feet, oh grand master! Mwah!

From me: The only thing I'm going to be careful with is that this arc doesn't look stupid for fanboyism. I only focus to give serious settings, and one than another joke here and there. And...thanks for the review, but not the kiss. ;D

From TARDISreviewer: ugh... FF7 _

I'll just try to tolerate it... (if you can't tell, I don't like that game. HATE 2 of the characters (1 of whom is a party member, who just so happened to be introduced back when fighting the werehog), can tolerate most of them... though there is 1 party member that I actually kinda like.)

funny about everything getting stolen. I suppose it's up to the characters who don't rely on weapons for now, huh?

From me: Well, just don't try to hate this, okay? I'll do my best to give you a nice presentation for each character along with the current plot. As for the characters who don't rely on weapons, well, you'll see soon enough. Thanks. :D

From Kimoto: Wow. Elena is a Stalker and Rude breaks the fourth wall drunk.

Cool.

And Yuffie is so in for it XD!

Good thing they can't kill her.

From me: That's one of the few instances where you will see a character breaking a fourth wall, though. Good thing anybody who listens to this (in the fic) look confused. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From PianistChris: Great Chapter!
I've only played a few Final Fantasy games, so thanks for the descriptions of the characters :)

I'm glad about Snake becoming a protagonist in this arc, the MGS series is my favourite :D
Yuffie did well to steal all their items although she was very lucky with Snake at the end.
It will be interesting to find a battle where all their weapons and items are gone, so I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
The scene with Cloud, the Turks and Aerith was nicely written out and it was a great read!

Chris :p

From me: After going through some intense videos of the series, Snake became a very interesting subject to me. Thank god I can do this much better than I did before.

Sometimes adding some luck for some characters might be a bit risky, but it adds up for some variety in certain scenes. Unfortunately, there aren't any battles in this chapter, but there could be some in the next one. Thanks again. ;)

From JonasGirl80: Snake as the main character huh? Good so far, can't wait for more.

Rude seems very funny! But then again, drunk people are always funny, even thought there is a small line between funny and violent, so I hope he won't break that line!

Ah, very funny when people break the forth wall, always cool. So lucario likes Cloud huh? At the beginning, he sounds kinda irritable...

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the character descriptions because the only Final Fantasy game I have is 5 (I think... It's an old one for gameboy advanced) and I really am helped to understand by the descriptions so I don't have to go to google and look I all up! :P

jonas_girl80

From me: Wow, you're one of those people who read the whole story until now. I'm surprised.

Well, Rude isn't like this all the time. It was just once due to drunkenness.

I hope Lucario doesn't sound irritable for you in this chapter. He tries to keep a "cool" feeling of interest on Cloud without overdoing it.

And I'm glad the descriptions are helping people out to know what special key terms mean. There are some more in this chapters.

Thank you for reading the story until now. ;)

From Decepticon Fan: Dude, I could NEVER hate this fic. That's humanly impossible for me. I'm just a rabid fan of it. Sorry about the last time, I was just excited.

Anyway, you always have a great mix of humor and action. This arc is looking very interesting, Can't wait for the next chapter.

C-Ya then!

From me: Phew, I thought I got myself a hater for a moment. I'm glad that didn't happen. I hope the arc itself can satisfy you. Thanks. ;)

So far, I think everything is going well with the arc. In this chapter, you're going to see many different things. Also, we can't forget about Snake's development, which will be better shown at the second half. As for Elena, I think she doesn't do that much despite the title, but at least I tried…

I'd like to remind that the poll is still open. This poll is new, so you can decide which game should be the next arc after this one. Vote as soon as possible before you run out of time.

With this simple message in mind, I encourage the people scrolling down this page to read and review. :)

Disclaimer: I should've really changed chapter 166's title for "The Final Fantasy VII Faction".

Chapter 167: Elena of the Turks

-Wutai Village-
Entrance

Final Fantasy VII - Wutai

After having to go walking through the public, the group of thirteen gathered at the main gate to discuss about their next movement. "This is very unlikely," Cloud said. "I've never thought I'd have to direct a lot of people before."

"We're sorry for causing any inconveniences," Marth said. "This has to be done, though."

"I guess I could comply," Cloud said. "You seem to be very worried over your lost sword and your sister's tiara... Why'd Yuffie steal a tiara, though? Was it golden?"

Marth shook his head. "No, it's not. She probably stole it because she wanted to have more stuff with her to sell."

Aerith looked at Samus. "Don't worry, we'll find your tiara so your brother doesn't look this worried."

The bounty hunter blinked a bit. "...What?" she asked. "Oh, wait, no. That's not my tiara, and I'm not even a relative of Marth..."

"What?" Aerith asked. "I thought it was yours since you're the only girl of your group..."

"You're misunderstanding," Samus said. "That tiara is actually Marth's."

Cloud looked back at Marth. He imagined the Altean wearing a tiara over his pale blue hair. "..." He shook his head. "I see..."

Marth grumbled a bit. "Yes, that's my sister's tiara, but she gave it to me to remember her while I'm away."

"...Oh, that makes much more sense," Cloud said. "(Judging by his looks, this guy is definitely metrosexual... I'm gonna keep my distance from him.)"

The hedgehog stretched his arms to sides before letting out a long yawn. "So, anyway, what do we do now?" Sonic asked. "We're gonna wait for her to show up here?"

Cid shook his head. "We're gonna go 'round the damn village until we find her. That brat's bound to show her b&^%$ face soon enough."

"And we're going to have to split in groups," Aerith said. "If we divide, we might get a bigger chance to find Yuffie."

"Just for security, I'm going to have to be in a team with another person of my group," Cloud said. "Aerith, you're going to have to come with me."

"Okay, fine by me," Aerith said.

Cloud looked at the Smashers. "I'll have to take five of you with us. The other 5 will have to go with Cid here. For the five I want to take...I want the kid, the old man, the swordsman, the girl, and the short man."

"Oh," Mario began, "we haven't introduced ourselves before, right?"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, you didn't."

After some introductions...

"I want Chris, Snake, Marth, Samus, and Mario to come with me," Cloud rephrased. "The others will have to listen and follow Cid."

Cid smacked his fists together as he looked at the anthro group. "Alright, g!*#$# idiots, you'll be Uncle Cid's little slaves from this point on!" he said. "You shall not talk back to me in any way while we look for the ninja brat in here. If you b%^& disobey me, you're so gonna get into a world of f&^%#% pain!"

Lucario looked worried at Chris. "Chris, I wanted to go with Cloud..."

Chris looked worried at Lucario. "I-I'm sorry, Lucario, but Cloud wants to do it this way... I-I'm sure he's trying to get used to us so he can get acquainted better."

"I don't think it seems that way..." Lucario muttered in depression.

Cloud stared at the energetic Cid. "...Thinking again," he began, "maybe I should give a call to another friend of mine just to be sure that Cid doesn't end up making any kind of...oddity."

Cid glared at Cloud. "Your spiky %$' is pinching your back or something 'cuz of me?"

"No," Cloud said bluntly, as he took out a cell phone (a rectangular cell phone called a PHS) from his back. "I'll call someone who I can trust better than you."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but you just joined us today in the morning," Cloud said before he began dialing a number on the cell phone. The Smashers saw as the blond mercenary turned his back to them to look away. "Yes, is that you?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, hi there, Cloud," a female voice spoke in the PHS. "Did you find Yuffie's whereabouts yet?"

"Actually, I think I did," Cloud said. "She is going about Wutai Village, the village located to the northern area of this small landmass."

"Nice!" the voice said. "So are you going to stay in that area to find her?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell the others about what you found?"

"Nah, it's okay," Cloud said. "I don't think Yuffie could be in the same spot all the time. It's better if everyone performs recognition just to be sure she doesn't get away."

"Oh, okay," the voice said. "If you're not going to tell the others…why go ahead and tell me?"

"That's because I need you to come here and assist us," Cloud said before he turned around to look at the Smashers. "We met a bunch of stubborn people who were pilfered by Yuffie on their way to the village, and they all want to catch her with us."

"I see," the voice said. "I'm pretty sure they're giving you the bad eye if you're close to them, right?"

Cloud noticed that some of the Smashers were glaring at him. "Sort of," Cloud said. "The problem is that they're too many, though. I need to have some…order, if you know what I mean."

"Always being cautious, huh?" the voice asked. "Okay, I'll head down to the north. I'm probably going to arrive there in less than fifteen minutes or so. I can see the village from the point where I am."

Cloud nodded. "Good, I'll meet you once we finish looking around for Yuffie," he said before he hung up. He looked at the rest of the Smashers. "You guys will have to stay here and wait for my friend to come here. We're going to move on and see where we can look for Yuffie."

"I think there's no other way around to convince you, right?" Knuckles asked.

"Exactly," Cloud said. "Okay, if the people I'm with are ready to go, let's get going further into the village."

Cloud's group began to move back to the crowd of people. Chris looked behind at a disappointed Lucario before he walked away from sight, leaving all the non-human Smashers behind with a grunting Cid.

The non-human Smashers looked at Cid.

"So what's your story?" Cid asked with crossed arms. "Travelin' around the world to meet some ladies or what?"

"No…" Sonic muttered.

"Heh, then I don't see what your intentions to be traveling are," Cid said. "People often travel from place to place to discharge and settle in where they want to be."

Fox thought for a moment. "Well, we could tell you our reasons; our true intentions."

Cid raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, is that so?" he asked before he sat on a crate that was conveniently close to the village's gates. "Then let me hear your story."

Residential Area

It turned out that the human Smashers were telling Cloud and Aerith about their true intentions to travel. The group kept walking through the crowds of people while the two characters listened to their explanations.

"…" Cloud looked away. "I swear that your intentions are…so damn f^&*$# up to believe."

"T-that's the whole truth, I swear!" Chris complained. "W-we're in reality a group of people who need to stop an army from conquering the worlds, including this one!"

"Please," Cloud said. "Do you honestly think we're going to buy any of that from you? It's incredibly farfetched, you know."

"But it's the whole truth," Samus said. "Those are our true intentions to be here. Haven't you noticed how different we look from each other?"

"The only people who I call tell are different from any of you are those furry people," Cloud said. "Besides them, you're all pretty normal-looking to me."

"That...well..." Chris shook his head. "T-that was so true to the whole extent..."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "People traveling from world to world..." he muttered. "What kind of people do you think you are, honestly?"

Snake looked sideways at Cloud. "I'm sure it's hard to believe, but that's how things are for us, sadly."

Cloud shook his head. "Whatever, it's not like I care to hear about such stuff."

"(Wolf, I hope you're happy,)" Chris thought annoyed. "(You were the one who suggested us to do this...)"

Aerith chuckled nervously at this as the party preceded their walk towards the west, finding a wide area where different houses were surrounding the place. The tallest pagoda was located to the farthest point of the west, overlooking the whole village. The party looked up at the tower before the flower girl looked to her right to find a big residence. Aerith tilted her head at the imposing building before she looked at the sign to the left of the entrance. "Mansion of the Mystic Kisaragi clan," she read. "Wutai's most prevalent clan and chief leader Godo Kisaragi live here..."

Cloud looked at the building. "Hmm, maybe we could ask for information about Yuffie. The leader of the village should..."

"Wait a minute," Marth interrupted. "What was the name written on the sign?"

Aerith read the sign again. "Mansion of the Mystic Kisaragi clan..."

"Kisaragi..." Chris muttered. "...That was Yuffie's last name, wasn't it?"

"It is," Cloud said. "If that's true, then perhaps this place has some sort of connection with her."

Marth glared at the building. "Then let's go inside," he said. "I want to know if she's here hiding from all of us."

Samus sighed. "You really are so mad about your stolen valuable, aren't you?"

"Sorry, Samus, but this is very crucial," Marth said. "I'd like to get back my stuff before she gets to sell a family's heirloom and a personal object to anyone out there. Do you really want me to lose Falchion? Without it, I can't even fight properly. I'm not like Ike who punches a few times; even if we know his fists don't necessarily deal that much damage."

Chris looked away. "I hope Ike didn't hear you saying that because he would get upset..."

The Altean prince sighed. "Please, don't mind some of my rants... I'm really worried about losing Falchion and my sister's tiara forever..."

Aerith looked worried at Marth. "Everything is going to turn out just fine. Have some optimism with you until we get to her, okay?"

"I'll try my best to stay calm..."

The group then decided to enter the mansion without having to knock on the door. The World Traveler frowned in pure disbelief after seeing that the blond mercenary didn't even think about knocking on the door. Perhaps what Link told Chris about getting inside other people's houses was very true, even if it sounded so rude.

Kisaragi Mansion

The group walked into the mansion. They were met by a lush green garden with small ponds and bamboo sticks spread all over the place. They looked to their right where a windy way extended across the white wall to the other side of the garden where some rooms were located. In plain sight, one of the entrances of the rooms looked highly detailed since it had Japanese letters, ginseng hanging from the letters' papers, and several golden statues of a water serpent standing at the sides of the sliding door.

And the fact that a frame with the letters "Godo Kisaragi's Room" was hanging on top of the door made it obvious that it was the leader's room.

"Godo Kisaragi..." Mario read. "He should know about Yuffie. Maybe they're relatives."

"Who knows," Cloud said. "Maybe it's a coincidence that they both have the same last name, but it's just a thought."

"However, it doesn't discard the idea that he should know about the inhabitants of the village. After all, he must know who lives in this place infested with tourists," Snake said. "I'd suggest arranging a small meeting with the lord himself right now."

Aerith looked at the door across the garden. "I hope he can help us in any way..."

The group then proceeded to walk around the windy hallway to reach the other side of the garden. Once they did so, they stopped walking in front of the sliding door. Cloud slowly opened the door by pushing it aside, revealing a door with all kinds of ornaments: a small tea table, an altar with some photos of the ancestors of the clan, and a sleeping bed on the flat mattress's floor where someone was taking a nap.

The person taking a nap was an adult. The adult wore a purple sokutai (a long vest over a t-shirt with long sleeves) and black zori. The adult had long eyebrows, and he had a pointy beard on his chin and a wide mustache with pointy ends. Once the group stepped inside, the man yawned loudly and looked to his right to see all of them looking down at him. "..." he remained silent before he pushed him from the floor and sat down on his crossed legs. The group saw this as a sign to sit down in the same way. "Greetings," he said. "I'd like to welcome all of you to the glorious Wutai."

"We're thankful of that," Cloud said.

The adult nodded. "As you may know by now, I'm Godo Kisaragi, the leader of Wutai," he introduced himself. "Since we're always happy to receive people into the village, please do make yourselves at home."

Aerith looked serious. "I'm sorry to be asking this to you, but we're doing something here that we'd like you to help us."

"Hmm?" Godo raised an eyebrow. "What would that be, young lady?"

"It's about a person," Mario said. "We're looking for a resident of this village, and we thought you knew the people who live here."

Godo nodded. "Of course I do. It's one of my many tasks to recall the names of the people that this village has," he said. "It's easier to remember the very few names that remain, though..." he muttered. "...But in any case, I'll try to do my best to serve you in any purpose you would like me to help."

Snake nodded. "We're looking for a girl named Yuffie Kisaragi."

"..." The chief looked away. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't know any Yuffie, unfortunately..."

The sudden reaction that the leader of Wutai made the group look a bit suspicious at Godo.

"Why did you react like that?" Snake asked. "It's not common for people to stutter unless they're trying to avoid saying something important they know. Do you know this Yuffie girl?"

"N-no, I'm absolutely sure about that," Godo said. "W-why would you ask about such a person, anyway?"

Chris looked worried. "That's because you have "Kisaragi" as your last name..." he pointed out. "And since Yuffie's last name is Kisaragi, we thought you were related to each other..."

"Hahahahahahaha!" Godo suddenly laughed loudly at this before turning back to look at the group. "Haven't you heard about people having the same last names, my boy?" he asked with some cheerfulness. "Kisaragi happens to be a very common name in our village. Why, you could ask anyone out there about their last name and you'll probably meet another different Kisaragi than one of the clan's members of this place."

Marth looked skeptical. "Is...that really true?"

"Of course it is!" Godo said before he followed with another laugh, wiping some tears from his eyes. "You surely met another Kisaragi from the village, so that would explain why you would think we were related."

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the chief. "So, if I take that we met another different Kisaragi, then wouldn't that mean you know who she is?"

Godo gasped in shock at this before he shook his head several times. "I-I don't know any Yuffie, as I've told you before," he said. "It's possible that she might be an outsider of another settlement..."

Mario noticed that the chief started to sweat a bit since he was rubbing his forehead with his right arm. "...Are you sure that you don't know Yuffie?"

"N-no, I don't know her!" Godo yelled in pressure. "W-why would I know her if I don't even have the slightest idea of how she looks like?" He swung his left arm. "I-I've had enough of this useless talk. I want all of you to leave my home right now!"

Snake looked sternly at Godo. "Look, it's clearly obvious that you know who this Yuffie is. We're looking for her since she's stole all of our stuff today."

Godo looked away.

"She stole our Materia," Cloud said. "We need to get all of it back from her."

"..." Godo sighed. "Why do you keep asking me about her? I don't know any Yuffie," he said. "Whatever you try to ask me, I won't respond since the person you're looking for is a stranger to me..." He looked back at them. "Why, maybe you're losing time with me..." He sighed more. "I don't really want to listen to any more things at the moment..."

Aerith looked at bit curious at this. "Why are you stressed? Did something bad happen?"

"...Shinra has caused me a lot of stress as of late since there are some of their operatives patrolling the village as it if were under martial law," Godo explained. "Those soldiers have been settling in here for a long time now, but it's not because they want to... It's because they're brought here by the fugitives they want to arrest."

"Fugitives, huh..." Snake trailed off.

"Exactly," Godo said. "People who run away from Shinra bring forth more of their soldiers anywhere. Since this is a proud village, it makes me feel uneasy to see so many soldiers running around the streets..." He stared at them for a while. "...You wouldn't happen to have something to do with them, would you?"

Cloud shook his head. "No..."

"I don't care about who you are," Godo stated. "For now, I'd like to have a moment of solitude for myself... I want to forget about the tragedies that took place during the Wutai War. Ever since Shinra won the war, Wutai has had the necessity to follow Shinra's rules so another war does not occur. Standing up against Shinra is one foolish move, and Wutai doesn't want to lose its current peace."

"What the heck is wrong with you, you coward?" asked an angry voice from behind the sliding door.

The group and the chief looked back at the doorframe where it was pushed aside by a familiar girl. Some of them gasped after seeing that an angry Yuffie came into the room and pointed a finger directly at Godo's face. "Y-Yuffie!" Godo said in shock before he quickly stood up to look at her.

The Smashers gave bored looks at the chief. "...Pardon me for being rude, but since you knew how she looked like so suddenly, wouldn't that mean you two are related?" Marth asked bored.

"Related?" Yuffie said before she faked a chuckle. "This old man right here happens to be my father; the leader of the proud nation of Wutai who HAD to turn it into a freaking tourist resort!"

"Y-Yuffie, shh!" Godo whispered in shock as many of them glared annoyed at his behavior.

"You won't shut me up this time, father!" Yuffie yelled as she stomped her way between the group and the chief to stand directly in front of him. "Have you learned anything about the current status of Wutai yet, or have you considered building that water boat ride attraction you wanted to make soon?"

Godo's right eye twitched at this. "Y-you little daughter of mine..."

Seeing that this was the only chance to get close to her, the Altean stood up. "Hey, you, give me back m-"

Yuffie didn't turn around to face Marth, but she nimbly tossed a sleeping dart at Marth's throat. The Altean gasped after he received the shot before his eyes swirled a bit around and closed down as he fell on the floor unconscious, Chris looking a bit horrified at the fainted Marth.

"Are you scared of the Shinra still?" Yuffie asked angrily at Godo. "You get beaten once, and that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"

"S-shut up!" Godo yelled. "Y-you don't know anything about this, Yuffie!"

"I DO know more than that thick-headed skull of yours!" Yuffie yelled before she pointed at Cloud and Aerith. "Those two over there are fighting against Shinra, you know!"

Aerith looked at Cloud. "Cloud, there she is," she whispered while Mario, Chris, and Samus went over to check on Marth. "What should we do?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "...We'll stay put to see where this conversation is going."

"W-what?"

"I think that we could get to know something more about these two if we let them rant to each other for a little bit longer," Cloud said.

Snake, overhearing Cloud's plan, rolled his eyes. "I don't think that will be the most suitable idea, but whatever you say, kid..."

"Y-you shut up, Yuffie!" Godo demanded as both glared fiercely at each other. "I won't permit you from yelling at your own father like this for any longer! You're ought to be ashamed to be acting like you are doing now!"

"It's my own DAMN business, not yours!" Yuffie yelled. "You don't have any authority to dictate my style!"

"D-dictate...s-style?" Godo twitched at the words. "S-such words coming from a fancy person like you...y-you're such a miserable daughter!"

Yuffie stuck out her tongue. "Well, you're a sad excuse for a father, then!" she complained. "You're the reason Wutai's gonna be a tourist resort for the rest of its life!"

"T-that's not true!" Godo yelled. "Wutai is stil-"

"Wutai is still a sucky nation of ninjas!" Yuffie complained. "It was a very proud nation before you had to chicken out by a meaningless beating in a war!"

"You have to understand that there was no way to win it!"

"And if there wasn't any way, then why not make another fight?" Yuffie asked. "People usually stand up twice after they suffer just a beating, you know! We can always strike Shinra anytime, but you are always letting them whip you like a dog! Thanks to you, I have to go around and steal Materia to recover all the Materia that Shinra has taken away from us!"

"Why do you do such a thing?" Godo asked. "You're going to cause an uprising if Shinra finds out tha-"

"Wutai will be prepared until then!" Yuffie yelled. "I'm the one who is ACTUALLY doing something worth unlike you who sits down all days to watch how Wutai gets ruined!"

Aerith looked at Cloud, trying to give him a sign to intervene in the family feud.

Cloud sighed and stood up. "Yuffi-"

Yuffie did a sharp turn and looked angrily at Cloud. "No Materia for you!" she yelled before she took out a smoke ball that she slammed down on the floor.

The whole room was covered in smoke, causing everyone there to cough continuously. Once the smoke had cleared out, they looked around and didn't find the rebellious ninja anywhere. She had escaped without leaving a trace.

"Damn..." Cloud muttered.

Godo sighed at this before he turned around and looked outside the mansion. "That daughter of mine..." he muttered.

Snake stood up. "So you can't even control your own daughter, huh? That's kind of weak for the leader of a whole country."

"...Leave me alone, please..." Godo said without giving them a look. "I do not want to see anyone right now..."

Cloud took a step forward. "Before we go, have you noticed that Yuffie has been stealing Materia all this time?"

Godo shook his head. "I've never noticed that since Yuffie ran away from home three months ago... Since then, it's unclear to me about what she's been doing all this time..."

"Do you at least know if she has Materia?"

"..." Godo shook his head. "The use of Materia is forbidden," he said. "The ban has put us in complete vulnerability against Shinra..."

The three kept staring at the chief in a moment of silence while Chris tried to awake Marth.

"...Please, leave," Godo muttered.

Cloud kept staring at the chief before he shook his head. "Fine, but let us know if she brings Materia with her. If it's true that the use of Materia is banned, then you should agree that it should be taken away from Wutai."

"..." Godo nodded in silence.

Cloud looked at the others. "C'mon, we have to find Yuffie."

"We need to find her after she was just standing in front of us?" Snake asked. "Tsk, maybe we didn't have a chance to catch her off-guard..."

The chief suddenly turned around to them. "I want to say one more thing before you leave from here," he said.

Aerith stood up. "What is it?" she asked.

"Yuffie is very cunning," Godo said. "She may as well be Wutai's most experienced ninja. Don't let her looks deceive you or else she might get away from all of you."

Cloud nodded. "We already knew that, but thanks, anyway," he said. "Everybody, let's go."

The group decided to leave the mansion while Mario and Chris carried an unconscious Marth by the sides. Once they left the room, Godo closed his eyes, folded his arms, and turned around to look outside to the same mountain that overlooked all the area around Wutai. "...Yuffie..." he muttered.

Entrance

Back at the entrance, hysterical laughs filled the air as Cid was rolling around the floor, laughing loudly to himself while he held his stomach with both arms. He was apparently laughing after hearing the Smashers' story about the Subspace Army.

"B-boy, you sure know how to be so f^*%&%^ funny!" Cid laughed loudly.

Sonic pressed his brow with two fingers. "Old man, that's the whole truth... It's not something you should laugh about..."

"People who travel from world to world...an army who wishes to conquer any world they want to have...hilarious!" Cid laughed.

Fox slapped his forehead. "Ugh, this guy is just impossible..."

Chip chuckled a bit. "Well, there are going to be some people who aren't gonna believe in us. You gotta show 'em some proof, or so says Chip Norris."

Knuckles looked annoyed at the imp. "Would you just shut it with that nickname of yours? The guy's laughs aren't making me feel any better right now!"

Lucario looked down at the laughing Cid before sighing. "(I wanted to go with Cloud...not stay with Cid...)"

As Cid kept laughing hysterically, the echidna put his hands on the sides of his head and grunted loudly. "DAMMIT, WHEN IS HE GOING TO STOP LAUGHING LIKE THAT?" he asked.

The vulpine ignored the echidna's rant as he looked at Lucario. "Hey, you," Fox began, "can't you just locate that girl?"

Lucario looked at Fox. "I don't know her aura," he said.

"What? I thought your aura thing could identify anyone very easily."

Lucario shook his head. "I could easily identify anyone's aura as long as I get a glimpse or an image of that person in my mind. My aura will remember any aura very well if I get to see a person first... Outside of that, I can find many different kinds of aura here, and I won't be able to tell who is who."

"But if we assume that girl was close to us when she ambushed us, wouldn't that mean your aura could have caught her?"

"Do you honestly think my aura is activated all day?"

"I...thought it did."

"Honestly speaking, my aura senses were off by the time she attacked us," Lucario explained. "If I just had it ready, we could have found her..."

Fox looked down. "So it was all bad luck of your part."

"...I hate to say it, but yes, it was bad luck..."

Fox sighed. "You were going to be an easy way to find her... Oh well..."

"Don't take me wrong, though," Lucario said. "My aura helps me a lot to identify any person hiding from us. It helps me to stay alert every time, even when I'm sleeping. For now, though, I don't want to exert a little bit of energy this time since I think that girl won't return."

"I guess you're right," Fox said. "The last thing she'd want to do is spy us."

"That is one very unlikely thing."

If Lucario had activated his aura senses, he could have easily perceived the presence of a familiar blond Turk hiding behind some rows of trees close to the gate. Elena was carefully listening to their conversation and, unlike the laughing Cid; she picked an interest to the reason of the Smashers to be in Wutai.

Unfortunately, for Elena, she had arrived a minute ago, missing everything but Cid's laugh.

"Hmm..." Elena muttered to herself. "These guys are weird, alright... I heard that freaky old man saying something an army and those people going from world to world... I wonder what that really means, though..."

Cid's laughs suddenly slowed down before he calmed down and sat up, looking happy at them. "Well! I admit you're kinda strange, but you're strangely funny to me!"

Knuckles sighed. "At least he stopped laughing...for now..."

Sonic cleaned his right ear with a finger. "Yeah, I was getting annoyed already."

Cid nodded. "Alrighty, then," he said before putting up a serious look. "You seem friendly enough to me, so I'm just gonna let you follow us around till we find that b%$# Yuffie."

Lucario looked annoyed. "Is it really necessary to curse so often? It's a bit ridiculous to me."

Cid stood up. "Hey, you ain't tellin' me how to f^&%*$# talk, dog," he said. "You want me to put you a leash?"

Sonic got excited. "Can you take off my collar and put it on him? You can put him a leash if you want!"

Chip thought for a moment. "Hmm, he would fit better to be my dog..."

Lucario glared at Sonic. "What was that just now?"

The hedgehog chuckled nervously. "H-heheheh, just a joke, pal..."

Cid rolled his eyes. "You guys are very odd, I swear..." He looked to the outside area where he noticed a young woman walking towards the village. "Oh great, here she comes..."

The Smashers looked outside the gates. "Who's coming?" Knuckles asked.

Elena peeked from the tree. "Yes, who's coming?" She took a closer look. "...Oh...another one of them..."

Far to the southeastern area of Wutai, a young woman walked towards the village. The dark brown-haired woman was 20 years old, her hair was long that ran across all her back and ended in a distinctive dolphin-tail split. She wore white teardrop earrings, a sleeveless white tank shirt that showed her stomach with a short black miniskirt and a pair of black suspenders connected to her belt. She also wore fighting gloves that came up to her elbows, which had metal protecting pads, and she wore old boots. Despite her looks by having slim, she possessed great physical strength.

"...Who is she?" Fox asked.

"That pretty gal with the big %$^$& is one of us," Cid said. "I don't want to introduce her myself. Let her get here first."

And the Smashers waited for her to arrive. Once she arrived, the woman smiled a bit at Cid. "Hi there, Cid," she said. "What are you doing alone here?"

"Heh," Cid muttered. "Killin' some time to wait for you, of course. Cloud told me to wait for you here to make you the appointed leader of our little group." He pointed at the Smashers. "Say hello to the bunch of furry people."

The bunch of furry people...I mean, the Smashers, shot some glares at the blond man (except for Chip) before looking back at the young woman. The young woman looked at them and tilted her head in some curiosity. "Oh..." she muttered. "...Why...hello there..." she said a bit surprised.

"...What's up?" Sonic asked.

The young woman shifted her eyes. "Er...nothing...for now..." she muttered before looking embarrassed at Cid. "Cid, who are these guys? They are all wearing costumes, aren't they? Please tell me they're wearing costumes because they're even wagging their tails..."

Cid shook his head. "I'm afraid they ain't wearin' any costumes. Their fur is 110 percent real," he said. "They're pretty real, just like the lion guy in our gang."

The young woman looked back at the Smashers before she chuckled nervously. "H-hey there, nice to meet all of you," she said, trying to stay calm. "My name is Tifa; Tifa Lockhart."

Tifa Lockhart is a laid back and selfless person, with a motherly streak concerning all her friends and others around her. She has a soft spot for shyness, and she is caring and loving to a fault, hiding some of her true feelings from other people. She seems to have met Cloud long before he joined the resistance against Shinra (called AVALANCHE) which she was part of, and she struggles to understand Cloud's nature as it seems very familiar for her, prompting her to stay very close to him. Tifa lived in Nibelheim before it was burned, and she was taken far away from it to stay safe. Once she met Cloud, she began to get closer to him, trying to figure out something that her past has to do with him.

The young woman named Tifa chuckled more. "S-so, what are your names?" she asked as she sweated a bit on the forehead.

After an introduction of each Smasher...

"Okay..." Tifa trailed off. "Well, nice to meet you all..." She quickly turned around and took out her own PHS from her pocket. She quickly dialed Cloud to call him. "Pick up the call, pick up the call, pick up the call..." she muttered in a bit of a panic, recalling that there were five odd-looking people behind her back. "...Oh, there it is," she muttered in relief.

Chip looked at Sonic. "What's she doing now?"

"I dunno..." Sonic muttered.

Tifa cleared her throat. "Cloud, are you there?"

"Yeah," Cloud said over the phone. "You got a problem over your end? Are you in the village?"

"Oh, yes, I'm in the village now."

"Did you meet up with the group I told you about?"

Tifa looked behind her.

Chip waved a hand.

Tifa looked away. "Does that group have at least five people wearing costumes?"

"No."

Tifa sighed in relief.

"They're not wearing costumes, but they're pretty real, alright."

Tifa's jaw dropped a bit. "W-what?"

"I know how shocked you are, but it's the whole truth," Cloud said.

"I-I can't believe this!"

"Neither can I, but what can you do about them?" Cloud asked annoyed. "Anyway, you're going to be the leader of that group. We met Yuffie in here, but she ran away as soon as I spoke to her."

Tifa sighed. "Cloud, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Just...how did you end up letting these people follow us?" she asked before took a quick glance of the group. "The guy with the fox look is giving me a really nasty look...isn't he?"

"They followed us because it concerns them as well," Cloud said. "They got their stuff stolen from Yuffie, and they wanted to come along with us to get them all back. I tried to say no but they didn't listen."

Tifa sighed once more. "There isn't any other way for them t-"

"No," Cloud interrupted. "Since I think it's a little bit dangerous to let Cid take the lead, I called you here because you were more trustworthy."

Tifa blushed a bit at the remark. "Oh...I see..."

"So yeah," Cloud said. "You are in charge to lead the group to find Yuffie. We're gonna meet up whenever we stumble to each other."

"Okay, but I'll be careful around them."

"I'm being careful around them as well. They seem a little bit trustworthy, but don't look away from them, got it?"

"Yeah...I got it..." Tifa trailed off. "(I'm SERIOUSLY not ready for this... Well, I gotta pull this through...)"

"Catch you later," Cloud said before he hung up.

Tifa temporarily joined your team!

Tifa kept her PHS in her pocket before she sighed loudly and turned to face the others. "Well, you guys will have to follow our lead if you want to recover your stolen stuff," she said. "So..."

Dead silence...

"...Anybody got an idea of where to start?" Tifa asked embarrassed.

"For cryin' out loud!" Cid ranted. "Isn't it obvious or what? We're gonna hit the village and look around for her!"

"Oh yeah!" Tifa said. "I-I knew that was the only option for now!"

Cid spat some smoke out from his mouth. "We gotta get a move on before that little ninja gets away from our hands," he said. "I ain't lettin' her keep our Materia without any permission."

Tifa looked at the bunch of anthros. "So anyway, can you follow us?"

Knuckles looked bored. "You don't even know what you're doing anymore, huh?"

"...No..." Tifa sighed. "I'm a bit lost right now... I mean, everything happened so suddenly," she said. "Our Materia got stolen, you guys got your stuff stolen, both of us joined together and...the fact that you look like people in costumes..."

Sonic frowned. "Why can't anybody tell we're not people wearing costumes? The joke is kinda getting so old now."

Tifa looked worried. "I'm really sorry for thinking that way about you, but what was I supposed to think?" she asked. "It's not like you get to see the same kind of guys like you."

Fox frowned. "I'm sure everyone thinks the same way about us..."

Tifa bowed to them. "Again, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend any of you."

"I'm not offended," Chip said before Sonic slapped the back of the imp's head.

"Tsk," Cid muttered as he tossed away his cigarette. "Worry about that matter later," he said. "We have a mission to do here: find the b&%^* ninja and get all our stuff back."

"I know," Tifa said. "I've got to stay calm... I'm sure I can get used to this."

Lucario frowned. "Why am I thinking this is going to happen with other people?" he asked to himself.

The fighter forced a smile and nodded. "You don't worry about me thinking badly of any of you, okay?" she asked.

Back to the trees, Elena shook her head and looked up to the sky. "(When are they going to do something worth spying? I refuse to go back to Reno, and say I didn't find anything good out of them!)"

Cid brandished a new cigarette from the packet attached to his headband. The blond man ignited the item with pocket igniter before he looked back to the village. "Let's go," he said before he walked away into the crowd of tourists.

The Smashers and Tifa decided to follow the blond man, carefully walking between the rows of people.

Elena peeked from the tree she was hiding behind and narrowed her eyes. "Now's my chance to see where they're going!" she muttered to herself before jumping out from the trees back to safe ground.

Just before she could take a step forward, she was stopped by a group of three soldiers who came from the same direction that the Smashers had gone to. They were all wearing blue uniforms with blue hats that covered everything except their mouths, and had machine guns on their right hands. "Elena," the soldier of the middle began, "we've found him at last!"

Elena took a step back. "W-what are you talking about? I-I'm in the middle of an undercover mission!"

The soldier of the right saluted her. "Sorry for interrupting you, but we've found the slime of Don Corneo in this place, just as we have thought!"

The female Turk shook her head. "I-I don't care about that guy!" she complained.

"What?" the soldier of the left said in confusion, "but he's the reason why we were sent all the way here!"

"I'm in the middle of a vacation!" Elena said in her defense.

The three soldiers looked at each other. "Vacation?" they repeated confused.

"..." Elena shook her head. "That was a direct order from Reno himself."

"But you're not supposed to take vacations at a time like this!" the soldier of the middle complained. "Think about Don Corneo! Rufus has declared that Don Corneo should be killed for betraying Shinra!"

Rufus Shinra is the current president and leader of Shinra. He took over the job to order the company right after his father was assassinated. Unlike the beliefs that his father had for the company that world should be ruled by the use of money, Rufus believes that the company needs to rely solely on fear. As such, Rufus is the mastermind behind all of Shinra's actions around the world.

"I-I know that's our job, but I'm currently taking a much more crucial task this time around!" Elena protested.

"By yourself, Elena?" the soldier of the middle asked.

Elena looked away. "Y-yes, by me, that's it. It's something I'm doing personally without the help of Reno and Rude."

The soldiers looked at each other before looking at the serious Turk. "What about Don Corneo? We need to find him as soon as possible."

Elena swung her left arm to the left. "You take care of Don Corneo! Once you locate him, just say the word to me!"

The soldiers remained silent for a moment before they nodded. "Alright, we'll do as you say," the soldier of the right said. "Just be careful out there. Who knows what these Wutai scum could do to us while we're alone."

"I'm sure everything will be just fine," Elena said. "Now go!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers saluted before they all scrambled back into the village.

Elena kept looking serious at their direction. "Now that the little distraction is over with..." she looked around a bit before looking worried, "...w-where did those guys run off to?" she asked in panic before she ran into the village.

Item Shop

Outside of the only item shop of the village (which had almost the same look as every other building), Tifa's group stopped walking after the fighter stopped on her trails. "Is something wrong?" Sonic asked.

Tifa turned to them. "It's just that... I-I'm so sorry, really..." she muttered. "I can't just seem to shake off the thought that there are people like you with us..."

Cid scoffed a bit at this. "Can you just get over it? These guys ain't half bad, despite most of them have fur up their a%$^#, y'know."

Most of them got offended at this "remark" while Tifa frowned. "Cid, I know for a fact this isn't our first time meeting such people, but meeting five at the same time? I wasn't really expecting that."

Knuckles grunted and crossed his arms. "Would you just stop thinking about that? We're good guys, not bad guys!"

"I know!" Tifa said, irritated about herself. "I just wish there was a way for me to get over the stupid thought sooner!"

Fox rolled his eyes. "Look, maybe you just need to engage in a conversation with one of us. Maybe that'll help you to become more "used" to see us."

"Hmm..." Tifa thought for a moment. "That...could help...but I just don't know how to do this..."

The Aura Pokémon looked at her. "..." He looked down in embarrassment. "...Can you...please tell me about Cloud?"

Everyone looked confused at Lucario. Tifa blinked a bit surprised at the question. "What?" she said confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Um..." Lucario looked away. "I-it's just that I wanted to meet Cloud because...I heard some stories about him..."

The fighter looked confused at this statement. "You heard stories about Cloud? How could a person like you get to hear something about him, anyway?"

"I did hear stories about him," Lucario said. "And since you two seem to know each other..."

Tifa tilted her head to the right. "(That's weird. I don't think Cloud has made that many heroics to be recognized by other people... Hmm... This does look so weird...)" She kept staring at the embarrassing Lucario. "(Besides, I haven't seen someone like this dog guy around...)"

"I-I'm sorry for being this rude," Lucario apologized. "I wanted to meet Cloud in person, but he ignored me for the most part as if he didn't care who I was."

"...Oh!" Tifa snapped out from her thoughts and chuckled heartily. "That's Cloud, alright. He likes to shrug off most people because he doesn't want to make that many friendships with others." She rubbed her chin a bit. "I guess you could say he's the kind of lone wolf, but he's not that bad, really."

Lucario blinked a bit. "Are you sure? He didn't sound interested in meeting any of us."

"Aah, you've got to give him some time before he opens up to you," Tifa said with a small laugh. "We gave him sometime, and he's made some of a close bond with Aerith. He didn't know about her until he saved her from being experimented by Shinra."

Knuckles looked a bit interested. "That girl was going to be experimented?"

"Oh yeah, it was because of her that Cloud wanted to make an assault in their HQ," Tifa said. "Thanks to us, Aerith managed to escape alive, and ever since then, we've been traveling around the world to chase after a..."

Tifa looked away, putting a serious look on her face.

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Is something bothering you?"

"...No," Tifa muttered before turning back to them. "It's just that we're all after a certain person who is planning to do something really crazy..."

Inside Tifa's mind, the image of her hometown being burned appeared. In the middle of the wild flames, there stood a tall man with long gray hair and black cape. The image was blurry, but she could picture an immensely large, thin sword being held on the man's right hand.

"..." Tifa shook her head to shake off the thought. "...Don't mind me about that," she said. "In a few words, this man is going to cause some serious problems to everyone in the Planet, and we're trying to stop him from doing whatever he wants to do..." She bowed to them. "Sorry, but I just don't want to recall more about it. Even Cloud doesn't want to think much about that person. Many of us don't like that person as well."

"I don't even know him," Cid muttered.

Tifa ignored the fact. "So yeah... Oops!" she said embarrassed. "I-I think I got a little carried off from the main topic, didn't I? Silly me..."

Chip looked happily. "Aww, don't worry, it was all very interesting."

"Heheheh, I guess so," Tifa said. "I think I was talking about Cloud, though... Back on topic, Cloud isn't a bad guy even if he acts so rude to people. Have some hope in getting him acquainted to you, okay? Give some time."

Lucario stared at her before he smiled a bit and nodded. "Thank you, Tifa."

"Don't mention it," Tifa said. "I'll make sure he talks more with all of you as well. I personally hate to see Cloud shrugging off people a lot."

Sonic closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "(You know, I can kind of relate Cloud with the Snake guy. Both of them are kinda like lone wolves... Hmm...nice connection...)"

"..." Tifa blinked surprised before she looked happy. "Hey, what do you know! I stopped thinking you guys being weird and strange!"

"You did?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah!" Tifa said as she nodded. "I never thought I could get over it so fast!"

Cid rolled his eyes. "You gotta admit you were so screwed up some time ago."

The fighter chuckled a bit and sweat dropped afterward. "Y-yeah, I guess you're very right on that," she said.

Fox sighed in relief. "Finally, we don't have any more bad impressions with you... I'm relieved to hear that."

Tifa nodded once more. "Yup, I think I can do this just fine now. I hate to be so shy sometimes, and this is one of those occasions," she said. "Now that I can talk with you without having thoughts of looking away and pretend you're not here, we can focus on finding Yuffie."

"..." Knuckles looked bored. "...Second thoughts of looking away and pretend we're not here?"

"..." Tifa got a bit shocked. "I-I didn't..."

"Okay, we got you..." the echidna muttered with a sigh.

The fighter looked a bit ashamed at this. "Oh man, me and my big mouth..." she muttered under her breath before forcing a smile. "Let's just forget I said that, okay?"

Lucario looked away. "I don't think it'll be easy to forget that "comment" you said..."

"R-really, it's going to be easy later on," Tifa assured Lucario. "Look lively and let's go find Yuffie. I'm feeling much better than I was just now."

When they all looked to the west, they took a step back after finding the two most unlikely people to be walking about the village. The two characters didn't need introductions since they were not from the current world; rather they were people that the Smashers easily recognized...

The small group in front of the Smashers gasped and pointed fingers at them while Sonic, Chip, and Knuckles pointed at the new group as well, saying a loud "YOU!" to each other.

Tifa looked at the two newcomers before she got worried. "O-okay, now I'm getting worried again!" she complained.

"A-ha!" said one of the two characters to the Smashers. "So you're here at last! Aww, perfect, just what I thought!"

"Were you even thinking that?" asked the other character besides the first one.

"S-shut up, that's how a villain keeps their coolness," he muttered.

Lucario glared at the two. "What are you doing here of all places?"

"Well, we're here to find a little temple to DESTROY it from the inside!"

Fox crossed his arms. "And you're planning to do that while covering your back with that white mantle?" he asked with a glare.

The Smashers had found none other than Bowser and Wario. Both of them were apparently looking around to find the temple. However, there wasn't a clear explanation as to why Bowser covered his whole body (except the face) with a big white mantle.

Bowser shook his head in irritation. "Of course not, I'm planning to conquer something while looking good!"

Chip tilted his head to the left. "What do you mean by that? Are you wearing that so you can scare people by thinking you're a ghost?"

"NO!" Bowser yelled enraged before he sniffed sadly, causing Wario to roll his eyes. "I-it's just that...I-I'm currently going around...naked..."

Sonic looked a bit disgusted. "Were you even wearing some clothes?"

"That's what I can ask you as well, hedgehog!" Bowser yelled before he sniffed again. "I-I don't really want to fight with any of you right now. I'm not in the mood to raise fists and exhale fire by the moment..."

"And neither me!" Wario complained. "You gotta scram now or else we..."

"I already said I didn't want to fight like this..." Bowser muttered.

Wario sighed. "Oh yeah..."

Lucario looked confused before he used his aura to read the minds of the villains. The group watched as the Aura Pokémon's eyes glowed yellow while he was covered by his own aura. Tifa and Cid were the only ones who looked a bit astonished at this. It took around five seconds for Lucario to read their minds before he stopped glowing and opened his eyes. "...Yes, they're saying the truth about not fighting now," Lucario assured.

Wario glared at Lucario. "Of course we don't want to fight right now! We're right down pissed at the moment!"

"Pissed about what? You're pissed about not finding the temple?" Knuckles asked in demand.

"No!" Bowser yelled before sniffing. "W-we...we were both pilfered from our stuff..."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "You were both pilfered?"

"Yeah..." Bowser muttered in embarrassment. "A-and worse yet, we were tricked by a snotty girl no less..."

"Snotty girl?" Sonic repeated. "What kind of snotty girl?"

Wario crossed his arms and looked away. "Well, it won't hurt to tell you this, but when we were looking around for the temple, we stumbled into this perky girl with the big gauntlet just outside the town. She wanted to talk with us, but we told her to scram and leave us alone. And right after we knew it, we were both dropped on the ground because she shot us with sleeping darts on our rears."

Bowser sniffed. "A-and when we found out, after we woke up...we lost our stuff..." He cried toon tears. "T-that malevolent girl stole my shell!" he yelled.

"Aww, shut up, crybaby!" Wario complained. "That girl stole my MOTORBIKE as well!"

The King of the Koopas looked away. "B-but my shell! T-this has never happened before in my long years! W-why would someone steal somebody else's shield? T-that's really inhuman and so mean! Stealing a shell from the very same king of the Koopas... it is so p-preposterous! I call shenanigans here!"

The Smashers kept staring at the two.

Wario looked at them. "So yeah, we don't wanna have to make some trouble with you (even though I don't really want to start any fighting)."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "You sure you're telling the truth?"

"For the love of my mother, I DON'T fight NAKED!" Bowser complained. "I want to find that girl as soon as possible and beat her up for stealing my precious shell!"

"But then, if you're really going to fight her, then why did you say you wouldn't fight naked?" Chip asked.

"That's because..." Bowser trailed off in thought. "...S-shut it! I'll find a way to get back to her!"

"And me too!" Wario agreed. "That loser won't be riding my precious Stephanie on my watch." He pointed at them. "No messing around with me, okay?"

Lucario glared at the villains. "But if we stop both of you right here, we wouldn't have to worry about the Subspace trying to destroy the temple."

Tifa looked confused at the mention of a temple. "Temple?"

Cid nodded. "These guys are sayin' they're here because of some temple with that whole story about 'em travelin' from world to world and all that s*&^$# crap."

The fighter looked a bit shocked. "D-did I just hear right?"

Bowser shook his head. "You DO know that attacking two helpless guys like us is right down cruel, right? I mean, I'm FREAKING NAKED! I know for one thing that good guys can forgive their opponents for just once!"

"Helpless? You're a bit too big to be referred as helpless," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, big and naked," Bowser said. "L-look, I have trouble trying to go around in public with this stupid mantle I found on the trash. It's still too much for me to be like this, and you want to stop a naked guy like me who's looking around for his shell?"

Lucario shifted his eyes a bit. "...Well..."

"Face it! You don't even want to stop us!" Bowser said. "You rather be clean and fight a clean fight, aren't you? Are you like the kind of idiots who believe that they need to have a fair fight? Well, guess what, wait until I'm dressed for the occasion at least!" he ranted.

The Aura Pokémon remained silent before he nodded.

"See? You guys should follow the dog's example!" Wario ranted.

Bowser sighed mentally. "(Bleh, thinking like good guys can damage your evil mind... Good think he bought that, though. I don't want to stay like this any longer...)"

Just at that moment, a tourist kid passed by and looked at Bowser before his mouth opened wide. "Cool!" he said before he took a photo of the King of the Koopas. The kid then ran away from the direction he came from, yelling "Mom! Mom! I got a picture of a real dragon of Wutai! There was this mini-sumo guy with him as well!"

Bowser grumbled some curses to himself. "And wearing this stupid mantle makes anyone in here believe I'm some sort of festival dragon..." He glared at the Smashers. "You guys better stay out of our way! Step in our way once we get our stuff back!"

"Yeah!" Wario agreed. "No girl is gonna go around in Stephanie!"

Chip tapped Sonic's right shoulder. "He's been saying this and that about somebody named Stephanie. Who is she?"

Sonic shrugged. "I think he's talking about his motorbike..."

"And also," Wario continued as he showed them his bare hair, "she stole my cool helmet!"

"I personally think you look nice without it," Chip commented, making the Smashers frown in disbelief.

"You don't know any fashion, so shut your trap!" Wario complained before he grunted and walked away.

Bowser looked pissed at them. "If you have a camera, DON'T take a picture of me with this piece of cloth on my back, you got that clear?" he asked annoyed before he walked away, tugging hardly to the mantle he was using to cover his whole body.

The Smashers watched as the two villains disappeared from sight between the crowds of people. However, just after they weren't visible, many cheers from tourist children came from the same direction, and many flashes from cameras were reflected in some of the shadows of the alleys, depicting an annoyed Bowser.

"...I think we should've stopped them," Fox muttered.

Lucario shook his head. "I don't really want to fight dirty. I don't want to be reduced to their ranks."

"Then again, I think I can agree with you there."

Tifa kept staring at the flashes and listening to the loud roars from the King of the Koopas before she shook her head. "Do any of you know those two?" she asked, making the group turn at her and Cid. "The guy who always kept showing his teeth looked a bit shady for my tastes..."

"Well, we unfortunately know them," Fox said. "They're part of the Subspace Army."

"Subspace...what?" Tifa repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Knuckles recalled that Tifa hadn't heard the story about their reasons to be in there. "Wait, we haven't explained you about our reasons to be here, have we?"

"What is that about your reasons to be here?" she asked confused.

Cid blew some smoke out from his mouth. "Prepare to hear some funny s*&^, woman."

Ten minutes later...

After being informed about everything, the fighter stared wide-eyed at the furry group. Surprisingly enough, what they said made a lot of sense to Tifa since she didn't see anyone who looked like them to be living in the world.

However, the very same fact made her stomach twist a bit in pain. The people before her were actually coming from other worlds, there was even a world traveling army trying to take over those very same worlds, and her world was probably one of those different realms.

"...So then...you guys aren't from here?" Tifa asked.

"We're not from here," Knuckles said. "Each one of us comes from different worlds, but we're all together in a team to stop that army from trying to take over all the worlds out there, including this one...maybe."

"..." Tifa's eyes became a bit restless. "Oh my god... I...I can barely believe all this is happening..."

Cid stifled a chuckle. "Oh please, these s&^*&%ds ain't telling the truth. They just wanna hide the fact they're all from that damn Shinra."

Sonic tilted his head. "What?"

"Yeah! You guys escaped from Shinra 'cuz they were runnin' crazy experiments on ya," Cid said. "That's the closest thing I can think of!"

Tifa rubbed her chin. "I think you have a point with that..."

Fox slapped his forehead. "We're NOT from this world, dammit!" he cursed, having enough to tell the same thing repeatedly. "We don't even know what Shinra is as well!"

"They brainwashed you, surely," Cid theorized.

"They didn't even do a thing to our brains!" Knuckles complained.

Chip looked up in curiosity. "Weird, I thought they made me so awesome through freaky experiments because that would explain how my sweat can cure cancer."

The Smashers glared instantly at the imp. "Chip...you should SERIOUSLY shut up for once..." Sonic muttered.

Cid laughed. "Jus' tell us you're failed Shinra experiments! There's no harm in saying it!"

"We're not going to say that because we don't even belong to this world!" Knuckles ranted.

Seeing that conversation wasn't going anywhere, Tifa looked away and took out her PHS to call Cloud, trying to find a way to escape from all the craziness (and possible nonsense that was damaging her beliefs about the Smashers) as soon as she could. She unconsciously walked into the item shop where she walked around the establishment. "U-um, Cloud? Can you listen to me? A-are you there, Cloud?"

Residential Area

Back with the group of the blond teen, Cloud's pocket began to shake a bit. The mercenary took out his PHS and answered the call. "Hey there, Tifa," he said. "Did you find anything about Yuffie?"

"Not yet, but...there are some issues with us right now," Tifa said.

"What kind of issues are those?" Cloud asked, telling the group to stop walking to the east.

"Well, you see, remember those guys you told me that were going to stay with us?"

"Yeah, I remember them. What about them?"

"Y-you see, there's an argument outside the item shop where they're saying crazy stuff about them being from another world, and Cid is laughing and coming up with his theories about them being from here because they were failed Shinra experiments who escaped..."

"...I see..."

"I-I know what you're thinking, but it's the whole truth," Tifa reassured. "And I'm having a hard time trying to understand all of this, but..."

"It's been the same story with me," Cloud said as he eyed the Smashers. "However, judging by the situation, I think they're actually telling the truth."

"W-what? You trust them?"

"Not trust them, but believe them, at least," Cloud said. "I haven't heard or seen any of those people in any part of the world. The craziest, yet believable fact would be that they do come from another world... Besides, they saw the Turks at the pub. They didn't seem to be interested on them. Even Reno didn't even stare at them for a long time."

Chris (still carrying the unconscious Marth with Mario) sighed. "Please, just believe in us when we're saying we're not from around these parts..."

Cloud ignored the teen. "Don't worry, Tifa. They don't seem to be that weird despite the fact they might be from other worlds..."

Item Shop

Tifa stopped walking in front of a small treasure chest on the floor. She looked down at it and ducked down to open it. Seeing as it was close to the trashcan, Tifa thought it wouldn't cause any harm to take its contents. She kept talking through the phone while she slowly opened the chest. "Okay, I'll believe you, Cloud," she said before she opened the treasure chest. "I'm going to have to ignore Cid because he sure looks like he's having a fun time annoying the heck out of them."

"Please do," Cloud said over the phone. "Just focus on finding Yuffie and let us know if you do."

Tifa looked inside the chest and smiled a bit. "Hey, Cloud, guess what I found in an abandoned treasure chest in the item shop!"

"What did you find?"

Tifa stood up and looked down on her right palm a small green sphere with a shiny glow that she had found in the box. "I found Materia in it!" she exclaimed. "And it's ours to take for now!"

"Oh, that's good to hear," Cloud said. "Maybe we should try to rely on that little piece of Materia for now."

Tifa chuckled at this as she looked away to the left from her right palm. "I think I did a pretty nice job in coming in here, huh?" she asked in amusement.

The fighter, as she kept looking away, didn't notice that a hand was slowly reaching after the little piece of Materia.

"So, have you found anything about Yuffie?" Tifa asked, not thinking about looking to any other way.

"Afraid not," Cloud said. "We're still lookin' around for her in our location. So far, we've been unsuccessful."

"That's a real shame," Tifa said worried. "But we're not going to leave from here, are we?"

"No," Cloud replied. "If it takes all night, we'll have to rest by the chief's mansion. He told us we could sleep in there as much as we want."

"Nice," Tifa said.

The hand finally grabbed the sphere of Materia from Tifa's palm. It began to retreat to the same way it came from.

Tifa sighed. "Well, I think it's about time I go back to the others," she said before turning back to the exit's direction. "I'm going to have to hang up on…"

The fighter looked directly at the person holding the Materia Tifa had just acquired. Tifa's eyes widened after she found none other than Yuffie standing besides her. The ninja made no talk, but she gave Tifa a wide smile while showing her teeth with a chuckle.

Residential Area

Final Fantasy VII – Hurry!

Cloud could have sworn that he heard a chuckle coming from the other end of the line. "Tifa, did you just chuckle?" Cloud asked.

"OH MY GOD!" blared the phone loudly enough to make Cloud's right ear twitch. "I-I FOUND YUFFIE! S-she's standing right in front of me!"

The blond mercenary gritted his teeth from the sudden screech before he pulled back the phone to his ear. "W-what did you just say?" Cloud asked, still twitching.

"Yuffie's right in front of me!" Tifa yelled. "A-and she just stole my Materia an-wait, Yuffie, come back here!" she yelled before the call suddenly hung up.

"Tifa? Tifa? Tifa!" Cloud yelled to the phone without having any success of getting a reply. He hung up the call and frowned. "Damn…"

"What happened?" Samus asked.

"It's Tifa's group, they found Yuffie and they're chasing her, probably…" Cloud trailed off.

Chris dropped Marth's fainted self on the ground in shock. "W-we have to get to her! I need my console so badly!"

Cloud looked to the east. "Tifa told me they were close to the item shop of the village… Let's go there, quick!" he ordered before sprinting east.

Snake grumbled. "I hope we make it there in time before she gets away again," he muttered under his breath.

They all followed Cloud's lead (while Mario was left behind to drag Marth's body all by himself), leaving behind the residential area. Unaware of all this, some figures (around four) were spying on them from an alley. They seemed to be fixing their gazes at the bounty hunter of the group.

"Don Corneo, sir," one of them began, "we've found one gorgeous woman for you."

The figures slowly retreated from their spots.

Item Shop

The Smashers kept arguing against the laughing Cid before a familiar person ran in between them and stopped right in front of a sign in front of the river that cross the entire village. Yuffie chuckled happily, as she held the little piece of Materia on her right hand. "Hey, everybody!" she said, getting the attention of everyone. "The great ninja Yuffie has done it once again today!"

"Y-you!" Knuckles yelled before pointing his right fist at her. "Give us back our stuff before we force you!"

Tifa ran out from the item shop and looked at Yuffie. "Y-Yuffie, please, we need that Materia! Give it all back to us!"

Yuffie shook her head. "No! I can't just do that simply! I need all this to recover Wutai's lost honor and glory as the proud nation it was!" She pointed behind to the sign to make them look at it. "See this sign behind me? It's this kind of sign that bothers me a lot!"

The sign behind her had a cartoon version of the mythical snake running around the border. Between the snake's long body, there was a message that read "Coming Soon: Wutai Water Glory Ride! Amaze yourself of the culture of Wutai by riding a boat! Entry Fee for Adults: 1000 Gil. Entry Fee for Children: 500 Gil. Caution: No Food Allowed During The Rides. A Clean Wutai is A Happy Wutai."

"See?" Yuffie said annoyed. "I better change this soon before it's too late!"

Fox pointed at her. "We don't want our stuff sold to strangers, you know. Give it all back now!" he demanded. "Do you think I'm going to be walking around with these stupid shoes?"

Yuffie looked at the vulpine's wooden shoes. "Hey, those geta are made here! Don't insult Wutai's fashion!" she complained.

Sonic grunted annoyed. "You know what? That's it!" he yelled. "That girl's not gonna fool us this time around. I'll catch here right on the spot!"

The ninja gasped as the group slowly walked towards her. Yuffie was a bit desperate at the time, and she didn't know what to do next. Out of desperation, she took out from behind the Superspicy Curry she had stolen earlier. "O-oh man, what do I do now?" Yuffie asked as she stared at the dish. "I don't know if I have more smoke balls with me!"

Lucario grunted at Yuffie. "You're going to pay for stealing from Chris. I already know your aura very well, and that means it won't be so easy to hide from us anymore."

Yuffie looked confused. "My aura what again?"

Knuckles grinned at this. "Now you're going to hand over our stuff without having to go into hiding ever again."

Chip pumped up a fist. "One more victory for Chip Norris and his gang has been achieved today!"

Yuffie shook her head, oblivious of many things. "Y-you're not going to get anything from me! It's my job to save Wutai!"

"But it's our job to get back our stuff from you, thief," Fox said.

Sonic grinned at Yuffie. "Now stay there and let me catch ya! GO!"

Yuffie looked forward to see that Lucario and Sonic were charging at her at nimble speed. The ninja gasped at this sudden action before she turned around and accidentally tripped, throwing her hands behind her, all of this happening in a second.

Unfortunately, by the time she tripped down, she was still carrying the spicy dish, and the same mentioned dish's contents were scattered all over the air, leaving traces of flames behind. Lucario and Sonic, since both were running at blinding speed towards her without seeing the pieces, couldn't react in time to stop running right towards the bits of food, and the ending result…was extremely painful.

The small pieces of rice didn't exactly burn them. It was much worse than that.

The small pieces of rice…ended up landing straight all over their eyes, causing them to stop their mad dash as their eyes quickly were reddened to the point they looked like they were crying blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sonic yelled in extreme pain as he covered his eyes with his hands before he fell on the floor and twitched a lot uncontrollably.

"GUUUUUUAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Lucario yelled in the same manner before he covered his eyes and dropped down on his knees.

Chip gasped. "Goodness gracious! They became blind with pain of the power of the super curry of death!"

Knuckles looked annoyed at him. "Would you shut up with those comments?"

Fox shook his head. "I didn't think something like this would actually happen…"

The group watched as the two twitched a lot on the floor. Yuffie looked up from the ground before she turned around and found the two yelling in pain for the super spicy food spilled over their eyes. "W-what did just…" she muttered under her breath before she shook her head. "Who cares, honestly? I need to get away from here ASAP!"

The ninja got back up to her feet and quickly jumped over the sign into the river where she dove in to stay out of sight.

Cid kept watching the two screamers before he noticed that Yuffie had escaped from the scene. "Hey, where'd that girl go?" he asked. "HEY, SHE ESCAPED! THE F*&^%$ UP B*&^$ ESCAPED!"

Tifa gasped after seeing that Yuffie wasn't there anymore. "O-oh, rats! She escaped with the Materia I had found a moment earlier!" she cursed.

Music stops

At that moment, Cloud's group came running from the west (with Mario dragging Marth along some pebbles). The group stopped running when they saw Lucario and Sonic trying to resist the intense burning pain on their eyes. "O-oh my god, what happened here?" Chris asked before he looked down to the ground where the Superspicy Curry plate was empty of its contents. "Is that the Superspicy Curry on the ground?"

"C-Chris? I-is that you?" Lucario asked as he grunted in extreme pain.

The World Traveler saw the red patch spilled all over around Lucario's eyes. "L-Lucario!" Chris yelled before he ducked down to see him. "What happened to you? Why are you covering your eyes?"

"T-that ninja girl tossed that plate at us!" Sonic yelled as he tried to resist the pain. "We got it served straight to our eyes!"

Chris looked shocked. "A-and you got the whole plate?"

"Yeah!" Sonic yelled. "It hurts like I'm dying or something!" he complained.

Lucario showed his fangs in rage as he tried to sustain the pain in his eyes. Chris got a bit panicked at this that he tried to calm Lucario down by getting some water from the river to rub it on his face.

Tifa bowed to Cloud. "I-I'm so sorry, Cloud!" she apologized. "I should've looked another way so Yuffie wouldn't have to steal the Materia and provoke all this!"

Cloud sighed. "It couldn't be avoided, I guess," he said. "Too bad we got another Materia stolen as well."

"Grrrrrrr!" Lucario grunted in pain, gritting hard his fangs as Chris tried to find a way to help him.

The World Traveler grabbed his own head. "W-what am I supposed to do?" he asked in a panic.

Unaware, Chris didn't notice that Aerith had ducked down to rub the Aura Pokémon's head. For some reason, Lucario's grunts began to calm down as Aerith rubbed his head with care. Eventually, Lucario ended his grunts of pain, but his eyes were tightly closed as pain kept running through them.

"There, there," Aerith said. "There's nothing to grunt for anymore."

"…But…" Lucario muttered. "I-I can't seem to resist all this…"

"You have to hang in there," Aerith said. "The pain will go away in a few minutes."

"B-but it was super spicy curry that got spilled on my eyes…"

"…Then I guess it's going to take even longer…" Aerith muttered worried.

Lucario looked down, his eyes still tightly shut. "I…hate this…Chris…"

Chris looked worried at his Pokémon. "…Can you resist, though? Try to resist, Lucario... Can you do that?"

"…I'll try…if you say so…" Lucario muttered.

Snake shook his head. "What a way to get screwed over," he commented. "Our items backfired on us."

"That was really unlucky," Samus said. "Now we'll have to search all over again for her. Where did she go? Does anybody know where she ran off to?"

Cid thought for a moment. "I-"

"She dove right into the river!" Knuckles yelled before he ran to the edge of the river to see if there traces of Yuffie. The echidna inspected the surroundings, but there wasn't her shadow being shown anywhere. Knuckles grunted at this and looked away. "Damn, she fled already!"

Cid muttered some curses under his breath. "Well, ain't that good? We were jus' 'bout to get her, and then she jumps away while we see these two gettin' their eyes f*&%#$ up."

"I-I heard that!" Sonic yelled on the floor. "It's sapping into my brain!"

Cloud sighed. "Well, we're all back on square one..."

"Wait," Fox began, "Lucario said he identified her aura. He can sense the auras of people with ease."

The blond mercenary looked a bit confused. "Sense auras? He can do that?"

"Yeah, he ca-"

"I-I'm afraid to say I can't sense auras for now..." Lucario interrupted.

Chris looked worried. "W-what? Did you lose your ability to sense auras again?"

"N-no, it's because the pain in my eyes isn't letting me concentrate long enough to even sense a single aura close to me," Lucario explained. "W-while I'm like this, I just can't seem to concentrate very well as I did a few minutes ago..."

Knuckles frowned at this. "Oh, great, our only easy chance to get that brat just got screwed over as well."

"I-I'm sorry, Chris. I didn't want to make you feel sorry for me..." Lucario apologized.

"I-it's okay, Lucario," Chris said. "You couldn't avoid this, anyway..."

"I was able to if I wasn't focused on her..."

"Please, don't say that..."

Cloud cleared his throat to get the attention of everyone present. "Alright, listen up," he said. "We still have time to look for Yuffie more. Unfortunately, we'll have to perform another search before evening comes by. If nobody finds Yuffie by evening, then let us all agree in meeting up at the Kisaragi Mansion located to the west of the village. The village chief agreed to let us rest in there, but he doesn't want us to be here for so long."

"We rather look around more, huh?" Snake asked.

"That's the idea," Cloud said. "The more time we waste, the more chances Yuffie will get further ahead from us. It's vital to keep looking for her."

Mario scratched his head a bit. "I hope we don't run into any kind of accidents like Lucario and Sonic did."

Chris looked away. "We didn't have any more curry dishes with us, don't worry..."

"Ha, ha, see how I'm laughing," Sonic joked, as he was able to stand up on his feet, his eyes tightly shut as Lucario's eyes. "Too bad I can't even see me laugh!" he complained, followed by a grunt.

"...Um..." Chris muttered, "...there's a problem right now."

"What problem?" Cloud asked before he remembered that Lucario and Sonic were blind now. "Oh, yes..."

"Yes..." Chris said. "I presume they don't even know where they're facing anymore."

"That's right," Lucario said, still resisting the pain on his eyes. "I can't even focus long enough to tell where I'm going with this pain... I could walk anywhere, but this is just too much to bear..."

"Same here, but thing is I can't resist that much as you do!" Sonic complained. "I don't wanna run straight into a wall as well! Somebody will have to be my eyes!"

Chip pumped up a fist before he flew close to Sonic. "I know how to solve your issue, Sonic."

"Oh please, no!" Sonic pleaded.

"Ehem," Chip cleared his throat. "Sonic, I command you to follow my lead without going to another way. You shall NOT go anywhere else besides staying behind my back. That way, you won't run into anything."

"What's making you think that I'll actually listen to you this ti-" Sonic stopped talking once his feet were forced to walk all the way behind Chip. The hedgehog's feet then came to a stop before he grunted and crossed his arms. "Oh, sweet, now Chip's going to tell me when to eat my dinner."

"Hmm, that'll be pretty nice," Chip said. "Chip Norris could eventually pass on his teachings to you."

"NOT ON THIS LIFE," Sonic replied in annoyance.

Cloud was asking himself what made the hedgehog do what he didn't want to do. The blond mercenary shook his head, shrugging off the puzzling thought. "Okay, I don't know what happened or made you listen to the funny-looking imp, but I don't care much either way."

"Hurray, somebody who doesn't care about the collar," Sonic said.

Take in mind it was actually taken as an honest compliment from the hedgehog.

Cloud looked at Lucario. "We have him blind, though."

Chris sighed. "By all means, I'll have to grab his hand and drag him around the village..." He turned around and saw that Aerith had grabbed Lucario's right hand. "...Um..."

Lucario smiled a bit. "Thank you, Chris. I really appreciate it."

The World Traveler was about to say a word since Lucario was oblivious of the fact that Aerith was already holding his hand. Before Chris could even say a "but", Aerith put a finger in front of her lips as a sign for Chris to follow the flow of what Lucario was thinking. "Y-yes, I'm your trainer after all," Chris said. "Now you won't run into walls."

"I just hope nobody laughs at us," Lucario said. "I won't be able to defend you because I can't see... Why am I thinking your hand is so soft?"

Aerith did a great job in avoiding the chuckle she wanted to mutter. Chris chuckled nervously at this. "W-well, how can you tell? It's not like you know how my hands feel like. If you did...that would be sick..."

"..." Lucario shrugged. "I guess you're very right on that part... Sorry."

"N-no, it's okay," Chris said, Aerith smiling and nodding at him.

Cloud ignored what Aerith was doing with Lucario. "I guess that resolves our problems with our blind members," he said. "With that away, we'll split ways from here with our current groups."

Chris pointed at Aerith holding Lucario's hand.

"...Well, with just a few changes," Cloud said. "The dog will have to follow my group."

"Of course I'll have to go with you this time," Lucario said, trying his best to avoid a smile to indicate how happy he was about the idea. "I mean, Chris is the one guiding me, isn't he?"

Aerith made a happy expression. Chris sweat dropped at this. "(I want to say no, but she looks...so...so happy... I-I don't want to say no to her! In some days, s-she will... I-I don't want to think about that gruesome fate she has in reserve in the near future!) Yes, I'm the one guiding you," Chris said simply, whimpering a bit in his mind.

"True enough," Lucario said.

Tifa frowned after thinking about Yuffie. "Do we honestly stand a chance against Yuffie? She's one nimble person, Cloud. If we do find her, there's a big possibility that she'll end up pulling a trick on us so she can escape."

Cloud shook his head. "We don't need to think about the bad stuff right now," he said. "If we find Yuffie, we'll have to do our best to corner her to a spot where she won't run away."

Cid coughed a bit. "You got a plan?"

"No, but we'll think of something," Cloud said. "Let's resume our search so we can finish this whole matter before evening comes around."

Snake furrowed his brow a bit. "I want to get done with this whole nonsense as soon as possible. We have other things to do besides hanging around with all of you."

"How ironic, we think the same things," Cloud commented. "Okay, let's all separate and look for Yuffie. Meet up at the Kisaragi Mansion west of the village to rest if nobody ends up finding her."

At that moment, Marth woke up from his induced sleep. The Altean groaned a bit as he lifted up his head. "O-oww... Why do I have this headache now? I could've sworn that girl pinched me with another sleeping dart..." He noticed that everyone was looking at him. "Did I...miss anything important?" he asked.

Mario looked away. "Sorry for dragging your head all the way here..." he muttered.

As Cloud sighed in boredom, the group didn't notice that there was a blond Turk spying on them from the right side wall of the item shop. Elena peeked to see all of the fourteen people. "There they are," she muttered. "I need to keep tabs on them without getting any interruptions now. There's no room for error this time around."

Samus rubbed her forehead a bit. "I won't let her run away this time. I'll use my Plasma Whip to seize her before she escapes again."

There was something wrong once Samus tried to look for her mentioned gun-whip.

"..." She looked bored at them. "...She also stole my Plasma Whip, didn't she..." she trailed off a bit pissed.

Fox frowned. "Well, she may as well steal everything from us. We were all completely scrapped to the last bit of equipment."

"At least she didn't think about pilfering our equipment besides Materia," Tifa said. "We wouldn't have survived in the open otherwise."

Cloud crossed his arms. "Let's all start right now. Hopefully, nothing will try to stop us from capturing Yuffie. I'm very certain that we're all going to corner her very soon."

Cid nodded. "About time we started this show," he said. "Let's get her!"

Cloud nodded. "If you feel like separating from the group to find her, that would increase the odds of finding her," he said. "Okay, guys, let's do this now."

Donkey Konga - Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)

Once they all went to different ways, the start of a long chain of events that would pit them against just a person began. It was all about fourteen people trying to seize and happy-go-lucky ninja of the village. Elena pushed herself against the wall to see everyone going to different ways. The Turk made a serious expression and decided to follow Cloud's group, carefully walking as far away from them to avoid being spotted.

Streets

Once they had walked several feet away from their spot, they found Yuffie looking to several small statues on a pedestal of a building. Marth yelled her name, and the ninja got startled by this that she ran away into the crowd to lose them. They all lost sight of her, and Cloud decided to choose the option to let everyone go their ways to find her. They all dispersed around, making Elena get undecided about who should she follow.

Cid had luck since he was able to see Yuffie running into some rows of trees by jumping over some bushes. The old man grinned to himself and ran after her. Unfortunately, upon crossing over the bushes, Cid eventually fell into a deep hole of thirty feet of depth. Yuffie walked close to the hole and chuckle down at the blond man, prompting him to curse her for almost everything (since he seemed to have broken a leg in the whole process). The ninja merely folded her arms behind her back and walked away from the spot.

In another part of the village, Chris confusingly looked around for any traces of the ninja. Upon looking to a building where people came out wearing kimonos, he saw that all the girls were covering their faces with fans. With a closer look, one of them seemed to be wearing a huge pauldron. The World Traveler shouted a "You!" and was able to find Yuffie. The ninja gasped at this that she grabbed the hem of her clothes and ran away into the crowd. The dragoon gave chase to her, but just as he was crossing over an intersection, a whole crowd of tourists appeared from the right and accidentally captured him by taking him away. Chris yelled in annoyance as he was dragged away with all the tourists while Yuffie watched all this from an alley. She giggled a bit and walked away.

Bridge

Aerith and Lucario were walking over a wide bridge. The Aura Pokémon was still thinking that Chris was the one guiding him around the village. Once Aerith looked down on the water, she saw that there was someone riding a small boat. That person turned out to be Yuffie. The ninja looked up to see the two characters before waving a hand at them as she entered underneath the bridge. Aerith smiled and waved her hand at her, but then she remembered what she was doing. The flower girl ran all around the bridge to reach the edge of the river and try to meet up with her. Once the boat came out, the "sailor" wasn't there anymore. Aerith looked confused at this, not noticing that Yuffie was hiding underneath the drifting boat. The flower girl looked back to the bridge where she had forgotten about Lucario, who was now being used as tourist attraction since there were families taking photos with him. Aerith blinked at this before she gasped and went to get the blind aura user to take him away from the public.

Streets

Close to the pub, Marth was doing a mad dash through the crowds of people after he located Yuffie. The ninja was now running from the serious Altean. Yuffie looked around to lose Marth until she found an alley where she ran into. Marth knew Yuffie had gone into the alley, and he then ran into it. However, upon stepping inside the alley, the Altean saw pure darkness before dozens of glowing eyes opened up (apparently from cats), seemingly glaring at him. Marth got confused at this since he knew there wasn't any real reason for the cats to grow upset with him. Yuffie should have received the same gazes, but all was answered once Marth looked to his right shoulder to spot a fish being held by a string from the rooftops. The Altean looked up to see where it came from, but he was then attacked by rabid cats that not only pushed the fish from the string, but piled up on him as well. A chuckling Yuffie, meanwhile, watched the entire scene from the roof where she held the string before she turned around and jumped away, ignoring the Japanese curses of the Altean.

Pub "Turtle's Paradise"

A suspicious Snake entered the pub to see if Yuffie was there. Once he looked to the table where Reno and (the fainted) Rude were, the red-haired Turk glanced at the mercenary. Reno rolled his eyes and merely pointed down of the table where Yuffie was crouching down below it. The ninja gasped after she saw the mercenary charging towards her. Suddenly, she flipped over the tile under the table, and she disappeared from sight. Snake muttered a remark before Cloud appeared from behind him. Suddenly, the tile under Cloud flipped over, and it took him down. Snake then was pulled into the floor's tile as it flipped over on his feet. The same tile then flipped over, and Yuffie appeared with a pleased expression before she ran away from the pub. A slash cut the tile in half where Cloud got in and said blond mercenary crawled up and then ran away outside, followed by a sighing Snake, who cursed some words.

Around that time, Reno saw that Elena carefully followed the two. The red-haired Turk grumbled annoyed before he drank more wine while Rude muttered some words on the table; something about proposing to a certain fighter his undying love for her.

Streets

A parade was being held in some streets of the village. People were throwing and tossing confetti around while the nimble ninja ran between the rows of public. This time, Bowser and Wario had spotted the girl, demanding loudly to get their items back from her. As soon as Yuffie decided to cross over to the other side of the street by running underneath a long dragon figure with a long body, being carried by several Wutai natives, the two ran underneath of it, but they were stuck in the dragon's fake insides since the natives lowered down the dragon to make it look like it was sliding over the ground. The two villains yelled in annoyance as they were taken away into the parade.

Rooftops

Above the rooftops, Yuffie was now jumping from roof to roof as she tried to escape from an angry Knuckles and Chip. The ninja easily crossed over the gaps, but so did the other two. Seeing that they have been leaping from place to place for a long time, Yuffie decided to jump into a gap to go into hiding. Knuckles had seen this, and he went to follow her. Unfortunately, as soon as he jumped into the gap, he fell right into a trashcan on the lower floor. Chip gasped and then dove into the trash to go after Knuckles, but the trashcan was covered by its top by a happy Yuffie, who then lied the trashcan down and kicked it down a steep hill. The echidna cursed loudly, swearing to punch her so badly, while Chip merely shouted; shouting that Chip Norris could handle the situation very well and that nobody should worry about him, much to the echidna's annoyance.

Since Sonic was supposed to follow Chip, the hedgehog...was nowhere to be found. Back on the rooftops, Sonic had tripped along the chase, falling down where he hung on a rope where he was entangled with clothes wrapped on his whole body. The hedgehog yelled annoyed, wishing to see the light of day as soon as possible.

Residential Area

Yuffie was running along the several buildings as Samus gave chase after he. The bounty hunter was very determined in recovering all her stolen weaponry from the ninja. By this time, Yuffie was getting tired of running all day. The ninja was thinking about resting, but first she needed to get rid of Samus or else she would be captured. Thinking quickly, the ninja turned around a corner. Samus followed her, and she did the same thing. Upon turning around the corner of the building, the bounty hunter didn't find the ninja anywhere. She looked around the trees of the place, but there weren't any traces of the ninja. The bounty hunter decided to run away and search elsewhere, not noticing that Yuffie pressed herself against a tree's bark with a camouflage sheet of paper of the same color. The ninja sighed in relief and ran away to another direction.

Close to the same place, the figures that had taken sight of Samus focused on Yuffie as well. They seemed that they were reporting something to their boss regarding the two girls.

Just then, Elena came on the spot, and she looked around to see where they went. Cursing under her breath, she took a sharp turn and ran away to look around in a different area.

The figures then took an interest on the blond Turk before they left by walking through the alleys.

Due to exhaustion, Yuffie had to hide in an alley with a dead end. She was getting awfully tired by this time. Sighing, she looked forward before gasping at the sight of the Star Fox leader glaring at her. Yuffie began to back away from Fox, who looked very pissed at her. When Yuffie was forced to back away to the wall of the alley, she gulped in fear. Her options of escaping were running out, and she had to think of a way to escape before Fox could get his hands on her. Yuffie gulped once Fox was just ten feet away from her. Thinking quickly with some hesitation, she closed her eyes and hoped that two of her fingers would strike Fox's eyes dead on. The vulpine was too busy staring at her that the fingers hit his pupils hard enough to make him yell in pain. Yuffie gasped as Fox backed away and fell on his rear, gritting his fangs in pain while he covered his eyes with his hands. The ninja then hopped over him and escaped, ignoring the harsh words that the Star Fox leader yelled at her.

And finally, the last ones, Mario and Tifa, were the only ones who were left from being tricked by the ninja. The two were chasing after the ninja, and it looked like Yuffie's legs were starting to tire her out due to the fact she was panting heavily. She was barely able to catch her breath, and her speed started to slow down. Yuffie was determined in losing every single one of her chasers to accomplish what she wanted to do with their stuff. Unfortunately, her energies said otherwise. The red plumber and the fighter saw their opportunity to catch the ninja as they were closing in on her by twenty feet of distance. Once they were about to reach her...

Yuffie turned to look and laugh at them. Apparently, it was all a trick. She had enough energy, but she was playing around with everyone. Mario and Tifa gasped as Yuffie took out a smoke ball (that she had stolen from a shop prior the chase) and slammed it down on the ground, creating a thick cloud of smoke that forced the chasers to stop and cough. Meanwhile, the laughing Yuffie ran out from it and headed towards the east with a triumphant look on her face. Closing her eyes, the ninja began to think about what she was going to do next with the stuff and Materia she had stolen from both groups. She ran out from the crowds of people.

Music stops

The moment she closed her eyes was her biggest mistake in the whole day.

After she ran several feet away from the cloud of smoke, Yuffie was suddenly pushed down to the ground by a quick figure of about 3'9" of height that leaped on her and pinned her down hard. The ninja grunted in pain before she opened her eyes and saw a menacing glare staring down at her face, prompting her to yell in fear. "GAH! M-M-MONSTER!" she yelped as the figure showed its fangs at her, revealing to be a feral animal.

At that moment, Cloud and Snake came running from the south. They stopped running once they saw that someone had pinned Yuffie down to the ground. Cloud looked at the figure, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you," Cloud said. "Good timing."

Snake raised an eyebrow at Cloud. "So, I suppose you know this...animal, right?"

"...Animal? Why would you address me with such an offensive title like that?"

The ex-FOXHOUND looked back at the figure. He could have sworn that the animal just spoke to him in clean English. From what he could tell, the figure looked like an animal of some sort of lion or feline appearance. The figure was a quadrupedal animal with thick dark red and orange fur with a thin brown mane extending partway down its back. Its right eye had a scar running through it, and the remaining eye was ochre in color. The animal was otherwise adorned with a variety of beads, earrings and feathers around its head, with golden pastern braces and brands on its legs. The most singular feature that the animal had was a tail with a flame on its tip.

"..." Snake looked a Cloud. "Maybe I didn't hear right, but did the cat on top of the girl just spoke to me?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, you did hear right," he said.

The mercenary stared at the blond mercenary in some silence. The simplicity of the reply made Snake think that there wasn't anything wrong with the animal before them.

"Are you done staring at each other in silence or what?"

Now Snake did listen well. Those words did come out from the quadrupedal animal. The ex-FOXHOUND looked at the lion-like character. "...Hmm, so you know how to talk like humans do, don't you?"

The lion nodded. "Of course I can do that. It's a very easy thing to do for my species," he said. "I dislike when people don't know about my family, but I can't do anything to change that fact."

Snake stared at the talking lion. The mercenary had already met other creatures in the whole ordeal against the Subspace Army, so why get an impression for another one? "I'm sorry if I didn't hear the news about you."

Cloud looked at Snake. "I wouldn't say those things around him if I were you," he said. "He dislikes hearing that."

The lion looked away. "Cloud, please don't waste any more words with him. It's clear he doesn't have an interest in people like me."

"Not like I said I had one," Snake muttered.

Cloud frowned and looked back at the lion on top of the annoyed Yuffie. "Anyway, the guy on top of Yuffie is named Red XIII, Snake," he said, introducing the animal. "Or you can call him Nanaki if you want. Each one doesn't really matter to him."

Red XIII is a lion-like character from an unidentified species of animals. He has a strong sense of honor and courage, especially regarding his father, who he believed was a coward who abandoned his tribe. Red XIII is polite, curious and observant, with something of distaste for humans, which may stem from Shinra's treatment of him as they kidnapped him to run experiments on him (particularly forcing him to breed with Aerith (because she is the last one of her kind to have strong connections with the Planet, and having more like Aerith would prompt Shinra to make constant experiments on her successors), since his species are known to have a long lifespan). He is highly intelligent, as should be indicated by his ability to speak articulately, and he knows much about the world due to his being raised at Cosmo Canyon (his native home where most people can study the ways the Planet behaves). However, he can still be feral and bestial when called upon. "Red XIII" is not his real name but a codename given to him by Shinra. His actual name is Nanaki.

The lion named Red XIII looked away. "Pleased to meet you, Snake," he said. "As Cloud has said before, it doesn't matter which name you want to call me. Either one is fine."

Red XIII temporarily joined your team!

"(I can tell from his tone of voice that he's not that pleased,)" Snake thought. "Same here," he muttered.

Yuffie struggled to push the lion away from her. "U-ugh, you stupid idiot!" Yuffie cursed. "L-let go of me right now, you red moron!"

Red XIII glared down at her. "After you stole all our Materia from our hands?"

The ninja grunted before groaning aloud. "Okay, okay! I get it already, sheesh!" she complained.

Cloud decided that it was about time to call everyone to meet at the spot. The blond mercenary began to call everyone through his PHS. Unfortunately, only two of his group had said phones; fortunately, the Smashers found their way back to them.

A time passed, and everyone had gathered. Most of them had evidence about what they went through because of Yuffie (such as Knuckles and Chip having a stinky smell, and Cid using a crutch for his right leg).

Tifa sighed in relief. "Finally! We got to catch her at last!" she said.

Red XIII was still on top of the struggling ninja. The lion didn't want to move anywhere else as he kept a perfect position to prevent Yuffie from running away. The talking animal looked at the new assets of Cloud's group. "It seems you've gathered a bunch of new people, right, Cloud?" he asked.

"Yeah," Cloud said. "At first, I didn't want them to come along, but they insisted because Yuffie had stolen their things to sell them for money to get more Materia."

"I thought as much."

Knuckles looked bored at Tifa. "So you have a guy who has a very obvious feral look and can talk, huh? It's easy for you to see him without getting freaked out, but it's not the same with us?"

Tifa looked away in embarrassment. "I-I didn't know this would happen, honest!"

Red XIII chuckled a bit. "Well, I think I am a little bit grateful that there are such people who look different than humans just like I do," he said.

"Please, don't enjoy this so much," Cloud said mildly annoyed. "Anyway, why'd you come here, Red XIII?"

Chris thought it was a little bit bizarre to call the lion by its codename by saying the roman numbers. Actually, thinking again, the Smashers already had someone else named Red in their group, so they were a bit used to listen to bizarre names.

Red XIII looked at Cloud. "I came here because you didn't seem to respond to my calls," he said. "You have around nine missed calls from me."

Cloud took out his PHS to see on the screen that there was a record of nine missed calls from Red XIII. "Oh, I surely didn't hear the calls while we were chasing after Yuffie."

"I understand," Red XIII said. "I was getting worried about why you weren't answering so I had to leave my area and look for you. I used your scents to locate you. Fortunately, the area I was patrolling was close to Wutai, easier for me to track down your scents."

Cid scoffed at this. "Not like I fart every four seconds or somethin', sick animal."

Chris looked away. "I think that was disgusting and unnecessary to say..." he muttered.

Red XIII looked down at Yuffie. "And when I arrived, I saw Yuffie running straight outside. I saw my moment to stop her, and thus I halted her getaway."

Yuffie stuck out her tongue at him. "You shouldn't have come, anyway!" she yelled. "Thanks to you, I won't ever realize what I wanted t-"

"Yuffie," Cloud interrupted as he walked next to her, "it's over now. Hand over all the stolen stuff you got from all of us this instant."

Yuffie sighed and looked away. "There isn't another way to convince any of you, huh?"

"No."

"...Fine..." the ninja muttered. "...If you want your stuff, just follow me to my house..."

"The mansion?" Aerith said. "We didn't see any Materia in there."

"No, that's not my house," Yuffie said in defeat. "My house is located in a hidden section of the village just close to the gates. If SOMEBODY lets me stand up, I'll lead you all the way there."

Fox (having teary eyes thanks to the harsh pokes on them) glared at the ninja. "You're not going to pull another trick on us, right?"

"No!" Yuffie said. "I-if you want, have someone grab me by the hands so you stop thinking about me doing that to you!" she suggested.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Mario said.

Cloud ducked down to grab both of Yuffie's hands. Red XIII got off from her to let her stand up straight. Sighing, Yuffie looked bored at Cloud. "Well, now that you have me, let me take you all to my house."

Cloud nodded. "Please do."

And the ninja finally decided to give in, leading everyone to the west.

Just inside a building, Elena watched carefully the group leaving towards the gate. She narrowed her eyes and quickly and carefully left her post.

Yuffie's Hideout

The group was taken to a remote location of a small forest just close to the villages' gates. There was a simple house small enough for a single person to live in. Inside the house, there were many scattered ninja stuff (such as shurikens and kunais) with bed sheets being scrambled around a small tea table. An ashamed Yuffie looked at the whole group of fifteen people (most of them giving her glares). "You know, you guys didn't have to enter in here. You're all taking up my free space."

"Yuffie, knock it off already," Cloud said. "We're just here because you caused everything."

Yuffie looked down. "I know that, but…"

"Tell us where our stuff is so we finish all this nonsense."

The ninja wanted to cling into all the stolen spoils. Yuffie didn't want to listen to Cloud's demand, but she was cornered by everyone. There was no way to escape from them this time. "…Fine," Yuffie said before pointing at the wall of the right towards a door. "See that? It'll take you to my secret basement. That's where I hid all your Materia and stuff."

"You go first."

Yuffie bit her lip a bit. "Okay…"

The ninja proceeded to go to the door while everyone kept an eye on her. Yuffie began to walk down the stairs before everyone soon followed her from behind.

Once they all reached the basement, they crossed a hallway to a room where there was a machine with a screen and two levers in front of it. Some of them thought that the machine before them was used to spy on the people outside, and some others thought it was just used for Yuffie to do other stuff (possibly the latter, since there seemed to be the original version of the game Pong). There was a purple mattress with a Japanese letter written on it, and there were cat statues ornamenting opposite sides of the walls.

Final Fantasy VII - On That Day, 5 Years Ago

The ninja stopped right in front of the machine to look at them. "…You really want your Materia back?" she asked.

"Haven't you listened or what?" Fox asked. "We want everything you took from us back."

"Yeah," Snake said. "I just can't let you sell my weaponry to anybody. They're strictly confidential to the organization I'm working for, and they should be kept by members of it."

Marth looked away. "As if grenades were strictly confidential…"

Yuffie looked worried and shook her head. "B-but I just can't do this!" she argued. "N-not like this, you guys! I need to do this before Wutai gets even worse!"

"What is that about this village getting worse?" Knuckles asked.

Cloud shook his head. "Yuffie, it's over now. We don't want to listen to you anymore."

Yuffie shook her head again. "B-but you need to listen to this so you can see why I'm doing all this, Cloud!"

Cid grunted. "Haven't you head learned that we don't care s^&* about ya?"

Aerith looked at Yuffie's ashamed look. The flower girl felt a bit of sympathy for the ninja that she looked at Cloud. "Cloud…maybe we should listen to her."

The blond mercenary looked at Aerith. Sighing, Cloud looked back at Yuffie. "Fine, go ahead but make it quick."

The ninja looked down. "You might've seen the Wutai of today, right? Well, it didn't use to be like this before the Wutai War erupted," she explained. "Before then, Wutai was a proud nation of ninjas. It was one of the best nations of the world. Wutai was admired for being peaceful and intriguing by its culture. My father, back then, was feared by those who dared to attack the nation, or so I heard about the stories that people told me when I was little."

"So you loved this place so much," Samus said.

"Yeah, and I still do…" Yuffie muttered before she began to sniff a bit. "Before I was born, Wutai was a lot more crowded and more important..."

"But it looks like that today," Mario said.

"Of course not…" Yuffie said. "Wutai didn't use to have that many tourists who easily overgrown the native people by hundreds of them. You saw what it looks like now, right? ...JUST a resort town because we had no choice but surrender to Shinra...all because my father decided to surrender…"

"We saw how you yelled at your father," Cloud said. "You looked like you hated him."

"I hate him, alright," Yuffie said. "He was strong, but now he's just a pathetic excuse for a leader of a proud nation. Sure, we got peace after we lost the war, but we lost the glory. Without glory, Wutai just won't be the same as it used to be. Now look at Wutai!" she yelled before she started to sniff. "That's why...if I had lots of Materia…I could..."

"You could restore Wutai's glory," Tifa said. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Y-yeah…" Yuffie started to sob. "Y-you don't know how humiliating it is for me to live in this hell hole! Each time I see another tourist enter the village, I always think there could've been another way around Shinra, but it's useless!" She walked all the way behind the group where she pounded she wall with a fist. "My father is an idiot, the people of Wutai don't even do a thing to rise against Shinra, and soon the nation is going to lose its culture by all these stupid tourists! I hate it all!"

The group watched Yuffie dropping to her knees where she began to cry silently. Feeling sad for the ninja, Chip flew over to her and tapped her shoulder. "Aww, don't cry, you. Everything's gonna be alright, you'll see."

"I-it's not going to be alright if I don't do something about it!" Yuffie cried.

"But Chip Norris says so!"

Chris looked bored. "(Chip, stop ruining these moments with your nickname already…)"

Yuffie kept sobbing to herself before Cloud took a step towards her. "Yuffie," he began, "stop crying now."

The ninja sniffed a bit and stopped.

"To be honest, Yuffie," Cloud began, "I don't really care that much about Wutai or your feelings about the whole issue."

Yuffie gasped and looked at Cloud. "W-what?"

Some of the group looked confused at the blond mercenary. "You don't care about her?" Tifa asked.

"Why should we care about something that doesn't have to do with us?" Cloud asked. "It's Yuffie's issue, not ours. She happened to find us in the field where she wanted to steal our Materia. Once we stopped her, she gave up, but then she said she wanted to come along with us. And thorough our journey, I've seen her fixated on our Materia that she hardly ever talked with any of us."

"I-it wasn't like that!" Yuffie yelled.

"It was like that," Cloud said. "She didn't care about us, so why should we care about her?"

Mario looked worried. "I…don't think you should give her the same treatment…" He looked at Yuffie's depressed expression. "She looks like she's sorry."

Cloud shook his head. "It's hard to trust her now. She's been tricking us all day."

Chris thought for a moment. "That reminds me… Yuffie, why were you going around the village?"

Yuffie cleared some tears, but she kept looking down. "I…I wanted to see if anyone of the tourists knew about somebody who would like to sell Materia to me… Also, I was trying to convince the shopkeepers from buying the stuff I stole from you, but they gave me cheap prices, and I refused… You guys were going around, and so I had to run away and lose all of you."

"Until I arrived, everything was going according to your plan," Red XIII said.

"Yeah…" Yuffie muttered. "I didn't have any luck, and I became stuck. I was considering leaving the village to seek out a Materia seller, but I don't really wanna go on a ship voyage again…"

"…" Tifa shrugged. "Oh yes, you puked at least seven times in one voyage."

Yuffie shook her head and looked worried at Cloud. "Cloud, please, let me d-"

"No, Yuffie," Cloud interrupted. "It's all over. You should've done something else than stealing Materia from other people. It was your fault that you got into this mess, and you knew very well what was going to happen if you failed."

The ninja sobbed a bit and covered her face. "I…I…I…"

Marth started to feel some sympathy for the ninja. "Sorry, but this has to be done this way. Please, give us back what you stole from everybody."

Yuffie suddenly nodded, deciding to give up already. "…O-okay…there's no way around it, huh?" she sniffed. "I-I'll tell you where I hid your stuff right now…" Without looking, the ninja pointed at the two levers close to the screen. "S-see that left lever over there? …Pull the lever down and…a secret door should open here … Inside that room, all your stuff will be there…"

Something hit Chris's memory. Somehow, what Yuffie said was about to trigger an important detail about the lever she told the group to pull down. There was something very important, and it wasn't related to finding Materia.

Chip was the one who headed for the lever. The imp smiled and gently pulled down the lever. "There," he said before he turned to the group. "Now we can see this hidden entran-"

Music stops

And from the ceiling, a huge cage dropped down, trapping all of them except for the imp. Seeing that this was predictable, Knuckles looked bored. "...Okay, who REALLY saw this coming a mile away?" he asked in annoyance.

Everyone raised their hands.

"Just as I thought, alright..." he muttered.

Final Fantasy VII - Stolen Materia

They all turned to Yuffie. The ninja suddenly stopped sobbing and replaced her sniffing sounds for hysterical laughter. This only made most of the people in the cage get pissed at her sudden change of moods. "Hahahahahahahaha!" Yuffie laughed loudly. "What made you think I'd give up all the stuff so easily, anyway? You're way SO easy to trick, y'know!"

"Y-you...bastard!" Marth yelled. "I thought you were going to cooperate and hand over our stuff!"

"Not in a million years, sadly for you!" Yuffie said. "You guys are so gullible, I swear. You should've listened to what I told you, Cloud! If you listened, I could've given you everything!"

Cloud glared at the ninja. "Yuffie..."

"Sorry, but there is NO way I'm handing over your the Materia AND the stuff that easily to such a bunch of insensitive guys like you!" she said. "The Materia's as good as mine! Tough!" she said before she stuck out her tongue and ran away while laughing madly to herself.

Cid shook in fury before he grabbed the bars of the cage and began to yell like a maniac. This was further enforced because Knuckles was doing the same thing.

"Foiled again!" Tifa said. "I can't believe she did all this once more!"

"...But I have to admit she did a very good job at faking it," Aerith commented.

Marth slapped his forehead. "I don't think that's really important right now..."

"Oh, my bad..."

Chris looked down. "(I knew it; I knew this was going to happen!)" he thought. "(I found out this right after it happened, though... Dammit!)"

Sonic tried to look around. "What? Where? Who? What happened? Did we get our stuff?"

"Hedgehog, were you deaf this whole time?" Snake asked in annoyance. "The girl trapped all of us in a cage."

"Hmm, that sucks."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Knuckles asked.

Samus sighed a place her right hand on her forehead. "Okay, now we have to think about how to come out from this cage..." She noticed that Chip was waving at them from outside the cage. "...Chip, can you try to pull up the lever? Maybe the cage will pull up. There's a rope hanging on top of this thing."

The imp nodded. "Right-o," he said before he looked pass all of them to see Yuffie coming back into the basement. "Hey there, you!" Chip greeted.

Everyone turned around to look at the cunning ninja. "Yuffie, stop this now!" Tifa yelled. "You don't have to steal our Materia and stuff to bring back Wutai's glory!"

"No can do!" Yuffie said with a chuckle. "That just won't do at all!"

Red XIII grunted at her. "Would you just stop? You still have time before your punishment becomes even worse."

"Well then, I'll escape from you so I don't have to be punished at all," she said. "You want your Materia and stuff? Then go find it yourselves!"

"You mean to say they're not here?" Fox asked.

"That's right!" Yuffie said. "I just brought you here in hopes for you to listen to my story, but since the cold Cloud thinks he so cool and stuff to give a little bit of his time to help Wutai, I COULD have given everything back, but since he's such a big meanie with everyone, why bother to get him to help me? I swear that everyone hates anyone who is not that cooperative with you."

Snake blinked a bit at this statement.

"Why bother sticking together when you can just leave them all behind and do it yourself?" Yuffie asked. "I mean, it's not like we have to be all together in a big group. If that group hates you, then you may as well leave 'em. You just gotta think you can do it alone without anyone's help."

The mercenary looked away, seemingly looking as if Yuffie's words made him think about something he wanted to ponder.

Cloud shook his head. "I don't care either way, Yuffie. Give bac-"

"Sheesh, all of you guys repeat the same damn thing over and over again," Yuffie said bored. "Don't you tire yourselves from doing that so many times when it's useless to do so?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Cid and Knuckles yelled furiously, banging on the steel bars even more.

The ninja chuckled heartily. "Alright, time for me to leave and challenge you in finding everything you want back from me. If you don't find what you're looking for, then it'll be forever lost in the village. Yeah, that's right. And when you're looking for everything, remember you gotta steel it." She chuckled a bit. "Heh heh...steel...steel! Get it?"

"NO!" Knuckles yelled in fury.

"Thought so! C ya!" Yuffie said before she ran away, laughing hysterically to herself.

A moment of silence passed, and the ninja's footsteps weren't heard anymore nor her laughter. Chris sighed and looked to Chip. "Chip, can you pull up the lever now?"

Music stops

"Right-o, take 2," Chip said with a salutation before he pulled up the lever, letting the cage to be carried into the roof where it disappeared into the darkness.

"Oh brother," Tifa muttered. "She's done it again..."

"It seems that way," Mario said. "I think that she was actually trying to get help so badly... Something about her, when she returned, looked different."

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

"Well, for instance...I saw that she was still crying," Mario said. "For one thing, she wasn't faking anything just now. Everything looked perfectly real and honest."

Cloud crossed his arms. "You're forgetting one main fact: it's Yuffie," he said. "She's the most cunning of people we've ever met. She might be one good "actor" if you know what I mean."

"But I think tha-"

"Enough, Mario," Cloud interrupted. "Now that we're once again on square one, we'll have to look for Yuffie...again."

Aerith looked at Red XIII. "Can you use your nose to track down her scent?"

Red XIII shook his head. "It could be easy if it wasn't for the fact there's a lot of people in this village. Their scents combined makes it hard for me to tell which scent is Yuffie's one. Worse yet, there are so many scents of food."

"I know," Fox said, "since this is her house, we can wait here for her to come back."

Samus shook her head. "I don't think she'll be back here now that we know she lives here," she said. "It wouldn't be a smart move to come back here again."

Fox looked down. "I guess you're right..." he muttered.

Marth groaned a bit. "Please, don't tell me she won't ever be found..."

"We don't know until we try again," Cloud said. "...We'll try tomorrow, though. It's sunset already."

Sonic yawned. "I wouldn't mind lying down on a bed and TAKE this spicy stuff off from my eyes..."

Cid stopped yelling before looking serious. "I know! Let's burn her home down!" he suggested.

"Seconded!" Knuckles agreed.

"No," Cloud said. "We're not going to cause anything in her home. We don't want to fall at the same level she's at. Besides, if we did burn this place, the village would get upset."

"F^&%," Cid muttered under his breath.

Chris looked at Lucario. "Do you still feel pain?"

Lucario nodded. "Sadly, yes... I still can't concentrate well enough..."

Cloud sighed. "Well then, I think everyone wants to rest for the time being," he said. "Let's all go back to the Kisaragi Mansion. Hopefully they'll let us stay there for the night because the inns in the village are too booked up."

Sonic raised a finger. "While we're at it, can anybody tell why is it stinky in here?"

Knuckles glared at Chris, who was about to explain why.

Everyone soon left the basement. Before Chris could step into the hallway, he looked behind where Snake was looking away in deep thought. "Snake?" Chris said. "Snake, we have to leave from here."

Snake kept looking away for a bit more. He then looked back at the World Traveler. "Right," he said.

Chris tilted his head to the right. "What were you doing just now?"

"It's none of your business," Snake said as he passed the teen and walked away.

Chris kept staring at Snake walking away. The World Traveler knew that the mercenary was thinking about something. Given the fact that snake replied a little bit late, it was surely something important. Unfortunately, Chris couldn't tell what it was. Once he was done pondering, Chris left the building.

However, none of them noticed that a person was spying on them. On the other end of the hallway, Elena walked out from the darkness as she held a notepad (with a logo of a chocobo on the cover) on her hand. It turned out she had beaten the group in getting to the house since she was the one who found the place first than they, and she hid in the darkness to stay out of sight. The blond Turk raised an eyebrow at the notepad, listing some things on it with a pen (with a logo of a moogle on its tip). "Let's see now," she began, "so far, I've gathered some juicy information about them all. For instance, that girl stole their stuff and Materia... Since they don't have Materia that leaves them very vulnerable to any attacks..."

She bit the tip of her pen.

"Now, if I could think of a way to convince some of the soldiers to drop off the matter about that Don Corneo guy...I could get those guys arrested and brought in to Rufus!" she said before looking serious. "But I wonder, maybe there's more that I can I find out about them, specifically the group of furry people... I have to keep gaining more information before I do my report."

The blond Turk decided to leave the basement, carefully making sure nobody saw her.

Kisaragi Mansion

The evening soon came over Wutai. Surprisingly enough, the streets of the whole village were…completely emptied out. All people were resting by the time night fell. At first, it looked odd that there weren't people, but it later became creepy to some of the group. There wasn't any reason that the streets didn't have any people during the night, but there should have been at least one.

"And to prove this place encourages tourism," Mario began, "we all got free hotel clothes: jinbeis."

True to be told, the Kisaragi Mansion wasn't exactly just a normal manor but some kind of hotel. Cloud had convinced Godo for everyone to book in, allowing them to have a place to rest for the night. Oddly enough, Godo was the only one who was present at the house as a family member. The only people who attended him were hired maids.

As for the group, each one had their own rooms. Some of them went as far as to sleep in groups, while others simply slept alone. In one of room, Chris, Mario, Lucario, Sonic (who turned into a werehog), and Chip were having a conversation. Surprisingly enough, all of them (except Lucario) were wearing light blue jinbeis (traditional Japanese clothing during summer season consisted of short-sleeved jacket with shorts). They were given jinbeis by the maids.

Chris looked happy. "Well, I personally like the service in here," he said. "We even got to eat Chinese rice."

"And free clothes," Chip said. "Chip Norris gets everything for free.

Sonic ignored the imp. "Too bad I can't even see what's in front of me anymore with this stupid spicy stuff on my eyes. Why did I have to be stuck in here while everybody went to have dinner?"

"It's because you turned into a werehog again," Mario said. "And you turned into it after we came back. Do you want to scare the mansion's lord with a sudden transformation?"

"Meh, he won't say anything."

"I say otherwise, though," Chris said. "You'll have to be hiding from anybody when you're a werehog."

"Oh, so any other non-human person can go around while I can't do the same? I'm one like that as well!"

"Yes, but remember your transformation," Mario said. "Anybody would freak out if they saw you transforming so suddenly."

Sonic sighed. "Guess there's no way, then…"

Chris chuckled nervously. "S-see the bright side about this: I got you your own jinbei."

"So?"

"…Forget it…" Chris muttered before looking at Lucario, who was doing a meditating position besides Chris's bed. "Are you eyes still hurting you?"

"…Yes," Lucario said in shame. "The curry has a horrible effect on eyes…" He grunted. "I want to see very soon because I'm getting sick of having to walk around with somebody grabbing my hand. Thank goodness it was you, Chris, who guided me all day."

If only Lucario knew that, a girl did all the guiding for him…

"…U-um, yes," Chris said. "You have me to guide you anywhere."

"Yes."

Chris stood up and sighed. "I don't know you, but I'm going out for a walk around the garden…"

"Why?" Chip asked. "You lost somebody dear to you that you need some time alone? Chip Norris understands that, but he can always roundhouse a corpse to make it come alive again."

"…N-no!" Chris said in embarrassment. "I just want to have some relaxation by myself after the ordeal we went through to get our stuff without having any good results."

Lucario looked up, listening to Chris's words to see where he was. "Can I go with you?"

"No, it's okay," Chris said. "You should rest for now. I'll be right back in a few minutes… If you'd excuse me…"

The World Traveler walked towards the sliding door before he left the room.

Mario looked at Sonic. "Don't worry, Sonic, we'll lift that transformation very soon."

"Do you know the date?" Sonic asked.

"…No…"

"Bummer," Sonic muttered with a scoff.

Windy Hallway

Environmental Noises

The moon's reflection floated on a small pool of water of the silent garden. A lonely figure, Chris, walked silently on the wooden floor. The World Traveler looked at the garden before sighing a bit to himself. "I wonder..." he muttered. "How long will it take us to finish our things here?"

"Beats me."

Chris gasped at the sudden response that came out of nowhere. Looking forward, the World Traveler found a man in jinbei behind a pillar resting his shoulders on the wooden handrail. He looked odd to Chris since he never met him. Judging by the serious look of the man, Chris could tell he wasn't from the village. The man had a small beard and dark brown hair. Other than that, he just wore a jinbei. "O-oh, sorry, mister!" Chris apologized. "I-I didn't see you were here. You were kind of hiding perfectly behind this pillar..."

The man nodded before he looked back to the garden.

Chris sighed. "Really, I'm sorry for not noticing you... There is no need to avoid replying to me. I won't say anything offensive..."

"...Tsk," the man muttered.

"...(Now that I think about it, I never saw him in this place before...)" Chris thought. "U-um, I'm sorry for having to ask you this, but who are you?"

"..." The man glanced sideways at Chris. "Iroquois Pliskin," he introduced himself.

"Oh..." Chris trailed off. "(Iroquois sounds a bit a funny as a name... I-I shouldn't chuckle at him for his name... But...Pliskin... Oh no, another funny name...) Iroquois?" Chris said in curiosity. "Wow, I think that name is kind of..."

"Random?" the man named Iroquois finished. "Yeah, I've gotten the same kind of response a few times."

The World Traveler thought that he could further talk with the man. "So, are you staying here in the mansion?"

"Yeah," Iroquois said with a nod. "Otherwise I'd be out in the streets. The inns of this place are all booked up to the top shelf of the main reception."

"I know what you mean..." Chris trailed off. "But how did the owner let you in?"

"Simple," the man began, "I already met him with some group of guys. We're all staying here for the night."

"Oh, so you're with a group," Chris said. "...What kind of group is that? I didn't see anyone else rather than the people I'm with."

"Well, those guys are the oddest bunch you'll ever meet," Iroquois said. "You'll see why because they all wear fur suits all day."

"...Wow..." Chris muttered. "They must be really attached to their costumes, aren't they?"

"That's one way to put it," Iroquois said. "Some of them are menacing-looking, and some of them have goofy looks on their faces that could drive you nuts. Heck, they may even give you nightmares."

"I-I'm used to see strange faces, so it's going to be fine," Chris said with a nervous smile.

"I don't, thought," Iroquois said. "Why, even some of them are human, but they could be ever weirder than the others."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's this guy who wears a tiara that makes him look girly, this woman with the stern look, this guy who doesn't seem to work as a plumber, and this other kid who likes to change clothes every so often."

Why was Chris thinking that he could picture somebody else saying those kinds of words?

"...I...see..." Chris said in confusion. "...That's strange, now that you said it..."

"Why?" the man asked.

"Well, most of what you said was kind of ironic because I happen to be traveling with the same kind of group," he said. "But it sounded kind of convenient, you know? I was about to say that you forgot the man with the dead serious look on his face and the...surprisingly tight buttocks." He looked away in embarrassment. "D-don't tell him I said that, though! He'll get pissed if he heard I said that about him!"

"..." Iroquois shook his head and looked away. "I admit my suit is kind of ridiculously tight in some parts. Sadly, I've never taken fashion that badly before."

Chris chuckled. "I don't see you wearing any kind of suit right now. You're wearing not-so-tight clothes."

"Yeah, but I'll be wearing my usual espionage suit again like I always do. I wouldn't mind wearing some more common clothes while I'm in the middle of the public, but I don't have any at the moment."

The World Traveler looked a bit confused at this. "...Excuse me?"

Iroquois looked at Chris. "Yeah?"

"Espionage suit?" Chris said. "What...are you, some kind of undercover spy?"

"Maybe," the man said. "The kid in my group would ask the same thing."

"..." Chris narrowed his eyes at the man. Somehow, the World Traveler felt that the man before him was already a familiar face. "...Wait just a minute here!" he said in shock. "You're not just some kind of man, are you?"

"...Heh," Iroquois chuckled a bit. "Fooled you, didn't I, kid?"

Chris shook his head. "W-wait, you're not Snake, right? There happens to be a guy who could respond something like that just like you, and I don't think it's a coincidence that there's someone with the same kind of responses...and...the voice..." He slapped his forehead. "Aw, god, the voice! They both sound the same as well! How did I overlook that?"

Iroquois nodded. "Afraid so, kid. You're talking to Solid Snake now."

The World Traveler looked shocked. "B-but...is that really you?"

"What, haven't seen me without the headband?" Iroquois asked. "Without the headband, it's a bit hard for people to recognize who I am. I guess you fell for it, kid."

"I-I admit you looked very different without the headband," Chris said. "You were having fun messing with me, didn't you, Iroquois?"

"Hey, I just happened to be breathing some fresh air outside my room," Iroquois, or Snake, said. "And I didn't wear my headband because it was getting a bit hot."

"Then I walked here and you faked to be another person?"

"Pretty much, but the name Iroquois Pliskin was a name I used to have when I wanted to help another kid some time ago," Snake said. "It's not that fake and random, though. You just happened to fall for it."

"U-ugh!" Chris grunted in annoyance. "I can't believe I didn't think that you were you, Snake!"

Snake looked away. "It's not my fault you haven't seen me with a more normal face."

"W-well, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make the same mistake ever again!" Chris said with crossed arms. "Goodness, I thought you looked new to me BEFORE I-"

"Kid, would you stop ranting that loud?" Snake asked. "You're gonna wake up the people resting in here, especially the maids and Godo."

"O-okay, I will," Chris said. "I think I might be overdoing it a little, so I'm going to stop there..."

"Good," Snake said. "Now please leave me alone. You'll have to enjoy what time I have left before I drop out from the group."

Chris nodded. "I understand, Snake... I think I'm going to head back to my room now... Good night, Snake."

The World Traveler turned around and walked away into the hallway of the mansion. The mercenary kept looking at Chris's direction before the World Traveler came back in a hurry as if something was recalled in his mind. "What is it, kid?" Snake asked. "You can't sleep and counting jumping sheep wasn't enough?"

Chris blushed a bit. "I-it's not that!" he said. "Maybe I heard wrong, but did you just say I had to enjoy the time I have left for you before you drop down the group? ...What exactly did you mean by that?"

Final Fantasy VII - Anxious Heart

Snake gave Chris a stern look. "No, you didn't hear wrong. What you heard is the whole truth."

"...B-but..." Chris shook his head a bit. "...But...seriously? In a moment like this?"

"Yeah," Snake said simply.

"...I..."

"No need to talk more about this," Snake said. "I already made my decision."

"...It's just that...it's so sudden..." Chris muttered. "I mean, why drop out from the group so suddenly? I don't see what the reason is for you to do that."

"There is," Snake said. "I'm not needed to be here anymore, nor was I needed this whole time."

"...What?" Chris asked. "What do you mean you're not needed here?"

Snake looked back at the reflection of the moon's image on the pond. "It's true. I realized that there isn't any reason for me to be with the group. I began to think that after we last met that snotty girl."

Chris looked away. "Snotty girl... You mean Yuffie?"

"Yes."

"But what made her think you weren't needed here?"

"She said that there isn't a point to be with her group because they don't care about her," Snake said. "She also said that she may as well leave them behind so she can do everything by herself, and I kind of related to what she said."

"...W-wait a minute," Chris began, "are you saying we don't care for you and that you're better off alone by yourself?"

"Pretty much," Snake said. "I work solo most of the time, kid."

"But you always receive help from Otacon, Mei Ling, and the others," Chris said. "How can you say you're alone when you have all of them to support you?"

"That's because they're the ones I resort to get info during my missions," Snake explained. "They're not physically there, which is better for me to work and avoid worrying about anyone in a battle."

The codec ring tone ran suddenly. "Oh yeah, he says the truth, alright," Otacon said. "I don't want to remember the first we met. Snake almost killed me."

"You were being very clueless about what you were doing to help the enemy, Otacon," Snake said. "And since it was a weapon of nuclear weaponry, of course I had to yell it out to you."

"Er, I personally think there was another nicer way to tell him, though..." Mei Ling muttered.

Chris shook his head. "What about you two? Aren't you against Snake's decision?"

"Frankly speaking, he can do what he wants to do," Mei Ling said. "We just give him information for anything he has trouble with. Only Colonel Roy Campbell can order him."

"Well, then why the Colonel isn't saying anything?"

"That's because Snake has already spoken to me," said the Colonel. "All he told me was something I thought over before I allowed him to do what he wanted."

"But...Snake is an important asset for the group..." Chris muttered.

"Not really, kid," Snake said. "The guys in the group are kind of very secluded when they look at me. I'm some kind of outcast for them like the hedgehog is."

"Sonic isn't an outcast!"

"Most of them treat him like as if he were a stranger stuck in the mansion," Snake said. "I don't want to annoy anyone like he does, so I should better leave everything and everyone behind."

Chris shook his head again. "You're wrong. Maybe there are some of them who really care for you!"

"The mushroom princess?"

"...Peach likes pretty much anybody who seems good or has the possibility of becoming a nice person..." Chris muttered. "...Besides her, I could probably...um..."

Snake sighed. "Can't think of some names, huh?"

"...No..." Chris admitted. "...B-but even so, you don't really have to leave, Snake! I...I do care about you!"

"Why do you care about me, though?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "I care about you because...you're singular like any of the guys we've met. Every single one of them is unique in their own way, and you're not an exception. I mean, you're the only one of the whole group who is dead serious about what you do..."

Snake kept staring at the pond. "Everyone else is as "dead serious" as me, kid."

"At least you keep focusing on it more than anyone..."

"Possibly," Snake said. "Unfortunately, we're all on the same level when we want to discuss about what to do next about the army. If I dropped out, the group wouldn't lose that much of aid."

"..." Chris looked down. "But having you around makes us look complete..."

Snake looked up. "Are you saying that because of the fact that we need to be the whole roster of people in the so-called tourney?"

"...I'm going to be honest: yes," Chris said. "But I'm not so sure about putting it like that..."

"Well, guess what," Snake began, "it doesn't always have to be that way. We still have some members absent, yet they are the villains who are trying to stop us from stopping them. I should just forget the whole thing and keep them away from stepping into my world. I'm better off if I'm alone without have to worry about someone close to a battle."

The World Traveler looked back at Snake. "...But...if you were to be hurt so badly, and there was no one else than yourself in an area where there's nobody close to you, what you would do?"

"I get such situations sometimes, but it hardly happens," Snake said. "If I ended up like that, then I'd blame myself for being so reckless in the fight I was taking part of."

"Even so, you're going to risk your life by being alone?"

"..." Snake looked serious at Chris. "...Who dares, wins."

"...That's isn't true!" Chris argued. "Are you planning to dare your life with this decision?"

"Most likely," Snake said. "My life is always in danger, no matter how you look at it."

"Now you're sounding like you don't even value your life..."

"Kid, stop getting off-topic," Snake said. "This isn't about whether or not I'll live. This is about me taking a decision to leave you all behind."

"But..."

"Of course, I won't forget any of you," the mercenary said. "Like I told you before, it's hard to forget all the experiences I've been through with this. Once I take my leave, though, don't try to convince me from joining you ever again."

The World Traveler remained silent for a brief moment. "...And are Otacon and Mei Ling with you?"

"I'm sorry," Otacon said. "Once Snake makes up his mind, contradicting him could mean you want him to kill you..."

Chris got a shocked look at this statement.

"That only happens to you because you make him a little bit stressed," Mei Ling pointed out.

"T-that's not true," Otacon said in embarrassment. "B-but in any case, you should listen to him, Chris."

"I'll have to agree," Mei Ling said. "You just can't force somebody to believe the same way you do."

"I'm not trying to make him believe like I do..." Chris muttered. "I just..."

"Stop," Snake muttered before he stood straight and looked at the teen. "I don't want to hear anything else about this. I already made my decision, and you'll have to respect it."

The World Traveler looked away. "...I...understand..."

Snake nodded. "Glad you understood my reason," he said. "I'll be dropping out once we're done with this mission. Until then, try not to do something to change my mind because I'll tell what you'll do, kid."

"..." Chris shook his head and looked at Snake. "But if I do, that'd mean I care for you."

"I'd like to see anyone else to try to do the same thing, but that's very unlikely at these heights," Snake said. "If you'll excuse me, I need to take a nap before I get to recover my stuff from that girl tomorrow."

"..." Chris sighed in depression. "Good night, Snake..."

"Night," Snake said before he proceeded to leave the hallway and the teen behind.

Once the mercenary was gone from sight, Chris decided to rest his arms on the wooden handrail. He stared at the same pond Snake was looking at, thinking hard about what he should do about the mercenary. "I feel like a hypocrite now..." Chris muttered in depression. "Snake surely wanted to do this because nobody gets to spend the time with him... Maybe I should've done that from the very beginning..." He grabbed his head and shook it a bit. "What am I thinking? I'm not the only one who's supposed to do that sort of thing. It's everyone's fault that he doesn't want to stay any longer with us, right? ...But should I really blame everyone or just me?"

"Snake should be the one with the blame."

Chris gasped and looked around. He could have sworn he heard a voice coming from somewhere, but this time, there wasn't anyone in the hallway except for himself. He was scared enough to the point he thought there were ghosts in the mansion. "W-who's talking to me?" Chris asked. "A-are there any ghosts in this place? Did I just break some kind of rule that's considered taboo here or what?"

"...No... You said almost the same thing as that Yuffie girl..."

"...What?"

"There's nothing to fear, Chris. It's me, Mei Ling."

"M-Mei Ling?" Chris repeated in confusion. "How can you be talking to me if Snake left? Shouldn't he be around for anyone to get into the conversation of a codec?"

"Not really," Mei Ling said. "The codec works by manipulating the staples of the ears. We can talk to anyone through that way by sending compressed, codified, and decoded communications to your ears."

The World Traveler had no idea what Mei Ling was talking about. "...Um... What?"

"...Never mind," Mei Ling said. "Thing is, codec is an easy thing to do as long as you press you ear a bit like Snake does. It was hard to get you in here because you didn't to that to let me manipulate your staples. I'm glad it worked, though."

"So you can talk to anyone?"

"As long as they press their ears and have the codec nanomachines that are hidden in there, then I can talk to them," Mei Ling explained.

"...Nano-what?" Chris asked in shock before shifted his eyes to his ears. "...T-that means you put super small machines into my ears without me knowing about them?"

"Well...I did that," Mei Ling said. "I hid some extra ones in Snake's pockets. Those possess fly capabilities and are able to be controlled from where I am, and I direct them to jump into anyone's ears. I was lucky that you got close to Snake because he had some with him on his hands. That was a very long time ago, though."

Chris's skin color turned pale. "...I...had...machines...in my ears...for a long time...and I haven't noticed until now... Oh god..."

"...They won't do anything wrong," Mei Ling assured. "They won't cause any kind of illnesses."

"...So if anyone could heard anything you talked about with Snake...does that means everyone has nanomachines in their ears?"

"Yes, but not everyone. We didn't give Snake that many."

"...And they can call you anytime?"

"Yes, but they don't know how to use it unlike you and Snake. I only insert the ring tone for those I want to talk. Here, listen to it."

The trademark codec ring tone rang inside Chris's ears, making him yelp a bit.

"Oh, sorry..."

"..." Chris sighed scared. "O-okay…that was a little bit too much information..."

"Sorry, but it had to be done if Snake was ever in need of help," Mei Ling said. "But that's enough for now. Chris, there was a favor I wanted to ask you about."

"Yeah," Otacon said as he joined in conversation. "Make that a favor by two people."

The World Traveler shook his head to snap out from his scared state. "A favor?" Chris said confused. "Why do you want me to do a favor now?"

"Look, it's about Snake," Mei Ling said. "You've got to do something to change his mind about leaving the group."

"What? Why?" Chris asked. "He already said..."

"Even so, he has to understand that he needs to rely on others," Mei Ling interrupted. "Snake was like this a long time ago, but then he learned that he shouldn't give up on people."

"However," Otacon began, "he got back to that attitude as soon as he was admitted into the Smashers. I guess he didn't take the idea of working with an unusual group that well."

"Unlike him, we can talk with any of you guys without problems," Mei Ling said. "Snake...doesn't, though. He needs to change that attitude before he resumes being so cold like he used to."

"And if he gets like that, he might endanger the lives of people who happen to be hostages for bad guys," Otacon said.

"Seriously, do you have to remind us about your first meeting with Snake?" Mei Ling asked.

"H-hey, he brings nasty memories with the way he's acting now," Otacon said. "Might I add that he almost asphyxiated me when I was the one trying to save him from rotting in a cell with a dead body?"

"Oh, Snake was just stressed that time. You should've let him breathe in and out."

"AND the time before that," Otacon added. "And the time after that..."

"...Um..." Chris recalled what they asked him to do. "...You want me to try and convince Snake from leaving the group?"

"Yes," Mei Ling said. "We're against his decision. We don't want to have the loner Solid Snake back. We want to have the little bit friendly Solid Snake."

"Little bit friendly..." Otacon muttered. "You just can't make him a lot friendlier..."

"That's a fact," she said. "But in any case, Chris, you need to do this."

"..." Chris looked worried. "W-why me, though? Why it has to be me and not anybody else? I don't want to make Snake strangle me from behind!"

"Because you're the only one who gets to talk with everyone in the group," Mei Ling said. "You have some kind of heart of gold, and we need that very same heart of gold to make Snake change his mind."

The World Traveler blushed for a bit. "...Are you trying to flatter me with those words?"

"Did it work?"

"...Not really, they made me get more scared..."

Silence...

"...Do it, man!" Otacon said, breaking the silence. "You have, no, you MUST convince Snake before he leaves as the cold man he was before! He can do anything is he's opened up a bit, but other than that, it's hard to have a conversation without him getting angry!"

"B-but I don't want to die by making him get stressed!" Chris argued. "Those eyes of his can kill anyone!"

"He's not going to do that sort of thing," Mei Ling assured. "Hopefully the Colonel will order Snake to stop."

"Maybe," the Colonel said.

"See? There's a chance for you to avoid getting hurt."

Chris remained speechless at the fact. "...And he's just going to say maybe?"

"I don't know, sorry. For now, I'll take my leave and let you all think about you want to do with Snake," the Colonel said.

"...Wait a minute; you're just going to let this go like this? Aren't you worried about Snake?"

"I am," the Colonel said. "I'm not that good at changing people's minds. I'd like Snake to stay with you, but he has requested me to leave. The last thing I'd wish to do is making him have a grudge against me for saying otherwise."

"..." Chris looked away. "I see..."

"But if you're planning to keep going with this, I won't stop you," the Colonel said before he left the conversation.

"...Why is it that I'm being pitted to do the unthinkable?" Chris asked in annoyance.

"You can do it," Otacon said. "Mario could have the same advantage, but you know Snake more than he does."

"B-but I barely touched Snake's game series!" Chris said on his defense. "I haven't played his game a long time ago!"

"Well, we can't back up now that you know what we want to," Mei Ling said. "But please, try to do it."

"...I'm not so sure about this..." Chris muttered. "...But...I don't really want Snake to leave as well..." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll try to do everything I can, provided he doesn't crush my throat with a grip..."

"Oh, thanks," Otacon said with relief. "You're doing the right thing here."

"YOU should be doing this," Chris said.

"I-I-ah, don't need to, really," Otacon said. "Well, good luck out there! I'll be cheering on you from a remote spot... Bye!" Otacon said before he left the codec.

Chris looked away in annoyance. "I swear that Otacon has a phobia for Snake..."

Mei Ling chuckled. "I think so, too. Well, for now, I'm going to wish everything goes well for you," she said. "If you ever want to call us again, press your ear."

"Just don't call me when I'm sleeping..."

"We don't like to do that, anyway," Mei Ling said. "Well, see you later, Chris," she said before ending the codec conversation.

A moment of silence took place in the hallway before the World Traveler walked to the nearby pillar and began hitting his forehead against it. "Why, why, oh why to I have to risk my life to do this?" he asked in disbelief. "Screw Snake's "Who dares, wins" motto, I'm so going to lose by daring myself into this!" he cursed.

Without him knowing, some footsteps were heard on the hallway. Thanks to the fact he was hitting his forehead against the pillar, Chris didn't hear anything until words were spoken. "Hmm, I didn't think someone had a hobby to hit a pillar with the forehead without any reason."

Chris stopped hitting his forehead and looked to his left. He found that Red XIII and Aerith (wearing a red yukata; Japanese clothing that looked like a kimono except for wide sleeves used for summer seasons) were staring at him with some odd looks on their faces.

"..." Chris blushed embarrassed. "I-I was just trying to shake something off from my mind, that's all..." Chris muttered.

"Sure you were," Red XIII said. "It "seemed" to be just that."

Aerith looked worried. "Are you okay, Chris?"

"(Well, the fact Snake is going to leave us very soon, and the fact I'm looking at one soon-to-be dead innocent girl in front of me, I'm NOT that okay!)" Chris thought. "I'm okay, don't worry," he faked. "Just okay..."

"Are you now?" Red XIII asked.

"..." Chris thought for a moment about Snake. "(...What can I do to convince Snake? I'm out of ideas...)" He looked at the two. "(...Wait... I think they can help me somehow... Let me think a bit...) Aerith, Red XIII, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Aerith asked. "You can ask us anything."

Red XIII looked away. "Once she said that, I can't back down."

The World Traveler shook his head a bit. "W-well, it's about Yuffie," he said. "You traveled along with her some time ago, right?"

"Yes, we did," Aerith said. "What about it?"

Chris folded his arms behind his back. "...It's just that...do you still believe in her as a partner of your group?"

Aerith crossed her arms. "You might get surprised, but I think she's still a partner to us."

The World Traveler looked at the lion. "What about you?"

Red XIII looked up sideways at Chris. "I don't honestly think she should be still a partner to me. Yuffie has had her reasons to be traveling with us, and the way she left us was unforgivable."

"Why is it unforgivable?"

"She betrayed us by stealing our Materia," Red XIII explained. "We were being deceived by her for a long time after we caught her from stealing our items after we escaped from the Shinra building... I'm sorry, but I don't trust humans very much as I used to."

"You still trust your grandpa," Aerith said.

"He's the only one I can look up to and you with the others," the lion said. "But Yuffie is another different person."

Chris looked worried. "Can you answer me something else? Did you...have fun times with Yuffie?"

Aerith chuckled and nodded. "Yuffie was one lively girl when she was with us. She used to do some pranks and tell some jokes to make us feel right at home. Not only that was she cheerful, she was also a nice cook. Even Red XIII ate her food."

Red XIII looked embarrassed. "That's because I couldn't resist the scent..."

"...Okay..." Chris muttered. "But once she left the group, do you still think she might have a place with you?"

The flower girl thought for a moment. "Hmm... I think she still has a place with us..." she trailed off. "Yuffie was affected by Shinra as all of us did: Cloud worked for them but then dropped out for unknown reasons, Tifa lost her home and friends in a gruesome accident, I was being persecuted by them to join SOLDIER, Red XIII was kidnapped from home to become a experiment subject, Cid got his space voyage cancelled, and Yuffie had her home turn into a tourist resort," she explained. "Also, another friend of us lost his arm and his friend, and another one had a cruel past...all because Shinra affected all of us."

Red XIII looked down. "If someone should be blamed for is Shinra," he said. "Because of them, the world and even its people are suffering..."

"Come to think of it," Aerith began as she looked up, "if Shinra hadn't done all those things, none of this would've happened like Yuffie having a place to live with honor..."

Chris thought for a moment. "So, do you still think she should return?"

Red XIII closed his eyes. "It's a hard choice," he said. "She caused this and she has to repay us in some way or another."

"Yeah," Aerith said. "I know she did something she shouldn't have done, but there's always room for forgiveness, and a room for her to be with us."

"Shinra is the main reason we're trying to stop them from doing more atrocities to the people," Red XIII explained. "That is one common goal that makes us all work together."

"(A common goal...)" Chris thought. "(But even if we're facing the Subspace Army, it won't be enough to convince Snake from staying with us...) Do you think...it would be a good idea if all of you were on your own to fight Shinra?"

Aerith shook her head. "No, that's dangerous," she said. "If we ever got separated, our lives could be at risk..."

"We work better when we're together," Red XIII said. "There's no turning back once Shinra has set an eye on all of us."

"(Staying together so the enemy doesn't finish you off...)" Chris thought. "(But Snake said he could fight alone well without having to worry about others...)"

"Why are you asking so many questions regarding Yuffie?" Red XIII asked.

Chris snapped out from his thoughts. "I was just trying to see if you still want her to stay with you, that's all..."

Aerith rubbed her chin a bit. "Well, if she ever wanted to come back, we would receive her with open arms, if she apologizes and starts being honest with us, that is."

"Otherwise, we may as well ignore her," Red XIII said. "If she doesn't truthfully say she's sorry, then we won't care any longer for her."

The World Traveler nodded at this. "I see..." He thought about something else. "(I need to see if I can get some kind of clue to help me with Snake...)"

Aerith yawned a bit. "Sorry, but I think it's time for me to sleep for the night."

"I should do the same," Red XIII said.

"W-wait!" Chris stopped them from taking another step. "I need to ask one last thing to you."

Red XIII grunted a bit. "Well, what is it that you have in mind?"

"(I need to listen carefully to this...)" Chris thought with some worry. "If, let's just say, Cloud were to leave the group because he thinks he can fight Shinra alone...and you happen to be not that close to him...would you still try to stop him from leaving?"

The lion thought for a moment. "I'm still grateful for Cloud for rescuing me and Aerith from Shinra, but seeing that you're asking me with a situation like that..."

Aerith nodded. "Of course I'd try to stop him," she said. "Even if I didn't know him, I would stop him from doing so."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked. "Are you absolutely sure that you would do that?"

Aerith chuckled. "I know I can do it because it happened once before," she said. "Cloud was a rather secluded person who liked to be alone most of the time. He still does that to these days, but he's starting to open up," she explained. "I guess he just won't leave us because he's starting to care for others rather than himself."

The World Traveler looked a bit surprised at this. "(So then, Cloud had a similar situation like this, but he never thought about leaving because he slowly grew together with all of them... This does seem to be helpful, but it won't change much about what I can do...but maybe I can use this as some kind of basis...)"

"Are you done?" Red XIII asked.

"...Yes," Chris said. "I'm done. I think I'm going to go back to sleep."

Aerith smiled a bit. "Let's sleep well tonight so we can see if we can track Yuffie down."

"Yes, let's do that," Chris said.

However, he recalled another different matter.

"...O-one more question!" he interrupted.

Red XIII sighed. "What..." he trailed off in boredom.

Chris looked at Aerith. "This is...a little bit more personal, but why did you offer to guide Lucario around? You looked like you were having fun..."

Aerith chuckled. "I did it because I think he's kind of special," she said. "I don't know why, but there's a lot of life in him. He also looks kind of cute to me."

"You know there's a lot of life in him?"

"Yes."

"(...Oh god, more of a reason that Aerith is one heck of an innocent person... S-stop thinking about her death already!)"

"Can we PLEASE go back to sleep now?" Red XIII asked. "I get a little bit upset if I don't rest."

Chris snapped out from his thoughts. "O-oh, okay, let's go, then."

The World Traveler decided to follow the two characters down the hallway. Many thoughts raced inside Chris's mind, and he mainly though about what to do to convince Snake from leaving the group. It was going to bother him a lot, but he needed to do it to accomplish Mei Ling and Otacon's favor.

Music stops

After they left the hallway, they didn't hear that somebody had sneezed a little bit loudly.

Just underneath the wooden floor, a person hid in complete darkness, except for a little light that emanated from a helmet she was wearing on her head. There was a serious Elena writing down everything she heard the moment Chris came into the scene. The blond Turk was decided to get a nice report done by all the information she had gathered up until now.

"Hmm, interesting," Elena muttered as she read her notes...

Elena's Report-Do NOT mention I'm ignoring the search for Don Corneo to my superior (or else I'm so screwed).
-Cloud's group had their Materia stolen.
-Foreign group of people had their stuff stolen as well.
-The foreign group is from another kind of world, according to them (VERY relevant).
-The red mutt is easy to anger (still thinking if this is any relevant at all).
-Subject Snake wants to drop out from group (not relevant).
-The teen likes to get nervous a lot (I don't know why I wrote this).
-Some kind of traveling army is around these parts. This needs more information (and, of course, it's VERY relevant).
-The dog has a lot of life in him, according to the Cetra girl (might be relevant).
-I didn't receive any help from either Reno or Rude, so I should definitely receive all the credit (at least this is here to remind me I'm doing all this ALONE, you guys...)

Elena looked forward. "Well, I think this should help," she muttered. "I have enough information to start my report about those guys now... But still, it strikes me odd that the odd group came from another world... If this is true, then I might even make a new discovery for Shinra's ruling power!"

She began to crawl back outside the wooden floor to a wall she had made to enter. Once she got out, Elena coughed a bit and looked back at her notepad.

"Yes, I think this should be enough," Elena muttered as she turned around to the east. "Now I just need to make my report right away and let Rufus know about..."

For some reason, the blond Turk found herself surrounded by eight men in ninja uniforms. All of them had their eyes covered under cloth, and they were all staring at Elena.

"...And just who are you?" Elena asked. "Wait a minute; those uniforms seem a bit familiar to me..."

"These uniforms are not even ours," one of them said. "We're using this to pose as residents of this village."

"Posing?" Elena said confused. "What do you mean by posing? Why are you surrounding me? Does that mean you're not from here?"

"Of course not, we're all henchmen of Don Corneo," one of them spoke.

"...Don Corneo... W-wait a minute, you're his henchmen?" Elena asked. "Okay, I didn't plan to do this now, but you need to bring Don Corneo to Shinra after he leaked out information to Cloud's group because of his sick fascination ove-"

"We're afraid we can't do that," one of them said. "Don Corneo wishes to stay away from Shinra as far as possible."

"And since you're a Turk, we can't just let them know he's here as well," another one said.

Elena looked serious. "What is that man planning to do?"

"Kidnap you."

"...Kidnap me?" Elena asked. "Why kidnap me?"

"He wants you to be his bride."

Final Fantasy VII - Hurry!

"..." Elena processed the statement inside her mind for a bit. "...NO!" she yelled suddenly. "Y-you mean to say he plans to do the same thing he did back at Midgar?"

Midgar is the city that is commanded by the Shinra Company. Many incidents have occurred when Cloud and Tifa were there.

"Well, not exactly, but you could say that," one person said. "Besides, it would be a waste if you were the only one."

"What?" Elena asked. "Then there are more?"

Elena saw that one of stepped aside. Behind him, a familiar person was completely tied up around her arms and legs on the ground with her mouth covered under a white bandana. The person on the ground looked up at Elena and struggled to yell for help. Elena took a closer look at the girl before gasping.

"Y-you!" Elena said in surprise. "You're the Yuffie girl of Cloud's group!"

At that moment, Yuffie gasped loudly before Elena was grabbed from behind by her arms by two men. The blond Turk gasped at this and looked at her captors. "W-what do you think you're doing to me?" she asked. "Why are you even taking her along?"

"Don Corneo has found a liking to this girl," one of them said as Yuffie looked pissed at him. "She happened to ask for help to find some kind of shopkeeper to sell some stuff, but since our disguises fooled her, we were able to subdue her."

"T-that's sick!" Elena complained. "She's barely old enough to have marriage!"

Yuffie looked a bit angry at Elena.

"It doesn't matter," the same man said. "Don Corneo can do what he pleases."

"No he can't!" Elena argued. "That man has really sick thoughts about women!"

"He couldn't care less about you. However, in the case none of you girls manage to please him, we can always have the third bride..."

"…Third bride?" Elena repeated. "What third bride is that?"

The man looked at the Kisaragi Mansion. "Right now as we speak, some of us will soon bring here another woman for Don Corneo..." He looked to the right where some men were dragging another familiar face to them. "Ah, it looks like they already did so."

Elena looked at five men coming to them, carrying an unconscious Smasher by her arms. The blond Turk watched as they dropped her on the ground and tied her around the same parts as Yuffie. The ninja looked to her left and stared at the blond woman being forced to sit down.

"...Wait..." Elena trailed off, "I think she was with the foreign group... I think her name was...Samus...or something..."

It was Samus. The bounty hunter seemed to have been unconscious. Elena looked at the men that brought her in, and they looked a bit weak. "We're sorry for the delay," one of them said. "She woke up right after we were about to make her fall asleep deeply. She then tried to knock us all down by herself, but we managed to grab her in time before she could run out for help."

"Did anybody hear you?" a man asked.

"No, the fight was very silent, sir."

One of them nodded. "Then we're all set," he said. "Now we just need to bring all of them to Don Corneo."

Yuffie's eyes widened before she began to yell as loudly as she could. Unfortunately, the cloth covering her mouth made it impossible for her yells to be loud enough for somebody to hear her pleas.

Elena grunted loudly. "N-no! I just can't let this happen! Not like this! I just came from a very important mission!" Elena tried to yell, but the men covered her mouth with a chemical on it. The blond Turk's eyes suddenly became worn out before she soon tilted her head forward, letting go of the helmet on her head that fell on the ground. Yuffie looked shocked after Elena fell asleep.

"Quick, we must move," one of the henchmen said. "No people are out in the streets because of those monsters coming out at night."

"Yes, let's haste towards Da Chao Mountain right this instant," another one said.

The henchmen nodded to each other before they all carried all the women towards the north to the mountain that overlooked the whole village. Being the only one awake, Yuffie watched as she was taken further away from her original home. The ninja yelled for help, but she stopped doing so after she saw that many dark globs appeared on bare ground and came out as the shapes of dreadful monsters with yellow eyes. The ninja didn't know that there were any monsters in the village.

Yuffie did know, however, that she was about to be forced to marry a person she never met. The only thing she wished now was help from anyone to save her. She even went as far as to call out Cloud's name for help.

Unfortunately, it was futile. Nobody what was happening about her anymore. Yuffie kept yelling out for help as she, along with Elena and Samus, was brought into the mountain just in front of the village...

Samus has left your team.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Between Honesty and Stubbornness. Just when things couldn't get any worse..." Mario muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Wutai Village
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckles, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Cid

References:

-"Final Fantasy VII – Hurry!" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in desperate moments such as rescuing Aerith from being breed with a monster (in this case, Red XIII).

-"Final Fantasy VII – On That Day, 5 Years Ago" is a song reference to the same game. It plays in sad situations, most remarkably during Cloud's retelling of his past as SOLDIER.

-"Final Fantasy VII – Anxious Heart" is another song reference to the same game. It plays during situations of sadness, like the above song. This theme has some kind of relieving, doubtful, yet mysterious feeling to it, don't you think?

Out Of Curiosity:

-"Donkey Konga – Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" was used for comedic purposes. This was chosen only because it appeared in a game.

-Aerith's death, which happens at the end of the first disc, is supposedly one of the most shocking events in video game history, according to the sources. It's also one of the most memorable and heartbreaking events in video games, causing a lot of admiration for her demise (even to the point people wanted her to revive in some kind of way by sending emails to Yoshinori Kitase (the game director)). All this is constantly being reflected in Chris.

There's only one sad fact about this chapter: Yuffie got captured, so I can't write those scenes involving her for the time being. :(

This chapter had some references to the Metal Gear Solid games, specifically in the conversations that Chris and Snake had. Also, I think the strongest point of the chapter was their conversation. Thankfully, the FFVII crew helped to give some more "accidental" development to Snake. I hope it continues like this (if you liked it, anyway). I'm still doing more research about Snake without having to go to the third game. So far, Snake proved to be very good to write for (just as I've said the same with Olimar).

Of course, I can't forget about the cast of FFVII. If I were to write them as simple side characters, then what's the point in making them important? The charm that each character has is what it makes this story unique, as long as you accept them to an extent.

There's a poll in the profile, so why not vote for the arc you want to have in here?

The next chapter will have one last character introduction, but it's not one of the nine playable characters of this game because I see no point in adding them here. He was already mentioned throughout this chapter, so it's easy to tell who it is.

I encourage anyone reaching the bottom of this page to review and express how much you liked this chapter. ;)

…Or Cid will curse you out with a bunch of random symbols…oh, and Aerith will seriously die earlier in here (then again, I think this is a little bit too cruel for me as well…) …Um, scratch the last threat, please…
*Chapter 168*: Between Honesty and Stubbornness

The internal conflicts of Mr. Tight Butt continue… "Snickers"

From ngrey651: So. Yuffie forced to marry Don Cornero? ...I'm not going to laugh, laughing would be mean, I'm not going to-HA! YOU TOTALLY DESERVE IT! HA-HA-HA-HA! Oh, thank you, author. You know how to make me smile.

From me: O..kay… Thanks for reviewing.

From Kami of the Silver Flame: To RedXI: It's called 'headbashing'. It's something you do when someone around you does something really really stupid.

They kidnapped Samus? Can't say I'm surprised, really. Oh, but they will be, once Samus wakes up and starts shooting beams and kicking **. And she's lost all her weaponry.

So Snake is leaving, hmm? A pity, but really, not that surprising. Wonder how Chris will convince him to stay, I do.

...Wondering also why like Yoda I am speaking, I am.

Anyways, great chapter.

From me: Yes, I got confused by what you were saying. Too bad Samus is at the hands of some guy. Hopefully the chapter will resolve some doubts. Thanks. ;)

From Furryfur: This is getting intense! And none of this would have happened if Yuffie didn't steal there stuff, anyway Update when you can! ^_^

From me: And if Yuffie didn't get into the mix, the plot wouldn't have been this funny. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From FF and STH: you did an another great,awesome,funny chapter also the talk with chris and snake was nice, add with that one music

From me: Why am I thinking your reviews are starting to become full of flattering words instead of an actual review? Maybe it's just me… Oh well, thanks, anyway. :)

From PianistChris: I enjoyed reading the scenes with everyone chasing after Yuffie, and the ending is a great twist of what was happening.

If Sonic and Lucario were not blind, then it would have been very simple to catch Yuffie, so you did a good job in pro-longing it by that funny part where they became blind :)
Thankfully, I've done some research into FFVII and I now know all the characters, and so it makes this arc even better.

As for Snake, you've done a good job in developing him with his background in the MGS series, especially on the part where he becomes Pliskin. But I don't think there would be much point into researching him through his third game because in the third game, its not Solid Snake.

Looking forward to the next chapter!

Chris :p

From me: I know there isn't any point in looking into the third Metal Gear Solid game. However, I might end up looking at the fourth installment…just probably, though. Thanks again. :)

From TARDISreviewer: Well... you've got mah favourite character from the game in here now. (though that's not saying much, considering pretty much evreyone else (apart from those 2 I hate) I can tolerate... and I see you've referenced another 2 of the party members. take one guess as 2 which 2 that appeared in this capter is my favorutie character in FF7.

From me: Your favorite characters are Cid and Red XIII, right? Also, I don't think you mentioned anything related to the chapter that much, or is it just me again?

Thanks for reviewing.

From Blackglow: Once again, awesome chapter! I just have one question: Is Sephiroth going to appear in this arc? Building on that, is he the person you were referring to at the end of the chapter? If he does appear, I bet Chris (and Lucario) would totally freak (in terror)! Well, either way, I'm not stopping with this fic ever!

From me: Why would I have him appear in here? I don't think it's a good idea since he never really drops by Wutai at all. I was mentioning another person who got hinted several times instead.

Thanks for the review. :)

From Mr. Buppity: I have followed this fanfic on and off. You defenitly made me happy using Red Xii. He is one of my favorite game characters. Can I suggest an idea though.
Can Yuffie be turned into a anthromorpic cheeta. Its only a suggestion just thought I give it a shot.
Great fic and canèt wait what happens next.

p.s. Darkblur supports Lukario in his SSB fanfic.

From me: …The hell? Since when was I doing morph fics? Sorry, but you got some crazy ideas in the wrong place. I DON'T do any of those useless suggestions in here. You might want to look somewhere else.

Thanks for reviewing, though. ;)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Good Chappy especially with Yuffie. Yes you should change the title of Ch. 166. Dude you have got to update more often. By the way WHERE THE F%#& IS PORKY. Seriously I thought you said he was coming up soon and yet he's not been seen.

From me: It was just a suggestion, but not an actual idea to change the title. Don't mind the disclaimer that much, dude. He's there for other purposes…

Also, I'm sorry if I update slowly but I have other stuff to do during my free time. I'm not a slave of my own fan fiction. I REALLY TRY my best to update as soon as possible.

As for Porky, you'll have to wait until I make him appear. I don't have the right time and right place right now, so how can I make him appear in such situations?

And please, DON'T ever announce stuff irrelevant to the story again, okay? Failure to comply to this will make consequences for you. ;)

Thanks for the review. ;)

From Seitei: ~Seitei gives Apology to Chris!~

Sorry I haven't reviewed in months. I have kept reading your story, but couldn't think of anything to say. :P

It's great that you're now talking about FF7 and all. This is a pretty big plot you've got right here. :3

Update soon!

From me: Well, thanks, but it's not your job to review that often…but if you say so…

I hope the plot is big enough, though. Sometimes I wonder if I could've chosen another different one, but this one seems appealing so far. Thanks again. ;)

From Kimoto: Well... Yuffie got owned.

Sonic and Lucario got blinded.

And Chris has to make Snake Friendlier.

Good Chapter.

And Chris is gonna have a hard time.

From me: I know.

They needed to be less useful or else this arc would have ended in two chapters, I guess…

And Chris does the impossible…possible?

Thanks again.

And I know.

From SlasherMask: FINALLY, I has returned from death.

Hmm, nice chapter. Bowser's and Wario's situation is hilarious. BTW isn't XI number thirteen? Isn't his name prounced "Red Thirteen"? Hm, phobia for Snake? Funny, considering the one thing I am too lazy to mention... *moves on to next scene* Hmm, talking to person who you know is going to die must be... "Weird"... Oh, and Cloud kinda did go loner route on Advent Children, didn't he? Oh and for final thing... *insert joke about Standard Female Grab Area(Name by TV Tropes(Its are that if you grab action girl, they instantly become helpless and need rescue))*

So yeah, funny chapts.*sighs in relief after having read these chapts for... Who knows how many hours(You write WAY too long chapts)*

From me: Sorry, dude, but I'm not going to talk about previous chapters since they need to be in their respective places.

As for this actual review… Well, I think his name is spelled Red XIII in the game, besides, I think it sounds much better to have the roman numbers in here instead of spelling the number's name. Too bad I can't tell much about what you're trying to say with TV Tropes…

And I know I write long chapters, but shorter chapters wouldn't look too good. I'm not planning to have eight or so short chapters for an arc. Sorry.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From SnowGirl316: Sorry for not reviewing in such a long time. School work has gotten me bound and gagged! Anyways, it looks like another dramatic arc. Great cliffie there with "Samus has left your team". That's the kind of stuff that keeps me into a fanfic. LOVE IT! Can't wait for the next installment and Ch. 164 Night of the Were-Wolf. I hope your co-author can get the computer fixed not just for the reviewers' sake, but his or her sake too. Computers are important for other things like school work, etc. Well, 'till next time!

From me: It's understandable, don't worry about being late for something you can do optionally.

Also, did you forget the note that said "DO NOT MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT CHAPTER 164" yet? If you didn't, you might want to see it again. For that, I won't talk about that chapter.

As for your other review, forget it. You should've noticed it's way too far to make an arc for Star Fox. Besides, Wolf has been doing a lot of stuff lately, so that serves me as an excuse to avoid making an arc focused on him. You got time for him in the last chapters of the SO3 arc, anyway.

I have to say, while I know this chapter was slow, it was fun to write at the second half. I hope it turned out great for you, though.

In this chapter, we'll see what happens after the group notices Samus is gone, and we'll also see the beginning of a gruesome battle for the next chapter. There's also some internal conflicts that Chris faces about Snake, so please, enjoy.

Nah, I won't mention about the poll open in my profile… Oh, wait, I just did. Stupid me…

I encourage whoever is commanding a screen pointer to read, enjoy, and review this chapter. ;)

Disclaimer: CloudXAerith or CloudXTifa? You decide.

Chapter 168: Between Honesty and Stubbornness

-Wutai Village-
Kisaragi Mansion

Final Fantasy VII - Wutai

The next morning brought some lights into the village, more specifically the mansion of the Kisaragi clan. In his room, a light reached out to Chris, who grumbled a bit at the blinding light on his face. He covered his face with the futon (the bed he was using) and hoped that the light would move away.

Usually, anyone would wake up early or late. Today, they woke up by the lovely voice of a blond man who had just tripped in the hallway.

"S*&%!" Cid was heard cursing before moaning in pain, his leg still hurt from chasing after Yuffie yesterday.

"Hmm..." Chris pushed the futon off from his face and let the sunlight touch his face. He instantly sat up and looked around the room where Mario, Sonic, and Chip (on top of the hedgehog) were slowly waking up from their futons. The World Traveler looked to his right where Lucario let out a long yawn, but his eyes were still shut tightly. "Good morning, everyone..." he muttered.

"Morning..." Sonic muttered. "Phew, no werehog traits during the whole day..." he said as he touched his right arm to see if he didn't pick any fur.

Chris looked at Lucario. "Lucario, can you see again?"

The Aura Pokémon slowly opened his eyes, but as soon as he opened them, they became very watery before he shut them again. Chris could catch a glimpse of Lucario's eyes. The veins of his eyes were bright red, and the very same eyes looked hurt. "No..." Lucario said. "The pain isn't there any longer, but the aftereffect isn't letting me see clearly..."

"Can you use your aura, though?"

"I'm afraid not..." Lucario said. "My eyes are twitching a bit too much that they are stunning me from concentrating..."

The World Traveler looked down. "So you'll have to wait a little bit longer before you can fully recover..."

"I'm sorry for making you feel like this..."

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Chris said with a sigh.

"Well," Mario began as he stretched his arms to both sides, "we're going to have to look for Yuffie more today without having to rely on Lucario's aura or Sonic's speed."

"Don't get me wrong," Sonic said as he looked at Mario (or apparently tried to look at him, since the hedgehog was looking at the wall), "I can pretty much catch her if she's right in front of me."

"Nonsense!" Chip said suddenly as he began to fly in the air. "Chip Norris says dogs ALWAYS listen to him, no matter how ridiculous the order is."

Sonic grunted. "Chip, stop thinking you have control over me..."

Mario forced a smile. "I'm afraid to say Chip has actual total control over you, Sonic..."

"Thanks, man," Sonic said with sarcasm. "You REALLY are making me feel better this morning."

"Oh, my bad..."

They all then heard a multitude of curses coming from the hallway by an angry Cid. From what they could tell, the retired man from the space cursed almost everything he could think of, even someone named Shera. However, Cid seemed to be cursing that particular name so much for some reason.

"Oh, great," Chris muttered in boredom. "Today I had to wake up by someone cursing the harshest words I've ever heard before..."

Chip thought for a moment before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I know! I should do the same so I look manlier to people! Chip Norris will then appear on a dictionary for the definition of awesomeness!"

The hedgehog knew where Chip was because he was too close to him. Sonic grunted and forced Chip to the futon's sheet. "Let's just start the day already!" he said. "I wanna see what, y'know, is in front of me very soon!"

"I want to say I agree with you, but not in the same desperate manner," Lucario said.

"Ugh, just ignore me, then..."

Residential Area

After everyone woke up, got dressed up, (and attended the cursing Cid), the members all walked to the front of the mansion where Cloud called them for a new plan to look for the cunning ninja.

"Alright," Cloud began, "today we will be looking for Yuffie, everyone."

Marth sighed. "I really want to stop this whole thing, but seeing that she has family heirlooms stolen from me... I can't just let her go away with this."

"Same here," Fox said. "I hate when my equipment either is stolen or broken. I also hate to get replacements because there are times those very replacements aren't ready to be used."

Cloud looked at the group. "Well, let's see if anyone has an idea of what to do since I don't have any more of 'em."

Chris glanced over to Snake. The mercenary had his arms crossed while he looked away to another direction. The World Traveler thought with worry that the ex-FOXHOUND operative was still sure about leaving the group. Chris thought hard about what to do to convince Snake from doing otherwise, but anything seemed useless. He faced a hard moment.

"…Snake…" Chris muttered. "(I…I…I don't know what to do at a moment like this… I don't want Snake to leave, but another side of me is telling that I don't really want to meddle with him… I hate this so much…)" he thought.

Cloud blinked a bit confused once he looked once again at the group of Smashers. "That's strange now…" he trailed off. "Why am I thinking you guys are incomplete?"

"What do you mean by incomplete?" Mario asked.

"Well, last time I checked, I thought there was one woman with all of you," Cloud said. "She doesn't seem to be with you anymore. Did she leave somewhere else?"

The Smashers looked at each other. They soon found out that Samus wasn't around anymore.

"Hey, where is she?" Knuckles asked. "Wasn't she with us yesterday?"

"She was," Snake said. "Maybe she's still at the mansion."

"Oh, I'll go get her," Tifa offered before she ran into the mansion to get the bounty hunter.

Cloud watched as Tifa went inside the mansion's doors. The blond mercenary looked back at the group. "While she goes for her, has anyone thought about a plan? I think there's no point in looking for Yuffie given the fact that we can't capture her."

Fox crossed his arms. "Capturing her would be easier than chasing her."

Red XIII nodded. "It seems that way," he said. "Yuffie knows the village's grounds very much that any of us. It gives her an advantage to hide anywhere."

Cid grunted. "The girl knows her thing, alright," he said. "If we wanna get her, we're gonna have to get some kind of bait to fish her out from her hiding spot!"

"Yes," Marth said. "But how, though? How are we supposed to catch her?"

Snake thought for a moment. "Let's think again," he said. "She said yesterday that she's been running around the village to look for a shopkeeper who could buy her our stuff at high prices…"

"I know!" Chip chimed in. "Let's all pose like shopkeepers by putting on some costumes! That way, she won't tell we're us!"

"Oh god, for once, Chip has a nice idea," Sonic said in boredom.

Cloud closed his eyes to think about the idea. "Hmm, that could help, on second thought…"

"Can it?" Red XIII asked. "What if Yuffie can see through our disguises? Ninjas are masters of disguise, and she may as well be skilled in telling people apart."

"That poses as another problem…" Chris muttered.

At that moment, Cloud turned back to the mansion where Tifa ran outside and towards them. The fighter then stopped running in front of them to catch her breath. "C-Cloud…" she muttered.

"Yes? What's the hurry about?" Cloud asked. "Did you find Samus?"

"N-no, I found out something even worse than that…" Tifa trailed off. "S-she's not in the mansion anymore, but she was kidnapped!"

Some of them gasped at this sudden news. Mario looked at Tifa. "Wait, you are sure she was kidnapped? This is very sudden…"

"I-I know what you're thinking," Tifa said. "But it's the whole truth!"

"Calm down," Aerith said (as she was holding the blind Lucario's right hand). "How do you know?"

Tifa stopped panting before she got back into a calmer state. "When I went to her room in the mansion, I found Godo in there. He told me that people had entered into the room during the night yesterday. He said that he knows that there were intruders in there because the room where Samus was looked a bit broken down. The door to the outside garden was wide open as well, and Godo said the maids heard some rumbling sounds in her room..."

"But there was no sign of Samus?" Marth asked.

Tifa shook her head. "I asked the maids if they saw her, but they said they didn't see her anywhere…"

"And you think she was kidnapped," Cloud said.

"Well, Godo presumed she was kidnapped because there were mud footprints going out from the room…"

Knuckles made a fist on his right side. "Damn… First, we get our stuff stolen; now we're getting ourselves kidnapped by her? What the heck is wrong with this place?"

"…Hold on," Red XIII began, "Tifa just said that there were many footprints all over her room, right?"

"Oh, yes," Tifa said. "Those footprints looked a bit big for Yuffie's feet, though. I don't think she had anything to do with this incident."

"Besides," Cid began, "the b*&^$ has an eye for Materia, not women. Otherwise she'll be a slut."

Cloud ignored Cid's comment. "It makes sense that Yuffie didn't do it. She wouldn't kidnap anyone unless they have Materia, but she hasn't even thought about doing that sort of thing before."

Aerith looked worried. "Then we can assume Yuffie didn't do it, right?"

"She didn't do it," Cloud said. "Somebody else did."

Mario thought for a moment. "But the question is who and why… Actually, make those two questions," he said. "Who would do something like kidnapping one of us?"

"Not Yuffie," Aerith said. "It was probably somebody else in here…"

Fox's eyes widened before he looked stern. "Bowser and Wario," he said. "They must be here in the village."

"Bowser and Wario?" Chris said in confusion. "What about them?"

"We met them yesterday when we were with Tifa," Lucario said. "Apparently, they got their stuff stolen from Yuffie as well, and they're looking for her to get everything back as we're doing."

Sonic grumbled a bit. "But they didn't do this. Did you forget? They said they wanted to find her before doing any sort of bad thing around here."

"Well, I don't know if I trust them, but it looks like it…" Knuckles trailed off.

"…Hey, the Turk scums!" Cid said in anger. "Those m*&^$&#%$^*&s did it!"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't think they did because Reno said they were taking a break. I honestly don't trust him, but he looked serious about the fact."

"S&^*…" Cid muttered.

Cloud knocked his forehead a bit. "This is just too hard now…" he muttered. "There are so many subjects, but all of them are not guilty of anything…"

"It just doesn't make any sense," Red XIII said. "We haven't met anyone who would go to such heights to kidnap one of us."

"And why Samus of all people, though?" Marth asked. "I don't see why she needed to be kidnapped. Any of us could have been kidnapped instead of her."

Aerith crossed her arms and looked down. "I wonder who did all this..."

"Everyone is wondering, Aerith," Tifa said. "It's something we didn't expect that would happen."

Cloud nodded to himself. "Guess we'll have to run yet another search in the village to see if anybody saw her going anywhere." He looked at the Smashers. "Was she going to leave you?"

Mario shook his head. "No, she never thought about doing that."

Chris looked away. "(But Snake is the one who really wants to...)" he thought, looking at the mercenary, who was wondering what to do about the current issue.

"Then she must have been kidnapped..." Mario trailed off.

Knuckles nodded. "We don't have any other choice left than looking for her. While we're at it, why don't we look for the ninja girl as well?"

"That's a good idea for now," Tifa said. "Do we separate like before?"

Cloud shook his head. "Since everyone should know the layout of the village, everyone can go anywhere. However, I wouldn't mind if some people could follow me."

Chris raised his hand. "Oh, can I go with you?"

"Me too," Tifa said.

"Me three," Aerith said with a chuckle.

"Don't mind if I tag along," Mario said.

"Can I please...come as well?" Lucario asked in embarrassment.

"I guess," Cloud said. "Anybody else can go along in groups as well."

The World Traveler noticed that Snake wasn't interested in following them. Trying to come up with an excuse, Chris looked at Snake. "Snake, do you want to come with us?"

Snake looked at Chris. "I don't really want to, but seeing that it could change things a little bit... Fine, I'll come along."

Chris sighed mentally. "(Oh, thank goodness, he's coming along...)" He noticed that the mercenary gave him some kind of stern look. This made Chris sweat bullets. "(T-that look he's giving me isn't making me feel any better... I need to stay cautious about this or else I'll pay the price through the most violent way possible... I have Lucari-oh, wait, he's blind, so I'm so dead...)"

Silently, everyone else went to separate ways; some of them going along with a partner. Cloud looked at his group and sighed. "Let's do everything we can to see where we can find Samus and Yuffie."

At that moment, a resident of Wutai (a ninja) passed by and looked at the group. "You don't seem to be around these parts," he said. "Then again, with all these tourists, it's easy to tell who doesn't live here."

"Oh, hi," Cloud said. "Who are you?"

"I'm a special officer of Wutai's police department," he said. "Master Godo sent me here to tell you about what you should watch out for some strange events."

"Mind if we ask you some questions first?"

"Would you answer me one, though?" the ninja asked. "It's important for you to know before you commit a mistake."

"What would that be?"

The ninja crossed his arms. "Well, since you're new around here, you should know that you shouldn't go out to the streets at night... Perhaps you haven't heard about the monsters?"

"Monsters?" Tifa asked. "What monsters are you talking about? If there were any monsters, wouldn't the village be in trouble?"

"Yes, but that's not exactly the case," the ninja said. "See, ever since some weeks ago, during the nights, these monsters made out of darkness have appeared in areas where people usually don't walk around. The intelligence of the village has then reported this to Master Godo, who looked into this to find out if it was true. Once he found out the truth, he issued a law that everyone should rest in their homes to prevent anyone from getting hurt."

Mario and Chris exchanged glances. "Monsters made out of darkness?" they both repeated.

Snake frowned. "Those creatures again..." he muttered.

"Monsters that appear during nights?" Tifa said.

"Exactly," the ninja said. "These monsters have been appearing all over the region surrounding Wutai. Apparently, these creatures like to patrol the area as if they were looking for something, but we can't tell what it is, or if they're even looking for something. What's more, they've been appearing on the empty streets of the city, but...they don't attack anything or anyone."

"What? I always thought monsters weren't hostile unless they're bothered," Cloud said.

"These monsters don't attack anything in sight," the ninja explained. "They just patrol and nothing else."

Aerith looked worried. "Have the police done something to stop those monsters?"

The ninja shook his head in shame. "Unfortunately, we can't do anything due to the fact causing a fight in the streets would mistakenly make Shinra operatives believe Wutai will rise against it. Master Godo has then ordered that we should better watch the monsters and see if they don't do anything to the village...which hasn't happened yet."

Tifa looked down. "Shinra is making this place feel miserable..."

"Even they're not concerned about this," the ninja explained. "We don't know if they know about this, but it's better if they don't know. The last thing we want is deals from them to protect the village."

Cloud thought about the issue. "So you're saying we shouldn't go out to the streets at night?"

"Yes, for the welfare of the nation," the ninja said. "This is between you and me, but I honestly think this is so wrong..." He shook his head and looked at them. "Anyway, what did you want to ask me about?"

"Have you seen a girl wearing a blue suit?" Mario asked. "She's been missing. You know, the one that disappeared from the mansion?"

"Sorry, but we don't know anything about a kidnapping," the ninja said. "If there was a missing person, perhaps you should report her to the detective department. Although we don't fight because of Shinra, we do still provide public services since this place is filled with tourists."

Aerith smiled a bit. "Can you please do that?"

"Of course, ma'am," the ninja said. "Give me a general description of the victim before I take this to the headquarters."

"I'll give the description," Mario offered before he began to describe Samus to the ninja.

Once the red plumber was done, the ninja nodded at them. "I shall take this info to the office now. I'll make sure this search for the victim starts today as soon as possible."

"We really appreciate your help," Tifa said. "Thanks, really."

"No problem," he said before he turned around and walked away from them.

Chris shook his head. "I can't believe all of this is happening... It's one problem after another."

"And with Yuffie playing tricks on us isn't helping at all," Tifa said. "Wonder where she is, though."

"We'll see if we can finish either task today," Cloud said. "For now, I'm out of options..."

"Tsk," Snake muttered as he looked around. "Talk about a tight spot." He looked in front of the Kisaragi Mansion where a big-bossed gong hung on the top of a wooden platform of about 8-feet of height. "I thought Samus could manage to fend off by herself. She's one tough woman, I know that."

Mario thought for a moment. "True enough," he said. "Samus could definitely fight alone without us around."

"But if that's true, then it's safe to say she was being attacked by several men," Snake said. "However, this isn't that relevant anymore."

"I know," Cloud said. "Now, I'll ask again: does anybody know where should we go next?"

Chris looked at the gong Snake was staring at. "Ooh, look at that, a gong," he said. "I always wanted to ring one of those before."

The blond mercenary rolled his eyes at this. "Talk about a childish dream..." he muttered.

The World Traveler looked annoyed at him. "H-hey, I still have a child in my mind, you know!" he complained. "You surely have one in you!"

"Not really," Cloud said bluntly.

"...Who cares, anyway?" Chris asked annoyed before he walked towards the gong by walking around the platform before going up some steps. The group watched as the World Traveler picked up a long stick with a hard end from the floor. Chris tumbled to the sides for a bit before he gained his balance. He looked at the big bell for a bit and smiled. "Heheheh, nobody is going to say anything if I ring it a bit, right?"

Aerith tilted her head to the right. "I don't think you should really do it," she said. "What if there was somebody else guarding it?"

"But it's just a little hit!" Chris said worried. "I really want to listen to how it sounds!"

Snake frowned. "Kid, you really are childish sometimes."

Chris grunted at this. "Oh, what do you know? I want to be part of this culture by ringing this gong," he said before he pulled back the stick and gave it a hard swing to the gong, creating a long echo that traveled many feet away across the surroundings. Some of the group covered their ears as Chris stumbled back and fell on the wooden floor. The loud sound provoked him to drop down the stick to the floor. "O-oww..." Chris muttered as the sound keep ringing. "I-I didn't know the sound could be this loud!" he yelled.

Cloud sighed as the sound kept echoing. "Before you do anything reckless, at least give it some thought, will you?"

Suddenly, on the left side of the wall of the platform, the group watched as a door suddenly appeared in sight. The blond mercenary looked a bit surprised at this, along with everyone else, staring at the secret door appearing out of nowhere.

"...Hey, look at that," Tifa said. "A secret door?"

"But...how did it appear out of the blue?" Aerith asked.

Snake rubbed his chin as the sound of the gong slowly died out. "Maybe making that gong sound triggered the secret door to appear..." he wondered.

Chris stood up and looked at the group. "What are you talking about now?" he asked before he looked down at the secret door. "W-what the..."

Mario smiled a bit. "I think that you were supposed to ring the gong, Chris. Its sound made this door appear."

"(...Wait...)" Chris thought, "(now that I remember, this door down here could be revealed if the gong would be rang...)" He slapped his forehead and frowned. "(Oh god, what did I just do? I could just do it...but then again, I don't want Cloud's group to suspect why I know this...so this is necessary...)"

Cloud stared at the door before he walked towards it. The ex-SOLDIER looked at the doorknob and slowly reached out for it. Cloud then opened the door to see that there were some steps going down into the secret basement of underneath the gong. "...There's a hidden passage in here," he said.

The group went to see what he meant by the passage. They all looked into it where some lights were illuminating the bottom of the steps. "Hey, you're right," Tifa said.

"Hmm," Mario wondered for a bit. "Should we go in and see where it leads?"

"Well, we don't have anything else to think about," Snake said. "Maybe we could find out some clues about Samus's kidnapping...but that's just an assumption."

"Even so, it won't hurt us to go see what's in here," Cloud said before nodding. "Alright, everyone, let's go in."

"H-hold on, what if somebody is using this?" Aerith asked. "What if this is a secret house?"

"Nah, I don't think so," Cloud said. "Who would honestly have their house hidden under a gong? There should be some kind of secret down here, and we need to see what it is in hopes to see if we can find any clues about Yuffie... Maybe she's hiding in here..."

"In that case, let's go in there," Tifa suggested.

The group nodded in unison before they all walked down the steps of the hidden passage, Aerith carefully guiding a blind Lucario while Chris sighed and closed the doors behind his back.

Secret Basement

They all walked down the steps, and soon they found themselves standing in some kind of storage room where boxes were piled up on each other and other decorations were scrambled. There were some stairs going up to some place on the far right corner of the room.

"A basement," Mario said.

"Strange," Tifa muttered. "Why would a basement be hidden right in here?"

"It would make sense if those stairs over there would be the only way in here," Cloud said. "However, having a secret door under the gong is a bit odd..."

Snake looked around the surroundings of the basement. "...We're not alone in here," he muttered.

Chris looked worried. "W-what do you mean we're not alone?"

"I can listen to some sick breathing, and there's some kind of putrid smoke smell in the air in here," Snake said. "Can't you listen and smell them?"

Lucario smelled the air and shrugged. "There's a sick smell of smoke," he said.

"Ho...ho...ho...hohi...ho...ho...hohi..."

The group gasped after listening to some kind of laugh coming from the basement. They all looked around to see where the voice came from. Upon looking close to the stairs, the group saw that that an obese, blond man walked out from the darkness. The man wore mafia-style clothes, such as a bright red coat, unbuttoned white shirt underneath, dark blue pants, and pale brown shoes. The man had a small patch of blond hair on his head, and he had a tattoo of a heart with an arrow stuck on it. He was smoking a pipe.

Final Fantasy VII – Don of the Slums

"Hohi! Ho ho ho hi!" the man laughed.

The Smashers didn't know exactly who the man was. As for Cloud's group, they did. Aerith and Tifa, for some reason took steps away from the shady man, and Cloud, for some other reason, reacted a bit too weird. The blond mercenary shrugged, shook with worry, and then shook his head. Making a fist, Cloud's right eye twitched and looked at the man. "C-Corneo?!" he said in shock.

Don Corneo is a lonely, perverted, rich man who seeks some love. He was in-league with Shinra as a secret spy to get information about AVALANCHE until he was forced by Cloud to spill info about a secret plan to terminate the team. He is known to have sick affinities to women, as he had taken girls away to make them, presumably, his sex slaves.

"Now what do we have here?" the man named Corneo asked before looking at the group. "Hmm… Oh, but if it isn't the lovely ladies and the man who likes to crossdress!" he said.

"…Crossdress?" Snake muttered before looking at Cloud. "He doesn't mean you, does he?"

Cloud tried hard not to blush in embarrassment. "I-I did that just because it was needed!" he argued to Corneo.

Mario looked confused at this. "Um, Cloud, what does he mean that you're a crossdresser?"

Aerith chuckled. "Oh, now I remember," she said. "We met Don Corneo back at Midgar. He had "kidnapped" Tifa so she could become her wife."

Tifa looked away in boredom. "I told you before that I just let myself get kidnapped to get information out of him…"

"So then, Cloud and I wanted to get to his mansion to rescue Tifa, but then we learned about her true intentions for being there," Aerith said. "We went through a lot of trouble to get Cloud properly dressed as a girl because Corneo wouldn't let men in his mansion. However, when we were able to make Cloud look like a girl and entered inside and met up with Tifa, the guards took us to Corneo, and he chose Cloud to be his bride."

Cloud glared in embarrassment at Aerith. "Aerith, stop right now o-"

"And then Tifa and I broke in and found Cloud in bed with Corneo," Aerith finished with a chuckle. "It looked kinda disgusting, though…"

Mario, Snake, Chris, and Lucario looked at the blushing Cloud. "…" Snake stifled a small chuckle.

Cloud glared at Snake. "What's so funny now? I-I did all that because I was worried about Tifa."

Tifa blushed a bit and looked away. "H-hey, i-it's not like I can't handle anything, you know…"

Cloud ignored her. "S-stop looking at me with those faces now! It's obvious you want to laugh at me!"

"Oh, don't worry, Cloudy," Snake joked. "Everything's just fine here."

"C-Cloudy?" Cloud twitched at the name.

Chris looked a bit doubtful. "No, I think Cloudelia sounds more girly."

Cloud glared menacingly at the World Traveler.

"What about Cloudel?" Tifa asked in curiosity.

"No. How about Cloudelina? I think it sounds nice," Aerith suggested.

"I'll go for Cloudel any day!" Corneo said with a laugh.

Cloud turned to glare at the don. "Y-you shut up! You're not wanted here!" he yelled.

"My, what a temper!" Corneo complained. "Geez, for once, it was a good thing those hotties broke into the room before I could rub your hairy chest!"

The blond mercenary blushed more. "S-stop reminding me about that incident!" he complained.

"Ugh, fine!" Corneo complained. "Besides, the last thing I want to do is dealing with you all! Thanks to you, Rufus is trying to put an end to my life as a loner!" he said before sniffing. "My life for a gorgeous woman…"

Cloud shrugged at the thought and brandished his buster sword, which he pointed at Corneo. "Why are you here? Answer me!"

Lucario tried to glance to Chris. "I think Cloud is a little bit stressed by this man, right?"

Chris sighed and nodded. "I can tell that perfectly from a mile away…"

Corneo sighed. "I'm here because Shinra is trying to kill me, duh!" he complained. "Thanks to you, my life has become hell! I had everything back at Midgar. I had women, money, mansions, and now everything is almost lost!" He sniffed a bit before he chuckled grossly. "But who cares as long as I can get some pretty women?"

"You mean kidnap women?" Aerith asked. "T-that's very inhuman!"

"And let's not forget you want to make love with you!" Tifa yelled. "I mean, who would honestly fall in love with you?"

"Grrrrrrr, what do you know?!" Corneo asked. "You're still very young and sexy to understand (Snake: Yeah, this guy is pretty much a pervert) all this!" He turned around and looked up. "However, I don't care about you anymore! I have much better things to do like choosing my next wife!"

"Did you just kidnap more women again?" Cloud asked. "You'll never change, huh?"

"Nah, I'm better off this way," Corneo said before he smiled toothily at them over his left shoulder. "Besides, three pretty women are waiting for me as we speak. I'm just hiding here so I can sneak my way through to my secret dating spot I have close to this place."

"Three women?" Mario asked. "What three women are those?"

Tifa looked a bit confused at the question. "Why ask about them now?" she asked before she thought about the question. "…Oh, right, so we might have a chance to save them…"

"No, no, no, no!" Corneo refused. "You're not gonna save them from me! I'm a good guy!"

"Tell me at least ONE thing that makes you a good guy," Cloud demanded.

"Oh, simple," Corneo said. "The fortunate woman gets to be my wife."

"T-that isn't even a good thing!"

"You don't know!" Corneo argued. "As for your question about the three women, my henchmen just got a hold on three pretty "contestants" if I do say so myself. One of them happens to have such a big bust that makes OH SO mad about her! So sexy, so dreamy, so GORGEOUS!" he explained while he drooled a bit at the image of said girl in his mind.

While Tifa looked disgusted at this, Chris looked a bit confused at the statement of the girl. "..." He looked a bit embarrassed. Something triggered in his mind after listening to Corneo. "...Would...that girl happen to be...wearing a blue suit?"

Corneo blinked at this before looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, the weird blue suit? Why, yes, she has one. Too bad, she has it stuck on her, though, because I can't see her charms very well. There's no way to take that off from here, unfortunately..."

"..." Snake grunted a bit. "Oh god, please kill me now... He wasn't the one who kidnapped her, was he?" he muttered. "If he was, Samus is going to be seriously scarred for her whole life..."

"..." Chris gasped at this. "H-he was the one who kidnapped Samus, then!"

"Um? Is that her name? Lovely!" Corneo rejoiced. "Actually, it sounds a bit odd, but who cares? She's so sexy unlike the blond Turk girl and the ninja with the oversized pauldron over her right shoulder!"

Aerith blinked a bit confused at this. "Oversized pauldron? You don't mean..."

Tifa gasped and forced a glare. "You kidnapped Yuffie as well?"

"If you mean the girl with the charming smile, then yeah, I did," Corneo said. "She looks so cute that makes me go crazy on her!"

"U-ugh, you pervert! She's only sixteen!"

"Love doesn't have any barriers for ages, you know," Corneo said with a wink, making Tifa yelp a bit.

"And who is this blond Turk you're talking about?" Aerith asked. "You don't mean Elena, right?"

"Bravo!" Corneo rejoiced. "You guessed correctly for all my three brides! If I were to marry Elena, I could get some kind of immunity against Shinra!" He hopped on the spot. "Oh man, oh man, oh man, I can't wait to arrange the wedding ceremony!"

Cloud grunted. "Corneo, let the two of them go!" he demanded.

"Um, Cloud, I think you're forgetting Elena..." Mario muttered.

"I don't care about her. She's our enemy."

"...Oh..."

Corneo shook his head and grunted at the demand. "W-why you! I don't want to listen to what you have to say! I'm gonna get myself one of 'em in bed by today's night or else I'll die from waiting too much!" He turned to the stairs. "Smell all of you later, suckers!" he yelled before he quickly ran upstairs.

Aerith gasped. "If we let him escape, we're going to lose track of him!"

"B-but why is he doing all this?" Chris asked.

"Forget about that, dammit!" Cloud complained. "We'll ask him all this after we apprehend the guy! Come on, let's go!" he ordered before he ran after the don.

The group remained behind, seeing as the blond mercenary's calm behavior had snapped out with pure rage and anger. Lucario, listening to the dead silence of the room, tried to look around. "...Does Cloud get this upset when Corneo is mentioned to him?"

Tifa sighed. "You could ask that to Cloud and he would explode," she said. "He has been having those nightmares with Corneo sometimes..."

"Well, at least I'll think twice before I wear a drag and get on the bed with an obese dork," Snake commented. "But that's not something we should think about right now."

"Right," Tifa said in determination. "If we can get Corneo, we might be able to get to Yuffie."

"And save Samus, don't forget that," Mario reminded.

The group then decided to run after the blond mercenary by going upstairs, leaving the basement behind.

???

After walking upstairs, the group found themselves walking around a golden statue of a Wutai god. Several Japanese decorations were ornamenting the room's ceiling, along with a golden mattress positioned in front of the golden statue. They looked forward to see that Cloud held his buster sword with both hands, facing forward where Corneo was backing away from eight Shinra soldiers that appeared from the frontal door of the mysterious room.

"Freeze!" one of the soldiers demanded, all of them staring at Corneo. "Don Corneo, you're wanted for betraying Shinra in the past, the pay for the crime being your death!"

"G-guh?!" Corneo looked shocked at this. "N-no! I won't let myself turn in that easily!"

The group joined in with Cloud, standing around him. "Shinra soldiers!" Tifa said. "They're surely with the Turks right now, right?"

"Corneo!" Cloud yelled. "I'm not gonna let you escape after you tried to do you-know-what on me!"

Corneo shifted glances between the group and the Shinra soldiers. Desperate, the don closed his eyes and yelled loudly in panic. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

"GET HIM!" one of the soldiers said as they charged forward after him.

However, unexpectedly, Corneo moved sideways, allowing the Shinra soldiers to run straight towards Cloud's group. As the group gasped at this, the incoming charge meant something to them.

Do battle.

Final Fantasy VII – Fighting

"W-what the…" Tifa gasped as the soldiers ignored the scared Corneo as they loaded their machine guns. Right after charging, the men began firing at will at them, making everyone step away from each other to stay safe.

"Damn," Cloud muttered as he shielded himself with the buster sword's edge. "They're after us as well! They weren't ignoring us from the beginning!"

Mario hid behind the golden statue to avoid being shot. "Well, you were the one who came in here earlier! Aren't your group wanted by them as well?"

"DIE!" a Shinra soldier shouted as he fired at Aerith.

The flower girl gasped and quickly took out a long staff from behind that she used to defend herself by blocking the shots. Soon enough, she was shielded by a blind Lucario who charged up an Aura Sphere and shot it right to the soldier. The Shinra soldier yelled in pain as a blue explosion forced him to be pushed all the way to the wall where he lost consciousness and fell down. Aerith looked surprised at this. "T-thanks, Lucario..." she said.

"Don't worry," Lucario said. "Stay behind me."

"HELP!" Chris yelled as he accidentally rolled behind the Aura Pokémon to avoid being shot. Two soldiers began firing at Lucario, but the bullets that crashed against him were all dropping on the floor without having any kind of hurtful effect on him. The Aura Pokémon growled angrily at this that he charged two separate Aura Spheres and shot them right on the soldiers, knocking them out with single shots.

"Chris?" Lucario asked as he looked over his right shoulder to Aerith and Chris (even though Lucario couldn't still open his eyes). "Don't you have your spear with you?"

"I-I wish I had it, but Yuffie also stole it from me!" Chris complained. "I'll have to change jobs!" he said before he changed quickly to his Black Mage job. He took out his staff from behind and sighed. "Phew, I can use some long range magic now..."

Aerith tilted her head to the right. "Wow, did you just change clothes in a bright light?"

The World Traveler gasped and looked shocked at Aerith. Chris had forgotten that the flower girl was with them. "I-ah... T-that's one of my specialties to fight..."

"Hmm..." Aerith thought for a moment. "I think it looked...good, I guess..."

Chris sweat dropped. "Thank you for the compliment..." he muttered.

On one side of the room, Tifa and Snake were being surrounded by four Shinra soldiers. The two were standing back-to-back as they looked at the soldiers. "Okay, you," Tifa began speaking to Snake as she looked serious at the soldiers, "do you know any martial techniques?"

"No, but I do know self-defense," Snake said. "I don't rely too much on my weapons in all fights."

"Good," Tifa began, "because we're going to have to go physical on these guys."

"Fire!" one of the four soldiers ordered to attack before they all began shooting at the two.

Both Tifa and Snake dove right underneath the shots to roll towards a soldier each. Tifa performed a strong uppercut to the chin of the soldier while Snake used a sweeping kick to throw his soldier off-balance. The other soldiers stopped shooting and turned to each one of them to try shooting them down, but the two defenders sidestepped out of the way and charged directly to them. Snake used a somersault forward to force the soldier fall down on the floor, and then he proceeded to grab him by behind the throat to do a chokehold. The soldier choked out breath before Snake slammed him down on the floor. Tifa nimbly avoided some shots before she reached the soldier with a flying kick to his stomach, making him cough in pain before she delivered a fast punch to his face, prompting him to fall down unconscious.

Two Shinra soldiers went after the red plumber. Mario was still hiding behind the statue. The soldiers tossed some grenades to the back of the statue, but then they were reflected back by Mario's Cape. The soldiers sidestepped from the explosives before charging to the statue.

Behind the blind Lucario, Chris concentrated his magic to the tip of his staff. "Burn to greater ashes…" he chanted. "…Fira!"

Harsh flames covered both of the Shinra soldiers, prompting them to stop running to try and make the fire disappear by flailing their arms. Aerith saw the opportunity to attack and she did by spinning her staff a bit and leaping to both men to strike their heads hard. The impacts were strong enough to make both of them lose consciousness before they fell down on the floor, fire still burning them on their backs.

Aerith looked at Chris. "Do you have Materia with you?"

"What?" Chris asked.

"You just used magic," Aerith said. "You can only use magic through Materia. Do you have any?"

"N-no, my magic is obtained through experience…" Chris trailed off.

"Is that so? That's strange…" Aerith said. "Normally Materia is the only way to get new abilities…"

"(This world relies on Materia a little bit too much…)" Lucario thought.

Back with Tifa and Snake, they still had two soldiers against them. Behind them, the last soldier of the unit yelled and shot bullets at them. The two characters then grunted in pain before the first two soldiers joined in with the attack, making matters worse for Tifa and Snake. "Cloud, help!" Tifa yelled.

"I'm coming!" Cloud yelled as he ran towards the soldiers with his buster sword with a grip behind his back. The blond mercenary jumped high and yelled as he brought the heavy weapon down on a Shinra soldier. The soldier received a harsh cut on his body, making him lose his machine gun for a moment before Cloud rammed his right shoulder against the soldier to make him crash to the nearby wall. The two soldiers stopped firing at Tifa and Snake to turn around and shoot at Cloud instead.

The blond ex-SOLDIER shielded himself by crossing his buster sword in front of him. Since the two soldiers had stopped shooting at Tifa and Snake, they were both quickly attacked by flying kicks from both fighters, making them fall to the floor.

"Shock in great paralysis..." Chris chanted. "...Thundara!"

Several bolts of strong thunders crashed right on the back of the soldiers, making them yell in pain before they fainted.

Final Fantasy VII - Wutai

And the mini battle had ended.

The blond mercenary sighed after all enemies were taken out. He spun his buster sword (as impossible as it might sound) and put it behind his back. "That should do it for now... Is everyone okay?" Cloud asked as he looked at everyone, Mario coming back from behind the statue.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tifa said. "I got shot quite a bit, but I'm okay... (Thank you, Cloud, for saving me,)" she said and thought.

"I'm okay," Mario said. "Everyone is fine."

"Good," Snake said. "These soldiers caused us some trouble, but at least they're all taken out."

Tifa chuckled and looked at Snake. "You're not half bad at fighting," she remarked before looking at the other Smashers. "And you guys know how to do your thing."

Cloud nodded. "Seems they can handle fights well," he said. "I was a little bit impressed by the dog, though. Those spheres of energy looked kinda cool to me."

Lucario smiled a bit at this. "(Did I just get a compliment from Cloud?)" he asked in excitement.

Aerith chuckled a bit. "Wow, Cloud, you complimented them?"

Cloud looked away. "Hey, I'm just saying..."

Chris glanced at the fainted bodies of the ten soldiers on the floor. The World Traveler shrugged a bit and said, "We didn't kill them, right?"

"I don't think so," Aerith said. "They were just knocked out."

"In that case, we shouldn't keep staying here for any longer," Cloud said before he turned to the right wall with a glare on his face. "Alright, Corneo, it's time for you t-"

For Cloud's dismay, it appeared that the perverted old man had escaped during the battle. Corneo wasn't in the room anymore, and there weren't any signs of him anywhere.

"...Dammit!" Cloud cursed with a stomp on the floor. "The guy escaped from here while we were fighting these soldiers!"

"That's a shame," Lucario said. "I could've seen him, but I can't do much in this condition..."

Chris sighed and looked worried at Lucario. "Please, don't say those things, Lucario. It's not your fault."

Tifa became preoccupied. "Oh no, what are we gonna do now?" she asked. "He could've escaped anywhere while we were all fighting..."

Mario shook his head. "He didn't escape from the secret passage. I was hiding there to avoid being attacked."

"Well, that should give us an obvious clue," Snake said before he faced the doors of the room. The doors had a small opening, indicating someone had left them open. "He escaped through there."

At that moment, the doors slammed open, and a familiar figure stepped into the room with a glare. "Alright, what's the whole racket in here?!"

It was none other than Godo Kisaragi; Yuffie's father and Wutai's leader.

"Godo?" Cloud said confused.

"...It's you," Godo said. "What are you doing in my statue room?"

"Statue room?" Mario repeated before looking back at the statue. "You mean that statue?"

"Yes, that's one of the ancient deities of Wutai...but that's not important right now!" he complained. "How did you all get in here?"

Snake pointed at the secret door behind the statue. "That door over there has a hidden passage that leads right under the gong in front of this mansion. Why would you have a passage like that?"

Godo closed his eyes. "Oh, that passage. That passage existed during the time of the Wutai War against Shinra. It was used mainly as an emergency route should I get cornered in my home. I've forgotten that it was there this whole time. Besides, it's convenient to have it just besides my room."

"..." Aerith looked behind Godo where the door to his room was located in the hallway. "...Oh, so this is close to your room..." she muttered.

"How did you find this passage?" Godo asked.

Cloud's look became stern. "All this time, there was somebody hiding in the basement of the gong. We're chasing after that person, and he kidnapped Yuffie to make her his sex slave."

The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest does not support the mistreatment towards younger audience in any way possible. It's the fault of the victim to get interested in private matters that makes them do mistakes in life, mostly because of curiosity. As such, the story is not responsible for encouraging the wrong step of premarital love.

"...Yuffie...a SEX SLAVE?!" Godo asked in complete shock. "W-what kind of sick idea is that? For the gods of Wutai, she's sixteen, dammit!"

Chris slowly approached to Cloud to whisper him something. "Um, Cloud, do you really think Corneo wants to turn her into that?"

"He's the male definition for slut himself, except that he's paid with pleasure; sick pleasure," Cloud responded.

"...Oh," Chris muttered.

Godo shook his head. "I-I can't allow such a horrible and unforgivable thing to happen, not to one of the Kisaragis!" he said.

"Do you care for Yuffie, then?" Mario asked.

"Even if we have our differences, Yuffie is and will always be my special jewel," Godo said. "I know she harbors hatred towards me for making Wutai surrender against Shinra, but she's still my daughter above everything. I'd go as far as to sell the whole nation just to have her safe..."

Tifa looked bored. "You know, the last thing you said would really make her very pissed."

"..." Godo looked down. "And yet, I'll end up making her mad at me... Maybe she was right that I'm a poor excuse as a father..."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Please, we're not her to discuss your family matters with Yuffie. We're here because we're chasing after Corneo."

"He's the one who kidnapped Samus," Snake said. "And we must hurry to find him before you're prepared to become a grandpa earlier than expected and father-in-law of a man older than you."

The others looked disgusted at the ending result. If there were a woman nearby, she would instantly spread the word to every single corner of the world about the seemingly possible outcome.

Godo's jaw opened. "T-the gruesome thought just makes me want to... U-ugh..."

Mario looked a bit disgusted. "I really never thought about that, honestly..."

"Not to mention that'd be a first to any known marriage..." Lucario muttered.

Godo furrowed his brow and closed his eyes. "No, I can't allow such an atrocity to happen, not even to my daughter!" he said. "I need to order a research party to find as soon as possible!"

"Wait, that's a bad idea," Cloud said.

The leader of Wutai opened his eyes. "What? Why is it a bad idea to rescue her from a sick man?!"

"You'll end up alerting his henchmen, that's why it is a bad idea," Snake said. "If they were to get a word of this, they'd tell the guy Corneo to make a run for it from this place. The last thing you want to do is having a whole army look for a single girl while accidentally alerting your captors about it."

"B-but she's..."

"She's your daughter, I know," the ex-FOXHOUND said. "But you need to think better before making a reckless mistake."

Godo grunted at this. "Then how am I supposed to rescue my daughter?!"

Cloud raised his hand. "Leave the rescue to us," he said. "Corneo has her and we need her to tell us where she hid our Materia and stuff. He also has a companion of them as well. If we go by ourselves, we won't raise much suspicion."

Godo looked down and frowned. "...Can I really trust in all of you to save my daughter from being..."

Aerith looked determined. "We'll save her no matter what," she said. "She deserves a punishment, but not THAT kind of punishment..."

"At least we agree that she doesn't really deserve that treatment," Mario said. "No more than Samus..."

"...Oh god, I wonder if he has them awake…" Chris asked. "They're surely cursing as much as they can..."

Godo looked serious at the group. "Please, I beg of you, rescue Yuffie before she gets in real trouble! The last thing this family needs is an early heir for the clan!"

Cloud nodded. "We'll head out right now," he said. "Before we go, did you see Corneo?"

Godo crossed his arms. "Well, by the time I woke up, there was a big silhouette running towards the exit of the mansion. When I heard explosions coming from this room, I got up and ran to see what was happening here. Around this time, Shinra soldiers were inspecting the house to see what the reason for the event of yesterday's night was..."

"They must've been here by the time Corneo fled," Cloud said.

Chris looked worried. "W-what are we waiting for? W-we need to look for Corneo before somebody has to make a family!"

Mario looked serious. "We've got no time to waste, then. Let's go!"

The group nodded in unison before they all ran out from the statue room. Godo watched as the group went towards the exit, wishing them to rescue Yuffie and prevent the clan to have more unnecessary members into the family tree. "...Please, save her... She's my most and only valuable treasure of Wutai..." he muttered before turning to see ten fainted bodies in his statue room. "..."

After he looked at the traces of destruction around the space, now the leader of Wutai was thinking that making the room big enough to have a battle was a bad idea; a conveniently bad idea.

Streets

Cloud's group ran out from the mansion and headed for the main streets of the village. After running through some crowds of tourists, the group stopped running to look where to go next. "Where could he have run off to?" Tifa asked.

"The village itself is so big," Aerith said (while she guided Lucario by grabbing his hand once again). "He could be hiding anywhere..."

"Don't lose hope yet," Mario reassured her. "We need to think more about what to do next."

"There's a problem: he could be anywhere," Cloud said. "Thinking logically, he'd hide somewhere where he can do anything to Yuffie and Samus."

"The question is where, though," Snake said. "Hmm..."

Chris thought for a moment. "(...Wait a minute. Mei Ling said that she put some nanomachines in some of us, right? Maybe she also put those things in Samus's ears as well...)" The World Traveler pressed his staples a bit. "(...Wait, how do you call them exactly?)"

"Chris?" Mei Ling's voice sounded.

"O-oh, Mei Ling, thank goodness you're responding," Chris said with a sigh. "I thought you weren't going to respond..."

"I was just about to call you, actually," Mei Ling said. "I forgot to tell you that you need to set the frequency to 140.96 if you wanted to call me anytime."

"...What?"

"To do that, you just need to think," she explained. "Think the number, and it'll be set. The only way to talk to either Otacon or me is to input the right frequency. Don't go forgetting it now, okay?"

In Chris's point of view, he didn't have any idea what Mei Ling was talking about. "...F-forget that for now! We're in trouble here! I really need you to answer me something!"

"Is it about Snake? Have you made any progress yet?"

"...E-er...no..."

"..." Mei Ling remained silent for a moment. Chris thought that she got depressed by the response. "...So what is it?" she asked, trying to avoid sounding depressed.

"W-well, Samus got kidnapped last night, and you said you had implanted those machines in some of us," Chris said. "Did you happen to put some in Samus?"

"I'm afraid not," Mei Ling said. "By the time I wanted to give Samus some nanomachines, she was wearing her Varia Suit. Upon contact, the nanomachines were taken out by the suit's technology. I'm pretty sure her suit took the machines as digital bugs."

"Oh no..."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do anything else," Mei Ling apologized. "People who have codec can be easily tracked down if you input the right frequency to call them. It's like a radio. However, if they don't have codec, it's impossible to track them down."

"Oh...so much for that..." Chris muttered.

"Sorry, but you're all on your own," Mei Ling said. "Try to find Samus by yourselves, okay? And before I go, can you try to convince Snake in the subtlest way possible?"

Chris gulped mentally. "I-I'll try to do it."

"Thank you," Mei Ling said. "Well, good luck. Remember that my frequency is 140.96."

"...Right..." Chris muttered. "I'll end the transmission right now. I don't want to waste anymore time."

"Why waste time? Codec calls last a lot of time in just a second."

The World Traveler had it with the explanation about codec calls. He didn't see that time itself had frozen when he was pressing his staples.

"...O-okay..." Chris muttered scared before he ended the call, time itself returning to its main track.

Tifa rubbed her chin. "This is bad. The more time we lose, the more danger for Yuffie is going to grow worse..."

Cloud crossed his arms. "Damn that pervert imbecile..." he muttered. "If only there was some way to know where they are..."

"So you guys are quite in a fit, aren't you?"

The group blinked a bit at the voice before they turned around and found none other than Reno and Rude (now sober) standing behind them.

Final Fantasy VII – Turks' Theme

"Reno..." Tifa muttered.

The red-haired Turk looked serious at them. "Hmm...that Corneo is good at escaping..." he remarked in annoyance.

Cloud looked serious at Reno. "What are you up to now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Reno asked. "Elena was kidnapped by Corneo. We could as well leave her behind if it wasn't for the fact that she is a Turk. The Turks have some honor, you know. Allowing one of us to be kidnapped could ruin our reputation."

"You're just doing this for the sake of the Turks' reputation?" Aerith asked. "What about Elena? Don't you worry about her?"

"Elena pretty much gets herself in trouble because of her recklessness," Reno explained. "However, she had to be recruited to the Turks because of her previous story in achievements, and because I was injured by our battle a long time ago."

Cloud looked away. "Now that you mention it, she said you were short on people…"

"Yeah," Reno said. "We don't honestly care much about Elena, but she is still a member. Whatever she does will ultimately involve the Turks. The Turks have had a reputation, as I've said before, that is very important. If we were to make mistakes or get into one, Rufus will ultimately disband us. He has the power to make us fall."

Snake thought for a moment. "(They don't care about her, but they care if she's one of them…)" he thought.

"Elena…" muttered the quiet Rude who had just spoken.

Reno nodded at her name. "Let's go, Rude. We'll give Corneo a taste of what the Turks can do…" He looked up. "...Yeah, that sounded nice... If Elena is in his hands, that's going to make things a little difficult." He looked at the group. "And, uh… You said he also took one of you, right?"

"Yes," Mario said.

"Corneo took Yuffie from us. And without Yuffie, there's no way we'll get our Materia back," Cloud explained.

"Was that some kind of petition to receive help from us?" Reno asked before he frowned. "Don't misunderstand. Just because a member of each of our group was kidnapped by the same man, it doesn't mean we'll help you. We don't intend to join you. But for now, we'll agree not to bother each other. That's all."

"That's fine," Cloud said. "We have absolutely no intention of cooperating with the Turks either."

"That's good to hear. The last thing I'd want to do is helping the enemy."

Chris looked away. "(It'd be a nice thing to do, though…)"

Cloud looked around the crowds of people. "Now, uh, just what direction did Corneo run off to?"

Reno chuckled a bit. "Hmm, nice attitude, you... Fortunately, Rude managed to catch a glimpse of someone who looked like Corneo, and we're sure it's him."

"You know where he went?" Tifa asked. "Can you please tell us?"

"Not that simple, though," Reno said. "Here's a clue: it's the place that stands out the most."

Tifa looked upset. "T-this is no time for riddles! We're all racing against the clock here!"

"Geez, you hate to do work, huh? Then again, I'm on vacation, so I don't want to do work either," he said before pointing to the north. "That place stands out the most, literally."

The group turned around to look at the north, seeing the huge mountain that overlooked the whole village.

"You know it? That's Da Chao Mountain," Reno said. "That's maybe the place where Elena and that girl Yuffie were taken."

"T-then that means Samus is there as well!" Chris said.

"We shall leave for now," Reno said. "You're on your own from here."

The red-haired Turk and the bald Turk silently dashed away towards Da Chao Mountain. The group watched as the two went into the crowd and disappeared from sight.

Cloud looked forward at the mountain. "So it is there where Yuffie was taken..." he trailed off.

Tifa looked serious at Cloud. "We must go there immediately!" she suggested.

"But...before we go, we should first try to communicate with everyone else," Cloud said. "We don't know what awaits us in that mountain, do we?"

"No..." Chris trailed off.

Cloud nodded at this and took out his PHS to start calling Cid and Red XIII. "Get the phone..." Cloud muttered before a clicking sound was heard. "Cid, we've found Samus's whereabouts. We've also found Yuffie's location as well."

"ARE YOU F*&^$#% KIDDING' ME?!" Cid's voice boomed in the phone, making Cloud twitch at the loud shocking words.

"N-no, I'm not f^%&$&# kidding you," Cloud replied in annoyance. "We know this because the Turks helped us."

"WHAT?!"

"Is Red XIII with you?" Cloud asked, trying to change the subject to prevent another scold from the older man.

"The mutt ain't with me. He's gone somewhere! I think he's marking his territory, the crazy bastard!"

"That's just an inaccurate and sick assumption," Cloud said. "Is there anyone else with you?"

"No! Oh, and the mutt dropped his PHS so I'm holding on to it. Don't bother calling him."

"(Just what we needed…) ...Then we all need to head to Da Chao Mountain," Cloud said. "Can you alert the others to go there as well?"

"How the f*&^ do you expect me to do that if I'm lost in this place you call a village?!"

Snake frowned. "That guy sure has strong cords. Anybody can listen to his rants from anywhere."

The blond mercenary pressed his brow. "Cid, please, this is a favor. I really, REALLY need you to tell the others to head to Da Chao Mountain."

"Go do it yourself! I have some business with that little b&^*# myself!"

And the call suddenly hung up.

"...Cid, did you just hang up on me?" Cloud asked, not receiving any response from the older man. "...Oh, great..."

Aerith chuckled a bit. "I think Cid got so upset and excited that he knew where to find Yuffie. I mean, he got pretty angry when she trapped us in that cage before..."

Chris sighed. "Please, don't tell me he's really going to kill her off..."

"Well, if he were to find her before us, chances are he'll do it," Tifa said. "We just met the guy a day ago, and we already know how he'll react."

Cloud shook his head. "Well, we have to find some way to communicate with the others and tell them to go to the mountain."

Mario raised his hand. "Let me go around the village, then," he offered. "You all can go ahead while I find and tell everyone to go to the mountain."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Frankly speaking, that's the only thing we can do to stay cautious," Cloud said. "We need to have the most people in this group we can take with us. We don't know what could be waiting for us in there."

The red plumber nodded. "I'll be on my way now. Go ahead and try to find Yuffie and Samus, okay?" he said before he turned around and ran into the crowds of people to look for the others.

As soon as Mario left, an angry Cid came charging from the same direction, running between the groups of people before going away towards Da Chao Mountain. The blond man left a long trail of dust behind his feet before it vanished from sight along with him.

"Oh goodness..." Tifa muttered in boredom. "He already got the advantage in this "race", huh?"

"...But we don't want Yuffie to die!" Aerith gasped.

Cloud smacked his forehead. "Why the hell did I call Cid?" he asked before he glared at the mountain. "Everyone, let's go or else somebody will die here!" he ordered before they all started running towards the mountain of ancient deities.

While they were all running, Chris looked at Snake. "(But if I try to talk to him, he'll tell I'm trying to convince him to stay...)" he thought. "(Snake is very clever as well. How am I supposed to be subtle enough to finish the favor?)"

The World Traveler pondered this as they kept their way towards Da Chao Mountain.

Da Chao Mountain

The mountain itself wasn't far away from the village. In fact, it was just in front of it. The group managed to reach the base of the mountain where they looked up to see several giant carvings depicting the deities of Wutai. The carvings themselves formed several paths that lead towards holes and narrow passages. Overall, everything looked normal to them.

"Da Chao Mountain..." Snake muttered. "This is kind of the place where Mei Ling would love to study about."

The codec ring tone rang. "Hey, just because I'm part Chinese doesn't mean I want to..." Mei Ling trailed off for a bit. "...Wait, this is another world... Hmm, maybe I could get a bit interested..." she muttered to herself before she ended the call.

Snake rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I know what you want to do," he muttered.

Chris looked worried at the mountain. "Are we going to have to climb this? I personally don't like to climb that much..."

"There are some paths that seem safe, though," Tifa said. "I think we can do this just fine."

Aerith looked at the blind Lucario. "Um, can you try to do this, Lucario?" she asked.

"I'll certainly fall if I can't see where I move my feet," Lucario admitted. "Hopefully Chris will guide me to the right way so I don't fall down."

Chris cried toon tears. "(Why must you mention my name like that when Aerith is the one who's been guiding you all this time?!)" he asked in disbelief. "(If Yuffie didn't spill my only Superspicy Curry, Lucario wouldn't have to go through this, and we could've found Yuffie sooner!)"

Cloud looked to his right where he saw Reno and Rude looking up to the mountain. The Turks were focused in the mountain's structure without noticing the group walking to them. "Hey, Reno," Cloud called out.

Reno blinked and looked to his left to look at them. "You're here," he said. "The stubborn man came here earlier. He beat the two of us before he went into the mountain's caves."

Aerith chuckled nervously. "He has a lot of energy for being older, I give him that..."

Reno ignored her comment. 'We're gonna split into two. You do whatever you want, but don't endanger Elena."

"As if we want her to have much more hatred towards us," Cloud said.

"That's Elena, alright. Taking her job so seriously to the point it's absurd," Reno said with a sigh. "Don't worry. We won't do anything to that girl Yuffie...for now..."

Tifa looked upset at this. "So if you were to find Elena first, would you then attack Yuffie?"

"I would...if it wasn't for the fact we're on a break," Reno said, Rude nodding in agreement. "Like I said before, we don't plan to fight you guys. For now, we'll split up."

The two Turks turned towards the mountain path, carefully walking in front of the narrow ways that extended all over the front wall of the mountain.

Aerith looked at Tifa. "This is a little bit random to say, but I think Rude was staring at you for a pretty long while. He didn't look like he wanted to look at anybody else."

"What?" Tifa asked. "What are you trying to say? How did you notice he was staring at me if he was wearing sunglasses?"

"Well, his gaze was definitely directed to you," Aerith said. "I wonder why he didn't say anything else..."

Tifa looked away. "I hope it doesn't have to do with something more intimate because I'd yell..."

Chris admired the mountain's carvings for a bit before looking at the group. "I really doubt that a fat man like Corneo could easily navigate through here..." he commented.

Cloud took a step forward and looked up at the mountain. "Cid must've already went ahead of us," he said. "We've got no time to waste."

"Wait, Tifa interrupted, "what if there are monsters in here?"

"If there are monsters, we'll have to deal with them," Snake said. "However, if we were to be ambushed while we're climbing this mountain, it won't be easy to avoid falling down to a certain death."

Chris groaned. "Oh, please, I didn't want to worry about that fact! I don't want to develop a fright for heights now!"

"Can we please stop talking?" Cloud asked. "We need to go up there now."

The World Traveler gulped. "As long as we don't fall down..."

"I could save anyone from falling down, but I can't do it in this condition," Lucario said.

"Lucario, don't make me feel that I'm more screwed that I think I am currently..."

"Sorry..."

Cloud's group decided to press on by carefully leaning against the wall to prevent falling down. As they all climbed the deities' carvings, the ground floor seemed more and more distant from their current height. One look would make Chris look up, but then he would think he was slowly falling down, and so he ended up having to look forward to the wall. Surprisingly enough, Aerith managed to keep Lucario from falling down. The flower girl used her own feet to touch Lucario's feet by leaning it against his foot. Aerith knew that Lucario could grow suspicious that she was guiding her, so she told Chris to tell Lucario to follow him, when it was really Aerith.

Chris couldn't resist the cursing temptation to look down to the ground floor, which was about ninety feet away from where they were. "Nobody's going to fall, Chris. Nobody is going to fall..." he muttered. "Think of your happy place where you're walking peacefully on a road..."

Some seconds of thinking later...

"...N-not somewhere that reminds you of the ground floor, dammit!" Chris cursed.

"Kid, stop talking," Snake said as he was going to the left, just besides Chris. "The less you talk; the better will be for us to drift in thought while we climb this wall."

"I-I'm sorry," Chris apologized.

The World Traveler needed to make progress with Snake. Gulping, Chris thought about talking to Snake. He needed to be very subtle or else he could end up getting hurt. The World Traveler stared at Snake for a while.

"(...I-I can't do this!)" Chris thought. "(Anything is going to trigger in his mind what we talked about yesterday! Snake is not an idiot, but he is one clever bastard!)" he thought in panic. "(Dammit, I don't want to have a conversation at THIS height. It's stupid!)"

Snake noticed that Chris was staring at him without even looking away. The World Traveler was panicking a lot in his mind to notice that the mercenary was looking at him. With a sigh, Snake looked back to the left to walk carefully on the narrow path.

"(Oh god, no,)" Chris thought. "(He's surely thinking I'm trying to convince him from staying here with us. I know that look he gave me meant all that!)" He looked down...to the ground floor. "(D-dammit, stop looking down!)"

"How much are we going to have to climb like this?" Lucario asked.

"Be patient," Tifa called out from Snake's left. "I'm pretty sure I saw some entries somewhere around here..."

Cloud, being the one in the lead, stopped sliding his feet in front of the wall to see a climbable spot that led to a cave. Just in front of that cave, Rude stared at it for a moment before he went inside. "I think I've found something," Cloud said. "Rude just went inside a cave. Everyone, follow me," he said before he began to climb the way up to the cave that Rude had gone into.

"A-anything than here is a really nice place!" Chris agreed.

The World Traveler looked down again. However, instead of looking at the ground floor, he stared at a rock formation where two arms in front of a Buddha-like head. Upon looking at it for a bit, something triggered in his mind.

"(....Wait a minute...)" Chris trailed off in thought, "(now that I'm looking at that place, wasn't that the place where Corneo held Yuffie and Elena hostage in the game? Why aren't they there? I thought they were supposed to...)"

"Um, Chris," Aerith began, "I need you to move up."

Chris shook his head and looked up at Snake climbing the wall towards the cave Cloud mentioned. "O-oh, sorry," Chris said before he slowly and carefully walked up the narrow path, thinking where Corneo could have gone to instead of the usual spot.

Lucario slowly tried to open his eyes to see the blurry images in front of him. His eyes were too watery, but they were less itchy than before. "My eyes are slowly recovering," he said. "I hope I can see by the end of this day..."

Aerith chuckled a bit before the two went up to the cave.

Once everyone had gone into the dark cave, the group met heating temperature of lava. It turned out that the mountain had lava inside its caves. "Oh, great, lava," Snake commented as he looked at a stream of lava in front of them. "And just when you thought making out with someone in a place like this wouldn't look any weirder than before."

"Can you please stop saying that?" Tifa asked. "I don't want to have sick pictures in my mind about Corneo doing...you-know-what."

The group looked to their right where Rude stared at a pool of lava before looking at them. "You like to be very silent, huh?" Cloud asked.

Rude seemed to ignore Cloud's comment before he looked to his right and found some kind of passage. The silent Turk ran into it and disappeared from sight.

"(Wait, what's that passage doing there?)" Chris thought. "(That wasn't there before...)"

"Have it your way…" Cloud muttered. "Let's go there."

"What?" Tifa asked. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to go to the same place where he went?"

"Reno said he wasn't going to meddle with us," Cloud said. "It's all good."

Tifa looked worried. "Sometimes I think they're going to say otherwise later…"

Snake rubbed his chin. "Maybe, but we outnumber them. I don't think they'll attack us."

"Besides, Reno is a man of word," Cloud said. "Everything is just fine, trust me."

"Back on the matter," Aerith began, "is it okay if we go further inside? I mean, do you see that lava pond? What if there's even more of it further inside?"

"I bet my sword that we could get into a very dangerous territory," Cloud said. "However, it wouldn't make sense for Corneo to hide in such a dangerous place to do…you-know-what to women. At least I know he has common sense, but just a bit of it. If so, he should've some sort of hideout hidden within the mountain."

"Nice thinking," Tifa said. "But let's not lower our guards until we get to him."

Lucario shrugged. "I don't like heat very much… I'd appreciate if you guided me cautiously, Chris."

Aerith smiled at this, but Chris looked away. "Um, sure, Lucario, whatever you say. I won't let you sink in lava."

"Thank you."

The World Traveler wanted to smack his forehead. "You're welcome…"

The group then pressed on by going through the passage Rude had gone into. Upon walking several feet away in it, they found a complicated set of different passages that went almost every single direction inside the cave.

"Darn it," Cloud muttered under his breath as they all looked around. "Now we're going to have to choose which path the real one is."

Snake looked down to find some footprints going to the right. "Not really," he said. "The pervert took that way. Just look at the footprints."

Aerith looked down. "Oh, you're right."

Snake noticed that there were more footprints going to the left. Judging by their shape, he could tell Rude went that way. "And these other footprints were from the bald guy. He surely didn't see these ones."

"Well, that's luck," Tifa said. "Now we won't have to go everywhere blindly."

Lucario grunted. "How ironic you say that…" he trailed off in boredom.

"Oh, my bad…"

Cloud looked serious at the way Corneo had gone to. "Okay, everyone, let's corner that bastard and finish this today."

The group ran into the passage in hopes to find Corneo and all his hostages. The World Traveler thought that he needed to do something to convince Snake from staying, but the fact that Snake was clever and smart could present a real threat to Chris. Anything he could bring up would make Snake know he was trying to make him stay with the Smashers.

The only thing Chris could do was to wait and think for the best approach.

???

Final Fantasy VII - Don of the Slums

Meanwhile, in the depths of Da Chao Mountain, Corneo giggled to himself as he looked up at the monument before him. "Hohi ho!" he laughed. "Yes, yes, yes! This is so feisty, I swear, feisty!"

The surrounding area was a very dark cave with a relatively long space. The cave itself was illuminated by very small lava rivers that ran around the wall's floor. Several stalagmites were stuck on the ceiling, and there were stalactites covering the edge where the small leaks of lava were.

However, there was some kind of ancient-looking structure facing the long space of the cave. Before Corneo lied some kind of temple with light brown walls that depicted some kind of ancient deity. An entrance was located in its center that leaded to an inner sanctum.

Just to the right of the upper part of the temple's wall, three figures were tied up against rotating walls over stalactites in a pond of lava. Their hands and feet were tied quite hard against the wall. The three figures could easily fall down to a possible death if they were to be released right on the pond.

"I swear I'm gonna throw up if I'm stayin' up here for longer!" Yuffie complained, being on the center of the other two. "I'm not a fan of heights!"

"I swear I'm going to kill SOMEBODY after I get off from these ropes," Samus muttered, being tied up to Yuffie's left, as she glared fiercely at the pervert man.

"A-and I swear I'm going to write as many reports as possible to make you, Corneo, die a slow and EXTREMELY PAINFUL death!" Elena proclaimed, being tied to Yuffie's right, as she struggled to get her hands off the ropes.

Yuffie gritted her teeth to the point she struggled even more than Elena did. "LET...ME...GO!" she demanded.

Corneo merely giggled at this. He seemed to like Yuffie's rebellious attitude. "Hmm... Delicious...scrumptious! I think I've just found a new HOBBY!"

"What are you talking about?" Samus asked. "What kind of hobby is to kidnap women for your own pleasure?"

"I-I agree with her!" Elena yelled. "T-that's such an idiotic thing to do!"

Corneo disgustingly licked his lips while he stared at Elena. The blond Turk looked very disgusted at the don's face. "Which shall it be to be my eternal love? Hmm... Hmm... Should I go...with HER?" he asked as he stared dreamily at Elena.

"E-excuse me?!" Elena said in irritation. "I-I'm one of the Turks, you know! D-don't think you can get away with this and ME! I have a reputation to keep for them, and I'm not letting you lay a hand on me! Leave me alone if you know what's best for you!"

"When you think about it, the fact that he had his men tie us up here over lava, it makes you think he won't listen to you unless you have love with him..." Samus trailed off. "I'm NOT up for that at all."

Corneo's fascinated look went over to Yuffie, who blinked in complete shock. "Or...maybe...HER?"

"BLEEEEEEEH!!!" Yuffie yelled in disgust as she shook her head. "H-how can you think such a thing about me, you dirty pervert?! I-I'm just sixteen!"

"But love doesn't require barriers!" Corneo said, drooling a bit. "Love makes anything possible!"

"That's why love is sometimes very stupid..." Samus muttered.

"W-what are you saying? I can't get pregnant because of YOU!" Yuffie complained to Corneo. "I-I mean, my father would become a grandpa AND a father-in-law! Honestly, who has ever heard of an old man becoming son-in-law to a younger guy like my father?!"

"Y-yeah!" Elena yelled. "If you go with her, you're going to provoke a strange situation of the laws of marriage!"

"You're not helping, you know!" Yuffie complained to Elena.

"Nonsense!" Corneo said. "Besides, who's saying I'm so old? I'm in my young thirties, mind you!"

Elena sighed. "Well...that's a big relief for you," she told Yuffie.

Yuffie laughed happily. "Oh, it's a big relief, alright," she said. "It'd be a real relief it if wasn't for the fact HE WANTS TO MAKE OUT WITH ME!"

"You don't want to?" Corneo asked. "Aww, you're no fun... Well, better give you the fun instead!"

"N-no, it's okay, really. I'm already fun myself," Yuffie said in disagreement.

Samus sighed. "How the heck did I get myself dragged into this mess? I swear I'm going to put some kind of security system to my room back at the mansion should a situation like this happen again..."

Corneo snorted and looked dreamily at Samus. "Or...perhaps contestant number three should be my wife? I wonder how soft her charms are..." He drooled. "I wanna squeeze 'em..."

The bounty hunter blinked at this before she glared menacingly at the don. "Okay, you're starting to become a huge jackass pervert."

Yuffie struggled to move. "Hey, you make it sound like a compliment!" she complained. "He's more like super duper jackass pervert!"

"You're both wrong!" Elena argued. "There's one true definition that can describe well enough, and that word is rapist!"

"Would you two STOP arguing about this? It doesn't have any relevance to this screwed up situation!" Samus yelled at the two girls. "And it's not usual for me to yell like this, but you both are making me snap out, seriously!"

"What about the rapist?" Elena asked.

"Especially the rapist man!" Samus complained.

Corneo giggled with glee. "Wheee! I like how saucy women are! They tend to have more action than others!" He pointed a finger at Yuffie. "And she's the winner of this contest!"

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "G-GROSS-NESS!!!" she yelled in extreme disgust. "D-don't mess with me, old man! I swear I can be rather ferocious when the situation demands it!"

"Hohi ho! Then I chose the right girl!"

Samus looked bored. "I don't want to ruin this to you, but he'll take anything offensive and misinterpret it as love innuendos."

Yuffie looked pissed. "Aw, come on! This isn't happening!" she argued before looking at Elena. "Why don't you take her? She's saucier than me!"

"E-excuse me?!" Elena asked.

Corneo snorted a bit. "Hmm, she looks saucier, alright..." he muttered, licking his drool.

Elena yelped a bit and looked at Yuffie. "Oh no, she's saucier than me!"

Corneo turned his look at the ninja. "N-no way, she's saucier!" Yuffie yelled.

The don turned to Elena. "Oh, please, everyone knows she's saucier!"

The pervert looked to Yuffie. "H-hahahaha! She's WAY saucier than me!"

Corneo mumbled words as he turned to look at Elena. "H-hey, choose the woman in the blue suit instea-"

Samus shot a death glare at Elena, not wanting to become part of the pointless discussion.

"N-never mind that!" Elena said in panic. "P-please, choose anyone else but me! I-I'm one of the Turks!"

"Well!" Corneo said pleased, licking his lips once more. "If I marry a Turk, Shinra wouldn't need to go chasing me around, right?"

"I-I-ah, what are you saying? They'll maul you to death if you did!" Elena proclaimed.

Samus looked away. "Will they now? Your allies didn't look that interested in you."

Elena pouted a bit at this. "T-that's because they don't take the job as seriously like me. They DO care about what happens to me, that I assure you!"

"Hohi hohi ho!" Corneo laughed with glee. "Then you can convince them from stop messing around with me, and then they'll tell Rufus to stop the death threat they have on me! Oh yeah, baby, daddy wants to be yours truthfully!"

Elena started to scream, struggling hard to get off from the ropes. "NO, NO, NO, AND I REPEAT, NO! I-I don't want to take part of this!" she complained. "T-that's it, my future is already set from this point on! I'm going to become his beloved, he's going to make me have babies, I'll take care of the babies while he's gone seducing another woman, I'll yell at him for leaving me ro raise our children alone, he'll say he's sorry but then he'll sneak out to go to a party club where he will party all night while I attend the crying babies who will probably start asking where he is and why I'm freaking our fo-"

"Would you please SHUT UP for once?!" Yuffie asked in irritation. "None of that is even happening at all!"

"Yet!" Elena added in panic. "I'm so screwed now, all because I lowered my guard down for some minutes!"

"EVERYONE HERE lowered their guards," Samus said. "Well, unlike you, I DID some fighting, but then I got hand-chopped on the back of my throat."

Corneo chuckled loudly. "MAN, seeing women fighting like this looks...so SMEXY!" he said with joy. "Alright, I'm gonna have to choose all three of you 'cuz a quarrel in the bed with me in-between all of you would be something I'll look forward to! I'm can see myself moving my hands everywhere to touch anything!"

At this, the three girls looked shocked. They all looked at each other. "...Can somebody please tell me that we're going to be just fine?" Elena asked.

"I'll give you a hint," Yuffie began, "we're NOT going to be JUST fine!"

"T-that isn't a hint! That's a very obvious fact!"

"THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF IT!"

Corneo giggled. "Yeah! Women fighting against each other! Woohoo!"

Samus wanted to smack her forehead. "Please, please, anybody, I hate to say this but rescue me from this demented pervert...and these two loudmouths as soon as possible," she muttered with closed eyes.

"Okay, that's it!"

And her pleas were soon answered, much for her relief.

The three women and the don looked back at the other side of the cave where Cloud, Snake, Aerith, Chris, Tifa, and Lucario stepped into the room. Cloud was the one who was in front of the whole group, having a tight grip with both hands on his buster sword.

"It's all over, Corneo!" Cloud declared with fury. "You're gonna have to surrender now for real!"

Corneo backed away a bit. "W-what's going on here?" he asked. "W-who's there?"

Yuffie gasped. "Oh crap, Cloud!" she said. "I-I mean, please, help me here! I'm having one heck of a wild time, but that wild time is trying to kill me off!"

"Um, I'm pretty sure that wild time wants to love you...in the most disgusting way," Elena said.

"I know what I'm saying here, so shut up, you!" Yuffie complained.

Upon seeing the struggling ninja, Aerith sighed in relief. "Phew, he hasn't done anything unforgivable to her..."

Snake looked at Samus. "Oh, there you are," he said. "I thought you were a goner for a minute."

Samus looked annoyed. "Why, thank you, gentleman," she said. "Would you be so kind to take me off from these stupid ropes?"

Chris looked at the lava pool with stalactites. "I-I think we should think about this more carefully first..." He looked back at the building behind the three women. "...Wait, isn't that building..."

Snake inspected the building's structure. "Wait a minute, isn't that one of the temples of the hedgehog's world, the same we ones we were sent to find?"

"...It is," Chris muttered. "...It's the Adabat Temple."

Truth to be told, the Adabat Temple was positioned before them.

Snake rubbed his chin. "So that's why the reading said that the temple was located around the area of this village. It was hiding inside this mountain all along."

Corneo took a closer look at Clou-

"Hey, wait a minute!" Elena interrupted suddenly. "Nobody's going to say they're relieved to see me okay?"

Yuffie looked bored. "Well, nobody here cares that much about you. I mean, with you being our eternal enemy and all that...you know..."

"I think those other Turks didn't pay much attention nor cared about what you were going to," Lucario pointed out, trying to find the right direction to look at Elena.

Elena cried toon tears and sniffed sadly at this. "I-I'm just doing my work here. W-what's so bad about it?"

Tifa looked away. "Um, let me think. Oh, yes, right, because you're trying to KILL us, remember?" she asked angrily.

"I-I'm doing all this in good law!" Elena said in her defense.

"No you aren't!" Yuffie yelled. "We're the ones doing the right thing!"

"Yuffie, you're not longer one of us EVER since you betrayed us...twice!" Cloud said angrily. "And you're still saying you're one of us?"

Yuffie nervously chuckled at this. "O-oh, please, t-that was all a joke, you guys!" she said. "I mean, I was just trying to save your Materia from other people..."

"You STOLE our Materia rather than saving it!" Tifa pointed out with a finger.

The ninja looked worried. "O-okay, it was all a trick! I-I swear it was all a trick to get all the Materia!" She started to struggle even more. "I need some help here! Please, anyone, take me away from this idiot before I have children against my will!"

"You just want sympathy from us so you can escape from the pervert and from us again," Snake pointed out. "If you want some help, then promise you're going to give back all our stuff."

"N-no can do!" Yuffie said. "I need to save Wutai!"

"Well, don't call me when you need to get a godfather."

Yuffie sniffed sadly. "O-okay, I'm returning everything to you guys, I promise! But please, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT SICK GUY BEFORE I GO NUTS!"

"You're going nuts now..." Samus muttered in boredom.

Corneo narrowed his eyes. "Whee, long time no see..." he said.

"We met ten minutes ago," Aerith pointed out.

"S-shut it!" Corneo yelled. "I-I don't want to listen to you guys anymore!"

Cloud took a step forward. "Corneo, your end is finally here. You're going to pay for making me dress up as a girl, dammit!"

"But, Cloudel, you had to admit it was fun," Corneo teased.

The blond mercenary shook his head. "Shut up!" he yelled. "I've had enough of you and your face!"

"Oh, who doesn't?" Yuffie asked

"All of you, be quiet!" Corneo complained. "None of you know how much I had suffered since you broke into my mansion and Shinra gave chase after me... It's a long story, but..."

"I don't care or give a damn about that!" Cloud yelled. "Let Yuffie and Samus go right this instant!"

Chris looked sideways at Aerith. "Oh my god, Cloud is seriously out of it today..."

Aerith sweat dropped. "I think he hates Corneo more than he hates Sephirot-"

The World Traveler coughed loudly. "O-oh, sorry, I had a bit of a sore throat..."

"Okay..."

"(I don't really want her to say the name of her KILLER in here...)" Chris thought with a mental sigh.

Tifa readied her fists and took a step forward besides Cloud. "Alright, it's all over for you, Corneo!" she said. "You wanted to kill us off after you found Cloud wasn't a girl (Cloud: For the last time, stop reminding me that!), so you're gonna have to stop all this!"

Yuffie sniffed. "Y-you guys are so awesome..." she muttered. "I-I'm so glad to have such caring friends..."

Elena shifted her eyes a bit. "Um, didn't they just say you're not one of them any longer?"

"You, shut up and don't ruin the moment," the ninja muttered in annoyance.

The don gasped a bit before he sighed and looked sternly at them. "You people are so serious about the whole thing, huh? Good, good... I'm not going to fool around as you're doing now. Since I have the opportunity to attack you right here, I'm gonna avenge the death of my little Aps." He giggled darkly. "Oh yeah, you're gonna PLAY with my new pet so you don't get in my way to search my new bride!"

Snake looked at Aerith. "What did he exactly mean by Aps?" he asked.

Aerith pinched her chin a bit and looked up in thought. "Hmm, I think he meant the monster he called when he tossed us into the sewers of Midgar... I remember we killed it off."

Corneo grunted at the thought. "You guys killed me pet Aps! For that, you're going to play with my little Rapps instead!" He whistled loudly enough to make an echo in the cave. "C'mon, Rapps! Your new friends are here to play with you!"

A loud roar echoed from behind the group. They all turned around and quickly backed away from a monster that came out from behind. The monster flapped its wings to stay in the air. The monster looked like a green pterodactyl with a long tail and long wings. It had some red outlines over his wings and on the tip of its hard tail. The monster named Rapps let out a screech and looked down upon its prey.

Final Fantasy VII - Still More Fighting

"Hohi, hohi, hohi, hohi, ho!" Corneo laughed. "Behold my pet Rapps, bunch of imbeciles! I hope you give him a good playtime 'cuz he ain't like bad play times at all!"

"Aw, crap," Yuffie muttered at the sight of the monster. "Just when things were turning out for the better..."

The group readied their weapons (or fists in some cases) as they all looked up at the monster. "H-how can you consider that a pet, exactly?" Chris asked in fear.

"Well, it'd make sense Corneo bought it from someone," Tifa said. "I've heard there are trained monsters out there that can be bought from hunters."

Cloud put a tight grip on his buster sword. "I've HAD it with all this crap!" he yelled before he jumped high above while pulling his long sword vertically behind his back. "Time for you to STOP pissing me off… METEORAIN!"

With a mighty swing (of rage), Cloud shot six flaming meteors that emerged from his buster sword. The six meteors crashed right into the pterodactyl monster square on its body, creating a big explosion of smoke that covered it completely. It let out a screeching sound before it slowly flapped its wings and started to fall down upon the entrance of the cave.

At that moment, a familiar vulpine stepped into the scene, panting heavily under his breath. "Y-you guys, I'm here!" Fox called out. "Mario told me you al-"

Chris gasped. "F-Fox, get out of th-"

And Rapps accidentally crashed right on top of the vulpine, causing him to lie down on the ground in a painful way while Cloud landed back on the ground and glared at the now unconscious monster. "It's...over for you..." he muttered between pants.

Music stops

Corneo and everyone in the room but Snake gasped after seeing that the so-dangerous monster was taken down by Cloud's finished. Corneo shook in fear at the sight of his pet knocked out on the ground that he let go of his golden pipe and let it fall down. "N-no, my adorable Rapps! No!" he said in shock.

Fox was sticking out from the front of the monster's body with hands and arms extending out. The vulpine opened his worn out eyes and looked worried at the group. "W-what did I do to get crushed by a monster?" he asked.

Snake rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of arriving at the wrong time at the wrong place?"

"O-oh, you shut up..." Fox muttered in pain.

Yuffie cheered loudly at this quick victory. "Hurray! I'm gonna be saved by 'em!" she cheered. "I knew you guys were gonna be victorious. I never lost faith in all of you!"

Elena looked sideways at her with a bored expression. "You know, I think you're just trying to flatter them with sweet tal-"

"If you shut up, I won't tell them to drop you down the lava."

"I'll be quiet," Elena muttered in fear.

Samus sighed in relief. "This is going to be over soon, fortunately..."

While Chris had to take Lucario (with Aerith already reacting to this by going along as well) to go help the vulpine, the others turned to face the don, who was shaking in fear as they all glared at him. "W-wait... J-just wait a second!"

"SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled loudly as he positioned his buster sword directly in front of him. "Corneo, we had enough about you already. It's time for you to die!"

Snake coughed a bit. "Sorry to say this, but none of us aren't that annoyed at him except you."

"Shut it!" Cloud yelled without turning at the mercenary.

Corneo snorted a bit and waved his hands at them. "P-please, just listen to me for one last time! I-I swear it won't take that long before you kill me off!"

Tifa sighed in boredom. "What is it this time? I hope it's not a trick..."

Corneo shook his head, shaking off some sweat away. "W-why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life to guys like you, huh?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "That's an easy one. Because he's sure to lose."

Suddenly, the don chuckled at this answer and shook his head. "Quite wrong, you..." He took out a small remote control and pressed its red button.

Final Fantasy VII - Hurry!

The group saw Elena, Yuffie, and Samus being rotated upside down on their respective places. Elena and Yuffie let out a loud scream while Samus grunted loudly at the whole event. "Oh god, why the HELL didn't I say he was going to do this?" Samus asked in annoyance.

"O-oh my god!" Elena yelped. "I-I don't like any of this! I tend to become irrational when my blood goes to my head!"

Yuffie gritted her teeth. "He makes me so MAD, I swear!" she complained.

Seeing this happening, Tifa smacked her forehead and grunted. "I already said I hoped it wasn't a trick. What didn't you understand of it?"

"Hohi hohi ho!" Corneo laughed loudly. "Well, I admit you saw that coming. Too bad you're too slow!"

Chris twitched at this while Lucario pulled Fox with a simple pull out of the downed monster. "D-don't say that!" he complained.

Cloud gritted his teeth. "Damn you, Corneo, stop pulling dirty tricks out of your f*&(^$# a^$ already!" he cursed.

"Sorry, but I just can't do that!" Corneo said with a laugh. "You see, I'm sure to win this! I have everything prepared for anything should I lose. HA, in your faces, losers, in YOUR u-g-l-y faces!"

Tifa took a step forward. "Let them go!"

"NO!" Elena and Yuffie yelled.

Tifa sweated a bit. "I-I mean, let them go somewhere else besides above the lava!"

"Never!" Corneo said as he showed them the same remote control. "Not so fast, sexy woman! If I push this button, they'll fall upside down into the lava, and we'll have
ROASTED TOMATOES!" He thought about the outcome. "...Nah, make it NOTHING for ANYONE!"

Snake glared at the don. "Nothing like a sore loser, I see," he said.

"Damn..." Cloud muttered as he lowered down his buster sword. "Dammit, I didn't want this to end like this!"

"Oh no, what a way to change things around..." Aerith muttered. "W-we just can't let this happen!"

"Sorry, but you can't do anything right now!" Corneo declared. "It's time for me to make everyone listen to what I have to say. Not even Shinra can do a DAMN thing about me anymore since I have one of their precious Turks in captivity."

"CHEAP!" Elena yelled. "Be glad I'm in your captivity because I'd be KILLING you with a gun pointing at your head right now!"

"Hohi, hohi, hohi, hohi, hoooooooo!" Corneo laughed hysterically while everyone glared at him. "Looks like I'm the one laughing last!"

The group had no choice but watch the don laugh maniacally at his seemingly secured victory. The three captured women struggled to get off from the ropes, reminding themselves that they could all fall into the lava. Samus thought she could use the stalactites to try to jump out, but she wasn't sure if they could resist.

Chris then recalled something about the scene. "(Wait, this part is where Reno and Rude arrive to stop Corneo from letting them fall down, but that was outside instead of inside here...)" He looked back behind the fallen Rapps. "(Maybe they'll arrive behind because that's the only place they can come out...)"

Inside the darkness of the maze, the World Traveler saw a small shining glow in it.

"(...Are they there?)" Chris asked to himself. "(They must be arriving here right no-)"

Chris's train of thoughts was interrupted as soon as he saw a long metal hand stretching out from the darkness of the maze directly to the laughing don. The group looked at the sudden appearance of the metallic hand as it snatched the remote control from Corneo, making him gasp in shock as it retreated into the darkness, everyone following its sight.

"W-what was that just now?" Tifa asked to Snake.

"How the heck should I know?" Snake asked.

"H-hey!" Corneo took some steps forward, fists raised to the air. "W-who's stealing my remote control now? G-give it back here to me! How am I supposed to make love and win this whole thing?"

Music stops

"Oh, did I make an unnecessary arrival? I beg your pardon, but I just had to come in here by orders of my boss, of course..."

Many of them looked confused at the voice that echoed from the maze's darkness. "Oh, great, now what?" Tifa asked. "Is somebody else trying to do something to us right now?"

"Why, that would be me. Don't you see the obvious in front of your eyes?" the voice asked with a snicker.

The World Traveler tilted his head to the right. "Wait, that voice... That voice isn't that hard to recognize..."

And suddenly, a floating machine with a scientist entered into the cave.

"Dr. Eggman," Chris said.

The scientist chuckled for a bit and looked at everyone before him. "It's a real pleasure to meet everyone again. It's been a long time ever since we last me-"

"We met just yesterday in the hand's world," Snake interrupted.

"Oh, right," Dr. Eggman said. "Sorry, but I've been too distracted in other important matters, namely finding the temples for one."

Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa looked at each other before looking back at the scientist. "Pardon me to ask, but who is this guy in the floating saucer?" Tifa asked.

"My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik or Dr. Eggman for short," Dr. Eggman said. "I'm here to accomplish one of my tasks: destroy the Adabat Temple."

"The Ada-what?" Tifa asked before looking back at the temple behind them. "You mean that temple over there? I thought it was part of Wutai's land."

Yuffie shook her head. "Now that you mention it, this temple wasn't even here in the first place... Oh, who cares about this temple? GET ME DOWN!" she demanded.

Dr. Eggman snickered. "Sorry, that won't do." He showed them the remote control that he had stole from Corneo. "Now that I have hostages, my mission is going to be a lot easier to do."

"H-hey, you just stole my opportunity to make love with them!" Corneo complained. "G-give it back to me!"

"You shut up, obese idiot," Dr. Eggman said before looking back at the Smashers. "Now, if you can stay there for the remainder of my mission, I won't have the necessity to drop those three girls into the lava down below."

Fox coughed a bit as he stood up. "W-why are you here? I thought Bowser and Wario were here to find this temple..."

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "Those two imbeciles can't even do a thing right, it seems. We told them to seek the Adabat Temple, but no, they end up going somewhere else! I don't know what happened to them in here, but I don't care. I had to come in here myself to look for the temple and I found it out of luck."

Chris shook his head. "N-no, we can't just let you destroy it like that!"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but it must be done," Dr. Eggman said. "Besides, how are you guys supposed to enter in there without the assistance of the Temple Guardians? Do you have the tablets? I don't think you have either of those right now, am I right?"

"W-well..." Chris looked down. "...T-that's right..."

Dr. Eggman snickered. "Well, allow me to help you out. However, that aid is only going to let you see the guardians by yourself." He snapped his fingers.

The group looked back to the cave's exit where a floating cage hovered over the fallen Rapps all the way to the front of the entrance of the temple. The cage had four people in it. Some of them were grabbing the bars while some of them were looking down in shame.

"Who are they?" Snake asked.

"These are the guardians of the Adabat Temple," Dr. Eggman said. "They all are the protectors and the only people of their village. In fact, you're looking at Adabat's whole population," he explained. "I had to kidnap every single one of them because they have the tablets."

One of the four guardians looked sternly at Dr. Eggman. The guardian was a black-haired, skinny teenager named Jamal who wore a sleeveless black shirt with purple shorts and sandals. "Let us go now!" he yelled.

Dr. Eggman frowned at this simple demand. "Boy, how many times have I heard that demand before?"

"T-this isn't funny!" yelled a black-haired, young woman named Rudi. She wore a light blue shirt with a blue belt and pink-and-purple skirt with sandals. She was sitting down on the floor besides a depressed man. "We don't want to help you in any way with the ancestral temple!"

"Yeah, that's right!" yelled a young girl besides Jamal. The young girl named Nagi wore a white t-shirt, had her brown hair combed in a small ponytail, and wore pale yellow shirts with sandals. "You're just a bad guy with bad intentions!"

"Everyone, please...it's all useless now..." muttered the man besides Rudi. The man was the father of all the three children. The black-haired man named Teanchai wore a buttoned t-shirt with dark green shorts and sandals. He looked as if he was ashamed of being captured inside the cage. "There's no way for us to do anything..."

Jamal turned to him. "Dad, how could you say those things? We need to have hope!"

"In what?" Teanchai asked. "It's futile. Thanks to the earthquake, much of our ancestral home was forever lost..."

Rudi looked worried at Teanchai. "Dad, please, you need to stop acting like this..."

Dr. Eggman coughed to get their attention. "What happened to you doesn't matter at all to me," he said. "What matters to me about you is the tablets for the Adabat Temple. Hand them over now before I take extreme measures."

"N-no! We won't!" Nagi yelled. "It's our job as guardians to protect the temple from people like you!"

Rudi closed her eyes. "At this rate, we'll have to hand over the tablets against our wills..."

Jamal shook his head. "But I don't want to give up this easily!"

"Too bad, you will all have to surrender to me," Dr. Eggman said.

Cloud looked at Snake. "I hate to ask in the middle of this event, but do you happen to know what's going on?"

Snake looked away. "Remember I told you that we all come from different worlds? Well, those people also come from other worlds as well."

"Oh, please, not that whole nonsense again..."

Snake looked at Cloud. "It's nonsense, alright, but it's the truth," he said. "The fat guy in the saucer is one of our enemies. He wants to destroy the temple over there so there's no chance for us to stop his plans from conquering worlds... I know, cliché, but still..."

Cloud frowned. "I didn't believe any of this was true at all..."

"Me too, kid, me too."

Chris took a step forward. "D-Dr. Eggma-"

"Stop right there, you!" Dr. Eggman interrupted, showing him the remote control. "One brusque move and those women on the wall will fall down to their deaths!"

"...So let me get this straight," Yuffie began, "we're not going to be the sex slaves of the sick Corneo guy anymore, but NOW we're hostages for another different random obese guy for something else I barely even know about?"

"That's how things seem, apparently..." Elena muttered.

"...Okay," Yuffie began; "now I know that, from today, THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE EVER!"

"Now you're telling me..." Elena muttered in depression.

Samus sighed. "It's not exactly my best day ever, but at least things couldn't get any much worse."

"When I was a little girl, I used to kiss flowers all the time," Elena said. "One of 'em pinched me hard on my lower lip, and then a small insect flew out from that flower and pinched me on my forehead. I went ouch so much during that time of the day."

"...O...kay..." Samus trailed off at the random fact. "What the heck is wrong with you now?"

Yuffie looked bored. "Remember she said she becomes irrational when her blood goes to her head? Well, she's acting irrational now."

Samus rolled her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Dr. Eggman looked back at the family. "Will you hand over the tablets?"

"I-I refuse!" Jamal said.

"Oh, will you, now?" Dr. Eggman asked with a grin.

The atmosphere grew tense as everyone was frozen in place, thinking what to do while others were thinking what was happening. The Smashers were trying to find a way to get through the dilemma they faced, but it could end up by taking three lives away. Thinking hard, Chris looked at Lucario. "Lucario, can you try to shoot an Aura Sphere to Dr. Eggman?" Chris whispered.

"I don't know..." Lucario whispered. "I don't know where he's in the air. My eyes are still itching so badly."

Chris cursed in his mind and looked at Fox. "Can you use your Blaster?"

Fox looked bored. "I would if I HAD one right now," he whispered pissed.

"S-sorry..." Chris muttered. "(I don't think I can change to another job without Dr. Eggman noticing me...and chanting a spell won't make a difference as well... If only there was some way to do something...)"

Yuffie gritted her teeth. "Okay, that does it!" she yelled. "I don't care if I fall into the lava anymore! I WANNA FALL DOWN RIGHT NOW!" she demanded loudly. "MAYBE I CAN SAVE MYSELF FROM SINKING INTO THE LAVA!"

Dr. Eggman grunted at the loud demands before he turned to the three women and floated all the way to them. "Will you just shut up, girl? I have the ultimate decision to end your life whenever I want to!"

"T-that was supposed to be my job!" yelled Corneo from the entrance of the temple. "T-there's no fun for me on bed anymore?"

"SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled.

Dr. Eggman ignored the rants. "You'll have to stay quiet for the time being if you don't want to die a gruesome death, girl!" he yelled at Yuffie.

"Like I care!" Yuffie yelled. "I look as if I was the target for obese people to kidnap me! What the hell, man, what the hell is right about this? IT'S COMPLETELY UNFAIR!"

The scientist gritted his teeth. "Silence, I say, silence!"

"I don't wanna shut up!" Yuffie yelled angrily. "You're not my father, who sucks as much as you do!"

"W-what?" Dr. Eggman asked. "I'll have you know that my IQ is the highest you've ever seen before!"

"Like I care about how smart you are, nerd!" Yuffie taunted. "I give a damn more attention than you, and that damn surely does a better job at kidnapping than a man with a fatty tummy!"

The ninja and the scientist kept arguing and insulting each other to no end, completely ignoring everyone else in the cave. Everyone watched the feud continuing as if there was nothing better to do. However, as they kept insulting each other, the World Traveler blinked a bit. "...Wait, this could actually allow me to change jobs without being noticed..." he muttered before he changed to his Agent job. "Okay, now I need to carefully aim my shot to his hand..." he trailed off as he closed his right eye and pointed his revolver at Dr. Eggman's right hand, where the remote control was being held. "Now I just hope my personality as a flirtatious man doesn't come up during all this..."

"Dude, I have perfect eyesight!" Yuffie chuckled. "You use glasses, nerd!"

"S-stop calling me a nerd, insolent girl with the ridiculously big pauldron!" Dr. Eggman complained.

"Ha, is that the best you can do to insult me?" Yuffie taunted.

"S-silence, just be quiet!"

Samus looked away in boredom. "Seriously, I REALLY hate this day. In fact, I'm going to start my own diary to state I hate this event, and to remind me to never, EVER let the door of my room open without a lock."

"I used to draw chocobos on my diary's pages," Elena said randomly. "Heck, I wrote "Kweh!" in little bubbles to make them say something so people wouldn't think they were mute! How cute! Heheh, that rhymed!"

"...Okay, somebody, shoot me on the forehead now," Samus muttered. "I don't care if I die anymore. Screw this, screw Dr. Eggman, screw the girls besides me, screw these ropes, screw this cave, and screw this temperature, AND SCREW THI-"

Samus's curses were eventually stopped by a loud banging sound. The bounty hunter watched Dr. Eggman stopping insulting Yuffie as a shot pushed the remote control away from his hand. The remote control bounced off from the wall under Samus's head, promptly crossing the other side of the lava pool where it landed right between some rocks in a place where it was hard to take out.

"..." Samus smiled a bit. "Oh, much better..." she muttered with a relieved sigh.

Fox grinned at Chris. "Nice shot there, Chris."

Chris looked embarrassed. "I-I didn't want to shoot the remote... I wanted to shoot his head but the steam of the lava got on my goggles that didn't let me see where I was aiming at..." He cleaned the goggles' lenses and took them off.

The vulpine blinked a bit at this. "...No need to be so violent, Chris..."

Chris closed his eyes. "I-I thought the shot wasn't going to kill him..."

"W-what the hell did just happen?" Dr. Eggman asked in bewilderment as he looked to his empty right hand. "W-what did just..."

"HA-HA!" Yuffie laughed in triumph. "IN-YOUR-FACE, NERD! The forces of justice will always prevail forever when I'm the one in danger!"

"That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard before!" Dr. Eggman complained.

"Do I even care?"

"Grrrr!!!"

Final Fantasy VII - Hurry!

Snake took quick action of the moment and looked at Cloud. "Kid, free the people in the cage, now!"

Cloud looked at Snake. "What?"

"I know you don't have any business with us, but we need to get all the help we can get for now," Snake said. "Use your damn sword to cut the bars and set them free, quick!"

Cloud blinked in confusion at this order before he looked serious and rushed towards the cage where the family was being held. The blond mercenary let out a yell as he jumped high above and slashed the bars of the cage to cut them in half, allowing a big hole for the four guardians to escape. The mercenary landed on the ground and looked up at them. "Now, it's your chance to get away from here!"

Rudi gasped at this and looked at her father. "D-dad!" Rudi yelled. "W-we can escape!"

Teanchai looked up from the floor and saw the hole of the cage. "T-then there is a chance to escape?" he asked before he stood up and nodded. "Quick, we must escape from Dr. Eggman!"

The family of four jumped down from the cage and quickly ran away to the group's direction. The guardians ran all the way, to where the fallen Rapps lied down. Once they made it there, Teanchai looked at Fox and bowed to him. "We're thankful for what you've done for us."

Fox nodded. "Right, but stay away from here for the time being. You don't really want to stay any closer to that madman."

Jamal nodded. "Of course we don't want to!" he said. "We're still confused about what's happening, but from the looks of the situation, you're the good guys, right?"

"Y-yes," Chris said. "We're the ones trying to save the planet from being destroyed by Dark Gaia."

Rudi sighed. "Then there are people trying to do something about the crisis. I'm glad to hear you're doing it."

Nagi looked worried. "B-but what are you going to do now? That bad Dr. Eggman wants to destroy the temple!"

"We'll do anything to stop him from doing so," Fox said. "For now, stay away."

Teanchai nodded. "Please, don't let him destroy the ancient temple! If he does, our world may as well be doomed along with what remains of our home!"

Jamal motioned to the cave's maze behind the monster. "Everyone, over here!"

The family ran into the cave's maze to stay away from the room of the cave. Once they did, Aerith looked back to where Dr. Eggman was grabbing his head out of frustration. "What should we do now, Cloud? I'm very confused..."

Cloud ran towards her before he stopped and looked at the three captive women. "Now that we're involved in this, we don't have much of a choice but to see what happens next."

Tifa sighed. "Oh well, at least this is going to be much interesting than dealing with Corneo..." She looked around the cave. "Speaking of which, where did he go now?"

Cloud looked around the cave. "...Oh, great, he escaped again..."

"I don't think he left from where we came from," Aerith said. "I didn't see him coming our way..."

Cloud shook his head. "Never mind for now," he said before glaring at the scientist. "We have another problem to deal with."

Dr. Eggman grunted and glared down at his enemies. "Okay, you guys crossed the line!" he yelled. "Since I don't have any more hostages with me, it's time for me to jump right into the fray!"

"You and what army?" Snake asked. "I only see you and no one else on your side."

Dr. Eggman frowned. "Since it's day, Shadow Nightmares won't do a thing in here..."

The World Traveler sighed in relief. "Phew, that's nice to hea-"

"So I'm going to have to bring the night's feeling for them to dwell during the day!"

"...Say what again?" Chris asked in confusion. "I-I thought Shadow Nightmares could only appear during the night."

Dr. Eggman snickered. "They do if there's not daylight," he said before he took out a sphere that had darkish outlines circling around it. "Behold one impossible creation made out of pure Subspace matter and Shadow Bugs essence!"

"What the heck is that?" Yuffie asked. "It looks like a ball except it probably doesn't bounce."

"That's because it's NOT supposed to be a... Ugh, I don't care anymore," Samus muttered in annoyance. "You're free to guess anything you want to think."

"Is it candy? Tell me it's candy because I have candy for dinner ALWAYS!" Elena asked in excitement.

"I take that back..." the bounty hunter muttered.

Chris shook his head. "W-wait, how did you make that thing in the first place? I don't remember seeing something like that before!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled darkly. "Oh, that's why resources with the Subspace Army are much better materials than any other resources out there," he explained. "This little baby was created thanks to the efforts of the Ancient Minister. He was the one who made this possible for me to create. Actually, the credit should go to him because I only adjusted some statistics about this sphere. It makes me feel inferior, buuuuuuuuut my little help did a much better job in creating this. How was this created? Thanks to the whole absence of our plans to raids the worlds, the Ancient Minister was tasked to create the Nightmare Sphere, the ball you see here, to allow Shadow Nightmares to dwell during the day. However, this little machine doesn't quite work if it's used right outside. It only works in dark places such as caverns like this one."

Snake grunted. "I knew bad stuff would show up after that long break we had..."

"They were preparing themselves," Fox said. "They don't look like they want to take breaks."

"Exactly!" Dr. Eggman said. "You fools thought we were taking a break while we were actually doing a lot of different stuff to make sure everything could go much better." He raised the sphere. "And now, let the magic begin..."

The Smashers watched as the scientist tossed the sphere right into the wall behind him. Upon contact, the sphere broke out, and it released some kind of dark smoke that began to pollute the ceiling of the cave. Everyone looked up to see dark lines going straight down to the floor before some kind of dark feeling was felt by everyone.

Aerith embraced herself and looked around. "W-what is this dark atmosphere?"

Tifa shrugged. "This is weird...but I do feel as if the air in here got a bit thicker than usual..."

Snake looked up at the ceiling where remains of the dark smoke floated. "This isn't getting any good..." he muttered.

"Oh, on the contrary," Dr. Eggman began as he snapped his fingers and called forth a portal of the Subspace that brought a cage with a rabid Shadow Nightmare pounding on the bars, "it's getting really good now!"

Chris gasped at the sight of the monster. "Oh, hell no, not another one of those things again!"

Cloud stared at the enraged monster. "What is that supposed to be and what was that portal just now?"

"Starting to believe we come from another world except from that portal?" Snake asked.

Cloud looked away. "...I think so..." he muttered.

Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally before he examined at the seven characters before him. "Now, who will it be this time? I already used one of these on the fox. It'd be a real waste if he was the victim... Maybe I should choose..." he pointed at Aerith, "...that girl?"

Aerith covered her mouth with her right hand. "W-what?" she asked.

"OH GOD NO!" Chris yelled suddenly. "N-not her from all people!"

Tifa looked at Chris. "Wow, I never saw you getting this stressed over Aerith. Why's that?"

Chris blushed and looked away. "Y-you don't know what that monster does to people! I-it latches on your back, takes over your body, pushes you out, and creates a copy of you that will start to traumatize you for any kind of tormenting lie you've been living your entire life without acknowledging it!"

"What the f&^* does that even mean?" Cloud asked.

"In a few words," Snake began, "you're so screwed if it grabs you. You'd better try to stay away from it or you'll regret it later. If it does get to you, you'll become very scared."

Cloud blinked at this. "...Scared?"

Snake frowned. "Yeah, scared, as in extreme fear."

Dr. Eggman pointed at Cloud. "Oh, maybe that guy will serve very well."

Chris sighed. "Well, he's better than Aerith..."

"Chris!" Fox yelled angrily.

"I-I mean, that's still bad!" Chris yelled. "It's still so bad that... Oh no..."

"What is it?" Lucario asked.

"(Cloud has been living a really bad lie his entire life up until now,)" Chris thought. "(Anything he's thinking about his past is actually from another person close to him... If the Shadow Nightmare gets on him and Cloud denies everything he's been thinking to this point...that monster is really going to become extremely powerful by how many lies Cloud hasn't acknowledged, right?)"

The World Traveler then came to a response from himself.

"(...CRAP!)" Chris cursed loudly. "N-no, you leave Cloud alone! He doesn't deserve to be the victim with th-"

And the cage of the Shadow Nightmare thus broke out, letting out the beast that jumped to the ground and let out screech.

"...Dammit!" Chris cursed.

Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally and pointed at Cloud. "Shadow Nightmare, your meal is right before you! Get him good!"

The Shadow Nightmare let out a piercing screech before locking eyes to the blond mercenary.

Chris quickly stepped in front of Cloud. "No! Don't take him!" he yelled. "Take me instead!"

Somehow, Lucario stepped in front of Chris. "How can you say that? I won't allow it to get on you, Chris!"

Aerith stepped in front of Lucario. "No, please, take me! I don't know what's happening, but I know something bad will happen if Lucario gets attacked by that monster!"

Chris quickly stepped in front of Aerith. "Dammit, I'm trying to protect you as well!" he cursed.

Cloud stepped in front of him. "Why the hell should I fear that monster? I just need to slice it in half!"

Tifa stepped in front of him. "No, Cloud, I trust them! I understood everything they said about that monster nightmare thing!"

Fox stepped in front of her. "Don't let it get to you or you'll be sorry!"

"You were already attacked by one!" Chris yelled. "Heck, I don't want to face another stupid, sadistic, speedy enemy ever again!"

Cloud stepped in front of Fox. "You people just let me handle this, dammit!"

"You six look ridiculous standing in front of each other."

In order, Lucario, Aerith, Chris, Tifa, Fox, and Cloud looked to their right to see Snake frowning. The first six characters were all standing in a line while Snake was out of it.

"What, are you going to do a conga dance next?" Snake asked, rolling his eyes.

Yuffie laughed a bit at this. "Heheheheh, good one, man, good one!" she yelled, Samus rolling her eyes.

"...Y-you shut up!" Cloud yelled in embarrassment while everyone else looked away to different directions.

Dr. Eggman kept staring at the line of people before he shook his head and pointed at Cloud. "Shadow Nightmare, what are you waiting for? Get him good!"

The Shadow Nightmare raised its pincers and slowly started to walk towards Cloud, who gritted his teeth and put a tight grip on his buster sword.

"F*&$ this s&^$!" Cloud yelled as he charged towards the Shadow Nightmare. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Cloud!" Aerith and Tifa yelled in unison.

"Oh hell no!" Chris cursed loudly.

As Cloud charged towards the Shadow Nightmare, a hand pulled him back, stopping him from running. The blond mercenary turned around and looked at Snake's stern look. "Now you listen to me," Snake began, "I don't want to deal with a shadow monster because a kid thinks he could stubbornly take on a monster that can't be defeated that easily."

"Who the hell are you calling a kid?" Cloud asked with a glare.

"You're the kid here," Snake said. "You're acting like one as well."

"Shut up! I don't care what anyone tells me now. That's just another common monster in my eyes, and it needs to be taken out before it attacks us!"

"Screw your eyes, then," Snake said. "You don't want to touch that thing."

"I won't because my sword will slice it!"

"Not even that will suffice, kid."

"Stop calling me a kid!"

"I will once you stop acting like one."

Fox looked up annoyed. "Oh boy, this argument brings me some memories about Tricky..." he trailed off.

"And it's making me feel upset because some people call me a kid despite I'm a teenager," Chris said. "..." He shook his head. "T-this is not important right now! What matters now is that Shadow Nightmar-"

"It's already leaping towards Cloud!" Tifa yelled.

"Aw, crap!" Chris cursed.

"CLOUD!" Aerith cried out.

In slow motion, Cloud slowly turned around to look up in the air where the Shadow Nightmare had its pincers wide open to his sides. The blond mercenary's eyes started to shake in surprise as he remained in place. Somehow, once Cloud looked directly at the monster's eyes, he could see a dark reflection of himself staring down at his own eyes. Around this time, the Shadow Nightmare was a few feet away from Cloud. Snake, seeing that Cloud looked as if he was frozen in place, muttered some words and frowned.

"...The hell with this," Snake muttered.

Before the Shadow Nightmare could latch its pincers on Cloud, Snake quickly grabbed Cloud's shoulders, and he pushed him to the right to evade the monster. Snake gained a small momentum, allowing him to step back from the monster in time. Cloud, since he was pushed aside, fell on the ground with a grunting sound. The Shadow Nightmare landed on the ground and screeched once more before looking to its left to Cloud.

Cloud raised his face from the ground and looked behind where the monster locked eyes with him. The blond mercenary quickly took a grip on his buster sword on his back, but the monster quickly leaped at him once again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Cloud yelled before he closed his eyes tightly.

"CLOUD!" everyone yelled in desperation.

"There's no escape from this!" Dr. Eggman declared.

And soon, the Shadow Nightmare latched its body on the mercenary's body...

...

"..." Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He blinked in shock after he saw that the Shadow Nightmare disappeared from sight. "W-what did just happen?" he asked before he looked to his right and gasped. "H-hey!"

The group gasped once they saw that Snake had made one last action by tackling aside the monster. The mercenary held down the shadow monster on the ground by holding it from its neck. "G-grr!" Snake grunted as the beast's body started to fuse into him through his hands. "D-damn this crap of the demon's butt!" he cursed.

"S-Snake, no!" Chris yelled. "Y-you can't be serious about this!"

"S-shut up, kid!" Snake yelled as he struggled. "T-this is exactly why I don't like to work with others. They become a real pain in the a%# to protect during a fight!"

"What?" Cloud asked.

The Shadow Nightmare screeched loudly as it completely turned into spores that ran along Snake's body. The ex-FOXHOUND gritted his teeth before he was completely consumed into a blob of darkness, screaming out in pain as the blob let out dark sparks while it flashed crazily. The group watched in bewilderment as it shook madly while Snake screamed in extreme pain. "W-what is happening?!" Tifa asked.

"I-it's too late!" Chris yelled. "I tried to prevent this, but..."

Aerith slowly shook her head. "No..." she muttered.

"Damn that idiot," Fox muttered with a fierce glare at the blob.

Music stops

Soon enough, the blob of darkness spat an unconscious Snake out from it, making him roll recklessly on the ground before he stopped right besides a confused Cloud. The blond mercenary's eyes shook in surprise at this before he looked back at the blob. "W-what did just happen? Why is he still alive?"

Lucario frowned. "This is just the beginning of something even worse..." he trailed off.

Chris gulped. "Please, please tell me this isn't happening..."

"Mwahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!" Dr. Eggman laughed maniacally. "At last, after a long time, the fourth victim has been chosen!" he declared before pointing down at the trembling blob. "Behold the fourth Shadow Nightmare, fools! Mwahahahahahahahaha!"

The blob of darkness stopped emanating dark sparks. Soon, it began to compress itself into a smaller figure. The group gasped as the darkness took Snake's image right before their eyes. Slowly and carefully, the shadow before them stood up and looked away from them.

"...I-is that..." Tifa trailed off, gulping at the sight of the doppelganger.

"..." Fox closed his eyes. "...He's not him...but..."

"..." The Shadow turned around to face them. "...It's really good to be finally alive..." he muttered.

Snake coughed a few times before he opened his eyes and sat up. The mercenary looked to his left and glared at the shadow. "Oh f(beep) no..." Snake trailed off.

"Oh f(beep) yes, should I say," the shadow said. "What, does it really sickens you to see me alive and kicking?"

"Hell yes it does," Snake replied as he stood up. "Heck, I didn't think I'd be a victim of this whole Shadow Nightmare fiasco."

"Fortunately, you are part of this "fiasco" as you call it," the shadow said. "Thankfully, you'll be happy that your lies will be exposed to you today... Hmm, today, and it's not even night yet."

Snake shook his head. "I don't care about that," he said. "I'll just have to acknowledge my lies to you and you'll be gone, right?"

"I don't think you can do that correctly."

"So says you," Snake said. "Just watch."

"I don't need to watch when I know what you don't want to acknowledge fully to the whole extent of the word," Shadow Snake said. "Just saying it isn't enough. You REALLY have to stay true to your words. If you don't, you'll suffer the consequences greatly..."

"Tsk, whatever," Snake said. "Like I cared about my conflicts."

"Oh, you should care about them. Why, they might end up killing you or making you feel like s(beep) after all you've done your entire and worthless life."

Tifa looked confused at the whole conversation. "I-I don't understand why they're talking instead of fighting..."

"Didn't you say you understood?" Lucario asked.

"I-I was just trying to sound convincing enough for Cloud..." Tifa trailed off in embarrassment.

Cloud stood up from the ground and stared at the shadow. "Just why is that monster taking the form of him?" he asked.

"Kid, shut up," Snake said without facing Cloud. "I need to face this by myself before it gets more idiotic."

"Ouch," Shadow Snake said. "Since when I was idiotic? You know that you're talking to yourself, right? After all, we're the same person."

"Of course we are the same person," Snake said.

"Can you prove we're one, though?" Shadow Snake asked. "If one of us doesn't believe, the one with the correct answer will prevail over the wrong one. In other words, one dies, one lives."

"I admit that's a hard thing to do," Snake said. "However, I'll do it without making mistakes."

Chris looked worried at the situation. "Just what is he going to face?"

Shadow Snake closed his yellow eyes for a moment. "...I'll begin," he began, "by asking you if you think the people care about you."

Snake frowned. "I'll admit that most people admire me, and they even care about me."

Chris looked surprised. "O-okay, that's true..."

"I'm not done with this yet," Shadow Snake said. "There's one last thing I need to know from you."

"Well, spit it out already," Snake said. "I don't have time to deal with the likes of yo-"

"Do you care about the people whom you got the chance to talk with?"

Snake looked away. The mercenary suddenly started to think about the question given to him. Everyone watched as Snake rubbed his chin, thinking hard about the answer.

"So?" Shadow Snake asked. "What will it be, me?"

"..." Snake looked at his shadow counterpart. "...I care about them." His right eye twitched a bit at this statement.

The World Traveler gasped. "W-what? A-are you telling the truth, Snake?"

"...I'm pretty sure I'm telling the truth..." Snake trailed off.

Shadow Snake stared at Snake. "...Hmm, it was hard to say, huh? Do you feel less weight on your shoulders now?"

Snake glared at the shadow. "Yeah, I feel a lot of weight being taken out from my shoulders."

"Oh, that's great to hear from you," Shadow Snake said. "...However..."

"However?"

"...It'd been nicer if you didn't have to lie," Shadow Snake pointed out.

Chris looked down in depression. "...I kind of knew he was lying with that..."

Shadow Snake chuckled. "The famous and yet infamous Solid Snake isn't the best talker," he said. "For you, actions speak louder than words, huh? Well, that's mostly true, but in your case, words should speak louder than actions."

"What does that mean?" Snake asked in irritation.

"I mean to say that you're not capable of starting bonds with people," Shadow Snake said. "The closest thing to bonds that you have is the people you work with. It's incredible that you have forgotten your past bonds with other people in the past, and we both know full well that you made some friendship against your will."

Snake looked away. "I admit that, alright."

"Sure you do," Shadow Snake said. "However, what made you take this abrupt change of thoughts? I'll tell you what," he said before pointing at the Smashers, "they're the reason why you decided to become an ass."

"What?" Fox asked. "Are you trying to say he was friendlier before he met us?"

"But of course," Shadow Snake said. "Before I got to meet you, my life was kind of normal, or a little bit far off from normal, but even so, it was common for me to live. Everything went down, however, when a certain hand contacted the Colonel about my services. That's when my behavior changed."

While Snake didn't like the fact that the shadow was referring to him, Chris shook his head. "W-why?" he asked. "Why would you do that, Snake?"

Snake remained silent at this.

"...Snake?"

"Once I joined the team, I began to see many different and unusual events that couldn't happen from where I came from," Shadow Snake said. "I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like to take part of nonsense. Guess what, the nonsense I'm trying to deal with every single day is the team I'm working for. I hate their guts so much that I wished they just left me alone."

The World Traveler shook his head again. "N-none of us is trying to piss you off!"

"You do that unintentionally," Shadow Snake said. "Just looking at any of you makes my blood boil up. Every time I look at one of them, I try my best to tolerate the fact of the scum I face. Too bad I can't tolerate them any longer, and that's what made my decision to drop out from the team."

"Drop out?" Lucario repeated. "Snake wants to disband from us?"

"Yeah," Shadow Snake said. "The kid knew about this. Hell, I've been looking at him making those depressed faces. He was trying to think about some way to convince me from staying."

Chris gasped. "Y-you mean to say you knew I was going to try t-"

"Yes," Shadow Snake interrupted. "Otherwise why would you remain speechless whenever you turned to look at me?"

"I-I..."

Fox looked at Snake. "But he can't drop out like that. Once someone joins the team, they can never drop out that easily. It's the code we follow."

"What kind of code is that?" Lucario asked.

The vulpine raised his shoulders. "Beats me… That's what Master Hand said."

"Do I have to say I brought Pichu, Roy, and Mewtwo into the team because they weren't called to be in the Brawl list?" Chris asked. "And if I recall, they WERE part of the team."

Fox looked away. "That sounds funny because Master Hand let them in when we fought the army just because he wanted them all out by getting them killed by Tabuu, but when they were taken out and we were all reunited again, he made that code right after."

"...That cheating bastard," Chris muttered. "...Wait, getting them killed... What?!"

"Eh, don't tell him I told you this...or none of the three..."

"How do you even know this?! Why didn't you say this before?"

"Hey, nowadays, it's easy to spy on someone when you have their room just across yours when you have a poorly arranged set of rooms in a mansion... And how was I supposed to say that to them? The last thing I wanted to have was an argument!"

"Ugh, I really want to know what happened during that whole army event..." Chris trailed off.

Aerith looked at Tifa. "What's a Master Hand?" she asked.

Tifa shrugged. "I bet that their boss's nickname..."

Shadow Snake sighed. "You guys are exactly the reason why I'm like this," he said. "I can't take this anymore. I want to forget everything as soon as I can before you become a hindrance to me. I only work solo."

Chris looked back at the shadow. "B-but we care about Snake!"

"I don't give a damn about you, though," Shadow Snake said. "I mean, after all, I'm the one who wants to be alone from getting closer to people, not the other way around."

Snake glared at him. "Shut up now."

The shadow continued talking. "People are so annoying when they want to talk to me. They don't understand that a man like me needs to be in solitude. My life isn't going to last too much before I succumb to the effects of FOXDIE. Overall, my life doesn't have a true meaning."

"Oh my god, he's turning emo now," Yuffie commented from the wall.

"Be quiet, you," Samus whispered angrily.

"FOXDIE..." Chris trailed off. "What is this FOXDIE thing?"

"FOXDIE is a virus," Snake said. "It's a virus that was injected into my genes in order to kill rebelling FOXHOUND members with a cardiac arrest to the heart. However, its purpose was fulfilled, and I wasn't aware of it until they told me so. An ally who used to work with us injected it into me by orders of the government, but because she thought I killed her brother, she modified it so it could kill me off as well. When she found out I didn't kill her brother, she became horrified of her actions that she pleaded for forgiveness before she was put under arrest, not before telling me that my death was set at a "wildcard" value, meaning I can die randomly."

"My god..." Chris muttered. "You...can die anytime?"

"Yes," Snake said. "And I don't know when I'm going to kick the bucket, but I don't care either way."

"My thoughts exactly," Shadow Snake said. "Because of that, you think your life is worthless. None of the stuff you've done so far makes you change your mind, huh?"

Snake closed his eyes. "...They do."

"Not," Shadow Snake said. "Admit it truthfully; the reason why you don't want people to sympathize with you is because your life is very short. You're doing this only because it's your own personal conflict and nobody else's conflict. Whatever everyone tells you isn't going to change your perspective about the fact you'll die very soon. By all this, your life doesn't have a true meaning because you really don't want to do anything unless it concerns you."

Snake opened his eyes. "I don't need somebody like you to tell me tha-"

"Oh, why's that? You hate to be reminded about your unavoidable fate?" Shadow Snake asked. "I hate to say this but you're always reminding yourself about it. It's nothing different if somebody else does it. Also, we're the same person, so it makes sense you're reminding yourself through me."

Snake tightened his right fist. "I told you I don't need to be reminded. I accept everything I've done so far. I'm not lying about anything."

"But you don't truthfully believe in your truths," Shadow Snake said. "Did you think I'd go away just because you said the truths of your lies? It doesn't work that way, Solid Snake. For your truths to become truly real, you need to put a whole lot of belief in them. I'm still here, so that'd prove you're not being true to yourself."

"I'm...being true to myself, dammit..." Snake muttered.

"No you're not," Shadow Snake said.

Chris took a step forward. "N-no, please, stop this! I don't want Snake to leave!"

And the World Traveler accidentally yelled what he was trying to do all this time but couldn't bring himself to do anything.

Chris shook his head and looked determined. "I-I don't want you to leave the group, Snake! You're still an important asset for the team! Otacon and Mei Ling told me in secret that they don't wish you to leave either! In fact, they want you to keep spending time with u-"

"Kid, shut the hell up," Snake interrupted.

"W-what? No! I won't shut up now!" Chris yelled. "I-I know it'd help you if you stayed with everyone here, Snake. You need to stop being a lone wolf before you end up thinking your life is worthless when is not!"

"Why do you go to such measures for somebody like me, kid?" Snake asked aggravated. "Is my existence that important?"

"O-of course it is!" Chris said. "You're unique in your own way, that's what makes you so special!"

"Bulls(beep)," Snake said. "I don't believe any of that crap."

"And that's why you deserve to die right now to relieve you from your stress," Shadow Snake said.

"...What?" Snake asked.

"Think about this," Shadow Snake said. "If you think your life is meaningless, why go ahead living? I've been wondering why you haven't taken suicide yet."

"I don't want to suicide because I..."

Shadow Snake shook his head. "There it is," he said. "You're still living so you can find meaning to your life. It's so cliché to see that, but it's something that pisses me off so much. In fact, you are lying to yourself with very confusing matters that you can't even resolve anymore. Your lies are just taking a turn for the worst."

"Shut up..." Snake muttered in anger.

"Don't worry, you won't have to listen to me anymore because you'll die in here," Shadow Snake said. "At last, you can find your truth in the afterlife, where these imbeciles won't pester you any longer. Isn't this what you want, Solid Snake? Didn't you want to be alone? Well, I gotta kill you right now so you become one dead lone wolf."

"I said shut up," Snake said, tightening his fists.

Shadow Snake opened his arms. "So what now? Do you want to live a lie or die with truth?"

"Shut up!" Snake yelled.

"Either way, you'll die with truth, Solid Snake," Shadow Snake said. "Your life is meaningless to the very end. I shall live in your place so your lying truths don't go to waste."

"SHUT UP!" Snake snapped out before he charged towards Shadow Snake. The group gasped as the shadow blocked Snake's incoming fists with both hands. The two of them were now trying to push each other way, but it looked like Shadow Snake had the upper hand. "What the hell makes you say all those things about me?!" Snake asked.

"S-Snake, please, calm down!" Chris pleaded. "D-don't let that shadow get to you!"

"I'm trying to kill this bastard, dammit!" Snake yelled. "That way, he won't get to me, kid!"

Chris shook his head. "S-stop, please!"

"Chris, it's useless now," Lucario said.

"W-what?"

Lucario shook his head. "Snake lost his calm self. He won't listen to anything or anyone now that he's enraged."

"H-how can you say that, Lucario?" Chris asked in disbelief. "I-I still believe Snake has..."

Shadow Snake chuckled evilly. "Look at this, none of us aren't even moving an inch from our positions," he said. "We're both equal as a whole. This proves that I am you, and you are me, Solid Snake."

"U-ugh..." Snake grunted. "S-stop calling me by my full name!" he demanded. "Y-you're not...you're not...y-you're not..."

Fox glared at this. "No, you bastard! Don't say that now before it's too late!"

"Snake, don't say it!" Chris yelled. "Please, don't sa-"

"You're not me, son of a b(beep)!!!" Snake yelled loudly. "You're never going to be me in any way, you piece of s(beep)!!!"

Dr. Eggman showed his teeth in victory. "Well, looks like it finally begins after all! I never thought it'd fail, but it never does! Quarrels between truths and lies are truly beneficial to my creations!"

Shadow Snake smirked evilly at Snake before he began to be covered by a thicker dark aura. Soon, the shadow emanated a shadowy aura that covered Snake's arms for a bit. Snake began to feel that the hands grabbing his fists started to become stronger with the grips that he began to back away thanks to the shadow. "W-what the heck is going on now?" Snake asked as he was being forced to step back.

The shadow, suddenly, lifted the mercenary from the ground. The group and Snake gasped as the ex-FOXHOUND was completely lifted above the shadow. Shadow Snake grinned up at Snake and said, "Looks like you became inferior to me, Solid Snake. I shall finish you up now."

"P-put me down now..." Snake said through gritted teeth.

"With pleasure."

And with a sharp turn, Shadow Snake slammed Snake down hard on the ground, creating a big hole that left Snake's image carved in it. The mercenary let out an agonizing scream of pain before the shadow promptly kicked him hard on his side, sending Snake rolling all the way to the temple's entrance where he panted heavily for air before he passed out of cold.

Cloud looked shocked at this. "This... How the..." he stammered for a bit before forcing a glare at the shadow. "What have you done to him?"

Shadow Snake cleaned his hands from dust before looking back at the group. "He's out of cold now," he said. "I thought I applied the necessary strength to kill him off, but he has some resistance, I remark."

"Y-you're going to kill him?" Tifa asked.

"So what about it?" Shadow Snake asked. "He doesn't want to live any longer. Dying will help him out by relieving his never-ending stress to find something he's valued for. Once he dies, he won't have any regrets."

"Y-you're wrong..." Chris muttered. "...Snake can still do something..."

Shadow Snake shook his head. "I'm afraid to say his time has ran out," he said. "Now it's time for him to die before FOXDIE kills him off."

Dr. Eggman looked back at the entrance where the guardians were hiding in the caves while watching the whole event from a safe distance. The scientist looked at the group and frowned. "Great, you're now protecting the guardians," he said. "It'd be useless if I try to take them by force again." He snapped his fingers and called forth a portal to the Subspace. "I'll leave you all alone so you can play with your new replacement for that foolish man. Once he's done with you, I'll come back to resume my mission. I'll be watching all this from a safe distance."

"What?" Tifa asked. "You're escaping?"

"Duh!" Dr. Eggman said with a small laugh before he left the cave through the portal before it vanished completely.

Shadow Snake raised an eyebrow and looked at himself. "Now where did my equipment go? It's such a pain that the ninja had to steal everything from me before this."

Yuffie looked confused. "I didn't steal from you..." She looked at Samus. "Hey, you, what does he mean?"

Samus looked away. "I don't want to explain anything for the time being..."

"What? I need explanations! I'm so confused!" Yuffie complained.

"I'm so pretty!" Elena complained randomly.

Shadow Snake chuckled darkly. "Well, since I don't have any weapons, I'm going to have to call one myself. I thank Snake for not believing in his truths because it makes me so damn powerful; powerful enough to do this."

Final Fantasy VII -Still More Fighting

With a snap of his fingers, shadow spores began to jump out from his legs. The group watched as the amount of spores began to rise in crazy piles before they all merged back with the shadow mercenary. Shadow Snake opened his arms and closed his eyes as the spores completely covered his body.

"W-what's happening now?" Aerith asked.

Cloud took a step back and narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to know more, but whatever it is, it's going to force us to fight."

Soon, the spores of darkness began to accumulate together in a big pile that began to grow to the point it reached the ceiling. Before the group, a mountain of spores of about fifty feet tall stood. However, once the spores stopped multiplying, a roar of a monster came out from them. The group took several steps back as a long machine gun began to stick out. Once the long rail gun was fully visible, the shadow spores quickly compressed themselves into one single figure that looked like some sort of machine.

The machine before them had heavily armored legs. It had the long rail gun pointing forward the wall behind the group. There was a cockpit protected under thick dark armor on top of the armored legs, and there was some kind of circular device sitting at the left top corner of the huge machine. Its legs took some steps forwards before it somehow let out a roar that sounded like that of a dinosaur.

"W-what is that thing?!" Chris asked in fear.

"Impressed much?" asked Shadow Snake inside the machine. "I'd like you to meet one Metal Gear; Metal Gear REX."

"Metal Gear REX..." Chris trailed off.

"Well, more like Shadow Gear REX," Shadow Snake said. "Hmm, Shadow Gear REX sounds kind of cool... But enough about that," he said. "With the help of this little machine, you guys will have to die right here and right now. Since my life should be meaningless, it WILL stay meaningless without you having to worry about me. Your first big mistake was trying to stay close to me, and your second big mistake was being a pest." The machine took a step backs and crouched down a bit. "I am the shadow, the true self... I shall be the one to decide who gets killed here, and that means all of you will die," he stated. "Prepare to die. I'm going to deal with you first before I end up with the most important event: kill the bastard behind me for real."

Tifa looked afraid of the machine before them. "W-what do we do now, Cloud? Are we seriously going to fight that thing?"

"Grr, we don't have any other choice now," Cloud said before he unsheathed his buster sword from his back and positioned it in front of him. "We're part of this."

"Yeah!" Yuffie yelled from the wall. "If you guys let this shadow machine thingy make havoc in Wutai's grounds, I won't forgive you!"

"I know they don't want to listen to you so I really think you should shut up now," Samus commented in boredom. "Also, I hope you're ready to resist being upside down for a long time because I don't think they'll come here to help us right now."

Yuffie closed her eyes. "You guys! You're SO dead if you don't stop that thing, you hear me?! DEAD!"

Aerith took out her long staff and looked serious. "I'm ready for anything, then," she said. "I know we don't have our Materia, but we must try to defeat that machine."

"Aerith, I swear you sound unnecessarily serious at the worst times," Tifa said before she readied her fists. "But whatever, I won't let you fight all alone."

Chris looked worried and shook his head. "I didn't think this would end like this... Cloud, do you have another one of that meteor attack ready?" he asked.

"No..." Cloud trailed off. "I need time to prepare another Meteorain attack..."

"...Oh no..."

Fox looked serious at Chris. "Get ready because this is going to be a hard fight," he said. "I'll have to rely on fire magic because of you-know-what."

Chris closed his eyes. "I know, Fox, don't remind me about that... If only we had just one more helper..."

At that moment, the Altean prince came from the cave's maze and climbed over the fallen Rapps. Marth panted heavily for a bit after running before he jumped down and joined up with the group. "E-everyone...I-I'm here..." He looked up at Shadow Gear REX. "W-what is that machine?"

"Snake got attacked by a Shadow Nightmare, Dr. Eggman used some machine to allow it to dwell in here, Snake is on the other side of that machine, and his shadow in controlling that monster to kill us off," Fox summarized.

"I-I see," Marth said. "Well, we don't have any other choice but to fight, right?"

Chris sighed. "Thank goodness you came here, Marth. Please, fight with us and..."

The agent just recalled that Marth didn't have any means to fight. Taking away his Falchion meant Marth was completely useless.

"..." Marth looked away. "...Would you mind if...I step down from this fight for obvious reasons and go back with the people hiding behind that dead monster?"

"..." Chris turned to Shadow Gear REX while Lucario readied his fists, looking at the wrong way. "...We have Lucario blind, Fox doesn't have his boots to fight physically, Marth doesn't have his sword, Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa don't have any Materia to use special abilities, and I got my spear stolen from my Dragoon job but I don't think I will do much because I'm really scared to fight a nuclear machine..."

Shadow Gear REX aimed its rail gun down at them.

The agent looked bored as he recalled the facts once more in his mind. "...Yes, we're definitely screwed for real this time..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Fourth Liar: Snake the Loner. Oh, and since we're all going to die by that machine, he'll be a loner his entire life?" Tifa asked.

"No, his shadow is gonna be the loner. It'll kill him off later," Cloud said.

"Oh, well, that's so lame, you know!"

"You know what else is lame?" Marth asked. "It's lame I don't have my sword to fight!"

"Shut up, tiara boy," Cloud muttered annoyed, causing Marth to grunt annoyed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Wutai Village
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckles, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Cid

References:

-"Final Fantasy VII – Don of the Slums" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you're in Don Corneo's mansion. (The SSEWC does not approve people going into that place. Go in there by your own risk.)

-"Final Fantasy VII – Fighting" is another song reference to the same game. It will always play during random battles outside the field map. For some reason, there's a sense of desperation put into this track.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Rude really likes Tifa, but he never seems to make a move to her in any of the actual games.

-Yes, people. Cloud really dressed up as a girl and was nearly abused by Corneo…on bed. "Shrugs"

As if it wasn't confusing enough, Snake's development is actually getting a bit confusing to me. Well, when I think about it, it's hard to tell what you're even trying to do in reality when you don't even know what you're doing anymore. "Cue paradox"

Overall, I think everything is coming along just as planned. The only thing I don't want to come across is confusion from the confusion Snake has now. "Cue second paradox"

Phew, I'm glad the FFVII arc is becoming enjoyable as well. That makes for any kind of any accidental shortcoming during the course of the arc. ;)

I won't remind you of anything here. Why, you're just reading an extra sentence that doesn't have much relevance. Ha-ha, I tricked you. 8-P

Putting that joke note aside, I encourage anyone cursing my penname for joking you with the joke note to review. :D

…Or I'll make the characters do a conga dance for real the next time. "Cue third paradox"
*Chapter 169*: Fourth Liar: Snake the Loner

I know it's been a long while ever since I last updated this fic, but there were many different shortcomings that prevented me from completing this chapter. I hope everyone forgives me for this long wait, but I'll try my best so this doesn't happen again.

From FF and STH: Wow, what to say

first when everybody was making fun of cloud when he was dress up as a girl was so funny It took some time to stop laugh

second I know it was going to be snake trun but I know nothing about metal gear so I may check what a metal gear rex is

and Thrid where is cid, he was the first one in the mountain

great job

From me: I think you're trying to make a real review this time, huh? Well, I guess that's a nice change for you.

It's easy to know what Metal Gear Rex is, fortunately. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From ngrey651: If you say Sephiroth's name three times in a mirror, he'll appear behind you to slice you through. XD Also, the fact that Don Cornero's not yet forty makes things a BIT better...but still GROSS. EW. I couldn't stop laughing over how much of a ** he was.

From me: Corneo will be gross no matter what his age is… Thanks again. :D

From Ludicario: Nice chapter.
I'm wondering how the fight will go, especially because the smashers don't have their weapons (except for Chris, of course).
I noticed a few grammer errors in this chapter, so I'll mention them here.
"The group then decided to ran after the blond mercenary by going upstairs, leaving the basement behind" should use "run" instead of "ran" because "ran" is in the past tense and a past tense verb wouldn't work unless you said "The group then ran after."
Also, when you would put a quotation mark (") inside other quotation marks, use a ' instead.
Apart from these issues, the grammer looks pretty good. Keep on writing!

From me: Thank you for pointing that out for me. I hope this little mistake makes my writing better. Also, please, do enjoy the chapter.

From TARDISreviewer: WRONG :p.

Anyway... there is some SERIOUS buildup in this chapter... and i dunno wut that thing at the end is like, but if the word nuclear is any indication... HOLY *!

PS; this fic is the only reason I'm still checking this section since some people stole my Wii a few nights ago.

From me: Ouch, I…think I feel some sympathy for you…so I hope you get your Wii back or a new one… Well, please enjoy this chapter, and sorry for the wait.

From PianistChris: Good chapter, the development of Snake is both accurate and well planned ;p
The scenes involving Corneo was funny and the whole the arguments between the three female characters was funny too.

It would be interesting if Snake's character progresses to what he becomes in the fourth game, and I look forward to seeing if you do use it.

Looking forward to the fighting against Rex in the next chapter too :)

Chris :p

From me: I think I'm not going to make Snake develop that much towards his latest game. I think this development is going to be more personal for the story than anything else is. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE AWESOME. CLOUD STRIFE VS. METAL GEAR REX. Oh and good chapter.

From me: Thank…you…

From JonasGirl80: Yep, they're screwed. Officially.

Cloud...a girl? In bed with...a guy? EW!

You're getting really good with the character's personalities and what they would say, congrats.

And REX is about to kill them, huh? But probably not because this story would be nothing without Chris and Lucario...

Chris has done a horrible job of trying to keep Snake from leaving AWAY from Snake noticing.

And then there's Lucario...shill blinded, who thinks Chris is leading him everywhere...poor guy! Come on Chris, lead him around for a while to make Lucario happy! :)

JonasGirl80

P.S. Sorry I forgot to review to the chappie before, but I've been busy lately and ive had no internet :(

P.S.S. I did read the story up until now (as a comment toward your comment on my review 2 chapters ago) because it is awesome! ;)

From me: Please, do scroll down to find out more about your doubts. I'm sure it'll be a good read for you and everybody. ;)

From Decepticon Fan: I sense a big fight coming... Could it be Metal Gear Rex and Cloud Strife? I wonder... Anyways, I can't say I'm surprised that Snake wanted to leave. It's so within his personality to do just that. See, that's how well you write the characters! As usual, can't wait for the next chapter.

From me: Thank you for praising how I develop the characters. Keep rooting for me so I can write them all good as everyone wants them to be. :D

From Dawnwolfnxhoj: So right now, everyone has had their stuff stolen and have joined up with the 7 group to recover it, right? Ok, this arc has been quite funny and action packed despite my growing hate for 7. Huh, I thought for sure that the curser was going to be Barret and not Cid, good job on tricking me^-^. And that Don guy, despite on how long it has been since I've seen the game at that point, I have no problem remembering him once I've read his name. And I'm glad to see Red XI, my 2nd favorite character in 7. So now, enough of my useless and meaningless yapping, time for a...
ULTRA SPECIAL, BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
Eh? I know that Cloud cross-dresses to get to the mansion, but I do remember that it wasn't him that was chosen. Did you do this on purpose?
"W-what the hell *did* just happen?" Dr. Eggman asked in bewilderment as he looked to his empty right hand. "W-what *did* just..."
You don't need to use "did" at the places they're at. Just by itself already says this happened
Have you heard of "We Love Katamari"? AND ONLY, heard. NO REQUESTS, WHAT-SO-EVER!
Well, that'll be all for the moment, happy typing!

From me: Cloud was the one who was chosen by Corneo to do "love" in reality. You just forgot it.

Thanks for the little info.

I know that game.

Thanks. ;D

From Idarak: Just started reading this story again. I'm up to about chapter thirty. Just a few things I want to mention. Early in the story there were some things (namely Lucario gaining the Job System and something called the Sidescroller) that were never mentioned again after the third arc approximately. These things were good ideas but you kind of just dropped them. But other than that this is an amazing story, even though I do find Chris a bit insufferable at times.

From me: Some of the things I previously stated in the first chapters will have to be taken out due to the fact I think they're just worthless. That way, it'll make the story less unbearable for anyone new.

From KimotoDragoon: Shadow Snake... That woulda been a cool title for Snake.

And wow. All those missing from the fight. Yuffie better hurry, grab them and give them back.

From me: You shall see what happens next, then. Thanks for reviewing. :D

Anyway, as I've said before, I'm sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. Many interruptions prevented me from finishing this. I just hope my readers are still reading this, though. I'd feel ashamed if nobody ever came back to read again…but I need to stay optimistic, nevertheless.

So…I don't have anything else to say regarding this… God, I feel pathetic now…

The poll has been closed, so now you can the winner for the next arc. A new poll will start shortly.

With that away, I encourage whoever is still reading this to read and review. ;)

Disclaimer: Laugh…and grow fat!

Chapter 169: Fourth Liar: Snake the Loner

-Wutai Village-
Adabat Temple - Entrance

Final Fantasy VII - Still More Fighting

As the insanely big machine aimed its rail gun down at the group, Chris could tell it was aiming directly at his face. With a gulp, the World Traveler started to whimper in silence. "W-what am I supposed to do?" he asked. "I-I don't know how to fight a thing like that, it's just impossible for any of us to do damage to it! I-it's just too...big!"

Suddenly, a familiar ring tone rang. The World Traveler then found himself entering a codec conversation with Otacon.

"God, thank goodness I contacted you!" Otacon said. "Now you'll have time before that machine attacks you. The codec should slow it down for now."

Chris blinked in shock. "O-oh, please, you're not being serious that entering codec conversations can actually slow down time, right?"

"I am."

"..."

"Mei Ling does a pretty good job with this," Otacon said simply.

"...I'm a bit jealous that Snake can do this kind of thing..." Chris muttered.

"...Weren't you freaking out because you were fighting a shadow version of REX?"

"Oh, now I remember," Chris said calmly. "OTACON, please tell me there's a way to fight that machine!" he yelled in panic. "I don't want to die so young before falling in love with the girl of my dreams!"

"Why are you talking about girls now?"

"Blame my stupid Agent job for that! It takes a mind of its own when I least expect it, and it makes me go ladies' man in an instant, but who the hell cares about it right now? I'm going to die!"

"C-calm down, will you?" Otacon asked. "Look, whatever you look at it, Meta Gear REX has a flaw that makes it not that perfect for a nuclear machine."

"N-nuclear?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't seem it has any nuclear warheads," Otacon assured. "Snake fought it without the Metal Gear having at least one of them. That should make things a little bit easier for you guys."

"O-okay, that's nice to hear, alright," Chris said. "But how do we fight it head on? Are normal attacks enough?"

"I'm afraid not," Otacon said. "Metal Gear REX possesses heavy armored legs and upper body that normal attacks won't even make a scratch on it. However, since I designed it mysel-"

"Now I suddenly want to strangle you," Chris said in boredom.

"H-hey, I didn't know what I was doing when I was making that monster!" Otacon argued. "They told me it was supposed to intercept nuclear weapons, not THROW them! They kept me in the dark so how was I supposed to know? I-in any case, there's a flaw in REX that you should know."

"A flaw?" Chris asked. "I don't know why, but I thought you were the kind of guy who wouldn't overlook a small detail."

Otacon chuckled a bit. "Nothing can be complete without a character flaw, you know."

"...That...well...it's...true..." Chris said.

"...Anyway, the character flaw of REX is the radome," Otacon said. "Since the cockpit is sealed, the pilot can't see anything outside of it unless the radome sends the information into the cockpit. The radome is the object sitting on its left shoulder; the one that looks likes a shield. The radome itself creates a virtual reality interface inside the cockpit so the pilot can maneuver REX without going around blindly. Disabling the radome forces the system to go offline, and the cockpit needs to open so the pilot operates it manually."

"Disabling?" Chris repeated. "B-but wouldn't be best if it was destroyed?"

"I don't know if you can destroy it that easily. The radome itself has less armor built into it, but it's still durable," Otacon said. "Snake couldn't destroy it or disable it during the fight against it, but then Gray Fox came into the fight and he sliced it to destroy it completely before he died protecting Snake."

"...He...died?" Chris asked. "But then, why is he an Assist Trophy in here?"

"I dunno. Maybe the hand made a perfect replica of Gray Fox," Otacon said. "...That aside, you need to strike the radome so the cockpit opens up. When it does, attack the pilot with everything you got before the radome gets back online and the cockpit closes down. It's logical that you can possibly disable the radome's functions instead of blowing it up."

"Is there something else I should know?" Chris asked worried.

"Oh yeah, REX shoots missiles for any sides, uses lasers, and a machine gun for frontal attacks," Otacon said. "Since it's big, you need to watch out for its feet because it can crush anything very easily. Also, be careful about the rail gun because it can also crush anyone if it charges to you."

"..." Chris gulped. "W-wish us luck..."

"I will," Otacon said. "Try to save Snake, Chris. We still think there's hope for him to change his mind."

"I'll try...but I can't promise anything..."

"Good luck, then. If you want to call me, my frequency is 141.12," Otacon said.

"Oh god, not this again about frequencies…" Chris muttered. "How do you control those?"

"Oh, just think the number in your mind or something. It should work that way for you," Otacon said before the codec ended.

Chris shook his head and looked to the upper right corner of Shadow Gear REX where he found a round, shield-shaped object situated on its left shoulder. "(That should be the radome Otacon was talking about...)" He aimed his revolver to the radome. "Taste steel fused into bullets, you damn machine of hell!" Chris proclaimed as he shot bullets at the radome.

However, in a split second, a wall of darkness formed up right in front of the radome, swallowing the bullets to prevent them from damaging the virtual reality device. The agent gasped at this sudden protection.

And it was such an easy way to make Chris panic.

The agent quickly pressed his stapes. "141.12! 141.12! 141.12, dammit, 141.12!" he yelled in panic.

The codec ring tone rang, triggering another conversation with the otaku.

"Otacon, the radome is being protected by a wall of darkness!" Chris yelled. "It consumed my bullets somehow!"

"What? T-that's impossible!" Otacon said.

"Oh, right, it's impossible since I saw that wall with my OWN eyes!" Chris complained. "W-what are we going to do now?"

"E-er, I didn't think that this shadow version of REX could possess such a defensive system like that…"

"System? That isn't a system; it's an abnormality!" Chris said. "Please, tell me you added another character flaw into that monstrosity!"

"I-I'm afraid I didn't add another one…"

The agent looked bewildered and helpless. "…No, we can't be screwed this time…"

"Sorry…" Otacon muttered. "But it seems you guys will have to find another way to damage the radome," he said. "Otherwise you won't do much damage to REX."

"Is it really that important to take out the freaking radome?" Chris asked.

"Of course it is," Otacon said. "REX is perfectly and heavily armored. Nothing can pierce through its armor that easily, and I don't think supernatural strength will do much either. For now, try to find a way to make that mysterious wall of darkness disappear so you can damage the radome."

"Focus every attack on the radome…" Chris muttered.

"I'm rooting for you here," Otacon said. "Call me again if you need anything."

And the codec ended once more.

The agent closed his eyes before he opened them with a serious look. "Everyone, focus your attacks on the shield object over the machine's left shoulder!" he yelled.

Aerith looked at Chris. "You mean the round one over there?" she asked as she pointed to the radome.

"That very same one!" Chris said. "Don't attack anything else the radome. The cockpit where Shadow Snake is hiding will open once we disable the radome. When that happens, attack Shadow Snake before the radome comes back online!"

Cloud put a tight grip on his buster sword and narrowed his eyes at the radome. "Well, let's all follow that plan for now," he said. "We don't know how to fight that thing, but if attacking that singular spot is important, then let's do it."

Suddenly, they heard some dark chuckles coming from inside Shadow Gear REX.

"What now?" Tifa asked.

"You guys are serious?" Shadow Snake asked from inside the Metal Gear. "If you try to attack it, you'll end up becoming vulnerable. I'll see how each one of you do to scratch my face. C'mon, just try it," he taunted.

Fox narrowed his eyes and pulled back his right hand over his left shoulder. "Burn to greater ashes…" he chanted before shoving his hand to the radome's direction as a fire glyph shone under him, "FIRA!"

Surprisingly enough, the wall of darkness covered the radome just right after the scorching flames appeared over it. The wall managed to resist the magic attack before it lowered down into the machine.

"Damn," Fox muttered, gritting his fangs a bit. "My newly learned magic was simply rejected…"

"I'm sick of you guys coming up with your ways to attack me," Shadow Snake said before he aimed his rail gun to the group's center. "Time for you to kiss the ground good bye."

"But didn't we did that just onc-" Chris was interrupted as twenty shadow missiles were shot from the rail gun. "HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!" he yelled.

"Everyone, disperse!" Cloud yelled, making everyone take different directions (with Aerith grabbing the blind Lucario's left hand) to evade the missiles.

Unfortunately, the explosions of the missiles were a bit too powerful. Once they all failed to shot somebody, they all made contact on the ground, causing a huge explosion of darkness that reached all of them, making them stumble from their directions. The group grunted in pain at this before they quickly stood up.

Cloud coughed some dust from his mouth and glared at the Metal Gear. "Didn't think I'd face something like this before..." he muttered.

"Of course not," Shadow Snake said. "You face fantasy monsters in here, so you don't face against what I usually fight," he explained as he turned slowly to the blond mercenary. "Good thing you're not used to fight Metal Gears, kid."

"I don't give a damn about Metal Gears or whatever they are," Cloud said as he prepared his buster sword. "I care that this machine goes down alongside you."

"We'll see if you go down first instead," Shadow Snake said.

Before the Metal Gear could turn around completely, Cloud ran towards its left leg where he did a high jump and climbed up the armored leg to the top of the machine.

"What the..." Shadow Snake muttered as Cloud was seen jumping high into the air, going directly towards the radome.

"Take this, you damn machine!" Cloud yelled as he brought down his huge sword over the radome, creating a harsh impact on the wall of darkness that appeared right after he was about to clash the sword against the radome. The blond mercenary, however, gritted his teeth and tried hard to pierce through the wall. "D-damn this f*&^%^& protection!" he cursed, his sword seemingly doing not much of a change.

"You need assistance, so here you got it," Chris said as he aimed his revolver to the wall. "Flouris-"

Apparently, the shot's power could deal more damage depending of how many females were around Chris. The bullet was powerful enough to send Chris for about fifteen feet away from his position where he landed on his rear and grunted in pain. As for the powered bullet, it was shot right into the wall.

However, it didn't do enough damage.

The agent slowly stood up and shook his head. "S-so, if Flourish grew that powerful..." he trailed off before looking at Tifa and Aerith. "Y-yes, they would explain why it got so powerful, but I still think it was because..."

Glancing behind the Metal Gear, Chris saw (the dazzled) Elena, Yuffie, and Samus watching the whole fight from above the wall.

"...Of course..." Chris muttered. "They're in this room..."

Yuffie struggled to get off the ropes. "D-dammit!" she cursed. "I wish I was down so I could escape from here!"

"S-shut up!" Cloud yelled from over the Metal Gear. "I-instead of running away, why not helping us out?!"

"Ha! You said I wasn't part of the team anymore so screw you, Cloud!" Yuffie said triumphantly.

Samus rolled her eyes. "You only do this when it suits you, huh? It's no wonder why he doesn't want you with them."

Yuffie looked at Samus. "What are you saying?"

"Please, it's obvious they'd leave you in a valley, where you'd starve to death," Samus said. "Now that they're in trouble, wouldn't helping them out make them believe you're trustworthy?"

Yuffie looked away with a pout. "I don't need anyone's sympathy!"

"Well, go ahead," Samus said. "However, don't expect anyone to help you when you need help, just like you need it now."

Yuffie looked down (or up to the ceiling) at this statement. The ninja began to think about what Samus told her.

"Hey, kid with the biga(beep) sword," Shadow Snake called out as the rail gun moved to the right, "get off from REX right now before you get hurt."

Cloud was about to respond, but the Metal Gear did a quick turn to the left, making Cloud stumble all the way down to the ground where he flipped and landed on his feet. The blond mercenary quickly looked back and stepped away from a crushing foot of armor of Shadow Gear REX. "That was close..." he muttered as he backed away. "(None of the attacks seemed to have an effect on that wall...)"

"Taste bullets," Shadow Snake said simply as he activated some four machine guns from the front of REX, all of them hiding inside small spaces. Cloud blinked at this before he quickly blocked a barrage of bullets by using his buster sword's edge. "Hmm, double potency would be nice now," he said before four more machine guns appeared below the first four, making Cloud back away slowly before he sidestepped out of the way. Shadow Snake stopped the attack and turned the machine to Cloud.

Tifa looked at Aerith. "Aerith, don't get too close to that gear bucket. You're not that good with physical attacks as much as I do... No offense."

Aerith nodded. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure you're much better for close-range combat."

Tifa blushed a bit at the remark. "W-well, if only there was a way for you to use magic... You're the best magic user out of everyone in the group."

The flower girl looked down in some depression. "I know, but I can still be of help..."

Tifa looked serious at the Metal Gear. "I know; provide healing items to anyone who needs 'em. You should better be the item user for now."

"Got it," Aerith said. "I'll better do that."

"And as for me, it's time to get this started!" Tifa yelled as she dashed towards the Metal Gear.

The Metal Gear noticed the fighter approaching. It turned around to face Tifa directly before it shot ten shadow missiles towards her.

Suddenly, Chris's senses reacted at the attack. "N-no! I won't let a lady be attacked by such a filthy omen of darkness!" he yelled before he took out a black cape and waved it in front of himself. "I would lay down my life at a single word..." he muttered before he instantly disappeared and quickly appeared right in front of Tifa. "Escor-"

And the agent thus was submitted to a whole lot barrage of missiles, making Tifa back away to avoid the explosions from reaching her. "C-Chris!" Tifa yelled worried as smoke flew out everywhere from where Chris was.

Once the smoke cleared out, Chris was shown standing up...and then he quickly fell to the front.

"Oh my god, Chris!" Tifa yelled.

Suddenly, a holy light shone down on the fallen agent, making saint wings appear and flutter a bit before disappearing. The agent grunted in pain and slowly got up from the ground. "W-what a man does for love...is so cruel...many, many times..." Chris muttered dumbfounded.

"Tsk, what a dumba(beep)," Shadow Snake commented. "Next time, before you protect somebody, measure how hurt you'll get."

Tifa sighed in relief. "Phew, he had an auto-life effect... I'm glad..."

"Too bad he doesn't have one anymore. I know that well," Shadow Snake said as he aimed his rail gun at the agent.

Chris yelped at this and quickly turned around to run away. "F-forgive me, but I'm still a little bit worked out with half health!" he said to Tifa.

The fighter looked a bit clueless about this before she shook her head and focused back to the Metal Gear. Tifa continued to dash towards the machine before it shot eight shadow missiles at her. "(There's no protection this time...and why am I thinking about needing it?)"

"FIRA!"

Scorching flames covered the first missile of the line, creating a chain reaction of explosions that covered Shadow Gear REX's front completely. Tifa looked back to see a grinning Fox before she looked back to the machine and quickly climbed its right left, nimbly jumping over it to reach the upper top to reach the radome's area. "I'll give it all with these!" she yelled before she charged to the radome to deliver strong fists with her knuckles, the wall of darkness forming over the object to protect it. Tifa's knuckles clashed against the wall, her voice grunting in anger as she tried to break into it. "D-dammit!" she cursed.

Cloud suddenly jumped towards the machine's left leg and quickly made it to the top where Tifa wildly punched the wall. Cloud yelled as he delivered a harsh slash on the wall before continuing. "When is this thing gonna break?!" Cloud asked.

"I dunno, but keep going!" Tifa yelled. "It's got to break down!"

Lucario grunted as he overheard the two grunting and yelling with every attack they landed on the wall. Shadow Gear REX then shook the two off, making them both fall down to the ground where they landed on their feet and quickly stepped away from the machine's crushing feet. "If I just could see for a bit, I could try to destroy that radome thing with my fists."

Aerith blinked a bit at this and chuckled. "Oh, then let me give you some aid with...this."

The flower girl took out from behind a small purple container that she opened afterward. Aerith chuckled a bit and delicately opened Lucario's reddened eyes (which caused him to twitch uncontrollably). The flower girl quickly applied several drops of the container into Lucario's left and right eyes, the Aura Pokémon grunting a bit in pain as the drops made his eyes more watery than before. "W-what are you doing to me?" Lucario asked.

"I'm using some Eye Drops so you can see again," Aerith said. "We have a lot of them with us, but we don't have that many Hi-Potions..."

Lucario grunted a bit. "B-but you only made my ey-" he stopped talking once his eyes became less and less watery. Suddenly, his vision began to restore slowly before Lucario managed to see what was in front of him (a smiling Aerith) and around. "...What?" Lucario said in confusion. "I can see again..."

Aerith folded her arms behind her back. "You can see again? That's so great!" she said happily.

"...B-but..." Lucario shook his head. "You could've done this before?"

"Hmm, I guess, why?"

"...Well...if you could do it long before, we wouldn't have had to go around the village and search for Yuffie..."

Aerith looked at the Eye Drops's info tag behind its back. "Well, it says here it only cures blindness, but it doesn't cure extreme blindness..."

"...And you thought my blindness was extreme?"

"I think so... That curry had flames burning on its plate, was it?"

"..." Lucario let out an annoyed grunt. "Then I could've seen anything during this morning if you used that..."

"Don't look at me like that because you had to wait forcibly," Aerith said. "Otherwise the Eye Drops wouldn't have worked much. Oh, and it looks like you have some veins sticking out from your eyes, so don't do something to make you blind again, okay?"

"I was blinded accidentally, if you forgot..." Lucario muttered.

"At least you're all good to see, right?" Aerith asked with a warm smile.

"(Aerith just wants me to forget this easily, doesn't she?)" Lucario asked in defeat before he shook his head and looked at the Metal Gear. "Well...thanks for healing my eyes..."

Aerith playfully rubbed his left ear with care. "You're welcome, Lucario."

Lucario blushed a bit before glaring at Shadow Gear REX. His fists suddenly became flared up with aura. "Now that I can see again, I need to fight alongside everyone else."

"Go get him, okay?"

Lucario's cheeks reddened more at this. "F-fine..." he said in embarrassment before he dashed towards the shadow machine, Aerith chuckling heartily at this.

"He looks cute when he blushes," Aerith remarked.

Shadow Gear REX locked its vision to Lucario. "God, the blue pup is coming towards me," Shadow Snake faked some worry before moving its rail gun at him. "I'll make you go blind eternally, though." He shot twelve missiles at the aura wielder.

Lucario narrowed his eyes and easily jumped over the missile barrage. He managed to jump very high to the point he reached more than Shadow Gear REX's height. "Please, not even those missiles will stop me from attacking," Lucario said.

Shadow Snake sighed. "Well, if you want to put it that way, maybe I should put the missiles in lock-on mode."

"What?" Lucario asked before he looked behind to see the twelve missiles suddenly turning around towards him. With a grunt, Lucario shot an Aura Sphere, managing to destroy just one missile. Grunting more, he began to shoot more Aura Spheres to eliminate every single missile until they were all gone. He sighed and turned around just to be smacked hard on the face by Shadow Gear REX's rail gun. "GUARGH!" Lucario yelled in pain as he crashed right into the left wall, leaving an image of his body printed on the wall before he pushed himself off and landed on the ground. "Dirty trick..." he muttered.

"It's not my fault you were distracted," Shadow Snake said. "Besides, I thought I was supposed to stop you, wasn't I?"

Lucario gritted his fangs. "S-shut up..."

On the other side of the Metal Gear, Chris aimed at the radome once more. However, this time, Fox assisted him with fire magic, moving his right hand over his left shoulder. "Okay, let's try attacking at the same time to weaken it more," Fox said. "The protection might break apart if we damage it with a strong impact."

"Right," Chris said before shouting, "Flourish!"

"Fira!"

Both attacks connected with each other, enveloping the wall of darkness in scorching flames with a harsh bullet impact (that made Chris fly several feet away). As the fires ceased to burn, the wall didn't seem damaged at all.
Fox cursed a bit at this. "Damn that wall, when are we going to inflict some real damage?"

"Right after I inflict the damage on all of you," Shadow Snake said. "With that, I mean you won't do anything."

Shadow Gear REX shot several missiles towards Fox (and Chris was far away, long enough to avoid being attacked). Fox narrowed his eyes at the missiles and merely stood there with a grin. "Heh, you're forgetting I have…" He looked down to his empty belt. "…Oh, righ-"

And the vulpine thus received a full barrage of shadow missiles, creating a big explosion that pushed him away towards Chris, who at the time was about to stand up before Fox's back crashed right into him, prompting both to fall down together. "F-Fox!" Chris said. "Fox, are you okay?"

"B-barely…" Fox muttered on top of Chris before rolling to the side. "T-those missiles sure can…make you feel weak…"

"One more missile should do the trick, then," Shadow Snake said before shooting another missile towards the two. However, it was quickly taken down by an Aura Sphere from an angry Lucario. "Oh yeah, dog protecting his owner."

"You won't do anything to him!" Lucario yelled before charging towards the machine. Shadow Gear REX turned to the right before Lucario leaped high up over its shoulders, running quickly towards the radome where he charged up his right hand with Force Palm on the sudden appearance of the shadow wall that covered the radome completely. "Grrrrr!!!" Lucario grunted loudly as his palm tried to pierce through the small dome.

"Don't you get it or what?" Shadow Snake asked. "The shadow wall can't be pierced through brute force. I guess none of you will understand that."

"Shut up!" Lucario yelled before the Metal Gear tried to shake him off. However, Lucario embraced the wall of darkness to stay on top of the machine. "You won't shake me off that easily!"

"Geez, talk about annoying," Shadow Snake said before he shot three missiles out, all of them setting a lock on to go towards Lucario.

Lucario looked back at the missiles before he quickly jumped over the radome's dome to take cover. "(Maybe…)" he thought, "(I can use the dome as a means to…)"

The missiles accidentally crashed right on the dome, creating a big explosion that couldn't reach Lucario thanks to the wall being strongly resistant to the impact. The Aura Pokémon looked back to see the dome was…intact.

"What?" Lucario asked in a bit of a shock before he forgot to hold himself to the small dome and fell down once the machine shook him off quickly. He landed on his feet and stood in a fighting stance. "Why didn't the missiles do anything to the shield?"

"Tsk, the usual 'seeker missiles to damage myself' trick isn't going to work," Shadow Snake said as he turned the Metal Gear to Lucario. "The missiles are made out of pure darkness, and the wall is made of the same type of element. When both crash against each other, the wall isn't going to be damaged. Instead, it'll just nullify dark attacks of the machine altogether."

Lucario grunted at this. "And here I thought it'd do something..."

"Good thing it didn't. Shadow Gear REX is optimized to do the best performance. Heck, it does better than the normal Metal Gear REX." He aimed the rail gun at Lucario. "No matter how many times you try, you won't damage this thing."

"MOTHERF*&%#%!!!"

Shadow Gear REX turned around to the entrance of the cave where everyone looked at the same direction to see someone jumping over the fallen Rapps's body. Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa gasped as they saw a super pissed Cid charging towards Shadow Gear REX with a long spear trailing behind his back. The blond man looked as if he was in a blind state of fury.

"Cid?" Cloud muttered.

Cid didn't pay any attention to anybody as he charged towards the machine without thinking. Shadow Snake frowned inside the shadow REX. "God, are there any people with some good attitude instead of this cursing fool?" he asked in annoyance before preparing to shoot more missiles.

And by this time, Cid had unexpectedly jumped high enough to overpass the machine's height. Shadow Snake looked up to see the furious man quickly and blindly extending his spear down to the radome. "MOTHERF*&^%$ B*&^%!!!" he proclaimed in fury before he instantly struck down the wall of darkness with the tip of his spear.

"For crying out loud, do I really need to repeat myself?" Shadow Snake asked. "For the last time, that wall of darkne-"

And suddenly, the mentioned wall of darkness broke apart in pieces that later vanished.

"What?" Shadow Snake said in some astonishment as the furious space man struck the radome hard enough to disable it temporally. Shadow Snake looked up to see the cockpit quickly opening up, revealing himself standing inside the shadow machine. "But..."

Cloud blinked a bit at this. "So...it can be pierced through?"

Shadow Snake grunted a bit. "Damn, that strike he just did was too much for the wall, then..." He looked to his left where Cid didn't even focus on him. "Hey, retard, aren't you supposed to fight me instead of looking away?"

Cid's angry look was focused on a single person, and it wasn't Snake who was his target. His eyes were giving a fierce glare at a particular ninja who at the time was tied up against the wall.

"…" Yuffie began to sweat a bit more. "…Tell me he's looking at her and not me…" she muttered to Samus, referring to the dazzled Elena.

"Ooh, twosome!" Elena said. "He's so into you. I'm jealous!"

Samus glanced at Yuffie. "Let me give you a hint: he's not looking at me."

Yuffie gulped and chuckled nervously to Cid. "H-heheheh, how're ya doing, Cid? It's a nice weather out there, isn't? Look, are you still mad that I stole all the Materi-"

"B*&%#$%%$#^%#^$#$%^&$%#$%$#^%^$!!!" Cid interrupted with a loud and long curse before he quickly aimed his spear right at Yuffie's chest where her heart was supposed to be. The ninja let out a scream as Cid tossed the spear towards her, making her close her eyes while yelling.

Fortunately, for Yuffie, the spear managed to hit just right below her head, where it was stuck in place. The ninja looked up (or down in her case) to see the spear's blade carefully separated just an inch away from her hair. Yuffie turned white for a split second before she looked at Samus. "I-I have a bad feeling he wants to kill me off for good!"

"That's supposed to be the main reason," Samus said in boredom.

"I-I don't know you, but having a spear stuck just above (or below) my head isn't reassuring me at all!" Yuffie complained. "I wanna leave this place with Cid behind!"

"You little slut!" Cid called over the Metal Gear. "Ye're gonna have to say a nice apology to ol' Cid before he messes you up but GOOD!"

Yuffie smiled nervously. "C-c'mon, everything's in the past already," she said, her right eye twitching. "Can we all be just friends and have nice strolls around the world to stop Shinra from becoming a threat to the world, and defeat that man with the ridiculously long white hair?"

"F&*^ no!" Cid yelled. "If you're with us, I'll strangle you with my bare hands, and then I'll pinch your flat chest till it bursts wide open!"

Yuffie got a little bit angry. "H-hey, you can talk about killing me if you want, but you can't comment about someone's chest like that!"

"Like I give a damn!" Cid yelled. "Stop fooling around over that wall with those other girls and get down already!"

"That's something I've been trying to do all this time, you know!" Yuffie yelled. "All my blood is in my head right now!"

"Well, get down!" Cid yelled angrily.

"Take me down yourself!"

"You wish!"

"I thought you wanted me to get down, and I need help here!"

Samus sighed. "This isn't going to go anywhere at this rate…"

"You girl are so lazy to do things yourself!" Cid yelled. "I'm not gonna give a hand to ya because I-"

"Would you two stop arguing right now?" Shadow Snake interrupted in annoyance. "I really want you to stop arguing in the middle of this fight."

Cid turned to look at the shadow. "You ain't tellin' me what to do, shadowy guy!"

"Well, if you don't want to listen, then I'll push you out by for-"

"FIRA!" shouted Fox, finishing a chant he did with mutters, as he moved his right hand to Shadow Snake.

Scorching flames burned the pilot in the Metal Gear. Shadow Snake grunted in pain before a harsh bullet shot (a Flourish from Chris that pushed him back) crashed to his body. The shadow mercenary grunted more before a long staff smacked his head hard before falling down to the ground where Aerith went to pick it up, followed by two Aura Spheres to Shadow Snake. The shadow was covered by smoke from the spheres of aura before he moved the smoke away. "Okay, you guys ar-"

Shadow Snake stopped once he got a fierce punch by Tifa, who had climbed up the machine while all the attacks crashed on him. "Take this, demon of darkness!" Tifa yelled as she fiercely punched Shadow Snake's face.

"Ugh, you woman, stop it!" Shadow Snake yelled before managed to push forward and throw Tifa down, where she landed gracefully on the ground. Shadow Snake grunted a bit before he clicked several buttons on the control panel of the shadow Metal Gear. "The radome should get back online now..."

The cockpit suddenly closed down, showing a sign that the radome was fully operational again. Many of them gasped at this as Shadow Gear REX began to move once more. "Dammit, it's closed again," Cloud said.

"We'll have to damage the radome again," Tifa said. "If Cid used his special ability, then that'd mean the wall of darkness can be pierced through with fatal strikes..."

"That's the idea," Fox said. "Only fatal strikes can break through that cover."

"B-but..." Chris stuttered a bit, "what kind of fatal strikes?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "I guess fatal strikes like Cid's Jump ability..."

"That's still a bit vague," Tifa said.

Lucario looked away. "Not even my brute force can do much..."

"HEY, B*&^$#!" Cid called over the Metal Gear. "What're we doing with this piece of sh*&^% metal? Are we fightin' it to screw it good?!"

Aerith looked at Tifa. "I guess he's still a bit of a cuckoo about Yuffie..."

Tifa rolled her eyes and looked at Cid. "Yeah, we're trying to fight it to take it down!" she yelled. "We need your help so that doesn't kill any of us!"

"I ain't seein' a reason why I should fight it!"

"W-well...it...wants to kill Yuffie before you do!"

"...This piece of scrapped metal ain't takin' that opportunity from me!" Cid yelled.

Yuffie looked annoyed at this statement. "Oh, geez, right after they take that thing down, I'm going to get killed by Cid?"

"That seems to be the idea for him...at least for him," Samus muttered.

"...Sucks to be me right now," Yuffie muttered in boredom.

"Alrighty, kids!" Cid yelled as he took out another spear from behind his back (making Chris twitch his right eye a bit). "Uncle Cid's gonna do some rumble on this hellish bulls*&^ you call machine!"

"(How the heck did he take that new spear out?)" Chris asked. "(I guess everyone uses hammer-space quite a lot around here as we do... Actually, this is kind of a pointless question...)"

"Oh god, not another cockroach," Shadow Snake said within the Metal Gear. "This one likes to curse a lot unnecessarily. So annoying, I swear..."

Cid grumbled a bit at this and pointed at the covered cockpit. "You ain't callin' me a cockroach, motherf*&^%$#. You try to shut me up; I'll freakin' kill ya off."

Lucario looked at Cloud. "Do you get sick of listening to his cursing and swearing all the time?"

"Frankly speaking, one day with him makes you extremely used to his language," Cloud muttered in annoyance.

Cid started to slash the machine randomly on the spot he was standing. "Bastard won't get a scratch, ugh!" he complained.

Cloud frowned at this. "Cid, you need to strike the circular object behind your back! That way, the cockpit of the machine should open up, and then you can attack the pilot!"

Cid turned behind to see the radome. With some kind of war cry, the space man tried to slash it, but the wall of darkness had regenerated back, protecting the radome from further receiving more damage. "What the f*&^ is wrong with this? Where in the name of a random chocobo did this dome come from?!" he asked, continuously slashing the wall to no avail.

"Oh man, I've had enough of your mouth already," Shadow Snake said before he launched ten seeker missiles out from the rail gun, all directing towards Cid.

Cid turned around and saw the missiles. "HOLY S&$^!" he cursed loudly before leaping down the Metal Gear, just in time to make all the shadow missiles collide with the spot he was before.

"Finally, at least he's down," Shadow Snake said. "Well, sorry to make all of you wait, but I guess you wouldn't mind to run around the room for a bit."

Tifa glared at the machine. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean this," he said simply before he began to fire a barrage of missiles that didn't seem to end.

The entire group gasped at the huge amount of shadow missiles being fired towards their direction. Grunting, Cloud swung his right arm and shouted, "Everyone, disperse and try to evade any missiles!"

Everyone quickly dispersed to different ways. Unfortunately, the missiles were seeker missiles, making all of them run around to avoid being attacked by a missile.

Shadow Snake chuckled. "Oh, and since using missiles all the time is kinda getting stale, I'm gonna use other weapons as well." He ordered REX to show four machine guns at the sides of the protected cockpit that began to fire at anyone running in front of REX.

"U-ugh!" Tifa was attacked by the frenzy of bullets before three shadow missiles collided against her. "C-Cloud, help!"

"Tifa!" Cloud yelled before making a sharp turn and jump over the missiles chasing him. The blond mercenary made the missiles crash against each other, creating an explosion that pushed him away some feet, but he used the push to run faster towards Tifa. He quickly reached to the place Tifa was lying down on the ground, and he blocked the bullets with his buster sword's edge. He looked down at her. "Tifa, are you okay?"

"N-not that much…" Tifa muttered. "D-damn those missiles…"

Aerith, who was running by the right side of the Metal Gear, looked to the two and gasped. "No, Tifa!" she yelled before she slowly turned to their direction, some four missiles following her. She looked behind and screamed in fear before four Aura Spheres exploded on the missiles, saving her from being attacked. She looked at Lucario, who had his palms holding out before he looked to his right and destroyed five missiles with more Aura Spheres. The Aura Pokémon was busy destroying the flying explosives; procuring most of them didn't get hurt. Aerith sighed in relief and ran over to where Cloud and Tifa were. "I-I'm coming! Hang in there, Tifa. I'll give you a Hi-Potion!"

Next to where she was, Chris gulped and held out his revolver in fear. "A-away!" Chris yelled as he shot a missile with a bullet, making it explode. Another missile went downwards on him. He looked up and quickly shot it down. "O-oh my goodness, I don't want to get hit by another dark missile again!"

"F*^&!" Cid cursed as he was attacked by a dark missile from behind, making him roll recklessly towards where Chris was. He stopped right to his left side and looked angrily at the agent. "You kid awright?" he asked with a pissed look. "Havin' fun getting' your sorry a^* kicked around?"

"S-somewhat, and no for the last question," Chris admitted before he yelped and quickly shot another missile down. "I-I hate this fight so much!"

"Heh, you ain't the only one here," Cid said before he pushed his feet up and stood up. "Damn piece of metal is givin' hell to us. All these missiles will blow us into the air if we don't do s#^* fast to it."

Chris yelped once more to stop another incoming missile. "D-do you have an idea to strike the radome hard?"

"Well, I could if I'm ready to use my Jump ability," Cid admitted. "You need to gimme some time so I can use it again. Otherwise I'm somewhat f*^#$%."

"S-seriously, don't you have another plan?"

"Kill Yuffie so I can feel good with myself?"

"N-not that plan!" Chris yelled. "I meant a way to strike the radome hard!"

"You're talkin' with the wrong person, kid," Cid said. "I ain't havin' a clue about a powerful attack to damage that thing."

Chris looked serious. "(There must be some way to deal strong damage to that wall of darkness… Wait a minute… I know Kawashima isn't here to tell us there's an Over Limit ready, but I honestly think there's one ready now… If it's true, then maybe…)" He looked around the room, finding Fox sidestepping from a missile, and Lucario shooting down more missiles with Aura Spheres. "(Either I or one of those two should perform a strong attack… I'll choose…) Lucario!"

Lucario turned to his trainer. "What?"

"Use your Over Limit to use Aura Storm on the radome!" Chris ordered. "You should destroy the shield and damage the radome at the same time!"

"Understood," Lucario muttered before he flexed down his arms. "GUUUUUUARRRRGGHHH!!!" he growled loudly, calling forth a rainbow aura that shone on him.

"(Yes, there was one ready to be used,)" Chris thought in relief.

Shadow Snake noticed that the atmosphere turned darker than before. He turned Shadow Gear REX to the left where he saw Lucario glaring at his direction. "The dog's glowing in a hippie light," Shadow Snake said before Lucario put his palms closer to each other, creating a radiating sphere of aura that shone brightly. "…Wait…"

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAARRRGGHH!!!" Lucario growled furiously as he pushed out his palms towards the radome, letting out a huge stream of aura energy that instantly broke into the wall of darkness, damaging the radome at the same time before disabling it once more. As the beam of aura kept going, the cockpit suddenly opened up, revealing a pissed shadow piloting the Metal Gear. Lucario's stream of aura diminished overtime before he let out a grunt while the rainbow aura vanished completely from him.

"Time to attack, now!" Chris yelled as he used another Flourish shot at Shadow Snake, making Chris get pushed several feet away.

However, Shadow Snake evaded the shot in time, but it went to damage the control panel. "N-no," Shadow Snake muttered as he saw some sparks jumping out from the small hole in the panel. "U-ugh..."

"FIRA!" Fox shouted, casting scorching flames that burned the cockpit with Shadow Snake and control panel getting affected.

While the flames burned, making Shadow Snake unable to see, Cloud jumped high towards the cockpit with his buster sword raised behind his back. "HA!" he yelled, bringing down his sword with a hard slam on the control panel. "Dammit, I failed!" he cursed before pushing himself off from the cockpit.

Shadow Snake grunted and quickly regained his composure after the flames dispersed out. "You're starting to get more annoying..." he muttered before the cockpit closed down, making a sign that the radome was back online.

The codec ring tone rang in Chris's ears. The agent pressed his left staple to get in a conversation with Otacon. "Chris, I just remembered something important," he said. "The control panel of REX is a very vital point for the Metal Gear to operate."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"I mean that, if you were to damage the cockpit enough, it'll seize functions of REX completely," Otacon explained. "If it does that, there won't be a way for it to move or attack anymore."

"So if we destroy the cockpit, the Metal Gear should go down?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Otacon said. "Ignore Snake's shadow and destroy REX's cockpit! That way, you won't have to deal with that shadow monster!"

"G-got it," Chris said worried before ending the codec. "E-everyone, concentrate your attacks on the cockpit! If we destroy it, the Metal Gear will stop attacking permanently!"

"There's an actual weak point for that thing?" Tifa asked.

"Y-yes, but don't ask more about it... Just try to destroy the cockpit the next time we open it up!"

"If that's so, then I guess I'll have to be a little bit more careful with all of you," Shadow Snake said. "You've already given me enough problems with the control panel shooting some sparks, so as a sign of thanks..."

The group watched as the rail gun began to charge a blue light.

"...Die."

Lucario glared at the rail gun. "He's concentrating energy into a laser!"

"Quick, move out of the way!" Fox yelled.

"Damn," Cloud muttered before he looked back at the downed Tifa, who at the time managed to drink a Hi-Potion container from Aerith. "Tifa, you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Tifa said as he pushed herself up.

"Good, now quick, run!"

Everyone quickly ran to different directions before the rail gun fired a humongous laser that penetrated the lower right side corner of the room, creating a long passage with a dead end that was quickly covered by falling rocks with a cave in. The group looked a bit horrified at the laser's magnitude that they looked back at the Shadow Gear REX.

Yuffie dropped her jaw down (or up). "Daaaaaaaaaamn!" she said in horror. "That laser thingy was too much, you guys! Now go show that guy he shouldn't destroy Wutai's grounds with laser guns!"

"Well, that laser hopefully didn't cause a cave in," Samus muttered with a sigh of relief.

"I want it to be a pink laser next time!" Elena said randomly.

Shadow Gear REX began to pace around the room. "Hope that clarifies all of you that you shouldn't mess with a Metal Gear's shadow counterpart," he said before his rail gun began to charge once more. Instead of pointing straight forward, it pointed down to the ground. "With that demonstration of power aside, I'll make it smaller so I don't cause a cave in with me in here."

Aerith sighed. "He knows he shouldn't cause a cave in..."

"Aerith, sigh in relief when this gets over with," Cloud said.

"There you are, cockroach," Shadow Snake said as he stomped the Metal Gear's feet on the ground towards him. "Let me squash you to bloody bits."

Cloud noticed that he and Aerith were cornered on the lower left side corner of the room. With no room to escape, the blond mercenary grunted angrily at this and readied his buster sword for anything. "You bastard..."

"That's all you're going to say? Weak; as weak as you," Shadow Snake commented before he cornered the two together and raised Shadow Gear REX's right foot over them. "Say good bye now before you get shut up permanently..."

Aerith yelped at the sight of the foot's shadow and covered down. "C-Cloud, help!"

"DAMMIT!" Cloud yelled as the foot was brought down on them. He quickly closed his eyes and put his buster sword's sharp edge across in front of him in hopes to stop something he thought was impossible.

…

"...D-did we die yet?" Aerith asked, uncovering herself to look up at the machine's foot being abruptly stopped by Lucario, who had appeared using ExtremeSpeed to stop the foot from coming down on them. The Aura Pokémon gritted his fangs and he extended his hands against the foot. "L-Lucario!"

Cloud looked a bit surprised. "But…"

Lucario looked at them over his right shoulder. "W-what are you waiting for? G-get out!"

Aerith blinked at this before she regained her composure and nodded in confidence. Cloud nodded as well before the two ran out from under the foot. Lucario gritted his fangs more before he quickly used ExtremeSpeed to escape from being crushed by the steel foot.

"Hmm, nice try," Shadow Snake remarked. "You've got to thank that inhuman brute force of yours for saving them from dying."

"Grrrrrrr…" Lucario grunted, his palms flaring with aura.

Behind the Metal Gear, Cid, Chris, Tifa, and Fox were looking up at the radome. "If we combine attacks together, then we could pierce through that barrier, right?" Tifa asked.

Cid wiped his nose with a finger. "That's the plan to do here," he said. "Mix up stuff together to get something much better."

"But since the previous attacks managed to reach the radome as well, we should strike the radome with another second assault," Fox said.

Chris aimed his revolver at the radome while Fox prepared another Fira chant. "Let's start before it notices u-"

And the Metal Gear turned around to face at them, making Tifa and Cid react to run towards the machine, quickly climbing it by its legs. The two managed to reach the upper part where they both rushed together towards the radome to strike it with a harsh fist and a spear. "Now, you guys!" Tifa yelled as she and Cid were about to collide attacks against the wall of darkness.

"…FLOURISH!!!" Chris yelled in panic, pushing himself away by the bullet's force.

"Fira!" Fox shouted.

The clash of the four attacks combined managed to make the wall of darkness tremble a bit. Before their eyes, Cid and Tifa noticed that the wall of darkness shattered itself into spores of darkness that disappeared in thin air, revealing the radome. "Awright, it worked!" Cid said.

"Now attack the radome!" Fox yelled.

Before anyone could attack, Tifa and Cid fell down after the Metal Gear shook them off. The two landed on the ground on their feet before looking up at the eight machine guns that aimed at them. They then began shooting a barrage of bullets, making both yell in pain as they crossed their arms in front of them to resist the attack.

"C-Cloud, help me here, please!" Tifa yelled for help.

"Tifa!" Cloud yelled before he ran towards the two.

"Nobody's going to break my combo here," Shadow Snake commented before he shot seven dark missiles to Cloud, making him turn around to avoid the projectiles.

"You won't hurt him!" Lucario yelled as he began shooting Aura Spheres at the missiles.

"Oh well, I'll just hurt you both," Shadow Snake said before he shot eight more missiles at Lucario.

Cloud looked at Aerith while he was running away from the missiles. "Aerith, try to save Cid and Tifa from dying!"

"B-but what can I do, Cloud?" Aerith asked.

"Nothing, because you're dead as well," Shadow Snake said, shooting more missiles towards Aerith.

The flower girl yelped at this before she turned around and began running for her life. One of the missiles following her was shot down by a bullet from Chris, who was at the time far away in the corner Shadow Snake had shot the laser. "N-no one will hurt a damsel here while I breat-"

And this called the attention of the Metal Gear, which shot more missiles at his direction.

"And I HAD to open my big mouth!" Chris complained loudly before he quickly ran to the north of the cave with the seeker missiles following him. "T-these missiles go so slow! Why are they like that?!"

"They're like that so they can maneuver more freely in this kind of space," Shadow Snake explained. "Also, with the tracking system built into them, it's easier for them to land themselves on anyone, and they won't stop unless they impact into something. Fortunately, making them collide with Shadow Gear REX won't do any damage to it since they're both made out of darkness, nullifying each other completely."

Even more missiles (five) were shot, but this time at Fox; the only one of the group not being attacked. The vulpine gasped and quickly dashed to the south of the room. "How the heck do you run fast with these stupid shoes?!" he asked angrily, staring down at his geta.

"Hey, don't go complaining about Wutai's geta!" Yuffie yelled in annoyance. "They're the best around these parts, y'know!"

"You shut up! You're the reason why all this is happening!" Fox yelled, running away from the seeker missiles.

"W-well, I-I think it does…" Yuffie muttered in embarrassment.

"Let me tell you a fact," Samus began, "it IS your fault in so many points."

Yuffie sighed in depression. "(I really didn't want any of this to happen, I swear…)"

"AAAAHH!!!" Fox yelled in pain after the missiles had collided against his back. The vulpine went rolling on the ground before he stopped. Clenching his fists on the ground, he looked up weakly. "I need some help…please…" he muttered.

On the other side, Aerith continued to run away from the missiles following her. For her dismay, her energies were depleting. She started to become tired for much running that her pace began to slow down, allowing the missile to catch up with her. "S-somebody, help, please!" she pleaded.

"I-I know you want help, b-but we all need help here!" Tifa yelled from the front of the Metal Gear's machine guns before she knelt down. "T-this isn't good for me anymore..." she muttered before she lost consciousness.

"TIFA!" Cloud yelled from another side of the room. The blond mercenary grunted at this before he turned around and slid underneath the missiles following him, making them touch each other to trigger an explosion. At first, Cloud was pushed away by the big explosion, but he somehow did a flip in the air and admirably got on his feet to run towards the front, where Cid covered himself with his spear. "Damn you, imbecile!" he yelled, referring Shadow Snake.

"That's right, everyone," Shadow Snake said. "Run; run for your meaningless lives. That's all you can do for now. You're my little dogs while I'm your master. You've been very bad, so you better be taught a lesson in blood."

"I-I hate that stupid sarcasm shadows have!" Chris yelled, continuing running away from shadow missiles going after him. "T-they seriously make me mad!"

"It makes me mad you're still running," Shadow Snake said. "You're one stubborn, dead dog."

"Well, if we're talking about dogs, then he does a bad job at being a dog."

Shadow Snake looked forward from within the Metal Gear where he found infra-ray signals of a small creature over the fallen Rapps. He found that Chip had arrived at the scene, looking particularly clueless to the fact almost everyone was being pursued by shadow missiles.

Chip rubbed his chin as he looked around. "Hmm, we're still thinking they're all dogs, right? Well, you guys are so bad!"

"C-Chip!" Chris yelled.

"Hey, Chris, stop being a bad doggy!" Chip proclaimed angrily. "You all do as much of a bad job like Sonic does, but he does it much better!"

"S-stop talking about dogs!" the World Traveler yelled. "D-do something to help us against these missiles!"

Chip gasped. "Somebody wants Chip Norris's help to stop some dark missiles!" he said before he joined his hands and looked up happily. "Man, my career just got much better!" he said before he looked serious at the Metal Gear and punched the air. "C'mon, ya piece of junk! Give Chip Norris your best shot!"

"Alright," Shadow Snake said before he simply used a missile to shoot at Chip.

The imp gritted his teeth and quickly performed a flying roundhouse kick to the missile, ending with him making the missile explode, trapping him in smoke without signs of him being pushed out anywhere.

Fox blinked a bit shocked at this (being the one close to the explosion). "…Did he just…blow that missile with a kick without getting harmed?" he asked to himself as he stared at the thick cloud where the missile blown up. "But I thought that…"

And Chip's dead carcass fell down from the smoke, landing close to Fox.

The vulpine looked bored at the fallen imp. "Talk about…stupid…" he trailed off in boredom before he lost consciousness. A holy light gently touched his back, making wings appear and flutter before vanishing. The vulpine tightened his fists and pushed himself up. "Good thing we have second chances to keep fighting…" he muttered before he ducked and picked Chip on his right arm. The vulpine looked around and ran away from the spot.

Chip slowly pumped up a fist in the air. "Chip Norris shall never be defeated…you just happened to blow him up…and that's cheating because it's Chip Norris we're talking about, you know…bleh…" he muttered before he fell on his back and lost consciousness.

"You just keep resting, (crazy idiot…)" Fox thought in boredom.

Lucario quickly disposed the missiles being shot at him before Shadow Gear REX launched more missiles at him while it was busy trying to beat Cid down with a barrage of bullets. Lucario grunted at this and resumed to run away. "I can't believe all these missiles have no end!" he yelled in complain.

"A-and I can't believe nobody else besides Chip have arrived yet!" Chris yelled. "I-is it because of the maze before this room that they're not arriving?" He looked back to see the missiles closing in with him. "HELP!"

At that moment, a blue burr quickly took Chris away from the missiles. The missiles crashed against each other before they could reach the agent. Chris closed his eyes tightly, thinking he was attacked. "Hey, you gotta open your eyes or else you won't know if you're still alive, Chris."

Chris opened his eyes and found himself on Sonic's arms. He looked down to his right to see the blue hedgehog grinning at him. "O-oh, thank you so much for saving me, Sonic…" Chris trailed off with a sigh.

"Heh, you gotcha," Sonic said with a wink before he put Chris down on the ground. The agent stood up and looked at him before the hedgehog looked around. "So, more of those shadows?" he asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "Dr. Eggman came in here and he released the Shadow Nightmare on…" He stared at Sonic. "...Wait, how come you can see now?" He noticed some veins still showing on Sonic's eyes.

Sonic shrugged. "Remember that lion guy? Well, he leaped on me and dropped these drops on my eyes. They BURNED like hell, but then I noticed I was able to see again."

"...Why would Red XIII leap on you?" Chris asked.

"Well, you see, I was complaining about not seeing anything, and I think he grew upset with me and used those drops. Funny thing was that he realized he could've done that in the morning. So then, I got excited that I ran away from him," Sonic explained. "Also, I met up with the red plumber and he told me about what was happening, so I came all the way here and inspected every single corner until I found all of you in here."

"(That would explain why Red XIII did that...)" Chris thought. "B-but...in any case, we're fighting Shadow Snake who made Snake... Snake… Snake…" Chris looked shocked before he looked back to the temple where Snake lied unconscious. "S-Snake!"

Sonic looked at his direction before he reacted quickly and ran back to Snake before carrying him back to where Chris was in two seconds. Sonic tumbled at the sides before he let go of Snake from his arms. "O-oof, this guy weights a ton, y'know…" he muttered.

Chris knelt down to check on the mercenary. "Oh my god, is he okay?"

Sonic began to feel a weird sensation in his body. "H-huh, why am I feeling right now that I'm going to…"

And Sonic suddenly turned brawnier; turning into his werehog form.

Sonic looked at his claws, which had ripped his gloves (again). "Aww, come ON now!" he cursed, making Chris look at him with a gasp. "It's barely noon out there and I turned into this freakish transformation already?!"

"B-but that's impossible…unless…" Chris looked up to see that there were black tiles raining down from the ceiling as they vanished sometimes. "…That device Dr. Eggman tossed also affects you… The Shadow Nightmare can't go out during the day, but Dr. Eggman created a device to let one dwell inside dark places like this cave…"

"That idiot…" Sonic muttered through gritted fangs, tightening his fists a bit.

"I-I know you're furious, but please, calm down," Chris said. "Now it's not the time to be worrying about that." He pointed to the Shadow Gear REX. "We need to beat that thing down first."

Sonic sighed and looked down at Snake. "What about this guy? I don't think he's all that safe in here."

"Sonic, can you use your claws to take Snake back into the dark maze so he can be out of trouble?"

Sonic nodded and quickly grabbed the mercenary with his oversized claws before he stretched him all the way behind the fallen Rapps. The werehog put the mercenary down in a safe spot before he pulled back his arms and looked at Chris. "There you got him," he said.

"Excuse me, but did the hedgehog just change appearances?"

The two Smashers blinked a bit at this before they looked besides them to see a skeptical Cloud looking at Sonic. "O-oh, that…" Chris trailed off.

"Why did he just change into some kind of wolf?" Cloud asked. "I thought humans could only turn into werewolves or something like that, but why did he change?"

"U-um, look, we'll explain that later," Chris said. "But if you want to get a quick summary, Sonic got his genes changed so that he could change into a wolf, or werehog every time night arrives."

"..." Cloud looked away. "...Transforming into a wolf at night...that's really overused and cliché..."

"...." Sonic blinked a bit. "...Yeah," he agreed before he shook his head and looked at the machine. "Ready to give some beat-down, Chris?"

Chris gulped and prepared his revolver. "I-I'll see if I'm ready. Sonic, you need to attack the plate-shaped object on top of the Metal Gear. If you manage to disable it, the cockpit where Shadow Snake hides will open up. When the cockpit opens, damage the control panel inside the machine so it gets its functions down."

Sonic smacked his fists together. "Alrighty, let's do this!" he said before he quickly extended his claws all the way towards the radome, surprising Cloud for a bit.

"His arms...just stretched?" Cloud muttered.

"I know, freaky, but that's how things are," Sonic said in boredom.

Cloud looked back to the front of the Metal Gear where Cid stood in front of Tifa while spinning his spear to prevent the bullets from harming both of them. "YEEEEEEEHAAAAW, you ain't givin' s&^$ to ol' Cid, bastard! No givin' s#&*, ya hear me?!"

Cloud sighed in relief at this before looking back at Sonic's claws grabbing a hold of the radome's wall of darkness. Sonic gasped before he gritted his fangs. "Chris, what the heck is that thing covering the plate thing?!" Sonic asked.

"That wall of darkness prevents any damage to hurt the radome," Chris said. "Only fatal strikes can pierce through it, so you'll need to combine attacks with someone to break it apart."

Sonic smirked. "Then I'll just gonna press it hard!" he yelled before he started to apply a tight grip on the protection.

"It won't be enough," Cloud said before he looked at Sonic's arms. He looked back and forth between the werehog and the radome on top of the machine before he got an idea and jumped on to Sonic's arms to use them as a direct path to the radome.

"Hey!" Sonic yelled.

Chris gasped once he saw the Metal Gear slowly turning around at them, stopping its bullet barrage on Cid and Tifa. "N-now I get it. He's using your arms to get to the radome directly!" he said.

"I hate people walking over me, but do the same, Chris!" Sonic ordered as he felt the machine pulling his arms.

The agent aimed his revolver at the wall of darkness. "No, I only use long-range attacks when I'm using this job. I'll wait for Cloud to get there."

Sonic grinned. "Let's all three of us attack at the same time."

The two looked back where Cloud was reaching the radome. The blond mercenary put a tight grip on his buster sword before he leaped up high, raising it above him with a war cry.

"Now, Flourish!" Chris yelled shooting the harsh bullet that made him fly some feet away from Sonic's spot.

Because of Sonic's tight grip, Cloud's buster sword slamming onto the protection, and Chris's Flourish bullet making contact with it at the same time, the werehog crushed the wall into bits of darkness that quickly vanished in thin air, revealing an unprotected radome.

"This is starting to get bad…" Shadow Snake muttered before looking to the front of the Metal Gear, facing to the lower left corner of the room where Cid set down his spear and went to attend Tifa. "But enough about games, because it's time to get this job done right now."

Sonic noticed that the rail gun began to charge its laser. "Hey, I think he's gonna shoot something!" he yelled.

Cloud, who was on top of the machine, looked behind to see energy gathering inside. However, he got shocked once he looked to the front where Cid was busy attending Tifa. "CID, RUN AWAY WITH TIFA, QUICK!"

"I'm workin' right now!" Cid yelled, oblivious to the fact a laser was going to obliterate them since he had his back facing the machine. "You wanna have this girl alive or what?!"

"That's what I'm trying to say!" Cloud yelled. "Get out of range before that laser kills you two!"

Cid turned around. "What laser are you talking about?!" he asked before looking up at the rail gun pointing towards him. "HOLY S*&^!!!" he cursed before he picked up Tifa over his shoulders and quickly ran to the temple's direction.

Shadow Gear REX followed suit their direction. "It's no use," Shadow Snake said. "No matter where you run to, Shadow Gear REX will follow you. If you try shielding yourself by going under REX, I'll crush you."

Cloud gritted his teeth and looked back at the unprotected radome. He held his buster sword tight and started to slash it. "You're not going to hurt them!" he yelled.

Shadow Snake sighed and shook Cloud off rather easily. The blond mercenary didn't have enough time to set his feet down to land safely, but Sonic extended his claws towards him, catching Cloud in time before he could hit the ground. Cloud got off from the claws and quickly backed away from the stomping Metal Gear. "Laser ready," Shadow Snake said.

Cid suddenly tripped on his tracks with Tifa on his back. The space man cursed loudly very harsh words to himself as the Metal Gear was about to shoot its laser on them. "I'LL F&^% ALL THIS SOON!" Cid cursed loudly.

Aerith gasped as Lucario destroyed the missiles following her from behind with Aura Spheres. "C-Cid, Tifa, no!"

The laser then shot a huge stream of energy that covered Cid and Tifa completely, taking along a big portion of the cave as it struck the wall hard, creating a long tunnel that was then covered by a cave in. Shadow Gear REX kept shooting its laser for five seconds before it eventually vanished. Shadow Snake chuckled at this before looking to see that there were no remains of Cid or Tifa behind. "Finished."

Aerith covered her mouth with both hands. "N-no... T-they couldn't be...could they?"

Cloud looked shocked at this. "...Tifa...Cid..." he muttered, his anger about to explode at any second to unleash upon the machine.

"You kid are gonna shed some tears now? God%^mit, you're such a pussy b^%*%!"

Cloud blinked at the curses before he looked to his right to see Lucario carrying both Cid and Tifa on his back. The blond mercenary looked surprised to see both of his allies alive. "T-Tifa, Cid!" Cloud said in relief.

Lucario set Cid down on the ground where he jumped off from him. The blond man put Tifa down on the floor before looking at Lucario. "Gotta thank this guy for savin' our a$%^&," he said. "He ran at the f*&^%&* speed of light, you."

Cloud looked and nodded at Lucario. "You don't know how grateful I am for you saving both of them... I own you one for that."

Lucario smiled mentally. "(Clouds owns me one now...)" he thought a bit happily. "It was nothing," he said, trying to hide his excitement.

"Seriously, you're full of surprises to me," Cloud remarked, making Lucario even more excited in his mind. "But I shouldn't do this in a time like this. We need to beat that machine before it gets the chance to attack us severely with that stupid laser."

Lucario mentally groaned a bit. "I see..." he muttered, wanting to receive more praise.

Shadow Gear REX slowly turned towards them as Cid took out a red feather from his pocket and lied it down on Tifa; the red feather being a Phoenix Down (a feather that could heal knocked out fighters). "You guys are starting to give me a headache," he complained. "But I promise by the end of the day that none of you will escape from here alive."

"You're gonna die, pal!" Yuffie yelled from the wall. "You're gonna die for destroying precious Wutai's grounds!"

"Wow, you're back to your cheerful mood..." Samus muttered.

"Don't take me wrong, but I'm pretty scared," Yuffie clarified. "I mean, you're not the one with the spear stuck right below your head, are you?"

"I can use a spear like a pole!" Elena said randomly. "And I can use it to cut butter!"

Samus, once more, wanted to smack her forehead. "Somebody, just take me down from here already…" she muttered.

"Die," Shadow Snake said as he resumed his assault of shadow missiles from the rail gun.

Chris aimed his revolver at the missiles from behind it, standing close to the fallen Rapps while Sonic stood next to him. "I-I'm getting so sick of those missiles!" he yelled before he fired bullets to prevent any missiles from coming out. "(W-wait…this is actually working now!)"

Shadow Snake grunted at this before he turned Shadow Gear to face the exit of the cave. "I should've focused my attention to you, kid. You're the main reason why I'm pissed off now."

The agent tried to think of a good comeback. "You said you were pissed that you were with a bunch of people who looked very unlikely to meet!"

"Yeah, but out of all of them, you're the one who's been bugging me the most," Shadow Snake said. "Screw you, kid. Your stubbornness for someone like me isn't needed."

The Metal Gear began shooting bullets to Chris, but the agent ducked, and he was covered by Sonic, who covered the World Traveler by stepping to the front and cross his arms for protection. "U-ugh, I'm not gonna hold on for that much, Chris," Sonic said through gritted fangs. "Y-you gotta think about something!"

At that moment, the Metal Gear began shooting shadow missiles once again. However, this time, they were all quickly taken down by Lucario's Aura Spheres. The Aura Pokémon stood behind the machine, standing several feet away from the temple's entrance. The Metal Gear, however, ignored him altogether, focusing all its attention on beating Sonic and Chris. "He's distracted. Attack the radome!" Lucario yelled as he tried to keep any missiles from shooting out.

"This time is going to be the last!" Cloud yelled as he charged towards the Metal Gear and nimbly climbed it by jumping on its legs. The blond mercenary reached the radome where he raised his sword high to land a fierce slash, yelling out, "Braver!"

The radome was struck hard with the heavy slash that it became disabled once more, forcing the cockpit to open up again. Shadow Snake grunted at this before he saw that Aerith had climbed up all the way to his position. "How the heck did you get all the way here?" Shadow Snake asked.

Aerith chuckled. "I just climbed the right leg when you weren't looking. You need to be more aware next time," she said before she took out her staff and started banging on the control panel, destroying its circuits slowly.

Shadow Snake grunted angrily and tried pushing Aerith down, but a harsh bullet attack blocked his right hand from pushing her down. Chris had shot another Flourish shot from behind Sonic, the agent being pushed towards the fallen Rapps by the shot's magnitude. "You won't hurt a lady!" he protested.

The shadow ignored his complaint before he tried pushing her off again, but scorching flames burned his body, prompting him to back away to his seat. In front of the Metal Gear, a weak Fox was holding out his open right palm to the cockpit while Cid stood next to him, having given the vulpine a Phoenix Down to revive him.

"Damn all of you..." Shadow Snake muttered before he looked back to Aerith.

And his control panel was completely destroyed.

Aerith stopped banging on the control panel before she smiled a bit at the shadow and later jumped down to the ground where she ran away from the machine. Shadow Snake looked back at the control panel, which started to shoot out sparks everywhere before it started blowing up. Soon, the Metal Gear began to shake uncontrollably, making everyone back away from it. "No, this isn't happening..." Shadow Snake muttered before the cockpit forcibly closed down on him, trapping him within Shadow Gear REX.

Music stops

And soon, the Metal Gear dropped down on its metallic knees before some explosions covered it overtime.

Everyone watched as it began to shatter into spores of darkness that vanished upon flying up into the air. The top of the machine began to vaporize into spores before it eventually vanished from sight.

Yuffie saw one last spore disappearing before she looked serious with a smirk and said, "And never come back again! You destroy Wutai's grounds, you mess with my guys!"

"…Shut up…please…" Samus muttered.

"Okey-dokey!" Elena said before she shut her mouth tightly.

Everyone reunited with each other (except for the girls on the wall). Cloud looked and nodded at Aerith. "Great job, Aerith."

Aerith smiled a bit. "It was nothing. I'm happy were able to pull through this."

"Yeah, that was luck, alright," Cid commented as he gave Tifa (now cured) a Hi-Potion to restore her injuries. "Machine saw it comin' to it, along with that son of a b%^&* of a shadow."

Marth came from behind the fallen Rapps and walked to the group. "It seems this battle ended," he said. "I'm glad that we didn't have that many problems without our weapons."

"Speaking of weapons," Fox said after he drank a Hi-Potion. He turned around and looked at the girls on the wall. "Shouldn't we just put them down now?"

"That's like the best idea in the world now!" Yuffie yelled from the wall. "I have a freaking spear right below my head, for god's sake!"

Cloud sighed and walked towards them. "We'll put you down, Yuffie, if you give us back our stuff."

Yuffie sighed in depression. "…Okay…"

Cloud glared at the ninja. "Listen, Yuffie. If you're gonna do another dirty trick on us, I'm going to have to kill you off the next time we meet."

The ninja looked apologetic at the blond mercenary. "Okay, okay, I understand this time for real, geez…"

"I hope you do," Cloud said before looking at the stalactites. "I think I saw the remote control falling between those rocks over there…"

"Wait, if you do press that control, we'll fall right into the lava," Samus said.

"Okay, change of plans," Cloud said. "Maybe we should get a ladder…or something else…"

While Cloud wondered what to do about getting the girls down, a codec signal rang inside Chris's right ear. The agent pressed his staples and got into a codec conversation with Otacon. "Otacon, we defeated the Metal Gear," Chris said in relief.

"I know," Otacon said. "Thanks to you, you won't have to face another Metal Gear. Thankfully, you destroyed it completely, and it was good it vaporized into spores…but…"

"But what?"

"I dunno, but there's something that's been bugging me…" Otacon trailed off. "If you ask me, I think that shadow version of Snake didn't look that…desperate…"

"…Well, Snake is supposed to be very serious, right?"

"Yeah, but that shadow was commanding a Metal Gear," Otacon said. "The girl destroyed it, but I think the shadow's mood didn't look that alarmed… Actually, don't you think it was a bit easy that you beat him?"

"N-no…" Chris muttered. "…Wait…what are you thinking about?"

"Well…I'm thinking that the battle…isn't over yet…"

"B-but we destroyed the Metal Gear with Shadow Snake in it! What else is there?"

"Well, aren't shadows supposed to dissipate once their true self start admitting their lies to them?"

"I guess, but I think they can be defeated through force…"

"Maybe that's not very relevant," Otacon said. "But whatever you say, Shadow Snake didn't look like he thought was in real trouble. Every expression he made during the fight doesn't make me think we won, but it's like it's making me think he had more things under his sleeve yet to show to us."

"…Otacon…you're starting to scare me… I don't see Shadow Snake around the area, minus where the Metal Gear stood…"

"…Maybe…he might be there still but you can't see him…" Otacon muttered.

"…W-what?"

"Chris, warn everyone about this," Otacon said. "That shadow might be still there with you. Be extremely careful. I don't like where this is going."

"I hope your assumptions are wrong about this whole thing..." Chris muttered before they both ended the codec call. The agent looked at everyone. "E-everyone, we need to be careful," he said.

"What? Why?" Tifa asked. "We finished that guy and his machine off."

"Y-yes, but I think this is not over yet," Chris said. "In fact...that shadow might be still on the loose..."

Cid looked pissed at this. "The kid's gettin' weird ideas. I see no shadow 'round this hot place!" he complained.

Chris looked worried at Lucario. "Lucario, can you use your aura to detect that shadow?"

Lucario looked a bit skeptical. "Well, if you say so..." he muttered before he glowed with his aura, his eyes turning a bright yellow. Everyone watched the aura wielder glowing for ten seconds before he stopped, his appendages lowering down. He looked at Chris and shook his head. "I can't detect that shadow anymore, Chris..."

"But...I thought..." Chris trailed off.

"Sorry, but I can't find him," Lucario said. "I think he went down with the Metal Gear."

Tifa sighed. "Please, you guys… Don't make me feel scared with those things about that guy being still alive."

The agent looked away. "I think Otacon was just imagining things..."

Back with Cloud, the blond mercenary rubbed his chin as he tried to think of a way to get down the girls from the wall. "Well, crap, I can't think of anything with that pool of lava right below all of you."

Yuffie sniffed. "Please, don't let stay up here forever, Cloud! I-I promise I'll give back everything!"

"Don't you promise, do it," Cloud said sternly.

"I-I'll do it, I'm good girl who does as she's been told to do!"

"What about you father?"

"That jackass can go to hell as much as I care!"

Cloud sweat dropped at this. "...Okay, let me think of a way to get you all down."

"You're such a peach, man! Thanks a bunch!" Yuffie said, shedding some tears upside down.

"Grow up already..." muttered Samus.

As Cloud kept thinking of a way to get all of them down, he was unaware that a presence was slowly approaching him from somewhere.

Cloud turned around and found Lucario. "Oh, it's you," he said.

"Chris told me you wanted to take them down here," Lucario said. "I can do that if you want."

"You can?"

"I can jump all the way where they all are," Lucario said. "I can cut the ropes and grab them before they can fall down."

"Okay, that'll help a lot," Cloud said nodding. "Please do."

"(I'm starting to get points for making him get impressed,)" Lucario thought happily, before he jumped straight towards the three girls. Yuffie watched as the Aura Pokémon reached the wall and grabbed it to stay stuck on it. Lucario began to cut the ropes by using the spikes of his free arm. Before Yuffie could fall, the Aura Pokémon quickly grabbed her from her wrist. He then jumped all the way down where Cloud was and set Yuffie down next to him.

"S-safe ground at last!" Yuffie rejoiced with glee, throwing her arms up before Cloud grabbed her left shoulder with his right hand. The ninja sighed in depression. "I know, I know..." she trailed off sulkily.

Cloud looked back at Lucario, who jumped right back towards the wall to get Samus down. The blond mercenary looked at Yuffie. "I hope you had fun, but it's all over now."

Yuffie looked bored. "Geez, man, I already said I was sorry like twelve times already! How many times do you want me to say sorry?"

"It won't matter as long as you give us our Materia," Cloud said.

"Look, I'll give the Materia back once we get out from this place," Yuffie said before Lucario brought Samus down to the safe ground next to them. "Seriously, I need you to stop giving me that dirty look you're making right now."

Lucario looked up at the crazed Elena. "Should I get her down as well?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "...Take her down as well. Reno was kind enough to give us a clue about where you all were."

Lucario nodded and went after Elena. Once he reached next to her, he cut the ropes keeping her on the spinning plate before he grabbed her by her right wrist and jumped all the way back to Cloud, lying her down on the ground.

"I'm sleeping!" Elena yelled out, her eyes shut tightly. "Don't bother me when I'm sleeping!"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "She's starting to become more and more annoying every time we meet her."

"Well, she's like this because she said she could turn irrational if her blood went to her head," Samus pointed out, all of them turning their backs on Elena.

"What a Turk she is, then..." Cloud trailed off.

Unaware, the four didn't notice that Elena started to levitate off from the ground somehow. The blond Turk thought she was drifting off in the clouds as she was mysteriously being taken away to the temple's entrance.

Once Aerith turned to look at the floating Elena, she let out a gasp and pointed straight at her. "E-everyone, look over there!" she yelled. "S-she's floating in midair!"

Everyone inside the wide room turned to see the floating Elena. Most of them let out gasps as she abruptly stopped floating and fell down on the ground. The blond Turk grumbled and turned to the temple's direction before Cloud let go of Yuffie's shoulder and went to check on her. He knelt down and looked around Elena. "What was that just now?" Cloud asked to himself. "How did she gain the ability to levitate by her own will?"

"That might be because she doesn't have that power."

The group listened to a voice calling out from somewhere in the room. They all looked around to see where it came from, but they couldn't find anyone close.

"W-who is that?" Chris asked.

"Kid, I'm surprised you've forgotten me that quickly. Well, I expected that from the beginning."

This time, the voice came from a completely different direction. The party started to think that they were hearing things and not an actual person. It was impossible to tell where the voice was coming from.

"That voice…" Marth trailed off. "…That voice is from that shadow!"

"Hurrah, at least there are some people who recall someone else's voice. I'm flattered, but not that much, honestly."

"I-it's Shadow Snake!" Chris yelled. "H-he's still here!"

"What? I thought that wuss went down with the machine!" Cid yelled in complaint. "How the f*^% did he manage to survive that?!"

"That'd be because I'm immune to shadow and dark attacks," Shadow Snake said, his voice coming from somewhere else. "Thanks to my 'other self' for neglecting his truths, my power is far beyond what you'd expect."

Tifa looked around with some fear. "W-why is his voice coming from different places at once?"

"Let me explain my other 'power up', please," Shadow Snake said from somewhere else. "Unlike any of the previous shadow monsters you guys had fought before, I traded offensive for defense. As such, I decided to increase further my camouflage stealth. Now, I'm completely invisible, my steps don't make any sound, and many other different ways to track me down are useless like the dog using his aura to find me. Don't even try using thermal vision as well. As of now, I'm a hundred percent invisible to your eyes."

"B-but that's…" Chris trailed off.

Suddenly, Chip pushed himself from Fox's arm and raised a finger. "That's blasphemy!" he added. "Only Chip Norris can d-"

"Oh, and in case you didn't know, the battle is not over yet," Shadow Snake said, his voice coming from somewhere else. "Let's see how everyone fares by fighting someone you can't even see or find."

Cloud shook his head and unsheathed his buster sword. "Damn that imbecile, using camouflage in a fight," he muttered before looking at Yuffie. "Yuffie, you better help us out here!"

Yuffie yelped a bit. "U-um, do I really have to?"

"Of course you will," Cloud said, putting a stern look. "Think of this as a way to say sorry for all you've done."

The ninja smiled a bit. "If I help, can I still have all the Materia?"

"I meant to say this is just a small part to forgive you," Cloud pointed out. "Besides, you love Wutai so much that you don't want this guy running about and destroy anything he sees, right?"

"…" Yuffie looked worried before she shook her head. "I-I don't want to let that guy do that!" she yelled before realizing what she said. Yuffie sighed in depression before she looked serious. "Alrighty, you convinced me, Cloud… That's pretty clever thinking of you, y'know," she said with a grin before taking out an oversized shuriken from behind. "Okay, I'll help. No dark guy is gonna destroy Wutai as long as I breathe!"

"Just to let you know, you're still giving everything back."

"I know, I know," Yuffie said in boredom.

Yell Dead Cell

Samus looked around the room. "This is bad. Since he's completely concealed anywhere…that decreases anyone's chances to land hits on him."

Lucario tried to find Shadow Snake's whereabouts using his aura. However, the Aura Pokémon couldn't detect any dark aura in the room. "It's no use," Lucario said as he stopped using his aura. "I can't detect his dark aura."

"I told you before that you don't have any ways to track me down."

Lucario, Cloud, Yuffie, and Samus backed away from their spot. They could have sworn Shadow Snake was just standing between all of them. Acting quickly, Samus ran towards the center and uses a flying kick, but she didn't strike anything but the air. "Dammit, he's not here anymore," Samus muttered. "(I could use my whip to land a strike, but that girl had to steal it from me…)" She felt that something pressed her throat rather hard. "U-ugh!"

"What, can't fight without weapons?" Shadow Snake asked, holding Samus's throat in a grip with his arms. "You rather be like me and use physical attacks, Samus."

"Y-you…bastard…" Samus muttered, her vision slowly becoming blurry.

"Leave her alone!" Lucario yelled as he ran towards Samus and fired an Aura Sphere over her left shoulder. The sphere, however, went flying and crashed against the wall, making Lucario grunt.

"Miss," Shadow Snake muttered before he slammed Samus down on the ground. Lucario quickly rushed and tossed a fist of aura where he thought Shadow Snake was, but he ended up punching the air. "Ooh, missed as well. You have really bad accuracy, dog."

"Come and get it, you!" Yuffie yelled as she dashed to where she thought Shadow Snake was. The ninja held her shuriken tight on her right hand and did a hard spin. The spin attack actually managed to land a slash on something, and Shadow Snake grunted in pain. "Ha-ha, leave camouflage to real ninjas!" she said with joy before she was kicked hard on her stomach, making her fall to the ground. "O-oww…"

"You just got lucky to do that, girl," Shadow Snake said, his voice seemingly drifting away to another location of the room.

The others spread out of the room and looked around for any signs of the Shadow Nightmare. Sonic sniffed the air, and he later shrugged at the action. "I can't sniff him out!" he yelled. "He REALLY is invisible!"

"Isn't that just wonderful or what?" Fox asked, his eyes darting everywhere while he raised his fists.

Suddenly, a jab made Fox's breath escape his mouth. The vulpine clutched his stomach and backed away before two kicks to his face made him fall on the ground. Fox coughed in pain before a sweeping kick struck the side of his head. The vulpine put his hands up and managed to grab an incoming kick. "I-I found him!" he yelled to Sonic. "Quick, attack him!"

Sonic readied his fists and sent a flying right fist to Fox's direction. The vulpine, suddenly, gasped as he was grabbed by the collar and was put in the front where he received a harsh punch by Sonic. "G-gah!" Fox gasped in pain.

The werehog looked shocked and pulled his fist back, seeing the vulpine before slammed down behind where he lied down on the ground in pain. "N-no, that was an accident!" Sonic said in his defense before gritting his fangs. "You BASTARD!" he yelled at Shadow Snake, blindly charging forward to empty air where he leaped and slashed it with both claws. "Grr!!!" Sonic grunted after just slashing the air. "Where'd he go?!"

Suddenly, an explosion went off. Sonic turned around and saw a thick cloud of smoke where Fox was. The werehog saw through the smoke a fainted Fox. "…S-sorry… I-I…just can't…go on…anymore…ugh…" Fox muttered before he passed out of cold.

"No!" Sonic yelled before he looked around. "That guy is using explosives?!"

"Fools, I also had enough power to have my equipment back, unlike my false self," Shadow Snake said from somewhere close to them. "You all better watch out before you get injured badly. These weapons are also invisible and silent. Just think about an unexpected missile on your backs"

Sonic stomped the ground. "Aww, great! Now he has weapons we can't see as well!"

Cid took out a cigarette and lighted it with a lighter. He put the cigarette hanging on between his lips and exhaled smoke. "Bastard thinks he can go chameleon on us, huh? Bring it on, b&*^%!" he dared the shadow.

"With pleasure, foul-mouthed man," Shadow Snake said from behind the space man.

Cid's eyes made a glare before he turned around and tried to slash the shadow with his spear. However, Cid only slashed the air. "S*^&!" Cid cursed, starting to slash the air around him in hopes to land a hit on the invisible shadow. "Be a man and let me see ya!"

The space man suddenly felt a square object being attached to his head. Cid looked up before an explosion was triggered on his head, making him get pushed away to the ground where he fell on his back and gritted his teeth in pain. "Sorry, I won't let you order me around," Shadow Snake taunted with a chuckle.

"F-f^%#..." Cid cursed under his breath before getting up from the ground. The space man put a tight grip on his spear and looked around, trying to find the invisible shadow. "Where the hell did you go now? Tell me!" he demanded.

It seemed that Shadow Snake had left Cid behind. The invisible Shadow Nightmare was slowly approaching a clueless Tifa, who had fists raised to her shoulder level so she could block any surprise attacks or deliver some punches. Suddenly, a fist clashes against her right fist, and she quickly reached out to the air where the grabbed an arm. "Got you!" she yelled before turning around and slamming down the shadow on the ground.

However, while she was still grabbing the shadow, Shadow Snake took advantage of this and brought Tifa down to the ground as well. The fighter swept the ground in pain before she stopped, feeling that she wasn't grabbing an arm anymore. A sweeping kick kicked Tifa further away from her spot, and she pushed herself up and got in a fighting stance. She wiped some blood from her lips and shifted her eyes around. "Careful of the snake," Shadow Snake said from somewhere around Tifa. "It might bite you if you're careless."

"S-shut up, you!" Tifa yelled back, her fists ready to deliver some blows. "Just let me find out where you are and then you'll be very sorry!"

"Ooh, I'm scared. A girl's gonna punch my guts out," Shadow Snake taunted. "I'd feel scared it if was a man, but a girl doesn't know how to punch a man."

"…" Tifa looked pissed at this. "Okay, you're being sexist now!"

"I can be whatever I want," Shadow Snake said over Tifa's right shoulder before he walked away to avoid a punch from her. "You can't hit me, though," he said behind her before walking away to avoid a spinning kick. "Maybe you need some glasses so you look more defenseless," he taunted in front of her before he ducked down and evaded three punches. "After all, girls don't know how to deal a good ki-" he stopped talking once Tifa kicked him hard on the face.

"There you are!" Tifa said before she forced Shadow Snake to stand up by kicking up his chin. The shadow grunted in pain before Tifa began a series of physical combos on him. "I'll show you!" she said, delivering fast fists on Shadow Snake's face. "Not done yet!" she said, doing a quick somersault kick up to Shadow Snake's chin, herself landing on the ground. "But now I'm done!" she said, sweeping the ground hard with her right leg, accompanied with a blast of water that pushed the shadow away from her.

"U-ugh..." Shadow Snake backed away. "Better be more careful..." he muttered, his voice going to another direction.

Tifa stood up and looked around. "You coward, come back here!" she demanded.

Close to her, Lucario had his hands burning with his aura. The Aura Pokémon shifted his eyes around the room to stay cautious from the invisible shadow. "It'll be hard to strike someone you can't even detect," Lucario muttered. "But once he deals a strike, my power will just grow, and I'll remember where the blow came from. That way, I'll end up delivering most damage."

"In your dreams, dog," Shadow Snake called from somewhere.

Lucario turned around and fired a quick Aura Sphere, which only went through the air and crashed to the western wall. He grunted and looked around. "(I know he's around me, but where?)" he asked in confusion.

It was not long before Lucario felt a round object bumping into his back. He turned around and was met by a grenade's explosion, forcing him to back away to a spot where an invisible mine triggered and exploded on his feet, pushing him to the air. Lucario grunted loudly and flipped in the air to land on his feet, where a fast moving object crashed against his face and exploded, making him grit his fangs in pain. He looked at his hands burning with more aura than before.

"I better try not to make you pissed," Shadow Snake taunted from a direction Lucario turned to. "Those hands can kill places very easily, and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

"You're just making me even stronger..." Lucario trailed off. "You better stay out of the way..."

"Yeah...that's not happening."

Suddenly, several explosions set off all around Lucario. The Aura Pokémon yelled in pain as he was pushed back into the air, this time not regaining his composure. Lucario then met a downward kick right to his face, forcing him to crash hard into the ground while his aura just kept growing, but his energy going down very quickly. "U-ugh... G-grrr..." Lucario grunted.

"Normally, my false self would've done this really poorly," Shadow Snake said from somewhere as Lucario slowly got up from the ground. "I do use my mind, though. Explosions should do more damage than mere physical attacks to you."

"S-shut up...and stop taunting me..." Lucario muttered in pain, his aura flaring up even more.

"You're not my dad," Shadow Snake taunted. "You're just a mutt with weird thighs."

"GUARGH!" Lucario turned around and shot a massive Aura Sphere that managed to hit the shadow. Shadow Snake yelled in pain as he was sent across the room, towards the temple where he crashed on the floor and grunted. "D-don't…mock me…anymore…" he panted.

"Lucario!" Aerith yelled worried before she ran to his side and knelt down. "Oh no, you're really hurt…" she muttered.

Lucario looked at the flower girl. "I-it's okay, Aerith. I can mo-"

"No, you need to rest," she said as she took out a Hi-Potion from behind. "Here, drink this. This is the last Hi-Potion we have so drink i-"

Aerith gasped once an explosion, which reached her and Lucario, pushed her away, holding a broken potion in her right hand. The flower girl twitched a bit in pain as she looked at the broken item. She gasped and looked back where Lucario was lying on the floor. "N-no!"

Lucario lied down on the ground, the Hi-Potion's liquid spilled all over his body except his mouth. The damage of the explosion had taken him out.

"One down," Shadow Snake muttered as he put away his missile launcher.

Aerith looked around her pockets, but she gasped after finding out they had run out from Phoenix Downs. "N-no, we ran out of healing items!" she yelled, seeing the fainted Lucario on the ground. "I-I'm...I'm so sorry, Lucario..."

Her sobs were soon interrupted as a saint light touched Lucario's back. Holy wings appeared and fluttered a bit before vanishing. The Aura Pokémon grunted as he slowly stood up. He let out a growl as his hands began flaring with aura again.

"…" Aerith wiped her tears off from her face and smiled happily. "Well, I need to stop being dramatic…" she trailed off in embarrassment.

However, several explosions were triggered right after Lucario stood up. The Aura Pokémon screamed in pain before he was pushed several feet away. Aerith watched as Lucario rolled recklessly on the ground before he stopped, lying down with his face turning to the temple's direction.

Aerith looked horrified at this that she shook in fear. "N-no!" she yelled. "Lucario!"

"What, did you think I'd forget the fact everyone needs to be knocked out twice so they stay knocked out for good?"

Aerith took a quick action and brandished her long staff. She put up a serious face as she looked around for the nearby shadow. "W-where are you? I-I'm going to show you not to mess with us!" she said with determination.

"Aww, the girl's crying because I took out the dog that's not even hers," Shadow Snake taunted. "You're really into pups, aren't you?"

"S-shut up, I care about the people I like to be with," Aerith said. "If I need to protect them, I'll protect them from a monster like you!"

"Ooh, I'm a monster now," Shadow Snake snickered before he grabbed Aerith's staff, making her gasp and try to keep it with her. "Well, since I'm a monster, I'll take that staff of yours and break it in half."

"C-Cloud!" Aerith yelled for help. "H-he's right in front of me!"

"I got it!" Cloud yelled from afar, as he ran towards Aerith.

However, Aerith suddenly pulled her staff back to her. She gasped after Shadow Snake let go of it, allowing him to escape to another location. "He escaped!" Aerith yelled.

Cloud stopped running towards her and looked around. "Dammit, why did he have to be invincible and COMPLETELY silent?"

"Those Shadow Nightmares have really unpredictable powers…" Samus muttered. "They can increase power drastically, they can increase speed greatly, they can raise defensive skills such a camouflage, and they can call forth other things…"

Chris backed away to her side. "Just how many things can they do?"

"I wish I knew," Samus muttered. "It greatly depends on the people they take over. I can tell that much, though…"

"That's all you need to know about how dangerous Shadow Nightmares are, Sammy."

Samus turned around, but she was grabbed by the neck by two arms. The bounty hunter began gasping for breath, making Chris back away in fear. Samus's body turned around towards Chris as she tried to break free by pushing away the invisible arms, but she wasn't able to do so. "C-Chris, help…" Samus trailed off weakly.

"S-Samus, hold on there!" Chris said as he aimed his revolver over Samus's left shoulder, only for Samus to be forced to get in the direction. The agent gasped at this before he tried aiming over her shoulder again, but Samus was forced to move in its way again. "T-that's not fair, you! Using a woman like Samus as your shield and hostage…t-that's a dirty trick!"

"No, it's not," Shadow Snake said behind the struggling Samus. "It's playing on the defensive, literally."

"T-that's playing dirty on the defensive!" Chris yelled, trying to aim the behind Samus's back to shoot at the invisible enemy. "S-stop, please!"

Samus's breathings began to slow down at an alarming pace. The agent looked frightened as he tried to aim the shadow and shoot in time before Samus could be choked to death. "Q-quick…" Samus muttered in pain, her vision starting to become blurrier by the seconds.

"I-I don't know what to do!" Chris yelled, dropping his revolver to the ground. "I-I don't want to end up shooting at your face!"

Shadow Snake chuckled darkly. "Pathetic," he muttered. "Guess she's as good as deat-"

"Here comes super ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie yelled from above the shadow's position, raising high up her oversized shuriken to slash the invisible enemy. "You wanna get cut? I'll cut ya down right on the spot!"

As soon as she was about to land and slash, Shadow Snake released Samus, and Yuffie accidentally ended up slashing Samus's back harshly. The bounty hunter yelled in pain as she stumbled forward while the ninja looked horrified at her mistake. Soon after that, an explosion triggered behind Samus, forcing her to fall down on the ground where she grunted in pain and slowly got up. "B-bastard…" Samus muttered in pain.

"I-I'm so sorry, really!" Yuffie said in horror. "I-I… T-that guy moved away on the last minute!" she said on her defense. "I-I didn't want t-"

"I know…" Samus interrupted the ninja.

"That was pretty clever," Shadow Snake admitted somewhere nearby Yuffie, making her shift her eyes in fear. "I was planning to choke her until she was knocked out, and once she was revived by that crappy light, the mines I placed on her back would set off and take her out right away. That slash you did made me stop, allowing her to get saved."

Chris picked up his revolver and began firing at the air around Yuffie. "Y-you monster, stop doing this!"

"I'll stop once I get done with all of you," Shadow Snake commented. "Judging by the fact the way you're shooting right now, it's making me think you want me out, right?"

"That's the whole idea!" Chris yelled before he received a hard knee attack to his stomach. "U-ugh!"

"Never yell back to your superiors, kid," Shadow Snake said.

Chris received a hard uppercut on his chin, making him back away in pain. "Y-you're not my superior but a big bully…" he muttered before receiving a harsh kick attack on his chest, making him fall back to the ground where a downward kick slammed his stomach down. "O-oww!" Chris yelped in pain, feeling a round object being laid down on him before it exploded, making him roll away on the ground. "Y-you're…you're enjoying all this…"

Yuffie helplessly waved her shuriken around while she ran around the spot where she thought Shadow Snake was attacking Chris, but she only managed to slice through the air in a crazy frenzy. "I should've taken stealth lessons more seriously, and that also goes for rope training lessons as well!" she complained.

Suddenly, Yuffie felt that she sliced something, but then she was pushed away by an invisible missile's explosion. The ninja slid on the ground in pain before she gracefully pushed herself up and flipped in the air, landing on the ground. She twitched a bit in pain, but Yuffie managed to become numb to it as she looked around for Shadow Snake. "Learn to be less reckless, girl," Shadow Snake commented.

Yuffie gritted her teeth with anger. "Once I'll find ya, you're gonna be AWFULLY sorry for destroying Wutai's grounds!"

"How sweet to see such a girl devoted to her nation," Shadow Snake commented.

Yuffie received a missile exploding on her back. The ninja went flying forward before flipping and landing on her feet. Closing one eye in pain, she turned around and swung her shuriken hard, only slicing the air as well. "I'm gonna take camouflage lessons more SERIOUSLY, I swear!" she said in irritation.

"It's not like they'll help you out in any way," Shadow Snake commented behind her, making her turn and swing her shuriken to the empty air again. "I use advanced technology made out of shadow energy… Oh, wait, it's not actual technology but an ability I can only have for myself," he commented behind her back, making her turn, but this time without swinging her shuriken.

"Grr, stop moving around!" Yuffie complained.

"You stop moving around. It really tires me to have to walk all the time behind you," Shadow Snake said.

Yuffie turned around and swung her shuriken fast, ending up with slicing nothing. "Aww, come on, you!" she ranted.

The ninja watched as the agent tried to stand up, but he was struck hard by an invisible kick on the head, making him roll away before losing consciousness. "Forgot that he was still breathing," Shadow Snake said. "Now I won't have to worry about more scum."

Shadow Snake was suddenly slashed hard on his back by Yuffie's shuriken. The ninja, standing right behind the invisible shadow, let out a war cry as she stepped back and dashed forward to slash the shadow several times before ending it with pushing him to the ground. "Lucky hits!" Yuffie rejoiced.

The shadow had moved away while she rejoiced.

Yuffie turned around and saw Samus being pushed away by some invisible kicks on her back. The bounty hunter grunted in pain and turned around to stop a kick, but it pulled away from her before a ramming attack pushed her down to the ground. Samus, feeling a lot of pain, quickly rolled away from a crashing downward kick where it should had struck her chest. Rolling to the side, she gracefully flipped back on her feet and raised her fists. "I...still can...do this..." she trailed off weakly.

"I admire your acrobatic skills, Samus," Shadow Snake said nearby. "You're the kind of girl I'd hit."

"What are you...talking about now?" Samus asked sternly.

"You don't see girls fighting the way you do," Shadow Snake commented from another spot around Samus. "It's such a surprise to see one doing some fighting."

"Thanks for the remark...but I'm not interested in men," she muttered. She felt a round object slamming on her right arm that she quickly backed away from the spot to avoid another explosion. "Stop being invisible..."

"But if I do that, I'll get severely handicapped against all of you," Shadow Snake said. "Losing that skill will render my progress, Samus. I don't see why I should become visible."

"There you are!" Cloud yelled, coming down from above to slam down his sword on the ground. The blond mercenary grunted before he was suddenly grabbed by behind by the shadow, who tried to chock Cloud as fast as possible. Tifa came in from behind and tossed some punches behind Cloud, but the shadow had already left the chocking Cloud, the blond mercenary dropping to his right knee while he tried to regain his breath. "D-dammit..." he muttered.

Tifa looked at Samus. "Sorry, but we don't have anymore Potions or Phoenix Downs to recover," she said. "We'll have to be more careful than befor-AAAAH!!!" Three explosions exploded right behind her. Tifa went up into the air and was attacked by some downward kicks before one of them slammed right down on her stomach, making her crash close to Cloud, who looked shocked before getting angry again. "C-Cloud..." Tifa muttered on the ground. "H-help..."

"Tifa!" Cloud yelled as Aerith and Cid ran to them, Yuffie doing the same. The four who were still standing up looked around, trying to stay cautious about the invisible shadow while protecting Tifa from being harmed. "Imbecile, where are you?!" Cloud asked in rage.

"Aw, god, you all committed a big mistake now," Shadow Snake commented.

"What big mistake is that?" Yuffie asked. "We're trying to protect Tifa from getting hurt by YOU, you know!"

"That's exactly the big mistake," Shadow Snake said. "Now."

Underneath Tifa, several explosions were set off, damaging every single one of them, forcing them to go into the air where Shadow Snake fired several invisible missiles at will, creating a plethora of fireworks that caused everyone to yell in pain before they all crashed in different parts of the ground, all of them moaning in pain. "M-mother...f&%^*$..." Cid muttered before he let go of cigarette and fainted.

Samus had lost consciousness, but her back was touched gently by a holy light that made light wings appear and flutter before vanishing. The bounty hunter slowly got up, looking at Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie still trying to stand up. "...I have to get serious now," Samus muttered.

"I already got serious enough here," Shadow Snake said.

Samus suddenly heard a yell of pain coming from Cloud. The blond mercenary was lying down on the ground, trying to reach his fallen buster sword in front of him. There was Shadow Snake's right foot stepping on top of Cloud's weakened hand, causing him to scream as Samus watched his skin being twisted painfully to the sides. "N-no!" she said.

"Cloud, no!" Aerith yelled, struggling to stand up from the ground. "L-leave Cloud alone!"

"He needs company badly," Shadow Snake said. "I don't want him to be a loner."

"W-what the heck is up with these monsters?" Yuffie asked, trying to reach out for her shuriken besides her. "W-why would they use very sadistic comments?"

"That's how Shadow Nightmares are," Shadow Snake said. "We live only to make those untrue to themselves suffer. Why not believing in the truth to save yourself from being killed is beyond me, but I know for sure we have a duty to shut up those bastards from keeping lying to themselves forever. We're doing a favor here, if you see."

"T-that's...a very twisted way to resolve things..." Cloud muttered in pain, blood starting to spill from each sides of his mouth. "Y-you...are...really...annoying...and...worthless... AAA-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" he started screaming loudly as he felt the foot crushing his hand even more.

"C-CLOUD!" Aerith yelled.

"Don't you go saying those things, kid," Shadow Snake said. "You'll only get hurt."

"Leave them alone, you filthy being of darkness!"

Shadow Snake turned around in time to sneak right behind Marth, who decided to rush in to the fight to save Cloud from getting harmed, the latter losing consciousness. The Altean prince stopped running before Shadow Snake grabbed his left arm, put it behind his back, and began twisting to the point Marth began yelling in pain. "Trying to be a hero, huh?" Shadow Snake said behind the screaming Marth. "Don't jump into battle when you don't have your sword, kid."

"S-stop, now!" Marth yelled between his screams. "A-argh!"

"Oh, please, it's just a little twist that will break your bone," Shadow Snake said. "It's not like you're gonna miss it that much. Wait, I think you're right handed, so you'll have to start using your other hand…not like you're going to survive through this, though."

Chip, who was hiding behind the fallen Rapps, flew up and pumped up a fist. "Go, prince, go!" he cheered. "Show that guy what you're made of by throwing some fists!"

"I-I wasn't that much into physical fighting!" Marth yelled.

"You fight with a sword! Isn't that physical fighting?"

"I mean LITERAL physical fighting!"

Chip blinked a bit. "Oh...well, hang on in there. Chip Norris doesn't want to cheat and go fight that guy today. I'd beat him really badly otherwise," he said before hiding behind the fallen Rapps.

Marth slowly dropped to his knees as his arm twisted in pain. The Altean gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to resist but to no avail. "P-please…somebody…help…" Marth muttered weakly, his right arm starting to become numb to the pain.

"It's over," Shadow Snake said.

A fearsome roar echoed in the cave. Shadow Snake turned around and received a ramming attack by a reddish lion that had arrived at the nick of time. The shadow grunted as he looked down to the feral beast before him, letting go of the weakened Marth. "You…" Shadow Snake muttered.

Red XIII gritted his fangs as he faced forward to the empty air. "I knew there was a reason why everyone here was lying down on the ground," he muttered. "Then I saw the guy's arm twisting all by itself, and I also heard a voice coming from just behind him. Thinking quickly, I deduced there was someone, you, doing all that."

"Huh, smart pup," Shadow Snake said, walking somewhere else. "Well, thanks to you, you saved the metrosexual guy (Marth: D-damn you…) from dying, but you only delayed the time of his death."

The feral beast grunted. "Just because you're invisible doesn't mean I'll just give up the fighting," he said. "And for hurting everyone here, I'll be your next opponent."

"Honorable, I see," Shadow Snake remarked. "Okay, let's start the fight, pup."

"I am NOT a mere dog!" Red XIII roared in fury as he leaped forward to the air, landing on the ground without ramming to the shadow. The feral beast gritted his fangs and looked around the room. "Where did you go now? (I can't hear any footsteps or even smell a faint odor from him...)"

Red XIII was kicked a few feet away. The lion grunted in pain before he landed back on the ground and looked around more for the shadow. "I'm here, yet at the same time over all the place," Shadow Snake said. "Try to guess where I am."

"RIGHT THERE!"

A crushing fist shot downwards to the spot where the shadow was, who let out a loud grunt. Red XIII blinked at the long claw before him as he looked up to the ceiling of the room where Sonic had a claw stuck on the ceiling while the other one was all the way down where the shadow lied down in pain. The werehog chuckled and showed his fangs a bit. "I forgot the pesky hedgehog monster was still in here..." Shadow Snake muttered.

"Heh, guess now you're thinking I use my mind to strike before attacking," Sonic said with triumph. "I'm so flattered."

Shadow Snake pushed the claw away before it shot down deep into the ground. Sonic pulled back his fists before he let go of the ceiling and fell down on the ground. The werehog looked at Red XIII and chuckled. "Sorry for being annoying to ya," he said.

Red XIII stared at the werehog. "You're the hedgehog, right? I can tell that much because both of yo-"

"Yeah, I'm the hedgehog. You're surely saying that because of my smell being familiar, right?"

"No," Red XIII said. "It's because you both act pretty much the same with the cocky attitudes."

Sonic looked bored at this. "Oh, man..."

"In any case," Red XIII began as he shifted his eyes, "we must take out our enemy before he does so with us."

Sonic smacked his fists together. "Right, but first, take in mind we have people still awake over there," he said as he pointed at Aerith and Yuffie, still struggling to keep themselves awake while Marth weakly walked to them, a hand grabbing his right arm. "You look pretty beat up, even though it's just your arm."

Marth looked annoyed at the hedgehog. "D-dont say that. I tried to save Cloud from getting hurt," he said on his defense. "Why didn't you do anything before?"

"Waiting to find the right time to attack," Sonic said. "Otherwise I'd end up hurting somebody else by accident like I did with the fox guy."

"I-I see..." Marth muttered before looking at Red XIII. "D-did you see somebody else coming here?"

Red XIII shook his head. "No, but I did smell some familiar scents in the dark maze behind," he said. "They're all here, but they're lost in the maze. Since I thought it'd be better if I came here first to see how things were going, I wanted to make sure I didn't delay much of my time in coming here." He looked around and gritted his fangs again. "You better leave this room before that shadow finishes you off, though."

"R-right," Marth said before he ran towards the exit of the cave, managing to take cover behind the fallen Rapps.

Sonic readied his fists and looked around the room. "Any ideas where'd he go?"

"It's hard for me to know that," Red XIII muttered before he ran towards Aerith and Yuffie. "Can you both stand up?"

"I-I think I can't..." Aerith muttered.

"Y-you wouldn't happen to have some items with you?" Yuffie asked.

Red XIII shook his head. "I couldn't buy something at the shop because I didn't have money."

"R-rats..."

"Even so, they'd scream if they knew I could talk or even see the way I look," the feral lion said. "All I can do now is fight that enemy and keep you safe."

Aerith forced a weak smile at Red XIII. "T-thank you..." she muttered before she fainted.

Red XIII gasped silently before he grunted and turned around. "Hey, you! The invisible enemy! Come on and fight me!" he demanded.

"I'll just do that," Shadow Snake spoke from behind.

"(There he is!)" Red XIII did a sharp turn and leaped towards the voice's origin. The feral lion crossed the air and landed on the ground before a sweeping kick made him trip. Red XIII quickly reacted and rolled to the left to avoid another sweeping kick, giving him enough time to stand up and leap towards the kick's direction, successfully pinning the shadow down on the ground. "I've got you now!" Red XIII yelled before fully opening his mouth to bite the shadow's face.

Shadow Snake grunted and stuffed a grenade between the feral lion's fangs. Red XIII grunted and shook off the grenade high up before it could explode. The lion growled angrily and began scratching Shadow Snake's face before the shadow pushed him away, only to receive a fast punch from Sonic, who leaped and pinned the shadow down to the ground. Sonic smirked (rather evilly) before he began to pound the shadow with his fists. "Get off me!" Shadow Snake demanded, grabbing Sonic's arms before tossing him away. The shadow rolled forward and stood up before walking somewhere else.

"Heh," Sonic muttered as he wiped his nose with a finger. "So little time, so much damage," he muttered, pleased with himself.

"Sonic!"

The werehog turned towards the exit of the cave where Mario and Knuckles appeared from behind the fallen monster, the latter being the one who yelled. Sonic grinned and ran to meet up with them. "You're here, you guys," he said.

"Why the heck are you a werehog now?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic pointed up at the dark atmosphere. "Chris told me Eggman came in here and used some machine to let a Shadow Nightmare attack us."

"A Shadow Nightmare?" Mario asked.

"Yeah, that guy is invicible and stupidly silent," Sonic said. "Moreover, he grabbed the tight butt man and copied the way he looked."

Mario looked away. "Snake..." he muttered.

Knuckles looked stern. "You're saying that shadow is around here, except he's invisible?"

"And silent," Sonic added. "You better watch out for any surprise attack he throws because he likes to be this cheap!"

Mario looked back at Sonic. "So much for today," he said before looking around. "Let's join forces and fight Snake's shadow, then."

Knuckles nodded. "I agree," he said before readying his fists. "C'mon, you stupid monster of darkness! Fight us!"

The trio looked back where Red XIII stood close to the fallen members of the group. The feral lion shifted his eyes around, trying to see where the shadow would speak to pinpoint his location. "How long are you planning to stay hidden?" Red XIII demanded.

"Fine, pup," Shadow Snake said before he set a mine on Red XIII's back, only for him to bite it and throw it away before it exploded. "You're really impatient for my own good."

Red XIII replied with a loud roar before he leaped and extended his paws towards the shadow's direction, only for him to get a direct kick on his face. Red XIII landed back on the ground and shook his head in pain before the shadow did an upward kick to his chin, pushing the lion into the air where the shadow jumped up and pushed Red XIII away with both feet, making the feral lion crash into the ground where he growled and stood up, his right eye tightly shut. "N-not bad..." Red XIII remarked.

Knuckles rushed in with both fists ready. "You better be prepared for me, cheap idiot!" he cursed as he let out a war cry. He was then punched on his face, but he managed to grab the fist and didn't let go of it. "T-there you are!"

However, Shadow Snake chuckled and kicked Knuckles right on his stomach, making him fall back. "You know where I am...but you don't, now," he said as he walked away from the grunting echidna.

"D-damn..." Knuckles muttered before getting up. "Where did he go now?"

Knuckles was suddenly engulfed in an explosion from a nearby grenade that the shadow had dropped. The echidna was pushed away where he rolled on the ground and managed to sit down on one knee, panting a bit. "Huh, I thought you'd fall down faster. Guess I was wrong," Shadow Snake muttered.

"I can hold my ground longer than you think I can..." Knuckles muttered as he gritted hard his fangs. "J-just let me make you hurt."

"Sorry, can't let you do that," Shadow Snake said before he stepped away from a downward punch from Mario, who landed close to him. "Oh, the plumber. I forgot he was here," he said before a big fist pushed him forward, right where Mario was crouching down to make the shadow fall and slam down his face on the ground. "D-damn, I didn't see that coming," the shadow muttered on the ground before Mario performed a break dance (no, really) sweep kick, pushing the shadow away from him. "N-now you're making me really mad," the shadow muttered before getting up by rolling forward.

"Yes," Red XIII muttered. "We're gaining the upper hand in this battle."

"That's what I call making a comeback," Sonic admitted with a (wicked) grin. "That guy has his days numbered."

Suddenly, the hedgehog met a grenade slamming right into his face, triggering a big explosion that pushed himself and Red XIII away. Sonic grunted loudly as he flipped in the air and landed back on the ground, sliding a bit before looking around for the shadow. "Don't get so cocky now," Shadow Snake said. "Your cockiness shall be your biggest mistake."

"G-grr..." Sonic grunted and turned around. "Y-you try saying me that closer!"

"Okay."

Sonic's eyes widened before he turned around and received a harsh kick attack on his face. The werehog went rolling along the ground while Mario jumped towards the shadow with a fist ready to attack, but the shadow walked closer to Mario and grabbed his legs, slamming him down on the ground before Red XIII leaped from behind the shadow and pinned him down, saving Mario from further harm.

Red XIII roared before he began scratching Shadow Snake's face as quickly as he could before the shadow pushed him away, only for Sonic to come back and slam down his huge fists on the shadow's chest. "G-grr!" Shadow Snake grunted before grabbing one of Sonic's fists to throw him away. The shadow pushed his feet up to walk away to another location.

"Keep it going like that...and this battle will finish soon..." Sonic muttered as he looked over to Knuckles's side. The echidna was still panting heavily after he was hurt. "You okay, Knucklehead?"

"C-couldn't be any worse than this..." Knuckles muttered as he panted heavily. "H-how come you guys can resist more attacks than I can?"

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Hmm, maybe because you're not like us who can get benefits by the abilities we buy...umm...hmm...what was the name again? Smashers?"

"...T-that's bullcrap..." Knuckles muttered. "T-that hand is going t-"

"You're going to knock yourself out, you like it or not," Shadow Snake spoke from behind the echidna.

Knuckles gasped before a mine was put on his back. The mine then triggered by exploding right on his back, prompting Knuckles to be pushed high to the air. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Knuckles screamed before his pupils shrunk when a downward kick was delivered to his stomach. The echidna let out a gasp for breath as he was sent rocketing towards the ground, where Sonic quickly reached him out with his stretchable claws, catching Knuckles in time before he could fall down hard. The werehog pulled the echidna back to him and Mario, both of them looking at their fainted member.

"Knuckles!" Sonic yelled before he slowly gritted his fangs and set the echidna down. "That's it, now I'm PISSED OFF!" he roared in fury.

Suddenly, a grenade slammed right into his face, triggering a big explosion that forced Mario to fly away as well as Sonic did. The werehog grunted and flipped once more in the air, landing hard on the ground. "Aww, the monster is mad now," Shadow Snake taunted from nearby. "I better be careful with it."

Sonic's eyes took a wild look before he licked his fangs and let out a fearsome roar to the ceiling, his claws fully opened while doing so. The werehog slammed down his fists on the ground and shifted his furious eyes around. "Where are you now?! Tell me so I can SMACK the living crap outta you!" Sonic demanded.

Red XIII rushed towards and Sonic. The feral lion looked sternly at the enraged werehog. "You better calm down before your rage takes the better of you," he said.

Sonic growled silently. "Fine, but if he makes ONE more surprise attack..."

Red XIII glared at Sonic. "I told you to calm down already. Your rage isn't going to help us in any way in this fight."

"It WILL help, alright," Sonic muttered in anger, glaring fiercely at Red XIII. "It's gonna make my fists a hell lot stronger!"

"Yes, but will they hit?" Red XIII asked. "Just calm down, Sonic. You won't do much in this state."

Sonic breathed in and out before he let out a long sigh. The werehog seemed to have calmed down for the time being. "Okay...I think I'm calmed now..." he trailed off.

"Good," Red XIII said before he looked around the room to see the others lying down. "You wouldn't want to harm the others..."

"Yeah...I know..."

"...Wait..." Red XIII narrowed his eyes and looked around. "...I don't see some people in here anymore..."

"What was that?" Sonic asked before looking around. "Hey, you're right... Some of them are missing..."

Red XIII growled a bit before an explosion took place between them. The two feral beasts rolled recklessly on the ground on opposite directions as Mario jumped towards a spot and delivered a downward punch, managing to hit Shadow Snake's head. "U-ugh," Shadow Snake grunted in pain as he backed away before Mario landed on the ground and performed another break dance sweep kick to make the shadow trip down forward, allowing Mario to use a Super Coin Punch to uppercut the shadow into the air.

"N-not bad," Shadow Snake remarked. "Too bad it's not that good," he later commented as he grabbed Mario in midair and tossed him away. The shadow suddenly met a hard fist smacking hard into his body, making him fly away before he crashed the ground where he rolled away in time before Red XIII could bite him. "Now you're getting harder to deal with, even if there are only three of you left."

Red XIII grunted. "Numbers aren't very important for us. Now, stay right there!" he yelled as he rushed towards the shadow, letting out an echoing howl to the ceiling.

Shadow Snake narrowed his eyes at this, but then he noticed that Red XIII's howl triggered some sort of magic since ten shining stars appeared all over the ceiling. "What the hell is..." he trailed off before the stars shot down over all the room, three of them managing to crash on him. "U-ugh!"

"My Stardust Rain attack wasn't going to be very effective," Red XIII said. "It hits randomly, so be lucky you weren't hit by the full attack."

"You're just full of surprises..." the shadow muttered. "I dare you to do better..."

"Don't you mind if I DO!" Red XIII roared while Mario and Sonic rushed towards where they thought the shadow was standing.

Back where the fallen Rapps was, a tired Chip carried on his back a weak Yuffie. The imp had sneaked into the battle to retrieve the ninja before anybody could spot him. Chip let go of Yuffie on the ground where she twitched in pain a bit and blinked at her surroundings. "There," Chip said, crossing his arms with a smile. "You're lucky that Chip Norris knows how to sneak without getting caught."

Marth, who was still grabbing his right arm with his left hand, sighed and stared at Chip. "Thankfully, nobody saw you carrying her..." he looked to his left where Chris lied down nearby, "and him..."

Chip nodded. "Well, you were lucky Chris was far apart from the others," he said. "I mean, the girl had a lot of luck because I had to lie down and pretend she didn't move or I was carrying her."

Yuffie grunted as she slowly looked up at Marth. "T-thank you...for rescuing me..." she said, noticing Marth's stern look. "I-I'm so sorry for...stealing your things, really..."

A tiara's memory appeared inside the Altean's mind. Marth rolled his eyes and looked back at Yuffie. "Be thankful than we DO have some well being, you."

"Y-yeah, I know that," Yuffie said. "B-but...seriously...I have a favor to ask... I-I need help from stopping that guy from destroying Wutai's grounds and...and...and I don't want him to hurt the others, too..."

"So now you're feeling sorry?"

"I-I know what you're thinking about me," Yuffie said, closing an eye. "B-but I was doing it for the welfare of the village..."

"Either way, it was still bad of you to steal everyone's belongings," Marth said. "...For now, you're forgiven..."

Yuffie forced a weak smile. "T-thanks, you..." She looked worried at Marth. "P-please, you have to do something to stop him!"

Marth looked away. "I don't know what to do..." he trailed off. "I can't just go back to the village and ask for assistance. I doubt I can find someone else to deal with a Shadow Nightmare..."

"Y-yeah..." Yuffie muttered. "You try getting help here...my dad's soldiers won't do much against that monster...(besides, anything from him is totally worthless...)"

Marth looked at the ninja. "We still need to think of a way to pull through this," he said. "Where did you hide our stuff?"

"Just underneath the table of my house, right next where you sat."

"...What?"

"You remember the tea table of my house?" Yuffie asked. "W-well, I hid everything just below it"

"...You've got to be kidding me..."

"N-no, it's the truth, I swear..." Yuffie trailed off with a nervous chuckle. "E-everything was practically sitting under your noses the whole time and you didn't notice...funny, isn't?"

Marth gave her a stern look.

"...Okay, it's not funny," Yuffie muttered with a sigh. "B-but that's another topic for another day..." She struggled to get up, but she fell back to the ground. "Y-you have to do something to beat that monster...the guys back there won't hold on for much longer now..."

The Altean grunted and shook his head. "But what can I do? Don't you have something we could use?"

"..." Yuffie thought for a moment. "...I think I have a spare Phoenix Down right here..." she trailed off as she dug her right hand into her pocket, taking out a reddish feather that she showed to Marth. "L-lookie here, I got one..."

Marth took the reddish feather. "Okay...what is this for?"

"I-it helps to heal knocked out people to wake up," Yuffie explained. "U-use it on somebody so you can get help..."

Marth stared at the feather before he looked over to Snake and Chris. "One of those two should...what?"

The Altean noticed that Snake seemed to budge a little.

"..." Marth looked serious at this before he looked over at Chris and let go of the feather on his back. The feather gently fell down until it landed on the agent's back, instantly releasing shiny glitters that spread all over him, and soon enough, the agent began mumbling weakly to himself before he woke up and looked around in a daze. "Phew..." Marth sighed.

"W-what...is happening...huh?" Chris asked weakly, slowly pushing himself up to stand up. "H-have we won yet?"

"No," Marth said, making Chris look at him. "Mario, Sonic, and Red XIII are fighting the shadow right now."

Chris looked back at the fallen Rapps.

"It'd be best if you didn't look," Marth said, overhearing curses from the werehog as explosions were set off. "We shouldn't attract attention to this place."

"I...guess you're right..." Chris agreed. "The last thing...I want...is shooting the air without...landing a shot..." He looked behind where Snake was budging. "...I-is he..."

Yuffie glanced to Snake. "...Wow, I thought he was knocked out..."

"I guess he has some energy left," Marth said. "That shadow delivered a strong strike to knock him out, but I think it was a bit worse than that..."

"U-ugh..." Snake muttered to himself, stopping budging. "...What happened now?" he asked, seeing Marth's feet besides him.

Marth knelt down. "We're fighting that manifestation of your lies," he said. "He's been giving us a lot of trouble ever since he knocked you out."

"...I...see..." Snake muttered.

The agent struggled to get up. He looked down at Snake before the mercenary slowly got up from the ground. "Snake…" Chris trailed off.

Snake looked away. "What do you want from me this time, kid?" he asked.

"You know what…" Chris trailed off. "I already told you…before you were knocked out by that shadow…"

The mercenary looked sternly at the World Traveler. "I'm still going to leave, kid…you like it or not…"

"B-but it's just…"

Snake tried to catch some breath to avoid making pauses. "Why the hell do you care so much about me? You should forget about me altogether."

"I…I just can't let you go like that," Chris muttered, trying to catch his breath as well. "I can't let you go that easily…"

"You want to make it harder for me to leave?"

"N-no, I don't want to make things complicated for you," Chris admitted. "I-it's just that…I-I think…I think you're a very important asset for the group, Snake…"

Snake turned away from Chris. "You told me the same thing last time."

"Y-yes, and I'm still going to continue to hold on to that," Chris said. "It's…all I can use to convince you from staying here…"

Marth looked at Snake. "Wait, you're planning to leave us behind with the Subspace Army on our tails?"

Snake turned to Marth and nodded. "My world is safe, even if I'm the only one protecting it."

"Are you sure of that?" Marth asked. "Snake, why do you think we're all together fighting the army?"

"Don't bring that crap on me," Snake said. "Unlike any of you, my world can get safe well enough from any stupid army from some s(beep)y universe of darkness."

"I don't quite think so," Marth said with a serious look. "You don't know what they'll do to you once you leave. What if they try to kill you off when you're alone in your world?"

"So be it," Snake said. "My life doesn't have any real significance. It's going to be a short life for me, so I may as well accept it."

The World Traveler slowly shook his head at this. He started to think Snake didn't care about his life at all. Chris felt that he needed to change Snake's attitude before the mercenary would think about himself as a mere nobody. "Snake…how can you be so…so serious about this?"

"Kid, my life isn't going to last for much longer," Snake said. "I don't know when I'm going to kick the bucket, but it's going to be less than fifteen years from now, more or less. Either way, it's going to be very soon for me."

"You…you still have time to do something significant, Snake," Chris said worried. "Who cares if your life is short? What matters the most is the time you use it to do other stuff like…like…"

"Like saving the world from nuclear machines like those Metal Gears you talked about," Marth said. "Isn't that something worth your life?"

Snake sighed. "I know I have the skills to disable those monstrous things…but I don't think…"

Chris took a step closer to Snake. "You're just discouraged about the fact you're going to die very soon…right? If that's so…then that means…you fear death too much…"

Snake remained silent as the other four stared at him. The mercenary closed his eyes and tried to reorganize his thoughts about the situation he faced. After he listened to several explosions setting off in the room, he opened his eyes again. "…Everyone fears death, no matter how tough they try to hide it," he muttered.

"…So you're scared of dying that you don't think you're going to do something good with the time you have?" Marth asked. "You've been doing very important achievements anyone else couldn't normally do, Snake. How can you say that to yourself if you're always saving your world from potential destruction?"

"It's because his life is short…" Chris trailed off, hinting some worry in his tone. "No matter how many good deeds he does, he thinks everything is worthless because he won't have a normal life..."

Snake looked sternly at Chris. "Don't get me wrong, kid, but I don't want anyone to bother with me."

The agent forced a glare. "Snake...y-you're being an idiot!" he yelled. "I-I don't know how to remedy your problem about having a shorter life, but the only thing we can all try to do for you is giving you some company along the way!"

Snake looked away, making a silent grunting sound.

"I mean, you've been doing extreme things nobody else has done before..." Chris trailed off in thought. "...You've saved the world countless of times from nuclear wars, you've faced the most dangerous foes out there, and you've managed to cross over worlds and meet people you thought you wouldn't meet before in your life...isn't that something your life is worth for?"

"..." Snake looked at the agent. "...And how does that compare to your life, kid?"

"W-well, I had a normal life before Lucario came to me," Chris said. "It was a really depressed one because my parents were always away from home...but it all changed once I met Lucario..." The agent sniffed a bit at the thought before he looked seriously at Snake. "Snake...you're a much better person than I am here. Even if your life is so short, you manage to accomplish very important feats in your story. No matter how long or short your life is...every moment should be the most valuable for you."

"..." Snake closed his eyes and shook his head. "...Man, what a cheesy way to put the story of my life."

The agent got annoyed at this. "I-I'm trying to make you feel like someone instead of a nobody, Snake! T-try to show some respect for the people who care about you!"

"Well, you really like to do your hardest to make people think the way you do."

"T-that's not true," Chris said in embarrassment. "I-I'm trying to make them happy with themselves..."

"...Tsk," Snake muttered as he shook his head, opening back his eyes. "I'm going to be frank with this: I didn't get moved by your little speech, kid. I still think my life is worthless to the very extent of the word."

"S-Snake!" Chris yelled.

"...But you gave me a reason to keep on living."

"I-I tried my best to..." Chris, Marth, and Chip shook their heads in unison. "...S-say what?"

"Actually, you didn't give me a reason to keep on living, but you reminded me that people struggle to work for something in their lives to become successful," Snake said. "Since I'm a mercenary, my path to find that motivation to make me think I'm someone is a long way full of perils. I'm even risking my damn life near those Metal Gears, but at least I do favors to the whole world."

"E-exactly!" Chris said with some nods.

"I just wish it all ended sooner for me," Snake muttered. "I'm talking about my life to fight organizations...I'm tired and pissed to death by them all. The only thing I wish to do in life is have what most people have: a normal, pacific life as a normal citizen where you don't face life-threatening perils all the time."

"So...you're tired of saving the world," Marth said.

"One of the days, my job is gonna kill me off for sure," Snake said. "...I was really thinking that it was me who wanted to become secluded from other people, not the people trying to be secluded from me. Some times, I started to think I was jealous of everyone who didn't have a short life like I do. Other times, I thought I was jealous about people who didn't have to go through the same crap I go through each day. I tired of it all, and I want to ditch it all as soon as possible."

Chris looked down, his right eye shedding a tear. "S-Snake...I...I didn't think you hated what you always did..."

"Every mind of any individual out there wants to be a hero, kid," Snake said. "They don't ever think about the consequences one goes through. It makes me mad to think about that, but it's something I have to live every minute...and that is the burden of endangering my short life."

The group stood in silence as they stared at Snake. The mercenary turned away and sighed loudly. He took out from his pocket and cigarette that he lighted up. Smoking it, Snake let out a quick cloud of smoke from his lips while the silence still remained, except for the explosions' sounds echoing in the room where the battle was being held.

"...Snake..." Chris began, "...you're...you're...you're still a very valuable person, no matter what you think about your life..."

"..."

Maybe his ears were deceiving him, but Chris could have sworn that the mercenary had muttered some words to himself. The agent blinked a bit at this in confusion, waiting for Snake to make a reply. "…Snake?"

"Sorry," Snake replied. "I was just muttering some things about this."

"Oh, I see…"

"In any case, how do you feel about your new job as a 'hero', kid?" Snake asked.

Yuffie looked upset about the conversation as she heard screams coming from the room behind them. "Hey, if you guys forgot, there's a battle going on behind our backs! I suggest you get your butts on the other side of this big fly an-"

"Shut up."

"Yes, sir…" Yuffie trailed off.

Snake looked back at Chris. "How do you feel about endangering your life through this crap, kid? Has it been enjoyable as you thought, or has it been a real pain?"

The World Traveler thought for a moment about the question. "…It's been…good so far to me…" he said honestly. "That's what I guess…"

"Huh," Snake muttered. "Then you don't care much about dying in battle?"

"F-for that…" Chris shuddered at the thought, "…I…I just think everyone else is going to watch my back should I get hurt or really killed… At first, I was excited, then I got worried, and finally…I got used to this kind of work…"

Snake thought for a moment. "(Who can blame the kid… He started doing this so young without having any hindrances like I have…and he has such a calm state after enduring all the fights he's been through…)"

"…But even so," Chris continued, "I think I'd like to live a normal life where I don't have to fight…"

"Just like I do," Snake said, snapping out from his thoughts. "Once you get into this, you soon realize you'll possibly die trying to save other people. It's not selfish thought about thinking of yourself; it's just that you don't want to suffer any consequences along the way."

"That's…true…" Chris said concerned. "…So…Snake…"

"I'm still going to drop out from the team," Snake said. "I want to have relaxation for myself, alone somewhere in my world. I want to stop thinking about all the stress I get in this universe."

"…" Chris looked down in shame before he nodded. "…It's not really my place to convince from staying if you don't want to…and I'm not even your boss…"

Marth stared at Snake. "You can go anywhere you like. It's not our place to force you. Besides, anyone like us can do pretty much the same thing as you want to do, Snake."

Snake sighed with some relief. "Thank you for understanding," he said. "I can finally leave without having any grudges with somebody."

The World Traveler still felt a bit saddened about Snake's decision, but he fully respected Snake. The agent smiled a bit and looked at Snake. "Are you…true to yourself now, Snake?"

Snake looked away. "…Yeah, I truly believe in the truths I've been trying to admit to myself."

Chip looked happy at this before he peeked from the fallen Rapps to the battle. "…G-guys!" he called over.

Yuffie gasped. "O-oh crap, the battle!" She pushed herself up and looked at the Smashers. "P-please, you guys, stop that monster from killing everybody in here!"

"You stole my Falchion!" Marth yelled.

"C'mon, can't you kick or punch?"

"No!"

"Wow...that's pathetic."

The Altean looked annoyed before he turned to Snake. "Snake, can you fight?"

"Just a bit...but that's enough, I guess..." Snake trailed off. "What about you, kid?"

Chris gasped at the mention of his name. The World Traveler thought for a bit. "I-I'm still weak after the fight...but I don't know if I can hold on for much longer..."

Chip flew to them. "Y-you guys, you have to take a look at this!" he said in panic. "S-something's happening to the shadow!"

The four looked at each other before they all peeked from their spot towards the battle.

Red XIII, Mario, and Sonic were all panting heavily as they stood next to each other, staring at the shadow. However, something was different this time. The shadow's image began to appear in several blinks, and the shadow himself looked at his slowly tangible hands. "W-what in the world..." Shadow Snake muttered as his hands began to turn visible to anyone's eyes. "Why is this happening now?"

"Hey, the shadow's starting to become visible..." Sonic panted. "W-what is happening to him?"

"I...I don't know..." Mario said between pants. "B-but...it's surely because..."

Back to the others, the World Traveler watched as the shadow turned visible. Chris looked down and shifted his eyes to understand what was happening. "How is the shadow..." he trailed off. "How is the shadow turning visible?"

Marth rubbed his chin and thought hard about the event. "...Wait," he began before looking at the others, "Chris, do you remember the fight against Lucas's shadow?"

"Y-yes, nobody can forget those fights easily..." Chris muttered in fear.

"Don't you recall when Shadow Lucas yelled that his powers were...becoming weaker when Lucas came into the scene?"

The World Traveler blinked at this. "...T-that's right," he said before looking at Snake. "Lucas realized that his mother and Claus were dead, and his shadow's purpose to fight was because Lucas was denying himself the truths... Once he realized, the shadow began to lose its powers..."

"If that's true, then..." Marth nodded, "Snake must have realized his truths now."

Snake looked away. "What an embarrassing way to admit them, then..."

"...A shadow's power can be weakened if the victim acknowledges their lies and believe fully in the truths," Marth summarized. "However...it's hard for some to believe in the truths, and the shadows take advantage of their most hurtful lies so they keep getting stronger and stronger over time..."

The agent looked at Snake. "Snake, you finally believe in your truths, then?"

"...I guess," Snake said.

"Then...w-we have to take advantage of this as soon as possible!" Chris encouraged. "We need to get back to the fight and defeat your shadow before it's too late!"

The mercenary looked back at the fight. Snake stared at his shadow still looking at himself, slowly becoming tangible once more. "...Will it make a difference, though?" Snake asked. "I'm not so sure..."

A hand was put on his left shoulder. Snake looked to his left where Marth was looking seriously at him, his right hand weakly resting on Snake's shoulder (making Marth twitch in pain). "It's going to make a difference, Snake," he said. "Just believe in your truths and everything will be fine."

"...Cheesy," Snake commented before looking back at the fight. The mercenary fixed his headband, a determined look taking over his face. "But what the heck, I'm dealing with weirdos all the time...this shadow isn't going to kill me off..."

"Or any of us," Chris added. "You better try to protect the others."

"Fine," Snake said. "Wish me luck." The ex-FOXHOUND ran around the fallen Rapps before he dashed towards the battle, becoming a bit numb to his pain.

Chris panicked at this and decided to follow Snake, albeit to say a bit weaker that the adult. "W-wait for me, Snake, please! D-don't rush like that!" Chris complained.

The Altean sighed in relief and looked at Yuffie and Chip. "Let's see if they can do it."

Yuffie looked confused at Marth. "I don't understand... What did he mean by short life?"

Marth sighed in boredom at the question while Yuffie puzzled herself about the question, Chip doing several roundhouse kicks in the air to cheer the group.

Back to the fight, Shadow Snake became fully visible. The shadow grunted in annoyance before he stared forward to the glaring trio. The shadow then gasped when he saw Snake and Chris joining in with the trio, who looked at Snake. "You..." Shadow Snake trailed off before chuckling cockily. "Seems you finally faced your truths head-on, huh?"

Snake glared at his shadow. "Yeah, and I feel a lot better than before," he said. "Much better to stop you from being such a nuisance to my eyes."

"Well, it doesn't really matter if you can fight me now," Shadow Snake said. "You're gonna be lying down and eating dirt after I'm done with all of you. I might not be invisible now, but I can still beat you in a fight."

Sonic growled a bit at this. "You just try, shadow!"

"We're not going to be discouraged because of you," Mario said with determination. "Things have changed as of now."

Red XIII nodded. "You're going to be the one who will fall down because of us."

Chris slowly aimed his revolver at the shadow. "A-and we'll do everything in our hands to shoot you down for good!"

Snake shook his head and stared at the shadow. "You guys are going to cause my death very soon..."

The agent looked annoyed. "S-Snake, will you just... Oh, forget it..."

Shadow Snake cracked his fists and motioned at himself with his right hand. "Come on, then. I challenge all of you to a fight."

Sonic chuckled. "Heheheheh, five on one isn't gonna make things easier for yo-"

"All of you, step back," Snake said suddenly.

The four looked at the mercenary. "What?!" Sonic asked. "What do you mean by stepping back now?"

Snake looked at his shadow, both of them shooting fierce glares at each other. "This is my shadow, and you don't need to bother with him anymore. You all have been beaten up to death because of this monster, so now I'll be the one who gets pounded around instead."

Sonic groaned loudly. "Aww, no!" he cursed before pointing a finger at Snake. "Why the hell do you want to do things like this now? Seriously, fighting alone is just stupid and beyond the question!"

"I-I agree!" Chris argued. "We have the shadow cornered, and you want to fight him alone by yourself? T-that's crazy! Fighting alone is not an option, Snake!"

Snake looked sternly at them. "This is a fight I need to finish myself," he said. "If you think about it, I owe you one for weakening him. However, it's my duty to see him stop bothering everyone because he's my shadow."

"Well...I don't know if I should agree, but your reason sounds..." Mario trailed off.

Red XIII shook his head. "I hate to say this, but I even think that we should all fight," he said. "Fight because you want to, not because you want to win for your pride."

"I'm prideful of myself," Snake said, stepping forward. "A big mistake, but whatever."

The shadow suddenly chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny now?" Snake asked with a glare.

Shadow Snake frowned and opened his hands at his shoulders' level. "You want to fight me alone, right? But those guys aren't letting you do it, right?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

Shadow Snake took out a remote control from behind. "While I was invisible, I went around the whole place throwing explosives at everyone. I didn't say I was just doing that, though..."

Snake grunted a bit. "So, you're using your shadow powers to allow you to put even more mines that I can, right?"

"Exactly," Shadow Snake said. "Thanks to you realizing your truths, I've lost a lot of my stealth skills."

The five noticed the shadow's equipment slowly fading into dark spores.

"Oh, looks like I spoke too late," Shadow Snake said before he pressed the button and said, "Now!"

Before their eyes, the whole room was set on several explosions that were triggered all at once. For Snake and Chris, the two narrowly avoided being knocked out as they crashed to the ground, but for Mario, Sonic, and Red XIII, the three didn't have the same luck and were all knocked out instantly, falling together with every single fainted fighter in the room.

Snake grunted in pain as he pushed himself up from the ground, a weaker Chris doing the same with a slower pace. "Y-you...you hid C4s all over the perimeter..." Snake trailed off. "Is that...what you tried to say?"

The remote control on the shadow's hand disappeared into darkness. "Yeah, that what I was talking about," Shadow Snake said. "Sorry for setting them all too soon, but my equipment was going to vanish completely along with all the C4s I had placed around. I didn't want them to go to waste now."

"Y-you...s-sadist..." Chris muttered in pain. "E-every single shadow...is...a sadist...to the end..."

"Shut up now," Shadow Snake simply before running at the weak World Traveler.

Chris gasped at this and aimed at the shadow, but the damage he had received prevented him from lifting his revolver high enough. Seeing this, Snake stepped in front of him. "S-Snake!" Chris said.

"Kid, can you still stand up?" Snake asked.

"I-I'm not so sure now..." Chris trailed off in pain. "T-those mines took me off-guard..."

Suddenly, Snake turned back to the shadow to block several fist attacks. The mercenary blocked them off with his own fists, but his hands were starting to wear out with all the pain. The shadow's fists seemed stronger than Snake's strength. "Don't worry, you won't last for much longer now," the shadow taunted.

Chris closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to sidestep besides Snake and shoot the shadow several times to make him back away. "S-stay away from Snake!" he yelled, falling down to one knee. "D-dammit..."

"Why can't you just heal yourself?" Snake asked, pain running through his hands.

"M-magic isn't going to work...i-if I'm this tired..." Chris muttered in pain. "I-I can't concentrate much energy into magic..."

The mercenary looked away. "(Just what I needed...)" he thought sarcastically.

Snake turned back to the shadow. Shadow Snake rushed towards him, but Chris quickly blocked him off by shooting bullets to the shadow's legs. Seeing the shadow back away, Snake took quick action and delivered a flying kick to his chest, forcing the shadow to fall down to the ground. The shadow grunted and rolled away from a sweeping kick before getting up and delivering a flying kick to Snake. The mercenary grunted in pain before the shadow delivered several punches to his face before slamming his right side with a kick, pushing Snake to the ground. "Yeah, I'm getting back to the groove here," the shadow said with a chuckle.

"U-ugh..." Snake grunted, making fists on the ground.

Chris let go of his revolver. "I...I can't help anymore..."

The agent heard the shadow's footsteps coming closer. He looked up and coughed in pain, trying to grab his revolver to make the shadow back off. However, the shadow reached the revolver and stomped on it, preventing Chris from retrieving it. "Kids shouldn't be playing with guns," the shadow said.

"S-shadows should just go away..." Chris shot back.

"Nah, I don't think s-" The shadow was interrupted as Snake came from the side and pinned the shadow down hard. The shadow, however, started a fist fight with Snake while Chris tried to reach out for his revolver and aid the mercenary. The shadow had the upper hand in the fist fight as Snake received most attacks to his face. "Geez, you liars sure know how to keep pestering," the shadow remarked, throwing fists at Snake.

Snake chuckled between hits. "W-what, you can't finish the job fast?"

"I'll do it once you stop bothering me," the shadow noted before a harsh shot connected to his back. The shadow was pushed away from Snake while the latter sat up in pain and looked Chris standing several feet away from him, his revolver aimed at the shadow's direction.

"Y-you...got to love...Flourish..." Chris trailed off.

Snake got up from the ground and ran towards the agent. He knelt down and checked on him. "Kid, you're in...no condition to keep going anymore."

"W-what about you?"

"Good question... Not that much as well," Snake admitted. "At this rate, I'll be biting the dust...very soon..."

"D-don't say that, please..." Chris muttered, managing to stand up from the ground to force a smile to Snake. "W-we just...have to keep struggling...and then...we can beat that shadow..."

Snake looked away. "Still thinking...we can win this...huh?"

"S-somebody has to stay optimistic...right?"

"...Can't deny that because somebody will do that....you," Snake muttered.

Chris shook his head and loaded his revolver. "I…I can still fight a bit more…"

"I'd suggest you should rest, though…"

"W-what difference will it make?" Chris asked. "If that shadow beats you, I'll be the next to be defeated…and I don't want that to happen…"

"(Kid, you're really stupid with those decisions you're making…)"

"(I-I'm trying to stay optimistic here, Snake…t-that's the only thing I can do for now…)"

"(You expect me to do the same?)"

"(T-that wouldn't be a bad idea if you think about it…)"

"(Maybe…but…I have a question unrelated to this matter.)"

"(W-what is it?)"

"(How in the name of Liquid is everything frozen into place now and why are our voices echoing?)"

The agent blinked subconsciously at this as he noticed time itself had frozen. He saw Shadow Snake rushing towards them, but he was completely halted in his spot. The World Traveler also noticed he couldn't move but talk to Snake.

And Chris knew it was time.

"(I-I can't believe this…)" Chris trailed off in thought. "(I…I formed a strong bond with Snake already?)"

"(Kid, I'm still here,)" Snake reminded Chris.

"(U-um, Snake…it seems both us have come into understanding with each other now…)"

"(Really now…)"

"(I-I know this is weird for you, but it looks that way… I…honestly think you're not so bad, Snake…)"

"(…I still think this is so weird,)" Snake commented, "(but whatever, I'm used to this kind of thing already.)"

"(You just like to complain about everything outside your world…)"

"(I thought I was already excused of that.)"

"(…Whatever… I-in any case, Snake, we can perform our new combined attack.)"

"(So we got it out of nowhere?)"

"(N-no, we got it because we understand each other and the fact we're…um…friends now?)"

"(Try to put that in less cheesy words, kid.)"

"(U-um…we're…acquaintances now?)"

"(Less cheesy than that, please.)"

"(We're… Wait a minute, I can't reduce that anymore! I don't know what to use here! And why are we talking about this in the first pla-)"

"(Because I want to make my last stance in here a bit more tolerable, that's why.)"

"(Oh, for the love of… Okay, I understand…)"

"(Shall we just get to the point with this combined attack? I'm starting to get freaked out by this whole echoing voice thing.)"

"(Sure, sure…)"

Time itself began to resume as the shadow rushed towards the two. "I'll take out the kid now," Shadow Snake said. "Then I can take out the best one."

"Just try," Snake muttered before glancing at Chris. "You ready, kid?"

Chris loaded his revolver once more and nodded. "R-ready for anything here!" he said with a gulp.

"Okay, then let's begin."

As the shadow approached the two, he noticed that Snake was taking out a familiar katana from his back. Snake himself looked a bit surprised at this, and the shadow stopped running. "What in the world… Where did you get that katana from?"

Snake glared at the shadow and pointed the katana down to the ground. "Who gives a damn where this katana came from?"

The agent stared at the katana. "(There must be some kind of reason why Snake is using that sword now…)"

"Let's begin," Snake said before he ran towards the shadow with the katana trailing off along the ground.

"Pfft, now you're just plain stupid," the shadow said. "What, do you have swordsman skills or what?"

"No, but I know how to slice people with a sword," Snake said before raising his sword over him.

The shadow continued rushing towards Snake. "I'll just grab that sword and stab you to death, fool. Don't take me for a-"

Before the shadow could say anything else, Snake swiftly slashed him across his face. However, right when the slash made contact, Chris had used a Flourish shot, just in the very same spot where Snake had slashed the shadow, inflicting more pain to the shadow. The Shadow Nightmare grunted in pain before Snake slashed him across his chest while Chris shot another Flourish shot upon contact. "Huh, useful," Snake muttered as the shadow backed away a bit. He aimed the sword's edge at his shadows. "Let's make this even more interesting, kid."

"Go!" Chris yelled.

The Shadow Nightmare shook his head before Snake rushed close to him and began slashing him across every single part he could reach while Chris used Flourish several times to inflict massive damage. The attack kept going for a long while with the shadow trying to back away or block the sword, ending in failure as he was hurt even more. Snake grunted with every slash he made, and the shadow did so but with grunts of pain.

Snake pushed the shadow away to prepare a finishing blow. "Out of my sight, you idiot," Snake said before he raised his sword and brought it down on the shadow, causing Chris to shoot one last Flourish shot that forced the shadow to fly away several feet from the ground before he crashed and slid painfully on the floor. Snake frowned and put away his sword behind his back, disappearing from sight. "Well, that was rather interesting now," Snake remarked.

New Ability Learned! Bullet Slash!

Uses the sword of a lost comrade. Slashes one enemy while shooting Flourish bullets to the same spots, dealing moderate damage to severe damage depending of female members in the party.

Chris panted heavily as he slowly moved his revolver down. "W-where did you get that sword...Snake?"

Snake frowned. "That sword... It was from Frank Jaeger...Grey Fox..."

Snake heard someone falling behind him. The mercenary turned around and found Chris lying on the floor. "S-sorry..." Chris trailed off, "b-but...I can't go on...anymore..." He passed out of cold.

"Yeah...you were the one with the most injuries..." Snake trailed off before he turned around to face the shadow on the ground. It struggled to get up as Snake panted a bit. "What...have any energy left?"

"Y-you're the one to talk..." Shadow Snake muttered in pain. "N-now that you're all alone...are you sure you can walk over me like I did with everyone else?"

"I have...confidence..." Snake muttered. "I...can do this..."

The shadow started rushing towards Snake. Snake saw this as a warning before he started rushing towards the shadow as well. Both of them raised fists together and collided each other's faces at the same time. The two grunted in pain as then the two started fighting hand-to-hand, delivering punches and sidekicks to each other.

Unfortunately, Snake was losing health very fast. His fists didn't deliver much damage anymore, and his pace began to slow down, allowing the shadow to deliver more hits, pushing him back. "U-u-ugh..." Snake grunted in pain before he fell on his knees while the shadow panted heavily. "N-not like this...n-no..." Snake muttered to himself before he fell down unconscious.

Shadow Snake sighed in relief. "Who would've thought he... Wait..."

The shadow saw Snake being touched by a holy light on his back. Glittering wings appeared and flapped a bit on his back before they vanished. Shadow Snake backed away as Snake began to regain consciousness. The ex-FOXHOUND grunted before he stood up and glared fiercely at his shadow. "Well, it looks like the nonsense of these places gave me another chance to beat you down to a bloody pulp."

Shadow Snake grunted at this. "Y-you're just lucky that you can still fight against me," the shadow said as he got in a fighting stance. "Let's drop the talk now. I want to see you dying so I can become the real Solid Snake."

"Huh, how funny you are," Snake said. "Everyone will know the real Snake after one of us gets knocked down."

"I'm glad you agree with me..." the shadow muttered. "Now...come on!" he demanded, rushing towards Snake.

As the two clashed fists and kicks against each other, Marth, Yuffie, and Chip watched the battle from afar. Yuffie looked restless as she hopped a bit on her feet. "Are you really sure we should leave everything to the old man?" Yuffie asked. "I think I can go ahead and help him out."

"Help him if things get bad," Marth said. "Besides, this is Snake's fight."

Yuffie looked bored. "Y'know, you're crazy and stupid if you want to fight all alone by yourself...just saying..."

Marth looked away. "In many ways...I think I agree with you..."

Chip, meanwhile, was performing some aerial roundhouse kicks to cheer on Snake. "Hit him with a low kick! Oww, that's gotta hurt! Ooh, nice punch! Ouch, that MUST had hurt a lot now! Yes, that was nice comeback! Watch out, he's doing a super punch attack now! Aww, he failed!"

Shadow Snake grunted in pain as he was pushed a few feet away from a punch delivered by Snake. The mercenary panted heavily while his shadow did the same. Snake panted a bit. "You're not half bad...I give you that," Snake remarked.

"Yeah..." Shadow Snake muttered. "You just got half of your energies recovered...but I can still kick your butt..."

"We'll see...stupid shadow..." Snake muttered before rushing towards the shadow again, the latter doing the same. Snake, however, used a somersault forward to pin the shadow down to the ground. The shadow struggled to push Snake away, but the mercenary forced the shadow to lie down on his stomach to grab his right arm and twist it. The shadow grunted in pain before he kicked Snake back. The shadow tried to get up, but Snake used a sweeping kick to hit the shadow on the side.

"D-damn..." the shadow muttered.

"What the matter now..." Snake muttered.

"(I-I had to trade power over defense...)" Shadow Snake thought. "(The Metal Gear was technically my ultimate attack...) Ugh!" the shadow grunted as Snake slammed down his right foot on his back.

"Give up now," Snake said. "It's clear you're in no condition to keep fighting any longer."

"I...I won't give up now..." the shadow muttered. "S-somebody...has to become the...real...Solid Snake..."

"Yeah...and that somebody isn't gonna be you..."

Shadow Snake grunted at this that he grabbed Snake's right foot and pulled it away, making Snake fall down to the ground. "(Now or never...)" the shadow thought, thinking about delivering another fist at Snake's face. Pushing himself up, the shadow turned around...

Music stops

And he received a harsh kick hit by Snake, who had reacted just in time before the shadow could attack him with a fist.

Marth, Yuffie, and Chip gasped in unison as the two fighters stopped moving. Snake remained still with his left foot stuck next to Shadow Snake's face. The shadow looked extremely shocked, staring forward while the last bit of pain ran through his body. Shadow Snake slowly closed his yellow eyes before muttering, "I...was fool...wasn't I..."

"...Yeah...you...were a fool..." Snake muttered. "...You...and I...were fools, actually..."

The shadow lost consciousness before he fell down hard on the ground, finally defeated.

Snake stared at his shadow for a while. The mercenary then frowned to himself and got up from the ground, still staring at his shadow. "...Hope that makes you feel much better..." Snake muttered to his dark counterpart.

"YEAH!"

Snake turned to the left to see a happy Yuffie pumping up a fist in the air. The ninja shouted with glee before she ran around the fallen Rapps and went over to Snake, with Marth and Chip following behind her. The ninja leaped to Snake and gave him a tight hug, making the mercenary look stern at her. "Oh my god, you did it!" she said. "You showed that shadow dude who the boss is!"

Snake shrugged at her and pushed Yuffie to the ground. She still remained happy at him as she stood up. "God, don't do that ever again, you got that? I don't like people to hug me that way."

"Gee, lighten up, you," Yuffie said. "You should be happy that you saved Wutai! People who save Wutai are respected. You should be thankful the great ninja Yuffie admires you!"

Snake looked away. "I'm a bit thankful, then," he said sarcastically.

Yuffie chuckled while Marth looked relieved. "Good job, Snake," he said. "We managed to defeat another Shadow Nightmare thanks to you."

"Yeah," Snake said, "one more nuisance taken care of."

Marth looked at the other dropped on the ground. "Now we need to think about healing all of them..."

Chip looked worried at this before his ears perked up at some footsteps from the exit. The imp looked back to the fallen Rapps where two familiar Turks appeared. "H-hey, it's the agent guys!" he said.

Final Fantasy VII - Turks' Theme

The trio turned to see a stern Reno and a silent Rude walking towards them. Both of them stopped and looked around the room to see the fallen group lying on the ground. Rude fixed his eyes on Tifa before he went over to her and knelt down to see if she was fine. "Tsk," Reno began, "what happened here? Did a storm hit this room or something?"

Yuffie looked angrily at Reno. "No, a monster did this." She pointed at the shadow close to them. "See that guy? He did all this to us. He brought this big&^$ machine from the shadows and attacked us with it. Then, when we took it down, that guys turned invisible and started attacking us from anywhere an-"

"Slow down," Reno said. "It's not like I care what happened here. I care about Corneo."

The ninja looked disgusted. "W-why would you care about..." the ninja trailed off before she gasped. "W-wait a minute, he's right! W-where's that pervert?"

"Ho hi ho!"

Everyone turned to the temple's entrance where a drooling Corneo held the sleepy Elena hostage by aiming down a gun straight at her face. "Corneo..." Reno muttered.

"W-where in the world were you?" Yuffie asked.

"Well! I was hiding back there in that temple," Corneo said, pointing behind him. "When that bastard shadow came in, I went into hiding by going into the temple. Once you guys took care of the shadow, I decided to take this blondy for me!" he rejoiced. "But...I'm not gonna let the Turks stop me, oh no..."

Reno sighed at this before he swiftly took out a revolver and shot Corneo square on his forehead, killing him off instantly as he was pushed away to the temple's steps. Yuffie, Marth, and Chip looked a bit shocked at this while Snake merely rolled his eyes. Reno put his revolver away. "Done," he said.

"...I...think I feel sorry for him..." Yuffie muttered as she stared at Corneo's dead carcass. "...W-wait, of course I don't!"

Reno sighed and walked all the way to Elena. The red-haired Turk stared down at her. "...Elena."

Elena shook her head and opened her eyes. The blond Turk sat up and looked around. "H-hey, what just happened?" she asked. "First, I thought I was held hostage by Corneo. Second, I find myself on the ground..." She looked at the steps where Corneo lied down. "...C-Corneo!" she yelped.

"Elena!"

Elena looked shocked at Reno before she stood up in a rush. "R-Reno! I-I'm glad you came here to rescue me! R-really, I'm so glad I didn't become Corneo's se-"

"Elena."

"Y-yes, sir?"

Reno turned away from her. "Our job here is done. Thanks to you spoiling our vacations, we didn't enjoy our stay here at Wutai. I hope you're happy now."

Elena sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry, Reno..."

"...Elena, act professional," Reno suggested. "You're supposed to be part of the Turks. A Turk never shows any weakness to anybody, let alone their own members."

"Yes, I know that..." Elena said ashamed.

"Start acting like a real Turk would act," Reno said as he walked towards the group, Elena following him from behind. Suddenly, Reno's PHS rang. The Turk took it out and answered the call. "This is Reno. What is it?"

The group saw Reno nodding a few times.

"...Okay, I got it," he said before he hung up the call.

"Was that the company?" Elena asked.

"Yeah...they asked us to find Cloud..."

Marth, Yuffie, Snake, and Chip stared at the Turks with serious looks.

"...But today we're off duty," Reno said. "We still have some time left for our break."

Elena looked back and forth between Reno and the others before she sighed in depression. "Okay, whatever you say..." she muttered, shooting a glare at the group.

Rude walked back to his comrades. The imposing man walked to Snake and showed him some Phoenix Down feathers on his right hand. "For me?" Snake asked.

Rude nodded silently. Snake stared at the feathers before he took them off from the Turk's hand. The silent Turk nodded at him before he stepped back to Reno and Elena.

Reno shrugged his shoulders and frowned. "Too kind of you, Rude, too kind..." he trailed off before he looked at the four. "Make this clear: we never saw each other during our stance in Wutai. I don't want to get a scold from Rufus." He turned to Elena. "Elena, your lips are sealed, right?"

"Y-yes," Elena said ashamed.

"Good," Reno said before he turned back to the four. "So now we're off from here. Next time we meet outside Wutai, we'll be enemies again. Tell that to Cloud."

Yuffie nodded. "Okay, but you better be honest."

"I am," Reno said. "Rude, Elena, let's go."

The red-haired Turk turned back to the exit with Rude following. Elena looked sternly at the four. "I'm not going to forget this, you hear me?" she asked with anger before she grunted and ran back to her comrades. After a small while, the trio of Turks left the cave.

Final Fantasy VII - Wutai

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Those guys give me a bad feeling every time I see 'em, but they turned out to be good guys...well, at least for now."

Marth furrowed his brow. "I don't want to deal with more problems today, please..."

Chip stared at the feathers in Snake's hands. "Hmm, what are those for?"

Yuffie looked at the feathers. "Oh, sweet! They're Phoenix Down feathers! We can use them to heal everyone here!" She took them from Snake's hands. "Awesome, there are more than enough for everyone!"

"Isn't that good?" Marth asked. "I think those Turk people were very kind."

"Well, the baldy is the kind one," Yuffie said. "I'm so sure why, though... Okay, I'll go heal everyone. The steam of this place is getting on my nerves now." The ninja chuckled to herself and went to help the others by dropping a feather on them.

Snake looked back at his shadow counterpart lying on the ground. "Hey, you, are you awake?"

The shadow replied by getting up from the ground. Instead of saying something, the shadow merely stared at Snake. Marth and Chip gulped a bit, but they knew the shadow was tamed for the time being.

"Look," Snake began, "I've realized that I needed to stay true to my own truths. It's okay for you to become part of me again. I...have no regrets any longer..."

The shadow nodded at this, but it seemed that he wanted to hear more from Snake.

"I'll try to stay true to myself from now on," Snake said. "I don't want to deal with identity problems, you know what I mean?"

"Worry no more," the shadow said. "None of us is the true Solid Snake by their own, but both of us are a part of him."

"Yeah..." Snake muttered. "I'm not Solid Snake if I don't have you with me."

The shadow seemed to smile a bit. "So, Snake, have you come to an understanding about everything you have been trying to hide from yourself?"

Snake thought for a moment. "...I am true to myself," Snake clarified.

"...Thanks," the shadow muttered nodding.

Marth and Chip saw as the shadow began to shine brightly. After a brief moment, the shadow's shining form barely looked like the real Snake before it broke into spores of light. The spores light circled a bit in the air before they all shot to Snake, who grunted a bit and shone brightly. After the spores retreated into him, Snake felt a bit weak and stepped back. "G-god, why the hell do I have to get this kind of treatment?" Snake asked irritated.

"Don't complain now," Marth said. "You're feeling much better now, right?"

"I guess..." Snake muttered. "...But promise me this isn't going to happen to me ever again."

"I can't do promises," Marth said. "Since you're going away, well..."

"It doesn't matter," Snake said with a sigh.

The group waited a time for Yuffie to supply everyone with a Phoenix Down. After she finished doing so, and after they rested up, they all reunited with each other.

"Finally..." Chris muttered. "You defeated your shadow, Snake..."

"I'm glad he did so," Aerith said. "I was worried he was going to kill us all."

Cid grunted. "The bastard went down as he was supposed to. Ain't that good or what?"

"Yes, it is," Cloud said. "Overall, we pulled through this ordeal."

Sonic looked up to the dark atmosphere of the ceiling. At that moment, the atmosphere began to clear out by itself. The werehog blinked surprised at this. "H-hey, the atmosphere Eggman made is disappearing!"

Everyone looked up to see the last of the atmosphere disappearing. "Yes, he's right," Tifa said. "I was starting to get some chills because of the air..."

"...U-ugh!" Sonic grunted in pain before he was covered in darkness. The group looked at the werehog shining in darkness before the darkness stopped covering him. Soon enough, they saw that the werehog had turned back to his hedgehog form. Sonic had his eyes closed before he opened them and looked at his hands. "H-hey...I got my normal appearance again!" he said in surprise.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at this. "Okay, that was interesting to see..."

Chris sighed in relief. "Phew, I thought that atmosphere was going to stay up there forever... I guess defeating the Shadow Nightmare gets rids of the atmosphere as well..."

Sonic looked at his gloves. "How the heck did I get my gloves back again? They get ripped off every time I transform, but they come back every time I revert back to my normal form..."

Mario shrugged. "I think we shouldn't try to find the explanation for that..."

Sonic lifted his shoulders a bit. "Meh, I guess. It's hard for me to get gloves my size, anyway."

"What I'm a bit confused about is that your dark self didn't get out..."

Sonic thought for a moment. "Hey, you're right," he said. "I wonder why he didn't come out this time..."

"Maybe he needs to come out during the night because the atmosphere isn't enough for him?"

"I guess, but let's worry about that later."

Knuckles turned back to the exit where he saw the four Adabat residents walking towards them. The echidna stared at them before they reached them. "Oh, you're here," Knuckles said. "Have you been hiding back there all this time?"

"Yes," Teanchai, the father of the family, said, "we've been watching how everyne tried to defeat that monster."

Jamal looked grateful. "You guys did a good job," he said. "We know you're the good guys, alright. We needed to find the people who were trying to restore the continents back to their places in the world."

"Wait, what?" Cloud suddenly asked, making some of the Smashers gasp. "What is he talking about with continents going back to the world?"

Snake sighed. "See what I was telling you about?" he asked. "We ARE trying to restore a world's continents back to their places in the hedgehog's world."

"Oh..." Cloud muttered. "So then..."

"Yeah, everything we told you was the whole truth," Snake clarified. "I hope you stop thinking we're insane."

"Don't be offended, but I still think you're insane," Cloud said. "But...if that's the truth...then I guess I should start believing in it..."

Teanchai had no idea why Cloud was questioning the matter. "...A-anyway," he began, staring at the Adabat Temple before them, "that is the temple of Adabat, isn't it?"

"It is," Rudi, the daughter of Teanchai, said. "At last, we have found it."

Nagi, the younger daughter of the family, showed the group the Sun and Moon Tablets. "Here!" she said. "We're the ones in charge to protect these tablets. Please, use them to restore Adabat!"

Marth grabbed the tablets from Nagi's hands and stared at the items. He turned to the group and nodded. "Shall we go in, then?"

-Adabat Temple-
Gaia Gate

The whole group stood in front of an inner sanctum where torches with green flames lit the place. The sanctum looked exactly the same like the Mazuri's temple. They all stared at the altar at the far end side of the sanctum where Teanchai, Jamal, Rudi, and Nagi walked. The family of guardians looked at the altar before a small pedestal sprouted out from the middle of the altar. Chip flew closer to the pedestal as his necklace shone brightly. "Then it was true that you are Light Gaia," Teanchai said.

"That's weird," Jamal noted. "We haven't heard much about the existence of Light Gaia...but I think we were informed that he did exist..."

"He opened the doors to the fragments of the Planet Tablet," Rudi pointed out. "It's proof enough he's another key to open the inner sanctums."

Chip looked up. "Then there are people who knew I existed after all?"

"It's just a possibility," Jamal said.

Sonic walked to the pedestal with the pale purple Chaos Emerald on hand. The hedgehog looked at the emerald before placing it on the hole, fitting nicely on the pedestal. After doing so, the Chaos Emerald began to shine brightly, causing the temple to shake a bit. Cloud's party looked around as the temple shook before it eventually stopped.

Sonic looked back at the purple Chaos Emerald, which now had recovered its usual brimming color. The hedgehog smiled a bit at this before he took it back from the pedestal.

"Wow, what was that?" Yuffie asked.

"That was a sign that the Adabat continent has been put back to place," Teanchai said. "Honestly speaking, I'm thankful it was restored."

Rudi chuckled heartily. "You told us that you restored Mazuri as well, right? That means you have five more continents to go."

Nagi folded her arms behind her back. "Keep going like this and the continents will be restored in no time!"

Sonic grinned at them. "You got it," he said.

Chris turned to Cloud. "I hope this makes it clear to you that we came from another world, Cloud."

"It makes it clear to me," Cloud said, "and to all of us, of course."

"To think there is the existence of many more worlds out there besides ours," Red XIII said. "It's just as if you haven't seen everything in your life."

"Well, I like my world," Aerith said. "I haven't even seen much of it yet. I don't want to see more worlds while I barely know much about mine."

"You guys are something, alright," Cid said. "I wouldn't like to deal with s-"

Aerith blocked Cid's mouth. "Don't say those words here! There are children present this time!"

The space man grumbled some words on Aerith's hands.

Teanchai looked at Sonic. "Sonic, was it? Will you do us a favor?"

"Let me guess," Sonic began, "you want me to return all of you back to Adabat, and you want us to save the kidnapped Temple Guardians as well, right?"

"You stole my words from my mouth," Teanchai said. "We'd be pleased if we could go back to Adabat now. We have to rebuild our home as soon as possible."

"Can you do that, Mr. Sonic?" Nagi asked.

Sonic grinned and looked at Chris. "He's the man behind the portals. Leave that to him."

The agent blushed at this. "D-don't put it like that, please..." he trailed off embarrassed.

-Wutai Village-
Yuffie's Hideout – Entrance

The group decided to go back to Yuffie's hideout where she went inside her home to get all of their stuff as she had promised them. At this time, Chris had come back from Yuffie's house with his Wiimote in hand, already opening the portal to Sonic's world, directly to Adabat. Teanchai's family stood in front of the portal while everyone else was standing in front of them. "Thank you," Teanchai said. "Without your help, the Adabat Temple wouldn't have been saved."

"Don't worry about it, okay?" Sonic asked. "The temple is safe and sound now."

"Yes, we're glad it's safe," Judi said. "It's still a very important part of Adabat for us. By no means shall it be put in danger."

"But we need you to do the same with the other remaining temples," Jamal said. "It's just not going to be the same if one of them were to be destroyed."

Samus sighed. "Yes, it's going to be a lot of work, but we still need to keep them safe."

"You saved Mazuri and Adabat already," Nagi said. "Surely you can save the other continents and their temples as well, right?"

"You bet," Sonic said with a grin.

"And I'll be working to open the temples so we can restore them all," Chip said.

Teanchai's family nodded. "Please do, Light Gaia," Teanchai said. "We'll leave everything in your hands."

"Have a nice trip back to Adabat," Marth said.

"We will," Teanchai said before all his family and he walked into the portal. It remained still before it vanished completely in the air, leaving a trace of sparkles behind.

Cloud kept staring at the empty air with everyone. The blond mercenary turned to the Smashers. "Wait for Yuffie to get all our stuff here. She should be coming out now," he said.

Ironically enough, the door to Yuffie's hideout opened, and the ninja came out struggling to pull two big bags with stuff inside. The ninja sighed and stopped dragging the big bags. Wiping sweat from her face, she chuckled to herself and showed everyone the bags. "Ta-dah," she said, "as I've promised, here you go, you guys: a full order of Materia and stuff ready to be shipped back to you!"

Cid rolled his eyes and went over to look inside the bags. "...Well, ain't she a peach now," he muttered sarcastically before looking at the others. "All our Materia is in here, awright."

Fox went over to the other bag. Peeking inside, the vulpine looked back at his group. "Our stuff is in here as well," he said.

"My tiara!" Marth yelled before he ran over to the bag and began throwing out things. The Smashers gasped at this as they all grabbed their stuff before they could fall on the ground. Soon, everybody got their stuff back, Marth taking out his sister's tiara and Falchion. "Here they are..." he trailed off in relief...before he noticed everyone looked at him with weird looks. "...Uuh..."

"...I-it's okay," Aerith said, putting up a nervous smile. "W-we were just surprised that you were acting like that..." she said as her group began to take out the Materia that has been stolen from them.

Marth looked away in embarrassment as he put Falchion into its sheath while he put on his tiara. "U-um, w-we got our stuff back, so that's the only thing that matters to me..."

"Right..." Samus said.

Mario stared at Samus's broken suit, which had been reduced to cramped pieces that were beyond repairs. "Samus..." Mario trailed off, staring at the pieces.

Samus sighed. "I can't believe she caused all this to my Varia Suit..."

Yuffie looked away and sweated a bit. "O-oh, come on, the rock I used wasn't that strong," she said. "...I had to use my shuriken to twist it open."

The bounty hunter frowned at this. "It's okay. I'm going to have to use another suit, then."

Mario fixed his red hat and FLUDD on his back. "Phew, I forgot about you for a moment, FLUDD. I hope you're not mad."

"It's fine," FLUDD spoke. "Try to be more careful, Mario."

"I'll be," Mario muttered before he (magically) put FLUDD away.

Chris embraced his DS tightly. "Professor, you're okay!" he rejoiced. "You and my game cartridge are okay!"

"Hmm, what am I thinking you're more relieved that your game cartridge is fine than me?" Kawashima asked.

"I-I...I-I didn't mean to say it that way, I swear!" Chris said in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," Kawashima said, crying digital toon tears. "I just need to work harder so you like me more."

"(Oh god...)" Chris thought worried before he put his DS away. He picked up his spear, and he changed to his Dragoon job to put it away. "I think everyone got their stuff back, right?"

Fox placed his headgear on his head and put his Blaster and Reflector on his belt. "Yeah, I got my stuff back," he said. "Hopefully I won't look weird to you because I have my headgear back."

"Not me," Knuckles said before spotting a big spiked shell and an odd-looking motorcycle (which had the name "Stephanie" written on the seat) next to Yuffie's house. "Er...what are those things doing there?"

Yuffie looked at the mentioned items. "Oh, those things were stolen from two guys I ran into," she said. "I think one looked like some sort of dragon while the other was a sumo wrestler..."

Suddenly, from out of the bushes, Bowser and Wario jumped out and went over to get their shell and bike back. The two villains embraced their stolen items. "Stephanie!" Wario rejoiced, rubbing the motorcycle a bit. "You're okay, little girl!"

"Heheheheh, she couldn't fool us in the end!" Bowser said, pointing an accusing finger to Yuffie. "You're NOT going to be stealing stuff from us ever again!"

Yuffie blinked in confusion. "O...kay...I think I shouldn't hav-"

"Yeah, you SHOULDN'T have!" Bowser interrupted before he picked up his shell and ran away from the scene. "Wario, we're going back to the Subspace! This place is so full of thieves that I don't really want to stay any longer and get my precious, badass shell stolen again!"

Wario jumped over his motorcycle and revved up the engine. He made a hand-sign to the group on his forehead and said, "So long, suckers!" before speeding off towards Bowser's direction.

The Smashers and Yuffie merely kept staring at their direction for a while. Chip thought about it for a moment before he turned to the group. "Was it okay for us to let them go?"

"Meh, I guess," Sonic said shrugging. "Those guys went through the same ordeal we went through."

Yuffie sweat dropped at this. "O-oh, was everyone so worried about their stuff?"

The ninja noticed most of the Smashers shot glares at her. Even her former group stopped grabbing Materia to glare at her as well.

"...I-I get it, I get it already, guys!" Yuffie said in panic. "Geez, people are so stingy these days!"

Both groups stopped glaring at her, Cloud's group resuming to take their Materia back from the bag.

Once both groups had collected everything back, the Smashers separated with Cloud's group. Aerith looked sad to the fact that they all had to go for the time being. "You're going now?" Aerith asked.

"Yes," Marth said. "We're done with what we had to do here."

Cloud crossed his arms. "Well, I guess we can believe about the fact there are other worlds out there," he said. "But I think we'd be better off if we just deal with our own world."

"Yes," Mario said. "It was nice to meet all of you."

Aerith sniffed sadly at this. "G-good luck, everyone," she sniffed. "I hope you all have a good journey ahead of you…"

Lucario just couldn't shake the fact that this was probably the very last time they would ever see Aerith. The Aura Pokémon looked sadly at her that he walked to her and hugged her by the side. "Please, don't cry," Lucario muttered. "…We will come back here someday to visit you."

Aerith sniffed a few more times before she smiled a bit and tightly hugged Lucario, making him blush a bit. "W-will you?" she asked.

"…Yes," Lucario said, forcing a smile, making Aerith chuckle heartily.

The Aura Pokémon stopped hugging her before Chris came in and hugged her as well. "T-take care, Aerith," Chris said, avoiding shedding some tears.

Aerith started to get happier at this that she hugged Chris as well. "Oh, thank you, Chris," she said before the World Traveler turned back to his group and hid some tears falling down his cheeks.

Mario noticed Chris's tears that he asked, "Chris, why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying, Mario…" Chris muttered. "I-it's just that…" The agent whispered some things to Mario's right ear.

"…Oh…well…I…oh no…oh my god…" Mario muttered in shock. Once Chris stopped whispering, the red plumber went over to Aerith and hugged her. The flower girl smiled happily at this that she hugged him back. "Take care, okay?" Mario asked.

"I will, Mario. This is so sweet of you," Aerith said, shedding a small tear.

Knuckles looked at Chris. "What did you tell him?" he asked before Chris whispered the same things to the echidna. "…Goodness…oh god…but…that's so…" Knuckles muttered in shock. The echidna stared at the flower girl for a while. He decided to go over and hug her as well.

Sonic snickered as Knuckles was being hugged by Aerith. "Hey, Chris, what did you tell Knucklehead to make him all lovey-dovey about her?" he asked before Chris did the same thing with him. "…Oh…I see…I…ah…what…really…are you serious…you're not…" Sonic muttered in shock. In a blink of an eye, after Knuckles stopped hugging Aerith, the hedgehog was already hugging her, causing Aerith to get surprised and hug him tightly while Knuckles went back to the group.

Marth looked at the sniffing Chris. "Um, what did you tell them?" he asked, making Chris whisper Marth about Aerith's fate. "…What…but…that is so…are you kidding me…that is…" Marth muttered in shock before repeating the same thing as the previous people.

Fox crossed his arms and looked at Chris. "Why are you making all of them hug her?" he asked before Chris approached and whispered him something. "…Yes…I see…wow…oh my god…you are serious, right…but…really…oh no…" Fox muttered in shock, repeating the same action as the others did.

Samus looked at Chris. "What is wrong with all of them?" she asked before Chris whispered her something. "…Yes…a-ha…oh…oh my…that's…but that is…oh my..." she muttered in shock, but this time going to Aerith and wish her a good journey.

Chip looked angrily at this. "Hey, I was going to start a long relationship with her! Why's everyone suddenly infatuated with my girl?"

Chris looked at Chip in disbelief. "Um, Chip, you really don't want to know the reason wh-"

The imp pointed at him. "Tell me on the double!" he demanded with crossed arms. "I wanna know why everyone here wants to make fall in love wi-" he stopped talking once Chris began whispering him about Aerith's future fate. "..." Chip's eyes suddenly froze into place. The imp remained flying in the air as he stared forward towards Aerith.

The agent took a few steps back and bowed to Chip. "Sorry...but you didn't leave me with another choice," he apologized.

Chris saw as Chip floated towards Aerith. The flower girl smiled warmly at him. "Oh, Chip, you're going as well, right?" she asked before rubbing the imp's hair a bit. "Take good care of yourself, okay?" she said.

Chip kept staring at her. The imp nodded a few times and flew back to Sonic, Aerith tilting her head to the side as she wondered why Chip didn't say anything. "You okay, Chip?" Sonic asked, receiving no response from the emotionally paralyzed imp.

Snake was told about by Chris about Aerith's situation. The mercenary walked to her and shook hands. "Be careful out there," Snake said. "You have your group to keep you safe."

Aerith chuckled heartily. "Thank you for reminding me, Snake. You're so sweet."

Cloud, Red XIII, Cid, Yuffie, and Tifa looked at each other in confusion after seeing all the Smashers saying their personal farewells to the flower girl. Red XIII coughed a bit to get Snake's attention. "Excuse me for asking, but why is everyone suddenly being very nice to Aerith?" he asked.

Snake looked away. "What? She's been nicer to us than any of you were."

Yuffie smiled. "Oh, that's right. Aerith is probably the nicest person you've ever met before. Not even 10,000 puppies will suffice to match her good nature."

Aerith blushed at this. "T-ten thousand puppies?" she said asked.

"I-ah, that was an expression, of course... Ignore me, please," Yuffie said with a chuckle before Cid slapped the back of her head. "H-hey!"

Cloud rolled his eyes at this. The blond mercenary looked at Snake. "So, Snake, are you okay now?" he asked. "I mean, after that shadow of yours tried to kill us..."

"I'm okay," Snake said honestly. "Beating that thing actually made me feel much better."

"Are you sure?" Tifa asked. "You seem a bit restless."

"Seriously, I'm okay," Snake repeated. "There's no need to worry about me anymore. That shadow is history."

"S-Snake..." Chris muttered as he walked to the mercenary. "I...I was thinking about..."

"I'm going to leave, kid," Snake said. "I want to stop thinking about this nonsense. Haven't I made myself clear before?"

"But..."

Snake narrowed his eyes at Chris. The ex-FOXHOUND stared at the teen's depressed look before his look drifted off to the other Smashers, who looked blankly, depressed, or sternly at him. "..." Snake merely pressed his stapes to call the Colonel, getting into a conversation with his superior. "Colonel, I need to talk to you," he said.

The Colonel remained silent, making Snake think that he just wanted to listen for now.

"Personally, I think I can decide for myself about what to do here," Snake said. "This kid and the others, however, are keeping me from coming to a conclusion about this, though. It's making me mad, but I just can't come to a final result for this dilemma...so I need you to give me some suggestions, Colonel."

Again, more silence came as a response from the Colonel.

"I know you're thinking that I might have been wrong, Colonel," Snake said. "I just need one wise suggestion from you so I can find my own answer for this whole problem. I want to leave, but part of me wants to see what stupid and crazy thing occurs with those guys. It's hard for me to forget everything I had been gone through, so please, I request some kind of answer from you."

Even more silence was replied to Snake.

"...Please, tell me you're thinking about this, Colonel," Snake said. "You're making me feel very guilty now. It's not funny to stay very silent when I'm facing thi-"

"La-li-lu-le-lo, La-li-lu-le-lo, La-li-lu-le-lo ," the Colonel replied finally.

"...Okay, who the hell is toying around with me at a time like this?" Snake asked aggravated as the "Colonel" kept repeating the same lines repeatedly.

"O-oh, sorry, Snake," spoke Otacon as he took over the spot of the "Colonel" by replacing him. "I used the Colonel AI to play a bit around with yo-"

"Use that ever again and I'll choke you."

Otacon gulped at Snake's threat. "R-right, Snake, whatever you say..."

"Hmph," Snake muttered. "...Anyhow, Otacon...did you hear anything I said?"

"About deciding to leave the group? W-well, yeah, I did," he said.

"I'm thinking about kicking the heck out of you now...but I'll save that for another occasion."

Otacon shrieked a bit at this. "S-so, what do you want to tell me, Snake?"

"Recall everything you listened about the conversation I had with the fake Colonel AI, Otacon, and I'll see what you can offer me. If you don't have anything to say, then I'll promise I'm going to twist some guy's neck in the near future...if you know what I mean by that."

"G-gah!" Otacon yelped.

"Otacon, I'm serious here!"

"I-I know, sorry," Otacon said in panic. "O-okay, you should probably...well..."

Snake waited impatiently as Otacon tried to speak up. The hacker kept staggering to think long enough to come up with a good response. Unfortunately, Snake seemed to be grasping Otacon's stuttering so well that he sighed loudly, stopping Otacon from stuttering. "Otacon, just say you want me to stay with them. It's so obvious you want me to keep working with all of them."

"Y-you...you knew, then?"

"No, I knew it right after you kept stuttering," Snake said. "I also noticed you didn't sound quite convincing when we spoke yesterday."

"Oh...so..."

Snake sighed. "I knew all of you were against it, but the Colonel didn't seem to. I wanted to talk to the Colonel since he seemed neutral."

"I-I'm sorry for joking, then," Otacon said. "The Colonel is attending a meeting, though. He'll be back tomorrow."

"Just my luck..."

"What do you want to talk about, then? ...Wait, I should just say it, Snake... I don't want you to leave the group."

"Why would you want that, Otacon?"

"Snake, just think about it," Otacon said. "You're probably the only man lucky enough to take part of a big threat. Also, you get the chance to meet other people you thought were impossible to know. How can you just forget all that when you have everything at your reach?"

"The kid would be an example of this," Snake said. "You already know how different we are from his world and ours."

"Y-yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that we're real," Otacon said. "That aside, Snake, you should stay with them...please..."

"...Otacon..."

"Honestly, when are you going to have an opportunity like this one again?" Otacon asked. "Snake, this is the only chance for a lifetime... Surely you can't deny an opportunity like that, right?"

Snake furrowed his brow a bit. "...I guess not..."

"You can say no to this, though... After all, it's your decision, not mine. I have some selfish thoughts about wanting to find out more about other worlds out there..."

"Or get the kid to share some of his anime magazines with you because I did hear from Mei-Ling that you wanted to see some of them."

"T-that's just another but not so important excuse, Snake!" Otacon said embarrassed. "B-but anyway, Snake...it's all up to you to decide."

"...I decided..."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, after thinking about this again, I came to a conclusion with myself," Snake said. "I'll call you later."

"W-wait, can't you just tell me what you've decided, Snak-" Otacon was interrupted right after Snake ended the codec conversation.

The mercenary looked at the Smashers. "I've decided," he said. "Finally, I made up my mind."

"So then...what are you going to do?" Samus asked.

"I've decided I should just...leave..."

Some of the Smashers (and Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie) gasped a bit at this decision.

The World Traveler stared at Snake before frowning. "I...understand, Snake..."

"Can you please let me finish first, kid?" Snake asked in annoyance.

Chris looked up at Snake. "W-what?"

"I didn't finish," Snake said. "I wanted to say that I'm leaving...so I can retire for a while."

"Retire?"

"Yeah, as in letting me have a time for some relaxation," Snake said. "I thought hard about this, and I came to the conclusion that I need a rest to continue working with all of you. You're not going to see me for a while, but you'll have to get used that I'm not going to be around to fight the Subspace Army."

"J-just out of curiosity, what made you change your decision, Snake?" Chris asked in curiosity.

"Well, mainly you and the other guys who kept meddling in my affairs," Snake said. "So, thanks for meddling, everyone. You guys can make anyone go crazy."

Sonic looked bored and folded his arms behind his head. "Sheesh, that's so nice of you, man," he said sarcastically.

"I was expecting a response like that, actually..." Mario muttered.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not officially part of the roster you are in, but I guess having a rest once in a while doesn't hurt."

Snake nodded. "Thanks for understanding," he said. "Now I know I can leave and return so I can sort out my thoughts… but, before I do, here, kid. You earned it," the ex-FOXHOUND said as he tossed a small item at Chris, who gasped and grabbed it, sighing in relief.

The agent looked at his hands to see a small gear on them. "…It's just a gear," Chris said.

"Not any gear," Snake said. "That gear you're holding is a gear taken off from the real Metal Gear REX."

"R-really? This little gear was part of the original REX?"

"Yeah, I found that just before I ran out from the base at Shadow Moses," Snake explained. "(Man, those times were such a drag…)"

Chris stared at the little gear. Smiling a bit at it for a brief moment, he stuffed it into his pocket and nodded to Snake. "Thank you, Snake…"

"I'm giving it to you because of the help you gave me today," Snake said. "Don't think I gave it to you for nothing."

"Okay…thanks again."

"(Pfft, great deal. It's just a gear…)" Sonic thought in boredom.

Obtained Metal Gear!

A small gear that was once used in Metal Gear REX against Snake. For Snake, it holds the memories of the Shadow Moses Incident.

"Keep it safe," Snake told Chris. "You lose it; you might never get another one from me ever again."

The agent looked worried at this. "I-I won't, but… You're not going to have second thoughts and leave us for good, right?"

"Who knows, kid," Snake said. "...But I'll most likely come back someday, so don't go shedding tears on me while I'm gone."

Chris blinked at this statement. A small smile formed on his lips as he made a happy expression to Snake. "...Okay, Snake, I'll wait for you to come back. I'm sure the others will wait for you."

"Not really."

"Who said that?" The agent turned around where Sonic had spoken out loud, thinking that the others were going to say the same in unison. The hedgehog looked at the others before looking confused. "Sonic?"

"H-hey, I thought you guys didn't like the guy!" Sonic said.

Marth sighed and frowned. "Sonic, I believe we already grew a bit closer to Snake. You...seem to be the only one who hasn't done that."

"O-oh, come on, none of you seemed that friendly to him to me, at least!"

Snake looked away. "More of a reason I don't like you, hedgehog. Kid, I hope you're happy, but the hedgehog just made me think things over again."

Chris gasped and glared at Sonic. "S-Sonic, you stupid idiot! Look at what you've done now! He'll start thinking about leaving us because of you!"

"Hey, don't start blaming me of this!" Sonic yelled. "It's ridiculous of him to stay away from us just because I'm here! I'm not the one planning to leave here!"

"So you're going to be the one to leave us, then?"

"Of course not! He should be the one leaving instead of me!"

"S-Sonic!"

The two started yelling at each other while Snake hid a small grin to himself; a grin Cloud's group managed to see clearly, making them chuckle in unison while the two Smashers kept rambling on. "Kid, you need to tell what a joke is," Snake finally said.

The agent and the hedgehog groaned at this and looked back at Snake. "Y-you're impossible, Snake, really!" Chris complained.

"Heh, I thought I was the guy who did the impossible here," Snake muttered with an amused chuckle. "Thanks for reminding me, kid."

Sonic slapped his forehead. "Seriously, this guy should be the one who drives everyone nuts, not the other way around..." he trailed off.

Knuckles crossed his arms and nodded. "I think the same, Sonic, I think the same..."

Most of the people in there laughed for a bit before they stopped. Cloud looked back at the Smashers and nodded to them. "So then, since you're all leaving, I think you should take something so your long journey doesn't get that hard to endure," he said as he took out three pieces of Materia from his right pocket. "Here, have these with you."

Lucario looked at the gems before taking them from Cloud's hand. "What are these?"

"Those are Summon Materia," Cloud said. "Equipping them will enable anyone in your group to call forth three entities to attack your enemies. Of course, one of them is going to have to equip it first, so don't forget that."

Lucario nodded and smiled a bit at Cloud. "Thank you."

"You got that mostly because I think you're kind of cool," Cloud admitted.

The aura wielder gasped mentally, starting to feel very proud of himself. "I...I'm honored."

"...What was that?"

Lucario gasped mentally again, thinking Cloud was going to resume thinking he was weird. "I-I mean, thank you so much, Cloud. These are going to be helpful for us."

"...Yeah."

Lucario sighed in relief.

Obtained Choco/Mog, Shiva, and Ifrit Materia!

Snake looked at Chris. "Shall we get going now? I want to go back to Alaska and relax for a long while."

"...Alaska? God, you really want to stay away from anybody..." Chris trailed off. The agent brandished his Wiimote and opened the portal back to the mansion, where a still Chip merely floated inside without saying anything or turning back to the others. "Why am I thinking he's... No, never mind..."

Yuffie gasped and took some steps forward. "W-wait, you guys!" she yelled, trying to stop everyone from leaving. "I-I wanna say something before all of you go!"

"What?" Fox asked.

"L-look...I just want to say that...that..." she moved her hands down, "...I-I'm so sorry for stealing all your stuff previously... Really, after all those things you did to save Wutai from that shadow guy, I think it made me see the error of my actions on all of you...so...for once more...I'm sorry I caused all this trouble..."

The Smashers looked at each other. Knuckles gave Chris the Wiimote he held with him and turned to Yuffie. "Well, you were annoying the first time we met you," he said, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. "But, since I don't honestly believe that you're REALLY sorry this ti-"

"I guess we can accept your apology this time around," Sonic said, making Knuckles look shocked.

Marth looked at his Falchion's hilt. "She didn't manage to sell our stuff to a merchant, so...I think we can forgive her."

Chris nodded. "I wouldn't have forgiven her if my console was sold to anybody (Kawashima: Hurray!), but since she didn't...well...I'll forgive her as well."

Yuffie's eyes shook in surprise before she turned to Cloud's group. "W-what about you, guys?"

Tifa rubbed her chin. "Hmm, I dunno. You did a lot of nasty stuff on us before in the past."

The ninja gasped. "I-I swear this isn't going to happen anymore!" she said. "N-now I know we all had something in common: we all want to take down Shinra so it stops manipulating everyone in the world, including Wutai!" She looked serious. "I won't promise that we will defeat Shinra...but...I'll do it," she said determined. "I'm gonna travel with you again and bring Shinra to justice! Of course...if you really wanna have me back..."

Cloud thought for a moment about the offer. "...I don't know, Yuffie..."

"D-dude, please, you gotta let me come with you again!" Yuffie said. "I'm gonna do everything I can do for everyone! T-think of this as some punishment for me because I stole your Materia!"

"...Okay."

"Y-you mean it, Cloud?"

"Sure, I guess," Cloud said unsure. "If you really wanna repay us, you'll have to come along with us."

Cid grumbled. "Your spiky a$$ is makin' really crazy decisions, kid."

Yuffie opened her mouth in surprise before she broke into happiness and leaped towards Cloud, making him gasp and fall down to the ground while Yuffie hugged him tightly. "Yeah, Cloud, you're dah man!" she yelled happily while everyone chuckled a bit at this. "Thank you for letting me come with you again! You won't regret this at all, Cloud!"

"U-ugh! Y-Yuffie, get off me!" Cloud yelled, pushing the ninja aside.

Yuffie sat down and showed her teeth with a chuckle. "Yep, this is gonna be a trip to remember for me, alright," she said, standing up from the ground with Cloud.

The blond mercenary looked annoyed as he stood up. "Hey," Cloud called the group, "good luck in your journey, you guys."

Tifa chuckled and crossed her arms. "You guys are really something, so we'll root for you to finish off that Subspace Army group. Just root for us to be successful as well, okay?"

"We will," Samus said nodding. The bounty hunter smiled a bit and walked back into the portal.

"Come back to visit us," Red XIII told Sonic and Knuckles. "You will certainly become strong assets for our group."

"Nah, I think I'll pass on that offer...for now," Sonic said with a wink.

Knuckles grunted at the hedgehog. "So you're planning to leave your team?"

"That was just an expression, Knucklehead," Sonic said amused.

"Ugh, you're just intolerable..." he muttered before walking back into the portal with Sonic, Red XIII chuckling silently to himself.

Mario shook Red XIII's paw and nodded to him. "Thank you," Mario said. "It was nice meeting and fighting alongside you."

"I can say the same, Mario," Red XIII said. "Don't let Sonic's behavior get the better of himself. He still acts like a childish boy."

"I'm NOT a childish boy!" Sonic yelled from the portal.

Red XIII looked amused at Mario. "Really, he needs to get a hold of himself."

Mario smiled a bit. "Okay, I'll help him out, Red XIII," he said.

The feral lion nodded at the red plumber as the latter waved at him and walked into the portal.

Cid grunted and closed his eyes. "Don't make any mess in those other worlds, you," he told Marth and Fox. "Don't wanna see the space-continuum-whatever getting broken because ye're makin' a mess."

"As if you don't do a mess already..." Fox muttered.

Cid opened an angry eye. "What was that, little mutt?"

"H-he said okay," Marth said, receiving a stern look from the vulpine.

"Heh," Cid muttered, looking away. "So get going now before I get the rabies from the mutt."

Marth sighed at this while he and Fox walked back to the portal, Cid looking over his right shoulder at them. Without knowing, they didn't see that Cid had flashed a small smile at them.

Suddenly, Chris began to hear the codec ringtone in his ears. The agent pressed his stapes to enter into a new conversation with Otacon and Mei Ling. "Chris, you did it!" Mei Ling said happily. "You and everyone managed to convince Snake from staying with you!"

"That's a big relief," Otacon admitted. "It was a hard, personal mission for you, but everything went well at the end."

"…I'm…not sure if I did much, though…" Chris admitted.

"Why'd you ask that?" Mei Ling asked.

"I think Snake's shadow did a lot more than any of us did," Chris said. "Maybe it made him realize how wrong he was about his point of view of us."

"Hmm, maybe," Mei Ling said. "If it's that way, then you could say Dr. Eggman made us a big favor unconditionally."

"Nah, I think they all helped out either way," Otacon said. "Snake might be still pissed, but he's slowly starting to get used to you, guys."

"I couldn't be happier than I am now," Mei Ling said chuckling. "Really, Chris…thanks for all the help you and the others gave Snake."

Chris chuckled. "I'm glad for Snake now," he said. "I'm excited to see how he grows closer to us."

"Well, don't think he'll do it right away," Otacon said. "Because, you know, people don't change right away. They all need time to do so."

"Otherwise, you might think they're really insane," Mei Ling said. "…Well, Snake isn't insane, so that's good to me."

"Oh, let me say it to you this time, Chris," Otacon said. "Thanks for everything."

Chris sighed in relief. "And…thank you for giving me a much better perspective for Snake. Now I can see him without having any worries..."

"Everyone benefits from this at the end," Mei Ling said. "Try to grow closer to Snake, Chris. I think he can start to like you a bit more much later."

"I will," Chris said. "Okay, then, see you later."

"See you," Otacon and Mei Ling said before Chris ended the codec conversation.

Aerith went over and rubbed Lucario's head, making the Aura Pokémon close his eyes in pleasure. "Don't get hurt, okay, Lucario?" she asked.

Chris turned around and sniffed mentally. "(…Why must she do this to make all of us feel guilty about her horrible fate? Why?! A man like me can't take this for much longer! ...Dammit, this job is changing my personality again!)"

Lucario growled happily and nodded at Aerith. "Don't worry about me, Aerith," he said.

Aerith chuckled heartily. "Okay, I won't, if you say so," she said, turning to Chris. "Be careful you too, Chris."

Chris forced a twitching smile at the flower girl. "Y-yes, I'll be really careful, Aerith," he said, shedding some tears.

"Aww, please, don't cry, Chris. We'll meet again someday for sure."

"(Seriously, don't make this even worse, Aerith!)" Chris thought sadly while Lucario silently lead his trainer to the portal, waving at Aerith and Cloud. The agent, however, came back and took out his Trophy Stand. "Oh, I almost forgot to put this sticker on my plate..." he muttered as he took out the Blue Sephira sticker to place it on his stand. He looked at the group and smiled at them. "G-good bye, everyone! W-wish us good luck!" Chris yelled as he went into the portal before it vanished in thin air.

The Smashers have left Cloud's party.

Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Cid, Red XIII, and Yuffie stared at the portal's spot for a small while in silence. The group then looked at Cloud. "So, what are we gonna do, leader?" Yuffie asked.

"Hmm, good question..." Cloud muttered. "...We should call the others here so we can think about what to do next."

At that moment, the group heard someone coming at their direction. They all turned to the south where a bulky figure hopped along the ground while a small figure rode on its head. The bulky figure was some kind of oversized stuffed "moogle" while the figure on top of its head was a cat-looking character that wore a short red cape tied around his neck and white gloves and a small crown. He also carried a small megaphone on his right hand. Once the bulky moogle stopped in front of the group, the cat-looking character waved at them.

"It's you, Cait Sith," Red XIII said.

Cait Sith is a fortuneteller cat who decided to travel with Cloud's group after telling the mercenary his fortune: "What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose someone dear." Intrigued by this himself, Cait Sith came along to see what the prediction meant. He is never seen going about without his stuffed moogle, which is technically his only way to move and attack other enemies by using megaphones and shout orders to it. However, it is rumored that Cait Sith might be hiding some secret from the group...

"Hello!" Cait Sith greeted. "Man, I've been out there in the open for a long time. I see you got Yuffie back, though. Did I miss something important?"

"Oh, you sure did," Aerith said. "We met this group of people called Smashers who came from another different world than ours..."

Aerith explained everything to Cait Sith.

"Hmm, I find it so hard to believe," Cait Sith said before laughing a bit. "You're not pulling my leg here, right?"

Cloud sighed. "Oh well, telling others what we experienced before isn't gonna yield us any good replies..."

"I think so," Cait Sith said. "Sorry, but I don't believe anything that happen."

Yuffie pouted a bit at this. "Good thing you missed everything, then!" she said before gasping loudly. "W-wait, I just remembered something!" she said, turning to Cloud. "Cloud, I need to ask you a favor."

Cloud looked bored. "What?"

"You see, I think I'm ready to take on the challenge my dad arranged at the pagoda close to our house for me to take for myself," Yuffie said. "If I could pass that challenge, my dad would acknowledge my skills. I think he has something more to give to me, though... Can we go there now? I know I can pull this one out!"

"Well, we don't have anything better to do, but hurry up with that challenge," Cloud said. "We can't waste more time as it is."

"Yeah, I knew you'd say yes!" Yuffie said as she started to run towards the west. "C'mon, everyone! You gotta cheer me on this one!"

Cid frowned to himself. "That girl's gonna gimme a headache..."

Tifa smiled. "I'm honestly glad she wants to amend for her mistakes, though."

Aerith chuckled. "That's something we'll see very soon."

As the group followed the excited ninja, Cait Sith remained behind and looked away with his stuffed moogle, thinking about what Aerith had told him. "Aerith told me that there were others worlds beside ours out there... Hmm, I don't think they were trying to trick me. My facade hasn't been discovered yet, right? So if they don't know I'm spying on them, then that wouldn't mean that what Aerith told me was really true, correct?"

Cait Sith remained silent.

"...Naaaaaaaah!" he said with a laugh. "They were just trying to make me laugh, which they passed with flying colors! You gotta appreciate their sense of humor!" he said gleefully before he knocked on his stuffed moogle's forehead, making the doll look up at him. "On the double, you! We gotta watch a ninja fight today!"

The chuckling Cait Sith and his stuffed moogle followed the group, the cat's laugh echoing in the sunset as he and the moogle disappeared from sight...

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have received 6000 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED...

-Smash Channel-

Unlike other previous occasions, the Smash Channel's forums were full with even more people than before. Chris (in his Moogle Knight job) sat behind the wide table as the public went wild and cheered loudly. "W-well, what a surprise we have today, kupo!" he said. "Welcome back to your unique channel that you can only get to see in this place: the Smash Channel!" he said, raising his hands on both sides. "I'm happy to see that there are many more people who wanted to see this section again, so as some kind of reward, here we have today some guests from the Final Fantasy VII team! To my left, give a round of applauses to your favorite slums' flower girl, Aerith Gainsborough!"

The flower girl sat on the left side behind the table. Aerith smiled happily and waved a hand at the audience, causing a very wild crowd to cheer very loudly. "I'm happy for being here," she said. "Thank you for being so nice to me."

The moogle noticed the people starting to yell Aerith's name loudly that he sweat dropped and twitched a bit at the cheers. "O-okay, everyone, now give another round of applauses to your favorite em-I-I mean, ex-SOLDIER mercenary whom you like and love a lot, kupo! Here it is Cloud Strife!"

The blond mercenary sat on the other side of other side behind the table. With crossed arms, he just listened at the crowd yell his name. "Tsk, people are so noisy, I swear..." he muttered to himself.

"All is right, then, kupo," Chris began, the crowd slowly calming down with their cheers, "as you might know, we here at Smash Channel interview the special guests outside the Brawl roster to comment about your favorite Smashers on certain topics. I hope you, Cloud and Aerith, know what you're going to do."

"Spit the topic already," Cloud said. "The sooner, the better."

"You can ask us anytime," Aerith said.

The moogle looked bored at the crowd. "(Those two are the exact opposite poles of each other...) Okay!" he said cheerfully as he took out a small note card. "So let's begin with today's topic! Today's topic is..."

Who is, in your own words, the best swordsman of the Smashers?

The crowd clapped hands at the topic. "As you know, Super Smash Brothers has had a long trend of including swordsman type characters into the fray. Lately, they outnumber any other kind of character who fights differently than others. However, what can you two say, kupo? Who do you think is the best swordsman?"

Cloud and Aerith got into thinking positions while a silence floated in the air. A small while passed for Aerith to speak up. "I think Toon Link is my favorite one," she said, the crowd applauding her.

"Oh yeah, choose me over these other guys!" Toon Link yelled from the crowd. "They don't even know how to run like I do!"

"Hey, I heard that!" shouted Ike from another side of the crowd. "You try saying that to me again!"

Chris clapped his hands together in anger. "Will you two just be quiet for ten minutes, kupo?" he asked annoyed. "Anyway, Aerith, please explain why you think your pick is the best swordsman."

"I think he's cute," Aerith said, making the whole crowd "aww" at her.

The moogle did the same, but he shook his head and regained his senses. "I-isn't there another explanation why you picked him, though?"

Aerith looked up to the ceiling. "Hmm, I don't know..." she admitted.

The moogle knight looked bored at the crowd. "So you chose Toon Link for the best swordsman just because he looks cute to you?"

"...Would I get scolded if I said yes?" Aerith asked, the crowd raising torches with burning flames at Chris's direction.

"I-I think you wouldn't get scolded for that!" Chris said in panic, the crowd lowering their torches down until they weren't visible anymore. The moogle gulped and turned to Cloud. "S-so, Cloud, what about you, kupo?"

Cloud was still in deep thought. "I'm not quite sure," he said. "Many of them seem to be very skillful in their own ways to fight."

Chris sighed while the crowd lauded Cloud's opinion. "So then, do you have a pick, kupo?"

"Hmm, let me think... I don't honestly have a pick, sadly," Cloud admitted.

"What? You cheapskate!" yelled Roy from the crowd. "You're surely thinking you're the best swordsman out there, even when you're not on the current roster!"

Chris blew a bit of air at his hanging pom-pom over his head. "Wow, that was so ironic for you to say, Roy, kupo," he muttered, hoping Roy wouldn't hear anything he said.

"You pick one!" Link yelled at Cloud. "You think you're so cool, huh?"

"Not really," Cloud said. "People just think that about me while I don't care much."

Despite the harsh comment against the crowd, the crowd cheered and lauded Cloud's comment, making the blond mercenary slap his forehead with a frown. Aerith looked happy at this while Chris slammed his face against the counter. "You've got to be kidding me, kupo..." he muttered.

"You're not fooling us here!" Roy yelled. "You're still trying act so cool and stuff so people think you're even cooler!"

"Exactly!"

None of the two knew that the crowd began to raise their torches, this time against them.

"Why, I dare you clash swords against me!" Link declared. "My Master Sword isn't going to get a cut by that buster sword thing of yours!"

"Not even the Sword of Seals will get a scratch!" Roy declared.

Chris, Cloud, and Aerith sweat dropped as the two swordsmen were unaware about the torches being raised against them. This grew worse as the crowd raised pitchforks as well.

"I double dare you!" Link dared.

"I triple dare you, then!" Roy yelled.

"Get the infidels!" a Toad demanded.

"There are Toads as Cloud's fans, kupo?" Chris asked.

And soon enough, chaos erupted in the rows of seats as Link and Roy were ganged up by the countless amounts of people, throwing pitchforks and torches against them. The World Traveler, the ex-SOLDIER, and the flower girl watched in horror as everyone began to fight whoever got in their way, resulting in a whole mess as chairs and fire spread all over the place except the stage, which remained standing far away from the angry public.

The moogle shook his head at this. "W-well, I think our time has reached to an end!" he said, ducking before a pitchfork could kill him. He stood up while Cloud and Aerith ducked down for cover. "L-Luigi, please say something to the readers from our sponsors, kupo!"

No response.

"LUIGI!"

"Y-yes!" Luigi yelled. "U-um, this special was brought to you by Chocobo Greens! Probably the only food you can feed a Chocobo with. Warning: other feeding products could cause most Chocobos to have headaches and intestinal problems...for some reason."

"Lower the curtains!" Chris yelled, making the red curtains fall down to cover the stage while the fight outside of it kept going on. "P-phew, things couldn't get much worse now..."

"...He is here," Cloud said darkly.

"Who is here, kupo?"

"So, you've been hiding away from me, Cloud. What a pathetic fool you are... You amuse me a lot."

"Grrr!" Cloud grunted loudly.

"O-oh no, please, don't tell me that voice was..."

"I'll get you right here, right now, Sephiroth! Meet your maker!"

"You mean you're going to meet your maker."

"AAAAAAAAAH!!!" Cloud let out a war cry before leaping towards the direction of the voice, and thus starting an epic battle behind the curtains.

"A-Aerith, don't get closer to them, kupo!"

"I need to aid Cloud! He can't fight him alone without me!" Aerith yelled determined as she dashed towards the fight.

"N-no! A-a loyal moogle knight won't let such a beautiful woman as yourself get killed, kupo! U-um...u-um...u-um...h-here I go, kupo!"

...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckles

References:

-There were some more Metal Gear Solid references in this chapter.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Gray Fox was actually killed in the first Metal Gear Solid game.

-Snake takes many retirement periods many times during his career, this one being an example of why he does it.

And that's another closure for another arc in the long library of arcs. I'm glad I was able to work for Snake here. In my opinion, I'm one of the few authors here who go ahead and put a lot of effort of him (but actually speaking, I haven't seen that much about Snake. It's sad to think not many have seen/played a Metal Gear Solid game before).

But of course, since I have Snake's merits in mind, he won't be a problem to write for. Oh, and as for what he said about taking a break, he won't be displayed in the story for a short while. I hope you all understand.

I'm excited to write for the next arc, so please, be patient and hope I can get this done soon. ;)

As always, the poll has been closed, so a new poll might come up in a short while.

I encourage any Snake fan in front of the LCD screen to review. ;)

…Or Snake will be attacked by Alaskan wolves and die in an avalanche.

Once the screen had blackened, a small orange circle opened up, and a giggling Yuffie peeked from the circle. She made a peace sign to no one in particular and said, "And remember, you guys, that this is not the last time you'll see great ninja Yuffie making a debut. Everyone will have to wait until this story gets to the point where I, with my wonderful skills and cunning knowledge, will appear in Kingdo-"

Cloud's hand grabbed her right shoulder and dragged her away from the circle. "You wait, Yuffie. We still have a lot of time to wait for that to happen."

The circle closed down. "C-Cloud, geez, don't be such a party pooper! And here I was already exciting everyone!"

"Shut up."

And with that, everything calmed down.
*Chapter 170*: Digging for Refracting Treasure

Whew, I did it. This chapter came sooner from the keyboard.

From FF and STH: That fight was epic to have a big machine enemies turn into a invisible ememies and in the end they come out with 3 new summen.

It also aright for snake to take a break from the team.

From me: I couldn't understand you a bit, but thanks for reviewing. ;)

From PianistChris: This chapter was a great way to end this arc.
I'm glad Snake won't be leaving for good, and you've used him greatly in this arc :)

Looking forward to the next chapter.

Chris :p

From me: Phew, thanks. I was thinking I wouldn't pull it out well with Snake. I'm glad everything worked out just fine. :)

From TARDISreviewer: Epic battle is epic. I didn't .like that cameo in the non-story segment... becasue I hate. that. *stabs said fanboy magnet repeatedly* diediediedie... oh, right. Could that scene near the end indicate that there's mores ummosn avaliable? (and they've almost completed the elemental trinity in fact - they're only missing Ramuh from it.) I hope the next chapter comes a bit quicker, though it's understandable why it took so long for this one.

From me: No, they don't indicate anything in special. In fact, the Smashers might get an incomplete set of abilities from the people they meet. There might be times where they could end up getting a complete set, though.

And, hopefully, updates will be quicker now. Thanks. :D

From ngrey651: Yeah, I can understand Snake wanting to live a "normal" life considering that doing the "heroic" thing is his standard way of living. But I, personally, feel that a life of doing good is the best way to live. Yes, it's HARD, but everything worth DOING is hard.

Besides...there's eighteen bamillion terrorist groups that keep popping up in his world. But there's only ONE Subspace Emissary. Only a fool wouldn't want to take a stand against something like that. :D

From me: Snake might be tired of doing good while risking his short life. I have to say that his character was very good to portray here.

So, Chris isn't a fool, right? I hope he's not a fool. Thanks. ;)

From Seitei: Hey, long time no update!

It was exciting to see the conclusion to the Shadow Snake fight at long last.

And Summon Materia... :)

Keep up the updates! :D

From me: I'm sorry for not updating, really, I am. I'm hoping here people didn't forget about this long story, though. Thanks. :D

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: Finally your back from playing Pokemon HeartGold. Excellent ending to FFVII arc.

From me: Who said anything about that game? And…thanks for reviewing…

From KimotoDragon: Well that was great! Though i never thought Snake would vacation in alaska.

I can't wait to see whats next.

From me: Snake always goes there whenever he wants to go for "retirement" from working. I guess he goes there because the place is calm and pacific.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Blackglow: I'll be honest, I don't think this fic can get much better!
This chapter was AMAZING! My favorite part was probably that last 1-on-1 battle between Snake and Shadow Snake. It highly reminded me of that EPIC final showdown between Snake and *Spoiler Censor* at the end of MGS4. (I'll leave it up to you to figure out who the Spoiler was.)

On another note, I saw the results of the poll. YAY MEGAMAN LEGENDS YAY! THAT IS ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE GAMES EVER! Now that I got that out of my system, I can't wait to see how that plays out with Megaman Trigger and the Bonnes. (We will see the Bonnes right? And some reaverbots too, maybe?)

... Why do I feel like Eggman and the Bonnes are going to somehow team up?

From me: This wouldn't be Megaman Legends if we didn't have the key-characters and key-enemies in here. You'll see them all here (but not everything, though).

Unfortunately, Dr. Eggman isn't the protagonist villain for this arc, and there are no plans for making both groups join forces for now. Thanks again. :)

From True Hyper Sonic: It's me again, & all I can say is... this arc is absolute GOLD! Snake goes slightly emo, Chris is torn between trying to fix Snake & impressing the FF7 group, Lucario is a Cloud fan (not that I blame him), & Yuffie is the perfect comic relief! Thief, team-mate, troublemaker & damsel-in-distress, all in one hilarious package! Corneo got owned. XD What a pedo-freak. But she deserved it, I'll admit. On a side note, give Samus a Smash Ball, please. Tell her it'll fix her suit.

From me: I'm very glad you liked the chapter very much.

Also, it'll be weird if Samus did use a Smash Ball to fix her suit… Well, see what will happen for that, okay? Thanks. :)

So now, we start a new arc: Megaman Legends/64. This game, while being a bit awkward to me, was a nice twist to the original series. I absolutely loved every single moment of it (except some killer dogs from it I don't want to recall right now). Also, if this arc is successful, I might even go do its sequel for the story.

To me, it feels weird that we're going to start the long line of Megaman games with a different variation of it rather than the original, but, meh, that's okay with me. It'd be too predictable otherwise.

In this chapter, we'll see what happens in the briefing and how the Smashers cope with the new world. Also, take in mind there was a slight time skip, but nothing important happened during that time. I hope the story itself explains why.

A poll has opened, so please, if you want, vote as soon as you can.

With that away, I encourage monkey-dancing fans to read and review. ;)

Disclaimer: We're not responsible for people thinking about Legos during the remainder of this chapter.

Chapter 170: Digging for Refracting Treasure

February 14 - Saturday – Afternoon

-Subspace-
Deep Inside the Great Maze

Over a month had passed ever since the Subspace Army tried to make a move to destroy a Temple of Gaia, which had ended in failure, much for Dr. Eggman's dismay. Tabuu had called everyone for another meeting at the realm of swirling darkness where he himself had not appeared yet, leaving the others to discuss things with each other.

"So we ended up waiting a long time now," Bowser said, crossing his arms. "Why did we wait such an awful lot of time now? I want to do something again!"

"Well, if you forgot, the perpetrator that slowed down pretty much everything at the factory made things go nuts," Charizard pointed out. "Also, the Shadow Bugs aren't being drained out properly...right?"

"Correct," Ganondorf said. "We must not go out and destroy a temple without the aid of the Shadow Nightmares that Doctor Eggman has been creating."

"I think we risk a little bit TOO much on those things," Dedede commented. "Why, they don't get the damn job done!"

"Must you be so absent minded?" Ganondorf asked sternly. "The Shadow Nightmares have become another way for us to deal with those idiots. We personally think that they provide much more help than our conventional means."

Bowser rolled his eyes. "And yet they haven't done so much."

"Nevertheless, we will wait for the day they kill off the scum," Ganondorf said before smirking. "Or...perhaps the King of Koopas would like to have the opportunity to command a Shadow Nightmare for once?"

The Koopa King blinked shocked at the offer. Using his sharp claws to rub his thick chin, Bowser thought about the offer. "Hmm, I could throw one of those at those pesky plumbers... Alright!" he said, pumping up a fist. "I want to use one of those monsters and see how they break Mario and the green stache emotionally! I want to see them both crying with my own eyes, then I'll beat them up to the bloody pulps they needed to become for a long time now!"

"Just let me convince Doctor Eggman to give you a Shadow Nightmare," Ganondorf said. "He should be finishing one by now."

"Sweet, I can't wait to see how Mario embraces himself in extreme fear and cry on his overalls to see what he's been trying to hide from everyone..." Bowser muttered with joy at the thought.

"Hey, losers! Yeah, you, I'm talking to you, losers!"

The villains turned to the south(?) and saw a spider machine stomping the ground with its claws, an angry old Porky grunting loudly while some red sparks radiated from his machine. "Who are you again?" Dedede asked.

"Hahahahah, very funny, dude!" Porky said angrily. "I hope you guys have been enjoying going out fighting those bastards, 'cuz I'm here to force you to bring me on the next mission!"

The villains looked at each other. "...I don't really know if we should let him come with us," muttered Charizard skeptically.

"You, lizard, I heard that! I'm not THAT deaf!" Porky yelled angrily. "You people are irritating, but you aren't as irritating like my number one and two super-arch-mega-baddie-enemies: Ness and the chicken Lucas!"

Bowser rolled his eyes. "So, you want to come?"

"That is what I'm trying to say here!" Porky yelled. "My fans out there wanna see more Porky awesomeness from little cute me, and I can't let them down! There's nooooooooo way I'm gonna be a lazy bum and let all of you go out and have fun beating on those guys!"

Ganondorf pressed his brow. "Such a childish bickering from a noisy fool like you..."

"What was that, alien-skinned guy?"

The Gerudo King stared at Porky. "If you wish to come along, then ask Tabuu personally. We do not have the power to let you come with us, let alone go somewhere else. Tabuu is the one who decides what to do here."

"Well, if that's so, then we're the digital old man?" Porky asked.

Right after asking about Tabuu, the embodiment of the Subspace appeared before them, suspended in the air. "Sorry for interrupting, but did somebody call me?" Tabuu asked.

Dedede looked bored. "I can tell ya're just jokin' with that question..."

"Well, that is a good guess," Tabuu remarked before turning to Porky. "I heard that you wanted to go to the next location of the Temple of Gaia, correct?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Porky said repeatedly. "I wanna have another chance at making Ness worship me and make Lucas cry like the little blondy baby he is, please!"

"I have to say that your reasons for being here are utterly not worth my time."

"H-hey, everyone has different goals! Respect that!"

"Very well," Tabuu said. "Bowser and Porky will be sent to the next Temple of Gaia. Doctor Eggman has found the location of the next temple."

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. "He found the next temple just now? That is what I call punctuality."

"After our last failed mission, I do not wish to see more failures coming from any of you," Tabuu said. "We must eliminate the temples before the Smashers restore the continents. I do NOT want any of you to leave another Shadow Nightmare behind this time. I want you to actually stay there and destroy the temples before leaving."

Charizard thought a bit. "But those freaky shadows want us to leave before we get hurt by them. Isn't there some way to make them hostile only towards our enemies?"

"Doctor Eggman has been trying to force the shadow to listen to our orders," said Tabuu. "It is perhaps the hardest process he can mess with. It is harder for him to fulfill that particular task. However, he said there should not be any difficulties with the next Shadow Nightmare he has in reserve...or should I say two Shadow Nightmares."

The villains looked at each other at the news. "He made two this time?" Dedede asked.

"The Ancient Minister is currently trying to figure out how to make the Shadow Bugs pour out from our sources faster. Today, he managed to make the system extract a huge quantity of Shadow Bugs, but as soon as he extracted them out, they stopped coming out from our sources," Tabuu explained. "He is trying to see if he can restore the chambers back to their original states, seeing that he did some progress."

Bowser smirked. "Wouldn't that mean I get to use two Shadow Nightmares?"

"That is exactly as you have said."

Bowser smacked his fists together and smirked evilly at his comrades. "Well, well, looks like it was time for the Koopa King to use not one but TWO of 'em," he said. "That's what I call luck."

"You are lucky, then," Ganondorf stated.

"...Why am I thinking that sounded offensive just now?" Bowser muttered before shaking his head. "A-anyway, I'm on my way to the next Temple of Gaia, where I will CRUSH the entire thing down!"

"And where I will MAKE my rivals beg for mercy!" added Porky. "Duaha, duahahahahahahaaaaa!"

Tabuu nodded. "Do not fail me this time, Bowser. I still remember how you and Wario could not make any significant progress on your last mission."

Bowser sulked at this. "Not my fault some girl took off with my precious shell of awesome..."

"...Just...leave and prepare yourselves," Tabuu said disgusted, while Bowser chuckled darkly with Porky before both of them walked away into the darkness.

Dedede looked bored towards Wario, who had been lying down on the cracked floor all this time. "Ya lazy off should do somethin'!" Dedede said annoyed.

"Meh, I'll just go and polish Stephanie a bit more," Wario said, rolling forward to stand up and walk away.

Charizard frowned. "Weirdo," he muttered.

-Subspace Bomb Factory-
Shadow Bug Generator Room

"Well, it was nice move of you to suck those bugs out of them, right?" Dr. Eggman asked with amusement as he and the Ancient Minister stood in front of the chambers where multiple Mr. Game & Watches were being suspended in midair.

"Yes, it was," the minister said. "We might even fix this whole problem very soon."

"That's good to hear," Dr. Eggman said, turning to the left where the exit waited for him. "Now, I'll prepare the Shadow Nightmare to be brought to the next location. According to the information given by my computer, the next temple is the Shamar Temple... That means I'll have to bring two more guardians."

The Ancient Minister nodded, not saying anything else as Dr. Eggman left the room through the sliding double doors. "(...Unfortunately, my time is almost up... but, fortunately... it could bring me a chance to finally...)"

The minister kept thinking to himself in solitude, staring at the real Mr. Game & Watch.

-Smash Mansion-
Kitchen

"Oh god...oh my...oh goodness...I think I just stepped into heaven...because this is just too...delicious!"

"Did my strawberry cake come out good?"

"Y-yes, it's so tasty. I've never had something this good before..."

"Heheheh, I'm glad you liked it."

And Chris (in his Musician job) kept eating a nicely, well-made strawberry cake that Peach had finished recently. Next to the happy teenager, a happy Kirby slowly eat a slice of the cake with two forks. Surprisingly enough, the young Star Warrior learned from Meta Knight to slow down his eating, which seemed to be working for the time being. Naturally, Mario and Luigi were both eating the cake, tasting it with delight.

Of course, since Chris was there, Lucario decided to join in, tasting the sweet-flavored cake with his trainer, just sitting to his right, wagging his tail slowly to the sides.

Peach, who stood across the table, looked very happy as the three kept eating. "I worked hard enough on the cake," she said, looking at said cake lying down on a round plate just between her and the three. "You should be lucky because I hardly ever have a chance to make one myself."

Chris swallowed a small piece and looked at her. "Why?"

Peach smiled nervously. "It's just that, back at the castle, the chefs would refuse if I wanted to make a cake myself. They said that because I shouldn't be making any cakes because I'm a princess."

"Many people are missing your cakes," Mario said. "Remember? You invited us to a party last time where you baked a cake, and then..."

"B-Bowser kidnapped her...again..." Luigi shuddered at the thought.

Lucario stopped eating and looked at Peach. "Don't you get tired of being kidnapped?"

"Sometimes...but I did go to my own adventure," Peach admitted. "Too bad it was just once..."

"(Aww, Peach just has a lot of potential for anything...)" Chris thought dreamily as he ate the cake with delight.

Kirby looked happy as he swallowed the last piece of his cake. He burped a bit and looked confused at an oval object sitting in front of Chris. "Are you eating that?" Kirby asked, holding some excitement.

The teen gasped and grabbed the oval object. "N-no, I don't have this just for somebody like you to eat it!" Chris yelled. "D-don't think about eating it, Kirby, because I need this for a grade!"

"A grade?" Luigi asked.

The World Traveler slowly uncovered the oval object, revealing it to be an egg with a drawn face on it. "I-it's just that this egg is important to me," Chris said. "This egg is for my psychology class. The teacher asked us to take care of an egg, which she signed, to see if we could be careful with it. If this little egg breaks up, I'm done for, and my grade gets hurt with a huge zero," he said.

Kirby looked at the funny-looking drawn face on the egg. The face itself was weird since the eyes were half-closed, looking away as the mouth was half-open, making the face look a bit crazy. "Did you draw the face?"

Chris looked at the egg's face. "Oh...I based the face's drawing on the awesome smiley..." He blushed a bit at this.

"...Awesome...smiley?" Peach said confused.

"A goofy-looking smile that you can find in the internet," Chris explained. "I thought it'd be funny to draw it on my egg..."

Mario nodded. "Did you name the egg?"

"Eggy Jr. the Fourth."

Silence...

"...The fourth?" Luigi asked, breaking the silence. "Were there others before it?"

"U-um, no. I just thought the first random name that came into my mind was good enough for the egg... I-in any case, this egg must NOT be broken by any means," Chris said. "This month has been becoming quite a pain for me to bear because homework ONCE again attacked me, and this little egg isn't going to make my life even harder and dangerous. So, if you can, DON'T BREAK EGGY, okay?" he asked with emphasis. "One little crack and my grade is a total goner."

Kirby shifted his eyes. "...You can replace it if it breaks, right?"

"No..." Chris trailed off, showing them the egg's underneath where a difficult sign was drawn on it. "See the little sign? That's the teacher's sign. Replacing this egg with another one isn't going to change anything because of the sign so my teacher doesn't get fooled."

Mario shrugged and resumed eating his cake. "Wish we don't go on a mission today. Bringing that egg with you would be such a hassle."

"I know," Chris said with a sigh. "I can't leave the egg behind with somebody, sadly. I should be the one looking after it. Besides...if I can take care of the egg, then it'd give me a good chance of becoming a good parent in the near future."

Lucario instantly thought about raising Chris's future children. The Aura Pokémon growled happily, as he imagined himself looking after babies who would get excited by just looking at him.

"For now, it's just Eggy," Chris said with a sigh. "I hope a chicken comes out of it..." he muttered.

"That aside," began Mario, "have you heard about Snake?"

"Hmm, not really," Chris said. "Snake hasn't even said a single word to us when he left the place for a while. He must really think that he needs a rest badly, though... Why'd he go to a frigid place like Alaska is beyond me..." He gasped. "M-maybe he's being attacked by mountain wolves as we speak, and he's calling out for help, but his cries for help triggered an avalanche that buried him with the hungry wolves, and he's freezing to death!"

Peach gasped. "We need to save him!" she exclaimed, worried.

"Peach, everyone, calm down," Mario said. "Snake is surely okay. He wouldn't just go somewhere dangerous. We need to remind ourselves that he's not stupid."

Peach sighed in relief. "I was worried for a second..."

"I highly doubt Snake would be in trouble," Lucario commented, snapping out from his thoughts.

"Maybe you're right..." Luigi muttered. "Doesn't he hate us?"

"Yes, he does..." Mario muttered. "He's starting to open up to us, though. As long as we don't bother him, everything is going to be just fine. Be glad he wasn't like any of the other villains when we lived together."

And Chris knew he had to ask.

"That reminds me," Chris began, "did all of you live with Bowser and Ganondorf? How did they live here? I personally think it was like having a convict hiding in the house waiting to kill their victims..."

Mario thought for a second. "Well, one thing I can tell you for sure about this is that they certainly didn't make any trouble."

"They didn't?"

"No, they didn't," Mario said. "They mostly stayed here because they would bring pain to everyone as many times as they liked. None of us ever tried to get along with them simply because they'd shrug us off or curse our names."

Chris looked worried as the others resumed eating, Peach sitting on a chair. "That sounds bad..." Chris muttered.

"And it was a very tricky situation because Link would have to spy on Ganondorf and make sure he wasn't planning something fishy, but it always ended with both of them breaking into a fight somewhere in the mansion," Mario said. "Worse yet, it'd make the others break into a fight as well if they ever got to help either one, mostly being Link."

"...Is everyone here that...passionate about battles?"

"It's just that accidents tend to make anyone mad here," Mario said. "Long story short, nobody ever did spend time with either of them. Sometimes I think I could get along with Bowser, but more often I think he'd hang me..."

Luigi shook his head before shrugging. "L-living with your enemy is like you're trying to survive every day..."

Out a cue, Chris looked to his right where a passing Wolf walked towards the exit, purposely bumping shoulders against Fox who had walked to the lupine's opposite direction. Wolf and Fox shot glares at each other before walking away to their desired paths. "I think I know what you mean by that..." Chris muttered.

"Some of them can change for the better, though," Mario said. "Others...well, they just can't turn over a new leaf. Because once they smile at you, once you turn your back on them... they'll finish you off from behind."

Everyone stared shocked at Mario.

"...I'm just telling the truth," Mario said. "That's happened to me already..."

"..." Everyone looked at each other. After a brief moment of silence, they all returned to eat while Mario looked embarrassed at his little explanation.

Not long after returning to eat, the alarms blared off quite loudly, starting all of them. "We have found another Temple of Gaia!" Tails announced. "Quick, report to the command room immediately! I repeat, report to the command room immediately, guys!"

"You didn't say 'guys' before!" yelled Crazy Hand.

"T-they know what I mean!" Tails yelled, the alarms suddenly shutting down.

Mario pushed his chair away and stood on the floor. "Well, what do you know? We have work to do. Are you sure you're going to bring that egg?"

Chris grabbed his egg, pushed his chair, and stood up, Lucario doing the same. "I need to take care of it," Chris said. "I don't want to leave it behind with everyone in here. What if DK tries to eat it, or what if Diddy juggles it?"

"Okay, if you say so..." Mario muttered before the others joined them and ran to the command room...

...And Chris came back in to get a piece of the strawberry cake. The musician rejoiced and ran away...

...And then Kirby came back in, jumped to the table, and swallowed the rest of the cake with one move, satisfying his stomach before jumping back to the floor where he ran away to the command room.

Command Room

Soon, everyone had gathered in the room full of computers. Master Hand, as always, was floating in front of all of them to give a summary of the situation. "After a whole month, we've located the next temple, guys," he said. "Tails, would you care to show us the next temple's whereabouts?"

Tails, who was sitting at the same chair from last time, nodded and displayed the next location, this time being an island in the middle of the ocean. "According to the readings, a Temple of Gaia's energy is radiating from somewhere in this island," he said. "It must be the Shamar Temple."

Master Hand took out a sheet of paper. "And according to this little piece of paper, this is the status of this world."

Megaman Legends/64
Current Status: Marlwolf's Defeat
Race: Humans
Number of protagonists: 3
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Explorer skills, only humans (and special conditioned characters) may be allowed to go

Chris rubbed his head at the mention of the world. "Hmm, it's been a long time ever since I heard about that game before... I don't know remember much about it anymore."

Final Fantasy VIII - Timber Owls

"Okay, everyone, prepare yourselves for the next mission," Master Hand said. "We've got two temples down, and there are five more to go. Don't let me down with this one."

Soon, everyone began talking with each other. While this happened, Chris decided to think about whom he should take to the next world. "Only humans can go," he said. "But then again, I can bring special conditioned characters: Kirby, Meta Knight, and Sonic or any of his friends... Well, first, I'll go ask Kirby."

The World Traveler went to the Star Warrior, who still looked pleased at the cake he had eaten before. Kirby looked up at Chris, smiling happily. "You want me to go?" Kirby asked.

"(I need to resist his smile!)" Chris thought, twitching a bit. "(It makes him a lot more hug-gable than before! God, this is the hardest trial I've ever faced before!) Yes," Chris said simply, shaking off the thought. "It was time for you to come, Kirby."

Kirby looked happier, making Chris try to avoid the thought about hugging him. Surely, nothing else could make things much worse for Chris... "Yay!" Kirby rejoiced.

And Chris ducked down and hugged Kirby tightly, Kirby returning the hug without minding at all. The World Traveler went as far as to cuddle the little Star Warrior before letting go of him. Chris stood up, sighed loudly in his mind, and looked down at the happy Kirby. "(WHEW! That's done with...)" Chris thought. "W-well, I'll call you in a few, Kirby. Wait here."

Kirby nodded, chuckling. The World Traveler didn't want to stay any longer with Kirby to hug him once more. One hug was everything Chris needed to do with Kirby.

Next, he walked up to Ness and Lucas, who were just talking to each other by the time he walked to them. "So, Chris," began Ness, "do you know anything about this world?"

Chris pressed his brow. "Just very little," he said, stopping pressing his brow. "The only thing I recall about this world is that there's an incarnation of Megaman in there?"

"Incarnation?" Lucas asked curiously.

"You see...Capcom, the company where Megaman comes from, has had an ongoing trend to make many different kinds of Megaman based on the very first one," Chris explained. "And because of that, there are a lot of them like the one in that world."

"Aah, so they squeeze a lot out of the original guy," Ness said nodding. "That doesn't make things confusing, right?"

"I'm not so sure," Chris said unsure. "Some of them do follow the original storyline, but others have their own storyline that differs a lot from the others. I personally think it's a very innovating idea."

"So...is this Megaman the original one?" Lucas asked.

"No... This Megaman has his own storyline," Chris said. "I could say this one is more human than the other ones because, technically speaking, the others are more robotic."

"Then the original one must be a robot, right?" Ness asked.

"Yes."

"Ooh, and let me guess: these robots have emotions, right?"

"Yes..."

"And there are some other robots that take advantage of their emotions and try to destroy humanity as it is."

"...Yes..."

"Thought so," Ness said, snapping his fingers. "It's the typical tale with robots having emotions."

Chris sweat dropped. "A-at least you can say Megaman was one of the earliest robots to do this..."

"Well, he might have originated this whole deal about robots having emotions," Ness said. "I'm already pretty excited to see more about this."

"M-me too," Lucas said. "...There aren't any killer robots there, right?"

"Er..." Chris trailed off, worried about making Lucas unsure about going to that world.

Lucas knew the response was going to be an affirmative one, so he gulped and forced a smile. "I-it's okay," he muttered. "I can handle all this just fine, you two..."

Ness sighed. "Lucas, you're still trying to become brave, right?"

"I-I'm trying my best!" Lucas replied. "D-don't push me, Ness! I-I'm doing this little by little!"

"Okay, okay, I understand," Ness said. "Don't push yourself too much because you could end up getting hurt so badly."

Lucas whimpered a bit at the thought. Chris looked at Ness. "Ness, I think you're not helping too much here..." he muttered.

Ness looked at Lucas. "I'm sorry if I made you feel scared, Lucas. It wasn't my intention to do that..."

"I-it's all good," Lucas said with a gulp. "I-I can do this just fine...just like I said before..."

Ness waved a hand at Chris. "He'll be fine. If he gets in trouble, he knows he has us for help."

Chris nodded. "Okay, then I'll call you both when we're ready," he said before leaving the PK users talking to each other.

Next up, he approached Ike, who seemed to be in deep thought about something. Tilting his head, Chris looked confused at the ranger. "Um, Ike?"

Ike snapped out from his thoughts. "Oh, it's you," Ike said. "Are you here to request my aid, Chris?"

"That's what I was thinking," Chris said. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure," Ike said. "If you were asking why I was thinking just now, it was because I'm a bit concerned about Dark Gaia."

"Wow, I thought nobody was going to think about that beast of hell," Chris said.

"You know, if we ended up fighting Dark Gaia...would we win?" Ike asked. "Dark Gaia is supposed to be a deity. Deities are known for being far superior to any common person like us. What would happen if we ended up going against someone as powerful as Dark Gaia?"

Chris looked away. "I-I'm not so sure if I should be worrying about that," he said. "In the original storyline, Sonic and Chip faced Dark Gaia after they couldn't place the last continent back into the planet...but, since Sonic's storyline will OBVIOUSLY become our mission to defeat Tabuu a lot harder...we need to restore all the temples before facing Dark Gaia."

Ike nodded. "Correct. If we restore all the temples, Dark Gaia would stop from coming out from the world and destroy everything, and then we wouldn't have to go through with a battle against it." He smiled a bit and nodded. "You've got to thank everything and everyone has a fatal flaw."

The World Traveler recalled Otacon's words. "Nothing can be complete without a character flaw, you know."

"But whatever flaw is that, anyone will try so hard to hide it so they show off and say 'I'm so invincible and you aren't, ha-ha' when you're not going any damage."

"...Okay," Chris said.

"I'd suggest exploiting that flaw till the enemy goes down," Ike suggested. "As for today, I'll be ready for whatever event comes by," Ike said. "Well, call me when we're ready."

The World Traveler nodded at the ranger. Turning away, Chris decided to go talk with Mario, Luigi, and Peach; the latter Chris thought that he was worried of asking to come.

"I want to come," Peach said seriously and sure about herself, not giving Chris a chance to speak at all, as she knew what the World Traveler was to going to ask them all. Mario and Luigi exchanged shocked looks with each other after listening to this.

Chris's expression would have been a sight to behold since he mentally cursed himself as many times as he could after hearing Peach's decision. "M-my god, Peach, I haven't even asked you and you already said yes?" Chris asked in pure disbelief.

The musician would have been scared to see Peach's serious expression. "..."

And the mushroom princess quickly dropped her serious expression for a worried one.

"W-well...I just thought it was time for me to do something..." she said spoke softly.

Mario, Luigi, and Chris sighed in unison.

"...But I still want to do it."

Peach didn't know how well she put everyone around her so frightened at the thought about forcing herself into the battle, being a little oblivious herself. The trio looked worried at her, Luigi placing his hands on her right shoulder. "P-Peach, are you SURE about this?" he asked with a gulp. "I-I can't imagine you going into a fight where you'll get hurt!"

"Me too!" Chris spoke quickly.

Mario nodded. "I'll be honest, Peach, when I'm saying that you could be in danger."

Peach looked at the trio. "But aren't we all in danger?" she asked, making a point. "There's no use if I stay sitting here without doing anything. Everyone is trying their hardest to face the Subspace Army... I just can't let everyone do it while I'm away from you."

Mario sighed and looked at Chris. "She made up her mind. You can't say no to her now."

Luigi gasped at this. "M-Mario, you can't be serious! You're putting the princess in danger!"

"B-but I want to be in danger!" Peach argued.

The statement sounded a little bit twisted itself, causing a dead silence to fall between the four.

Peach looked down in embarrassment, holding onto her long pink skirt with both hands. "I'm sorry for raising my voice..." she muttered, "but...I want to go, you two..."

Mario and Luigi looked worried at the proposal. The two plumbers looked at Chris. "If she's going, we'll go," Mario said. "It's the least we can do to make sure she stays safe during the battles."

"(I'm going to die first before I get to shield her!)" Luigi thought, crying mentally. "Y-yes, what he said… I-I don't want Peach to get hurt."

The decisions made Peach look up and smile happily at the two, who she gave a group hug. "Mario, Luigi, thank you so much," she said, making both plumbers blush. "I know I can always count on you two the most, and that also includes Chris and the others."

Both plumbers hugged her tightly. "Don't fight when things get worse, okay?" Mario asked.

"But if they do get worse, I'll find a way to help no matter what," Peach said. "I won't let anyone get hurt either."

Luigi sniffed sadly. "P-Peach, don't say those things, please! I don't want to think about bad stuff happening to us!"

"I won't, then," Peach said while the three chuckled heartily, ignoring that Chris was standing in front of them.

"(If I only had a camera, I'd have a million dollar picture with these three hugging each other like this,)" Chris though before snapping out the thought away. "O-okay, I'll call all of you when we're ready," he told them; despite the fact the three were still chuckling heartily.

And, since the mission involved a temple from Sonic's world, Chris had to go and ask Sonic to come along. The World Traveler made his way to the hedgehog, who was accompanied with Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Big, who were all staring at Chip flying in the air in front of them without showing any signs of emotion. "...Oh god, is he still like this?" Chris asked, staring at Chip.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, Chip hasn't been moving for a whole month. It's really ridiculous when you think about it, but the poor guy hasn't even eaten anything yet. Why, he hasn't even blinked, moved, or breathed at all! It's so freaky."

"I'm worried that he becomes a statue if he keeps going like this," Cream said, a little bit oblivious of the results.

Knuckles sighed. "Guys, he's just making a fool out of himself," he said. "He's surely playing some kind of trick to us."

"Is he, though?" Tails asked, tilting his head to the side. "I'm pretty sure something must've happened to make him stay still like this..."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "The question is what, though..."

"Hmm, maybe he became really still," Big said without thinking much.

The musician thought about the situation. He recalled what had happened a month ago, and that was when he recalled. "Chip...you're not still accepting the fact that...she was going to...well...die...right?"

"...Yeah," Chip suddenly spoke, blinking his eyes. "Ever since that day, Chip Norris hasn't overcome that really hard trial... And that means Chip Norris died!" he proclaimed, making a serious face after a long time. "Today, a new Chip is reborn!"

Sonic crossed his arms and stared at Chip. "Geez, what are you gonna do this time, Chip?"

"This," Chip said, taking out a black vest that he put on together with sunglasses. He also combed his hair back so he would look tough.

Cream and Cheese looked excited as the imp kept staring forward. "Oh, oh, who are you trying to be now?" Cream asked in excitement.

"Ma'am, I'm not trying to be anybody," Chip said. "I am myself."

Big gasped. "I...I didn't know you were yourself."

Amy rolled her eyes at Big's surprise. "Okay, Chip, can you tell us your next name?"

"Call me...Chipminator," Chip said, crossing his arms. "Those Shadow Nightmares will be Chipminated when all this is over with."

Knuckles kept staring at the imp. "...You really like to change names a lot, don't you?" he asked bored.

"I have the full authority to do it," Chip said, still staring forward. "My only purpose in life is to exterminate the Nightmares, my brother's servants of darkness. They won't stand a chance against me, Chipminator, after I recover my powers as Light Gaia."

Sonic looked interested, despite the fact this was probably the only persona Chip would adopt to stay closer as a job as the supposed deity. "Oh, so what powers are those?"

"Merge temples together and make the Gaia Colossus."

"What else is there?"

"That's pretty much it."

Dead silence...and Big saw a withered plant rolling by.

"...Cough-cough-boring-cough," Sonic coughed.

Chip sneered a bit at this. "You shall see how I act, Sonic. Mark my words."

Chris looked annoyed at Sonic. "Did he steal those videos I have? I just noticed many of my library's movies are gone."

"Yeah, he took 'em all by himself a long time ago," Sonic said. "The guy's been watching all of them nonstop before he began adopting those names he comes up with."

The musician frowned at this. "Next time, you'll see how he becomes Chip Hitler..."

"It was a very nice title, but I dropped that name," Chip said. "Chipminator sounds much cooler."

"...I'll...just go over to Crazy Hand's shop..." Chris muttered, slowly backing away before a hand grabbed his right shoulder. The musician looked at the hand to see Big looking at him. "Oh, Big...is something wrong?"

Big pulled back his hand. "I wanna go with all of you," he said. "I want to see if I can find Froggy again..." His ears drooped down in shame as he looked down at the floor. "It's been a month ever since Froggy got kidnapped by Dr. Eggman..."

Chris felt a bit of sympathy for the big cat. "Oh, right, I forgot you were here in hopes to see Froggy again..."

Big sniffed sadly, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "P-please, let me come along, too. I just want to have Froggy back with me. I won't rest until I see him again. The poor guy must be really scared right now, being so far away from home..."

"I...don't know, Big..." Chris muttered. "We're already too many, and we can't choose more people to come with us..." He turned towards Master Hand's direction. "Master Hand, is it alright if I take one more person with us even if have a full party?"

"Well, Big isn't a fighter, so...okay, you can bring him," Master Hand said.

The World Traveler turned and smiled to Big. "You're lucky because you ca-" Chris gasped as he saw Big starting to sob rather loudly, making some Smashers look at him. The musician walked behind the cat and patted his back. "C-cheer up, Big! I-I already said you could come with us! I-I'll find Froggy with you if you want! E-everyone will help out as well!"

Big looked down at Chris. "D-do you mean it?"

"I-I mean it, Big. I can't stand seeing someone crying because they lost a friend. I-in a way, I think we can relate each other very WELL!" he yelled suddenly after Big gave him a rather strong hug.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Big rejoiced, not noticing he was crushing Chris's back while doing so. "You made me so super happy, Chris! Now I know Froggy will come back sooner, right, right, right?"

"I-I k-know h-he w-will..." Chris stuttered in pain. "S-so p-please...s-stop...h-hugging m-me...b-before I-I...g-get...k-killed...B-Big...p-please..."

Big let go of Chris, the latter falling down to the floor where he caught his breath back. "Thank you, Chris," Big said happily. "You promise Froggy will return?"

"I-I...can't...promise anything..." Chris muttered weakly on the floor. "...I-I'll...do it..."

"Thank you," Big said nodding.

The World Traveler slowly stood up, panting heavily. "(D-damn, Big doesn't know his strength very much...)" he thought, slowly backing away from the oblivious and happy Big. "I-I'll call you...s-so wait there, you..."

"Got it," Big said simply.

With eight people ready to be called, the World Traveler made his way to Crazy Hand's counter where he dropped on it, still trying to catch his breath. "H-hi..." Chris muttered weakly.

"Goodness, you look like somebody strapped a Bob-omb to a nuke and tossed it on you," Crazy Hand said.

"W-what difference does it make by strapping a Bob-omb?"

"The explosion...gets stronger?"

The musician sighed and managed to regain all his breath. "W-whatever, thing is, Big almost made Tabuu's wish come true: kill ONE of us OFF, that person being ME."

"Ah, well, he takes his vitamins, unlike anyone else in here. Ever thought about that, huh?"

"Maybe..." Chris muttered before shaking his head. "I want to see what else I can buy from you, Crazy Hand. Can you show me the list again?"

Crazy Hand handed the World Traveler the inventory list. "Here you go."

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities - Items

Smash Coins in hands: 7201

"I think I'm going to see what I can buy for the people I decided to choose...so I'm going to ask Mario come over here," Chris said before getting Mario to come. "Mario, it's your turn to buy something from your list of skills. What would you like to buy?"

Mario looked at the list.

-Smashers Abilities

-Mario

Super Dodge - 1000 Smash Coins

Mario can perform Super Dodge, which will save him from being hurt by any kind of attack right after connecting with him. However, Mario needs to use this RIGHT after an attack connects with him, otherwise he'll be hurt. Not only will he dodge with a spin, but he will also counterattack any physical attack, doing minor damage and staggering the foe long enough for him to attack back.

Appeal - 2000 Smash Coins

Allows Mario to appeal the public watching all fights he's in by doing stylish maneuvers, getting the opportunity to gain extra items or even let the audience help by tossing hazardous stuff at the enemies. Warning: should Mario fail to appeal, the public might end up tossing rocks at him.

FLUDD Devices - 3000 Smash Coins

Allows Mario's FLUDD to change applications between Hover Nozzle, Turbo Nozzle, and Rocket Nozzle, without having to find the applications.

Bros. Attacks: Mario - 5000 Smash Coins

Allows Mario to join forces with Luigi and perform any of Mario's Bros. Attacks introduced in Superstar Saga: Splash Bros., Chopper Bros., Fire Bros., and Swing Bros. This ability also allows Mario to wield a hammer.

Resist lvl. 1: Fire - 1000 Smash Coins

Mario will reduce any received fire based attack by two-thirds (2/3)

"Good, good memories," Mario said, reminiscing many different events in his life.

"(Good, good games,)" Chris said, reminiscing many different times where he played all those games.

Mario pointed a finger at one of the abilities. "I'd like to buy Super Dodge, and Appeal, please."

"Oh well," Chris said. "Those are cheap for me," he commented, giving Crazy Hand 3000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 4201.

Mario looked at Chris. "Why don't you let Luigi get something, Chris?" he suggested. "I think he'd be sure of himself if he gained another ability."

"Well...I guess you're right," Chris said. "Call him over, Mario, please."

"Will do," Mario said, walking away towards his rather worried brother.

Luigi came back and forced a smile. "C-can I get something from here?"

"YOU DON'T GET ANYTHING FROM ME!" Crazy Hand yelled in a booming voice, making Luigi faint instantly while Chris backed away from the insane hand. "...You buy anything you want," Crazy Hand added happily.

"You just LOVE to scare the heck out of Luigi, don't you?" Master Hand asked.

"...Yup."

Chris frowned at this and ducked down to slap Luigi on his face. "Luigi, wake up! Crazy Hand was just playing...um...playing, of course!"

"...Luigi's not available," Luigi muttered. "Please check after the ring tone. Bzzzzzz."

"Luigi..." Chris muttered.

After Luigi regained his composure, the green plumber took a glance of the insane hand, gulped, and looked to the list. "(H-he's not going to kill me still, right?)" Luigi thought in fear of Crazy Hand.

-Luigi

Thunderhand - 1000 Smash Coins

"I want this one, please, please, please, please!" Luigi pleaded.

"Luigi, we haven't even got to the description part yet!" Chris interrupted.

"Aww..."

"That also includes the other abilities, so please; see them all first before choosing one... I'm not scolding you or anything, sorry..."

"...Okay..." Luigi muttered.

Luigi will use Thunderhand, an ability introduced in Superstar Saga. With this, Luigi can charge up his hands and zap an enemy. Warning: charging this too much will cause the attack's damage to be reduced drastically, and Luigi will get hurt a bit as well.

Poltergust 3000 - 2800 Smash Coins

Allows Luigi to use the Poltergust 3000 with all three elemental attributes (fire, water, and ice) available, and the typical vacuum-sucking ability, which has the possibility to suck projectiles and return them back to the enemy.

Bros. Attacks: Luigi - 5000 Smash Coins

Allows Luigi to join forces with Mario and perform any of Luigi's Bros. Attacks introduced in Superstar Saga: Bounce Bros., Knockback Bros., Thunder Bros., and Cyclone Bros. This ability also allows Luigi to wield a hammer.

Resist lvl. 1: Thunder - 1000 Smash Coins

Luigi will reduce any thunder based attacks by two-thirds (2/3)

Resist lvl. 1: Water - 1000 Smash Coins

Luigi will reduce any water based attacks by a third (1/3)

"...I don't understand," Luigi said. "Why is it that my Poltergust costs a little bit too much?"

"Oh, well, we called E. Gadd to lend us his Poltergust 3000, because the Superpoltergust 3001 was already being used," Crazy Hand explained. "Actually, he just made a different Poltergust, which is the one we have here. But, anyhow, he said he added those three elemental functions in there, but he ALSO said that it was too much work for him to do that, so he asked us to raise the price a little bit."

"...That...that's...t-that's a bit too greedy!" Luigi complained. "I-I'm certainly the only one from everyone here who has their second ability a little bit too overpriced!"

"You are," Crazy Hand pointed out.

Luigi's right eye twitched at this.

"...Oh, oh, oh, wait, I meant to mutter that so you'd ask what I said, not say it aloud," Crazy Hand said. "Okay, okay, let me try this again."

"Crazy Hand...I think it's a little bit too late for that now," Chris said with a frown.

Luigi looked down in depression.

"Aww, no!" Crazy Hand groaned aloud. "I wanted to make a joke out of that!"

Luigi kept looking down, a finger slowly reaching out over an ability. "I want to get...buy this one...please..." he trailed off, his finger pointing on the first defensive ability.

Chris gave 1000 Smash Coins to Crazy Hand. Seeing that Luigi looked depressed, Chris, out of sympathy, told Crazy Hand to get the first ability as well. "Also, get the Thunderhand ability, please."

At this little mention, Luigi looked up and watched as Chris gave Crazy Hand another 1000 Smash Coins, reducing the amount to 2201 Smash Coins. "B-but..." Luigi stammered a bit.

The World Traveler looked at Luigi. "I think you deserved it, Luigi. I didn't want you to look so down."

The green plumber sniffed a bit and wiped out a tear from his left eye. Smiling a bit, he hugged Chris tightly and patted his back. "T-thank you," he whispered, Chris returning the hug before Luigi began crying loudly.

"L-Luigi, don't get so moved!" Chris yelled, noticing most of the Smashers were looking at their way. "Everyone's watching!"

Luigi stopped hugging the musician, wiping out even more tears from his eyes. He took out a napkin and blew his nose on it. "O-okay, I'll be strong...emotionally," Luigi said, throwing the napkin away. He then started to charge electricity in his hand to create a small ball of lightning. "H-hopefully with this, I'll become stron-"

The little ball of electricity exploded a little bit too strong despite its size, causing Luigi to be engulfed in smoke while Chris backed away from the thick cloud of smoke. Once the smoke had cleared away, most Smashers gasped when they saw that Luigi was covered in soot by his own attack. They even saw his rather small pupils on his eyes while his green (or black) hat slipped off and fell down. "...L-Luigi?" Chris asked worried. "...A-are you...okay?"

"..." Luigi released a small cloud of smoke from his mouth before he fell to his knees and then on top of his nose. It was not long before most of the Smashers broke out laughing at the event, causing Chris to panic while he checked on Luigi.

"Luigi! Oh no, not again!" Chris cursed between the echoing laughs.

"...This...isn't just my day...is it?" Luigi muttered on the floor.

"Thank you for your purchases!" Crazy Hand said between the laughs. "Need anything else?"

"H-how can you be asking that in the middle o – wait, you're Crazy Hand, of course you'd do something like that..." Chris muttered, sighing in disbelief at the event.

After a while, the Smashers had calmed down, and the chosen group prepared themselves for the next world. The selected ten stood in front of Master Hand while everyone else stared at the hand as well. "Well, it's time," Master Hand said. "A month without the Subspace Army attacking means that they must have something in hands for us. Be warned of anything they throw at you, got that? The last thing I want from them is something really nasty like...you know what, let's not think about that."

"Thinking about negative stuff is the last thing I want to do right now," Sonic said. "I wanna think we're gonna be just fine."

"We got two temples restored, and we need five more to visit," Mario said. "Let's hope we keep this up."

"Then let's work like we always do," Ike said. "That way, not only will we get to save a temple, we get to see and meet other people out there in all the other worlds."

Chris hummed happily a bit at this. "I like how that sounds now," he said. "Wait for me here, okay, Lucario?"

"I'd like to go with you...but there's no point since I'm not allowed to go in a world full of humans," Lucario said. "Please, do be careful, Chris."

Chris ducked down to pick Kirby, who happily waved his hands up and down. "I have Kirby right here to protect me."

Lucario stared at the happy Kirby. "...Right..."

Kirby forced a glare at Lucario. "I'll eat you," he threatened.

The Aura Pokémon took a step back, knowing that Kirby would suck him very fast. "I-I didn't mean you weren't going to do a good job, Kirby..."

"Hmm," Chris muttered, "you will spend time with Kirby once we get back here, then. You have to watch out for what you say, Lucario."

"Yeah, you're so bad, meanie," Big commented out of nowhere.

Lucario sweat dropped while Kirby looked proud of himself, making the Aura Pokémon think the Star Warrior had a cunning side he could only see. "...Fine," Lucario muttered in boredom.

"Be good, big dog," Ness began amused, "because if you don't behave, you'll get grounded, and you know how steel types are weak against ground attacks. Ha-ha, get it? Grounded? Ground?"

"P-pfft," Lucas stiffed a chuckle, receiving a glare by Lucario, which was ignored completely as Lucas turned to another way.

Luigi chuckled as well, returning to a happier attitude. He got a little bit of confidence because of the joke.

Unfortunately, Lucario gave the Luigi the glare of death, which forced Luigi to become depressed all over again. With a gulp, he tapped Chris's right shoulder and said, "C-can we go now? I-I'm afraid I might be hurt in here if we stay a little bit longer..."

Chris knew why Luigi said that. "Lucario, stop!"

Lucario shook his head, snapping out from his fierce glare. "W-whatever you say, Chris," he said.

Peach forced a smile and rubbed Luigi's hat. "Everything's fine, Luigi, don't be so scared now."

Luigi blushed. "R-right, Peach..."

Sighing, Chris went ahead and opened the portal. A serious Chip flew in front of the group and turned to them. "Let's Chipminate them all," he said in a low tone before flying into the portal.

Big's ears perked up high. "N-no, don't Chipminate Froggy, little guy! H-he never did something bad to you! W-wait for me!" he panicked before running into the portal.

Ness and Lucas exchanged glances before looking at Sonic. "Is he...this absent minded?" Ness asked.

Sonic shrugged. "That's how Big is... I don't know much about him, anyway."

Lucas looked worried. "I think I feel sorry he lost his friend..." He looked serious at the portal. "I-I'm going to go help him!" he said before running into the portal.

Ness rolled his eyes. "Don't you love when your heroic sense kicks in?"

Sonic grinned. "It does so many times that I lost the count," he said, quickly disappearing from sight after running into the portal, Ness following behind.

Chris sighed and looked down at Kirby on his arms. "Something tells me that stuff will happen once we all get on the other side of that portal, Kirby... Please, don't let me fall into insanity," he said before taking out Eggy. "Also, don't let this egg get broken. I want that grade, you know."

Kirby raised a hand and smiled. "Okay!" he said cheerfully.

Chuckling together, both Chris and Kirby stepped into the portal, disappearing from the room.

Mario and Luigi walked and stood on each side of the portal, bowing to Peach. "Princesses first," Mario said.

Peach blushed and chuckled heartily. "You guys..." she trailed off in excitement as she made her way to the other side of the portal, Mario following right after.

Luigi cleared his throat and took a long step into the portal, but he, unfortunately, slipped and fell into the vortex.

Master Hand saw the portal disappearing. "Well, there they go," he said. "I hope we don't get any other incidents like the last time."

Cream looked down sadly.

"I-I mean, t-those were accidents after all!" Master Hand said in panic.

While Cream forced a smile, Knuckles raised his hand. "Hey, hand, can you do me a favor and let me become strong enough to face those enemies everyone else here fights against? The last battle I participated left me dropped dead on the floor!"

The hand thought for a moment. "Well, that is a good point," he remarked. "I think I can fix that with some time in hands... Heheh, get it? Hands? Me being a hand?"

Most Smashers groaned loudly at the joke.

"You guys don't like comedy that much, you know that?" Master Hand asked.

"I'm right with you, bruddha, I'm right with you," Crazy Hand said, making his brother sigh in depression.

Music stops

-Megaman Legends/64-

In a world covered by endless water...

People are forced to eke out a living on the small patches of land that remain above the sea...

The people of this world rely on ancient technology driven by quantum refractors, a powerful energy source. These refractors lie in ancient ruins underground and in the sea and are sought out by explorers called "Diggers"...

These brave explorers are the sole source of refractor energy which has become a cornerstone of the emerging civilizations.

Originally, this was the Diggers' only purpose; to find refractors so that civilization might endure...

However, over the years, the story of an incredible treasure, the legendary Mother Lode, began to be whispered among the Diggers....

The Mother Lode...a treasure so great that were it discovered, it would provide so much power that the world need never fear of running out of energy....

In search of this Mother Lode, Diggers travel from one island to another in their flying machines ever hoping that they'll find what they seek just over the horizon...

Hope...
Despair...
Charity...
Greed...
Duty...
Power...

Who can say what truly motivates the Diggers?

-Kattelox Island-
Clozer Woods

Meanwhile, minutes before the Smashers had entered the portal, in an area where a huge hole resided, several explosions were being set off because of a huge yellow machine blowing up for some reason. Once the machine blew up, a figure went flying in the air just to land hard on the ground, covered all in soot.

In front of the soot-covered figure, a young boy in a blue suit stood several feet away from it. The boy wore the previously mentioned blue suit, which made him look like a robot more than anything else did. The blue suit, however, lacked a blue helmet, which forced the boy with green eyes to reveal his spiked brown hair. Apparently, it looked like the boy in the blue suit had defeated the huge yellow machine, which the figure was piloting.

"Er...are you okay?" he asked the figure. "You don't look so good..."

The soot-covered figure slowly sat up on the ground, staring forward in shock without minding the boy in the blue suit. "How much does he think it costs to build that in the first place? I'll get him if it's the last thing I ever do...I mean..."

The boy in the blue suit looked worried. "W-well, you were trying to steal the ruins' treasure, so I had to..."

Suddenly, from above, a wide elevator lowered down from a huge green battleship hovering in the sky. From the elevator, two small figures looked worried at the figure on the ground. The figures had funny yet cute-looking yellow heads with small blue bodies and yellow pincers as hands. "Master Teisel, are you all right?" asked the first one on the left with worry.

The two figures ran to each side of the figure, who slowly stood up. The both figures began to shake the soot-covered person with worry. "Are you Master Teisel?" asked the second one, doubtful about the person's appearance due to the soot.

The figure that had been forced to leave the machine that was destroyed kept staring forward. The figure was a tall man with long spiky white hair that trailed pointed straight back. He had red eyes and he wore a green suit that didn't exactly have anything worth mentioning. His face was the only visible part of his body that had skin showing out, but he was definitely human. His full name was Teisel Bonne.

Teisel Bonne is a 29-year-old man, leader of a band of rogue pirate Diggers known as the Bonne Family. Being the leader, he commands his other two younger siblings and the whole crew of Servbots. Together, they all search for treasure, stealing them from places where it is prohibited to dig without authorities' permission. Teisel has a very individual laugh he often uses whenever he is excited, which is high pitched and slightly insane in nature. Teisel's behavior is often very uncertain, as he is extreme in his emotions, either being very angry, tearing up and crying, or being extremely excited; rarely, if ever, is he calm.

"This...just won't do for now..." Teisel muttered, still in shock. "No...this place absolutely failed today..."

"Master Teisel, please, cheer up!" one of the small figures said as they leaded the shocked Teisel back to the elevator where he sat down in depression. "We just gotta try harder next time! You aren't seriously going to stop this, right?"

"Yeah, he's right!" the other small figure said smiling. "Master Teisel knows better that the Bonne Family doesn't give up that easily! He is the guy of guys!"

"...You guys..." muttered Teisel.

And after in a brief moment of shock, the Bonne Family member stood up on the elevator and pointed angrily at the boy in the blue suit, who took a step back, thinking Teisel was insane (which was actually true).

"You," Teisel began, "y-you're going to get it next time, blue boy! I'm seriously going to get you! This isn't going to be the last you'll see from the Bonne Family! Just you wait until I get you!"

The boy in the blue suit looked worried; worried about that such an insane guy would follow him. "U-um...okay?" he said, forcing a smile.

"G-g-grr! How can you be smiling at a time like this?" Teisel demanded, stomping his right foot hard on the elevator, causing the small figures to hide behind the iron bar that maintained the elevator attached to the battleship in the air. "Are you trying to tell me that you're a sadist? Why, you little punk!"

"W-wait! I didn't mean I was a sadist!" the boy in the blue suit said in his defense. "Y-you're jus-"

"Look, I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself, but I recognize a sadist when I see it with my own eyes!" Teisel declared. "That's not something I'm going to bother with, though!" He snapped his fingers, giving the order to start pulling back the elevator into the battleship. "Just you wait! You're mine, boy. I'll get you the next time we me-"

Just after the elevator started pulling back into the ship, some kind of vortex appeared right between Teisel and the boy in the blue suit. The two gasped loudly (with the small figures) as the mysterious portal enlarged long enough for somebody to walk in and out.

By this time, the elevator had pulled back into ship, Teisel's words being, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER LODE IS THAT THING?" before the ship flew away from the scene.

Back on the surface, the boy in the blue suit gapped his mouth wide open in shock by seeing the portal swirling a bit above the ground. "Megaman, are you okay?" called a female voice from somewhere. "I'm picking up some kind of energy close to you! It's...it's just too strong! Are you sure everything's okay over there? Did you get the pirates already?"

The boy in the blue suit stuttered a bit. "U-um, Roll, there's some kind of...vortex...just in front of me..." He inspected the portal. "...Yeah, a portal!"

"A portal?" the female voice asked. "What kind of portal is that, anyway? …Wait a minute, a portal? Are you serious, Megaman? T-that doesn't make sense to me! Are you trying to fool me?"

"N-no!" the boy said. "W-why would I fool you right now, Roll? I-I'm serious that there's a portal right in front of me! I-it appeared right after I beat that man named Teisel!"

"O-okay, Megaman, I think I can trust you…" the female voice said skeptically. "…Can you examine it?"

The boy looked worried. "I don't know if it's safe to do it…"

"But what if you leave it like that?" the female voice asked. "Megaman, examine that…portal, please. We don't know what could happen if we leave it alone! Please, do something about it!"

The boy in the blue suit sighed. "Alright, Roll, I'll examine it…"

After his reply of boredom was heard, from the portal, several people came out, making the boy in the blue suit gap his mouth wide. The people that came out were the Smashers, with Luigi coming in by tripping down as he did before. "O-oww!" Luigi moaned in the ground.

Mario helped him to get up. "You're really having a bad day, aren't you, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"Y-yes," Luigi muttered before standing up. "I-I'm going to be just fine, right?"

"Yes, don't worry about that, okay?"

"I-I'll try…"

It was not long before a shot was fired at Luigi's head, making him fall on the ground once again. The Smashers gasped at this, and then followed the direction where the shot came from. They just noticed that the boy in the blue suit held out his right hand, which had turned into some kind of arm cannon with smoke shooting out. The boy looked serious at them, but they could tell that he was kind of nervous. "Y-you people…d-don't move!" he demanded.

Ness groaned. "Oh, SWEET! We're already being menaced by the local police…in blue suits."

Lucas thought worried. "D-didn't we already get thrown in jail before?"

"Oh no, I don't want to be thrown in jail even though I'm clearly a kid! If I get thrown in jail again, I'll start thinking all the worlds out there ar-"

Chris quickly covered Ness's mouth, looking worried at the boy. "W-we…"

"T-tell me," the boy demanded, "tell me you're not here to…um…d-destroy this island or something! I-if you are, I-I'll make sure you get thrown in jail!"

Ness pushed Chris's hand away. "Oh, double SWEET, then!" he complained.

Sonic glared at the boy. "Hey, I'm not gonna be thrown in a jail here. Jails don't have a lot of space, y'know."

"Sonic, I think we don't need to talk about your claustrophobia right now," Mario commented.

"I-I'm not claustrophobic!" Sonic said in his defense. "I just don't like tiny spaces!"

"You're claustrophobic," everyone else said at the same time, even the boy in the blue suit.

"...H-hey, don't get me distracted!" the boy in the blue suit said, aiming his arm cannon at them. "I-I'm going to have to ask you to stay there, otherwise, I'll...do something!"

Despite most of them didn't look threatened, Big covered his head. "Oh no, what are we gonna do? He's gonna hurt us if we don't do something!"

"Big, quiet," Sonic muttered.

Tension grew as the group stared at the wary boy. However, the very same tension was quickly stopped once Peach raised a hand, calling the attention of everyone (and the boy's arm cannon). "P-please, we didn't come here to cause any trouble!" she yelled. "We came here because...because this world...is in danger!"

Once again, the boy's mouth gapped wide while everyone else looked shocked at the princess. Silence took over the atmosphere as everyone stared at Peach with disbelief. "...Oh, crud," muttered Ness in a low-toned voice.

Peach kept staring at the boy for a while. She then noticed what she had say, and she covered her cheeks in embarrassment. "I-I didn't mean to say that...really..." she admitted.

"H-hold on!" the boy began anew, "w-what are you talking about now? A-answer me! This situation is getting a lot harder to understand!"

Ike stepped forward. "Please, listen to us. We didn't come here to hurt anybody mindlessly. If you can lower that...arm cannon..."

"Mega Buster," the boy corrected.

"Yeah, Mega Buster... Lower it, please..."

The boy looked worried before looking serious again. "A-are you going to attack me once I lower my guard?"

"For crying out loud, kid, just lower your weapon!" Sonic complained.

This time, the boy put his left hand over his arm cannon. "I won't if you keep yelling at me!"

"STOP, EVERYONE!"

They all gasped once Lucas burst out of anger at the event. The Nowhere Island resident exchanged worried glances with everyone. "L-Lucas..." Ike trailed off.

"P-please, why do we need to do this?" Lucas asked. "W-why do we need to have all this tension on us? I-I'm really getting angry that this isn't taking us anywhere! Can we just solve things by talking and not by fighting? I don't understand why we need to be so violent!"

Everyone else merely blinked with worry, exchanging even more glances with each other. After some silence took over the air, the boy in the blue suit sighed and frowned. "...Megaman, is everything okay there?" the female voice asked once more.

"Um...yeah, everything's fine, Roll," the boy replied, looking at a small screen on his arm cannon. "Don't worry about it."

"Of course I'm going to worry, Megaman! I mean, you just said some kind of portal appeared before you! It seems the energy disappeared just a moment ago, though... I don't really know what's happening over your end, Megaman, but you need to come back to the city... The mayor has something important to tell you."

The boy looked at the group. After staring at them for a moment, he nodded to himself. "Roger...I'll head back to City Hall... See you there, Roll." He lowered down his arm cannon and bowed to the group. "I'm sorry, but I have to go for now... I don't really know what you guys are going to do, but since you said you weren't going to do something bad to this island, well...don't cause any trouble or else I'll come back to get you..." he said skeptically, turning around towards a long, steep slope that leaded to the surface of the terrain. The boy kept staring at the group for a while before he ran away, climbing up the slope, disappearing from sight.

"..." Chip looked at the group and shook his head. "You guys do a poor job at first impressions. Shame on you, guys, shame-on-you," he said, receiving a downward punch by an annoyed Sonic afterward.

"Man, that was screwed up from our part, I guess," Ike said, scratching the back of his head. "Do you think he's going to come back?"

"I doubt so," Mario commented, helping a sniffing Luigi to get back up once more. "We're not certainly going to cause any more trouble, right?"

"No..." Sonic muttered, an annoyed Chip getting back up from the ground.

Peach sighed and looked down. "It wasn't because of something I said, right?" she asked worried.

"U-um, no," Chris said, forcing a smile. "Besides the fact you probably freaked him out by saying right away about the existence of other worlds..."

Peach frowned to herself.

"...Oh...I-I..."

"It's okay, Chris, I was the one who gave the bad impression..." Peach trailed off before Mario and Luigi patted her back. "Mario, Luigi..."

"Peach, don't take all the blame to yourself. It wasn't your fault, less anyone else's fault," Mario reassured her. "We kind of came in at the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all."

Chris groaned a bit. "But if that's so, then that means I have the whole blame!"

"Yeah, way to go, Chris," Sonic said in boredom.

"S-Sonic, you little bastard! I don't know how to control the portals properly, so don't blame me, okay? I-I'm starting to get the hand of this, you know!"

Kirby looked upset, jumping off from Chris's hand to the ground. The Star Warrior clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "E-everybody, please, calm down!" he pleaded worried. "I-I don't want everyone to look so depressed right now!"

"...Kirby has a point," Ike said nodding. "We're supposed to survey the area and find the next temple somewhere."

"I was starting to forget about that," Ness said, looking around. "...Soooo...here we are at some excavation site...I think..."

Looking around, the group found themselves standing in a big hole, possibly an excavation area as Ness had described before. In the middle of the area, however, a huge thin tower stood far apart from any accessible point to jump to the top. The Smashers walked towards the tower, spotting some kind of small dome where a door resided.

"Do you think the temple is inside this tower?" asked Lucas.

"Hmm, I dunno," Sonic said. "The temple might be underground 'cuz I don't see how a thin tower like this one can be the whole temple."

"But...how are we supposed to reach a height that high?" Ness asked. "That door is like a hundred feet away from the ground. The best height we can reach is twenty-five feet, more or less."

Chris looked at Mario. "You're the Jumpman here!"

Mario shook his head. "Even I have my limitations, Chris. I can't jump that high."

"Oh, great..."

Sonic grinned and lifted his shoulders. "Guys, guys, we don't necessarily need to jump to reach that place... We'll just run!"

Ike looked skeptical. "I don't see how running will help us here, Sonic. Can you explain yourself?"

Sonic waved a finger to the group. "You're forgetting that you're talking with the world's fastest hedgeho-"

"Even though this isn't literally the world you came from," interrupted Chip.

A red toon vein popped out from Sonic's forehead, but he kept grinning at them. "Anyway, I'll just run at the speed of light on the tower itself to reach the door. Once I get there, I'll open it up for you."

"There's a problem with that, tho-" Ike was interrupted as Sonic began to dash along the tower's wall, eventually reaching the highest point. "Sonic!"

Sonic, standing in front of the metallic door of the dome, interlaced his fingers together and chuckled to himself. He looked over his shoulder to look down to the others. "I told you I was gonna reach this place! No biggie!" he said laughing, walking towards the metallic door where he looked and knocked on it several times. "Okay, you…open up!" he said grinning.

A minute later...

The group remained silent as they saw the hedgehog standing in front of the door, which didn't open to his command. The hedgehog began to grow upset, even after just a minute had passed. "Hmm, open," he told the door, not receiving a positive outcome from it. "...Open," he said again, not getting anything good or bad from the door. Growing angry, the hedgehog grunted and started kicking on the door. "Dammit, you! Open, I say, open!"

As the hedgehog kept kicking on the door, Kirby slowly reached out for the platform of the dome because Big used his strength to throw the Star Warrior all the way to where Sonic was. The Star Warrior blinked his eyes at Sonic before he walked besides him and noticed a small card slot to the right of the door. "Sonic...I think you didn't see that," Kirby said, pointing at the slot.

Sonic stopped kicking the door to look at the slot. The hedgehog grumbled some curses and inspected the horizontal hole on the wall. "Aww, just my luck," Sonic muttered before he turned around and jumped all the way down to the group, Kirby latching to his head. Once both landed back, the hedgehog lifted his shoulders with open hands, saying, "Nope, we need some kinda card key to get in."

"A card key? Well, that's just swell," Ness said. "Now we need to find some card key somewhere, then?"

"What if the temple turns out to be somewhere else?" Ike asked. "We might end up wasting our time."

Mario crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "That could mean we're in a tight spot... What to do now..."

Big looked up to the sky. "What if we go to that city the boy in the blue costume mentioned?"

Everyone looked at Big. "Oh yes, that boy we met earlier said he was heading to some city, right?" asked Luigi.

Sonic chuckled and grinned again. "Okay, so that settles it!" he said. "We're gonna go downtown and see if we can find information about any spooky stuff happening on this place!"

"That seems like the best idea we can do now," Peach said. "Besides, I don't like the terrain of this excavation site...and it's creepy to think there's nobody in this place..."

"Let's go to the city," Big suggested. "Maybe somebody saw Froggy."

With Big's blind hopes about finding Froggy in mind, Chris turned to the long slope where the boy had climbed to run away. "I think that if we follow this path, we might reach the city faster...but...I don't know if this is the way..."

"I-if he went that way, we should go that way as well," Luigi said. "P-please, let's just go! I don't like the fact our voices are echoing in this abandoned place!"

"My thoughts exactly..." muttered Lucas.

Peach looked cheerfully, trying to stay optimistic to raise the morale of the group. "Let's go, then," she said, starting for the slope with everyone else while Chris made sure Sonic wasn't going to run away (Sonic: Lame-o!)

And so, the group eventually climbed over the slope and reached the higher ground, which was a pacific green field with trenches that had caves in them. In truth, the caves weren't exactly caves as they were short passages to access other areas. Only one of them was present in the main path, and they decided to cross through it. Once doing so, they found themselves walking right besides the ocean on a pacific-looking green field with hills.

Lucas smiled at the sight of the scenery. "This place is so calm..."

Ness breathed in the clean air before yawning loudly. "I think this place is very good. You don't get to see this kind of place that much."

Peach raised her hand a bit for a bird to land on it. The princess pulled back her hand and petted the little bird a bit. "This is such a beautiful place. Don't you think so, Mario, Luigi?"

"Yes it is," Mario said. "We could even have a picnic."

"I-I'll make the sandwiches!" Luigi offered with excitement.

"Um, I hate to break this moment, but we need to get to the city," Ike said as they continued walking along the coast. "We can have a picnic here after we find the temple."

"I was already hungry," Big said sighing. "I also wanted to go fishing..."

Kirby nodded in agreement. The puffball looked around before looking confused. "Where's Sonic?" he asked, making a point as the hedgehog had disappeared from sight.

Chris turned to his left to see that Sonic was walking as far away possible from the super killer substance of the world known as water. "I'm not getting close to some coast!" Sonic yelled from afar. "Water doesn't go well with me! Don't force me to walk next to it!"

"Pussy," Chip commented, fixing his sunglasses a bit.

"Whatever, I'm not getting close to where all of you are," Sonic said, shrugging with some fear.

"One of these days, I'm sure I'm going to throw you inside a pool with a lifesaver..." Chris muttered.

After walking along the peaceful coast, the group noticed several buildings scattered along the field. Not only did they find that, but they also found another dome that required a card key for its door to open. After having examined it, the group continued their way to the south until they reached a long wall, indicating that there was a city on the other side. Just in front of the wall, where a door was, a police officer stood still in front of it, folded arms behind his back. The white police helmet he wore on his head that covered his eyes made him look like as he couldn't look what was in front of him: a bunch of people from different worlds who wanted to access the city.

"Excuse me?" Mario asked, trying to get the guard's attention.

The guard focused his attention to them. "Hmm? Oh, hello there… You aren't pirates, are you?"

"Pirates?" Ness asked. "Do we really look like pirates?"

"Should I suppose you're not one of them?"

"I think you're mistaken, mister…" Lucas muttered. "W-we're not pirates of any sorts…"

"Really…" the officer muttered. "Well, most of you look quite peculiar to me."

"(And here we go with the costumes,)" Sonic thought in boredom.

"We aren't pirates," Mario said. "We're just travelers sightseeing this area."

"Why would sightseers be in this area when it was just raided by pirates a few hours ago?" the police officer asked. "For that matter, why are you even here? How did people like you manage to be here without getting harmed? I guess you hid inside those buildings with everyone else, right?"

The Smashers looked back at the buildings scattered across the big plains. They turned back to the officer. "Um, yes, we did…" Luigi muttered.

"In that case, you should go back into the city," the officer said, stepping aside from the door. "We're not sure if there are any more pirates left in the area. You should be okay if you stay in the city."

"(That was rather easy to make him move,)" Ike thought.

"Oh, you can't enter the city without using this," the officer said, handing over to Mario a small blue card. "Here you go, a Citizen Card. Did you have one like this before?"

"No," Mario said.

"Are you even around these parts? I'm sure I haven't seen people like you before… Did you arrive from the sea on a ship but lost your way and ended up all the way here?" the officer asked.

They all looked at each other before Ike stepped forward. "Um, yes, that happened."

"Oh, I see," the officer said before taking out several Citizen Cards that he handed to each one of them. "You should all have one for safety. These cards will allow you access to the downtown and city hall."

Obtained Citizen Card x11!

A special card that allows anyone to visit the downtown and city hall of Kattelox Island. Losing it might be a bad idea now.

The officer pointed at a card slot besides the door. "Insert your cards there so the gate opens up for you."

"I-I'm confused," Peach began, "why do we need cards to visit these places? I think it sounds a bit too much for me…"

"That's because there has been an increased pirate activity lately," the officer explained. "We were told from other islands that pirates have been plundering treasures, and so the mayor came up with the idea to protect the city and the island's ruins from being targets for the pirates by setting gates across the city's perimeter. We're sorry if this will prevent you from visiting other places, but it must be done to ensure the peace in our island."

"Wait, ruins were also sealed off?" Ness asked.

"Ruins were sealed off as well because we can't let them take any hidden treasures," the office further explained. "Only Diggers certified with special licenses can open the doors to the ruins to search for treasure."

Sonic looked away. "So that's why that tower's door needed a card to open…" he muttered.

"Diggers?" Big repeated with curiosity. "What are Diggers?"

"You…don't know what Diggers are?" the officer asked before sighing. "Well, I suppose I can explain that as well… Diggers are people who go around the world to dig out treasures such as Refractors to find power sources. Not only they find power sources, but they become rich if they can gather many of them."

"I see…" Ike muttered.

"Please, go inside the city," the officer offered by unlocking the door with his own card for them to pass through. "You'll be safe if you are in the city. Please have in mind that certain areas are sealed off for security."

"Thanks," Mario said before they all walked through the door, leaving the big plains behind.

The officer closed the door and looked away. "Those people looked strange to me, though… Whatever," he said. "If they cause any trouble, it'll be easy to find them within the city."

City Hall

Megaman Legends/64 - Apple Market

Once crossing through the door, the Smashers were now standing in firm pavement. Just across the street, the city hall's back wall loomed over them with its shadow. Around the wall, there were palms being touched gently by the breeze that blew from the east.

"Wow, talk about security," Ness said, glancing to the sides where the wall extended all across the area of the city. "Everything's completely protected by this wall."

"Think of it as a border," Mario said. "They seem to have good security in this place."

Peach clasped her hands together and chuckled. "Okay, everyone, let's go around the city to see if we can gather information, shall we?"

The World Traveler looked skeptical at the proposal. "I'm not so sure if people will think we're…around these parts… I mean, Kirby, Sonic, Big, and Chip stand out very much from a crowd, and Peach has that dress of hers…"

The princess thought for a moment. "That's true…even I admit that walking around with my dress is a bit too suspicious."

"A bit? Peach, people will think you're using a costume," Ness said. "We know that Chip is the one wearing a costume, though."

Chip pointed firmly at Ness. "You wanna get Chipminated right here, pal? You don't want to make me mad, do you?"

"…No, I don't want to hear anything from you right now because you sound ridiculously serious for my tastes," Ness commented.

Luigi rubbed his chin. "Why don't we go around and see what happens? After all, if people think we're wearing costumes, they'll get used to see us, right?"

"Well, if you put it that way, kids might even get very excited," Sonic said before he shook his head. "Let's just go, guys. We can't waste any more time!"

"I agree with him for once," Ike said. "We should better go somewhere where information is easy to come by."

Kirby stared at the big building in front of him. He pointed at it and said, "What about that place?"

The Smashers stared at the big building. "Sure, that place looks nice to me," Ness said. "Let's go."

Lucas looked to his right. "C-car!" he shouted, the group stopping walking to let a blue truck pass in front of them. "Phew, that was close…"

"You tell me," Sonic said. "That car was going a little bit too fast…not as fast as me, of course," he said chuckling, noticing that the group had already crossed the street, walking around the building to get to the front entrance. "Hey, you gotta stay behind and listen to what I have to say next time, got it, guys?" Sonic asked irritated before speeding towards the group to join them.

After walking around the building, the group found an orange-yellow car parked right in front of the building, just over the lawn. Not minding the clanking sounds that came from within the car, the group stood in front of the city hall, looking up at the third-story building. "Well, let's go in," Mario said. "Let's hope we can mix well with the people on the island."

Ness looked bored at the car parked on the lawn instead outside the pavement. "Geez, people here don't respect traffic much, do they?"

"You've got to admit every world ignores something other worlds don't..." Luigi muttered.

Suddenly, an explosion sound came from the car next to them. They then heard some girl cursing loudly as she coughed repeatedly. "N-no, everything was going okay until now!" she yelled in disappointment. "Oh my god, fire! Data, give me the fire extinguisher, now!"

They noticed that the car's right window opened up to release the smoke with foam spilling out. After a small while, the smoke stopped coming out from the car, and they heard the same girl panting heavily before sighing loudly to herself. "Wow, that was fast," Ike commented.

"I'm glad the car wasn't set on fire right in front of the city hall," Peach said worried. "Should we see if she's fine?"

Around that time, Sonic was standing behind the car, where a door leaked some smoke. "Hey, I found a door behind it," he called over before said door opened up, foam spilling out from the car's floor. Sonic stepped behind to see somebody jumping out from the car.

The person who jumped out of the car was a 14-year-old girl (who seemed to be as tall as Chris was). The girl wore red-orange-and-white shoes with red shorts up her knees and red short-sleeved shirt. She also wore brown gloves and a big orange hat with a steel plate on the front. Her spiky yellow hair was inclined down under her hat. Sonic noticed that the girl had several soot marks all over her as she coughed some smoke out. "M-man, this isn't just my day," she muttered before coughing more.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" Sonic asked.

The girl stopped coughing to see the source of the voice. She found the blinking hedgehog staring at her. "...Um..." she trailed off, "...who are you?"

Sonic grinned and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Sonic the Hedgehog," he said with a wink.

Most of the Smashers looked bored at the little introduction. "You've got to give him that he doesn't care about giving such an introduction," Ike said. "It's so prudent of him to do that."

The girl stood straight and rubbed her chin, staring intently at the hedgehog. "...You don't look like you're a kid wearing a costume for sure... Your body is so thin and skinny for somebody to be wearing a costume..."

Sonic's grinning expression suddenly turned bored. "...Girl, I'm not somebody wearing a costume. I'm a hundred percent hedgehog."

"Well, hedgehogs aren't supposed to be blue and tall," the girl commented. "Also, they're not supposed to talk either, which makes me believe that..." she lowered down her right fist on her left palm, "you're a mutant!"

"...I am NOT a mutant," Sonic responded annoyed.

"Huh?" the girl muttered before shaking her head. "If you're not a mutant, then I don't see a reasonable explanatio-"

"Um, sorry for interrupting you, but your car is on fire."

The girl turned back to her car, which now was being burned again. "What do you mean b-UAH, the Support Car!" she panicked before she jumped into the back of the car to fight off the flames.

Sonic gasped at this before the girl screamed for help. "G-guys, we've got to help the clumsy girl!"

"I heard that, you know!" yelled the girl within the flames.

"P-PK Freeze!" Lucas suddenly yelled, casting an icy mist that flew into the car's window and exploded to make the flames disappear, but accidentally freezing everything inside. "O-oh no!" Lucas gasped.

"Lucas, I think you went a little bit too far on the car," Ness commented.

Lucas blushed in embarrassment and shook his head. "I-I didn't mean to focus so much energy into my PK Freeze, I swear!" he said in his defense.

The Smashers rushed behind the car to look inside. They gasped in unison after finding out that the green room inside the car was completely frozen with the girl trapped inside a stalactite of ice. She had herself standing in a funny manner, showing her teeth while her eyes were looking up at the ceiling, not moving an inch from their spot.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to do this!" Lucas pleaded, jumping inside the room he had turned into a big fridge. "I-I'm really sorry!"

The group heard some creaking noises coming from the ice. They found out the girl was still alive since her mouth twitched a bit. "N-no worries..." she spoke inside the ice. "T-thank you for...freezing everything in here..."

"Is...she still alive?" Luigi asked worried.

Ike sighed with relief. "Looks like it..." he muttered.

Several minutes later...

After the Smashers were able to unfreeze the girl inside the car, they decided to offer their help to clean and dry the car to make sure there weren't any more trails of ice. Once they finished polishing the car, the girl sighed in relief and smiled at them. "Thank you so much for your help, you guys," she said. "I'm surprised that the blond kid...I mean, Lucas, used magic to freeze everything inside. You took me by surprise, that's for sure."

Lucas bowed to her. "S-sorry for freezing you..."

"And that wasn't magic but PK energy," Ness added. "It's a special skill Lucas and I know."

"Okay..." the girl said confused, still thinking it was magic. She crossed her arms and chuckled. "Anyhow, thanks a bunch for dousing the fire for me."

"Why did the car burn?" Big asked.

"That's because I was fixing the car, you see," the girl said a bit ashamed. "We just got this car from the junk shop's owner as thanks for my friend for saving him inside some ruins." She glanced to her car and put a hand on in. "Thankfully, I'm an expert engineer, so I brought it back to life by fixing some cables and remodeling it with my usual paint scheme. When I was putting back some cables, they rather blew up after I put them together...and this happened. Good thing the car didn't explode or something. It'd be a waste if such a car like this would burn to ashes..."

Peach looked relieved. "You're okay, right?"

"Oh, sure, I'm okay," the girl said. "Since you helped me, I think we can all be friend from now on." She cleared her throat a bit. "Glad to meet you guys. My name is Roll Caskett."

Roll Caskett, despite being young, is an intelligent girl who is an expert in electronics and mechanics. Her devotion to become an engineer began after her parents disappeared mysteriously while searching for the Mother Lode. As a result, Roll has devoted her whole life in becoming an engineer, flying from island to island in hopes to find her missing parents by looking for the Mother Lode herself. Roll doesn't go alone in her adventures, traveling along with her grandfather, her little monkey friend, and childhood friend. The only thing she has that makes her remember her parents is a photo where she was a baby with her parents.

The girl named Roll made a happy expression and nodded. "Again, thanks for helping me out, you guys. That car wouldn't have lived long enough before it could be used."

"And Lucas would've ended up freezing it to death," Ness muttered, receiving a pouting look from the blond boy.

"Did you notice you parked the car right over the lawn?" Mario asked.

"Parked the car right over the..." Roll muttered, turning around to her car. "Oh no, I didn't see I parked it over the lawn... I need to move it out of the way befor-"

A police officer showed up behind her and gave her a ticket. "Here you go, miss," the officer said, handing over the ticket to the engineer. "Please park your car on the street next time." He walked away to the east, to the wrecked police station building.

Roll looked worried at the ticket she just got. "Oh, fiddlesticks..." she muttered, stuffing the ticket inside her right pocket. "Oh well, I had it coming, anyway..."

Luigi just noticed something about the surroundings. From what he could tell, most wealthy buildings around the city hall were wrecked so much that it seemed they were built a long time ago. Worse yet, a huge square with rumbles where a bank used to be were located far to the west side of the area. Confused by this, the green plumber turned to Roll. "W-what happened here?" he asked. "Why is everything kind of...destroyed?"

Roll and the others looked around. "Oh...that," she said. "Well, you see, not long ago, pirates invaded this city, and they ended up destroying most buildings around the city hall and the downtown," she explained. "There was a big fight to defend the city, though." She smiled. "Thankfully, my friend drove the pirates out. The mayor of the city was thankful that we helped out in their time of need."

"So there were strong people swinging swords around?" Ike asked.

"...No..." Roll said. "If you're talking about the pirates...they used machines that shot explosives, beams, and used other weaponry. Even though it looked dangerous, my friend beat them all."

"Pirates using machines? Have they advanced in more conventional ways to attack and pilfer?"

"T-that aside, your friend drove them all out?" Luigi asked.

"Sure he did," Roll said, some hint of a proud sense in her tone. "My friend is a very good Digger, you know. He's the one who usually does the exploring inside ruins while I give him important information about his surroundings. Maybe I can get you to meet him. He's a very nice guy when you get to know him."

"Would that mean he's mean first?" Sonic asked. "I don't want to meet mean guys who then grow nicer."

"No, he isn't mean, don't worry. He has a good heart," Roll said. "Right now, he's at the city hall. The mayor needed to tell him something important. He should be coming out back shortly."

Lucas looked a bit excited. "(I-I'm going to meet a hero.)"

Chip stared at the building in front of them. "How come that's the only building that didn't get wrecked?"

"My friend managed to save the main building, but he didn't have much luck with the rest of the city, unfortunately," Roll said with some shame. "I think the mayor asked him to donate some zenny."

Zenny is the cash currency used in Megaman games.

Suddenly, the double doors of the city hall opened up, and from them, a familiar boy in a blue suit came out. The Smashers gasped, the boy gasped, and Roll looked back and forth between them. "Y-you!" everyone else but Roll said at the same time, pointing fingers at each other.

Roll looked confused as everyone kept pointing fingers. She scratched her hat a bit and looked at the boy. "Um, Megaman, is something wrong?" she asked.

"R-Roll, they're the guys I was telling you about!" the boy said. "They came out of that portal!"

"What?" Roll asked confused, glancing over at the group. "They're the ones who came out of the portal you mentioned?"

"Y-yeah!" the boy said before brandishing his arm cannon, aiming directly at them. The Smashers gasped, some of them backing away. "Roll, stay away from them! They're dangerous!"

"Didn't we ALREADY say we WEREN'T dangerous?" Sonic asked annoyed.

Chip sneered. "Guys like him only understand once they get a beating, Sonic," he said, making his hands look like guns. "Let's beat him."

"A-ha!" the boy said. "I knew you were dangerous after all!"

Sonic smacked Chip hard to the ground. "Chip, you idiot!"

Stepping between the boy and the Smashers, Roll stretched her arms, looking at the boy in the blue suit. "Megaman, they're not bad guys! They helped me out when the Support Car caught fire!"

"...What?" the boy asked confused.

"That's true," Roll said, lowering her arms. "If it wasn't for them, our car would've gotten burned. If it did, how would I work to make you some weaponry? The Flutter back at Cardon Forest isn't operational, so I thought that the Support Car would be a better replacement."

The boy kept staring at her and the wary Smashers.

"Please, Megaman," Roll said worried, "they're not bad people. Trust me in this one."

"...Okay, Roll..." the boy said, lowering down his arm cannon that later retreated into his arm and revealed a hand covered in blue armor. "If you say so..."

The engineer sighed with relief. "Thanks for understanding, Megaman..."

Most of the Smashers sighed in relief as well. "Man, here I thought he was going to attack us without mercy," Ike muttered.

Roll turned to them. "Megaman wouldn't do that to you, guys," she said smiling. "He only attacks when people are in danger."

"H-hey, Roll, don't treat me like I'm some sort of robot!" the boy said, walking next to her. "I'm a human, you know!"

Roll folded her arms behind her back and looked away. "Well, you were acting like a robot, Megaman. You've got to blame the fact you're using a blue suit."

"Roll..." the boy muttered with a sigh.

Roll chuckled and looked back at the Smashers. "Oh, sorry, I think Megaman hasn't introduced formally to you." She looked back at the boy and nodded. "C'mon, Megaman, don't be so shy and introduce yourself."

The boy blushed in embarrassment. "R-Roll, now you're treating me like a child! We're the same age...and...oh, whatever," he said sighing before looking at the Smashers. "Anyway, sorry for thinking you guys were dangerous..."

"It's okay," Mario said. "We knew you were kind at heart."

"Then I'm glad you did think of me like that," the boy said, giving them the first small smile. "My name is Megaman Volnutt, nice to meet you."

Megaman Volnutt is a full-fledged Digger who travels around the world with Roll in hopes to find the legendary Mother Lode and Roll's parents. Being a 14-year-old, Megaman doesn't know much about his past. According to Roll, her grandfather found Megaman in some ruins, where at the time he was just a baby. Roll's grandfather decided to take Megaman into their family before he grew with Roll to become a Digger. Megaman doesn't like fighting and only resorts to it when necessary. As a side note, Roll herself named Megaman after one of her favorite video game characters.

Roll chuckled heartily. "Isn't it easier when you introduce yourself formally to people, Megaman?"

The boy named Megaman chuckled nervously. "I-I guess, Roll."

Roll's look became stern once she looked back at the Smashers. "But, there was something I just can't understand... Megaman told me that you came out of the portal in Clozer Woods... What did he mean by that?"

Megaman gasped and looked at the nervous Smashers. "T-that's right! I saw you coming out of nowhere from that strange portal! How do you explain that?"

"U-um, well, you see..." Ness stammered a bit. He looked at his team. "Should we just go ahead and tell me what's been going on with us?"

Chris sighed. "We may as well do it, anyway. Once they see something extremely unusual happening here that we can't avoid by lying, there's no other way around it..."

Megaman and Roll exchanged confused glances with each other. The duo looked confused at them. "What do you mean by that?" Roll asked.

Megaman crossed his arms and looked up. "I'm kinda interested about you, honestly..." He looked at them. "So, would it be alright if you told us what's going on?"

Everyone looked at Ike. The mercenary looked at each one of them. "W-why are you all staring at me for?" Ike asked.

"It's your turn to do the explaining," Chip said, pointing over at the Greil Mercenary. "Do it, boy."

"M-my turn? Since when did we start explaining like this?" Ike asked, getting no reply from the Smashers. "...You know what, I'll do it... (The people I live with, I swear...)" He cleared his throat and looked at the two soon-to-be teens. "Where do I start? Well..."

Several minutes later...

"...And that's why we're all here," Ike finished explaining.

Roll crossed her arms while Megaman rubbed his chin. "So you're saying there's this army that's trying to take over this world," Roll said.

"And you're also saying that there are other worlds out there besides ours that you have visited before?" Megaman added.

"I know it's hard to believe that there are other worlds," Peach said, "but that's the whole truth about it... Please, believe in us. We're not lying here. It's the whole truth."

Megaman looked worried. "After seeing you coming out from a random portal...well...it's harder for us to believe all that."

Roll nodded. "Yeah, you don't get to learn about the existence of other worlds when you think your world is the only one you know," she said. "To me, I think your story is kinda... believable."

Lucas gasped. "S-so, do you believe us?"

"Let me be frank with you," Megaman began, "the two us kind of believe you, but we need to see more proof to see if everything you told us was the whole truth."

"You...don't believe us?" Kirby asked worried.

Roll shook her head. "No, we do believe you in some ways, but...we just need time to see by ourselves about everything you told us," she said. "Since Megaman here saw you before, I think we can trust you all."

Megaman smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, we can trust you guys, so don't worry about it."

The Smashers sighed with relief once more. "Phew, they trust us," Sonic said.

"That's good enough for me," Mario said. "I'd prefer having people to trust me before believing anything so extraordinary and hard to believe I say."

Megaman and Roll chuckled together. "Well then, it's nice to meet our first trans-dimensional friends," Roll said with some interest. "I knew most of you didn't look like you came out from the same place when I saw the hedgeho-I mean, Sonic, the first time."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Oh, you're still thinking I'm a mutant or what?" he asked, making most of them laugh for a bit. "I'm not laughing, you guys!" he said even more annoyed before everyone calmed down.

Megaman stared blankly at them. "About what you said earlier about this Subspace Army...are they trying to take over this world?"

Chip nodded. "They'll take the temple we're looking for, and THEN they'll try to take over your world."

Roll looked serious at this. "In that case, we can't let them do that sort of thing," she said. "We're still having many doubts about what you told us, though. I think it's safe to believe your story...for now."

"Yeah," Megaman said. "I hope you all understand."

"No, it's okay," Chris said. "You'll see soon enough what we tried to say," he said with a sigh.

"However," continued Megaman, "both of us don't know if this army really exists, so, to make sure things go smoothly here, I hope you don't mind if we tagged along with you."

"Unfortunately, you'll have to come with us, though," Roll said. "We need to do some important things first before doing anything else. You understand, right?"

"Sure, we don't mind," Mario said. "Tagging along with you might even turn out benefiting for us. This way, we can find the temple around this island."

Megaman smiled at this. "Then, welcome aboard, you guys."

The Smashers have joined Megaman and Roll!

Chris mentally sighed to himself. "(Okay, things are starting to look up for us now.)"

"We hope you can help us out while we work," Roll said. "I think you don't know what Diggers are, right?"

"A police officer already explained that to us, but we aren't Diggers," Ness pointed out.

"Oh...well, if you go with Megaman, I'm sure you can access the ruins around the island," Roll said before looking at Megaman. "That reminds me, what did the mayor tell you about?"

Megaman took out a small license card with an "A" imprinted on it, showing it to them. "Check it out; I got a Class "A" License from the mayor!"

Roll looked excited. "Wow, that's great, Megaman! With such an important license, we'll be able to dig in those closed-off areas, right?"

"Yup, that's the gist of it," Megaman said as he put away the card. "The mayor also thanked me for saving the city, but she asked, if I had zenny, that I should donate for the restoration of the city."

The group looked across the street where a broken water fountain was spilling out water into the street, slowly flowing towards the sewer's entrance. "Yeah, I know what you mean by that," Sonic said.

Megaman looked serious at Roll. "She also told me the same pirates are heading for the Sub-Gate at Cardon Forest as well!"

"A Sub-Gate?" Sonic questioned.

"That's the name ruins are given."

"Oh, I see. So all ruins are called Sub-Gates?"

"Well, not really. There are some instances where other ruins are called with a different name."

"What? The pirates haven't given up yet?" Roll asked.

"Apparently not," Megaman said. "They're trying to break into Cardon Forest's Sub-Gate. We have to go there ASAP, Roll!"

The engineer looked serious and nodded. "Right, we can't let them get inside any ruins now. We could lose the opportunity to find hidden treasures." She looked concerned at the group. "Would you please come along with us? If you can, would you help Megaman in getting rid of the pirates?"

Luigi gulped at the question. "W-well..."

"Sure," Ike said. "We might not look like it, but we're experienced adventurers."

"That's great. Some hands would come in handy for us right now," Megaman said.

Roll nodded. "Since we need to get going, we'll have to use the Support Car to get back to Cardon Forest. Cardon Forest lies to the south from here, where we crash-landed."

"Crash-landed?" Big asked.

Megaman closed his eyes in shame. "You see, we didn't want to land on this island, but the engines of the Flutter, the airship we use to fly from place to place, started having difficulties."

Roll closer her eyes in the same fashion. "And then, we crashed on Cardon Forest... I hate to say this, but the Flutter has had very bad luck whenever we fly. This is not the only time we crash-landed. The other times weren't as bad as this one, though..."

"...Wait, we left the Flutter back at Cardon Forest, right?"

Roll instantly gasped at this. "The Flutter! The pirates might find our airship and scrap it! Worse yet, they could steal it from us!"

Peach stepped forward, a hint of determination in her eyes. "Then let's go right away!" she said.

Megaman and Roll nodded. "Right, let's all get on the Support Car!" Roll yelled, everyone running to the car while the duo sat on the front seats of the car.

However, once opening the door, the Smashers found out that the car's interior didn't have much space. In fact, there were some machines that occupied most of the space available for them to fit in. "H-how are we supposed to fit inside this car?" asked Luigi.

"I'm sorry, you guys, but you'll have to fit in somehow!" Roll yelled from the front. "Be sure you don't squish Data, though!"

"Who's Data?" Ness asked.

Suddenly, from behind of a box, a little tail appeared. It waved a bit to the sides before a little figure came out, jumping on the box. The figure looked like a little monkey in a gray cup-looking body that it shook to the sides while it seemed to dance. Only its face, round hands, thin tail, and face were sticking out from its cup-looking body. "U-ki-i!" the little monkey said as some sort of greeting.

Out of all the Smashers, Peach was the one who forgot about the situation as she clasped her hands together. "How cute!" she rejoiced, stepping inside the car to pick up the little monkey. She embraced it in her arms and sat down on the box. "Oh, you're so cute, little monkey. What's your name?"

The rest of the Smashers exchanged glances at this moment. "Peach…I think you forgot we're in a rush," Ness muttered. "And I think that monkey is Data."

Data is a little robot monkey friend of Megaman that was found by his side in the ruins Megaman was found. Ever since, Data has been the team's mascot, traveling from place to place. Data himself is a little mysterious, appearing anywhere where he is needed for Megaman to heal. Data only talks with monkey speech, but Megaman is able to understand what he is saying (this can be false since Data only seems to talk with Megaman. He never talked with other people, let alone Roll).

"Well, she got in the car, so that counts," Luigi said, "right?"

"Hurry, you guys!" yelled Megaman. "Get on! Roll will rev up the car now!"

Chris looked shocked at Big. "But Big is too big! He'll take a lot of space!"

"Oh, that's something I didn't know," muttered Sonic in boredom.

Big thought for a moment. "Maybe I can ride the top of the car."

"O-oh, no, that's a bad idea, Big," Lucas said worried. "You could fall off…"

Sonic snapped his fingers. "You guys get on the car. Chip and I will run and fly where we need to go."

Chip nodded. "Chipminator needs to do some exercise, you know."

"That's a good idea," Ike said. "Everyone, let's get on, quick! The car is…um… What's the word?"

"Starting," Luigi said.

"Yeah, that…"

"Get on!" Roll yelled. "And while you're at it, make sure you don't crush something! I spent a lot of time fixing everything!"

Pushing the huge cat inside the car where they all barely managed to fit inside, the car began to move down the street towards the south with Chip sitting on top while Sonic kept a required running pace besides it, surprising Megaman and Roll. "Wow, we didn't know you could this fast," Megaman told Sonic.

The hedgehog grinned at the boy. "You haven't seen how fast I can run."

Chris stuck out from the right window of the car. "Sonic, don't you dare show off at a time like this, please!" he yelled.

Sonic sighed. "You're always stopping me from doing something fun, Chris…"

"It's for your own good, so don't go somewhere! Remember that there's the killer ocean waiting for you to be alone!" Chris yelled before he got back inside and closed the window, the hedgehog getting some chills down his spine while the car headed towards the southern gate of the city to reach the south side of the island.

Cardon Forest - City Road

Final Fantasy X - Movement in Green

After coming out from the city's southern gate, the Support Car drove into the green open while the hedgehog kept a normal pace with the vehicle. Chip merely lied down on the car and stared up at the clouds. Roll kept looking forward while Megaman looked around the scenery. "Geez, the city back there looked like it was about to crumble down," Sonic said, remembering when they passed through the city.

"I did my best to protect the houses," Megaman said. "It looks like it wasn't enough, though..."

Roll smiled worried at the boy. "Megaman, you did your very best. You saved the city and the mayor. That's all you need to be proud of."

Megaman smiled a bit at her. "Yeah, I guess."

Inside the car, it wasn't such an easy time for the others to travel. Due to the small size, Chris had to stay too close to the right window and machines while Kirby rested on his arms, Luigi was crouching down against the driver's wall, Big was big (ironically) enough to block the back exit with his back, Mario had to sit very close to Ike against a tube (the latter thinking it was very uncomfortable), Ness sat down in front of a box where Lucas was sitting on, and Peach, who seemed to be the only one optimistic, sat down on the box where the dancing Data had appeared, the monkey doing some sort of dance on her lap that the princess lauded for being funny.

Luigi sighed loudly as the car shook a bit to the sides. "There wasn't another faster way to reach that area they were talking about, right?"

Mario shook his head. "We're in a hurry, so it's understandable why we're all cramped up here."

Chris opened the right window to look out. He and Kirby saw rows of trees extending over the distance. A curved beaten up road lied in front of the car. The sky had some clouds, and a breeze gently swept the grasslands. For the two, the scene looked peaceful and enjoyable. The World Traveler had the small thought about playing something out there with Kirby. "Nice place, isn't it, Kirby?"

Kirby nodded before he clapped his hands together with glee.

The World Traveler began thinking about the young Star Warrior. "(Kirby isn't like anyone else in the group,)" he thought. "(He's just here so everything is okay, and he doesn't think too much about the situation. That only helps him to be seen as a baby, but...I think he's a little bit smarter than that, enough for me to think he helps everyone to stay in a cheery mood.)"

Kirby looked up at Chris. "What's wrong, Chris?"

"U-um, nothing, Kirby," Chris said, snapping out from his thoughts before focusing outside. "I was thinking about what we're going to do here."

"Can we eat something here? I'm getting a bit hungry..."

The World Traveler sighed in amusement. "(Yes, he doesn't stray too far from being himself...) We'll see about that."

Kirby waved his hands a bit, making Chris embrace him tighter.

Ike sighed while he looked at the small fraction of the right window he could see from his spot. "When everything is so calm, it makes you think there's nothing to be scared about."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucas asked.

The mercenary kept staring outside. "Just picture a field where nothing dangerous is happening," he said. "Doesn't seeing something like that make you have confidence that nothing bad will happen?"

"U-um, yes, I think so..."

Ike shook his head. "Too bad, though. There is danger looming over us from any corner to wherever we go. Back at Crimea, is easy for many foreign nations to break into a war. Those conflicts tend to last forever, but hopefully, I've been taking part of the ones that only last for months and not years... My point for this is, are we going to keep fighting the Subspace Army for a long time?"

The Smashers looked down worried at the question. Certainly, none of them wanted to fight the army for a long time. The longer they fought, the more they thought the battle would never end. Chris turned around and looked worried. "You guys should have stopped Tabuu right after the first encounter," he said. "But, you didn't, so..."

"Well...if you ask me," began Mario, "I think it was best we didn't defeat Tabuu."

"W-why is that?"

Peach thought for a moment and came up with something. "If you think about it, we wouldn't be embarking on this long journey to stop the army, right? We wouldn't meet other people like Megaman and Roll. We would be...secluded from going to unknown places."

Ness nodded. "You're right on that," he said. "Also, thinking again, it helps us grow together and become closer. Thanks to that, each one of us understands each other perfectly."

Lucas looked concerned. "B-before I even joined the group, did you all act...like...well...brats?"

"You mean jerks?" Ness asked.

Lucas nodded. "W-well, yes, that's the word I didn't want to say."

Ness shook his head and waved down a hand to Lucas. "Nah, we didn't act like jerks to each other. If we did, I'd assure you we wouldn't even be a team with a bunch of people who came from different worlds. If I was a jerk, I'd have toasted everyone to their oblivion."

Lucas looked frightened at Ness.

"...Of course, I'm joking here."

Lucas sighed. "Phew..."

Luigi shuddered at the thought. "I-I wouldn't want people like Falco to act like a bully... I-I'm scared about him," he muttered the last part.

The World Traveler looked away. "I hate jerk people who tend to be jerks most of the time," he said. "If everyone in the group was a jerk...I'd surely die."

"D-don't think about sad things like that!" Luigi said alarmed. "M-most of us are a nice bunch! I-I never do a prank, really! Honest!"

"(You're probably the first person I'd think is not a jerk...)" Chris smiled and nodded.

"Fortunately, everyone is nice to each other. It makes it easier for me to stay safe. To me, I think we're quite the team."

Ike chuckled. "Are you starting to see that you're fitting in well with all of us?"

"Of course," Chris said. "I thank my behavior, though. If I was so laid-back, I'd look so cliché...like Sonic," he muttered the last part.

Sonic suddenly hung himself on the right window and looked angrily at Chris. "Hey, I heard that! I'm not so cliché!"

Chris gasped and turned worried to the hedgehog. "I-I'm sorry, Sonic! I-I didn't want to make you angry now! I-I swear I didn't mean to!"

The hedgehog sighed and looked bored at Chris. "Thank yourself you're so forgivable, Chris," he said. "Because you're so forgivable to people, you're more tolerable to hang out with."

The World Traveler sweat dropped and looked ashamed. "S-sorry again..."

"No worries," Sonic said, flashing a small grin before he jumped off and ran next to the car.

"He has a good point with you," Mario pointed out.

"And for that...I'm glad I don't ever smirk, grin, or think about pranks outside my personality-changing jobs," Chris said with relief. "But, anyway, we should be thankful that we don't screw each other up..."

"I know," Ike said. "If we did, that'd be something Tabuu would want us to do."

"And we don't want such a nasty thing to happen, right?" Peach asked as she rubbed Data's head a bit. "I would tell when somebody is being bad to anybody. I wouldn't want something like that to happen, ever."

"I-I'm right with you," Luigi said. "Everything is okay as things are now, s-so I wouldn't want violence to erupt between us..."

"True..." Lucas muttered.

To make sure he wasn't there for nothing, Big decided to speak by saying, "Chris is a very nice friend. He wants to find Froggy with me."

Such an easy comment made Chris think Big was thinking hard to console him. Chuckling heartily, Chris nodded. "Thank you, Big."

Big looked happily and nodded. "Anything to make a friend happy."

Suddenly, a window from the front green wall opened up, and Megaman glanced over his left shoulder at them from the driver's seat. "You guys, we're reaching the area of the Flutter now."

Roll sighed in relief. "Thank goodness it's still there..."

The Smashers inside the room managed to look outside the window from their spots. From what they could see, a big airship was wrecked over a hill. The ship itself had the same paint color scheme as the Support Car did (a proof that made them believe Roll was in charge of all their machinery's color schemes). The ship was big enough to house several people. It previously had three wings: one of each side, and one underneath, the latter one scrapped off. Above the ship, there was a small terrace with a frontal handrail. The front of the ship had two green-dotted eyes, making the ship look like some sort of fish.

"It looks...nice," Lucas said.

"That's the Flutter, everyone," Roll said without taking her sight away from the front road. "It's the ship we use to fly around the world."

Megaman sighed and frowned. "But it's wrecked. The engines didn't last for long, and so we crashed here in Kattelox Island."

"At least we found this land nearby," Roll said. "We would've died if we didn't have somewhere else to land rather than the ocean. I still have the bruise I got on my back when we made the emergency landing."

"Me too..."

"In order to repair the Flutter, we need to find a huge refractor," Roll said. "Do you know what refractors are? Refractors are gems that have important energy sources. Diggers go around the world to explore ruins and find refractors."

"Have you found any of those refractors?" Ness asked.

"Yeah, but the one we got wasn't enough to repair the Flutter," Megaman said. "We got a blue one from a tower located in the sea."

"However, we need to find a bigger one that can provide a lot more energy into the Flutter, and the Sub-Gate in this area might have the refractor we need to retrieve for the Flutter to work," Roll said as the car took another path of the forest that directed to the eastern side. "According to Megaman, the mayor said there was a Sub-Gate here."

Megaman looked serious at the road. "The ruins are being raided by the pirates we met. The same pirates that attacked the city are now around the Sub-Gate."

"We're sorry for asking all of you this, but can you help us defeat the pirates?" Roll asked worried. "I'm worried that Megaman goes off alone to face all of them. But, surely, with all of you, our task might get a lot easier."

Ike nodded. "We can give a hand if you want." The whole group nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," Roll said. "Oh, there was something else I was going to ask you... Since we're going to investigate the ruins, can you assist Megaman in there?"

"Well, sure, why not?" Ike asked.

Roll shook her head. "There was something important we need to tell you about the Sub-Gate, though..." She looked at Megaman. "That reminds me, didn't the mayor tell you something else?"

Megaman rubbed his chin. "Yeah, she said something important to me," he said. "She said that the Reaverbots on the island started to turn themselves on..."

"What?" Roll asked. "The Reaverbots of this place were turned off?"

"Yeah, that's what she said," Megaman said. "They didn't do this before, and that's what making her worry so much."

The Smashers listened to this. "I-I'm sorry for meddling a bit into this, but, what are Reaverbots?" Luigi asked.

Roll looked back to the track. "Oh right, you're not from this world," she said. "Well, for starters, Reaverbots are ancient robots built to protect Sub-Gates scattered across the planet. According to the legends, Reaverbots were built by ancient civilizations to protect refractors from being taken away by thieves."

Megaman looked over his left shoulder at them. "Don't think Diggers are thieves, though. With the way the world is now, everyone is trying to take the refractors to get power sources."

"It's all good," Roll said. "Besides, digging into the ruins can yield important discoveries about how civilizations from old lived, not just getting refractors. In any case, can you help Megaman investigate the ruins of Cardon Forest while making sure you get out alive?"

At this, Lucas looked scared. "A-are Reaverbots very dangerous?" he asked.

"Some might be, but most aren't," Megaman said. "You can find many small Reaverbots patrolling halls and such, but there are some instances where bigger and stronger Reaverbots guard certain places such as rooms close to the refractor of the ruins."

"Remember we said that we found a refractor? Well, once he took it from its pedestal, it triggered the Sub-Gate's security Reaverbot. It was huge one, and even he couldn't destroy it completely."

"That robot even cornered me against a huge fall to the sea because the Sub-Gate was a huge tower in the middle of the sea," Megaman recalled. "Luckily, Roll came in with the Flutter and she saved me from that Reaverbot."

"And then, after that...the Flutter began malfunctioning, and we crashed here," Roll said sighing. "Man, we were talking about Reaverbots, and then we're suddenly explaining how we ended up here again..."

Lucas gulped. "P-please, tell me we're going to be okay..."

"I guess," Megaman said. "Don't you get so scared about them. It's hard for me to investigate Sub-Gates alone, but with all us together, it might be easier."

Ness patted Lucas's right knee. "You hold on, okay?"

The blond boy nodded. "O-okay..."

Roll chuckled at this as she spotted a small passage inside a cave. "Well, there it is. On the other side of that passage, we'll find the Sub-Gate's area. And once we cross to the other side, we'll find the pirates as well. As soon as I park the car somewhere safe, everyone has to leave the car. I'll be driving the car to provide protection."

Luigi shook his head. "W-what? A-are you seriously going to drive the car into the fight?"

Roll looked at Megaman. "I'm worried, you know? If Megaman happens to get hurt...I don't want to think about it."

Megaman smiled worried at Roll, blushing a bit on his cheeks. "U-um, thanks, Roll."

Anybody like Peach would have noticed the small hint of love between the duo. The princess chuckled to herself in amusement as she carefully stared at the two still locking embarrassed eyes at each other.

Sonic ran backwards next to Megaman's side. "So, anything you can tell us about these pirates? Do they swing swords or something?"

Megaman shook his head and looked at the hedgehog. "They use tanks armed with bombs and machine guns. So far, those are the only weapons they use to attack... Oh, and also, they have turrets, so be careful."

Sonic nodded. "Gotcha, I'll take care of those turrets." He grinned and winked at them. "I've been fighting robots for a pretty long time now. You can count on me."

"We'll see if we can really count on you," Roll said. "I'm worried about some of you, though..."

Peach looked concerned. "If things look really dangerous...I'll see what I'll do."

Luigi looked worried at her. "P-Peach, you should stay in the car. If things get really nast-"

"I'll help...somehow," she interrupted, making Mario and Luigi sigh.

"I'll stay in the car just in case something bad happens," Big said. "I don't wanna fight right now...I just want to find Froggy..."

Megaman and Roll looked at each other. "Froggy?" they both repeated confused.

"Long story..." Chris trailed off, "I'll tell you both later..."

On the roof of the car, Chip sighed to himself, staring at the clouds. He yawned loudly and then turned to the side where he fell asleep. "Give me back my machine guns and chocolate bar, jerk..." he muttered, drifting off into a dream.

"...Huh?" Roll blinked a bit. "There's a woman near the entrance..."

The engineer spotted a middle-aged, brown haired woman wearing a white apron. Roll and Megaman could tell the woman looked very scared about something. Stopping the car besides her, Roll looked at the preoccupied woman. "Ma'am, is something wrong? You look a bit upset," Roll said. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, yes, something happened, my dear," the woman said worried. "I was looking for mushrooms on the other side of this passage, and then all of sudden these tanks rolled out of nowhere! I-I don't know what some children like you are going to do, b-but I'm getting out of here!" she said before yelping and running away from the direction they came from.

Roll watched the woman getting away. "Wow, she's running quite fast," she remarked before snapping out from her remark, looking serious at Megaman. "Megaman, they must be on the other side. Are you ready to give it a go?"

Megaman nodded. "I'm ready."

Roll looked at the others. "What about you?"

"We're ready as well," Mario said as everyone nodded in unison.

Roll looked forward into the passage. "Then here were go."

The car drove into the passage, crossing the small cave to get on the other side where the ruins' area awaited them all...

Music stops

Cardon Forest - Ruins Area

Parking carefully behind a tree that was conveniently sitting close to the entrance of the ruins' area, which was a big plain with some canyons surrounding the area, Roll made sure they were out of sight. She looked determined at Megaman and everyone before saying, "You guys need to go out now," she said before looking on the panel besides the wheel, spotting many dots in it. "I'm picking up many signals from tanks, so be careful out there."

"You're going to advance with the car?" Ness asked.

"Once you guys take out some tanks, I'll move the car next to you," Roll explained. "If you can, use the car to shield yourselves from incoming attacks, but don't let them damage the Support Car, or else it could explode for good this time."

Mario nodded. "We got it," he said, turning to the door where Big was blocking it. "Big, would you?"

Big nodded, stood up, turned to the door, and squeezed his body out from the car, making it move a bit to the sides. The Smashers walked out from the car (with Mario and Luigi standing very close to Peach) and Big got inside again, Data being the only one who didn't go out. He closed the door behind.

Megaman got off from the driver's seat and closed the door. He looked at the group and nodded. "Let's go," he said, walking to the other side of the tree with everyone following.

"Good luck, you guys!" Roll shouted from the car while a sleepy Chip mumbled some words about sweets being stolen by a swift ninja.

However, once the group walked a few feet away from the Support Car, they found out that they had arrived a bit earlier than expected. Apparently, they spotted a girl standing in front of three little figures that were with Teisel. The green-eyed girl had brown hair in an odd shape. She wore a pink tiara over her hair, a small black vest over her pink shirt, pink gloves, brown pants, and pink shoes. She also wore mechanical-looking skull marks: a pendant on her neck and two earrings on her ears.

"Alright, you bunch of little-do-nothings, listen up here!" she raised her voiced, putting her hands on her hips. "We failed so badly last time in our attempt to enter the Sub-Gate back at Clozer Woods, so we need to make it all up this time by raiding the ruins in this place." She pointed a finger at them. "You're Servbots, a proud elite group who works hard for the Bonne Family! I'm giving you all a second chance to prove yourselves once more!"

Servbots are small-purpose robots who serve the Bonne Family, each one with their own personality and talent. The Servbots are pretty much the whole crew of 41 (the last Servbot's existence being a complete mystery to the others) of the Bonne Family, working hard every day to appease their creator. The Servbots have a child-like personality and love Tron Bonne as a mother, but are often in trouble for their mistakes and are punished by her whenever they goof off. Their cute appearance is useful to avoid people suspecting of them, allowing them to get information and report back to the Bonne Family. Their favorite food is curry rice.

"Right, Ms. Tron!" the three figures, or Servbots, said with a salute.

"I'm gonna be busy preparing the robot I was going to make to get back at that annoying, pesky blue boy who beat us last time," she said with irritation. "Ooh, I hate that guy! If he didn't show up, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!"

The right Servbot raised his right hand. "Ms. Tron, what do you want us to do?"

The girl sighed. "I want you to guard this area and break into the ruins. Also, if that blue boy shows up again, kill him off, okay?" She thought for a moment. "…Or…just don't let him get near this place."

The Servbots looked at each other and stared back at the girl. "So, no killing the blue boy?" the left Servbot asked.

"W-well, you can hurt him a little, but that's all you'll do!" the girl said. "If you go overboard and kill him, well…we could seriously get the police on us now…"

The middle Servbot smiled. "But, Ms. Tron, the police are seriouslyon us. Did you forget we kinda wrecked the city when we all fought that blue boy and pathetically lost to him?"

The girl blushed in embarrassment. "I know that already, and don't you address us as pathetic again!" She closed her eyes and grunted. "I'm just saying that things could get even much worse than they are now!" She pointed a finger to some small tanks with the skull insignia imprinted on their front parts. "Go get your butts in there and guard the area, you got that? You better stay on schedule or else there won't be dinner for any of you tonight!"

The Servbots saluted once more. "Yes, Ms. Tron! We understand!" they all said in unison before turning around to run towards the tanks to use them.

As the girl watched them getting inside their tanks, she sighed to herself and frowned. "Sheesh, things aren't definitely looking up for us today…" She rubbed her chin and looked up with some curiosity. "Okay, so what was it that Teisel told me about? Something about some people coming out from a portal after he was defeated by that blue boy... Man, my big brother is nuts, I swear," she muttered with a frown. "I didn't see any portal or something like that. I was flying the Gesellschaft. Too bad the radar wasn't operating well. Otherwise, I'd have seen that portal he was talking about for sure..."

The Smashers looked at each other. "Did she see us coming out from the portal?" whispered Sonic to Mario.

"She didn't. She just said so," Mario whispered.

The girl lifted her shoulders a bit. "Well, no matter. It doesn't really matter what he saw. After all, he's Teisel... All we have to do is follow the schedule," she said with a small chuckle. "Yeah, everything is just gonna be alright… But…I'm worried about that blue boy from before…" She crossed her arms and looked worried. "When he told that pesky dog from biting me…I…I don't know what was happening to me…" She slowly turned around, still deep in thought. "I felt a bit funny…and…I don't know why my heart was beating so…"

Once she locked eyes with the group for a small second, she stopped talking to herself.

Cross Edge - A Lucky Dog

"…U-UAAAAAAAAAH!" she yelped out, making some of them step back. In a second, she got into a moody attitude full of embarrassment and anger. "W-what the hell are you doing here, stalking on people like me? T-that's so creepy! H-how long have you been standing there?"

"Like forty seconds ago," Sonic responded.

Megaman scratched his head a bit. "W-wel-"

"You!" she yelled, ignoring the hedgehog, "you're the same blue boy from before! So, you came all the way here because you didn't have enough of us, huh?" She just noticed Megaman was accompanied with the Smashers. Her eyes looked bored at them before she looked amused and hid part of her face behind her right hand. "Oooooh, now I get it..."

"What?"

"Oh, that's so nice of you," she said in amusement. "You thought the next time we'd meet it'd be a lot harder for you to handle things alone, so you went to ask people with odd costumes to come help you against us."

Megaman looked a bit miffed at this while some of the Smashers felt a bit offended at the "remark" the girl said. "U-um..."

The girl waved a finger. "Nah-ah-ah, you can't hide it from me. I know you did just that for the sake to be safe. I'm flattered instead of being frightened, actually."

"W-wait, that's not..."

Ness pulled Megaman's left hand a bit to get his attention. "Hey, who's this annoying girl?" he muttered.

The girl clearly heard the mutters. "W-what was that, you little brat?" she demanded with a fist. "D-did you just call me an annoying girl? Why, you, I should come over right there and slap you so you mind your own business!"

Ness stared blankly at her. "I thought I was minding my own business. I mean, I came here to stop you and all that...so yeah."

"Oh, so what are you gonna do?" the girl asked skeptically. "You're going to pick up some rocks and toss them at my tanks? Sorry, but they're rock proof." She smiled sadistically and waved down a hand at Ness. "Go back home with your mommy if you know what's good for you."

Annoyed by this, Ness grumbled and looked at Lucas. "Luc, should I burn her down or explode her to bits or do both?"

Lucas blinked in shock. "N-Ness, that's a bit too much, don't you think?"

"People that piss me off like she does don't really deserve a rock in their face," Ness muttered annoyed.

The girl shook her head and looked at Megaman. "You can take those kids away from here if you want. This is the ONLY chance I'm giving you to do so, so you might as well take it."

"W-well..." Megaman looked unsure. "...I don't think they'll leave."

"What are you trying to say now? Oh, that's just great, then!" the girl said in annoyance. "Well, if they're THAT stubborn, they'll know how I, Tron Bonne, can be dangerous whenever I want!"

Tron Bonne is the main engineer of the Bonne Family, little sister to Teisel Bonne. She is the creator who built all the 40 Servbots (Servbot 41 being a total mystery for her) whom she treats as children (ever so often punishing them if they goof off). Her personality changes many times as she can be calm and happy, then angry and furious the next minute, but in both settings, she's extremely stubborn and not above mocking her opponents openly whether she's winning or not. Like Roll, Tron is a mechanical genius who invents all of the Bonne's fighting machines, having a IQ of 180. As a side note, she's a 14-year-old girl, the same age like Megaman and Roll.

"Oh, so that's your name," Megaman said.

"W-what the heck, you didn't know my name?" the girl named Tron asked in disbelief.

"I never asked for it."

"U-ugh! You're unbelievable!" she said with disgust before she sighed, calming herself down. "Well, it doesn't really matter. It's not like I care or anything... I don't want to know your name."

"Megaman."

Tron blushed with anger. "I-I said I didn't want t-oh, whatever!" she yelled, throwing her hands up. "Either way, my children won't go easy on you this time! Your little group isn't going to make much difference at all. In fact, you just brought some weird bunch to be killed! What an idiot you are, honestly!"

Suddenly, Tron narrowed her eyes at the Smashers. Peach, feeling a bit unsure, tilted her head at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"(Hmm, these guys fit into the description Teisel told me about...)" Tron thought. "(He said they dressed weird...)"

"Hello?"

Tron snapped out from her thoughts and looked mad at them. "I-I was just thinking about something, that's all!"

Chip rolled his eyes and plugged his ears. "This girl is such a loudmouth. She just won't stop yelling at us. She needs to be Chipminated so badly."

"Yeah," Sonic commented.

Tron narrowed her eyes at them. "Ooh, you're going to wish to be alive after this," she muttered. "Fine! You people are just irritating to me, so I'll be going now!"

Megaman held out his hand at her. "W-wait!"

"I won't!" Tron yelled back, turning around towards the south. "Listen to this for a minute, Megaman. I know you were so desperate to get help to deal with my Servbots, but I think it was stupid of your part to invite these guys here. I mean, look at them! They dress weird, they look weird, and they're annoying above everything else!"

Ness snickered a bit. "She just said your name, and she said she didn't care."

"Shut up, you little brat!"

Ike looked away. "God, what is her problem? She complains a lot for nothing..."

"I HEARD that!" Tron yelled as she walked away from them. "You better be prepared for what's to come, Megaman! The Bonne Family isn't going to give up on you and your little groupie!" She stopped walking and looked over her right shoulder at them. "Humph!" she said loudly, going back towards the south where she walked into the forest and disappeared from sight.

Once she was gone, Peach looked concerned at Megaman. "Um, why didn't we stop her? Isn't she your enemy?"

Megaman looked confused. "I...just don't know," he said honestly. "Part of me wants to take her to the police, but another part of me wants me to go on easy on her. I feel a bit guilty for stopping her team..."

"You don't like fighting, right?" Luigi asked.

"No, I had to fight them so they didn't cause trouble," Megaman explained.

Sonic cleaned his right ear with a finger. "Well, I, personally, didn't want her to come with us. I don't want her yellin' at us, y'know."

Peach crossed her arms and put a finger on her lips. "(She looked so upset, but I don't know why I think she feels something for Megaman...)" With this thought in mind, the princess clasped her hands together and looked excited. "(...Wouldn't this mean she has a crush on him? If she does...I want to see her soon again.)"

Chris took out Eggy from his pocket and sighed. "Please, don't break on me, Eggy. I don't want you getting broken now."

Freaked out a bit, Megaman looked at Ike. "Why is he talking to that egg with the funny face?" he asked.

"Some project he's doing, I think," Ike whispered back.

"...Oh," Megaman said, Chris stuffing Eggy back into his pocket.

It was not long before three tanks, the same tanks the Servbots rode, approached them. Stopping a few feet away, the Servbots began talking. "Okay, everybody, on your toes!" spoke the middle tank.

"We'll show Miss Tron what we can do...this time, for sure!" the right tank spoke.

"Remember, our dinner is at risk here. We can't lose our curry rice for tonight!" the left tank spoke loudly. "I'm hungry right now, so you know how upset I can get when I'm hungry!"

"Oh no, he's upset!" the tank of the center said. "We better stop them before he gets hungrier!"

"I thought he was supposed to watch his weight," the right tank said.

"Shut up, you!" the left tank said. "It's dinner or bust for me! I'm not backing off now!"

"Oooh, nooooo!" the other tanks said in fear.

The group sweat dropped in unison at this. Scratching his head a bit, Megaman looked at the others and said, "Guys, you really need to be careful."

"Pfft, watch this," Ness muttered, making fists at his sides while sending a green flash that grew in size and went over the middle of the tanks. "PK Flash!" he shouted.

The green flash exploded into a burst of energy, making all tanks exploded into bits. Out of the smoke that the flash had caused, the three Servbots rolled in the air and fell down in front of the group. Pushing themselves back on their feet, they looked at them and started screaming. "Uah, run away!" the middle Servbot suggested.

The left Servbot began crying. "A-at this rate, I won't have my curry riiiiiice!" he moaned.

"Quick, we need to get away from them and tell Miss Tron about this! T-they're...very dangerous...and so weird as well!" the right Servbot yelled. The three Servbots raised their hands and ran away in a mad dash to the same direction Tron went, hoping they would catch up with her to tell on the Smashers.

"Weird... They're just trying to insult me," Ness muttered with crossed arms.

Megaman gaped a bit at the display of power from Ness. Looking at the proud Ness for a brief moment, the boy in the blue suit stared forward at some turrets placed on a big hill and smiled confidently. "Okay, now I know I can really count on all of you." He pointed forward and yelled, "Here we go, everyone!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Misadventures of Tron Bonne. Wait, are we really gonna have her around again?" asked Sonic.

"In a similar event, during many occasions, I've been asking myself that at least five hundred times. You'll get used to her," Pikachu said.

"Five hundred times?"

"Team Rocket, dude, Team Rocket."

"Oh... Hey, wait, I don't know what a Team Rocket i-"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Kattelox Island-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Big, Megaman Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Eggy Jr. the Fourth

References:

-The project Chris is doing with Eggy is just an actual project I went through recently. This is one of the few instances where I make him endure something I already passed. Even the egg's name is the same one I gave my egg (crazy, I know, but funny).

-"Megaman Legends/64 - Apple Market" is a song reference to the same game. It always place in the arcade, the downtown, and the city hall.

-"Final Fantasy X – Movement in Green" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays such as places like Moonflow or the paths surrounding it.

-The next chapter's title is a reference to Tron Bonne's game of the same name, where she is the main character instead of Megaman.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Servbots somehow make me remind of Legos.

I hope that the little month skip was understandable. And, of course, there are no important events happening between these periods, just Chris having issues with homework.

There were some changes to the main plot so key-characters like Tron would make an appearance. Also, I think I'm a bit unsure if I should call Megaman like this or Mega Man. Which of these sound better for you, though? I might change how his name is called for the entire arc depending of your opinions.

…Yes, Eggy is also a character. Even if it's just an egg, it is some kind of baby for Chris. Mwahahahaha, I just created a super minor OC who doesn't have too much relevance to the main story.

Poll. Now that I have your attention, be on the lookout for the next poll.

I encourage VolnuttXCaskett and other shippers to review (not saying I support pairings in general, though). :)

…Or everyone will do the Data Dance for the remainder of this arc. "One to the right, one to the left, one to the right, one to the left…"
*Chapter 171*: The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

This chapter was needed to be finished before final's week could arrive, so please understand if I don't update for some time.

From FF and STH: Great chapter in megaman legends but I like to ask why you have Big as a temporary party members and not somebody like rouge or team chaotix.

From me: Oh, please, don't tell me you're one of the people who hate Big. I don't understand why people hate the cat. And as for those two you mentioned, they weren't in the mansion, were they? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From ngrey651: Ah, the "Legends" series had some amazing lore behind it. I'm glad to see it included here. I wonder though. In the Pokemon series, preteens are sent out into the world with a pet that has a special ability so they can catch OTHER "pets" with special abilities and train them. And one particular group is stalking one such preteen and HAS been doing so for years.

Team Rocket should be reported to child services. XD

From me: Pokemon doesn't know how to protect children well, apparently. I'm glad you liked the chapter. Thanks. :)

From Yue Twili: Lol, the Chipminator! I wonder if Tron will really be a nuisance to the group. Btw, sorry for not reviewing for the Final Fantasy 7 ark, I've been busy on my end with my fanfics.

Out of curiosity, will characters from Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep make a cameo appearance of sort? I think Megaman is better like that. But that's up to you dude. Update whenever you can.

From me: It's understandable that people won't review all the time. That's something I don't mind much.

As for those characters, it's very unclear what I'll do with the Kingdom Hearts series. It's a little bit too early to start making arcs for that…and why is it that you're the only one that responded to that question? Thanks for reviewing. :D

From TARDISreviewer: OK... it took Chip a month to get over being told about what that fanboy magnet was going to do? wow. anyways... I don't exactly understand much about this chapter, but whatever.

PS; awesome smiley is awesome. *insert image of awesome face here*

From me: I hope you keep watching this arc till the end. Maybe the FDL is starting to fail? I sure hope that's not happening… Thanks. :D

From True Hyper Sonic: LOL! Just the thought of this world is loopy; screwy Servbots, slight hints of Roll/Mega/Tron, & Sonic is still a smartaleck! :) Wonder what other Megaman-type surprises do you have up your sleeve? Anything with an X, maybe; or perhaps a Z? Whatever the case, you're doing great! (Wish they could've fought Sephiroth in the last arc, though.)

From me: Sorry, there aren't any surprises with Xs and Zs and what not…yet. Thanks for reviewing again. ;D

From The Black Ace: that is a good story! The egg thing is weird, but you do one on Digimon? Because I would like to see Lucario and Guilmon fight over Renamon!I've been reading your stories forever and then reading them again, because they are so good! This is the first time for me to review. Malcuir out

From me: I'm sorry, but Digimon is too anime-ish to include here. Also, fandom ideas are not acceptable (because I honestly think they're really unneeded here due to their craziness (and mostly because I hate that specific pairing quite a lot, but that's all)). I only want to maintain a good order in this story, so I hope you understand. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From KimotoDragoon: Yay! Megaman. I hope nothing goes wrong. And bonne... Weird as ever.

From me: Could you…um…be a little bit more descriptive? I don't know why I felt that you were being specific enough… Anyway, thanks for reviewing. :D

Phew, finals' weeks are such a drag for fan fiction. I think most of us are having the same event as you're reading these lines. Hopefully, I managed to write this before my finals could start.

In this chapter, you'll see how Megaman and Roll start to like the Smashers' company, developing closer bonds with them, and Tron trying to succeed in her plans about what to do with the Smashers.

A poll is open, you know. Why I haven't made this line the 'Poll Advice' sentence?

With that away, I encourage blue suit fans to read and review. ;)

Disclaimer: Where's the Megaman Legends's Zero?

Chapter 171: The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

-Kattelox Island-
Cardon Forest - Sub-Gate Area

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - Do Your Best, Girl!

When rushed forward into the field, Chris gasped and grabbed Peach her shoulder. The princess turned to him confused. "What is it, Chris? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"W-well, there is something wrong," Chris said worried.

Peach knew what Chris was going to say. With a confident chuckle, the princess looked happy. "I'll be just fine, Chris. You don't need to worry a lot for me."

"I think you'd say something like that...so, I want you to put these in your Trophy Stand," Chris said, taking out from his pocket the Sophia sticker, a newly obtained medium-sized Choco/Mog sticker (the latter having an original moogle riding on a Chocobo) and an Ifrit sticker (which had the picture of a medium-sized horned green monster).

Peach tilted her head at the stickers. "What...will they give me?"

"Healing, Thunder Flare, the Choco/Mog summon, and Hell Fire" Kawashima said. "You'll basically become some sort of mixture between a mage and a summoner. They're great for attacking and healing at long distances."

The princess thought for a moment (a little bit scared about the "Hell Fire" part). "I...wouldn't certainly get close to those tanks and smack them with my frying pan, golf club, or tennis racket..."

The musician sweat dropped at this.

"And if I could provide some healing...well..."

"Just think about it, dammit!" Chris cried loudly. "For the love of god, if somebody ever hit you right on the face with a punch, I'd never tolerate it! Hell, even Master Hand wouldn't tolerate it either! NO ONE ELSE would tolerate somebody hitting you in the face!"

Peach stammered at the sudden outburst. "G-get hit in the face?"

"I'm sorry if I'm putting up such a violent example, but, please, become a mage of the sorts before everyone regrets it! We're thinking about your welfare!"

"But...if that's true, then what would happen if Zelda got hit in the face?"

Chris stared blankly at her. "For some reason...it doesn't apply so well for Zelda. I mean, I think she's a little bit more of a tomboy than you are."

-Smash Mansion-
Command Room

"What?" Zelda asked upset. "Oh, so it's unforgivable if somebody hits Peach, but it's understandable if I'm the one getting the hit?" She looked at Link. "Link, give me your honest opinion about this."

"Why do I need t-" Link noticed Zelda's fierce glare. "I-I mean, sure, it'd be unforgivable if you ever got hit, Zelda! C-Chris is wrong in this one!"

"Are you being honest, Link?"

Link nodded many times. "Y-yeah, I'm sure of it! N-now, please, lower your hand before it shoots a Din's Fire at me!"

Marth looked away. "It's not like Zelda to get this angry, but I guess there are some certain things that could set her angry..."

-Kattelox Island-
Cardon Forest - Sub-Gate Area

"Hmm? How strange. It seems your partnership with Zelda diminished, Chris," Kawashima said.

The musician groaned at this and looked up to the sky. "Zelda, I-I was kidding! Y-you don't need to get mad at me! Please, forgive me for saying that about you! You're the same case as Peach, I swear!"

"Oh, it looks like the meter recovered half of its lost percentage now," Kawashima said. "Watch out for what you're saying, Chris. The others can still watch and listen to what we're saying during the mission."

"Great, now I'll have to remind myself that..." Chris muttered and looked at the concerned Peach. "So, Peach, please, use these stickers. You'll be a lot more helpful if you use them. Also, if you DO use them, I'll never bring up something like you getting hit in the face."

Peach blinked a bit shocked at this.

"Chris, for some reason, the meter lost Zelda's recovered percentage," Kawashima pointed out.

"Goodness gracious, Zelda, you're being irrational now!" Chris yelled. "Stop it, please!"

"The meter recovered the lost percentage, but it didn't recover fully."

The musician grunted loudly and looked at Peach. "So, what will it be, Peach?"

Peach looked serious and nodded as she took the stickers from Chris's hand. "I'll do it," Peach said. "If everyone is so worried about me...I'll do it."

"(God, look at the fierceness of her eyes,)" Chris thought. "(You can see fire on them...maybe.)"

The princess chuckled heartily and put the stickers on her Trophy Stand. She smiled at Chris and nodded. "Thank you for helping me out, Chris. You're so nice."

Chris blushed and chuckled nervously. "I-I do everything I can so I don't turn out to be useless, Peach..." He looked back to the field. "Well, shall we get going now before everyone finish off those tanks?"

"Please, you first."

"Okay, let's go now," Chris said, running into the field with Peach following from behind.

Meanwhile, behind the tree, Roll, from the driver's seat, managed to listen to the two's conversation. The engineer blinked a few times before looking confused at no one in particular, saying, "They're such a weird bunch, let me tell you," before sighing to herself. "Well, time to drive for me," she said, looking over to Big and Data behind. "It'll be alright, you two, so leave the driving to me."

Big and Data nodded. The purple cat looked up to the ceiling and thought, "(People here are so nice for letting young girls drive.)"

Data merely replied by doing his usual dance to the sides over the box.

Big stared at Data. The dance of the robotic monkey seemed very interesting for him.

Back at the field, eight tanks rolled from behind the big hill and towards Megaman's group. "There's the blue boy!" announced a tank. "He's bringing reinforcements!"

"Stop 'em from gettin' closer!" another tank announced. "Miss Tron will take our dinner away if we don't do something!"

"For the curry rice!"

"FOR THE CURRY RICE!" all tanks proclaimed in unison.

"Just look at their fierceness!" Ness remarked. "That fierceness for the golden taste of their sacred curry rice makes you feel proud of hearing such words from those tanks! Those words make you feel like a DAMN man, Lucas!"

Lucas looked surprised a Ness. "N-Ness, I didn't think you were like them."

"Lucas, have you ever heard of sarcasm before? I honestly think these guys are plain pathetic."

"...Oh... For a minute there, it sounded so convincing that you respected their curry rice."

"Hell no," Ness said before looking at Megaman. "Seriously, are you trying to say these guys gave trouble to the island?"

Megaman looked annoyed. "Hey, try fighting twenty robot tanks by yourself. It's a lot harder to watch out for one destroying a house while you're on the other side of the city!"

"Was that your first time?"

"Yes."

"Oh, that explains it," Ness said. "You just weren't used to that kind of thing. You have my condolences."

Megaman merely rolled his eyes. Seeing that they were being ignored, the tanks approached closed to them. "Hey, that's so rude of you!" one of them spoke. "Why are you having a conversation right in front of the enemy? Don't you know that's dangerous for you?"

Ness raised a finger. "I hate to break your bubble (actually, I don't), but you guys aren't dangerous for the most part."

The tanks gasped loudly at this statement. "N-not only are you rude, but you're a bully as well? I call dibs on you all!" a tank stated. "Taste bullets, brats!" he yelled, the tanks starting to shoot bullets with their machines guns.

Lucas yelped at this and sent forth a PK Freeze's mist, floating all the way to some tanks before exploding into a burst of ice, trapping at least two tanks in ice. "I-I need help, somebody!" he shouted, machine guns being aimed at him.

Megaman rolled and blocked Lucas while shooting several blasts of energy at the tanks. However, the shots weren't enough to destroy them, and the boy received the shots. Grunting loudly, he looked around. "Guys, I need some backup here!" he yelled.

Ness stood behind Lucas, sending forth a PK Flash that went floating all the way to the tanks before exploding in a big burst of energy, causing at least four tanks to explode. The Servbots of said tanks tumbled over along the ground, charred completely. The Servbots stood up and threw their hands up before scrambling around in panic. This, however, didn't indicate that the other three tanks stopped shooting at the trio. "Dammit, we need some help here!" Ness yelled.

It was not long before a blue sphere attacked the three tanks by penetrating their armored bodies, making them all explode into bits. The Servbots of said tanks had the same fate as their previous fallen comrades: throw their arms up and scramble around in panic for help. The blue sphere then rolled back to the trio and turned back into Sonic, who grinned at them confidently. "You called?" he asked.

Lucas sighed in relief. "Y-yes, thank you..."

Megaman looked amazed at the hedgehog's speed. "Wow...that was awesome," he remarked, smiling wide in surprise before standing up. "You're really something."

Sonic chuckled and crossed his arms. "I'm more than something, thank you very much."

"Sonic, I'd rather show off later than now," Ness commented in boredom. "If you forgot, we have those tanks Lucas froze back there."

Lucas looked serious and pulled back his hands. "PK Fire!" he shouted, sending a small bolt into the ice to burst into flames, making both tanks unfreeze from the stalactite of ice. Yells of pain came from both tanks as they burned bright red.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot!" one of them shouted.

"I liked it when it was cold!" the other yelled.

Ness stared at Lucas. "Aren't you getting a little bit overboard today? I mean, you froze Roll's car, and now you're burning those tanks."

Lucas shook his head. "I-I'm not going overboard! M-maybe we're just a little bit too strong for them..."

The Onett resident thought for a moment. "Hmm, that might be right..." he muttered.

Sonic spotted the Support Car going towards them. Roll peeked out from the driver's window once she reached them. "Good job, guys. You're clearing out the area from the tanks." She looked to the east. "There are more over there, and I think the others need help. Please, everyone, go and help them!"

"Right," Megaman said. "Everyone, let's go!"

Further to the east, Ike, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Kirby, and Chris faced four turrets that formed a long wall, despite being far-spaced from each other. "We're gonna stop you now!" a Servbot spoke from within the far right turret.

"Yeah, we don't wanna get the boot from Miss Tron because of you," spoke the Servbot from the far left. "And we SURELY don't want to have no dinner tonight."

"You're toast now!" the right turret's Servbot said. "Hmm, toast..."

"Snap out of it, you!" the left turret's Servbot said. "Besides, we all know curry rice beats any other food we eat!"

"Hmm, curry rice, how sweeeeeeeet..." they all said in unison, making the Smashers exchanged glances with each other, except for Kirby, who joined the Servbots' fantasies by saying the same.

"Are these guys...for real?" Ike asked.

Mario thought a bit. "Consider curry rice as their minimum wage for working for that girl we met..."

Peach looked worried at the turrets. "But, isn't it sad that they won't have dinner if we stop them from raiding the ruins?"

"Peach, if we think again, they're the bad guys of this world," Ike said. "Unfortunately, for them, we have to beat them so they don't cause trouble for the island. If you ask me, it was that girl's fault for threatening them by taking away their dinner."

Luigi rubbed his chin. "U-um, why are we talking about their dinner being taken away as punishment? Shouldn't we...like...stop them now instead of talking?"

Chris could still listen to the Servbots' moans of pleasure coming from the turrets. "They...don't seem to be minding us anymore, though..." He looked at the dreamy Kirby. "And...Kirby doesn't seem to be minding us as well..."

Ike put a hand over his face and frowned. "Somehow, I think they got punished too many times before we even got to meet them."

Mario took out FLUDD (which appeared magically on his back) and aimed its nozzle to the turrets. "Well, let me try something to make them listen to us: water," Mario said, charging FLUDD's water.

Luigi gulped. "I-I'd rather let them fantasize about their dinner than noticing us, Mari-"

Mario interrupted Luigi by shooting a stream of water ahead, spraying it all over the turrets. The Servbots suddenly snapped out from their thoughts and turned to them...before sparks flew out from their weapons, resulting in the turrets' demises by exploding due to their short circuits caused by the water.

The Smashers gapped their mouths a bit as four charred Servbots went flying in the air and landed rather hardly on the ground. They all pushed themselves to their feet before screaming and scrambling around in panic. After running around for a while, they yelled, "MISS TRON, HELP US!" before running away into the forest, disappearing from the area.

"..." Chris could barely believe that a little water was enough to take out the weapons out of commission. Even Mario couldn't believe it either nor did the others. "...Seriously, was that ALL?" the musician asked in disbelief. "Just a little spray of water and they're defeated?"

"Apparently, their weaponry cannot support water," FLUDD commented. "It is easy to believe that the weakness of their tanks and turrets is water."

Peach kept staring at the direction the Servbots ran off. "I feel guilty now," she said. "They seemed very sad..."

Ike didn't know how to make the princess understand that they had to beat them, even it if was by using simple means. Instead of thinking for a way to explain, the mercenary said, "Wish that they can get their dinner, then..."

"I will," Peach said. "After all, they're children."

"Robot children..." Luigi added, shrugging at the thought.

Kirby looked sadly at the direction the Servbots ran off. "I hope they get curry rice...it's so delicious..." he muttered, making Chris kneel down to rub his head.

Mario looked over his shoulder at FLUDD. "At least you're going to be used a lot more here."

"I am happy to be of assistance anytime, Mario," FLUDD said. "I do not get depressed when I am not needed. If situations do not call for me, I will understand."

The plumber smiled a bit. "Thanks again, though," he said, FLUDD magically disappearing from his back (Chris: Freaky). The plumber stared forward to see that the small canyon turned to the right. "I think there are more tanks passing that corner," he said.

Not long after saying that, the first group caught up with them. "You guys are okay?" Megaman asked.

"We couldn't be any better...really," Ike said. "Mario just sprayed water on the turrets to make them all explode. We found out their weakness out of curiosity, though."

Ness sighed loudly. "They have to admit they're pushovers. They don't pose any threat against all of us."

Roll came in with the Support Car. She looked at them and smiled a bit. "It seems there's just a few of them crossing that corner," she said. "In fact, I think there are only three left to take out. Furthermore, the ruins are just up ahead, everyone."

"Wow, that was quick," Sonic said. "Just a few more and we're done with this, right?"

"Not quite," Roll said. "We still have to explore the ruins, remember?"

Megaman made a fist and nodded. "Okay, Roll, stay here. We're going to finish off the last tanks so we can move on."

"Please do," Roll said. "Alright, go!"

All of them nodded at her before running towards the corner of the canyon. Once Roll saw that they all went to right, she could easily hear water being sprayed on tanks that later exploded, also seeing three charred Servbots flying over to the forest, screaming for help before they disappeared out of sight.

Music stops

"...Goodness, that was a bit pathetic and so fast," she commented to herself before taking over the wheel. She drove the Support Car over to the canyon's corner.

Once the car turned to the right, the car suddenly shook to the sides as if it had run over something.

"W-what was that just now?" Roll asked as she stopped the car and looked at a rather frightened group of Smashers, the sleeping Chip accidentally rolling over to the right of the roof where he fell down, still sleeping deeply. "Hey, guys, why are you all looking so...scared? You took out the last tanks, right?" She looked forward to see the remains of said tanks. "You did beat the tanks, so... Wait, where's Megaman?" she asked, not finding the boy with the group anymore.

Lucas's mouth couldn't get any lower than it already was. Closing it tight, the Nowhere Island resident avoided crying. "Y-you just...ran over Megaman!" he cried.

"Wha...?" Roll trailed off confused before she stuck out her head from the window and looked behind, looking back at a dead blue carcass dropped dead on the ground. "HOLY REFRACTORS, w-what have I done now? M-MEGAMAN!" She opened the door and jumped out, running over to inspect the dead boy. "I-I told him to be careful about the car, didn't I?"

"You didn't..." Sonic muttered.

"Oh my god, Megaman!"

Peach covered her face. "T-this is just unfair! We just met him two hours ago and now he's dead!" she cried. "W-why did we have to witness his death before our eyes? Why?"

Both plumbers gasped as the princess broke out in sobs. The two quickly hugged her so she would stop crying, failing miserably to do so. "P-Peach, don't jump to conclusions now, please," Mario said, trying to stay calm.

"He's dead!" Luigi cried loudly with Peach, forgetting he was supposed to be strong emotionally. "Megaman is dead! Dead, I tell you, deeeeaaad!"

"L-Luigi, you're not helping at all!" Ike yelled.

Sonic placed a hand over his chest. Seeing this as rather insulting, Chris looked angrily at the hedgehog. "Stop that, Sonic!"

Ness went over to check on Megaman's condition. "Oh god, he's really dead..." he muttered, wiping a tear away. He went over and kicked him to the side, waiting for a response. "Dead..." he said.

Roll sniffed sadly and looked angrily at Ness. "N-no, don't say such a thing! H-he can't die now! H-he just got rolled over by a car, that's all!" She wiped some tears away. "T-this is what happens when somebody like me isn't so used to driving yet!"

"Another thing that this world doesn't care: young children driving CARS and AIRSHIPS," Ness muttered with emphasis.

"W-what about Red?" Lucas asked. "Isn't he ten years old and travels to places?"

"Yes, him too… You know, I get freaked out for the fact we're both older than him, and yet he's taller."

Lucas shrugged. "I-I think I do that, too…"

"Well, our worlds are very different from each other, s-"

"AHEM!" Sonic coughed loudly. "Did you forget we have a dead boy here?"

The car's back door opened, and Big peeked out from it to look down at the dead boy. "D-dead boy body!" he yelled.

"F-for the last time, Megaman isn't dead!" Roll said, trying to avoid believing the sad truth. "I-I surely just knocked him out unconscious, t-that's all, right? Right?" She grabbed Ness by the shoulders and shook him. "Right?"

"I-I'd s-say y-you k-knocked h-him o-out u-unconsciously f-forever," Ness stuttered as Roll shook him.

The World Traveler gulped and walked to the dead boy, Kirby walking to him to poke his head, thinking Megaman was sleeping deeply. "He couldn't be dead, right?" he asked.

Roll stopped shaking Ness (albeit not letting go of him) and looked at Chris. "I-I don't know what to do right now! Megaman needs to be taken to the hospital for recovery!"

Ness ignored Roll's sniffs, looking down at the dead boy's body. He noticed a small move from the right leg. "W-wait a minute… Everyone, he's alive! Stop sobbing and crying now!" he yelled before Roll pushed him away and placed down her hands upon the ground to take a closer look at Megaman.

"M-Megaman!" Roll yelled.

Everyone grew silent, listening to some chuckles coming from the boy. Roll wiped her tears away as her childhood friend slowly looked up to her with a smile, his face having bruises all over it. "H-hey there, Roll...guess I shouldn't have gotten in the car's way..."

"Oh my god, Megaman, I'm so sorry!" Roll cried. "I should've seen where I was driving so you wouldn't get run over!"

Everyone sighed in relief, seeing that the boy was still alive. "God, I got freaked out like never before," Sonic commented. He looked at Mario. "That reminds me, how did he didn't see the car?"

"Well, I think he was ducking down to shoot at the tanks," Mario recalled. "He was the one who came first, and he helped to distract them long enough for me to spray water on them. He...unfortunately, was very close to the corner, and Roll appeared and ran over hi-"

"Please, don't say that!" Roll interrupted without hesitation. "I'm feeling so guilty as it is!"

Kirby looked happily at Megaman and went over to his face to hug him. The boy coughed a bit and looked back at everyone. "S-sorry for being so reckless...but I thank my suit for protecting me from being crushed...I would've died if it wasn't for my suit..."

Suddenly, Data jumped out from the car's window and landed close to Megaman. "Oh, Megaman, don't be so reckless!" he spoke, surprising most of the Smashers, even Roll. "Thanks to your recklessness, you got into this!"

Megaman coughed. "I-I'm sorry, Data..."

Luigi looked shocked at the robot monkey. "T-that monkey knows how to talk?"

"I didn't know that, too..." Roll trailed off. "Megaman, did you know Data could talk for a long time?"

Data danced for a bit on his spot while Megaman nodded to Roll. "Y-yeah, he kinda doesn't want to talk to any strangers except me."

Roll stared at the dancing Data. "B-but it's rude of him to be so...secretive from me and gramps!"

"He didn't want to talk to you both either," Megaman said. "He said the time 'wasn't just right', so I guess he decided to talk right now..."

Data approached Megaman and took out a cord from his body. "Megaman, please don't get hurt so badly because you were distracted," he said, plugging the cord to Megaman's right shoulder to release energy into his suit. "You're lucky you have me around, u-ki-i!"

A short while went by and Megaman's suit recovered. However, despite the suit being healed, it didn't end up healing Megaman himself. "I-I think you don't know how to heal me physically, right?"

Data unplugged the cord from his suit and shook his head, looking worried at him. "I'm so sorry, Megaman, but I don't possess the ability to heal people. I can only heal and reload your suit."

Roll looked worried. "Oh no, Megaman, you didn't break a leg or something, did you?"

"N-no..."

Knowing this, Chris took out his harp and closed his eyes. "Allow me to heal you physically, then."

Roll and Data looked at him. "Um...are you planning to use that harp?" Roll asked.

"A song passed down from angels to troubadours... Angel Song!" Chris chanted, gracefully touching his harp's strings to make a melody that created a cheerful atmosphere around them. Most of the Smashers sighed silently as the enticing tune filled their ears with music.

Data looked around for a bit. "Hmm, why is it that the air here got a bit weird?"

Roll stared at the musician playing his harp. "That's a nice tune, but, what is that supposed to do?"

"Huh?" Megaman muttered. He blinked a few times and felt that the pain slowly faded away from his body. His wounds seemed to be slowly recovering overtime. Feeling better, the boy in the blue suit slowly stood up from the ground and looked at his hands, Chris playing his tune. "W-wow…my wounds are starting to heal very slowly… Actually…I'm feeling a whole lot better now."

Chris played one last solo before stopping. The World Traveler bowed at Megaman and smiled a bit at him. "There, your wounds should heal slowly until they're healed completely."

The engineer blinked at pure disbelief at this while Megaman looked at himself feeling less and less pain overtime. Roll herself couldn't imagine that magic did exist. She always believed there was some sort of trick behind all magic; something she was going to question to them. "S-so, wait, are you using magic?" Roll asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "I-I know it's hard to believe in it, but I used my harp's magic to heal Megaman's injuries…"

"…Awesome," Megaman exclaimed as he moved his fingers a bit.

Big sighed. "He's not dead. We won't have to make him a grave now."

Everyone stared quite shocked at this little, simple statement.

Roll shook her head and sighed. "Oh well, I guess magic does exist…in some worlds," she said. "Either way, thank you so much for healing Megaman. You don't know how relieved I am right now."

Megaman smiled at the Smashers. "I think we can trust you completely now. The fact you helped us defeat the pirates here makes it clear that you're not lying, right?"

"That's what we have been trying to say this whole time," Sonic said in boredom. "Oh well, now you believe in us. Crazy, but real, you know."

Roll chuckled. "You're going to be really handy to us," she said. "Since everything's okay now, let's go to the ruins... Oh, there it is."

The group turned around to the east where a big fence blocked the entrance to a blue dome with a big door.

"That big fence isn't going to let us through...so, I'm going to ram the car against it," Roll said, quickly getting back into the Support Car.

"...Wait, doesn't this seem a bit...so strange?" Ness asked. "Weren't those pirates supposed to raid the ruins? If they were supposed to do that, why didn't they destroy that fence?"

"Maybe we got here earlier than they expected so they stopped doing anything else?" Mario said.

"Maybe," Ike said. "That seems to be the most logical explanation."

The group turned back to the car, which began revving up its motor. "Okay, you guys, back away! I'm going to ram the car against the fence so we can explore the Sub-Gate!" She revved up the car a bit more. "Go!" she yelled, charging the car at high speed towards the fence. The car easily destroyed the fence. The engineer used the brakes to make a smooth stop right in front of the dome. "There!"

Kirby smiled at Lucas. "I like when things aren't very hard for us."

Lucas smiled back at him. "Y-yes, thank goodness."

Sonic's ears perked up a bit. He turned around to see a very sleepy Chip curling himself on the grass. "Hmm...gimme back my chocolate bar, evil turnip..." he muttered.

"Chip..." Sonic muttered, going over to pick the sleepy imp on his arms.

Everyone else walked towards the Support Car. Roll opened the door and jumped out. Cleaning her hands, she nodded at them. "Okay, guys, we did it," she said, turning to look at the blue dome. "There it is, the Cardon Forest's Sub-Gate..."

Megaman stared at the big red door that blocked the entrance to the dome. "Let's see where I need to insert my license," he said, taking out his Class "A" License. "There should be some kind of slot to open that door... Let me go look," he said as he walked towards the door.

Luigi looked at Roll. "W-what are we going to do once we get inside?"

"Well, for starters, you need to find the refractor hidden within the Sub-Gate," Roll explained, raising a finger by her right side. "However, you need to take in mind that ruins like the Sub-Gate contains security Reaverbots. No matter what you do, they'll see you as their enemies."

"A-and?"

"And they'll try to dispose of you so we can't get the refractor in our hands," Roll further explained. "Furthermore, there are many different kinds of Reaverbots in each Sub-Gate. They all have different ways to attack and defend, so watch out." She put her hands on her hips and smiled a bit. "I don't think you'll have much trouble, though. With all your support, there won't be any kind of danger in there. Be careful, though."

"We will," Ike said. "We're used to do exploration stuff. Everything's fine with us, so don't worry."

"Good, that makes it all much better."

"I found the slot!"

Everyone turned back to the dome where Megaman stood to the door's right side where he had found a small key card slot. The boy inserted his card into it. After the card got into the slot, it then pushed out as a confirmation that it was accepted by the gate. Megaman took the card back and looked at the gate, which now turned on. The gate began making sounds as the middle gear of the door spun a bit. A red eye-like circle turned on with a light. The door then began to move to the sides, slowly opening the path into the Sub-Gate.

Chris looked concerned. "So now we have to go in..."

"That's the plan," Megaman said as he walked back to them. "Don't worry, we'll be just fine. Normally, I get in trouble many times when I'm alone, but Roll always help me out."

The engineer nodded. "Yeah, I'm the Spotter of the team," she said. "I use a special radar to locate Reaverbot's readings and other similar robot activities around Megaman. Unfortunately, Megaman has the radar attached to his suit, so he needs to walk around so I can detect any movements from surprise enemies. If you happen to get lost, I'll tell you the directions to go back here."

"You'll be our guide, then," Sonic said. "That works for me all the way."

Peach looked serious. "Let's go," she said. "We can't waste anymore time. Who knows if those cute robots come back to stop us..."

Ness looked away. "Right...cute robots; the same robots who aren't going to have dinner for tonight because we messed them up but good..."

Megaman pointed at the Sub-Gate. "Okay, everybody, let's go!" he said.

Soon, everyone but Roll proceeded into the Sub-Gate's entrance. Upon taking a step inside, they noticed that they were standing over a platform with a control panel in front of them. Megaman went over to the control panel and clicked on it. "Down we go?" Ike asked.

"Yup, down we go," Megaman said as the platform budged a bit and began to descend underground. "Let's hope it's not pitch black in here..."

"P-please don't let it be like that!" Lucas yelled as the Sub-Gate's door slowly closed behind them.

Seeing them gone, Roll tilted her head to the side and shook her head. "I have complete faith in them this time around. Things aren't going to be so bad, despite them being from another world..." She turned back to the car's driver seat. "Well, better get myself ready so I can guide them through the ruins."

However, as Roll got back into the car, she didn't notice that five charred Servbots were keeping tabs on them by hiding behind the canyon. "We can't just go back to Miss Tron and tell her we failed, can we?" asked a Servbot.

"Oh no, never!" a second Servbot said. "I don't want to get our dinner canceled tonight! The least we can do now is keep tabs on those guys with the blue boy!"

"Yeah!" proclaimed a third Servbot. "If we can get juicy information out of them, maybe Miss Tron will spare our curry rice."

"But that's just wishful thinking," a fourth Servbot said. "You don't know if this is even right. You know how mad she gets if we don't go back home? It's dangerous either way!"

A fifth Servbot cried toon tears, despite the fact he had a blank look on his yellow, round face. "P-please, I wanna have my curry rice tonight! T-this is the right thing to do, right, guys?"

The second Servbot looked away. "We might as well be dead right now 'cause she'll punish us right after we go back home."

The fourth Servbot nodded. "Or she could come after us...and that's even worse."

"Alright, everyone, polish your ears!" the second Servbot suggested. "We're gonna eavesdrop in those guys as much as we can! Remember what Miss Tron said before: it's whoever has the most information that wins!"

"Roooooogeeeeer!" all Servbots proclaimed, gasping afterward for raising their voice too high.

Cardon Ruins - Sub-Gate

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Fly Away In the Violet Sky

The elevator lowered to an underground room. The room they arrived had light blue walls surrounding them. Once the elevator landed on safe floor, all of them stepped off from it to the floor, where they looked around the room. "So, here we are at the ruins," Megaman said before turning to them. "Well, I want to make something clear before we go in. Roll and I seriously need the refractor, so, if you could, we need to get it so we can repair the Flutter and nothing else."

"We're not interested in the refractor," Mario said. "It's all good."

"Thanks, that means a lot for us," Megaman said. He looked up suddenly. "Roll, we got in without problems."

"Okay, Megaman, I hear you clearly from my end," Roll said, her voice coming out from Megaman's right arm. "I decided to put the speakers loud so everyone can hear me, Megaman."

"That's okay," Megaman said as Ness and Lucas touched the light blue walls. "Are you picking up something?"

"Let me see... Oh, I'm picking up high energy readings from close by...and it looks like a refractor...and a big one, too!"

Upon hearing this, Megaman got a bit excited. "Do you think that's the main refractor of the Sub-Gate?"

"Yeah, I'm positive about it," Roll said. "It should be in the same room where all of you are. Can you see it?"

Peach gasped and pointed to the east of the room. "Over there, I see something!"

The group turned to her direction where a thin passage leaded to another part of the room. Over the other side, they saw some kind of yellow energy wall shielding a floating big gem (the refractor) in front of a control panel. They all walked towards the energy wall where they stopped and admired the refractor within it.

"W-wow, that's a big crystal," Luigi remarked. "If I got something like that...I'd become rich enough to buy myself a mansion."

"Um, didn't you have a mansion before?" Chris asked.

Luigi sniffed. "D-don't you remember what happened to that mansion?"

"I... Oh, wait..." He looked at Peach, who seemed a bit too marveled on the gorgeous refractor. "...Never mind, then..."

"So yes..."

"Looks like a Chaos Emerald to me, except a bit bigger," Sonic muttered. "Hey, wait, didn't you say refractors were power sources?"

"They are," Megaman said. "Refractors are used to provide energy to all kinds of technology that many people need. Its energy can be harnessed very easily into anything."

"Can it be harnessed into people?"

Megaman thought for a moment. "Hmm, I don't think so... I haven't seen people actually using refractors to get stronger or something..."

"Nobody has harnessed refractor's energy into people because it's extremely hazardous," Roll said. "Instead, people just use them for every day's life."

"Oh, I see," Sonic said. "(For a minute there, I was afraid to have some competency with another guy here... Oh, wait, I love challenges.)"

Ike and Kirby walked towards the refractor. They looked at the energy shield protecting it from being taken away from its spot. Kirby poked the shield several times, as Ike just did once. "...I don't think we can destroy this shell through sheer force," he said.

"Don't do that, please," Roll said. "It's dangerous to destroy the shield with force because that would trigger a whole lot of Reaverbots to attack wildly. Megaman did that kind of thing a long time ago, and he barely escaped alive."

Megaman flushed. "Y-you were the one who said, 'Hey, Megaman, let's use super dynamite to blow up the shield!' and I listened to you, even though I was against the idea!"

"Well, it was too late, though. Gramps wasn't there with us at the time to tell us that it was dangerous... Anyway, Megaman, is the refractor shielded?"

"Yeah, it is."

"That'd mean something: that refractor is valuable," Roll said. "Most high-leveled refractors are protected in some kind of shield. Isn't there some kind of control console close by?"

Mario walked to the panel in front of the shielded refractor. "There's one right here," Megaman said, inspecting the control panel. He spotted three keyholes on it and a button below them. The boy pressed the button and looked at the shield. "…Nothing is happening, Roll."

"Nothing? Well, that's weird… Do you see something else on the console?"

"There are three keyholes on it," Mario said. "Maybe the keys are missing?"

"Yeah, those are starter keys," Roll explained. "Starter keys are needed to lower down shields protecting those high-leveled refractors. There's no other way, guys. You'll have to find the three keys somewhere."

Kirby looked to his right were two automatic doors sat idly on a wall. "There's a door over there," he said, pointing at the door.

"Then…wouldn't that mean there's more to see here?" Lucas asked. "I thought this room was all the ruins…"

"Well, I, for one, am excited to see what else is waiting for us," Ness said. "Let's go see."

"I-I propose some of us stay behind!" Luigi suddenly suggested. "W-we don't know what's in there, so some of us should stay here to perform some emergency rescue…or something like that!"

Megaman shook his head. "Ruins aren't very dangerous. There's nothing to fear."

"B-but what if…"

Mario put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't get so scared, Luigi. Everyone is going to stick together. That way, nothing bad will happen."

"(I don't want to go! I'm just saying this so I don't get mauled by some robot in there!)" Luigi thought. "(Is it that hard to tell from me or what?)"

"I'm fine with going together," Peach said. "I also don't think something bad will happen if everyone sticks together."

Lucas wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Well…I think everything will work out just fine if we DO stick together without having to go another way…"

"One for all…all for Chipminator…" Chip muttered, raising a finger while resting on Sonic's arms.

"Aren't you going to wake him up?" Ike asked.

"He's better off like this," Sonic said bored. "Do you want him to go face a robot by himself with this personality he has right now? He'd punch a robot before it kills him off."

"That's…sort of true…"

"Chipminate them all!" Chip proclaimed loudly in his sleep.

Sonic grinned at Ike. "Let him sleep until he wakes up."

"Alright, everyone," Roll called over, "you're going to have to look for the three starter keys to use the control console. That's the only way to take the refractor."

"We can always use dynamite if it doesn't work, right?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Roll blared loudly. "U-um...w-what I'm trying to say is that we don't need to use sheer force to break the shield..."

Sonic chuckled a bit. "Just teasing," he muttered.

Megaman walked to the doors, which instantly opened once he stood in front of them. "We're going deeper, Roll. Please, tell us anything important."

"I will, don't worry," Roll said. "I'll give information regarding Reaverbots, unusual energy readings, and the room you're in. I can only do this if all of you stay close to Megaman. You do have to stay close to him at all times if you don't wish to get lost, okay? Be careful, please! Remember that there are Reaverbots bound to attack anyone!"

"We'll be careful, Roll," Megaman said before looking back at everyone. "Alright, everyone, let's go."

"Let's hope our first Sub-Gate exploration turns out just fine," Mario said, everyone following the blue boy.

After crossing the door, the group found themselves in a very wide room. The room looked more like a cave than anything else did since the ceiling wasn't visible. They noticed that there were higher floors above the ground floor, them being on top of a high floor. Looking around the place, Ike crossed his arms. "So, where do we start looking for those keys?"

"There are multiple entrances around the room," Roll said. "If you go southeast, you should find a door on the ground floor... Huh?"

"What is it, Roll?" Megaman asked.

"Megaman, everyone, watch out! I detect multiple Reaverbots moving around the ground floor, and one of them is going after you!"

Not long after saying that, a figure jumped out from the ground floor. The group gasped and backed away as a robot landed in front of them. The green robot had its arms and legs attached to the same joint place, and it was around as tall as Megaman was. It also had a needle-like head where a ominous red eye fixed itself on them.

"W-what is that?" Lucas yelped, hiding behind a wary Ness.

"A Reaverbot," Megaman said. "Do you see that red eye it has? All Reaverbots are characterized for having that eye somewhere on them an-"

Without hesitation, the Reaverbot aimed its trident-like hands and charged at them.

"Out of the way!" Sonic yelled, all of them accidentally jumping off from the higher floor to the ground floor to evade the ramming attack. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Ness said as he looked back at the Reaverbot on top of the floor they were before. "That thing is a little bit too fast."

"That's a Sharukurusu," Roll said. "I heard about this Reaverbot before. It usually has high jumping prowess and was built for combat."

"Sharuku...rusu?" Peach repeated the Reaverbot's name.

"I-I wasn't the one who named them, of course," Roll said embarrassed. "Wait, you're all on the ground floor now?"

"We are," Megaman said as they all stared at the Sharukurusu on top of the floor. "Why'd you ask?"

"There are multiple Sharukurusus coming at your way from all directions! It's like a big swarm of them!"

From the front and the right, and even on top of some high floors, around six Sharukurusus appeared rushing towards them. They all backed against the wall as seven Reaverbots cornered them all together. "T-there's so many of them!" Luigi yelped.

Mario acted quickly by spraying FLUDD's water at the seven Reaverbots. Unlike the tanks, however, the Reaverbots didn't seize functions as they slowly approached the group. "...It's no use," Mario said. "Water doesn't seem to work on them."

"Bummer," FLUDD commented before it magically disappeared from the plumber's back.

Grunting a bit, Sonic handed over the sleeping Chip to Chris. "Please take care of him for a sec, okay?" he asked with a wink before he curled himself into a ball and used a fast Homing Attack on two Sharukurusus, destroying them with ease.

Kirby looked serious at this and turned towards a Sharukurusu. It looked down at the puffball before the latter opened his mouth and began sucking a whole lot of air, which also pulled the robot towards him. After resisting, the robot was sucked completely into Kirby, and the Star Warrior turned to a charging Sharukurusu and spat back the first one, making them both crash and tumble back.

Megaman, while shooting some Sharukurusus, saw the little puffball's unusual sucking ability. "Did he just swallow the Reaverbot bigger than himself?" he asked.

While Kirby merely smiled, Chris sweat dropped and chuckled nervously. "You could say Kirby is like a super vacuum that can swallow anything bigger than him...as long as said thing isn't so big, that is."

"Look out!" Ike yelled to Megaman, who turned to his right and saw a charging Sharukurusu rushing towards him. Megaman gasped at this, and the Greil Mercenary crossed his arms and sword before using Quick Draw, dealing a harsh blow on the Reaverbot's body. The Sharukurusu went flying away before it exploded into bits. Ike sighed and looked at Megaman. "Are you okay?"

Megaman just kept getting surprised at the Smashers' abilities that he was technically ignoring the fact that he had destroyed the Sharukurusu while shooting to empty air. "Wow... Sucking powers, insane speed, quick rushing attacks, water machines... You guys have everything, don't you?"

"Um, Megaman, I think you destroyed that Reaverbot monster a little while ago..." Lucas pointed out.

Megaman looked at his direction and stopped firing. He smiled a brief moment before turning south where three remaining Sharukurusus slowly approached them with caution. "There are three left to destroy," he said.

Peach looked determined at this. "Wait, I want to use my new magic on them!" she said, slowly putting her hands close together to form a little blue sphere of energy. The princess closed her eyes and focused energy into the sphere.

Chris looked worried. "W-why should we... I-I mean, if they get too close, we'll attack, Peach!"

Sonic rolled back to the group, sitting on a knee as the three Sharukurusus approached them with caution. "Hurry it up!"

The princess opened her eyes and shoved the sphere forward with both hands. "Thunder Flare!" she yelled.

A huge sphere of sparks enveloped the three Reaverbots. The group watched amazed as the sparks electrocuted the three Sharukurusus, causing blue light to shine in the dark room. After five seconds of multiple shock attacks, the sparks took all three Reaverbots down by making them explode into bits.

Everyone looked shocked (pun intended) at the quite surprised princess. Peach kept staring at the place where she handily took out three robots by herself. "…I did it?"

"Y-you did…" Luigi muttered with a gulp. "Y-you just destroyed those robots…by yourself."

"With magic," added Ness.

The princess suddenly had some sort of excitement erupting inside her. For once, she actually took enemies out by herself. It was this excitement that made Peach feel that she got into a totally new field where she could help everyone. At last, she had found something where she could fight without having to worry everyone. "I…I can't believe it," Peach said as she clasped her hands together, "I feel like I did something impossible…"

Ness bumped Lucas's right shoulder. "Uh-oh, she said it. It's not going to be too late before she starts cutting heads off without feeling remorse," he whispered.

Lucas yelped a bit. "N-Ness, don't say those things! I-I can't imagine Peach doing something so bloody! Why are you thinking this?"

"Amusement?"

"Hmm…" Lucas trailed off.

Peach turned to Mario and Luigi. "With this, I might be more useful to everyone. I think I can do a lot more with these new skills I got."

Luigi felt woozy. "Mario, please don't tell me she's actually going to step forward and fight along with us…"

Mario smiled worried at Luigi. "She made up her mind, Luigi. Once she sets her mind, there's almost no way to stop her."

"Then there's a way to stop her?"

"If you want to hurt her feelings, well…"

Luigi slapped his forehead. "Oh, no…"

The princess ignored this conversation as she said to Chris, "Thank you so much, Chris."

The World Traveler blushed. "N-no need to thank me twice, Peach… I'm already embarrassed enough…"

"Oh, don't be," Peach said. "It was you who gave me the opportunity to become useful to everyone. It was obvious I'd be very thankful for that."

The musician could have sworn that Luigi flashed a glare at him. Chris thought the green plumber was mad at him. "O-of course you were going to be thankful," Chris said.

Megaman tilted his head. "What, she didn't use magic before?"

Peach shook her head. "Well, I used to perform magic a very long time ago, but it's been a while ever since I used it."

"Is everyone okay?" Roll suddenly called. "It seems there's no more of them around. You took them all out."

"Roll, are you sure there aren't any more of them?" Megaman asked.

"Hmm, I'm spotting some, but those are different... Megaman, everyone, do you see something out of place nearby? I think it could be a dangerous Reaverbot."

Right next of to them, over a high floor, Kirby noticed a metallic round object sitting idly. It looked like some sort of nest since it had several holes all over it. "That?" he asked.

The group turned to the right, looking at the creepy-looking object. "Roll, there's some kind of ball over a high floor..."

"W-what?" Luigi asked, seeing as three small helicopter/dragonfly Reaverbots flew out from the next and stared at them. The robots were small. They had cone-shaped mouths with helicopter wings rotating right below their heads, and the rest of their bodies resembled short tails. "T-there are more of them coming out..."

"That must be a Jakko," Roll said. "They usually live in nests where they're created to attack people."

Not much time passed before the three Jakkos dove down towards the group. While Luigi yelped like a little girl (literally), Kirby stepped to the front, sucked the three robots inside...and swallowed them. "Puah..." Kirby muttered, sitting on the ground with a disgusted look. "They don't taste very good..."

"Um...I thought he just knew how to suck things into him," Megaman said. "Why would he eat them?"

"Kirby is unique," Chris said as Chip snored loudly on his arms. "Not only can he swallow his enemies, but he can also copy his opponent's skill… Oh, and he has a very big appetite."

"…How can he copy enemies' skills?" Megaman asked.

Kirby turned to Megaman and sucked him inside his mouth.

"H-hey, get me out of here!" Megaman yelled inside Kirby. "I'm getting covered by his saliva in here!"

Obeying this, Kirby copied Megaman's ability and the latter came out from behind as a star before turning back to normal. The boy landed on the ground and looked at Kirby, who now donned...his spiky brown hair. Megaman blinked shocked at this and rubbed his eyes a bit, surprised to see that Kirby had grown hair.

Chris chuckled at Kirby's hair. "I thought he was going to get a different hat than that one..." he muttered.

"W-what in the world?" Megaman said as Kirby (or Volnutt Kirby) walked to him. "You...got my hair?"

"Yup," Volnutt Kirby said, pointing at Megaman with his newly acquired mini-Mega Buster. "I got this, too."

Megaman eyed the little Mega Buster. "W-whoa..."

Sonic chuckled at Megaman's amazement. "You just keep getting impressed over and over again, don't you?"

"W-well, you don't see this usually here..." Megaman trailed off as he stood up from the ground. "You don't get to see magic, super speed, healing powers, sucking and copying powers... Anything you guys do certainly doesn't happen here at all."

Ness clapped his hands. "I'm sorry to interrupt this dandy moment, but, while you were talking, some guys decided to multiply themselves by four so they could beat our sorry butts."

"What guys are those?" Ike asked.

The Onett resident pointed back at the Jakko nest where at least twelve Jakkos flew around the next, locking eyes on the Smashers.

Peach had confidence enough to step forward. "I'll handle this," she said, making another blue sphere between her hands.

However, right after doing this, all the Jakkos dove after her, and she gasped before Mario pulled her back to avoid being cut by the Jakkos' wings. This made her lose her focus as the blue sphere vanished. "Peach, be more careful," Mario said. "If you're chanting or trying to use magic, at least stay back where nobody will see you."

"I-I understand, Mario. Thank you," Peach said worried. "I can't believe I forgot that vital part."

Mario smiled at the princess. "Don't worry too much about it," he reassured.

"(You've got to give those two that they're a bit romantic at all times,)" Chris thought before looking at his arms where the sleeping Chip rested comfortably. "You wake up, Chip! We can't have sleeping all the time right now!"

"Chipminator-is-recharging-energies," Chip said monotony. "Please-do-wait-until-further-notice."

"Oh, please, you're getting too much into character now," Chris said. "Wake up from your implied recharging state, Chip!"

"Computer-does-not-know-this-Chip-person," Chip said. "It-does-know-Chipminator."

Chris sighed. "I want Chipminator to wake up from his state, please."

"He-is-not-resting. He-is-charging-functions-for-successful-output."

"Oh, you little… Fine, I want Chipminator to stop recharging or whatever he's doing."

"He-does-not-want-to."

"Dammit!"

"Chris, step back!" Ness yelled.

The musician looked up to see six Jakkos diving after him. Yelping, Chris stepped away to avoid being hit by the multiple ramming attacks from the Jakkos. Sonic reacted quickly by using a Homing Attack to pursue the Jakkos, destroying them all instantly. The hedgehog landed back on the ground and looked at Chris. "Don't try to wake Chip up, you! He's going to attack those machines, and we all know how reckless he is!"

Chip started to snore loudly.

"Oh, great, he just fell completely asleep now," Chris said. "He's such a handful."

"And you just noticed that?"

Megaman saw that six new Jakkos flew out from the metallic nest. "They keep coming. We need to get rid of their nest if we don't want more of them!"

Volnutt Kirby rolled to his side and scared the Jakkos away by shooting them with his mini-Mega Buster. The puffball pouted a bit at his bad aim.

"Okay..." Megaman muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed at Volnutt Kirby's attack.

"PK Thunder!" Ness yelled, shooting out a psychically-controlled sphere of lightning that went over to the nest and blew it up, preventing more Jakkos from coming out. "There," he said.

"Like I said before, you guys have everything," Megaman remarked before he turned to the left and shot down the first six Jakkos. "You stay away from me!"

Chris got a little bit upset and placed Chip down on the floor. "Using the Musician job isn't going to help me out here. I'm going to..." He noticed Peach was chanting a spell with joined hands over her chest. From the looks of it, she was going to use a summon instead of magic since there was a red glyph glowing under her feet. "Um, Peach, what are you doing?"

"Fire lord, please, protect us by burning my enemies into ashes..." Peach chanted. "Ifrit!"

Before the new six Jakkos could reach them, an eruption appeared right between the machines and the group. Once the eruption lowered down, they all saw a floating horned green monster that breathed out some fire from its mouth. Most of them opened their jaws at the big beast that engulfed itself in scorching fire and shot forward at the Jakkos. The damage of the attack was too much for any of them to handle, which made them all blow up. Ifrit roared loudly as it stopped and disappeared the flames before it itself disappeared from the cave.

Everyone thought that Peach had gone a little bit too far on the robots (even though they were the enemy). They all looked at the princess, who was speechless at her own action. The only ones who were trembling a bit at the display of the summon's power were Luigi and Lucas, who were both hiding behind Mario and Ness respectively. "...Dude..." Ness trailed off, "...talk about OVERKILL YOUR BUTT TO DAMNATION."

"I-I didn't know it would do something like that," Peach said nervously. "D-did I get too far this time?"

"Well, the fact that you blew up really small enemies with a beast from hell itself," Ike began, "it could be easily taken as overkill, Peach."

"And it was coming from you, no less," Sonic said. "You're all happy and dandy, but then you went TOTAL ANNIHILATION on those guys..." He grinned and winked at her. "I like that."

Peach blushed and looked away. "I-I don't know if I should be glad or embarrassed..."

Mario chuckled. "Be glad, then. You're starting to be more helpful as time passes."

"Oh, Mario...thank you," Peach said happily.

Luigi gulped mentally. "(I-I don't want see her getting mad at me or somebody now...)"

Megaman had a gap on his mouth before he snapped out of it by shaking his head. "R-Roll, we took out the nest," he said.

"Megaman, what just happened?" Roll asked. "I don't know why, but I think there was this huge energy coming out from nearby. However, it disappeared shortly... What is happening in there? Is everything okay?"

Megaman watched as Mario and Peach hugged each other, only for Volnutt Kirby to join in as well. "Yeah, everything's fine..."

"...Okay, Megaman, don't make me worry too much. That energy was a little bit too...powerful to me," Roll said. "...What? ...Oh, Megaman! Guess what, there's a starter key close to you!"

"There is? Where?"

"It seems to be on a high floor to the west. It should be right next to you."

Megaman looked to his left where the door to the exit was. "If I'm facing west, the key shouldn't be close to the exit, which means the key is..." He turned to the right where the Jakko nest resided before.

"The key is up there?" Ike asked.

"It looks like it," Megaman said. "The floor is a little bit too high for me to jump, though..."

Volnutt Kirby turned to the high floor and went over to it. He looked up at the big height (which was around twenty feet) and inhaled air to jump several time to reach the floor. Megaman blinked at this while Volnutt Kirby looked around the floor for a key. He ducked down from sight before he jumped down to the floor and walked towards Megaman. "Is this the key?" Volnutt Kirby asked.

Everyone stared at the small yellow key with the blue core on top of it. Megaman grabbed the key to look at it. "Did you find anything? I'm picking up a faint signal... That must be the starter key!" Roll said.

Megaman smiled at the little key. "Alright, we got the first key down, then."

"Keep looking, everyone. The other two keys must be lying around somewhere."

"Got it," Megaman said.

"Remember the door south to the southeast? That's the only room you can enter now. Go through there and see if you can find the next two keys."

Sonic noticed said double doors sitting idly in the wall to the southeast of their direction. "There's the door," he said before he appeared right next to it and waved at the others. "Here, everyone! Get over here!"

"S-Sonic, don't raise your voice like that! W-who knows if some robots are sleeping close to us!" Luigi yelled.

"Actually, Reaverbots are usually sleeping when nobody enters the Sub-Gate," Megaman explained. "They only wake up when somebody does enter."

The green plumber gulped. "T-then they woke up once we got in here, right?"

"Pretty much so."

"...Isn't there a way to prevent any of them to wake up?"

"You just put a step into the place and they will wake up, regardless of what you do."

"How about flying?"

"There would be some Reaverbots scanning the place for any uninvited Digger, then."

"Oh, phooey..."

Megaman put a hand over his hip. "Well, shall we go on now? This room seems to be empty of Reaverbots."

While Luigi and Lucas sighed in depression and hung their arms down, the group proceeded further into the ruins by going through the automatic double doors of the southeast. They found another set of automatic double doors that opened upon walking closer to them. Once they crossed the passage, they stood in a purple room with a conveyor belt on the floor, which extended from the left to right, going up towards another room.

However, not only did they get into the room, they also met up with even more Reaverbots.

"U-uah, more of them!" Lucas yelped.

This time, the Reaverbots were small, had bronze bodies, had the Reaverbot eye between the top spike and the fan-shaped lower part, and they were floating in midair. Unlike the fast Reaverbots they faced before, the six Reaverbots fixed their eyes on them and floated closer to the group.

Without thinking twice, Megaman began shooting down the six Reaverbots with ease. With a single shot for each one of them, they all blew up quite strongly. "Finished," Megaman said. "They were nothing like the previous Reaverbots."

"I think you just faced the Foo-roos," Roll called over. "They first find a target so they can ram towards it and explode. Their explosions are quite strong, so it'd be best if you take them out as fast as you can. Luckily, they aren't very fast, and they have really poor defense."

"Foo-roos? That's a cute name," Peach said.

"Again, I wasn't the one who gave them these names..."

Lucas sighed. "I-I thought they could throw lightning bolts from those little spikes on their heads..."

Ike went over to inspect the conveyor belt on the floor, stepping on top of it. Looking to his left, he found some kind of spiked tube on the left end of the conveyor belt. "There's some kind of spiked tube in here."

"I think you're talking about a compactor," Roll said. "There's a conveyor belt there, right? I guess there is some kind of use for it. Maybe we can use it somehow? Isn't there a switch?"

The switch Roll mentioned was located to the right side of the compactor. Staring at it for a while, Sonic pressed the white switch, causing the conveyor belt and the compactor to move. Ike tripped down and he was slowly dragged to the compactor, but he rolled away and shook his head. "B-be careful with that, Sonic. I was going to be crushed by that thing!"

Sonic snickered a bit. "Sorry, didn't know what it would do."

"Sure..."

Mario looked around the room, finding nothing else but a hole in the metallic wall to the right side of the conveyor belt. He walked towards the hole to see if there was something inside. He entered inside and pulled out a shining refractor shard. "Look what I found in this hole," he said, showing everyone the blue refractor shard of about two feet.

Megaman smiled at it. "Awesome, that's a big refractor shard."

"D-did we get rich now?" Luigi asked with interest.

"I don't think so," Megaman said skeptically. "It's a bit too big. Since it's a refractor shard, it doesn't have any energy like the refractor we saw earlier. Refractor shards are used to turn them into zenny, though." He grabbed the shard from Mario's hands. "I'll keep it, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead," Mario offered as the boy kept the shard away.

Ness looked around more in the room and walked towards the right end of the conveyor belt. He looked at a sliding door that could only be opened from the other side. He stood on the tips of his shoes to try to reach the door and push it forward, finding out he couldn't budge it a bit. "It's no use. I can't open this thing."

Ike walked over to the door and banged Ragnell against it. He drew back after the sword was rejected by the door's armored lid. "It's just too strong to open it from here."

"We'll have to go back to where we came from and see if we can find another door, then," Peach said. "If there's nothing to do here, we should go back."

"I agree," Sonic said.

The group went back to the dark room through the double doors. After walking back, Lucas found a slope that went up to the higher floors. "U-um, everyone, here!" he called over to the others. "There's a path right here!"

They turned to his direction and gasped once they saw a Jakko nest resting on the high floor. Four Jakkos flew out from it and dove down after the clueless Lucas. "Lucas, watch out!" Ness yelled.

Lucas blinked and turned to look up and gasp at the Jakkos. Out of panic, he lunged to the right to land on the floor and evade the flying Jakkos.

Both Volnutt Kirby and Megaman used their Mega Busters to take down all the Jakkos. They later focused on shooting the Jakko nest down, which exploded with ease, preventing any more Jakkos from coming out. "Nice aim," Volnutt Kirby remarked.

"H-hey, I was about to say that to you," Megaman said embarrassed.

Lucas stood up from the ground and sighed. "T-thank you for warning me about them..."

Chris stared at the slope. "Let's see what we can find on the higher floors," he said as everyone walked up.

Once they reached the high floor, they noticed that a bridge was standing up straight on the left edge of the floor. Ike walked to it and looked behind where a floor of the same height as the floor they were standing on was across the gap. Ike looked at the bridge before he pushed it forward, landing right on the edge of the other floor. The mercenary also noticed that there was a path all the way towards some double doors to his left side. "Hey, I think we can reach those doors over there by walking around the high floors."

The group obeyed this by walking across the bridged. After jumping a small gap towards another high floor, Megaman shot another bridge that quickly connected their floor with the floor where the double doors awaited them. "Easy as pie," Sonic said with a grin as they walked south through the double doors.

They all now found the room where the conveyor belt continued towards another room to the right. However, they were met by even more Foo-roos, which slowly floated towards them. Like before, Megaman used some shots to destroy the Reaverbots before they could touch any of them.

"You know..." Luigi trailed off before smiling, "this isn't so dangerous at all."

"That's how easy things can get when you have a lot of people like you, guys," Megaman noted, noticing a big hole on the lower left side of the conveyor belt. He went over to inspect it to take out some kind of metallic, golden doll, which resembled some kind of Reaverbot. "Ooh, look what I found now."

"I can see a lot of money for that thing now," Sonic said. "Wow, you Diggers find this kind of stuff in ruins?"

"Yup, very valuable stuff," Megaman said, pleased at the sigh of the old doll. "Hey, Roll, I found some kind of Reaverbot doll in here!"

"Really? That's great, Megaman!" Roll said. "But...we don't know anyone who would like to have an antique relic like that doll... Maybe we should look at the city and see if we can find a curator for a museum or someone else."

Megaman kept the doll away. "Yeah, let's do that once we're done here," he said.

As Peach looked excited to see what they would get for the doll, she noticed a tight corridor south of the conveyor belt. "There's even more to see over there," she said. "Let's see if we can find more relics!"

"You look very excited, Peach," Mario remarked.

Peach interlaced her fingers and nodded. "Of course I am. This is starting to become a very wonderful day to me! It's like a new world of opportunities has opened just for me to explore!" She blushed once she realized she broke into an outburst of joy. "O-oh, sorry if I'm being a little bit too excited..."

Chris hummed a bit. "Oh, don't worry, Peach. We like to see you in very high spirits."

"T-thank you," Peach said in embarrassment.

"Let's just go to that passage," Ness said, everyone going into the passage.

Once they reached the other side of the passage, looking to his left, Megaman noticed an orange chest sitting on the floor. The orange chest was later large. Seeing that there could be treasure in it, the boy in the blue suit walked and opened it, taking out some kind of machine components. "Hey, Roll, I found something else. I found more machine parts."

"Nice!" Roll said. "Be sure to take it to me so I can see if I can make it into a weapon you can use, Megaman."

"Oh, you use other weapons besides your...Mega Buster thing?" Ike asked.

Megaman nodded, keeping the machine parts away. "I can use my Mega Buster alone with another weapon attached to my other arm." He ducked down and slid a small mine. "That mine is called a Splash Mine. Once something steps on it, it explodes. It's rather weak, but it helped me in the fight against the pirates...and Tron."

Peach recalled the obnoxious girl they met before (except for the fact Peach didn't think the girl was very obnoxious as most of them did). "That reminds me; she seemed to be a bit too fixated on you. How do you know her?" she asked.

The group turned to the west, walking up to a slope to reach a higher floor. "Well, you see, I met Tron before her band of pirates attacked the city," Megaman explained. "Remember those little guys that were with her? She was talking to them when I first arrived at the city. After I went to meet the mayor, I went back to the city to see her being chased around by an angry little dog. You should've seen her because she leaped high to a pole and hung to it so she could stay away from the dog."

"So what did do you?" Sonic asked, folding his arms behind his head.

"I shooed the dog away," Megaman said. "When I saw her sliding back to the ground, she had this...infatuated look on her eyes, looking straight at me. Actually...she seemed rather happy when I told the dog to go away. Right after she walked a little bit closer to me, she snapped out and began yelling madly for no reason. I thought she was going to thank me, but she ran away from the spot."

Peach gasped excitedly at this. Surely, if the girl had an infatuated look on the oblivious boy... "Oh, I know. She must be surely in l-"

"Hey, we just reached another room," interrupted Luigi.

Peach and Megaman saw that they were all standing on top a high floor. The room itself was long. It had several ice platforms that would break apart if somebody stayed on them too long enough. In fact, the ice platforms formed a long path that extended all the way to the north of the room, where another set of double doors awaited them. On the ground floor, they could see the last part of the conveyor belt moving all the way back to the compactor.

"It looks like there's a faint starter key's signal, Megaman," Roll said. "It must be somewhere nearby in that room."

"Got it," Megaman said.

"You're lucky you have me as a Spotter. Remember the first time you went on a dig. MegaMan? I wasn't used to being a Spotter... And you ended up getting lost underground for three days! ...Remember? We were lucky that Gramps came to help us...I don't know what I would've done if he hadn't been there..."

Several snickers came from the Smashers, Megaman groaning a bit. "R-Roll, why are you bringing this up at a time like this?" Megaman asked annoyed.

"S-sorry, but that was a memory I just wanted to recall..."

"Ha-ha, you got lost for three days 'cuz you didn't remember where the exit was," Ness teased, making Lucas chuckle loudly.

Peach, however, looked worried at the fuming Megaman. "Oh my, that surely was a very bad event. You got hungry?"

"When Megaman found his way out, he looked like a zombie about to die for real," Roll said, hearing Megaman's loud grunt. "I-I mean, find the starter key, Megaman, and please forget anything I said about that little incident!"

"I WILL, don't worry," Megaman said with emphasis. "Anyway, we should probably follow the path and find the next starter key, everyone."

They all set a foot on the first ice platform, which instantly broke up, making all them fall while yelling before hitting hard the ground down below.

"B-bad...move..." muttered Luigi on the floor.

"M-my back..." Chris muttered before everyone slowly got up from the floor, cleaning some dust from them. "We should've thought before stepping on the ice platform..."

The World Traveler looked at Chip(minator) on the floor. The imp snored loudly before he woke up and flew back to the air. "Who just interrupted Chipminator's charging position? Who wants to get Chipminated?"

Megaman looked confused at the imp. "What does he mean by Chipminated?"

"I go bang, bang, bang on you," Chip threatened. "You're lucky I won't do that."

"Chip, stop saying those things," Sonic said from the top floor, him having avoided the fall in time with Peach. "It's not the time to play."

Luigi looked at Peach standing next to Sonic. Sighing loudly to himself, Luigi said, "O-oh, Peach, you're safe..."

Peach nodded. "Sonic pulled me back when the ice broke apart," she said.

"Never walk on icy floors, you guys," Sonic said while waving a finger. "It messes up your walking, and it might even break."

"Thanks for the useful information..." Ness trailed off.

The hedgehog grinned and looked forward to the ice path. Backing away, he made a long jump to cross over the ice platforms to reach solid floor. The hedgehog stared forward at the path of ice where he found some kind of rusty chest on top of an ice platform. "Hey, you guys, I found another treasure chest over an ice platform!" he advised the others before he went over to it, making the ice floor break apart. "Whoa!"

"Sonic!" Lucas yelled while everyone ran towards the hedgehog's direction. They noticed that Sonic was trying to open the chest, but it was so rusty that it couldn't be opened through normal means. "Can you open it?"

"Nope," Sonic said with a sigh, noticing the rusty chest fell down on the conveyor belt. "Hey, I didn't see the chest was over the conveyor belt..."

The group didn't move as Sonic and the chest were being pulled to the metallic lid. The hedgehog turned to them before he and the chest passed the lid, reaching the room with the corridor. Looking back at the hedgehog, Sonic and the chest were finally pulled back all the way to the compactor room. Stepping out from the way, Sonic watched as the rusty chest went over to the compactor, crushing the rusty box to bits. Sonic shuddered a bit at this before he noticed that small key jumped out from the crumbles of the chest towards his right hand.

Back with the group, they all jumped back towards where the concerned Peach was. Not long after that, Sonic appeared out nowhere, grinning confidently as he showed Megaman the second starter key. "Guess what, the rusty chest had this key inside, and the compactor back there broke it apart."

"Alright," Megaman exclaimed, taking the second starter key from Sonic's hand. "Thanks, Sonic."

"Don't sweat it."

"Did you find another starter?" Roll asked.

"Yeah, Roll, we got another one from the rusty chest Sonic found."

"That's two, then," she said. "Only one more to go...It's gotta be around here somewhere! Keep looking, everyone, we're almost done here!"

Luigi sighed with relief. "J-just one more key and we're out of here..."

"There are more double doors to the north of your position," Roll said. "Maybe the other key is on the other side, Megaman."

"Right, we're going north," Megaman said.

After crossing the room by jumping over the gaps, the group crossed the double doors to reach the highest area of the room where the Sharukurusus and Jakkos attacked them. The floor they were standing was far away from the ground floor they were before, and there was another set of double doors across it. Luigi walked closer to the edge and gulped once he couldn't see the ground. "W-we're so high up..."

"At least this floor has more space," Chip pointed out.

"Doesn't look like there's any big Reaverbots anywhere..." Roll said. "Still, you'd better stay on your toes, everybody. You could be ambushed by a huge Reaverbot when you less think about 'em."

Noticing another orange chest resting on the edge, Volnutt Kirby went over to open it, taking out from inside more machine parts. "Look at this!" he marveled.

Megaman pumped up a fist and walked to Volnutt Kirby, the puffball handing over the parts to him. "Roll, we found even more machine parts!"

"This place is just loaded!" Roll said in excitement. "Refractor shards, relics, machine parts, and a big refractor! Is there something else?"

"Hmm..." Megaman looked around where he found a big hole on the left side of the double doors. Ike walked towards the hole, taking out from it some kind of metallic bone from it. "We found yet another relic, Roll!"

"A...steel bone," Ike said unimpressed.

"...It's still a relic," Megaman reassured. "Good or bad, it's still an important finding." He grabbed the bone and kept it away.

Holding her extreme excitement, Peach hummed to herself and walked across the double doors without anyone going with her. Seeing this, Chris sighed and smiled a bit. "Look at Peach, waltzing around the ruins to find more stuff."

"Gotta give it to her that she has an adventurous spirit," Sonic remarked. "Soon enough, she'll be kicking enemies' butts alone by herself."

Luigi grew concerned as the double doors closed behind Peach. "But, if there are enemies on the other side of those doors... PEEEEEEEEAAAACCCHHH!" the green plumber screamed loudly, rushing in a panic after the princess.

"You know, I'm starting to think she's more courageous than your brother," Sonic told Mario. "That...looks a bit pathetic if you ask me."

"Luigi has his moments," Mario said. "He can be very brave when he needs to. I mean, didn't he went to Peach just now?"

"Well, yeah, but look at the way he did it."

The group followed the princess and the plumber. After crossing the double doors, they found a room where, on the northeast corner, three different energy shields blocked the path to a small passage that went south. There were three switches on the floor with antennas standing in front of each one of them. Luigi, calming himself down, watched as Peach curiously stepped on the switches, deactivating the shields one by one.

"Look, everyone, I solved a puzzle by myself," Peach said appeased. The princess walked towards the path where the energy shields blocked off, but as soon as she was getting closer, the buttons shot up from the floor to their original positions, and the energy shields turned back on. Peach let out a gasp and backed away from the barriers. "B-but...I thought I solved it..."

"It's another energy barrier, right?" Roll asked. "I'm getting the same kind of readings as
before. Do you see a switch anywhere nearby, Megaman?"

"Yes, there are three switches, actually," Megaman informed.

Ness and Lucas inspected the switches. "These switches deactivate the barriers blocking off that path, but they come back after a little while... So then, what can be done so we can cross to the other side in time?"

Sonic snapped his fingers, figuring out what they needed to do to cross to the other side. "Everyone, stand close to the barriers! Leave the switches to me."

Ike instantly knew Sonic's plan. "But of course," he said.

A while later, the Smashers and Megaman stood in front of the energy barriers. Sonic, snapping his fingers once more, ran over the three switches, activating all of them at once so the barriers could deactivate. Quickly, the group ran to the other side with Sonic tagging alone, managing to cross the path before the barriers turned back on. "Yeah, that's how we do things my way!" Sonic said with a chuckle.

Looking to the south direction of the hallway, Volnutt Kirby noticed a small glittering thing lying down on the floor. The puffball blinked and walked over to it, looking down to see the third and final starter key. "I found the last key!" Volnutt Kirby said.

Megaman ran over to his side and ducked down to pick the key. Smiling at it, Megaman told Roll, "we have all the keys now, Roll!"

"That's it! Now you should be able to access the console!" Roll said. "Everyone, go back to the refractor room!"

"Right, we're on our way back now!" Megaman said, finding one more set of double doors in front of them.

A while later...

Music stops

For some reason, the double doors to the refractor room opened up where everyone but Peach, Chip, and Volnutt Kirby walked weakly. When the doors closed behind them, most of them dropped down on the floor. "Honestly..." Chris trailed off, "who was the genius who thought about putting an exit high up where we were stuck?"

Lucas embraced his legs. "I-it was enough that we couldn't go back because those barriers didn't let us press the switches again..."

"Talk about annoying..." Ness said, feeling pain on his knees. "The people who made this place are lucky they didn't meet me because I'd set them all on fire for making us jump TWO HUNDRED FEET down to the ground..."

"At least Peach, Kirby, and Chip floated down...that's all good for me to know," Mario said.

"Heh, I'm used to jump down from high places that it didn't hurt my legs," Sonic showed-off with a grin.

"S-shut up...Sonic..." Ike muttered.

"Right...Mr. Heavy Sword here got the worst pain than any of us..." trailed off Ness.

Megaman, twitching in pain, went over to the console with Volnutt Kirby following him from behind. The boy in the blue suit inserted the three starter keys into the holes. The two then looked at the shield protecting the yellow refractor. It slowly lowered down until the jewel was unshielded. "There..." Megaman muttered, walking towards the yellow refractor. "Roll, I'm about to remove the refractor."

"Be very careful, Megaman," Roll warned. "We don't know if removing the refractor will trigger some kind of security alarm like it did last time."

"W-what?" Luigi asked.

Megaman looked at everyone. "Removing this refractor might trigger an alarm. The last time I did it caused a huge Reaverbot near the exit to go on a rampage on me, but I managed to escape, thankfully."

"And you're saying we might face a huge Reaverbot robot in this very same room?" Sonic asked.

"Most likely...but it's unclear if one will appear," Megaman said, looking serious at them. "So, please, prepare yourselves because once I remove the refractor, a Reaverbot might appear out of nowhere and attack us."

Lucas gulped as he stood up. "Y-you've got to be kidding me..."

"I'm not, so get ready for anything, everybody," Megaman said, turning back to face the yellow refractor. "Here goes nothing..."

"O-our lives might go, though!" Luigi yelled.

Every single Smasher forcibly stood up from the ground. Megaman slowly reached out for the yellow refractor, first, though, touching it with a finger, making a small gleam of light emanate. Nodding to himself, he slowly grabbed the power gem from both sides. "Okay, everyone, get ready!" he warned everyone, who began shifting their eyes around for any surprise attack from a Reaverbot. "At the count of three... 3… 2... 1... HA!"

Megaman removed the yellow refractor by pulling it up. Everyone else gasped and looked around. An eerie silence soon fell into the refractor room. Their eyes searched the small vicinity of the room to see if a Reaverbot would show up. Megaman froze still as he kept the refractor over his head, waiting for something to happen...

...The silence stayed for a little while longer, but nothing really did happen.

Megaman blinked a bit and shifted his wary eyes around, the yellow refractor between his hands over his head. "...Nothing's...happening?" he muttered.

"...Nothing..." Roll trailed off. "...It was a false alarm...thank goodness..."

The Smashers sighed in relief after hearing the news. "I was so scared a moment ago... I'm glad nothing really did happen," Lucas muttered.

Megaman grabbed the yellow refractor with both arms and looked at the Smashers with a happy expression. "We did it, guys!"

"Mission complete!" Roll called over. "Alright, we obtained a big refractor!"

Ike stared at his reflection on the yellow refractor's upper part. "That refractor sure does look profitable."

"Yes, but we're going to use this to see if we can repair the Flutter," Megaman said. "If it doesn't, we'll see if there's some other use for it."

Peach clasped her hands together. "I never felt so excited before. I know I said this before, but I'm so excited to see what we'll get from our findings."

"That's the wonderful job Diggers like me do," Megaman boasted. "I'll let you see what we get. Hopefully, it'd be really good."

Chip grinned and crossed his arms (in a coolly manner). "Yeah, let's go out of here. This place is freaking me out now."

"I-I agree," Luigi and Lucas said in unison.

"Alright, everyone, come back out," Roll said. "Let's regroup and go back to the... Huh?"

"Is something bothering you, Roll?" Megaman asked confused.

"Megaman, there's a huge energy reading coming from...outside!" Roll yelled. "And it's coming closer to my direction! Megaman, come back up! I... W-what the heck is that thin-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

A sudden interruption in the communication made a loud buzzing sound echo in the refractor room.

"...Roll? Do you read me? Roll, are you there? Roll, answer me!" Megaman yelled worried. "It's not good, I can't reach her out! Something happened to her!"

"Oh my goodness," Ness said. "Just when you thought things were going to be just fine..."

Mario looked stern. "Wonder that for the later because we need to go help Roll before something happens to her, and we don't want her to get hurt, right?"

"R-right!" Chris said worried. "M-maybe those pirates came back again!"

"Oh, no, let's hurry up, everyone!" Megaman yelled as he rushed towards the elevator, everyone else tagging along in the rush where they reached the elevator and left the dark Sub-Gate behind.

Cardon Forest - Sub-Gate Area

The steel door of the Sub-Gate opened up, and all the Smashers and Megaman rushed out from the dome. They stepped out and found out that the Support Car was parked on the same place where they last saw it. "Hey...the Support Car is right there," Megaman said confused. "Why did Roll yell?"

Lucas walked to the right side of the Support Car and peeked to stare forward. Turning a bit pale, he leaned against the back door and looked freaked out at Ness. "N-Ness, it's him! H-he's back for more!"

"What?" Ness asked, "Who are you talking about, Lucas?"

"H-him!" Lucas whispered. "J-just take a look to see who it is!"

"Just tell me who the hell he is already!" Ness hissed.

"P-Porky! H-he's standing right in front of the car right now!"

"What? Not that idiot!"

"Porky?" Megaman questioned in curiosity. "Who is this Porky guy?"

Meanwhile, in front of the Support Car, there was Roll staring forward at a big spider mech where the old yet childish Porky rested inside. The engineer had accidentally cut off the transmission with Megaman since her right hand was pressing down the button to turn communication off. Roll slowly opened her mouth at the mech. "Excuse me, little miss," Porky said, "Have you seen two snotty boys around here? One looks like a punk and the other one looks like a wuss."

"I-I..." Roll trailed off.

"Oh, c'mon!" Porky groaned. "You surely don't know who I'm talking about here, right?"

It was difficult for Roll to grasp the idea that there was an old man using a spider mech right in front of her eyes. "I...don't know, sir..."

"Ugh, just what I needed," Porky said frowning. "I've been asking people in this island about my enemies, and all they do is run away and scream for help. Geez, people are so rude around here, honestly. I'm just a little boy asking for directions! What's so bad about me? You, tell me what's so bad about me!"

Roll kept staring at the spider mech.

"Hey!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Roll said suddenly. "U-um, maybe because you're riding on that machine..."

"Oh, this?" Porky asked. "Missy, you're missing the point here. If I get out from this thing, I'll die. I have, like, a thousand years, less or more. I dunno the count but you know what I mean with all this, right?"

"...Not really."

"Dammit!" Porky cursed, banging some of his spider mech's claws down to the ground. "Are you retarded, miss? This spider mech I'm using is technically everything I need to have so I can survive out there in the dangerous open field!"

Roll decided to glare this time at the old man with the childish mind. "H-hey, I'm not retarded. Who do you think you are, coming in here just to insult me like that?"

"I AM THE GREAT PORKY MINCH!" Porky proclaimed as his spider mech shot fireworks to the sides, making Roll look at the flashing lights while a fanfare played from behind the machine. "I'm the king of awesome, lovable, hug-gable, powerful dude, and above everything else, the king of awesome!"

"You already said 'king of awesome', though," Roll pointed out.

The fanfare came to a halt as Porky slammed down his claws. "SILENCE OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Roll leaned back to her seat at this.

"Oh, oh, wait, no, that's a bit too much for my tastes," Porky said. "Yeah, I don't wanna see blood. You see, I just polished this awesome spider mech this morning so I don't wanna let it get your blood spilled on my window."

"...How?"

"How what?"

"How did you clean your machine if you said you can't leave it? You said you'd die if you did..."

Porky's upper claws suddenly turned into spinning sponges. "See this? My spider mech has everything: TV wireless service, car washer, bathroom, shower, kitchen, multimedia, internet service with Porkyflix, Porkytube, Porkygle, and Porkyhoo(!) included, video game system integrated, Wi-Fi hotspot," he paused for a moment. "Wi-Fi hotspot, girl! I can hook you up to my internet, which runs at 1000 Pig horsepower! Isn't that the best thing of this mech or what?"

Roll blinked, fairly disgusted with some of the stuff the mech was supposed to include by itself. "...I guess?"

"No, you don't guess; you KNOW IT!" Porky said, his sponges turning back into claws. "Anyway, I'm getting off-track here. Have you seen Ness and Lucas around this place?"

"...Wait, Ness and Lucas?"

"Yeah, the punk and the wuss."

"Why didn't you say those names before?"

"Well, don't they look like a punk and a wuss?"

"Well, not really..."

"You, madam, are blind," Porky said. "I don't blame you, though. My eyes go so red when I see those guys. I'm telling they're a big pain in the butt...and even beyond it."

Roll shuddered. "O-okay, but I don't think they look like a punk and a wuss, if you ask me..."

"I asked you."

"I-I know."

"...Hey, wait a second!" Porky yelled. "You KNOW them?"

Roll didn't know if she needed to tell the psycho (Porky: I have fourth wall powers, you know!) about Ness and Lucas (Porky: If she knows, make her tell me!) or just stay silent about them (Porky: Dammit, I said make her tell me that!). The engineer decided to stay silent about them (Porky: Good lord, I said MAKE HER TELL ME...in a canon way instead of a fourth wall way, of course! It'd be cheating using fourth wall powers, but what are you gonna do about it, huh, huh, huh?) instead of telling him.

Would you stop interrupting the flow of the story now?

"Make me!" Porky taunted.

An interrogation mark popped out from Roll's head while she saw the old kid rambling to seemingly no one in particular. Suddenly, she noticed the group joined back with her while Porky kept arguing at somebody. "Megaman, you're here!" Roll said relieved. "Please, do something about this...person."

Megaman looked at Porky's spider mech. "What the heck?" he asked.

Porky just noticed the group. "No, no, no, no, you should ask for my name, dude. Gosh, learn to be a civilized citizen!"

"Funny," began a bored Ness, "that's some good irony you're using right there."

"A-HA!" Porky said, staring at his arch-nemesis. "So it is you, Ness! Finally, we have met each other for our final super mega special rematch of the battle of the ages! How long have I waited for this moment to arrive!"

Megaman and Roll exchanged glances with each other. They both looked at Ness. "Um, you know this old man?" Roll asked.

"I reckon I'm just a bit too old, but I'm still a child at heart; a genius child at heart, actually!"

Ness sighed and frowned. "Yes, I know him. He's my obnoxious neighbor."

A disc scratched right after that.

Everyone, however, heard that said scratching sound came from Porky's spider mech. "Yes, my spider mech has a lot of cool sounds. This one was needed for the occasion. Pretty cool, huh?" Porky asked.

"…Anyway," Ness continued, "Porky's my neighbor."

And the same sound came out from the spider mech.

"For the love of crap, Porky, stop doing that!" Ness yelled.

"Fine, party pooper," Porky said. "You never let me do anything fun, that's why I hate you so much."

"Anyway, Porky's my neighbor," Ness said, pressing his brow.

"Your neighbor is an old man (Porky: Old kid! I-I mean, young boy!) in a spider mech?" Megaman and Roll questioned.

"This freak WAS a young boy without a spider mech before…a fat one at that, though."

"Hey, I was big boned that time," Porky said.

Ness ignored his neighbor. "He became influenced by this scary-(beep) monster called Giygas and then he got a spider mech. SOMEHOW, he fled into the future, he screwed up BIG TIME playing with his time machine functionalities, and he ended up aging stupidly old like this."

"And I became the lord of Nowhere Island!" Porky proclaimed. "…And then, wuss Lucas, his girlfriend, a hobo, and a dog came into the picture and ALMOST defeated me and kicked me out like the bastards they are… That reminds me, where's that wuss?"

Lucas just poked his head out from behind Ness. The blond kid looked a bit scared and a bit pissed at Porky's comment. "D-Duster is not a hobo and K-Kumatora isn't my girlfriend! S-she's too old for me!"

Silence…

"…A-and I'm not saying I'm in love with her or anything…s-so don't tease me anymore about it!" Lucas yelled, blushing madly at the thought. "…And I'm not a wuss either!"

"Perfect!" Porky said. "My two arch-nemeses are here before me with a bunch of weirdoes READY to be nuked!"

Lucas gasped at this. "Y-you have a nuke right now?"

"I wish," Porky said in depression. "I don't have enough money in my piggy bank to afford on-wait a second; don't make me change topics here! Ness, Lucas, bunch of people I give a small damn about, prepare to meet YER MEIKER! Once I'm done with you, I'll inform Tabuu and the Subspace Army that I got rid of you guys! DUAHA, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The Smashers and Megaman took their position to do battle. Once they did, however, they all heard Ness moaning loudly in pain. Hearing this, most of them looked confused, and even Porky stopped laughing maniacally to see what was happening. "U-ugh...my spleen... I-I think it just broke..." Ness muttered in pain, dropping to his knees.

"Ha-ha, loser!" Porky taunted. "Now that I have you at my mercy, it's time for me t-"

"C-can we call it a day?"

"What? Why? I want to crush you right now!"

"B-but you don't understand!" Ness said. "Didn't you want to have a battle of the ages?"

"Well, yeah, I wanted to have one but you're dropping yourself to the ground because your spleen just broke out of the blue."

"Don't you think it's...kind of a letdown if you were to attack me during my current state?" Ness asked coughing, holding his side where his spleen was. "I mean...you want the memory of our battle to be a enjoyable one for the rest of your spider mech's life, right? You want to...recall the sweet memories where you pounded me so hard that I begged for mercy, right? You surely don't want to remember that you caught me off-guard because my spleen hurt me even more than you did, right?"

"Hmm... You have a good point there..." Porky muttered. "This can't be a super mega special rematch of the battle of the ages if your spleen is like this..."

"S-so please...can we do it another day?"

"Oh, sure, sure," Porky said. "I WOULD like to crush Lucas right now, but, man, it's just not the same with you like THIS..." He turned around and sighed. "Fine, we'll do this very soon, someday. BUT remember I want you to heal fast, you got it?"

"R-right..."

"Okay!" Porky said convinced. "I shall take my leave now! See ya later, dorks!" he yelled, laughing maniacally before he ran away into the woods and disappeared from sight.

Peach knelt down to the weak Ness. "N-Ness, oh my god, did your spleen really break now? Oh no, this is so bad. It must have broken when we were exploring the Sub-Gate! We need to take you to a doctor and fa-"

Ness sighed suddenly, standing up as if nothing was hurting him. "Peach, it was all a fluke. My spleen didn't break."

"...What?"

"I tricked Porky into believing I was in pain to spoil his stupid 'super mega special rematch of the battle of the ages' thing against me," Ness explained. "Truthfully, I didn't want him around right now...and I never will for that matter."

"So...that was all you did?" Roll asked.

"Yeah, Porky isn't exactly the smartest guy you'll meet in your life," Ness said. "If you had him in kindergarten, you'd find out there are lower grades than Fs..."

Lucas gapped his mouth at this, completely staring at pure disbelief at Ness. "I-is he that easy to convince?"

"I guess," Ness said. "Maybe you could give it a shot next time he comes back, Lucas. Try to come up with a good tactic so he believes you."

Lucas didn't exactly understand how he would think about a fluke, but he nodded at Ness. "O-okay, I'll try next time... Let me do it, okay?"

"Sure, go ahead," Ness said. "Well, now that Mr. Piggy is gone, we can rest assured that he won't bother us for a while."

Megaman tilted his head. "But isn't he going to notice soon that you tricked him?"

"Yes, but he takes his time, so don't worry."

"...Okay..." Megaman trailed off. He looked back at the group before turned to Roll and smiled at her, showing her the yellow refractor. "Look what we found in there, Roll."

Roll smiled at her reflection on the refractor. "Goodness, it's big!" Roll marveled. "Maybe we can use this refractor's energy to repair the Flutter. We should head back to the airship!"

Luigi looked up, noticing that sunset had arrived. "Oh, night's going to come around very soon."

"A-and is it safe to rest outside in the open?" Lucas asked concerned.

"I think there's a hotel in the city..." Megaman trailed off. "...Oh, wait, it was destroyed."

Roll looked back at them. "I think we have some guest rooms inside the Flutter. You can use them to rest for the night if you want."

Chris sighed at this. "Oh, please, I want to sleep on a comfy bed. I want to avoid sleeping on the ground whenever I can."

Sonic smacked his forehead and frowned. "You do know what'll happen once night comes around, right, Chris?"

"...Oh, your werehog transformation..."

Megaman and Roll exchanged confused glances at the new word coming from the musician. "What is a werehog?" Roll asked worried. "Is it some kind of illness of some sort?"

"You could say that," Sonic said. "During all the nights, I turn into a wolf because SOME IDIOT SCIENTIST I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT RIGHT NOW messed up with my DNA big time. Basically...every night, I change into a furry version of myself."

"You turn into a wolf every night...like some sort of werewolf..." Megaman trailed off.

Sonic nodded and crossed his arms. "Yep."

Megaman and Roll once more exchanged glances. "...That's so cliché, turning into a wolf during the night," they both said.

Roll looked up. "Seriously, werewolf tales are so overrated nowadays that it's starting to become so cliché like anvils falling on people."

"They are?" Ike asked. "From where I come from, the only cliché tales I know about are about unicorns with princesses riding on them all over the Crimean Kingdom."

Everyone stared awkwardly at the Greil Mercenary.

"...So what if that cliché is odd to you?" Ike asked annoyed. "We all come from different worlds, and clichés may vary between each other. Don't stare at me with those looks, please."

Mario scratched his hat a bit and looked at the bored Sonic. "I think I remember Cloud saying that your transformation wa-"

"YES, I KNOW, my problem is a cliché thing, alright," Sonic said annoyed. "I'm doomed to transform into a muscle brain idiot every single damn night."

Peach chuckled nervously. "D-don't worry, Sonic, we will find a cure so you can stop transforming into a werehog. Personally and honestly, I don't like to see you angry because of that."

"Oh, thanks, I guess," Sonic said with some depression. "That makes me feel a bit better."

"A-anyway," began Roll, "I'm not sure if that is true yet, but, let's all go back to the Flutter so you can spend the night there."

Volnutt Kirby yawned. "I want to have dinner..."

For Roll, it was a little bit peculiar to notice the matching spiked brown hair Kirby had. "...Where'd you grow hair, though?"

"He swallows people, copies their abilities, and gets a hat to resemble that target," Mario explained. "Literally, he swallowed Megaman and got his hair as a hat."

"...It looks good on you," Roll remarked in confusion, making Volnutt Kirby happy. "O-okay, please, hop on into the car, everyone. Let's go back to the Flutter right now."

Luigi yawned next. "Let's stay away from this place... It's so quiet..." He walked behind the car and opened the door to see Big's back blocking the way. "Um, Big..."

The green plumber noticed that the huge purple cat seemed to move to the sides. Inside the car, a happy Big moved his hands up and down in tandem with the little Data, who was making Big dance because the robot monkey himself was dancing.

A little while ago, everyone but Sonic and Chip got back into the car. Revving it up, Roll turned towards the west and drove away from the area, not noticing the fact that the Servbots were watching them from behind some trees. "I want to sing something now. I want to do it because...I want to have some fun," spoke Lucas inside the Support Car."

"Oh, I know," Mario said. "~Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall.~"

"~Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety-eight bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, Ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall,~" everyone sang in tandem.

"Wait, you two know the song as well?" Ness asked.

"I guess there are certain things our worlds have in common," Roll chuckled.

"Yeah," Megaman chuckled.

"Let's continue!" Big suggested.

"~Ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-seven bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, Ninety-six bottles of beer on the wall,~" everyone sang in tandem.

Nobody knew Ike was pretending to know the song since he was trying to grasp the concept of it, sadly.

When the car drove away from sight and their voices grew silent, the Servbots from behind the trees jumped out and formed a group circle, all of them crossing their arms. "Okay, this is bad news," the first Servbot said. "It seems there's a potential pirate on the loose!"

"Yeah, very bad news," the second Servbot said. "We thought we were the only pirates on the island, but, did you see that machine with the dead carcass inside?"

"I sure did," the third Servbot said. "I'm especially preoccupied about this Subspace Army and that Tabuu guy."

"We must inform this to Miss Tron as soon as possible!" the fourth Servbot suggested. "This is crucial information, guys. We must let her know this!"

The fifth Servbot nodded. "Yeah, and we might even get dinner for tonight if we provide her with this information!"

Once they all turned around, they quickly screamed and hugged each other together, seeing an imposing figure standing right behind them with hands on hips. "UAH, MISS TRON!" they all yelled, finding out the Bonne Family's only daughter was looking at them with a mad look on her face.

"So here you are!" Tron said angrily. "I've been looking all over for you after some of the other responsible Servbots told me that there were a few of you who remained behind! Don't you see it's already dangerous enough for us to wander around this island? Everyone pretty much knows that we're the bad guys!"

"U-um, Miss Tron..." the second Servbot stammered, "w-with all due respect, I think you and the other two are the only ones who have wanted posters all over the city's walls..."

"T-that's right, Miss Tron," the fourth Servbot gulped. "W-we are the only ones who don't ha-"

"Silence!" Tron yelled, making the five Servbots yelp. "You better have a very good explanation for staying behind with that blue boy or else I'm taking away your dinner for five days straight!"

"N-no, anything but our curry rice!" the first Servbot pleaded.

"Well, let me hear what you have to say!" Tron demanded.

Looking at each other with worried looks, the third Servbot decided to take a step forward to his leader. "U-um, well, Miss Tron, you see..."

A while later...

"What kind of stupidity did you just tell me?" Tron asked. "Are you certainly sure that there are other pirates beside us that are looking to steal the treasures before we can do so?"

"T-that's not so certain, but that's the most logical answer we can reach for now," said the first Servbot. "W-we're not lying, Miss Tron! Please, believe in us! W-why would we lie to you, our supreme leader?"

Tron rubbed her chin and looked away. "Hmm, if that's true, that's going to be pretty bad news for us..." she muttered.

The second Servbot cried toon tears. "T-that's the truth, Miss Tron. We're not lying."

Tron looked sternly at them. "Are you pretty sure about this information? Most of it doesn't sound any convincing to me."

"Miss Tron, for Teisel's sake, we're sure of it!" the fourth Servbot said. "This new clan of pirates might even challenge us in finding all the treasures on the island!"

"And you know how Teisel gets mad when there's another pirate trying to outwit us!" the fifth Servbot said. "He might even go as far as to rip his hair off!"

The first Servbot saluted Tron. "Miss Tron, so what are your orders? We must eliminate the competency before things get rough! The Bonne Family shall not allow any other pirate be better than we are! (Please, please, let this little speech make her forgive us!)"

Tron looked skeptical. "Well, that's odd. We haven't seen any other pirates around until now… This could mean a lot of trouble if we overlook those guys…"

"How about if we came into terms of agreement with them and cooperate together?" the third Servbot asked.

"What, are you nuts?" Tron asked angrily. "We don't ever partner up with other pirates unless we're under extreme circumstances! It's good luck that we haven't done such a thing yet, and I hope it stays like that forever! You can't trust pirates, remember? They might even steal ideas from us and use them as if they came with them! I'd get mad if somebody were to steal my blueprints for new robot prototypes!"

The Servbots exchanged glances. "…So, what's the plan?" the fourth Servbot asked.

Tron smiled confidently. "Easy, you're all going to go back to the Gesellschaft right now."

"W-what?" all Servbots asked in unison.

"I'm gonna stay behind and spy on those guys by myself," Tron said. "You're being a little bit unreliable today."

"B-but, Miss Tron, you might get in trouble if you go all alone by yourself!" the first Servbot said concerned. "W-we don't have robots ready to drive either!"

"A-also, weren't you supposed to be making another big robot right now?" the fourth Servbot asked.

"That can wait," Tron said. "I've got all the time I need to make that robot."

"W-what if Teisel says something about this?" the third Servbot asked.

"I'll see what I do with him. I can handle all this by myself."

"Are you just going to forget your duties like this?" the fifth Servbot asked.

"I'm pretty sure everything is gonna be just fine."

"W-why are you so determined now, anyway?" the second Servbot asked.

Tron sighed. "Look, you guys are telling a bunch of pretty unbelievable things. Also, Teisel has been going on and on about that portal and those people coming out from it! To tell you the truth, I wanna see what the fuss is all about!"

"Um, if I remember, I saw those guys as well," the second Servbot said. "I was with Teisel at that time, and those people came out from nowhere!"

"And they're helping the blue boy right now!" the third Servbot said. "Miss Tron, something is afoot here! Why would portal people want to help out him of all people?"

"I can smell a conspiracy here, and I don't even have a nose to begin with!" the fifth Servbot said.

Tron frowned at this. "Well, fine! I'm going to get to the bottom of this whole thing about them by… eavesdropping!"

"Miss Tron…I dunno if that's good idea, I mean, you going alone by yourself…" the second Servbot said.

The pirate sighed. "Okay, okay, I'm taking you, you, and you," she told the first, second, and third Servbot.

The fourth Servbot and the fifth Servbot tilted their heads. "H-hey, why can't we come? Is it because we're the last two?"

"Yeah," Tron said. "Got a problem with that?"

"W-well, n-no, b-but we're worried about you, Miss Tron, that's all…"

"I'll be fine with these three," Tron said. "Besides, I always choose three of the forty Servbots."

"I think you got the count wrong, Miss Tron," the first Servbot said. "I think there is another one of us."

"Puh-lease, you're all making up that story about Servbot #41 again? It's starting to become some kind of myth between us," Tron said. "…I-I mean, who cares about that extra Servbot? Right now, we need to focus on the mission!"

"What about th-"

"I give a damn about that Servbot! If I don't know him, then leave him be!"

The five Servbots cried toon tears. "Miss Tron, it's one of our brothers! Don't talk about him like that!"

"If you don't stop crying right now, I'll seriously ban your dinner for a few more days!"

"Ooooh nooooo!" the five Servbots cried.

Tron clapped her hands together to calm them down. "Alrighty, you three are going to follow me! As for the other two, go back and tell Teisel I'm trying to get materials for the robot because we're short on them!"

"Are you going to put on a disguise to fool the masses again?" the second Servbot asked with curiosity.

"If I need to, I will," Tron said. "Alright, my kids, let's go!"

"Roooogeeeeeer!" the five Servbots said with a salute.

Cardon Forest - City Road

After taking a trip back, the group reached the wrecked airship. Each one of them got off from the car and stood next to the Flutter's right side. Megaman carried the yellow refractor with both arms while Roll looked at the Smashers. "Well, here we are," she said. "Let's hope this refractor's energy is enough for the Flutter to fly again. If I can make the Flutter fly, it'll be easier to transport around the island...but only here."

"Why?" Mario asked.

"Well, for one, I don't honestly think the refractor will have much energy," Roll said. "If my assumptions are correct, the refractor might be enough for the Flutter to hover above the land, but not fly properly. But, if they happen to be incorrect...then the refractor isn't going to be enough."

Peach thought for a moment. "If it's not enough, what is going to happen?"

"We could see if there's another use for it," Megaman said. "Maybe there's some other sort of machine that needs the refractor badly."

Roll spotted a box staircase on the right side of the wrecked Flutter, leading to a yellow door. She looked at Megaman. "Alright, Megaman, you give me the refractor now. I'll start putting this in the engine room now. But, since it's going to be night very soon, I think I'm going to prepare some dinner for everyone. Luckily we have a lot of food."

"Here," Megaman said, giving the refractor to Roll. The engineer nodded at him before walking up to the box staircase, where the reached the top, opened the door of the airship, and got inside. Megaman sighed and looked at everyone. "Well, let's go in, you guys. I know we're all exhausted after exploring the Sub-Gate."

"What do you have in there?" Chip asked.

"There's the pilot's cabin, living room, two bathrooms, five rooms with four beds each, library, hallway, engine room, and a terrace," Megaman explained.

"Oh, a library inside an airship? That's sophisticated," Peach said interested.

"When you're a Digger, you get a lot of stuff from the findings you turn over to museums," Megaman boasted.

"Wow," Ness said. "Diggers surely must have an easy life finding relics all over the world."

"When there are not dangerous Reaverbots, that is... Wait, I just remembered something," Megaman said. "Since you aren't from this world…that would mean you don't have Digger licenses, right?"

Chip took out his Citizen Card. "You mean this?"

"No, that's a card to enter the city," Megaman said. "I'm talking about a license like this one," he said, showing them the license he obtained from the mayor. "I'm afraid to say that you could be in serious trouble if officials were to know that you're entering ruins without special permission from them..."

"D-don't you mean we could get thrown in jail?" Luigi asked.

"Maybe...but...you helped us a lot..." Megaman rubbed his chin. "...Tell you what: you will pretend you're Diggers, but you have to make sure you don't get the attention of the authorities. If they ever get know that you're unlicensed Diggers, they might label you as pirates."

"But I'm not swinging a sword or wearing an eye-patch," Big said.

"Er, that's not what I meant by pirates," Megaman said. "Worse, if they knew I'm giving you access to the Sub-Gates...Roll and I could get in serious trouble."

"That doesn't sound too good," Ike commented. "We'll try to be as cautious as possible so we don't have to face the authorities."

"I know this is a little bit too much, but I'm not certain if something so bad like that will happen. Even so, try to be careful. They could go as far as to advocate my license."

"So then, we're going to be your ticket to become a hobo?" Sonic asked.

"H-hey, I'm not going to turn into a... Whatever," Megaman said. "Seriously, be very careful."

"We will," Ness said. "We don't want to cause you any trouble, anyway."

"You give me more help than trouble, though. I'm pleased for that," Megaman said smiling.

Volnutt Kirby yawned. "I want to sleep now..."

"Oh, sorry, let's all go in before it turns dark outside."

Peach raised a hand. "I'll make dinner for everyone if you don't mind. I'll give Roll a hand."

Luigi gasped. "N-no, no, no, I'll make dinner instead."

"Oh, thanks, Luigi, you can help me out."

"Wait, what? N-no, I didn't mean... Oh, okay, Peach..."

That night...

Once it turned dark, night arrived. The stars flickered in the distant sky while crickets' sounds echoed in the forest. Several fireflies flew over the silent grass while a big figure was sitting down on the top terrace of the Flutter, his eyes full with worry.

"Froggy...where are you now?" Big muttered to himself. "It's not just the same without you, my friend. I get too lonely, but...I have my friends right here with me to make some company while you're away with the bad Dr. Eggman..." He closed his eyes and shed a tear. "...I know we're going to get back together...so please, hang on a little longer..."

Big's ears perked up once he heard a girl scream coming from inside the Flutter. The huge feline turned towards the hole on the floor. From his position, he overheard a conversation.

"O-oh my god, then it was true!" Roll was heard yelling. "Y-you DO turn into a wolf!"

"Dammit, I told you I was going to turn into one tonight!" Sonic yelled in a gruff voice. "Well, it doesn't matter because you NOW know I DO transform against my will!"

"O-oh my, your face looks even scarier than before!"

"Hey, what was that supposed to mean exactly?"

"I-I mean, s-stop glaring at me!"

"I'm not glaring at you! That's how I look! Sheesh, can't people tell what's a grimace and what's a normal face?"

"It's harder to tell that apart when it's you, though!"

"Grr!"

"U-uah!"

"Sonic, stop making such a fuss already!" Chris was heard yelling. "Just stay quiet until Peach finishes making dinner for all of us, okay? Roll was supposed to do it as well!"

"I-I'm sorry, I just got scared when I came out from the bathroom and saw him transforming next to the door!" Roll said. "I-I'll go back to the kitchen now!"

Big looked at no one in particular and blinked a few times.

"...Whoa, there's an animal in here!" Megaman yelled. "Who let this wolf in?"

"Oh, please! This is getting ridiculous no-"

"Die, you beast with fleas, die!"

Various shots were heard being fired.

"Hey, what the f(beep) is wrong with you? It's me, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The shots came to a halt. "What?"

"THANKS FOR STOPPING SHOOTING AT MY FACE, MAN!" Sonic yelled.

"I-I'm so sorry, Sonic, really! I was just heading to take a shower when you suddenly looked at m-"

"That's it, I'm getting a face transplant if this ever happens again!"

"Would everyone shut up for half an hour? I'm watching some programs in the living room here!" yelled Ness.

"More like changing channels non-stop," Chip said. "Hey, there was a good movie right there! It was about androids; my favorite characters ever!"

"I-I think you were a fan of fighters yesterday..." Lucas trailed off.

"You have no right to point that out for me! Prepare to be Chipminated, inferior being!"

Big heard people being pushed down to the floor.

"C-Chip, get off me! D-don't punch me, please! N-no, not in the face! I-I didn't know you'd get this angry at me!" Lucas pleaded.

"My name is Chipminator!" Chip proclaimed.

"Ness, help me!"

"I think this is more entertaining than the television," Ness commented.

"W-W-WHAT?"

"I-I mean, Chip, get off from Lucas, you freak!"

"Stop yelling and screaming! Some people like to read books once in a while!" Ike yelled from the library.

"I'll stop once Lucas here gets Chipminated!" Chip yelled.

"I don't care what Chipminated even means, so shut up!"

"Why can't we have a peaceful night for once?" asked Mario.

"That's because we're having some bad luck tonight..." Sonic muttered.

"Hmm..." Volnutt Kirby yawned.

Big looked confused as the ruckus inside the Flutter kept going on. Thinking for a bit, he made a happy expression and said, "It's so wonderful to see friends doing this sort thing every day, don't you think?"

"Okay, everyone, dinner's ready!" Peach called over. "We have cooked chicken soup with crepe pies for dessert!"

"Crepe pies made by Peach!" Chris and Volnutt Kirby rejoiced.

"Actually, Luigi made those."

"Aww..."

"H-hey, that's insulting!" Luigi called over. "M-my pies are as sweet as Peach's pies! I-I'm a good cook myself!"

"True," Mario said.

"Oh well...if Mario says so..." Chris trailed off.

Big looked up. "Hmm, crepe pies," he mused to himself before he entered the airship again.

If he had stayed behind for a little longer, Big could have noticed that four shadowy figures appeared from the Sub-Gate's direction and ran all the way to the Flutter's backside. The first figure was a cautious Tron while the other three were her loyal Servbots. Tron looked at the Flutter and rubbed her chin. "Gosh, this airship is such in a bad condition," she commented. "Why, it looks like it could fall apart any minute."

"Miss Tron, is it okay for us to do this kind of thing?" the first Servbot asked. "We've never, ever eavesdropped on people before, let alone spied on them!"

Tron grunted. "This is a very crucial mission, you know! Besides, if there's something better to do than staying with that madman I call my brother; I'll get away from him and his rants about those people with Megaman!"

For some reason, the three Servbots noticed that, once Tron said Megaman's name, her cheeks blushed a bit.

"Anyhow, you better stay as silent as possible now," Tron said. "We're gonna find some kind of window and spy those guys."

"So, why are we spying on them again?" the second Servbot asked, raising a hand.

"Because they're supposed to be from a different place or something," Tron said. "Didn't you see that woman dressed as a princess? Who would honestly dress like that in a place like this? Also, what about the scary-looking hedgehog or the flying little dog? What if they could end up being dangerous as you said?"

The third Servbot sniffed. "B-but I'm telling you the truth when I'm saying that kid with the red cap blew our tanks with a green explosive flash he produced OUT of his HEAD!"

"Shh!" the other three whispered.

"I-I'm sorry, but I'm a bit worried about all this!"

"Kids shooting out green explosive flashes from their heads... I won't believe any of this until I see some proof, okay?" Tron said. "So now, let's get this undercover operation going!"

"Roooooogeeeeeer!" the three Servbots muttered in unison.

"Alright, then, let's look for a window," Tron said, inspecting the left side of the Flutter where she saw said window wide open. "A-ha, there is one...high up, that is."

The window was about twenty feet away from the ground. Tron just noticed the several hanging tubes that went all the way to the right side of the window. Without thinking, she began climbing the ladder as silent as she could. The three Servbots gasped and looked up at her. "M-Miss Tron, are you sure this is a good idea?" the second Servbot asked.

Tron stopped climbing up and looked back at them. "Yes, it is a good idea! Stop asking the same kind of question already!" She resumed climbing up until she reached the window. Narrowing her eyes, the pirate engineer slowly peeked inside. "Hmm, what do we have here now?" she asked, finding the group having dinner.

Suddenly, the three Servbots climbed up and joined her, interested to see what was happening inside.

The living room itself wasn't very big. The room had yellow walls with a green floor. A large TV sat on top of a shelf while three red sofas around and long table were in front of it. There were several pictures with frames hanging around the walls, and there were some smaller pictures standing on top of a long but short bookshelf. Behind the sofas, a long dinning table with five chairs on each long side and a chair on each short side had several bowl with fresh chicken soup aroma soothing the air. Those very same bowls were being consumed by thirteen people, each one of them enjoying the dinner with fresh crepe pies.

"(Let's see... There's the girl over there,)" Tron thought, looking at Roll at the right end of the table, "(and then there's the blue boy on the other end... Hmm?)"

On the other end of the table, Megaman was sitting down his chair and eating his soup. However, instead of his usual blue suit, Megaman was actually wearing something else. The boy was now dressed in white t-shirt under a yellow apron, blue pants, and brown shoes. In fact, he looked a little bit more casual than before without his suit.

"Hmm, you're not an android," Chip commented, flying close to Megaman as the imp ate a big slice of crepe pie. "I thought you were one."

"Er, no," Megaman said. "That's just a special suit Roll built for me so I could handle explorations better."

"Wait, she makes suits?" Chip asked interested before turning to Roll. "I want to have a suit as well! Make me one!"

"U-um, sorry, but the materials I used to build Megaman's suit were very costly," Roll said. "What's more, I think they're not very easy to find anymore."

"Aww, poopy…"

Sonic imagined Chip encased in a blue suit. "Funny," he muttered.

Outside the window, Tron inspected all of them. "Geez, it looks like they're having a Halloween party or something. Those guys don't look like they'd fit in a crowd, that's for sure," she muttered.

The pirate engineer heard some sniffs coming from her Servbots.

"What is it now?" Tron asked in annoyance.

"T-they're having a succulent dinner, Miss Tron…" the second Servbot sniffed. "I-I'm hungry…so, but so hungry…"

"I knew I shouldn't have gone ahead and make those super hard mechanical stomach parts and taste tongues for all of you if this was going to happen," Tron muttered angrily. "Be quiet and don't cry any louder!"

"But we want to have some dinner, Miss Tron!" whined the third Servbot.

"Ugh, I'll see what I can do about it, okay? Now, stay quiet!"

Megaman stared at Sonic. "As you were saying before, this Dr. Eggman guy made you like this?"

"Yeah," Sonic said with a grunt. "Thanks to him, there's this dormant evil spirit in me that likes to piss me and everyone off by yelling aloud his death threats."

"Evil spirit?"

Just after repeating those words, a malevolent DSS shot up from Sonic's back. Megaman and Roll gasped before the shadow ghost crackled maniacally with open hands, the first one falling behind on the floor. "I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A NICE F(BEEP)NG DINNER, B(BEEP)S, BUT NOW IT IS TIME FOR ME TO EXTERMINATE YOU ALL! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Lucas, Luigi, Volnutt Kirby, Peach, Chris, Big, and Roll screamed loudly, preventing anyone around the table to hear the screams coming from Tron and her Servbots, who lost their balance and fell all the way down to the ground.

"M-Megaman, somebody, do something about that thing!" Roll asked in fear, completely sitting still on her chair.

DSS pointed at Roll. "YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME, B(BEEP)H! NOBODY CAN DO ANYTHING TO STOP ME FROM MURDERING YOU! MWAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sonic made fists on the table, snarling silently before he broke out grunting loudly, glaring pissed at a shocked Chris. "Chris, smack this guy away from me before I lose whatever's left from my patience!"

"R-right away!" Chris said, quickly changing to his Beastmaster job. The World Traveler yelled out as he smacked hard Sonic's forehead.

"N-NO!" DSS yelled, his white eyes widening before he was forced to retreat into Sonic's back.

"Whew...everything is fine for now..." Chris sighed, putting his whip away.

Roll still had her scared look. She eventually stopped looking scared after shaking her head. The engineer looked at the pissed werehog. "W-what in the name of the Mother Lode was that just now?"

Sonic snarled a bit more. "That's Mr. Foul-Mouthed Shadow. He's so nice that he declares his inner fury against any innocent person he finds during this time of the night," he joked, not finding his joke very funny at all. He stretched his right claw to the ceiling, surprising Megaman and Roll. "Also, this is completely retarded, but my arms went to Cartoon World and got the ability to stretch like this."

"O-oh my..." Roll muttered as she saw the arm pulling back to Sonic.

"I-I see..." Megaman said on the floor before he stood up and picked his chair up while rubbing the back of his head. "T-that wasn't surely a nice welcome from that spirit..." he muttered, sitting back on his chair. "S-so, that evil spirit only comes out during the night?"

Sonic, in a sophisticate manner, cleaned his lips with a napkin and grabbed his spoon, closing his eyes annoyed. "Yup, he won't just stop doing that until I die or we find some way to take him off from me or hire an exorcist." He opened an eye to look at Megaman. "You know a good exorcist around these parts?"

"N-no, we just came to Kattelox Island today..." Megaman said.

Sonic lifted his shoulders. "At least I tried," he said, taking a long slurp from his soup.

Back outside, having swirls on their eyes, Tron lied down on the ground while her Servbots were piled up on top of her back. All of them were groaning in pain by the forceful fall. "M-Miss Tron..." the second Servbot trailed off, "I'm so dizzy and confused..."

"I-I bet I am, too..." the first Servbot said.

Tron's eye swirls were still spinning. "J-just get off my back, you three..." She shook her head and pushed them away from her. Sighing, she stood up and dusted off her jacket. "What the hell was that just now? You three saw the same thing I saw, right?"

The third Servbot raised his hand from the ground. "I-I bet it was hard for any of us to avoid seeing that creepy ghost jumping out from the wolf's back, Miss Tron..." he said.

Tron looked back at the window. "There's something definitely going on with those guys, I know that very well... Maybe what Teisel said about them was true after all... Ugh, what am I starting to think?" she asked to herself. "Soon, I'll become as paranoiac as Teisel!"

The first Servbot regained his composure and stood up, putting his arms to his sides. "M-Miss Tron, we're now sure that Master Teisel was right with his assumptions about them all!"

The pirate engineer put a hand close to her chin. "This is surely starting to make sense, but...we need to gather more information from them."

The second Servbot was next to regain his composure and stand up. "We're going to eavesdrop on them again?"

"I can't shake the thought that they might represent some kind of threat to our plans..."

The third Servbot did the same as the previous two. "What if they noticed we were spying them?"

"They didn't look outside, so... Let's go, you guys!" Tron said, climbing back up the ladder attached to the Flutter. The three Servbots flailed their arms in a panic before following their creator.

"Does that...spirit come out frequently from you?" Roll asked worried.

"Nah, he just comes out once each night," Sonic said. "That's one advantage, though. The disadvantage is that he COMES OUT regardless," he said with emphasis on the last words.

Megaman looked at Chris. "How did you change clothes so fast, anyway?"

"U-um, about that...it's a special power I possess," Chris said embarrassed. "I can alternate powers so I can find some way to fit any situation in all battles I take part of, but...I'm still not very good at alternating powers. I'm getting the hang of it slowly."

"Are you saying you're a close-combat fighter one second and then you're a healer the next second?"

"Something like that...but I usually stay fighting with just a job or two. I personally hate to alternate so many times in one battle," Chris explained. "I like to stick with the job I'm using to gain experience."

"Hmm, sounds very useful but tiresome to me..."

The World Traveler sighed. "Very tiresome because I draw the attention of enemies so often, defeating my whole purposes to stay safe..."

Outside the window, Tron rolled her eyes. "Yes, these guys are nuts," she muttered. "People changing clothes in a second..."

"I think I caught a glimpse of that kid changing clothes in a bright light, Miss Tron," the third Servbot said.

"Now I know you're just insane."

He sniffed. "M-Miss Tron, don't be so harsh on me... I have an honest heart..."

"Shh, be quiet, please! They're still talking!"

Chris blinked and looked confused. "That's strange... I could've sworn somebody just referred me as a kid..." he muttered, shrugging at the thought before resuming to eat, not hearing a hard smacking sound coming from outside.

Ike looked at Roll. "How did it go with the refractor? Did you manage to make it work with the Flutter?"

Roll stopped eating and looked down. "I'm sorry, everyone, but the refractor wasn't enough to power up the Flutter..."

Lucas looked depressed. "After all that, we couldn't do it?"

"D-don't look so depressed, please," Roll said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure we can find some kind of use to it if we go back to the city tomorrow. There's got to be something waiting for the refractor somewhere..."

"In that case," Megaman began, "we'll go around the city and gather information to find out what to do with it. Thanks to the license I got today, the mayor told me I had access to other parts of the city."

"What parts are those?" Mario asked.

"First, it's the Old City located to the east gate of the downtown," Megaman said. "According to the mayor, she told me that the city in there doesn't have a lot of people because it was abandoned and used as a place for workers to build factories such as a power plant."

"That place sounds like there could be some use for the refractor we have," Roll said.

"But there's more," Megaman said. "To the south of the Old City, there's the entrance to the Main Gate..."

Roll looked interested. "The Main Gate, you say? I heard about it!"

"Ooh, tell us, please," Chip said. "If it's a main thing, it should be very important."

The lights suddenly turned off while a candle next to Roll illuminated her anxious face. "The Main Gate is supposed to be the place where the island's most valuable treasure resides," Roll said. "Many of the Diggers who have come here have failed to find an entrance into the Main Gate, though. I heard from Gramps that the Main Gate doesn't really have an actual entrance...but there are rumors saying that, in one of the Sub-Gates, the key to open the real entrance to the Main Gate is waiting to be discovered... And the fortunate Diggers who can decipher the entry to the Main Gate will be forever blessed with the treasure that rest within it, waiting to be discovered..."

Luigi gulped and looked around the dark atmosphere. "W-who turned off the lights?" He looked to his right to see Sonic's right arm extended all the way to the light's switch next to the TV.

Sonic chuckled and turned the lights back on. "Heheh, sorry, wanted to set up the moment here," he said as his arm pulled back to him.

Peach, recalling the excitement she had in the Sub-Gate, looked interested at the topic. "Let me guess, you're trying to find that entrance?"

"Of course," Roll said. "Well, if we happen to stumble upon it, that is..."

Megaman nodded. "We'll find that entrance so we can claim that treasure for ours," he said, pumping up a fist. "Oh, wait, I was talking about the places we could go tomorrow... Apart from the Old City, there's the Uptown located to the west gate of the downtown. The Uptown is where the city's services are found like the TV station and the hospital."

"Hmm, I'm not so sure if there's some place in there to use the refractor, unlike the Old City does..." Roll muttered skeptically.

"Well, there's more," Megaman said. "The Uptown has a dock on the Lake Jyun. There is supposed to be another Sub-Gate there. However, I heard there aren't any boats to explore the lake."

"Hmm, a lake," Big said. "Maybe Froggy is there..."

Chris sighed, but he didn't want to put Big down in a depressed mood. "Yes, he might be in there, Big. You really must be worried about him when you don't have Froggy around... Oh my god!" he suddenly yelped, digging into his pocket to take out his egg. Seeing the egg safe made Chris sigh. "Oh, phew, it's here... And here I was thinking Eggy didn't exist..."

"Be glad you didn't sit over it," Sonic said.

"Yes, I know..." Chris said, keeping the egg inside his pocket.

"There's a Sub-Gate at Lake Jyun?" Roll asked. "But wait, there are no boats right now, right?"

Megaman shook his head. "No, there aren't boats."

Roll took a spoon of her soup and sighed. "Oh well, I guess we can explore that Sub-Gate when we have the necessary means to explore the lake..." She looked at everyone. "So then, our mission tomorrow morning is to find some use for the yellow refractor in the city. Everyone will have to go first to the Old City and then head down to the Uptown."

"Right," everyone said.

"For now, let's have a pleasant dinner," Peach suggested, everyone agreeing to the idea.

Back outside, the four pirates blinked in unison and climbed down the ladder. Once setting their feet on the ground, Tron crossed her arms and said, "So they're going to look for a way to use that refractor they got from the Sub-Gate you couldn't break into..."

"Miss Tron, they'll be heading to Lake Jyun anytime soon!" the second Servbot said. "Isn't that the place where we're going to ambush them?"

"Yeah, that's the same place where I'm going to show off my new robot," Tron said. "But, this seems more interesting to do... Tomorrow, they'll be going around the city."

"It doesn't look like we got so much information about those guys, though," the first Servbot said. "The blue boy was just outlining their next movements."

"Which is good to know for our advantage," Tron said.

The third Servbot blinked. "Um, wait, are we still going to eavesdrop on them tomorrow, Miss Tron?"

"Why not?" Tron asked annoyed. "We're going to eavesdrop on them as much as we can so we can outwit them the next time we meet!"

"But, Miss Tron, we don't have any vessels or robots except for the Gesellschaft right now!" the second Servbot reminded her. "Remember? We used a ton of 'em in the take over of the city, which failed so badly!"

"And by ton of 'em, he means we literally used everything, even the smallest nut!" the third Servbot said. "If we go back to the Gesellschaft now, we can have enough time to build more vessels!"

"In that case, I'll send an order to the other Servbots to make more vessels," Tron said. "Phew, that's an easy issue we can deal with."

"But we still have the issue where you're supposed to make said robot!" the first Servbot brought up. "And Teisel might even scold you for that!"

"I don't care!" Tron said. "Teisel needs to be patient now! He will have to wait until I'm ready!"

The second Servbot tilted his head. "I don't know why, but, do you have another reason why you want to spy on them, Miss Tron?"

Tron gasped, blushed, and looked mad, thinking her Servbot thought she was thinking about Megaman. "I-I-ah, what makes you think that? D-don't be so silly!"

"What?" the second Servbot asked. "But what did I do to make you blush like that, Miss Tron?"

Tron covered her cheeks. "S-stop it, you! I don't wanna hear you anymore!"

The second Servbot cried toon tears. "M-Miss Tron, don't say that to me, please! I have very unstable feelings and emotions!"

"All of you, be quiet now!" Tron demanded loudly. "Okay, now that I have your attention, we WILL continue eavesdropping on them tomorrow morning. First, we're going to have to go back to the Gesellschaft right now to make sure things are going well over there."

"What if Teise-"

"If Teisel tries to stop us, I'll convince him...somehow," Tron said. "I don't know who, but maybe if I listen to his crazy ramblings about those guys, he might let me off the hook..."

The first Servbot saluted her. "Right, Miss Tron, we will follow your orders to the full extent of the word!"

"That's more like it," Tron said. "Okay, everyone, let's go back to the Gesellschaft and plan our strategy tomorrow! I have some energy to start the production of our next robot to attack those guys."

The three Servbots smiled. "Roooooogeeeeeeeeeer!" they all said.

The four pirates turned to the forest and ran away into the bushes. None of them noticed that a certain robot monkey, Data, was staring down at them from the open window of the living room. Apparently, Data overheard everything they said.

"Data, close the window, please," Roll said. "The mosquitoes will get inside if we leave that window wide open."

Data turned to her and nodded, closing the window behind his back.

The peaceful night went by...

However, nobody noticed that several minions of Dark Gaia sprouted out from the ground around the Flutter and began patrolling the area...

The next morning...

In her green room, Roll, wearing orange pajamas with an orange cap, lied down on her pink bed in a reckless position. Her right leg was touching down the floor, and her left arm was over her messy hair.

Her room was green, which had many different things. The pink bed was leaning against the upper right corner of the room while a light blue table with a red flower in a pot on it and a chair on the floor stood on the center. A big bookshelf was leaning against the wall right next to the red door, and to the right of the bookshelf, a small shelf for magazines rested. Over some green shelves for clothes between the bed and the magazine shelf, a shelf with a wide tea set adorned the wall.

The most unusual highlight of the room was Roll's super computer, with everything and machines, taking the left part of the whole room. For the time being, it was turned off.

For the surprise of many, the engineer was snoring a little bit too loudly to herself. "Don't take my treasure away, evil Reaverbot...I'm warning ya..." she muttered. "No…no…no…we're not selling this ultra refractor to those hobos, Megaman, don't be so silly…"

The door of her room creaked open as Megaman peeked out from it, smiling at the sleep talker.

"I think I'm going to become a queen with all these refractors…" Roll muttered. "I'll give Megaman ten percent of the money…and forty percent to Data…"

"Geez, Roll, you're kind of greedy in your dreams," Megaman spoke.

"MAVERICKS!" Roll yelled, awakening from her dreams as she clutched her pillow. She looked around in panic before noticing a chuckling Megaman standing by the door. "M-Megaman! D-don't do that! You know very well I have so many dreams and that I sleep talk!"

Megaman chuckled. "That's the best part of them."

Grunting while his best friend laughed, Roll tossed her pillow at him across the table, only managing to hit the door, which Megaman had closed in time. "Megaman, stop teasing me like that!"

"You better take a shower now. We'll be heading to the city shortly!" Megaman yelled. "I'll go put my suit on!"

"D-don't try to change the themes here, you heard me?" Roll asked, blushing madly before she flopped on her bed and grunted on her bed sheet.

An hour later...

Downtown

The downtown of the city of Kattelox Island was previously a bustling part of the city where people walked its streets without having to worry for attacks. That is, until the Bonne Family had appeared. Thanks to the valiant efforts of Megaman, the downtown's people managed to survive the assault, but unfortunately, most of the buildings were destroyed in the ensuing battle. The main library was reduced to dust, the residential buildings had at least seventy percent of concrete, and most windows were left broken. Cars, which were a few, were wrecked into big chunks of scrapped metal, some of them even rammed against buildings.

The Support Car passed a southern gate from the Cardon Forest. It went all the way to the front of the destroyed steps of the library, and from behind the car, the Smashers came out from the door while Megaman came out from the driver's seat. Once they gathered, they looked at Roll, who was still driving the wheel. "Okay, you guys," Roll began, "the gate to the Old City is located west of this place."

"What are you going to do?" Luigi asked.

"Gramps called from the mayor's place," she said. "He said he wanted me to get there with him so he could know what we were doing. He didn't come last night because he and the mayor were talking about the good old days because they are good friends since he was younger."

"I sure wish the mayor isn't an old man, then," Ness said. "Old men talk a lot."

"N-no, she's a young adult, that I can assure you," Roll said with a chuckle. "Alright, I'll head down to the city hall right now... By the way, have anyone seen Data?"

"The little monkey with the funny dance?" Big asked.

"Um, yes, I didn't find him anywhere in the Flutter this morning. I think he ran off as usual," Roll said.

Megaman grumbled at this. "That Data is always running away somewhere when he has the chance..."

"He sure is a bit peculiar, though," Peach said. "Should we look for him?"

"Oddly enough, Data always shows up at certain places when you want him to appear," Megaman said. "I think he's a professional stalker...but other than that, he'll be fine on his own. He manages to go about without having trouble."

Roll chuckled and leaned against her driver's seat. "Well then, I'll be leaving you. Megaman, you know how to call me if you need me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, see you guys later!" Roll said, driving off to the north gate towards the city hall.

Sonic (back to his hedgehog look) crossed his arms and tapped his right foot on the ground, looking at the wrecked downtown where busy workers were working hard to bring back the downtown's look from the ground. "Geez, this place is surely wrecked to crumbles," Sonic commented.

Megaman looked down. "I did everything I could do, so, don't remind me anymore..."

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Sonic apologized.

"It's okay," Megaman said, looking back up. "How 'bout if we start heading east to see the Old City?" he asked, forcing a small smile.

"Somehow, I think I'm forgetting a very crucial fact about that part of this place..." Chris muttered to himself. "What was it? Something dangerous, I think..."

Unaware of their presence, the group didn't notice that, behind them, leaning against the steep steps of the library, four figures, one taller and three shorter, were covering their faces with newspapers in front of them. On the backside of the newspapers, Tron, and three random Servbots were inside frames that read "WANTED" each.

Big looked to his right towards the street and found the gate to the Old City. "Look over there. I think that's the place," he said.

"Oh, it is," Megaman said, the group starting to move to the west gate.

Once they were gone from sight, the figures reading the newspapers turned out to be Tron and her three Servbots (in that order, ironically, in the same positions of their "WANTED" frames), who lowered down their newspapers and were shown wearing sunglasses with mustaches. "These disguises are foolproof," said the second Servbot.

"I like the texture of my mustache, Miss Tron," commented the first Servbot.

"You two, stop getting distracted!" Tron hissed. "We gotta follow those guys!"

"Yeah, up and at 'em," the third Servbot said. "After all, Teisel completely understood your motive, Miss Tron."

"He was just happy to hear that I believed in him," Tron said. "If you agree with his ideas, he's bound to be very grateful. It's like a big baby wanting to get attention desperately." She shook her head. "What are we doing wasting our time here? Let's go!"

"Let's follow them silently and carefully without raising suspicion!" the third Servbot suggested.

"Yeah, let's go!" Tron said, running towards the direction of the west gate.

Old City

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Creepy Steeple

"...Why do I think this place feels...evil, somehow?" Ike asked.

The Smashers, once having reached the Old City, didn't think that the place once had better days than today. The Old City was not but a bunch of dark buildings with several workplaces such as factories. Some of the floor of the area was covered in thick red steel, and there were some cans dropped around. Gates, on both the north and south sides of the Old City, were located. Perhaps the most prominent feature of the city was the fact that, by some kind of crazy event by Mother Nature or probably something else, the sky had a sunset's color, unlike its usual morning's bluish color. What's more, no people were around, making the place feel deserted.

And the fact that the air running along the atmosphere made some creepy, long noise, made Luigi and Lucas get extremely wary about the surroundings.

"J-just by looking at this place makes me feel I'm going to die soon... Please, tell me otherwise!" Luigi pleaded, his voice echoing.

"This place feels like some sort of dungeon to me," Ike further commented. "You can practically tell that by just being here."

Mario looked up at the sky. "Well...it's still morning, so I don't know why it feels like it's afternoon..."

Lucas gulped, hearing Luigi's voice echoing along the walls of the Old City. "H-how come this place is so alone without people than the downtown?"

"Maybe this place only serves as the city's main area of energy to provide electricity and water supplies," Megaman said. "I heard the power plant is somewhere around here..."

Chris looked worried, staring forward. "Something is definitely going to happen if we go further in..." he muttered.

They all began to walk forward into the abandoned place. After they left their spot, Tron and her Servbots entered through the gate and looked around. Putting her hands on her hips, Tron said, "Alright, you guys, be alert! Those guys must be around here somewhere. Once we find them, let's eavesdrop on them so we can find out more information for our plans!"

The second Servbot suddenly began trembling in fear because of the city's atmosphere. "M-Miss Tron, something about this place doesn't make me feel just fine..."

Tron looked at the place. "Hmm, this place would serve very well to hide and make a robot...especially that building behind those fences..." She nodded to herself. "Let's go and find those guys already," she muttered, dashing forward between the alleys of the buildings.

"W-wait, Miss Tron, we don't know what awaits us in this shady place!" the first Servbot yelled, running with his sickly worried companions.

Back with the group, they all stopped once they heard a multitude of footsteps coming at their way. Along with the footsteps, growling sounds echoed between the alleys. "U-um, I don't like those growls at all…" Volnutt Kirby muttered, gulping.

"When are you going to stop wearing that hat, anyway?" Ness asked.

Lucas let out a high-pitched scream, startling Ness a bit. Looking upset at the blond boy, Ness then heard Chris letting out a similar yelp. "I-I knew there was something very bad with this place," Chris said. "F-feral dogs!"

The group then noticed wild dogs slowly coming out from the alleys. Around fifteen wild dogs stared at them with creepy red eyes, showing their bare fangs that were being covered by their drool. Their drooling surely meant that they were hungry for anything, and that meant the group was their main meal of the day.

Lucas hugged Ness. "T-tell me they don't want to bite us! I-I don't have a lot of meat myself!"

"I'm pretty sure they want to bite us alive," Ness muttered.

"I-I told you not to tell me that, Ness!" whined Lucas.

"Oh, my bad."

"W-why aren't you scared, Ness?"

"If you live in some suburbs with crazy dogs running after you every day, you get used to those eyes."

"D-did they have red eyes?"

"…Wait a minute, no, they didn't!" Ness yelled quickly.

Peach chuckled nervously at the sight of the feral dogs. "P-please, don't be so scared, everyone. I'm sure they just want to play with us… Here, let me pet this one…"

The princess approached a rabid dog. The wary dog slowly and fully showed its fangs when Peach came closer. Luigi didn't like where this was going, and without hesitating, he pulled back Peach before the dog's fangs could chew her fingers. "P-Peach, don't do it!" Luigi yelped.

"P-Peach, I think optimism isn't going to help us out here this time…" Chris muttered, scared of the feral dogs. "H-has anyone wondered WHO THE HELL leaves feral dogs on the loose in this stupid part of the city?"

"I-it makes you wonder why they even let people come in here," Megaman said. "W-well, they know there are feral dogs in here, so that'd be why…"

"…Then, here's the question: WHERE'S THE DOG KENNEL WHEN YOU NEED IT?" Luigi asked loudly, angering the dogs.

Big's ears perked up as most of the dogs seemed to be staring up at him. "W-why are all the little doggies looking at me with those eyes?"

"Oh no, I forgot you're a huge cat, Big..." Ike muttered. "...They must be thinking that you're going to be the main meal..."

At this, Big's pupils shrunk and he embraced Ike in a panic. "P-please, don't let them eat me! I-I want to find Froggy before they do so! ...No, wait, that doesn't sound right. Protect me, please!"

Ike began gasping for air. "D-don't...crush...me...with your...killer hugs...please..."

Mario, looking at the panicked Big and the barely conscious Ike, looked serious at the predicament. "Times like this call for desperate measures, everyone."

Peach shook her head. "I-I refuse to hit them, Mario! T-they might be feral dogs, but they're still innocent!"

"Well, that was a pretty close guest, Peach…" Mario said, pointing over at Sonic, who seemed to be grinning at the dogs. "I think Sonic isn't just going to sit down and do nothing."

Peach gasped. "S-Sonic, no!"

"It's giving them a light smack on their head or our skin getting ripped off," Sonic said without facing her. "So please, let me do the first."

"D-don't hurt them too much, okay?"

Sonic sighed. "Fine, fine, I won't hurt them much."

"T-thank you…"

In a matter of seconds, for Peach's horror, they all saw the twenty or so feral dogs' pack being flung to the air by a fast Spin Dash attack. They all whined scared before landing painfully on the ground while Sonic appeared back with the group, crossing his arms coolly. As they stood up, the dogs trembled in fear at the hedgehog before turning around and running away from the scene, hiding back into the alleys.

"That should teach them," Sonic said grinning with a chuckle.

Luigi and Lucas sighed in relief, stopping hugging the closest human shields (being Mario and Ness respectively).

Peach had a hand about to cover her mouth. "B-but...t-that..." she stammered, sighing extremely depressed.

Sonic turned to her. "Whoops, I guess I got a little bit too far..." He noticed Peach wasn't looking at him. "...Sorry?"

"..." Peach stared away with a blank look on her face.

"...Oh, no, please, don't give me the silent treatment!" Sonic said. "I get upset when people don't want to pay any attention to me!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Ness asked, faking amusement.

"You're not helping me out here, so shut up!" Sonic yelled. "Please, don't get so mad at me! I-I admit I have ADHD!"

"Sonic, by curiosity, do you even know what ADHD means?" Chris asked.

"...Not really..." Sonic muttered. "...Please, listen to me! I don't want you to hold a grudge on me, I beg of you!"

Shifting his eyes, Megaman looked to the northern direction where he saw a gate to the power plant. He looked back at the group and cleared his throat a bit to get their attention. "I hate to interrupt, but, there's the way to the power plant right over there."

Peach silently walked towards said direction, Megaman rubbing his chin as he watched her saying nothing to them. Sonic sighed loudly and covered his head. "Great, now she hates me so much..." he muttered.

Mario patted the hedgehog's back. "She'll say something very soon to you, Sonic."

"And if she doesn't, then what?"

"Then you'll have to find a way to apologize to her."

"Sheesh, that really is making me feel much better," Sonic said, sighing once more.

"Make her a cake," Volnutt Kirby said simply.

"Does she like chili dogs better?"

"A cake is better."

"B-but I dunno how to make a cake myself!"

Big's ears drooped. "You're mean..."

"Thanks, that's something I wanted to hear..."

The group decided to follow the silent princess towards the power plant. Once they crossed the gate, Tron and her Servbots jumped out from the alleys, but it seemed that Tron was completely horrified and scared very much since she was literally embracing herself. The third Servbot noticed her odd behavior and asked, "Miss Tron, are you getting a cold?"

Tron shook her head quite quickly. "N-no, it's not that," she muttered. "I-it's because there are feral dogs in this stinky place..." she whispered, her eyes darting back and forth around the area.

The first Servbot smiled. "Oh, right, you've told us from time to time that you hate dogs," he pointed out. "Why, though? Is it because they seem to hate you?"

"Dogs are, like, evildoers seekers," the second Servbot said. "Too bad there are many of them that get wild for food..."

"...Then, wouldn't that mean they're not evildoers' seekers?"

"...Yes, pretty much."

Tron gulped. "L-l-l-l-let's just follow those guys and Megaman before any of those dogs show up...and fast, I say!" she ordered, rushing towards to the east. Not soon after rushing half the way, several feral dogs came from each sides of the street and began barking at the four. The three Servbots and Tron screamed and hugged each other scared. "U-U-UAAAAAAHHH!" Tron let out a girly scream. "Y-you Servbots, do something!"

"W-what?" the second Servbot asked. "We weren't built to deal with feral dogs, Miss Tron!"

"You need to learn how to attack feral dogs!" Tron yelled. "Learn now!"

The first Servbot gulped and took a step forward, facing the dogs with a false serious look. "O-okay, you puppies, I shall be your opponent so you stop scaring Miss Tron!"

Tron sniffed. "P-please, get rid of them!" she cried loudly.

"(Miss Tron will be so proud of me if I beat those dogs...and, just maybe, I'll be promoted to a high-ranking leader in the group!)" the first Servbot thought with determination, hoping to achieve big dreams. He took a fighting stance, facing the pack of wild dogs. "A-alright, stupid dogs, I-I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Ten minutes later...

The Smashers and Megaman came back from the direction of the power plant, many of them having discouraged looks. "Bummer," Chris muttered, "the workers up there didn't have any problems with their machines..."

"At least be glad I told them about the wild dogs," Ness said. "Finally, this place is going to have a dog kennel for those stupid dogs."

"I was surprised they never thought about having one, though..." Chip muttered.

After they made it to the center of the Old City, they stopped walking to see several blue arms with yellow hands and blue legs scattered all over the ground. There was also a pendant with a robot skull shape lying on the ground as well. They also found pieces of cloth scattered, which were being pushed away by the wind.

"Were these things here before?" Ike asked.

"Hmm, I don't think so," Megaman said. "But...why do I think I've seen this somewhere before?"

"Beats me," Sonic said. "I don't wanna take trash with me."

"Same here, except I wouldn't consider these things like trash," Mario said. "Let's leave them here."

Luigi looked to the south where another gate was. He pointed towards it. "W-what's behind that gate over there?"

Megaman rubbed his chin. "I think that's the place where the Main Gate is..."

Ness rubbed his hands. "As honorable trans-dimensional tourists, let's see how it looks like. Who knows, maybe we can even find that entrance everyone's been trying to find."

Peach, again, walked towards the gate without saying a word.

Luigi looked worried at Sonic. "I-it's your fault she's like this, Sonic! Y-you apologize to her now!"

Sonic threw his hands up. "I've been trying to, but she's been tuning me down! What do you guys have in mind for her to accept my apologies?" he asked with desperation.

"Sadly, I think you need to keep trying by yourself," Megaman said skeptically. "I don't know what to do here because I don't know her THAT well like you guys do."

"Oh, this is just great..." Sonic muttered in shame, slapping his face once.

Following the blank princess, the group proceeded south through the south gate. After they left the area, somebody else, jumping on one leg, came into the scene where the scattered pieces of arms, legs, and cloth were. The figure was a right hand-less and left legless first Servbot, who sniffed silently to himself as he looked down at the parts on the ground. Picking up a leg he thought was his leg; he turned around and hopped on his only leg all the way to an alley where his other comrades were hiding away.

Hugging her ripped pants, Tron, who had so many scratch marks all over her clothes, face, fake mustache, and hair, was sitting down in a fetal position behind a trash can while the other Servbots' were just heads; heads that were crying toon tears, sitting close to her. The third Servbot came in before tumbling on the ground. He had a tight grip on his supposed leg, and he looked up at the trembling Tron. "M-Miss Tron, please, don't be so scared! T-those dogs aren't around anymore! N-now, please, fix my leg!"

"I-I think she isn't going to talk to you for the moment," whined the first Servbot. "S-she's been in a heavy state of trance ever since one of those bad dogs leaped on her!"

"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dogs...I-I-I hate them all...I-I-I-I hate them..." stuttered Tron as she shivered in complete fear, her eyes darting back and forth.

The second Servbot sniffed sadly. "M-Miss Tron, why did you have to turn out like this? I-it's so sad and so hard for us to see you like this!"

The first Servbot hopped a bit. "Don't you understand? She can't listen to anybody now! She won't listen to us for a pretty long time!"

"Oh no, this became so bad in a span of ten minutes, more or less!" the third Servbot said before looking at the leg he was holding. "...Wait, this isn't my leg! This is your leg!"

The second Servbot smiled sadly. "T-thank you for getting it...now go get my body!"

The third Servbot tossed the leg aside. "T-that's it, we must request Master Teisel's help! We're in a very tight situatio-"

"Not to mention wild dogs' turf!" interrupted the second Servbot.

"E-exactly! It's not going to be too long before they come back to finish us off!"

"U-UAH! TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE!" Tron snapped out, crying loudly.

"S-shh, Miss Tron, shh! Y-you're going to make them come here after we lost them!"

Tron cried silently, trying to stay calm without have any success in doing so.

The third Servbot crawled over to Tron to take out from her jacket a small phone. He recklessly tossed it in front of his face and began dialing a number. After a few seconds, the call managed to connect with the receiver. "M-Master Teisel, sir! W-we need backup immediately!"

"...Babuuuuu?"

The three Servbots blinked in confusion. "...Wait, you called Master Bon, not Master Teisel!" the second Servbot pointed out.

"Oh, no! I made a wrong call!" the third Servbot said.

"...Wait, wait, wait!" the first Servbot interrupted. "D-don't call Master Teisel!"

"W-why?" the third Servbot asked.

"Master Teisel is going to get pretty mad if he sees Miss Tron...like she is now!" he said. "Master Bon is a whole lot nicer than Master Teisel! After all, Master Bon is a little bit...how can I put it? Well...a baby," he muttered. "In any case, don't call Master Teisel so we don't get scolded again!"

"...You're right!" the third Servbot said. "Master Bon is more approachable than Master Teisel! He will understand our condition!" He looked at the phone. "Master Bon, sir! Do you read me?"

"Babu?"

"Y-yes, sir, we're in the middle of some...circumstances..." he said, looking over at the trembling Tron. "Y-you see, Miss Tron and us three were attacked by feral dogs...and they're still around our location!"

"Babu?"

"I-I know she'd rather stay away from puppies, but you do know we're on an important mission to get key-information from the blue boy Megaman!" he said in a panic. "You know about the people Master Teisel could swear that came out from a portal?"

"Babu!"

"E-exactly! W-we need your assistance, Master Bon! Miss Tron can't answer the call because she's practically paralyzed on her spot!"

"Babu, babu, babu, baabuu."

The second Servbot gasped. "W-what does he mean by that? W-why does he want to join our mission?"

"M-Master Bon, why do you want to tag along?" the third Servbot asked.

"Babuuuu! Babu, babu, babu, baabu!"

"Master Teisel is scaring you about those guys, and that he's been in such a fit ever since Miss Tron left yesterday to spy on them, and that he just left, ranting to himself about what to do?"

"Baaaaaaaabuuuuu!"

It was not long before they all heard growling sounds coming from somewhere.

"O-okay, sure! We understand pretty well!" the third Servbot said in desperation. "P-please, Master Bon, come right away! T-those dogs are surely going to eat us alive for sure an-"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

It looked like the phone's signal was cut off.

"..." The third Servbot tapped a button to turn off the phone. Gulping, he looked at his bodiless friends and said, "M-Master Bon hung up on us!"

"R-rest assured! He might be coming for us right away!" the first Servbot said. "Luckily, he'll scare the dogs away and save us from dying!"

The growls became a bit louder than before.

"...M-Master Bon, hurry!" the second Servbot pleaded while his head was grabbed and clutched tightly by Tron.

Music stops

Main Gate's Area

The group was now standing outside the city's walls where the sky was blue instead of a sunset's color. For most of them, it was bizarre to see such peaceful scenery just behind the Old City's walls. They were all looking at a huge green tower that had no entrances around it, supposedly being the Main Gate.

"Boooooring," Ness said, staring the big tower in front of them. "This is the Main Gate thing? What a letdown. There isn't any entrance to it."

"Well, that's why there's no much importance for it," Megaman said. "But, once it opens up, I bet all Diggers will try to investigate it, and I'll be the first Digger to explore it before anybody else does."

"Why are you sounding so confident?"

Megaman looked embarrassed. "T-that's because Roll and I are the only Diggers in the whole island right now..." he said.

"Oh, so every other Digger has ignored this island?" Ike asked. "That's kind of sad, but with all the people living in here... No, wait, it's still sad."

"See the bright side," Mario began, "you have the treasure right before your nose without having to hurry and worry for any other Digger."

Megaman smiled a bit. "That's true. I'm sure we can find the entrance to the Main Gate if we look around more."

"What about that...Bonne Family group, was it?" Lucas asked.

"Hmm, maybe I should hurry..."

Chris looked sternly at the Main Gate's tower. "(I can't remember, but there's something else waiting inside that place besides a treasure...and I think it's something very bad...but I'm not so sure anymore...)" He looked down to his right and gasped to see Eggy dropped on the grass. "E-Eggy, oh my god!" he yelled, ducking down to check on the egg's condition. "P-phew, there aren't any cracks on it..."

"Be more careful, Chris," Ike said. "Be glad the egg fell on top of soft grass."

"Y-yes, I'll be more careful now," Chris said. "I'll die emotionally if this little egg breaks apart."

Megaman crossed his arms. "There's nothing else to do here. We should go back now."

Luigi looked scared. "I-I don't want to cross through that Old City place and be assaulted by more wild dogs again!"

Sonic looked at Peach, who turned to look blankly away from him. "Oh, please, you gotta forgive me!" Sonic said before he disappeared and appeared, holding a bunch of flowers taken out from the ground nearby. "Here, have some flowers!"

"..." Peach didn't turn to look at him.

"Talk about a desperate action to get attention," Chip muttered, seeing some bees coming out from the flowers, instantly pinching Sonic's forehead, which made him scream and drop the flowers on the ground while the bees flew away angrily. "Talk about angry bees," he said, watching Sonic rub the spot where the bees pinched him.

Megaman sighed and took out from behind a phone with a round speaker on top. He simply pressed a button to make a call to Roll. He put the phone over his right ear. "Roll, are you there?"

"Hey, Megaman," Roll greeted on the phone, "what, did you find some use for the refractor?"

Megaman looked down where Sonic dropped to the grassy ground, rubbing the spot where the bees pinched him. The blue boy sweat dropped at this while Volnutt Kirby, obliviously, poked Sonic's face in curiosity, making the hedgehog grunt with anger. "Afraid not..." Megaman said. "Can you pick us at the Main Gate's area, though? We don't want to run into those wild dogs in the Old City again."

"Wild dogs? Isn't there a dog kennel or something?"

"...No..."

"...Oh well, sure, I just finished my errand myself. Gramps seems to be talking more with the mayor," Roll said. "Okay, Megaman, I'll head down over there in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Megaman said before hanging up the call.

Old City

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Creepy Steeple

Deciding to comfort the princess, Sonic went into the Support Car to make her accept his apology, but she never turned to face him. Everyone else but Sonic was singing together to cheer up the rather depressing atmosphere of the city. "~Forty-five bottles of beer on the wall, forty-five bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, forty-four bottles of beer on wall!~" they all sang in unison, Sonic trying to make Peach listen to him but to no avail while the car drove off to the downtown.

The Support Car passed by an alley where the scared Tron and the wary Servbots were hiding away from the feral dogs. Luckily, the third Servbot managed to get everything back to them, including Tron's earring that he put it on her ear by himself before tumbling back on the cold floor. "W-where Master Bon?" the second Servbot asked. "I-I'm so scared! I wanna leave this place!"

"T-they're getting away from here," the first Servbot said. "A-and we're going to start making a home in this place close to hell if Master Bon forgets about us!"

"M-maybe this place is the true manifestation of hell itself, and those dogs are the devils!" the second Servbot said.

"I-it must be that way! I-I'm sure of it!"

"Y-you guys aren't making Miss Tron feel any better than she is now!" the third Servbot said. "Where's the optimism? Where's the love? Where's the hope?"

"I'm a damn head on the floor right now, and you want us to think about those three things?" the first Servbot argued. "I can't think about optimism in a situation like this! You're lucky you have a leg and an arm!"

"Maybe I am lucky!" the third Servbot asked. "Somebody HAS to be optimistic, right, right, right?"

"You can be the optimistic one while we're all living the true events!" the second Servbot argued, turning to Tron. "Miss Tron, say something!"

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I hate...d-d-d-d-d-dogs..." Tron stuttered.

"Miss Tron..." the three Servbots said worried.

A big shadow suddenly loomed over the four. The three Servbots blinked and turned to the shadow's direction where an imposing figure stood. They all gasped before noticing that the figure was a comrade of them. "M-Master Bon, you're here!" the second Servbot cried.

The figure before the Servbots was a huge yellow robot, which had broad arms and hands that touched the floor together with a simple set of legs. All of the arms and legs were joined together with the main head, which had a round white face with baby eyes and a metallic yellow pacifier on its mouth. Over its round head, two prongs stuck out, making the robot look like it had horns, and its shoulders had the Bonne Family's emblem. "Baaaabuuuuuuuuu," the robot said, its pacifier moving a bit.

"Master Bon Bonne!" the Servbots cried happily.

Bon Bonne is the youngest member of the Bonne Family, yet he is the largest of them all. Even though Bon is a baby, he is able to work together with Teisel and Tron when raiding islands. Since Bon is still an infant, he's only limited to say "Babu" to talk, and Teisel, Tron, and the Servbot crew only can understand his speech completely. For many, it is unclear if Bon is actually a huge robot, but given his personality, he may be a baby inside a mech suit (otherwise, people would think the Bonne Family is insane and made up a robot with a personality of a baby, which has not been ruled out of the question because of Teisel's personality).

"Babu," Bon said, looking down at them all.

"P-please, Master Bon, you have to help Tron!" the first Servbot said. "She's been like this for a short while, but she doesn't seem to recover at all!"

"Babu!" Bon said, making a happy expression.

"Oh, please, Master Bon, don't laugh at Miss Tron's condition! She's your sister, for god's sake!"

"Babuuuu," Bon said, his expression turning blank.

"...What? You're taking all of us back to the Gesellschaft so we can recover ourselves physically and emotionally? Well, I don't think that's a good idea if Master Teisel is there..."

"Babu."

"He's watching his favorite TV show marathon in his room and he's all locked up? Oh, that changes everything, then!"

"Babu!"

"I wanna go home now!" cried the second Servbot. "I want to go home or a place where wild dogs don't exist!"

The young member of the family grabbed everyone on his arms and walked away from the scene, laughing to himself as Tron practically didn't even move or said anything else rather than trembling in horror and mutter about dogs biting her legs off.

Uptown

Megaman Legends/64 - Uptown

"Sorry, Megaman, but Gramps called me again. He said he needed me to do him a small favor," Roll said. "I don't know what the favor is about, but, would you guys go on without me, please?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Roll," Megaman assured her while everyone got off from the Support Car.

Roll smiled. "Okay then, I'll see you later, you guys!" she said, driving back to the downtown while leaving them all in the Uptown.

Unlike the Old City's creepy atmosphere, the Uptown was actually a much better place. The Uptown itself had many highlights, such as the hospital, the museum of arts and relics (which was closed for the moment), the Kattelox TV Station, and the high luxury homes across the area. To the west of the place, the Lake Jyun's dock awaited visitors to admire the lake, but it seemed that no boats were available to explore the lake.

Ness inhaled the air before exhaling it out. "Aww, the sweet air of high class people... You've got to love that fresh air."

"You can smell that?" Lucas asked.

"Lucas, that was a metaphor. I'm saying this because it's a hundred-fifty percent much better than the dump the Old City area was."

"O-oh, I see..."

"Just make sure Cave Man Ike doesn't break up the TV station's building."

"Hey, I heard that, you!" Ike said angrily. "I have a very careful approach to technology now that I used to!"

"We'll see, because that same place is getting my attention," Ness said, eying the tall green building to their left that had a sign that read "Open to the public anytime! Become famous!" just on its right wall. "Have I ever told you that I always wanted to appear on a TV show and be a big TV star?"

Chris chuckled nervously. "I-I don't want to be a TV star, though. The thought that a whole nation of people will watch you from far away...makes you feel very sick in the stomach."

"I knew you were the kind of people who had stage fright. That's so you."

The beastmaster blushed. "E-everyone has their own weaknesses, okay?"

"Guys, please, focus for a second," Megaman said. "We're here to find some use for the refractor we found. We don't need to distract ourselves with the city itself."

"Oh, okay then. Let's suppose somebody in the TV station needs a power source," Ness said. "Now, if there is somebody in there wanting a refractor, then why don't we go there?"

Megaman looked bored and annoyed at Ness. "You're just trying to make an excuse for us to go there, right?"

"Did it work?"

The blue boy sighed. "Okay, let's go in there, then..."

Ness looked at Lucas. "See? This is one of the few moves you call pull out to convince everyone from going to places you want to go. Don't forget it."

"S-sure..." Lucas said unsure before looking to his right. "...C-car!"

Megaman gasped and quickly stepped back before a blue truck could ram him. Instead of stopping, the truck kept driving away to the north. "P-phew, that was a close one," Megaman said.

"It was going to be the second time a car runs over you as well," Mario said. "Watch your step next time."

"I-I will."

Volnutt Kirby looked at the direction the truck went. "Um, why didn't the driver do anything to Megaman?"

Big looked up. "I think I saw the driver clicking on some screen on the wheel... I think it was a phone..."

Chris looked bored. "People text here as well? Isn't it dangerous to drive and text at the same time?"

Suddenly, they heard a car crashing somewhere to the same direction the blue truck had gone to. They all turned to the north where a wheel went bouncing along the street, passing in front of them before rolling away to the south.

Chip frowned, staring forward without interest. "Guys like him get Chipminated so easily, I swear."

"..." Luigi gulped and looked at the others. "C-can we just go to the TV station already?"

Shrugging together, the group crossed two streets and entered the automatic doors of the station while several police cars and an ambulance drove close by towards the north.

KTOX TV Station - Lobby

A very lively feeling usually accompanied the TV station. Enthusiastic TV programmers walked around the lobby while TV fanatics sat down and relaxed while watching different programs on the 2x3 TV screens, right next to the reception desk where a lady awaited anyone who would like to know about their TV schedule. Programs like baseball, forecast, and soccer, between many others were broadcast live across the island and maybe even possibly other islands as well. For the Smashers and Megaman, they would surely stand out from the crowd, or even confused as TV children stars because of how they looked.

"Aww, this reminds me of home," Ness said. "Your favorite children programs can destroy the current programs of today very easily."

"I-I concur!" Chris said. "TV programs aren't like the programs I used to watch when I was younger! Nowadays, they accept anything that looks 'cartoon-ish' instead of being actually entertaining!"

"Chris, why are you suddenly so fired up?" Mario asked.

"U-Um, sorry, but I just wanted to express myself... P-please, don't tease me about it..."

"T-this reminds me that my favorite soap opera is going to air this Monday," Luigi said, receiving odd looks from some of them. Annoyed by this, he said, "H-hey, you also like soap operas! Don't be so embarrassed if you watch them alone!"

"Meh, I'd love to watch a lot of TV myself, but I'm a guy who likes to go out more than being a couch potato," Sonic boasted.

"Excuse me? I'm not a couch potato, that's for sure," Ness said. "I can totally picture you being one, though."

"That's not true," Sonic said chuckling before looking at Peach. "You agree with me, don'tcha?"

Peach was still ignoring Sonic as she was deep in thought about the TV station. "I wonder what they broadcast here... Do they broadcast a program where they show fashion designs?"

While Sonic sighed to himself, the receptionist overheard Peach's thoughts. The formally dressed lady turned to Peach. "We here at KTOX TV Station broadcast a wide variety of programs, ma'am. We broadcast from the latest political news to the most common programs like cartoon animation and live shows. We also have our own fashion design program for those people who'd like to stick with new fads," she explained.

Peach gasped excited. "Oh my, that's so wonderful! I'd love to see a program like that one!"

As the receptionist gave Peach a TV schedule form, Sonic sighed and looked at Mario. "She's doing this on purpose, right? You know, about the silent treatment?"

"Of course she is. You're the guy who hits innocent rabid dogs," Mario said.

"T-those dogs were going to attack us! She knew that pretty well! What? Did she want to get bitten or something? I don't understand this!"

Suddenly, a desperate TV producer came rushing in from a pink door. Panting heavily, he turned to the receptionist. "W-we have a problem! The lady who plays the temporal role for Dylan's cousin got sick, and the live show soap opera can't go on if we don't have a replacement!"

"That is horrible!" the receptionist exclaimed.

"If we let things go like this, 'Parental Love's Conundrum' will lose audience!"

"Parental Love's Conundrum?" Chris repeated.

"That's a live show that is actually a soap opera," the receptionist said. "We know soap operas aren't supposed to be live shows, but the director wanted to give it a shot, and the idea was taken very well by the public. We're currently at episode 171, and if there are problems...we're afraid that the show would lose its reputation."

"A-aaaaaaah!" the TV producer yelled, pointing at a shocked Peach. "T-that woman! S-she's perfect for a replacement!"

"What?" the group said shocked.

The TV producer went over to Peach and grabbed both of her hands. "Please, I beg you! You're the only one who can save this soap opera from going bankrupt!" He showed her some papers with dialogue written on it. "Can you try to learn these lines, please? The show will begin in an hour!"

Peach was still a bit startled by the sudden proposal, but her eyes were already studying the papers. "U-um, I guess I can give it a shot..." Peach muttered.

"E-excellent!" the TV producer said, dragging the princess away from the group while she didn't let go of the papers on her hands. "We need to prepare everything right away! Every second counts, so you need to memorize those lines! Don't worry about working for more days here! This is going to be the first and last time you'll appear on national TV!" he was yelling before he slammed the door behind them.

The Smashers and Megaman could only blink in surprise to the direction Peach and the desperate TV producer went. The receptionist, however, sighed in relief and smiled at them. "Thank you so much for bringing your friend here! This means a lot for KTOX TV Station! Please, do tune the live show soap opera in an hour. You're free to watch it right here in the lobby." She gasped. "Oh, sorry, I need to attend some important meetings. Please, excuse me!" she said, walking away to a door where she left the lobby.

"...I see it and don't believe it," Luigi muttered.

"Did Peach just...get a starring role at a soap opera we barely know about?" Lucas asked.

"She so did that, and she just needed to be here to get it..." Chip said. "...I wanna have a starring role!"

"I-I'm confused. What's a live show soap opera?" Ike asked, everyone ignoring his question.

"...What do we do now? I'm confused..." Big trailed off.

"Since she's going to be busy...and that she'll probably want to come with us and see what else is there in the Uptown... I suppose we need to wait here for her to finish," Mario said. "Let's sit down at the lobby and watch the soap opera she's going to appear."

"Oh well, we don't have anything else to do but watch that soap opera," Luigi said.

"You're just happy that you're going to watch a soap opera," Sonic teased.

"S-shut up! S-soap operas teach you how to be very understandable about girls' feelings, anyway!"

A light bulb appeared above Sonic, scaring Luigi a bit. "Hmm, is that so? Don't mind if I stay around, then!" he said, quickly appearing on top of a chair, watching carefully the various TV shows on the sixteen TVs on the wall.

"You know, it looks kind of cute to see Sonic so desperate to get Peach to listen to him," Chris admitted.

"Again, Chris, Sonic might be suffering from ADHD in reality," Ness reminded the beastmaster.

Uptown

Just behind the KTOX TV Station building, three small figures, a tall one, and a huge one appeared. The three repaired Servbots, a partially rehabilitated Tron, and a mustache-wearing Bon seemed to be looking for Megaman's group. "Miss Tron, it's a miracle you were able to recover from your state of trance caused by those bad dogs," the second Servbot said.

"S-shut up!" Tron yelled angrily. "I don't wanna hear about dogs, wolves, or puppies right now! What I want to hear right now is about those people that are going around with Megaman!"

"Babu?" Bon asked.

"Yeah, the guys Teisel was talking about," Tron said. "Since you guys said they all left the place closest to hell that is called the Old City, it'd be natural that they'd be around these parts! After all, we spied on them last night!"

The third Servbot gulped. "M-Miss Tron, don't be so mad anymore! There aren't any do-I-I mean, roaming beasts around the Uptown like in the Old City!"

"Ugh, don't remind me about that place too!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Anyway, let's look around for those guys! My instincts are telling me that they must be around here somewhere! We just need to look around carefully. Everyone has their mustaches and glasses on?"

"Right, Miss Tron!" the three Servbots said, putting on fake mustaches with glasses that Tron put on as well.

"Babu!" Bon said in confirmation.

Tron nodded. "Good, now let's go into the TV station."

The three Servbots and Bon gasped. "A-are you sure our disguises will work, Miss Tron?" the first Servbot asked.

"Yeah, now let's go!" Tron said angrily, running around the walls before she made it to the front entrance.

The three Servbots exchanged glances while Bon silently walked to the front of entrance. "Yeesh, Miss Tron is surely in a bad mood," remarked the first Servbot.

"I bet our gruesome memory with the wild dogs will keep haunting us in our dreams, and that'd mean Miss Tron will never forget it!" the third Servbot said.

The second Servbot gulped. "L-let's hope the best happens, okay?"

"Okay," the other two Servbots said before running all the way to the front entrance, joining up with Tron and Bon.

KTOX TV Station - Lobby

Once entering the building, none of the people working at the station recognized the blatantly obvious disguises they were wearing over their faces. They all seemed to be buying the Bonnes' disguises pretty well, allowing the five to sneak inside without raising suspicion. Leading them, Tron walked into the lobby towards the empty reception desk. She looked around for a bit. "Hmm, now where would those guys be?"

The second Servbot gasped and pointed to the right side of the place, where the lobby was located. "M-Miss Tron, there they are, sitting on the chairs around those tables!"

Tron looked to her right where she gasped silently. She saw Megaman, Mario, Luigi, Chris, and Ike sitting around a table (with Volnutt Kirby sitting on Chris's lap) while Sonic, Chip, Big, Ness, and Lucas were sitting around another table close to them, all of them watching the different TV shows broadcast on the six TVs to the right all of the reception.

"Yes, I knew they were going to be around the Uptown," muttered Tron to her little team. "We need to spy a little bit more to see where they'll be planning to go next."

"M-more?" the first Servbot whined.

"Yes, more. Now shut up and look for a table close to them so we can hear them nice and clear!"

"Rooooogeeeeer!" all the Servbots muttered with a salute.

Back with the group...

"We've been here for fifty minutes now, and that soap opera hasn't started yet," said Sonic as he played with a little paper ball he made out of a newspaper's page.

"Only ten minutes for the show to air," Luigi said. "Hmm, I wonder if the camera will make Peach look a bit too fat as they say?"

"Cameras mess your appearance really badly on TV, or so I heard," Ness commented while the Bonnes were silently walking in front of them. "I think that's a misconception."

"It surely is," Megaman commented.

The Bonnes silently sat down on a table close to them, except for Bon who had to sit down on the floor due to his size. He crossed his legs and looked at Bon while they were picking up some newspapers to cover their faces even more than before. "Babu?" he asked.

"Shh, be quiet, Bon," Tron whispered.

"Babu," Bon whispered silently.

Naturally, one of the Smashers was fixing his gaze towards the unusual group, that Smasher being Volnutt Kirby. The puffball blinked at the five Bonne members before he pulled Chris's collar to get his attention. Chris looked down at Volnutt Kirby where he was pointing at the Bonnes. Gasping silently, Chris tapped Mario's right shoulder to get his attention, who saw Chris pointing at the Bonnes. This soon caused Mario to get Luigi's attention, who then got Megaman's attention, who then signaled the others on the other table to look at the Bonnes.

Soon, the group was staring towards the Bonnes' direction.

"...They're pretty quiet, Miss Tron," muttered the first Servbot. "What should we do?"

"S-shut up, they're surely thinking about very important stuff right now!" hissed Tron silently. "For once, don't talk back to me!"

"O-okay, Miss Tron. We understand."

The group kept staring in silence at the Bonnes before Ness sighed loudly. "Seriously, are these guys for real?" he asked loudly.

"Ooh, I wonder who these guys are," the second Servbot wondered, oblivious about their watchers. "They must be some very important people for sure."

"Shh!" the third Servbot hissed.

The Smashers sweat dropped in unison.

Lucas looked worried at Ness. "A-aren't they the same people we met back at the Cardon Forest area?" he whispered.

"Lucas, of course they're the people," Ness whispered. "And did they really think their ridiculous disguises would fool us that easily? Back at the mansion, since he amuses himself quite a lot by people like them, Pikachu is surely laughing his butt off! Actually, I think he's doing that right now!"

"Well, we didn't meet the big robot guy, that's for sure," whispered Sonic, aiming his gaze at Bon. "Maybe he's a security robot."

"Babu," Bon muttered.

"Bon, quiet!" Tron whispered.

"Hmm, big guy, what should we do?" whispered Chip to Big. "Should we Chipminate them for real? I've got my machine guns ready here."

Big shuddered. "I-I don't wanna see a bloodshed in here!" he muttered in fear.

"Aww, c'mon, dude, we gotta jump on them and show them who the boss is!" Chip whispered.

Big covered his head. "N-no, don't make me!"

"Chip, shut the hell up!" Sonic whispered. "You're scaring Big!"

Luigi looked concerned at Megaman. "H-hey, what should we do? Should we get their attention, or should we call the police?"

"U-um, I'm not sure," Megaman said unsure. "They don't seem to be causing any trouble..."

"But, Megaman, I thought they were the bad guys," whispered Chris. "Isn't your duty to turn them to the police?"

"I-it's just that I want to go easy on them..."

"For crying out loud, they almost destroyed the city!" Ness whispered. "Do you want to let them go on the loose and cause another rampage?"

"N-Ness, I thought you thought that they looked very harmless," Lucas whispered.

"Well, they do look harmless, but they surely messed themselves up, causing the city to mess itself up as well."

"...What?"

"F-forget about that, Luc! Look, the thing is, we need to do something about these creepy stalkers!" Ness whispered. "They DO look like they're going to keep following us everywhere! Would you rather let them do what they want to do with us, or do you want to stop them right now?"

Megaman pushed his chair aside and stood up. "I'll go talk to them," he said determined, walking around the table towards the oblivious Bonnes.

Mario looked at Luigi. "Prepare yourself, Luigi. We might have to fight them here."

Luigi gulped. "I-I wish we don't end up doing that, Mario..." he whispered.

The group turned towards Megaman. The blue boy calmly walked towards Tron, who seemed to be faking reading her newspaper. Megaman turned to look at the group before he turned back at Tron.

"...Okay, fine, I'm getting impatient here," Tron muttered. "Those guys have been pretty silent for a long time now."

The three Servbots and Bon lowered their newspapers, turning completely still after they saw Megaman standing in front of Tron.

"...You guys, don't let them see your faces!" Tron whispered angrily. "What if they find out that we're not citizens of this island?"

The pirate engineer saw a face peeking out from the top of her newspaper. Tron stared up blankly at Megaman, who seemed to be a bit confused at the whole deal. The two remained staring at each other for a while before Tron began showing traces of blushes on her cheeks. "Um, hey..." Megaman trailed off.

"...U-um..."

It seemed as if Tron had entered a new world where her feelings ran amok without worries. Her heart began beating faster than usual, and she could've sworn that she could fly away into the blue and sing along with the birds as much as she wanted. If the moment to step into heaven's love was now, Tron had t-

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tron let out a fearsome yelp, startling everyone in the lobby.

"U-uah!" Megaman tumbled back to the floor.

Tron panted heavily as she tossed her newspaper away. "W-what the heck is wrong with you, honestly?" she demanded at Megaman. "I-I was reading that newspaper, and you came out of nowhere and looked down at me! W-what a freak!"

"W-wait, no, that's not what I meant to do!" Megaman said in his defense.

Tron stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I'm just a regular citizen wanting to have some peace, but you just decided to ruin it by stalking me!" She pointed down at him. "You better apologize to me now before I call the cops!"

"Okay, that is IT!" Ness yelled, throwing his hands up before pointing at Tron. "If you think you can fool us with those disguises, you're dead wrong! We know it's you, the girl who yelled at us back at the Cardon Forest place!"

Tron gasped and chuckled nervously. "U-Um, la sir, please, moi just 'appened to meet you all today... Moi haven't seen you around before..."

"You can stop using that fake French accent now," said Ness. "You should've used that accent right after scolding Megaman."

"M-Miss Tron, our covers were blown away!" the second Servbot said worried.

"S-shut up, you!" Tron yelled.

"It is pretty obvious that it's you," Chris said ashamed. "Continuing to impersonate another person would just make you look like idiots..."

"Y-you're calling me an idiot? I'll have you know that I have a pretty high IQ of 180!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Doesn't even match Eggman's IQ, then," he muttered.

Ness looked amused. "Wow, I wonder if you even use your brain correctly for having an IQ like that."

Tron blushed embarrassed. "Y-you're trying to tease me or something? That's it!" she yelled, taking off her fake glasses and fake mustache that she threw to a nearby trash can. "Alright, it's me, Tron!"

"That's...something everyone here knew already," Ike pointed out.

"Shut up!" Tron yelled before glaring at Megaman (while she seemed to blush a bit). "Y-you are gonna get it this time, Megaman!"

"W-what?" Megaman asked obliviously.

"Don't play with me here!" Tron yelled. "I know that those guys that are traveling with you aren't from this place at all!"

At this, the Smashers looked away.

"But I also know that they're a real threat to our plans, so we're gonna stop you from pestering us!"

"Babu!" Bon proclaimed, raising his big arms.

"You say it, Master Bon!" cheered the first Servbot.

Megaman looked worried at the confident Tron. "O-okay, I know you're mad that I have friends to help me out in my digs...right?"

"And also because they beat my poor Servbots to death back at the Cardon Forest!" Tron pointed out.

"Um, Miss Tron, we didn't exactly die... We kind of ran away from them," muttered the third Servbot.

Tron ignored him. "Whatever you guys will do after this will mean a lot of problems to us!" she said angrily. "Since we're all here to confront you and your portal friends, it's time for you to say good bye!"

"Right, Miss Tron!" the three Servbots cheered.

Music stops

A dead silence fell in.

Tron blinked a bit at this, seeing that everyone kept staring blankly at her. She didn't like the silence at all since she wanted to hear another reply from Megaman or the Smashers. "...What's with the silence?" Tron asked angrily.

"Well...are you truly ready to fight us all in here?" Mario suddenly asked. "I mean, do you have something in hands to fight?"

"Of course I..." Tron trailed off. "...O-oh, a-ah, well..."

Sonic looked miffed. "Reckless…"

"I-I wasn't reckless!" Tron argued. "W-well, f-for your information, I-I do have something you can fight against!"

Luigi looked around. "W-where is it?"

"W-wait for it to be ready, okay?" Tron asked angrily before turning to her group. "You guys, let's scram from this place before I get sick of seeing them!"

"Babu!" Bon said, standing up.

"But, Miss Tron, that's it?" the first Servbot asked. "I think we did a very bad move in coming in here."

"We didn't!" Tron yelled. "Now let's go before I think about what to do to your breakfast!"

The Servbots gasped at this that they stood up and quickly ran away from the lobby, followed by Bon who merely walked away to the exit. Grunting, Tron turned to glare at Megaman, pointing a finger straight to his nose. "You better get ready 'cause, next time, we won't be so nice to you!"

"…Okay?" Megaman responded.

"Ugh!" Tron grunted before she sprinted towards the exit and left the lobby with a confused bunch of people.

"…" Volnutt Kirby looked up at Chris. "Do we chase them?"

"Somehow, I think I'm starting to understand why Megaman wants to go easy on them…" Chris muttered.

"I know," Ike began, "that's because we all think they're a bit…pathetic, right?"

"They make you wonder how they became a threat to this place," Ness said in boredom. "Are you sure the people of this island aren't that clueless about how to preserve peace?"

"I'm pretty sure they aren't like that," Megaman said. "But, trust me when I'm saying that the Bonnes know how to attack."

"Yeah, sure, they SURE seem to know how."

"...Oh, hey, look," Megaman said, pointing towards the TV screen. "The soap opera is about to start."

"Oh, it is," Luigi said. "I hope Peach does a good job."

The Smashers decided to ignore that they ever met the Bonnes, shifting their attention towards the TV screen.

Fifty-five minutes later...

Gesellschaft - Teisel's Room

High atop the skies of Kattelox Island, a huge green airship soar the clouds, wary of any events on the island. It was the Bonne Family's Gesellschaft, their main method of transportation for the skies. The ship looked fat and enormous, with the appearance of that of a big fish with red eyes and a metallic mouth. Much of the upper part of the ship was covered in green steel while very little of the lower part was covered in white steel. Cannons and grenades were usually located at the sides of the ship should the Bonnes would want to make an aerial assault on other airships.

Since the Gesellschaft was huge, it had many different areas. It ranged from the storage, deck, engine, and headquarters room to Tron's room, Teisel's room, gym, cafe, and the Torture Room (where supposedly lazy Servbots would be punished, the room being frequently visited each day).

In Teisel's room, it looked as if a library had taken over his personal place. His room looked very expensive-looking with lined books touching the floor and ceiling in countless of bookshelves. An expensive picture hung on the front side, depicting some rich family while a sofa, a table, and a flat screen TV were in front of the picture. On the sofa, Teisel, the man Megaman had defeated earlier, sighed as he watched in pleasure his favorite TV soap opera: Parental Love's Conundrum.

"Dylan, my dear," spoke a familiar princess's voice on the speakers, "you shouldn't have told the only woman who cared about you to leave you alone. She was a very nice girl."

"You don't understand, Margaret!" the actor, Dylan, said with enthusiasm. "She tried to poison me at that party we had! How could you be forgiving that filthy...rat?"

"She wouldn't do that to you, ever! Why, she has the purest behavior I've ever seen before in my life! Even if your parents and you disapprove of her, you should admit that you were in love with her!"

"B-but..b-but..."

"Oh my god, the tension is rising!" Teisel spoke, grabbing a napkin from the table. "Dylan's sister has such an appreciable and clever approach, I swear... I-I've never seen such performance played by an actress like her before! She's just...brilliant!"

"Listen to yourself, Dylan," spoke the woman. "Listen and tell apart what is right and what is wrong. You should know better than true love blooms when your heart says so. Your parents shouldn't have any control over your feelings for other women...special women like Relyna..."

"...Y-you're right, Margaret..." the man spoke, trying his best not to sob. "Every time I looked at Relyna...it's just as if I had entered a new world of possibilities open only for me..."

"Then...please, go with her, Dylan," the woman spoke softly. "Apologize to her, you know what you have to do. You must regain her confidence in you!"

"But then...who would go to such lengths to poison me? Who would go so far as to kill me for good?"

"...Dylan...I think I know the answer..."

"You do?"

"...It's...your parents... They tried to blame Relyna by trying to convince you from marrying her..."

Teisel gasped in shock. "O-of course, it all starts to make sense now! Those bastards of his parents, trying to pit the blame on the only girl he loved so much!"

"N-no, my parents would never do such a thing!" Dylan yelled. "Why?"

"Dylan, listen to me! They don't care about you anymore. They only care about your family's blood! They don't want the likes of her to mix with us. Your parents never, ever cared about you at all!"

"Oh my god!" Teisel yelled with enthusiasm. "T-the plot is thickening so hard now!"

"...My parents...t-they...t-they must..."

"I can't do anything else for you, Dylan. You must confront your parents and tell them your mind! Don't let them control your life any longer!"

"Y-you're right, Margaret. I must step up and face them...for Relyna...and for my future..."

"Please, go now. They must be taught a lesson."

"Thank you so much, Margaret. If it weren't for you, Relyna and I wouldn't have been ever in love any longer..."

"But, you're going to be the one who ends up doing the most," Margaret said. "I know you will recover everything you lost because of them."

"Thank you... Now, I must go and tell my parents to stop hating Relyna."

"Please do, and never forget that Relyna still believes in you, Dylan..."

Teisel remained speechless, blowing his nose on his napkin before the soap opera's airtime had ended. "And that concludes our episode 171 for Parental Love's Conundrum. Please do stay tuned tomorrow for another heartwarming episode where we'll see how Dylan faces his parents. This is Stein Tun from KTOX TV Station, good afternoon," the announcer said before Teisel turned off the TV.

"...Hee, hee...hee, hee...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Teisel laughed maniacally before grinning wide. "God, the performance of that actress was just...phenomenal! I've never seen such a talented natural born actress like her doing such an important debut on TV! Man, I can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow! I need to TiVo that if I happen to lose watching it!"

...

"...Wait, didn't they just say that the actress was temporal?" Teisel asked to himself before gasping. "T-they can't be serious! She acted so natural on TV that I almost thought the soap opera was a real story! Oh no, those producers need to understand that she must stay for a little while longer!" He stood up and pumped a tight fist. "Alrighty, they are gonna get a special visit from me! No idiot in the world of the media will drop a talented actor like her down unless I say so myself! Yes, I can already see her appearing in all my soap operas from Mondays to Fridays! Aha, aha, AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Gesellschaft - Hallway

A duo of Servbots walked close to Teisel's room through the dirty hallway, hearing the leader of the Bonnes laughing hysterically to himself. The two Servbots smiled at this and looked at each other. "You've gotta love Master Teisel's moments. He's so full of energy whenever he watches his favorite TV soap operas."

"Yeah, it's that same spirit that fuels him with new creative ideas to raid islands," the other Servbot spoke before the two walked away from Teisel's door, the maniac still laughing in his usual high-pitched laugh.

KTOX TV Station – Lobby

Megaman Legends/64 – Uptown

After the soap opera had ended, Luigi was brought to tears, taking countless of napkins from a nearby pile of them he had brought for himself. "S-she was so natural..." he muttered, blowing his nose on a napkin. "Peach has got talent to be in soap operas..."

Cheers suddenly hollered behind the door Peach had gone into. From what they could tell, the TV station's workers were cheering Peach's name many times before the door slammed open, and a formally dressed Peach (who wore a brown coat with a short brown skirt, together with her hair pulled into a ponytail) walked out with the same TV producer that dragged her into the studio. It looked like the producer was trying to convince her from staying since he was practically grabbing both of her hands. "Please, I beg you! You have a face compatible for any kind of scene, young lady! Don't leave, please!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but I have other matters to do," Peach said with a nervous chuckle. "It was a very pleasing experience to play a role for a soap opera, bu-"

"You could become very famous in a matter of days!" the TV producer interrupted. "You could even become so rich!"

"S-sorry, but I'm already rich in many ways as it is," Peach said, putting the TV producer in shame. "But...maybe I could come back someday."

The TV producer let go of her hands. "Don't do this to us..." he muttered before sighing. "Fine, we can't force people to work for us... I guess that's what they say about 'too good to be true', then."

Peach nodded. "Even so, thank you so much for choosing me, sir."

The man shed a tear and wiped it away. "O-of course, young lady, of course..." he sniffed silently to himself before he walked back into the door and closed it behind. Soon enough, the people walking around the lobby began applauding the princess for her job at the soap opera, making Peach blush.

"Goodness," Chris began, "she looks very...business-like in those clothes. It's like she took law school and passed it with honors and flying colors."

Luigi wiped some tears away. "T-that's our Peach..."

The princess walked back to the group with clasped hands over her chest. By the looks of it, she seemed very happy about her latest experience. "Everyone, I'm back," she said before making a happy expression. "You wouldn't believe how different I felt when the cameras started rolling!"

Luigi grabbed her hands and shook them up and down. "P-Peach, you were brilliant on TV! You brought me to tears even if I haven't watched the previous 170 episodes!"

"Was I?" Peach asked, giggling a bit at the remark.

"It looks like you had a very good time," Mario said. "First, you got to explore ruins, and then you got a starring role on national TV."

"Damn, girl, you're on fire!" Chip said, grinning coolly. "You Chipminate the masses with your face!"

"I'm starting to wonder what the true definition of 'Chipminate' is..." Sonic muttered in boredom.

As she hugged Luigi, Peach looked at them. "I can't believe so many nice things are happening to me in this world," she said. "I just can't wait to see what else happens next!"

Big made a happy expression. "She looks so happy and enthusiastic. It makes me happy and enthusiastic as well." He gasped and looked up. "Maybe I'll find Froggy again!"

"Oh well, I guess that'll happen eventually," Sonic said before turning to Peach. "I don't like soap operas myself, but damn, you were very good on TV."

"Everyone, let's go out and see the Uptown," Peach suggested, apparently ignoring the hedgehog. "I'm pretty sure something else is awaiting us, and I'm so excited to see what it'll be."

Sonic closed his mouth tight, his lips making a wave-like motion before he slammed his face on the table. "Please, don't tell me she's still mad at me..." he muttered.

"I...I think so..." Lucas said.

"I told you not to... Oh, whatever."

Ike crossed his arms and inspected Peach's new clothes. "Are you sure you want to go around like that?"

Peach thought for a brief moment. "Hmm, these clothes sure do feel nice, but...I'm more used to my usual dresses," she said. "I think I left my clothes back at the studio. I'll be right back." She turned around and walked back into the studio through the door.

"Oh my god, she's back!" the TV producer was heard yelling.

"S-sorry, I just came for my clothes to exchange these."

A whole multitude of groans echoed in the set for a long while.

Megaman sweat dropped at this and chuckled. "Guess they see her as an angel for soap operas of the sort..."

Volnutt Kirby smiled happily. "I'm so happy for her," he said.

"Me too, Kirby, me too," Chris concurred.

Uptown

The Smashers walked outside of the station, walking across the street where they reached a nearby plaza where the island museum was. The museum was probably the largest building in the entire place. It had long light brown walls with high-expensive windows, with a nice set of brown double doors as an entrance.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can submit our findings to the museum," Megaman wondered, walking to the double doors to open. However, for his dismay, the museum was closed. "Oh, rats, it's closed."

"We might have to come sometime later," Ike said. "There's a lot to do in here, right?"

Chip turned to his right where a 3-story building, the hospital, occupied a portion of a square. "Can we go there and see how people scream for their live-"

"Chip, stop it there," Sonic interrupted. "I don't see why we need to go in that hospital."

"R-right," Lucas said. "I don't think there's some kind of use for the refractor in that place either…"

"Then, where do we go?" Chris asked. "There are nothing else than luxurious houses around the Uptown. The museum is closed, we already visited the TV station, and the hospital…doesn't seem to be the place I'd like to be…"

Mario rubbed his chin. "Isn't there some kind of dock at the west of here?" he reminded them.

"Well, that's the last place we could go to… I guess we should head over there."

Peach suddenly gasped, taking out from behind a small lipstick. "Oh no, I forgot to put this back at the station."

"Um, I don't think they'll be missing this lipstick, Peach..." Luigi muttered.

"Maybe...but I feel a bit guilty for taking it out without permission..."

"Just take it with you," Sonic said.

"..."

"Take it with you, Peach. It won't hurt," Mario seemed to be rephrasing Sonic's words.

"Okay..." muttered Peach as she kept the lipstick with her while Sonic smacked his forehead for the twentieth time in the day.

The group decided to go west where they climbed a slope to some small squares with firm grass, overlooking the whole Uptown. The Smashers stared back to the Uptown to see the sight from high up the slopes.

To their right, they found an artist girl painting the hospital building into a canvas. The brown-haired wore a purple hat, and she wore purple clothes, blue pants, and brown shoes. She seemed to be very focused on her painting, something the Smashers could see very plainly on their spot. The painting, however, looked as if it needed something else.

"I guess there's people who like hospitals," Sonic said.

"Hmm...something's missing..." the woman muttered. "What do you think I should add?"

"...Wow, she noticed us without turning around," Chip said.

"Well, we're talking behind her back. Of course she'd hear us," Ness said.

"So, what should I add to the painting?" the woman asked.

"Some talent," Sonic said.

"What did you say?"

"E-er, don't listen to him! He's not that good giving good critique to paintings!" Chris said.

"Never mind, then..." the woman muttered without turning at them.

Megaman took a closer look at the hospital's painting. It was easy for him to tell that the painting lacked red color because of the fact that a long red line covered the upper part of the hospital while a sign on a pole close to it needed red color as well. "You should add some red," Megaman suggested.

"Really? You think so?" she asked, examining her painting. "I'm fresh out of red, which is why I haven't been using it, but...I suppose it is a little drab, but there's nothing wrong with this colder look either."

"So that's why it needed some tal-umumumuum!" Sonic's mouth was quickly blocked by Chris.

"Red..." Peach trailed off before taking out her lipstick, which was a red color. "Hmm, would this help, maybe?"

"A...lipstick as paint substitute?" Megaman said before he took the lipstick from Peach and showed it to the painter. "Would this help?"

"Could I borrow that for a second?" the painter asked, actually taking the lipstick before Megaman could reply. She suddenly started painting the little drabs where red color was needed with the lipstick. It was a matter of time before she finished the hospital's painting. "That's it! That's perfect!" she said.

Lucas looked at the painting. "It is good..." he admitted.

The woman turned to them with a smile on her face and bowed. "That's exactly what it needed! Thank you so much!" she looked at her watch on her right wrist. " Oh, would you look at the time! I'd better get going!"

The girl quickly grabbed the painting's frame and began running down the slope's street towards the direction where the museum was.

"...And she never gave the lipstick back," noted Big.

"Now I feel guiltier than before," Peach said. "Oh well, it couldn't be helped..."

"Look at how she goes into the distance," Chip said. "She's running like Sonic."

"Pfft, yeah, right," Sonic said, rolling his eyes.

"But...wasn't the museum closed?" Ike asked. "I hope she doesn't get mad."

"Why'd she be mad after finishing her painting and stealing a lipstick?" Ness asked. "She looked pretty happy."

"Maybe the museum got opened again?" Mario asked. "Should we go back?"

"Well..." Megaman looked behind where an elevator on the very edge of the Uptown was found, taking anyone down to the dock. "...I've got a feeling that the museum got open...so let's go back."

Ness sighed. "I'm a bit tired..."

"Oh, please, you were sitting on a chair for an hour straight, so quit complaining," Sonic said.

Once the group got back to the museum, they found out it was open with its double doors open to the public.

"What do you know, it did get open," Luigi said.

Megaman smiled at this. "Okay, let's find some curator inside to turn in our findings. I can't wait to see what we'll get from this."

Museum

Megaman Legends/64 – Museum

When the group entered the museum, they were met by a wide room where different paintings, sculptures, and other kinds of masterpieces rested on walls, on the floor, and even the ceiling. A small reception desk was situated in front of a spiral staircase, leading to the second floor of the museum.

"Looks sophisticated to me," Sonic commented.

A woman stood behind the podium. Upon seeing the group, she bowed at them. "Welcome to Kattelox Museum," she greeted. "Please, do look around at the fabulous displays of art we have for the public to see, such as that big painting over there," she said, directing them to look to the left where a big painting depicting some kind of Egyptian-looking monster with purple hair was facing a small blue warrior in front of it. There was a big red eye between the two that somehow seemed familiar…

"Nice…painting," Ike said.

"That painting was apparently found in a ruin somewhere... It looks like the person wearing blue armor is fighting with a frightening monster!" she said. "I wonder what the thing that looks like an eye there is supposed to symbolize?"

"Hmm, maybe there's a deeper meaning to that painting," commented Megaman.

Lucas blinked and approached the painting, examining the little blue warrior on it. He tilted his head and looked towards Megaman, then looked at the warrior, then looked at Megaman, then looked back at the warrior until he looked back and forth between the two, finding some kind of comparison. "…N-no, of course not…" he muttered.

Chris looked at the other displays. "…" He looked at the spiral staircase. "What's up there?"

"That's where the art gallery of the museum is, where the curator can found," the receptionist said. "Currently, we're looking for ancient artifacts and relics to display in the upper floor. Anything would help as long as it's an interesting finding."

Megaman turned to them while Lucas walked back. "The curator should accept what we found in the ruins. Let's go."

The group walked up the spiral staircase until they reached the second floor. The second floor only had a red mattress with a long, circular table that awaited any kinds of relics to be displayed. Just in front of the staircase's end, the table where the curator was sitting behind was situated there. When the group looked at the curator, they found out it was the same painter girl from before.

The girl smiled at them. "Hi there! Thanks for helping me out before!"

"Oh, it's you," Mario said, "the same girl who was painting a portrait for the hospital."

"Thanks to all of you, I was able to finish my painting! I just paint for fun in my spare time. My real job is here, working as the curator... Why don't you take a look around?"

Big looked around the empty table surrounding the staircase. "…There's nothing in here…"

The curator sighed. "I know there's not much here, but we haven't had much luck getting new artifacts because not many Diggers are doing any digs. It's kind of depressing and a big letdown. If there was some kind of Digger who would bring artifacts in here…I'd be glad to display anything in here. It could attract people."

Megaman pointed at himself. "I'm a Digger."

"You're a Digger? Oh my, am I lucky today!" she said. "If you find anything interesting on one of your digs, could you bring it here and show it to me? If it's really good, I could display it here! Of course, I'll give you all the credit for finding them all. I'm not too shabby, you know."

"Actually, I've got two," Megaman said, showing her the metallic bone and the decrepit doll that he put on the desk in front of her.

The curator took a closer look at the doll. "What? Did you really find that underground? If you did, it's an incredible discovery... I wonder what something like this would be doing underground...Oh, well, why don't we call it a 'Human Doll'... It could be someone's idea of a joke, but..." She looked at the bone. "What's that you've got there? It looks like a bone or something... Oh, well, a lot of the people who come here are into strange things like this... It doesn't look like much, but if you want, I can display it here... I'll call it an 'Ancient Digging Tool'… What do you say?

"Fine with me. You can take all those."

"Thank you so much!" the curator said in gratitude. "I bet there are a lot of people who'll come to see this! I'll put them right away!" She took the relics and put them on different places of the table. She walked back to her desk and rested her hands on it. "Well, thank you! I hope these artifacts attract people to the museum. Can I count on you to fetch some artifacts?"

"I don't mind, so yeah," Megaman said.

"Alright! I can't wait to fill this room with ancient relics and such!" She took out several papers from under the desk. "Well, come here again when you've found more artifacts. I'll be writing the relics' descriptions right away."

Ness looked amused at this. "Well, well, Megaman, you're going to be the only guy in the whole island to contribute this museum with artifacts. How does it feel to be the only Digger guy to do this task?"

"A-are you trying to make me mad?" Megaman asked in disbelief.

"It just worked, so yeah."

"Hmmmmmm," Megaman did a long grumbling sound, echoing in the art gallery.

The curator stopped writing and looked concerned at him. "Please, don't do that! This space is so empty that anything can be echoed!"

"If that's right, then you just did a long echo," Mario pointed out.

"O-oh, yes, my bad..." the curator said embarrassed.

Uptown

Megaman Legends/64 – Uptown

"Well," Chris began as the group walked outside the museum, "what do we do now? The last place we have yet to visit is the dock."

"Obviously, we're going there," Megaman said. "There wouldn't be any use for the refractor we have for the museum."

Sonic waved a finger in disagreement. "Nah, it could be pretty much used as a power source for the museum's light. Plus, it'd be a little nice relic to donate. You're a nice guy, aren't ya?"

"I-I'm not THAT nice!" Megaman protested.

Some of them laughed at the little embarrassing moment. Hearing that they were laughing, Sonic turned to Peach in hopes to see some giggles...but she was busy petting a little blue bird that had landed on her firm palm. "...OH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP DOING THIS TO ME!" Sonic blared loudly, startling Peach and the bird that had just flown away by his loud yell. He, in a split second, grabbed her hands so she could look down at him. "You've gotta give me a break, please! I can't stand this anymore! Do you think I like people to have grudges on me?"

"Doesn't Dr. Eggman have a very big on-"

"Shut up, Chris!" Sonic yelled at Chris before he turned back at Peach. "What do you want me to do? I'd do anything so you stop ignoring me! Respond to my little heart, respond to it!"

"He seems so desperate enough to use cheesy wor-"

"You shut up!" interrupted Sonic to Ness before turning back at Peach. "What do you want me to do? I can't stand all this anymore! I'm all ears for anything!"

Peach looked a bit worried at this. She saw that the hedgehog's eyes were trembling in fear at any negative response he would hear from her. Peach even felt that the grip Sonic put on her hands was very tight; a signal that he didn't want to let go of her. "U-um...well..."

"(Oh my god, she's talking to me. That's a very nice good sign now!)" Sonic rejoiced a bit.

"...Are...you sure you're very sorry from earlier, Sonic?" Peach asked softly.

Sonic nodded a whole bunch of times. "Yeah, yeah, I hate kicking rabid dogs! In fact, I'll start loving dogs more!"

"Then, wouldn't that mean you hate cats?" Chip asked, making Big yelp.

"No, shut up!" Sonic yelled, turning back at Peach. "I'm so sorry for kicking those dogs away like I did before, really! They didn't have to be treated like that, I know it already! If we do get surrounded by rabid dogs next time, I won't hurt them that badly!" He fell to his knees and shut tight his eyes. "Forgive me, please! All I want from you is to accept my apology!"

Peach thought for a moment. "W-well..." She saw Sonic looking up back at her, his pupils being drowned in tears. "U-um...you...seem very sorry for what you did earlier...right?"

"Totally! I could bet my brain on that!"

"H-hmm..." Peach thought about it some more. "...You...really want me to forgive you so badly, right?"

"That's all I'm asking for!"

"...Well..." she looked away, "I think I can forgive you this time..."

Sonic gasped. "Please, please, please do!"

Peach smiled a bit to herself and looked back at Sonic, who then stood up and gapped his mouth in excitement. "Sonic...you look very sorry for what you did to those dogs earlier...and I don't want to see you mopping around like this..." She looked at the others, who were smiling at this. "It's just wrong to see you being the only one desperate while everyone else are having a fun time..."

"I'm a man who wants to have fun all day long!" Sonic swore.

"...Sonic..." she smiled and made a happy expression that Sonic thought was an angelic one, "I...I...I forgive you for everything you did back th-"

Just before she could finish what she was saying, Sonic was pushed away, rolling towards a tree where he hit his head hard and was knocked out unconscious. The Smashers and Peach gasped at this before they noticed what had pushed Sonic away like that.

Or, in this case, who had pushed Sonic away like that. Right in front of a shocked princess, there was a very happy Teisel Bonne, shaking her hands up and down.

"God, it is you!" Teisel said with a very happy look as if a kid had found a very sweet candy. "You're that excellent actress that played the role of Dylan's cousin! I can't believe I'd find you around here!"

"W-what?" Peach asked confused.

"No, please, don't be so shocked! I'm your biggest fan! Actually, I'm your VERY FIRST biggest fan!" Teisel said. "When you played that role, god, you were ABSOLUTELY brilliant! You were so, but so natural on TV that I just had to meet you in person!"

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten now," Teisel said, still shaking her hands. "I know it was you who played that role. Those TV producers said you were like an angel for soap operas, but they were sad you had to go. After all, it was a one-time appearance. But I know when I'm saying that you were really great!"

"O-okay," Peach chuckled nervously. "I-I'm glad you liked my performance."

Ness gasped. "Oh my god, it's the paparazzi people incident again! It's all repeating once more!"

"Pardon me? What's that about an incident with paparazzi people?" Chris asked.

"Oh, wait, that's actuality the fan people incident," Ness corrected himself. "…But it's still related."

Chris looked at Luigi. "What is he talking about?"

Luigi gulped. "T-there was a time when all of us, the Melee competitors, became extremely famous to many people, Chris. You know our matches are broadcast, right? Well, when you get very famous, you tend to have…so many fans and paparazzi hiding in the bushes to do…certain things on you…"

"…" Chris looked horrified. "D-don't tell me one of you got kidnapped or something…"

"B-because of that, Pichu has had nightmares many times…"

"God… Then what did you do to resolve that problem?"

"When faked a hiatus to give us some freedom," Mario said. "That same hiatus…well…helped us in preparing to fight the Subspace Army…"

Chris looked away with a bored look on his eyes. "(When you think about it, it's really bizarre to compare the media with a war against the Subspace… Just what did they do before facing the army, anyway?)"

Before them, Teisel took out a paper and a pen, handing them over to Peach. "Please, you've GOT to give me your autograph! I must know your name! It was Kiwi or something, right, right, right?"

Peach shifted her eyes a bit. "I-it's Peach…Princess Peach from th-"

"Peach, don't say more than that, please!" Chris interrupted hastily.

"J-just Peach, um…"

"Teisel!" Teisel responded in eagerness.

"…Okay…" Peach said smiling, writing on the paper. "For Teisel, with love, Peach… There," she said, handing over the paper and pen to Teisel.

Teisel began to pant heavily at the clean handwriting on the paper. "Oh my god," he muttered in a high-pitched tone, "I've got her autograph! I'm gonna put this in a gold frame so I can show it to everyone on the Gesellschaft! …Ahaha, hahaha, AAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Most of them, even Peach, backed away from the maniacal laugh from the Bonne member. "H-he's starting to scare me, everybody…" Big muttered.

"Who's not getting scared, that's a better a question," Ike said.

Teisel stopped laughing and shook Peach's hands again. "Thank you very much for your autograph, Actress Peach. This means so much for me."

"Y-you're welcome," Peach said with a small giggle.

"Well, I shall treasure it for the rest of my life!" Teisel said. "But, can you really go back to your marvelous career as an actress? I'd love to see more of you, honestly!"

"I-I'm sorry, but it was kind of a…desperate moment, so I had no choice but to help the producer with the soap opera," Peach said.

"Oh, I know! You're one of those actors that don't like to stick around a lot! I knew you were like them!"

"N-no, it's completely different than that," Peach said. "Just…I don't know how I can explain it to you…"

"Okay, that's enough, Teisel! You're acting so ridiculous now!" yelled a voice from somewhere nearby.

"…There's only one person who has a voice like that in this place…" Luigi muttered, turning to the right where he saw Tron, Bon, and the three Servbots hiding behind a thin tree (pathetically, since Bon stuck out like a sore thumb behind the tree itself due to his arms). "Oh no…"

Tron jumped out from behind the tree and pointed a finger at the mesmerized Teisel. "Teisel, stop getting autographs from the enemy right now!" she demanded.

"T-Tron?" Teisel said in shock. "W-what are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?" Tron asked with emphasis. "Did you forget already? They're the guys that came out from the so-called portal you mentioned a whole bunch of times before!"

"W-what?" Teisel looked back at the Smashers, who looked away from him. "...Wait a minute..." he muttered. "...I remember seeing those unusual clothes before... UAH!" He pointed at the Smashers, his pointer finger shaking. "Y-you're the same people that came out of that portal, alright!"

"(I wonder if this will bring us any trouble...)" Ike thought.

Teisel looked at the worried Peach. "And that means you're one of them as well, Actress Peach!" he said. "...Wouldn't that mean you're...very special?"

"She is!" Luigi said before blushing.

"I mean, sure, you came out of a portal, but you turned out to be one heck of a good actress."

"U-um, thank you, you're so considerate," Peach said, making a nervous happy expression.

Tron slapped her face once. "Teisel, stop bringing up that topic about your soap operas! Those guys are in no way harmless at all! They're the ones who helped Megaman stop us at the Cardon Forest!"

Teisel turned to the confused Megaman. "I don't know how you did this, kid, but you're going to pay for being a pest to us. You and those...portal people are going to pay!"

Peach looked away. "...But...wouldn't that mean I'm going to 'pay' as well?"

Teisel yelped at this and grabbed Peach's hands once more. "No, no, no, no! I can't harm an actress like you! You're like a very refined diamond found in a pile of carbon!"

The Smashers and Megaman sweat dropped in unison.

"So...Peach is totally excused to be unharmed?" Ness asked in boredom. "Wow, I knew I had to become an actor..." he muttered sarcastically.

Tron grabbed Teisel's right shoulder and pulled him to her. "What the hell is wrong with you, Teisel? We have to stop them all before they stop us, and that means that woman is going to have to be taken down sooner or later!"

Peach clasped her hands together. "I don't know why I need to be harmed. I mean, I just wanted to have some fun and joy in this place..."

In a blink of a second, Teisel turned to Peach and grabbed her hands again. "Don't worry, Actress Peach. I'll make sure you're left unharmed once we do battle with your guys."

Tron did the same action she did to Teisel. "Are you nuts? She has to be harmed!"

"No!" Teisel said worried. "I-I can't harm my #1 actress in the whole world! I'd die if I even made a little scratch on that beautiful face of hers!"

Peach blushed at this remark. "A-am I that important to you?"

Teisel, once more, turned around and grabbed her hands. "Yes! You're much better than any treasure out there in the world! Not even finding every single treasure would make up for that fresh face of yours!"

Chris looked at Mario. "Shouldn't you be worried, Mario?"

"I think Peach can handle this very well," Mario said.

"No, I was talking about Teisel trying to make Peach fall in love with him."

Mario blushed and lowered his cap a bit. "Well, I never thought of that... She'll be fine about that."

"So...does that mean you really, really love Peach?"

"As a friend, of course..."

Chris chuckled mentally. "(Even the plumber has a very soft spot for the princess. I'm glad it is that way… If they do wed, I want to be the best man.)"

If he could've just looked, Chris could've found out that Luigi was getting a bit too upset at the whole scene. In fact, he wanted to push Teisel away from Peach. After all, he didn't want a pirate to take her away from him, and everyone else thought the same, but he surely was the one who fully supported the most.

And his wish came true unconditionally.

Tron grunted loudly and turned to Bon. "That's it, Bon. Grab Teisel and let's get outta here! I'm getting sick at his demeanor now!"

"Babu!" Bon concurred, walking over to Teisel where he used his big hands and carried the fanatic over him.

"H-hey, put me down already!" Teisel demanded. "Bon, put me down right now! This is your big brother telling you what you should do!"

Tron crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, Teisel, but you've gone too far already! I'm gonna have to take command of the operation because you're just useless right now!" She turned to Megaman and pointed a finger at his face. "Like I said before, you better be prepared, Megaman, 'cause we're going to crush you and your portal friends to bits!"

"D-do you have a robot now?" Lucas asked.

"E-er, no, I-I mean, shut up!" Tron yelled embarrassed. "Next time we meet, I won't be so nice to you."

"Were you even nice to begin with, and didn't you say the same thing before?" Chris asked.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Tron in embarrassment. "Servbots, Bon, Teisel, we're outta here NOW!"

"Roooooooooogeeeeeeeer!" the three Servbots saluted before they all ran away to the south from them.

As they ran away, Peach could hear Teisel's words very well. "A-Actress Peach, n-next time, I'll compose you a poem to show you how grateful I am for your performance! I-I'm going to start a fan club in your name! I-I'm going to go as far as to sew clothes with your face on them! H-heck, I'll make merchandise with little dolls modeled after yourse-"

"SHUT UP, TEISEL!" interrupted Tron before they faced into the distance.

The Smashers kept staring away where they went. Some silence took over the air before Peach blinked and looked where Sonic had rolled. She gasped and went over to him, the hedgehog lying down on the floor with Xs on his eyes. "S-Sonic, are you okay? Sonic!" she said.

"Ma'am, I'm pretty damn sure I ordered chili dogs. Why would I want to eat chocolate on meat? You're as crazy as I am, so you're excused," Sonic said incoherently.

"Okay..." Peach said confused.

Sonic shook his head and regained consciousness. He rubbed his head a bit. "O-oww, what just happened? All I remember was somebody pushing me outta that way while I was trying to apologize to her..." She looked at Peach. "O-oh, you're here... So, about that apology I wanted from you..."

Peach made a happy expression and hugged Sonic, making him blush. "Don't worry anymore, Sonic. You're pardoned."

"F-for real? Are you kidding me?"

"It's for real, and I'm not kidding you," Peach said. "I don't want you to be so depressed, so I better help you out by forgiving you. Is that okay with you?"

"...Not at all!" Sonic said happily before he hugged her. "Thanks a lot, really! (Man, asking for forgiveness sure does help you emotionally)."

While the two were hugging each other, the Smashers and Megaman became a little bit preoccupied about the Bonnes.

…

Actually, this didn't even take place at all. In fact, they were just thinking about getting rid of them.

"Is anyone here already annoyed by those guys? Because I sure am," Chip said. "They so deserve to be Chipminated."

Probably the only two who were actually preoccupied were Luigi and Lucas, the former gulping a bit. "I-I don't know, everyone, but I think they're really going to do something bad to us for real this time…"

"If they do, we'll be ready," Megaman said. "I've seen how you guys fight, so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked. "I mean, we just beat some small forces…but, do they make bigger things?"

"They do," Megaman responded. "I fought some of them on the island by myself. Remember the place where you all came out from, the Clozer Woods? That's the same place where I fought Teisel's big robot."

Peach and Sonic walked back to them, the latter having a grin of satisfaction. "A big robot? Please, I've beaten big robots so many times that I've lost the count already. One more isn't gonna slow me down."

"Always talking big, despite the fact we're facing a different group…" Chris muttered.

"Those guys don't look any dangerous at all. In fact, they're bit too quirky for my tastes," Ness commented.

"I hope they don't do bad things to us," Big said. "I think they…um…wanna be…something else…"

"Is there something much worse than being a retard?"

"Maybe having mentally retardation," Sonic said.

"Seriously, we have to be careful when treating them," Megaman said. "But that's enough about them. Let's go to the dock and see if there's some use for the refractor, guys. Roll is surely waiting sick for us to wrap this up."

Sonic shrugged. "I-if we're really going to a dock…wouldn't that mean there's a lot of water?"

"Um, yeah, that's obvious…" He looked at Sonic's legs. "…Why are your legs shaking so suddenly?"

Sonic grabbed his legs and chuckled nervously. "Heheheheh, d-don't mind 'em. You're just probably imagining things."

"But I just saw them shake… Wait, if you're worried about seeing a lot of water, wouldn't that mean you're afraid o-"

"YOU'RE IMAGINING THINGS, okay?" Sonic yelled.

Chris sighed and looked away worried. "(Somehow, I can foresee Sonic running away from this place as soon as he can… Wait, we're on an island in the middle of the ocean, so he's pretty much screwed)."

And so, they all headed for the dock located at the far left end of the Uptown, hoping something needed the refractor's power source. However, they weren't expecting that things were just going to go awry from the point they would arrive at the dock…

From the museum, a man walked out and found a familiar funny-looking egg on the grass. "Huh? Who would drop an egg like this here?" he asked.

In a rush, Chris came back and picked up the egg. "I-I need to stop being so careless now or Eggy will break!" He bowed to the man. "T-thank you!" he said before rushing away, leaving the man confused at this.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"One Gleeful Bowser. I can smell the Bonnes from a mile away from here," Pikachu said.

"What are you doing here? You're not even with us," Sonic said.

"These guys give me nostalgia about another group, so let me do my stuff here."

"Whatever…"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Kattelox Island-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, (Volnutt) Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Big, Megaman Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Eggy Jr. the Fourth

References:

-"Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - Do Your Best, Girl!" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays whenever Flonne has her moments…where she's mostly clueless about what's happening to her. The theme's name also seems to be changing names overtime since it is also known as "Go Little Girl!" in the DS version.

-All of Porky's Spider Mech's applications were satirical name versions of Google, YouTube, Netflix, and Yahoo! in his own way.

-"Megaman Legends/64 – Uptown" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in the Uptown.

-The name "Stein Tun" is a pun inspired by all the pun names in the Phoenix Wright series.

-"Megaman Legends/64 - Museum" is another song reference for the same game. It always plays in the museum of the island.

Out Of Curiosity:

-Nothing in particular to say.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, particularly because of Tron's mishaps and Porky's small scene. Honestly speaking, I think writing for Porky releases my inner "randomness", allowing him to be so random… Well, what? It can be easily pictured him saying such things. And Tron, well, I think she's more bossy than Teisel is. I feel bad for the Servbots now...

Also, Peach seems to be getting a little bit more character development. Ahh, such a graceful character having excitement in her life… This story just makes me more attached to the characters I write for. ;)

Next chapter will have even more exploration madness, and the appearance of the gleeful Bowser. Wonder why he is so gleeful, though. Well, you'll just have to wait.

Let's see what this word can make you do: poll.

With nothing else to say, I encourage road trip singers to review. ;)

…Or Porky will hack into the World Wide Web and make us ALL use Porkygle forever.

Porky: Along with Piggypedia…and Unpiggypedia!

For the love of god, go away from here already!
*Chapter 172*: One Gleeful Bowser

After many misadventures, this chapter was finished.

From ngrey651: You know, I never got to say thanks for not using Final Fantasy 8 as a world. Mostly because there are so many, MANY plot holes in that thing. I could go on all day. Again, thank you! Have a pastry. :D

From me: In a near future, that game will have to get an arc so it opens up the possibility to display more games much later. However, what are those plot holes? Thanks fore reviewing. :)

From FF and STH: Great chapter, it was funny as usual(thought Peach was being unreasonable with the dog thing but that my opinion).

Also about last review, I didn't mean that I hate big, I mean is their a reason for Big being here for the plot of the werehog saga and if not why not some other sonic characters that is well favor.

From me: Yes, there's a reason for Big being there. Ask yourself where Froggy went, for example, and you'll get the point.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

From KimotoDragoon: Peach now has the power of hell itself pretty much... Wonder how thats gonna go wrong.

And i can't but think Megaman may be the most gullible person around.

And the Bonne Family... Not very good villians. Putting off work, not finishing their machines and such... Seems like the team has a easy world for now. Well that's not gonna last.

Can't wait to see the next one!

From me: Meh, I always thought Megaman was very gullible from the very beginning. He doesn't even know Tron harbors a crush on him, for example. And the Bonne Family is surely one family that wants to do their best, yet ends up failing at the last second. I pity them a lot. Thanks again. :D

From Aishi Rikkimoro: Just so you know, the Megaman Legends characters were based off of the ones from the orginal Megaman game series, not Megaman X, which is where Zero came from. If anything, you should be asking yourself, "Where is Bass? And Megaman's robot dog, Rush?" lol

Really though, I think you should do some research as, or maybe even before, you write, because a good deal of the time it's kinda obvious that you have no clue what you are talking about. XD I wanted to give some specific examples, but I am just getting to this after 74 chapters, and, quite frankly, I forgot. ^^; *ahem*

Truly, you have plenty of good ideas, but the way you story has been written... it seems as if some very crucial backstory and lore for many of the games is either ignored, forgotten, or simply never known at the time of publishing. It saddens me, because the reason I played those games in the first place was to enjoy their story. Your negligent acts toward their history... it is a "Dark Gaia," tearing apart the wonderfully crafted worlds that send the Smashers to.

I think... I should wrap up my ranting and raving. *sigh* Please, be more respectful of the backstory, because the past is the basis for the present, which is used to build the future, whether it be "reality" or "fiction."

P.S.: I'm not sure if you know, but I'm going to be a little mean and tell you that the Megaman in Megaman Legends IS, indeed, a robot. You find it out when fighting Juno, remember? XD

P.P.S.: "P.S." stands for "Post Script." So why does everyone add more of the letter "S" instead of the letter "P?" When will they come to realize that they are doing it wrong, no matter how you look at it? Just some food for thought.

-"With only one life, we have to make the most of things. So... Let's smile, okay?" -Aishi Rikkimoro

From me: If I recall, Megaman Legends has a link to Megaman Zero, which the Zero of Megaman X comes from.

If there are some important key-points that I'm ignoring about the characters, please do tell me so. It's possible that I'm ignoring some few bits. Any pointers would really be very much appreciated.

Also, Megaman is most likely a human. He even takes out that suit of his, or do you mean to say he had it when he was a baby as well? Thanks for being a new reader. :D

From PianistChris: Haha, Chip is so odd, and funny.

Nice Chapter and I'm looking forward to see how Peaches, or Peach's character develops. I wonder what'll happen when they get to the docks, and when Porkey will return.

Chris :p

From me: I can safely say that not much development takes place in this singular chapter. It's mostly about battles and exploration, but I hope it's enough for now. Thanks again. :D

From The Black Ace: That is a good one, but can't you add mewtwo to it and Krystal should be a temporary Member! E-mail me at to tell me why mewtwo is no longer on here.

From me: Mewtwo will sometimes work with the group when there are worlds where he'd like to go, and he didn't leave the team at all. As for Krystal, there's no real reason to add her with them, and there are no plans to give her a small role as well. You'll have to wait and see what unfolds, though. Thanks.

I'm sorry for taking up so long to finish this chapter. I didn't have many ideas to use (and I was on the verge to fall in a hiatus). In order to help me recover my writing ideas, chapter 74 received a completely new edit, fixing up a lot of stuff, as well as covering plot holes.

If this chapter happens to be a bit weird, then that means my ideas are starting to get bad… I need to watch out about that.

No reminders for a poll…but I can say two games are tied up. Those games will have to go for a tiebreaker, so vote now.

With those announcements out of the way, I encourage Roll fans to read on and review. :D

Disclaimer: Beware of Invisible Sharukurusus if you're still a little child. They scare you a lot.

Chapter 172: One Gleeful Bowser

?

In an unknown area of Kattelox Island, around blue walls and a familiar temple standing to the right side, a gleeful Bowser paced around the wide room with arms crossed behind his spiked back. The King of Koopas had a streak of luck since he was able to locate the Shamar Temple inside some kind of ruins. Having a presumably good instinct, Bowser knew very well that Mario, Luigi, Peach, (and the bunch of weirdoes as he called everyone else) would arrive there at any moment.

"~Doo, doo, doo, I'm having a blast of a day now,~" Bowser mused to himself. "I have the control of two Shadow Nightmares, and I also found the Shuma-something Temple as well. Aah, things couldn't get any better than they are now!" he said happily. "I just can't wait to throw these little creatures on those plumbers! I just know I'm going to enjoy seeing them face their most embarrassing lies!"

"Y-you're sick, you know! How can you endanger the lives of the people who want to save the planet from Dark Gaia? You're nothing but a bastard!" yelled a voice nearby.

"Thank you! I always like to hear that from you!" Bowser yelled, turning to the east of the room where a cage had two people in it.

The first of the two caged people was a black-haired teenager dressed in blue garbs with a blue hood covering her head. The other one was an old man who dressed in Arab priest clothes with a little black hat on his head, and he used to sneeze from time to time. With a closer look, the girl looked frustrated at Bowser while she held on her arms a familiar-looking frog that had a worried look on its face.

"Why must people like you do this kind of thing to the planet? It's too irrational!" the girl, named Layla, yelled angrily. "You're being stupid if you think Dark Gaia can be tamed!"

"Layla, please...achoo!" the old man, named Ehsan, sneezed, "don't try to pick a fight with him. It's better if we don't make him mad. Achoo!"

Layla turned to him. "But it's not making me feel safe to believe that these people think that they can control Dark Gaia. Dark Gaia itself is a mindless beast, and all the Temple Guardians know that very well." She turned to glare at the happy Bowser. "You're just going to cause the destruction of the planet, thinking mindlessly that there's a chance to control Dark Gaia!"

Bowser walked to them and chuckled. "I don't care much about your planet at all. I have a bunch of worlds out there to conquer for myself. I haven't look that much about what that Dark Gaia will do, but it'll serve us in taking over the other worlds besides yours." He made a happy expression. "What's a little sacrificed world is going to do? If your world sacrifices, we can still have everything else."

"I knew you weren't going to care that much about our planet since you're not from there," Layla muttered. "You're going to doom us all if Dark Gai-"

"Ugh, look, little missy, I don't CARE," Bowser said, getting a bit aggravated. "Tabuu is probably even stronger than Dark Gaia is. If something goes wrong, he'll fix the problem. There, problem solved."

"H-he won't!" Layla yelled.

"He WILL, so shut up about it," Bowser said darkly. "Once we have Dark Gaia on our side, I'll ask Tabuu if he can do something to give me power, and I'm talking about REAL POWER like growing massive or getting muscles or something like that! Now, though, I'll make sure to get rid of those plumbers and sweep their princess from their arms."

Layla blinked a bit at this. "...You're...having problems with plumbers?"

"I know what you're thinking, but they're not your everyday plumbers. They're EVIL. They jump so high that they stomp on your head, and they also cause a lot of trouble for your conquers! Using the Shadow Nightmares will surely finish them off for real this time!" He made a happy expression. "Just thinking about their downfall makes me so happy!"

"Ugh, you're sick, alright," Layla said disgusted.

"I think I already noticed that before...achoo!" Ehsan pointed out.

Bowser rolled his eyes. "You people don't know anything about me. I couldn't care less about you."

"Ribbit," the frog on Layla's arms said.

Layla looked at the frog and petted its head. "Don't worry, little guy. I'll get you back to your friend soon. Just hang in there with me, okay?"

"Riiiibbit..." the frog said in depression.

"(I shouldn't have dragged you here in the first place,)" Layla thought. "(I was panicked when Dr Eggman's robots assaulted Shamar that day... And, speaking about days...)" she looked up at the faraway ceiling, "(how long has it been ever since we were all kidnapped by them?)"

"I have no time to spare," Bowser said. "I'll start thinking about ways to torture Mario and the green stache right now! Once I'm through with them, you can bet your little stone pieces that you'll be the next ones on the line!" He rubbed his claws together and chuckled in excitement. "Well, be good and be quiet now!" He turned around and walked towards the temple, brainstorming about ways to torturing his enemies. His gaze focused on a particular big orange tube with screws around it. "Hmm, I wonder what this tube thing is... It was here when I arrived at the temple... Bah, who cares about it," he muttered, resuming brainstorming his idea.

Layla looked away worried for a brief moment before looking back at Ehsan. "What should we do now? I don't like how things are looking..."

"A-achoo!" Ehsan sneezed, cleaning his nose with a napkin. "Well, young Layla, there's nothing we can do but wait for our saviors to come. You might want to hold on to that frog friend of yours."

Layla looked at the frog. "I guess you're right... Let's see, what was your name again? Hmm, Froggy, was it?"

"Ribbit!" the frog said in confirmation, revealing to be Froggy.

Layla chuckled and petted Froggy. "Well, Froggy, don't get so worried. I'm sure your friend Big will come to get us out. You two are very close to each other, right? Big told me so."

"Ribbit!"

Ehsan sighed with some relief. "Ho, ho, ho! That little frog is perhaps the only little guy who can cheer us up during this tight situation."

Layla looked up at the cage's ceiling. "But...I just wonder if we can be rescued in time before things get much more complicated than they are..."

"We shall wait as long as Dark Gaia doesn't destroy our planet," Ehsan said. "Let's pray for salvation, Layla. We must keep the Sun and Moon Tablets safe before that tortoise monster starts to make his moves on the sacred temple."

The girl looked at him and nodded. "Right, we must keep our composures. Until then, I'm not going to panic."

"Riiiibbiiiit..." Froggy croaked worried at this, watching Ehsan sneeze once more, his sneeze echoing in the wide room...

-Kattelox Island-
Uptown - Dock

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Lake Hylia

"You must face your fears, Sonic. It's just a small lake. It's nothing like the ocean around the island."

"W-wait, we're on an island? Crap, I've never noticed that! I-I'm trapped in here! I'm a poor little hedgehog stranded on an island!"

"Sonic, take a hold of yourself, and please don't hide behind me because you're overreacting..." Mario trailed off.

"Also, we're riding a small elevator and everyone is kind of making this space so small, so please...d-don't pinch me with your quills on your back. They don't look that sharp, but just for precaution..." Chris said.

The group went to the small elevator on the edge of the Uptown. Unfortunately, for them, the elevator was barely big enough to hold everyone. It would surely had been better if Big didn't ride the elevator with them since he took over a quarter of the whole space. The huge cat looked depressed and lowered his head. "I'm sorry for trying to fit myself in here," he apologized.

"I-I'm sure you didn't notice it before," Megaman said, lost somewhere behind the cat's back. "A-and I'm probably the only one here suffering the most..."

"D-don't worry, the elevator just stopped moving," reassured a nervous Peach.

Once the double doors opened, all of them were pushed out from the elevator instantly. Big sighed and walked out from the elevator while Megaman walked out, fixing his spiky hair a bit. "A-air...fresh water air..." Ness muttered on the floor, gasping for breath as he overlooked the big lake to their right.

When all of them looked to the west, they admired the beautiful scenery where mountain trenches, trees, and grasslands extended over the horizon. The whole lake occupied the western side of the whole island.

Peach got up and clasped her hands. "It's just beautiful… A beautiful place just beyond the Uptown…"

"Wow, you quickly recovered all your air?" Ike asked on the floor.

Everyone stood up and dusted off their clothes. Besides the blue lake, they looked forward to the dock. They just noticed that a fence blocked them the pass to the dock, which casually had one single boat floating close to it, which was a big one. The black boat itself looked old. And surprisingly, it was the only boat available in the dock since no other boat was nearby.

"Is that supposed to be a boat?" Luigi asked. "It looks like a submarine to me…"

"Oh, maybe that's because people consider submarines boats," Ness said. "Yes, this world has its faults."

Megaman looked annoyed. "H-hey, don't try to make this world look pathetic! I'm pretty sure yours is…lacking something!"

Ness looked away bored. "I can't argue you with that there. Living trash cans and violent cockroaches aren't exactly what I'd call normal at all."

"…Living trash cans?"

"My world is that messed up, man."

The blue boy shrugged at this and looked back at the dock house in front of them. "Well, since we don't have anything to lose, let's see if we can find a use for the refractor, guys."

After walking a short path (that lasted a bit too long since Mario and Chris were holding Sonic from both arms while the hedgehog tried to go away from there), the group entered the dock house where the space was a bit too small, but it still was enough for them to fit in. Inside, they found two doors to the lake's direction and a miniature version of the black boat sitting over a small pedestal, and a desk resided to the right of the entrance. Behind said desk, and creepy-looking tall man stood, moving his white mustache a bit after looking at the group.

The man was tall. He wore a green-buttoned shirt with green pants and black shoes. His face was probably the shadiest part since he was bald, had white sideburns, had the mentioned white mustache, and wore an eye-patch over his left eye. "May I help you?" he spoke in a mature, soft voice.

The group turned to face him. "Um, hi, mister," Lucas greeted. "U-um…u-um…"

"(Oh my god, he's going to give a bad impression of us if I don't say anything,)" Ness thought, taking over Lucas' stammering. "We're here to see if there was some kind of machine to check."

"Is that so?" the man asked. "The only machine we have is the boat right outside. But it's broken right now, so we don't have anything else than that old boat. You can inspect it if you want, though."

Megaman smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

"Where are my manners? I should introduce myself to you," the man said. "My name is Wily."

A fearsome but silent tune played from somewhere after Wily said his name. Apparently, the only person who noticed the tune was Chris, who backed away a bit without being noticed. However, Megaman backed away a bit, probably because of the same thing.

"O-okay," Megaman said. "(Dammit, why am I reacting like this to him? I've never met the guy before...) Can we please check on that boat, then?"

"I don't mind, go on ahead," Wily offered, pointing at the left door. "Go through that door. The boat has its area to dock."

"R-right..." Megaman said, motioning at the others to follow him through the left door. He looked to his left where a freaked out Sonic was sitting on the sofa. "You aren't coming or what?"

"Y-you go on ahead," Sonic muttered.

"...Okay..." Megaman said before each one of them exited the place.

...And then, Chris and Mario came back, dragging Sonic back outside while a confused Wily raised an eyebrow at this. "Such curious-looking people..." he muttered.

When they came out from the building, they found the door floating close to the docking bay. They all looked up at the boat before Megaman turned to them. "Did you guys feel weird when we met that Wily person?"

Chris wanted to say yes, but he didn't to raise more suspicion.

"No... Why'd you say that?" Mario asked.

"Well, maybe it's just me, but I think the guy is kind of...creepy..."

"A-at least we agree on that," Lucas muttered.

"Anyway..." Megaman began before turning to face the boat, "this boat is supposedly old, right? Hmm, I wonder if this is the thing that needs energy from the refractor..."

Peach nodded. "Let's call Roll here, then. She'd be glad to hear that there is something that needs the refractor's power source."

"I'll be doing that right now," Megaman said as he took out his phone to call the engineer.

Several minutes later...

An upset Roll came from the dock house's door. She was carrying on her arms the yellow refractor while she muttered some curses. "Gramps shouldn't have made me run an errand to get some coffee for him and the mayor, and it got worse right after he asked to get some cooki-" she shook her head and smiled at the group, "hey, everyone!" she greeted, looking a bit nervous. "S-so, did you find anything?"

Volnutt Kirby pointed at the boat. "That?" he responded confused.

Roll walked close to the boat and inspected it from the boat's deck to the lower part. "Hmm, I see..." Her eyes suddenly enlightened at the sight of the boat. "Someone's been taking really good care of this boat!" she said.

"Um, isn't it broken or something?" Luigi asked.

Roll ignored the question as she climbed up to the boat's deck. Everyone else just stood on the dock looking at her before she spotted a hole that leaded to the inner engine room of the boat. "There!" she said excited, jumping inside the boat.

Some of the Smashers and even Megaman gasped before they soon began to hear clanking sounds echoing out from the boat. "God, do people here respect privacy on property or what?" Ness asked.

"T-that's not true, Roll just becomes excited whenever she spots something that has the potential to be repaired," Megaman explained before looking back at the boat. "Roll? Do you really think you should be doing that? I think Wily is going to get mad if yo-"

"Would you look at this engine?" she asked rhetorically, interrupting the blue boy. "Let's see... All we need to do is fix the transformer and the refractor and it'll be as good as new!"

Megaman sighed in defeat. "Roll..."

"I believe she has just gone to her own little world..." Ike muttered. "...So, is this what people call a 'fetish' of the sorts?"

"Ike, you wouldn't like to know what a fetish really means. Your mind will be forever scarred for life," Chris warned. "Trust me, you should better not know about it."

"Hey, I'm older than you."

"And because of that, I don't want to recall what the word even means."

Suddenly, the door behind them opened up, and Wily walked out with folded arms behind his back. The Smashers looked worried after they heard the clanking sounds coming from the boat. "What do you think you're you doing?" he asked with some patience.

"D-don't look at us, she just started playin' with the boat," Chip said. "Don't blame Chipminator. Blame that girl! In fact, I don't know her! You can take her in to the poli-"

Mario covered Chip's mouth to stop him from talking. "Chip, stop talking now. You're getting panicked over nothing," he said.

"Huh? Uh..." Megaman trailed off worried. "W-well, sir, you see...my friend here likes electronics and machinery that she kind of...well..."

"Megaman, could you hand me a wrench, please?" Roll called over from within the boat. "I think I might be able to fix this with a little bit more time! Hurry! I want to test this boat out on the lake!"

Megaman looked worried at Wily. "J-just a sec, Roll!" he yelled, climbing up to the boat's deck where he ducked to the hole and tossed a wrench he took from behind. He bit his lip and looked back at the group and Wily, the latter having a blank look on his face. "R-Roll..."

"Yeah?" Roll said.

"I think yo-"

"Hmm, I think I misunderstood the situation here..."

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, but I can really fix this boat today," Roll said. "But I think I need more time to fix it completely. The yellow refractor really fits here, but the inside seems to be full of rust and dust. A little cleaning and some new machine parts I have with us can bring this boat back to life."

"U-um..."

The girl engineer stood inside the hole and looked at Megaman before she looked down where the others were staring at her, her gaze fixing on the dock owner. "...Whoops..." she muttered embarrassed. "I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me... I just started fixing the ship and..."

The Smashers looked back at Wily, who chuckled slightly at this. "You really love machines, don't you?" he asked, walking closer to the boat to look at her closer. "I can tell just by looking at your face..."

The group looked at Roll's face. The engineer didn't notice that her face got several patches of black grease all over it, and there were more patches on her clothes as well. Some of them chuckled a bit while she blinked, oblivious to the fact. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Megaman chuckled. "Roll, your face! It's covered with grease!"

Roll wiped her right cheek and looked at the grease on her hand. "O-oh, I should've been more careful... How reckless of me..."

"Hahahaha..." Wily subtly laughed with some of them. "I'm glad I could get someone as pretty as you to fix my boat for me, little miss."

Roll blushed. "U-um, gee, I'm so embarrassed now. Next time you know it, I'll be entering houses without knocking on the door first... At least nobody does that, as far I know..."

"(I know plenty of people who do that,)" Mario thought. "(I'm thinking a certain Hylian friend...)"

"Tell you what," Wily began, "you can use it anytime you want."

The group looked a bit surprised at this offer. "W-what? Are you serious, mister?" Megaman asked. "I mean, this boat is yours, right?"

"It is mine, but I don't mind lending it you all," Wily said, closing his eye with relief. "Thank your meddling friend for trying to repair my boat."

"Would you please refrain from saying that kind of thing? I feel pretty guilty now..." Roll muttered before most of them laughed for a small while, causing her to blush and lower down into the boat so nobody would see her embarrassing face.

Megaman smiled down at the hole where she hid. "Now we can explore the lake, Roll! The Sub-Gate I talked you about must b-"

"Sorry, Megaman, but I'd like to work in complete silence right now," interrupted Roll. "I need peace here so I can work to the fullest. You understand, right?"

Megaman chuckled. "Is it because we're still laughing?"

"I-it's not because of that, so please, leave me alone for once!" Roll yelled angrily.

"Heheh, okay, Roll, whatever you say," Megaman teased.

"Y-yeah, now please, let me work… Sheesh…"

What they didn't know was that it was going to take Roll a lot of time to work on the boat. It took her so much time to fix the boat that she finished fixing it right when sunset came around. Exhausted, Roll came out from the boat, wiping her grease-covered face with her right arm. "Phew, that's done with…"

The only one she found on the dock was Big, who was fishing with his fishing rod while sitting down on an edge over the water. His ears perked up a bit and he looked at Roll. "Hi there," Big said. "Do you need me for something?"

"Um, kind of…" She looked around. "Where's everyone?"

"They went back to the city to have some fun, I think."

"Oh well, I'll call them over," Roll said, taking out her walkie-talkie to call Megaman.

Some minutes later, the group gathered back to the dock. A proud Roll stood in front of the boat with crossed arms. "You finished?" Peach asked.

"Yup, it's all ready to go," Roll said. "We can go to the lake right now if you want. I think we have enough time to explore the Sub-Gate right now."

"Do we?" Luigi asked. "It's getting kind of late…"

"Well, maybe I'm getting too excited to try out the boat…"

Peach raised her hand. "Why don't we go right now, then? It's just going to be late, but who cares about that?"

"Peach, I didn't know you were going to agree to go there so late..."

"Maybe we could catch a glimpse of the lake while it shines on the sunset," Peach said. "Personally, I'd love to see a scene like that right now."

Roll rubbed her chin. "Hmm, I guess we could give it a little walk around the lake just to test it out... But we're not going to investigate the Sub-Gate, okay? If something important comes up, then I'll say what we'll do, okay?"

"I don't mind," Big said.

"I guess we could go right now... It won't hurt to take a tour around the lake," Lucas said, forcing a small smile. "I want to see a peaceful place for once."

Roll smiled and nodded. "Alrighty, then, let's g-KYAH!" she yelped after she found Data standing right besides her. The group gasped in unison after they found Data (dancing) just next to Roll. "D-Data, here you are!" Roll said. "M-man, h-how did you appear out of nowhere like that? I-it's the billionth time you do this!"

"I do this only for fun, u-ki-i!" replied the robot monkey, still dancing.

"S-seriously, this isn't funny to me at all," Roll said. "A-anyway, where were you all this time?"

"Just chillin'."

Everyone exchanged glances with each other after hearing that.

"...Are we going to the lake?" Data asked before he turned to Megaman. "Hmm, Megaman, are you really sure you want to go to the lake like that?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Data?" Megaman asked.

Data looked at Megaman's left hand where he could deploy Splash Mines. "That weapon you have there is already old. I don't honestly think it'll serve you that much any longer. Did you even use it in the Cardon Forest's Sub-Gate?"

"No..."

"It's time for you to change to a more appropriate weapon!" Data suggested. "Ask Roll here to provide you with something more, um, powerful!"

Roll raised an eyebrow. "Data, why are you asking Megaman about changing weapons now?"

"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about the Laky Jyun," Data confessed. "Maybe it's just me, but just to be safe, Megaman needs to be ready for anything, wouldn't you agree?"

"I...think so... Wait a minute, that's it!" she said. "I just remember I finished making some important weapons for you, Megaman!"

"Really?" Megaman said.

"Yeah, they are gonna be a lot useful for our digs if you try them out!" she said. "I brought them into the boat. Follow me so you can equip them all." She walked to the back of the boat where she opened a door. Megaman walked inside before Roll followed, closing the door behind them.

The Smashers looked at each other. "What are we going to do with Sonic?" Mario asked. "He's inside with Wily. He's been in a fetal position over the couch, and I think I saw him sucking on his thumb."

Chris grunted. "That guy is never going to get over his fear for water..."

Chip coughed a bit. "Don't worry about him. Chipminator will fix this problem...the Chipminator way, of course."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" Ness asked skeptically.

The imp showed them the little collar wrist he had on his right wrist. "See this? I'm still Sonic's owner. I'll put that little hedgehog in his place with this... BRB!" he said before hurrying back inside into the shack. They heard him saying, "Sonic, turn into a stick!" before somebody fell flat on the floor.

Mario went inside, and then he came back, dragging a very still Sonic from his perfectly petrified arms. The plumber and the imp dragged the hedgehog right back to the group where they made him stand on his feet, his eyes paralyzed into place while forcibly glancing the boat.

Chip chuckled and dusted off his hands, putting them on his hips. "We've got Sonic the Stickhog, guys. Now we can take him anywhere without having to hear him whimper."

Peach gasped and took out a napkin, noticing some tears strolling down Sonic's eyes. "Poor Sonic, he was crying as well..."

"(Avoid chuckling, Ness, avoid chuckling! Don't chuckle so she doesn't scold you!)" Ness mentally restrained himself from chuckling at Sonic's teary eyes.

"Done!" Roll's voice came from the boat before the door opened. She walked out with Megaman and chuckled heartily. "Well, everyone, I hope you like how Megaman looks now," she said, turning to Megaman.

Megaman now wore a blue helmet that covered his head and hair. On his left arm, a long grey cannon was attached to it with a little orange aim over it. The blue boy inspected the cannon on his arm before he aimed towards the lake and shot a powerful explosive that blew up an average big explosion. "Wow..." he muttered.

"That's the Powered Buster," Roll said. "It's a part designed for heavy-duty combat. It increases both Megaman's firepower and firing speed. It's better suited to fight enemies with heavy armor and other defenses."

"T-that looks kinda strong..." Luigi muttered.

Roll nodded and looked at Megaman's helmet. "Next on the line, we have the Helmet. He won't get knocked down by enemy attacks as easily as before, and he'll be able to survive long falls, even if someone throws him off a cliff. However, he's still vulnerable to attacks, so he should be careful about that fact."

Volnutt Kirby looked depressed. "Hmm..." he mumbled loudly.

Megaman turned to the puffball. "Is something bothering you, Kirby?"

"I liked you when you didn't have that helmet before..." admitted the puffball. "Your hair looked so nice..."

Megaman blinked and looked up at his helmet. "But Roll said it looked natural on me..."

"Hey, it'll protect your head from attacks coming from above as well," Roll said. "You better be protected and ready for anything out there."

"(Great going, Roll,)" Chris said mentally. "(Now, all you have to do for Megaman to become X is make him far more serious than he is now... Oh, make Wily the Dock Owner build Mavericks and a special robot as well.)"

Megaman knocked on the helmet a bit. "Well, it is hard..."

Roll looked at the Smashers. "Not only did he get those, but I also gave him the Jump Springs!" she said, kneeling down where she touched Megaman's feet. "I put the Jump Springs into his feet. Now he's able to jump over fifteen feet of height so he can reach places he couldn't reach before. Pretty useful, huh?"

"It is, thanks," Megaman thanked.

"It was nothing, Megaman. Thanks to those machine parts that you and everyone found at the Sub-Gate, I was able to make all of this," she explained before looking at Data. "Data, is that okay with you now?"

Data nodded. "It is, Roll, it is! Now we can go to the lake, yes?"

"Of course, I'm growing impatient to try out the boat already," she said, looking back at the Smashers. "Let's all go on a boat ride, everyone... Oh, that's right!" she said, stopping them from walking into the boat. She pointed up at a lookout tower on top of the steel boat. "See that tower? You can get to that lookout tower there by using the inner ladder. It's wide enough to have six people, so please, if you want to look outside, be sure there are no more than six people up there so you don't fall... And if Big gets up there, then make sure there aren't more than four people counting Big. Since Chip can fly, I guess he can go out without having to worry about not fitting it."

"That sounds pretty tight," Big said before chuckling. "Heheh, get it? Tight?"

"Um...yes, we get it," Ike said.

Roll clapped her hands together and showed them the entrance to the boat. "Come on in, everyone! ...What is wrong with Sonic, though?" she asked, looking at the "Stickhog" standing still.

"Long story..." Chris muttered.

After explaining Sonic's condition, a confused Roll understood the situation before everyone got into the boat. Megaman, Luigi, Peach, and Big got to the top of the lookout tower while everyone else was inside the boat, looking outside the windows. The boat's engine then started to turn on before it slowly went towards the lake before picking up some speed. The boat went towards the west in tranquility.

Lake Jyun

After departing from the docks, the steel boat went around the lake's water in a quiet manner. The four on top of the admired the sunset reflected on the water while Big took advantage of this and began fishing from high up. His fishing rod's fishing line was long enough to reach the water. He only hoped that one of his baits would be Froggy, but he was very patient, giving him all the time he needed to wait for a bait.

"What a nice view from up here," commented Peach as she looked around the lake, finding some mountain trenches and trees along the coast. "I heard from the TV station that they were going to use this locale to make a new episode o-"

"P-Peach, don't talk about that novel or else you'll go back with them and leave us forever..." Luigi said.

"Luigi, I'm not going to do that..." Peach said confused.

"How's the view from up there, Megaman?" Roll called over from the boat. "Everyone here is having a good time so far, and the engine seems to be working very well thanks to the yellow refractor. Any problems?"

"There aren't any problems so far," replied Megaman as he rested his hands on the handrail of the tower. "Everything is fine up here."

"Glad to hear that," she said. "If my assumptions are correct, we should be reaching the little island where the Sub-Gate's entrance is... Let's take a look, shall we?"

The four on top of the tower looked over the western horizon where they spotted a small island with a yellow dome on the middle of it. It was the Lake Jyun's Sub-Gate.

"So there's one here," Luigi said.

"Yeah," Megaman said. "Tomorrow, we'll explore that Sub-Gate and see what we can find inside... Maybe we can find a stronger refractor for the Flutter to work again..."

"Let's hope there is one inside," Peach said, making a happy expression. "I can't wait to see what is waiting for us inside..."

"M-more killer robots bent to kill us," muttered Luigi.

Big looked at them over his right shoulder. "Maybe Froggy's in there. I have a feeling he's inside that place."

Peach rubbed Big's shoulder. "I'm sure he is, Big."

"(We know better than him that the Froggy guy isn't there...but Peach wants to cheer him up, anyway,)" Luigi thought with a deep sigh.

"Sweet, this is so much fun, everyone!" called Chip over from inside the boat. "Riding on a boat around the lake during the sunset is so much fun! You get to see landscapes, trees, fishes, and beeping spots blinking over this round-graphed screen!"

"C-Chip, would you please not get too close to the controls?" asked Roll. "You're getting so close to them that you'll push some and the boat might break up!"

"Sorry, I was getting excited in seeing the beeping spots..."

Music stops

"Well, please, don't... Wait, what beeping spots are you talking about?"

"Um, the ones on that round-graphed screen? They seem to be getting closer to the center for some reason... Is this the legendary game Pong?"

"W-wait, this isn't a game or something... This is the sonar I made for the boat to detect anything coming at our way just in case to be safe... So then, these spots coming to the center, where we are right now, are actually... Oh no, this is bad... Megaman!"

"Roll, what is happening now?" Megaman asked seriously, the others looking worried at this.

"I'm picking something up on the sonar... Keep an eye out, Megaman!" warned Roll. "I don't think we're going to have a peaceful tour around the lake like we planned!"

"W-what do you mean by that?" Chris asked within the boat.

Peach blinked and turned towards the east. She gasped and covered her mouth with her right hand. "E-everyone, look over there in the air!" she warned.

Megaman, Luigi, and Big turned to the east where they gasped and saw several small yellow ships flying and passing over them. Once the ships passed, Big looked down the boat and gasped once more. "S-submarines!" he yelled.

All of them looked to the water around them where they spotted three red submarines trying to come closer to the boat. Seeing this, Megaman decided to talk with Roll. "Roll, there are submarines going after us!"

"I knew it... They're here! Their robots are here!" Roll said. "The guys that attacked the city are here as well!"

Megaman saw the round skull emblems printed on the front parts of the red submarines. "The Bonnes!" he said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ness yelled from within the boat. "These guys just won't give up in bothering us, will they?"

"It was so obvious that they were going to come back after us. I mean, didn't you see their determination to stop us from stopping them?" Ike asked.

"Actually, I was being sarcastic, Ike. I knew they were going to come back. They're the kind of guys who screw up a lot but don't give up that easily."

"COMING, SERVBOT #24!" yelled one of the submarines. "You guys are finished! You are to be taken down along with your boat for causing Miss Tron and everyone else so much trouble to get treasure!"

"You shall pay for making Miss Tron ban us our curry rice for dinner yesterday!" yelled the right submarine.

"My tummy is still empty! I want to have some good ol' curry rice right now!" yelled the left submarine.

…

"...FOR THE CURRY RICE!" the submarines proclaimed.

"Do these guys have ANYTHING ELSE worth fighting than food?" Ness asked annoyed. "Kirby, don't give me that look either!"

Megaman grunted a bit. "This is seriously not looking good for us now..." He turned to Big, who was reeling in his fishing line. "Big, I think you should go back into the boat."

"I-I'm doing that right now!" Big said, finishing reeling in his fishing line before he went into the ladder and climbed down. Once he did, Mario, Volnutt Kirby, and Ness came out to take the remaining space.

"Alright, it's obvious we'll have to fight to teach these guys not to piss us off," Ness said. "And... Is Peach going to stay here?"

Peach looked serious and nodded. "I'm going to stay here and fight," she said. "I know I can fight back now."

"Sheesh, I've got to thank Chris for putting a princess from the royalty in battle..."

"I-I heard that from down here, you know!" yelled Chris embarrassed. "I-I had no other choic-"

"Megaman, everyone, be careful from now on!" Roll said. "We can't just go back to the dock with them around the Sub-Gate. We've gotta protect it from the Bonnes at all cost-" she stopped talking once the boat began rocking back and forth thanks to a torpedo that collided against it. The ones on the lookout tower tumbled to the sides, but they kept standing after it stopped shaking. "T-they're using torpedoes... Everyone, this boat isn't strong enough to resist too many hits!" she warned them. "You've got to destroy any ship or submarine before they launch missiles or torpedoes to the ship! If they DO launch those, try to destroy them before they damage the boat, got it?"

"We got it, Roll!" Megaman said. "Did you guys get it?"

"Yes, pretty much," Mario said.

"S-so we just need to take down the ships and submarines and make sure we don't get hit," Luigi said.

"Sounds simple enough to me," Ness said. "Besides, we're a bunch of people."

"That reminds me," Roll began, "swap places with somebody else inside the boat. You could get hurt badly if you are hit with the boat as well. I'm gonna drive the boat around the lake so they don't catch up with us. Everyone, do your best to keep us afloat at all cost! Mission start!"

Molgera Battle

"There are three submarines right behind us. Take them out!" Roll commanded as she drove the boat along the right side of the Sub-Gate isle. "Megaman, use the Powered Buster to target far away enemies! It should be strong enough to destroy them!"

"I'm on it right now!" Megaman said, aiming his Powered Buster at the middle submarine. The blue boy shot a powerful blast that exploded on the machine, but it wasn't strong enough to take it down completely. "You guys, I need some backup here!"

"PK Flash!" Ness yelled, shooting a green flash that grew in size and exploded on the middle submarine, blowing it up. "One down!"

"Incoming missiles from the air!" Roll yelled.

The group looked up to see the yellow ships dropping missiles towards them. Megaman grunted and began using his buster to shoot them all down. Not long after that, more and more ships began to appear, firing missiles from everywhere. "T-this is crazy!" Megaman said. "You guys, I need more help!"

Luigi yelled as he shot green fireballs towards the missiles. He began to panic, covering his eyes with his free hand. "T-tell me if I'm hitting one, Mario!" he yelled.

"I don't really think you can hit one... You're not even shooting fireballs at the right direction."

Without uncovering his eyes, Luigi turned to the west and began shooting fireballs to the air.

"...Luigi..." Mario muttered with a sigh.

Volnutt Kirby jumped over the handrail and began shooting the missiles together with Megaman. The blue boy sweat dropped as the puffball seemed to be doing a better job than he did. Before long, all missiles were taken down. Megaman looked down at the water where five submarines were chasing after them. "There are just too many of them!" Megaman yelled, using the Powered Buster to take down the submarines.

After Ness sent a PK Flash that burst between two submarines to make them explode, he grunted and said, "I hate it when stupid villains start to have the upper hand like this!"

Peach looked hopeful, standing between all of them. "It's a sign that they're becoming much better at their jobs. I'm happy for them for improving."

"Which side are you with, again?" Ness asked annoyed.

The princess looked upset at this. "I want to think that I care for everyone."

"That's very sweet of you, but they want us to die," Ness pointed out.

Peach smiled a bit and chuckled, despite the fact they were all being assaulted by submarines and flying ships. "Don't be so silly. They at least want us to stop attacking them like we're doing right now."

"Um, and they want us to sink along this boat... What am I arguing with you? You'll never understand that they want us out of the picture, like, FOREVER!" he yelled, turning around in time to send a PK Thunder at a missile.

Luigi looked worried at Peach. "P-Peach, please, get back on the boat! Y-you're going to be in danger if you stay out here!"

"But I want to help," Peach said.

Ness turned to her. "Then use magic on them or something, preferably the flying ships coming at our way!"

The princess turned to the south where two ships flew towards them, ready to shoot more missiles while Mario, Megaman, and Volnutt Kirby were busy with the submarines. The princess got a bit sad but snapped out of her thoughts. "O-okay, this is for the better, I think..." she trailed off, focusing her hands to cast a blue sphere of magic.

Unfortunately, the boat suddenly shook wildly, causing the six on the lookout tower to fall down on the floor. "Everyone, be careful!" Roll said from the boat. "Even though there aren't many submarines chasing after us, they're also sending torpedoes from far away! Look into the water to find the torpedoes' shadows to blow them!"

Mario and Luigi helped Peach to get up while Megaman stood back up quickly by himself. "Torpedoes are being shot from far away? Oh, great..." He looked behind the boat and shot down two submarines with a shot from the Powered Buster. The blue boy looked to the west where three shadows were going towards them. "There they are! Guys, I need assistance!"

Ness grunted and stood back up. "I'm getting so pissed now," he muttered. "PK Thunder!" he yelled, sending forth a sphere of electricity that went on the shadows and dove down for one, causing three explosions on the same spot.

The princess gasped and looked back at the ships flying from the south. She quickly concentrated magic between her hands and shoved it forward. "Thunder Flare!"

Between the ships, a big sphere of sparks circled electricity. For Peach's dismay, the sphere of sparks remained in place as the ships easily flew past it, shooting four missiles at the boat. Mario looked serious at this and brandished FLUDD from his back, shooting a stream of water that stopped the missiles from bursting into the boat.

Peach looked down in depression. "My magic didn't do much..." she muttered.

Mario stared at the sphere of sparks vanishing in the air. "It only remains in one place after it goes off," he said, looking back at Peach. "You should use that when you think the enemy isn't going to move away."

Peach sighed. "I'll take that in mind..."

"...If you want, you can go back into the boat, Peach."

"..." The princess nodded and smiled. "I have to understand when I can't be of help to you, so please, don't get hurt, Mario."

Mario smiled and nodded. "I'll be just fine."

The princess chuckled and went back into the boat by climbing down the ladder. Once she did, Chris came back on. "I-I'll replace Peach," he said.

Luigi looked at Chris. "Um, why do you look a bit pale on the face?"

The teen's face was completely pale. "W-well, after those torpedoes shook the boat a bit...I-I just found out I can get seasick if the boat moves a bit too much..."

"Are you sure you can fight like this?"

"Y-yes," Chris said. "I-I'm on the verge of throwing up, but as long as we keep those torpedoes from hitting the boat, I'll be fine."

Mario shook his head. "If you're so sure, I won't stop you."

Chris chuckled nervously. "T-this is what I get for not knowing my sicknesses. I can do this just fine."

And once the boat was hit by a surprise torpedo blow from the front, it made Chris's stomach feel bad.

"...B-bag! B-bag! B-bag!" Chris pleaded, covering his mouth with both hands and jumping back into the boat where one could hear him...

A scared Lucas came out from the ladder and stood up. He shivered a bit before regaining his composure. "E-everything's fine for me to take Chris's spot, right?" he asked.

Ness nodded. "Yes, please help us here."

Megaman and Volnutt Kirby stopped shooting at the torpedoes and missiles for a brief moment. The blue boy looked at them. "There aren't any submarines and battleships around," he said.

"That's right," Roll said as she drove the boat behind the Sub-Gate's isle. "Sadly, there are more ships coming to our way from the west. Please, destroy them before they destroy the boat!"

"Roll, is the boat in danger of sinking?"

"Fortunately, no," Roll said. "Try to take them down faster, okay? They could really beat us if we let them attack us!"

"Got it," Megaman said.

"And please, guard the boat well! Chris here is having a very bad time with his seasickness..."

"I'm here to make sure he feels fine," Peach said.

"Incoming four battleships from the west!" Roll said. "Take them out!"

Mario, Luigi, Ness, Lucas, Megaman, and Volnutt Kirby looked towards the west, seeing four yellow battleships flying against their direction. Megaman took a quick initiative and began shooting them with the Powered Buster while Volnutt Kirby simply used his Mega Buster. Ness and Lucas joined in by using their PK Thunder attacks.

Luigi looked miffed at this. "It hurts to know we don't have long-range attacks like they do, right, Mario?" He looked to his left, finding his brother missing from the spot. "...Mario?"

"Water ready," FLUDD spoke, making Luigi look forward where Mario had joined the four, using FLUDD to shoot a long stream of water towards incoming missiles from their attackers that were taken down.

"..." Luigi got very depressed and squatted down, rubbing a finger on the floor. "Everyday, I get left out in any way..."

The group finished taking down the missiles, focusing next on obliterating the four battleships, taking them all down. "Alright, the sky is clear," Megaman said, looking back down in time to shoot an incoming torpedo. "But we still have to look out for anything coming from the water!"

At that moment, two red submarines came out and launched two torpedoes each. Megaman and Volnutt Kirby took care of the torpedoes while Ness and Lucas used PK Flash and PK Freeze respectively to freeze the submarines. After the machines were frozen, Megaman used his Powered Buster and shattered the submarines to bits. "Nice combo, I must say," said Ness pleased.

"Keep it on!" Roll encouraged. "We still have...nothing...to worry about...anymore..."

Music stops

"What?" Luigi said, looking back up from his spot.

"Um, how do I put it? Those were all the enemies..." Roll said.

"The graphed-circle doesn't have any more beeping spots," Chip said. "It's so clear...and boring."

"You took them all out of commission... Phew, that was all? That was kind of strange..."

Megaman sighed and lowered his Mega Buster. "That went a little bit too fast than I expected..."

Ness sat down and sighed loudly. "I knew they were just throwing everything they could on us. I'm happy they didn't get the upper hand after all."

"I did hear them saying they needed to work fast on their robots," Mario said. "Those submarines and battleships were probably the only ones they could make in time to use them on us."

Lucas looked back at the water where some unconscious Servbots were floating close to each other. He gasped a bit at the sight, but he didn't want to say anything. "A-ah..."

Luigi stared at the fainted Servbots. "U-uh-oh, I think we killed them!" he yelped.

The others looked at the Servbots floating calmly on the water. "Aren't they robots, though?" Ness asked. "I'm pretty sure they are. Nobody has pincers as hands."

"Yeah, they're robots...with personalities," Megaman said. "I don't think they can die. They can be repaired...so, what now?"

Roll chuckled as the boat circled around the isle. "I guess we can resume our peaceful ride around the lake, or we can go ahead and explore the Sub-Gate."

"That will have to wait for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time, I'm afraid! Ahaha, ahahaha, !" laughed a maniacal voice in a high-pitched tone.

Ness groaned and lied down on the floor. "Are you really kidding me for real?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Sadly, I'm not kidding," Mario said.

"Mario, I wasn't talking to you."

At that moment, right behind the boat, the Smashers and Megaman turned to see water rising up. They gasped as the water made a tower out of itself just behind them all. Once the water fell back into the water, they were facing what looked to be a big purple robot with a frog head with yellow eyes. Within the robot, they expected the Bonnes to be riding it.

Lucas backed away to the handrail. "W-what is that thing?"

"It's...it's...it's...!" Ness said shocked, staring at the robot before them. In a second, he looked bored at it. "It's just an armless robot with a frog head and nothing else..."

"...Is the head modeled after Froggy's head?" Big asked out of curiosity. "I can't see it from down here."

"Er, no, it's modeled after a lame frog's head."

"Aww..."

For everyone's dismay, the robot behind them wasn't exactly near completion. In fact, the only feature that stood out the most about the aquatic robot was its frog head situated on the top of a purple tower of thirty feet. On the sides, there were empty black circles where arms should have been, and the backside was supposed to have turrets over a small terrace close to the water, which didn't have anything at all but empty spots for said turrets.

"...Seriously, people," Ness continued, "are you really kidding me? I'm surprised that 'robot' is even able to stay on water!"

"Hey, don't you dare mock my robots!" Tron was heard yelling from within the robot. "I-I just happened to finish this and stop you guys from entering the Sub-Gate, that's all!"

Within the robot, the trio of Bonnes was sitting on chairs: Bon and Tron were sitting on a lower floor while Teisel sat down on a chair located of a higher floor, all of them close to each other. The inside was probably the most surprising feature of the robot since it was complete, unlike the outside of the robot itself.

Tron made a fist and stood up. "Try to say one more time! I dare you, I double dare you!"

"I'm really tired to face dares, so no," Ness said.

Megaman cleared his throat as the robot pursued them calmly. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious, blue boy?" Teisel asked. "We're here to sink down your boat along with every single one of you! After we learned from our loyal Servbots, we decided to make a surprise assault! If you want to go through that Sub-Gate, you'll have to deal with us!"

Mario looked confused. "But we're just taking a ride around the lake to test out the boat Roll fixed today," he said. "We didn't want to enter the Sub-Gate for today because it's late afternoon..."

"..." Teisel turned to Tron. "Tron, maybe I was deaf before, but WERE THOSE SERVBOTS even telling the truth?"

Tron looked upset at her big brother. "They DID say they were going to enter the Sub-Gate!" she yelled before looking down at the floor. "Hey, you! Were you telling the truth?"

"U-um, we just said that they COULD be here to enter the Sub-Gate, Miss Tron!" a random Servbot was heard yelling from under the floor. "W-we never said they WERE going to enter the Sub-Gate!"

"What?" Tron asked enraged, stomping on the floor to panic the Servbots. "Y-you bunch of little liars! We could've finished this robot with the time we had today, but you screwed it all up by telling us possibilities! I'm so ashamed on you!"

"Ooooh, noooooooooo!" all the Servbots (unknown number) said in unison.

"W-what a way to screw up big time..." Chris said from within the boat. "...BLEH!"

Bon twitched his pacifier and looked at Teisel. "Babu? Babu, babu?" he asked.

"W-well, I don't know what to right now, Bon," Teisel said nervously, turning to Tron. "Tron, do we have weapons to attack them all?"

Tron shook her head and looked worried. "We just finished making Barcon's main body," she said, revealing the robot's name. "I'm afraid to say we were quickly moving on to the arms and turrets, but with the sudden warning of Megaman's group coming here, we didn't have enough time to prepare the weapons...so yeah..."

"..." Teisel hung his head down. "...I...hate you...Servbots... I really, REALLY hate your guts..." he muttered to himself.

"...GrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRR! DAMN YOU, ALL, DAMN YOU!" Tron snapped out, stomping on the floor to panic the Servbots even more. "Next time, make sure your assumptions are right, you heard me? None of you will get any curry rice tonight...either!"

"N-no, please, you can't do this to us!" a random Servbot in the floor down below pleaded. "M-my tummy won't hold on for much longer if we keep getting our dinner banned!"

"No matter how hard I try, you never get things done correctly!" Tron complained. "Do I have to deserve this? What did I ever do to you? Why are you so irresponsible?"

"B-Babu, babu, babu!" Bon said in panic, trying to calm down his older sister to no avail.

Teisel panicked, seeing Tron stomping on the floor while Bon did his best to calm her down. With the Servbots' please for forgiveness, the leader of the Bonnes grunted loudly and held his head with both hands. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" he demanded, his yells reaching deaf ears.

Outside the robot, in and on the boat, the Smashers remained staring at the robot while the Bonne Family continued their riot and arguments between each other. At that point, they were all being ignored, most of the covering their ears from the loud screams. "I feel so much pity for them than before..." Ness muttered, shaking his head in lament. "They ARE really a lost cause...a big one."

Mario looked at Megaman. "Every time they come to us, it's harder for me to believe they caused you a lot of trouble before."

Megaman sweat dropped and chuckled nervously. "U-um, they are just losing their cool so fast, that's all."

"Now I'm going to be asking myself if they had some cool before," Ness said.

Megaman looked annoyed. "I-I'm honest when I'm saying they were really a threat before. They just happen to have some streak of bad luck today."

"If that's the case...damn, let them be."

Roll kept circling the isle while the Barcon kept chasing after them with all the tranquility of the waters. "...Should we just go back to the dock and come back tomorrow?"

"Personally, I don't think we should go," Peach spoke, patting the seasick Chris's back. "We're just very close to investigating it."

"I...I vote that we get in the Sub-Gate now that we have the chance..." spoke Chris weakly.

Lucas forced a smile. "L-let's go, then," he agreed. "F-for once, I want to go inside."

"Lucas, just admit it and say you're starting to get upset by the Bonnes," Ness said bored, lying down on the floor. "It'd be no surprise if you did get upset."

"W-well, I don't want to get so annoyed like you, Ness."

Ness chuckled heartily at this. "Oh, please, Lucas, don't joke around with me. The Bonnes are but a mere stepping-stone to us. If I had to compare, I'd say they're at the same level Pokey is."

"...What the..." Roll trailed off, spotting a single spot on the sonar. "E-everyone, there's something else approaching us from the east!"

"What is it this time?" Ike asked.

"I-I don't know, but it seems to be all alone," Roll said. "Whatever it is, it's coming towards us!"

Mario looked serious. "Do we have to face something else?"

"Funny, at times like this, I'd expect Pokey to show up," Ness said. "I remember his spider mech didn't have any functionality to operate in the water, so I doubt it's him."

"It IS Porky, you little dimwit, photogenic bastard!"

"..." Ness inhaled air and groaned so loudly that everyone heard him. "I really AM gonna cry my eyes out right now. Please, please, don't tell me that guy is here!"

"I'll tell you myself, then! I AM here; ready to kick your butts to the far away space!"

Porky's Theme

From besides the Barcon, Porky's spider mech rose up from the water, sporting new propellers beneath him that made it possible for the machine to fly around the air. The Smashers looked at Porky's corpse trembling with chuckles of his own. "Duahahahahaha! Here's Porky, right in the nick of time to steal the spotlight!" Porky proclaimed. "Do you like the new me? I made my spider mech waterproof. Now it can travel in water to find Ness and his squad of cosplayer people! Damn, I'm such a GENIUS!"

Ness sat up while Lucas hid behind a wary Megaman. "Dammit, Porky, what are you doing here now? What do you want? Can't you see we already have someone else to deal with?"

"Oh, it is you, Ness!" Porky said. "I'm happy to know your spleen was nursed back to health. You're a pretty damn lucky guy for avoiding death at the hands of...Death itself!"

The Onett resident slapped his forehead. "Oh, yeah, I did heal..." he muttered sarcastically.

"Anyhow, I went to the local hospital," Porky said. "They said they didn't know a kid named Ness, so as the badass kid I am, I kept asking for you. Those nurses were seduced by you so they wouldn't tell me that you were there."

Ness gritted his teeth. "What part of your mind made you think I can seduce women?"

"The part where I always kept our memories of our youth, which I'm still kind of experiencing. Going back to my trip to the hospital, the nurses were screaming and calling the police to get me arrested for being a corpse inside a machine. I'll have them know I'm still WAY more charming than you, Ness! I'm in no way a corpse, dammit!"

Luigi stood behind Mario. "S-so, what did you do after that?"

"Their screams and the police were kinda annoying me...so I blew the place up with my Porky bots."

Megaman barely noticed a tower of smoke coming from the east, where the Uptown was located. "W-what did you just do?" he asked in disbelief.

"You DAMN idiot!" Ness cursed. "There were surely people being taken care of in the hospital, and you BLEW IT just like that?"

"I mainly blew it because I thought you were there," Porky said.

"If I remember, you said you were going to wait for Ness to recover so you could fight each other," Mario said.

"Yeah, it turns out I suck at waiting. I get myself a bit too much pulled into the moment."

"And you BLOW UP hospitals?" Megaman asked, signs of irritation starting to show up in his tone of voice.

"...Yup."

"Ugh, you imbecile!" Megaman yelled, aiming his Powered Buster at Porky. "You're going to pay for blowing up the hospital!"

Ness stood up and glared at Porky. "Now this is the only time you crossed the line for real," he said seriously. "I'm going to have to put you out of your misery...and that spider mech of yours!"

Lucas looked at Mario. "I-I never saw Megaman getting so angry..." he muttered.

"He surely has hero genes in him," Mario said. "But either way, what Porky did today was unforgivable. We'll have to face him right now to avenge anyone hurt at the hospital."

Lucas thought for a bit before nodding. "Y-yes, I agree," he said, looking upset at this. "H-he's going way too far now!"

Luigi looked away. "But, if we think again, Ness kind of has some blame since he lied about having a hurt spleen..."

"Luigi," began Ness, obviously sounding pissed, "I have nothing against you, and I don't have any grudges either. But if you remind about that, let me clarify something to you."

The green plumber, sadly, feared most people, even if they were seemingly younger than himself. He gulped, scared to ask, "W-what?"

"I never told him I was going to a hospital. It wasn't me who blew up the place, and it wasn't me who said I was going to that hospital. He JUST thought I was going to be there. Whenever Porky is mentioned, it will always have to be him who screws up, so don't go blaming me...got it?"

"..." Luigi gulped and nodded. "O-okay."

"Good," Ness said, his hands letting out some PSI energy. "All we have to do now is BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIM!" he yelled.

Unfounded Revenge/Smashin' Song of Praise

"Duahahahaha!" Porky laughed, flying around the boat while ignoring the Bonnes altogether. "Yes, yes, yes! That rage, it makes my hair tremble with excitement! Show me more, Ness, show me MOAR!"

"Wow, he really is insane," Roll commented. "I don't quite understand how we ended up being dragged into this situation, but we have no choice but to fight him head on, it seems. Everyone, be careful! Protect the boat at all costs while making sure you aren't hit! He does have projectiles, right?"

"Yes, he does..." Chris muttered.

"I wonder when you're going to stop feeling so sick..."

"It'll be harder to take him down," Ness told the others. "Don't underestimate him when gets like this!"

"Before, you said we shouldn't worry, but now you're telling us to do that?" Megaman asked.

"It's his craziness that kills people, not himself!" Ness said. "If you're not careful, you'll get yourself screwed over by his antics!"

"Antics that you should pay attention to!" yelled Porky. "Porky Bots, go!" he yelled, shooting three Porky Bots from the spider mech's back.

"What the..." Megaman trailed off before he used the Powered Buster to take one of the bots down, the other two being taken down by Volnutt Kirby and Ness. "Were those robots supposed to look like him?"

"Hey, mind your words, blue boy!" Porky yelled. "They reflect my charm-ness, but the real deal, me, is actually more charming!"

"Talk about being narcissistic to the end..." Megaman muttered.

"Anyway, DIE!" Porky yelled, releasing energy-concentrated bombs that quickly fell over the boat and exploded all over it. The boat tilted wildly at the sides, making everyone tumble over (and a well-known teen getting very seasick).

"C-careful!" Roll said. "Those bombs are very dangerous! They can make this boat sink if we get more of them!"

Mario stood back up. "In that case, don't let any bombs fall on the boat!" he advised.

"I'm sorry, but I happen to have lots of bombs ready for you," Porky said. "And I can use them, like, NOW!" he yelled laughing, releasing more bombs.

Before the bombs could even descend, Megaman reacted quickly and shot a single Powered Buster explosive, blowing up all the bombs to create a chain reaction that destroyed all of them, damaging Porky's mech as well. The blue boy grinned a bit and chuckled. "Sorry, but those bombs aren't going to work for you as long as I'm here," Megaman said.

"On, then, I'll push you off!" Porky yelled, the spider mech's claws suddenly stretching all the way towards the lookout tower. "Check out my extendable claws!" he said.

The group gasped and quickly sidestepped to avoid being impaled by the claws. When one landed close to Ness and Lucas, the former looked at the latter and said, "Set in on fire!"

"R-right!" Lucas said, shooting a bolt of PK Fire with Ness to set the claw ablaze. The claw began to burn, reaching the spider mech. Porky began to panic as the temperature in the machine rose up, causing him to retreat his claws and dive back into the water to put out the fire.

Porky rose back up and grunted. "You don't really wanna see me when I'm pissed. I tend to be more annoying when I'm angry!"

"W-wow, he admitted he's annoying..." Luigi muttered.

"SHUT UP!" Ness's neighbor yelled angrily. "Taste some red bolts!" he proclaimed, charging red electricity under the propellers. The spider mech quickly flew over the lookout tower and remained there.

"H-how do we avoid that?" Luigi asked.

"Out of my sight!" Megaman yelled, firing a dozen of shots from his Powered Buster. Fortunately, the combined explosions pushed Porky away, interrupting his charge.

"Dammit!" Porky yelled. "You're lucky you have that blue boy with you, Ness! You're THAT lucky!"

Megaman looked serious at Ness. "He really likes you in a very sick way, no offense."

Ness frowned. "This is why I'm such an oddball..."

"Okay, let's try something different," Porky began, flying closer to the boat. "Porky Bots!"

"B-but you already used them!" Lucas pointed out.

"This time, they come in dozens so you have some people to play with! Go, go, GO!" Porky yelled, shooting dozens of Porky Bots from the spider mech. At this, the group gasped and began shooting all the robots to prevent any from landing on the boat. The six used fireballs, PK Thunders, Mega Buster shots, and Powered Buster artillery. From any point of view, it looked as if they formed a wall to destroy all the Porky Bots in the air. "Hey, stop blowing them all to smithereens!" Porky complained. "They should be the ones blowing you to smithereens instead!"

Luigi started to pant heavily, releasing fireballs after fireballs. "I-I'm getting so tired, Mario!" he whined. "T-they just keep coming!"

"Keep on going!" Roll encouraged. "You must stop all those robots from landing on the boat!"

"Please, don't stop!" Peach cheered.

"(Why, oh why does she have to cheer us on? I don't want to see her getting depressed if we fail!)" Luigi whined mentally, soon noticing that the Porky Bots' assault finished. "Huh?"

"You guys can get on someone's nerves way too fast," Porky said, flying around the boat without looking away from the group. "You did on mine, so you'll pay! Go, Piggy Claws!"

The spider mech's claws began to glow in a sickening green color. Before long, they all quickly dove towards the group, each one slashing them harshly before retreating.

"Hope you liked my ultimate attack! That should things easier for me now that you're all poisoned!"

They all turned pale as their vision became blurry. Ness, Lucas, Luigi, and Volnutt Kirby tumbled over their rears while Megaman and Mario kept themselves standing up by hanging on to the handrail. "G-guys...I don't feel so good..." Megaman muttered, coughing weakly.

"T-that attack was rather fast..." Ness muttered. "D-damn you, Pokey..."

"It's PORKY!" Porky demanded. "P-I-G-A-S-S, Porky!"

Lucas held his stomach. "I don't have any energy to laugh... I really want to, but I can't..."

"Oh no, hang in there!" Roll said. "I-I don't know what to do! D-Data, go heal Megaman!"

"I'm afraid to say I don't like to go out during a fight!" Data yelled. "If I get attacked, it's over for me!"

"D-Data!"

"S-sorry, uki!"

At that moment, from the ladder, Chris (barely feeling okay while using his Scholar job) came out and flipped his book's pages. "Remove the damaging liquid... Poisona!" he chanted, holding out a hand.

Bubbles flew out from everyone's bodies, cleansing them all from the poison. They all soon felt healthy, standing back up to face Porky. "H-hey, that's cheating! You're not supposed to do that! Now my ultimate attack got wasted!" he whined. "I don't like when my ultimate attacks get wasted like this! I-I'll sue you for this!"

The scholar ignored the old kid's rants. "Y-you guys, please, get rid of him as soon as possible," Chris said, feeling sick in the stomach. "If you need any healing, just give me a call... BLUH!" he covered his mouth and went into the boat in a hurry.

Megaman sighed in relief. "Roll, we're fine now!"

"Phew, you had me really worried," Roll said. "Thank you so much, Chris."

"BLEH!" was Chris's response.

"I'll...take that as a 'you're welcome', then..."

"Grr, now I'm mad!" Porky said. "And don't you even dare point out I was already mad before! This feeling of anger is a new one that will help me to destroy you, Ness, and your little squad of peop-" he was cut off after a fully charged PK Flash, a blow from the Powered Buster, and a fully charged PK Freeze collided against the spider mech, making Porky tumble back in the air. "GAH! I HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS!"

Mario frowned at this. "At this rate, his head will burst out of anger."

"His head would've blown up a very long time ago," Ness said. "To these days, I'd like to see it burst literally."

Megaman glared towards Porky. His eyes then turned to the right, finding that the Barcon was still chasing after them. "Hey, are the Bonnes still here?" he asked.

The group stared at the frog robot. "Funny, I thought they left after Porky arrived."

"T-they were there this whole time," Luigi said. "They haven't stopped arguing..."

They all could hear clearly that the Bonnes were arguing against each other, making a big riot that was taken care of by themselves without having good results. The Barcon silently chased after the boat, making no harm at all. "M-Miss Tron, don't take out dinner and meals away now!" whined a random Servbot inside the robot. "P-please, don't be so cruel!"

"It's all your fault that we're messing up big time here!" Tron yelled. "If you talk back to me, I'll take away your breakfasts as well!"

"Ooooh, noooooooo!" all the Servbots whined.

"Shut up, I said, shut up!" Teisel yelled. "I want to have order here! OOOOOOOOORDEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

The six on the lookout tower exchanged glances and shook their heads in pity for them, focusing back on Porky, who just noticed the robot following the robot. "Are these guys your friends or what, Ness?" Porky asked.

"Hell no!" Ness complained. "These guys are morons! If anything, they should be your friends!"

"Ha, good one!" Porky laughed. "I, the great Porky Minch, only work alone!"

"Aren't you working for the Subspace Army?" Mario asked.

"Yes, but I work alone," Porky said. "There's no damn way a digital old geezer will order me around!"

"How ironic you say that, old kid geezer," Ness muttered. "Also, you ARE working for them. Don't deny the undeniable."

"I'll UN-deny the deniable, then!" Porky proclaimed.

Lucas looked confused. "I don't know how to respond to this..."

"I bet nobody knows…" Megaman trailed off.

"Then don't do it 'cuz you're going down!" Porky yelled, launching several bombs over the boat. In a hurry, the Smashers and Megaman scrambled around, trying to prevent the bombs from landing on the vessel. "Go, my claws!" he yelled while the bombs kept raining down, extending all the claws to the group, slashing them harshly across their bodies. In doing this, they all yelled in pain and stopped focusing on the bombs, which made contact with the boat and exploded.

"Aaaaaah!" Roll yelled as the boat shook violently (not doing any good to Chris's stomach). "E-everyone, please, hold on! The boat is still okay!"

Luigi groaned in pain, standing back up with the others. "B-but I'm not okay..." he muttered.

"D-dirty trick coming from a dirty pig..." Ness cursed under his breath.

"Ha-hahahahaha!" Porky laughed. "What's wrong? Where's your cool now, everybody? Are you getting tired? I was just starting to have fun tonight!"

Megaman looked towards the sky, where the sun was hiding away in the horizon. In a matter of minutes, night arrived at the lake. He grunted in pain, supporting himself by leaning against the handrail. "T-this won't stop me from fighting," he muttered.

"Hmm? Do you want some more? Fine by me, baby!" Porky said. "Let's make a riot!"

While the fight kept it course, inside the boat, the imp witnessed Sonic's body growing in side with fur. "...Oh, you guys, Sonic just transformed into his Werehog look," Chip said. "And he's not a stick anymore..."

"H-hey, where the hell am I?" Sonic asked gruffly. "W-we're on a boat?"

"Yep, and we're fighting a flying machine with a corpse on it and stuff."

"I-I don't want to stay on a boat! G-get me to safe land ASAP!"

"Oh, for the love of... Sonic, I want you to stop being afraid of the water!"

"I-I can't stop doing that just because you're ordering me to do so!"

"Oh, well, in that case, think the water is harmless to you."

"T-that's not working for me!"

"Okay, then think the water is land."

"It's not working still!"

"Think the water is your friend."

"Nah-ah!"

"Fine, then think you're running freely around a big space of land where water doesn't even exist."

A bell chimed inside Sonic's head.

"...So?" Chip asked.

"...You know, I feel so good now," Sonic said.

"Ah, Sonic, you're not afraid of the water anymore? That's a miracle!"

"What are you talking about? I'm running around land where water doesn't exist. Are you crazy, Chip?"

The imp found out he had made the hedgehog a psychopath by his orders.

"...Um, yeah, you're absolutely running on a big space of land where water doesn't exist."

"Aww, this feels sooooooooo good. The wind touching my face, my feet leaving a wind trail behind. This is awesome!"

"...Oh, great goodness. Chip, you screwed Sonic's mind!" Chris yelled. "I hope you can fix him later after this! But...it is not like it was already screwed before."

"Hey, Chipminator did the right thing here," Chip said. "Sonic doesn't fear water anymore. That's good, right?"

"Y-yes, but in doing so, he thinks he is running while he is just there looking at us without doing anything else!"

"Personally, he's better this way," Ike spoke. "I didn't want to see him in a fetal position. And, just maybe, he could be useful in this state..."

"...You mean...he could go out there and fight Porky?" Chris asked. "Wait, that is it! The others are having a hard time. We need to ask some of them to swap with us!"

"You all swap. I'll stay here," Ike said.

"Why?"

"I only fight at close-range. That machine is fighting in the air. I can't just jump to it and fall into the water."

"It sucks to be you right now, right?" Chip asked.

"...Please, don't say that."

The scholar shook his head and looked up at the ladder. "H-hey, somebody, can you hear me? I think it is time to swap places!"

In a hurry, Luigi jumped into the boat. "S-swap with me, please! I-I don't want to keep on fighting!"

"Oh my, you're injured, Luigi," Peach said. "Please, come with me so I can heal you."

"O-oh, thanks..."

Chris looked back up at the ladder. "We need somebody else!"

At that moment, Kirby jumped down, having lost Megaman's ability. He sighed in defeat and began to rest. "You...go...please..." he muttered.

"The coast is clear!" Chris said. "Sonic, please, follow me!"

"Not right now, Chris," Sonic said. "I'm running around."

"Chip, do something about this! And Ike, if you want to be helpful, take care of Eggy for me!"

"I feel so ashamed of myself for taking care of an egg," Ike muttered angrily. "Fine, I'll take care of it. I hope my father doesn't laugh at me for this."

"He surely will," Sonic commented.

"S-shut up!"

Back on the lookout tower, Megaman was able to stop a Porky Bot from exploding on the boat, shooting it down with a single shot. He panted heavily with Mario, Ness, and Lucas while Porky chuckled amused. "C'mon, admit you can't keep on with me," Porky taunted. "It'll be easier if you just lie down and die!"

"N-no way..." Ness muttered. "L-losing to you is like losing all my dignity..."

"I love to see scenes like this," Porky said, "the part where the rival falls to his knees and begs for mercy. Don't worry, Ness. As your super rival, I shall hear your pleas."

"Is your mind really that messed up?" Ness asked annoyed.

"Don't you mock this scene!" Porky demanded. "Aww, shucks! You just made this scene feel worthless! It won't be any good if we re-do it!" He began moving the spider mech's claws. "Awright, you guys, it's the end of the line for you!"

At that moment, Chris and Sonic came to the lookout tower, with Chip following them as well. The scholar looked at the imp. "I am not approving your ideas to order Sonic, Chip. I am glad he is not thinking that he is in a field. But now, I am quite upset that he thinks we are doing a hiking on mountains."

"Don't make me stop now," Sonic said, staring at Chris. "We need to climb another mountain."

Chip shook his head at Chris. "This had to be done, my lad," he said coolly.

The scholar sighed and furrowed his brow. "I swear that you will mess around with Sonic's mind a lot more in the future..."

"AHEM!" Porky cleared his throat loudly, making the three look at him. "Thank you for coming to the epilogue of this fight, you guys. Really, you make this really worthwhile for me."

The scholar instantly groaned. "Your attitude is like a thorn penetrating my toes. Sonic, show him what I mean when I am saying I do not want to hear him anymore!"

Sonic growled angrily at Porky. "Hey, go take a hike somewhere else!" he yelled. "GEARGH!" he roared, extending his claws towards the spider mech. The old kid gasped as the claws grabbed his own claws, trying to tear them off from his machine.

"S-stop, stop! Y-you can't do this!" Porky yelled, trying to fly away so Sonic's claws would release the mech's claws. Unfortunately, he found out that Sonic's claws kept stretching longer and longer, no matter how long he pulled back. After he flew back fifty feet away, Sonic got angry and began pulling back the spider mech. "Y-you little cartoon wolf, let go of me!"

Chris watched surprised at this that he adjusted his glasses a bit. "Interesting... It seems Sonic himself has proved to be a weakness to Porky. Truly, this must be an advantage for all of us."

"I have some news here," Kawashima spoke. "The Over Limit gauge is ready. Why don't you try using the Unleashed Mode?"

"I admit we have not used that in a good time," Chris said, changing to his Beastmaster job. He brandished his whip and looked at Sonic. "Keep holding Porky while I get ready, Sonic!"

"Got it!" Sonic said, grunting loudly as he pulled back the spider mech. "G-grr!"

"Everyone else, take advantage of this and attack the mech! Maybe we can beat him with a single move!"

"Right!" Megaman said, standing back up to shoot more Powered Buster blasts at the machine as Sonic pulling it to the boat.

The beastmaster slashed down his whip before holding it with both hands. "O beast that roams nocturnal meadows and searches for unaware prey... I order you to listen and obey to my orders..." Small fangs stuck out from his lips as his eyes turned a wild red. "Control: Wolf!" he yelled, hitting Sonic hard with the whip to take control over him. "Release the Unleashed Mode!"

"GEEEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!" Sonic howled loudly while an fiery blue aura enveloped his body, his eyes turning wilder than before. The aura then shot all around his shoulders to his arms and claws, which were pulling Porky to them.

"Pull, I say, pull!" Chris ordered, Sonic suddenly pulling the machine right close to the boat. "Pull that bastard close to us!"

"Y-you're scratching the paintwork!" Porky yelled. "I demand your dog to STOP this instant!"

After the spider mech was pulled right in front of the lookout tower, Sonic let out a fearsome growl, making the others back away a bit from him as he glared at Porky. The beastmaster, however, noticed that something had woken up inside the werehog. "(A new ability?" Chris thought. "Sonic, it's time for you to use the Were-Wallop!"

"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed, growling loudly at Porky.

"Don't let go of Porky yet! Pull a claw back to you so you can start a combo. After that, use the new technique!" He slammed down the whip's tip. "Now!"

"HAA!" Sonic yelled, pulling back a fist to smash it against Porky's windshield. The old kid began to panic as the werehog then began to send a flurry of punches, all of them almost shattering the window that shielded his corpse from getting hurt. With a single punch, the spider mech spun crazily in the air while Sonic winded up his right fist to his side. "GEEEEEEEEARGH!" he howled, upper-cutting the spider mech high into the air.

The others watched amazed as the spider mech was sent into the sky. In a second, it clumsily fell back down into the lake, where Porky began to scream out of panic to put the machine back into the air. Porky began panting heavily as water fled from his windshield's cracks. "L-look at what you've done to my expensive spider mech, you mutt!" Porky complained. "B-be glad the windshield didn't get broken!" He gasped as the furious werehog extended his claws to grab the machine's claws again. "K-knock it off!"

"I'LL KNOCK YOU DOWN! GEEEEEEARGH!" Sonic howled, pulling up his claws to make the spider mech spin crazily once more. The werehog jumped high into the air, raising his energy-filled fists over his head. With another fearsome roar, Sonic brought his hard fists down on the machine, performing the Were-Hammer at high potency to dove Porky down into the water, causing a high amount of damage to the old kid.

"Well done!" Chris exclaimed happily, as the Unleashed Mode seized to boost Sonic's power.

Sonic chuckled and gave a thumb up to Chris. "Nice teamwork, you," he said, Chris chuckling heartily at this.

Megaman stared amazed at the werehog. "T-that...was incredible," he muttered.

For their dismay, the spider mech slowly flew back to the air, Porky panting heavily as the machine barely kept flying in the same position. "I-I call dibs on you!" he demanded. "H-how the heck did you get so strong? I trained myself to get stronger!"

"Just because you train doesn't mean we'll be the same," Chris pointed out. "Also, you don't really train. You just upgrade your spider mech to do things for you..."

"L-lies, all lies!" Porky yelled, starting to deploy more Porky Bots. "I-I am stronger! Y-you can't deny that!"

Ness pressed his brow for a bit. "Can you just leave already?" he asked annoyed as everyone else stopped the Porky Bots from landing by shooting them down. "PK Flash!" Ness yelled, sending forth a green flash onto the spider mech, gradually growing in magnitude of power.

"N-no!"

Music stops

With a big explosion that radiated green flashes, all of them stopped attacking as they saw the spider mech blowing up in the air. It flew around crazily like a fly, buzzing loudly with Porky's panicked screams. "I-it's blowing up!" Lucas said.

"I-I-I hate you!" Porky yelled. "I-I-I despise you! I-I-I want you all dead someday! I-I-I'm going to get rid of you someday, Ness! A-and that pussy Lucas will get what he deserves for messing with my army! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Porky yelled, shortly stopping flying around. "Oh, this really sucks," he muttered before the spider mech blew up, turning into a big scrap of metal that rocketed towards the sky where anybody could hear Porky cursing as he disappeared from sight.

"...Is it over?" Roll asked. "Everyone, you did it again! You managed to beat that guy after all! Phew, I thought we were really going to sink for a minute there!"

They all remained silent for a while before sighing in unison. All of them sat back down, relieved that they got rid of the old kid. "W-we beat him..." Megaman muttered. "...You guys aren't thinking that innocent people died, right?"

Mario shook his head. "We don't know if there were people there to begin with. If they were...we can hope that they survived."

"I guess that's the only thing we can do for now..." Megaman muttered. "...I don't ever want to see that maniac neighbor of yours, Ness."

Lucas frowned. "B-but he always comes back somehow. He'll surely come back to try to kill us."

"Sadly, I agree," Ness muttered. "Porky is not like the guys who give up so easily."

"Like the Bonnes?" Mario asked, pointing back at the Barcon.

They all fixed their sight on the robot following the boat. By now, their arguments were starting to tire themselves out. The Bonnes didn't have more strength to keep on yelling, and this made the group get even more relieved than before. "A-and...you won't get...desserts...either..." Tron muttered, coughing afterward.

Teisel sighed and leaned against his seat. "F-finally, there isn't anymore whining in here..."

"Babu..." Bon trailed off pleased.

Tron wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Phew, I feel a bit much better now," she said. "Now, what were we doing before we got in this...bickering?"

"Babu."

"...Oh, right, we were chasing Megaman," Tron said, looking back at the screen in front of them to stare at the group. "You there! We're back in action this time! You better get ready for the worst 'cause this is the last time you wi-"

"But we thought you didn't have any means to attack us," Megaman said.

"W-we do have some others ways to attack that little boat of yours!" Teisel yelled. "Tron, we do, right?"

"N-no..." Tron muttered, trying to restrain her anger at the sad fact.

"W-we have to come up with something!" Teisel demanded. "We came all this way to do something! I shall not accept defeat!"

"Babu!" Bon said, raising his arms.

"Well said, Bon!" Teisel said. "We are the Bonne Family! We're first class pirates bent to steal treasures from all around the world! When we face trouble, we always find a way to get pass through obstacles! No matter what happens, we always escape with treasure on our hands! Our skills are unmatched, and other pirates shake in fear when they hear about us! Diggers usually scramble away to make way for us! We are the Bonne Family! We get what we want! All of you are just a bunch of rats pestering us. Just like any other group, we will crush you!"

Tron and Bon stared at Teisel with some admiration. "Teisel..." Tron muttered, her eyes filling with tears of joy.

Teisel pointed at himself with a thumb. "I AM the leader of the Bonne Family, after all. It's always me who has to bring up the family together in times of desperation. And tonight, we will achieve our goal: raid Lake Jyun's Sub-Gate and get everything out from it!"

"Babu?" Bon asked.

Teisel crossed his arms and nodded confidently. "That's right, Bon. Those guys will have to go away or else we'll unleash our full potential on them!" He pumped up a fist. "Servbots, do you hear me? We're not going to fail tonight! We shall succeed!"

"Yes, Master Teisel, sir!" the Servbots yelled with determination, ignoring the sad fact that they were stripped away from their breakfast, meal, and dinner for a month.

Teisel made a fist, pointing it at the group. "How about if you start begging us for mercy, you guys? We MIGHT give you some of it!"

Tron pumped up her fists. "Teisel, you're awesome!"

"Babu!" Bon said, pumping up his fists.

Teisel began crying toon tears with his siblings. "Y-you guys...you're the best brother and sister a big brother could ask for!" He rubbed his eyes with his right arm. "Y-you're so...so awesome..."

Tron sniffed sadly. "P-please, Teisel, don't cry! You've given us hope to keep fighting on! Show us the way to victory!"

"Babu, babu, babu!" Bon said.

"I-I want to show all of you the way, but this moment is so memorable! I want to cry my eyes out so see the path clearly!" Teisel said. "J-just give me a minute here, and we will continue on!"

"Master Teisel!" the Servbots yelled before everyone in the began to cheer loudly.

And, as for the Smashers, who were being ignored by the Bonnes having their memorable moment of false glory...

"...Tell me they're not telling us their life story," Ness muttered in boredom.

"S-should we attack them while they're distracted?" Lucas asked.

"N-no!" Chris said. "All villains have tragic pasts to tell. We need to hear them out so we get a better understanding of them!"

Sonic looked bored at Chris. "Aren't you getting a bit into the moment yourself, Chris?"

Chris blushed and looked away. "M-maybe their determination is rubbing on me..."

"Chris, don't make me hit you in the head with my bat, then," Ness warned.

"S-sorry."

"Anyway," Megaman began, a bit freaked out, "we should do something about the Bonnes."

Mario suddenly got an idea. "In that case, wait here. I'm going back into the boat," he said, starting his way down into the boat by climbing down the inner ladder.

Several seconds later, Teisel stopped crying his tears of joy out. He chuckled to himself and pointed back to the group. "So then, how will it be this time? Are you prepared to face us, or are you prepared to run away and leave us alone? As a rule, we will give you five seconds so you can have a chance to scram!"

"Pss, Mario," Chip whispered. "Do they have weapons?"

"Not really," Mario whispered. "They're just trying to look tough. They must be very delusional."

"I'll start your countdown!" Teisel warned. "Five! Four! Three! Two! On-"

At that moment, Peach peeked out from the boat and looked at the Barcon. "Oh, who are they?" she asked.

Teisel stopped counting down. Just seeing Peach's face made him stutter like an idiot. Tron and Bon exchanged glances before their big brother began to sweat bullets. "Good God Lord! I-it's Actress Peach!" he said in a high-pitched tone filled with excitement.

Tron knew what was going to come next. Grunting loudly, she pointed at Teisel. "Teisel, what are you doing? We can't back down after you gave us that inspirational speech!"

The leader of the family shook his head. "B-but I can't bring myself to hurt her! S-she's more valuable to me than any treasure!"

"Not this whole crap about your novel's actresses again!" Tron groaned.

Peach smiled happily. "Is it you, Teisel?"

Teisel yelped like a girl at his name being said by Peach. "O-oh my god, she knows who I am! I-I'm the happiest fan in the world!" he muttered, clapping his hands so many times (like a girl).

Tron smacked her forehead. "Who would forget you, Teisel? You just met her five hours ago! Stop acting so shocked and let's get this show on the road!"

"N-no, I can't! I just can't!" Teisel said, touching his index fingers together. "H-hurting one of my favorite actresses is like getting my hair cut off..."

"Babu?" Bon asked.

"Teisel's hair doesn't defy gravity, so don't ask stupid things, Bon!" Tron scolded, turning back to Teisel. "Look, if you don't want to go through with this, fine! I'll assume control of the Barcon!"

Teisel suddenly guarded his control panel from Tron. "I won't allow you, Tron! You dare hurt her, I'll make you regret it!"

Tron, angrily, stood up and walked to Teisel's side, trying to pull him off the control panel. "You stupid weirdo, give me your spot!" she yelled.

"No!" Teisel pleaded. "I won't let you hurt Actress Peach! I'll sacrifice my life for her if I have to!"

"That's so sweet of you, Teisel," Peach was heard saying. "But, I wouldn't like to see you dying..."

Teisel gasped. "O-oh my god, she's so sweet!" he muttered, getting inspiration to keep Tron away from the control panel. "You won't lay a missile on her, Tron! I'm warning you!"

"Dammit, Bon, help me here!" Tron demanded. "Bon!"

The poor Bon was cowering in fear on his seat. He started to get scared at the scene just ten feet away from him. "B-babu! Babu, babu!" he yelled scared.

"I will stop yelling once Teisel stops acting like a retard!"

"Babu!"

"Stop whining and help me here!" Tron struggled.

"B-baaaaaaabuuuuuuuu!" Bon cried.

"Servbots, get your damn butts over here and give me a hand!"

"B-but, Miss Tron, we're scared!" a random Servbot said underneath the floor. "We don't want to get in trouble with Master Teisel!"

"YOU'LL GET IN TROUBLE WITH ME IF YOU KEEP CRYING DOWN THERE!"

"A-aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" all the Servbots panicked loudly, scrambling around the lower floor.

While all the commotion kept its track, the Smashers merely stared at the Barcon, where a new bickering started to erupt within its steel walls. Peach looked concerned about the Bonnes that she asked, "Is it okay for us to do this?"

Mario sighed. "I don't want to make you sad, Peach, but this had to be done."

"A-Actress Peach!" Teisel yelled. "G-get away from here! I won't let these people hurt your fresh and sweet face! T-this is your chance to live on and keep making debuts in my novels!"

Ness, for once, began to chuckle so loud that he started to laugh afterward. "God, these guys are hilarious!" he rejoiced. "O-oh, my funny bone! I-it hurts! A-ahahahahaha!"

Lucas looked away. "(Ness, you're freaking me out so much...)" he thought.

Sonic looked miffed at this, looking back up to Chris. "Hey, do you have any ideas about what to do with 'em?"

The beastmaster frowned. "Sonic, this is already being such a waste of time to me. If you're asking me for an idea...then I'd say that you should crush that robot with your own hands...I mean, claws."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh well," he muttered, getting serious before his claws extended to grab the robot by the sides. The werehog began to put a lot of pressure and force in his claws that the robot's sides began to be compressed so quickly, alarming the Servbots inside it.

"M-Master Teisel, Master Bon, Miss Tron!" a random Servbot yelled, "t-the Barcon is getting compressed by that wolf monster out there, and our robot wasn't properly shielded with the best steel we have due to time constraints! A-at this rate, the Barcon will blow up!"

But his warning fell to deaf ears, as there was a lot of commission in the main room of the Barcon. Teisel and Bon were cursing each other out so loudly while a scared Bon backed away to a corner, trying to make his siblings stop yelling and screaming. A red alarm soon blared off inside the Barcon as the werehog compressed the robot with his big claws. Panic kept ensuing inside the robot. And before long, it finally blew up into smithereens, Sonic pulling his claws back.

Megaman looked up in the sky where a multitude of knocked out Servbots and the Bonnes themselves (still cursing and yelling) flew far away into the horizon, turning into a small blink of light, indicating that they were gone. "WE'LL BE BACK, I SWEAR WE'LL BE BAAAAAAAAAAACK!" Teisel cursed out as his voice faded into the sky.

Ness's laughs subsided, replacing them with long pants. "O-oh, why did you have to end the scene so soon? I was enjoying it..." he said, sighing afterward.

Megaman placed a hand over his forehead. "I feel sorry for them. This surely wasn't their night."

"And I don't feel very happy that they left like that," Peach said preoccupied. "I'm sad that they couldn't make up..."

Sonic gasped and fell to his knees, facing the princess while joining his hands. "N-no, don't get mad at me again! I-I won't tolerate any more silent treatments! For my heart, please, don't ignore me again!"

"S-Sonic, I-I won't ignore you!" Peach said. "D-don't cry, please. E-everything will be just fine!"

While the werehog tried to convince Peach of something she wasn't even going to do, Roll looked concerned as she drove the boat ashore the Sub-Gate's isle. "This is bad..." she muttered.

"Hey, Roll, why did we stop here?" Megaman asked.

"Megaman, I have some bad news," Roll said. "Apparently, the damage we took on that battle debilitated the boat's functions more than I imagined it could take. Fortunately, I can fix it up, but it will take a lot of time to do so... Thanks to all that, if I continue to drive the boat, it could sink, and we could end up drowning."

"That's bad to know..."

"Unfortunately, we'll have to stay here for a little while longer," Roll said. "However, since we're stuck here, why don't you guys get started on exploring the Sub-Gate?" she suggested. "While you're checking it out, I'll be fixing up the boat."

"But we're tired," Megaman said.

"O-oh, I can heal everyone," Chris offered.

Peach raised her hand. "I know how to heal as well."

"If we combine forces, we could heal everyone completely in a matter of time," Chris said. "And we could be ready to explore the Sub-Gate as well."

"Just having all of you with us makes everything easier," Roll said with a pleased sigh.

An hour later...

After healing everyone (and Chip putting Sonic's mind right on track), Megaman and his group stepped out from the boat, standing over the grassy patch on the isle. They all looked at the yellow dome in front of them, which Megaman went to inspect to insert his Digger license. The mechanical door beeped a few times, then it slowly opened, revealing an elevator waiting for them to use.

"...What is this?" Kawashima said. "E-everyone, there are Subspace readings coming from the Sub-Gate!"

"What?" Mario said. "Does that mean they're inside?"

"Yes," the professor said. "If my assumptions are right, they could be looking for the Shamar Temple. And, just maybe, it could reside deep within the Sub-Gate..."

Chip looked serious. "My future is waiting to be answered inside these ruins," he muttered. "Guys, help me to Chipminate this!"

"You mean, blow it up?" Ike asked.

"No, when I say Chipminate, I mean investigate," Chip said, receiving bored looks from everyone. "What?"

"I can't really get the true meaning of that made-up word..." Chris said.

Chip chuckled. "You see, Chipminate has many different meanin-"

"That you only understand," Sonic said.

"Yes."

"Hmmmmmmm..." most of them grumbled in unison.

Megaman turned to the boat. "Is it okay for you to work in fixing the boat while you give us pointers, Roll?"

"Yeah, don't worry," Roll said, peeking out from the boat's door. "I can multitask pretty easily by myself. You don't have to worry too much, Megaman."

Big peeked out his face from the other side. "Besides, I'll give her some company. I don't like to explore ruins at night."

"Sub-Gates often have illumination," Megaman said. "Hopefully, this one has its own one."

"But Kawashima just said that the Subspace Army could be waiting for us inside," Chris said. "And there might be a chance that Froggy is there."

Big's ears perked up a bit. "Froggy is inside?" he asked.

"Maybe?"

The purple cat jumped out from the boat and walked towards them. "In that case, I want to go."

Peach chuckled heartily. "I admire Big's determination to find his little lost friend," she commented.

"Heheheh, I'll do anything to rescue Froggy," Big said pleased, blushing a bit.

"Oh well," said Roll as Data peeked out from her back, "Data here will give me some company. Did you ask him to heal your blue suit, Megaman?"

"He already did," Data said. "Megaman is all set to go, uki!"

Megaman nodded. "We're ready to start the exploration," he said, turning to face the Sub-Gate. "Wish us good luck."

Chris walked to Roll and handed over Eggy to her hands. "You take care of Eggy. I can't take him with me in a place where robots will try to hit me."

Roll looked at the egg. "...Okay...I'll take care of this...Eggy..." she trailed off as Chris went back to the group.

Ike looked serious. "I don't like where this is going, so we better be prepared for what's to come."

Lucas gulped and took out Rope Snake. "Y-you stay with me so I can get moral support," he told the snake.

"Yep," Rope Snake said. "You do all the fighting while I sit back and relax."

"Y-yes, of course..."

...

"...What?"

"Lucas!" Ness yelled from the elevator, everyone else already waiting for the clueless Lucas. "We're going to leave you if you don't hurry!"

The blond kid blinked surprised at them, Rope Snake hiding inside his pocket. "H-how did you get there so..." The elevator started moving down, alarming Lucas. "H-hey, please, wait!" he yelled, running inside the dome where the door closed slowly while he jumped down to catch up with everyone.

Roll and Data kept staring at the dome before the engineer cleared her throat and kept Eggy in her pockets. "I better get started on the reparations. Data, you assist me," she said.

"Alright," Data said, holding a screwdriver and some screws on his little hands. He also wore a small yellow helmet (which seemed very familiar to many but Roll) when Roll noticed.

Suddenly, the sonar began to make sounds, locating several energy readings coming from further inside the Sub-Gate...

Lake Jyun - Sub Gate

Megaman Legends/64 - Main Gate

Once the elevator touched the cold floor, the group stepped off from it, finding themselves standing in a tight room where the walls had a crystalline blue and light blue color. For Big's relief, there was illumination to enlighten the way.

"Well, here we are," Megaman said. "This place is probably much different than the previous Sub-Gate."

To their front, they crossed some double doors to reach the other side. Once they did so, they turned to the left, walked, and turned to the right to find a wider area. "So far, no Reaverbots..." Ness muttered.

Big looked down at the floor. "Huh? What's that shadow thing coming out from the floor?"

They all turned their attention to the floor where a familiar monster came out and screeched loudly at them, making everyone plug their ears. The monster stopped screeching and dangerously walked towards them.

"A-a Nightmare!" Chris yelped.

"A Nightmare?" Megaman asked.

Before anything else could be asked, Sonic growled angrily and tossed a flying punch at the monster, crushing it against the wall behind it. The Nightmare screamed in pain before vanishing into spores of darkness, also releasing red orbs that somehow flew into Sonic. The werehog blinked at this, feeling as if his body had gained a small amount of power.

Megaman, still confused, repeated his question. "What was that monster just now? I know it was something called a 'Nightmare' because you said so, but...you know them?"

"Well..." Sonic trailed off, "we know those monsters because they're plaguing worlds where the temples can be found."

"They only decide to appear during the night, though," Ike said. "If you don't bother them, they'll just patrol their surroundings without making a ruckus. If you got in their path, they will start to attack you."

"They relate to me in some way," Chip said. "They're my brother's henchmen."

"Your brother?" Megaman questioned.

"A big deity of darkness who's trying to bring damnation and annihilation upon Sonic's world and the other worlds as well," Chris said. "And no, that thing doesn't EVEN look like Chip at all."

Chip grinned coolly. "My brother didn't get the handsome looks of our father," he said.

"Chip, I'd like you to stop talking before we ask who your parents are," Sonic said. "But what I want to ask is this: what were those red orbs that flew into my body?"

"If seems those red orbs helped you to get closer to obtain a new technique, Sonic," Kawashima said. "I can safely assume that you get stronger the more creatures like the Nightmares you defeat. Collect those red orbs to unlock more abilities."

The werehog stared blankly at Chris. "Why the hell did that sound like a video game tutorial just now? Oh...wait...never mind," he said.

Megaman looked a bit stern. "Hey, don't leave me in the dark. I want to know more about these Nightmares."

"That's all we know about them," Chris said worried. "Whatever you do when you spot one, don't try to pick a fight with them."

"But that monster came out and attacked us!"

"But in this case...we'll have to go forward and fight them," Chris said. "We're so many, so I don't think we'll have much problems with them."

"Megaman!" Roll began to talk. "Megaman, this is bad!"

"Roll, what is it?" Megaman asked. "Are there any problems with the boat?"

"No, that's not it," Roll said. "I'm detecting several strange energy signals all over the Sub-Gate. Those very same signals aren't Reaverbots but...something else I can't put my finger on..."

"...More Nightmares," Mario muttered, "and maybe even more different kinds of them."

Megaman shook his head. "Roll, everything is fine. We'll proceed through and take down anything in our way to the refractor."

"Are you sure? The readings are quite strong..." Roll trailed off. "...Alright, I'll trust you, everyone. Be extremely careful, okay? I'll warn you if there are enemies nearby."

The blue boy crossed his arms and thought for a bit. "Things are getting pretty erratic ever since all of you came here."

"I can't say for sure that we bring trouble to you," Mario said. "These events were going to take place even if we weren't here. And if you had to face all those obstacles alone..."

"I guess you're right... Sorry for that," Megaman said. "Well, if you guys are ready, let's move on."

"By the way, Megaman," Roll began, "I'm detecting some small energy readings hidden within treasure chests. It might be possible that there are Starter Keys scattered all over the place. I suggest that you find all of them before going further into the ruins."

"More of those keys," Peach said. "Let's do our best."

"I-I'll shield you while we do our best," Luigi offered, standing next to Peach.

After proceeding through a corridor, the group reached another wide room where four Reaverbots itched closer to them. The Reaverbots had red bodies with cream legs and heads with a thing prong for each one of them, sporting the Reaverbot eye on their heads.

"R-Reaverbots!" Lucas yelped as most of them assumed their positions.

"Even though those creatures are dwelling around the ruins, the Reaverbots are still patrolling," Megaman said. "Don't get careless, everybody. These Reaverbots are the most basic of them all."

"Those are called Red Zakobons," Roll said. "Zakobons are the most common type of enemies you'd find in a Sub-Gate anywhere. However, Red Zakobons are stronger versions of the common Zakobon. They like to ram themselves against their enemies, and they shoot fireballs from beneath their feet. As a little side note, they're also called Horokkos."

The four Red Zakobons raised their legs to reveal holes between them. They all shot four fireballs to them all, making them gasp. Mario reacted quickly and stepped in front of them, taking out his cape to reflect the fireballs back at the Reaverbots, successfully hitting them straight on. The Reaverbots began to get fire, making them all run amok by sliding around the floor.

"M-Mario, I think that was a bad idea!" Luigi said as everyone began to dodge the ramming attacks.

"I-I'm sorry for that mistake," Mario said, jumping over a flaming Red Zakobon.

Ike, however, stopped dodging to sweep his sword around, managing to hit two incoming Red Zakobons to crush them. Upon getting rid of two, the Greil Mercenary used a Quick Draw to tear apart one that was going to crash against Big, who snuck over a corner and ducked to take cover.

And Sonic just crushed the last one with a free claw. Yes, nothing so surprising like Ike did.

"Hey!" Sonic yelled to no one in particular.

Kirby sighed. "Thank you, Ike," he thanked Ike.

"Well, that was a first," Megaman said. "I never knew they could go crazy if they get themselves on fire."

"I'll think carefully about reflecting attacks next time," Mario said.

Megaman looked to the east where a treasure chest rested idly. "Ooh, I'll see if there's a Starter Key over there," he said, walking over to open the chest. He opened and took out more machine parts. "False alarm, but still useful," he said, keeping the parts away.

"Everyone," Roll began, "I'm detecting some Reaverbots waiting to ambush you across the double doors," she said as everyone turned to the west, spotting said double doors.

"I don't know if it was better not to known if they were going to ambush us," Ness said. "Even if we know they're going to ambush us, how the heck are we going to avoid an ambush?"

"By not entering?" Big asked.

"Yes, but we don't have any choice," Megaman said. "Let's get ambushed."

"You don't know how twisted that sounded just now," Chris said with a sigh.

The group crossed the double doors.

And they were ambushed by six short-legged robots that had their bodies flat, resembling big mouths to chow down their trespassers. The Reaverbots walked towards them as if they were crocodiles. Megaman grunted and began firing energy spheres from his Mega Buster, not doing any damage to the Reaverbots. The others began to attack them with long-range attacks, but none of them seemed to work. "Roll, these Reaverbots can't stop moving towards us! We can't hurt them!"

"Those must be Kurugurus," Roll said. "Watch out for their mouths! They can actually hurt you pretty badly!"

"Tips, dammit, give us any tips to hurt them!" Ness asked.

"If you want to hurt them, you have to flip them over," Roll said. "Their upper body is heavily-armored, but they're extremely vulnerable from their lower parts."

"How do we flip them over if they charge at us?" Chip asked.

Suddenly, one of the Kurugurus that Megaman was shooting at flipped over by itself. It budged its six legs, trying to get back on its feet. Megaman reacted and fired a Powered Buster shot, blowing the Reaverbot to bits. "It flipped over?" Megaman asked.

"I think multiple shots force them to flip themselves," Mario said. "Let me try," he said, shooting several fireballs at a charging Kuruguru. The Reaverbot, after receiving eight fireballs, flipped over by itself. Sonic then took advantage and slammed down both of his fists, obliterating the Reaverbot. "Just as I expected… They flip over if they receive too many hits."

"Thunder Flare!" Peach suddenly shouted, shoving a blue sphere of magic towards the four remaining Kurugurus. A big of circling sparks suddenly appeared between the Reaverbots, delivering many hits that forced to flip over. Since the sphere didn't stop, it began to damage their lower parts, making them explode into bits as the sparks vanished.

"Nice," Sonic muttered, grinning to Peach.

The princess chuckled heartily. "Oh, please, don't look at me like that," she said embarrassed.

"We took care of the Kuru..Kuru...something, Roll," Megaman said embarrassed, looking around the wide corridor where he spotted a corridor on each side of the walls and a set of double doors in front of them.

"Megaman, I'm detecting three Starter Keys nearby," Roll said. "They seem to be dividing in three different ways: one is to the south, one to the west, and one to the north."

"I think I have a pretty good guess why they're around," Megaman said. "Everyone, we need to divide into three groups and find those keys. My group will go forward, one will go to the left corridor, and the other one will go to the right corridor."

Mario, Luigi, and Peach decided to join Megaman. Sonic, Ness, Chip, and Big made the second group, and Ike, Chris, Lucas, and Kirby made the last one.

"We'll be okay from here," Ike reassured Megaman.

"I'm a bit worried, but let's do it," Sonic said, smacking his fists together.

All three groups divided by going through the three different ways. Fortunately, for Sonic's and Ike's groups, they were going to deal with a few problems on their ways to the Starter Keys.

But for Megaman's group, things were going to get dangerous.

The blue boy's group proceeded through the west, crossing the double doors to the next area. They all now were standing in front of a water veil that shielded the next big area crossing it. "Huh?" Roll sounded confused. "Megaman, what can you see up there? I'm not picking anything up on my monitor..."

"What do you mean, Roll?" Megaman asked. "Wasn't this place getting full with those strange energy readings?"

"Yeah, but there were some waiting close to where all of you are," she said. "But...they suddenly vanished as if they were defeated by something else. Moreover, they all were taken out at the same time, and they were separated... I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this... Please, proceed with caution, Megaman. We don't know what's in there."

Luigi gulped and grabbed Peach's left arm. "D-don't say anything else! I-I want to get out of here right now!"

"Luigi, calm down," Mario said. "Unlike the Nightmares, we know how to think. That gives us a big advantage."

"Y-yes, but..."

"Everything will be okay, Luigi," Peach reassured the green plumber. "Have some confidence, okay?"

While Luigi nodded, Megaman looked away in boredom. "(Who's the one getting protected here again?)" he asked to himself. "Well, let's step inside the room. From the looks of it, it's big."

Mario walked to the water veil, crossing his head through it to see the room. The room surely was the biggest place in the whole set of ruins since it had about four different levels of height spread all over it. There were also three more water veils covering some doors. "It looks safe for now," Mario said, crossing the veil completely. "Come on out," he told everyone.

Megaman smiled and walked through the veil while Peach and Luigi followed suit. After jumping down three floors below, they walked to the center, stepping on the water-soaked floor. "Megaman, everyone, be careful," Roll said.

"You worry too much, Roll," Megaman said chuckling. "Trust us when I'm saying that we're going to be fin-"

At that moment, the Mushroom Kingdom residents gasped as Megaman was pushed against the wall by no reason at all. The blue boy grunted in pain as he stood back up to his feet. "W-what was that?" Luigi asked.

"S-something just rammed an iron claw against my face and I got pushed to the wall," Megaman said, looking around the room. "B-but I didn't see anything doin-ugh!" he grunted in pain as he was punched in his gut before being kicked hard on his chest, falling down to the floor. "H-hey, this isn't funny!" he complained.

Mario began to hear some footsteps nearby. "Something is here... Wait, no...there are more of them...and they're walking towards us..."

Luigi began to sweat bullets. "W-who are attacking us like that?" he asked.

"There must be invisible enemies in that room," Roll said. "Whatever they are, don't get hurt! Try to find a way to blow away their cover to know where they are!"

"T-then let's do this!" Megaman said, shooting around the area with his Mega Buster. At first, firing randomly seemed pointless, but suddenly, a shot connected against something in midair, and a Reaverbot appeared before them. "T-that's the thing that attacked us!"

"It's one of those Reaverbots we found at the Sub-Gate of the forest," Mario said. "But this one is blue..."

"An Invisible Sharukurusu," Roll said. "It has the capability to camouflage in water-soaked environments like the room where you are."

Without previous warning, the Invisible Sharukurusu charged at the mushroom trio. Mario looked serious and stood in front of Peach (and Luigi), shoving forward a fire-concentrated hand to deliver fire into the robot. The Reaverbot was pushed back, shooting sparks from the blow it received from the red plumber.

"I-I've got to do this as well," Luigi said. "I-I'll use my Thunderhand!" he said, charging forward to the stunned Reaverbot. "H-hey, you, w-we're not finished!"

Peach clasped her hands together at this display of courage. "Oh, Luigi..." she trailed off with happiness.

"(I-I can pull this one by myself. I really can do it!)" Luigi rejoiced mentally, charging towards the Sharukurusu. "(P-Peach will admire me after this. I-I know she will!) I-its Luigi Time, everybod-"

His charge of bravery, however, was soon interrupted as a metallic claw slammed right into his face, forcing him to fall down on his back.

"...WHY MUST I GET THIS KIND OF TREATMENT WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT? WHY?" Luigi cried loudly before breaking into tears, much for Mario's dismay who finished the robot off with another fire blow.

Peach gasped and ducked down to calm Luigi down. In the meantime, Mario and Megaman shielded both of them from any Invisible Sharukurusus. "There are more of them around," Mario said. "Let's hear them out so we can find them, okay?"

The two remained silent to hear the Reaverbots' footsteps. Upon hearing one coming from behind a high floor, Megaman turned to the left and shot a Powered Buster blast, managing to blow an invisible Reaverbot against the wall. The camouflage lowered down, revealing a Sharukurusu. "There's one!" Megaman said, finishing it off with another Powered Buster blast. "Man, this weapon does come in handy," he said.

"Don't let your guard down yet," Mario said as his eyes looked around the area. "There are more of them lurking nearby."

Just then, Megaman spotted several movements on the water, leaving behind splashes. "There is another one!" he yelled, firing a Powered Buster blast. The explosion pushed down a Sharukurusu, its camouflage malfunctioning. Megaman finished it off with another blast, destroying it to bits.

Suddenly, around the four, a few drops of water rose up a bit, indicating that three Sharukurusus were going to leap at them. "Quick, attack!" Mario warned Megaman. Both began to shoot fireballs and blast attacks, successfully pushing all three Reaverbots down. When their camouflages malfunctioned, Megaman quickly disposed of all of them with his Powered Buster.

They all remained silent, waiting to hear footsteps coming at their way. As they expected, footsteps were heard coming from the north and south. "There are more of them..." Peach muttered.

Luigi stood up and wiped out his tears. "I-I'm ready this time," he said. "I-I can do this."

"Megaman?" Chris's voice echoed. "Mario, where are you?"

From the north, Ike's group came in with Lucas holding a Starter Key. The former four sighed in relief after seeing them back. "Everything went well with you?" Megaman asked.

"We encountered a few Nightmares on our way here," Ike said. "We managed to beat them all, though."

"B-but they were hiding across the corners," Lucas muttered. "One of them even leaped on Ike..."

"Good thing he acted fast," Chris said. "That monster was about to dig its claws on his back."

"But he has that cape to protect his back," Kirby said happily.

"I doubt my cape will protect me of their pincers, Kirby..." Ike trailed off. "Anyway, have you found your Starter Key?" he asked as Lucas gave the key to Megaman.

"We were ambushed by some invisible Reaverbots," Peach said. "Luckily, Megaman and Mario destroyed them."

Luigi sniffed mentally. "(I could've been mentioned as well if I hadn't been attacked.)"

Kirby showed Megaman a ring. "I found this in a hole on the wall," he said, giving the ring to Megaman. The ring itself was actually very valuable. It had a perfectly polished sapphire on top of it.

Megaman smiled at it. "(I'm going to give the ring to Roll. She'll like it for sure,)" he said.

Luigi overheard some arms stretching all the way over a high floor. The green plumber looked up to see Sonic opening a treasure chest on top of the highest platform of the room. "H-hey, Sonic!"

"Man, more machine parts," Sonic said, taking out some parts from the treasure chest. "Here I thought I was going to find all three keys..."

"Sonic!"

Sonic's ears perked up a bit and he looked down. "It's you guys!" he yelled, jumping all the way down to them. "Did you find the last key?"

"The last key? Does that mean you found two keys?" Megaman asked.

The werehog grinned and showed him a Starter Key. "Found this one at the end of the south corridor," he said. "The others went to get another one behind me... By the way, here," he said as he gave Megaman two different sets of machine parts. "Are ALL ruins full of machine parts?"

"No..." Megaman said as he kept all items with him. "But, really, you guys should really consider careers as Diggers."

"Maybe, but we have other things to do," Mario said.

From the south, Ness, Big, and Chip came to them, holding the last Starter Key on Chip's hands. "Alright, we got all three keys," Ness said. "Are there any more?"

"I'm not picking up more faint signals, but I can still pick some strong ones due west of your position," Roll said. "You surely got all the Starter Keys by now."

"All that's left to find is the refractor itself," Megaman said, spotting yet another set of double doors high up on the floor. "If we follow that way, we could end up stumbling upon it."

"...Huh?" Roll sounded confused. "Hey, Megaman, I'm spotting a huge concentration of energy coming from the west part of the ruins. Oh my goodness, it's huge!"

"I-is it bad or good?" Luigi asked.

"I can't tell, but is neither a Reaverbot nor one of those weird creatures," Roll said. "Looks like there's something else beyond..."

Ike rubbed his chin, thinking about a possibility. "Could it be a Temple of Gaia is in here?" He looked at Chip. "What do you think?"

"I think that could be true," Chip said. "There isn't anything else that gives out a lot of energy than a Temple of Gaia. If that's true, we must hurry and head down...I mean, up there!"

"W-wait!" Roll interrupted. "T-this is so weird, but there seems to be people in the ruins as well!"

"There are...what?" Megaman said. "Roll, are you sure?"

"Y-yeah, I'm sure of it," Roll said. "I'm picking up human life signals coming from the same direction of that huge energy concentration!"

"Damn, how many things can you pick up?" Sonic asked surprised.

"I'm an expert in these kinds of things," Roll boasted. "My sonar can detect almost any kind of readings and signals. I can even pick up your life signals. It's very useful when there are Diggers held captive by Reaverbots... Do you think there are more Diggers here?"

Megaman looked skeptical. "I dunno," he said. "If there were, we should've found a boat outside, or maybe they found another way in through the Kattelox Ruins?"

"There are other ways to get in here?" Peach asked.

"Apparently, Sub-Gates are connected together through a big network of ruins under Kattelox Island," Roll said. "However, such entrances are hard to find... Everyone, you must go and find out what's happening."

"Either way, we will ALWAYS go where something big is going on," Sonic said bored.

After the group climbed the high floors and reached the double doors, they all went to the other side.

"...Wow," was all the Lucas could say.

The corridor that they had entered into was completely different. Instead of the crystalline blue walls, they were all standing between water walls that had some special kind of Reaverbots swimming in them. Those very same Reaverbots were green and had crocodile-shaped bodies. Like all other Reaverbots, they had the Reaverbot eye mark as their own eyes.

"Oh, crap," Sonic said, staring into the water walls where he inserted a finger through them before taking it out. "This is what happens when physics get screwed up and water stays still in one place. You don't really wanna mess with them." He turned to Megaman to talk to Roll. "Or is there some kind of explanation for this?"

"Sure," Roll said. "...Um...you see...well...there is this...oh...ah...h-hahaha..."

"..."

"...I've got no clue."

"Thought so," Sonic said.

"What? There's no explanation for these big cubes of water being like this, then?" Ike asked.

Ness faked a sigh of relief. "You've got to love when fantasy is involved. It's real, so everything can happen."

Chris frowned. "Even though I like fantasy so much, don't say it with sarcasm, Ness."

"Shut it, fantasy boy," Ness teased.

"Y-you're the one who comes from a place where trashcans supposedly have evil hearts!"

"...Touché."

Luigi stared at the Reaverbots swimming through the water cubes (the explanation for the water cubes being heavily discouraged to talk about). "T-those robots look nasty to me... I hope they don't come on out and attack us."

And they did, doing so by swimming out from the cubes and landing on the soaked floor, roaring angrily at them.

"...I-I said I was hoping for them NOT to come on out!" Luigi complained to the ceiling. "Are you deaf?"

No.

"A-answer me! Are you deaf?" he argued.

Megaman, despite the fact they were being ambushed by four Reaverbots, tapped Mario's shoulder. "What's happening to him? Who's he trying to talk to?"

"I have no idea," Mario said while everyone prepared themselves for the incoming Reaverbots. "I have no idea at all."

"Watch out," Roll began, "you're being ambushed (you get ambushed a lot of times, now that I think about it) by Firushudots. They not only attack with their powerful jaws, but they also release sonar waves if you happen to be far away from them!"

"What are sonar waves?" Chip asked curiously.

His question was answered as soon as the Firushudots opened their jaws, releasing energy circles out that went towards them. They all yelled at this and stepped aside to dodge the attacks, which ended up creating a big explosion after crashing against the wall.

"T-those are sonar waves, I think..." Big said, cowering in fear on a corner.

"These punks are gonna get destroyed NOW!" Sonic roared as he leaped between the four Firushudots. The four Reaverbots turned to him and released multiple sonar waves. The werehog grinned at this and quickly shot his claws up the ceiling to evade the waves, which not only failed to hurt Sonic, but also ended up colliding against the Firushudots themselves. The magnitude of their attacks was too much for them to take that made them explode. "Oh yeah, that's how things roll my way!" Sonic said, holding himself on the ceiling before falling back down.

"Very good job," Chris remarked. "I just noticed that we're doing very good progress..."

"We'll finish exploring this place at this rate," Ike said. "Let's keep on going with our pace."

Megaman looked forward. He found out that the corridor had two other passages on each side, just between water cubes. "Hey, Roll, there are more passages in here."

"Don't lose your time with those," Roll said. "They lead to the Kattelox Ruins."

"Oh, okay."

"Just continue forward... The refractor is very close now!" Roll said surprised. "Just a few minutes, Megaman, and you'll get the refractor. Maybe it could be even more powerful to repair the Flutter for real this time!"

Megaman pumped up a fist. "Alright, I like how that sounds. Everyone, le-"

"H-hold on, Megaman!" Roll yelled. "Be careful, there's a big energy reading in that place!"

"Where?"

"On the other side of the corridor!"

Kirby gasped and pointed forward. "L-look over there!" he yelled.

Sonic Unleashed - Werehog Mini Boss

Everyone looked to the other side of the corridor where a huge circle of darkness appeared on the floor. Suddenly, from inside the void, a huge figure jumped out, creating a small tremble that shook the water a bit. The group gasped as the shadow before them roared furiously at them, standing on the same spot. The creature was one of Dark Gaia's highest ranked enemies. It was big, surpassing any of them all in terms of height. The monster had a dopey figure with big feet, arms, and a big belly (which was the same place where its mouth was). It also had curved horns on top of its head, with red glowing eyes staring at the Smashers.

"W-what the hell is that thing?" Megaman asked.

"That's a Big Mother," Kawashima said.

"A Big Mother?" Chris repeated.

"They are the most dangerous creatures that work under Dark Gaia," he said. "Big Mothers have a lot of health, and they have rather slow but powerful attacks. Also, be careful when fighting them because they often spurt out Rexes."

"Rexes?"

At that moment, the Big Mother spat out from her stomach six little, green creatures that had dinosaur heads and small bodies, which had a line of spikes running on their small backs. They all shrieked out loudly and fixed their red eyes on the group.

"Those are Rexes?" Chris asked.

"Yes, you have to get rid of them as you fight the Big Mother. Focus first on the Big Mother so she doesn't spurt out more Rexes!"

"...How do you know all this information?"

"I secretly download the data you have on your Wii to know everything I have to know."

"..."

"Hello? The Big Mother and Rexes?"

Sonic smacked his fists together. "Let's make a head-on attack together!" he yelled, rushing towards the Big Mother.

A problem soon surged out because of the fact that nobody followed Sonic. In fact, they all remained behind as the werehog began to smash the Rexes by himself.

"It's so nice to think that he does all the job for us," Ness said. "Chip, I'm glad to say you raised your dog to be a very good ally."

Chip crossed his arms and nodded. "He grows too fast... I'm so proud of him..." he muttered with a sniff before he began to sob on Peach's shoulder.

Chris shifted his eyes with discomfort. "Are we sure that we should leave all the work to Sonic? He might get hurt if we don't help him out."

"Oh, thank you, Chris," Ness said bored, pointing towards Sonic who was being covered by the six Rexes. "You just had to go and say that. You do know irony likes to mess around with us a lot, don't you?"

"I-I was just..."

"Would you guys get over here and help me?" Sonic demanded, trying to shake off the Rexes. "Didn't I say that we should do a head-on attack together or what?"

"I-I'm coming!" Peach yelled, carefully raising her skirt a bit so it wouldn't touch the water.

Seeing this, Mario turned to Luigi. "Where Peach goes, we will go as well," he said.

"D-duh! She can't go into some battle without us!" Luigi said. "L-let's go!"

Once the two plumbers rushed to their princess' aid, Chris turned to Megaman and bowed. "I'm very attached to Peach as a friend, so I need to put my butt out there and help her...sadly," he said, turning to rush with the others.

Kirby turned and looked up at Megaman. "Me too," he simply said, turning back and running towards the battle.

Ness and Lucas looked at the blue boy. "We better go there so they don't think we're lazy," Ness said.

Lucas chuckled nervously. "C-can I make an excuse and say my ankle twisted so I can stay behind?"

"It's too late for that. Also, you promised you were going to be brave, Lucas."

The blond kid gasped. "W-well, y-yes, I said that, I think..."

"So now, I'll make sure you keep it."

"I-I knew you and my brother were the same in some aspects!" Lucas complained.

"Stop whining and get moving!" Ness yelled, starting to run to the battle with a worried Lucas following.

Ike sighed. "I might as well join them. After all, I'm the one holding a legendary sword. I shouldn't let it go to waste this time," he said before he ran to the Big Mother.

Megaman blinked and turned to Big and Chip. "...What about you two?" he asked.

"As Light Gaia, you all are my guardians," Chip said. "You don't want a deity getting killed, right?"

"And I hate battles," Big simply stated.

"..." Megaman merely frowned at this and rushed to the Smashers' aid, leaving the cat and the imp behind.

Chip folded his arms behind his head and lied down on top of Big's head. "You've got to love when you're a super ultra special deity in danger, right?"

Big chuckled. "Yeah, I love that."

Back at the fight...

"Leave my little wolf alone!" Chris yelled as he rushed in, lashing down his whip on the Rexes on top of Sonic. Because the shadow creatures were considered monsters, his attacks ended up hurting them so much that they all backed away and lied down dead. All six Rexes vanished from sight, making Sonic sigh in relief. "Oh, yes, my attacks deal more damage on monsters..."

Some red orbs jumped out from the Rexes' deceased bodies and shot to Sonic, giving him some strength as he got up from the floor. "Ugh, thanks," Sonic thanked Chris as the others caught up with them. They all faced the Big Mother, which spat eight Rexes out. "More of them?" he asked in disbelief.

"I always wonder how those big enemies can make smaller enemies like that," Ness said. "It's like there's some unlimited void full of them."

Around this time, Peach was already to call forth a summon creature. She clasped her hands together as magic rose up from the floor. "Please, don't get hurt... Deathblow!" she chanted loudly, her voice echoing in the corridor.

At first, nothing even happened. The Rexes shrieked out angrily and rushed towards the group. Peach shook her head in shame and looked around for any signs of a summoned creature, but nothing appeared. "U-um, Peach, are you sure you chanted it right?" Luigi asked.

"I-I'm pretty sure I did," Peach said worried.

Lucas began to hear some rushing footsteps coming from behind them. He turned around and gasped to see a moogle riding on top of a chocobo's back. "T-there!" he warned everyone, who stepped out of the way to let the chocobo trample over the Rexes. As it pushed the creatures away, it continued its way to the Big Mother, eventually (and comically) crashing into it. A big boom sign (literally) came out from the crash, and the moogle fell off the chocobo.

Dazzled, the moogle didn't recover, but the chocobo came back and picked it up with its beak before disappearing from sight. The others watched the whole scene from their spots as the Rexes pushed themselves back up to their feet.

"...I hate to say this, but that summon looked a bit pathetic and weak," Ike said.

Peach, however, didn't look that ashamed. After seeing the chocobo and the moogle, she sighed relieved. "Those creatures looked very cute, though," she commented. "Don't you think so, Mario, Luigi?"

"Y-yes, they looked very cute," Luigi said, agreeing with Mario.

"I'm going to try to summon them more often from now on," Peach said a bit determined. "I'm sure they can improve."

"Yeah, they can," Sonic said. "However, do I have to remind you that we're still fighting a supposedly female monster and her pets?"

"And I'm the only one here shooting them down!" Megaman complained as he shot the Rexes away. "Some five or more helping hands wouldn't be so bad to have right now!"

"Our main target is the Big Mother," Ike said. "We need to take her down first so she doesn't make more of these pigs!"

"I believe they're called Rex."

"Whatever, they look like pigs from a distance to me," Chris said. "Leave those monsters to me!"

"Let's rush in!" Sonic yelled as he, Mario, Ike, and Megaman rushed to the Big Mother while the others fought the Rexes.

The Big Mother grew upset after seeing the four coming towards it. It slowly raised her arms to prepare to push them away. Ike wanted to deal a fast blow, using a fully charged Quick Draw to make it tumble back. The Big Mother roared angrily and tried to crush the mercenary by swinging down her arms, but Ike ducked in time and backed away for Megaman to shoot several Powered Buster blasts on her head, causing smoke to blind her vision.

Sonic then crashed a big fist against her stomach, feeling its skin a bit too thick. "I knew she had a thick stomach," he said, pulling back his fist.

"I'll heat up her stomach," Mario said as he began shooting fireballs to her stomach, causing it to get bright red. The Big Mother roared in pain, swinging its big arms around in a panic. "I think tonight is not my night..." he muttered.

"First, your brother complains that it's not his day, then you're the one complaining next," Sonic said. "Meh, I think you just have some bad luck. Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, you're, right," Mario said.

Megaman and Ike backed away to them, their sight fixed on the rampant Big Mother. "Do you think that attack made her lose her composure out of pain?" Megaman asked.

"Y-you guys!" Chris called over where he whipped down a leaping Rex. "An Over Limit is ready to be used now!"

"What is an Over Limit thing?"

The Big Mother stopped panicking and roared at the four. Ike turned to Mario. "Can I have this honor, please?"

"Please do," Mario said.

"Thank you," Ike thanked before he raised Ragnell above him. "For Crimea!" he called out, summoning a rainbow aura that pushed the air around him away. Megaman watched surprised as the Greil Mercenary radiated with some strong energy. The blue boy even saw Ike's eyes shining a bright yellow. In a second, Ike rushed towards the Big Mother, holding Ragnell with both of his hands.

Sonic sighed and frowned. "I want to restore the Chaos Emeralds' power as soon as possible," he muttered. "I miss turning into Super Sonic so much these days..."

Megaman looked at Mario. "Is there anything else you have to say besides the fact Ike turned into some kind of rainbow light bulb out of a yell he did?"

"That's probably everything we can tell you," Mario said. "If there's anything else, we'll let you know... Oh, wait, we can perform combined attacks with each other."

Megaman turned towards Ike's direction. The blue boy watched as the Big Mother brought its arms up over its head, ready to crush Ike. "I-Ike, watch out!" Megaman yelled.

His warning was left unattended as Ike sliced and pushed up the Big Mother into the air with a trail of fire. The Big Mother began to spin madly in the air, and Ike jumped at it where he began to slash it furiously with Ragnell. Mario, Sonic, and Megaman even saw some blazing fire appearing over Ike and the Big Mother. "Great...AETHEEEEEEEEEEER!" Ike yelled loudly as he harshly slashed the night creature. He momentarily stopped to raise Ragnell over him and slam it down on the Big Mother, which resulted in both of them descending upon the floor.

Once Ike and his opponent landed, a big explosion of fire from the landing made the Big Mother yell out loudly in searing pain. The Greil Mercenary back stepped away to wait for the creature to get up.

The creature slowly tried to get up, but it then fell back down and began to vanish in red orbs of energy. The same orbs bounced along the floor before shooting into Sonic's chest, giving him a small feeling of power building in his body.

Music stops

And with a shout from Lucas yelling "PK Fire!" on one last Rex that burst into red orbs, the battle had ended. The red orbs that had been lying down on the floor shot towards Sonic while they all gathered once more.

"Nice," Ness said. "Not even that thing and her(?) pets from the underworld could stop us."

Big and Chip reunited with the group. "You guys were awesome as always," Chip said.

"Yep, they sure were. I'm glad you didn't have much trouble despite the situation," Roll said. "I have good news: I'm picking up a refractor's signal very close to your location, and it seems to be a bigger one than the one we got yesterday! It should be beyond the corridor where you are."

They all turned to the set of double doors that the Big Mother was protecting. "Nobody has anything to say, right? Then let's go," Megaman said, nodding with everyone else.

They all crossed the water-soaked floor and the set of double doors.

And, after crossing them all...

"...I knew it," Chip muttered, a serious expression taking over his face. "I knew that there was one in here..."

"I thought you had a feeling that told you it was here," Mario said.

"And I thank that feeling for telling me," Chip said. "Thank you, Roll. You're such a nice girl."

"U-um, thanks for the compliment?" Roll said confused.

Megaman looked around the area. As far as he could tell, the room was very wide. On the center, there was some kind of orange tires with screws attached on their sides, piled up together. To the left side of the tires, some kind of an entrance to a temple (the Shamar Temple) was there. To the right side of the tires, some people were sitting down behind the bars of a big cage.

The people were Layla, Ehsan, and Froggy, the first one who looked up from her spot and found the Smashers. "...Huh? There are people in here?" she muttered, standing back up.

The Smashers quickly ran to the cage with Megaman looking around in confusion. Upon looking at them, Ehsan sneezed and stood back up. "Who are you?" Mario asked.

"You don't seem to be bad people, right?" Layla asked.

"Nope, we're good guys," Sonic said.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" Layla asked.

"We're looking for a refractor," Megaman said.

"And as for everyone else, we're looking for the Shamar Temple," Ike said, turning to look at the temple. "That is the one, right?"

"...You know the Shamar Temple?" Layla asked before she gasped. "What business do you have with the temple? I hope you're thinking about destroying it..."

"No, we're here to restore its power," Sonic said. "But, seriously, who are you?"

Big stared at Layla's arms where Froggy was resting peacefully. "Froggy!" he yelled excited.

The girl turned to Big and smiled a bit. "Big, is that you? Oh, am I glad to see you again!" she said relieved. "I never thought you'd come all the way here!"

"How is Froggy?"

Layla looked down at the sleeping frog. "He just fell asleep a few minutes ago. The poor guy grew tired of being trapped behind these bars..." She looked at the others. "Are they your friends?"

Big looked happy and nodded. "They helped me to get to you, Layla."

"Oh, then I think it's safe to believe they're good people, achoo!" Ehsan sneezed and walked towards them. "So I heard you're trying to restore the temple's power, right? Well, we're glad to know you want to do that. My name is Ehsan, and I'm the Temple Guardian of the Shamar Temple."

Layla nodded. "And my name is Layla. I'm a transfer student who happens to be one of Shamar's Temple Guardians."

"How did you three end up all the way here?" Peach asked.

Layla shook her head. "After some man named Dr. Eggman kidnapped all of the Temple Guardians, he located the Shamar Temple hidden within these ruins, so he took Ehsan and me here with one of his 'friends'," she said.

"Does that mean the guy that brought you all here is around somewhere?" Chris asked.

"Actually, he should playing poker with himself just behind that pile of orange tiles, achoo!" Ehsan sneezed, pointing towards the pile of tires. "That fella is very crazy."

Layla sighed. "I swear that if I heard another thought about 'crushing these stupid plumbers and marrying this princess' one more time, I'm going to try to take my ears off my head. He SERIOUSLY needs a hobby."

"...Bowser," everyone but Megaman said bored.

"You know that weirdo?" Ehsan asked.

"Sadly, we know him," Chris said. "But is he behind those tires?"

"Yes," Layla said. "But be careful, please. We don't know what he could do to you."

The group turned towards the pile of orange tiles where they began to walk to. Once most of them walked around by the sides, they found Bowser sitting down, leaning his back against the pile while he held his hands full of poker cards. They also found two lines of cards lying down on the floor with a deck of cards in the middle.

"Go fishing," Bowser said, tossing a jack of clubs card to a pile of cards in front of him. Without taking his eyes off his hand, he took a card. He hummed happily to himself. "(I almost have a full house here.)"

Chip smiled happily and took one of the lines of cards. "I need a new card here," he said, tossing a 3 of diamonds card on the pile.

Bowser tossed a 3 of hearts and took one from the deck. "Ha, full house!" he yelled, slamming down his cards on the floor to reveal a 2 of diamonds, a 4 of diamonds, a 6 of diamonds, a 9 of diamonds, and a 10 of diamonds.

"That's actually a flush," Megaman said.

"Oh well, it's all the same," Bowser said, looking triumphantly to Chip. "What do you have, little guy?"

Chip looked at Bowser before looking back at his cards. "Hmm, these..." Chip said, lying down a 6 of spades, a 7 of spades, an 8 of spades, a 9 of spades, and a 10 of spades.

"...A straight flush," Chris said. "It's much better than a flush."

Bowser's right eye twitched at this before he grunted loudly and slammed down his fists. "Dammit, my winning streak got broken!" he complained. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't come in to play!"

Chip looked proud. "What can I say? I have an innate ability in cards."

"You didn't even know what you were going to play, Chip," Sonic pointed out.

"And of top of that, my opponent is a rookie!" Bowser complained before looking at them. "Worse of all, people are actually looking at me getting beaten by a..." He shook his head and glared at them. "Wait a minute, it's you!"

Everyone else backed away to the cage while Bowser stood up and laughed. "He just noticed we were here all this time?" Lucas asked.

"Bowser doesn't react that fast, I guess," Mario said.

"Oh, Mario, Peach, green stache," Bowser began, saddening Luigi for not saying his name, "I knew you were going to come here sooner or later. At last, my revenge on all of you has finally arrived!"

Megaman looked at Mario. "So if you know that tortoise guy, how many times have you fought him?"

"I've lost the count after ninety," Mario said.

"..." Megaman looked back at Bowser.

The Koopa King smacked his fists together and chuckled. "It was about time for me to take some action," he said. "You and your weirdo squad will have to give up now because I AM ready to get back at you for all the things you've done to ME and the army, but more importantly ME!"

"What are you going to do?" Kirby asked curiously.

Bowser snapped his fingers, and a cage came out from a void of darkness on the floor. The Smashers gasped after seeing the Shadow Nightmare inside the cage, staring intently at them. "Oh, don't get so shocked. You'll get REALLY shocked once I take another one of these things to use them on you!"

Chris gasped. "Y-you have another Shadow Nightmare?"

"That's right, boy. I have another one of those monsters ready," Bowser said. "HOWEVER, I'll use it once this one either gets Mario or his brother."

Mario looked serious while Luigi hid behind him. "You sure have a lot of confidence just because you have those monsters with you, right?" Mario asked.

"I sure am," Bowser laughed. "I don't want to throw both of them at the same time. I want this moment to last as long as possible. Once one of you gets to see their shadow, I'll take the other one out and throw it to the other one. I want to keep laughing for a long while so I watch quietly from the sidelines how all of you get owned by their shadows!" He held out a hand to Peach. "You won't get hurt, Peach. I'll tell them not to scratch your face," he said with a wink.

"T-that's a little bit considerate of your part, Bowser," Peach said, "but I'd like the shadows to leave us alone..."

"Sorry, no can do," Bowser said. "If I want you by my side, those plumbers will have to disappear, and that also counts all their friends and the boy in the robot suit."

"My name's Megaman," Megaman said.

"Don't care," Bowser hummed happily. "And then, after everything's over, I'll go ahead and wreck down this temple."

Megaman inspected the Shadow Nightmare in the cage. "What is that monster going to do? It looks different from the first ones we saw before..."

"Don't let it get on you," Ike muttered. "If it does, a shadow will be born from you, and it will start mocking you of your most embarrassing and darkest lie you don't want to admit to others and even yourself."

"That sounds...very twisted..."

"I'm tired of all this chitchat," Bowser said as he opened the cage. "Shadow Nightmare, go get any of those two plumbers in front of you! Go get Mario or his brother!"

The Shadow Nightmare slowly walked out from the cage before it screeched loudly. It raised its pincers before it started to run towards the Mario Bros.

Luigi began to yell at this point. "M-Mario, stop it!" he pleaded.

"Everyone, quick, attack!" Chris yelled.

Megaman, Ness, and Lucas began to use long-range attacks to stop the shadow, but all were easily dodged by the creature as it dashed towards Mario and Luigi. Even Peach tried to stop it with Thunder Flare, but the shadow nimbly sidestepped away from the sphere of sparks. It was only ten feet away from the brothers.

"N-no!" Luigi armed himself with courage and stepped in front of Mario. "D-don't take Mario! T-take me instead!" he cried out.

Mario gasped at this and looked at the Shadow Nightmare leaping towards Luigi. However, at the last moment, the red plumber closed his eyes and pushed Luigi out of the way.

Lake Jyun

"MAAAAARIOOOOOOOOO!"

The sudden yell from Peach made Roll get nervous, stopping to fix a big machine in front of her. The engineer turned to the sonar located on the inner right wall of the boat. "Megaman, everyone, what's going on in there?"

"R-Roll!" Megaman yelled.

"Is everything okay?"

"S-something bad is happening to Mario! One of those creatures leaped on top of him and he... W-what is that thing?"

Outside the boat, unbeknownst to Roll and Data, they were being spied by a familiar trio that was recently defeated that night. The trio was the Bonnes; all of them covered in soot after the Barcon blew up on them. All of them were leaning their ears against the door to hear what was going on in the Sub-Gate.

Teisel nodded and pushed himself away from the boat's door. He crossed his arms and looked at Tron and Bon. "Something isn't quite right around this place," he said. "Whatever it is, we must find out and see for ourselves."

Tron pushed herself off the boat's door and looked at Teisel. "I'm worried, Teisel," she said. "What if...they're in trouble?" she muttered.

"Well, it's certainly good for us," Teisel said. "But then again, those people have made me very curious about their arrival to this place. They certainly have something in hands...and what they have must be a very juicy secret."

"Babu?" Bon asked, leaning away from the boat.

"We're going in, of course!" Teisel answered. "If those people are in danger, we must get in our hands their secret before it dies along with them!"

Tron looked relieved. "(And maybe we can even end up rescuing Megaman...)" She looked away worried. "(Why...why do I feel so weird when I think about him, anyway? He makes me think so much for no real reason... I hate when he makes me do these things...)"

Teisel turned to the Sub-Gate. "First, we must get across this door, and I know how to do this," he said with a wide grin. "Bon, hand me our business card!"

"Babu," Bon said, handing over to Teisel a small, green business card that read "Bonne Family Piracy Business - Call 1-800-SERVBOT" that the leader used on the big door, sliding it up and down between the small opening.

Tron frowned at this, despite the fact the big door actually opened. "Remember, this is our little secret," Teisel whispered. "We can't let the other pirates know our method to open the Sub-Gates."

The Bonnes silently stepped on the elevator and started their way into the ruins. Once they were out of sight, luck wasn't going to be so good with them in their first visit in the Sub-Gate.

"...Huh? Hey, what are these black spots on the floor?" Teisel asked. "Something is coming out of one of them..."

"...U-UAH, MONSTERS!" Tron yelped.

"HOLY CRAP, THEY WANT BON!"

"BABU!" Bon cried loudly.

"S-STAY AWAY! G-GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Tron cried out.

"HURRY, TO THE REFRACTOR ROOM! DON'T LET THESE THINGS GET US!" Teisel ordered.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Fifth Liar: Mario the Dishonest. So wait, Mario has an evil dark side nobody else knew about? Is this for real? Ooh, the curiosity. I want to see what he wants to hide from everybody," Pikachu said eagerly.

"Ha, I knew he had a dark side," Link said. "He can't be so true to himself."

"I agree," Samus said. "It's obvious that he doesn't want us to know his dark secret."

"I'm sure it's going to be one lie nobody really expected," Fox said. "Heheh, this is ought to be good.""Maybe he does some ugly things behind our backs," Yoshi said.

"You don't know how many innuendos you made me think about Mario just now," DK said.

"...None of you are even in this mission, so shut up with those comments!" Sonic yelled.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Kattelox Island-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Big, Megaman Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Eggy Jr. the Fourth

References:

-The helmet Data was wearing is a reference to the Megaman series' enemies called Mets, which are always trying to kill X or any of Megaman's incarnations. They're also called Metalls or Mettaurs, the last one being the final official American name for them.

-"Megaman Legends/64 – Main Gate" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you're investigating the Main Gate's upper levels before reaching Juno's area.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-The boat owner, Wily, is said to resemble the famous Megaman series' main enemy, Dr. Wily.

We're getting closer to the end of this arc, which is actually the next chapter. So, one big question remains: Will we get to see Mario's shadow? Also, as an extra question, will we get to see another shadow? And yes, I know these are two questions… Seriously, we'll see how this develops in the next chapter.

Sadly, I have nothing else to say about this chapter. I guess this happens when you put a lot of action and not so much stuff to talk about. I'll do my best to update as soon as I can.

A tiebreaker between Chrono Trigger and Disgaea is now open. Out of stupidity, I erased the previous poll, but they both reached to seven votes each. Please, vote as soon as you can.

I encourage the Dr. Wily fans to review. :D

…Or Wily, the boat owner, will turn into the REAL Dr. Wily.
*Chapter 173*: Fifth Liar: Mario the Dishonest

And one more arc is ending at last.

From ngrey651: WOAH. Mario? MARIO? Did NOT see that coming. Nice twist! And as for the "next world" thing, I'm casting my vote for Chrono Trigger.

Oh, and as for the "Why FF8 has so many stupid plot holes" thing, I'll PM you. I'd put them up here, but I don't want to offend any die-hard fangirls/fanboys.

From me: Maybe you angered some fans by saying stupid plot holes, don't you think?

Ahem…

I worked so hard in Mario's dark side, so I hope it is very interesting to see. All these years of gaming will pay off in this special chapter full of revelations. You'll see. Thanks. :D

From Seitei: Sorry I haven't reviewed for quite some time now. :P

I've been keeping up with your work and I just wanted to say that I am looking forward to your next chapter. I always expected Mario would be one of the last characters to face off himself, but it looks like I was wrong!

Looking forward to your next chapter!

From me: As a rule, all expectations should be disposed of so it doesn't become too predictable. In the case I screw up, it'll teach me not to mess them up… BUT WHO CARES? Overall, I hope it came out good. Enjoy the chapter. :D

From FF and STH: The next one for the shadow nightmare is mario, to me it would seen hard to do one for mario because he has no dark past or dark secret what so ever, unless you're planning on making thing up.

P.S: Don't go on hiatus, your story are so great.

From me: It is hard for you to think of Mario having a dark side, but it's not for me. You'll see how this Shadow Nightmare is the strongest out of all the ones they've faced before. Thanks again. :D

From Yue Twili: Holy shat! That was pretty wacky man! And Bowser got owned by Chip in poker!

...However, what is Mario's deepest, darkest secret that we haven't known about? Is there a part of him that's... dishonest?

Update whenever you can dude!

From me: If you really are a die-hard Mario fan, you should just ignore my notes and scroll down to the chapter. Well, why are you reading this sentence? Go see, man!

…Of course, don't be so quick in reading it. Slow reading is always required here. Thanks. ;D

From Safire Ranmako: I still absolutly LOVE this fic.

I have a couple of questions: 1) I remember reading that you were going to put Final Fantasy X in here but are you going to add Final Fantasy X-2? Imagine them in the fight aganst Vegnagun.

2) Are you EVER going to Give Kirby his Partner outfit? This is getting to be a MAJOR sticking point with me. I mean Master Hand said he'd create one but it NEVER seems to get put in Crazy Hand's Shop. Have you totally forgotten about it.

Here's some more Ideas: Final Fantasy XII, Virtua Fighter, Soul Calibur, and Suikoden.

From me: 1) It's still unknown to me if I'll do X-2 soon.

2) Heheh, did you really think I forgot about it? It will be showcased very soon. It'll be ready, so don't worry.

Sorry, but I don't accept suggestions. That, and the fact I haven't played either of those games. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From KimotoDragoon: Wily... Being a normal person with a boat... For some reason that seems so wrong to me. And it figures Megaman would get a weird feeling from him. Bowser is unbelievely stupid. How did he not notice them? And playing cards with himself... eh.

I can't wait to see Mario's Darkside. It outta be interesting.

From me: No, Bowser's not stupid. He's just misunderstood…I mean, clueless. Yes, he's clueless.

Mario's dark side should be entertaining, I hope… Thanks for reviewing. :)

Phew, I never thought it'd happen, but we finally reached the end of the Megaman Legends Arc. I'd like to thank the people who ended up choosing this game for an arc (though I'm surprised reviews were few. Oh well, it doesn't bother me. As long as the chapters are viewed and reported to me, I'm happy to keep writing).

In this chapter, we'll see how the Smashers are decimated by Mario's shadow. His dark lie will be exposed, and you will all gasp to see what it is. I bet you will gasp.

It's funny to say that the tied arcs are…tied again? Nope, it's not funny because I can't get my mind to think of a suitable plot within them in time. We need a few more votes to end the tie between Chrono Trigger and Disgaea. If you like anime-looking people, vote for Chrono Trigger. If you like very naive angels and supposedly evil demons, vote for Disgaea. I decided to RESET the poll, so vote once more.

So, without further ado, enjoy the most shocking Shadow Nightmare battle in the history of this fiction.

I encourage any Mario fan to read on and review. :D

Disclaimer: Cross-dressing as Mario is like cross-dressing as Mickey Mouse.

Chapter 173: Fifth Liar: Mario the Dishonest

-Kattelox Island-
Lake Jyun - Sub-Gate

Super Mario Bros. 3 - Airship Theme

After Luigi was pushed away, he turned around to see his brother pinned down by the Shadow Nightmare. "Oh my god, MARIO!" he yelled.

Peach quickly broke into tears and stepped forward. "MAAAAARIOOOOOOOOO!"

"I-I'm fine!" Mario yelled, despite the fact the Shadow Nightmare already dug its pincers into his back. "I-I'm f-f-f-aaaaaaah!" he yelled once more as he was engulfed into a blob of darkness.

"Megaman, everyone, what's going on in there?" Roll yelled.

"R-Roll!" Megaman yelled.

"Is everything okay?"

"S-something bad is happening to Mario! One of those creatures leaped on top of him and he..." Megaman stopped as he saw that the blob of darkness began to shoot out sparks of different dark colors while Mario screamed in pain. "W-what is that thing?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!" Bowser laughed evilly at the ceiling. "Finally, yes, Mario is getting what he deserved all these years of messing around with me! God, I can't be any happier than I am now!"

Peach tried to run to the shadow, but Ike grabbed her hand. "No, you mustn't!" Ike said. "You don't know if you'll get affected as well!"

"I need to save Mario!" Peach cried. "H-he needs us!"

Chris shook his head in panic. "We don't even know what to do after the Shadow Nightmare gets a hold on anyone! Helping him out right now is out of the question!"

"B-but...b-but...I-I can't..." The princess covered her face with both hands and frowned. "M-Mario..."

Ike decided to console her by patting her back. "Everything will be fine," Ike said, glaring at the blob of darkness. "We need to be strong and face whatever monster comes out of Mario..."

Peach looked down. "...I don't want to do this, really..." she muttered to herself.

Soon enough, the red plumber was spat out from the blob of darkness. He rolled towards the group and stopped, lying down on his back. The group gasped and ran to hise side. "Mario, are you okay? Mario!" Chris yelled, turning to face the blob shooting sparks before it calmed down. "...Here it comes..." he trailed off.

The red plumber slowly sat up and looked at the blob of darkness taking his shape. Soon, they all saw Mario's shadow staring intently at them. Megaman blinked surprised at the shadow. "W-why does that shadow has Mario's appearance?" he muttered.

"That's his shadow," Ike muttered. "Not only does it have all of Mario's memories, but it also has very powerful attacks, much stronger than Mario's attacks."

Layla and Ehsan looked shocked at the event outside the cage. "What is going on in here, exactly?" Layla asked. "That monster looked like the ones that appear at night..."

Ehsan cleaned his nose with a napkin. "It must be one of Dark Gaia's henchmen. But this one is acting very strange..."

"Bwahahahahahahahaha!" Bowser laughed, smirking afterward at them. "You have to love how that shadow looks! It looks like a stupid plumber, that's for sure!"

"..." Shadow Mario stared silently at the group, its yellow eyes fixed on them.

The Koopa King chuckled darkly. "I like how all of you look; looking scared and horrified at Mario's shadow! You can't just imagine what kind of dark lie Mario has kept in secret all this time from everyone, can you? Gladly, his shadow will tell all of us his darkest secret!"

"(Mario having a dark lie?)" Ness thought. "(But it's hard to think about him having a very bad lie. Maybe...he has one?)"

Mario stared at his shadow, ready to face anything that it would say.

"I've got to love the suspense in the air," Bowser said. "That's how I wanted all of you: standing completely still in horror and lacking any idea of how to attack! You never thought Mario would get to face his shadow, did you? Well, he does get the chance that I've given to him!"

Lucas hid behind Ike. "I-I'm scared... I-I'm scared..." he repeated.

Kirby hid behind Chris. "I-I'm very scared..." he muttered, trembling in fear.

Luigi gulped and looked at Mario, who at this point looked away in shame. "M-Mario, you don't have a lie that you don't want to admit, right?"

"I know Mario doesn't have any bad lie," Peach said determined. "He's the greatest person I've ever met!"

"Y-yeah, he is! H-he must be!" Luigi agreed. "I-isn't that right, Mario?"

"..." Mario remained silent.

"...Mario?"

"..." Mario shook his head. "I don't have any lies to tell..."

The Smashers gasped at this and looked back at the shadow while Bowser smirked evilly. They knew that a shadow would start becoming rampant if their original host denied a lie. Preparing themselves for the worst, they remained in their spots to protect anyone from getting hurt.

"Aww, the sweet sound of a lie," Bowser said, "a very sweet music to my ears, and a very stimulant sound to awaken a shadow's true power... Hahahahahahaha!" he laughed and looked at them. "Well, shall we see what this shadow has to say? Once it starts talking, Mario will cry, I will win, and you all will be beaten because he was such a stubborn little baby for not admitting his dark lie in time! If he didn't admit his lie, this wouldn't have happened! I'm glad it did happen, though! Now I can watch how the shadow rips all of your brains out while I sit back and enjoy the show! At last, my army will conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and the princess will be all mine! ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

Most of them grunted in anger at this speech, but they didn't want to provoke the shadow from attacking them. Each one of them tried to think about a way to retaliate, but the tension drew them back from reaching to a plan.

Bowser smirked and chuckled darkly. "And now, before I accidentally prolong this moment even longer with my speech of victory, Shadow Mario," he pointed at Mario, "defeat him once and for all!"

Everyone quickly took a step forward and shielded Mario from being attacked by the shadow. Shadow Mario kept staring at them without making a move, but everyone else thought that it was going to attack very soon.

"So go now and beat everyone but the princess!" Bowser demanded. "Damn, I feel so DAMN good tonight! This is my night and not YOURS, suckers! The Mushroom Kingdom should just start changing into the Bowser Kingdom because there's no way you can get through the shadow! Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Go attack them, Shadow Mario!"

Shadow Mario stared at them for a while longer and turned to Bowser to say, "...I don't want to."

Music stops...rather quickly

"...Say what?" Bowser asked, his evilly smirk and glaring eyes frozen in place.

Shadow Mario shook his head. "I don't want to fight Mario," he said, altering Mario's voice.

The Smashers looked very confused at this statement. Each one of them looked so confused that they exchanged glances (and perhaps, Megaman was the most confused of all of them) and then looked back at the shadow.

Bowser closed his eyes and turned to the shadow. "What was that again? Are you telling me that you DON'T want to fight Mario?"

"That's right," Shadow Mario said. "I don't have a real reason to beat him."

"...GrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRR!" Bowser grunted so loudly that he stomped the floor once and gritted his fangs hardly. He glared menacingly at the calm shadow. "What is this crap you're giving me? I told you to attack Mario! Eggman told me that you were going to obey my orders! You can't just ignore them like THIS!"

Shadow Mario shook his head. "I'm sorry for disappointing you, Lord Bowser, but there isn't a reason for me to fight all of my friends."

"…YOUR FRIENDS?" Bowser yelled enraged. "They're not your friends! You just were born tonight! You're all alone! You're supposed to be Mario's shadow: the real plumber that was confined within his body, heart, or something along those things!"

"I am a shadow, Mario's true self," Shadow Mario said. "And...we're actually fine with how we are. Since we're both the same, we both make the real Mario. I myself am incomplete if I don't have Mario."

"Y-you're complete, you piece of crappy darkness!" Bowser yelled. "You're standing right in front of me! You MUST be complete without Mario!"

"Sorry, but not," Shadow Mario said. "I'm incomplete. I need to rejoin myself with Mario. If I continue to be like this, I'll feel very incomplete."

Bowser snarled angrily and pointed at the shadow. "Now you'll listen to me, deficit shadow! Since you're here and you came out of Mario, that must mean he has some kind of dark lie that he doesn't want everyone else to know! You WILL start mocking Mario's lie, and you WILL start beating them all!"

"How can I do that if that oh-so called dark lie doesn't even exist?"

At this, Bowser slowly dropped his finger to his side. His pupils shrunk while his mouth gapped a bit.

Shadow Mario crossed his arms and frowned. "Seriously, if there isn't any important lie, I won't mock him. You can't make me mock him if he doesn't have a 'dark' lie or something."

"B-b-b-b-but... DAMMIT, MARIO ISN'T THE CLEANEST AND MOST HONEST GUY IN ALL THE UNIVERSES!" Bowser snapped out. "HE HAD TO MAKE ONE SINGLE LIE, O-OR SOMETHING THAT HE REGRETTED TO DO ON SOMEBODY LIKE PEACH!"

"Sorry, but he already took care of all those things because he never, ever made a dishonest thing in his whole life to begin with."

"..." Everyone remained silent and looked at Mario, who looked embarrassed at their stares.

"...Not even a white lie?" Bowser asked calmly.

"Well, he did make white lies, but all those lies were used for greater good and not for selfish reasons," Shadow Mario said. "Shadow Nightmares don't mock white lies. If we did, we'd be complete jackasses."

"W-well, mock his white lies! I-I don't care abou-"

"I told you we DON'T mock white lies," Shadow Mario interrupted in annoyance. "For that matter, Mario is truly the most honest, honorable, cleanest, helpful, and greatest person anybody would like to have as a friend. I'd like to say that he's lucky for having such wonderful friends like all of them."

"Awwwww..." everyone but Bowser said in unison, making Mario smile a bit.

"...HA!" Bowser pointed at the shadow. "Did you notice what you just said about him? Since you two are the same, then that should mean Mario has a very big ego!"

"Actually, that was my own opinion of him," Shadow Mario said. "That doesn't really count as his thoughts. I was merely voicing out my POV."

Bowser groaned and glared at the shadow. "N-nobody cares about your damn POV!"

"You're the only one that doesn't, so it sucks to be you, then."

"H-how dare you MOCK me instead of MOCKING Mario?"

Shadow Mario frowned at Bowser. "Look, I know you really, REALLY want to make Mario suffer, but, thing is, he doesn't really need to suffer for the fact that he doesn't have a big lie that he's been covering all these years. He helps grandmas to cross the streets, he rescues cats trapped in trees, he gives you the birthday present you always wished to have, he congratulates you if you're getting married next week, he helps you in your super hard algebra problems (Chris: I thank him so much for helping me out), he cleans your sports car, he offers himself to replace you in taking out the trash, he sings songs to sick children in hospitals, he works hard for world peace, he consoles you when your dog died, he makes sure to leave the light on when you want to sleep, he gives you some money when you have to pay your car insurance, he makes cookies for children, and he even assists to all party invitations he gets in his mail. All children look up to be like him as well."

Everyone stared in awe at the red plumber after hearing all the good deeds he had done over the years. "...Holy... Then Mario is technically the best guy that has ever lived in the world and the one that anyone would want to have around?" Chris asked.

Mario lowered his hat over his eyes. "Um, I don't like to say all the good deeds I've done because they're so many..."

"Just look at him," Shadow Mario said. "He even doesn't want to overshadow anyone."

"..." Chris smiled happily. "That's it; I want to be like Mario when I grow up!"

"A-ha! I knew Mario was a big star after all! Hearing all those good deeds makes me proud of knowing him!"

The World Traveled looked miffed after hearing a familiar voice that he was able to hear. "...Otacon, how long have you been listening to this? For that matter, are you spying me?"

"..." Otacon remained silent so Chris would think he was hearing things.

"...Otacon, I know you're there!"

"..."

"...Oh, whatever."

Bowser shook his head and glared at the shadow. "Are ANY of tho-"

"They're very true to the full extent of the word," Shadow Mario said. "Whether you like it or not, Mario is like the best person to be born. He hasn't done a selfish, bad, or dark lie ever. He doesn't hate anybody, he doesn't get annoyed by anything, and he doesn't yell at you if you failed at something," he explained. "If you do fail, he cheers you up ALL THE TIME, no matter what. What's more, he doesn't fall for temptations...except when Peach makes him cakes."

Peach blushed and chuckled nervously. "He likes my cakes very much..."

Mario nodded with a smile. "They're the best," he said.

Shadow Mario stared at the fuming Bowser. "So, in a few words, there's no one like Mario. You shouldn't be so angry for him being the perfect example of a real man."

Smash Mansion
-Command Room-

This whole event was being watched by everyone else back at the mansion. Most of the "cooler" people started to get annoyed to the point they believed it was all a lie.

"Wait, so Mario NEVER lied before in all his life?" Link asked. "That had to be one very hard task to do. He was never tempted either."

"That's so admirable," Zelda remarked. "He truly is the best example of a real man. If I had someone like him in my kingdom, I'd be deeply honored by the gods for giving me the chance to have such a person. At least he's my friend, so I'm very honored."

Marth nodded. "I never doubted that he was very true to himself. After all, he is Mario."

"You people could learn four or five things from him, though," Zelda said annoyed to everyone else.

Link looked away. "H-hey, I'm fine as it is. I don't need to look up to him."

"Sorry, but I don't look up to people," Falco said. "I'd rather have people look up to me."

"You're short of luck because nobody looks up to you at all. Who wants to be like you, anyway?" Pikachu asked bored, getting a glare from Falco.

"Yeah, I agree," C. Falcon said, crossing his arms.

"You're probably in the first place for the 'Guy Who Gets Tempted The Most' award," Samus said.

"T-that's not true and you know that very well!"

"You don't know how right you were on that," Samus said. "I know very much about you."

"Oh, come on," Fox said in boredom. "He can't be THAT good. There shouldn't be a perfect example of a real man in him. It's impossible for someone to be like that. You guys agree with me, right?"

Diddy looked bored at the vulpine. "You're just jealous because children like him more than they will ever like you."

"T-that's not it!" Fox yelled embarrassed, looking away.

"What a prick you are to Mario, seriously," Diddy muttered to himself.

Pichu waved a little red flag with a red "M" on it. "(Mario's my role model!)" he rejoiced mentally.

-Megaman Legends/64-

-Kattelox Island-
Lake Jyun - Sub-Gate

Bowser shook his head many times and shot some smoke from his nostrils. "I-I refuse to believe all this!"

"You should have your own shadow face you," Shadow Mario said bored. "Anyway, I think I should wrap things up and rejoin with Mario. I see no reason for me to kill him or anyone else. Sorry, Lord Bowser, but that's the sad truth you'll have to accept... I should really stop calling you my lord."

Bowser began to pant heavily.

"You should become his friend. I'm sure he would like to be your friend."

"I would," Mario said.

Chris chuckled and took out a notepad from his pocket. "Mario is officially the coolest guy I've ever met before, so I'm going to remove the first one on my list. Sorry, Fox, but there is always someone better than you, it seems," he said, ripping out a paper with Fox's name written on it to replace it with a note where Chris wrote Mario's name on it.

"Chris, your partnership with Fox just got reduced by five," Kawashima said.

"He'll understand."

"Now it got reduced by ten, leaving both of you at eighty-five..."

"He just fell to second place. He should be happy he's still on my list."

"Now you got five back..."

"(I can always make it up with him anytime,)" Chris thought happily, keeping the notepad in his pocket.

Bowser stomped towards the shadow, fists ready to punch him. Rolling his yellow eyes, the shadow turned and walked away from the Koopa King and said, "If you want to hurt me, you should be faster than that. There's no need to make me feel scared."

Mario stood back up and passed the Smashers to face directly his shadow. "So, no hard feelings?" Mario asked.

"Definitely not," Shadow Mario said nodding. "Please continue to work for world peace, Mario. Personally, that's the one I'd like to see with you."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Can he really do that kind of thing?"

"You'll see very soon," the shadow said before it shone brightly, leaving behind Mario's real image. It turned into spores of light and shot into Mario, who merely stood still and received all of the spores.

The Smashers and Megaman walked to his side, all of them smiling at him. "I didn't know you were a role model," Ike said. "That's truly a very admirable feat, Mario. Even though you're better in many areas, the only important thing that matters the most is that you're a real friend."

Chip grumbled a bit and tossed his jacket and sunglasses away. He quickly dressed himself with blue overalls, red shirt underneath, and a hat with a red "C" on it. "From now on, my name will be Chip the Plumber, or Chip Mario."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I going to miss Chipminator a bit," he said sarcastically.

Kirby looked up happily at Mario. "You're very good. I knew you were a very good person."

"Oh, please, don't talk more about me like that," Mario said. "At this rate, I'll blush so much that I'll stay stuck blushing."

Luigi embraced Mario. "M-Mario, I never doubted that you were a liar. I-I knew I had the best brother I could ever ask for..." He sobbed silently. "I-I'm so lucky..."

Mario chuckled and embraced Luigi. "Thank you, Luigi. I'm happy for hearing you saying those things about me." He looked at his brother and nodded. "You're the caring brother I always wanted to have."

"...M-MARIO!" Luigi cried loudly, embracing Mario with more force.

"Awwwwwwww..." everyone but Bowser said, making happy expressio-

"I DON'T GET TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SAPPY MOMENT?"

They all stopped smiling happily and looked towards Bowser, who was panting heavily in rage. One could swear that his eyes were about to bleed with the expression of anger he used to face everyone.

"You're still here?" Sonic asked bored.

"Don't you ask that to me!" Bowser yelled. "I can't get over the fact that Mario doesn't have any lie! T-that must be a lie not to have a lie!"

"Are you jealous because children like him more than you?" Ness asked.

"Screw the children!" Bowser yelled. "I'd rather screw Mario, but how can I do that if he doesn't have something to regret?"

Mario looked away. "Well, I have one thing to regret saying..."

Bowser looked shocked before he chuckled. "Well, well, turns out the plumber has a few things t-"

Mario looked at Peach. "I should've seen the novel's first part. I went to the bathroom right after it started."

"Oh, Mario, don't worry about that," Peach reassured him. "I didn't appear in the first part. I appeared ten minutes later."

"Phew, that's a big relief," Mario said. "Thank you, Peach."

Peach hugged the plumber. "You're welcome, Mario."

"...THAT WASN'T A REGRET! THAT WAS A LAME EXCUSE FOR AVOIDING WATCHING A NOVEL!" Bowser yelled enraged. "Are you pulling my leg here or what, Mario?"

"No," Mario said simply.

"You're pulling it yourself," Ness pointed out to Bowser.

"S-shut it, brat!" Bowser yelled...but then, he sighed in depression. "Who am I kidding? I'll never accept that Mario is the most honorable man in the universe. I'm just a sore loser who doesn't want to admit the undeniable..." He rubbed his eyes with his right arm. "I shouldn't have wasted that shadow on him if I knew this was going to happen beforehand..."

"...I smell a trap from five miles away," Sonic said bored.

Bowser sniffed sadly, still rubbing his eyes. "I-I give up, Mario. I can't win against you. Your good deeds overwhelm me in any blind spot I have." He slowly turned around, still sobbing silently. "I should just retreat for the time being and re-think my strategy... I-I know there's a way to beat you and make you cry in agony...and maybe, just maybe, the princess will be mine very soon..."

Silence...

"...Thank you for giving me the chance to go and leave you alone..." Bowser trailed off.

"Bowser…" Peach muttered.

"Please, don't give me some sympathy, princess," Bowser sobbed. "I-I'll be fine by myself. Just wait for me to kidnap you."

While no one said anything, Chris frowned and looked away. "(That sounded very twisted, and Peach didn't say anything about it…)"

"...Guys, he has a trap," Sonic said. "We need to knock him out before he takes it out."

"I-I don't have any traps! It's useless to use a trap!" Bowser cried out. "I can't beat Mario tonight! I'm done for!"

Ike sighed. "Well, at least he said he's done fo-"

And the Koopa King quickly called forth a cage with another Shadow Nightmare that he quickly called out by opening the door. He turned around and pointed at Luigi. "Go-get-the-green-stache-instead-and-quick!" he yelled quickly, making the Shadow Nightmare dash towards a horrified Luigi.

Super Mario Bros. 3 - Airship Theme

"O-oh my god, not again!" Luigi yelped, turning around to run away from the monster. Unfortunately, none of the Smashers was able to react in time to stop the Shadow Nightmare from leaping to Luigi's back, quickly digging its pincers inside him. Everyone watched horrified as the green plumber was engulfed in a blob of darkness where he began to scream for help as dark sparks flew out. "H-HEEEEEELP, MARIOOOOOOOOO!"

"L-LUIIIIIIGIIIIIIIII!" Peach cried out, Ike holding her back from touching the blob.

"D-dammit, not this again!" Ike grunted. "We can't do anything!"

Everyone else glared back at Bowser, who smirked evilly at the scene. "Y-you sick bastard!" Chris yelled.

"You're way too slow!" Bowser said. "If anything, you should be ashamed for not telling I was joking around! You needed to stop me as soon as I started sobbing, but you didn't do anything about it. Too bad, you all lose!"

Sonic growled angrily and looked at Chris. "I told you twice, you know!"

"Megaman, what's going on in there this time?" Roll asked.

"A-another one of those creatures got Luigi!" Megaman said. "We don't know what to do! We have to wait and see what happens next!"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed maniacally. "Who cares if I can't get Mario? I can get the green stache anytime I want!"

"You do know by now that his name is Luigi, right?" Ness asked.

"I give a damn about his name!" Bowser said, rubbing his palms together. "Now, witness the birth of Shadow Green Stache!"

At that time, Luigi was spat out from the blob of darkness. The green plumber mumbled some words as he lied down weakly on the floor. Everyone ran to his side, Mario kneeling down to shake him. "Luigi, answer me! Are you okay?"

"I-I feel so woozy..." Luigi muttered, slowly opening his eyes to see a blurred image of everyone. His vision then started to get better. "I'm...still alive?"

"Be glad you are," Ike said. "You need to prepare yourself to face your shadow."

At this, Luigi's eyes widened. "P-prepare WHO to FACE my WHAT again?" he asked, standing back up so he could look at the blob of darkness.

Everyone in the room saw the blob of darkness taking Luigi's appearance. Unlike Shadow Mario, Shadow Luigi reflected pure evil in his eyes. Some of them were a bit scared to see a smirk flashing in the shadow's lips. From they could tell, the dark aura engulfing the shadow was rather bigger than any other shadow they had fought before. In fact, said aura reached twenty feet from all over the shadow.

"B-be careful!" Kawashima yelled. "T-this shadow is beyond your league! I-it's much more powerful than any other shadow you've defeated before!"

"I-I can tell that," Lucas said with a gulp. "J-just looking at him makes me feel very unsure about facing him!"

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Shadow Luigi laughed, flexing his fingers. "This power...THIS IS THE ULTIMATE POWER OF LIES! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A strong wind flew out from the shadow, making everyone back away while Luigi tried to back away more than anyone did. He began to shake uncontrollably, and his teeth started to bite empty air against each other. Luigi also began to bite his fingers (even though he was wearing gloves).

Bowser was probably the only one besides the shadow who laughed maniacally with joy and glee. He pumped up his fists in the air and smirked at the Smashers. "How do you like it, punks? This shadow makes up for the sad excuse of a shadow the first one was! Now the REAL fun will start!"

Shadow Luigi pointed at Luigi. "I don't need a pathetic guy like yourself! I can be myself without having to be in you! From now on, I shall be known as the true Luigi! The world doesn't need two Luigis, so you will DIE on my hands! Thank you so much for making me the most powerful Shadow Nightmare ever! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" His hands burned with extreme fire that reached over ten feet in height. "YOU SHALL PAY FOR NOT ADMITTING ALL YOUR LIES! DIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Luigi cried loudly, lowering down his hat to cover his eyes as he covered his head and turned away from the shadow.

The others, however, shielded the scared plumber and prepared themselves to face the almighty shadow. "N-no matter how strong you are, we'll stop you from killing Luigi!" Chris yelled.

"Y-yes!" Lucas yelled. "I-I'm not scared! I-I know we can pull this out together!"

Ike raised Ragnell and glared at the shadow. "We shall stop you from committing unnecessary murders, monster!" he yelled.

"JUST TRY, SCUM!" Shadow Luigi yelled, preparing to shoot a horde of fireballs at them all.

"Yes, yes, YES, YES, YES!" Bowser rejoiced, pointing at them. "I knew I was going to come out victorious while you were all going to die! Shadow Green Stache, make sure you leave the princess alive! GO FORTH AND BURN THEM ALL ALIVE!"

"!" Shadow Luigi laughed manically, smirking evilly at them. "BURN TO BITS!" He pulled back his burning hands and he exploded into spores of light that went to join back up with Luigi.

Music stops...rather quickly again

...No, you were reading correctly. The shadow SOMEHOW exploded into spores of lights and went back to join up with Luigi just in time before it could unleash a catastrophic attack upon the group.

Luigi, clueless of the whole thing, rose up his chin and looked over his right shoulder to see that the shadow disappeared. "...D-did you guys beat my shadow?" he asked. "I-I feel a bit complete for some reason..."

Everyone was completely speechless as to what had happened. They were very sure that the shadow was going to attack them, unlike the pacifist Shadow Mario. However, everyone (but Megaman, as always) was confused, not finding a reasonable explanation for Shadow Luigi's sudden and very random demise.

"...What happened?" Chip asked.

"Well...Luigi's shadow...blew up by himself..." Ness trailed off. "...Are we lucky?"

"I don't know if we're lucky or not," Ike said. "I can't find a good explanation for this... Why did his shadow blow up so randomly?"

Bowser, bewildered for the second time, remained speechless as both of his eyes twitched uncontrollably. He thought that his moment of "awesomeness" was going to happen, but it was all a big cruel lie that laughed on his face. Silently, he shed a tear and sniffed. "B-but...b-but...b-but...WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THESE SHADOWS?" he snapped out, breaking into tears as he fell to his knees and cried sadly without having to hide anything else to use on the group. "WHY IS EVERYTHING NOT WORKING FOR ME? WHYYYYYYY?"

Megaman blinked and looked at Ness. "Um, were you serious when you said shadows were…dangerous? All I've seen until now were pacifist and exploding-maniac shadows that didn't do a thing to us…"

Ness pressed his brow with two fingers. "We're as confused as you are. We're on the same boat."

The blue boy sighed. "At this rate, I'll never understand a thing about what's going on with all of you…"

Confused as well, Chris took out his DS and looked at Kawashima. "You're our tutorial professor here. Do you know what just happened?"

"I don't know," Kawashima said. "Maybe I can infer that the shadow was very powerful because Luigi has lots of lies to admit… Wait, maybe that's it," he said. "Remember what his shadow said and did? It was about to attack all of us without having to talk with Luigi first, and it said that he thanked Luigi's lies for growing strong. If I'm correct, his shadow might have…grown too much powerful to handle all his power, and so it…blew up for overcharging itself with power. It's like a battery that can't be recharged. It might overcharge and explode or melt."

"…But if that's true," Chris looked at Luigi, "then does that mean that Luigi has an innumerable amount of lies that he didn't want to admit?"

Luigi sniffed and stood back up. He took a napkin from his pocket and blew his nose on it. He walked to the group, still shedding some tears. "Y-you guys, I knew I was going to get attacked by one of those shadows… Actually, I didn't know if I was going to be attacked in the first place, but for precaution, I…began to list every single lie I've made over the years so I could admit all of them to my shadow if this happened. I-I grew very uncomfortable with all this Shadow Nightmare stuff, a-and I began to panic by myself when nobody was looking. S-so then, I found out from the past battles with shadows that they go away if you admit all your dark lies, s-so…" Luigi took out a rather thick scroll from his back and handed in to Mario.

"…That's one heck of a big scroll you got there," Sonic commented.

Mario unfolded the scroll slightly and read some parts. "…The first part enlists many names. It includes all the names of people we know in the Mushroom Kingdom, the Beanbean Kingdom, Sarasa Land, and other places where Luigi has been." He unfolded it a bit more. "And it also has a very long list of names ordered in alphabetical order… Er…it has the names of all of us mixed in as well… Oh, mamma mia…" Mario muttered.

"What is it, Mario?" Peach asked taking a peek of the scroll. "…T-there's more than ten thousand lies written in here? L-Luigi!"

Luigi closed his eyes and nodded. "I-know, Peach. I-it's too late to mention all of them, b-but maybe it'd be best if everyone knew…" He shook his head and took the scroll back with him. "I-I'll start saying every single one of them myself. It won't work if you read it out loud for me." He took out some small glasses to wear on his eyes.

And once he unfolded the scroll, it was so thick that it went rolling all the way to the other side of the wide room. Bowser stopped sobbing for a moment to stare at the long scroll.

Chris could shake his head in disbelief and the long scroll. "Y-you're got to be kidding me…" he muttered.

"Sadly, no, he's not kidding us," Ike muttered.

Luigi cleared his throat and started to speak. "S-so, I-I'll start," he said. "I, Luigi, younger brother of Mario, will begin saying all the lies I have done over the past years in the case where I get attacked by a Shadow Nightmare. I made this list so I wouldn't have to face a monster that could end up hurting everyone, and also because I wanted to recall every single one in them should I regret to mention all of them in church."

Chris sighed in disbelief. "(He's too much worried…)"

"Ahem," Luigi cleared his throat, "I, Luigi, fell deeply ashamed for causing…"

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Most of them were horrified of all the lies that Luigi began to tell all of them. His voice took over the silence of the room as he shed tears and read words after words. The scroll would usually stay still as he read long sentences he wrote himself. For their biggest of dismays, they were always thinking that the lies would end, but it was proved wrong since Luigi paused a few seconds to sniff sadly to himself so he would continue reading them aloud. He even went as far as to address people he barely even met on the streets (this being proved by the names of "little Toad girl who kicked me on my knee for bumping into her" and "Toad hobo who tossed me a half-eaten apple to my head because I didn't him a penny when he didn't even ask me").

Of course, he addressed all the Smashers as well, even Megaman.

-Chip

"Chip, I'm sorry for eating your chocolate bar four days ago."

-Chris

"Chris, I'm sorry for erasing your saved file in that game where you're a surgeon."

-Data

"Data, forgive me for interrupting your curious dance. I grew too curious myself."

-Ike

"Ike, I'm sorry for cutting your cape when you were walking nearby and I was making some paperwork with scissors."

-Kirby

"Kirby, I'm sorry Peach wasn't able to make you some gelatin. I used all the ingredients before, but I messed up badly, wasting all of them."

-Lucas

"Lucas, I'm sorry for stepping on Rope Snake."

-Mario

"Mario, I'm sorry for writing Wario's name in a bill that resulted in you getting fined next day for not sending the money under your name."

-Megaman

"Megaman, I'm sorry I made you wake up several times during the night because I was snoring too loudly close to your room. Yes, I noticed that."

-Ness

"Ness, I'm sorry I painted your bat green, thinking it was mine instead."

-Ness

"Peach, I'm sorry I made everyone get sick with my contagious cold in your 18th kingdom annual party."

-Roll

"Roll, please forgive me for losing your favorite wrench. I think I left it in the refrigerator for no real reason. Silly me."

-Rope Snake

"I'm sorry for stepping on you, Rope Snake, but I already mentioned it before, but I thought it'd be nice to mention it again."

-Sonic

"Sonic, I'm sorry for running out of wieners for your chili dogs…for two months."

"Sick bastard!" Sonic yelled, gritting his fangs.

"Sonic!" Chris yelled.

"O-oh, sorry, I got a bit carried away."

"You SURE did."

Three hours later…

Nobody thought that Luigi would get to finish the scroll, but it happened. An ashamed Luigi sniffed sadly, as he held the last bit of the scroll with his trembling hands. He was at the point of breaking into tears. "A-and lastly…Zukizuki…I-I'm sorry for giving you the wrong phone number to call Mario…which ended up in giving you the police number…"

"…May I ask who this Zukizuki person is?" Ike asked.

"A-a…A CHINESE GOOMBAAAAAAAAA! WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Luigi tossed the end of the long scroll away and broke out into tears, which made Mario and Peach run to his side to console him.

"Goodness…" Ike trailed off. "It's no wonder why the shadow was so powerful…"

"But, seriously, all those lies Luigi said for three hours were…very pathetic," Ness said. "I can tell over ninety-five percent of them were white lies that tormented him a lot."

"And I have the count for me," Sonic said. "I got eleven revelations from him."

"…I got a hundred…" Kirby said, sniffing sadly.

"And I got three," Chip said. "Good thing I wasn't around that much."

"I don't know if accounting using Mewtwo's Twistedspoon as a normal spoon to be a real lie, though," Chris said. "Most of those lies were really out of place."

Big sighed. "But I didn't get any revelation from him."

"You're such a big lucky guy," Chip said jealous. "I'm jealous of you, man."

By now, Bowser groaned loudly and banged his head on the floor. "T-this guy is such a big loser! How the heck would I know he made over ten thousand lies that made his shadow blow up for being so powerful?" he asked in demand.

"I-I'm a big loser, alright!" Luigi cried loudly, sitting down and resting his face against his knees, embracing them as well. "I-I have no place in this world! I'm the unluckiest guy to be living! E-everywhere I go, I drag problems around with me! I-I'm so happy for having friends like all of you, b-but I'm a total nobody compared to you!"

"No, you're not," Mario said in a serious tone.

Luigi sniffed and looked up to Mario. "I-I am! I-I shouldn't be your brother for that reason! I drag you down unintentionally behind the scenes!"

Mario shook his head and patted Luigi's back. "What matters to me is that you confessed all those lies, Luigi. You're not a bad person for admitting all of them to me."

"E-even though I lied to you two-thousand times?"

"Even if you lied to me two-thousand times, it's okay."

"E-even if I put colored clothes with white clothes in the laundry machine and they all got painted?"

"Even if you put colored clothes with white clothes in the laundry machine and they all got painted like that, it's fine."

"E-even if I made a mistake and destroyed the TV with the hammer I was trying to use when you weren't hom-"

"Luigi, please, stop talking before you repeat every single lie again," Mario interrupted hastily. "Where was I again? Oh, right…"

Luigi swallowed some breath and sighed.

Mario put a hand on Luigi's right shoulder. "Even if you lie most of the time, I only care that you say the truth. It's okay if you lie when you're not ready to face the truth, but after to made a big resolve (Sonic: HUGE resolve) to amend for all those lies…I'm not angry at you at all."

The green plumber took out a napkin and blew his nose on it. "M-Mario, do you still consider me as your brother, even though I accidentally sewed a Fire Flower patch on your hat?"

"Luigi, please…stop recalling all those lies again."

Luigi sniffed sadly. "O-okay…"

"And as for your question…yes, I do consider you my only caring brother."

Luigi looked away. "T-tell me some good reasons I should be considered your brother!"

"Who's going to be there when I get in trouble?" Mario asked. "You rescued me when King Boo kidnapped me with that incident of the mansion you won without entering a contest."

"…W-well…"

"Who's going to find me when I disappear without leaving a trace behind?" Mario asked. "You rescued me when Bowser kidnapped me."

"T-that's true…"

"Who's going to be my only option to get help when I don't have anybody else?" Mario asked.

"I can be that one!" Chip offered, being silenced by Sonic's stretchable claw covering his mouth.

Luigi slowly turned to Mario and sniffed once more. "T-that can be me… Besides, I'm the president of the Mario Fan Club, a-and I only know how to operate that one."

Megaman looked at Ike. "Mario has a fan club?"

"I just found out as well as you did," Ike said surprised.

"(I'll remind myself to join that club as soon as I can,)" Chris thought with determination.

Mario stifled a small chuckle and patted Luigi's back. "I don't mind much about the fan club, but I only mind about you, Luigi. If I lost you, I'd lose all the most important moral support I need to have to venture into danger."

"R-really? I-is that so, Mario?" Luigi asked.

"Together, we're the Mario Bros.," Mario said. "Without either one of us, we can't make the team. The world needs both of us to be ready for anything. If I trip down to the floor, you'll have to continue for me. Peach here needs us when she is kidnapped by Bowser."

Peach chuckled heartily. "That's right. I need both of you to come and rescue me when I get in trouble."

"We've saved Peach countless of times before," Mario said. "Without you, the work can't be done correctly. Have you noticed your jumps are far higher than mine, right?"

"Y-yes, but I always tend to screw up and slip when I land," Luigi said.

"You always start off with a very quick pace…so that would explain why you slip too much unlike I do," Mario said. "But that aside…" he took Luigi's hands and smiled a bit, "I need you very badly, Luigi. I need you to be there with me at all times. Nothing in the world can replace the only brother I have who watches my back whenever I get in trouble. Your support surpasses anyone else's. Do you really think I got to this point because I did it all myself? You were there with me, Luigi. You were the person who made me get to this point. It was you who gave me encouragement to press on…and I do the same thing to you as well."

Luigi's eyes became filled with tears, filling so much that they even glittered a bit. "R-really, Mario?" he asked in a high-pitched tone.

"Yes," Mario nodded with a chuckle. "No matter how many times you lie to me, I'll never get mad at you. Don't you remember? You have a very big heart."

Luigi sniffed. "You mean that time where that rude talking gate made me hit that Aurora Block that got big because I had a big heart and ended up flattening me?"

"…Yes," Mario said. "That's one more reason that tells me that you're a very good brother, Luigi."

"E-even if I stole your hat that time to draw away the fans that were hiding in the bushes to kidnap yo-" Luigi's words were interrupted after Mario embraced him tightly, shocking the green plumber. After blinking a few tears away, Luigi sobbed happily and embraced his brother as well.

"I'm so lucky for having a brother like you, Luigi," Mario said.

"I-I'm so lucky for having a brother like you, Mario," Luigi sobbed. "I-I'm but so lucky… W-waaaah…"

Just then, Kirby leaped to Luigi and hugged his back. The star warrior made a happy expression as Lucas joined in. Seeing this, Peach hugged the group while Chris came in and hugged them as. Ness, sighing a bit, went up to join them. Big smiled happily, as he embraced the group with Chip by his side.

"E-everyone…t-thank you…" Luigi sniffed. "…Hey, this isn't right…"

"Why not?" Lucas asked.

"T-that's because Ike, Sonic, and Megaman didn't join with the group hug."

Everyone in the group hug turned to the right where the mentioned trio was starting at them. "What, are you too cool to hug? Heartless pricks," Ness said.

"Okay, okay!" the trio said annoyed before they went over to them and hugged the group.

Luigi smiled happily and shed some tears. "T-thank you so much, everyone… I-I knew you cared about me till the very end."

"Make that forever," Mario suggested.

"O-okay…p-please, keep caring for me forever."

"Awwwwwwwwwwwww…" everyone else said, making happy expressions while Luigi sniffed happily.

From the big cage, Layla and Ehsan shed some tears at the scene. They didn't understand what was going on, but they did understand the brotherly love between Mario and Luigi very well. "S-such moments like this make my life worth the trouble… Achoo!" Ehsan sneezed.

And, as for Bowser, who had remained silent during the whole scene…

"…Heheheheheheh…heheheheheheheh…" Bowser chuckled as he stared at them. "…Heheheheheh…ahahahahaha…ahahahaha, ahahahahahahah, hahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

They all looked at his direction where he began to hold his stomach with both arms. Looking bored, Sonic asked, "Are you STILL here?"

Bowser stopped laughing and pointed at them. "You all make me laugh so much! I'm you caring brother, you're the best brother I could ever have, I'm sorry for making you fall on fresh cement that time, baloney!" he said. "No matter how close you are, I still give a damn about you!"

"And that's supposed to be new news?" Ness asked uninterested.

"But…you need Mario and Luigi for enemies," Chris said. "You'll be out of work if you didn't have them around."

"What? Pfft, yeah, as if I needed them to be like I am now!" Bowser said.

"No, seriously, you need them BADLY so you can become an evil mastermind…or some crazy rule like that."

"Shut up, kid! I don't need you to explain something so stupid to me!" the Koopa King said. "If the Shadow Nightmares didn't change a single thing, then that makes it clear to me that you shouldn't let others do your dirty work for you!" He rubbed his palms together. "You gotta clean your own DAMN mess yourself!"

Everyone exchanged looks for a moment, still hugging each other. "…Do we have to remind you that you're all alone by yourself?" Ness asked.

"I can take all of you on myself!" Bowser said. "Remember what I said just now? I won't let others, like Tabuu's henchmen, do my own dirty work!" He chuckled evilly. "The princess will be mine, the plumbers will have to kiss the floor good-bye, and their stupid squad of weirdoes will have to scram! Because I, the Great King Bowser, will CRUSH YOU ALL!"

At that moment, a portal to the Subspace opened, and surprisingly enough, the Ancient Minister appeared from it. The Smashers gasped at this as he looked at Bowser. "Bowser, I am here to inform you that Lord Tabuu is deeply ashamed for you wasting two perfect examples of Shadow Nightmares."

Bowser fumed with anger. "You just came here to scold me?"

"It's a big waste of time to scold a big baby like you as well. That irritates Lord Tabuu the most," the Ancient Minister pointed out. "But that is not my motive of my sudden arrival. I am here to remind you that your transformation was altered like Ganondorf so it could last as long as you wish."

"What transformation?"

"Does the name 'Giga Bowser' ring any mental bells?"

"…" Bowser rubbed his chin. "…Oh, right, that…" He smirked and showed his fangs at the group.

"However, making your transformation longer made it possible for you to stagger with any blows you're hit with," the Ancient Minister said. "Altering Master Hand's magic is a very complicated process for Lord Tabuu to accomplish. Even though your strength was left intact, you're wide open to defeat if you grow careless about you-"

"Yeah, yeah, suck it!" Bowser said. "Leave me alone so I can teach these guys not to mess with the king of awesome!"

"Your stubborn behavior shall be death of Lord Tabuu one of these days…" the Ancient Minister muttered. "I shall leave you behind, then."

"W-wait!" Chris yelled, stepping forward. "P-please, R-R.O.B., don't go!"

The Ancient Minister turned to look at the group. "I have no intentions to speak with any of you. Do not try to talk back to me."

"B-but…"

The minister stared at Chris's worried expression for a while longer. "(…I must stop wasting my time,)" he thought before he went into the portal and vanished along with it.

The World Traveler frowned to himself. "T-the only chance we get to see him and he runs away like that…"

"…I'm not going to ask who that guy was," Megaman said.

"He's part of the army's highest ranked generals," Ike said. "But he's also… Well… I don't know if we can trust him anymore…"

The blue boy rolled his eyes. "L-look, I don't want to know. I'll just get more confused. I'll just learn things by myself…" He looked at Bowser…growing. "…Okay, I lied! Why is he suddenly growing?"

"Growing?" Kirby repeated before he looked at Bowser growing in size. "H-he's growing!"

The Smashers stepped back as Bowser grew three times his size. He glowed brightly and roared furiously, shining even brighter as before that made everyone cover their eyes. The shining light then dimmed down, and once they looked forward, they gasped, looking up to a gargantuan Giga Bowser looking down at them.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Giga Bowser laughed, his tone of voice a bit deeper than before. "You didn't expect this to happen as well, did you now? Now, I'm a big titan! I can crush all of you with a single move, and I can be like this for as long as I want to be! This couldn't get any better!"

Lucas crossed his fingers. "Blow up randomly like the shadow, p-please, blow up randomly like the shadow!"

"Lucas, depending on randomness might end up killing you," Ike said. "Sadly, it won't help us this time."

"I-I like to think it'll happen, okay?" Lucas said scared.

"So then, why don't you start pleading for mercy? You can always become my slaves!" Giga Bowser suggested, smacking his huge fists together.

Chris swallowed his breath and looked serious. "Being the slave of a dumb guy like you? Pfft, think again. I won't let myself fall so low like that!"

Kirby jumped to Chris's back and nodded.

"I'm worried about you, Kirby," Chris said. "Will you be okay to fight him?"

Kirby nodded once more. "I can do it. Don't worry about me."

"…" Chris rubbed Kirby's head. "Just don't get yourself in trouble. I'll assist you if you need me."

The puffball chuckled happily and embraced Chris for a bit before looking serious at the tortoise monster.

Sonic turned to Big and Chip. "You guys take care of the guardians! We'll take care of this big weirdo ourselves!"

"I-I'll be right besides Froggy side!" Big said alarmed, running to the cage with Chip.

"If you can, free them!" Sonic turned to growl at the monster. "Don't you even think about beating me! The bigger your butt and you are, the bigger the fall!"

"Megaman," Roll began, "I just heard something roaring! There's this big concentration of energy right in front of everyone! Are you sure you can handle this?"

Megaman glared up at Giga Bowser. "Roll, everything will be fine! I believe we can handle this just fine if we all cooperate together!"

"Alright, join the fight!" Roll said. "Don't get careless now, you hear me? I don't like how things look, but be careful!"

"We got everything under control!"

Mario and Luigi quickly stood in front of Peach. "Peach…" Mario trailed off.

"I won't back down, even if Bowser transformed," Peach said seriously.

"Actually, I was going to tell you to be careful," Mario said. "By now, it's useless to convince you from backing down, isn't it?"

The princess remained silent before she smiled a bit. "Are you…letting me fight?"

Luigi looked at her. "D-don't get us wrong, Peach. We will still defend you at all costs!" he said. "…J-just…don't let him trounce me either. I'd appreciate if you could protect me as well…"

Peach chuckled heartily and hugged both plumbers. "Thank you so much, you two."

"WILL YOU ALL STOP IGNORING ME?" Giga Bowser roared, releasing some flames from his mouth.

"Everyone, don't let your guard down!" Ike yelled. "He just grew bigger, but we can still move on! We can pull this out if we work like we always do!"

"Bwahahahahahaha!" Giga Bowser laughed. "I'll see how long you can last fighting me! It won't be long before you all end up being crushed under my feet, so say your prayers!"

Ness took out his bat and tapped his right shoulder with it. "Pfft, you think we're scared of you? You're just a big muscle head with no brain. You'll see how you end up getting that big butt of yours kicked around by us."

"Try to provoke me and you'll end up getting burn to a crisp!" Giga Bowser said. "Enough talking, let's get on with it!"

Super Paper Mario – Brobot L-Type

"Check this one out!" Giga Bowser proclaimed, releasing a big fiery breath. Everyone gasped and quickly scattered around to evade being burned by the intense fire. The Koopa King stopped his fire breath and shifted his demonic eyes around. "I just love when rats like you scatter! Let's play a game of mouse and cat starting with…the kid!" He jumped and turned to the right, where Chris and Kirby were running. He began to charge at them.

Despite his big size, Giga Bowser managed to catch up with the two. Turning around, the beastmaster grunted and got in a fighting stance. "D-don't you dare judge by my looks, monster!" Chris yelled.

"Oh, how cute! You're trying to act tough while you're being a big baby," Giga Bowser taunted, preparing to use Koopa Claw to snatch Chris and Kirby.

As soon as he saw the claw coming at him, Chris reacted and whipped it hard with his whip, causing Giga Bowser to grunt in pain. "(My momentum is at my reach!)" Chris thought, rushing forward where he lashed the tortoise with his whip to back him away. "Ha!" Chris yelled, delivering a critical hit on the monster's nose.

"Oww, oww, oww!" Giga Bowser grunted in pain. He roared angrily and glared down at Chris. "Watch where you lash that feeble whip around, you imbecile!"

"(This job gives me an advantage on him,)" Chris thought. "(After all, he's considered a monster type. My whip will deal more damage.)"

Kirby gasped and pointed up. "Chris, watch out!"

"O-oh my god!" Chris yelped, narrowly evading a shadow punch from the big monster.

As the World Traveler ran away, Kirby jumped off from his back and stood in front of Giga Bowser. The gargantuan monster looked down upon the puffball and laughed. "What is a little puffball punk like you will do to someone as big as me?"

Kirby merely replied by taking out his hammer. He lunged at Giga Bowser's face and fiercely swung the hammer right on his nose, making him grunt in pain and sneeze (rather strongly, pushing Kirby away to the floor). The puffball rolled forward and stood back up, looking determined at the Koopa King.

"H-how dare you hit my nose like that?" Giga Bowser roared, releasing a stream of fire that Kirby (athletically) dodged sideways. The monster then felt several explosives crashing on his hard shell. He jumped and turned around to face Megaman, who was firing at him with Powered Buster blasts. "You're that blue boy! What is a puny boy like you helping them out? You're wasting your time if you think you ca-" he stopped talking once Megaman shot at his face. "Grrr!"

"You talk way too much, really," Megaman complained. "Why can't you shut up for a minute?"

"SILENCE!" Giga Bowser yelled, rushing towards the blue boy. Megaman gasped at this and quickly ran to the opposite direction. As the monster rushed for him, Ike stepped in the way, jumped to him, and slashed down the gargantuan with his sword. However, Giga Bowser reacted and managed to grab Ike before he could get away. "You swing that sword on me again and I'll maul you!" he roared, starting to crush Ike with both of his hands.

Suddenly, two claws quickly grabbed Giga Bowser's claws and separated them both to free Ike, who fell back on the floor and backed away towards Sonic. "T-thank you for giving me a hand," Ike said.

"U-ugh, you're welcome," Sonic said, trying to push the monster away with his strength. He pulled back his claws once he saw Giga Bowser trying to bite them with his sharp fangs.

"Be lucky you're a hairy beast!" Giga Bowser said. "You can only hurt me when you're like that, but I know I win here for having more brute force than you!"

"I give a damn about brute forces! I hate 'em all!" Sonic yelled back.

The gargantuan roared furiously and stomped his way to Ike and Sonic. The two ran to opposite directions to confuse the enemy. Giga Bowser shifted his eyes around and found Mario and Luigi shielding Peach, who was hiding by ducking down behind them. "A-ha, there you are, you plumbers! If you hand over the princess to me, I'll consider leaving!"

"B-but I thought you wanted to beat us," Luigi said.

"Oh, that's right. Thank you for reminding me, Green Stache!"

Luigi looked annoyed at Mario. "Is my mustache really green?"

"HERE I COME!" Giga Bowser yelled, charging at them.

The Koopa King didn't know that Peach was ducking down for a reason. The princess stood back up to shove a blue sphere of magic towards Giga Bowser's direction, yelling out "Thunder Flare!" to him.

Giga Bowser's eyes widened as a big sphere of sparks began to electrocute him many times, forcing him to stagger and halt his movement on the trio. "S-she never did this before!" he complained.

"Go, go, go!" Ness yelled, coming from the right with Lucas tagging along. Both PK users charged their hands with fire and shot two bolts of fire beneath the monster. "PK Volcano!" they both yelled, calling forth an eruption of fire that burned Giga Bowser's body.

"GRRRRRR!" Giga Bowser managed to regain his movement after both attacks seized to exist. Instead of just charging, he also released flames from his mouth to burn anyone in his path of destruction. They all gasped and scattered around the room.

Big and Chip became frightened since Giga Bowser was nearby the cage where the two Temple Guardians were. Alarmed by this, Layla turned to the two. "You need to take us out from this cage or else he'll roast all of us alive!"

"I don't want Froggy to get roasted alive! U-uaaaah!" Big yelped, quickly grabbing one side of the cage and ripping it off (in a quick instant) completely. Chip and the other two looked a big shocked at this while Big tossed the side of the bars to an empty space.

"…Big guy, you need to know how strong you are," Chip said amazed.

Ehsan and Layla snapped out from their dumbfounded looks and stepped out from the cage. "Thank you so much, Big!" Layla thanked the frightened cat. She showed the sleeping Froggy to him. "Here, I took care of Froggy."

Big quickly stopped panicking once he took Froggy back. Respecting the little frog's nap, the cat covered him with his arms and sighed. "Rest safely, Froggy. You need to rest so you don't see what's happening here."

"A-ahem," Ehsan cleared his throat, "shall I remind all of you that we must get somewhere safe from that weirdo before we suffer the consequences?"

"You're right," Layla said. "We need to seek refuge somewhere safe at once!" She turned towards the temple's entrance. "Let's enter the temple! He can't enter in there!"

"Let's go over there as quietly as possible, and be careful if he spots us! A-achoo!" Ehsan warned.

The five (counting Froggy) silently leaned towards the circular wall and tried their best not to catch the monster's attention.

"There!" Giga Bowser yelled, turning around to smash his forehead against Megaman. Not only the blue boy was hurt by this, but also an explosion came out from the head butt attack. Megaman yelled in pain as he was sent across the room, crashing right into the wall where he fell down to the floor and shook his head. "Bwahahahahaha! You won't evade all attacks, you know! Don't get so confident or you'll regret it!"

"D-damn… T-that attack was just too strong…" Megaman muttered under his breath, standing back up.

Ness and Lucas shielded the blue boy. The Koopa King laughed at them and glared. "Kids like you are always making a ruckus to older guys like me. Go back home with your mommies and let the adults play!"

Lucas looked at Ness. "You were right… He is a big prick."

"What?" Giga Bowser said.

Ness frowned. "He's your cliché adult, alright. No wonder why he and Porky are teamed up in the same team. They both were born to be together in the same place."

"SHUT UP!" Giga Bowser roared, using Fire Breath to make the two run to opposite directions with a weak Megaman following Ness.

Noticing this, Lucas sighed as he ran away. "(It was natural he'd be with Ness. I mean, he's braver than me…)"

…

"…C-curses, I need to improve!" Lucas cursed, just in time to notice he ran into a wall. "D-dammit, I need to pay more attention!" he yelled on the wall.

For Ness's dismay, Megaman tripped and fell on the floor. The Onett resident stopped running and turned to the blue boy, seeing the monster stomping his way towards him. "C'mon, get up before that dork crushes you!"

"You won't get away!" Giga Bowser yelled, stomping faster towards Megaman.

"(I doubt this'll work,)" Ness thought doubtfully, using PK Thunder to strike it against Giga Bowser's face. The monster received it and grunted, but after shaking his head a bit, he continued his path to Megaman, who managed to stand up in time to run away from him. "I just love when I'm wrong," Ness said sarcastically as Megaman joined up with him.

The Onett resident was suddenly grabbed by Giga Bowser's right claw, putting him close to his face. "This is a classic: a monster grabbing a helpless kid like you," Giga Bowser chuckled.

Ness looked bored. "What, you want me to scream for help, stupid?" He waved his hand in front of his nose. "Geez, your breath stinks worse when you're like this. AAAAAAAAAAH!" he yelled as he was tossed away from Giga Bowser's sight.

The gargantuan looked to the left where Megaman ran towards Peach, only for him to trip once more. "How many times am I going to trip today?" asked the blue boy angrily.

"As many times I need you for me to crush you!" Giga Bowser responded, rushing to Megaman.

Peach gasped at this and began to focus magic. She took five seconds of focusing before she shoved another blue sphere to Megaman. "Healing!" she chanted.

Several green lights rose up, circling around a surprised Megaman. In an instant, all his wounds were healed to a sixty percent, enough to heal him completely. "W-wow, that feels okay…"

Giga Bowser turned to Peach, making her back away. "Oh, princess, please, don't heal these punks! You give me a lot more of work to get rid of them!"

Peach looked upset and put her hands on her hips. "Well, if you'd stop hurting them, then I wouldn't need to heal them, right?" she asked.

"That's a big no!" Giga Bowser argued. "You better step out from this battle if you don't want to get hurt by me! Don't try to make me angrier than I am right now!"

"Sorry, but I won't listen to you," she said. "I'm not the princess I used to be before. I'm armed myself with courage to step into frays and help everyone else out."

"You're risking your life!" Giga Bowser pointed out. "I need you to be alive so you can marry me and become queen of my future kingdom!"

"You'll have to face me as well!" Peach yelled.

"I-I… D-dammit, I hate when things don't go my way!" Giga Bowser complained. "Fine! Do whatever you please, but it won't make a difference! I'll just have to kidnap you right now, so stay there and don't move!" he roared, charging towards Peach.

Luigi stepped between Giga Bowser and Peach. The green plumber gulped and began charging electricity in his right hand. "(P-please, work for me this time! I-I don't want to get recoiled!)" he thought desperately.

"Out of the way, Green Stache!" Giga Bowser yelled, stomping his way to Peach. "You'll get crushed if you stop me!"

"T-take this!" Luigi yelped, shoving up a ball of electricity to Giga Bowser's chin. The result ended with Giga Bowser feeling a shocking pain, making him tremble before backing away. Luigi opened his eyes and blinked them a bit, amazing himself. "D-did it work? I-it worked! Y-yeah, it worked!" He began to hop on his spot, rejoicing at his successful Thunderhand blow. …Then Luigi stopped rejoicing, his eyes widening after seeing Giga Bowser about to smack his hard tail against the green plumber with a sweep attack. "…Oh, da-"

Peach covered her face after hearing a smacking sound, which prompted Luigi to crash against the wall besides her. The princess slowly turned to the left, seeing Luigi's front stuck on the wall. "Luigi!" she yelled worried.

"U-U-U-U-U'm fune, Puach," Luigi spoke, his words being muffled by his mouth stuck on the wall. "U-U-U-U-U just gut hurt whun u should'vu puid mure attuntion tu hum…" He fell back on the floor, shedding some tears. "A-and just when things were starting to look up for me, I screw up in the end…"

Peach knelt down rubbed Luigi's forehead. "There, there, you don't have to cry, Luigi. You did very well."

Luigi opened his eyes and sighed. "Thank you, Peach…"

The two were grabbed by two claws, pulling them back away from Giga Bowser's Fire Breath. Sonic grunted and put the two on their feet. "Be more careful! We don't have time to console each other while that guy is on the loose, trying to burn us to crisps!"

"Sorry," Peach said ashamed. "I was just trying to cheer Luigi up."

Sonic was taken aback, gasping a bit at the princess' ashamed look. "E-er, sorry for scolding you. I-I didn't mean to be so rude either."

Giga Bowser prepared to charge at the trio, but after he turned his head to the left, he narrowed his eyes to see the Temple Guardians, Big, Froggy, and Chip trying to reach the temple. "And where do you think you're going?" he roared angrily.

They all gasped and stopped walking towards the temple. "Run!" Layla suggested, ordering everyone to rush at towards the temple's entrance, despite the fact Giga Bowser was closer to the temple than them.

Giga Bowser jumped and crashed on the floor, stopping them all from entering the temple. "Ah-ah-ah! You can't go in there!" Giga Bowser said, waving a finger. "I should just burn all of you right there!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the quartet screamed for help as Giga Bowser prepared to use his Fire Breath on them.

Once Giga Bowser released his flames, Mario stepped between him and the group, shooting a fully charged stream of water from FLUDD to push back the flames. The plumber grunted as the flames slowly pushed the water away. He looked at the four over his shoulder. "Q-quick! Fall back!" he yelled.

"F-fall back!" Layla yelled, ordering everyone to run back. Once they did, Mario stopped shooting water and sidestepped away to evade the fire.

Giga Bowser closed his mouth to seize the attack, glaring towards the fleeing group. "Get back here! You'll receive your punishment for trying to escape!" he proclaimed as he started to chase them down.

As Giga Bowser went after them, his face was showered with water coming from FLUDD while Mario aimed at him. The gargantuan grunted as he backed away. "Back off, Bowser!" Mario yelled.

"What an annoyance you are, Mario!" Giga Bowser yelled, blocking the stream of water with a free hand. He ducked his head under his hand and used Fire Breath to burn Mario, who managed to evade the flames in time. Right after he dodged this, Megaman sidestepped in front of Giga Bowser and began shooting him with normal shots from his Mega Buster. "You again?"

"Yeah, you got a problem?" Megaman asked, shooting at the monster. "If you forgot, I'm part of their group! You'll have to tolerate me for a little while longer!"

"I don't need a pest like you to bother me! Out of my sight!" Giga Bowser roared, lunging to Megaman. The blue boy yelled at this and narrowly jumped away from being crushed under the Koopa King's stomach. While he was getting up from the floor, Ike jumped to his head, using the monster's horns to stand still. "What do you think you're doing on my head?"

"Geez, you complain way too much for my tastes," Ike said, raising Ragnell with both hands. The mercenary charged fire into it to dig its sword into Giga Bowser's forehead, using a mid-charged Eruption to damage him. "Ha!"

"GET OFF ME!" Giga Bowser roared, quickly hiding in his shell to push Ike up. The gargantuan then spun strongly on his spot, slashing and freezing Ike into an icicle that flung itself to the ceiling and crashed, making the mercenary yell in pain. Taking advantage of his fall, Giga Bowser pulled back his head and impacted the young mercenary hard with an explosive head butt, pushing him against the far away wall on the other side of the room.

"I-Ike!" Chris and Kirby yelled, running to the mercenary's direction.

"Hey, you get back here!" Giga Bowser yelled as he gave chase to the two.

The mercenary slowly opened his eyes in time to see himself falling back to the floor. He grunted in pain, trying to back up on one knee. "I-I should've been so careless. I forgot he could do that kind of stuff…"

"Ike!" Chris yelled, reaching Ike together with Kirby. The World Traveler changed to his Fonic Hymn User and began to cast magic into his staff. "Please, hang on. I'll heal you!"

Kirby turned towards Giga Bowser and gasped when he saw a stream of fire going after Chris. Out of panic, the puffball pushed Chris down to evade the flames, which fortunately didn't reach any of the three. "It's a pain to squash so many cockroaches at once!" Giga Bowser complained. "I need to squash one of you and make sure you stop moving!"

"Stop right there, you monster!" Megaman yelled as he dashed to the gargantuan and began shooting at his face with several Powered Buster blasts. The Koopa King roared in pain and backed away, trying to block the shots.

"I-I'm here, I'm here!" Lucas yelled, joining up with the blue boy. "PK Fire!" he yelled, combining blows with Megaman while Ness came in and joined the duo by using the same attack as Lucas, making the monster back away to give Chris enough time to chant.

Thanking Kirby for evading the flames, Chris stood back up and faced Ike, resuming the healing spell. "Holy power, come to me… First Aid!"

Blue magic engulfed Ike, healing at best fifty percent of his injuries. The Greil Mercenary coughed a bit and stood back up. "U-ugh, that feels much better. Thanks," he thanked Chris.

"U-um, guys? My surprise attack is starting to screw itself on me…" called out Megaman, trying to fire more Powered Buster blasts, only to make clicking sounds shoot out from the main gun. "I just ran out of blasts…"

Ness and Lucas stopped attacking. "So it does run out of ammo," Ness said.

"Finally!" Chris said. "I thought that thing had unlimited ammo!"

"Chris, we come from a place where arrows and bombs are...infinite, for some odd reason," Ike whispered. "Don't be a hypocrite."

"O-oh, sorry, Megaman," Chris apologized.

"Why are you apologizing?" Megaman asked, only to feel the floor shake a bit. He looked down for a bit and then looked to Giga Bowser, who put a tight grip on the blue boy with both claws. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Megaman!" Ness and Lucas yelled, lunging to help their friend, only for them to get pushed down by Giga Bowser as he used the same claws that he used to crush Megaman.

"Megaman!" Roll yelled worried. "Megaman, hang in there, please!"

"GUYS, HELP!"

"Let's crack that ridiculous blue suit open! Yeah!" Giga Bowser said, watching Megaman scream in pain.

Just as he was about to put more pressure, the werehog leaped to the monster and deliver a strong uppercut, pushing Giga Bowser back and also releasing Megaman from his grip. The blue boy was then caught by one of Sonic's stretchable claws and put safely back on his feet tumbling at the side a bit. "You okay, dude?" Sonic asked.

"B-barely," Megaman coughed. "He was…getting too far there…"

The werehog grunted and took the PK users away from the Koopa King. He put them down on their feet and sighed. "And you're okay as well, right?" he asked.

"Thanks…" Ness trailed off. "If that idiot gets on me again, give me a claw."

Sonic grumbled at the suggestion. "I'd like that you say hand instead of claw. I hate my transformation, you know."

"Oh no, you're starting to get weaker, Megaman," Roll said worried. "You need some healing! Guys, please, heal Megaman!"

Determined, the World Traveler rushed to the blue boy's side, focusing magic into his staff. "Holy power, come t-"

"RUAAAAAAAAAH!" Giga Bowser roared as he released a fiery breath that this time managed to caught up with Megaman, Chris, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Kirby, and Sonic. All of them yelled in pain as the intense flames burned them all.

"Thunder Flare!" Peach chanted out in order to stagger the monster by calling forth a sphere of sparks, electrocuting him several times. The fire breath seized, but it resulted in Megaman losing his consciousness.

As for the others, they were able to resist the attack, finding their temporal ally out of commission. "MEGAMAN!" Roll yelled.

"D-don't panic, Roll!" Chris tried to calm her. "I-I'll bring him back in a second!"

The mercenary grunted and faced Giga Bowser. "You get started, Chris. We'll hold him back."

Kirby stood besides Chris. "I'll stay here so you're fine," he said worried.

"M-me too!" Lucas said, standing next to Kirby.

"All three of us will shield you," Ness said, facing Giga Bowser. "If you forgot, we're all part of a selective team of awesome."

"I-I don't know if we're that awesome, Ness," Lucas muttered.

"Shut it, Lucas. Let me be delusional."

"B-but isn't that a bad thing?"

"Lucas…"

"I-I'll be quiet."

Chris looked away. "(It's harder for me to believe they're all friends each day I stay with them…)"

Grunting at the burn marks on his body, the werehog faced the monster. "I'll back you up by protecting you. Start your spooky magic, Chris!"

"D-don't call my magic spoo-oh, whatever," Chris gave up, starting to focus his magic.

The Thunder Flare attack seized, making Giga Bowser growl in pain. "What's wrong? You're starting to get desperate? I was just getting warmed up here, but it looks like I warmed all of you a bit too much!"

"That aside…" Ike looked around, "where are Mario and Luigi?"

"The plumbers!" Giga Bowser gasped and shifted his eyes around. "Dammit, you guys are distracting me from terminating those two! Where are they?"

The group saw some red fire and blue electricity running all over the monster's head. Giga Bowser yelled in pain as a combination of fire and thunder damaged his head because of the fact the plumbers took the opportunity to climb up behind him and charge their hand attacks. The Smashers found Mario and Luigi standing right above Giga Bowser's shell. Once delivering their hand attacks, they both jumped down and rejoined the group.

And for some reason, a Bumper was tossed out from somewhere, rolling up to Lucas' feet. The blond kid blinked and picked up the item. "U-um, where did we get this from?"

Mario looked at the Bumper. "Oh, I guess my Appeal ability is working. The public surely liked my performance just now."

"…What public are you talking about?" Lucas asked. "I-I don't see any public… A-are we being watched from somewhere else in front of a group of people we don't know? I-if that's so, I'd like to say I have stage fright."

"That's what I think…"

"…" Lucas shrugged and kept the Bumper with him.

"YOU!" Giga Bowser roared. "Pesky plumbers! You snuck behind my back and attacked me?"

"It's not our fault you don't feel anything when someone light as us climb your shell," Mario said. "You can get practically attacked behind your back without noticing who climbs your shell."

"T-that's ridiculous!" Giga Bowser yelled. "I should feel anyone climbing my shell!"

"Your transformation made your skin thicker and you can only feel anything if a strong blow is delivered to you," Mario pointed out. "Walking on your shell didn't have that much pressure, thus making you feel nothing."

"D-don't you dare lecture something I already knew!"

"But…" Sonic trailed off bored.

"S-shut up!"

"Bring him back from the abyss of death… Resurrection!" Chris chanted, calling forth a holy light that shot Megaman's back. In an instant, the blue boy mumbled some words and slowly stood back on his feet, rubbing his helmet a bit. The World Traveler sighed and smiled a bit at him. "You've been healed, Megaman."

Megaman sighed in relief. "I'm lucky for having guys like you around…" he trailed off before focusing on Giga Bowser. "Now that I'm back, I'll resume fighting."

Chris just noticed that Giga Bowser's bloodshot eyes were fixated on him. The teen felt some chills running down his spine. "…Hi?" he greeted.

"It's OBVIOUS I have to get rid of stupid healers like you," Giga Bowser said. "STAY RIGHT THERE AND LET ME CRUSH YOU!"

"AAAAAAAH!" Chris covered his head and turned away.

Angered by this scream of help, Sonic growled furiously and grabbed the monster's throat with both hands, starting to push him back. "You lay one of your dirty claws on him and you'll PAY!" Sonic roared angrily.

The teen uncovered his face and looked back at both beasts fighting each other. "Sonic…" Chris muttered with relief before snapping out of his calm state. He changed back to his Beastmaster job and lashed down his whip once. "H-hold on, Sonic! I'll help you out!"

"We will as well!" Ike yelled, the others agreeing.

As the battle continued its pace with everyone ganging up on Giga Bowser, the Temple Guardians stopped walking away from the temple. Looking serious, Layla turned to them. "We must try to get into the temple this time now that he's distracted," she said.

"I hope we can do it this time," Ehsan said. "An old man like me can't run very much, I'll remind you. Achoo!"

Big felt some grumbling sounds coming from Froggy. The cat uncovered his arms to see that the frog yawned out loudly, waking up at last. The frog stared forward, despite the fact he was being carried by Big. "Froggy, good night," Big greeted.

For Big's dismay, the first thing Froggy saw was Giga Bowser. Frightened by the Koopa King's fearsome look, the frog panicked and promptly jumped off from Big, running off to the opposite direction of the temple's entrance to seek cover. "Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!" Froggy yelled in panic.

Big's pupils shrunk in horror, holding out his hands to his friend. "FROGGY!" he yelled, rushing to catch the running frog.

Worried by this, Layla gasped and gave chase to them. "W-wait, Big, Froggy, come back here! You'll get spotted if you don't get to the temple with us!"

"Layla!" Ehsan and Chip yelled.

"Ooh, this is very troublesome," Ehsan said. "I-I need to help them!"

Chip flew in front of him and shook his head. "No! We have to get to temple for now! T-they'll be fine, I know that! My friends will protect them from that big guy!"

"I'm worried about Layla's welfare!" Ehsan said. "She's a Temple Guardian! If she happens to die, I won't be able to protect the Shamar Temple by myself!"

"Look, I know that very well, but trust me when I'm saying she'll be fine!" Chip tried to convince the sneezing old man. "They won't get hurt, trust me!"

"Oooooh… I curse my old feet for this!" Ehsan complained, walking faster towards the temple's entrance with Chip following.

Once Giga Bowser made them all back away by shooting fire at them, he shifted his eyes around before growling. "You think you can walk over me because you outnumber me, huh? Think again, idiots!" he yelled. "Size matters! All I need is my size to beat you!"

"You talk big, but that's all you can do," Ike said. "It's such a shame that you happen to be Mario's enemy."

The Koopa King narrowed his bloodshot eyes. "You won't be saying that EVER AGAIN!" he roared, rushing towards Ike while using Fire Breath to burn anyone who could get in his way.

The Greil Mercenary kept his position as Sonic jumped out from his back and extended his claws to Giga Bowser's mouth, closing it tightly to prevent fire from be released. Sonic grunted as Giga Bowser then tried to shake his claws off his mouth. "U-ugh, Chris, hurry!"

Standing several meters away, the Beastmaster changed to his Fonic Hymn User, chanting a light spell while Ness, Lucas, and Kirby provided some protection. "O divine spear, run my enemy through… Holy Lance!"

Four spears of light shot out from around the Koopa King, impaling him from all sides to deliver great light damage.

The World Traveler turned to the left, where Peach stood several meters away with Mario, Luigi, and Megaman shielding her. "Thunder Flare!" Peach called out, shoving a blue sphere of magic to Giga Bowser in order for a big sphere of sparks to electrocute him.

"For achieving many continuous hits, anyone can use the Over Limit!" announced Kawashima. "Take advantage of it while you can!"

"Me, me, me ,me!"

The people surrounding Chris gasped once noticing that Luigi, somehow, had been standing there with them, despite the fact he was meters away from them. Chris himself gasped after seeing Luigi as well. "H-how did you get here so fast?"

"T-that doesn't matter!" Luigi said, shaking the teen. "I need to use my Final Smash! I-I want to use it now!"

"F-fine, u-use it, b-but stop shaking me!" Chris yelled, accidentally falling back once Luigi stopped shaking him.

The green plumber inhaled a lot of air and turned to Giga Bowser, who began stomping the ground as he gave them chase. Gulping and fixing his green hat, Luigi dashed to the monster, yelling out "Luigi time!" to activate his Over Limit, causing a rainbow aura to cover him.

"C'mere, you little rainbow light bulb!" Giga Bowser yelled, preparing to chomp the plumber with his ferocious fangs.

As the Koopa King ducked down to chomp Luigi, the green plumber stopped and called forth some kind of sphere with a freaky effect. Everyone else saw as the colors inside the sphere, that reached the Koopa King, inflicted some unnoticeable status effects on Giga Bowser. In the center of the sphere, Luigi was dancing some kind of dance, making some weird echoing sounds while some "exotic" music played in the background.

"…What the heck is he doing?" Ness asked. "Since when did Luigi learn how to dance like a hippie?"

"That's his Final Smash: Negative Zone," Chris said. "It's Luigi's manifestation of all his years by being overshadowed so many times. It's a reflection of the dark side he embraced in Mario's shadow."

"By that, you mean he goes hippie on us?"

"…Yes."

Giga Bowser, trying to get a hold of himself, tried to pummel the dancing Luigi in front of him, but the effects of the Negative Zone made him feel wasted (and possibly even drunk). He grabbed his thick head with both hands and tripped down clumsily. "W-why is everything spinning in here?" Giga Bowser asked. "I feel really light as well… U-ugh, this is another reason why I hate plumbers…"

Luigi stopped dancing and noticed Giga Bowser sitting down to fall asleep. The plumber blinked a bit at this and tilted his head, noticing the odd colors in the void he made. "W-well, he fell asleep, so I should just do this…" He walked next to the sleeping Giga Bowser and used a Super Jump Punch, turning into a Fire Jump Punch.

However, nobody there really expected the attack to be very effective. Once Luigi pulled it off, Giga Bowser was sent bouncing along the whole room, causing debris to fall down everywhere. Panic soon took place as everyone ran around for their lives, avoiding being crushed by the gargantuan. Luigi watched in complete horror as he watched Giga Bowser bouncing everywhere, still deeply sleeping. Seeking cover, Lucas stepped into the void and looked at Luigi. "T-that was a VERY bad idea!" he cried out.

Luigi groaned loudly and fell to his knees, not noticing his head narrowly evaded being decapitated by a bouncing Giga Bowser, which made Lucas turn pale (his face turning a shade of black inside the zone). "Why do I have to make everything so bad for us?" he cried loudly. "I'm just trying to give a helping hand, but no! I always screw up at last moment! I wanna be admired for once! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Lucas' face regained his usual facial color. "D-don't cry now! Y-y-you don't need to cry! I-it won't make any good if you keep doing it!"

In the ensuing chaos, many of them were knocked out by debris falling on their heads. One of these people turned out to be Layla, who received a hit on her head, knocking her down unconscious with Big doing the same thing. Froggy panicked, jumping everywhere where he thought it was safe to be, but then he was knocked out by debris as well, rolling away from Big and Layla.

"B-Big!" Chris yelled out, covering his head from the debris. He looked around in panic and tried to reach over to them, but as soon as he got closer, more debris knocked him out, pushing him to the floor.

"Chris!" Kawashima yelled worried.

The hit that Chris received apparently was enough to push out the Wiimote from his pocket. The controller spun on the air and fell down close to Froggy, who stumbled upon it, together with some odd-shaped rock that rolled into his mouth, getting itself trapped in it. The frog didn't care what was going on, nor cared what he got stuck in his mouth, and he looked around to find some place to hide. Suddenly, the Wiimote itself shot out a light to call out a portal leading somewhere. Thinking it was safe; the frog hopped into it and disappeared.

"U-ugh…" Chris raised his face from the floor and spotted the Wiimote. He gasped and stood back up to get it back on his hands. He sighed in relief and kept the control safe in his pocket. "Phew, I thought it was going to get broken…"

"Don't you lose that, okay?" Kawashima said.

"I won't…" He looked around the room to find debris scattered all over the place. For his relief, everyone else started to wake up, standing up from the debris. The World Traveler found the sleeping Giga Bowser lying on his spiked shell several feet away from him.

"Quick, gather together!" Ike yelled.

Big and Layla looked around the debris to see where Froggy had gone. "F-Froggy! Froggy!" Big cried out the frog's name.

None of the two seemed to find the frog anywhere. Layla shook her head and grabbed Big's right hand. "We can't stay here any longer! We have to join Ehsan in the temple!"

"B-but Froggy! H-he's lost somewhere!" Big cried.

"He should be fine! We know he'll get away from that monster if he's nearby!" Layla said. "Hurry before we suffer the consequences!"

Big sniffed sadly, as Layla dragged him away from the battle. "F-Froggy…d-don't get hurt…please…" Big muttered.

Layla looked confused as she ran towards the temple's entrance where Ehsan and Chip motioned towards themselves. The Temple Guardian felt that her pockets felt a bit light. She stopped thinking and ran into the temple, reaching out the safe shelter from the battle.

All the Smashers gathered in the western side of the room. "Everyone is okay?" Sonic asked.

Peach counted everyone. "Y-yes, everyone is here."

Luigi wiped away some tears. "I-I'm sorry for causing so much destruction out of my own Final Smash… I'll be very careful next time…"

Mario patted his brother's back to console him. "At least you know what you can get out of your Final Smash. You feel much better after using it, right?"

"W-well, yes, but I won't use it in places with ceilings anymore…"

Kirby clapped his hands together and pointed at Giga Bowser. "He's asleep," he said, reminding everyone about his condition.

"Even after trouncing the whole room, he's asleep?" Sonic asked. "He must be a heavy sleeper."

"Just how long do we have to fight him?" Ness asked. "He seems full of energy every time he attacks."

Chris changed to his Scholar job and studied the monster in his book. "Let me see what I can find about Giga Bowser by using Study," the scholar said. "…Okay, I found him. According to my studies, his health is about to hit zero. Its health is around ninety percent gone. Be careful, as my book says he gets more frantic the moment he notices he is going to lose."

Megaman refrained to question Chris's skill to identify Giga Bowser's status. "It's a matter of time before we beat him, then?"

"Surprisingly enough, we're doing much better than previous battles," Ike said. "It's a good sign. Our performance is starting to get better."

"I don't know about that myself, but we should prepare an all-out attack on him while he's sleeping," Megaman said. "Let's take the advantage and see if we can finish him off!"

"Oh, how much do I love to hear those words to define our annoying enemy's defeat," Ness said with relief. "Let's wrap things up with him."

"W-wait!" Peach said. "Let me cast a summon spirit this time!"

"I better NOT be that choco-bird-thing with the plushy doll. Seriously, don't screw it up with those two! They aren't so useful! Summon the beast of hell instead!"

Peach looked ashamed and sighed. "Oh well… If we want to deal as much damage as possible, then…" She focused her magic, everyone standing back from her.

Chris noticed that Luigi was sniffing sadly to himself. "Luigi, are you still feeling guilty of what you did?"

"S-sorry," Luigi said. "I-I should've known this was going to happen. I don't know my own strength," he said. "I'm such a lost cause…"

The Scholar decided to change to his Black Mage job, feeling that he wasn't very fond of talking like a sage. "Please, Luigi, you make yourself get all the blame too much…"

"B-but it's always me this time around," Luigi said. "Maybe I should just drop fighting altogether and let everyone fight the army without me…"

"D-don't say that, please!" Chris said. "Even if you're making mistakes, you can eventually overcome them with time…or so I think…"

Luigi wiped some tears. "T-thank you for thinking that about me, Chris, but I don't know if I can do it…"

"(If you ask me, I'd say you put more effort in your things than Mario does.)"

"(Even though he excels most of the time?)"

"(I…think?)"

"(I knew it; I just have bad luck all the time. I'm so different than other people. I'm surely very misunderstood…)"

"(L-Luigi, don't say that. Don't put yourself down any longer. At this rate, you might even become emo! Do you want that to happen to you?)"

"(I-I'm not emo! I-I don't want to become emo for this! I don't want to cut myself and enjoy the pain for that matter!)"

"(Those are masochistic people, Luigi... I definitely don't want to think about you doing that, honestly.)"

"(I-I won't do that, then… But I have another question… Why are our voices echoing while everyone is frozen in place?)"

"(…How many times am I going to notice this freaky way to discover a new Combined Final Smash by just ignoring it at first?)"

"(W-wait, what? I-is it my turn to discover my super secret lethal attack like you did with everyone else?)"

"(I wouldn't really call that a super secret lethal atta-)"

"(I don't want to lose any more time now! There's another opportunity to make up for all my errors and mistakes! Chris, please, let me do this now! I'm feeling very confident in myself!)"

"(But haven't you gotten at least three or four moments of pure confidence before not long ago?)"

"(Who cares about those mistakes? Let's do this at once! I wanna check out my super secret lethal attack!)"

And time itself resumed, starting with Chris sighing at Luigi's sudden stroke of confidence. "Okay, let's do this, Luigi… (That was stupidly quick for him to recover emotionally…)" He raised his staff, which started to charge itself with electricity. "Everyone, stop! Luigi found his Combined Final Smash!"

Luigi sniffed proudly and put both hands together, creating a small sphere of blue electricity.

Mario smiled at this. "Congratulations, Luigi," he said.

"I-I won't screw this up! I won't definitely screw it up this time around!" Luigi rejoiced.

Giga Bowser snored loudly and woke up. He rolled forward and sat down, rubbing his head. "I hate when I fall asleep at irregular times. It messes up my sleep schedule…" He fully opened his eyes, seeing the group standing on the other side of the messy room with debris. "Are you imbeciles trying to attack me from afar?" he roared angrily and charged to them.

Lucas yelped. "H-here he comes, everyone!" he yelled.

Ike turned to Peach. "You keep concentrating your magic while Luigi attacks!" He looked away. "Why did it sound weird to say something like Luigi attacking?" he muttered to himself.

"IDIOTS!" Giga Bowser yelled, charging towards them at full throttle. "If you don't move, you'll get crushed! Are you trying to make me laugh?"

Luigi looked determined and raised the little sphere of electricity over him. "N-now!" he yelled.

"Thunder Comrades!" both Luigi and Chris yelled in unison. Chris then shot a bolt of yellow lightning into Luigi's electricity sphere, making it grow a bit as it turned green. The green plumber screamed and shoved the sphere to Giga Bowser, which resulted in it shooting itself out as a bolt of green lightning. The gargantuan gasped at this as he saw the bolt of lightning diving down into the floor, causing a void of sparks to extend over a fifty feet radius. Giga Bowser felt his body electrocuted by green sparks as he backed away.

Luigi cried happily. "Y-yes, yes, yes!" he rejoiced.

Megaman looked surprised. 'Wow, that looked very cool," he muttered.

Giga Bowser grunted a bit in pain as the void of sparks seized its existence. He blinked a bit and looked at himself. "…Was that supposed to hurt like hell or something? I didn't really get hurt so much…" He smirked and looked back at the group. "Ha! Was that your best shot?"

The green plumber's rejoicing moment came to an abrupt halt, causing him to feel very heavy. "B-but…b-but that attack looked very powerful! I-I even saw that explosion of sparks!"

Most of them looked confused while Chris took out his DS to consult Kawashima. "Did we do something wrong?"

Kawashima shook his head. "Nope. Everything went as you wanted it to go." He made a description box appear. "Here it is the attack's description."

Thunder Comrades

It's just a simplified version of Luigi's signature move, Thunder Bros., which only replaces Mario with Chris, and the use is altered a bit. The user charges an electricity sphere that later is amplified by a bolt of lightning. Once used, it shoots down into the target's area, causing sparks to cover a big portion of the floor. The attack causes very small electric damage to anyone that it reaches out, but it has a ridiculous high chance to decrease ten percent of defense on all enemies, including bosses.

Luigi slapped his forehead. "S-so it was just a modified version of that move without any changes? T-that…s-sucks!" he complained.

"I think it doesn't make you jump over the enemy and shoot it down, though," Mario said. "You can use it from a long distance now. And, if I recall, would it be possible that Giga Bowser's defense was reduced?"

"It most likely did," Kawashima said. "Overall, it worked well, so don't look so down, Luigi!"

Luigi sighed at this. "It's all confusion and danger in the life of poor Luigi, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sonic said before Chris hand-chopped his head out of annoyance.

The blond kid reminded himself about Giga Bowser, who resumed charging at them at full throttle. Lucas yelped and turned to Peach. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he encouraged.

"COME HERE, I JUST WANT TO BEAT YOU TO YOUR OBLIVION!" Giga Bowser roared, rushing towards the group.

Megaman looked uneasy and began firing shots from his Mega Buster. "I-it's no use! We have to give her more time to finish the spell!" he yelled.

Ness and Lucas agreed by shooting PK Thunders at the Koopa King, with Mario and Luigi shooting fireballs and Chris casting quick Thunder spells. Even though all the attacks connected, the Koopa King persisted, slowing down his pace for a small bit. He was fixed on grabbing everyone to crush them all. His rage was as its fullest, which was impossible to calm down.

As it turned out, the gargantuan thought that something was odd with him. The attacks had suddenly become a bit worse, hurting him even more than before. "(W-what in the name of Jr. is happening to me? T-their puny attacks are hurting me a lot more!)"

Kirby noticed that the monster began to grunt in pain, slowing down his rush at them. He tilted himself to the right. "Is he backing away?" he asked curiously.

"Luigi's attack must have lowered his defense after all," Ike said. "It actually worked!"

Luigi's eyes became watery with tears as he fell to his knees and pumped up his fists to the ceiling. "THANK YOU! NOW I KNOW YOU DON'T HATE ME!"

As Giga Bowser was about twenty feet away, being forced to back away by the attacks, Peach managed to chant at last. "Fire lord, please, protect us by burning my enemy into ashes..." Peach chanted. "Ifrit, use Hell's Fire!"

A pillar of fire soon manifested itself between the princess and the monster. From the pillar of fire, the Summon Spirit, Ifrit, roared and quickly rammed itself against Giga Bowser, pushing him all the way back to the other side of the room where a big explosion of fire engulfed him. Roaring beastly, Giga Bowser yelled in pain as Ifrit engulfed with fire and disappeared in midair, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

"Did that do it?" Megaman asked.

From the cloud of smoke, Giga Bowser stomped out and roared angrily at them. "Y-you…princess…have to be…so uncooperative…with me…" he panted. "I…need to…finish all of you…off…before…I faint…" He clutched his thick-skinned stomach with both hands. "U-urp…"

Music stops

With a tremble caused by his big knees falling on the floor, the gargantuan gapped his mouth, trying to catch up his breath. Not long after this, his body shone brightly while he shrunk in size, turning back into Bowser. The Koopa King clutched his stomach with one arm, glaring at them from his spot. "N-no, t-this can't be… Not like this…not when I was winning…"

"You were winning against us?" Sonic said. "Oh, please, give us a break. You didn't even come close."

"Sonic, it's not the time to show off," Ike said.

"Let me be for once, please."

Bowser gasped in pain and grunted loudly. He hit the floor with a fist as a portal to the Subspace opened besides him. "As always, victory is far away from your reach, even with the modification Lord Tabuu did on your ultimate attack," the minister's voice came from the portal. "You underestimated them a whole lot than any other person could have done. For that, you lose."

"A-are you lecturing me?" Bowser asked, feeling a sharp pain his stomach where it was charred severely.

"Come now before you drop dead," the Ancient Minister said. "However, don't expect Tabuu to go easy on you. You shall be punished for wasting many important resources—the Shadow Nightmares—in your mission."

"And…to think…I had the upper hand today… You're so lucky…plumbers…" Bowser stood back up, coughing weakly. He turned to the portal and walked into it. The others began a mad dash to reach the portal and stop him from escaping, but they were all slow, Mario only able to wave his hand on a small spot left behind by the portal.

"Well…that's over with," Ike said. "Though I wouldn't like to say we won."

"I know what you mean by that," Chris said, adjusting his glasses. "Fighting against Giga Bowser was not exactly a very rewarding fight to gain experience."

Ness pressed his brow. "It's Bowser. You enjoy beating him, but you don't really enjoy the victory over him. This is why he sucks at being a villain."

Kirby looked around and then smiled a bit. "So…there was nothing so bad tonight?"

Sonic blinked and looked bored. "Uh-oh, here he comes," he said just before a maniac DSS came out from his back. "Chris, take some action before he says something!"

Chris nimbly changed to his Beastmaster job and whipped Sonic's forehead hard, causing DSS to retreat by screaming before disappearing. "Okay, that REALLY proved we didn't suffer so many casualties tonight," Chris said.

The werehog sighed and nodded. "You couldn't be more right, Chris."

Mario looked and nodded at Luigi. "Thanks to you, Luigi, Bowser went down faster. That CFS of yours was very effective."

Luigi smiled happily. "I-I can't believe this. I-I really helped without screwing up! I feel much more satisfied than before!" He went over to hug Chris tightly. "T-thank you! You're a real lifesaver from taking me out of depression! I won't become emo!"

"You're worrying about becoming emo now?" Chris asked in disbelief, some of them chuckling at this.

"At last, you've managed to defeat that monster! Oh, we're grateful for you rescuing us, indeed! A-achoo!"

The group turned towards the Shamar Temple where the two Temple Guardians and Chip rushed to their side. Big, in the meantime, looked around for his missing friend, pushing debris away to make sure he wasn't buried under crumbles.

"You guys did it once again," Chip said proudly. "I couldn't have doubted that we were going to lose against somebody so dumb like him."

Layla bowed to them. "On behalf of Ehsan and me, we thank your efforts to for rescuing us from their clutches," she said. "Really, it was hell once he was in charge of keeping us locked away in a cage. We didn't expect people like you coming to our aid."

"We're glad to see you were left unharmed," Ike said. "This is a miracle for you, isn't it?"

"It is," Ehsan said. "Now, we can ensure peace on the Shamar Temple. However, we can't really say we achieved peace since we haven't restored the energy of the temple. If only we had the key to open the doors to the temple's inner sanctum…"

Chip raised his hand. "I'm Light Gaia. I'm the true opener of doors."

Layla and Ehsan looked at Chip. "What? Light Gaia? There is an embodiment of light to oppose Dark Gaia?" Ehsan asked.

Layla tilted her head. "You look nothing like Dark Gaia looks on the sacred tablets…"

Chip sighed and rolled his eyes. "You people judge others too much… But seriously, I'm Light Gaia. I can open the doors of the temple with my hands."

As the group kept talking with each other, Megaman received a call from Roll. "It looks like there aren't anymore things to face, right, Megaman?" Roll asked.

"Yup, not a single thing," Megaman said.

"Good!" Roll said glad. "Luckily, the refractor is just beyond that room, Megaman. Go get it so we can call this a night."

"Did you repair the boat?"

"It should be ready to go once you all get back outside," Roll said. "…Wait a minute… Megaman, I'm detecting three life signals coming at your way! They're all coming from the direction of the entrance!"

"What?"

"And they're about to enter the room you're all in!"

Megaman grunted and made a fist. "Dammit, we have to keep fighting more of them?" he asked, facing the eastern double doors.

And the Bonnes came out from said doors. Nothing much important to say about them is necessary.

"H-hey!" Teisel yelled.

Fine… From the eastern doors, the Bonnes, panting heavily like never before, came out running frantically. They apparently faced many dangers as they made their way to the wide room since all of them had bruises covering their clothes. Teisel supported his hands on his knees and panted more.

"W-we're here…" Teisel panted. "W-we're finally here…"

Tron pumped up a fist and said, "Don't you worry, everyone. We're here to lend you a hand! We won't let anyone else take you out so easily! It's OUR job to take you out!"

"B-babu!" Bon proclaimed, raising his arms.

The group turned to look at them. "Oh my god, these guys just WON'T give us a rest?" Ness asked annoyed.

"We'll give you a rest!" Teisel said proudly, catching up his breath to talk. "For tonight, we'll give you a rest and help you out! After enduring close encounters with the scary shadow monster kind and getting here alive somehow, we'll help you! We heard your cries of help from far away, and we have come to answer them!"

"…" Megaman stared them in silence for a while. "…Well…that's nice of you for a change…but…you're all too late."

The Bonne Family looked confused and lowered down their fists. "Babu?" Bon asked.

"Wait…is it over, then?" Teisel asked, his right red eye twitching.

Sonic frowned. "We already took care of the idiot who was causing trouble to us. We don't need your help."

Tron blinked. "B-but you were all screaming!" she said.

Teisel looked (determined) at Peach. "I-I even heard Actress Peach's pleas from outside! As a devoted fan of her fan club, I had to answer her call for help!"

"Babu, babu, babu," Bon said.

"Of course I'll jump off a cliff if she wanted me to do so!"

Peach looked concerned at the older brother. "U-um, it's so nice for all of you to come here to help us, but everything's fine now…"

Teisel brightened up. "Maybe you also turn out to be a top class fighter, Actress Peach? I'd never know something like that! You're so experienced that you don't even let your enemies lay a hand to scratch your pretty face! You MUST infatuate them with your looks for sure!"

"You wish…" Tron muttered to herself.

"But why help us?" Megaman asked. "Aren't we supposed to be enemies?"

"You don't understand anything, blue boy," Teisel said. "The Bonne Family has never met a guy like you before. It's an honor to have a nemesis who will try to outwit us. Our mission is to make sure that nemesis is taken down by us and nobody else, so that's why we have to look for each other unconditionally!" he explained. "Do you agree or what?"

"…" Megaman looked at the group.

Most of them shook their heads in disagreement.

Megaman turned to the Bonnes. "I…guess I agree."

"Perfect!" Teisel said.

"…So what are you going to do now?"

Tron looked proud and raised a finger. "We're in the middle of a truce. None of us is going to cause trouble…besides the fact we don't really have anything to take all of you head-on…" she muttered the last part.

"Since when did we agree on a truce?" Ike asked.

"Right now, so don't say anything else!" scolded Tron. "You want to break that truce?"

"It's not like you'll do anything bad to us anymore," Mario pointed out.

Teisel sighed depressed. "True that, my unconditional friend…"

Sonic stifled a grunt and looked at Megaman. "Hey, just ignore them. Go get that refractor thing so we can get out of this place."

"L-let's not forget about visiting the temple!" Chip reminded them, looking at the Temple Guardians. "If you wouldn't mind…"

"Oh, it's okay," Layla said. "We don't know what's going on with those people that just arrived, but we need to take a small break before going into the Shamar Temple. We're a bit exhausted for having to run back and forth to take cover."

Ehsan nodded. "That certainly would help me catch some breath, a-achoo!" he sneezed.

Turning his back on the proud-looking Bonnes, Megaman began heading to the western side of the room, where a set of double doors leaded to the refractor room. "I'll be right back, you guys!" he told them, passing the double doors where a big refractor covered in a force field in front of a control panel awaited him.

Peach turned around in time to notice that Teisel was behind her, grabbing both of her hands once more. "You aren't hurt, right, Actress Peach?" Teisel asked.

"No," Peach said. "I was able to be safe by everyone's help."

Teisel looked at the Smashers. "…I get it now," he said. "They all must be your devotees who decided to protect your life ever since you hit stardom in my favorite novel! That'd explain why they follow you everywhere!"

Tron walked to him and grunted annoyed. "Teisel, are you forgetting she came with all of them before she even appeared in that novel of yours?"

Teisel looked at his younger sister. "They noticed she was born to be a novel star before I did, you know! They are called devotees for SOMETHING!"

"You're so delusional when it comes down to your TV stars! I can't stand it!"

"Sorry for making you feel ashamed, but that's how I roll!"

While a nervous-looking Peach kept staring at the siblings arguing with one another (and Bon remaining silent), the Smashers exchanged glances. "I forgot, but when did we let them follow us?" Sonic asked.

"W-we never did…" Lucas said.

"They just want to listen to our plans," Ness said. "That's their whole reason to be here. That truce of them is so false in so many levels."

"So this is their way to eavesdrop?" Chris asked with a miffed look.

"That's your typical annoying enemy group's way to act friendly towards you," Sonic said, closing his eyes with a frown. "They THEN stab you when they have the chance."

The World Traveler noticed that Kirby went over to the center of the room where the pile of orange tires. The puffball tilted his head and jumped on to the top, sitting down to relax. "…That's strange," Chris muttered. "I didn't mind that pile of tires before…"

"What are you saying?" Lucas asked, turning to look at the pile of tires. "Oh…that was there? I forgot it was there this whole time…"

"It looks like it got unscathed from Giga Bowser's mad bouncing around the place," Chris said. "But there's something about it that doesn't make me feel so good…"

At that moment, sobbing to himself, Big walked around from behind the pile of tires and sat down on the ground. "I-I can't find Froggy anywhere!" he cried sadly. "H-he's not here!"

The World Traveler and blond kid looked worried, noticing that Layla went over to console him. "I hope Froggy didn't get crush somewhere because of that accident…" Lucas muttered.

From the western set of double doors, a happy Megaman walked out, carrying a big red refractor with both arms. The refractor surely was bigger than the yellow one. Everyone fixed their eyes on it (the Bonnes being the most fixated on the gem). "I got it!" Megaman said. "This is a huge refractor! With this, we'll be able to repair the Flutter!"

The blue boy noticed the fixated looks of the Bonnes. He shifted his look back and forth between the refractor and the Bonnes before pulling it away from their sight.

"Ah-ah, you stop thinking about taking it off from my hands!" he yelled in disagreement.

Tron looked annoyed. "Hey! We weren't thinking about stealing it! W-we were just astonished by its size, that's all!"

"Y-yeah, that!" Teisel said in their defense. "Don't address us as thieves!"

"You ARE thieves," everyone else said.

Megaman shook his head. "Well, our job here is almost done, right? There were no security alarms when I took it off from its place."

"We need to visit the temple," Chip said. "If you want, you can follow us."

"Oh, okay," Megaman said nodding. "It's fine by m-"

"Megaman!" Roll suddenly interrupted. "Megaman, this is seriously bad!"

The blue boy turned serious. "What is it this time, Roll?"

"I'm picking up a Reaverbot signal!" she said alarmed. "It came out of nowhere after you took the refractor into the room! It's a big one, and the readings are going off the scale!"

"What?" Megaman looked around. "Is the signal coming from this very room?"

"It's coming from right in the middle!"

"Right in the middle…" Megaman turned to the center of the room where Kirby was lying down on top of the pile of orange tiles. "Wait, I haven't paid much attention to that before. But, you don't mean that…"

Megaman Legends/64 - Garudoriten

The debris around the room began to shake wildly, forcing everyone to back away (with the Bonnes tripping down). Kirby yawned loudly and sat up, feeling that there was a tremor shaking him. He blinked confused at this as he hopped a few times towards the edge before falling down on top of Big's head, causing the cat to notice the tremor. Big's ears perked up as he stood back up, just in time to back away with Layla and Kirby from the pile of tires.

"S-something's coming from that pile!" Ike yelled. "It's…turning into something!"

The pile of orange tires began to rise up to the ceiling in midair (somehow). Once it was high up, it flipped a few times by itself and a pair of long legs sprouted out from beneath the tires while two long arms sprouted out from each upper sides of the pile. On top of the tires, a spiked head with the Reaverbot eye sprouted out next in front of a small metal fence that made half a circle behind its head. The robot towered over the group of astonished people in front of it. The pile of tires themselves formed up its main body. Its long arms then sprouted out a set of spikes extending out from the lateral sides, with its black fists sporting a single spike on each end (that resembled black Zakobons' heads).

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Teisel yelled as he, Bon, and Tron were hugging each other in fear.

"A-a Reaverbot!" Megaman said, backing away from the gigantic Reaverbot. "It must be this Sub-Gate's main guardian!"

"It surely activated right after you took the refractor in here," Mario said, looking up at the Reaverbot. "It's been turned off this whole time, even if Bowser came here."

"I-I knew there was something odd with it," Chris muttered. "It wasn't in the middle of the room just for show after all…"

"U-um, everyone?" Luigi began, shaking a bit in fear. "W-what are we going to do now?"

Sighing at this, Ness took a step forward. "Isn't it obvious? We aren't going to walk out alive if we don't get rid of that robot. Does it have a name?"

"It's a Garudoriten model," Roll said. "Its head is its weak point, but the whole set of its body is heavily armored. If you want to hurt it, hit its head hard!"

"Do you have any more information about it?" Megaman asked, glaring up at the still Reaverbot.

"Sorry, but that's all I have! I don't know what it does to attack. The Reaverbot database we have has incomplete info about Garudoritens!"

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Tron cried out as the Bonnes made a run for it to the eastern set of double doors, only crashing into it and falling into the floor, finding out that the doors were locked tight. "T-the doors…locked us in here…" Tron muttered dazzled.

"Baaaaaaaabuuuuuuuuuu…" Bon muttered.

"S-so much for a good escape…" Teisel muttered.

Big, Layla, and Kirby ran back to the group's side while the Garudoriten slowly moved its legs to their direction. "O-oh no, we have to take cover again!" Layla said. "Ehsan, Big, Chip, let's go!"

All of the non-fighters made their way towards the entrance of the temple, hiding back inside. Oddly enough, the Garudoriten didn't seem interested on them. It needlessly advanced towards the group.

"W-why didn't it attack them?" Lucas asked.

Megaman noticed he was holding the refractor in his arms. "Oh no, it surely is after the refractor…" he trailed off, keeping it away through the usual magic satchel and hammerspace methods. "The doors are locked, right? Well, we have no choice but to fight."

"Remember that it is heavily armored. Any attacks should be directed at its head," Roll said. "Watch out, okay?"

Ike looked at the Reaverbot's head. "That's its weak point, then."

"If we want to reach its head, we have to jump to it," Mario said. "Is everyone ready?"

Before the red plumber could get a reply, suddenly, the Garudoriten leaped its whole body at them, sliding rather fast over the crumbles. They all gasped at this unpredictable maneuver before they all got pushed away harshly against the wall, falling back on the floor. The Reaverbot rapidly stood back up, resuming its slow walk to them.

"W-what kind of ridiculous yet fast ramming attack was that?" Ike asked. "I-I didn't know it could use its body to slide and attack us…"

"I-I have a feeling that is its main way to attack," Chris said. "It advances slowly, but it slides very fast to catch us off-guard!"

"Quick, disperse around!" Megaman yelled. "And while you're at it, try to shoot its head!"

Chris looked at Peach. "We should try using magic spells on it! They will surely land nicely if we aim for its head!"

Peach nodded. "Yes, let's do this," she said.

Mario and Luigi stepped closer to them. "We'll protect both of you," Mario said.

Everyone started to spread around the room. The Garudoriten twisted its head around before it jumped all the way back to the center of the room, causing a big shockwave to turn all the debris into dust, also managing to reach everyone's feet to hurt them all. The shockwave itself had a very large area of effect, reaching all the way to the walls and the temple's entrance, where the non-fighters luckily weren't hit. The Smashers all stumbled and fell down in pain, getting back up. "T-that robot can also make shockwaves!" Luigi yelled.

The princess looked concerned. "And if it does that again while we prepare our magic, it'll interrupt us."

Chris looked a bit grim. "Yes, magic users like us have to stand still and wait for the spell to be ready… Even if we're hit with a very light hit, it'll throw us off-guard."

"And with a fast attack like the one he did on us earlier," Mario said, "it's not going to be easy to dodge unless we jump high."

"See? This robot is the real deal!" Ness yelled from the other side of the room. "It's not like Mr. Grumpy Guts Bowser, oh no! This one is a much better opponent than he was!"

"N-Ness, calm down! Bowser isn't here anymore!" Lucas said, standing besides Ness. "Try to restrain your anger! You've been through a lot today!"

"I need to release it!" Ness yelled. "We were ambushed by rabid dogs, the Bonne people knocked out on the floor over there, Pokey (Lucas: Porky), Shadow Nightmares, Bowser, and now this robot with the stupid sliding attack!"

At this moment, after seeing the debris cleaned up with the strong shockwave, Big fainted and fell on his back, thinking Froggy was killed by the shockwave.

Lucas just noticed said robot was slowly walking towards them. "I-it's coming towards us!"

Ness turned around to find Megaman shooting at it with his Mega Buster. "Is it me, or it only wants to get you?"

As he kept shooting at the robot's head, the blue boy said, "My guess is that it wants the refractor from me, but I went over to the doors to put it back, but they were closed!"

"What?" Sonic said from another side of the room, trying to get a good angle to grab the Garudoriten. "Doesn't it look weird that it locks the doors to put that gem back when it is trying to get it back?"

"Maybe it thinks Megaman will go into the room and keep the refractor out of the shield forever to take cover from the robot," Ike said. "That should explain why it locked all the doors."

Megaman turned to the Shamar Temple. "I'll put the refractor back there!"

"N-no, please, don't!" Chris yelled. "If you do, that robot will destroy the temple! The temple is a very valuable place we have to protect!"

"I don't really want to be the robot's main target!" Megaman complained.

"Sorry, dude, but that's the disadvantage of being a Digger," Ness said bored.

"Look out!" Chip yelled.

Ness, Lucas, and Megaman were able to jump high enough to evade a sliding body attack from the Garudoriten. The three backed away as it stood back up, resuming its walk towards Megaman. "W-whew, that was close!" Lucas said with a big sigh.

Peach turned to Chris. "We shouldn't be standing here doing nothing. We must start our spells!"

"R-right!" Chris said, both starting to focus magic.

Mario looked at Luigi. "Listen, if that robot stomps on the floor again, you grab Chris and jump over any shockwave. I'll grab Peach."

"O-okay," Luigi obeyed.

Meanwhile, hopping up in the air with his body full of air, a serious Kirby went over to the Garudoriten's head, landing nicely in front of it. The puffball faced the face and began swinging his hammer to deal a good amount of damage to it. The robot, however, leaned its head forward, causing Kirby to fall down. Once he was down, the robot kicked Kirby hard enough to send him to crash against the faraway northern wall, bouncing down to the floor in pain.

"Kirby!" Ness yelled.

Sonic growled at this and dashed to the robot. "You'll pay for that!" he yelled as he leaped to the Reaverbot's body and began climbing it up.

All the Garudoriten did to stop the werehog was simply to fall back on the floor and crush him under his heavily armored body. The werehog's scream of pain was muffled under the hard steel. Seeing that the robot didn't move, Ike knew it wanted to make sure for Sonic's scream to die down. "No, stop that!" Ike yelled, rushing to the robot.

The robot suddenly stood back up and jumped all the way back to the center of the room, creating another shockwave that swept everything. Ike narrowly jumped over the shockwave while the Mario Bros. grabbed both Chris and Peach and jumped over it, the others jumping over as well. It only resulted in Sonic being pushed away by it, groaning in pain.

"T-this is unfair!" Chris complained as Luigi put him down. "I was about to finish my chant!"

"M-me too," Peach said depressed.

"So your spells get interrupted if we grab you as well," Mario said. "That's better than getting hurt, right?"

"Y-yes, but still, that's so unfair!" Chris whined.

The Reaverbot began to advance to Megaman, who continued shooting at its head. Unfortunately, the shots barely scratched against the heavily armored body, making them vanish before reaching the head. "Ugh, I'll have to jump and shoot to reach the head!" Megaman said, jumping a high height to shoot the head. He gasped right after the Garudoriten leaped on the floor and slid all the way to him, where he was about to land but was pushed aside harshly.

"M-Megaman!" Lucas yelled, rushing to Megaman's side with Ness.

The Onett resident, however, turned towards the Garudoriten, which was trying to stand up. "Lucas, quick, leap to its head while it's standing up so we can hit it hard!" Ness advised. "Megaman will be okay for himself! (Megaman: SURE I will!)"

Lucas gasped at the quick turn and leaped to the Reaverbot's head as it rose up from the floor. Ness took out his bat while Lucas took out his branch. "I-I'm ready!" Lucas said.

"I'll question how a branch can do a lot of damage later, but start hitting now!" Ness yelled, both he and Lucas starting to smack the head wildly. Sadly, the robot reacted quickly to this and pushed them off using its black hands. Both of them rolled on the floor before the robot leaped and slid on the floor, pushing them off recklessly to the wall. "Y-you know what I hate about enemies, Lucas?" Ness asked as his back was leaning upside-down against the wall.

"W-what?" Lucas asked, his face stuck on the wall.

"I hate it when they pull out cheap combos like that," Ness said, "and even more when they're bigger than me. That shows how people don't care about feeble children like us."

"U-um, they're supposed to hurt anyone, even a small baby…"

"True…"

Around this time, the werehog was lying down on the floor in pain. Shaking his head, Sonic pushed his feet back up and growled at the huge robot. "You wanna get over here and crush me again?" he taunted with a fierce look. He then extended his claws all the way to the top of the head. He smirked (evilly) and tried to pull the robot to him.

It seemed as if the robot knew how to fight back with simple moves. The Garudoriten fell on his back, pulling an astonished werehog over it. The robot, once feeling the werehog landing on his tire-looking body, embraced him with both spiked arms and rolled over Sonic, causing the werehog to scream in pain once more, only this time worse than before.

Mario shook his head at this. "That robot surely has some odd ways to attack us," he said.

"B-but they all are very effective against us!" Luigi said worried. "I-I don't want to be hugged by it for that reason!" He turned to Chris and Peach, each one of them trying to cast a different spell. "H-hurry before Sonic gets flattened!"

"I'm trying to do my best here!" Chris said. "I can't just rush the chant! If I do, the spell won't work!"

"Not even a bit?"

"Not even a bit!"

The blue boy took advantage of the head being close to touch the floor that he began to shoot it as many times as he could. This only caused the Garudoriten to stand back up, release a weakened Sonic from his arms, and jump all the way back to the center to create a shockwave that swept the whole floor, much for Chris's annoyance as he was grabbed by Mario to jump over it with Luigi and Peach. "Dammit!" Megaman cursed.

"I concur!" Chris yelled annoyed, once again starting a new focus in his spell with Peach.

"You're doing a good job, nonetheless!" Roll said. "Even though it's a bit slow…" she muttered. "Keep going, Megaman!"

"(If I had my Powered Buster recharged, maybe I could've had a chance to hurt it more,)" Megaman thought, once again seeing the robot walking towards him.

Ike, Ness, Lucas, and Kirby surrounded Megaman, staring up to the Garudoriten. "This thing uses cheap tricks to beat us!" Ness complained. "What's more, it gives Sonic real killer hugs!"

"HA-HA, very funny!" Sonic said annoyed, lying down painfully on the floor.

"PK Thunder!" Lucas yelled, shooting out a spark sphere to the Reaverbot's head. It was merely blocked by its heavily armored right arm, causing the attack to vanish. "H-hey, that's so cheap!" Lucas complained.

"Well, your attack was slow, though," Ike said. "Ness's is a bit faster."

"LOOK OUT!" Megaman yelled in time to make them jump and evade a sliding body attack from the Garudoriten. The blue boy jumped far away and began running to the opposite direction, forcing the Reaverbot to stand up and give him a slow chase. "(I need to gain distance so I don't have to jump close to it. If I jump and shoot, it'll dive down for me!)"

Kirby valiantly flew to the top of the robot, landing just between the head and the small barrier behind it. The Reaverbot stopped advancing and tried to reach out for the puffball, but Kirby flattened (literally) himself to prevent being grabbed. However, Kirby gasped when the head twisted around and faced him directly. Out of panic, he began to kick the head while flattening itself against the body so the spiked hands wouldn't get him.

Ike noticed that the robot was too busy trying to get Kirby off. "(Is it really distracted?)" Ike thought carefully. "(Maybe Kirby gave us a chance for an opening to attack…)"

Luigi saw the event and turned to Mario. "K-Kirby just hid behind its head!"

"I saw that," Mario said. "His little move should give Chris and Peach enough time to finish their spells for real this time."

Chris began thanking Kirby in his mind as he finally finished a spell. "Shock my enemy to greater paralysis... Thundara!" he chanted, pointing his staff to the Garudoriten's head.

Strong bolts of lightning rained down upon the Reaverbot's head, causing a great deal amount of damage through the top spike that acted as some kind of lightning rod. The puffball watched the robot shocking itself by the attack that it tumbled a bit, but then resumed trying to get Kirby off from his head area.

"Thunder Flare!" Peach chanted next, shoving a blue sphere of magic. A sphere of sparks quickly appeared on the enemy's head, the attack not hurting Kirby since he was sided with the group. The Garudoriten, however, managed to walk away from the sphere of sparks suspended in the air. Peach gasped a bit at this.

"I think Chris's attack was a critical hit unlike yours, Peach," Mario said. "Or maybe your attack isn't that strong but just hurts a little with every hit."

"A-also, maybe the robot was sturdy enough to flinch," Luigi added.

"In that case, I should try to use a summon spirit instead," Peach said. "But I don't know if it will hit the head…"

"Let's see if it will," Mario said.

Their moment of tranquility was soon interrupted as a loud crash was heard from the robot's direction. The next thing they knew, they were all pushed away to the nearby wall, grunting in pain as well. The World Traveler peeled himself off the wall and fell down to see Kirby lying down next to him. "W-what did just happen?" Chris asked.

"…It…just…leaped…" Kirby muttered weakly, trying to catch his breath.

"P-Peach!" Luigi cried out, holding out his hands to catch Peach from falling on the floor. "O-oh my goodness, that monster hurt you!"

Peach smiled weakly. "I-I was just a bit careless, that's all…"

Mario fell down from the wall and walked to them. "Peach, are you okay?" he asked worried.

Luigi put Peach back on her feet and nodded. "I-I'm fine, really. I just got hit."

"Y-you already got rammed against the wall twice in this fight!" Luigi pointed out. "A-another attack like that, a-and you could get really hurt!"

The mushroom trio stopped talking with each other once they heard the robot's footsteps coming closer to them. Looking up, Chris saw the Garudoriten looming over them. "E-er, why is it coming towards us this time? W-wasn't it focused on Megaman?" Chris asked.

Mario rubbed his chin. "It surely got aggravated when we hit him with magic. It's possible that your attack made it change tactics and target us."

At this, the World Traveler's yellow eyes made a bored look. "Oh, yes, blame everything on the guy with the magic hat, will you?"

"Sorry, but that's one possible reason. Besides, your attack DID score a strong hit."

Luigi shielded the princess with Mario while Chris picked Kirby up with both arms. The Garudoriten began advancing at a slow but cautious pace, alarming all of them. "I-it'll leap and crash with us!" Luigi panicked. "R-run before we get hurt again!"

"Here we are!"

Two big claws latched on the Reaverbot's head before Sonic reached the top, starting to punch it as many times as he could. While the robot was busy trying to fend the werehog, Ike, Megaman, Ness, and Lucas joined up with the group and assisted them by separating. Sonic growled furiously with every punch he tossed before the machine hit him hard with a black hand, forcing Sonic to land back on the floor. The werehog gasped and quickly dug his claw into the ceiling to climb up and evade a sliding attack from the heavily armored Reaverbot. He then fell back and dashed away to Chris and Kirby's side. "You okay, Chris?" Sonic asked.

"A-a bit," Chris said, looking at the weakened Kirby on his arms. "We're getting hurt so fast. I-I need to change jobs and heal wounds," he said, changing to his Fonic Hymn User job. He moved his rod over Kirby. "Hang in there, Kirby…"

Sonic's ears perked up, making him snarl and grab Chris and Kirby with an extended arm to leap away from another sliding attack from the Garudoriten. The werehog landed a bit further to the east and put Chris down. "Now that robot will pick on anyone no matter if it's the blue guy!" Sonic complained. "That won't do us any good!"

"I-I need to start healing everyone before I get taken out!" Chris said alarmed.

Once more, Sonic's ears perked up, but he was unable to take Chris and Kirby away. The three got pushed hard along the ground as the Garudoriten slammed its body against them. The attack was just too much for all of them to bear that they were knocked out easily. Once their bodies stopped rolling recklessly many feet away, divine lights shone on them from the ceiling, making holy wings flutter on their backs before disappearing. In a matter of seconds, they all regained their composure, this time feeling much better than before, but not completely healed.

"W-we were knocked out at the same time…" Chris trailed off. "We were too hurt enough to get beaten…"

Sonic slammed a fist on the floor and grunted angrily. "Dammit, I won't that robot push us around anymore! If it does again, I'll crush that stupid heavily armored body with my own hands!"

"Claws?" Kirby retorted.

"No, HANDS," Sonic said annoyed. "They LOOK like claws, but they're HANDS to me. Remember that."

"Oooooooh…" Kirby nodded in approval

"(…Cute move, Kirby,)" Chris merely thought.

The small amount of debris hopping on the floor made Chris panic. The healer ran away from the spot with Kirby as Sonic faced the Garudoriten by himself, growling with fists ready. "You wanna take me on again?" Sonic taunted. "I'll take you on by myself!"

"That's a very risky decision, Sonic!" Ike said, rushing it to the scene. "We must beat it together!"

"Sweet, is it really ready to fall down?"

"That was figurative speech…"

"That's why I hate that kind of speech!" Sonic grunted.

Right after that, Megaman jumped high enough to shoot at the Reaverbot's head. The Garudoriten turned around and slid down on the floor. The blue boy gasped before he was pushed away by the attack, but he quickly rolled back up to stand on one knee to shoot at the robot while it stood back up. "Stop. Doing. That. Stupid. Move!" Megaman grunted with every shot he fired from his Mega Buster.

Ness and Lucas joined Megaman and shot dual PK Thunders to the Garudoriten. The robot, although not showing any signs of pain, just looked down upon them and extended its arms to the sides. "What's it doing now?" Ness asked.

Lucas let out a yelp as the robot leaned towards them to fall. "R-run!" he yelled, the trio jumping away from the heavy body crashing on the floor.

The Reaverbot, as always, stood back up and looked around. It then fixated its gaze on the mushroom trio, who was standing far away from them as Peach tried to use a summon spirit. "I-it's looking at us!" Luigi said alarmed.

Mario looked over his right shoulder at Peach. "Try to finish, Peach. Don't stop now."

Peach remained silent as she tried to focus magic between her hands.

The red plumber looked back at the Reaverbot, who naturally advanced towards them. "(If it leaps to us, it'll reach us easily…)" Mario thought worried. "(And Peach just started her summoning…)"

Luigi let out a (girly) scream as the Garudoriten suddenly slid towards them very quickly. Mario gasped alarmed, causing Peach to stop and scream for help. Her plea was soon answered by Sonic as he dashed into the scene and grabbed the robot's big shoulders with his claws, trying to stop it from ramming into them. "Y-you won't hurt the-WOAH!" he yelled, being dragged away with the robot.

Having no room to run, the mushroom trio and the werehog were rammed harshly against the wall. Mario, Sonic, and Luigi managed to resist the crash, but Peach was more fragile. The princess made a saddened expression as she fell on the floor, being knocked out by the magnitude of the attack. When Luigi fell down, he pushed back his head and cried when he saw Peach knocked out on the floor. "P-PEACH!" Luigi cried loudly.

A divine light shone on the princess' back, making holy wings flutter a bit before disappearing along with the light. Soon enough, the princess regained consciousness and stood back up, placing a hand over her forehead. "I-I…got hit, didn't I?" she asked concerned before Luigi tackled her with an embrace.

"P-Peach, oh my goodness, you're okay!" Luigi rejoiced as Mario came to them, twitching in pain.

"L-luckily, but I still feel a bit of pain…" Peach trailed off.

Luigi forced a glare full of tears to the robot. "M-monster! T-treating princesses like Peach like that!" he whined. "I wish you had emotions like today's robots do, stupid metallic can!"

"We have to get out of the robot's reach!" Mario said, seeing the Garudoriten standing back up. "We don't want to get attacked like that again, right?"

"I won't let that happen!" growled Sonic from the wall. The werehog tried to push the robot from reaching the mushroom trio. Falling back on his feet on the floor, the werehog seemed to push the Reaverbot back. "S-stop standing right there and go!" he told the trio.

"T-thank you, Sonic!" Peach thanked as she was taken away by Mario and Luigi to the western side of the room. "Please, don't get hurt!"

"(Funny, I feel more inspired than her than I do with Amy… Wait, what the heck did I say just now?)" Sonic shook his head and looked back up at the robot, who tried to advance forward to him. "Y-you think you'll get to me now?" Sonic howled angrily.

"I-I'm coming in!" Lucas yelled as he jumped twice to reach the head…that he actually did easily. He blinked at this and smiled, standing next to the head. "H-hey, it's easy to get on top o-" he was cut off after the robot pushed him away with a free hand, resuming to walk towards Sonic.

The werehog, boringly, shook his head after seeing that. "So that's why Chris told me I shouldn't get so overconfident. You get yourself screwed up… GRRRRRRRR!" he grunted, trying to push back the Reaverbot. "Some help wouldn't so bad right now, you guys!"

For his apparent dismay, Lucas came back and jumped twice to land on the robot's shoulders.

"You get down there!" Sonic yelled. "You'll get pushed down again!"

"N-not this time!" Lucas said, quickly releasing PK energy shocks down with a finger. The shocks were actually pretty damaging, making the robot lose its advance towards Sonic. The werehog took the advantage and promptly pushed it down on its back while Lucas hopped off in time.

"Yeah!" Sonic said with a grin.

Then the robot got back up.

"…Wait a minute, what was the point in pushing it down if it already does that a lot?" Sonic asked to no one in particular. "Oh, wait, give time for Mario and the others to escape…so then, why keep it there after that?"

"U-um, to give us a chance to attack it while you restrained it?" Lucas responded, approaching the werehog.

"Damn, my mind isn't working very well tonight," Sonic admitted. "Stupid werehog look…"

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Lucas pointed up at the robot, looming over them all over again.

"F(beep)k!" Sonic cursed, grabbing Lucas to leap away from the robot's reach.

While this took place, the World Traveler was tending Ike to heal his injuries, casting around five First Aids to heal him fully. "There…" Chris trailed off, wiped some sweat from his forehead. "That should heal you completely, Ike…"

"Sorry for being a burden," Ike said with a sigh.

"It's okay," Chris said. "I need to keep everyone safe and healthy. If that means I have to be some kind of doctor, I'll do it." He saw Mario, Luigi, and Peach running to them. "And here I have three more patients… Um, why does Peach look a bit exhausted?"

"P-Peach was knocked out!" Luigi said.

"…" Chris's right eye twitched. "Peach…was…knocked out…" he muttered to himself. "(Oh god, to people like me, that's like killing ten-thousand Kirbies with a single blow!)"

Peach coughed a bit. "I-I'm fine, don't worry too much about me, Chris."

"(And she HAD to go on ahead and make it a hundred-thousand Kirbies!)" Chris thought. "Oh, heck no! I worry much more when you tell me not to worry! That's how irony works here, but I'll follow the flow and heal you!" He focused magic to his rod. "Holy power, come to me… First Aid!"

Light shone on Peach, healing her injuries for the most part. It was enough for her to stop coughing, which relieved most of them a lot. "Thank you…" Peach said.

"See what I'm saying? We'll worry about your welfare if you want or not," Chris said.

The floor trembled.

"Oh no, here it comes!" Ike warned them.

They all turned to the Reaverbot, slowly advancing. It decided to slide on the floor to reach them faster, shocking everyone. "Oh, great, it's using its sliding move to get anywhere much faster now!" Chris complained.

And for their dismay, the Garudoriten once again slid on its body to ram at them. They all yelled at this, except for Mario. The red plumber stood in front of them to allow the robot to reach him first. Peach yelled his name as she thought he would be severely injured.

However, the princess' thought was wrong. Once the robot's head connected with Mario, the red plumber spun rather quickly in his spot. The Reaverbot, despite of the plumber's size, got pushed back. The four Smashers looked surprised at this, seeing that Mario didn't receive any damage. "…Mario, that was…" Luigi trailed off.

"That was my Super Dodge," Mario said. "I forgot I had it with me all this time after Chris bought it."

"You just spun right when that thing touched you?" Ike asked.

"Yes, it lets me receive no damage while making my attacker recoil," Mario explained.

The mercenary rubbed his chin. "A bit odd, but it is useful… That could be your personal way to have an advantage."

Chris turned to Ike. "You mean we could use Mario as a human shield so the robot doesn't slam us?"

"Er…" Mario looked unsure at the suggestion. "Most of the time, I can perform the Super Dodge very well, but there are a few instances where I don't use it right when an attack lands on me. Don't rely on it too much or else I'll be unnecessarily sacrificed.."

Ness ran to the group. "You guys do notice the robot is looming over us, right?"

They turned back to the robot, which had stood up while they were talking.

Peach looked skeptical at the robot. "That was nice of it for giving us time to converse," she remarked.

Panicking at the robot's size, the World Traveler came up with a very brilliant idea that couldn't be matched up with anything else. "…RUN!" he yelled.

They all dispersed to several sides, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the Garudoriten that fell on their spot. It stood back up and twisted its head around before following Chris and Ike.

Ike looked over his left shoulder while both tried to get away from it. "It's coming for us!" he yelled.

"It's a common rule to attack the guy with the healing rod!" Chris yelled. "Get rid of him first before he heals anybody else! Ike, I know you're a general, but be my personal bodyguard for now!"

"I don't mind!" Ike said.

As the two ran away, Kirby valiantly stepped in front of the robot, looking serious at it. The Garudoriten looked down upon the puffball, who glared up at it. Unexpectedly, the Reaverbot jumped all the way back to the center of the room to create a big shockwave, sweeping over everyone's feet except for a shocked Kirby.

Megaman, Lucas, and Sonic lied down on the floor before standing back up. "T-that attack got us just now," Megaman said.

Lucas rubbed his head and stared at the Garudoriten. For some odd reason, the robot didn't budge from the center of the room. "W-why isn't it moving?"

"It's not moving?" Sonic asked. "Maybe it's batteries finally died."

"Reaverbots don't have batteries…" Megaman muttered.

"So how do they move around without having a power source?"

No answer was given to the werehog, not even after the Garudoriten decided to use a new strategy by stomping as many times as possible on the center, creating a multitude of shockwaves that made everyone gasp and jump. Chaos soon erupted as everyone tried to avoid the shockwaves. But as soon as one shockwave swept their feet, they would fall down just to be swept once more with more shockwaves, delivering more and more damage. Sadly, none of them could escape in time.

The attack ended up knocking Ness and Lucas out of cold. Both received shining lights landing on their backs for light wings to flutter and disappear. The robot stopped his continuous hops on the floor and began advancing towards Kirby, who at the time was rolling back to stand up his feet. He raised his hands in shock at the robot before turning around to run away from it.

Standing back up in pain, the World Traveler saw the puffball being chased by the robot. "H-hurting Kirby is like hurting a hundred-thousand Peaches!"

…

"…Wait, that's not right," Chris said confused before he snapped out and prepared a spell.

Unbeknownst to Kirby, the robot stopped following him to change a course of direction to Chris. The healer didn't notice the robot's footsteps coming closer as he focused hard on his spell. And suddenly, the Garudoriten leaped on him.

A foreign object was tossed to the air, and the Reaverbot was pushed away from falling on top of Chris. The resulting tremor caused Chris to open his eyes and gasp at the sight of the robot in front of him. While the healer remained focusing, Lucas came to him, looking very worried. "Y-you were going to get crushed, s-so I tossed that item in midair!" he said, pointing at the Bumper suspended over Chris.

The healer blinked at this before he started chanting. "O divine spear, run my enemy through… Holy Lance!"

Four lances of light shot up from around the Reaverbot's body before all aimed to its eye and impaled themselves directly on it. The attack didn't stagger the Garudoriten as it stood back up and seemed to rub its head with both hands. It then focused back on Chris and Lucas, just in time for Megaman to jump high to the head with Sonic as well.

"Start!" Megaman ordered Sonic. The blue boy and the werehog began shooting and punching the head respectively, causing the robot to push them back. The two crashed against the ground before the Reaverbot fell on top of them. Screams of pain came under the robot before they seized. Lucas and Chris gasped in shock as the Reaverbot stood back up and revealed its two attacked knocked out.

"N-no!" Lucas said.

"Megaman!" Roll cried out. "C'mon, Megaman, stand up, please! Don't give up now, not after going through all this!"

There was no response from the weakened Megaman, making Roll grow more worried about his welfare.

"M-Megaman…"

Chris shook his head. "Oh no, Sonic was knocked out twice already. He doesn't have another chance to fight anymore, and that goes to Megaman as well," he said. "…But it doesn't really mean that I can revive them, thought."

"M-move!" Lucas suggested.

The two Smashers gasped as the Garudoriten stood in front of them and extended its arms. They both screamed for their lives and ran in different directions to evade the robot's heavy body falling on them. As always, it got back up and turned around to receive a full body attack from Ifrit.

It appeared that Peach was preparing a summon spirit when the robot didn't pay attention to her. The princess looked serious as the demon of hell (comparing a princess like Peach with a demon of a hell like Ifrit is like putting sugar and salt together, so don't compare them both, please) roared furiously, managing to burn the Reaverbot's head with intensity and pushing it down. Ifrit remained in midair before it disappeared in burning flames. The robot, however, stood back up, much for Peach's dismay.

"W-when is that robot going to get defeated?" Peach asked, looking at Mario and Luigi (biting his fingers, even though he was wearing gloves) to her side.

"I don't know," Mario said. "We've been dealing many attacks on it, but it doesn't seem to stop… I have a hunch it's near to fall down in defeat for sure, though."

Lucas and Chris regrouped with the three. "Things are getting really nasty for us," Chris said worried.

Lucas looked around. "W-where are Ike, Kirby, and Ness?"

The five looked back at the Reaverbot, walking towards them, as the mentioned trio of Smashers formed a line formation and jumped twice to reach the robot's head. "Start hitting the head to its oblivion!" Ness ordered as he, Ike, and Kirby began hitting the head with a bat, a heavy sword, and a hammer respectively.

"The Over Limit is ready again!" Kawashima announced.

Lucas gasped and shook his head. "I-I don't think my Final Smash will do much!"

"N-neither mine!" Luigi said.

"Mine won't give that much damage," Mario said.

"A-and I doubt mine will do much damage either," Chris said.

They all looked at Peach.

"…Well…I honestly haven't seen mine yet…" Peach trailed off. "This is what I get for not taking part of matches at the mansion…"

"Then let me spoil you," Chris said. "Your Final Smash has you dancing (gracefully) to put all foes to sleep. You also make a whole bunch of peaches rain down over the whole place so you eat them all and recover your energies… (Oh, and also, we're forced to see two big frames modeled after you on both sides of the screen, drawn in a very artistic way, with branches, blossoms and all that.)"

Peach didn't quite understand the part of her "eating a bunch of peaches" much. "I think it's a bit too much for me to eat a lot of peaches by myself…"

"Well, we're not your foes, so we can help you eat them all," Mario said, all of them ignoring the sudden tremor caused by a familiar Reaverbot crushing three familiar Smashers under its heavy weight, unfortunately their mouths being silenced by the weight. "You just get over there and show that thing your Final Smash."

"But…will it really fall asleep?" Chris asked. "It's a robot, so how do we know it'll work on it? She could be wide open for it to fall down on her (and I really don't want to hear her scream! I'll cry like never before if I hear her scream!)"

Peach shook her head. "I don't want to risk my life, then. Sorry, but I won't use my Final Smash."

Luigi gulped, hearing the footsteps of the robot looming closer. He didn't want Mario, Peach, or, to an extent, Chris to be wide open to be crushed. "T-then we all agree that the only person who needs to do it from all of us to face it has to be…" He hastily walked over to Lucas and pushed him towards the robot. "Lucas, you're my hero! Go beat it!"

"Luigi!" Mario, Peach, and Chris yelled in disbelief.

The blond kid stumbled on the floor and shook his head. He yelped a bit and looked forward to the Garudoriten; its heavy legs making the floor shake with every step it made towards Lucas. The blond kid did what Luigi do: bit his nails and wait for his hero to rescue him from his state of panic and the killer twenty feet tall robot.

"Now we'll have to save Lucas thanks to somebody who pushed him to his suicide!" Chris said in disbelief, making Luigi look away and shed some tears. Just then, Peach handed over to him…a turnip. "Peach?"

Mario and Luigi were handed over turnips by the princess. They all stared down at Peach, who began plucking out (from seemingly nowhere) turnips that she piled up together. "Peach, what are you doing?" Mario asked.

"Hurry and throw all those to the robot before it hurts Lucas!" Peach told them.

Chris stared at the turnip's face. "B-but I don't know if these vegetables will do mu-"

"Trust me and just toss them!"

The three exchanged glances before they began tossing a seemingly endless barrage of turnips all the way to the robot's head, ridiculously making a long path of turnips. Lucas looked over his head to see the rather embarrassing river of turnips hitting the robot's head. The turnips then would fall down and pile themselves up. The robot would usually stop advancing to block its face, just for more turnips to rain down it.

Lucas tilted his head and stared at the turnips piling up on the Garudoriten's feet. He found many different expressions on each turnips, such as (X_X), (:O), (X_O), (:D), (T_T), (:)), (XD), (^_^), (O_o), (o_O), (N_N), (^o^), (U_U), (A_A), and (l33t).

"…But 'l33t' isn't a face," Lucas muttered to himself.

"Lucas, hurry up and use your Final Smash!" Chris yelled. "If you don't, this room is going to be flooded with turnips! I don't know how, but Peach can take an infinite amount of them!"

"A-and we're getting very tired!" added Luigi.

The blond kid gulped and used the Over Limit, yelling, "J-just leave us alone!" to call forth the rainbow aura to engulf his body. He gulped once more and looked up at the Garudoriten. Focusing, he lowered his hands before jumping to midair and opened his arms to the ceiling. "PK…STARSTOOOOOOOORM!"

Blazing meteors rained down everywhere in the wide room, causing no harm to the turnips throwers, but damaging the robot. The blast of meteors forced the robot to tumble back and forth, as its head was hit harshly by the raining rocks, which mysteriously crossed the floor and vanished. At the last second, a multitude of meteors made the last wave of attack and crashed hard against the Garudoriten.

Lucas landed safely on his feet and smiled. He looked forward…and then gasped, seeing the Reaverbot still standing up.

The four Smashers gasped in horror. "I-it wasn't enough yet!" Chris said.

"Didn't I say the Final Smashes aren't supposed to be one-hit KOs before?" Kawashima asked.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Lucas yelled loudly, turning back to regroup with the four Smashers. He looked back at the robot, and then he looked and pointed an accusing finger to Luigi. "It's your fault I almost died by that thing!" he complained.

"I-I knoooooooooow!" Luigi cried helplessly in disbelief.

Mario looked serious. "If that didn't beat it, we have to keep fighting."

Peach just stood up, holding one last turnip (which, for some random reason, had Lucas' blank face drawn on it). "I'm starting to get really desperate now... We went over through a lot these past hours! For once, I want all the battles to end because I'm already tired!"

"And being tired can't be cured with magic…" Chris said with some grief. "…We're only five people, but we have to keep on fighting. Once we finish that robot, we're done for the day…hopefully."

Luigi groaned loudly and took the Lucas Turnip (real name) off from Peach's hands. "These turnips aren't helping at all! Their faces freak the heck out of me!" he yelled, tossing the Lucas Turnip right to the Reaverbot's eye. He gasped afterward and bowed to Peach. "I-I'm not saying your attacks are useless, Peach, o-of course…"

"I understand, though," Peach said with skepticism. "I don't use Peach Bomber because attacking people with my butt looks out of place…"

"(I want to laugh at Peach saying butt, but I can't…)" Chris thought hopelessly. "I-in any case, let's continue fighting…"

Lucas sighed sadly. "Let's continue fighting…" he repeated with less enthusiasm.

Mario brightened up a bit. "Everyone, don't look so down. I'm sure the Reaverbot will stop fighting us if we hit it a few more times."

Luigi sighed. "Your optimism is admirable, but it's not helping me now," he said.

Their feet suddenly left the ground for a second after a strong fall shook the floor.

"H-here it comes!" Luigi cried alarmed.

They all turned back to face the Garudoriten, which had mysteriously fallen down on an empty spot of the floor. They prepared themselves for anything, waiting for the robot to stand back up and ram its body against them. Silence took over the wide room as nobody said anything. Then, the silence broke after the Garudoriten exploded several times and blew into pieces.

Music stops

The Smashers, amazed at this sudden event, stood straight, dropping their wary stances. Each one of them exchanged confused glances and then focused back on the spot where the titanic robot once lied down, where a big patch of soot covered the floor.

"…Is it over now?" Luigi asked.

"…" Lucas went over to the soot-covered spot and ran a finger on the soot. "…Yes," he told them.

"But did it just fall like that?" Chris asked.

Lucas picked up the Lucas Turnip from the floor and stared a bit shocked at it. He walked back and showed the vegetable to them. "Didn't Luigi toss this…turnip when that robot was moving?"

"Now that you mention it, he did," Mario said. "This turnip was the final attack that obliterated the Reaverbot."

Luigi's eyes twitched. "S-so then, w-was I the one who delivered the final blow with a turnip?"

"Y-yes…" Lucas said. He stared at his blank expression of the turnip. Once his stomach growled, the blond kid began eating the turnip in a slow pace.

Peach chuckled heartily and hugged Luigi. "Luigi, you did it! You defeated the robot by yourself by using my turnips!"

The green plumber blushed and cried toon tears. "T-this isn't a bad dream, right? A-am I dreaming things?"

"No, Luigi," Mario said. "You seriously defeated the robot…with a turnip, no less."

"…Somehow, I feel a bit pathetic for beating it with a vegetable…" Luigi muttered. "…Oh well," he said, hugging Peach. "All that ends well ends well."

Peach looked around while hugging Luigi. "There aren't any more Reaverbots in here, are they?" she asked.

"…H-hello, everyone?" called out Roll from Megaman's suit. "I'm not picking up any Reaverbot signals anymore… It looks like you felled the Reaverbot."

Roll's call made all of them sigh in a big relief. Peach particularly smiled and hugged Mario out of sheer happiness.

At last, the battles were all over for them.

"W-would somebody please heal Megaman?" Roll called out. "I-I'm getting very worried that he's not responding me anymore!"

Half an hour later…

Chris had worked so hard in healing everyone. His work was shortened since Peach herself helped with the healing. Soon enough, everyone, including the people in the temple and the Bonnes themselves, regrouped. "So we felled the robot? For real?" Ness asked.

Mario nodded. "We finally beat the robot. We can rest easily now."

Teisel cried loudly and grabbed Peach's hands. "A-Actress Peach, why didn't you tell me you fought that Reaverbot? I-I could've been there and shield you!"

"I-it's okay, Teisel," Peach said nervously, staring at Teisel's toon tears strolling down his cheeks. "I-I know how to take care of myself during battles."

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!" Teisel cried louder, hugging Peach. The princess looked shocked at this before an angry Tron and a calm Bon pulled Teisel away from Peach, making her look confused.

"Well done, indeed," Ehsan said. "You have gone through a lot, seeing how the kid with the red cap complains about it so much (Ness: What?) during this whole time…" He cleared his throat and nodded. "Perhaps it's about time for us to visit the Shamar Temple's inner sanctum and restore Shamar's power? A-achoo!"

Layla patted a sad Big's back and forced smile to them. "I'd really like to finish our duty by entering the sanctum as well." She looked at Chip. "Also, I'd like to know if you're the supposed Light Gaia."

Chip rolled his eyes. "You're asking me because I'm wearing my plumber costume, right?"

Megaman looked interested. "Oh yes, I want to see what lies in that temple. It's been bothering me ever since we came into this room… Is there any refractor?"

"No," Sonic said. "Let's get over with this and get to the sanctum."

All of them advanced into the temple's entrance, not minding the Bonnes who remained behind.

Tron crossed her arms. "Teisel, should we really keep following them?" she asked. "I'm not sure if we should keep tagging along any longer…"

Teisel crossed his arms and nodded. "We're in a truce, aren't we? Let's get more information out of them and see what we can get out of it. There's a small chance that they're hiding something from us."

"Babu, babu," Bon said.

"Well said, Bon," Teisel muttered. "Let's go, you two!"

The Bonne Family joined up with the group.

-Shamar Temple-

Gaia Gate

The Shamar Temple, as previous temples, didn't look much different. Four pillars suspended the ceiling as a pair of doors where on each side of each pair of pillars. Hanging on to the pillars, there were red garments with yellow outlines of hard cotton, and there were torches enlightening the place. On the lower left side of the room, there was another room with a set of different colored pedestals like the other temples. Across the room, passing between the four pillars, from left to right, the Moon Door, the Sun Door, and the Planet Door were all lined up in the respective order, the Moon Door having been opened by the group.

Kirby walked out from the Mood Door's small passage, carrying with him a small fragment of the Planet Tablet. He smiled happily and handed it over to Ehsan.

"Well, well, this was quite a surprise," Ehsan said, looking back to Chip. "You were able to open the Moon Door after it was activated by my Moon Tablet, bleachoo!"

"I didn't know Light Gaia looked like…you," Layla said. "I was shocked as well."

Chip groaned. "I AM Light Gaia! What were you expecting to see from Light Gaia?"

"Some huge powerful-looking beast with a godly-like voice," Layla said. "You look…like a plushy doll with wings."

"Hey, deities today look very cute like I do," Chip said. "That way, we can be huggable."

"But Chris here doesn't feel the urge to hug you like he does with Kirby," Ike said.

At that time, Chris was hugging Kirby very tightly. Offended by this, he blushed. "D-don't say those things around people!" he scolded embarrassed.

Megaman cleared his throat. "Mario already filled me in about what this temple does, so why don't we open the Sun Door at once, piece back the tablet fragments, and then go through the Planet Door?"

Layla nodded. "I'm the one holding on to the Sun Tablet. It's my duty to protect it with my life," she said as she began to touch her robe to find the tablet in her pocket. "…Um…" she trailed off as she started touching her pockets.

"Hmm?" Ehsan looked confused. "Layla, my dear, what seems to be the problem?"

"I-I…I-I…I-I…" Layla looked worried at the group, "I-I can't find the Sun Tablet with me! I-it's gone!"

"What?" Sonic and Chip asked in shock.

Layla resumed searching in her Arabian robe. "I-I knew I had it with me, but it's gone!"

"OH HELL NO," Ness said with emphasis. "You've REALLY got to be kidding all of us this time. After experiencing many stupid events this whole afternoon, we get to this point where you lost the only key to get into this place?"

The Temple Guardian still kept searching. Ehsan, grumbling a bit, sneezed. "Layla, are you sure you didn't drop it back in that cold room where the other guardians were?"

"N-no, I had it with me here, I know that!" Layla said alarmed. "I always carry it around with me. T-this is the first time I lose it!"

Luigi looked pale. "I-it didn't get destroyed when that robot wrecked the debris with those shockwaves, right?"

"The tablets are very resistant against any force," Ehsan said. "They can't be broken through common methods, wa-choo!"

The Smashers began to talk to each other, trying to get a clear idea of where the tablet had gone. "This is very troubling," Ike said. "Without that tablet, we can't proceed and restore the temple's energy."

"I-I know," Lucas said worried. "If we don't enter…our mission will ultimately fail miserably."

"NO!" Ness yelled. "I didn't risk my butt against Porky's spider mech for nothing! I refuse to accept the fact we did a lot while getting nothing from all those battles!"

Layla gave up looking for the Sun Tablet by shaking her head with dismay. "…I…lost it…" she muttered in shame. "I…I can't believe I lost the Sun Tablet…"

"…" Ehsan looked at the group and shook his head. "Please, don't panic! I know we can track the tablet down. It should be in this place!" He looked at Layla. "Layla, try to recall the place where you last had it with you!"

The Temple Guardian raised her face a bit and thought hard. "Well…I…certainly had it with me when Big freed us from the cage…"

"Did you have it when that monster tried to stop?"

"Y-yes, I still had it at that point."

"But then, when was it the time where you felt it was gone?"

"Let me see… Hmm…" Something came into Layla's mind. "I-I know there was something weird, then!"

"Do you remember?" Sonic asked.

"I-I suddenly felt that my pocket was empty when that big monster began bouncing around the room! A piece of debris from the ceiling fell on my head and I was knocked down… Around that time, I was chasing after Froggy and Big… That must've been where I dropped the tablet by accident," Layla said worried.

Big wiped some tears away from his eyelids and remembered something. "O-oh, there's something I remember!" he said in shock. "I-I lost Froggy when I was hit on the head by a chunk of the ceiling as well!"

"Let's focus on the tablet," Layla said worried. "As Ehsan said before, the tablets can resist any kind of force so they don't break up. When the robot began using those shockwaves, it completely cleaned the floor from the debris. Did anyone see any object with a sun carved on it?"

Everyone shook their heads. Sonic growled angrily and turned to the Bonnes. "Did any of you weirdoes took it?" he demanded.

Teisel, Tron, and Bon yelped at the werehog and shook their heads. "W-we didn't get in our hands something like that, w-we swear it!" Tron said.

"O-our pockets are empty!" Teisel said in their defense.

"B-babu!" Bon said alarmed.

"Shh, don't tell them we're currently broke, Bon!" Teisel whispered to the big robot.

"What was that again? Care to tell what you just were whispering between you three?" Sonic asked, showing his bare fangs at them.

"Sonic, please, calm down!" Chris said. "I kept looking at them ever since they got here. None of them bent down to pick anything from the floor. They were knocked out when they tried to escape as well. Control your anger, please!"

Sonic scoffed a grunt and looked away. "I don't trust them, but if you say so, Chris…"

The Bonnes sighed in relief and kept their distance away from the rabid werehog.

"This is so confusing…" Luigi muttered.

"Well, if the tablet wasn't destroyed or taken away from this place, then where did it go?" Peach asked. "Isn't there some way to narrow our assumptions?"

"Chris!" Kawashima yelled. "There's something strange I just found out about your Wiimote!"

The healer took out his DS and looked at Kawashima on the top screen. "What's that about my Wiimote?"

"Remember when you too were knocked out by a piece of debris? Your Wiimote left your pocket and fell down."

"Yes, I remember that…" Chris trailed off confused. "What's strange about it?"

"Well, I always perform some security maintenance of all our devices from my top screen prison. And when I checked the Wiimote's condition, there was a record of a portal opening shortly after it left your pocket!"

"A-a portal opened?" Chris asked in shock. "W-wait, you're not saying that the tablet went through that random portal, right?"

"I'm not so sure," Kawashima said. "However, somebody went through it and disappeared… The portal doesn't close down unless you make it close or when somebody goes through it. Since you were knocked out, the portal closed when this mysterious trespasser entered it."

"Was there somebody else in here, then?" Mario asked. "Are we missing somebody here that we ignored?"

Ness looked at the Smashers, pointing his finger at each one. "…Kirby, Sonic, Luigi… No, we're all here."

"W-we're sure that we were the only ones who came in here!" Teisel said. "We didn't see any monster when we arrived!"

"And only Layla, the frog, and I were together," Ehsan said.

A mental tingling sound sounded in everyone's minds, except for the Bonnes. The mention about Froggy suddenly connected with the random portal opening, and it could have been related to the missing Sun Tablet.

Sonic, closing his eyes, sighed loudly. "…Big…"

"Y-yes?" Big said.

"You haven't found Froggy anywhere yet, right?"

"H-he's not here anymore. I-I don't know where he went…"

"Nowhere to be found?"

"I-I think…"

"…" The werehog grunted silently and opened his angry eyes. "That frog escaped through that portal with the tablet stuck in its mouth! It's the Chaos Tail quest ALL over again!"

"W-wait, Sonic, how do you know that Froggy took the tablet?" Chris asked.

"It makes sense!" Sonic said. "Nobody left the room through the doors when we were all fighting. The tablet and Froggy weren't found after the robot cleaned the whole floor with its shockwaves. My mind is giving me a bit of headache for thinking too much about it…but it makes sense to think Froggy swallowed the tablet at some moment and crossed the portal to escape from the Bowser guy!"

Big didn't want to believe what his droopy ears were hearing from the werehog. "F-Froggy got alarmed when he saw that big monster. H-he jumped off from my arms…a-and I began chasing after him."

Mario nodded. "I hate to say this, Big, but Sonic's theory makes a lot of sense," he said. "Froggy surely swallowed the tablet by accident and went through the portal to seek refuge from Bowser. He was scared at the time, and he didn't know what to do next, so he surely saw the Wiimote making that portal where he used it to escape."

"…And then I went to pick it up," Chris added. "And I didn't see a portal."

Layla shook her head in disbelief. "Then…Froggy got the Sun Tablet and escaped somewhere?"

"P-professor, do you know where that portal leaded?"

"…Sorry," Kawashima said. "It'd be easy for me to tell where it went as long as you set a definite course. But since the control was activated by itself with a random coordinate that I can't pinpoint correctly, I'm afraid to say Froggy could have gone anywhere…" He remained silent and looked away. "…Wait, I do have something."

"T-tell us!" Chris said.

"It's very vague, but all I could found from that portal's end was that it opened up in an unknown forest…"

Kirby looked sad. "That doesn't help…" he muttered.

Ike sighed. "It could be any forest…" he trailed off.

"N-no, this is seriously horrible," Ehsan said. "That tablet mustn't get lost in such a way. If it gets lost with the frog, then we may never restore Shamar's energy! If that happens and we don't find the frog's whereabouts in time…"

"…My brother will wake up and say good bye to the planet," Chip muttered.

Big's lips did a wave-like motion and his eyes began to fill with tears. He didn't care much about the tablet, but he cared a lot for Froggy. The big cat covered his face with both hands and started to sob sadly, muttering Froggy's name. Peach, saddened by this, rubbed the cat's back with care to console. "Don't cry, Big," Peach whispered softly. "Froggy is okay… We'll look for him in your place."

"P-p-please…f-f-find Froggy…" Big sobbed on his hands.

Layla pressed her brow a bit and thought hard about the dilemma. "This is asking too much…but we don't have any choice left." She looked at the Smashers. "Can you find Froggy?"

Ness grunted. "We have to find him or else we're all screwed," he said. "Now we have to go everywhere and look for a small frog. God, this isn't our year, is it?"

Lucas shook his head. "B-but what if Froggy somehow loses the tablet by accident and we end up looking for him without the tablet?"

Big sniffed sadly and pulled down his hands. "F-Froggy doesn't let go of anything when he swallows something. H-he always keeps everything stuck in his mouth for a long time because he doesn't feel anything."

"I hope that's right," Sonic said. "It'd be a waste if we just found Froggy without the tablet."

Big cried a bit, making Peach look upset at Sonic.

The werehog yelped. "I-I mean, it's going to be very good to find Froggy, e-even if he loses the tablet!"

Ehsan sneezed once more and sighed. "The events are turning worse for us, but we'll have to do it. Layla and I are the only ones who can piece back the Planet Tablet…"

"We don't know if returning to Shamar is a good idea," Layla said. "Dr. Eggman could kidnap us and hold us hostage again."

"In that case, you should take refuge in the city close to our mansion," Mario said. "That's the safest place where the Subspace Army won't attack."

"W-what about the mansion?" Luigi whispered.

"I doubt Master Hand wants any more guests… Besides, they'll be fine," Mario whispered.

"Okay, then," Layla said. "We'll take refuge in that city. Once you've found Froggy and the tablet, give us a call to come here again."

"Oh no," Ness said. "How are we supposed to get here faster? We can't make portals appear here, right?"

"Due to the temple's energy, no portal can appear in here," Kawashima said. "You'll have to appear far away from here and get here by foot."

Ehsan shook his head. "There's no need for that method," he said. "You can always use the pedestals to come here."

"What pedestals are you talking about?" Sonic asked.

Ehsan and Layla walked towards the lower left side of the room where the pedestals were. The group saw six pedestals, four that were glowing with a green light over them. "These are the pedestals," Layla said. "They're used to teleport anybody to any temple."

"If you see the green light on them, you can use them to teleport around," Ehsan said. "By the looks of it, it seems you have gotten to the Apotos, Spagonia, Adabat, and Mazuri Temples already."

Layla looked at them. "And since Teanchai's family and Gwek didn't come back, then that means you restored their respective temples' energy, right?"

"Yes," Mario said.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Layla said with a smile. "That should mean you have Chun-nan, Holoska, and the last temple to visit."

"(The last temple,)" Sonic thought. "(It's in Eggman's base…)"

"If I remember, we have the Mazuri Temple close to the mansion," Chris said. "We can use it as a way to get to the temples faster, then…"

"That's a good idea," Ike said. "We most procure that nobody else rather than us use them, though."

Sonic growled and turned to the Bonnes. "You guys put a foot on those pedestals and you'll be sorry! If you do, I'll maul you with my own hands!"

"U-UAH! W-we won't step on those paranormal pedestals, w-we promise!" Teisel yelled alarmed, with Tron and Bon hiding behind his back.

As Chris tried helplessly to calm the werehog, Mario turned to Megaman. "I know you're very confused at this point, but would you mind not stepping on those pedestals when we leave? You could end up in a very different world, and you might not survive."

Megaman nodded. "I understand," he said. "The last thing I want is meddling in a world where I shouldn't be… Don't worry, I won't."

Ness cleared his throat. "Let me summarize everything. The temple guardians will stay at the city, we will go out and find a frog with a tablet, and then we'll resume looking for the temples."

"If we happen to find another temple during the amidst of finding Froggy," Ike said, "we'll have to split up."

"…Well, crud," Ness exclaimed.

Megaman chuckled. "You guys are ready to go now?" he asked.

Mario turned to look at Peach. The princess seemed to be concerned about another thing. "Peach, are you okay? Do you feel sad for Big?" Mario asked.

"…Mario…I…I-I've been thinking this whole time, and…" Peach trailed off, "…I must admit my lie before I get attacked by a Shadow Nightmare in the future."

A disk scratched strongly and everyone looked shocked at Peach. "W-wait, what did you say just now?" Chris asked.

"Peach has a LIE to confess?" Ness asked.

"She has a LIE to confess?" Sonic asked with more emphasis.

"P-Peach has been lying about something?" Luigi asked in shock. "S-she?"

Mario blinked surprised at the ashamed princess. "But Peach, I never thought you'd hide a lie from everyone here…" he muttered.

"No, Mario," Peach said with some determination. "After witnessing how you and Luigi were attacked by those monsters, I felt that my shadow could have stayed to fight all of us instead of leaving or exploding. But then, when your shadow said you didn't have anything to confess, I thought that…I needed to confess my cruel lie before it could hurt all of us," she said worried. "…So now that I have everyone's attention…I'd like to address my lie once and for all."

The World Traveler shook his head (with most of the others). Chris never thought someone as happy and dandy like Peach would have a dark lie to confess. The lies could never be mixed along with Peach since she always looked very cheerful and very hopeful. He didn't want to think it was probably a façade she was hiding so hard from everyone.

Sadly, there were a few selected people who thought a bit otherwise…such as Teisel. "(Eek, I'm gonna find out a secret about Actress Peach's lifestyle! Thank you, damn you, thank you!)" he rejoiced in his mind while keeping a saddened look outside.

Placing her hands over her skirt, Peach sighed. "Well…here I go…"

Instead of looking at any of them, she turned to Ike. The Greil Mercenary looked confused at this move. "Princess, does the lie have to do with me?" Ike asked.

Lucas, Ness, Kirby, Luigi, Chris, Sonic, and Chip gasped mentally. "(Peach likes Ike!)" they all thought.

"(Will this defy all thoughts about her love to Mario?)" Ness thought.

"(Is this going to make Mario feel mad?)" Chip thought.

"(W-who will be the best man if she happens to marry him?)" Luigi thought.

"(Will this spark a new fandom between many people?)" Chris thought.

Peach nodded. "…Ike…please, forgive me."

Ike, even though he didn't know why Peach was saying sorry for, understood her predicament in his way. "It's okay, Peach. Whatever wrong you did to me will be pardoned. You have nothing to fear."

The princess forced a smile. "T-then…is it alright for me to tell you what that lie is?"

"Please, go ahead," Ike said.

Peach looked happy and slowly grabbed both of Ike's hands. "…Ike…I'm really sorry…" she said. "All this time for as long as I can remember, I've been doing some personal matters that involved you so many times behind your back. I…I keep doing it when nobody is looking at my way, but I can't help myself… I-I'm…I-I'm a bad excuse for a princess…" she sobbed sadly.

Ike gasped and patted her back. "Please, Peach, don't cry. There's no need to cry right now," he told her. "Surely that lie isn't so troubling for you."

"B-but it is," Peach sniffed. "I-I need to tell you that lie, Ike, or I'll never feel okay with myself."

Tron turned to look at Teisel, who at the time had taken a handful of napkins to blow his nose. She rolled her eyes while he thought, "(I-it's like watching a novel right before your eyes! S-she's so natural!)"

"There," Ike said. "You can tell me that lie. I won't get mad."

The princess looked into the mercenary's eyes. "T-then…please…Ike…"

Ike nodded.

"…Forgive me for doing this all this time without anyone knowing…"

Teisel began to shake uncontrollably while everyone else awaited the decisive moment.

"I…I…"

The suspense grew thicker and thicker in the air surrounding them.

"…I…I don't know how much I'll feel after saying this…but…please…Ike…" Peach continued, "…please, don't get mad at me…"

"(Holy crap,)" Sonic thought. "(She must've done something really nasty for looking so ashamed.)"

"(My goodness,)" Ness thought. "(It was surely one dark lie Peach was able to do behind our backs.)"

"(Oh my god…)" Chris thought. "(Just what could Peach have done to Ike? I-I never thought she'd do something very bad like a dark lie…)"

"(D-do it!)" Kirby cheered with worry. "(Y-you can do it!)"

"(Mario will surely leap at Ike and beat him if Peach says she loves Ike,)" Luigi thought with a gulp. "(…I-I'll beat him as well.)"

"(Must…contain…excitement…)" Teisel thought in desperation, not wanting to yell "C'MON, YOU CAN SAY IT!" or something of the sort.

Ike placed a hand over Peach's right shoulder. "Say it, Peach," he encouraged her. "You've come so far, struggling to say that lie to me. If you don't want to struggle any longer, you can wait to tell me later."

"No!" Peach cried out. "I…I need to do it… I-I'm just…scared…"

"Don't be scared," Ike said. "We're all listening to you. Nothing will hurt you…I promise."

Peach swallowed her breath a bit and forced a nervous smile.

"(Uh-oh, she's going for it,)" Sonic thought.

"(G-goodness, she's going for it!)" Lucas thought alarmed.

"(Oh god, she's going to say it!)" Chris thought alarmed.

"(H-holy, she is actually going to go ahead!)" Ness thought in surprise.

"(She's doing it!)" Kirby thought alarmed.

"(I-it's the moment of fate!)" Luigi thought in shock.

"(Y-you go, girl!)" Chip thought, struggling mentally.

"(I'm very, very scared,)" Mario thought worried.

"(I-it'll be really bad! I-I know it!)" Big thought in panic.

"(HOLY MOTHER LODE!)" Teisel squealed mentally.

"(Why's everyone around me getting so worked up?)" Megaman thought confused.

"(I'm surrounded by a bunch of kids here, seriously!)" Tron thought dismayed.

"(Babu,)" Bon thought uninterested.

"…Ike…" Peach began, swallowing some more breath, "…I…I…I'm a…"

"Yes?" Ike said. "Come on, you can say it."

"I-I'm…a…I-I'm…a…" The princess closed her eyes for a brief moment before, for the dismay of many people present in the temple, finally brought herself to say her dark lie. "…I'm a fan of fan art."

All sudden tension was suddenly plummeted down to the ground, raising many confused looks around the group. They all began to whisper things between each other as Peach bit her lower lip. Ike himself didn't quite understand what Peach meant that she was a fan of fan art. "…Okay?" Ike said confused.

"…Is that all?" Sonic asked. "You were struggling to say that all this time?"

Peach blushed embarrassed and nodded. "Y-yes… I thought it was a very bad lie, but I just couldn't bring myself to say it…"

"…" Ike shook his head to snap out from his blank look. "But Peach, I don't understand what you meant by that. I didn't know you were a fan of this fan art thing, but how does it relate to me in a way?"

Peach interlaced her fingers and chuckled nervously. "T-that's because I've seen a lot of drawings about you, Ike," Peach said. "A-and personally and honestly, I like to see those during my free time alone…"

"…Well, I don't see why I should be mad at this fan art thing you're mentioning," Ike said. "To be honest, I'm a bit flattered that people draw about me so many times. It makes me feel very important."

"Even if it's with you and Marth or Roy holding hands together during a wedding ceremony or lying down on a bed together?"

"Even if it's with me and Mart-"

An extreme disc scratch echoed in everyone's minds after Peach stated her statement; her weird, weird, statement.

"…Say who?" Ike asked, a bit scared to ask what Peach had told him a mere moment ago. "Peach, I-I don't know if I wasn't listening well, but did you just say…"

Peach smiled a bit and covered her cheeks. "S-sorry…"

Chris shook his head and turned to Peach. "U-um, Peach, I think I was distracted, but you just said that you liked to see drawing depicting Ike lying on a bed with Marth?"

"Who's this Marth guy?" Megaman asked.

"A friend who's staying with us," Mario merely replied.

Peach looked away. "H-how do I put it in simpler words? I-I thought I know what kind of drawings those are… Hmm… Oh!" She chuckled and turned to Ike. "I like to see those drawings where male couples are together!"

Every single Smasher's jaw gaped a bit at this in pure shock. "P-Peach, you're trying to say you like to see…YAOI drawings of Ike?" Chris asked.

Ike looked dumbfounded. "W-what's this yaoi thing?" he asked.

"A Japanese term that means love between male people instead of the usual male and female couple…" Chris closed his eyes. "In other words…Peach likes to see drawings where you and Marth or Roy are kissing each other or doing other stuff that couples do…"

"…" Ike stared blankly at Peach.

Peach looked happy. "Well, now that you said that it was okay and that you were flattered, I don't feel so much pressure like I used to!" she rejoiced. "Ike, you're so sweet!"

It took about half a minute for the Smashers to drop down on the floor and laugh hysterically at the supposed dark lie of the princess. The Greil mercenary's eyes twitched as he saw that all of the Smashers, including the Temple Guardians and the Bonnes, broke out laughing at him. He took a few steps back at this while Peach looked extremely happy at Ike's approval, not minding what she had triggered.

Right now, Ike wanted to resort to suicide and silence his ears from the hysterical laughs.

-Smash Mansion-

Command Room

Right now, Marth wanted to commit an act close to seppuku, seeing that the command room hollered with laughter coming from the people he thought were his comrades in arms. Fists banged on desks, young Smashers rolled around the floor while painfully holding their stomachs, and some occasional 'pointer fingers of laugh' were aimed at him. The revelation was so much funny that even people like Mewtwo began chuckling uncontrollably. Containing his anger, he cursed in Japanese and turned to face the wall while the hands themselves fell down on the floor and laughed like never before.

As for Roy, the young general had a much better idea than Marth by taking off his cape and wrapping his eyes and ears tightly under it, not wanting to hear more laughter directed at him while he grumbled angrily to himself

-Megaman Legends/64-

-Shamar Temple-

Gaia Gate

Ike, at this point, closed his eyes and tried to refrain asking more to Peach. "…Peach…do you like to humiliate me?"

"Oh no," Peach said. "I don't humiliate anybody."

"But you do know those drawings you saw somewhere-"

"Internet," Peach interrupted.

"Internet, right," Ike said, making a mental note to destroy all computers and track down the internet's main base of operations and go nuts on it. "You do know those drawings are…sick fantasies that people like to do, right?"

"…No…" Peach said clueless. "It's about romance, and I think it's cute to see any kind of love, no matter what gender it is. I'm very respectful about any romantic relationships."

"Am I EVEN in love with a guy?" Ike retorted.

"No, but it's cute to see some people imagine so by using very skilled artistic skills and displaying them somewhere where anybody, like I me, can appreciate them," Peach said with a sweet smile that made Ike's stomach hurl so badly. "I like art so much for that reason."

Ike slapped his face and left his hand on it, his ears listening to the ear-splitting laughter of the Smashers. "I don't even think that was a dark lie! T-that was a private hobby you do!" he yelled under his hand. "I-it's understandable that people hide some hobbies from others!"

"Well, if that's so, I don't think it's so bad, then," Peach said.

"I-it IS bad in a way!" Ike yelled. "I-it hurts my image as the general of my father's mercenaries! By now, my father and mother surely are laughing at me from heaven!"

Peach walked to Ike patted his head a bit. "There, there, it's alright," she said, only making everyone else laugh harder.

"I-it is not!" Ike yelled, pulling down his hand. "I'm scared to ask this, but is that all you see?"

"Oh, don't be so silly," Peach said sweetly. "It's not like I only watch your pairin-I mean, drawings with you on them. I watch a whole lot more like those."

By some crazy miracle, the laughter slowly died down behind the princess. "She said what just now?" Sonic asked.

Peach smiled confidently. "I'm full of confidence to say it, but I've seen very nice fan art about other pairings." She took out from her back a small note with some familiar names written on it. Ike took the note from her hands and scanned it with his shaking eyes. "Go ahead and read those to everyone."

"…" Ike shook his head in complete shame. His nightmare soon jumped to many more Smashers; many which didn't have a partner of the opposite sex paired up together. In fact, there weren't any couples that had a normal relationship. Calmly, he began to address the next pairings, feeling empathy with his supposed comrades…

…

In a few words, despite the fact that the note was small, it was plagued with any gay pairing known to fan artists. One Smasher's name leaded to another Smasher's name. Ike almost had a heart attack after seeing his name paired up with Pit's name, but it grew worse as his eyes read more and more pairings.

Peach smiled hopefully. "You're very understandable, Ike. Thank you for not scolding me of this so harshly like I thought you would've done."

"(…I…I…I feel so stupid…)" Ike thought.

Of course, such revelation would have silenced any male Smasher just as Ike did. Shocked looks were exchanged, and said looks fixed on Peach, who looked perfectly okay with it. They all knew she didn't have bad intentions. After all, she just liked to watch those "sickening drawings" because they looked cute and not funny to her.

Too bad the Brawl crew didn't think the same things as her sweet mind did, though. At least one Smasher was spared of the brutal, sickening mental carnage that everyone suffered, that Smasher being Chris.

Speaking of the World Traveler, wanting to avoid any hatred from the mentioned Smashers who would tell him that it was unfair he didn't go through the same hell, Chris slowly itched away to the exit of the temple behind their backs, with Chip doing the same thing.

"…Just HOW LONG have you been in the internet?" Luigi managed to ask.

"And HOW MANY times have you used it?" Ness asked, his stomach hurling very much.

"…I have my personal laptop in my room," Peach muttered sweetly. "I use it when I don't have anything else to do… Hmm… I think I've been using it ever since I came back to the mansion." She clasped her hands together and smiled at them. "I know, maybe I should show you the site where I go!"

Silence only replied her proposition.

-Smash Mansion-

Command Room

The laughter that hollered in the command room suddenly died like watching somebody very dear die. All male Smashers could just stare in shock at Peach's happy look on the main screen. Many of them wanted to puke, others wanted to hurl, some others wanted to plug their ears, and some more wanted to get to their rooms and lock their doors to avoid contact from the outside world.

Their dignity, even though it was fine with them, was as broken as a glass shard could be in other places they didn't even know.

"…" Nana looked at Samus while all male Smashers remained silent about the event. "That reminds me; she never addressed any of us females at all," she pointed out.

"Oh, that's right," Samus said. "I didn't notice until now."

"B-but Peach," began Ike in the screen, "h-how come you didn't mention any of the girls?"

"Well, don't look mad at me, but I've seen the other kind of couples," Peach admitted. "It's just…I'm not particularly fond of them when I see them. That's because their representations of love are a bit too scary to me..."

"…But then…"

Peach smiled sincerely. "However, even I'm paired up with another girl, I think it's also cute, despite it's not true that I love a girl. Sometimes, I even go to look at some of those drawings as well."

"S-she also likes yuri!" Luigi cried.

Zelda sighed and frowned. "I hate to say this, but Peach would surely think anything related to love to be cute in her eyes, even though it is mentally scarring for many of us."

"And no one can yell at her for what she's been doing all this time," Jigglypuff said. "That's because she is Peach. To all of us, making her sad is like stabbing her with a knife on her chest."

"Yes," Nana said bored. "She may as well be an angel to everyone here. Once she gets sad, you'll be committing a greater sin like killing people. You'd feel so much guilt that she'll practically put you on your knees, pleading her to forgive you. You know what's worse? It's worse if she doesn't make you her slave because the guilt will crush you even more."

Amy shut her eyes and frowned. "I-I don't want to see a guy kissing my dear Sonic, not even in a picture! He is MINE and MINE alone, you heard me?" she asked angrily to the other males, all of them ignoring her. She started thinking half of them were homosexuals. "That also goes for you, Mr. Supposed Male Echidna!"

Knuckles had a bigger gap in his mouth than anyone else did. If he died now, the Master Emerald guardian lineage would soon be extinct. It was, however, worth it to shut himself forever from any degrading drawing found anywhere in a computer.

And as for Tails…his young mind could have imploded by now. He just remained sitting still, staring shocked at the computer he always used in the room. Perhaps, he could develop a virus potent enough to eliminate all traces of mentally degrading pictures.

Cream, surprisingly, was the only one happy at this event. "(I wonder if those drawings are very good? I'm going to ask Peach if I can see them soon,)" she thought hopefully.

The psychic creature closed his eyes and frowned in disgust. "…If you all would excuse me," began Mewtwo as he floated away from the room, "I must confine myself in my room and avoid contact with the outside world, preferably not seeing any of you for a long while. I must forget whatever happened today as soon as I can."

"…I want to find out if I'm still straight after this, so…" muttered C. Falcon as he walked away, avoiding looking at any guy in the room.

Pikachu turned to Nana. "I'll see you later in a week. My mind needs to be brainwashed by the TV in my room to erase those scarring memories," he said, walking away cautiously from the room.

Soon, Master Hand saw every male leaving the room behind to reach their rooms and shun themselves away from anyone. Now it was only occupied by all girls and the hands (save for Knuckles, who was still paralyzed on his spot). "Oh god… Why did Peach have to do this to everyone indirectly?" Master Hand wondered aloud. "This happens when I don't find many girls to compete in my tourneys."

Crazy Hand turned to him, still chuckling to himself. "Y-you do know there are many out there? Ike knows like fourteen girls."

"Crazy, shut up, please," Master Hand muttered.

-Megaman Legends/64-

-Shamar Temple-

Gaia Gate

"…" Peach smiled at the Smashers. "So then, let's get going!" she said cheerfully as she walked away, humming to herself.

Ike closed his eyes and promptly fainted on the floor. Mario managed to blink and sigh. "Nobody wants to scold her here, right?" Mario asked, not getting a reply from everyone else. "I knew it…"

"(How…how…how in the name of Ashera did I end up suffering the most tonight?)" Ike thought with the little conscience he had left.

-Kattelox Island-

Cardon Forest

"Ness, you look happy now," Lucas said. "Are you happy because the hospital that Porky attacked didn't have patients at the time?"

"That, and because I want to drop on my bed and relax," Ness said. "Lucas, do you remember anything that happened after we entered the Shamar Temple?"

The blond kid smiled and shook his head, his mind not wanting to remember what he listened before. "Nope, nothing bad happened, Ness."

"Sweet," Ness exclaimed.

"All's okay here," Luigi said. "We definitely didn't experience something so mentally scarring."

Peach chuckled. "I'm so glad yo-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT, PLEASE!" all the male Smashers interrupted hastily, begging the princess not to mention anything..

"Okay…" the princess muttered with a subtle chuckle.

Roughly four hours had passed ever since the group left the Lake Jyun behind and went back all the way to the Cardon Forest. Roll had heard everything that was told to the Smashers by the Temple Guardians. Looking happy, the engineer and the blue boy began to set the red refractor into the Flutter while the Smashers and the Temple Guardians waited for them just several feet away from the airship.

Before long, the Flutter slowly began to hover over the firm grass on the hill. Cheers came from within the ship, and soon, Megaman and Roll jumped down the ladder and walked to the group. "It's done!" Roll said. "The Flutter is finally repaired!"

"Not so much, though," Megaman said. "It can fly for short distance, but it'll help us to get around the island much faster."

"Now we can use it to get to the Clozer Woods' Sub-Gate for sure… Oh, that's right," Roll said with some shame. "You guys are leaving…" she trailed off, seeing a portal standing next to the group that Ehsan, Layla, and a sad Big entered.

Peach bowed to them. "Sorry, but we must go now," she said. "It's our job to take care that the Subspace Army doesn't make a mess in the other worlds."

"Yeah, I know," Megaman said a bit saddened. "Argh, I was already getting used to all these strange happenings with you around…but, guess it wasn't going to last so much."

Mario walked to Megaman and patted his back. "We'll come back to visit you two."

Roll looked a bit happier. "And once you come back, you can assist both of us in our digs."

"You only want them to take care of me, aren't you?" Megaman asked annoyed.

Roll chuckled and folded her arms. "You're so right, Megaman. I mean, remember that time when I wasn't used to being a Spotter and you go-"

"Okay, okay, they already know that. No use mentioning it again!" Megaman interrupted hastily as some of them chuckled.

The engineer walked to them and shook some of their hands. "Really, thanks for everything," she said.

Megaman did the same thing and nodded. "It'll be really hard to forget about you, considering you're all from different worlds."

Suddenly, Data peeked out from Megaman's back and jumped down to Kirby. The two smiled happily and danced for a bit before hugging each other (albeit to say, Data didn't exactly have arms). "Take good care, u-ki-i!" Data said.

Kirby nodded happily and walked into the portal, waving a hand to his robot monkey friend, who waved its round hand as well.

"Make sure you show those guys not to do what they please," Roll said. "If they ever happen to come back here again, we'll be careful."

"Well, if they come here, we'll most likely come back here as well," Ike said. "See you around," he said, entering the portal.

"Maybe I'll become a Digger," Ness said. "I wouldn't mind exploring a little bit more."

"W-wow, Ness, you're not kidding, right?" Lucas asked.

"…Thinking about those moments we endured again, I change my mind," Ness said bored. "Sorry, dude, but you'll have to be the only Digger guy we know."

Megaman sweat dropped. "O-okay, leave that job to me."

Lucas sighed and walked into the portal, waving a hand to Megaman. Ness chuckled a bit and followed next.

"I-I'll be ready next time!" Chip said, putting on a helmet (that was familiar to many people except Megaman and Roll). "I-I even have my own helmet!"

"Chip, just drop it already," Sonic said (back to his normal look). "If I remember, you're still trying to mimic him," he said as he pointed at Mario.

Chip looked serious. "I can multitask and be two people at the same time. Just wait for Roll to finish up that mini blue suit I asked her to make me."

"I-I never agreed to do such a thing!" Roll said annoyed.

Sonic groaned and grabbed Chip's hand, dragging him into the portal. "Ignore this guy as much as you can, okay? See ya!" Sonic said, not even to look back at them as Chip tried to fly out from the portal.

Peach bowed cordially. "Thank you for giving me a chance to experience so many thrilling moments in you digs. I feel much more reliable now that everything went well."

Luigi narrowed his eyes at Megaman. "If Peach happens to get hurt someday…I'll beat you," he whispered menacingly.

Widening his eyes, Megaman turned to Mario. "D-did just you hear that from your brother?" he whispered.

"Hear what?" Mario asked. "I didn't hear him saying anything."

Luigi made a silent, hissing sound to Megaman. "E-er, forget it," Megaman said.

Roll rubbed something from her eye and smiled at them. "Please, come back to visit us. We won't be here for much longer, though, but try to seek us out," she said.

"Take good care of yourselves," Peach said. "Thank you again," she said, walking back into the portal with a shady-looking Luigi staring at Megaman while Mario was waving a hand at them.

Megaman and Roll have left the team.

The three Diggers saw the portal slowly shrinking until it was gone. The trio kept staring at the empty air before Roll turned to Megaman. "Do you think they'll really come back again?" she asked.

Megaman nodded. "I have a feeling they will. Let's hope they do so."

"And, just maybe, they could stay a bit longer and go along with you to some digs."

Data blinked and jumped to Megaman's back, hanging onto him. "They'll be back someday for sure!" he said.

Suddenly, the same portal opened back up and Chris walked out from it. By the looks of his face, he looked pale. Roll looked shocked at him. "U-um, did something happen to you?" she asked.

"W-where's Eggy?" Chris asked in panic. "I-I remember I left him with you! Give him back to me!"

Roll gasped. "W-well, I-I don't know where I left the egg," she said.

"Uki," Data began, "you left the egg back on the boat in the dock!"

"What?"

"It's right on the passenger seat, just besides the pilot seat," Data said. "I thought you were going to pick it up, but I'm not very good at handling very easy-to-break objects. I'm short-handed as it is."

"Oh no, I left it there?" Roll asked in disbelief.

Chris suddenly snapped out from his panicked look and looked serious at Roll. "It's your fault it remained behind, so go get it! My grade is at risk if I don't have that egg!"

"O-okay, I'll go for it late-"

"Oh no, you'll go for it NOW," Chris said, closing the portal behind him. "And to make sure you'll do it, I'll go. Rev up the Support Car and let's get moving!"

Megaman sweat dropped at this. "Roll, what are you going to do?"

Roll groaned a bit. "Well, I admit it was my fault I left it there…so let's go, you three."

"Good, I'm glad you're doing it," Chris said, still looking pissed at Roll. "I'm not leaving until I have Eggy on my hands."

"(But I don't want to see Wily again,)" thought Megaman worried. "(He makes me feel…very freaked out for some reason I don't even know…)"

The four eventually rode the Support Car and drove off to the city, hoping that the egg was left intact in the boat. Roll looked full of guilt as Chris rode with them to the Uptown, disappearing into the distance.

Behind some trees, the Bonnes peeked out, with Teisel crying emotionally. "A-Actress Peach, no matter how embarrassing your secrets are, I will ALWAYS remain faithful to you! Until the day we meet again, I'll be ready for your comeback to stardom!" he proclaimed. "Ahaha, ahahaha, AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed with a high-pitched voice.

Tron groaned and looked at Bon. "He just didn't want to return to the Gesellschaft that easily without spying on that princess with the affinity to yaoi and yuri pictures!" she complained. "He had to hear that she was leaving this place for real!"

"Babu," Bon said in agreement.

"She will come back here again, I know it!" Teisel determined, pumping up a fist. "Until we meet again, Actress Peach!" he said before breaking into tears, rubbing his right arm on his crying eyes.

Tron sighed and patted Teisel's back. "Okay, you big crybaby, let's go back now. The Servbot I asked to come for us will pick us soon." She looked up and saw a small purple airship with their emblem imprinted on it. "Oh, here he comes."

The airship landed safely on the grass outside the trees, and a door opened up from the side where a Servbot jumped down and walked to the Bonnes. "Here I am, Miss Tron," he saluted, smiling.

The Bonnes stared at the Servbot. For some odd reason, even if he looked the same as all the squad of Servbots, he didn't look very familiar to the Bonnes. They could tell as they had been living with all of them so much to tell any differences from who was who. "…Who are you?" Teisel asked. "Hey, Tron, this Servbot doesn't look familiar to me."

Bon tilted himself to side. "Baaabuuuuu…" he said.

Tron crossed her arms and looked confused. "Why, yes, this Servbot doesn't look familiar to me either…" She glared down at the Servbot and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, you, what series number are you?"

The Servbot kept smiling. "I'm Servbot #41," he said.

"…Tron…" Teisel trailed off, his eyes widening at the unknown Servbot.

"Y-yes?" Tron asked.

"You told me so many times before that you never built more than forty Servbots," Teisel said. "But I've been hearing a myth about this particular Servbot that the other guys have been talking about during dinner time."

"Yes…"

"Tell me something… Do you remember building this one?"

"N-no… F-for that matter, nobody else knows how to make Servbots as I do. My skill to make Servbots is a family secret between us! D-don't ask me again, but I never, EVER made another one!"

"So then…" Teisel gulped and looked down, "i-if you didn't make this Servbot…t-then who did?"

"B-b-b-ba-babu…" Bon shook in fear.

The Bonnes looked down in fear at the oblivious and mysterious Servbot.

The Servbot looked confused. "Master Teisel, Master Bon, Miss Tron, why are you all staring at me like that? It's so creepy."

Megaman Legends/64 – We Are The 3 Bonne Brothers

"…UUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the Bonne siblings screamed out loudly, scaring some birds that fled away into the blue sky. As the birds flew away, the Servbot panicked.

"EEEEEEEEEEK!" the Servbot panicked. "P-please, calm down, Miss Tron!"

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW?" Tron asked. "THERE'S AN UNKNOWN SERVBOT IN FRONT OF ME! WHERE IN THE NAME OF ALL THE REFRACTORS IN THE WORLD WERE YOU?"

"I-I don't know! I'm just alive!"

"HOLY CRAP, HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE CAME FROM!" panicked Teisel.

"BABU, BABU, BAAAAAAAABUUUUUUUU!" panicked Bon.

"E-everyone…Master Teisel, Master Bon, M-Miss Tron, calm down!" the Servbot pleaded.

"UUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the Bonnes screamed.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" the Servbot #41 yelled.

The Cardon Forest had never been so perturbed before, as the screams of the Bonne siblings echoed into the distance…

MISSION FAILED!

You have received 600 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Big, Eggy Jr. the Fourth

Note: Eggy Jr. the Fourth was found unharmed in Wily's boat, where Roll received a bit of an earful by Chris. Eggy experienced a life no other funny-looking egg had experienced before. Unfortunately, his life was too short (about less than a month) where it ended up in a trash can, having accomplished its task in life: letting Chris achieve an A grade in psychology class.

Chris's Psychology Grade: A

R.I.P. Eggy the Fourth

"Your face always made Chris panic when you were on the floor by his recklessness."

References:

-"Megaman Legends/64 – Garudoriten" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you face the Gold Lightan look-alike Reaverbot in the Lake Jyun Sub-Gate.

-"Megaman Legends/64 – We Are The 3 Bonne Brothers" is another song reference to the same game. It plays in scenes where the Bonnes do desperate moves on Megaman. As a side note, according to the source, the original soundtrack listed this song as "Brothers" instead of "Siblings", which doesn't make sense because of Tron (unless she's actually a he).

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Luigi is actually the president of the rumored Mario Fan Club. This info can be found in Superstar Saga, where he's revealed to be the president of the club by one of Hermie III's Christmas Tree's helpers. Is it being your older brother's fan club president a very nice example of brotherly love or what?

-The rumored dark lie that Luigi was told about by the talking star gate in Partners in Time was actually a lie itself confirmed by a member of the staff to poke fun at him being Mario's shadow. In the actual game, Luigi didn't have a dark lie. It was just a test for Mario and the babies to see if they cared about each other. This little (and hilarious) event prompted me to make Luigi do a checkup on all the (pathetic) lies he's committed. (All these lies are obviously made up, but it's rather easy to picture him doing all of those…)

Oh, and by the way, if you didn't notice, all previous claims of the group facing a super hard shadow were all lies.

Yes, that's right. It turned out Mario doesn't have anything to regret (except Peach's cakes). Thinking all these years of good deeds, Mario hasn't done a very cruel lie at all. Nothing perturbed him, nothing made him feel bad, and he didn't let temptations get to him (except Peach's cakes). Overall, Mario is the perfect example of a man. It's the (few) likes of him that manage to beat any other video game man known to people. Seriously, who would portray Mario as a bad man that could ruin his image as the main video game character icon of all times? Surely not me, that's for sure.

And as for the Green Stac-I mean, Luigi…well…I don't know why, but he DOES look like he'd do all those things. He's too much reckless that he ends up lying to many people around him. Even if all his lies were pathetic, he would definitely be tormented by all of them (of course, if he had to face his crazy shadow). In a few words, Luigi is a total mess…but even so, he manages to charm many of us at the same time to make up for it, making him a very likeable guy. Luckily, this little event will make him shine a bit more than before (or get a short circuit and explode).

And lastly but not least, Peach's lie…er… Okay, Peach having a lie like that is a bit believable but not enough to be considered a real lie. She's way too sweet for our own good. Anything that has a heavy theme of love would definitely enchant her a lot, while, for the dismay of the Smashers, would be mentally scarring to them. Admit it; you can't just see her cry. You'd feel so much guilt that it'd prompt you kill yourself in agony. So, what can you do to remedy it? Kneel down to her and beg for her forgiveness. Sonic's lesson was a fine example. Overall, you can't get mad at Peach. If you do, suffer by seeing her cry or ignore you completely…

…And yes, she continued watching these drawings without anyone opposing her. Ruin her fun time and die, man.

Plot talk: Now that Froggy has escaped with a Sun Tablet in the stomach, the Smashers will have to search for him before he dies or is found by the Subspace Army. So, where did Froggy end up? As for Megaman and Roll, it may be very possible to feature them once more in the future. Those two ended up being very likeable partners (especially because Megaman was clueless to the end, reflecting how clueless he is about certain secrets in his story plot).

Maybe Froggy ended up in the winning arc in the tiebreaker poll? I decided to reset it, so vote once again, please.

The future of this plot is as misty and mysterious to me like Luigi getting pushed down by a Toad girl on the street.

I encourage all Luigi Fan Club members to review. :D

…Or Peach will show all the Smashers the lovely fan art she sees daily in the internet.

Peach: I'd like to do so now!

SSBB Fiction Male Cast: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
*Chapter 174*: A Hylian Styled Friendship

I feel poetic today, so I'm going to say that dawn has arrived upon a new arc having crossed an old one.

From JonasGirl80: Great chapter. Nothing wrong as far as I can see. Suuuper long! It took me like five minutes to get all the way down to the bottom on my iPod! But whatever, I love long chapters!

And, Eggy Jr the Fourth will be very much missed. Way to go with getting Chris an A though!

Update soon!

From me: I feel a bit ashamed that it took you that time to finish the chapter since it makes me think you skipped through everything. But whatever…

Thanks for reviewing. You're surely one of the few people who would miss the egg. :)

From FF and STH: So their no shadow nightmare battle, can't say I disappointed being all that it was pretty funny and action pack. The fight with giga bowser, the reaverbot, and the thing with the YAOI drawings, I laughing so hard.

Also let not hope Cream become one at a young age.

From me: Judging today's standards, the young children are starting to say bad words at a young age, so… Nah, it won't happen to Cream. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Ngrey651: Wow, so Mario HAD no lies...and Luigi planned ahead just in case something like this ever...ah. I LOVE Genre-Savvy heroes, don't you? ;) And group hugs. Those too.

I almost expected Peach to get the Shadow Nightmare stuck on her, to be honest.

From me: At least she was smart in telling them her "lie" that cost their dignity. If she didn't, I wonder how her shadow would've acted… Oh god, that's a very nasty image there. Thanks again. :D

From PianistChris: This final chapter for this arc had a lot in it, which was great!

I kept wondering what would happen with Mario, and his 'battle' with the shadow nightmare was a good one, even though it wasn't really a battle. I never thought Luigi would have so many lies, O.O, and I didn't think it was possible to blow up the nightmares by overpowering them.

The battle against Bowser was great, and the same goes for the Reaverbot. Peach's lie was hysterical and the reactions from the characters was even better xD this arc was great, and I hope to see Megaman again in the future with Roll and Data :)

From me: I imagined that a shadow being would blow up since it's the same with a balloon that is filled with water. If it fills too much, it'll explode.

I'm very glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Gloom-shroom: Woah, Chris. Lots of plot twisting. Pretty funny when Peach admitted her... lie.

How often do you update? Because I've noticed that your updating seems to be erratic.

From me: My ideas have started to become very confusing. Lots of them seem good, but others tend to be better. It's not laziness that affects my updates, but the time I use to think about a suitable idea for the current chapter.

Hopefully, my ideas won't stop me from updating. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From N the puppet: Lol, Bowser just can't get a break can he?

I feel sorry for the Smashers, too.

They can't bring themselves to tell Peach she's mentally scarring them.

Great Story!

From me: Would you bring yourself to scold Peach, though? Chances are I made you cringe at the question, so, my bad. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Decepticon Fan: Sorry that I haven't reviewed in forever. I've been reading all you newest chapters and one word describes them all: epic. By the way, when is Wolf's partnership level going to rise? It's been zero for how long now? lol LOOOONG chapters, the words began to run together, but it was worth it. Can't wait for the next arc!

(Sorry, but is Ch. 164 still coming or is it scrapped for good? You seem to get PO'd when someone asks that. Sorry if I made you mad)

From me: Ironically enough, the very same ch. 164 involves Wolf. It's been a long while after I announced it, but the author I'm working with ran with some VERY nasty problems, preventing me from further writing that chapter. It's safe to say that the missing chapter was currently fifty percent complete the last time we worked together.

I'm sorry, but there's no way out of this one except waiting more for it to be finished. Please, bear it with me, okay? Thanks again. :)

From Unknown Mario Series Fan: Shadow Nightmare failure FTW!

I wished that you could have made Mario have a dark side/lie. However, it makes sense that Mario is not a liar (aka "dark" liar).

Luigi having a shadow exploding actually makes sense. He already has a brainwashed Mr. L personality and has incoporated the Chaos Star within him. It was kinda sad that he was tormented by all of these lies. I'm a Luigi fan (more than a Mario fan), so I feel humble now...

However, it did not make sense of how Luigi could have made Giga Bowser bounce around the room. How can you make one of the heaviest forms of a smasher actually bounce with a Super Fire Jump Punch?

*twitch* Peach... *twitch* How could you? That is so mean and so fitting at the same time. It must have been humourous and tormenting for you to write this.

Finally, how did the mission fail? - o.O

Maybe you should make a liar who goes rogue and actually mocks white lies, like Shadow Bowser. What do you think?

From me: Luigi was able to make Giga Bowser bounced because Giga Bowser himself was damaged a lot. Since his transformation's longevity sacrificed his anti-stagger against attacks, he just became wide open enough to get pushed back. This, adding with the random status ailments of Luigi's Negative Zone and the Super Fire Punch, enabled Luigi to bounce Bowser everywhere… I hope this is enough to explain that.

And the mission failed because… Actually, that question's answer is in the chapter, so keep scrolling down.

As for the shadow idea, I don't think it'll happen. Sorry.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Luigi Time: I have been following this story for a long time now and I've got to say it's very good. It's the best story I've ever seen on this site (and the longest). I often followed it on NSCFD at first, but I now suddenly noticed that you didn't update it anymore, so I decided to check the rest out here.

From me: That's because the written section became read-only for some reason. That's why I couldn't update it again. However, the chapters here have a better narrative than the ones published there first. Thanks for reading. :D

From KimotoDragoon: WOW! That was funny! Peach is a fan of Yaoi and Yuri XD! Didn't see that one coming at all. And Mario... Well it's pretty easy to believe he is the greatest person around. I doubt could really lie if he wanted to. In the games he can't really talk in the first place. As for Luigi... I get the feeling if he didnt torment himself over all those little things his Shadow Nightmare wouldn't have been so powerful and blown up. But it was entertaining. And weird. But still cool.

From me: Isn't Luigi supposed to be peculiar, though? His attitude is one of the best I've ever known in video game history. Thanks again. :D

Alright, you bunch of readers. It's been a lot of teasing, and it was very clear that you wanted this arc to be displayed here. I mean, I'm not oblivious that this video game was one of the best RPGs that the SNES has ever gotten before. Honestly speaking, I played that game in an emulator, but the DS version obviously blows all of its remakes to bits.

Yes, people, I'm talking about Chrono Trigger. The winning arc shall now begin its chapters.

Also, behind the scenes, I've been thinking hard about what to do with this arc, and there was a problem: a Smasher hasn't been displayed quite properly. Ironically, this arc will finally highlight what this Smasher can do.

And the Chrono Trigger cast won't be overlooked. Since this game is very well-known among gamers, I'll do my best to represent this arc. The FDL will be used, but be warned as it will only be brought up when necessary for those who have yet to know what the (beep) is going on in this arc. :P

I encourage time traveling fanatics to read on and review. :D

Disclaimer: The Butterfly Effect is one deadly weapon against time. Seriously, you could get REALLY messed up if you crush a fish in the stone age.

Chapter 174: A Hylian-Styled Friendship

March 9 – Monday – Morning

-Subspace-

Deep Inside the Great Maze

"I know I've told you this before," began the Ancient Minister to Tabuu, as they both were the only ones in the dark realm, "but several complications took place, and my tasks have slowed down. I'm still trying to repair the Subspace Bomb manufacture process and the Shadow Bugs chambers. All this work together makes it impossible for me to finish my tasks. However, I shall not let you down, Lord Tabuu. Luckily, I could say these tasks are…near completion, in a manner of speech… Additionally, no reports of this perpetrator have come as of late. "

Tabuu sighed. "It only matters to me that you do not neglect your work, Ancient Minister. As long as you keep working, I will not threaten you. Even though this entire wait is itself ridiculous, I am a patient person. You not want to see me when my temper is tested…"

The Ancient Minister nodded. "But of course, Lord Tabuu. Making you angry is the gravest mistake I could do in my life. You have nothing to fear. I'm probably the only trustworthy ally that you have besides the others."

"Ganondorf has proven to be very competent," Tabuu said. "Why, his ideas reach your level of reasoning. When you are not available, I can count on him."

"I feel a bit flattered. Thanks," the Ancient Minister thanked Tabuu. "Your praise is always welcomed. In any case, Dr. Eggman has finished another Shadow Nightmare today. It is ready to be used anytime."

"Have you found any Temple of Gaia?"

"Unfortunately, we have more important matters at hand, Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister said. "We have learned from Sonic's planet that the Shamar continent wasn't put to place after Bowser failed to stop them with himself and two Shadow Nightmares that were wasted on his effort to dispose of the group."

"Indeed, that was a big lost of his part," Tabuu said. "His sentence to the Chamber of Torture is still upholding. Losing two Shadow Nightmares is a big waste, and it's much worse if he himself can't even beat them."

"Many a time I wonder if I should just get rid of them… Sadly, they are the only ones I can count for the time being."

"Back on topic, the continent where Shamar resides hasn't been put back to place. We suspect that something might have gone wrong to Master Hand's group after they defeated Bowser. Whatever it was, it didn't let them restore the energy to the temple."

"Were they defeated?" Tabuu asked.

"I'm afraid not, Lord Tabuu. If they couldn't have restored the energy, then there's a possibility that one of these two events took place," the Ancient Minister said. "One of the guardians could've died, which is very unlikely, or...they needed a certain item, a tablet, to get through the doors, but it got lost. It's been nearly a month ever since that happened, so the second assumption should've happened, Lord Tabuu."

Tabuu got deep in thought. "Is there a chance that this lost item is still within the temple?"

"I doubt so," the minister said. "They should've found the tablet right after it was lost… Perhaps, to solve this mystery, we should ask Dr. Eggman if they lo-"

"WAAAAAAIT!" yelled a voice from the darkness. Dr. Eggman came into the scene and panted a bit. He grunted and looked up at Tabuu. "I-I have some news to report right now. T-they're shocking ones!" he said.

"Funny I was about to go to you," the Ancient Minister said. "What seems to be the problem for your sudden outburst, Dr. Eggman?"

Dr. Eggman cleared his throat and regained his composure. "W-well, you see, while I was looking for another Temple of Gaia, I stumbled upon a faint signal that had the same readings as one of the temples, even though it's wasn't a real temple… This is rather alarming," he said. "There hasn't been a case where a faint signal like that appears out of the blue. If it's related to the Temples of Gaia, we must look into this as soon as we can."

The Ancient Minister stared at the doctor. "Would that faint signal happen to be a tablet that was lost from our enemy party?"

"Oh, so you've been thinking the same assumption?" the doctor asked. "It's most likely a missing tablet. There aren't any other kinds of signals that have the same readings as the temples do. Whatever the case is, we need to get our hands on this missing tablet!"

Tabuu thought about the issue. "…It is better than doing nothing. Very well, then… We shall focus in this tablet," he said. "I'll send Ganondorf and King Dedede to the place where this tablet was found."

"And please, tell them to handle this Shadow Nightmare with care," Dr. Eggman said a bit aggravated. "I still can't get over the little incident we had with that stupid tortoise."

"Worry not, then," Tabuu said as the doctor walked away into the darkness. The Subspace leader turned to look at the minister, who stared up at him. "Arrange all necessary preparations, Ancient Minister. It is a matter of time before Master Hand's forces get a word of this. Find this tablet and bring it back to me."

"As you wish, my lord," the Ancient Minister said. "Once I'm done with the preparations, I'll resume my tasks again."

With a nod from his boss, Tabuu warped away from the scene. The Ancient Minister turned around and slowly went into the darkness.

As he went into the darkness, the Ancient Minister thought about the brief encounter he had with the Smashers. He still remembered the worried look Chris gave him for a second. "(…My plans are moving on smoothly. I must focus on this matter so there's no room for error. The chances of my plans succeeding are very slim, but thankfully, while no one suspects anything, I will somehow pull this through...)"

The minister solemnly looked up into the swirling darkness of the Subspace as he faded into the distance.

"(Our 'enemy' party is a smart one. If I happen to find some difficulties along my plans, they will serve as my pawns. They're not the kind of people who waste time in trivial things, after all.)"

-Smash Mansion-

Main Lobby

If the Ancient Minister had super sensitive ears that could hear anything outside the Subspace, he could have fainted with a full stroke of dismay.

The Smash Mansion was at an uproar early in the morning. Shouts of encouragement raged on the main lobby for some kind of event that not many of them saw coming. One could have known that this originally started with the younger members having one of their uncommon plans that they usually planned together and enjoy the day, and it was still being held by them all.

From the looks of it, it seemed that they were having a brawl in the middle of the lobby.

"You're going down, punk!" shouted Popo.

"Ha! You dare say that on my face again while I'm holding a Bob-omb?" threatened Ness.

"N-no, don't do it! I-I'm right in front of a wall!" yelled Pichu.

"Sacrifices must happen, Pichu, so sacrifice for the team!"

"N-never! I'll just move out of the way!"

"Don't you just love when you feel stupid when you could've done that from the very beginning?" Nana teased playfully.

"…" Pichu sniffed.

"Aww, don't worry, Pichu. You can pin her down if you want," Popo offered.

"Y-you filthy traitor!" Nana scolded loudly.

"Okay!" Pichu said cheerfully.

"You'll stop grabbing me right this instant!" Nana threatened. "No, wait, don't toss me! Dammit, I lost!"

"Heeheehee," Pichu snickered.

"Yeah, Pichu, nice move in using the poker face move," Pikachu encouraged.

"H-hey, you're not playing this! You're not allowed to give hints during a battle!" Nana yelled.

"…Wait a second, I got tricked as well!" Popo complained.

"Sucks to be you two, then," Pikachu said. "You can't feel true victory if you don't trick both twins."

"I'll castrate all of your kind one of these days, both of you! Just wait until I'm old enough to hold a chainsaw!" Nana yelled.

"U-um, aren't you all getting a bit too violent over this?" Red asked uncomfortably. "I mean, this is just a video game…"

The chatter suddenly stopped.

From afar, one could have assumed that they were having a fight. From up close, one could easily tell that they were just playing "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" on the big flat TV screen on the right side of the lobby. The young Smashers took over the room by themselves, apparently, to celebrate the date that their game debuted (in America) this very same day.

It was funny to think they never thought about playing it until this point. Seeing how much fun they got out of it, they would definitely schedule play times to kill off the Wii with all the time they got while there were no missions.

Back in the present time, Red was being glared by all the young Smashers, who had stopped a match (where Popo was Link, Nana was the defeated Toon Link, Pichu was Jigglypuff, and Ness was…himself). All of them were sitting on couches while some others were sitting on the floor, all in front of an innocent Wii in front of a wall.

"Ask that again, Red," Ness said. "You can't get fun out of this if you don't get angry because you lose."

"That's like a general rule," Pikachu said. "If you ask us again, we'll either kill you or ignore you."

Red's eyes widened. "O-okay, I-I'll be quiet about that."

"You do that," Squirtle said. "If you want to stick with the team, act violent and sly, give hints to the people you're cheering, and act innocent against their opponents. Follow those steps and you'll be alive."

"(Oh, great, I'm getting a lecture from my own Squirtle. This is the lowest I can fall,)" Red thought annoyed. "W-well, let's continue."

And the game resumed along with the chatter. Red was a good learner, since he quickly caught up with the group's general rule to have fun with a video game. As one match ended, the last two places had to swap their spots with a waiting Smasher. The ones who won the first and second places were spared of that "dreadful" rule.

"Yeah, I'm so natural in this game," Ness boasted. "You guys go down every time to face me."

"We'll see that," Pikachu said confidently, grabbing his controller while Diddy took his controller next to him. "You haven't gotten the chance to face me. It's a whole different story when I'm involved."

"Ooh, I'm scared," Ness taunted. "The dude with the thunder tail is going to zap me."

"Hey," Pikachu said, "don't, mock, the, tail! My tail is very valuable. Many Pokémon with tails are very sensitive about those insults!"

"Yeah!" agreed Pichu and Squirtle.

"Oh, so by that rule, if I mock Lucario's or Mewtwo's tail, they will get mad at me?" Ness asked, rolling his eyes.

"More like they'll skin you alive," Ivysaur said, lying down his stomach on a very soft pillow. "But here between us, Lucario is the one who will kill you first."

As the next match started, with Pikachu choosing himself and Diddy choosing DK, Popo looked at Nana. "That reminds me, where's Lucario?" he asked.

"He and Chris had to go back to the real world," Nana said. "They're always leaving every Sunday night because Chris has school."

"Pfft, school," Ness said. "I'm home schooled, and I'm currently taking vacations."

"Me too," Lucas said embarrassed.

"Hey, Red, you ever went to school?"

"J-just a bit," Red admitted. "When I became a trainer, I had the permission to drop out from school. It's customary for teachers to say that trainers learn many new things in their journeys around the world, making up for the long absences in schools."

"That pretty much is another reason why they send ten-year-olds to fend off for themselves," Ness said. "The people you live with think too highly of all children, you know."

"You tell me," Pikachu said, sticking out his tongue as an erratic match erupted in the game. "Sadly, I agree with them. Ten-year-olds have proved to be capable of bringing down big criminal corporations by themselves whereas the whole 'Officer Jenny Police Force' can't get them. Red is going to beat his Team Rocket very soon… You better get working, Red."

Red looked unsure. "I-I don't know if it's safe for me to do that…" he trailed off.

"Just catch some Wailords and make them fall on their headquarters. If you want to take the easy and lazy way, crush them all."

"…What are Wailords?"

"Kid, you really need to study," Pikachu said bored, focusing on his match. "Go steal some of Chris's strategy guides and study all Pokémon's names. If you don't know what a Bidoof is, I'll pity you for the rest of my life."

Red, upset, crossed his arms. "What's a Bidoof?"

"Some doofus," Pikachu said. "The fourth generation Rattata," he added.

The Pokémon Trainer nodded. "Well, I'm off, then. If I want to pull this out, I have to study all Pokémon."

"You've got around more than 400 names to study and remember," Jigglypuff said.

"…Holy…"

"And we keep multiplying," Pikachu said. "You better catch up before it's too late."

Puzzling himself over the fact Pokémon multiplied, Red turned around and walked away to the stairs where he reached the second floor and disappeared from sight.

"Red's a dead trainer if Chris catches him grabbing another guide. This is the fifth time he does it," Ivysaur said, resting peacefully on the pillow. "Chris won't do the killing. Lucario will do the killing instead."

"How come Red hasn't studied all the names, then?" Jigglypuff asked.

"He was more interested in studying the items first," Squirtle said. "I think it was a good choice, though. He would know what to use for any battle."

"But he's stranding himself from the main thin-HA!" Pikachu suddenly shouted in triumph. "Take that, Ness! I got you with a Star Rod smack!"

"I-I still have two stocks left! Don't get so excited!" Ness replied. "Next match, we'll turn items off!"

"Turning items off is for pussies!" Pikachu yelled.

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

As the two kept arguing back and forth, Kirby, while eating some popcorn on a couch, looked to the hallway where Link walked out, stretching his arms over him before yawning. He walked to the couch and ignored them playing. Instead, he looked down at Kirby. "Morning, Kirby," he said. "Have you seen Meta Knight? I asked him to do some spar but he said he wanted to do it in the morning."

Kirby merely pointed to the doors that leaded outside.

"Oh, he's already out, then," Link said.

Kirby noticed a small glimpse of Link's worried look. The star warrior tilted his head confused. "Link, are you okay?" Kirby asked sheepishly.

Link looked back at Kirby. He thought it was strange to have a conversation with the infant-minded Kirby. "Um…well, a bit," he said. "I recently started thinking about what could happen if a Shadow Nightmare got on me."

Kirby looked worried at the thought. "And?"

"And I don't think I have anything to regret…I guess," Link said. "Honestly, I don't have anything that's been bothering other than thinking about them. Mario's shadow didn't attack him because Mario was clean. So, if I were clean of lies, would my shadow vanish right after it appears?"

Kirby thought hardly. "…Maybe," he responded.

Link looked a bit unsatisfied at this response. "Sorry, I made you think a bit too much," Link apologized. "I'll be going for now… Thanks for listening, though."

Kirby smiled happily and waved at Link as the Hylian stepped outside and closed the doors. Unbeknownst to the Hero of Twilight, the others listened well to what he talked about to Kirby.

"Did Mario find a way to prevent those shadows from attacking us?" Toon Link asked, sitting besides the popcorn bucket. "If we're clean of lies, they wouldn't have a reason to attack, right?"

"That's very obvious now," Nana said. "Does anybody here have a very, very bad lie in mind that you don't want to admit to anyone else?"

"I-I already admitted my lie," Lucas said, "u-unfortunately…" he added.

Everyone else shook their heads.

"Are you sure?" Nana asked with a suspicious look. "I'm not planning in facing someone else's shadow very soon."

"I think Peach made it clear to everyone about having dark…secrets…" shrugged Ness. "Some of the males in here haven't gotten over that little incident."

"Hahah, incident?" Pikachu asked as they kept playing. "That's more like a very bad event more than an incident. I'll give her that she can scare anyone mentally without her getting scolded. Thanks to her, I heard that C. Falcon has been hitting more on Samus out of panic."

"And DK's been sending love letters to Candy nonstop," Diddy said, his eyes fixated on the game. "Don't tell anybody else, but DK has really poor writing skills…"

"Well, I heard Falco is not willing to send any love letters," Popo said. "The poor guy hasn't come out of his room."

"You know what's funny? I've listened to Pit praying to Palutena that he wasn't gay," Squirtle said. "Also, he's been addressing the people he was paired with… Oh, oh, and he cursed that knowing that was like committing sins indirectly."

"So has Peach noticed all the commotion she caused over the past days?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Well, no," Toon Link said. "She's pretty much the only person in the mansion that has been walking in the hallways. I remember none of you, including me, came out at all."

"I was perfectly fine until I came back," Ness complained. "I had nerves of steel, but once I came back here, it was just too much for my dignity to bear all that. The thoughts…t-the horrible thoughts…t-they kept haunting me…" he sniffed.

The Hero of Winds sighed. "Why are the people in Chris's world so…so dirty? Do they have dignity?"

"I do think they get too far with their fantasies," Nana said upset. "How dare they pair us children with adults? There's no common sense in them!" she argued.

"Before we end up deciding to kill Chris's world for humiliating us universally," began Pikachu, "let's forget about that for now and keep playing. Ness took advantage of this talk and took out two of my three stocks."

"No I didn't!" Ness argued.

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"I said HMMM!"

"What the hell is HMMM?"

The pink Ice Climber rolled her eyes at the incredibly random dispute. She had to admit, however, that it was worth watching.

As they were playing, the window broke out with a foreign body falling on the floor. The body turned out to be Link, who looked fairly bruised all over his clothes. The Hylian opened his eyes and blinked them a bit. "M-man, I thought Meta Knight wasn't THAT good…" he muttered.

"Come, Link," Meta Knight's voice was heard from outside. "Do you want to give up today?"

"N-no way," Link said, standing back up on his feet. "I've been losing my cool with my sword these past days. I want to regain all of it as soon as I can." He wanted to jump out the window, but then he looked at the doors. "…I'll use the less barbaric and more civilized way," he said, leaving through the double doors.

As minutes passed, the brawl game in the TV soon had more competitors. Some of the Smashers who were locked up in their rooms had finally started to leave their places and try to forget the mentally scaring memories. Soon enough, a big group soon gathered in front of the TV screen, the uproar growing louder and louder.

And by some of the Smashers, we mean Sonic, DK, Falco, C. Falcon, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. Knuckles and Chip were an extra addition.

"Ike hasn't come on out of his room yet, right?" Yoshi asked DK, the ape waiting for his turn to play the game.

"Meh, he's the most mentally scarred one of the whole bunch of us," DK said. "Ooooh, nice!" he exclaimed as he watched the game.

"I-I can't lose like this!" Falco yelled as he faced a confident Sonic in the Battlefield. "He's just a newcomer while I'm a veteran! Veterans shouldn't get their butt owned by the newcomers. That's a rule we have here!"

"Sorry, buddy," Sonic taunted with a smirk, "but when I'm the newcomer, things change a bit around these parts."

"On top of that, he's besting you with Jigglypuff while you're yourself," Mario pointed out.

"That's some very impressive skills there…" Luigi said in awe.

Jigglypuff sniffed happily. "I feel so flattered…" she muttered.

"Man, what's up with that?" C. Falcon asked with a chuckle. "Is Sonic more of a gamer than you, Falco?"

"S-shut up!" Falco yelled. "I look more like a gamer than this guy does! I'll prove him that here and now!"

"Bring it, punk," Sonic taunted with a snicker. "You can't defeat Sonic when he beats you first. If you can't beat Sonic the first time, you won't beat him anymore for the rest of your pathetic life."

"Oh, Sonic's talking in third person," Chip said. "That means that the game is ON, everyone, ON."

Knuckles frowned and looked away. "Is the heat in this place getting worse with all this tension in the air?" he joked.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Falco retorted to the point he was gritting his beak (?).

Around that time, Zelda came walking in to watch what the bunch of guys (and two girls) were doing. Upon seeing them cheering and shouting like crazy, she sighed and frowned. "Boys will always be boys, huh?" she asked to herself. "That saying couldn't have been more accurate."

Everyone seemed to ignore the princess.

"…(Should a person of my rank as a princess of a kingdom fall a bit down and join this kind of event? It certainly looks entertaining to me, but what would happen if somebody caught me doing what these people do? Well, I am already fighting my own battles; battles that could make my people faint and possibly get in a coma. It would ruin my etiquette…but it does look amusing…)" Zelda thought, trying to hold her temptations in bay.

"Hey, Zelda!" C. Falcon greeted, snapping the princess out of her thoughts. "You've been standing there, watching the matches. Do you want to play?" he asked with a grin.

Zelda looked a bit upset and crossed her arms. "Are you trying to suggest me to play a game that guys like you play? Aren't you forgetting that I'm a princess?"

"Er, no," C. Falcon said. "Is it important?"

"Of course it is," Zelda said nodding. "If it came down to the point where I play that game, what would people think of me?"

"…You're a tomboy?"

"That's one more reason to avoid joining those kinds of events," Zelda said. "People like me just sit and watch to amuse ourselves."

"Like some kind of evil king and queen who like to see people fighting and killing each other with swords and spears in big coliseums?"

"N-no!" Zelda said upset. "I'm not that kind of people! I am in favor of peace than carnage!"

"Well, in you're in favor of peace, then a video game match wouldn't be considered a 'carnage' thing to do," the racer said.

"S-sorry, but I won't play it," Zelda said. "I'll just sit and watch how you shout irrational things at each other like those two over there are doing."

"I'll find a way so you can't have any children!" Falco yelled as he furiously tapped buttons in his match against Sonic, who was smirking all the time while a scared Pichu hid his Pikachu behind a house in Onett with Kirby helplessly getting in the middle of the fight with his Squirtle. "You heard me?"

"Oh, please do," Sonic said smirking. "That way, Amy won't annoy me anymore."

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Zelda looked bored at C. Falcon. "I'd say their irrational things are a little bit over the top, but you get what I mean."

"And here I was looking forward to see you shouting 'I AM FROM THE HYRULE ROYAL FAMILY, FEAR ME, PEASANTS!' or something like that," C. Falcon said.

"I'll call you a peasant unless you don't bring this up ever again," Zelda stated.

"All good for me because it'll be my turn to shout irrational things," the racer said with a smile.

"(Are all boys like him? No, that is just crazy,)" Zelda thought.

Falco's beak gapped, Sonic's smirk changed into a wide gap, Pichu smiled, and Kirby merely cheered after winning the match. Several "Ooohs" came from the spectators behind them while the avian smacked himself a few times and Sonic covered his face with his right hand in shame. "How did I lose to him…" Sonic muttered.

Falco forced a small smile while his right eye twitched. "W-well, it's a bit better than being defeated by you," he told Sonic.

"Ha-ha, Kirby owns both of you and he's just a little child," Ness teased nearby.

"…Now it suddenly feels way more embarrassing," Falco said with a groan.

While it wasn't very obvious, the game acted as some sort of brain washing method to forget all those scary thoughts that Peach had indulged in their previously mental breakdowns. Soon, more Smashers (namely just Olimar, Fox, Samus, and Wolf) came in and saw the event. By now, the only ones who weren't present were the Fire Emblem representatives and the angel, who were the most mentally scarred of all the whole cast.

Olimar gulped an approached an upset Smasher who had the unfortunate current losing streak at the time. He was sitting down on a corner of a couch, resting his chin over his right palm. "I-it's not your fault that you haven't won any match. I-I know how you feel, but winning all the time isn't that good…I-I think…" Olimar said.

"Oh, sure, winning all the time isn't that good. For me, it's very upsetting if I can't even win against him, though," Fox fumed with some anger, glaring at Wolf's back as he was at his calmest, playing a fair fight against the other Smashers. "If you ask me, I think I have the looks of a gamer. He has the looks of a real ruffian."

"(T-to me, you have the devil's look instead,)" Olimar thought. "…Oh my!"

The uproars died down in complete shock after the match had ended with an unlikely winner. For the first time, Wolf was caught off-guard, falling into the last place after safely staying sitting on his first and second spots for the whole hour. The lupine scoffed at this and walked back, letting Yoshi take his controller and turn.

The Yoshi blinked and looked down to his right, seeing the first place winner, a Red Pikmin, jumping up and down right in front of a controller. "…Nice game…" he remarked.

Olimar sniffed happily. "I-I knew my Pikmins had mad gaming skills all this time…" he sniffed, making Fox grit his fangs and slap his forehead hard, followed by a frown.

"…I hereby ban all Pikmins from playing this game!" announced Ness.

"W-wait a minute, that's so unfairly rude and hypocritical of your part!" Olimar complained.

While the event continued, Big came out from the nearby hallway, being escorted by Amy, Cream, and Cheese. The young trio was looking worried at Big, who had done something that was unnecessary of his part. "Big, please, you shouldn't have done that!" Amy said, all of them ignoring the event in the lobby. "I don't think the hand guy is gonna like this one bit. I know you're really worried about Froggy, but we don't need you call for help!"

"I-I'm sorry, Amy," Big said. "I-it's been a month ever since I last saw Froggy escape somewhere I don't know. I…I'm so, so worried about Froggy…" His eyes filled with tears. "A-and since I haven't heard of him, I-I thought it'd be a good idea to call some more people to help me…"

"Mr. Big, we're already too many people as it is," Cream said sweetly. "Letting more people help us is nice, but if they came here, I don't think Mr. Master Hand will like the idea as you do…"

Big cried silently, making Cheese gasp. The Chao flailed his little hands and rubbed the big cat's head in hopes to calm him down. "I-I'm so sorry!" Big said. "I didn't know what I was doing! I just want to have Froggy with me as soon as possible!"

Amy and Cream began to rub his big back with care. "D-don't cry, Big, please," Amy said. "Everything will be just fine…as long as the people you called here get lost, that is…"

"That reminds me," Cream began, looking up at Big, "who did you call, Mr. Big?"

Big sniffed and calmed down a bit. "W-well, since Froggy was lost somewhere, I-I hired some detectives to help us find him. I thought a detective would know how to find a missing person like Froggy, and it was better when I found out the detective worked with two other detectives…"

The pink hedgehog looked a bit dismayed. She closed her eyes and gulped. Somehow, she assumed she knew the detectives' names that Big hired. "…I'm scared to ask, but…who were those detectives you hired, Big?" Amy asked.

As Big revealed the names of the detectives, a multitude of cheers came from the Smashers, preventing anyone from hearing the big cat talking. The young trio, however, managed to hear him very clearly.

However, what they heard was bad, bad news.

Amy shook her head in disbelief while Cream had her hands on her cheeks. Cheese gapped his mouth a bit. "…Big…I was a little bit okay that you hired some detectives to help us. Really, that was a nice thought," Amy said, making Big feel uneasy. "…But hiring those detectives…that is definitely not good."

"Why?" Big asked with a sniff.

"Er, let's just say their job makes everything…um…harder," Amy said. "I-it's not like I hate them, but when we want them to work, you'll certainly get nothing but bad results."

Cream forced a smile. "They surely work hard…or seem to work hard, though," she said.

"W-what we're trying to say is… Big, you shouldn't have called them, even if they were helping us track down the Temple Guardians," Amy said. "All the reports Tails got from them were a bunch of accidents that they got out of their clumsiness combined. He thought they could help, but they didn't do as well as the others did."

"W-why?" Big asked.

"They suffered the dangers of our world more than finding information about the Temple Guardians," Amy pointed out. "In a few words…they suck hard."

"I-I wouldn't like to hear you telling them that, Amy," Cream said. "I would say they just have bad luck…"

"That bad luck will rub on us if they arrive here!" Amy said. "Tails has been acting like a workaholic these past weeks to find Froggy by upgrading his tracking system, but those detectives will knock his mind out for sure!" She looked up at Amy. "Tell me you didn't give them directions to find this place!"

"I just told them to find a mansion in the middle of a forest…" Big said unsure. "I-I couldn't say anything else because they hung up right after I told them that…"

Amy sighed in relief. "WELL, isn't that good or what?" she asked Cream. "They'll get lost rather than finding this place!"

Cream, however, looked unsure. "But, Amy, didn't we get lost trying to find this mansion to tell Sonic about what happened to our world?"

The pink hedgehog chuckled nervously. "W-we certainly didn't get lost, Cream. D-don't say silly things."

"But I'm pretty sure we did…"

"Maybe they'll find this place after all," Big said. "…Are they that bad at their job?"

"If we told them that they're bad, it'll sound like a compliment," Amy said bored. "We like to define them as…sucky-suck hard workers."

"We do?" Cream asked curiously.

"Nope, that's how I call them myself, anyway," Amy said. "I need to tell Sonic about this! He'd know what to do for sure!"

"Other than ignoring them altogether? Mr. Sonic does that a lot when he meets them sometimes," Cream pointed out. "I think I heard him muttering that he wished they could die with their mouths covered with napkins… Why does Mr. Sonic think very gruesome thoughts, Amy?"

Amy and Big stared at Cream for a little while. "…Anyone past their fifteen years would say and think those words, Cream. Just don't think like he does when you get older and you'll be fine." Amy shook her head and turned to the group. "Okay, I'll go tell Sonic right now!" she said, running towards them.

The pink hedgehog found Sonic sitting on a sofa (that he claimed for his own) while waiting for his turn to come. The blue hedgehog noticed Amy running towards him. He drew back a bit as she reached him. "Amy, it's going to be afternoon and you're already asking me to go on a date?" Sonic asked bored.

Amy forgot everything she was going to tell Sonic after this. She brightened up. "Are you really going to do that?" Amy asked smiling.

"…No…"

Amy rolled her eyes and remembered what she was going to tell him. "Sonic, we have problems!" she said.

"The wieners for chili dogs ran out again?" Sonic asked, shooting a death glare to Luigi, who yelped and hid behind DK.

"Not that!" Amy yelled. "Big decided to call some detectives to help us find Froggy!"

The blue hedgehog leaned his back on his seat. "Oh, well, it's not like they'll find him. Don't they know he's in some world out there?"

"They're not common detectives!" Amy said before she narrowed her eyes in a secretive way. "They're those detectives…"

It took Sonic's mind ten seconds to realize what Amy was talking about the detectives. He gasped and looked around, wary of his surroundings. "H-hey, that's stupid! They can't even find their own car keys!"

"They don't even own a car!"

"Well, they did, but it was put out of order with a freaky accident relating sugar and whatnot," Sonic said before he shook his head. "A-anyway, they won't get so far. Froggy is not in place where they can just waltz in without using a portal."

"Silly, Big told them to come here!"

"Big did WHAT?" Sonic said alarmed. He blinked a bit and grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "There's nothing to worry about, Amy. This mansion is…in its own unknown universe. They'll never find where we are."

"Do I have to remind you that my group got lost while trying to look for you, and that we conveniently ended up here?" Amy asked. "They're so stupid that they could end up lost in a second and get here the next second! If getting lost is the only way to get here, then we might as well be screwed, Sonic!"

Sonic chuckled nervously. "A-Amy, don't say that kind of thing! Everything will be just fine, trust me."

"As much as I'd love to trust you eternally this time, Sonic, I just can't!" Amy said. "I'm scared if they find this place!"

"Pfft, if they did, we could get the most useful one out of them and ditch the others," Sonic said. "All three together…suck hard so much, in a few words."

"If they do get here, you're going to be responsible."

"HA, good one!" Sonic said. "Why am I responsible?"

Amy stared at Sonic. "I hate to say this, but ever since you turned into a werehog, all these problems have been taking place everywhere. Some of the guys here told me how they fought you when that stupid guy in your body took over you. They also told me you accepted all the blame for what happened."

Sonic looked away. "I…must've forgotten I said that," he muttered.

"And since all this happened because you weren't very careful," Amy continued, "you're responsible of all these events. Eggman is the main responsible one, but you got yourself caught into his plan… So now, you'll be responsible if they screw us up!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sonic said, looking back at Amy with crossed arms. "I don't run a nursery! Do I look like a babysitter?"

"You LOOK like one to me," Amy said angrily. "If they do arrive, you will make sure they don't cause any trouble!"

"Pfft, if anything, Knucklehead should take care of them!" Sonic said. "He's a friend of them, isn't he?"

"That was like a long time ago," Amy said. "Now he says that he wished he didn't meet them. One way or another, you'll look after them, Sonic!"

"Why we can't just pretend we don't live here?" Sonic asked. "That should shoo them away."

"I guess that could work…"

While the two hedgehogs conversed, Cream made her way to the broken window that Link had broken. Cheese flew close to her and stared down at the broken shards. "I feel like do some cleaning today, Cheese," Cream said. "Do you want to help me?"

"Chao!" Cheese agreed.

Cream smiled and nodded. "Let's go to the kitchen and get the broom," she suggested as they started their way towards the kitchen.

As soon as they passed the double doors, some hard knocking sounds came out from them. The rabbit and the Chao stared at the doors for a moment before Cream went to look through the peephole to see who it was. "HELLO?" said a voice from behind the doors. "CAN SOMEBODY GIVE US SOME DIRECTIONS TO FIND A MANSION IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST? IT'S NOT LIKE THIS COULD BE THE ONE, BUT WE WANNA BE SURE WHERE WE'RE WALKING!"

"You're going to scare the people in this place if you keep shouting like that!" replied a somewhat high-pitched voice. "Be a little bit quieter next time!"

"He doesn't know the word 'quiet', you know," replied a low-toned voice. "It's useless to teach him what it even means…not that you don't know what it means, either."

Cream gasped and covered her mouth while Cheese did the same. She shifted her eyes around for a bit before she and Cheese ran over to Sonic and Amy. The rabbit tugged Amy's left arm for a bit. "Cream, what's the matter?" Amy asked.

"T-they're here!" Cream said alarmed. "T-they're here, Amy!"

Sonic's and Amy's mouths dropped for a bit and gasped in unison. "How the heck did they find this place?" Sonic asked.

"I told you that this was going to happen!" Amy said. "Sonic, you're the leader here! What should we do?"

"Silent treatment! Give them the silent treatment so they go away!" Sonic ordered.

Cream nodded and went to the doors. She leaned her right ear to hear anything coming from the other side. "…Hey, someone's in there! Whoever that is, they're leaning their ear to listen to us!" said the high-pitched voice.

The rabbit silently gasped and figured out they were doing the same thing as she was doing to listen to them.

"Alright, then," the demanding voice began, "I hate when people ignore me. Hey, you! The guy, girl, or sexually confused person! You'll open up this door before I PUSH IT DOWN!"

"Oh, for the love of god…" the low-toned voice muttered.

Cream gasped at this and looked at Cheese. "T-they know we're here, Cheese! I-it's my fault they know!" she blamed herself.

"Hey, I just heard Cream's voice on the other side of the doors!" the high-pitched tone said. "She sounded desperate!"

"Holy Molly, she's been kidnapped by some ruffians!" the demanding voice said before it smacked fists together. "Nobody's kidnapping by #1 client's daughter without my permission! Nobody!"

The rabbit and the Chao looked at no one in particular after hearing this irrational assumption.

"Are you sure it was Cream's voice?" the low-toned voice asked.

"No mistaking it! I heard her plea crystal clear!" the high-pitched voice said.

"Maybe she was kidnapped by some mafia boss! Just look at this mansion! It looks so mighty, mighty enough to house the mafia boss! Oh ho, ho, ho, ho, I always liked to beat up a mafia boss myself!" the demanding voice said.

"…Are you sure you wanted to be a detective and not a police officer?" the low-toned voice asked.

"Heheheheh, I'll consider working as a police officer if we do this right. Alright, boys, help me take these doors down!"

"What are our plans against the mafia boss?" the high-pitched voice asked.

"Brute force all the way!"

"Yippee, I get to sting people as much as I want, even if they say no!"

"And I get to get scolded with you two as well… This is not my day…again," the low-toned voice sighed.

Cream gasped once more.

"They're gonna do something bad to her! I heard her gasp again!" the high-pitched voice informed.

"You buncha jerks! I'll get right over there and SMACK you THREE!" the demanding voice said. "If you don't open these doors in three epically and dramatically slow seconds, I'll push 'em down myself!"

"I thought you wanted us to help you, but what's that about the 'three epically and dramatically slow seconds' thing you said?" the low-toned voice asked.

"It adds itself to the drama and epicness of our entrance, of course! Would you want a boring and fast action scene? Only the likes of Sonic and Shadow do that kind of stuff, and that BORES ME AS HELL!"

"You say it!" the high-pitched voice said. "How 'bout starting the dramatic and epic countdown now?"

"Oh yeah, I'll start!" the demanding voice said. "…3!"

Cream gasped once more and ran all the way back to Sonic and Amy, who were both watching the scene from their safe spots. "T-they're going to push down the doors in three slow seconds!" Cream said alarmed.

"I-I understand they'll drop them, but why in three slow seconds?" Sonic asked.

"Something about adding more drama or something…" Cream trailed off.

Amy gasped and turned to Sonic. "They're giving us a chance to stop them! Sonic, go find Master Hand!"

"I'm on it!" Sonic said, quickly disappearing in front of the two girls.

Amy began to sweat, staring back at the group of Smashers. She realized they were playing a game where they themselves were the main characters. The reaction that the detectives could make would be rather disastrous, giving away the fact they were all fictional characters to the real world. "I-if they get in here and see what they're doing before Sonic gets here, they'll cause a commotion FOR REAL!" she said with emphasis. "We need to stop them!"

Cream looked unsure. "Amy, I wouldn't try to interrupt their game if I were you," she said. "They look like the kind of people that would hate you forever if you interrupted them."

"Only the people who have a glare stuck on their faces would do that," Amy said as she rolled her eyes. "…But I'm a girl, so screw it!"

"W-wait, Amy!" Cream said. "Why don't you tell someone about this instead of interrupting all of them at once? They could hear us if you stopped the game!"

"G-good idea," Amy said before she ran to the group of people and tugged DK's right arm. "Hey, you, we've got problems!"

DK tilted his head. "We got problems?"

"Oh yeah, we do!" Amy said. "In three slow seconds, some idiots are going to bust in through those doors, and once they you playing a game where YOU are a character, will they find out what we really are?"

DK's pupils shrunk as he was instantly put in a state of shock that was combined with a heavy trance-like state. He didn't budge from his spot, thinking the horrible future ahead of them that would occur in three (slow) seconds.

"…Um…are you alright?" Amy asked, staring at DK's face. "Hey, are you listening? What's wrong with you?"

Cream, meanwhile, went over to listen to their visitors on the other side of the doors. "…2!" said the demanding voice, making Cream gasp mentally.

Meanwhile, a scared Pit slowly walked down from the stairs. His young mind was scarred for life as he glanced at the group of Smashers watching the matches taking place in the big flat TV screen. "O-okay, Pit," Pit muttered to himself. "You can do this just right. By no reasons shall you think d-dirty stuff about people of your same gender… H-honestly, who thinks that does happen in reality?" he asked with a nervous chuckle, joining up with the crowd. "Yes, you're totally straight, Pit…totally, totally straight…"

Coincidentally enough, Marth came from the other set of stairs. His eyes were tightly shut as he walked down the steps, having been memorized them all the times he used to walk down from them. "I am the prince of Altea," Marth muttered to himself. "I shall display dignity to the people by following the sane love that flows in the countries. I do NOT support love where two people of the same gender like each other that way…" He opened his eyes, looking seriously at the group. "My love will be reserved to…Shiida, obviously." He joined them and watched quietly from the sidelines how the matches went.

Amy waved a hand in front of DK's eyes. "Are you seriously okay?" she asked. "I-I hate when I'm being ignored like this, you know! Now it's not the time to be like this!"

But DK didn't say anything. He just stood still as Amy tried to snap him out of his senses.

"Wake up, please!" Amy yelled, shaking the big ape.

"…1!" yelled the demanding voice behind the door. Cream hugged Cheese tightly and hid behind Big, who lowered his ears a bit and ducked down.

A chain reaction of events took place.

Red walked down the stairs with a right black eye. Behind him, an ashamed Chris (in his Beastmaster job) and an upset Lucario walked down. It looked like Chris was coming from school. "Red, seriously, don't you ever stay in my room without my permission. I'm not saying it because you're a bad guy, but I'm trying to protect you from Lucario hitting you," Chris said.

"It was his fault that he was rummaging your stuff, Chris," Lucario said.

"Sorry…" Red said. "I think you got really mad that I made a mess, right?"

"That was reason enough for me to punish you," Lucario said before Chris grabbed an appendage and pulled it hard. "C-Chris, please, stop!" he pleaded, making Chris let go of his appendage.

"Be more careful when choosing your punishing methods, okay?" Chris asked seriously. "Red is very fragile compared to a steel person like you, Lucario. Apologize to him right now."

Lucario sighed. "I'm sorry for hitting you, Red…"

"That's not enough for me!" Red yelled, stopping in his tracks. "You not only punched me in the eye, but you sent me spiraling across the door to the hallway's wall!"

"I-I'm really sorry for doing that. I don't know my own strength."

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard," said Red and Chris in unison.

"…Do you want me to kneel down?"

Red grumbled and shook his head. "Whatever, I think I can forgive you for now…" he muttered.

Chris noticed the event, taking place on the other side of the lobby. "…Are they all playing Brawl? This is a moment of gold!" he said excited. "Video game characters playing video games in front of my lucky gamer eyes! I must join them to relieve the stress of coming back from school. Lucario, are you playing too?" he asked.

Lucario looked unsure. "I'd rather play when nobody's looking at me. I'd feel embarrassed if there are twenty or so people seeing me play from behind," he said.

"And let's not forget Mewtwo would say you're silly to be playing that… Well, at least he's not here, though," Red said. "D-don't look angry at me either, okay? T-that was just me stating a fact."

"What's so silly about seeing Lucario playing a video game?" Chris asked. "Looking at him doing it it's not longer out of place to me. He lives with me, after all."

"Chris, maybe you should do it. I'll cheer you from the sidelines," Lucario said. "Besides, you know how Pikachu likes to tease me. This would be his moment to do so."

The World Traveler stared at the group for a while before noticing that Big, Cream, and Cheese were ducking down. "Are you three okay? Why are you like that?" he asked.

Cream looked up and shook her head. "You must stop the doors from opening!" she yelled.

Red looked at the double doors far away from their spot. "The doors?" he said confused.

Suddenly, Master Hand warped in front of them while Sonic appeared from the stairs. "Where are those intruders?" Master Hand asked. "Sonic, where are they?"

"They're gonna bust into this place through the doors!" Sonic told the hand.

They all looked to the direction of the entrance.

"…2!" the demanding voice yelled.

Cream blinked confused. "…That's weird. I thought he was at one some seconds ago," she said.

Charmy jumped over Big's back and chuckled. "Vector always does that. It's so typical of him! After saying two, he does his stuff," he said smiling.

The World Traveler blinked surprised at the bee. "Charmy…is that you? How did you get in here?"

The bee folded his arms behind his back and looked to the broken window Link had broken in the morning. "Well, I hate to wait, so I just flew in here through there."

Master Hand shook himself and looked at Charmy. "Whoever you are, get out of my mansion. We're not accepting gues-"

"NOW!" the demanding voice yelled before the double doors were pushed down by a big crocodile.

Amy gasped and turned to the doors. Some of the Smashers that were waiting for their turn turned to the general direction and gasped at the sight of Vector on top of the double doors. "Oh my god, no!" Amy gasped.

"Aww, no!" groaned Sonic.

"What is going on here?" Chris asked.

"No, seriously, what's going on here?" Red asked.

"Yippee, I wanna play that game too!" Charmy exclaimed as he stared at the game rather than Vector.

"INTRUDERS!" Master Hand yelled loudly enough to snap DK out of his state.

Snapping out DK from his senses was a very bad move. As soon as he snapped out, DK yelled in panic and went to grab the couch that was being occupied by some Smashers (namely C. Falcon, Falco, Ness, Luigi, and Yoshi). Using his sheer strength, the Kong flung the couch all the way to the flat TV screen (with the Smashers as well), resulting in a costly TV shattering into pieces while the Smashers fell down and were crushed by the couch falling on top of them.

Although this prevented the newcomers from finding out what the Smashers were doing, it ended up with Ness getting his left leg partially broken.

"W-why do I have to live with you guys again?" Ness asked under the couch, groaning in pain.

An eerie silence formed as all the people in the room stared at the confident Vector. While the crocodile smirked in triumph and crossed his arms, nobody said a word. Everything happened so fast that they didn't know what to say.

From behind Vector, Espio peeked out from outside with eyes tightly shut. He knew what to expect from the situation. "I know it's extremely late to say, but whatever you think…I do not know who this Vector guy is," he said.

From the other side of the lobby, from the hallway of the first floor, an excited Tails came running in. "H-hey, everyone, I did it! I managed to…"

The two-tailed fox froze in his place after staring at the scene. For some reason, people were gathered in front of a broken TV where a couch was laying on top of some Smashers, the entrance was partially destroyed by a proud-looking Vector with Espio standing outside, Charmy was standing on top of a scared Big, a window was broken, and Red had a black eye.

Tails shifted his eyes a bit. "…" He didn't say a word while Link and Meta Knight came back inside and joined the silence of the air.

Some humming sounds came from the stairs. Everyone turned to the left staircase to see Peach walking down. She looked very cheerful, her eyes shut to make a happy expression on her face. "Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm…" She opened her eyes and stopped on her tracks, seeing everyone staring at her. "…Oh my, what happened here?" she asked confused.

Finally bringing himself to say a word, Chris sighed and said, "Nothing, Peach… It's just another typical day in the Smash Mansion…"

"Another day it is…" Lucario added, nodding in shame.

"…Oh," Peach silently said.

On the top of the stairs, Samus (in her suit) refrained from walking down, staring at the people down the first floor. She sighed to herself and walked away from the scene, not wanting to mix up with them.

"…Hello?" Ness called out from under the couch. "I-I don't know if I can feel my leg anymore…"

Some time later…

Command Room

After everyone gathered in the command room, a fuming Master Hand looked down upon a happy Charmy, an ashamed Espio, an a handcuffed Vector. Everyone else stared at them from their places as the hand began talking to them. "Okay, after living another moment of weirdness, can you please tell me what's your motive of busting into my mansion without knocking on the door instead?" the hand asked.

"Thought you kidnapped little Cream," Vector said. "Charmy here said he heard her pleas for our help. As the heroes we are, we acted naturally and jumped into the fray!"

Espio raised a hand. "Please exclude me of his crazy ideas. I don't think the same way he does," he said.

Vector ignored Espio. "Well, now that we confirmed she didn't get kidnapped, I guess our job here is done," he said.

"Seriously? Huh, that was fast," Master Hand said, opening Vector's handcuff to free his hands. "Well, you three can go away and leave us alone."

Charmy held out an open palm to the hand. "Not so fast, handy guy," he said in a serious tone. "We have a client here who asked us to lend him our services. Team Chaotix never backs down people who are willing to pay. That's rule #1 in our rule book, according to Vector."

Vector nodded. "Yep, that's right," he said.

The hand grunted. "Look, I know the feeling. I work here by attending more than thirty people and you three attend people in need of your services. HOWEVER, it happens that your client already has our services. So, technically speaking, we came first than you. He's not even paying us at all for that matter!"

"Then, if he's not paying you, it's all better!" Vector said. "We get more money this way!"

"I already said you can't stay in here," Master Hand said. "We already have too many guests as it is. I'm NOT willing to let anyone take a place in here without my permission!"

"You never give anyone else but us a room, though," pointed out Marth.

"You work here. That's why!" the hand retorted before looking at the trio. "So yeah, you can't stay here."

"Ah-ah, 'Mister' Master Hand, we're not just gonna let this chance slip under our noses!" Vector said. "If money is at our reach, we'll work hard to get it!"

"You don't even know if Big has money, idiot!"

Charmy waved a finger. "Nope, he paid us with something else. He said we could have a room and food in this place for as long as Froggy is lost. Since our refrigerator is literally empty, we had to accept!"

The hand grunted loudly and turned towards Big's direction. The big cat gulped and ducked down behind a row of computers. "I-I was so desperate to find Froggy! Please, understand!" Big yelled before he broke in tears, making Cream and Cheese try to calm him down by patting his back as many times as possible.

Vector's mind drifted off in thoughts of eating different dishes. While he did this, Espio decided to take over. "I fully understand how angry you are that we were hired by Big to find Froggy. We can't neglect our duty, unfortunately. If it makes you relieved, we won't cause you any trouble," he said.

"I'm angry at the fact Big thought he owned the mansion while I was somebody he didn't know," grumbled the hand. "I already cried saying that it was inevitable for me to stop all these guests from pouring into the mansion grounds…so whatever. If you PROMISE you won't cause any trouble, I'll MAYBE let you do your work. We're in the middle of a big problem."

Espio nodded. "Right, you're trying to piece back the continents from our world to their places. We know that very well," he said.

"Right," Master Hand said. "If you're willing to help us while you look for Froggy, we wouldn't mind that."

Vector snapped out of his fantasies. "Yeah, it's a win-win situation for all of us, right?"

The hand counted the unlikely trio. "...Ah…you are a little bit too many. We could end up wasting spots for more…useful people for the occasion… Sorry, but you three will have to break up and let one of you come along."

"Hey, that's not what the contract said!" Vector said.

"There wasn't any signed contract with my handwriting on it, idiot!" Master Hand pointed out. "You'll stick to the rules we have here to ensure order and peace…especially order!"

"Tsk, fine!" Vector said. "As long as I get paid with a room and food, I won't complain!"

Charmy hopped up and down. "Yay, we got ourselves a new job!" he said.

"Bless Vector's ignorance…" Espio muttered in annoyance.

Team Chaotix has somehow made their way into your team!

Sonic looked bored at Master Hand. "You don't really have to let them join us, y'know," he whispered.

"Sadly, I feel obliged to let them join us," Master Hand whispered. "I hope I can stop the Sonic reps flood from flooding the mansion. At this rate, I'll have all your friends living here… Goodness gracious, that's a very scary thought to me but a heaven for Sonic fanatics. Their joy is my pain."

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "You haven't seen anything about my supposed comic book series…"

"Oh-my-god…" the hand muttered before he shook himself. "L-let's ignore these guys (Vector: I'll sue you, then!) and see what Tails wanted to tell us. Hopefully it'll be good." He turned to Tails, who was sitting down on his usual spot. "Okay, Tails, fill us in."

Tails nodded, feeling unsure about letting Team Chaotix know. "After working hard enough all these weeks, I think I found the place where Froggy escaped," he said. "This world has a faint signal of a Temple of Gaia's energy. It's not enough for it to be a temple, but it's definitely a tablet. What's more, the reading is constantly moving around. It may as well be Froggy, alright."

Master Hand sighed in relief. "Wow, speaking of the green skinned devil. We found the DAMN frog so quickly right after you guys came here," he told the team. "It looks like your work here is going to finish real soon."

Charmy's excitement died down. "Aww, that sucks so hard," he commented, kicking the air in front of him. "I was thinking to be here for a month."

"Pfft, it was too good to be true," Vector said. "Well, whatever. Let's finish our job with a big finale. We gotta make it look good enough."

"And may ask why to who?" Espio asked with crossed arms.

"Why, our fans, of course," Vector said, winking to no one in particular.

"…Right…our fans…" Espio muttered sarcastically. "As always, Vector, you're so weird."

"(You tell me,)" Master Hand thought.

Tails cleared his throat. "I-I don't think we should really call this an easy mission so soon…" he muttered.

"Why's that, Tails?" Knuckles asked.

"Well…I don't know how to explain it…but Froggy's signal appears randomly in this world. One second, he's at some forest, and the next second, he's on top of some mountains. It's like he had the ability to teleport anywhere."

Big cleared his tears and stood back up. "Froggy doesn't have warping abilities…" he muttered.

"Er…it gets weirder than that, I'm afraid…" Tails said unsure. "You see, not only Froggy appears randomly…but…he…warps through time as well?" he said confused.

"…Say what?" Amy said. "How can he warp through time?"

"I don't know why…but the only closest explanation I can draw from this is that this world has its own way of working by itself," Tails explained. "This could prove really tedious, but as soon as the rescue party goes to that world, try to find him and the reason behind this weird phenomenon."

Master Hand wanted to say the name of the world with the paper he received from the machine nearby, but he didn't want to say what it was after reminding himself that Team Chaotix was completely new to their group. "(Sorry, dudes, but I'm not going to say what this paper has,)" the hand thought. "Well, time to prepare ourselves for the worst."

Final Fantasy VIII – The Timber Owls

The Smashers began talking to each other with Sonic dragging the Team Chaotix to their area. The hand motioned to Chris to come to him. The World Traveler practically obeyed and went over to the front. "Sorry, I didn't want those three weirdoes to know how the stuff works here. You know what I mean, right?" the hand asked.

"Y-yes, I do," Chris said. "So did you call me here to read that paper by myself?"

The hand handed over the paper to Chris. "Please do read it," the hand suggested.

Chrono Trigger
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Humans, Fiends, Robots
Number of protagonists: 7
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 7
Highly recommended abilities: Requirements are now very specific. Party needs to be made up of some kind of: a swordsman, a princess, an inventor, a character with sheer force, a skilled swordsman, a powerful mage, and a character from a futuristic-like era

"I wonder why the requirements are very specific this time around," Master Hand said.

"Wait, we're going here?" Chris asked.

"Do you know this place?"

"I'll be damned if I didn't know this place. It's one of my treasured games of all time," Chris said. "I even got its remake this past Christmas. I'm very prepared to see what the current plot is so there are no mistakes."

"Nice," the hand said. "Well, go now and fetch those specific characters… Well, who are you going to be, though? You need to fill a spot for you to go. Since you know this world, all directions should be handled by you."

Chris thought for a moment. "…I think I'll be the inventor. Where's Sonic going to be, though?"

The hand sighed. "Looks like I'll have to use my hand magic and alter this a little bit…" He glowed brightly and pointed at the paper. "GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGUAH!" He shot a small light at the little number seven, changing it to an eight. The hand stopped glowing before he fell on the floor, panting heavily. "G-good…there you go…"

The teen looked a bit skeptical. "…Was it really that stressful to change a little number on a piece of paper?" he asked.

"Y-yes, it was…"

"And why target this paper, anyway?"

"Do you see anything somewhere else where I can change that?"

"No… Wait, isn't Vector going to make a tantrum if none of them comes with us? None of those three fit into these descriptions."

"S-spare my magic, please…" The hand floated back up. "Ugh, I had to do this again, don't I?"

Chris looked confused. "I thought you were going to say 'Screw them! They'll end up making us die!' or something…"

"That was my thought, exactly. Unfortunately, I don't want to have a grudge against them or they having a grudge on me…even though I already have a grudge on them," he muttered the last part. "Still…" he trailed off as he focused a lot of his magic and shot the eight to make it a nine. Once again, he fell down on the floor, completely still. "…"

"…Master Hand?"

"…"

"…" Chris knelt down and touched whatever part Master Hand's heart was to feel a beat. "…He's not dead, is he?" he asked. "…I'll just…leave him like that. He's surely very exhausted for changing numbers in papers…" He put the paper away on the desk and stood back up. "Okay, I need to fetch those eight people here and get ready. What were the specifications? A skilled swordsman, a princess, a character from a futuristic era, a powerful mage, and a character with sheer force… However, I want to see Sonic and his group first. I'll go with them…"

The World Traveler noticed that, between some rows of computers to the left side of the room, a whole lot of Sonic reps were taking that particular area for themselves.

Chris sweat dropped. "…Oh god, at this rate, we'll just need to have Shadow, Rouge, and Omega to complete all the four teams and house them all in here…" He shook his head. "Don't think stuff like that…" he muttered to himself and made his way to them.

When Chris noticed, he found that the rest of the people were explaining things to Team Chaotix. As usual, Vector was left in a blank, Charmy barely understood more, and Espio understood completely. "Soooooo there are more than one world out there besides ours?" Vector asked.

"Yes," Tails said bored.

"And this place is not in our world?"

"Yes…"

"This place is on its own world?"

"Yes…"

"…Dammit, this is so complicated!" Vector complained. "Who's the big idiot who thought that having separate worlds was a good idea? Thinking about all those mysterious worlds can give anyone a big headache!"

"Nah, it's only you," Charmy said playfully.

"But I too get very confused," Chip said.

"See that? The little guy knows what I'm talking about!" Vector said. "But maybe this could be very profitable… Now that we know there are more worlds out there, we can expand our domain and let people know about our services as detectives!" His eyes turned into money signs. "Think of all the universal money we could make!"

Charmy grabbed one of Vector's money signs and tossed one away. "That doesn't sound too bad, Vector."

"OH GOD, NO," Sonic said. "You guys aren't doing that sort of thing! You could end up altering important time stuff and…well…make a world get destroyed…"

"Only Vector would end up doing that," Espio said bored. "Please, don't think I'll do something of the sort…"

"Hey, you pesky hedgehog aren't going to take away this opportunity from us!" Vector yelled. "If we can get money through this way, we won't let it slip by!"

"No, seriously, don't do it, Vector," Amy said. "We don't want the universe imploding on us, right?"

"I won't make the universe implode! I don't even know how to make universes implode!"

"Actions, Vector, actions," Tails said. "Our actions in other worlds can influence many different things. We can only go to those worlds if we follow their rules without stranding away from them. Do you want to do something stu-I mean, out of place and die?"

"As if I'm gonna die for that!" Vector said. "We're doing this you like or not!"

Chris already had enough of the argument that he decided to talk. "Um, Vector, that's a really bad idea," Chris said. "Please, understand how things work around here."

"You'll never know until you try them out!" Vector said.

"Trust me…I already did something like that, and it didn't come out very good," Chris said. "For once, understand how delicate this is."

"I won't!"

Chris snapped out. "For the love of god, you're going to have to follow our rules or we're tossing you out from here!"

Espio shook his head. "I'm sorry if Vector is causing all of you a lot of trouble. You have my sincere apologies if he doesn't want to apologize," he said.

"Yeah, Vector acts like a big spoiled baby," Charmy said. "Don't pay him attention unless he breaks something up."

"Are you guys making me look like an idiot?" Vector asked.

"You ARE an idiot," Espio pointed out. "We're not even trying to make you look like one. You're the one doing it."

Chris sighed. "(Talking to Vector is like talking to a baby, that's for sure…)" he thought before he looked at Sonic and Chip. "You'll be coming with us as usual, right?"

Sonic and Chip nodded. "Yep, we're coming," Chip said. "It's our rule to go everywhere no matter what. It's like…a very important law that shouldn't be broken."

The hedgehog shrugged. "Um, so yeah, call us when everyone else is ready…"

"…Hold on, I have to take one of those three with us first," Chris said. "If I don't take one of them, Master Hand will have grudges that he doesn't want to deal with."

"Me, me, me, me!" Charmy whined. "I'll be useful! I'm more useful when I'm not working with Vector and Espio!"

"Wait just a minute! As the boss of the team, I should be going first!" Vector said. "You boys will stay behind and cheer me on!"

"Go take a hike, Vector!" Charmy said. "I haven't done anything more than washing our laundry, and your socks have a very stinky smell! You think I can survive? Think again!"

"You'll be our laundry boy forever!"

Espio grunted loudly and glared at his teammates. "Would you two be quiet before they throw us out because you two don't know when to shut up?" he asked irritated.

"You stay out of this, Espio!" Vector yelled. "I'm your boss, so you better shut up instead!"

"Yeah, right, you're my boss, but not my mom," Espio muttered with a grunt.

Cream ignored the three and looked worried at Chris. "If you ask me, Chris, I think…well…Mr. Espio is more relievable than Mr. Vector and Charmy… Mr. Espio is more civilized than any of them, and…he might be even more mature than Mr. Sonic is…"

Chris thought for a moment. "Well, yes, I can truly see Espio's potential while he's alone by himself. I should better bring him and let Vector and Charmy watch how we do things our way. They might even understand what to do…MAYBE," he said with emphasis. "Espio, um, I'd like you to come with us."

The chameleon looked at Chris and nodded. "Oh, certainly. I'd like to stay away from these two for a little while and do something serious for a change," he agreed.

"HEY!" Vector shouted angrily while Charmy looked away. "Espio isn't the boss here!"

"Too bad," Sonic said. "Chris already chose Espio. You'll be staying here and watch us work."

"Pfft, that's bull-" Vector stopped halfway after staring at Cream's sad look. "E-er, w-well, o-okay, I'll let Espio go, then. W-why, I'm the boss who has more power! It'd be a real waste to let my workers do nothing while I get stronger than them, right?"

Cream smiled happily. "Oh, Mr. Vector, you're so nice," she said.

Charmy looked bored and frowned. "(He just wants to have a score with Vanilla. That's all he wants from you, Cream,)" he thought.

"Whatever," Espio said bored before looking at Chris. "I shall give you my services. I won't let all of you down."

"(I think he will become a very valuable asset for the time being,)" Chris thought hopefully. "Okay, then, wait here until I gather everyone," he said as he walked away from the group.

Knuckles looked amused at Sonic. "Be careful, you. This guy here would prove you that he's more reliable than you," he teased.

Sonic grinned. "Now that's pure nonsense, Knuckles," he said. "Espio isn't gonna steal the spotlight from me."

Espio frowned and crossed his arms. "Why am I thinking that I shouldn't be here?" he wondered aloud.

Amy chuckled. "Things just get more interesting when you guys clash personalities. Of course, I'm always cheering Sonic," she said.

Sonic looked bored at them. "(Hoping here no one else shows up to lend us a hand…)" he thought.

While they kept talking (and arguing by Vector's part), Chris made his way to DK and Diddy. The World Traveler thought the Kong would fit for the "character with sheer force" part nicely. Upon seeing him, DK started to talk by giving Chris a worried look. "Why do I think we were overshadowed?" he asked.

"Why?" Chris asked confused.

"I dunno, but I think it has to do with Sonic's friends," DK said. "I had this funny feeling that everyone else, us, didn't even exist for a moment…" He shook in fear. "W-we didn't die or something, right?"

Chris shook his head. "N-no, of course we didn't die for a moment…" he said.

Diddy shrugged. "I don't want to think about that. I'd feel really weird if something like that happens again… Are we really getting overshadowed?" he asked.

"W-we're definitely not getting overshadowed. This is our own show, not theirs, right?" Chris asked before he looked freaked out. "I-I shouldn't be saying these kinds of things that easily either. L-let's stop talking about it, okay?"

DK gulped. "Okay, but let's make sure we're under the spotlight…"

Silence…

DK blinked and smiled, having forgotten his funny feeling a second ago. "So, Chris, you're asking me to come, or are you asking Diddy to come?"

"It better have us both," Diddy said.

"Sorry, but DK will have to come alone this time," Chris said. "I need a character with sheer strength, and DK fits into that specification."

Diddy looked sad for a moment before he forced a smile. "Oh, then, there's nothing else to do about it, right?" he asked.

DK patted his nephew's back. "Don't worry, Diddy. Our turn to come together will surely come soon enough," he said.

"(How sad…)" Chris thought as he stared at the two. "(I can tell that they both want to break into tears and hug each other. I must admit their uncle and nephew relationship is quite odd but…strong.)"

For his dismay, Chris saw as both DK and Diddy broke into tears and hugged each other. The teen gasped and tried to pull them apart, but of course, it was literally impossible considering how heavy DK was.

"D-don't cry now!" Chris said. "Please, don't get so sentimental! I-I get very sentimental if you people do this as well!"

DK and Diddy stopped hugging each other and wiped their tears away. "S-sorry," DK said. "I had to do it for Diddy's sake…"

"Y-you're so sentimental, DK," Diddy sniffed.

"You two are really unique…" Chris muttered. "Well, I…should better leave you alone so I can go and find the other four..."

"Please, do that," DK sniffed. "I-I'll be fine before you call me…"

Chris itched away from DK's sad look. "R-right…"

Diddy sniffed and hugged DK one more, with the ape doing the same.

Chris looked back at them and frowned. "(They're very close to each other,)" he thought. "(Oh well, I respect them for being like that… But that's for another moment. Right now, I need to get the other four. Let's see, I need some kind of powerful mage…)" He stopped on his tracks and looked a bit worried. "Wait, there aren't any mages in this team in this first place! I could be the mage, but I'm not powerful!" He rubbed his head a bit to think. "Hmm, should I just pretend this supposed powerful mage comes close to being a real one? Maybe that could work…"

The teen looked around the room.

"I don't think the people who know how to use magic here are that powerful. I doubt Peach or Fox are even powerful. Peach, well, she handles it very well, and Fox…he's a bit of a mess, and that worries me," Chris muttered and turned to the lower right side of the room where Mewtwo was calmly standing with crossed arms. His eyes were shut to avoid visual contact with anybody else. "…Mages are supposed to be intelligent, and Mewtwo is intelligent… Besides, his attacks could be defined as magic as well, right?" He decided to walk to Mewtwo's side.

The Psychic Pokémon opened his serious eyes and looked down at Chris. "Is something the matter?" Mewtwo asked.

"(My calm demeanor is easily crushed when serious people like Mewtwo happen to be taller than me, even if they're an inch taller,)" Chris thought in fear. "I-I need you to come with us, Mewtwo. I need some kind of powerful mage so the team is complete. And, well, you…I think you could fit in there."

Mewtwo stared at Chris. "Hmm, nice reasoning," he remarked. "I suppose this should work seeing as my powers could be defined as magic, thus giving me the qualities of a 'powerful' mage."

"You don't think you're powerful enough?" Chris asked confused.

"I'm just trying to prevent sounding so confident of my abilities," Mewtwo said. "During official matches, my power is lowered so I don't have a lot of advantage over my opponents. Outside matches, however, I can freely use my powers without restrictions… Let me ask you something out of the blue," he said. "In your world, do people really think someone like me should compete against the likes of a Lucario?"

Chris looked confused. "Er, that was surely out of the blue…" he said. "Well, most people are angry at the fact you're not in Brawl and Lucario is. I really don't see the problem since I'm dealing with something very different right now… You could say you have a big…fan base."

Mewtwo looked bored at the teen. "Do I have to deal with this kind of people like Mario does in your world or what?" he asked. "I see no reason for a bunch of children to admire me when I want to have some sane solitude."

The teen sweat dropped. "Sorry, but that's how my world thinks of you, Mewtwo…"

"…Even so, I'm quite pleased to have Lucario as a worthy opponent," Mewtwo said. "The one that was here before didn't prove to be very worthy. Inside matches, it was always a clash of wits, but outside them, I far outmatched him. But now, the Lucario of today possesses a power that rivals those of the Legendary Pokémon." He chuckled a bit. "I am truly honored."

"…Does Lucario really stand a chance against a real Legendary Pokémon?" Chris asked. "We had a lot of trouble with Rayquaza."

"Well, provided he resorts to his rage, then he reaches their power," Mewtwo explained. "But while he doesn't do that, his current brute force is enough to match my own power outside official matches. I couldn't be more satisfied to have an opponent so close to my skills."

Chris smiled a bit. "I think it's admirable that you have that kind of rivalry…but aren't you a Legendary Pokémon yourself? Doesn't that mean you could defeat Rayquaza alone?"

"I'm…very different than them," Mewtwo said. "I was created by Mew's DNA. While I have the potential to be one of them, it takes me more time to reach their might."

"Then wouldn't that mean Lucario could beat you if he resorted to his rage?"

"Power isn't everything," Mewtwo said. "Unlike any bunch of power-driven idiots, I believe there is more than one way to defeat someone who likes to use brute force all the time. Simple attacks, for example, can sometimes be more useful than complicated attacks that spend all your energy. "

"Hmm, that sounds very true coming from you," Chris said. "I should try that out sometime. Well, in a few words, I think you make a very good rival for Lucario."

"Thank you."

"…So…are you coming with us?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "I would like to go out and explore a world I don't know."

"Knowledge is power for you, then…"

"If you want to put it that way, then yes."

"(I feel like I'm talking to a teacher rather than Mewtwo…)" Chris thought with a mental sigh. "I'll call you when we're ready."

Mewtwo nodded, giving Chris a sign to leave him alone for the time being.

"(I thank god I don't have a rival myself,)" Chris thought worried. "(It puts a lot of stress in someone, and I'm very bad at handling stress…) I need to focus this time and find…the character that represents a futuristic place." He stopped on his tracks and looked around the room full of different chatter from all the Smashers. "Not Samus, not…C. Falcon, not Fox, not Wolf…" He found Falco sitting besides Lucas and Ness, who had a broken leg. The avian had been rubbing his beak for a very long while, probably because the couch fell on it. "It's time for Falco to be alone once more. He won't take Fox, who will then make Wolf come. I had enough of the three coming all at once." He walked towards the pilot.

"Oww, oww, oww," Falco groaned in pain. "Why did the couch have to fall on my beak? I'm lucky it didn't break…"

"At least you're still walking!" Ness complained as he looked at his cast left leg over another chair. "I'll be like this for maybe a month or two!"

Lucas forced a smile and took out a black scoreboard. "See the bright side, you'll get your cast signed by us," he said.

"You know, I'd prefer if my leg wasn't broken. Now THAT could be a bright side," Ness said before sighing. "Go on ahead, Luc, and sign my cast if you want…"

Lucas got excited and began signing on Ness's cast. While the red cap boy frowned at his miserable luck, Falco found Chris walking to them. "If you're here to sign my beak, you're out of luck," he said.

"I-I'm not here to sign your beak!" Chris said upset. "I'm here to ask you to come with us."

"Oh, that's a different case," Falco said. "But since I had a FREAKING COUCH fall on my beak, you gotta make sure it doesn't get crushed by anything. It's way too sore, let me tell you." Falco turned to DK's direction. "You better be happy, you big damn ape! Next time, toss something else to the TV than me!"

"I-I'm not really happy!" shouted DK from behind a row of computers.

"You BETTER!" shouted Falco before turning to Chris, who was signing Ness's cast. "So yeah, I'm in as long as my only way to talk and breath doesn't shatter into pieces. I never thought I'd appreciate my beak so much."

Chris finished and gave the scoreboard back to Lucas. "Chris, please, tell me your healing powers can fix broken legs," Ness said.

"T-they don't, sadly," Chris said. "They only cure small and big wounds. Broken legs are a bit too complicated to heal… Even I don't know if there are healing powers to fix them."

"Yep, I hate my life," Ness said bored.

Chris turned to Falco. "Okay, I'll call you once we're ready…and I hope your beak gets better."

"It's not in a cast, so I'm good," Falco said as Chris left them. He remained silent until he took Lucas' scoreboard and signed Ness's cast.

Ness looked bored. "Ugh, this is the worst…" he muttered.

"A-at least you're getting more attention," Lucas said.

"Hey, DK, you better be really sorry!"

"I-I knooooooooow!" whined DK.

The World Traveler approached Meta Knight, who was sitting down on a chair with his cape reaching the sides. Chris gulped for a bit and looked down at the intimidating knight. "S-so, I need a skilled swordsman to come along with us," Chris said. "Would you please come?"

"Hmph," began Meta Knight, "what made you think I'm a skilled swordsman?"

"Don't tell me you're like Mewtwo who doesn't like to brag about his skills…"

Meta Knight nodded. "Bragging causes people their demises. I'm not like Sonic, who brags about everything he does," he said.

"Oh, please, Sonic doesn't brag about himself too much…"

The knight shook his head and pointed towards Sonic.

The hedgehog pointed at himself with a thumb. "I'm much better than Shadow," he told his friends. "He runs on hover shoes while I DO run on my feet."

"Er, that's difficult to say," Tails said. "I think he runs like that because that's his style."

"Hey, Tails, I thought you were on my side," Sonic said. "Can Shadow give a hand to a friend in need? No, he doesn't. Can Shadow relax as I do? No, he can't. Do I feel angst about a dead person all the time? No, I don't…"

And the hedgehog kept bragging and bragging about himself nonstop, much for Tails's dismay.

Meta Knight looked at Chris. "My statement has been proved to be a fact," he said.

The teen looked defeated. "Okay, Sonic DOES brag about himself too much. I get it…"

"I doubt Sonic will have his demise soon," Meta Knight said. "…I'm saying this in a positive way. As a fact, his demise will soon come."

"E-er, Meta Knight, it's really thoughtful of you to think about Sonic's…death like that, but…can you come with us?"

Meta Knight nodded. "I will. I need to get as close as possible to the Subspace Army and retrieve the Halberd. I can't allow them to use it without my permission."

"It's not like you lend that battleship to anyone else, though."

"Right, because it's supposed to be mine alone."

"…I'll call you later, then," Chris said as he walked away from the knight.

Chris knew where to find the last two characters in single shot. He needed a swordsman and a princess. He walked to the left row of computers where Link and Zelda were talking. The teen stopped walking and stared at the two for a while. The two young Hylians stopped talking and turned to him. "Oh, it's you," Link said. "You need something?"

"Yes, I need both of you to come with us to the new world," Chris said. "Apparently, the requirements are more demanding than before for some reason…but I think I might know why…" He shook his head and nodded. "So yes, I need you two."

"That's okay," Zelda said. "Link needs to do some fighting. After all, it's been a long time ever since he went on a mission."

Link looked embarrassed. "I-it's not like I want to go somewhere so badly. Marth, Roy, and Ike have been going out more than I do, but it's time for me to step up into the fray… Where's Ike, anyway?"

"He's locked up in his room, trying to wash his brain from all the mentally scarring pairings Peach told him about," Chris said embarrassed. "The poor guy didn't heal faster than everyone else did. Marth was the second most scared of everyone."

"It doesn't seem fair you didn't get that treatment," Link said with narrowed eyes.

Chris shook his head. "D-don't look at me like that! I'm happy that I'm not some kind of sexual tool for people to draw like crazy every day!" He gasped and looked away. "S-sorry for the outburst, but I really wouldn't like to see something like that… Spare me," he added.

Zelda shook her head and sighed. "Please, don't let someone like me think about this any longer. I must stay calm and approach this…in a sane mature way," she said.

"Me too," Link shrugged. "Just don't let Peach get near a computer while we're close."

"That's…too bad," Chris said.

"Why?"

The teen pointed at the lower left side corner of the room where Peach was using a computer. What's more, it seemed that all the area around her was completely empty. There weren't any Smashers close to her visual range. From the looks of Roy's twitching eyes, it looked like Peach was navigating the internet.

"…Oh Nayru," Link and Zelda exclaimed in disbelief, seeing Peach's happy look.

Chris covered his face with his left hand. "I suppose nobody wants to tell her to stop because, one, she's Peach, and two, nobody is capable of ignoring the PC screen without taking a glimpse of whatever drawings she's looking at…" he said.

"I…hope she doesn't do this a lot," Zelda said. "It's very bad as it is."

Link chuckled nervously and then looked back at Chris. "W-well, call us when we're ready."

"I just need to see what Crazy Hand has in his shop," Chris said before walking away.

The Hero of Twilight sighed and sat down on a chair. "Man, I really need to do an adventure. I need to meet new people or else I'll become crazy…"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "It's a penchant of you to do that. It's just as if destiny wanted you to do it every time we reincarnate," she said. "…Not to mention you kind of get many women to woo you."

"Wait, what?" Link asked.

"Have you forgotten all the times you told me that many girls have taken a liking on you?" Zelda asked. "Why, you even attract older women."

The Hylian looked away. "Oh, well, I like to help anyone who's in need…" he said in his defense. "…Wait, you're not getting jealous or something, right?" he asked, turning back to her.

Zelda flushed and looked the other way. "L-Link, don't think such things, please. None of the two of us are involved in an official relationship together," she twitched at the last word.

Link blushed and shook his head. "I-it's not like I like anybody else too! P-people think we're actually a couple just because we're seen together most of the time!"

"And do you get yourself caught in the moment?" Zelda asked with some fear.

"O-of course not!" Link gasped and shook his head. "D-don't take this like some kind of insult to you either, Zelda! I just like you as a friend!"

"R-right, I like you as a friend as well," Zelda agreed. "We are NOT a couple like everyone else thinks!"

"Y-yeah!" Link said before the two looked away and remained like that for the remainder of their time.

Behind the row of computers, Olimar sighed and looked at his Red Pikmin. He heard everything the two Hylians were talking. "And that's the same way of how I met my wife…" he trailed off with a relieved sigh.

"We heard that!" yelled Link and Zelda, startling Olimar and his Pikmin.

The teen walked towards Crazy Hand's counter. The insane hand grumbled and stared at the World Traveler. "You had to screw the last mission, didn't you?" scolded the hand. "Now you won't get to buy more stuff from me as you did before! Personally, I feel emotionally broken apart."

"T-the temple was found, so that's good enough for me," Chris said. "Besides, I didn't hear from Master Hand that the mission needed to be completed by restoring their power!"

"Yes, you complete the mission if you restore their power," Master Hand said, appearing right next to Chris, who jumped in shock and backed away. "If you don't, you fail. Period."

"Y-you're already okay?" Chris asked.

"Nope," Master Hand said. "I just wanted to use the last energy I have left so I could inform you about completing a mission. Now, I'll fall down and knock myself out of cold. Don't worry, I'll be back in some hours. So, bleh," he said before he fell down unconscious.

"…That was kind of weird," Chris admitted.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Shop

Crazy Hand sighed. "You've got love this legendary tune," he said.

For once, Chris was able to listen to the seemingly nostalgic track. In fact, he could have sworn it came somewhere nearby. Upon looking on the counter, he saw a small stereo with the music playing. "Um, where did you get that song?" he asked.

"I did it like everyone does," Crazy Hand said. "I ripped the game's music directly and burned it into a CD."

"Do you even know how to do that?" Chris asked bored.

"Since I like to mess around, I NEED to know how to do this kind of stuff," Crazy Hand said. "Well, I'm also a hacker at heart. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THIS AWESOME MUSIC TRACK! It's time for you to spill some coins on my beloved counter! (Hm-hmm, I should play more of these more often! It gives a natural vibe to my wares!)"

Jobs (New!) – Stickers – Smashing Abilities – Items – Sets (New!)

Smash Coins in hands: 2801

"Uh, there's a new job now?" Chris asked.

"Oh yeah," Crazy Hand said. "Seems my brother finally got Kirby's job ready some weeks ago. Why don't you go ahead and see what it is? My brother didn't want me to see it so I didn't spoil it to you… Meanie," he muttered the last word.

"Let's see here…"

-Jobs

Pictomancer – 3000 Smash Coins

Paint Kirby's enemies so he can swallow them and copy their abilities. This job exploits Kirby's full potential progressively. Gain experience so you can paint all powers and give Kirby an edge over all foes. WARNING: This job has the poorest defense of all jobs. Extreme carefulness should be applied when fighting against an enemy.

Crazy Hand giggled. "Looks like you can't afford this new job yet," he said.

"But…even so, this job leaves me completely wide open for attacks?" Chris asked worried.

"I suppose the enemies you paint will still be your allies," Crazy Hand said. "They could help you by shielding you."

"I guess that could make sense…but I can't afford the job for now," the teen said. "That aside… What is this new option over here on the paper? What are these sets?" he asked.

"You know about Assist Trophies, right?" Crazy Hand said. "Well, my brother came up with this nice idea of calling more people you've met throughout your journey by putting these sets on sale. C'mon, give it a look."

The teen browsed through the new section.

-Sets

Tales of Symphonia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Tales of Symphonia members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Lloyd, Genis, or Colette).

Tales of Vesperia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Tales of Vesperia members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Yuri, Estelle, or Rita).

Fire Emblem Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Fire Emblem members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Eliwood, Hector, or Serra).

Path of Radiance Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Path of Radiance members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Mist, Soren, or Boyd).

Disgaea Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Disgaea members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Laharl, Etna, or Flonne).

FF IV Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Final Fantasy IV members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Cecil, Yang, or Palom and Porom).

FF VII Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Final Fantasy VII members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Cloud, Aerith, or Tifa).

FF IX Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Final Fantasy IX members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Zidane, Dagger, or Vivi).

Megaman Legends Set – 1000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Megaman Legends members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Megaman or Tron).

Star Ocean Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows the random chance to call any of the Star Ocean members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Fayt, Sophia, or Peppita).

"If you buy one set, you get a free Trophy Stand that will have a random character of the set ready to appear the moment you want to use it," Crazy Hand said. "BTW, if you clear a world, there's a chance that you'll unlock more sets. Work hard so you get more sets unlocked."

"This is very good…but I'd like to buy someone else's ability," Chris said.

The insane hand grunted. "See? Because you don't have enough money, you're skipping too many great deals! Oh well, YOU BETTER SUCCEED in this mission, Chris!"

The teen got upset. "I-I'll see if I can do that! Don't pressure me!"

"Anyway, tell me you want to buy something, anything," Crazy Hand said. "What Smasher are you going to look?"

Some time later…

"I hope you're not doing this as an act of charity," Falco told Chris as the avian kept rubbing his beak. "I'd feel like I was degraded to a hobo."

"Okay, I'm getting a little bit sick seeing you rubbing your beak nonstop," Chris said as he changed to his Musician job. The musician started using Soul Etude on Falco.

Fortunately, Falco's beak shone for a bit and then turned back to normal. The avian didn't feel any more pain, and he put his hand back to his side. "Geez, the pain's gone but wasn't there any other way to avoid making my beak shine? It looked stupid."

Chris looked bored at him. "It looked stupid to me that you didn't stop rubbing it," he said.

Falco rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks for healing me, anyway," he said. "So, lemme see what I wanna buy." He took the paper from Chris. "No way I'm letting someone younger than me buy me something. It's so embarrassing."

The teen looked away with a grunt.

-Smashing Abilities

-Falco

Double Blaster – 1000 Smash Coins

Gives Falco a second Blaster.

Fire Bird EX – 2000 Smash Coins

Allows Fire Bird to move anywhere without going straight. The range is doubled to allow more maneuverability.

Falco Phantasm EX – 2000 Smash Coins

Illusions will now deal more damage. The attack will now go diagonally as well.

Reflector EX – 3000 Smash Coins

The Reflector will now spin around the user after kicking it, giving more protection to projectile attacks.

Resist lvl. 1: Ice – 1000 Smash Coins

Falco will receive normal damage against ice attacks. (This won't remove his shivering against cold temperatures, though).

The avian thought hard between two options. "Recover my lost Blaster…or resist stupid ice attacks…tempting…" he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Chris asked. "What's that about a lost Blaster?"

Falco looked at Chris. "Oh, about that, I once had a second Blaster when we made that attack against the Subspace Army. I remember I had it before I fought that super big dark Diddy monster… I don't remember having it after that, though," he explained. "Anyway, it'll be REALLY good if I could have a small resistance against ice because I HATE it."

"…Well…I suppose I could buy you those two together…"

"Oh no, I'll steal your money and use it to buy them both," Falco said.

"What? Why don't you ask me?"

"Did you forget? I don't want people to buy things for me as if I was their child or something," Falco said upset. "If I steal it from you, it won't feel that bad."

"That'd make you a burglar! I think that's even worse!"

"That's what you think, though," Falco said.

"Don't make such a tantrum and just take this," Chris said as he showed Falco 2000 Smash Coins.

Falco crossed his arms. "I won't accept them unless there's a way where I won't feel embarrassed."

"For the love of god, Falco!" Chris yelled before he got an idea and walked away.

Several seconds later, Fox came to Falco and handed over 2000 Smash Coins. "Here's your pay," grumbled Fox before he walked away.

Chris came back and looked miffed at Falco. "Happy now?" he asked.

Falco grinned and nodded. "Nice idea making my 'boss' pay me like that. That gave a nice grin." He turned to Crazy Hand and paid him all the money.

"Okay, good sir, here's your weapon of mass destruction…supposedly," Crazy Hand said as he ducked down behind the counter and tossed a Blaster to Falco's hands.

"…Wait a minute. Why do I think I could've asked Slippy to send me one instead of buying one from you?" Falco asked.

"If you did it that way, it'd be illegal," Crazy Hand said. "My brother says he could blow it into bits as soon as it came into this place. You're lucky now that you can hold another Blaster legally around the mansion."

"Legally my butt…" Falco muttered before smiling a bit at his Blaster. "(Who's the damn clone now, Fox?)" he thought in triumph. He walked away without saying a word to Chris.

"…I'll let him go this time," Chris said bored. "His pride will definitely go down enough to make him say thanks."

"Thanks, dude!" called Falco without looking at Chris.

"Now he just needs to look at me," the teen said.

"Young sir, you now have 801 Smash Coins," Crazy Hand said. "I doubt you'll buy something else."

"Maybe I could buy an item," Chris said.

-Items

Assist Trophy – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy

Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Beam Sword – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Bob-omb – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Bumper – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Cracker Launcher – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Deku Nut – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Fan – 100 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Fire Flower – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) – 400 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Franklin Badge – 400 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Freezie – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Golden Hammer – 1000 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Gooey Bomb – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Green Shell – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hammer – 700 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Heart Container – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Home-Run Bat – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hothead – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Lightning – 600 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Lip's Stick – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Maxim Tomato – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Metal Box – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Mr. Saturn – 100 Smash Coins – 100 copies
Pitfall – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Poison Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Poke Ball – 800 Smash Coins – 6 copies
Ray Gun – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Screw Attack – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Smart Bomb – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Smash Ball – 1000 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Smoke Ball – 100 Smash Coins – 5 copies
Soccer Ball – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Spring – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Starman – 800 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Star Rod – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Scope – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Superspicy Curry – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Team Healer – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Timer – 500 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Unira – 200 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Warp Star – 600 Smash Coins – 2 copies

Items in hand:
Block Meal

Stored items:
None

Crazy Hand coughed. "Get an Assist Trophy," he coughed falsely.

The teen sighed. "Okay, I'll get an Assist Trophy just because you're asking me to," he said.

"Who, me? I didn't ask you. Who asked you? Surely you jest, Chris," the hand said.

The World Traveler ignored the hand and gave 500 Smash Coins in exchange for the encapsulated trophy stand that he kept in his inventory. Chris now had 301 Smash Coins.

"You're almost broke," Crazy Hand said. "So, out of pity, I'll let you have this ability for free," he said as he showed Chris a paper.

"What's this?" Chris asked as he read the paper.

Balance Master – Free

Non-Smasher party members' stats will increase to match the average power level of all party members.

"My brother told me to give this to you," Crazy Hand said. "He said Knuckles complained that he was weaker than any of our people in that fight against Shadow Snake. So my brother went ahead and made this…for free," he twitched at the last word. "My guess is that he didn't want Knuckles to sue him or something."

"How can you sue somebody for that?" Chris asked.

"Dunno," Crazy Hand said before he snapped his fingers, letting out some glitter fall to the floor. "There you go! Now your non-Smasher party members will match your group's average power!" He sighed. "In my opinion, making you all glow was far more entertaining than making some glitter fall."

The teen sighed and turned around. "It's time to call everyone," he said.

Several minutes later…

Link, Zelda, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, Chris, DK, Falco, Sonic, Espio, and Chip were gathered in front of the knocked out hand on the floor. They all stared down at Master Hand for a while before Chip flew down and move his middle finger a bit. "Hey, aren't you gonna say good bye or something?" Chip asked.

"He's pretty knocked out," Link said.

Sonic went to the hand's right side and kicked him rather hard. "Sonic, I think you're kicking him a bit too hard to wake him up…" DK muttered.

"Who's saying I want to wake him up?" Sonic asked.

The group stared at the hedgehog in disbelief.

"…" Meta Knight turned to Chris. "Before Master Hand finds Sonic kicking him, open the portal," he said.

"R-right away," Chris said, opening the portal. "Well, Espio, I wish that you follow our lead without making a mistake."

"Don't worry," Espio said. "I trust that you won't lead me to my death."

"Creepy…" Falco muttered.

"Espio, you better do a good job!" Vector yelled from his spot. "If you don't, I'll lower your pay!"

"It's not like we get any money, though," muttered Charmy with a depressed sigh.

"I'd rather go on ahead," Mewtwo muttered as he entered the portal. "I do not want to pity those three more than I already do."

Espio sighed. "This is my life, sadly," he said as he entered the portal.

Lucario approached Chris. "Be careful out there, Chris," he said.

"I'll be fine…or so I think," Chris said with a shrug.

Everyone else soon entered the portal. However, Link and Zelda remained behind. The two were still looking away. They didn't want to look at each other after the little conversation they had before. "…Why are we even like this?" Link asked, turning to look at Zelda.

Zelda turned to look at Link. "Seriously, our actions will make people think that we're… I don't want to say the word," she said.

"Hey, are you two done talking?" Roy called over. "You better enter the portal before it disappears!"

Without hesitation, they both rushed into the portal and disappeared along with it. The Smashers (and the guests) soon focused back on the main screen to watch their progress.

"Those two just can't admit their love for each other," commented C. Falcon as he felt pain running through his spine while he sat down on a chair.

"That's how young love works," Olimar commented. "Aww, it's such a blessing…"

C. Falcon stared at Olimar. "You're not even married," he said.

"L-lies! I am married! I even have children!" He showed C. Falcon some photos from his wallet. "See all these photos? Look at my daughter! I'm very protective when people mock my family!"

The racer gasped mentally and looked away. "(I feel humiliated now…)"

-Chrono Trigger DS-

?

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

The portal opened up, and the group of ten people walked out from it. Once everyone stepped out, the vortex disappeared behind their backs. "Okay, let's do this," Link said.

"…Do what where?" Falco asked bored. "I think the army beat us and already consumed everything."

"Where…are we?" Mewtwo asked confused.

"Didn't Tails say there mountains…forests…and stuff?" Sonic asked.

"All I see with my eyes is…nothingness," Espio questioned. "Do you people get here all the time?"

"Certainly not," Meta Knight said.

Zelda studied their current surroundings. There wasn't anything in the place they were. They were standing on a floating floor over an abyss of swirling darkness that didn't compare too much with the Subspace's darkness. It was eerily calm; too quiet. Their voices could easily echo in the far ends of the infinite space they were. The princess looked down, finding her feet standing over a flat surface where some big fences prevented anyone from falling down to the nothingness. A long hallway with small staircase was situated just in front of them, leading to an unknown place to them.

"Uah!" Link yelped after he turned around. "W-what are those?"

They all turned around to see small pillars of light shining. There were around seven different pillars taking a spot inside the fenced floor.

Chip tilted his head and entered one of the pillars. He turned back to them and flew out. "I didn't feel a thing," he said. "I think they're here just for show."

"I'm glad they didn't blow your brains out," Sonic said. "What if they did something bad to you? Think before entering them, Chip."

"My curiosity is unstable, so I have no will to stop it," Chip said in an eerily smart way.

"…Right," DK said. "…? Hey, when did our looks change?"

They all looked at each other. Somehow, their appearances had changed a little bit. In Chris's point of view, he thought their faces were the most affected parts of their bodies since they loosely resembled some kind of anime he knew well. He didn't want to tell them what anime was that, though.

"Oh, great," Falco said. "It's one of those worlds where they screw your face up so you can mix up with the crowd. I need to find myself a mirror and see my eyes." He looked at Chris. "How do they look?"

"Way more intimidating than they used to be…" Chris muttered.

"Crap," Falco said bored.

Mewtwo turned to Chris. "I believe you know where we are," he said. "Care to tell us what this place is?"

"I-I kind of know this place," Chris said. "But I never paid much attention to its name…"

"You still know where we are, right?" Zelda asked.

"Y-yes…but…thing is…I don't know what the current plot is…" he muttered.

Espio looked puzzled at this. "Why are you all asking Chris for something he barely knows? Do you think he has all the answers for our doubts?"

Sonic chuckled nervously. "T-that's a little bit funny. W-well, Chris here happens to have a…special sixth sense for unknown worlds. That's why he goes everywhere without anyone stopping him." He bumped Chris's left should with his arm. "Ain't that right, Chris?" he asked with a wink.

"U-um, yes," Chris said with a sweat drop. "Y-you could say that's my odd character trait…"

"…Fascinating," Espio said with a bored look. "Well, if that's the case, I'd like to know more about our whereabouts. This place…it feels mysterious to me."

"Or maybe we just came too late," Falco said. "That's it, mission failed. Chris, open the portal. We're out of here."

"W-we're not leaving yet!" Chris said. "Trust me when I'm saying everything is okay!"

"It's okay somewhere else," Link said. "Here…not so much."

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions," Mewtwo said. "There must be some kind of explanation of why we appeared in this place full of nothingness. Perhaps we can find our answers if we proceed through that hallway in front of us," he said, looking at the hallway.

Just then, they heard footsteps coming from the same direction. They all stepped back. "Somebody's coming this way," Espio said warily.

Before them, a figure wearing a brown hat stepped out from the hallway. The only things they were able to make from the figure were its brown hat covering its eyes, short white beard, long brown robe, and the cane it used to support itself. It was an old man, who stared at them under the darkness of his own hat. "Drifters of time again?" he said before frowning. "It's been very quiet ever since drifters have ended up running into this place…"

The Smashers looked at each other. "Um, old man, do you live here?" Sonic asked.

"That was very nice of you, Sonic," Zelda said sarcastically. "Have you no manners while addressing the seniority?"

The old man shook his head, ignoring their talk. "You don't seem to be coming from any time period, do you? Yes, your looks vary greatly from each other…" He stepped back a bit. "Are you…not from this universe?"

Some of them gasped at this question. Mewtwo, however, didn't do the same action. He decided to talk. "Yes, we are not from this universe," he said. "We all come from different worlds that are greatly different than this one."

"W-was it a good idea to say that?" Chris asked.

"I can see he's not easy to fool," Mewtwo said. "This man… He's not ordinary. There is a strong concentration of magic coming from him."

"I'm surprised you know that," the old man said. "Then, based on your claims, what is the motive of your arrival to this place lost in time?"

"H-hold on," Link said. "What did you mean by this place being lost in time?"

"All of you are standing in the End of Time," the old man said.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Time

"Travelers lost in time's flow turn up here, much like driftwood on a beach," the old man said. "You claim that each one of you comes from different worlds… This is certainly an interesting fact. Without asking too much, are your worlds…set in different time periods?"

Meta Knight thought for a moment. "The fact that some of us might come from different time periods is very plausible… Yes, we might come from different time periods."

"Just as I expected," the old man said. "Tell me, did you want to go somewhere else than this place?"

"We're currently on a mission to find a missing frog," Espio explained, crossing his arms. "A friend of ours told us that it was warping everywhere like crazy."

"W-we wanted to appear in a forest…but we ended up here instead," Chris said.

"…All of you come from different time periods…and you couldn't go to a place you wanted to go…" The old man nodded at these facts. "You're exceeding the number of people who should go to a time period, then."

"What do you mean by that?" Chip asked.

"When four or more entities of varying origins enter a temporal rift together, the torsion exerted on time's flow pushes them to the point of least resistance: here," the old man explained.

"…What?" DK asked, to the point his brain was going to have a short fuse.

"In a few words, you can't go anywhere with more than three people, meaning you need to have three at least," the old explained. "Defy that rule and you will end up here. Not long ago, there had been a number of folks turning up here unintended like yourselves. There was something that was causing this entire problem…but you might not know what it is since you're not from here."

"I see…" Zelda said.

"…But something interests me from your claims," the old man said. "You are here to look for a missing frog?"

"Um, yes," Sonic said. "It sounds very pathetic, but this frog has a very valuable item that he swallowed from us…"

"…Maybe….just maybe, this frog you're talking about is the same one causing trouble to another group of youths from different time periods," the old man said.

Link looked confused. "What is this talk about time periods, anyway?"

"Oh, my apologies. You must know what I mean with all this talk about time periods," the old man said. "You see, the pillars of light behind you are portals that can take you to different time periods of this world that is ultimately destined to fall into the hands of destruction. Each pillar will take you to a different era: from the prehistoric era to the doomed era of the future." The old man shook his head. "I fear that you need to stay here for a little while longer before you venture into those eras."

Espio narrowed his eyes. "Did I hear from you that you knew this frog we're looking for?" he asked.

"It's not certainly the one with the sword, right?"

"…No," Falco said.

"Then perhaps this was meant to happen," the old man said. "Like I said before, another group is currently housing this place as their base of the sorts. Misfortune…recently struck them all in the form of a scared frog that drifted into this place."

Sonic looked miffed at the old man. "…What, did this wrong steal something from this other group or something? I don't think he can kill somebody."

"Oh, yes, it did steal a valuable item from this group," the old man said. "It is not actually very important at this point, but whatever that scared frog does in other time periods could be potentially disastrous. They're currently seeking a way to defeat Lavos, but this mustn't be overlooked as well."

"What's this…" Link trailed off.

"Please, if you wish to get all your answers, follow me," interrupted the old man as he turned to the hallway. "I think it'd be easier if your questions are answered by the other group of people on the other end of this hallway."

The group looked at each other and decided to follow the old man through the small hallway. "By the way, what's your name?" Sonic asked.

"My name is Gaspar," the old man said. "I'm one of the three Gurus of Queen Zeal. Unfortunately, events have caused me to drift into this place of nothingness where I eventually built this place along with my friend Spekkio," he continued.

"You have a story to tell?" Zelda asked.

"Hmm? Are you interested in hearing the story of the Kingdom of Zeal? As new drifters, you should be well-informed about what is going in this world."

"That shouldn't be so bad," Espio said. "Tell us about that kingdom, if you would."

"Beware as my story could be a long one," Gaspar said. "The Kingdom of Zeal was a prosperous one that flourished over the fertile land of savage snow down below. The Kingdom of Zeal literally lived on floating islands where life prospered by magic. The queen was once a great ruler that cared for all the people…but she became very obsessed with Lavos."

"If it's not much, can you tell us about this Lavos?" Mewtwo asked interested.

"Lavos is an alien being that crash-landed into the planet in the prehistoric era," Gaspar said. "It merged itself together with the planet, and it's been sleeping there ever since. Its purpose is to drain the planet's energy to destroy it later in the far away future. Thousands and thousands of years later, after Lavos arrived at the stone era, the Kingdom of Zeal found out about Lavos sleeping inside the planet, and it secretly borrowed Lavos' power in order to flourish. After the death of her husband, Queen Zeal started to take advantage of Lavos' power to make herself more powerful. In the end, she didn't care about the kingdom as long as she obtained immortality from Lavos…something she seemingly acquired after the kingdom was destroyed by Lavos."

"That is horrible…" Zelda muttered. "A queen was driven to madness because of power."

"She had subordinates that both worshiped and feared her. Everyone was blind to her true ambitions. We, the Gurus, were her advisors, but she never listened to our premonitions. She wanted power at all costs, not even caring about their children as well," Gaspar explained. "Her children were the ones who suffered the most… Both Schala and Janus, her daughter loved her to the very end." He looked at them over his right shoulder. "It must be said that Queen Zeal didn't have the power to control Lavos herself. She needed Schala, her first child, to control it."

Zelda seemed awfully interested in the story more than anyone. "Why was her child so important?"

"Schala had unique powers," Gaspar explained. "Her powers easily surpassed Queen Zeal's. She harbored very caring feelings to Queen Zeal even if she knew she was being manipulated. Schala liked to have her mother's attention. The poor child… She was torn apart knowing that her mother didn't care about her well-being. Schala had hopes that her mother would change, but her dream was never realized…"

"So what about the Janus kid?" Link asked.

"As for Janus, he was different," Gaspar said. "The kid hated his mother. He didn't have many friends except his older sister and his cat. Janus had a potential equal to Schala's, but the queen ignored Janus the most. When the kingdom fell, Janus was unfortunate enough to be transported to an unknown time… Commonly, the kid would pace around the kingdom with an upset face. He never spoke to no one but Schala and his cat."

Link looked away into the nothingness. "So a kingdom fell apart because their queen was driven to insanity for power, and their children served her ambitions…" he said.

"Truly a very sad tale," Espio said.

"Indeed," Gaspar said. "Yet, even if Janus was taken away, I feel that he's nearby… If he's alive, he surely is looking for a way to find her missing sister Schala. Janus only used to smile at her; a treatment no other individual received from him. He was very intelligent for his age, sensing a bad omen all the time before anyone could… Actually, he might as well be in this place. I know that." The old man coughed and looked forward. "Well, that was quite a long tale, wasn't it?"

Falco yawned loudly before receiving a hit from Chris. "H-hey!" Falco yelled.

"Don't be such an ingrate person, Falco, please," Chris muttered.

"I-I was just yawning because I had to!" whispered Falco angrily.

"Sorry if I went on for too long," Gaspar apologized. "It pains me to recall this tale that could've ended with a happy ending."

"It was interesting to me," Zelda said.

"Thank you," Gaspar thanked. "An old Guru like me has hopes that the future can be saved, though. The group I mentioned you about is trying to defeat Lavos so time itself is saved from ultimate destruction."

"This Lavos has the potential to destroy a whole planet, then?" Mewtwo asked.

"Yes, it first drains the planet's power and then rains down the light of destruction upon it by awakening from its slumber," Gaspar explained. "Lavos will awaken at 1999 A.D., the date where the planet will be destroyed by its awakening." He stared forward at the end of the hallway. "I'm glad that the people from different eras want to bring an end to Lavos. Surely, they will bring peace soon…"

"Man, this world surely is in a fit," DK said.

"I'm interested in meeting this group," Meta Knight said. "Is it here?"

"Well, only four people of the seven are here," Gaspar said. "The other three are currently performing various quests in different time periods so they become strong enough to face Lavos. They can face Lavos anytime, but they opted to help the people across their eras in order to find better equipment for the final battle."

And the group finally reached the other side of the hallway.

Hall of Break

The other side of the hallway was another platform. It didn't look very different than the last one. It had an ancient lamppost in the middle with several buckets of water located to the four corners, close to the fenced edges. To the left, a door leaded to the nothingness where a room was supposed to be, and to the front, there was a rock floor that went down where nothing was.

"…I've got to wonder how this place came to be," Espio muttered.

"This looks…a bit old," Link said.

"Not like you come from a modern era," DK muttered.

Mewtwo crossed his arms and glanced around. He narrowed his eyes, feeling some kind of dark presence lurking nearby. "(This presence… I can feel a big magnitude of magic coming from this person…)" He closed his eyes. "(Whoever this is, he already perceived my own presence…)"

Gaspar looked around the room. "Hmm, that's strange," he said. "I thought they were here a minute ago… Have they gone somewhere else in my short absence? I told them to wait for me after I saw the unusual distortion of time where you came from." He looked to the left door. "They must be surely with Spekkio, then."

"Who's Spekkio?" Sonic asked.

"The Master of War who knows magic and all there is to know about it," Gaspar said. "He's a nice folk who helped me build this place."

Several crashing sounds came from the other side of the door.

"…I presume there's a fight in there," Meta Knight said.

"Oh, don't go in there," Gaspar said. "He surely is testing their magic against his."

The door suddenly swung open, and a demanding voice came from the other side. "You're not strong enough yet to defeat me! Come back when you think you're stronger!"

"That's a load of bull!" yelled a female voice. "I'm getting sick of your stupid advice! 'Come back when you're stronger'? You're tricking us! You always become a whole lot stronger than us by the time we're stronger!"

"I'm supposed to reflect your team's power. Don't question my rule!"

"Please, do not try the Master of War's temper," said another voice with a Middle Age accent. "If he says we should become stronger, we shall do so."

"Ugh, I can't believe you!"

"Let's just leave already…" said another female voice. "I'm sure that we need to come up with a strategy to defeat Spekkio."

"Hahahahaha! You lot can't defeat me! I'm the Master of War! Even if I gave you your magic powers, you're no match against my magic!"

The group stared at the door while an argument broke out on the other side. Gaspar frowned at this. "Why must Spekkio have an ego bigger than time itself?"

"Time has an ego?" Chip asked.

"It if did, Spekkio's ego would win," Gaspar said.

At last, somebody walked out from the door. They saw a young teenager girl walking out with arms folded behind her head. The sixteen-year-old girl had medium-length blond hair that was tied into a high ponytail. Her eyes were light blue. She wore a white jumpsuit along with a gold chain on her belt, golden bracelets on her arms and wrists, and dark brown sandals. The girl also carried a holster for a crossbow behind her waist. By the looks of her face, she was in a moody mood. "This is, what, the fiftieth time we get our butts handed over?" she asked.

"Practice makes our attacks stronger," spoke the voice with the Middle Age accent. From the door, a smaller figure walked out. To their surprise, it was a humanoid frog with a frog face that had yellow eyes with black ovals as its pupils. The frog wore a pale golden chest plate that literally covered its upper body and back completely, a pale green cape hung behind its neck, white pants, and pale blue shoes. Its arms were sleek, having white and green skin combined. The upper side of his head had green skin with some brown marks while the under side was all white. On his gloved hands, he carried a golden shield where a hidden holster for a sword was behind it. It was assumed that it was a swordsman. "Today, we did not excel well," it spoke.

The girl looked down at the frog in annoyance. "You tell me! We need to bombard him with magic instead of attacking physically! You're the only one who doesn't understand that!"

"No, I understand my reflexes are not very good," the frog said. "He is by far the only enemy that has dodged all my blows."

"You're stubborn!" the girl complained. "You just don't want to admit resorting to magic!"

"I'm a swordsman at heart," the frog said, starting to get angrier by the girl's complaints. "I am not a mage like you are."

"More like a 'swordsfrog'," the girl muttered.

"Swordsman, swordsfrog, it's the same thing with me," the frog said. "Even though I was not like this before, I am experienced in the ways of the sword."

The girl looked amused. "Oh, then how come you can't even hit Spekkio?"

"That is because he is the first fastest foe I have ever met!" the frog yelled. "If I recall a second ago, you were telling me not to use physical blows!"

"Then keep trying!" yelled the girl. "Ooh, maybe the Masamune is not that good enough?"

"How dare you insult the legendary sword Masamune?" the frog asked aggravated. "Dare to repeat that again in front of my face?"

"Pfft, who would want to do that on your frog face?" the girl asked with crossed arms. "You scare little children, you dirty guy!"

The frog gasped and gritted his teeth, which in turn made everyone else believe frogs had teeth. "I-"

"For crying out loud, you two stop it!" yelled another female voice from the door. The group turned to see a young nineteen-year-old girl stepping out from it. Unlike the first girl, this one dressed more peculiarly. The blue-eyed girl had short plum hair underneath a helmet with a little antenna on the left-hand side. She wore glasses, a long-sleeved dark teal green shirt over an orange tunic that reached her knees, a dark yellow scarf around her neck, and a pair of dark brown boots with pale dark blue socks. She wore a belt with a small pocket attached to it, and she carried a grey bag on her belt that hung from her right shoulder. "Your arguments won't take us anywhere!"

"As if we could anywhere else rather than here!" the first girl yelled her. "Care to say who helped the most in the fight against Spekkio?"

The frog turned to the second girl and nodded. "Yes, please enlighten us with your answer. Surely you will be jesting if she did more help than I did."

"Na-ah!" the first girl said. "She'll be kidding us if you did the most help!"

"A-alright, calm down, please," the second girl said as he approached them. She adjusted her glasses a bit and crossed her arms in thought. "Based on our performance back there and the fact Frog needlessly used physical attacks while Marle kept running around, dodging falling icebergs and that I was knocked out… I'd say…I was the most useful."

The other two stared at her for a long while.

"…Um, my magic did hit him," the second girl added.

"…" The frog looked up at the first girl. "I was doing something, then!"

"What? Spekkio never stopped flinging those icebergs on my head! It was OBVIOUS I had to run to avoid them!" the first girl argued.

"And the thought about attacking him while he was busy doing that never occurred to you?"

"I-I was freaked out!"

As the two kept arguing, the second girl sighed to herself.

"…Ahem," Gaspar cleared his throat to get their attention.

It failed.

"…AHEM," Gaspar loudly cleared his throat.

It once again failed.

"…SHUT UP!" Falco yelled loudly.

The yell worked. The two arguers stopped talking and turned to their general direction, with the second girl doing the same. Upon looking at the ones that looked out of place (namely Mewtwo), they gasped and quickly took their positions. The first girl brandished her crossbow, the frog unsheathed a legendary sword from the shield's back, and the second girl took out some kind of gun from her bag. "Fiends!" the frog yelled. "This place has finally been invaded by fiends!"

"And they're holding Gaspar captive!" the first girl said, aiming her crossbow at them. "Okay, you people, release him if you don't wanna mess with us!"

Gaspar walked to the three. "Please, don't raise another argument. These people mean no harm to this place. It's safe to let them in."

The second girl blinked confused at Gaspar. "Wait, what did you say just now?" she asked.

"Your ears must have been deceived by these individuals," the frog said. "They put a mind control spell on you?"

"No," Gaspar said. "I know this is so sudden, but they seem to know about what happened to the Gate Key we lost."

The first girl gasped at this. "They know about that? But how?" she asked, eyeing the group. "Y-you people, how did you even come in here?"

The second girl put her gun away in her bag. "Are you…perhaps, drifters of time?" she asked. "But we never met any drifters of time… Wait, you can't be from any eras. I mean, you look so different from each other. I can tell that much!" she said surprised.

"Is it not obvious?" the frog asked, his sword still held tight in a grip. "They are clearly fiends… Well, most of them, but it is still odd for them to come here."

"We're not fiends, you, frog…swordsman…whatever you are," Falco said.

"Such rudeness! Are you certain you are not fiends?" the frog asked with narrowed eyes.

"Everyone, calm down," Gaspar said, stepping between both groups. "I believe we can all reach to an understanding if we talk this through without resorting to violence. I would like the End of Time to be peaceful as well."

The trio that came from the door stared at the Smashers. Grunting a bit, the frog sheathed its sword behind its shield. "Very well," the frog said. "I am all ears."

The first girl looked worried while she put her crossbow away. "Okay, they don't want to attack us, so…" she trailed off.

"However," the frog continued, "should tell have something fishy in hands, I won't let my sword rust any longer."

"…I don't get it," Chip said.

"In other words, I shall slay all of you," the frog said.

"Please, don't," Meta Knight said. "We didn't come here to fight you all. Rather, we came here because we must find a missing frog."

The first girl smiled. "Oh, why didn't you say so? You can take him back with you," she said, looking at her frog companion.

"What was that?" the frog asked angrily.

"Stop it!" the second girl yelled.

As soon as the two looked away from each other, Gaspar sighed. "Thank you…"

Some minutes of explanation later…

After explaining their motives for being in the space of nothingness, the trio understood what was going on with the Smashers. The second girl furrowed her brow and looked at them. "So, let me get this straight," she said. "You're here looking for a frog that swallowed an important artifact that you lost, and you need it in order to restore some temple that should give a big continent its energy to piece back together with the hedgehog's planet…"

"And every single one of you come from a different world apart from each other?" asked the first girl in surprise.

"That's how it is," Espio said.

"Wow…"

The frog nodded. "Truly, this must be pure misfortune for both of our groups," he said. "I was a fool for judging all of you by your looks. Forgive my prejudices, if you would."

"It's okay…" Chris muttered. "It's not like we don't get this kind of impression all the time from visiting other worlds."

"But, wow," the first girl said. "You guys coming from different worlds than ours? That's way more interesting than time travel!"

The second girl nodded, her glasses turning foggy with interest. "Think of all the possibilities in each one of their worlds! New machines to discover, new technology to test out, new materials for science!" she rejoiced. "I MUST research this as soon as possible!"

"(Oh, sweet,)" Sonic thought boringly. "(I have a funny hunch that's telling me she'd like to meet Tails…)"

"Do not let your temptations blind your eyes from what is most important," the frog said. "Have you forgotten about what our deal was with this frog?"

The second girl's foggy glasses turned back to normal as she looked at it. "Oh, you mean…" She looked away and sighed. "Yeah, I know…"

"If I recall correctly, you also have some business with our missing frog," Zelda said. "Just what is your relationship with Froggy?"

The first girl looked worried at them. "You see… A very valuable item was stolen from us behind our backs," she said. "That item allows anybody to use the Gates, the pillars of light behind you, to travel to different eras. That very same item was stolen right here as well…"

"How did your item get stolen?" Link asked.

The second girl raised her hand. "It was my fault," she said. "The item that was taken away from us was the Gate Key. Like she said earlier, it lets anybody travel to different eras by passing through the Gates. Without it, you can't travel." She looked away with guilt. "And as for your question… Some days ago, while I was sitting down on the floor, I shortly felt asleep. Marle and Frog did the same, and everyone was sleeping. During that time, before I even fell asleep, there were some hopping sounds coming nearby, but I didn't mind them… However, I felt that something had fallen from my bag. At first, I thought it was my gun, but I was wrong. The Gate Key must've slipped away under my nose. When I woke up, I looked around for the item that fell down, and I caught a small glimpse of a frog jumping towards the hall of the Gates. I thought I was dreaming, but I knew I had to follow it."

"And when Lucca went after it," the first girl continued, "she yelled loudly after she didn't find the frog anywhere in the hall. We woke up and went to see what was wrong, and she explained what had happened. Since the frog wasn't found anywhere else…"

The frog closed his eyes. "We came to the conclusion the frog took the Gate Key and made its way somewhere in the Gates," he said.

The second girl shook her head. "If I arrived sooner at the hall, I would've seen what Gate the frog took to chase after it. I didn't see what Gate it took when I came to the hall. I'm so stupid…" she muttered in shame.

The first girl patted her back. "It's okay. You did what you could do."

"B-but even so, that frog!"

"Calm down, please," Link said. "You couldn't do anything else to prevent that from happening."

"I HATE WHEN I FEEL USELESS!" the second girl yelled angrily.

Everyone in the place stared at her with some shocked looks.

The second girl gasped and looked down. "…Sorry, but… I-I don't know why I shouted just now… Please, don't mind me…" she said.

"…" Gaspar coughed a bit and exchanged looks with both groups. "It seems fate itself has dictated this to happen," he said. "So, perhaps, both groups should join together."

The frog nodded. "It's so sudden, but I do not see another way around this," it said. "I am quite concerned about all of them being here, but seeing as we share similar goals and that we seek this thief, we should unite forces for the time being."

The first girl chuckled. "Oh, so then, do we have more party members for now? That's excellent!" she said. "Hey, you, brighten up already!"

The second girl gasped and snapped out of her senses. "O-oh, what? Oh, right, it's good to know that!" she said, forcing a smile.

Out of all the Smashers, Link was able to tell the second girl was feeling guilty about something. "(Something isn't quite right with her…)" Link thought. "(That smile isn't very true. I can see her eyes twitching a bit…)"

The first girl gasped and covered her mouth for a bit. "Where are our manners, you guys? We haven't introduced ourselves to them!" she pointed out.

The frog shook its head. "And I think they haven't told us their names either. They're the ones who should introduce first."

With this said, the Smashers introduced each one of them to the trio.

The first girl nodded. "With that away, I'll introduce myself," she said. "My name's Marle, and since you're not from this place, I'll have you know that I'm Princess Nadia of the Kingdom of Guardia from 1000 A.D!"

Marle is the runaway tomboy, vivacious, optimistic, and strong-willed Princess Nadia (her real name) from the Kingdom of Guardia of the year 1000 A.D. (the present). Growing bored of her life as a princess, Marle decided to escape from the castle and enjoy the festivities on the Millennium Fair in Truce, her kingdom's town. During the fair, the start of her time traveling adventure began with her pendant, which held the power to cause a distortion in time space to travel through time. Thanks to this, Marle ended up meeting different people from different eras while she struggled to save the future from Lavos.

Zelda looked interested. "You're a princess as well?"

The girl, Marle, tilted her head at the princess. "What, you're a princess as well? Hmm, your clothes look very royal-like to me…" She gasped in excitement. "Maybe you're also running away from your own kingdom?"

"That could be a reason," Zelda said. "But I left my kingdom under my own free will so I could help everyone from saving the world."

"Sweet!" Marle exclaimed. "I never knew there were other princesses who had a knack for adventures! This is truly awesome!"

Meta Knight stared at Marle. "(By the way how she acts, I can tell she dislikes being a princess all the time. She behaves so…childish,)" he thought.

The frog cordially bowed to the group. "You have my most sincere apologies, my friends. I know I acted foolishly earlier in our first meeting, but now I shall act with an acceptable behavior." He smiled at them. "For now, in this hideous form, you should call me Frog."

Frog is a 'swordsfrog' hailing from 600 A.D. (the past). Because of a series of unfortunate events, Frog was previously a human who was traveling with a friend who ended up killed in a fight. He seeks to turn back to his form as soon as he can by slaying the very same person that killed his friend, the one who transformed him. After finding out about Lavos who would destroy the earth in the future, Frog bowed to seek an end to it, agreeing to join up with Marle and the others.

"What, you were transformed into a frog or something?" Sonic asked.

"That certainly is the case," Frog said, unsheathing his sword. "But do not think my swordsmanship lacks skill. It was the only thing that remained unchanged."

Falco stared at Frog for a while. For a minute, the avian saw a loosely image of Slippy wearing a soldier's uniform. His imagination proved to be out of control after he heard the "Soldier Slippy" saying, "I can swing a sword without getting cut myself, Falco! Just watch!"

"I beg your pardon, but you have been staring at my face for a long while now," Frog said, snapping Falco out from his thoughts. "And I must say that it is creepy the look you are giving me."

"O-oh, sorry," Falco said. "Just thinking random stuff here…"

"…Very well," Frog said.

"Lucca," Marle began, bumping the plum-haired girl's left shoulder, "introduce yourself! C'mon, you're not this shy all the time!"

"Oh, um, yeah," the girl, named Lucas, said with a nervous chuckle. She swallowed her breath and nodded to the group. "Hi there, my name's Lucca. I came from the present era along with Marle here."

Lucca is a brilliant inventor who hails from 1000 A.D., the same era Marle comes from. Lucca is extremely proud of her skills that she often brags about them when someone compliments her inventions. It is her skills that allowed Marle and the others travel through time, thanks to her Gate Key invention. No matter what kind of broken machine there is, Lucca will surely repair anything with ease. True to her skills, her inventions and creativity know no bounds. Even though she's very fixated on machines, she is also a very reliable, caring friend.

"I-it's nice to meet you," the girl, named Lucca, said as she blushed slightly. "Ooooh, I'm not like this all the time! I really got embarrassed because of my sudden outburst! Please, don't think I'm some sort of maniac!"

"But you kind of are," muttered Marle.

"S-shut it," whispered Lucca. She turned around to gain her composure until she faced them with a confident look. "You're looking for this frog, right? How do you know it ended up here?"

-Smash Mansion-

Command Room

"B-because some stupid green plumber made that frog disappear by making Bowser bounce everywhere and cause panic during in a battle! Waaaaaaaah!" Luigi responded as he broke into tears, making Peach gasp and pat his back to calm him down.

-Chrono Trigger DS-

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

"Back home, we have the necessary equipment to track down stuff," Sonic said with a grin. "My buddy did the most work, though."

Lucca instantly looked interested. "Is that so? I'd love to see what kind of technology all of you use! Why, if it's able to check on other worlds, it must be really advanced!" She clasped her hands together as her eyes glittered with glee. "You need to take me there sometime!"

"I don't think it'll be possible for now," Mewtwo said. "Our 'home' is not ours, but from our 'boss' instead. He doesn't like other people to come uninvited…and he certainly doesn't like guests either," he added.

Espio looked at Mewtwo. "Yes, it was obvious he didn't want Vector (mostly Vector), Charmy, and I in his mansion," he said.

Lucca looked upset. "That's a bit mean of your boss's part, but… Oh well," she said with a sigh. "It was too good to be true."

Frog cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Whatever the case, it is imperative that you know about this missing frog…that is not me, of course. Seeing how problematic our predicaments are," he continued as he stretched a hand to them, "shall we work together to a common goal for now?"

Meta Knight walked forward and shook the frog's hand. "It's for the best," he said.

"Then let our courage put together be our guide to success," Frog said with a nod.

Marle, Lucca, and Frog temporarily joined your team!

"Alright, this is very good," Marle rejoiced. "But…before we can think of anything, we should wait for the others to come back from the Middle Ages."

"How many eras are there?" Link asked.

"Well, there's the Prehistoric era in 65,000,000 B.C., the Antiquity era in 12,000 B.C., the Middle Ages era in 600 A.D., the Present era in 1000 A.D., the Apocalypse era in 1999 A.D., and the Future era in 2300 A.D.," Lucca explained, raising fingers each time she mentioned an era. "Then, we have the End of Time era: this place."

"There are more of you than you three?" Zelda asked.

"Our companions hail from different periods of time," Frog said. "Each one of us, however, seeks Lavos' defeat. We understood that if we wanted to achieve that goal, we needed to join and travel through time itself. In total, we are seven."

Meta Knight glanced around the room. "I don't see the other four," he said.

Marle thought for a moment. "I remember three went to the Middle Ages to search for the frog…but if that's so, then that means someone else is here. Yeah, I know who now!" She turned around and looked to the staircase where there was no floor on the other end. "Will you stay there all the time or what? Come here! They're not gonna bite you or something!"

Frog looked upset at Marle. "Must we really tease his temper?" he asked. "If he does not want to make an appearance, let him be."

The princess crossed her arms at the frog. "I know you dislike the guy, but he's been pretty helpful lately. You don't think it's possible, but I think he's good."

"He tried to destroy my kingdom!" Frog argued. "Also, he was the one who turned me into this…atrocious form! He has no plans in turning me back to my human form!"

"Have you tried asking him first?"

"No words can make him listen!" Frog said.

"Before you get into another argument," Meta Knight began, "who is this other person you're talking about?"

Marle covered Frog's mouth with a hand. "You guys better be respectful around that guy. Seriously, he could explode at any moment and slit your throats…"

Lucca overheard some footsteps coming from the staircase behind them. She gulped and looked at the group. "He's coming now…" she muttered.

Everyone turned to the staircase where another person came into view. Unlike Marle, Lucca, and Frog (mostly Frog), the figure looked extremely sharp, with a serious look that could scare anyone with a fragile mind. The figure was man between twenty of thirty years. The man stood around 5'12". He wore brown boots, pale purple pants, a brown belt, a sleeveless dark blue shirt with protective pads on his sides, a long red cape that hung around his neck, triangle-shaped earrings, and brown gloves. He had an imposing look that was complemented by his muscled body, his pale skin, his long light blue hair, his pointy ears, and his blank look.

Calmly, the man walked and joined the trio, with Frog seemingly shooting him with a death glare (whether or not somebody could make out a glare from the amphibian's face). He stared at the group without saying a word, his red eyes fixed on them. Some of them backed away from the man.

"…Hmph," the man grunted. "These people, they're not drifters of time, are they?" he asked. "No, they don't seem to be from any known era…unless most of them were transformed into what they are now." He shook his head. "No, there aren't any traces of magic that changed them. They're real, unlike any fiends of the fiends I know…"

Lucca looked surprised. "W-wow, how did you know?"

"I listened to everything ever since they came into this hall," the man said. "I didn't want to present myself. I don't like to meet many people."

"The same one as always," Frog muttered.

"…But, since you kindly asked," he told Marle, who looked away with a grin on her face, "and the fact that I was found by one of them, I could no longer hide."

Marle looked back at him. "What do you mean somebody found you?" she asked.

The man fixed his look on Mewtwo, who stared back at him. "You, the creature with the sharp look," he called out. "I didn't expect somebody like you to possess the kind of power you use. You are different than any of them all."

Mewtwo nodded. "Thank you for the remark. The moment I sensed you, I felt an unbelievable magical power," he said. "You must be a very talented sorcerer."

Chris looked away. "(Does Mewtwo always sense people around him all the time before they even reach him?)" he thought.

The man chuckled a bit darkly. "So you can tell that much. I'm very surprised that you can do that yourself," he said. "Who am I to avoid introducing myself to such interesting person? I am Magus."

Magus is a brooding, potent, gloomy sorcerer who has a grudge against Lavos for the disappearance of Schala. For some reason, Magus is related to Schala in some form. After failing twice to defeat Lavos himself, Magus decided to travel with Marle's group in hopes to bring an end to Lavos and search for the lost Schala, who was presumably transported in some unknown time period. Magus is cold and distant from Marle and the others, since he only thinks about avenging Schala.

"The air in here suddenly got thicker…" Frog muttered.

"(I can tell very much that this man is full of mysteries,)" Zelda thought with a serious look. "(The air around feels so…so mysterious as well…)"

Out of everyone, DK feared the sorcerer the most. The big ape cowered in fear behind a clueless Chris, who was trembling a bit at Magus' sight.

Marle folded her arms behind her head and chuckled at Magus. "You can call him Janus if you want, too," she said.

"Janus?" Link said. "Why do I think I heard that name a moment ago?"

"It was the kid brother to this Schala," Meta Knight pointed out. "The one that was lost in time."

The Hylian stared at Magus. "Ooooooh…so he must be her young brother… Is she old?"

At this, Magus grunted and shot a death glare to Marle, who simply stuck out her tongue playfully at him. The sorcerer tightened his fists and looked away from them. "If you must, don't call me that. Just call me Magus, if you would."

"Aww, you're embarrassed that you were that little cute kid before you turned out like this?" Marle teased. "If you ask me, you looked very cute as a kid. I could've hugged you if you didn't run away from me that time…"

Lucca sweated, looking back and forth between the vivacious princess and the imposing sorcerer's glare. "U-um, Marle, please," she whispered angrily.

Magus gritted his teeth, revealing two fangs on them. "If you cherish your head, don't let me use my scythe on it," he threatened.

The princess raised her shoulders a bit and gave up. "Fine, Magus, I'll stop. I hope you're happy now," she said.

"Very much," snarled Magus.

"Phew…" Lucca sighed. "(Does she know Magus could kill us all without blinking an eye?)"

"I feared that I fight would break here," Frog said. "Let us not disturb Gaspar."

"All I did was teasing him a little. He shouldn't make such a fuss about his real name," Marle muttered to herself. "Magus, will you lend them a hand as well?"

Magus eyed the Smashers. "If I must, then I will," he said. "Don't expect a lot from me."

Magus temporarily joined your team! (You never felt more endangered than before…)

"Don't be so grumpy," Marle said. "All of us will expect a lot from you."

"Are you trying to make me mad?" Magus asked.

"A bit?"

"Marle, knock it off already!" Lucca yelled.

"…Ahem…" Espio cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," Lucca apologized. "A-anyway, Magus isn't the only one who makes up all the team. The other three are in the Middle Ages. They should be coming back at any moment right now."

Marle looked at them. "That reminds me, do you know how to use magic as we do?" she asked.

"Magic?" Zelda questioned. "I don't think most of us know how to use it since many of us didn't come a world where magic is present. I, however, can use some variant of magic."

The vivacious princess looked at Lucca. "Hey, should we bring all of them to Spekkio?" she asked. "I hate the guy, but maybe he should see them. Let's do something fun while the others come back!"

Lucca looked skeptical. "But Marle, you're forgetting the fact they weren't born in this world," she said. "We can use magic because we were born here. They don't come from here, so they shouldn't have any magic in them… I'm interested about the suggestion, though," she said, adjusting her glasses. "Maybe they have some dormant magic waiting to be awakened by Spekkio? The result could be very shocking."

"Wait, wait, wait," Falco said. "What are you gonna do to us? Are you going to use us as guinea pigs or something?"

"N-no, that's not it!" Lucca said. "Look, if you really want to journey through time, there are going to be many instances where you'll end up fighting monsters in those time periods. Many of those monsters can't be harmed with physical attacks, so using magic is essential to beat them. Spekkio was the one who gave all of us our magic powers…except for Magus. He already knows a great deal about it."

"Lucca here knows fire magic, Frog and I know water magic, and Magus knows four kinds of them," Marle said. "Do any of you use some, though?"

"I use magic from my Triforce," Zelda said.

"I don't know if my powers could be magic, but they could be to you," Mewtwo said.

"I-I use many kinds of magic," Chris said. "I'm still learning how to master them, though…"

The teen's spine felt terror as Magus stared at him. "Yes, I feel so many kinds of magic running through you. But…I'm amazed," he said. "There are many of them which haven't been discovered in this world, or…they could never be discovered at all."

"…(L-look away from me, please! Your blank look is freaking me out!)" Chris thought.

"Everyone else don't possess magic," Meta Knight said. "I'm intrigued about this proposition. Shall we go ahead and meet him?"

"I-I don't know," DK muttered. "W-what if we explode or something?"

"Silly, you won't explode," Marle chuckled. "We can't go anywhere from here since we can't travel through the gates without the Gate Key. We'll have to wait until the others come back in the Epoch."

"And before you ask," Lucca began, "the Epoch is a special time traveling vehicle that allows us to travel anywhere without the Gate Key. That's how we move anywhere faster than going through the Gates in the hall behind you. Not only does it take us anywhere, but it's capable of flight."

Meta Knight thought for a moment. "I presume that we will travel through time through the Epoch?" he asked.

"Well, the Epoch can only take three people at a time," Marle said.

"And if you're thinking about splitting into groups, it's going to be a hard task," Gaspar said. "The fabric of time can't allow more than three people from different eras to inhabit an era. Only three out of all of you will be able to travel."

"Sweet goodness," Falco said sarcastically. "The first time we step into this place, and we're severely handicapped."

"Hey, it's the same thing with us!" Marle said. "And it's really boring sitting here for a long while doing nothing, let me tell you."

"We can always keep challenging Spekkio nonstop until we bring defeat to his name," Frog said.

"Hell no! I'm not fighting more today!" Marle looked up at the waves of darkness in the nothingness. "How can I tell it's even day in here, anyway?"

Frog held out his hand to the group. "Are you interested in meeting Spekkio? He should be most anxiously waiting to meet people like you," he said.

"If there's nothing else to do rather than talking all day (or night)," Chip said, "let's meet this guy."

Lucca looked skeptical. "Is it okay for the rest of you?" she asked.

"I don't mind," Sonic said.

"I sense another powerful entity in this place," Mewtwo said. "I'd like to meet him."

"Hopefully, we won't cause any trouble," Zelda said.

Marle chuckled heartily and ran to the door. "Come on in, then! Let's kill some time until the others arrive!" she said.

The group promptly followed the energetic princess, crossing to the other side of the door. Magus and Gaspar remained behind before the latter looked at the sorcerer. "Janus, maybe you should go as well," he said.

"Old man, don't call me that," Magus muttered before he followed the group.

Gaspar frowned as Magus entered the door. "He will always be like this forever around people, unless…Schala… How much I miss seeing her face…" he trailed off.

Hall of Spekkio

Chrono Trigger – Jolly Ol' Spekkio

"Who do you bring me here today?" asked a demanding voice in the middle of the hall the group had entered. "Ooh, new people? Wow, they're not from this world? Amazing! I never imagined there were other kind of people rather than the ones here!"

"How the heck a brute guy like him can find out that much with just looking at us?" Link asked.

The hall they entered was probably the only empty one of the completely empty space. Complete wave-less darkness shrouded the golden fences, and the door behind them was the only link to the real outside world. In the middle of the room, there was a heavy-armored soldier who wore purple armor, a purple helmet (which showed one eye in the middle), purple boots, and purple gloves with a purple cape hanging around his neck. His body was full of muscles, and he held a mace on his left hand.

"That is because I'm Spekkio, the Master of War!" the soldier spoke.

Not much information is known about Spekkio, other than the fact he claims to be the Master of War and that he helped Gaspar to build the End of Time. He truly is a character shrouded in mystery who commonly changes looks depending on how strong his opponents are.

"Are you sure he's a human at least?" Zelda asked, grossed out by the single eye staring at them.

"Whether or not I'm a human, it doesn't matter!" the soldier named Spekkio said. "It's nice to see different people stumble into this place once in a while! I was so bored just by looking at these four here!"

"Why you little piece of sh-" Marle was held back by Frog.

Spekkio ignored Marle, his only eye staring at the Smashers. "As for the elf's question, no matter how I look, I can very well tell very much about anything since I'm the Master of War."

"What does that have anything to do with the fact you could tell we were from other worlds rather than here?" Meta Knight asked.

"One, you all look so different from each other," Spekkio said. "Two, the people that look like fiends aren't fiends at all because there aren't traces of magic left behind in them as normal fiends do. And three, you all came in here together instead of arriving in an era, which means you all come from different time periods than don't even match any time periods of this world!" he explained.

"I'm…impressed," Mewtwo said. "I was very doubtful than he knew all that by his looks, but I was wrong."

"Oh, please, you even went as far as to sense my energy with your otherworldly powers," Spekkio said. "That's truly a very hard feat to do for many! Only a few can reach the kind of power you have, but only the same psychic people of your kind, I mean. There are many other ways to sense powers, and I don't want to go all day explaining all of them."

DK looked confused. "H-how can somebody like him be this smart? He looks like a tough guy to me…" he said.

"That is because I am the Master of War!" Spekkio boasted. "Only I know all there is to know about the ways of battle!"

Silence…

"…Okay, maybe there are many other people who do the same things as I do, but I'm the best one there is from this world," Spekkio said. "In any case, thank you for coming in here. What would you like me to do with each one of you? I could see if I can awaken your dormant magic powers…provided you have some I can find, that is."

"(This person is so ridiculous,)" Espio thought. "(His attitude doesn't help the fact he's very strong at all.)"

"Can you really do that with them?" Lucca asked. "They weren't born in this world."

"I'll see what I can do," Spekkio said. "Very well, who wants me to see what you have?"

"Oh, oh, do everyone!" Chip suggested.

"Go ahead," Sonic said. "You're not going to do something bad, right?"

"Foolish hedgehog, I don't like to play around with my powers!" Spekkio said. "I use them for good alone! Now, let me take a closer look at each one of you." He walked closer to the Smashers and eyed each one of them. "…Okay, done," he said, walking back.

"That was awfully fast…" DK muttered.

"No, don't think I awakened any dormant magic yet," Spekkio said. "I just checked what attributes each one of you possess. That's all I did with a simple, close look. I'll start telling each one of you what I found out." He looked at Link. "The elf guy there has the power of lightning, the closest related to light."

"That must be because Link has the Triforce of Courage," Zelda muttered.

"The elf girl possesses the same attribute as the elf guy," Spekkio said. "The little knight-" some of them chuckled silently at this, "-possesses the power of the shadows."

They stopped chuckling after finding out Meta Knight had the power of darkness in his hands.

"The cat-looking dude possesses very weird magic," Spekkio said, looking at Mewtwo who shot him an aggravated look. "The closest type of magic he possesses is like some kind of psychic magic, I guess. That one doesn't exist here at all…" He looked at Chris. "The kid with the troubadour clothes possesses many kinds of magic, some I know and some that I don't know."

Chris hid his anger for being called a kid as he chuckled nervously. "I-I'm still trying to master all the spells," he said.

"The ape guy doesn't possess any kind of magic, though."

DK sniffed. "I-I'm all strength but no magic..." he muttered, receiving some pats from Chip.

"The bird dude has little fire magic in him," Spekkio said. "Though I doubt he'll get too far with it."

Falco shrugged. "Not like I wanna be a magician or something, anyway," he said.

"The foolish hedgehog doesn't possess any magic, but I can sense some magic related to the winds," Spekkio said.

Sonic grinned. "That's because I run like the wind," he boasted.

"Yep, he acts foolish, alright."

"Hey!"

"Moving on," Spekkio continued, glancing at Espio, "he possesses abilities close to shadow magic. By the looks of it, you're a ninja, right?"

"Yes," Espio said. "Very good guess," he remarked.

"And…lastly…" Spekkio trailed off as he stared at Chip, "…he is the most amazing one out of all of you combined. He has a very powerful dormant magic so potent enough to provide unlimited energy to big inanimate objects without tiring out. He easily reaches power akin to deities."

"Wow," Marle said surprised. "All that power concentrated in one small guy?"

"That is completely hard to believe given his small and docile appearance," Frog said.

Lucca adjusted her glasses, which in turn turned foggy. "Interesting deduction…" she muttered.

Magus frowned at Chip. "If he does possess a very powerful magic, it must be really dormant because I don't sense it at all. There isn't a small faint trace of it either."

Chip crossed his arms proudly. "I'm Light Gaia for a reason," he boasted.

"Too bad I can't do anything to awaken his powers," Spekkio said. "He has his own way to awaken them, so I can't interfere."

"Phooey," Chip muttered in shame.

"…And that's all I can say!" Spekkio said nodding. "I'm so lucky to meet people like you. I'm so curious about what kind of magic each one of you possess! So, tell me, who wishes to awaken their magical abilities? The only ones I can help to learn magic are the elf guy, the little knight, the bird, and the chameleon dude."

"(I wonder if I could master it soon…)" Link thought. "Okay, teach me, please."

"I don't want to learn it," Meta Knight said. "I only focus in my swordsmanship. Using magic would distract me from training my skills with my sword."

"Meh, I'll do it just for boredom," Falco said. "Just promise me it won't end up killing me."

"I'll give it a try," Espio said. "I'm confident that I'm a master at ninjutsu at this point."

"Remember something," Kawashima began, "all abilities learned in a world will instantly be forgotten as soon as you leave."

Lucca blinked confused at Chris. "Wait, where did that voice come from?" she asked. "I could've sworn it came from your pockets."

The teen gasped and backed away. "Y-you must've heard things because I didn't hear anything!" Chris said.

"I did," Marle said.

Lucca narrowed her eyes at Chris. "I doubt your clothes can talk, so let me see whatever device you're carrying with you!" she said.

A fleeting image of Rita replaced Lucca for a split second, making Chris sweat. "S-sorry, my stuff is MY stuff only!" he said.

Lucca took a hold of his right arm. "Show it to me!" she demanded.

"Never!" Chris yelled.

This little argument was being ignored by everyone else.

"Alright!" Spekkio said as Link, Falco, and Espio stepped forward. "You three will thank me so much for giving you this 'blessing' of the sorts. Seriously, it won't be wasted."

"Okay, okay, so go ahead and start your ritual to bring out fire out of my hands," Falco said.

"Pfft, who said anything about a ritual?" Spekkio asked. "If there's a ritual that has to be done, it must be done by you three, of course!"

Link looked concerned. "Do we need to…dance or something?" he asked.

"I'll never dance even if it was needed for my survival," Espio said.

"Same here, dude," Falco said.

"There's no stupid dance!" Spekkio said. "To awaken your dormant magic, you need to do this. Starting from the door, circle clockwise along the walls of my room three times and say 'I want to use magic!' nonstop in your heads. Don't lose track, now. Three times! Don't want you churnin' yourselves into butter."

The trio looked bored at the Master of War.

"…What?"

"Um, sorry, but that sounds a bit too…" Link trailed off.

"A bit? That's so stupid!" Falco argued.

"Agreed," Espio said. "Do you expect us to do that sort of thing to awaken our dormant magic?"

"What's so bad around running around?" Spekkio asked. "It helps you to exercise your minds and bodies so they become accustomed to your magic powers! The ones who have been here, for example, did the same thing!"

"I did not," Frog pointed out. "In fact, he gave me my magic right after I was brought here."

Link looked skeptical at the soldier. "And why do we have to do it ourselves?" he asked.

"That's because you're all new to this world," Spekkio explained. "I just can't do it that easily, you know!"

"Are you sure you're not hiding your intentions to humiliate all of us?" Espio asked with a sharp glare.

"While would I? I'm the Master of War here! I don't play tricks with people!" Spekkio argued. "If you don't want to be powerful, that's fine by me! Just don't come back crawling on the floor if you're almost beaten to a bloody pulp, okay?"

Link gave up with this. "Fine, I'll do it if you're being sincere."

Falco looked a bit bewildered before he grunted and nodded. "Okay, I'll do it already! Happy?" he asked.

"(I'll be forever humiliated by Vector and Charmy. Good thing there's no proof they're watching me,)" Espio thought, clueless to the fact his teammates were indeed watching his every move from the mansion. "I will give it a try as well, then," he said.

"All the people in the back make space!" Spekkio ordered everyone close to the door. Listening to his order, everyone moved back to the center. "You three will start running clockwise from the door while staying close to the wall around the room, and you will also think aloud 'I want to use magic!' all the time without stopping! You MUST finish three laps and you MUSN'T stop saying those words in your heads! Show your devotion to learn magic!"

"You mean show everyone how pathetic you can get to learn magic," Falco said.

"Less oral words and more mind words!" Spekkio said as the three walked to the front of the door. "This isn't some kind of race, so run at the same pace, one behind the other!"

Magus looked uninterested. "I thank the time for letting me learn my magic with my own way," he muttered.

"I was hyped up there'd be a race in this place," Sonic said disappointed.

"Your thirst for drag races will never end," Zelda said bored. "Link, show your devotion, please! Don't let us down!"

"When did this turn into a race to make all of you proud?" Link asked without getting an answer.

Spekkio cleared his throat. "Okay, you three, you may start now!" he ordered.

And the trio started running in circles around the room, feeling humiliation weighting their backs as everyone else simply stared at them.

Some seconds later…

The three finished three laps an-

"Wrong!" Spekkio said. "I can't bring anything out of you because you stopped saying 'I want to use magic!' in your heads right after you finished two laps!"

"How in the name of my mom did you even know that?" Falco asked angrily.

"I'm the Master of War, that's how I know that!"

"Blasphemy! Just saying your title doesn't mean anything!"

"Don't try my patience, foolish avian mortal," Spekkio said darkly. "You all have to do it all over again if you really want to use magic!"

"This surely must be some kind of horrible joke…" muttered Espio with a frown.

"I thought it was one the moment I heard the instructions," Link said embarrassed.

Marle pumped up a fist. "C'mon, you guys! You better pull it out together and try it again! If you learn magic, you'll love using it on your foes! Just don't try using it on us, though!" she encouraged.

Chip looked at Magus. "Is she always like this?" he asked.

Magus looked away. "That was a given fact the first time she opened her mouth," he muttered.

Spekkio shook his head at the three. "Care to do it again, or have you lost the interest?" he asked.

"Again!" Falco said. "I know you'll be laughing at us behind our backs once we leave this place, and I don't want you doing that!"

"Falco, calm down," Link muttered. "His reasons might be ridiculous, but we don't want to make enemies with him."

"I agree," Espio muttered. "All the abilities he has displayed so far convince me that he's not an ordinary person."

"He's just paranoid," Falco muttered. He sighed afterward and said, "Alright, let's do it again…"

And thus, the trio ran in circles around the room three times while saying aloud in their heads the ridiculous plea to use magic.

"There!" Link said, passing through the door.

"Ooooooooooh, sorry, but you all failed again," Spekkio said ashamed. "You had a very good pace until you stopped saying 'I want to use magic!' right before putting the last step to mark three laps."

"WHAT?" Falco asked enraged.

Link groaned and walked back to the door. "Just…let's try again once more…" he muttered.

"Maybe I got too confident," Espio muttered in shame.

"Maybe I'm a lunatic for doing this," Falco muttered with anger.

Some three laps later…

"Wrong!" Spekkio yelled. "You said 'I want to LEARN magic!' instead of 'I want to USE magic!' like it should be!"

"WHAT'S THE DAMN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO WORDS?" Falco demanded.

"Er, I dunno, one asks you to learn something while the other asks to use it?" Spekkio faked confusion. "Why learn it if you have it sleeping within you? You KNOW how to use magic already, but you can't USE it until it wakes up!"

"It…does make sense to me…" muttered DK.

Link slapped his forehead. "I hate to admit it, but it DOES make sense to me," he said.

"Yes, it does," Espio agreed.

"You guys are making me crazy, I swear!" Falco yelled before they went back to the front of the door.

Some more three laps later…

Upon seeing the three last steps making three laps at last, Spekkio hummed happily and nodded. "Alright, you did it well this time! As always, the third time's the charm!" he congratulated.

"Didn't they just try four times, though?" Zelda asked.

"I don't care about that!" Falco said before pointing an accusing finger to the Master of War. "You better make us use magic right now o-"

By the time Falco had demanded the Master of War to help them out, Spekkio was doing some sort of weird dance by swinging his mace around. "Ipso facto, meeny moe…MAGIC-O!" he chanted loudly.

Everyone stared at Spekkio as he stood still for a moment.

"…" Espio looked at his hands. "…I don't feel anything," he said.

Falco looked suspicious at Spekkio. "Don't tell me that was all a prank you pulled out of your stinky armor," he said.

"…So…what now?" Link asked.

Spekkio chuckled and looked at them. "You're now fortified with magic! Excellent work!" he congratulated. "…Nah, more like good job. It wasn't that excellent since you failed so many times, but nevertheless, you did it. That's all that matters."

"Er, that's good, but I don't feel anything," Link said.

"Hey! Are you like the people who like to test out a new power or feeling on some unfortunate object or person?" Spekkio asked angrily. "Those people have no shame whatsoever if they use their things through that sick way!"

DK shook his head at this statement. "(Huh, that's strange. I think I heard that somewhere before…)" he thought.

"…But yeah, you all learned magic," Spekkio said. "If you want, try to use it on me as your target," he offered.

"What was all that talk about using recently obtained powers on unfortunate people for, then?" Espio asked.

"Fool, I'm the Master of War!" Spekkio proclaimed. "I'm in no way an unfortunate person! Whatever you throw at me won't even make me tickle!"

"Duh, you're wearing an armor," Falco pointed out with boredom. He grinned after thinking about hurting the (damn) guy as much as he liked. "So then, what do we have to do use magic?" He just opened his right hand to Spekkio. "Do we have to focus and all that boring stu-"

The pilot stopped talking once fire circulated around his body and disappeared upon touching his hand. From Falco's right hand, a spiral of fire suddenly shot straight on to Spekkio's armor, which did no damage whatsoever. Most of the people behind him gasped in surprise at this sudden attack, which also ended up surprising Falco himself. The pilot's eyes widened with shock as he stared at his feathered hand.

"Too bad that's all you'll do with fire magic," Spekkio said blankly. "Learning through experience won't help you much."

"D-did I just do that?" Falco asked bewildered.

"Y-you sure did," Link said in awe.

Marle clasped her hands together. "Hey, Lucca, looks like you're having a fire partner like I do with Frog!" She turned around to see Lucca trying to reach out Chris's pockets while the latter tried to push her back. They had been doing he same thing all this time, ignoring what was going on. "Um…"

"Lemme take a look at it!" Lucca demanded, a hand pushing her cheek back.

"T-the last time something like this happened almost ended up killing me!" Chris yelled, restraining a hand from entering his pocket. "Nobody will touch my DS with my hard progress in my game!"

"What's a DS? I must know what it is!" Lucca demanded.

The energetic princess blinked confused at this that she shrugged her shoulders and turned her back to them. "I'm sure they'll listen to me later…" she muttered.

Espio was deeply in thought at this event before he opened his right hand to Spekkio. Concentrating whatever power he got, his eyes widened after his hand shot out four dark spheres that vanished, casting some kind of dark dome that engulfed Spekkio before it completely vanished. Like the previous attack, it didn't do much damage to the Master of War. But like Falco's reaction, Espio's reaction was the same. "Nice Dark Bomb attack!" Spekkio said. "Unlike the bird guy, that one made me feel some pain!"

"Well…that was interesting…" muttered Espio.

Marle turned to Magus. "Now you got competency," she said.

"Tsk, I'm an adept in the dark arts," Magus said. "There's no one else who can reach my own level."

"Show off," Marle said amused.

Sonic chuckled and looked at Link. "Hey dude, whatcha power you got?" he asked.

"Let me see…" Link trailed off as he opened his palm to Spekkio. Suddenly, some yellow sparkles flew up into the dark ceiling, and several bolts of lightning rained down upon him, inflicting some damage. Link gasped and pulled back his hand in surprise.

"Yep, that one was even better than the last one," Spekkio said. "Out of the three, you have the most talent in magic."

Zelda looked very pleased. "I couldn't expect any less. Link has a very powerful Triforce in him, after all," she said.

"So, this Triforce thingy is the energy I sensed in him? I must admit its power can compare to deities' powers!" Spekkio said with joy.

Frog rubbed his chin as he stared at the Hylian. "Not only do you possess magic, but you seem like a true swordsman in my eyes." He smiled. "It is an honor to know a skillful youth like you."

Link scratched the back of his head. "U-um, thanks for all the remarks, everyone," he said embarrassed.

Falco chuckled as he flexed his fingers. "Alright, this fire magic sure does look strong to me. I like it," he said.

Espio noticed the somewhat dark expression Falco made. The ninja backed away from the pilot's devious eyes as they stared deeply into his fingers. "(And so, the power will start driving him mad…)" Espio thought. "(I won't misuse my own magic if he ends up misusing his.)"

"OKAY!" Spekkio said loudly to get everyone's attention. "What would you like to do now that you can use magic? You can train it a little bit on me!"

Instantly, Falco looked very unsure about battling him. He had a very bad premonition that told him that he was going to be owned like never before, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He shrugged and shook his head. "U-um, sorry, but I'm not up for that," he said. "I'd like to use in on somebody less…powerful-looking."

"Oh, nice choice," Spekkio said. "If you're strong, I'll look strong. If you're weak, I'll look weak. No matter how much you train, I'll match your own power as well. However, power isn't everything. You gotta learn for yourself how to handle your power correctly to overwhelm your foes. Of course, overwhelming me is like a dream that will never happen!"

The pilot instantly looked angry. "Oh, what was that, you heavy-armored idiot?" he asked.

"I'll take that as an invitation to fight me right now, then!" Spekkio said gleefully before ice sparkles circulated around him and vanished in thin air.

Marle yelped loudly. "EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" she yelled with a jump.

Lucca and Chris stopped fighting each other as most of the people yelled after seeing two huge icebergs being flung down at them from the ceiling. Panic erupted in the room as the icebergs crushed all of them before they vanished, leaving all of them dropped on the floor. Not even Magus and Mewtwo were able to dodge the insane attack.

Out of everyone, Falco was the one who suffered the most. He cursed loudly in his weary mind after he was crushed by two icebergs, the ice's closest friends that he despised a lot. He was curled up while he lied down on the floor, shivering at the cold temperature. "B-b-brrr!" he shivered loudly. "W-why, o-oh why did I have t-t-t-to be crushed b-b-by frickin' icebergs of ALL t-t-things? A-achoo! I-I knew I s-s-should've bought that r-r-r-resist thing!"

"What is this?" Spekkio asked, standing in the same spot since the attack didn't harm him. "You're already knocked out? You're no fun at all!"

Magus stood back up and dusted off his cape. "Can you refrain from attacking us next time? I saw no real reason to use us as your targets as well," he said with a grunt.

"Oh, my bad," Spekkio said. "I was just very excited in meeting those guys that my excitement got a bit outta control… Hee hee!" he giggled with glee.

Meta Knight stood back up on his feet and stared at Spekkio. "(He's somebody who I wouldn't like to mess around. His attitude is childish, but his powers are not to be taken so lightly…)" he thought.

DK covered his head. "N-no more crashing icebergs, please, no more!" he begged.

Chip walked to DK and looked serious. "C'mon, big guy, look brave!" he encouraged.

Spekkio cleared his throat as everyone else stood back up, with Falco embracing himself. "Okay, nobody wants to fight me now. I get it," he said.

"A-after you tossed frickin' icebergs on my back? N-no, thanks!" Falco said before he sneezed once more.

"I get that you're so weak and fragile against ice attacks," Spekkio said. "It makes sense since you're bird dude, bird dude."

Falco shot a death glare at the Master of War before he walked back with the group. Espio glanced back at Spekkio before he walked back as well. Link shrugged and did the same.

"That was very amusing," Mewtwo admitted.

"S-shut up…" Falco muttered.

Marle coughed a bit. "Now that you know magic, why don't we go back to Gaspar and wait for our friends?" she suggested. "I'm sure you'll like to meet them."

"A-anywhere else than here is a good place to go," Falco said, leaving the room as he shivered.

The others promptly left the room. Before Lucca could step out, a hand grabbed her right shoulder. The inventor turned around to look at Link. "Oh, you're Link, right?" Lucca asked. "This is odd. I never thought about talking with you before," she said.

"Sorry for not talking before," Link said. "I was held back all the times I wanted to have a word with you."

Lucca looked unsure. "What did you want to talk about with me? We barely met each other…"

"Well, something was bugging me when you shouted randomly at us," Link said, making Lucca gasp and look away. "A-and sorry if I'm meddling in your affairs, but I can't help it. Seeing people suffering is something I don't like to see. It…makes me want to help them out. That's how I act, anyway…"

Lucca scratched her right arm in embarrassment. She looked back at Link and chuckled nervously. "I-I thought none of you would ask me in detail why I did that a moment ago," she muttered. "But…"

"But?"

"…" Lucca sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Link, but that's something…private I can't discuss with anybody else but myself," she said ashamed. "I don't want to talk about that because…it's very annoying…"

Link looked a bit disappointed at this response. "Oh…I see…"

"Yeah, it's something you shouldn't know…" Lucca trailed off before she turned to the door and walked towards it. She stopped midway and looked at Link over her right shoulder. Despite feeling a bit unsure, she smiled a bit. "But don't think I'm mad with you or anything. You seem like a very good guy, and I wouldn't mind being your friend."

At this, Link smiled with some hope. "Ah, that's good to hear," he said.

"So yeah, don't worry about me," Lucca said before she walked out from the room.

Link stared at her walking out of sight. He crossed his arms and looked up into the empty space. "(I know I shouldn't ask about that, but it troubles me to see her like that… Curse this good guy nature I have,)" he cursed. "(…I wouldn't mind being her friend, though. Something's telling me that she's a very valuable person.)"

The Hylian pondered more about the inventor.

"…But she's very valuable since I couldn't come here through normal means and meet her," Link said before chuckling. "What could happen if I talked more with her? I'll see that for myself," he said before he left the room where Spekkio had stared at them for a while.

The Master of War tilted his helmet to the side. "Huh, that was a bit interesting to watch, even though I like to train more than watching people converse," he said. "Oh well, time to do some meditation," he said before sitting down on the floor, crossing his short legs as he began meditating in peace.

Hall of Break

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

As Link passed through the door, he wasn't aware that Zelda was hiding behind the door frame. The princess peeked out, seeing Link following Lucca from behind. Zelda sighed and looked concerned. "(There he goes again,)" Zelda thought. "(Whenever somebody bothers him with a look full of worry, he goes off to help them somehow… I know it's a nice thing to think about, but he worries me when he tries to do that…)" she thought worried. "(…No matter what happens here, I shall see how things play out for Link. If I'm going to look out after him, I'll try to be very careful so he doesn't find out I'm spying on him,)" she thought determined, leaving her hiding spot to join them.

As the princess didn't take her eyes off from Link, she recklessly bumped into Marle, who stumbled forward and turned to her. "Watch where you're going!" she said upset.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was walking to," Zelda apologized.

Marle looked suspicious. Zelda's look didn't convince her much. In fact, Zelda's look looked a bit too false to her. She rubbed her chin and took a closer look at Zelda, who in turn started sweating. "…"

"…" Zelda shifted her eyes. "I-is something the matter?" she asked.

"Why am I thinking you look kind of…distracted?" Marle asked.

Zelda shook her head. The last thing she wanted was involving Marle in her secret affairs with Link. "Y-you surely are jesting…" Zelda muttered before she walked away from Marle.

The energetic princess narrowed her sapphire eyes at the Hylian princess. She continuously rubbed her chin, thinking what was wrong with Zelda. "(What should I do now?)" Marle thought. "(She looks troubled about something, but what'd that be?)" She suddenly giggled to herself. "(She told me she's a princess, but what could be bothering her? I know there's something really juicy if I get to talk with her! Who knows, this could be very fun!)" She chuckled at this thought and walked to the group.

From a distance, Frog stood next to the rocky staircase. He shook his head after seeing Marle's happy look. The swordsfrog knew that the vivacious princess had something in hands for the Hylian princess. "I do wonder how the events before our path shall play out with all of them here," he muttered. "I predict some kind of bad omen…"

Frog's thoughts disappeared once he heard an engine's sounds echoing from the other side of the rocky staircase. He turned around and looked to the other side of the path where he smiled a bit and nodded.

"They have arrived!" the swordsfrog announced everyone else.

The group on the other side of the hall turned to Frog's direction. Marle clasped her hands together in excitement. "They arrived now? That's good!" she said.

"Who, the guys you told us about?" Chip asked.

"Yup," Marle said nodding before footsteps were heard from the other side of the rocky staircase. She ran to Frog's side and turned to them.

Frog looked at Marle. "Marle, keep your excitement to a reasonable behavior," he said. "You would not like our new allies to think odd of you."

Marle rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm doing, Frog, thank you very much," she said annoyed.

Frog rolled his eyes next. "If you think this is acceptable…" he trailed off.

The Smashers fixed their looks to the rocky staircase, where some walked to them from the other side of the hall. The person in question revealed to be a seventeen-year-old youth with spiky red hair. He had bright blue eyes with red eyebrows. He wore a short-sleeved green shirt underneath a light blue tunic. He carried a katana in its sheath with a black belt, wearing yellow pants, a pair of dark brown boots, gauntlets, and a white headband around his forehead. For being a teenager, the swordsman looked very sharp.

However, his sharp look turned very docile, full of confusion after looking at the odd-looking group that was standing besides Lucca. He blinked his eyes a few times before he stared at them a little more.

While everyone stared at the swordsman, Chris's forehead sweated. "(And here we are…)" he thought with a mental gulp. "(The moment to meet the silent protagonist…)"

The teen put up a serious look to the other young teen on the other side of the hall.

"(…Crono,)" Chris thought.

He knew things were going to turn either more interesting or weirder.

"Through the Corridors of Time," Zelda said.

"Now we're messing with time once more," Link said. "Luckily, this time, we don't have ocarinas."

"We can pull a 'deux ex machina' and bring your younger self here."

"Don't you EVER think about a suggestion like that again!"

"Why? You looked cuter when you were younge-I-I mean, if that's what you wish…"

"Phew… Wait a second, what did you sa-"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-The End of Time-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Espio, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Magus

References:

-"Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in The End of Time, and in some special endings.

-"Chrono Trigger – Jolly Ol' Spekkio" is another song reference to the same game. It always plays when you meet and fight Spekkio in his room. It also plays in the Lost Sanctum's village in Chrono Trigger DS.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-March 9 is the date SSBB was released in America. It's always a very important date to remember for a game like this, wouldn't you agree?

-The reason why Chris wondered why their looks turned into anime looks is because he was referring to Akira Toriyama's art style, which can be easily found in anime media, and video games like Blue Dragon and the Dragon Quest series. (By that rule, Lucca does not work for Capsule Corp. or something like that…)

This chapter looks a bit bland to me since it's one of those chapters that set the stage for the upcoming chapters. However, I think I did a good job at introducing the Chrono Trigger cast…except for the other three. I'll reserve the best character for the end, which will be the next chapter. :)

Focusing on the Smashers, Link hasn't received very much attention. This arc allows me to give him all the attention he was begging to have. Additionally, this also allows me to focus on Zelda as well. So, did you already notice who the friend Link will focus is? Is there going to be hints of romance?

As of today, no more polls will open for a while.

This arc will prove to be one of the best arcs I've ever written. :D

I encourage all silent protagonist gamers to review. ;)

…Or we shall bring Young Link into the cast.
*Chapter 175*: Through the Corridors of Time

With some rainy days with thunders, it can seriously make a writer stop writing. :l

From Gloom-shroom: Chris! Noooo! You didn't decide to buy the Disgaea set! Why, Chris, why?

Anyway, enough ranting from me. Close call there at the beginning of the story where Team Chaotix came in.

Will Disgaea be the next arc?

From me: Sadly, Disgaea isn't going to be featured in a long time. We've reached the point where the last of this saga will be displayed. Would this mean the end for Chip's name changes is at hand? Read on and find out. Thanks. :)

From FF and STH: Nice chapter, hope chono can talk in this fic, in fact it would be funny if Link and chono got along well seeing as they both silent protagonist.

From me: Yeah…no, that looks a bit to cliché for my tastes. In fact, it's way too predictable if we don't throw in a few hints to change the focus to another character. Still, though, they'll be normal friends who barely have a talk with each other…considering Crono can talk, of course…

Thanks again. :D

From ngrey651: Ah, Chrono Trigger, how I loved that game and all about it. It had a healthy dose of humor in it, plenty of epic fights, and such memorable characters too...and of course, the art style. How could I not fall in love with anything from Toriyama? (I half expected Crono to end up shouting "Kamehameha".XD)

From me: Hmm, nothing much to say, except enjoy the chapter. :)

From Decepticon Fan: Woohoo! Another amazing chapter. I swear, you should create an anime out of this fic. You know get all the permissions etc. This is classic. I'm going to say that this fic is the best on the SSB section. No lie. :) Anxiously awaiting the next chappie and Ch. 164 (no matter how long it takes)

From me: Making an anime would be so time-consuming, and I'll be sued anyway. Thank you for waiting more for chapter 164. Enjoy the chapter. :D

From Sai Delgada: that was good...You used Mewtwo finally! now if you cood add Mew to the list!thanks, even if you don't add Mew.

From me: Sorry, but I've got to balance things before fan ideas play a big role while I'm supposed to balance everything out. Thanks. ;)

From KimotoDragoon: Bringing Young Link into the cast might be fun actually. You'd have a team of Links =w=. But aside from that... I can understand them wanting Espio. He is the only member of his team that has common sense. And him using shadow magic would be awesome. To bad Meta Knight didnt get his magic. That probably would have been so cool.

From me: Giving Meta Knight magic is a mixed bag decision. For one, it could add to his power, but for the other one, it could stray him from using his sword. Both options sounded fine, but I ultimately went for no magic. Still, he'll be helpful anyway. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Safire Ranmako: I say you bring in Young Link.

I still love your fic.

Just a thought, imagine Mewtwo's Shadow. And, just for the record, I'd like to see a Shadow land on Peach.

And I still wanna know, are you going to do a Final Fantasy X2 arc?

From me: But if I bring Young Link, it would seriously mess Link's stable mind. The fact that Young Link is…obviously his younger self won't be sane for the older Link. Just imagine Link saying to Chris that he's his old friend from three or so Hyrule settings of long ago… As for FFX-2, you'll have to wait and see, sorry. Thanks again, though. :)

Like I said before, some rains with thunders made me stop writing several times, and god they really slowed me down. Well, at least it's finished without delaying this too much.

In this chapter, you'll see how the Smashers grow fond of the Chrono Trigger gang as they explore some time periods to find Froggy. But, thing is, is it really going to be that easy to catch a panicked frog who doesn't know who to trust?

I encourage all CronoXMarle shippers to read on, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: You might possibly get Rickroll'd every time you listen at Robo's Theme. All credit for this finding goes to our favorite anonymous person, Mr. Anonymous.

Chapter 175: Through the Corridors of Time

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

The odd silence soon broke apart once Marle bumped the swordsman's shoulder. "Everyone, say hi to Crono!" she said, the teen looking a bit alarmed at this sudden move.

Crono is a young swordsman who was born in the village of Truce. He's Lucca's childhood friend, reason enough for the inventor to tease him every so often. During the Millennial Fair, he (literally) bumped into Marle, and the two of them quickly became friends. Rarely, Crono shows romantic feelings for Marle, who does the same in a few occasions. Crono is a good-natured man who gives a helping to whoever needs it. His weapon of choice is the katana, which he only wields with his left hand.

The teen named Crono responded to them by scratching his head. He made a nervous expression as everyone stared at him.

That was, until Chip obeyed Marle and said, "Hi, Crono!" before Sonic pulled him back.

Lucca cleared her throat and walked to Crono. "If you're asking who they are, they're not here to cause any trouble," she said. "In fact, they know about the frog."

Crono blinked shocked and turned to the Smashers.

"Yeah," Sonic said. "The frog you're looking for is the one we're looking for as well. From what your friends told us about, the frog got lost in time or…something like that."

Frog nodded and looked at Crono. "This is a very surprising fact, but they do not come from any of our eras but from unknown worlds!" he said.

Crono looked even more shocked than before.

Mewtwo turned to Magus. "Is Crono perhaps the 'leader' of your group?" he asked.

"In some ways, he is," Magus said. "One has to admire how brave and stubborn he is. One thing I'm sure that can describe is that he is a good listener."

Marle looked confused at Crono. "Oh, um, Crono, I thought you were with Ayla and Robo… Where are they?"

Crono merely pointed behind over his shoulder.

In a matter of seconds, someone else walked from behind Crono and stood next to him. Most of the Smashers made some odd looks while others looked a bit amused at the person standing next to Crono, who flashed a cocky grin at them.

The person in question was a fierce-looking, long yellow-haired woman of twenty-four years. The most distinguishable feature the blue-eyed had was the fact that, unlike everyone else in her group, she dressed in some kind of stone age-fashioned sense. She wore pale violet animal fur over her cleavage, waist, thighs, and even her feet, which were furred boots. Around her neck, she wore a furred tail that she used like a scarf, which reached all the way behind her back. Oddly enough, she had pink lipstick over her lips.

The woman ran a hand through her long hair before flashing another grin to the group.

"…If C. Falcon was here…he would be kneeling down to her in a flash," Link muttered.

"(Why's the chick dressed like that?)" Sonic asked.

And finally, the cocky-looking woman spoke her first words, which were "Crono friends?" She turned to Crono. "Weird people friends? Ayla think they weird."

"O-oh, yes, they're our friends!" Marle said nodding. "They arrived just recently to help us out!"

The woman chuckled and crossed her arms to the group. "New friends be good help! Ayla glad!" she said.

Zelda chuckled nervously at the woman's speech. Wanting to avoid sounding weird, she wanted to have a word with her. "So, um, what is your name?" she asked.

The woman made a happy expression and showed her teeth. "Me Ayla! Ayla happy know Crono friends!" she greeted.

Ayla is a woman who hails from 65,000,000 B.C. Admired by her people; she was previously the chief f her village before witnessing the day that Lavos entered the planet in her time, making her join Crono's group. It is worth noting that it was her who gave Lavos' name, where in her culture, "La" means fire and "Vos" means big. Although she is a woman, Ayla has the strongest strength of the group. Since she comes from a stone age, Ayla wasn't born in the time period where magic was discovered, thus unable to learn magic, and she speaks in a less sophisticate way than other people do. Nevertheless, she's an experienced fighter with her bare hands and a very good friend.

"So what, does she come from the stone age or something?" Falco asked.

"Exactly," Lucca said. "We met Ayla after we visited the Prehistoric era a long time ago. And, um, don't be so afraid of her. She's very friendly."

"Ayla friendly," Ayla said as she grinned at them. "Ayla no harm friends. Friends no harm Ayla, though!"

"Her speech is a bit primitive, but one can easily understand what she means," Espio said. "But, out of curiosity, have you tried teaching her some modern language?"

"No," Frog said. "We cannot teach Ayla a more sophisticated speech because that would cause severe changes in the past should she go back to her era."

"Ayla think 'shu-fis-ti-cai-the' speech boring," Ayla said upset. "Speech funny sometimes."

Chip laughed for a bit. "One minute and she's already too funny," he said. "I like her."

Lucca rubbed her chin. "That's weird… Where's Robo?" she asked.

"Robo in Epoch," Ayla said. "Ayla break window. Window no open. Ayla faster than window!"

Lucca's right eye twitched. "Y-you broke the windshield because it didn't open fast enough? A-Ayla, you know you should be more patient!" she scolded.

Ayla shrugged and looked away. "Ayla sorry," she said.

"…Ugh," Lucca sighed and looked behind Crono where the last member of they group walked towards them. "There you are…"

Adding to their amusing bunch of people, another character approached the hall. Instead of being a human or an anthro, the person was a robot. The pale golden robot stood around six feet. It had blue eyes that flickered from time to time. It wore some brown leather straps that hung around its belt. It had a portable black cannon instead of a left hand. Behind its back, it carried a metallic cylinder that contained gasoline. Twisting its upper head, it examined the Smashers while its eyes flickered even more than before.

"Life forms unknown to internal memory database," the robot studied. "Final results: life forms unknown. No records can find closest matches to stored data. Further analysis must be issued to research life forms."

Lucca giggled a bit at this and patted the robot's head. "It's okay, Robo. You don't need to scan them. They're our friends…from other worlds," she explained.

The robot twisted its head to Lucca. "Oh…I am sorry, Lucca," it apologized. "Their looks impressed me, and I had to analyze them all to find anything archived in my database."

"Always being careful, huh?" Lucca asked before turning to the group. "Well, this is the last person you haven't met before." She looked at the robot. "Introduce yourself, will you?"

"Certainly," the robot said before bowing a bit to them. "Salutations, my serial number is R-66Y, but you might call me Robo."

Robo is presumably a three-hundred-year-old robot who hails from the future. After the day Lavos woke up and destroyed the planet's inhabitants, Robo was able to survive without any memories of the event. According to him, he lived among humans, but all his past was forgotten. It was thanks to Lucca who was able to repair him three hundred and one years in the future. Thankful for this, Robo joined the group to fight against Lavos and prevent the future from being annihilated.

"Robo, were you repairing the windshield Ayla broke?" Lucca asked.

"I had already finished by the time she left the Epoch," Robo said. "We had a spare windshield with us, luckily."

"Oh, thank goodness…"

"A swordsman, a runaway princess, an inventor, a 'swordsfrog', a robot, a prehistoric woman, and a sorcerer…" Sonic trailed off. "Geez, what a diverse group…"

"Sonic, we shouldn't address them like that," Meta Knight said. "After all, we ourselves are a diverse group of people as well."

Sonic folded his arms behind his head. "It's not like I was being hypocritical or something," he muttered to avoid being heard by the others.

Marle chuckled and opened her arms. "We're such a big diverse group like all of you, don't you think? We have something in common after all!"

While Sonic smacked his face at this, Zelda took a step forward and nodded at Marle. "That is something I can agree with," she said. "And no matter how different you are from each other, you share the same goals. It's the same in our case."

"Care to explain that in detail?" Robo asked.

A few more minutes of explanations later…

After the original three (not counting Magus) explained the other trio what had happened, it became clearer to Robo about what was going on with the sudden arrival of the otherworldly travelers. "I see," Robo said. "They are looking for the frog like us."

Crono crossed his arms in deep thought while Ayla looked serious about the situation. "Frog theirs?" she asked. "They cause problem?"

"N-no, they didn't know, either," Marle said. "They're chasing after it because it also swallowed another important thing from them."

Frog frowned. "Misfortune loomed on both of us," he said. "Truly an unexpected situation, I must say."

Gaspar cleared his throat. "Well, well, I'd never thought the End of Time would be packed with people. This should be an event to celebrate…but we don't have time for a trivial thing like that," he said. "Now that you've gotten more people to help, it'd be very nice if you all joined forces to search for the frog."

"There is a problem with that idea," Magus said. "Only three of all of us can travel to a time period since bringing more than three would push us back here. How, then, can we force our way out and bring more of us?"

"I expected you from asking such a question," Gaspar said, seeing that everyone looked at him. "Very well, hear me out. Before these people arrived, only three of you seven could travel anywhere freely, right? However, I figured out that there could be a way to bring three more to make a party of six people."

Lucca looked confused. "Is it possible, though?" she asked. "I'm not so sure…"

"Fear not," Gaspar said before staring at the Smashers. "Unlike all of you, these people come from different worlds not connected to ours so they can form another group of three people. It could have been easier if all of them came from the same period to make a much bigger team, but they are just like you: each one comes from a different era that keep them away from forming a bigger group. If my assumptions are correct, then it's possible that you can bring three more of them to join three of you, thus making a group of six."

Frog thought for a moment. "Hmm, it sounds plausible…" he trailed off.

"There is a relatively small problem with that idea," Robo said. "If we are to travel together through time, the Epoch would be our main source of transport, correct?"

"What the heck is an Epoch thing?" Falco asked.

"That's the vehicle that allows us to travel through time and fly over any land," Lucca explained. "All the time that we come back here, we dock it right under the rocky staircase to the right of the hall."

"But what is the problem that the robot guy was talking about?" Chip asked.

"The Epoch…has some limited space," Lucca further explained. "It has three seats, so… Yeah, we don't have much space on it unless you want to risk yourselves and hold on to the wings…"

"Pfft," Marle muttered. "Big deal, Lucca, I have a very good idea in mind."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Oh, really, Marle?"

"We can sit on each other's laps!" Marle suggested. "I can sit on Crono's lap because sitting on Frog's lap would be weird, and I don't want to sit on a girl's lap, or Robo's lap, or Magus'… I don't swing that way, dude, sorry."

Everyone instantly backed away a bit from the energetic princess. Even Crono himself backed away.

"P-perish the thought!" Frog said in shock.

"…What? That's the best idea I could come up with," Marle said upset as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "You guys weren't coming up with some ideas, so I thought why not?"

"…Somehow, risking our lives doesn't sound that bad all of a sudden," Espio said.

"Dignity first, life later, as I like to say," Sonic said.

Meta Knight frowned at Marle's suggestion. "Is it that hard to make more space within the ship?" he asked.

"Negative," Robo said. "We cannot make more space. Every single inch of the Epoch should not be replaced with seats."

"But, what if we just made seats over the Epoch instead?" Marle asked. "We could like attach some behind the passenger seats."

Lucca snapped her fingers. "Finally, Marle, one of your ideas don't sound like they'll kill our dignity in some sick way!" she said.

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or laughing at me," Marle muttered annoyed.

"N-neither!" Lucca said. "Robo, do we have the necessary materials right now?"

"Negative," Robo said. "The End of Time lacks the materials to further increase the space on the Epoch."

"That's a drag," the inventor said. "Well, my house has all the materials we need to increase the space. We should head to the present and start the 'renovation' as soon as we can."

Frog nodded. "If we want to have a safe travel with more people, we shan't give them a horrible use of transport," he said. "We do not want to put their lives at risk, correct?"

"Nope," Marle said. "The more, the merrier, as they say."

Ayla grinned and walked to the Smashers. "Ayla like strong people. You strong people?" she asked. "Strong people useful! Weak people worthless!"

"We're strong, alright," Link said. "You don't have to worry about that."

Ayla smiled at this before she eyed DK. The ape blinked shocked as the woman approached him. "You look strong," Ayla said. "You strong?"

DK never met a very imposing woman like Ayla before. It was extremely weird for him to see a girl like her around his jungle. He gulped and forced a smile. "U-um, yeah, I'm strong," he said.

"Nice!" Ayla said. "You look more strong ! Ayla like REALLY strong men!" she emphasized.

"O-okay…" DK muttered a gulp.

Oddly enough, Mewtwo looked amused at this weird relationship. "(I shouldn't say this, but she has greater strength that Donkey Kong's strength. His mental stability would be broken if I told him that…but I'll see what unfolds,)" he thought amused as Ayla patted DK's back. "(Donkey Kong, this is the first time you've amused me so much before.)"

"If we want to make more space, we'll have to go to my house," Lucca said. "Robo, I need you to come with me. You're more useful with this kind of thing."

"Affirmative," Robo said.

"I need someone else to come with me as well," Lucca said.

Link raised his hand. "I know this is sudden, but can I come along?" he asked.

The inventor looked worried. "(Is it okay to bring him? Something's telling me that he seems concerned about my welfare… Stupid, stupid Lucca, shouting randomly like that…) Oh, I don't mind. I'll be a great opportunity to show you my era," Lucca said.

Worried about Link's plans, Zelda raised her hand. "May I please come along as well?" she asked.

Lucca looked shocked. "B-but we don't have any more space for more people in the Epoch," she said.

Zelda crossed her arms. "I'm sure four people can fit just fine. It's not like it's very tight in there," she said, very unsure about what she said. She was fixated on seeing what Link was going to do with Lucca.

Lucca shifted her eyes while she thought hard about the problem. "…It's going to be a problem…but…I believe it can be bearable," she muttered before nodding. "Fine, you can come in. It's a short trip, so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"If that's the case, I'm in!" Marle spoke up with enthusiasm.

"B-but now it's become a very unbearable feat!" Lucca complained. "Marle, we can't just have five people this time!"

Marle pouted a bit. "Hey, the Epoch has some space besides the pilot seat. I can crouch down and sit down besides it," she pointed out. "Besides, I checked again, and Zelda can do the same."

"I'd…prefer seating on a seat, if you don't mind," Zelda said embarrassed.

"I am too big to sit besides a seat," Robo stated. "Therefore, I shall seat down on a passenger seat."

Zelda looked pleased. "Well, Link will have to sit down besides the pilot seat," she said.

Link looked bored. "Oh yes, I can sit down on the cold floor because I'm used to adventuring that way," he said.

Marle took this as a fact. "You're a real gentleman, Link," she said before turning to Lucca. "Well then, let's go! That frog will keep traveling through time all day if we don't get a move on!"

"Hmm, Marle…why are you coming as well?" Lucca asked.

Casually, Marle walked next to Zelda and hung her right arm over her shoulders. The Hylian princess felt uncomfortably as the Guardia princess chuckled heartily. "Why, Zelda and I are friends," Marle said. "I wanna show her around like you're doing with Link."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I-I know what you're thinking, b-but it's not that!" she said.

"What am I thinking?" Marle asked confused.

"U-um, forget it," Lucca said, flushing a bit. "F-fine, that's a good reason enough for me, Marle…"

Zelda brought herself to look at Marle. "W-would you remove your arm from my shoulders? I feel a bit uncomfortable," she said.

"Oh, sure, sure," Marle said, removing her arm from Zelda's shoulders. She giggled a bit, causing Zelda to back away from her.

"T-thank you…" Zelda muttered. "(I'm starting to know her true colors now or what? She surely doesn't act like a real princess would do…)"

Unbeknownst to the Hylian princess, Marle had plans on her own. Inside her mind, Marle looked serious at Zelda. "(So, Zeldy, you have something in hands with that Link fellow, huh? I noticed that so easily the moment you stared into the space when you bumped on me,)" she grinned mentally. "(I don't look like it, but I can tell what bothers you… If I want to find out what's going on with you, I have to be extremely careful and be as subtle as possible…)"

"…" Zelda didn't know why Marle stared at her with a smile on her face. Marle had forgotten to stop staring at Zelda. The vivacious princess was so blindly thinking that she left the real world for a while. Silently, Zelda walked away from Marle, who then shook her head and snapped out of her state.

Robo walked towards the rocky stairway on the left side of the hall. "Please, come this way," he said. The other four eventually followed the robot to the other side where there was a dead end.

Link looked down to find some small ship floating in the nothingness. The ship looked like a big white oval where on the front side was a cockpit where three seats; two passenger seats behind a pilot seat were found. On the sides of the ship, two long black wings, one of each side, allowed the ship the ability to fly. "So…that's the time-traveling ship?" Link asked.

"It's the Epoch," Lucca said. "Its name was previously the Wings of Time, but we gave the name Epoch instead."

"Don't lie, Lucca," Marle said bored. "You wanted to leave it like Wings of Time instead of Epoch because the first one sounded more scientific."

"Also, a similar case occurred when I said my serial number was R-66Y and you wanted me to be called that, using the word 'cool' as a positive answer," Robo said.

"J-just say I suck at choosing names!" Lucca said, causing Link and Zelda to chuckle heartily. "Ugh, anyway, jump on to the Epoch!" she said as she jumped down on the ship with the others following suit.

After Lucca took the pilot seat with Marle and Link sitting at her sides and Robo and Zelda sitting behind them, the windshield pulled itself from behind and covered them under it. Lucca took the wheel and began flicking several switches in front of her, causing the Epoch to rev up its engines.

"I just can't believe we managed to fit in here…" Lucca muttered.

"H-hey, I'm a bit too big to fit on this side," Link said from her right side.

"Don't complain and just enjoy the flight!" Marle said from her left side.

"I-it's easy for you to say!"

"I don't fit too well in here, but I know how to stay calm," Marle said.

"Please, don't argue right now, you two…" muttered Zelda.

"Are we ready to take off, Lucca?" Robo asked.

"Yep, we're good to go," Lucca said as the Epoch began moving forward.

In a blink of an eye, the Epoch suddenly shot itself at the speed of light and disappeared from the End of Time, along with its passengers. The others saw the whole event from the hall.

"…I forgot to ask something," Falco said. "After we're ready to take six people to those time periods…what will happen to the rest?" he asked.

"We will stay put and wait for our turn to visit an era," Frog said.

"…T-that sounds really boring!" Sonic complained. "It's like the others back at the mansion, only this time we changed places with the same rules! I'm not gonna sit down all day or night to wait for my turn or something! I want to do something in the meantime! At least I could relax in the mansion since it had a lot more to offer than…here!"

"I'm sorry that the End of Time does not possess the commodities you usually enjoy," Gaspar said. "There's nothing else we can do about renovating this place. Accept my humble apologies."

Frog smiled, despite the tense air bothering the hedgehog and the avian. "Fear not, my friends. The only way to avoid such a dreadful thought of boredom in cases like this is to draw out your swords and practice swordsmanship!" he said as he brandished his sword from its sheath. "Who shall test my legendary sword Masamune?"

"Sword dude, there's a fatal flaw with your idea of having fun," Sonic said. "There are at least two people in the whole room who carry swords. And me? I skip training. I don't like training."

"Lazy," Falco muttered.

"Legendary sword?" Meta Knight said with interest, walking towards Frog. "That sword doesn't look like a common sword to me."

"It is because it is the Masamune," Frog said, holding the sword on both of its sides to show it to the knight. "Look at its blade. It can cut the thickest of skins, and its speed is as swift as the winds. Forged with ancient materials, it is truly a legendary sword."

Meta Knight rubbed his hand against the sword's blade. "Yes, its blade is extremely well-refined," he remarked. "Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad showing you my own legendary sword," he said as he unsheathed Galaxia.

Frog stared at the golden sword. "What a peculiar design," he said, rubbing a hand on the blade. "…It is amazing. Its blade is well-refined as the Masamune's, and there is some kind of force emanating from it." He looked very pleased. "I bless my eyes for allowing me to see such a sword like yours. Maybe this is a bit too much to ask, but would you be interested in a spar?"

"If there isn't anything else to do than waiting, then I'll accept your request," Meta Knight said.

"We shall spar all day long," Frog said pleased before spotting Crono nearby. "Why do we not make this more interesting? Crono, join us together in a sword spar! Prove my friend here that you have exceptional swordsmanship!"

Crono replied with a grin, brandishing his katana.

"Do not let his looks fool you," Frog advised Meta Knight. "Crono's swordsmanship can outmatch all warriors in all Guardia."

"This might be ridiculous to state, but I have a hunch that's telling me he's exceptional," Meta Knight said. "Where shall we spar?"

"In Spekkio's place, of course," Frog said. "Spekkio is easily appeased if we train in his room. Follow me," he said as he, Meta Knight, and Crono walked into Spekkio's room.

Sonic bumped Falco's arm. "Wanna bet who's going to cut somebody else first?" he asked. "Loser gets to be dared."

"Meh, I'm up for that," Falco said.

"In that case, I wanna bet too!" Chip said.

Watching the trio entering the enclosed room, Chris looked at no one in particular. "Isn't anybody going to ask why Crono doesn't talk at all? He's been pretty dead silent all this time without saying a word," he said. "That…unless the situation doesn't really need him to say a word…" He gulped and turned to Magus. "D-does Crono ever say a word?"

Magus looked a bit uninterested at the question. "This is stupid to say, but Crono has the baddest of luck since he is never given a chance to talk or utter a word. By the time he's ready to talk, the conversation usually ends." He looked away with a grunt. "You could say fate doesn't let him say anything…but that is just a thought."

"Oh, that's way too unbelievable…" Chris got an idea and turned to Mewtwo. "Mewtwo, maybe you could read Crono's mind?" he asked.

"It's not my place to intrude in someone's thoughts without asking them first," Mewtwo said. "Sorry, but I want to decline your suggestion."

"As if Crono knew when people are reading his mind…" Chris muttered with boredom. "…That vaguely reminds me, but where's DK?"

On a corner of the room, in an unexpected series of events, Chris found the Kong lying upside-down on the floor while Ayla rubbed his chin. The World Traveler looked a bit surprised to see DK's pleased look while Ayla kept rubbing his chin. "Ayla think DK cute," Ayla said. "DK strong and cute."

"…" DK mumbled a long, pleased sound as Ayla stroke his chin. He had to admit she had good hands.

"…" Chris smiled a bit. "I…can't help but think those two look like very good friends."

"Everyone here seems to be finding their right partner," Espio spoke close to Chris, the chameleon leaning against the fences around the hall. "For once, it's nice to have a calm atmosphere once in a while."

"What, you don't get to experience calm atmospheres that much, Espio?" Chris asked.

"With Vector and Charmy, that'd be a very good joke, sadly," Espio said before he grinned and crossed his arms. "Luckily, I can say all I want about them to vent off my complaints and relax with all this time I have in hands."

"…Espio…I…hate to break your moment of tranquility, but…"

"Yes?"

"…Anybody back at the mansion can monitor our moves from the screen at the command room," Chris said. "Not only that, but they can listen to what we're saying…"

Espio blinked a few times at this fact. He looked at no one in particular. "…Oh, fu-"

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Guardia Hemisphere

In the starry blue skies, a distortion of time and space appeared before the Epoch zoomed out from it. The group inside the cockpit opened their eyes and looked around to see their surroundings. Seeing that the travel was successful with five people, Lucca sighed. "It seems everything's okay. Gaspar's theory was right after all…" she trailed off.

"Yeah, we broke the rule!" Marle cheered. "I was thinking we'd never travel with more than three people, but I was wrong. Now Lavos isn't gonna have a chance to beat us all!"

"But…I thought we made it clear that we were going to find the frog and depart from your group," Link said. "We don't want to stay here any longer because we have our own problems to solve."

"Yes," Robo said. "That was what we agreed together."

Marle sighed depressed. "Seriously, can't you stay here for a little bit longer? It won't hurt…"

"As much as you hate to realize it, Marle, they'll have to leave when their mission is over," Lucca said as she flew the Epoch through the skies. "Compared to us, they have to keep other worlds protected, and ours isn't an exception. They keep our world safe from their enemy, and we keep our world safe from Lavos. That's how things work, I guess."

"Phooey," Marle muttered.

"I have a question," Zelda said. "Does traveling through time have secondary effects on people like us?"

"Besides feeling your body being ripped out forcibly? No," Marle said. "You get a few stomachaches sometimes, but that's it. Worse cases include diarrh-"

"I-I'll have to ask you to stop, then," Zelda said disgusted, looking away into the clouds where she spotted a big abnormality floating in the sky. "…W-what in the world is that thing?" she asked.

Everyone turned to look outside to see a big floating ship hidden between the clouds. The ship was gigantic, making it look like a battleship more than anything else did. It had a weird upside-down rhombus shape, with dark black color being filled with flickering lights over all its appearance. It ominously and peacefully floated between the clouds, and one could see such a monstrosity from anywhere high enough like in any mountains.

"Holy Nayru, that's big…" Link trailed off.

Zelda shuddered at the sight of the ship. "There's some malignant energy radiating from it… It's perturbing…" she muttered.

Lucca looked serious at the ship while she drove the Epoch away from it. "That's the Black Omen," she said. "It appeared right after Lavos was unleashed in the Antiquity. No matter what era you are, except the prehistory, you'll see that hideous ship floating in the sky, overlooking everything in the planet…"

"You mean to say it appears in all eras after the Antiquity?" Link asked.

"Yep," Marle said. "We think that ship's lifetime is eternal because it looks the same no matter what."

"If that's true, then…it's possible that Queen Zeal resides inside that ship," Lucca said.

"Are we in danger now?" Zelda asked.

"Pfft, yeah," Marle said sarcastically. "Oddly enough, the Black Omen doesn't do a thing. It just floats there all day without doing anything else than polluting the sky's view."

"Are you sure of that?" Link asked.

"Positively right," Robo said. "The Black Omen itself does not serve any hazardous effects on any eras. The Black Omen is harmless if left alone."

"That's right," Lucca said. "So yeah…just ignore it."

The Hylians exchanged glances while the Epoch flew away from the Black Omen. The two newcomers didn't feel well after thinking there was a huge ship floating in the middle of nowhere.

Link looked around the clouds, trying to forget that there was a doom-looking ship in the horizon. "So, where's your house, Lucca?" he asked.

"It's on the northwest continent, in Truce Village," Lucca said. "We'll be arriving there shortly. We just need to cross over the ocean and we'll get there in a cinch." She spotted some balloons floating into the clouds. "I take that back. We've arrived."

The inventor slowly tilted the Epoch down for the group to see a village. On the northern section of the village, they spotted some kind of big fair going on. To the south of the fair was the village, and to the south of it was a small island with a house that was connected with a bridge to the village.

Truce Village – Lucca's House

Chrono Trigger – Peaceful Days

The Epoch landed smoothly on an open field of grass. The windshield on top of them pulled back into the ship, and Lucca sighed in relief. "Well, everyone, here we are," she said, looking to the right where her house; a two-story tall house, was next to the ship some feet away.

"Was there a fair in the village?" Zelda asked.

"Oh yeah, it's the Millennial Fair," Lucca said as they disembarked from the Epoch. "It's a fair celebrating the 1000th anniversary of when the Kingdom of Guardia was founded. The fair lasts for several days. Usually, my dad and I go there to showcase a new invention every year, but…let's just say most of our creations end up shooting smoke…"

"But I thought you were an expert," Link said.

"I'm better at fixing stuff than creating them… Only a few of my creations end up being a success like the Gate Key that was stolen," Lucca said.

"Are we going to die once you put more seats in the Epoch?" Marle asked.

"O-of course not! Don't think I'm going to screw up by putting some more seats, please!" Lucca said embarrassed. "That's so basic to do, but I need the materials to do so. My house has all kinds of 'em."

Once everyone was standing on the grass, they all walked towards the house.

The Hylian princess stared at the coast surrounding the small island. She felt very relaxed at the warm air soothing the field around them. "It feels so relaxing here," she remarked.

"Yes, this place looks very good to live," Link said. "The coast is close to your house, and there aren't more houses around."

"Um, we lived in the village with the other people before," Lucca said. "We moved here because Dad's inventions ended up blowing up when I was child. The townspeople were angry at this and they prompted my family to move here…"

"Bad luck struck Lucca's family," Robo simply said.

The inventor chuckled slightly. "D-don't say that, Robo…"

After turning towards Lucca's house, Zelda had one more question to ask. "You have a father, Lucca?" she asked.

"Yes," Lucca said. "He's the one who taught me all he knows about creating machines. Together, we're quite a team, let me tell you," she boasted. "Thanks to me being around, his explosions have greatly reduced…but I get pissed when they just shoot smoke."

"Oh, I see," Link said. "You became interested in machinery by seeing your dad work, right?"

Lucca stopped walking for a brief moment to think about something, but then she resumed walking. "Y-yeah, that was it…" she muttered in shame. "I became so interested that I begged him to teach me everything he knew until I turned out like this. Pretty cool, right?"

The swordsman noticed the forced look Lucca made. Link knew there was something in the story, but he decided to follow the flow and agree. "Yes it is," he said.

Lucca sighed mentally while they reached the house's door. She opened it and walked inside. "Dad, Mom, I'm home!" she yelled.

"Oh my…" Zelda muttered after stepping inside the house.

The main living room was practically covered with nuts, wires, and other trinkets of metal that most of them couldn't recognize with a simple look. The living room itself occupied the size of two floors, and two balconies were on the front wall, overlooking the messy room. On the left side, there was a bookshelf where it wasn't that different than the mess on the floor, and on the right side, there were some machines occupying the corner of the room.

"Lucca!" a gruff voice called from the right balcony's door. The door opened and a man walked out. The short plum-haired man wore a brown hat, green vest with a sleeveless purple shirt underneath, green pants, and brown boots. He had several grease patches splattered over his clothes and face. The man looked down to see Lucca and the group. "Ah, more friends of yours?" he asked.

Lucca smiled and nodded. "Yup, they're here to help me out with some extra modifications for the Epoch!" she said. "I need to get some materials first!"

"If that's the case, leave it to me!" the man said with a hearty laugh. "Just tell me what you need and I'll get it!"

"I think I'll need you to come outside and see the ship," Lucca said. "You know, for another way to compare ideas."

"I'll get down there in a second!" the man said before entering the room he came from.

The inventor chuckled and turned to Link and Zelda. "He's my dad. His name's Taban," she said. "He's full energy all the time."

"Father and daughter relationship sterns from identical genes," Robo said. "Lucca shares the same personality as her father. They also share same eye and hair color."

"And surely they don't know how to clean," Marle said as she picked up a chain. "Lucca, the floor's begging you to clean it."

"H-hey, there's no problem with all this mess," Lucca said. "And such, we don't need to clean!"

Zelda looked disgusted at the tools brushing with her long skirt. To prevent it from catching dust, she lifted her dress a bit. "Some house maintenance wouldn't be so bad at a time like this, though," she said.

Marle rolled her eyes at Zelda. "I'm pretty used to this by now. Why not changing wardrobe and get a jumpsuit like me?" she asked.

"I-I'm very fond my current wardrobe, thank you very much," Zelda said.

"If you can't stand this place, just step out," Lucca said before Taban came out from the door under the balconies.

Taban approached them. "It was about time you came here again, Lucca," he said before eyeing Link and Zelda. "My name is Taban. So, I understand you're my dearest Lucca's fiancé?" he asked Link.

"N-no!" Link, Zelda, and Lucca said in unison. The swordsman looked confused at Zelda, who in turn looked away.

"Bwahahahaha! It was just a joke, young man!" Taban said playfully.

"D-Dad, you're always saying the same things when I bring a guy in here to meet you," Lucca said embarrassed. "You even asked Crono when we were just children!"

Nobody noticed the angry look Marle made, bothered by the fact.

"Alright, alright," Taban said before looking at Zelda. "It's quite clear this gal dressed so beautifully is engaged with him, after all!"

"T-that's not it!" Zelda said, turning to look at the man. Link, this time, looked away embarrassed.

"Dad, stop it!" Lucca yelled.

"Fine!" Taban said with a laugh before stopping. "Lemme take a look at that ship, then," he said, making most of them sigh. "What do you need to do?"

"The Epoch requires additional space to transport more than three people," Robo said. "In a few words, it needs more seats."

"Seats? Pah!" Taban said with some disappointment. "I thought it was some kind of very complicated machine or something like that, but you want more seats?"

"Dad, it's crucial," Lucca said. "We require more seats to let more people travel with us through time. If we can't do that, it won't give us advantage to fight against Lavos."

Taban rubbed his chin. "Okay then," he said. "Just give me a minute to see the Epoch before I can use the right materials."

"Okay," Lucca said. "I think you'll need some help, Dad. Robo, give us a hand, will you?"

"Affirmative," Robo said.

She turned to the other three. "You guys can rest in here if you want. If we need another hand, we'll call you," she said before she, Robo, and Taban walked out from the house to inspect the Epoch.

Making sure they were out of sight, Zelda looked at Link. "One minute in this dinky place and I already hate her father's bad jokes so much," she said. "W-who's he to say I'm engaged to you?"

"I-I agree with you there," Link said embarrassed. "I told you people think we're a couple!" he whispered angrily, seeing that Marle was standing next to them.

"I don't know you, but I want to make myself productive while I'm here," Zelda said as she carefully picked up a handful of nuts. She avoiding yelping once she saw grease seeping into her silk gloves. "A princess shouldn't be reduced to do household activities, but I'm willing to sacrifice that risk for a better atmosphere."

Just then, Marle walked in front of them, carrying a whole lot of grease-covered machine parts that dirtied her completely. She looked at them with a big smile. "That's how all princesses should act, anyway!" she said before walking to a side where she piled up the parts and began sorting them out.

"…" Zelda got an idea and smiled. "I-I shall give you all the pieces I find so you can sort them all out, then!" she said, thanking herself from avoiding getting dirty like Marle.

After Zelda began picking up all the pieces in her path to avoid her skirt brushing against anything, Link found himself doing nothing, just standing there in the middle of the sea of parts. "What do I do now?" he asked. "I don't want to clean, so… Oh, wait, Lucca said she had a mother. Maybe she's here around somewhere," he said before spotting the door where Taban appeared. Using his adventurer curiosity's instincts, Link left the princesses behind as he crossed the doorway.

As Marle sorted out the machine parts, she looked over her shoulder to Zelda. A look of mischief took over Marle's face. "So, you've got a thing or two with him, huh?" she asked.

After hearing this question, Zelda clumsily let go on a chain that slipped between her fingers, stopping right on her tracks to hand it to Marle. "W-what are you saying?" Zelda asked.

"Don't lie to me," Marle said, keeping her look full of mischief. "Remember when you bumped into me and you got all nervous? Right after that, you've been staring at Link for a pretty long while."

The Hylian princess shut her eyes and turned her back to Marle. "W-why would you think that I have something with Link?" Zelda asked as she bent down to pick more grease-covered tools. "W-we're not an official couple, if that's what you think!"

"C'mon, it's obvious," Marle said, staring playfully at her sorted out parts on the floor. "You don't have to hide it."

"I-I'm not hiding anything!" Zelda complained.

"Then you admit you worry about him?" Marle asked.

"I-I do worry about those close to me," Zelda admitted as she carefully walked back to Marle and handed her over a pile of nuts and tools. "A-and Link happens to be a very close friend to me."

"So close to consider him a very valuable one?" Marle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…" Zelda thought hardly about the question. "…In a friendly way," she responded. "That's all there is to it."

"(I might be on the wrong track…but she was so embarrassed at the question; WAY TOO embarrassed for my tastes,)" Marle deviously thought. "(I have a hunch that there's more about their story that they can tell with their own words…)"

Zelda grunted a bit and resumed making a path through the mess for her dress to avoid brushing against grease. "Please, don't talk more about this," she said.

"(You've got NO idea how much I'm going to enjoy this, my dear,)" Marle thought deviously.

A few minutes before, back with Link after he crossed the door, he found himself standing in the middle of two stairs that leaded to different rooms upstairs. Between the stairs, the door to the kitchen was open. Link peered inside to see nobody.

"Hello?" Link asked loudly. "Is anybody here?"

"Who's there?" a voice asked from the upstairs.

Link walked back between the stairs, finding the voice's source coming from the right set of stairs. He began climbing it up until he reached the room of the second floor. Looking to his left, he found a woman sitting on a chair. The woman had long blue hair, wore a violet dress with a white apron. She had blue eyes, and she spoke in a kind, maternal voice. She had her hands firmly placed over her dress as she stared at Link.

"You must be one of Lucca's new friends," she said. "Taban told me so when he rushed downstairs."

"S-sorry for coming in uninvited," Link said. "I wanted to meet Lucca's mother, that's all."

"That's me," the woman said with a small smile. "My name is Lara, and yours?"

"Link," Link said.

"That's a curious name," the woman named Lara said. "What brings you here, Link? Do you live somewhere other than Truce?"

"Um, yes, I live somewhere else, far away," Link said. "I met Lucca during my travels and we became friends."

"Lately, she's making a lot of unusual-looking friends," Lara said. "But they are very harmless. They even look more harmless than Crono does. That boy is always practicing his swordsmanship late at night that makes Lucca think he's a brute, but he's good at heart… Oh, you know Crono, right?"

"The guy with the crazy spiky red hair?" Link asked.

Lara chuckled at the description. "Yes, that guy." She stared at Link's sheath. "You're also a swordsman, right?"

"Yes, I am," Link said.

"Does Lucca have a penchant in befriending swordsmen or what?" Lara asked confused. "First it's Crono, then it's the gentleman in the frog costume, and now it's you. It's been three times already…" She sighed. "I worry a lot for her. Lately she's been traveling around the world with that machine of hers. I've never seen something like that before…"

It was easy to tell that Lara was clueless about Lucca's true adventure. If she didn't know anything about the Epoch, then it was safe to say she didn't know what Lucca was doing at all. "Is Lucca…always like that?" Link asked.

Lara looked confused. "Why do you ask?" she asked.

"Oh, um, that's because I worry about her too…" Link trailed off. "She's very energetic, I can tell. But she sometimes looks a bit gloomy that makes me feel uneasy."

The woman chuckled heartily. "You worry about her a lot, don't you, Link?" she asked.

Link blushed slightly. "I-I treasure all the friends I make in my journeys. She's no different."

"I like when other people worry about her," Lara said. "I feel safe when others take care of her. Her energy gets so big when she has something in mind to create with my husband. Usually, they end up making a lot of smoke in the house, but it makes me happy to hear them laughing afterward."

The Hylian smiled a bit. "I can tell now that you're a caring mother," he said.

"O-oh my, don't say those things, please," Lara said as she blushed. "I get very embarrassed when people compliment me. You're a real gentleman like the man in the frog costume."

"(And she doesn't even know the guy Frog is not wearing a costume…)" Link thought. "Thanks for the compliment, miss."

"You're welcome," Lara said warmly. "Well, Link, I hope you take good care of Lucca while I'm here. I wouldn't want her to get in real trouble somewhere…"

"I'll take care of her," Link said. "If she's in trouble, I'll protect her."

"Just be careful around her. Lucca is still single."

"(Why does everyone say the same stuff to me when I befriend a girl?)" Link thought annoyed. "I-I don't love her…a-and I'm not saying I don't like her either!"

Lara laughed for a bit. "I'm joking with you. Sorry if I got you all flustered."

"Everyone does the same with me lately…" Link muttered.

Lucca's mother looked a bit serious. "In all seriousness, please, take care of her," she said. "I can't even see her in the living room by myself."

Link stared at Lara for a brief moment. "Wait, what does that even mean?" he asked.

"You haven't noticed yet?" Lara asked. "I can't move from this chair without someone else's help."

"Why's that? Are your legs paralyzed?"

Lara looked outside where a nest of birds sat on top a tree's branch. "More like I don't have legs…" she muttered.

The Hylian looked down on the floor to Lara's skirt. With a closer look, he noticed that Lara's feet weren't touching the floor. Only the empty space between the floor and the dress were there, as Link saw. He looked a bit horrified at this, but he managed to keep a straight look.

Lara looked back at Link, forcing a smile. "But it's okay. I've become used in being in my room all this time," she said. "I feel like some sort of sage when Taban or Lucca comes here. I'm the one who puts them in their place. Thanks to my condition, those two work hard to maintain our family. Most of the time they don't succeed, but we just started a small crop field next to our house."

"(Oh Din…)" Link thought. "And…how did you lose your legs?" he asked, twitching mentally at the thought.

Lara frowned at the question. "It's some kind of a short but tragic story…and I would rather not talk about it now," she said. "Maybe I could tell you with time, but I just met you, and telling this to you is…a bit intimate. You understand, right, Link?"

"Y-yeah, I do," Link said nodding.

"Thank you," Lara said. "For now, though, I'd like you to stay with Lucca and see that she doesn't get in trouble. It's not like she's having some kind of dangerous adventure, but she worries me still since she's my daughter."

"I know what maternal love is," Link said. "I'll keep her safe."

From the stairs, Lucca came rushing in before stopping next to Link. She caught her breath a bit and looked at Lara. "H-hi, Mom," she greeted.

"There you are, Lucca," Lara said. "I've been worried sick about you all this time. Where were you?"

Lucca chuckled a bit. "Y-you know, here and there around the world with Crono and the others," she said.

Lara smiled. "I see you've made new friends," she said as she looked at Link. "Every once in a while, you always bring a new friend in here. Are you sure you know how to handle your friendships, my dear?"

"Y-yes," Lucca said before she hastily slammed her hand on Link's right shoulder. "A-and now, he was just about to help me out with the Epoch outside."

"(What?)" Link thought.

Lucca's mother chuckled. "Oh, sorry for keeping you here, Link. I didn't know you were helping Lucca with her inventions," she said.

"T-that's fine," Link said before Lucca promptly directed him to walk down the stairs. "S-see you later, miss!" he said.

Lara tilted her head after seeing Link walking down the stairs. "Lucca, is something wrong?" she asked.

"Definitely not, Mom," Lucca said with a nervous chuckle. She waved her hand to Lara as she walked down the stairs. "I'll come later, okay? See you later, Mom!"

"…See you later, Lucca," Lara said confused.

As Link walked down the stairs, Lucca soon joined him. She looked a bit serious at him once they touched the ground floor. "What do you think you're doing?" Lucca muttered.

"I was just meeting your mother," Link said. "Was that wrong to do?"

Lucca looked worried. "E-er, no, I was just worried that I didn't see you anywhere when I came back. Zelda told me you went in here," she said. "We're not that acquainted yet, you know! I need to keep an eye out to be careful!"

"I'm not trying to bother you," Link said. "Sorry if I did…"

Lucca sighed and waved a hand to Link's face. "Don't go anywhere else within my house without my permission, okay?" she asked. "You're lucky my Mom doesn't scold strangers in coming into her room. Maybe she thought you were a good guy because of how you look. She got pretty used to Crono, anyway."

"Okay, I'll have that in mind…"

"Good boy," Lucca said sarcastically before they walked back into the living room. The inventor looked around, seeing Marle and Zelda nowhere. "…Where are those two? They were picking up the mess when I entered."

Just then, Marle appeared from behind a machine. "Lucca, can you come over here?" she asked. "We've got a problem."

"Um, okay, what problem?" Lucca asked before she and Link walked past the machine to see what was going on. They found Zelda's dress stuck inside a conveyor belt, and the princess tried to pull it out.

"Why did my dress have to get stuck inside this dreaded thing of all the stuff scattered on the floor?" Zelda asked annoyed as she tried to pull off her dress with no avail. "I didn't see this conveyor belt being here either! All this trash makes the floor invisible to the human eye!"

Marle turned to Lucca and Link. "I tried to pull it out, but…" She noticed Lucca disappeared from her spot, shocking Link in the process. "Hey, where did she go now?"

A clicking sound was heard, and Marle turned to Zelda where she saw Lucca crouched down on the conveyor belt, hastily taking the dress's skirt out from the machine. "G-geez, don't scare me like that," she said as she sweated a bit, standing back up. "The last thing I want to hear is people getting into accidents inside my own living room. Seriously, be more careful around here."

Zelda dusted off her skirt and nodded at the nervous Lucca. "I'll be more careful if this place gets cleaned soon," she complained.

"I-I'll clean the place later!" Lucca said hastily.

Marle noticed the sweat forming on Lucca's face. "Lucca, you're kinda getting sweaty," she said. "Is your helmet making you hot, is it a bit too tight or what?"

"D-don't say things like that, Marle! I like my helmet!" Lucca protested.

"(Mental note: Don't knock Lucca's helmet,)" Marle thought with a chuckle.

Lucca turned to Zelda. "You're lucky the conveyor belt didn't have energy. It'd have activated," she said.

Zelda gasped at this. "I-I'm glad it didn't have energy, then," she said. "But…why have a conveyor belt placed here?"

"See the machine on the other end?" Lucca asked as she pointed at the machine on the other end of the conveyor belt. "That was a failed experiment my Dad couldn't complete a long time ago. It was supposedly going to be an electric power source, but it didn't quite receive power from this conveyor belt. If you ran on top of this, you could produce electricity and workout at the same time!" Her glasses turned foggy. "Just imagine how revolutionary this machine could've been back then! If I can overcome the errors, I might be able to revolutionize the world as we know it today! A new era where machinery would be the new way to live instead of all the stuff that works with fire! Everything would then be relying with electricity to the maximum potency!"

The princess backed away from the interested inventor before Marle knocked on Lucca's helmet to snap her out. "Kingdom of Guardia to Lucca, wake up!" Marle yelled.

Lucca's glasses turned back to normal, signaling that she snapped out of it. "O-oh, sorry, I got a bit carried away again…" she said.

Most of them silently backed away from her.

Robo came into the room. "Lucca, we need the materials. Have you found them yet?" he asked.

Lucca gasped and quickly went to a corner where she took several machine parts from a pile. "I-I got them right here," she said before rushing out the room. "I'm coming, Dad!" she yelled from outside.

After the inventor ran out of the living room, Robo's eyes flickered. "My sensors indicate Lucca's blood pressure increased by fourfold for a brief time," he said. "Did something trigger such behavior? Is she ill?"

Marle, Link, and Zelda exchanged glances.

Two hours later…

The group of five, along with Taban, stood in front of the newly remodeled Epoch. Behind the two seats, a new row with three seats awaited their passengers to seat. The windshield had to be expanded behind the seats so it wouldn't protect the first three seats.

"Remodeling complete," Robo said. "No internal damage was done to the Epoch. Process was flawless."

Lucca clasped her hands together and giggled. "Alright, it's looks good now," she said. "Now we'll be able to transport more people through time." She hugged her father. "Thanks, Dad!"

Taban embraced his daughter tightly. "You try to be careful out there, you got that, Lucca?" he asked.

"Yeah, I will, just don't tell Mom what I've been doing all this time," Lucca said before they stopped hugging. She turned to the others. "Let's go back with everyone so we can start our search!"

Music stops

"Finally, I'll be able to sit somewhere soft instead of the floor," Link said as he turned to look at Zelda, who stared into the empty space in front of her. "…Zelda, is something wrong?" he asked. "You're not looking so good…"

Zelda's lips trembled as she quickly pointed to the other side of the Epoch, seeing a small green patch jumping out from it. "T-there it is!" she yelled.

"What's there?" Marle asked as everyone turned to the direction Zelda was looking at. "…A-AAAAAAAAAH!"

On the other side of the Epoch, from a small patch of grass, Froggy appeared out of nowhere and looked around confused. His stomach looked a bit too full, possibly because he had both a tablet and an item stuck inside. He had a very worried look as he croaked sadly to himself. Once he turned to look to his right where a bunch of people was staring at him, he panicked and began jumping towards a small area of trees.

Lucca screamed loudly and pointed an accusing finger to the runaway frog. "I-it's the frog! T-that's the frog who stole my Gate Key!" she yelled.

"You drenched fiend!" Taban yelled. "Don't go stealing my daughter's creations!"

Zelda turned to Link and slapped his cheek to snap him out of his shocked state. "Don't just stand in there and go catch it!" she ordered.

"H-hey, yell at me all you want, but don't slap me!" Link yelled.

"Go get that frog, man!" yelled Marle.

"Oh, for the love of Farore…" Link muttered before he began chasing after the frog, with the others following him some seconds later.

"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!" Froggy croaked with panic as he tried to run away from the strangers that suddenly were fixated on catching him. The poor frog was so frightened that he couldn't trust anyone else. Since he was lost, Froggy wanted to find Big by himself, and he hadn't grow too fond of the Smashers since they were total strangers to him.

"You're mine!" Link yelled as he lunged at the frog, just for the amphibian to turn to the right and hop away from his hands. Link yelled and then fell face-first on a rock, which knocked him out of cold.

"It's getting away!" Lucca yelled as Froggy was about to reach the trees and tall grass patches.

Zelda came up with an idea and used Farore's Wind to teleport right instantly in front of the frog, amazing the other four in the process. Before she could duck down to grab the frog, unfortunately, Froggy was too panicked to notice he dove right under her skirt. "YIAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Zelda let out a fearsome scream while Froggy jumped out from her skirt into the tall grass patches.

"It won't get away from us!" Marle yelled as she dove into the grass where she began "swimming" inside to find the frog. The others (with Zelda shaking in fear) refrained from jumping inside since Marle was crawling everywhere so fast with the frog jumping out from time to time. He then jumped outside where a set of trees covered from everyone's sight.

"Return at once!" Robo yelled as he went after the frog with Lucca and Taban, leaving Marle to search for a disappeared Froggy in the grass.

The trio saw the frog taking a right turn behind a tree. "It went that way!" Taban yelled as he accelerated and turned to the right. Lucca noticed that his father came to a stop right after he gazed behind the tree.

"Hey, Dad, don't stand there! Don't let it get away!" Lucca yelled before joining her father with Robo catching up with them. The inventor looked at her father's expression before she looked to the general direction. Lucca gasped loudly while Robo walked forward and knelt down on the grass.

Froggy had disappeared from their sight, but something shocked them all when they looked down at the grass. Right in front of a patch of grass, there was some kind of blue oval floating over it. Within the blue oval, some kind of distortion bent inside, causing no harm to the environment around it. "A Gate," Robo said. "This was just recently used."

"N-no way," Lucca said in disbelief. "T-that frog escaped through this gate, then?"

"It appears so," Robo said before standing up. "Would you like me to analyze this Gate's destination?"

"Can you do that, Robo?" Lucca asked.

"I do not possess the necessary upgrades, but I should be able to find out where this Gate leads," Robo said before staring down at the Gate, his eyes flickering. "Please hope that I can pull this out."

Soon, Zelda, Marle, and Link (with a nasty hemorrhage on his forehead) joined them together. "W-where did it run off?" Link asked.

Lucca explained everything to them briefly. "And it escaped through this Gate here," Lucca said as she pointed at the Gate Robo was analyzing.

Marle groaned loudly. "You've gotta be kidding me! That frog escaped through this random Gate? How the hell did this Gate appear close to your house, anyway?" she asked.

"I-I don't know," Lucca said as she adjusted her glasses. "M-maybe it was one of those Gates that appear once like the one we used when we were chased off from your castle?" she asked.

"Who uses these things today? Civilized people like us use Epochs!" Marle said. "The Gate Key is so Middle Ages by now…"

Shrugging at Marle's comment, Lucca looked concerned at Robo. "Robo, are you getting something?" she asked.

"Analysis complete," Robo said, his eyes stopping flickering. "This Gate's exit leads to the Antiquity in 12,000 B.C."

Marle sighed at this. "Oh well, that place is much easier to explore…unless the frog dove into the ocean," she said.

Zelda thought for a moment. "Is that time period bad?" she asked.

"Nah, let's just say some crazy b(beep)h used a WHOLE LOT OF DESTRUCTIVE POWER and made her kingdom sink into the ocean," Marle said. "After an INEVITABLE CATASTROPHE, that era became nearly OBLITERATED, and now there are a few islands with winter being a recurrent SEASON," she emphasized, receiving stares from the others.

"…Oh," Zelda remembered, "you mean the destruction of the Kingdom of Zeal that was caused by the power-hungry Queen Zeal?"

"Yeah, but my version sounds way shorter and funnier," Marle said.

Taban scratched his hat. "I dunno what you youngsters are talking about, but are you planning to chase that little frog?" he asked.

"Yup," Lucca said. "We should chase after it now or else it'll get away." She looked at Link. "…Gosh, dude, that's a pretty big hemorrhage you got on your forehead. I hope it heals soon."

"Thanks for noticing," Link mumbled annoyed.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

"I feel so left out all of a sudden," Chris said as he was sitting down, leaning against the fence where Espio was leaning to. "Have you ever felt that you're being left out so suddenly?" he asked as he stared into the nothingness.

Espio replied by shrugging his shoulders. "I get that a lot," he admitted.

"If I start to feel left out, I tend to believe crazy things when nobody's looking," Chris said. "One of those crazy things is that I feel someone out there is controlling my life through sentences like as if I was some kind of video game character, but instead being used in some literature form." He looked up at Espio. "Have you?"

"…" Espio rolled his eyes. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard from you."

"H-heheheheh, I know," Chris said. "I'm just being paranoid. Don't mind me…"

"What do you suppose I've been trying to do all this time once you started this conversation?" Espio muttered to himself. He shrugged more once he saw that DK had fallen asleep, and Ayla lied down her head on his chest while she covered herself with an arm. "…Those two… My mind can't stop thinking all the scary images it's making…" he muttered.

Chris turned to look at his direction. "…Meh, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later," he said. "Those two SOMEHOW look like they were made for each other… I hope it doesn't spawn a pairing," he muttered the last part before looking to Mewtwo and Magus standing besides Espio.

"I can't stand darkness as much as you do," Mewtwo told Magus. "The kind of people like me can't focus their psychic powers with those who study the black arts. In my world, many different creatures have dark affinities that shroud their minds with darkness that can easily throw off psychic attacks and even mind reading. They're all vile in mind despite their docile appearances."

Magus chuckled, crossing his arms. "By that logic, would you be at a disadvantage if I were to fight you with my dark arts?" he asked interested.

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "That's my only fatal weakness: darkness."

"Hmph, I won't use my magic on you," Magus said. "I respect the people who acknowledge my potential with magic. You're one of the few who have perceived that very easily."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mewtwo said, making a small grin. "I could get to see how to counterattack dark magic if I used your help."

"Do as you wish, just don't bother me too much with it."

"I don't even look like I'm going to bother you."

Chris looked bored at them. "(Dark type Pokémon would think Mewtwo is a racist against them with all that stuff he's saying…)" he trailed off in thought.

As Gaspar seemingly fell asleep while standing next to the lamppost in the middle of the room (with a mucus bubble inflating from time to time), an engine sound blared a bit before Link, Zelda, Lucca, Marle, and Robo jumped on to the rocky stairway, walking into the others' view. "We're back," Lucca said. "The Epoch has more seats so you guys can travel with us."

The World Traveler stood back up and looked at Link. "Yuck, that hemorrhage's huge…" he said with disgust. "What happened to you?"

"The usual," Link said bored, "I was chasing the frog we were chasing that got itself somewhere else in the time, and I tripped and hit my forehead against a random rock."

"Oh, that was really unluc-"

"Wait, you chased Froggy?" Espio suddenly asked. "You saw him?"

"We were so close in catching that damn frog, but it got away through a hidden Gate next to my house!" Lucca complained. "Ugh, I can't believe this happened!"

Marle walked to Gaspar and yelled, "WAKE UP!"

Gaspar's bubble popped, making him wake up. "Oh, oh, sorry, I took a quick nap. What seems to be the problem?" he asked Marle.

Marle opened her arms. "The frog we were looking for dove into another Gate by Lucca's house!" she explained. "There are more Gates out there than the ones we know?"

"Yes," Gaspar said. "While you've found the most obvious Gates, there are some scattered across the eras that are well hidden. However, I doubt that the frog will stumble upon the End of Time since he is practically just one person and not four," he explained. "That leaves all of you to go from era to era."

"That stinks hard!" Marle complained. "It'll be a whole lot easier if there were four frogs, but noooooooooo, it had to be one…"

"It escaped to the Antiquity," Lucca said. "At least Robo can detect any Gates' ending point… So, if he can do that, he should go with everyone else all the time."

"I'd suggest you to call everyone before discussing things with us," Mewtwo said as he pointed at Spekkio's room, where clashing sounds of steel rang out from it. "They should be informed."

The vivacious princess went to open the door to stick her head in. "ALRIGHT, YOU LAZY-DO-NOTHINGS! MOVE YOUR BUTTS AND C'MERE RIGHT NOW!" she ordered.

Zelda frowned at this while Chris tried healing Link's hemorrhage with a Soul Etude. "I'm really getting used to her explosive attitude… This must be quite bad for a person like me," she muttered the last part.

A general meeting later…

After explaining everything to everyone once again, Frog crossed his arms. "Who shall go to the Antiquity?" he asked.

"Well, we decided that Robo should go no matter what the current group is," Lucca said. "If Gaspar is right about more Gates, we should be ready to search for the frog whenever he travels to a different era."

Magus walked forward. "If you don't mind, I'd like to visit the Antiquity one more time," he said. "I…have a feeling that I need to go there."

Crono raised his hand. "Oh, you want to go, Crono?" Marle asked, getting a nod from the red-haired swordsman. "Okay," she said.

The World Traveler, having healed Link's hemorrhage, looked in disbelief at Marle. He thought Crono was going to say something, but Marle didn't let him utter a reply. "U-um, I'm going too," Chris said. "I'm getting a bit sick of sitting down all day."

Falco raised his hand. "I'm bored at staring three people exchanging sword clashes all day without accidentally impaling themselves with their swords. I'm going," he said.

"Allow me as well," Espio said as he stepped forward. "Like many of us here, I'm bored."

Lucca crossed her arms and nodded. "Okay, Robo will drive the Epoch. You guys need to be aware of anything in the Antiquity, got that?" she asked. "Who knows…maybe that frog could end up altering the history as we know it…but that's just plain stupid."

"Oh ho ho ho, don't think like that," Gaspar said. "Even the smallest change could end up altering story in very amusing ways… Those amusing ways aren't very funny, though."

"Thank you for the friendly warning of screwing up time as we know it with the Butterfly Effect, old man," Falco joked with a fake smile. He clapped his hands together and walked towards the Epoch's direction. "Hey, let's get this show on the road before I get blind of seeing all this darkness!" he called out.

Robo hurried along. "It is my duty to fly the Epoch. Such an inexperienced pilot should not drive a time-traveling ship," he said as the others tagged along.

"Inexperienced pilot? Are you mocking me?" Falco asked. "I'm the #1 Arwing Pilot you'll ever meet, steel can."

"Then, do you have what it takes to operate a time-traveling machine like the Epoch?"

"What kind of lame name is 'Epoch', anyway?" he asked as they all jumped down and boarded the Epoch. "And what kind of oval design is this? Where's the laser beams in this?"

"The Epoch does possess firepower capabilities, but we do not use it at all. It was only meant to be used as a time-traveling ship."

"Lame," Falco said. "Here, let me take the wheel."

"I cannot allow you to do that," Robo said. "While your experience may be very well known in another different flight ship, it will not apply quite well here. Besides, the Epoch differs greatly from what you drive."

"It can't be THAT different."

"It is."

"Just let me learn for myself! I'm a good pilot! I learned how to drive an Arwing in a week!"

"Falco, just shut up and sit back here!" Chris yelled.

"Don't treat me like a damn kid, Chris!"

A scythe being unsheathed from somewhere echoed from the rocky staircase's direction.

"HOLY SH-" Falco mildly cursed.

"I had quite enough of your childish behavior," Magus said. "Unless you want my scythe to cross your feathered throat, I advise you to sit down, and shut up."

"M-Magus, your long scythe's tip is just about to pinch me in my nose…" Chris spoke softly. "…M-move it back, w-will you? Falco, sit down, dammit!"

"I do not approve of such violent methods being used to convince him to calm down, but I would approve it if he does seat down," Robo said. "I would approve it only this time."

"Tsk, I won't do it again if he doesn't this again either," Magus said. "What will it be, birdbrain?"

"F-for once, I wanna crap my pants at hearing somebody calling me a birdbrain…" Falco muttered with a gulp. "I-I'll seat down, dude, I'll seat down, just p-please move that scythe away from my throat…" he muttered softly before sitting down between Espio and Chris, making Magus move back his scythe.

"Thank you, everyone," Robo said.

And with a windshield's sound closing down upon them, the Epoch disappeared into time and space, as everyone else was left behind.

"…I have a premonition that somebody will die very soon," Lucca muttered.

"Oh, someone will die if they tease Magus' temper," Frog said seriously. "That should not be taken as a joke." He turned to Meta Knight. "Incidentally, we have yet to finish our spar with a sword pointed down at us."

Meta Knight nodded. "If you wish to continue, I won't digress," he said.

At this, Marle pumped up a fist. "A swordfight between a frog and a small knight? Ooh, I gotta see this one!" she said.

"Refrain from judging me by my size, please…" Meta Knight trailed off.

"Aww, but you look so cute instead of intimidating," Marle teased. "And I bet that your face behind your mask is a lot cuter. Here, lemme take it off from yo-"

Meta Knight slapped Marle's hand away from touching his mask. "If you'll excuse us, we have a sparring match to finish," he told her as he walked back into Spekkio's room with Frog exchanging glances with her before following him.

Marle pouted at this. "You guys irritate me when you do that kind of thing, I swear," she said before looking at Lucca. "Wanna come and watch them fight?"

"You go on ahead," Lucca said as she took out a phase gun from her bag. "I'm going to make some modifications to my phase gun so it can shoot faster."

"If I want to enjoy this swordfight, I need someone to bet stuff," Marle said before she walked to Sonic and Chip. "Wanna bet some crazy stuff in that swordfight?"

"I dunno," Sonic said amused. "What could a girl bet to a guy like me?"

"Us, Sonic, us," Chip corrected.

"If I wanted to, I could bet my status as a princess to you guys," Marle said with a wink.

"You forgot we're GUYS?" Sonic asked with emphasis.

"Fine, change my bet to hundreds and hundreds of gold," she corrected. "Money buys happiness. Think of all the stuff you could get with my money."

"Would that include food like chili dogs?"

"I dunno what chili dogs are, but…yup."

Sonic shook hands with her. "You're ON," he said with a confident chuckle before Chip joined in with him as well. The three ran into Spekkio's room to watch the sparring match between Frog and Meta Knight.

Lucca stared at DK and Ayla sleeping on the floor. The two had been sleeping for a long while. Shrugging at them, she sat down on the floor and began making modifications to her phase gun. Link saw this and sat down besides her. "Oh, it's you again," Lucca said without looking at him. "What do you want this time?" she asked.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did back at your house," Link said. "I have a very curious attitude that makes me do things I don't want to do."

"Yet you entered my mother's room without telling you to do so," Lucca said.

"Y-yeah, but you said you had a mother, so I wanted to meet her," Link said, seeing that Lucca was very focused on her phase gun than him. "…A-anyway, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Lucca replied as she took out a screwdriver from her bag. "What happens in the past stays in the past."

"Yes…" Link trailed off with a sigh. "…Do I annoy you unintentionally?"

"N-no," Lucca said. "It's just that, well, I feel rather stressed all of a sudden," she said. "There are people who are literally out of this world giving us a hand, for example. All this happened so suddenly and I can't get all that over my head. Don't think I hate you or anything, but it's hard for me to get used to this kind of thing…" She sighed. "But…I think I feel right at home because people constantly worry about me."

"Like Crono?"

"Oh, Crono is always worrying about me," Lucca said. "I surely make him happy because he always had something to look forward to every day in our childhood. It was always another kind of misadventure with me." She chuckled at the memories. "Nevertheless, he's nice to have around."

"I see," Link said. "Does he console you whenever you're sad?"

"Of course," Lucca said. "He and you aren't that different. For some reason, I think you're alike. Both of you are swordsmen and worry about me… Geez, I'm getting a lot of security unintentionally. Do I look so fragile? I can take care of myself just fine."

"I can trust that you can take care of yourself alone," Link said. "But…do you take care of yourself…emotionally?"

Lucca suddenly let go of her phase gun. Gasping at this, she quickly picked it back up and sweated a bit at the question. "W-why, yes, I can take care of myself emotionally… Do I look like it, though?" she asked.

"With that helmet…"

"Not you too!" Lucca argued, still not looking at Link at the slightest. "I'll just take that comment about my helmet as a sign of a yes, then."

"S-sorry," Link apologized.

"It's okay now," Lucca said. "At this rate, I'll wear a tiara…"

"(At least I'm making some progress with her,)" Link said. "(I know something is troubling her, but I don't know if I should just stop… No…I need to help her out somehow,)" he thought seriously. "(But I need to get closer to her, but how?)"

"So, Link…are you just a normal swordsman?" Lucca asked.

"A normal swordsman? Well, not really," Link said. "You're not going to believe it, but I'm an important hero to the Kingdom of Hyrule."

"You're right, I don't believe you," Lucca said. "Unless you show me some proof that you're a hero, then I don't believe you."

Link was struck by an idea and showed her his right hand's backside. The Triforce of Courage shone a bit, making the inventor gasp at the phenomenon. "See the glowing triangle? That's my Triforce of Courage," Link said. "It's a treasure handed down by the gods of Hyrule to those who are destined to protect and serve its kingdom. Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom, and…some other guy I don't want to mention has the Triforce of Power. Together, they all form the Triforce."

"W-wow," Lucca said amazed, shifting her focus to the glowing triangle. "A-are you sure that's not some light you're hiding under your gauntlets?"

"No…" Link said. "It's the real deal."

Lucca slightly touched the symbol for a bit, adjusting her glasses at its yellow shine. "T-this is incredible… I'm not much of a fan of things like this, but…this really looks interesting…" she muttered before Link pulled his hand back, the symbol turning dimmer until disappearing. "Okay, I think I can believe you in your history now. I didn't know you had something like that…"

"(Oh, thank you,)" Link thought. "(She seems interested in me now… Wait…that sounded wrong. She, um, doesn't seem to ignore me any longer… Was that better? Oh, who cares? At least she's listening to me this time,)" he thought. "(But…I don't know what to tell her. I need to keep this pace with her or else she'll go back to ignore me. What could I talk about with her now? Something that could pick her interest…)"

Lucca returned to focus on the phase gun, dismaying Link a bit. "Well then, what have you done over there in your Hyrule kingdom?" she asked.

"Oh, about that… (I shouldn't tell her that I reincarnate so many times… That'll probably and most likely spook her out and ignore me altogether.) …I've done a lot of stuff," Link said. "It's always the same tale of saving Hyrule from Ganondorf. Thanks to that guy, I had to go through a lot like traveling through time an-"

Lucca looked at Link. "Traveling through time?" she asked confused.

"(…Wait a minute, yes!)" Link thought. "(How could I forget? With all the time-traveling stuff she has to deal with, maybe I could somehow relate her business with mine through my previous adventures! That should work nicely!) Y-yeah!" Link said nodding. "When I was younger, I used to have this ocarina that allowed me to go through time. I could go seven years into the future to grow into an adult and confront Ganondorf."

"Who's Ganondorf?"

"The other chosen one to wield the Triforce of Power," Link explained. "Unlike Zelda or me, Ganondorf stole the Triforce of Power from the gods and used it to conquer Hyrule. I was unable to face him as a kid, so I had to travel through time and turn into an adult to face him."

Lucca stared at Link. "…So…does that mean you're really a kid now?"

"(…Dammit,)" Link thought. "(That story of my life was over with. I'm a very different Link this time. I shouldn't keep this up any longer…but I got her attention this time. Wait, maybe I can work this through…) Oh no, I grew older naturally now," Link said.

"Then, wouldn't that mean you need to defeat Ganondorf once more since you technically defeated his future self in the future?"

"(Holy… She's…really listening to all the small details,)" Link thought worried. "(She isn't smart for nothing… Think…think… Oh, wait…) T-that's the problem," Link said. "I…screwed up in that part and now Ganondorf…well…escaped and joined the Subspace Army we told you about when we came here… (Please, please, believe me in that part…)"

"…Oh, I see," Lucca said.

"(Phew…)"

"Link, have tried changing something in the past?" Lucca asked interested. "You told me you could travel through time. Did you have to go back to your child form and correct something?"

"About that, that happened rarely," Link said. "If I wanted to unlock something in the future, I had to go back to the past and change things. Luckily, everything I changed in the past was related to dungeons and the like."

"Oh…" Lucca seemed a bit depressed at this answer.

Link noticed the depressed look, which in turn forced him to continue with his story. "Can you do that, though?" he asked.

"M-me? U-um, no," Lucca said. "The Epoch doesn't connect with any eras that are apart from others by a year or so. I wouldn't mind if I could… If I could, I'd change things that shouldn't have happened…" She gasped and forced a smile. "B-but other than that, I don't have anything else to change."

Link chuckled, seeing that he was making a considerable amount of progress in his relationship with Lucca.

From a safe distance, Zelda watched the two talking with each other. She sighed to herself as she continued listening to them. "Does he worry you a lot?"

The Hylian princess gasped and turned around to see Mewtwo leaned against the fence with crossed arms, a serious gaze directed at Zelda. "M-Mewtwo, don't scare me like that!" she muttered.

"I've been here ever since you started eavesdropping on Link and the girl," Mewtwo pointed out.

"H-how could you say such a thing? I'm not eavesdropping on them!"

"Unfortunately, I disagree with you," Mewtwo said as he shook his head. "Though it might not look obvious to some people, it's obvious to me that you're worried because he's conversing with another person."

Zelda glared a bit at Mewtwo. "What are you trying to say? Do you think I'm jealous?" she asked.

"I never meant such a thought," Mewtwo said. "Rather, I was thinking you just worried about him. I don't want to read your mind because that would be intruding in your thoughts, and I respect others' privacies very much."

The princess of Hyrule sighed a bit at this.

"You could ask me what's bothering you so your stress stops annoying you."

"…I don't think I'm ready to discuss this," Zelda muttered. "Not to you, at least…"

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "Fine, but if you want, you can tell me anytime."

"That's odd of you," Zelda said. "Why are you being nice to me for a change?"

"Emotion can have a great impact on people's actions," Mewtwo explained. "They greatly influence anyone at the time they have to fight, distracting themselves with seemingly trivial things. Would you rather think about them and let a fiend strike you?"

"N-no…"

"Then you better pull yourself together," Mewtwo warned Zelda. "We don't know when the Subspace Army will strike."

Zelda looked away from him before fixing her gaze towards Link and Lucca. "(…He's right, I need to pull myself together… But…I just wonder why I worry about Link too much…)" she thought. "(…Am I…that worried of falling in love…with him? N-no, no, no, that shouldn't be it! There should be another reason behind all this!)"

Mewtwo calmly observed Zelda fretting over her own thoughts. "(Is it so much to tell them to tell their feelings to each other?)" Mewtwo thought with a frown. "(Or is it love ridiculously complicated as they say?)"

The waves of darkness and emptiness lingered in the End of Time.

-12,000 B.C. – Antiquity-

Skies

Chrono Trigger – Corridor of Time

"And I dare to ask, why are we flying around in the ice age?" Falco asked with crossed arms.

Unlike the populated Present era, the Antiquity era looked extremely different. Instead of continents expanding over the horizon, a sea full of icebergs floated under the Epoch. Occasionally, some big islands were found scattered between the icebergs, and some mountains adorned a selected few. The sky was all cloudy with some occasional snow calmly raining down over the ocean.

"Imagine how all worlds could've started with an ice age," Espio said as he looked over the horizon.

"How can you be admiring all that big coffin of ice under our butts?" Falco asked irritated. "I don't get why some people who barely ever wear clothes can think ice is all that good."

"I don't get why you haven't stopped complaining about all the ice even though this ship has a heater technology built into it," Magus said as he stared away from any of the five passengers in the Epoch. "You're lucky we haven't touched land yet."

"You're right, I'm so lucky," Falco said as he leaned back to his seat. "I'm not planning to leave this place and freeze myself to death outside. One question that will surely be annoying: are we there or SOMEWHERE yet?" he asked.

"My apologies," Robo said as he drove the Epoch. "I cannot find a suitable area where our target has run off to yet. The closest possibility is that the Gate's other end lies on an island."

"But…" Chris trailed off in thoughts, "didn't Lucca say that you knew Froggy went here?"

"I was only able to detect the Gate's tunnel end," Robo said. "I was unable to detect the exact point where the other end resides. I am afraid I can only detect the time and not the place."

"Oh god…"

"However, I am certain that the Gates do not reside within the water," Robo said before his eyes flickered. "Therefore, the Gate should be on an island. I am using my scanner to detect any time abnormalities forming somewhere, and anything close to them would most likely be a Gate."

"Sweet," Falco said relieved. "I'd hate to land on every single random island and search for a little frog."

"Please, be patient until I pick up the faintest signal possible within my range," Robo instructed. "Until then, relax."

Falco smiled pleased. "Aww, the word I like to hear: relax," he said. "I'm starting to like this robot."

"Unfortunately, I do not possess reproductive organs, nor I am a female. You should try mating with one of your same species," Robo said, making most of them chuckle silently.

"I-I didn't mean to say I LOVED you, steel can!" Falco yelled.

"My apologies," Robo merely apologized.

"Ugh…"

"Staying on topic," Robo began, "it will be a small matter of time before I track down the distortion."

"Were you meant to be an all-purpose robot or something?" Chris asked.

"I wish I was, but I do not remember most of my past," Robo said. "However, I cherish my new memories more than the old ones."

Seeing that Crono was looking outside, Chris knew it was the time to have a conversation with him. Whether or not it was possible to make Crono talk, the teen had to find out eventually. "Crono," Chris began, "can I talk with you?"

Crono blinked and looked over his shoulder at Chris.

"I…was wondering if you coul-"

"I am detecting a new temporal distortion coming from the Village Commons Island," Robo interrupted. "This new Gate was recently formed a few minutes ago, so it must be the same Gate that the frog used to escape. Initiating descending," he said as he tilted down the Epoch, directing it to a bigger island.

Crono looked away from Chris. "(B-but I was just about to have a talk with Crono!)" Chris thought with dismay while Crono looked confident in finding the frog.

Village Commons

After the windshield opened up, Falco quickly embraced himself. "You guys go on ahead. I'll take care of this Epoch thing," he said.

"Weren't you complaining that you were bored of doing nothing?" Espio asked before he could jump down.

"No, this is different," Falco said with a grin. "I get to take care of a ship while you find a frog. That's nice multitasking if you ask me."

"It's not so cold out here, you know!" yelled Chris from the ground floor. "It's okay unless you dive into a snow mountain!"

Espio jumped down of the ship. The pilot shifted his eyes around for a bit before he grunted loudly and jumped down the ship, finding the temperature…bearable. "Phew, he wasn't kidding… Well, I can live with this, I guess," he said before joining up with the others.

The island where they had landed had several huts spread across the snowy landscape. A single forest and a mountain composed the island's environment together with the settlement. As they walked through the settlement, a few villagers spotted them. The villagers, oddly enough, dressed differently from each other. Ones were dressed more sophisticated than the ones who dressed in rags of leather and wool. This created some kind of weird diversity with the population of people.

"Why are some of them dressing differently from each other?" Espio asked as the people minded their own business.

"Some of them belong to the Kingdom of Zeal," Magus explained. "After the cataclysm caused by Lavos, the survivors of the kingdom, or the Enlightened Ones who can wield magic, joined together with the Earthbound Ones, the people who didn't possess magic attributes and were banished from the kingdom because of their inability to use magic like the Enlightened Ones did. Putting their differences away, both 'races' started a culture together so the world can prosper."

"Can they still use magic?" Chris asked.

"No, they can't," Magus said. "After Lavos shunned itself from the world, the Enlightened Ones lost the ability to withdraw power from it, and thus they became like the Earthbound Ones."

"I guess this a little bit better than before," Falco commented. "No racism is gonna take place here now."

"For once, I agree with you."

From the left corner of his eyes, Espio saw a white cat with purple patches on his fur running towards Magus. The cat looked up at the sorcerer and seemed happy to be with him. The chameleon blinked confused at this, thinking Magus was going to kick the feline away. Surprisingly enough, Magus didn't mind the cat at all, as if he allowed it to follow him.

Chris slightly approached the cat to pet its head, but the cat shot him a death glare and meowed menacingly. The teen backed away in fear from the cat while Magus chuckled a bit at this.

"What a strange cat…" Espio remarked.

"Cats were meant to be strange, y'know," Falco said. "They only follow strange people all the time."

Either the cat took Falco's comment the wrong way or it just plain hated people, because as soon as it heard him saying that, it meowed menacingly and in a blink of an eye lunged at his face before starting clawing it with its rather sharp claws.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Falco yelled in pain before he picked the cat and tossed it away. "Stupid cat!" he complained before the cat quickly went back to Magus and glared at Falco. "Grr, all cats either love me or try to kill me. I'll never understand what's wrong with their heads."

Chris looked bored. "So you finally noticed Kat loves you?" he asked.

"N-no way," Falco said as he ran a finger through his face and spotted blood on it. "Stupid fuzzy ball of fur…" he muttered, not hearing Magus chuckling for quite a long time.

Robo stopped walking and looked around the area. "Halt," he said. "The temporal distortion…is right there," he said as he pointed behind a hut, where a Gate was hidden behind a set of buckets.

The group ran to it and examined the Gate. Crono couched down and looked around it to spot any footprints left behind by Froggy. "Froggy came out of this, then," Espio said.

"There is a grave problem, though," Magus said as he looked at the snow. "It's currently snowing, and any footprints left behind were soon covered by more snow," he theorized.

"Oh no, that's bad," Chris said. "Froggy could've run anywhere in this place."

"I am afraid the temperature will not allow me to use my heat visor to detect any footprints left on the snow," Robo said. "Manual labor should suffice at a moment like this."

"Well, that frog shouldn't be stupid enough and dive into the sea where it'll freeze to death," Falco said.

"Why don't we ask the people in this village for information?" Chris asked. "They could've seen Froggy."

Just then, a woman dressed in royal garments walked to them, noticing that they were inspecting the Gate. "Are you the ones looking for a frog?" she asked.

Everyone turned to look at her. "Um, yes, did you see a frog coming out from this?" Falco asked.

"It was a few minutes ago," the woman said. "I was casually filling some buckets with water when suddenly this temporal distortion opened and a panicked frog ran away into the forest," she said before pointing at a forest in front of the only mountain of the whole island. "I didn't mind it, though. As long as this distortion of time is left alone, nothing bad will happen."

"Thank you for your aid," Robo thanked.

"How did you know we were looking for a frog?" Chris asked.

"Just because you were inspecting that temporal distortion," the woman said. "Besides, we've never seen a frog like the one that came out from it. I thought it was special for some reason for opening this." She sighed and walked away. "Only people like our dear Schala would achieve feats like this…and now frogs can do it. The world must be changing in unpredictable ways," she muttered as she disappeared from sight.

"…I feel that Froggy shouldn't have come here in the first place all of a sudden," Espio said.

"People are starting to believe mere frogs can achieve Schala's powers," Magus said aggravated. "Foolish idiots…"

Falco looked annoyed before looking at the forest. "If we don't want some frog from screwing up history, then let's give it a chase right before it escapes!" he yelled, prompting Crono to start running towards the forest.

"(I wanted to talk with him just now, dammit!)" Chris thought before everyone else followed the confident swordsman into the forest.

Forest

After entering the forest clearing, the group looked around the area to spot anything moving on the snow.

"It'll be hard to find a frog in here," Falco said. "It's going to be some Hide-and-Seek game for us."

"Just this game happens through time," Chris said before grunting annoyed. "Please, I want to find Froggy as soon as possible!"

"Then let us start the search," Robo said. "If we divide our forces, we will eventually find the frog and hopefully retrieve the Gate Key and the tablet you lost." He looked around. "…I…sense a faint temporal distortion somewhere within this forest."

"Another one?" Magus asked.

"Yes, it appears another one is here," Robo said. "I do not know its exact location right now, but it should not matter. For now, let us look for the frog."

"Fools! Only I have the right to possess such an artifact instead of you! With it, I shall rise to the power and conquer time itself!" a voice boomed from the forest.

"W-what was that just now?" Chris asked.

Magus looked aggravated at the voice. "Please, don't tell me that fool is still around," he muttered.

"Impossible," Robo said. "We made sure that Dalton was no more after him himself got lost in that battle for the Epoch."

Crono seemed to grunt as he unsheathed his katana and looked around for the voice's source. "Hey, care to explain who this Dalton weirdo is?" Falco asked, crossing his arms.

"How dare you address King Dalton with a foul…beak?" the voice asked angrily before a man stepped out from behind a tree in front of the group. The man was tall. He had long yellow hair, wore a long orange cape, brown eye-patch over his right eye, blue royal clothes under his cape, and brown boots with blue socks. He opened up his cape and opened his arms, laughing maniacally at them. "Mwaaaaaaaahahahahaha!"

"Is…he supposed to be this Dalton guy?" Espio asked, staring at the laughing man.

The man named Dalton stopped laughing and grunted at them. "Why, you little anthropomorphic fool, I am the Great King Dalton!" he proclaimed. "You shall kneel down before my might!"

"…I'd rather not, thank you," Espio said skeptically. "I'm nobody's peon."

"How dare you, I ask, how dare you?" Dalton asked angrily before chuckling at Magus. "So, we meet again, Prophet. How has life fared you until now?"

Magus grunted at Dalton. "How in the name of Schala did you survive your battle against Crono's allies?" he asked.

"Mwahahahahaha!" Dalton laughed. "After that little accident that ended up taking me to an iceberg, I swam all the way here to conquer what was left of the cataclysm caused by Queen Ze-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Falco hastily interrupted before looking at Robo. "Steel can, explain everything from scratch. I don't like skipping the main story and start the sequel of this guy's story."

"This is Dalton," Robo said. "He was Queen Zeal's right-hand man until Magus, when he tried to fight Lavos here a second time, disguised himself as a prophet to prevent Lavos from escaping. Furious of his rank dropping down, Dalton swore vengeance and then tried to take over the people back at the village. Sadly for him, he captured us, but we defeated him when he tried to kill us with the Epoch."

"And then what happened next?" Espio asked.

"While he tried to call forth one of his Golems to fight us, the vortex he made to call one out ended up taking him, which then connects to his story that he was taken to an iceberg around the sea and swam all the way back here," Robo explained. "It should be noted that it was him who gave the Epoch its flight capabilities. Dalton wanted to use it as a carriage for his new kingdom that never came to be."

Dalton made a fist. "Y-you fools. Thanks to you, I almost died freezing on top of a freaking iceberg and swimming back here." He swung his right arm, his cape brushing against the wind. "But now that I'm back, I shall finish what I started!"

"Don't blame us three," Falco said. "We never did anything to you in the first place."

"Silence, birdbrain!" Dalton yelled angrily. "The friend of my enemy will be my enemy as well!"

From behind his back, Magus took out his scythe. "Dalton, I never had the opportunity to shut you myself," he said before grinning. "But now, you've given me the chance to do so."

"You don't scare me, fool!" Dalton said before taking out a familiar frog from his cape, shocking most of them. "Witness the Time-Traveling Frog!"

Ignoring Froggy's new title, Chris gasped as Froggy tried to jump off from Dalton's hand to no avail. "F-Froggy!" he yelled. "H-how did you know Froggy can travel through time?"

"Simple, I saw it coming through that temporal distortion from a safe distance," Dalton explained with a smirk. "I couldn't just barge in the village with all the villagers cursing my name. I just waited for the frog to jump away, and I easily caught it." He held it up, much for Froggy's dismay. "I shall conquer time with the Time-Traveling Frog in my hands! Mwahahaha, !"

"You mean Froggy," Espio said.

The maniac stopped laughing. "What idiotic name is that?" Dalton asked before he shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. Once I'm done with all of you, nobody will stand in my way to my new reign!"

"You shall do no such thing!" Magus yelled.

Dalton chuckled evilly and held out his right hand to them. "Times like this call for an epic battle music," he said. "Go!"

Chrono Trigger – Jolly Ol' Spekkio

The six stared blankly at Dalton, as they wanted to figure out what he meant with the epic battle music. "…Why do we have to deal with weirdoes all the time?" Falco asked with pure disbelief.

"Because all the worlds out there must have one of two weirdoes for us to fight… Otherwise, they wouldn't be real worlds worth visiting…" Chris added with a depressed sigh.

"Touché," Espio muttered nodding.

Grunting at no one in particular, Dalton snapped out of it. "Stop the music!" he demanded. "I asked for my epic battle music, not a lame one!"

Chrono Trigger – Boss Battle 2

"Much, MUCH better, I say! Thank you!" Dalton thanked no one in particular before turning to the group. "Haaaaaaaahahahaha! Prepare to meet your dooms, filthy peasants, for I am the Great King Dalton!"

Espio adjusted his gloves. "Hmph, beating weirdoes is one of my favorite hobbies," he said.

"If he wishes for a fight, I will give him a fight," Robo said.

"Since I think I'll have some issues while fighting six people at a time, I'll call forth one of my precious Golems to assist me in battle!" Dalton proclaimed before sparks circulated around him. He held out his hand high into the air to cast a dark vortex behind him. Froggy, seeing the scary vortex, tried to hop off from Dalton's grip. "Mwahahahahahaha! Fools, you don't know who you're going up against! I shall crush you to smithereens! -"

"Ribbit, rabbit!" Froggy croaked frightened before he managed to jump off from Dalton's hand, diving into a small pile of snow.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Dalton demanded before, instead of calling out one of his so-mentioned Golems, the same portal behind him ended up taking him before vanishing in thin air.

Music stops

The group blinked in unison at this unexpected turn of events. They remained silent, staring at the same spot where Dalton had disappeared from sight. They looked around, but there were no signs of the maniac villain. "…What the hell did just happen?" Falco asked.

"Um…the same vortex he used to call one of his Golems…sucked him like the last time," Robo said.

"…This isn't some kind of tactic where he'll appear and stab our backs from behind, is it?" Espio asked.

Crono looked confused at the whole event before he seemed to sigh, sheathing his katana into its sheath. The World Traveler frowned at the event and sighed as well. "Crazy people will be crazy forever…" he trailed off.

Magus grunted and kept his scythe behind him. "Such a real shame," he said. "I could've slit his throat today but he had to fail in his summoning."

Falco grumbled some curses and put his Blasters into their holsters (with a new holster he had reserved for the second one). "And here I thought I was gonna show off my new Blaster," he said before he walked to the little hole of snow Froggy dove into. "Oh well, at least we now have the frog right under this snow. That's it, guys, the mission's comple-SON OF A MOTHERFU-UGH!" he cursed while standing back up.

"There is no need to use foul language, Falco," Robo said as everyone walked to him.

"Oh, YOU TELL ME now!" Falco complained.

"C-calm down, will you?" Chris asked. "W-why are you so angry all of a sudden, anyway?"

Falco angrily pointed down at the hole of snow. "That's why I'm angry right now! Look what's inside!"

Espio ducked down to uncover the hole of snow. Upon clearing it, the others gasped after finding a hidden Gate in the snow on the ground. "A…Gate…" Espio trailed off.

"It was here all this time, right conveniently next to Dalton?" Chris asked in disbelief. "I-I can't believe this!"

"I don't know you, man, but this is a very bad example of bad luck!" Falco complained before kicking some snow away. "Stupid snow! Once more you're screwing around with me!"

While the World Traveler tried to calm down the pilot, Robo analyzed the little Gate. "Give me a few minutes so I can pinpoint this Gate's exit," he said.

Espio looked bored at Crono. "In times like this, I'm jealous that Robo doesn't know how to display fury like we all do," he said, making Crono make a nervous happy expression.

Magus closed his eyes. "This is truly a very unfortunate event…" he trailed off with a grunt.

Chris and Falco walked back to the group. "Okay, I'm still willing to go and find that stupid little frog bastard," Falco said, crossing his arms. "Where did it go this time?"

Robo stood back up and nodded. "Analysis complete," he said, turning to look at them. "This Gate's exit leads to 65,000,000 B.C or the Prehistory. I presume our search will be harder than before since the Prehistory has many different floras and faunas than this era."

"I didn't study Biology that much, you know (Chris: I pity you a lot more than before), so I dunno what flora and fauna mean," Falco said. "In English, please."

"What I mean to say is that the Prehistory has vast jungles, high mountains, and a lot of vegetation and terrain than here," Robo explained. "It also has a lot of different animal species roaming through the land, namely dinosaurs and the like. If the frog happens to come across a feral animal, our mission shall meet complete failure."

"…Oh, f(beep)k," Falco cursed.

"I-I'm calling quits if it does involve dinosaurs," Chris said with a gulp.

Magus turned back to the village. "We leave this place now," he said. "There's no point in staying here for any longer."

"I agree," Espio said as Crono followed Magus. "Let's go back with the others."

Village Commons

The group suddenly stopped walking once they reached the village. Having tripped down before, Chris joined up with them and tapped Crono's shoulder. "C-Crono, I was wondering if we could…" His eyes widened once he looked at the village, thus making him forget talking to Crono once more.

It wasn't just because the village distracted Chris this time, but it was the fact that there was a sudden booming of edible food that almost all the villagers were eating while constructing new huts. When they reached the village, its villagers were trying to make houses with discarded bricks and making new neighbors and friends in the process.

However, after coming back from the forest, something very unlikely took place that quickly became a common activity, which ended up making their stomachs hurl like never before…

"…Why's everyone suddenly craving frogs for food?" Espio finally asked.

It was like some sort of freak accident or nightmare took place when they left the village behind for roughly twenty minutes. Almost every single villager was eating some kind of food derived from a frog's body part. People were cutting frogs' legs like meat, sipping frog stew from bowls, licking frog eyeballs, and even some unknown dishes the group would never dare to know for their stomachs' welfare.

Overall, it looked like a crazy joke that mentally scarred them.

"What the f(beep)k in the name of Slippy happened here?" Falco asked with wide eyes.

Chris embraced his stomach after seeing some children licking frogs' eyeballs like lollipops. "I-I don't know, b-but I really want to puke so badly…" He covered his mouth with a hand, dug out a big hole of snow with the other, and slammed his face into it.

"This…is absolutely…horrendous," Magus said with emphasis before turning his back from the sickening event. He looked down where he saw the cat from before was eating a small frog leg. The sorcerer frowned and grunted to this, causing the cat to look confused. "(Not even you, Alfador…)" he thought mentally, probably referring to the cat.

Crono made a sick look and looked away from the scene. "This is very strange," Robo said. "I do not remember frogs being the main source of food for humans before. What has sparked this sudden appetite for them?" he wondered.

Suddenly, the same woman they met before walked to them. She was eating some frog ribs from a plate, which caused Espio's face to turn a shade of green. "Oh, it's you," she said before showing Espio a frog rib. "Care to taste one of our local delicacies?"

"BLUH!" Espio covered his mouth and ran away from the spot to find somewhere where nobody would look at him for a (long) while.

Falco's right eye twitched at the sickening sight of the frog rib. Swallowing his breath, he managed to avoid puking long enough to ask, "W-why is everyone eating frogs as their meals?"

"Why wouldn't we?" the woman asked with a smile before swiftly eating the rib, causing Falco's stomach to beg for a spot to hide and do some business elsewhere, enough for the avian to run away with hands covering his beak. The woman turned to Robo. "Frogs have since been very nutritious sources to our everyday dishes. It's impossible to find someone who has a tolerance to them."

"How can you avoid being poisoned?" Robo asked. "Most frogs are poisonous."

"We just eat the ones that don't have poison," the woman said. "Their legs are especially very good."

"Since when has this been such a very popular dish?" Robo asked.

"It dates all the way back to the stone age," the woman said. "Our ancestors began eating them ever since."

"…" Magus looked at woman over his right shoulder. "Oh, you don't mean…"

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

The Epoch came back from the Antiquity, and the six jumped back to the rocky stairway. They quickly ran into the hall. "E-everyone, there's something really freaky going on!" Chris said. "F-for some reason, people started to eat frogs!"

Not only the Antiquity was harmed, but the End of Time was similarly affected as well. Before them, Marle looked around, licking her lips and she said, "Frog, Frog, Frog, where are you? I need to use you for my frog stew! With your size, it'll last for days!" she said.

"Oh my god, not her," Falco said in disbelief before noticing that the others were ignoring the princess.

"What has happened?" Meta Knight asked. "While I was having my sparring match with Frog, Marle suddenly lunged at him and tried eating his skin. He ran away scared while Marle proclaimed her undying appetite for frog stew."

"A-and I'm having thoughts about eating frog stew as well," Lucca said alarmed. "B-but I'm not gonna do that kind of thing ever!" she complained.

"What made all of you try to eat one of your own allies?" Mewtwo asked disgusted.

Gaspar walked to the group. "It seems time has been altered. Now, for some event in the past, frogs have become a very good delicacy in all time periods," he said.

"Ayla eat frogs," Ayla said. "Ayla hate eat frog forever!" she complained.

"Seriously, what did you guys do?" Lucca asked as she crossed her arms. "Did you screw up history as we know it?"

"We certainly didn't cause anything too grave to change everything," Magus said. "But I happen to know what might have caused this…and our answer lies in the Prehistory."

"W-what makes you think that?" Frog asked, hiding away from Marle behind a set of buckets. "P-please, I do not care if you are my sworn enemy, but I must know what has caused this problem! I have horrible memories of people chasing after me that I do not recall having before!"

Lucca held her head. "W-what's this? I-I have memories of people chasing after Frog as well…" she trailed off worried.

"Oh my Nayru," Link said. "History itself changed so drastically that some memories of their pasts are being changed as well!"

The inventor held her composure as Marle moved back into Spekkio's room. "Since we come from this world, you guys aren't being affected by the change…but we are!" she gasped.

"This is really freaky," Sonic said. "Funny, but so freaky, I swear."

"It's funnier to me if you ask me," Chip said.

"T-this isn't the time to enjoy this!" Chris yelled. "Magus said that Froggy escaping to the Prehistory triggered all this!"

"I'm right with my assumption," Magus said. "And, judging at the fact that eating frogs became popular in the Prehistory, I can tell that the people of that age began eating them for some reason…in this case, the reason being the frog that escaped there."

"…You mean to say Froggy was eaten in that time period, and then he started a popular trend with frogs being turned into a popular resource for food?" Chris asked.

"…Yes."

Everyone remained silent.

"…Back at the mansion, Big surely must've fainted by now," Espio muttered.

"I-if Froggy was eaten, then we have to prevent that from happening!" Chris said alarmed. "What if the Gate Key and the tablet were digested as well?"

"Oh god, no!" Lucca exclaimed. "Please wish that we can arrive there before this whole problem becomes a usual routine in our lives!"

"Don't fear, my dear," Gaspar said. "The frog just traveled back through time, and his stance there must've lead to the event where frogs became a common food for people. If you manage to intercept the frog, then perhaps this problem can be avoided altogether."

Sonic looked bored. "See? I told you that frog was gonna screw us up unintentionally in very unpredictable ways," he said.

"Sonic, from the little memory I have, you never said such a thing," Espio pointed out.

"That's what I always thought," Sonic said.

"Soooooooo…" DK trailed off in thought, "…we have to go to the Prehistory and find the frog?"

"That should be the most obvious course of action," Meta Knight said. "We must haste and prevent Frog from being eaten alive by Marle."

Frog stood back up. "M-my friend, perish all thoughts about me ending up in some person's bowl!" he pleaded. "For my life's welfare, we shall go to the Prehistory and correct this grave mistake before I get eaten against my will!"

Falco chuckled. "I forgot we had a big frog guy in our group. This isn't sure his day," he joked.

Frog looked annoyed. "You can joke all you want, but I beg of you all to find this frog and make my future a safe one before I revert back to my real form by Magus!"

"I suppose I could try reverting you back to your human form…" Magus trailed off. "…But this is just so amusing to watch."

"You malignant fiend…" Frog muttered with a death glare.

"STOP!" Chris yelled to stop a feud. "A-anyway, some of you need to go to the Prehistory and find Froggy. We already tried but failed, so go there right now!"

"Ayla from Prehistory," Ayla said. "Ayla go!" she said. "DK go, too!"

DK sighed. "Alright, I'm coming…" he trailed off.

"To save myself from Marle, I shall go, too," Frog said determined.

"I'll go this time around," Sonic said with a grin. "It's about time my turn came around."

"I shall go this time," Meta Knight said. "I expect to see many cavemen for some reason…"

"Since I have to go, I'll be taking command of the Epoch," Robo said.

Marle came back from Spekkio's room and spotted Frog. "There you are!" she said.

"For Guardia's sake, I must take my leave!" Frog said before swiftly jumping over the group and jumping down to the Epoch. The others quickly followed while Link and Zelda restrained the hungry Marle from chasing after Frog, as they all watched the Epoch disappearing into the Prehistory.

Marle grunted and glared at Link and Zelda. "Why did you stop me from eating him?" she asked.

"Oh dear…" Lucca muttered with a sigh.

Chris looked to the direction of the Epoch where Chip flew back to him with an annoyed look. "Hey, I wanted to go!" Chip complained. "I better go the next time they come back!"

"Sorry, Chip, but you're going to be treated as an actual character that'll have to follow the rules of this place…" Chris said.

"That sucks!" Chip said. "I'm supposed to be a supporting character that needs to be ignored regardless of the rules!"

"Why am I thinking you're breaking the fourth wall…even though there shouldn't really be a fourth wall in the first place?"

Mewtwo looked away as Marle complained to Link and Zelda for stopping her. "(I swear that my stable mentality will break apart one of these days if I keep doing these missions…)" he thought with a sigh.

Chip gasped and covered his cheeks. "I-I need to be around Sonic!" he said.

"Chip, for the last time, you can't go," Chris said.

"B-but what if he goes somewhere where there's night and I'm not around to prevent that super evil maniac guy from taking over his body as soon as he transforms?" he asked.

"…" Chris gulped. "I-I'm sure they'll come back very soon before it gets late on their end…providing that it's still morning in the Prehistory…"

"Hey, Crono," Link called the red-haired swordsman, "I'm bored, so let's have a sparring match again. You want to join?"

Crono replied with a grin as he unsheathed his katana, enough to convince Link to proceed to Spekkio's room with Crono tagging along.

"(Dammit, I wanted to talk with Crono again!)" Chris cursed mentally while Lucca tried to change Marle's cravings to eat Frog alive by herself.

-65,000,000 B.C. – Prehistory-

Skies

Chrono Trigger – Rhythm of Earth, Wind, and Sky

The Epoch came out from a temporal distortion in the plain sky before it took flight over a huge landscape. The landscape down below was compromised of long jungles' trees, high mountains reaching the clouds, and big arid lands. There were volcanoes far into the distance where some were shielded by long chains of mountains, preventing lava from flowing out to the jungles. There were many different species of dinosaurs roaming the land, but most of them didn't cause a riot as they peacefully roamed the land.

"Ayla welcome friends to home," Ayla said as she looked outside. "Enjoy Ayla land."

"Er…" Sonic looked down where many dinosaurs roamed the jungles. "I'll enjoy this land as long as those big lizards down there don't eat me alive."

"You funny," Ayla commented. "Dinosaurs Ayla friends. Treat dinosaurs good and they be good. Some cute, too."

"I'd expect her saying things like that," Meta Knight said. "Nevertheless, I trust her words. She doesn't mean any harm from the looks of it." He looked at DK. "You're her closest friend, am I right?"

"Yes," DK said. "She has nice hands to massage," he said with a pleased sigh before Ayla stroke his chin. "Hmmmmmmmmmm…" he mumbled pleased, making Ayla chuckle.

"(Those two were made for each other, weren't they?)" Sonic thought with amusement.

Frog tapped Robo's shoulder. "Have you found any traces of the temporal distortion yet?" he asked. "The longer we remain in the sky, the worse it will become for my life to survive."

"Ironically, I just detected a new Gate nearby," Robo said. "It is close to the Ioka Village from the looks of it."

At this, Ayla looked forward to the sky. "Gate nearby home? Friends hurry, now!" she said determined.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this Ioka Village is her home," Meta Knight said.

"Your guess is correct," Frog said. "Ioka Village is indeed Ayla's home."

Sonic rubbed his chin in deep thought. "If that's true, then Froggy ended up being eaten by the people of that village…and then it made everyone else in the future eat frogs?" he wondered.

"Nice reasoning, Sonic," Meta Knight said. "If you put your mind into it, you can come up with very reasonable facts."

"Don't think I'll do this so often," Sonic said as he rubbed his head. "I hate to think a lot by myself if it involves complicated stuff like finding sources."

"I will start our landing," Robo said as he tilted down the Epoch down to a safe area to land the ship.

Ioka Village

After the Epoch landed on a safe spot, the group jumped down from the ship and walked towards a settlement populated by cavemen and cavewomen. Most of the cave dwellers had very intimidating looks that were helped by the big wooden trunks they carried over their shoulders as weapons. The cavewomen were often seen with children that ran around the village. The village was composed by many sets of huts that extended to the jungles, and a bridge over a flowing river connected to another side of the village where the chief's hut resided.

Ayla looked proud of herself as she walked in front of the group with Robo walking besides her. The villagers would make a path for her and the group as they made their way through the village. "Wow," Sonic said. "The cavemen here are shaking for some reason."

"Ioka people respect Ayla," Ayla said. "Ayla very strong. Ioka people respect strong people! Strongest friends get respect, too!"

"Nice," Sonic said with a grin. "I wouldn't like to have a fight with one of 'em."

"We are lucky for having Ayla on our side," Frog said. "Without her, the people here would not help us in our quest."

"Where is the Gate?" Meta Knight asked. "Is it somewhere around this place?"

"My sensors are tracking down the distortion of time," Robo said as they walked over the bridge that connected both sections of the village together. "It should be right under this very same bridge."

The group walked to the edge of the bridge where they looked down to spot the Gate. "There!" Ayla yelled, pointing to a muddy land where a Gate floated over it. "Footprints!" she added, spotting small body prints going all the way to the upper ground where it eventually stopped abruptly, seeing as the body prints didn't extend anywhere else.

They all ran to the body prints' end and surrounded it. "Now it's safe to say that Froggy was here with all this mud making a path," Sonic said. "But why did it stop here?"

"Either Froggy was cleaned from the mud he contracted, or somebody took him away from here," Meta Knight said. "I'm guessing the latter happened."

"More footprints!" Ayla said, pointing at some unknown footprints that stood in front of the muddy body print and made a new trail towards a big hut some feet away from them. Ayla briefly looked grim before running towards the hut before everyone followed.

They reached the hut's entrance and peeked inside where Froggy was found tied down against a flat rock with fruits surrounding him. There was a small campfire in front of him, and several tigers' furs were scattered across the ground. Behind the big tree trunk that sustained the hut, several plants hung down to decorate the interior.

In front of Froggy, a docile-looking caveman was about to devour him by himself while sitting down in front of the frog. Instead of the fierce-looking cavemen that the group saw before, this one looked friendlier (and somewhat goofy-looking). The caveman was a young blue-eyed adult with blond hair tied up with a high spiked ponytail. He rubbed his palms and licked his lips at the sight of the frightened Froggy in front of him. "Very hungry," he said. "Kino hungry frog!" he said.

Outside of the hut, Sonic looked confused. "Okay, so Froggy got eaten by that caveman kid and that was what made everyone in the future eat frogs?" he asked.

"He looks a bit too random to make everyone eat frogs," DK said.

"This is just speculation, but what if this kid is very important to the village?" Meta Knight wondered. "What if he is the one who commands the village?"

"Are you serious? He looks kinda dumb to me," Sonic said. He looked around where Ayla had disappeared. "Hey, where did the cavewoman go?"

Frog looked behind and gasped to see a big rock being flung right inside the hut at high speed. The group took cover as the rock promptly crushed the hungry caveman inside and created a cloud of dust. Right after that, Ayla came rushing inside with an angry look on her face. After she entered, screams from the caveman soon filled the air. "Aaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed.

"Kino dumb!" Ayla yelled. "Kino eat important frog!"

"Kino sorry, Kino sorry, Kino sorry!" the caveman pleaded. "Ayla stop hit Kino, Ayla stop hit Kino!"

The others stood back up and looked inside the hut. "I suppose we should enter now," Robo said as everyone entered the hut where they found the campfire having little fire left, crumbles of rock scattered over the furs, and Ayla shaking the caveman back and forth by his shoulders.

"Hey, dude…I mean, girl, stop!" Sonic said. "You're gonna end up killing the poor kid!"

DK looked scared. "S-she tossed that big rock all by herself?" he asked with a gulp.

"She probably has a lot of stamina," Meta Knight said. "I'm surprised."

Frog walked forward to Ayla and the caveman. "Ayla, stop your intent of punishing your friend!" he said.

Ayla stopped and looked at them before she pushed the caveman on the floor. She stood back up and grunted, looking down at the frightened teen. "Kino stupid!" Ayla yelled. "Kino no eat frog!"

The caveman named Kino yelped once more before standing back up with an apologetic look. "Kino sorry…again," he murmured. "Kino not know frog important…"

"I believe he's an acquaintance of Ayla, right?" Meta Knight asked Robo.

The robot nodded. "Yes, they are," he said.

Ayla sighed and patted Kino's head. "Ayla sorry if Kino sorry," she said.

Kino smiled weakly and gulped. "K-Kino sorry…so sorry…"

The cavewoman hung her left arm over Kino's shoulders (which somehow made the latter blush) and showed her teeth at them. "Kino good Ayla friend! You meet Kino! Kino current village chief!"

Kino is a young caveman who is a very good friend to Ayla. While he is close to her, Kino admits that he is weak, and that he gets jealous whenever strong people end up liking Ayla, possibly hinting that he has romantic interests with her. After Ayla renounced her job as the village's chief, Kino offered to replace her until she came back from her adventure to defeat Lavos. Even though he's not a fighter, he is a very reliable caveman.

"Oh man," Sonic said bored as he stared at the nervous Kino. "I pity everyone in here for having someone like him as the chief."

"Pay your respects to him, Sonic," Meta Knight said. "He might be more intelligent than his appearance might suggest."

Frog looked away in boredom. "Do not set your hopes high up for him on that implied fact, though…" he muttered.

Kino stared at the new people besides Frog and Robo. "You Ayla friends?" he asked. "You strong?"

Ayla smacked him on the head and grunted. "They strong! Kino no jealous! Kino jealous, Ayla hit Kino again!" she scolded.

"N-no, no!" Kino pleaded. "Kino learn lesson! Ayla no throw Kino tree again! Kino still hurt on head!"

DK felt a big deal of sympathy for the scared caveman. He could compare himself with him very easily. DK blinked and looked around to find Froggy tied on the flat rock. After he noticed the same flat rock close to the campfire, he noticed that the ropes were burned to ashes and Froggy was nowhere to be found. "F-Froggy escaped!" he said alarmed.

Everyone looked to the flat rock close to the campfire. Ayla looked upset and looked angrily at Kino. "Why Kino try eat important frog?" she asked.

Kino looked ashamed. "Kino hungry. Kino go out and get food. Kino find tasty frog so Kino eat frog… Uah!" he yelped and covered his head. "K-Kino no know frog be important!"

Sonic looked amused at this. "Ooh, so Froggy has a tasty meat? I didn't know that," he said. "But Sonic like chili dogs better."

"I am afraid that this is not the time to have a conversation regarding Froggy's edible body and your personal tastes," Robo said. "We must look for him before he leaves the village and gets attacked by a feral animal."

"This wouldn't have happened if Ayla didn't toss that boulder in here," Meta Knight addressed Ayla, who got depressed at this.

"Ayla so sorry," Ayla said. "Ayla mad at Kino eating important frog…"

"K-Kino no eat important frog," Kino said scared.

"Kino help find important frog!" Ayla ordered. "Kino help make Ayla happy!"

The frightened caveman suddenly brightened up at the order and smiled happily. "Kino help stron-Kino mean, Kino help Ayla friends!" he said.

Meta Knight could have sworn that he shortly saw Marle's image replacing Kino's image. He shook his head and looked at the ground where Froggy's body prints were making a new trail out. "He went that way. Follow the trail!" he said before they all followed the trail, with Sonic gaining a huge advantage by running faster.

Kino was the only one who got more jealous of them. Not only were they strong, but they were fast. "Kino so jealous," Kino said. "Friends strong and fast."

"What Kino say?" Ayla asked upset.

"K-Kino say nothing!" Kino quickly corrected himself as they left the hut.

Outskirts

The hedgehog soon found Froggy's body prints coming to a halt right in front of much larger footprints that easily outmatched Sonic's feet. Sonic looked shocked at the new footprints before he looked to the north where a big dinosaur was running away. "Hey, you, come back here!" Sonic yelled before quickly reaching the fleeing dinosaur.

The dinosaur wasn't very big, but it still stood nine feet over Sonic. It was some kind of ornithomimosaur, except the yellow dinosaur had a long curved head. It shrieked down at Sonic, allowing him to see Froggy stuck inside its mouth.

Sonic pointed up at the dinosaur. "That frog you ate belongs to me!" he yelled. "Give it back!"

The dinosaur turned out to be very stubborn as it turned around and ran to the other way. Sonic ran next to it, making the dinosaur shriek angrily at him. It then decided to bite him, but the hedgehog swiftly avoided the bite.

"Give me back the frog before I force you, dino-head!" Sonic demanded.

With another shriek of the dinosaur, four more came from the horizon to its aid. All of them surrounded the hedgehog that instead of looking worried looked up at them with a grin.

"Called your friends to stop me, huh?" Sonic asked with a chuckle. "Just try stopping me, skinny dinos!"

"Refrain from teasing their tempers!" Robo yelled as he and the others joined Sonic. "They are Crested Sprinters!" he explained the hedgehog.

"We saw the new footprints," Meta Knight said.

"These feral animals' feet clearly match the size we found," Frog said as he unsheathed the Masamune. "Have they eaten the frog?"

Sonic looked back at the Crested Sprinters, who were fixated on the group to eat them. "I-I forgot which one has Froggy, but they don't know how to chew their food first before swallowing it!"

The Crested Sprinters shrieked down at the group before all the dinosaurs lunged at them. The group quickly dispersed to avoid being bitten by the quick carnivores. "Kino scared!" Kino announced.

"Kino leave!" Ayla said as she took out a wooden mace from behind. "Ayla beat dinosaurs!"

Kino nodded and quickly ran back to the village while the others surrounded the Crested Sprinters.

Chrono Trigger – Battle

"Is there something we should know about these guys?" Sonic asked.

"Negative," Robo said. "According to my bestiary, Crested Sprinters only know how to head-butt their preys to stagger them long enough to eat them alive. Do no let their imposing sizes fool you. They are quite weak."

"We have to be careful with them," Meta Knight said. "We could end up hurting the frog in one of them all. Try to take them down without inflicting so much damage."

"I could've known which one had Froggy if he didn't call his friends to help," Sonic grunted.

"Charge forward!" Frog yelled as everyone charged to the five Crested Sprinters.

Instead of charging forward with everyone, Robo remained behind and analyzed the dinosaurs while the others tackled every single one of them. "I must detect any different DNA mixed with them," he said as his eyes flickered. "Once I have an odd DNA, I will have a correct guess which one to attack the less…" He noticed the Crested Sprinters were moving everywhere with most of the group chasing them around. "Try to hold them on a single spot! I cannot detect the frog's DNA if they cannot stop moving around!"

"T-they move too fast!" DK said as he lunged at a Crested Sprinter, only for the dinosaur to run away from being smacked down with the ape's fists. "And I happen to be very slow!" he complained before chasing after his target.

"Ayla teach DK!" Ayla said as she used DK's back to jump high enough to a running Crested Sprinter's head. The dinosaur screeched once Ayla hung to its head. Ayla began smacking the Crested Sprinter's head before it was knocked out of cold. It fell hard on the ground while Ayla performed a backward somersault, landing next to a shocked DK who stared at the feral lizard. "DK learn?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, but I'm not that acrobatic like you," DK said astonished.

Robo directed his gaze at the dinosaur and analyzed its body. "…Negative match," he said, shaking his head. "This one does not possess a different DNA."

Frog faced a Crested Sprinter that decided to attack him with a head-butt. The swordsfrog swiftly performed a high jump and sliced down the dinosaur's head, making sure not to cut it in half. The Crested Sprinter shrieked in pain and backed away while Frog landed back on bare ground. "How do we harm a beast without felling it?" Frog asked. "I am more accustomed in slicing fiends in half, not scarring them."

Besides him, a Crested Sprinter fell down unconscious with its entire body covered in cuts. Meta Knight landed on top of the dinosaur's head while looking at Frog. "These dinosaurs possess very little defense," he said. "It's very easy to knock them out with a few weak hits."

Frog looked back at his foe and smiled a bit. "You are right on that," he said before lunging at the Crested Sprinter and slicing its stomach a few times. The dinosaur backed away in pain and fell on top of its back as Frog landed next to Meta Knight.

Robo came rushing in and analyzed both dinosaurs. "…I cannot find different strains of DNA in them either," Robo said. "The frog is not in their bodies."

"Such a real shame," Frog said before spotting Sonic dodging one Crested Sprinter's head-butts while doing absolutely nothing to retaliate. The hedgehog had crossed arms over his chest as he swiftly dodged and made the dinosaur smack its head down on the ground. Every time its head crashed on the ground, its face looked weaker and weaker until in twirled it, dazzled around itself.

Sonic yawned at this and quickly used a Spin Dash into its stomach, causing it to fall back and faint on the ground. "I just love when my enemies aren't so smart," he said amused.

Robo ran to his side and analyzed the Crested Sprinter's body. "…Negative," he said. "It is not in this one either."

The hedgehog looked annoyed. "What? Where is it?" he asked.

DK gasped and looked at the Crested Sprinter he couldn't manage to hit. By the time he noticed, it was making its escape while the group fought the other enemies. "T-the one I didn't hit has Froggy!" DK yelled as he hopelessly ran after it, despite the fact it got almost two-hundred feet away from them.

In a blink of an eye, Sonic caught up with the Crested Sprinter and stopped it from running it away. "You remember me?" he asked. "I'm the guy who told you to GIVE me the frog you swallowed!"

Before the Crested Sprinter could shriek angrily, Sonic had already slammed himself against it with a fast Spin Dash. The force of the attack ended up being a blindly fast critical hit, which pushed the dinosaur a few feet away before coughing loudly. When Sonic uncurled himself, he saw the dinosaur coughing a lot. One of those coughs was strong enough to send Froggy rocketing high into the air to a nearby jungle. "Nooooooooooooo!" Sonic yelled before chasing after Froggy.

Clueless of his footing, Sonic didn't see the quite fast river his feet (and pretty much himself) sank into a few feet away from him and the Crested Sprinter. He could have skidded along the water if it wasn't for the fact that he crashed right into a rock in the middle of the river. Making a funny face, the river took him all the way back to the village while everyone else managed to spot Froggy's direction, crossing a wooden bridge over the rapids and ignoring helping Sonic.

"Frog go this way!" Ayla told them as she dashed along with Meta Knight into the jungle, the two of them being the fastest people besides Sonic.

Robo looked around. "I-impossible," he said. "Another temporal distortion is hidden within this jungle!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" DK groaned.

"We must not allow the frog to escape through that Gate!" Frog yelled as he quickly hopped along the ground. "If it does, we will have to search for it in another time period!"

DK stared at Frog hopping like a real frog. "Do you run like this all the time?" he asked.

"I despise how I run now," Frog said annoyed. "However, I find myself unable to run normally while being a humanoid frog!"

Meta Knight and Ayla suddenly stopped on their tracks, allowing the others to catch up with them. Ayla pointed forward where she saw Froggy hopping along some bushes. Meta Knight spotted a Gate right in front of a tree where Froggy tried to reach. "It's trying to make an escape through that Gate," Meta Knight said.

"Ayla catch important frog!" Ayla said before lunging towards Froggy. She ended up falling on top of some bushes while Froggy hopped towards the Gate in a panic.

DK spotted a vine that he used to perform a long jump and fall on top of Froggy. Sadly, the little frog was faster, avoiding being potentially crushed by DK's sheer size. The Kong fell on the ground and grunted, looking up to see Froggy nearing the Gate. "I-it's getting away!" he yelled before Meta Knight swiftly flew over him with his bat wings fully extended on his back.

Meta Knight extended his hands towards Froggy while both were directed at the Gate. By mere inches, Meta Knight was about to get a hold of Froggy's legs. His chance to catch the frog was in vain after the Gate opened for Froggy to escape inside and close down on the knight.

Music stops

Meta Knight used his wings to push himself back from the Gate and land back on the ground. His bat wings suddenly covered themselves with his cape as he stared at the Gate, which he frowned in shame. "I'm sorry," Meta Knight said. "I couldn't be fast enough to seize him."

The others joined to his side and Robo examined the Gate. "This is a Gate thing?" DK asked, touching the Gate with a finger that was held back by an invisible force field that prevented the finger from entering the distortion.

"It will only open to you if you possess the Gate Key or another similar object with the same attributes," Robo said as he analyzed the Gate. "Other than that, it will reject anyone and anything from traveling through time."

Frog sheathed his sword and closed his eyes. "And yet again, our target has escaped from our hands," he said solemnly.

Ayla looked guilty and sighed. "Ayla sorry," she said. "Ayla no throw Kino with rock. This no happen."

DK forced a smile and patted her back. "There, there, you couldn't avoid getting angry," he said.

With a tight grip on his throat, Ayla hugged DK tightly. "DK makes Ayla happy," she spoke softly. "DK very good friend!"

"Y-you're…a-asphyxiating me…A-Ayla…" DK coughed weakly before she let go of him, making DK fall on the ground and regain his breath.

Robo's eyes stopped flickering with lights as soon as he fully analyzed the Gate. "Analysis complete," he said before looking at everyone. "This Gate's end leads to the Middle Ages in 600 A.D."

"My time period," Frog pointed out. "I do not know if our target's life is in grave danger considering the fact that there are more fiends roaming the lands than here."

Meta Knight turned his back to them and began walking back to the village. "We have to leave this place then," he said.

"Ayla say Kino good-bye!" Ayla said before grabbing DK's right arm. "DK say good-bye too!"

The Kong looked frightened before the cavewoman dragged him away from the jungle with Frog and Robo following them all.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

"BLEACHOO!" Sonic sneezed loudly before blowing on a napkin Chip gave him.

"Sonic, be more careful with yourself," Chris mildly scolded the hedgehog. "Thanks to you being clueless, you crashed right into a rock and fell into the rapids. I know how much you detest water with a passion."

"H-hey, usually the land I run on all the time doesn't have rapids at all," Sonic said as he shivered a bit. "I'm very used to that thought."

The World Traveler looked annoyed at Chip. "You haven't told him some crazy order that messed up his mind like the last time in Megaman's world and made him think water doesn't even exist again, right?" he asked.

"Nope," Chip said. "I fixed his mind a long time ago. He's so totally voicing out his thoughts now."

"Achoo!" Sonic sneezed again.

The others joined back with the people in the End of Time, bringing along with them the sad news about Froggy's new whereabouts. Marle was so confused, not believing Zelda that she was previously trying to eat Frog alive in a bowl with stew. "No way," Marle said grossed out as she stuck out her tongue. "Do I look like I like to eat frog legs?"

"At least now we can say we changed the future," Mewtwo said. "People don't have that disgusting craving to eat frogs anymore."

"But we also ended up losing sight of the frog," Lucca said. "It's a win-loss situation…"

"I'm confident to say we haven't given up yet," Zelda said determined. "We just need to keep chasing after Froggy and hope that we can get him."

"You tell 'em, girl," Marle said. "We gotta prepare and set our destination to the Middle Ages as soon as possible before history is messed up once more!"

"Nothing bad can happen this time," Espio said. "I'm sure of it."

"Oh, and by the way," Lucca began as she handed out some fliers to the Smashers, "would you mind joining our case to give equal treatment to frogs?"

The Smashers stared at Lucca for a brief moment before they looked at the fliers she took out from nowhere. The fliers clearly read, "Happy Frog Revolution Peace Guards Association – Work for a noble cause to bring ultimate freedom and equal treatment to our beloved amphibian friends! Overthrow the tyrant king of Guardia and change all laws to protect all frogs in the world! Meetings are held Mondays to Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Lucca's house – Free cookies for new members!"

"W-where did you take this from?" Link asked. "And how the heck did you make these fliers?"

"I admit the frog art in these fliers was carefully and nicely done, though," Espio remarked before Sonic smacked his head.

"What do you mean?" Lucca asked as she showed them a new badge with a cartoon frog face design on her helmet. "See this? It clearly means you're part of the Happy Frog Revolution Peace Guards Association, or HFRPGA for short. We're currently trying to get more members." She pointed at Crono who sported the same badge on his tunic. "Crono here is one of our founding members, and let's not forget our special friend Frog."

Frog noticed that he had a special badge on his chest plate that read, "Especially Endangered Frog in The Brink of Extinction – Treat with extreme care". The amphibian swordsman grunted at it and tossed it away. "When have I applied myself to such an awful-sounding title?" he asked aggravated.

Magus grunted at the sudden events, causing him to press his brow. "And yet again, the history has changed drastically," he said. "This is pure foolishness to the extreme…"

"Oh ho ho," Gaspar said. "Changing the timeline does have very unusual effects on all people," he commented.

Lucca regained her senses and looked oddly at the group. "Oh no, not this again!" she complained. "Instead of having memories of eating frog stew, which is still really gross to think about for a person like me, now I have thoughts about starting the HFRPGA in my time period to overthrow the tyranny of the king of Guardia on all the frogs in the world!"

Falco covered his mouth and chuckled a lot before stopping. "I know these stupid Butterfly Effects are screwing up your timeline, but I have to admit they're so damn funny," he remarked.

"T-this isn't the time to be laughing about that!" Lucca said angrily. "That frog has caused more damage than before…and stop chuckling, you guys!" she told Sonic and Chip.

"You must admit that this change is more bearable than the frog food fad," Robo said. "It is less disgusting in many ways."

"I have to agree with you there," Link said before looking at Marle, who started to look very pale. "Er…are you feeling well? You don't look so good…"

Marle started to grunt in pain as she embraced herself. "G-guys, I-I don't feel so good!" she screamed before falling to her knees. "C-Crono…I-I…I-I feel like I'm being torn apart again! M-my body…i-it's vanishing!" she yelled, causing Crono to look in shock at her. "N-noooooooooooooooo!"

Chrono Trigger – Strange Occurrences

Before their very eyes, Marle soon vanished from the room while leaving behind an echoing scream. Everyone gasped at this while Crono ran to her spot and looked completely dismayed at her sudden disappearance. He gritted his teeth and punched the floor once with his fist.

Marle left your team forcibly.

"…Oh my goodness…" Zelda trailed as she covered her mouth. "W-what happened this time?"

"I-I don't know!" Link said. "She just vanished in thin air!"

Ayla looked a bit frightened. "Marle go poof!" she said alarmed.

"T-that's putting it mildly, don't you think?" DK asked in shock.

Falco looked extremely perturbed at Marle's disappearance, as his eyes were wide with shock. "…Okay, now it doesn't REALLY look that amusing anymore," he said.

"Of course it doesn't!" Lucca said alarmed. "Thanks to all this, Marle has somehow vanished from my time period! Her family's timeline must have been altered thanks to the frog escaping to the Middle Ages…but I want to ask how it happened…" She looked very concerned as she paced around the room. "…Oh no…"

"You have new memories you don't remember having before…right?" Zelda asked.

"…Now that you mention it…there's something new," Lucca said. "Apparently, a long time ago during the Middle Ages, a new Fiendlord rose to power and commanded a full scale attack to the Kingdom of Guardian where…where…Queen Leene, the current queen of the Middle Ages, was killed during an assault to the castle," she reminisced. "Queen Leene is one of Marle's ancestors. If the queen were to be slain, Marle's family would never be alive, and thus Marle would never live at all!"

Crono stood back up and looked serious at Lucca.

"I-I know this happened before, and I know we can prevent that from happening again!" she said.

"What, something like this happened before?" Espio asked.

"Y-yeah, but Crono, Frog, and I saved Queen Leene from being killed by fiends and Marle was saved from disappearing forever…"

"However, it doesn't explicitly explain why the frog's escape to the Middle Ages triggered such an unlikely event," Mewtwo theorized. "But something is telling me that it triggered the event somehow…"

Lucca pounded her right fist on her left palm. "Hey, now I remember something else," she said. "According to the history, the new Fiendlord proclaimed to the Guardia nation that a special frog aided him in the conquest to kill the king… Unfortunately for him, he was killed before killing the king, and the kingdom began hating the frogs for making the new fiend lord kill Queen Leene…"

Frog looked confused and angry at the same time. "Is this some cruel joke fate itself is playing on me?" he asked. "Why did the frog these people are looking for have to affect me in such ridiculous ways thanks to my transformation? I disapprove of such an infuriating thought to have a role in my already unlucky life!"

"A new Fiendlord…" Magus trailed off. "I…was supposed to be the only known Fiendlord before my first fight with Lavos ended in failure… Who is this new Fiendlord in history?"

"Also, I do not recall Queen Leene being slain!" Frog said angrily. "She is still alive in my memories!"

Meta Knight quietly thought about all the strange occurrences. "You certainly don't recall Queen Leene being slain, but Lucca does remember an event like that?" he asked.

"That is exactly what I just said," Frog said. "Does it matter?"

"Yes it does," Meta Knight said nodding. "If you don't recall an event like that like Lucca and Crono do, that must mean Queen Leene is still alive in your timeline, but slain in Crono and Lucca's timeline."

Chip looked surprised. "Wow, are you sure of that?" he asked.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it's the closest answer I can come up with," Meta Knight stated. "I'm using mere common sense and intensive thought to make an answer. Overall, it's just a theory."

"That theory you speak of must be true at all costs, my friend!" Frog said determined. "Queen Leene shall not be slain in my treasured memories of serving the Kingdom of Guardia!"

"And let's not forget the fact you're an endangered species," DK said chuckling.

"Stay your tongue from mocking my hideous appearance!" Frog yelled angrily.

Link looked serious. "We have to go to the Middle Ages and find Froggy before Marle seizes to exist. I want to go this time," he said

"I'll go too," Lucca said. "This event is intriguing me a lot."

Zelda gasped mentally at this. "I-I'm coming along as well," she hastily said.

"I want to see this new Fiendlord," Magus said gloomily. "I have a very bad feeling that I know that person very well…"

"Let me come along as well," Mewtwo offered. "For once in a long while, I want to help this time."

"I have direct orders from Lucca to come along in case that our target flees through another Gate," Robo said. "I am the team's main Gate analyzer after all."

Frog looked upset at the party of six people that didn't include him. "Wait a moment! I must go and keep my future safe for my welfare!" he said.

Lucca waved a finger. "Oh no, you're staying here," she said as she casually petted his head. "You're an endangered species at the brink of extinction. You mustn't risk your life, you know. Let the president of the HFRPGA, me, do the job for you. The vice-president Crono will take care of you in the meanwhile."

"Will you stop treating me like a pet? I am no pet!" Frog proclaimed, pushing Lucca's hand away.

Sonic chuckled and grinned at Lucca. "Are you sure your new memories aren't screwing up with you again?" he asked.

Lucca shook her head and came back to her senses. "E-everyone, let's go and correct this grave mistake before I go crazy and find Frog a mate to populate the world with new frog species and save him from extinction!" she yelled as she ran to the Epoch, and soon enough, the new team set off for the Middle Ages as the Wings of Time disappeared into the space.

Music stops

Frog turned to Chris and Espio. "Does fate have a grudge on my life for being a hideous frog?" he asked.

"No, it's just that Big has a frog for a best friend and that you yourself are a frog," Espio said.

"And thus, whatever happens to Froggy in the different time periods before your time will ultimately screw your life as an anthropomorphic frog," Chris added boringly. "Sorry…"

Frog nodded at the sad truth. "…I will forever curse myself," he said before sighing depressed.

Falco chuckled. "Don't worry, dude, I'll save you from your inevitable extinction," he joked playfully, receiving a glare from the swordsfrog. The others soon joined with more chuckles, making Frog walk to Spekkio's room and consolidate himself from everyone until the matter was resolved.

Chris stopped chuckling and ran to Crono. The red-haired swordsman, however, looked ashamed for losing Marle before his eyes. Instead of paying attention to Chris, he walked to Spekkio's room and closed the door behind him. "(…Aw, crap, not again!)" Chris cursed mentally. "(…But…I think I shouldn't bother him for now. He looked very sad… Oh well, I'll try again later…)" he thought with a sigh.

-600 A.D. – Middle Ages-

Skies

Chrono Trigger – Yearnings of the Wind

"And if you turn to your right," Link said boringly as he stared at the Black Omen floating next to the Epoch as the latter flew towards the northeast, "you'll see a HUGE ship floating in the cloudy sky while overlooking the whole world and do absolutely nothing dangerous to harm the people of this time period."

"Link, we just saw it two times already and you're bored of it?" Zelda asked.

"What can I say? I get bored fast the second time I see something that could potentially kill me," Link said. "It's worse when it doesn't really do a thing and just waits for me to raid it, and THAT'S when it wants to kill me for real. It reminds me of Ganondorf's castles when I have to go and rescue you...no offense, of course."

"…Oh, I get your point," Zelda agreed.

Unlike the Present, Antiquity, and the Prehistory, the Middle Ages had a different kind of air, and that was a literal fact. Oddly enough, the sky was always cloudy no matter what part of the world they were. Mist was a common sight in the skies as it covered many areas in the sky, around mountains, and even some random forests on the continents. Speaking of continents, like the Present, the continents of the Middle Ages looked almost the same save for a few landmasses that didn't spark much interest. Other than that, the strange atmosphere made most of them feel uncomfortable.

"Mist, mist, mist, and more mist," Zelda said as she spotted clouds of mist scattered across the skies. "Isn't there some kind of nature phenomenon that is causing all this mist to form?"

"There is no such a thing like that," Magus said. "We're in the season where mist is a common sight."

"That looks unhealthy to me," Link said.

"Stay out of the mist and we'll be fine," Mewtwo said. "Now, where is our destination in this time period?"

"I am scanning the area to detect any temporal distortions," Robo said, his eyes flickering once more. "It will be a matter of time before I eventually find a new Gate."

Lucca leaned to her seat and sighed. "Why would the frog cause such a drastic change in the timeline, though? Did this new fiend lord…perhaps…discover the Gate Key's functionalities?" she asked.

"I don't know," Magus said. "I have a guess that this fiend lord is someone I know very well, though…"

"What makes you say that?" Link asked.

"I'd rather let your answer be answered by the new fiend lord himself," Magus said. "I just don't want to say names right now."

"Hmm," Link grumbled.

Lucca pumped a fist. "But whatever happens, we have to save Marle's family and procure peace for all the frogs in the world. They're not creatures that should be hunted out of eternal hatred! Along with you and my inventions, we shall protect them all!" she proclaimed.

"…This is a very bizarre change in the timeline of this world," Zelda said bewildered. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The inventor gasped and snapped out of her attitude. "S-sorry, but this change is screwing up with my mind so much! Robo, try to find that new Gate as soon as possible!" she pleaded.

Link wanted to have another talk with Lucca. Since he was sitting behind her, the Hylian tried speaking, but the fact that the others were nearby made him feel uneasy. He was unaware of the fact that, whenever there was silence, Zelda would stare at him while he didn't look at her. "(I just hate this,)" Link thought. "(Other than the fact Lucca's mind is a bit altered…there's something bothering her… I have to find out what it is before I leave this world behind…)"

"(Link…)" Zelda thought worried. "(I know you like to help people out, but I'm worried that might don't succeed with her. She's completely different from us, and you know that. Do you honestly think you can help everyone? If you think so, I don't…I-I don't want you to…)"

After a little while of flying through clouds of mist, Robo's flickering eyes turned back to normal. "I have found the Gate we are looking for," he said before tilting down the Epoch towards a desolate continent located on the northeast corner of the world, making Lucca sigh in relief.

"Finally," Lucca said. "We'll save all the frogs in the world. My dream will be achieved."

Mewtwo frowned at the statement. "I'd like this to end as soon as possible before things get even more out of control," he said.

"Time itself is such a fragile thing to alter, after all," Magus commented.

The swordsman snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Zelda. "Zelda, would you believe me if I said that this world is a huge square instead of being round?" Link asked.

"…No," Zelda said honestly.

"That's weird. I thought it was a big square…" he muttered.

"What a foolish thing to say…" muttered Mewtwo.

The continent where the Epoch descended was desolated. A few mountains and forests made up the green land. Surprisingly, something stuck out from the fertile land. As the Epoch neared the landing site, the group noticed a thick forest where a big building resided right in the middle. Around the building, there was absolute darkness under a long bridge that looked new and connected the main land with the building.

"What's that?" Zelda asked.

"It looks like some sort of fort," Mewtwo said. "It's right in the middle of the forest."

Magus narrowed his eyes at the fort as if he knew it beforehand. "This fort is…" he trailed off.

The Epoch landed outside the forest that Robo analyzed. "The Gate is there," he said, pointing at a Gate right between two trees.

The six ran to examine the Gate's surroundings. Link noticed some body prints that were made by Froggy, but the small trail stopped right in front of some other footsteps that made a long trail to the forest's center where the fort was. "Whatever happened here, Froggy was taken to the keep because I can't find his body prints besides those," he said.

"That's just swell," Lucca said bored. "Let's hope the person who took the frog is a nice guy."

Magus shook his head. "That will be impossible," he said before he started walking towards the center of the forest.

Everyone stared at Magus for a while before following him. "If you could further explain your statement, we would not be guessing what you meant by that," Robo said.

"I don't wish to say some names I know right now," Magus said. "You'll eventually see for yourselves what I'm trying to avoid saying."

Zelda looked at Lucca as they were now crossing the bridge. "What does he mean by that? Are there people who he despises a lot?" she asked.

Lucca rubbed her chin. "Well, I don't know. It's been a long time after we fought Magus ourselves…" she trailed off confused.

Link looked serious at the fort in front of them as some bats flew away into the sky. "This place rakes with darkness," he said. "Let's be ready for anything."

The Hylian princess had to admit Link's adventure senses were never wrong. "I'll be right behind you," she said.

After crossing the bridge, they stood in front of the keep's gates. Magus grunted at them and opened both doors slowly until they fully opened.

?'s Fort

Chrono Trigger – Creeping through the Sewers

The group walked inside a simple room where it was almost pitch black. Some torches hung around the dark walls, a staircase with a long red carpet leaded to the second floor above, and the ceiling was oddly the only thing where the illumination couldn't reach easily. On the sides of the staircase, there were statues of demons that adorned the room.

"Whoever lives here, they have a very eerie style," Zelda remarked.

"This vaguely reminds me of Ganondorf's castles, except with less magic-filled rooms and floating skulls," Link said.

"Wow, you must've been in many dungeons to talk so confidently," Lucca said.

"Have you?" Zelda asked.

"Oh yeah, you get to visit many dungeons when you travel through time like I do," Lucca boasted.

"I believe this is not the time to boast our journey, Lucca," Robo said. "My sensors indicate a faint signal of amphibian DNA in this fort."

"Froggy must be inside, then," Zelda said. She saw Magus already walking towards the second floor by himself. "That man has been so gloomy ever since we spotted this fort."

"I believe someone here is causing Magus to be so secluded from us," Robo said. "I can tell it might be that."

"Let's follow him and see for ourselves," Link said.

"That's the only option we can do for now," Lucca said.

Following the serious sorcerer, the group crossed an arch and reached an empty hall that had no distinguishable features save for the other arch that leaded to the next room. Magus stopped walking right in the center, making everyone stop right behind him. They looked around confused. "So why did we stop right here?" Link asked.

"Who dares walk inside my fort uninvited?" a shrieking voice demanded.

"I've got to wonder how the people who live in places like this know we're inside before they see us in person," Zelda said.

"If I recall, our footsteps are quite loud enough for anyone in here to know we are here," Robo said.

"Oh, that'd explain a lot."

From the arch in front of them, a figure floated out. The figure was some kind of fat green-skinned monster with two long ears and a fat chin. It wore a white robe together with some small garments that protected his chest, and it had a green tail. The figure smiled widely at them and opened his arms. "Welcome and well met! This is the great Ozzie's… WHAT?" he stopped talking after seeing Magus with the group. "G-gah! L-Lord Magus!"

Magus grinned at the figure. "It is good to see you again, Ozzie," he said.

"Ozzie!" Lucca and Robo yelled.

Link, Zelda, and Mewtwo exchanged glances. "I can tell you all three know this Ozzie person," Mewtwo said. "Care to explain who he is?"

The figure named Ozzie sweated and regained his composure. "He was one of my generals when I was the first Fiendlord of this era," Magus said. "A long time ago, he found me in the mountains and attacked me, but he didn't know that I was far more powerful than he was. After seeing my power, he took me under his wing and taught me the ways of the fiends…"

Ozzie grunted angrily. "I should've known that you were just using me all along for your own dirty purposes! To think I was being deceived by a mere kid that time long ago!" he complained. "The nerve! You think you can talk to me after you desert your fellow fiends to lick the boots of these filthy humans! You're not our lord! You're a traitor!"

"You still think I care about the fiends?" Magus asked amused.

"Why did you leave us?" Ozzie asked. "You were making a lot of progress to us fiends! We were about to decimate the humans and take control of the world! Then you decided to leave us behind all of a sudden… With your unexpected leave, all the fiends lose hope in conquering the world, and we don't have any more fiends to make a new army!" He grunted angrily and made fists. "I ask you this: WHY?"

"I do not want to answer that question," Magus said. "Are you trying to be the new Fiendlord?"

"And what if I'm trying to be one?" Ozzie asked. "I'm sure I can command a new army without your help! You can go to waste with those humans besides you and become my enemy! You have no right to be my lord anymore!"

Link stepped forward. "I know you're angry at Magus for the past, but we came here looking for a frog," he said. "Did you happen to take it?"

"What? This frog?" Ozzie asked as he took out a frightened Froggy from under his robe. Strangely enough, the fiend petted the frog. "Why does it matter to you? It's my new pet."

"Your pet?" Zelda, Lucca, and Robo asked in unison.

Ozzie chuckled. "Why, yes, Mr. Croak reminds me of that day where Lord Magu-I mean, Magus used his magic to turn that fool Glenn into a humanoid frog right after defeating Cyrus," he said. "I like to treasure such wonderful memories by having a frog as a pet."

"And…you named Froggy Mr. Croak?" Link asked.

"What stupid name is 'Froggy' supposed to be?" Ozzie asked angrily, clueless to the fact Froggy wanted to hop away. "He is Mr. Croak!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Well, that name is a little bit too simple… At least it's not that embarrassing like Crono's cat Mr. Drenchy." She chuckled at the name.

"Why's it called Mr. Drenchy?" Zelda asked.

"Let's just say he named his cat like that because it left little wet presents on the furniture all the time, and that Crono knew when his cat did that when he sat down on his pee."

Link and Zelda chuckled silently at this.

"AHEM!" Ozzie cleared his throat. "Would you stop ignoring me and Mr. Croak for a second, please?" he asked before getting the attention. "Thank you…and don't laugh at Mr. Croak's name. I suck at thinking some good names for my pets. Well, it's hard to think of names for my pets because Mr. Croak is practically the first pet I've ever had in my lif-"

Magus brandished his scythe and glared at Ozzie. "Ozzie, I do not care of your stupid pets, but I'll have to order you to hand over that frog to us," he said.

Ozzie looked disdained. "Why would you, Magus, be interested in a random frog that turns out to be my first pet ever?" he asked.

"It doesn't really concern you," Magus said.

"Oh, it does!" Ozzie said as he hid Mr. Croak (Froggy) inside his robe. "It's my pet you have a problem with! Whatever you want from it, you'll have to take it by force!"

Magus smirked. "That gives me a very nice opportunity to end your reign as the new Fiendlord by exterminating your existence," he said.

"It's so easy to tell you hated my guts!" Ozzie demanded. "You were always praying on your little altar all the time while all the fiends were being commanded by me!" He raised his hands. "But this won't be the day where I, Ozzie the Great, will fall down by your filthy hands! With Mr. Croak by my side, I shall eradicate the humans from the world and create a new era for all the fiends!"

Mewtwo looked bored at Magus. "I have to wonder how you were raised by such a ridiculous person like him," he said.

"Believe me, I raised myself most of the time through fear and power over all fiends around me," Magus said. "Ozzie did not do much for my life."

"You, impudent traitor, your human friends, and human-sized cats will ALL perish today…by my minions!" he said before snapping his fingers. "Flea!"

Magus grunted at the name as he looked up to see a woman falling down from the ceiling. The woman was actually a cream-skinned fiend with her red hair tied in a single braid in a high ponytail. Like Ozzie, she had long ears, but she wore a long white cape with a white bustier with a crimson skirt under a brown belt and red stockings with black-and-yellow boots. The woman grinned and chuckled at Magus. "You called?" she asked.

"Yes I did," Ozzie said. "Flea, I need you to take care of these impudent fools!"

"Oh dear me, if it isn't Lord Magus!" the fiend named Flea faked a gasp. "You must like shame to have come back here. A human-loving traitor like you deserves to be punished like the bad, bad boy you are!" she playfully teased as she moved her hand to Magus.

The sorcerer glared at her. "Why are you here, Flea?" he asked.

"I work for the great Ozzie after you deserted us," Flea said. "You don't know how disappointed I was. I was fretting for you for a long time, but then Ozzie snapped me out of my senses to see how treacherous of a traitor you were! I'll give you a good spanking for leaving us, ex-Lord Magus!"

Zelda looked serious at the female fiend. "Who is this annoying woman?" she asked.

"How dare you call me a woman?" Flea yelled angrily. "I'm clearly the most beautiful man you'll ever meet in your pathetic life!"

Link, Zelda, and Mewtwo exchanged glances at the statement. Link tilted his head and stared at Flea. "Um, did…I hear you right? Did you just say you claim to be a man?"

"I did, sweetie," Flea said. "You don't have good eyes to tell I'm a handsome man."

Silence…

"…You're kidding us, right?" Zelda muttered.

"I'm not joking!" Flea yelled. "I don't get why all the people who see my figure call me a woman! Why's it always like this?"

Link cleared his throat and began raising fingers. "You look like a woman, you sound like a woman, you act like a woman, you dress like a woman, your name sounds like a woman's name, you tease like a woman, you stand like a woman, and you use makeup like a woman," he explained. "Therefore, you ARE a woman."

"I'm not!" Flea said. "Naughty boys like you should be taught a lesson about addressing people out loud incorrectly!"

"I don't mean to digress…that much, but you're a woman," Zelda said before looking at Lucca. "What is she?"

"A fiend who likes to look like a female fiend, maybe?" Lucca said confused. "I think she…um…he…is a guy as she…he claims… Gah!" She grabbed her head. "I don't know what she is anymore! It's so confusing!"

Mewtwo turned to Robo. "I don't wish to read this…fiend's mind, so would you please analyze…it?" he asked.

Robo's eyes flickered for a little while. "…I cannot get a close match to a true gender," he said. "Flea's gender shall remain unknown."

"WHAT?" Flea asked enraged.

"Is that even possible?" Link asked. "I don't think she's an 'it' either."

"Negative," Robo said. "Flea's body composition is itself shrouded in complete mystery. I shall only base Flea's gender by claims from now on."

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Ugh, this is just so confusing and weird…" she trailed off. "Magus, you had Flea under your wing before. What's her…his…true gender?"

Magus closed his eyes. "I honestly never liked Flea one bit," he admitted. "I do not know."

"L-Lord Magus…" Flea muttered with anger.

Flea's gender shall remain unknown from this point on.

Flea gritted his/her/its teeth. "How dare you all! I shall punish you all for making fun of me!" S/he/it looked at Ozzie, who at this time was pondering whether Flea had a real gender. "Stand back, great Ozzie, and let me take care of these cretins."

Ozzie snapped out of his trance and nodded. "Y-yeah, y-you go get them, girl!" he cheered.

"MAN!" Flea yelled.

"Don't get so angry at me!" Ozzie complained. "You had to be the weirdest of fiends that I've ever seen before! Why won't you just decide your true, TRUE gender?"

"If you don't want me to give you a spank, then don't say anything!" Flea yelled. "Go somewhere safe before I start considering leaving you!"

"Right! I'll, uh, just leave it to you, then, Flea!" Ozzie said before retreating into the arch, leaving the room behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lucca asked loudly. "As the president of the HFRPGA, I won't let you cause an era where frogs are continuously harassed by people across the world!"

"Are you sure you're okay, Lucca?" Link asked worried.

"Come back, Ozzie!" Magus yelled before Flea stepped in front of them. "Flea, step aside!" he commanded.

"Never! I won't receive orders from a bad boy like you ever again!" Flea proclaimed. "I have all of you in this room for me to play with! Unfortunately, you've been very bad children to me, so let me go ahead and spank you!"

Link held out an open palm to Flea. "Just before we have to fight, let me say that I feel very uncomfortable exchanging blows with a woman," he warned Flea.

"I think I told you before that I'm a man!" Flea said.

"Do I really have to repeat everything I said before?" Link asked.

"Link, it's useless," Zelda said bored. "There is no way we can change…Flea's mind…"

"That's it; you may think whatever you want from me!" Flea said. "I just recently started saying I was a man, but it doesn't matter as long as I'm beautiful and gorgeous!"

"So you only like to look like a woman just to be beautiful?" Link asked.

"Yes!"

"Then you certainly don't know what you're supposed to be," Zelda said ashamed. "That's very sad."

Flea chuckled evilly. "Well then, allow me to demonstrate my gorgeous moves on you all so you stop harassing me verbally. I hope we end up having a wonderful time together!" s/he/it playfully teased.

"Very well," Magus said as he charged forward. "Let me take care of you personally!"

Flea opened her/his/its arms. "Oh, Lord Magus, as always, you're the first gentleman who likes to do things first than othe-" s/he/it stopped abruptly once Magus reached her/his/its spot and began slicing her/his/its clothes while dealing major damage with his scythe. "Oww, owie, ouch! Lord Magus, please, stop!" Flea pleaded.

But Magus paid no attention as he attacked Flea all by himself. The others behind him simply watched the sorcerer knocking Flea to the wall where s/he/it let out a cry of pain and fell down on the floor.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Flea covered her/his/face after seeing Magus' scythe about to slit her/his/its throat. However, some seconds passed, and Flea looked up at Magus staring down at her/him/its face with disgust, his scythe mere inches of reaching the throat. "W-why stop now? Y-you clearly were going to kill an innocent beauty like me!"

"Out of my sight," Magus muttered menacingly, "unless you want me to end your pathetic life, fiend…" He removed his scythe from Flea's throat.

Flea grunted angrily and stood back up. S/he/it looked at himself/herself/itself to examine the ripped clothing. Once more, Flea grunted and pointed angrily at Magus. "Oh, just you wait! I'll teach you a lesson next time!" s/he/it yelled.

"I give a damn about you, Flea," Magus said. "Out, now," he said.

"U-ugh, I'll get my revenge on you!" Flea then looked at the other five. "And you! You'll pay for watching me in this super embarrassing situation!" s/he/it yelled before disappearing in a cloud of smoke that s/he/it made by slamming a smoke ball on her/his/its feet.

The five joined Magus' side as he kept staring at Flea's spot. "That was a bit anticlimactic for my tastes," Zelda said.

"You seriously went too far, though," Lucca told Magus.

"Tsk, I don't care," Magus said. "I want to take care of Ozzie myself."

"Did you hate Ozzie that much?" Robo asked.

"While he was the perfect henchman to help me achieve my ambitions, his attitude sickens me to the core," Magus said. "After all these years, I'd like to make him suffer."

"I see," Mewtwo said. "Then we shall leave him for you."

"Let it be that way," Magus said. "Let us go find him," he said before proceeding under the arch.

Link looked at the others. "I hope I get to use my sword today. I don't want Magus to savagely slice his enemies and leave no one for us to fight," he said.

"The less fighting, the better, though," Zelda said. "I can fight, but I worry about myself."

The group resumed following Magus until they reached a hallway. In front of them, the hallway had an inner balcony with a level on the left side over another arch to another room. On the sides, they found some a pit in front of a small conveyor belt in front of a long chain that was deep down on another pit.

"You can tell that something will happen here," Lucca said before Ozzie appeared from the balcony overlooking the hallway. "Oh, there he is."

"Howdy!" Ozzie greeted. "It seems Flea was unable to 'spank' you as the fool said. No matter, though, because I'll make sure you die by my hands!"

Link unsheathed the Master Sword and grabbed his shield. "Then come down here and fight us!" he taunted.

"Ooh, nice try, but I won't do the fighting," Ozzie said before he grabbed the level besides him and began twisting it to make the chains on the pits take a bug scarab monsters with long pincers on each side, each one of them having the size of a real human. Zelda let out a disgusted cry as the monsters stepped on the conveyor belts, which were moving thanks to Ozzie twisting the lever. "Arise, my fearsome guardians! Slash 'em to shreds! No one's taking back the treasure I stole fair and square from Magus' keep!"

Magus grunted and glared up at Ozzie. "You stole treasure from my keep, you filthy imbecile?" he asked.

"I do not mean to be rude, but we have monsters to beat right now," Robo said, reminding everyone about the scarab monsters.

"Hahahahahaha!" Ozzie laughed as he spun the lever.

Sadly, the scarab monsters ended up being taken into the pits that the conveyor belts directed to. Both monsters let out a screech of fear before falling down straight to their deaths.

"…" The six stared at the pits that the fiends had fell into before looking back up at Ozzie, who still had a wide grin on his face.

Ozzie blinked confused before grunting loudly. "Why did this happen now?" he asked loudly.

"I don't know why, but why put conveyor belts that lead to bottomless pits in the first place?" Link asked. "Wasn't it good enough with monsters being brought up by their own pits?"

"Ozzie was a decent fiend in laying traps in my keep," Magus said. "It usually takes him some days before his traps work properly. I assume he wasn't ready for our surprise visit that his traps didn't work well."

Zelda placed a hand over her forehead. "I don't mean to brag, but I know quite a few people who can easily set dangerous traps," she said.

Link looked annoyed at Zelda. "Why was your castle full of traps when I visited it last time, anyway?" he asked.

"Blame Ganondorf," Zelda said. "At the time, he was the one who took over it, remember?"

"Um, you guys, would you stop talking about your pasts?" Lucca asked confused. "We have to deal with a fiend if you forgot."

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at Ozzie. "I'm bored. I wonder how good you are under the pressure of having to fight us," he wondered.

Ozzie gulped at this. "Ozzie's in a pickle! I'm outta here!" he said before vanishing in thin air.

The sorcerer sighed and frowned. "Why must he tease my anger right now?" he asked to himself before he walked to the next room.

"If you want an answer, Magus, it's because he desperately wants attention!" Link called out. "You know, like all the other people I face out there!"

"That was a very pathetic attempt to become friends with Magus," Robo pointed out.

"You don't know until you try…" Link said in his defense.

"Let's proceed," Zelda reminded them.

After crossing the third arch, the group found themselves standing in a room that looked the same as the room where they met the genderless Flea. As usual, Ozzie awaited them in front of another arch that leaded to another hallway. He grunted upon seeing them coming from the previous hallway. "D-don't you people ever give up?" he asked disdained.

"After all the things we went through with you previously, no," Link said. "At this rate, you're going to be a cakewalk for us."

"Y-you, filthy human…"

"Hylian," Zelda corrected.

"Whatever!" Ozzie yelled.

Link pointed his sword at Ozzie. "Why don't we just end this right here so you can hand over the frog? We're in a real hurry to finish some matters," he said.

"I'll never understand why you have an undying focus to steal my dear Mr. Croak from me!" Ozzie yelled. "And if I want to know, Magus can't bring himself to tell me why!"

"That's because you don't need to know," Magus said seriously.

"I had enough of you!" Ozzie said. "Well, looks like there's only one choice… Flea proved to be a bit useless, so… Slash!"

A figure quickly appeared right between both the group and Ozzie, shocking some of the first. The figure floated over the floor with crossed arms as he stared at them with a serious look. The fiend was tall. The purple-skinned figure had an alien-like appearance, save for the fact he wore white and magenta garments with yellow boots. Besides his belt, a sword's sheath rested. "You summoned?" he asked Ozzie without looking at him.

"Take care of this for me, will ya, Slash?" Ozzie asked with a confident chuckle.

Link gulped at the figure named Slash. "He looks way more intimidating than that Flea person did…" he muttered.

"No kidding," Zelda agreed. "Is he another former acquaintance of yours, Magus?"

"Yes," Magus said. "His name is Slash. Between Ozzie and Flea, he is a master of the ways of the sword. If you ask me, he could be as well more dangerous than Ozzie himself."

"Hey!" Ozzie called out angrily.

"I cherish your thoughts, Lord Magus," Slash said. "Normally I would not deign to cross blades with my former lord, but who am I to question the complex workings of fate?"

Ozzie turned his back to Slash. "Take care of them, Slash. I trust that you won't let them live!" he yelled before disappearing into the next hallway.

Magus grunted at Slash. "Step aside, Slash," he said. "I took care of Flea all by myself. You don't need to fight me."

Slash replied by unsheathing his sword. "I will not let you pass, I am afraid," Slash said. "I have never thought I could have the opportunity to be in a battle against you. For that matter, we shall fight."

"So be it," Mewtwo said. "But this time, you'll fight all six of us."

Link sighed relieved. "Oh, thank you for agreeing with me," he said. "Magus, I hope you don't mind, but we'll fight alongside you."

"Do what you want," Magus said. "I only care to get to Ozzie."

"Then why stand still and allow him to get away?" Slash asked. "You dare cross swords against me and my sword Slasher?"

"You piqued my interest in getting rid of you, that is why," Magus said with a wicked grin as everyone else readied themselves.

Slash shifted his eyes to each member of the group. "…This will not do at all," he muttered before sheathing back his sword, causing the others to look confused at him.

"Hey, we were just about to start fighting!" Link complained. "Why sheath your sword now?"

"I could fight against you, but I do not fight against more than four people," Slash explained. "You clearly outnumber me. Even with my blinding speed, I do not think I will be able to best all of you by myself."

Zelda was astonished at this statement. "Do we look strong to you?" she asked.

"That is something I will not tell," Slash said. "If you wish to fight against me with everyone, then perhaps you should proceed forward," he said before floating away into the arch without turning his back at them.

Lucca raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was unexpected," she said. "I've never somebody saying no to a fight against us."

"Hmph," Magus muttered. "Out of the three, he is honorable to his enemies. Let us go forward again," he said as he walked under the arch to the next hallway.

Link smiled a bit. "If we keep this pace up, we'll reach the Ozzie guy in no time, and we just have to beat him to reclaim Froggy," he said.

Lucca looked unsure. "Don't get so confident," she said. "Something doesn't really look good here."

"Proceed," Robo said as the group followed Magus.

After crossing the arch, they walked into an empty hallway where it turned to the right towards a small set of stairs to the third floor. Next to the arch, there was another inner balcony with another lever. A treasure chest lied right in front of them on the other side of the hallway, but a guillotine was hanging right in front of it, waiting for an unfortunate person to try to open the chest.

"Mustn't…open…the…treasure chest…" Link gulped. "Must…avoid…obvious…trap…"

Zelda slapped his cheek.

"Phew, thank you, I needed that," Link said.

Mewtwo, Lucca, and Robo looked at each other and shook their heads at Link's temptation.

On the balcony, Ozzie once again appeared and grabbed the lever besides him as he laughed at the group. "Come on, sweethearts!" he called them out.

Robo shook his head, pitying the fiend's tries to kill them through obvious traps. "I feel pity for Ozzie," he said. "And this is weird coming from me since I do not feel anything else than electricity."

Magus sneered and walked forward, ignoring the treasure chest altogether and walking towards the arch. The others soon followed him as they passed Ozzie's balcony, staring up at the malignant fiend.

Ozzie started to look nervous. "Um…sweethearts? Don't you want to open the treasure chest? Probably filled with lots of nice goodies!" he encouraged them.

Magus stopped walking towards the arch and looked at Ozzie. "Why would you try using such ridiculous traps to kill us off?" he asked angrily. "Why won't you just get down there and face us?"

"B-because I'm nervous, okay?" Ozzie said with a grunt. "Anyway, go open the treasure chest! There's probably some gold in it!"

Zelda sighed depressed. "How pathetic… Who would fall for a trap like that?" she asked.

Her rhetorical question was answered by a little green, bigheaded imp entering the hallway through the previous room's entrance. The group turned to see the imp walking towards the treasure. "Oh boy! Treasure!" he said. "This is my luckiest day ever since I became part of the great Ozzie's army! I shall dedicate this victory to all the fiends in the world!" He turned to the group and stuck out his tongue at them.

There was a fatal fact Ozzie never considered to take in mind: he thought the group had more people, and he didn't hear the fiend coming in at all. After the green imp stood in front of the chest, Ozzie turned the lever and the guillotine dropped down on the fiend, cutting him in half and killing it with one nasty blow.

"…" The group stared disgusted at the imp's remains dripping on the floor before looking up at Ozzie.

"…" Ozzie shifted his eyes and snickered nervously. "Oz… Ozzie's bungled that one!" he said. "I'm outta here!" he yelled before rushing right to the other room.

"So much for that," Lucca said as Link secretly went over to open the chest with the guillotine down, carefully walking over the spilled blood.

Obtained Hi-Ether!

Restores a third percent of an ally's energy, allowing casting more spells.

Magus stared at the arch where he could sense some presences on the other side. "Be on your guard," he warned them as Link came back holding a vial of Hi-Ether that he kept in the inventory. "All of them are waiting for us in the next room."

"I wonder what will happen next with all of them reunited," Lucca wondered. "We never fought them together."

"Are they even going to fight together?" Link asked. "Let's settle the supposed score we have with them, then."

"Agreed," Mewtwo said. "I'm getting bored of just walking further inside this 'fort'."

They all reached the next room (which looked the same as the previous rooms without traps) where Ozzie, Flea (still badly bruised by Magus), and Slash were all waiting for them. Upon seeing them, the three fiends chuckled evilly. "Not so fast, friends," Ozzie warned them all. "This time's not going to be so easy for you to escape alive."

"Give it up," Link said. "We've only been walking through all your traps, fiends, and rooms."

"Confident, aren't we?" Slash asked. "Do not think this will be something you will simply ignore."

Flea ran a hand through her/his/its ponytail. "You people make us really sick," she/he/it said. "Prepare yourselves for your elegant dooms, especially you, ex-Lord Magus!"

"Can you please stop talking for once?" Mewtwo asked as his hands shrouded with psychic energy. "I won't tolerate more words coming from you all anymore."

"How dandy, we think the same from each other!" Ozzie laughed before grabbing his robe from the front side.

Lucca looked a bit worried at the fiend. "Um, what're you doing now?" he asked.

"I'll reveal you my secret ultimate weapon! Behold!" he said and lifted up his robe.

Zelda screamed so loudly that caused everyone to cover their ears while, outside the fourth wall, a black tag reading, "CENSORED" was put under Ozzie.

"Ozzie, you filthy swine!" Magus yelled, covering his face with his cape.

"For cryin' out loud, it's not what you sick humans think it is!" Ozzie yelled, still holding his robe up. "We fiends don't possess the same gross-looking reproductive organs you do! I'm wearing clothes, I'll have you know!"

Outside the fourth wall, the black tag was removed, revealing that Ozzie was sporting a new set of yellow pants. The group uncovered their faces and looked fairly confused at the set of clothes.

"Ooookay, now we know you wear pants somehow," Link said. "But…why show us that of all times?"

"Fool, these pants give me ultimate power, making me invincible!"

The six remained silent for roughly ten seconds.

"…" Mewtwo turned to Magus. "I'm going to imagine he was very annoying during your childhood."

Magus gritted his teeth in anger. "I had enough of your useless foolishness, Ozzie! Prepare to die!" he proclaimed.

Flea held out her/his/its hand. "You won't do such a nasty thing, ex-Lord Magus!" s/he/it said. "With my new Flea Bustier, I'm a totally different, gorgeous fiend than before!" s/he/it added with a wink. "I'm the new Diva Flea!"

Slash unsheathed a sharper-looking sword than the one he couldn't use before. "With my new Slasher II, I will assure you that I will fight this time around, Lord Magus," he said. "I, Super Slash, will cut you to ribbons!"

Ozzie opened his hands. "You gotta be ready for the battle! With these items combined, we're invincible! Get ready to witness true power!" he proclaimed. "I am Ozzie the Great, the new Fiendlord! Mwaaaaaahahahahahaha!"

"So far, the only one I'll take on seriously is Slash," Link said. "(But his new name sounds a bit too cheesy…)"

"I agree," Lucca said. "The other two aren't that bad…"

"Affirmative," Robo said. "Clothing does not increase status unless they are magically-enchanted armor."

"Idiots, these clothes have magical attributes!" Ozzie said.

"I do not detect any," Robo said.

"Who asked you, anyway?" Ozzie asked. "Diva Flea, Super Slash, let's go!"

"Halt! Stop the battle at once!"

Everyone suddenly stopped in their tracks after listening to the serious voice coming from behind the three fiends. Ozzie, Flea, and Slash exchanged glances before turning to the arch behind them. "Hey, who else got inside my fort?" Ozzie asked.

"Have you ever considered locking the front gates?" Slash asked bored.

"Yeah, like, you always leave it wide open for anybody to come in here," Flea said. "You don't learn your lesson easily, right, Ozzie-poo?"

"S-silence, you two!" Ozzie yelled.

Lucca looked confused at them. "I don't know what that voice was just now…" she trailed off.

"I have not heard a voice like that before," Robo said. "This voice belongs to a totally new person."

Magus felt an evil presence coming from behind the three fiends. "What is this dark energy? It is not like the ones I've seen so far," he muttered.

Zelda shook her head. "That voice…I know that voice very well," she said aware.

From the arch, the Hylians gasped and Mewtwo narrowed his eyes as Ganondorf came into the room with a grim look on his face. The warlock stood in front of the three fiends before crossing his arms. "Who is the one named Ozzie?" he asked.

"Why, that'd be me," Ozzie said. "Who are you to barge into my fort without my permission?"

"Ganondorf," Ganondorf introduced himself.

Lucca looked at Link. "He's the Ganondorf guy you've been talking about?" she asked.

"Yes," Link said. "Be careful with him. You shouldn't underestimate him."

The tinker looked worried at Link before looking back at the warlock.

The sorcerer narrowed his eyes at Ganondorf. "There is a great concentration of dark magic in him," he said. "It is overwhelming; so powerful that it might even rival a god." He eyed Link and Zelda. "Why, you two have a similar energy like he does possess…"

"(Magus can tell Ganondorf possesses the Triforce of Power?)" Zelda thought surprised.

"I have gotten word from the racket in this place that you have a peculiar frog under your ownership, is it not?" Ganondorf asked.

"Why does it matter to you?" Ozzie asked with a glare. "These human scums are here to take my precious Mr. Croak away from me. Why are you interested as well?"

"It does not concern you," Ganondorf said before holding out his hand. "Hand the frog over before I am obliged to use force."

"Wait a minute!" Link yelled. "We're here to get the frog, so stay back, Ganondorf!"

"Like I will listen to your pitiful orders," Ganondorf said before glaring at Ozzie. "The frog, now."

"Grr, I won't give my pet away!" Ozzie yelled. "Besides, how did you even come in here in the first place? I didn't see you comin' from the front gates!"

King Dedede came from the arch with a confident grin. "We used a portal, 'course," he said. "Gimme the frog before I whack yer head!"

"Oh my goddess, he's here too?" Zelda asked in disbelief.

"So what if I am?" Dedede asked, holding on to his hammer on the floor. "'Bout time I came out from the dark hole, don'tcha think?"

Flea stuck out her/his/tongue at the penguin. "Who brought this ugly mass of lard in here? He looks so hideous that he makes me…y-yuck!" s/he/it squealed.

"I heard dat!" Dedede said angrily. "No woman's gonna call me ugly mass of lard while I'm 'round!"

"Don't you dare call me a woman, fatty!" Flea yelled. "I'm the most gorgeous fiend you've ever seen before! I swear you're a big bad, bad boy!"

Dedede rolled his eyes. "You look like a woman, you sound like a woman, you act like a woman, you dress like a woman, your name sounds like a woman's name, you tease like a woman, you stand like a woman, you use makeup like a woman, you're annoyin' like a woman, you complain like a woman, and you probably smell like a woman," he explained. "So then, you're a woman."

"Why does everyone say the same thing about me?" Flea asked annoyed.

Slash sighed. "Flea, just ignore the people who judge your already confusing gender, please," he said. "You can go ahead and say you are a woman."

"Never!" Flea said. "I'm not a woman! I'm the most beautiful fiend in the world!"

"I am getting sick of listening to this pointless talk from that confused, egotistical woman!" Ganondorf yelled before taking a step forward to Ozzie. "Hand over the frog before I punish you all!"

"No!" Ozzie yelled. "Mr. Croak is staying here with me! You may as well die here so you don't lay a hand on him!"

"That is IT!" Ganondorf yelled before quickly charging at Ozzie.

The green fiend yelped at the sudden move that he turned around and accidentally tripped down, letting go of Froggy who jumped towards the air and fell right in front of the right wall. Everyone quickly turned to the frightened frog that in turn stared at them and gulped scared. Froggy was so desperate in escaping that he shifted his eyes around for an exit or one of those portals that took him away from a scaring-looking person.

It became apparent that anyone was free to take the frog. Everyone exchanged serious glances before focusing on the frightened Froggy.

"Get the frog!" Zelda yelled.

"Get dah frog!" Dedede proclaimed.

"Don't let my precious Mr. Croak get kidnapped!" Ozzie yelled on the floor.

Chrono Trigger – Critical Moment

Mewtwo tried using Confusion to get a hold of Froggy, but he soon found out that his move was useless as he felt a dark energy preventing him from reaching the frog. "W-what in the world is happening here?" Mewtwo asked, ignoring the fact that Flea, Dedede, and Zelda lunged towards Froggy at the same time, barely missing the hopping frog. "(There is so much dark energy concentrated in this fort that my psychic powers can't focus on a target very well…)" He furrowed his brow. "This is just what I needed…" he muttered sarcastically with a scoff.

Link saw Froggy hopping to the north. He rushed towards the amphibian, but Slash interrupted him by quickly using his sword, which in turn made Link react and clash his own sword with his. "G-get out of the way!" Link yelled.

"I am afraid that will not do!" Slash yelled, gritting his teeth as he and Link tried to push each other back. "That frog does not have a place with you all!"

"That's what you think!" Link complained as Froggy hopped away to the west.

Ganondorf rushed towards the frog. "Insolent animal, your getaway with the tablet is distracting all of us from our main goals!" he complained. "After I get my hands on you, I will retrieve the tablet and squash you like the filthy creature you are!"

"Stay back!" Magus yelled as he came into view and slammed down his scythe in front of Ganondorf. The sorcerer grunted and glared at the warlock. "Leave that frog alone if you know what is good for you."

"I have no time to deal with people like you," Ganondorf said. "(This person…he is not normal… I can tell…)"

"Ruah!" Magus yelled as he swung his scythe towards Ganondorf, the two getting into a fight while Froggy hopped away towards the southern exit.

Lucca gasped after seeing the frog fleeing. "Robo, quick, it's getting away!" she yelled as she and Robo ran towards the frog.

"No, no, no, no!" Ozzie yelled as he ran towards them. Out of desperation, he simply lunged at their backs and made them fall down on the floor. "I-I won't let you get your hands on Mr. Croak!"

"But I need to save him!" Lucca yelled annoyed. "The future isn't going to be so nice to all the frogs!"

"Lucca, do not stray away from the main topic," Robo said. He aimed his right hand towards the running frog. "Launching rocket hand!" he said, shooting his hand all the way to Froggy.

"Ribbit, ribbiiiiiiiiit!" Froggy croaked in panic after seeing the rocket hand going after him. He tried to hop away, but the hand swiftly caught him in a grip.

"I have caught the frog!" Robo announced.

"What?" everyone else said shocked, stopping their personal fights with each other to see Froggy caught in a grip.

Sadly, this moment of glory soon ended after Froggy squeezed himself out from Robo's rocket hand. The frog croaked in panic and jumped out from the room.

"My apologies," Robo said. "His body was too slippery for a suitable grip."

Lucca closed her eyes in dismay. "Robo!" she groaned.

"Oh my god, it's gettin' away!" Dedede yelled.

"Chase after it!" Ozzie yelled angrily.

Ozzie, Lucca, and Robo (who got his hand back) got back up and passed through the arch, unfortunately being stuck in the way. "Dammit!" Lucca cursed.

"L-let me go, you dimwits!" Ozzie yelled as he tried to squeeze out from his position. Right after that, Dedede came charging in, pushing all the three out of the way. Soon, everyone but Link and Mewtwo left the room.

The psychic user frowned at himself. "I don't think I want to use my bare hands to grab a creature like a frog or lunge at something…" he muttered before seeing Link opening two treasure chests that rested in front of a pole with candles.

Obtained Speed Ring!

A ring that quickens the body's movement. Increases Speed +3.

Obtained Clarity Cap!

A hat that heightens the wearer's senses. Increases Defense +30.

"Link, this is not the time to be opening treasure chests," Mewtwo said bored.

"S-sorry, but I couldn't help it after I saw these here!" Link said as he kept the items in the inventory, and soon, the two quickly left the room behind to join the chase after Froggy.

In the previous room where Slash was met, Froggy hopped towards the way to the exit while a party of nine people tried to capture him. They would often stop to halt each other's movement to prevent anyone from getting close to the frog, forgetting about the fact the same frog was running away from all of them. "Lucca, I am sorry, but my hands proved to be slippery to get a hold of frogs," Robo said. "I will try to stop it from escaping, though," he said, accelerating to the arch on the other side where he blocked it to prevent Froggy from escaping. "You shall not pass!" Robo said. "I will not allow you to escape!"

"Ribbit!" Froggy said in panic.

"C'mere, Mr. Croak!" Ozzie yelled as he lunged towards Froggy, barely catching him in time as Froggy jumped to his back and hopped away. "No, Mr. Croak, I don't want to hurt you!" he yelled.

"J-just come with us!" Zelda told the frog as she ran after him. "Don't go with Ganondorf or the fiends, please!"

Flea stepped in her way. "Stay back, poor excuse of an elegant woman!" s/he/it said. "Slash, go get it!"

"You didn't just insult me!" Zelda yelled, shooting a Din's Fire at Flea's face.

"Yikes!" Flea yelped at the orb of fire before ducking down in time to make it collide against Dedede, who at the time was chasing after Froggy.

The penguin crashed against the wall and tumbled to the sides in a dazzled manner as Slash floated towards Froggy. Magus interrupted the swordsman by slicing the air with his scythe. "I could listen to your commands, but you are my former lord and traitor to us fiends," Slash said. "Out of my sight!" he yelled, clashing his sword against Magus' scythe.

"The frog shall be mine, fools!" Ganondorf proclaimed as he rushed to Froggy, only to be stopped by a shot from a determined Lucca from afar, as she held her plasma gun by her side.

"Leave the frog alone, frog-hater!" Lucca yelled, aiming her gun at Ganondorf.

"Insolent little girl, do not cross over my path!" Ganondorf yelled, prompting Lucca to shoot at him as he dodged the blows for a while before going after Froggy, who now headed back to the room where everyone met up.

Link and Mewtwo came back in time to see the frightened Froggy jumping to their direction. "Link, catch the frog now!" Mewtwo commanded. "I'll stay here to prevent it from escaping!"

"It's all mine!" Link yelled as he charged to Froggy. The frog croaked in a panic and turned the other way. "Please, just come with us!" Link pleaded before barely dodging a small wave of energy. He grunted and turned to the left where Slash shortly stopped fighting Magus to interrupt him from reaching Froggy.

Panic kept ensuing in the room as everyone was distracted by fighting another member of a different party. In the meanwhile, Froggy ran around in circles as he tried to find a way to escape from the fight. "Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!" Froggy croaked in panic.

"You fools, stop getting in my way!" Ganondorf yelled, trying to reach out for Froggy while Lucca made him step back with her gun. "Foolish imbeciles!" he called out.

"T-that was my line!" Ozzie yelled, ducking down to evade a hammer swing from Dedede. "L-leave Mr. Croak alone!"

"None of you have the right to have Froggy!" Zelda yelled, stepping aside from Flea who wanted to pin her down to the floor. "He belongs to us!"

"The frog belongs to Ozzie," Slash said, clashing swords against Link while the fiend dodged Magus' scythe from slicing him. "How many times do we have to tell you all to desert the frog in his hands?"

"He's ours, you alien guy!" Dedede yelled, covering his face with his hammer to block Lucca's shots. "Mind yer own business!"

"Likewise!" Lucca said. "I won't let you ruin the frogs' future in the world!"

Magus left Slash alone so he could fight against Link. The sorcerer lowered down his scythe and began making hand movements around him. "Dark fog, go forth and consume my foes," he chanted before holding out his hand. "Dark Mist!"

The room was suddenly engulfed by a hazardous mist that ended up making the enemy parties cough in pain, allowing Magus' group to push Ozzie, Flea, Slash, Ganondorf, and Dedede aside. The sorcerer chuckled satisfied before the mist cleared out.

"That magic was impressive…" Zelda remarked.

"F-filthy Magus," Ozzie coughed weakly. "Taking advantage of all the commotion to attack all of us…"

"The frog!" Robo reminded all of them as Froggy took a new course of action and hopped towards his direction. The robot tried to block the frog from escaping, but Froggy snuck between his legs and escaped towards the hallway with the guillotine. "I am sorry," Robo apologized.

"Robo, not again!" Lucca groaned.

"Quick, don't let it escape!" Link yelled, rushing towards the hallway along with Robo. Zelda, Mewtwo, Magus, and Lucca followed the pair as the other five regained their composures and chased after them.

Froggy helplessly hopped down the hallway where his frightened state became worse after seeing a familiar decapitated body with blood right under a guillotine. "Riiiiiibbiiiiiiiiit!" he croaked scared, turning towards the left where another arch awaited him.

"Come back here, you littl-UAAAAH!" Link shouted before he and Robo accidentally ran over the spilled blood and slipped down against the wall. Zelda, Mewtwo, and Magus passed the two while a worried Lucca went to examine Robo.

"Robo, be more careful, geez!" Lucca said in disbelief.

Robo sat up while Link groaned on the floor. "Sorry, but I did not see the blood," he said, showing Lucca the green imp's spilled blood on the floor.

"Hahahahaha!" Dedede laughed as he and the other four came into the hallway. "They slipped! Now's our chance t-YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he yelped along with everyone, slipping over the blood and crashing right against Lucca, Link, and Robo.

"B-bunch of rats, why are you so damn annoying?" Ganondorf asked enraged as some of them were piled up over his back.

"Says you!" Dedede said. "You also slipped!"

"YUCK, LET ME GO!" Flea pleaded. "I'M GETTING SO DIRTY WITH ALL THIS BLOOD!"

Robo stood back up, pushing everyone aside. He helped Link and Lucca get back to their feet before rushing down the hallway to catch up with their group. The fiends, the warlock, and the penguin soon stood back up and ran after them once again.

By the time everyone behind resumed the chase, Froggy was now jumping down the staircase to the exit of the fort. From the second floor, Zelda, Mewtwo, and Magus emerged, catching sight of the frog reaching the exit. "I can't do much in this form!" Zelda said before she changed to Sheik. "I'll go capture it this time!" she said, jumping down the stairs to the ground floor.

Magus raised an eyebrow at the transformation. "She is full of surprises, I have to admit," he remarked.

"I'm sorry, but we still have to go after the frog," Mewtwo reminded the sorcerer.

Magus closed his eyes and turned his back to the exit.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll finish my business with those three idiots now," Magus said as he began making hand movements around him. "I'll bring this place down with my magic."

"Would you at least wait for our group to catch up with us?" Mewtwo asked seriously.

"I already anticipated their arrival, you know," Magus said as Lucca, Link, and Robo came back from the previous room.

"W-where's Zelda?" Link asked.

"You mean Sheik," Mewtwo said before pointing to the exit. "She went after the frog."

Lucca gasped at this. "W-what are you waiting for, then? Let's go and join her!"

"Give me some time before I use my magic," Magus said as dark magic rose from his feet. "Antimatter, engulf everything and bring down total annihilation…"

The tinker gulped at the incantation before muttering to the group, "Run."

The four rushed down the staircase while a huge circle of emptiness surrounded Magus' feet. The hole of darkness suddenly engulfed his surroundings as his party ran out from the fort. The sorcerer stood in the middle of the hole as the structure fell into it. "Black Hole!" he yelled.

Soon enough, the missing fort's structure was enough to cause the building to tremble as the ceiling started falling down inside. Magus snickered malevolently as he floated over the hole and exited the fort.

"It was not that powerful," Magus muttered. "I still have yet to learn my strongest magic yet, but it is enough to destroy a fort," he said with a chuckle.

Debris fell down the entrance as Ozzie, Flea, Slash, Ganondorf, and Dedede came from the room. They gasped as the walls were falling down everywhere. "Uah, my fort!" Ozzie yelled. "I-it's falling down on us!"

"I-I refuse to die so gorgeous and young!" Flea squealed in fear.

"Come, let us leave through the entran-" Slash stopped talking after the entrance itself was covered by debris falling from the ceiling. He grunted in anger as they all backed away.

Ganondorf grunted and narrowed his eyes while Dedede bit his gloves, trying in vain to bite his implied fingernails. "Dedede, come!" the warlock instructed as he opened a portal and walked inside.

"D-don't leave me with these weirdoes!" Dedede yelled, running into the portal.

Ozzie gasped and pointed at the open portal. "L-let's go! They left that thing open for us to escape!" he said.

For their dismay and misfortune, the portal closed down.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ozzie, Flea, and Slash screamed before eventually the fort was brought down on them, perishing their lives together.

Bridge

As the fort fell down on its spot, Sheik was about to catch up with Froggy. "Why can't you understand that I'm trying to save you?" Sheik asked enraged.

Froggy looked behind to see a scary-looking ninja person dashing to catch him. Everything was out of control for the poor frog. He was being hunted down by all the people of the world all of a sudden, and he didn't know exactly why. He never thought that he would be targeted for no reason as he thought, but the weight he was carrying with the items he swallowed was wearing him out.

Croaking in panic and knowing that he would soon be captured by a total stranger, Froggy did the unthinkable and jumped off from the bridge towards the darkness below.

"No!" Sheik yelled as she came to a stop and brandished her chain to catch the frog's feet.

The chain, however, was short; missing the frog's feet as Froggy seemingly plummeted down to his apparent death…

Music stops

Sheik stared down in the abyss under the bridge where she lost sight of the frog. She closed her eyes and frowned ashamed of her slow actions to catch the frog, before soon, the others caught up with her. "I…failed…" Sheik muttered.

"Sheik…" Link muttered in shame.

"Who's she?" Lucca asked.

"She was Zelda before," Mewtwo said. "She changed appearances, and now she's known as Sheik. Both of them are the same person, though. Don't think Zelda disappeared."

The tinker blinked a few times before she looked down at the darkness of the abyss. "Y-you don't mean the frog jumped down, right?" she asked.

"That's what happened…sadly…" Sheik muttered.

"Oh no…" Lucca muttered as she frowned. She fell to her knees and looked down sadly. "Why…why…"

Robo walked to the edge of the bridge and stared down, using his night vision function to detect anything within his range. His eyes twisted a bit to zoom into the darkness. "…A Gate has opened," he said.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. "W-what did you just say, Robo?" Lucca asked.

"A Gate has opened down below," Robo repeated with more details. "The Gate was triggered as soon as the frog reached the bottom. There is a small possibility that the frog survived the fall, along with our stolen items."

Magus grunted at this. "We've stopped Ozzie from becoming the next Fiendlord by ending his worthless life, along with Slash's and Flea's," he said. "It is about time to go back to the End of Time, I presume."

"W-wait!" Lucca said. "We need to analyze that Gate's end to pinpoint the next location and find that frog once more!"

"Do it, please," Link told Robo.

"Since I am a bit too far from the Gate on this bridge, it will take a few minutes to get an accurate result," Robo said as he stared down at the location where he found the Gate.

Sheik sighed. "Thank goodness…" she muttered. "…But…did this really change the future to its normal timeline?"

"It surely did," Magus said. "And once we go back to the End of Time, I think we will see the annoying girl back with us."

"What annoying girl?" Link asked.

Lucca gasped.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Crono & Marle – A Distant Promise

As soon as the group came back from the Middle Ages, they reached the hall with everyone to see a fleeting image of Marle materializing in thin air. Soon, the image became complete and solid, and Marle opened her worried eyes, looking around the hall to see the relieved looks from most of members of the team. "E-everyone…" Marle sniffed. "I…I don't want to disappear like that ever again!" she yelled, her eyes filling with tears.

"Marle…" Frog trailed off.

"I-I just saw darkness surrounding me… I-it's like I was somewhere all alone…" She embraced herself. "I hope that's not where you end up when you die…"

Crono wiped some tears away from his eyes before he went to her and hugged Marle tightly. Most of them exchanged their relieved looks while Chris, Chip, and DK sniffed happily at the scene.

Marle chuckled heartily and hugged Crono. "You were worried the most about me, right, Crono?" she teased as the two remained hugged to each other. "…Thank you for worrying…seriously…" she whispered with a sniff.

Lucca looked up at her frog badge vanishing. She gasped in excitement and pumped up a fist. "Yeah, we saved story once more!" she said. "I don't have memories of starting some stupid group to save frogs!"

Frog smiled pleased. "I shall not take that as a general insult to me," he said.

"O-oh, sorry," Lucca apologized.

Espio sighed with relief. "I feared that Marle would never live thanks to all this trouble with the altered future," he said. "I'm glad I was very wrong."

"Ayla glad Marle alive!" Ayla said, pumping up a fist. She hung her arm on DK's shoulders. "You glad?"

"S-so glad," DK agreed, grabbing a napkin from Chip to blow his nose on it.

As Marle was being comforted by Crono, Sonic crossed his arms and looked at the arriving group. To remind them of their task, he went ahead and asked, "So, did you guys find Froggy?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Preview of the next chapter.

"But hear me out," Gaspar said. "Don't get too close with her, for your conscience can be fatally scarred if you get to know what her future will bring to her…"

"W-what are you talking about?" Link asked.

"Sometimes, growing too fond of others can…destroy you emotionally…But…even knowing the risk…will you accept the destined future that is in hold for her?"

"…Please…tell me," Link said.

"You've been warned, young one…"

"Deadly Butterfly Effects. Wait, Froggy is still going to cause more changes in the history of this world?" Espio asked.

"Nah, he'll cause 'em unintentionally," Sonic said. "But aren't you curious what a little frog can do to history? I am."

"You sound a little bit too excited. What if it affects all of us drastically?"

"We're not from this world, y'know."

"…But still."

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-The End of Time-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Espio, Crono, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Robo, Ayla, Magus

References:

-"Chrono Trigger – Through the Corridor of Time" is a song reference to the same game. It plays in the Antiquity era all the time and in the Kingdom of Zeal.

-"Chrono Trigger – Boss Battle 2" is another song reference to the same game. It plays during more important boss battles like the fight against Masa and Mune.

-"Chrono Trigger – Rhythm of Earth, Wind, and Sky" is yet another song reference to the same game. It always plays in the Prehistory era and in the village.

-"Chrono Trigger – Battle 1" is yet another song reference to the same game. This is the classic battle theme for random battles in the dungeons.

-"Chrono Trigger – Strange Occurrences" is YET another song reference to the same game. It plays…well, during odd occurrences such as when Marle is stranded in time by herself.

-"Chrono Trigger – Yearnings of the Wind" is YET another song reference to the same game. It plays in the eerily strange Middle Ages.

-"Chrono Trigger – Creeping through the Sewers" is YET another song reference to the same game. It plays during the sewers in the Future era.

-"Chrono Trigger – Critical Moment" is YET another song reference to the same game. As the name suggests, it plays during critical moments like Crono breaking out from Guardia Castle's jail after the trial.

-"Chrono Trigger – Crono & Marle – A Distant Promise" is YET ANOTHER song reference to the same game. It plays during touching scenes (not literally) like when Marle confesses how happy she is for Crono to be with her. (Anonymously, encourages CronoXMarle fandom).

-Gosh, I went too far with the music this time… What do you mean this is not a reference? I'm referencing my references with this reference… Er… Forget you saw this useless note, please…

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Why are the main protagonists so silent, anyway? Is there a reason behind this trend?

-I'll be glad to know what the heck Flea's true gender is.

-Surprisingly, while some frogs are poisonous, some frogs are actually edible in some parts of the world like France. However, their hind legs are mostly eaten. (And no, I haven't eaten frog legs nor I'm planning to do so).

Just because Marle was brought back from…wherever she was doesn't mean this is a fitting ending for this arc yet. :P

This arc is turning out to be a nice one, I guess. If you couldn't tell before, Link and Zelda are being the main focus (although the first has more focus than she does). This time, I decided to use a 'cryptic' review of what the next chapter has in store for this funny, yet dramatic tale between a swordsman and a tinker. To all the Chrono Trigger fans, use your knowledge and decipher what I meant to suggest with the preview's message about someone's future, and how would it make Link feel bad.

The FLD wasn't used in certain characters since they barely need to be properly introduced. Rely on the actual characters' explanations to know more about them.

Since I don't have anything else to say, I'll have to use the cliché questions that will be probably answered in the next chapter to remind yourselves of the events.

Will Link get closer to Lucca? Will Zelda intrude in their friendship? Will Marle intrude in Zelda's plans to intrude in their friendship? Will Chris make Crono talk at last? Will Chip travel to an era? Will Froggy cause Butterfly Effects without meaning to? What will Ganondorf and Dedede do? Will Lucca open up more to Link? Will Frog's future be endangered once more?

I encourage all Frog fans to review. :D

…Or I shall form the Happy Frog Revolution Peace Guards Association for real.

Frog: And I shall suicide myself to stop this foolishness! I cannot tolerate it anymore!

(We would like to thank all readers who voted for this arc and made Frog's life partially more miserable than it was before...so yeah, it's the readers' fault that Frog is suffering to amuse us all). ;)
*Chapter 176*: Deadly Butterfly Effects

And if you continue along, you'll eventually see a new chapter.

From ngrey651: Hmm. I guess we should call Flea the "Gender-Confused" Magician of Ozzie's forces. Though I doubt Crono would call her that, since he appears unable to say ANYTHING. XD

Wait. I just thought of something. In the beginning of the game when he first meets Marle, she asks his name. He clearly responds because she says "Crono, huh". Is that truly the only time he's ever talked? Can he only say his name like a Pokemon?

From me: If Crono really said that, then that might have inspired the franchise to make them all say the same thing… But actually, if we consider the anime, they only seem to repeat their names there while the games give them their own set of cries…

Anyway, thanks for reviewing. :D

From TARDISreviewer: well, looks like only 2300 and 1999 are left to explore for now... though it could be 1000 at leas due to the fact the timeline seems to be restored. I HIGHLY dout it's 1999, ocnsidering whath appens there and all... then again, you HAVE actually featured a final boss in an earlier arc, so I won't rtule it out entirely...

good chapter, and nice use of the time travel as a sort of recurring gag for Froggy's escape.

From me: I decided to let the chapter clear your doubts. Thanks. :D

From Gloom-shroom: Woah. Froggy is an extremely lucky frog. And I should agree that the screwing with minds IS a funny thing.

From me: Yes, screwing with minds is funny…as long as the changes are permanent… Ugh… Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Yue Twili: Well that was an... interesting chapter... How can history change so much with one frog (Froggy)? And yeah, all heroes have to deal with weirdo villains (sadly) and usually psychotic ones. And I hope Chrono will talk as well!

Who knows what'll happen next? Update whenever you can dude!

From me: This is why the term "Butterfly Effect" is used here. It means that whatever minor change in history using time travel could result in two different outcomes rather than the first one supposed to happen. It has another meaning, but this one is used in fiction…so yeah. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From PianistChris: This chapter was very comical, especially with the the bad outcome's Froggy caused for Frog, and Link's temptations to open treasure chest's xD. I am very curious as to what Flea's gender is, and ... whatever it is, was an amusing character.

As to the cliche questions, I think Link will get closer to Lucca, and then Zelda will intrude. And I look forward to finding out whether or not Crono will talk to Chris or not. ;)

From me: Hey, don't guess. Those questions are always rhetorical. When the time of the chapter comes, THEN they turn into normal questions… Er, I think I'm wrong…

A-anyway, thanks for reviewing. :D

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: You must be really enjoying this arc aren't you (mainly the butterfly effect). By the way what games are you planning to do anyway?

From me: I'm enjoying this arc. :D

But I think I said the future arcs shouldn't be talked about, sorry. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From FF and STH: Too bad Crono didn't talk,that would nice to see but other then that, this chapter was funny missing with Butterfly Effects.

Like the part with Ozzie being censored and Dalton asking for epic battle music.

From me: Thanks for reviewing. :)

From N the puppet: Atcha...So that's what's been bothering Lucca?

Zelda unknowingly served as a reminder too...

That's right, what IS Flea's gender?

S/he/it's always so confusing.

Awsome chapter!

From me: I hope this chapter is of your liking. Thanks again. :D

From Ludicario: I really enjoyed this chapter! Having studied logic, I can understand how one small thing can lead to a massive number of other things. The number of annoying things that happened to Frog must really be messing things up for him. Although, because they have people from all the time periods with them, doesn't that guarantee that only the last, which is after all of the party members joined, will not mess up anybody's opinion of Frog?

I eagerly await annother chapter of pure torture for space-time, humanoid frogs, and the sanity of anybody who can read the English language when it is written down (or typed up [why is it write "down" and type "up" (and why do I keep going off topic?)?])!

From me: Time travel is a little complicated to me, so I just…kind of…well… Err, I think I messed up a bit, but I tried my best… Dammit, these time travel events are so confusing! A-anyway, thank you for the grammar help you gave me. I've corrected those mistakes by now (except that I forgot where I wrote the "people" part…)

Thanks for reviewing and helping me out. :D

From Decepticon Fan: Since I don't have an account, can I vote for character development between Chris & Wolf for the next Masion chapter? You know your poll. Thanks!

From me: Sorry, but you must have an account if you want to vote. Also, please remember to leave an actual review next time, please… Thanks?

Whew, sorry for the slow update, but there were a few more cloudy days that put me out of writing this chapter. It's already overused, but the wait will probably make up for it… See? I told you this sounded overused… Oh well.

In this chapter, we'll get to see the decisive point where Link gets closer to Lucca…but is that really all, though?

In any case, I encourage all Akira Toriyama fans to read on, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: This fiction is not responsible of characters having humiliating experiences throughout the story of this time travel business…the author does.

Chapter 176: Deadly Butterfly Effects

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

After things settled down with Marle rejoining the group, everyone decided the next course of action regarding Froggy's new whereabouts.

"Back on square one, huh?" Sonic asked bored.

"Afraid so…" Lucca said with a sigh.

"And now we have the green-skinned man and the fat penguin pursuing Froggy as well, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, we do," Link said. "Magus wrecked down the fort they were in, but I doubt they were taken out so easily."

Chris pressed his brow. "Ugh, this is just great," he said. "But…I don't know if they can appear only in the Middle Ages since you met them there…"

"Chances are that these two individuals possess some kind of traveling method as you do," Gaspar said. "If that's the case, they could easily move between time periods."

"How do you know they can do that?" Meta Knight asked.

"All of you tried to arrive in a time period without taking in mind that you'd end up here by the sheer amount of people in your group," Gaspar said. "Now, with two people, they can easily travel through time periods without stumbling here."

"That's just swell," Falco said bored. "We're bound to find them anytime."

Having changed forms before arriving, Zelda crossed her arms. "I forgot where Froggy went this time," she said before looking at Robo. "You remember, right?"

Robo stepped forward to provide them with the information he had. "According to my latest analysis, the next location to go this time is…the year 2,300 A.D," he told them.

"Exactly 301 years after the Day of Lavos," Frog said. "That is also Robo's home era."

"Our search's difficulty would be worse in this case," Robo said. "The Future era, compared to any other era, is highly polluted with trash and wrecked buildings. There are very small groups of humans trying to survive the harsh conditions, and the climate is hazardous to an extent. We must haste and find the frog before it succumbs to the planetary conditions."

"I don't want to remember what happened the first time we went there," Marle shrugged at the thought. "The people in there…they make me so sad…"

"Let's not get dragged down emotionally," Espio advised them. "Froggy needs to be found regardless of the situation."

"I am quite afraid that some of us are getting tired," Frog said. "We should rest for the time being, provided that some are tired."

"I still have energy to keep going," Sonic said. "I wanna go this time."

"Yeah, same here," Falco said. "I wouldn't mind giving it another go."

Crono raised his hand in determination. Marle chuckled at this and raised her hand as well. "We're coming along, too," she said.

"I am still obliged to go," Robo said. "I shall, as always, take command of the Epoch."

Chip flailed his arms. "I-I wanna go, I wanna go!" he pleaded. "Sonic needs to have me around! As long as he wears that collar, I need to control him!"

The time-traveling group fixed their eyes on Sonic's collar. "Oh, right, I wanted to ask why he was wearing that collar around his neck," Lucca wondered.

Sonic shot Chip a glare. "Oh, don't mind it. It's a magical collar that prevents me from gettin' angry, that's all," Sonic explained. "I thought we explained to you before that I go werewolf with each night."

"That is the most clichéd thing I have ever heard before," Lucca, Marle, Frog, Robo, Magus, and (to some extent) Ayla said in unison.

"I know, it sucks, doesn't it?" Sonic asked bored. "(I knew everyone would say that to me… Thank you, Chip. As always, you're a big help…)"

"…Alright," Lucca said, skeptical about the collar. "You guys go on ahead and find the frog. Phew, at least it didn't end up changing the history again…"

Marle narrowed her eyes once she saw Lucca, Link, and Zelda were out of the team. She shook her head and went over to raise Frog's hand. "S-sorry, but I'm calling quits this time, you guys! Frog here will take my spot!" she said.

Frog looked confused. "But I need to have a rest," he said, pulling his hand down from Marle's grip. "I would have liked to go, b-"

"There you go, you guys," Marle said as she pushed Frog to the group. "I'm being nice by giving him my spot when he really wants to go."

Frog stared at Marle. "But…oh well…" he trailed off with a sigh. "I guess I can have a little rest while I take seat in the Epoch…"

"Alright, Marle…" Lucca said confused. "Be careful out there, please. The Future still has some weird…mutants that you could meet."

"Ironically enough, there are mutants called Mutants," Robo pointed out.

"Those veggie things of ten feet?" Marle asked before sticking out her tongue with disgust. "Yuck, don't remind me! Those things are so freaky! T-that's another reason why I don't want to be reminded of that place…"

Chip looked pleased. "Shall we go now? I wanna get some action this time," he said.

"Let's go, Skippy," Sonic said.

The chosen six boarded the Epoch and traveled through time to the Future, leaving behind everyone else in the Hall of Break.

Chris yawned. "I wanted to have a talk with Crono again…but I'm a bit too tired right now…" He looked down at the floor. "I really don't want to rest on the floor. It feels a bit too cold…"

Espio leaned against the fences and closed his eyes. "We ninjas can sleep while leaning," he said.

"Er, I thought anyone could do that…" Chris muttered, seeing that Magus covered himself with his cape and leaned against the fence on a solitary corner of the hall. "He's doing it…"

Lucca yawned next. "Time to set up the tents, then," she said. "We don't rest on the cold floor. If we happen to be tired, we just put up some tents to sleep in."

"Do we have sleeping bags?" Chris asked.

"Sure we do," Lucca said. "Hey, Ayla, Marle, help me set up the tents! We have a lot more of people this time around, but the hall has enough space to set more tents."

"Ayla want tent for DK!" Ayla said, scaring DK with the thought. "Ayla sleep with DK!"

"Aww, you two are so close with each other, right?" Marle asked. "Don't get so close with him, or else Kino will get mad."

"Ayla like DK," Ayla said proudly while DK promptly fainted behind her. "But Ayla like Kino best! Nobody take Kino place! Ayla have baby later!"

Marle covered Ayla's mouth. "Shh! Don't tell us yet! Leave it as a secret, will you?" she whispered. "You can tell us all you want once you have a baby with Kino."

Ayla chuckled under Marle's hand. Close to them, Meta Knight accidentally overheard the conversation. "Why do I suddenly feel so much pity for the caveman boy?" Meta Knight asked to no in particular.

Link walked to them. "I can help to put the tents if you want," he said.

"Oh, thanks, dude," Marle said. "Who's gonna rest in a tent? Magus? Nah, he's already sleeping while standing up. Mewtwo? Pfft, the same."

"Fine, I'll sleep in a tent," Espio said.

"I'll do the same," Meta Knight said.

"Hey, Lucca, Zelda, let's have a tent for ourselves!" Marle piped up.

Zelda looked confused at the proposition. "Um, may I ask why?" she asked.

Marle crossed her arms in a "you-know" manner. "Guys and girls together in a tent sound like some sort of NASTY threesome, save for Ayla. She already said reserved a tent for DK and herself," she explained. "…Unless…" she winked at Zelda, "you and Link are…"

"I-I'll sleep with you!" Zelda said embarrassed. "B-besides, we could have personal conversations with each other while the guys have their own, right?"

"You're already talking my language! I like your style," Marle said. "You sure you're a princess? You think like a smart commoner."

Lucca shifted her eyes at this. "I guess we could sleep together…" she trailed off.

Marle pointed at the guys. "You stay away from our tent! We're gonna do some gossip that could make your ears bleed!" she warned them.

"I will have that in mind…" Espio trailed off.

After a long while, three tents were set up around the hall, one apart from each other. In one tent to the upper left corner of the room, very loud snores emerged as DK and Ayla were both snoring loudly (although Ayla's snores were far louder than DK's). In another tent to the upper right corner of the room, Link, Espio, and Meta Knight rested quietly. And lastly, in the last tent on the lower right corner of the room, Marle, Lucca, and Zelda talked with each other in silence while Magus and Mewtwo were resting outside all tents with Gaspar, who was the first one to fall asleep as he slept in front of the lamppost.

Meanwhile, in the girls' tent…

"C'mon, you two," Marle pressured Zelda and Lucca as all of them were sitting on top of their sleeping bags. "Is it that hard to say who do you love the most? I already said I love Crono." She looked at Lucca. "Do you love…Robo?"

"N-never!" Lucca yelled before gasping at her outburst. "I-I mean, I love Robo as a friend b-but not beyond that point."

"You love Magus, then."

"W-what?" Lucca asked, blushing embarrassed at the talk. "Marle, h-how the heck did you think something so weird?"

"You love Frog, then."

"Marle!" Lucca groaned.

Marle sighed in amusement and looked at Zelda. "How about you?" Marle asked, snapping Zelda out of her thoughts. "I know you're gonna say you don't love Link, so does that mean you like…Chris?"

Zelda shook her head. "O-of course not! He and I are just friends!" she said.

"Just friends," Marle emphasized. "Aww, those words can make a girl like me think a whole lot of stuff…"

"T-this is so unbelievably preposterous!" Zelda said as her cheeks became rosy. "I've never engaged myself to conversations like this!"

"But it's so fun!" Marle rejoiced. "It's what all the other girls who aren't tied with a royal family do. Look at me, for example. I'm part of a royal family, and I do girly stuff."

"Marle, I thought you hated being a normal girl!" Lucca said still embarrassed.

"No, I hate being a princess AND a normal girl," Marle said boringly before brightening up. "I have to admit some girl stuff catches my eyes…like this."

"You're doing this for your own amusement," Zelda said, narrowing her eyes. "It's so easy for you to say that you love Crono while neither me or Lucca has a boyfriend," she blushed more at the last word.

"T-that's it, Marle," Lucca said as she tossed her arms up and dug herself into her sleeping bag, turning her back at them. "I'm going to go back to sleep so you stop teasing both of us with those embarrassing questions!"

"Awright," Marle said. "You will so totally start thinking about getting a husband from now on. Just telling you this, but Link is still single and open for girls since Zelda here isn't the least interested in him."

While Zelda covered her blushing face, the tinker grunted loudly. "G-good night!" Lucca yelled. Within a few seconds, out of a miracle, Lucca fell asleep to avoid listening to Marle.

Zelda slowly uncovered her face and looked at the sleeping Lucca. She sighed silently and then stared at Marle's suspicious expression that she was giving her. "…" Zelda uncomfortably shifted her eyes.

"So, Zeldy, you're afraid, huh?" Marle asked in a dark tone.

The Hylian princess felt threatened at this. "A-afraid of you talking to me like that? O-of course I am!" Zelda said.

"No, I didn't mean that," Marle muttered. "I wanted Lucca away from Link so I could keep track of your…issues with them."

"W-what?"

"Don't lie to me," Marle muttered. "I know that you're afraid of Link getting so close with Lucca."

"T-that is definitely not it!" Zelda said. "A-and besides, you have no right in intruding in my personal affairs!"

"Neither do you with Link's affairs," Marle pointed out.

"(…Curses, she is smart…)" Zelda thought worried. "I…I…I…I have special reasons to be doing these things…"

"And those are?" Marle asked interested.

Zelda looked mad at her. "W-why should I tell you?" she asked unsure. "I'm afraid these matters only concern me and no one else."

For the first time in a while, Marle put up a sincere worried look at Zelda. "You haven't noticed until now?" she asked.

"N-notice what, exactly?"

"You're clearly in some kinda bind," Marle said with a small frown. "You can just stand behind Link all day, pondering what to do with his actions on Lucca. I've seen you, Zelda, and you're very nervous…which brings me to think you don't know what to do."

The Guardia princess made a point to Zelda. The Hylian princess looked away sadly, scared of prolonging the talk. "…And…you think I need help to get over this problem?" she asked.

Marle briefly looked at the sleeping Lucca before looking back at Zelda. "How did this whole 'worry about Link all the time' stuff started anyway?" she asked. "I can tell you know Link for a pretty long time. If you worry too much about him, doesn't that mean you're secretly and subtly trying to say you're…"

Zelda shook her head. "D-definitely not in love with him," she said.

"You sure of that?" Marle asked. "Maybe you think he's too reckless on his own that he needs you around to stay safe? It should be backwards, y'know. You should've him around to stay safe, not the other way around. I'm not saying you're reckless, though."

"…" Zelda thought hard about the matter. "…I worry about him helping people out," she finally said.

Marle raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?" she asked. "That's so gentle of him to do."

"You don't understand," Zelda said. "A long time ago, Ganondorf, the Gerudo King, kidnapped from time to time to reclaim the throne and become the king of Hyrule."

"Ooh, so Link is your knight in shining armor?"

"S-something like that," Zelda said. "That aside, before Link went to rescue me during those times, he told me that he used to go everywhere in Hyrule to help people in need. Apparently, helping people out would yield him some items to help his in his quests, but he also told me that he liked to help people if they're in need." She looked at Marle. "And he surely saw something that was troubling Lucca, and that's why he wants to be so close with her…"

Marle raised her shoulders a bit. "So what's the problem with that? He wants to give Lucca a hand. Lucca's reckless on her own," she said.

"I…don't know…" Zelda admitted worried. "I have a feeling that Link won't be able to help her in whatever problem she's dealing with. Sometimes…I wonder if I'm just…well…jealous…" she muttered the last word. "…Other times, I think helping her will cause Link a lot of grief…"

"So what, you can predict things before they happen or what?" Marle asked.

"Maybe I'm just overreacting because this doesn't happen to me," Zelda said. "I know Link is a gentleman, but…I worry about him a lot…"

Marle rolled her eyes. "Gosh, you just can't admit you love him?" she asked.

"N-never!" Zelda said flustered. "W-who's saying he doesn't have another love interest? I heard from some sources that he might be in love with another person than me. Besides, people would think wrong things about a princess marrying a commoner…"

At this, Marle looked bored. "You do know Crono's a commoner and I love him, right?" she asked boringly. "Love doesn't have barriers except when it comes down to age and stuff. Who cares what the people think? Go get his heart before it gets snatched by another person!"

"I-I can't do that," Zelda said. "I'm too much attached to my royal lineage that I want to let him decide what he wants to do."

"And even so, you worry that he talks with another girl," Marle said.

"…Just…I just don't know what to do…" Zelda muttered. "This is so complicated to do…"

Marle raised two fingers. "It's either let him do what he wants, or you worrying about his welfare with other people," she said. "If can't help Lucca out, then let him face his defeat! It's not like he never was defeated before when helping someone out, right?"

"…" Zelda looked away.

"…Oh, please, he never failed once?" Marle asked confused.

"Not that I'm aware of," Zelda said, staring back at Marle. "Link is a very reliable person from what I've heard. The only times he would face defeat is when he has to fight an enemy, but not helping people out. I guess you could say that he has a good nature in helping others, no matter if they're strangers to him…"

Marle chuckled a bit. "Just leave him be, then," she said.

Zelda suddenly looked up. "I wonder if his good nature of helping people out has to do with something else…" she trailed off.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Marle asked.

Zelda looked back at Marle. "Well, it's just that, before he was destined to save Hyrule, he was a normal person living in a village," she explained. "But once he got the blessing of the goddesses…he started venturing out to save me, and he eventually met all kinds of people across Hyrule. From that point, he became the wielder of the Triforce of Courage."

Marle thought for a moment. "And?" she asked.

"He helps so many people out that it's…a little bit weird that he doesn't seem to be tired of doing that all the time," Zelda said. "In fact, he never stops, and he never seems to complain. He has done many things over the past years, and he doesn't complain at all."

"What, does he help people out all his time?"

"It's unbelievable…but yes…" Zelda said concerned. "And when I think about it by myself, I sort of know that he wants to stop… I can't afford to ask him this. I'll be afraid of whatever answer he could give me." She looked at Lucca. "He is truly a complicated person to grasp…"

The Guardia princess shook her head. "I'd never thought that you thought that much about him," she said. "You sure are in a tight spot."

"I should just leave him alone…" Zelda trailed off. "If I keep worrying about him like this, people will continue to think we're a couple."

"Just say you love him, for god's sake!" Marle said annoyed, instantly receiving a "shh!" from Zelda to prevent Lucca from awakening. "S-sorry for that, but I'm just annoyed. All your troubles would get over with if you just say to him that you love him!" she whispered.

Zelda blushed a bit. "I-I'm still not sure of this! Please don't force me to come up with a preposterous decision!" she said.

"Do you even have somebody else arranged for you to marry with or what?"

"No…"

"Then you're free of choosing anyone!"

Zelda lied down on her sleeping bag. "I'm sorry, but I want to sleep for now… All this talk isn't making me feel so sure of myself…"

Marle sighed and lied down. "If you need to have someone to talk about, I'm always open…" she said.

"…Marle…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"'Cause you need help badly even though you don't want to," Marle said with a chuckle. "If you can't even bring yourself to do something about Link, I'll give you suggestions."

"…If I'm unable to decide…then I'll consult you."

"Good enough for me."

"Thank you…and good night," Zelda said before drifting off to sleep.

Marle stared to the tent's ceiling and shrugged. "(She wouldn't be in such a fit if she didn't just admit that she likes the guy,)" she thought. "(Oh well, nobody said love was easy to get all the time.)" She shifted her eyes around. "(…Damn, I had to say I was tired while I still have some energy to stay awake. What to do… I know! I'll come up with some suggestions to help Zelda with Link! If I don't come up with anything, then I'll just become tired of thinking and then I'll sleep!)"

The Guardia princess began brainstorming.

Sadly enough, she ended up falling asleep, much to her dismay.

-2300 A.D. –Future-

Skies

Chrono Trigger – A Desolate World

Barren winds swept the unfertile land below the cruising Epoch as its six passengers seemingly "admired" whatever there was to admire. The Future era was probably the most saddening and sickening one from all the previous visited eras. From as far as the eye could see, wrecked streets, ruined buildings, sand, and dry earth made up all the continent and islands across the planet. No sign of life was found walking outside. The climate was so harsh that it was always cloudy, with strong winds pushing dust high into the air. Across the barren lands, the group would find some big, wrecked domes where some humans still resided, trying to survive all the days to come for the apocalyptic setting.

Inside the Epoch, Robo drove the ship while everyone else looked around for anything interesting on the ground. Being so tired, Frog fell asleep shortly after arriving. Falco was particularly grossed out at Frog's chin (or in his special case, sac) inflating so big like a balloon before deflating, just to repeat the process all over again. Chip, however, found this very funny as he usually poked the sac to entertain himself, making Frog chuckle in his sleep.

"This era is just one heck of a big dumpster," Sonic said. "Did somebody finally raid the internet with a virus that made every single application explode in the world?"

"There is no such thing as a super virus," Robo said. "301 years ago, Lavos awakened, and it brought the destruction of the world. 301 years later, the aftermath brought many hazardous effects on the climate, the land, the ocean, and the air. It is almost impossible to survive outside without eating food. As for food, it has been depleted to the point it almost does not exist."

"You mean chili dogs don't exist here anymore?" Sonic asked.

"There was such a hot dog delicacy known as that before, but since I do not have memories of the past, I presume that it became extinct."

"Holy cow, that's awful!" Sonic said shocked. "A world without that doesn't need to be called a world anymore!"

"We do not need a delicacy like that just for a world to be deemed a world."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Hey, don't knock chili dogs like that," he warned.

"Stop arguing about hot dogs and what not," Falco said, still disgusted at seeing Frog's inflating sac. "We've been flying around this messed up place for a good hour and we haven't found a Gate thing yet."

"I apologize," Robo said. "There is so much static interference in the buildings that is making my sensors work below average. Although all electronic appliances are turned off, they still radiate static."

Chip raised his hand while poking the sac with the other. "I suggest arranging a hardware update to your system so you can locate anything here!" he suggested.

"Request approved," Robo said. "I shall inform Lucca about it."

As Chip looked pleased, Sonic rolled his eyes. "Chip, you don't know what a hardware is, do you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Do you?" Chip asked, still poking Frog's sac.

"…Touché," Sonic muttered.

"Perhaps I should fly lower to pick something up," Robo suggested as he moved the Epoch closer to the ground.

"Hate to say this, but finding a Gate thing between all the mess down there is gonna be tiresome," Falco said. "What if that annoying frog got crushed under debris?"

"Then I wish he didn't," Sonic said. "If that tablet got broken, we'll all say hello to Chip's charming brother who will start killing everything and bring damnation eternally. Chip, are you sure you can tame Dark Gaia?"

"I've been living with him for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands…and some more thousands of years," Chip said, still poking Frog's sac. "What do you think, Sonic?"

"…You suck at convincing him from leaving the world alone," Sonic said with a sigh.

"Heheheheh, poke, poke, poke," Chip said, poking Frog's sac faster. "This is so cool. It inflates, it deflates, and it feels so soft that makes your fingers tickle yourself!"

"I thank god Slippy doesn't do that kind of thing," Falco said disgusted. "Hey, Steel Can, found anything yet? Swordsman guy here doesn't have an eagle vision to find a frog hiding inside trash," he said before Crono looked annoyed at him.

"I just located a temporal distortion coming from this area," Robo said as he directed the Epoch towards an area where it looked the same as anywhere else in the planet; an area surrounded with wrecked buildings and shattered streets. "Let me find an appropriate landing site for the Epoch."

The avian pilot sighed pleased. He leaned against hi seat and briefly reminisced the days where he drove his Arwing freely in the skies and enjoyed himself. Thinking about that, he suddenly looked upset. "I gotta thank the hand for banning Arwings around the mansion just because they SOMEHOW disturb peace," he grumbled to himself as the Epoch descended.

Site 32

After landing the Epoch on an almost safe-looking street, the group (except Frog, who fell deeply asleep) jumped down to the cracked ground. They looked around the barren area while Robo walked to the south and ducked down to push aside some fragments of cement to find the Gate. Crono went over to help him by pushing aside some bigger debris.

"Isn't there a place where I can run straight?" Sonic asked as he looked around the landing site. "I could zigzag my way around, but I'd prefer a long, straight path," he said.

"That's it, I'm calling you Speed Freak from now on," Falco said as he sat on top of a rock. "You like speed way too much for your good."

"Heheheh, you're referring to Sonic the Hedgehog, you know," Sonic said with a grin. "He loves speed more than anything."

"(Uh-oh, third person talk,)" Falco thought mentally. "(He gets more annoying when talking in third person.)"

Chip looked upset. "Hey, you broke Amy's heart, you heartless hedgehog!" he said. "Say sorry before she whacks you with her hammer!"

Sonic waved a hand. "Whatever," he said.

"I have found the Gate!" Robo told the Smashers as Crono was ducking down to see the blue vortex suspended in midair. The trio ran to them and stared down at the temporal distortion. "There are no signs of the frog, but this Gate was recently used. There is no doubt that the frog came out from this."

"And did Froggy jump out from this place?" Sonic asked. "This thing was behind all that cement, right?"

"My guess is that the frog squeezed out and jumped away somewhere," Falco said. "Great, now he's off somewhere within all this trash of buildings." He pointed at Sonic. "You, go survey the area with all your insane speed. You wanted to run around? Now you have the chance while doing something productive!"

Sonic ignored the complaint and grinned at the proposition. "I don't mind, dude," he said. "Just leave it to me and I'll find Froggy by myself!" he said before he disappeared in a flash from them, amazing Crono in the process.

"He certainly runs at the speed of light," Robo said. "There is no other organism living in this world that possesses such speed like he does."

"His speed is the only thing he's good at," Falco said bored. "It looks fun, but I prefer my own natural speed, thank you."

"Oh, oh, you don't want to turn into Sonic by mimicking his speed!" Chip guessed.

"Correct!" Falco faked excitement. "Now let's relax and wait for him to bring us the frog."

At that moment, Sonic came back, appearing right next to Falco. "Sorry, couldn't find him," he said disappointed.

"Uah!" Falco backed away. "Appear a little bit further away from me next time, will ya?" he asked annoyed.

"Speed will not aid us in our task this time," Robo theorized. "We must combine forces and survey the area thoroughly."

"Yeah, I admit I slacked off a bit in my search," Sonic said. "Besides, I got bored so fast of jumping all over the place. Didn't I ask for a straight path to run as fast as I can?"

Oddly enough, alarms blared off around them. The group got a bit startled at the ear-piercing sounds coming from all over the place. Most of them covered their ears as they looked around to find the sources of the sound. "What is happening here now?" Falco asked loudly.

"Alert!" Robo warned them. "We have got company!"

Crono unsheathed his katana and put up a serious look as he, Sonic, and Chip looked around the mess. From all around their spots, some handless robots rolled out from their hiding spots and surrounded all of them. The group easily identified all the robots being the ones who were blaring off the alarm. Instead of attacking them, they simply surrounded the five.

"Hey, it's Robo's cousins!" Chip said, despite the fact the robots stood roughly four feet and didn't look anything like Robo in the least detail. In fact, they only had legs and heads in the middle with distinguishable red eyes that were locking on to the group. "You've got family!"

"Negative," Robo disagreed. "I have no siblings with these robot series. These are strongly different from my own series. They are rough robots who patrol the area and attack any life form that does not possess robot qualities." He raised his fist in a fighting stance. "I am afraid to say they believe we are their enemies."

"Big deal, it's just a bunch of random robots," Sonic said with a confident grin. "I'll smack 'em in five seconds without breaking a sweat. Just watch, you guys!"

Before Sonic could take a step forward, Crono held him back behind his arm. The swordsman looked down at the hedgehog and shook his head at him.

"Why are you suddenly stopping me, anyway?" Sonic asked confused.

"Crono is trying to tell you that these robots are not hostile," Robo said. "That is what I believe, though…"

From the Epoch, Frog sat up from his seat and mumbled some words. "What is the meaning behind all this commotion?" he asked to no one in particular.

"You guys, stop all that racket! You seriously disturb the peace in these streets without thinking at all!"

The robots' alarms suddenly died down, making the group look around for the source of the new voice.

"Whoever did this, thank you for that!" Falco yelled relieved as he removed his hands from his ears. "…Wait, there's actually somebody living here?"

"But of course!" the voice replied from their backs. "With no one to run these desolate streets, there is only one person in the whole world who can claim the roads to have fun forever without having to worry about police and stuff! Who might that person be, I ask?"

"Bro!" the robots all said in unison, vaguely displaying happiness.

"Bro?" Sonic, Chip, and Falco said confused.

"Right behind you, lowlifes!"

The group turned around and looked up on the top of a wrecked building's second floor where a peculiar figure stood with crossed arms. The figure wasn't fully humanoid but some sort of cyborg. The cyborg had a weird look since it sported car-looks around its body. Over its shoulders, it sported a car's front light. On the back, it carried two big wheels with two mufflers pointing down. Under the vehicle parts, the figure wore a dashing pink shirt with purple pants. Its feet were odd as they were wheels lying down flat. The android had brown-skinned hands and face with a pale blue Mohawk hairstyle. All of this, coupled with the fact the cyborg wore sunglasses, made the group think it was a punk.

Chrono Trigger – Johnny of the Robo Gang

"About time somebody showed up here," the cyborg said with a grin before gracefully jumping all the way to the group, landing right in the middle of the robots. For some reason, all the robots surrounded the cyborg and began cheering loudly, much for the cyborg's cockiness. "Thank you, my dear little brothers, thank you!" he thanked them.

"Bro's the best! Bro's the best!" the robots cheered.

"Stop!" the cyborg as he held out his hand to the air, making the robots stop cheering him. He grinned coolly at the group as he ran a hand through his Mohawk. "Hey there, lowlifes. Johnny's my name; speed's my game, as they say around these parts."

Sonic instantly looked upset. "That's MY line!" he complained.

"And I was supposed to know that before?" the cyborg named Johnny asked amused. He looked at Crono. "Hey, I remember you. You're the guy who beat me last time you were here." He held out his hand (dramatically to impress the robots) to Crono. "I haven't forgotten that faithful time when you crossed the finish line before I could! Ever since that moment, I dubbed you my arch-nemesis. Wait, no, no, no. MY personal rival," he said with a wide grin. "Yeah, that sounds cooler and less evil."

"Bro!" the robot exclaimed in adoration.

"I'm cool like that 'cuz that's the kind of guy I am," Johnny boasted.

Falco looked at Robo. "Who's this weirdo with the car parts?" he whispered.

"I have not met him before," Robo admitted. "But Lucca told me about Johnny. Supposedly, Johnny is a cyborg invented to race people. That is all I know regarding him. His past is a total mystery."

"Then let me clear up my tragic past!" Johnny offered. "If I want to be a very important character, I need to explain my dark past to get attention, am I right?" he asked as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Yup," Chip said. "I have a dark past, Sonic here has a dark past, Robo has one too, and Falco has another one."

"Actually, I lived a pretty nice life without worries," Falco said. "No tragedies, no problems, just chillin'."

"Cheater! And you call yourself a character?" Chip asked upset.

Johnny clapped his hands to get their attention. "Hey, hey, hey, I was about to explain my tragic back-story, imp guy," he told Chip.

"Oh, sorry," Chip said. "Continue, please!"

"LIKE I WAS SAYING," Johnny said before snapping his fingers. "Boys, shine a light!"

"Roger!" the robots said before surrounding Johnny, shooting lights to him.

Out of nowhere, Johnny took out a microphone and stared coolly at the group. "Johnny's Life – Episode 1: A Racing Star is Born," he said softly, covering his face with a hand. "There I was, being assembled by humans with a passion to race. Little Johnny wasn't like all robots out there. Oh no, he was different. He had good looks, nice wheels, and good charisma to human children. He was well known as the racing machine until some big bug thing came out from the earth and obliterated almost everything in the planet. Little Johnny hid underground where he survived that tragic day long ago. After enduring hardships, annoying weather climates, and some dead ends, he finally became what he is today: just Johnny," he said dramatically.

Falco groaned aloud. "Oh my god, he's telling us his back-story for real," he said.

Johnny chuckled and pointed at the group. "Tune again next time to watch the next dramatic event in Johnny's Life – Episode 2: Johnny the Racing Hero. Will the racer save the stray cat from the clutches of nature? Find out next time," he said, snapping his fingers to make the lights die down. The robots around him soon erupted with cheers as he bowed down to them in respect.

Chip looked very excited. "Episode 2, here we go!" he said.

"Yeah…no," Sonic said as he shook his head. "Besides, that single 'episode' kinda explained all his little and boring back-story…"

Johnny's eyes flashed a glare under his sunglasses before disappearing under the glasses' darkness. "What did the little lowlife say about me just now?" he asked. "Nowadays, cool guys like me can only settle down disputes not with fists, but with wheels," he warned them. "You wanna take a shot at me, little lowlife punk?"

"We are sorry, but we do not have time to spend with you," Robo said. "We are currently looking for a missing creature around the world that might have gone somewhere around these parts."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked. "What kind of creature is this? There aren't any animals dwelling these parts unless they're monsters."

"A frog," Falco said trying to ignore the fact Johnny was labeled as another weirdo. "It looks panicked, it's green, it's annoying, and it likes to escape from people like us."

"A frog?" Johnny asked before pointing at a familiar frog approaching them. "There is your frog."

"That…isn't it," Chip said.

"Why am I being insulted for no particular reason?" Frog asked as he joined the group. "Am I living a nightmare? If I am, then I must be surely dreaming."

"Sadly, you are not dreaming," Robo pointed out.

"Hmm," Frog grumbled annoyed.

"Oops, wrong frog, sorry," Johnny chuckled before producing a box from his back. The box had some big holes on the front where another familiar frog was captured inside. "Maybe this frog is the one you're looking for?"

The six took a closer look at the box where a frightened Froggy was shaking in fear. "Oh my god, that's the one!" Falco said. "Give it to us, please!" he said as he tried snatching the box, only for Johnny to move it away from Falco. "Hey!"

"I SUPPOSE I could give this frog to you," Johnny said. "But, you see, I want to find this little frog its mate so this world becomes populated with something more…bearable to live with," he explained them. "Seeing ten feet tall monsters every day is getting so tiresome, I swear. So why not give this little fellow a chance to rule the world, eh? Who knows? Maybe the frogs could become super smart and build long highways where I will dominate the streets. It's a win-win situation to me!"

"Bro, you're so smart and cool!" the robots cheered.

"Heheh, I know."

"Grr, you don't know what you're causing with your stupid goals!" Falco yelled.

Sonic grunted at Johnny. "We need that frog!" he demanded him. "He has some stuff in him that we need t-"

"Look, lowlife punk," Johnny interrupted as he kept the box with Froggy away behind his back. "I don't care why this frog is so important to you and your little squad. I won't give you this frog just because you're askin' me nicely. You were particularly rude to Johnny, so the only way you're gonna get anything from me is that you race me," he explained. "You want the frog? Beat me in a race in the broken highway to reclaim the prize!"

"Cool, bro!" the robots cheered.

"People talking in third person are so cool, but no one else is cooler than you in that aspect, bro!" another robot said.

"Yeah, but I won't abuse it so I don't become so annoying, you boys," Johnny said coolly.

Falco looked bored at Sonic. "You could learn a thing of four from him, you know. He's not that much of a weirdo as I thought he was," he said.

Sonic rolled his eyes and pointed at Johnny. "You want to have a race? Heh, bring it on," he taunted with a grin.

"Not so fast," Johnny said. "If you can beat me, you'll get the frog as your reward. BUT, if you are beaten by me, you'll have to polish my mufflers for a whole week. They get so dirty when I have my time of relaxation while driving in the nights."

The hedgehog chuckled and wiped his nose with his thumb once. "You bet," he said.

Crono, Frog, and Robo frowned in unison. "How did it come down to this?" Robo asked. "The frog has been escaping from us many times before, and now we must race against Johnny to get it from him?"

"I loathe how our task is becoming larger and larger with every minute," Frog said with disappointment.

"Everyone, to the ruined highway!" Johnny said as he changed into a motorbike. His feet' wheels joined to form a single wheel, and the two wheels on his back spun around so that the mufflers would point up. He moved his hands to his back to complete his transformation. He revved up his engine and grinned at the group. "Follow me, lowlifes! Today, a race will take place!"

"(I have to admit he looks kinda cool like that,)" Falco thought.

The group and the robots walked away from the Epoch's landing site to arrive at a ruined highway that ran a straight path to the other side of the ruins. Sonic grinned at the long street disappearing into the distance. Johnny's gang stood on the right side of the street while Sonic's gang (I mean, the group) stood on the other side.

Chrono Trigger – Bike Chase

Sonic flexed down his legs to the sides while Johnny stared forward at the highway with a wide grin on his face.

"Did somebody out there hear his complaints or what?" Falco asked as he stared at the long highway. "It's like this place was waiting for him."

"I do not think the same way as you do," Robo said. "This highway was here a long time ago. In any case, it can be used as a race track providing that it is a single race."

A robot from Johnny's gang rolled forward between both groups and turned to them. "Thank you everyone for assisting another event of our faithful bro Johnny's race!" he announced, making the crowd of robots go wild. "On the right side, we have the ace of wheels, the dashing man on wheels, the fire behind the wheels, the dedicated man who races through all the streets in the world with his insane wheels! Give a round of applauses to our beloved bro JOHNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Bro's the best, bro's the best, bro's the best!" the robots cheered loudly.

"You boys really know how to make me blush," Johnny said with a cool chuckle. "Hey, hedgehog, are you sure you don't wanna use the jet bike? The red-haired boy can lend it to you so you can at least catch up with me."

Sonic chuckled. "I never use machines to do the running for me," he said. "I can run by myself just fine."

"Fine, but I'm just warning you that you won't have a chance catching up with me with your feet."

"And on the other side, we have the hedgehog dude who dared to insult Johnny's face right in front of him! Will shame lead him to his downfall in this race? Will our bro Johnny throw mud to his face? Will the challenger lose in this special case? Will we robots go to celebrate Johnny's victory in our base?" the robot asked in rhymes. "Will I continue rhyming like this?"

"C-C-COMBO BREAKER!" the robots vaguely eluded in unison before breaking into cheers.

Chip gasped. "I think they were referencing something very important, you guys!" he said, clueless that he was ignored by everyone.

Sonic grunted. "Just say my name already!" he demanded the robot.

"It's Jerk the Jerky !" the robot said, making the robots loathe Sonic's name.

"It's SONIC the Hedgehog!" Sonic corrected.

"I shall never understand how trilling this can be to them," Frog said. "I guess my era does not cherish the same events like this."

"I pity you," Falco said. "You don't know how much you're going to miss in your future."

"You like this?" Robo asked.

"Just a bit," the pilot admitted.

"Racers, on your marks!" the robot announced.

Johnny and Sonic exchanged grins.

"Get set!"

Both of them chuckled rather evilly and confidently.

"GO!"

Some time later…

Chrono Trigger – Johnny of the Robo Gang

The Epoch crossed the long ruined highway and landed on the side of the ruins where a proud-looking Sonic waited for them. The hedgehog looked behind over his shoulder to see a depressed Johnny slowly crossing the finish line. The group and some more robots went to join the racers before Johnny reverted to his human-like form.

"That was certainly shocking," Frog admitted. "As soon as the race started, Sonic was nowhere in the vicinity anymore."

The robots exchanged glances with each other, silent at the outcome of the race. The hedgehog had finished much earlier than Johnny did. The robot announcer rolled between them an announced the time. "And with a shocking record of 0:00:09, Jerky the Jerk Hedgehog wins…" He looked depressed at Johnny. "Bro, you kinda got owned so badly like never before… We share your pain, though."

Johnny sighed in shame. "Damn, t-this guy isn't normal at all," he said. "He knows how to run on his feet, alright…"

"Heh," Sonic said with a grin, holding out his hand at Johnny. "I think you're a cool-looking racer, though."

Johnny stared at Sonic's hand for a while before grinning friendly at him. He shook hands with the hedgehog and chuckled together. "Okay, you rock, dude. I admit that," Johnny said. "You're lucky that the great Johnny has recognized your speed."

"Okay, okay, enough with the cheesy friendly rivalry thing," Falco said as he clapped his hands once. "Give us the frog as you promised you would. We've got a lot of stuff to do with something it swallowed."

Johnny chuckled nervously at this.

"…What now?" Robo asked.

"W-well, you see, while I was still coming back here, I…kinda let go of the box in the middle of the race," Johnny explained shamefully. "It actually slipped from my back, a-and I didn't want to go back for it because I thought I had a chance in beating this guy here, soooooooooooo…yeah…"

While Falco and Sonic tightened their fists and trembled with inner rage about to erupt, Frog, Chip, and Crono smacked their foreheads in disbelief. Robo, having no way in showing emotions or unusual behaviors, merely stared at the nervous Johnny. "…Understood," Robo said. "We shall go look for him in the highway." He turned to Sonic and Falco. "As for you two, please scream to release all the inner stress you want to vent off."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Sonic and Falco screamed furiously. The two then panted heavily, giving death glares to Johnny.

"Better," Robo said. "Let us proceed into the highway."

"Wait…just a moment…" Falco interrupted before glaring daggers at Johnny and his robot gang. "You guys aren't going anywhere from this! It was YOUR DAMN fault that the frog escaped again, so you're gonna help us out as our consolation prize, got it?"

Johnny looked at his robot gang.

"Bro, be a good loser and accept their demand," a robot spoke.

"Yeah, bro. Show them how kind you can be!" cheered another robot.

"The people need you bro to help them out in their time of need!" another robot piped up.

"Bro, let's help them!" the robots said in unison.

"…" Johnny sniffed sadly. "Y-you boys… You still admire me even after I lost?"

"Yeah, bro," another robot said. "You're our leader! We won't change teams with another faster guy than you! You have the looks, the charisma, and the attitude to lead us to a better tomorrow!"

A robot rolled closer to Johnny. "You're like the robotic daddy we never had before," it said, crying oil down its only red eye. "We can't replace you! You're the best!"

"Bro, whatever you do, be our leader!" all the robots cried in unison.

Johnny's lips trembled before he broke into tears and knelt down to hug all the robots. "Y-you boys are the best," he said. "I-I never thought I had such a great gang like you! T-thank you for showing me how wrong I was!"

"BRO!"

"BOYS!"

All of the robots began crying passionately while the group merely stared at them all sobbing and whimpering their happiness. Crono scratched his head a bit while Chip took out a violin and played a sad tune with it.

"I changed my mind," Falco said as he watched disgusted at the crying robots. "He can stay behind with his brothers."

"I disapprove," Robo said. "We must have all the help we can get no matter who it is. The more we are the easier will be to find the frog."

"But Johnny was the one who did this problem in the first place," Sonic said. "He should do it himself."

"At this point, relying on a single person is not a good option," Frog said. "I am afraid that we will have to work together with his team…just once."

Johnny stood back up and turned to the group, giving them a thumb up. "You guys got a deal," he said. "But since these ruins are plagued with monsters…I'll leave the fighting to you. Sadly, I wasn't built to shoot guns or something like that."

"Sweet," Sonic said sarcastically.

"H-however, my boys here can shoot lasers from their eyes!" Johnny said. "Yeah, that's how we work. Being the leader, I give them orders to annihilate the nearby monsters while I provide backup by running away from dangerous fiends."

"Ever thought about running over enemies with your wheels? Maybe that could work to attack," Sonic suggested.

"Well, I suppose I could do that…but what if my wheels get stuck with something if they rip a monster's skin? Nah, I'll pass on that."

Chrono Trigger – Site 16

Frog unsheathed the Masamune and pointed it to the west. "Let us commence our search for the frog!" he said.

Chip kept his violin and looked at Sonic. "C'mon, Sonic! Let's find the frog before you get to change to your werewolf form during the night!" he said.

Johnny overheard this and frowned. "Werewolf? This speedy guy here turns into a werewolf during the night? That's so cliché, man," he said.

"So cliché," the others robots agreed, dismaying the hedgehog.

Sonic grumbled annoyed. "Can we just please get over this and find Froggy before anyone else we meet comments about my stupid curse?" he asked.

With that, the big group proceeded through the ruined highway at a slow pace. Thankfully and surprisingly, Johnny's robots proved to be exceptionally useful as they rolled around into tight places to scan the area for Froggy. Each one of them stayed close while jumping over debris, entering wrecked buildings, and looking down under debris. In the middle of the highway, Frog walked along with Frog.

"Sheesh, they're actually helpful," Falco said.

"This is the first time I heard you complimenting them," Frog said.

"Don't get me wrong. I still haven't forgotten that it was the cyborg guy's fault that we're doing this," the avian said annoyed.

"Do not let your anger take over you," Frog advised. "That frog will be soon found if we hurry up."

"I don't like searching for little animals," Falco said. "I'm just doing this because I don't want some deity thing kill me."

"That is enough motivation to make that frog imperative to your mission," the amphibian said.

A Waddle Dee waltzed in front of them, stared at them, and then walked away into the mess of buildings.

"That is strange," Frog noted. "Monsters in this era are usually wild and ready to attack any trespasser. That one we just saw did not attack us."

"That's good," Falco said. "It was going to be a waste using my Blasters on that one…" He stared at the direction where the Waddle Dee went. "…Er…wait… Why do I think I've seen that thing before somewhere?"

It was such a bad luck for Falco that he didn't know what a Waddle Dee was. He never took his time to do a full research of another Smasher's world.

In fact, it should have been noted that each one of the Smashers didn't have a single idea of most of the commonly seen inhabitants of each one's world. The reason why nobody cared about those facts was the fact they mostly didn't have any particular business in a different world than theirs, or probably because they didn't find it that interesting to know everything about a Smasher's world. And if they did know at least one bit of another world, it was because that term was the most commonly heard term that they heard from another Smasher from another world.

However, only three people knew what to know about all the worlds: a very unfortunate teenager who always put his life at the brink of death every once in a month named Chris, a hand that was constantly verbally harassed every day named Master Hand, and a psychotic, uncontrollable, insane, fanatic, maniac, crazy hand ironically named Crazy Hand.

"Do you have any knowledge of a monster like that?" Frog asked.

"Well, for one, that thing wasn't a monster. It looks way too kiddy for me to be a real monster," Falco said. "And for another thing, I think I saw it before…but…where?"

"If it does not have any concern with us, then leave it alone," Frog said. "We have to keep looking for that frog before a monster eats it alive behind our backs."

King Dedede waltzed in front of the two and walked away, completely ignoring them.

"Well, there goes another odd fellow," Frog said.

"Yeah," Falco said. "Let's just look for the frog."

It took the pilot three steps forward for his brain to formulate a thought about the penguin.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Falco hastily stopped Frog and turned to the direction King Dedede went. "That guy just now, he's one of the allies of the Subspace Army! What was his name? King Dodo…something?"

Frog looked annoyed. "Would you get a concrete answer from your thoughts?" he asked. "This is getting quite annoying for my tastes."

"Hey, everyone!" Falco called out the others. "We've got company!"

A little while later, the whole group of fighters and robots followed the penguin's track where he had entered a narrow alley where they crossed to the other side. Upon crossing, they entered a big clearing where Ganondorf, King Dedede, and ten Waddle Dees were having a discussion. The group managed to hide behind a broken wall to overhear their conversation.

"How are we sure dat dah frog is 'round here?" King Dedede asked skeptically.

Ganondorf showed the penguin some kind of round-shaped black radar with a green light flickering on the top. "According to Doctor Eggman, this radar was created to sense Gaia energy radiating from the tablets. With this device, we shall find the frog," he explained.

"And how're we sure dat we're not lookin' around the wrong place?" Dedede asked.

"Fool, this device can sense anything around the globe," Ganondorf said. "Do your eyes see the green light? It is telling us that the frog is indeed here."

Dedede rolled his eyes. "Then how dah heck can't dat thing find the frog's exact spot?" he asked.

"This radar does not work properly," Ganondorf further explained. "Before, we were able to locate the frog within that fool's fort. But after that, it began malfunctioning, and now we must rely on your squad of incompetent underlings to look for the frog manually."

"B-but we haven't found any frog yet!" a Waddle Dee said. "We're doing our best for King Dedede! How can we find a single frog between all this dumpster of a city…or whatever it was before?"

"Yeah, what the heck is up with this?" Dedede asked, looking around the devastated place. "Why's everything so…wrecked?"

"I have no intentions to know that," Ganondorf said. "What I want to know is why this device just started malfunctioning. Was it because we got too close to the frog's Gaia energy that this radar got a short fuse? Doctor Eggman did warn me that the radar could get busted if we got too close to the tablet." He grunted at their misfortune. "And just when we thought things were going to be easy, those imbeciles barge in to get the frog away from us."

"Meh, it's not like we arrive first before they do," Dedede said. "Also, why bother with 'em? We have a Shadow Nightmare thingy ready to attack them."

"We are at a disadvantage," Ganondorf said as he looked up at the polluted clouds. "It is not very clear, but we are under the light of day. A Shadow Nightmare will not survive under the day."

"Pfft," Dedede muttered. "Phooey."

Behind the wall, the group eavesdropped on them. "Those guys are the bad guys?" Johnny whispered.

"Yup," Sonic whispered. "They're the villains for our story…sadly."

Frog peeked out from his spot for a brief moment to look at the two. "They sure look shady," he said, "shady enough to be considered unfriendly, if you would ask me."

Robo looked around his sitting spot. "I have bad news to inform," he whispered. "Another new Gate has been formed right in the vicinity."

"So?" Chip asked.

"The Gate has formed between our spot and theirs," Robo said. "It might have formed right in the center."

"As long as that frog doesn't come in here, it'll be alright," Falco said before looking around. "…Nope, he ain't coming here."

A Waddle Dee saluted Dedede. "King Dedede, we have looked around the area and we haven't found the frog," he said. "Where do you want us to look?"

"If that frog ain't around here, then let's leave this dumpster behind!" Dedede complained. "No use lookin' for something that ain't here!"

Ganondorf grunted. "Fine, let us look somewhere else. The atmosphere polluting the air is starting to sicken me," he said.

Frog peeked out from his spot to look at the enemy party, catching the attention of a random Waddle Dee. "K-King Dedede, there it is!" he said, making Frog freeze in his spot.

Dedede and Ganondorf turned to Frog's direction and stared at the amphibian. "That is not the one we seek, you dumb fool," Ganondorf said. "It is just another one of the monsters native to this area."

"Stay standing still, stay standing still!" Falco begged Frog. "They don't know who you are! They don't have a reason to come over here and find us!"

Frog sweated as he stood still, staring at the enemy party.

"We're gettin' so crazy with all this frog stuff that they're comin' from everywhere," Dedede said annoyed. "If dat frog didn't have that there tablet stuck in its stomach, we wouldn't do this whole search thingy!"

"We must go," Ganondorf said.

"Where?"

"Anywhere where the frog is," he said with a grunt. "I do not want to keep looking at that frog any longer. He looks hideous, slimy, and sickening."

These three emphasized words seemed to affect Frog very much. Sonic noticed the amphibian's gloved hand slowly reaching for the Masamune's hilt. "H-hey, don't get angry and attack them now!" he whispered.

"Come, Dedede," Ganondorf said, still staring at Frog's face. "Let us leave this mistake of nature."

What happened next was unexpected. It wasn't Frog who caused the event. Ganondorf and Dedede didn't leave just yet. The Waddle Dees kept looking around the area before one of them pointed a frightened Frog coming into view from the west.

"King Dedede, there it is!" a Waddle Dee shouted, pointing at Froggy jumping into the clearing.

"Seize the frog!" Ganondorf ordered.

"Hey, I'm dah only one who can order my slaves around!" Dedede protested. "Waddle Dee Troop, CHARGE!"

Frog gasped at this and ducked down. "The frog is right between us and them!" he said.

"Crap, time to jump into the fray," Falco muttered as he took out his Blasters and revealed his position to the enemy party. He began shooting at the troop of Waddle Dees, who got alarmed at the laser shots that they backed away from Froggy. "That's our frog! Stay back!"

"The scum are here!" Ganondorf shouted angrily. "Dedede, muster your subordinates' courage and charge to the frog! We will not accept another failed attempt today!"

Dedede looked upset and charged forward with the Waddle Dee squad to Froggy. "We won't let ya guys lay a single hand on dah frog!" he yelled, putting his hammer in front of him to block the laser shots from Falco. With a free hand, he released a horde of Waddle Dees from his sleeve. "Good-for-nothings, gimme a hand and go get dah frog at all costs!" he ordered, only for the horde of Waddle Dees to scramble around the clearing in a panic.

"Grr!" Falco grunted and turned at the others. "You guys do something and go get the frog before they do!"

Johnny gave him a thumb up and turned to his gang. "Alright, boys, go!" he said, transforming into his vehicle form.

Robo analyzed the area's perimeter as his party quickly left their spot and began attacking the enemy. He scanned the area until spotting a small pile of debris in the center of the clearing. "…The Gate is located right between the debris in the center of the area," he said. "The frog is charging to that exact location!"

"You've got t be kiddin' me!" Falco complained. "Was it looking for another Gate all this time?"

"It is possible to deduce that our target has gotten the idea that he can escape from anything and anyone seemingly dangerous through a Gate. It has understood that much, at least," Robo explained.

"Oh, great," Falco said as he remained on his spot and shot laser shots at anyone getting close to Froggy.

"Hey, Sonic, go get the frog!" Chip shouted next to Falco.

"Where is he?" Sonic asked, looking around to see that the Waddle Dees were running all over the place in a panic. "I lost track of Froggy!"

"Dammit, find him!" Falco ordered.

Panic soon took place on the clearing of the ruins where Waddle Dees were scrambling around; robots were chasing an enemy anywhere, and Froggy hopping everywhere. For the frog, it looked like some sort of cruel joke that already happened before. He knew, however, that his path to escape all the chaos was right in the middle of the field.

The bad thing was that Froggy was lost between the commotions of the enemies. Everyone lost sight of the frog.

Ganondorf kicked away the Waddle Dees that got in his way, often cursing them all for being very incompetent to his plans. "Useless scum, can you do something right for once?" he asked aggravated.

Frog suddenly jumped high with the Masamune, aiming directly at Ganondorf. "You shall not live any longer to insult my existence!" he proclaimed before he clashed the Masamune against a sword of light from Ganondorf.

"You, of all creatures in this world, have a grudge on me?" Ganondorf asked, pushing the swordsfrog away. "Why must I deal with you, slimy fiend?"

Frog grabbed the Masamune with both hands. "Stay your tongue from proclaiming curses directed at me, fool!" he yelled, charging forward to clash swords with Ganondorf. "Surrender at once and leave the frog alone!"

"Which frog, you, or the pesky one I am trying to seize?" Ganondorf asked.

"Silence!" Frog said, continuing clashing swords with the Gerudo King. "This is the time for a battle of cold steel and not words!"

Ganondorf turned around in time to block Crono's katana about to slash his back. "A young swordsman? Why must I have to deal with kids who happen to be swordsmen?" he asked angrily before stepping away from a sword slash from Frog.

Crono and Frog stood in front of Ganondorf with their swords ready for battle. "Crono, join forces with me and we will slay this fool!" Frog said, making Crono agree with a serious look at Ganondorf.

"Come, you idiots!" Ganondorf said, taking a fighting stance with his sword of light. "HAAAAAA!"

As the three kept fighting, Sonic used Spin Dash all over the place to push the Waddle Dees in his way to find Froggy. He stood back up and looked around. "Froggy, where are you? It's me, Sonic! Don't you remember me?" he shouted, noticing that Johnny was out of the whole crowd as he watched the frantic commotion from a safe spot. "What are you doing there? You gotta give us a hand!"

"Er, I could give you a hand, but…" Johnny looked unsure at the horde of Waddle Dees covering all the clearing. "…I don't like to ram myself against people."

Sonic smacked his forehead and grunted. "This isn't the time to think about that! Just ram against them if you don't have any other choice left!"

"But what if I end up killing them by accident?" Johnny asked. "And what if their blood seeps into my wheels? It's hard to get these wheels clean!"

"For crying ou-"

Music stops

"N-no!" Chip yelled.

All the panic came to a stop as a Gate opened up in the center of the clearing and closed down. The Waddle Dees stopped running around in circles, the robots halted their chase, Dedede avoided tripping down by a Waddle Dee, Ganondorf and Frog stopped clashing sword, and Falco hung his beak wide open in shock at the opening of the Gate.

"…It appears the frog managed to travel through time once more," Robo spoke. "Our mission has once again failed."

Ganondorf stomped the ground with his foot and opened a portal behind his back. "Dedede, call you subordinates and let us search for the frog somewhere else!" he shouted before entering the portal.

Frog looked upset at the escape. "You will no-" he was interrupted by a stampede of panicked Waddle Dees trouncing all over his back. After Frog lost consciousness on the ground, Dedede came in yelling to get away from everyone as he safely entered the portal before it closed down on him.

While Sonic and Falco cursed swears, Robo and Chip went to examine the Gate in the middle of the clearing. "…This Gate's end leads to the year 1000 in the Present," he said.

Chip folded his arms behind his head. "Well, guess there isn't anything else to do but to go there," he said.

Johnny changed back to his human-like form and walked to the two. "So where did this frog go now?" he asked.

"To the past," Robo said. "We shall leave you and your gang behind for the time being."

"Damn," Johnny said depressed. "Well, if that frog happens to stumble somewhere on the streets, I'll let you know. If I happen to catch it, I'll hand it over to you."

"Your kindness is much appreciated," Robo said as Crono went to calm Sonic down. "You have my sincerest thanks."

Chip shook hands with Johnny. "You're cool, dude. Thanks for the help," Chip said.

"Heh, you're welcome," Johnny boasted. "You're lucky that I gave you a hand to help you out."

"Bro, you're the best!" the robots cheered.

"Thank you, boys! You also did your best a moment ago! I'm proud of having a gang like you!" Johnny shouted before they all began laughing.

Chip tilted his head and turned to Robo. "That reminds me. What did he ever do? Is he showing off about something he didn't do?"

If Robo could do it, he could have sighed at this.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

Some time ago…

Around the time where Marle fell asleep, in the guys' tent, someone was moving his head over the floor as he had a nightmare. On a left corner, Espio slept in a meditating position close to where Chris was tucked inside his sleeping bag. On the right corner, Meta Knight rested down. And right in the middle, Link slept inside a sleeping bag as he grumbled some words. It looked like he was having a nasty nightmare as his eyelids were tightly shut and his brow was furrowed.

In his nightmare, he could hear someone talking in an echoing voice, "My boy, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!" and the same voice would randomly wonder what was for dinner. "I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for DINNER?"

"UAH!" Link yelped as he woke up and sat up straight, panting heavily after awakening. He grunted and placed a hand on his forehead. "Ugh, those horrible nightmares… What the heck was wrong with me at that time? I don't really remember having a life like that…" he wondered to himself. "In fact, I don't really think I had a past like that…" He frowned and looked at each side where Meta Knight and Espio were sleeping. "(At least I didn't wake them up with my yell…)"

The swordsman looked around a bit more before sighing.

"I need to take some fresh air…" Link muttered, standing back up and walking out of the tent. "I don't want to have another nightmare like that…"

Link didn't see that Chris was awakening. The teenager glanced at the swordsman walking out of the tent. Chris's eyes were worn out, but he was confused to see Link leaving so silently from the tent.

After stepping out, the Hylian looked at the other tents, staring for a little while DK and Ayla's tent where the horrendously loud snores were coming from. Link thanked the goddesses that he wasn't awakened by them. He glanced back to the girls' tent where he looked a bit concerned.

"I wonder if I can make Lucca open up more to me soon before we finish our mission," Link muttered. "I don't like to leave people in need behind…"

"Aren't you a gentleman, my boy?"

Link avoided yelping after turning to the lamppost where Gaspar had awakened. "Y-you're awake?" Link asked.

"Yes," Gaspar said. "Since it is hard to say when there should be the light of day or the darkness of night in here, I have a bad habit of sleeping at unusual times."

Link looked up at the waving darkness all around the End of Time. "Oh, that's kind of obvious…" he trailed off.

"Indeed it is," Gaspar said. "But why are you awake now?"

The swordsman looked away embarrassed. "I just wanted to get some air because of a stupid nightmare I had just now…"

"What'd that nightmare be?"

"I-I'd rather not say, sorry."

"I see," Gaspar said.

There was a dead silence between two as Gaspar stared at Link's face for a little while.

"…Tell me, boy," Gaspar said. "I've heard by accident from the conversations with that young girl that you used time itself for your benefit."

"Oh, you heard?" Link asked. "Um, well, yes, I used time itself to travel through time and help me in my quests."

"And have you changed the timeline?" he asked.

"I think so," Link said. "When I was a child, I decided to go on a journey that took me somewhere else where this moon would drop on a town in three days. I had my ocarina, which allowed me to go back in time three days before the moon would drop to explore the land and prevent the moon from falling down."

"With such a short amount of time, it would be necessary to stop that moon," Gaspar said.

"Exactly," Link said. "Long story short, I managed to stop and destroy the moon while going back three days in the past. While I did that, I took advantage of altering the future by helping out the people around the land. You could say I had all the time in the world to do everything…but it was exhausting."

Gaspar chuckled. "And you never thought what'd happen by altering the course of time?" he asked.

Link stared at Gaspar. "No… I always thought I was doing the right thing for the people," he said.

The Guru of Time looked down at the floor. "You were lucky that your actions didn't cause drastic changes to the future, my child," he said. "Altering the future for greater good sometimes can lead to a worse event. You did all those good deeds without knowing the consequences."

"Well, it's not like something bad happened."

"And that's why I'm saying you're lucky," Gaspar said. "You like to help people, don't you?"

"Yes," Link said. "I like to be helpful."

"Good," Gaspar said. "Then I could presume that you want to help the young girl with her problem?" he asked.

"You mean…Lucca?"

"Yes, I was talking about her. From what I can tell, you and she are forming a strong bond together."

Link smiled a bit at this. "Are we really forming a strong bond already?" he asked.

"That is but a mere opinion of my part," Gaspar said. "You treasure her acceptance to you very much."

"I like to become acquainted with many people," Link said. "Sometimes, they help me back when I need their help."

"Even though she might not help you back?" Gaspar asked.

"It's okay," Link said. "I just want to become a friend to her."

Gaspar nodded. "Then you're bound to be severely disappointed."

Link nodded before he disapproved his move by shaking his head. "What did you say just now?" he asked confused.

"Sometimes, fate plays a dark role for people," Gaspar explained. "While it is for the good of the future, some people can…perish in their lives because they chose how to make their lives worthy of sacrificing…"

The swordsman looked unsure of what Gaspar was telling him.

"But hear me out," Gaspar said. "Don't get too close with her, for your conscience can be fatally scarred if you get to know what her future will bring to her…"

"W-what are you talking about?" Link asked.

"Sometimes, growing too fond of others can…destroy you emotionally… But…even knowing the risk…will you accept the destined future that is in hold for her?"

Link shook his head. "Wait a minute. Why are you telling me this now? Are you trying to say that Lucca isn't going to enjoy her future?" he asked concerned.

"Don't take me wrong," Gaspar said. "I'm just informing you that your treasured friendship with her might end up in sadness."

"Why would it end in sadness?" Link asked, forcing a mild glare.

"With what you've told me up until now, you might not keep your joy with her," Gaspar said. "You've told me that changing the future for a better one has resulted in merrier events for the people you care about. However…"

"However…"

"Changing her future for a better one…is impossible," Gaspar said. "I have yet to know what her real future will hold, though. Defeating Lavos supposedly will have a great impact for her. Fate itself dictates different events for her, but one of them seems to be her true fate."

Link made a fist by his side. "How do you know that?" he asked, as if he was demanding the Guru for an answer.

"Perhaps you'd like to see her most precise future?" Gaspar asked. "During my free time, I've used my powers to witness their individual futures. But hers…"

Link took a step forward, looking worried at Gaspar. "I…I want to see her most precise future…" he trailed off. "…Please…tell me," Link said.

"You've been warned, young one…" Gaspar said. "But why would you want to see it even though you might not have an impact in it?"

Link grimaced a bit and looked away. "If Lucca will… Well… The least I want to do is for her to be happy with the time she has…" he trailed off. "I've never experienced something like this before, but…if I try to make her happy…that's all I need for her to think that her life wasn't useless…"

"…Very well," Gaspar said, walking towards the buckets leaning next to Spekkio's door. The swordsman stared at the Guru for a while before following him. They both stopped their tracks right before a bucket with water. "Here we are."

Link looked around. "How are you going to show me her future?" he asked.

"Look down."

Link looked down at the bucket of water. "…There?" he asked.

Gaspar began to move his hands over the bucket. "The water here is not normal. I was able to canalize them with my magic to see future events. Many of them vary if Lavos is to be defeated. The group's actions play a big role in the time, and whatever they do before facing Lavos will drastically change the future to a better one," Gaspar explained, as the water in the bucket began to swirl in a small whirlpool. "We will now witness the future that is in reserve for your friend…"

Link blinked as the water shone for a bit and created a clear image of a familiar house that he had gone before. He gasped upon looking at Lucca's house being reflected over the water. "T-that's her house," Link said.

There was something different with the house. Around the place, there were children running around as they laughed and giggled all day. Most of them were playing all sorts of games while others were talking and having a fun time together. Link couldn't help but smile at the scene.

"According to this future, she will turn her house into an orphanage where she's going to be loved by the children she takes in," Gaspar explained. "This is what I believe should she and her friends get rid of Lavos."

In the reflection, in front of the house's door, Lucca stood out to look after the children. Unlike her current appearance, she was simply wearing an orange shirt and yellow boots from what Link could tell. Link looked relieved just by seeing Lucca smiling to herself.

"This is supposedly the year 1015 A.D.," Gaspar said. "It's exactly fifteen years in the future of the Present era."

"She hasn't changed much in fifteen years," the swordsman remarked. "…Huh?" Link muttered.

Next to Lucca, there was a young girl with a rather mischievous look. The girl was holding hands with the tinker. The little girl had a ponytail tied up in a single braid, she wore pale green overalls over a blue shirt with sandals, and there was a blue necklace hanging on her neck. On the girl's cheeks, there were some red tattoos. She shortly looked up to Lucca and exchanged happy looks together before looking back at the children.

Link smiled a bit again. "She seems very happy," he commented. "I'm glad."

"While her future holds many cherishing moments with the children in the orphanage, it would all be finished in flames…" Gaspar trailed off.

"…What do you mean by that?" Link asked, already having a bad image in his mind.

Chrono Trigger – Strange Occurrences

The image in the water then changed to the night where laughter filled the silence from inside the house. Outside the house, someone stepped forward, and in the next moment, the house suddenly was engulfed with fire. Link gasped at the sudden change of scenery as his eyes reflected sparks of flames flying up into the air. He saw blurry images of small bodies walking through the flames before falling down. He presumably thought that the bodies were the orphans dying in the fire.

Link felt that his stomach wanted to hurl as the image on the water reflected the charred backs of the children lying everywhere inside the house. The scene was so shocking that he took a step back without looking away from the bucket.

"N-no…" Link muttered. "W-why…why?"

The scene suddenly changed inside an unknown room of the burning orphanage. The room had beds burning in flames, and there were some drawing hanging on the walls depicting Lucca and her friends. The door of the room opened in a hurry, and Lucca and the little girl Link saw before were running towards the other side, halting their run in front of a window that overlooked the forest outside. The child was crying loudly and Lucca tried to calm her down. She turned towards the direction they came from, and she hid the pendant the girl was wearing under her shirt collar.

The swordsman kept watching the horrifying event. Lucca told the girl to hide somewhere safe. The tinker looked around and then spotted a bed where the flames didn't reach. The girl was afraid, but she listened to Lucca and hid under the bed.

Wood flew out of the direction where they came from and two figures slowly approached them. Link could only see a black cape and jester boots coming to Lucca. The tinker looked serious as she stared at the figures. She tightened her fists and brandished a plasma gun from behind, but the shot was blocked off by a blade, and in the next moment, tragedy filled Link's eyes.

A blade was impaled right through Lucca's chest, and the tinker could only gasp as her blood bathed the blade and then dripped down on the wooden floor for a little while before she was tossed away into the flames of a burning bed. Link's eyes shook in fear as the scene then showed the girl hiding under the bed paralyzed in shock at the event she witnessed. The two figures walked towards the window, and then they looked towards Link's direction.

However, the flames stopped Link from seeing the mysterious figures' faces, and the reflection in the water showed the orphanage burning in flames. On top of a hill, the girl that was with Lucca watched her home being taken down to the ground. Her blue eyes trembled in fear as she fell to her knees and covered her face, crying loudly at the demise of the children, the house, and moreover, the tinker herself…

"…Why…why...why…" Link kept repeating in complete shock. "…Why…?"

Gaspar drew his hands to his sides, and the reflection on the water faded away. "It is still uncertain, but this is the future that is possibly meant to happen should she defeat Lavos…" Gaspar trailed off. "She raised orphaned children by turning her home into an orphanage. Her actions with Lavos, however, triggered this flow of time where she would perish at the cost of protecting that girl you saw."

Link remained silent as his eyes shook while staring at the water.

"Presumably, that girl she was trying to protect had a very special meaning to her," Gaspar said. "I don't know why, but the girl and the pendant were very important to protect from the people who came to the orphanage that night."

Link swallowed his breath and panted a bit at the events he saw, trying to calm down and regain his composure. "W-who…who were those people? W-why would they want to burn her orphanage and…k-k-kill her as well?"

Gaspar shook his head. "All I know is that she was protecting the girl and the pendant from them. It's possible to assume that the girl meant a lot to her, or she was being pursued…"

The swordsman avoided shedding tears after recalling the gruesome event in his mind. He was mentally scared of thinking the scene where Lucca was impaled. Her horrified look full of pain was forcefully recorded into his memory, and it was worse to think where she was tossed into the flames and subsequently perished…

Link embraced himself for a moment to calm himself down.

Gaspar noticed this and looked down. "I'm sorry for showing you this, but you wanted to know…" he trailed off.

"I-it's…o-okay…" Link muttered, feeling extremely bad inside.

"…Knowing this…what will you do now?" Gaspar asked. "Will you stop bonding with her…or will you continue talking with her no matter what her future holds?"

Link closed his eyes to think hard about the answer. "…I…I…I will…I will keep talking to her…"

"Is that so?" Gaspar asked. "You know the emotional pain that will bring you once she meets he-"

"Don't say anything please!" Link hastily interrupted before regaining his composure. He looked down at the floor and frowned to himself. "…The least I can do for her is to give her a good time between friends…before…that event takes place…" He looked worried at Gaspar. "Isn't there a way to…to…to change her future when that time comes?"

Gaspar dismayed Link by shaking his head. "If it's changed, then the world itself could be affected drastically," he said.

"H-how do you know that?"

"While it'd be good to save her, doing so will only…"

"How do you know all that if you're so unsure?" Link demanded angrily.

"…The flow of time…"

"What about it?" Link asked, starting to shed tears.

"The flow of time is very uncertain," Gaspar said. "It takes a lot of energy from me to find out the true future, my boy. I was only able to know all that about her…but something went wrong after she was…" He restrained himself from saying the word that could make Link feel sick. "…It's strange, but the time after that becomes distorted; so distorted that it is impossible for me to grasp the future any longer. I can easily dwell more into other futures, but hers… It ends with an uncertain ending point…"

Link looked down sadly. "…Why is it hard?" he asked. "Why is it hard in that future except for the others?"

"Perhaps that can only be answered if you lived the events after that time," Gaspar suggested. "Only then you might find out what went wrong…"

"I don't care what went wrong after that… I care about…her future where she…lives…" Link trailed off. "…But…but all this is just…just so unfair…" He looked back at Gaspar as the swordsman shed some tears. "Why does she need to die? S-she's always full of energy that…that it makes you feel happy…"

"If you are still worried about her, then help her out," Gaspar said.

"…" Link looked away. "I'm unsure of what to do… Anything that I'll do now will be all in vain after she…she…she…" His lips trembled in fear just by thinking the word he wanted to avoid saying. "…I have to make her life so valuable by helping her out in her problems…"

"Are you sure?" Gaspar asked. "After witnessing the possible future, will you still stay by her side?"

Link looked serious and nodded. "I want to…stay by her side no matter what happens," he said. "She needs to make the most of her life."

"With a mentality like that, you're bound to succeed," Gaspar said.

"(But…I feel so useless…)" Link thought. "(There's no way I can remedy her fate, is there? I never thought I'd feel so bad like this… It's very unsettling…this feeling…)"

"If it's still hurting you," Gaspar began, "then maybe you should stop."

"I'll do it," Link said. "It's for her sake and happiness."

"Very well," the Guru said. "I wish you good luck with her."

"(I'll need all the luck I can get to make her time very precious… Lucca, why were you destined to suffer? Why? Why you of all people have to suffer like this?)" Link thought worried.

Gaspar stared blankly at Link's look. "(This child is so troubled. The future is a very uncertain page of history. It could be possible that the image we witnessed was but a mere guess…but sadly I doubt that,)" he thought. "(I won't tell him more so he doesn't have a breakdown.)"

Unbeknownst to the two, right outside Link's tent, there was someone eavesdropping them. The World Traveler looked ashamed after seeing Link's saddened expression. "(So he found out that Lucca was going to die in the real future…)" Chris thought. "(I never thought Link was going to find out, but… Poor guy… I'd never have brought myself to tell him that.)" He looked away. "(Link…somehow, I'm sorry that you had to know what'd happen to Lucca… I feel so guilty…)"

The teen got back into the tent to rest.

As soon as he did that, an engine blared from the rocky staircase. Link and Gaspar turned to the east to see the group arriving.

Some time later…

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

"But no, it HAD to escape through another Gate!" Falco complained.

Everyone (but DK and Ayla) awakened to continue with the mission. The incoming group had explained everything to them.

"This is just great," Lucca said with a sigh. "Fortunately, the Present doesn't have any areas where monsters dwell."

"Except for the forest in the middle of my castle and the town," Marle said.

"Seriously, why's your castle across a forest FILLED with monsters?" Lucca asked annoyed. "It doesn't make any sense! Before we got the Epoch, we always had to watch our backs from those freaky mushroom monsters!"

Marle crossed her arms. "Don't blame me! I didn't make the castle! It was built a LONG time ago. Don't go blaming me for something I didn't even do," she said with a small pout, making Crono scratch his head with a funny expression.

"Can we please stay on topic?" Magus asked.

"So now we'll have to go to the Present and find Froggy there," Chip said. "Can we pull this out this time?"

"The Gates are becoming very unstable," Gaspar said. "At this rate, the eras will soon fill with temporal distortions hiding in every corner of the world."

Lucca shook her head. "No, they won't pop out of nowhere like they're doing now," she said determined. "No one else can open them except us and the frog. There won't be any more problems if we manage to catch the frog in time."

She was unaware that Link was giving her a worried look. He thought that she know was very optimistic, but then he thought how she was murdered in the future. Both images converged with each other so much that it caused an endless loop between "happy" and "horrible" times. It was a miracle that he didn't say anything. He simply stared blankly at her, ignoring what was going on.

"And now we must search for the frog in the Present," Mewtwo said. "It's simple enough this time, I assume?"

"Yes it is," Marle said with enthusiasm. "And I wanna go this time."

"I'll go this time too," Lucca said.

Link snapped out of his thoughts. "I-I'm coming along," he said.

"Me too," Zelda responded almost hastily.

"May I come along?" Espio asked. "I suppose it's my turn now."

"Alright!" Lucca said. "After a good night…day…or whatever's sleep, I'm ready to do some hunt!" she said enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit, girl!" Marle said, promptly doing a high-five with Lucca as they giggled happily.

Link's image of Lucca was replaced by a dreaded image in a second. He was going to have a hard time accepting the supposedly true future. He rubbed his forehead to wipe out the sweat. "Link, are you feeling okay?" Zelda suddenly asked. "You seem tense…"

Link shook his head and smiled nervously at Zelda. "I-I'm fine. I had a bad nightmare not long ago," he said.

The Hylian didn't know he unexpectedly convinced Zelda with his little lie. Zelda herself had a horrible nightmare of her own some hours ago where she heard a paternal figure saying over and over, "I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for dinner? I wonder what's for DINNER?"

"Zelda?" Link asked. "Hey, are you okay yourself? You're staring into space."

Zelda snapped out and laughed a bit at Link. "I-I'm fine. I also had a horrible nightmare some moments ago," she admitted. "I can understand."

"…What nightmare was that about?" Link asked curiously.

"You don't really want to know," Zelda said shrugging. "(But my problem aside, I'll going to make sure you stay out of trouble as well…)"

"Please, find the frog," Frog said. "I have a horrible hunch that is telling me that things will get nastier as long as the frog is somewhere else."

"Don't worry, you," Marle reassured Frog. "We'll catch that frog before you end up in hot stew."

"How can you proclaim one of my many ways to die while in this form with such a happy look on your face?" Frog asked bewildered. "I cannot comprehend that feeling."

And so, the new group set off.

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Leene Square – First Square

Chrono Trigger – Millennial Fair

"My, what a fantastic princess costume!" said a passerby woman. "I'd swear that you might as well be a real princess!"

"Y-yes, I thank your humble remark to heart," Zelda said.

"And what a way of speech you have! You really do know how to speak like a true princess!" the woman said before walking away.

"Y'know, you can always wear a jumpsuit like I do…" Marle teased.

"I digress, thank you," Zelda said with an annoyed look.

Lucca was dismayed to know that a Gate had appeared somewhere in the fair. According to Robo, the new Gate's signals were coming from within the fair of the village. Since it was a fair, all of them blended nicely with the few people who wore costumes to celebrate the millionth year of the Kingdom of Guardia's founding. The group made their way through a crowd of people to search around the fair for the Gate while the people often remarked Link, Zelda, and Espio of their "costumes" they were wearing.

The fair consisted of three squares wide enough to house many attractions. In the first floor, there were stands that displayed all kinds of games where people would compete to win anything. Round tables and chairs sat around in some parts where people would eat and talk with each other. Around the square, there was some sort of race where people would bet which person wearing a costume would win in first place.

The second square was the most important site of the place as it was the central point of the fair. In the middle of the Leene Square, a bell hung on to a construction under a big arch. Around the bell, a few stands with people were scattered, and there were two ways, one of each side, that leaded to new areas of the fair.

The third square was the tiniest of the squares. It overlooked the whole place with two lonely machines sitting on the corners. In the middle of the machines, there was a sign that read, "Please Do Not Mess with the Telepods While Nobody Is Around Or Else I'll Stalk You! – Lucca", indicating that the machines called Telepods were Lucca's property.

Back in the first square, Espio took some more steps forward and looked annoyed at Marle. "This is the fiftieth time some random kid uncurled my tail now," he complained. "How long are we supposed to look around for a small oval floating in midair before my tail snaps out?"

Marle giggled. "Hang in there a little while longer," she said.

"I can hold on, but my tail won't have the same luck," Espio said before his eye twitched for a bit. "And again…" he muttered with a grunt.

"To think everyone here is celebrating an anniversary while we're off saving the future," Zelda said. "It…just doesn't feel right."

Marle looked upset at this. "Yeah! We risk our butts trying to save humanity while everyone else is celebrating! If they knew we were doing all this, maybe those greedy shopkeepers would sell their stuff free to us, and we'd rest at inns for free as well! Think about all the free freebies we could get from everyone if we told them about Lavos!"

Lucca chuckled nervously. "I think we should keep that secret between us so there's no panic, Marle," she said.

"Affirmative," Robo said. "We cannot apply a new futuristic event to a past era. Causing a similar effect like that would severely damage and alter history as we know it."

"Geez, everything we do in the past can potentially mess everything in the future," Marle commented. "…Wouldn't it be fun to see what happens?" she asked excited.

"Ugh, you wanna disappear again because of that?" Lucca asked shocked.

"In that case, never mind…" Marle shrugged. "I HAD to be born from the royalty, huh… I knew princesses are more prone to danger than your average commoner." She bumped Zelda's arm and winked at her. "But at the same time, you get to experience exciting thrills!"

"I was many times trapped and encased inside crystals," Zelda said. "I don't think those times were good to me…"

"Pfft, are you serious? You were trapped in magically enchanted crystals? I envy you," Marle said. "I'd love to be trapped in one of those! I can probably do some crazy stuff in one!"

"Like?"

"Like trying to break it with my voice," Marle said. "I have very strong lungs. Actually, I feel like yelling out of a sudden."

"Please, don't," Espio said annoyed, his eye twitching after another kid pulled his curled tail. "I implore you guys to find the Gate. Up until now, I never knew I liked to have a tail as much as I did before."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me you use your tail to attack enemies," she said.

"No… Who honestly uses their tail to attack people?" Espio asked.

"I know a handful of people."

"I have a very close guess of who might these people be, then."

Zelda sighed and turned to Link who had been silent most of the time. With one look, he would turn to look at Zelda, giving her a small feeling of reassurance that he was fine when he wasn't. He turned back to stare forward, making Zelda more worried than before.

Leene Square – Second Square

The group climbed the staircase to the next square, reaching the famous Leene Square. They stopped walking once they reached the Leene's Bell hanging under the big arch.

"What a nice bronze bell," Zelda remarked.

"Oh, oh, there's a story behind it," Marle said. "Supposedly, the bell rings at weird times by itself. People believe that, when two people are meant to meet by fate, the Leene's Bell will ring to bless them both." She looked proud of herself. "And guess what happened when I was around the fair before bumping into Crono?"

"The bell rang?" Espio asked.

"Yup," Marle said. "Ever since that moment, I knew Crono was gonna give me one heck of a wild time. It turned out I was right all this time! I'm having one heck of a wild time by traveling through time!"

Lucca looked skeptical at Marle. "Marle, you told me some time ago that you didn't know what the Leene Bell's history was," she pointed out. "In fact, you even asked me if it was important."

"A-anyway, me meeting Crono was supposed to happen by fate," Marle said hastily. "Try to deny the undeniable, Lucca."

Lucca frowned at this and raised a finger. "Anyway, I'd like to find the location of this Gate as soon as possible, Robo," she told the robot.

Robo turned to the northwest. "I sense some temporal distortion coming from that way," he said.

"That way?" Lucca asked. "But that way leads to… Oh my god, no!" she gasped before she sprinted towards the northwest direction of the square.

The other five promptly followed her until they came to a rather desolated place with a single small tent on the right corner. The place where they arrived looked alone except for the fact that there was an eight feet tall robot standing in the middle of the area. The red robot had a loosely cat-shaped head. Its main body was big with a round-shaped ball in its stomach, but its feet, legs, arms, and hands were thin. On its left hand, it held a microphone.

"This place looks unusually empty…" Zelda trailed off.

"I wonder why," Espio said with a relieved look. "Unlike those pestering people back at the main squares, no one else is here but that robot in the middle."

Lucca looked around the area while the robot twisted its head to see what she was doing. Robo passed close to the robot and went to the tent where a Gate hid under the darkness. "I have located the new Gate," Robo said, making Lucca and the others rush over to the temporal distortion.

"But Froggy is nowhere to be found," Espio said as he examined the area.

"If there's a Gate here, that frog's ought to be somewhere around here," Marle said.

The cat robot walked to the group. "Do you need my assistance, Lucca?" it asked.

Lucca looked up at the robot. "G-Gato, did you see a frog coming out from this Gate?" she asked.

"You know this robot?" Zelda asked.

The tinker adjusted her glasses. "He's my robot Gato. I made him so he could work here at the fair and get some money for my family. He's an attraction, working all by himself," she explained.

Chrono Trigger – Gato's Song

The robot named Gato moved his microphone to his face and waved a finger to the group. "~They call me Gato. I have metal joints. If you can beat me up, you'll earn 15 points,~" he sang in a robotic tone.

The singing voice of the robot caused most of them to cover their ears.

"Now I know why this place is so desolated," Espio muttered. "His singing scares people away."

"G-Gato, don't sing, please!" Lucca pleaded.

Gato lowered his microphone and shook his head. "But I'm not myself if I don't sing. You made me this way, Lucca," he said.

"I know, but this isn't the time to be talking about your singing," Lucca said. "Gato, did you see a frog coming from this Gate here?"

"Yes," Gato said.

"…And where is it?"

"I caught it."

The six made relieved looks at this response.

"And I gave it to the fair's manager, and he turned the frog into a prize for kids."

But this response made all of them look bewildered and stupefied.

"W-what?" Lucca asked bewildered. "W-why did you even catch it in the first place?"

"Since it came from that weird oval, I thought it was going to be a good prize in the fair. It looked very unique for the manager," Gato said before pulling his microphone up. "~And I naturally was built to serve the fair today. Isn't this awesome or what?~" he asked while singing, this time his voice being a bit more bearable to listen.

Espio furrowed his brow. "Let me get this straight. Froggy was caught, but he was turned into a children's prize?" he asked.

"~Exactly,~" Gato sang.

"W-we need that frog!" Marle said. "It has something very special that we have to retrieve!"

"~If you want it, win it by exchanging Silver Points for the prize,~" Gato sang.

"Can you ask the manager to give it to us kindly?" Marle asked.

"~No can do,~" Gato sang. "~The manager is a very busy person. He won't just give it away for free to his employers.~"

Lucca slapped her forehead. "Why does this have to happen now?" she asked.

Link snapped out from his calm state and focused on the problem. "Well…we have to win the frog fair and square by doing…what now?"

"~Win Silver Points,~" Gato said. "~Save Silver Points to get your prize legally! Beat me and you shall receive 15 Silver Points!~"

Lucca grunted, but she regained her composure. "Okay, just tell us where the frog is right now, and tell us the amount of Silver Points we have to exchange for it," she said.

"~The frog is being kept by the Leene's Bell next to your area, Lucca. You need to save 10,000 Silver Points to win the frog!~"

"…And you only give 15?" Link asked.

"~Yes.~"

The group stared dismayed at Gato for a while, trying to compute in their heads the sheer amount of points they needed to obtain.

"…F(BEEP)K!" Marle complained loudly, breaking the silence in the area.

Zelda sighed. "There is nothing else to do but gather those Silver Points… I'm willing to sacrifice my time to do it," she said. "The good thing is that the frog is being kept somewhere safe, though."

Espio frowned. "I can't believe we're going to have to save points like any kid would do… Fine, let's do this," he said. "I want this job to get done as soon as possible."

Marle looked at Lucca. "Hey, you work here! Tell us where we have to save points!" she said.

Lucca thought for a moment. "Well, there are a lot of attractions around here, so I don't know much…" she admitted.

"Do you even work here?" Marle asked suspiciously.

"I-I haven't gotten the time to do a FULL SCALE research in all the attractions, okay?" Lucca said. "Ugh, let's just split up and work individually!"

"Divide and conquer, as they say," Robo said. "Our task is to gather all the Silver Points we need to exchange them for the frog. I suggest that we save all the points to make a big amount of them."

The tinker turned to the five. "Alright, everyone! Let's do this and win those points together! I don't want to see any of you slacking off somewhere!" she said. "We have the frog safe and sound in a place where it won't escape this time!"

Link wanted to stab himself every time Lucca was in a cheerful mood. His mind reflected that particular scene where she didn't look happy at all. He sweated and gulped worried, helplessly trying to remain calm.

Marle pumped up a fist. "Let's have some fun while collecting points!" she said excited. "I never got to see more attractions before I was sent to the past!"

Lucca's glasses turned foggy. "Why must you address that incident now?" she asked.

And thus, the party split up.

Rhythm Heaven – Remix 4

Unlike any other time, there was a chance to enjoy their stay at the fair. Their stay was unfortunately mixed up with a mission that they had to complete in time before another accident took place. Each one of them split to different ways to participate in the different mini-games at the fair. The afternoon was going to be a long one for them.

Robo remained behind while Link stayed to beat on Gato as many times as he could. The robot, even though looking imposing, went down many times with a simple slash across his body. The Hylian was embarrassed of fighting a weak opponent, but he received 15 Silver Points every time he beat the robot. He had to endure Gato's constant singing victory award, which greatly annoyed the swordsman. The damages to Gato would often be so bad that he needed repairs, something that Robo personally took care of just for Link to cause them all by accident again.

The chameleon decided to risk his dignity and participate in a chugging soda contest against a single dedicated man to the sport. Swallowing his pride for a while, Espio began chugging sodas at a rather slow pace. At first, he was slow, but as time passed, his chugging became unusually fast that left the man in shame. Chugging soda after soda down his feeble throat, Espio was killing his stomach as he amassed Silver Points by adding five points with every eight sodas drank in a sitting. He knew that he was used to take part of embarrassing situations, but he resented being part of one.

Marle and Zelda teamed up to win Silver Points together by betting on the races around the square. Both of them, however, were betting on the same person of any of the people clad in costumes. While the wait was a bit unbearable, luck was on their side as they both achieved more Silver Points together. Unfortunately, their winning streak began to diminish, much to their dismay. They also had to deal with loud men who only made Marle cheer way louder than any man in the fair, making Zelda cover her ears all the time.

Lucca had found an attraction where she could easily excel well: shooting range with water-filled balloons. All her years of using a plasma gun were soon going to pay off with the mini-game, except that she was going to use darts. Moreover, she would be awarded many points if she managed to hit the most targets she could shoot down. Sadly, something drew her back: the mini-game was the most popular attraction to kids in the fair, and she had to enter in a long line of loud children that bailed to play the game. Furthermore, she received odd looks from adults since she was fairly older than a kid was.

And the day went on. Each one of them saved many Silver Points. They became the envy of all the children in the fair as the time passed. Their dedication to win Froggy was so strong that their efforts to win the games soon turned into a fight for their lives. The afternoon flew by, as they slashed robots, chugged down an infinite amount of sodas, betted on races with loud men (and Marle), and popped water balloons with darts. They risked energy, dignity, sake, and even their own ears and embarrassment from the astonished people in the fair.

Music stops

Later, that sunset, at Gato's place…

A weary Link, a seemingly dead Espio, a coughing Marle, a seemingly deaf Zelda, a flushing Lucca, and a normal-looking Robo all sat around a table. They were driven to the edge of death after playing mini-games nonstop.

Link was sweating like never before. Even though Gato was the weakest enemy he had ever fought, beating on him all day long tired the Hylian to the point he was sweating everywhere. He made a mental note to take a shower before he could stink badly.

Espio was probably the only one of them to be close to die really. After chugging around 3,200 sodas down his throat, a feat that his small intestine never thought was possible to achieve, his stomach implored him to stay out of food's sight for a month at best. Usually, if there was silence, one could hear him burp out the gas inside his body as subtly as possible.

Marle yelled so many times that she ended up having a sore throat. She couldn't stop coughing either after her voice echoed almost everywhere in the fair. She now wanted to issue an order of silence during fairs. Being a princess had its advantages, as she thought.

Zelda looked very calm, but she would hear silence around her because of the fact she was left almost deaf of hearing Marle's yells besides her. The princess blinked a bit, thinking about the unfortunate men standing around the yelling Marle. They were probably driven deaf as well as she was.

Lucca couldn't bring herself to say anything. Although she got many Silver Points, she knew that there was no dignity left in her. She also developed a phobia against children since they would often shoot her with envied glares. The glares themselves scared her a lot. Fortunately, she had a strong mentality that told her that children were nice people…as long as they weren't participating against her, that is.

As for Robo, he was left unharmed in the whole ordeal. On a side note, Gato was on the same page as he was. "We shall now unite our winnings into a single amount," Robo said. "Proceed."

Link pulled out a stack of cards that read "5 Silver Points", which together were 2,000 Silver Points. Weakly and burping silently, Espio put a stack of the same amount on the table. Marle and Zelda bent down to take two stacks of cards that together were 3,000 Silver Points.

The rosy Lucca sighed and put a big stack of cards. "We're…short 5 Silver Points…" she admitted, her stack of cards completing 2,995 Silver Points.

Link sighed and slashed Gato, who in turn gave him another card with 5 Silver Points. He tossed the card to the table and sat down with a grunt.

"Congratulations, everybody," Robo announced the weary party. "After enduring five long hours and five added seconds, we have gotten 10,000 Silver Points together."

Espio slammed his fist on the table, albeit he was weak. He looked up, burped a long burp that lasted five seconds, and grimaced. "Finally… I can't…hold any more gas within my system…" he muttered, adding another but weaker burp to his statement. "The things I do…to work…"

Marle coughed. "Y-yeah, we did it, guys," she said, coughing a lot more afterward.

"Hurray…" Link cheered boringly.

"After seeing your rather weak movements, I can tell we're cheering something, right?" Zelda asked, unable to listen to their words.

Link nodded.

"Oh…then, hurray," she said skeptically.

The flushing Lucca stood up from her seat and looked at everyone. "Let's just go and reclaim the frog from the guy giving him away," she said. "I don't think anyone else in here has saved up to 10,000 Silver Points as we did."

"That pretty much is given away," Robo said. "Well, that is my opinion."

Leene Square – Second Square

Using their last energy, the group made their way to the center square and walked to a happy-looking man standing in front of a tent that had a wide assortment of prizes hanging around the walls. On one of them, a frightened Froggy was trapped inside a glass box that looked more like an actual hamster cage.

"Welcome!" the man greeted the weary group (and Robo). "Whoa, that's a lot of Silver Points you got there! What do you wanna get for 'em?"

"(His cheery attitude makes me want to slit his throat with a kunai…)" Espio thought.

"We're here to get the frog for 10,000 Silver Points," Lucca said. "Can you give it to us?"

"Wow, somebody really went for the trouble to get that many points?" the man asked shocked. "I never thought this frog was so valuable other than the fact it looks different from normal frogs. Oh well, guess there are some people who like frogs so much."

"(I definitely loathe him now,)" Espio thought with an inner rage about to erupt.

The man took the huge amount of stacked cards and went to get the frog. He came back from the tent and handed over the hamster cage with Froggy to Zelda. "Here you go! Enjoy your prize!" he said cheerfully.

Zelda looked down at Froggy, who in turn gulped at her. Robo approached the amphibian and analyzed his body. "There are two foreign objects trapped within his stomach," he said.

Lucca sighed in relief and cried a bit. "F-finally, the frog is in our hands," she said. "Why the hell am I crying over a frog? I'm so pathetic! I don't deserve to live like this!" she sobbed, making Link embrace her as he too shared the same pain with her. Her afternoon probably influenced her current mood.

Marle forced smile, even though she was still coughing. "Alright, now we're done with this whole chasing frog thing!" she said relieved before coughing more.

"What did you say?" Zelda asked.

"Nothing!" Marle yelled.

Espio forced a satisfied smile. "At last, my job is done…" he said before he knocked himself out and fell on the floor. "I can rest in peace happily without regrets…"

Link stared at the frog. He knew that their mission was over. They just needed to make Froggy spit the tablet out from his stomach, and chase down the Waddle Dee that suddenly appeared from nowhere, snatched the hamster cage from Zelda's hands, and ran away to the third square by climbing the stairs. The Hylian was depressed that he didn't have anymore time to spend with Lucca, as he didn't reach the point to console her a lot more.

…

"…Wait, what?" Link asked dumbfounded, remembering the passerby Waddle Dee.

Zelda, Marle, and Lucca gasped too late to realize what had happened. They were staring into space as a random Waddle Dee took the hamster cage away from Zelda's hands and ran away from them. The girl gasped in unison as they saw the Waddle Dee rushing to the empty third square.

"T-that thing just swiped the frog off from us!" Marle yelled alarmed.

Espio looked up from his spot, looking fairly mad. "I didn't get a stomachache just for some random thing to steal Froggy under my watch!" he yelled before standing back up, only for him to trip forward after taking a first step. "Ugh, I'm so full still…" he complained, burping more gas out.

"I shall give it chase," Robo said before rushing after the Waddle Dee.

"W-wait up, Robo!" Lucca yelled as the others joined the chase, leaving Espio knocked out on the floor.

Leene Square – Third Square

The scared Waddle Dee held up the hamster cage over his head as he reached the empty third square that was home to Lucca's Telepods. In the center of the square, King Dedede and Ganondorf stood in the middle as the Waddle Dee ran to them.

The two villains gasped after seeing their foes climbing the stairs, giving chase to the Waddle Dee. "Ya slacker, hurry!" Dedede demanded the Waddle Dee.

"I-I'm not that good of a runner!" the Waddle Dee complained. "F-forgive me, King Dedede!"

"Oh my goddess," Link said as he briefly stared at Ganondorf and Dedede. He accelerated towards the Waddle Dee, but his speed soon became slower thanks to him feeling tired.

"You fool, run faster!" Ganondorf pressured the Waddle Dee as he opened a portal to the Subspace. "We must escape from here!"

The Waddle Dee shut his eyes and ran faster to them.

This marked the start of a new problem as soon as he tripped down and tossed the hamster cage high up into the air.

The two groups gasped in unison after seeing the cage flying over Ganondorf's and Dedede's heads. The cage managed to reach the other side where it fell on the floor and shattered into pieces, setting Froggy free from his imprisonment.

Lucca, Marle, and Robo had just remembered a vital point. They recalled a Gate between the Telepods that leaded to the Middle Ages. "STOP IT!" Lucca yelled. "A Gate is right between the Telepods!"

At this, Ganondorf and Dedede exchanged confused glances as to what a Gate was, but their doubts were soon cleared out after witnessing the temporal distortion between the Telepods open up wide enough for Froggy to hop inside and disappear once again from their sight.

Everyone stood still as they stared in shock at the closed Gate.

"…GrrrrrrrRRRRR!" Ganondorf grunted loudly and glared menacingly at a frightened Dedede. "Why, WHY must your servants be so DAMN useless, Dedede?" he demanded.

"I-I-I-I-I," Dedede stammered at this and glared at his clumsy Waddle Dee. "Why can't ya do a good job for once?" he demanded. "Thanks to ya, we lost dah damn frog again!"

"Oh, excuuuuuuse me, but you guys made us lose the frog!" Link said aggravated. He felt a bit too weird after saying the second and third words for some reason, but he shrugged them off and pointed at the three. "If you hadn't interfered, none of this would've happened in the first place!"

"Tsk, at least something good came out of this," Ganondorf said with a grunt. "You will not have that frog on your hands. It is, sadly, destined to come along with us to the Subspace." He turned his back to them. "Dedede, call your useless servant and let us fall back!" he yelled before entering the portal.

"Ya guys aren't gonna win next time!" Dedede warned them as his single Waddle Dee servant joined his side and entered the portal before it vanished.

Zelda frowned at the event. "Why must this keep happening?" she asked. "We're always coming so close to get the frog…"

"Dammit…" Link muttered. "Things are just falling apart from us…"

Miraculously, Espio came from the stairs and found the group looking down in defeat. "…Don't tell me just lost Froggy again," Espio muttered.

"That is what happened," Robo said. "Our target has once again escaped from our hands."

Espio closed his eyes and cried toon tears. "So I just drank sodas nonstop for nothing? Is destiny playing some lame trick on me to laugh behind my back all day?" he asked.

"I guess destiny likes to mess around with us," Marle said with a depressed sigh. "Whatever, we're back on square one again…"

Robo shook his head as he stared at the Gate between the Telepods. "There is no real need to analyze that Gate. It has been there for a long while," he said.

"So where did the frog go?" Link asked.

"600 A.D.," Lucca said, "the Middle Ages."

"Ugh, let's go back with the others, then," Espio said as a flock of birds gathered on top of the Telepods and stared down at them. "Let's share our defeat so we can live with it together…"

Lucca became bothered by the flock of birds standing on top of the Telepods that she walked to them and waved her hands to shoo them away. "Hey, birdies, you can't sit on those! They're mine! You use them as your bathroom and I'll swear to god I'll punish you!" she said.

"Talk about being overprotective," Marle coughed. "They're just birds, Lucca. Leave them alone."

"Oh, sorry, but these machines are important to me."

"Those machines made me get lost in time!"

"But they proved to be effective!" Lucca argued before staring up at the birds' glowing red eyes. "Shoo, you birds… What the… Were their eyes crimson red before?" she asked.

The group stared at the flock of birds. "As far as I know, their eyes shouldn't be glowing like that…" Marle trailed off.

"Are they really monsters, then?" Zelda asked.

"But those birds are always very docile, unlike those pesky birds with the bells that can call more monsters to help them beat us," Marle said and coughed.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"Are you still deaf?"

"What?"

And the flock of birds suddenly shot lasers from their eyes at their feet, causing the group to look horrified at the feathered creatures.

"…Those birds have frickin' laser eyes!" Marle yelled in shock. "And they were about to hurt us!"

Suddenly, from the stairs, a random man rushed to them as he panted heavily. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked.

The group turned to the man. "Well…" Robo trailed off.

"T-this is a bad time to be here during plain afternoon!" he said in shock before pointing at the birds. "T-the fair was cancelled because the Laser Bird Flock's season came earlier than expected! You need to find shelter before you are killed by them! First, they'll try to shoot you, and then, they'll eat your skin after killing you! UAAAH!" he screamed as he ran down the stairs.

The group exchanged glances. "Laser Bird Flock?" they repeated in unison.

"What did he say?" Zelda asked. "Can anybody tell me?"

Link overheard a multitude of flapping sounds coming from somewhere. "Where's that sound coming from?" he asked.

Lucca looked up at the sky. And sure enough, there were shining red eyes coming from the north. There was a huge flock of laser birds flying towards them, and they seemed to be coming at the village to eat anyone outside the houses. "Oh my god…" she trailed off before screaming, "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

The group turned towards the exit of the square while a rain of lasers tried to kill them. As they raced to the exit, all the stands, flags, and balloons were destroyed, and there were no people around the previously bustling fair. The fair itself turned into a wasteland of trash with them being the unfortunate ones to remain behind in the square as a rain of destruction incinerated the path behind them.

"What did we do wrong this time?" Marle yelled.

"T-think later! We've got to reach the Epoch before some birds kill us with lasers!" Lucca yelled.

Espio slowed down for a bit, having his stomach still full with gas. A laser barely scratched his head, and he accelerated. "Where did we leave the ship?" he asked.

"We left it in the woods right outside the fair!" Link yelled as he used his shield to protect his back.

"What fair are you talking about?" Marle asked.

"This isn't the time to be joking! Run!" Lucca complained.

"What are we talking about?" Zelda asked.

Out of a miracle, the group entered the forest outside the "fair" and quickly boarded the Epoch. The trees gave them cover from the laser-wielding birds, also giving them enough time to shoot off towards the sky with Robo taking the wheel.

"Phew, we made it…" Espio muttered.

But the sight of lasers coming from behind the ship made them all look behind to see that a big flock of birds were chasing after them, their looks completely blank as they shot the killer lasers from their eyes. They seemed like zombies that didn't mind killing their victims, further adding the stupid horror on the group.

"Oh my god, they're chasing after us!" Marle yelled. "Faster, dammit, faster!"

"Robo, take us away from this place!" Lucca yelled.

"Like always, it will take ten seconds to initiate a time travel," Robo said.

A laser whizzed right in the middle of the windshield, barely missing Link's head. "Uah!" he yelped with the others.

Zelda looked behind to see that the birds made some kind of formation. But what made her widen her eyes was that the red eyes glowed brighter than before, as if they were combining their attacks to shoot a huge laser, which was actually true, sadly. "T-they're going to charge a huge laser!" Zelda yelled.

"Aw, come ON!" Marle groaned. "Not only those laser birds shoot and eat people, but they can FIRE HUGE LASERS as well? Gimme a break, please!"

"High energy concentration detected," Robo said. "Their laser's magnitude not only will destroy the Epoch, but it will also kill us all where our dust will disintegrate as well. This data is perfectly accurate."

"How can you be so calm at a time like this, and how can you accept that?" Espio asked bewildered.

"Dude's an emotionless robot," Marle said. "But he's still nice."

"Is this really the time to be talking about that?" Link asked in shock at the flock. "Oh Din…"

And a gigantic laser was produced from the big flock of birds' eyes, leaving almost no room for the Epoch to escape in the air. It was so gigantic that the entire group screamed for their dear lives. "ROBO!" Lucca screamed, embracing the robot out of panic.

"Initiating time travel," Robo said as the Epoch accelerated to the speed of light, avoiding being obliterated by the huge laser that flew into the sky and obliterated the clouds in its way.

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Chrono Trigger – At the End of Time

"And you were then chased by a flock of killing laser birds?" Sonic asked Espio.

"In a nutshell, yes," Espio said before he burped by Chip pushing his stomach. "Would you stop that?" he asked annoyed.

"But it's so fun!" Chip said, pushing Espio's stomach repeatedly. "You're like, some sort of burping machine! It's awesome!"

Once again, the big group reunited to brainstorm what was going on this time. After dealing with frog food and frog genocide seasons, they were being put up against the weird laser bird flock season.

"And let me guess. This happened because that frog went back in time again," Meta Knight guessed.

"I refuse to believe that this strange turn of events was caused by a single slimy creature," Magus said with a grunt. "It does not make sense that birds suddenly learned how to shoot lasers from their eyes. I cannot fathom this at all."

"But this happened right after we lost the frog," Espio said while Sonic restrained Chip from touching the chameleon's stomach. "How could this happen because of something else?"

"I hate to admit it, but I think this happened because of Froggy again," Chris said frowning. "He surely did something else out of panic…"

"But what?" Frog asked. "How would an innocent creature cause such an alteration in history?"

"Wait, it went to your time period," Lucca said. "Do you remember any birds shooting lasers? Now I'm starting to have memories of my childhood hiding under my bed from those birds…"

"As far as I can remember, no," Frog said. "I suppose we have time to prevent yet another alteration in history."

"We can't lose the time we have," Falco said. "We need to set out as soon as possible."

"Ayla and DK go!" Ayla suddenly piped up, holding DK's hand in the air while the latter looked defeated at the proposition.

"I shall go," Frog said. "It IS my time period."

"I-I'll come alone as well," Chris said.

"I'll go too," Meta Knight said.

Robo nodded. "Very well. We shall set out right now."

The chosen group then left the emptiness of darkness behind, leaving the other party behind.

Link looked at Crono, who motioned at Spekkio's room with his thumb. "Oh, sorry, but I want to rest," he said. "I'm so worn out from beating Gato."

Crono frowned a bit depressed before he went over to Magus. For once, the sorcerer accepted his request, and the two went to Spekkio's room to train. Even though Magus was a silent one, in battle, he sliced the air quickly with his scythe. Mewtwo, hearing blades clashing against each other, decided to amuse himself by going to the room to watch the spar. Soon, Falco, Sonic, Espio, and Chip followed, leaving Link, Zelda, Marle and Lucca behind.

Link twiddled his fingers a bit, as he saw Lucca tinkering with her plasma gun in a corner. He gulped to himself, trying to avoid seeing that brutal image in his mind about Lucca's gruesome fate. "(I want to talk to her…but with that event in mind, it's going to be hard to uphold a conversation… What if…I subtly ask her if she'll be fine to… Oh no, I-I can't do that kind of thing! But if I DO ask her, maybe I'd feel better with myself…even though I'll be pretty much devastated either way…)"

Several feet away from the doubtful Link, Zelda (now recovered from her deafness) kept staring at his way while Marle (now recovered from her coughs) stood anonymously behind her back doing the same. They both narrowed their eyes and silently approached the swordsman while being careful he wasn't noticing them.

"(…I'll go ahead and ask…subtly, that is…)" Link trailed off in thought before sitting down next to Lucca.

The tinker, for once, smiled a bit at him while her hands were occupied with her plasma gun. "Oh, hey, Link," she said.

The swordsman instantly struggled to say a word at just seeing her smile. Her happy look influenced his thoughts a lot. That smile would no longer be there in a few years, and Link only knew that. "H-hey, Lucca," he greeted.

"You're still tired about that whole event in the fair?" Lucca asked.

Link knew he could use that as an excuse to avoid Lucca suspicious about his worried look. "Whew, yeah," Link said. "I need to rest for a bit, but I wanted to talk with you."

Lucca nodded and looked at her plasma gun. "Oh well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Lucca, in a few years, you'll die," Link said simply.

Lucca dropped her plasma gun.

It should be noted the last two lines didn't take place at all.

Link gulped a bit, trying to talk subtly about Lucca's apparent demise in the future. "So…I was wondering about…this whole time stuff…" Link trailed off.

"Yeah," Lucca said.

"Have you ever wondered…well… L-let's just say that there's this guy named Frank," Link said. "A-anyway, Frank's your favorite friend in your life that you've known for some time ago."

"Yes, what about him?" Lucca asked.

"L-let's pretend Frank's fate in the future would be actually very shocking," Link said, gulping at the next line he was about to say. "He was going to die in the future…b-because he needed to against his will."

"Yeah," Lucca said. "So what's next?"

Her responses eased Link's mind. He thanked the goddesses that Lucca wasn't breaking down in tears. "N-now, if Frank knew that he was going to be killed in the future, he'd naturally try to avoid dying at that time in his future. However, anything he would do before wouldn't change a thing…"

"Yeah," Lucca said.

Link sweated a bit. "A-and then we come to the point where Frank doesn't know whether or not accept his fate… His death, well…it'd bring peace to the world by losing his life…"

"That'd suck hard," Lucca said worried.

"So now…well…if you were in Frank's shoes…what'd you do?"

Lucca chuckled, dismaying Link. "I'd try my best to change my death. You have to fight hard to live, after all," she said.

"N-no, you can't," Link said, yelping in his mind as if he thought his current response was a fact that Lucca easily ignored completely. "No matter what you can do, you'll die by getting killed by someone… Would you…accept your fate if you were in Frank's shoes at the cost of saving the world or a person you care for?" he struggled to ask.

"Hmm… That's a hard question…" Lucca said, putting up a worried look. "Well…I guess I can't really answer that question… Phew, at least I don't have something like that."

Now Link wanted to murder fate.

"But…well, I could just live my life to the fullest if I were to be in a situation like that," Lucca said. "If you want to be happy with your life, you gotta have fun all the time, right?"

"Yes…" Link trailed off depressed.

"Geez, you really look worn out," Lucca said. "Thanks for not destroying Gato. You really need to rest for now, Link."

Link stood back up and nodded. "Yes, I'll go to rest in a corner."

"See you later," Lucca said as she smiled at her plasma gun.

With that in mind, Link left Lucca and headed to the southern fence where he looked up at the waving darkness and sighed depressed. "(I didn't make much progress with her this time,)" Link said. "(She doesn't look that depressed like she did before, but now it's causing me to become depressed. Stupid irony…)" he trailed off in thought. "(…Lucca, I feel useless just by thinking about your future. I hope…I hope that I can do something before you…)"

The swordsman sighed and stared into the space.

Several feet away from him, Zelda watched worried as Link did nothing to rest rather than staring up. "(Link…)" Zelda trailed off before she turned around to see Marle right behind her. "Kyah!" she yelped.

Lucca and Link turned to their direction, making Marle gasp. "U-um, don't mind Zeldy! She just yelped because I was telling her about some nasty event with a cat I had!" she said.

The two blinked a bit before returning to their businesses.

Marle sighed and looked at Zelda. "I was guarding your back, y'know," she whispered.

"W-would you mind telling me beforehand?" Zelda whispered angrily.

"I was havin' fun, though," Marle said, getting a suspicious look from Zelda. "Look, we're in this together, right? I'll be right behind you whenever you give Link the puppy look."

Zelda sighed. "Fine, you can keep doing that if you warn me, okay?" she asked.

Marle looked playful at this. "Yup, you got it," she said. "So, did you hear what they were talking about?"

"I heard Link asking Lucca about accepting fate in the shoes of a man named Frank who would get killed in the future no matter how he would try to stop it," Zelda said. "Why'd he ask a thing like that now?"

"He's having middle life crisis now?" Marle asked.

"Link is not that old!"

"Oh, then he just was saying random things," Marle said skeptically. "Dunno, but there's definitely something more to this. And you know what we have to do now. Eavesdrop on them a little more!"

"A princess of my caliber shouldn't do these kinds of things…" Zelda trailed off. "It's so embarrassing…"

"Pfft, big deal, princess," Marle said. "Princesses' rules were meant to be broken sooner than normal rules."

"For you at least," Zelda said. "I have a reputation to maintain."

"That reputation may as well be broken since you're eavesdropping on a commoner," Marle said amused.

"L-Link is not a normal commoner!" Zelda objected. "L-let's just find out what he has to say to Lucca!"

"Yeah, now you're talkin' my language!"

"Pray the saint goddess Nayru, please…" the Hylian princess muttered.

-600 A.D. – Middle Ages-

Guardia Kingdom – Truce Canyon

Chrono Trigger – Yearnings of the Wind

The Epoch landed on the middle of a forest clearing right next to some desolated mountains where the Gate was located. After walking for a little while, the group entered a small rocky area where a Gate stood in the middle of place.

"So that's the Gate," Chris said, looking around the place. "And there are no signs of Froggy anywhere."

"Typical," DK said. "No reason to stay behind next to it."

Meta Knight crossed his arms (?) "I am interested to know how such a ridiculous thing in the past triggered an event where birds learned to fire lasers off their eyes," he said.

"I really cannot find a reasonable explanation for that," Robo admitted.

"Ayla bored," Ayla stated, holding down some kind of plasma gun. "Ayla find this on ground."

Frog stared at the plasma gun. "Hmm? Where would you get your hands on that?" he asked.

"Ayla find open chest," Ayla explained. "Chest back on way."

"You found that in an open treasure chest on the way here?" Frog asked. "It is fortunate to find treasure chests, but that one you saw was opened?"

"Treasure chest wide open," Ayla said. "Treasure chest tumble down too!"

"A treasure chest was tumbled down?" Robo wondered. "Could it be possible that the frog bumped into it and its content dropped on the ground?"

"Well…if it did happen right after Froggy escaped through the Gate, then I guess it's true," Chris said.

"A ridiculous reason, but very plausible," Meta Knight said. "However, why would this small event trigger the birds with lasers in the future?"

Ayla mustered whatever IQ she had in her cavewoman mind. "Bird…pick gun up?" she asked. "Bird…learn laser eyes?"

"…That is a little bit too plausible," Robo said. "But if we take in mind that a bird somehow picked the gun from the ground and then accidentally used it on a predator, it could be possible that the bird understood its potential that it later spread the word between all common birds in the entire world. Years later, birds learned how to shoot lasers off their eyes, instantly becoming fearsome predators."

Silence…

"…Are birds here that smart?" DK suddenly asked.

"Perhaps," Frog said. "But I believe any animal species can become smarter overtime."

"Oh yeah, you're an intelligent frog," DK said.

"Have you forgotten that I am not really a frog but a human transformed into one against my will?" Frog asked annoyed.

DK chuckled. "O-oh, yeah, I forgot. Sorry, man," he said.

"In any case," Meta Knight began, "let's search for the frog. It shouldn't have gone further away from here."

Robo's eyes flickered. "It appears we are too late this time," he said. "I have detected a new Gate that recently opened."

"What? The frog got away already?" DK asked.

"It appears so," Robo said. "I must find this new Gate to pursue our target."

"T-that was way too fast," Chris said. "I feel so pathetic for losing Froggy this way…"

Around that time, a squad of three fish men appeared from the top of the canyon and aimed their guns down at them.

Chris looked up and grimaced at the enemies. "W-what the heck?" he asked, making everyone look up.

"Halt, pesky humans and fiends!" a fish man proclaimed. "You are under arrest for sickening these lands with your filthy presences! We carry orders from our majesty to eliminate you all on the spot!"

Frog looked serious. "Those horrible fish men are assaulting the land again? When will they ever learn their lesson?" he asked as he unsheathed the Masamune. "…Wait, I do not recall fish men in my time period! This is so preposterous!"

"Did history change once more?" Meta Knight asked. "Our previous problem was resolved, but now we have to endure another abnormality?"

"History go nuts!" Ayla said. "Things go bad again!"

DK and Chris groaned. "For the love of god, this is stupid!" Chris complained. "How can fish men hold a grudge against humanity?"

"Silence!" a fish man yelled. "You shall die right where you are standing!"

And the three fish men began shooting bullets at their feet. Chris and DK hid behind Robo while Frog and Meta Knight shielding themselves with their swords. As for Ayla, she amazingly hopped along the cliff while dodging the bullets to reach the fish men.

"Fun time!" Ayla yelled as she nimbly approached the fish men and pushed them down the cliff with her wooden mace. The fish men yelled as they fell down before Meta Knight and Frog used their swords and sliced the relatively weak-skinned enemies into pieces that fell on to the ground. The two landed on the ground while Ayla jumped down and went to pick up a piece of fish that she ate. She savored the fish. "Delicious!" she said, picking up a few more fish pieces from the ground. She then went over to offer some to a scared DK.

Chris peeked out from Robo's back. "Oh, they were weak," he said. "So much for that…"

Frog and Meta Knight walked to them. "This is unsettling," Frog said. "That frog needs to be pursued for a little while longer until we finally catch it."

Robo started to walk back. "I will find the Gate right now," he said. "I can detect its signals coming from nearby the perimeter."

This was going to be the beginning of a long series of events.

-12,000 B.C. – Antiquity-

Sun Shrine Island

Chrono Trigger – Corridor of Time

With a new group made up of Robo, Magus, Crono, Mewtwo, Falco, and Sonic, the Epoch landed in an island situated northeast of the Village Commons. Unlike the populated island, the island they were in had very little terrain for footing with a big mountain. The mountain was probably the highest mountain they had seen so far. Inside the mountain, there was a small shrine where the sunlight illuminated the cave.

"How the heck was I convinced to come here again?" Falco asked, staring down at his biggest enemy of nature, the snow.

"I tricked ya into believing we were gonna go to the Prehistory," Sonic said with a chuckle.

"Stupid little hedgehog…" Falco muttered with a scoff. "I-is it just me or the temperature here is a little bit colder than before?"

"It's probably starting to get late here," Mewtwo said as his body shivered a bit. "And to tell the truth…I'm starting to feel cold as well… I might not be able to fight properly in these conditions."

"I-I think I can fight," Falco said.

"Leave the fighting to me," Sonic said with a wink.

Falco grunted at him. "H-how can you avoid shivering like we do?" he asked.

"I've got fur."

The pilot studied Sonic's blue colored body. "…I don't see any frickin' fur!" Falco complained. "I beat you in that area with my feathers!"

"Not my fault you're weak against ice," Sonic teased.

"Why you little…"

"I do not approve this argument," Robo interrupted. "Please, behave nicely while we perform our mission."

"Tsk…" Falco muttered, making Sonic chuckle with glee.

Magus crossed his arms and surveyed the area. "Where is the Gate we are looking for?" he asked.

Robo pointed next to the Epoch's landing site. "It is floating right besides the Epoch," he said as he stared at said Gate floating close to the ship. He turned to look at the big mountain. "I do not think our target has fled to the mountain. Its jumping prowess is right on average, not enough to climb a mountain."

"Oh, that's good," Sonic said. "We just have to run around this island," he twitched at the word, "and find Froggy. It's easy enough for me."

"Haaaaaahahahahahahahaha!"

Magus grunted. "That voice again," he muttered.

"My, this is such a fortunate time to appear before me once again! I had a hunch that we'd meet again very soon, my friends."

Crono seemed to grunt as he unsheathed his katana from its sheath. The group looked around to find the source of the familiar voice. "Hey, where'd that voice come from?" Sonic asked.

Mewtwo looked at the snow. "Right in front of us," he said.

From within the snow, a figure quickly stood up on his feet, dusted off his cape from snow, and laughed at the sky. He grinned and opened his arms at them. "Good afternoon, my friends!" he greeted them sarcastically.

Falco groaned. "Oh god, it's you again…" he trailed off in boredom.

Sonic pointed a thumb at their assailant. "Who's that guy? You know him?"

"Yeah, sadly," the pilot said. "His name was…Milton…something…"

"DALTON!" Dalton corrected angrily with a fist. "How dare you, birdbrain, forget my precious name? We roughly met a day ago, and you have forgotten about your future owner?"

"I'm not somebody's pet, freak," Falco said aggravated, tempted to shoot Dalton with two Blasters.

Magus sneered. "What are you doing here, Dalton?" he asked. "And why were you hiding in the snow?"

Dalton looked embarrassed. "I happened to knock myself out after that little…summoning of my precious Golem, so I ended up in the snow for a whole day," he explained. "But after hearing your ear-shattering voices, you've given me new life in ending yours!"

Sonic stared at him with a grimace. "So…you were knocked out for a whole day under the snow?" he asked.

"The Great Dalton will never perish under some meaningful weather like this!" Dalton proclaimed with a laugh.

Sonic grinned at the group. "That's some dedication for ya," he said.

"Dedication that I can only display to lowlifes like you," Dalton said, covering himself with his cape. "But I've had enough of this worthless conversation. We shall fight now!"

Falco grunted angrily and shot a spiral of fire from his right hand at Dalton. The fire attack was easily dodged by the laughing maniac, much for Falco's dismay. "Dammit, stop moving around!" he said before shooting a barrage of laser shots from his Blasters that were easily dodged by the enemy.

Dalton stepped back and held out his hands to the sky. "I won't let you fight me alone!" he said as he made a big vortex behind his back. "Come forth, my precious Golem!" he said before he ended up being swallowed by the vortex, disappearing from sight along with it.

The group kept staring into space for a while, confused as to what happened to Dalton.

"…That's it?" Sonic asked. "He isn't going to appear behind our backs and stab us, right?"

Magus grunted. "No, he has taken himself away from here by accident again," he said. "I hope he dies in the weather."

Sonic chuckled. "He just wanted to steal screen time from us, that's all," he said.

"I do not believe that such a term called 'screen time' is necessary to apply here," Robo said. "What should be applied now is a search for the frog immediately."

Falco put his Blasters back to their holsters and grumbled annoyed. "Alright, let's start the search already," he said. "That frog shouldn't have dove right into the freaky cold ocean anyway."

Crono seemed to sigh depressed before he looked away into the ocean over the icebergs. Between the icebergs, there were big shards of ice that floated away into the distance. On one particular ice shard, a green spot was spotted from Crono's eyesight. He walked forward to find a scared Froggy floating away from the land. Shocked at this, Crono turned to Magus and tapped his shoulder to make him look to his direction.

"And there it is, trying to stay on top of ice for its life," Magus said, making everyone else look at the general direction.

"Somebody has to go for it," Robo said.

Seeing that Froggy was roughly eighty feet away from the land, it proved to be a big hassle to the entire group.

"My body will probably rust in the water's temperature," Robo said as he twisted his head. "I cannot swim."

"M-me and the cold water don't like each other that much, so I'll pass," Falco said annoyed.

"A-and I'd rather have Froggy standing on land instead in the middle of ocean… I-I'll pass, heheheheh…" Sonic chuckled nervously.

Crono disapproved swimming in the cold water as well by shaking his head.

"I'm afraid the cold temperatures are preventing me from using Confusion in long distances, and floating over the water is a little bit too risky," Mewtwo said as he shivered. "I'd reach longer than it is, but right now it's impossible. I don't wish to take any chances."

Magus' feet hovered over the snow and he flew towards Froggy's direction.

"He can fly?" Sonic asked before looking at Falco. "Shame on you. He can fly while you can't even do that. And you call yourself a bird? Pfft. Your feathers are surely for show."

"S-shut up!" Falco yelled angrily.

Over the cold water, Magus floated as he made his way towards Froggy's spot. "(I will hold a frog with my hands for this time only. It's too much embarrassing for a person like me to have a creature like that under my possession,)" he thought as he stifled a grunt.

The scared Froggy spotted the sorcerer floating towards him. The frog gulped and shifted his panicked eyes around to find a spot to escape. He sadly was still too frightened to go with anybody in the world, blindly and mindlessly thinking he could make his way to Big by his own.

Magus softly landed on the ice shard where Froggy was and ducked down to extend his hand to him. "Come with me," Magus told Froggy. "There is nothing to fear."

The sorcerer's expression was a big no-no to the frog, enough for Froggy to kill himself by diving into the cold water.

"…Worthless, useless scum!" Magus yelled annoyed as he stood back up, only for his heavy body to pierce through the ice and fall into the cold water. As soon as Magus regained control, he floated back up, all soaked in cold water. He shot a death glare to the spot where Froggy dove.

And right on the same spot, an ice cube with a frozen Froggy inside floated up.

Cursing his sudden bad luck with frogs, Magus made a mental note about reverting Frog back to his original form as soon as he wanted. He stared down at the ice cube and floated towards it. "Now there is no way you can annoy me, filthy creature," Magus muttered while kneeling down in the air to reach out for the ice cube.

His easy path was broken as soon as a new Gate opened right behind Froggy over the water. It resonated with the Gate Key stuck in Froggy's body, opening a vortex that sucked him away from Magus. The sorcerer gritted his teeth as he contained his inner fury from erupting.

And his inner fury did erupt.

Back on the shore…

The group saw a furious man yelling out over the water. His yell not only echoed far away, but it also made the icebergs around him burst into big shards of ice. Even the water itself shook violently around his area. Moreover, dark energy pulsated out from his body, causing chaos on the water.

"Awesome," Sonic said in awe. "It's like I'm watching some kind of cool live action anime without really being live action because I'm technically watching it with my own eyes!"

"D-do you even watch anime?" Falco asked.

"Been hanging out in Chris's world," Sonic boasted. "Most animes are awesome."

Robo shook his head. "We will have to continue our search in the next time period. I am afraid that we will have to guess the new Gate's end for ourselves. I cannot approach the new Gate if it is over the water," he said.

Crono crossed his arms and seemed to sigh depressed. "But now the frog is anywhere in the time periods," Mewtwo said.

"Yeah, I mean, how can we get a clear clue about where did it go?" Sonic asked.

A huge dinosaur of eighty feet rose up from the water and roared down at them. They all backed away from the towering reptilian.

"H-holy f(beep)k!" Falco yelled at the sight of the dinosaur.

"A dinosaur appearing from an uninhabitable environment," Robo said as his eyes flickered. "There is absolutely no logic behind that. I cannot find data regarding dinosaurs immune to ice in my database."

Crono gritted his teeth and unsheathed his katana. "A-are you crazy? It's standing right in the middle of the water! You'll fall down!" Falco yelled.

"Y-yeah, cold water is O.B. to me," Sonic said.

"Then how the heck are we supposed to handle a big f(beep)ng dino in this weather?" Falco demanded.

A void of darkness suddenly engulfed the dinosaur's head, making it roar in pain as it tried helplessly to back away. Before long, the void vanished, and the dinosaur was killed on the spot, falling back down into the water where it disappeared in the depths of the ocean.

An aggravated Magus floated back to the group as he floated over the water and then over the snow. He landed back on safe ground where he twisted his cape to dry it. "We've got no time to waste," he said. "That useless frog has caused yet another alteration in history. It seems dinosaurs keep on living even though the weather is at their disadvantage."

"The frog has fled to 65,000,000 B.C., then," Robo computerized.

"L-let's just get the hell outta here!" Falco demanded before sneezing.

"Agreed," Mewtwo agreed.

-65,000,000 B.C. – Prehistory-

Ioka Village

Chrono Trigger – Rhythm of Earth, Wind, and Sky

Ayla, forcibly bringing DK for the ride, along with Robo, Marle, Chip, and Sonic arrived at the village. Upon walking close to the Chief's Hut, a cheerful Kino ran to greet them. "Hi, Ayla friends!" he greeted them. "What bring Ayla friends here?"

"Important frog escape here," Ayla said. "We no know important frog's place."

"That suck," Kino said depressed. "Kino wish friends good luck."

"No! Kino help friends!" Ayla demanded. "Kino no lazy!"

"A-ack!" Kino yelped and nodded. "R-right! K-Kino help Ayla friends!"

"That was a rather predictable outcome from Ayla considering her relationship with Kino," Robo commented.

Marle chuckled. "Kino's gonna have a rough marriage if he and Ayla do get wed," she said.

"My condolences to the poor guy," Chip said. "He must feel inferior by his girl being stronger than he is."

Marle looked annoyed at Chip. "Hey, was that a sexist comment?" she asked.

"Don't pay attention to him," Sonic said. "He probably hit his head so many times when he was born thousands of thousands of years ago."

"I probably did," Chip said as he sniffed. "I-I'm so accident prone…"

"Aww, don't cry, poor thing," Marle said before rubbing Chip's Mario hat. "You're just being at the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all…"

Chip sobbed a bit. "T-thank you," she thanked her as Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Ummmmm…" DK trailed off in thought. "So where did that Gate appear this time?"

"The Gate appeared right behind the Chief Hut," Robo pointed out.

Kino, for some reason, gulped. This made Ayla narrow her eyes at him. "Kino know something?" she asked.

Right off the bat, Kino couldn't keep hiding whatever secret he was keeping from the group. Ayla's serious look pretty much made him cough his words. "Kino saw important frog, but Kino not do thing to important frog. K-Kino afraid make Ayla mad." He covered his head with both hands. "K-Kino sorry again! Kino scared! Kino no know do! No hit Kino, please!"

Ayla sighed. "Ayla not mad. Kino no be scared."

Kino sighed depressed. "Kino thankful," he said before he suddenly looked serious. "Reptites still alive!"

"Reptites still alive?" Ayla repeated before getting serious. "Reptites no more!"

Kino shook his head. "Reptites hide in jungle! They attack village minutes ago! Reptites make rebellion!"

"Reptites no strong alone! Reptites need Azala!"

"Azala dead, but Reptites alive!"

"Ayla defeat Reptites now!" Ayla proclaimed.

Sonic scratched his head. "What are they talking about now?" he asked.

"Well, some time ago, we learned that there were these dinosaur people called Reptites," Marle explained. "They were waging war against Ayla's village. One day, when we assaulted their lair, Lavos fell from the space and destroyed their lair, killing all the Reptites in it along with their leader Azala. Until now, we haven't heard word about any surviving Reptites…"

"Could this new event have been triggered by our target?" Robo wondered.

"So you're saying Froggy SOMEHOW made some of those Reptites appear?" Sonic asked. "Ugh, what, he got eaten by 'em?"

"I could deduce that these Reptites had no intentions to rebel against humanity here until the arrival of our target," Robo said.

"But…did this happen right after Froggy appeared here, or was this meant to happen beforehand?" Marle wondered.

DK turned to Ayla. "Ask Kino if those Reptite guys appeared after Froggy came here," he suggested her.

Ayla turned to Kino. "Important frog appear before Reptites do?" she asked.

Kino thought for a moment. "Important frog appear before Reptites do," he agreed. "Reptites come from important frog's direction!"

"Where?"

"Reptites come from east jungle from village!" Kino said. "Kino show friends direction!"

Village's Outskirts

After walking out from the village's eastern direction, the group stood in the middle of the village and the jungle that Kino showed to them. Before reaching the jungle, three reptilians ran out and met them face-to-face.

"R-Reptites!" Kino yelped.

"Those are Reptites?" DK asked.

The reptilians stood on their feet, carrying leather plates over their chests. They also wore leather skirts around their waist, with long tails wagging slowly behind them. "It's you, apes!" the middle Reptite spoke. "You thought that with Azala's defeat the Reptites would extinguish, right? Well, guess wrong! We're the only ones left who are loyal to their heritage!"

Sonic looked surprised. "Wow, these guys can speak correct English," he remarked.

"Well, you could say Reptites are more intelligent," Marle said.

"Reptites are evolved species of reptilians. It is possible to claim that they were born first than humans," Robo said. "That would explain why they can speak full sentences, unlike cavemen do."

"So anyway," Marle began as she put her hands on her hips, "what're you doing here?"

"Let me explain before you apes die!" the Reptite of the right said. "After the Tyranno Lair was destroyed by that flaring star, the three of us managed to survive. We never thought about challenging the apes here to another fight without our great leader Azala, but all that changed after we thought things over!"

"(Phew, Froggy didn't cause anything here. Things here just changed randomly…)" Sonic thought relieved.

The Reptite of the left stepped forward. "And we thought things over after seeing this appetizing food!" he said, taking out from behind a tied up Froggy. "It's so small, yet so tasty-looking!"

"(Never mind, Ms. Irony, I get it now,)" Sonic thought annoyed. "Why the HECK would a frog remind you about fighting humans?"

The Reptite of the middle chuckled. "We've got a new inspiration to fight for our kingdom, and that new inspiration is very simple enough: food!" he said. "Screw our queen's vision! Food is everything that matters! Without food, you can't hope to survive in these lands! With food on our side, we shall rule the world with a dino-iron fist!"

"Hmm, I think I can agree with them," Chip said, promptly receiving hand-chop to the forehead from Sonic.

The Reptite raised Froggy in the air. "And we thank this creature for reminding us to fight the apes!" he said, oblivious to the fact Froggy was sweating.

Marle moved her hands forward. "Easy there, you have something that belongs to us. Now, if you don't wish to start a fight, would you kindly give us that frog you're carrying?" she asked.

"Give food to apes like you? Pah!" the Reptite of the middle said. "I'll die before serving apes like you!"

"Important frog ours!" Ayla demanded while Kino shyly hid behind her from the reptilians' sight. "Reptites no touch important frog!"

The Reptite from the left hid Froggy behind his back and brandished a wooden mace. "If you wanna have our food, you'll have to fight for it!" he said.

Kino pumped up a shy fist behind Ayla. "Y-you fight strong chief! You run away!" he said.

"We don't care if we're fighting some chief!" the Reptite of the right said. "We always ran away from Ayla, but this will be a totally different day! We'll beat Ayla, scorch the village, and then make the apes our slaves like we did in the Tyranno Lair! This is all for the sake for food!"

"FOR THE FOOD!" the trio of Reptites proclaimed while raising their wooden maces.

"…" Marle turned to Robo. "Robo, use your Laser Spin."

"Affirmative," Robo said. His eyes started flickering quickly and he spun on his spot, shooting lasers off from his eyes. The lasers didn't harm the group except for the Reptites, who suffered a great deal of damage before they were all evaporated to dust while Froggy fell down on the ground and shook scared of his seven assailants. Robo stopped spinning and his eyes stopped flickering. "Battle complete," he said.

"Nice," Sonic said with a grin as Marle went over to pick Froggy. "Leave him tied up so he doesn't escape."

Marle ignored Sonic and untied the scared frog. "He doesn't really deserve to be tied up like this," she said before keeping Froggy in a tight embrace. "There, there, nothing to be afraid of anymore…"

Chip pumped up a fist. "W-we did it! We finally caught the frog before those guys did! Now we can go back to the mansion and leave this world behind!"

Leave this world behind!

Leave this world behind!

Leave this world behind!

Leave this world behind!

Leave this world behind!

That particular sentence echoed within Marle's subconscious. She suddenly stared blank into the air while everyone else cheered on their successful mission. The princess of Guardia knew well that the group would leave them behind without Link having to find out what was wrong with Lucca, and Zelda feeling unsure about the ordeal. She sighed depressed at the thought.

"Victory!" Kino cheered sheepishly. "Kino happy!"

"Ayla happy, too!" Ayla cheered before embracing DK. "DK happy, right?" she asked.

DK sweated a bit and nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm happy," he said.

"Kino now jealous…" Kino muttered.

"Ayla like DK. Ayla like Kino BEST!" Ayla said, seemingly angry at Kino's response.

"K-Kino sorry!" he said in his defense.

"Mission accomplished," Robo said. "We must return to the End of Time and bring out the foreign items from the frog."

Sonic pointed at the village over his shoulder with his thumb. "Let's head back to the village to reach the ship," he suggested.

"A new Gate has opened," Robo said. "It is coming from the direction the village."

"Pfft, that Gate will have to be left alone," DK said. "We've got the frog this time for real."

"Yeah," Sonic said with a confident grin. "Nothing is gonna screw us over."

The group of six headed back to the village, leaving Marle to look worried at her situation. She wanted Link and Zelda to stay a little longer, but they had agreed that they would leave as soon as they captured Froggy.

She then recalled Robo mentioning that a new Gate appeared in the village.

…With one look to Froggy, Marle shook her head at him. "Sorry, little guy…but I need you to do me a favor and keep escaping from us," she muttered, making Froggy look at no one in particular. "I…I need some people to keep talking with each other for a little while longer… Don't worry; you'll be just fine if you keep escaping like this…"

"Ribbit?" Froggy said worried.

Marle hurried to join the group where her plan went smoothly as she planned.

-2300 A.D. – Future-

Skies

Chrono Trigger – A Desolate World

"And I hate to ask again, but WHY did you trip and let go of the frog RIGHT in front of that Gate?" Lucca asked angrily to Marle.

Marle folded her arms and looked away. "Hey, it wasn't my fault that frickin' rock was in my way," she said. "And gosh, the Gate was right in front of it to make things worse. Guess luck wasn't on my side that time…"

"I-I can't understand how you can say that with that attitude," Lucca said before covering her face where she muffled a scream. "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?" she cried.

While Link tried to comfort Lucca, Zelda looked suspicious at Marle. "…You made that on purpose, right?" she whispered to her.

"It was for your sake," Marle whispered. "It was for yours, Link's, and Lucca's sake. You guys have some issues that need to be solved. I'll make sure they're solved no matter what happens. I'm so in for you."

"And you'll just keep coming along to get a hold of the frog and toss it to a random Gate so Link solves Lucca's problem?"

"…Actually, I never thought about a plan like that," Marle said. "It's so ingenious. I'll keep coming along with any group so you guys don't have a reason to leave us… I'm gonna get so wasted without sleeping, but meh, I can handle it. Zelda, you're a genius. Now I see why you're a princess," Marle whispered with a devious grin.

"W-wait a minute, I didn't mean such a thing!" Zelda whispered angrily. "I-I disapprove of that idea!"

"I approve it," Marle whispered. "Thank you for you unconditional help, Zeldy. You'll end up thanking me when all of your issues are over."

"Ugh!" Zelda threw her arms up and leaned against her seat with crossed arms.

"…I'll refrain from asking why you're so mad," Meta Knight said.

"Please don't ask," Zelda muttered.

"Very well," the knight agreed with a nod.

The Epoch flew against the harsh winds in the desolated world. Robo flew the ship towards the southern hemisphere of the planet after having searched the northern continent. South to the largest continent, there were several groups of islands scattered around the ocean.

One island in particular was larger than the others were. The island had some kind of ominous peak with dark rocks and a harsh cold climate around its area. North to the peak's skies, the Black Omen loomed close to the island. South of the peak itself, there was an abandoned dome with no people inside. The Smashers looked down to see the peak. "What is that mountain down there? It looks different from the rest of the mountains we've seen so far…" Meta Knight trailed off.

"That's the Death Peak," Lucca said, trying to relieve her stress from losing Frog because of Marle. "That's where Lavos' spawns dwell. If you venture in there, you'll see newborn versions of Lavos around the area."

Link looked bored. "Death Peak? That was so close in being named Death Mountain. With a name like that, you'll expect trouble to arise in there," he said.

"Lavos can also replicate itself?" Zelda asked.

"Lavos knows how to reproduce," Robo said. "It will take many years before his spawns become matured Lavos, and they will surely go into the space and infect other distant planets to create a cycle of endless destruction. I assume that Lavos aims to disrupt all life in the universe."

"That is horrible," Meta Knight said. "And it's unknown where it came from?"

"Yes it is," Robo said. "To these days, Lavos' origins are unknown. We lack the means to explore space and track down its original route."

"Why don't you just fight its spawns to prevent them from maturing?" Link asked.

"What's the point in that?" Marle asked. "This future will be changed very soon. We don't have to exterminate the spawns if we can go and defeat Lavos. If we beat Lavos, this future will be adverted, and there won't be any Lavos to destroy this planet! It's so simple!"

"And why haven't you thought about going to beat Lavos right now?" Zelda asked.

"Well, we feel kind of…unsure," Lucca said. "Before that frog of yours stole the Gate Key, we were exploring all the time periods to search for strong equipment and helping people out to get rewards from them. We stopped doing those little quests to get the frogs in our hands."

"We are probably powerless to fight Lavos head-on," Robo said. "We have to polish our fighting skills before attempting an assault on Lavos."

"Anyway, let's stop thinking about that big bug thing from the space and see where Froggy went," Marle said. "So Robo, have you found Froggy's location?"

"Death Peak," Robo said.

"…Oh no, no, no," Lucca said as she shook her head. "Of all places in the world, it had to be right there?"

"A new Gate has appeared within the mountain. It is without a doubt the same Gate from the Prehistory. I know this because it was recently opened," Robo explained.

Marle sighed and turned to the three Smashers. "Alright, we lose. Froggy's ought to be a spawn's meal by now," she said.

"I do not see why we have to stop now," Meta Knight said. "We will search the mountain regardless of whatever you think happened to that frog."

"Geez, you're so serious, I swear…" Marle muttered. "I was just joking…"

"He will never laugh," Zelda stated.

"And if he does laugh, I'll be freaked out," Link said.

Meta Knight frowned at this while the Epoch tilted down to land in front of the mountain.

Death Peak

Chrono Trigger – Singing Mountain

From the sky, the blizzard surrounding the peak looked docile. From the ground, it was a different story. A harsh northern blizzard flew at high speed down the mountain like an avalanche. Forcibly, the group covered their faces with their arms to take short steps forward while their feet dug down the snow, carefully walking between two cliffs.

"Goodness, this blizzard is unbelievable!" Zelda yelled as her long skirt brushed madly against the wind. "I didn't know it could be so bad down here!"

"T-this doesn't compare to Death Mountain back home!" Link yelled. "Heck, this blizzard makes Death Mountain look puny!"

"This isn't the time to be comparing peaks and mountains, you guys!" Marle yelled. "We need to reach the peak's base! The blizzard isn't as bad as here!"

"True fact," Robo said while Lucca walked right behind him to shield herself from being blown away by the snow. "The peak's base does not have blizzard as the land surrounding it."

"L-let's go at the peak's base before we get buried under all this snow!" Link yelled.

The harsh blizzard made their surroundings hide within a mantle of white. They remained close to each other to avoid getting lost through the sleet of snow. Unbeknownst to them, several feet away to the west, Ganondorf and Dedede struggled to walk forward into the blizzard. They had the advantage of being heavyweights, which in turn helped them to move faster through the blizzard. Sadly, the snow hampered their progress, making them advance at the same speed as their enemy party did.

"Whose idea was to put this blizzard 'ere?" Dedede asked.

"I do not care!" Ganondorf yelled. "I only care to find that accursed frog!"

"Sheesh, all this hunt for that there frog is annoyin'!" Dedede yelled. "I don't wanna look like a damn frog hunter!"

"Once we get our hands on that monster and take out what it has inside its sickening stomach, we will cream it in eternal fire!"

"Frogs today are squashed instead of burned to a crisp, ya know!" Dedede yelled.

"We can decide the proper punishment at a later time," Ganondorf said. "For now, find that mistake of nature!"

"Aye, aye!" Dedede yelled sarcastically.

Back with the ally party…

"How long do we have to advance forward through this blizzard?" Meta Knight asked as he advanced forward by covering himself with his cape.

"How the heck haven't you been blown off since you're the smallest of the group?" Lucca asked.

"It is rude to reply with a question when a first question was asked first," Meta Knight pointed out.

"T-that's…" Lucca stifled a grunt and turned to Robo. "Robo, can you tell how long we have to keep walking forward like this?"

"The base is not too far from our current position," Robo said. "If we keep this pace, we will arrive at the base in approximately two minutes."

"Thank god!" Marle yelled through the blizzard. "I don't wanna come back here ever again…again!"

Just as Robo had told them, they reached the mountain's wall where the blizzard was much less impending than its effect surrounding the land. They sighed in relief after standing down a small roof of ice formed by the blizzard. "I thought I was going to be blown away…" Zelda muttered.

"You? What about our little knight?" Marle asked as she looked down at Meta Knight. "He's roughly three feet tall."

"I think I told you not to judge me by my size," Meta Knight said mildly annoyed. "But I don't want to argue you with that. We have to stay focused and find that frog."

"(And if we do find it, I'll just toss it 'accidentally' into a Gate,)" Marle thought. "(There's no way I'm letting Link's business with Lucca on hold after they leave us.)"

"It's really gonna be hard to find that frog in this vast peak," Lucca said worried as she looked around. "What if a spawn of Lavos ate it already? That spawn could go back in time and cause severe damage to the history!"

"Let's not think about that scaring outcome," Zelda said. "For now, we must survey the peak in hopes to find that frog… Our chances are slim now, but we still need to get our hands in that tablet."

Lucca took out her plasma gun from her bag. "I'm not going to die just because some frog is lost around here. If I die, who's going to be the main science girl of the group?" she asked.

"Oh, oh, I can do that!" Marle piped up.

"Ummm… On second thought, I won't die."

"Phooey," Marle pouted a bit.

Link's fears soon were revived after hearing Lucca's words. He shut his eyes and grunted mentally at the thoughts revolving Lucca's gruesome fate. Zelda managed to catch a glimpse of Link's hurtful expression, making her worried about his stability.

"In any case, we should get going," Robo said. "Our first job would be to locate the Gate in the mountain. I am detecting several temporal signals coming from the eastern side of the peak's central point."

"Is it close?" Meta Knight asked.

"Apparently so," Robo said. "We have to perform some small footing before reaching our point."

Zelda looked unsure at her dress. "I don't want to climb in this form, so I'll change to Sheik." She was covered in a bright light, and then she turned into Sheik. "I'll be able to climb much better in this form."

"I cannot seem to find Zelda anywhere anymore," Robo said as his eyes flickered. "I can deduce that this person is her, but her DNA, appearance, and tone of voice greatly differ from Zelda. I cannot comprehend the logic behind this sudden change of appearances. Magic is at work here again."

"Oh my goodness," Lucca said in awe at Sheik. "How the heck did you do that?"

"Um, my Triforce of Wisdom allows me to do it…" Sheik trailed off, backing away from an awestruck Marle.

"Holy crap! That's so badass!" Marle said. "A princess who can change into some kind of ninja… I like how that sounds so much!"

Link turned to Sheik. "You haven't told them about your alter-ego, right?" he asked.

"No…" Sheik trailed off. "…D-do me a favor and don't let Marle get so close to me like she's doing right now."

"Why the hell wasn't I born with a super ultra rare goddess relic like she did?" Marle asked upset. "All I got from being part of the Guardia bloodline was a bloody pendant that just works to open sealed doors and treasure chests!"

"M-Marle, that very same pendant you have allowed you to travel through time…just once," Lucca pointed out.

"What's the point in that? That's not a power but a way to travel!" Marle said. "She has a glowing triangle on her palm that makes her change frickin' appearances while I have some pendant to open sealed stuff that we already found everywhere. If you ask me, I'd trade places with her any day, any time."

"I hate to interrupt this argument, but we must be going now," Robo said. "We cannot accept a dead frog… Wait, we can accept a dead frog as long as the Gate Key is left unharmed."

"Sadly, the frog needs to be alive," Meta Knight said. "Marle, please complain about your bloodline at a later time. It's not the time right now."

"Fine, but I'm still upset at my bloodline," Marle said, making everyone else frown. "…Can that Triforce thing be exchangeable? I'll trade ya my pendant for it."

"No!" Link and Sheik said in unison.

"Stingy, stingy…" Marle muttered.

And the group then began climbing the walls while carefully watching where they were climbing. Oddly enough, the walls weren't as dangerous to climb as they thought. Almost all the walls reached a height of ten feet, enabling them to move fast about.

Soon enough, Marle's party feared for the worst to happen. After entering a big clearing, a shrieking screech echoed throughout the area. Marle took out her crossbow and looked around. "N-no, it's already too soon to see one of those big-shelled bugs around here!" she said.

"I'm impressed that you managed to forget about your complains about your bloodline so fast," Meta Knight said.

"What? No! I'm still mad about my bloodline!"

"Is this really the time to be complaining about that?" Sheik asked annoyed.

Robo made fists and stepped back. "We have got company! A Lavos Spawn is coming our way!" he said.

Lucca gasped and pointed forward. "Oh my god, there it is!" she yelled.

Behind some snow-covered trees, a moving shell slowly crawled to their sight. Upon closer inspection, the shell was huge. It was completely shielded with pointed spikes pointing down. Right below to the front side of the shell, three yellow lips opened several times to reveal an inner blue eye in them. The group then heard a shriek coming from the monster before them.

Chrono Trigger – Battle 2

"We shouldn't run away from here," Lucca said in a serious tone. "If we run away, that spawn could alert more spawns to hunt us down!"

"But that thing doesn't even move so fast. How will it alert the others by the time we get down this place?" Link asked.

"Causing a disturbance in their domain is out of the question as they all possess long-range attacks," Robo said. "Once one spots us, we do not have any other choice but to fight!"

"What did you mean earlier with long-range attacks?" Sheik asked.

The Lavos Spawn shrieked as its shell's spines pointed straight up. The spines then shot upwards, disappearing into the sky before they came down at an alarming speed that made them all disperse through the clearing and taking refuge by hiding behind the frozen trees. Link, Sheik, and Meta Knight caught a glimpse of the spines digging hallway through the snow, shocking them at the sheer force of the attack. The Lavos Spawn's shell quickly regained the lost spines by growing out more in three seconds, covering the shell with spines anew.

"T-those spines it just shot at us almost burrowed to the ground entirely!" Link said.

"Is this perhaps why Lavos is a dangerous threat to this world?" Meta Knight wondered. "If this is just a spawn, would this mean Lavos is far stronger?"

"Just imagine a big(beep)s version of that Lavos Spawn, and you'll pretty much get the idea of what Lavos looks like!" Marle yelled as she hid behind a tree. "For once, let's focus in bringing this bug down! If you get pierced with those spines, it'll hurt like HELL, man, and I'm SERIOUS about it!"

"Air is being polluted," Robo said. "The Lavos Spawn is releasing a sleep-inducing smoke."

"Sleep-inducing smoke?" Sheik muttered before she noticed the air around her turning a pale shade of pink. Her eyelids suddenly felt heavy as she tried to cover her mouth completely from inhaling the air. Sadly, her effort was in vain, and she soon fell asleep on the snow.

Lucca peeked out to see the Lavos Spawn shooting spines into the sky, aiming to fall down on Sheik. "They're heading right towards her!" she yelled.

"Sheik!" Link yelled as he dashed along the snow to reach the Sheikah's spot. He lunged at her and spun around to hold out his shield into the sky to protect her from the spines. As soon as the spines made contact with Link's shield, he felt heavy weights trying to break through the shield, but the spines fell aside into the snow, relieving the swordsman. "W-what an awful power…" he muttered before trying to wake Sheik. "Sheik, wake up! If you're asleep, you'll get killed!"

Marle stepped out from the tree and shot several arrows at the fiend. "Die, you useless bug, die!" she yelled before evading a thick cloud of green smoke from the spawn. "Hey, last time we had a lot of trouble dealing with these things! It can't be the same with three more people!"

"What is its weak point?" Meta Knight asked.

"Attack its mouth!" Lucca said. "That is its weak point! All attacks must connect right there!"

"I shall go forward," Meta Knight said as he stepped out of the tree and hovered along the snow with his wings to reach out for the Lavos Spawn.

"Dude has bat wings? Cool!" Marle said.

"Marle, this isn't the time to be gawking!" Lucca reminded her.

Meta Knight saw the Lavos Spawn shooting its deadly spines into the air. The knight nimbly dodged the fearsome lances as he reached the spawn's mouth. Once standing directly in front of it, Meta Knight madly sliced the mouth at a fast pace, making the Lavos Spawn shriek in pain. The knight followed his assault with a Drill Rush, further causing more damage to the monster.

"Allow me to provide assistance!" Robo said as he stepped out and fired his rocket punch straight to spawn's mouth. Meta Knight stepped away for the fist to explode upon contact, causing more damage to the spawn. The Lavos Spawn shrieked once more, shooting a barrage of spines to the air. "We have been all locked on! Take cover immediately!"

While Sheik woke up from her induced sleep, Link quickly pulled her away from their spot as they and everyone ran away from the spines' landing spots. Lucca narrowly avoided a spine about to pierce her arm. She yelped a bit at this and hid behind another tree, panting heavily. "I-I'd rather take damage made by magic than physical attacks like that!" Lucca said.

Link ran out of his hiding spot to strike the spawn, but the snow prevented him from running fast. "T-this snow is slowing me down!" he complained. "I don't have wings like Meta Knight to hover on the snow!"

Lucca got an idea for Link's problem and spun on her spot while fire rose around her feet. "Fire II!" she yelled, causing a circle of fire to swipe the snow around the perimeter away. Soon after that, the field was covered by bursts of fire that ended up scorching the spawn. "No more snow!" she said.

The swordsman looked surprised at Lucca's magic for a while. He wondered why she'd yell "II" with the name of her element, but he shrugged it off and ran towards the spawn. "(Wait, didn't I learn how to use magic as well?)" Link thought before holding out his hand at the spawn. "Thunder!"

Bolts of lightning struck down the Lavos Spawn's mouth, briefly shocking its body with a yellow shade. It shrieked in pain at this attack while giving Link enough time to land a fierce slash across its three lips. Meta Knight joined Link's side while performing a Mach Tornado attack, continuously slashing the spawn.

As Sheik went to join the duo, Marle ran out of her spot and clasped her hands together. Snowflakes circled around her as she held out her hands towards the spawn. "Ice II!" she yelled.

Meta Knight and Link stepped out of the way for two glaciers to fall down on the spawn, shattering into shards of ice that disappeared upon touching the ground. The spawn shrieked more in pain, and out of panic, shot spines at its close attackers. Meta Knight easily dodged the spines, but Link was caught by surprise and his right arm was gravely sliced by one spine, causing him to feel extreme pain. "Ugh!" he grunted, kneeling down on the ground. "I-I was hit," he said.

"That hideous monster will pay for that," Sheik muttered as she reached the mouth and began using the tips of her kunais to make short but deep cuts in the creature's flesh. Her eyes widened after a thick cloud of green smoke shot out from its mouth, causing her to cough.

There was something more about the green smoke. Her eyes suddenly felt dizzy, and she instantly lost control of herself. Confused, the Sheikah turned towards Meta Knight and began attacking him. "The smoke has confused her," Meta Knight said as he clashed his swords against Sheik's kunais.

"We can't have her like this!" Lucca said as she appeared next to Marle. "Marle, you treat Link's wounds while I treat her! Robo, distract the spawn from attacking us!"

"Affirmative," Robo said as his feet sprout small wheels that he used to get over to the Lavos Spawn.

"Roger that!" Marle said as she once again clasped her hands to focus her magic, only this time yellow sparkles rose around her feet. "Cure II!" she shouted as she held out her open hands towards Link, making the yellow sparkles shower over his body. The swordsman looked up confused before his body glowed, causing the deep wound in his arm to vanish.

"T-thanks…" Link said as he stood back up. "That really did heal me completely. The pain is gone…"

Marle chuckled. "I'm far better at healing and using magic than attacking physically," she boasted.

Lucca ran towards Sheik while the former took out a green vial out of her bag. "Hey, you, take this!" Lucca yelled before tossing the vial over Sheik. The tinker then used her plasma gun to shatter the vial, making drops of its contents fall all over Sheik.

The Sheikah's numb eyes suddenly turned back to normal, finding herself blocking Meta Knight's sword. "W-what… What was I doing just now?" she asked.

"We've got no time to tell you now," Meta Knight as he drew his sword back. "That spawn can make anyone fall asleep or get confused. Be careful when you want to hit it with close-range attacks."

The spawn shrieked after sensing Robo nearby. "Rapid-fire Fist!" he shouted. Strangely, he pounded on his steel chest and performed a blindly mad rocket punch attack at the Lavos Spawn. The magnitude of the attack caused great damage on the monster. Before long, Robo stopped his attack and backed away from the spawn. "Life force depleting," Robo detected. "It is about to die."

"Alright, this is a whole lot faster than previous occasions!" Lucca said. "Marle, let's finish it together!"

"Okay!" Marle said before both girls clasped their hands together.

The princess of Guardia held out her hands to make an ice shockwave crash against the spawn. The tinker followed this by making a fire shockwave crash against the spawn. Soon, a circular tower of fire erupted while bubbles of water filled the inside, causing the Lavos Spawn to glow in a shade of red and blue, greatly causing a lot of damage. "Antipode Bomb II!" the girls yelled together.

The Lavos Spawn shrieked louder than before while its shell slowly disintegrated within the tower of fire. With one last shriek of pain, the Lavos Spawn soon was defeated, leaving no traces behind while the pillar of fire and bubbles disappeared.

Chrono Trigger – Singing Mountain

Link, Sheik, and Meta Knight stared astonished (in Meta Knight's case, a bit astonished) at the attack while Marle and Lucca did a high-five to each other. "Yeah, that spawn is no more!" Marle cheered.

"Indeed, it has died," Robo said. "We have performed excellently this time around. I would expect no less for having three more people in our team."

Link looked a bit skeptical. "Did we really do that much damage?" he asked.

"Perhaps…" Sheik said. "After all, our strength has been doubled a long time ago…"

"For a minute there, I thought they could handle fighting against those spawns themselves without our help," Link said.

Lucca and Marle walked to them. "Don't look so mesmerized with our attacks," Lucca said. "They look powerful, but they aren't that strong enough to beat enemies."

"Plus, you get very tired by using those attacks," Marle said. "I mean, you'd think my ice magic would melt with Lucca's fire magic… Creepy, but it's useful."

"Oh goddess, you mean to say not even a strong-looking attack is enough?" Link asked.

"Blame them for having strong defenses and I'm not talking about those Lavos Spawns having shells with those deadly spines," Marle complained.

"Even so, we eliminated one of them," Robo said. "We should precede with more caution before one spots us."

"With those foul beasts around, the frog's life is certainly lost by now," Meta Knight said. "How are we supposed to find a frog in the middle of all the snow while staying away from those spawns' sights?"

"I know our task here is very troublesome now," Sheik said. "There is no other way to solve this…"

"I am aware that walking through this nest full of spawns will greatly put our lives in risk," Robo said. "It is possible that there are more spawns than before."

"Wait, you came here before, right?" Link asked. "Why'd you come here if you knew there were spawns in the first place?"

Marle and Lucca looked down at the snow. "We…had a very bad time," Lucca said. "It had to do with Crono because…"

"Crono was killed when we confronted Lavos in the Antiquity," Marle said. "After a whole amount of ordeals, we were able to save him from dying. We had to come here in order to go back in time in the precise moment where he was killed… But fortunately, we saved him, and we never came back here again."

Link looked apologetic. "That guy was killed?" he asked.

"Yeah, he sacrificed his life to save Schala…" Lucca trailed off. "You guys don't know who Schala is, right?"

"If my memory serves, she is Magus' sister, right?" Sheik asked.

"Yes," Marle said. "When we first arrived at the Antiquity, she was a very nice person with extraordinary magical powers. She wasn't like all the other people, though."

"What I can't understand of this Schala person is what exactly happened to her," Meta Knight said. "Was she killed?"

Lucca shook her head. "We don't know what happened to her. The last time we saw her was when she teleported us away from Lavos. The only people left behind with Lavos were Schala and her twisted mother…" She looked up. "I have a feeling that Schala is still alive somewhere…but I just don't know if I'm correct."

"And if she's in trouble somewhere, we'll go to help her out," Marle said worried. "I don't want to think about what happened to her after she was left with Lavos… She couldn't have died, could she, Lucca?"

"It's uncertain," Lucca said. "She may as well be dead, but I don't really want to think that."

"I guess we should stop talking about Schala for the time being," Meta Knight said as he stared to another direction.

"But this talk was getting to the good part!" Marle protested.

"Sadly, I agree with Meta Knight," Robo said. "The reason why I agree with him is because we have found our target."

"What?" Link, Lucca, Sheik, and Marle said in unison before looking towards the south of their place.

A shivering Froggy casually jumped towards the west with his legs half-frozen. He couldn't tell where he was, but he wanted to get to Big by his own as soon as possible.

"There it is!" Link said.

"And there's no Gate around!" Lucca said.

"(Oh, hell no!)" Marle thought. "(I need to get that frog first before…)" Her train of thoughts stopped as soon as she saw Meta Knight flying towards Froggy. "I-I-I-I-I mean, go get it!" she cheered.

"Why are you cheering?" Robo asked. "It is clear that the frog will be with us shortly."

"Seriously, Marle, you're out of it today," Lucca said with a frown.

Sheik narrowed her eyes at Marle, who in turn smiled sheepishly and turned away from her. "(I know what you're thinking…but I don't know if I should stop you or not,)" Sheik thought. "(Part of me wants to leave Link alone, but another part is begging me not to leave him alone… I don't know what to do anymore…)"

Before Meta Knight could get to Froggy, a sword of light struck the ground between him and the frog. The star warrior drew back and landed on the ground, seeing the sword in front of him. "This golden sword…" Meta Knight trailed off while Froggy was noticing the sword by his side.

"Lay a hand on that frog and I will cut it apart!" Ganondorf proclaimed as he and Dedede came from the west. "Do not provoke me, filthy knight!"

The others ran back to Meta Knight's side (while Marle picked a frightened Froggy) and looked at the enemy party. "The green-skinned guy and the fat penguin!" Lucca said. "They're still trying to get the frog?"

"Ya ain't callin' me a fatty anymore!" Dedede said. "This time, that frog is comin' right with us to dah Subspace!"

"Never!" Link disagreed. "It's coming with us to the mansion!"

"I figured we would run into you, so we got troops ready to make an ambush," Ganondorf said. "I do not expect something worth of this, but… Dedede, do the honors."

"Waddle Dee Squad, round up!" Dedede ordered, calling forth a multitude of Waddle Dees that surrounded the clearing where the group was. "Give it up! We have ya surrounded by all my little minions!"

"And am I supposed to feel threatened?" Lucca asked skeptically. "I mean, just with one look I can tell they won't do much…"

At this, most Waddle Dees began crying toon tears.

Marle bumped Lucca's arm. "Great going, you hurt their feelings," she said.

"T-they're the enemy, Marle!" Lucca pointed out.

"Yeah, but geez, give them a break!"

"Ahem…" Meta Knight cleared his throat.

"You want some cough drops?" Marle asked.

"That was vaguely close to what I was trying to say," Meta Knight said. "What I'm trying to say is focus on the current problem in our hands."

"Meta Knight, are you afraid of these guys?" Link asked.

"Not at all," the star warrior said. "I was actually referring to the native dwellers of this peak."

"What native dwellers are those?" Lucca asked before looking beyond the circle of Waddle Dees what Meta Knight meant. "…Oh…no… No, no, no, no, no, no…"

Robo shook his head. "It appears we have unexpectedly awakened them all by accident," he said.

Chrono Trigger – Critical Moment

The Waddle Dees blinked confused before turning around to see a vast group of Lavos Spawns surrounding the group. Ganondorf and Dedede looked around in shock to see the big-shelled monsters shrieking at their prey, slowly advancing forward. Some of Lavos Spawns moved along the ground while some others came out of holes on the walls, giving them a nasty look like spiders coming out of holes. The Waddle Dees jumped in fear, backing away from the incoming swarm of Lavos Spawns.

"H-hey, what are these huge bugs doing here?" Dedede asked as he backed away with Ganondorf.

"I can feel tremendous energy coming out from every single one of them," Ganondorf said with a grim look. "These monsters are not to be messed with."

"Ya know, being in this world so much really doesn't make me dat scared anymore," Dedede said bored. "It's sad, but I put my life in danger too much that it ain't that scarin' by now."

"OH MY GOD," Marle said as she looked around the sea of spawns closing in to them. "G-guys, I suddenly feel like I'm going to die just by looking at all of them…"

"This doesn't look good," Lucca muttered. "I-I can't understand how all of them were called here at the same time! What made them all come on out?"

"Their squad probably did so," Robo said.

"Hey, Ganondorf," Link called out, "was your squad searching the area for the frog?"

"First, this squad is by no means under my command but Dedede's," Ganondorf said annoyed. "Second, they were just doing that. They were searching all over the peak until they were called here under Dedede's orders."

"…S(beep)t, that explains it," Marle muttered scared.

"Furthermore, I can add that our last visit here provoked them to be aware of their intruders even more than before," Robo said. "We should not have come here if this was going to happen."

"Excuse me for being rude, but aren't we forgetting the fact that we could DIE if those spawns shoot those spines off their shells on us?" Link asked. "That spine that hurt my arm was just too much and it wasn't even funny, let me tell you."

"I'll be happy to hear ANY good ideas to escape from our inevitable deaths," Marle said. "Anything is acceptable! Just be sure that my dear life is spared in it! Anything else doesn't matter!"

"That sounds so egotistical of your part!" Lucca complained.

"Fine, it's acceptable if all of our lives are spared," Marle corrected while rolling her eyes.

"W-why don't we just squash these bugs?" Dedede asked frightened.

"Idiot, these monsters have a deadly force within their shells," Ganondorf said. "Taking them all on would be suicide! Not even my other form will be able to fend them off!"

"R-reason good enough for me to stay on dah defensive," Dedede gulped.

Meta Knight studied the spawns for a moment. "We can only hope to create a diversion to distract them long enough for us to escape from this place," he said. "Unfortunately, I can't think of a good distraction…"

Lucca pressed her brow. "A distraction…a good one…" she trailed off in thought.

Meta Knight turned to Dedede. "King Dedede, if you wish to live, you should throw a Waddle Dee to the spawns to create a diversion. I'm not sure if it'll work, bu-"

"Good thinkin'!" Dedede hastily interrupted as he tossed a Waddle Dee into the crowd of spawns. The Waddle Dee looked as he disappeared between the swarm of Lavos Spawns…but then he came back in a panic and joined the Waddle Dees. Dedede blinked shocked, not finding this very pleasing. "N-no use, they wanna eat us alive!"

"They are upset that we are usurping their nest, and thus they want all of us dead before their eyes," Ganondorf said. "Dedede, it is your minions' fault that we will be killed by these worthless monsters!"

"I-I'm not in dah mood to scold them right now! I-I wanna get outta here!" Dedede cried.

Ganondorf grunted before recalling that they could open a portal to the Subspace. He held out his hand into the air, but something was wrong as nothing appeared. He grunted and tried to open a portal, but he was unable to do so. "Why is the portal not appearing this time?" Ganondorf asked. "Are these creatures responsible of this?"

"I do not want to provide information to our enemies, but it appears that all the spawns together are rendering any method of escaping through portals in time and space," Robo said. "I cannot comprehend why this is like this, but I assume that these spawns have gained the knowledge about portals that they themselves were born to avoid their prey from escaping using that method."

"I hate everything that comes out from that huge shelled bug's rear! Death to Lavos kind!" Marle proclaimed before Lucca covered her mouth.

"W-wait, I got an idea!" Link said. "L-let's create a smokescreen to confuse them all!"

"I think you forgot, but they don't seem to have any eyes," Sheik said.

"But they can breathe!" Lucca said. "I'm sure that they'll get dumbfounded if they breathe in smoke! Robo, can you make smoke for us?"

"Idea accepted," Robo said. "I shall create the smokescreen."

Link looked a bit disappointed. "Err, I was going to do that with my bombs, but…okay," he said.

From all over Robo's body, black smoke began to shoot out from all the small openings. The smoke was forcibly pushed out to all directions, creating a thick cloud of black smoke that covered the entire area surrounding them. Slowly, all the Lavos Spawns inhaled the smoke through their mouths, causing their senses to become messed up.

"Dedede, let us take advantage of this and escape from this place!" Ganondorf yelled.

During the commotion, the group ran back down between all the Lavos Spawns as Marle clutched Froggy on her arms. She knew that it was practically impossible to toss the frog accidentally into a Gate since no portal was close to them at the time. She forgot all this after seeing the group of Lavos Spawns standing next to them as they ran between the crowds towards the Epoch outside the peak's range, hoping that the smoke would stagger them long enough for the group to escape the peak.

The group jumped down cliffs to land safely on the lower floors. As they were reaching half the way down, the black smoke in the clearing had cleared out, causing all the Lavos Spawns to become upset at their lost prey. In seconds, their shell's spines pointed straight up while they sensed the group running away from the peak. In an instant, they shrieked in unison as all the spines from their shells were shot up into the sky to aim at the fleeing group.

After reaching the base, Meta Knight overheard the shrieks that echoed across the peak. "The smoke has cleared out, and they noticed we escaped!" he said.

"Incoming spines from the sky," Robo said.

"RUN!" Lucca yelped.

The group quickly raced away from the base as the heavy spines fell down from the sky. Panic ensued after the spines were burrowing deeper in the ground than before. Thanks to the blizzard, the group was able to run faster from the peak, but unfortunately, it also increased the speed of the spines. Each one of them ran in a zigzag pattern to avoid being impaled by the deadly spines falling from the sky.

Link looked behind as he continued to run. "H-how far can those spawns throw their spines?" he asked.

"Not so far," Robo said. "We are being chased by them."

"What?" Marle said in shock.

Lavos Spawns appeared from around the cliffs. Shrieking at their prey, they shot their spines up into the sky to try to impale them all.

"W-we're about to reach the exit of this hellish peak!" Lucca said. "Keep running! W-whatever you do, keep running!"

"There it is!" Sheik yelled as she spotted the Epoch standing far away from the peak's area.

As their path behind them was blocked by the deadly spines, they were able to reach the Epoch where Robo assumed command of the ship and quickly started the engines to fly away from the mountain. After sitting down, the group sighed in unison, succeeding in escaping certain death.

"W-we did it…" Marle muttered.

"Y-yes…we did it…" Lucca muttered.

Sheik sighed. "Did Ganondorf and Dedede…escape alive, though?" she asked.

"I'm…sure they did…" Link gasped for breath. "Ganondorf just won't…die that easily…"

But their moment of relief was soon stopped after a spine broke through the windshield, crossing right in front of Link's legs. The swordsman turned pale as the others looked behind to see a barrage of spines flying towards their way. Marle screamed out her lungs while Robo tried to accelerate. "They're still trying to kill us off!" Sheik said.

"I can tell they are extremely upset that we usurped their home," Meta Knight said as the Epoch dodged the spines, only barely dodging some, as some few were able to pierce through the ship's armor.

Lucca looked dismayed at the spines impaling the wings before looking shocked at Robo. "Robo, start the time travel mode!" she ordered. "The wings won't hold up any longer!"

"It is about to be ready," Robo said. "Please relax until it i-"

Bad luck struck them all in the form of a spine burrowing deep into the control panel and right across the Epoch. If he had a face, Robo would look completely shocked as everyone else did. Electricity began to cover the control panel, and the several radars' hands madly moved at the sides. Robo looked around in a panic as he held a tight grip with the wheel. An alarm started to blare off inside the cockpit.

"W-what's going on now?" Link asked.

"The Epoch's time travel mode has received a fatal strike," Robo said. "It is still functional, but it does not want to stop." He looked at the time-compass' hands displayed on a screen right besides the wheel where they were madly changing the time of the eras. "I cannot stop it now. We are about to enter a distortion of time at random!"

Marle started to cry loudly. "Why is this happening to us now?" she whined.

"W-where are we going to end up?" Link asked.

"We can end up going to the Prehistory, the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Present…or the Day of Lavos," Robo said. "The last time period should not be visited by any means! If we travel to the Day of Lavos, right after 1:24 PM, we will have to confront Lavos directly without escape! We could escape, but the Epoch will not be fully repaired to travel to another time period!"

Lucca shook her head. "Oh please, don't joke around with us now! We can't end up in that time period!" she said.

"As if hundreds of Lavos Spawns weren't enough, we're gonna get served to the MAIN one as well?" Marle asked.

The Epoch's speed suddenly increased to the speed of light, and it traveled into time and space into an unknown period. The rain of spines slowed down until they stopped falling down upon the land below.

?

Over the sky, the Epoch forcibly appeared as Robo tried to steer the ship around. The damage done to the wings made it impossible to fly the Epoch carefully. "We must take an emergency landing!" Robo said. "I need directions!"

Smoke flew out from the Epoch as Marle looked down below. "T-there's some kind of desert right below us!" she said. "Land it there, land it there, land in there!" she cried.

"Initiating emergency landing! Everyone must hold on to their seats!" Robo yelled. "Put on your seatbelts!"

They did so.

"Now start screaming for our lives!" Marle suggested.

"I won't do that," Meta Knight calmly stated.

"Gosh, you have nerves of steel or what?"

"I'm just trying to be positive that we will live."

"Ain't that cute," Marle said before everyone but Meta Knight started screaming.

The Epoch dove down into a big desert where it bumped over some big dunes. Robo tried to make the landing as safe as possible while the Epoch bumped along the sand, making them hop on their seats. The speed then decreased dramatically, and before long, the Epoch made long stroke of sand as it dragged itself a flat land of sand.

Music stops

And thus, they managed to survive their escape. They looked around in shock for a while before sighing in relief, one that they though would be safe to do for the time being. "W-we're alive!" Marle rejoiced before she seemingly tried to hug her seatbelt. "These things DO save your lives after all!"

"That's their main purpose," Meta Knight said in a bored tone.

"Hush, you," Marle said. "Your optimism saved you from screaming. Hmm, maybe I should be more optimistic all the time…"

"Aren't you optimistic all the time, though?" Lucca asked rhetorically with a frown.

"We have safely escaped," Robo said. "There were no casualties, but the Epoch has been greatly damaged."

Lucca gasped and looked up. "W-where are we? Where did we end up?" she asked.

The sight of the cloudy sky made her panic ease until she looked relieved.

"Phew, we're in the Middle Ages…" Marle trailed off relieved. "I thought I was dead…"

"WE were dead," Sheik corrected.

-600 A.D. – Middle Ages-

Chrono Trigger – Yearnings of the Wind

Link looked at the frightened Froggy on Marle's arms. "We found the frog, but in doing so, we got stranded in this time period," he said.

"We should disembark to analyze the damages done to the Epoch," Robo suggested. "The damages are severe, but maybe there is a chance to repair them all."

The group got off from the Epoch to inspect it from outside. Holes were covering the right wing while some covered the backside. Everyone checked all the spots with damages until they made a status report with Robo.

"The wings have received damages, but the time machine inside the Epoch was severely damaged," Robo said.

Lucca was holding a blueprint depicting the Epoch's body. "According to this chart, I can tell that the repairs shouldn't be that much of a problem," she said.

"How long will it take to repair the Epoch?" Meta Knight asked.

"With the current materials we have stocked in the Epoch's compartment, I'd say about an hour," Lucca said as Robo went behind the Epoch to open a secret hatch. "We need to wait a bit before we can go back to the End of Time. Or alternatively, we can use the Gate Key that frog swallowed… Hey, where's Marle?" Lucca asked after noticing that the princess was gone from her spot. She looked to the northwest where Marle was tiptoeing her way out of them. "Marle!"

The Guardia princess stopped on her tracks and turned nervously at the group. "Y-yeah?" she asked as she clutched Froggy to her chest.

"Where the heck are you going?" Lucca asked mildly upset. "And why are you taking the frog with you?"

"I-I was just going to the…bathroom…"

"With a frog?" Link asked skeptically.

"In the middle of a desert?" Lucca added.

Marle looked away for a moment. "…Um, you know? I think I don't wanna go to the bathroom anymore," she admitted.

"Eww," Lucca muttered. "A-anyway, would you do us a favor and take out the Gate Key from the frog? Now that we have it we should take the Gate Key out of its stomach."

The princess walked to them with a bored expression. With the suspicious glare Sheik was shooting at her, it was a sign that Marle's plans were done for. Boringly, she held Froggy with a hand and used the other to grab anything that would fall out of his mouth.

She started shaking the frog up and down, causing Froggy to feel sick. "Now, let's see," she said as a small red rod with a star-like tip fell out of Froggy's mouth on her hand. "We got the Gate Key back, yahoo," she muttered before a tablet with a sun drawn on the top was spat out by an ill Froggy. "And what do we have here? Some stone with a sun drawn on the top. Pfft, who needs this useless thing, really?" she asked boringly.

"W-we need it!" Link said as she swiped the tablet off from Marle's hand.

Obtained Shamar's Sun Tablet!

An ancient tablet that will open the path behind the Shamar's Sun Door for Light Gaia.

"…Can you tell me why you're holding up that tablet…in midair?" Meta Knight asked Link.

Link noticed what he was doing with the tablet before he took it in midair and kept it in his inventory. "F-forget I did that, please," he said embarrassed.

Marle didn't care what Link was doing as she sighed depressed. "Well, well, mission accomplished," she said, still holding an ill Froggy upside down. "Can we ditch the frog now?"

"Actually, we need to deliver it to his owner," Sheik said.

"I believe the frog is not his pet but his friend," Meta Knight said. "And before you say anything, I won't carry it."

Marle boringly tossed the frog to Sheik's arms. Sheik looked the sick look on Froggy's face that she sweated and handed him over to Link. "H-here, you're used to carry weird stuff with you," she said.

Link looked upset. "H-hey, that's not true! You also carry weird stuff!" he said before Sheik turned back to Zelda.

"Surely you jest," Zelda said as she crossed her arms. "Have you ever seen a princess holding a frog?"

Link pointed at the bored Marle.

"Besides her, of course," Zelda said with a nervous look before Froggy vomited on Link's tunic. "U-ugh, I don't want to see you…" she muttered as she looked away from a dismayed Link.

"M-my tunic!" Link whined at the brown spot taking home in his tunic, making Marle's bored state disappear with a laugh.

"Please, that tunic gets all kinds of slimy liquids all over it very often," Zelda said. "You're used to that as well."

"B-but I've never been vomited before!" Link complained. "Ugh, whatever…"

"Riiiiiiibbiiiiiiiiiiiiit…" Froggy muttered weakly with a silent burp.

The swordsman closed his eyes. "When are we going to go back with the others?" he asked as he tried to forget he had Froggy puke on his clothes.

"Like…I told you before, we need to wait some time before we repair the damages done to the Epoch," Lucca said. "You can go Truce Canyon in the Guardia Continent and find the Gate where you can use it to go there as well. I'd like you guys to stay behind and help out so we can leave here sooner. It's going to take a long walk to the Truce Canyon, though…"

"I guess we should remain behind," Meta Knight said before hearing footsteps coming from the south. "Who is there?" he asked as he turned around.

They never expected a human coming from a desert, but they were proved wrong after they saw a meek blond woman walking into their view. The woman had short blond hair with a ponytail, and she wore brown garbs with light brown boots. She spotted the group and the damaged Epoch while she scratched her left arm uncomfortably. "Did you just…land in here on that ship?" she asked.

Most of them exchanged nervous glances.

"…Well, it doesn't really matter," she said with a sigh. "I'm glad you didn't crash that vessel when there were lush green trees surrounding all this land. You could've caused a fire back then…"

"This desert was full of trees before?" Link asked.

"Oh, yes, it was full of them that you could say this desert wasn't even full of trees," she said. "I used to watch over this forest, but that changed after the war against the fiends came to be. I tried to restore the forest, but monsters began settling in here, making it impossible for me to grow any plants…" She looked away. "I saw you coming from the sky from my villa, so I came here to see what was going on."

"Oh, sorry," Marle said. "We had a bad situation a moment ago… I'm glad we didn't crash on your house."

"It's okay," the woman said.

Lucca tilted her head at the woman. "Aren't you Fiona?" she asked.

The woman blinked. "Why, yes… Wait, I think I met you before," she said. "You dropped by when the Fiendlord army was drawn back from the Zenan Bridge. It was around that time that they had destroyed the forest." She forced a smile. "Thanks to you, the fiends stopped harming the green land surrounding this desert. I'd wish you could've come sooner to admire the forest…"

Zelda thought for a moment. "Did you say you used to watch over this land?" she asked.

"Yes," the woman named Fiona said. "You could say I take care of the forest as its owner…if I can protect it from problems I can handle other than fiends. My husband Marco just came back from the war, but we can't grow anything since the monsters eat the plants we try to grow."

Link looked at the others. "Why don't we kill the time and see if we can stop those monsters ourselves?" he asked.

"I agree," Meta Knight said. "I want to do something else other than waiting the reparations to be done with."

"I don't know…" Zelda trailed off. "I suppose we could do it…"

"I'm up for it," Marle said. "Those fiends aren't surely so problematic like the Lavos Spawns were."

Lucca shook her head. "U-um, I don't know, but I'm not feeling so well in seeing all of you go alone in your own… If you go, I'll go," she said.

Link nodded to Fiona. "We can try to get rid of those monsters," he said.

"What did you say? Oh no, I can't possibly ask you to do risk your lives for this land!" Fiona said worried. "I'll be afraid to know that you'd die confronting those monsters."

"It's okay, we can handle it," Link said.

"(There he goes with his nice helping guy attitude again…)" Zelda thought with a sigh.

"I'm unsure if you want to go…but by all means, if you insist…" Fiona trailed off.

"We are experimented 'hunters' of the sorts," Meta Knight said. "You shouldn't worry too much about us. If we do die, it'll be our fault and not yours."

"I don't know…but okay," Fiona agreed with a blank look. "If you want to do it, then I'll give you a chance."

Link smiled a bit. "Okay, so where are these monsters? Do they come in a pack at a certain time of the day?" he asked.

"The monsters are actually hiding underground," Fiona said.

Lucca looked at her feet. "…R-right below us?" she asked scared.

"They only decide to come on out whenever vegetation starts to grow," Fiona explained. "But they have their own nest where they gather. Sadly, I don't think defeating all of them will be enough because I heard from my husband that the monsters have a leader of their own…"

"Can you show us where their nest is?" Meta Knight asked.

Fiona nodded and pointed towards the west. "It's very close to this place. It's hiding behind three dunes." She looked back at them. "If you defeat the monsters, will you come to my house to tell me how it went? My house is located southeast of their nest."

"We will," Link said.

"Mind if I ask why is your tunic…"

"Long story," Link interrupted while looking mildly annoyed at Froggy. "We'll go to their nest in a minute."

The woman bowed to them. "Thank you for your assistance. I'll be going now," she said as she turned around and headed south to her house, leaving the group behind.

"Hmm, now we got work to do here," Marle said. "Oh well, it's not like I wanted to sit down and wait for the Epoch to be finished. Bring on the monsters! I wanna partake in a suicide mission where lots of action moment will be involved!"

"I hope it's not REALLY a suicide mission," Lucca said. "Are we going to their nest now?"

"That is the idea," Meta Knight said.

Lucca turned to Robo as the latter was using a small laser to melt some steel on a wing. "Robo, would you remain behind and repair the Epoch while we're away?" she asked.

"I shall do as you say," Robo said. "I can perform the repairs by myself. I estimate that I will be done by the time you come back."

"Nice," Marle said before pumping up a fist. "Alright, let's all move on! We've got a desert to cover with trees!"

"You mean slay some monsters from keeping Fiona from growing trees," Zelda corrected. "But…I wish I could grow trees instead of slaying monsters."

"When have I a seen a princess seeding fields? I've never seen one doing that," Link playfully teased.

"Oh, quiet, you," Zelda muttered annoyed. "As one of my loyal citizens of Hyrule, you shall sacrifice your life for mine. It's your duty to make sure I'm alive."

"That…I can't back down," Link admitted.

Marle got an idea and turned to Lucca. "You're one of my loyal vassals. If somebody throws a punch to me, you shall step up and block it! I don't wanna hear any complaints from you when that happens!" she playfully teased. "My father will have your head if you don't protect me!"

"What was all that about when you said you hated being a princess?" Lucca asked annoyed.

"I just remembered I could order people around," Marle sheepishly said.

"Can we proceed now?" Meta Knight said while trying to make a point with his question.

And the group of five set off, leaving Robo to repair the Epoch.

Chrono Trigger – Light of Silence

While they proceeded west, Link looked around the area to find the entrance to the monsters' lair. He then glanced at Lucca, mournfully thinking what the future had in store for her. He felt like his stomach wanted to hurl just by recalling that bloody image where she was fatally wounded and tossed into the fire. He had changed the future a couple of times before, but Link found himself at a dead end when he wanted to do something to save Lucca from her fate.

Lucca turned to Link. "What's wrong with you? You look worried about something," she said.

"Sorry," Link said. "I was just thinking about those monsters we'll be facing soon."

"Why'd you worry?" Lucca asked as she forced a smile. "With five people in our group, it's going to be very easy to slay them. One thing I'm sure of is that they aren't Lavos Spawns, and that's a big plus."

"I guess…" Link trailed off.

Lucca grimaced a bit. "(Odd, he looks down every time everyone stops saying anything. Is there another reason for this?)" she wondered in her thoughts.

"Remind me to create some anti-Lavos spray to repel anything sharing its blood," Marle said with a shrug. "I'll have nightmares tonight."

Meta Knight looked up into the cloudy sky where he could spot some stars already flickering into the distant space. "It is getting late," he pointed out. "Will it be safe to fight in darkness?"

"Leave the lighting to me," Lucca offered. "I'll illuminate any area with my fire."

"Ribbit…" Froggy muttered, making most of them look at him on Link's arms.

"You still have that frog with you?" Marle asked.

"I forgot I was still carrying him even though he puked on me," Link muttered annoyed.

Lucca shook her head. "We should better take the frog along with us," she said. "I can't let Robo look after it while he's repairing the Epoch. Link, can you take care of it?"

The swordsman looked at the frog, who somehow has thought that Link was a trustable person. Froggy nuzzled his head against Link's hands before falling asleep. "(Oh, so you think I'll forget you puked on me just because you look happy now? Think again,)" Link thought annoyed.

"We'll take your silence as a sign of a yes, then," Marle said.

"Wait, t-that wasn't what I… Oh, whatever…" Link muttered.

Zelda noticed three dunes surrounding some rocks half-burrowed into the sand. She pointed towards the west and said, "I can see the dunes over there."

The group walked towards the middle of the dunes where they saw an underground entrance made of rocks. Sand around it was being pulled down, but the entrance looked stable enough for anybody to walk down the rocky stairs.

"Weird," Marle commented. "With stairs being right there, it makes you think that somebody wants you to walk down."

"Let's accept their invitation if they really want us to walk down," Meta Knight said while starting his way down the passage.

Zelda sighed and followed the knight. "I hope my dress doesn't get covered with all this sand inside…" she trailed off.

Marle folded her arms behind her head and walked down. "You worry too much, princess," she teased.

Link stepped back behind Lucca. "You first," he said. "I'll protect you from getting attacked from behind."

"Okay," Lucca said before the two began walking down the passage.

"(Of course, I don't want her death to arrive sooner than expected… Gah, what am I still thinking that? I seriously need to stop it…)" Link thought worried.

Sunken Desert

The staircase leaded to a room full of moving sand where torches where illuminating the cave, causing most of them to wonder why there would be torches in a nest full of monsters in the first place. They stepped out of the staircase, standing on top of a flat rock surface where sand didn't reach. They looked up and saw the rocky ceiling where few grains of sand leaked down from it.

"Do you think this place will be buried with sand soon?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think so," Meta Knight said. "The ceiling won't collapse. There is no need to worry about it."

Marle looked at the edges of the room where she spotted some treasure chests on top of rocky floors. "And like always, you're bound to find treasure chests anywhere," she said. "Ooh, maybe they have really nice stuff this time."

"I'll go and see," Link said as he jumped down to the moving sands and ran to each treasure chest one by one. The group watched helplessly as Link moved to the sides thanks to the changing directions of the sands. Soon enough, he came back to them holding five different items (with Froggy sleeping under everything). He carried a small red capsule, two different vials, a blue vial filled with sparkles, and a suit.

"That was rather fast…" Lucca remarked skeptically. "Oh well, you can keep all those things with you. We're already equipped with more stuff."

"Thanks," Link thankfully said.

Obtained Hi-Ether!

Obtained Elixir!

An amazing medicine that fully restores all health and energy.

Obtained Lapis!

A medicine that restores 1/5 of health to all party members.

Obtained Strength Capsule!

A capsule that permanently enhances strength. Permanently increases Strength +1.

Obtained Aeonian Suit!

A battle suit of exceptional quality. Increases Defense +75.

The swordsman kept everything in their inventory. "All this will come in handy," he said.

"What, don't you guys have anything in your inventory?" Marle asked.

Zelda took out the Block Meal. "…Only this," she said. "Everything else is from Link taking stuff out from treasure chests."

Marle spotted the lemon on the edge of the plate, but she shrugged at the block in the middle of it. "I see…" she muttered with a shrug as Zelda kept the Block Meal away.

Meta Knight stared forward where another set of stairs awaited them. "This place runs deeper," he said. "We should head down to the next room."

"There's more?" Marle asked. "I thought this was the room…"

"The sand doesn't move violently," Meta Knight pointed out. "Therefore, there are no monsters in here. They could be waiting for us in the next room."

"Great, they're planning an ambush as soon as we take a step into that room," Lucca said. "No use trying to avoid it. Either way, we have to face them sooner or later."

"Like I said before, they could be waiting for us," Meta Knight said. "Let's go and see for ourselves."

The group continued on, carefully walking over the moving sands.

Zelda tripped towards Link, who managed to catch her in time to prevent her from falling. "Ugh, these shifting sands are a real hindrance," Zelda said as Link put her back on her feet. "I hope we don't have trouble fighting those monsters over these sands…"

"That is really going to be annoying," Marle commented as she balanced herself on the moving sands. "I can barely keep standing on my feet, but the sands are pulling them to different directions!" she complained before they reached the next rocky stairway. "Phew…"

"Just a little bit more until we find the monster causing this problem with the desert…" Lucca trailed off as they continued by walking down the next set of stairs.

The five reached the next room. Fortunately, it seemed to be the last room. Around the shifting sands, treasure chests lied on the corners of the room while a high rock floor stood right in the middle where a lone treasure chest was lying on the edge.

Zelda frowned as Link immediately went to open the chests around. He collected everything including the treasure chest on top of the high rock floor. He jumped down to the shifting sands and joined up with the others. "Dude, are you some kind of expert treasure hunter or what?" Marle asked.

"I just like to find treasure," Link said before noticing how many items he collected. "Hmm, what a shame… I can only take one of these seven things. Our inventory is getting so full."

Meta Knight pointed to the stairs behind them. "Put everything else back on the floor. While we can't hold more items, we can at least carry them back to the surface," he advised.

"Oh, you're right," Link said as he set down all the seven items on the stairs.

Lucca shook her head. "I-it's incredible that you didn't alert the monsters in here by going around!" she yelled as a sign of a complaint. "Be more careful next time!"

Her yells triggered Link's cruel vision of her future in his mind. Link staggered a bit and looked apologetic. "Sorry…" he trailed off.

"Ugh, it's okay," Lucca said. "What we need to do now is focus on that leader of the monsters. Now where could it be in here?"

Almost immediately as she spoke, four spiked bones sprouted out from a corner of the room before burrowing back into the sand. The bones then appeared on another corner, then on another, and then on another. This kept going for a while without causing a creature to come out and attack the group.

"Y-you think that's the monster Fiona was talking about?" Marle asked.

"It should be," Zelda said. "But it doesn't seem to attack us at all…"

"Perhaps we need to approach it to let it know we're here," Meta Knight said. "We're standing on a rock floor while it is appearing under the sand."

"Um, why don't we plan a strategy before we attack it?" Lucca asked as she adjusted her glasses. "If we come up with one, we can the upper hand on it."

"We should see what it can do before coming up with a strategy," the star warrior said. "But just in case, let's try to surround it."

On top of the high rock floor, a portal suddenly materialized. The group fixed their gazes to the high floor where two figures walked out while the portal still floated in midair.

"Oh my goddesses…" Zelda muttered. "You're still alive?"

Ganondorf and Dedede appeared to be in a bad mood as they stared down at them. "That is not something we have to discuss," Ganondorf said. "It was thanks to you that our lives were spared of those dreaded bugs back at that desolated mountain of eternal cold."

"But we ain't gonna be nice with ya!" Dedede said as he pointed at Froggy on Link's arms. "Hand over dah little frog before we force ya!"

"But this frog doe-" Zelda was interrupted by Ganondorf bringing forth a cage with a Shadow Nightmare trapped in it. The princess and the swordsman gasped at the sight of the dreadful creature fixing its sight on the five of them.

"What the heck is that thing they have in that cage?" Marle asked worried. "It looks…shadowy…"

"A Shadow Nightmare," Meta Knight said. "It feeds on the dark lies of people to grow strong to unleash chaos."

"W-what?" Lucca said curiously. "I-it feeds on lies to grow strong? How's that possible?"

"I don't know the details behind their creation, but stay away from them," Meta Knight said. "If you get one on your back, be prepared to face the side of your conscience that you've been trying to avoid."

Lucca thought for a moment. "So it needs people denying the truth to be strong? Huh, that's a bit interesting…"

"Lucca, that thing is meant to attack us, and you're complimenting it?" Marle asked.

"I-I didn't mean it that way!"

Link stepped forward. "W-what are you planning to do now?" he asked.

"Pfft, we're plannin' to steal dat there frog ya got there!" Dedede said upset. "We ain't lettin' it go away this time! Hand it over to end all this charade!"

Ganondorf made a fist. "Or do you want to test your wits against this Shadow Nightmare?" he asked with a malevolent grin.

Zelda looked serious. "Why bother? You'll certainly toss that disgusting creature on us whether or not we agree to hand this frog over to you," she said.

"Those are exactly my thoughts, my dearest princess!" Ganondorf said with a laugh.

"What?" the group except Meta Knight said confused.

Chrono Trigger – Critical Moment

With a sidekick to the cage, the bars fell down to the ground. The Shadow Nightmare twisted its eyes and shrieked pleased as it hopped out from the cage. The Smashers stepped back while Marle and Lucca exchanged nervous glances. "Shadow Nightmare, why will not you go on ahead and torment their minds?" he asked with a chuckle.

As soon as the order was given, the Shadow Nightmare let out a fearsome shriek before jumping down on the shifting sands. It raised its pincers while fixing its demonic eyes upon the group.

"Hold on," Ganondorf said. "I want you to take over that bratty princess!"

Zelda looked frightened for a moment at this order that she backed away, seeing the Shadow Nightmare's eyes fixing on hers. Without previous advice, Lucca shot a spiral of fire out of her hand to the creature. The shadow nimbly dodged the blow and then charged towards Zelda while it dug its claws into the sand. "N-no! I refuse to be that monster's food!" Zelda screamed.

Link grunted at this as he took out his Clawshot. The swordsman shot the ceiling to create a getaway. Quickly, he grabbed Zelda's hand, and the two were dragged away towards the other side of the room with the Shadow Nightmare on their trail. "W-we've got to do something!" Marle yelled worried.

"Approaching the shadow will not do any good to you!" Ganondorf said. "One touch will suffice to make it your new target!"

"Ugh, he's right," Meta Knight said. "If we want to avoid fighting that shadow altogether, we must flee from it."

"I-I don't want to flee and leave those two behind!" Lucca said.

Link and Zelda turned to the Shadow Nightmare as it dashed along the sands. It suddenly tripped down on the floor where it was dragged away towards the southeast side of the room. "Now's our chance to run!" Link told Zelda.

"Y-yes!" Zelda said as the two tried to run back at the others.

Dedede looked upset at this. "I don't wanna see rats escapin' all day long!" he complained as he took out a Gordo from his sleeve and tossed it at the Hylians' path, making them step back. Their move only made them trip down on the moving sands, and to make matters worse, Zelda was dragged away from Link as she regained her footing. Clumsily, Link let go of Froggy, who was still sleeping deeply. The frog was dragged away to the northeast section of the room. "D-dah frog!" Dedede yelped before he jumped down and went after Froggy.

"Zelda!" Marle and Lucca yelled before both girls jumped into the moving sands and tried to reach out for Zelda.

"What are you two doing? You will get caught by the Shadow Nightmare!" Meta Knight yelled as he spotted the Shadow Nightmare getting back up on its feet. It shrieked menacingly as it spotted Zelda coming at its way. "Hurry and get back here!"

Zelda shook her head and looked behind her where the Shadow Nightmare charged towards her. She screamed out for help while Lucca and Marle tried to reach her.

"A-aah!" Marle stepped back as the four bones sprouted out from the sand. Lucca, on the other hand, managed to avoid the monsters' bones as she ran after Zelda.

"Zelda, I'm coming!" Lucca yelled before reaching the princess. She pulled the princess back on her feet and both tried to run away from the shadow.

Link stood back up and spotted the two girls trying to escape from the hungry shadow. "N-no, I don't want any of them to suffer by that monster!" he yelled before running towards them.

Meta Knight grunted at the whole event. He looked to his left where Dedede was about to reach out for Froggy. Unfolding his wings, Meta Knight flew towards the two, but Dedede managed to get a hold of Froggy, and he quickly turned towards the high rock floor. The knight was about to swipe the frog off from the king's hands, but the four bones sprouted out between him and Dedede, making Meta Knight draw back while grunting. "Why must this monster interfere?" he asked aggravated while Dedede used his Super Dedede Jump to fall clumsily besides Ganondorf.

"I-I got dah damn frog!" Dedede rejoiced as he held Froggy out to Ganondorf.

"Put that atrocious creature away from my sight!" Ganondorf demanded as he pointed at the portal. "I do not want to lose any more time with this frog in here! Go back to the Subspace at once!"

"Y-yeah!" Dedede agreed as he dragged himself into the portal with Froggy sleeping under his right arm.

Ganondorf turned around to look back at the Shadow Nightmare. "Why must you be so slow now? Get the princess at once!" he ordered.

The Shadow Nightmare replied with a screen before it started jumping over the moving sands, avoiding being dragged away. This method proved to be more useful as it neared Zelda and Lucca. The two girls looked behind them and screamed at the monster.

"R-run faster!" Lucca yelled.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Zelda yelled.

Marle tried to join with them, but Meta Knight grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "W-what are you doing?" Marle asked. "T-they're going to get attacked by that thing!"

"If you get in the way, you will be the monster's prey!" Meta Knight scolded her. "We have to stay put and wait for them to escape to the surface!"

"B-but we can't leave them alone!" Marle cried as the knight pulled her back to the staircase.

"Lucca, Zelda, hang on!" Link yelled. "I'm coming!"

"LINK!" Zelda and Lucca yelled out, as the Shadow Nightmare was twenty feet away from them.

"That impudent brat will NOT interfere!" Ganondorf yelled as he spotted a rock besides him. He picked it up and tossed it at Link's feet, causing him to lose his footing and fall down on the sand.

In a bad sense of irony, Ganondorf triggered what he didn't want to happen. As Link tried to get back up, Zelda and Lucca accidentally ran past him. The swordsman's eyes widened after seeing the girls' shocked looks. With a quick turn, he saw the Shadow Nightmare was going to land right on top of his body. Link let out a loud yell as he blocked his sight with his arms in hopes to push the shadow away.

"Link, NO!" Zelda yelled. The princess closed her eyes and used Farore's Wind to appear right in front of Link. With her eyes shedding tears of fear, she opened her arms and remained silent for the shadow to dig its darkness into her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lucca and Marle screamed.

"(I-I'm sorry…b-but I…I have to protect you, Link… T-this time…I-I'll…I-I'll…)" Zelda trailed off sadly.

Oddly, she didn't feel anything pining her down on the moving sands.

"…B-but…why isn't anything happening now? I-I don't feel anything…"

The princess opened her eyes to see that there was no Shadow Nightmare leaping on her. She felt a chill run down her spine as a scream reached her ears from behind. Right after that, darkness loomed behind her.

While Ganondorf started laughing maniacally and the others were frozen on their spots, Zelda realized her fatal mistake.

Zelda was too late in stepping in front of Link, and now the swordsman was being consumed by darkness, right behind her paralyzed, helpless self…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Sixth Liar: Link the Useless… B-but…he isn't… I-it's just…n-no…" Marle trailed off. "…Hey, Lucca, did I sound dramatic enough here? I SO totally nailed this little preview title thing."

"The music is still playing," Lucca pointed out.

"Neat-o! It made it just better! I'd better turn it off now, though. It doesn't need to be on for the remainder of this page."

Lucca sighed.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-600 A.D. – Middle Ages-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Espio, Crono, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Robo, Ayla, Magus

References:

-"Chrono Trigger – A Desolate World" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you explore the over world of the Future. Creepy…

-"Chrono Trigger – Johnny of the Robo Gang" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you are around Johnny's site with his robots.

-"Chrono Trigger - Bike Chase" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays when you race against Johnny. I suddenly want to play F-Zero...

-"Chrono Trigger – Millennial Fair" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays whenever you are in the fair.

-"Chrono Trigger – Gato's Song" is another song reference to the same game. It always plays when you talk with Gato. I want some Silver Points…not.

-"Chrono Trigger – Singing Mountain" is another song reference to the same game. It REALLY doesn't play in Death Peak but in special dungeons added to the DS version. Light of Silence, instead, plays in Death Peak.

-"Chrono Trigger – Battle 2" is yet another song reference to the same game. This track was originally found in the soundtrack but not in the actual game. HOWEVER, it now plays during battles in the Arena of Ages…but I don't spend a lot of time in there.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-While the CD-I Zelda games were made, they weren't actually made by Nintendo. In this case, they are non-canon to the main series. They are simply used as nightmares to Link and Zelda just because of the fact those games have obscure connections with them, and we WON'T have arcs for those games, of course. (Poor Zelda reps…)

-A track of Rhythm Heaven was used here because of the fair theme. While I love this game's soundtrack, I HATE its demanding perfect runs to obtain some stupid note cards when you think you're getting the respective game's song instead… And for that, screw you, Rhythm Rally 2.

At this rate, I'll end up putting all the soundtrack in a single arc… Whew! We made it to the end of this chapter, though.

Even though the title says that Butterfly Effects were the theme, it didn't really mean that there would a lot of them…mainly because Froggy has a limited use for them. But instead, I tried to enlarge the effects.

And we finally reached the next Shadow Nightmare battle! Spoiler: it'll blow up like Luigi's shadow did… Okay, no, this one is for real. I hope the close calls shocked a bit to you. If they didn't, well, I tried my best… EVEN SO! Now this new cliffhanger will leave you wondering why Link is supposedly useless. I SO want to write the ending of that chapter now, but I'll need to take care of the actual battle first. :D

A special poll is now open in the profile. Check its details there, and vote as soon as you can! The deadline will be when the final chapter of this arc is published!

I encourage LinkxZelda fanatics to read and review. :D

…Or Link and Zelda will have CD-I nightmares for the rest of the plot.

Zelda: Blasphemy!

Link: Let me guess. You've never seen princesses having nightmares like that.

Zelda: You like those dreadful nightmares, then?

Link: Hell no!
*Chapter 177*: Sixth Liar: Link the Useless

After so many life interruptions, this chapter came to be known as chapter 177.

From ngrey561: Oh dear God. THAT'S where those nightmares are coming from? The CD-I games? Truly that IS a fate worse than death! And The Shadow Nightmare attacking LINK? What could make him think that he's useless, he's called on all the time to-

...oh. Wait. Called on all the time to defend Hyrule...and it keeps getting into danger. I...think I see part of the problem.

From me: Well, ignoring the funny nightmares that mentally scare Link and Zelda, it doesn't really have anything to do with his life in Hyrule. It's better explained here, so, enjoy. :D

From FF and STH: Like this chapter, very funny. The part when they was in Leene Square and you made link say "excuuuuuuse me" that was from The Legend of Zelda (TV series)form one of his favorites catchphrase "Well! Excuuuuuse me, Princess!".

From me: Yes, I know that reference, but I didn't want to mention it and let readers find out by themselves. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From cybirdude: You made this chapter on my birthday!

From me: Happy Birthday! …But, seriously, I don't know if you know, but your review…isn't really much of a review… At least…thank you for reviewing (?)

From Yue Twili: Oh noes! Not Link!

...Actually I was sort of expecting that...

A shame that the bad guys didn't know that the good guys have the Sun Tablet. And what a horrible future for Lucca! I'm starting to feel sorry for her...

Update whenever you can dude.

From me: Their little mistake will only cause more trouble to a certain purple cat. You haven't played Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross? If so, I'm glad people who don't know the games are taking their time to understand what's going. Thank you. :D

From Decepticon Fan: I'm sorry about not leaving an actual review the last time. *punches self for stupidity* OK I'm straight now. Anyway, making up for the last time, Falco just kills me. His hatred of the cold is just hilarious. He's a comcial character in general. The title of this chappie is pretty interesting. Deadly Butterfly Effects...attention getting indeed. Dark Link is making an appearance? WOOT! Can't wait! Sixth Liar: Link the Useless coming up.

From me: I know Falco complains a lot, but that's pretty much his actual personality. I just don't make his complains annoying, but I make them have a "cool" approach… I don't know if this works for his complains, so…it's all up to you to judge. Thanks again. ;)

From king121222: Yay I made it! Chrish ye need ta learn dat somethings...oh forget it

Also Im on the nintendo wii!

From me: …Eer…it's…good you're in the Nintendo Wii…so…um…I have no comments…sorry…

From the true dragon fanatic: first of all, great chapter. second of all, I was wondering if you would consider using music from some games other than the one the group is in. I know a series that has music that works GREAT for fights. If you want a sample of it, look up "U. N. Owen was her" (I recommend the full version). If you don't want to use other songs, and stick to the soundtrack of the current game, that's fine, but check out the song anyway. it's great.

From me: I know about Touhou (and how overrated it is. Heck, I hate the series). However, the song you mentioned is my favorite of that particular game series, except that I dislike the original so much. I like one specific remix that I've watched before. Sadly, I won't use it at all…for now. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From PianistChris: Good Chapter. It's great that they finally caught Froggy in the end, even though something worse happened, and the scenes of different members of the group chasing the Frog and losing him was entertaining, especially with Falco's comments xD

Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter!

From me: Even so, Froggy was captured. Hmm, are you a Falco fan, perhaps? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Safire Ranmako: I still LOVE your epic, but I have a couple queries.

1- Are you ever going to get back to the Search for the Golden Bugs Subquest?

2- Why didn't you use Zelda for the Shadow Nightmare?

Finally you missed a Reference, When Link said, "Well, excuu uu uuse me." It was an almost Direct Reference to the old Legend of Zelda Cartoon Show.

If I remember right Link couldn't go through one episode without saying, "Well, excuu uu uuse me Princess."

From me: Thank you for loving this fic. I really appreciate it.

That side quest will probably last for a long while without the Smashers focusing too much in them.

Because…I felt Link was the one who had the most problems with his life.

Like I said before, some references are missed on purpose because some of them might be ridiculous to mention in the references section. It's up to you to find out what I'm even referencing…except don't expect me to reference an anime. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From wolflink300: love the story man keep writing

From me: Thank you. I hope this chapter gives you some ideas to highlight in your next reviews. Don't be shy and feel free to comment of anything you liked. ;)

Ugh, this chapter took way too long because school started, and I'm a senior this year. Even though I will have so much work to do, this story won't go down at all. So please, I beg all of you to be patient for future chapters to come. I'm not one of those people who don't have lives, people.

Anyway…

This chapter contains half action, half conversations. This Shadow Nightmare battle is actually a bit shorter than others because the next half has to wrap up certain events with a nice, happy closure to the arc. I hope you understand how everything went. HOWEVER, there's a special section waiting for you at the end of this chapter. ;)

I encourage Butterfly Effects fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Fear butterflies. Thank god there aren't butterflies that give illnesses to people… Oh, wait… Never mind…

Chapter 177: Sixth Liar: Link the Useless

-600 A.D. – Middle Ages-

Sunken Desert

Chrono Trigger – Zeal Palace

The five in the sand room watched as how Link's screams broke through the silence. Zelda turned around and looked dismayed and the blob of darkness before her. She was being dragged away by the sand, but she held herself to the stone monument in the middle of the room while Lucca grabbed the left wall to keep herself on the same spot.

Marle and Meta Knight watched from the entrance of the room while Ganondorf's laugh combined with the screams of the swordsman. "Haaaaaahahahahahahaha!" Ganondorf laughed before holding out his hand at the blob. "Behold, pathetic fool, your other dark self!" he proclaimed.

The blob of darkness shot out dark sparks before it spat Link out towards Zelda's feet.

The princess gasped and knelt down while keeping a hand on the rock. "L-Link!" she cried a bit, trying to wake him up. "Link, please, answer me!"

"…Z-Zel…da…" Link muttered weakly before looking up at Zelda's worried expression.

"W-what…what just happened?"

"I may as well let you know," Ganondorf said with a smirk before looking at the blob of darkness. "Do you recall a Shadow Nightmare lunging at you? Well, it is right before your eyes, brats!"

Link and Zelda fixed their gazes to the blob of darkness. The blob then started to take a human shape, and before long, the young Hylians shook their heads at the figure before them. The figure was a version of Link, the only differences being its dark body and yellow eyes. A weak shadowy aura radiated all over its body, and it stared deeply into the two without making a move. He wasn't being affected by the moving sands as a dark platform stood right below its feet.

"…W-what… W-why does that thing…look like Link?" Lucca asked.

"The Shadow Nightmare needs a new shape rather than their first form," Ganondorf said. "This Shadow Nightmare has successfully taken a very good shape, would you not say?

Now, would you share your first words with us…Shadow Link?"

"…" Shadow Link kept staring at the two young Hylians.

"…" Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. "Are you deaf, perhaps? Would you say something, anything?"

"…Why…" Shadow Link muttered. "…Why…did it come to this… Why?"

Zelda and Link exchanged worried glances. "W-what do you mean?" Link asked.

"…Why do I feel…so bad?" he asked. "I…I feel so worthless… So worthless that…that I just can't stop feeling so bad…about myself…"

Link shook his head. "W-what do you mean with that?" he asked.

"T-this isn't how it's supposed to be… No… Not like this…" Shadow Link trailed off.

"Being helpless is…a bad feeling… It truly is a bad feeling…"

"…Link, are you hiding something?" Zelda asked worried.

Link stammered a bit and shook his head. "I…I…I…"

"Please…don't say anything else…" Shadow Link said. "It's clear that…I'm so…so useless…"

Ganondorf looked confused at this. "Now why would you say something like that, shadow?" he asked. "Do you feel alive?"

"…How can I feel alive if I can't even help people out?" Shadow Link asked. "I don't understand how you can live being helpless… I certainly like to help people out myself. I'm a good guy…"

"(It does not seem that it wants to perish by itself,)" Ganondorf thought.

"…But…tell me, you…" Shadow Link told Link. "…Tell me how you feel when you help people out…"

Link looked a bit scared. "I-I feel good…honest," he said.

"Well, that's true…but how do you feel when you can't help people out?"

"…I feel very…bad…"

"…Exactly…" Shadow Link said nodding. "It's really awful that you can't help people… That's how I feel now… I feel very bad that I couldn't…I couldn't help somebody because…because I couldn't do it…"

Link shook his head. "N-no, don't say anything else beyond that, please!" he pleaded.

"Oh, there's no need to worry…" Shadow Link said. "After thinking again, I found out something I was ignoring all this time…"

Marle looked at Meta Knight. "What is that Link doppelganger doing? I don't get why we aren't doing anything…" she muttered.

"We can't do anything now," Meta Knight said. "I'm afraid this is something Link can stop by himself. If we intrude, we might get the shadow upset."

"So what? We need to do something!"

Meta Knight looked at Marle. "That shadow might kill us if it wants to do so," he said. "We must stay put for now and see what it wants to do. If Link can dispel his dark lies, that shadow will be no more…but I doubt it'll be easy for him to admit his lies."

The Guardia princess looked concerned before she fixed her gaze towards the shadow.

"W-what have you been ignoring all this time?" Zelda asked.

"Why, it was quite simple," Shadow Link said. "The reason why I couldn't…I couldn't help people out with success was simply because…because…because they were useless themselves," he said.

"T-that's not true…" Link muttered.

"But it was true…" Shadow Link lamented. "No matter how much I tried to help them…they just couldn't help me back with themselves… Without their advice, how can they expect me to help them? They're…useless…" He shook his head. "I'm not the useless one here…they're the real useless people… So then, why do I feel useless myself? I feel like that…because they make me feel like them… I hate it…I despise it…I want to get rid of this pathetic feeling of helplessness…"

Link stood back up. "W-what are you trying to do?" he asked.

"…" Shadow Link scratched his right shoulder. "I'm unsure…but the objective it's quite simple to do…" he trailed off. "If those useless people can't help themselves…then…I should give them the ultimate way to help them…"

"What kind of ultimate help is that supposed to mean?" Zelda asked scared.

"…Death…" Shadow Link said. "Useless people don't have any place to live their lives… What good is there for them to live if they can't be helpful, and make others around them feel like crap? No, they cause just too much grief as it is… I'll be doing a favor to humanity and perish its errors; useless people…"

Ganondorf smirked. "So then, what will you do? Who shall you kill first?" he asked.

Shadow Link shook his head at Link and Zelda. "You two…should be killed later…" he trailed off. "I have to kill that person…who made me feel like this…"

Link shook his head quickly. "N-no, don't tell me you'll try to…" he trailed off.

The Shadow Nightmare turned towards Lucca's direction, causing her to swallow a bit of her breath out of panic. "W-why are you looking at me with those glowing eyes?" Lucca asked.

"It was…you…Lucca…" Shadow Link said. "Just meeting you…caused me to feel so DAMN useless…"

"W-what are you talking about?" Lucca asked scared. "I-I never met you before!"

"But, Lucca, I'm Link…" Shadow Link said. "Both of us…are the same person… You met me when I stumbled upon the End of Time… You looked upset after you shouted randomly, and I knew right away that something was giving you trouble… As the good guy I am, I wanted to bond slowly with you so you could tell me what problem that was…"

Lucca looked confused. "I-I don't get it. I never met you but Link… H-how do you know that?" she asked.

"Naïve girl," Ganondorf called out, "the shadow knows everything about the courageous brat since it was created out of his thoughts. You cannot deny you have not met the shadow since you met him."

"T-that's…" Lucca trailed off.

"No, Lucca, don't deny it…" Shadow Link said. "Don't deny that you had a problem…and that you met me… I saw all those things with my own eyes, yet you want to discern that?"

"…I…"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore…but can you tell me what problem was bothering you before?" he asked. "Surely I can still do something…"

Lucca forced a glare at the shadow. "I-I don't you who the hell you are! I never met you before!" she yelled. "Why should I tell a stranger about my personal problems, anyway? You have no right in getting word of my problems!"

"…You're such a b(beep)h," Shadow Link said sadly, causing Zelda, Marle, and Link to gasp.

"What?" Lucca said confused.

"You're such a b(beep)h," Shadow Link repeated sadly. "Now I know why I couldn't be helpful with you… You tried to tune me out. You thought I was annoying you, correct?"

"N-no, not you!" Lucca yelled. "T-the only one I was being friends with was Link, not you!"

"Seems you're not as smart as you boasted," Shadow Link said. "How…how many times do I have to say both of us are the same person? Technically, you are yelling at Link if you are yelling at me… You know how sad that makes us both… So sad…so horrible…" He stared at Lucca's worried expression. "…So…so full of need to put you in your place…"

"W-what place is that?" Lucca asked.

Shadow Link looked solemnly at her. "If you can't even help yourself…and I can't help you…then you might as well die sooner…" He slowly unsheathed his dark sword from its sheath. "And I will give you that present… That way, you will never be able to be so useless and unhelpful to others…"

"Y-you're crazy!" Lucca yelled.

"Y-yeah, stop!" Marle yelled. "Lucca doesn't need to die! She's a very nice person!"

"So says you…but I know who needs to be killed and who doesn't," Shadow Link said emotionless. "Lucca…she is the first one to die for being useless…and for making me feel helpless…"

"S-stop saying that!" Lucca shouted angrily. "I'm in no way useless anymore!"

Shadow Link raised an eyebrow. "What was that now? You said you were useless before?" he asked.

Lucca gasped at this and shook her head. "I-I don't need to tell you anything!" she yelled. "It doesn't concern you…and no one else for that matter!"

"That's exactly why you're so useless…"

"I-I'm not useless!" Lucca yelled. "I-I'm in no way useless! You can't call me that!"

"You're useless…" Shadow Link said. "If you don't want anybody's aid, you'll feel very useless…"

"Shut up!" Lucca yelled. "K-keep calling me useless and I-I'll…"

"What good it is for her not to know?" Shadow Link asked. "I want to show her that she should die sooner than later. Preferably, I want her to be saved from being killed in the future."

Lucca blinked at this. "W-what does he mean by that?" she asked.

Link shook his head. "Don't listen to him, Lucca! H-he's just trying to hurt you!"

"I'm not trying to hurt her…" Shadow Link lamented. "I'm trying to save her by putting her out of her misery. Either way, she'll be killed in the future by fate, and because she needed to be killed…"

"…" Lucca looked back at Link. "W-what is he saying with that?"

Link looked horrified at this. He gulped and tried to avoid breaking down. "L-Lucca, whatever that shadow says about you, t-they're all lies!"

"I-I'm so confused," Lucca said as she frowned. "W-what should I listen to?"

"Foolish girl," Ganondorf said. "The shadow never lies. For that matter, it just spoke the truth to you. Why will not you embrace the truth and stay quiet about it?"

"T-that's a whole lie…it's a lie!" Lucca yelled at Ganondorf. "I-I don't want to be killed in the future! I still have a lot in my life to do!"

"You'll die young, that's for sure…" Shadow Link lamented. "It's like your life didn't have much meaning to it. In the future, you will be no more…"

"Stop saying those things!" Link demanded, his demand falling in deaf ears.

Zelda was listening to the conversation. The Hyrule princess knew that the shadow wasn't lying. She didn't want to think, and at least, believe in the truth. She never had any grudges with Lucca, but she felt sorry for her to an extent. Marle was very confused out of everyone. She tried to forget whatever the shadow was telling Lucca.

Shadow Link stared deeply at Lucca. "Fate has reserved you a time where you'll die," he said. "Gaspar told me that that is the most certain future you'll have for when that Lavos monster is no more…"

Lucca stared shocked at the shadow. "…What?" she muttered softly.

"It's true…I…I saw all of it…" Shadow Link lamented. "You…you were being…being…"

Link stepped forward, carefully remaining standing up over the moving sands. "D-don't say that!" he pleaded.

"You were being…being…being killed in your burning home…" Shadow Link trailed off. "I saw how your blood…bathed on a sword that was impaled…on your chest… The look you had in that image…was so horrifying…and when your blood covered the sword from your unknown assailant…you were thrown into the fire where you…you died…as your house was being burned down to the ground…"

The tinker stared at the shadow with a paralyzed look with fear.

"…And…and after seeing that scene…" Shadow Link lamented, "…I felt worthless…because I wouldn't be here by the time you'll get killed… I could save you…but Gaspar told me it was impossible for me because that would affect history itself… So then…I ask you…what I should do with you?" he asked. "I feel useless, like I told you before…so I'd rather make your death arrive sooner so your helplessness is finally resolved at last…"

Lucca kept her position as she tried to keep herself from becoming too nervous about the shadow's information.

"...Shocking, isn't it?" Shadow Link asked. "It's because of that that I...I need to do something...without affecting this world's history... I just need to kill you sooner to save you from your future problems... That way, I won't feel very useless..."

"..." Lucca looked down at the sand floor.

Link looked horrified at Lucca. "L-Lucca, please, don't believe him! T-that's all a lie to scare you! I don't want t-"

"Silence, you insolent liar!" Ganondorf said. "The shadow's words are never false. It has told everything you could not bring yourself to say with a straight face. I would not care less for the life of such a worthless being like that girl. She should embrace the truth, no matter how sickening it is."

Lucca kept staring down at the sand floor, the room filled with silence from everyone.

"...N-no!" Marle shouted. "Lucca doesn't deserve to die today or sooner! She's a nice friend, a-and she needs to keep on living! I-I refuse her to die!"

The tinker turned towards the Guardia princess. "M-Marle..." she muttered, still trying to believe the shadow's words.

"Lucca, that shadow person is just trying to mess up with your mind!" Marle yelled. "Guys like him only like to put everyone else's moods down so they can feel superior over others! Me? Ha! I'd laugh hysterically if someone wanted to put me down in a bad mood! If they put me in a bad mood, I'd freeze 'em with my ice magic! Do you honestly want to look like that, Lucca?" Marle turned to Link. "T-that wasn't true at all, was it, Link?"

"..." Link shut his eyes and looked down. "Ugh..."

"...Link...please, don't tell me all that was true..." Marle trailed off worried.

"...I...I..." Link struggled to say any words while everyone stared at him, most of them looking concerned.

"Link..." Zelda trailed off, putting her hands over Link's shoulders. "You...you can't be serious about the shadow's words..."

"...I...I..." Link looked back at the shadow, "I don't want to believe in that!" he yelled.

Shadow Link looked apologetic. "It's a sad thing you couldn't even handle a truth like that... Here I thought that we were the same person..." He frowned and stared at Link. "So...how's it going to be...me?"

Link grunted angrily. "S-shut up!" he yelled. "How dare you compare me to...to me! You don't know anything about this! Y-you're just trying to tease me!"

"But I'm not teasing anybody..." Shadow Link muttered. "I'm just telling the truth that...you saw... You should know better that if you want me to find peace with myself for not being able to help…Lucca…you should just say that we're the same…and that we share Lucca's true fate…"

"(I-I don't want to compare myself with that shadow… W-we're not the same person!)" Link thought painfully. "Y-you're not…you're not…"

"Link, refrain from saying more than that in this instant!" Meta Knight ordered.

"N-no, Link, don't say it!" Zelda shouted as Link gritted his teeth. "The shadow and you are the same person… Just…just say that so we do-"

Link yelled loudly and pointed at the shadow. "You're not me! Stop thinking we're the same person, you…you monster!" he screamed.

Zelda gasped at this claim, and Marle even heard Meta Knight gasping a bit as well. Ganondorf smirked at Link's claim while Lucca kept staring into space, trying to think about understanding what was going on with the shadow's claims.

"…How pitiful…" Shadow Link lamented as Link panted heavily. "It'd be easier for you to admit your lies…but I guess many Hylians like you are the same…"

The Hyrule princess shook her head at the shadow. "Why would you think such a thing about all my people?" she asked.

"…Because…Zelda…" the shadow's aura suddenly started to become pitch black, "…that's what I believe for myself, not because this other shell thinks otherwise… From now on…I'll be myself while this poor shell rots under his lies that he didn't want to admit to himself…"

Marle noticed the shadow's pitch-black aura. Its manifestation was enough for her to feel a chill running down her spine. She embraced herself and looked at the serious Meta Knight. "W-what's happening to that shadow guy? W-why is it turning darker than before?"

Meta Knight grunted as his hand rested on Galaxia's hilt. "The shadow feeds on their host's lies. If the host denies their lies, their shadows grow stronger to the point they become real monsters." He stared up at Marle from the corner of his eyes. "There's no other solution to slay that shadow but to fight."

"Haaaaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, haaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Ganondorf laughed with open hands at the ceiling. He stopped and looked at his enemies. "Finally, the words I longed to hear have been told! The shadow's true power has been born at last from the insolent fool!"

Zelda looked scared at the shadow before she looked at Link. She felt the swordsman's shoulders shaking as his eyes were fixated on his dark counterpart. "Link, stay focused!" Zelda tried to encourage him. "You mustn't become afraid of your shadow!"

"I should thank you, my previous self, from giving me my own humanity," Shadow Link said. "Thanks to you, I was able to gain enough power to kill everyone I meet so their deepest problems are finally resolved with eternal sleep… Thank you…"

"S-shut up, idiot!" Link yelled. "Don't compare me to you anymore!"

"I wasn't even comparing you with me before since we were the same person a minute ago…but now, since we became apart from each other, I can compare me to you," the shadow lamented. "Now…I can say you're pathetic…without me… Your uselessness shall be solved today, though." He pointed his dark sword at Link's face. "You are a dear friend to mine, but you're troubled with the fact that you can't help people. Fortunately, I can help you out…by slitting your throat with my sword."

"I-I won't let you do something of the sort!" Zelda yelled. "If you slay Link, the Triforce of Courage will be lost forever!"

"That is where you are wrong, my dear Zelda," Ganondorf said. "Once he dies, removing the Triforce of Courage from his body will be as easy as bringing a Shadow Nightmare here. And look at this, I DID bring a shadow here!" he cherished. "The shadow just needs to kill him off. After that, I will take hold of the Triforce of Courage and then I will move on to your Triforce of Wisdom!"

"That will be but an impossible dream for you to achieve!" Zelda yelled. "Link, please, say something!"

"Zelda…" Shadow Link muttered. "Why would you care about him since I'm the true Link here? I'm the honest one, and the dishonest people have poor chances to live… Join me, and we shall get rid of all the troubled people in Hyrule…"

"I'd rather give my services to my people instead of staining the land with their blood!" Zelda yelled before looking worried at Link. "Please, Link, say something in your defense against the shadow and Ganondorf!"

Link's expression was mixed together with fear and depression as his eyes drifted to see Lucca. The tinker was at a blank as the shadow's words produced many thoughts in her mind. She didn't want to look at anybody.

"I see that this shell has shut itself away from everyone and everybody," Shadow Link said. "I can tell all that with just a mere look at his face… He really needs to die here and now."

"N-no he doesn't!" Marle yelled. "N-neither Link nor Lucca have to die just because they couldn't help each other! Stop saying those things now!"

"I don't wish to hear anything else from anybody…" Shadow Link said with a frown.

"Perhaps, I should just start saving people…by killing them…"

"Y-you're so twisted!" Zelda yelled. "Killing people off is a brutal, inhuman way to help them with their problems!"

"I think I said I didn't want to hear anything else," Shadow Link said. "Very well, I shall start…"

Ganondorf smirked as he walked back into the portal. "Shadow Nightmare, do whatever you can do to deal with these imbeciles. I shall return to the Subspace to attend some matters with the frog scum," he said before laughing loudly, the portal closing in midair.

Meta Knight unsheathed Galaxia. "It's time to fight for us. Get ready," he advised Marle, who was still looking concerned at Lucca. "If you wish to protect her, fight alongside us."

Marle grunted at this and took out her crossbow. "That's it, I'm jumping into the fray now!" she yelled. "That shadow guy isn't going to kill Lucca or anybody else under my watch!"

Zelda looked at Link. "Please, Link, get a hold of yourself!" she said worried. "We must fight your shadow together!"

The swordsman trembled as he stared in fear at his shadow. Link slowly unsheathed his sword and gulped.

"(Why is he so frightened?)" Zelda thought worried. "(Why doesn't he say anything?)"

Shadow Link turned towards Lucca. "You there," he called out, "put your head up so you see how I help you out."

Lucca gasped and looked at the shadow. She tried to say something, but words couldn't come out from her mouth.

"Now you're mute? Geez, you're useless…"

The tinker despised the mocking statement, making her brandish out her phase gun from her bag. "I-I'll stop you from calling me and useless person!" she yelled. "I'll make sure you regret saying that all the time!"

Suddenly, from the bottom left corner of the room, the sand erupted, and a big skeleton monster came out. Everyone turned to look at the monster, roaring furiously after seeing its prey looking up at it. The skeleton monster had an eye on its skull, and it had a pair of bat wings behind its back. It opened its arms and roared furiously.

"W-what's that?" Marle asked.

"That must be the monster Fiona mentioned," Meta Knight said. "This room is its nest."

Marle looked hesitant. "W-we can't deal with it now! We have that shadow to beat!"

Shadow Link stared at the monster. He frowned and held his sword with both hands. "I've got no time to deal with you," he said. "But if you have something bothering you, I'll get rid of you…"

Everyone saw as Shadow Link's sword was radiating electricity out. Silently and carefully, the shadow swung his sword hard, sending a devastating slicing energy slash that cut the monster in half. The attack collided against the room's wall, causing a small cave-in to fall down upon the roaring monster. The big skeleton was slain by the attack, and it was buried down beneath rocks. The moving sands were unable to move the rocks away.

Shadow Link stared at the pile of rocks before looking at everyone else looking shocked at him. "Now, where were we?" he asked. "I think I was going to save you…"

"(T-this shadow's power… How did it do that?)" Zelda asked. "(Link doesn't possess any lightning skills… Wait… He did learn lightning magic in this world. Did the shadow enhance his magic's power?)"

Shadow Link pointed his sword at Lucca. "I hope you're ready for me to help you out," he said, causing Lucca to gasp.

Chrono Cross – Edge of Death

"This is bad," Meta Knight muttered. "With Link in his state of shock, the four of us must attack the shadow now."

Meta Knight pushed his cape away to extend his wings. He took off from the rocky floor and flew towards Shadow Link while Marle, gasping at this, regained her senses. "W-where are you going?" she asked.

"We must fight that shadow and slain it at all costs!" Meta Knight ordered. "We must cooperate together!"

Marle looked back at Lucca. "Lucca, get a hold of yourself and come back to earth! There's a guy trying to kill you!" she yelled.

"Here I go," Shadow Link calmly stated as he rushed towards Lucca. With every step he took forward, a shadow path was made for him to prevent the moving sands from moving him off the course. Lucca yelped and began shooting the shadow with her phase gun, the energy shots being blocked off by the shadow's shield. "Don't be so scared and just let me kill you."

"S-stay away from me!" Lucca yelled as she tried running towards Marle, the moving sands severely slowing down her pace. She screamed and covered her head once Shadow Link reached her, but his sword was stopped by Meta Knight's Galaxia. Lucca kept running ahead to reach safe land with Marle.

"Meta Knight…" Shadow Link trailed off as the two hovered over the moving sands. "Do you remember that sparring match we had? I could never land a single blow on you… But now, it'll be different."

"Silence," Meta Knight said as he struggled to push Shadow Link's sword away. "I don't want to talk about something as trivial as that."

"Are you…rejecting ever meeting me, then?" Shadow Link asked. "Oh, how stupid I am. I'm not part of that stupid shell… I'm myself, but those memories are still with me. Actually, those memories belong to me and me alone. That shell was just replacing me for a very long while."

Meta Knight grunted before he swiftly pushed Shadow Link's sword away, the sword burrowing into the moving sands. Before the knight could slash the shadow, the shadow swiftly slashed him hard, sending Meta Knight several feet away from him. The knight used his wings to flip in the air and hover over the sand, looking back at the shadow holding his sword.

"I didn't need to tell you this before, but even if you take away my items, I'll be holding them the next second," Shadow Link said. "If you push away my sword, I'll just swing my hand, and the sword will instantly be with me."

"(That is very troublesome,)" Meta Knight thought before rushing towards Shadow Link, the two clashing swords. The knight felt that his sword lacked enough power to push the shadow's sword, but Meta Knight was able to block off all the blocks.

As the two clashed swords, Marle was checking up on Lucca. The tinker looked frightened as she embraced herself and fell on her knees. "Lucca, don't look like that!" Marle said worried. "That shadow was trying to scare you, that's all!"

"I-I don't know, Marle…" Lucca muttered. "I-I don't know what to believe…"

"Sheesh, you're looking so pale for nothing!" Marle complained. "Honestly, are you going to believe in him? Don't feel so down!"

"I…I…I…" Lucca sobbed. "I…I don't want…I don't want to die…"

"You're not going to die!" Marle yelled. "That's just something he's trying to make you believe so you feel depressed! Please, Lucca, don't look like that!"

Lucca looked down. "I-I'm scared, Marle… I-I'm very scared…" she trailed off before she cried silently.

The Guardia princess dropped to her knees and tried to calm the tinker down by shaking her shoulders. "Please, just stop crying! This is not the time to cry for something like that, Lucca!" Marle hopelessly said.

While Marle tried her best to reassure Lucca, Zelda was dealing with Link, who at the time fell to his knees but kept holding on to the wall to keep himself from being taken away by the moving sands. "Link, stand up!" Zelda encouraged. "We need to defeat that shadow before it kills us off!"

"H-how…how will that help me?" Link muttered. "That shadow just…just told Lucca what she'd suffer in the future…"

Zelda gasped at this. "Y-you're not saying his words were true, right?"

"I…I…I'm sorry…" Link trailed off. "I-it was my fault for trying to know more about her that I went out of control… I-I'm so useless like the shadow said…"

"Link, stop acting like this!" Zelda scolded him. "Put yourself together and fight your shadow!"

"B-but..."

"Everything will be fine after you slay the shadow," she said. "You can make up with Lucca later if you're so worried about her!"

The swordsman stared at Lucca, who was trying to be consoled by Marle. Her words of consolation seemingly fell into deaf ears, as she kept sobbing silently to herself all the time while Shadow Link and Meta Knight clashed swords.

"..." Link hung down his head.

"(Why does he need to be like this at a time like this?)" Zelda thought worried. "(It won't be long before that shadow comes here to fight us…)"

Back with Meta Knight and Shadow Link, the first's sword was pushed away, and received a brutal slash against his body. The knight crashed against the wall and fell to the moving sands. "I can still fight…" Meta Knight said as he stood back up with Galaxia in his hand's grip. "Shadow or not, I'll keep fighting on."

"I really despise serious people…" Shadow Link trailed off. "They act so serious that…they make me feel stupid…"

"(I wonder if those words are his opinions towards me…or Link's true opinions,)" Meta Knight thought. "(Do all shadows say more than the darkest lie of their host?)"

Shadow Link turned towards Lucca and Marle, the two standing next to the exit of the room. The shadow saw Lucca sobbing as Marle tried to calm her down. "Look at what you've done," he told Meta Knight. "She's sobbing because she hasn't been killed, and her problems are tormenting her even more. I need to do my job here and slay her."

"Why must all our enemies have to say such depressing, cruel visions that mock all of us? Is this some kind of trend I wasn't aware of?" Meta Knight asked rhetorically.

"What, you haven't fought enemies like those?" Shadow Link asked.

"Thinking again, I just plainly ignored all their trash talk."

Shadow Link raised his sword, which became encased in electricity. "I hate when people ignore me… Die," he muttered, sending forth a devastating electricity wave that Meta Knight dodged with Dimensional Cape. The slash exploded right on the wall, causing a small cave-in. The knight appeared right over the rocks and looked down at Shadow Link.

"I shouldn't waste any more time with you," Shadow Link as he turned towards the girls' direction. "Lucca…I'll help you out from your suffering by making sure you find eternal peace…"

Meta Knight grunted at this and used Drill Rush while going down. The shadow swiftly used his shield to block the attack, and he followed up by slashing Meta Knight away. The shadow then sprinted towards Lucca and Marle.

Marle turned towards the shadow's direction and gasped. "H-here he comes!" she yelped. "Lucca, stand up and run! C'mon!"

Lucca uncovered her face and gasped at the shadow coming in a direct path towards her.

The tinker gasped loudly and stood back up with Marle. "M-Marle, we have to do something!" she said.

The Guardia princess looked upset. "Oh, NOW you wanna do something after I kept telling you t-"

"T-there's no time to argue for that!" Lucca said, tears running down her cheeks. "Please, just help me!"

"But, Lucca, I'll help you out. I thought I wanted to help you..." Shadow Link said as he was coming closer to them. He glanced at Marle. "Maybe I should just eliminate my replacements first..."

Marle looked freaked out. "Eek! U-um, I-I never wanted to take your spot, so go take it back," she said smiling, making Lucca glare at her. "I-I mean, I don't care what you say! Leave Lucca alone!" she yelled before shooting out arrows from her crossbow.

Shadow Link merely blocked them all with his shield, as he was coming even closer. "You'll have to do something more...productive to stop me," he said.

Marle grunted and put her hands together. Ice sparkles circled around her, and she held out her open hands towards Shadow Link. A wave of ice shot out from Marle's feet and reached the shadow, causing him to be trapped inside an ice cube. The ice cube shattered into bits, causing him to grunt in pain. "Not bad," Shadow Link said before resuming his run, his sword charging up with electricity. "It'll take much more than that to do some actual damage to me...but this attack isn't going to let you two live."

Lucca and Marle yelled loudly for help as Meta Knight came from behind Shadow Link, using Drill Rush on his back. The shadow grunted in pain as Meta Knight's sword tried to penetrate his back. The knight stopped spinning and drew back from the shadow while Meta Knight flapped his wings to avoid touching the moving sands. "It seems you have the same swordsmanship level as Link," Meta Knight said.

Shadow Link turned to Meta Knight. "Honestly, how much longer do I have to deal with the likes of you?" he asked. "Don't you see how important it is for me to accomplish my mission here?"

"If you want an honest opinion from me, I'd say you have no common sense at all for your mission," Meta Knight said.

Shadow Link was suddenly attacked by a spiral of fire putting him in flames. The shadow grunted in pain and turned around to see Lucca holding out her hand to him. The tinker gasped and stepped back from the shadow's glowing eyes. "Lucca...you attacked me..." Shadow Link lamented. "But...I thought we were friends..."

"W-we...we were never friends!" Lucca cried. "Y-you have to leave me alone!"

The shadow quickly turned around to block Meta Knight's sword with his shield. Even though the knight's sword tried to push off the shadow's shield, Shadow Link looked back at Lucca. "Keep saying that, and I'll just keep saying that you're my dear friend who needs my help desperately..."

Marle saw an opening to perform a double tech with Lucca against Shadow Link. "L-Lucca, let's try Antipode Bomb II now!" she suggested.

However, Lucca looked frightened. The tinker seemed to be ignoring Marle as she was feeling a chill running down her spine. Slowly, Lucca embraced herself and started to sob once more, much for Marle's dismay. "I-I'm so frightened..." Lucca muttered. "I-I don't want to die soon... N-no..."

"Lucca!" Marle groaned. "T-this isn't the time to break into tears! How many times do I have to tell you not to be like this?"

Shadow Link pushed Meta Knight away with his shield. "And how many times do I have to clash swords against Meta Knight before I can help Lucca?" he asked. "Just come over here with me, Lucca... Your end is nigh, but it'll be enjoyable and fulfilling. Trust me, Lucca...and just...perish... That way, your problems will b-"

"NO!" Lucca interrupted by crying loudly. "I-I don't want to solve my problems in that gruesome way! I-I don't want to die now! I have a lot to do in my life, a-and I don't want to die by you of all people!" She stopped crying, even though her eyes were filling with tears. "Y-you're a monster with no respect towards others!"

The shadow looked upset at the tinker. "I've been giving my f(beep)ng respect to you all this time, if you haven't noticed yet," he spoke darkly in a menacing tone. "You're such a b(beep)h for not being so grateful to me. It's people who turn me down like you that just tick me off. It's QUITE clear you must perish for mocking me in such a b(beep)y manner."

Lucca gasped and drew back a bit from the shadow's menacing glare. "G-get away from me!" she yelled.

Shadow Link didn't have to turn around to block Meta Knight's sword with his shield again. "You're begging for me to help you. You don't notice, but you're begging," the shadow said, his sword covering with sparks as he quickly turning around to slash Meta Knight with his sword. The blow was strong, and it pushed Meta Knight away with several sparks ran through his body. The knight fell down on the moving sands, his body paralyzed by the blow. Marle and Lucca gasped at this while Shadow Link turned back to the tinker. "So now, Lucca, you have to get going to heaven."

Without previous advice, Marle grabbed Lucca's hand and started to run to the east side of the room while the shadow slowly walked towards them over his dark path.

Meta Knight grunted as he stood up. He tried to move, but his feet and wings were paralyzed under the occasional sparks covering his body. "(He just incapacitated me...)" Meta Knight thought as he was dragged around the room by the moving sand. "(If I can stay cautious without being noticed, the paralysis should lift off from me shortly... But if that shadow targets me again, I could be in for real trouble this time...)" As the shadow neared the girls, the knight was dragged away towards the south area of the room where Zelda was trying to cheer up Link from his downcast mood.

Zelda noticed Meta Knight while Link's head was hanging down in depression and despair. "M-Meta Knight, you must do something about Link! He hasn't say a word ever since he got like this!" she pleaded. "I've tried everything, but he doesn't seem to cheer up at all!"

"I don't know how I can help him now," Meta Knight said as he tried to move from his moving spot. "It's up to him to resolve his problems."

"Are you sure you can't do something?" Zelda asked concerned.

Meta Knight kept being dragged away by the moving sands, his feet and wings unable to move. "If we want the shadow's power to reduce, Link needs to admit his lies with Lucca," he said. "I know it's hard for him to admit that to himself, but it's the only way we can do to make the shadow weaker."

"But…he isn't…"

"For now, he's frightened," Meta Knight said. "Overtime, he should recover from his current mood. Leave him alone for the time being."

"I-I can't leave his side! That shadow could come over here and finish him off while he's paralyzed!" Zelda looked at Link. "Link, please, pull yourself together!"

Link didn't seem to respond as he kept staring down emotionless at the moving sands. Zelda saw his body trembling in fear.

"Link!" Zelda shouted.

Meta Knight moved his eyes to their corners to see his wings slowly flapping under the flying sparks. Soon, he moved a bit his feet. "It's not enough… I need to wait more," Meta Knight muttered before hearing the girls screaming. He looked towards the northeast corner of the room where Marle and Lucca were cornered by the shadow, which cautiously approached them over his hovering feet.

"I have you both cornered now…" Shadow Link lamented. "I didn't want things to come down to this, Lucca, but you were the cause of all this grief in my…my heart…"

"S-stay back!" Marle demanded as she aimed her crossbow at the shadow's head. "C-come any closer and I'll shoot you square on the head!"

The shadow ignored Marle's threat as his eyes were fixed on Lucca's fearful expression. "There's no need to be so scared, Lucca… It'll take less than a minute for you to get over all your problems in life. Just stay right there and I'll help you out, okay?"

"N-no!" Lucca shouted. "I don't want to die now! Y-you can't kill me this way!"

"Funny," Shadow Link said. "I saw that you were killed by being impaled right through your chest. It's so ironic that I'll end up doing the same thing with you."

"B-but yours and than other event you spoke of are totally the same!" Marle shouted.

Shadow Link stopped walking right in front of them. "No, there's a small, important difference between the two," he said, his sword radiating with electricity. "You'll be killed in the future because fate itself had it reserved for you for some random crap

I strongly discourage. But, oh well, what can you do with fate? It's nice and cruel sometimes, and it happened to be cruel with you, Lucca."

"I…I…" Lucca trailed off.

"Don't you worry anymore," Shadow Link said. "Once I help you out, fate won't get to you. You'll be saved, Lucca… I'll help you…"

Lucca gasped and clasped her hands. "N-no, don't help like this! I don't want to be helped by being killed by you!"

Marle stepped in front of Lucca. "Y-you heard her! Now scram and leave her alone!" she demanded, her crossbow shaking in fear.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Shadow Link said. "Sorry, you, but this doesn't concern you much as it does with me. Now," he raised his sword, "both of you, prepare to be helped."

Lucca started to scream, prompting Marle to do the same. The Shadow Nightmare's electric sword shone a bit brighter as he brought it down on them. Instead of making contact with the girls, another sword stopped it from its tracks. The shadow turned to his right where Meta Knight returned, his paralysis lifted off from his body. Marle and Lucca opened up their eyes and gasped at the knight's sword.

"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to kill somebody in such a disrespectful way," Meta Knight said.

"Be gone from my sight at once," Shadow Link said as he pushed Meta Knight's sword away.

Out of desperation, Marle took Lucca's hand and ran back towards the room's exit. The shadow noticed this and quickly took a hold of Lucca's free hand. The tinker yelled as she felt darkness trying to grab her hand, which seemed more like ripping it off from her.

"Lucca!" Marle struggled to pull Lucca with her.

"Sneaking away from me won't do you two any good," Shadow Link said. "In fact, it'll make matters worse to prolong Lucca's death of salvation." The shadow began pulling Lucca to him, his strength far greater than Marle's. Lucca screamed for her dear life as Marle was being dragged away with her. "Please, just let me help her for real…"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Lucca screamed loudly.

Meta Knight came in while using Drill Rush, scoring a hit on the shadow's body. The shadow grunted and let go of Lucca's hand, making her get pulled back to Marle where the two fell down to the moving sands. Quickly scrambling on their feet, the girls ran back to the rocky area as Meta Knight flapped his wings over the moving sands while facing Shadow Link.

"You've become a real pest now, you know that?" Shadow Link asked upset. "If you keep doing this, I'll ultimately choose to finish you off."

"So you admit that you don't want to have any business with me?" Meta Knight asked.

"It's clear to see I need to have business with you so I can move on to Lucca," Shadow Link said. "Maybe you need my help in something you've trouble with."

Meta Knight shook his head. "I don't need any help at the moment," he said.

"What about your stolen battleship?" Shadow Link asked.

"I will need help with it until I actually find it," Meta Knight said. "For now, I'm keeping Tabuu from achieving his selfish desires to conquer all the worlds with my battleship. I want to teach him not to steal my personal belongings without receiving punishment."

"Tsk, too bad you won't get to reclaim your ship back," Shadow Link said before pointing his sword at the knight. "Shall we continue this worthless fight, or shall we fight with our words?"

The shadow rushed towards Meta Knight. The knight, however, didn't move from his spot.

"It's going to be really stupid if you stay right there for me to slash you into smithereens," Shadow Link said with a tight grip on his dark sword.

"But it's going to be very benefiting if I do this at close range," Meta Knight said.

"What is that exactly?"

"This," Meta Knight said as he swung his right hand to his side, causing a rainbow aura to explode on him and push the shadow away. Shadow Link stumbled down on his back before regaining his composure, only to notice Meta Knight hitting him with his cape. "This will be quick, but lethal…" Meta Knight's voice echoed in the room as darkness covered everything.

…

"U-ugh!"

A fierce purple slash cut through the darkness, and Shadow Link was sent spiraling right towards the left side of the room where he crashed right into the fallen debris of the rock wall that Marle and Lucca noticed from their spot. The shadow accidentally made dust fly out from his crashing spot as he pushed himself off from the hole he made. He jumped down back on the floor and glared at Meta Knight.

The knight stared at the shadow. "You've been warned not to underestimate my actions," he said.

"D-don't you get so cocky now," Shadow Link said. "I just made a mistake with you there. That's all there is to it…" He turned towards the girls. "But, in any case, you've brought me closer to them, so I should be thankful."

"You won't do them any harm while I'm present," Meta Knight said.

"I think I told you to be GONE from my sight," Shadow Link said aggravated as he swiftly slashed the air, sending a cutting wave of darkness towards the knight. Meta Knight flew towards the shadow while evading the slicing wave.

Marle tried to calm Lucca down. "Lucca, what are you planning to do now?" she asked serious. "Are you planning to be so downcast and do nothing to stop that monster from killing us? We need to take action and defend ourselves!"

Lucca looked depressed. "I don't know, Marle... I-I'm so frightened..." she muttered with a small sob. "W-what else can I do to prevent someone from...from killing me?"

"You've got to strike back, that's simple!" Marle said as Shadow Link and Meta Knight clashed swords again. "Please, just...just strike back, Lucca! Don't get so discouraged anymore!"

The tinker closed her eyes. "(Why am I so scared of something I don't even know that's certain to happen to me? I-I have a nasty feeling that I'll be dead somehow...)" She opened her eyes and glanced towards the shadow and the knight fighting against each other. "(Do I have...what it takes to be cheerful again? Why do I have to go through this and nobody else? It's so depressing...)"

Shadow Link used another cutting wave of darkness to push Meta Knight back. The shadow turned towards their direction, making Marle yelp. "L-Lucca, make up your mind! H-he's coming here for us!"

Lucca made fists on her sides as she tried to come up with a conclusion to her dilemma. "I...I've got to defend myself...because if I don't...t-then...then I'll get killed unfairly!" she yelled as she stood back up. "I've got no reason to die for soon! If I don't take care of myself, I'll certainly on the task to save the world from Lavos! If I don't do something, I'll be an easy target for monsters to finish me off, and I don't want to happen at all!" She brandished her phase gun from her bag and looked serious at the shadow. "No monster, shadow, or person will put me down so easily anymore!"

Marle smiled happily while pimping up a fist. "You go, girl!" she encouraged.

"Oh, so you're now okay," Shadow Link said. "However, just because you're okay now doesn't mean your problems have been solved. You still need to die, either way."

Lucca aimed her phase gun at Shadow Link. "S-shut up! I never asked for your opinion! You won't make me feel bad of myself any longer!"

The shadow kept walking towards their way, his sword charging up with electricity. "It's sad to see you want to do things the hard way, Lucca... If I look at it from another point of view, I could say you're desperate for me to help yo-"

"Screw that!" Lucca interrupted before shooting a fast energy shot from her phase gun, which Shadow Link was able to block with his shield while advancing. "(That shield of his will be a real pain to deal with...)"

Meta Knight came back by using Drill Rush. The attack was blocked off by the shadow's shield before Shadow Link slashed Meta Knight away. The knight extended his wings and flapped them over the moving sands, staring at the shadow once more.

"You're like some sort of nasty cockroach that can't be killed with a stomp," Shadow Link said.

"I'd advice you not to talk in the middle of the fight while you're being attacked now," Meta Knight said.

Shadow Link was suddenly crushed under two icebergs that fell down on him. The shadow grunted in pain under the ice before it all vanished. Getting up and turning around, he found Marle clasping her hands together. "How dare you attack me from behind?" he asked.

Marle stuck out her tongue. "Serves you right for trying to kill Lucca while you're not supposed to!" she scolded.

The shadow was further attacked by Meta Knight, who approached him from behind and continuously slashed his back. The Shadow Nightmare grunted louder in pain as it tried to regain control to attack back. The knight drew back and harshly slashed the shadow's back, pushing him away.

"Ugh, you people are starting to gang up on me now?" Shadow Link asked. "Well, it's not like I can't handle all of you at once…" He raised his electrified sword to aim it down upon the floor. "Feel the wrath of my despair!"

"Flamethrower!" Lucca interrupted the shadow by shooting flames out of her phase gun. The shadow swordsman gasped at this and moved aside, evading the flames from burning him.

"Hey, this isn't right," Shadow Link said. "You're not supposed to interrupt my powerful attack like that if I haven't even showed it before…"

"And we're supposed to watch it?" Meta Knight asked as he approached Shadow Link. "I'd rather not, thank you."

The two clashed swords together while Marle and Lucca exchanged nods and clasped their hands together, their magic sparkles swirling together around them. "Ready, Lucca?" Marle asked.

"Antipode Bomb II!" Lucca responded.

Marle shot a small wave of ice towards the shadow while Lucca shot a small wave of fire. The two waves reached the shadow's feet, causing a tower of fire to erupt from below before it turned into a tower of water where bubbles floated up and blew up. The shadow yelled more in pain as the tower disappeared. He tumbled to the sides before regaining his composure.

"Are you starting to get weaker now?" Meta Knight asked. "It's such a pity that you couldn't showcase your wide arrange of abilities."

"I'm not weak physically…" Shadow Link trailed off. "It just happens that you people don't even let me finish to execute my attac-" He was interrupted by flames burning his body. The shadow yelled in pain before the flames disappeared. Panting heavily out of anger, he turned towards Lucca, her palm wide open to him. "Why must you interrupt me now, Lucca? Why can't you stay put for once so I can do my business?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't do any business with me at all!" Lucca yelled. "I'm so sick of you for having to kill me to solve my problems! I can deal with them myself just fine!"

Shadow Link grunted and blocked an incoming slash attack from Meta Knight. Without turning to Lucca, he said, "Are you sure you can deal with them yourself? You're not pulling my leg here, right?"

Lucca suddenly looked doubtful, much for Marle's dismay. "Well, I just need to try to solve them all…" she muttered.

The shadow swordsman pushed Meta Knight away. "Can you really do that?"

"…" Lucca closed her eyes. "Y-yes, I can do that just fine without your help!" she yelled.

Shadow Link did a quick turn and ran towards Lucca. "Then let me give you some conditional help by helping you out," he said.

Lucca took a step back from the shadow's sight. Marle stepped in front of her and shot several arrows to the shadow, all the arrows being blocked off by the shield. "This is exactly why I hate all enemies with shields!" Marle complained.

"If you hate to see them all then let me help you out as well like I'm doing with Lucca," Shadow Link said as his sword radiated with electricity.

Before Marle and Lucca could run and Meta Knight could reach out the shadow from behind, Shadow Link managed to send a potent slash wave of electricity to the girls. The two screamed as the slash crashed against them while causing a big explosion. Meta Knight stopped on his tracks to see a cloud of smoke covering the exit of the room. Soon, Marle and Lucca were pushed off from the smoke and away to the air to different directions. Marle ended up landing on the bottom right side of the room while Lucca landed on top of the fallen rocks that felled the skeleton monster.

"Marle!" Meta Knight yelled before he flew towards Marle's direction, leaving the shadow behind.

The tinker had many bruises all over her. She coughed weakly and slowly sat up. Fixing her glasses and opening her worn eyes, she said, "I-I'm not really cut out to receive attacks like that. Crono does…" she trailed off with a sigh.

Zelda and Link turned to see Lucca on top of the rocks. "Lucca!" Zelda called out. "Please, you need to help Link!"

"W-what?" Lucca asked before staring down at Link, who in turn looked away depressed.

"He hasn't been doing anything for the past minutes, and I'm getting very worried about him!" Zelda said. "If anyone can bring him to reason, that person should be you!"

The tinker stared confused at Link for a while before turning to Zelda. "I-I don't understand why I'm the only one who can help him out!" she said.

"Link is having a severe emotional breakdown after that Shadow Nightmare told you those words about your future. He's taking all the blame upon himself," Zelda explained. "I know you can help him here!"

"W-what do I do?" Lucca asked. "W-what can I do for him to come back to his senses?"

"Nothing, because you won't be able to help that shell of mine in time before you're helped by me," Shadow Link said as he came into view. "Now, Lucca, jump down and let me help you, please."

Upset at this, Lucca turned to Zelda. "Are all the people you fight like him? He's so annoying!" she complained. "He doesn't have any common sense in what he's saying by helping me! Killing good people is a big crime!"

"For the last time, don't take this wrong," Shadow Link said. "I'm not killing you, but rather helping you."

"Y-you're insane!" Zelda yelled. "Helping people by killing them is certainly not an example of helping them out!"

Shadow Link turned to Zelda. "I don't remember talking to you," he said. "You want to be the first one to perish before I get to help Lucca? Oh, wait, you're a princess. I shouldn't kill you…but help you with your feelings."

Zelda looked upset. "I don't need your twisted way to help someone like me! You've got no right to help me in any way because you're a total stranger to me!"

"Ouch, that hurts me…" Shadow Link lamented. "My fair princess just scolded me…"

"I don't remember being the princess of a monster like you!"

Shadow Link's sword shone with electricity. "And I don't remember having such a brat for a princess as well," he said, making Zelda look shocked. "Since I don't want to have a princess like you, you will be killed on the spot along with that empty shell of mine."

Lucca stood back up and aimed down at the shadow. "S-stop! Don't you do anything to them!" she demanded.

The shadow didn't pay attention as he slashed the air in front of him to launch a slashing wave of electricity towards Zelda and Link. The princess stepped in front of the swordsman and used Nayru's Love to reflect the attack. "(It's a projectile, so it'll be reflec-)" Zelda's thought were interrupted once she saw the slash of electricity pierce right through her crystal barrier. The princess looked shocked at this before a big explosion pushed her and Link away towards Marle's direction, Meta Knight checking up on her.

Lucca heard Zelda yelling loudly in pain before she abruptly stopped after hitting the moving sands with Link besides her. The tinker looked back at the shadow, who stared directly at her eyes. "U-um, stay away!" Lucca yelled.

"Now, you're all mine," Shadow Link said. "If you want to get over this, come to me."

Lucca responded to this by taking out a small grenade from her bag. She stared at it for a moment before glaring down at the shadow.

"If you throw that to me, I'll simply block it," Shadow Link said. "It's futile to hurt me at a time like this."

"Y-yiah!" Lucca yelled as she tossed the grenade into the rocks between her and the shadow. The rocks blew up, causing a cloud of dust to cover both of them. The shadow coughed as Lucca climbed down the rocks and ran back towards the others on the right side of the room.

Meta Knight helped Marle to stand back up while he went to check Link and Zelda. The princess opened her eyes and looked around to fell the sand dragging her and Link away with the others. "W-why…why did my shield…break?" she asked. "This has never happened before…"

"I could assume his attacks that are considered projectiles can pierce through barriers," Meta Knight said. "Besides the fact he can walk over any kind of floor, he can break through barriers like reflectors."

Zelda coughed and stood back up. "I-I'll be more careful with that shadow…" She looked at Link, unconscious on the moving sands. "Oh no, Link!"

"He got knocked out by that attack," Meta Knight said. "He was waiting for this for sure."

"O-of course he didn't!" Zelda said. "Link wasn't waiting for the shadow to knock him out of cold!"

"U-um, guys?" Marle began as she pointed towards the shadow's direction, "we've got company…"

They all turned towards the left side of the room where Shadow Link was approaching them, his sword charged up with electricity. "Now that I got every single one of you in a single spot, I guess can help you out at the same time," he said. "I just need you to stay put…and you'll be helped."

"Y'know, I hate when people with such an unstable mentality to save others are like him," Marle said. "They range from helping people by killing them to cunning bastards who are bent to conquer the universe with brute force. Don't you just HATE them all?"

"Marle, I suppose this is not the right time to talk right now," Meta Knight said.

The shadow raised his sword. "You will all be helped now," he said. "After this, I'll feel fulfilled, and I'll go back with the others to go back to the mansion. Nothing…nobody will interrupt me this time."

From the exit of the room, clanking sounds were heard. Everyone turned towards the general direction where Robo walked down the stairs and looked around. "I have repaired the Epoch successfully," he said. "I am waiting for new orders to follow… What has happened here?" he asked, examining the room with rocks covering big spots of sand. "There has been obviously some kind of fight in here."

"R-Robo, help us!" Lucca shouted. "T-that shadow guy over there, he's our enemy trying to kill us off!"

Robo's eyes flickered as he examined the shadow. "Subject composed of darkness. I cannot find more useful data in my database," he said. "Subject appears to have an uncanny resemblance to individual known as Link." He shook his head, his eyes stopping flickering. "You appear to have Link's figure, but you are not certainly him."

Shadow Link grunted and pointed his sword at Robo. "So what's your point?" he asked.

"As told by Lucca, it appears that you are our enemy," Robo said.

"I'm not your enemy," Shadow Link said. "I'm the real Link who couldn't come out from that empty shell you see over there."

Robo turned towards Link's direction. He stared and analyzed him for a moment before turning back to the shadow. "It is impossible for you to be the real Link since you were made out of antimatter of some sort I cannot compute," Robo said.

"Tsk, this is why I hate robots," Shadow Link said. "They can't even tell who's real by feelings and emotions. They just scan bodies and come to stupid conclusions."

"I ask you not to underestimate my kind," Robo said. "While we do not feel anything, we can comprehend human emotions. We just cannot feel like you do. Comprehension is all we need to use to come to our 'stupid' conclusions."

"Whatever you say, it's not the same," Shadow Link said, ignoring that the group grabbed Link and took him to the rocky platform where Ganondorf and Dedede appeared. "Robots are useless with emotions."

"I digress when it is I who we are talking about," Robo said. "I thank Lucca for giving me the humanity other robots could not obtain on their own. Because of that, I think I understand human emotion even more than before."

"You'd like to feel pain by my sword?" Shadow Link asked. "I can help people out with their problems by taking away their lives. That way, they won't be troubled by their problems anymore."

"You have a very twisted sense of helping people, if I may say," Robo said.

"In fact, it is not a way of helping people. It appears you do not possess common sense."

"Care to insult even more?" Shadow Link asked.

Robo drew his right foot back and raised his fists. "You are our enemy. Therefore, you shall be terminated right now," he said.

The shadow shook his head. "I don't have time for you," he said, turning towards the direction where the others were. "They snuck away behind my back?"

"Initiating attack!" Robo said loudly as his feet sprouted mini wheels, making him charge at high speed towards the shadow. The robot used a ramming shoulder attack that pushed the shadow against the rocky floor's wall. Robo drew back and saw the shadow grunting in pain. "Do not lower your guard down when you are facing me!" he said.

"S-stupid steel can…" Shadow Link muttered before pushing himself off the wall. His sword became encased in electricity as he glared daggers at Robo. "Fine, be this way. If you want me to terminate you instead, so be it."

"I shall do my best to avoid certain death," Robo said. "I shall also protect Lucca from harm."

"En garde!" Shadow Link yelled as he rushed towards Robo.

On top of the rocky floor, Link lied down on the center while Zelda, Meta Knight, Marle, and Lucca were sitting around him. The knight stood up, looking over to see Robo fighting Shadow Link by himself. "We must go aid Robo before he gets injured severely," he said.

Zelda stared at Link. "But we shouldn't draw his attention here with Link like this… What if his shadow tries to kill him while Link's like this?"

"Then let's just go down there and pummel the shadow without revealing Link's spot," Marle said. "I'm pretty sure everything will be fine as long as Link stays out of sight."

"That…should be the plan," Lucca muttered worried as she stared at Link. "Yes, we should really create some kind of diversion…"

The three stared at the tinker for a little while. "It's obvious to tell that of all of us you're especially troubled," Meta Knight said. "Are you troubled because of the shadow's words?"

Lucca sighed. "It's…hard to say a bit," she muttered. "Part of me is worried about that shadow's words, but another part of me is so doubtful about what's going on… This is so sad, me not being able to understand any of this…"

"…Lucca…" Zelda began, "are you sure you're not worried about Link's condition?"

The tinker stared back at Link. "…Somehow, I feel that it's my fault Link got into this…" she trailed off. "I don't know why, but looking at him makes me think things over again…"

Meta Knight looked back at the fight where Robo was slashed harshly across his chest. "There's no time to waste here," he said as he extended his wings. "We must aid Robo at once."

"W-wait!" Zelda said. "I-I'll stay here to take care of Link. Somebody needs to stay behind to keep him safe."

The knight nodded and looked at the other girls. "What about you?" he asked.

Marle picked up her crossbow and nodded. "I'll go and fight that shadow guy. He's really getting on my nerves now." She looked at Lucca. "How 'bout you, Lucca?"

Lucca looked hesitant for a moment. "I think I should stay behind as well… I still have some matters to think about…" She stared at the others. "Just give me time to sort out my thoughts again and I'll be ready to fight again."

"Then let us be off from here," Meta Knight said before he jumped down and flew towards Shadow Link and Robo.

The Guardia princess stared at Lucca. "You sure you'll be fine?" she asked.

"Y-yes, now go, Marle!" Lucca said.

"Sheesh, no need to tell me that!" Marle said chuckling before she ran down the stairs of the rocky floor, leaving Zelda and Lucca behind with the unconscious Link.

After she was gone, Zelda turned to Lucca. "So now, I hope I can get you to make Link feel better," she said.

Lucca sighed. "Why does it have to do with me?" she asked.

The princess pressed her brow. "Listen… I promised myself not to tell you this because it'd be bad for Link… But, seeing that the situation is demanding desperate measures…" she looked at Lucca, "do you promise me…not to get mad at Link after I tell you this?"

The tinker thought for a moment. She shifted her eyes towards the battle before she looked back at Zelda. "Well…I guess…"

"I hope you stay true to your decision because I'd rather promise to make this look more serious," Zelda said.

"Y-yes, okay," Lucca said. "If it helps me in some way, then…go on, please."

Zelda looked serious. "Lucca, Link has been trying to help you out, not killing you, in your problems," she said. "He's been trying so hard to be a friend with you so you could open up to him."

"What?" Lucca asked.

"It's true," Zelda said. "Link is the kind of people who like to make many friends by helping them out. You're no exception, Lucca."

"B-but then, why'd he get like this?" Lucca asked as she looked at Link.

"Link is a stubborn person when it comes down not to ignore people who need help," Zelda explained. "No matter how small the problem is, he'll try his hardest to help people, regardless of the size of the problem. These past moments with us joining your group made him get to you because you looked troubled to him."

Lucca looked away. "I…didn't look troubled…"

"I believe the opposite," Zelda said. "Link can't be fooled so easily, Lucca. He has an innate sense to see when people are troubled. You've got to admit you had a problem that he wanted to help you with."

The tinker looked worried at the princess. "..."

"So then, how will it be, Lucca?" Zelda asked. "Are you willing to say what your problem is?"

"..." Lucca scratched her arm. "My problem...can't really be resolved since that mistake is in the past."

Zelda looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I-I don't know if I'm willing to explain this to you," Lucca said concerned. "It...it was a tragic event that left me a scar in my mind. Thanks to...thanks to that event, I was able to turn out like this."

"However..."

"...However...every time I reminded myself about that event, I swore in my mind that I shouldn't have been so useless back then, even though I was a child."

"(Is this probably the place where Link wanted to get?)" Zelda thought. "(Did he want to hear Lucca telling him this?)"

"..." Lucca stared at Zelda before nodding to her. "I know Link wants to help me, but...he just can't because it's impossible to correct that mistake in the past anymore."

"Why?" Zelda asked. "Is there some kind of problem that couldn't be solved in your past?"

Lucca looked back at the fight. "That same problem is still haunting me to these days..." she trailed off.

Zelda was thinking that she was getting to the point Link sought to get. Lucca, however, remained silent as she stared back at the fight. The princess knew Lucca was trying to say more words while she was sorting out her thoughts to keep on talking.

Back to the fight, Shadow Link stopped Meta Knight's sword and Robo's fist by blocking both of them with his sword and shield respetively. "Why do you people have to be so damn annoying?" Shadow Link asked. "Must you meddle in my affairs so much so I can't finish them?"

"That's exactly the point!" Marle said from afar as she clasped her hands together and shot a wave of ice that went to Shadow Link's feet before it froze him into a cube of ice.

Shadow Link grunted in pain as the ice vanished. As he regained his composure, Robo slammed his arm right into him, causing the shadow to tumbled towards Meta Knight, who then charged a severe slash attack and attacked the shadow. The shadow grunted more in pain and backed away from the trio. "I don't want to perish before I get to Lucca..." He pointed his eletrified sword at the trio before holding it with both hands. "And you won't stop me from unleashing my ultimate attack!"

Marle gasped and shot an arrow that Shadow Link easily blocked with his shield. "N-no, don't do that!" she yelled.

"Danger is approaching," Robo said. "I suggest we should take quick action before we get harmed!"

"We must stay on the defensive!" Meta Knight yelled.

"You will not escape from this one!" Shadow Link yelled as he burrowed his sword into the sand. As soon as the soon burrowed half-way through, a big triangle-shaped field of electricity shot all around it, capturing his three enemies' feet.

"U-ugh, I can't move!" Marle said, her feet shooting sparks.

"Our feet have been paralyzed into place," Robo said. "I detect an enormous build up of energy about to erupt."

"What?" Meta Knight said.

Shadow Link held out his hand towards them. "This will be the end for you all," he said. "Come forth, Lightning Triforce, and execute them all!"

The triangle radiated electricity before dark bolts of lightning rose up from the floor, causing tremendous damage to the trio who yelled in pain. Shadow Link stood on an end of the triangle as he was holding out his hand towards them. Lucca and Zelda watched all this from their spots, completely shocked at the attack in front of them.

Lightning Triforce

Lightning makes the sacred Triforce symbol under foes in an area. Deals massive lightning damage to foes.

Soon, the bolts of lightning disappeared, and Marle, Robo, and Meta Knight were instantly knocked out of cold, lying across the sand. Soon, the moving sands dragged them away to different directions while Shadow Link retrieved his sword from the sand. "Pathetic," he muttered. "It's…so sad that we won't be able to spend the time together anymore…but let this be a reminder that you caused me to take this decision…"

Meta Knight received a touch from a holy light, which made wings flutter on his back before disappearing. The knight grunted in pain and stood back up, see Marle and Robo unconscious. "That attack was just too much…" he trailed off. "I thank the fact we can get back to our feet once more to keep on fighting."

Shadow Link noticed Meta Knight on his feet. "I knew you were a cockroach… Well, think of this as some kind of second chance to reconsider attacking me," he said. "Or…do you have problems you need to resolve?"

Meta Knight nodded. "My only problem now is you," he said. "Once you're gone from here, I won't have any problems."

"Sadly, I can't take the decision to suicide myself," Shadow Link said. "If I die, I won't be able to help people in need of my aid. Killing me would be like…like extinguishing the true helper of the people."

"No, you got it all wrong," Meta Knight said. "Killing you would be doing the universe a favor."

"That's so insulting to me," Shadow Link said as he pointed his sword at the knight. "Care to fight once more against me?"

Meta Knight looked at Marle's and Robo's unconscious bodies being dragged away by the sands. "(This isn't going to be so easy,)" he thought. "(I know I can keep fighting on for much longer, but I'm not so sure how long will that be… Somebody has to heal Marle and Robo so they can assist me.)"

Back with Zelda and Lucca…

"Oh my goddesses, this is bad…" Zelda muttered in shock. "Meta Knight won't be able to withstand the shadow by his own for much longer if he's attacked like that." She turned to Lucca, who was rummaging through her bag for something. "What are you doing?"

Lucca took out two light blue vials from her bag and turned towards Marle's direction. She looked serious and tossed a vial towards her body. Once it got over Marle's body, Lucca shot the vial so its contents would sprinkle all over the princess. Her body shone for a bit before she slowly opened her eyes. Lucca then turned towards Robo and did the same action with him, making his eyes turn on.

Lucca sighed in relief and turned to Zelda. "That should be enough," she said.

"Thank goodness…" Zelda sighed relieved. "You can heal them from a safe distance without drawing much attention."

"Um, there is some bad news, though…"

"…I just knew this was too good to be true," Zelda muttered in boredom before looking blankly at Lucca. "What is the problem?"

"Well, the Athenian Waters, the same vials you saw me use, were part of a little supply of items we got from the shop… I forgot to restock our inventory…again," she said dismayed.

"…And…you ran out of items?"

"…We only got one Athenian Water left," Lucca said dismayed. "And a few vials of Hi-Potions. Besides that, we have some more items that really won't help much…so yeah…"

"…" Zelda pressed her brow. "Now I know why it's important to have items ready for any situation. Link taught me that so I could have rations for emergencies… But honestly, does he think I go to journeys full of peril like he does?"

"…" Lucca looked away. "I need more time to think about what to do… I'll keep an eye on the battle to be safe."

Zelda shook her head depressed, her focus being the fight.

Back in the fight…

Shadow Link saw Marle and Robo walking back towards him, rejoining Meta Knight's side. "I thought I knocked you both out of cold a minute ago… Why are you back?"

Marle twitched in pain as she held her crossbow with both hands. "W-we don't need to tell you," she said. "W-we'll keep coming back until you eat dirt!"

"My energy…is a bit depleted," Robo said weakly. "But I shall use all the resources I have to keep fighting…for Lucca and the others…"

"At this point, hearing her name only causes me pain," Shadow Link lamented. "I need to get to her before this battle gets even longer…and you three won't stop me from doing so."

"You shall not harm Lucca!" Robo expressed. "She does not need to perish by your hands!"

Meta Knight stared at Robo. "(Up until now, he hasn't shown so much emotion. What he told the shadow before was very true…)" He turned towards the shadow. "I don't know how much longer we have to fight, but as long as everything goes well for us, you will be the one to fall."

"I'm getting sick of this already, so I'll take some action now," Shadow Link said before rushing towards the group with his sword catching up electricity.

The trio looked serious. "Marle, attack from afar while Robo and I attack at close range, now!" Meta Knight ordered.

"U-um, okay, you go on ahead!" Marle encouraged before running some feet away from Meta Knight and Robo.

Robo raised his fists. "Let us resume this!" he said.

"Yes, let's," Meta Knight said as the two ran forward towards Shadow Link.

"I will try to end your foolish acts against me today," Shadow Link said. "Prepare to be electrocuted."

Meta Knight clashed swords against Shadow Link. The shadow's sword radiated its electricity into Galaxia, causing electricity to run through Meta Knight's body. Becoming paralyzed again, the knight was pushed away by a slash attack. Robo managed to score a hit by getting closer to the shadow. "Initiate!" Robo yelled as he then began punching the shadow madly, dealing a moderate amount of damage.

Shadow Link backed away while grunting in pain. A wave of ice traveled over the sand before reaching his feet, encasing him within an ice cube. The ice cube shone brightly and disappeared, making the shadow grunt even more in pain. "Why do I need to deal with the likes of you in the middle of my mission? Perish at once!" he demanded, his sword radiating electricity once more.

"Its sword's electricity can paralyze upon contact. Shielding against it might be a bad mistake," Robo said. "Sir Meta Knight, please have that in mind!"

Meta Knight was unable to move as the sands dragged him away. "I'll have that in mind…after I can move again," he said.

Marle gasped and clasped her hands. "Don't you worry, Meta Knight, here I come!" she said. Before she could use magic, an arrow went straight to hit her on her arm. She yelped in pain and grabbed her right arm.

Shadow Link was holding a bomb that aimed straight to Marle. "Ah-ah, no magic is allowed here," he said.

"H-hey, that's not fair at all!" Marle complained.

"Robo Tackle!" Robo took advantage of Shadow Link's distraction to ram his body against the shadow. The Shadow Nightmare was pushed away to the sand where he rolled recklessly and stopped a few feet away from the robot.

Marle grunted and focused back on Meta Knight. "H-here I come this ti-" She was interrupted by another arrow hitting her other arm. "O-ouch!"

Shadow Link, despite lying down on the sands, was able to shot another arrow from his position. "I said…no magic, didn't you hear?" he asked.

"Oh, for the love of god!" Marle complained.

"Marle, please focus in healing Sir Meta Knight while I take care of the enemy!" Robo instructed as he rolled his feet towards the shadow. "I will prevent him from interrupting you."

"Thank you kindly!" Marle thanked as she focused back on Meta Knight, who at this time was reaching the left side of the room. Shiny sparkles rose up into the air around her before she held out her hands to the paralyzed knight. "Cure II!"

Meta Knight was met by sparkles of light hovering around his body. His body shone brightly in a shiny light, fully healing all his injuries. "Thank you…" Meta Knight said. "…But I'm still paralyzed," he said annoyed.

"Whoopsie…" Marle muttered before taking out a yellow vial from behind. She tossed it right over Meta Knight, breaking it into pieces with a shot of her crossbow. The vial's contents rained down all over the knight, making the sparks vanish. He extended his wings to the sides and flew back to the battle.

"You have my thanks now," Meta Knight said.

As Meta Knight flew back to aid Robo, Marle looked serious. "Robo should be healed next," she muttered before clasping her hands once more.

Suddenly, a dark item was thrown at her feet. Marle looked down to see a small sparks of fire jumping before realizing the foreign object was a bomb. While Marle yelled, the bomb exploded, causing a big explosion that sent her crashing her back against the wall.

"T-this guy has bombs as well?" Marle asked rhetorically as she looked back at the fight where the shadow was busy dodging his two foes' attacks. "Oh, come ON! He tossed that bomb at me while dodging their attacks? I just hate, no, GET FRUSTRATED when people multitask in battle against us!"

Shadow Link briefly looked at Marle. "You cure somebody else and I'll get you for real," he warned her before dodging a rocket punch from Robo.

Marle's lips made a wave-like motion before she screamed loudly out of stress. "No one's gonna threat me unless I say so, and that means NOBODY EVER threatens me!" she complained loudly.

Meta Knight used Mach Tornado to approach the shadow enemy, who in turn used his shield to defend himself. The sand below the tornado rose up around the knight, causing sand to spread everywhere, reaching the shadow's eyes. Shadow Link yelled as he became blind for a few moments, giving Robo the chance to use Rapid-fire Fist.

"U-ugh!" the shadow grunted in pain as his eyes watered with the sand. With a strong punch, Robo sent the shadow flying a few feet away to the right side of the room. Clumsily landing, the shadow grunted louder in anger as he tried to take off the sand from his eyes. "D-damn all this sand!" he cursed loudly.

"(The sand in this room might be used to our advantage as well,)" Meta Knight thought. "It's going to be a dirty trick to constantly use the same strategy over and over again, but we don't have any other choice."

The shadow rubbed his eyes and managed to see them clearly. "So you think you can throw sand at me? Well then, you're not the only one," he said as he brandished his Gale Boomerang, covered in a thick smoke of darkness. The boomerang shone brightly before the shadow tossed it towards Robo and Meta Knight. Instead of simple small tornado shielding the boomerang, a huge tornado enveloped the weapon.

The tornado easily reached Meta Knight and Robo, dragging them into it. A big amount of sand was taken into the tornado, which quickly became a sandstorm. Sand spread everywhere around the room, some of it reaching Marle's eyes. Lucca and Zelda covered their faces to shield themselves from the harsh sandstorm in front of them.

The sandstorm subsided, and Robo and Meta Knight crashed against the moving sands. The Gale Boomerang spun back towards Shadow Link's hand as he chuckled darkly at them. "Hmm, perhaps I should use the sand to my advantage against you all," he commented.

Meta Knight stood back up, covering his eyes with a hand. "Some sand got into my eyes…" he muttered.

"Despite…the fact I was unaffected by the sand getting into my eyes, I was…hurt all the same…" Robo informed.

Marle rubbed her eyes fast. "B-but a lot of it got into my eyes!" she complained as her eyes cried tears from so much rubbing. "Ugh, it just won't come off so easily!"

"With two people blind and one about to collapse, this fight will end sooner," Shadow Link said before rushing towards Meta Knight. "I'll finish you off first since you're the most problematic."

Meta Knight remained standing in his spot as he covered his eyes. Once the shadow reached the knight, Meta Knight pulled off a Shuttle Loop, severely slashing the shadow upwards. Staggered by this, the shadow was slashed on his face, causing him to back away in pain as Meta Knight landed back on the moving sands. "Don't underestimate me…" Meta Knight muttered.

"I just knew you were going to do something like that…" Shadow Link said. "Let me guess. You heard my footsteps and you attacked me."

"Exactly," Meta Knight said as he covered his eyes. "I use all my senses in case one of them is disabled. Don't think that I felt your presence because I don't have a supernatural power like that."

"Yeah, that'll be just too much for me," Shadow Link said as he took out a dark bomb from his back. "Be gone, though!"

Meta Knight heard the bomb's fuse coming closer. The knight extended his wings and flew back, dodging a big explosion that took some sand off the floor. The sand caused a cloud of smoke, and from out it, Robo rushed from the other side to attack the shadow. The Shadow Nightmare blocked the robot's fist with his shield and struggled to push him aside. "I…won't let you…harm Lucca…ever…" Robo struggled to speak.

"Give it up, Robo," Shadow Link said. "You're about to collapse with another hit. Do you honestly want to keep fighting me?"

"I will fight…for Lucca's sake…" Robo said. "I will…protect her…from you!"

The shadow easily pushed Robo forward and tossed him a dark bomb, causing a dark explosion to send the robot flying to the left. The robot crashed hard against the wall and sat down forcibly. His eyes flickered for a moment before they turned off, signaling his defeat.

"I-I can't see!" Marle complained, still rubbing her watery eyes. "W-what just happened?"

"Robo was taken down," Meta Knight said, his eyes recovering from the sand. "It's only the two of us now."

"Aw, shucks!" Marle groaned.

Shadow Link pointed his sword at the knight. "You'll be the next one to fall down. Hope your eyes got a nice beating from the sand," he said.

"Mocking me won't get you anywhere," Meta Knight muttered darkly before he flew towards the shadow, clashing swords against each other to continue the fight.

From the rocky floor, Lucca looked terrified at Robo's defeat. She wanted to let out a cry, but she restrained herself from doing so. Instead, she just looked down grimly and depressed. "…" She looked serious and turned to Zelda. "I'm…I'm willing to explain myself…"

Music stops

Zelda stared at Lucca. "You…you're willing to explain what happened to you a long time ago?" she asked.

Lucca looked down. "I still have my doubts whether or not to do this…but…" she looked at Link, "…it was his and my fault that we got into this mess…"

"Why is Link guilty of this?" Zelda asked. "…For that matter, why you're guilty?"

"Me, because I didn't open up properly to him, and him, because he made me feel unsure of what to do with this," Lucca said. "If Link didn't meddle himself into this…things would've been a lot different for us, that's for sure…"

"Link…" Zelda muttered sadly, staring at the unconscious Hylians.

"…I should make this quick before that shadow gets over here," Lucca said.

Chrono Trigger – Depths of the Night

"I would like to say this at a later time, but the situation is demanding me to hurry up," Lucca said. "So then…I'll tell you everything about my first impression when you, Link, and the others came into this world."

Zelda thought for a moment. "I think I remember you shouting out loud that you weren't useless… Somehow, I believe Link started bonding with you after you shouted angrily," she said.

Lucca chuckled. "Ironically, that was just an unconditional clue that I didn't want him to study so he could decipher my reason for shouting," she said. "But…that shout wasn't just random at all. I denied it being relevant, but it the whole opposite…" Lucca stared at Zelda with a sad look. "There was a time where I felt that there was nothing to think about too much for me. It was when I was a 9-year-old girl."

"What happened when you were a little girl?" Zelda asked.

Lucca sobbed a bit at the thought, but she managed to speak. "There was a horrible accident that made me change completely… That accident relates to my mom."

"Your mom… I never truly saw her at all," Zelda said. "Is she in your time period?"

"Oh yes, she's sitting in her room all day," Lucca said. "But…that's the only place where she'll stay for the rest of her life…"

Zelda looked concerned at this. "Why would your mom stay there forever?"

"…She doesn't have any legs… She became crippled," Lucca said, making Zelda look horrified at the fact. "Her legs were lost in that same accident when I was younger…and I saw it with my own eyes."

Zelda remained staring still at Lucca. "B-but…what kind of accident would claim your mother's legs?" she asked. "Did a boulder fell on her?"

"If it was boulder, she'd have at least survived," Lucca said. "It was much worse than that… That accident took place in the living room of my house. You know, the same room with all the stuff taking all over the place…"

Zelda recalled the room. "Oh, that room… But how could it make your mom crippled?"

Lucca sobbed a bit more. "When I was a child, my dad was still an expert engineer in science. At first, I didn't mind him at all, but my mom was always upset whenever she saw the room so messy. She'd often try to clean it daily, but it would fill with more trash my dad left behind. But…there was a horrible accident in there while she was cleaning."

"I'm doubtful, but what happened there?"

"Well, it was nighttime, and my mom and I were in the living room. I was helping her clean the room with some small machine parts…" She stared at Zelda. "Do you remember the conveyor belt where your skirt got stuck?"

"Hmm… Oh yes, that conveyor belt. I remember it very well," Zelda said.

"That same conveyor belt was the same one that claimed my mother's legs," Lucca said depressed. "You're REALLY lucky that you weren't its next victim, you know! I was so shocked to see you getting stuck in that thing!"

Zelda shrugged at the thought. "I-I see…"

Lucca looked depressed. "But, anyway… Ten years ago, my mom and I were cleaning the room, and she happened to stumble upon the conveyor belt. When her dress was stuck in it, the machine…it suddenly turned on, and my mom was being dragged into the other side of the conveyor belt. Since the other end had a wall and the conveyor belt was so strong to be stopped easily, she tried her best to take off her dress, but she couldn't do it."

"And…"

"And…I was there, watching scared as she pleaded me to help her," Lucca muttered. "Every second she got closer to the other end, she cried louder and louder. She tried taking her dress off, but it was impossible because she couldn't move away. I was there…frozen into place as she cried and cried for help. I-it…it was so mentally scarring…" Lucca embraced herself. "I…I wanted to help her, b-but…but I didn't know how to stop the machine. She told me to stop it, but I didn't know how… I lost my patience, cried loudly, and turned my back as I heard how some bones were breaking apart, along with my mom's voice crying so loudly that it recorded itself into my mind…"

"Oh my…" Zelda muttered, seeing Lucca sobbing a bit louder.

"If my dad didn't come rushing in from outside from hearing my mom's cries…who'd know what else could've happened to my mom…" Lucca muttered. "I noticed I had fainted because I was so…but so scared… When I came to my senses, I saw my dad embracing my mom over the conveyor belt, which had stopped. The two of them were crying for some reason, b-but…my eyes froze when I saw blood spreading all over my mom's legs. Thanks to her dress, I didn't see how they looked. My dad ran back into the village to plead the doctor to check on her, and…that's when I found out she lost her legs…b-because I couldn't do anything to save her… I didn't get scolded for what happened, b-but even so…I blamed myself for what happened because I couldn't do a thing…"

The princess noticed how Lucca's eyes became watery. "L-Lucca, it wasn't your fault that your mother lost her legs," Zelda said.

"It was my fault…it was…" Lucca sobbed. "I-I felt so useless like never before when she cried for my help. I-I didn't know how to operate a stupid machine back then!" she cried. "And thanks to that, my mom became crippled forever! It took me so many days to get used to see my mom sitting in her room, and just seeing the empty space between her dress and the floor scared the hell out of me in a very nasty way!"

Zelda gasped after seeing Lucca breaking into tears. The princess went over to her, sat down, and hugged her while patting her back.

"It was my fault, Zelda!" Lucca cried. "For being useless with machines, my mom lost her ability to walk, and I'm always terrorized just when I think I can't help somebody else! W-whenever I think I can't help anyone else, I get so upset with myself! What's wrong with me, Zelda, WHAT?" she cried louder.

Zelda smiled sadly and rubbed Lucca's back. "Now, now, Lucca… Cry…keep crying so you can vent off your stress…" she muttered.

Lucca's cried slowly died and turned into silent sobs. Eventually, she managed to pull herself together, looking down sadly at the floor as Zelda gently released her from her embrace. "T-thank you…" Lucca muttered, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes. "I…I needed to do that so badly…"

Zelda nodded. "Don't worry, Lucca," she said. "I know how to handle this kind of situations, but…I'd like to hear more from you, that is, if you want to…"

The tinker shook her head. "I…I still need to continue…" Lucca muttered. "…After that incident…I came to a resolution… I bowed to become an expert in science so I could prevent accidents like my mom's from happening again… And to these days, I feel fulfilled, but at the cost of an accident… I still blame myself for what happened, though…"

"I understand…" Zelda trailed off. "You feel very guilty that you couldn't save your mom back then, even though you're happy after becoming what you are now…right?"

"Yes…" Lucca trailed off. "And…as a side note, after I began traveling through time with Crono and the others, I started thinking that there was some kind of hope for me to go back in time to save my mom…but I haven't gotten so much luck," she said sadly. "We can only visit some time periods, but we can't visit specific ones at all. They're blocked out for some reason… I guess that reason would be that we shouldn't have so much freedom in changing every single error we made before…"

"I'm sorry for hearing such a tale from you…" Zelda trailed off. "You must've gone through a lot…"

"Yeah, I know…" Lucca muttered. "But…but this same problem made Link get into this," she said. "That mistake in the past isn't going to be fixed at all, and Link thought he could fix it…"

"…No, he didn't want to fix that problem," Zelda said.

"Huh? He didn't?" Lucca said confused.

"He wanted to be your friend," Zelda said. "Actually, he wanted to fix it, but he didn't know that he was cheering you up without noticing…that's what I'd like to think, though." She stared at Lucca. "I honestly don't know…"

"…So he was destined to fail," Lucca said with a sigh. "I knew he was pursuing some way to help me out, but the poor guy didn't know it was all in vain…"

Zelda tilted her head. "You two share something in common, though."

Lucca looked surprised. "W-what'd that be?"

"When his shadow said he hated to feel useless and when you told me you didn't like to be useless, you and Link hate to feel useless," Zelda pointed out. "I think you two have that in common."

"…Heheheh," Lucca chuckled. "Yeah, you're right, I guess…"

Zelda looked back at Link. "But even so…I wonder how we'll get out of this whole problem with the shadow while he's like this…"

Lucca looked worried at Link. "Link…I-I'm…I'm so sorry that you went through all this just to help me out… You and I share something in common…a-and…and I'm…I'm grateful that you wanted to spend the time with me during my hard times…" She sobbed a little. "I-If didn't like a prick to you when we met…I…I wouldn't have tried to distance myself from you… S-so please, forgive me, Link!"

The unconscious swordsman slowly opened his eyes and turned to Lucca. "T-there's no need to worry…Lucca…" Link muttered.

Zelda and Link gasped at Link's awakening. "L-Link, you're conscious!" Zelda said surprised.

Lucca shook her head. "L-Link…did you hear everything we were talking about just now?" she asked worried.

"I couldn't…do anything else more than listening," Link muttered. "It's…it's so sad I found out what was bothering you in this state…"

The tinker forced a smile while tears strolled down her cheeks. "It's okay… After all, I didn't want to repeat this tale for you because…well, I get frightened to think about that event…"

Link chuckled heartily and smiled. "The last thing…I don't want to do…is making you sad, Lucca," he said. "I wouldn't forgive myself…for making you sad."

Lucca looked a bit upset, despite she was still crying a bit. "S-seriously, you're so stubborn, Link!" she complained. "J-just at yourself! You risk your life for everyone else without thinking about the consequences!"

"I-is that a bad thing?" Link asked.

"…Don't make me feel like this for you, idiot," Lucca muttered with a sob. "T-the last thing I want to see is a friend dying in front of my eyes…"

"I-I won't die, I promise," Link said. "But…Lucca…after listening to your tale…I think I understand some stuff now."

"What?"

"I…I was stupid for thinking I could help you with something that was virtually impossible…and I'm sorry for trying to intrude so much in your business…" Link sighed sadly. "I guess…not all problems can be solved…"

Zelda stifled a sob. "Link, why do you have to misuse your courage like that? Y-you'll mock the Triforce of Courage for being stubborn! Have you no shame at all for doing that?" she scolded.

"Sorry…" Link trailed off. "You're right, Zelda… I was misusing my courage with Lucca so I could form a bond with her…"

Lucca took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her arm before putting her glasses back on. "T-thanks to your stubbornness, you are your friend… Idiot!" she suddenly scolded. "D-don't make me bond with you like this because I'll be worrying a lot more about you from now on, Link!"

Link slowly sat up and put his hand on Lucca's shoulder. "I don't want to worry you, Lucca," he said. "I'll be careful with my actions from now."

The Hyrule princess shook her head. "I'm starting to wonder if the Triforce of Courage should be called the Triforce of Stubborn now…"

Link turned to Zelda and chuckled. "Come on, Zelda, don't think like that… Listen," he began anew, "I'm also sorry for worrying you as well…"

Zelda blushed and looked away. "D-don't tell me you also heard my words as well," she said.

"I came back to my senses a few minutes ago, so I don't know…" Link said unsure. "But…it was kind of obvious that you were worried about me all this time."

"Y-you noticed?" Zelda asked shocked.

"Kind of…when I wasn't focusing on Lucca that much," Link admitted. "I think I listened to Marle saying that kind of stuff to herself because, well…she's a bit too loud when talking in secret…"

"(Marle,)" Zelda thought darkly, putting a lot of emphasis on that name. Outside her mind, Zelda chuckled heartily "O-oh, I see…" she said before smiling a bit at Link. "T-then…I'm glad you noticed you were aware that I was worried about you."

"You think it's hard for me to notice that?" Link asked. "Zelda, we've been forced to live inside a mansion for a long time now. It's almost practically impossible to meet you at the castle because you're always so busy attending meetings with other nations."

"W-well, that is true," Zelda said embarrassed before crossing her arms. "When have you seen a princess worrying for a person like you?"

Link sighed. "Honestly, you've been bringing this princess-doing-something-out-of-place stuff lately… What's wrong with you?"

"I-I'm guessing I want to go home for a while…" Zelda muttered. "I miss the castle and everyone else back at Hyrule… Well, Snake asked to take some time off by himself, so I'll ask to leave the team for a while as well."

"Um, you guys," Lucca said worried, "I hate to interrupt your plans for the future, but…"

Link turned to Lucca. "Oh, sorry, we got carried away," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"So then, Link… There was something else I wanted to ask you," Lucca said, gulping mentally at the thought. "That shadow of yours… He told me that I was going to be killed in the future…and he claimed it was true…"

The swordsman looked away, cursing mentally to himself.

"…Was…was that true?" Lucca asked. "Am I supposed to…to be killed in the future?"

"…I…I don't want to make you sad, but…but…" Link smacked his forehead. "Dammit, I can't bring myself to believe something like that!"

Lucca hung her head down. "…So…it's true?" she asked

Link gasped and looked back at Lucca. "P-please, don't hate me for this, b-but I was unnecessarily curious about your future that Gaspar showed me what was going to happen in a future without Lavos! I'm sorry for doing that!"

"…" Lucca frowned. "Link…"

"Y-yes?"

"…This isn't the time to talk about that now," Lucca muttered, a single tear strolling down her right cheek. "The others are fighting the shadow down there while we're all talking about this stuff… Personally, I'd like to go down there and help them out…" She stared serious at Link. "Can we go down there and help them?"

Link knew Lucca was trying to avoid the subject about her death in the future. The swordsman had no other choice but to agree with Lucca's suggestion, as Link tried to avoid making her fret. "I need to rest for a little while longer… I remember my shadow attacking all of us with that crazy slash wave attack…"

Zelda frowned at this and looked at Lucca. "I'll stay behind to protect him. You go down there and wait for Link to recover his energies," she said.

Lucca stood back up. "Okay…then I'll head down by myself," she said. "And…we'll continue talking about this after we get rid of the shadow…if we can do that, of course."

"Yeah, I like your optimism, girl," Marle said. "You head down there while I'm lying down here to rest as well."

Lucca nodded at Marle. "I'll leave now," she said before running towards the rocky stair to the moving sands…

Music stops

Lucca came back to see Marle hanging on to the edge of the rocky floor while Link and Zelda looked dumbfounded at the vivacious princess. "Marle, what are doing hanging on to that edge? Weren't you fighting the shadow with Robo and Meta Knight?" she asked.

Marle looked upset at them. "Well, while you three were having a talk, stuff happened down there…" she trailed off. "In a nutshell, shadow guy fended Meta Knight off, tossed a few dark bombs at me, and I ended up hanging on to this floor," she said.

The other three exchanged looks.

"Sheesh, my life sucks, don't you think?" Marle asked. "You don't get to experience this if you're sheltered in your castle all the time. But, MAN, this sucks as well."

"…" Lucca looked around the room, spotting Meta Knight lying down unconscious close to the exit with Robo leaning his back against the wall several feet away to the left. The shadow, however, was nowhere to be found. "Marle, where did the shadow guy go?"

Zelda gasped. "H-he just didn't walk away through the exit, did he?" she asked.

"Walk away? You wish!" Marle complained. "Ever heard of something else coming from that guy that doesn't have to do with helping us out by killing us? Dark guy here is devoting his time to kill us off and you think he'll walk away and leave his precious Lucca alive without 'helping' her out?"

Lucca smacked her helmet. "Marle, don't complain now and tell us where the shadow went!" she asked.

"Well, he's right behind you," Marle said. "He's climbing the stairs right as we speak."

The trio gasped and turned around to see Shadow Link climbing the stairs. The shadow stopped right in front of them. "Don't think I didn't see you hiding here. I just wanted to deal with the other interruptions before having to deal with you." He looked at Link, who was forcing a glare at him. "Oh, you're awake now."

Link grunted. "Y-you won't get away with killing us, you heard me?" he asked rhetorically.

"You people are always saying I'll kill you while I'm actu-"

Marle groaned loudly. "We KNOW that already! No need to keep repeating that over and over again!"

"Tsk, fine," Shadow Link said. "I've been wasting my time dragging this whole thing for a long while now. Now that I have all four in the same place, it'll be time for you to go."

"W-wait a minute right there!" Lucca demanded as she took out her phase gun. "I still got some business to take care with you!"

"I don't understand why you've got to be so…angry at me," Shadow Link said. "You keep trying to turn down my aid, and that…angers me a lot, Lucca. Why are you such an idiot?"

"For the last time, you're not my friend!" Lucca complained. "Link is the only friend here, but you're just some kind of evil embodiment who's trying to claim he's the real Link!"

"Lucca…" Link muttered.

"Just you wait until I burn you down!" Lucca threatened.

"I'm afraid you alone won't do much against me," Shadow Link said. "But...this isn't how things should be."

"Oh, I agree with you about that, except my plans have you dead instead of alive," Lucca said. "Enough talk, though! Let's get this over with already!" She shot several shots, all blocked off by Shadow Link's shield. The tinker gasped at this as the shadow began moving forward towards her.

"No!" Zelda yelled as she stood up and ran to the shadow, only for his sword to point directly at Zelda's throat. The princess drew back from this and gasped for breath. She was about to use Din's Fire but the sword shot a blast of electricity right on her body, making her yell in pain and fall besides Link.

"Zelda!" Link yelled as he struggled to stand back up, only able to fall down on his right knee. "D-dammit, I still need time to rest…"

"B-back off, you spawn of the devil!" Lucca yelled as she continued shooting the shadow without avail. "(At this rate, something nasty will happen if he gets to me! Should I jump away and leave the others with him? N-no, they're all exhausted and I'm the only one who ca-)" Her train of thoughts stopped abruptly as the shadow's sword became encased with intense electricity. "U-uh-oh…"

"Keep shooting," Shadow Link said. "I'll endure the shots while I slash all of you away. Hopefully, you'll be helped out for real this time."

Lucca closed her eyes and screamed for dear life. "(N-no, it can't end like this! W-we're all going to die if that guy hits us hard again! Please, somebody, help us!)"

It was futile, she thought, since it was impossible to request help from the others back at the End of Time. The limit couldn't be broken as bringing more people would cause several damages to the history. She could only hope for some kind of miracle to happen.

"This will end soon, so don't worry," Shadow Link said as the others tried to stand back up and attack. "Best wishes for you all in the afterlife!"

Everyone closed their eyes, awaiting the attack to hit them all

…

"…No…not like this… I won't allow the only people who can bring a better future to die like this!"

Between the shadow and the group, a Gate opened up. Everyone gasped to see the Gate appearing. Oddly, the Gate was fully opened, and instead of being blue, it was a shade of purple.

"W-what the…" Link trailed off.

"A-a Gate!" Marle yelped.

"A-another Gate appeared here?" Zelda asked confused.

"B-but what's up with its color?" Lucca asked astonished. "I-it's different than all the other Gates!"

"Why is this thing here?" Shadow Link asked aggravated. "How many times do I have to be interrupted before I can help people?"

"I…I won't allow this to happen now... I…I need to help you before it's too late for me to fall into Lavos' madness! Hurry, before I lose whatever's left of my precious mentality for everyone's sake!"

Everyone heard an unfamiliar voice echoing from within the Gate. Zelda, Link, and Shadow Link were confused at the voice, but Marle and Lucca didn't think the same as they did.

"T-that voice… I remember that voice somewhere!" Marle said.

"Y-you don't mean…" Lucca trailed off. "I-is it possible that…she did it?"

From the Gate, three figures rushed out from it before it closed down. The Shadow Nightmare looked angry to see more people coming from the Gate. "What is the meaning of this foolish event?" he asked. "Why are you three here?"

Lucca covered her mouth. "C-Crono!"

The three figures turned out to be Crono, Espio, and Chris, who turned around to look at them. All three of them were confused as to what had happened just now. Chris gasped and turned towards Shadow Link. "O-oh my god, a Shadow Nightmare!" he said.

Zelda shook her head. "But how did…how did you all come here if you're not supposed to?" she asked.

"I…I don't know," Espio said. "We were wondering why you didn't come back when all of a sudden that Gate appeared right inside the End of Time and a voice told us to rush in. Crono looked serious for some reason, and Chris and I followed him because we were worried and because we were closer to the Gate than the others were…"

Marle looked shocked. "W-wait, so then Crono knew the voice like we did?" she asked.

"You know whose voice that was?" Link asked Lucca.

"U-um, everyone…" Chris pointed at the shadow, who looked frustrated at the newcomers, "I-I think this is a bad time to talk…"

"I agree with him," Shadow Link said. "If you ALL could stop talking for once, I wouldn't have to help you behind your backs…"

"...What does he mean with that?" Espio asked. "And why does he look like Link except darker?"

"Dude here wants to help us get rid of all our problems by KILLING us so that way our problems stop bothering us in the afterlife," Marle explained. "And that guy looks like that Link 'cause some monster leaped on him and took his shape."

"…Killing us is really going to help us get rid of our problems?" Chris said confused. "Oh my god, it's one of those shadows with their crazy ideals relating very nasty ways to kill us off…"

"It's NOT like that," Shadow Link said. "Now, you three shall be helped as well."

Raising her voice like never before, Marle shouted, "CRONO, HELP US!"

Chrono Cross – Edge of Death

Crono looked serious as he took out his katana and rushed towards the shadow. The Shadow Nightmare grunted at this before clashing his sword against the katana. Soon, the sword became encased within electricity, and Crono was engulfed in sparks. Everyone gasped as Crono backed away, his body becoming paralyzed.

"Looks like your backup turned out to be defective," Shadow Link said, eyeing Espio and Chris. "I'd like you to be the next ones to fall down now."

Espio looked serious. "At last, there's some kind of worthy opponent I can fight that is not a lunatic," he said.

"I-I'd rather not fight, so I'll stay behind to support!" Chris said.

"You two won't stop now," Shadow Link said. "It's a matter of time before this is over. Now, let's resume this fight!" he yelled as he rushed towards Espio.

Chris changed to his Black Mage job and stood behind while Espio dashed forward to the shadow. The World Traveler looked back at the others. "I should better heal everyone first…" He changed to his Scholar job and opened his book. "Heal the wounds… Cure!"

Green sparkles rained down on everyone, slightly healing their injuries. Marle tried to climb back up, but she lost her balance and fell down on the moving sands. Lucca sweat dropped at this while Marle yelled, "I'm okay! I suppose… Oww…"

Link was able to stand back up on his feet while the others saw Espio brandishing a kunai to toss it swiftly at Shadow Link, who blocked it off with his shield. Espio jumped over the shadow and performed a hand sign, invoking a whirlwind that trapped him and the shadow. Shadow Link grunted in pain as the whirlwind slashed him several times before pushing him down the stairs, landing hard over a dark floor to avoid the sand. "P-persistent fool…" Shadow Link muttered, seeing that Espio had disappeared. "Where did he go?"

"Your eyes are blind to what they can't see," Espio spoke from behind the shadow.

Shadow Link gasped and turned around, seeing no one there. "W-what?"

"Can you resist this?" Espio spoke from somewhere.

The shadow looked confused as a big shuriken appeared unexpectedly from nowhere, aiming directly at his throat. The shadow gasped at this and ducked down to avoid the big shuriken burrowing deep into the rock wall. Shadow Link looked briefly at the sword before Espio turned visible in front of him and slashed his face with a kunai. "U-ugh, you stupid idiot!" Shadow Link complained as Espio grabbed him by his left arm and slammed him down behind him. The shadow blocked off a flying kunai in time as he rolled away, facing Espio as he stood back up.

The others over the rocky floor look surprised at the chameleon. "Goodness, he knows how to fight…" Zelda muttered. "I thought he couldn't fight so well because of his friends look rather…"

Espio overheard the princess and grunted. "I'm used for people to judge me just because I hang out with those two…" He stared at the shadow with a fierce glare. "But underestimating me is just one big error my enemies commit."

"Y-you're good, I admit that…" Shadow Link said. "You took me by surprise, but I won't allow you to do that anymore."

While this kept going, Chris snapped out of his surprised state and chanted a healing spell once more. "Heal the wounds… Cure!"

More green sparkles rained down on everyone, allowing Link to feel good enough to fight. "That should do it… Thanks," he said.

Chris chuckled. "You are welcome," he said.

Zelda looked relieved. "We must aid Espio in fighting your shadow, Link," she said. "Are you sure you can hold your ground this time?"

"I guess…" Link said.

"…Um…that is strange…" Chris trailed off. "Why is Link conscious while the shadow is still attacking? Ever since the fight with Shadow Lucas, nobody has been able to face his or her shadow in a direct fight. If so, then how come Shadow Link's power has not diminished yet?"

"Shadow Nightmares' powers diminish?" Zelda asked.

"Well, I do not remember much, but if their host admits their lies truthfully, their shadows should become a whole lot weaker to the point they become easy to defeat…" Chris adjusted his glasses at Link. "Have you admitted your lies yet?"

Link looked down. "I…I have, I think…" he trailed off concerned.

"I am just telling you that just saying the lie does not help at all," Chris said. "According to what I remember, you TRULY need to believe the truth. If you do not believe truthfully in your truth, the shadow's power will not decrease dramatically… This is a bothersome thing, but you do need to believe truly in your lies."

Zelda shook her head. "Link, you can't accept the truth, then? What is the lie you can't discard?"

Link turned towards Lucca, who looked concerned at him.

"…Oh my god, not that truth…" Chris muttered to himself.

"…I…still can't believe it…sorry," Link muttered. "It's so hard for me to…well…you know…"

Chris turned to Crono, who looked confused at the whole thing about the Shadow Nightmare. "O-oh, um, Crono, I know you are confused at this, but would you mind if you…um…could wait for Link to come to a resolution first? I honestly do not think you should hear this about Lucca at all…"

Crono blinked confused as his sparks vanished, allowing him to stand back up. He nodded with a blank look as he tried to understand the situation by himself.

"(Is it so much to ask him to utter a single word of agreement?)" Chris thought annoyed.

Lucca stepped forward. "E-everyone, I know this is getting out of control, but we have to fight the shadow now before it attacks us. Espio won't hold on for much longer if he's all alone," she said.

Marle crawled back up from the sand floor and pumped up a fist. "Y-yeah, let's do that!" she encouraged before she fell back down. "I-I'm okay still, you guys!"

"…Right," Link said. "If I can't believe in that truth yet…I still need to defeat my shadow. Maybe then I can realize it…"

Lucca closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, forcing a smile. "Then let's do this, everyone," she said. "That shadow should fall down sooner if we cooperate together."

At that moment, Espio was pushed right behind Crono's feet. The ninja looked all battered up over his body, making everyone gasp as they looked back down at the Shadow Nightmare standing in front of the stairs. "He took me by surprise…by using a spinning slash attack," Espio said, standing back up. "That attack was too strong…"

Shadow Link grunted at the six people over the rocky floor. "Now I have to deal with all of you at once… I never thought it would come down to this, but whatever," he said, his sword charging up with electricity. "Too bad you were too late for this!"

Everyone gasped as Shadow Link sent a powerful slash wave attack towards the group. Most of them screamed before jumping down the floor to avoid the slash wave, which ended up hitting the ceiling. A small cave-in fell down on an empty area while everyone scrambled around the room, falling down hard on the moving sands.

"I-is everyone alright?" Zelda asked from the left side, Chris standing back up besides her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Lucca said from the other side with Crono, who looked serious and ran back towards the shadow.

"I-I'm not!" Marle complained from the upper side of the room where Link fell down on her. The swordsman gasped at this and got off from her back. "Link used me as a landing spot!"

The Shadow Nightmare grunted disdained as he saw Crono charging towards him. Taking out his bow, the shadow shot an arrow to the swordsman, who sliced it in half with his katana. Shadow Link saw Crono holding up his hands as yellow sparkles shot out from his hands. Suddenly, lightning bolts spread all over Crono, greatly delivering electricity to the shadow. The shadow yelled in pain as the bolts of lightning electrocuted his body greatly.

Crono pulled back down his hands and grinned confidently at the shadow. Shadow Link stumbled to the sides, shaking his head. "Lightning…is bad…" he muttered. "Even though I use lightning to attack, all shadows are weak against light attacks, and it seems lightning here is the opposite of darkness… That's one fatal disadvantage we have."

Chris came into view while holding an Assist Trophy. The item glowed brightly unlike its normal state. "Item Lore will boost the chances of having another different person help us out," he said before holding out the trophy. "Come forth!"

For his dismay, the only character he got out from the Assist Trophy was Starfy, who came into the battle with a happy jingle.

The scholar looked down at the happy starfish. Chris blushed a bit. "O-oh, I guess I did it wrong…" he muttered. "Um, can you speak?"

Starfy understood the question and shook his head, his happy look intact.

"Okay, this is going to be hard, but I do not think you should help us fight that shadow person over there…"

Starfy blinked and turned around to see Shadow Link avoiding several lightning bolts that Crono called down on him. The starfish turned to Chris and nodded.

"D-do you mean to say you want to fight, even though you will get hurt?"

"Yah!" Starfy exclaimed.

"…But…"

Starfy suddenly looked sad.

"I-I was just worrying about you!" Chris said hastily. "I-it is okay if you want to help us!"

"Yah-tah!" Starfy exclaimed happily before putting up a serious look. He raised his fingerless hands and turned towards Shadow Link. The courageous starfish grunted and started spinning while approaching the shadow.

Chris pressed his brow and frowned. "(I am already messing things up, and I will have to protect Starfy from harm when it should have been the other way around. Things could not get much worse than they are now…)"

The scholar saw the starfish being enveloped in sand. Chris gasped to see that Starfy had turned into a round shield of sand as he approached Shadow Link and Crono. The shadow turned to see the odd sphere of sand before it crashed right into him, causing sand to reach his eyes and make him blind. Starfy stopped spinning for a moment and smiled confidently.

"…Oh, he did something useful after all. I'm glad…" Chris said.

For Chris's dismay, some of the sand that got into the shadow's eyes also reached Crono's eyes. The swordsman dropped his katana and tried to rub off the sand off his eyes. Starfy, seeing Crono dropping to the floor, looked sad and embarrassed of the little accident he made.

"…I…kind of take that back…" Chris muttered while Starfy went back to him with a sad look on his face. The scholar ducked down and rubbed the starfish's head. "You did well, Starfy, but I think you should leave the fighting to us. What do you say?"

Starfy looked up at Chris and shed a tear while smiling. The starfish jumped to Chris and hugged him before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Chris stood back up and shed a tear. "(You can do it next time, Starfy! Have courage in yourself!)" he cheered on mentally as Zelda approached him and saw the shadow unable to attack due to his blindness.

"Chris, please, let's use a combined attack while he's like this!" Zelda suggested.

"Starfy forever!" Chris cheered. "I-I mean, yes, let's do that…"

"…Did something happen while I checked on Link?"

Chris changed to his Summoner job. "N-not at all, so let's combine forces now," he said.

"…As you wish, I guess," Zelda said before the focused their magic together into Chris's rod.

The shadow shook his head as he tried to take off the sand from his eyes. "T-this is the second time I get sand in my eyes. Why couldn't we be somewhere else rather than this sand-filled room?" He took all the sand off his eyes to see Zelda and Chris channeling their magic together. "What are you two doing now?"

"Maiden of ice, come forth and trap your enemies in cold tundra!" Chris chanted as magic circled around the two.

"Shiva, come forth and use Diamond Dust!" Zelda called out.

The room took a shade of blue as ice formed in front of the two summoners. The ice turned into mist as a big block of ice sprouted out from it. Inside the ice, a beautiful, blue feminine figure, Shiva, was embracing herself within it as she slept. Even if some could argue about the fact she seemed to be naked, it was impossible to tell thanks to the color of her skin.

Zelda and Chris admired Shiva from behind. "My goodness…she looks gorgeous," Zelda remarked.

Suddenly, Shiva opened her eyes, and the ice trapping her shattered into blue sparkles. The two summoners admired the blue sparkles for a while as Shiva gorgeously moved her long blond hair. She then moved up her hands, gathering energy out of the mist around her. Shadow Link gasped at this and shielded himself before Shiva released a devastating blizzard, which covered all the portion of the field where the shadow was, also trapping him inside an icicle. The field of ice quickly shattered into pieces, and the Shadow Nightmare yelled in pain as he was forcibly taken out.

Shiva stood on her spot before she vanished in front of Zelda and Chris, the two of them astonished.

"…That was by far the best summon I've ever seen before," Zelda commented.

"You're just saying that because Ifrit looks like a monster compared to Shiva…" Chris muttered.

Shadow Link walked forward, glaring daggers at the two. "Y-you people irritate me…" he trailed off weakly.

"(That's weird. He looks like he's about to fall down…)" Chris thought. "(Is he reaching his limit now?)"

Shadow Link's sword radiated with electricity. "But I have you now!" he yelled, slashing the air to send a fast slash wave of lightning. Chris and Zelda screamed at this before ducking down to the moving sands, barely dodging the attack that crashed against the pile of rocks on the left side of the cave, creating a cloud of dust.

As the two yelled under the cloud, Espio jumped out from it and tossed several shuriken stars at Shadow Link. The shadow jumped away to avoid the weapons as Espio performed a hand sign. "Darkness, trap them all. Dark Bomb!" he chanted.

The shadow was trapped within a dome of darkness. However, the attack quickly vanished, and the shadow was left unharmed. He saw Espio landing back on the moving sands. "Idiot, don't use dark attacks on me since they don't have any effect," he said.

"I thought as much," Espio said. "What a waste of magic…"

"You won't be using it again, though," Shadow Link said as his sword radiated with electricity. The ninja gasped at Shadow Link who burrowed his sword in the sand to release a wave of lightning. The wave of lightning instantly reached Espio's feet, causing electricity to cover him. The ninja yelled in pain before the attack disappeared, leaving him paralyzed as he dropped on one knee.

"A ninja…is useless when paralyzed…" Espio muttered. He saw the shadow charging at him.

From the right side, Link appeared and shot an arrow right on the shadow's head, causing the enemy to look towards his direction. Instead of focusing on Link, Shadow Link turned around to Espio and slashed him harshly, sending him crashing on the pile of rocks behind the curtain of dust covering the left side area. "Back for more?" Shadow Link asked. "Give up, empty shell. There's no reason for you to keep struggling against me."

"Shut up!" Link said as he took out a bomb and tossed it at the shadow, only for the shadow to respond with a dark bomb. The two bombs made contact and created a cloud of smoke between the two Links, making them back away and enter the cloud to make a surprise attack. The two were able to clash swords inside the cloud without having much luck landing a single blow on the other, and the two jumped away from the smoke. "Ugh…"

"I refuse to think the same way you do…" Shadow Link said. "It's just not right for me to obtain the same results as you do…"

"Y-you're…you're supposed to be me…" Link said doubtfully. "So please, stop fighting against us!"

"Sorry, but that won't do at all," Shadow Link spoke from the other side of the smoke as a powerful electricity slash sliced through the smoke and crashed against Link. The Hylian yelled in pain as he was sent across the room to crash hard against the wall, falling back down on the moving sands. "One of us seriously has to go today."

Just then, Crono's eyes recovered from the sand. He seemed to grunt as he saw the shadow coming out from the cloud of smoke, which was already dissipating. The red-haired swordsman's katana glowed with energy before he slashed the ground swiftly, creating a big shockwave that sliced Shadow Link's feet. The shadow grunted in pain and staggered at this.

Marle and Lucca came from Crono's direction and rejoined him. "Crono, let's use Ice Sword!" Marle suggested, receiving a grin of agreement from the teenager. She clasped her hands together as sparkles of ice circled around Crono's katana.

The teen looked back at the shadow and performed a long jump. The Shadow Nightmare looked up to see the angered Crono pointing down his katana at him. Before Shadow Link could move away, the teen fell down on him, and his katana instantly trapped the shadow within an icicle. The ice glowed brightly and then shattered into ice shards, making the shadow yell more in pain while Crono jumped away to rejoin the girls.

Lucca took out a grenade while Shadow Link regained his composure. "Taste this!" she yelled, tossing the grenade to the shadow's feet. Unfortunately, the shadow moved away in time to dodge the grenade's explosion, making Lucca sulk at this. "Damn, he dodged that one…"

"You three are pissing me off now," Shadow Link said. His sword radiated with stronger electricity than before.

The tinker gasped. "H-he's going to use that devastating attack again! Look out!" she warned Marle and Crono.

Before the shadow could use his strongest attack, a shuriken cut his throat, causing him to lose focus. Shadow Link turned around to see Espio standing over the pile of rocks while sitting on his knee. "It'd be best if you didn't do any more attacks…" Espio said.

Shadow Link grunted at him before noticing that Zelda and Chris had disappeared from sight. "Where are my princess and that fool?" he asked.

Chris stuck out his head from the rocky floor's left side, in the same direction the shadow was looking. "D-don't call me a fool!" he yelled before Zelda pulled him back

"There you are…" Shadow Link said, getting attack from behind with a blast of fire exploding on his back. He fell down on the dark path, avoiding touching the moving sands.

He turned around and saw Lucca holding out her hand to him. "You and your blasted fire magic are just as annoying as everyone else..."

Lucca didn't reply to this verbally. She started shooting the shadow several rounds of energy shots. The shadow grunted as he tried to stand back up and shield himself with his shield, but Lucca kept him from doing so.

The World Traveler snuck all the way around the rocky floor to reach over to where Link was being dragged away by the sand. Chris offered him a hand to stand back up as he looked worried at Link's injuries. "You must've been pretty hurt, Link. You don't look too well... Are you sure you can't just admit Lucca's fate?"

Link looked confused at Chris before sighing. "So you knew it, right?" he asked.

Chris gasped and hung down his head. "W-well, I-I'm a big fan of this...place. I know all there is to know about what happens here..."

"Figures..." Link muttered.

"I never expected you to get word about Lucca's...well, you know..." Chris trailed off worried. "I thought things wouldn't turn out like this, but...I guess I can't expect too well..."

"...So she'll die?" Link asked. "Does she have to die?"

"...I'm sorry, Link..." Chris responded. "...But...that's how the events here have to be like that..."

Link frowned at himself. "I don't know if I'll get over this whole burden with her death in mind... Dammit, I want to change that, but I don't want to alter the future drastically. It's saving her and putting everything off-course or let things go they way they're supposed to do and...and...let her...ugh..."

"…Don't take me wrong, but I'm sad about those events," Chris said. "I'd like to change them all for the better, but I'm scared about what consequences they'd bring if I saved lives that were supposed to die…"

Link thought for a moment. "…Maybe…you should just do the right thing you think is right," he said. "That's how I always thought. I…I always thought that saving people regardless of the situation would be nicer than doing nothing…and I want to save Lucca, really, I do…"

Chris sighed. "I know, Link…but…"

The two heard Marle and Lucca yelling in pain behind their backs. They turned around and saw the girls and Crono crashing against the wall before falling down. Thanks to this, Marle fell unconscious while Lucca and Crono were able to stand back to their feet. Seeing Marle unconscious, Crono gritted his teeth and charged towards the shadow while Lucca checked on her.

"…" Link looked serious and turned to Chris. "I still don't want to believe what'll happen to her, but…I still want to fend off my shadow before it really does kill her."

"Well, I suppose it can be still defeated if we hurt him more… He looked like he was about to fall down," Chris said before changing to his Red Mage job. "I wonder now… Do you trust me, Link?"

The Hylian looked confused at this sudden question. "Why ask that all of a sudden?" Link asked.

"Um…I thought we bonded pretty well with each other, so…" Chris trailed off. "…And I thought this job would be compatible with you because it's blatantly obvious it is…"

"…" Link shook his head, dismaying Chris. "I think I still need more time to get used to bond a lot more with you, Chris…"

Chris was taken aback by this. "Oh…I guess it won't always work like that… Oh well, I was being too sudden, sorry…"

"It's okay," Link said. "Should we go and fight my shadow before it's too late?"

The teen took out his bow. "Oh, sweet. I can still use my arrows in this job...but too bad most of my previous utilities are gone... Whatever. Let's do it, then," he said before the two went up to join Crono.

Back at the fight, the shadow had opted to send several electric slash waves to Crono. The red-haired swordsman seemed to grunt as he stepped aside the slash waves. However, the moving sands were against him, and Crono lost control of his footing and tripped down. Shadow Link stopped sending slash waves and held up his sword with both hands. A flickering shuriken incrusted on his back and exploded, making the shadow stumble forward in pain. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Espio standing over the pile of rocks.

"You're still here?" Shadow Link asked.

"I'll be here as long as you're alive," Espio said.

"You do know your magic won't work on me, right?"

"Sadly, yes, I know that," Espio said, brandishing four shurikens between his fingers. "But it doesn't mean I have to keep using the same tactic with magic over and over again."

Shadow Link grunted as he tried blocking himself with his shield, but Espio swiftly tossed all four shurikens fast, severely slashing the shadow's face. Grunting in pain as he backed away, the shadow was suddenly attacked by three arrows hitting his back. He blocked his back with his shield as he looked over to the right side of the room where Chris was shooting arrows at him, with Link running towards his shadow. "You're here for more?" Shadow Link asked Link.

"It won't be enough until I'm done with you! Haaa!" Link yelled as he clashed swords against the shadow. The shadow's sword radiated with electricity, but Link stepped back to avoid being electrocuted. As he closed in, he used a quick Spin Attack to deliver a strong blow to the shadow.

The shadow blocked his back from Espio's shurikens while blocking his front from Chris's arrows. "Let's make another sandstorm in here," he said as he took out his dark Gale Boomerang, using it instantly to create a tornado that chased after Link and Crono. The two saw the tornado taking up sand to become a sandstorm, causing sand to spread over all directions. The four attackers covered their eyes to avoid catching sand, but Crono was sent flying away next to Lucca thanks to a dark bomb Shadow Link tossed while the sandstorm was in place.

"C-Crono!" Lucca yelled.

Zelda appeared from the rocky floor while covering her eyes. The princess saw the sandstorm slowly disappearing as the dark Gale Boomerang return to Shadow Link. The shadow turned around and sent an electric slash wave to Espio, who was busily trying to take off the sand from his eyes. The attack created a blast on him, sending him flying away to the north end of the room. He bumped on the moving sands before stopping, his body covered in bruises. "T-this stupid sand had to fall on my eyes..." Espio muttered as he rubbed his eyes with his arm.

The Hylian princess looked serious and sent a Din's Fire, which the shadow blocked with his shield. "Zelda, it's useless for you to stop me..." Shadow Link said. "You can't do much at all."

Zelda looked concerned at this as she looked towards Link, Chris, Crono, Marle, and Lucca, the first three trying to take off sand from their eyes. The princess shook her head and glared at the shadow. "I shouldn't be doing this kind of thing, but I have no choice but to fight you."

Shadow Link mocked Zelda by humorously mimicking her voice and saying, "But you've surely never seen a princess fighting swordsmen for sure."

The princess narrowed her eyes, glaring fiercely at the shadow. "You just did not mock me, right?" she asked in a mildly threatening voice.

"I have all freedom to express myself," Shadow Link said. "Live with it."

Without warning, a rainbow aura engulfed Zelda. The Shadow Nightmare blinked shocked to see that the princess had activated her Over Limit so suddenly. "Well, as a princess, I won't let somebody like you speak ill of me," she sarcastically joked.

"...So what?" Shadow Link asked. "I've got no time to play with you, my princess. I need to stop that empty shell of me from annoying me even more, and then, I'll move on to Lucca."

"You shall not ignore me any further," Zelda said as she took out a holy bow (which apparently was roughly the same size as her) and shot a blinding light that paralyzed the shadow. After that, the princess aimed a holy arrow right on his chest. It quickly shot straight into Shadow Link, time itself stopping to see how the arrow was penetrating the shadow's chest by a half before time resumed. While the holy arrow crashed against the wall and broke into spores of light, the shadow was brutally damaged by the attack, bouncing right off the wall as he screamed in pain and passed Zelda.

Zelda's aura vanished as she put her bow away and saw the shadow bouncing off the northern wall. The shadow, still screaming in pain, bumped along his own dark path before stopping abruptly, moaning in pain as he tried to stand back up. He put his hand over his chest, feeling a burning sensation over it. "I…I won't let you stop me," Shadow Link muttered in pain. "I have to help you all…especially Lucca…with their problems…"

The princess tilted her head. "(It seems he's about to be defeated…or is it a trick he is using to fool us?)" she thought.

Link came from the right side of the room, his eyes back to normal. He rubbed his eyes once more and glared at the shadow. "I'll make sure…this time…that you stop bothering all of us once and for all…" he muttered.

"It's going…to…be…useless…" Shadow Link muttered weakly. "I shall…live on…no matter how much you all…try to…stop me…"

The Hylian swordsman looked behind where Crono carried an unconscious Marle over his back while Lucca followed. From the left side of the room, Espio showed up while holding Chris's hand, the teen having no luck in taking off the sand from his eyes. The Shadow Nightmare suddenly felt surrounded, despite the fact a few of them were unable to attack.

"Is this about to end now?" Lucca asked.

"Looks like it…" Link muttered as he stared at his shadow.

Shadow Link grunted and stood back, charging up his sword with electricity. "Fools…you're all within my range to execute my most powerful attack…" he trailed off. "I…I will blast this whole place with all my energy!"

Everyone gasped at this fact. Thinking quickly, Lucca told Link, "Hurry! Rush forward and stop him!"

"W-what?" Link said confused. "W-why do you want me to do that now?"

Lucca clasped her hands, calling forth fire that surrounded her feet. "If I'm right, you can finish him off together with my magic! Just leap on top of him and swing your sword down!"

The swordsman stared at the Master Sword.

"Just do it, quick!" Lucca ordered.

Link shook his head and ran towards the Shadow Nightmare, who was charging up his sword with more and more electricity. The shadow saw its host rushing towards him while everyone else remained on their spots. "You imbecile," Shadow Link said as his sword radiated with more sparks, "do you have a wish to perish?"

"No…but I have one more important than that one," Link said as he leaped over Shadow Link, who struggled to finish charging up his sword. "And that wish…is FINISHING YOU OFF!"

"Here I come. Fire Sword II!" Lucca looked up from her hands and held them out to Link's Master Sword. As the tinker let out a quick yell, intense fire rings encased the Master Sword, making a big portion of the room lit up with the light. The Shadow Nightmare's eyes widened at this as he decided to forget about charging his attack. "Stop right the-"

"HEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Link let out a fierce yell as he stabbed the shadow with the sword.

The ensuing effect was a tower of fire erupting right under the two Links. Intense fire rose up from around them as the sand was spread everywhere, causing everyone to cover their eyes with their arms. From within the tower of fire, Link and Shadow Link's shadows were seen from Zelda's point of view. As sand was flung everywhere, the screams from the Shadow Nightmare filled the entire room. His yells managed to reach Meta Knight, whose eyes lit back up and slowly raised his face to look at the tower of fire. Robo's eyes slowly turned on, the first thing they saw being the column of fire in front of them. Marle grumbled a few words as she came back to her senses, her eyes widening after seeing the intense fire in front of them.

After a while, the tower of fire slowly started to disappear, and so did the sand flying everywhere. Everyone in the room slowly uncovered their eyes to see what happened next.

It seemed that the moving sands were stopped by the attack. Inside a big hole of sand, Link's Master Sword was burrowed deep into Shadow Link's chest. The shadow's eyes were closed completely while the swordsman sweated out of exhaustion with the help of Lucca's magic.

Music stops

"And…here I thought…I was…useful… Heheheh…heheh…heh…uh…"

Link was immobile as he saw the shadow coughing weakly. Assured that the shadow didn't have enough energies to move, the Hero of Twilight slowly removed the Master Sword from the shadow's chest. Link stared at the shadow's yellow eyes. He frowned at him and looked away. "…It's over for you now," Link muttered. "You can go away if you want…"

Everyone else surrounded the hole of sand, looking down at the two Links.

Chrono Trigger – Depths of the Night

Shadow Link coughed more, his worn eyes looking up at Link. "I…I lost…" he trailed off. "But…it's so sad to think…that…that I don't feel relieved now… You…you haven't accepted…the truth…truthfully yet?"

Link looked back at Lucca, who looked concerned at him. She closed her eyes and looked away from him. Link sighed and looked down at the shadow. "…I'll be sincere… I still don't want to accept the truth… It's just so…so hard to tolerate and even to think about it just a bit… It's just makes me try to avoid it instantly…"

"Link…" Zelda muttered, shaking her head dismayed.

"…I know the feeling…" Shadow Link said. "The fact that Lucca will die no matter what I do…is just…unfair…" he admitted. "What good is there to help her overcome her problems if I can't even save her from her future?"

Link shed a tear and shook his head. "You think the same way as I do?" he asked.

"W-we…we're the same…for now…" Shadow Link muttered. "T-thanks to your other friends coming out from somewhere…I was unable to achieve my desires… But…in failing to do so…I ended up reverting back to your personality…" He sniffed a bit. "B-but…but even so…I don't want Lucca to die…not like that…"

"Yes…" Link trailed off. "I feel the same way as you do."

"But why?" Shadow Link asked. "Why does she have to suffer? I-it doesn't make any sense to me…nothing about it makes sense at all! S-she's my precious friend! I don't want her to die on the hands of fate! Back then, I had the power to travel back through time by three days in the past, and I helped so many people with their problems! Just using those memories to support my reasoning to save Lucca makes me feel so sad because I can't help her a bit!"

Crono blinked shocked and looked at Lucca. The tinker looked at the others, staring right at her with looks mixed with confusion, pity, worry, or a combination of the three. She couldn't utter a word, as she was trying to get over the fact about her future.

"It's…it's just… not right…not fair…" Shadow Link lamented as he broke into tears. "She'll die regardless…and I can't do anything to save her… I…I-I feel so powerless…"

"…I know…" Link muttered sadly. "…It's unfair, alright… I can't change that at all, and I should accept it…"

Shadow Link's aura started to diminish gradually. He budged his hands for a bit, forcing a sad smile to Link. "I…I can see it now… Y-you're….you're starting to accept the truth completely…" His smile disappeared. "But…although you accept the truth now…I can't get rid of all this sadness in my heart… It aches so badly…and there's no remedy for it…"

"Ugh…" Link grunted dismayed as the others kept listening to their conversation.

"It's sad to know…that I'm the only Shadow Nightmare who will still suffer deeply with the truth…" Shadow Link muttered, slowly standing back up. "I will and forever still think that this is completely unfair for Lucca…and…that I couldn't do anything for her… And…for that…" he looked up at Lucca, who blinked and looked back at him, "Lucca…I'm…sorry for everything… Please…find forgiveness in you to forgive me…I…I beg of you… At least I want to hear you one last time before Link and I become one again…"

"…I…I…I…" Lucca stammered, her eyes shedding tears. "…I…I-I…I-I…forgive you, Link…" she muttered sadly. "P-please…accept my forgiveness…but I can't find the words to forgive you properly."

"L-Lucca…" Marle muttered worried as she and Crono lamented the tinker.

Lucca chuckled sadly. "I-it's fine… I know he'll understand that I can't say anything good right now…" she trailed off.

Shadow Link forced another sad smile and nodded. "T-thank you, Lucca…thank you for everything…" He chuckled sadly and looked at Link. "So…now… I want to give you some advice so you can try to withstand the truth…"

Link stared blankly at the shadow. "What?" he asked.

"Remember that you…no, we hold the Triforce of Courage," Shadow Link reminded Link. "The Triforce of Courage should allow us to overcome fear easily. I trust that no one else can match the courage we possess…"

"I see…" Link said. "I'm doubtful about all this, but…I'll do my best to be the most courageous person everyone has ever met before…that is, if I can even pull that out…"

Shadow Link nodded. "I know for a fact that you will no matter what… Hang in there with Lucca, though... She needs us to feel much better. It's better to do it rather than trying, anyway…"

"…I understand," Link said. "I understand that…you and I are the same person…no matter what I say…" he said.

"…Thank you…" Shadow Link muttered.

Everyone saw the shadow opening his arms as light manifested in his body. Link saw the shadow's dark image turning completely to himself for a brief moment, and then, the shadow turned into spores of light that spread and shot to Link. The swordsman closed his eyes as his body shined brightly. After a few seconds, the light vanished, and Link dropped down to his knees. Zelda, Espio, and Robo ran back down to check up on him while the others waited for Link to come back to them.

"Link…" Zelda muttered, shedding some tears.

"I-I'm fine…" Link muttered. "I-I just need someone to help me walk back up…"

Robo ducked down and allowed Link to hang his left arm on his shoulders. "Allow me," Robo offered.

After Link was brought back with the others, they approached him as they stepped on the rocky floor close to the exit. Link stared at Lucca, who stared back at him. Neither of them could say a word to talk, the traumatic fact terrorizing both of them. Everyone else remained silent, not saying a single word.

Espio crossed his arms and looked at Chris. "So, you told me before that a Shadow Nightmare exists for the whole purpose to become one apart from their hosts," he said. "I saw how Link's shadow talked about Lucca's…you know…"

"…" Chris looked away. "…Yes…everything is true… Shadow Nightmares don't tell lies…"

"…" Espio frowned with lament. "A truly unfortunate statement indeed…" he muttered while sighing.

"…Lucca…" Link muttered.

Lucca forced herself to look straight at Link's face. "Yes?" she asked.

"…Ugh…" Link frowned and looked away. "…I can't just talk with you for now. I want to talk so badly about…about everything that happened during the fight with the shadow…"

"It's…okay, I guess," Lucca said. "I'd rather rest for now so I can sort out my thoughts about what happened here…" She scratched her arm a bit. "You understand, right, Link? It's been a long night…"

"Yes…yes I do," Link said. "I'm exhausted myself to keep on talking now…"

"I agree that we should leave this place behind," Meta Knight suddenly spoke up. "Thanks to the shadow, it got rid of the monster that kept Fiona from seeding the desert. We should go back to the surface and report back to her."

Marle yawned loudly and looked at the three newcomers. "But what I can't understand is why you three were able to come in here and help us… We're clearly breaking the limit this time, but how come you came here, anyway?" she asked.

"It's unclear how," Espio said. "All we did after that strange Gate appeared was entering it after Crono ran inside."

Chris turned to Crono. "Crono, why'd you run into the portal without thinking?" he asked.

Crono rubbed his chin, but then he shook his head.

"(A word, please…)" Chris thought dismayed.

"Oh," Marle snapped her fingers, "so you did hear that voice like we did, right, Crono?"

Crono nodded honestly at this.

"Figures, I knew you'd do that," Marle said.

"I am sorry to be interrupting this talk, but we should leave this den," Robo said. "I cannot stand seeing Lucca in a depressed mood while we are all here. I suggest reporting to Madam Fiona at once so we can all rest. We can discuss this after we have rested for the night."

"Yes…let's go," Zelda muttered, staring at both Link and Lucca. "I'd like to rest as well…"

The group proceeded to leave the room behind. As they made their way to the surface, Link and Lucca were thinking about the situation they were. Occasionally, they would exchange glances before looking away to think more about what to do next. Some of the group saw how both were so silent to the point most remained silent as well. As they exited the Sunken Desert, the silence lingered more.

Fiona's Villa

Outside a normal-looking house situated in the middle of the desert, Fiona stood outside her home as she stared away to the direction where everyone had gone. From a dune, she spotted nine people coming out from the other side. She gasped and ran several feet away from her home to receive them. After walking for a bit, they reached her. "Oh, you're back!" she said relieved. "I thought you wouldn't make it alive because you were away for quite some time… It's already midnight as well."

"We're sorry for worrying you," Marle said.

"Whatever the case is, I'm glad you're all safe," Fiona said. "How did it go?"

"We…defeated the monsters' boss," Meta Knight said. "You can rest assured now. You'll be able to seed the desert to restore the forest."

"No way, you managed to defeat the monster?"

Meta Knight looked away. "Kind of…" he trailed off.

Fiona clasped her hands and nodded pleased. "Thank you all so much for your help!" she thanked them. "Now I can set back to work replanting again."

Espio looked at the seemingly vast desert. "…But…wouldn't it be a problem with all this land?" he asked. "It would take an awful lot of time to replant the desert."

"I fear so," Fiona said sadly. "Alas, I fear it will take ages to plant enough trees to reforest this land. Not even with my full life will be enough to reforest the desert."

"Oh, bummer…" Marle muttered dismayed.

"Ah, if only someone could toil for centuries on end!" Fiona said with high spirits. "Then these wastes could truly be made green again."

"I don't think there's a person that could toil for centuries that we know," Meta Knight said.

Robo's eyes flickered. "I digress," he said. "I can last for as many centuries as you want, provided I get repairs later on."

"You're offering yourself to assist her?"

"I see no problems with this," Robo said. "I have calculated how long I can last. I can surely meet Madam Fiona's expectations."

"Well, that could work…" Espio said a bit skeptically.

"I only need to have permission to do this," Robo said as he turned to Lucca. "What do you think, Lucca? I could remain here and assist Madam Fiona, and you could come to retrieve me here once my work is complete. Is that all right? May I stay behind and help?"

Robo noticed Lucca wasn't paying any attention to the plan. She and Link both were looking away from each other while Zelda crossed her arms and sighed at them.

"Lucca, please, look at me," Robo said.

Lucca snapped out of her trance and looked dumbfounded at Robo. "U-um, I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

"I asked you for your permission for me to remain here and assist Madam Fiona with replanting the land," Robo said. "Is that okay with you, Lucca? I need your consent so I can help her out. Take in mind, though, that it will take more than a century for me to finish."

"Oh…well…I guess you could stay behind," Lucca said, her mind focusing more on the gruesome fact of her future. "We could come back in the future to get you…"

Robo nodded. "Then, it is decided," he said before turning to Fiona. "Madam Fiona, I would like to provide my services to you to replant the desert for as many years necessary."

Fiona gasped. "Can you live for more than a century?" she asked.

"It is no problem at all," Robo said. "No matter how long it takes, I will live on long enough to make your wish come true. I hate to see lands without flora."

"Oh, thank you so much again!" she said pleased. "You're doing so many things for me, I don't know how to thank you properly!"

"No need," Robo said.

Fiona took out from behind a small tree sapling. "This young tree is one that has been cultivated throughout the ages, mysteriously resilient, that could surely restore this desert to a verdant land. With Robo's help, this sapling might grow into a colorful tree full of life!"

"…This appears to be a familiar sapling found many years ago," Robo scanned the sapling. "It has the potential to grow."

Marle looked at Lucca. The Guardia princess put a worried look as she stared at Lucca looking away from Link while the latter did the same. "(I think they should really talk to each other badly…)" Marle thought.

"Everyone, please go on ahead and leave," Robo said. "You should meet up with me in the Present. Come here to this place and look for me. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Meta Knight said.

Chris grumbled a bit. "I don't think us three will have the liberty to stay with you any longer to go to the Present…" he said. "Maybe we should go back to the End of Time before we go anywhere else with nine people."

"I agree," Espio said. "The last thing I want to do is traveling somewhere while breaking the rules."

"We'll drop you three in the End of Time," Meta Knight said. "In the meantime, we'll go to Robo and rest there. I presume he will be having difficulty moving after four hundred years pass."

"Correct," Robo said before staring at Lucca. "Lucca, please, hang in there. I do not like to see you in that mood."

"O-oh…" Lucca turned to Robo and nodded. "I-I won't look like this by the time we come back for you. Don't worry about it…"

"While your words may ease my worry, your tone and expression do not help me much," Robo said. "Lucca, there is no way you can be like this for any longer. I advice you not to fret over what happened back at the cave."

"Yeah…"

"…" Robo nodded. "With that in mind, good bye for now, everyone," he said. He turned to Fiona. "I would like to start replanting right now. Please, supply me with the seeds."

Fiona shook her head after trying to understand what was going on with some of them. She chuckled heartily at Robo. "Follow me to my house," she said as she started walking to her house. "In have many bags with seeds ready."

After Robo and Fiona entered the house and closed the door, the group set off to the repaired Epoch and then to the End of Time where they dropped off Espio, Chris, and Crono, the last one giving a look to Lucca before leaving them behind. Since Robo agreed to meet up with them in the Present, Marle, Lucca, Link, Zelda, and Meta Knight traveled to the specified period.

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Porre Continent

Meta Knight could easily see how not everyone in the Epoch was saying a single word to each other. His eyes often shifted looks towards each one of them. He could tell that Lucca and Link didn't say a word more than Zelda and Marle. The two princesses looked outside, sighing a few times from time to time. Lucca kept a steady control over the Epoch while Link leaned his back against his seat and looked up into the sky.

"…" Meta Knight looked outside. "I think that is the spot where we have to pick up Robo."

In the same area where the desert in the Middle Ages was located, there was a total change done to the place. Instead of a desert taking up the land, a lush, vast, green forest covered every single inch of the land. There was no sand to be found, but only rows of trees extending over the horizon.

"Robo did a very good job," Meta Knight said. "And so we did."

The knight was replied by a multitude of sighs.

"…If I may say something, I would like you to focus in finding Robo," Meta Knight said. He looked outside to spot a shrine located in the middle of the forest. "Perhaps he is there?"

Lucca, silently, descended the Epoch close to the church in the vast forest. The ship landed nicely behind a row of three and the group jumped off, looking over to the shrine. The shrine looked normal without any prominent features outside, except for the fact that vines covered the walls.

"Let's go," Meta Knight said as he started walking into the church with the others following, none of them saying a single word.

Fiona's Shrine

The shrine from inside looked like a church. The only people inhabiting the place were nuns who were talking to each other. Beyond the rows of seats, there was a rusty robot sitting down on an altar on the other side of the shrine.

Once the group entered the shrine, they were greeted by a nun. "Welcome, travelers," she said. "Welcome to Fiona's Shrine. Here we give thanks to Fiona and Robo for reviving the forest scorched in the war against Magus four hundred years ago. Are you here to pay your respects to her spirit?"

"In a way, yes," Meta Knight said. "We're here looking for an artifact that she used to replant the trees."

"Artifact… Wouldn't you say Robo?" she asked.

"You know him?"

"He was a great help to Fiona, according to the passages," the nun said. She turned towards the altar where the rusty robot was. "There it is him. He was found sleeping a long time ago. Since he was the one who helped Fiona reforest the land, we have kept him here to keep him for all generations to come and let the word out to other travelers like you. The remains of the venerable Robo are enshrined in the inner sanctum."

"Unfortunately, we've come here to…" Meta Knight thought about an excuse to drag off the robot from the shrine, "…to resuscitate him and take him somewhere else where another land needs to be seeded."

The nun gasped. "You can resuscitate Robo? I didn't know people knew how to resuscitate special people like Robo…" She nodded. "By all means, resuscitate him!"

"(I'm glad this was easier than I thought…)" Meta Knight thought. "Everyone, let's go."

Meta Knight walked forward while the others slowly followed him. The knight glanced over at them to see how they were all worried and thinking. He frowned at them before reaching the altar where Robo was.

The robot was covered in mud, and vines were practically coming out from every little hole he had in his body. His eyes were turned off, and his body wasn't moving. The group looked at the robot for a while, making Meta Knight feel a bit impatient.

"Lucca," Meta Knight said.

"Y-yes, here I go," Lucca stammered a bit as she went over to pull Robo to the floor. With Meta Knight helping her, Robo was brought to them as all the nuns in the shrine went over to see them. The tinker stopped to think for a moment, and then she looked around for a small panel behind Robo's back. After finding it and clicking some buttons, Robo's eyes flickered weakly.

"Systems reactivated," Robo said. "W-where am I?"

The nuns were surprised by this that they started muttering things to each other. "You're in Fiona's Shrine; a shrine built to honor her efforts to reforest the desert," Meta Knight said.

"Oh…" Robo said. "Lucca, everyone, it's so nice to finally see you all again! Only a few moments may have passed for you, but I have been waiting for four hundred years. However, my efforts were worthwhile. The forest is restores." He noticed everyone except Meta Knight (and, to some extent, the nuns) were silent. "Why are the four of you looking depressed? Have you talked to each other already?"

"Er…" Lucca trailed off.

"…I suppose not," Robo said.

The nuns surrounding them cheered calmly at Robo's resurrection. One of them approached the group and bowed formally. "Thank you for bringing Robo back to life," she said. "I heard from my sister that you will take Robo to replant more areas. We hope that he keeps on living by aiding Mother Nature forever."

"I guess," Meta Knight said. "We'll be taking him now."

Robo found himself unable to stand up. "I need some reparations, though," he said. "Waiting four hundred years for you has rendered my legs useless. I will need Lucca's assistance to repair some body parts. Lucca, can you do it?"

Lucas adjusted her glasses. "U-um, yeah, I can do that, but it'll take me some time to finish," she said.

An idea sprung to the robot. "Now, shall we celebrate our four hundred-year reunion?" he asked. "I have waited a very long time, and proposing a celebration would be the best thing to do right now. I want all of you to cheer up despite the circumstances we went through during that fight."

Marle pumped up a fist, not even cheering a bit.

The fact that Marle would be the first one to break into joy to do something fun indicated that there would be fun. But it was rare to see her not breaking into cheers.

"…This will be a long day, indeed," Robo muttered.

Forest

The six decided to stay behind for the night outside the shrine just besides the Epoch to camp out. Two cottages were set up for them to sleep. Everyone was gathered, sitting around a campfire while Lucca worked diligently on fixing Robo. Instead of talk, they only heard the chirps from the bugs hiding within the trees, and the clanking sounds Lucca would make with her tools.

"It has been roughly ten hours ever since you arrived, and you have not said a single word," Robo said. "I understand why, but I would like to hear random talks about different topics because I am used to hear those… It makes the atmosphere feel lively."

"Sorry…" Lucca muttered. "It's just that…we're not in the mood to be doing that…"

"I can easily tell you have not been in the mood ever since we last met," Robo said. "How about if I make you all talk with another different topic to break the silence?"

"I agree with him," Meta Knight. "I would like to talk about anything at this point. The silence is literally making me feel uneasy."

Zelda sighed. "Well…what do you want to talk about?" she asked Robo.

"I realized something during these past four hundred years. I believe we, not your group, may have been incorrect in our assumption that Lavos was responsible for the creation of the Gates," Robo said.

For once, Marle stared back at Robo. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"It is not a certainty, but…I have come to believe it possible that some entity wished for us to witness these events. Perhaps it wanted us to see all of these various ages. Alternately, it may have wished to see them for itself. It seems almost as though it was reflecting on the days of its past."

Meta Knight rubbed his chin. "In other words, this entity you speak of wanted to see its past life through us?" he asked.

"I believe so," Robo said. "This same entity could have lost the chance to reflect its past."

"Before death claims a man, he is made to bear witness a second time to those memories engraved most deeply upon his heart," Meta Knight said.

Zelda got interested in the talk. "You mean to say we remember memories that we cherish by experiencing them again, either by reminiscing or seeing them once more?" she asked.

"Yes," Meta Knight said. "There may be fond memories among them. But often as not, the ones, which grieve us, are the most profound."

Lucca briefly stopped using her tools before she continued working, her mind trying to avoid thinking about her sad memories of her past.

"Knowing the end is approaching likely reactivates dormant feelings of regret, and desire to return to moments in the past," Robo said. "Of course, this is just speculation, so do not take it so seriously from me."

"Do you suppose that will happen when our time comes?" Marle asked Lucca.

"Probably…" Lucca said skeptically. "Who knows?"

"Is there a point in time you'd want to return to, Lucca?" Marle asked.

Lucca froze for a moment, letting go of a wrench that caught everyone's attention. Out of all of them, Link and Zelda had a hunch that told them what point in time Lucca wanted to return. Shifting her eyes uncomfortably, the tinker picked up the wrench and went back to work, sweating a bit on her forehead. "I-ah-no, not…not really," Lucca said.

Marle stammered a bit and sighed. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked…"

"No, it's okay," Lucca said, forcing a smile. "It's just something I don't like to think about too much…"

"(Lucca…)" Link and Zelda thought worried about the tinker.

"I can assume that you thought Lavos was the one who created the Gates, but it might have been this other entity," Meta Knight said. "And, reminding ourselves that Lavos has played some role in all the ages of this world, his fate is bound to the one who created the Gates."

"Who do you think it is?" Marle asked. "I mean, this entity using us to watch all the events unfold in the past…"

"It is unknown to me whose memories these are," Robo said. "It is likely an entity greater than any of us. Perhaps we will not know until our journey has come to an end."

"A god, perhaps?" Zelda asked. "No, it couldn't be a god with the way you're all thinking…"

"Maybe this entity is asking you all to help it," Meta Knight said. "It is probably seeking your help to save the world."

"Many reasons can be drawn out from this," Robo said. "It is interesting to see what these reasons are. I hope we can get to meet this entity soon…and if we do not, then we shall meet it in our own ways."

Lucca sighed and stepped back from Robo. "I think I finished with you, Robo," she said.

"Yes, my functions seem to be working properly now," Robo said. "However, shall we turn in for the night? Most of you should be still exhausted."

Marle yawned loudly. "Yeah, I wanna sleep now…" she said. "Today was a very exhausting day…"

"Yes…let's rest for now," Zelda said as she stood up. "Tomorrow, we'll leave for the mansion."

"Although we couldn't save the frog from the Subspace, we still were able to get the tablet we needed," Meta Knight said. "We can rescue the frog at a later time, sadly."

"You'll be leaving tomorrow?" Marle asked before groaning. "Aww, I wanted you guys to stick around more…"

"Marle…" Lucca muttered.

"I-I know, but…at least I wanted everyone to make up their minds and get happy," she said. "I feel like leaving us with this sad mood is just dead wrong… Yeah, we got back our stolen items… But what's the point in leaving with sad looks? I want a happy ending! I swear I'll sue somebody!"

"Marle!" Lucca raised her voice, sounding like a scold.

"S-sorry…" Marle said. "It's just that…this feels bad, you know?"

"I know that…but there's no way to fix it," Lucca said depressed. "We'll just have to live with it, okay?"

"S-so…you're acknowledging the future you'll have?"

Lucca grunted upset at this. "…I don't know," she admitted. "I still need time to make up my mind… Hopefully, this will stop bothering me tomorrow…"

"Just be sure to say good bye to them with a smile," Marle said. "Seriously, no breaking into tears, you heard me?"

"I-I know," Lucca said. "Well, everyone, let's get back to sleep for now…" She went into a cottage, leaving them around the campfire.

Meta Knight hopped off his spot and entered the other tent. Marle followed to the girls' tent as she looked over at Link and Zelda. She mumbled some words before getting inside the tent.

Robo, before entering the males' tent, looked at the Hylians. "It is getting cold outside," he said. "You should rest inside the tents so you can prepare yourselves for tomorrow."

Link and Zelda stared at each other for a while. They sighed in unison and got up from their spots, walking to their respective tents. Robo remained behind, wondering how much longer it would take everyone to get over their turmoil.

"If they keep going like this, Marle will be upset tomorrow," Robo said to himself as he entered the cottage. He walked out and tossed some ground to the campfire to put it, and then he got back into the cottage.

Hours later, from the males' tent, Link came out. The swordsman couldn't sleep thanks to the mentally scarring thought about Lucca's demise. The Hylian walked out and sat down to contemplate the stars in the sky. Thoughts crossed his mind; the same thoughts he wanted to stop thinking.

"…I'm so pathetic," Link said. "The others who fought their Shadow Nightmares were able to overcome whatever problem they were struggling to get rid of…but I can't," he said. "It's so unfair that I can't feel okay with myself… I guess my truth was far more saddening than any of their truths… This sucks…"

"So you couldn't sleep as well, huh…"

Link closed his eyes and hung his head down. "Don't tell me you couldn't sleep either…"

Lucca stood next to her tent. "Well, when you know where you're going to have your obituary, of course not," she said.

The swordsman looked away. "It's useless to ask you if you're feeling okay now, right? I feel like I've been crushed under a boulder that I can't get off so easily."

The tinker scratched her right arm and walked towards Link. "…I don't think it's useless," she said, sitting a few feet away from Link. "After thinking stuff over, I came to a conclusion…sort of."

Link blinked and looked shocked at her. "Y-you did?" he asked.

Lucca sniffed a bit. "I…I changed my mind," she said. "I'm going to go on ahead and accept whatever the future holds for me…"

"Y-you can't be serious…" Link muttered. "You are going to accept your death just like that?"

"Link…I've been thinking all this time," Lucca said. "I've struggled to live with it, and…well, I reached my answer now… I just said 'The hell with it!' and accepted it."

Link shook his head. "I-I can't believe you're just going to say that and not do anything about it! You can prevent your death somehow. I just know you can!"

Lucca shed a tear and embraced her legs. "Fate is a very hard thing to accept, Link…but I accepted it for once," she said. "I won't complain anymore…"

"B-but…" Link stammered, "b-but surely there is…"

"What would happen if I couldn't change a thing to prevent my death, Link?" Lucca asked. "Maybe I was destined to hear this from you and, well… I wouldn't be able to survive… It's so sad, I know…" Her body started to shake in fear. "I-I…I-I'll miss everyone once the time comes… I…I hope my time left will be used for greater good… If it doesn't, w-well, I'm still going to go through it…"

Link gasped and quickly moved over close to Lucca. "D-don't cry, Lucca, please!" he pleaded her.

"I-I'm fine," Lucca said, forcing a scared smile. "I-I just need some more time to stop being sad all the time when I think about it…"

"L-Lucca…"

Lucca took off her glasses to wipe her eyes with her arm. She stood back up and put her glasses on. She shook her head and looked apologetic. "S-sorry for breaking into tears…" she muttered. "I…I can pull this out somehow… I better stay optimistic no matter what happens till the end…"

Link stood back up. "Are…you sure?"

"Y-yeah…" Lucca muttered. She looked down for a while before she turned towards the eastern direction of the forest. "…Do you mind…if we go out for a walk? I need some fresh air to recover from this depression…"

"Will it do any good?" Link asked concerned.

"I'll see…" Lucca said. "…So then, can you come with me? I don't want to be alone."

"Yes…" Link said, the two of them starting to walk to the east.

Lucca folded her arms behind her back and looked up to the sky. "It's so weird…"

"Huh?"

"It's so weird that I found out how I was going to die in the future," Lucca said. "I never expected to find out through you, Link. You were the last person I'd get to hear something like that… Expect the unexpected, as they say…"

"Hmm…" Link looked down.

"…But…even if I do die, Link," Lucca continued, "…I'll cherish all the precious moments with Crono, Marle, and everyone to the fullest. My memories are going to be the only ones that will keep me alive in everyone… Heheh… Look at me going all philosophical about my life's meaning," she chuckled sadly. "I never thought I'd feel this way…"

"…Lucca, this is just so wrong," Link said. "Are you honest with yourself? You…you don't want to try changing your future?"

"Honestly, it's…unknown for me if I can do that," Lucca said. "After traveling through time so many times in the past, present, and future, I've gained a new understanding about how fate works… You see how the world is suffering because of Lavos behind the sidelines, right? Well, getting rid of it is something we can change so the earth doesn't die and turn into the huge dump that the future became," she explained. "Some things…can be changed…while others remain the way they are because they have to happen…"

Link stifled a sniff. "I-I don't accept it," he said. "I just can't see how you're all happy to accept your death…"

"…It can't be helped," Lucca muttered. "We have to accept our fates, or else, we'll be happy but sad all the time… I'll spend the remainder of my life doing something worth doing so I can ease the pain I have when I…you know…"

Link sighed, unsure about taking Lucca's resolve to heart.

"…But do me a favor, Link," Lucca said.

"What favor?" Link asked.

"Don't you ever forget about me, even after you leave," Lucca said smiling. "The fact that there's someone out there from another world who knows who I am makes me feel so fulfilled. I'm going to be known outside my world besides here. And, well…"

"…I can do that," Link said determined. "I never forget my dear friends."

"Thanks," Lucca thanked him. "Memories are the only things that can make someone be alive forever, don't they? I never really cared much about them like I'm doing now… Silly me," she chuckled.

"(But…I only have one wish, and that is…is to see you alive,)" Link said. "(I wouldn't handle your death well… How can you accept it, Lucca, how? I want you to keep on living your life!)"

Lucca sighed and forced a smile as they went further into the forest. "This little walk I'm having with you… It's going to be one of my happiest memories ever," she said. "I'm starting to feel so good just by talking with you, Link. In a way, I think you're helping me out so much."

"Like…I wanted to do," Link added. "…I'm glad that I can give you a hand to hang in there."

"I appreciate it so much, thank you," Lucca said. "When you leave this world, be sure to keep on fighting the Subspace Army, okay? I wouldn't want those guys to be here anymore."

The swordsman knew the tinker wanted to change the subject as soon as possible. As Link kept walking, he barely forgot seeing a look Lucca suddenly made. She stopped on her tracks and stared forward in shock. "…Lucca?" Link said confused. "Hey, Lucca, why'd you stop?"

Lucca's eyes shook a bit, her finger slowly pointing forward to the direction her eyes were looking.

Link carefully turned around and gasped to see something out of place in the forest…

A red Gate was floating over in midair, right before them both.

Chrono Trigger – Strange Occurrences

"A-a Gate…" Lucca trailed off shocked. "I-it's another Gate…"

Link shook his head. "B-but how? Was this Gate here before?" he asked.

"N-no, Robo would've found this Gate pretty easily," Lucca said. "B-besides, I just saw it appearing right before my eyes! It's a brand new Gate!"

Link crossed his arms, looking scared at the red Gate. "Why is it red, and why did it appear right now?" he asked.

"I-I don't know, but it doesn't seem right to ignore it so easily…" Lucca trailed off. "…We have to see where it leads."

Link gasped and looked at Lucca. "W-we have to?" he asked.

"Link, this Gate is red for some reason," Lucca said. "There must be something going on somewhere where things aren't going like they're supposed to…or so I think," she said unsure. "And…I'm curious to see where this Gate leads, actually…"

"N-no, we're not going in there alone," Link said. "We have to tell the others befor-"

The Hylian saw the tinker taking out the Gate Key, making the red Gate open up. "There is something going on…" Lucca muttered, looking serious. "I…I feel so weird… It's like there's something on the other side of that Gate that's calling out for me."

"H-how can you be sure of that feeling you're getting?" Link asked. "We shouldn't really go into that Gate!"

Lucca shook her head. "T-there's something that wants me to go into it, I just know it!" she said. "It's so weird, but I can only think that…" She blinked. "Link…would you come with me just to be safe?"

"I-I…well…uh…" Link grunted and eventually nodded. "Fine, I'll go with you… But I'm coming along so you can be safe. We don't know what's waiting for us."

Lucca smiled a bit. "Thank you again. Let's go in, then. Quick, before somebody notices we're here!" she suggested, grabbing Link's hand before he could even run into the Gate himself.

The swordsman was dragged into some kind of dimension where wavy red waves moved around. The sky and the floor had the same kind of waves, and there was darkness far beyond between them. It was Link's first time traveling through a Gate, and it was probably going to be him who got to travel in such a way. As the two were floating into space, somehow, they reached the other side…

Link and Lucca soon found themselves falling to the floor recklessly. The two grunted in pain at the sudden landing while they got back up on their feet. "W-well, that was interesting…except for the landing," Link told Lucca, who once again, had frozen on her spot. "Oh goddess, what is it this time?"

"…T-this is my room…" Lucca muttered in shock

"Your room? What are you talking about?" Link asked. He looked around and noticed that they were inside a house, inside a normal room with a bed on the upper right corner and a bookshelf occupying the upper left corner wall, both areas set apart by a window overlooking the bridge that went to the village. There were some stairs going down on the lower right side corner, and there was a door leading to the inner terrace of the house. As Link scanned the room, he found a few notes scattered around the floor.

Lucca covered her mouth with both hands as she looked around. "T-this can't be…" she trailed off. "Why did that Gate lead us here?"

"I don't know. You're the one who travels through time frequently…" Link muttered.

Lucca noticed a paper lying down by her feet. She picked up and read its contents. "June 24th, 990," she read aloud. "Dad promised to go hiking with me, but he blew me off again because of his research. I don't get it. But whatever. Who cares about stupid science anyway? Girls don't need to know about that stuff!" Her hands shook in fright at the date for some reason.

"That sounds like a diary…"

"…It's a diary, alright," Lucca said. "It's a diary that has my thoughts towards science when I used to hate it because my father considered it more important than spending time with me and my Mom…"

"So…we're literally ten years in the past…in your house, then?" Link asked.

"Y-yes," Lucca muttered with a gulp.

-990 A.D. – The Past-

Lucca's House

"B-but this date…i-it can't be it," Lucca said as she let go of the paper.

Link looked puzzled at her. "Why's the date important?" he asked.

Lucca turned to Link with an apologetic look on her face. "Link…I don't know if you forgot when you heard me and Zelda talking while you were conscious, but… This date…it's the same day my mom…became crippled."

The swordsman's eyes widened at this fact. "It is?" he asked.

"Y-yes, there's no doubt about it!" Lucca said. "This is the very same day where my nightmare began! If that Gate took us here…w-wouldn't that mean I need to prevent that accident from happening?"

"Well…" Link trailed off in thought. "I-I haven't got a clue about that Gate's purpose, honestly…"

"W-whatever the case is, it doesn't matter!" Lucca said desperately. "If there's a small chance to prevent my mother from becoming crippled, t-then I won't waste it!

I want to stop that nightmare from haunting me any longer!" Lucca turned around and ran off down the stairs.

"L-Lucca, wait up!" Link said. The Hylian was about to run down the stairs until his eyes caught sight of a note hanging on the wall.

The password to shut down the device is the name of my one true love. Use it in an emergency.

- Taban

"…" Link stared at the note for a while, and then he ran down the stairs.

The Hylian ran down and turned right where Lucca was standing by the door in shock. The tinker spotted Link and dragged him to hide behind some machines. Link and Lucca looked to the entrance where Lucca's mother, Lara, was looking upset at the whole mess of machines. Behind her, there was Lucca's younger self, who dressed normally with a white dress.

"What is this thing, anyway?" Lara wondered aloud as she stared at the conveyor belt on the floor. "Taban said to keep away from it, but it's so dusty. Surely it wouldn't hurt just to tidy up a little." She walked towards the machine's conveyor belt.

Lucca gulped. She wanted to yell at her mother and stop her from approaching the machine, but she was afraid to cause any other mistake and alter the future drastically. Painfully, she and Link kept hiding away from the two's sight.

And then, the inevitable happened.

"Dear me!" Lara yelped loudly as she felt her skirt stuck on the conveyor belt. "My skirt, i-it's stuck! Lucca! Lucca, help!" she called out for the young girl.

Link and Lucca watched the young Lucca walking over to her mother. She ducked down and tried pulling the skirt out. However, it was useless. The skirt was perfectly stuck in place. "I can't pull it out," the young Lucca said.

Apparently, the fact that the machine felt that someone was trying to move over the conveyor belt made it activate by itself. The conveyor belt started moving towards the machine, slowly pulling Lara away from the young Lucca. Her older self stifled a gasp with Link as they heard Lara screaming a bit. "Oh, no! Lucca! Enter the password! Stop the machine!" Lara pleaded her daughter as she was dragged away by the machine.

The young Lucca suddenly looked sad. "But I don't know it, Mom!" she said.

Lucca's eyes shrunk in fear as she started hearing the mentally scarring screams her mother started to yell. It didn't help much that her young self started panicking, stepping away from her mother. The tinker covered her head for a moment. "Lucca, pull yourself together!" Link encouraged her. "You want to save your mother or not?"

Lucca gasped and uncovered her head. "Y-you're right!" she said.

Link sighed relieved as Lucca carefully made her way to the control panel, which was conveniently blocking sight of the past residents. She raised her hands over the panel and stared at the keyboard built into it. Link went to her to see how she was going to make the machine stop. "Finally, there's a solution to your problem after all," Link said.

For some reason, Lucca's hands were frozen over the keyboard.

The swordsman stared at her hands for a few seconds, ignoring the screams of help that filled the living room. "…Lucca, what's wrong?" Link finally asked.

"…T-the password…I-I…I-I don't know it," Lucca muttered ashamed.

"…Oh Din, no…" Link muttered.

Lucca made fists over the keyboard as her eyes quickly became watery. The tinker dropped to her knees and broke down into tears, her mother's screams silencing them completely. "I-I knew it!" Lucca yelled. "I knew it was useless to come all the way here! Destiny was just trying to put a nasty prank on me so it could laugh at my face!" she yelled angrily. "Damn it all, dammit, damn it all!"

"L-Lucca, no!" Link yelled before he looked over at Lara. She was almost going to reach halfway through the conveyor belt's other side, where her gruesome fate would take away her ability to walk. Link grunted at this and shook Lucca. "C'mon, Lucca, you've got to remember the password! Are you sure you need a password to shut this thing off?"

"Y-yes, but I don't know the password! I never looked it up!" Lucca cried. "I-it's all over, Link! It's all over for my mom again! It was all futile in the end! M-mom, please, forgive me for being so useless!"

"(N-no, things can't go this way after we came here…)" Link thought in panic. He held his head with both hands and grunted. "(I can't let Lucca suffer any longer! I…I have to do something without letting anybody see us here!)"

Link's eyes suddenly focused on the keyboard. Out of desperation, he stepped in front of the weird-looking machine while all the girls were crying loudly. Their cries were making him feel sick in his stomach, but he mustered up his focus on the machine. "Damn it… How do you operate this thing? Wait, I just need to input some kind of password with the keys…but…" He realized that he didn't know a password, much for his dismay. He banged a fist on the machine and cursed a bit. "N-no, I can't just give up… I know I can do something, but what'd that be? I need to find out what that mysterious password is!"

The word "password" triggered a memory in his mind.

If Link could recall correctly, before leaving Lucca's room, there was a note left by Lucca's father about how to shut off a device that Link thought was a machine. Link himself didn't know if that machine meant the one with the conveyor belt, but he knew he needed to try to find out as soon as possible if it was the same machine. Furthermore, he recalled the note's words in his mind.

The password to shut down the device is the name of my one true love. Use it in an emergency.

"His one true love…" Link muttered.

Lara's screams grew louder. The Hylian noticed she was about to reach the other side of the conveyor belt. Link turned to the keyboard and recalled the note once more.

"His one true love is…Lara…" Link muttered. "T-that must be the password to stop this stupid machine!" He looked serious and began typing…slow. He never took an interest to type on a computer before, let alone a keyboard that wasn't attached to one. His forehead sweated as he tried to find the four keys to spell Lara's name. "U-um…L…A…R…A…" he spelled out. He pressed a button, and the letters were erased. "H-hey, the letters were all erased… Dammit, I pressed delete!" he cursed.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Lara screamed loudly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Link screamed louder as he searched for the keys once more and, for once, pressed the "Enter" key to input the password.

Music stops

Link overheard the conveyor belt coming to a halt. The swordsman didn't look to the mother's direction as he had thought her last loud scream meant she was being crippled. Link gritted his teeth, his eyes closed tightly.

"…I-it stopped…"

Link opened his eyes and looked over to the conveyor belt. Lara's skirt was just about to go deeper into the other side of the conveyor belt while its owner sobbed sadly. The Hylian stared in surprise at her before looking back down to Lucca, who had stopped crying to look shocked at what happened.

Chrono Cross – The Girl Who Stole the Stars

"T-the machine…stopped…" Lara muttered. "L-Lucca!"

The young Lucca stopped sobbing to herself as she turned around and uncovered her crying face. Her eyes widened after seeing her mother unharmed, lying close to the other end of the conveyor belt. "M-mommy!" the young Lucca cried out scared before rushing towards her mother's side. She fell to her knees and the two shared a warm hug, sobbing silently. "M-mommy… T-thank goodness!"

"O-oh, Lucca… My dear Lucca…" Lara sobbed as she gently rubbed her daughter's back. "Now, now…everything's going to be fine from now on… Don't cry…"

The older Lucca's eyes shook, not believing what she was seeing. "M-mom…" she muttered with a sob. Taking advantage of the situation, the tinker wiped off her tears and ran away to her room.

"L-Lucca!" Link yelled before he went after her.

Before Link could leave, he heard the door opening. He hid behind the doorframe to see Taban entering the house. He yelped after seeing the young Lucca and Lara hugging each other while sobbing. "D-dear god, what happened here?" he asked.

"D-daddy!" the young Lucca cried. "M-my mommy was about to…to…"

Taban hurried to see what the problem was and gasped. "O-oh no, my dear… I-I'm so sorry!" he pleaded as he dropped to his knees. "If I knew sooner that you were going to get stuck in there for some foolish invention of mine… Please, forgive me, Lara! I didn't mean t-"

"I-it's okay, my dear…" Lara sobbed. "A-all that matters is that I'm fine…"

Taban looked ashamed despite the forgiveness. "B-but…it was my fault that you…" He looked at the machine, and then he looked at Lucca. "Lucca…did you stop the machine?" he asked.

The young Lucca sobbed and shook her head. "N-no, it just…it just stopped by itself… I-I don't know what happened, but…I-I don't care… M-my mommy is okay…s-she's okay…" she sniffed sadly.

"Lucca…Lara…I'm so glad nothing bad happened… I-I'm sorry…" Taban sobbed along with his family. He dropped to his knees and embraced his wife and daughter, crying silently while Link kept staring at them for a while.

"M-my mommy's safe…" the young Lucca sobbed. "I-I was so scared…"

"I-It won't happen ever again…I-I promise…" Taban promised.

"T-thank you…" Lara thanked her husband.

Link smiled pleased. He closed his eyes before he opened them back up and ran to Lucca's room to see if she was there, leaving the happy family behind.

Meanwhile, Lucca was at her room, sitting on her knees while she lied down her face on the bed. She had her arms around her face as she sobbed to herself. Link came from the stairs and saw Lucca sobbing. "L-Lucca!" Link said, running over to her side. "Lucca, everything's fine now! Please, don't cry! Your mother was saved!"

"I-I know…" Lucca muttered, sobbing a bit. "I-I'm not crying because I'm sad…I-I'm crying because…I…I just can't believe what happened here…" She slowly looked up and stared at the wall. "I...I'm so, but so happy…"

"…I'm glad…" Link muttered.

Lucca sniffed a bit more and took off her glasses to clean her eyes with an arm. After putting her glasses back on, she chuckled heartily and looked at Link. "Link…I…I thank you…" she muttered happily. "T-thanks to you…m-my Mom was saved…"

Link looked away. "I-I was just trying to hel-" He was interrupted by Lucca tackling him with an embrace, which caused him to blush.

"T-thank you…thank you…thank you so much…" Lucca sobbed sadly. "I can't thank you more enough… Thank you very much…thank you…"

Link was taken aback by this. The swordsman let the tinker sob a bit more before he embraced her tightly, closing his eyes in relief.

Minutes passed as Lucca kept sobbing before she eventually stopped. She stepped back from Link, smiling a bit at him. "Link…seriously, you helped me out so much by saving my Mom from becoming crippled… If you weren't here, I…I…I'd have…"

Link put his hands over Lucca's shoulders and shook his head. "Please, don't think about the bad side of the events if I wasn't here," he said. "The last thing I want to see is you crying a lot more."

"Y-you're right…" Lucca sniffed sadly. "I-I won't think about sad stuff… I need to think about the good side of things…" She closed her eyes and hugged Link once more. "Thank you…for being here with me, Link… You're the best…"

Link hugged her once more. Before he could even hug her, Lucca stepped back and blushed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"U-um, nothing," Lucca said as she blushed embarrassed. "I-I think I don't want to keep hugging you any longer… And…come to think of it…" she trailed off in thought, "wasn't this the problem you wanted to help me with?"

"It was?"

"Yes it was," Lucca said with a nod. "It was this event that totally changed my point of view towards science all together; the same event that made you bond with me… Remember? I said before that it was technically impossible for you to help me…but…" she chuckled and closed her eyes, "I'm glad I was wrong all along…"

Link smiled. "Oh yes, I forgot about that," he said. "But there's something I can't just put my finger on…"

"What?" Lucca asked before she looked at the red Gate besides the bed. "Oh…the red Gate…"

"That Gate… Did it just appear out of nowhere and conveniently took us here to the past…or was there another reason?" Link asked. "I can't say it was luck that brought us here… Somehow, I don't think it was luck at all…"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "That can't be right," she said. "It was far too convenient for this Gate to lead us here. I just know it… Something else caused this…"

"…The entity Robo talked about?"

"…May be," Lucca muttered skeptically. "And if there was an entity…why would it take us here? Did it want me to save my Mom? That 'entity' didn't have a reason to take me here, because, well, saving my Mom shouldn't affect the future that much…"

"…What if…that entity took us here as thanks for something you've done before?" Link asked. "You are all trying to save the world from this Lavos, and Robo theorized that entity wanted to witness everything in its past that it wanted to say thanks to you in the form of this red Gate. What if that entity is thanking you in advance for fighting Lavos?"

Lucca rubbed his chin. "If that's the case, then…" She shook her head and sighed. "I can't really think of a good explanation… I want to go home…in the Present, of course…"

"Don't you want to see what happens next after your Mom was saved?"

"…I'll check that in the Present," Lucca said. "Hopefully, my view towards science didn't change me…" She held out the Gate Key towards the Gate, opening it up once more. She chuckled heartily and smiled at Link. "But, even so…thank you for being here, Link."

Link smiled before the two entered the Gate and disappeared from the past.

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Fiona's Forest

Upon stepping out of the red Gate, it disappeared behind their backs. Link and Lucca exchanged happy looks before they noticed that someone was waiting for them to arrive. The two gasped after seeing Robo standing right in front of them. "R-Robo!" Lucca yelped.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" Link asked.

"Long enough after you two went inside the red Gate," Robo said. "I could hear you talking. That particular Gate was strong enough to take all sounds from its other side all the way here."

"…You heard us talk?"

"Affirmative," Robo said.

"O-oh god…" Lucca muttered.

"I am glad that things turned out okay after all," Robo said. "That was always weighing on your mind, was it not, Lucca? You are always thinking of others."

Lucca blushed. "I-I like my family and friends, Robo… Of course I always think of others…" She looked at Link and smiled a bit.

"That is a very nice trait you have," Robo remarked before he opened his body. The other two saw him taking out a glowing green orb from his circuits. He closed his body and held out the orb to them. "I have a present for you."

"Wow…what's that?" Link asked.

"It is a piece of amber I created using sap from the trees in this forest," Robo said. "It required four hundred years and a great deal of pressurization to make." He walked to Lucca and gave it to her. "I hope you will find it useful."

"Robo…" Lucca sniffed happily. "You're so sweet… Thank you…"

"Whenever I see you happy, I know I can do anything," Robo said. "Such I learned from spending time with all of you."

Lucca clasped the orb between her hands, staring intently at it. She blinked a bit as if she was thinking about something. Chuckling, the turned to Link and smiled at him. "You know, Link… I felt that I needed to show you my thanks with something else rather than thanking you with words, so… Here you go," she said as she handed over the orb to Link.

Link stared at the amber orb. "But…that's yours, Lucca," he said. "Besides, you just got that from Robo."

The tinker shook her head. "It's okay," she said. "I thank Robo for making this for me…and now I want you to keep it with you as a reward for what you did for me." She put the orb on Link's hands. "If you think about it, you're holding a four hundred-year-old artifact made by Robo. To me, it looks like it's a nice reward for all your support."

Link looked worried at the amber orb before looking at Robo. "You aren't going to object to this?" he asked.

"Negative," Robo said. "The amber will also be my own way to thank you for making Lucca happy."

"R-Robo…" Lucca sniffed.

"I do not like when you are sad, Lucca," Robo said. "Your performance drops dramatically when you are not in a good mood, and that same mood may rub on everyone else. Do you wish to be sad all the time? I do not want to see you cry, so please, be happy, Lucca. That is the only thing I ask you to do…because I would feel sad."

The tinker smiled a bit and shed tears.

Robo nodded to Link. "Please, treasure that orb, for Lucca's happiness," he said.

"…Alright," Link said, smiling at the amber orb.

Obtained Green Dream!

An orb containing pure life essence. Enables the wearer to recover once in any battle after being knocked out. Can be stacked up with other reviving abilities.

"(I had a feeling I was going to be rewarded regardless…)" Link thought before he kept the orb in his pocket, away from putting it in everyone's shared inventory.

"You did so much for me, Link…and I'm very grateful," Lucca said.

"But…" Link looked doubtful, "what about…"

"Who cares?"

Link was taken by surprise at this response, and so did Robo.

"So what if I die soon?" Lucca asked upset. "It's not like I'm just going to let some guy kill me without defending myself. Oh no, I'm going to fight back so I can live. Fate doesn't always have to be so sure about what future holds for somebody if they don't do a thing! I say screw what you heard!" Her glasses turned foggy as she adjusted them, something they had stopped doing a long while ago. "The Great Lucca ain't going to die like that! Nooooo way!"

Link chuckled heartily at Lucca's determination. The swordsman gained new hope after hearing Lucca's words. "(If people can change their fates…I guess they can change their futures to do better. Seeing Lucca like this makes me…she makes me think hope is something that can't be lost… Maybe, just maybe…she won't die at all…)"

Robo's eyes flickered. "There is the Lucca I wanted to see again," he said. "Welcome back, Lucca."

Lucca's glasses turned back to normal as she crossed her arms and grinned wide. "Hm-hmm, yup, I'm back to my usual self, alright. I missed being this enthusiastic before all this whole depressing past started…" She trailed off and sighed. "…I want to rest for today and see if my Mom did really recover tomorrow…"

Link nodded. "You go on ahead," he said. "I want to take some more air."

"Alright… Good night, Link," Lucca said.

The Hylian could've sworn the tinker whispering another "thank you" as she walked back to the camping site. Link chuckled pleased before he noticed Robo was still there, staring at him. "I have to thank you for making Lucca sure of herself again," Robo said. "I cannot thank you enough, but the amber will surely suffice, right?"

"Oh, yes," Link said.

Robo bowed to Link. "You have my eternal thanks, Link," he said. "After you leave this world, I will hope to see you again. It might not be certain that I will be with Lucca, but… If there is something that I have learned with my interactions with the others…is that hope never dies."

"Hope never dies…" Link muttered. "…Yeah, it won't die. It can't die…"

"I am glad you agree with my opinion," Robo said. "I beg your pardons, but I must go back to sleep."

"You do that."

Robo nodded and walked back to the camping site. After he was gone, Link looked up at the sky's night and sighed relieved with himself. "(…Now I can leave this world without worries… Man, that was a close call, but everything worked out in the end…)"

From behind a tree, Zelda walked in the view, making Link turn to her direction. "Link?" she said.

"Z-Zelda?" Link said surprised as Zelda carefully walked out of the bushes to get close to him. "W-what are you doing at this hour?"

Zelda looked down and sighed. "I just couldn't sleep either…" she trailed off. "I heard talking from outside. I figured out quickly that you and Lucca were talking to each other, and I…followed you two without raising suspicion I was here."

Link blushed. "O-oh, I see… U-uh…d-don't think we kissed each other because Lucca's not my type or…something like that…" he muttered embarrassed.

"Oh, no, I didn't think such a thing," Zelda chuckled heartily, looking up at Link. "I knew that you were worried about her, that's all. It just that…it hurts me to see you looking depressed most of the time…" She crossed her arms and looked away. "D-don't get the wrong idea, Link. I-I'm not trying to hint something here about you and me… You just…you're so reckless by yourself."

Link looked bored at Zelda. "Next you're going to tell me I'm misusing my courage, and that I don't use it correctly."

"No!" Zelda yelled, turning to see him again. "Would you mind asking someone else to help you next time? You can't help everyone alone! If you do that again with a person in need, ask any of us to give you a hand!" she scolded him. "Seriously, you make me worry so much about you that I don't want to put so much focus on you!"

Link stepped back. "O-oh, u-um, w-well…" he stammered. "I-if it really worries you that much, I guess I can ask you to help me in helping others…"

Zelda gasped at this and looked away once more. "W-who said anything about me helping you help others in the first place? D-don't put words in my mouth, please," she muttered embarrassed.

"…But it was kind of obvious that you want to help me next time I get in a problem like this," Link said. "I'm sorry if I did make you worry about me, Zelda… I apologize."

The princess swallowed her breath to pull herself together. She grunted a bit and turned back to Link. "W-well, you're not jesting this time, so…" she raised a finger, "next time, ask me for ideas to help others. Don't take everything for yourself, Link. Share it with me next time. I just know no one else is going to mind this as much as I do, but ask me for my advice next time…you got that?"

Link chuckled and nodded. "Fine, I'll ask you for advice. After all, you are a princess of a kingdom; my home. Getting advice from you will surely be helpful to me."

"I-ah-well…y-yes, certainly," Zelda said, putting up a nervous smile. "As a citizen of my kingdom, you have the right to ask me to solve your conflicts. I will do anything in my power to provide you with the best suggestions. I am not Hyrule's ruler for nothing."

"Show off," Link teased.

"W-watch your mouth, Link!" Zelda said upset while Link laughed a bit. "I-I'll have you know that I can throw you in prison for mocking me! I don't care if you have the Triforce of Courage in you!" Oddly enough, she started chuckling while threatening Link to a sentence to prison. "Y-you don't believe, do you? I-It's settled! I'll throw you to the dungeon once you set foot in Hyrule again!"

The two Hylians broke into laughs, breaking the silence in the forest. After some good laughs, the two stopped and smiled at each other.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Zelda," Link said. "I can always count on you when I'm in trouble."

"It's the same in my case," Zelda said. "But either way, I'm glad to hear you saying that, Link."

Their moment of calm peace was going to be broken soon.

From the camping site's direction, a drowsy Marle made her way to their area. She yawned loudly, but not enough for them to hear her. "Man, all this depressing stuff is bugging me…" she groaned. "I need to find something to entertain me…" She looked forward and saw Zelda and Link standing directly in front of each other.

Since Marle's point of view had Zelda, right in front of a smiling Link, under the night, alone in the middle of the forest, and away from the camp, those facts alone set off so many possible reasons behind their private meeting that piqued Marle's interest. A sly smile formed in her lips.

And soon, excitement took over her.

Chrono Cross – Optimism

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Link and Zelda turned towards Marle, hearing her ear-shattering squeal from afar. "M-Marle?" they both said shocked.

"Oh gosh, oh my, I saw it all now!" Marle squealed with glee. "You two, alone in the forest, during the night, away from the camp, smiling at each other…"

The four facts made both Hylians feel heavy. They felt even heavier when they remembered Marle was the one who mentioned said facts. By now, it was easy to tell Marle was going to tease them like she had ever done before. "W-wait just a minute!" Zelda called out. "T-this isn't what you think it is!"

"I-it's a big misunderstanding!" Link said. "Please, for Nayru's sake, we aren't certainly i-"

"Say what you two lovebirds want to say, but it's sooooooooo obvious to me now," Marle said playfully. She turned around and folded her arms behind her head. "Times like this calls for desperate measures."

Link and Zelda exchanged worried looks.

"Gotta spread the word to everyone at once!" she said before running off.

Zelda screamed aloud while Link grabbed his head. The princess stopped screaming and looked at Link. "W-we've got to stop her from spreading such blasphemy in this world! I will never feel so sure of myself if this misunderstanding DOES get spread here!"

"W-why worry?" Link asked, forcing a smile. "S-she can't do that…"

"Idiot, if you forgot, she is a princess!"

"Oh no, that changes the whole subject!" Link said.

"What are you doing standing there doing nothing? Give her chase at once!"

"H-hey, wait a minute. You're ordering me like you did with the fro-"

"Ugh!" Zelda grunted and gave Marle chase.

"W-wait! I-I didn't say I wasn't going to stop her!" Link shouted as he decided to run after Zelda.

The whole night turned out to be so embarrassing in the end. Link and Zelda were too slow to catch up with Marle, the latter waking everyone to tell what she (supposedly) saw with her own eyes. After Link and Zelda caught with her, they were bombarded with questions about what they did after they were left alone, much to their dismay.

It was going to be very hard to clear those rumors the Guardia princess made to tease them.

Music stops

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

"Why must you torture us both before we leave?" Zelda asked.

"You're still bothered?" Marle asked before chuckling. "Gotta make cherished memories while I can," Marle said with a wink.

"B-but not like this!"

The Smashers were standing right in front of Crono's group. Most of them looked sad to leave, while others were glad that they were able to accomplish their missions. Lucca had told his team not to worry about her anymore since her matters were all resolved thanks to Link. Her enthusiasm brought her group some joy enough to make them all feel relieved.

"Fate can be cruel and nice," Frog said, closing his eyes. "It is fate that brings people together, making them create bonds with one another. While those bonds' owners might some day perish, their bonds keep living on, shattering the sadness such as the one when you see your allies part ways with you. No matter how far they are from each other, they remain connected through their bonds…as fate itself dictates so."

"That was one heck of a philosophical good bye…" Sonic muttered, scratching his ear.

Frog opened his eyes and smiled. "You would expect such good bye from me," he said. "If you want me to put it simpler, then, it's a shame that you will part ways with us here."

"However, it's understandable," Magus said. "Each group has their own matters to attend to, and those manners can't be combined. And so, we have to return to our paths to take care of everything."

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "I do think it's a shame we'll leave, but it was very worthwhile to be here." He held out his hand to Magus, who shook it firmly. "Thank you for telling me about the dark arts."

Magus chuckled. "Likewise," he said.

Frog cordially shook hands with Meta Knight. "My friend, I wish you the best of luck," he said. "If you ever come back here, we shall say hi by engaging into a clash of swords."

"I will do that," Meta Knight said. "Your Masamune is certainly a very interesting sword to spar with."

"And I could not disapprove of your Galaxia," Frog said. 'Thanks to you, I have hopes in finding other swordsmen with legendary swords. If I do not meet any, then you shall be forever called my worthy rival besides Crono."

"You will, too, be a worthy rival," Meta Knight said, chuckling together with Frog.

Ayla gave DK a neck-breaking hug that made him gasp for breath. The ape, however, managed to keep smiling at her. "Ayla sad DK leave," Ayla said. "DK come back soon! Ayla have much fun with DK!"

"Y-yeah, I-I'll come back to have some fun with you," DK said, avoiding gasping for air. "Y-you be safe now, okay?"

Ayla let go of DK, the latter swallowing as much air as he could. "Promise is good! DK make Ayla feel strong! Ayla never bored with DK!" she encouraged, playfully hitting his right arm.

DK's lips made a wavelike motion as he went ahead and hugged Ayla tightly. "G-good bye, Ayla…" he sniffed.

Ayla chuckled and patted his back while smiling. A single tear strolled down her cheek while DK sobbed a bit.

"Do take care of yourselves," Robo said.

"Same here," Espio said. "It was nice knowing this world with all of you."

"I am grateful for that. You helped us a lot." Robo turned to Falco. "But, if it is not much, I would like you to call me by my name for once. Calling me 'Steel Can' is such a degrading name for my series."

"Okay, okay," Falco shrugged as shook Robo's hand. "Take of yourself too…"

"Ahem," Robo faked a cough.

"Robo," Falco added with a grunt.

Espio sighed. "Must you be so rude?" he asked.

"I'm just used to call certain people names, but…I guess I had no real reason in calling Robo like that," Falco said.

"You did," Robo said. "You were angry at me for stating facts that showed the contradictions that you usually thought were right because you did not possess the trut-"

"F-fine, I get it now! Geez!" Falco said annoyed, crossing his arms. Espio chuckled at this while Robo bowed to Falco.

Sonic shook hands with Crono. "Nice knowing you," he said with a grin.

Chip shook the red-haired swordsman's hand next. "You're so silent, but you're so cool," he said. "Maybe it's time for me to change clothes to show you how cool you are to me!"

"No, no, no, no," Sonic disagreed. "It's not the time for you to change titles once more. Stay dressed as the plumber guy for a little while longer."

"Aww, Sonic, you like me dressed like this? Well, if you say so…"

Crono merely seemed to chuckle at this while Chris shook his hand. "I-I'll see if we can come back here later," Chris said. "Good luck, okay?"

Crono nodded and gave Chris a thumb up.

"(During this whole problem with Froggy, Crono never dared say a word…)" Chris thought. "(I'm starting to think he really is silent… I feel sorry for him…)"

Crono gave a confused look to Chris.

"O-oh, don't worry. I was just thinking about something else," Chris said.

Lucca went ahead and hugged Link. "I'll never forget what you did for me, Link," she muttered with a sniff. "Thank you very much for everything you've done…"

Link hugged Lucca. "Take care of yourself, okay?" he asked.

"I will…and you too, please…"

Link looked up to the infinite darkness where he recalled the event before they came to the End of Time.

Flashback

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Lucca's House

Chrono Trigger – Time to Rest – After the Battle

Standing right on the stairs to Lara's room, Link saw Lucca dropped to her knees while hugging her mother. Lara was away from the chair she was supposedly forced to stay sitting forever. The space between the floor and her dress became a thing of a forgotten past since she now had the legs she had lost before. Lara was confused about why Lucca was crying for no reason, but she didn't see how big Lucca's smile was.

"M-Mom…" Lucca sniffed happily.

"L-Lucca, why are you crying?" Lara asked confused.

"I-it's nothing important…" Lucca muttered. "I-I'm just glad you're okay…"

Lara, though confused, smiled and knelt down to embrace her daughter in a warm hug. Link chuckled to himself and turned away from them. He walked down the stairs and climbed up the stairs to Lucca's room where he found a note sticking out from under the bed. He picked the note, and found out it was actually a diary.

Jul 2nd, 990

That was close. I think I'd better study a little more about machines in case anything like that ever happens again.

"Lucca…" Link trailed off with a sigh. He smiled at the note. However, another line was under the first line he read.

Come to think of it. I think machines do look interesting in a fun sort of way. Maybe I can make new toys for myself to play? I hope I can make a living out of this. Daddy, I hope you're not mad at me for not knowing the password.

I'm still wondering how the machine even stopped. I don't think it just stopped by itself… Oh well, whoever stopped the machine…from the bottom of my heart…thank you.

Link turned around to see Lucca standing behind him. She took the note he found and read its contents. She chuckled happily and smiled at Link. "Even though my memories of the past are changing to new ones where I don't feel so sad anymore, I do still remember what you did, Link," she said.

"So, in the end, changing the past had no severe effects to the future…" Link said.

Lucca chuckled. "It's better this way, don't you think?"

"Yes…it is."

End of Flashback

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

The two stopped hugging each other. They both chuckled heartily together while Marle and Zelda watched them from a small distance. "Look at those two," Marle said. "They're both happy now."

'It's for the best," Zelda said relieved. "At long last, Link will be himself."

"And that also goes for Ms. Mad Scientist as well," Marle said. She smiled and looked at Zelda. "Now you go easy on him, okay?"

Zelda instantly blushed. "M-Marle, why would you think there's something else between Link and me?" she asked.

"Meh, even though you don't admit it, you two have a thing for each other," Marle said with a wink. "In the future, you'll see how my vision comes true. And when that happens, be sure to send me an invitation to your wedding."

Zelda pressed her brow. "Are you sure you are a princess?" she asked.

"Sadly, I am," Marle said with a small laugh. "Ooh, I'll send you and the others invitations to visit my kingdom! Maybe then, you can attend my wedding with Crono!"

Zelda lowered her hand from her brow and smiled hopefully. "Will I get to speak to your father?" she asked interested.

"Well, you're part of a royal blood lineage, so I guess," Marle said. "But you better bring us a gift!"

Zelda chuckled and hugged Marle, who in turn did the same. "Thank you, though. It was very nice of you to worry about me," she muttered.

"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

"I-isn't there a less disgusting way to say something like that?"

"Fine," Marle said, rolling her eyes. "Somebody has to look after another person, right?"

"You're right," Zelda said as both stepped back and smiled at each other.

Sonic told Chris to open the portal to the mansion. The Smashers stepped back from the other group. "It's time," Frog said. "Do be careful in your journey."

Meta Knight nodded and turned around, walking into the portal. "I wish the same to you," he muttered.

Mewtwo and Magus shared a single nod, the first floating back into the portal. Magus crossed his arms and grinned a bit. "I thank you for letting me know someone like you," he muttered.

"(Thank you for everything,)" Mewtwo spoke telepathically to Magus' mind. The psychic user disappeared into the portal while hiding a small smile from the sorcerer.

Ayla sniffed a bit and decided to give DK a kiss. The ape's eyes shrunk as he fainted on the spot, blushing madly at the kiss. Laughing a bit, Ayla dragged him and tossed the Kong into the portal, dusting off her hands. "DK always fun!" she said, shedding a tear as she stared at the portal. "Good bye…"

Robo waved at Falco and Espio, who also waved at him. "Take care, you heard me?" Falco told Robo with a wink.

"Don't forget our experiences together. I will certainly treasure them," Espio said as both left from the hall.

"…I have friends from other worlds… I could not be happier knowing this," Robo muttered to himself.

Sonic, Chris, and Chip waved at Crono as they all entered the portal. The World Traveler looked away from him and sighed. "He never said a word at all…" he muttered.

"Sonic could learn a thing or four from him," Chip whispered.

"Hey, I heard that little whisper!" Sonic complained.

Crono overheard some laughs from the other side of the portal. He frowned and sighed, staring at the portal with a grin on his face.

Lucca and Marle stared at Link and Zelda, each one of them sharing one last hug. They stepped back from each other, the three girls wiping out some tears from her eyes. "Don't you ever think about dying, okay?" Marle sniffed. "You two already are my b-best friends from other worlds. If you get hurt so badly, I'm not going to be there to heal you!" She sobbed a bit and hugged Lucca, who patted her back as she smiled at the Hylians.

"I'm going to be just fine," Lucca said. "Please, you be safe too."

"We will," Link said.

Zelda patted Marle's back, getting the Guardia princess' attention. "Be strong," she whispered to her.

"T-thanks…" Marle whispered, causing Zelda to shed another tear.

Link walked to the portal while keeping looking at Lucca. The tinker smiled as Zelda then followed Link, doing the same. As the Hylians waved their hands to the group, they entered the portal before it vanished into a small blink of light. A little while later, the blink of light faded away.

"And they're gone…" Gaspar said from the lamppost. "Time may entwine other worlds, connecting the fates of many other people together with others… Well, this is just an old man's opinion. However, I do think it's the time to say such an opinion, wouldn't you say?"

Lucca sighed and took out a photo from her pocket, a photo she herself suggested the others to take before the Smashers would leave.

In order, the photo displayed from left to right Sonic, Falco, Robo, Chip, Chris, Crono, Zelda, Link, Lucca, Marle, DK, Ayla, Mewtwo, Magus, and Espio. Most of them were grinning, while others were smiling with happy looks. On the center, Lucca saw herself giving a peace sign with left hand while hanging her right arm over Link's arms, the swordsman laughing.

"(With this photo…and my own memories…I'll never forget any of you, especially Link…)" Lucca thought as she shed a tear.

Crono walked to Lucca and patted her shoulder. The swordsman grinned at her.

"Thanks, man," Lucca said. "I just knew you were going to cheer me up."

"Well, of course I was going to. Besides Marle, you need to have my support."

Music stops

Marle abruptly stopped crying and looked at Crono. Frog turned to look up at Crono. Robo twisted his head to Crono. Ayla quickly did a sharp turn to see Crono. Magus raised an eyebrow and looked at Crono. Lucca blinked shocked at Crono. Gaspar raised his hat a bit and looked at Crono. Everyone looked at Crono, who gasped at this and backed away.

It was the first time many of them had heard Crono say a full sentence. This came as a complete surprise that took everyone by surprise…except for one person who knew better than any of them.

"…HA!" Lucca broke the silence with a yell, pointing a finger to the red-haired swordsman. "You thought you were going to win this, but I was SO sure you were going to forget saying a single word! Nobody can really stay silent for a long while, not even you, Crono!"

Chrono Trigger – Jolly Ol' Spekkio

Crono shook his head quickly. "H-hey, you can't be serious! I-I simply…" Crono stammered.

Lucca's glasses turned foggy. "Sorry, Crono, but you ran out of luck now! You speak, you lose, and I win. That's how it is, but you couldn't avoid cheering me up, huh? Who would've thought I'd get you like this?"

The red-haired swordsman looked upset. "T-that's unfair! I-I refuse to accept defeat!" He crossed his arms and looked away.

Frog, confused at what was going on, turned to Lucca. "Sorry for intruding in this conversation, but…Crono just said a full sentence. I thought this swordsman was just a good listener who did not talk at all, and I know all people I know can talk. It is a bit shocking to see him talk…but…what is this about Lucca winning?" he asked.

Lucca adjusted her foggy glasses. "Well, Crono and I made a bet before the Millennial Fair started. We dared each other. The dare was that he was going to be silent during the whole week the fair lasts. If he managed to avoid uttering a single word, I would lose, and I'd have to allow him see my super-top-secret machines I have at my house," she explained. "Since we were interrupted to save the world from Lavos, I told him that we could cancel the bet, but he was serious about winning. And, practically, the fair is still going, so he had a point."

"…And…what did you achieve for winning?" Robo asked.

"If Crono said a word, I would make him work for me to get exclusive materials, becoming my little slave," Lucca said with dark chuckle. "And guess what happened now? He lost and I won. So now, Crono will have to be my little assistant to fetch me materials around the world that people can't get so easily."

"…And can he really do that?" Marle asked interested.

"Oh, heck yes," Lucca said. "Why, I even built a boat for him to travel."

Crono grunted and looked at Lucca. "Fine, you win the bet," he said. "At least our time period doesn't have that many monsters…"

Lucca kept staring intently at Crono with her foggy glasses. She was particularly interested in two words Crono said to her, which were time and period.

"…Lucca, don't you get any crazy ideas now," Crono warned her.

"Sorry, but as my little assistant, you'll have to do some world tours and fetch me all the materials I need to construct my impossible-to-do inventions," Lucca said. "Do you like time-travelling? Well, guess what, you're going to do just that!"

Crono smacked his palms, looking worried at Lucca. "Please, don't make me do that now. D-do that after we beat Lavos!" he pleaded.

Lucca looked at the others. "Did I mention that some of those materials might come in handy against Lavos?" she asked with a smirk. "I only know where to find those."

"Ooh, in that case, I support the bet!" Marle brightened up, shocking Crono.

"We must take advantage of this. It will allow Crono to do some exercise as well," Frog said, making Crono gap his mouth.

"Crono has the most stamina out of us. I agree with this decision," Robo calculated, Crono shaking his head.

"Go, Crono, go! Ayla believe Crono!" Ayla encouraged while Crono gritted his teeth.

"Y-you guys are impossible!" Crono complained.

"No buts, mister!" Lucca said as she waved a finger. "You were so cunning when those guys were here, I admit. However, your luck ran out." She pointed towards the Epoch direction as she gave him a scroll full of different names depicting materials from all eras. "Your vessel's waiting for you."

"G-gah!" Crono grunted. "Y-you all can't be serious! I-I know you're just trying to use me for your selfish goals!"

Frog smiled sheepishly. "I do not recall us doing such a thing. Sir Crono, do not put words in our mouths!" he faked forgiveness.

"Now, now, you go get 'em, Crono," Marle playfully teased. "C'mon, you can do it!"

As Crono was arguing with the happy bunch of people that supposedly were his friends, Gaspar looked around to see that Magus was looking away from the group, standing on a corner of the hall.

The sorcerer was thinking about the mysterious Gate that appeared in the hall while they were fighting the Shadow Nightmare. He narrowed his eyes and looked up. "(That Gate's magic…while being unknown, I sensed a familiar kind of magic flowing out of it…)" He smiled a bit and looked solemnly at the darkness. "(Thank you for letting me know you are still alive somewhere…my sister…)"

-?-

?

Chrono Trigger – Schala's Theme

Meanwhile, in an unknown place where infinite darkness swirled around while colors of all sorts formed voids of time and space, a huge purple spawn, presumably the frequently mentioned Lavos, lied between all the voids in space.

Like all Lavos Spawns found in Death Peak, Lavos looked the same except for the fact that it was bigger. On top of its spines, a meek girl with long blue hair who wore violet garments was floating inside a bubble of light. The girl looked exhausted, as the bubble of light was a prison that Lavos set to trap her inside. Thanks to the girl trapped inside, Lavos tried to rob her of her sanity to become one with her.

The girl was the lost Schala.

Schala Zeal is the daughter of the Queen Zeal and older sister to Janus (Magus). Unlike any other resident of the Kingdom of Zeal, Schala has the most powerful magic that is rumored to overwhelm her mother's magic. Her magic is so powerful that she can seal Gates, control powerful machines, and teleport people. After the fall of Zeal, Schala was taken away by Lavos to use her to control space and time.

The girl, although weak, was holding her hands close together to create a small vortex to see the group back at the End of Time laughing at Crono. Schala chuckled once she fixed her sight on Magus, who smiled to the sky. "I…I did it…Janus…" she muttered. "It was so hard for me to do it…but I couldn't let your new friends die at the hands of someone else… My powers are… They are weakening as time goes by… Soon, this Lavos will alter my thoughts, and I'll wish all humanity pure destruction and despair…"

Schala clasped her hands together, making the vortex disappear. Her long blue hair suddenly started turning blond, slowly turning shorter and shorter.

"Even though the Lavos you are fighting is not the one who holds me…I have faith that someone else will come to save me from this prison…" As she spoke, her body seemed to grow younger. Her violet clothes were soon replaced by a simple long white shirt. "Those people who came from another world where Lavos can't take over…I thank them for giving you some company… I have some plans to do if you can defeat Lavos sooner, but I still keep thinking about them… I don't know if this will come true, but…I have a hunch that those people will come to this world in the future… Maybe then, they will protect the other half of myself…and help put an end to Lavos…"

Darkness soon covered both Lavos and Schala as she shed a tear that floated inside the bubble, shattering into glittering drops.

"Janus…hang in there... I trust that the people you met will help you again… Until then…farewell…"

Chrono Trigger – Fanfare 1 (Lucca's Theme)

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have received 7000 Smash Coins!

All Learned Abilities Have Been Forgotten.

TO BE CONTINUED…

-Smash Channel-

"As always, welcome back to anoth-"

Before Chris could have a chance to start the special block, the screen was covered by a black screen falling down. Over the screen, Marle and Lucca appeared from the sides. Marle looked particularly upset. "Okay, this is how it ends? Bummer! I wanted to make something special instead of being interviewed!" she complained.

"Um, Marle, I think you made all this happen because you wanted us to do experience with…endings?" she said confused.

Marle snapped her fingers. "Of course!" she said. "Okay, can we break the fourth wall legally here?"

"I…guess?"

"Sweet!" Marle said before opening her arms. "Since I AM in charge of this little space, I'm gonna show you guys one of the best charms Chrono Trigger can offer you." She signaled Lucca to get excited and ask something.

Lucca sighed and faked excitement. "Ooh, Marle, what'd that be?" she asked.

"There's only one thing that stands out in Chrono Trigger, and that is…endings!" Marle said. "Yup, that's right. Turns out this fiction's arc will have its own made-up endings! It will mainly involve defeating Lavos because, well, everything goes nuts after defeating it because the Gates would disappear, thus rendering us from changing anything and stay with an unchangeable time. So then, wouldn't it be funny if we had different endings taking place after specific times during the arc...and watch ALL of them?"

"Ooh, I bet they could be fun to see!" Lucca said, faking excitement.

"Don't worry about this being so long, though. These endings are short! They're just gonna have some lines describing the events in a nutshell with the Smasher guys! However, let's pretend the guys never got Froggy or the stuff we needed to get back, thus sealing off our future." She cleared her throat and snapped her fingers at Lucca. "Lucca, give us the honors and show the slides while I play the video."

Lucca sighed and took out a slide with a description.

Ending #1 – King Dalton the Great

Defeat Lavos after meeting Dalton BUT running away before he gets the chance to screw up and warp away somewhere else. That guy has some mental issues…

"…Marle, were you the one who added that extra line?" Lucca asked as Marle was shown standing next to a Blu-ray player.

"So what if I did?" Marle asked as she turned the player on. "I personally wrote them all. Time to see what happens here, everyone, so let's get started!"

-12,000 B.C. – Antiquity-

Village Commons

In the middle of the village, there was Dalton laughing in triumph as the people cheered loudly, throwing confetti to the air. "Haaaaaaaaaaaa-hahahahaha! Thank you, my dear subordinates, thank you!" he thanked everyone before smirking. "Thank you so much for deeming me as your true and only ruler! Together, we will shape our new future starting today!"

Dalton walked on top of a set of stairs where somebody was being hung up from his throat with a rope. The person turned out to be Falco, who shot Dalton with a death glare. Falco's hands were tied up behind his back as he struggled to break free and slit Dalton's throat. "How the heck did it come down to this?" Falco asked.

"Fool, my kingdom doesn't need to have foul-mouthed birds like you!" Dalton proclaimed. "Anyone who mocks me is penalized…with death!"

Falco grunted loudly and turned to Espio, who wore worn out clothes and a black hood over his head that covered his face. "Y-you, help me here before I get strangled to death with this rope!"

"Sorry, Falco, but anybody who defies our Great King Dalton needs to die," Espio said. "King Dalton knows the way to the future. King Dalton knows best. Out of everyone who realized that King Dalton is true ruler, you are the only traitor."

"Y-you all are traitors! Everything is upside down!" Falco argued.

Dalton smirked and raised a hand. "Let the fool fall to his demise!" he proclaimed as the people cheered loudly.

Espio grabbed a rope besides him and hung down his head. "Nice knowing you, Falco," he muttered as he pulled down the rope, promptly hanging Falco down by his throat.

"…Eww, talk about a gruesome ending for our cool-looking bird guy… Oh well, he had it coming," Marle muttered outside the scene as she stopped it from continuing. "Lucca, next one, please!"

Ending #2 – Frog Banquet

Defeat Lavos after finding out frogs have become (yuck) the best meal in the world in the Antiquity. I know there are parts of the world where people DO eat frogs, but…yuck…

-The End of Time-

Hall of Break

Everyone was sitting around a big table as Marle and Crono carried a big plate with a dead, roasted Frog. Most of them licked their lips after seeing the appetizing food being brought over the table. After setting the corpse…I mean, the meal on the center, everyone clasped their hands and closed their eyes. "We thank our lord for giving us the chance to gather and eat together as a big family with this succulent meal before us," Marle said. "Let our dear friends leave with their stomachs full, and wish them the best of luck."

After that, everyone literally ripped out the meal's parts to eat calmly while talking with each other.

"I…I can't believe I'm about to eat a friend…a f-frog…" Chris trailed off before sniffing sadly. "W-why did things turn out like this? What did we do wrong?"

"I don't know," said Chip as he held Frog's head with a tomato stuck up in his mouth. "Oh, are you gonna eat that frog breast?"

"Stay away from my frog breast, it's mine!" Chris said as he practically started devouring the meal on his plate with his forks.

"…I have no comments for this ending," Marle said disgusted.

"Neither do I… But then again, you're the one who was curious," Lucca pointed out. "In a way, you're responsible of this."

"Meh, next ending, please."

"Sheesh, you're doing this just because you want to go on ahead…"

Ending #3 - Happy Frog Revolution Peace Guards Association Unite!

Defeat Lavos after Lucca tells you about the sappy movement of equal rights to frogs she is holding.

-1000 A.D. – Present-

Truce Village

"I demand my OWN rights to protect our amphibian friends!" shouted Lucca as she, Crono, DK, Chris, Chip, Sonic, and Link were being escorted away from town, all tied together with handcuffs to the castle while guards surrounded them. "This is a serious violation to all of us!"

"Lucca, please, stop!" Link pleaded from behind the line. "You shouldn't have gone crazy and started shooting at people who were stomping on some frogs on the shore!"

Chip started crying. "Now my brother will destroy everyone while I rot inside a stinky, dinky cell!" he cried.

"That also means no more chocolate for you…" Sonic trailed off.

The imp's eyes widened at this. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOO-HOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Lucario…please wait for me for the next ten years while I serve my sentence in prison…" Chris sniffed sadly.

"D-Diddy…" DK sobbed sadly.

"You people will pay for this!" Lucca proclaimed as they entered the castle. "Racism against frogs shall come to an end one of these days! Mark my words, imbeciles, mark them all!"

"I just LOVE Frog Revolutionist Lucca," Marle laughed a bit.

"I just HATE that particular ending… Next one, please…" Lucca said with a sigh.

Ending #4 – Laser Eyes of DEATH!

Defeat Lavos after escaping certain DEATH from the Laser Eyes Flock Birds that almost killed us all.

"…Marle, the video's not playing," Lucca pointed out before the video played a text. The tinker read it aloud. "After the defeat of Lavos, the group went back to the present and was massacred by a flock of birds that shot lasers at them nonstop before eating their insides…"

"Oh, look, the video does have a scene," Marle said.

The scene simply showed all of them appearing in Truce Village, just in time to witness a big flock of birds shooting a gigantic laser that obliterated everyone, the village, and the castle. Screams filled the continent as a gigantic blast engulfed the whole place and extended all the way down to the world. Next, the scene went blurry.

"…" Marle gapped her mouth in shock while Lucca did the same.

"…" Lucca, silently, showed the next slide as the video resumed.

Ending #5 – The Day Fish Men Altered the Future (Fish Wars: The Empire Strikes Back…Again)

Defeat Lavos after fighting the weird fish men in the Middle Ages.

-2300 A.D. – Future-

Skies

An epic battle of flying ships ensued over the populated land. The main fleet was made up by humans with robots while the enemy fleet, entirely composed of fish-looking ships was made up of fish men.

On the left area of the skies, Robo professionally flew his ship as he took down several groups of fish ships. "Soldier Robo taking down as many enemies as possible," he said. "How are things on your end, roger?"

"Dandy," Falco called over, his ship being a modern version of an Arwing. "Just took a big one with some bombs. I'm having one heck of a wild time here, roger!"

"Do not take this as some sort of fun time. Many human lives are at stake here!" Robo said as his fighter shook violently. "I need your assistance over here at once! Enemies are ganging up on me, roger!"

"Roger that!" Falco said. "(Gosh, this is the best thing ever. There's no vulpine guy giving me orders all the time, and I can do anything I want here. Gotta love being a freelance mercenary for other universes,)" he thought pleased as he yelled a long, "YEEEEEEEHAAAAAW!"

"I dunno. This one is sort of a mixed bag for me," Marle said.

"I think I can agree with that… But even so, those high-technical ships looked so damn AWESOME, I swear!"

"Lucca…"

"O-oh, sorry, moving on…"

Ending #6 – Reptite Friendship

Defeat Lavos after meeting the Reptites in the Prehistory, but without killing them.

There was a very drastic alternation to this ending. Marle and Lucca witnessed how that little change altered so many things in the future.

"…Dude, everyone, even ME, is a frickin' Reptite," Marle said.

"How can you complain about that? I mean, just look at the whole mess! Basically, the whole arc is repeated EXCEPT for the fact you, me, and even Magus is a Reptite! Let's fast forward it… Oh god… The three Reptites are humans instead."

"You've got to admit Link is being nice to a Reptite. I mean, they're so evil, but he's got the attention of that plum-haired one."

"Marle, the Reptite you're referring to is supposedly me."

"Nah, it can't be. Why, it dresses like you, bu-"

"Marle, that's how I know it's me!"

"Alright, alright, it's you! It was just a joke!"

"Ugh, whatever… Well, ain't this cute. This is the last ending we have."

Ending #7 – Mr. Explosivo

This ending doesn't involve defeating Lavos at all. Rather, have Link screw up the moment he tries to save Lara. This is pretty much some sort of ending since, well…find out by yourself.

-990 – The Past-

Lucca's House

"His one true love is…Lara…" Link muttered. "T-that must be the password to stop this stupid machine!" He looked serious and began typing…slow. He never took an interest to type on a computer before, let alone a keyboard that wasn't attached to one. His forehead sweated as he tried to find the four keys to spell Lara's name. "U-um…L…A…R…A…" he spelled out. He pressed a button, and the letters were erased. "H-hey, the letters were all erased… Dammit, I pressed delete!" he cursed.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Lara screamed loudly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Link screamed louder as he searched for the keys once more and, for once, pressed the "Enter" key to input the password.

However, besides the "Enter" key, Link accidentally pressed a red button…

Outside

Before the girls' eyes, the house suddenly blew up into pieces, killing Link, Lucca, her young self, and Lara. The explosion was so big that it reached Taban, who was seeding the files in front of the burning house. At the time the fast explosion took place, Taban didn't even react in time to look at his house. He was humming and smiling to himself, the last thing he did as the explosion reached his back and promptly vaporized him, along with the same field he was seeding. The sky was filled with smoke that alerted the villagers of a fire taking place in the island. Chaos ensued as the fire covered the whole island as the villagers frantically tried to put off the fire before it could reach the village.

"…Oh…my…crazy….god…" Lucca muttered in shock.

"…Um…that was…unexpected…" Marle muttered in shock. She shifted her eyes as Lucca kept staring at the screen. "Oh, look at the time! We ran out just now. It's time for us to go for now! Lucca, do you want to say something?"

"…" Lucca looked like she was going to be paralyzed for a long time.

"…G-good bye!" Marle called out as she waved a hand, the black background lifting up to show the red curtain in front of Chris's counter in the channel.

"…What just happened?" Chris asked from behind the curtains. "I'm pretty sure I was supposed to do this… Oh, whatever, you people. See you next time!" Chris yelled.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Chrono Trigger – Zeal Palace" is a song reference to the same game. It plays whenever you enter the palace. What a really creepy theme…

-"Chrono Cross – Edge of Death" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays with most boss battles. The sweat, the danger, everything is at stake here! Fight, fight, fight!

-"Chrono Trigger – Depths of the Night" is a song reference to the same game. It first plays when you beat Azala in the Tyranno Lair while Lavos comes from the space and BLOWS UP the whole place. Yes, it's sad that you'll be crushed by a big bug.

-"Chrono Cross - The Girl Who Stole the Stars" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during tearful moments, particularly reminiscing events that took place before the game starts. It's also called "Star-stealing Girl" in some sources.

-"Chrono Trigger – Time to Rest – After the Battle" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during the credits, and in the DS version, shows a slideshow with artwork done by Akira Toriyama. You'll probably memorize this track if you are seeking to obtain all endings…

-"Chrono Trigger – Schala's Theme" is a special song reference to the same game. It always plays when the sweet-hearted Schala acts behind everyone's orders. As a side note, Schala is the most important person to the whole Chrono series in general.

-"Chrono Trigger – Fanfare 1 (Lucca's Theme)" is a special song reference to the same game. It plays the first time you rescue Queen Lenne, but for some reason, it actually plays often when you talk to Lucca to take her with you in your party, as such, this fanfare is referred to as Lucca's theme. Shame the game doesn't have a fanfare when you win fights, but it's okay all the same.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-"Chrono Trigger – Fanfare 1 (Lucca's Theme)" is probably the best track that has been alive in the sequel. It has two more remixes: a calm one, and a glorious one. Needless to say, this is probably one of the best fanfares you'll ever get to hear.

WHEW! This arc ended very nicely.

The reason why I wanted the Shadow Nightmare battle to be shorter was the turmoil that Link was going through with Lucca's death. It looked a bit too risky to have them have a happy conclusion right after the battle, so that's why I extended the ending with Link actually going back to the past with Lucca. This was a little bit sort of obvious since the previous chapter has the group go to the Sunken Desert, which after clearing, activates the event in the game as well.

So yeah, that's the reason. :)

After so many arcs, after finally being done with Chrono Trigger, it's time for the main plot to thicken…after the next Mansion Chapter, of course. Everything after the next Mansion Chapter is going to be darker than ever. Why? We're reaching the moment of fate at last…but that moment of fate will take some more chapters, of course. So please, enjoy the next chapters of the saga. :D

The poll in the profile has been closed. Check the results of the next Mansion Chapter theme.

I encourage all Lucca fanatics to review. :)

…Or Ending #7 will be the real ending, thus ending Link's life. You know what this means, right? Zelda will have to love Ike.

Zelda: Of course I will lo-w-wait a minute!

Ike: Wait, wh-

A blue circle appeared on top of the black background, showing Master Hand looking at Team Chaotix. "What do you mean you're still going to be here?" Master Hand asked.

"Technically, Froggy was never saved," Espio pointed out. "That means we still have the right to stay here with all of you."

"Yeah!" Vector said. "It was part of our deal, so stick with it!"

"Ugh, you people are just…" Master Hand cursed as he floated away.

Vector followed the hand out of the circle. "You show us our rooms now!" he demanded.

Charmy poked Espio's stomach a bit. Annoyed at this, Espio said, "Charmy, you're too late if you think I still have gas left."

"Aww!" Charmy groaned loudly before the circle closed.
*Chapter 178*: Days of Meetings

Whee, this chapter came out much faster. :D

From ngrey651: I did NOT see this coming. I guess it must be a hard burden that Link carries. But to be fair, Link...saving people is a two-way street. They have to at least try to take the hand you reach out to them...and if they don't...you didn't fail them.

They failed themselves. (Deep, huh? And really, excellent, excellent chapter)

From me: Ooh, who would've thought there was so much meaning to helping people? I'm starting to see how he must've felt in Twilight Princess, seeing people trapped in the Twilight Realm. Thanks fore reviewing. :)

From Luigi Time: This was, like always, an excellent chapter. I like how this Shadow Nightmare battle was somewhat different from the others as it wasn't solved immediately after the fight. I've got to admit, you're very good at making emotional scenes. The scene with Lucca's mother almost got me in tears when she was saved.

Too bad Froggy got captured by Subspace again. I hope he'll be saved soon for Big's (and his own)mental sake. I hope Big doesn't find out (or had watched in the mansion) of what almost happened to Froggy sometimes what the Smashers had to prevent (like Froggy almost being eaten, a lot). I loved how Chrono talked at the end of the story. I was already wondering if you were going to do that. It seemed, by how the arc ended, that the group is really returning to them someday. I wonder if has to do with Chrono Cross...

I like how Shadow Link's personality was. Actually, I like how all Shadow Nightmare's personalities are, lol. For some reason Shadow Link sounded a bit emo or gothic, or was that just me? xD

Anyway, I'm once again looking forward to your next chapter and I hope it won't take as long as this chapter took to make (although I would be glad when it came is it comes out as great as almost all your chapters xD).

P.S.: But, it really was a pleasant surprise that this chapter came yesterday as today (30/08) was my birthday. It was a nice present for me as I read it in whole today at once (took me 3 hours or a bit more, lol).

From me: I'm pretty sure he did see what happened… The guy is still crying his eyes out to these days in the story.

Shadow Nightmares have twisted personalities that have…distorted views to solve problems. Ooh, I just love writing for them all. :D

Thanks for reviewing, and congratulations for your birthday. ^o^

From Nick the reaper: wow nearly a month... also how is choro cross a squel to choro trigger?

From me: Well, the fact that Chrono Lucca is frequently mentioned there, how Crono's neighboring continent is involved, how certain CT characters are mentioned, how Lavos is behind everything, how the ridiculously complicated plot ties together with CT, it means that Chrono Cross is the sequel to Chrono Trigger. Thanks for…asking.

From FF and STH: This chapter was nicely done and it look like you going to do chrono cross, great, now on to some questions.

1. This have nothing to do with the arc but I'll got know, I really sure I haven't seen you use the thief job abilities for chris, are you just trying to find a good place for chris to use it or have you forgotten about it.

2. Also have nothing to do with this arc but those part in your story where chris get mail form world he been to, you still doing that because I haven't seen then in a while.

3. Because you going to do chrono cross I got to know you opinion on how there are forty-five party members. To me it feel there was to many, most seen they didn't matter to the story.

From me: 1) Yes, there's no place where Chris can use the Thief job yet. As such, he has yet to find one battle to use that job. It'll be used very soon, though.

2) I admit I did forget that part, but it's going to be shown in this chapter…briefly, because Chris will stop getting mail from the people. Rather, the people will send letters to the Smashers they befriended. Sadly, that will be shown next chapter.

3) OF COURSE I'm not doing all forty-five party members (except the main ones). It's a CRAZY feat to insert all of them, and the fact they easily overpopulate all the Smashers, hell no… But I'll see how I get around that when that arc comes by. I'll probably make a joke out of all of them. We'll see.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

Wow…I never thought the previous chapter would receive a few reviews… Oh no, I'm not going to complain here. Maybe it wasn't that interesting for most people? I hope I'm not losing my writing style here… Whatever happens, I'll still write until the chapters can satisfy all readers. The fact that many new people start reading this story makes me feel fulfilled. :D

Since the last poll requested me to make a chapter full of side-quests, you'll see at least three of them here. I'm optimistic for the first one will make you do something fun to do. ;)

I encourage all readers who hear me talking pure nonsense all these chapters to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Your true nature shall be revealed here.

Chapter 178: Days of Meetings

April 2 – Thursday - Morning

-Subspace-

Deep Inside the Great Maze

Tabuu and the Ancient Minister were having a small meeting behind everyone else's backs. The embodiment of the Subspace seemed to be upset at the fact that they couldn't get the Sun Tablet from Froggy. "After finding out that the frog did not have the Sun Tablet in its possession any longer, things will have to proceed like we planned," he said.

"My apologies, Lord Tabuu," the Ancient Minister said. "It seems they got the upper hand and got away with the tablet even before we captured the frog."

"That is bad," Tabuu said. "What has happened to that frog, if I may ask?"

"I considered vaporizing that frog into dust, but King Dedede decided to make it his pet," the minister said with a frown. "He has apparently found a liking to it. I even heard from Charizard that he has given it a nickname"

Tabuu sighed. "I do not care what happens to that frog for now. I care about our next phase of our plans." He raised an eyebrow. "Have you completed the plans I told you to do?"

The Ancient Minister nodded. "I could only finish the first one. The second one will have to wait. Procedures are a bit…too tedious to deal with, but the first one will be executed very soon," he said. "Expect the plan to be put into play in less than a week from now. I'm trying to create a shortcut to their world, but recently, a barrier has prevented all access for us to go there."

Tabuu grunted. "This is another trick from that damned hand, is it not?"

"The fact that the barrier has the same kind of magic, yes," the Ancient Minister said. "As long as he breathes, the barrier will be there forever. Because of this, my first plan will have to get delayed for a little while longer until I can break through that barrier."

"Are you certain that this experiment will get rid of them?"

"I know something for sure: they can't fight the experiment outside," the minister said. "And even if they did know a way to fight it, it would be extremely hard for them to comprehend how to even get rid of it."

"I like how that sounds, Ancient Minister," Tabuu said. "But, moving on from that plan, what is our next step regarding Dark Gaia?"

"It has come to my attention that the Chun-nan Temple and the Holoska Temple haven't been located yet," the Ancient Minister said. "So far, they're the only temples we have yet to find. Once we find them, we will continue as planned regardless of how many defeats we have to endure at the hands our enemies."

"And once we find them…"

"I expect our enemy group to find them at the same time we do, so after that, they will have to target the temple Dr. Eggman is holding captive in his base in his world," the minister explained. "I suppose it'll be there where everything shall be decided."

Tabuu nodded. "I hope everything goes well. I shall not tolerate failure this time if Dark Gaia does get stopped from awakening properly."

"If our enemies take a lot of time to put all continents back into their places, Dark Gaia will awaken, and it should obey to our commands," the minister said. "…However, there is the fact Dr. Eggman is here with us."

"Why is it bad to mention him now?"

"You surely didn't notice, but I've heard that Dr. Eggman tends to be…uncooperative at times," the minister said. "I heard from Ganondorf that Dr. Eggman has been acting on his own without your consent, Lord Tabuu."

"Dr. Eggman is not fully an ally of us," Tabuu said. "He is more like a guest, if you put it simpler. He has all the freedom to act alone most of the time."

"Yes, but Ganondorf has mentioned from time to time that Dr. Eggman is scheming something, but he said it was a feeling he had. It's not entirely true if Dr. Eggman does scheme against his allies."

"Whatever the case, it does not matter," Tabuu said. "If he does scheme to rebel against us then appoint Ganondorf to follow him everywhere to make sure some…unneeded punishments are delivered unfairly."

"I will do just that," the minister said.

Tabuu started floating away into the darkness of the Subspace. "I will see you all next time," he said before disappearing from sight.

The Ancient Minister made sure to sigh to himself after he was sure Tabuu was gone. He slowly turned around and moved forward to the other side while his mind delved into deep thoughts. "(In about some weeks, a tragic event will strike all of them against my will. This will be perhaps the worst thing I've ever done to them before…but I can't betray Tabuu just now… Once I reach the final phase of my last plan, then it'll be the time for me to decide whether or not to take a decisive course of action that won't benefit Tabuu at all…)"

The minister disappeared into the darkness as one last thought crossed his mind.

"(Forgive me, everyone…but sacrifices must be made to save my race from inevitable destruction…once more…)"

-?-

?

In a landscape located in an unknown location, someone was hastily running away from some people. Panting heavily between breaths, the hunted person looked over his shoulder to see five people chasing after him. The person turned out to be Chris who, in his Aura Apprentice job, was being chased by Ganondorf, Charizard, Dedede, Bowser, and Wario. The four villains laughed maniacally as they chased after Chris.

"L-leave me alone!" Chris yelled. "Y-you don't have any reasons to chase me!"

"Foolish kid," Ganondorf said. "You must perish for making many troubles for us to deal with. You shall be sentenced to torture once we get our hands on you!"

"Lemme give you a big smack on your puny head!" Bowser proclaimed as he raised a fist. "Nothing's better than crushing teen's heads with my claws! Bwahahahahaha!"

"And once you're crushed, I'll toast you!" Charizard yelled as his mouth emitted some flames. "Just stop running so we can finish you nicely and quickly!"

"Get 'im!" Dedede encouraged.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, but it must be related to money!" Wario said. "I'll do anything for money, even if it means to beat you!"

Chris groaned loudly. "Why do I have to go through all this madness? W-where's everyone?" he cried loudly as he ran towards a wall of rocks. The World Traveler gasped and came to a halt to catch his breath. He looked around and noticed that he was cornered in the deepest side of a cliff, completely surrounded by rocks and his captors.

"Bwahahahahaha!" Bowser laughed as he and the other four caught up with Chris, all of them blocking the way for him to escape. "Time's up, kid! It's the end of the line for you, but a tasty victory for us!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed Ganondorf as he crossed his arms. "What a pitiful end for a pest like you. I would have killed those brats with the pieces of the Triforce, but killing you first will be a wonderful warm up before I move on to them."

"Be glad you're gonna die now," Charizard said darkly. "It's because of you that this is happening to…well, you! Hahahaha!" he laughed.

Dedede smashed his hammer on the ground, looking evilly at Chris. "Time for ya to taste mah hammer square on dah face!" he said with a laugh.

"I still don't know what I'm doing here, but I was promised money anyway! Heeeehehehehehe!" Wario laughed.

Chris backed away to the rocky wall, leaning his back against it. The World Traveler started to cry, much for the villains' enjoyment. He cowered in fear and sat down crying to himself as the villains pointed fingers while laughing at him. "P-please….s-somebody…s-save me…" he sobbed silently. He looked up to the sky and cried out, "SOMEBODY, HELP MEEEEEE!"

The villains thought that his cry for help was hilarious, but soon, their thought was shattered apart by a fearsome roar that caused practically everything around them to shake violently. They all tumbled to the sides while the teen yelled scared at the roar, a few small rocks falling around the cliff. "!"

Chris didn't know what happened next, but he felt a heavy object fall from the sky, creating a big tremble that spared the cliffs from falling down on them. The teen suddenly heard the villains screaming for some reason. Uncovering his head, Chris gasped in shock once he looked up at the figure's back standing in front of him. "L-Lucario!" Chris said before he blinked surprised. "You look…um…"

The Aura Pokémon looked extremely different from what Chris knew before. Instead of the six feet tall Lucario, there was before Chris a sixteen feet tall Lucario. Not only his Lucario was bigger than before, but something was completely different with him…

Lucario was a huge, muscled Aura Pokémon.

The Aura Pokémon had somehow turned into a gigantic creature full of muscles. His black legs looked like thick pillars while his feet were simply big. His thighs now did look like blue shorts with a black belt between his legs and body. His tail was long, extending right above Chris. His body was full of yellow fur with noticeable but almost hidden marks that defined his steel-solid abs and pectorals, and between the latter, a spike stuck out. His back formed a perfect V shape. His black shoulders were filled perfectly from each side with his huge muscled arms. The spikes on his wrists looked a little bit longer. His hands were far larger than before, flaring up with intense aura. His throat was far thicker and larger than before, fitting his head, which was spared of any drastic change. His fangs stuck out a little bit from his lips.

"…Muscular…" Chris finished with an astonished look before Lucario looked down at him over his huge shoulder. The Aura Pokémon turned back to look down upon the villains, all of them stepping back in fear as Lucario's shadow loomed over all of them.

"What were you doing to my trainer?" Lucario asked, his voice making a huge echo between the cliffs. "Answer me!" he demanded loudly as his aura completely engulfed him.

"W-we weren't trying to do anything to him, I-I swear!" Charizard said with a gulp. "I-I was trying to stop there guys from beating him!"

"L-liar, you wanted to hit the kid as well!" Wario blamed.

"I-idiots, this is not the time to be afraid of this monster!" Ganondorf yelled. He pushed Bowser forward. "You, transform into Giga Bowser and defeat him!"

Bowser shook his head and looked serious before he grew bigger and turned into Giga Bowser. Giga Bowser let out a roar to sky…before noticing he was five feet short from being taller than the huge Aura Pokémon, who merely crossed his massive arms and grunted down at him.

"Pathetic," Lucario commented.

"U-um…HA!" Giga Bowser desperately rammed his head hard against Lucario's stomach. Once he crashed his head against the Aura Pokémon, Giga Bowser felt extreme pain running through his whole head. He yelled in extreme pain as he backed away while holding his head. The villains looked astonished after seeing that the head butt attack didn't even budge the huge Lucario from his spot, as the target kept looming over all of them. "O-oww!" Giga Bowser moaned in pain.

"That was supposed to be an attack?" Lucario asked. "And here I thought Giga Bowser was a force to be reckoned with… Let me show you what a real attack is."

Before Giga Bowser could reply, he was met by a nimbly severe uppercut right under his thick-skinned belly. The gargantuan monster choked out as if he was about to die. Frozen into place for a moment, the huge Lucario's glare was mere inches away from Giga Bowser's face, staring into the monster's eyes with a blank look. Applying his brute force into his uppercut, the muscled Lucario sent Giga Bowser soaring into the skies as the latter yelled in pain and disappeared.

The other four villains gapped their mouths in fear as the muscled Lucario stared down at them, standing in the same position as he had used to dispatch Giga Bowser. The muscled Lucario stood firmly and crossed his massive arms over his chest. "I'll have you know that I can kill you all with an uncharged Aura Sphere," Lucario warned them. "One small blast will be enough to exterminate you."

Ganondorf gritted his teeth and quickly transformed into Ganon. Roaring in fury, Ganon slammed his huge horns into Lucario's legs. However, Ganon felt pain running right through his skull as he felt like as if he had rammed his horns against a hard wall made of the best metal. Ganon drew back as he shook his head in pain, making the other villains yell in agony.

"I AM getting sick of this," the muscled Lucario said before he grabbed both of Ganon's horns and crushed them with little effort, making Ganon roar even louder in pain. The Aura Pokémon pulled back his hands and formed a huge Aura Sphere between them. "!" he let out a massive roar. Ganon's eyes widened as the huge Pokémon tossed the Aura Sphere at an insane speed right at him, creating a huge blast of aura that ended up blasting off the huge pig and the villains away into the sky, screaming in fear as they disappeared into the distance.

Chris watched how the entire area behind the villains was completely erased from existence, leaving a steep hole that extended over the distance. "…That was…incredible…" he muttered as he noticed the giant Lucario turning around to kneel down before him.

The muscular Lucario bowed his head at Chris, looking apologetic. "Chris…I'm sorry if I didn't listen to you when you told me not to do workout so much…but I couldn't help it," he said ashamed. "I wanted to grow stronger to protect you from anyone…and to make you proud of having the strongest Pokémon in your party… I…I deserve to be punished…" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "So please…go on ahead and punish me…"

The teen kept staring at the muscled Pokémon for a while before standing up. Instead of scolding Lucario, however, Chris sobbed a bit, making Lucario open his eyes. "L-Lucario…I-I'm so sorry for telling you those things… I-I never realized your true potential until you disobeyed me…"

"C-Chris," Lucario stammered surprised.

"F-forgive me, Lucario," Chris sobbed as he forced a smile, looking up at his towering Pokémon. "I-I was an idiot for not finding out sooner… I-I don't deserve being your trainer!"

Lucario gasped at this and grabbed Chris with his hands. The Aura Pokémon stood back up while the teen stood on his palms. "No, Chris, don't be so harsh on yourself," Lucario said. "You don't need to be forgiven because you're not guilty of anything."

Chris cleared his tears and sniffed. "R-really?" he asked.

"Yes, really," Lucario said with a nod. "I have to thank you for giving me the inspiration to workout to reach my true potential as the Legendary Lucario. Every time I fell down exhausted, I thought about how you'd be amazed to see the new me of now."

"Y-yes?"

"Yes," Lucario said. "You mean a lot to me, Chris. I'd never like to put you down, and that was reason enough for me to workout so much until I grew strong… However, I think my potential is limitless and I need your help to reach it…so I want to ask you to train me," he said solemnly. "With your guidance, I shall outdo all Pokémon known to man…if you want to."

The teen sniffed happily. "L-Lucario…I…I'll gladly train you," he said. "I-I want to have the strongest Pokémon known to man… I…I know I can do that with you…"

The muscular Aura Pokémon approached Chris to his face and nuzzled his nose against the teen in appreciation. Chris laughed happily while Lucario growled deeply, his huge tail slamming hard on the cliffs behind him, quickly taking rocks down. The Aura Pokémon, while wrecking the cliffs behind him, put his trainer over his right shoulder. "I won't let you down, Chris," Lucario said as he flexed his mighty arms, his biceps ballooning in muscles.

Chris chuckled heartily and embraced Lucario's head. "You're the best, Lucario," he said, "you're the best of the best! You're the strongest Pokémon I could ever have!" he rejoiced. "I-I'm so glad for having you as my main Pokémon!"

"And I'm glad…no, honored and happy for having a trainer like you, Chris," Lucario said as his body glowed with aura, which covered Chris. "I won't let you down, ever."

"I'm so, but so happy!" Chris said happily.

Lucario flexed down his big arms as he let out a destructive roar that echoed many miles away from their spot. The roar was extremely powerful, making the cliffs around them shatter into big piles of rocks that later turned into dust and disintegrated in thin air. The roar was so powerful that huge craters slowly formed all around the massive Lucario while his trainer kept holding on to his head.

The whole day was spent in taking the muscled Lucario to challenge Gyms all over the regions. While Chris, oddly, didn't mind Lucario, who literally crushed his opponents or killed them with his dramatically boosted brute force and even wrecked all the Gyms with so many casualties that died whenever he was taken out, the two rose up to the ranks by challenging the leagues all over the globe. Chris became known as a Legendary Trainer while Lucario became feared by every single Pokémon who stumbled on the muscled Lucario's way. They eventually ended up challenging Legendary Pokémon that were all quickly taken out by Lucario's sheer brute force enhanced by his aura.

Lucario felt that he reached the pinnacle of his power while making Chris the proudest Pokémon Trainer in the world.

-Smash Mansion-

Chris's Room

"… We've met at last, Arceus… Do you honestly think you're too godly to defeat the likes of me even though you aren't even taller than me? You'll see who the true god of Pokémon is now. I shall reclaim the title that is rightfully mine, and make Chris be the owner of a real god; me."

In the peaceful morning, Lucario was lying down on the bed while sleep talking. For more than twenty minutes, the Aura Pokémon had been talking about how wonderful it was for him to be the strongest Pokémon known to man to please Chris. Sadly enough, his sleep talk woke up said trainer, who was, forced to be right under Lucario's right arm again after he fell asleep first. Chris was particularly bothered with what Lucario was saying, the teen's real point of view contradicting his dream self.

Chris looked at no one in particular. "Oh, this isn't the first time this has happened, and I'm not talking about the fact he always pulls me under his arm from all the way on the other side of this big bed without my permission," he said. "I'm talking about his sleep talk. This is the eighth time he's dreamed about him being a giant full of muscles while my dream self SOMEHOW agrees to his wishes in an overly dramatic way."

At that time, Pikachu jumped to the bed and walked to Chris. Before long, Jigglypuff and Pichu joined in as well. They saw how the Aura Pokémon kept sleep talking. "He's having another dream?" Pikachu asked. "This is what, the eighth time?"

"Yup," Jigglypuff said, "and in a row, too."

Chris sighed. "Even though I told him that I didn't want him to become some sort of bodybuilder, his subconscious clearly objects to that…" he muttered.

Pikachu chuckled. "Your Lucario is so odd, I swear," he said. "But he's odd in a fun sort of way instead of being annoying. I'm telling you, Chris. You've got yourself a mine full of gold for laughs."

Pichu shh'd them to listen to Lucario more.

"Arceus, what is the matter? Your Judgment attack didn't even make a scratch to me. Out of pity, I will let you live if you agree to this…" Lucario trailed off with a chuckle. "Since I'm far taller than you, you shall have the honor of becoming my horse."

Chris, Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff exchanged looks before stifling some chuckles.

"You object? What a fool you are… BE ANNIHILATED BY MY AURA!" Lucario let out a fearsome roar that pushed the Pokémon on their backs. After the roar, Lucario chuckled deeply. "Chris, you're now the owner of the true god of Pokémon… I'm so happy to make you so proud…"

It was not long before the Pokémon and the teen's laughs got loud enough to wake Lucario. The Aura Pokémon looked around and saw the four laughing at him. He got particularly depressed when he found out his dream was just a dream and not reality. After that, he didn't get why they were laughing at him at all.

"Why is everyone laughing?" Lucario asked.

Pikachu sat back up and pointed at Lucario. "You tell us, Mr. True God," he chuckled.

Lucario blinked at this before realizing why they were laughing. He gasped and looked embarrassed at Chris, who was shedding tears because of his laugh. "C-Chris, why didn't you tell me this?" he asked.

"S-sorry…b-but you looked happy," Chris muttered with a chuckle. "I didn't want you to wake up from your dreams because that'd spoil your fun."

The Aura Pokémon looked away while his friends laughed at him. "…Well, I do enjoy those dreams very much…" he muttered.

Chris looked bored at Lucario. "Now, would you do me a favor and let me go of your arm? You always pull me under it whenever you start dreaming, or when I go to sleep first than you," he said.

Lucario looked at Chris. "But I'm afraid something might happen to you while I sleep," he said. "You do remember I don't want to be separated from a trainer again, right? That's why I want to keep you close to me so…so nothing takes you away from me… You understand, right, Chris?"

Chris stared at Lucario for a little while before smiling at him. He then hugged his Pokémon tightly from the side, making him growl pleased. "But of course I'm not going to forget that," he said. "Honestly speaking, you taking care of me like this reassures me to be safe at all times. You're the best, Lucario."

"Guuuuooooorrggggghhh…" Lucario growled happily, as he rested his chin over Chris's head.

While Pichu and Jigglypuff shed some tears at the scene, Pikachu sighed and put his short arms over their shoulders. "And that, my friends, is how a true Pokémon bond works. No matter how small, big, scaly, slimy, toxic, dangerous, emo, spiky, or explosive you are, you can be certain you'll be hugged…" Pikachu sniffed. "H-how wonderful it is…" he sobbed a bit.

The two stopped hugging each other before Chris rubbed Lucario's head. "Maybe one day I'll let you do workout to your heart's contents," he said. "But only do that after we're done with the Subspace Army. I'd like you to hone your aura skills because, well, your aura makes you a lot stronger, right?"

"Yes," Lucario said. "I don't think I can hone it anymore…but if you think otherwise, I'll give it a shot soon."

Chris chuckled and sat up from the bed. "Well, now that we're awake…it's time for me to do my big pile of homework during my free day," he muttered ashamed as he looked over to the desk on the other side of the room where his backpack was. "Why, oh why do they give you more homework when you're supposed to relax today?"

"I blame the school board, then," Pikachu commented. "In my world, you'll learn more about Pokémon more than algebra stuff."

"If other people would hear this, they'd wish to live there," Chris said. "Oh well, I guess I'm not going to do anything else than doing homework…and here I wanted to do some side-quests."

"I think a few of the others are going to the town," Pichu said, wagging his little tail a bit. "Take the day to do homework."

"I like to be on task, so…" Chris got off from the bed and stood up, stretching his arms to the sides, "I'll just start… Hopefully, I'll get done before afternoon."

As the World Traveler went to take a shower, Lucario looked at the trio of Pokémon. "Why are you here again?" he asked.

"Dude, your sleep talk is so priceless that we wouldn't like to miss it," Pikachu said with a know-it-all look. "It's the best feature of the mornings."

"Yup," Pichu and Jigglypuff agreed nodding.

"Now we know you want Arceus to be your horse," Pikachu chuckled before the other two broke out laughing. "Don't worry; you just need to grow big and live in the Gymnasium for a year!"

Lucario grumbled annoyed as he turned to look away from them.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Wings Post Office

Parakarry yawned aloud as he flew out from over the counter to look up at the sky. He flew around his spot for a little bit before he stopped and looked back to the office. "What a nice day, don't you think so, Quill?" he asked.

Quill showed up from behind the counter, looking drowsily at his fellow postman. "Yes it is," he said. "It's a morning like this that reminds me how peaceful everything is when night isn't involved." He shrugged and looked upset at Parakarry. "You know why, right?"

Parakarry shrugged next. "Oh, yes, those monsters that patrol the alleys when there's nobody around," he said. "Truly a fearful sight to behold… Oh well, at least people are putting up requests here."

Quill turned to the board next to the counter, seeing many requests from a wide assortment of people displayed on every single note. "Just a few handfuls of travelers do take their time to help others, though," he said, crossing his sleeved arms. "This is troublesome since a few requests are done, but many more people put even more of them."

Parakarry looked worried before turning around to spot Marth, Pit, and Meta Knight coming his way. He brightened up and flew to greet them. "Good morning, you guys!" he greeted. "You here for a walk?"

"Sort of," Pit said. "We just wanted to come here and see how the place was doing."

"Oh, everything's dandy as long as you remain together during the night," Parakarry said. "You wouldn't want to be alone and let those monsters catch you with your guards down."

"Oh, yes, the Nightmares," Meta Knight said. "I heard that they come out in desolate places of the town."

"Yeah, we can't do anything about 'em because we don't have people to take them on, soooooooooo…" Parakarry eyed the Smashers with interest.

"…If you want us to slay them, just tell us," Marth said. "You're creeping me out with that look you're giving us…"

Parakarry clasped his hands while Quill pressed his brow behind the counter. "Okay!" Parakarry said before handing Marth over a bunch of letters from his mailbag. "But before you do, here you got some letters from some people who decided to write all of you."

Obtained Palom & Porom's Letter!

Obtained Peppita's Letter!

Obtained Rui's Letter!

Obtained Yuffie's Letter!

Obtained Roll's Letter!

Obtained Frog's Letter!

Obtained Laharl's Letter…#6!

Out of the seven letters Marth got, the last one's contents made it look like a brick. In fact, it looked like a white brick. "Why is…this letter so big?" Pit asked skeptically.

Parakarry rolled his eyes. "Beats me," he said. "The sender is always the same one who sends those bricks we call letters. I have NO idea why he keeps sending those big letters, but since a postman is never allowed to read letters, he must be a big fan of yours."

Pit took the brick (letter) and then recalled the sender's name. He grunted annoyed and tossed the letter (brick) at the nearby trashcan. "W-we shouldn't really read that. It was from Laharl," he said shrugging. "From what I've heard from Chris, that guy is always saying really random stuff…"

"What kind of random stuff is that?" Meta Knight asked.

"Well, Laharl has been claiming in all his letters that he 'wants to keep all of us away so he can have his screen time back' along with an absurdly long paragraph depicting his crazy laugh," Pit explained.

"…Screen time?" Marth wondered.

"I-I don't know what he meant by that, but there's also a random note about some Prinny who is always complaining behind his back that he never gets paid for writing the letter. What's more…they go as far as to tell us their back stories."

"…" Meta Knight frowned. "In any case…" he trailed off to remind the others about the other letters.

"Oh, right, you should hand them all over to their respective recipients," Parakarry said. "All of those letters should go to the people they want." He saluted them and started flying away to the south. "Bye-bye! I need to work today and fast!"

"Okay, I'll make a mental note about the letters," Marth said as he put the letters away. The trio approached the board while Parakarry took off to another place of the town.

Quill looked at them. "Ever since the last time you came here, there have been more requests from more people," he pointed out. "Feel free to take any requests at any time. The requesters, luckily, are all patient."

The trio looked at the requests. From what they could tell, there were seven new requests.

The Search for Arle Nadja

Find My Mime Jr.!

Stolen Scroll

Ugh, this is such a pain, but I hate to say that some monster sneaked into my room and stole the only good scroll I had with me to increase my magic's power! Without that scroll, my magic isn't gonna work like always! I'm getting so worked up doing the work of finding it myself, but I'd like to have some people help me find that scroll. I ONLY want people experienced in fighting. That's all I'm asking just to be sure. If you wanna help me, meet me at the field outside town.

-From Genius Mage

Tailor Promotion

We are trying to promote the opening of our tailor, so we would like to have some people come here to try out some new designs we have in reserve. Don't be shy! We'd be very appreciated if you could drop by and try out some outfits. Yes, it's that simple! The tailor is located just next to the new fountain in the center of the town. Our tailor it's not hard to miss.

-From Able Sisters

I Demand My Main Character Role NOW!

What kind of blasphemy is this? The video game where I was supposed to be the main character hasn't been made yet! All these years of eternal teasing needs to end now! F*ck, I'm so desperate to ask other people, preferably main characters, to help me get my own release series! C'mon, you bunch of main characters, give me a hand so I don't wind up being a secret character forever! Where to meet me? I'll get there right over with you!

-From the girl who has been rejected countless of times by her video game producers and wants to find a real job as a video game main character

Sword Talk

Uh, yeah, I'm just an innocent traveler who is looking for swordsmen to form a club. Well, uh, do you guys know about any legendary swords? I'd like to hear some people share stories about swords… Um…if you have any legendary swords, maybe we could think about something else to do together as fellow swordsmen. Please! Give this traveler an opportunity!

-From Sword Collector

Help the People of the World

We are an important organization that helps people across the globe with their problems. Further details shall be given once this request is taken. Special Note: We seek only two people.

-From secret organization

Village Watch

Some monsters have been appearing here every single night! Need some hooplas to take care of those bugs once and for all for the good of the people! This will be certainly a first page coverage! What's this? Where to find me? Meet me at the fountain at 9 PM!

-From Nintendo Village Watch Committee

I'd like to see Nintendo Village

I am interested to see what this village has to offer, but I'm afraid I need a kind soul to show me places of interest. I think this is such a simple request, wouldn't you say? Consider this as some kind of…date, but without the romance. If you want to meet me, just go to any alley and I'll be there ready to go.

-From Velvet Room Resident

"So many requests…and so many odd ones," Pit admitted.

"I'd like some of them to get done," Quill said. "You have the new ones and the old ones. Luckily, most people undertake simple requests, but I know you can take one that takes some brawn, something that every single one of you has."

"A bit offensive to me, but true," Meta Knight said.

Pit crossed his arms and rubbed his chin while staring at the requests. "Which one should we take for now?" he asked.

"Some of them require more people, so let's take the ones that require a few of us," Marth said. "And my pick is…the last one."

"I guess it's acceptable," Meta Knight said. "It's a very simple request to do."

Quill nodded at this and handed over a wing badge to them. "Present this badge to the requester. She must be waiting for you…in an alley," he said skeptically.

Pit shuddered. "Oh no, the requester is in an alley… I'm having a bad feeling about this…" he muttered.

"There's no real need to be scared," Meta Knight said. "Are you thinking that this is some kind of trap?"

"We never accept people who put up requests just to lure other people out," Quill said. "We ask for identification based on their requests."

"In other words, you don't judge their appearances, but you judge their intentions," Meta Knight said. "It sounds fair enough to me."

"Well…I trust the requester," Marth said. "Now we just need to go to some alley…"

Quill pointed to the east. "There's a nearby alley some buildings away from here. I don't know if the requester will be there, but…the location is any alley," he said.

Meta Knight started walking to the east. "Then let's be on our way," he said.

Some Random Alley

After walking a few buildings away from the post office, the trio walked inside an alley, which was surprisingly clean. However, it was still a bit dark. The trio looked forward to see a dead end with some trashcans.

"…You don't think the requester will appear from one of those trashcans, right?" Pit asked skeptically.

"I…highly doubt it," Marth muttered. "And if she does, I'm going to stay away from her… Oh my god, it's a girl," he recalled the requester's gender. "Please, don't let that girl be inside one of those trashcans…"

"Don't judge her appearance if she does appear in such a way," Meta Knight said.

Pit stared at the dead end of the alley. "M-maybe she'll appear from the sky…o-or from a secret door that can only be opened by herself!" he said.

Marth sighed and turned around to look at the street. "Maybe she'll just come from the street," he said.

Meta Knight turned to the same direction. "Yes, it's highly possible that she will come from the street," he said.

Pit did the same action, looking relieved. "Y-yes, coming from the street is the most likely scenario," he said.

But the trio's expectation didn't come true. They waited seconds until they waited for minutes for the requester to show up from the street. A few citizens walked on the sidewalks, but none of them fixed their glances to the three in the darkness of the alley.

"…I feel humiliated," Pit muttered. "We're three innocent bystanders standing in an alley while waiting for a girl who was supposed to meet us here."

Meta Knight stifled a grunt. "I suppose that girl was just trying to make anyone gullible enough to lose their time by being here so she could laugh from a safe distance," he said.

Marth frowned. "Let's just go back to the post office and complain about this. His policy didn't quite work well this time…" he trailed off.

"And may I ask you who might you be?" asked a female voice from behind their backs.

The trio exchanged glances for a brief moment. They all slowly turned around to see that a girl had appeared from the dead end of the alley. It was unclear to them how the girl appeared since they didn't hear her footsteps at all.

The short-haired blond girl behind them looked peculiar. She wore a set of velvet clothes; one long velvet shirt with a straight line of yellow-and-blue outlined circles that extended to her knees, high-heeled velvet boots, black stockings, velvet gloves, and a velvet hat that looked like a shop's clerk hat. Her blond hair was short, its color matching her ominous yellow eyes that were fixed on the three. From what they could tell was that she was in her late teens. A small smile suddenly formed on her lips as she stared at three.

"…Please tell me there was some kind of secret door that you used to appear behind our backs," Pit said.

The yellow-eyed girl chuckled. "You might say I came from a door…one that you cannot see very easily because you didn't sign a… Oh, forgive me," she said amused. "I shouldn't explain certain stuff to people like you."

"…" The trio exchanged glances once more.

The girl walked to them so she could stand roughly seven feet away from them. She chuckled and opened her right hand next to her shoulder. "I don't come here often," she said. "I just ended up finding this other…I mean, finding this place just by coincidence. And after convincing my master to allow me to come here…I decided to ask people living in this village to show me the village itself," she said with an interested smile that freaked Pit out.

Meta Knight stared at the girl for a moment. "And you can't do it yourself?" he questioned her.

It looked like the girl didn't notice Meta Knight at all. She lowered down her open hand and looked doubtful at the knight. "…"

"…Is something the matter?"

"Oh, pardon me," she said, still looking doubtful. "It's just that I thought only humans populated the world. You certainly don't look like a human to me."

"…Well, that is true," Meta Knight said.

The same interested smile that freaked out Pit appeared on her lips. "My, what an interesting individual," she remarked. "If there is proof that other kinds of people rather than humans live in this world, then I must seriously look into this a bit more." She turned to Pit, much for his discomfort. "An angel? Oh, now that is interesting."

Pit wanted to back away from her, but he refrained himself from doing so. "U-um, yes, I'm an angel," he said nervously.

"I thought angels were supposed to be some kind of heavenly being to most humans. In a few words, higher beings that are live in heaven," she said. "But the fact that there is one right before my eyes… Is this heaven, perhaps?"

"No it's not," Marth said.

The girl, once again, looked doubtful. "Is that so, then…?" she trailed off in thought before smiling. "Well, in any case, I don't have business to take care of with you three right now. You all look peculiar to me, but it's a real shame that we don't have to be with one another."

Marth showed her the wing badge. "I think this should be proof enough to make a point, though," he said.

The girl's smile broadened a bit. "That changes the whole subject, then," she said interested. "You are the people who took my request? Since you have that as a proof of this, I guess there's no need to be standing in this alley." She bowed to them a bit. "Pardon me for not introducing myself. My name is Elizabeth. What are your names?"

"I'm Marth, nice to meet you," Marth said.

"My name is Meta Knight," the knight introduced himself.

"I-I'm Pit," Pit managed to mutter out.

The girl named Elizabeth chuckled. "I had a feeling we were destined to meet each other by fate," she said. "If fate says so, then I'm grateful it made me meet you all. Before I stray away from the main topic, will you three escort me around the village? Normally, I have one person I know who takes me around his city… But with three people this time, the experience shall be fulfilling, I presume," she said with a small chuckle.

"(I regret walking into this alley…)" Pit thought ashamed.

Meta Knight stared at her once more. "May I ask you why you keep addressing humans before?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked doubtful. "Oh, uh, well, this is a hard thing to say to the likes of you," she said. "I'm afraid I can't tell you why. It's…confidential," she said blankly. "I'm sorry I can't tell you. I only get to say this to special people who have unusual powers, and none of you seem to have unusual powers at all."

"…That's understandable," Meta Knight agreed, still thinking about her reasons.

Elizabeth chuckled, once again smiling. "Thank you for understanding. It was quite hard for me to convince my master to let me come here, so I hope I can get to know this world with your help," she said. Without advice, she walked out to the streets, making the three follow her.

Persona 3 Portable – Sun

Once Elizabeth set foot over the sidewalk, she looked up at the sky. "Hmm, this world shares the same kind of sun," she mused to herself. "Its sunlight feels the same as well…"

The three overheard her mutters. "Why talk about the sun?" Pit asked.

Elizabeth turned to them. "Well, I thought that this world didn't have a sun, but I was wrong about that," she said. "It was just a little idea I was pondering about." She looked around and, unexpectedly, ran away from them.

Marth and Pit gasped and followed her. "W-wait up, please!" Marth shouted at her deaf ears as she made it to the post office.

Wings Post Office

The three caught up in her to see that she was eyeing the board of requests. She stared at it with a blank look, reading the request for a while. She turned to them and smiled. "People here are always in need, don't they?" she asked.

"Of course some are," Marth said.

"Hmm, the oddity of their requests shocks me," she said. "I do put up requests similar like these, but I'm surprised that people do the same kind of thing. Often, I make requests to get certain items from dangerous monsters." She looked at the post office. "What kind of services do they provide here? From the looks of it, I see many envelopes from across the counter."

"They provide people a mailing system to send letters to others," Meta Knight said.

Elizabeth looked interested. "Send letters to others instead of you doing it? That sounds useful," she said.

"Um, yes, it is," Pit said. "If you can't give something to someone else who lives far away from here, you can try the post office to send letters or other kind of stuff in case you're unable to do it yourself."

Elizabeth rubbed her chin. "In that case, I can practically send anything to anyone that I'm unable to reach by normal means?" she asked.

"That's the gist of it," Marth said.

She approached the counter to get attention. "Excuse me! I'd like to send some letters to people I haven't seen for years!" she called out, Quill responding to the call by walking to the counter.

"You're the girl who put the request they took," he said.

"Yes, I'm grateful that I got the chance to meet them," she said with a chuckle. "But I'm here to request you to send letters to some people I haven't seen in a long time."

"Oh, you mean people who live far away from here, right?" he asked.

"Certainly," Elizabeth said, taking out a big handful of papers. "Here are my papers."

The four stared at the amount of papers she took out from behind. The pages practically looked like they could be made into a book of three hundred pages…

Quill stared in surprise at the papers that she firmly put over the counter. "O-oh, I see," he stammered shocked.

"H-how in the world did you write that many papers?" Pit asked.

Elizabeth looked at them. "I've met so many people that I've written my thoughts to them. Surely the post office would be useful for me to get into contact with them," she said.

"Well, in that case, send the papers to them," Meta Knight said.

"That I will do," she said before turning to Quill. "I lack envelopes for the moment," Elizabeth said, her smile intact. "Can you provide me with some for each one of the papers? I need three hundred envelopes at best."

"…She can't be serious, right?" Marth muttered to himself.

"…I…I'll get right to it," Quill said shocked as he went to get three hundred envelopes. He came back with a box full of them that he showed to Elizabeth.

The girl soon started to fill envelopes while following the necessary steps to write all the necessary information. However, she only made around ten letters. Curious about their destinations, Pit picked a letter. "…Destination…heaven? …Hell?"

Quill peeked at one letter to see that one destination was directed to the heaven. "Ah…" he trailed off speechless.

Elizabeth was about to finish her eleventh letter until she looked up to the Rito. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"P-pardon me for the interruption, but are the destinations 'Heaven' and 'Hell' actual places?" Quill asked.

"Well, they sure are destinations, but I can't reach them easily by myself," Elizabeth said with a smile. "That would require me to die, wouldn't it?"

"Y-yes, but…"

"Isn't the post office supposed to deliver letters to destinations where an individual can't reach through normal means?"

"S-sadly, we just deliver letters to people living close or far away from here," Quill said. "We…we can't deliver letters to the dead…"

Elizabeth's smile faded, as she looked blank at him. "Oh…what a shame," she said. "I've met so many entities at my work that I wanted to let them know I'm fine. Knowing there was some sort of way to communicate with them made me feel a lot of relief… All of my letters have a simple sentence."

The Smashers were speechless at this before Marth decided to speak. "And that simple sentence is…"

"I'm doing fine, so don't worry about me," Elizabeth said.

"…What kind of people do you meet?" Meta Knight asked.

"Demons, entities, lost souls in the sea of people's minds…" Elizabeth trailed off. "You could say I have a unique kind of job."

"…" The four didn't say a word.

Elizabeth sighed and took back her papers, putting them away from sight. "It's a shame I'll have to wish my friends good luck without sending them something to let them know I'm fine." She bowed at the shocked Quill. "Thank you for taking your time with me. You can have your envelopes back."

"…Y-you're welcome," Quill said as he took the box back and walked into the office.

The velvet girl turned to the Smashers. "Where shall we go next?" she asked. "I'm enjoying the town so far."

The three couldn't believe the girl didn't know most things a common person would know. Somehow, they had a feeling she would drag them everywhere that stood out of place; anywhere.

It was not long before Elizabeth took off to the south where the center of the town, the plaza, was. The three regained their senses and followed her down the sidewalk. Before, the town didn't have a fountain, but now, there was one right on the center square. A big circular fountain with a Cheep Cheep statue adorned the center with water falling down from the statue's mouth. Around the fountain, the town was divided by four streets going to different directions namely North, West, East, and South. Several establishments were displayed around the square.

Elizabeth slowly walked to the fountain, a gleam of interest in her eyes. The three Smashers caught up with her to admire the fountain. "I've heard people throw little offerings of money to the fountain to please the spirits," she said while opening her right palm next to her shoulder.

"Well, they mainly do that to wish for their wishes to come true," Marth said. "It's not certain if they will, but that's what I believe."

"I've done this before," Elizabeth said as she took out a small bag for coins from behind. "I feel that it's my duty to appease the spirits because I'd feel bad to ignore them."

The three watched as Elizabeth approached the fountain. Suddenly, instead of opening her purse and tossing in a single coin, she held out her purse upside down over the fountain and started pouring down a huge amount of coins. Pit's mouth gapped as he saw the seemingly endless amount of coins falling down into the water. The coins falling down the fountain looked like a waterfall coming out from the small purse. Several people around the sidewalks turned to their direction, looking astonished at the waterfall of coins.

"S-stop!" Marth shouted.

Elizabeth turned her purse back up and closed it. She turned to them with a pleased look. "Oh, there's no need for me to stop. I just gave the spirits my offering of $1,000,000 yens."

"One million…" Pit said dazzled.

Meta Knight frowned at this. "You certainly made them richer than happier," he joked.

"It's unclear to me if they'll take the money from the fountain in public, though," Elizabeth said. "Even so, I'm happy I did a favor to them."

"Oh my goodness…" Marth muttered in pure disbelief.

Elizabeth chuckled and looked around to see the people staring at the fountain's brown patch of yens. "So many different people…" she muttered. "Before, I thought humans were the most populating race, but now I think I was wrong. Why, there are people with palm trees over their heads! There are even people with mushroom heads, and let's not forget the turtle-looking people!"

By the sound of her voice, the three could tell she was having fun amidst the shocked looks of the people staring at the fountain.

"With so many people like this, the probabilities are infinite, and I can reach them out easily thanks to being here," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Perhaps you three know more people like the people living here? If so, I'd like to meet them one of these days."

"…That will surely be nice," Marth said.

"I shall make an appointment at a later time," Elizabeth said. "There is still so much for me to know about this town that I must know now. I've never thought there was so much to see outside of my work with my master." She looked to the left and ran away to said direction.

The trio followed her until she stopped in front of a food market. After seeing some people coming out from the building, she turned back to the group. "Hmm, I'd like to know what this place is. People are carrying bags with a wide assortment of things, it seems."

"This is a regular food market," Meta Knight said. "People come here to buy groceries to make dishes."

"Ah, yes," Elizabeth said. "People suffer from the inevitable disease called hunger, don't they? They have to be feeding themselves in a daily basis or else they could die."

Pit's right eye twitched at this. "Y-you don't get hungry or eat food at all?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked blankly at him. "Not that I know," she said. "I never thought about feeding myself since I'm a special being, but honestly speaking, I'd like to eat something to see how…taste is like." She smiled once again. "Is it possible to get food right now? I'm very curious to eat anything."

Marth sighed. "In that case, let's take you to a restaurant… I'll pay for the food," he said.

"A restaurant," Elizabeth said. "Now there's a place I'd like to know. Would you be so kind to take me there?"

Wonder Restaurant

The four sat around a table in the middle of the establishment as the curious Elizabeth examined the dining hall. "Most certainly interesting," she said pleased. "Not only you get to eat, but you also get to admire the layout of restaurants. And with food served to your plate, it's like you're seeing something take out from a picture."

A Toad butler came to their table and handed over the menus. The four browsed the list while the butler walked away to another table.

"…Oh, upon closer inspection, each meal has a specific amount of money," Elizabeth said mildly depressed. "I wanted to be a good guest by paying for the food."

"Please, don't tell me you were going to pay a million…" Pit muttered.

"Ah, that was exactly the amount I was going to pay," Elizabeth said before she focused on the menu. "Hmm, so many options to choose from… I'd like to try every single meal."

The three lowered their menus, staring at her straight face.

"Y-you can't be serious," Marth muttered. "You won't be able to eat all in the menu. I mean, there's like over fifty different meals!"

"…Oh, I see," Elizabeth said, once again, mildly disappointed. "In that case…I'll try out eight meals."

Meta Knight frowned. "It's impossible for the average person to eat that amount of meals," he said. "Are you honestly going to eat eight meals?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "I see no reason not to do it," she said. "I want to experience and enjoy this moment every second."

Once again, the three exchanged glances.

The clock's hands on the restaurant's left wall moved clockwise an hour.

And before they knew it, a pile of plates was sitting next to Elizabeth as she had finished her last pancake. She delicately used a napkin to clean her lips, looking at the three staring at her in shock. "I must say, this was very appetizing," she said. "I'd never have thought that eating food like this would yield a great taste to my mouth."

"…She…ate eight meals…" Pit muttered in shock.

"Are you full?" Marth asked worried.

"Hmm, I don't think so," Elizabeth said. "I feel empty in my stomach. Was I supposed to get full?"

"Yes…but…that's okay," he said with a sigh, wondering how she could avoid getting full after eating eight meals.

Meta Knight looked away. "I've found Kirby a friend," he muttered.

"Oh, I'm surprised that the service here is unusually fast to the point you start thinking these dishes come out at the speed of light," Elizabeth said interested. "Are all restaurants like this?"

Marth raised an eyebrow and looked over to the other side of the counter window to see a big chef's hat moving around the kitchen. "Oh my god, that Wonder Chef person is still here…" he muttered before looking at Elizabeth. "N-no, most restaurants aren't like this one."

Elizabeth chuckled. "No wonder why this place is called 'Wonder Restaurant', because it was sure a wonder to me," she said. "Are there perhaps many places of wonder here?"

"No…of course not…" Marth shrugged at the thought.

Pit shifted his eyes as a butler came in and took the empty plates away to the kitchen. He stared at the unusual girl for a while before he finally brought himself to ask, "What kind of person are you, exactly?"

The blond girl turned to the angel. "I'm a special being who resides in a different place that your mind wouldn't comprehend so well," she said. "I may look like a normal person, but there is more about that meets the eye. Sadly, I'm prohibited to talk about my personal life to others that don't possess…special qualities."

"What kind of special qualities are those?" Meta Knight asked.

"Oh, my apologies, but I cannot tell that to you," she said. "Some people have those special qualities, but, so far, I've only seen one. Actually, he's the only person who can take my requests."

"Who is this person?" Marth questioned.

"I suppose I can tell you this," Elizabeth said with a smile. "He's a special teenager with an unusual power to call forth different entities to aid him in his quest to find his reason to live. He looks…emotionless when you first meet him, but he has a kind soul. Why, before I even came here, he took me out to know more about his world."

"And you wanted to be here because…"

"Because I stumbled upon this world by fate," Elizabeth said amused. "I asked my master special permission for me to wander around here so I could get a better view of the human life. You three are lucky you're showing me around."

"And who is your master?" Meta Knight asked.

"Sorry, but I can't tell you further than that," Elizabeth said disappointed. "My master likes to be alone with me most of the time, and he only talks to the people who have the special qualities he seeks. I've only met the boy, but I'm sure my master has met more before him…but that's another story for another day," she said before smiling once again. "I'd like to visit more places, but my time here is running out."

Pit sighed mentally. "(Thank goodness she's going away now…)" he thought.

"However," Elizabeth continued, "while visiting the different places in this town, I…I…" she blushed, "I think I became a little bit attached to you all."

"(…Palutena, do you hate me?)" Pit thought dismayed.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Thanks to you, I learned so much about this world that I'd like you to show me around a little more. Sadly, I think I've seen everything in this town… Do you three know more people that you hang out with?"

"There is a multitude of them at a mansion we're staying for the moment," Meta Knight said, causing Pit to shake his head in disagreement.

Elizabeth's interest grew because of this. "Really? More people like you live with you all? I had a feeling this world had so much to show me, and I'm glad I was right," she said. "Expect me to make another appointment so we can spend the time together. As they say, knowledge is power."

Marth looked worried. "(The day she comes to the mansion will be the day everyone else will get a full scale research by her…)" he thought.

"Of course, I need your permission to go," Elizabeth said.

"It's okay," Meta Knight said. "You can visit the mansion as long as you don't stay in there as a guest. The owner is quite sensible about people barging in and getting a room behind his back."

"I'll have that in mind for sure," she said with a chuckle. "I know that my time is running out, but…are you interested in Tarot Card readings?"

"Tarot Card readings?" Marth said confused.

"With such a response like that, I can tell you don't know what they are," Elizabeth said amused. "It's okay, though. Most people tend to learn this sooner or later, but I wanted to let you play a little game of Tarot Cards."

Meta Knight rubbed his chin. "I'm interested to know what this Tarot Card reading is," he said.

"Since you were so nice in showing me around, it's my turn to do something of the sort with this," she said. The three saw her taking out two different decks of cards. The deck she set on the left had different images while the other deck had empty cards. Using the left deck, she spread twenty-two cards facing down towards Marth so that they would be displayed apart from each other. "Here they are, the twenty-one different Arcanas," she said with interest.

The three stared at each single card's image. "Their art looks a bit unusual…" Pit muttered.

Elizabeth handed over the deck with empty images to Marth. "What are we supposed to do here?" Marth asked.

"Here's how Tarot Cards work," Elizabeth said. "You see each one of the twenty-one cards, right? Each card defines an individual judging by their behavior with themselves and interactions with others. In other words, a card describes the person's attitude. If a person is courageous, for example, a card with a wide set of definitions will define that person."

"I see," Meta Knight said.

"Now, direct your attention to the cards without pictures," Elizabeth told them. "Those cards will fill with an image about a person you know. Once you pick up a card, that person's image will be revealed. You must judge that person with its correct Arcana card before you. Finish all the deck by putting the correct person with its signature Arcana card."

Marth stared at the deck of empty cards. He picked a card, and an image suddenly appeared in it. He gasped when he saw Roy in there, striking a pose with his sword. "Roy…" Marth trailed off.

"Now, Marth," Elizabeth began with interest, "which card defines this Roy person?"

The three stared at the twenty-two cards in front of Elizabeth. "U-um, what do each one of them mean again?" Pit asked.

"Forgive me for not explaining the details of each card," Elizabeth said. "I'll give you all the brief descriptions of each single one of them."

A moment later…

"So, in a few words…" Meta Knight trailed off, "this is what each one of them represents."

Fool Arcana - Representsinnocence, divine inspiration, madness, freedom, spontaneity, inexperience, chaos, and creativity.

Magician Arcana – Represents action,initiative, self-confidence, manipulation and power (more specifically, the power to harness one's talents).

Priestess Arcana - Representssymbol of hidden knowledge or other untapped power, wisdom, female mystery and magic.

Empress Arcana - Representsprosperity, creativity, sexuality, abundance, fertility and comfort (most often in helping maintain peace around them like an ideal mother would.)

Emperor Arcana - Symbolizes the desire to control one's surroundings, and its appearance could suggest that one is trying too hard to achieve this, possibly causing trouble for others; some elements in life are just not controllable.

Hierophant Arcana – Representsa symbol of education, authority, conservatism, obedience to rules and relationship with the divine.

Lovers Arcana – Representsa symbol of love and romantic relationships, although it can also be a symbol of finding agreement with an ordinary friend or even two conflicting elements within.

Chariot Arcana – Representsa symbol of victory, conquest, self-assertion, control, war and command.

Justice Arcana – Symbolizes a strict allegory of justice, objectivity, rationality and analysis.

Hermit Arcana - Associated with wisdom, introspection, solitude, retreat and philosophical searches.

Fortune Arcana - Symbolizes fate and varying luck, fortunes and opportunities. What goes up will go down, what goes down will go up.

Strength Arcana - Associated with the morality about the stronger power of self-control, gentleness, courage and virtue over brute force.

Hanged Man Arcana - Associated with self-sacrifice for the sake of enlightenment, and the bindings that makes one free, paradoxes and hanging between heaven and earth.

Death Arcana - While associated with foreboding of doom, Death Arcana also symbolizes the metamorphosis and deep change, regeneration and cycles.

Temperance Arcana - Symbol of synthesis, prudence, harmony, and the merging of opposites.

Devil Arcana - Represents the urge to do selfish, impulsive, violent things and be slave to ones' own impulse and feelings. Occasionally, it is also portrayed as a symbol of temptation.

Tower Arcana - Associated to overly arrogant, prejudiced and authoritarian organization, which walk to their own ironic demise. Furthermore, it is also more generically used as an omen of doom and disaster.

Star Arcana - Associated hope, self-confidence, faith, altruism, luck, generosity, peace and joy.

Moon Arcana - Associated with creativity, inspiration, dreams, madness, illusions, fear, fantasy, the subconscious and trickery. It can also represent being attuned subconsciously to the world around, gaining the ability to sense things without being told about them or without anyone else knowing (which means that some identify this Arcana with psychic energy.)

Sun Arcana - Symbolizes happiness, joy, energy, optimism, and accomplishment.

Judgment Arcana - Symbolizes a person's awareness of himself, and others.

The World Arcana - Representation of the world, the totality of it, symbol of fulfillment, wholeness, harmony.

"So many descriptions that I'd never address like that…" Pit muttered.

"That is how Tarot Cards work," Elizabeth said smiling. "Before you start setting those cards on their respective Arcanas, be aware of your judgmental skills," she warned them. "The Arcanas might reject the card with the person should they belong to another different Arcana. Base your thoughts with your interactions with them so you can grasp their true Arcana."

"Is there something else we need to know?" Meta Knight asked.

"Oh, there is something else," Elizabeth said with a blank look. "It's possible that the people you know…have negative behaviors that contradict the Arcanas. If a person that doesn't want to sacrifice his time to help others, the Minor Arcanas are applied to them."

"Minor Arcanas?" Pit wondered.

"What I've explained to you right now with these cards you see before you are the Major Arcana set," Elizabeth explained. "The Minor Arcana set is basically the opposite of the Major Arcana. In a few words, it's all based on negative attitudes. Those who have that kind of behavior are often destined to perish for the rest of their lives."

Silence…

"…" Elizabeth chuckled. "But there's a chance for them to redeem themselves to become part of the Major Arcana, of course. However, they won't be part of the Major Arcana in a second right after changing their mentality, though. They have to build up their positive mentalities until they fully represent positive Arcanas."

"…Interesting, to say at least," Meta Knight remarked.

"So then," she began as she opened her right palm next to her shoulder, "go right ahead and begin."

The trio stared at Roy's card on the table. "Base my thoughts with my interactions with Roy…" Marth trailed off. "Roy is very self-confident all the time and he knows how to manipulate his power to harness his talents, so he should be with…the Magician Arcana," he said as he set Roy's card below the Magician Arcana.

Elizabeth stared at the card for a while. She chuckled and nodded at Marth. "Nice job," she said. "Roy belongs to the Magician Arcana. He wasn't rejected by it."

Marth sighed. "I doubted myself for a minute there…"

Meta Knight picked a card, which instantly showed Kirby in it. "Kirby is always happy. He represents the Sun Arcana," he said as he set the card on the Sun Arcana, which portrayed two children holding hands under a blazing sun.

"It was accepted," Elizabeth said.

Pit took a card, which then showed Olimar on it. "Uh…I haven't really spoken that much with Olimar…" he admitted. "Um…he has some wisdom and is mostly in solitude with his Pikmins, so…Hermit Arcana." He set Olimar's card over the Hermit Arcana, which portrayed an old man in a dark place, holding up a lantern. As soon as he set the card over it, it was pushed away back to Pit's hand. "W-what the?"

"Oh, it seems your grasping of this individual's behavior was wrong," Elizabeth said blankly. "You may try again with other Arcanas, though. If that person is rejected by everything, then something is wrong with him."

"Are you implying Olimar has a bad personality?" Meta Knight asked.

"I don't know. You're the ones who know that person," Elizabeth said. "You should know better than I do."

Meta Knight took the card from Pit's hand. "Olimar is actually part of the Chariot Arcana since he is very fond of his Pikmins whom he achieves victory through orders," he said as he put Olimar's card over the Chariot Arcana, which depicted a king leading a chariot made up of two differently colored horses. The card lied still below the Arcana. "Through his victories, he gains self-assertion that he can pull through the hard times."

"Nicely put, Meta Knight," Elizabeth remarked.

Pit sighed depressed. "Oh no, I got it wrong… I need to be aware of others' behaviors a lot more," he said before picking a card, which instantly showed Captain Falcon in it. "…Are there any good qualities about him?"

Marth rubbed his chin. "C. Falcon doesn't do any bad things that make him bad, except for the fact he flirts a bit whenever the chance is right," he said. "Other than that, he's a likeable guy."

"Oh, I never thought about that," Pit said. "So where should he go?"

"The Devil Arcana," Meta Knight said.

"But…the Devil Arcana sounds kind of bad…"

"Oh, don't think that the Devil Arcana sounds bad," Elizabeth said with chuckle. "Most people would think the Devil Arcana is negative, but it's actually the opposite. The people who find something worth of their temptations are able to find what they seek. The opposite of that would be that the person is easily enslaved by his or her own temptations."

"In other words, the person who is tempted has control over their temptations," Meta Knight said as Pit placed C. Falcon's card over the Devil Arcana, which depicted a hermaphrodite devil over two chained figures. It accepted the card by keeping in below it. "And in C. Falcon's case, he isn't enslaved so easily at all."

"That was a nice lesson to learn," Pit admitted. "Who'd have thought temptations could help people?"

Marth took another card, which showed Pichu in it. "Star Arcana," he said as he placed Pichu's card below the Star Arcana, which portrayed a star with a face on a blue background. "He is always full of joy and optimism while he wants to achieve accomplishment."

"Correct," Elizabeth said pleased.

Meta Knight took a card, which instantly showed Sonic on it. "Tower Arcana," he said. "Sonic is very egotistical and arrogant, but he could've ended on the Minor Arcana if we didn't get to talk with him." He placed Sonic's card under the Tower Arcana, which portrayed a tower struck by lightning, from which two small figures were falling down.

The card below the Arcana shook a bit, but it then stopped. The three noticed this. "It appears that this individual is barely following the true path," Elizabeth said blankly. "He needs to redeem himself before he goes for the wrong path."

"Figures," all the three Smashers muttered with sighs.

Marth picked another card, which showed Peach on it. "Lovers Arcana, obviously," he said, setting Peach's card below the Lovers Arcana, which depicted a heart separating a couple on two different paths. "She loves every single person she gets the chance to talk."

"Nicely accepted," Elizabeth said.

Meta Knight picked a card, showing Mario on it. "A good natured person like Mario would belong to the Hierophant Arcana," he said as he put Mario's card below the Hierophant Arcana, which depicted a spear pointing up while two people were standing on each side, worshiping the spear.

"Very well," Elizabeth agreed.

Pit took a card, which showed Snake on it. "Um…I think Snake has more wisdom and solitude than most of any of us have," he said as he put Snake's card below the Hermit Arcana. He gulped, expecting the card to go back to his hand. However, it lied still, making him sigh in relief.

"Good job," Elizabeth said with an amused chuckle.

Marth took another card, which showed Chip on it. "He's just like Pichu, so he's in the Star Arcana as well," he said as he set the card on the respective Arcana.

Meta Knight took a card, which showed Luigi on it. "Luigi…" he trailed off in thought. "Perhaps he represents the Moon Arcana due to the fact he has a fear for most things and that he gets into madness a few times. Also, I suppose he has many dreams that he'd like to do," he said as he set the card under the Moon Arcana, which represented two dogs howling at the Moon, around a pool with a crab in it, with two towers in the background. "…My guess was right, then."

"It appears so," Elizabeth said pleased.

Marth took a card, which showed Lucario on it. "Strength Arcana," he said as he set his card below the Strength Arcana, which depicted a young woman holding up a terrifying beast (a lion). "It's obvious he wants to control his brute force to use his real strength of self-control to protect others, especially Chris. After all, he is struggling to control his power."

"Well done," Elizabeth said with a chuckle.

Pit picked a card, which showed Meta Knight on it. The angel gasped, taking the attention of the knight. "I-it's you, Meta Knight," he said.

Meta Knight nodded. "It's up to you to see what I really represent," he said.

"W-well, let's see…" Pit trailed off in thought. "I-I'd say you represent the Temperance Arcana because you're extremely prudent to avoid embarrassment all the time, and that you want to open up with the others after all this time you've been with us so you can recover the Halberd, so…here," he said as he set the card below the Temperance Arcana. It was portrayed as a woman with angel wings mixing up the water of two cups; one blue, and the other red. Pit gulped to see the Arcana rejecting the card, but it didn't do a thing.

Elizabeth nodded. "You've grasped his Arcana very well," she said amused.

Meta Knight nodded. "Well said, Pit," he said.

Pit sighed. "Phew, that was a little too close…" he muttered relieved.

"My turn," Meta Knight said as he picked another card, which showed Lucas on it. "Justice Arcana," he said as he set the card down below the Justice Arcana, which depicted a woman holding a sword and balance. "Lucas has a strong sense justice thanks to the loss of his family. He might as well be the one who has the strongest sense of all of us."

"That seems to be correct," Elizabeth said.

Marth picked a card, which showed Pikachu on it. "Magician Arcana like Roy," he said as he set Pikachu's card with the Magician Arcana. "Pikachu is very confident of himself and has good initiative."

"Right," Elizabeth said.

Pit picked a card, which showed Wolf on it. "Why do I always have to pick the ones hard to grasp?" he asked annoyed before thinking what Wolf represented. "Um…"

"Hanged Man Arcana," Meta Knight said.

"W-why that one?"

"Think about it," Meta Knight said. "We've become too much dependent on Wolf whenever he has the chance to help us in dire times. In a few words, he has excellent self-sacrifice to step up and save us from trouble. I guess Chris had much impact on his views…or maybe he never wanted people to realize he had good intentions all along."

Pit looked skeptically as he set the card below the Hanged Man Arcana, which depicted a man hanging upside down from one leg, with his other leg crossed forming a four. Elizabeth stared at the card for a while to see if it would budge, but it didn't. She nodded in agreement and looked at them. "It appears this bad-looking guy has a soft spot for you all," he said. "He doesn't show it, but he does care for everyone."

"I really can't see that…" Pit muttered.

"I'll arrange a meeting so you can get to know Wolf more," Meta Knight said.

"I-I'll talk with him myself, s-so don't bother!" Pit spoke up.

Meta Knight stifled a chuckle as he picked another card, which showed Diddy on it. "I'd say Fortune Arcana for Diddy," he said as he set Diddy's card below the Fortune Arcana, which depicted a wheel with different animals wearing wealthy and beggarly clothes up and down the wheel. "This is just another wild guess, but I think he is presented with more opportunities than anyone else has."

"Accepted," Elizabeth said.

Marth crossed his arms. "Is Diddy really like that?" he asked.

"I've heard him wondering to himself so many times what he should do in his room," Meta Knight said. "It's either play with DK or eat with DK between many other things revolving around DK."

"Those two are so connected to each other…" Pit trailed off.

Marth picked a card, which showed Chris on it. "Oh, let's see… The Fool Arcana," he said as he set the card below the Fool Arcana, which depicted a jester laughing very close to a cliff, accompanied with a dog at his heels. "All his jobs change his personality so many times that it's difficult to tell what he'll do in a job…"

"Oh, so you know a person who represents the Fool Arcana," Elizabeth said interested before she looked blankly at Chris's card. "…But I'm not very interested in this individual. There doesn't seem to be a special quality that I could use to benefit him."

"What does that mean?" Meta Knight asked.

"Sorry, but it's another confidential thing," Elizabeth said amused. "Let's resume with this, shall we?"

Pit picked a card, which showed Mewtwo in it. "Oh, for the love of Palutena…" he muttered annoyed before thinking. " Mewtwo should represent…"

"Either Hermit, Hierophant, Fortune, or Moon Arcana," Meta Knight said.

"W-what? T-that can't be possible!" Pit said.

"Mewtwo is probably the hardest person to grasp," Marth admitted. "It's very rare that you get to talk with him for two hours unless you're a Pokémon."

Pit rubbed his head. "B-but I've never said a word to him at all!" he complained.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Perhaps you should try to define Mewtwo by putting his card on one of each of the four Arcanas," she suggested. "When the card doesn't budge on the correct Arcana, try to explain why he belongs to the Arcana."

"U-um, okay… Moon Arcana," Pit said as he set the card on the Moon Arcana, which was rejected quickly. "F-Fortune Arcana," he said, again, getting the card thrown back to his hand. "H-Hierophant Arcana!" he said, once again, the card shooting back to his hand. "H-Hermit Arcana, please!" he said as he set the card below the Hermit Arcana. The four stared at the card for a while before Pit sighed. "Hermit Arcana…"

"I guess it was quite obvious that he is like Snake," Meta Knight said.

Pit hung his head down in shame. "So then, those two have a penchant for solitude and philosophical searches?" he asked.

"It seems that way," Elizabeth said amused. "Well done, Pit."

"(How can she say that with a straight face?)" Pit thought embarrassed.

Meta Knight ignored Pit as he picked another card, which depicted Pit on it. "Pit represents the Justice Arcana," he said as he set the angel's card below the Justice Arcana. "It's obvious you have a strong sense of justice thanks to your faith in your goddess, am I right?"

Pit blushed and smiled a bit. "O-oh, well, yes, I like justice," he said. "Does that mean Lucas is better in justice than me?"

"Possibly, you might have a different kind of justice than he does," Marth said. "He wants justice for his family, and you want justice for the people."

"Hmm, I guess you're right… Thanks," Pit said pleased while Elizabeth stifled a chuckle.

Marth picked another card, which displayed DK on it. "Strength Arcana just like Lucario," he said as he set the card below the Strength Arcana. "DK has a strong sense to have brawn, but he wants to use his strength to protect others."

The three suddenly saw DK's card shaking a bit before stopping.

"…Uh-oh," Pit muttered.

Elizabeth looked blankly at them. "Apparently, the Strength Arcana is trying to reject him," she explained. "He is trying to decide whether to submit himself to strength to just look powerful without thinking to protect the others or use it to protect others."

"DK?" Marth wondered. "That's strange. I thought he was pure."

"Don't let appearances fool you," Meta Knight said. "In the exterior, our own allies might look friendly, but in the interior, they could be hiding dark intentions behind our backs."

Pit shuddered. "Y-you don't think some of them want to betray us, right?" he asked worried. "Everyone seems to be good friends with each other…"

Elizabeth blinked a bit. "Their facades might be false," she said. "Only you can change their thoughts so they can choose the path they think it's correct. People can't develop quite well without interaction."

"(These Arcanas can tell so much than we can…)" Pit thought worried. "(Maybe I should use them to be careful with the others…)" He picked another card, which displayed Ike on it. "Phew, an easy one… Ike represents the Chariot Arcana like Olimar. I've heard from him that his self-assertion gets him in feuds with his band of mercenaries a few times. That should be a nice hint, right?" he asked as he set the card below the Chariot Arcana.

"Right," Elizabeth said. "He seems to be mostly positive."

"It's a bit twisted to see him sharing the same Arcana to a person like Olimar…" Marth trailed off.

"Marth, don't insult Olimar," Meta Knight said.

"I-I wasn't insulting him…" Marth said.

Meta Knight picked another card, which showed Zelda on it. "Empress Arcana," he said as he set her card below the Empress Arcana, which depicted a jar with a crown over it, standing between vines and leaves. "She is the ruler of a kingdom. She is always worrying about us while keeping peace in our group, just like a mother would do as the Empress Arcana says."

"I admit that's a nice way to define someone like Zelda," Marth said nodding. "She is so pure and elegant."

"Marth, I'll tell Link you're in love with her."

"W-what's wrong with you today?" Marth asked bewildered.

"You could say I'm being a little bit playful this morning," Meta Knight chuckled.

"Oh, please…" Marth muttered as he picked another card, which showed Squirtle on it. "I'd say Sun Arcana for Squirtle," he said as he set the card below the Sun Arcana. "He's got very good optimism when fighting."

"Does he?" Pit wondered.

"Yes," Meta Knight said.

"I should see how he does that…" Pit muttered as he picked another card, which showed Ivysaur on it. "I've heard from Red that Ivysaur respects all Legendary Pokémon too much, saying he's honored in having them in front of him, so…Hierophant Arcana like Mario," he said, setting the card down on the mentioned Arcana.

"Keep going," Elizabeth said.

Meta Knight picked another card, which showed Falco on it. "He is a fool," he said.

"Wow, he shares the same Arcana like Chris does?" Pit asked.

"No, I'm saying he really is a fool in my eyes," Meta Knight said.

Marth and Pit sweat dropped.

Elizabeth chuckled a bit. "You really had me thinking he was part of the Fool Arcana. A really cunning joke, Meta Knight," she remarked.

"…In any case, he represents the Tower Arcana like Sonic because he is very arrogant and egotistical so many times," Meta Knight said as he set the pilot's card below the Tower Arcana. As he expected, Falco's card shook a bit. "He needs to straighten up before it's too late," he added.

"Poor guy…" Marth muttered worried before picking another card, the card showing Samus in it. "Samus should represent the Priestess Arcana," he said as he set her card below the Priestess Arcana, which depicted an old woman with a closed book that shaped a sorcerer hat. "Under that suit of hers, she probably has untapped power waiting to be awakened, or I think it already has been manifested."

"Exactly," Elizabeth said. "It'd been more accurate if you mentioned that she has the female mystery in her."

"She does? Oh, I guess she does," Marth admitted.

Pit picked a card, which depicted Ness in it. "Ness represents the…Magician Arcana," he said, setting the card below the mentioned Arcana. "He told me once that he wanted to hone his PSI skills when he was given the task to save his world until he dropped it out to become a normal boy."

"Too bad he's so far away from becoming a normal boy with all this mess the army is causing all of us…" Marth said. "That could be the same for all of us as well."

Elizabeth looked interested at this.

Meta Knight picked another card, which showed Popo on it. "Popo is a bit confusing to grasp, but he should represent the Sun Arcana like Kirby and Squirtle," he said as he set the card below the mentioned Arcana. "He is struggling to find the joy he lost, after all."

"Right," Marth said as he took another card, which showed Nana on it. "Sun Arcana like Popo. The two are always optimistic after all they've gone through," he said as he set her card below the Sun Arcana.

Pit picked another card, which showed Marth on it. "Oh, it's you, Marth," he said. "I guess you're part of the Hierophant Arcana."

"Death Arcana," Marth said grimly.

"Death Arcana…w-what?" Pit asked shocked with a grim look. "W-what do you mean you represent that Arcana? T-that one sounds a little bit too…"

"I admit that took be aback as well," Meta Knight said. "Why do you think you represent the Death Arcana?"

Marth looked down with a sigh. "Seeing so many people dying during times of war in my home has given me a fear against my own death," he said. "I always think that the day I'll die, people who care about me will lose optimism to prosper… You know why, right, Pit?"

"…Oh, you're the prince of a kingdom," Pit muttered. "So many people would grieve over your death…" He shook his head and looked preoccupied. "I-I didn't mean to make you look bad, Marth, really!"

"It's okay," Marth said as he smiled a bit. "I've understood the foreboding of my death… Thanks to that, death is something that won't scare me at all. This is what I truly believe."

"Such deep change…it's so admirable," Elizabeth remarked with a smile. "I consider the Death Arcana very intriguing myself."

Pit smiled as he put Marth's card below the Death Arcana, which depicted a skull in front of an ominous door. "Then I shall think positive things out of this particular Arcana," Pit said before patting Marth's back. "I'm honored to know you're this deep, Marth."

"A truly remarkable prince of a kingdom who understands the concept of death," Meta Knight said. "No wonder why you worry about your people. Like Elizabeth said, you're admirable, Marth."

"Thank you so much, you two," Marth said nodding. "It means a lot to me."

Meta Knight nodded as he picked another card, which showed Jigglypuff in it. "Jigglypuff belongs to the Star Arcana. She is always so joyful," he said as he set her card below the Star Arcana. "It's a very simple reason for her to represent the Star Arcana."

Marth picked another card, which showed Yoshi on it. "Yoshi represents the Magician Arcana like Pikachu. I can be sure that he has a lot of self-confidence even though he rarely shows it," he said as he set Yoshi's card below the Magician Arcana. "Besides, he likes sports so much that he daily goes to the sports area to practice, which should be enough to say he harness his talents."

"Well said," Elizabeth said.

Pit picked another card, which showed Link in it. "Hmm…thanks to what he did in the last travel, it's safe to say he represents the Emperor Arcana," he said as he set Link's card below the Emperor Arcana, which depicted a faceless emperor. "Remember how he caused Zelda to worry because he was trying to help that girl Lucca?"

"Oh yes, that's a nice example," Marth said. "Is it ironic that he is the emperor while Zelda is the empress?"

"Normally, these two Arcanas share mutual feelings," Elizabeth said. "In most cases, romance is involved between the two."

"…This means…that they are possibly…" Pit trailed off.

"…No, the two keep denying that, so let's leave it like that," Marth said. "I don't like to insult them behind their backs."

"Let's," Meta Knight agreed as he picked a card, which showed Fox in it. "Chariot Arcana for Fox, as his self-assertion was proven in that fight against his shadow. However, that negative attitude was overwhelmed by his conquest in staying true to himself," he said as he set the card below the Chariot Arcana.

Marth picked a card. After seeing the image, he looked dismayed. "…Crazy Hand?" he said confused.

"Now there is someone that I would like to see which Arcana he belongs to…" Pit trailed off. "…Uh…um…oh…err…"

"…" Marth looked nervously at Meta Knight. "I-I don't know what he represents at all. Do you have a clue?"

"Moon Arcana," Meta Knight said. "He has so many illusions and dreams that I wouldn't dare to see with my own eyes."

"…Okay…" Marth muttered as he set the hand's card below the Moon Arcana. "Luigi's got a new friend…but…the card didn't budge…"

"…Crazy Hand is pure?" Pit asked confused.

"Looks like it," Elizabeth said amused.

Pit took another card from the deck, which displayed Red in it. "Red represents the Star Arcana because…a Pokémon Trainer should have self-confidence in his or her skills," he said as he set the card below the Star Arcana.

Meta Knight took another card, which showed Toon Link in it. "Magician Arcana," he said, putting the card below the Magician arcane. "He is young, so he is trying to understand how to manipulate his own destiny as the wielder of the Triforce of Courage. Thus, his actions are crucial."

"Wow, you know that much about him?"

"I only used common sense in him," Meta Knight explained. "If he's come so far until this point, I can safely say he's matured."

"That is a nice way to describe the Magician Arcana," Elizabeth remarked.

Marth stared at one last card from the deck. He picked up to reveal Master Hand in it. "Master Hand…" he muttered. "He represents the Emperor Arcana because his decisions could lead us to victory or our demises. But, overall, he shouldn't be spoken so badly because he cares deeply about all of us," he said as he put the card below the Emperor Arcana.

Elizabeth noticed that all the cards of the deck were all arranged below the twenty-one Arcanas. She nodded at this and stared at them. "So, in other words…" she began.

The Fool Arcana - Chris

Magician Arcana – Roy, Pikachu, Ness, Yoshi, Toon Link

Priestess Arcana – Samus

Empress Arcana - Zelda

Emperor Arcana – Link, Master Hand

Hierophant Arcana – Mario, Ivysaur

Lovers Arcana – Peach

Chariot Arcana – Olimar, Ike, Fox

Justice Arcana – Lucas, Pit

Hermit Arcana – Snake, Mewtwo

Fortune Arcana - Diddy

Strength Arcana – Lucario, DK

Hanged Man Arcana – Wolf

Death Arcana - Marth

Temperance Arcana – Meta Knight

Devil Arcana – C. Falcon

Tower Arcana – Sonic, Falco

Star Arcana – Pichu, Chip, Jigglypuff, Red

Moon Arcana – Luigi, Crazy Hand

Sun Arcana – Kirby, Squirtle, Popo, Nana

Judgment Arcana – None

The World Arcana - None

Elizabeth nodded. "Congratulations," she said. "You've grasped all of your acquaintances' Arcanas accurately. You really know how each one of them behaves. I'm surprised that people like you know so much about each other."

"Not so much, truly," Meta Knight said. "We only based their actions by looking at them."

"That was one way to grasp them all," Elizabeth said.

Pit noticed that the Judgment Arcana, which represented a goddess aiming her trumpet down on people in front of a beach, and the World Arcana, which represented a young woman surrounded by figures of an angel, a bull, an eagle, and a lion. "How come nobody got those two Arcanas?" he asked.

"These two Arcanas are the most important of them all," Elizabeth said. "It's often addressed to those people who are self-aware of others and themselves. These kinds of people are extremely rare to find in those who belong to the Fool Arcana."

Meta Knight stared at Chris's card. "Does Chris belong there?" he asked.

"Sorry, but he doesn't show any signs of belonging to the Judgment Arcana," Elizabeth said blankly. "If this person did, he would have strong ties to the World Arcana, which it's based of the person's bonding perfectly with each of the Arcanas."

"The World Arcana itself represents all the Arcanas."

"Exactly," Elizabeth said amused. "Chris will forever represent the Fool Arcana."

Pit sighed and leaned back. "Phew, this was interesting to do, I admit," he said. "Getting to grasp everyone's personalities through Tarot Cards was fun…"

"Tarot Cards: the art of fortunetelling that involves defining people with their respective Arcana. I didn't think I'd see it with my own eyes."

The four looked to the left side of the table where a silver-haired woman was looking at the cards. Her silver eyes moved to see each one of them until they fixed on Elizabeth. The blond girl chuckled. "Oh, I didn't see you were there," she said. "Who are you?"

"Sorry for walking right into your conversation. I was wondering aloud what you were all doing," the woman said. "My name is Nozomi."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Nozomi," Elizabeth said pleased. "Yes, we were having a little talk about Arcanas, as you can see. Would you like to partake in this?"

"No need, I'm pretty sure I represent the Hierophant Arcana," she said.

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment. "…Why, yes, you're correct," she said. "I can see as much."

Pit looked dismayed. "You…you told all that with a simple look?" he asked.

"I'm a special being," Elizabeth said. "I've been trained very well in the ways of the Arcana if I do say so myself." She looked up at Nozomi. "You know, I can't shake the feeling that we're somehow related in a mystical kind of way. I wonder what this feeling is about."

"Maybe," Nozomi said. "By the looks of it, you look like some kind of attendant."

"That is just what I am," Elizabeth said pleased. "And by the looks of it, you look like…"

"A surgeon," Nozomi said. "That's my job."

"A surgeon?" Elizabeth wondered.

Marth sighed. "A surgeon is a kind of doctor who besides providing sick people with medicines, they perform surgeries where they operate on people's bodies to treat internal illnesses that can only be cured by interacting with internal organs directly," he explained.

"I see. That's interesting," Elizabeth remarked. "So they basically rip up people's bodies and handle their organs… Wouldn't that kill the people, though?"

"As long as no severe internal damage is done to the body, it'll be okay," Nozomi said. "It's a very risky job where you must make sure that the patient's vitals don't drop to zero while you perform the surgery. If they do drop to zero, the patient dies."

"What an interesting and dangerous way to save people," Elizabeth said in remark.

"It is," Nozomi said before focusing on the Smashers. She stared at Meta Knight for a little while. "(And yet another person who looks differently from all the people here…and let's not forget the kid in the angel costume.)"

"Is something bothering you?" Meta Knight asked.

"No, sorry. I was just thinking about some stuff," Nozomi said. "Pardon me for this, but I must be going to the hotel. I have some things to do." And with that, she turned around and left while saying, "See you later."

Elizabeth waved a hand at the surgeon before she pushed her chair away from the table and stood back up. "Well then, shall we get going?" she asked. "I suppose it's time for me to leave."

The Same Random Alley

Elizabeth brought the trio back to the alley where she appeared. The velvet girl turned to them and bowed cordially. "Thank you so much for spending the time with me to show me around," she said with a smile. "I've learned so much about this world and its people that it left me with more curiosity."

Pit looked unsure. "Y-you're going to come back here later?" he asked.

"Why, yes," Elizabeth said interested. "I've seen this town already, but next time, I'd like to visit your home. From what I've heard, a mansion displays elegancy to its guests. I want to be one guest for a day."

"I…suppose that could work," Marth said.

"We'll be expecting you until then," Meta Knight said.

Elizabeth nodded. "Expect me after you accept my request. While that day comes, I'll be working busily in my own duties with another special person," she explained.

"And I'm guessing we shouldn't know that special person…right?" Marth asked.

"Exactly," Elizabeth said with a chuckle. "Oh, right, I forgot to give you your rewards for assisting me today." She took out three cards, one white, one red, and one green. "I could tell you were all fighters with a simple glance, so I decided to give you these three cards to aid you in your fight against this army you're fighting against."

Marth took the three cards. The prince stared at the white card, which had the word "Mediarama" written across. He looked at the red card, which had the word "Agilao" written across. He then looked at the green card, which had written "Garula" across.

"Who is this army, anyway?" Elizabeth asked.

"The army we're fighting is called the Subspace Army," Meta Knight said. "The army seeks to conquer this world for their selfish purposes."

"This world is in danger?" she asked before chuckling. "I can tell this army isn't related to the supernatural, right?"

"Right…" Pit trailed off with a shrug.

"Whatever the case, you seem to be in an important mission against this Subspace Army," Elizabeth said. "Those cards you got from me will come in handy against any threat you face."

The trio stared at the cards in Marth's hand. "…Thank you for helping us, then," Marth said nodding.

Obtained Mediarama!

Moderately heals all party members. Recovers forty percent of health lost in an instant.

Obtained Agilao!

Scorches the foe in burning flames. Deals moderate fire damage to a single enemy in an instant.

Obtained Garula!

Calls forth smiting winds. Deals moderate wind damage to a single enemy in an instant.

"All those spells don't need any kind of chant," Elizabeth said smiling. "However, the drawback is that using them too many times in a row will quickly extract your energy, thus, you'll become exhausted."

"We'll have that in mind," Meta Knight said.

"Consider my rewards as a sign of a thank you for all the time we've spent together today. I'll be looking forward to our next…date," she said amused. "Now, if you could turn around you don't see me leaving for ten seconds…"

"…Right," Meta Knight said as he and the other two turned around from Elizabeth.

"Until we meet again," Elizabeth said with a smile.

After ten seconds passed, the three turned back to the dead end of the alley where the blond girl had disappeared from sight. Pit and Marth looked around for any kind of secret passage, but they couldn't spot anything. "Well, that's over with," Meta Knight said. "She was very intriguing."

"She was odd to me," Pit said with a shrug. "The way she looked at me with those yellow eyes of hers… Ugh…"

Marth saw the three cards shining brightly until they stopped, turning into medium-sized stickers that fell on his hand. "And now, these stickers are ready to be used," he said.

"For now, let's put them away," Meta Knight suggested. "It's about time we returned to the mansion, don't you think?"

Pit brightened up. "Can we have a match at a stage, please? I haven't been able to challenge you, Meta Knight," he said.

"Of course."

The trio walked away from the alley, expecting Elizabeth to show up again very soon one day…

"I'd like to see Nintendo Village" Side-quest completed!

And so, the days went by…

April 14 – Tuesday - Afternoon

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

Final Fantasy IX – Vivi's Theme

Along the road to the village, a small figure walked towards the Smash Mansion. The traveler Stiltzkin felt that he wanted to pay the mansion a visit after the last time he came here. He considered the mansion to be an inn of sorts to rest from his travels. And recalling how each one of them looked so different from each other, he thought that sharing his stories with them would be a nice way to find inspiration to travel more.

"~You go up a mountain, you go down a river, you go into a house, and you go out of a cave!~" Stiltzkin sang as he hopped to the sides towards the building. "~You find some lore, you get some food, you discover some ruins, and you travel a lot more!~"

The traveling moogle stopped in front of the double doors of the mansion. He twitched his little nose a bit and turned away from the doors.

"Hmm, I hear some noises coming from nearby…" Stiltzkin said, his round ears perking up a bit. "I wonder if they're outside…" He flapped his bat wings until he floated over the ground. He looked around for a bit until he heard the noises coming from the right side of the mansion. "Oh, they're coming from over there," he said before flying to the direction of the noises.

Once Stiltzkin crossed the corner, he nicely landed on the grass to see what was going on. On the north side of the area before him, he found a table where Peach and Yoshi were drinking some tea under an umbrella. On the wall, there were Toon Link and Lucas talking to each other, laughing from time to time. On the open area, Pikachu, Pichu, Squirtle, and Ivysaur were chasing after each other while Red was sitting down against a tree with folded arms behind his head, resting under the shade of the leaves. Close to him, three books were sitting next to Chris (in his Moogle Knight job), who was busily doing homework while Lucario sat next to him, staring intently at the notebook on Chris's lap.

"Ah, such a beautiful scenery," Stiltzkin mused to himself. "Makes me want to go somewhere to see what else I can find, but that's not the time for now." He flew to the Pokémon to get their attention. "Howdy, my friends!"

The four stopped chasing each other around to look at the moogle. "Oh, it's you," Pikachu said. "You're the Stiltzkin guy, right?"

"Glad to hear that you remember my name," Stiltzkin said pleased.

"What brings you here?" Pichu asked.

Stiltzkin turned his back to them as he reminisced about his travels. "Traveling so far and wide makes you have fond memories of the places you've been," he said. "Such is the way for a young traveler like me to remember the people I meet in new places. However, are you fond of the memories you've created in other places you've been to?"

"Yup," Pikachu said.

"Yes," Pichu said.

"Right," Squirtle agreed.

"Uh-huh," Ivysaur said.

Stiltzkin turned to them. "That's nice to hear from you," he said. "And certainly you cherish the people you've met as well, right?"

All of them nodded.

"Good, good," Stiltzkin said. "The motive of my visit is this. I wanted to see how you were all doing. I was coincidentally traveling through here that I wanted to drop by to say hello. Ever since the last time we met, I've been to places where the most interesting information can be found… Well, you get that a lot from pubs, but you know what I mean."

"Aww, you're so thoughtful," Squirtle said.

"Thank you," Stiltzkin said. "Incidentally, I've recalled that you're fighting for a cause, correct? Since you'll need help from everyone you meet, I'd like you to have some magic along with an important magic lesson."

"Oh, if you're saying that, then let me call the others here," Pikachu said before he went over to call the others around.

After the other seven joined the conversation, Stiltzkin stared at Chris in his moogle appearance. "Ooh, a new breed of moogle," Stiltzkin said. "I've seen that breed of moogles before. I'm flattered that I have friend who is different but belongs to my same race."

"I'm just using this job because I wanted to use it after a long while, kupo…" Chris said.

Stiltzkin nodded and took out six stickers that he put on the grass. The stickers were Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, along with three new ones, Cure (green sparkles), a medium-sized sticker with orange sparkles, and a medium-sized sticker with a holy circle forming a small tower of light. "Here you go some stickers of magic."

"You're giving us those for free?" Toon Link asked.

"Yes, it's on the house," Stiltzkin said. "You may not know, but these spells are very basic on their own."

"Oh, bummer," Pikachu muttered.

Stiltzkin shook his head. "Of course, I'm not giving you these just to get rid of them, oh no! There's a real reason why I'm giving them to you! I just need all of these stickers to be equipped on six of you. After you've equipped them all, I'm going to give you a very useful lesson about magic."

The Smashers exchanged glances before Mario took the Fire sticker, Peach took the Cure sticker, Lucario took the Thunder sticker, Squirtle took the Blizzard sticker, Toon Link took the sticker with the holy circle, and Pichu took the sticker with the orange sparkles. All of them equipped their stickers on their Trophy Stands.

"Good," Stiltzkin said.

"Now what?" Ivysaur asked.

"I want everyone to disperse from this area so I can start the lesson," Stiltzkin instructed. "I want Mario and Squirtle to be here, though. Everyone else has to back off."

Everyone but the mentioned two walked away from them.

"Why do you need us?" Squirtle asked.

"It's time for the lesson to begin," the traveling moogle said. "You see, it's been discovered a long time ago that a spell can fuse together with another spell to create an even stronger spell or another different kind of spell. Using the magic you've just learned will allow you to discover new ways to combine attacks!"

"Oh, so you want us to combine our magic together?" Mario asked.

"Yes, it's as simple as that," Stiltzkin said. "It's extremely simple. You just need to focus your magic on a single spot, and then, you'll synchronize together with each other to create a new spell. In this case, Fire and Blizzard will create something else. And no, don't think Fire will melt Blizzard or something logical like that! Go on, try it!"

Mario and Squirtle exchanged glances before they both prepared to use magic. A red light rose around Mario while a blue light rose around Squirtle.

Stiltzkin looked over to a rock standing several feet away from them. "It'll be easier for you two to focus on that rock over there," he said. "Go ahead and fuse spells!"

The two looked over to the rock. Looking serious, the two held out their hands to the same direction, forced to yell "Gravity!" together.

Several lights met together over the rock before sparks of darkness appeared from an orb. Everyone watched the distortion of gravity over the rock before it faded away.

"Wow, what was that just now?" Squirtle asked.

"That was the spell Gravity," Stiltzkin said. "It doesn't hurt enemies on the ground too much, but when used against airborne enemies, they'll instantly crash down on the ground, and their defense will be dropped by a half," he explained. "What's more, they'll be forced to stay on the ground for a while, and it even works against really strong airborne enemies! To me, Gravity is a deadly spell that helps to turn the tides."

"I'm impressed," Mario said.

"I'm sure you do," Stiltzkin said. "To perform Gravity, you must fuse Fire and Blizzard together, Fire and Thunder, or Thunder and Blizzard. If you fuse Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder together, you'll end up making a much bigger area of effect for Gravity! Sadly, I don't want you to do that today."

"Aww," Squirtle groaned. "It looked so cool…"

"Anyway, I need Mario to back off and have Pichu here."

Mario obeyed to this as Pichu replaced him.

"Alright, I remember Pichu equipping the Life sticker," he said. "Life is a nice spell that revives a knocked out party member. It might be useful alone, but there's even more to that spell."

"I get it," Pichu said. "You want the two of us to mix our magic?"

"Yes, but…when Life is brought up, the order is important."

"Order?"

"Yes, order," Stiltzkin said. "You see, you'll get two different results depending on who is the first one who starts their spell. Let's have Pichu start his spell on the rock, but he should wait for Squirtle to fuse his spell with his." He hopped on his feet. "Alright, Pichu, concentrate on the rock! Squirtle, as soon as Pichu is surrounded by light, you start your spell!"

Pichu shrugged as he embraced himself, calling forth an orange light around his feet. Squirtle saw this and quickly called forth a blue light around his feet. Both of them focused their spells on the rock before them.

"And now, release your new spell!"

Pichu and Squirtle were forced to yell aloud "Slow!" to call forth a clock's hands in a distortion of purple light over the rock. The hands moved at a fast speed before they dramatically dropped in speed, causing a shining light to point out their sudden drop of speed. The hands then disappeared.

"Sweet," Squirtle said pleased.

"Now, let's have Squirtle start the spell first, and then have Pichu do it right after," Stiltzkin said. "Begin!"

The two Pokémon obeyed, with Squirtle calling forth the blue light before Pichu called forth the orange light. After focusing their spells on the rock, they were forced to yell "Holy!" aloud.

A burst of intense light with long rays of ethereal spheres materialized over the rock. Everyone saw the intense shining light engulfing a portion of the area around the rock, causing a small but severe explosion of saint light. The rock was easily shattered into pieces.

Stiltzkin looked at everyone's shocked looks. "Yup, Holy might as well be the strongest light magic you've ever seen before," he said. "It looks so amazing. It can deal heavy light damage to enemies affiliated with darkness. Some people consider Holy to be a real punishing attack to those who follow the dark arts, or are forced to become the slaves of dark beings. It's so pure that it can cleanse one's soul in a flash…by hurting them for triple damage."

Pichu beamed with glee. "Can it really hurt enemies that badly?" he asked.

"But of course it can!" Stiltzkin said. "No dark being is safe under the might of Holy! But let's not get sidetracked from the main point of this lesson." He cleared his throat. "As you've seen, the order for a mixture of Life and an offensive spell will change the outcome. If Life is used first, you'll get Slow, but if an offensive spell is used first, you'll get Holy."

Squirtle and Pichu did a high-five together.

"Alright, now's the time for a mixture of a physical attack and a spell," Stiltzkin said. "I'd like Lucario and Chris to come over here, but you two should back off."

The two Pokémon walked away while Lucario and Chris came to Stiltzkin.

Stiltzkin nodded. "Now, what I'm about to teach you is mixing magic with physical attacks. For this lesson, I want Lucario to cast Thunder on Chris's sword. Be careful! Only focus on the weapon Chris is using, not himself!" he warned.

Lucario stared at Chris's sword. "Focus on the sword," he muttered.

Chris unsheathed his sword and stared forward. "What should I do, kupo?" he asked.

"Lucario will focus on your sword," Stiltzkin said. "Once he's ready, swing your sword to let loose a powerful Thunderstrike! It's very simple, so begin now!"

Lucario closed his eyes and made a fist by his right side, calling forth a yellow light around his feet. Chris looked serious and flew over the grass with his sword in hand.

Stiltzkin nodded. "Now!" he shouted.

Lucario focused on Chris's sword as the World Traveler prepared to slice the air. The Aura Pokémon was forced to initiate the magic, both of the yelling "Thunderstrike!" as pure lightning engulfed Chris's sword. The Moogle Knight released a wave of electricity that floated in the air before vanishing, his sword turning back to normal. He stopped flying away to land back on the grass, looking at his sword in surprise.

"Nicely done, you two," Stiltzkin said. "You've performed Thunderstrike very well."

"(I wanted to be the one to throw a hit, though…)" Lucario thought.

Chris walked back to Stiltzkin. "Let me guess. This can be pulled off with any other offensive magic, right, kupo?" he asked.

"Yes," Stiltzkin said, hopping on his feet. "You can get Firestrike out of Fire-based spells, Thunderstrike out of Thunder-based spells and finally, Blizzardstrike out of Blizzard-based spells. I think it's possible for other offensive spells like Water and Aero to mix together with physical attacks. Mixing magic and physical attacks together deals even more damage to the enemy unlike a regular attack or spell by itself!"

"This will surely come in handy in future battles," Lucario said.

"Oh, here's something you should be careful about," the moogle traveler said. "Not only can you mix swords with spells, but you can mix them with other weapons. Just focus on your ally's primary physical weapon and you'll get the mix well. However, remember that this can only happen for close combat weapons. If you use spells on long-range weapons, it won't work."

Toon Link walked to them. "Hey, what does the sticker I used do?" he asked.

"Your sticker has the magic 'Clear' in it," Stiltzkin said. "Clear can cleanse a party member from status ailments such as poison or silence. It's just like Esuna, but with a different name. Oh, also, Clear is kind of a stronger version than Esuna since it can remove buffs from your enemies. Use Clear to get rid of your enemy's buffers! It also works nicely on strong enemies!"

"Ooh, sweet," Toon Link said. "Can it be mixed with another spell?"

"Sadly, Clear happens to be the only spell that can only mix together with another Clear spell," Stiltzkin said. "Stacking up to Clear spells yields a Clearga, which gets rid of status buffers in a big field."

"…I knew it was too good to be true," Toon Link muttered.

"Alright, the lesson's over!" Stiltzkin announced to call everyone to him. "You've learned how to fuse spells and attacks together now. I hope this becomes useful in your battles… Was there something else I should mention? Oh yes," he said. "If you stack Fire with another Fire spell, you'll get Fira out of it. If you stack Fire with Fira, you'll get Firaga, which is the strongest fire spell you can get. This also happens with spells of the same kind."

"That'll be a great help," Peach said as she picked Stiltzkin and rubbed his head, making his blush. "Thank you so much."

"Anything for a lady like you," Stiltzkin said before he flew off from Peach's arms. He floated in the air as he stared at the group. "If you can remember these steps during battle, I'm sure no foe will defeat you…probably… Hmm, why don't you test the spells in a real battle?" he asked. "You should give it a chance with a battle."

"I don't think we want to fight each other," Red said. "Isn't there another way?"

Lucas thought for a moment. "Weren't there some requests that involved some fighting?" he asked worried.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Plaza

Village Watch

Some monsters have been appearing here every single night! Need some hooplas to take care of those bugs once and for all for the good of the people! This will be certainly a first page coverage! What's this? Where to find me? Meet me at the fountain at 9 PM!

-From Nintendo Village Watch Committee

During the evening, the streets of the village were all emptied out as a request of the committee of security. Only a few streetlights illuminated some small parts of the plaza. It looked like the citizens were all inside their homes, all of them avoiding visual contact to the outside world.

A few people stood in front of the fountain together with a hyperactive reporter. The people were Lucario, Peach, Chris, Mario, Toon Link, Sonic, Chip, Fox, and Kylie Koopa, the latter being the actual requester.

"Never thought I'd see you all again!" Kylie said, holding her camera between both of her hands. "Either way, I'm glad you decided to give it a shot at this request. With such talented people like you working for the request, this will be sure in the headlines of tomorrow's newspaper!"

"You're the actual president of the watch committee?" Mario asked.

"Yup, working in that job lets you know so many different topics out of the people here so you can make the best articles," Kylie said. "But that's another story! Now, you guys will put up your fighting gloves and go out there to give those monsters a good smack!" She eyed them. "Why, only Mario and the fox guy are wearing gloves! What's this? My god, even our fair princess is fighting? As a citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom, I can't see her getting her hands dirty…but as an ace reporter, this will SURE be the best headline I've ever made!"

"…So…are you letting her fight?" Sonic asked.

"Depends if she wants to," Kylie said.

Peach looked happy and nodded. "I'm going to fight," she said. "I've already made up my mind."

"(Why, oh why must I sacrifice this white fuzzy body of mine for her, kupo?)" Chris thought dismayed.

"Yeah, you go, my princess!" Kylie cheered as she then walked to an alley, hiding behind a trashcan. "Alright, those monsters are gonna show up at any moment now. I'll be hiding right behind this safe-looking trashcan to take some juicy pictures. You look good now or else I'll publish some NASTY face expressions from your faces for the public to see!"

"Now our dignity is at stake here? That's just dandy," Toon Link muttered.

"You'll do it just fine," Stiltzkin said, who was sitting down on a bench close to them. "I'll be watching how you mix magic together."

"Is it okay for you to be sitting so close to us?" Chip asked.

Stiltzkin shook his head and flew to the middle of the fountain, sitting on top of the Cheep Cheep statue. "This place will do," he said. "Unless there are flying enemies, I'll be fine over here. I'll cheer on you all, so don't worry!"

Peach clasped her hands looking excited; despite the fact they were going to fight monsters. "This will be a very important mission," she said. "Let's do our best."

Lucario sighed. "(Honestly, I don't see what's exciting about all this,)" he thought.

Chip felt a chill running down his spine. "O-oh no, I can sense darkness looming about," he said. "M-my brother's sending his minions right over here!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, now you can sense darkness before we see it?" he asked.

"Actually no," Chip said. "I was just kind of trying to sound very cool by saying I could sense darkness... What do you think?"

"…No comments there," Toon Link said.

"Hmm," Chip grumbled as he flew to Stiltzkin. "I'll be watching from here as well. You go, guys!" he encouraged.

Their solitude in the plaza was soon broken as several dark patches covered many spots on the street they were on. They gasped as Nightmares crawled out of the spots, screeching menacingly at them. They looked around to see that they were surrounded by a horde of Nightmares slowly advancing towards them.

Kingdom Hearts – Hand In Hand

"Here they come as I expected!" Stiltzkin said. "Fuse spells like crazy!"

Fox looked serious. "Everyone, prepare for battle!" he shouted.

"P Formation, go!" Sonic shouted. Everyone quickly scrambled around and formed a circle around Peach.

The princess blinked a few times. "We had formations in mind?" she asked confused.

"P Formation has us protect you from harm," Mario explained.

"Oh, I see… Wait, but even so, I still want to go ahead and attack them directly!" Peach said. "Please, let me join in!"

Chris groaned. "Okay, okay! You can fight at close range if you want, but be careful!" he said.

"GUUUAAARRGGHH!" Lucario growled as a warning for the incoming Nightmares.

"There are like twenty of them!" Toon Link said. "Are we sure we can handle that many?"

"We won't know until we try. Let's all disperse to confuse all of them, now, kupo!" Chris encouraged, making everyone disperse through the crowd of infuriated Nightmares. The Moogle Knight flew between some of them to stand in the middle. He raised his sword. "A Moogle Knight shan't refuse a battle to save people! I'll do everything in my power t-" He was interrupted by a Nightmare that pinned him down to the street. "HELP, KUPO, HELP!" he pleaded.

"Coming!" Sonic yelled as he leapt to the moogle's side and punched the Nightmare off from Chris's back. The werehog picked the moogle to make him stand up on his feet. With a fierce growl, Sonic stood in front of the dazzled Chris to fend off two Nightmares that were about to ambush them. "OFF WITH YOU!" Sonic growled as he pushed the Nightmares away.

Chris shook his head to regain his composure. Looking serious to a rushing Nightmare, he flew towards it. "Moogle Lance!" he shouted, slicing the air to send slicing winds to slash the Nightmare. The Nightmare screeched in pain as it backed away, giving Chris enough time to get close to it. Once getting close, something awakened in the moogle. "(A new power…)" he thought as his sword shone red and, harshly, slashed the Nightmare. "Moogle Attack!"

The Nightmare was knocked away several feet until it crashed right into a wall. The Nightmare screeched in pain as it fell down before dissipating into spores of darkness. The spores suddenly turned red, which instantly shot towards Sonic's body while the werehog smashed a Nightmare's head with a fist.

Chris sighed and chuckled. "I knew this job was going to be useful, kupo," he said.

Moogle Attack

Musters up strength to knock back foes with a strike. It will always knock them back.

Stiltzkin hovered over the statue. "Try to find an opening so you can mix spells!" he cheered. "Don't forget about using them!"

Mario backed away as Toon Link became the center of attention for a horde of Nightmares. The plumber called forth a red light around his feet while he focused on Toon Link's sword.

Using his instinct, Toon Link yelled as he rushed to a Nightmare. "Firestrike!" he yelled loudly as he delivered a harsh fire slash to his target, which caused the Nightmare to screech in pain. Taking advantage of this, the swordsman followed up with another attack. "Charge!" he said as he exerted energy to ram his sword against the Nightmare, sending it into the fountain's water before turning into red orbs that shot into Sonic's body.

"Great job!" Stiltzkin cheered. "Utilize the mixture of spells and attacks to their true potential!"

As Fox sent a Nightmare to crash against a wall, he turned towards Sonic's direction. The vulpine saw that no Nightmares were after him, giving him the chance to use a spell to aid Sonic. He focused hard for a while until he held out his hand to the werehog. "Firastrike!" he yelled.

"GEARGH!" Sonic roared as his fists caught up scorching flames that easily took out around five Nightmares in a row. The werehog's fists then turned back to normal as more red orbs shot towards his body, giving a feeling that his power was growing overtime.

"Ooh, Fira fused together with a physical attack to deal severe damage, nice!" Stiltzkin remarked.

Chip gasped and pointed to an empty side of the area. "O-over there!" he yelled.

A patch of darkness appeared over the street. Instead of a Nightmare crawling out, a sorcerer-like creature floated up, holding a staff with an ominous blue light. The sorcerer enemy stared at the fight as it waved its staff in front of it to create an energy ball that he shot at Toon Link, who yelled in pain as he rolled towards a wall.

Chris noticed the sorcerer on the other side of the fight. "W-what is that thing, kupo?" he asked as he yelped and used his sword to block a Nightmare from smacking him with its pincers.

"That is a Dark Master," Kawashima said. "They like to warp around all over the place, smack enemies with their staffs, and use energy balls to hit their enemies from afar."

As soon as he said that, the Dark Master warped right behind Chris. The moogle gasped before he was smacked hard by its staff, allowing the Nightmare to slash him with its pincers. Chris let out a cry of pain as he was pushed away into the street.

Chris's cry prompted Lucario to rush over his side and fire an Aura Sphere at the Dark Master, who put up a red shield to make the attack disappear upon impact. "Grrrr," Lucario grunted.

"Catch them off guard!" Kawashima said. "Don't let them see you preparing an attack!"

"Chris, are you okay?" Lucario asked, looking over his shoulder to the moogle.

Chris sat back up and shook his head a bit. "I-I'm fine, they just surprised me, kupo…" he muttered in pain. He stood up and flew besides Lucario's side. "I won't let them land another blow on me. Lucario, let's go together, kupo!"

"Do you want me to use a spell on your sword?" Lucario asked.

Chris flew to the Dark Master. "Start now, hurry!" he yelled, ordering Lucario to prepare his Thunder spell.

As Chris flew to the Dark Master, Peach stepped in with a Turnip on her hand. "I'll help you!" she said.

"(A Turnip? Seriously?)" Chris thought dismayed.

Peach tossed the Turnip to the Dark Master, who brought up its shield to block the vegetable. It focused its attention to Peach, waving its staff to form a ball of energy meant to hurt her.

"N-not on my watch, kupo!" Chris yelled as he flew faster to the Dark Master, Lucario engulfing the moogle's sword with electricity. "Thunderstrike!" he yelled, clashing his electrified sword against the Dark Master's staff. The electricity in the sword ran through the staff into the enemy's body, shocking it in sparks. The Dark Master floated back as it fully became paralyzed, dropping its staff onto the street.

"GUARGH!" Lucario roared as an Aura Sphere whizzed close to Chris. The Aura Sphere exploded right on the Dark Master, pushing it into the fountain where it vanished and turned into red orbs that shot into Sonic.

"Yes, very well done," Stiltzkin said.

Another Dark Master appeared from a patch of darkness.

The traveling moogle noticed that the sorcerer was literally hovering over the street. "Use a Gravity spell!" he suggested.

Mario walked to Lucario. "Let's fuse spells together on that one," he said.

"Please do," Lucario said as both joined forces while focusing on the Dark Master. "Gravity!" they both yelled, making a sphere of distortion engulf the Dark Master. The sorcerer was forced to crash down on the street, dropping its glowing blue staff. It helplessly tried to get back up, but the Gravity spell had stuck him on the street.

"HA!" Sonic growled as he leapt over the Dark Master and easily crushed him with a single fist, vanishing the enemy as it dropped red orbs that shot into Sonic's body. "(That thing went down faster than I expected…)"

Stiltzkin nodded at this. "Gravity decreases defense so much upon flying enemies. A very useful spell, should I say," he said.

"I-it looks like we're winning!" Chip said, spotting a few Nightmares fighting some of the Smashers. "K-keep on going!"

"Oh, don't be so quick about it," Stiltzkin said as he spotted five dark patches appearing close to Mario. "This is still continuing as long as those monsters keep appearing."

"T-that brother of mine and his minions…" Chip muttered.

Five bee-like monsters flew up from the dark patches and hovered above the ground. The bees flew into the fight where they started diving for the Smashers, with their stingers aimed at them. Mario was stung along with Toon Link, both of them stumbling back in pain.

Chris spotted the bees. "W-what are those bees?" he asked.

"They're called Killer Bees," Kawashima said. "Just like any regular bee, they sting people. However, these bees are much more violent and understanding."

"(Oh, their name brings back some nasty memories…)" Toon Link thought as he rubbed his arm in pain before regaining his composure. "I won't let some bees sting me like that again!"

Two Killer Bees dangerously approached the swordsman, who put up a tough look and raised his shield, wary of his two enemies.

"GEARGH!" Sonic leapt into the bees and squashed them with his huge fists. The swordsman looked a bit surprised at the werehog, who flashed a small grin before a Killer Bee reached him out and stung his back. The werehog growled in pain as he rolled back before stopping on his feet, looking ticked off at the bee.

"Right there!" Toon Link shouted as he impaled the bee with an arrow. The bee sailed across the air until it was hung down from a wall before turning into red orbs that, once again, shot into Sonic.

"Firastrike!" Fox shouted as he engulfed Chris's sword with a Fira spell while the moogle scorched a bee with burning fire. "Phew, that's over with," he said with a grin as he spotted the last Killer Bee being sent away to the air thanks to Peach's golf club, making Fox look a bit skeptical at her.

"Ooh, that was good," Stiltzkin remarked with a nod. "They are good at fighting monsters. I never doubted them."

After all enemies were taken down, a big patch of darkness materialized between the Smashers. They gasped as a bulky figure climbed out from the darkness, towering easily over them all. "A-a Titan, kupo!" Chris said horrified at the big monster.

Stiltzkin flew over his spot. "The boss of those enemies, perhaps? This is where everything shall be decided!" he said pleased. "Fight that monster together! Bombard it with fused magic and attacks to take it down!"

Sonic gasped as the Titan's wooden hammer was brought down on him. The werehog grunted and blocked the wooden hammer with his arms from crushing him. He felt the Titan's strength causing damage to his arms, making him grunt in pain. "T-this guy's tough!" he said while gritting his fangs.

"Sonic, please, hang in there!" Peach shouted.

"(Uh-oh, she's encouraging me. I SO have to hang in there now,)" Sonic thought with a mental groan.

Chris changed to his Black Mage job as he ran to Mario's side. "Mario, let's mix fire magic together while Sonic is buying us some time to defeat that monster!" he suggested.

"Good idea," Mario said before both of them focused their magic together, calling forth red lights around their feet.

Stiltzkin watched the two intently. "Since an individual Fira spell requires a little bit more time to get ready, they'll have to stay put for a little while longer," he said. "You guys, please, keep distracting the monster!"

Toon Link saw the Titan looking at the rest of them. It decided to lift its wooden hammer from Sonic to slam it down to their direction, sending a shockwave along the street. The swordsman reacted too slow as the shockwave swept his feet, causing him to fall hard on his back. "O-oww…" Toon Link moaned in pain.

"Look out!" Fox yelled as he ran and grabbed Toon Link's arm to save him by taking him away from the wooden hammer smashing down on the street, causing a big crack on the pavement. The vulpine dropped Toon Link and ran to the monster.

Lucario saw this and decided to aid Fox with a spell, focusing on his feet. "Fox, let me give you some help!" Lucario shouted as he called forth a yellow light around his feet.

The vulpine gasped as the monster tried to slam its wooden hammer down, but Fox nimbly sidestepped in time to jump on the wooden hammer and run over the Titan's shoulder. "Ooh, good thinking," Stiltzkin remarked.

The Titan's eye widened as Fox approached him. The vulpine's feet suddenly caught electricity as he performed a flying kick attack on the monster's head. "Thuderstrike!" Fox yelled as he kicked the monster's eye harshly, causing electricity to electrocute the Titan. After delivering the kick, Fox jumped back down and backed away from the monster.

"That did it!" Chip cheered.

Stiltzkin shook his head. "Nope, it's still standing on its feet. The battle is still continuing," he said.

Behind the trashcan, Kylie marveled the huge monster as she kept taking as many shots as she could with her camera. "Talk about BIG for a nice scoop!" she emphasized. "This will now be in the first page for sure! Oh yeah!" She ducked down in time to avoid being seen.

The Titan turned towards Mario and Chris's direction. Seeing as how they were focusing, it decided to go after them. "I-I refuse to stop now!" Chris yelled. "W-we're so close!"

The Titan raised its wooden hammer over them. It was a sign enough for Chris to panic while Mario looked shocked.

"LUCARIO!"

"GUARGH!" Lucario responded with a roar as he stepped in front of the two and held out his hands to the wooden hammer, narrowly smashing all of them. The Aura Pokémon stood in place as he kept the wooden hammer away from crushing them.

Stiltzkin leaned forward. "And here it comes, the most powerful Fire-based spell ever seen," he muttered.

"Firaga!" Mario and Chris shouted synchronized, as they held out their hands to the Titan. The background around the plaza turned a dark shade of red as the monster felt fire building in the air. Soon enough, the area around the plaza was illuminated by a massive explosion of fire that engulfed the dark creature, who roared in pain as it was pushed back while flames covered its whole body, the background turning back to normal. It started to panic after the flames reached its wooden hammer, which instantly turned into ashes. Everyone watched the monster roaring loudly as it began tumbling to the sides until it dropped down dead on the street, turning into red orbs that Sonic was forced to absorb.

"Holy crap, that looked awesome," Sonic said with a grin to Chris and Mario. "You guys totally owned that monster."

"But even so, more monsters will come soon," Fox said serious. "Don't let your guard down now and let's wait for the next wave."

And so, they waited…

Five minutes later…

"…" Peach looked around. "I…think we defeated all of them…"

"So much for the guy's sixth sense for sensing danger," Sonic taunted.

"H-hey, I was just guessing," Fox muttered annoyed.

Music stops

Kylie stood back up from her hiding spot and walked to the group. "Oh yeah, you guys TOTALLY nailed all of them down perfectly!" she said with a small hop on her spot. "Thanks to you, those monsters will surely stop coming here again. In the name of the watch committee members, I congratulate you for defeating those monsters AND giving me tomorrow's top headline! But before I forget, here's your reward!" She handed Mario three purple flowers that seemed to have a duplicate of each other sharing the same leaves.

"Copy Flowers," Mario said.

Obtained Copy Flower x3!

Multiplies all party members into a whole army to attack a single enemy consecutively. Needs a participant to name all members about to attack.

"Hmm, our inventory seems to be full now…" Mario muttered. "I'll keep these flowers to give them to Crazy Hand so he stores them."

Chris sighed. "It's full thanks to Mr. Treasure Hunter who couldn't stop opening those chests back at Crono's world," he said. "That reminds me. I'll see what he picked up later. Maybe he got some useful stuff."

"I have NO idea what you're talking about, but I'm happy all the same!" Kylie said. "Well! I don't want to keep you all here all night, so off I go to my home!" She hid inside her shell and spun towards the south. "I'll see ya later! Hopefully you'll get the newspaper tomorrow for free!" she said as she disappeared from sight.

"Village Watch" Side-quest completed!

Peach looked pleased as the others. "We did a really good job, don't you think?" he asked.

"What'd you expect?" Sonic asked with a grin. "Each day, our teamwork grows stronger. I'd like to say we worked nicely tonight."

Fox nodded with a small chuckle. "I can't argue about that," he said as he crossed his arms. "Let's keep this pace for future battles against more enemies."

Toon Link saw Stiltzkin and Chip flying back to them. "Were you attacked?" he asked.

"Not at all because you fended off all those enemies with the magic I gave you," Stiltzkin said. "You've mastered fusing magic very well during a real battle. Good job!" he congratulated them. "That should be it for me…for now. Sadly, it's time for us to part ways from here. I've given you my help, but I need to continue traveling through these vast lands and meet new places."

"You're going away already?" Chip asked.

Stiltzkin landed on the street and turned his back to them. "My traveling instincts are telling me to continue in this never-ending journey of discovery. I want to achieve my dreams and become full of knowledge." He looked at them over his shoulder. "But don't get sad, I'll be here with you whenever you want to use my services to buy useful stuff from me! I find many trinkets around to support my travel costs. Traveling likes to make sure you don't have any money left in your wallet that it gets from you. Got to have to keep some spare money for anything, you know."

"Oh, then…thank you for everything," Chris said with a bow.

"You're welcome, everyone," Stiltzkin said before he floated into the air and flew to the east side of town. "Until then, be sure to tell me the places you've been to! I'd like to visit those same places one of these days!"

The traveling moogle flew away into the street until he was gone from their sight.

"…" Chris took out the bell and rung it. "I wonder if he's still going to appear if I do this…"

Mario looked around, seeing no sight of Stiltzkin appearing from an unlikely place. "I don't see him anywhere," he said.

Fox felt something sticking out from his tail. He looked over his shoulder and gasped after seeing Stiltzkin sticking out from his tail. "W-what the heck?" he said shocked.

"I heard somebody using my bell here," Stiltzkin said, oblivious to the fact Fox wanted him out from his tail. "Do you need my services?"

Chris stifled a chuckle. "N-no, we just wanted to see if this bell was still working…" he muttered as some of them chuckled at Fox, who grumbled annoyed.

"Oh, I see," Stiltzkin said. "Well, if it breaks, I'll just come right over to give you another bell. See you!" he said as he burrowed himself into Fox's tail until he was completely hidden.

The vulpine quickly grabbed his tail and twisted it a bit to make sure Stiltzkin was there, but after a little while, he didn't feel the traveling moogle hiding in his tail. "How does he do that?" Fox asked confused. "My tail's fur isn't that much to hide somebody like him…"

"I'd like to say that some things shouldn't be looked into," Lucario said.

"Makes sense to me…"

Toon Link yawned. "Phew, what a night we had," he said. "It was fun all the same, though. We won our fight against those monsters."

Chip sighed. "(But does this do any good? Those monsters will probably come back here soon…)" he thought.

Sonic yawned loudly. "Let's go back to the mansion for now. I'm so sleepy…" he trailed off.

"…Something isn't right here, though," Lucario muttered.

"Oh no, please don't tell me there are more monsters," Toon Link said dismayed.

"No, I'm saying this because there's something missing here…"

Suddenly, DSS came out from Sonic's back, laughing maniacally at the sky before staring at them. "SONS OF B(BEEP)S! YOU THOUGHT YOU GOT RID OF ME FOR GOOD, DIDN'T YA? DIDN'T YA? DIDN'T YA?" he taunted, annoying the werehog like never before.

"CHRIS," Sonic emphasized, gritting his fangs.

And with a change of jobs and a whip on Sonic's forehead, the ominous spirit retreated into the werehog's back.

"That was the thing you were talking about?" Sonic asked bored to Lucario.

"…Yes," Lucario muttered.

Sonic started walking to the north. "If you guys mind, I'll go back now. I wanna have some sleep," he said before everyone else agreed and followed him to the mansion.

"Oh, dammit, I have classes tomorrow," Chris said. "I need to go to my world and stay there for now…"

While they were walking away from the town, a small figure walked out from an alley and stared at them leaving the town. The figure tilted its head for a bit, wondering what things were to see if it followed them cautiously and secretly.

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

April 15 – Wednesday – Morning

TOWN WATCH SUCCESSFUL!

Those were the three words that were printed right on the main page of today's newspaper, the newspaper being read by Olimar as he leaned against a tree with some Pikmins (red, yellow, and blue) running around the field.

"Hmm…" Olimar muttered behind the newspaper. "They have some nice discounts in the store today… Oh, I better go there and take the chance," he said as he set the newspaper aside, standing back up. "Okay, Dimagio, Leroy, Toby, let's go for a walk to the city," he called the Pikmins.

Just before he could even head down for the town, he spotted Yoshi and Luigi walking out from the mansion's double doors. The Hocotate employee thought about inviting them to come with him to the town.

"O-oh, you two, over here!" Olimar called out.

Luigi and Yoshi heard Olimar calling out for them that they went to him. "Good morning," Yoshi said. "You wanted to say something?"

"I was wondering if you two could come with me to the village," Olimar said. "I wanted to do some shopping… There were so many deals today in the newspaper."

"A-actually, we were going to do the same," Luigi said. "Let's go together."

"Oh, nice," Olimar said. "Well, let's go there."

Yoshi nodded at this as he spotted a small pink creature stepping out from some bushes. The creature had a black torso, a red bump on its stomach and a typical red clown nose on its face. It appeared to be wearing a black, crooked hat with a white ball on it. The little creature fixed its gaze at them, staring intently at them. "Who's that?" Yoshi asked.

Luigi and Olimar turned to see the little creature staring at them with its little eyes. "Aww, it looks cute," Olimar said.

"…" The creature smiled and walked to them. "Mime, Mime, Mime!" it exclaimed happily.

"It can talk…" Luigi said.

"Mime, Mime, Mime, Mime, Mime," the creature said, nodding as if understood what Luigi said.

Olimar tilted his head. "Can you say something else than 'Mime'?" he asked.

"Mime, Mime…" the creature muttered as it shook its head in disagreement. It then looked happy and twirled on its spot. "Mime!"

"It just keeps replying with that word…" Luigi said.

"…Wait, it's repeating that word over and over again," Yoshi trailed off in thought. "…Is it…a Pokémon?"

Luigi rubbed his chin. "Don't all Pokémon talk by repeating their names?" he asked.

"Yes they do, except for the ones that grunt and talk actual English..." Yoshi said skeptically, looking down at the creature. "…Are you named Mime, then?" he asked.

The Pokémon dropped to its knees and used its fingerless hands to draw something on a patch of mud. The three stared at the mud patch until the Pokémon wrote something that made it beam with glee. "Mime, Mime!" it said happily.

"…Mime Jr.," Olimar read on the mud patch.

"So its name is Mime Jr.," Luigi said.

The Pokémon ducked down to draw a male sign besides its name.

"And it's a male," Olimar said.

"Mime, Mime!" Mime Jr. said happily.

Yoshi looked interested at the Mime Pokémon. "I remember that some Pokémon are wild while others aren't. This Pokémon looks pretty friendly," he said.

"Oh yes!" Luigi said surprised. "Aren't most of them supposed to be wild? We literally found Mime Jr. out here in the open…"

At this response, Mime Jr.'s happy look faded as it hung down its head. "Mime…" he muttered sadly with a sniff.

"…That…pretty much gives me an idea that this Mime Jr. has an owner; a trainer," Yoshi muttered.

"Aww, that's sad," Olimar said. "It got lost, then?"

"Looks like it…" Luigi said, shedding a small tear. "A-a Pokémon getting lost from his trainer is like a sad tale of separation…"

Mime Jr. looked up at them, his eyes full of tears.

"Uh-oh, he's swelling tears," Yoshi muttered, picking the Mime Pokémon and putting him on top of his back. "Don't cry, please. You're safe with us."

"Mime..." Mime Jr. sniffed sadly.

"Hmm..." Olimar trailed off in thought. "You don't want to say you want to keep him here, right?" he asked.

"I was thinking that..." Yoshi said. "What if we take care of him until we find his trainer? I'm sure Master Hand won't mind someone so small like him, right?"

"That depends a lot," Luigi said worried. "Remember? We got those three guys from Team Chaotix living here. And from I've heard from Mario, Master Hand despises Vector a whole lot more than he did with other guests because he's always complaining for food service for his room."

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "Well, what can a little Pokémon like Mime Jr. do?" he asked. "Think of him as a little pet that needs a home to stay at."

Olimar looked at Mime Jr. "Um, if you want, you can stay with us until you find your trainer," he said. "What do you say?"

"...Mime..." Mime Jr. muttered, forcing a little smile. After a few seconds, he nodded.

Luigi went ahead and stroke the Mime Pokémon's chin. "This is going to be so exciting," he said. "I've never raised a Pokémon before!"

Yoshi sighed. "But you know how all Pokémon are. First they look pretty docile, and then the next second they'll be looming over your back with their shadow in a flash," he said. "Remember how cute a Riolu looks like? You raise one for a little while, and they turn into a Lucario..."

Luigi turned a bit pale, as he continued stroking Mime Jr.'s chin. "P-please, Mime Jr., don't turn into some kind of big monster..." he said.

"Mime!" Mime Jr. said happily.

"I don't know what you wanted to say with that, but I'll take it as an 'I won't, Luigi!'"

"Oh dear, I'm looking forward to do stuff with him," Olimar said. "And speaking of doing stuff, shall we go shopping now?"

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Wings Post Office

Some hours flew by as the trio walked next to the post office, carrying bags with groceries and more stuff. Even though it was a mystery to see any expressions besides shock, Olimar looked happy. "I'm so happy," he said. "I've never bought so much before."

"The deals today were so good," Yoshi said agreeing. "Just look at all the juicy watermelons I got from the food market."

"Eat in moderation, Yoshi," Luigi said. "You don't want to turn into Kirby."

"But I love fruits! All Yoshis love fruits!" Yoshi said.

"Yes, but…"

"You're not trying to tell me I'm fat, right?"

"N-no! I'm just worried about your health, that's all!"

As Yoshi grumbled some words, Mime Jr. sat quickly on his back as he ate an apple bought from the Yoshi. It hummed happily with every piece of apple it bit. Yoshi stopped grumbling to see Mime Jr. "Aww, he's happy," he said.

"Mmmmmm…" Mime Jr. mumbled happily.

Olimar stopped walking to see the board of requests of the post office to eye a particular request.

Tailor Promotion

We are trying to promote the opening of our tailor, so we would like to have some people come here to try out some new designs we have in reserve. Don't be shy! We'd be very appreciated if you could drop by and try out some outfits. Yes, it's that simple! The tailor is located just next to the new fountain in the center of the town. Our tailor it's not hard to miss.

-From Able Sisters

"Ooh, a tailor," Olimar said. "What if we do this request for the day? It seems like a good idea, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, please!" Luigi said. "I want to see if I can buy some new clothes! Maybe there are some clothes for Yoshi!"

Yoshi looked bored. "Don't imply I'm naked or something," he said.

"I-I'm not, but I thought it'd be a good idea to check the tailor out…" Luigi trailed off. "Besides, I really want to go there. I have so much time to kill."

"Yes, let's go!" Olimar encouraged. "I could spend some money to get some new clothes for myself…as long as I can keep the helmet on. Without it, I'm going to die with the toxic substance you call oxygen."

"…That's kind of weak, getting toxicity out of clear oxygen," Yoshi commented.

"…Blame my race's weakness…" Olimar muttered.

"C-can we go there?" Luigi asked.

"What am I, your dad?" Yoshi asked. "Let's go there. Let's just accept the request to see what we can do for the owners." He walked to the counter where Quill attended his call.

Able Sisters

Animal Crossing - Able Sisters

After going to the plaza and locating the store at the right side of the fountain, the four entered through the door. Inside the tailor, a wide arrangement of outfits and clothes were hanging around displayers over bright-looking mattresses. For being a simple tailor, it was full of so many outfits that the four could never dare to count. Different kinds of silks were rolled in paper tubes inside boxes situated in all corners of the tailor.

"Oh my goodness, there are so many clothes in here," Olimar rejoiced.

"Hello!" said a girl who stepped out from a row of clothes in front of them. The girl wasn't a human but a blue porcupine with her head full of large, spiky bristles. Her cheeks were brown-orange. Her eyes were black with small eyebrows over them, and she had a soft-looking snout. She wore a green and white gingham apron. "Oh, customers! Welcome to our tailor, the Able Sisters!" she said cheerfully as she walked to them. "My name is Mabel. I'm one of the store's two owners, but I'm the clerk. Are you here to buy some clothes?"

Yoshi showed her a wing badge. "We're here for the request to promote the tailor," he said.

The porcupine named Mabel gasped excited. "You took the request? I'm so glad you did!" she exclaimed happily. "In that case, we don't have time to waste, and we should give you the clothes we want you to wear right away!"

Luigi shook his head in surprise. "Wait, is that all we have to do?" he asked.

"Of course!" Mabel said enthusiastically. "The only way to promote our tailor is to wear the outfits we have in store for you to wear. Well, the request is really that easy, so don't worry!"

"…So we get free outfits just for accepting the request?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes! Just promise us you're going to wear them in public," Mabel said. "It won't work if you don't put them on. Let me present you my older sister, though. She's currently sewing some more clothes." She walked to the left side of the tailor with the four following her. After passing a row of outfits, they found another porcupine sitting behind a sewing machine.

The brown porcupine had pink freckles over her soft snout, and she had a head full of large, spiky bristles. She had sad, shy eyes that told them she looked worried. She wore a pink and white gingham apron. Unlike Mabel, the brown porcupine wasn't as enthusiastic as her. She busily kept working on the sewing machine until she looked at Mabel's direction, forcing a smile. "Oh, welcome," she said nodding. "These are the new customers, I presume?"

"Yes they are," Mabel said, turning to the four. "Allow me to introduce you to my older sister. Her name is Sable. She's the owner of the tailor and the main seamstress."

"Nice to meet you…I guess," Sable said. "Please, feel free to buy the clothes of your choice."

"Oh, Sable, these are the people who took our request," Mabel said.

"Really now?" Sable asked. "Oh, I'm so glad for that. Please, Mabel, show them the outfits we prepared for them."

"Right-o!" Mabel said, turning to the four. She eyed Mime Jr. on top of Yoshi's back, looking a bit worried. "I'm so sorry, but we don't have any outfits that can fit in him."

"Miiiiime," Mime Jr. smiled.

"It's okay," Yoshi said. "We just met him today."

"I see," Mabel said as Sable diligently continued working on the sewing machine. "Well then, follow me to the dressing rooms! I'll give you the clothes once we get over there. The dressing rooms are this way!" she said as she showed them the male dressing rooms in a hallway behind Sable's sewing machine. The hallway was long, displaying six doors to individual dressing rooms.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to see what those outfits look like," Olimar said as each one of them, except Mabel, entered the dressing rooms, with Mime Jr. following Yoshi.

"Time to get started!" Mabel said as she walked away to get the outfits.

A few minutes later…

After bringing the clothes to the trio, Mabel waited outside the hallway until Luigi's door opened. The green plumber walked out, wearing a different set of clothes. Luigi was wearing casual clothes; a blue buttoned shirt, light brown shorts, brown sandals. He had to take off his hat so he would wear the right set. Luigi sighed pleased to himself. "Aww, I love how I look so casual in this…" Luigi muttered.

Luigi has obtained the outfit, "Casual Tourist."

Once in a while, being a casual guest to cities is a refreshing experience. For plumbers, it's not different at all.

"You look great in those!" Mabel complimented, making Luigi blush as Yoshi's door opened. "Oh, here he comes!"

It was a little bit difficult for Mabel to find a set of clothes of Yoshi, but she ultimately resolved in giving Yoshi a checkered blue-and-white T-shirt and a straw hat. The Yoshi fixed his straw hat a bit and turned to them. "Finished here," he said, as Mime Jr. sat over his back.

Yoshi has obtained the outfit, "The Gardener."

Chopping crops during the afternoon might be tiring, but the cold lemonade and the straw hat will give you energy.

"You look good," Luigi remarked. "I like the straw hat."

"Well, I think I like as well," Yoshi said nodding. "It's a little bit out of place, but I like it all the same," he said as he hung down his straw hat behind his head.

"You two look so natural," Mabel said as she spotted Olimar's door opening, watching the employee walking. "Hmm," she mumbled.

Olimar, out of the other two, wore sophisticated clothes. The Hocotate employee was wearing formal blue pants with a formal blue coat together with a red tie on his neck and brown shoes. Olimar adjusted his red tie and looked at them. "I feel important in these clothes. I like them," he said.

Olimar has obtained the outfit, "Businessman."

The brown shoes mean power, the red tie means superiority, and the blue coat means business.

"Nice," Luigi remarked. "You look so good in those."

Mabel shook her head. "It'd look nicer on him if he removed the useless helmet," she said upset, making the others realize that Olimar was still wearing his helmet.

"O-oh, sorry for being so rude, but I need to keep this helmet on to avoid breathing oxygen," Olimar said.

"What kind of stupidity is that? Nobody's weak against clean air!" Mabel said upset as she went over and quickly took Olimar's helmet off his head. "There, you look like a real businessman now!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuhhhh..." Olimar's eyes shot wide open as his head turned a deep shade of green. He fell on his back, twitching on the floor while Mabel looked a bit skeptically at this.

"Quit the acting!" Mabel said, holding the helmet. "If you quit the acting, I'll give you this helmet back to you!"

"Oh my god, he's getting asphyxiated for real!" Luigi cried in horror.

"Put it back on his head, put it back on his head!" Yoshi panicked, Mime Jr. panicking in a similar fashion.

Mabel, without thinking, put Olimar's helmet back on his head. Olimar breathed in and out as his head recovered its cream color. Though recovered, he still lied down on the floor. "T-thank you..." he managed to mutter out.

The blue porcupine rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why you did that, but whatever rolls your way," she said mildly upset with a sigh. "Anyway, thank you so much for taking the costumes! Now you just need to go out and let everyone know about our tailor! The more costumers we get, the better it is for us to promote our tailor!"

While Yoshi helped Olimar to get back on his feet, Luigi beamed a bit with glee. "Are there any more outfits for all of us, though?" he asked.

"Well, you can drop by once in a while to check out what we have for you. Today, that's all the outfits we can offer you," Mabel said. "...BUT! If you bring more people here that you know, we might have more designs to sell them. I'm the one in charge of recommending customers outfits that look good on them, and I'm always accurate in their tastes."

"I...will tell the others...back at the mansion...for sure..." Olimar gasped.

"Either way is fine by us!" Mabel said happily. "Thank you for taking your time to do this request!"

"Tailor Promotion" Side-quest completed!

Yoshi put a finger on his mouth as he looked up at the ceiling while Mime Jr. mimicked Olimar's weak stance accurately. "(I wonder if we can still wear these clothes during missions...)" he thought.

Mabel overheard the entrance door's bell ringing. She gasped at this and ran back to the entrance. "Oh my, I forgot to attend customers!" she said as she rushed out from the hallway. "Wait a minute, never mind! Welcome back! So, you got the materials I asked you to get, right?"

"Yup, I got them all. I had to wait for the shop to open, but I was able to find the nylon you asked me to get for you."

"Thank you! That reminds me, you've got to try out a new design I had for you!"

"You have one? I'd be happy to try it out now!"

"Yes, yes, come this way! The dress is waiting for you!"

"U-um, wait, slow down! Don't pull me like that!"

The four overheard Mabel's loud happy talk as she came back with a girl, who was holding a light red dress that Mabel gave to her. The blue porcupine noticed the four still standing in the hallway while the girl looked blankly at them. "You're still here?" Mabel asked.

"We were about to go, but..." Luigi trailed before he looked at the girl besides Mabel.

"...Wait, haven't we met before?" Yoshi asked. "Aren't you that girl named Ai?"

The girl besides Mabel nodded, confirming she was Ai. "Yes, that's me," she said, tilting her head at them. "I think I remember meeting you before... Oh, right! You were there when I was sent to make an errand to that mansion a few months ago!" she said smiling before she looked worried. "That visit..."

Flashback

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

The day later after meeting Ai in the restaurant, Nana decided to take her time and take her to the mansion herself. The two were walking in front of the big hill, spotting the mansion standing several feet away from them. "Remember what I told you about this place full of the oddest people you'll ever see in your life?" Nana asked. "Well, you better brace yourself. Many of them will give you some…impressions."

"I'm not going to be rude to them," Ai said. "I don't really believe in Mayor Tortimer's words about you all being barbarians."

"Oh, that's good," Nana said. "(Bastard is going to have an earful after I get over his office…) I know that today, everyone is behaving nicely. In fact, most of the times you'll see people walking around the different floors who don't mean any kind of harm."

Ai smiled excited. "If that's the case, I'll be happy to meet all of them," she said.

"If…you really want to do that, be my guest," Nana said. "Half of them will probably scare you a lot, but the other half is a bunch of likeable guys."

The two eventually reached the double doors of the entrance. Nana grabbed the doorknob, still staring at Ai's calm and collected look. "I'm in a little bit of a hurry, though," she said, taking out the letter she was meant to deliver to Master Hand. "I need to deliver this letter, and after that, I'm going to go back to the town and do some errands."

"You're going to stay at the village?"

"Yes," Ai said. "In truth, I wanted to go somewhere to work so I could go sightseeing outside Animal Village. I heard from some people of the village that they were going to open their businesses here, and that they're hiring some part-time workers. I'll take the chance to do some odd jobs."

"(But if she stays here, she'll probably get in danger… After all, this world gets so many different people straying away,)" Nana thought. "I-I see…"

Ai smiled hopefully. "I can't wait to see what'll happen here," she said.

"Alright, let's go inside."

Nana looked down to see some pebbles hopping along the ground. The two girls felt that some kind of big boulder was rolling their way from somewhere. Looking around, there wasn't any boulder, but since it was coming from the other side of the double doors in front of them…

"DUCK AND TAKE COVER!" Nana suddenly yelled, tackling Ai to the side of the double doors. The double doors swung wide open to see DK rolling to the front area before he was pinned down by C. Falcon, who grinned down at him.

"HA, you lose!" C. Falcon said, staring at DK's shocked look. "You don't have the best reflexes after all!"

"A-aww!" DK groaned loudly. "Y-you cheated! Nobody can react that fast!"

"Sorry, but my reactions are very good," C. Falcon said, getting off from DK. "Wanna give it another shot?"

DK looked upset and stood back up. "Yeah, let's do it again!" he said, the two running back into the mansion again while ignoring the two girls lying down on the grass.

Nana grunted as she pushed herself back to her feet. "Dammit, why did they have to do this?" she asked before noticing that Ai was already standing up, staring blankly at her. Nana quickly thought about the consequences of what had happened that would probably affect her image. "N-no, please, understand! O-out of all the people in the mansion, those two are probably the worst ones you'll ever get to see!"

"I-I understand," Ai said doubtfully. "I-I'm glad you pushed me out of the way in time before I'd be ran over by that big…guy," she muttered.

"(Oh, thank you SO much, you two. You've made her insecure about standing five feet away from the entrance already!)" Nana cursed DK and C. Falcon mentally. She grabbed Ai's hand and led her inside. "…Stay with me so you stay okay, please," Nana muttered.

"A-alright…" Ai muttered with a shiver.

End of Flashback

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Able Sisters

Ai kept staring at the three before she shook her head. "Let's see…you're Luigi, Olimar, and Yoshi, right?" she asked.

"Oh, you remember our names," Luigi said.

"Phew, I thought I forgot because I only met like twenty of you in that mansion," Ai said. "After the last visit I did, I've been going around doing many odd jobs around the village. I work here as an aide for Sable and Mabel with her outfits."

"Yup, that's right!" Mabel said. "Ai's a good friend of us. She's actually friends with almost all of Animal Village's residents! She's a little bit too young to be working, but man, does she do a good job!"

Ai blushed slightly. "A-aren't you young as well, though?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, but seeing more people like you sure makes me happy!" Mabel said. "I'm sorry, Ai, but I need to go back to my post or else my sister will scold me." She turned around and left the hallway. "Don't forget to try out the dress!"

"I won't!" Ai shouted before turning to them with a smile. "Unlike those scary people who looked like they were glaring down at me at the mansion…" she shrugged at the thought, "you three look really friendly."

Yoshi nodded and showed her Mime Jr., who eyed her with a blank look. "You haven't met him," he said.

"Ooh, who's he?" Ai asked, tilting her head. She noticed that Mime Jr. mimicked her action, tilting his own head to the side. Ai blinked a bit, which made Mime Jr. blink a bit as well. She looked doubtful, something Mime Jr. mimicked as well. Crossing her arms, she opened her mouth, and Mime Jr. crossed his arms and opened his mouth at the same time. She chuckled happily, Mime Jr. mimicking the chuckle as well. "How funny. He's copying everything I'm doing!" she said surprised.

"I just noticed that…" Olimar muttered. "…Actually, he's been doing that ever since we met him today."

"Well, no wonder why he's called Mime Jr.," Luigi said. "He mimics people."

"Mime, Mime, Mime!" Mime Jr. said as he danced on top of Yoshi's back.

Ai chuckled heartily. "He's very funny," she remarked. "Oh, did you say you met him today?"

"He's lost," Yoshi said. "He has someone else who's looking after him. We found him and we let him stay with us until he found his friend."

Mime Jr. stopped dancing, looking down sadly. "Mime…"

Ai looked a bit upset and walked to Mime Jr., rubbing his fingerless hand a bit. "Don't worry, you'll find your friend very soon," she reassured. "I bet your friend is pulling off his hair and running all over the place to find you."

Mime Jr. forced a smile, shedding a small tear. "Mime!" he said happily.

"Heheheh, that's more like it," Ai said. "Well, it's been nice to talk with you all, but I need to try out this new dress Mabel had reserved for me. She's always telling people that some don't have anything else to wear that they wear the same clothes every single day… I really haven't noticed that, but…is it true?"

"…Maybe," Luigi said with a shrug.

"…Okay," Ai said, forcing a chuckle as she entered through a door. "I hope to see you all next time. If you want someone to do errands, give me a call! I'm available to do that!" she called out from behind the door.

The four said their good byes to the young girl as they left the tailor behind.

April 25 – Saturday - Afternoon

-Subspace-

Deep Inside the Great Maze

Final Fantasy VII – Anxious Heart

Tabuu had called everyone to have a special meeting. The embodiment of the Subspace looked down upon Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, Charizard, Dedede, Dr. Eggman, and the Ancient Minister, the latter standing between Tabuu and the villains.

"The first phase of the plan will take place today," Tabuu said. "Ancient Minister, I trust that you are ready to take the risk, correct?"

"I know the risks of this plan should I fail," the Ancient Minister said. "But there will be no mistakes whatsoever."

"This will be the first time you go out there to do a mission," Ganondorf pointed out. "But I feel unsure about sending just him there. We are talking about their main headquarters. Are we not 'banned' from entering their grounds thanks to that damned hand's magic?"

"That is the main reason why I have been working all this time to break through that shield," the Ancient Minister said. "I completed the initial preparations, but it took me a much longer time to figure out a way to go into their domain. Sadly, I must do this as quickly as possible because the shield will come back up after I break it down. They won't see me actually breaking it because the shield surrounds the mansion's perimeter. Their security is high, but I also made sure that my program doesn't trigger any particular alarm within their residence."

"He lost me after initial…" Dedede muttered confused.

"Ah, what a well-thought plan," Dr. Eggman remarked. "You are making sure that all problems are taken care of while executing the plan. But might I ask what this plan is all about? I haven't been informed about it at all until now."

"I have figured out that fighting them all straight on has proved…unsuccessful many times in the past," the Ancient Minister said. "In order to slow our enemies down severely, they will have to endure a new way to fight our plans without using any kind of harmful attacks. In fact, we're not using any kind of victim to pit them into a battle…but rather pit the victim in a place where they won't be able to interact directly with it."

Charizard raised an eyebrow. "So…you're saying you have someone who can hurt them from afar where they won't reach him or her?" he asked.

"Just like that, but instead of afar, have that person extremely close to them."

"…How does that work?" Bowser asked. "You'll have someone hug them to death, then?"

"I didn't spend so many months just to have someone stupid enough to embrace them and squish their insides out," the Ancient Minister said. "I have a better plan than that…but time is running out," he said as he opened a portal to the mansion grounds. Without giving them a look, the minister went into it, leaving all of them behind.

"He didn't even say a word!" Bowser complained frustrated.

"Oh, patience," Tabuu said with a chuckle. "You shall see what he has in hands. You might like it, Bowser."

"Meh, I'll see if I end up liking it once I see what he'll do alone," Charizard said. "Sending him alone to their house is like holding up a sign that says' SLAUGHTER MY BUTT, PLEASE', or something like that."

"He is not much of a fighter," Ganondorf said. "How do you expect him to succeed?"

"I admit he raises many doubts, but he will play his part accordingly," Tabuu said.

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

The portal to the Subspace opened as the Ancient Minister came out from it. The portal vanished in thin air as the minister fixed his gaze to the cloudy sky. His thoughts raced while he thought that there was going to be an early rain in the morning. The Ancient Minister slowly looked down to the north until he stared directly at the mansion.

"(There it is,)" the Ancient Minister thought. From under his robe, his mechanic hand was holding a little radar that indicated an invisible shield was surrounding the mansion's grounds by a five-hundred feet diameter. On the radar, he saw himself as a red dot standing right directly in front of the barrier.

Using his other mechanical hand, the Ancient Minister took out a square-shaped device with a small prong on the top. The device had a weird glow, emanating energy that belonged to the Subspace's energy. Just by moving the prong forward, a green contraption revealed by itself in front of the minister. The device made some small sounds as the prong penetrated the barrier easily. A few seconds passed, and the green contraption faded away.

The Ancient Minister pulled back his mechanical hands into his robe. Slowly, he made his way to the other side where the barrier was. Just as he expected, he managed to remove the barrier without raising an alarm in the mansion. The silence felt heavy to him. The fact that the day was cloudy made him feel that the silence was going to be broken by something, but he knew better. Things were going to go smoothly.

As he made his way to the double doors, the Ancient Minister took some seconds to look around the calm forest surrounding the mansion's grounds. "(…How long I'm going to wait for my race to be freed from their shackles and roam the land once more,)" he thought deeply to himself. "(Has it come down to this? I've worked with Tabuu, worked with them, worked with Tabuu once more…and now I have to strike them directly?)"

The Ancient Minister looked up at the big mansion.

"(…It can't be helped for now,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(My race is more important than any of them will ever be. I have no intentions to befriend them. They're going to be playing their part with my own plans to finish all this foolishness…even if it means I have to make a few sacrifices…)"

The minister took out his mechanical hand and knocked on the door.

And after this, the day was going to have probably the worst scenario it could ever have seen before…

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next Chapter: Pandora's Box

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-Elizabeth hails from Persona 3 as the one in charge who provides the main protagonist with different entities called Personas. Her naïveté of the real world's culture is one of the best highlights she received in the FES version.

-"Persona 3 Portable – Sun" is a song reference to the same game. It plays midway in the storyline after school if you choose to be the female protagonist. This song was used here to commemorate the release of the game in the PSP…that I don't have and never will.

-"Kingdom Hearts – Hand In Hand" is a song reference to the same game. The battle theme always plays when encountering Heartless in Traverse Town areas. It's a mystery to me why the town was completely forgotten in the sequel and prequels.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-While fusing spells in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles make new names for physical attacks, I decided to give it a small change to the fusion of magical and physical attack by mixing the spells' names with the attacks. In FF: CC, "Blizzardstrike" doesn't exist but "Icestrike" does. As such, all fusions will have altered names made by yours truly.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. It was a little bit shorter, but I wanted to do it like this.

We're still going to see Elizabeth making visits to the world. In fact, she'll stick around for a bit more, but she won't appear in every single Mansion Chapter. I hope she was a great character to meet for all of you, and I hope you liked the "Arcana Talk" thing to grasp all the Smashers (and Chip to some extent) in this story.

Stiltzkin is still out there. I can't say anything else than say that he will still appear as a shop owner of sorts. :)

The inclusion of outfits for the Smashers will be a nice and interesting feature in the story from now on. There's going to be many outfits that will have different meanings. There will nostalgic outfits, funny outfits, formal outfits, and much more. The tailor isn't really going to be the only place where they'll obtain outfits. I mean, we HAVE to add some new clothes to their ridiculous wardrobe of only one kind of clothes set.

Okay, people, listen up here!

This saga has been going long enough now, but it's time to reach for the final steps towards its conclusion. Why, the next arc is going to be a whole lot darker than previous arcs. No, we're still keeping the humor here, but not the kind of humor that annoys the readers. No, we're still keeping Team Chaotix even though they didn't do anything here (Vector: Lame!) at all. No, we're not going to end the saga in four chapters. And no, we're not done yet. The next arc will actually be a real shocker to many of you…or at least that's what I think. All I can say is that the plot will get…thicker, as they say. Why, perhaps the next arc might even affect the Smashers even after the saga ends…

I guess it's time to make things look serious…and once again, no, we're still going to keep the humor you always see every chapter. But whatever happens in the next arc…please, stick with me until the end if you really like this story.

I encourage all interested readers to review. :)

…Or we'll make Lucario's dream come true, thus turning him into a real story Gary Sue character.

Red: Come on! Can't you do that with my Pokémon?

No, because you still need to memorize all 493 Pokémon names in the Pokédex…and did I mention they're multiplying every three years or so?

Red: Why must the Pokémon World have to grow so much?

Send your complaints to Game Freak, Red, because they like to do that a lot. Why do they do that? I have no idea.
*Chapter 179*: Pandora's Box

Would you keep reading even if we changed things a bit around here? I bet you would.

From ngrey651: A sudden change in tone? Won't this be interesting! And thanks for including the Major Arcana. I do so love Tarot. I'm a "Fool" myself, number 0, representing potential, naivete and being innocent. It's a very good card for Chris too...it usually represents the protagonist of a story. ;)

From me: I'm glad to hear you liked the Tarot Card reading introduced in the chapter. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. :)

From PianistChris: I'm looking forward to seeing the different types of outfits for the characters. =] The fusion between spells will definitely make fights more interesting. Can't wait to see what will happen in the next arc! And it would be hard to imagine a muscular Lucario riding along on Arceus XD

From me: Outfits are going to play some special roles during certain scenes, even if they only appear once. And as for the dream thing…I believe our Aura Pokémon thinks otherwise… Thanks for reviewing. :D

From cybirdude: I sure hope that the smashers new attacks will help them get stronger than laharl and rita.

From me: Well, they'll get stronger overtime, but I don't see the reason to bring Rita and Laharl into this. Thanks for reviewing.

From Blackglow: Once again, great chapter. A little on the short side compared to your other chapters, but still great.

Now, a few questions.

1. When you say "The end of the saga is nearing" are you referring to the Sonic Unleashed saga or the whole fic? I certainly hope you just mean the Sonic Unleashed saga.

2. Have you played or seen the story of Metroid: Other M?

If not, I HIGHLY recommend you at least try to see the story. Trust me, this could give you A LOT of inspiration for an arc that focuses on Samus, as the story of Other M focuses highly on Samus' past and gives a great deal of backstory on her.

is just something I was curious about. Is Ridley ever going to appear in the fic? I mean, he was fought TWICE in Brawl.

Well, that's all I have to ask. So, as always, great chapter! I'll be following this to the end!

From me: 1. I definitely was referring to the Sonic Unleashed Saga. Ending the fic with it would be giving Sonic too much unnecessary attention.

2. I've played and seen the whole game twice. But I won't talk about Samus' back story right now because using her all of a sudden would look out of place. Heck, it might take a long time to focus on Samus again.

3. Ridley was fought already. See the Super Mario Galaxy arc.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From JonasGirl80: Awesome chapter as usual Chris! I just love Mansion chapters... I loved how you added the Able Sisters in here and it's a cute chapter. Update soon!

From me: Well, this chapter isn't going to be that cute, though… Thanks again. :)

From Luigi Time: Now this belonged to one the best, or maybe even THE best chapters of the whole story. There happened so much in this chapter although it was quite short if you compare it to the other chapters. It had enough humor (Like Stiltzkin and Ai almost being run over by C. Falcon and DK xD), action (the battle against the Nightmares (it seemed much too easy, didn't it?)), knowledge about the characters (the Major Arcana's, lol I never expected Luigi and Crazy Hand to be much as each other), suspense (Ancient Minister, of all people, going to the Smash Mansion)and more.

It was a nice cliff-hanger to the next chapter as I'm really wondering what the Ancient Minister is going to do. My guess is that he's going to do like he wants to help them, then betray them so the Smashers get in danger and then ultimately rescue them and join their side. But, of course, I'm probably wrong and you have a much better scenario. ^_^

The side-quest were nicely thought of as well (I wonder when the Smashers are going to realise they have the Mime Jr. of the side-quest?). I also love the introduction of new outfits for the Smashers, it makes me think about the alternate outfits in the Smash games.

Finally, you said this is the end of the saga. I thought that wouldn't be until they got to each temple and rescued Froggy... I'm really itching to know how the next chapter will be (I guess it'll be another Mansion chapter?), even more than for the outcome of a Shadow Nightmare battle or something else. Keep up the good work! :D

From me: That's right, you're wrong about the Ancient Minister idea. What I have in hands is much more different than yours.

The next chapter is not a Mansion Chapter but the start of a new arc that takes place in the Smash Mansion. You'll see what happens. ;)

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From N the puppet: Another great chap!

Though...I'm a bit scared at how the smashers will finish "From the girl who has been rejected countless of times by her video game producers and wants to find a real job as a video game main character"'s sidequest.

(She's not going to hunt down Chris, or the smashers, right?)

From me: Pfft, worry about the girl in the request later. It's not like you know her, right?

…Right? Right. Thanks again. ;)

From Decepticon Fan: Well, well, well. It took me a long time to read both chapters, but I did. XD You win at life. You. Just. Win. Can't wait for Pandora's box. I'm psyched! Very well done!

From me: Thank you for reviewing. I've got nothing else to say for now. ;)

From FF and STH: Great mansion chapter you did.

I like the Arcana talk you did, it was nice to know what Arcanan the smashers represents.

The fusing spells that was base on Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles show on this story was a great way for the team to work on some teamwork skill.

They found Mime Jr., so next chapter are they going to give him back to James?

From me: The next chapter is the start of a new arc with a different twist. That should pretty much destroy the idea that some guy is going to appear… *Shrugs* Thanks for reviewing. :D

From jmdm: ... Good Chapter! No spelling errors that I could see!

From me: Okay…you sounded kind of too picky with that review… Thanks?

From Gloom-shroom: Hi Chris. Nothing's wrong with the mechanics of the story. Just a question, though. Why double space the list of Arcanas?

And I spy a reference I have waited to see on the story!

From me: Don't blame me about the double space. Everything was single spaced until I published the chapter. You should blame the site for that because it does a lot of different stuff when I save my documents here.

I don't see that reference or what it is. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From TARDISreviewer: OK, I really didn't get much of this chapter at all. Looks like things are about to get serious in the mansion, though. But it could mean that one more smasher gets recovered.

From me: You didn't get anything? Well, that kind of saddens me a bit… Maybe I need to be more informative? Hmm, decisions… Thanks for reviewing, dude. :)

Comparing the amount of reviews with the previous chapter…I feel like most people didn't enjoy the last chapter for the Chrono Trigger arc… Well, it was bound to happen. Some of the chapters I consider the best can end up not being that appealing to the audience…

With that out of the way…

A brand new arc is going to start once you cross the line boundary beyond the disclaimer area and this description your eyes are forced to read every time before you actually start reading a chapter. Um, what I mean to say is…that this arc will severely change the course of the story itself. With that in mind, I'd like to say that this arc will not be associated with the saga but the main story overall. That's right. Forget about the current saga and put this into the main-main plot, if you get what I mean by that. Why does it have to be separated? If I told you why, it would spoil you. So yes, you can stick to reading for now.

Let's see how things play out, shall we? I encourage all suspense fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Never trust people covered under robes. Moreover, don't trust them if they have glowing eyes.

Chapter 179: Pandora's Box

April 25 – Saturday – Morning

-Smash Mansion-

Chris's Room

The forecast predicted that Saturday morning would have a cloudy day with some chances of raining, something that was actually taking place. Even though the day looked cloudy, the mansion was going to have a lot of activity. Meanwhile, in Chris's room, the Aura Pokémon had Chris under his grip with his right arm, forcing Chris to lay his head over Lucario's chest just besides the spike.

Chris was spared from hearing Lucario's sleep talk, but he wasn't spared of him waking up and then finding the teen under his arm. The Aura Pokémon looked happy and nuzzled his snout against Chris, who slowly mumbled some chuckles until he slowly woke up. "Lucario…good morning," Chris said.

"Good morning," Lucario said pleased, stopping nuzzling his snout to his head. "Did you sleep well?"

"I wanted to sleep longer, but you woke me up earlier," Chris said. "Come on, it's Saturday…"

Lucario looked depressed as Chris moved away from him. "…I'm sorry, but I woke up with high spirits today," he said. "I think I wanted to let you know I was happy…"

"When you put it that way, it's way harder for me to come up with a scold," Chris admitted.

"…Sorry again…"

"…It's okay," Chris said with a chuckle. "I think it's cute that you do that. Besides, you always keep me from sleeping until afternoon."

Lucario blushed embarrassed, looking away from Chris's amused look. "U-uh…don't put it that way, please…" he muttered.

"Nah-ah, that's how I'm going to describe it," Chris said. "I'll let you keep doing that so you get some fun, okay?"

In his mind, Lucario looked very relieved. Outside his mind, Lucario had a blank look, one that he used to look at Chris. "It's fine by me," he said.

Chris got off from his bed and stood up on his feet, stretching his arms. "Well, let's get ourselves clean now," he said. "I'm going to go to the village to see how many more people we can help out."

"As you wish," Lucario said.

Main Lobby

The teen (in his Chozo Arts job) and the Aura Pokémon walked down the stairs to the first floor were they spotted several Smashers walking about. The large TV screen (a new one that Master Hand set up after the incident with Team Chaotix) was being occupied by most of the easygoing people while the kitchen was unusually filled with around fifteen of them having breakfast.

Chris turned to the left where he overheard someone complaining to another person over the couches. With a closer look, he found Vector arguing with Charmy who was browsing channels with the only remote control. The bee didn't seem to listen to any curse, swear, or order that his superior was throwing at him while Espio lazily rested besides the bee. The only unfortunate people who were trying to tolerate the arguing were DK, Diddy, Yoshi, Falco, Roy, and Pichu, all of them sitting on the wide set of couches, having finished their breakfast.

"…And I demand that you choose a damn channel now!" Vector kept arguing so loudly that anyone within a kilometer would hear him. "C'mon, you gotta choose a channel!"

"But they're all boooooooring!" Charmy playfully teased, still not finding a channel of his liking. "I can't find a good program now. Let me continue looking!"

"You've been doing laps around the whole schedule!" Vector argued. "Why, this is the twentieth time you've crossed channel #179! I'd say it's enough!"

Chris sighed. He had already seen Vector's bickering ever since he set a foot in the mansion. It was always another story with Vector arguing with Charmy while Espio tried to muster up his tolerance by ignoring what was going around with him. Any Smasher who was nearby, at least some of them, tried to calm them down, but trying to bring Vector to reason was like talking to a thick wall with his face on it.

Lazily, Espio looked over to Yoshi. "I apologize if these two are obnoxiously…obnoxious," he muttered. "I know this is practically hard for you to comprehend, but…please, whatever you think, don't think I'm like them."

Yoshi nodded. The green Yoshi had heard that Espio always had some kind of irritable tolerance against his own teammates. "I pretty much think you're not like them in any way…" Yoshi trailed off.

"Thank goodness…" Espio said, sighing right after.

Yoshi glanced back at the others. He spotted Diddy resting on top of the sleepy DK's left arm while Falco was hanging his head on the top side of the couch on the other end, trying to shut off his hearing from the argument. On another couch, Pichu was covering his head with a cushion to block off the complaints while Roy's eyes trembled in anticipation as he stared up at the TV constantly changing channels, wanting a channel to be shown for a span of ten seconds instead of one.

Shrugging at the scene, Chris directed his attention towards the kitchen. From afar, he spotted fifteen Smashers. But with a closer look, half of those people were made up by a bunch of Sonic reps. On the far side corner of the ridiculously long table, Chris could see Big, Cream, Cheese, and Amy, the latter three trying to make Big feel better after the incident with Froggy being captured by the enemy. It was nearly two months after Big witnessed Froggy being taken away, and his memory couldn't be worse than what he was dealing with.

Big was dead silent, staring down at his scrambled eggs on his plate while the younger people tried to distract his mind from depressing thoughts.

"It's been two months ever since I last saw Froggy…" Big muttered dismayed. "Is he…is he gonna be okay?"

"I'm sure he will," Amy said, forcing a worried smile. "You just gotta have hope so he doesn't get into trouble. Just leave it to me to rescue him."

Big sniffed. "W-will you do that for me, Amy?"

"Yup, I'll do that for you," Amy said. "Cream and Cheese will give a hand too. Remember that time where Froggy was kidnapped by Metal Sonic? Think of this situation like that time, and we'll surely succeed."

"…There aren't going to be any creepy mechanical monsters, are there?"

"…I've got an annoying feeling that's the telling me we're gonna see at least one," Amy muttered. "Well, with Dr. Eggman involved and all that…"

"Please, Mr. Big, hang in there," Cream said worried. "We'll go through this together. You don't have to be so alone."

"Chao, chao!" Cheese cheered.

"T-thank you…" Big muttered, forcing his hands to grab his forks.

Chip appeared from behind his back, the imp sitting on top of Big's head. "You've got a huggable deity on your side! Nothing can go wrong!" he said.

"…The 'deity' part is still up to discussion," Amy muttered.

"…If you put it that way, then just think you got the support of a huggable little guy," Chip said. "How about it?"

"O-okay…" Big muttered, his hopes slowly recovering.

Several chairs away from them, Kirby had a small mountain of different meals on the table, but he was being restrained by Meta Knight, who at the time decided to keep a look on the puffball. While Kirby looked dismayed at his limited rations of food, several chairs away from them, Mario, Luigi, and Peach were probably the only ones having a nice time talking to each other. More chairs away from them, Knuckles was eating by himself in solitude, apparently trying to stay low because he had a blank mood in the morning. However, the echidna was eyeing Tails, who was having a nice talk with Fox.

"It looks a bit sad to me, y'know."

Chris nearly yelped as he noticed Sonic standing right besides him and Lucario. "S-Sonic, don't appear out of nowhere like that!" Chris scolded.

"Sorry," Sonic said, looking back at the kitchen. "Anyways, you know why I'm saying this, right?"

"(Wow, what a way to apologize before changing topics in a second…)" Chris thought sarcastically. "You mean Tails?"

"Yup, my little friend doesn't hang out with me that much ever since he met the fox guy," Sonic said. "Okay, Chris, I'm gonna let you guess why I'm saying this. Guess why you think Tails doesn't spend much time with me as he used to."

Chris thought for a moment. "…Both Tails and Fox are foxes?"

"Yeah, what else?"

"Fox is way older than Tails, so Tails sees him like an older brother of sorts?"

"Yeah, and what else?"

"He thinks Fox is cool?"

"Nice, you got it all down," Sonic said. "Sadly, this isn't going to give me much attention. If I want Tails to spend more time with me, I have to take drastic measures to get him back to my side."

"And…those drastic measures are…" Lucario trailed off.

"Well, I can always choke the guy to death," Sonic suggested.

"Rejected," Chris and Lucario said.

"I can learn how to hypnotize people to put Tails under my control."

"Denied," they both said.

"How 'bout I confront the guy in a match?"

"Nay," Chris said.

"Throw the fox guy in a box and send him to drift into the space?"

"I'd say no," Lucario said.

"Do the unthinkable and wait?" Sonic asked bored.

"Accepted," Chris and Lucario said.

"Man, you guys are no fun, I tell you," Sonic said with a sigh. "You know I hate to wait. I'd rather…run and do something filled with some crazy action I'd like to do."

"You're not suffocating Fox, Sonic," Chris said.

"What the… I didn't even suggest that!" Sonic said in protest. "Although it sounds very tempting…"

"Sonic!"

"Alright, alright, I'm not doing something like that!" Sonic groaned. "But anyway, I'm kind of jealous that Tails is spending his time with somebody else other than me."

"Have you tried to go with him and just become acquainted with whoever he's spending the time?" Lucario suggested.

"Meh, that sounds a little bit too risky because, well, I have other ways to talk with others," Sonic said. "I don't really have something interesting to talk about… You think he likes speed?"

"…Maybe," Chris and Lucario said.

"…Oh well," Sonic said with a shrug. "Better to try than doing nothing. See ya," he said as he quickly ran all the way to the kitchen where he accidentally crashed against Fox's chair, prompting the vulpine to fall down to the floor. The hedgehog stood there shocked while Tails gasped and went to give Fox a hand to stand back up.

Chris turned to Lucario. "He did that on purpose, didn't he?" he asked.

"It's obvious he did," Lucario muttered sighing. "Somehow, I think he misunderstood what we were trying to explain him to do…"

"It's not long before I see both of them rolling down the stairs, punching each other to death while Tails is helplessly waving his arms in panic to calm them down…" Chris trailed off. "…So! Let's go to the kitchen and eat breakfast."

"Very well," Lucario obeyed as they made their way into the kitchen.

After they left the main lobby, there was a knock on the door. Espio was too busy trying to block off the argument two feet away from him, but he managed to hear the knocking sound. "I'll go and see who it is…" he trailed off, noticing everyone else was pretty much ignoring him. Scoffing a bit at this, the chameleon hopped off from his couch and walked to the double doors.

The chameleon didn't know that he was going to commit a mistake that was going to start a whole ordeal that morning. Once he reached for the doors, he opened one of them to reveal the person outside, waiting for the moment to break into the mansion and cause a skirmish…

"…Who are you?" Espio asked, his eyes fixing on the person staring blankly at him…

The Nazi Toads.

"…You mean people," Espio said to no one in particular.

Okay, fine, I made a little mistake, so sue me, will you?

The Nazi Toads eerily smiled at Espio, one of them handing over a flier that read several tempting offers that they were offering to non-members so that they could join their cause. Espio stared at the flier for a while before the Nazi Toads marched out to the village, talking in some kind of incomprehensible language Espio didn't know existed.

Shrugging at them, Espio closed the door and tossed the flier into a nearby trashcan, muttering some words as he went back to sit down on the couch.

Several minutes later, another knock on the door sounded. Espio mumbled a few words as he went to answer who it was. "I'll swear aloud if it's that weird, pale-faced, mushroom head group again. They freak me out with those smiles of theirs…" Espio muttered as he went over to open the door.

Espio found a person encased in some kind of foreign garbs and robes. The only prominent feature the chameleon could spot from the odd guest was his yellow eyes that shone under the green hat he wore. Upon seeing Espio standing in front of him, the robed figure started to speak. "Excuse me for interrupting your time, but I was wondering if this is the Smash Mansion," the figure asked with interest.

"That name is a little bit primitive for my tastes, but yes, this is the mansion," Espio said.

"Good, good," the robed figure said. "And is there someone living here going by the name of Chris?"

"Yes, why are you asking?"

"I would like you to call him here," the robed figure said. "That is, if you don't mind."

Espio could tell there was some kind of sinister reason behind the robed figure's motive. The chameleon's instinct was telling him that the robed figure wasn't a person to trust. "And why do you want to see him?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but this is a personal business we have between the two of us that no one else is allowed to hear," the robed figure said. "May I speak with him?"

"Does he even know you?"

"Of course he does," the robed figure said. "If he asks who it is, tell him it's a friend that was going to come today to visit him."

Espio narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you're an acquaintance of his?" he questioned suspiciously.

"Please," the robed figure said. "I do know he has met so many odd-looking people before than you came here. Would you take any chances with me, though?"

"…I suppose…not…" Espio trailed off.

"Then, please, call him here," the robed figure said. "If you could hurry, it'll be my pleasure."

The chameleon nodded. "Alright…" he trailed off as he closed the door, going to the kitchen to get the teen.

A minute later, Espio came back with Chris alone, who was trying to figure out the "friend" that was going to meet him today. "But I don't recall somebody telling me that he or she was going to come today…" Chris muttered.

"Are you sure of that?" Espio asked. "This friend of yours says otherwise."

"I-I'm sure of it," Chris said skeptically. "Besides, I never get someone to tell me they're going to come here to visit me beforehand…" He remained silent. "…I just noticed something. It's sad that nobody else out there calls out for me but they do with the other people in here."

Espio rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know if this friend is an acquaintance of yours, but at least he took his time to call out for you," he said as he offered himself to open the door.

"But I know a few people who wear robes all the day. Who is this…" Chris's eyes suddenly froze in place as he stared at the person standing right in front of the door outside. The World Traveler felt that his stomach was hurling a bit from the shock he got. Espio noticed how Chris stood still in place at a loss of words just by staring at the sudden guest.

"…Hello," the Ancient Minister, the robed figure, said. "How has your long journey that has put hindrances to all of us gone so far?"

Chris didn't reply at all to the question. He was trying to wonder for himself what made a Subspace general come all the way to the mansion. The Ancient Minister was certainly the last person he thought was going to come. He expected any of the "lesser" villains to perform an assault, or Tabuu appearing out of nowhere and obliterating the mansion to crumbles. "(But him, of all people?)" Chris thought in shock.

"I can tell you are at a loss of words," the Ancient Minister said.

Chris glanced at Espio, who decided to stay behind to see what was going on with the minister. "(Espio couldn't tell the Ancient Minister…I mean…R.O.B. was part of the enemy because he never saw him with his own eyes before. That's why he didn't do a thing to alert everyone!)" Chris thought.

The Ancient Minister stared at Chris. "I've got no time to waste here," he said. "I'd like to do things here fast if you don't mind."

"W-why are you here?" Chris muttered. "Why are you showing up here all of a sudden? Did you…did you desert from Tabuu?"

"What a pathetic idea you have," the minister said. "Deserting Tabuu is like asking him to smite me alive. I have no intentions to do something of the sort (yet…)"

"…Then…why are you here, still?"

"I am here to put an end to all of you, of course," the Ancient Minister said, Espio suddenly glaring daggers at him after hearing the threatening reply. "But I need you for my plans to work successfully."

Espio looked at Chris. "He is part of the enemy, I believe?" he asked.

"Y-yes, and a high-ranked enemy at that!" Chris said, trying to hold his panic.

The two noticed that the minister's yellow eyes started to shine a deep shade of red, staring directly at Chris. "And my plan that will make you all suffer the consequences for intruding in our personal matters will begin…now," the minister said.

Espio was too slow to react as two red lasers struck Chris hard. The beam felt like a solid hit that sent Chris spiraling into the air right across the main lobby until he bumped along the floor recklessly. The chameleon let out a gasp as Chris's grunts of pain were overheard by the people sitting on the couches. They were startled after seeing the teen lying down on the floor, spotting smoke floating out from the spot where the lasers hit.

"H-hey, what just happened?" Yoshi asked dumbfounded.

"W-why is Chris like that?" Pichu asked.

"Everyone!" Espio called out from the entrance. "We're being attacked by the enem-" He was interrupted as the Ancient Minister silently approached him from behind and shot concentrated sparks from his eyes without budging a bit, pushing the chameleon away without effort.

Diddy expected a yell coming from Espio's teammates, but his doubts were cleared out after he noticed Vector and Charmy were still arguing with each other. "…Um…you guys should really stop fighting because, well…Espio just got hurt," he said.

Vector and Charmy suddenly came to halt, both of them about to chow each other's right foot viciously. Diddy looked a bit scared at the sight while the two looked over to see their teammate lying down on the floor next to the robed minister. "Hey, what do ya think you're doing?" Vector called out the minister. "I only get to smack the brain out of Espio!"

"…You guys are so violent to each other, I swear," Falco muttered.

"N-never mind that!" Roy yelled as he pointed at the Ancient Minister. "L-look, isn't he that guy?"

The other Smashers turned to the general direction and gasped in unison. "Isn't he the one who was working with Tabuu in that Subspace Bomb Factory we raided a long time ago?" DK wondered.

"I am that very same person," the Ancient Minister said. "But now, I am the one doing the job."

"Why are you doing this if we're supposed to work against Tabuu?" Roy asked.

"…I have no reason to tell you why," the Ancient Minister said blankly. "You've got no business to know what I'm doing here."

From the kitchen, some of the people noticed what was going on in the main lobby. Meta Knight hopped off from his seat and walked into the area, spotting the Ancient Minister close to the doors. "You," Meta Knight muttered.

"You are Meta Knight, I presume," the Ancient Minister. "You're not the person I want to see right now."

"But you are the person I'd like to talk a few words," the knight said. "Before I resort to violence, I'll ask you to give me back my battleship right now."

"Sorry for the inconveniences, but we still need your battleship for a very long time," the minister said as everyone else from the kitchen walked into the lobby, half of them looking surprised at his appearance.

Lucario noticed Chris was lying down on the floor, trying to stand back up. "Chris!" Lucario yelled as he rushed to his trainer's side and helped him to get up. "Did he just attack you?"

"Y-yes he did," Chris muttered in shock. "I-I don't know why he did that, though!"

"(My main target is at sight now, but I need him to come closer,)" the Ancient Minister said. "(Forgive me for this, but I need to push some buttons for this plan to work accordingly to my steps…)" he thought solemnly. "What a pathetic fool who couldn't even protect his own trainer."

Hearing this, Lucario glared daggers at the Ancient Minister. "What did you just say?" Lucario asked in demand.

"I thought you were always by his side in case something dangerous would happen to him, but I guess I was wrong," the minister stated. "He's way too fragile to be left alone. Thus, that's why he got attacked."

"Don't you dare call him a fragile person!" Lucario yelled.

"Or what are you going to do to me?" the Ancient Minister asked. "Are you going to come over here and punch me? Surely that brute force of yours is just a lie…just like you."

The Aura Pokémon's hands suddenly flared up with aura as he glared fiercely at the minister. Everyone else didn't know what to do at the moment, seeing that there was an unlikely guest in the lobby. They were all puzzling themselves about the minister's visit to their second home.

Meanwhile, Chris looked back and forth between the angry Lucario and the blank Ancient Minister. "L-Lucario, please, get a hold of yourself!" Chris ordered.

Lucario looked at Chris. "But he comes here attacking and offending you!" he complained. "Are you just going to let him treat you like that? I don't want anybody to insult you in such a way!"

"E-even so, he must have some kind of good reason for this…besides the fact he's punishing us for stopping his group…" Chris muttered confused.

"No way," Sonic said. "That guy is just barging in here for us to beat him. Heck, entering here like that is as if he was holding up a sign that reads 'SLAUGHTER MY BUTT, PLEASE' or something close to that!"

Peach looked worried at the minister. "Why are you here?" she asked concerned. "Why don't you join us again to stop Tabuu from abusing you any longer?"

The Ancient Minister looked around, seeing half of them were prepared to leap at him and probably hold him captive, and the other half trying to wait for a response from him. Sadly, they weren't going to get a positive reply. "…Because of the fact Tabuu knows the way for my people to prosper," the minister muttered to himself.

"Care to say that aloud again?" Fox demanded.

"…" The Ancient Minister shook his head. "My time is running out, so…I guess I'll just leave all of you for the time being." He turned around and slowly went outside; making most of them look dumbfounded. "…After all, nobody wants to lose their time with such a worthless excuse of a teenager."

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Lucario burst out with anger, making Chris gasp at his outburst. "Who the hell do you think you are to badmouth Chris like that?"

"Lucario, stop!" Chris scolded. "I thought you said you weren't going to let your rage take over you!"

"Ugh…" Lucario lowered his fists, looking ashamed at Chris's statement. "…I-I'm sorry, but I just…I just wanted to defend you, Chris…"

"It doesn't matter…" Chris muttered. "As long as you don't get so angry, that's fine with me. Don't let him get to you, please…"

The Ancient Minister stopped in his tracks. "Please," he began, "I managed to tick him off so easily. How do you expect him to get better with such a pathetic display?"

Chris saw Lucario slowly showing his fangs, angry growls uttering out from him. Panicked, Chris turned to the minister. "S-stop it!" he yelled. "Stop insulting me!"

"But I admit that it's fun to tick you all off," the Ancient Minister said, turning to see all of them. "I've never had so much fun making fun of people like you before. I should've come here a long time ago to see how you'd react to my simple insults. Seriously, how stupid can you get?"

The teen looked dismayed as Lucario's growls grew considerably louder. "…Lucario, calm down…" Chris muttered.

"I…I just can't…" Lucario muttered, slowly panting heavily. "I just can't…let him insult you like that…"

"Then be my guest," the Ancient Minister said. "Your rage shall be the scion of your death. And once you die, you'll cause your trainer a lot of grief where he will spend the rest of his days grieving over your loss because you didn't even control your anger. Do you want to cause him grief? Do you want to shut me up so your anger eases?"

"Can I ask you something?" Mario suddenly spoke, getting the minister's attention.

"For the last time, I'm not going to tell you why I'm here."

"No, it's not that," Mario said. "Are you…trying to make Lucario angry on purpose?"

"If I said yes, what'd you do?"

"I'd tell you to stop right now before he kills you off," Mario said worried. "I have a bad feeling that he won't stop until you stop insulting Chris."

The Ancient Minister turned to Lucario, who furrowed his brow as he tried to calm down his anger, which was about to erupt in any moment despite the fact Chris was rubbing his head to calm him down. "Let him do what he pleases," the Ancient Minister said. "All my colleagues have failed to subdue all of you, but I'm far more different than any of them." He turned his back to them and looked up to the wall. "…Why don't you just put a leash on him and give him the doghouse he deserves to live?"

"GRRRRRRRRR!" Lucario growled furiously as his aura shone brightly all over his body, making most of them gasp in shock. Chris was the only one who backed away from his Pokémon shortly after the aura manifested itself. "GRRRRRR…GRRRRRRR…GRRRRRRRRRR!" he growled and growled.

"L-Lucario, please, don't do it!" Chris yelled out. "Don't let him make you angry!"

"Oh, what's the matter?" the Ancient Minister asked, staring blankly at the furious Pokémon. "Is your rage perhaps taking over you after all? Can't you just keep it down for a little while so you can let me continue insulting how meaningless your trainer is?"

"I-I know you don't mean to say those words!" Peach yelled. "I don't want to see people fighting today just because you're insulting us! Can you please stop so we can talk things over in a peaceful manner? I beg of you!"

"(I'm feeling sick for doing this…but it must be done regardless,)" the Ancient Minister thought ashamed. "…Me…talking things over with that brute dog without the leash? Are you kidding me?"

"GUUUUAAAAARRRRRRGGGHH!" Lucario roared furiously as he charged forward to the minister, making everyone else react at this with shocked looks. As Chris cried out helplessly to make him come back to his side, the Ancient Minister didn't move an inch from his spot, waiting for Lucario to come closer.

"(…And this is where everything will go downhill for all of you,)" the Ancient Minister thought solemnly.

"YOU ARE DEAD!" Lucario proclaimed. "NOBODY TICKS ME OFF LIKE THAT, NOBODY! GUUUUUUUUUUUAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHH!" he roared aloud as his right fist caught a tremendously intense aura that shone brightly all over the lobby.

But just as Lucario was going to deliver the killing blow on the minister, the Ancient Minister stood still as he brandished his right hand and shot out a small dark, purple smoke that slammed right on Lucario's face. The Aura Pokémon was in a fit of blind rage to notice any movements, stopping right on his tracks after he sniffed the smoke that the minister shot straight to his face. Everyone watched as Lucario's right fist stood several inches away from the Ancient Minister's face, completely frozen into place as Lucario inhaled the smoke.

"…There…" the Ancient Minister muttered.

Something unbelievable happened. Lucario's intense aura soon started to fade into nothingness as he was still frozen into place. His wide eyes stared in shock at the minister before he fell to his knees and lost consciousness, the dark smoke fading into the air. The last thing they head from the Aura Pokémon was a few grumbles that fell into silence…

Horrified at this sudden event, Chris's eyes shook, as he managed to mutter out, "…W-what did you do to him?"

"And I should explain what I did?" the Ancient Minister asked rhetorically. "Fools like you don't deserve any explanations, if any."

"That's it!" Sonic yelled. "He crossed the line now! I'd say let's attack him for ticking us off!"

Nobody really paid Sonic attention, but DK, Roy, Fox, Falco, and Pichu were the only ones who decided to take action and restrain the minister while everyone else stood in shock at what had happened.

"Alright, you bastard, it's time for you to pay for betraying us like this!" Roy yelled.

"Y-you don't have any right to attack Lucario like that!" Pichu cried out.

The Ancient Minister saw the five rushing to his side. He seemed to be shaking his head in disapproval. "(Only five people aren't going to be enough,)" he thought. "(I need more of them to get closer so I can execute the next step…but for now, they're going to be the first victims.)"

"You're going to regret not moving from your spot once we get over there to pummel you down!" Falco yelled.

"As if I need to move from here," the minister muttered.

Once the five came into range, the minister spun around his spot to shoot out a thick, pale green smoke that reached them out easily. The five started coughing within the smoke as the minister came out from it, completely unharmed from any attack. "C-come back here!" Fox yelled from the smoke as the minister directed his attention to Chris, who gasped when he saw him coming closer.

Sonic stepped in front of Chris, the first extending his arms to block the minister from the teen. "You stay away from him!" Sonic yelled. "Chris, run!"

Chris snapped out from his state of shock and obeyed Sonic's order. The hedgehog gave Chris one last look before the minister shot the same green smoke at his face. Sonic found himself coughing madly as he dropped to his knees, trying to stop the coughing with no avail. "I didn't want you to get involved, but since you're so persistent, it had to be done," the minister muttered to Sonic.

"SONIC!" Amy cried out. She was about to jump into fray, but Big and Cream held her back by holding her hands. "Let me go, you two! I need to get over there and give that guy a piece of my mind for messing with Sonic!"

"Amy, don't go!" Cream cried out. "It's not safe to fight him like this!"

Just then, Link, Marth, and Ike appeared from the second floor and saw the commotion. "What is going on here?" Marth asked. "Why is there so much noise?"

"There's a fight going in the lobby?" Ike said confused before he spotted the Ancient Minister. "Wait. That guy over there… Isn't he the Ancient Minister?"

The Ancient Minister looked over to the stairs, spotting the trio emerging from the hall. "Oh, there are more of them here," he muttered. "This will surely work out after all."

Link scanned the area where he saw most of them trying to stay away from the minister, while the ones that were attacked by the green smoke were dropped down to the floor for some reason. "They need our help!" he yelled. "He's attacking all of us alone!"

The trio of swordsmen ran down the stairs, taking out their swords to apprehend the minister.

The Ancient Minister stepped away from a fireball that Mario had shot from afar. "I thought you wanted me to talk things over with you," the Ancient Minister said.

"Yes, but seeing how you're acting…" Mario trailed off worried, "…we need to get serious with you this time."

"Likewise," the Ancient Minister said, seeing the trio of swordsmen arriving into the scene. Without previous advice, the minister quickly took out his right hand and shot out a green ball.

"Step away, quick!" Marth yelled out as he and Link dodged the fast ball. The Altean noticed that Ike reacted very slowly, the green ball crashing against his body. Green smoke suddenly broke out from the ball as Ike was covered within it while his fellow swordsmen backed away. "Ike!" Marth yelled out.

"W-what the hell is this?" Ike asked from the thick cloud of smoke, dropping to his knees as he had inhaled some of it accidentally.

"Marth, look out!" Link suddenly yelled as he pushed Marth out of the way from another green ball. The attack that was meant to hit the Altean ended up hitting Link, trapping him inside another thick cloud of green smoke where he felt his energy depleting at an alarming rate. "W-what in the world…is this?" Link coughed out.

Marth backed away from the spot to avoid inhaling the ominous smoke that was covering both of the two swordsmen. As he was distracted by this, the Ancient Minister turned to the hall way where Ness and Lucas appeared. Noticing what was going on, Ness turned to the minister. "W-wait a minute, you're that robot guy from before!" he said shocked.

The Ancient Minister didn't reply verbally to this, but instead replied by shooting a green ball to the two. Ness gasped and ducked out of the way while Lucas followed right after. However, the green ball bounced off from the wall behind them, and it landed right on Ness' back. The ball then shot out the same green smoke that ended up covering the cap kid while Lucas yelped and rolled away to avoid sniffing the smoke. "N-Ness!" Lucas yelled as he stood back up and heard Ness coughing aloud inside the smoke.

"(I've got ten people down…)" the minister thought as he looked around in the lobby to see how everyone else was doing. From what he could see, Mario and Luigi were shielding Peach while Amy was being restrained from running over to Sonic's side by Big, Cream, and Cheese. The minister could have sworn that there were people in the couches, but there was nobody there anymore. Meta Knight and Kirby tried to team up and fight him, but the green smoke that were cornering them into the kitchen area prevented them from flying over it, Knuckles being in the same situation.

"Let's rush in!" Knuckles yelled.

"No," Meta Knight said. "Something is telling me that we shouldn't get close to that smoke he shot to the others."

"If we don't do something, he'll get away!"

"Unfortunately, our chances to deliver a blow are slim," the knight said as Kirby shuddered in fear. "We must wait until the smoke clears out."

Chris shifted his eyes around as he tried to think of something. "D-does anybody have a plan to deal with this?" he asked.

"MASTER HAND!" Peach yelled loudly.

Right after yelling that, the Hand of Creation appeared from the second floor. "Geez, you people! Stop making such a ruckus this morning!" he complained. "Is it so much to ask for a morning without you having to beat each other senseless?"

Luigi was hiding behind the stair's luxurious hand bar, right next to the hand. "T-the robot, I-I mean, the minister, I-I mean, u-uh, we're being attacked by the army!" he yelled.

"Robot…minister…" Master Hand trailed off confused before he spotted the minister right directly in the middle of the lobby. "HEY, YOU, R.O.B!"

The Ancient Minister turned towards Master Hand. "I stopped going by that name a long time ago, but I'm no longer that person… Oh, my apologies. Did you call me, Master Hand?" he asked.

"Of course I called you!" the hand yelled, staring at the whole chaos around the lobby. "You did all of this, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I did," the minister said. "But sadly, your arrival marks the point of departure. I'd like to stay behind a little more, but circumstances are demanding me to leave. Besides, I accomplished my mission here."

Master Hand floated out from the second floor, floating right into the lobby as he went down to the minister. "Oh no, you have a lot of explaining to do!" he scolded. "Firstly, I'd like to know what the hell made you stay with Tabuu right this instan-"

The hand came to a halt as a portal to Subspace opened right between him and the minister.

"SUBSPACE!" Master Hand screamed out, backing away to hide from the antimatter vortex.

The minister saw the hand going back to the place where he came from. Chuckling amused, the Ancient Minister went into the portal. "It's funny to see how you squeal like a girl just by seeing a little bit of the Subspace through this harmless portal," the minister spoke before he disappeared inside. "Until then, farewell, my dear enemies…"

The portal to the Subspace faded in thin air, along with the green smoke dispersed in several parts of the lobby. The commotion soon fell into silence as everyone who was left unharmed blinked in shock. They looked around to be sure that there were no enemies lurking until they stopped, sighing in relief

"Everything is okay now…" Meta Knight clarified.

"That…that was so odd of him to come here…" Peach muttered worried. "Why did he come here now? Couldn't he have come here sooner?"

"It's not certain why," Mario said concerned. "But it was easy to tell he had his motives…"

Chip peeked out from behind Big's back to see the scene before him. He froze into place, his eyes the only parts of his body that were moving around. "…G-guys…s-something is wrong here…" he trailed off.

The rest of the Smashers noticed that the Smashers that were attacked by the green smoke were all lying down still on the floor. There were absolutely no responses coming from any of them. Kirby walked to Pichu and shook him a bit, but there wasn't a single response at all. Kirby put up a worried look while he continued shaking Pichu to see if he was going to react.

"…Pichu?" Kirby said. "Pichu?" he kept saying, waiting for Pichu to respond.

Soon, everyone else approached each one of the targeted Smashers. After a while of trying to wake them up, nobody got a single reply from any of them.

"This doesn't look good at all…" Meta Knight muttered. "They don't seem to respond."

"T-they're not dead or something, right?" Luigi asked.

Mario grabbed DK's wrist to feel his pulse. "…No, they're still alive," he said. "But that smoke they inhaled surely had to do with this…"

Master Hand floated down from the second floor, seeing the unconscious Smashers scattered around the lobby. "Okay, can somebody please fill me in about what happened here?"

Some time later…

Every single Smasher in the mansion was called forth to the lobby as they rounded up all the affected ones on a single spot. There was a feeling of tension in the air as most of them were staring in silence at the unconscious ones. After having explained everything that happened, Master Hand looked away. "But no Subspace ally can come in here just like that," he said. "Why, I made an invisible barrier around the mansion grounds to avoid any surprise attacks."

"You put up a shield?" Marth asked.

"Why, yes," the hand said. "There should've been an alarm that alerted us about the shield breaking down, but… Was it broken?"

The hand snapped his fingers to teleport away from them. The silence was broken as a booming voice cursed aloud from an unknown room of the mansion, swearing how a magical barrier was broken for a short amount of time.

Master Hand came back by teleporting, "looking" very calm. "Crap, he did break the barrier," he pointed out. "And he surely did it without triggering the alarm. I blame their technology. NOW nowadays technology can interfere with any kind of magic. Don't you guys get worked up when technology acts like a bug and messes you up like that?"

"That's good and all, but…" Pit trailed off, looking worried at his fallen comrades. "…" He sighed depressed.

Chris kept staring at Lucario's unconscious self. The teen felt guilty that he couldn't stop Lucario from erupting in fury. He was thinking that he could've done much more than he did before. "Lucario…" Chris muttered.

"Well, we have nine people unconscious for some reason or another," Wolf said. "What's our next course of action here?"

"Wait for them to wake up?" Marth suggested. "I think we should just wait for them to wake up."

Popo shrugged. "If we keep waiting, they're going to bleed all their blood out," he said.

"…Popo, why are you saying that now?" Nana asked.

"…G-guys…" Popo stammered as he pointed at Ike.

The Smashers looked at the Greil Mercenary bleeding from his lips. The unknown blood that came out of his mouth dripped down his chin, falling down to his waist. Many of them gasped while some looked disgusted at the sight. "H-he's bleeding from the mouth!" Olimar yelped.

"No, no, no," Master Hand disapproved. "I can't have people in here bleeding without any reason… He is bleeding for some reason, right?" he asked concerned.

"Of course, but we don't know what it is," Samus said as she thought. "But…this is too unusual… Why is it that Ike is bleeding like that if he didn't get any external damage?"

Soon after that, their heard coughs coming from Falco. The pilot slowly started to wake up, looking all worn out. "Ugh…what just happened?" he asked. "W-why do I feel a sore feeling in my throat?"

"Oh, thank goodness he's awake…" Pit muttered in relief.

However, something was wrong with the pilot. He soon found himself coughing aloud, covering his beak to block his coughs. When he pulled back his hand, his eyes widened when they spotted a patch of blood seeping into his feathered hand. "B-blood?" Falco muttered before he continued coughing. It was then that they noticed the floor in front of him being covered by small drops of blood.

"S-stop talking!" Marth suggested. "If you talk more, you're just going to cough out more blood!"

Falco wanted to say a positive reply, but he refrained and instead nodded, trying to keep his throat from uttering out some words.

"Ike has blood spilling out from his mouth, and now Falco is coughing up blood?" Zelda asked in disbelief.

Diddy looked worried before he looked over to DK. The spider monkey looked at the ape's chest, spotting several patches of blood appearing on it. "D-DK!" Diddy yelled out as he went over and slowly touched the bleeding spot, feeling a cold sensation that made him back away. "O-oh my god, he's bleeding on the chest!"

"Him too?" Toon Link asked in disgust.

Soon after, Sonic woke up, looking almost intact. "H-hey, guys…" he said.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out in relief, being restrained by Cream from putting a tight hug on the blue hedgehog. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I-I'm okay, alright…" Sonic panted heavily for some reason.

"Sonic, you don't sound so good…" Mario trailed off. "Your voice seems a bit…dry or something…"

"I…I can't breathe well…" Sonic admitted, inhaling and exhaling air at a fast rate. "I-I can just…just breathe in half of the air I used to breathe in…"

"What?" Luigi asked frightened.

"Sonic has trouble breathing?" Knuckles asked.

Amy's happy mood suddenly turned grim. "Are you sick?" she asked.

"I-I think so…" Sonic said, panting heavily. "But…but I think I have even more trouble breathing right now…"

"…This isn't really looking good…" Red muttered, turning to the right where he saw Pichu embracing himself as he sat up, recovering his conscience. "P-Pichu, are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"My…my tummy hurts…" Pichu muttered weakly. "It…it hurts so much…"

The small Pokémon walked to his side while Pikachu took a closer look to his pre-evolution. "Are…are you sure it's just a normal stomachache?" he asked.

Pichu remained silent as he felt a stinging pain running through his stomach. Shrugging and sobbing a bit, he curled down on the floor. "I-it's so bad…i-it hurts a lot that I want to scream…b-but I just can't do that as well…"

Pikachu's ears dropped down a bit at the statement. Jigglypuff blinked and walked to Pichu's side, rubbing his back with care.

Pichu shook his head. "T-that's not helping me at all…" he muttered.

At that moment, Link slowly woke up and rubbed his head, feeling a sharp pain going through his brain. "A-aah!" he yelled out in pain, making everyone turn at his direction. "S-something is hurting me a lot inside my head!"

"Link!" Zelda yelled as she dropped to her knees and put her hands on the backside of his shoulders. "Are you feeling okay?"

"N-no, I got some kind of headache in my head…b-but it's so…it's so bad," Link said, occasionally grunting in pain. "Dammit, this is even worse than a normal headache…ugh…"

"Some kind of strong headache?" Zelda wondered. "Did you have one today this morning?"

"No…I just got it out of the blue…" Link muttered weakly.

Shortly after Link woke up, Wolf heard Fox grunting as he opened his eyes. The vulpine suddenly grabbed his waist with his right hand as if he was trying to resist something. "Hey, Fox, what's happening to you?" Wolf asked.

"I…I don't know…" Fox muttered, gritting his fangs in pain. "B-but I think it's my stomach… Ugh!" he grunted loudly to the point he almost bent down forward.

Wolf rubbed his chin. "Damn, he looks like he was thrown in a dump and rot there for weeks…" he muttered to himself.

Next to Fox, Roy woke up, feeling sick as everyone else. He embraced his chest as he felt a chilling but hurting sensation inside. "Roy!" Pit said surprised, his surprised look quickly looking worried. "You don't…"

"It…it hurts when I breathe…" Roy muttered in pain. "I-I feel like I want to puke…"

Disgusted at Roy's desire, Pit shook his head. "P-please, hang in there, Roy. Don't try to push yourself too much, okay?"

"I-I'll try…" Roy muttered as he coughed a bit.

"(I don't even know what's wrong with him… I'm so pathetic in this situation…)" Pit thought ashamed.

Lucas gasped once he saw Ness sitting back up. The blond kid looked dismayed as the Onett resident clutched his chest in pain. Gulping at the action, Lucas asked in a worried tone, "N-Ness, how do you feel?"

"W-worse than ever after a beating…" Ness uttered out. "I feel like I'm going to faint out of exhaustion…because there's something hurting me inside my body but I don't know where… O-oww…"

The Nowhere Island kid grabbed his head, shaking it to the sides as he tried to come up with a solution. "D-do you need to take some medicine?" he asked.

"I-if I do, please give me some for…for whatever is hurting me inside…"

"I-I don't know what to give you…" Lucas said sadly.

Master Hand looked at every single one of them moaning and grunting in pain while holding specific parts of their bodies where they felt some kind of sharp pain. "O-okay, everyone has to calm down," he said. "All of you seem to be sick for some random reason…"

"There was a reason why all of them feel sick," Meta Knight said. "And the blame falls on the Ancient Minister's actions."

Yoshi thought for a moment. "He made all of them sick?" he asked.

"Do any of you recall seeing the green smoke that he used to attack them?" the knight asked. "There's nothing else that I can use to explain this situation."

"Now that you mention it…he did attack them with that smoke," Espio said. "And right after they were attacked by it, I saw how they dropped down to the floor as they were coughing."

"That smoke made them fall sick in an instant?" Master Hand asked. "Oh no, then he surely put some kind of hazardous chemicals into that smoke to make his own manmade illness… Well, that's what I can draw out from this."

Crazy Hand appeared out of nowhere, carrying a wide set of medicines over himself. "I have the medicine right here!" he said.

"I don't know…" Mario trailed off. "I don't think this is that easy to solve…"

"What do you mean?" Master Hand asked.

"Well, don't you think it was strange that the Ancient Minister came here and decided to make us fall sick like that?" the plumber asked. "It seems a little bit too easy to take care of these illnesses everyone has with medicines, don't you think?"

The hand looked away as his brother looked at his way. "Hmm, it looks a bit suspicious, alright…" he muttered. "We know how those guys can be and making us fall sick that easily seems very odd for my tastes…"

"Sooooooooooo, what's happening to my medicines?" Crazy Hand asked. "I've got some Crazy Hand Headache Shooer here."

Master Hand sighed and decided to look at the medicines, which were all labeled with different labels that had his brother's name and image imprinted to them. What's more, the actual medicines were all made out of thin paper. "We're SO not using those," he said.

"Aww…" Crazy Hand muttered as he flew away, carrying his load of fake medicines.

"…Back on the serious matter," Master Hand began, "we have to go along drastic procedures to deal with this. And since we're dealing with manmade illnesses…" he trailed off as he noticed Lucario was the only one who didn't wake up. "…Um, why is he still unconscious?"

Chris looked concerned. "Lucario's been like this ever since R.O.B…I mean, the Ancient Minister attacked him with that purple smoke he used," he said.

"Purple smoke? I thought everyone was attacked by a green one instead," Mario said. "But looking back, I did see the purple smoke, and I also remember it knocking him out with a single strike."

"Wait, wait, wait, does he look sick or anything at all?" Master Hand asked, staring at Lucario's body. There were no signs of something abnormal manifesting somewhere along his body. "Well, he doesn't look sick at all…"

"H-how do we know that?" Olimar asked. "What if he got sick of something, but it's not reacting yet?"

"Meh, it could be," the hand said.

Chris looked down. "He's not…dead, right?" he muttered.

"He is not," Mewtwo said. "There is definitely pulse coming from his heart. Don't worry about him…for now."

"Thank goodness…" Chris muttered relieved. "(But I'm still preoccupied for him…)"

"We'll have to put him along the others along with the plan I have in hands," Master Hand concluded.

As everyone easily avoided making a pun with the last word, Luigi wondered what Master Hand meant. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It has been a long time ever since we last saw him here, but these desperate times call for desperate measures," he said while everyone stared at him. "I haven't seen him in a long time, but this situation is begging me to call out for his help."

"You know somebody who can help us here?" Amy asked. "Oh, please! Call that person here! I'm getting so worried seeing Sonic gasping for breath!"

"How do we know you didn't crush his lungs with your killer hugs?" Knuckles asked, receiving a death glare from Amy. "I-I mean…never mind…"

Master Hand shook himself. "Regardless of this, this person I want to call is standing right…" he floated over to Mario, "here."

Everyone stared at Mario, who in turn shifted his eyes at them. "…I think I have a small guess why you're referring to me," Mario said.

"And hell yes you are," the hand said. "Are you up to change your wardrobe a bit for us today?"

"Hmm…then it is what I'm thinking," Mario said nodding. "Okay, I'll be back in a second."

Everyone watched the plumber climbing the stairs as the silence was being broken by the moans of pain from the sick Smashers on the floor. "What is the guy going to do?" C. Falcon asked.

"You'll see very soon," Master Hand said.

Espio looked around the place. "…That reminds me. Where are Vector and Charmy?" he asked. "They disappeared right after we were attacked…"

At that moment, Vector and Charmy stood back up from the other side of the couch where they were, the first raising a fist. "Here we are!" he called out.

"What were you two doing back there?" Espio questioned. "Were you two hiding?"

Charmy chuckled and nodded. "Yup, Vector said we should hide behind to stay safe from being targeted by that guy in the robes that he considered very creepy becau-"

Vector covered Charmy's mouth. "W-we were hiding so we could jump out and help the team out if the going was getting rough! Y-yeah, that's our reason to be hiding here!" he said nervously.

"I could seriously question your point of view…but whatever," Espio muttered.

Several minutes later, Mario came back from the second floor. "I'm back," he said.

Everyone noticed that Mario was wearing a doctor's lab coat, a head mirror on his brow, and a stethoscope around his neck.

"…Did Mario just change into Dr. Mario?" Chris asked skeptically.

"Yes he did," Master Hand said. "He's allowed to do it this time only."

"What do you mean with that?" Chris asked. "Wasn't Dr. Mario supposed to be…another person that wasn't Mario?"

"You mean have a Dr. Mario and a Mario in the same spot as separate identities? Hell no!" Master Hand said. "Don't you know how troublesome it is to keep track of two Links?"

"Oh yes, it's rather troublesome," Toon Link admitted. "You know the old one is the defective one, and you need to keep the young, funny one instead."

"Amen to that," Pikachu said nodding.

"Please don't say that…" Zelda muttered dismayed.

"But anyway," Master Hand continued, "I decided to just have a Mario around instead of two. Whenever I needed another Mario for an official match, I just made a Dr. Mario controlled by the AI with Mario's personality. The ending result looked so twisted, but it worked out. Enough about this Dr. Mario story," he said. "Mario, since you're the only doctor of the mansion, can you check up what they have?"

"I will," Mario said. "Also…I'm so used to this job I have as doctor that I like people to call me Doctor Mario, so…"

Master Hand looked at no one in particular. "That also goes for you too," he said.

Dr. Mario cracked his fingers a bit. "Well, if we want things to go smoothly, I'll need you the ten of you to come to my office in the seventh floor," he said. "There, I'm going to perform a diagnosis to uncover your symptoms."

Chris looked confused. "Don't you always use a super vitamin to cure the sick?" he asked.

"But my vitamins only cure easy illnesses like cold and fever," Dr. Mario said. "It can't cure other illnesses beyond that…and I haven't found a person who has had a fatal injury. This is the first time I get to put my entire doctorate skills more seriously, actually."

"(That's because Nintendo never went to have somebody with a broken leg for you to heal…)" Chris thought. "And you have an office here?"

"Just in case somebody gets sick during the tourney so we don't have to rely on AIs," Master Hand said. "He's a great help in that area."

"…I keep hearing the tourney this and the tourney that all the time," Chris said. "But I never get to see any tourney at all."

"Oh, well, it turned into some kind of term without literally meaning the real definition."

"It doesn't make much sense… Shouldn't you just say that we're all living in here for a second home?"

"Are we here to debate about the complexities about our tourneys' definitions or are we going to solve the problem we're dealing with now?" the hand asked annoyed. "Wait a minute. Chris, you know healing spells! Why don't you try healing them?"

"…Can I really do that?" Chris asked unsure. "My spells only heal wounds…"

"Well, their wounds are inside them, so why not?" the hand asked.

The World Traveler looked unsure at this, seeing Peach stepping forward. "Peach?" Chris said confused.

"Let me do this," Peach said, clasping her hands as she called forth a saint light around her. "Heal the wounds… Cure!" she chanted as she opened her hands to Ness.

Something unpredictable happened. The moment she called forth green glitters of healing light, a green barrier covered Ness. The barrier not only protected Ness, but it also made the glitters vanish once they were exposed to it. Some of the Smashers gasped after seeing that the spell failed to reach the Onett resident, whose shield disappeared as well.

"But…but what just happened?" Peach asked confused. "M-my spell didn't heal him? Did I see things?"

"I-I saw it!" Chip said. "That weird barrier came up all of a sudden and it made the spell useless!"

Peach shook her head, clasping her hands together. "I'm not going to give up now…" she muttered, opening her hands to Ness. "Heal the wounds… Cure!"

Once again, the green glitters rained down on the barrier that kept Ness away from being healed. The spell disappeared upon contact with the barrier, shocking the princess in the process. Peach shook her head once more and kept trying to heal anyone else, but it was the same result with everyone. A barrier always came up to "protect" them from being healed.

"I-I don't get it. What is this?" Peach asked dismayed, stepping back in confusion.

"Well…whatever that barrier was, it's blocking any healing spells from curing them," Master Hand said. "It's just as if the infected were banned from being healed through spells."

"B-but I want to heal!" Ness complained, before he doubled over in pain by clutching his stomach. "U-ugh…"

Master Hand saw how Lucas patted Ness's back out of panic. "That barrier doesn't certainly come up when somebody touches them…" he trailed off. "Only healing magic doesn't reach them."

"Hmm…" Dr. Mario thought for a moment. "Maybe their illnesses have something to do with this…"

The hand groaned. "Oh no, this is just too much!" he complained. "Are you telling me their illnesses somehow made a barrier around them all so that they don't get healed by any spell?"

"Yes."

"…Crud," Master Hand muttered. "Damn you, Tabuu! I know for certain you had something to do with this!"

"Why don't you just heal them yourself?" Nana asked. "Don't you have some powers like that?"

"Er…no," the hand muttered embarrassed. "I just create stuff…like this world that I forgot its layout…and…well…yeah…"

"…Poor guy," Dr. Mario said.

"Thanks, Dr. Mario. I needed some words of encouragement…"

Dr. Mario clapped his hands. "Well, since healing magic is out of the question and that we need to use a more professional and…risky approach, I need help to get most of them to my office. Can some people help them?" he asked. "I need to start the diagnosis right now."

"Wait, wait, wait, diagnosis?" C. Falcon asked. "Can't you just give them medicines?"

Dr. Mario approached Pichu and used his stethoscope to check his pulse. "…This is very abnormal," Dr. Mario muttered, listening to faint heart beatings. "They need something else more than a simple medicine… If worst comes to worst, they'll have to undergo…surgery."

"Surgery?" most of them said confused at the same time, some of the ill Smashers widening their eyes at the word.

"It's unclear to me, but it looks like it," Dr. Mario said. "Luckily, I have a doctorate in surgery as well."

"N-no, no, no," Falco disagreed, trying to avoid coughing. "I can't take a surgery. Oh, hell no, no. I hate hospitals more than anything! I just don't like how they smell with that fain-" he stopped abruptly as he covered his beak from splattering more blood on the red carpet.

Dr. Mario looked serious at the ill Smashers. "All of you will have to come to my office and tell me what's wrong with your health. I'm going to have to run several tests with CT scans, visualization tests, and question them," he explained.

Olimar looked dismayed. "C-CT scans? We have all that stuff in this mansion?" he asked.

"You don't know when you're going to need those," Master Hand said. "We also have an O.R. for that matter. What, did you think the infirmary was a standalone place for the injured? Oh no, I like to take precautions with everything…and basically adding Dr. Mario to the cast was the best idea I've ever had before performing mad l33t hand magic skills on Pit to make him look more bi-shonen than cartoony for this place."

"…What?" Pit asked confused.

"Anyway!" Master Hand said. "We need everyone to take all of them to Dr. Mario's office. We're going to have a rather peaceful day if we follow his procedures."

"B-but…" Lucas trailed off, looking worried at Ness, "w-what if they have to undergo surgery after all?"

"…Then we're leaving Dr. Mario for that part," Master Hand said. "For now, though, let's wait for him to do anything he needs to do with them because I'm SO not cut out for doctor skills."

Chris stared at them. "But if they do happen to…well…die…won't they come back with the ability we have?" he asked.

"Tell me where it says that the Second Chance can resuscitate DEAD people," Master Hand said. "It doesn't say anywhere. It gives people who were knocked out a second chance to fight, but it doesn't apply to those who REALLY die. Besides, if you forgot, this isn't a battle, so the ability doesn't even work at all."

"That…that really sucks…" Chris muttered ashamed.

"My magic has its limitations, sorry…" Master Hand muttered.

Pikachu rubbed Pichu's side, his ears dropping to the sides. "…Are they going to be okay?" Pikachu asked.

"I'll try my best," Dr. Mario said determined. "Okay, now bring them all to the seventh floor. Peach, do you think you can help me here?"

"I can be your nurse, Mario," Peach said serious. "You'll need all the help you can."

"Thank you."

As some of them helped the ill to get back up to their feet, Chris could only stare in discomfort at Lucario's unconscious self. It was not long before Lucario's body glowed a shade of pink and levitated off from the floor, startling Chris a bit.

Turning around, he saw Mewtwo holding out his open hand to Lucario. "I'll take him," Mewtwo said. "I doubt somebody can carry him with all that weight he has for being a Steel type."

"…Mewtwo…" Chris muttered. "…Do you think Lucario is going to be okay?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know," Mewtwo said with a sigh. "The only one who will find out first will be Mario before any of us can tell, but something isn't quite well with Lucario…"

"W-what do you mean?"

"I'm questioning myself about why he was attacked by that purple smoke while the others were attacked by a green one," Mewtwo said. "Don't you think it's odd that Lucario was the first one to be taken down?"

Chris looked away worried. "Well…it looked suspicious…" he muttered. "R.O.B…I mean, the Ancient Minister was using trash talk to get Lucario furious to separate him from me…"

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "He knew Lucario would pose more of a threat, so he decided to take him out of commission. However, I can't understand something else… Why would he use a different kind of smoke than the green smoke?"

"Maybe…because Lucario has an immunity to sicknesses?" Chris asked.

"I don't think so," he said. "Lucario stays healthy all the time. I've seen him getting sick rarely. But even so, I'm uneasy about the minister's actions… Sure, taking Lucario out would be obvious, but why go ahead and knock him out with a different kind of smoke? Couldn't he target someone else first? You were close to him when he came in here, right?"

"Y-yes, and Espio was there with me too," Chris said. "But he didn't think about using the smoke on us…"

Mewtwo started floating away while dragging Lucario in midair. "…I shall look into this after we find out what's wrong with everyone. Something is amiss about this," he said. "I'll advice you to come with us to get to know what'll happen next."

The World Traveler looked at the line of Smashers climbing the stairs to get to the seventh floor. Chris looked blankly, trying to stay optimistic. He looked to his left where Tails, Chip, Big, Cream, Cheese, Charmy, and Vector were trying to comfort Amy, who was worried about Sonic's welfare while Knuckles and Espio helped the hedgehog to walk up the stairs, all of them going upstairs.

"Sonic is going to be okay…right?" Amy asked.

"I'm sure he will, Amy," Cream said, forcing a smile. "I know Mr. Sonic can't go down like that…"

Tails looked grim. "I've never seen Sonic getting sick myself… Normally he avoids it somehow, but now… He looks like he's in real pain now…" he muttered.

Knuckles frowned. "I'd say it was his fault for getting into this mess, but I don't think so now," he said.

"I hope he is okay…" Big muttered with a sniff.

As the humanoid people left the lobby behind, Chris looked down on the floor, embracing himself. "(…Please be okay…)" he thought worried as he slowly made his way to the seventh floor, his mind focused on Lucario.

Seventh Floor – Hallway

Half of the Smashers that were left unharmed by the assault waited outside four rooms. One of those rooms was Dr. Mario's office, where he was currently questioning the ten ill Smashers about their conditions. Another room besides the office was the infirmary, where the doctor knew that the patients will have to end up there for the day. Across said doors, an O.R. with all the surgical tools was set besides the other room where the doctor would go back and forth to perform X-ray scans using high-tech machines.

The hallway between the doors had several Smashers who were attached to the patients in some way or another, most of them sitting down on chairs. Chris was looking up at the ceiling from the right corner of a row seats while Pikachu, Popo, Nana, Lucas, and Toon Link were sitting right beside him, most of them fidgeting their fingers or resting their chins on their hands. Next to them, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Chip were dead silent, all of them looking down at the floor.

On the other side of the hallway, another row of seats was facing forward to them. Zelda and Marth were silent as well, trying to wish for their companions to be okay. Next to the two sat Diddy, who was biting his nails as he tried his best to avoid bursting out in tears after recalling how DK looked. Next to the spider monkey was Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur, the three worried about Pichu as much as the young Smashers were. On the other end of the room, Wolf was sitting alone, arms firmly crossed over his chest.

Ivysaur turned to look at Wolf. "Worried about your neighbors being sick as much as we do, huh?" he asked.

Wolf eyed the Seed Pokémon. "Don't take it wrong, flower bulb," he muttered. "Somebody has to look out after those two idiots."

"But you?"

Wolf looked away. "I want to see if they're gonna be alright for me to pummel them down myself later," he said. "I don't want a stupid illness to do the work for me. Let the birdbrain fall, but Fox…is another story."

"…Oh, figures," Ivysaur said, rolling his eyes. "Rivalries are always this epic…" he muttered sarcastically.

Wolf hung down his head a bit. "(Fox, you better stay on your feet after this or else I'll…)" he trailed off in thought, letting out a sigh as he tried to come up with a good reason to avoid making the others think he was worried about the vulpine.

Diddy sniffed as he shed a few tears. "D-DK…" he muttered sadly, covering his eyes with his hands. "A-are you going to be okay for sure?"

Red overhead Diddy and patted his back. "I want to think he's going to be okay, Diddy… Don't cry, okay?" he suggested. "Let's hope that he gets better after Mario is done with him."

"B-but…b-but…" Diddy muttered out as he started sobbing silently, making Red rub his back to comfort him.

Red lowered down his hat a bit. "(I've never seen a Pokémon dying before… Pichu isn't going to die, right? I know he's in much pain, but what if it's more than that?)" he thought worried, looking over to the young Smashers as they were all looking worried.

Squirtle compared their looks from each other, and he could easily tell that Pikachu was the one with the saddest look. The Electric Pokémon's ears were drooped down to the sides as he rested his hands over his sides. Pikachu blinked a few times to stop some tears from shedding out. Once Pikachu turned to look at Squirtle, he quickly darted his look away without yelling. "(Of course he'd get like this,)" Squirtle thought worried. "(He knew Pichu even more than anyone else did. His tough look wasn't going to hold up for that long anyway.)"

Zelda rested her hands on her waist as she looked down to the floor. She sighed and then said, "Marth, what do you think will happen?"

"You mean about Link and the others, right?" Marth asked.

"Yes… I have a bad feeling that something bad is going to happen if we don't do something quick," Zelda said.

"…Well…I want to believe that there's going to be something good out of all this," Marth said. "They aren't going to fall down by an illness."

"How are you so sure?" Zelda asked as they noticed Dr. Mario coming out of his office to enter the CT room. "Mario has been walking in and out from those rooms, and the silence is killing my wishes for them to get healthy. It's been an hour ever since they went inside as well…"

Marth interlaced his fingers, resting down his chin on his hands. "You have a point for worrying that much," he said. "But whatever happens, don't cry, please."

Zelda rubbed a tear away. "I-I won't cry if things don't really go well," she muttered. "I-I'm a princess. I can't show a weakness in such a way…"

"It's okay to cry," Marth said. "If you need to, cry to vent off your sadness. You can talk to me if you want."

"…Thank you," Zelda thanked.

"For I as well need someone else's shoulder for the worst to come…" Marth muttered. "Roy…Ike…hang in there a little longer…"

Lucas was lying down on his seat as his eyes were focused on the ceiling. The blond kid's lips did a wavelike motion every once in a while. He wanted to cry, but he didn't want to startle everyone. Lucas tried his best to stifle his sniffs from getting any louder.

Sadly, they were quite loud, and Toon Link didn't like that. The Hero of Winds gritted his teeth as he pulled his green hat down so his ears would hide inside. Toon Link felt impatient with the wait. He was there to see what was wrong with Pichu, but he did a poor job trying not to scold Lucas from sniffing loud. With a hit on the back of his head, Toon Link managed to calm down.

Chris was lost in thought until he saw Meta Knight coming from the stairs. The knight walked to his side and looked up at him. "Nothing has come up yet, I presume?" he asked.

"Nothing…" Chris said, as Dr. Mario came out of the CT room and walked back to his office while holding several black sheets depicting internal organs. "Mario…I mean, Dr. Mario has been coming in and out for an hour, but nothing comes up at all."

"I knew it," Meta Knight said. "I knew it wasn't going to end so soon."

"If you mean the diagnosis Dr. Mario is running, then yes," Chris said. "It's not over yet… How are the others doing back down?"

"They all are pretty much in the same downcast mood," the knight said. "They're trying to forget what happened today so they don't look upset, but so far, everyone is silent. Even though they are walking about, none of them is saying a word. Why, I saw Luigi bumping into a wall…twice because he was distracted thinking about this."

"…I see…" Chris muttered. "…I'm trying to wish for Lucario to be okay, but I heard from Dr. Mario that Lucario hasn't even woken up yet."

"That is unsettling," Meta Knight commented. "DK shortly woke up, but Lucario is still unconscious."

"He had to be taken to a bed so Dr. Mario could move him around between the rooms," Chris said. "Are you…worried about everyone?"

"Yes I am," Meta Knight said. "If we happen to lose them…which I don't want to think about, we won't get to complete our goals against the Subspace Army."

"The Subspace Army…" Chris trailed off sighing. "They were the ones who caused all this in the first place…"

"And whatever they did, it's something that I highly dislike," Meta Knight said before Dr. Mario walked out of his office and stopped between the rows of seats.

Amy hopped off from her seat. "H-how's Sonic?" she asked worried, clasping her hands. "P-please, tell me he's okay!"

Dr. Mario noticed that everyone was looking at him with worried looks. Joining them with one worried look, Dr. Mario grabbed his head mirror and held it down with both hands. "I finished with the diagnosis for each one of them…but the results I got shocked me so much…" he muttered.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Tails asked concerned.

"…All of them have to undergo surgery very soon," Dr. Mario said. "And they seriously need one. They all are suffering from something happening inside their bodies. From what I could tell from the scans, several parts of their internal organs were nastily hurt internally by…something I have yet to find out, but I reached a conclusion and found all symptoms."

Amy grabbed him by the arms. "Tell me what's wrong with my Sonic!" she demanded before Knuckles pulled her back.

"Sonic's lungs are being filled with poison," Dr. Mario said.

At the response, everyone suddenly looked shocked. Amy especially looked confused and shocked at the same time, her pupils shrinking into dots. "…P-poison?" Amy muttered.

"…And that's not all…" Dr, Mario said grimly. "…The poison….seems to be producing from right inside his lungs."

"What the heck does that mean?" Wolf demanded. "I haven't heard about poison doing that kind of thing. Poison just normally gets through your nose and get into your body."

"I know that, but…the poison is actually being produced inside his lungs," Dr. Mario said. "It's…unbelievable, but there IS poison being made inside his own body. Right now, the poison is acting so slow that it's not very dangerous, but…if we don't do something in ten hours, Sonic will…"

"NO!" Amy burst out. "Y-you can't say Sonic will die!"

"Amy, calm down!" Knuckles yelled. "The guy's trying to get him back to shape, and you're not helping but demanding him aloud!"

Amy wiped her eyes a bit. "S-sorry, but I don't wanna think gruesome stuff about that! I refuse to do so!" she yelled. "Tell me you're gonna help Sonic!"

"I'll do everything I can," Dr. Mario said. "But he's not the only one who's suffering from these weird symptoms…"

Lucas gulped. "I-I'm so afraid to ask…b-but what's wrong with Ness?" he asked.

Dr. Mario shook his head. "Ness is in a similar bad condition," he said. "But it's as frightening as Sonic's… Ness suffers from complications in his small intestine… In other words, there are some weird shadows all over it. He…has tumors sprouting out."

"…W-what?" Lucas muttered in shock.

"Okay, okay, poison is coming out from Sonic's lungs, but tumors? Are you kidding me?" Nana asked upset.

"I'm not kidding," Dr. Mario said. "Something is making tumors inside Ness's small intestine. What's more, more small tumors come up every time I perform a scan."

Lucas hopped off his seat. "T-tell me Ness is going to be okay!" he begged.

"He will," Dr. Mario said. "But he stills needs to take surgery so I can fix him up. However, since he's not suffering right now, I'll use this time to take care of the others who have worst conditions."

Lucas hung down his head. "I…see…"

Wolf frowned upon the strange symptoms. "Okay, tell me what Fox is suffering from," he said.

Dr. Mario looked the lupine. "(He's worrying about him, I can tell…) As for Fox, his pancreas is…being petrified," he said.

"…What?" Wolf asked in disbelief, trying to calm down his anger about the nonsense of the diseases.

"His pancreas is being petrified somehow," Dr. Mario said. "According to the scans, twenty percent of his pancreas has been covered under some kind of shell that's spreading all over it. Judging from this, he's going to be one of the first patients I'm going to have to perform surgery. If this isn't taken care of, his pancreas will be completely petrified, and he'll die of diabetes."

Wolf grunted a bit. "The hell does that mean?" he asked.

"I know you're upset because of how unbelievable this is, but it's the whole truth," Dr. Mario said. "If you want to know what's happening to Falco, his throat has polyps all over it, and some had already caused some hemorrhaging. Unlike Fox, Falco can wait for an operation on his throat later."

The lupine looked down. "Do what you want to do with the birdbrain…" he muttered.

"…" Dr. Mario shook his head and turned Diddy. "DK is the one who has the worst condition from everyone else."

Diddy gasped. "W-what does he have in him? T-tell me!" he asked.

"DK's left lung has internal lacerations that practically came out of nowhere…" Dr. Mario said, making Diddy widen his eyes. "I-I don't know what happened here either, but his left lung is in danger. He's losing a lot of blood inside."

The spider monkey wiped some tears away. "D-DK needs to be saved!" he said in panic. "C-can you do anything for him?"

"It's easy enough," Dr. Mario said. "I'll just suture the internal wounds and apply some antibiotic to get rid of the lacerations and possible hemorrhaging. Even though DK is in danger, he'll be okay."

Diddy sniffed and clasped his hands together. "T-thank you…" he muttered.

"Everything is going to be okay," Dr. Mario reassured him. He turned to Marth. "Ike is going to be up next after I'm done with DK."

Marth looked a bit hesitant. "What does he have?" he asked.

"Like DK, Roy has several hemorrhages on his right lung," he said. "The blood he's losing is causing complications to his breathing. When I was performing a visual test, he coughed blood just like Falco did, but it was caused from an entirely different symptom."

"He will be okay, right?"

"I'll see that he gets okay," Dr. Mario said. "As for Ike, he's suffering from pus sprouting out from his small intestine. The pus didn't get there from outside, but it's coming from inside as well. I presume that something is causing all that pus to come out…"

"Another strange disease, then?" Marth asked worried.

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Mario said. "If I get to see what kind of disease it is, I'll try to eliminate it through some procedures I hope will work."

Marth nodded. "Thank you so much," he said.

Zelda gulped as Dr. Mario turned to her. "W-what does Link have?" she asked.

"Zelda, what I'm about to say is going to be bad," Dr. Mario said worried. "Link has…aneurysms in his brain."

"W-what are aneurysms?" Zelda asked scared.

"They're weak arteries in the wall that cause blood to balloon inside and burst," Dr. Mario said. "Aneurysms are very delicate to threat, though."

Zelda shook her head. "H-how's Link doing?"

"It's bad," Dr. Mario said. "When I was performing tests, I found Link fainted on the floor. Peach told me that Link was complaining about a headache before he fell down. Right now, Peach is putting him on a bed on the next room."

The princess' eyes swelled a bit with tears. "I-is he going to make it?" she asked.

"He'll be the fourth I'm going to threat," Dr. Mario said. "Surgeries in the brain are technically harder to perform, but thankfully, their progress is awfully slow." He walked to her and patted her right shoulder. "He'll be fine."

"A-all right…" Zelda muttered sniffing. "D-don't let him die like this…"

"I won't," Dr. Mario said.

Pikachu stood up. "What's happening to Pichu?" he asked.

Dr. Mario shook his head once more. "Pichu…he has multiple tumors over his stomach," he said. "Since Pichu's organs are practically small, the tumors are dealing a lot of damage. I really couldn't get to ask him how he felt because we found out he was knocked out on his chair…"

The Electric Pokémon stared shocked at the doctor. "H-he didn't die, did he?" he asked, shedding tears. "H-he didn't die, right?"

"He didn't, don't worry," Dr. Mario said. "Peach is looking after his condition. So far, every is a little bit stable…but I can treat those tumors if I'm being careful."

Pikachu looked down while Ivysaur went over to pat his back with a vine. "(Pichu…)" he thought sadly.

"And lastly…" Dr. Mario trailed off as he looked at Chris, who looked disgusted after hearing all the uncommon diseases that were dwelling inside the other nine, "Lucario seems to be okay."

Chris blinked at this. "H-he is?" he asked in relief.

"In the sense that he doesn't seem to react in pain, yes," Dr. Mario said. "But in the sense that he has complications in his heart…I don't think so…"

Dismayed at the doctor's statement, Chris avoided screaming. "C-complications in his heart? W-what kind of complications are those?" he asked frightened.

"We tried to wake him up so we could hear what he was feeling, but it was useless. He was knocked out unconscious," Dr. Mario explained. "We performed scans on his body, and we found out that his heart has changes in its beating. His heart's beatings were faster a second, but then they were slower in the next second. It's been like that ever since, but his condition is…stable for some reason."

The World Traveler gulped. "Are you sure h-he's okay?" he asked.

"For now, it seems he's the only one with a few problems," Dr. Mario said. "He'll be the last person I'm going to treat. I want to get done with the ones that have the worst condition right now."

"Lucario…" Chris whispered to himself, trying to calm himself down about the Aura Pokémon's condition.

"I trust that everyone will be treated, right?" Meta Knight asked.

"Yes," Dr. Mario said. "Although I'm worried to find out what were the causes for these weird symptoms to appear so suddenly, I'm still going to perform surgery on every single one of them." He took out a small clipboard and walked over to the side of his office where he hung the clipboard next to the doorframe. "If anyone wants to see the order and what symptoms they have, feel free to take a look here. I'm going back inside my office to make sure I have all the tools I need to do all the surgeries. If you'd excuse me now…" he muttered as he went back into the office.

Popo hopped off from his seat and looked up at the clipboard while some of the others joined to read it.

Patient Order - Symptoms

Donkey Kong – Lacerations found in left lung. Massive blood loss needs to be treated at once. Critical condition.

Ike – Pus forming up over small intestine. Pus drainage is needed before it infects the body. Critical condition.

Pichu – Tumors found over stomach. Due to small organs, patient needs to undergo an extremely careful surgery. Critical condition.

Link – Aneurysms found in wall over brain. Treatment of aneurysms is needed before patient suffers from blood loss. Critical condition.

Sonic – Poison producing inside lungs. Removal of poison is needed before patient suffers from internal intoxication.

Fox – Pancreas is petrifying. Treatment is needed before patient suffers from diabetes.

Ness – Small intestine plagued with small tumors. Removal of tumors is needed.

Falco – Polyps gathering in throat along with blood loss. Removal of polyps is needed.

Roy – Right lung has internal lacerations. Condition, however, is a little bit under control.

Lucario – Heart beats are unpredictable. Condition is fairly under control, but it still needs to be monitored for further notice.

Everyone was silent. They were all shocked after reading the fatal-sounding symptoms that were causing the ill Smashers a lot of internal pain. Zelda stepped back, putting her hands over her waist. "This can't be happening…" she said.

"You tell me…" Toon Link said. "All this talk about diseases is just unbelievable. You'd think we'd settle this with some battle as we always do, but man, is this different…"

Red thought about the topic. "I think we were lucky that we didn't get to breathe in that smoke everyone was talking about..." he said. "If we did, we could be right inside his office for a long time…"

Squirtle shrugged at the thought. "D-don't say that kind of thing," he said. "I don't want to think about me being diagnosed with some kind of weird disease."

Diddy rested his brow over his clasped hands, sniffing now and then. "DK…please, be okay… Try to get better…uh…uh…uh…." He sobbed silently, receiving some pats from Nana. It was not long before he went over to hug her, trying to calm down.

Chris saw how many of them were very depressed about the event. "(We're all on the same boat here…)" Chris thought ashamed. "(While they're trying to cling for their lives, we can only wait for Dr. Mario to treat them all… This sucks, really…)"

It was then that he saw Pikachu looking up at him. The Electric Pokémon looked sad. Rubbing his eyes a bit, Pikachu jumped to Chris, who reacted and grabbed him on his arms. Chris expected Pikachu to say something, but the latter rested on his arms, trying to stop his tears from running down his red cheeks. In an effort to make him feel better, Chris rubbed Pikachu's head carefully.

Meta Knight looked away from them. "Who would've thought that we were going to go through this?" he asked. "Instead of being attacked physically, we've been attacked internally. Fists won't solve this problem, but medicine will do…probably."

Chris overheard the knight. "I know it's very strange that this happened, but…anything here can happen," he said. "I didn't certainly expect THIS though."

"…Correct," Meta Knight said. "Thinking about this notion makes me wonder what other ways the Subspace Army will use to hinder our progress. The one we're dealing with seems to be the most dangerous one I've ever seen."

The teen thought Pikachu was going to say something, but the Electric Pokémon was lost in thought, thinking about Pichu. Sighing, Chris nodded in agreement. "I hope this is the last time we have to face something like diseases…"

Chip floated by Chris's side, hands clasped together. "Do you think Sonic will be okay, Chris?" he asked sadly. "If he were to…well… He'd get rid of the werehog problem, right?"

"…Yes…but this shouldn't be an alternative for getting rid of his condition," Chris said. "I'm not going to accept that he dies just for the transformation to stop ticking him off."

The imp looked away as he rested his head against Chris's right shoulder. The teen smiled a bit until he heard many footsteps coming from Dr. Mario's office. Everyone turned towards the door where Dr. Mario stepped out in a hurry. "D-doctor, is something wrong?" Cream asked.

"We've got trouble," he said. "DK's condition has suddenly gotten worse all of a sudden."

"DK!" Diddy yelled as he tried running into the infirmary, only to be held back by Toon Link and Popo. "I-I have to go see him!"

"Diddy, I'm sorry, but no one is allowed in there," Dr. Mario said. "I came out here because I need assistants to operate on the patients. I know this is sudden, but you'll have to give me a hand here by handing over all the medical tools I need to continue the procedures."

"Y-you need assistants?" Lucas asked frightened.

"Yes, but I'll like to have people with collected minds that won't panic no matter what happens," he said. "I won't take in anybody here who is crying so much."

Zelda stepped forward. "In that case…I'll help you," she said.

"Good, but I think I need two more people," the doctor said.

Wolf grunted and stepped forward. "I'll go as well," he said.

"Now, I need one more," the doctor said.

"I-I don't want to go," Chris said. "I-I get sick if I see a lot of blood, e-even if I see someone else's insides…"

"A-and I have a rather unstable mind when I see internal organs… I'll pass…" Nana muttered.

Dr. Mario looked at everyone, who had similar excuses to avoid participating in a real surgery. "Well, only two people will do for now," he said, turning to Zelda and Wolf. "You two need to change clothes for scrubs so there's proper maintenance around the O.R. Changing to these clothes will also protect you from containing their diseases should they happen to be contagious."

Zelda looked unsure. "Will Link be okay?" she asked.

"I'll see that he is okay. If you're going to break into tears during an operation, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Dr. Mario said. "We need people to stay focused at all times."

The princess thought for a moment. "…I'm not going to let my emotions take the best of me right now," she said determined. "I am going to behave correctly during all this."

Wolf nodded. "Let's get this over with so we get rid of those stupid manmade diseases," he said.

Dr. Mario opened the room to his office, letting the two walk inside. Before he walked inside, he turned to look at everyone else. "All of you should leave this floor for the time being," he said. "We're going to be transporting all patients to the O.R. nonstop so we can save them all."

"B-but I'm worried…" Lucas trailed off.

"If you really want to see what we're going to do, then go to your rooms and browse through the channels until you find the one where the operations will be shown."

"…Y-you mean anybody here can see how you'll interact with their bodies?" Tails asked frightened.

"The channel isn't going to show really nasty images," Dr. Mario said. "It's going to simulate a less bloody and disgusting view of the real operation so nobody feels sick."

"M-Mario, we need to transport DK at once!" Peach was heard yelling from the office.

"Everyone should leave right now," Dr. Mario said as he closed the door behind him.

While most of them looked concerned as they left, Diddy took one look behind to see Dr. Mario and Peach (in a pink nurse uniform with a white cap) rushing out from the infirmary, carrying a big body what looked to be an unconscious DK over a bed. The spider monkey closed his eyes as Toon Link patted his back.

Operation Room

The Operation Room had the best technological equipment somebody could ever get to see (in an unlikely place like a mansion). A wide set of antibiotics and medicines were lined up behind the glass shelves hanging around the walls over desks with washbowls, where many hygienically detergents were arranged in rows. In the middle of the room, there was a spot where beds carrying patients would be set between a defibrillator machine, EKG for heart beating readings, and a big plate with many surgical tools such as forceps, stitches, scalpels, antibiotic gels, stabilizers with syringes, magnification tools with ultrasound capabilities, and a drain.

The eerie silence of the room was broken as soon as Dr. Mario and Peach rushed in, carrying DK over his bed. The two set the patient between the machines to set him in place.

Dr. Mario sighed as he adjusted his gloves. "I never thought I'd go up against these diseases," he said. "But anyway, it's not like I was going to avoid seeing them for being a doctor. And seeing you in your nurse outfit is something else I didn't expect to see."

Peach smiled a bit. "Do I look good in them as I used to?" she asked.

"Of course you do," Dr. Mario said. "You don't get to see a princess wearing a nurse's outfit these days."

Peach has received the outfit, "Royal Nurse".

The princess has to look after her people, even if they are put under surgery.

Peach clasped her hands after putting on her gloves. "Nevertheless, you're going to do it, right?" she asked.

"But of course I will," Dr. Mario said, staring at DK's body. "You already applied the anesthesia, right?"

"He's sleeping like a stone now," Peach said. "We can perform the surgery once our aides come in."

Soon after saying that, Zelda and Wolf came from the door. Zelda was wearing a nurse uniform similar to Peach's uniform, but Wolf was wearing a light blue, short-sleeved scrub with a surgical mask hanging from his neck. The two assistants joined the two, Zelda looking worried while Wolf looking serious. "We're ready here," Wolf said.

"I never expected both of you to wear those clothes, but if you want to help us, you need to wear them," Dr. Mario said.

"Just to let you know that I'm doing this because I refuse to believe those diseases are gonna kill those guys without any effort," Wolf said grudgingly. "And I'm going to make sure they are eradicated for good."

Wolf has received the outfit, "Bloody Aide".

Scrub adjusted? Checked. Surgical mask adjusted? Checked. Claws sharpened to make incisions? More than ready.

Zelda sighed depressed before she looked serious. "I'm going to do my best to provide all the help you need for all these operations to go smoothly without…without losing our people," she said.

Zelda has received the outfit, "Hope Nurse".

No matter how much blood is lost, a nurse must enforce her nerves of steel to go through harsh ordeals and save patients' lives.

The four looked back at DK on the bed. It was then that Dr. Mario took out a clipboard. "Let's begin the conference of what we have to do here," he said.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing

Patient: Donkey Kong

Overview: Patient has multiple lacerations over left lung. As of now, cause is unknown for internal hemorrhaging.

"As you know, DK suffers from internal hemorrhaging over his left lung," Dr. Mario said. "These mysterious symptoms started showing up right after DK sniffed the green smoke that the minister used to infect everyone else with these strange diseases."

"Yes, that's the gist of it," Wolf said. "I presume we're supposed to deal with these lacerations?"

"Correct," Peach said. "It's imperative that we suture all lacerations opened in the left lung before DK losses blood. If he loses a lot of blood, he'll…you know what'll happen if we don't treat him as fast as possible…"

Zelda thought a bit about the situation. "But what made the lacerations appear out of nowhere?" she asked. "I doubt the smoke cut his left lung just like that."

"I believe that there was some kind of secondary…no, primary infection that caused this to occur," Dr. Mario said. "The green smoke was the first phase for this unknown disease to take toll. The second phase has it deal internal damage to several parts of the body until it finishes off with the victim…and kills DK for real."

"Let's do everything we can to save his life," Peach said.

Dr. Mario nodded. "These are the objectives that must be met at all costs," he said.

-Drain all the overflowing blood.

-Suture all lacerations over left lung.

-Discover the cause of internal lacerations.

-Eliminate the unknown pathogen.

"Damn, talk about risky…" Wolf muttered. "Are you certainly sure that we can defeat this unknown disease with what we have in hands?"

"Yes," Dr. Mario said. "I won't let any unknown disease kill any of the patients under my watch. We shall try everything until it perishes."

Zelda looked determined. "I will do my best to save DK's life…and everyone else's as well," she said.

"Before we proceed, I'd like to remind you all that we're dealing with a very dangerous situation here," Dr. Mario said. "It's a matter of life and death. It's not like any battle we've had before… Well, they were all pretty much between life and death, but this is entirely different. We're going to have to fight but inside our patients' bodies. Mistakes can either be minor or fatal depending of the situation."

"Is it going to be fatal with DK?" Peach asked.

"I fear that it will be like that…" Dr. Mario trailed off.

Peach stared back at DK until she looked at everyone. "Please get ready," she said.

Everyone put on their surgical masks over their mouths. After Dr. Mario nodded at them, who nodded back at him, he cracked his fingers and said, "Let's start with the operation, everyone. I want all of us to stand around the patient so we can move faster."

The four stood around DK as they looked down at his chest where a big patch of red blood was being shown from within his body.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Code Blue

"I'm unsure of what to do next…" Zelda muttered.

"First, we'll have to open him up right over the affected area," Dr, Mario said. "In other words, we'll open him up on the left side of his chest, right where his left lung is."

Wolf grabbed a scalpel. "And this will do the cutting, huh?" he asked, the doctor grabbing it to make an incision right over DK's chest.

The two newcomers for the operation looked a bit disgusted as the sharp knife cut through DK's chest as if it was some kind of soft bread. What's more, the incision was so long that they could practically spot some organs inside thanks to the light shining down over the ape.

After using his hands to make a hole on the chest, Dr. Mario and his assistants slowly looked inside where they spotted the lung. "…You know, it doesn't look that bad once you get to see someone else's insides," Zelda said. "I thought blood was going to splatter all over our faces, but I guess that was just an exaggeration of my part."

"But you've got to admit you've never seen a lung looking that bad…" Wolf muttered in disgust.

The left lung definitely looked out of place. The four saw that the lung had several lacerations covering most of the bottom side. While some of those lacerations had small cuts, others were so bad that blood was spilling out at an alarming rate, having large holes.

Dr. Mario looked serious. "So these are the cuts that appeared out of nowhere," he said.

"We need to take care of the blood before we can suture all wounds," Peach said. "Since this is an easy procedure, all of us will have to grab a drain to drain out all the spilled blood."

The four grabbed the drains from each of their sides. "Just drain the blood that was spilled over. Don't drain the blood inside the wounds," Dr. Mario instructed.

The four diligently started draining out all the spilled blood over the left lung until they cleared the lung from blood. Once they pulled out, Dr. Mario grabbed some sutures and started suturing all the wounds inside.

"Sorry, but I'll do the suturing," Dr. Mario said. "You can only suture wounds if you're careful about what you stitch together."

"Go ahead," Wolf said. "My claws will surely scratch the lung by accident and cause more damage than healing."

"Hmm, this is bad…" Dr. Mario muttered, pulling back for the others to see that a laceration had opened up so wide that blood started spilling out. Zelda reacted to this and drained out all the blood. "See this big wound? Its sides are so far apart from each other that stitching them together will be potentially dangerous. To treat these wounds, we have to use the forceps to put the sides together for a little while, and then we can go ahead and suture it."

"These?" Zelda asked as she handed over the forceps to the doctor, who nodded and dragged a side of the laceration together with the other. He then proceeded to use the sutures to suture the large wound.

"Phew…" Dr. Mario said pleased. "Well, all lacerations have been taken care of."

Peach turned to look at the EKG. "But DK's pulse isn't getting any better…" she said. "His vitals are dropping below thirty!"

"If it hits zero, DK will die," Dr. Mario said.

"Isn't there a way to keep his vitals up?" Zelda asked worried.

"For cases like this, we need to use the syringe to inject stabilizer to any part of his body," Dr. Mario said. "That always raises the vitals so the patient doesn't die."

"Don't you think that sounds too convenient for some reason?" Wolf asked. "We could keep applying the stabilizer as many times as we like."

"Unfortunately, applying too much in succession can cause some potential side effects. We can only inject more stabilizers between timed intervals. Besides…it won't guarantee that the patient will survive," he explained. "Even though we keep his vitals up, there's a chance that these diseases will end up causing irreparable damage…and the patient might lose the fight and die…"

Zelda shook her head. "I-in any case, let's continue with the procedure," she said, trying to avoid thinking about gruesome results.

Peach handed over to the doctor a green vial with a syringe. The doctor filled the syringe with the green liquid to inject it directly to the lung. The others saw as the vitals were raised over forty-five, then, using three more doses, the vitals were raised over ninety. Dr. Mario handed back the vial and the syringe to Peach, wiping out his sweat from his forehead. "Well, that's how you do it," he said.

"The vitals keep going down, though," Wolf said.

"We already drained all the blood and sutured all the wounds," Peach said. "The next objective is…to find the cause of the internal lacerations that didn't cause external damage while doing so."

The four stared down at the pulsing lung. "So, how do we find the cause?" Zelda asked.

"It won't be easy to find the cause until we do something," Dr. Mario said. "We'll have to use the ultrasound since there doesn't seem to be any odd-looking area on the lung."

"Here," Peach said as she handed over the ultrasound to Dr. Mario.

The doctor carefully moved the device over the left lung to detect anything abnormal. After moving around for a little while, the ultrasound showed some kind of shadow resting right underneath the lung.

"W-what in the world is that?" Peach asked in shock.

"This is strange…" Dr. Mario muttered. "There shouldn't be any kind of shadow hiding right inside the lung's skin…"

"…Um…is it just me…or is it moving?" Zelda asked.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – G.U.I.L.T.

The shadow seemed to be twitching in response after it was located thanks to the ultrasound. Dr. Mario moved the device to see what was going on with the lung. The four stared down at the shadow as it began to move beneath the lung's skin, eventually seeming like it was swimming over it.

"That shadow is moving around the darn lung," Wolf said disgusted. "Is this what surgeons deal with everyday?"

"N-no, this is something new I haven't seen before…" Dr. Mario said.

Not long after speaking, the shadow began acting in a strange manner as it moved around. The four widened their eyes as the shadow suddenly ruptured through the lung, causing a big laceration to erupt. The four gasped in surprise as the shadow jumped out from said big laceration, giving them a clear view of how it looked.

The shadow, although small, was fairly easy to look at. The shadow looked like some sort of blue protoplasm that had a mouth with small fangs on its tip. On the rear end of its figure, a wagging tail swung a bit around. However, right between its small fangs and tail, there was a familiar emblem that they all had seen before…

"W-what in the name of the goddesses is that thing?" Zelda asked in shock.

"Some kind of bug?" Wolf asked as he glared down at the cytoplasm. "No, it's not some bug… It's some kind of little monster that's dwelling inside the ape's lung."

"But look at that," Peach said as she pointed at the emblem. "I-isn't that emblem…"

"That's the same emblem that the Subspace Army displays on their monsters," Dr. Mario said, spotting the simple circle with the small line on the left side over the protoplasm's body. "Is this one of their monsters?"

"Of course it is. The minister used that smoke to infect everyone with this…" Zelda muttered. "It's clear that this little monster was made by them."

"And its main purpose is to infect people with itself," Wolf said. "Thus, they're more like parasites that fight bodies from the inside."

"Dr. Mario, we have to focus!" Peach said alarmed. "That monster just ruptured through the lung by opening a big laceration!"

Dr. Mario snapped out from his state of surprise. They all looked inside at the big laceration created by the nameless creature that was still swimming around over the left lung. "First things first," the doctor said. "The big laceration caused blood to come out. We have to drain the blood before attempting to suture it."

"I got it covered!" Zelda said as she used the drain to drain out the blood.

Dr. Mario used the forceps to close the wound to use the suture in order to close it for good. After sighing and putting his tools away, they looked back at the protoplasm hovering around the lung. "Now, the next step is to eliminate this parasite," Dr. Mario said.

"Should we just grab it with the forceps?" Zelda asked.

"Or can we use the scalpel to cut it in half?" Wolf suggested.

"None of those will do," Dr. Mario said. "It's moving a little bit too fast over the lung. If we make a little mistake with any of the tools you mentioned, we could end up causing more damage."

"Dammit, what do you suggest to take care of the little bug?"

"The laser," Peach said as she showed them a small pen-like device that was attached to another machine.

Dr. Mario grabbed the laser. "Like any other laser, this one is special because it can cut tissue using laser light," he said. "This will surely destroy that living parasite."

"Won't that also hurt the organs if we happen to fail in aiming at that thing?" Wolf asked.

"It will hurt just a little bit. This laser is superficial, meaning that it doesn't have the capability to kill a patient too fast. You won't see the difference when it fails to cut through the parasite." The doctor put the laser over the lung, carefully aiming at the swimming parasite. "It's going to take a little while for the laser to destroy it, so let's hope I can get rid of it."

They saw as the doctor turned on the laser, shooting a small concentrated laser that easily started to burn the parasite as it swam over the lung. They could see how the parasite squirmed in pain as it tried to shake off the laser by going to another direction, only for the doctor to follow it right on the spot.

"It seems to be working!" Zelda said in high spirits.

"Isn't it a little bit too soon to be celebrating?" Wolf asked with a grunt. "That thing is still moving around."

Dr. Mario looked serious. "It's obvious the laser is debilitating it, but I don't think this will be too easy to do…"

Just then, the protoplasm itched away from the laser where it dove into the lung and opened up a normal laceration. The doctor stopped using the laser to stare at the new wound.

"Did it…just go back inside?" Zelda asked.

"It just did that…" Peach muttered.

"My guess is that it got startled by the laser that it went into hiding," Dr. Mario said as he started suturing the laceration.

"So what, are we going to wait for it to jump out and make a new wound?" Wolf asked.

"We have to avoid that altogether," Dr. Mario said as he picked the ultrasound to find the protoplasm's shadow underneath the skin. "There, I found the shadow. If we want it to come out, we need to make an incision right over the spot where it's moving around."

Peach handed over the scalpel to the doctor. The four looked down at the shadow moving over the lung until Dr. Mario opened a small wound for the protoplasm to come out.

"And what about the little incision you made?" Zelda asked. "Should we stitch it?"

"No, the incision is far too small for some stitches to fix it," Dr. Mario said as he a bottle with a green liquid and a spray. "For these wounds, we have the antibiotic gel."

"(Is it just me, or does this sound a little bit too convenient?)" Zelda thought confused. "(I thought surgeries were far more complicated than this…)"

"And if you were wondering how surgery sounds so convenient, it's because it has evolved very much on our side," Dr. Mario said. "Sadly, Chris's world doesn't have that same advantage…so, in a way, we're lucky."

Translation to Dr. Mario's explanation: All implied surgical healing techniques done in this arc, while simulating similar methods, are purely fictional and should not really be taken seriously when comparing it to real life surgery. Take into account that most of the surgical tools shown here do exist, except they have other effects. However, pretend that all the steps you see here are real in a sense when using the fictional side. Seriously, people, if you knew all these things, you'd become a medical prodigy of the sorts in record time.

Zelda looked away. "(Why doesn't Hyrule ever get to have advanced technology like this?)" she questioned herself.

"I don't even know much about my own side's surgery procedures," Wolf said. "I guess it's futuristic enough to deal with any diseases, but that's just a wild guess from me."

"Let's continue," Dr. Mario said as he applied the gel on the small wound, covering it under a green shed. "It's going to heal up by itself rather quickly. For now, though, let's deal with the parasite first."

"Laser," Peach said, handing over the laser.

The doctor started burning the protoplasm with laser. It seemed to be twitching as it hovered along the left lung area. The doctor then saw that the protoplasm moved aside from the laser where it seemed to open its small mouth wide as it faded away. "Huh, we did it…" Dr. Mario trailed off.

Zelda smiled a bit. "Did we really get rid of that parasite?" she asked.

"Looks like it," Wolf said. "Man, I thought it was going to be harder than that."

Peach looked at the EKG. "But…his vitals aren't stabilizing at all," she said concerned.

"Now that's bad sign…" Dr. Mario muttered.

The Hyrule princess suddenly looked grim at this. "Y-you mean to say there is more?" she asked.

The four looked back at the lung where they saw another parasite that jumped out from a big laceration it had formed. Peach and Zelda let out a gasp as the new protoplasm started swimming around the left lung. "T-there's one more of those things!" Peach said.

"I knew this was just too easy…" Wolf muttered with a glare. "There are more of them dwelling inside the damn lung."

"It must have awakened after we eliminated the first one…" Peach muttered.

Dr. Mario shook his head. "Regardless of this, we still have to follow the same procedures until we eliminate all of it," he said. "We should just repeat the process again."

"But first, let's take care of the big laceration before it loses blood."

Dr. Mario diligently drained the blood, used the forceps, and sutured the big wound together. He picked the laser once again and used it to burn the protoplasm as it swam around the left lung. "Something is telling me that things will get much worse after we eliminate this one… Are the vitals high enough?"

"N-no, they're dropping below forty," Peach said. "I'll inject more stabilizers to keep them up."

The protoplasm opened its small mouth to open a laceration and hide inside the left lung again. Dr. Mario grunted as he sutured the new wound and then took the ultrasound to find the protoplasm's shadow. As Peach applied a syringe, the doctor incised right over the protoplasm to allow it to come out. After Dr. Mario used gel over the small incision to cover it, he resumed burning the parasite with the laser.

After a little while of burning it, the parasite moved aside, opened its small mouth fully, and faded into nothingness.

"Another one bites the dust," Wolf said.

"How are the vitals now?" Dr. Mario asked.

"T-they're still dropping," Zelda said dismayed.

"It's not over yet?" Peach asked.

All of their doubts were soon answered as they noticed the lung twitching. Suddenly, the center of the left lung was ruptured by a big laceration. They stared at it as some kind of protoplasm jumped out from it but then ruptured through the lung with another big laceration that quickly bled.

"W-what in the world was that just now?" Zelda asked scared.

"It looked like it was a bigger parasite than the two we already saw…" Dr. Mario said in deep thought. "And from what I can draw out of this…is that the one we just saw is the main parasite we have to take care of."

"In other words, he's the boss," Wolf said.

"T-the vitals are dropping very fast! They're dropping below thirty again!" Peach said alarmed. "We have to treat the big lacerations!"

The lupine looked at the two big lacerations bleeding deeply. "Damn, it's getting really nasty now," he said as he grabbed a drain to drain all the blood together with Zelda.

Dr. Mario sweated as he used the forceps to close the big lacerations before using the suture to suture them together. Sighing, he resumed using the ultrasound. "We're dealing with a very nasty disease now. If my assumptions are correct, once we get rid of the parasite, the lung will be left unharmed," the doctor said as Peach applied more stabilizers with a syringe on the lung, raising the vitals over seventy.

A little while passed before they spotted the big shadow swimming beneath the lung's skin. Dr. Mario narrowed his eyes as he made an incision to release the big parasite before applying antibiotic gel on the small wound. What they noticed about the parasite was that it was a bigger version of the two protoplasm that they saw before, but the big one had several spines sticking back from its sides, with its mouth forming shapes that resembled fangs.

"Ugh, this one is probably three times bigger than the first two…" Zelda muttered.

"Nasty, but true," Dr. Mario said.

"Should we follow the same steps?" Peach asked.

Dr. Mario aimed at the parasite with the laser, slowly burning it. "Oh, it looks like the big one is weak against the laser as well," he said. "It's only a matter of time befo-"

The doctor was interrupted when the big parasite dove right into the lung, opening another big laceration that bled quickly in a second.

"…It's only a matter of time before that damn monster goes back into hiding," Wolf finished, raising his right eyebrow. "Is that what you wanted to say?"

"Er, no…I wanted to say that it was going to perish…"

"T-the laceration!" Peach yelled alarmed.

"O-oh, oh, yes," Zelda said as she hastily drained all the blood around the wound, allowing Dr. Mario to use the forceps and sutured the wound.

"How long does it take to REALLY shred a lung with all these stupid lacerations to kill a patient?" Wolf asked annoyed.

"Our medicine is advanced," Dr. Mario said. "All the stitches I applied so far have pieced back together the lacerations that the lung looks like new. That's how useful stitches are for you."

Wolf stared at the normal-looking lung. "(Creepy…)" he thought with a shrug.

"But anyway, let's bring that disease into submission," Dr. Mario said as he used the ultrasound to locate the protoplasm's shadow. He then made an incision to release the parasite, applying antibiotic gel on the small incision. "And now, time to keep using the laser," he said.

The doctor resumed using the laser on the parasite. However, three seconds later, the parasite fully opened its mouth and dove right into the lung before coming out, creating two big lacerations in a span of a single second.

"Oh my goodness, it just hurt the lung so quickly!" Zelda said shocked.

Dr. Mario looked serious. "This disease is really going to give us a hard time," he said as he continued using the laser on the parasite. "Drain the blood quick! I'll suture them as soon as I can!"

Wolf and Zelda used their drains to drain out the overflowing blood from the two big lacerations. Dr. Mario shifted jobs by grabbing the forceps to close the wounds, and then using the sutures to suture them. Sighing, he quickly resumed using the laser on the big parasite.

"Vitals are dropping below twenty!" Peach said.

"Apply more stabilizers to it before we regret seeing two more lacerations!" Dr. Mario ordered.

After the vitals were raised over fifty, the parasite fully opened its mouth and ruptured through the lung twice, causing Zelda to panic for a bit before she got back to her senses and drained all the overflowing blood. "Dammit, it's starting to go nuts on us!" Wolf yelled, the doctor closing the wounds with the forceps and stitches.

"Vitals are dropping below twenty again!" Peach said, injecting more stabilizers. "No matter what happens, remain calm and treat all the wounds it makes!"

Dr. Mario saw that the creature itched to the side, twitching a bit before it continued moving along the lung. "It looks like we're debilitating it," Dr. Mario said. "Don't stop now! We're getting closer!"

The parasite once again fully opened its mouth and ruptured through the lung once more. "V-vitals are in critical!" Peach yelled. "They're dropping below ten!"

"This monster is about to finish him off!" Zelda said alarmed.

"Grr, stop panicking and inject more of those stabilizers!" Wolf yelled annoyed.

Dr. Mario started to sweat as he continued damaging the parasite with the laser. "Come on, everyone, hang in there!" he encouraged. "I'm not letting this disease kill DK like this!"

As Peach applied more stabilizers, the parasite dove down into the lung and then jumped out, causing two more lacerations that quickly bled. The EKG besides Peach started beeping faster, indicating that DK's vitals were decreasing at a dramatic rate. "Mario, treat the wounds as fast as you can!" she encouraged while applying more stabilizers. She made sure that the vitals were raised to the max: ninety-nine.

"I'm right on it!" Dr. Mario said, seeing how Wolf was draining out the blood. The doctor used the forceps and sutures to suture the two wounds before quickly resuming burning the parasite with the laser.

The four saw the big parasite twitching to the sides as it stopped swimming around. It waved its tail frantically, chewing empty air with its mouth. The doctor stopped using the laser to see what was going on with the protoplasm.

"Hmm?" Wolf muttered. "Is it giving up already?"

"It looks like that to me…" Zelda muttered.

Peach noticed the serious look Dr. Mario was putting. "Mario…is something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm afraid we tested its patience a lot…" Dr. Mario said. "Just look at how it twitches. It doesn't look like it's going to die now."

Zelda looked dismayed. "T-then…" she trailed off.

"Everyone get ready! It's going to launch all it can do to win this battle!" Dr. Mario warned everyone.

Their eyes widened once they heard the protoplasm screeching as a sign of a furious roar. Before their eyes, it started rupturing through the lung, constantly diving down and jumping up to create a wide set of lacerations that were slowly covering the lung with bleeding spots. Peach looked back at the EKG, which displayed the maximized vitals dropping down very fast. "A-all those lacerations are dropping the vitals by eight every second!" she said alarmed.

"Bull-crap!" Wolf complained. "I ain't letting some organic bug get the better of me after fighting off its little servants!"

"W-we need to work quickly!" Zelda encouraged. "L-let's drain all the blood and suture all those wounds before DK dies!"

Dr. Mario saw that the parasite stopped rupturing the lung as it slowly moved around the bleeding areas. "It's weak now, but we need to treat the wounds first!" Dr. Mario said. "Drain all the blood while I suture all the wounds together!"

Peach looked back at the parasite. "But what if it regains its energy to launch another assault?" she asked concerned, seeing the doctor starting to work as fast as he could.

"Peach, use the laser to exterminate it!" Dr. Mario instructed. "I know you can handle using the laser by yourself!"

"I-I'll do my best, then!" Peach said determined, taking the laser to burn the protoplasm by herself while carefully avoiding hitting the doctor's hands. The nurse started to sweat as she continued to use the laser, slowly damaging the parasite.

It was then that they saw the creature twitching its body uncontrollably. "Wait, it's twitching like it did before when it started attacking the lung …" Zelda muttered. "It's going to do the same again!"

Dr. Mario widened his eyes as he turned to look at the EKG, showing the vitals dropping below thirty at an alarming rate. "This isn't good!" he said. "If it DOES attack again, we're going to fail!"

"Not now of all times!" Peach said. "Please, let's keep on going!"

The four worked fast to treat all the big lacerations as Peach continued burning the parasite with the laser. Her eyes shook in disbelief as the creature twitched uncontrollably and started rupturing the right lung as fast as it could. "Dammit, we're going to lose this fight!" Wolf complained.

"DK can't die like this!" Zelda cried. "We have to do everything we can and drain all the blood!"

"NO!" Peach yelled, making everyone notice she was still using the laser despite the fact the parasite was jumping in and out. Every time the parasite jumped out, she shot it with the laser before it ruptured the skin. Dr. Mario sweated a lot more as he tried to keep the vitals up by injecting more stabilizers, but a single dose of the medicine would be quickly eliminated by the ruptured areas that greatly harmed the lung.

But then, it happened.

Just before the parasite could add three more lacerations, Peach's efforts to bring it down with the laser came to fruition. The parasite, after making a fifth laceration, stopped right on its spot. As the EKG beeped in an alarming rate with the vitals dropping below twenty, the parasite twitched to the sides as small spores of its body burst. It fully opened its mouth one time before it started to fade away into nothingness, ceasing its existence.

The four would have sighed in relief if it weren't for the fact that the vitals were still dropping because of the five lacerations bleeding deeply. "Keep treating the wounds at once!" Dr. Mario said alarmed. "The parasite is gone, but we still need to treat the wounds before the vitals drop down to zero!"

"The vitals are dropping below ten!" Peach said. "Quickly treat all the lacerations! I'll inject more stabilizers!"

Zelda and Wolf resumed draining all the overflowing blood from the big lacerations, allowing Mario to work on them by using the forceps and sutures. As Peach injected more stabilizers and the lacerations were being closed, the vitals eventually started going up, much for their relief.

"Did we do it?" Zelda asked, stepping back.

Peach wiped out the sweat from the doctor's forehead as he nodded, looking relieved. "Yes…we saved DK from dying…" he muttered. "Now, let's close him up so we can get done with this."

"Talk about a close call…" Wolf muttered.

"…What the…" Dr. Mario muttered as he found something weird looming over DK's lung. "What is this?"

The other three looked down to see an image of the big parasite that they destroyed imprinted over the lung. They looked confused as to why it was there. "Why is there some kind of picture of the thing there?" Zelda asked. "I-is this bad?"

Peach looked at the EKG. "The vitals are definitely stabilizing…" she trailed off.

Dr. Mario rubbed his chin. "I don't think we can do anything for DK at this point," he said. "We got rid of the disease and his lung is safe. However, seeing this on his lung raises many doubts… Let's close him up for the time being."

"Are you sure we should leave it unattended?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know how to get rid of it. It's like permanent paint," Dr. Mario said. "We can't skin it off either or else we'll damage the lung." He pulled back as he started to suture the incision that allowed them to treat the lung. "Time for us to finish this…"

As the doctor closed the chest's incision, Peach gave him the antibiotic gel. "We need to disinfect the incision so it doesn't hurt him," she said, the doctor spreading a green spray over the incision. She then gave him a bandage that he used to cover the sutured spot.

Wiping out the sweat once more, Dr. Mario took off his surgical mask and smiled at them. "The operation was successful," he said. "The patient was saved. Well done, everyone."

Music stops

The three removed their surgical masks to sigh in relief. "Did…did we really save him after all?" Zelda asked relieved. "I-I can't believe we actually pulled it off!"

"That was sure exhausting, but heck, wasn't it rewarding to see how that thing died in front of our eyes?" Wolf asked amused.

"It was sure rewarding since DK won't have to suffer any longer," Dr. Mario said.

"Is he going to make it?" Peach asked.

"He sure will," Dr. Mario said. "Diddy will be so glad to hear that DK was given another chance to live his life. But anyway, I want to thank all of you for a job well done. Our extra helpers made this job a lot easier."

Zelda sighed. "But please, tell me this is going to be the last time we see something like that monster inside somebody…" she trailed off. "I was grossed out just by looking at it opening the lung like that…"

Dr. Mario shook his head. "I'm afraid we're not done," he said. "I expect the other nine patients to have similar symptoms…and whatever happens, please, stay strong."

Peach thought for a moment. "Since that disease was practically new…shouldn't we try to give it a name?" she asked. "You know, for further reference…"

"That's a good idea," Dr. Mario said. "Judging at how it acted, for the disease we just fought, I'd like to call it…the Shark."

"You're going to call it something so simple like that?" Zelda asked.

"Why not? It was behaving like a shark," Dr. Mario said. "It was swimming around like any fish, but since it had fangs, calling it the Shark sounds fitting."

"Works for me, I guess," Wolf said.

"Alright, we can start moving DK to the infirmary so he can rest," he said. "The anesthetics Peach implied should wear off in a while."

Peach nodded and moved the bed to the door. "I'm going to set him there," she said. "Maybe we should see if somebody watched the operation from the mansion?"

"Good idea," Dr. Mario said. "We should let them know about the results of this."

Main Lobby

"I can't believe everyone here really saw the operation. I thought you didn't want to see what we were doing back there in the O.R.," Dr. Mario said.

"Blame curiosity," Chip said. "We're full of that."

Dr. Mario found everyone else in the main lobby. They had explained they were watching the operation from the main TV screen of the lobby. By this time, Diddy was allowed to see how DK was doing in the infirmary if the spider monkey didn't cause a ruckus while Peach was there with him. Dr. Mario pressed his brow a bit, as he looked at Master Hand. "The operation on DK was a success," he said. "He'll definitely recover now."

"Oh, thank goodness," Master Hand said. "I don't want people to die here at a time like this. Well, thank you for operating on him…but can I ask what was that horrible bug doing in his body?"

Dr. Mario looked away, burrowing his hands in his pockets. "That parasite, the Shark, got inside when DK inhaled that smoke that the minister used on him and the others," he said.

"Are there more of those…Sharks in everyone else?" Nana asked worried.

"I don't believe so," Dr. Mario said. "The chances of everyone having the same disease are very slim, with all the different symptoms that they have on their own… From what I have, each one has a different disease trying to kill them all."

"W-what are you doing here, then?" Amy asked, her being the only one crying tears from everyone else. "Shouldn't you go back there in that room and keep operating until you finish with Sonic?"

"I know you're worried, but as we were all treating DK…" he trailed off, "…I'm afraid we need to have more help."

"More help?" Master Hand wondered. "Are you sure you can't handle all this with your assistants?"

"If you want any more assistants, I'll be glad to help!" Amy said. "No way I'm gonna let Soni-"

"I don't need assistants," Dr. Mario interrupted. "What I need is…another surgeon."

Everyone in the lobby grew silent at the proposition. They started to mutter things to each other as Master Hand stared at the doctor. "…You need another surgeon now?" he asked. "What's so bad that you need to have another surgeon on your side?"

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle all this, even though I have assistants," Dr. Mario said. "And I know it's a lot to ask, but another surgeon is needed."

"What made you come to a conclusion?" the hand asked.

"The fact that my assistants can perform very basic stuff made me come to that conclusion," the doctor said. "It's not that they're bad, but it's just that I'd like to have another surgeon that knows the ropes of surgery…and besides, I think I'm a little sloppy myself."

"Oh, great…" the hand trailed off, turning to the multitude of people behind him. "Well, you heard the doctor. Does somebody know a surgeon in here?"

Silence…

"…Not everyone at the same time, please," the hand mumbled. "Okay, seriously, we need a surgeon in here! Does somebody know one, please? You guys should know somebody!"

Silence…

"…Don't you get VERY sick that you need to be taken to the hospital?" the hand asked in disbelief. "You should've been taken to a hospital before! C'mon, our people are going to die if there's not another surgeon here!"

"I-I don't know any surgeon!" Olimar whined. "I'm so healthy for a person my age!"

"Never had a car crash before, so hospitals are out of the question for me," C. Falcon said.

Charmy raised his hand. "Oh, I got it!" he chimed in.

"Charmy, you were never taken to a hospital!" Vector yelled.

Espio rolled his eyes. "It's a miracle you two haven't beaten each other enough to get a broken arm," he said in boredom.

Master Hand groaned. "Somebody?" he asked, turning to Pit. "How about you?"

"How can you think my world has something like a hospital building?" Pit asked unsure. "It's going to take you a lot of work, but you won't ever hear of a hospital in Skyworld!"

"I had to go on and accept people who are behind the times, hadn't I?" Master Hand asked to no one in particular before turning to the group.

The hand and the doctor saw everyone making chatter in the lobby, asking each other out if they knew a surgeon. It was going to be relatively hard for them to hear of one since they haven't been admitted to a hospital before.

"You people had to be unbreakable!" Master Hand complained.

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Squirtle asked. "I don't think a Pokémon Center is going to do any good against these diseases either!"

"I-I'm sorry that I can't do much as well…" Chris muttered depressed. "I've been never admitted to a hospital in my entire life."

"Ugh…" Master Hand grunted. "You know what? We're going to take a risk here. Sorry, but you guys made me do this."

"What do you have in mind if you don't even know a surgeon either?" Samus asked.

"Times like this call for desperate measures…again," the hand said. "And what I mean by this…is that we're going to have to go to the village and find ourselves a surgeon."

Silence…

"…You already gave me the silence treatment a few seconds ago!" the hand complained. "We're going to pull this off this way!"

Yoshi looked up in deep thought. "But there isn't any hospital in the village…" he trailed off. "How can we find a surgeon in a place where there is no hospital?"

"I don't know, but this is the only option we have," Master Hand said. "It's this, or my brother's made up medicines. Which one are you going to take?"

"Yayz for my medicines!" Crazy Hand yelled from somewhere.

"…Search for the village it is…" Lucas muttered.

"Screw you, guys!" Crazy Hand yelled before he was heard sobbing.

Master Hand turned to Dr. Mario. "How much time do we have before you get to do another operation?" he asked.

"We still got two hours before we continue with Ike," Dr. Mario said. "I got tired after that surgery against the Shark."

"…Wait a minute," Marth interrupted. "I think I might know a surgeon after all!"

The Smashers stared blankly at Marth, who shifted his eyes to see the odd looks everyone was giving him. "…Your world has hospitals?" Red asked skeptically.

"N-no, but I know an actual surgeon in the village," Marth said. "I was thinking so hard about a surgeon, and then, I recalled I met one back there a few weeks ago… In fact, Pit and Meta Knight met the same surgeon at the same time I did."

"A surgeon?" Meta Knight wondered. "Hmm…"

"O-oh yes!" Pit said. "You mean that silver-haired woman we met when we were with…" he shrugged at the thought, "t-that blond girl…you know who?"

Master Hand sighed. "I thank myself that you guys go out instead of being trapped inside this place I like to call my mansion," he said. "You'd be insane if you stayed in here for…say, three weeks in a row without stepping out to the outside world."

"Does that have any relevance now?" Knuckles asked annoyed.

"Of course it doesn't," the hand said. "You guys need to fetch that surgeon you know before we lose people one after the other! I don't want DK to be the only one in recovery. I want everyone else to be in recovery as well!"

"I'm going to look for her myself," Marth said. "She is the only hope for Ike, Roy, and the others to be saved from those monsters."

"Yeah, go ahead and mention the people you like the most instead of everyone else sick," Ivysaur said.

"I-I'm sorry for emphasizing that a little bit…" Marth apologized.

"Just GO out and FIND that surgeon now!" Master Hand yelled. "No time to do anything but finding the surgeon!"

"Y-yes!" Marth said startled as he ran across the long path outside towards the village.

Dr. Mario nodded. "Let's hope he can find the surgeon before it's too late," he said. "This is going to be a very long day for sure…"

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Wonder Restaurant

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – St. Francis Hospital

Over a red table, the soothing aroma of hot tea floated up and faded in the air as Nozomi peacefully relaxed herself with it. She sharp-looking woman sat cross-legged on her chair as she looked outside the big window of the restaurant to the cloudy sky. She spotted a few drops starting to soak the street outside, seeing how some people started to run around to get to their destinations.

"What a nice climate," she said sarcastically. "It sure is going to be a nice day…"

As she took a sip of her tea while gazing outside, she couldn't help but notice seeing a blue-haired girl running right outside the window of the establishment. Nozomi raised her eyebrow as she saw the girl looking around for something or someone. Suddenly, the blue-haired girl noticed her, and she ran inside the restaurant.

"I had a feeling that girl was looking for me…" Nozomi muttered to herself, looking over to the entrance of the hall where she saw the same girl looking around until she spotted her. Her hunch told her that the girl was going to approach her, so she set her tea down and leaned back to her chair as the girl approached her. "May I help you with something?" she asked.

"Y-you're…you're the same surgeon I met a few weeks ago…" Marth gasped for breath. "I…I need…your help…"

"…We met before?" she asked confused.

"D-do you remember me?" Marth gasped for breath. "Y-you came to us when you were wondering about Tarot Cards…"

"…Hmm…oh, now I remember," Nozomi said. "Yes, I do remember a girl like you sitting with the kid in the angel costume, the young girl with the peculiar blue hat, and the other person I considered to be some kind of big doll."

Marth stared blankly at her. "…A girl?" he asked.

"On second thought, you certainly sound like a guy," Nozomi said. "Sorry for judging that tiara you have on your head."

"(My friends are dying on some beds and somebody is judging me because of my sister's tiara at a time like this? What has the world come to?)" Marth thought annoyed. "I-it's okay. I get that a lot. But I'm serious here when I was asking you about your help!"

"You need a surgeon to operate on somebody?" she asked. "Well, I'm a surgeon."

"I know," Marth said. "I need you to help another surgeon I'm friends with to operate on my friends who fell sick…"

Nozomi raised her right eyebrow. "I'm letting you know that my services aren't cheap," she said. "I don't accept measly pays."

"I'll pay you later," Marth said. "I need you to come with me so you can perform surgery."

"It's going to be hard performing surgery here," Nozomi noted. "There isn't any hospital in this village."

"No need. There's an O.R. with everything back at the mansion," he said. "You can perform surgery in there, right?"

"An O.R. in a mansion?" Nozomi asked. "That's a first for me. You don't get to hear something like an O.R. in a house."

"We like to be prepared for anything… But, can you come with me?" Marth asked.

Nozomi thought for a second. "Can you give me a heads up about why your friends need to have surgery?" she asked. "Did they break their bones in a senseless fight or did they fall down the roof on the fifth floor?"

"They have some unknown diseases that are causing a lot of damage to their bodies."

Marth noticed the surprised look Nozomi gave him. "What?" she asked. "Did you just say unknown diseases?"

"Y-yes," Marth said. "Those diseases are doing some strange things inside their bodies. Some of them have their organs damaged, and some others have poison gas being produced from their lungs."

Nozomi looked skeptically at the prince. She rubbed her chin and looked away, deep in thought. "(It couldn't be, could it?)" she thought to herself. "(Did it somehow get over this place as well? I thought the world was safe from those malignant diseases… No, it shouldn't be like that. It's clearly something similar to that. It's too convenient that it looks similar, but…I need to look more into this matter.)" She looked back at Marth with a sharp look as she stood up from her chair. "Show me where your friends are."

"You're going to help us?" Marth asked.

"I'd like to see what these unknown diseases look like," Nozomi said. "Who knows, maybe I can get something useful out of all this. While your description might sound unbelievable…it somehow makes a lot of sense to me and me alone."

"I know it sounds very unbelievable…but I'm honest," Marth said.

Picking up the briefcase that she had leaning next to her seat, the surgeon walked around the table to stand in front of the prince. "Well then, shall we go now?" she asked. "The sooner we get this done, the more chances your friends will have to survive."

"Right this way, please," Marth instructed as he leaded Nozomi out of the establishment.

"(Hmph, I expect to see humans for once,)" Nozomi thought. "(There is no way this gentle, weird dressed-looking man has friends that aren't human, correct?)"

Nozomi has temporarily joined your team!

-Smash Mansion-

Main Lobby

"(I spoke too soon,)" Nozomi thought blankly. "(I spoke way too soon…)" she emphasized.

The silver-haired surgeon looked around to see a multitude of weird-looking people looking at her way. From what she could tell, most of the half of them didn't look human while the remaining half looked partially human. She spotted a few people that looked human, but it didn't help her eyes to look away from the sheer amount of anthropomorphic people in the lobby.

"…Interesting," Nozomi sarcastically remarked. "I didn't think one bit that you had normal people as friends."

Marth looked away. "I'm…sorry for not telling you how they looked specifically…" he muttered.

"No need," Nozomi said mildly amused. "To the contrary, I think this is quite…entertaining to see."

"Hey, what does she mean by that?" Nana asked offended. "What, you haven't seen people like us before?"

"Frankly speaking, no," Nozomi replied as a matter of fact. "From where I come from, there are no human-sized red dogs."

"I heard that!" Knuckles barked.

"Or any other person that doesn't look human at all," she added with a blank look. "I've been here for a few months, and I got used to seeing new faces…new strange faces, might I add."

"Before you think this is some kind of big circus, which I bet you think it is, let me introduce myself," Master Hand said. "My name is Master Hand. I'm the owner of this big mansion."

Nozomi thought she was going crazy after staring at the enormous talking hand floating right in front of her. However, she somehow kept a straight look. "I see," she said. "I'm glad to meet…you."

"Um, yes…" Master Hand trailed off. "I heard from some of my workers here that you are a surgeon, right?"

"That's correct," Nozomi agreed. "I'm a surgeon who doesn't have any job at the moment. I think you called me at the right time because I'd sure like to perform surgery to avoid getting sloppy, and because I need something to entertain myself. Of course, don't think I do my job for fun. I only do it so I can treat patients and save their lives."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," Master Hand said. "In any case, do you want to be informed about your nine patients that are waiting for you?"

"Yes, but before we do that, you will pay for my services, right?"

"Meh, I can spend a few thousands if I want to," the hand said. "Don't worry much about your pay. Just state your cost and I'll pay for it."

"Sounds good to me," Nozomi said. "Show me to them now."

"Actually, we have another surgeon here," the hand said, pointing at Dr. Mario. "According to what he said, he said he needed another surgeon to work on the patients. He's going to show you the patients."

Dr. Mario stepped forward. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "My name is Mario, but you can call me Dr. Mario."

Nozomi stared at Dr. Mario. "(I don't know why I feel that I've seen him before… Perhaps he reminds me of an iconic character in some media? I need to get back into the fads everyone follows these days so I don't look like a stranger,)" she thought. "My name is Nozomi Weaver. Nice to meet you, too, Dr. Mario. (The name certainly sounds very familiar…)"

"Well, shall we get going?" Dr. Mario asked. "Your help will certainly be useful here."

"As long as it involves surgery, I'm game."

The doctor nodded. "We shouldn't stay here for too much long. The next patient has to be treated in less than an hour, but starting the operation sooner would be better," he said.

"I'm curious about these unknown diseases I was told about," Nozomi pointed out. "It's going to be a dangerous challenge, but I'll do everything I can to treat all of them."

Dr. Mario stared at her with some surprise. "You don't feel discouraged about these diseases? They might scare you..." he trailed off.

"You could say I have dealt with...similar diseases."

"...You have?" Dr. Mario asked skeptically.

"Sorry for taking some time away from our work," Nozomi said. "Let's go and see those patients."

"Um, yes, let's go... (She was hinting at something...I know that,)" the doctor thought as he leaded Nozomi to the second floor through the stairs, disappearing from sight from the multitude of people in the lobby.

Samus sighed. "It's always the same thing with new faces," she said. "They judge us by how we look."

"I don't want to tell you this...but you kind of look like a big robot at first glance," Olimar said. "N-not to mention some people might think you're probably a man under all that armor..."

"Oh, yes, I forgot I get that kind of judgment as well," Samus muttered annoyed, making Olimar step away from her.

Master Hand turned to the crowd. "Okay, the only productive activity we can do for now is waiting for them to treat everyone," he said. "That surgeon looked so enigmatic to me for some reason. I'm surprised she maintained that sharp look of hers even when she saw me."

"You'll see how she will scream once she looks at you a second time," Knuckles muttered.

"I heard that!" the hand said. "Anyway, it's either look at their operations from here, or do something else. You guys can do anything you want as long as you don't interrupt them."

Amy clasped her hands and looked up to the ceiling. "Please, don't let Sonic die… I beg you…" she muttered.

"I'm sure none of them are going to die."

Kirby and Yoshi turned towards Chris, who was sitting down on the sofa. "How do you know that?" Yoshi asked.

"I happen to know Nozomi," Chris said. "She really is a very good surgeon."

"She is from another…you-know-what, right?"

"Yes," he said. "But I'm just saying that having her here will be a big help… I really don't know if they will be able to survive through the operations. Having her here only boosted their chances to live."

Kirby looked down before he jumped to Chris's legs and sat down, making the teen stroke his head a bit.

As the others turned back to the TV screen, Marth looked back at the second floor as he pondered about something. "(Should I…)" he trailed off in thought.

Infirmary

Nozomi Weaver was an experienced surgeon. It was hard for people to tell she was a surgeon until she stepped inside an O.R. While she didn't like to talk about her past, it didn't stop her from continuing her career. It was rare to see her in the O.R. so much since her operations were rarely seen or notified to the medical board. From as far as she could remember, she had some issues dealing with "unknown diseases" that she was able to take care of. Even though she went through harsh ordeals, Nozomi was always at her calmest behavior.

However, the fact that she was surrounded by probably the oddest bunch of people made her feel rather uncomfortable. Her silver eyes inspected the patients that were lying down on all the green beds of the infirmary.

"I have one word to say," Nozomi said, "wow."

Dr. Mario looked worried. "I don't know if you should be surprised just by looking at all of them," he said.

"No, that's not it," Nozomi said. "I'm surprised my career is going to give me the opportunity to operate on them. I don't know if you know this, but I've never performed surgery on a…what is he again?"

"Hedgehog."

"Right, a hedgehog…humanoid hedgehog," Nozomi said skeptically. "I have my doubts that this is going to be an easy procedure. Are their anatomy basically the same?"

"For most of them, their anatomy is the same," Dr. Mario said. "However, the only crucial fact that makes them all different from each other is that their internal organs are smaller than the normal ones."

"Yes, I thought as much," Nozomi said, looking towards the unconscious Pichu. "(I hate to see young people like it going through this…)"

"If we want to make the surgeries manageable, we need to make sure we don't cause a lot of damage to their bodies should their organs be small," Dr. Mario explained.

"Don't worry about that," Nozomi said. "Honestly, I haven't performed surgery on young patients a long time ago, but I can be careful with them if I wish to. Can you hand me over the patents to go over their diseases?"

"Sure, here," Dr. Mario said as he handed her over a clipboard.

The silver-haired surgeon studied the symptoms. "(As I feared, they're almost too similar to them…)" she trailed off in thought. "I see. All these symptoms look out of place, alright."

"But…I'm curious," Dr. Mario said. "You said you performed surgery on patients with unknown diseases before?"

Nozomi kept staring at the clipboard. "I don't like to talk about my past that much," she said. "The reason why is because I'm trying to amend my mistakes for doing…some foolish things I'd rather not talk about right now, or at best, never."

"Oh…I see," the doctor said. "Well, I trust that you'll be very reliable here."

"It's going to be a new experience for me. But anyway, do we have assistants that can help us during the operations?" she asked.

"We do. They're waiting in the O.R. for the next patient," Dr. Mario said. "…By the way, since I know you're a much better surgeon than I am, I need to show you somebody. Do you see the big guy over there next to the small guy?"

Nozomi looked at the upper right side of the room where she saw a sleeping big ape (DK) and a small animal (Diddy) next to him, the latter waiting for him to wake up. "Don't tell me you already operated on that…person," she said.

"Actually, I did," Dr. Mario said. "But there was something I wanted to ask you. After I got rid of the Squalo, a shark-like disease that ruptured through his lungs, its image was printed over his lung for some reason…"

"What do you mean?" Nozomi asked. "You mean to say that a picture of it was imprinted on the lung?"

"Yes, just like that," he said. "Since you're a surgeon, I wanted to ask you if it can be interacted to remove it."

Nozomi rubbed her chin in deep thought. "An image of the disease imprinted on the lung… Did it cause any side effects?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Dr. Mario said. "It's practically harmless, but seeing it doesn't make me feel so sure that we really eradicated the disease."

"I don't think it can be removed seeing as it was imprinted on the lung," Nozomi said. "Removing it could cause severe damage to the internal organ."

"Is it like some sort of scar, then?"

"I don't know," Nozomi said. "We should look up more into this after we treat all of them. Let's focus on the surgery on the next patient." She looked at the clipboard before glancing over at Ike. "According to this, our next patient is…Ike. (Good, he's a human. Now I can feel more reassured.)"

"Let's take him to the O.R.," Dr. Mario said as he approached the bed.

Operation Room

"So, are those fake ears?" Nozomi asked.

"W-whatever do you mean by that?" Zelda asked.

"Oh, never mind. Sorry for sounding rude."

She had expected at least a human assistant, but Nozomi didn't find any luck in that. Instead, in her point of view, her assistants were a long-eared, frail-looking girl in her young teens, a very (very) sweet-looking woman, and a furred, serious-looking man who studied her from bottom to top. However, she easily disregarded the thought of being surrounded by an odd bunch of people, and she focused on the patient between them.

"Nice to see women doing surgery," Wolf said. "I thought this was a job only cut for men."

"Trust me when I'm saying I'm not the kind of girl who gets sick just by looking at a simple kidney," Nozomi said.

"Before I think this conversation ends up with somebody blaming Wolf for sounding sexist…" Dr. Mario trailed off, "we've got work to do here."

"Is she good?" Peach whispered, seeing Nozomi putting on her surgical gloves.

"I trust that she is a good surgeon," Dr. Mario said. "She looks very sure of herself. You don't get to see people like her doing this kind of thing… I hope I didn't sound insulting."

Peach chuckled. "You didn't," she said.

"Thank you," Dr. Mario muttered.

As everyone prepared themselves for the next operation, Nozomi started talking. "Well then, seeing that everyone is ready for…" She stopped talking once they heard the door being knocked on from the other side. She turned towards the door. "Whoever it is, we're about to begin the briefing."

The door opened up, and Marth walked inside. "Pardon for interrupting…but I'd like to be an assistant," he said.

"You want to be an assistant?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I'll understand if you don't need more," Marth said. "I thought that you could need another hand to operate on everyone else, and, well…"

"Hmm, personally, I think it is okay," Nozomi said. "It wouldn't hurt to have more people working around here. However, are you sure you won't get sick if you see a body's internal organs? We can't have people vomiting."

"I can handle it very well," Marth said. "Just give me a chance to prove you that I can hold myself for as much time as you like."

Dr. Mario nodded. "Okay, then go to my office and pick up a scrub," he said. "We need to start the briefing as soon as possible."

Marth nodded and left the door. Several minutes later of waiting, the prince came back, wearing a short-sleeved light blue scrub with a surgical mask hanging over his neck. "I'm back," Marth said. "I'm ready to help you all."

Marth has received the outfit, "Hospital Prince."

With grace, you slay foes with your thin sword. With skill, you incise skin with your sharp scalpel.

"It's peculiar to see you wearing a scrub," Peach remarked. "You're going to be the first person of your land to ever wear one."

Marth closed his eyes. "Can we just start the briefing? I'm getting worried about Ike's welfare…" he trailed off.

"Right, we will start the briefing now," Dr. Mario said.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing

Patient: Ike

Overview: Overflow of pus has taken residence around appendix. Removal of appendix might be issued should the unknown cause is found there.

"An overflow of pus around the appendix," Nozomi said. "What do the scans tell?"

"It's clear that the pus is coming from the appendix itself," Dr. Mario said. "If that's the case, then we have to remove it altogether."

"Are you sure he won't need it?" Wolf asked.

"The appendix is a failed human organ," Nozomi said. "It can be removed if the patient is suffering from it. Nothing bad will happen if we do take it away."

"Yes, however, the fact that the pus is coming right from it make me feel very uneasy," Dr. Mario said. "The next unknown disease must be hiding in there while propagating all that pus."

"So, in other words, the appendix is its base of operations or something of the sort?" Zelda asked. "That…is disgusting."

"That's a nice excuse to get rid of it," Nozomi said. "Since there is pus, we'll also have to take care of inflammation caused by over the peritoneum. This is going to be an appendectomy operation since the patient suffers from appendicitis."

"What are the objectives we have to follow?" Zelda asked.

"These are the objectives," Nozomi said.

-Drain all the pus.

-Eliminate inflammation.

-Examine appendix.

-Find the cause of pus outbreak and destroy it.

-Remove appendix.

"It shouldn't take us too long when we have to remove all the pus," Dr. Mario said. "But be careful because more pus will come forth if we don't act fast."

Nozomi removed the blue sheet over Ike's body. Zelda instantly blushed and looked away, much for Marth's and Wolf's annoyance. Looking at all five of them, Nozomi made a hand gesture with two fingers together and said, "Here goes."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Code Blue ~DS Version~

"Well then, it's time to start the operation," Nozomi said. "Let's make an incision over the small intestine, in other words, the stomach. The appendix is located around it."

"Very well," Dr. Mario said, making a large incision over Ike's stomach. He slowly opened the incision in order for them to look inside.

Some of them looked grossed out after finding several green patches polluting all over the appendix area. It was almost hard for them to see what was being coated with all the pus. "Disgusting…" Marth trailed off.

"Nobody said pus was supposed to look pretty," Nozomi said. "Anyway, vitals are dropping below sixty. We should start working now."

"Assistants, grab your drains and drain out all the pus to get a clear view of the appendix," Dr. Mario instructed, all four assistants starting to drain all the pus from the body. "Once all the pus is drained out, we'll see all the inflammation covered by it."

It took a few seconds for the assistants to drain out all the pus. They all looked back inside to see the area around the appendix (the peritoneum) covered by pinkish spots that indicated all the inflammation. Some of the spots were small while others were big. "I presume all those pink spots are inflammations, right?" Wolf asked.

"Correct," Nozomi said, looking around to spot any irregularity, finding none for the time being. "In order to treat all those spots, we need to inject anti-inflammatory to get rid of the entire inflammation one at a time." She showed them a blue vial where she used the syringe to fill it with the liquid. She applied it into one big inflammation, causing it to shrink until it was gone. "It takes more liquid to get rid of big inflammations, but you need to apply small inflammations a bit."

"If we happen to inject outside the inflammation, we'll end up hurting the patient," Dr. Mario said. "Let's get rid of all the inflammations first."

"Alright," Nozomi said as she and the doctor started applying anti-inflammatory liquid to all the inflammations along the peritoneum. After a small while, all the inflammation was taken care of. "Not a difficult step to do," she said.

Peach injected some stabilizer to keep the vitals over sixty. "Vitals aren't stabilizing," she pointed out. "Is it time for us to find the cause behind all the pus?"

"Yes it is," Dr. Mario said. "According to the data we have, the pus is coming from…the appendix," he said, spotting an-odd shaped organ attached to the peritoneum with a small tube that connected both of them. "Well, the appendix looks normal to me…"

"But I thought that thing was polluting the body with pus," Marth said. "Shouldn't it look a little bit different since it's doing that?"

Nozomi narrowed her eyes. "It looks like we've triggered the unknown disease that's affecting the appendix," she said.

The five looked down upon the appendix, which started twitching a bit until it turned a shade of light blue. Their eyes widened when they saw it slowly inflating and deflating as if it had a mind of its own.

"G-gross!" Zelda exclaimed. "I-it's moving by itself!"

"It's clear the disease has taken residence inside it," Nozomi said serious. "No matter what, we need to remove it at all costs."

"It's not doing anything other than breathing," Wolf said. "Is it time to interact with it?"

"I suppose so," Dr. Mario said, showing them a white vial. "We need to inject sedative into it so we can perform an incision to cut the area that it's connecting it with the peritoneum." He filled the syringe with a white liquid, applying it to the appendix. Once he injected all of it, the appendix twitched uncontrollably.

"Looks like we stressed it a bit," Nozomi said. "Here it comes, its counterattack."

The blue appendix twitched uncontrollably until it pushed out pus from several holes that appeared all over it. It performed the same action thrice until it stopped, spreading pus all over the peritoneum.

"Eww, so that's its counterattack…" Zelda muttered under her breath. "And the appendix is doing all this?"

"Obviously, this is a manmade disease," Nozomi noted. "This disease appears to be too much intelligent for being a natural disease. Am I right?"

The five Smashers grew silent to her assumption.

"…Just what happened here when I wasn't around?" she asked. "Were you attacked by some kind of biochemical attack, or did you happen to stumble into this by chance?"

"That happened… We were attacked," Peach said.

"…I'll ask more about it at a later time," Nozomi said as she focused back on the odd-colored appendix. "Let's drain out all the pus before it causes more inflammation around the peritoneum. Hurry up before the vitals drop down."

All of them snapped out from their states, starting to drain out the pus covering the peritoneum. After doing so, they looked back at the appendix, which shot more pus that made up for the already drained pus.

"What in the world?" Marth asked. "It covered everything with pus again!"

"I knew that this wasn't going to be so easy…" Dr. Mario muttered. "With an action like this, it's obvious that it's going to counterattack every time we drain out all of the pus."

"But if we neglect removing the pus, inflammations will cover the peritoneum," Nozomi theorized. "We're in a fit here. Injecting sedative into the appendix with all the pus covering it is out of the question. We must take care of the pus first while keeping the disease from counterattacking."

"Why don't we give this disease a name so it's easy to reference it?" Dr. Mario said. "Since it's spreading pus around while it stays in the same place, its name is going to be…Dente, which means dandelion in Italian."

"Nice name," Nozomi remarked. "So then, the Dente will counterattack if we try to remove all the pus."

"And what if…we remove a bit of it?" Marth suggested. "Does it only spread pus if all of it is drained out?"

"That's worth a shot," Nozomi said. "However, we'll have to act quickly around all this mess. We're going to have to leave pus around, and that will cause inflammation to occur. Let's have a spot clear to interact with the Dente while keeping more pus away from taking space on the peritoneum. Are you all ready for this?"

"Yes we are," Peach said.

"Let's resume the operation," Nozomi said before she looked over at the EKG. "The patient is losing vitals. They're dropping below thirty. Hurry up and let's continue."

"Right," Marth said as the assistants removed pus that covered the affected appendix and some pus that covered the peritoneum. After doing so, Peach applied more stabilizers in an open spot, raising the vitals over sixty with several doses.

"It looks like our theory was correct," Nozomi said. "The Dente only spreads pus if all of it is taken out."

Dr. Mario stared at the blue appendix, which started to twitch more frequently than before. "Is it going to…" he trailed off, seeing no other action from the appendix. "No, it doesn't look like it's going to do anything else."

Nozomi noticed that the appendix was moving in and out rather quickly. "It's trying to make our work harder," she said. "We can't have it move so much while injecting the sedative. We have to stop it from moving so we can proceed."

"Then how do we stop it from moving so much?" Marth asked.

"Good question," Dr. Mario said. "Should we use the laser?"

"Well, the appendix is a failed organ, so let's give it a try," Nozomi said as she used the laser to attack the appendix. The blue appendix slowly stopped until it became immobile. Smiling a bit to herself, Nozomi injected sedative into. "It seems that did it nicely."

"Sadly, it's going to attack once more… I know that," Dr. Mario said serious.

They all looked back at the appendix starting to twitch uncontrollably until it spread more pus around the peritoneum. Narrowing her eyes, Nozomi started issuing instructions. "Remove the pus on areas that weren't uncovered and remove the pus covering the appendix to continue the treatment."

"Vitals are dropping below forty," Peach said. "Let's hurry!"

The four assistants started draining out the pus that wasn't sucked out along with more covering the appendix. Peach applied more stabilizers to raise the vitals over seventy. "How long will it take to get rid of the Dente?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think it'll take a lot of time," Nozomi said as she struck the living appendix with the laser, rendering it immobile. "Once we excise the appendix, we should eliminate the disease without problems."

Dr. Mario thought for a moment. "However, I expect the disease to keep attacking even after we excise the appendix," he said.

"Of course, it'll be an easy process to take it off," Nozomi said as she applied the sedative into the internal organ, prompting it to spread more pus over the peritoneum. "Let's be prepared for anything it decides to throw at us."

Marth drained out the pus covering the appendix, allowing the silver-haired doctor to strike it with the laser. "So far, everything is going smoothly," Marth said. "Ike will be cured in no time at all."

"I'd like to have the same thoughts," Nozomi said with an amused chuckle as she injected more sedative into the appendix.

Everyone saw the failed organ inflating and deflating crazily before it slowly turned back into its usual shade of color.

"Well, what do you know? We stopped it," Wolf said. "Time to drain all the pus out?"

"Yes," Nozomi said, prompting all the assistants to drain out all the pus to reveal many inflammations along the peritoneum. "Inject anti-inflammatory into the affected areas while I excise the appendix," she instructed as she used a scalpel to cut the area that tied the appendix and the peritoneum together, as Dr. Mario treated the inflammations with anti-inflammatory.

After both doctors finished with their tasks, they focused on the weak-looking tube that held the appendix and the peritoneum together. "Is that a second part that ties both of them?" Marth asked.

"To treat this part, we need to tie both ends of the tube so that we severe the connection between the appendix and the peritoneum. After doing that, we'll cut the tube on the peritoneum end, take the appendix on the tray, and patch the hole with a synthetic membrane and use antibiotic gel to cover it. I'll perform all that by myself, so watch if you're interested," Nozomi explained as she took two small strings that she wrapped around the ends of the tube. She then made an incision in the tube to cut the appendix from the peritoneum, making a hole that slowly started to bleed.

Zelda gulped and held the tray close to Nozomi for her to use the forceps on the appendix and bring it out to the tray. The princess felt her stomach hurling as she put the foreign internal organ away from their view, relieving the sickening feeling. "A-are we done yet?" she asked.

Nozomi used the forceps to take a synthetic membrane from another tray to lay it over the hole in the peritoneum. She sprayed the membrane with antibiotic gel to prevent the membrane from falling off, successfully adhering it into the skin so it looked like it belonged to the internal organ. Sighing, Nozomi smiled a bit. "We got rid of the Dente," she said.

Peach looked at the EKG. "Vitals…aren't stabilizing yet," she said, applying more stabilizers to raise the vitals over ninety.

"Why did I think it was this easy when I presumed it wasn't going to be that way?" Nozomi asked sarcastically. "Anyway, let's continue the operation."

"But what is causing the vitals to drop down even though we removed the appendix?" Dr. Mario wondered.

"How should I know that? I didn't study medicine like you did," Wolf said. "Maybe, I don't know, we took off a part of the disease, and the other part is hiding somewhere in the peri-something?"

"Actually, you're awfully correct with that notion," Nozomi said amused. "From as far as I can tell, the Dente had two phases instead of one."

"But we removed the appendix," Dr. Mario said. "Shouldn't it be there?"

"If you noticed before, it changed colors when we eliminated the disease…or so we thought we eliminated," Nozomi said. "Now, before I could take it off, where could it possible go?"

Marth thought. "Well, if you rendered the appendix useless, it could have taken the time to escape through…the small tube," he said. "If it did that, then it moved into the…"

Dr. Mario nodded serious. "It moved into the peritoneum," he said.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – G.U.I.L.T.

The six looked back at the peritoneum where they saw some kind of green tumor sprouting out in the middle of it. Most of them raised their eyebrows at it while it started spreading pus all over the internal organ.

Zelda gasped at the sight of the disgusting rash. "T-that must be the disease's second phase!" she said grossed out.

"Well, ain't that nice?" Wolf joked. "Guess it's time to keep working on that stupid thing, huh?"

"My thoughts exactly," Nozomi said. "Drain out all the pus. We'll improvise the steps as we go along the procedure. We've got a life at risk here."

The assistants started draining out all the pus, which had made more inflammation over the peritoneum. The two surgeons narrowed their eyes after seeing the pinkish spots trying to cover the internal organ. Quickly, they started injecting anti-inflammatory into them.

"I guess this is its true form," Dr. Mario said as he injected inflammations with the syringe. "How do we fight it?"

"It looks like it's a malignant tumor that was created to make pus," Nozomi said. "In that case, we should follow the Powell Procedure if we want to excise the tumor."

"How do you excise a tumor?" Marth asked.

"First, we need to drain out the cytoplasm that covers it," Nozomi instructed. "After draining it out, we can start making an incision around the tumor. Once we remove the Dente and put it back to the tray, we'll finish it for real."

"Is that true that we will finish it for real?" Wolf asked skeptically.

"Would you like to see for yourself?" Nozomi asked. "Okay, we cleared the area from pus and inflammation. It's time for you to drain out the cytoplasm."

"Let me do that part," Marth said, aiming his drain right over the green tumor to drain out the fluid covering it. After a few moments, the tumor seemed to twitch a bit before it went into hiding inside the peritoneum. Marth looked shocked at the move, drawing back his drain. "It disappeared!" he said. "Did I do it?"

"Hold your horses, boy," Nozomi said. "It's still residing somewhere around the internal organ. You just stressed the Dente."

"Oh, I see…" Marth muttered ashamed.

"But still, this could mean the Dente is starting to feel weak," Dr. Mario said. "These rare diseases like to attack a lot once they become stressed."

"Yes," Nozomi agreed, seeing that the Dente sprouted out from the right side of the peritoneum. It quickly spread pus all around the internal organ. "Don't stop here. Repeat the same process until we excise that thing off from the body."

"Got it," Peach said.

The other five narrowed their eyes when they found patches of inflammations covering the peritoneum once more. "All these inflammations are going to be a real pain," Dr. Mario said. "I'll treat all of them and inject more stabilizers."

"While you do that, I'll start draining out the cytoplasm from this thing," Nozomi said, draining out the mucus-like fluid that covered the malignant tumor from being incised. After four seconds of draining fluid out, Nozomi noticed that the Dente faded colors from green to black before it went back into hiding inside the internal organ. "Did you see it reaction? It's weakening."

"Please continue the operation," Marth said pleased.

They saw the Dente sprouting out from the left side area of the peritoneum, once again spreading pus all over the organ. The assistants made quick work of the pus by draining all out, allowing Nozomi to drain out the fluid of the Dente while Dr. Mario worked on the inflammations.

Once more, the malignant tumor faded from green to black again before it went back into hiding. "How many times does it take to eliminate a tumor like that?" Wolf asked.

"You ask me," Nozomi said. "I don't know how long it will keep this up, but it probably won't be for much longer, seeing that it's reacting to draining out the cytoplasm. I presume I only need one more move to take it out for real."

The malignant tumor sprouted out from the center of the peritoneum. Instead of shooting pus out, it remained still for a moment. Nozomi tried to drain out the fluid, but she was unable to do so after they saw the tumor changing colors from green to red. "It just turned…red?" Zelda said confused.

Before their eyes, the peritoneum started to be covered by inflammations that appeared seemingly out of nowhere without having to rely on the pus. "Oh my god, what's happening?" Peach asked in disbelief as the peritoneum started to be covered by the inflammations at a slow but dangerous pace.

"This is its final attack," Nozomi said serious. "I'll use its best attack to try to kill the patient. Quick, try to eliminate all the inflammation while I drain out the remaining fluid it has over it!"

"I'll take care of all of it again," Dr. Mario said.

Peach looked at the EKG. The vitals were dropping down at an alarming rate. "W-we're losing three vitals every second! We're now below fifty vitals! Work faster!" she instructed, applying more stabilizers to fend off the reduction of vitals.

Nozomi kept draining out the cytoplasm from the red tumor. It seemed endless to her since there was almost no change in the Dente. "This thing isn't going to fall down so easily," Nozomi muttered.

"A-are we sure we're making progress?" Zelda asked.

"It doesn't look like it," Nozomi said, still draining the fluid. "It could be luring us to believe we're inflicting pain. I can't tell if it's tricking us."

"Talk about annoying," Wolf said. "Diseases have actual intelligence."

"Should we follow a different approach than this one?" Marth asked.

"No, draining out the cytoplasm should be our top priority. We can't perform an excision if the fluid is still blocking the tumor," Nozomi said. "And we can't attack it with the scalpel or the laser."

"Are we done for?"

"Of course not," Nozomi said as she kept draining out the fluid while Dr. Mario kept treating all the inflammation over the peritoneum. "No matter how long it takes, we will excise using the same procedure."

"We ran out of stabilizers!" Peach said.

The five looked at her. The silver-haired surgeon looked bored for a bit. "Well, now that's certainly bad," she said. "Hurry up and go get more. We have more, right?"

Peach looked around the room. "U-um, I'm afraid I forgot where I put more of them…" she trailed off. "I haven't been in this room too much, sorry…"

"The vitals are going below forty…" Marth trailed off.

"The damn disease is causing a lot of damage to the body…" Wolf trailed off.

"All our effort will be for nothing…" Zelda trailed off.

"And without stabilizers, Ike will…" Dr. Mario trailed off.

Nozomi shook her head and continued draining out the cytoplasm from the tumor. "Damn, now we have a very bad problem in our hands," she muttered as Dr. Mario returned treating the inflammation. "This is a race against time now."

Peach looked frantically around the O.R. "I-I'll find the stabilizers before things get worse than they are now!" she said as she scrambled around the room.

"Sadly, things are getting worse…" Nozomi trailed off.

"W-we'll help to look for the stabilizers to save time," Zelda said as she and the others scrambled around the room, looking through the rows of medicines in the shelves. "How do they look like again?"

"It should be a big jar with green liquid," Peach said as she ducked down to open some doors. "The jar has the name as well, so it shouldn't be so hard to miss."

Dr. Mario and Nozomi kept treating the peritoneum as the vitals dangerously decreased, dropping below twenty. "At this rate, we're not going to make it!" Dr. Mario said, injecting anti-inflammatory in the inflammations. "Injecting stabilizers now is practically useless!"

"And the cytoplasm doesn't seem to run out," Nozomi muttered grudgingly. "If things get much worse, I guess I'll have to rely on that method…"

Dr. Mario looked at her. "What do you mean by that?" he asked confused. "Do you have stabilizers on your own?"

"No, but I happen to have an ace under the sleeve other than medicine," Nozomi said as she kept draining out the fluid. "I don't like to use it often if I don't have to, but this time, I will end up using it after all."

Dr. Mario looked at the EKG, showing the vitals dropping below ten. "Oh no…" he muttered worried. "Ike isn't going to make it!"

The doctor couldn't tell very well, but the silver-haired surgeon entered in a state of trance while she kept doing her work. Nozomi's eyes were fixated on the tumor as in her mind a mystical star symbol was being drawn mentally over the internal organ. "I'll stop this," Nozomi muttered under her breath.

Dr. Mario stopped treating the inflammations, noticing the weird blue aura that engulfed Nozomi's gloved hands. "What in the world…" he trailed off astonished. "Your hands are…glowing…"

"The Dente isn't going to win this little war," Nozomi said. "I'm going to eliminate it."

Dr. Mario barely noticed that the EKG stopped beeping frantically. Looking at the machine, his eyes widened when he saw the vitals slowly increasing as the procedure continued. He couldn't find a reasonable explanation for the vitals to increase since there were no stabilizers being injected into the peritoneum. He recalled the enigmatic surgeon's glowing hands treating the tumor. The doctor turned to look back at her as the weird aura passed on to the body, giving it a dim blue glow that it was somehow healing Ike. The beeping sounds slowly stopped, making the assistants stop looking for the medicine.

"What?" Marth asked confused. "How come the vitals are increasing?"

"I've got no idea…" Wolf trailed off. "What, is this another event that happens during surgery? The patient starts healing suddenly?"

Nozomi widened her eyes after the endless fluid seized to cover the malignant tumor. The red tumor faded into black, ceasing its function to propagate inflammation. "Now, let's make an incision…" she muttered as he glowing hands grabbed a scalpel, excising the Dente by cutting it off. She then used the scalpel to remove the tumor, putting it on a tray. She saw the hole that the tumor left behind, prompting her to lay a synthetic membrane to cover it, along with some antibiotic gel spray to seal it into the peritoneum.

"…No way," Marth muttered.

Nozomi looked back down at the peritoneum where the Dente's image appeared over it. "How unusual…" she trailed off unsure. "Is this what you told me before with the patient you operated some hours ago?"

Dr. Mario kept staring at her glowing hands until he managed to snap out from his state. "U-um, yes, the Dente did the same thing, didn't it?" he asked. "Do you have any idea how to treat it now?"

"Sadly, I don't have any," Nozomi said. "What do you say if we look further into this after we operate all the patients?"

"That should be the best course of action for now…" Dr. Mario muttered. "Let's close the patient up."

The silver-haired surgeon looked at the others. "Did you find the stabilizers yet?" she asked before she focused on closing the incision over the peritoneum. As she sutured the incision, disinfected it with antibiotic gel, and covered it with some bandage, they saw that the EKG showed the vitals maximized. "There's no need for them anymore. The operation is complete."

Music stops

The five Smashers exchanged glances. They focused on Nozomi's hands glowing with the mystic aura. The mystic aura itself started to disappear until it faded away. The silver-haired surgeon let out a sigh relief, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"But…but…" Zelda trailed off. "What did…what did you just do?"

Nozomi looked at everyone. "What I did back there isn't something I should use every time," she said. "Using that ability too much might exhaust me a lot."

Dr. Mario checked on Ike. "Looks like Ike was saved from the Dente," he said. "There wasn't fatal damage done to his peritoneum, so now he can rest assured."

Marth looked at Ike and sighed in relief. "One more of them that will keep on living… What a relief," he said relieved.

"It's time to move him to the infirmary," Dr. Mario said. "He went thought a lot during this operation. It's time for him to take a well-earned rest so he can recover by himself."

"Please do," Nozomi said. "I need to take a small rest to prepare for the next operation."

"But you haven't told us what the hell you did with those hands of yours," Wolf said, crossing his arms. "Are you trying to avoid explaining us what you did back there?"

"Perhaps I should tell you now," Nozomi said. "What you saw me doing back there was using my special ability."

"What kind of special ability was that?" Peach asked. "I haven't seen something like that before…"

Nozomi closed her eyes. "It was the Healing Touch," she said.

"The Healing Touch?" Dr. Mario wondered.

"The Healing Touch is a special ability that is handed down to those who are descendants of Asclepius," she explained. "According to Greek mythology, Asclepius was the god of medicine who created the Healing Touch. The ability allows those descendants of Asclepius achieve new special medical abilities that can help heal a person. As you saw before, I happen to be a descendant from Asclepius from the looks of it."

Marth thought for a moment. "You're a descendant of a god?" he asked surprised. "That's amazing."

Nozomi opened her eyes. "While I think having this special ability is a blessing, I think otherwise," she said, crossing her arms. "In fact, using the Healing Touch is rather risky."

"Why is it risky?" Peach asked. "It saved Ike from dying back there…"

"Unfortunately, I can only use the Healing Touch once," Nozomi said. "I can use it more than once, but doing so will put me in a tight spot. If I happen to use it twice in a succession, I might faint during the operation for overusing its power."

"A drawback for a very useful ability… I knew there was some kind of catch behind it," Dr. Mario said. "It sounds too good to be true."

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't use it," Nozomi said. "I can use it once in an operation, but I prefer to use the Healing Touch when the operation is going to end in failure. I think I can use it twice and avoid fainting, but I don't like to take that many risks. In a few words, the Healing Touch is very beneficial while being a bit dangerous to the user."

"In any case…that ability saved Ike from dying, and I'm happy you were able to perform excellently," Marth thanked her. "Is it possible for you to use it on the next patient?"

"If I get a lot of rest before the next operation, I suppose so," Nozomi said. "For now, let's leave the O.R. and visit the infirmary to see if there are any changes with everyone else."

Dr. Mario nodded as he dragged Ike's bed away. "We're lucky to have a surgeon like you," he said. "I'm eager to see what you can do."

Nozomi chuckled amused. "Likewise here," she said as Dr. Mario left the room behind. The silver-haired surgeon turned to the assistants. "We should look around for the stabilizers. Starting an operation without them is not my kind of style."

"Oh, yes," Peach agreed. "Let's prepare the O.R. and take a little rest. Who is the next patient after Ike?"

"Pichu," Zelda said. "He's one of the four who are in a critical condition."

"If I recall, this "Pichu" should be the one who happens to be the smallest patient infected with one of those unknown diseases, correct?" Nozomi asked. "I feel unsure about performing surgery on someone who happens to be...something else than a human. One thing I can assure you all is that I'm not a veterinarian."

"Well, shall we wait for the time being?" Marth asked. "Surely it's not that bad despite the fact Pichu's internal organs are more delicate than anyone else's internal organs…"

"I'll do my best," Nozomi said. "And I expect you all to do the same. For being beginners, you're pretty good at this."

"Thank you for the little confidence," Zelda said.

"Okay, everyone, let's prepare the O.R. and get our well-earned rest," Peach said.

The silver-haired surgeon watched as the assistants looked around for stabilizers. Nozomi felt that her job at the mansion was going to be very stressful even though she managed to keep her cool. She found the Smashers to be an odd bunch of people, but they were very nice when met in person. Nozomi wasn't looking for it, but she found a lot of amusement in the individuals she was going to talk with during her work.

"(I am going to enjoy the experience,)" Nozomi thought amused as she dedicated her time to find the stabilizers, while outside, more rain started to fall faster than before…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Cursed Burden. I've got to wonder why more than a half of my patients are all furry people," Nozomi wondered aloud. "Is it so much to ask for more human representatives to be in this mansion? There are like a few humans living here."

"Sorry, but that's how I make things roll around these parts," Master Hand said. "Sadly, there aren't that many human protagonists out there."

"But what about the big legion of humans in Ike's, Marth's, and Roy's armi-" Crazy Hand was interrupted.

"Main-MAIN human protagonists," Master Hand emphasized.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Nozomi

References:

-Subsequent chapter titles will reference the episodes' names that appear in many Trauma Center series' games.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing" is a song reference to the same game. It always plays in briefings detailing injured patients with diseases.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Code Blue" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during some critical, G.U.I.L.T.-less operations.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – G.U.I.L.T." is another song reference to the same game. It always plays when the manmade disease called G.U.I.L.T. appears in infected patients.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – St. Francis Hospital" is another song reference to the same game. It always plays in the "Z" episodes where you take control of Nozomi to do surgery.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Code Blue ~DS Version~" is another song reference to the same game. It's the first version of Code Blue except taken from the DS version.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-All of Dr. Mario's Italian definitions for the unnamed diseases are true definitions. You'll see similar names given to all the next diseases as well.

-Many surgery terms here are actually true in real life. However, the antibiotic gel is a little bit controversial to many fans out there…

You certainly didn't expect that this arc would have surgery as its special theme, did you? This new arc idea was actually waiting to be used when Nozomi first appeared in the previous Side-quest arc special. So, in a way, she was foreshadowing the coming of this arc, the arc I'd like to call the "Second Opinion" arc.

Since the Ancient Minister completed his first phase of the plan, there still remain the other plans in his agenda that he was assigned to do by Tabuu. It's not just one, but there are more plans that he has in reserve. However, the first phase of the plan is currently being dealt with the skilled surgeon and the Smashers aiding in the fight inside the infected people.

Like I said before, this arc will have a very dark theme. Expect to see more manmade diseases that will try to KILL the infected Smashers. It's time to put on the surgical gloves and open up their bodies!

…Sorry for sounding sickening. Remember that we're not giving too much description about blood and what not so you don't make your stomach hurl like crazy…that's Zelda's job.

I encourage all astonished readers to review. :D

…Or this page will release green gas from the speakers around you to infect you with deadly manmade diseases.

Marth: But since the creator of these diseases was a robot, wouldn't that change things a bi-

Shut up before you change spots with Roy.

Marth: *Swears in Japanese.*
*Chapter 180*: Cursed Burden

Let surgery be the only main topic of this arc…together with hospital drama.

From Dimentio713: Huh, an arc based off of Trauma Center? I guess thus should be something to look forward to. I would like to play the game, but I don't have time... I hope they survive... I think Lucario needs a greater treatment as the heart is the most vital part of the human body or in this case a humanoid body.

From me: The Trauma Center series is very unique as it sets a new genre into the games. You're bound to like it if you happen to play it sometime. I hope you keep reading this arc, as things will get progressively interesting. Thanks again. :D

From ngrey651: Poisoning, how foul. It's one of the most cowardly methods of hurting people. You definitely have done a good job of creating an atmosphere of dread...all of us are fearing for the character's lives!

From me: Let's see if that atmosphere of dread manages to keep tormenting our inner thoughts… Thanks for reviewing. ;D

From PianistChris: I never expected surgical events to happen, but it's interesting to read, and its another thing new, which adds to the interest :)

Can't wait for the next chapters to come out, to see what happens to the other internally injured smashers, and to find out what happened with Lucario. =D

From me: I've considered surgical events ever since Nozomi appeared, so I finally decided to bring it up because they seem fit for this time of the plot. You'll certainly find out what's wrong with Lucario as you continue to read. Thanks again. :)

From Blaperile: This was a great chapter as always, but in a much different way.

I had never expected the story to take such a twist. The story had been quite light hearted so far, but this was at least twice as worse as otherwise in the dark scenes. My guess on what R.O.B. would do was completely wrong, but your choice was much better. It seemed to me that most character who got hit by the smoke are the ones who didn't have that much character development yet, except for Lucario. The surgery scenes had me at the tip of my seat and I was really doubting if they'd survive for a second.

Also, normally I don't read such dark stories like this chapter was, or when a story suddenly gets dark I quit reading it. But this story has been so great so far with almost 180 chapters and almost 3 million words. Due to that, I decided to read this chapter and I'm glad I did. Your explanations of how they worked in the surgery scenes were very good as well with nice describing. I'm wondering where Mime Jr. is, though. We haven't seen it the whole chapter...

One more thing. The Smashers have been in danger a lot before, but I never felt like they really were going to die any second. This chapter really made me think it would happen (I do happen it won't, though...).

This chapter was one of your best so far, no doubt. I have one question, though. How much chapters will this arc take? As much as a normal one? Keep up the tremendous good work, if it stays as good as this, I don't mind the long wait like it was for this chapter.

From me: Your assumption about people being infected just because of how much character development they have is completely erroneous. In fact, I think I chose all of them randomly…

Don't worry. I greatly dislike having dark themes, but I think having one right now should give the story a little twist without expanding it too much for, say, a complete saga. I'm not THAT crazy.

Mime Jr. is still there, but he's being secretly taken care of Yoshi without anybody else noticing. :P

Well, it's not like you'd expect them to get knocked out every fight. Thinking the group of villains they're confronting are trying to make sure they don't stop their plans anymore would easily tell you that they would like them to die. So yes…it's a very sad thought.

The length of this arc will probably be four, or if I need to, it'll be five. I don't know which, but I think I'm going for four. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Oh My God They Killed Kenny: What's been taking so long for you to update!

From me: See below the reviews. I've got nothing to say to this because…this isn't…you know…

From AnOddityToAll: I didn't actually figure this chapter was going to be the beginning of the Trauma Center arc until the first operation. You should do things like that more often, where people don't expect that it's going to be that arc until midway through the chapter.

Also, um... Die because of diabetes? You know... How do I put this lightly... You sort of just ruined my day. I know someone with diabetes who... He's my little brother... And... It's sort of difficult... Please don't word it like that...

So, your story is really good! Really!

From me: Oh…um…I'm sorry if I unconditionally revived some bad memories because of this chapter… Seriously, I don't want to cause you any trouble. If you feel like skipping this arc for a while, I'll understand. I'm so, so sorry for causing this to you, really. Even if you skip this arc, I'll hope you continue reading...and I also wish for your little brother to be fine. :)

From zero: this chapter freaks me out. I thought that the ancient minister would do something else, but then again, I also had thought that zelda would get attacked by the shadow nightmare. :P

From me: If the AM (pfft, AM…) did go for a Shadow Nightmare, he wouldn't have spent so much time to bring one here, don't you think? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From raynetay: Well, this chapter was great, the operations were nice.

But can you tell me about the gameplay of trauma center?

I haven't played it before

From me: If you want to try out something original, I'd guess the Trauma Center series is very unique. It's not going to make you puke because all operations look like they're being simulated instead of taking real-life images. Here hoping to enjoy this arc. :)

From cybirddude: The reason why I mentioned Rita was because I think that the Smashers diserve revenge for what she did and what made me think about Rita in the first place was her request.

From me: Okay, but I don't know if you liked this chapter at all…

From Seitei: Again, sorry for not reviewing for a while :P

Anyways, you have made my day with a Trauma Center chapter. :D I like how you have made all these new diseases. Good on you! I'm also looking forward to what the anatomy of all the non-humanoid characters looked like.

Update soon!

From me: Their anatomy shouldn't be that different from real human characters, but there are some small differences in some of the others. Thanks again. ;)

From FF and STH: Well I can say that I didn't see that coming, I was thinking that some epic fight was going to happen with R.O.B but instand he give then manmade diseases that did the most odd of thing too then.

Also never know what Trauma Center is but did you base some of the operation from the game.

From me: If there was an epic fight with R.O.B., I'd have him go GIANT ROBOT ON THEIR BUTTS AND CAUSE A MASSIVE WAR ACROSS THE LAND! MWAHAHAHAHAHA-I mean, thinking logically, I don't think he'd do much alone.

I based most stuff of Trauma Center, but these diseases have different patterns that mimic the diseases found in the real games. Some of them are completely original, some of them are based on real ones. Thanks again. :)

From Speedy-Shifter: That was a good chapter. I definently didn't see deisaeses come.

Once again, something I'm not familiar with (doctor stuff).

Has she been at the Wonder Resterruant the whole time!

Can't think of anything else to say so again, good job.

From me: Well, Nozomi doesn't necessarily "live" in the restaurant. If anything, it's her main hang out spot. I'm sure people like you have a hang out spot, even in school. Thanks for reviewing.

From Amangafani: Does Lucario have an immature version of Savato by any chance? That would be VERY stressful for Nozomi.

From me: Most certainly no, because these diseases are different from what you've seen in the series. Thanks…again, I think…

From N the puppet: Bleh, I share Falco's view on hospitals. X.X

Also share Chris' distate for blood and human insides. o~o

Awsome work like always, definatley saw Nozomi coming the moment I heard surgery. :D

Though, I'm kinda curious.

What would Kirby's insides look like?

A black hole?

From me: Fans of Trauma Center would have most likely thought that randomly throwing a TC character in here would make a real point later on… Don't think it'll be the same for other characters, though.

As for Kirby's insides…uh…um…DAMN, I was smart when I wanted to avoid him for a surgery operation. I've got NO idea what his insides look like NOR can I think of how they even look like in fictitious logic. X_X

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From ChrisCLX898: Wow, talk about the whole Trauma Center. Never saw this coming. These references are from Trauma Team...right? Great chapter in a whole. And yeah, im not the best with gory descriptions, kinda hard for me to read that stuff. Cant wait till next chapter. :)

P.S: Sorry I havent had time to R&R lately, been pretty busy.

From me: There were no references to Trauma Team at all. If any, there were references to the games before it. Even though you're not the best with gory stuff, I hope you find this arc interesting to read. Thanks again. :D

As for the people who were wondering what was going on with me lately, well, let me just say being a Senior puts a lot of work on your back. I'm sure everyone can agree with this notion… I also blame the fact I chat A LOT with people over MSN. Whenever I tell them that I need to leave to write chapters, they FORCE ME to stay with them. What kind of people are they to force me to do stuff like that, anyway?

My rants aside, this chapter will further introduce you all to more surgeries, and we're going to get more insight from Nozomi as well. I'm not having her act like a robot. She's also going to show what she feels like sharing with the Smashers. :)

If there are people that think that they don't have a strong stomach to tolerate this arc, even though we're NOT having blood explosions or something WAY too bloody like that, you can skip this arc altogether and wait for it to end. Otherwise, sit back on your seats and enjoy.

I encourage soon-to-be doctors of medicine to read on, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: I've got a great idea for a chapter: Let's have a BOMB be a patient for them to save…I mean, dismantle!

Chapter 180: Cursed Burden

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Doctors on Duty

A heavy rain took place outside the window of the infirmary. Dr. Mario set Ike's bed on his spot as he heard some grumbles coming from the Greil Mercenary. He noticed Ike slowly opening his eyes to see his surroundings. "W-what…what am I…doing here?" he asked.

"You're awake," Dr. Mario said. "Welcome back to us, Ike."

Ike, weakly, looked at the doctor in his clothes. "W-what did just happen to me?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is that person attacking me with some smoke I inhaled and put me out of the picture…"

"Well, let me explain all to you in a nutshell," Dr. Mario said.

A few seconds later…

"Surgery?" Ike asked confused. "What is this…surgery thing about?"

"We basically opened up your body to interact with your internal organs that were affected by a disease that couldn't be treated with normal medicine or magic," Dr. Mario explained, seeing the pale face Ike made. "Luckily, we were able to eliminate that disease, the Dente, before it could kill you off."

"O-opened up my body?" Ike asked in disbelief. "H-how did you do that when it doesn't look like you didn't tear me open? I don't feel that weak…"

"Since your world lacks surgery methods, it's going to be a little bit complicated for you to understand all this," Dr. Mario said. "But don't worry about it anymore. The only thing that matters is that you were cured from the Dente."

Ike dropped his head on his pillow. "My body was opened up without my own consent…" he muttered to himself.

Dr. Mario chuckled. "Well then, I think it's time for me to leave," he said. "As you can see around the infirmary, we still have eight more patients to treat before we can finish all surgery operations."

"What?" Ike asked. "You need to perform that surgery thing on everyone else?"

"Yes," the doctor said. "They all have different diseases trying to kill them from any part of their bodies, and they need to be treated as soon as possible before things get worse."

"Man…" Ike muttered. "Talk about insane… You'll have to tear open their bodies to cure them?"

"That's the first step you have to do in surgery," Dr. Mario said. "I know it sounds sickening, but that's how we work around diseases."

Ike looked worried as he turned his gaze to Roy, who was lying down unconscious on his bed under a green sheet. "Is Roy going to be alright?" he asked. "He…was attacked as well, didn't he?"

"Everyone else got attacked the same way," Dr. Mario said. "As such, all of them can die if we don't hurry. Currently, we're taking a break after operating on DK and you, Ike."

Ike turned to the right where he spotted a relieved Diddy looking at DK waking up. The two Kongs smiled a bit at each as DK put a tight grip on Diddy, the latter crying a bit in happiness. "Oh, he woke up now," Dr. Mario said. "I need to ask him something important before I leave."

"What do you need to ask him?" Ike asked.

"Actually, I could ask you the same thing," Dr. Mario said. "Ike, how are you feeling right now?"

"Tired," Ike admitted.

"…That's all?" Dr. Mario asked. "Don't you feel sick at all?"

"Not that I'm aware of…" Ike trailed off. "Should I feel sick?"

Dr. Mario recalled the Dente's image reflected upon Ike's peritoneum. The doctor wondered if the image itself was going to cause a side effect instead of it taking space on the external skin. "No…not at all," Dr. Mario said. "It's just that…after eliminating the Dente, its image was implanted on your peritoneum."

"…What's a peritoneum?" Ike asked.

"…A-anyway, what I mean to say is that you have a picture of this disease implanted on your internal organ," Dr. Mario said. "Does that sound a little bit easier to understand?"

"So, what you mean to say is that I have a picture of a disease inside my own body?" Ike asked.

"…Yes."

Ike felt a bit sick. "U-um, well, that sounds…disgusting," he said.

"But…do you feel sick?"

Ike shook his head. "I don't feel sick but tired," he said. "But thinking that there is some picture drawn inside my body makes me feel…sick, but in a figurative way."

"Oh, well, that's good," Dr. Mario said. "But we're still going to have you here for the time being. We need to run some tests on you before we can let you go. Is that understandable? We don't want to see you collapsing in the middle of the room, do we?"

"Y-yes, I understand that," Ike said, lying down his head. "I-I trust that you will heal me, Mario."

"Call me Dr. Mario for now," Dr. Mario said. "While I'm using these clothes, call me Dr. Mario, please."

"F-fine," Ike said.

Dr. Mario nodded and walked out from the room. "Rest for now, Ike. You'll need to have energy," he told Ike before he left the infirmary.

Ike stared up at the ceiling. "Every day I'm the subject of something I have never heard of… Days like these make me want to go back to Tellius and take command of the mercenaries. Soren and Titania surely have their hands full as it is…"

Seventh Floor's Hallway

After the doctor existed out, he found Nozomi having a small talk with Master Hand. The doctor sighed in relief after noticing that Nozomi hadn't broken down in a panicked look after talking to the big floating hand.

However, it was backwards. Master Hand yelped for a bit. "H-holy, surgeries cost THAT much?" he asked in disbelief. "W-well, I thought it was over a thousand, but I never imagined it'd over TEN thousand."

"We're dealing with man-made diseases," Nozomi said. "Don't worry. I won't stop doing surgery just because you won't pay me. However, if you don't pay me, I'll try my best to fill lawsuits."

"Well, okay," the hand said. "I can pay all that. I was just shocked, that's all."

Nozomi looked amused. "Thank you," she said. "I'll do my best to heal them. Worry about paying me later."

"Phew, that's a relief," Master Hand said. "How are DK and Ike?"

"The first one is in recovery, and the second one is healing as well," Nozomi said. "Their diseases were partially eliminated, and everything seems to be okay for now."

"Okay," Master Hand said as he turned and floated away.

Nozomi kept staring at the hand before he turned around and floated back to her. "You don't worry too much, do you?" she asked.

"N-no, that's not it," Master Hand said. "Did I hear right? What do you mean that you eliminated the disease partially?" he asked concerned.

Nozomi looked serious. "While we were taking out the tumor that we named the Dente, something unusual happened," she said. "Its image appeared right on the peritoneum."

Master Hand stared blankly at her. "…What's a peritoneum?" he asked.

The silver-haired surgeon rolled her eyes. "It's the part of the body where the appendix is attached," she explained.

"…What's an appendix?"

She stared at the hand. "…You don't look up human anatomy too much, do you?" she asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "What I said just now is that an image of the Dente appeared over the peritoneum. As in, imagine somebody drawing graffiti in your body that you can't remove."

"Somebody left graffiti inside Ike's body, then?"

Nozomi started to get annoyed. "Look, let put things simpler for you to comprehend," she said. "The disease left an image of itself inside Ike. We can't remove it because skinning it off would result in severe damage to himself; damage that would be impossible to repair because his organs are delicate."

"…OH, I get what you mean," Master Hand said. "…You can't wash it away, can you?"

"NO."

"Oh, oh, I see, okay," the hand said, chuckling nervously. "T-thank you for telling what's going on with all of them. Please keep up the good work."

The surgeon sighed. "Yes, you're welcome," she said. "Just leave so we can proceed with the operations."

"Right," the hand said as he floated away and left the hallway with a dismayed surgeon.

Dr. Mario walked to her, stifling some chuckles. "Sorry if he annoyed you," he said. "I didn't think he didn't know what an appendix is."

"Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?" Nozomi asked sarcastically. "I can't blame him, though. He only knows how he manages to live with his own body…provided he knows what he has inside. Most people don't know that much about their own bodies."

"They only know the most important parts," Dr. Mario said. "And before you think Master Hand knows about his body…I've heard he doesn't know what he has inside him."

"Oh, that's really nice to hear," Nozomi joked. "How are everyone's conditions going so far? Have there been any changes lately?"

"No changes have appeared," Dr. Mario said. "For now, it seems their conditions are very stable even though they're clearly sick."

"Those changes are bound to happen once we start stressing them out. When we interact with them, they're going to give their best shot to kill their hosts," she said. "I haven't told you this with more specifications before, but I did use to take on man-made diseases. In fact, you could say I…unconditionally helped to make them all."

Dr. Mario blinked in shock. "You used to make man-made diseases?" he asked shocked.

"Well, not really," she said. "I worked for an organization with a goal that diseases helped to save humans from the burden of living…"

"That sounds…very insane to the whole extent of the word," Dr. Mario said. "But why did you help them? How exactly did you help them achieve their goals?"

"You know already that I have the Healing Touch with me, don't you?" she asked, to which Dr. Mario nodded. "I was a surgeon in Japan, but it looked like the medical board didn't like the fact that I had the Healing Touch."

"Why didn't they?"

"Let's just say they considered me a devil for having 'magical powers' as they referred the Healing Touch," Nozomi said. "I was stripped away from my license as a doctor in Japan, and so, I tried to get a new one under another name, and the organization that I joined helped me to get a new license under the name I'm using right now."

Dr. Mario thought for a moment. "The name you're using now is false, then?" he asked.

"It is," Nozomi said. "But I can only go back to use my previous name until I drop out from that organization, something I already did."

"You…already dropped out from it?" Dr. Mario asked. "Then how come you're still using that name here?"

"I don't want people to make my original name sound too criminal," Nozomi explained. "Using this one can only hurt the other 'identity' I have so I can later ditch it and show my true name."

"But you can show your true name here," Dr. Mario said. "It's not going to cause you any harm."

"Sorry, but I like to take precautions beforehand," she said. "You asked me what I used to do with that organization under this name, right? Well, I used to operate on their patients, or their guinea pigs, to test out the diseases they liked to create. Since they liked total secrecy from the world to avoid being arrested, they only had a handful of guinea pigs under their control..." She crossed her arms, looking down ashamed. "But most of those guinea pigs of theirs…were kidnapped children from around the world."

Dr. Mario looked concerned. "My goodness…that's horrible," he muttered.

"It is a horrible sight when you see them being infected against their will," Nozomi said. "And it's worse to think they're orphaned children as well. That gave the organization an edge to avoid authorities."

"…And…what did you do after that?" the doctor asked.

"The organization was found out and arrested by the authorities," she said. "Before they could get arrested, I dropped out from their ranks while taking samples of their research to sell them to an official organization that worked against biochemical attacks behind the scenes known as Caduceus," she explained. "Giving them the samples and showing them how skillful I was allowed me to get immunity from the government, and thus, I was spared from being arrested. Mind you, I didn't think the same way as they did. I didn't want to cause any harm to society, but rather, I was only doing my job as a surgeon when I was working for Delphi, the organization that helped me to get a new license."

"Hmm… So I take it that this Delphi organization tried to infect people with their diseases?"

"Yes, but they were arrested, so now the world is safe," Nozomi said. "However, there is a conference in Europe that I have to attend, but it's just that I winded up in this other place without any signs to go back to Europe again. Being a few months away from Europe is worrying me a bit, though…"

Dr. Mario thought for a moment. "I think we can help you return to Europe if you promise that you won't tell anybody what you're going through right now," he said. "Master Hand is in charge of guiding lost people back to their worlds…"

"…Worlds?" Nozomi asked.

"…" Dr. Mario looked at no one in particular. "Oh god…"

A few minutes later…

"…Now that's what I call very crazy," Nozomi said. "So there are more worlds out there, and my own place happens to be another world?"

"Pretty much…" Dr. Mario said. "Look, this is just a secret that needs to be kept between you and everyone else in this mansion. If word goes out, there's going to be a lot of commotion out there. We don't want to deal with it, do we?"

"I understand," Nozomi said.

"…You do?"

"Yes, I mean, things look okay now," Nozomi said. "I wouldn't want to disrupt the peace this…world has. Do you think I want to make problems? Sorry, but I'm a busy person," she said doubtfully.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Dr. Mario said. "Well, are you ready for the next operation?"

"I need to have a little more time," she said. "I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Okay then, I'll see you later," he said as he entered the infirmary. "I'm going to check on everyone's conditions to see if there are any changes."

The silver-haired surgeon sat on a chair of the hallway to reflect about what happened. Her eyes looked around as she rubbed her chin. "(Hmm, worlds beside mine exist… What did I get myself into?)" she asked to herself. "(No use arguing with this point. I'm going to follow the flow and see if I can go back to my world…I mean, Europe.)"

Operation Room

A while later, the four assistants and two surgeons reunited back in the operation room. The assistants managed to find more stabilizers in time to prepare for the next operation. "It was tedious, but we found more stabilizers," Marth said. "Now we're ready to go."

"I want to give you all a warning," Nozomi said. "Don't waste too many stabilizer shots if you see the vitals dropping below fifty. I usually suggest injecting more of them when the vitals go down below thirty. Also, take in mind that we shouldn't maximize them so we can have enough to do more shots. That's one of the basic rules I follow that always help me stay out of trouble without having to worry about wasting everything."

"I got it," Peach said. "I haven't worked as a nurse for a long time now, but your advice will be helpful for me."

"I hope it does," Nozomi said. "So, our next patient is this Pichu person, correct?" she asked.

"Yes," Dr. Mario said as he left the room. "I'm going to take him here so we can begin the operation."

Zelda sighed. "I'm worried about him…" she trailed off. "He happens to have the smallest body than the others, right?"

"Of course," Nozomi said. "Operations on people that are young have to be very delicate because their bodies aren't that strong enough to resist usual procedures. Extreme caution will be needed this time."

"I fear the worst," Marth admitted. "If what you're saying is true, don't you think his disease is going to hurt him a lot?"

Nozomi nodded. "I think so. We'll work as fast and careful as possible."

Dr. Mario came from the door, pushing Pichu's bed to the center of the operation room where Peach started to wrap his little arms with a pulse detector for the EKG to analyze his vitals. "It's time to start the briefing, everyone," Dr. Mario said.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing

Patient: Pichu

Overview: Complications in the small intestine point out the apparition of tumors. Powell Procedure must be applied very condition worsens.

"Pichu…" Peach trailed off. "Why does he have to go through this?"

"Nobody is safe from diseases," Nozomi said. "Human, animals, anyone is wide open for illnesses. No matter how young or old, anyone can fall against them. It's our job as doctors to cure people before they have to pay the ultimate price, and that is their lives."

"It's a very cruel thought…" Zelda muttered.

"I know it sounds cruel, but if there's something I learned is that all diseases have a cure," Nozomi said. "While it seems impossible, it is possible to eradicate them with our own skills."

"I couldn't agree more with you," Dr. Mario said. "Getting back on topic, our next patient is Pichu. He's been complaining about his stomach hurting a lot that he couldn't take it. Shortly after running a diagnosis, he fainted out of exhaustion. Given the scans we have, his condition is in danger."

"He got tumors in the small intestine by causes unknown," Nozomi said. "And those unknown causes are going to be discovered as soon as we treat the tumors."

"There are benign tumors, but some of them are turning malignant," Peach said. "We need to remove all of them before Pichu…"

"Yes, we get the drill," Wolf said. "Take out those stupid tumors and find the disease."

"Well, don't skip the objectives, please," Dr. Mario said. "Here are the objectives."

-Eliminate benign tumors.

-Excise malignant tumors.

-Find the cause of tumors.

-Eliminate the cause of tumors.

"I consider these objectives the easiest ones before we get to meet the new disease," Marth said.

"Time is running out," Dr. Mario said. "We need to start the operation now."

Everyone put on their surgical masks before they gathered around the downed Pichu. Making a hand gesture, Nozomi said, "Here goes."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Operation Under Way

"Here we are now," Dr. Mario said with a serious expression. "Whatever is inside Pichu is going to give us yet another hard time to eliminate it for sure."

"And the fact he's very young doesn't give us a lot of advantage," Nozomi said. "Well, let's open him up and see how his anatomy differs from a human." She made an incision right over Pichu's stomach. Delicately opening it wide, the six looked inside where they spotted the small intestine in the middle of the large intestine. Along the small intestine, there were blue spots that were the benign tumors they were talking about. "Here we got all the benign tumors."

"They look considerably smaller than the first tumor we saw," Zelda noted. "How do we treat these?"

"Since they're benign, they can't cause much damage to the patient," Nozomi said. "For these tumors, we can burn them easily with the laser." She used the laser on the small tumors, popping them like bubbles until all of them were taken care of, leaving many holes along the small intestine.

"Nice move," Wolf said sarcastically. "Now you made holes."

"And the next step to treat all these holes is with antibiotic gel," Nozomi said as she spread sprays of antibiotic gel on the holes. The holes reacted to the gel by patching themselves up, making the small intestine look like as if there were no tumors at all. The silver-haired surgeon stopped using the gel to examine the internal organ. "All benign tumors were taken care of."

"Vitals are dropping below twenty," Peach said alarmed. "L-let me inject a few shots of stabilizers."

"Please do, and do be careful about not using many shots," Nozomi instructed, seeing he vitals reaching over sixty. "That's enough for now," she said.

"I got it," Peach said as she drew the syringe back. "The vitals don't seem to be stabilizing by themselves, though."

"That means we're moving on to the malignant tumors," Dr. Mario said.

"Malignant tumors…" Marth trailed off as he looked around the small intestine to spot the tumors. "But I don't see any more of them."

"That's because they're hiding inside the small intestine," Nozomi said. "Some malignant tumors can appear right inside them while others appear over an internal organ."

"Correct," Dr. Mario said. "And since they're hiding, we need to use the ultrasound to find their shadows. After finding their shadows, we'll make an incision to reveal them, drain the cytoplasm, excise them, and use a synthetic membrane to patch the hole left behind by them."

Nozomi grabbed the device and moved it above the small intestine. It was not long before the ultrasound picked up a shadow hiding on the top-left region of the internal organ. "Found one," she said as she performed an incision to reveal a purplish rash hiding inside the small intestine.

"Every time I see one of those things, I feel like my stomach wants to hurl badly…" Zelda muttered.

The silver-haired surgeon started draining out the cytoplasm to excise the tumor out with a scalpel. After using the forceps to put the tumor on a tray, she noticed that the hole was bleeding. "The hole is bleeding," Dr. Mario said.

"Let me drain out the blood," Marth said, draining out the overflowing blood with a drain. After clearing the hole, Nozomi put on a synthetic membrane to patch it with antibiotic gel.

"There are more of them hiding somewhere," Nozomi said. "Let's keep searching for all the tumors hiding inside the small intestine."

"I'll find all the shadows so you can identify them all," Dr. Mario said, using the ultrasound to find the shadows. After scanning the internal organ, he found three malignant tumors hiding in the center, the top-right corner, and the bottom-right corner.

"Well, here we go," Nozomi said as she performed the same procedure with all the three tumors. Extracting all the tumors one at a time always dropped the vitals, which made Peach react by injecting more stabilizers at a normal pace. Time passed as the silver-haired surgeon kept extracting the remaining tumors by using the scalpel and the forceps.

Zelda gasped when she spotted benign tumors sprouting out around the last tumor Nozomi took off. "There are more of them!" she pointed out.

"It's common for malignant tumors to make benign tumors once they're excised," Nozomi said, using the laser to burn the little tumors to apply antibiotic gel to patch them all. "But it's nothing that I can't take care of."

"Removal of all tumors is complete," Marth said. "It was quite fast, but we've reached the main objective."

"It's time to find the stupid disease that made all this by itself," Wolf said. "Any ideas of where it is?"

"It must be somewhere inside the small intestine," Nozomi theorized. "There aren't any changes in other areas, right?"

"Nope, there aren't any," Dr. Mario said. "Our enemy is somewhere in here."

"Let's use the ultrasound," Peach suggested. "It hasn't come out yet. Maybe it's waiting for us to find it."

"This is the scariest part of the operation…" Zelda muttered. "Nevertheless, let's move on."

"Here, I'll do it," Dr. Mario said as he moved the ultrasound around the small intestine. "That disease must be found before Pichu suffers a lot more."

"And if we do happen to exterminate it, it'll surely leave its image implanted inside him," Nozomi said. "I'd like to know how to take care of that side effect, but for now, let's find the cause for the abnormalities done to the small intestine."

"…Hmm…I haven't gotten a reaction yet," Dr. Mario pointed out. "Let me see here… Wait, I picked something! I can see the shadow right in the center!"

Everyone looked inside to spot a shadow that had the shape of a normal-looking flower with four petals. "Don't let its shadow fool you," Nozomi said. "It might look pretty from the inside, but it should be otherwise on the outside. Let's make an incision to see its true form."

After the silver-haired performed a small incision, their next confrontation started.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Encroaching Shadows

The new disease made its appearance, quickly sprouting out from the small incision. The six saw its form, which looked like a small flower. However, the flower-shaped disease had light blue petals with a red center that had yellow web-shaped strings covering it. The unusual-looking disease also seemed to spin slowly clockwise, giving them a sign that it seemed to be alive.

"How nasty…" Peach muttered. "It took the shape of a flower while hurting Pichu…"

"And because it looks like a flower, I'm going to call it the Fiore," Dr. Mario said. "Again, it's another Italian word for flower."

"Thank you for giving us a pretty definition for a devil," Nozomi said. "Alright, time to get back to work."

"But the question is how we're supposed to eliminate this thing," Marth said. "Cut its petals?"

"We need to improvise, so let's see what happens if we excise its petals…" Nozomi trailed off in thought. "Wait a minute. Its center must be a tumor that's being shielded by the petals around it."

"And that tumor is potent enough to make more tumors?" Zelda asked.

"That should be it," Nozomi said. "Those petals have to be excised before we move on to the tumor."

Their talk was cut short as they saw two malignant tumors sprouting from each top side of the small intestine. "Uh-oh, it's starting to do its thing," Marth said. "How did it do that?"

"I don't believe it did those tumors instantly," Dr. Mario said. "There must've been something."

"Since it made the tumors from inside the small intestine, we should rely on the ultrasound to find out what's going on in there," Nozomi said. "Doctor, would you give me those honors while I treat the tumors it made just now?"

"Yes, but…because Pichu's body is really small, I can tell only two people can perform surgery at the same time instead of four," he said. "That's another disadvantage we have."

"No need to worry," Peach said. "We can do this even if we don't have a lot of space."

The silver-haired surgeon started treating the new tumors as the doctor started scanning the small intestine to find abnormalities hiding inside. It didn't take Dr. Mario too long before he noticed moving shadows slowly traversing the organ. "I found something…" he trailed off as he spotted a long line that directed to the flower-shaped Fiore, "and it looks like it's attached to the Fiore as well."

"Figures," Wolf said. "What can we draw out of this?"

"The moving shadows are surely the ones causing the tumors," Nozomi said as she extracted one tumor. "And because they're attached to the Fiore, they'll stop working once we finish it off ourselves."

"How do we treat these moving tumors?" Zelda asked. "Wouldn't it be the same if we waited for them to sprout out?"

"That could be true," Dr. Mario said. "But if we want to prevent them from making tumors, what could happen if we made an incision on them?"

"Try to see what happens while I take out the other tumor," Nozomi said. "As a remainder, the vitals are dropping below thirty."

"Oh, sorry about that," Peach apologized. "Um, Dr. Mario, could you…"

"No space, right," Dr. Mario said, applying two shots of stabilizers to raise the vitals over fifty. After doing so, the doctor made an incision over one of the moving tumors. Upon making a cut, a bluish liquid spilled out from the incision. "What is this liquid?"

"My guess is that the liquid was the material that made the tumor," Nozomi said. "Drain it out for me, will you? That should fix the problem in a cinch."

"Oh, wait, I can do the same for the second one," Dr. Mario said, making an incision on the other moving shadow to spill the blue liquid out. "This disease doesn't have a smart way to at-"

The doctor was interrupted as the blue liquid moved to the other blue liquid, which also moved to the second one. The two liquids mixed themselves with each other before they faded into the small intestine and made a hole that bleed heavily. "Oh my Nayru!" Zelda gasped.

"Uh-oh, that wasn't such a good idea after all…" Marth muttered.

Dr. Mario looked worried before he saw Nozomi draining out the blood to patch the hole with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. "Okay, change of plans," Nozomi said. "If we happen to make an incision to extract the liquids, they both will join and turn into some harmful acid that will hurt the small intestine severely."

"Yes…" Dr. Mario said. "We should do one at a time for the looks of it. Cutting two at a time is only going to cause us more trouble." He noticed the two incisions he made, prompting him to suture them. He saw the vitals dropping below twenty-five, which forced him to inject two shots to raise the vitals over forty-five.

Nozomi looked back at the Fiore. She noticed that it had stopped spinning. "Strange, it stopped," Nozomi said. "I couldn't do anything while it was spinning."

"Why did it stop?" Marth asked.

"It could've stopped because Dr. Mario stopped those two moving tumors," Nozomi theorized. "It we want to perform an excision on the petals, we have to take care of the tumors first. Here, let's see what happens by excising the first petal." She delicately cut a petal off from the red tumor. Upon taking it out, the three petals around the red tumor started spinning anew.

"Heh, it's working," Wolf said. "Cutting off its petals weakens it."

Dr. Mario looked serious and used the ultrasound to find three shadows each connected with a vine to the Fiore. "There are three this time," he said.

"Quick, let's cut them one by one to render the Fiore's movement useless," Nozomi said. "If we let them go like this, they will make more tumors."

"I'm on it now," Dr. Mario said as he carefully made an incision on one shadow, quickly making blue liquid spill out from the wound. After draining out the blue liquid, he continued on with the second shadow, doing the same steps.

However, the third shadow didn't give the doctor enough time to perform an incision, and it turned into a malignant tumor that sprouted out on the small intestine. "We ran out of time for the last tumor," Nozomi said.

"Sorry, I wasn't quick enough…" Dr. Mario muttered.

"Well, let's not fret about it," Nozomi said as she started to drain out the cytoplasm from the new tumor. "This is nothing than an excision can't solve."

After treating the tumor and suturing the incisions, they saw the petals had stopped spinning around. Dr. Mario excised one of the three petals, putting it on the tray. The Fiore had two petals remaining that continued spinning. "If my assumption is correct, there should be more shadows than before," Peach said.

Dr. Mario used the ultrasound, finding four shadows with it. Looking serious, he started making incisions to drain out the blue liquid. Before the last shadow could do anything, Nozomi made an incision and drained the blue liquid out, preventing it from turning into a malignant tumor. "Sorry for interrupting, but I don't want it to cause any more damage," Nozomi said, shifting jobs to excise the second-to-last petal from the Fiore.

As Nozomi put the petal on the tray, the Fiore's remaining petal started spinning once more. Using the ultrasound, Dr. Mario found five shadows extending all over inside the small intestine. "Okay, there are way more this time," Dr. Mario said.

"Let's proceed regardless of how many there are," Nozomi proposed. Diligently, the two doctors started making incisions one by one on the five shadows, draining out the foreign liquid to prevent them from becoming hazardous acid.

After suturing the incisions, Nozomi excised the last petal from the Fiore, rendering it useless from spinning. As she put the petal on the tray, Nozomi looked back at the tumor. "This thing caused him a lot of trouble, but we won the fight against it," she said. "Okay, let's excise it out."

Dr. Mario nodded as he picked the scalpel from Peach's hands. Before he could get the chance to start an excision, he saw the red tumor sprouting out three more petals. "What?" he asked confused.

The six saw that the three new petals had a greenish shade of colors. Before long, the petals started spinning in their place, making Nozomi grunt in annoyance. "This doesn't seem to be over yet," she said.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Confronting the Menace

The newly-recovered Fiore made all of them get serious. "Let's keep working," Dr. Mario said. "We shouldn't be so surprised that it wants to finish Pichu off."

Before their eyes, two unknown lacerations were made on the small intestine. From said lacerations, blue liquids spilled out and slowly moved towards each other. Some of them gasped after seeing the liquids trying to mix together, but they were all cut off by Nozomi draining out one of them, prompting the other liquid to stop moving. "So, you think you can resort to this dirty trick, huh?" Nozomi taunted the disease as she drained out the other liquid.

"W-what did just happen?" Zelda asked.

"Like the Dente, the Fiore is launching its best attack," Nozomi said. "Instead of making tumors, it's going to cause its own lacerations to make their fluid mix and burn the small intestine so it can deal more damage."

Two new lacerations were created on the internal, bleeding more blue liquid that slowly itched closer to each other. Dr. Mario looked serious and drained out both of them before they could mix. He proceeded to suture the four lacerations, making the Fiore stop spinning around. "It stopped!" Peach said.

Nozomi made quick work of the petals by excising one of them. Upon taking it out, the two remaining petals continued spinning. "We need to find those vines again," she said. "Hurry up and locate their shadows!"

Dr. Mario nodded, scanning the small intestine with the ultrasound. He gasped when he saw two lacerations had emerged. He didn't have enough time to drain out the two liquids that mixed together and made a hole in the small intestine.

"Vitals are dropping below twenty!" Marth said alarmed. "Quick, inject more stabilizers before the hole causes more damage!"

"It's already bleeding, dammit!" Wolf cursed.

"Here, let me do this," Nozomi said as she worked on the bleeding hole. As she kept working, two more lacerations sprouted out from each edge of the small intestine. "I can't take care of that. You do it, quick!" she told Dr. Mario.

Dr. Mario hesitated for a bit before he drained out the foreign liquids with the drain. Sighing, he grabbed the sutures to suture the four wounds while Nozomi patched the hole with synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. She quickly grabbed the scalpel to excise the second-to-last petal, grabbing it with the forceps to place it on the tray.

Once again, the remaining petal on the Fiore started spinning around the red tumor. Dr. Mario sweated while he used the ultrasound to run another scan. His third chance gave him fruits by showing four vines moving inside the small intestine. "I found the vines…and they're moving a little bit too fast," he said.

"This is going to be very risky, but we'll see if I can aim my scalpel to make an incision over one of them," she said.

"Wait, that's a bad idea, don't you think?" Dr. Mario asked. "We could end up hurting Pichu if we're not careful."

"On second thought, I suppose you're right," Nozomi said. "…On third thought…"

"What?" everyone asked confused.

Nozomi saw that she didn't need to make an excision on an end of the four vines. Rather, she needed to make one on their long tangling bodies. She made an incision over one of them, rendering it immobile. The incision she had made showed a small red foreign object sticking out from it. "What is that?" Zelda asked.

"One of its vines," Nozomi said. "I can pull it out with the forceps." She did as she said, slowly ripping the vine out from the Fiore. Peach and Zelda looked disgusted at the red vine put on the tray, seeing that Nozomi didn't show a disgusted look as they did.

"Okay…we still have more of those vines," Zelda said.

Nozomi looked back at the flower petal, which had stopped spinning. "It stopped?" she asked. "Hmm, but I think that removing the vines seemed to be the proper procedure…"

"If we excise the tumor, wouldn't it stop the vines altogether?" Dr. Mario asked.

"That sounds very good, but I have my doubts…" Nozomi muttered. "It could backfire at us."

"Sorry for intruding into your thoughts, but that flower-thing is gonna make a move if we don't hurry," Wolf said.

"Well then, let's cut the last petal and excise the tumor," Nozomi agreed as she excised the remaining petal. After using the forceps to put in on the tray, the silver-haired surgeon drained out the red cytoplasm on the Fiore to pick it out.

However, she found herself having trouble to pull the tumor out. Even though it was clear that she had made an incision around it, the Fiore remained in place. "Huh? What's wrong?" Marth asked.

"It doesn't want to come out," Nozomi said. "Ripping it out with force is out of the question…"

Dr. Mario gasped. "Wait, look!" he said.

The six saw that three lacerations had opened up, spilling blue liquid out. The blue liquids slowly itched closer to each other, alarming most of them. "This was a trap all along," Nozomi said. "Trying to pull it out would only make it react so violently like this."

"Look out!" Zelda yelled as she saw two liquids mixing and making a bleeding hole on the small intestine.

"Vitals are dropping below ten!" Peach said alarmed. "We need to treat the hole at once!"

The situation worsened more as more blue liquid came out from the lacerations. Seeing them, Nozomi drained them all out, clearing the internal organ. "Damn, the remaining vines are acting on their own," she muttered. "Treat the hole while I take those out!"

"Injecting more stabilizers!" Dr. Mario said, raising the vitals over forty with three shots. He changed jobs by draining out the overflowing blood and patching the hole with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. He spotted blue liquid spilling out from the three lacerations. Reacting to them, Dr. Mario drained them out. "Hand over the sutures! I'll suture the one in the middle!"

"Roger that," Marth said.

Nozomi made an incision on a vine that was about to spill out more blue liquid. Using the forceps to take it out, she put it on the tray. "One down, two more to go," she said.

As Dr. Mario sutured the laceration in the middle, he saw that huge amounts of blue liquids were dripping out from the other two lacerations. He gasped loudly and started draining out one of them. "The last two vines are going into frenzy!" he said. "Excise them out before it's too late for Pichu!"

"There's no way I'm using my Healing Touch here," Nozomi said as she directed her attention on the vine occupying the right area of the small intestine. She made an incision on its long body, drawing it out carefully from the inside with the forceps. After setting it on the tray, she continued on the next vine.

"It's all alone. It can't do more damage on its own!" Peach said. "Finish it off once and for all!"

Everyone stared at her for a moment.

Peach shifted her eyes a bit. "…Sorry for sounding so dramatic," she muttered embarrassed.

Nozomi sighed and made an incision on the last vine, picking it out with the forceps to place it on the tray. "And for the last move…" she trailed off, easily picking the main Fiore tumor from the center of the small intestine and setting it on the tray. Looking back at the small intestine, she spotted the Fiore's image appeared in the center. "Great, the Fiore did the same thing as well."

"Who cares about that if we can't treat it now?" Wolf asked. "What matters is that the bug is out. That's all that matters to me."

"Vitals…are starting to stabilize…" Peach muttered. "We did it…"

Dr. Mario sighed. "We've eliminated the Fiore," he said. "Let's close him up now…"

Nozomi sighed in relief as she sutured the incision over Pichu's small stomach. Sparing the sutured area to prevent infection, Nozomi took some bandage that Marth gave her to cover the long incision. "Whew, that's done with…" she muttered, smiling a bit. "That was a dangerous operation, but we pulled through it without killing the patient. Well done again, everyone."

Zelda sighed next. "Thank goodness Pichu won't have to suffer anymore…" she muttered.

Music stops

The six stepped back from the bed as they wiped out the sweat from their foreheads. "Phew, that was a bit intense," Dr. Mario said. "However, the disease saw its end in our hands, and now, we've healed three people."

"Another disease down…but there is probably seven more waiting to fight back," Nozomi said. "Regardless of that, I'm happy this little guy survived through the operation. It was a heavy burden for him, but he will be safe now."

"Thanks again, doctor," Peach said. "You performed excellently through the operation."

"I wouldn't say excellently because the Fiore lured me to believe that taking it out without excising the vines would defeat it," Nozomi said. "I'd say I did a decent job here."

"Oh, please, don't be so hard on yourself," Zelda said. "Certainly, you did very well."

"Yeah, hear her out," Wolf said. "Unlike you, she was panicking too much."

Zelda looked away annoyed. "I'm so sorry for acting so panicked," she said sarcastically. "Expect me to react like this during more operations. I want to sharpen my 'nerves of steel' if you don't mind."

"You sure you're not cutting them instead?" Wolf asked amused.

"Hush," Zelda muttered.

Nozomi looked amused. "(I expected them to beat each other out, but they behave like friends do,)" she thought. "(The diversity of people here is so interesting to see for sure.)"

"I don't know you, but I think it's time for more rest," Marth said. "All these operations surely drain out energy in a span of a few minutes."

"I second that," Dr. Mario while Peach took off all the pulse straps from Pichu's arms for the doctor to start pushing the bed out of the O.R. "Let me put Pichu back to the infirmary. If I'm not mistaking, the people who are worrying a lot for him should be rushing to this floor right now."

Two seconds after the doctor left, the five felt that the floor was shaking a bit.

"A-at least wait for me to put Pichu back in the infirmary!" Dr. Mario said. "Don't block my way, please! Move away for a few seconds and you can visit Pichu in there!"

Zelda chuckled. "You don't think everyone else will do the same with the others, right?" she asked.

"Since we're dealing with diseases that are putting the infected between life and death…I strongly think it will be the same," Nozomi said.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Caduceus Europe

Infirmary

"I knew Pichu was part of a big group," Dr. Mario said. "Can you do me a favor and keep it quiet, though? There are seven more patients in here that are resting."

The doctor looked at Pikachu, Popo, Nana, Lucas, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Kirby, and Toon Link gathered around Pichu's bed. Out of all five of them, Pikachu was the one who looked very worried about his fellow Pokémon friend, the first standing on top of the bed.

"I know you were worrying sickly for Pichu, but he just came out from his operation," Dr. Mario said. "You don't want to stress him by crying, do you?" he asked.

"N-no…i-it's just that we're so happy he made it…" Pikachu sniffed.

"And remember that he happens to be very young…" Nana trailed off. "It'd be really, really cruel if he died…right?"

"I've never seen Pokémon dying," Red said shrugging. "And I don't want to see how one really dies like Pichu."

"I-I wouldn't go over something like that if it DID happen…" Lucas muttered, receiving some pats from a worried Kirby. "I'm so bad at handling deaths…"

Toon Link looked concerned. "Pichu just needs to rest, right?" he asked. "He already got that thing off from his body, right?"

"Well…partially," Dr. Mario said. "I presume you all watched with the cameras we have in the O.R. You saw how the Fiore's image appeared on his small intestine."

"Can't you do anything to take it off from him?" Popo asked.

"Like I mentioned before, skinning it off from the small intestine isn't a very good solution," Dr. Mario said. "We have to keep studying it a little bit longer until we can come to a solution to resolve this issue."

Squirtle looked relieved. "Phew, that helps me relax even better," he said.

Pikachu cleared some tears. "B-but other than that, Pichu will recover, right? Tell me he's going to be okay!" he pleaded.

"Pikachu, don't worry," Dr. Mario reassured him. "Pichu doesn't have any malignant disease inside him anymore. That image inside him isn't causing any side effects."

"But what could happen if it does do something sometime later?" Nana asked.

"If it really does something, we'll take care of it as soon as we can," Dr. Mario said. "Give Pichu some time to recover. The operation took away a lot of energy from him, but he should be okay."

"Thank you for saving him…" Pikachu muttered with a sniff, receiving a pat from Ivysaur's vine.

"(I don't want to lie,)" Dr. Mario thought. "(There's a possibility that they're still in trouble…) Unfortunately, I can't say if we're through with this. Give us a little bit more time until we can cure them all completely, okay?"

"Okay…" Lucas muttered. "…But…don't let Ness die, please…"

"I won't," Dr. Mario reassured as he turned away and walked out from the infirmary. "You can stay here and check up on Pichu if you want. If there's some kind of trouble with a patient, please don't hesitate in telling us."

"Oh, wait!" Red called out, stopping the doctor on his tracks. "Who are you going to operate next?"

"We're going to operate on Link," Dr. Mario said. "And his operation is as risky as Pichu's operation. We're going to be treating…his brain."

All of them made disgusted looks, having a sensation of puking.

"…I'll be going now," Dr. Mario said, leaving the room behind.

The young Smashers exchanged glances. "Yuck, a brain operation? Are you kidding me?" Ivysaur asked. "How did things turn out like this?"

"Don't look at me," Popo said. "If anyone has the blame, it's the Subspace Army and their schemes to see us dropped dead on the ground. Isn't that, well, their main plan for us?"

Pikachu looked upset. "If something really happens to Pichu…I'm going to give them a piece of my mind," he said.

Red looked worried at Pikachu. "(It's incredible that I'm seeing a Pokémon suffering with my own eyes,)" he thought. "(But thinking about Pichu dying… Please, don't let him go like this. He's way too young…)"

Seventh Floor's Hallway

The doctor found Nozomi having a conversation with a tearful Zelda. Dr. Mario slowly approached to listen to their talk. "A brain operation might prove to be very risky for your friend," Nozomi said. "I'm not saying I'm going to screw up during the procedure. I'm saying that treating the brain is going to be as dangerous as treating that creature."

"I need to stay calm…" Zelda muttered. "I can't break into tears if I see Link dying in front of me…"

"That also means that you need to stay calm even when he's losing his vitals," Nozomi said. "If you scream for a slight moment while we conduct the procedure, you might cause an accident unconditionally, and we could inflict accidental pain into his brain."

The princess cleared her tears. "Should I just back down from this one?" she asked. "Marth wasn't as sentimental when we operated on Ike…but I don't think I'll be able to withstand this particular operation."

"Why not stepping back this time?" Nozomi asked. "It's better if you wait down there with everyone while we operate on him."

Zelda sniffed a bit, thinking hard for a moment. "…Yes, I'll do that," she said. "I'm going to leave the rest on your hands, doctor."

Nozomi smiled a bit. "I'll see that he gets the chance to see you for a lot more time," she said.

The princess bushed slightly. "D-don't think we're in love or something so crazy like that," she said embarrassed. "I-I tend to worry too much about my close friends, that is all…"

"Right," Nozomi said. "You should head down for time being. After we're finished with this operation, we could ask you for your help in the next operation. How does that sound for you?"

"Very well…" Zelda muttered, forcing a smile at Nozomi. "I'm going to see the operation from the lobby. I'm…I'm going to cheer on you all."

Nozomi gave her a small nod as Zelda turned around and walked down the stairs to the lobby. The doctor looked up at the silver-haired surgeon. "That was a nice idea from your part, Nozomi," Dr. Mario said.

"We can't have people crying behind our backs while we operate," Nozomi said. "Focus is a very vital part of any surgery. Lose it, and you will also lose the patient."

"Yes, I agree," Dr. Mario said. "But since she isn't going to stay with us in this operation, we'll have to do our best on this task. So far, DK, Ike, and Pichu have been treated, but there are seven more than need our assistance. Are you fully rested now?"

"Give me a little more time," Nozomi said. "I've been trying to calm her down for a few minutes before you arrived."

"Oh, okay," Dr. Mario said. "I'm going back into the operation room to check up on the others. They're preparing everything by now."

As the doctor left the silver-haired surgeon behind, Nozomi sat down on a chair and sighed. She sat cross-legged, looking up at the ceiling. "(The ordeals one goes through while staying in this…world,)" she thought skeptically. "(This is definitely going to be a very special entry for a diary, if I had one in the first place, though.)"

Operation Room

Several minutes later, Nozomi came back into the operation room, seeing that Dr. Mario had set Link's bed in the center. The silver-haired surgeon walked to the side of the bed and grabbed a scalpel. "I'll make an incision on his head right over the affected area," she said. "Once I open it, We'll begin the briefing…"

"…Is something wrong?" Marth asked.

"Yes, there's something wrong, and that something is that he's got quite a lot of hair," Nozomi admitted, seeing Link's messy blond hair. "I hope he doesn't mind that we cut a bit of it so we can perform surgery."

"A-are you really going to cut his hair?" Peach asked.

"Well, do you want me to operate safely on him, or do you want me to operate on him while hair gets in the way?" Nozomi asked amused.

"…Here you go," Marth said, handing over some scissors to Nozomi, who began cutting a lot of hair from Link's head. The four watched as the surgeon tossed air into the trashcan, leaving a big bald patch on the right area of Link's head. "Oh god, he's going to scream once he wakes up and sees that gap…"

Wolf chuckled. "Have you ever thought about becoming a stylist?" he joked.

"I was thinking about it just now," Nozomi jokingly said. "But enough games. I'll be making the incision now." She made a big incision, slowly opening it a bit. After a little sigh, she turned to look at them. "Let's start the briefing."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing

Patient: Link

Overview: Multiple aneurysms have appeared on the brain. Heavy hemorrhaging has occurred. Cause of the abnormal aneurysms is currently unknown.

"An operation on the brain…" Peach trailed off. "Seeing one is going to make me feel very sick, but I won't back down from this one."

"Same here," Wolf said. "So then, what's the problem with this guy's brain?"

"Link has aneurysms that appeared thanks to a new strain of the diseases," Dr. Mario said. "Hmm… I just noticed that we haven't given all the diseases a general name to refer their kind."

"I thought you did," Nozomi said. "I'm going to give you the honors to give them their 'family' name."

"Hmm… I can't think of a proper name…" Dr. Mario muttered. "Maybe I can draw inspiration from something… Oh, I got it. We will all call them…Malattia. It's Italian for the word disease."

"It has a nice ring to it…when you're not considering the part that it's a real disease," Nozomi admitted. "From now on, all the diseases we're going to discover will be part of the Malattia."

"With that in mind, we'll resume the briefing," Dr. Mario said pleased. "As I was saying before, Link is suffering from aneurysms in his brain. Basically, they're blood vessels that have been weakened. Weakening those blood vessels cause them to accumulate blood so they can burst, causing severe hemorrhage."

"In short, blood vessels alone can produce aneurysms between them," Nozomi explained. "Aneurysms are the ones that accumulate the blood before they burst."

"There is a way to prevent them from bursting?" Marth asked.

Dr. Mario showed them a brown vial. "With this sedative, we can inject the aneurysms so they become isolated from the blood vessels to retract the blood accumulated into them. After that, we'll excise them out and put them on the tray."

"Then, we'll connect the blood vessels with the forceps so the blood can travel safely," Nozomi explained. "After they're connected, we'll suture them into place so that they can enforce themselves. Those are the steps to treat the aneurysms and blood vessels."

"Alright," Wolf said. "Something else you want to add?"

"Yes," Dr. Mario said, looking serious. "It's possible that some aneurysms had already burst… Because of that, we're going to drain out the blood and treat them all as soon as possible."

"Here are the objectives for this operation," Nozomi said.

-Drain out overflowing blood.

-Extract aneurysms.

-Connect blood vessels.

-Find the cause of aneurysms.

-Eliminate cause of aneurysms.

"There's something going on in there," Dr. Mario said. "Treating a Malattia strain inside a brain is going to be very hard to do without inflicting pain on Link. We MUST do this carefully. It's possible that this is going to be a lot harder than treating Pichu because the brain can't hold on too much."

"A little mistake can be fatal," Marth said. "If we do a mistake, what will happen to Link?"

"Well, he may lose a few memories if he receives a lot of pain," Nozomi said. "Worse yet, he might get brain damage."

"He'll end up getting dumb if we go too far on his brain?" Wolf asked.

"Even though it sounds funny, it's bad," Dr. Mario said. "And…yes, he might lose some important brain cells, but let's avoid that."

Everyone put on their surgical masks. After they were all ready, Nozomi made a hand gesture and said, "Here goes."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Encroaching Shadows

"Time to start the operation…on the brain," Peach said unsure. "Let's see what we can do here."

The five looked inside the head where they spotted several blood patches covering portions of the left side of the brain. Nozomi took the drain from Wolf and started draining the overflowing blood. "This is bad," Nozomi muttered as she drained out the blood. "The hemorrhaging is severe."

"Sadly, we can't seem to maximize the vitals beyond sixty," Dr. Mario said. "I suppose the damage done to Link's brain was very bad."

"That's just dandy," Wolf said smugly. "We're getting limits right from the start."

The silver-haired surgeon pulled back the drain, inspecting the brain while doing so. "Now, the next step is to locate the aneurysms and the blood vessels… Ah, here they are," she said.

The other four took a look inside to spot two abnormalities in the brain. The two looked same, having a red-multicolored bulb twitching as it bulged with blood being transferred from two blood vessels from each of their sides.

"Those are the aneurysms," Nozomi said. "And look, they want to say hello once they burst."

"And we certainly don't want them to greet us with blood," Dr. Mario said as he injected an aneurysm with sedative. The aneurysm shrunk into place until it lost its red color, fading into black. Nozomi proceeded to use the scalpel to excise the malignant injury, taking it out with the forceps. Using the same forceps, she connected the two blood vessels and sutured them together, forcing them to join back into the brain.

"Good job," Peach said. "This is how you treat aneurysms."

"We still got another one wanting to burst on us," Nozomi said, seeing Dr. Mario applying sedative into the second aneurysm. Doing the same steps, Nozomi managed to excise it, put it away on the tray, connect the blood vessels, and suture them together to join into the brain. "There. All visible aneurysms have been treated."

Dr. Mario saw the vitals dropping below thirty. He applied two stabilizer shots to raise them over fifty. "If we happen to find more aneurysms, the vitals will drop down at a dramatic rate," he said.

"Vitals don't seem to be stabilizing," Peach said. "There should be more of them in the brain."

Nozomi spotted two more aneurysms appearing right on each end of the brain. "Just because we treated the ones that were visible before doesn't mean that we were done with everything," she said, injecting sedative into the right aneurysm.

"Let me treat the other one myself so we can make quick work," Dr. Mario offered himself.

The assistants watched as the duo treated the aneurysms separately. As they managed to get rid of the cut blood vessels, they drew back to look around the brain. After a few seconds, three more aneurysms appeared. "Uh-oh," Marth muttered, seeing that the three new aneurysms were far bigger than before. "They look like they're going to burst!"

"Apply sedative to all of them without focusing on one," Nozomi instructed. "When there are many of them, you can slow them down until they lose the ability to burst."

Dr. Mario listened to the surgeon, keeping the three aneurysms from bursting. "Done," he said. "Now we can proceed in excising them all out."

"Let's do it quick or else they recover," Nozomi said. "Normally, it'd take more work for a single surgeon to do everything, but since we're two, the problem isn't that hard."

The two started excising the aneurysms, connecting the blood vessels with each other to suture them together. It didn't take them longer than twenty seconds to heal the blood vessels completely.

"Another threat has been eliminated," Marth said, seeing Dr. Mario injecting one stabilizer shot to raise the vitals over fifty.

"That limit that the Malattia disease is putting on us is annoying," Nozomi commented. "If it was a normal cerebral injury, it'd been less stressing."

Dr. Mario looked around the brain to see if there were more aneurysms. "I don't see any more injuries," he said. He waited a few seconds to see a new change, but there was not a single aneurysm sprouting out. "Everything is fine, but it's a bit eerie…"

"I suppose it's time to look for the new Malattia strain," Nozomi suggested. "That little but deadly disease must be circulating our area right now."

"Here's the ultrasound," Marth said.

Dr. Mario looked back at the brain. "There's no need to use it now," he said. "The new Malattia strain is showing up by itself."

Everyone saw that there was some kind of long worm-like cytoplasm coming out from the brain. The cytoplasm had a worm look, but upon closer inspection, it had small red legs to the sides that were twitching, indicating they were moving the bigger body around perfectly. On each end, there were two red horns that moved a bit to the sides as it moved around the brain.

"Now this one looks like a real bug," Wolf said.

"It looks like a centipede," Dr. Mario said. "I know this is sudden, but let's call the new Malattia strain, the Centopiedi."

"Personally, I think that name is quite long," Marth commented.

"Cutting off some syllables isn't going to fix it," Nozomi said. "Let's call it that as a reference of how disgusting it is."

"Right," Dr. Mario agreed. "Back on topic, what do you suggest to do to get rid of the Centopiedi?"

"Use the damn forceps to take it out," Wolf suggested.

"If we use go by your suggestion, we'll end up putting the disease under stress," Nozomi said. "And if we stress it, it could seriously damage the brain. These diseases aren't stupid, sadly."

"Tsk, worthless bug…"

"Instead of taking it out, I'm going to think that we need to take off its segmented body first," Nozomi suggested, seeing the ten pieces that made up the body. "They look like they can be separated."

"Yes it does," Marth said. "Is it that easy, though?"

"If it was, the operation would've ended a minute ago," Nozomi said. "But seriously, we have to stop it from moving around the brain before it can inflict damage. Let's use the laser on its body."

"Careful now," Peach said as she gave the laser to the surgeon. "The brain is very sensible to any attacks. Aim carefully at the Centopiedi."

The silver-haired surgeon nodded, attacking the Malattia strain with the laser. The centipede-like disease twitched at the attack, doing nothing to counterattack. Three seconds later, the Centopiedi seized moving, turning fade in color.

"It…stopped," Marth said. "That was easy…"

Dr. Mario grabbed the scalpel and carefully excised the first segment, grabbing it with the forceps to put it on the tray. After extracting the segment, the Centopiedi regained movement. It moved its small legs crazily before it started to move much faster along the brain. "Easy to take out, but hard to keep it quiet," Nozomi said.

The Centopiedi ran along the area of the brain before it dove into it, weakening a blood vessel. It jumped out close to the blood vessel in order to make another blood vessel that quickly created an aneurysm. Once it did its job, the Centopiedi slowed down, walking along the brain.

"Great," Wolf said. "Is it going to do the same thing every time we take out its body?"

"That's how I see things," Dr. Mario said. "Still, this is nothing we can handle. We just need to treat the aneurysm and the damaged blood vessels to continue with the treatment." He was about to inject sedative into the growing aneurysm, but the doctor was stopped when he saw the Centopiedi walking over to the aneurysm. It moved its antennas as it penetrated the wound, making it burst with blood without it having to burst by itself. "Oh no…"

"Vitals are dropping fast!" Peach said alarmed. "They're dropping below thirty!"

Nozomi drained out the blood of the burst aneurysm. "Don't apply a shot yet. We have enough time to work with this wound," she said as she successfully drained the blood, attaching the blood vessels together with the forceps and suturing them. "There, now let's continue with the bug before it does something funny to the brain."

Dr. Mario attacked the Malattia strain with the laser, rendering it from moving anymore. After excising the second segment of its body, the Centopiedi went crazy and dove into the brain and jumped out of it to create another aneurysm. Nozomi was prepared by the time the new wound was formed, injecting sedative into it for her to excise it with the scalpel and take it out with the forceps, using the latter tool to connect the blood vessels to suture them. She saw the vitals dropping below fifteen, making her apply two stabilizer shots to raise them over thirty-five. "Thank you," Dr. Mario said.

"Let's move on," Nozomi said. "Two segments are down, but there are eight more to go."

The doctor nodded and used the laser on the Centopiedi to render its movement. After excising a third segment, the disease went crazy and created two more damaged blood vessels with an aneurysm between. The silver-haired surgeon worked on the aneurysm before the Malattia strain could penetrate it, successfully treating the blood vessels as well. "The operation is going well so far," Marth said.

Dr. Mario performed the same steps to excise the fourth segment, knowing that doing so would make the disease go crazy and damage two more blood vessels with an aneurysm between. Once again, Nozomi worked quickly on the new aneurysm and blood vessels, healing them completely.

"Vitals are dropping below fourteen," Peach said, making Dr. Mario apply two stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to thirty-four. "Now, continue on the fifth segment."

The doctor stopped the Centopiedi with the laser, halting its movement to allow him to excise a fifth segment. The Malattia strain became crazy after the segment was taken away, burrowing into the brain once more.

The Centopiedi jumped out, weakening another blood vessel. It moved around the blood vessel before diving down into the brain, weakening one more blood vessel.

"…Something is not right…" Nozomi trailed off.

"Why'd you ask?" Marth asked.

"The first time it dove down, it didn't weaken a blood vessel," she pointed out. "Instead, it skipped that step and caused a blood vessel on its second move, and then it went back into the brain, this time, weakening another blood vessel without making an aneurysm."

"Yes, I noticed that," Dr. Mario said. "Is it trying to change its patterns to confuse us?"

"No, that's not its plan," Nozomi said. "This is going to shock you, but nobody said that an aneurysm has to be supported by two blood vessels."

"…Are you implying that one of those stupid rashes can have more than two?" Wolf asked ticked off.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Confronting the Menace

The Centopiedi jumped out close to the two blood vessels, weakening a third blood vessel that triggered a much bigger aneurysm between the three. Peach let out a yelp as she started at the new aneurysm. "A-an aneurysm has formed!" she said.

"And with three blood vessels?" Marth asked in disbelief.

"I told you that an aneurysm doesn't need to have three blood vessels," Nozomi said. "That aside, the treatment for this kind of aneurysm has to be changed a little bit, though it's more complicated."

"We've got to stop the Centopiedi before it reaches out for the new aneurysm!" Peach said, seeing the bug-like disease turning around to penetrate the big aneurysm. "Dr. Mario, do something!"

Dr. Mario quickly used the laser to halt the strain's movement. He sighed and saw Nozomi injecting sedative to excise the aneurysm and take it out with the forceps. "Well, connecting three blood vessels is a much harder procedure, right?" he asked.

"Using the forceps here isn't going to help anymore," Nozomi said. "We're going to use a synthetic vessel to connect the three blood vessels at one." She showed a synthetic tool that had three ends before she placed it in the middle of the three blood vessels. She grabbed some sutures while saying, "After placing it, we'll suture each of the three ends so that they can assimilate with the blood vessels."

The four saw the three blood vessels connecting nicely with the synthetic vessel, turning back to normal as the blood flowed correctly. "Phew, now we can focus on the Centopiedi," Peach said. "Please continue with the operation."

Dr. Mario took advantage of the immobile disease to excise a sixth segment. After doing so, the Malattia strain went crazy, moving around the brain. A few seconds later, the centipede-like disease dove into the brain and jumped out, creating a blood vessel with the second action. It then dove again to weaken two blood vessels after jumping out, creating a new big aneurysm that twitched while growing in size.

"There's another one of those big aneurysms. Treat it at once before that thing bursts it!" Marth said.

Dr. Mario used the laser to try to halt the disease's movement while Nozomi injected sedative into the aneurysm to excise it with the scalpel and take it out with the forceps. The doctor, however, found himself struggling to stop the disease from moving. "U-um, we've got problems," he said. "The Centopiedi doesn't want to stop with the laser anymore."

"Let me treat the three blood vessels first before we move on," Nozomi said as she placed a synthetic vessel between the severed vessels, suturing them all together until they joined the brain once more. "Okay, try to use the laser now."

The doctor looked skeptical as he targeted and hit the disease with the laser, this time, successfully halting its movement. "Strange… Why does it stop now?" Marth asked.

"I can only assume that it's raising some kind of shield over its body while there are weakened blood vessels made by itself," Nozomi theorized. "If that's the case, it wants to make sure that it can safely burst through an aneurysm without something stopping it."

"Vitals are dropping below ten!" Peach pointed out, making Dr. Mario apply three stabilizer shots to raise them to forty.

Nozomi excised a seventh segment from the centipede-like disease, putting it on the tray with the forceps. With only three segments in tow, the disease swung its antenna crazily as it moved around. It once again made another big aneurysm with three blood vessels. However, it didn't stop, making another big aneurysm on the far end of the first one.

"It made two this time!" Marth said shocked.

Nozomi and Dr. Mario nodded once to each other and began treating each aneurysm individually. Nozomi worked at very good pace, but Dr. Mario didn't have much luck after realizing that the Centopiedi was targeting his aneurysm. He sweated as he applied sedative into the aneurysm to reduce its size, but the disease turned out to be much faster, bursting the big aneurysm into a blood pool that severely reduced the vitals below ten. "U-ugh," Dr. Mario grunted.

"Damn, talk about a big drop of vitals," Wolf said.

"This isn't funny," Marth said. "If that bug reaches out for another aneurysm, Link will be done for!"

"And they're still dropping fast!" Peach said alarmed. "We're going below five!"

Dr. Mario inhaled air while applying three stabilizer shots to raised the vitals over thirty-five. However, the blood pool between the three blood vessels quickly reduced the recovered vitals, prompting him to drain it out while putting a synthetic vessel between the weakened vessels. The drop of vitals suddenly decreased as he sutured the vessels together. He sighed in relief, looking over a Nozomi who had already treated her side.

"Don't worry," Nozomi reassured him. "Sometimes, these situations can get the better of us even if we're skilled surgeons."

"Yes…" Dr. Mario trailed off, smiling a bit. "Thank you for reassuring me."

She smiled a bit before she looked back at the centipede-like disease moving around. "I won't let this thing laugh at our faces, though," she said, hitting it with the laser to stop its movement. Nozomi excised an eight segment, using the forceps to put it back on the tray. The two-segmented Centopiedi swung its antenna madly, rushing along the brain to inflict two more big aneurysms.

"We're almost done with this fight," Wolf said, giving sedative to Nozomi.

"Hurry up before it bursts through another aneurysm!" Marth encouraged the doctors.

The doctor and the surgeon injected sedative into each of the aneurysms. The Centopiedi turned around and aimed for Nozomi's side. The silver-haired surgeon noticed the disease, looking serious as she excised the aneurysm faster. She chuckled as she saw the disease simply moving between the vessels, leaving her area unaffected. "Not this time," she muttered, applying a synthetic vessel to suture the blood vessels together.

"I'm done over here as well," Dr. Mario said, suturing the third blood vessel into the synthetic vessel. He stopped the Centopiedi with the laser in order to excise the ninth segment and put it on the tray.

"We're down to the last segment; its head," Peach said. "It's just a little more and we'll finish this operation."

They all stared at the head, which was swinging its antenna crazily. It dove into the brain, but it didn't come out. They waited a few seconds, but the disease didn't appear at all.

"Why isn't it appearing again?" Marth asked.

"It could be preparing itself to strike," Nozomi said. "After all, we pushed it to its limit."

For their surprise, the Centopiedi jumped out from the brain, but it didn't seem that it wanted to attack as it just moved around.

"…I honestly…don't think it's going to attack again…" Marth muttered.

"…This is weird," Dr. Mario said. "Out of the other three we've already faced, this one doesn't have anything else under its sleeve."

"May as well take it out. I don't suppose we want to keep this guy waiting for us to do our move later," Nozomi said, attacking the head with the laser to render it immobile. With a simple use of the forceps, the head was put away on the tray, curing the brain from its presence. She looked to the brain, where the Centopiedi's image was imprinted on the left side of the brain.

"Link isn't going to like hearing that his brain just got a tattoo of sorts," Dr. Mario said.

"I've got to admit that having a tattoo on your brain is pretty messed up," Nozomi said. "It's funny, but we're going to have to monitor him for a little while longer along with the others. How are his vitals?"

"Vitals are stabilizing…" Peach trailed off. "There isn't anything else to take care of in the brain."

Wolf furrowed his brow with two fingers. "Heh, this disease was weaker, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yes, it seems that way," Dr. Mario said, suturing the incision on the brain. He used antibiotic gel to disinfect the sutured incision to cover the head with bandage. "Operation complete."

Nozomi sighed. "The Centopiedi was the weakest disease I've fought before," she said. "Either way, we should be thankful that it didn't cause much damage as we had predicted. Everyone did a good job this time."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Caduceus USA

Everyone removed their surgical masks, sighing relieved in unison. "I don't want to see another brain surgery like this one again," Marth said. "Then again, I wish to not see more of these surgeries with those diseases trying to kill everyone."

"Good for you, because a surgeon is forever sentenced to go through this whenever the opportunity arises," Nozomi said, forcing a small smile. "I do like to see patients getting back up to their feet so they can keep on living their lives without having problems with their bodies."

Dr. Mario wiped out the sweat from his forehead with his hand. "It looked difficult, but now Link can rest for the time being," he said. "I'm sure Zelda will be relieved to see tha-"

At that moment, the door slammed open, letting in an exhausted Zelda. The princess panted heavily as she cleared some of her tears. "I can't take it anymore!" she cried. "I need to assist all of you so Link doesn't have to die!"

The princess stared at the five, who exchanged glances. Nozomi pressed her brow, frowning with a small grunt. Sighing to herself, she put her right hand on the side of her hip and looked at Zelda. "Sorry for breaking your drama moment, but we've just finished the operation forty seconds ago before you burst in."

Zelda quickly stared blankly at them. She slowly turned her direction to Link, who was lying down unconscious on the bed he was forced to use. She shifted her eyes around before she straightened up and cleared her throat, wiping out some tears so she could recover from her state of panic. "I…apologize for my panicked behavior," she apologized formally. "I saw from the lobby how those nasty aneurysms were inflicting pain on Link, and I ultimately armed my emotions to be able to come here…b-but I see that you finished before I could arrive."

"…" Nozomi looked amused. "Are you sure you armed your emotions?"

"I-I…I…I don't know what to say. I'm currently very embarrassed," Zelda admitted. "But…thank you for saving Link. I don't know how to repay this to all of you."

"The hand is going to pay me instead of you (as odd as my client's look sounds…)" Nozomi said. "You don't have to pay anything except a small visit to see how he does in his recovery. He's out of danger now."

Zelda blushed, nodding in understatement. "Please don't think strange things about him and me…" she muttered to herself.

Nozomi looked at Dr. Mario. "Would you be so kind in moving him out for me? I'm going to go over a few things with the next patient's condition," she said.

"Certainly," Dr. Mario said, grabbing one end of the bed while Zelda moved away from the door to allow the bed to go through. She hastily followed, closing the door behind her.

The silver-haired surgeon looked at the assistants. "This is your typical hospital drama," she said amused. "You get to see a lot of it when you're a surgeon."

"Tears are a common sight?" Wolf asked.

"In this kind of job, you bet they are."

Infirmary

Dr. Mario folded his arms behind his back as Zelda stood close to Link's bed. The doctor looked around to see the young Smashers with brightened looks after Pichu had awakened. Looking around more, Ike was silently resting on his bed while DK and Diddy seemed to be talking, albeit calmly since DK was still in recovery.

"Four down, six more to go," Dr. Mario said. "You're going to be helping us in the next operation, right, Zelda?"

Zelda stared at Link for a few seconds before she looked at Dr. Mario. "Yes… I'm certain I will this time," she said. "But I'm worried about leaving Link alone in here…"

"You've got the others to look after him," Dr. Mario pointed out. "I'm sure he won't have any kind of concussions while he's resting."

"I see… But…do you think he has gotten over this fight against the diseases?" Zelda asked.

Dr. Mario looked skeptical. "That, I don't know… As far as I know, those printed images on the body parts make me feel very uneasy. The patients are very stable, but we need to keep them checked for further details," he explained.

"I think I want to go back to the O.R. to prepare everything for the next operation…" Zelda said, still thinking about Link's welfare. "Who is the next patient that we're going to treat?"

"Sonic," Dr. Mario said. "He's next on the list. And…if my assumptions are correct…" He turned to the door, walking over to it. Zelda gave Link one last look before she went with the doctor, who opened the door to see another event in the hallway.

Seventh Floor's Hallway

"I've told you all this for the fiftieth time, and I'm going to keep saying it until you understand," Nozomi said annoyed. "We'll do everything we can to treat your friend and eliminate that disease inside his lungs. After all, that's why I'm here."

The silver-haired surgeon had the whole packet of Sonic reps right in front of her. Leading the worried party was Amy, who was obviously more concerned about Sonic more than anyone else. "Please, do everything in your hands!" Amy cried. "If he happens to… I don't want him to leave us like that!"

"For god's sake, Amy, stop crying!" Knuckles yelled aggravated. "You know we have to stay calm so we don't disturb them, right? Well, stay calm for once! And before you say 'But this is Sonic we're talking about, Knuckles!' it's the same if somebody else from us got infected!"

"You speak for yourself," Espio said. "I'd love to see Vector on a bed to see him apologize for all the idiotic stuff he's done over the years."

"Likewise!" Vector proclaimed. "If someone needs to be sick here, that's you, Espio! I'd personally love see you apologizing to me in bed!"

"How 'bout if you two got sick while I'm the only one alive?" Charmy suggested. "Maybe that way you could both apologize to me!"

"Pfft, you wish!" Vector said with a laugh. "That's never gonna happen!"

"But I don't wanna see somebody sick," Big said. "It'll be very bad…"

"Yes, so bad that my dreams about chocolate would be replaced by very scary thoughts," Chip said. "You get sick and I'll never forgive you, guys!"

"Stop scolding us for something we're not even going to do!" Knuckles retorted. "Scold those guys! They're crazy, not me!"

"Ha! Look who's talking, little red guy!" Vector laughed.

"What did you say?" Knuckles asked angrily.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Charmy cheered.

"CHAO!" Cheese yelled angrily, getting their attention while Cream looked a bit sad at them.

"Um…everyone…" Cream trailed off, "can we please not start a fight here? There are people recovering in the infirmary right now…"

"O-oh, y-yeah, right, sorry," Vector said blushing. "Sorry for making you worry, little Cream. I was trying to calm them all down without using violence."

"SURE," Espio and Knuckles emphasized.

After the Idiot Brigade (dubbed so by the surgeon), Nozomi sighed. "Thank you for telling them. I was about to scold them myself," she said. "Do you want to see the ones sick reacting violently because of your yells? For now, this is kind of a hospital area, and you must be quiet around here."

"Yeah, we know…" Tails muttered worried.

The silver-haired surgeon smiled a bit. "The operation is going to be hard, but I won't let that stop me from treating him," she said. "Right now, your friend is being given anesthesia. In a few minutes, we'll be starting the operation and I will need all of you to head back down and wait for us to finish."

The two-tailed fox looked up to her. "Save Sonic, please… If he dies…" he trailed off, looking down sadly.

"I don't know if I will, but I'll see that he gets fine," Nozomi said. "I haven't let a patient die on my hands before, and I won't let this be the first time someone dies."

Amy sniffed sadly. "O-okay…w-we'll just go back down and wait for you to save Sonic…" she muttered, every single one of them turning around while remaining silent.

After the group of ten left the hallway, the surgeon sighed while Dr. Mario and Zelda approached her. "Did they stress you?" Dr. Mario asked.

"A little bit," Nozomi admitted. "I'm used to get these kinds of talk with patients' relatives so it's no big deal…of course, if those very same relatives don't get into useless feuds against each other."

"That happens a lot around here…" Zelda admitted. "Actually, not that much, but with Sonic's friends staying here, it happens more often than we want to."

"I should've told them that they have a surgeon," Nozomi said with a chuckle. "They can hurt themselves as much as they like. I can fix them all and raise my pay that the hand is paying me."

"HELL NO!" Master Hand's voice boomed from the lobby, shaking the furniture around the hallway a bit.

"…Wow, he's got some strong ears," Nozomi said blankly. "Too bad I can't see those same ears… Seriously though, I need a little bit more rest to think about the procedure we'll follow on the hedgehog guy."

Zelda rubbed her chin. "If things get nasty, you can use your Healing Touch to keep him from dying, right?" she asked.

"Yes, but at the same time, no," Nozomi said. "I don't want to rely on my Healing Touch too much or else my basic skills could drop down dramatically, and I'd lose those very same skills for overusing the Healing Touch."

"Because if you did, you'd faint during an operation," Dr. Mario said.

"That's another reason, but I fear the one I mentioned the most," Nozomi said. "I don't want to imagine what would happen to me if the Healing Touch solved everything… I know about another doctor who seems to possess the Healing Touch like I do, but sadly, I haven't met him yet. He's supposed to show up at the conference I'm going to attend."

"You know another person who has the Healing Touch?"

"I only know him from Caduceus, but I haven't met him personally. I did hear he was the one who stopped the biochemical threat from Delphi. In a few words, he saved the world from those diseases," Nozomi said. "And if he has the Healing Touch, he must have understood the burden that comes with it like I did."

"He must be a very smart surgeon for achieving something that big…"

"I'll be honored once I meet him, but current circumstances are going to keep me away for a little while," Nozomi said. "Get some rest before the next operation starts."

"Will do," Dr. Mario said.

The doctor and the princess returned to the O.R. while Nozomi sat down on a chair, sighing to herself to relax for a while. "Just six more to go until I can find a way back to my world…" she muttered. "Truly, this will be my wildest experience ever."

Operation Room

The silver-haired surgeon raised an eyebrow while staring at the hedgehog's body lying down on the bed. "He's got quite a minuscule body," she remarked. "Are you sure his body isn't delicate as the Pichu creature we treated?"

"I've checked the charts, and it looks like he's the third person who has a delicate body," Dr. Mario said. "The second is Ness, and the first is Pichu. This operation, therefore, will have to be very delicate on Sonic."

"I don't understand," Zelda said. "Sonic happens to be very fragile himself?"

"The hedgehog's always avoiding all hits that are thrown to him," Wolf said. "It'd make sense that his body is his own weakness. His speed and evasiveness balance out his rather poor defense."

"Well, he does look very thin," Nozomi said. "My hand even covers his whole stomach. I suppose his internal organs are very small, thus why you're saying he's fragile."

"If he heard what we're saying about him, he'd get mad," Peach said. "Luckily, the anesthesia is keeping him in a deep sleep."

"…Speed?" Nozomi wondered. "Is this guy always making fights so he can outrun anyone?"

"His ego is big, so…you could say that…" Dr. Mario muttered. "He's got insane speed, though. You wouldn't believe how fast he can run."

"I'll try not to see that very soon," Nozomi said. "And besides, he shouldn't make fights if he knows what's better for him."

"Good luck telling him that," Marth said. "He is practically very stubborn."

"So he is childish at fault," the surgeon said. "Enough talk about him. We need to start the briefing before that poison in his lungs finish him off."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Operation Briefing

Patient: Sonic the Hedgehog

Overview: Poison found in the right lung. New Malattia strain is expected to be found. Extraction of poison is needed before patient dies of intoxication.

Nozomi looked at the chart. "He's quite fond of his nickname, doesn't he?" she asked.

"I just wrote it like that because he always introduces himself stating everything about him," Dr. Mario said.

"No wonder why you told me he's got a big ego," Nozomi said. "That aside, the chart tells us that there is poison forming inside his right lung. Obviously, there's a Malattia strain behind all this as usual."

"For now, the poison is hurting him, but it's not a lot enough to kill him off," Peach said. "While it's not causing too much intoxication, we have to drain it out with the drain, and find the new Malattia strain."

"And as usual, it's hiding inside the affected area," Marth said. "How will we drain the poison out if it's inside the lung, though? Are we going to make incisions?"

"We will see what happens if we make an incision on the lung," Nozomi said. "It will hurt the lung, but doing so will push the poison out. Also, we're dealing with small organs here as well. We need to be more careful a third time."

"Once the new Malattia strain appears, we will improvise from that point," Dr. Mario said. "It looks like an easy procedure, but anything can happen as we go on."

"These are the objectives for the surgery," Peach said.

-Drain the poison out of the right lung.

-Find the new Malattia strain.

-Eliminate the new Malattia strain.

"At last, we're having a few objectives this time," Wolf said.

"Just because we have a few doesn't mean the procedure will be easy," Nozomi said.

"Right," Zelda said. "Let's get ready for the operation."

Everyone put their surgical masks on. The silver-haired surgeon made a hand gesture and said, "We're starting the operation now."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Encroaching Shadows

Nozomi grabbed a scalpel from Zelda as she performed an incision over the right side area of Sonic's body. "This incision almost cuts his whole body in two," she joked a bit. "Well, let's all take a look at the affected area."

The six looked inside to spot several small internal organs on the edges of the incision's space before they looked at the right lung. Some of them widened their eyes when they saw that some kind of blue poison was filling the lung from the inside. While the internal organ was thick, the poison had spread long enough to change the skin color to blue.

"He's blue, so his internal organs should be blue," Wolf said.

"Of course they don't have to, unless he's got blue blood," Nozomi said. "We've reached the affected area. I'll perform an incision in the middle."

She carefully made an incision in the center of the lung. After a small cut was done, blue smoke slowly started to come out. Dr. Mario looked serious and started draining the smoke with the drain. "Cautiously continue on," Peach said. "The amount of poison should be decreasing. Vitals are currently dropping below fifty, but we shouldn't get some shots yet."

"However, it sounds so easy that we can stop the intoxication just by draining out the poison," Nozomi said. "Be prepared to face the new strain after all the poison is drained out."

Several seconds passed until the right lung was rid of the poison contaminating its inside. Dr. Mario pulled back the drain while Nozomi sutured the incision. "All the poison was drained out," Dr. Mario said. "Now we have to wait for the new strain to show up."

"The lung seems to be reacting," Zelda said. "U-um, I can see something…"

From the sides of the lung, blue smoke gathered over the center before it grew into some kind of vaporous gas that had a yellow core inside amidst its form. The blue smoke with the yellow core moved around the lung after it was exposed to their sight.

"Uh…" Marth trailed off. "…What is that?"

"Behold the new Malattia strain," Nozomi said. "It's gas with a living core."

"That yellow thing inside the smoke is the actual disease spreading poison around?" Wolf asked.

"Yes," Dr. Mario said. "It's as if the poison itself was living thanks to that core inside it. I'm going to name this Malattia strain…Veleno, which means poison in Italian."

The six stared at the living poison moving around the lung. "Our main objective will be draining out the poison to expose the core. After exposing the core, we're going to attack it with the laser," Nozomi explained. "Are you all ready for this?"

"Since this is an easy procedure, can I try to drain out the poison?" Marth asked.

"Go ahead, but I'll use the laser myself," Dr. Mario said.

The prince slowly started draining out the poison from the core. As the smoke was drained out, he noticed that a small tissue was left behind over the lung. "Huh? What is that?" he asked, stopping draining out the poison.

"That small tissue contains poison," Nozomi said. "If we leave it alone, it might damage the lung with even more poison. Let's use the laser to burn it."

Dr. Mario merely burned the tissue with the laser, completely eliminating it. "That wasn't that hard," he said. "Continue draining the poison out, Marth."

"Right," Marth said, resuming his work. A few seconds later, he managed to expose the core, which had less smoke protecting it. Dr. Mario aimed the laser right on the core, but after he struck the core, it split into ten equally sized cores that spread around the lung. "Another trick?"

"This isn't good," Nozomi said. "It's pulling out a defensive move to fool us with all those cores."

"Shouldn't we burn all the cores?" Zelda asked.

"No. All these cores might look real, but only one of them is the real one," the surgeon said. "This particular disease is weak enough to protect itself, but it can't multiply at all. It just propagates more poison instead."

"In other words, all these cores are actually false tissues trying to protect the real core?" Peach asked.

"I can assume that burning a false tissue will prompt the real core to inject deadly poison into the lung," Nozomi said, seeing the ten cores blinking white. "Ugh, now this is way harder than before. We need to find out which one is the real core before it attacks!"

"There should be some kind of hint, right?" Wolf asked.

"Hmm, there might be one…" Dr. Mario muttered.

However, they were all slow to find the real core as all the false tissues integrated into the lung. The internal organ reacted a bit violently at the fading tissues, breathing in and out before stopping. The EKG started beeping faster signaling a significant drop of vitals. "V-vitals are dropping below five!" Peach said alarmed. "Hurry up and apply more stabilizers!"

Dr. Mario hurriedly injected three shots into the lung, raising the vitals over thirty-five. After doing so, smoke gathered in the middle of the lung, all of them spotting a yellow core hiding inside. "It's still there…" Zelda trailed off.

"While it disappears inside, the core is still functional," Nozomi said. "Like the lupine guy said before, though, there should have been a pattern we overlooked when the core was exposed. Let's have that in mind after we expose it open."

Marth looked serious and started draining out the poison once more. "I won't let this disease get the better of us next time…" he muttered.

As the poison was drained out, it left toxic tissues behind. The small toxic tissues were quickly burned by Dr. Mario's laser until the yellow core was exposed. Again, it spread into ten tissues around the lung, blinking from yellow to white.

"Alright, everyone look for any kind of hint that should tell us which one is the real core," Nozomi said.

It was not long before Zelda noticed that one tissue was blinking generally slower than all the other tissues. She pointed at the tissue occupying the right side area of the lung. "T-that one! That's the real core! It's blinking slower than the other tissues!" she said.

Nozomi saw the blinking tissue, grabbing the laser from Wolf to burn it. The tissue revealed itself to be the real core, blinking a shade of red as it twitched to the sides. Two seconds later, the core hid inside the lung once more while the other false tissues vanished by themselves. "It went back into hiding!" Peach said.

"But we damaged it," Nozomi said. "The procedure is coming along nicely."

The poisonous smoke formulated on the center of the lung, with the yellow core appearing right inside it. It began hovering around while leaving a small tissue of poison behind, which was burned by Dr. Mario. "Continue with the same steps," Dr. Mario said.

"Let me drain it this time," Zelda said. She firmly used the drain to drain out the smoke from the yellow core. As it diminished, the smoke left behind another tissue that was burned with Dr. Mario's laser. Soon enough, the yellow core was mildly exposed before it spread ten more fake tissue around the lung.

Unlike the previous time, there was a new change. No matter how much they looked, the ten tissue didn't blink differently. They were all blinking normally.

"I can't find the real core anymore..." Marth trailed off. "T-they're all blinking at the same rate!"

"This is impossible," Nozomi said a bit aggravated. "How could it change its weakness? I presume it's covering its weakness while exerting more energy from another source."

"But what is that source?" Dr. Mario asked.

"We're running out of time," Peach said serious. "There's no other way to figure out its new change! Pick a tissue and hope we'll find the core!"

"I'm going to regret doing this," Nozomi said as she burned a tissue with the laser. Her bad premonition came true as the false tissue was burned away, revealing nothing inside. Grunting, she spotted a sole blinking tissue exposing the yellow core before it glowed purple, injecting deadly poison inside the lung.

"Vitals dropping below ten!" Peach said.

Nozomi cursed some words under her breath as she applied three stabilizer shots into the lung to raise the vitals over forty. "I see now," she said. "If we don't do a thing to strike a false tissue, all the false tissues will hurt the lung and reduce thirty-five vitals. Burning a false tissue will instead take off twenty-five vitals. Do nothing, and it will strike hard."

"We're not going to do a wild guess again, right?" Dr. Mario asked. "There must've been some kind of change with its defense."

"Shall we look closely and compare the tissues after draining out the poison?" Nozomi suggested. "That way, we could find the real Veleno strain."

"Will there be a new change, though?" Zelda asked.

The Veleno materialized above the lung while showing the yellow core inside the living poison. Dr. Mario grabbed the drain to drain out the poison from the core. The living poison left some small tissues that were burned away with Nozomi's laser. After the yellow core was mildly exposed, it separated into ten false tissues that spread over the lung.

"Let's be quick this time. The vitals are dropping below thirty-five," Nozomi instructed.

Each one of them started comparing the ten tissues with each other. Most of them started to sweat after they were unable to find any particular change. Time was running out, and the false tissues would eventually adhere with the lung to spread deadly poison inside.

"I can't find any damn change," Wolf cursed. "All of 'em look completely alike!"

"Wait a minute. I found a new change!" Marth said as he pointed down below the lung. "That tissue over there isn't as small as the others!"

Dr. Mario compared the size of the aforementioned tissue with the other ones. Sure enough, he found out that the tissue in question was bigger. "That must be the one," he said, burning the false tissue to expose the yellow core. The yellow core blinked from yellow to red as it received the laser straight on its center. After being damaged for a few seconds, the false tissues faded away as the yellow core went into hiding inside the lung.

"Well done," Nozomi said pleased. "We've struck the correct tissue."

"But the Veleno is still alive," Zelda pointed out. "And since it changed its defensive pattern...will it do it again?"

The Veleno once again materialized above the lung, mildly exposing its yellow core. "We won't know if it'll change its defensive pattern unless we see it with our own eyes," Nozomi said. "If it does, be prepared t-"

The surgeon was interrupted after seeing that the Veleno split the poisonous smoke into two different clouds. "It split into two clouds this time…" Zelda muttered.

The two clouds started leaving small tissues behind, making Dr. Mario burn them with the laser. "It's trying to accelerate the process by leaving more tissues behind," he said. "It's probably getting stressed for all the damage we've dealt."

Nozomi started draining out one cloud. "No matter how many times it splits, we need to continue," she said. "Somebody take care of the other cloud while I take care of this one."

"Let me do the honors," Wolf offered himself as he started to drain out the smoke from the other cloud. The two worked as fast as they could while the doctor used the laser to burn the tissue left behind by the two foreign clouds of poison.

A few seconds later, Nozomi drained out the cloud she was focusing on. She found out the core hiding inside it. "I found it," she said.

However, an odd phenomenon took place. Wolf was midway draining the second cloud before it shifted to the yellow core and faded away. While the lupine looked confused at it, Dr. Mario took a closer look at the yellow core landing on the lung. His eyes widened when he saw that the poison left behind entered the lung through the yellow core, stressing the internal organ a lot. "V-vitals are dropping below fifteen!" Peach alerted them.

Nozomi applied four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals over fifty-five. "So now it has another attack pattern," she said. "Exposing the core first while there is another cloud out there will only make it react violently and use the cloud of poison to quickly inject it into the lung."

Everyone looked back at the yellow core hiding inside the lung. "So then, we have to drain out the cloud of poison that doesn't have the yellow core inside?" Marth asked.

"We'll do just that," Nozomi said as the Veleno materialized over the lung, once again, splitting into two clouds. "Are you ready for it?"

"Which one has the yellow core, though?" Zelda asked. "The two look very identical…"

"The one on the right has no yellow core," Wolf said.

"What? How do you know that?"

"Don't you see?" Wolf asked as he pointed at the other cloud of poison, spotting a faint yellow glow inside. "The other guy over there has the glowing core. That gives its hiding spot away, don't you think?"

"Nice eyesight," Nozomi remarked while draining out the other poison from the cloud. "If things go like I assume, this step should be easy to take care of."

Dr. Mario burned the tissues left by the two clouds. "I think we can start draining out the other cloud. You've drained half of it already," he said.

"I'll do this step myself," Peach offered as she used the drain on the cloud of poison with the yellow core inside. Eventually, both clouds of poison were drained out, exposing the yellow core mildly before it spread around in the form of ten false tissues.

"Are we going to compare each tissue another different way?" Marth asked.

"No, that shouldn't be necessary," Dr. Mario said. "Out of luck, I noticed the false tissue on the top is blinking way faster than the others. It's reusing the same defense pattern once more."

"Strike it down," Nozomi ordered, making the doctor burn the tissue away to strike the core directly. The core blinked from yellow to red until it went back into hiding, the other tissues fading away without causing damage. "I think we're getting closer to beating it. The further we stress it will tell us how weak it's starting to become."

The Veleno strain materialized once more over the lung. "Get ready because here it comes again," Peach said.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Confronting the Menace

The Veleno split its cloud into two, but after that, same two clouds split into four, then they split into eight. Together, the eight clouds easily more than half an area of the lung.

"Uh, I think it's getting weaker this time…" Marth said.

"Weaker to pull out its dirtiest attack yet," Wolf smugly said.

Dr. Mario saw how each cloud left behind a poisonous tissue behind. "Eight tissues? Everyone, drain out all of the clouds before the tissues cause damage!" he ordered. "I'll burn all the tissues with the laser!"

"But be careful here," Nozomi said. "Don't find the yellow core first. If it does, the patient will suffer extreme damage with a huge loss of vitals with the other clouds of poison."

The four assistants examined the clouds around the lung, carefully inspecting each one of them to make sure the yellow core wasn't hiding inside. After confirming that the core wasn't there, they all started draining out the poison while Dr. Mario burned the tissues. "Keep an eye of the vitals should there's a problem," Dr. Mario said.

Nozomi looked at the vitals, which were dropping below twenty. "(All those tissues left behind by each cloud take off vitals much faster,)" she thought. "(If there's a mistake right now, the patient might…)"

Zelda suddenly noticed that the yellow core exposed itself once she drained out the cloud of poison. Knowing that there were seven untreated clouds, she gasped and turned to the others. "I-I exposed the core first!" she said shocked.

"What?" Nozomi asked serious. "Didn't you make sure not to find it first?"

"I-I did, but it somehow appeared right before I finished! I-it wasn't there before, I swear!"

Dr. Mario looked at the vitals. Grunting, he started applying some stabilizer shots as the yellow core absorbed all seven clouds of poison to pass them to the lung. "Hurry, please, hurry!" Peach said hastily.

"I'm doing everything I can!" Dr. Mario said as he managed to get the vitals over sixty. However, the poison was transferred over to the lung, causing a massive drop of vitals right below two. The doctor gasped at the sudden drop that he accidentally let go of the syringe, falling down to the floor.

"Two damn vitals aren't gonna help the hedgehog!" Wolf said. "Hurry up and get the syringe!"

Nozomi stepped in by injecting two stabilizer shots. As the Veleno strain materialized once more, she closed her eyes to think. "(We can't afford to make any more mistakes... It's time to use the Healing Touch once more,)" she thought serious. "Everyone, leave this battle to me."

Dr. Mario got back up with the syringe on his right hand. "Are you sure you want to treat the disease alone?" he asked.

"My Healing Touch effect doesn't pass to others. Only I can use it," Nozomi said. "Besides, another little mistake will waste our stabilizers. Let my Healing Touch do the trick to heal while I treat all of those clouds myself."

"If you're so sure about it...then go ahead," Marth said. "There's a life on the line, so be careful."

"I will," Nozomi said as her hands started to glow in a blue light that engulfed them. The Veleno cloud split into eight different clouds that spread around the lung. Looking around, Nozomi started draining out every cloud while keeping an eye on the yellow core. The vitals on the EKG suddenly started recovering, passing beyond forty vitals and increasing. "On second thought, I need your help to take care of the tissues left behind by the clouds of poison."

"R-right," Dr. Mario said while grabbing the laser from Peach. "Let me make up for dropping my syringe with this."

"Um..." Peach muttered. "What if the yellow core appears out of nowhere?" she asked.

"Is it possible to think that it warps around?" Zelda asked.

"Warp around? No, I don't think it can do that unless it changed clouds," Nozomi said. "Did you see anything unusual when it appeared?"

"U-uh..." Zelda trailed off in thought. "...No...but I think I saw one of the other clouds sticking closer to the cloud I was draining out..."

"That must be it!" Peach said. "If the clouds happen to touch each other, the core can pass to another cloud so it can be exposed by accident! That's how the yellow core appeared!"

Nozomi noticed that a cloud that she didn't treat was suspiciously moving closer to the cloud she was draining out with the drain. She stopped before the cloud touched the small poof of lethal poison, seeing a faint yellow color glowing in it. "So that's how it appeared," she said. "It gets closer to the cloud of poison that is about to be drained out completely. Heh, it thinks it's smart, but we can comprehend its nature very well."

"Hmm, don't you think we can work having this in mind?" Wolf asked.

"No need," Nozomi said. "I'll use my Healing Touch to raise the vitals to the maximum limit. I'll treat some of the clouds before I pass on the baton to all of you."

"The vitals just hit the ninety-nine mark," Peach said.

"I'll continue working on some others clouds," Nozomi said. "My Healing Touch will keep the vitals from dropping."

The surgeon kept draining out the clouds of poison while making sure that suspicious clouds with the yellow core didn't infiltrate her area. As she kept working, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with her. Nozomi somehow started to feel exhausted as she exerted more energy from the Healing Touch. Some of them even noticed how her pace seemed to slow down gradually. Moreover, there were signs of heavy breathing coming from her.

Dr. Mario looked concerned to Nozomi while she managed to drain out a fourth cloud of poison completely. "Are you okay? You're starting to sweat and pant heavily..." he trailed off.

"I-I'm fine..." Nozomi muttered. "I think...I think that using the Healing Touch now was a little bit too early..."

Dr. Mario recalled her words about the Healing Touch draining out the energy of their users. "You need to stop using it now!" he said. "If you collapse during the surgery, we will some serious issues!"

"T-that is...what I was thinking..." Nozomi muttered. The glow on her hands slowly diminished until it faded away completely. She took a few steps back to regain her composure.

"You look kind of wasted," Wolf said. "You wanna continue with this?"

"Yes..." Nozomi muttered as she stepped forward and resumed draining out the remaining clouds of poison. "Using the Healing Touch one more time will...will surely make me collapse... I won't accept...backing away from this procedure while the patient is suffering..."

"That's very admirable, but...don't push yourself too much like that..." Peach muttered.

"I'll be just fine from here and onwards..." Nozomi muttered. "This disease won't be left untreated..."

Dr. Mario had a worried look on his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the lung again. He saw how Nozomi started draining out a sixth cloud of poison before another cloud with a yellow core could touch it. Several seconds later, the other assistants stepped in and started draining out three clouds of poison, surprising the two surgeons.

"Don't overexert yourself," Marth told Nozomi. "We're here to give a hand."

"I don't wanna see you collapsing right on top of this sick guy," Wolf said. "You'll obstruct the camera's view."

"And please, don't put everything on your shoulders," Peach said with a chuckle. "You've got assistants after all."

Nozomi blinked a few times before she chuckled. "You're all absolutely right... Thank you for your help," she said. "Back on the operation, be careful about the yellow core passing along the clouds you're attending."

The three assistants nodded as they drained out the lethal poison. With three working, all the clouds except one were drained out. Dr. Mario stepped in and drained out the last cloud to expose the yellow core, which separated into ten false issues. Comparing each other, the doctor found out that one of the tissues was far bigger than the others. He struck it with the laser to reveal the yellow core's hiding spot. He narrowed his eyes as the yellow core blinked yellow to red.

A few seconds later, the yellow core inflated.

"It's getting bigger now?" Marth asked in disbelief.

"It's not over yet?" Zelda asked shocked.

"No..." Dr. Mario trailed off.

The yellow core grew three times its size before it started shooting out harmless poofs of normal poison. It then started fading away along with the poison that it shot out. Soon enough, the Veleno strain disappeared completely, not before leaving an image of its yellow core imprinted on the center of the lung.

"The Veleno strain has been defeated," Peach said. "No more reactions are coming from the lung, and the vitals are stabilizing."

"We did it...we did it again..." Nozomi muttered. "It's time to close him up..."

"I'll do that part," Dr. Mario said as he started suturing the incision over Sonic's body. As he disinfected the sutured incision with antibiotic gel and used some bandage to cover the suture, he said, "All of his friends are probably sighing in relief by now. They're all going to be happy for sure."

"Operation complete," Marth said. "Nozomi was about to collapse at the last moment, but things worked out pretty well. If I may, I want to congratulate everyone myself."

Nozomi sighed. "Great job," she added.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Caduceus USA

Everyone removed their surgical masks, letting out some sighs. "Once again, we did it... Now Sonic should be out of trouble for now," Dr. Mario said.

"As long as he has that picture imprinted on his lung, we can't say," Nozomi said. "He still needs to be in the infirmary until we find out how we can treat the side effect. Let's move him back there."

"I'll do it," Peach offered as she grabbed Sonic's bed and pushed it to the door, which was opened by Dr. Mario.

The silver-haired surgeon looked exhausted, putting a hand over her forehead. "I underestimated the consequences…" she said. "I don't think I can use the Healing Touch very often."

"Didn't you use it twice, though?" Dr. Mario asked. "I thought you rested long enough to use it again."

"I did rest, but it wasn't enough, apparently," Nozomi said. "I'm sorry to say this, but the next operation would be better to start in an hour or so."

Marth thought for a moment. "You want to be sure that the Healing Touch is available if an emergency comes up, right?" he asked.

"Yes. I've said relying on the Healing Touch too much is dangerous, but I want to have it ready for a real emergency," she explained. "You all understand how dangerous and unpredictable these disease can be, right?"

"Good thinking," Dr. Mario said. "Let's rely on the Healing Touch whenever our patients are about to lose the fight against the diseases."

Zelda felt that the floor was shaking a bit. "U-um, we have a tremor!" she said.

"Actually, this isn't a tremor," Nozomi said amused. "It's just a bunch of people running down the hallway as we speak."

"People?" Marth wondered. "Oh, you don't mean..."

It was not long before they heard some cries coming from the direction of the hallway, as a panicked Peach tried to push the bed to the infirmary with little success. Dr. Mario exchanged glances with the assistants, then he walked out to assist Peach to tell the people to open the way to the infirmary. Some seconds later, the trembling stopped.

Dr. Mario came back to the operation room. "I went to the infirmary to see that all of our patients are awake," he said. "The anesthesia lifted off now."

"They all woke up, huh?" Nozomi asked. "Let me have a word with them to explain what's going on with each one of them."

"I could do that if you want to."

Nozomi shook her head. "I want to know who my patients are before I get to perform surgery on them all," she explained.

"I see… Well then, go right ahead," Dr. Mario said. "They also need to know who's going to be treating all of them."

The surgeon and the doctor left the operation room. Peach relaxed a bit and turned to the assistants. "Shall we take a break after preparing the tools for the next operation in an hour?" she suggested.

"Who is the next patient after our little break?" Zelda asked.

Peach picked the chart from a nearby table. "After Sonic, Fox is the next one," she said. "We're going to be treating his pancreas."

"Ain't that gonna be interesting…" Wolf muttered.

Infirmary

Nozomi and Dr. Mario entered the infirmary to see many people gathered around the patients that had been already treated. Noticing how crowded the room was, she clapped her hands to get their attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt this, but we need to have a word with all the patients in here. There are a lot of voices talking at the same time, and some of the patients who still need to be treated need to rest," she said.

"That's not fair!" Amy yelled, receiving "shh"s from the others. "S-sorry… I-I still want to be here. Sonic hasn't woken up yet…"

"I know that we finished with that guy, but rules have to be followed around a hospital area," Nozomi said. "And, as crazy as it sounds, this floor has become kind of a hospital area. I want all the visitors to leave until I allow more visits. This room has to be quiet right now."

"You can wait for us to finish in the hallway," Dr. Mario said. "But don't try to get in here while we're talking. If somebody leans their ear on the door, I will know."

Most of the visitors exchanged worried looks to their friends in beds before they slowly started to leave the room.

The silver-haired surgeon looked at all the patients. The ones that were already treated looked much better in condition unlike the ones that haven't been treated. Out of the eight, except for Sonic who was still unconscious, Lucario was the only one who didn't wake up.

Nozomi stared at the weird humanoid dog. "The dog guy over there," she muttered, "why is he still unconscious?"

"We think the disease affecting his heart has something to do with his condition," Dr. Mario muttered. "Ever since he got it, he's been knocked out for a long time."

The surgeon stared at Lucario before she focused her attention on the others. "As you all know, all of you have man-made diseases residing in different parts of your bodies," Nozomi said. "Sorry for not introducing myself to you first. My name is Nozomi Weaver. I'm the surgeon who has been helping out your doctor with the surgeries."

"W-we've got a surgeon?" Link asked. "But I thought Dr. Mario was enough..."

"Sadly, the diseases you all have in your bodies forced me to come," Nozomi said. "I wanted to have a talk with you before we can continue, and also because we're resting for doing five operations without stopping."

"What do you want to tell us?" Ike asked.

"For those of you who still feel really sick or feel pain in your bodies, we're not through with you yet," Nozomi said. "In fact, you'll be the next ones to have a surgery one at a time. However...there isn't an exact percentage of chances that will tell us that you will survive through the surgery."

Roy felt sicker than before. "W-what do you mean by that? W-we could possibly die while the surgery is in process?" he asked frightened.

"As sad as it might sound...yes," Nozomi said. "The ones we haven't operated on yet have the highest risk of dying at the hands of the Malattia strains; the name of the disease we've given them."

"Y-you...you've got...to be kidding me..." Falco muttered weakly. "I...I can't die...of a...stupid illness..."

"Ugh, me either..." Ness said. "T-the pain is just too much...b-but...seriously...dying?"

The silver-haired surgeon sighed. "It's cruel to think that you can die fairly easy when you have a lethal disease trying to kill you inside your body...but this is why surgeons exist." She nodded once. "As a surgeon, my job will be eliminating those diseases before they get to eliminate you all from the inside."

"...And what about the ones that went through surgery already?" Link asked.

"This is going to sound weird, but the diseases you had left some kind of image imprinted on the affected areas," Nozomi said. "To put it simply, you have the diseases' image reflected in your internal organs."

Pichu looked at his bandaged body. "U-um...I-I feel mentally scarred..." he muttered.

Link rubbed his head to find some kind of hole where his blond hair used to be under the bandage. "No way... T-there's no way I'm having some picture imprinted on my brain..." he muttered.

"In your case, it sounds stupid (yet funny,)" Nozomi said. "For the people that already had surgery, you still need to be here so we can run tests to see what's your condition."

"Do you feel sick now?" Dr. Mario asked.

"No..." Link said.

"I don't feel that weak anymore," Ike said.

"I-I'm doing fine..." Pichu admitted with a shrug.

"Doing fine here as well," DK said.

Nozomi rubbed her chin. "(They might suffer from a side effect if we overlook this...) I'm sorry to tell you this, but you must remain in the infirmary for now while we attend the others," she said. "I've got a bad feeling that's telling me you're not out of trouble yet."

DK hit his head against his pillow. "So much for the scary thought of going through surgery again..." he muttered.

"Just to let all of you know, I don't like to have my patients die when I'm operating on them," Nozomi said. "I'll guarantee that I, as well as your doctor and his assistants, will do anything to keep you from dying."

"That surely...makes me feel...much better..." Ness said weakly.

Ike shifted his eyes a bit. "S-so then, who's going to be next for a surgery process thing?" he asked.

Nozomi walked over to Fox's bed, the vulpine lying down weakly with exhausted eyes. "This guy over here will need one in an hour," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap..." Fox replied.

"Thought so," Nozomi said. "You'll be administered with anesthesia in fifty minutes starting now. Is it okay if we perform surgery with you knowing how bad the situation is for you?"

"Do anything...you want..." Fox muttered weakly. "I'm screwed up...if I don't...step up...anyway..."

Nozomi shook her head. "That kind of mentality won't help very much during the operation. You need to be in a good mood to avoid getting stressed," she said. "Your mood will also affect the surgery, you know. So brighten up a bit, okay?"

Fox rolled his head to the right. "I...will...try..." he muttered.

"I'd prefer if you did it instead, but don't be so depressed," Nozomi said, walking away from his bed. "Right now, everyone needs to rest. If one of the sick patients starts to get attacks, we'll start an emergency operation as soon as possible."

Dr. Mario nodded and walked out to the hallway. "You may enter and visit your friends, but please, remain quiet and don't shout," he was heard saying.

Nozomi turned to the door to see the visitors filling in the infirmary in a quiet pace. As they gathered around some beds to see how the patients were doing, she noticed that a new visitor, Chris, walked in after everyone else did. The World Traveler looked around until he saw Lucario lying on the bed closest to the window. The surgeon raised her eyebrow as the worried teen approached the Aura Pokémon, sitting down next to his bed. She walked through the rows of beds until she stood by his side.

"Are you his friend?" Nozomi asked.

"...Huh?" Chris turned to look up at her. He blinked as his eyes drifted to stare at Lucario. "Um, yes..."

Nozomi stared at Chris. "I've got a feeling that we've met before... Oh, that's right," she said. "You were working at the restaurant when it first opened to the public."

"You remember?" Chris asked, looking up at her.

"Only a few people have had the interest of talking to me," Nozomi said. "I'm not that good of a social person. I blame myself for being kind of secretive."

Chris looked back at Lucario. "I see..." he muttered. "...Do you know if he's going to be okay?"

"You want me to be honest with you?" she asked. "I don't like to say lies."

"Unless what you're about to say is something very bad, then go ahead..."

Nozomi crossed her arms. "I might be wrong, but your friend..."

"Lucario."

"Lucario, right," Nozomi said. "Your friend might be the one who's suffering the most out of everyone."

Chris looked at her. "W-why is it that bad for him?" he asked concerned.

"From the charts I studied, his condition is extremely weird," Nozomi said. "His heart is the affected area. The disease he got is, right now, not doing something very fatal to his condition."

"But then, why doesn't he wake up?" Chris asked.

"Blame the same disease," Nozomi said. "It weakened him a lot to the point he can't wake up. Be glad he's not in a vegetative state. However...he is in a coma."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Despair

The World Traveler's eyes widened at the fact. "A-a coma, you say?" he asked. "Lucario is in a coma?"

"Don't think his coma is normal," Nozomi said. "His coma was caused by the disease inside his heart. As soon as we get rid of the disease, I presume that he will wake up...but that is all I can expect it to do. His condition is stable while in his comatose state, but that disease has the perfect chance to finish him off."

Chris looked down. "D-don't say that..." he trailed off. "H-he can't be between life and death..."

"Everyone in this place is between life and death," Nozomi said. "He happens to be exactly right in the middle of those two because of the Malattia strain trying to kill him."

The teen hung his head down.

"..." Nozomi bent down as she placed a hand over his shoulder. "A surgeon has the job to save patients," she said. "It's going to be my task to wake him up from his deep sleep."

"B-but...but what if he dies during the struggle?" Chris asked, mildly whimpering. "I-if he's in a coma, he could die anytime while you do the operation!"

"He won't die," Nozomi said. "Not on my watch."

"..." The World Traveler whimpered a bit at the thought of Lucario dying. To avoid thinking gruesome thoughts, Chris tried to diverge his sadness. "Is it really possible to...to save him, though?"

"His comatose state was self-inflicted," Nozomi pointed out. "The disease is causing all that damage to him. Thankfully, the coma he has is much more different than the normal kind of coma people usually get. I would say he's got a weak coma that can be treated through surgery."

Chris slowly turned to her, wiping away some tears from his eyes. "If you get rid of the disease...he will wake up?" he asked.

"If things go smoothly while the disease doesn't do anything funny while we treat it, I'd say it's very possible," Nozomi said. "Since the diseases try other violent methods to attack once they're stressed, the chances of him waking up from his coma will get slim."

"...I'm...I'm going to pray for the best to happen," Chris muttered. "I'm so helpless with my healing magic because it doesn't do any effect on him..."

"...Healing magic?" Nozomi wondered. "Are you sure you're...sane?"

Chris gasped silently before he looked depressed once more. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm...I'm saying the truth," he said. "I think it was obvious that this place was different from the place you came from..."

"Dr. Mario told me about the existence of other worlds, with mine being just another world," she said. "I didn't believe him at first, but this place surely explained me why everyone looked so different, and why there were humanoid animals living among the people in the village. This is another world, alright."

The teen looked at Lucario. "..."

"But healing magic?" Nozomi asked. "Magic actually exists here?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but magic is kind of a common sight to see around here," Chris explained. "I'm some kind of magician as well, and I can use healing magic to heal small wounds. Peach tried to cure them with magic, but as soon as she finished her chant, some barriers appeared right over them, rendering the spell useless..."

"...I see..." Nozomi said. "That didn't happen before they got infected, right?"

"Exactly..." Chris said.

"These diseases not only attack in patterns, but they render healing magic useless as well," Nozomi said. "Whoever came up with these diseases must have taken a lot of precautions to make sure there was almost no way to cure the infected."

The teen recalled how the Ancient Minister struck all of the infected Smashers with ease. Chris was particularly focusing on how Lucario was tricked into falling first by provoking him with insults. "...I'm sure he went through a lot to hurt us this way..." he muttered.

"You know the name of the culprit who infected them in the first place?" Nozomi asked.

"Yes...but I think you should hear the whole story so you can understand what we're doing..." Chris said. "We do more than living under the same roof..."

Nozomi thought for a moment. "I was thinking why people that look so different would want to live together in a mansion," she said. "Well, I bought the existence of worlds and magic talk, so let me in with this other tidbit of information."

"If you say so..." Chris said.

A few minutes later...

"A group dedicated to maintain peace in other worlds from a malignant enemy party trying to conquer said worlds," Nozomi said. "Sounds like a super hero tale taken out from a children' book if you ask me."

"Don't think of us that way," Chris said, looking away. "Not all of us have special powers naturally. Most of us were given special abilities to fend off the Subspace Army. Before I even got here, I was just an average teenager...and the rest is easy to figure out..."

Nozomi looked skeptical. "Hmm... Moving on to current events, they finally relied on man-made diseases to put a stop to you?" she asked.

"It was very unlikely that they'd rely on something so dirty like that, but they did..." Chris said. "I'm very scared about all this... I...I don't want Lucario to die like this...and everyone else too..."

Nozomi sighed a bit and put a hand over the side of her lap. "Normally, a doctor like me would tell people like you to stay out of trouble if you don't want to suffer casualties," she said. "As a doctor, I don't want to see you getting a broken leg because you were fighting out there."

"...I know...but I'd honestly want to resolve all this fight against the army without using violence," Chris said. "That's not important anymore..."

"That's your sole decision," Nozomi said. "If you go ahead with it, I'll be glad to give a hand with your injuries, be they lacerations or strange diseases." She placed her hand on Lucario's bed. "I'll do everything to cure him. Healing magic didn't work, but there's nothing an old-style surgery can't do...that's what I think, though."

Chris stared at Lucario for a little more, turning his head to look up at Nozomi. "I-I want to say that...I want to say that I trust that you will do what you can do for him," he said as he forced a smile. "If you can still perform surgery on him...I'll be strong and support you. I don't want Lucario to die like this..."

The silver-haired surgeon smiled a bit. "Surgeons aren't certain to save lives, but they can have many chances to try," she said. "I don't want you crying while we operate. My self-esteem could be damaged if I think you're sad."

"I'll stay strong..." Chris said. "I can't act weak while he's in this cursed coma..."

Nozomi looked outside the window to see that the clouds started to produce thunders. She looked back at Chris and tapped his shoulder. "He is in good hands," Nozomi said.

"Thank you." The World Traveler wiped out a tear. "Good luck with everyone else as well."

The surgeon nodded. "Okay then, I'll have to go and take my break now," she said. "Do you mind if I leave?"

"Go ahead," Chris said. "I'm going to be here and see if somebody gets very sick while I look after Lucario."

"Thanks for your help," Nozomi said as she walked away from the infirmary, leaving the teen to lament to himself what had happened to Lucario.

Chris stared at Lucario for much longer as he interlaced his fingers and rested his forehead against them. "(Don't let him die now... I beg of you...)"

Seventh Floor's Hallway

Nozomi was met up by Dr. Mario, who was sitting on a chair to reflect on the situation at hand. He noticed how Nozomi looked a bit tense from where he was sitting. "Is something wrong?" Dr. Mario asked.

"Besides the fact there are around ten people in need of surgery, I guess," Nozomi said. "I haven't started to think what it means to take care of somebody's life when you're the one in charge to save their lives."

"That's odd... Why did you become a surgeon?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I became a surgeon to save people's lives," Nozomi said. "There are many people who become surgeons for the same reasons, but some do it just for the money they're paid. Me? I probably lost the thought of how one feels to know when one of their patients dies, even after their internal injuries were all treated flawlessly. When I used to work with Delphi, I only cared about the money they gave me to make a living."

"Were you forced to cure patients you didn't know?"

"Yes," Nozomi said. "My patients were mostly people who were guinea pigs for gruesome experiments to develop diseases. I was rarely given the chance to work on my own outside of them. I was very well received when I worked alone from them, but getting used to perform surgeries on patients that never said a word to me made me feel like I was using their bodies to test myself and nothing else..."

Dr. Mario looked down. "That must have been hell for you..." he said.

"It was hell for me," Nozomi said. "I was only clinging to them to have a license as a surgeon. I suppose I never thought about the consequences that came with working for them. And now, I'm starting to recall how important it was for me to be a surgeon after having these chances to talk to patients who were willing to listen to what I had to say. That also includes their acquaintances." She sighed a bit. "If as if the humanity I had before is slowly returning to me. I'm slowly recovering my forgotten thoughts."

The doctor hopped off from his seat and nodded to her. "I'm sure you'll recover everything you lost," he encouraged her. "If treating all of the patients here won't do it, then at least you can use this opportunity to start anew."

Nozomi nodded with a confident chuckle. "The patients who will help me do that are certainly something, but they're still human to me," she said. "Who knows, once I go back to Europe, my work there will be more bearable if things go well here for me."

"You have us for help," Dr. Mario said. "And we have you for the same reason."

The surgeon and the doctor spent their break talking with each other about personal things, gradually making Nozomi feel at home. She asked about some of the Smashers' back stories to know their profiles so she could get a better understanding of all of them. As she did, she felt that there were no reasons for her to dwell too much in the past and look up to her future in a much more positive path.

The end of their break came faster than they thought as Peach ran out from the infirmary. "D-doctors! W-we've got a problem!" she said in panic.

Nozomi stood up from her chair. "What is the problem?" she asked.

"It's Fox!" she said. "He started complaining about feeling some kind of brick hurting him inside his body, and then he collapsed on his bed!"

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Emergency

"What?" Dr. Mario asked. "Did his disease already advanced to a new stage all of a sudden?"

"It's possible that the disease decided to advance by itself," Nozomi said. "I feared that this would happen..."

"W-what do you mean?" Peach asked.

"It's common for diseases to advance to new stages of critical condition," she said. "However, the Malattia strains we're dealing with can do what they please. It's just as if they were living beings."

"That's is so horrible..." Dr. Mario trailed off. "But it's not something we can't treat. Peach, did you already apply anesthesia?"

"Y-yes, but I'm afraid his condition will worsen if we don't start the operation now," Peach said. "We've got an emergency operation on hands!"

"Move him to the operation room and prep everything for the surgery," Nozomi said as she walked to the operation room. "We've got no time to waste here. Let's all move on!"

"R-roger!" Peach said as she ran back into the infirmary while Dr. Mario followed her from behind.

Operation Room

As Nozomi entered, she found the assistants checking several shelves to get everything ready. "We're going to have to do an emergency operation this time," Nozomi said. "The next patient collapsed by himself. The new Malattia strain in his body advanced to a new stage, and his condition has worsen."

"So Fox didn't hold up for that long, huh..." Wolf muttered.

"Get everything ready," Nozomi ordered. "We'll start the briefing as soon as he's brought here. If there's anything you'd like to tell me before we start, tell me now."

"I think Fox's got lot of fur in his body," Marth said. "...Are you going to have to shave it off?"

Nozomi snapped her fingers. "Somebody get me a shaver," she said. "I'm not having fur getting in our way."

Wolf snickered as he ducked down to open a door to look for a shaver. "I'll hand it over to you in a sec," he said.

Nozomi turned to the door to see Peach and Dr. Mario bringing in the unconscious vulpine on his bed. As soon as the bed was set in the middle of the room, the nurse prepared the EKG besides the patient while Nozomi grabbed the shaver from Wolf and promptly started shaving off fur covering the affected area. Some of them looked a bit dumbfounded before she shaved off a big patch of fur. "...For being a fox, he's got a good physique under all that fur, let me tell you," Nozomi said amused.

"(I wouldn't expect nothing less from him,)" Wolf thought while Zelda looked away in embarrassment. "(...I need to do more exercise than him. He looks in a better shape than I am...)"

"Alright, is everyone ready to start the briefing?" Dr. Mario asked. "Good, the-"

The doctor was interrupted as the booming sound of a thunder echoed throughout the mansion. The six covered their ears as they saw the illumination flickering for a few times. And for their biggest of dismays, the lights in the room went off, shrouding everything in darkness.

"...You've seriously got to be kidding me," Nozomi muttered grudgingly in the darkness. "Why now of all times?"

"W-what did just happen?" Zelda asked.

"The mansion was struck by a lightning bolt!" Dr. Mario said. "There's a storm outside right now!"

"How the hell are we supposed to perform an operation if we can' even see where we're going to do it?" Wolf asked aggravated. "This idiot right over here is having an attack, isn't he? I'm not having him die because freakin' Mother Nature says so!"

Just then, the EKG besides them turned on, giving a very faint illumination. "Why did it turn on except for everything else?" Marth asked.

"This EKG relies on an emergency power supply attached to it from inside," Peach said. "The laser also happens to have a small one, but it can last for a long time."

"Then take off the EKG's damn power supply and let's use it for some light!" Wolf said.

"B-but we can't!" Peach said. "It'll take a lot of time to detach it from the EKG. Plus, we need the EKG to tell us his vitals!"

"We're starting the briefing," Nozomi said suddenly, making most of them gasp.

"What are you saying?" Marth asked. "Are you crazy? We can't perform in the dark!"

"This already happened to me once before, and I'm willing to do it again under these circumstances," Nozomi said serious. "Of course, we're not literally going to do a surgery with all this darkness. Does anyone here have something that can give us some light?"

"I'm afraid there are no flashlights in this room..." Dr. Mario said. "And looking for one in the mansion will take even more time."

"Not to mention the fact Fox has little time to survive..." Marth added.

"...Hold on a minute," Wolf said. "My cyber eye-patch has a light function I can use to give us some light. I'd use the night vision to see by myself, but I'm no surgeon."

"Think you can shed us some light with it to use the tools and perform the surgery?" Nozomi asked.

"Does that mean I will have to stay looking at this guy's body while you perform?"

"Well, you can take off the cyber eye-patch you're wea-"

"Not in this life," Wolf replied angrily.

"In that case, you will be flashing us some light as we do this operation. You're not allowed to look away unless we tell you to do so."

"...Fine," Wolf said as he clicked on his cyber eye-patch to turn on a small light that managed to illuminate the body while giving some light around the bed, allowing them to see the tools as well.

"Well, this is certainly better than a penlight and a camera flash," Nozomi said. "We've got little time to waste. Let's get started."

Before the briefing could even begin, Nozomi took a little of time to think about what was more to come with the next line of patients clinging for their lives. The silver-haired surgeon was predicting that her job would bring more dangerous situations. However, she knew that the Healing Touch was there to give her an edge over the dangerous diseases.

"(That is my job, after all,)" Nozomi thought as the briefing started.

"Sorcery of Salvation. Not that I'm going to overuse my Healing Touch so many times," Nozomi said.

"What if I wave some money in front of your face?" Master Hand asked.

"I'll gladly take the bribe, except it'll be a generous donation instead of a bribe."

"…Does that mean no Healing Touch overuse?"

"Yep."

"(Damn, she's smart…)"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Nozomi

References:

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Doctors on Duty" is a song reference to the same game. It mostly play in Caduceus USA's headquarters.

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Operation Under Way" is another song reference to the same game. It's the standard theme for surgeries that have common symptoms.

"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Encroaching Shadows" is another song reference to the same game. It's a remixed version of the first G.U.I.L.T. track found in Second Opinion, and my favorite G.U.I.L.T. remix so far. :)

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Confronting the Menace" is another song reference to the same game. It plays whenever you're dealing with mutated G.U.I.L.T. strain. Is this theme telling you "HURRY UP BEFORE THE DAMN PATIENT DIES!" or what? I feel pressure…

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Caduceus Europe" is YET another song reference to the same game. It plays in Caduceus Europe HQ. It's a very calm them, unlike…

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion –Caduceus USA" is ONE more song reference to the same game. It plays in Caduceus USA HQ, and unlike Europe, this one wants us to dance at the disco music!

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion –Despair" is YET another song reference to the same game. As you'd know, this one plays during sad moments.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion –Emergency" is YET ANOTHER song reference to the same game. It always plays during emergencies where the patients suffer fatal attacks, or when other dangerous events take place.

-The disclaimer part alludes to a very unusual operation in Second Opinion…

-Nozomi saying that using Wolf's cyber eye-patch is better than a penlight and a camera flash references an operation in the game that she went through.

Out of Curiosity…:

-Shoji Meguro composed all the "Wii tracks" for Second Opinion. However, he stopped doing music for the TC series after Second Opinion. On a small side note, he's the main composer for the Persona series.

Phew, another reason why I delayed this chapter was because I was literally studying human anatomy…in the actual games, of course. I wanted to know how to further expand this arc by knowing more about the human anatomy while carefully thinking some differences for certain Smashers. It was a pain, but I enjoyed playing through some of the operations…to increase my ranks on the operations, of course. -_-

Still, this was very fun to write. All these diseases center on a main theme, meaning they're not given animal and plant names randomly. If you can grasp the main theme, then go ahead and say it. It could also provide you a clue about what the last disease will be… The next chapter will most certainly have more scenes that will be probably more shocking than the ones in here. And I'm sure the end of this arc will bring a good closure as well. ;)

Since I've got nothing else to say, I encourage all medicine fanatics to review and wait for the next chapter to be surgery action-packed. :)

…Or the Malattia will affect Master Hand.

Master Hand: HA! Give it a shot. I don't even know what my internal organs are!

Nozomi: And not knowing what you have in your body should make you proud because...

Master Hand: Oh, shut up…
*Chapter 181*: Sorcery of Salvation

It's the next page of the medical drama arc.

From ngrey651: You know, it's a good thing you've got Dr. Mario in there. In the Mushroom kingdom, he's the finest doc by far! He got his degree by watching "House" and "Scrubs" and "E.R"! XD

From me: Yes, I know it's a good thing. Would it be easy to think Mario can do all kinds of job? I sometimes think he can. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From PianistChris: This was a very intense chapter, the ending being the most.

This arc's is very interesting, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter :D

From me: Well, this chapter will even more surgeries that the previous one, so I'll see your final verdict about it. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From FF and STH: Great chapter, not much I can say about this chapter that wasn't already said in the last review beside the fact the next surgeries will be done in the dark, which will add for some nice suspense.

From me: Hmm, oh well. It's still good to know that your decision stands. Perhaps there could be more differences from you in this chapter? I'll wait and see. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From N the puppet: (Nods) Yeah, if Kirby was a victim, yeesh, I doubt anyone, surgeon or not, could help him.

Heck, his stomach was shown to be a completely different GALAXY of all things! (Off of the anime, at least.)

Too bad Pikachu can't help turn the lights on in the operating room.

Then again, that might result in bad memories. (COUGHIsleOfTheAncientsCOUGH)

Great Job! ^-^

From me: I'm even more fearful of what Meta Knight's insides look like. If Kirby is supposedly a galaxy, and the fact Meta Knight lacks sucking powers... Star Warriors must have very complicated bodies. D:

And yes, I think Pikachu wouldn't like to provide electricity, and also because the surgeons could lose time getting everything ready with Fox suffering from his disease.

Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From raytenay: So is the malatia a kind of GUILT? Oh, and when is snake is going too came back?

anyway bye

From me: Although it could be a kind of GUILT, the Malattia resembles it, but it's not another branch from GUILT. And Snake will come back soon, so wait a bit longer, okay? Thanks again.

From Blaperile: To say it in short, this chapter was once again excellent.

I did feel like Pichu and Link's surgeries were too short. It seemed like they passed quickly and I was never doubting their survival unlike with the other surgeries. Sonic's surgery was perfect, though.

There was some good character development for Nozomi as well, which was good as I liked to see her back-story. There's also been set a good suspicion for the upcoming chapter(s)with: there being no light, Fox being an emergency, Wolf helping with Fox's surgery, Lucario still not waking up and so on.

I liked there were still some jokes included like with Vector, Charmy and Espio talking. Nice job, once again. Keep up the good work! :D

From me: I did my best to enlarge the operations a bit in this chapter based on your pointers. I also felt that they were short, too. :D

Hopefully, all the suspense you're holding on to will be solved during this chapter. Thanks again. :)

From Speedy-Shifter: Another good chapter

Someone's review asked what Kirby's insides looked like, and that made me wonder if it's the same for Meta Knight, because he is just an older Kirby with a mask, wing-cape, and sword.

Why did you make Pichu's desiese (I can NOT, spell that word) in the shape of a flower?

You must have ran out of ideas for the shape and attacks of Link's brain you know what.

Eaither they all really cared about him that much, or Amy made Knukles (another thing I can't spell) and team chaotic (or do they spell it with a X) come.

I never noticed how small Sonic's torso is.

Two mobs in one chapter, a lot of people cared for the sick.

Did Link notice the bald spot?

Hopefully, Master Hand will Turn the power back on before the operation finishs.

That's all for this chapter. Now, before I go, do you plan to do a kingdom hearts arc or saga (if you do, Ganon and Bowser won't change in Halloween town :P)?

Kk bye-bye seeya! =D

From me: Again, no comments about what galaxy...I mean, kind of insides Meta Knight has... Geez, these Star Warriors turned out to be so anatomically complicated. -.-

I made Pichu's disease in the shape of a flower based on the main theme of all the diseases combined. This chapter is even going to say why that is. ;)

Nah, I didn't run out of ideas. I wanted to show a disease that was so stubborn to continue doing damage just to fail miserably. His disease is probably the weakest disease of all of them. :P

How come most people don't take into account the sizes of various parts of the bodies? I mean, has anyone noticed how big Ness's and Lucas' heads are compared to their bodies? X_X

I'm pretty sure Link noticed the bald spot. Well, the narrative even implied he felt the empty spot under his bandage.

Hahahahaha... Maybe he will turn on the light.

And about the KH arc... People are really itching to see an arc based on that, aren't they? Well, if they want it to be "unlocked", FFVIII and FFX must be visited first before attempting a KH arc. The reason why is because there are characters from both of those games that need to be met before to enlarge the KH arcs with their KH alternates.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Blackglow: Well, these last two chapters have been rather... different, yet still interesting.

Just out of curiosity, did you happen to draw inspiration for the disease/infection thing from Okami? What I am about to say will have some slight story spoilers for Okami.

After you arrive in Sei-An City, you find it engulfed in a GREEN FOG that is making the residents of the city SERIOUSLY ILL. You eventually find out that the fog is being PRODUCED FROM INSIDE THE EMPOROR. Upon entering his body to find the cause, it is found that the disease is A LIVING BEING CAPABLE OF RATIONAL THOUGHT.

The things that are in caps are things that I found to be very similar to the Malattia viruses.

Anyway, can't wait to see how things turn out, what with the power surge and all!

From me: Nope, and for that matter, I don't know what Okami is about. However, people have been mentioning it so much. Maybe I should see it by myself and think about turning it into an arc? Hmm, it's tempting...

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From wereAuraknight: Aloha its me again!Sorry about not reviewing but I've been trying to reread you're amazing story. unfortunately that is impossible as I can almost reciter you're story off the top of my head! speaking of heads poor link. He must have a headache. with surgery and me beating Gannondorf 3 times last night on twilight princess. I hope you can continue to update this amazing story.

as my main note ( as I think Lucario is to awesome to be a side note) is Lucario going to be okay? I have a feeling that his Aura sensors where damaged. or perhaps that the smoke poisoned his Aura.

after all it was a different color.

keep on typing so i can keep on reading!

~Long Live The Ranks of the Aura Knights~

From me: Well, no, it has nothing to do about affecting his aura. If anything, his aura is fine, but his heart is not. This chapter will show more information about his condition.

Thanks for reviewing, my Hawaiian friend. :)

From DianaGohan: Heh I think this chapter had the least amount of Chris since... 120 where Chris only appeared at the end. I still want to see a chapter that Chris isn't in at all except where his character breaks the fourth wall in the ending credits and asks where his screentime is. His scene was only fairly basic anyway: Just worrying about Lucario and being told by Nozoumi that she's going to make sure the he's fine even though he may have the worst condition out of everyone. Really it did go on a bit too long as well since there wasn't honestly that much to the scene. It felt like "hmm I guess Chris should worry about Lucario some so I'll stretch that out for a page more then I should because uh... Chris needs a bit more screentime" even though he really dosen't. Not to mention some of what he said dosen't even make sense (Most of the smashers didn't get their regular super powers from Master Hand he just tweaked their abilities and it anything he initally gave wasn't to fight hte army only Chris's abilities. Sure the extra ones were to fight the army but really that dosen't exclude the fact that before most of them were in fact super human to some degree).

This chapter also had a bit of what I was worried in this arc: Boredom with the surgery bits. I mean okay yeah each was different with each one having it's own name, each one having various uses of cutting and virals and different tricks to try and kill the smasher it was infecting but really it got in a way a bit predicitable seeing the various back and forths. I also blame the fact that there was actually too much surgery bits in this arc. There needed to be more downtime bits. I don't mean stuff like Chris's either but more bits between the assistants and doctors and even the patients themselves. I mean I didn't get squemish or anything during the bits but I was getting a bit underwhelemed by the third surgery (even when it was done on Sonic having his lungs filled with poision). Truth is these medical dramas actually don't have nearly as much surgery as they do actual character bits or actually trying to find out more about the disease which is probably why they work. Also I wanted to complain about some of the medical jargon not being properly described to make any sense but thinking about it that's a problem with medical shows as well so I can't blame this story for having it as well.

The best bits were the character bits. I really liked the beginning with Master Hand being so confused on what human anatomly is (which makes sense considering he's only a freaking glove) and Nozoumi threathening to sue him if he dosen't pay her (heh then we might see a full Phoneix Wright arc case. Hmmm actually that could be something if done right that would deserve it's own arc actually if you can stretch something like Trauma Center to have it's own arc) as well as Nozoumi being amused by the various smashers she came across. I also liked hearing about her past on why she became a surgeon and why she wound up having to use a fake name and idenitiy. (You know I consider some characters hiding stuff to be kind of ridicolous but Nozoumi is kind of an open book. Then again she's a doctor and doctors have to be pretty honest with the people they're working with to establish trust which is really needed on surgery). And I do really like the dramatic ending with Fox needing emergencey surgery and the storm cracking down and darkening the room and only Wolf's little scouter light giving them the light to see what's happening. Yeah that's probably another cliche (not just in Trauma Center) about having to do an operation in the dark but good here.

Hopefully the chapters will be shorter or we'll be better more character bits in the next part for this arc. Still I think this was a solid enough chapter as the music and pacing is still fine and there were enough good moments to keep me going throughout it.

GRADE: B

From me: 1- Chris is a worrywart when thinking that Lucario is in a bad condition, so that's why he needs to have a little more attention to make him understand that everything will be fine (or rather, make him feel okay with himself). And as matter of fact, many of the Smashers were really given powers. I'll just say that I've never seen Peach using her...butt to attack people in another game. You'll get what I mean by that.

2- I think you just answered your own question...

3- Phoenix Wright isn't a lawyer but an attorney (and with that, I mean he only finds the truth about his cases and doesn't sue people). He doesn't sue people. Also, some characters need to hide stuff because it's their nature to do that. They even do that in the actual games, but they have their reasons, be they ridiculous or reasonable.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

It was quite hard for me to write this chapter down, and that's not because I lacked information or anything. I was just not in the mood...and people kept kind of distracting me from it. Yup, I'm such a talker...

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT! :O

It's about time we moved on to the next chapter, wouldn't you say? This chapter will include more operations, and even more break times. The drama in here will increase further, which will also lead to the finale of this arc. I do hope everyone in front of all kinds of PCs enjoy the read. :)

And because I just noticed a fatal flaw in the Werehog Saga, there needs to be an extra temple with a world chosen by all of you, so... Guess what's there waiting for you in my profile?

I encourage all medical show fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review. ;)

Disclaimer: For reasons unknown, Kirby's and Meta Knight's insides shall never be revealed to the light of science. :l

Chapter 181: Sorcery of Salvation

-Smash Mansion-

Operation Room

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Briefing

Patient: Fox McCloud

Overview: Advanced stage of pancreas petrification is present. New Malattia strain is expected to be the cause of abnormal behavior.

"Is this okay? I mean, can we really operate on him while there's no light?" Marth asked.

"I'm the proof that this can be done," Nozomi said. "I did this once, and I can do it again. It's a total drag, but I can't do anything about it. Would you rather do nothing?"

"No..."

"Trust me this time. It's possible to perform an operation in these conditions," Nozomi said. "Moving on, I've heard from our nurse that he experienced fatal pain because he felt a 'brick' inside his body. This is a clarification that his disease has advanced to a new stage, and we must treat him at once."

"And that's not all," Dr. Mario said. "If Fox's pancreas happens to undergo total petrification even if his vitals don't hit zero, he will instantly die of diabetes."

"Is there a way to stop that petrification process?" Zelda asked concerned.

"Don't think the pancreas totally petrifies," Nozomi said. "The scans tell us that the pancreas is being covered by some kind of shell that grows in seconds. Its insides are completely unharmed except for the outer shell. However, if the shell happens to cover everything, then it'll harden and petrify it."

"As for the process to stop the petrification, we're going to heat the shell with the laser," Dr. Mario said. "If we heat it long enough, it will shatter apart, and we can slow down the petrification process."

Wolf grunted. "Is it really that easy to stop it?" he asked.

"We're expecting the new strain to attack to make us improvise," Nozomi explained. "Our current method needs to be upheld at all times during the operation."

"Let me give you the objectives for this operation," Peach said.

-Shatter the outer shell with the laser.
-Find the new Malattia strain.
-Destroy the new Malattia strain.
-Ensure that the pancreas avoids total petrification.

"We must be careful with this new strain," Dr. Mario said. "It can kill Fox off with a single hit if it manages to overwhelm us."

The lupine gradually grew angrier every time the people around him mentioned that Fox would be killed by the disease. He grunted loudly. "Get the damn surgery started before he gets a stone in his body!" Wolf demanded.

"Wow, easy there," Nozomi said. "No need to get so worked up over your friend."

"Friend? Tsk, you wish," Wolf said. "The only reason I'm here is to ensure this messed up disease doesn't kill Fox. With him out of the picture, I've got no more rivals out there."

Nozomi looked amused. "It's so cute to see a rivalry like that, even coming from someone like you," she said.

"C-cute?" Wolf stuttered at the word. "D-don't get any funny ideas. Let's... Ugh... Just start already..."

"We'll begin, but I want you to be in your best behavior as we continue with this," Nozomi warned the lupine. "If you happen to get a rage fit, we're not going to get anywhere in this surgery. Do you want to cause us trouble knowing that your rival needs your help? You get angry, your rival dies. Do you want that?"

"..." Wolf silently shook his head.

The silver-haired surgeon smiled a bit. "You can break each other bones after this, but now, you need to stay calm. Do you agree?" she asked.

"...Yes..."

"That's more like it," Nozomi said as everyone put on their surgical masks over their mouths. Wolf fixed the light right over Fox's body to provide illumination around the bed. "I'm starting the operation now," she said while doing a hand-sign with her fingers.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Unfaltering Hands

"Let's open him up now," Peach said. "His vitals are about to get in a critical condition, but we can work a little more before we apply some stabilizer shots."

Dr. Mario grabbed antibiotic gel to disinfect the area over the side of the body to make an incision with the scalpel. "It's time for the fight to begin. Wolf, I need you to get closer to illuminate the pancreas completely," he said.

"...Against my will, I'll do it," Wolf muttered as he walked next to Mario to shine down the light upon the pancreas. "Sickening..."

The six looked down inside to see that the pancreas had some kind of eggshell that covered it halfway through. Other than that, there were no visible injuries that were damaging the internal organ.

"It looks like an eggshell to me..." Zelda muttered.

Nozomi grabbed the laser, striking the shell with it. The Smashers watched as the shell turned bright red until it shattered apart, leaving pieces lying around the pancreas. "Ugh, these pieces need to be taken out with the forceps so they don't block the space," Nozomi said. "Doctor, give me a hand here, will you?"

"Here I go," Dr. Mario said, using the forceps to pick up one of the five pieces of the shell scattered around the pancreas at a time to place them on the tray. Once he finished, he noticed that Nozomi left part of the shell behind. "Huh? It didn't completely shatter?"

"It looks like it," Nozomi said. "The shell isn't strong enough as we thought. It's made up of parts to ensure it doesn't shatter apart completely. Now that's what I call annoying." She resumed heating the shell with the laser. Although it was the last part of it, it broke into several shards that spread around the pancreas, said shards getting picked up by Dr. Mario.

"Now it looks like the pancreas is safe from petrification," Peach said. "But the new strain should show up shortly..."

They waited a few seconds to spot any abnormality on the pancreas. At first, nothing happened, making most of them grow impatient.

"It wants us to find it, no doubt," Nozomi muttered. "Let's use the ultrasound... We still have it functional, right?"

"It also has its own power supply, thankfully," Peach said, handing over the device to the surgeon to start examining the pancreas.

After a few uses, Nozomi found a shadow swimming inside the pancreas. She grunted a bit as she made a small incision to release the shadow's body. Upon release, they saw the new Malattia strain as Nozomi used antibiotic gel to seal the small incision. The disease had some small wings, along with a short cytoplasmic body that resembled some kind of small bird. Along with the small wings, it had a beak which had a red core that faintly showed the Subspace sign.

"Um...that disease looks like a bird to me..." Marth said.

"No wonder why the shell looked like an eggshell," Nozomi said. "The disease itself is a bird."

"Let's call it Uccello," Dr. Mario said. "A fitting name for the Italian meaning of the word bird."

The bird-like disease hovered around the internal organ as if it was waiting for a moment to attack. "So this little bastard was giving Fox a whole lot of pain..." Wolf muttered. "Screw that thing. How do we kill it?"

"Let's strike it with the laser to see if it weakens," Dr. Mario suggested as he struck the Uccello with the laser. They saw the bird-like disease react in a stressed manner as it hovered around the lung. After a few seconds, it flapped its wings frantically, shooting some kind of white liquid from its cytoplasmic beak on the bottom corner of the lung. The white liquid suddenly hardened in a split second, forming up a new shell that occupied the pancreas.

"T-that was a fast attack," Zelda said in shock.

"That white liquid it shoots hardens so fast that it makes a new shell that covers the pancreas," Nozomi said. "Since we waited a long time to do this operation, it decided to attack harder."

"The vitals are dropping below twenty already!" Peach said.

The silver-haired surgeon took out a syringe and started applying three shots to raise the vitals over fifty. "The Uccello isn't trying to reduce the vitals. It's presence is enough for them to fall very slowly," Nozomi said.

"But if that's true, why did Fox complain so much about pain?" Marth asked. "He was doubling over as well."

"You're right on that," Dr. Mario said. "The Uccello might be hiding something under its sleeve."

"I assure you all that it wasn't that," Nozomi said. "The petrification was enough to give him pain attacks. It's just as if you started to lose blood because of an injury. He was losing his pancreas because it was petrifying."

"Oh, that's plausible, I guess..." the doctor agreed. "Continue, please."

The surgeon started breaking the shell apart until it shattered into five pieces. As she picked the forceps from Peach, she noticed that the Uccello had disappeared from sight. "Huh? Where did the little bird go?" Nozomi asked.

"Because I'm locked in this position, I saw it hiding under a shard," Wolf said smugly. "It hid under the shard of the left side."

The doctor looked at said shard. "Let me take it out for you," Dr. Mario offered as he moved his forceps over the shard.

However, nobody counted with Wolf's cyber eye-patch turning off its light for a small second. The lupine, noticing the mechanical patch, grunted and started hitting it a bit. "This damn thing just went off on its own!" Wolf cursed under his breath, bringing back the light to shine down upon the pancreas. "Ugh, there you go..."

"Now I'm worried about this," Nozomi said. "Are you sure that eye-patch you have there has enough battery?"

"Considering the fact I haven't changed its battery for a few years because I never got to use it THAT much...I think its battery life is about to die," Wolf said.

The surgeon sighed as Dr. Mario grabbed a shard to place it on the tray. "Never mind that... We've got ourselves a time limit that doesn't have an accurate lapse. This Malattia strain has to be taken out of commission before the battery dies down," she said.

"We've got a problem," Dr. Mario said.

"Which is..." the surgeon trailed off dismayed.

"Wolf had said that the Uccello hid under the shard I just took," Dr. Mario said.

"...It wasn't there when you removed the shard, I presume?"

"No..."

"...It switched hiding places, no doubt about it..." Marth said. "And...it probably did when Wolf's light went off for a few seconds."

"The hell? This disease can also tell if I'm using my freakin' light?" Wolf asked angrily. "How SMART are these things, anyway? They piss me off!"

"Calm down," Nozomi said sternly. "We've got no choice but to deal with its moves, even if we make it do them in the first place. Stay quiet and let's continue."

"Tsk, fine..."

"I can't shake the feeling that something bad could happen if we find it first before we remove all the shards..." Dr. Mario said as he removed the shards with the forceps, placing all of them on the tray. He soon found the disease in the second-to-last shard. The Uccello reacted a little bit panicked since it hovered around the pancreas at a fast rate.

Nozomi blinked. "Well, you made it panic," she pointed out. She was about to speak until the Uccello hid under the last shard that the doctor removed shortly. Once again, the Uccello panicked until it shot white liquid to the bottom.

Dr. Mario brandished a drain to drain out the liquid before it could harden. "I was prepared for this," he said.

"But you weren't prepared for the consequence..."

"What?" Dr. Mario asked as he looked at the drain he was holding. The drain, after draining the liquid, became petrified in an instant. The doctor gasped at the strange phenomenon, trying to uncover the covered drain.

"The liquid must have started hardening when you drained it out," Marth said.

"That means we can't drain out the liquid..." Peach muttered. "It hardens no matter where it is."

"We can't afford to lose more time," Nozomi said while focusing on the shell with the laser to heat it up and shatter it into five pieces that scattered around the internal organ, providing the bird-like disease a hideout on the top shard. "Leaving the Uccello alone will be a fatal move for us. Start removing the shards to the tray! It hid on the top shard!"

Dr. Mario grabbed the top shard to expose the Uccello, which grew in panic as it went to hide on the shard to the right. Before the doctor could use the forceps, Wolf's light turned off, much for the lupine's dismay. "Dang it!" Wolf cursed as he started banging on his device to turn it back on, shedding more light again. The doctor removed the shard, but the Uccello wasn't there anymore.

"It changed hiding spots again," Zelda said. "Is it taking advantage of our resources?"

"That's most likely the case here," Nozomi said as the doctor removed the last three shards off with the forceps, finding the Uccello two times. "You've got to wonder how somebody can give these diseases a lot of intelligence to work on their own."

Dr. Mario grabbed the laser to strike the Uccello with it. The disease, however, reacted violently at the attack as it spewed more and more white liquid than before. The white liquid ended up covering more than a half of the pancreas. "...I don't like where this is going..." the doctor muttered as the white liquid hardened, petrifying the pancreas like the first time they saw it.

"Oh my goodness!" Zelda gasped.

"Why did it suddenly want to cause way more petrification than before?" Marth asked puzzled.

"...I think it had to do with its state of panic," Nozomi said. "As you've seen before with previous diseases, they all react violently when stressed. The Uccello's case is unique because it panics, which is practically almost the same thing with violent reactions except that it attacks desperately."

"If that theory is right, then wouldn't finding it multiple times make its next counterattack worse by hardening more of the pancreas?" Peach asked.

"That should be it, if we think about how many times it was found before it attacked," Dr. Mario assumed. "The first time, it hardened a little part of the pancreas because it was found twice. The next time, it was found thrice."

"Furthermore, the number of times it's found will determine how much petrification it will cause," Nozomi said. "My addition to this theory could be proven wrong, but that is how I see things."

"Then get moving already," Wolf said. "We don't want this annoying little bird to give us its s(beep)t anymore."

Dr. Mario nodded before he heated the shell, shattering it into five pieces. Before focusing on the other half of the shell, the Uccello hid under the right shard. "Wait a minute... Shouldn't we strike the disease once it comes out?" he asked.

"Yes," Nozomi agreed. "And remove these shards first before moving on into breaking the other shell. If we shatter the next half, we're going to give the Uccello more hiding spots, and its state of panic could become much worse, and so will its counterattack. Take in mind that we should AVOID finding it first before removing the last shard."

The doctor nodded after hearing the plan as he started removing the other foreign shards with the scalpel. He was fast enough to avoid the light turning off, allowing him to expose the Uccello the first time it was found. After exposing it, Nozomi used the laser to damage it long enough for three seconds while Dr. Mario used his laser to heat the next half, shattering it into five more pieces. Out of desperation, the Uccello went into hiding to the shard lying on the center of the internal organ.

"Great job," Peach said pleased as Dr. Mario started removing two shards before Wolf's light turned off once more. The lupine grunted ticked off as he banged on his device, turning the light back on. "And it once again switched hiding spots..."

"We're prepared for its attacks should we happen to find it right...now," Dr. Mario said before he removed a shard, giving thanks in his head when he didn't find the disease hiding under it. "Lucky shot..." he muttered in relief. He went on to remove another shard out, not finding the Uccello under it. As he put the shard on the tray, Nozomi offered herself to remove the other shard with the forceps, exposing the disease in the process.

The surgeon started to attack the disease with the laser. It reacted in a stress manner as it moved to the sides. It then flapped its wings frantically as it shot white liquid on the bottom, covering the pancreas with an artificial shell. "We're going good progress this time," Nozomi said pleased.

The nurse saw that the Uccello flew inside the shell. "It hid right inside the shell…" Peach muttered.

"I guess it knows that being outside will only expose it to the laser," Nozomi said, heating the shell with the laser to shatter it into five pieces while mildly exposing the Uccello, which got startled and hid under the shard on the bottom. "But I hope that we're not panicking it because we found it under the shell."

The doctor started removing the shards while keeping an eye on the shard where the Uccello had hide. After removing three shards, Wolf's light turned off, halting the operation.

"Seriously, how long is this damned thing gonna piss me off?" Wolf asked aggravated as he banged on his device, turning on the light for his relief.

Dr. Mario sighed before continuing removing shards. For his dismay, he found the Uccello twice, prompting the bird-like disease to shoot white liquid on the bottom to once again encase the internal organ with a shell. Out of panic, the Uccello flew under the shell for protection. "It's limiting our chances to strike it directly," Nozomi said.

"Yes, I noticed it started hiding under the shell," Marth said. "Does it mean we're going to be penalized for finding it twice under the shards?"

"In a way, yes," Nozomi said. "And if this guy's light keeps turning off at inopportune times, we're having a lot of work ahead of us…"

Wolf cursed under his breath. "Is it so much to ask for some real light in this mansion?" he asked.

"The electricity should come back on later, but I don't know exactly when…" Peach said. "Nevertheless, we need to continue. Please, doctor, start breaking that shell apart."

"Will do," Nozomi said, heating the shell with the laser to shatter it into five different pieces. As it broke apart, the Uccello hid under the shard lying down on the center. "Let's take out all the shards together to accelerate the steps," she suggested Dr. Mario, who nodded in response and started taking out the other fragments with the forceps. The surgeon removed the last shard to expose the bird-like disease. She switched tools with to hurt the Uccello with the laser until a few seconds later the disease shot the gelatinous fluid to the bottom to hide.

And much for the lupine's chagrin, the light of his cyber eye-patch turned off once more. He grunted even louder and banged on it again until it turned on. Nozomi broke the shell by heating it with the laser, scattering five shards around while spotting the Uccello going into hiding under the shard lying down on the top side of the internal organ. However, before Nozomi could even take one shard out, the light died down way faster than before. "Hey, wolf guy, bang on your device senseless once more for us, will you?" Nozomi asked.

"Ugh, I'm trying," Wolf said. Some seconds passed as he banged on the device, but it didn't seem to turn back on. "Dammit! It's not responding!"

"Well, you're banging it, so I suppose that would be a reason," Marth pointed out, receiving a grunt from the lupine. "S-sorry for that…"

The surgeon started to get annoyed after the lupine couldn't manage to make the light turn on. Sighing in defeat, she said, "Stop. It's obvious it ran out of batteries."

Trauma Center: New Blood – Vitals Critical!

"F(beep)k!" Wolf cursed loudly. "This cursed s(beep)t isn't going to make us fail now!"

"This isn't funny," Zelda said preoccupied. "With no light, we can't continue the operation!"

"There has to be something that we can use to shine a light," Nozomi said. "Anything that can give light is enough. Are we really sure there isn't anything else in here?"

"U-uh, uh…" Peach thought frantically for an answer. "I-I can't think of anything…"

Dr. Mario shook his head. "If we leave the Uccello alone, it might attack on its own. Remember that it knows we're trying to eliminate it," he said.

"Come on, we have to use something or else this disease will take his life!" Nozomi said. "I don't care if a device wasn't made to give light. If it DOES have a light source, then let's use it!"

Peach thought more for a moment until she snapped her fingers. "I got it!" she said in triumph as she turned to Zelda. "Zelda, can't you make light with your magic?"

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked. "My magic can't make light beacons or something of the sort…"

"I'm pretty sure you can cast magic that can give some illumination even though it wasn't mean to give that kind of light," Peach said. "Do you think you can make your hands glow?"

Zelda looked worried. "I'm going to give it a try…"

Nozomi raised an eyebrow as she saw a faint light forming up over Fox. The light gradually became a little bit bigger, showing Zelda holding it behind her hands. The light that she gave was enough to illuminate way more room inside the operation, enabling them to see their surroundings clearly. Looking amused, Nozomi chuckled. "So magic is real in this world after all," she said.

The princess looked a bit skeptical. "I strongly suggest that you resume the operation because I won't be able to hold this light for a long time. I never, EVER tried to make my magic work like this…and it's draining out my energy as well…" she muttered.

"Oh, right," Dr. Mario said before looking back inside, only for his eyes to see that the Uccello had covered the pancreas beyond eighty percent. The bird-like disease, meanwhile, was sitting on the edge of the shell to prepare to cover the internal organ completely. "W-we've got a very nasty situation at hands now! It's about to petrify the pancreas completely!"

"Quick! Shatter the shell into pieces!" Marth said.

As Dr. Mario heated the shell with the laser, Nozomi grunted. "Hurry up before that bird turns the pancreas into an egg we don't want to have around!" she said before a third of the shell shattered into five pieces, startling the Uccello. The bird-like disease hid under the right shard. "Hmm... Proceed with the other parts of the shell," she said.

"What?" Dr. Mario asked.

"Our light source isn't going to go off soon, right?"

Zelda looked a bit skeptical. "I believe I can hold this for three minutes or more," she said. "It's not as exhausting as I thought it'd be."

"Okay, that's enough time for us to remove all the shards without giving the disease a chance to change hiding spots," Nozomi said. "Don't hesitate and start shattering the shell into pieces until it's completely broken apart. It can't possible become more panicked since we know were it hid this time."

"If that's what you think we should do...then we're doing it," Dr. Mario said determined as he teared the shell apart with the laser. The last two parts of the shell broke into ten pieces, adding up with the five pieces that were already scattered around the pancreas. The doctor and the surgeon started taking out the shards using the forceps to accelerate the procedure while making sure they didn't get near the shard with the Uccello.

"I think it's working!" Zelda said.

As the two doctors were down to four shards, they stopped midway when they saw the Uccello shifting hiding spots by quickly flying under the shards. One second, it remained under a shard, but in the next second, it would move quickly to another shard, repeating the same moves that confused everyone. "It's acting panicked," Nozomi noted. "It must be starting to lose the fight that it's trying everything it can to stay alive."

"It's moving quite fast, though..." Marth said. "We need to remove the shards before it gets to hide under them."

"We've got no choice here," Dr. Mario said. "Start removing the shards when the Uccello isn't hiding underneath them. It might be fast, but I think we can take out the shards faster than it can hide."

Nozomi narrowed her eyes as she studied the Uccello's patterns. Putting the forceps close to the pancreas, she noticed that the bird-like disease hid under the shard she wanted to take out. She waited for the moment for the Uccello to move away, until it did by diving down a shard to the right. "Now," she muttered as she grabbed the shard, taking it out from the body and placing it on the tray. "Three more to go."

Dr. Mario saw that the Uccello dove for the shard on the bottom. He gulped before the disease flew away from said shard, allowing the doctor to remove the foreign object with ease. Sighing, he placed the shard away on the tray. "Only two more to go..." he trailed off in relief.

Nozomi moved her forceps down, but she found out that the Uccello was moving even faster than before. It took the disease half a second to alternate hiding spot between the remaining shards; one being on the top with the other being on the right. "Carefully and quickly remove the second shard where it doesn't hide..." she muttered to herself, waiting for the right moment to grab the shard with the forceps. "...There!" she yelled as she plucked out the shard swiftly with the forceps once the Uccello left it alone. The surgeon put the shard away on the tray.

Dr. Mario nodded at her before he used his forceps to remove the last shard, exposing the Uccello completely. The bird-like disease seemed to look around for a hiding spot, but it found out that there were no more just when it was struck with Nozomi's laser. The disease started flapping its wings frantically as it tried to lose the laser off from its back, but it was useless. "Time to burn that thing alive for giving us hell," Wolf said pleased.

The Uccello's cytoplasmic body suddenly turned bright red after receiving a lot of damage from the laser. It backed off from the laser's trajectory to aim for the bottom part of the pancreas, encasing it with white liquid that hardened to make a part of a shell. They all gasped when the bird-like disease didn't move away to shoot more white liquid to add together with the other part. "What in the name of Altea is it doing now?" Marth asked shocked.

"It's pulling off its dirtiest trick yet," Nozomi said. "It wants to take down the pancreas in a single shot with its last energies. You there, let's strike it together with both of our lasers before it completes the petrification process, now!" she ordered as she struck the disease with the laser.

The doctor shook his head to snap out of his state, taking the laser from Peach to strike down the Uccello. The disease remained in place as it tried its best to cover the internal organ under its shell. As more white liquid gradually hardened the pancreas part by part, the Uccello started twitching violently at the two lasers striking its body. It started to shake in a panic after half of the pancreas was covered under a shell. It tried to shoot more liquid faster as it tried to cling to its life and finish off with its task. Its wings flapped madly, trying to give it some kind of support even though it was clearly useless. The two doctors narrowed their eyes as the laser kept damaging the Uccello without stopping.

"It's going for the last part!" Zelda said. "We're not going to make it in time!"

Nozomi switched her laser's spot over the shell, shattering a part into five pieces. The Uccello seemed to have reacted at the shattered shards, looking over to the upper part that was forcefully torn apart. Instead of hiding under a shard, however, it tried to cover the area that was left exposed. Unfortunately, it fell right into the surgeon's trap. Nozomi chuckled as she moved her laser over its body, dealing more damage along with the doctor. "I thought you were supposed to be smart," she spoke to the disease. "You shouldn't have seen what I did with your precious, ugly shell. If you didn't, you could've killed our patient."

The Uccello suddenly halted its shaking body. The bird-like disease opened its cytoplasm beak as it started to shoot spores out of its body. It moved to the sides, not caring about the area of the pancreas that was left uncovered. The six watched as the Malattia strain started to fade away in defeat, disappearing completely from the body. Its image, however, appeared right beneath the shell as they had expected.

"The Malattia strain has been eliminated…" Peach trailed off.

Dr. Mario started to tear the other parts of the shell apart into a multitude of pieces to set the pancreas free. The two doctors resumed the operation by taking out all the shards without having any complications. After all shards were removed, Wolf grinned in triumph. "Take that, you stupid bird," he muttered. "That's what happens when you try to steal somebody's kill."

The five stared at him.

"…I mean, steal somebody's defeating blow," Wolf corrected himself.

"…And here I thought you weren't that vicious," Nozomi said.

Suddenly, they saw that the lights in the operation room flickered until they turned on completely. Seeing that there was light again, Zelda faded the light between her hands, moving them down to her sides in relief. "The lights are back now," she said relieved.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nozomi said sarcastically. "Not that it's worth complaining about right now. Let's close this vulpine up."

Dr. Mario offered himself to suture the incision. After disinfecting the suture incision with antibiotic gel, he applied some bandage over it, successfully finishing the operation. "The Uccello was eliminated, and no signs of the shell will cause diabetes after all." He smiled. "Although we didn't have that many light sources, Dr. Weaver managed to give us some hope with her suggestions. Well done, everyone."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Doctors on Duty

The six removed their surgical masks while some breathed out in relief. "One more patient down, four more to go," Peach said in a brightened look. "If we continue at this pace, we might end up saving them all without problems."

"Oh, don't be so sure about it," Nozomi said. "We still need to look into those images on their internal organs before we can come up with a conclusion if they can go out from the infirmary yet."

"As depressing as it sounds, she's right," Marth said. "…I noticed that we didn't have to worry about the vitals during the operation on the Uccello disease. Was it weak, perhaps?"

"I don't think so," Dr. Mario said. "There are diseases that can kill anybody with one shot without ever harming the patient with loss of blood. The Uccello happened to be made only for the whole purpose to encase the pancreas in a shell. If it finished trapping the pancreas in a shell, a life would be lost."

"There could be more of these cases with the next patients," Peach said. "Whether or not they're hurt literally, we shouldn't underestimate the strains."

"And as for this furry guy over here," Nozomi began as she looked at Fox, "he needs to be taken away to the infirmary. I hope that he gets in a better mood once he wakes up… Hey, wolf guy, do us a favor a move him there, will you?"

Wolf blinked a bit. "Wait, what? I'm not going to do it," he said in an angry manner.

"You were the most worried out of everyone here," Nozomi said. "The fact that you cursed and swore during moments of crisis tells me that you were very worried. Do some community service here by taking him to the infirmary."

"Give me another good reason why I should do it," Wolf said with a narrowed eye.

"Well, who knows, somebody could accidentally let the bed slip on the floor and fall through the window to the ground floor where he will break his bones," Nozomi said amused. "I noticed the floor in the infirmary was a little bit slippery. You want to make sure he doesn't die of something 'stupid' before you get to beat him yourself, right?"

"…Nice try, but fine, I'll do it," Wolf gave up, grabbing the bed from the bottom to push it out from the operation room. While he went out, Wolf snarled a bit at the unconscious Fox. "(Thank god you're not awake. You'll either tease me until I lose my temper or tell me to scram.)"

Nozomi looked at Dr. Mario. "You're going to be in charge if they happen to break each other bones. I won't be here when that happens," she said.

Dr. Mario sighed. "Okay," he said.

Seventh Floor's Hallway

"Did everything go well? Did you lose somebody? Please, tell me you didn't let somebody die while there was a blackout! I can't lose my Smashers just because freaking Mother Nature says so!"

"Funny, I think I heard somebody else saying the same thing before."

"DID YOU LOSE SOMEBODY?"

"No," Nozomi assured the hand. "The operation went well despite the fact we didn't have lights. We used some other unusual light sources to move on with the operation."

Master Hand sighed. "Phew, now I feel much better… Man, you're pretty smart to deal with surgeries in the dark. I've never thought about somebody doing such a thing. I'm very, very impressed myself," he said. "Having you around was the best desperate idea I've ever done."

"But I can't assure you that your 'Smashers' (what kind of primitive nickname is that for people like them, anyway?) are out of trouble yet," Nozomi said. "They still need to be interned in the infirmary for more time until we finish with all of them and examine their conditions more carefully."

"Great, thanks for spoiling me the mood," Master Hand said annoyed. "I'm back to square one, fretting like a crying woman waiting for their child to get out of their first day in kindergarten."

"…Right," Nozomi forcefully agreed.

"Okay, Ms. Master Hand, you can go back down while we continue with our little break."

The hand grumbled annoyed as he turned around from her. "Do your work and don't make fun of me like that..." he muttered as he floated away.

"I'd stop making fun of you if you didn't take my little jokes too seriously," Nozomi said. "Seeing a giant disembodied hand being teased this easily is quite a sight."

"OKAY," the hand called out as he disappeared by going down the stairs.

Infirmary

The surgeon entered the infirmary to see the usual group of people gathered around the beds of the Smashers that had already gotten surgery. Nozomi noticed that Sonic had awakened by the time she got inside the room, but she received a bad impression of the hedgehog since he was demanding to get out of bed. "I'm telling you that I feel okay!" he protested to his crowd of friends. "Let me go right now!"

"Oh no, you're staying in bed until the doctor tells you to leave!" Amy protested. "You won't go out until you're allowed to go!"

Sonic dropped his head on his pillow with a long groan. "I don't understand this crap! I don't have difficult breathing anymore!" he whined. "Now you're telling me I have to be held captive inside this room with the creepy medicine smell? It smells like a dead rat's corpse got rotten!"

Some of them made way for Nozomi to show herself to the hedgehog, the later who raised an (angry) eyebrow at her. "Hello there," she said with a small smile. "Nice being acquaintances with you. My name is Nozomi Waver. I was one of the two surgeons that operated on you a while ago. You're supposedly Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog, right?"

"Yeah, you got the name right," Sonic said. "Now let me go from here!"

"Unfortunately, if we let you go now, there's the risk that you can suffer several lethal side effects," Nozomi said. "We're not through with you yet, sadly. You're going to have to be a good patient and lie down for a little more, okay?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I don't understand doctors at all," he said. "Even though you feel like new, how come you can be sick?"

"Mentally, you're sick," Nozomi said bluntly (making Knuckles snicker silently). "Physically, you're okay. But internally, you're bound to get attacked by a deadly disease out of this very same room

"Pfft, I don't feel anything," Sonic said, crossing his arms. "Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

"You could die, simple as that."

"...And?"

Cream rubbed her chin. "If you happened to die, you wouldn't be able to run anymore, right, Mr. Sonic?" she asked. "I mean, you like to run so much that you don't want to stop for anything, right?"

"..." Sonic let out a long grumbling sound. "Okay, I'm staying here until you let me go..."

"I can count on your friends to keep you in bed," Nozomi said. "Provided that they can hold you here, you can expect a quick recovery. Wait for us to get done with the other patients first, though."

"You heard her," Knuckles said. "No running around the hallways."

"Shut up, Principal Knuckles," Sonic mumbled.

"Heheh, good one," Chip said. "He did sound like a principal…whatever that is."

"What was that?" Knuckles asked loudly enough for him to earn some "shh"s from everyone around him. "Sorry…"

Sonic looked pleased. "Guess being here is gonna be a very, very, very enjoyable time for me to relax," he said with a happy look on his face.

"You tease me once more and I'm going to bend some arms and legs!" the echidna threatened.

"Please, calm down," Cream said worried. "This is a hospital area. We can't be yelling or fighting needlessly if we want to stay here to check on Mr. Sonic."

Vector pointed a finger at Knuckles. "You little red mutt need to shut your trap!" he ordered. "You're making little Cream sad!"

"How the heck is MY fault if you're also raising your voice, small-brained idiot?" Knuckles demanded.

"Heheheheh, he called you small-brained!" Charmy teased.

"He SO said it!" Chip agreed with the bee.

Nozomi stare blankly as the "Idiot Brigade" started arguing so loudly. Seeing that Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Big were doing their best to calm all of them down while Amy offered herself to feed Sonic (who of course denied the idea multiple times, even though Amy forcefully took everything as a yes), the surgeon sighed mentally to herself and walked away from the group in hopes for them to calm down. She found Dr. Mario holding a clipboard to check on the condition of the others. "I'm expecting to do some extra operations very soon," she said.

Dr. Mario looked up from his clipboard. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

Nozomi heard some curses from Sonic's area. "Call it a visible hunch," she said blankly, "a very loud hunch."

The doctor sighed and walked to the group to calm all of them down. Dr. Mario had handed over the clipboard to Nozomi, allowing the surgeon to see who was next on the list. She looked beyond Link's bed where Ness's bed was situated next to DK's bed. She raised an eyebrow when she spotted Lucas sitting close to him with some of the other young Smashers, as most of the Pokémon party was looking after Pichu.

Nozomi walked to Ness's bed, getting the attention from everyone. She saw how Ness slowly opened his eyes to see her coming. "Hi," Nozomi said. "We'll be operating you in about half an hour or so. Are you willing to go ahead with the surgery?"

"Y-yes," Ness muttered weakly. "T-the pain in my body is too much for me to bear any longer… It's…so annoying…"

"I know it's very annoying," Nozomi agreed. "Hold up a little bit longer before we apply you some anesthesia. We're going to start your operation in more or less than half an hour."

"H-he's going to be okay after this, right?" Lucas asked. "He has to be okay..."

"He'll most likely be okay," Nozomi assured them. "If we happen to eliminate his disease, he'll be okay for the time being...but right now, he needs to tolerate the Malattia strain. According to the charts, your small intestine suffers from some big accumulation if small tumors."

"I think...it's worse...than that..." Ness muttered.

Nozomi raised an eyebrow. "It's worse than that?" she asked. "You mean to say the pain is coming from the small intestine, right?"

"W-well, I-I don't know how...b-but I think I'm feeling pain...f-from somewhere else in my body..." Ness stammered.

"It's coming from another part, then..." Nozomi muttered. "This could mean that the operation would have to need another kind of procedure... I'll be right back," she said before walking away to the doctor. The young Smashers looked confused at her until she came back. "We're going to submit you to more scans," she said.

"Why does he need to get more scans?" Popo asked.

"If his statement is true, it could mean that his disease has moved to another part of his body," she said serious. "Causing damage to two different parts of the body could prove to be fatal, and we'd rather pinpoint the disease's location than guessing where it is. The chart I have here are only telling me that his small intestine was damaged, but he claims that the pain is coming from somewhere else. To me, that's better than making more than two incisions."

Ness groaned. "I-I don't care what you need to do to me, just...g-go ahead with it..." he said. "I want to...get out from this bed...as soon as I can..."

"Then let's start this," Nozomi said.

Ten minutes later...

The young Smashers saw how Dr. Mario came back with Ness on his bed from the scan. Shortly after setting his bed in its place, Nozomi came in holding an updated chart. "We got the results now," she said. "The scans have shown that his liver is showing some shadows hiding inside."

"Oh, great..." Ness muttered. "It's even worse...than...I thought..."

"Sadly, it gets even worse," Dr. Mario said. "Along with the benign tumors in the small intestine, there are more malignant tumors hiding between them."

Nana felt sick. "Please tell me Ness is going to pull through safely... I can't imagine how much pain he's going through right now with all those bad rashes inside his body..." she said.

"His new condition is going to accelerate his resting time," Nozomi said. "We've decided to start the operation in ten minutes from now. He's going to get some anesthesia in five minutes."

Ness looked at Lucas with his exhausted eyes. "If I die...tell mom I won't...be on time...for dinner..." he muttered.

"...Um..." Lucas trailed off. "...S-seriously? You're going to say that as your f-final words?" he asked.

"Hey, my mom makes the best steaks in the whole world, mind you!" Ness argued before he returned to his weak state. "A-and...wish me good luck with the surgery... I don't really want to die like this, you know..."

Lucas hung his head down. "I-I'll do it... A-after all, you pushed me out of the way to avoid getting infected..." he muttered, looking back at Ness. "I-I should be the one on bed instead of you, Ness..."

"B-blame my feet..." Ness muttered. "T-they kind of moved on their own when that guy attacked us..."

Nana rolled her eyes. "Is it that hard to admit you wanted to protect Lucas?" she asked. "C'mon, be a man and say it."

"F-fine, I wanted to...protect him..." Ness said. "...B-but how was...I supposed to know the smoke...was infectious?"

Lucas forced a smile. "T-thank you, though... It was very nice of you to push me out of the way," he said.

"T-this surgery better...fix me..." the Onett resident said. "I'm so...going to believe...in karma...this time..."

Nozomi chuckled. "Then hope that your karma gives us the necessary steps to treat you effortlessly," she said. "I hoped that my break would be longer, but I can handle another operation."

Dr. Mario looked outside to see that the rain was slowing down its drops. "There doesn't seem to be any more thunders outside. It's a calm rain," he said. "We're most likely not going to experience a blackout like the one we had before."

"I thank god for that," Nozomi said. "I don't want to make surgeries in the dark my habit to do work." She looked to Chris, the teen sitting down close to the comatose Pokémon. "...There haven't been any reactions from him, right?"

"Sadly, he's still in the same state," Dr. Mario said. "However, the disease inside his heart is causing the coma by itself. It's kind of a miracle that he's not suffering from a common coma, because if he did..."

"His disease is by no means a salvation for death..." Nozomi muttered. "It's just a false vision of life..."

"Hmm?" Dr. Mario looked confused at her. "You look a little different... What's wrong?"

Trauma Center: New Blood – Hopes

"I recalled why Caduceus Europe wanted me to stay with them in exchange for my full immunity against the crime I committed while I worked with Delphi," Nozomi said, crossing her arms. "Remember that I told you that I gave them examples of GUILT and my Healing Touch, right?"

"Yes, you mentioned that to me," Dr. Mario said.

"The GUILT samples I gave them...they're going to experiment with it in hopes to create medicine out of that malevolent disease," Nozomi said. "They'll fabricate a special serum that supposedly will help to heal patients who suffer from common injuries like gunshot wounds and the like."

Dr. Mario looked skeptical. "But that sounds very good to me," he said. "Are you against it?"

Nozomi nodded as she walked to the window to look outside to the rain. "Professor Blackwell, the vice leader of Delphi, was the one who I had most interaction with," she said. "He told me that even if his GUILT research was supposed to bring humanity to salvation with death, he feared GUILT as well. When he was taken into custody, he gave his conditional help to Caduceus to bring an end to all GUILT research to atone for his deeds, just like I did."

"What happened between you and that professor?"

"He helped Caduceus with the GUILT research, giving them papers full of detailed information," Nozomi said. "With that very same information, and with the GUILT samples I gave them, they claim that the serum they made out of the disease will heal patients in a few days. Behind the scenes, Blackwell have said that nothing good can come out from GUILT because it's main purpose was to vanquish humanity." She looked back at Lucario. "And now, I come across a similar type of GUILT that has almost the same task: to kill people."

Dr. Mario looked at her. "You're thinking that something good can't come out from the Malattia, right?" he asked.

"Yes," Nozomi said. "No matter how you look at it, if you happen to get sick from something that is mainly supposed to do good to your body, it's a disease in my eyes... Just like some sportsmen like to use enhancers such a steroids, they're bound to suffer grave consequences..." She turned to the doctor. "Tell me your opinion on this. It doesn't have much to do with the Malattia but my own views that relate to what I stimulated those scientists to do with GUILT. Do you approve people trying to find shortcuts to heal or become stronger with the help of shady methods?"

"I don't," Dr. Mario admitted. "If they wanted to be healthy and grow stronger, they need to use natural methods that will help them be safe from injuries and diseases."

The surgeon smiled a bit. "If there were people that thought like us, then perhaps the world of medicine wouldn't be so frequently required to heal patients. Too bad that would also mean us surgeons would be out of the job," she said chuckling. "It's mainly the same in many different cases, not just the GUILT or Malattia. I'd feel deeply ashamed and angry that people would get sick just to hope for salvation or just to solve their problems with others by infecting them with deadly diseases...but you know what I have to deal with by myself: a bunch of people who happen to have the mentality I highly disapprove of."

Dr. Mario grabbed her right hand while smiling a bit. "I'm sure you'll be fine on your own," he said. "While things sound pretty rough for you over your side, you could end up teaching them all an important lesson. I'm very honored to meet such a person like you, Nozomi."

"The pleasure is all mine, thanks," she said nodding once. "Perhaps, I can recover my previous life as a surgeon. I lost it when I was with Delphi, but treating all of the patients in here while getting to know them will greatly help my self-esteem." Nozomi looked over her shoulder to Lucario. "Hope is the last thing that can be lost, as they say..."

"That hope won't leave us now," Dr. Mario said. "It won't leave them either."

"Our skills and tools will be the only things we will need the most besides hope," Nozomi said. "Look at the time. It's time to apply anesthesia to our brave patient."

The doctor nodded before he walked away from the surgeon while saying, "I'll get everything ready for the operation."

Nozomi looked over at all the patients in the infirmary. She blinked a few times until she closed her eyes. "(There is no such a thing as an incurable disease... All diseases have a cure,)" she thought. "(They all might look incurable, but if people look hard enough, a cure can be found soon enough...)"

Operation Room

The assistants and the doctor were rounding up all the equipment for the next operation with Ness lying on bed in the middle of the room. Nozomi took her time to study the chart a little more. She was deeply thinking about the outcome that would have everyone healed as she was expecting.

"Dr. Weaver," Peach began, "we're almost ready for the briefing. We'll start it once the scalpel and the other tools are cleaned until they don't have specks. Are you sure you're ready?"

"..." Nozomi looked up from her chart to nod at the nurse. "I'm ready to go at anytime," she said. "I was deeply thinking about some other things besides the operation on the next patient. I hope those thoughts don't get in the way while we operate, though."

"Unless they're very bad, then I know they won't interfere," Peach assured her. "I want to start the briefing as soon as possible."

Peach smiled. "Everything will be ready in a few seconds," she said.

Nozomi nodded, walking over to the bed to wait for everyone to gather. She looked down at Ness. "(Another patient who happens to have a delicate body... How long until these diseases stop threatening all lives? It almost feels like an eternal struggle.)"

The doctor and the assistants gathered around the bed, everyone staring at her.

"(...As a surgeon, my job is to help in the fight,)" Nozomi thought. "Ready to start the briefing, everyone? Alright, let's get down to business."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Briefing

Patient: Ness.

Overview: Scans reveal the presence of both benign and malignant tumors on small intestine and liver. Malattia strain elimination must be applied before damage worsens.

"Our next patient, Ness, is suffering from tumors on two different areas," Dr. Mario said. "The fact that he claimed that he was getting pain from somewhere else means that the new Malattia strain moved from its original position."

"This will prove to be a very difficult operation," Peach said. "Not only we're dealing with two affected areas, but Ness happens to be just a kid. Just like Pichu and Sonic, we're going to have to be delicate with him as well. The tumors are surely causing way more damage than we think."

"These diseases know no end," Wolf said. "It ticks me off that these things even exist."

"So then, we're going to have to treat the small intestine first before moving on to the liver?" Marth asked.

"It will take us two incisions to get in touch with both affected areas," Nozomi said. "The small intestine must be treated first, then the liver is the last area we're going to treat. The new Malattia strain must have reached a new stage."

"And with an advanced stage, it decided to attack another part of the body?" Zelda asked. "How could it move?"

"There are many ways for a disease like that to move through the body using the blood to flow through the internal organs," Nozomi said. "It must have wanted to target the liver next."

"I get sad when I think about a kid like Ness getting a very harmful disease..." Peach muttered. "It's too cruel, even for a person like him..."

"We're here to beat its disease some sense," Dr. Mario said. "Here are the objectives for this operation."

-Treat all tumors in the small intestine.

-Treat all tumors in the liver.

-Find the new Malattia strain.

-Eliminate the new Malattia strain.

"The longer we wait the worse the situation will get for Ness," the doctor said. "We need to start the operation right now."

Everyone put on their surgical masks over their mouths. Once they all exchanged glances and nods, Nozomi made a hand sign and said, "Here goes nothing."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Encroaching Shadows

Nozomi lifted the green sheet over Ness's body to start the operation. "(I just noticed he's got quite a big head... Is it bigger than his body? No, it shouldn't be... Uh…focus...)" she reminded herself as she disinfected the area where she made an incision over the small intestine.

The six looked inside, spotting blue dots (the benign tumors) covering the small intestine completely. "That's way too many tumors…" Peach said. "The vitals right now are at seventy, but they're dropping very fast. Treat all the benign tumors before moving on to the malignant tumors, quick!"

"Unfortunately, if we burn them all off at the same time, it could cause massive hemorrhaging," Nozomi noted. "Let's burn them all in fourths to avoid cutting off vitals needlessly."

Dr. Mario started burning off a fourth of the small tumors of the small intestine with the laser. In a blink of an eye, the vitals dropped from sixty to forty. Nozomi used the antibiotic gel to seal off the small holes left behind by the small tumors, successfully patching all of them to prevent bleeding. "That was a big drop of vitals," Marth said worried.

Even though they took care of a fourth of the tumors, the vitals dangerously decreased at a fast rate. Nozomi narrowed her eyes and applied three stabilizer shots to raise the vitals over sixty. "Continue with the next fourth," she said.

Dr. Mario burned off the second fourth wave of small tumors, making small holes along the small intestine while dropping the vitals down from fifty-five to thirty-five and decreasing. Nozomi once again patched all the holes with the antibiotic gel. She then applied two more shots to raise the vitals over fifty. "They're still dropping so damn fast," Wolf said.

"There are even more tumors than we can see here," Zelda said disgusted.

Dr. Mario burned off the third fourth wave of small tumors. As they expected, the vitals dropped even more beyond twenty. The EKG beeped faster while Nozomi quickly sprayed antibiotic gel over the new holes to prevent bleeding. She grunted a bit as she applied four stabilizer shots, raising the vitals over fifty-two. "There's only one more wave of small tumors. Treat them all to move on to the malignant tumors," she said.

"I'm doing it," Dr. Mario said, burning off the last wave of benign tumors. The vitals experienced yet another big drop, falling down to thirty-two and decreasing. The surgeon used more antibiotic gel to cover the small holes, restoring the small intestine's outer look. He readied the syringe four times to raise the vitals over seventy, but said vitals were dropping a bit too fast still.

"Treatment of small tumors completed," Peach said. "It's time to search for the malignant tumors hiding in the small intestine."

Nozomi grabbed the ultrasound and started scanning the small intestine. She found a tumor shadow under the upper-left side corner of the internal organ. "I've found th-" she stopped talking when she saw the tumor's shadow moving away. "What?"

"I-it's moving," Zelda said disgusted. "How can that be?"

"We've dealt with moving tumors before," Dr. Mario said. "Is it probably a Fiore strain again?"

"There's no indication that this moving tumor is attached with a vine to a flower," Nozomi said. "This tumor is working by itself, away from its boss. We can't rule out our assumptions, however…" She incised the tumor, exposing its cytoplasm to drain it out with the drain. After draining it out, she excised the tumor with the scalpel, taking it out with the forceps to place a synthetic membrane over the hole to patch with antibiotic gel, restoring the skin. "There should be more tumors around the small intestine. We have to move on quick before the disease starts doing its job."

"By the way, this machine over here just started beeping really fast for some reason, and the vitals are a little bit stable," Wolf said, hearing the EKG beeping fast even though the vitals were over sixty. After a few moments, the EKG emitted a long, lifeless beep. "You got any clue why's it doing that?"

"…Oh god, no…" Dr. Mario muttered.

"N-Ness is undergoing cardiac arrest!" Peach said. "We must stop the procedure!"

"H-he isn't going to die, right?" Zelda asked. "It's too soon for us to have this kind of situation!"

Nozomi grunted. "That disease must have done something else that directly affected the heart… Prepare the defibrillator at once!" she said. "We're going to resuscitate his heart!"

Peach handed over the pads to the surgeon. "Be careful with the shock, doctor!" she said. "Apply the appropriate charge!"

"I know how to use these. Clear!" she shouted as she pressed the pads down to the body. The body slightly jumped off from the bed.

"It looks like the heart is responding, but we need one more shock!" Dr. Mario said.

"Then here goes another one. Clear!" Nozomi said while pressing down the pads on the body.

The EKG's long beep suddenly started beeping normally. Some of them sighed in relief. "We have a pulse…" Peach muttered.

The surgeon shook her head as she put the pads away. "This is clearly a first for me," she said. "A man-made disease like this one can cause the heart to go into cardiac arrest. This if the first time I've seen such an effect."

"It's possible that he could go into another cardiac arrest while the Malattia strain is inside his body," Peach said. "If the body goes into shock, we need to stop the procedure. Performing a move while the heart is fibrillating is dangerous."

Nozomi resumed treating the moving tumors as she explained what to do. "The first time the EKG alerts us that the heart might go into cardiac arrest is fine, but if it starts to blare out its alarm, then the heart is having an attack," she said. "Everyone must have that in mind during the operation, okay?"

"Right," Marth said.

"And as of now, we've excised three more tumors," Dr. Mario pointed out. "It looks like we finished with the small intestine. It was completely cleaned from them."

Nozomi sutured the incision, disinfecting it with antibiotic gel. She covered the sutured area with some bandage, moving on the right side of the body where the liver was located. She disinfected the area to make an incision, opening the view for the next tumor-infected internal organ. "This is the last area we're going to treat," Nozomi said. "Our uninvited guest should be somewhere around here between all these benign and malignant tumors..."

"The vitals are over sixty right now," Dr. Mario said. "Treating all these tumors will most likely reduce them a lot, so let's keep an eye on the EKG."

"I will burn off the benign tumors on the left side first." Nozomi started burning benign tumors with the laser, making holes on the left side of the liver. As she applied antibiotic gel to patch all the holes, the EKG started blaring its alarm a bit faster. However, she didn't stop there, and she kept treating the other side of the liver by burning off the last wave of benign tumors.

The EKG slowed its blaring alarm until it went back to normal. "False alarm..." Peach muttered. "Continue with the procedure, please."

Nozomi patched the holes left by the benign tumors with antibiotic gel, restoring the outer skin of the liver. However, her treatment had reduced the vitals beyond thirty. "Benign tumor treatment complete," she said. "All that is there to do is find the malignant tumors, excise them, and fight the Malattia strain."

Dr. Mario scanned the liver to find four moving tumors. He injected two stabilizer shots to keep the vitals at fifty. The surgeon started excising one tumor, draining its fluid first, incising it, grabbing it with the forceps to put it back on the tray to patch the hole with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. She then moved on to another tumor.

The EKG blared its alarm as the surgeon managed to take out another moving tumor, but she stopped right before the machine blared the alarm much faster, indicating that the heart was fibrillating. "He's undergoing cardiac arrest! Stop the procedure!" Peach said.

"Shock his body but good," Wolf said, handing over the pads to Nozomi.

"Clear!" she yelled as she pressed down the pads on the body, making it hop from its bed once.

Marth noticed that the EKG's alarm slowed down. "We've got a pulse," he said. "That was kind of fast..."

Nozomi put the pads away with a satisfied smile. "Looks like I used the correct amount of voltage in one use. Lucky me," she said. "Doctor, let's move on with the remaining tumors. I'm going to think about the next step to find the strain."

"I'm treating them now," Dr. Mario said.

As the doctor continued the operation, Nozomi looked a bit doubtful. "(The ultrasound didn't find the Fiore strain when I used it... How can this be if there are tumors? The Fiore had moving tumors, but how come this disease has the same way to inflict damage?)" she thought deeply. "(No, they might be similar, but they're not the same... But if we didn't find the disease here, then where could it be? The scans )"

The surgeon saw that the vitals had reduced below forty, but the doctor was able to remove the last two tumors. It was then that the EKG blared its alarm once more before the heart started fibrillating. "Another cardiac arrest!" Zelda said.

Nozomi grabbed the pads from Marth and pressed them down on the body. She had to use two shocks to get another pulse from the heart. "Yet another attack," Wolf said. "Is the disease really in the liver?"

"What if we try to use the ultrasound again?" Marth suggested.

Dr. Mario used the ultrasound on the liver, but he couldn't find anything hiding inside. "There isn't anything here at all..." he trailed off.

"Would it be possible that it moved somewhere else, then?"

Nozomi shifted her look a few times. "The disease we're seeking moved to the heart," she said.

"The heart?" Zelda asked. "The disease is in the heart of all places?"

"These tumors alone can't produce cardiac arrests," Nozomi said. "I'm quite worried about them moving, though. If we presume that these tumors can move around the body, wouldn't that mean the disease can do the same thing...or rather, it didn't want to attack the liver?"

Dr. Mario crossed his arms. "What if it can create spawns of itself?" he asked. "The disease didn't have to move at all, but its spawns were the ones that moved around."

"And if the heart is getting attacks..." Nozomi trailed off. "...It's using the heart as its nest."

"Then we've got to leave this part of the body and move on to its base," Wolf said. "Start suturing this incision."

The doctor sutured the incision, disinfected it with antibiotic gel, and put another piece of bandage on it. Dr. Mario moved on over the chest area, making another incision to display the heart. Just as he was looking inside, the heart started fibrillating a bit until it went into cardiac arrest.

"I'll swear that I'll curse mentally if another heart attack happens..." Nozomi muttered as she grabbed the pads from Marth. "Clear!" she yelled, pressing the pads down the body.

"We've got a pulse in the first try," Peach said. "Let's move on."

"There aren't any visible tumors on the heart," Dr. Mario said. "The disease should be in here. Let's use the ultrasound once more. Hopefully, this time we'll find it for real." The doctor moved the device over the heart to detect an abnormality. True enough to his expectations, he picked a shadow right in the center of the heart. He handed over the ultrasound to Zelda to grab a scalpel and make an incision over the shadow.

And then, they had found the new Malattia strain.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Confronting the Menace

The new disease had a yellow bee-like cytoplasmic body with eerie yellow wings made out of veins from its back. It had a small but sharp sting-like end, and it also had the Subspace symbol imprinted on its head. The insect-like disease moved over the heart, presumably to find a spot to attack.

"It's yet ANOTHER bug," Wolf said, mildly grunting. "Give it a name."

"Um...we'll call it Ape," Dr. Mario said. "It's Italian for bee."

"...Seriously?" he asked. "That one is kind of already taken in our language."

"Yes, that IS Italian for bee."

"...Ain't that a bit of a coincidence in English..." Wolf trailed off.

Nozomi looked amused. "Thank you for the little heads-up," she said. "But back on the operation, we've got a bee to exterminate."

The bee-like disease zoomed about, moving around the heart just to stop in a single place and examine its surroundings. The Malattia strain went to the side of the heart, burrowing its needle into the heart. The heart then started fibrillating uncontrollably until it went into cardiac arrest, shocking most of them.

"The heart is fibrillating already!" Peach said. "We need to stop here and resuscitate it at once!"

"What? This disease can cause rapid cardiac arrests just by stinging its needle into the heart?" Marth asked.

"We've got no time to waste. Give me the pads!" Nozomi ordered, getting the pads from Wolf. The surgeon yelled "Clear!" before she pressed the pads down on the body, getting a pulse from the heart. The Ape pulled back its needle and went back into zooming about around the heart.

"How do we treat this bug?" Wolf asked.

"Well, let's use the laser," Dr. Mario said. "If the disease can be struck, the laser is the only option we have here. Let me do this part and see what it does..." The doctor grabbed the laser from Zelda, striking the strain with the concentrated beam. The doctor had a rough time following after the disease, which zoomed around the heart at an insane speed. The doctor was given the chance to hit the Ape once it stopped. After five seconds, the disease formed up some kind of three foreign bodies that flew around it. "Huh?"

"What are those things it made around itself?" Zelda asked.

"Give me the magnification tool to get a clear view," Nozomi said. Getting the device from Marth, the surgeon zoomed into the three bodies flying around the Ape. With a closer look, she found out that the three foreign bodies were three smaller bees. "They're small bees," she confirmed.

Dr. Mario wondered about what to do, but he decided to strike one of the flying bees with the laser. As soon as the doctor interacted with the small bee, the bee reacted violently and dug into the heart. "I don't think that was a good idea..." Zelda trailed off.

"Now you're telling me..." Dr. Mario muttered. He looked over his shoulder to see that the vitals were dropping a little bit faster, dropping below twenty. Looking back at the heart, he used the ultrasound to find that a tumor shadow was moving inside. "Those small bees can turn instantly into moving tumors!" he said.

Nozomi injected two stabilizer shots, raising the vitals at forty. "I have deduced its pattern of attack," she said. "The Ape sends its little bees to other parts of the body while keeping them in check in one single area, which in this case is the heart itself. It has decided to nest here for its beehive of sorts."

"Now that we found its attack pattern, let's bring it down," Peach said. "Start tumor removal."

The surgeon made an incision over the tumor, draining out its fluid with the drain to excise it with the scalpel and remove it with the forceps. "Doctor, I think you should take care of the boss in here," Nozomi said, referring to the Ape zooming about with its two bees flying around it. "I'm going to take care of any tumors it makes on the heart."

"That's a very nice idea," Dr. Mario said. "However, since we're treating a child's heart, we've got to be careful. His condition can easily get worse if he receives way too many injuries."

"No need to remind me again, but it's okay," Nozomi said, patching the hole with synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. "Go now and take that bug down for us, will you?"

"Hold on," Marth said. "What about those bees circulating around the disease? If they get touched by the laser, they'll instantly dig into the heart and make a tumor, right? Isn't there a way to avoid doing that by accident?"

"Here's one," Wolf said. "Don't touch them while hurting the main bug."

"Good enough for me," Dr. Mario said as he started striking the bee-like disease with the laser. Unfortunately, during his first try to avoid the other bees, the Ape moved down with its bees, and one of the bees got struck by the laser, prompting it to burrow itself inside the heart. "Oh no… I made a mistake..." he muttered.

To make matters worse, the Ape burrowed its needle into the heart, making it go instantly into cardiac arrest. "S-stop the procedure!" Zelda said. "T-this can't be right…"

"Are they kidding us?" Nozomi asked aggravated. "There's a tumor in the heart, and it's also making cardiac arrests at the same time?"

"There's not much else to do but to revive the heart when it attacks," Peach said. "It's a race against time. Hurry up and get ready to resuscitate the heart at once!"

Nozomi grabbed the pads from Marth, applying them over the body. "Clear!" she yelled, the body hopping a bit from the bed. "It's not enough yet. Clear!" she yelled once more, getting a pulse from the heart.

"We have a pulse, but the vitals are dropping fast below thirty," Dr. Mario said. "Try to find the tumor while I try to take out the Ape."

"I'll make sure it doesn't stay in there too long for the Ape to strike again like that," Nozomi said determined. She grabbed the ultrasound from Marth and scanned the heart for a shadow, finding one moving over the upper area.

As Nozomi proceeded to make an incision, Dr. Mario sweated his forehead as he carefully struck the main bee without making contact with the other bee circulating around it. While he struck the bee, he found out that the Ape had a time pattern where it decided to move in a random direction, giving him an advantage to predict its movements. The bee-like disease then halted, burrowing its needle into the heart while the lone small bee circled around it. "Another heart attack," Wolf said, handing over the pads to Nozomi. "Shock that heart!"

"Clear!" Nozomi said, successfully scoring a pulse with the first try. "I've got a feeling that's telling me the Ape is feeling pressured. Proceed with the operation," she said.

"Be careful when striking its body," Peach advised Dr. Mario, who nodded in response and resumed using the laser on the Ape. The disease twitched a few times as the laser burned its body.

Even though Dr. Mario was keeping a good pace with the laser, the last small bee that circulated around the Ape started flying around on its own. The doctor stopped using the laser, seeing that the small cytoplasm was flying around the heart. "Something about this doesn't look so right to me," he said.

"It decided to separate its little soldiers to cover more ground," Nozomi said. "Whatever we do, we must avoid contact with those bees. These tumors can deal a whole lot of damage to the heart if we let them reside in there for too long."

Dr. Mario nodded and resumed using the laser on the bee-like disease. He realized too late that the small bee had its own pattern of movement. Apparently, the small bee liked to follow the Ape whenever it moved around the heart. Once the small bee was struck with the laser, it grew violent and burrowed deep into the heart, making an instant tumor that moved around. The vitals then started dropping faster, going down below thirty. "O-oh no, I didn't notice it that much," Dr. Mario lamented.

The Ape stopped zooming about, halting its movement over the center of the heart. While Nozomi treated the tumor hiding in the left side area of the heart, the Ape made a new shield of three small bees that circulated around it. Just before Nozomi could cover the hole left by the excised tumor with a synthetic membrane, the Ape struck the heart with its needle. Not only the heart went into cardiac arrest, but the hole instantly bled heavily, causing the vitals to lose a fatal amount by dropping down to ten.

"Oh my goodness, the vitals are dropping fast!" Peach gasped. "Quick, we need to resuscitate the heart and treat the bleeding!"

Marth gave the pads to Nozomi, who grunted at the situation at hand. "Clear!" she yelled once more, failing to get a pulse from the heart. The vitals dangerously dropped below eight. "Don't lose us now. Clear!" she yelled once more, but the heart still didn't get a pulse, and the vitals dropped below six. "One more! Clear!" she yelled with more emphasis, failing to get a pulse. "Ugh!"

"He has to make it through this!" Marth encouraged. "Come on, one more shock!"

As the vitals dropped below three, Nozomi grunted louder and pressed down the pads once more. "Clear!" she yelled.

As soon as the EKG indicated that the heart had a pulse, Nozomi put the pads away and, as fast as she could, injected four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals over forty, even though they were still dropping quite fast because of the bleeding hole on the heart. Nozomi put the syringe away and started draining out the blood pool, clearing the deep bleeding over the hole. She started treating the hole with a synthetic membrane, slowly feeling better. "That was a nasty close call..." she trailed off. "Doctor, continue with the operation."

"Y-yes," Dr. Mario said, "b-but seeing that the hole instantly bled when the Ape struck the heart... Wouldn't it do the same thing if we happen to be treating a hole left by a tumor?"

"We'll treat the holes as soon as we can if it does try to do the same attack," Nozomi said, finishing patching the hole with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel. "Be extremely careful about the small bees circling around the disease, though."

Dr. Mario looked serious and returned burning the Ape with the laser. He made sure that he didn't make contact with the hazardous disease, but after eight seconds of hurting the bee-like disease have passed, the three bees around the Ape flew to different directions above the heart. "I don't really remember that bug doing that kind of thing with its little henchmen before," Wolf said.

Zelda noticed that the runaway bees didn't exactly follow the Ape, but rather they flew directly into straight lines, occasionally bumping outside the heart to bounce back in a straight line, repeating the same pattern. "And they didn't do that before either," Peach added.

"Either the Ape is getting very stressed, or it wants to lay out another attack pattern," Nozomi said. "Don't let those bees get in the way."

"I'm going to be even more careful now," Dr. Mario said, finding the Ape hovering over the upper-right side of the heart. The doctor struck the disease with the laser while keeping an eye for the flying bees. However, he didn't take into account that keeping the track of three foreign bees would be very hard. His forehead sweated as he carefully followed the Ape, turning off and on the laser to damage it.

"I could use the laser as well, but I'm afraid we'll have to do with just one to avoid contact with the flying bees," Nozomi said. "The faster we try to hurt the Ape, the faster it will try to attack."

"A-ah!" Dr. Mario yelped when he ignored a bee coming from the left. He quickly turned off the laser, avoiding contact with the bee that went flying down, away from the Ape. "Goodness...that was close..."

"Why don't we keep track of a single bee while you treat the big one?" Marth asked. "I'm certain it'll be easier for you to concentrate on the Ape without having to worry about the other bees."

"We should do that," Peach said. "It's a very great idea."

"In that case, let me keep track of a single bee," Zelda offered.

"Alright, let's do that so we can end this operation sooner," Wolf agreed.

Marth, Peach, and Zelda stared at a particular bee each while Dr. Mario kept damaging the big bee-like disease. A few seconds later, however, the three bees' paths were changed drastically, as they were all going about in zigzag motions. Not only this proved to be a bit confusing, but it also allowed the bees to cover more area in hopes to protect the Ape. "Their movement pattern changed!" Marth said.

"They probably noticed that each one of them were being stared at," Nozomi said.

"Should we leave things to Dr. Mario?" Peach asked concerned. "But if we don't look at the bees..."

"No, keep staring at them," Nozomi said. "They're trying to make things harder for us to compensate their disadvantage. Well, let's continue regardless of what they do to confuse us."

"I agree," Marth said. "This looks like a test to me."

The Ape stopped moving around to burrow its needle into the heart, instantly causing a cardiac arrest on the heart. Nozomi grunted while getting the pads from Marth. She pressed down the pads on the body, managing to score a pulse with the first try. The Ape retracted its needle and resumed flying around the heart while the bees zigzagged to confuse the assistants as Dr. Mario continued hurting the bee.

"That thing sure lasts an awful lot of time even if it was struck by the laser for a long time," Wolf commented.

"But we know that it's getting very stressed," Dr. Mario said. "It's just like a person during a dire situation would do: they pull out their last good shot in hopes to end everything. These diseases, sadly...aren't so different."

The Ape suddenly stopped in its tracks, its body flickering from yellow to red. The bees also came to a halt and flickered from yellow to red. "I don't like how they're changing colors like that..." Peach trailed off.

Soon enough, all the bee-like diseases started moving much faster than before. The Ape zoomed around even more while the bees covered a lot of area over the heart. It was nearly impossible to strike the Ape while all the bees moved around at a ridiculously faster pace. The assistants had trouble to keep track of their respective bees, and even the doctor couldn't find a single point where he could use the laser to hurt the Ape.

"T-this is insane!" Zelda complained. "How are we supposed to strike the main disease if all these bees are moving so fast around the heart?"

"Unless we make more room to strike the Ape, then we don't have anymore options," Nozomi said. She looked at the EKG, which displayed the vitals dropping below thirty. She injected three stabilizer shots to raise them over sixty. Sighing, she looked at them. "We don't have any other choice but to strike the Ape whether or not those bees get in the way."

"What?" Marth asked. "But if we strike the bees, they'll damage the heart!"

"We're going to have to reduce their numbers, regardless of the consequences," Nozomi said. "I'd rather have more space than having things blocking my path."

"But..."

"Do we have another option?" Nozomi asked. "There is no other way we can keep this up. Sure, we can use stabilizers until we run out of them, but what if that happens? Let's take a risky step here and give it the hell it deserves."

"...Right," Dr. Mario said, shocking some of the assistants. "There's no use if we can't risk anything. We're going to risk this chance...but we're going to be careful while doing so. Let's brace ourselves for its attacks. Is everyone ready?"

Zelda thought hard about the next plan of action. "...We have to be ready, regardless of what we'll face," she said.

"After all, a life is at risk here," Peach said.

"Then...here we go," Dr. Mario said as he solely focused on hurting the Ape with the laser. As the bee-like disease struggled to resist the attack, a small bee got into the way of the laser, instantly diving into the heart to cause a moving tumor. Soon, another bee got in the way of the laser, diving into the heart as well. "Start treating the heart! The vitals are starting to drop faster than usual!"

Nozomi saw that the vitals were dropping down by three every second. She scanned the heart to locate the two moving tumors, which she later incised to extract them out. As she proceeded to treat both tumors, the vitals dropped dramatically whenever she removed a tumor.

Unfortunately, the Ape stopped in its track and almost instantly burrowed its needle into the heart. Most of the gasped at the move, seeing that the holes bled heavily while the heart underwent cardiac arrest. The vitals were soon reaching critical condition, dropping below fifteen in a cinch. "We've got to work faster if we want to pull through this!" Marth said.

Nozomi grabbed the pads. "I'm not having a patient die on me now. Clear!" she yelled, pressing down the pads on the body. For her dismay, the heart didn't make a single pulse. "I just need one more! Clear!" she yelled, pressing down the pads to shock the body. The EKG suddenly stopped its alarm, indicating that there was a pulse in the heart.

"Let me give you a hand with the blood pools," Dr. Mario said.

"No, you focus back on the Ape while I treat the injuries," Nozomi said, seeing that the vitals were dropping below eight. "(Guess this situation calls for it now...) I'm going to use my Healing Touch," she decided. "There's no time to get worried about me. I can pull this off on my own! Eliminate that bug while my Healing Touch is active before I can't keep it any longer!"

The Smashers saw how Nozomi's hands started glowing with a mysterious but heavenly aura. As she started draining out the blood pools, the aura of her hands passed on the heart. While it was a bit impossible to tell, the aura was restoring life, which in turn started raising the vitals every time she performed a move excellently.

"I'm not going to stop now!" Dr. Mario said before he spotted the rampaging Ape flying around the heart while the last small bee flew around in its zigzag pattern. As he struck the Ape with the laser, the last bee got in the way of the laser and dug into the heart, creating a moving tumor.

When the tumor dove into the heart, Nozomi managed to treat the two holes left by the tumors she excised. She used the ultrasound to locate the moving tumor, making an incision to expose it wide open. Every little move she made was repaid by giving life to the heart, and soon enough, the vitals were maximized. Nozomi felt a bit nauseous, feeling a little bit dizzy, but she pressed on to remove the tumor and restore the heart.

The Ape stopped in its tracks. "You're not going to make another attack to the heart!" Dr. Mario said. "Stop now at once!"

The Ape, obviously, didn't listen to the doctor. However, the Ape's cytoplasmic body didn't seem to agree quite well since it froze in movement. The wings stopped fluttering crazily, and the disease stopped completely. Dr. Mario stopped using the laser, looking surprised at the disease's reaction.

"...Did we do it this time?" Marth asked.

Suddenly, the Ape resumed moving, but instead of attacking the heart, it moved around the heart as it shot spores out. They all could tell that it was slowly dying, having received a lot of damage from the laser. As it moved around, the Ape slowly faded until it disappeared completely, leaving its image imprinted on the heart's center. The aura covering Nozomi's hands still lingered for a bit until it vanished.

"Operation…complete," Peach said as she sighed in relief.

Nozomi felt a bit dizzy, but she was able to keep her composure to smile a bit. "Well then, let's close him up now. He's endured a lot during this operation. Hopefully he won't get another cardiac arrest too soon," she said.

Dr. Mario sighed as he started suturing the incision on the chest. He disinfected the area with antibiotic gel and put a bandage over it, marking the end of the operation.

"That was yet another close call, but we did it," Peach said. "I'm very surprised Ness was able to withstand all the pain he went through… His heart is okay, right?"

"It certainly is. Despite all the attacks, there were no signs of complications," Dr. Mario said.

"Lucky kid…" Wolf muttered.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Gentle Breeze

Everyone removed their surgical masks, once again, breathing out in relief. "Seven operations done, three more to go," Zelda said. "This job surely is exhausting with all this tension on our shoulders…"

"And it's even worse if you happen to have the Healing Touch with you," Nozomi said. "I so need a long rest before it can be fully 'charged' if you know what I mean by that."

"We don't want to keep Ness here for any longer," Dr. Mario said as he covered Ness with the thin bed sheet. "Peach, would you be so kind to put him back to the infirmary and give him some clothes?"

Peach nodded and took Ness and his bed away from the operation room, leaving through the door. Marth looked at the clock on the left side of the door. "It's 5:00 PM now," he said. "We've been doing operations since the morning, haven't we?"

"At this rate, it'll be very possible that we'll finish everything by tonight at best," Dr. Mario said. "Considering the fact these diseases can strike at any minute, I hope they don't shorten the time we have to rest, especially if Nozomi overuses her Healing Touch."

"Who is the next patient on the list?"

"Well, our next patient is Mr. Falco Lombardi," Nozomi said. "His throat has polyps and, of course, another Malattia strain waiting for us to strike back. Now, though, it's time for us to rest before the next operation starts. I'd like to see how my other patients are faring in the infirmary."

"I guess I'll step out as well," Wolf said, leaving the room behind.

Nozomi chuckled amused. "I assume he's going to pay his rival a friendly visit," she said. "He must've awakened by now."

"The 'friendly' visit you're talking about might never come to be, though," Marth said.

The surgeon sighed. "I don't have a whistler, but I'll put them on their places should anything bad happens," she said.

Infirmary

The silver-haired surgeon was quickly getting used to seeing so many different faces at once gathered in a single room. While she avoided conversations back at the village, she had to admit her patients and their friends were a nice bunch of people (even though most of them stuck out much more than a sore thumb in her point of view). However, she also had to admit they liked to act peculiarly from each other, noticing the big gap in personalities that separated each one of them from each other.

Of course, there was a visible gap, and that very same gap was the space separating each one of their beds. Seeing how many of the patients were awakening from their anesthetic states, it made her feel very fulfilled. Though they were told to remain behind, it was a nice feeling to see them in a better condition. Ignoring the usual feuds over at Sonic's bed (the hedgehog complaining that Amy was treating him like a baby because she was struggling to give him soup with a spoon), Nozomi walked around to see how everyone else was faring.

"All of the treated patients feel much better than before, that's for sure," she muttered to herself. "The remaining three, though, look like they're going to kick the bucket soon..."

Nozomi saw how the young Smashers gathered around Ness's bed. Lucas was the one who happened to be worried the most out of everyone. A small smile formed on Lucas as he shed many tears, and he constantly rubbed his eyes, muttering some thankful words for knowing that Ness was going to be okay. Red patted the blond kid's back, the latter who smiled up at him with a chuckle that they shared.

Nozomi smiled a bit. "The best part of my job is seeing those kinds of smiles flashing around the infirmary," she said. "I really missed having normal people instead of emotionless guinea pigs for experiments... Well, time to move on and see another patient."

Chris noticed that Nozomi was coming closer. He looked up from his chair, still looking downed. "Oh, I saw how Peach brought Ness back... He's going to be okay, right?"

"He will," Nozomi said. "For now, he's okay. We don't know for certain if he's completely out of trouble yet, and that also goes to everyone else."

"I see..." Chris muttered. "The last thing I don't want to see is one of them not making it...and if that person happens to be..." He looked worried at Lucario, who was still deeply unconscious. Chris sighed with a frown, looking back up to Nozomi. "I don't want to sound rude, but...I hope his turn comes soon... I can't really tolerate to see him like this for any longer."

"I presume his turn will come in two hours, less or more," Nozomi said. "If he happens to have some sort of attack, we'll start with his operation sooner."

"Thanks for the little heads-up," Chris thanked her. "And please, make sure you can do everything for the others."

Nozomi nodded and walked away from the teenager.

The teen stared back at Lucario. Chris lowered his head. "(R.O.B...why did you have to do this?)" he asked mentally. "(I know you don't really want to work with them anymore...)"

Several beds away from him, Dr. Mario was taking some notes on his clipboard, standing next to a patient's bed. "So you're saying you feel like new," he said. "That's good to hear."

"Yeah, thanks for fixing me up," Fox said with a grin. "I admit I was starting to lose hope, but after going through with the operation, I feel like there was never something hurting me from the inside...but..." He touched the side of his waist where he felt that a hole was underneath his bandage. "...Why is there a hole under this bandage?"

"Pardon for doing this to you, but we shaved your fur off because it'd get in the way of the operation," Dr. Mario said.

"You did WHAT to my fur?" Fox asked shocked.

"It's not like it'll never grow back," Nozomi said as she came to them. "I don't know how it grows on people like you, but it'll surely grow back in a few weeks. You shouldn't care that badly about it for now...unless you like to be shirtless."

Fox slammed his head on his pillow. "Shaved against my will... Stupid disease..." he muttered grudgingly.

"As for some serious matters," Nozomi continued, "we'll be keeping you here for a little longer. I sure know you know why, right?"

"Yes..." Fox said. "But anyway...thanks for operating on me. The pain was too much to tolerate..." He noticed Wolf was standing next to Dr. Mario, giving Fox a stern look with his only good eye. Fox looked skeptically at the scrub Wolf was wearing. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Idiot, as a good gesture of community service, I killed my time to see that you could recover," Wolf said. "I don't wanna have you dying on bed before I get to do it myself. I'm not letting anyone, even some man-made disease, take you six feet down the ground."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Neat, you just want to give me the killing blow and not let something or someone else do it for you," he said.

Wolf chuckled. "Don't want my little favorite toy get broken now," he teased.

"Enough," Nozomi said amused. "You two will have to be quiet while you're here in the infirmary. The other three patients are waiting to be operated."

Fox turned to his right where Falco was buried under his bed sheet. The pilot somehow looked worse than before, as he only moved his worn eyes to look around, fixing his eyes on them. He occasionally coughed a bit, trying to avoid coughing blood out by swallowing it back. Fox stared at Falco while a worried look appeared on his face.

The surgeon walked over to Falco's bed, the pilot looking up at her. "How are you feeling?" Nozomi asked.

She couldn't get a reply from Falco, for he only shook his head in disapproval.

"(Strange. He looked better a few minutes ago... Did his condition worsen enough for him to feel pain every time he tries to talk?)" she wondered. "Hmm, I see... How are you feeling your throat? Does it hurt?"

Falco nodded weakly.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Falco nodded once more with more emphasis, as if he was begging Nozomi to start the operation as soon as possible.

The surgeon put a hand on the bed sheet. "Don't worry," she assured him. "Your operation will begin in a few minutes. If you're feeling very bad, we might as well accelerate things a bit around here. I have your consent that you want to go through with the surgery, right?"

Falco nodded, this time, closing his eyes to rest.

Nozomi stared at the avian for a while. She then turned back to walk over to Fox's bed, the vulpine still looking worried. "Another change in our schedule has happened," she said. "We're going to start the next operation in about fifteen minutes. Tell the others to prep the operation room and get some anesthesia for him."

"Is it that bad now?" Fox asked concerned.

"He was okay complaining about the pain some moments ago, but now he can't even mutter a word," Nozomi said. "It's highly possible that his condition has reached a critical state."

"Oh no..." The vulpine looked serious at the surgeon. "Please, by all means, help him with everything you've got. I don't want to lose him like this."

"Knowing how much of a cockroach you two are, I wouldn't be surprised if he does survive," Wolf mocked.

"Shut it, you..." Fox muttered with a glare.

"All the better for me in my opinion," Nozomi said pleased. "Now I'm certain we're going to finish with all the patients before night comes around."

"But, Nozomi, if we start the operation in a few minutes, then wouldn't that prevent you from using your Healing Touch?" Dr. Mario asked. "It helped us in the last operation, but you told us that you couldn't use it very often."

"Should the opportunity arise, I'll use the Healing Touch," Nozomi said. "If I do happen to faint out of exhaustion, I trust that you'll take over for me, right? Will you be able to handle things alone?"

"I'm worried about your condition," Dr. Mario said. "A doctor should be healthy before performing surgery."

"I'll give it a second thought," Nozomi said. "Well then, I need to take some rest with the little time we have."

The surgeon walked away from them while Dr. Mario put up a concerned look. His time to be worried was soon cut short when he noticed Fox gave Wolf a glare. "You do something funny to Falco during his operation, I'm going to get your head," he threatened.

"Relax, Fox," Wolf said. "I've told you many times before that I hate making trouble for myself. I couldn't care less for the birdbrain, but I'll do what they ask me to do to help them with him."

"Like I'm going to believe that."

"Suit yourself, then."

Dr. Mario sighed to himself. He looked to the left side of Fox's bed where Marth was standing besides Roy's bed. The red-haired swordsman looked worn out, his eyes looking very exhausted. "Gosh..." Roy muttered. "I didn't think the...the pain would be...so bad..."

"Hang in there for a little longer," Marth said. "Your operation shouldn't be held too late. We'll treat everyone before the day ends. Are you sure you can hold on?"

"Y-yes, I think so," Roy said. "A-after all, you should treat the ones who have the...worse condition so that they don't suffer more..."

Dr. Mario approached them. "Just as I presumed, Roy is stable for now," he said. "Once we get done with Falco, he's going to be next. However," he looked over at Lucario's bed, "if Lucario happens to have an attack, your turn will have to wait, but I don't think that will happen."

"I don't mind..." Roy said. "Let this disease...do what it wants with me, but I'm going to...to keep resisting it."

"Don't overdo it, though," Marth said. "I don't want you having an attack either."

"Heheh...don't worry about me now," Roy said.

Marth frowned. "As always, you're headstrong," he muttered. "Fine, I'll listen to you this time."

"Thanks..." Roy said.

Dr. Mario looked away, rubbing his forehead. "(This has to end soon. I can't really take all this tension over our shoulders...)" he thought worried.

Operation Room

As the assistants were preparing the tools for the next operation and Peach bringing Falco's bed to the center of the O.R., Nozomi was holding a clipboard to analyze the symptoms presented. A few seconds later, Dr. Mario walked to her. "The briefing will start soon," he told her. "I know I'm going to sound a bit annoying, but are you sure you want to use the Healing Touch knowing that you could collapse during the operation?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Nozomi said, her eyes still looking down at the clipboard. "I know the risk, and I'm willing to take it."

"I'll do what I can do so you don't have to use it at all," Dr. Mario said. "Nobody said that we will get into a tight situation."

Nozomi looked at him. "Then let's try to avoid getting into that kind of event," she said.

Dr. Mario nodded. "Alright then. Everyone seems to be ready for the briefing. Let's start now."

The two doctors walked to the center of the room where Falco was lying down on the bed. "Let's start the briefing," she said.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Briefing

Patient: Falco Lombardi

Overview: Multiple polyps found inside the throat. New Malattia strain confirmed. Elimination of both polyps and disease is required for presumed recovery.

"Listen up, everyone," Nozomi said. "According to the scans, polyps have formed inside the throat."

"I've got a little problem with this operation..." Zelda said unsure. "Isn't the throat kind of small to operate?"

"I'm glad you noticed it," Nozomi said. "A treatment like this will have to be done by using the magnification tool to focus on the affected areas. Since it's almost hard to do this, our space of work will be severely reduced this time around."

"We believe that the new Malattia strain is the smallest of them all," Dr. Mario said. "It might be small, but it sure will cause a lot of damage on its own."

"Operating in the throat is going to be yet another difficult operation," Peach said concerned. "Time isn't with us. We must treat all the polyps and eliminate the new strain."

"What is the procedure to get rid of the polyps?" Marth asked.

"The polyps themselves are just like benign tumors, but when coupled, they can deal a lot of damage to the throat. In a few words, they're worse than benign tumors," Nozomi explained. "We're going to burn them with the laser and patch the holes with antibiotic gel. It's highly expected that blood pools can form right after burning the polyps. What's more, the blood pools can block the laser from burning more polyps."

"Well, that doesn't sound too hard to do," Wolf said. "'Course, the strain inside the birdbrain's throat will disagree with us and attack hard."

Dr. Mario nodded. "The strain in question could give us even more trouble once we find it," he said. "I know we're ready for anything at this point. We've treated seven patients before, and Falco won't fall down at all."

"These are the objectives for the operation," Peach said.

-Burn all polyps.

-Find the new Malattia strain.

-Destroy the new Malattia strain.

-Ensure that no polyps are left behind.

"His condition has gotten a lot worse," Nozomi said. "We're in for a tough fight."

"And if the going gets rough, are you gonna use that Healing Touch of yours?" Wolf asked. "You'd collapse if that were to happen."

"I'm fully aware of the consequences," Nozomi said. "Even with consequences in mind, they won't stop me from letting a patient of mine die on my hands."

"Tsk, what a stubborn woman you are..."

"I hope you're not angry at me because I'm treating the 'birdbrain' you seem to hate a lot," Nozomi said. "Emotions aren't going to slow me down. Be friend or enemy, surgeons have the duty to help everyone."

"Did I even ask for a lecture?" Wolf asked. "Let's get it on now before I start calling you my teacher."

Nozomi chuckled as everyone put on their surgical masks. "I'm starting the operation now," she said while doing a hand sign.

Trauma Center: New Blood – Code Blue ~New Blood version~

"The vitals are at fifty, but they seem to be dropping a little bit too fast," Peach said. "Let's see the cause behind this, shall we? You may start."

Nozomi adjusted her gloves, but once she looked down at Falco, she looked skeptical. "...We've got a problem," she said.

"Um, what would that be?" Zelda asked.

"The birdbrain's beak is blocking a frontal operation," Wolf muttered.

Dr. Mario noticed that Falco's beak was getting in the way to perform the operation from the front. They surely disagreed in doing an operation by the sides instead of the front side. "Oh...I didn't think his beak was...so curved that it'd be hard to make a frontal incision," he said.

Nozomi sighed and took out a pillow that she placed right under the pilot's shoulders so that his head would hang down from the upper edge, allowing them to get much more space to perform the incision on his throat. Sadly, another shortcoming was present: Falco had feathers that covered his throat.

"Ugh, can somebody pluck out his feathers? I can't work if these feathers get in the way," Nozomi said.

Wolf smirked, grabbed the feathers on Falco's throat with his hand, an-

"Hold on right there, skippie," Nozomi interrupted. "You better pluck them out instead of ripping them. We don't want his skin getting ripped out with the feathers."

Wolf scoffed at her, plucking all the feathers with a single pull not too strong and not too weak, leaving quite a big bald spot on the throat. Even though he didn't exactly enjoy Nozomi's order, he admitted it was funny to see the bald spot.

"...With our little violent animal friend pleased," Nozomi said as she disinfected the throat to make an incision and look inside, "it's time to move on to the real operation."

Zelda looked very disgusted at the sight inside the throat. "U-ugh, what in the world happened here?" she asked.

"Oh no, this is worse than I imagined it'd be..." Dr. Mario muttered.

Inside, they found the outer skin of the throat slowly breathing in and out. However, the normal breathing wasn't the thing that disgusted them the most, but because of the fact that eighty percent of the throat was covered in a seemingly thick shell of yellow-and-greenish blobs that seemed to twitch in their sight.

"What the hell?" Nozomi muttered. "This is...just horrible and sickening for my tastes. No wonder why the guy was complaining about his throat hurting."

"Those polyps look like mucus to me," Wolf said disgusted. "Get rid of 'em before I puke on the birdbrain's throat. The idea is tempting me to do it."

"Wait a minute. We need to get a closer look with the magnification tool to avoid making mistakes," Dr. Mario said. "The throat is relatively small from inside. Making a mistake with our tools in this area could prove to be fatal."

"Take out the tool," Nozomi ordered.

Peach nodded and took out the magnification tool, which was in fact a magnifying glass

"A magnifying glass?" Nozomi questioned.

"Sorry, but we don't have anything else than this," Peach apologized. "If you'd like I can hold it over the area you want to treat."

"Well, that would better than anything, so let's go ahead with it," Nozomi said, motioning Peach to hold the magnifying glass over the throat. The surgeon took a closer look at the bottom area of the throat where around forty polyps were gathered. She noticed that there was bleeding covering said polyps as well. "There's bleeding in the area. I'll have to drain out the blood before moving to burning the polyps," she said, draining out the blood with the drain. After clearing the area, she used the laser to burn all the polyps, leaving a big amount of holes on the throat.

"Now let's use the antibiotic gel to patch all the holes before bleeding occurs," Dr. Mario said as he sprayed the gel on the holes, completely restoring the affected area.

"A twenty-five percent of the throat has been treated. Now, let's move up to treat the next polyps," Nozomi said as the magnifying glass was moved up to show another area. Suddenly, the EKG started beeping faster, pointing out that the vitals were falling below twenty. "What? The vitals are falling down that fast already?" she questioned.

"Wait, look! The throat is bleeding heavily!" Marth said.

Even without the magnifying glass, they all could spot how the throat was bleeding heavily. "W-why is it bleeding so much?" Zelda asked.

"The amount of polyps must have caused the bleeding," Nozomi said, using two stabilizer shots to get the vitals to forty, even though they were falling down. "Let's move on faster and get done with this operation."

The surgeon continued burning off the polyps covering the next area of the throat, carefully making sure that the vitals wouldn't drop so fast. Polyps were burned off, blood was drained out, and holes were patched up. She continued moving to the next area, having treated fifty percent of the polyp-infested throat.

While she was treating the next area, Dr. Mario found some irregularities on the lower side area of the throat where a colony of polyps had formed. "Huh? There are more polyps down below again," he said.

"The new strain must be counterattacking now," Nozomi said, patching up the holes with gel in the third area. "Let me treat the upper area of the throat so that we can try to find the new strain."

"Okay, but hurry," Marth said. "The vitals are dropping down below twenty-seven."

The surgeon made quick work of the blood, polyps, and holes on the upper area of the throat. "Alright, let's move back down. I think the strain must be somewhere around those new polyps," she said. But as she tried to look down, she saw that new polyps had formed up around the treated areas in a blink of an eye. "What the heck?" she muttered.

"Is it just me, or..." Zelda trailed off, seeing that the throat was being slowly covered by a multitude of new polyps, "...or is this extremely unusual?"

"Nah, probably you," Wolf joked. "Of course it's not you. That disease is already striking back."

"Quick, let's get rid of all the new polyps," Dr. Mario said.

The surgeon continued her work on the lower area of the throat, burning off ten polyps to patch the holes left behind with the gel. She moved up, finding another polyp colony infesting the throat. Around that time, the vitals were dropping below fourteen as more bleeding became present.

Dr. Mario used three stabilizer shots, raising the vitals to forty-one. Unfortunately, the amount of bleeding was accelerating the drop of vitals. He looked back at the throat were more blood was covering more space. "Let me give you a hand with the blood," he said, draining the blood on the area where Nozomi was burning off some polyps.

The assistants noticed that their pace with the treatment was a little bit too slow, as more bleeding became present along with more polyps on the throat. "At this rate, we'll never find the new strain and complete this operation," Marth said.

"So you noticed as well," Nozomi said. "We fell for the strain's trap."

"This was a trap?" Peach asked.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, it does look like a trap," Dr. Mario said. "It's no use to keep burning off these polyps if that disease is making more behind our backs. What we need to do to solve this problem is finding the new strain and eliminating it first before we can really finish."

"Any ideas where it might be hiding, though?" Wolf asked. "The throat's small, so that bastard must be as small as a little polyp thing."

"Perhaps we should see an area where new polyps form," Nozomi suggested. "If I'm guessing right, the new strain could be close around that area it attacks."

Zelda gasped. "C-check the upper area!" she said. "I saw new polyps forming up there!"

Peach moved up the magnifying glass to focus on the upper area of the throat. They all could barely see an abnormal polyp twitching before it stopped twitching. "What was that just now?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I couldn't tell, but it surely looked like some sort of mutated polyp to me," Nozomi said, grunting after seeing the blood covering the new polyps. She decided to treat the upper area once more to heal it, even though doing so had lowered the vitals below twenty-nine. "Alright, let's keep looking for that disease a little more."

"Go down," Wolf said. "Those mucus bubbles appeared right below."

The magnifying glass was moved down, and the six managed to spot the abnormal polyp between new colonies of polyps. However, the abnormal polyp stopped twitching. "I haven't seen twitching polyps before," Nozomi admitted. "Whatever that was, I think the new strain is making the polyps by sprouting out inside them."

"So it have went into hiding again," Marth said.

"Right," Dr. Mario said. "But for now, let's treat this area again."

Nozomi focused on treating the area, pushing down the vitals to nineteen. She used four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals at fifty-six. "Okay, that disease has to be found with the next try," she said. "Once we spot it, I'll strike it directly with the laser to see if we can get a reaction. Are we ready?"

"More polyps are forming down below!" Peach said, moving down the magnifying glass.

After spotting the abnormal polyp Nozomi didn't lose time to use the laser right on it. The abnormal polyp twitched uncontrollably until it burst, revealing a new Malattia strain.

Trauma Team – Surgery ~ Struggle for Life

The new Malattia strain was probably the smallest strain they had ever seen before. It had some silver hands made out of cytoplasm that resembled claws, and its body looked a bit docile with a red tip that had the Subspace symbol. The red tip seemed to be moving around as if it was pretending to be surveying the area.

"There it is," Marth said. "That thing looks like...some sort of mole."

"Yes, I was thinking it looked like a mole judging how it looks," Dr. Mario said. "And because of that, we shall name this disease...Talpa, which is Italian for mole."

Nozomi continued with the operation by striking the Talpa with the laser. The Talpa seemed to be protecting itself as it moved its claws to shield its face, but it was useless as the laser easily hurt its own claws. It took Nozomi four seconds to deliver the final blow on the mole-like disease, the Talpa fading away while leaving behind a hole.

"That was it?" Peach asked.

"No, that was too easy," Nozomi said. "I don't think this much damage was done by just a single one of them."

"You mean to say there are more?" Marth asked.

Zelda looked up to see that there were more polyps forming on the center of the throat. "She's right! There are even more polyps forming up!" she said.

"So this disease doesn't have one but a lot more moles to attack," Nozomi said. "Alright, let's continue with the operation. We need to take them all out before we can get to clean everything. Let's move on to the center and find the next Talpa."

The surgeon started treating the center of the throat where she spotted an abnormal polyp twitching. She burned it to reveal another Talpa. Soon after that, another polyp appeared on the other side of a polyp colony. As the surgeon was killing the first Talpa, Dr. Mario decided to take on to the other Talpa with the laser, successfully killing it. He then started treating the affected area, which was bleeding heavily. "Two more of them were found here..." Dr. Mario trailed off worried.

"Get ready to take on a whole family of them," Nozomi said as she drained out the blood, the vitals dropping below forty. She burned off the polyp colony to use antibiotic gel to patch up the holes, restoring the center of the throat. She moved up to the throat to find three twitching polyps that had recently formed. "I need your help here. Let's take care of all the Talpas in here!"

"Here I go," Dr. Mario said as he joined Nozomi by burning off the abnormal polyps with the laser. Two of the three Talpas were exposed and killed by the laser, but the one that was hiding inside its polyp was somehow making its polyp grow until it burst into a big blood pool, dropping the vitals below sixteen. "W-what?" Dr. Mario stammered.

"The Talpa just burst a polyp into a blood pool!" Peach said shocked.

"And that blood pool is cutting the vitals down," Wolf said.

"There's no time to wonder about what to do. Just treat the blood pool and burn the polyps," Nozomi said, using three stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to thirty-three. She continued to burn the polyps while Dr. Mario took care of the blood pool on his side.

Just as they were finishing, the upper side of the throat had been infested with a big polyp colony. Moving the magnifying glass up, they found four polyps slowly growing in size, which were also turning a shade of red because of the blood accumulating in them. "The Talpas are directing the blood into the polyps to make them burst," Nozomi said. "And at the same time, they seem to sacrifice themselves to do all that."

"But if we only treat two of them at once, the other two will burst through the polyps," Marth said.

"Let's try striking all of them at regular intervals to see if they stop directing blood into their polyps."

"Right, let's do it," Dr. Mario said.

The two surgeons struck each one of the polyps without necessarily focusing on two polyps at once. The polyps that were trying to burst stopped momentarily when the laser struck them, giving the doctors time to expose the Talpas. The Talpas wiggled in pain until they faded away in defeat, allowing the doctors to burn off the entire big polyp colony with the laser and using the antibiotic gel to patch the holes to prevent bleeding.

However, the EKG got a drastic change in vitals, which dropped below nine. "There's more bleeding coming from below!" Peach said.

"A polyp burst while we were treating the upper area?" Nozomi asked. "Ugh, this disease is taking advantage of our lack of vision! Let's move on and treat the affected area."

"There, over the bleeding spot on the lower area," Dr. Mario pointed out, looking down to the lower area of the throat. He used four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to forty-five. "The bleeding is too much. It's dropping the vitals for a lot!"

Nozomi started to drain out the blood pool with the drain to move on with the laser to burn the polyps, patching the holes left behind with the antibiotic gel. She looked up to the throat where she spotted a new polyp colony forming on the upper area. "We've got to move faster. The disease is still attacking in other areas," Nozomi said.

Once the magnifying glass was put over the affected area, the doctors spotted three twitching polyps slowly growing and turning red with blood waiting to burst. The two doctors stopped all of the growing polyps with a single touch of the laser, allowing them to expose all three Talpas to eliminate them without trouble. After doing so, the two started burning off the polyps to use gel on the holes, restoring the upper area of the throat. Their brief moment of relief was soon stopped once the lower area was covered in a blood pool along with more polyps, reducing the vitals to thirty-one. "There are even more of those things delivering attacks outside our vision," Wolf said. "Is there an end to them? They're like a plague."

"The only reasonable process we can follow for now is counterattacking all of the Talpas," Nozomi said as the magnifying glass was moved over to the lower area of the throat. "Just to be sure, there weren't more irregularities shown in the scans, right?"

"No, there weren't more of them last time I checked," Dr. Mario said.

"If so, then this wave of Talpas can be stopped if we continue to eliminate them all," Nozomi said.

"You don't think the throat itself is filled with them, right?" Marth asked.

"Judging the situation, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason why they don't stop appearing all over," she said as she eliminated a Talpas with the laser while Dr. Mario eliminated two that he had paralyzed with the laser. "No other choice but to eliminate them all one by one, don't you think?"

"What a tedious job..." Wolf muttered.

"We can't help it," Dr. Mario said as he covered the holes left behind by the burned polyps with the antibiotic gel. "This is like some kind of endurance test to see which side can hold up until the end...except for the fact that the only one who could die is Falco and not us..."

The vitals suddenly dropped to five, which were then raised to thirty-two with three stabilizer shots from Nozomi. She looked down the throat to see that there was even more bleeding covering more polyps. Unfortunately, she also saw a new colony of polyps forming on the upper area. "This is slowly getting off the hook..." she muttered.

"There are way too many polyps," Zelda said disgusted. "Can we treat them all with those Talpas bursting them into blood pools?"

"We need to separate and treat both affected areas at the same time!" Nozomi said. "Someone else, grab another magnifying glass and move it over the throat so that we both can treat more areas to prevent more polyps from bursting!"

"I-I'll do it!" Zelda said as she grabbed a magnifying glass and moved it besides the one Peach was holding, allowing the doctors to cover more areas individually.

On Nozomi's side, she treated the bleeding area, spotting four twitching polyps growing slowly beneath the red liquid. On Dr. Mario's side, the doctor found six polyps twitching and growing slowly. The two quickly used the laser to neutralize all the Talpas they could touch to stop the polyps from bursting into blood pools. Nozomi was able to drain out and take care of the four Talpas, but Dr. Mario was only able to take out four in time while the other two burst out into two blood pools that heavily lowered the vitals to eleven. "N-no problem. I can still treat this area," Dr. Mario encouraged himself.

For their dismay, a new polyp colony was forming up in the center of the throat. "They're everywhere!" Marth said shocked.

The surgeon used four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to forty-six. "Don't slow down now. It's a race against time!" Nozomi said while patching up the holes left behind by the polyps. "This disease isn't going to make us look like some fools."

Peach gasped. "T-there are even more polyps forming in your side again!"

"What?" Nozomi asked, looking back at her area where a new polyp colony was forming up. The surgeon looked shocked when she found out those fifteen polyps were all twitching and growing, indicating that there were around fifteen Talpas about to burst the polyps and cause massive bleeding at once. "No, with the vitals we have, he won't hold up this attack..."

"Let me give you a hand! I'm already done on my side!" Dr. Mario said, joining with Nozomi to neutralize the big Talpa colony. Nozomi snapped out from her state and joined with the doctor, successfully neutralizing the fifteen polyps from bursting into blood pools. As they slowly took care of some Talpas, the neutralized Talpas soon came back to their senses and resumed filling the polyps with blood.

"You've taken care of six of 'em, but there are still more to eliminate," Wolf said. "Unless I want an earful from Fox, I want to remind you to HURRY UP."

"Geez, thank you so much for the encouragement. We'll really need it," Nozomi sarcastically replied as she neutralized the Talpas with her laser.

Unbeknownst to them, a new polyp colony formed up on the upper side of the throat. As they were finishing with the big wave of Talpas, Peach looked up and gasped at the sight. "There are even more of them over there!" she said, moving the magnifying glass over to the affected area. "My god, they look like they'll burst at any second too!"

"There are seven, eight...ten of them!" Dr. Mario said alarmed. He injected four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to seventy-one. "Let's hurry once more!"

The two surgeons started to neutralize all the polyps, but they couldn't prevent three from bursting into blood pools, heavily damaging the vitals to reduce them at forty-one. "This blood is getting in the way. Let me treat it," Nozomi said, offering herself to drain the blood pools with the drain.

As soon as the path was cleared out, two Talpas regained senses and burst two polyps into more blood pools, damaging the vitals to reduce them at eighteen. "These ones are recovering a lot faster than the previous ones," Marth said worried.

"There's no time to waste here," Nozomi said as she drained out the blood, grabbing the laser to neutralize the growing polyps.

"They're recovering faster, so that wouldn't mean they're starting to get weaker?" Zelda asked.

"Or, better yet, their numbers are diminishing, and the remaining ones are trying to do everything they can to finish the job by putting themselves into a stressed state," Nozomi said as she eliminated three Talpas with the laser while Dr. Mario injected three stabilizer shots, raising the vitals to forty-one. She then proceeded to patch all the holes with antibiotic gel. "This area is completed once more."

"Now, let's move down and...a-ah!" Peach yelped. "N-no, this can't be!"

While they were treating the upper area of the throat, a massive polyp infestation was occurring in all the rest of the throat. The infestation was so big that around seventy polyps were slowly twitching and growing with blood. They all knew that not even having maximized vitals would be enough to withstand so many polyps bursting at the same time, which caused them to feel very stressed.

"We've got to stop all of them! If they all burst at once, we'll surely lose our patient!" Nozomi said.

The two doctors frantically started to neutralize as many polyps as they could. However, the big amount of polyps in the throat was just too much for them to stop, since it took neutralized polyps roughly four seconds to resume filling themselves with blood, thus causing seemingly endless reruns for the doctors to neutralize them again.

"I don't see any significant change with neutralizing all of them," Wolf commented.

"You're right..." Zelda trailed off. "We can't even get to eliminate a single one of them..."

Nozomi closed her eyes. "(I've got no other choice...) I'm using the Healing Touch now," she said, making most of them gasp. "I'm sorry, but this operation is urging me to take this step. I've already discussed this over with you, but I can't let this disease kill our patient."

Dr. Mario sighed and looked serious at her. "If that's what you wish, then go ahead," he said. "If you do happen to collapse, I'll try to finish the operation."

Marth stood next to Nozomi. "I'm going to stand close to you so you don't fall back," he said.

"Here I go," Nozomi said nodding. "(Please, just let me save this patient...)"

The mysterious heavenly aura covered Nozomi's hands before she resumed treating the throat. As she successfully neutralized the twitching polyps, other polyps outside her area were bursting into blood pools, severely damaging the vitals. Her Healing Touch managed to fend off the massive bleeding covering a lot of the throat.

The vitals kept decreasing and increasing at very odd intervals. The Talpas burst polyps into blood pools, and Nozomi drained out said blood pools while giving more life with the Healing Touch. The assistants found themselves seeing how the operation turned into a battle of endurance between Nozomi and the Talpas while Dr. Mario treated other polyps in hopes of slowing them all down.

"This is just insane," Wolf said, staring at the EKG displaying the vitals. In a second, vitals were dropping beyond fourteen, but in the next, the vitals were raised to thirty and above.

Nozomi had predicted that exhaustion was going to become present as soon as she started using the Healing Touch. Even though she was doing a very good job at treating all the polyps and eliminating the Talpas she could expose and hurt with the laser, her vision slowly started to become blurry. She felt nauseous, and she even felt that she was losing her balance. She fought hard against collapsing while she was using gel to patch the holes.

Dr. Mario saw how the massive bleeding and polyp infestation was being reduced greatly by their efforts. He sighed while eliminating three Talpas. "Well, the tide has turned in our favor," he said relieved, looking back at the EKG with maximized vitals to ninety-nine. "It's just a matter of time before we can complete this operati-"

Marth let out a loud gasp as he noticed that Nozomi was slowly moving forward on the body. He and Wolf grabbed the surgeon from the sides, pulling her back. The glow on her hands had disappeared when they found out she had lost consciousness. "She fainted!" Marth said.

The doctor instead looked back at the throat where a small Talpas colony appeared on the center. "You look after her. We still got a few Talpas to eliminate," Dr. Mario said. "She told me to carry on with the operation if she happened to faint."

Wolf pointed to a chair. "Let's take her there," he said, Marth agreeing with him.

Back at the operation, Peach looked over at the affected area. "There are nine Talpas left. I don't see more polyps around the throat," Peach said.

"This has to be the last wave..." Dr. Mario trailed off as he neutralized the nine polyps with the laser. With the time he had, he started burning the polyps away to reveal the Talpas, which covered their faces with their hands until they faded away, leaving holes behind. The doctor first made sure to get rid of them all to move on with patching the holes with the antibiotic gel.

Once the holes were all patched up, and after making sure there was no bleeding around the throat, it looked like they had defeated the disease. The Talpa's image appeared on the throat, but it wasn't enough to make them feel stressed.

"The vitals are stabilizing," Peach said.

Zelda sighed in relief. "Thank goodness..."

Dr. Mario chuckled. "Well then, let's close him up," he said, suturing the incision on the throat. He disinfected the incision with the antibiotic gel to apply a bandage over it. He rubbed the bandage to keep it in place. "Operation complete," he said afterward.

"I'm worried about Nozomi," Peach said. "She risked her condition to save Falco from the Talpas."

"I admire a person like her went through with it, though," Zelda said. "Knowing the risk, she still pulled it off."

"Even so, it doesn't help the fact that she still fainted," Dr. Mario said. "Fortunately, she made the right decision, and I'm glad she used the Healing Touch once more."

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Caduceus USA

Marth and Wolf walked back to them. "She is resting," Marth said. "I thought she got into some attack, but she just merely fainted out of exhaustion and nothing else."

"Tsk, it's thanks to her that the birdbrain is still going to be alive," Wolf said. "And here I thought I was gonna have better chances at doing my thing back in my world."

"Now, now, that's a mean thing to say," Peach said. "I'm glad Falco didn't die during the surgery. Why, you said you didn't want to get an earful from Fox, right?"

"Yeah, but having a pest out would make up for it," he said before sighing. "You know what, forget it. Either way will end up with me having to go through hell, so I'm just going to continue tolerating their guts like I do every day."

Dr. Mario frowned. "If you say so. Well, I'm worried about Nozomi right now. We should take her somewhere else to rest." He looked at her from his spot, the surgeon leaning to the chair. "She's going to need a longer time to rest this time around."

Some time later...

Infirmary

"He better be okay, because if he's not okay, I'm going to kill somebody here. To me, he still looks like he's in pain, and I'm not going to doubt that he did something him. If I see him having some kind of attack later, I'm going to blame him for that. He could've done something even when you were blinking. Don't underestimate me. I can try to kill anybody even when I'm still in be-"

"Fox, for the last time, everything went well with Falco's operation even if Wolf was there," Dr. Mario told the angry Fox. "I was there the whole time. You're acting a little bit ridiculous to me. Will you please give it a rest and relax?"

Fox looked upset once he lied down his head on his bed. "Fine, but I only believe you because you never joke unless you look nervous," he said.

"He just needs to rest. When he wakes up, he's going to have some problems with talking, but he won't cough blood this time... Just don't let him talk too much, or in his case, complain."

"Okay..." Fox said sighing.

The doctor walked away from the vulpine to go over to Ness's bed. The psychic boy awakened shortly when the operation was in process. Upon looking at Dr. Mario, Ness sat up from his bed. "How are you feeling now?" Dr. Mario asked.

"Much better than before, that's for sure," Ness said sighing. "I still feel some pain, but it's not really that much at all."

"Thank god..." Lucas sighed. "I thought you were really done for, Ness."

"Good thing I wasn't done," Ness said, crossing his arms with an annoyed look. "Lucas, the next time we're assaulted and infected with deadly diseases, you're going to have to step up for me."

"W-what?" Lucas asked. "N-Ness, I don't really know if I'll do that... I-I mean, I don't know if I can do that knowing how bad I'll get!"

Ness pointed at Popo. "You'll do it for me, right, dude?" he asked.

"Er... I'm stupidly attached to Nana here," Popo said with a blank look while Nana rolled her eyes. "If I got in trouble, she'd be really heartbroken. You don't want me to die for you, right?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Ness complained. "You're just using that excuse to avoid saving me!"

"Ahem," Dr. Mario cleared his throat. "I don't want any of you arguing in here. It's already too much arguing when you think that Sonic's area is getting louder by the second. And even now, I can still hear their words very well from here."

"I don't wanna sleep!" Sonic was heard yelling.

"You're gonna sleep and you're gonna like it so you can get better!" Amy was heard yelling.

"I don't wanna! I feel like a new man!"

"You're still in bed, so you're still hurt!"

"You're not my mom!"

"You're making me look like one with your whining!"

"You both need to shut up!" Knuckles was heard yelling.

"I like to yell by literally no reason!" Charmy was heard yelling.

"Shut up, Charmy!" Vector was heard yelling.

Dr. Mario frowned. "It's always the same thing with all of them..." he muttered.

"Here's an idea to shut them all up," Nana said. "Give them some anesthesia."

"I think I'm going to rely on the same method, and that is telling them to be quiet," Dr. Mario said, overhearing more yelling. "...Thinking again, I'm going to tell them to leave the infirmary since their arguments are getting out a hand, and not to mention ridiculous. We still have two more patients to treat..."

"Bravo, you finally noticed," Ness said. "...Wait, I'm a patient in recovery. I demand my so-well deserved silence. Dr. Mario, take them away!"

Dr. Mario looked away. "Oh well, you ARE a patient, and your petition will be very beneficent, so..." He turned around and walked away to Sonic's bed, shamelessly getting no result whatsoever from telling the group to leave until Cream spoke, which made Team Chaotix (mainly because of Vector grabbing Charmy and Espio like rag dolls) leave, followed up by Tails, Knuckles, Big, Cheese, and Chip. Only Amy remained, and she kept denying Cream for a lot more time until she gave up and promised Sonic that she would soon visit him again, which obviously made his stomach hurl.

"Finally, some peace..." Sonic muttered, lying his head down on his pillow.

"You're still not allowed to leave the premises," Dr. Mario reminded the hedgehog.

Sonic grinned (coolly) and folded his arms behind his head. "C'mon, doctor. Gimme a chance to hit the road already," he said. "We're friends, am I right?"

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm going to let you go," Dr. Mario said. "And since we're friends, what kind of friend would I be if I let you go?"

"…Amirite?"

"…You're going to be here for a little while longer until we can finally conclude that you're fine. Sonic, I think we already discussed this."

Sonic looked bored and sighed. "Fine, doc. No hitting the road for me. I get it," he said, faking a sniff.

"Sorry, Sonic, but I'm pretty used to your antics by now," Dr. Mario said before he walked away from the hedgehog.

"I-I'm really gonna cry!" Sonic warned in a false tone of sadness. "I need attention so badly!"

"Well," Amy began as she seemingly appeared from the right side of the bed, making Sonic yelp, "if you REALLY want attention, then I suppose I could stay here with you so you don't feel alone."

"Security!" Sonic yelled, instantly calling Dr. Mario who grabbed Amy by her right arm and took her out (with the pink hedgehog loudly protesting, of course). The hedgehog sighed and decided to rest against his will.

…Because, after all, not looking at Amy was better than tolerating a disease to him.

Around that time, Dr. Mario noticed that the door opened with Nozomi walking inside. Unlike the last time, she looked mildly exhausted, but she was able to walk and stood still without losing her balance. The doctor walked to her. "How are you feeling?" the doctor asked.

"Well, after I found myself lying down on a very soft bed and having a forced rest, I guess I feel a lot better," Nozomi said. "And I see you managed to finish the operation for me."

"Yes, you did a lot of work that it was easy for me to take care of everything else," Dr. Mario said. "Seriously, though, you worried us a lot when you fainted."

Nozomi put a hand over her forehead. "Somebody had to use the Healing Touch to prevent our patient from dying," she said. "And guess what, I'm the one carrying that burden. So yes, my risky move ended up doing some good." She noticed the worried look on the doctor. "...But I'm not saying I'll use it again. Oh no, I need a lot more rest to pull that out again."

"That makes me feel a little bit better," Dr. Mario said. "On a related topic, we still have two more patients to attend. We're doing very progress, wouldn't you say?"

Nozomi looked over at Roy's bed. As she had expected, the swordsman's face looked worn out of exhaustion. She then looked over at Lucario's bed, where Chris was still sitting next to the Aura Pokémon, who still was unconscious. She narrowed her eyes for a bit, trying to avoid thinking the worst. "(His disease should be powerful enough to put him in a coma... Come to think of it. We haven't talked too much about those images in their bodies...)" She shook her head and looked at Dr. Mario. "I want to discuss something with you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"The dog guy with the spikes over there," Nozomi said, motioning at Lucario. "He is in a coma, right?"

"Sadly, yes," Dr. Mario said. "The Malattia strain he has in his heart is responsible of his state, apparently."

"Well, this is some random thinking from me, but do you remember those images imprinted on our patients' internal parts?"

"Yes, we still have no idea how to treat them," Dr. Mario responded.

"Since we have time to wait for the next operation, I want to see some little insight we can make out of these thoughts I'm having," Nozomi said. "Honestly speaking, what do you think will happen once we move on to the final patient? When all of them have their bodies usurped with images, what should be next?"

Dr. Mario thought. "We can't skin the internal organs off," he said. "If we do that, we'd cause severe damage. And, frankly speaking, I have no idea how to treat those at all. What about you?"

"You got me. I have no idea whatsoever," Nozomi said. "And there isn't anything that comes to mind. I'm no researcher, but I think something horrible will happen once we move on to the final patient." She crossed her arms and shook her head. "Call me crazy if you want, but something fishy is going around here, and it's not what you all do behind everyone's backs but those strains leaving their images behind."

"There haven't been any changes in condition with everyone," Dr. Mario said. "They all have healthy conditions that are very stable...but I don't trust those images either. I don't know how we will treat them after we're done with all the patients. Are you sure you don't have anything?"

Nozomi shook her head. "I'm at a blank now. But when the final operation is finished, we have to be very prepared for the next unknown phase. We can't let panic spread around this very room if somebody happens to overhear and misinterpret our discussion," she said serious.

"We're all going to di-"

"Not on my watch, you big monkey guy," Nozomi interrupted DK by shutting his mouth with a hand, not even giving a look at the astonished Kong while Diddy simply stared shocked. "I've got everything taken under my control in this area."

Dr. Mario sweat dropped. "...That...I can see very well pretty much," he said.

Nozomi pulled back her hand, letting DK rest on his bed with a sense of fear (against her). "So yeah, there's nothing to worry about right now, but the situation might turn for the worst later. We better get prepared for what's to come."

"Yes," Dr. Mario agreed.

The two doctors heard a loud gasp coming from Roy's bed where it was followed by loud screams that filled the infirmary. Everyone turned to the general direction to see that Roy was violently reacting in pain in his bed, feeling a very burning pain in his chest. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed out.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Emergency

"Roy!" Marth yelled, seeing the red-haired swordsman clutching his hands over his chest. "Roy, what is happening to you? Tell me!"

"M-my chest! I-it's starting to hurt a lot!" Roy complained. "T-the pain suddenly got worse in a second! I-I don't know what happen-GAH!" he yelped, gritting his teeth harder, shamelessly tolerating the pain.

"H-hold on right there. We're going to have to operate on you at once!" Marth said before he ran over to Dr. Mario and Nozomi. "We've got to do an emergency operation!"

"We need to apply anesthesia to Roy," Dr. Mario said. "Go over to the operation room and tell the others to prep everything."

"Right, but please, hurry!" Marth begged, leaving the two doctors behind as he made his way to the operation room.

As the two doctors went over to Roy's bed to apply anesthesia to the screaming swordsman, Nozomi sighed in a ticked off mood. "Oh my, isn't this just great," Nozomi muttered sarcastically. "Right after I barely got out from having some rest, a patient has an attack at a bad time."

Dr. Mario looked at her. "Will you be able to use the Healing Touch again?" he asked worried.

"I'm still exhausted," Nozomi admitted. "I'll have to stop thinking about using the Healing Touch during this particular operation. Now's not the time to be thinking about that, though. We've got a patient to save once more."

The doctor started giving Roy the anesthesia with a mask. Dr. Mario lowered his head, fearing for the worst about the next operation and Nozomi resorting to the Healing Touch in her exhausted state.

Operation Room

The assistants were preparing all the tools for the next operation while Roy lied down unconscious on the bed in the middle of the room. Nozomi looked down at the swordsman, staring at his chest. "(Whatever thing is inside of him is going to try to force me to rely on the Healing Touch... I have that feeling. I just know it,)" she thought.

Marth approached her. "Everything and everyone are ready for the briefing," he said. "Are you sure you can operate?"

"Yes, I can operate," Nozomi said. "But I'm exhausted due to using the Healing Touch at irregular times. If I happen to use it again once more, chances are that I will faint way faster than before."

"If it comes down in using it during an emergency..." Marth trailed off in thought, "...don't use it, but do everything else you can do to save Roy from dying, please. That's all I'm asking you to do."

Nozomi chuckled. "He isn't going to die in my hands. Rest assured, we're going to pull this one out like the previous seven times I've been doing operations all day long," she said.

Marth nodded. "Thank you. That makes me feel a bit better," he said. "It's all up to you to take a risky course of action, and I won't stop you from doing so."

"Sounds good to me," Nozomi agreed, seeing that everyone was gathering around the patient. "He won't be an exception for survival. We have to try, after all."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Briefing

Patient: Roy

Overview: Multiple lacerations found on the left lung. Malattia strain Squalo found within affected area. Advanced stage of the strain is present.

"I've done some analysis, and they all point out that DK's disease has also infected Roy," Dr. Mario said. "However, the one that Roy has advanced to a new stage by itself... And so, this Squalo has the same attack patterns, but they do more than that."

"And do we know what those extra effects are?" Marth asked.

"They're not effects, but rather the amount of Squalo bodies inside the lung," Dr. Mario said. "Apparently, if left alone, the big Squalo can make smaller Squalo bodies to attack the area they're in. However, when it's stressed, it stops making Squalo bodies to act on its own."

"That sounds so horrible," Zelda lamented. "His lung has a swarm of parasites that are making a home out of himself."

"According to the info you've given me, the attacks that the Squalo does are rupturing the area with big lacerations and cause heavy bleeding," Nozomi said. "Huh, that sounds a little bit too similar to another disease I know, but this one seems to be stronger."

"Well, we should just shoot 'em down with the laser like before," Wolf said. "It's their only weakness."

"Even though this sounds easy to say, it's going to be a very hard battle," Dr. Mario said. "I was growing stressed when we first fought it, remember? Having Nozomi here is going to make the work a lot easier if we don't happen to stumble into problems along this operation."

"Glad to be here," Nozomi said. "After this operation gets done, if it happens to get done, we're going to move on the final operation with the last patient we have. Whether or not it's going to be the final operation is a mystery to me, but something is going to come up..."

"You think?" Wolf asked. "What could possibly happen once we finish with this headstrong kid?"

"Anything, since these diseases can virtually do anything unexpected," Dr. Mario said serious. "But there isn't much time to be talking here. We must start the operation at once. Roy isn't going to hang in there for much longer if we lag."

"These are the objectives for the operation," Peach said.

-Treat all lacerations.

-Eliminate all Squalo bodies.

-Ensure that no lacerations and bleeding are left untreated.

"This disease might have gotten stronger than before, so be very careful," Peach said.

"Alright, time to eliminate one more parasite," Wolf said with a grin. "I just love seeing them doubling over."

Everyone put on their surgical masks. Each one of them nodded together before Nozomi made a hand sign. "We're now starting the operation," she said.

Trauma Center: New Blood - Stigma

"The vitals for this operation are at seventy," Peach pointed out. "However, they'll start decreasing once we get inside the body. And judging at the scans, the vitals will go down very fast... Please have that in mind."

Nozomi pulled back the sheet covering Roy's body to disinfect the area over the chest. She then made an incision to open the way into the left lung. "Well then, here goes," she said.

Inside, they found out that the right lung had three big lacerations that were bleeding heavily. The amount of bleeding was so bad that the blood from each laceration were reaching out to each other.

The two doctors started draining out the bleeding with the drains before each one of them used the forceps to close them with the sutures. The vitals dangerously dropped to sixty-one while there was one more large laceration behind. Nozomi proceeded to take care of the damaged area, restoring the right lung's outer skin.

"Treatment of internal wounds is complete," Peach said. "That was quite fast."

Suddenly, two large lacerations ruptured through the lung, revealing two small Squalo bodies that started swimming around the area of the left lung. "So those are the little fellows that were causing you all trouble. They definitely resemble some kind of shark to me," Nozomi commented.

"Why don't we divide tasks?" Dr. Mario said. "I'll treat all the lacerations they make while you try to eliminate all the Squalo bodies."

"Yes, that should reduce the work a lot," Nozomi agreed.

Dr. Mario started draining out the blood from both large lacerations while Nozomi struck both bodies with the laser. It took her a few times to strike the bodies until they faded away. She noticed that she had finished rather fast because the doctor was still closing the large lacerations with the forceps. "Procedure is normal so far," Peach said. "The vitals are dropping to forty, though."

Nozomi grabbed the syringe, injecting five stabilizers to raise the vitals to eighty-seven. "Just to be sure, let's keep the vitals high enough for us to stop worrying about them for a while," she said.

Dr. Mario finished treating the large lacerations, but it took three seconds for another Squalo body to rupture the lung with another large laceration, which bled heavily in an instant. The doctor grunted and started draining out the blood. But just then, another large laceration was formed by another Squalo body, and then a third one was opened by another body. Soon, the lung found itself swarming with three foreign bodies swimming around. "There are so many of them this time around!" Zelda said shocked.

"Let's not get surprised by their numbers and proceed with the operation," Nozomi said calmly as she started striking the Squalo bodies with the laser. With three large lacerations bleeding heavily, the vitals dropped by four every second, prompting Dr. Mario to accelerate his treatment.

The surgeon was able to take out two Squalo bodies, and the doctor was halfway done with the second laceration. As he sutured the last laceration, another one formed by another Squalo body jumping out to expose itself. "Damn, there are too many of them, alright," Wolf said disgusted.

"I fear that this operation might be harder to do with so many Squalo bodies swimming around our area of work," Nozomi said, noticing that the vitals had dropped to seventy-two. She resumed her work by eliminating another body.

Dr. Mario sutured the oldest large laceration first so that it wouldn't cause more damage. He moved on to the last laceration while Nozomi eliminated the last body present. While the doctor was treating the last laceration, Marth rubbed his chin. "Wait a second. I think there are more of them swimming inside, don't you think? Shouldn't we use the ultrasound before they can come out by themselves?"

"Good idea," Nozomi said, grabbing the device from Marth to locate two shadows moving inside the lung. She made two incisions with the scalpel to expose the two bodies. "…Oh, aren't you done kidding with me?" she asked aggravated.

"Um, what's the problem?" Zelda asked.

The surgeon pointed her finger down where there was an abnormal shadow moving around the lung. From what they could from past experiences, the moving shadow was a tumor. "A moving tumor?" Peach asked shocked.

"A moving tumor..." Wolf muttered before he glared. "Oh, hell no."

"There's another Malattia strain inside him!" Nozomi pointed out.

"Two strains inside the same patient? Has the world gone mad?" Zelda asked in pure disbelief.

As soon as they found out that there was another strain in there, they saw a familiar bee coming into view from under the heart. They all recognized the bee as the Ape, fluttering its vein-like wings while flying around the left lung. "How could the scans ignore the presence of another irregularity?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I think this disease knows how to hide well enough to fool the x-rays," Nozomi said.

"But why wait until now?" Marth asked.

"Perhaps it was waiting for us to barge in inside should the Squalo found itself in danger," she theorized. "These diseases are smart, after all. The Ape in here is acting as a second attacker. We're going to deal with both strains at once."

Dr. Mario looked worried. "But all the Squalo bodies in here and the Ape combined will put a lot of stress to us. Will the operation be successful even without the Healing Touch?" he asked concerned.

Nozomi chuckled confidently. "Why don't we find out ourselves? I personally think that this can be done without using sorcery," she said. "So then, shall we give it a go?"

"..." Marth nodded. "Just because there are two of them this time doesn't mean can lose hope yet. Roy has to survive."

"What's the course of action?" Wolf asked.

"I'm going to take of both strains myself," Nozomi said. "Do you mind treating all the damage by yourself?"

Dr. Mario shook his head. "I don't mind suturing and excising tumors. You go on ahead and take on the other two strains. I'm going to expose the Squalo bodies first so you can attack them directly. If I happen to avoid having lacerations or tumors, I'm going to give you a hand."

"That should work just fine," the surgeon agree.

Peach looked at the EKG. "We're at sixty-five vitals and the lung is clean of lacerations and tumors. There are two strains now, so please, be very careful," she said.

Trauma Team – First Response ~Hero's Resolve~

The Ape formed three small bees that circulated around itself. "It looks like it doesn't want us to stay quiet," Nozomi said. "Is everyone ready for this? Let's resume the operation." She struck the zooming bee-like disease with the laser while carefully avoiding touching the small bees flying around it.

The doctor grabbed the ultrasound to check the lung for any foreign shadows moving inside. He found two small Squalo bodies lurking around. "I've found two. Be ready to take them on!" Dr. Mario said as he made two incisions to expose the two bodies out, using antibiotic gel to patch the two small incisions.

Nozomi stopped striking the Ape with the laser to strike one of the two Squalo bodies instead. Since Dr. Mario was free, he decided to strike the other Squalo body first. "Stop," she said.

"Huh? What?" Dr. Mario asked confused.

"You strike the Ape and let one of these bodies alone," Nozomi said. "We can't have the main Squalo to appear while the main Ape is out here."

"I don't understand your plan," Zelda said.

"Look, the small Squalo bodies are out here right now, right?" Nozomi asked as she eliminated one body, focusing on the Ape together with Dr. Mario while the second small Squalo body surveyed the lung. "The ultrasound didn't detect the main Squalo body yet, right?"

"No, it didn't," Dr. Mario said. "...Ah, now I get what you're trying to say."

Wolf rubbed his chin. "Let me guess. The main boss doesn't come out until its little henchmen are all taken out, correct?" he asked.

"Yes," Nozomi said. "We have the main Ape out, and we should focus on eliminating it first before we can strike the main Squalo body to avoid having two harmful attackers usurp the lung together."

"But why doesn't the main Squalo body come out if it knows it'll be easier for it to...well, you know," Zelda asked.

"Think they themselves are the last resort to attack should all their bodies fail to do so," Nozomi said. "Let's fool the main body and focus on eliminating the Ape first."

Dr. Mario nodded. "That sounds like a very nice plan to me," he said, seeing the only small Squalo diving into the lung while opening a large laceration. "I'm going to keep things stable down here while you eliminate the other disease."

"And try to keep those vitals up," Nozomi said. "With a plan like this, the margin of error should be shortened by a lot."

The doctors resumed working while keeping everything in order. Nozomi had a hard time trying to avoid touching the small bees with the laser. Dr. Mario gulped as he was put on the defensive against the small Squalo body that ruptured through the lung with a big laceration. The doctor knew that he was going to drain blood, close lacerations, and suture them back together for a long while to give Nozomi enough time to eliminate the whizzing Ape.

Dr. Mario got startled when a small bee burrowed into the lung to make a moving tumor inside. "Sorry for the little mistake there," Nozomi said.

"It's nothing, really," Dr. Mario said while incise on the tumor to drain its fluid and excise it with the scalpel, lying down a synthetic membrane to patch the hole with the antibiotic gel. A second later, the Squalo dove into the lung to open a large laceration.

Nozomi saw the Ape stinging its needle into the lung. "It's going to cause a cardiac arrest!" Peach said.

The EKG started beeping faster, but the cardiac arrest wasn't produced. The surgeon narrowed her eyes and struck the bee-like disease with the laser, and for the surprise of some of them, the Ape pulled its needle back and resumed moving around the lung. "What happened this time?" Marth asked. "It was surely going to do another cardiac arrest like last time..."

"It probably has to do with the fact that it's not on the heart but the lung," Nozomi theorized. "After seeing that it could deliver a cardiac arrest from here, it's not as strong when the heart is away from its reach."

"Is it possible to think it could move to the heart from the lung, though?" Peach asked concerned.

"Well, if it wants that, it better have any better plans because it's not going to do that on our watch," Nozomi said, resuming striking the Ape with the laser.

The Ape flashed from yellow to red until it turned back to yellow completely. The two bees circulating around it flew away to different directions. "They're initiating their new attack pattern," Dr. Mario said. "They're going to follow the Ape from behind so that they get in the way. Be careful."

"The vitals are dropping below thirty-nine by now," Peach said. "Should we raise them a bit?"

Dr. Mario agreed by injecting three stabilizer shots, raising the vitals to sixty-seven. Nozomi carefully struck the Ape with the laser while making sure the free bees didn't reach out for the laser. As she continued harming the bee-like disease, the small Squalo body ruptured through the lung from the inside, creating a bleeding large laceration that pushed down the vitals to fifty-three.

"Keep it steady," Wolf said. "With the steps we're pulling off, everything should be fine even if we got two different parasites in there."

"Let's not get overconfident with our procedure. Something unexpected might happen along this way," Nozomi said. "But I have to agree with you that things are very stable."

Zelda sighed. "And here I thought our problems were going to be so hard to solve," she said.

Nozomi accidentally struck a small bee that went into the lung to form a moving tumor. Dr. Mario used the ultrasound to detect the tumor to incise it. "I forgot how troublesome it is to deal with this disease in particular," Nozomi said. "Definitely my most hated disease so far."

"Nozomi, we've got trouble!" Dr. Mario said. "There are more small Squalo bodies lurking inside the lung! There are two more of them!"

"What? I thought more shouldn't appear when they're not alerted that the ones attacking the lung are gone," Marth said. "Did we abuse of the time we made?"

"That was most certainly the case because the main Squalo bodies is creating more small bodies," Nozomi explained while she continued striking the Ape with the laser, her focus constantly shifting back to the free bee that wanted to get struck instead. "The only disease that can cause the most damage here is the Squalo."

"I'm going to expose all three of them now before they can inflict more damage," Dr. Mario said, making three incisions to expose all three Squalo bodies. Nozomi stopped striking the Ape to strike two of the three bodies. She had no trouble eliminating the two, allowing her to go back and attack the Ape once more.

The small Squalo body lurked around the lung, but then, a big Squalo body jumped out from the lung before diving back, creating two large lacerations that bled in an instant. "What the hell? That was the main body just now!" Wolf said.

Nozomi grunted. "So this is how it's going to be, and here I wanted to avoid meeting up with that thing of hell," she said. "I guess it grew a little bit impatient that we weren't paying it so much attention."

"Don't stop now," Marth said. "Things went down this road because we chose to. Let's fend it off."

"Sure thing."

Dr. Mario, alarmed, started treating the two lacerations, reminding himself that the small Squalo body dove into the lung to make a third large laceration. The vitals quickly dropped beyond twenty-seven. Unfortunately, yet another small Squalo body ruptured through the lung to move outside, causing a fourth large laceration that dropped the vitals to sixteen. "Oh no, there are so many of them this time around!" Peach said. "The vitals are dropping very fast!"

Nozomi saw the Ape burrowing its needle into the lung, causing the heart to fibrillate a bit. Seeing that Dr. Mario was left alone to fend off the four large lacerations, she struck the Ape with the laser to force it to pull back its needle. "You need help badly. I'm going to help you out," she said as she grabbed the drain from Marth to drain out all the blood from all the lacerations.

"Thanks," Dr. Mario thanked her, injecting four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals over forty-one. He quickly returned to treat the large lacerations. In a span of twenty seconds, the two doctors sutured all large lacerations, and Nozomi eliminated the small Squalo outside the lung.

"There's a possibility that there are more Squalo bodies inside," Nozomi said as she returned to deal with the Ape. "Locate all of them and take them out at once."

Dr. Mario nodded. As he used the ultrasound to locate three small Squalo bodies and the main Squalo, Nozomi managed to damage the Ape further enough to change its body color to red. The single bee that was flying around moved in zigzags at a faster rate while the Ape zoomed about even faster. She firstly saw Dr. Mario exposing the three small Squalo bodies. "I think it'd be best to eliminate the small bodies before moving on to the main diseases," Zelda said.

"Yes, I should do that now," Nozomi agreed, striking each one of the Squalo bodies until they all faded away from existence. However, as she moved from the second to the third, the small bee that was going in zigzags got in the way of the laser and dove into the lung to create another moving tumor. The surgeon grunted as the Ape formed three more red bees that went to different directions, almost nearly their space to use the laser freely. "Ugh, it's clear to me that we should get rid of the bees first before moving on to the Squalo," she said.

"Let me treat the tumor," the main Squalo ruptured through the lung by jumping out and diving in, "...and the large lacerations," Dr. Mario said dismayed.

"The vitals are dropping by three every second," Peach pointed out. "Hurry up and treat all the lacerations, Dr. Mario."

Dr. Mario carefully drained out the blood from the large lacerations to close them together with the forceps. As he closed them, he blinked surprised when Nozomi offered herself to suture the lacerations. He injected three stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to fifty-two. "We shouldn't tolerate having these big wounds. What is the point in eliminating the diseases if you can't clean their damages?" she asked.

"You're right. Thanks again," Dr. Mario thanked her. He located the moving tumor to incise it, drain its fluid, excise it, and patch the hole left behind with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel.

"Done," Nozomi said, moving on to striking the zooming Ape with the laser. "Are there any more Squalo bodies around the lung?"

The doctor grabbed the ultrasound from Zelda and started scanning the lung. "No, there's only one Squalo; the main one," Dr. Mario said.

"Release it out."

"What? Why now?" Wolf asked.

"It could create more Squalo bodies if we leave it inside," Nozomi said. "Why don't we see for ourselves how it does that outside its nest?"

"Hmm, I think you're right with that thought in mind..." Zelda agreed.

Dr. Mario made and incision to release the Squalo out, using antibiotic gel to patch the little incision. It started moving around the lung along with the zooming bees and the Ape.

"Just a little more until I finish the main bee," Nozomi said as she carefully struck the Ape with the laser. "This thing is quite strong for resembling a bee, I'll give it that. While I'm busy with it, take the little shark on by yourself."

"I don't really think that's going to be a good idea, but I can deal with the consequences," Dr. Mario said, starting to use the laser to strike the Squalo. The Squalo twitched uncontrollably as the laser burned through it, but it had the advantage of the flying bees forcing Dr. Mario to turn on and off the laser constantly. He started to sweat, feeling a lot of stress in dealing with the shark-like disease. Several seconds passed until the Squalo opened its mouth and dove into the lung and jumped out again, causing two large lacerations in two seconds.

"Vitals are dropping below twenty-seven," Nozomi pointed out. "Things are going to get very rough from here and on. Let's keep them over seventy."

"Yes, I'm having that feeling that's telling me everything is going to get worse as well," Marth said.

The doctor injected five stabilizer shots, raising the vitals to seventy-three. He moved on to treat the two large lacerations by himself.

The surgeon's eyes widened when the Ape reacted violently at the laser. Soon, all the bees were flying even faster. She looked serious while keeping track of the Ape. "Is it just me, or is the bug faster than before?" Wolf asked.

"Is it trying to make up its disadvantage for being around the lung and not the heart?" Marth asked. "I guess it should be that, and that's why it's getting way more stressed."

"Which gives me a good reason to deduce it's getting ready to die," Nozomi said. "But these bees are speeding a lot... Let's be prepared to excise a whole load of tumors."

"Let me finish up here with the large lacerations," Dr. Mario said. "...Done, I'm ready for the tumors to come."

Nozomi started striking the Ape with the laser, despite the fact she was occasionally striking the fast bees that burrowed into the lung to make more moving tumors. Dr. Mario wasted no time to start working on excising the tumors. The surgeon's forehead sweated as the Ape stopped momentarily to call forth three more bees that went flying to different directions. The vitals were a few times slowing down or increasing in speed with the tumors being excised.

The vital count dropped below sixty in a blink of an eye. The Ape seemed to react more stressed as it moved around the lung. The Squalo, all by itself and alone, dove into the lung just to jump out to cause two more large lacerations, further dropping the vitals faster. "We need to stop here now!" Dr. Mario said, injecting three more stabilizers to raise the vitals to seventy-two. "There are three tumors and two large lacerations!"

"Okay then, let me help you," Nozomi offered herself to sacrifice a bit of her time to take care of the big lacerations. The red Ape, however, burrowed its needle down into the lung, and instead of causing a temporary fibrillation in the heart, it almost immediately went into cardiac arrest. "What the heck?"

"The heart is fibrillating too much! Stop the procedure!" Peach said.

"But the damn bug couldn't pull this off before!" Wolf said.

"There's no time to deduce what happened! Give me the pads! We left so many wounds that need to be treated!" Nozomi yelled, grabbing the pads from Marth. "Clear!" she yelled, pushing down the pads to release a shock into the body.

"It's not enough!" Marth said. "One more!"

"Ugh, don't die on me yet. Clear!" Nozomi yelled, pressing down the pads once more to make the body hop off from the bed a bit.

"We need one more! Hurry!" Dr. Mario said.

"The vitals are already dropping below nineteen!" Peach said alarmed.

"This isn't the time to give up yet! Clear!" Nozomi yelled, pressing down the pads.

"We got a pulse!" Zelda said relieved.

The surgeon put the pads away to help the doctor in treating the large lacerations and the moving tumors. "Dammit, this little shortcoming ended up throwing us off from our pace," Nozomi muttered.

Once they were finished, Dr. Mario saw the vitals at seven. He yelped at the numbers and quickly injected one single stabilizer shot to raise the vitals to sixteen. He sighed in relief and injected five more shots, raising the vitals to fifty-four. "Phew... Continue with the operation, please..." Dr. Mario said.

"This little bee has to go now. I'm getting sick of it," Nozomi muttered grudgingly, damaging the Ape with the laser.

The Ape suddenly stopped flying about in its crazy frenzy. It momentarily stopped fluttering its vein-like wings before flying around and shooting spores madly. As it flew to the sides, it slowly faded away, ending its existence. "The Ape has been eliminated, and there are no more bees plaguing the lung anymore," Peach said relieved. "Nice job."

The Squalo opened its mouth and dove for the lung to jump out, adding two more large lacerations that bled heavily in an instant. "We shouldn't celebrate yet when there's a little shark making a mess," Nozomi said. "Our last procedure is going to be like this. Leave the disease to me while you treat the lacerations it leaves behind."

Dr. Mario sighed. "Yes, that should pretty much finish it off faster," he said, focusing on the large lacerations while Nozomi took on the Squalo itself.

The Squalo dove into the lung without jumping out, creating a third large laceration. "It's trying to hide inside, but it's not that much of a big deal," Nozomi stated as she made an incision, releasing the Squalo out to hurt it with the laser.

The doctor made quick work of the three large lacerations, suturing them one each at a time. The Squalo twitched uncontrollably as the laser burned right through it. It was then that it wagged its tail frantically and screeched. Dr. Mario gasped as he heard the screen. "N-no, it's going to start its final attack!" he said alarmed, noticing that he left the vitals at forty-two. He started injecting four shots of stabilizers to raise the vitals to eighty-one. "Whatever happens, don't stop using the laser! It's going to dive in and jump out all the time!"

Nozomi glared down at the Squalo, which started to dive into the lung just to jump out and screech, repeating the same process over and over. The surgeon grunted at it as she struck it with the laser every time the Squalo jumped out. The jumps were so short that it seemed as if Nozomi wasn't even hurting it all, which in turn was pretty damaging to the lung. "The vitals are dropping much faster than before!" Peach said alarmed. "We're about to drop down ten!"

"(This can't be true... I'm not going to stop here because of this disease!) You there! Use the laser on it instead!" Nozomi yelled, her hands engulfing within a mystic heavenly aura.

Most of the assistants gasped as Nozomi decided to drain out the blood to give more life to Roy. Dr. Mario wanted to object to her risky decision, but he instead focused on the Squalo by hurting it with the laser. Around ten large lacerations and even more were being ruptured, causing a massive loss of vitals. Nozomi's Healing Touch barely kept up with the massive drop of vitals as she treated the large lacerations while Dr. Mario squared off with the Squalo.

Fortunately, Dr. Mario managed to deliver the final blow on the Squalo, which started to bite empty air and wag its tail crazily. It then shot spores out, fading away until it was eliminated completely. "I-it's gone..." Dr. Mario muttered.

Unfortunately, it left behind around eight large lacerations that Nozomi had yet to suture. She was feeling way more exhausted than before, her vision slowly becoming blurry. "I...can't...just...stop...now...of...all...times..." Nozomi struggled to utter words, her pace becoming steadily slower and slower.

"Nozomi!" Dr. Mario yelled, deciding to give her a hand with the other large lacerations to stop the vitals (at forty-two) from dropping down fast. "Don't overexert yourself any longer, please!" he said while treating the lacerations.

"U-ugh...I'm...sorry...again..." Nozomi muttered until she lost consciousness and backed away slightly, just for Marth and Wolf to react and grab her by her arms to keep her from falling down.

"Geez, woman, this is the second time you faint," Wolf muttered.

"We'll take her back to the seat again," Marth said. "You continue with the operation."

Dr. Mario sweated more as he was left alone to treat six large lacerations. Zelda grabbed a napkin and cleared his sweaty forehead while Peach saw the vitals dropping below thirty, prompting her to inject four stabilizer shots to raise them at sixty-three. "Doctor, the vitals are still dropping fast!" Peach said.

"I just need more time to finish this operation!" Dr. Mario replied, having sutured four lacerations while four remained. "Roy is going to make it no matter what!"

Some time passed until the doctor was able to completely restore the lung's outer skin. With a big sigh, Dr. Mario stopped briefly to witness how the image of both the Squalo and the Ape appeared over the lung. "We don't any more abnormal reactions," Peach said. "We have eliminated all diseases from Roy's body, and the damage done to the body wasn't enough to cause fatal stress."

Zelda sighed relieved while Dr. Mario sutured the incision over the chest. "So much tension in a single day is going to drive me nuts very soon..." she muttered.

Marth walked back to them while Wolf kept an eye on Nozomi on the chair. "Thank you, both of you, for saving Roy as well," he thanked the doctor as he disinfected the sutured wound. "This is surely very relieving news to me."

Dr. Mario applied a bandage to cover the sutured wound, completely finishing the operation despite all the difficulties they went through. "Everything is okay for Roy now," Dr. Mario said. "The operation was a success, everyone... Well done."

Trauma Center: New Blood – Hospital of Hope ~ Second Opinion Arranged

Everyone removed their surgical masks, letting out multiple sighs of relief. "This operation would've failed if Nozomi hadn't risked her health to use the Healing a third time in a row," Peach said.

"She must feel very exhausted," Zelda said concerned. "I admire her devotion as a surgeon, but she was seriously going through with it anyway."

The assistants looked over at the fainted Nozomi. Dr. Mario stared at her for a little while until he smiled a bit. "And for saving another patient, she has earned more time to rest to fully recover her energies," he said. "That as much compensation we can give her until we move on to the final operation of the day."

"The final operation?" Wolf asked from his spot. "Did we really reach the final step of the surgeries?"

"We're going to start the final operation on Lucario once Nozomi has had enough rest," Dr. Mario said. "Let's hope everything goes well while we wait for her recovery."

"That Healing Touch of hers is...amazing," Zelda remarked. "I can't honestly get bored of seeing her ability in action."

Wolf whistled. "She's got a fan now," he teased.

Zelda looked a bit embarrassed. "C-can somebody like me admire her devotion in her job?" she asked, some of them chuckling slightly.

Some time later...

Infirmary

Two hours had passed ever since the last operation ended. It was around nighttime where all the patients were being visited by other people. And after Chris had to snap out of his depressed state to push back DSS into Sonic (who had turned into a werehog), the infirmary was calm enough even though it was still raining outside with the occasional lightning bolts flashing in the clouds.

"Oh, sure, he was there. But knowing him, I'm pretty sure he dropped in a mine in my insides while you weren't looking. Besides, I still feel like crap, man. I don't honestly believe you that he didn't do anything fishy. It's not like I CARE about him, but I CARE about what he DOES during my sleep. So, c'mon. Put me back for more x-ray scans and find that mine inside my frickin' body!"

"Goodness, you and Fox are almost alike when it comes down to mentioning that Wolf was there to give you two a hand," Dr. Mario said upset to Falco.

Falco crossed his arms and looked away. "Are you forgetting that he hates me with a passion as if I was a bug to his shoes?" he asked.

"Um, yes, but you shouldn't really mind him," Dr. Mario said. "He's doing a good job. Do you want me to bring him her-"

Falco instantly slammed his head on his pillow and covered himself completely with his bed sheet.

"...I guess that's a big no from you," the doctor muttered with a frown.

"Same here," Fox replied, making Dr. Mario roll his eyes.

Meanwhile, over Roy's bed, the red-haired swordsman had awakened roughly an hour ago after his operation ended. "I definitely feel a way lot better than before," Roy said relieved. "The pain is almost gone as well."

"I'm glad to hear that from you," Marth said. "I know everything is going to be okay...for now."

"Bummer," Roy muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Sweet."

"..." Marth merely sighed. "You need to rest a bit more until we can find out what to do about that image reflected in your body."

Roy shrugged. "But please hurry up. Just thinking that there's an image inside me makes me feel very uneasy…and not to mention it's so twisted to hear a fact like that," he said.

"You're not the only one worrying about that," DK spoke close to Roy's bed. "I'm so, so scared about that. What if I…blow up?"

Diddy rolled his eyes. "DK, don't be so silly (PLEASE, DON'T BLOW UP, DK!)" he said calmly although thinking rather worried. "If you were to blow up which I'm DEFINITELY not saying is true, you should feel like, a burning feeling like having fire inside of you or something. Do you feel fire?"

DK looked up at the ceiling. "Hmm… Oh, I feel an empty feeling," he said. "I feel some kind of void, and it's even growling! Heard that just now? I've got a beast inside of me instead of fire, and it wants to eat me alive!"

"…DK, that's your stomach."

DK smiled sheepishly at Diddy. "Um, oh, that's right… Would you bring me something to eat, please?" he asked.

The spider monkey hopped off from his seat and walked away, ignoring the frowns Marth and Roy were both doing to DK, who in turn looked away embarrassed.

Ness clapped his hands. "It's time for dinner for me," he said. "Popo, I need some hot chicken soup."

Popo groaned. "Aww, do I have to go?" he asked.

"Before Nana says objection, I'm still a patient in recovery in this place," Ness said, crossing his arms. "And I need to be fed properly because I can't leave my post, I mean, bed. Since you're my friends, you should listen to my little selfish orders."

Nana looked bored at Ness. "Gosh, that was like, so self-explanatory from you," she said.

"Enough!" Ness said, clapping his hands. "I need my hot chicken soup!"

Lucas sighed and walked away. "I'm going to get the soup for you if you don't mind…" he muttered before leaving.

"Oh, great going," Nana said. "You just made Lucas your little slave."

"No, more like Lucas feels that he should take care of you because he feels that it's his fault that you got into this," Popo said. "And you know how much of a good kid he is. And with that reasoning, I can deduce he wants to make up for you saving his life."

The blue Ice Climber received some stares.

"...What?"

"...It's creepy to think you're this smart, Popo," Nana said.

"It's way too creepy," Ness said. "It was more bearable to me when you were acting like an idiot without common sense. And just for that, I'm going to trigger your stupidity with this word: mom."

"I laik pies!" Popo exclaimed as his eyes spun out of sync.

Nana grunted. "You're really going to pay for this if I don't get my sleep, Ness," she threatened.

"You don't have any rights to threaten a patient in recovery, let alone a little boy like me!"

"Oh, I'm calling BS on you for mentioning your age for you cunning defense!"

"Security!" Ness yelled.

As Dr. Mario was forced to see what was going on with Ness, Sonic was having issues on his own. The werehog stared up bored at the ceiling while a persistent Amy was trying to feed him with some hot soup. "C'mon, you gotta open that mouth if you want to get better," Amy said in a happy mood.

"No," Sonic responded. "How the heck did they let you stay here with me?"

"To please our fanbase and shippers in the internet?"

"What?"

"Because I'm the only one who has the duty to take care of you."

"What was the first thing you said before that?"

"I didn't say anything," Amy said chuckling. "You're probably imagining things, Sonic."

Sonic groaned and turned away from Amy, who still persisted and insisted trying to convince Sonic from eating his soup. While they were busy with each other, a sleepy Pichu peacefully rested while Pikachu was resting besides him. Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Jigglypuff were gathered around the bed.

Jigglypuff giggled. "The two of them look so cute together. It's like a big brother/young brother relationship," she commented.

"Our pimp friend happens to be not-so pimp that much," Squirtle said. "Hmm, maybe Pichu can control Pikachu?"

"Perhaps," Ivysaur said. "Next time when we get the chance, let's do some little pranks together with Pichu and see how Pikachu reacts to them."

"Count me out," Red said mildly annoyed. "The last thing I want is him using Thunder on me."

"Pfft, his trainer gets shocked by accident four times a month. You surely can handle that many Thunders."

"I-I'd rather not, thank you."

"Okay, Mr. Anti-Lightning," Squirtle said.

While Red grumbled a few words, Ike was resting on his bed. The blue (or is it violet?)-haired swordsman was taking his time of peace in solitude, having spoken to Marth already. "(Hmm, this time in the mansion has made me reflect about Mist and the others back home,)" he thought. "(I should send them a letter to let them know I'm fine. I know Mist can get pretty worried even though she tries hard to hide it from me.)"

Ike shifted his eyes around.

"(And while I'm at it, maybe I should address some of them in the letter as well. Oh, maybe I could tell them that both Marth and Roy aren't from any nations of Tellius... No, that wouldn't be a good idea. Some of them could question the two of them... Man, I sure miss those old times...and I just noticed it's kind of boring thinking these thoughts without having someone else around. Well then, let's pick somebody at random that can be good at talking about personal matters.)"

Diddy entered the infirmary holding three bananas, passing Ike's bed to get over to DK's bed.

"...I don't want to sound rude, but I'll wait for another person to come around here...eventually," Ike muttered with a sigh.

"I'm still right in front of you, you know!" Link called over from his bed, right in front of Ike's bed.

"Oh, you were there all this time?"

Link shot Ike with an angry look.

"Sorry..." Ike said. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"He certainly is feeling better," Zelda said, standing next to Link's bed. "He's stopped complaining about his headache. I'm glad to say he's recovered."

"I never thought I'd see you wearing a nurse's outfit," Link said. "According to your rules, nobody has ever since seen a princess working as a nurse."

"Ha, that is not true, Link," Zelda said in a know-it-all tone. "You have clearly forgotten that Peach is one nurse."

"Okay, that answers my doubt."

Zelda crossed her arms. "Think better the next time you try to outsmart me, Link," she said.

While Link looked upset at her, Ike stifled a small laugh to himself.

Dr. Mario went over to Lucario's bed where Chris was still sitting next to the aura wielder. The doctor looked concerned at the teen. "Chris, you haven't eaten a meal and dinner ever since the morning. You need to go eat some dinner," the doctor said.

Chris looked at Dr. Mario. "I'm sorry, but I just want to look after Lucario... It's my responsibility to look after your Pokémon when you're a trainer. But even so, I want to look after him," he said. "...He needs to have somebody to make sure he's okay."

"I understand that, but I can do that if you let me," Dr. Mario said. "We're stalling his operation for a little while longer until Nozomi recovers her energies to use her Healing Touch in case a problem arises. Good thing he hasn't had an attack yet during this break. Nozomi should be fully recovered."

"So, is Lucario's operation going to be held in a few minutes?"

"I presume so," Dr. Mario said. "We're going to wake him up from his self-inflicted coma, and we will eliminate the Malattia strain residing inside his heart."

Chris smiled a bit, though he still looked worried. "I'll wish you all the best of luck during his operation. If you managed to treat everyone else, Lucario shouldn't be any different, right?" he asked.

"Honesty speaking, it'll be different because we believe his disease is not the same like the other strains," Dr. Mario said. "But no matter how different it is, it won't stop us from continuing."

"Thank you so much... That makes me feel way better," Chris said before standing up. "I'm getting hungry, actually. I'm going to go eat dinner downstairs and come back up."

Dr. Mario nodded. "Take you time. The operation should start by the time you come back," he said.

The teen nodded with a confident albeit forced chuckle. He started leaving the infirmary.

Dr. Mario noticed that there were some grumbling sounds coming from nearby. He blinked and turned around to see that the grumbles were coming from Lucario. "What? He's waking up?" he asked to himself, turning back to shout at Chris. "Chris, don't leave yet! Lucario is waking up!"

Chris took an abrupt stop and turned surprised at the call. "W-what? He really is waking up from his coma?" he asked in shock, running back to Lucario's bed where, sure enough, the aura wielder was moving his head slowly to the sides. "L-Lucario, wake up, please!"

"G-grr..." Lucario grunted, slowly opening his crimson eyes. "..."

Chris hung his mouth open in pure disbelief, although he was very happy to see Lucario awake. "Y-you're awake! I didn't think you'd wake up from your coma so fast!" he said surprised. "I'm so happy that you can at least talk!"

"..."

"..." Dr. Mario tilted his head. "...Something isn't right with him, Chris."

The teen looked confused at the doctor. "But...but Lucario is finally awake!" Chris said. "How can you say something is wrong with him?"

"You haven't seen his eyes?"

"Um, yes, they look worn out because of his condition..."

"No, look closer," Dr. Mario said. "There is definitely something wrong by just looking at his eyes..."

Chris slowly blinked a few times, looking back at Lucario. The teen wanted to know why Dr. Mario said that Lucario was acting strange, so he slowly approached Lucario's face to examine his eyes closer. "...!" Chris gasped.

Trauma Center: New Blood - Threat

The World Traveler found out that Lucario's eyes had no pupils whatsoever. The black pupils that usually defined his wild look whenever he got into a fight disappeared completely, only leaving an empty void of crimson color. It looked so creepy to Chris that he backed away in a loss of words, slowly shaking his head.

"His pupils are...gone," Dr. Mario said. "It's unbelievable, but he seems to have entered a state of trance all of a sudden."

"I-I don't understand this!" Chris said. "Why are his eyes like that?"

"That is because I am going to put an end to all of you, fools."

The two looked shocked after seeing that Lucario had spoken in front of their eyes. What was strange is that his voice sounded rather menacing, which earned him some gasps from Chris and Dr. Mario.

"...D-Dr. Mario...c-call me crazy all you want, b-but I just heard Lucario...threatening us randomly?" Chris said confused.

Dr. Mario shook his head, still taken aback. "No, that was him speaking...but him threatening us like that is totally unheard of," he said.

Chris shook his head. "No, this can't be right. There's no reason for him to threaten us like that out of the blue!"

The two nearly hopped when Lucario turned to look at them. The empty void in his eyes made them feel a bit scared (a lot in Chris's case). "You are the ones trying to fend off my brethren?" Lucario asked. "Hmhmhmhm, you are foolish to believe you can cheat the true nature of death..."

The teen gulped. "L-Lucario, d-don't say those kinds of things, please. T-they're kind of creepy coming from you," Chris said. "Has the disease inside of you driven insane? I-I assure you that everything will be oka-"

"Shut up, inferior being," Lucario threatened. "You are lucky that my brethren did not get to...liberate you from the continuous burden that is your life."

"What?" Dr. Mario asked. "...Just who are you and what do you think you're doing with Lucario?"

Chris turned to the doctor. "What? L-Lucario is possessed?"

Dr. Mario stared serious at Lucario. "Whoever this is, it's not Lucario at all. Chris, think about it for a minute. Why would Lucario try to threaten us, and more especially, you?" he asked.

"...That doesn't make any sense for him doing that kind of thing against me..." Chris muttered, forcing a glare at Lucario. "And besides, his weird speech about death doesn't really fit him at all! Sure, Anubis is the Egyptian god of mummification and the afterlife, but Lucario isn't...that quirky."

Lucario pushed his bed sheet away to stand up in front of them. Around that time, everyone noticed the little commotion. "Imbeciles," Lucario said. "It is thanks to you all that you will continue enduring life's burden. You doctors and your medicines... You are just prolonging your suffering!"

"Um, I hate to break into this conversation, but why is Lucario acting like some goth?" Ness asked.

"And why is he looking pissed at us, anyway?" Squirtle asked.

"Meh, it's hard to tell whenever he's pissed or not with THAT look of his," Nana said.

"Got to love our face gags," Popo said, receiving a smack from Nana.

Chris stepped back in fear while Dr. Mario moved his hands forward to Lucario. "Calm down," he said. "There is no need to get so violent. Just tell us who you are so we don't raise a fight in here. You are currently standing in an area where you shouldn't be loud."

"Pah!" Lucario objected. "Who do you think you are to give me orders? The Subspace Army has had to deal with every single pest inside this cursed mansion. Why, I am trying to give you all the eternal rest that you so desire and deserve, but you keep interfering with my children!"

"Wow, I didn't know Lucario was a family's dad," Link said.

"I don't think so..." Zelda muttered.

"Ignorant people, you do not know who you are dealing with," Lucario said. "It is my responsibility to give the blessing of death to those who murdered my children with such persistent attitudes."

"What children are you talking about?" Dr. Mario asked.

"The children that were eradicated while they were trying to deliver death to you all!" Lucario yelled angrily. "Or to put it more simply, the children you decided to call 'Malattia strains' or some stupid thing like that! How dare you define us with such a filthy title? We are nameless because our only purpose is to give death to those who fight against it needlessly!"

Dr. Mario looked around the floor while putting everything together. "...Children...the Malattia...your children..." He looked at Lucario. "Are you trying to say you are...the father of all the Malattia strains we had fought already?"

Lucario pointed at Dr. Mario. "Dare to call us with that stupid name again and your friends will pay the price, or rather, they will be given the gift that they all decided to turn down against our wishes!" he proclaimed. "And yes, I am the father of all of them."

"Oh, god..." Chris muttered in disbelief. "I can't believe those diseases are really some kind of family..."

"So who's the mother?" Popo demanded. "I demand to meet your girl!"

It seemed that Lucario ignored Popo's demented question. "You got some nerve to kill my children... All of them were just trying to give you their blessing...AND YOU CRUSH THEM!" he yelled angrily. "What gives you the right to kill them all without remorse?"

"We don't have the same kind of mentality you have, that's why!" Dr. Mario argued. "If you think life is worthless, then leave it alone! The people who are here want to live their lives to the fullest without having to die!"

"Blasphemy!" Lucario argued back. "You are blind to the truth. Life is just a long chain of events that continue hurting itself until it cannot hold its stand and perish. My family and I are trying to solve that conflict altogether."

"By killing us?"

"That is such a harsh word," Lucario said. "We like to say that we 'give you a hand' as you like to say... When we are threatened, we like to say that you deserve death, though, and you have inquired my fury!"

"Pfft, big deal," Sonic taunted. "What are you gonna do, talk us to death?"

"I sadly admit that I have not much control of my vessel," Lucario said. "I can only take over his body to communicate with you all. This fool is such a strong pest that he is not allowing me to use these 'hands' to wring your necks with your tongues..."

Chris gasped. "Lucario is trying to get a hold of his body?" he asked.

"The mere fact that I am taking a hold of his heart has debilitated him a lot, but he is rather stubborn. Even now, I can feel how he is struggling to come back to his senses," Lucario said, smirking evilly (which freaked out Chris a lot). "Too bad he cannot do it."

"You...you...you bastard!" Chris yelled. "Let him go now before I-"

Lucario opened his arms, his smirk intact. "Or what?" he asked. "Are you seriously that dumb enough to attack me knowing that you will also inflict pain to him? Do I need to remind you that trying to do anything funny to me is a bad move, and that I can go ahead and end his life to free him from the shackles that keep him living? Those shackles being the ones that hold on to the heart?"

Chris stammered at the questions. Dr. Mario stepped forward. "Look, we don't want to make you do anything weird with Lucario, but he and the others want to live," he said. "You're being so selfish, telling to us to lie down and die."

"Stubborn? I am doing a favor!" Lucario roared. "If you idiots cannot comprehend that, then perhaps you would like to comprehend once I-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Nozomi's voice came from the hallway until she entered into the infirmary, finding everyone staring at Lucario, whom she thought was acting strange. "This is a hospital area for the time being. Feuds in here aren't tolerated... Why is he out of bed?"

"You..." Lucario muttered, narrowing his eyes at Nozomi. "If it is not the cockroach of a surgeon with that devilish ability...the Healing Touch..."

Nozomi slowly walked towards Lucario, stopping walking next to Chris and Dr. Mario. "Aren't you supposed to be my client's best friend?" she asked. "Why are you acting like some kind of demented jerk?"

"If there is a jerk here, that would be you, insolent woman!" Lucario yelled. "I never predicted that there was a 'surgeon' who could stand up against my children with that Healing Touch of yours!"

"Funny, I never saw any children that resembled you," Nozomi said. "But how did you know about my Healing Touch?"

Dr. Mario stared at Lucario. "She's right... How do you even know that we have been killing the Malattia strains?"

Nozomi stared at Lucario, who growled angrily after hearing the word Malattia being spoken. "This guy over there isn't being the same, am I right?" she asked.

"I am the father of all the children you killed mercilessly," Lucario said.

"In other words, he claims to be the strains' father, and he is controlling Lucario as well," Dr. Mario said.

Nozomi rolled her eyes. "Can't these diseases stop pulling off these tricks? It's way too much for me to believe they can possess people," she said. "But what is piquing my interest is the fact he knows that we've been killing his 'children' even though he wasn't there to begin with."

Lucario closed his eyes. "I heard their cries... I saw them crying out for me... They wanted their father to save them, leaving behind their remains so that their deeds would not be left in vain... As they died, I cried out for them to hold on, but they perished, failing their task..." He glared menacingly at the entire group of people in the infirmary. "You PEOPLE had the nerve to stop them! And because of that, I will feed myself with the power they left behind and KILL YOU ALL MYSELF!"

Nozomi frowned. "I have no idea who you are, and I don't give a damn, truthfully," she said. "I want you to go back to your bed and wait for us to start your operation."

"...Geez, talk about blissful ignorance to the extreme," Falco muttered.

"SILENCE!" Lucario yelled. "You are trying my patience! I am the Father of Nature, and I will put an end to you all for turning down your blessings!"

"The Father of Nature?" Dr. Mario repeated. "So that explains why all the diseases looked like animals, flowers, poison, and insects... They were all based off from nature itself, and that nature has a father; you."

"I do not care!" the Father of Nature yelled, holding out his hands to them. "Prepare to perish!"

The group looked confused at the Father of Nature. "...How is he exactly going to hurt us if he said he can't use Lucario's body that much?" Fox asked skeptically

"Beats me," Roy said. "The only thing besides him that's starting to annoy me is this sudden pain in my body..."

"Pain in your body? Odd, I'm feeling the same thing," Link said.

Pichu blinked a few times, slowly waking up. He yawned a bit and put his hands on his stomach. "U-uh, why am I feeling pain now?" he asked confused. "I think it's starting to get worse...

"U-um, I-I think I'm feeling more pain than any of you..." Link admitted.

Sonic grunted. "W-what the heck? I feel like my chest is burning!" he complained.

Trauma Center: New Blood – Emergency

"U-ugh..." Ike gritted his teeth, clutching his hands to his stomach. "E-everyone! I don't feel so good so suddenly!"

DK hit his chest a few times, feeling a burning sensation that was gradually becoming worse. "A-AAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed out.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Fox screamed out in pain, doubling over in pain.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW?" Sonic complained loudly in pain, gritting his sharp fangs.

Lucas entered the infirmary carrying a plate with chicken soup. When he saw Ness screaming, the blond kid gasped and rushed over to his side. "N-Ness!" Lucas yelled, putting the plate on the table besides the bed. "W-what's going on?"

"He's having an attack!" Nana said in shock.

"No, he's surely faking it!" Popo said.

"You shut up!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ness screamed.

"NESS!" Lucas yelled.

Pikachu woke up startled by the yells. His worn out look quickly turned shocked and his ears perked up when he saw Pichu crying loudly as he embraced himself hard to resist the pain to no avail. "Pichu!" Pikachu yelled, standing on his feet. "Pichu, d-don't cry! I-I'm here!"

"PIKACHU, HELP MEEEEEEE!" Pichu cried out sadly. "The pain is so bad! Ooooowww!"

"Oh Arceus, hang in there!" Pikachu yelled.

In a blink of an eye, the infirmary became filled with screams of pain as all the treated patients started complaining about pain inside their bodies that they couldn't tolerate very well. Most grabbed their chest, others clutched hands to stomachs, and others braced themselves or held their heads. Chaos soon reigned in the room as all the guests became alarmed.

"What is happening?" Amy asked in shock. "Oh no, Sonic, everyone!"

"Link!" Zelda yelled, watching the Hylian grabbing his head with both hands. "Please, hang in there!"

"I can't!" Link yelled. "T-the headache is back again! D-dammit, it hurts so much! Even more than before!"

Dr. Mario and Chris were looking around in panic, seeing all the patients screaming as if there was no end. "Why is everyone screaming like that?" Chris asked. "They were just fine a few seconds ago! How could they complain about pain if they were healed?"

Nozomi narrowed her eyes at the smirking Lucario. "Those images left behind by your children... Are they responsible of this?" she asked.

"Their remnants that they left behind will surely take all of you to heaven," the Father of Nature said. "They will slowly boil the blood that circulates your body so that it ultimately severe the shackles of life that you like to call internal organs! The process is quite slow, but the pain is so unbearable that their feeble bodies will not resist for so long! It is a slow punishment well-deserved for annihilating my dear children!"

"...You said you called yourself the Father of Nature, right?" Nozomi asked. "You are more like a Freak of Nature more than anything to me."

"Silence!" the Father of Nature yelled. "You should not address me like that ever aga-AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He dropped to his knees, blue aura suddenly engulfing his body. Nozomi gasped at the sight of the aura while the Lucario screamed in pain, holding his hands to his head. "What is this annoying blue fire? It is trying to subdue me!"

"What?" Nozomi asked confused.

"C-Chris!" the Father of Nature yelled. "Chris, please, save me! I can't get a hold of my body for much longer! Whatever you do, get rid of this idiot trying to kill me off! GUUUUUUUUAAAAAARGH!"

"Lucario?" Chris muttered amidst the screams. "I-is that really you, Lucario?"

"HELP ME, CHRIS!" the Father of Nature pleaded for dear life. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What is happening to him?" Nozomi asked.

"I know this is sudden, but whatever is happening to the disease trying to take over him, the real Lucario is fighting hard against it to give us a chance to strike back," Dr. Mario said.

"PLEASE, SOMEBODY!" the Father of Nature yelled. "I-I WON'T LAST FOR LONG!"

"Lucario, hold on!" Chris yelled. "I-I can't help you myself, but they surely will!" He turned to the doctors. "Please, do something about Lucario! He's trying so hard to stop that freak from controlling his body!"

Trauma Center: New Blood - Warning

Nozomi grunted loudly and pointed at Dr. Mario. "Apply anesthesia to all patients! We're going to perform the final operation as soon as everything here is in order!" she ordered, almost instantly running over to the Father of Nature to take advantage of his state of pain and slam a gas mask to his mouth and nose to apply the anesthesia, making him fall unconscious. "Alert all the assistants to come right over here!"

The surgeon looked back to see that all the assistants had appeared, hearing the screams from everyone. "Dammit, your screams are gonna push back the gas!" Wolf complained to Fox. "Close down that mouth of yours and let me put you to sleep!"

"Relax...relax, Zelda..." Zelda muttered, trying her best not to break into tears while applying anesthesia to the screaming Link. "You need to keep your emotions at bay...and everything will be fine..."

"Please, just hold on until the anesthesia puts you to sleep!" Marth yelled to Ike. "I've got to apply it to Roy as well, so stop screaming so loudly! We will pull this off, I promise!"

"For Arceus' sake, save Pichu!" Pikachu pleaded Peach, who was applying anesthesia to Pichu. "I'm way too worried for him than before!"

"We're going to try our best to save him," Peach said. "We need hope from everyone so we can finish this with success!"

"..." Nozomi chuckled confidently. "What do you know. All of them turned out to be professional assistants, or maybe they're just very used to this kind of thing that they're ready to jump into action. Just perhaps, they want to save their fallen comrades." She stood up from her place. "I've got to give them my thanks for reminding me how great it was to work with people who saw the operations and helped in them till the end."

"Nozomi!" Chris said, snapping Nozomi out of her state. "Are you sure you can save Lucario after that disease took over him? I-I'm so worried and I don't know if he's going to be okay!"

Nozomi put a hand on Chris's shoulder. "Everything is going to be over when we finish off the disease inside his heart. It's obvious to me that eliminating the so-called Father of Nature will destroy the images left in everyone who were infected," she said.

"But...are you sure?"

"I'm positive about my assumptions," Nozomi said. "I'm not letting some maniac do whatever he wants to do with people's lives."

Chris clasped his hands, shedding some tears while smiling a bit. "I'm going to be strong... I have to be strong while you're trying to save Lucario..." He looked serious at her. "I know you can pull it off."

"Like I said before," Nozomi said with a small grin, "I don't let my patients die."

Operation Room

Patient: Lucario

Overview: Father of Nature strain residing in the heart. Elimination of main Malattia body is crucial to completely eradicate all remnants of previous diseases.

"Everyone was put to sleep, I presume?" Nozomi asked.

"They were all given anesthesia," Peach said. "However, we retrieved some blood from them, and it was indeed a little bit hot. Furthermore, they all were suffering from very unusual fevers that are...very dangerous to resist. At this rate, they all might..."

"Let's not think about bad things now," Marth said. "It's obvious we've got to take on the final strain to finish everything once and for all."

"So what's the info about this dreaded imbecile hurting the dog's heart?" Wolf asked.

"The scans we performed showed almost no changes to his heart," Dr. Mario said. "We didn't want to run another scan of his heart now because that would take a lot of time off from our hands. Since we're in a state of emergency, this operation has to be done as fast as possible."

"We don't technically know what is waiting for us," Nozomi said.

"Isn't that too risky, not knowing what we're confronting?" Zelda asked.

"You forgot we can deal with unexpected events," Nozomi said amused. "And because we have no clear objectives other than the fact we need to eliminate the Father of Nature, here's the second objective of the operation."

-Do everything I tell you to do.

"...What?" Marth asked. "What kind of objective is that?"

"There's no known treatment yet. Would you like to give it a shot and think of one?" Nozomi asked.

"Um...no... I'm not a surgeon. You are one..."

"Good," Nozomi said. "Before we start this operation, I've got something to say."

"What is it?" Dr. Mario asked.

Nozomi closed her eyes. "(Is it a good idea to tell them that I expect the worst to happen?)" she wondered. "(...I can't bring their hopes down... Who knows. Hope is going to be the ultimate resource we can use to continue with this ordeal. And with their help, this disease will die and leave them alone.)" She looked at them. "I want everyone here to be ready for the final procedure. Time itself is against us, and we've got to eradicate the Malattia."

"I don't want to think about people dying during the operation," Marth said. "I get mad whenever I think Roy and Ike are suffering, and I think I should take their spot... But there is no other way around this since I'm here. I don't know much about surgery, but we reached this operation. That proves that we can pull it off."

"Will it be possible that this final operation will truly eliminate the Malattia?" Peach asked, shaking her head afterward. "Yes, I believe it can be done. Everyone is suffering because the Father of Nature is controlling everything from Lucario's heart...and I will use my expertise to get them to recover."

"Hmph, this operation better be the last because I might die of impatience," Wolf said. "I'm not letting that idiot take away all my chances to give Fox the beat-down he deserves. What fun is there for me if he kicks the bucket before I do? Heh, not on my watch, that's for certain."

"The operation that Link got taught me something after all the fretting I was making," Zelda said. "Emotions shouldn't interfere with our work, and that always includes every dire situation. If Link can be courageous all the time...I have to prove myself and muster up my own courage."

"After this operation, I hope I don't get to do more surgeries," Dr. Mario said. "I'd like to do surgeries that don't involve man-made diseases. Fighting all the previous diseases made me consider how hard it is for a surgeon to take care of people's lives. It can either be a rewarding or a dreadful experience, and the weight of it my be overwhelming at times..."

"But its weight isn't going to crush us now," Nozomi said. "This patient is going to be the catalyst that will lead us to the ultimate result. All our patients might die, or they might be saved in a single shot. This single shot is all we need to use to bring the Malattia its end. It hates life? Then let's take away its own life if it hates it so much so it stops bothering us so much about its views."

Marth nodded. "Right," he said.

Peach smiled. "One move is all we need here," she said.

Wolf grinned. "It's the time to give it hell," he said.

Zelda sighed relieved. "We're finally in the last step," she said.

Dr. Mario nodded. "And with Nozomi and her Healing Touch, our chances to succeed in this operation will be good," he said.

Nozomi chuckled. "Please, call me Naomi," she said.

"What?" everyone asked.

"I grew tired of everyone calling me by my fake name that not hearing my true name is making it look old," she explained. "I better drop the name you've been using to call me because you all have earned the right to know my real name."

"I see..." Peach muttered.

"My true name is Naomi Kimishima," the surgeon said, revealing them her true name. "And I want this name to be remembered as the name of the person who helped to eradicate the Malattia, along with the doctor and assistants standing in this very room."

Dr. Mario smiled. "You got a nice name, Nozomi...I mean, Naomi," he said.

"Thanks. Now I can truly remember how fulfilling it was for me to treat patients back in my homeland," Naomi said. "This talk has gone long enough, though. The final Malattia strain isn't going to wait much longer for us, is it?"

Everyone put on their surgical masks. Once they did, they nodded to each other and looked back at Naomi.

Naomi chuckled and made a hand sign. "And under this oath," she said, "I...no, we WILL save this patient!"

Trauma Team – Let's Begin The Operation!

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Under the Knife. It makes me wonder why it's not 'Under the Scalpel' instead...but it has a rather dramatic sound to it," Dr. Mario said.

"Thank god it's not 'Under the Antibiotic Gel' instead," Naomi said.

"Or 'Under the Sutures'," Peach said.

"Or 'Under My Blinking Light That Happens To Be A Total B(beep)h When It Wants To'," Wolf said.

"Prompts go for your title for being absurdly straightforward," Naomi said.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Naomi

References:

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Briefing" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during operation briefings. Honestly, I think this one is better than SO's briefing in some ways.

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Unfaltering Hands" is a song reference to the same game. It is the operation theme for surgeries involving harder procedures that often don't involve GUILT strains.

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Vitals Critical!" is a song reference to the same game. It plays when the vitals can't be maxed beyond the twenty mark, or when the patient's vitals are suffering a lot at the start of the operations.

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Gentle Breeze" is another son reference to the same game. It plays in places when you're not in Caduceus HQ such as Hope Hospital.

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Hopes" is a song reference to the same game. It normally plays when sad scenes before most operations... "Sniff"

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Code Blue ~ New Blood version" is a song reference to the same game. It is the standard procedure theme for normal operations.

-"Trauma Team - Surgery ~ Struggle for Life" is a song reference to the same game. This alarming yet epic track plays during harsh ordeals in Surgery episodes. Although I think it was a bit too early for me to put tracks of a game that wasn't released a year ago, I decided to put different surgery themes so the ones above wouldn't be so overly repeated.

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Stigma" is yet another song reference to the same game. It plays when you first discover the different GUILT disease family, Stigma. There are like three versions of this theme.

-"Trauma Team - First Response ~ Hero's Resolve" is another song reference to the same game. It is one of the first themes heard in the first operations of the First Response side.

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Hospital of Hope ~Second Opinion Arranged" is yet another song reference to the same game. It plays in Montgomery Memorial's Hospital. Apparently, this theme is a smooth, jazzy version of Hope Hospital's theme from Second Opinion. Hmm, so soothing...jazzy...

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Threat" is YET another song reference to the same game. It plays during moments of suspense...such as the small ellipse I inserted just now. :P

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Emergency" is YET ANOTHER song reference to the same game. It plays during...yes, you guessed it, during moments of emergencies such as when you find out some guy picked a fight with a grizzly...what?

"Trauma Center: New Blood – Warning" is YET ANOTHER SONG reference to the same game. It plays during briefings "where the operations get kickass enough to make you feel adrenaline" as told by...me. :D

"Trauma Team – Let's Begin The Operation!" is YET ANOTHER SONG REFERENCE to the same game. You'll hear this theme quite a lot before any operation begins. It's also worthy to note this theme gets remixed in every single Trauma Center game, Trauma Team having one that rocks hard. 8)

Out of Curiosity...:

-I just found out I used way too many tracks. :l

This chapter was a bit slow to me in the beginning, but it gradually picked more action as it went going down to the end where the diseases thought to be eliminated are STILL trying to kill the Smashers. I had planned out the last disease (Father of Nature) to be a mastermind on his own to totally throw off readers to think everyone was saved. Now...please stop rocking back and forth.

I have the slight suspicion that this arc might indeed end up being five chapters, but I think it's not really going to happen. The final operation in the next chapter is going to be much longer than a single operation. You'll see how the last disease will act.

Remember, there's a new poll open in my profile.

I'm glad everyone is still reading this even though it's a dark theme. This dark theme will pretty soon leave, though, so be ready for the continuation of the main saga. :)

I encourage all worried readers to review. :D

...Or Kirby and Meta Knight will be infected.

Meta Knight: That is such a preposterous idea. Our bodies are very hard to comprehend for a disease to affect us. I wish any disease good luck in hurting Kirby.

Kirby: *Burps*

Meta Knight: Be my guest and just try it.

*Chapter 182*: Under the Knife

So, how you've been doing these past weeks? I hope you all had a nice Christmas (or Hannukah). :)

From ngrey651:THIS I didn't see coming. Lucario being "possessed" by the "father" of these strains? This is so disturbing in so many ways. It's like "Parasite Eve" crossed with SSB, only it's maletta strains going wild, not mitochondria.

From me: It gets worse as it goes in this chapter with the final disease, though. Be sure not to be disturbed by him. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Safire Ranmako:I still LOVE your fic, but I can't say I like your Current Arc as much. (Shrugs)

When I started reading the Reviews at the top I remembered you once said that you wished you could add Naruto to all your fics, So why don't you, when you get to the KH Arc, put him in Traverse Town. You know, make it like he'd lost his World. That way you could avoid any hang-ups you have with putting in an anime world. (;·})

From me: I'm sorry for disappointing your fangirl side (you're a girl, right?), but I'm not going to do that kind of plug-in again like I did in the last chapter of the Echoes arc. However, in other news, this arc is almost going to end. We're almost ready to move on to the next chosen arc…until we close the poll, that is. Thanks again. :)

From DianaGohan: *Review is kind of long to put it here*

From me: Although they're still diseases, they all are different. I disagree with you in that notion only. As for fooling people, I thought everyone else thought that the doctors would arrange a second set of operations INSTEAD of doing a single one to end them all. In the end, that little twist you didn't expect was the thing that I was hiding to change everyone's expectations. I'm glad you liked the chapter (and please forbade doing plug-ins that do not relate to this story).

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From PianistChris:You provide well detailed surgical operations, and thats one reason why I look forward to reading the rest of this arc, (The other being to find out what happens ;) )

It was a surprise at the end with Lucario's infection, being the father to all the other diseases, I had different scenario's thought out, but never that, so that makes this chapter even more interesting. The only question I'd have is how they'd cut into the body of a steel Pokemon.

Looking forward to the next chapter

Chris... :p

From me: Thinking again, you proved my point about not expecting the unexpected. And your question saved me from ignoring that point altogether (because I really forgot he was a steel type. Silly me). Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Blaperile: This chapter was, like the previous surgery chapters, once again great.

Unlike how some other reviewers had problem with, I didn't get bored or felt freaked out by reading those surgeries. To me, it's been a nice change of the usual fighting. Also, I didn't feel like it was always the same. To me, everything was original. Like, with Falco's Talpa strain being so small and numerous, Roy having 2 strains we've already seen, the Ape (lol'd at that name) changing places with Ness and Fox's pancreas becoming an egg.

They all were original in their own way and I also liked the comedy bits in it. Like with Fox and Falco not trusting Wolf, Wolf's eye patch not working well (I hope he didn't forget to change batteries xD), Wolf pulling out Falco's feathers and numerous other things... Now that I think of it, Wolf became a bit of a comic relief here along with Fox and Falco. xD

And for the best part of this chapter, Lucario. Or should I say: "The Father of Nature". I thought he wouldn't wake up until after the operation, and that 'something' would happen later on with what was left of the Malattia-strains in the bodies of the Smashers, but I certainly didn't expect this. I like this idea very much of how all the 'saved' smashers were in danger again. I'm wondering, are they going to give "The Father of Nature" another name and how does it look like? Well, that'll be for me to find out. ;)

From me: All your doubts will be answered in this chapter. Also, as a side note, Wolf was thrown into the team just to give out sarcastic comments. I need a tough guy to make a perfect blend for humor… It's a good thing I didn't turn him into a clown. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From DecepticonFan:Well, outstanding as always! I really like Naomi. She's awesome. Wolf makes an excellent surgeon. XD I love Fox's (and Falco's) reaction to Wolf's helping out. lol Typical frienemy behavior. ;-) Can't wait for the next installment.

From me: You got it wrong. Wolf makes for perfect commentaries more than a surgeon (he would slice a heart in half with those claws of his). Thanks for reviewing.

From raynetay:Post-Mallatia or Future Mallatia right?And more new sugeries to come! How exciting.

From me: Nope, none of those. Don't get too excited because this is going to be the only arc in the whole fic with diseases. However, I hope you enjoy this chapter to the fullest. Thanks. :)

From FF and STH:Well I like the first surgery of this chapter with fox that happen in the dark and how the light of wolf cyber eye-patch keep turning off, and I know Lucario diseases would be difference but not to point that it could talk and possess people and it logic reminds of the shadow nightmare.

From me: Hmm, it reminds you of a Shadow Nightmare? Funny, I didn't notice it acted almost the same. That's an interesting point you're making. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From N the puppet:Ho...

Team Nozomi VS Father Nature.

Who will win?

Great chap as always!

(And I forgot MK was like an older Kirby. I think it'd be more of a challenge for the surgeons to take his mask off than actually operate on him.)

Say, will there ever be a time where MK will lose his mask?

From me: *The author of this story has neglected to answer a topic regarding taking off Meta Knight's mask because that would be almost entirely impossible to do. And if it was possible, then…* I really got no idea how I can make that happen, but let's wait until my mind thinks of something good. Thanks again. ;)

From Grathmeld:good chapter as always, on side note this is my very first review after reading all of your chapters in less than 1 month by mobile phone. that's why i couldn't review, i read through my phone. so that's why the strains look like animals. i wonder who's the mother of nature? is it a shiny lucario? and master hand is hand of creation. why didn't he make a secondary electric/light source instead? okami is a game that use some of the japan myths. it's really interesting. and i'm waiting for the USA DS version though. anyways that's another awesome chapter. the final boss is revealed! panic mode: on! will they succeed in saving everyone?

p.s sorry for the twisted review, i've never made a review before.

p.s.s good luck in your works again. and another sorry if it looks twisted... looks random to me so... yeah, good work.

From me: To answer your questions in order… Popo is just demented. No it's not. We writers always write him as a clueless person, so it's a tradition that he's very absent-minded, but in a more scientific note…he never thought about it.

Oh, and I think you gave a good review. Thanks for giving it a try. :)

From Link5604:Finally after two months I caught up with the current chapter. Just to let you know I am mostly likely am going to (a) give you my opion on the chapter b) ask a bunch of questions c) Bug you a bit :P) every chapter so here I go

a) This chapter was a very interesting one and the boss or "Father of Nature" is one of those bosses that are so annoying because they think what they are doing is always right.

b) What part of Canada do you live in (you do live in Canada, right)? If you could be any nonsmasher Pokemon who would it be? Do you want a SHINY Arceaus (details if you say yes)? And lastly are you later going to have characters from Snake's world at the mansion next disc (I mean you Mario's and Sonic's and Snake's peeps seem like the next in line)?

Lastly, do you know what fry sauce is?

From me: a) Pfft, all evil psychopaths always act like that to the point they try to force you to join their evheel legion of evheel…except this disease who just wants to kill everyone. I bet all evheel dictators/bosses/pathetic losers are like that.

b) Check my profile again. None. Not interested. Maybe? Nope.

Thanks for asking me a bunch of really random questions and reviewing. :)

From S.S.:RISE FROM MY GRAVE. (virtual candies to whoever got the reference)

Anyway, when I watched this for the first time I stupidly decided not to review until I finished catching up, hence this ridiculously late introduction. Anyway, a Trauma Center ark? (I consider it as an ark) Really great and also nicely mixed Naomi and the plot into the stort. Somehow if a TC arc is successfully written, then possibly a Ace Attorney arc could be drawn as well. Not that I want it, I think I'll like it when I read it.

Sorry for the sucky english and thank you for the endless characters included in the story called the Sonic Team. (Pun Intended)

Just happens to be intense fan of Sonic (and Silver. Want you to include it into the cast, just thinking how painfully would you deny it)

KTHNXBI

From me: I think that's an Altered Beast line… No, I don't think so.

Hmm, the fact that I managed to blend TC successfully into the story might give our meme lawyer to really appear at some point, but it's extremely limited. It IS manageable, but it would take me a lot to do to set a good scenario.

And as for Silver, the least I can do is make jokes about the reality that never was story-wise (in other words, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006). Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Dimentio713:This will be a tough disease to defeat... After all this "Father of Nature" is like a manic who wants total attention and stuff... I see that this thing decided to use Lucario's body for his own personal gain and rant... I only hope that this "Malattia" disease doesn't hurt anybody else... And wouldn't the Dark Gaia energy stop the disease from hurting Sonic? Just asking.

From me: Since all your doubts will be answered in this, that only leaves me with your last question. In a fatal way, the Dark Gaia energy would really stop hurting Sonic…if he died. Yes, killing himself would really solve his issue, but we're surely not going to touch that ground…or will we?

Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: I just can't wait for this arc to end, doesn't really interest me.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's a bad arc, it just doesn't interest me as much.

And yes, I did psot this review at christmas...

From me: You and other readers' pleas have called me back into writing. So don't worry, this arc is almost about to finish. ;)

I'm really flattered that you all waited for so long for this chapter. I'm glad none of you dropped out from this (ONE HECK OF A LOOOOOOOOOOOONG) fiction. It's thanks to you I came out from the horrible writer's block. For that, I reward all of you with this chapter… But in a serious note, my mind came to a blank when writing this chapter. Not only that, life interfered (but more specifically the absurd amount of new games I played). However, I got that fervent writer spirit back, and I'm glad to be writing once again. Heck, I'll try harder to update faster. Thanks to the new games I played, you can expect more options for you to choose in the next poll (like Phantom Brave, for example).

The poll is still open.

In a serious note, I put my faith in this chapter to see if you're all here with me still. Let's see if this chapter hooks you up again. Before you continue, there's an important change in the last chapter of the Echoes arc about how the Underwhere works. I strongly advise you to read the newly improved chapter, but if you want to get to point, read the Underwhere part so you understand a few things that might arise in this chapter.

This is a tradition to say, so I encourage all living readers to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: People would like to have a long-lasting dreaming full of fantasy like Frederic Chopin did (in Eternal Sonata).

Chapter 182: Under the Knife

-Smash Mansion-

Operation Room

Dr. Mario knew well enough that the final operation would yield the biggest result yet. He heard the silence in the operation room while everyone waited for Naomi to make an incision. Of course, she first shaved off fur from Lucario's body to make a bald spot for the scalpel to make an incision.

"Damn, this spike in the middle of his chest is going to block our vision from both sides," Naomi said. "I think I need you to stand across the shoulder of your side to look better."

"Okay," Dr. Mario said, standing on the right side of Lucario's right shoulder to get a better view to work on the bald spot.

Naomi grabbed a scalpel. However, when she tried to slice an incision with the scalpel, the scalpel ended up bending over. Naomi blinked a bit shocked, pulling back the bent scalpel to examine it in front of her eyes. "...Great," she muttered, throwing the bent scalpel away to the trashcan. "Is this patient of ours made out of metal or something? I wasn't expecting this...stupidity to happen."

"Um, more like steel..." Marth said. "He's...a steel-type creature or sorts."

Naomi sighed, frowning with a hand over her forehead. "(I've got to love and hate, mostly hate, the impossibilities of nature itself...) Well, then we can't proceed if his steel structure can't be pierced with a mere scalpel," she said. "Do we need something stronger, like, say, a chainsaw?"

"You're not talking seriously...right?" Zelda asked.

"I'm a surgeon, and I'm SO not using a chainsaw to make a small incision," Naomi said. "And to be honest, there hasn't been a patient who's got such a strong body to resist a scalpel."

Dr. Mario rubbed his chin. "Well, we can try to soften his body... No, that wouldn't work..." he trailed off in thought.

"The time isn't with us again," Wolf stated. "Unless we find a solution to this dilemma, we can kick those guys good bye... Oh, that's right. THIS FREAKING DISEASE will KICK them good bye instead of us!"

"It's not like we can try hurting the same spot where we want to make the incision to get in," Zelda said. "And since he's made out of steel, then perhaps we should consider using fire to melt his chest, which of course I find a very unlikely thing to do."

Everyone stared at the princess, who shifted her eyes around in discomfort.

"...Oh, as if using a chainsaw is less extreme than my crazy suggestion!" Zelda argued.

"But if we can concentrate that fire in the area we want on incise, then we could maybe get in," Dr. Mario said. "We're not melting his chest, but just a small fraction of it."

"Weird. You'd think this guy would get bent like a steel plate with all the hits he receives during battles," Wolf said. "...Say, isn't this a bit off to you?"

"Well, I admit it's true," Peach said skeptically. "Maybe there is some kind of defense system inside his body that wants to keep him from harm from outsiders?"

"If that's true, his defense system is rejecting the people who want to get in and heal him," Naomi said. "Anyway, we need a little bit of fire. Does anyone here have a lighter or something close to that? Maybe even...magic?"

"Zelda," Peach, Marth, and Dr. Mario said with brightened looks to the princess.

"As if!" Zelda said in disagreement. "If you all forgot, my fire bursts in a wide area, not a small one like a chest!"

Peach clasped her hands. "But Zelda, you've got to try to minimize that fire of yours to continue the operation! You can do it!" she said.

"B-but..." Zelda muttered. "I-I don't know if I can do that!"

"Do we need to remind you that everyone is suffering right now?" Marth asked. "I hate to bring this up, but...what will happen to...say, Link?"

Zelda stared into space. "...These stupid diseases...are not going to take away lives just because I don't believe in myself..." she muttered. She then looked serious and walked to Naomi's side to look down at the bald spot on right side of Lucario's chest, right next to the spike. Gulping, she placed her hands on the spot.

"Do you know how to do it?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I have never, ever done this before," Zelda said. "And it'll surely end up hurting me in some way or another...but I'll see..." She closed her eyes to in some way channel her magic in her hands. Her hands glowed for a bit until the glow turned bright red. She stammered a bit as fire went coursing to Lucario's body. The spot where she was putting her hands became bright red and, feeling a burning pain, she stepped back and flapped her hands, which were releasing smoke. "Oww, oww, oww, oww, oww!" she complained in pain.

Naomi looked back at the bright red spot that slowly dimmed until it vanished. She blinked a bit and grabbed a new scalpel from Marth to try to make an incision.

And sure enough, the scalpel didn't bend but cut through the skin easily without problems. A small smile formed in Naomi's lips. "Well done, princess," she said. "Thanks to you, we can really proceed."

"You're great, Zelda!" Peach said relieved, looking worried in a second after seeing that Zelda was still shaking her hands. "Um..."

"I-I'm not going to do this ever again," Zelda said while twitching in pain. "It has some nasty effects when you try so hard to use your magic in new ways..."

Dr. Mario chuckled slightly until he looked back inside the incision. "Okay then, it's time to confront the Father of Nature head on... Everyone, let's get ready," he warned them.

Everyone (including Zelda) looked inside the incision to get a better view of the heart...

And upon looking at the heart, everyone couldn't help but gasp at the internal organ.

"What the f(beep)k is that supposed to be?" Wolf muttered.

"By the gods, how can that be a heart?" Marth muttered.

"It looks...so twisted..." Peach muttered.

"And so strange..." Zelda muttered.

"I didn't expect that a disease could really cause all this by itself..."Dr. Mario trailed.

"It's no wonder why the Malattia strain was able to 'possess' our patient," Naomi said.

Inside the body, they found the heart, or something that supposedly resembled one. The heart they were looking down to had an eerie blue skin all over that had horizontal and vertical outlines that seemingly made it look like some kind of net was wrapping it. The area surrounding the heart had a purple background that was mixed up with the common-looking red skin, further adding the horrendous look. Perhaps the most shocking features were the two intangible, segmented rings that spun around the heart as if it was being protected.

"Let's all say hello to the Father of Nature himself," Naomi said. "By the looks of it, he completely took over the heart as his main base of operations."

"The heart itself is the disease, then?" Marth asked.

"It sounds very unbelievable, but...it's true," Dr. Mario said. "It's as if Lucario's heart was a disease from the very beginning."

"Ugh, what a way to say diseases mess you up but hard," Wolf muttered disgusted. "Can we even interact with the heart with those rings spinning around?"

Dr. Mario put a hand on the way of the rings, which merely passed through it without causing any harm. "It's safe to perform the operation," he said.

Soon, the assistants saw that the heart was having some kind of convulsion as it shook by itself. They all remained silent to see what was going on, until some kind of black rash sprouted out from the center of the heart. The black rash had the red Subspace emblem on it, and it slowly spun to indicate that it was living.

"What is...that thing?" Zelda asked.

"I'd presume that's the Father of Nature's weak point," Naomi said. "You know what this means, right?"

"It's time to attack it?" Peach asked.

"Correct," Naomi said. "The battle has just begun."

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Severing the Chains of Fate

"Foolish...imbeciles..."

Most of them yelped when they heard Lucario's voice echoing from within the heart itself. "D-did it just talk or was it just me?" Marth asked bewildered.

"I-it certainly did talk!" Zelda said shocked.

"Come on...just try to make a big mistake and 'save' all these lives! Hahahahahahahaha!" the Father of Nature taunted.

"Grr, this heart itself has a life of its own!" Wolf said, gritting his fangs.

Naomi was taken aback by the voice, but she shook her head and looked serious. "So, using our patient's voice to scare us, huh? Sorry, but that's not happening anymore. We're going to have to take you out whether you like it or not."

"Only idiots that do not comprehend the burden that is life are in need to let it go soon..." the Father of Nature said. "We shall see which one of us prevails long enough to defy one way for salvation!"

"Enough talking!" Dr. Mario said. "We've got a disease to eradicate!"

"The vitals are maximized to be prepared for anything," Peach said. "Let's do it and put at end to this!"

"Let's try using the laser to inflict damage to that rash," Naomi told the doctor. The two nodded and struck the black rash with the laser. As soon as the two lasers connected, a small blue shield formed around the black rash, completely protecting it from damage. "What in the world?" Naomi muttered, stopping using the laser with Dr. Mario. "That thing is protected by a small shield? I'd never expect such a defensive maneuver..."

"Yes, go on ahead and waste your time with me," the Father of Nature taunted. "It is not long before I can deliver the blessing that is death to life!"

"S-shut up!" Zelda yelled back. "You've got no right to take away lives with those unbelievable reasons of yours!"

"Ignore that psychopath and just focus on the operation, please," Naomi said. "We didn't open the heart just to have an argument with it, did we?"

"But what should we do?" Marth asked. "If it's protected by a shield, then how can we break through?"

"Dammit, I can't think of a good step for this one," Naomi admitted.

"Let's use the laser on the shield to weaken it," Dr. Mario suggested. "Perhaps we could debilitate it long enough to pierce through it."

"Yes, let's do that," Naomi agreed, the doctors using the lasers to continuously strike the shield nonstop. Soon, they saw the shield's color turning from blue to yellow, then yellow to red, until it shattered apart. "Hmm, that actually was a good idea," she remarked.

"And am I supposed to sit idly as you hurt me?" the Father of Nature asked aggravated. "My newborns! Go out and stop them from hurting your father! Let them see anew our methods to take people out of their miseries!"

"What?" Marth asked confused.

From within the rash, three shark-like bodies emerged, swimming in a triangle-shaped formation around the heart. Upon a closer look, they found out that the small bodies were Squalo bodies. "They're Squalo bodies!" Peach said. "The Father of Nature made Squalo bodies on his own!"

"No way. This thing of a heart can really make diseases like that?" Wolf asked.

Naomi forced a glare. "He can make them to attack the heart and hasten the process of killing it," she theorized. "We need to take care of the Squalo bodies before we can attempt an attack on their father. Quick, use the laser to exterminate them all."

"Roger that," Dr. Mario said, both him and Naomi striking the Squalo bodies with the lasers. They were able to take out two bodies, but the last one quickly ripped through the heart without diving inside, creating a large laceration that bled quickly. "Treat that lacerat-" the doctor was interrupted as the small Squalo body continued slashing the heart with another large laceration, making another one that together made a triangle of large lacerations.

"Stop that animal!" Naomi yelled, the two doctors striking the small Squalo with the laser to eliminate it completely. After doing so, they quickly started draining the blood from the three large lacerations.

"What kind of heartless people are you to kill my children?" the Father of Nature questioned. "Your punishment shall be living your lives without any hopes for salvation!"

"What kind of stupid punishment is that?" Marth asked. "To me, that's more like a blessing."

"Your eyes truly deceive you," the Father of Nature said, calling forth three more Squalo bodies that began moving around the heart while the doctors were suturing the lacerations. "You shall never understand the meaning of good death!"

"If this freak had a visible mouth, I'd like to suture it myself," Naomi muttered under her breath, grabbing the laser to hurt the Squalo bodies with Dr. Mario. The two doctors managed to eliminate the three bodies, moving on aiming the black rash. The rash twitched violently as the two lasers combined burned through with it.

The black rash suddenly burrowed into the net-coated heart. "It went into hiding?" Zelda asked.

"Death can be delivered in so many different ways," the Father of Nature said. "It is so amazing that life itself has the biggest of potentials to die... Oh, we had forgotten that the only thing that can be killed is life, so that is what it makes it so pathetic."

"We need to find that black rash," Dr. Mario said. "Let's use the ultrasound."

Naomi grabbed the device and scanned the heart, finding around five shadows spread around it. She noticed that the vitals, at seventy, where decreasing faster than before. "There are tumors in there now?" she wondered.

"No, those are actually vines...so I presume he's using the Fiore's powers to make them," Dr. Mario theorized. Just then, the black rash sprouted out from the upper corner of the heart, having four petals that spun around it. "Yes, it's definitely the Fiore..."

"He surely spread them when he went into hiding," Peach said. "Please excise all of them and then move on to excising the petals from the black rash when they stop spinning!"

"My dear children..." the Father of Nature spoke in an ashamed tone. "You spread within lives to terminate them...but doing so alerted these scourges, and you paid the price by getting ripped out... That does not matter anymore. Your father will finish the work for you..."

"Since it was hiding itself, there are four vines," Dr. Mario said.

"Remember that the disease can extract fluids to mix them together and burn into the heart," Peach said.

Naomi made an incision over one shadow, making blue liquid come out. "Let's be slow and treat one at a time," she said. Just then, a laceration appeared on the right side of the heart with more blue liquid coming out. Naomi grunted and drained out the first blue pool to move on and drain out the second one. She then went to suture the laceration.

Dr. Mario saw a red vine sticking out from the first incision Naomi had made. He used the forceps to slowly pull it out and rip it from the black rash. Zelda gulped and held out the tray to put the vine on it. "Three more vines to go," Dr. Mario said.

Three lacerations were formed, each one producing blue liquid that itched together to the center of the lacerations. Naomi grunted and started draining out the liquid to later suture the lacerations while Dr. Mario scanned the area with the ultrasound to locate the shadows of the vines. As he made an incision, two lacerations appeared close to each other. Some of them gasped when they were unable to drain the two liquids that mixed together and burned a hole into the heart, causing severe damage.

"The pain, while risky, is the only sacrifice that one must take to take the step to salvation…" the Father of Nature said. "But our pain is excused, as we aim to help in ending the struggle for life…"

"Vitals are dropping fast below fifty," Peach said. "Treat all the lacerations and patch the hole before all bleed heavily!"

"Doctor, you take care of the lacerations and the blue liquid while I take care of the vines and the petals myself," Naomi told Dr. Mario, who nodded at her. She located the incision Dr. Mario had made where a red foreign object was sticking out. She grabbed the forceps and pulled out the rather long vine to put it on the tray. She then moved to the four petals that abruptly stopped, giving her the chance to excise one out.

"You were the most beautiful to me, my daughter…" the Father of Nature said solemnly. "It is truly a shame that people cannot understand your beauty that binds together with the people you want to save so hard…"

"Oh, geez, this flower disease's got a gender too," Wolf said. "I feel sooooo bad for hurting a girl."

Naomi was about to made an incision over a shadow before it itself made a laceration from where blue liquid came out. Close to it, another laceration appeared with even more blue liquid. She grabbed the drain to drain out both liquids, afterward suturing the two lacerations to make an incision in one of them to extract a red vine. Upon extraction, the petals stopped spinning. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm taking a petal off," she said while excising another petal.

The petals resumed spinning. Around that time, Dr. Mario finished treating all external wounds. He located one of the two shadows from the other vines, making an incision to pull out a third vine with the forceps. He then moved to the halted petals, extracting another petal off.

Another laceration was created from the center of the heart, which more blue liquid came out. Even though there was just one vine left, the single vine started moving around the heart to force another laceration and create more blue liquid, which started itching closer to the first one. "Be careful. The last vine is starting to go nuts on us," Naomi warned them as she drained out the blue liquid, only for more lacerations to appear because of the vine.

"Only fools would not understand how my daughter delivers death…" the Father of Nature taunted. "It is that very same reason that fools are in need to be released from their shackled fate of pain…"

Dr. Mario was able to incise the vine right after it had made one extra blue liquid that was left alone to fend for itself. The doctor pulled out the vine with the forceps, rendering the last petal from spinning. "Vitals are dropping below thirty! Treat all the lacerations and incisions!" Peach said.

The doctor nodded while Naomi extracted the last petal, exposing the black rash. She grabbed the laser from Marth and struck down the rash, calling forth a blue shield. The surgeon waited for the laser to weaken the shield, seeing it changing colors until it broke apart. The black rash started twitching in pain as the laser burned through it.

"How can you cherish life knowing that it will bring you pain?" the Father of Nature questioned while some unknown mist started covering the altered heart completely. "How can you know for certain that you are doing the right thing?"

"This cloud… I've seen it before," Marth said. "He's using Sonic's disease to take cover!"

Peach saw that the vitals were dropping faster than before. "Vitals dropping below twelve!" she alerted them.

"Drain out all the poison!" Naomi yelled. The two doctors started draining out the poison to get more sight of the heart. After they cleared the area, they looked around, but the black rash had disappeared by the time they drained out the poison. Dr. Mario injected five stabilizers to raise the vitals to fifty-nine. "It must've gone into hiding inside the heart."

"Let me locate i-" Dr. Mario was abruptly stopped when he saw the mist of poison once again covering the heart, blocking the vision of the internal organ. "Again?" he asked.

"You were always the most childish one…" the Father of Nature spoke solemnly. "You liked to hide along with your brother, but you were so big that it was very easy for me to find you. Perhaps you were trying to be just like your older brother…"

"Every time this disease opens his…whatever he has for a mouth, I feel so many chills running down my spine," Zelda admitted with a shrug.

"Back in the actual operation, this mist of poison reduces vitals. And while looking for the guy, the mist of poison comes back rather quickly," Naomi said. "We've got to accelerate our pace if we want to inflict some real damage. Are you ready to use the ultrasound?"

Dr. Mario grabbed the device. "Yes," he said.

"Prepare to scan an area as soon as I drain out the poison, starting…now!" Naomi said while draining out the poison covering the twisted heart. Dr. Mario narrowed his eyes and started scanning the uncovered areas with the poison. As Naomi kept draining out poison, she asked, "Have you found him yet?"

"No, I can't seem to find it," Dr. Mario said.

"Look around a little more," Marth suggested. "That disease could be moving around. Who knows, anything is possible here."

"Yes, I couldn't agree more," Naomi said. "Keep scanning the heart for any abnormal shadows.

The doctor kept scanning the heart until he picked up a moving shadow in the bottom corner. "I've found it!" he said.

"Make an incision on it and be prepared to use the laser. We need to inflict damage while the poison comes back!"

The doctor nodded and incised the black rash out. He quickly grabbed the laser and struck the abnormal rash with it, striking its blue shield. The shield changed colors from blue to yellow and from yellow to red until it shattered apart, allowing the laser to burn through the black rash. Naomi, in the meantime, kept all the poison from blocking the doctor's view on the black rash.

Not long after that, a green rash sprouted out from the top corner of the heart. The green rash suddenly started throwing pus around the heart until it was covered under the thick, gross-looking mantle of waste. "Ugh, pus?" Zelda asked disgusted.

"It's the Dente," Dr. Mario said. "The Father of Nature is now using the Dente!"

"This isn't good. If we leave the pus alone for a long time, it might cause inflammation all over the place," Naomi said. "To make things worse, we've got two rashes to take care of. Start draining out all of the pus before we deal with a lot of inflammation! Prepare the anti-inflammatory serum!"

"Out of all my children, you were the oldest one," the Father of Nature said. "You matured enough to raise your family's children alone while I carefully watched your progress. Unfortunately, that same progress came to an abrupt end with these life fanatics destroyed you… Now, you can start again."

"I know we shouldn't mind what he's saying, but what do his cryptic words mean this time?" Peach asked.

"I think that the Dente's family has something to do with the inflammations," Dr. Mario said, looking rather disgusted. "They could be the children of the…Dente…"

The two doctors kept draining out the pus. Once they drained it all out, they found around ten inflammations spread around the heart together with the two rashes. "The vitals are dropping to thirty-two," Zelda said.

"Inject some shots to stay cautious about any unexpected attacks," Naomi said. "The Father of Nature can pull off any dirty trick by altering the other diseases' actions."

"Yes, I'll do that once we take care of all the inflammation," Dr. Mario said, injecting anti-inflammatory into the pinkish spots. The inflammations disappeared as soon as the shots were applied into them, but the heart received part of the serum, which in turn decreased the vitals. The doctor used five stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to seventy-five.

Naomi took the drain and drained out the cytoplasm covering the Dente. The fluid that was taken into the drain seemed endless, but she kept draining it out until there was some change. Shortly after, more pus was spread around the Dente while covering the black rash, but she kept her focus on the Dente's spot. "Drain out all the inflammation! I'm going to eliminate this disease by myself!" she told Dr. Mario.

Dr. Mario started draining out the pus to prevent inflammation from propagating around the heart. Naomi sweated a bit as she drained out the endless fluid until it came to a stop. Without giving the Dente a chance to counterattack, she made a fast incision around the malignant tumor, used the forceps to extract it out to put it on the tray, and patched the hole with a synthetic membrane and antibiotic gel.

"Good job," Peach said pleased. "You took care of it too fast."

"Hmm, maybe the Father of Nature can't exactly make perfect copies of the diseases," she said. "The Dente was taken out fast, so I presume all diseases he throws at us are either altered or just weak."

"If you like to call me and my children diseases, then perhaps you are the real diseases who plague the worlds with your presences!" the Father of Nature proclaimed. "The real diseases are those who foolishly accept life, and ignore the gift that is death!"

"Can't we JUST rip this twisted-looking heart so we can shut that guy up? He's starting to get on my nerves," Wolf suggested in aggravation.

"And kill our patient? No way, we're not doing that," Naomi scolded. "We're surgeons, not maniacs."

"Well, at least YOU are one."

"I'm going to guess you called me a maniac."

"What would you say if I said yes?"

"Oh joy," she said sarcastically.

"Ahem..." Dr. Mario muttered to make them focus on the operation.

"Come forth, my children, and protect your father from being eliminated!" the Father of Nature called out. Suddenly, from beneath the heart, a swarm of ten bees started flying around the heart in an effort to protect the black rash, which had appeared on the center. "Let your hyperactive behavior be the scion of success for our kind!"

"Those bees..." Zelda muttered.

Naomi shook her head. "They're not the strong Ape, but rather, they're the miniature versions of it," she said. "The guy is using them to protect himself should we try to strike it with the laser."

"And if the bees turn into tumors, they're going to inflict nasty drops of vitals," Dr. Mario said concerned. "We can't risk this and just attack mindlessly. There should be some way to avoid contact with the bees."

"Is there one?" Marth asked.

"...Not that I know of, sadly..."

"We need to do some risky moves here again," Naomi said. "For instance, we could perhaps max out the vitals to stay cautious. Let's do that first." She started injecting several stabilizer shots until the vitals were maxed out to ninety-nine. She grabbed the laser and aimed for the black rash. "Are you all ready for this?"

"Yes, proceed carefully," Peach said.

"Then here we go," Naomi said, as she started to strike the black rash with the laser. She grunted when she saw the shield protecting the rash for a long while until it shattered apart. When the shield shattered apart, the laser started delivering damage to the rash, but at the same time, it was occasionally striking bees that were getting in the way. "Three moving tumors have formed!"

"I'm right on them," Dr. Mario said, using the ultrasound to find the three moving tumors to make incisions over them.

"We're losing around four vitals every second?" Marth asked shocked, seeing the vitals dropping at eighty-three. "This is a suggestion, but maybe we should treat the tumors first before inflicting damage."

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing," Naomi said. "We can't afford to leave damage behind like we did before. And certainly, we don't want to do that now." She assisted Dr. Mario in treating the tumors by excising them and patching the holes left behind. She then continued to use the laser on the black rash, only for her to strike three more bees. She grunted and assisted the doctor in treating the three new tumors, returning to her work.

Dr. Mario injected three stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to seventy-nine. It was around then than the last four bees burrowed into the heart and created four moving tumors. However, they were attacked on purpose by Naomi. "Naomi, did you just…" Dr. Mario trailed off, grabbing the ultrasound.

"I did that because I wanted to see if more bees would appear," Naomi said, switching the laser with the ultrasound to find the moving tumors. She found all four, and she grabbed the scalpel afterward. "But look, there aren't any more bees appearing. They were a temporary shield of defense."

A little while later, the doctors managed to take off all the tumors, at the cost of decreasing the vitals to forty-three. The surgeon looked around for any sign of any bees, but there was none whatsoever. She smiled a bit and then continued striking the black rash with the laser. "I just know there are going to be more attacks," Peach said. "Let's brace ourselves for the worst."

The black rash twitched angrily in pain until it burrowed into the heart. From the same point where it burrowed, three centipede-like creatures came out, moving around the heart in different directions. "Although you were the largest, you were quite fragile. Even though, you never ashamed your father. You were such a hard worker that made me very proud of you…" the Father of Nature spoke solemnly.

"The Centopiedi is here now, and it's three this time," Dr. Mario said. "We can't have large lacerations in the heart. Those are worse than tumors."

"Let's see here… Each one of them has three segments that make up their bodies," Marth said. "I think we should focus on one at a time."

"And just to be sure, let's stop their movement with the laser so that they don't do anything suspicious while treating one of them," Naomi. "Do you agree?"

Dr. Mario nodded. "That's the best plan of action we can think of for now," he said.

"Oh, and let's take out one at a time," Naomi suggested.

The two surgeons halted the three foreign bodies with the laser. Once doing that, they used the scalpel to excise one segment of one of the three Centopiedis. Upon taking it out, the two-segmented Centopiedi regained movement and swung its antenna stressfully. It then harshly entered a blood vessel to weaken it with another blood vessel on the other side. The gap was then filled with an aneurysm.

"I'm going to treat the aneurysms," Naomi said. "Can you try to fend off the bugs for me if you would?"

"Of course," Dr. Mario said. He excised one segment of another Centopiedi, just for it to go berserk and damage two blood vessels with an aneurysm in between. "…Oh no!" he gasped when he saw the first Centopiedi bursting through the aneurysm, creating a big blood pool.

"Vitals are dropping to nineteen!" Peach yelled.

"I-I'm sorry. I wasn't paying much attention to the other bodies," Dr. Mario apologized.

"Don't be sorry and just focus on the operation," Naomi said while putting a synthetic membrane between the first damaged blood vessels, suturing them together. "We can't afford to stop for a moment and get surprised by a mere mistake. If we can correct that mistake, then don't waste time."

"R-right," Dr. Mario said, draining out the blood pool before injecting four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to fifty-four. Naomi then started treating the second blood vessels. Dr. Mario looked serious and targeted the first Centopiedi body. He halted it with the laser and excised one segment, leaving it to fend for itself with just one segment. "Well, since it's only one, it won't do much damage like before," he said.

Instead of trying to do the expected, the single segmented body moved around until it touched the backside of the second Centopiedi body and joined together, recovering the second body's segments save for the extra antenna.

"Uh, they just joined each other together…" Marth muttered.

"Figures," Naomi said while suturing the connected blood vessels. "These diseases can be a little bit advanced or weak. Let's continue the operation and treat all the other bodies."

"These bugs are just going to attach themselves together," Wolf said.

"So? They're getting another chance to attack, that's all," Naomi said confidently, halting the movement from both Centopiedi bodies. "Anyway, we've got more to take out."

The doctors continued the operation by halting the centipedes with the laser. After cutting out the extra segment of the second Centopiedi, he grabbed it with the scalpel. The second Centopiedi swung its antenna angrily. "Here it comes another attack!" Peach warned.

"(I wonder...)" Naomi thought.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, Naomi used the laser on the centipede-like disease. They were surprised when they found out that they stopped the centipede from moving anymore. "It stopped moving before attacking?" Zelda asked.

"Weird, the previous version didn't have that weakness before," Dr. Mario noted.

"That means this version is weaker," Naomi said relieved. "And now that we know that this can be taken out very easily, do you know what I'm thinking, doctor?"

"Oh yes, I do," Dr. Mario said nodding.

The two doctors continued by excising the second segment of the third Centopiedi. The lone head frantically looked around until it attached itself with the last segment, forming a four-segmented disease. Unfortunately for its assumed dismay, the surgeons easily ripped out each one of the segments one at a time without even letting it attack once, liberating the contaminated heart from the disease.

"Alright, that should have been a new record for getting rid of a malignant disease," Marth said pleased.

"Let's save our breath for later and attack the rash," Naomi instructed. She struck the black rash with the laser, weakening its shield until it shattered apart. The rash reacted violently once Dr. Mario used his laser to deal damage together with the surgeon. After a small while, the rash burrowed into the heart.

Soon after, the EKG's vitals started dropping a bit faster than before. "What? There's something happening inside the heart!" Peach said. "The vitals are dropping faster than before!"

"Use the ultrasound and find out what's going in the heart!" Naomi instructed, injecting three stabilizer shots to raise the vitals to seventy-two.

Dr. Mario hastily used the device to check for any abnormalities inside the heart. He found around eight shadows spread around. "Why are there so many shadows?" he asked.

"Incise all of them!" Peach said.

The doctors started incising all of the shadows, revealing big versions of the Talpa disease. Unlike before, the new Talpas were bigger, and their features looked more defined. "Those Talpas look mutated to me..." Naomi muttered. "The benign tumors are also polyps, so these Talpas must now create malignant tumors."

"Their size disgusts me," Zelda said with a shrug.

"My dear child... You were so mature enough to make my grandchildren," the Father of Nature spoke solemnly. "It was such a shocking truth that these imbeciles killed all of you despite your big numbers, but, maybe, you can start over and populate the world with your big family..."

"He isn't talking about infecting everyone with this disease, right?" Marth asked.

"Who cares?" Naomi asked. "Start using the laser on all those Talpas before they get a chance to attack! Hurry!"

The big Talpas reacted in a stressful manner as the lasers damaged each one of them. The doctors only managed to take out four of them, leaving big holes behind, while the other half went back into hiding. It was not long before the four Talpas savagely popped out from the heart, causing four blood pools that massively bled, leading to a big downfall of vitals. "Vitals dropping to eighteen!" Peach said. "We're losing even more vitals!"

"This so bad..." Zelda muttered in shock. "Maybe it's time to use the Healing Touch?"

Dr. Mario started draining out the blood pools while Naomi patched the other four holes with synthetic membranes and antibiotic gel. In her mind, she wondered about using the Healing Touch seeing that the situation was begging her to use it. "(...No, I can't waste the Healing Touch now,)" Naomi thought. "(I must save this for later when things do get bad. I believe we can treat all these wounds and cheat death for a little longer.)"

"Vitals are at six!" Peach yelled.

"I'm not using the Healing Touch just yet!" Naomi said while injecting four stabilizer shots, mildly surprising Dr. Mario. The shots raised the vitals to thirty-eight, but the holes were taking vitals off at a fast rate. "I believe that we can get out of this problem without using some sorcery. We've got to work faster."

"Are you sure?" Marth asked, seeing the surgeon patching the four holes as the vitals dropped fast.

"Yes. It doesn't matter how desperate the situation looks like. There's still a chance to treat all the injuries without using the Healing Touch," Naomi said confidently.

There was a little bit of tension after hearing Naomi's statement. Even though they felt uneasy, the surgeons managed to treat all the holes with synthetic membranes and antibiotic gel in time. Seeing the vitals, Dr. Mario injected five shots, raising them to sixty-five.

Dr. Mario used the ultrasound, locating four shadows hiding inside the heart. He made four incisions on all of them, releasing the Talpas. As soon as they were taken out, Naomi attacked them with the laser until Dr. Mario was done incising them and started attacking as well. The four mole-like diseases twitched in pain and even tried to block the lasers to no avail, but they soon faded away, leaving four holes to treat. The two of them started patching them.

"Whew, that was a close call…" Zelda commented in relief.

"My Healing Touch only needs to be used during very extreme emergencies," Naomi said while using the antibiotic gel. "Normal emergencies don't call for it."

"Showing off, you maniac?" Wolf asked.

"Not a bit," she said with a chuckle.

Dr. Mario used the ultrasound one more to find the black rash. He sound found a shadow in the center of the heart, incising it out with the scalpel. The black rash showed up again, and Naomi struck it with the laser together with Dr. Mario. The black rash's shield appeared, but it was soon shattered apart, and the black rash was hurt by the laser until a small bird-like disease came out from it.

"It's the Uccello again," Peach said.

"Oh god, the freakin' bird is back," Wolf muttered. It was then that three more Uccellos flew out from the rash. "And it's got friends this time."

"You have also matured, my child," the Father of Nature spoke. "You were just starting your new life, and you were going to give me a grandchild. And I was surprised when that grandchild was going to be so big… But we both know how we felt when it died at the hands of these followers of life, and so, we must take our chance to get our revenge…"

"What does he mean by grandchild?" Marth asked.

"Didn't I say not to pay attention to his claims?" Naomi asked. "But if you're so curious, I guess he was talking about the fact that this disease makes an 'egg' out of an internal organ by hardening it. That must be this disease's twisted example of a grandchild."

"I highly doubt you can make a child out of an egg that is sealing a whole internal organ, though," Zelda said mildly disgusted.

"Shall we give it the chance to do it?"

"N-no, please no," she said. "Let's just deal with the birds and the main disease, please."

"I'm glad to hear we think the same things," Naomi said, seeing some of the four Uccellos shooting white liquid that hardened a bit. Instead of hardening a lot of the heart, the diseases only managed to harden a few parts. "It's a weakened version, but it makes it up with more of them."

"Let's continue the operation and eliminate all of them," Dr. Mario said. "No matter how many diseases the Father of Nature throws at us, we can do it."

The doctors started hurting the small diseases. By now, though, they found out the four Uccellos were hiding under the small shells. They grabbed the forceps and took the shells out, only to find out that three of the four shells didn't have the bird-like diseases underneath. They found all four under the fourth shell.

"I've got no idea why they would hide together," Naomi said.

The Uccellos reacted a bit frightened after being discovered that they spread around. However, something was unusual. The amount of Uccellos they saw spreading around were two, with the other two missing.

"Weren't there four of them?" Zelda asked puzzled.

"I kept an eye on the heart, and I didn't see a single one of them going somewhere else," Marth confirmed.

It was then that the EKG's vitals started dropping a little bit faster despite not showing any traces of attacks. "Vitals are dropping?" Peach said confused, seeing the vitals dropping to fifty-eight. "What is happening? There are no external wounds."

"Use the ultrasound," Naomi said.

"What? Why?" Dr. Mario asked.

Naomi struck an Uccello with the laser. "These two are going around the heart outside, but tell me, what is going on inside the heart itself?" she asked.

"You don't mean…" The doctor used the ultrasound to locate the two Uccellos swimming inside the heart. He gasped and grabbed the scalpel to incise them out, Naomi successfully eliminating one Uccello. He then noticed that there were unknown shadows inside the heart close to where he incised the Uccellos. "Huh? What are those shadows?"

Naomi sutured all the incisions with the sutures before shifting back to damaging the bird-like diseases. "They know it's futile to harden the heart with a shield, so they're instead going inside to log in their shells to cause damage. They devised another attack pattern," she explained serious. "Go and take those out. Foreign objects inside the heart can be as hurtful as tumors."

"Cheap bastards. Another reason why I hate birds," Wolf muttered under his breath.

While Dr. Mario took his time to make incisions to take out the foreign shell parts inside the heart and Naomi defeating her second Uccello, the black rash on the center twitched a bit angrily as if it was upset. "You people are foolish… You will not cheat death by killing my children mercifully…" the Father of Nature spoke. "Is it so hard for you all to cherish life rather than real salvation? Why do you cling pathetically to your lives? Once you are dead, you will not suffer any longer… I will bring you all your expected delivery."

"Look, messiah. Shut up and let us work," Naomi said without giving the black rash a look, eliminating a third Uccello while Dr. Mario carefully removed a foreign shell part from the heart. "This is an operation room, not a mess hall." She was about to strike the last Uccello until it shot white liquid and hid under the hardened shell. Naomi grunted and removed the shell, just to find out the Uccello had hidden again inside the heart. The vitals then started dropping to forty-three.

"Let me do this one," Dr. Mario said, incising the Uccello before making another incision to remove a foreign shell part from the heart with the forceps. Naomi struck the last Uccello with the laser, successfully eliminating it while Dr. Mario removed the shell and sutured all the incisions.

"And now, let's hit the boss," Naomi said. She used the ultrasound to locate the black rash, which was hiding on top of the heart. She made an incision, releasing it out. As soon as she did, Dr. Mario struck the black rash's barrier before Naomi came along with hers as well. The shield shattered apart, and the black rash was struck harshly by the two lasers combined. "How'd you like to die instead of us?" she asked the malignant disease.

"Nonsense! I will not have any of this foolishness from you!" the Father of Nature proclaimed. "Death is reserved for you. My kind must accept the burden of this accursed task to make sure you all are saved from the chains that shackle you to a life full of suffering!"

The princess of Hyrule was getting so worked up over the bravado of the disease that she got fed up with it. "Life isn't full of suffering!" Zelda protested. "Life is a wonderful gift to have because it gives so many opportunities to experience many things!"

"One of those things is beating some idiots and the occasional act of robbing items from people," Wolf said.

"That's not exactly what I meant, but you get my point!" Zelda argued.

"Oh yes, please yell at him," Naomi said. "I'd like to yell aloud like you right now, but I want to get rid of this rash as soon as possible."

Zelda blushed a bit. "U-um, I'm sorry for getting carried away. I just hate this kind of people who don't like life like everyone else do…" she muttered.

The black rash hid inside the heart once more. However, Dr. Mario simply used the ultrasound to expose to the lasers, which struck it hard. It was then that an abnormal reaction happened. They saw that the heart was having some small convulsions, twitching a little bit. Even though it twitched a bit, the reaction was classified as an odd one. "W-what's going on now?" Marth asked. "Why is the heart behaving like this?"

"There's something coming our way," Naomi said. "Be prepared for the unexpected and stop treating the heart for a moment. We need to study this a little bit."

They waited for the small convulsions to stop. Several seconds passed until they noticed that the intangible rings spinning around the heart seized movement, fading away into the nothingness. Several purple spots of the purple-colored skin in the background started fading away for a little bit, leaving behind some normal red skin spots that were mixing up with the rest of the purple skin. The net over the heart also disappeared, but the internal organ still had the ominous blue skin. The black rash remained idle in the center of the heart.

Music stops

Everyone remained silent for a moment, watching the heart pulsating normally. They were wondering what was going on with the heart, and they were also waiting for some kind of reaction to happen. Clearing her throat to break the silence, Peach decided to speak up. "So what now?" she asked. "It's obvious the disease is still in there, right?"

Naomi stared at the black rash, which had stopped movement completely. "Well, our little guest in the heart isn't saying more messiah-like dialogues anymore," she said. "We can't rule out the fact he's still there."

"Hmph, let's get over with this already," Wolf commented. "If he isn't gonna do something, we may as well do something first."

"I highly agree with him," Marth said. "Our next course of action should be the last one to do in this operation."

"The others are still suffering while we wait for the disease to attack again…" Zelda muttered worried, looking serious to the doctors. "Please, let us defeat this bad omen."

The doctor looked at Naomi. "Should we just remove that rash out?" Dr. Mario asked. "I think we can do that."

"Okay then, let's go ahead with your idea," Naomi said. "Begin the excision."

The doctor nodded and grabbed the scalpel from Peach. Dr. Mario started making an excision. Once the scalpel touched the skin around the rash, the doctor felt that there was a solid base. He blinked confused at the scalpel, then he tried cutting deep into the skin. Sadly, he got the same result, and everyone soon noticed what was going on. Dr. Mario stepped back and shook his head slowly. "I…I can't excise it out," Dr. Mario said. "The skin around it…is too hard to cut."

"What kind of impossibility is that?" Naomi asked. "The skin hardened around it? Are you sure about it?"

"Yes, the scalpel just won't cut through," Dr. Mario said. "The skin DID turn hard for some reason, and I can't put a lot of pressure into the scalpel or else I'll stab the heart by accident."

"I suppose that rash is the culprit," Marth said. "But I don't know what else to do."

Peach looked at the EKG, which displayed the vitals that were at thirty. "Please inject some shots somewhere where the skin isn't hard, doctor," she suggested, which Dr. Mario complied by injecting four shots, raising the vitals to seventy.

"I think it should be okay to raise them to the max," Naomi said, injecting some shots to raise the vitals to ninety-nine.

Wolf grunted. "The little wait here is already annoying me," he said. "Do you know some way to continue with this operation?"

Naomi rubbed her chin while thinking. "We can't excise the rash because the skin hardened, and we can't put a lot of pressure on the scalpel either," she said. "We can't also rip the skin off the heart. If we don't come up with something quickly…this disease might have won the battle by now…"

"N-no, you can't be serious," Zelda said worried. "We worked so much in all those operations before. We can't possibly fail in this one just yet. I don't want all our hard work to go in vain!"

"Relax, there's surely another step," Naomi said. "I won't let the tension to scare me. The last thing I want to do is cry my eyes out, and I've never, ever done that kind of thing in my life before."

Marth looked down at the black rash. He thought about the Father of Nature, and he summarized that it was odd that he didn't talk back. Furthermore, the Father of Nature never yelled out in pain either. The Altean prince thought about calling it out. "…Are you there?" he asked skeptically to the black rash.

"Oh no, the insanity of this operation has taken over him," Wolf joked, rolling his eyes. "Nothing has happened for the past minute, and now he thinks he has the ability to talk to rashes inside people's bodies."

"But that rash can talk back to us…" Zelda said.

"Didn't you listen to me?" Wolf asked bored. "The insanity of this operation is so bad we can talk to rashes."

Marth looked upset at the lupine. "Excuse me for coming up with this idea, but he hasn't said anything," he said. "If he did talk back to us now, wouldn't that mean the disease is still alive, which in fact would be true if he did talk?"

"Insanity, I say insanity," Wolf emphasized.

"Yes, I know it's completely stupid, but the prince guy here is right about a thing," Naomi said. "Let our guest speak some words of wisdom to confirm he's living."

"Do we have to wait?" Dr. Mario asked. "If we keep waiting, the others will keep suffering the damage while they're all under the anesthesia."

"A few seconds will be enough for us," Naomi said, looking back down at the rash. "Trust me in this one… Hey, you, the rash. Are you alive?"

There was no response from the black rash. They all waited for some words, but there was only silence.

"No response…" Peach muttered. "The disease is still there because the vitals are very slowly going down. Isn't there some way to make him speak?"

"…" Naomi snapped her fingers. "Wait a minute; I have the ultimate serum I always carry around with me for this kind of situation. It helps to make diseases react violently to confirm that they're active inside people's bodies."

Dr. Mario looked confused. "What? Does an ultimate serum like that even exist?"

Naomi nodded. "Medicine has evolved so much that malignant diseases in the past that were thought to be incurable are now curable. Let me just get it out from my briefcase," she said satisfied. "It's so potent enough that it makes miracles happen."

"WHAT KIND OF FOOLISH THINGS ARE YOU SAYING NOW?"

Everyone quickly looked back at the rash, which was now twitching erratically. "Welcome back," Naomi said. "I knew I could trick you into talking."

"What?" Marth asked. "That was all a trick?"

"There's not something as stupid as an ultimate serum," Naomi said, stifling a chuckle. "I was just pretending to say that one actually existed to make this thing talk about how foolish it sounded, which in fact I couldn't agree more with him."

"How dare you play such a trick on me!" the Father of Nature complained. "But it is no matter now. I cannot drag this slow suffering for any longer. I tried to kill those people by silently doing nothing, but seeing how persistent all of you can be, I shall deliver my blessing much faster! It is risky, but it can be done faster…"

"Bravo," Naomi said amused. "Show us your next phase. That next phase should be even weaker than this one you have. Why, common sense would tell you that you should stay like that for the whole night."

"And common sense would tell you to shut up and leave me alone!"

The black rash on the center of the heart started twitching uncontrollably. Most of them gasped when they saw it growing in size until it grew two times its size. The black rash changed forms a bit by having red spots all over it, which eerily blinked yellow lights. Some of them gulped, some of them glared, and some of them felt disgusted at the sight of the ominous rash. From what they could tell, the rash now looked like some sort of cocoon embedded to the heart.

"Disgusting," Zelda muttered under her breath. "It only gets more disgusting as time goes by…"

"At least I know that that thing isn't gonna hide inside for a size that big," Wolf said. "Kudos to the maniac doctor here for luring out the pesky rat."

"My, am I flattered," Naomi said sarcastically.

Trauma Center: New Blood – Cardia II

Dr. Mario readjusted his gloves. "We can't chat any longer. The operation is still continuing," he said serious. "We must eliminate this disease or else we'll suffer the greatest of losses."

"Yes," Marth said. "There has to be an end for the disease."

Naomi nodded. "Fine then," she said. "Let's continue the operation and ignore the messiah guy's speeches."

"What do you suggest us to do with that cocoon?" Dr. Mario asked.

Naomi examined the cocoon closer. She tried to find any fishy-looking spots that showed some kind of weakness. She found that there were five red web-like points that were crossing over the cocoon with black cords. "These webs can be cut with the scalpel," she said. "Cut them all apart and we can probably interact with the guy inside the cocoon."

"Roger," Dr. Mario said, the two of them grabbing their scalpels to cut the webs. Upon trying to cut the webs, their scalpels slowly but surely started to feel lighter. Dr. Mario raised an eyebrow and lifted the knife. "…What in the name of medicine is this?" he asked.

They saw that his scalpel's tip had somehow melted away, rendering it useless from cutting any incisions and excisions. Naomi shortly raised hers, showing the same effect as Dr. Mario's scalpel. "It…melted?" Zelda asked confused.

"What are those webs made of for melting freaking scalpels?" Wolf asked aggravated.

"They must have some sort of steel decaying material that can burn through scalpels," Naomi theorized, tossing her melted scalpel away. "This is yet not another good thing. The only way to cut those webs is with the scalpel, and I hardly got to the part of cutting one. It did feel softer while I was cutting them."

"So, are we going to continue using scalpels one after another until the webs are cut?" Dr. Mario asked.

Naomi nodded. "I hope we've got an infinite supply of scalpels because we're going to need them all," she said. "Assistants, are you ready?"

Peach looked concerned, but nodded in agreement. "I'll get more scalpels to distribute among all of us," she said while the doctors grabbed more scalpels to cut the webs. "Don't worry about running out of scalpels, but give us some time to get you one."

"Nobody ever said that I was just going to let you do more harm to me," the Father of Nature said. "My children, come forth and protect your father from the real diseases of this world!"

All of a sudden, four small Apes flew out from the cocoon without even making any signs that the cocoon even opened. Peach gasped at the small bees. "The Ape disease again?" she asked.

"They came out from that cocoon," Marth said. "He can make them inside, then."

It was not long before they saw pus spawning out from all over the cocoon. The doctors stopped trying to cut the webs before their scalpels could even melt. "Is this the Dente's doing?" Marth asked.

"Great, now he's throwing combination of diseases to us," Wolf said.

"With all this pus in the way and those bees flying inside, we can expect to see extremely bad signs of damage," Naomi muttered. "Drain out all the pus and let's eliminate those bees. Take care of any inflammation spots as soon as possible!"

"What about the Father of Nature?" Zelda asked.

"Leave him alone until we get rid of all this mess," Naomi said. "So far, he can't attack by himself but is using his 'children' to do the work. Strike them all down."

The doctors changed tools to their drains, draining out the overflowing pus. Luckily, there were no signs of inflammation, but the four small bees all dove into the heart, turning into moving tumors that circulated the cocoon. "They dove down very quickly," Peach said, seeing the vitals dropping faster. "Treat them all, hurry!"

"I'm not having some tumors on my watch," Naomi said while grabbing the ultrasound to detect the moving shadows. She then used the scalpel to excise the tumors out.

"I just need more time…more time to the final step…" the Father of Nature spoke. "Until then…all your efforts will be left in vain…"

Peach listened to his little talk. "Huh? What did he mean by that? I thought he only idolized the diseases and insulted us all the time, but he's saying something else…" she said.

"Worry about that later," Dr. Mario said, patching two holes from the tumors he took out from the heart. "We can't ponder his speeches. He could be trying to distract us."

Peach looked away. "(But that little talk he said doesn't seem like some sort of distraction. It sounded too simple to me to be just a mere distraction to fool us…)" she thought worried.

Naomi cleaned her forehead from her sweat, having treated all the tumors in time. She gave Marth no time to give her the scalpel, which slowly melted after trying to cut the web. The prince gasped and took another scalpel, handing it over to Naomi. Marth noticed that Naomi's pace became a little bit faster than before. "I know you're working faster to finish this operation and eliminate the disease, bu-"

"You answered your own question," Naomi said without giving Marth a look.

"Ah…" Marth muttered. "O-okay, but be careful and don't do a little mistake."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll have that in mind," Naomi said, not even giving Marth another look. She was too much focused on cutting the webs to look away from the heavily-altered heart.

Scalpels were melted away in a small span of a few seconds. Just as they were going to use another set of scalpels, five red vines sprouted out from the sides of the cocoon-like rash. "These vines are from the Fiore…" Dr. Mario muttered. "But they're out instead of being inside."

"Did it probably evolve, though?" Naomi asked. "No matter what, cut them all off with the scalpel."

"Right," Dr. Mario agreed with a nod. The doctors easily cut down the vines, but they were slow in treating the other three that they left. The vines swung around violently to get momentum to burrow down into the heart. Just as soon as they went down, three different Squalo bodies jumped out from the bleeding spots the vines had made. "What in the world?"

"Okay, now this is getting a little bit out of control," Naomi said. "All the blood must be drained out, the holes must be patched, the Squalo bodies must be eliminated, and the red vines need to be cut. Start with the vines first!" she ordered.

Dr. Mario sweated as he overheard the EKG beeping faster at an alarming rate. He carefully cut the vines together with Naomi, taking them out with the forceps. The doctors quickly went on to drain out the blood and patch the three bleeding holes. As they were using antibiotic gel, the three Squalo bodies damaged the heart by opening three deep lacerations that bled in a second. "You need to treat the lacerations first! We're losing a big chunk of vitals!" Peach warned them.

"We're at…fifty already?" Zelda asked in shock.

Dr. Mario decided to get rid of the Squalo bodies while Naomi treated the large lacerations by herself. Her pace was a little bit faster than before, which made her forehead sweat a lot more like Dr. Mario. Marth offered himself to use a napkin to dry out her forehead as she treated the damage done inside the heart. "Are you done over there?" Naomi asked. "I'll continue cutting the webs."

"Give me a little bit more time…" Dr. Mario muttered under his breath.

Naomi tried cutting a web, and she managed to severe one as her scalpel melted. "You did it!" Peach said relieved.

"Only four more to go. It's a shame they need a lot of scalpels until they are severed for real," Naomi said.

"I'm done with eliminating the small Squalo bodies," Dr. Mario said. "The going is getting very rough… Can we maximize the vitals so we're fully prepared for anything?"

"Go ahead. Our stabilizer supply is enough for this operation," Naomi said, allowing the doctor to inject more shots until the vitals hit ninety-nine.

"A little more time… A little more time…" the Father of Nature muttered. "Your salvation…is not futile…"

Four Uccello bodies flew out from the cocoon-like rash. They immediately started covering the cocoon with their white liquid, hardening parts in order to cover the webs from being cut by the scalpels. "These annoying birds are back once more," Wolf said.

Further adding to the lupine's annoyance, an overflow of pus shot out from the cocoon, covering their sight. "It's using the Dente's pus to shield the diseases," Dr. Mario said, using the drain to drain out the pus.

"And it's also using it to give them more time to finish their stuff," Naomi said, doing the same as the doctor. "Once the pus is drained out, strike the Uccello bodies with the laser, and then move on to shatter the pieces."

"Wouldn't that stress them?" Zelda asked.

"They're smaller bodies. We can strike them directly unlike a big Uccello body," Naomi said, seeing that the pus was all drained out. By the time they drained the pus out, they found the cocoon was halfway covered with a shell while the four Uccello arduously tried to cover it completely. "Now!"

The doctor struck the small bodies with the laser. It took them a few seconds to eliminate the four bodies, fading away into nothingness. They then moved on to shatter the shell apart into pieces. Naomi stopped the doctor from picking the pieces by picking the pieces he was going to take out with his forceps. "Focus on the webs. I can take care of these pieces all by myself," she said.

Dr. Mario nodded. He took the scalpel from Peach and tried cutting the web that he was previously working on. Just as his scalpel melted, the web was severed from the cocoon, leaving three webs behind. "I did it. I've cut one of them!" he said.

"Three more to go," Marth said. "I presume there's going to be more attacks, so stay alert."

While Naomi picked up the pieces, the Father of Nature spoke once more. "Foolish life fanatics… I cannot fathom…how you like suffering in the real disease that is life…" he muttered.

"He's a psychopath to believe that life can be some illness," Zelda said annoyed.

"Are you inferring he's jealous of us for having…you know, a normal way to live life because he isn't a disease?" Marth asked.

"With how crazy he is, I wouldn't be surprised if that was his reason for having such twisted beliefs," Naomi said, trying to severe a web together with Dr. Mario. The amount of scalpels that were being melted piled up in the trash can they had besides them. "(Also, why am I thinking I'm going to have a similar case in Europe once I go back there? No, that's just being silly…)" she thought.

The cocoon-like rash twitched a bit while poison emerged from the sides. Three clouds with a yellow core each formed around the heart, hovering along the skin. "It's the Veleno again," Peach said.

The three clouds of poison weren't not only composed of poison, but they created small blue cytoplasmic bodies that crawled on the heart. Upon closer inspection, Dr. Mario could tell the small bodies were a weak version of the Centopiedi. "The Centopiedi is inside the poison clouds, but it only makes small bodies," he said.

Marth saw that the small bodies were trying to connect with each other to form a large body. "You've got to take them out with the scalpels before they make aneurysms!" he said.

"You take care of the bugs while I take care of the poison clouds and their cores," Naomi said. Following her orders, the two doctors divided the work between each other to prevent any of the diseases from striking back.

As they were busy with each disease, two of the clouds that Naomi wasn't draining out shot three small shadows each that dove into the heart. Wolf noticed the abnormal behavior, raising an eyebrow. "Hey, those other clouds just burrowed some bugs into the heart," he said.

"Bugs into the heart?" Dr. Mario asked, cleaning the heart from the small Centopiedi bodies. He used the ultrasound to locate small dots circulating the insides of the heart. "It's the Talpa. Its small bodies are infesting the heart… The Veleno can make both Talpa and Centopiedi bodies!" he said shocked.

"Don't worry about these stinky clouds," Naomi said. "I'm taking care of the last one now."

"Vitals are dropping, though!" Peach said. "We're at sixty!"

"Those small Talpa bodies can do even more harm inside the heart unlike any other area," Dr. Mario said. "I'm going to hunt them down."

"More time…I say…" the Father of Nature muttered. "More time…"

Dr. Mario located all six shadows in the heart. He made six incisions to release the small Talpa bodies. The moles-like disease cowered in fear as the doctor used the laser to burn them down until they all faded away in a matter of seconds. The doctor, having saved the heart from the wave of enemies, patched the holes he left untreated with antibiotic gel. "Talpa bodies have been eradicated," Dr. Mario said.

"Nice, that was a fast work," Marth said.

"I've also drained out the poison along with eliminating the small cores with the laser," Naomi said. "Let's move on in cutting our third web together."

The doctors used their scalpels to cut the third web together. After more scalpels were melted away, the third web snapped out, severing itself from the cocoon. They wasted no time in moving to the fourth web. "The third web has been severed, and there are only two more to go, doctors," Peach informed.

"Just a question," Wolf inquired. "What will happen after we get these webs out of the way?"

"These webs are holding this cocoon together," Naomi said. "The Father of Nature is clearly hiding inside. When we remove all these webs, we're going to eliminate him once and for all to end this prolonged struggle. Seriously, I need a much longer break after doing so many operations in a single day."

Two small Squalo bodies flew out from the cocoon. Unlike previous Squalos, these two were swimming around as if they were trying to look for each other. Dr. Mario struck one with the laser, but he gasped when he spotted a foreign oval riding on each one of their backs. When the two bodies reached each other out, the two foreign ovals over their backs joined together to create a Centopiedi while the Squalo bodies swam away. "Those Squalo bodies are transporting Centopiedi segments!" Dr. Mario said.

"Goodness, can't these diseases stop joining forces for once?" Zelda asked a bit frightened.

"On top of that, those Squalo bodies can act alone," Naomi added. "Take care of them, doctor. I got a bug to squash."

"Don't squash it in the heart!" Peach said.

"I was talking figuratively."

"Oh, my bad…"

Naomi seized the small Centopiedi's movement with the laser to use the scalpel and use the forceps to take off a segment. The small segment that was left behind crawled around by itself. Around that time, Dr. Mario had two large lacerations to take care of thanks to the two Squalo bodies. As he was treating one, the Centopiedi's segment that Naomi left behind crawled inside the other laceration. "That bug just went into the laceration," Marth said.

The EKG suddenly started sounding its alarm. Peach turned to see that a huge drop of vitals was present. "We're at ten vitals!" she said alarmed. "But how did this happen?"

"Ugh, that little segment I let go for a moment became a suicidal bomb inside the heart," Naomi cursed under her breath. She brandished the syringe to inject five shots of stabilizer, raising the vitals to fifty-four. "Doctor, do you need some help over your side?"

"I'm finishing with the second laceration, but I'd appreciate if you took care of the Squalo bodies," Dr. Mario said.

"Okay, then…" Naomi used the laser to eliminate the foreign Squalo bodies, clearing the heart from any more diseases. When she was about to return cutting the webs, two more Squalo bodies came out, transporting with them a Centopiedi segment. "More of them? Isn't that just dandy or what?" she asked sarcastically.

"Let me cut the webs by myself," Dr. Mario said. "You're more used into dealing with these diseases than I am."

"Fine, I'll do it," Naomi agreed with the plan. "If we allow a single segment crawl into a laceration, it will go into the heart where it will cause huge damage to the vitals."

"Does that mean the Centopiedi was meant to be an extra component to join forces with another disease?" Marth asked.

"I guess so. If there were lacerations in the brain, our elf guy would have already died."

Zelda momentarily looked depressed, but she shook her head and looked serious.

Naomi managed to take off the segments from the Squalo bodies, but then she noticed that two more Squalo bodies came out from the cocoon, swimming around while carrying more segments. She narrowed her eyes at them. When she used the laser to eliminate the first two Squalo bodies, she noticed they had replaced the Centopiedi segments with more. "These things can make their own segments should their first ones are taken out," she said.

Dr. Mario tossed a melted scalpel away. "Are you sure you can handle all of them by yourself?"

"Yes, don't stop working now," Naomi said, despite the fact three Squalo bodies managed to reattach three segments that started crawling around. She made quick work by eliminating the three Squalo bodies. The one she left behind, however, sliced the heart with a large laceration that bled heavily.

""Vitals are dropping to twenty-two!" Peach said. "We should consider maximizing the vitals now!"

"Alright, I'm going to do that," Dr. Mario said, preparing the syringe.

Naomi stopped the Centopiedi from crawling around. She used the laser to halt its movement to use the scalpel to cut a segment off. She then used the forceps to take off the segment. Unexpectedly, the Centopiedi of two segments reacted violently, and it went directly into the large laceration.

With two segments performing a kamikaze action inside the heart, the vitals were dramatically damaged. The vitals dropped instantly to three vitals, making Dr. Mario gasp. "I-impossible!" Marth said alarmed.

Dr. Mario sweated as he applied more shots, but the large laceration was causing a lot of damage to the heart. His shots only restored a few vitals before they were quickly depleted. "I-I can't do this. Naomi, treat that laceration!" Dr. Mario said.

The danger only became worse when Naomi couldn't stop the last Squalo from ripping the heart open with another large laceration. Not even the stabilizers were enough to raise the vitals, but slow down the rapid drop. As Naomi panted heavily in exhaustion while draining out the overflowing blood, she was having thoughts about using the Healing Touch. "(It looks worse than I thought… But is this the right time to use the Healing Touch?)" she pondered. "(Unless it's a very bad emergency, the Healing Touch will be my last move… This isn't that moment…)"

The assistants merely saw how Naomi didn't use the Healing Touch but did use a faster pace to treat the large lacerations and the overflowing blood. Dr. Mario kept injecting shots to avoid the vitals from hitting zero. He was getting tired of filling the syringe and injecting the fluid into the heart. He eventually stopped to catch his breath. "Hey, no time for breaks here," Wolf said.

"S-sorry…" Dr. Mario muttered. "I want to slow down a bit so I don't end up stabbing the heart by accident…" He looked at the vitals, which had stopped dropping down dramatically. His eyes widened as he looked inside the heart, seeing that the large lacerations had been sutured. Dr. Mario saw a foreign syringe injecting five shots. "Naomi…"

Naomi smiled a bit as she focused her attention on the heart. "We were very close, but we managed to outclass the damage," she said, switching tools with Marth for a scalpel that she used to severe the fourth web Dr. Mario was trying to cut. The web suddenly snapped in half, leaving only one web supporting the protection for the cocoon. "One more left to cut," she said.

"Tsk, way to risk ten lives for speed," Wolf said. "If you screw up during this, I'm not going to be digging up some graves."

Naomi tried to cut off the last web before Dr. Mario joined her with another scalpel. "Oh, please. Don't think about the bad stuff," Naomi said amused. "Think positively."

"Can we please stop joking around?" Zelda asked with a sigh. "There are lives in danger here…"

"Lives that should not exist…have to be ended…at all costs…" the Father of Nature spoke. "Prolonging life…will…will…will…"

"Is he getting weaker or what?" Marth asked.

"I hope so," Naomi said while trying to severe the last web with Dr. Mario. She stopped cutting the web to take advantage of the time they had to maximize the vitals with the syringe and stabilizers. When she was about to go back to cutting the web, said web snapped in half. Dr. Mario drew back his scalpel to see that the cocoon was twitching slowly. "All the webs were severed… Good," she said.

"What do we do next?" Peach asked.

"Let's take off the cocoon's shell by shattering it with the laser. Without the webs, it doesn't have any more support to be protecting the guy inside," Naomi instructed. She and Dr. Mario used the lasers to slowly produce pressure on the shell. It slowly turned bright red until it shattered apart without being pushed away. The doctos looked and each other and nodded, using the forceps to take away the shell from the heart.

Upon removing the cocoon away, they had finally reached the end of the operation. The heart started reacting violently. The blue layer on the heart slowly faded away, being replaced by its normal pink skin. The background was also affected, with the red color overcoming the purple skin. In the end, the insides of the body had recovered it normal look. "It's…over?" Marth asked.

"It looks like it," Wolf said. "Finally…"

"Well done, doctors," Peach said relieved. "Extraction of the cocoon is complete, an-"

"Hold your horses, princess," Naomi said. "This operation isn't done yet."

Music stops

"W-what?" Peach asked bewildered.

Naomi looked grimly and pointed down at the heart. The assistants looked at each other and then looked down into the body. What they found residing over the center of the heart made them all speechless.

An ominous blue orb was floating over the center of the heart. There were no other abnormal traces save for the orb of light. The orb itself had some kind of digital appearance, with dark blue lines circulating its spherical appearance. "It's…sort of beautiful…" Zelda muttered under her breath.

"Don't be fooled by the appearances," Naomi said. "What you're seeing now is the Father of Nature in his last stage of evolution."

Marth stared at Naomi. "Stage of evolution?" he questioned.

"Yes, the guy was trying to evolve this whole time during all those phases, and to a greater extent, the whole time we spent treating all the other patients," Naomi theorized. "First, it manifested itself in the form of a small but powerful rash that allowed it to 'possess' our patient's body. Second, after dealing damage to the rash, it turned into a cocoon to protect him from harm. Needless to say, the cocoon itself might have been its weakest form."

"What about those diseases that joined to deal more damage?" Wolf asked. "Those things made the cocoon look deadlier."

"Alone, they were almost obsolete, but the cocoon itself was pairing them up to cover the little shortcomings," Naomi explained. "Thus, the cocoon looked stronger than the first phase, but it was actually weak."

Dr. Mario looked at the orb. "And then, this must be the final phase…" he said.

"If my assumption is correct, then yes, this is the final stage of his evolution," Naomi said. "The cocoon was focusing on defense more than offensive to make sure the evolution wouldn't be stopped so easily. That's why its attacks were quite weak and slow, but deadly all the same."

"Hmph, you, life fanatics and your medicine… It is all futile in the end."

They heard the Father of Nature using Lucario's voice to talk, but it now sounded extremely distorted to the point it sounded almost new to them. They looked down to the blue orb moving in small circles. "Oh, hey there," Naomi said. "How have you been doing?"

"Your sarcasm is very amusing," the Father of Nature said. "But will it be amusing after I am done with my task? Too bad I will not be able to see it."

"Are you bastard saying that you're gonna disappear once you kill this mutt?" Wolf asked.

"It is a sad truth, but yes, I will," the Father of Nature said. "My children may as well be extinct as of now, since I lack the means to reproduce them."

"I shall not ask how a male can reproduce by itself," Zelda said disgusted.

"Silence…" the Father of Nature said. "I am forever bounded to this useless body, so I will not be able to leave it unless there is some way for me to go out... But luckily, I at least will finish the work my children sought to finish by themselves. And you all will not interfere with my goals."

"What would you say if I were to say the opposite?" Naomi asked.

"We're just doing our job, so no hard feelings," Dr. Mario said.

"What a poor excuse," the Father of Nature said. "Things would be a lot easier if all of you were given our blessing, but only ten will get that benefit, it seems…"

"Over my dead body," Naomi said. "Life isn't full of suffering, and it's not some kind of disease either. Life is the real blessing where people can experience new experiences and become important individuals to the eternal history. There might be times where we suffer, but ultimately, our hard work pays off so that we can enjoy our experiences without having to go through bad events… And guess what? You have become a bad event that we have to overcome with our hard work and continue living life."

"Hahahaha… You dare to call me a bad event?" the Father of Nature asked. "Foolish woman. I am part of that vision of yours, except that I have the best of ways. If people do not want to take my offer, then I will give them a little taste of it. On their last minutes, they will come to see how wrong they were and how correct I was…"

The blue orb trembled. From its sides, some yellow veins formed long wings that had a very odd shape. The blue orb itself started to change into some kind of humanoid shape that had a digital body. With a closer look, the humanoid shape looked strongly familiar together with the yellow wings. At least the Smashers could tell what was so familiar about the Father of Nature's look.

Marth looked a bit surprised at the Father of Nature's true form. "Say…he looks an awful lot like Tabu-"

"He looks like a digital naked man with butterfly wings to me," Naomi interrupted with an uninterested look . "Dr. Mario, do you have an Italian definition for him?"

The Smashers exchanged odd looks with each other, reminding themselves that Naomi got almost no idea of how Tabuu really looked like. The disease literally screamed "I LOOK LIKE TABUU WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS, PUNKS" to them, but it was a very different story for the professional surgeon, who got an "I LOOK NAKED WITH TECHNICOLOR WINGS AND I HAVE NO DIGNITY WHATSOEVER" message from the disease instead.

"…No, I have none," Dr. Mario said. "He's still the Father of Nature to me…as he claims, of course."

"Oh, that's swell," Naomi said. "I thought you were going to use an Italian term for butterfly man, but that was just mere speculation from me."

"You're out of here, maniac," Wolf said, rolling his eye.

"The time is now," the Father of Nature said, getting their attention. "Try to stop me if you want, but I will be the last one laughing in the end!"

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Vulnerability

"The operation must continue, doctors," Peach said serious. "This is the final phase we have to end at all costs."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. "He said he can't reproduce more of those diseases, so that's a good thing. However, I'm worried about what he can do alone," Dr. Mario said. "Naomi what will be our course of action?"

"Strike it down with the laser," Naomi said.

"Hahahaha, fools!" the Father of Nature laughed. "Try hurting me!"

The doctors used the lasers to damage the humanoid disease, but it used its wings to shield itself in a blink of an eye. The doctors tried to see if the lasers could weaken the wings, but there were no signs that indicated it. They stopped using the laser, allowing the disease from navigating the heart's surroundings. "Those wings of his are too strong," Zelda said worried.

"(I can't stop thinking about the possibilities to hurt him,)" Naomi thought aggravated. "I need to come up with an idea to go through those wings. If they shield him, we're in for a long operation…"

The Father of Nature instantly warped away from one location to the left side of the heart. He raised his hands, showering down five small drops that burrowed into the heart. The EKG suddenly sounded its beeps a little bit faster than before, with the vitals dropping down by six every second. "He injected something into the heart. It must be tumors!" Peach said.

"I don't have a direct procedure to attack the guy, so let's treat the malignant tumors together, doctor," Naomi said. "Move faster. Time isn't with us!"

"R-right, I'll locate the tumors," Dr. Mario said. After locating the tumors, the doctors worked as fast as they could to excise them all out. The Father of Nature eerily floated around the heart. "We can't leave him alone, though…"

"Then you go and come up with some way to deal damage directly," Naomi said. "I'll take over these tumors by myself."

The doctor felt uneasy about interacting with the humanoid disease, but he shook his head to forget his doubts, facing the Father of Nature straight on. "The laser proved to be ineffective… What else is there to attack him?" he wondered. "Does anybody have any good suggestions?"

"Cut him down with the knife," Wolf suggested.

"Violent, but still useful," Dr. Mario agreed. The doctor grabbed the scalpel, but the disease moved away quickly from the sharp knife. Dr. Mario looked serious and started chasing the disease around the heart. Eventually, Naomi grew a bit impatient while treating her third tumor.

"Would you stop chasing him around like a rat?" Naomi asked. "It's obvious you're not going to get a good result from this."

"Oh my bad," Dr. Mario said, not even noticing he allowed the disease to spread four drops that burrowed into the heart, creating more tumors. "I-I'm sorry for getting too distracted," he apologized.

"Ugh, don't worry. I can do this just fine," Naomi said. "Keep buying me some time to come up with a good procedure."

"Does it really take a mere procedure to end the inevitable?" the Father of Nature questioned. "Why not give up the useless fight already?"

Dr. Mario grunted a bit at the taunt. "Another suggestion, assistants?" he asked.

"The scalpel and the laser are pretty much the only tools we can use to deal damage," Peach said. "I don't think the other tools will suffice. The syringe might do something, but we lack special serums…not to mention he moves around too fast for slow tools like the scalpel to reach him out."

"We can't stop this here," Marth said. "Everything has some kind of solution."

"Except that the solution we're looking for here is hard as hell to find," Wolf said.

Naomi finished treating all the tumors. "You haven't found a way to attack yet?" she asked. "We'll have to think outside the box if we can't find anything inside of it."

"Be gone!" the Father of Nature said, invoking some kind of yellow chain that slashed the heart with two large lacerations. The yellow chain pulled back to his hand. He then continued moving around.

Naomi grunted once more. "It's your turn, doctor," she said. "Treat those wounds while I come up with my own procedure."

"Sorry for not being much help…" Dr. Mario muttered, focusing on draining the blood from the two large lacerations.

"It's okay. This disease is very strong enough to eliminate," Naomi said.

Zelda shook her head. "I-I can't think of a good alternative to attack," she said. "I lack imagination to use the other tools to create some alternative."

Naomi tried using the scalpel once more, but the Father of Nature nimbly dodged the knife, not giving Naomi enough time to land a straight hit. She held her ground, not wanting to chase it around like Dr. Mario. She grabbed the syringe from Marth and applied four stabilizer shots to raise the vitals from thirty to seventy-five. "(If our patient keeps receiving a lot of damage, even though if we manage to suture and patch any complications, he will ultimately die... I need to do this fast,)" Naomi thought seriously.

The Father of Nature turned into two golden brackets that stood above the upper side of the heart. Harshly, the brackets tore open the heart with four crossed lacerations. The brackets stopped on the lower side, joining back together so that the humanoid disease would return back to its original form. "Yes, keep lagging and soon, everything will come to its desired end," he taunted.

The Father of Nature dodged Naomi's scalpel, much for the surgeon's chagrin. "Have we really reached a dead end?" Peach asked concerned.

"No, more like a blockade," Marth said. "I still believe that there is a way to attack. It's a bad thing he can shield and avoid our attacks without something else distracting him because he can practically notice when we're going to hurt him straight ahead."

"…A distraction…" Naomi muttered.

"But what sort of distraction are we looking for? He's obviously not going to be distracted by us trying to talk to him," Zelda said perplexed. "We can only hope to make a distraction with the eight tools we have, right? That seems to be putting us with a limit."

"Give me the antibiotic gel, now," Naomi told Wolf.

Wolf raised an eyebrow, seeing that Dr. Mario had finished suturing the large wounds to move on to the small wounds. "I don't see why you need it now. There aren't any holes or membranes to patch," the lupine said.

"Just give me the gel. I know what I'm doing."

The lupine shrugged, handing her the gel. "You're the surgeon here, so go ahead and do whatever crazy thing you have in mind," Wolf said.

Naomi flashed a small grin. "Oh, you'll be glad to see what my crazy mind has under its sleeve," she said confidently.

Dr. Mario looked confused, not giving her a look while he sutured the lacerations with the sutures. "What are you planning to do with the gel, Naomi?" he asked.

"Well, my friend, I'm trying to do…this," Naomi said as she started spreading the gel around the heart. The spores left behind by the gel created a temporary mist of gel that floated about. The gel ended up covering the Father of Nature in the process, who seemed to be confused before the gel reached him out.

"AAAAAAAAH! WHAT IS THIS ACCURSED POISON MIST?" the Father of Nature screamed loudly under the mist that eventually lifted off, revealing him to be rubbing his face.

Zelda blinked. "D-did that really hurt him?" she asked surprised.

"Oh no, that was a little side effect to make him go blind for a moment," Naomi said. She grabbed the laser and struck the humanoid disease directly, making him yell louder in pain while he tried to clear his vision. "While he's blind, he won't even notice he has to shield himself for a direct attack."

"Yes, you did it!" Marth said. "You've discovered a way to attack!"

"Thanks, prince, but I'm afraid we won't have the same luck after he gets his vision back. This was a lucky hit of sorts."

The Father of Nature got his vision back, shielding himself with his wings from the harmful laser. "You annoying imbeciles…using such dirty tricks to hurt me… You will not get away with this foolishness!" he proclaimed, warping away to the left side of the heart where he held out his left hand. A trail of red blinking lights burrowed into the heart before four small aneurysms sprouted out.

"We shouldn't waste any more time. Let's treat all those aneurysms together so they don't burst!" Dr. Mario said alarmed.

While the doctors were treating the aneurysms with serum, the Father of Nature took the chance to attack more. He formed some kind of dragon-shaped cannon that fired a blue beam across an empty section of the heart, tearing it open with a humongous large laceration. "Try, try, and keep trying!" he taunted. "It is all the more fun to me!"

"That laceration is the worst I've seen before! The vitals are falling down!" Peach said alarmed.

"Naomi, you go and treat that one! I can remove these aneurysms by myself!" Dr. Mario said.

Naomi finished injecting the brown sedative in the last aneurysm, preventing it from growing bigger to burst. "You can excise them out, but be fast. The sedative will wear off if you don't do it quickly."

"Y-yes, I'll leave the laceration to you."

"Vitals are spiraling down to thirty-five and below!" Peach said.

Naomi drained out the overflowing blood from the humongous laceration. "The size of this thing is way too big…" she muttered under her breath, closing the laceration with the forceps.

"Vitals at twenty-one!"

The surgeon narrowed her eyes and carefully sutured the humongous wound as fast as she could. Meanwhile, Dr. Mario was finishing taking out the aneurysms he excised out with the scalpel. He moved on to connecting the damaged vessels with the forceps.

"Vitals at thirteen!"

"Can the mutt survive all that damage?" Wolf asked curiously. "He's gotten too much damage healed by now."

"As long as the vitals can stabilize, let's hope for the best," Naomi said, injecting three shots to raise the vitals to forty. "(If things go awry, I'm afraid he will have a bad breakdown… No use fretting over negative things now.)"

The surgeon managed to suture the humongous wound back together. Using her time, she helped Dr. Mario to heal the damaged blood veins until the heart was nursed back to health. Spotting the Father of Nature, Dr. Mario sprayed antibiotic gel over him. "AAAAAAAAAAHH!" he screamed loudly.

"Idiot, just watching all the commotion and smirking like a dork over the corner without doing a thing," Naomi said. "It's true what they say when your own overconfidence can bring you your doom faster."

The doctors used the laser into the mist of stabilizers, scoring a harmful hit on the Father of Nature. The humanoid disease was too mesmerized to protect himself with his wings, and he screamed louder thanks to the lasers hurting a same point in his body. "Yes, keep it going," Marth said. "We're finally getting somewhere with this operation."

The Father of Nature warped away, recovering his vision. "This is the same pain my children went through? I did not think it was so unbearable... It is no wonder why they all perished by your hands," he realized. "As long as I breathe, though, I will bring my own end to myself!" He started warping around the heart, but every time he warped, he left some kind of small bursts behind that left no visible damage. In total, he warped around six times.

"He did something, didn't he?" Marth asked.

"The vitals are dropping faster. Try looking inside the heart with the ultrasound, doctors," Peach suggested.

Dr. Mario used the ultrasound to locate six shadows inside the heart. "These shadows are internal bleeding," he said.

"Making incisions can cause a drop of vitals every time you cut them open," Naomi said. "You raise the vitals while I do my own stuff."

"What stuff is that?" Zelda asked.

"Make a certain someone go blind," the surgeon said while spraying antibiotic gel on the humanoid disease, making him yell loudly in pain. She followed her attack with the laser, delivering more damage.

Dr. Mario injected four shots to raise the vitals to sixty-two. He started making incisions on the shadows. A mere incision cut the vitals down by five every time, which in turn reduced them to twenty-nine. The doctor sweated heavily, but he carefully drained out the blood from all the incisions, suturing them together with the sutures. "Phew, I'm done with them," he said.

The doctor saw the Father of Nature warping close to his area, having brushed Naomi's laser aside. The humanoid disease transformed into a sharp knife that started floating around the heart. "Pain is the only mean that can bring salvation," he said. "It is quire ironic that pain is the only thing we want to avoid in life, but it can be used correctly under my power!"

The sharp knife randomly slashed the heart with incisions. The doctors hurried and started suturing the incisions the disease made along the way. "Don't let him cover the heart with incisions," Naomi said.

Zelda rubbed her chin. "I can't help but notice his attacks look so familiar," she said.

"Not only does that disease looks like Tabuu, he also performs his own moves like Tabuu does," Dr. Mario said.

"Except he's turning Tabuu's attacks into ones that can harm the body's insides," Marth said.

The doctors kept suturing wounds together, but then they found out the disease wasn't stopping in his path. "This isn't going to take us anywhere. He's stalling us in his form," Naomi said.

"The vitals are dropping a bit," Peach said. "But at this rate, we'll hit zero vitals!"

"Naomi, you take care of the disease and prevent him from inflicting more wounds," Dr. Mario said.

The silver-haired surgeon nodded and sprayed antibiotic gel on the sharp knife, but it didn't do any effect. Naomi glared a bit. "So now the gel proves unreliable when he is in this form… Now this is certainly bothering me a lot," she admitted.

"Vitals are at nine!" the mushroom princess yelled.

Naomi furrowed her brow and injected six shots, raising the vitals to fifty-one. Dr. Mario was slowly making his pace slower, allowing the Father of Nature to inflict more wounds in his path. "We need to hurry up! All these wounds together will cause many complications if we do happen to finish this operation!" Dr. Mario said.

"I'm thinking!" Naomi shouted. She tried using the laser on the sharp knife, but it didn't seem to do any sort of effect. Grunting, she tried fighting it with the scalpel, but the sharp knife swiftly dodged it. "The gel is unreliable, the laser is weak, and the scalpel is too slow… Damn!" she cursed.

"Throwing the towel now?" Wolf asked. "C'mon, you're supposed to be a professional surgeon."

"For the goddesses, this isn't the time to taunt her!" Zelda complained.

"This is a situation of life and death for ten patients, and you're taunting me right now. Delightful," Naomi sarcastically said. "But yes, I should be thinking outside the box if I want to find the next method to stop that thing from slicing the heart in half."

"W-well, please hurry," Dr. Mario said. "My hands are starting to feel a little bit tired for doing so many zigzag motions with precision… Oh no, the vitals are dropping."

Naomi sighed and injected two shots, raising the vitals to forty-seven. She stared at her syringe for a little while. "…Might as well use what I think won't certainly work," she said giving up, aiming the syringe to the flying sharp knife. With a swift trust, the syringe impaled the humanoid disease, injecting a single stabilizer shot. Naomi pulled it back, but it didn't seem to give any damage. "That doesn't work either, but it did stop him for a moment."

"Are you stubborn enough to defy my blessing?" the Father of Nature asked, still making a path of incisions that forced Dr. Mario to suture. "You are not going to give up hope if you allow me to give it to you!"

Marth looked away with a worried look. "Is this it, perhaps?" he muttered under his breath. "The lives we wanted to protect are going to get lost?"

Naomi closed her eyes. "(I got somewhere with the syringe. I know that. But if applying stabilizers to that guy won't work…then what would happen if I used another material?)" She thought a bit more. "(Say, the people of Caduceus gave me a black serum to use in case of an emergency at their labs with the GUILT they were trying to manipulate… Is that the answer to defeat this disease, though?)"

"Naomi…hurry up…please…" Dr. Mario pleaded.

"(A little mistake and that black serum can provoke serious complications to our patient's heart…)" Naomi stared at Lucario's downcast expression on his face. "…It's worth a shot, though."

The silver-haired surgeon stared at her black briefcase leaning to the wall. She walked over to it, surprising most of the assistants around the patient. "N-Naomi, what are you doing? Don't leave the operation!" Peach said.

"I'm not leaving the operation yet. It happens that I have something here that can help us or just make things worse," she explained, rummaging through her briefcase's files. She spotted a thick jar with a black liquid inside. She took out the jar and walked back to the operation. "We're going to use this black serum."

"So I take it that the ultimate serum that you were hinting at really exists?" Zelda asked hopeful. "Modern science of medicine is truly a wonder."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "FYI, no. This serum is extremely hazardous to the body, but I'm planning to use it anyway," she said.

"I knew you were into euthanasia all along, maniac," Wolf said.

"I'm not going to kill our patient with a slow death," Naomi said annoyed. "Anyway, this serum here is hazardous to the body, but it can work wonders on the disease we're fighting. I'm not so sure if it will work because it was designed for another specific disease."

"But it might kill Lucario?" Peach asked worried.

"If I inject the heart by accident, it won't kill him, but it will hurt him a way lot more than the disease itself," she explained. "Whatever happens after this will be only with your consent. Are you sure you want me to go ahead with it?"

Marth shook his head. "Go ahead with your suggestion. This is basically going to be your methods that you yourself suggested," he said.

"I'm not sure, but please, do it," Peach said.

"We reached another dead end, so yes, go," Zelda said.

"Go kill the mutt if you want," Wolf said.

"Three out of four consents sound good enough to me," Naomi said pleased.

"E-excuse me? I don't want to interrupt your conversation, but I'd really appreciate if you could help me here…" Dr. Mario called out from his spot, feeling almost exhausted.

Naomi nodded and walked back to her spot. Filling her syringe with the black serum, she spotted the Father of Nature hovering along the heart, occasionally cutting wounds open for the doctor to suture. Raising her syringe, she narrowed her eyes to wait for the right time to impale the sharp knife. "…I should really stop making a scene over a small little mistake that can kill the patient," she admitted.

"That sounded so twisted in so many levels," Marth commented.

"Yes, I know," Naomi said, impaling the sharp knife disease with the syringe. She then applied the black serum into it, but it only took a half of it for some effects to appear. She drew the syringe back, looking at the sharp knife stopping in its tracks (which in turn made Dr. Mario sigh in relief).

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the Father of Nature screamed loudly. "W-what is this thing you implanted in me? I-it is burning my body! AAAAAAHH!"

Naomi blinked a few times and looked at her syringe with the serum. "So this serum works in you as well… This needs to have a label that reads 'Use for ultimate diseases only' on a tag," she said.

The sharp knife turned back into its humanoid form, which black strings that were circulating around the Father of Nature's body. He moved around slowly, feeling an unbearable amount of pain coursing through his body. "I need…to be more careful…around you imbeciles…" he gasped in pain before a laser struck him, making him yell louder. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Naomi held her laser straight down the humanoid disease while Dr. Mario recovered his energy, injecting six shots to raise the vitals to seventy-four. The Father of Nature was able to warp away from the laser while trying to hold back the pain. "Did that black serum did it?" Peach asked. "Is it killing him?"

"I wouldn't rest assured of that," Naomi said. "He is still holding his ground. Injecting another dose into his system already alerted him."

"He needs another dose of that medicine to die for real," Wolf said, crossing his arms.

"I admit this proved to be a lot more effective than I expected, but we have to stay cautious," the surgeon said. "We've stressed the disease."

The Father of Nature gasped in pain, avoiding a cloud of antibiotic gel from Mario. The disease warped to the center of the heart where his wings started to glow into a mendacious red shade. "The pain…is too much… I need…to transfer it…to my objective…at all costs!" he yelled.

Zelda looked pale at the color of the wings. "E-everyone, those wings of his are giving me a very bad feeling about his next move…" she trailed off.

Marth gasped. "Oh no, is he going to do that move?" he asked.

Wolf narrowed his eye. "Bastard, he was saving that as his triumph card," he said.

Peach looked serious. "Doctors, be ready for the next attack!" she warned them.

Dr. Mario hurriedly injected stabilizer shots into the heart to raise the vitals to the maximum limit. "Naomi, be prepared!" he said.

Naomi looked a bit confused, but she looked serious nevertheless. "I've got a feeling that's telling me you all know something about this Tabuu guy I don't, but that won't stop me now," she said. She sprayed antibiotic gel to blind the humanoid disease, but it proved ineffective. She used the laser, but it didn't do any damage. Before she could even rely on the black serum, the disease attacked.

Everyone looked inside the heart where they witnessed the Father of Nature fully opening his wings. The Smashers looked pale as energy waves were spread around the heart, causing around twenty lacerations covering most parts of the heart completely. Naomi's eyes widened at the sight of blood quickly covering the damaged internal organ while the Father of Nature remained in place. His wings slowly closed in. The damage done to the heart was extremely horrendous that the vitals dropped from ninety-nine to forty-nine, which in turn were losing ten vitals every second.

The surgeons and the assistants grew silent while the first hastily sutured the incisions and injected some shots to slow down the rapid drop of vitals. It was impossible for them to treat all the wounds and keep the vitals up, considering the excessive amount of lacerations imprinted on the heart. "Y-you can do it!" Zelda cheered worried. "We can't give up hope now!"

Thanks to all the work from before, Dr. Mario couldn't keep up the pace with Naomi. His hands shook a bit when he sutured some of the lacerations. "N-Naomi…I can't feel my hands…" he muttered. To make matters worse, some lacerations started to bleed.

"Ugh…" Naomi stifled a grunt while she sutured as fast as she could.

"Doctors, your pace isn't fast enough!" Peach said alarmed. "The vitals can't go beyond the thirty vitals mark anymore!"

"Come on, we can do this no matter how bad the situation looks!" Marth encouraged. "Lives are at stake for real this time!"

"This is by far the most horrible event we've been through, but we can't lose them because of him!" Zelda encouraged. "The others and…and Link depend of you!"

"I give a damn about their lives, but those idiots are gonna throw their work on my shoulders if they die," Wolf said. "Do us all a favor and finish this operation!"

"Know this, though…" the Father of Nature spoke, embracing himself on the center of the heart. "You could not avoid my blessing after all… Your meaningless effort is just that, meaningless… My views of life are absolute, and so must this blessed one pass on to a better life that I like to call the afterlife, where no suffering exists!"

Naomi closed her eyes. "If this is how you want it to be…then I have one more thing to say…" she trailed off, opening her eyes. "My Healing Touch will be the judge of that!"

The silver-haired surgeon's hands glowed with an ominous blue aura. The blue aura started to pass on to the heart as Naomi treated the wounds. Thanks to her Healing Touch, life was being restored to the heart, and the vitals were being increased. The damage done to the heart only produced a clash between life and death, as the vitals were falling and rising from time to time.

"It was a good thing I saved my Healing Touch for this," Naomi muttered under her breath.

"I will not let you do this!" the Father of Nature yelled loudly as he once again spread his red wings open, releasing waves of energy that created a whole bunch of lacerations all over the heart. With exhaustion, he gasped in pain, not moving away from his spot in hopes to gather more energy and perform another attack.

Peach gasped and turned to the EKG. The attack ended up pushing the vitals to two, but Naomi's Healing Touch was barely restoring life to the heart. The vitals even seemed stuck at two. "N-no…" Peach trailed off.

Marth grunted and turned to Dr. Mario. "You've got to help her!" he told him.

Dr. Mario felt extreme exhaustion in his hands for working, but he grunted and managed to move his fingers. "Naomi shouldn't face this alone… She told me that the Healing Touch shouldn't be relied all the time, and I'm not going to fully rely on it and leave her alone…" he muttered. "But how can I help her?"

It was then that Dr. Mario locked his eyes on the thick jar with black serum Naomi had set on the table.

The silver-haired surgeon was taken over by exhaustion, pleading to the Healing Touch to last a while longer. She was eventually increasing the vitals, but the time for the Healing Touch to last was becoming shorter and shorter. When she thought the blessed ability was going to disappear, she saw a doctor's hand filling a syringe with the black serum she set on the table. The Father of Nature was running low in energy for the first dose of black serum that was poisoning his body, remaining still on the center of the heart to wait for the imminent end.

But all changed when Dr. Mario thrust the syringe full of black serum into the Father of Nature. Closing his eyes, Dr. Mario slowly applied the black liquid into the Father of Nature, filling his insides with the serum until his body turned completely black.

"!" the humanoid disease yelled out in pain, his red wings fading away.

Naomi suddenly got one more streak of energy, exerting more power out of the Healing Touch to heal the remaining wounds. The vitals displayed on the EKG started to increase little by little despite the overflowing blood of the lacerations. A few seconds later passed, and Naomi started to gain the upper hand over the wounds. Much for her dismay, the Healing Touch disappeared, leaving her to fend off with ten lacerations and twenty vitals. "(Please, just a little more!)" Naomi pleaded.

Her pleas were answered by Dr. Mario injecting one more stabilizer shot into the heart. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, but he risked them one last time. Sighing, he stepped back, with Peach grabbing his shoulders. "There we go…" he muttered with a sigh.

Naomi chuckled to herself. "Thank you, my friend. You've given all of us another chance at hope," she thanked the doctor. The last move from the veteran doctor allowed Naomi to finish suturing all the wounds in the heart. Injecting three shots to raise the vitals to thirty-five, the silver-haired surgeon looked back at the Father of Nature, who seemed to be dying. "Well, I guess this is your last minutes to live. You've given us a lot of hell today, but it all ends here."

"NO, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND ALL THIS!" the Father of Nature yelled out, warping around the heart while spores burst all over his body. "LIFE IS A PRISON OF SUFFERING! DEATH IS A HAVEN OF ETERNAL BLISS! WHY, WHY, WHY THIS IS NOT WORKING AT ALL? WHY?"

"It doesn't work like that because you are a loony, so shut up and go away already," Naomi said bluntly.

Warping back to the center, the humanoid disease burst multiple spores. His black body slowly faded away while he fully opened his arms. "ALL LIFE IS MEANINGLESS! I AM RIGHT! YOU ARE WRONG! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME! YOUR SALVATION…MY SALVATION…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled out as his voice faded away into nothingness, along with his body. The only saw a few remains of him lingering behind, but they still disappeared until he was gone for good.

Meanwhile, the images left by the Malattia strains on the other nine patients' bodies were fading away. In the end, the boiling blood that circulated through their internal organs cooled down until it returned back to normal, with no signs of irreparable damage.

Back in the operation room, everyone fell silent once the Father of Nature had died. With no lacerations left, the Aura Pokémon's heart was freed from all threats at last…

"The chiral reaction is…at last…negative…" Peach informed all of them.

Naomi silently nodded, using the last of her forces to suture the incision over the body. After closing it carefully, she disinfected the sutured wound to apply a bandage over it. Setting her tools away, she removed her surgical mask to let out a sigh. Looking at everyone, she blinked a few times and smiled a bit to all of them. "The operation is complete, and we don't have to deal with manmade diseases anymore… Finally, we can say for sure that we have reached the finish line of this entire struggle, everyone," she told all of them.

Trauma Team – Results (T.T. Version)

Dr. Mario smiled under his mask. "We can rest assured now… I'm so glad that we won," he said.

Zelda removed her surgical mask in a hurry first than everyone else. "R-really? T-this is it?" she asked joyfully. "Have we really done it?"

"Of course we did it," Naomi said pleased. "The Father of Nature is no more, and the Malattia strains are gone for good from everyone's bodies."

Marth smiled hopefully. "Then we overcame this dreaded struggle for life for real! I couldn't feel any happier than this!" He remained silent for a moment. "…Oh, sorry, but I was getting too excited to know we eliminated the Malattia."

"How could you be sorry? All the operations were a great success in the end!" Peach said extremely relieved. "Don't you hear those cheers?"

The surgeons and doctors felt silent to hear a multitude of cheers coming from the first floor of the mansion. The cheers from everyone else were so loud that they echoed throughout the halls, even to the point some could tell what the cheers were saying.

Wolf grinned. "Heh, I suppose this is the point where we should throw a party or what?" he asked amused. "Please, we can't throw a party in this floor. This is a temporary hospital area. Don't they know that already?"

"They're very happy that nobody died, Wolf," Dr. Mario said. "It was all thanks to our effort that we prevented lives from being lost to the Malattia. And, of course, everything would have been impossible if Naomi wasn't here with us today."

Naomi couldn't help but smile. "Was it because of my Healing Touch?" she asked.

"No, if it was just for that, we wouldn't feel okay," Dr. Mario said. "You have exceptional surgeon skills with you. They helped a lot more than your Healing Touch did."

"Now I feel ashamed the Healing Touch didn't help too much."

"N-no, wait, that's not it either," Dr. Mario said embarrassed.

"Heheheheh," Naomi chuckled heartily, closing her eyes. "I'm just messing with you, Mr. Mario. I feel flattered for your appreciation towards me. Being here actually gave me my old human feeling I used to have when I was a doctor back in my homeland…and that's enough fulfillment for me that I can get from all of you."

"Aww, that's nice. I'm going to shed a tear for you," Wolf joked.

The surgeon took off her gloves and sighed. "It's been very good working with everyone here… Oh, that reminds me something. I need to go and check how the other patients are doing," she said.

Dr. Mario shook his head and left the room. "I'll check on them instead," he said.

Naomi looked at Peach. "He's very happy that he feels a little bit guilty for tiring out his hands during the operation," she said.

Peach chuckled. "He is a very friendly person," she said.

"Oh yes, he is, alright. He helped me to cheer up my mood all this time," Naomi said. "I haven't noticed before, but he is the first person in a long time who has talked so nicely to me. I got so used to argue and discuss with people that I never noticed how many things I forgot that I liked to do." She chuckled, putting her hand on her hip's right side. "He deserves some thanks from me."

"I'm glad he moved you, Naomi," Peach said cheerfully. "It's one of Mario's special traits."

"(I can't stop thinking he's part of a big fad out there. I certainly saw him somewhere else before…)" Naomi thought puzzled.

The doctor came back to the room. Marth looked at Dr. Mario. "You're back. So, how's everyone doing?" he asked.

They all looked at Dr. Mario, who had a pale look on his face. Speechless, he lowered his head.

"Dr. Mario?" Zelda asked. "Is something bothering you?"

"If you got something to say, spit it out already," Wolf said.

Dr. Mario couldn't help but stare at them with the pale look on his face. A few seconds passed until everyone started to guess why he would look frightened in the first place on his little trip to the infirmary.

Music stops

Zelda looked pale. "W-wait, you don't mean…" she trailed off. "N-no, t-this must be some joke, right?"

"T-that can't be true, can it?" Marth asked serious. "I-it really can't be!"

Wolf forced a glare. "I'm going to break a wall with my fist if I hear one bad thing coming from you," he threatened.

Peach's eyes trembled. "W-what happened in the infirmary, doctor?" she muttered.

Dr. Mario rubbed his eyes a bit. He looked at everyone until he stared directly at Naomi's blank look. Giving up, the doctor sighed. "While we did eliminate the disease…I'm afraid that…" he trailed off, stifling a sniff.

"…" Naomi turned to Lucario, who was apparently still unconscious for the anesthesia.

The doctor and the assistants looked at Naomi. "…Naomi…what should we do now?" Dr. Mario asked.

"…Everyone! We have to move as fast as we can! The time we have left mustn't be wasted at all costs!" she ordered loudly. "I want all of you to check on every single patient's pulse at once! Somebody has to inform all the people in the floor NOT walk into this floor! This is extremely crucial! Get moving, now!"

Startled, Marth and Zelda ran out from the infirmary while Peach and Dr. Mario ran back to the infirmary. Wolf clenched his right fist before rushing out as well, leaving Naomi staring down at Lucario.

The surgeon placed her hand on Lucario's forehead. "I forgot to tell them something important about you…" she muttered. "…You will have my condolences…"

The shocking news that the surgeons and assistants were forced to recognize first than any of the Smashers in the mansion was kept a secret to avoid people from knowing what was going on. Even Master Hand was told not to warp into the floor, as it had become a restricted area for everyone except the doctors, assistants, and patients. The prevention only started to make everyone else doubt and worry about the downed patients in the infirmary. The ones who were especially attached to the patients felt very concerned about the whole deal.

What was once a room filled with joy was soon filled with worry and, worse of all, despair with a small chance of hope…

Main Lobby

A couple of hours passed, and midnight had arrived. An eerie rain with occasional lightning illuminating the clouds above lingered. Lucas rested his head over his arms with a worried looked on his eyes. He somehow felt a bad feeling that was nagging him about Ness. Sighing, he heard some footsteps coming from behind, but he didn't want to look at somebody to avoid crying.

"Lucas, you've been in the window for a long time," Nana said. "You're going to get a cold for inhaling the cold air seeping through."

"…It's okay, Nana…" Lucas muttered. "I want to be here…"

"Look, we're worried sick about Ness and Pichu like you, but it won't help that you get sick tonight," she said.

"…Do you think…Ness will…die?" Lucas muttered, biting his lower lip at the question.

Nana shook her head. "That guy is pretty headstrong and stubborn," she said. "I don't think he can die like that. You shouldn't be asking those things."

Lucas sighed depressed. "I'm asking that because…people close to me tend to die…" he muttered with a sniff, burying his face on his arms. "My mom died…my brother died…now Ness is going to die next…"

Nana gasped when she heard Lucas sobbing to himself. She patted his back to make him feel okay, but he forcibly hugged her tightly.

"I don't want anybody to die!" Lucas cried. "I don't want to think I'm cursed!"

"You're not cursed, Lucas! Stop crying!" Nana yelled. "Don't say something like that again!"

"Are Ness and Pichu going to be okay? They don't like they'll be okay!" Lucas cried. "The wait is killing me! I want to see them now, Nana!"

At that time, Toon Link came to them. "Hey, don't cry now, you!" he scolded.

Lucas looked at Toon Link, the former still hugging Nana tightly. "How am I supposed to avoid crying?" he demanded crying.

"We haven't been told about the others yet! At least I'm trying to stay positive as much as possible!" Toon Link yelled. "I know you like Ness a lot more than any of us combined, and even Pikachu has been pretty dead silent ever since this whole wait started!"

Lucas sniffed sadly as he looked over to the sofa where a downcast Chris was rubbing Pikachu's back, the Electric Pokémon resting on his lap. With a closer look, Lucas noticed that Pikachu's eyes were shedding tears that drenched trails of wet fur. Close to them, Jigglypuff was shaking Pikachu in hopes for a response, but she didn't get a reply.

The blond PSI kid sobbed a bit, stopping hugging Nana. "I-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" he sobbed, burying his face on his hands. "I…I just want Ness to be okay…"

"Don't take me wrong now," Toon Link said serious. "I'm worried about that adult guy version of me and the other swordsmen. I really feel bad that I can't cry and worry like you do because it makes me look like a heartless person…"

Popo came in carrying a cup with lemonade. He handed it over to Lucas. "The mood in here is so bad that it easily rubs on you like sticky mud," he said worried. "Everyone down here is pacing around without doing anything else."

Toon Link overheard some sobs. "And it wasn't such a good idea of Diddy to bring down all the musicians 'cuz that Chunky guy has been killing off our napkin supplies," he said.

"Worse than that, Red even called those trainer guys down to join the Depressed Committee…not to mention the blond one is eerily quiet, and that's too creepy to me," Nana said with a shrug. "The lobby hasn't been this crowded before."

"I heard C. Falcon muttering things about wishing Sonic to be okay," Toon Link muttered. "Those two are always at each other's throats, but he's worried all the same. I had to yell at him when he said he was going to drown his problems with some booze."

"And speaking of Sonic, Amy is helping Chunky kill those napkins," Popo said. "Let's not forget Cream and Cheese either. Oh, and that include Big, Chip, Vector, and Charmy."

Jigglypuff approached them with a saddened look. "Pikachu doesn't say a thing at all," she said. "He's mute. I tried to shake him, but he never said anything, not even a scold."

"That's what happens when the person you hang out the most with is about to… Well, you know what I mean," Toon Link said. "He's having a worse time than I used to have whenever I thought about my grandma."

The young Smashers saw Master Hand floating around in circles over a small area. "Please don't die please don't die please don't die," he repeated over and over in silence. "If you guys die, you're going to throw off your worlds, and that also means I'll be fully responsible of any lawsuits your relatives fill out. I knew I shouldn't have written the 'in case of any lethal accidents' part on their applications. They all filled that one out! I'm in DEEEEEEEEEEP trouble if things go for the worse… Geez, I feel like I'm their father…"

"It's hard to tell because of his faceless…face, but I bet he's fretting over for them as well," Toon Link said.

"He better not be fretting about lawsuits," Nana said.

Lucas sniffed as he drank his lemonade. He coughed a bit and hit his chest to recover his breath. "How much longer do we have to wait for them to go see everyone?" he asked.

"It's useless, Lucas," Nana said. "Nobody's allowed to go up and ask. The six up there are extremely busy."

"How do you know that?" Toon Link asked.

"I went to the floor down below to hear anything, but all I heard where things moving and footsteps running around."

Toon Link shook his head. "They should be doing a lot of stuff if they're running around like that," he commented.

Lucas looked down. "…It's his fault that everyone got sick…" he muttered. "T-that Ancient Minister guy…he wants to kill us off…"

"You mean R.O.B? We all know he's being manipulated to do Tabuu's bidding, but he sounded pretty serious when he barged into the mansion," Nana said. "In fact, he sounded dead serious about eliminating us. Has the guy gone nuts for real this time?"

"He's a robot. How can we tell?" Popo asked. "Maybe his chip got altered and thus he turned really evil."

"Somehow, I think he did this on his free will," Toon Link said. "He was an ally before, but what if he has other things in mind under his sleeve?"

"Well, whatever they are, it's no use discussing them at a time like this," Nana said. "We need to wait to see what happens next..."

Lucas looked up to see that Dr. Mario was coming downstairs. He gasped and ran to the crowd's side with the others. The doctor coming down also startled Master Hand, who in a hurry floated over to him. People stood up from their places, with a dead silence taking over the lobby. "Oh god, you're here," Master Hand said. "Thank goodness you finally came down here. What happened?"

Dr. Mario sighed and signaled Master Hand to walk to the hallway. The doctor looked at the others before he followed the hand. Each one of the people gathered in the lobby started muttering things between each other.

"Oh no, something bad really happened after all…" muttered Pit.

"D-does that mean people did…die?" Dawn muttered.

"Is it possible that they passed away?" Samus muttered.

"H-how could they all die if the doctors worked so hard?" muttered C. Falcon.

"Dr. Mario looked pale when he came down…" muttered Penny.

"This can't be happening… This has to be a cruel nightmare…" Tails muttered.

"Aww, you've gotta be kidding me! I was starting to like that talking Pichu a lot!" Barry complained.

"My god, I've never seen a Pokémon dying in front of me before…" Lucas (the trainer) muttered.

"If somebody died, how will their relatives in their world take the news?" wondered Espio.

"I-i-is DK gonna be just fine?" asked Chunky.

"How bad was the aftermath? I wanna know what happened to Sonic…" Chip muttered.

"I really want to know what happened. Everyone is just making this look so bad…" muttered Yoshi.

"So many of them were still too young to perish like that…" Meta Knight muttered.

"P-please, I don't want to assist a funeral for more than one person… I cry a lot…" Olimar pleaded.

"I feel like playing a sad melody… I don't really want to play one now…" Makar muttered.

"Lucario…" Chris stifled a sniff.

They all stopped muttering things when Dr. Mario and Master Hand came back from the hallway. It was impossible to tell, but Master Hand looked horrible. Dr. Mario knew that he had to share the news with everyone, who was expecting the worst to come. The doctor broke the silence by clearing his throat. "I am aware that everyone here is very worried about what happened after the final operation took place a few hours ago," he said.

"Yes, we know that already," Knuckles said. "What we want to know is what REALLY happened when you guys told us to stay put!"

"I'm trying to get there," Dr. Mario said. "However, I still don't want everyone to go upstairs in a rush because we need to keep everything quiet. So, we decided to allow some of the people who are very close to each one of our patients to come up and see for yourselves what has happened."

"Did anybody die, yes or no?" Squirtle demanded, prompting most of the crowd to yell and demand answers.

"Quiet, everyone, keep it down!" Dr. Mario yelled, miraculously calming down the crowd. "We would like relatives in this place to know what happened, but we want the closest ones to please walk to the infirmary. If you let me, I want to call the next people to follow me in order without rushing."

Most of the people in the lobby whispered things before the doctor started calling up people.

"Pikachu, Red, Diddy, Lucas, Kirby, Toon Link, Pit, Tails, Amy, and Chris need to follow me now," Dr. Mario said. "Everyone else will be allowed to come up shortly. I'd advise you to rest because it's midnight already, but we know you want to see the patients so badly, so… You get what I mean."

The chosen Smashers and friends feared for the worst. Each one of them followed the doctor from behind as Master Hand kept the crowd from leaving the lobby's area. The people that were chosen felt a huge deal of sorrow that would erupt into sadness once they would get to the infirmary.

"Tell me, doctor…" Pit muttered. "Did you call us because everyone…"

"I'm not allowed to tell you until we reach the infirmary," Dr. Mario said, not giving the ten a look. "I'm sorry, but we want to make this with a calm approach."

Tails grabbed Amy's shoulders to calm the pink hedgehog from crying. Lucas grabbed Kirby's hand to get emotional support from the puffball. Diddy gulped and hid behind Toon Link. Red gave Pit a worried look. And lastly, Pikachu climbed to Chris's right shoulder to lean at his head to feel comfy to avoid crying. The ten were feeling weak, wishing that Dr. Mario wasn't trying to hide gruesome truths from them.

Seventh Floor's Hallway

Upon stepping on the silent floor, the silence broke abruptly when they all heard somebody complaining loudly from the infirmary.

"You've got to be s*****ng me!" Wolf complained loudly. "Are you telling me that you can't do anything else for him? That's a load of bulls**t! Are you even a damn professional surgeon?"

The ten felt frightened by how Wolf cursed loudly. Dr. Mario shook his head, stopping to a halt that forced everyone to do the same. Each one of them looked at each other.

"I have nothing else to say to you," Naomi was heard saying. "Surgeons try everything to keep their patients alive. However, this situation was ultimately so hard to avoid, and it would have been impossible even if we had more surgeons in here."

"Like I'm going to believe that s**t, you b***h!" Wolf cursed loudly. "One of these days, I swear a head will roll until it falls down a hole!"

"Yell all you want to me, but you need to be strong and accept the facts," Naomi said. "But know this, though. I did everything I could possibly do to keep everything under control. No matter how hard you try, you won't hurt me even in my sleep."

"Strong my freaking **s!" Wolf swore as he slammed the door open, his fangs gritting so hard that anybody could say they were going to shatter apart. His pissed eye darted to look at the eleven persons standing there , the chosen ones scared of him. Wolf let out a loud grunt as he stormed away into Dr. Mario's office to change his clothes, slamming the door behind him.

"W-what's his problem, anyway?" Amy asked scared.

"H-he looked away more furious than before…" Pit said.

Dr. Mario shook his head. "He couldn't bottle down his rage for that long after all," he said. "I hope none of you do the same."

Tails looked particularly frightened more than the others. He found almost no reason for Wolf to get so worked up over anyone in the mansion. But once the two-tailed fox thought about the possibilities, he had a nasty vision of why Wolf was so angry.

Dr. Mario grabbed the doorknob to the infirmary. He looked at the others over his left shoulder. "Do your best to brace yourselves," he said, twisting the doorknob to open the door.

Most of them looked away, with Pit being the only one to step into the room. One gasp was enough for the others to force their looks into the room. Gulping, one by one, they all slowly entered.

Infirmary

Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Despair

"We did everything we could to keep them alive, but sadly, we ended up having casualties after the last operation. Please, I hope you can understand that we used our best efforts to do the impossible," Naomi said as they entered the infirmary. "It's okay to blame me. But I'm warning all of you that arguing right now won't solve anything instead of making things look worse."

"Sonic!" Tails and Amy yelled.

"Ness! Pichu!" Lucas, Red, Pikachu, and Kirby yelled.

"Alternate serious old me!" Toon Link yelled.

"DK!" Diddy yelled.

"Roy! Ike!" Pit yelled.

The nine people rushed to their friends' side while Chris remained behind. The World Traveler just stood there, not wanting to say a word. His eyes trembled as he looked around, which was a mixture of good and bad that ended up being just plain nasty to his overall sanity.

The teen looked over to Sonic's bed, where the hedgehog was still breathing, though he was resting silently. Amy had fallen to her knees, her clasped hands resting on the bed as she thanked the angels for saving Sonic from imminent death. "Thank you, really, thank you so much for keeping him safe…" she muttered while shedding tears.

Chris briefly smiled, only to remember Tails wasn't around with Amy. He looked around for him until he found the two-tailed fox with his hands and face buried on a bed. When Chris looked at the bed's owner, his eyes shrunk once he saw Fox with a downed expression. The EKG besides his bed displayed a thin green line that indicated no pulse from his arm anymore.

"…N-no…n-no…p-please, n-no…" Tails sobbed silently on the bed sheet. "I…I…I…"

Tails' sobs eventually reached Amy, who walked over to his side and put her hands on his shoulders in an effort to calm him down. She closed her eyes and shook her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Tails…" she muttered.

"This…this isn't…just fair…" Tails sobbed.

Next to the fallen Smasher, there was Falco. Out of a miracle, the headstrong avian had survived death. Chris could tell very well that Falco was awake, but his hands were clenched into fists on his sides as he tried hard to prevent tears from shedding, an action he was unable to accomplish. "Yes…leave us alone, why don't you…i-idiot…" he muttered. "Do you think…Krystal will like to know this…Fox?"

The teen held back his tears from rolling down his cheeks. It got even worse when he looked over to Pichu's bed. He couldn't see Red's eyes because the trainer had lowered it down in shame, with two trails of tears under his eyes. He was gritting his teeth as he sniffed. Looking down, Chris's saddened mood grew upon seeing Pikachu lying close to Pichu, who had lost the match to survive. Chris could only see Pikachu's back as he twitched from time to time.

"You were the youngest one… Y-you didn't have to die…" Red muttered through gritted teeth. "Pichu…"

"Pichu…c-come back…" Pikachu sobbed silently. "Y-you can't leave us behind… W-who's going to have fun with me…i-instead of you?"

Red placed his hand on Pikachu's head, rubbing it slowly and smoothly to calm him down. Unfortunately, even Red couldn't calm himself down. The two of them were on the same boat, trying to cope up with Pichu's death.

Chris's eyes almost turned into stone, wishing that Pichu was still alive. He couldn't move his shocked eyes, but he moved his face to see Roy. Miraculously, Roy managed to survive the disease, but he looked extremely depressed with Marth who was standing next to his bed. However, the teen found out why they were sad once he looked at Ike. Behind Marth, the Ragnell wielder leaned his head on the side of his pillow, completely lifeless. There was no breathing coursing through his body anymore, which only confirmed that he had died. Next to his bed, Pit had a hand over his chest while he muttered a long prayer.

Roy opened his eyes, rubbing them to clear his tears. "Marth…how will his sister take the news about…" he trailed off with a grunt.

"Mist is going to be crushed for sure if she winds up hearing about Ike…" Marth said. "But even so…Ike has…died…"

"…Dammit… Those bastards… T-they killed him…" Roy muttered through gritted teeth.

"Don't get worked up now. You need to rest."

Roy rested his head on his bed, slamming his pillow on his face where he muffled a loud yell. He then coughed, making Marth remind him not to overexert.

"Bless him, Goddess Palutena… Bless my friend's departure…" Pit prayed. "A strong warrior died courageously tonight…trying to fight for his life with all his might…"

In front of Ike's bed, Link was thankfully alive, but he mourned the death of the swordsman by gritting his teeth and slamming his right fist several times on his bed. To his side, Zelda and Toon Link were equally depressed, with the latter trying to calm down the former who was sobbing under her hands. "We worked so hard…and yet…this calamity…" Zelda muttered sadly under her hands.

"Nayru…please…keep him safe in heaven…" Toon Link muttered a small prayer, clasping his hands.

Link suffered from both sadness and fury taking over him. The swordsman didn't want to say a word after seeing that Ike was never going to pass the time with the others anymore. Deep down, Link felt that it was his fault Ike died, but he knew better he was trying to find an excuse to feel guilty and take the whole blame.

At that point, Chris didn't want to see more. His very being was slowly being crushed. But his face moved by itself towards Ness's bed, where he saw Lucas clutching Ness's right hand. The teen didn't want to believe it, but Ness was another unfortunate victim of the disease breakout. Dr. Mario approached Lucas, patting the PSI kid's back with care.

"T-they all die…they all die because of me…" Lucas sobbed. "I…I'm cursed after all…"

"Lucas…" Dr. Mario trailed off, closing his eyes in shame.

Lucas's sobs eventually turned into small whimpers that he tried so hard to stop. It was a cruel reality for the blond kid to experience. Ness's loss only added up to the emotional wounds Lucas suffered when his mom and brother passed away. To make matters worse, Lucas was accidentally forced to revive the gruesome thoughts about his relatives' deaths.

Chris's eyes started to give up to sadness. His head moved over to look at DK, who used a tight grip with his left arm around Diddy, who was sobbing on DK's chest. He was both happy and sad, but he thought it felt horrible to think some of his friends didn't make it while others did. DK also felt the same, whimpering louder than Diddy did. They were both speechless, although sobbing together. It was bad enough that they shared everything that went through their lives including the bad moments, Chris thought.

Having been seen almost the entire room, Chris knew he had seen nine of ten Smashers already. His feet were trembling as he slowly made his way to the other side of the room just in front of DK's bed where the last patient was supposedly resting. With a closer look, Chris noticed that two people were blocking the bed's view. He cleared his tears to see Peach and Naomi standing there with their backs looking at Chris.

The fact that Peach was sobbing gave it away for the teen. Naomi was extremely quiet, but since she faintly shook her head proved things worse.

Chris soon stood right behind the two women. The two women turned around to look at him. Seeing Peach sad, Chris started to sniff.

Naomi then said, "I have good news and bad news. Do you care to hear them both?"

The teen got startled that there were good news. Although he didn't want to see past the two, he forced a smile. "Y-yes, please! T-tell me!" he asked hopefully.

Naomi looked away, but Peach's sobs weren't making Chris feel any better. "The good news is that we eliminated the disease plaguing your friend's heart, and that he managed to have enough energy to stay awake after he woke up," she said.

Knowing that people died, Chris was unable to even force a smile after hearing the good news. The atmosphere in the infirmary felt very stagnant. "T-thank goodness…" Chris muttered, gulping when he reminded himself about the bad news. "But…b-but what is the bad news?"

The silver-haired surgeon looked away, closing her eyes while Peach looked the other way. "…Even though he got energy to wake up…his flame is going to be put away shortly…"

"…No…"

"…Make it quick if you want to hear him one final time," Naomi muttered. "The final moment will be the most critical part for you…"

Chris's pupils shrunk into despair after hearing the bad news. Naomi didn't give him a look, stepping away to allow the teen to look at the downed patient on the bed. Peach stepped slightly away before she turned around to see behind as Chris quickly fell to his knees and rested his hands on the bed.

The EKG besides the bed emitted long-gapping beeps that indicated life was almost gone from its host. Chris finally started to sob loudly when he clasped his Pokémon's hand tightly. In front of him, an extremely weak Lucario lied down on bed, barely breathing any air at all. Feeling his trainer's warm and stiff hands, Lucario's crimson eyes slowly opened.

"Why…why is he like this… W-why?" Chris asked to Naomi.

"The operation was too much for his heart to handle," Naomi said, still looking away from Chris. "He would have made it if the disease in his heart didn't stay for too long. Although we restored his heart back to health…it can't hang on for much longer because it has been weakened…"

The teen's sobs started to make Lucario feel worse, as his own eyes were shedding tears. "C-Chris…C-Chris…" Lucario only managed to talk through silent mutters.

"W-what is it?" Chris asked while sobbing. "W-what are you trying to say, Lucario?"

"D-did…d-did…I-I-I…make y-you…f-feel…b-bad?" Lucario weakly asked. "D-do you…r-r-remember…w-when I…when I…got…a-angry…t-today?"

Chris clutched Lucario's hand harder than before, trying to get support to hold back his tears. "I-I remember very well, but y-you don't have to say sorry for that!" he cried loudly. "Y-you should be saying s-something else more important that feeling ashamed, y-you…you stupid idiot!"

"B-but…i-if I…d-didn't get…angry…I…I wouldn't have…gotten…i-into this…mess…"

"Stop saying you're sorry!" Chris scolded, albeit he was crying. "Don't you want to say something else like you're trying to stay alive? I've been worried sick about you this entire day, and I'm not going to forgive you for asking me to forgive you for something I don't even care about! D-don't you even dare close those eyes either now!"

Lucario's eyes started to fill more with tears. "I…I will obey you…Chris…" he muttered. "I can't...I don't…f-feel…powerful at all… A-and here…I-I thought…I'd get e-extremely stronger…w-with how weak I am now…" he managed to mutter under his breath.

"Why the hell can't you stop wondering about those stupid things?" Chris scolded loudly. "You're dying in bed, for god's sake! I don't see how you can grow strong with a weak heart! T-that's a fatal condition, not a booster!"

"…I-I'm…sorry for sounding…s-so…selfish…t-then…" Lucario muttered, as he started to cough. "I just…w-wanted to...ask for…your forgiveness…so I wouldn't leave t-things…unattended…"

Chris rested his forehead against Lucario's palm. "So that's it? You're certain you're going to die? You don't want to fight for your life against whoever is trying to take you away from me? Where's the Lucario who always fought to make sure I'd be happy for his hard effort?" he demanded.

"I n-never thought….I-I'd die like this… I a-am furious about t-this…b-but…N-Naomi told me to…t-to stay relaxed s-so I would h-have…e-enough time to talk t-to…t-to you, Chris…" Lucario muttered before coughing. "A-are…are you…proud o-of me…C-Chris? I-I'm…t-trying my hardest to…speak…with you…"

"I'm proud, alright!" Chris yelled, although he was still scolding Lucario. "But I'm not okay that you're going to leave me forever! Who is going to fill in your spot, huh? You're the most irreplaceable Pokémon ever to me! You're going to cause me more pain than you didn't want me to suffer!" He raised his face to look straight to Lucario. "Who's going to protect me all the time? Who's going to accompany me everywhere I go? Who's going to be the last one remaining if everyone suddenly betrays me out of the blue? Who's going to step in front of a bullet and punch any bastard who wants to kill me? W-who…who is going to be my one-man Pokémon party? Answer me, Lucario! Answer me, dammit!"

"I…I…don't know… S-sorry…Chris…" Lucario apologized profusely. "I…o-only know…t-that I'm very…v-very happy…for serving you…this whole time…"

Naomi made a fist on her side as she overheard the EKG's long-gapping beeps becoming longer than before. "(Hurry up… His time is almost over…)" she painfully though while Peach placed her hands on Chris's shoulders, trying to comfort the teen as much as she could to avoid crying loudly.

"N-now you're thinking you're just a servant to me!" Chris cried. "You're not a servant, Lucario! Y-you're my best friend above everyone else in here! You're the one who's comprehended my feelings and everything! O-only you have that special trait that makes me so happy all the time! B-but…but do you have any idea how much I want you to stay alive forever?"

"D-don't…g-get too sad…C-Chris… I-I…beg you…" Lucario pleaded. "I will…I-I will stay with you…f-forever…e-even after…d-death…"

"Enough!" Chris yelled. "I don't believe in that whole 'soul being in your heart forever' crap! Don't give me that now! I never understood that even after my dear uncle died! He never told me the same thing you did, but I never understood how one can hold on to something so…so cheesy like that!" he complained loudly, showing signs of an eventual breakdown. "Lucario, please stay alive for me! If you go now, it never will be the same for me! Whatever you do, don't go and leave me alone in my world! You still think you're a servant, t-then I order you to stay alive!"

"I…c-can't even…accomplish that for…y-you…" Lucario struggled to mutter. "…B-but…I hope…that this final moment…is…our best of m-moments…t-together…"

Chris saw how his life and Lucario's life flashed together inside his mind. He witnessed how Lucario first arrived in his world by accident, how he slowly accepted Chris as his real trainer, how he slowly grew closer, how he started making friends with the people in the mansion and the other worlds, how he cared for him when Chris was struck by a bad case of fever, how he used to growl in happiness whenever Chris rubbed on his head, how he would wake Chris through licks whenever he overslept by accident, how he wished to be turned into a Riolu and his subsequent days with his trainer until he evolved back, how he manipulated his and Chris's aura during the day of the teen's birthday, and lastly how Lucario would silently put Chris under his arm whenever they went going to sleep every night. All the memories of joy were crushing Chris's hopes to make even more memories with his dying Pokémon.

The World Traveler then realized that he would have no guardian at all by his side anymore. He would think then that Lucario left because Chris had matured enough to protect himself. Sadly, it wasn't like that for Chris.

"How the heck do we make this our best of moments with you dying on me?" Chris demanded. "T-this is the end of the line!"

"I…know…full…w-well…" Lucario sobbed. "I…want to…t-to share…my final moment…with…y-y-you…"

Chris scrambled up to his feet to throw himself to Lucario's side, wrapping his Pokémon in a tight hug. "Don't go!" Chris cried loudly. "You have a lot to do ahead of yourself! Don't go!"

"B-breathing…is…a thing hard…t-to do…" Lucario gasped for air. "C-Chris…"

"You don't even know for sure how painful will be for me if you die!" Chris cried. "Ness is dead, Ike is dead, Fox is dead, and Pichu of all people is dead! And you too?"

"C-C-Chris…p-pull back…hurry… I-I…want to…tell you…something else…"

Chris pulled his head back. "Why do you want me to pull back no-"

The World Traveler's tears were licked away by the Aura Pokemon, who rested his head against his pillow while giving Chris a warm smile between the trails of tears crossing down his mouth.

"Thank you…for all the…memories together…Chris… Stay…alive…for…m-me…"

The infirmary echoed with a long beep from the lone EKG on the other side of the room. Dr. Mario put a hand over his chest where his heart was, Zelda silently sobbed under her hands, Marth muttered a small prayer, Peach fell to her knees and embraced the teen in a hug from behind, and Naomi looked up to the ceiling, her eyelids slowly soaking in small tears.

"I'm sorry…" Naomi muttered through the silence of the infirmary.

Chris's hands felt numb as if they were feeling no life at all. He was turned into a close form to stone with his petrified eyes locked on his Pokémon's downcast expression. The smile that lingered on Lucario's face gave Chris nightmares in his mind. His sobs came to an abrupt end; a kind of end he desperately tried to avoid at all costs. The only thing he felt were Peach's sobs trembling on the back of his head.

"…This is all a cruel joke, isn't it…" Chris muttered. "He is playing tricks with me now, isn't he…"

Naomi knew well that Chris started to fall into insanity. The truth was too much for him to bear. "Listen me well. We tried all methods to resuscitate all the patients in here. While he got lucky to have energy left to talk with you, he didn't have enough to make it," she explained, crossing her arms. "I lament all the losses in here, so I hope you understand how painful it was for us to lose our patients."

"…"

"…I can only add that you should start a new beginning that won't have him with you anymore."

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone in the room got startled when the teen let out an agonizing yell. Peach backed away from Chris as the teen quickly got up and changed jobs to his Fonic Hymn User. Naomi turned around to see how the teen held out a glowing staff over the fallen Lucario. "What are you trying to do now?" Naomi asked.

"He isn't dead! None of us is dead! I'll prove everyone here that everyone can be saved still!" Chris cried out, as glittering sparkles circulated around him. "Return this soul from the abyss of death! Resurrection!"

A saintly light enveloped Lucario's body. For a moment, some of the Smashers briefly smiled just by seeing the light, even Chris forced a smile while he cried. Naomi was surprised by seeing the magic manifesting in front of her. After the light vanished, Chris stared at Lucario.

"He is still alive! He isn't dead yet!" he cried.

But there were no signs of life in the Aura Pokémon. Despair once again overtook Chris, who started sobbing when the spell had no effect on Lucario. Behind him, Peach knew it was all useless. "Please, stop! You're just hurting yourself even more!" she cried.

"I refuse to give up now!" Chris cried, magic circulating around him once more. "Return this soul from the abyss of death! Resurrection!"

The saintly light enveloped Lucario's body, but when it faded, the Aura Pokémon didn't gasp for air again. Everyone but Chris knew that it was useless to keep using a healing spell. It was far beyond for Chris to really resuscitate dead people.

"You've got to stop now!" Dr. Mario demanded. "You can't revive people from death!"

"Shut up!" Chris yelled, focusing more magic into his staff. "I beg you; return this soul from the abyss of death! Resurrection!"

No matter how hard he tried, the saintly light never gave Lucario new life. Naomi saw that there was no change in the EKG at all, since it was still attached to the fallen patient. She made a fist on her side, closing her eyes hard. "How many times will it take you to understand that it's impossible?" she muttered. "Stop being so stubborn!"

"Shut up, all of you! I don't want to hear you and bring my hopes down!" Chris cried loudly. His breakdown only became worse with each time he invoked a healing spell on Lucario. "I beg you once more; return this soul from the abyss of death! Resurrection!"

The spell was never going to work. The teen was in a state of pure delusion. The healing spell that he used in battle could only bring people back to their feet if they got knocked out. He cursed the healing spell for not following its word from bringing people back from the death as the chant went. He fell to his knees, supporting himself on his staff.

Peach begged Chris to stop. She fell to her knees and embraced the teen tightly. "Stop…please… It's useless…" she sobbed.

At that time, Chris's eyes turned into a state of stone. He panted heavily, still clutching to his staff with all his energy. He was too much devastated to even call forth the magic anymore, but he continued chanting nonstop. "I…I…beg you…please…r-return…L-Lucario…from…t-the abyss of…d-death… B-bring him…back to me… T-that's all…I-I'm…asking you to…do… U-uh…"

Nobody ever noticed that Chris's voice gradually grew quiet. His emotional state was torn apart, and he finally gave up to his mental exhaustion. Slowly, he closed his eyes and fell down unconscious while clutching his staff close to him.

The world had become a cruel place to live for him.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Special Notice: As of today, the group will permanently lose five members.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today? Doing so will prevent you from ever "playing" with all characters again.

Yes

Are you sure you want to overwrite your file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Naomi

References:

-"Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 – Severing the Chains of Fate" is a song reference to the same game. It is the final boss's track. Just thinking how that final disease looked like gives me the creeps…

-"Trauma Center: New Blood – Cardia II" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during the final boss's stage, but there is a first version as well. However, this version sounds more "rocking" than the first one.

-"Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Vulnerability" is a song reference to the same game. It's the final boss's theme. That thing is more like a spider than a demon to me…

-"Trauma Team - Results (T.T. Version)" is a song reference to the same game. It plays in the results screen where it displays how good/badly/pathetically you performed the operation. This track rocks for a results screen.

Out of Curiosity…:

-The Father of Nature's forms were inspired by all of the aforementioned games' final bosses. They were NOT copied, though.

-The Father of Nature's Tabuu form kind of saved me from the writer's block, as I didn't have a good form to last one. Take in mind not all of Tabuu's attacks were changed in here to avoid really severe ideas.

…Well, I bet now that all readers who got here are completely speechless about what happened in the last pages of the story. I know that some of you are torn apart that main characters did actually die, even though I might have said that the chances for them to die were slim. Furthermore, the fact Chris failed to bring back Lucario (of all dead people) to life seals the fact there is no way for them to revive. This decision was kind of painful for me, I admit that. We unfortunately took this path for character development, so it had to be taken to make everyone grow in different, unexpected ways, with Chris included.

Thanks to this, I also bet most of you will start dropping out from the story. That is completely fine with me. AND BEFORE YOU EVEN DO LEAVE, hear me out first.

If you still stick around for the remainder of the story, then perhaps something will happen to fill in the void that was created after five main characters died. I'm not saying what that good thing will be, but if you keep reading the story (I don't care much about the amount of reviews for each chapter, of course), I may find a good solution to put things back on track. And before you say that there is hope for them to come back alive, that won't be it.

So what is that good thing in the end? It can turn good or bad depending on your actions. Yes, that's right. Now you have the control of how this story goes. Have some hope, why don't we?

…

Oh, WAIT A MINUTE. I'm still writing this, so you will give me directions to follow. Let's stick around together to work on that reward, shall we? Just to let you know, this arc will kind of have a fifth chapter after all. That fifth chapter will have the continuation of the grief that befell on particular characters. I JUST hope this chapter doesn't really make you leave.

If you got energy to do so, I encourage all loyal readers to (for god's sake, not flame me and threaten me) review. :(

…Or Meta Knight's mask is coming off next chapter.
*Chapter 183*: Sayonara, Smashers

After a long struggle to write this chapter right, it's been finished.

From shadow ninja koopa: due to the sadness of this chapter i'll review for once...

obviously an extremely sad chapter this time so there's not much i can say.

Lucas's part about how he is cursed kinda of reminded me of Arumat from star ocean: the last hope.

keep up the good work and lets hope the next chapter isn't as sad

From me: The fact you know Star Ocean makes me happy because there are readers who play other genres after all. Well, as for this chapter being sad, you shall judge it. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From wereAuraknight: ... No Lucario?... +sniff sniff+ why? why Lucario? no more tomorrow for Lucario? May his Aura rest in peace... not even Deeveolution will save him... no hand magic or anything... no Lucarios..or Rilous... even my past revew didn't even make it onto the chapter... No life for Lucario... mayhaps mew could save him?... or Arceus?... Raquaza?... I'll stay to see...

This is A sad day For the ranks of the Auraknights my life will never be the same... Long...Live...Lucario...+crys a River to drown in+

From me: AuraKnights…so why is that random "were-" part thrown in there? Anyway, if you could hold up to the previous chapter, you can certainly go through this one. But will you? Thanks again. :)

From Hopefaith2: Oh...my god. I can't believe that all actually went down. I'm actually crying because this chapter was so deep and saddening. You killed some of my favorite characters. And Chris's reaction to made me cry even harder. There's no way that I'm going to stop reading this now after all the time I spent reading this fic. I can't wait till the next chapter. And I can't wait till "the good thing" you mentioned happens.

From me: Wow, I honestly can't believe how many people were caught off-guard. So now that I have your full attention, I'll try my best to keep you here. Let's see how that goes down, okay? Thanks. :D

From TARDISreviewer: Deaths? ... unexpected...

...Must have been tough to write...

I cannot think of a suitable comment for this.

From me: Meh, I guess there are people who don't have the words to say anything, judging how that last chapter was… Thanks again.

From FF and STH: Wow I didn't think you would kill them off, not even Lucario but I wonder how they going to keep on going with their mission to stop the subspace Emissary after a loss like this.

From me: Believe me, the story is still on the road. Wait and see. Thanks again. :)

From JonasGirl80: L-Lucario..Fox...Pichu...All gone FOREVER? This cannot be! Nooo! T-This is all wrong! Chris only has one "brother" left! How could you do this!

While I am VERY VERY sad for this, I must say that the writing was superb and that you really made the sad scene really sad, for me atleast. I can't believe they all died... After all they have been through, they can't just die like that!

Oh well, I guess I'll be mourning too... Please update soon; Ill still follow this story and read it!

From me: Hmm, that's weird. I don't remember Chris having another brother, unless I overlooked something… Well, you're still with us, so that's good enough. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Grathmeld: (on the edge to crying and completely speechless) ... sorry i got carried away. Anyway, that's a pretty good chapter as always. and i do mean it by always. Will there be some kind of a phoenix or the game over queen getting on the story to revive them with some requirements? If so, that's pretty much classic.

About the last part of the story. That. Was. Shocking! And 2 of my favorite pokemon are now dead. :( *sob* Back again. A+ for your brain section that is giving you ideas for your stories, and some virtual cookies for you.(although i'm clueless for the recipe for cookies) Maybe snake will come back with some elixir of life or something.

Okay, i think that's all. I couldn't find any discussion topics in my mind again... except.

p.s. Could you please rate my review? I don't know if this is good enough. And... Did i ever ask something about Popo?

From me: Any of those ideas aren't going to happen, sadly. It's been proven that healing magic can't revive the death. Unless you don't want spoilers, there's a certain scene in Final Fantasy V where that same event happens.

I'm impressed people like Pichu. So far, there was no mention of somebody liking Pichu a lot. And no, I'm not saying I hate Pichu either. Maybe my little strategy with Pichu is working after all… And as for rating your review, it's good enough, so don't worry. I dislike when people write one-liners or when they take advantage of anonymous reviews to write more than they can within the limit (and even possibly take the name from another member of the site), but I've stopped raging about them a long time ago. Thanks. :D

From S.S.: WHY DOES EVERYONE CALL ME S.S.? Maybe it's my iPhone.

Well, Tabuu's Red Ring of Death made a reference to Cardia's Red Ring of Death which made a Xbox's Red Ring of Death in the rest of Lucario and the others' lives. *insert awesome face*

You, sir is a spectacular writer. That mourning scene was so sad that I got all teary when I read it. Chris's breakdown was so awesomely... despairish DX

The Red Ring of Death could have been more awesome though.

And you kill off Lucario and we're not even halfway there. YOU GOT SOME ANTICIPATION PILED UP THERE, YA KNOW THAT?

Oh, and one last thing, is 182 a magic number of SSBB fanfics? SSBB Oneshots (courtesy of Soundwave0107)ended at Ch. 182.

You'll need some seriously Epic Deux Ex Machina to bring back those guys, keep that in mind.

-Supersonic Silver Shooting Star

From me: Ouch, I forgot the "Red Ring of Death" had so many uses in other media. No doubt it reaches the likes of the "Blue Screen of Death". *shudders* The attack could've been better? Hmm, if possible, it could've been, but then that would probably kill Lucario during the operation. And for some reason, all Trauma Center doctors will drop out from their careers. Are they perfectionists? Well, they do have good reasons if something like that happened.

Anticipation for what, exactly?

Oh, please, don't compare this fiction with other fictions out there. I really don't like what fiction is better or worse. As a little side note, I might even hate some other "popular" authors.

An Epic Deux Ex Machina? No, I'd would choose something a little more…complicated, but that isn't the case here, sadly. Thanks for reviewing, S.S. guy. :P

From ngrey651: My God, I'm...shocked by this latest chapter. I guess it was unrealistic to expect them to get out of it all scott-free, but...this...I...I'll continue to follow this story. I owe it to them.

From me: Oh yes, somebody noted how realism had to be used. Although they could've been saved, either way was good…or not, considering how many people here cried. Incidentally enough, realism in a Trauma Center game is actually bad to many fans. Why? Well, the latest game of the series doesn't have a "blessing from god", for example. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From ChrisCLX898: This is a very sad chapter having 5 character suddenly die like that, especially Lucario, because of his role in the story from the prequel to now. *sniffs* Must have been tough to right a chapter like this, especially since its a comedy fiction. I find something very difficult though about this twist that has been set down here. 5 main characters were elimminated, including one of the Main Protagonists, Lucario. I just find how its going to come back to the comedy kinda hard because revival is not an option like you said,and Lucario who was really close to Chris since the very beginning is no longer in the story. I just find it hard how its going to turn around, kinda like something i experienced several years ago with a friend of mine. Well, It was a great, yet mournful chapter, and i can see it was very hard to write. Im not quitting on this story, course not, Too much has happened in the story. Ill wait for the next chapter to come out, hopefully there is some sense of recovery with all the characters.

From me: Chris and Lucario were the protagonists in the earlier chapters, but that centralized duo was broken into pieces once everyone else got into the group. Thus, all of them are main characters (even Crazy Hand). As for some sense of recovery? I have that covered down, but not in the way everyone is hoping it to be… Thanks again. :D

From PianistChris: This was a very surprising chapter,

It's awful that all those characters had to die at the end, especially Pichu and Lucario, and I'm sure that most readers of this fic will miss all of them. This chapter was also a different outcome to what usually might happen, and it definitely adds a new side to this story, (Being that I thought none of the characters would have died), but, although negative with the loss of favourite characters, it was a good, thought-out chapter, I'll definitely carry on reading this till the end ;)

-Chris

From me: Good, so far, no one is hating me (actually, an anonymous guy sent me a THREAT in my email saying that he/she/bi(?) will never forgive me, gosh) for what happened in that chapter. Even though that chapter was dark, it won't mean the story is doing a total 180 on its founding genre. You'll see soon enough. Thanks. :D

From Decepticon Fan: NOOOOOOOO! *wails uncontrollably* I can't believe Pichu and Fox are dead. I miss the others too, but those two are among my favorites. I absolutely did NOT see that coming.

...Please tell me that this is some sort of suspense prank. It is right? RIGHT?

I'll be awaiting the next chapter so I'll be sobbing even more with that tear jerker.

From me: Another person who will miss Pichu. He was really loved after all. A suspense prank? No, I don't think it is. I'll see if you really keep sobbing in this chapter. Enjoy it, okay? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Link5604: Wow, this is one of few stories that made me cry like this, or at all. You my good sir, are genius. Oh, and fry sauce is sauce that you dip usally for french fries. You should try it, it is very popular in Utah, homemade style is just mixing ketchup and maynose. Are you asking for ideas for "worlds" they are going to? If so maybe you should do a game called "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom" it was one of my favorite games for Gamecube.

From me: Like I said many, many times before, I'm not accepting any ideas as I have plenty already. Sadly for you, I don't accept video games that were based on anime…not to mention I sucked horribly at that game that I never passed the first level (but I mostly blame the fact I didn't know to read English when I was way younger). Thanks for reviewing. :)

From True Hyper Sonic: I thought you said you couldn't think of a way to remove the mask. (LOL) But anyway, 5 total deaths: Fox, Pichu, Ike, Ness, & Lucario. Damn, what a price to pay! But somehow I get the feeling that you're not done with these people yet... What else may happen? (The section ahead contains a possible suggestion; please do not post it in your chapter in the review responses) Of course, if they had 5 Phoenix Downs, saved from the FF7 arc & forgotten, death would be no problem. (Suggestion end) I liked how you kept the whole thing on the knife-edge for so long; that mini-Tabuu was CRAZY! What a creep... Poor Chris is stuck alone now, with just the memories to live with... or does ROB have something else in mind? Why DID he do this? What secret could Tabuu know that would make-or-break his race? Guess we'll find out next chapter, won't we? Uh-oh, Gotta Run! See Ya! (runs like a thunderbolt away from a teary-eyed, super-clingy Amy)

From me: Of course I'm not even done with them, but not in the way people hopefully think I will do… Oh, and It's been proven in FFV that Phoenix Downs don't really work, sorry.

I just love when people suspect what else the in-fiction characters have in hands. I just think people like a certain character a lot that they…um…never mind what I said. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Nobody1221: If all of them are dead then why is Sonic's name still up on the save thing at at the end of the chapter?

From me: I have no idea what you're saying because Sonic was explicit informed to be okay, unless you think people die when they are sleeping. So yes…

From Dimention713 : Let's see... Character death? That's kinda new... So the good news is that The Father of Nature is gone... The bad news is that they don't make surgeons like they used to...

Me: What are you doing?

Evil Me: Crud! (runs off)

Okay... So five people died... Maybe they can go back in time, grab said people to fill the hole! (Bad idea... It might cause a paradox...) Or they can go to the afterlife and save them! ... I'm hoping for a future that will never happen will I? Curse you expectations! Now I'll be thinking that a robot clone of me will come out of nowhere and kill everybody! And I have to fight him!

From me: Yes, now all readers are trying to find some kind of way to bring them back to life. This is turning into an Aerith-esque thing or what? No, I don't really think so… Well, stay with us to see what happens. Thanks again. ;)

From Blaperile: Wow, just wow. I'm really crying over this, congratulations... I guess. Although they're all fictional, I always really get attached to each one of them. It felt like a piece of me just broke down. :(

Before you said they won't return, I was thinking they could have gotten back the same way Chris did after he died. But apparently not... :(

It was a great chapter and it saddened me the most of all of the chapters, driving me to tears. Especially when Chris tried to revive Lucario. You got guts for doing this after more than 3 million words and 182 chapters.

Don't worry, I'll keep reading, but for now I'm depressed. :(

From me: I'm glad to know you're still reading this story, and kudos to you for noticing that little detail nobody else seemed to have bothered checking out. Why, if they took that into consideration, you would notice something went wrong somewhere… HOWEVER! Don't say what went wrong, please. Keep it to yourself. Thanks for reviewing. :P

From Psycro4: Love the story, however I did find some odd wordings. Take the following passage:

"but he knew better he was trying to find an excuse to feel guilty and take the whole blame"

Did you perhaps mean for that to be:

"but he knew better than to try to find an excuse to feel guilty and take the whole blame"?

Near the end the by in "Naomi was surprised by seeing the magic manifesting in front of her" should be an "at."

Other than these ass well as some other slight mistakes the story is fantastic, I did find a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series in a previous chapter with the "hair defying gravity" comment.

Love the story, latest chapter was very sad though. I hope the characters come back somehow...

From me: Thank you for pointing out the corrections. They will help a lot in the near future. And references? That's weird. I heard that from somewhere else, but it must've been originated from that. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Kain Everguard: WEll... F**k.

This was one of the most saddening chapters that I have ever read in

My first time reviewing, but I have read all your chapters, and I gotta say that you have created a master piece here.

Everything is in here, happiness, sadness, humor, anger, love, dramatic scenes, great plot, triumph, loss, great endings, explanations so that we can understand the characters and the story, extra characters like stiltzkin, I meant everything when I say everything.

You have created a world here in .

But not just any world, but a world filled with intricate story plot of a hero and his pokemon out to save two worlds, his own and the world of games, filled with emotion and balance.

I also like the way how you made your character not overpowered or the way you put some events where the characters had to lose. A story where a character triumphs every time is not a good story at all.

Thank you for writing this story, and I will look forward to the rest of what your imagination brings.

(Although my brother thinks that fanfiction is retarded and will block my computer from accessing this website until summer break comes...)

Adios, y buenos suerte. (^-^)b

(p.s. don't think I'm mexican or spanish because of my last writing.)

From me: I like the way you said that I had created a world in the site. Taking in mind all the praise that I don't find really fanboyish, I think it is a world. Thank you for the praise…and you must be a brick wall for resisting the sadness of the previous chapter. I'm probably wrong, though. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From N the puppet: (Winces)

Hoo, boy.

All I can say is...ROB's going to be in for it.

Something tells me the brawlers/smashers will be itching to meet him or the other villains and get some nice cold revenge.

Overall another great chap!

(Very sad, but great.)

From me: I wouldn't be counting of hard-earned revenge, oh no. That thought is going to be put into test in this chapter…maybe. Thanks again.

From Eonath: ... holy crap, thats all i can say in regards of this chapter.

that was a surprising outcome that I didn't really expect but that doesn't stop me from reading this fic after i spent so many time reading it.

I think the one's who died will be revived because you mentiond before the chaper that the Underwhere explanation was edited and that foreshadows something (coughnightyninelivescough)

anyway keep up the good writing.

Eonath

From me: Never mind, more people did notice that little fact. But then it's easy to tell there was something wrong that is not really following that rule… Sadly, we won't see what I'm trying to say. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Writic Critic: Well, the "fight" was up to your standard, but I noticed that you aren't quite skilled yet in killing people off. While I don't care that you killed people off (stories like this have WAY too many characters by default), it clearly isn't an area you have experience in.

First off, people can be sliced to bits with a sword and be brought back with resurection magic because they are only "knocked out," but if their blood boils and they die they can't because they really die? I will say that killing characters off in a world where resurection magic exists is hard (unless you want to do some over-used thing like "un-making them," "sending them to another dimension," etc., but resurection magic only working because people simply get knocked out normally? You really should have found a better reason than that.

Next up, I don't know if this was intentional, but I noticed that Falco, who complains in cold areas and likes warm areas, was one of the survivors. Was that intentional, or did it just randomly happen? Also, Pichu, who was probably the least developed, died.

Something just about this story arc in general is that it is hard to imagine Dr. Mario as being a skilled doctor. Whenever I play Dr. Mario, I'll need red pills but he keeps throwing in blue and yellow pills.

After I read that you mostly picked the sick people at random in response to one review, I wondered if you would really kill people. You have to be a brave writter to pick people at random and kill them.

Something else about the arc: Shouldn't Chris have been genre savy enough to realise that whatever was in Lucario was the "boss" and should have been delt with right away? Sure other people had conditions that looked worse, but it was fairly obvious that Lucario was really the worst off.

I lost a little bit of respect for you as a writter based on your lack of skill in killing people. If you kill people off at this rate, by the time you have five people left in 1,274 chapters, you should be skilled enough at killing people off. Fortunately, you have better writing skills than whoever wrote a stupid add that told me that I was trying to go to a "sponsers only" page when I went to this chapter to review it. So at least you still are at about 69/100, as opposed to whoever writes stupid advertisements, who is at 3/100.

I hope that I can watch your ability to kill people off get better, assuming you continue to do so. I also hope you don't end up with this as one of those stories that attempts to go "darker and edgier," but instead just loses all but a few fans. So in other words, I hope you continue improving.

From me: Oh well, it's my first time killing main characters in a fiction, so I need to get better at that in your standards. That doesn't mean I'm doing it again, though. Whatever happens down the road will say otherwise.

As for reviving people, it's been stated that healing magic can't really revive dead people. I've used this example a lot now, but see Final Fantasy V for details because Final Fantasy VII failed to try the common method. Be warned of the spoilers.

Oh-ho, there's actually more into just picking people at random. There are some key-reasons as to why those people died that nobody else thought about at all. I shall explain in this chapter why, or I'll explain later. Don't think I'm lying that I have no reasons now, but I actually have them.

Chris is a little bit genre savvy, but even if he could tell the boss was right in front of him, he had to respect the doctors' orders. Consider this: all patients were all set in an order that was based on how badly injured they were. Now if Lucario had been treated on first, the other patient that was in a critical condition during the operation would have died. Also, these diseases are harder to treat since they require two surgeons instead one. Diving up the work would've been a bad choice, losing two patients at the same time.

And like I said before, I'm not killing more people off, but it might change depending on the mood of the chapters. No, I'm not bringing up deaths when all is happy and dandy. I don't want to kill the mood that way (no pun intended).

So yes, I'll keep improving. Thank you so much for voicing out your opinions. I swear people who have big egos take this kind of reviews like a big flame. I was shot down viciously by other authors. I hope you keep reading to see if I can improve for you. :D

From Coyote 71: I've been reading your story for awhile now and I know it's been awhile since I've reviewed but the reason is that, I've got no words to describe how good your story is. I know you don't take request anymore from what I remember but I was just wondering have you ever played "No More Hereos" by any chance and if you have I was just wondering if that would be an idea for a future world to visit.

From me:

From Mind Controller: :{

Lucario's gone.

Methinks we might need a Chrono Trigger soon.

From me: And if we went with that, Crono is dead forever. Nope, we can't, sorry. If you manage to read this chapter, then maybe that idea could be discarded or forgotten altogether. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Nick the reaper: deargod... I hope somethihg will reincrate them.

From me: By that logic, you want Pichu to be reborn as a Darkrai?

Trust me when I'm saying coming up with this chapter was slightly harder than the previous one. But I finally finished with a good note. After this chapter is done, we're getting back on track with the main saga. I'm very surprised at the amount of reviews that many other people gave out, so I'm extremely thankful for all your devotion for this story. I hope I can keep this up with the incoming chapters. ;)

But yes, many of you were shaken up by the previous chapter that you think we're changing over to the horror/tragedy genre, right? Wrong. I can work this out so we can leap out from this hellhole. I extremely dislike dark stories because they get away with anything that it's absurd… Don't think this story is absurd for trying that, though. I'm a 100 percent sure the humor will be kept in the next chapter. You don't worry, and just stick with us till the end.

Why don't we get started? I encourage all tear jerker fanatics and all people who got kicks and giggles from tvtropes to read on, enjoy, clean your noses with napkins, rub your eyes, and review. :)

Disclaimer: You can't spell fangirls without writing FANG. *shows scars*

Chapter 183: Sayonara, Smashers

April 26 – Sunday - Morning

-Smash Mansion-

Chris's Room

It was still raining ever since midnight. The events that had passed still lingered in the mansion. The World Traveler was found unconscious on his bed where he, once awakening, sat up in shock. He breathed heavily, looking around frantically. When he noticed Lucario wasn't lying down beside him, Chris looked worried.

"I see that you're finally awake, Chris."

The teen looked to his right where Dr. Mario came out from the bathroom. The doctor forced a smile, seeing the World Traveler awake. Chris wanted to jump out and charge towards the infirmary, but the door was closed. Even before he could hop out, the doctor stood in front of the door to prevent Chris from running away in a rush.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but you can't leave this room until I'm sure that everything is okay with you," Dr. Mario said, making Chris shed tears. "I know you're speechless about what happened yesterday…and pretty much everyone in the mansion is just like you, but I can imagine that you're deeply crushed emotionally."

Chris kept shedding tears until he wiped them away with arm. He stared straight to Dr. Mario.

"Please, don't blame Naomi or anybody else," Dr. Mario said. "We absolutely did everything we could to keep him alive after his operation, but it was impossible to really do some significance to his health. You yourself proved that your healing spells didn't work at all, so it's…entirely useless to try again now." He walked to the teen's side, trying to keep him from crying by rubbing his back.

The teen grabbed his pillow and buried his face on it, unable to avoid crying. Dr. Mario was surprised that Chris was able to muffle all his cries so easily, since there was no sound coming from him.

After a few seconds, the doctor sighed. "Right now, everyone is awake. Master Hand said that we're…going to hold a funeral in the afternoon…"

Chris lifted up his face and stared directly at the doctor in shock. He shook his head as a many times as possible, indicating how desperate he was to avoid having a funeral. The truth about their deaths still crushed the World Traveler's very soul, and he couldn't handle anything at all.

Dr. Mario was running out of options to calm the teen down, until he hugged him tightly. Chris stopped shaking his head.

"Listen, Chris. I'm as emotionally crushed like you, but…this is only for the best we can give them all… You don't think their closest friends reacted like you? Well, they all did. Marth has been waiting in his room for the funeral, Roy has been lamenting Ike's death, Falco has been cursing, and Pikachu hasn't left the infirmary with Pichu. He's still clinging to Pichu. We tried to remove him, but he's using his electricity to keep us away from taking him away from Pichu…"

The doctor felt how the teen shook with sobs.

"…I can't understand a single thing, though," Dr. Mario said, stepping back from the sobbing teen. He had realized by now that Chris hasn't said a single word or even a small crying sound. Chris looked awfully silent, and Dr. Mario didn't honestly believe people could be so silent after witnessing a dreadful event like the one yesterday. "You're awake and you're crying, but how come you're not even talking back to me?"

Chris was too busy mourning that he never took into account that he couldn't talk back. He imagined he was crying loudly, but he realized that he couldn't mutter anything but his breathings. He grabbed his throat and tried to say something, but nothing came out of his throat.

"…Oh, dear…" Dr. Mario muttered. "…Chris…you're…you're mute!"

Infirmary

The infirmary became a mourning zone where people would drop by and see dead bodies on the beds around. Some were happy to talk to the ones who survived, but most were horrified whenever they looked at somebody dead. Naomi, however, didn't let any emotion to interfere with her work as she was giving out the prescription to the patients.

The silver-haired surgeon admitted that she was crying when she remembered how Chris tried so hard to acknowledge Lucario's death. To her, death was almost a joke, but seeing how relatives would react in such a way would make her feel sick to the point she would cry. A part of her was feeling guilty that she couldn't save everyone in the end. The other big part of her, however, knew that it wasn't her fault since she tried her best.

Unfortunately, the rather calm look was giving bad impressions to the people who looked at her. They would think she was heartless person for not showing lament, but their belief was based mainly because they wanted to blame someone to unload their sadness. On one part, the Ancient Minister was guilty, but another meaningless part, they were trying to blame her. It was a given that Naomi was the only one in the whole mansion who wasn't mourning at all.

She stopped her train of thoughts as she approached DK. The ape looked worn out, but he was fine and making a good recovery. "Hello there," she said. "How are you feeling physically today?"

Naomi was fortunate that DK didn't give her the bad eye. "Kind of…tired…" he muttered.

"Oh, don't worry. Although your body was damaged by you boiling blood, it can recover," she said. "However, you're not getting out of this bed for…at least two months."

DK's eyes shot wide open. "T-two months? H-how can you…you…"

"Don't get stressed," Naomi said. "You need to keep yourself stable so that you don't put a lot of pressure. Do you want to stay here longer?"

DK gulped and let out a long sigh. "No, ma'am…" he muttered.

"Good, then," Naomi said a bit amused. "I bet you'll be eating all the bananas you want when the entire wait is over."

DK couldn't help but look dreamily to the ceiling, thinking about the fruity yellow stuff.

Naomi, however, grimaced and rolled her eyes. "(I never thought I'd say that to a patient…)" she thought embarrassed. "Well, I'll leave you for now. I need to give prescriptions to the other patients."

Leaving the Kong behind, Naomi briefly looked at Lucario, lying dead on his bed. She quickly looked away, only to see Lucas sleeping close to Ness. The cruelest part of her job was seeing children crying over their friends. She thought it was just too much for young children to handle deaths, unlike adults. The only good thing about children, she thought, was that they would rarely think about blaming people or the doctors who tried to keep the patients safe. She was thankful of that.

And she was thankful nobody has pointed accusing fingers at her face, but she was expecting that very soon. For once, she wanted to be in Dr. Mario's shoes.

"Let's see, elf boy," she began while looking at her clipboard as she approached Link, who was being visited by Zelda, the latter who had changed to her usual attire. "Out of everyone, you're going to leave the infirmary in a month, more or less. Your head has to have a pretty good brain to hold on for that long."

Naomi lifted up her face from the clipboard, seeing Link and Zelda speechless.

"You two listened to me, right?" she asked with a blank look.

"…Oh, what?" Zelda asked, looking up at her. "Oh, yes. I heard that."

Naomi nodded, turning to Link who was leaning against his bed to rest down his hands over his lap. "Are you feeling okay…physically?" she asked, trying to keep the Hylian from displaying any negative emotion that would instantly relate her.

"I still feel a bit of a headache…but I can manage," Link muttered.

"That's enough for me to hear. If you two will excuse me now… (I need to leave you before fingers are raised)," she said and thought, leaving the two Hylians behind.

Naomi shook her head. She thought she was feeling a bit paranoid. She focused hard on her current task, reaching Roy. The red-haired swordsman was equally feeling bad emotionally. Naomi was no psychologist, but she could tell that their emotions were damaged far more than their bodies were. Roy raised his head as he leaned to his bed. "Oh, it's you…" he trailed off, looking away.

Naomi merely blinked and looked at the prescription on the clipboard. "You're going to be resting here for two months as well," she said. "If you weren't attacked by two diseases at once, you'd have stayed her for a month."

"…That's okay… I don't mind too much," Roy said, not even looking at her.

With a closer look, Naomi could tell a small glint of anger on Roy's face. She decided to just leave him behind so that her voice wouldn't make him angry. She looked forward where Pikachu was clinging on to Pichu. The little sparks he radiated of from his body didn't reach Pichu, but they were there to warn people from taking him away. She shook her head and looked to the left where Fox lied dead on his bed. Next to his bed, Falco rested alone in his bed.

One look at the avian told Naomi that he was ticked off beyond reason. "(Those are some heck of eagle eyes I've ever seen…if he's an eagle, that is,)" she thought, seeing Falco's glaring eyes looking away from her. "How do you feel today?" she asked.

Falco only replied with a grunt.

"I'll take that as a good," Naomi said. "As for your condition, you're going to leave the infirmary for about a month and a half. Your throat should feel sore from yesterday's operation, so you shouldn't yell at all if you can."

Falco turned to her, giving her a cold look.

"…" Naomi gave up and shook her head. "I know you're pissed that your best friend died, but I did my best to do everything I could, but his condition was far too advanced to treat properly. If you want to curse me now, do it, but you're going to feel worse. You cursed the moment you woke up today, but I advise you to stay quiet."

Falco merely turned away from her, covering his head with his bed sheet.

"(I thank god that nobody has raised their fists yet…)" Naomi thought, while she went over to check on Sonic. Since there were so many people waiting for him, the surgeon told everyone that only two of his "clan" was allowed to be inside the infirmary to avoid having a crowd. She thought it was quite unfortunate that the pink hedgehog refused to leave his side all the time that only one extra was allowed, that other extra being Knuckles at the time.

"He's like an angel sleeping like that…" Amy said, even though she was just overreacting to Sonic's welfare, since the hedgehog was actually snoring loudly.

"(A devil sounds way better to me,)" Knuckles thought bored. "Amy, I don't want to ruin this for you-"

"HE'S LIKE AN ANGEL AND THAT'S THAT!" Amy yelled loudly, making Knuckles back away from the other side of the bed. Amy sighed, and then she smiled at the snoring Sonic while Knuckles regained his senses.

Naomi looked at no one in particular and shook her head. She walked to their area. "Would you mind if you didn't yell in here? We still have patients recovering," she said.

"Oh, my bad," Amy said, playfully giggling. She shot Knuckles with a glare while she clasped her hands together. "It just so happens that people are blind to see what girls see through their eyes. They think our stuff is so girly that we're so delusional when that's not true."

Naomi looked at the snoring Sonic. "(Keep snoring any louder than that and you'll be a devil in my eyes,)" she thought before looking back at Amy. Her sunny look made the surgeon feel that Amy didn't care much about the others, which was enough for Naomi to go ahead and ask "Don't you feel everyone else's sorrow?"

At the question, Amy's sunny look was swapped by a blank look. She looked away, feeling a bit guilty of her happiness. "Um…well… I-I was just very happy that Sonic survived. I-I swear I've been focusing on him too much that I never considered everyone that badly!" she said on her defense with a panicked look.

"Your two-tailed fox friend was fretting and crying over the other (creepy-looking) fox guy over there yesterday," she pointed.

"T-that's because they're both best friends," Amy said, looking up worried at Naomi. "Seriously, I'm sorry for acting so happy like this while people here are…lamenting."

"You finally noticed," Knuckles muttered, looking away from the pink hedgehog.

"I know the feeling," Naomi told Amy. "But please, be quiet while you're here."

Knuckles looked up at Naomi. "Are you going to be here for the funeral?" he asked.

"Might as well be there so people here don't look at me with angry looks afterward," Naomi said. "It's natural that people want to blame someone to release their stress, but I'm going to do my best so that they don't do that sort of thing on me."

"Well, good luck, because that's going to be tough," Knuckles said.

"You're not angry, right?"

"No, I know you did your best."

"You're just saying that because you don't really like Sonic," Amy said.

"Shut up!" Knuckles yelled, being scolded by Amy with a "shh" sound. "Grr…"

From the door, Dr. Mario came in and walked to Naomi. "How are things going?" he asked.

"It's a bit hard to tell, but things are relatively stable, with people coming in here giving me the death glares," Naomi said. "If there was one part I dislike about being a doctor, is that all the responsibility falls on your shoulders…or more like a burden."

"Yes, it's certainly burden," Dr. Mario said. "Since many here thought that your Healing Touch was the ultimate ability to save them, they set their hopes too high."

"And when they saw their friends dying, they thought my Healing Touch was a lie," Naomi said.

Dr. Mario looked grim. "Is that…possibly another burden on carrying the Healing Touch?" he asked. "People who know about the ability can either praise you or hate you?"

Naomi sighed and turned her back to the doctor. "It's one of the many burdens it has. You're right with that notion," she said. "After all, a blessing from Asclepius should be praised and admired. The mere thought makes me think that this is a cursed burden more than a blessing from a god."

Dr. Mario forced a smile. "I still think your ability as a doctor is pretty good even without the Healing Touch, Naomi," he said.

"…Thanks," she said, turning back to the doctor. "I can hold on as long as you're supporting me like that."

The doctor blushed slightly. "You're welcome, Naomi."

"On other news, what has our guest been doing? Didn't I tell you to stay there with him?" she asked.

"About him… Something strange happened," Dr. Mario said. "Chris has…lost his ability to speak."

"He can't speak any longer?" Naomi wondered.

"I really didn't notice at first, but it became apparent after he never said a thing back to me," Dr. Mario said. "Is this some kind of disease that was dormant in him?"

"Oh no, it's not a disease," Naomi said, going into deep thought. "People don't suddenly go mute without a reason. Are you sure he's mute and that he has never been mute before?"

"Well, I know him for a long time, but not that much," Dr. Mario said. "I told him to stay in his room to see what you had in mind to remedy his situation."

Naomi closed her eyes. "…He is suffering from selective mutism," she said.

"Selective mutism?"

"It's a kind of communicative disorder where people are unable to speak due to social anxiety," Naomi said. "I believe he got selective mutism, or SM, due to his friend dying. His death triggered the disorder in him when he fainted yesterday."

The doctor felt that there was no way for Chris to speak again, since he lacked the necessarily knowledge about selective mutism. "Oh no, don't tell me Chris is going to be mute for the rest of his life…" Dr. Mario muttered worried. "He can't go through something like that, not after all this happened. He lost Lucario, and now he lost his ability to speak?"

"Don't jump to conclusions now," Naomi said. "That disorder is not permanent."

"It's not permanent?"

Naomi shook her head. "The disorder is only temporary. He will get over it soon enough."

"When, exactly?"

The surgeon crossed her arms. "It's hard to tell. His disorder might last for a month or longer. It usually takes a person to recover from SM in a month, but there are cases where people recover after a couple of months. It all bases around how much anxiety he has to relieve…"

Dr. Mario looked down. "But Lucario was so close to him that it looks like he'll never get over his death…" he trailed off.

"It's something that I fear," Naomi said. "If he never gets over his death, then his condition might prolong for much longer."

The doctor looked up to her. "What if we tried to make him feel better, though?" he asked.

"Then that should help him. The best way to make someone relieve their anxiety is by making them feel okay with themselves…but I wish you good luck doing that given the cause of his disorder."

Dr. Mario thought that his task was going to be a hard one to accomplish. After all, Chris was one of the Smashers who didn't have the strongest of emotions. "I hope he gets over it…someday… It's just one bad thing after another…"

While the two doctors were conversing, Amy and Knuckles overheard their conversation. The two wanted to know by themselves if Chris had really gone mute.

Chris's Room

The teen leaned against his bed while lying down on top of it. He rested his hands over his lap while he sobbed silently. He never felt so horrible in his life before, now that both Lucario and his own voice were gone. Chris continued to mourn the deaths of not only Lucario, but Pichu, Ike, Fox, and Ness. The pain he suffered was just too much for his self.

With watered eyes, he looked to the drawers where his DS was resting. Chris imagined how he would play at night on bed whenever he was excited to play a new video game. But he wasn't randomly reviving moments with video games, but rather, he was reviving those times when Lucario was with him. Whenever he played on his DS, Lucario would lie down next to him to see how he played those games. Whenever he reached some kind of boss, Lucario would put up a serious look accompanied with growls of anger. And when said boss was defeated, Lucario would congratulate Chris by cuddling up his nose against his face, with Chris laughing and trying his best to push Lucario away with no avail.

Chris briefly smiled at the memory in his mind. It was then that his door opened, seeing Peach peering inside. "Can I…come in?" she asked.

The teen couldn't refuse her. He nodded at her. Peach then entered the room and walked to the side of the bed, sitting down in front of Chris.

"Chris, are you feeling okay today?" she asked concerned. "After everyone went to rest when you fainted, I couldn't sleep so well after thinking you had a…horrible breakdown. I felt so bad and sad, so I wanted to come in and visit you."

Chris wiped away his tears, even though he was unable to stop them. He flashed a small smile at her, making her smile back amidst some tears she shed.

"But…but I don't know how you're going to be okay after this," Peach said concerned. "The thought about losing your beloved ones is…so cruel…and so sad…"

Chris gasped and waved his hands frantically in front of him to stop Peach from crying. The princess was very sentimental to him, and he knew she had the penchant of sharing everyone's pain.

"Oh, sorry… I didn't mean to cry so fast," Peach apologized. "I wanted to let you know that I'll be there for you to make you feel better, Chris…."

The teen thanked heaven for hearing Peach saying that, but he kept merely smiled and nodded at her in thankfulness.

"Heheh, you're a good listener even when you're sad… You're incredible," Peach remarked. "I don't think I can listen to people while crying and fretting so much, but you're different…"

The World Traveler's happy look vanished, looking away worried.

"…Is something else wrong?" Peach asked. "Why aren't you saying anything to me?"

Chris gulped and turned back at her. He pointed at his mouth where he tried to say something, but he failed horribly. Peach looked doubtful, but Chris tried so hard to yell that only his breath came out. He panted heavily and looked at Peach, seeing her blocking her mouth with both hands as she shook her head in shock.

"Y-you don't mean to say…t-that you're…mute?" Peach asked shocked, to which Chris nodded sadly. She put down her hands. "How could you lose your ability to speak?"

Chris didn't have a clue. He just lowered down his face in shame.

"Poor Chris… You're going through a lot now…" Peach muttered, slowly embracing the teen (who fortunately didn't blush but kept looking down). "Losing Lucario…losing your own speech…it's just too much for you…"

With no way to talk back, Chris found himself at a real loss of words. He was puzzling himself about how he was going to hold on after experiencing so many bad events. He thought he needed to fight the Subspace Army and finish other important deals, such as Sonic recovering from his (grotesque) werehog form and helping Chip out. After that, things would be very uncertain. For now, he wanted to know of a way to communicate with no voice.

Peach pulled back from Chris. "I guess Dr. Mario told that…we're holding a funeral today afternoon," she said with a sad tone. "It's too sad…but what else can we do for them? Maybe you should go with Master Hand and ask him about what to… Oh, sorry. You can't speak… Wait, I know. Let's ask him together. I'll be your speaker if you want."

Since Chris had nothing else to do, he decided to follow the princess for the time being. Maybe he could distract his mind from the dreadful thoughts.

Master Hand's Office

Arriving in the office, the two saw Master Hand floating around while Crazy Hand "sat" down on a relatively small chair, seeing how his brother muttered things under his breath. When Master Hand noticed Chris and Peach, he stopped. "Oh, it's you," he said sighing. "I'm a little bit busy right now."

Peach was afraid to ask. "Busy about the arrangements for the…you know?"

"That, and how I'm going to deal with their relatives when they wind up hearing they're as good as dead," Master Hand said. "The first thing they're surely going to do is bring the mansion down with explosives, hunt me down, and skin my glove alive."

"…I honestly don't think any of them will go to such lengths…" Peach muttered.

"Seconded," Crazy Hand said. "Besides, I'd do that kind of thing."

Master Hand stared at Peach. "You're the angel here. What could I do?" he asked.

"Tell them," Peach said worried. "It's not like we can lie to them and say nothing happened…"

The hand turned away from her. "…We're doing that," he said. "It's decided."

"Do what?"

"…We're going to keep the truth to ourselves," the hand said, shocking Peach, Chris, and Crazy Hand. "Nobody else besides the people in the mansion knows about what happened here. It's better that they don't know anything unless extremely, EXTREMELY necessary."

Peach looked at Chris, who looked away from her. She turned and stepped forward to the hand. "Is that really the best option we have?" she asked.

"Would you rather make them all cry and fall into despair?" Master Hand asked. "Is it so necessary to tell them that their friends died a horrible death while being here? This is supposed to be a tournament ground, not a superhero HQ! I never, EVER wanted this place to become a superhero HQ place of sorts, but Tabuu came out of nowhere and started making things go down the toilet in MY world! They don't know much about our stupid, idiotic, task to save all the worlds and the entire universe as a whole! Damn, I hate my life so much!" He turned to them. "I'd like this clichéd thing to finish as soon as possible so I don't get blamed for the consequences! But nooooo, as long as it gets, the more people here will truly get hurt like HELL!"

Peach backed away with Chris. "Calm down…calm down… Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…" she tried to calm the hand.

Master Hand inhaled and exhaled. "Whew…that worked," he said. "Sorry for snapping out on you, but all this is making me get so worked up…"

"I understand…" Peach trailed off.

"Well…I guess I can handle all the bad stuff… Wait, no, I can't. It's impossible for me to handle it all without divulging the news out there. So please, bear it with me. Can we please keep this awful secret between us?"

Peach rubbed her chin. "I can follow it, but what about the others?" she asked.

"Peach, you're literally the sweetest pink princess in the whole mansion. I BEG you to tell them all about our plan. Whoever yells at you, try to come up with something, okay? You're my only salvation for this dilemma!"

The princess felt awful about doing it, but she nodded, surprising Chris. "Fine, I'll do my best to keep things under control…" she trailed off unsure.

"Many thanks," Master Hand said. "So…do you mind if I ask what are you two doing here? You're not bringing any bad news, right?"

Peach bit her lower lip while Chris closed his eyes hardly. "Um…Chris can't talk anymore…I think…" Peach said.

Master Hand tried to digest the news in his mind. He stared at Chris for a moment. "…Oh, hell no. This is some kind of joke, right? I don't accept non-speaking fighters in this tourney. I make them talk if they don't want to."

"Y-you don't understand. Chris lost his ability to talk! It's not because he doesn't want to!" Peach said on Chris's defense.

The hand floated over to Chris, who looked up to him before he looked away. "Okay, you need to say a word now," the hand said. "C'mon, Chris, don't do this to me! Anything bad happening to my people in here is already bad enough with the deaths!"

Chris looked serious and tried to yell, but only his breathe came out. The hand saw how the teen struggled, but not even a whimper came out from his mouth. Chris then gave up, smacking his forehead with a frown.

"Don't make me use a translator on you!" Master Hand seemingly threatened.

"Can that thing even translate breathings?" Crazy Hand asked.

"U-um…n-no… I-it only works for any kind of weird language or speech. Breathes don't count… Aww, damn it!" Master Hand cursed. "I can't have a single one of them like this! Chris, are you sure you can't talk?"

Chris nodded sadly. He felt ashamed about his condition even more than before.

"…Aww, hell," the hand cursed. "It's not like I want to kick him out either. We'll…have to manage if you can do it… Think you can find some way to communicate with us? And before you choose, I'm bad at charades and sign language."

The teen briefly thought about Lucario, but then he snapped out forcibly. He thought about a way to communicate with people, one that wouldn't be so time consuming and annoying. He shook his head.

"I'll give you all the time you need," Master Hand said. "I need time to sort out our next course of action, though… The doctors are taking care of the patients up there, but you should do something else to avoid getting down in depression."

Crazy Hand raised his index finger. "Oh, did I forget to mention Ness is a kid?" he asked.

"Dammit! I never considered his age until now! He's practically a mom's boy!"

"You're so baaaaaaaad, making children fight in a tourney against adults…and furry people."

"I don't need your jokes right now. Please, Crazy… Wait a minute. He was already venturing out, and Red's younger than him."

For the time being, Peach and Chris decided to leave the hands alone. "I'll be busy with everyone today, so you should do something, Chris," Peach said. "It's going to be very hard for you, but something surely will help you to stay calm."

Chris didn't know what to do since he had no way to communicate through his voice. As Peach left, the World Traveler sighed and headed for the lobby. It was then that he recalled how some of the Smashers that were attached to the ones who died were in a severe moment of depression. He thought about visiting them, but then he recalled Marth was looking after Roy, Pikachu was practically petrified next to Pichu, and Falco was resting.

He did remember that Wolf stormed out angrily. It meant suicide to go with him to Chris, but there was no other option left to do for the teen… But then he thought that he should take somebody with him, any fortunate guy who would cross his path in the hallway.

Outside Wolf's Room

"People die…you lose your voice…it's all so sad…"

Chris thought that he shouldn't have dragged Olimar (and an innocent Red Pikmin) with him to Wolf in the first place. It was better than anybody in some way, he thought. He knew Olimar was an adult, but he had a very fragile emotional state of mind that would put him in the ranks of children. Upon stopping in front of the lupine's door, Olimar gulped.

"Are you sure you want to go in there?" Olimar asked while his Red Pikmin hiding behind his back. "I-I've heard he's been cursing loudly all night. I heard that from my room, you know!"

With the fact that Chris understood Wolf, and Wolf acknowledged Chris, the teen was sure to get something out from him. He knocked on the door. "Who the hell wants to see me now?" Wolf's voice was heard from the other side.

Chris tried to say it was him, but his voice was mute. Instead, Olimar armed himself and decided to speak up for Chris. "I-it's Chris and me, Olimar. H-he wants to talk with you," he said.

"If he is there with you, why doesn't he say anything? I'm in a bad mood right now, you little twerp. You better not piss me off with lies."

"H-he…lost his voice…y-you see…"

"…" The door opened, and the three stepped back once locking eyes with Wolf's nefarious glare. "What is this about you losing your voice, kid?"

The teen looked away and sighed. He looked directly at Wolf and tried to speak up by making motions with his mouth. Wolf heard nothing from Chris at all. "S-see? He can't talk anymore! H-he lost his voice because of… I don't know!" Olimar said.

"And what do you want me to do? I'm not a stupid voice merchant," Wolf said aggravated.

"N-no, he just wanted to come to see you," Olimar said scared. "H-he's worried that you're so worked up for…something he didn't want to tell me because he ran out of space in the note he used to say something to me."

"Tsk, like you're gonna solve this yourself, kid," Wolf said. "Now I know how it feels to lose an annoying, pesky, cocky rival to Death. It feels like s**t, that's for sure."

Chris could only stare at Wolf. Wolf noticed the saddened look on the World Traveler's face while Olimar cautiously backed away.

"What, are you trying to say I should cry and feel sorry? F**k no," Wolf cursed, crossing his arms. "Geez, with you in Mime Mode, it's like I'm talking to a wall."

Chris looked upset and shook his head.

"You want to know what I'm gonna do from now on, now that the little pact with that bastard is broken?" Wolf asked. "Then I'll tell you. I'm gonna have my revenge."

Olimar's eyes shot wide open. "Y-you're going to hurt somebody?" he asked. "R-revenge never solves anything! Y-you need to talk things over in a calm way…with some tea if provided…"

"Says you, but my kind of revenge will ease the anger in me," Wolf said, cracking his fingers with his hands. "Those Subspace Army bastards owe me a BIG one for taking down for good the guy I've been trying to take down myself. It should be a big relief that he's not around anymore, but it feels like s**t that somebody else did the job for me. Where's the f*****g fun in that to me? I hope they're ready for the worst cuz I'll wring their necks…"

"!" Chris tried to yell, but Wolf could tell Chris was opposing the idea.

"Don't stop me now, kid. I never said I was going to leave this place," Wolf said. "As long as I stick up with the whole lot of you, I'll get faster to them. Once I do, leave me alone, because there will be blood in these claws of mine."

Olimar tried his best to interpret what Chris was trying to say with his mouth. "U-um, he's saying that..u-um…I-I don't know that lip movement…u-um…t-that one either…u-um…" he trailed off until he gave up.

"Darn it, kid. I suck at charades," Wolf said. "If you want to talk to me, come up with some way to do so. No voice means no discussion. Who cares about you two… Leave me alone already."

Olimar held out his hands. "N-no, please, don't go away!" he said. "C-Chris just wants to make you feel better!"

"Well, damn, he's so totally failing at it," Wolf said, stepping back into his room while grabbing the door. "If you two are done, get going. I'll slit your throats if you call me again before the funeral. I've got other things to do than talking to a mime and a midget with his living red plant."

The teen hesitated a bit, but he looked at Olimar's hands for a moment. He tilted his head in confusion, but then he did a small hop when Wolf slammed his door, closing his room with him in it.

Olimar sighed. "That didn't go too well, did it…" he trailed off.

Chris didn't pay much attention to Olimar. He was too busy thinking about doing something with hands. Surely, he thought, he knew of a method that involved hands to speak with others. He even recalled another person of another world doing the same kind of thing in the same dilemma Chris was having.

The Hocotate employee looked up to Chris. "I've got nothing else to do… Perhaps you'd like to go out to the village?" he suggested. "When I'm sad, I try to do some hobbies like doing jigsaw puzzles or giving names to the Pikmins I pluck out. See this one next to me? His name is Paco."

The World Traveler looked up (ignoring Paco waving at him), getting some kind of idea. He knelt down and grabbed Olimar's right hand.

"…You know, this is the time where I say that things aren't going to get good," Olimar said, mildly scared. "I say that all the time when someone bigger than me does something with me, so…you're good, so what are you going to do? My gloves are attached to this suit I use."

Chris sighed mentally. He made Olimar look at his index finger. With the same index finger, Chris moved it along Olimar's palm.

"Aww, hand massage. I didn't know you could do it so well," Olimar said.

Chris looked frustrated at Olimar. He tapped his index finger angrily on his palm. With another look, Olimar noticed Chris was drawing something on his hand whenever he pulled his index finger back.

"…Oh, wait. Now I get it…" Olimar said, staring down at Chris's imaginary handwriting. He could tell that Chris was making one letter after another, making words. "You're saying… I just thought of this way to talk to people while I'm mute…" Olimar's eyes shot wide open, looking at Chris. "D-did you mean to say that?"

The teen sighed and nodded relieved. He drew his finger along Olimar's palm once more.

"It's kind of slow, but I don't want to use notes to talk. I'm surely going to get punched if I grab somebody else's hand if I don't ask first, though. Oh… Yes, I understand what you're trying to say," Olimar said. "This actually works!"

Chris wasn't particularly happy with his method. The reason why he didn't like it was because of Lucario.

Then the teen looked depressed when recalling that Lucario was gone. He felt ashamed that he forgot about thinking of Lucario for a brief moment, as if he didn't exist. He looked away, but then he tried to give Olimar another message.

"I should go to the village and find something to do. Maybe I'll do an extra side-quest to help somebody. Let me go with you," Olimar said. "You tried to make Wolf feel better. It's my turn to do it for you."

Chris smiled a bit and nodded. He felt grateful of Olimar's kindness.

"Let's get some people to come with us first. Better be safe than saying sorry," Olimar said. "I want Paco to survive, anyway…"

Olimar unexpectedly made Chris feel a bit uncomfortable. It was going to be a long day, and the next days to come will surely be long as well. He was at a blank, and he hoped to brace himself for what was awaiting without Lucario by his side.

Lobby

On the couches, Popo, Nana, Jigglypuff, and Toon Link were silent, looking depressed into empty space. The four young Smashers were wounded emotionally after Ness and Pichu died yesterday. With Lucas, Diddy, and Pikachu in the infirmary, the other four were on their own with no other things to do. They would usually gather together all the time, but it wasn't just the same with all of them.

"This completely, utterly sucks hard," Toon Link muttered. "I knew it was going too good to be true for all of them to get out of that one…"

"In all my days in here, Ness and Pichu dying was totally unexpected," Nana said depressed. "This was supposed to be a tourney, not some kind of superhero HQ place…"

"Don't even go there," Jigglypuff said. "I'm in no way a superhero…ine. I'm just here for promotion purposes to be a new kind of Jigglypuff. Where does it say in my contract that chances of dying are possible?"

"Do you want your world to be conquered by a digital-looking madman?"

"N-no, but I want to stop him for the thrills…but not THESE kinds of thrills!" she complained.

Popo cupped his hands. "Is this really the time to argue?" he asked depressed. "What are we supposed to do to cope up with Ness and Pichu's deaths? They're really gone for real, and I've got no idea about how we're going to tolerate this."

Toon Link raised his hand. "We could always invite people here to take their spots," he said.

"No, that's too cruel," Nana said. "…It opens many possibilities, but I grew too fond of Ness and Pichu. They're irreplaceable."

"And that's the same reason Lucas and Pikachu will cling to their bodies once the funeral begins," Toon Link pointed out. "I can understand Pikachu for feeling so down in the dumps, but Lucas is…a special case. Didn't his brother and mom die as well?"

"Poor Lucas, having to see a friend die…" Jigglypuff muttered. "He's gone through a lot more than we did. Did any of you have a friend or relative die?"

"No," everyone else said.

"Me either, but I feel bad that I can't do the same thing Pikachu does for Pichu," she sniffed. "W-what kind of Jigglypuff am I if I can't have a close relationship like that?"

Popo gasped. "Don't cry now! Everyone's trying to resist crying!" he told her. "Pull yourself together!"

Jigglypuff sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Y-you're right. It's no use c-crying now. I don't want to make you guys feel bad."

"We FEEL bad, you know," Toon Link said, slamming his head on the cushion. "Can we start considering some ways to make Lucas and Pikachu feel better?"

"If we're doing that, let's get some rubber gloves to remove Pikachu out of Pichu and use a sleeping dart on Lucas to drag him away from Ness," Popo suggested. "I vote for talking to them in person OUT of the infirmary."

"A less violent way, please. Preferably one that doesn't include drastic methods," Nana said. "Guys, it's useless. Only time can heal them."

"Who knows how long," Toon Link said. "Do you really think people here would forget about everything in a few days?"

"No, but we don't want our enemies catch us off-guard, right?" Nana asked. "We're still living. Sadly, we need to continue fighting against the army before they do the same thing on other innocent people LIKE us."

"So true," Toon Link said. "Once I stab my sword into Ganondorf's body, I'll twist it fifteen time-"

"Gross!" the other three interrupted disgusted.

"Alright! No twisting but just a beating!" he said annoyed. "Damn, you guys need t-"

"We need to stay away from your psycho murders," Popo said bored. "Bathe your hands in blood, but leave my innocent gloves alone, pal."

The four did a group sigh. The blue Ice Climber took out a letter that he showed to the pink Ice Climber. "It's Palom & Porom's letter… I forgot we never got to read it," Nana said. "I want to lighten up my mood. Let's read it."

The two started reading the letter while Toon Link and Jigglypuff silently rested.

Dear Popo & Nana,

Salutations, you two.

I'm here too!

You never thought that we would be writing you a letter after we turned into stone, didn't you? Things turned out just fine in the end.

The elder fixed us up when you left! Why didn't you stick around a little bit longer? We could've done some pranks around Mysidia!

Let me tell you I smacked Palom for that.

It hurts…

But anyway, how are you two doing? Palom is about to start a training to become a sage just like Tellah. He just put his mind into it not long ago. You should've seen the look on his face. I'm worried about him so I'm going to tag along to make sure he doesn't stray away from his training.

No fair! Having you around is like having the elder stalk me behind my back!

That's because you're reckless yourself!

Am not!

You are!

Am not!

You are!

Am not infinite plus one!

Hush! You're wasting the space we have in the letter! Anyway, Popo, Nana, we hope to see you two again. Tell us everything about your long journey, will you? We could help you out in some way or another.

I'd help way more than she can!

I won't waste my time scolding him in this letter… Take care, okay?

From Mysidia's Mage Prodigies,

(Awesome-sauce) Palom & (Bossy) Porom

P.S.: I pulled Palom's hair for writing that.

P.S.S.: Me and my big words…

The two Ice Climbers sighed relieved after hearing that the mages were doing okay after they were turned into stone to save them. However, their joy was short-lived after knowing that their journey suffered some big losses. "I want to be happy…but I can't do it," Nana said.

"Does this mean good news from others won't cheer us up?" Popo asked.

"It's typical it'll be like that," Toon Link said.

Suddenly, next to the Ice Climbers, a phone rang. The four young Smashers didn't notice that there was a phone in the lobby at all. In fact, they never had phones because Master Hand feared paparazzi would constantly annoy them through them.

"Where did this phone come from?" Nana asked.

"I didn't see it there before…" Jigglypuff muttered. "I thought it was just furniture. We don't have phones for a reason."

"Oh, that phone over there is Ness's personal phone," Popo said. "I have no idea why he has a personal phone, though."

"And why the heck is his phone right here in the middle of the lobby?"

Nana shrugged and just picked up the phone to answer the call. "It won't hurt if we answer the call. He's not available…anyway," she said, clicking a button on the keys to make the phone louder for everyone to hear. "Hello?"

"Hello," a mildly gruff voice was heard from the phone. "Is Ness around?"

The pink Ice Climber shifted her eyes around. "U-um, why do you want to talk with him, sir?" she asked.

"That's because I'm his dad."

Jigglypuff yelped. Toon Link let out a loud gasp. Popo's eyes rolled into his head and subsequently fainted on the spot, while Nana merely kept staring into space. She gulped mentally, her mind to process why Ness's dad of all people would call him now. Her lips did a wavelike motion as she tried to say something back.

"M-may I ask why do you want to talk to him?" Nana asked, seeing Toon Link shaking his head as if he wanted to untwist it and throw it away.

"I wanted to talk to him because I haven't gotten a chance to check up on him," Ness's dad said. "I told myself 'Hell, my son is probably not beating up some punks 'cause he's feeling homesick'. My wife actually snaps him out from homesickness, but I wanted to give it a shot once more."

"I-I see, sir," Nana said.

"So, anyway, who am I talking to?"

"N-Nana. I-I'm one of Ness's friends," she responded.

"Okay, Nana. Can you communicate him with me?"

Nana pressed the phone to make it go silent. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. Why, why, why did it have to be his DAD now?" she asked the others in pure disbelief. "What are we supposed to tell him? Do we tell him 'Hey, your son just happened to die yesterday! By the way, how's the weather over there?' or something like that?"

Jigglypuff snapped out from her senses. "Heck no!" she complained. "Times like this call for ridiculous, desperate measures! Let's lie to the man!"

"How?" Nana asked irritated. "Do we tell him that Ness is in the bathroom?"

"No!" Toon Link argued. "His pops will so call back in a few seconds if we tell him that! Use something that'll make him talk…like…not call back!"

"That's what I'm trying to do, genius!" Nana hissed. "We want to make sure his dad never calls back for a long time preferably, don't we?"

"Just tell him that Ness is out on an adventure!" Toon Link suggested.

"What kind of stupid lie is that?" Jigglypuff asked upset.

"The guy practically traveled around his world WITHOUT his mom telling him not to!" Nana said. "But that doesn't make much sense for a lie this time!" She clicked the phone to talk to the father. "N-Ness can't answer the phone right now, sir…"

"Why?" Ness's dad asked. "What is my boy doing?"

"(Skipping on clouds while DEAD, of course!)" Nana yelled mentally. She staggered, unable to find the correct excuse for a lie. She stared at the others, who didn't give any ideas for a good lie. "L-let's just say he's in a bad shape…"

"You-IDIOT!" Toon Link hissed through his gritted teeth. Nana had to admit the pressure was getting over her nerves.

Ness's dad sighed. "He finally broke a leg with a fight against a dinosaur, didn't he…" he trailed off.

The three Smashers blinked confused at the oddness of the assumption. None of them would have ever thought that Ness fought dinosaurs in his life. They did know Ness constantly complained about "evil trash cans of evil" and "evil walking mushrooms of evil" and "evil New Age Retro Hippies of evil" and the like, but dinosaurs were completely out of context.

"No matter how many times I tell him to, his ego might get the best of him," Ness's dad said. "He was admitted at a hospital, I presume?"

The three were sad once a half of his assumption was true. Nana's panicked state eased down to a melancholic one. "Um…yes, he's at the hospital being attended…" Nana said.

"Huh, so that's what happened," Ness's dad said. "Yeah, my boy can be that stubborn… Nana, would you be so kind and send him a message that his dad is cheering for him in the sidelines all the time?"

Nana looked away, nodding slightly. "Yeah, I'll…tell him that for sure (somehow…)"

"You're so kind," Ness's dad said. "Ness is lucky to have friends like you, Nana."

"Yes, he is…" Toon Link muttered sadly.

"Awright, I'll wait for him to call me," Ness's dad said. "I sadly withdrew a lot of the money I deposited in his ATM card. He's kinda broke at the moment. My boss didn't do a good decision with a financial problem we were dealing with. Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have said that to you. Well, tell him I said hi and that I hope he gets better."

"…Yes," Nana muttered. "See you later, mister…"

And with a clicking sound, the phone call was over. The three sighed together as Nana put the phone back to its place. "Oh, it sounded WAY too convenient for him to call at this moment," Toon Link admitted.

Popo slowly regained his consciousness. "Please tell me you did something about him…" he trailed off.

"Oh, I did, but I'm not done yet," Nana said. "He's going to call back any time soon. I know that."

"Well, nice going! How are we going to keep lying to him about Ness when he calls back?" Jigglypuff asked.

The pink Ice Climber smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad you asked. Why, the only thing we can do is DESTROY THIS DAMNED OLD TELEPHONE!" Nana yelled, taking out her hammer to smash and break the telephone into pieces. After the other three sighed loudly, Nana put her hammer away, not minding to pick up the pieces. "Phew, that sure solved one issue."

"But you did destroy Ness's favorite phone…"

"He won't need it anymore."

The four blinked a bit until they sighed, except the sigh was depressed.

"He won't come back anymore…that's what this means," Toon Link muttered.

Silence overtook them once more, until C. Falcon came from the hallway with crossed arms over his chest. He noticed the four just sitting there. "Oh, hey, kids," he said.

"Call me a kid again and I'll do some drastic measures," Toon Link threatened under his breath.

"Sorry," the captain said. "I didn't mean to be rude or anything, but everyone's been down in the bums."

"Hurray for you," Jigglypuff said bored. "It's a perfect excuse to be childrencist on us."

C. Falcon looked miffed. "That's not even a word," he said.

"Too bad, because it's a new word now," Jigglypuff said. "Don't you have other things to do than talking with us? You know, you can go take a peek on Samus in the shower."

"After many failures, I realized my life was worth more than her."

The four stared directly at C. Falcon. "Who the hell are you and what did you do with C. Falcon?" Nana asked, raising an eyebrow.

If it was possible, C. Falcon rolled his (triangle-shaped) eyes. "Isn't it kind of twisted to do jokes at a time like this, you guys?" he asked. "People do mature, and I do that too."

"I so would like to see what happened to you behind the scenes," Jigglypuff said. "You're sure you're not an imposter?"

"No!" C. Falcon yelled. "A-anyway, there's no adult in this mansion whom I can talk to because they're all busy attending the other guys up there at the infirmary. I really suck at medicine and treatments myself, but how am I going to find any fun with you four?"

"Notice the huge age gap difference between you and all of us?" Toon Link asked. "I'm not going out with you. You're going to be accused of being a pedophile…wearing a super hero costume."

"There's nothing wrong with what I wear!" C. Falcon protested.

"Would everyone in this lobby SHUT UP?" Nana asked. "No jokes, no arguments, just silence! I'm trying so hard to distract my mind with something else to do rather than listening to your discussion about this guy's super hero costume!"

C. Falcon noticed the phone's broken pieces. "Why is there a phone broken into pieces on the floor?" he asked.

"Stuff happened," Jigglypuff said.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Bad stuff."

"Oh."

The five eventually stopped talking for a brief moment once they saw Chris and Olimar walking down the stairs.

Nana smiled to the roof. "Thank you, lord, for bringing me a mentally stable person to me," she thanked with clasped gloves.

Toon Link forced a smile. "Hey there, Chris. I thought you were locked up in your room for…you know…what happened…you know when…" he trailed off, putting up a worried look when Chris looked away with a sigh. "Sorry…"

"W-watch out for what you say to him," Olimar said. "He's been really, really depressed."

"(He and Lucario were just like an owner and his destructive dog. Who wouldn't be like him?)" C. Falcon thought. He grinned a bit and patted the teen's shoulder. "You have me available if you feel very sad, Chris. Smile a little for us, why won't you?"

Chris shook his head, but he had to admit he felt weird that C. Falcon was being a little bit (too much) formal than previous occasions. His depression, however, were making him feel so serious around the others, and he flashed a small smile.

"There we go," C. Falcon said.

The teen then seemed to chuckle a bit, but the others except Olimar thought it was weird Chris was very silent. But then, they forgot about asking since they thought they didn't listen too well to his voiceless mouth. "If you'd excuse us, we're heading to the village and do some stuff to distract us from our depressive state…" Olimar trailed off. "…But maybe you'd like to come with us?"

The five looked at each other. "With Chris here, C. Falcon will looks less pedophilic that before," Toon Link said.

"I've got no comments this time," C. Falcon grumbled.

"Count me in," Jigglypuff said. "I really feel bad, but I want to do something different rather than waiting for the funeral…"

Popo and Nana exchanged worried looks. "Ugh, I can't believe I didn't think much about the funeral," Popo said. "Once they're down in their graves…that will be it for them. That's it. It's their true last hurrah."

"Or, in our case, their final game over," Nana said. "Damn, if sounds really bad…"

Chris looked upset and stomped on the floor to get their attention. They expected him to talk, but he simply shook his head.

"You look a bit ridiculous when you're not talking. Say something!" Jigglypuff said, but Chris shook his head with a worried look. "What? Why don't you want to talk?"

"Chris…turned mute," Olimar said. "A-apparently, the shock he got from yesterday did a number to his voice, and now he can't talk for now… I don't really know if that's what happened, but I'm assuming that…"

"What?" Toon Link asked. "How can you lose your speech like that? Is that possible?"

"Well, just look at him! He's the living proof that you can get mute!"

Chris looked down to the floor, not wanting to see their looks.

"The only way that he can talk to us is by scribbling letters on our hands," Olimar said sadly. "Ooh, I feel so helpless today!"

Popo slammed his head on a cushion. "One nasty thing after another! Why can't bad news stop coming for once? I'm sick of them all!" he yelled.

Chris lifted up his head and went over to C. Falcon. Grabbing his hand, the racer noticed the teen scribbling letters on his palm. "I'm sure I'll be just fine like this. I can only hope for me to get better at some point…hopefully. Man, that's just cruel for you," C. Falcon admitted. "I know, but that's the only thing I can do for now. It's annoying, but there's no other way."

Toon Link hopped off from his sofa. "Fretting all day isn't going to do any good for us," he said. "Let's go to the village. Chris so needs to feel much better and that also includes us."

Popo lifted up his face. "Say, with Chris mute, how he will chant spells in battle?" he wondered.

The teen screamed mentally when he realized that it was going to be impossible to use any spells with his voice gone. He gulped and scribbled more on the racer's hand. "I-I never considered that at all! I'm going to see if I can at least try to do it…but later. Yeah, battling now is just a waste of time anyway," C. Falcon said, giving Chris a grin. "Don't worry, pal. I'll buy you all the time you need to try hard in a battle."

Nana looked suspiciously at Popo. "Alright, he's so freaking me out today," she whispered.

"Meh, his triangle eyes freak me out more," Popo whispered back.

Before anybody could go outside, Samus came from the hallway. She noticed the seven in the lobby, but she also noticed that they were standing up and heading out. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Olimar turned to her. "Oh, good morning, Samus," he greeted. "We're going to the village to find something to do."

"Is it really okay for you to go out?" Samus questioned. "Everyone is in a sad mood today. Heading out now might not be a good idea."

"But we want to go out to cheer ourselves up," Toon Link said. "What, do you want to fret all day until the funeral starts? What's so wrong in lightening up the mood a bit?"

Samus sighed. "I do admit that this atmosphere is making me feel sick… Fine, I don't see a reason to do it, but I'm coming along as well."

"Let me guess. TL here convinced you to do the same as well," Nana said.

"In a way, yes."

C. Falcon whistled. "Who would've thought things were somehow going to get better? I should talk to you guys more often," he said, only for the others to give him bored looks. "What?"

"I knew it," Popo said with a suspicious look. "You're still the same guy at heart."

Even Chris was looking suspiciously at C. Falcon. The World Traveler grabbed his hand and scribbled something on it. "…You're pathetic to my tastes. Seriously, I was putting a lot of faith in you a few moments ago, but you managed to screw it in the end. Very nice. H-hey!" C. Falcon staggered.

Samus looked confused at Chris. "Why is he scribbling on your hand?" she asked.

After a few explanations, the eight Smashers set out for the village by going out through the double doors.

Infirmary

From the seventh floor, Naomi saw how the eight foreign guests walked towards the village in the distance. Not minding them much, she turned around and found Dr. Mario walking towards her. "I'm going to miss this place, you know," she said.

Dr. Mario stared at her. "You will?" he asked. "I'll miss you once you leave."

"I wonder if anybody here will miss me," Naomi said. "I can tell by their looks that they want me out from the mansion."

"No, don't think like that," Dr. Mario said. "Not everyone here is going to hate you. I know what you did, and I'm happy that you were here to help us."

"Does that mean you weren't certain about your friends surviving?" she asked.

"Honestly speaking, I fully thought they were going to be saved once you arrived," Dr. Mario said. "However, as things got complicated, my doubts started to change… It was all unexpected, truthfully, but you weren't the culprit at all."

"No matter how hard I'd try, I'm not going to find someone else with the same thought except the people I was working with in the O.R.," Naomi said. "That lupine guy wants to see me dead, though. I need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"T-tell me that was a joke…"

"Of course it is," Naomi said.

Close to them, Kirby walked in and went to see Pikachu. The puffball had a sad look as he hopped onto Pichu's bed. "Pikachu, are you okay?" he asked.

"…" Pikachu didn't respond. He just remained clutched into Pichu's lifeless body.

"Pikachu?" Kirby wondered. "Are you feeling okay?"

But the puffball didn't get a reply. Curious, Kirby approached Pikachu and lightly touched his back, only for sparks to fly out and scare the puffball. Kirby looked scared, and he hopped down so that he wouldn't make Pikachu angry. Looking sad once more, he went over to Ness's bed, where Lucas was resting his head on the side. Unlike Pikachu, Lucas was awake, albeit he seemed motionless.

"Lucas, are you okay?" Kirby asked worried.

"…I'm not…" Lucas muttered, his eyes frozen into place. "I lost a friend forever…just like my mom and Claus… I'm cursed… Everyone around me will die horribly…and I'll be all alone…"

Kirby looked frightened after hearing Lucas muttering his depressive words. "Y-you're not alone. You have me!" Kirby tried to cheer Lucas up.

"S-stay away from me…" Lucas muttered, shaking madly. "I-if you stay close to me, y-you'll die soon, a-and I'll be crying again… Leave me alone…"

Kirby couldn't really comprehend much about what Lucas was saying. However, the puffball didn't want to leave the infirmary, and he decided to watch over Lucas and Pikachu from a safe distance to see if something else would happen.

The two doctors watched from the window how Kirby struggled to cheer the two Smashers. "Poor creature…" Naomi muttered. "A childish mind can be fatally wounded when they get into this matter…and it can be mentally scarred for life as well."

Dr. Mario shook his head. "Some of us will need serious therapy lessons if they stay sad the next days," he said. "I wish none of this would have happened at all…"

"Huh, I leave for a time, and I come back just to see some dead guys on beds? You people can get very messed up behind my backs, I swear."

Most of the people in the infirmary turned at the door to see Snake standing there, his wary eyes examining the lifeless people. With a grunt, he walked in, some of them looking surprised at him. The mercenary walked towards Dr. Mario and Naomi, with the former stepping forward. "It's you, Snake," Dr. Mario said. "I'm glad to see you're back. How was your…retirement time?"

"Dandier than being in this hellhole of corpses, that's for sure," Snake said. "Kidding aside, what the hell happened while I was away? Otacon filled me in that something nasty happened. I kept demanding him what had happened, but he was whimpering all over the codec call. And Mei Ling? She's crying a bit too loud for my tastes. The Colonel is even at a loss of words, but he did tell me to come back here and see how you were doing."

"I'll fill you in," Naomi said.

"And who are you?"

"My name is Naomi Kimishima," Naomi said. "Sore wa anata ni aete ureshiidesu."

"Nihongo kan'nōna hito. Mada hanbun no warui. Anata no namae ga watashi no shitte iru mō ichi-nin no yūjin no koto o omoidasu," Snake said.

"Ā, watashi wa o sanshō shite kudasai. Watashi wa kanojo no koto o omoidasa seru ka?" she asked.

"Anata mo, kanojo no yō ni mite inainode, watashi wa rakkīda," he responded.

Naomi chuckled. "I didn't think there was a wise person like you living here. That's surely a shocker for me," she said, not even minding Dr. Mario who plainly looked confused about what they said.

"Same here, though it's nice to see somebody else who looks saner than all the people in this world," Snake said.

"Oh, so you also say that this is another world. Well, everything looks common to me. I've been here for a long time now," Naomi said. "These people will lead me back to my home very soon."

"Yeah, you should leave before they make you go insane," Snake said. "It won't be too long before you'll see me wearing odd clothes."

"Says you, Mr. Utility Belt," Naomi said amused, looking at the extensive array of pockets in Snake's belts.

"I get that a lot," Snake muttered. "Anyway, care to tell me what happened here? Did they finally choke on their food or beat up each other mindlessly?"

"Worse than that, I'm afraid," Naomi said. "From what they told me, an enemy of theirs waltzed into their home and infected our patients with airborne manmade diseases before fleeing. We performed ten straight surgeries, but we were…unsuccessful with half of them."

Snake looked around once more. "(The cape guy, the vulpine, the electric rat, the big-headed kid, and the…mutt,)" he thought, his gaze staring down at Lucario. "(If he's really gone, that kid…) How did the kid react when his dog passed away?" he asked.

Dr. Mario sighed. "Chris kept crying hard when Lucario died in front of him. He tried healing him, but his spells didn't do a single thing. He then collapsed, and when he woke up next morning we found out he lost his ability to talk," he explained.

"He is suffering from selective mutism," Naomi explained. "It's a state of muteness where a person can't talk during certain moments full of anxiety."

"(Talk about bad luck…) Are there any chances he'll speak again?" Snake asked.

"Someday, but his condition can last for a long period of time if he doesn't get over what happened yesterday," Naomi said. "We know he won't get over it, but his voice might come back when he feels better with himself."

"I was lucky I wasn't here to get infected," Snake said. "How did you let those guys into the mansion?"

"Espio opened the door for R.O.B. He didn't know how our enemies looked like," Dr. Mario said. "R.O.B…I mean, the Ancient Minister took advantage of Espio, and then things went awry from there."

"Yes, I noticed you got some more guests," Snake said. "I had to push a grenade into an idiot crocodile guy's throat back there at the hallway because he thought I was a thief. He just wouldn't shut up."

"Just…you wait until…I get ya…" Vector's voice echoed from the hallway.

"My, aren't we violent today?" Naomi asked.

"Oh, believe me. I'm pretty violent all the time," Snake said. "Figure out why."

"No need."

"Good."

Dr. Mario felt that he should leave the two of them alone. The doctor did notice that Snake used to stare at the fallen patients from time to time. Maybe the mercenary was going to miss them, Dr. Mario thought. He just wanted the day and the funeral to finish so everyone would try their best to relax in the incoming days.

Snake grumbled mentally. "(Whatever happened here makes something obvious to me. And that is the fact I need to stay close to this crazy bunch and investigate what that army's deal is. They want us dead, that's a given…)"

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Streets

The small group of Smashers walked down the sidewalks. Even though it was a cloudy day, there were still a lot of people in the village. Though some of them still couldn't distract their minds from the mournful event from yesterday, they did notice that most villagers were giving them looks because of a person in their group that stood out the most. That very same person even gave some children back off scared.

"We're getting looks, guys," Popo muttered.

"You don't really see an armored woman walking down the sidewalks that commonly," Toon Link muttered.

"Oh, as if any of you don't stand out," Samus said.

"I hate to break it to you, but you stand out of the most," Nana said. "And it doesn't help the fact you're so tall either. Why, I swear you could be an amazon but encased in armor. Face the facts, girl. An armored woman in the sidewalks is completely unheard of."

"Next time I'm coming here, I won't be wearing the suit."

"OH NO," Toon Link said. "As far as your…looks look, the suit fits you."

C. Falcon snickered. "Yup, wearing that suit makes people feel uncomfortable, but not wearing will make their eyes glue all over you," he said. "It's a lose-lose, Samus."

"Who said I don't have a wardrobe?" Samus questioned. "I know better than to come in here in my Zero Suit."

"Will any clothes really make a difference, though?"

"Will you scream if your helmet was taken off?"

"I'll be quiet…"

"Yes you will."

Though the other Smashers were showing a little bit of promise to be cheerful, Chris had other ideas. Walking around the streets made him feel bad. He regretted that Lucario wasn't there by his side anymore. He recalled the few times they would go out together just to see if there was something new to do. Chris was lucky that his Lucario was sociable, but he cursed himself for losing him in the process.

Shaking his head to avoid crying in the middle of the public, Chris put up a serious expression and stared forward. He wanted to head down to the post office and see if there was an innocent bystander pleading for help with a request.

Upon getting closer to said post office, the group came to a halt when they found out there was some kind of argument that was being delivered to Quill. The Rito postman, with crossed arms, looked serious at the customer in front of him. No matter how much the angry customer demanded him, Quill never felt threatened.

Popo sighed. "You guys, it was nice knowing you, really," he said. "I never had any regrets until my friends passed on. It's sad to think I really am going to die with regrets."

"Popo, don't be so stupid," Nana said bored. "Just because that person over there is…kind of violent when pissed, it doesn't mean we're going to die right away."

"Who knows? We could be toasted before we know it!" Toon Link said.

"Oh, come now, enough foolishness," Samus said. "We made a mistake before because we never tried to get to know our temporary guest."

"We had a good reason NOT to do it, and that was because doing it meant suicide," Jigglypuff said.

"Shall I go ahead and make my Pikmin dig us our graves?" Olimar asked frightened. "W-we can join our…um…you know who, in the afterlife and give them some company."

Chris merely grabbed C. Falcon's hand. "I'm serious now. No need to feel scared. I think we should come tomorrow. You're getting more pathetic, you know that? I'm not!" C. Falcon argued. "Then be a man and step up! Maybe I will!"

Nodding to each other, the Smashers proceeded forward towards the post office in hopes that they wouldn't make the customer angrier.

"I can't lose any more time in this village! I've been here for five months, for goodness' sake! I need to recover my best scroll so those monsters don't crush me!" Rita complained to Quill. "Can't you please urge people to be more helpful and give me information about my scroll's whereabouts?"

Quill shook his head. "As long as your request is on the board, you're assured that your problem is urgent. The lone fact that you put up a request here makes it obvious enough that you're urging people to help you out," he explained.

Rita looked annoyed. "Then how come nobody has taken up my request after all this time?" she asked.

"This village just happens to lack a few good useful people… You know…those…bounty hunter-like people?"

"There's not a single person like that in here. I only see palm-headed people and big-nosed dinosaurs! What the hell!" Rita complained. "You know what? I'll set up a camp right next in this post office to make people take my request!"

"Do that and you'll be taken to jail."

"Ha, I'll see if they can even throw me in there! I might not have my scroll, but I can still burn people down!"

The Smashers were astonished to see that Quill never knew how to fear the crazy Genius Mage. Either he was very courageous or very, very naïve. But to prevent the village from seizing to exist tomorrow, they tried to take action. "Let's wait for the Hammer Bros. to rebuild the village in a month again," Jigglypuff suggested.

"But I can't help but think she really needs help…" Nana trailed off. "She's very worried about that scroll she lost. If we helped her, then we could be on her good side."

"That is, if that good side doesn't kill us," C. Falcon said.

Samus thought about the request and Rita. "Hmm, helping her would probably make her like us…in a good way," she said. "Most of us fear her, but if she was a friend of us, then perhaps we'd have some kind of advantage out of this."

"It's a bit suicidal, but I want to help her all the same. Did you forget she tried to kill you over a DS? U-um, s-she probably forgot that by now! I wouldn't think so. Dammit, stop putting me down! No, I'm giving you advice," C. Falcon told the fuming Chris.

"Let's help her," Toon Link gave up. "I'm with Samus with her idea to make her be a friend of us."

"T-that's a nice thought," Olimar muttered.

Rita grunted and crossed her arms in thought. She knocked on her forehead a few times until she turned around and found the group of Smashers behind her. She stepped back a bit on surprise. "Oh, it's you," she said. "I forgot you lived close to this village."

"We heard what you were shouting," Toon Link said. "You're saying you lost a scroll? That's why you're making Quill's life a living hell?"

Rita didn't care much about Quill but her scroll. "Idiot, that scroll is very important. It's the one that makes my magic more powerful. I can buy another one any time, but that one is the best one I can have for now," she explained. "Without it, my magic will lose its touch. It can still damage, mind you, but not as much as it used to be…" She eyed them closer. "Wait a minute. Are you inferring you want to help me?"

"Why not?" Samus asked. "Helping a person in need is a good deed. You can agree with that notion, right?"

"U-um, yes," Rita said shyly before nodding. "I didn't expect you to come here and give me a hand…but you could be very resourceful unlike the villagers of this place… Fine, I accept your help," she said closing her eyes. "(They are better than anybody, anyway…) Let's tag along for a little more time until you finish my request, okay?"

"You're coming with us to wherever we go?" Popo asked.

Rita looked upset. "You're stupid to think I'm gonna stay behind and wait for you to do the job. I'll go with you to make sure you go look for my scroll without going anywhere else and do your personal stuff," she said. "Be thankful I'm lending my services to you while you're giving me yours."

"Well, that is a bit nice of your part…" C. Falcon muttered.

Rita forced her way into your team!

Toon Link walked to Quill, who gave him a feather badge to apply for the request. "Thank you for getting rid of her," Quill muttered.

"Curse you for giving her to us," Toon Link muttered annoyed.

"You have my condolences, really…"

"I bet you do."

"Helping you makes me stay in character with my job," Samus told Rita. "How did you lose your scroll? What is this monster the request refers to?"

Rita thought a bit. "I lost my scroll when I woke up the next morning four months ago…and this isn't really a monster but a sneaky thief. I'm just calling that thief a monster for stealing my scroll," she recalled. "Anyway, I left my scroll next to my bed when I went to sleep, but the next morning it disappeared without leaving a trace…but I know somebody got into my room at the inn. Whoever did it must have had good feet to avoid making noise."

Olimar shuddered. "I think that doesn't help too much…" he muttered.

"What else do you want me to say?" Rita asked. "The only clue I got is that my room started to stink like beans. Why, the same stench of beans was the reason I woke up so suddenly! Though it was stupid, that single clue is very vital to me."

Nana rolled her eyes. "What makes you think that thief is here?" she asked. "It's been four months ever since you lost your scroll, right? That thief could've fled from the village by now."

Rita grinned in a know-it-all manner. "Hah, that's where you're wrong. It's obvious you haven't read the newspapers," she said, taking out from behind a thick newspaper that she handed over to Samus. "Look at the articles. The newspapers I just gave you date all the way from the day my scroll was stolen to this present day."

Samus started browsing the newspapers until she started passing one by one to the others. They found out there were acts of robberies reported almost every single day until today. "Yes, there's been a lot…and there are even more it's a bit absurd," Samus said.

"It even looks like the robberies were a daily event because all the newspapers aren't that far away in dates," C. Falcon said.

"Read a little bit more into them," Rita said. "There's a very odd thing in all of them that link to my scroll's disappearance."

They read that all the cases had many victims complaining about a stinky bean odor in the places where their belongings were stolen. "It's says here that the only clue they could gather was the stinky bean odor that lingered in their homes…" Olimar trailed off.

"So now you see why I haven't given up yet," Rita said. "That lousy thief is still in this village, getting inside everyone else's homes while stealing stuff. Once I find that rat, I'm gonna rip a head off without using my magic."

Olimar put the newspapers away. "Don't you have any more ideas how to find that thief?" he asked, hoping Rita wouldn't snap out on him.

"Why would you think I put up a request in the first place? I've got no leads or ideas to catch that thief," Rita said. She grinned at them and said, "But I'm so lucky that you came here to help me. I'll pay you reasonably if you do a good job. You're better than giving my request to that other guild I know."

Toon Link looked confused. "You had a guild in mind?" he asked.

"It's Karol Kiddy Guild," Rita said. "He's very attached to his Brave Vesperia guild that he would scold me for putting up requests for other. He's got the wrong idea that I belong to his guild."

"What the heck did you do behind my back all this time? Have you been lost for a long time just to put up a request under my nose? Rita, you're horrible, I swear!"

Rita looked away. "Yup, that's something he would say to me if he was near. Come to think of it, you guys did a perfect impersonation with his voice that for a moment I thought he was standing close to me," she said.

"What? That's because I AM here, Rita! Stop teasing me!"

Right behind the Genius Mage, the Brave Vesperia's boss stood angry. Sighing, Rita turned to Karol. "Hi there," she said uninterested.

"I know you were playing around with me, don't hide it," Karol said.

"You came all the way back here just to scold me? You've guts to yell at my face," Rita said annoyed.

Karol whimpered and stepped back from Rita. "I-I didn't come here to do that, n-no way!" he said. "I-I came here looking for you because…u-um…I-I was worried!"

Rita narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling Karol was lying.

"…F-fine, Yuri told me to look for you. Actually, he wanted to do it, but I offered my help instead," he explained. "I figured out it'd be a nice move of my part to find you."

"Are you trying to imply I got lost and I needed a kid to guide me back home? I can go back to Aspio on my own. I don't need you… " She looked confused at what Karol had said.

"D-don't take it wrong, please!" Karol said. "B-be glad Yuri worries about you, and that also includes me! Did you forget our world is in danger?"

Rita looked up to the cloudy sky. In her mind, she recalled that her world was about to suffer an imminent catastrophe. But then she thought about Yuri. "That guy is alive?" she asked.

"You didn't know? He suddenly showed up from nowhere," Karol said. "After that big fall from Zaude, he showed up a few days ago. It was a miracle."

Rita looked at Karol. "And why he didn't let us know in this first place? We looked all over for him! He likes to make us worry a lot, doesn't he?" she asked annoyed.

"Rita…were you worried about Yuri?" Karol asked.

Rita blushed and shook her head. "U-um, no, I'm not worried about him… You don't give me those looks either!" she told the group. "Go find that stolen scroll at once! Karol is coming with us too!"

Karol looked back and forth between Rita and the group. "W-wait just a minute! Are you making me do work?" he asked.

"Tough luck, you're Brave Vesperia's leader. You like to help people, right? Then get to it and find my scroll!"

Karol looked desperate. "W-well, I like to help people, b-but this is all so sudden! I was just coming here to get you and I'm forcibly being enrolled to help you?" he asked.

Popo walked over to Karol and whispered something on his ear. "If you value your life, obey her and close your mouth for a little while," he whispered.

The axe wielder had to agree with the Ice Climber. Sighing, Karol gave up and waved a hand. "Okay, I'll help you find that scroll…but you're coming back, Rita," he said. "If you forgot, the Adephagos is about to destroy our world if we don't do something. You were researching about how to stop it, right?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to take a break midway," Rita said. "I regret taking a break, though. I got myself winded up in this mess."

Karol forced a smile. "Then I'll gladly help you out," he said.

Karol was forced to join your team temporarily (by Rita)!

Rita decided to explain everything to Karol about what happened to her stolen scroll. "Hmm, a thief who leaves behind a stench of beans… That's kind of crazy, but that clue alone won't help that much," Karol said.

"If we want to find that thief, we need to think like one," Toon Link said. "…No, scratch that. It won't work that way. Maybe there's something we can use as bait?"

"All the stolen materials the thief stole were valuable to a certain degree," Samus said. "A very good item should be good enough to lure the thief out."

"But what else is there?" Jigglypuff asked. "Do we make up a lie that there's a valuable item in the village?"

Olimar knocked on his helmet. "Well, that could work…but nobody knows there's something like that," he said.

Chris thought for a little moment. Looking serious, he grabbed C. Falcon's hand again. "Why don't you do it with somebody else? It's like I'm talking to myself," the captain complained, which Chris ignored completely. "We could spread the word that a very valuable item is going to be displayed in the village today so that the thief hears the news. We should just choose a place where anybody can go that will be easy to use as bait. Hmm, you got yourself a good place, Chris," the captain said with a grin.

Nana nodded. "That works nicely," she said. "Spreading the word about a valuable item so that it becomes the talk of town is a nice plan to lure out the thief."

Rita and Karol noticed that Chris didn't say a word. The Genius Mage found it weird that the World Traveler never spoke to her even when they met up with her again.

"So what place should we choose to place that 'valuable item', then?" Toon Link asked.

Nana crossed her arms. "We can't choose a home. It'd be rude to borrow one from a villager," she said.

They all turned to the post office. Quill started to feel a bit uncomfortable with all the eyes set on the office. "…What are you thinking now?" he asked.

"What if…we said that a museum requested an ancient relic that was delivered to the post office, and that the relic will be delivered at night?" C. Falcon suggested. "Is there a museum in the village?"

"We're lucky because one is going to open tomorrow," Olimar said, holding the latest newspaper.

Quill looked bewildered when everyone nodded with the idea. "N-now hold on there," Quill said. "Are you planning to have the post office be the target for a thief?"

Toon Link clasped his hands and pleaded to Quill. "You're my friend! Please, please give us a hand heeeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeeee!" he pleaded. "We don't have a friend like you who works at an office! You're our only hope!"

The feathered postman put a hand on his forehead. "The favors I do for customers… Alright, I'll lend the post office to you, but you've got to promise me that no letters will be stolen today. We're holding many packages inside," he said.

"Oh, that makes the plan better. We could also mention there's a big amount of relics," Samus said.

Quill smacked his forehead. "I shouldn't have said that…" he trailed off.

Karol looked worried at Rita. "I feel bad that we're going to make this place a target," he said.

Rita looked uninterested. "If that's how they want to do this, it's their choice. I'm not complaining here," she said.

"You just want that scroll and you don't even care what could happen to the office, do you?"

"Yup."

"Figures."

"Then we've got no time to waste. We need to start spreading the word and set up the trap as soon as possible," Toon Link said.

Everyone but Toon Link, Chris, Rita, and Karol spread around the village to tell villagers about the supposed relic. Slowly but surely, the word spread fast, with adults talking about the supposed ancient relic that was being held in the post office for the night. The rumor turned quickly into a huge gossip that became the news of the village.

"Wow, it's working so fast!" Karol said impressed. "I can't believe gossip can travel so fast around these parts!"

"It's common knowledge that anyone would die to learn about some rumor or gossip," Rita said before humming. "That scroll is as good as mine."

Toon Link rubbed his chin. "Now we need to set up the post office for the trap…" he trailed off in deep thought. "Hey, Quill! Mind if you leave the post office behind for four hours? We'll take care of it from a safe distance!"

Quill sighed. "I'm letting you do this just because I trust you. Don't break that trust now, you hear?" he asked before he came out from the door on the left side of the request board. He was carrying a mailbag with him. "Postman and Parakarry are out doing deliveries. I'm going to do some errands as well, but I hope the post office isn't in shambles once I come back."

"Why would you think we're going to destroy the place?" Karol asked.

Quill knew Toon Link wouldn't do such a thing, but with the people he was living with… "A hunch, nothing else," he said, walking away calmly until he crossed an intersection and left the area.

Rita looked annoyed at Toon Link. "He's not thinking I'm going to destroy his office, right?" she asked.

"N-no, no way!" Toon Link said. "H-he's just being careful! Don't get any wrong ideas!"

The Genius Mage eyed Chris, who seemed to be laughing at Toon Link's desperation. When Chris noticed Rita, he stared blankly at her, feeling some discomfort. "So why don't you speak up?" she asked. "I'm curious to know why you didn't say anything when we met again."

"Hey, that's right!" Karol realized. "You haven't said a thing at all! Why's that?"

The teen seemed to gasp, but he looked down shamefully. Every time someone would ask why he was mute, Chris would feel very sad about the reason behind it. Toon Link looked up worried at Link before he looked at Rita and Karol. "Chris is mute," Toon Link said. "He became mute after some…really nasty happened yesterday."

"He became mute?" Karol asked. "Why would he become mute? He talked just fine when we met!"

Toon Link looked at Chris. "Is it okay if I tell them?" he asked, to which Chris nodded. "You guys remember that we live with more people at the mansion, right?"

"With the monkeys, the furry people, the armored people, and the giant disembodied hand? Yeah, it's not so easy to forget them," Rita said.

Toon Link looked ill. "S-some of them…t-they…they died not long ago," he said.

Karol let out a loud gasp, while Rita's eyes widened at the news. "What?" Karol and Rita both asked, though Karol sounded more shocked.

"H-how could they die? I-I mean, they died? B-but how?" Karol asked. "You're not the kind of people who die so easily, I can tell that much!"

The young swordsman looked at the teen, who looked away to get over his sadness. Sighing, Toon Link looked at the other two. "There was this guy, an enemy, who infiltrated the mansion and spread a disease to ten of us. The guy escaped, but the people who got infected got very bad diseases that we had to call a doctor to heal them. When everything looked good…a half of them couldn't survive in the end…" he looked at Chris, "and one of them…was Lucario."

The mere mention of Lucario's name felt like a dagger impaling itself in Chris's body. The teen shed a few tears, but he wiped them out as soon as they came out from his eyes so that he wouldn't cry in the middle of the street.

Rita stared at Chris. "That blue mutt? He died as well?" she asked.

Karol could tell the saddened look on Chris's face that he looked back at Rita. "Rita, don't call him like that after he died!" he scolded her.

"Ugh…" Rita looked away for a moment. "But it's so hard to believe that he could die by a disease. He looked healthy."

"Oh man…" Karol shook his head. "I don't want to think the people I met passed on… I…I just don't want to…" he sniffed sadly. For some odd reason, the axe wielder shed a few tears that he wiped out slowly. Gulping, he looked at them again. "I feel so powerless again…but this isn't the right time to cry. I know it was hard for you to…to lose him like that, but you've got to hang in there…"

Chris was very grateful that he was being cheered on, but that didn't help too much with the fact that Lucario was gone. He cursed mentally when he seemingly whimpered in front of them. He shut his eyes and rubbed his eyes to keep the tears from coming out.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Karol apologized. "I didn't want to make you cry like that, I-I'm sorry! Please don't hate me for this, I beg you! I know how you feel as well! Trust me, I went through the same thing!"

The teen put down his hands to his sides and looked surprised at Karol. Even Toon Link looked a bit surprised at the axe wielder. Rita, however, shook her head. "Karol, it's not like I care too much, but you shouldn't try to revive the past," she said.

Karol inhaled and exhaled air. "No… It's okay, Rita. I better do it now or they're going to puzzle themselves about why I'm reacting like this…" He took a few seconds to calm down until he stared at Toon Link and Chris. "Hearing that you guys lost friends also reminded me of the Don."

"Who?" Toon Link asked.

"Don Whitehorse of the Union guild," Rita said. "He was a respected man who was looked up by many other guilds in Dahngrest. Karol was also a follower of him. He committed suicide after he failed to settle up some troubling matters."

Chris blinked and grabbed Toon Link's hand to ask something. "Why did he commit suicide like that if there were chances to solve his issues? Yeah, why?" Toon Link asked.

Karol clenched his fists. "His actions were wrong, but he was too late to solve them all because there was no way to do anything," he explained. "He…he allowed his grandson to hunt down a dear friend to him, and that friend died…"

"And since guilds are very attached to their rules, the disrespect that somebody causes to their guild will only fall on the one who made the guild look bad, in this case, the Don was the one who did it," Rita said. "Those guilds' laws…they're crazy."

"It's way too different to what happened to you…but I can relate to you very well," Karol said, his eyes shedding a few tears. "The Don was my role model, but I couldn't just bear his death for a while… You're older than me, right? I think you can hang in there much better t-than I did…"

The teen looked down ashamed. He was unsure if he could hang in there. It didn't matter that he was older than Karol, since Chris himself had a weak emotional state that would compare to Karol's.

The axe wielder shook his head with a sigh. "You know, I can't do this… I can't cheer people up in this kind of situation…" He sniffed sadly, but he quickly regained his composure. The news triggered a painful memory in him. "I can only say that you have me to feel okay, though. I don't know if that will do any help, but it's the least I can do."

The teen wiped away some tears and decided to give another message by scribbling on Toon Link's hand. "I really appreciate your thoughtfulness, Karol. Thank you so much for worrying about me," Toon Link read.

Karol forced a grin and wiped his nose. "Heheh, you got it," he said.

While the three were talking, Rita crossed her arms and thought about the people she met at the mansion that had passed away. "(You stupid dog… Why did you die like that?)" she pondered to herself. "(Why do I feel sorry for you? I didn't do this before…)"

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

The gloomy atmosphere in the infirmary still lingered. Having half of the patients out of commission for the rest of their lives didn't certainly help the mood. A few of the Smashers would think in the backside of their minds that Naomi was responsible for not doing a good job, even though the assistants would contradict that assumption.

By now, Naomi had made a friend on Snake, possibly because he was an adult she could talk to. "I don't want to move them to their coffins yet," Naomi said. "I…I would like to give them my condolences for doing everything I could to save them."

"You better do it quick or their bodies will rot in here," Snake said.

The surgeon rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the little warning." Whether or not they were friends after saying that was a little bit debatable. "But this is what I get from being a surgeon. The sad truth of this job is that you can't save all lives like you had expected."

"I know what you mean," Snake said. "I would feel like crap if things wouldn't go as I planned. But I'd get angry instead of getting depressed. I'm not drinking beer to drown my pains."

"Neither will I," Naomi said. "I've got common sense, mind you… Tell me something, will you?" she asked, staring at Snake. "One simple look at you gives me the obvious idea that you never thought that you would end up here with all of them, right?"

Snake nodded. "Yeah, what about it?" he asked.

Naomi thought for a moment until she spoke. "Be honest with me. You would do anything for them if they were to get in trouble, right?" she asked.

The mercenary leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. "If I helped them, my reason for doing it would be because I'm royally screwed without backup. I do things alone, but this kind of problem we're dealing with requires all the necessary resources as possible," he explained.

"Besides that, do you feel anything for them?" she asked. "Your eyes aren't agreeing with your words. Make them agree with your mouth if you want to be honest."

"…Sheesh, woman. You're pretty sharp yourself," Snake remarked, looking back at Naomi. "I just might care for them…but just a bit, that's all. Don't make a huge deal about it if you'd please."

"Oh no, that's okay with me," Naomi said. "That small bit of worry you have for them is enough for me to tell you care a lot."

Snake looked at Lucario. "Only a few of them, though…" he muttered, thinking about Chris for a brief moment.

The surgeon was amused that a person like Snake would have some feelings for a (bunch of completely unrelated) people like the Smashers. "Well, you care for them, and they made me realize I care for them whether or not they're my patients," she said.

"Is it because you made friends with a big nosed man?"

"That's just one example of many. From where I come from, gorillas don't wear ties or even talk English," Naomi said chuckling. "My time here was short, but I gained many fond memories. I only regret that there are bad ones that won't go away from their lives… You don't think I'm guilty for failing to save their lives, right?"

Snake shrugged. "It's their own fault they fell for such a trap in the first place. You're the reinforcements," he said.

Naomi crossed her arms and looked over to the other resting patients while Dr. Mario came from the hallway. "If only they wouldn't curse my true name for what happened here…" she muttered with a hint of depression.

With no much else to do rather than watching over the patients, Dr. Mario wanted to get a few things done before the funeral could start. Thinking about the Smashers who died, he found some things that were supposed to be used by their owners, but the stuff was completely discarded due to their deaths. The doctor didn't find much, sadly, but he took upon himself the task to pass on the stuff to the closest people.

Dr. Mario approached Falco's bed. The ace pilot was forcibly trying to sleep out of frustration, but he opened his upset look to the doctor. "Sorry for interrupting your time to rest, but I got something for you," he said as he handed over a letter next to Falco. "I found this letter in Fox's room. He never got the chance to read it. Since he is…you know, you have the freedom to read its content."

Falco grunted and turned away from the doctor while the letter rested beside him.

"…Okay, I'll just leave it there for now," Dr. Mario said. "Don't force your voice to talk or you're going to get a worst sore throat. I still need to pass on some other belongings to the others."

As the doctor walked away, Falco kept looking down on the floor until he focused on Fox's lifeless face next to his bed. A few blinks were enough to make Falco feel regret, and they also made him turn back to the letter he didn't want to read. He muttered a small sigh, and he opened up the letter to read what it had. Upon closer inspection, he instantly knew who was sending that letter.

Dear Fox,

Hi! How are you doing? It's been a long time ever since we spent time together, haven't we? Tee-hee. I hope I'm not interrupting you in your long journey to save the universe from that bad army. You know the one I'm talking about, right? I forgot its name…but it's not necessary to talk about. We're doing just fine over here, don't worry. I've become a lot stronger in our long fight against the Executioners, and I think I've matured a bit more as well.

Long story short…I really wanna see you again soon. I really, really miss you a lot. Oh, don't you give me that angry look now! I swear this isn't love-love thing but a love-friendship thing! I can tell when you're giving me the nasty look with that face you have! I learned the bad way, anyway… Sorry for getting a bit off-topic. You still have that ticket I gave you for my debut on the stage. Just hold on to it and you'll never forget me… You really didn't forget me after all this time, right?

Tee-hee, you're lucky the Fairy of Illusions remembers you still! I wish you the best of luck! Mirage is getting too tired writing this letter so I better stop here. (Hearts)

From your dearest Fairy of Illusions,

Peppita Rossetti

P.S.: This is Mirage. I'm happy she's not making me write fifty more letters… Good luck, okay?

Falco stared blankly at the letter. He sighed mentally and put the letter away. Deep down, he was very sad that Fox was gone. And if the little girl would know about his demise, she would probably never smile a sincere smile ever again. The ace pilot rested his head against his pillow, shedding a small tear while doing so.

Dr. Mario then approached Link and Zelda, the latter reading a book about some Hyrule folklore. The Hylian turned to look at Dr. Mario, who handed over a letter. "You didn't read this letter yet, have you?" Dr. Mario asked. "Marth handed it over for me. He just realized he was holding on to it."

Link took the letter and opened it to read its content.

"You don't have anything better to do, right? You should read it for yourself," Dr. Mario said, walking away to attend the other patients while looking depressed at the guests who didn't want to leave the infirmary and their fallen ones behind.

Zelda lowered her book with a small sigh. "It's no use. I can't distract my mind with books at all," she said. "The painful thought that they're…gone, it's just too much for me to bear."

"How about if you read this letter with me?" Link asked. "It's from Lucca."

Upon hearing that name, Zelda stood up to read the letter with Link.

Dear Link & Everyone,

It's been a little while, hasn't it? I can't express how thankful I am with you for helping me out of that depressive state I had. After that, things have been going well for all of us. We've been traveling through different periods, and we're almost ready to fight Lavos head-on. Heheheh, we all know it's thanks to me we've got the best technology…

You probably didn't notice, but I stopped writing because I got so excited. Marle had to hand-chop my head...again. Speaking of her, she can't stop talking about you, like, at all. She's often wondering what kind of worlds you go to and what food you eat. She even complains in secret for not having so much fun with all of us. That little… Oh, sorry for that. At least she gets distracted by Crono's heroics. The dude says hi, by the way. Robo is also wishing you good luck and he wants to see how Falco is doing. Ayla wishes to see DK again and have some wild fun together (I get goosebumps because I can't really tell what she means by that…). Magus is pretty much not saying anything about you, but I can tell he misses talking with that Mewtwo guy. And me? Duh! I miss you a lot!

Sorry, I got excited again… Oh, sorry, but I have to go now. We've discovered some abandoned dome in the Future and Robo is feeling a bit strange about it. I wonder why… Good luck in your journeys, okay? Come back to visit us!

From Super Awesome Genius Scientist,

Lucca Ashtear

Link and Zelda smiled briefly to each other. "That reminds me, she never told me her last name," Link said.

However, the two Hylians couldn't smile for much longer. One look to the other fallen Smashers was enough to put them back to their depressed states. Link once again felt horrible, putting Lucca's letter away. If only he could make more good memories like he did with Lucca, he thought, Link would have had a chance to stay happy. As for Zelda, she was thinking the same.

After seeing Falco, Link, and Zelda reading letters, Marth decided to read another one. He recalled he was holding another letter addressed to him and some other people. He left Roy for a moment to go to Snake. The mercenary raised an eyebrow as Marth handed over the letter. "Remember Yuffie? She wrote you a letter," Marth said.

Snake took the letter to read its content. "She better not try to lure me into a trap and steal my weaponry…" he muttered with a scoff.

Dear Mr. Scary-*ss Tight Pants,

"Strange, why do I want to go back to her world all of a sudden?" Snake asked.

"Please don't choke her for this. She likes to tease us a lot…" Marth trailed off.

I thought about sending you guys (especially you) a letter. We haven't spoken to each other in a long while! What's up with that, anyway? But before I get ideas, lemme give ya a rundown about my pals here. Cloud, as always, is just saying hi and nothing else (what a weirdo). Aerith misses rubbing that blue dog's ears. Tee-hee, I can tell that so well from her. Tifa misses you too. I think she liked being around you. Cid is being the big meanie, saying he gives "a sh*t" about you and your friends. He's a big liar cuz he laughed playfully afterward. Red XIII waved his paw at you. Lucky you! He likes you already. That's good. Cait Sith and Vincent never got the chance to meet you two. Well, I was lucky I did. ;D

…Alright, I was kinda unlucky since I was sort of a villain when I first played that little (but AWESOME) trick on ya. But really, I'm just teasing with you! I really miss you. What would you expect from me after you saved Wutai from destruction? You also made Cloud friendlier, so that's another plus for you. You made Cid angrier, so that's a minus for you. Either way, I want you to come back and make Cloud EVEN friendlier with me. He still holds a grudge on me, I can tell. D:

From the Really Cunning, Cute, Adorable, Swift, Keen, Courageous, Sweet, BADASS, Beautiful Kunoichi Girl,

Yuffie Kisaragi ;P

P.S.: I actually like your name a lot. Tee-hee, Sneak-y Snake. XD

Marth looked at Snake. "She seems to like you," he said.

"She likes to tease me, you mean. You already said that," Snake said, throwing the letter away. "I'm not hanging out with her just to be her personal teasing toy."

"The world is her playground."

"It makes much more sense that way. But in other news, are you going to attend the funeral later this afternoon?"

"I will…" Marth muttered, turning over to Ike's bed. "A dear friend fell down in battle, and I need to pay my respects for him. I have never witnessed my army losing a man or woman before, and losing Ike has put a tremendous impact on me… What about you, though? Will you at least miss them all?"

Snake furrowed his brow. "Just a bit, but enough to make me shed tears," he said. "I'm a tough guy."

"(He is by no means a lone wolf. He will miss them a lot,)" Marth thought.

"(Uh-oh, he's giving me that look. He better not think some crazy ideas.) By the way, where is the kid?" he asked, thinking Chris would be at the infirmary to stay close to Lucario. "I thought he would be here, trying to give his dead dog company until he's buried six-feet under."

"I heard that he went to the village with the others to try to distract themselves from fretting all day," Marth said. "But even I know they won't forget what happened here. Chris is surely thinking about Lucario a lot by now."

Snake saw how Dr. Mario walked around the infirmary, checking up on the patients. "Yeah, the kid can be strong at times, but this crossed the line for his mental state," Snake said. "No wonder why he got mute. What is going to help him avoid bursting out in tears in that village, though?"

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Wings Post Office

Kingdom Hearts II - Roxas

The World Traveler wasn't confusing too much on the mission at hand. The wait for the thief to come on out from the hiding spot was forcing Chris to think about Lucario. It was impossible for him to avoid thinking about his fallen Pokémon. To Chris, Lucario felt like an important piece to his life. And without that piece, the teen would fall down into depression.

Chris thought that not having Lucario was like not meeting him at all. At first, he was scared when Lucario first appeared to him, but he grew very fond of his company. His company lasted longer for a time, until the inevitable happened. His death meant to Chris that his moments of joy were all crushed down, shattered into pieces. With no means to cry loudly, Chris found himself in a dead end. The only thing he could do was trying his best to cry, which was almost futile at that point.

He shook his head, trying to get his mind back to work. It was the best method Chris could use to stay calm.

The post office was deserted. The group of four was hiding on the other side of the street inside an alley between buildings to spy on the establishment for any signs of the thief. So far, villagers walked past by the post office, and none of them looked shady. The others who went to spread the word haven't come back yet. They were ensuring everyone knew about their plan.

"How long are we gonna hide inside this stinky place until that rat comes out?" asked an impatient Rita. "It's been three hours and no one is getting inside!"

"Hey, don't look away now!" Toon Link scolded. "We've got to stay staring at the office to see who gets inside!"

"Well, the air is the only thing getting inside!" Rita complained.

"Rita, this is the only way this plan is going to work!" Karol said.

"Did you just scold me?"

"U-um, no, I-I'm merely suggesting."

Toon Link frowned ashamed. He turned to Chris, who had a depressed look on his face. "Having you mute is like having a ghost watching my back," he said. "I miss talking to you, really."

Chris seemed to sigh, looking away uninterested.

"I didn't press the wrong button, did I?" Toon Link asked worried.

Rita turned to the young swordsman. "Hey, you were the one who told me to stare at our bait. You should set an example and do the same," she said upset before turning to Chris, not minding that he was rather sad. "And you should do it too."

The young swordsman looked upset at the Genius Mage. "Well, excuse me, Ms. Genius Mage, but I was sacrificing a little of my time to see Chris. I'm going back to stare at the bait, don't worry," he said.

Rita stared back at the post office. "He better get back to work because I'm paying you guys for this. This isn't the time to fret over a dead guy," she said.

Karol stared at Rita. "Rita…" he trailed off.

"What?"

"Do you have to… Well, do you have to be this cold towards him?" he asked, not noticing Chris was getting more depressed after listening to Rita. "He just lost somebody dear to him and you're putting him down in the slums."

The Genius Mage rolled her eyes. "It's not my problem he wasn't careful when he got sick with a disease," she said. "His recklessness cost him his life."

While Karol and Toon Link exchanged glances, Chris thought about when the Ancient Minister barged inside by pushing the teen with a laser attack. No matter how much Chris tried after that, he couldn't keep Lucario under control when he was being insulted by the enemy. The World Traveler didn't want to admit that Rita might have been right with Lucario being reckless in that situation.

"E-even so, that's no way to talk to him like that," Karol said. "We're his friends, aren't we? I'm doing my best to cheer him up!"

Rita sighed. "I hate when you bring up that excuse, Karol," she said. "This is one of life's games. You lose it, that's it. You did your best but you failed in the end. All things work like that everywhere…and every single world." She looked at them. "I even follow that rule."

"Rita, you can't be serious about this!" Karol argued. "I don't care if you toast me with fire, but he's going through a hard time! Can't you try to show some of that nice side when you're with Estelle?"

At that, Rita grunted. "Don't bring up that up either, you hear me?" she demanded. "I-I just hate seeing her hurt! I can't do the same with other people I haven't even known for a long time like him!"

"But you can try to be nicer!" Karol said. "Life would be a lot easier for you if you opened up to people!"

Rita turned back to look at the post office. "I'll open up whenever I want. You can't make me do it now," she said.

Karol frowned. "I guess the fact you never met your parents had a great impact in your life…" he muttered.

Toon Link stared at Karol. "Rita never met her parents?" he asked. He thought Rita would turn around and scold them, but she didn't do it. She kept staring at the post office.

"She told us before that she lost her parents since they died… What's more, she never tried to feel sorry for them because she never saw their faces at all," Karol said fairly depressed. "She grew up entirely on her own without her parents supporting her. I imagine it was a tough life for her, but she survived thanks to having Blastia by her side. She studied Blastia research a lot and she became a genius."

The Hero of Winds looked at Rita, who didn't look back at them. "(She's not even budging after hearing that… Gosh, she really doesn't care about her parents,)" he thought, not noticing Chris was staring at Rita as well. "But has she ever tried to make friends?"

"She had no friends or relatives. She was all alone with her research," Karol said. "Rita studied so much about Blastia that she never thought about talking to others. If you went to her home in Aspio, you'd see her running back and forth from the library to her hut. If you said hi to her, she'd ignore you altogether until you interrupt her…which isn't a good idea most of the time."

"I see…"

Chris would never thought about feeling sorry for Rita. After hearing that, he felt empathetic to the Genius Mage, but for her to accept his condolences was an impossible feat.

"But not all is lost to her," Karol said. "Estelle, Yuri, me, Judith, Raven, and even Repede are her friends. She doesn't want to admit it, bu-"

"Karol, would you shut up now?" Rita yelled angrily. "Just stop it! I can't bear this any longer!"

Karol and Toon Link yelped at the demand. "O-oh, s-sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want to make you angry, Rita! You weren't saying anything so I just continued!"

Rita looked at them over her left shoulder. "Then stop it! I don't care what people think of me, but it pisses me off that you're saying I'm friends with you all!" she yelled.

Toon Link didn't want to continue and get attacked by Rita, but Karol gulped and did otherwise. "But you are friends with us! You just don't want to admit it! You've been traveling with us, you know! That alone proves my point!" he yelled.

The Genius Mage staggered for a moment. She turned away and grunted loudly. "Shut your damn mouth, Karol! Stop saying those things now or else I'll wring your neck!" she threatened.

"I-I…I-I…" Karol looked at Toon Link then he looked at Chris. The saddened look on Chris's face armed Karol with some courage to continue talking back to Rita. He wanted her to be nice to the World Traveler at all costs. "I don't care!"

"What?" Rita asked, turning back to them.

"Rita, your stupid ice queen personality needs to go away!" Karol yelled, pointing at Chris. "You don't give a damn about your parents, but he got the chance to see many faces!"

Rita stared at Chris for a moment. "…I never cared much about making friends. I understand you got a right to be depressed, but I can't express myself like you do," she said.

"You're wrong! You worried a lot about Estelle when she was kidnapped, remember?" Karol asked.

Rita grunted. "F-fine, I did worry about Estelle a lot. But I can't feel the same things for others," she said, looking away uninterested. "I think I might care for you a bit, Karol, and that includes the others. However, these guys are a bit out of the question."

Toon Link wanted to speak next. "Then don't you think you should give it a try?" he asked.

"Why bother? I don't want people slowing me down," Rita said.

"But if you opened up to more people, they could be glad to help you out when you need help," Toon Link said, looking at Chris. "Chris is a very nice person, Rita. He would definitely give you a hand if you wanted."

Rita looked upset at Toon Link while Chris thought about something. "What makes you think I want somebody else's help?" she asked. "Look, this conversation is getting too tedious. Why don't we just forget this ever happened and… What?"

The Genius Mage looked at a DS positioned in front of her. Blinking surprised, she looked at Chris, who was holding it out for her to take it. The look on Chris's face was serious. At a loss of words, Toon Link stared shocked at Chris. "W-what are you doing?" Toon Link asked.

Rita was suspicious about the teen. "What are you trying to say with this?" she asked. "Wasn't this the machine I tried to get by killing you off that time?"

"You tried to do WHAT to him?" Karol asked only to be shut up by Toon Link.

Chris nodded, and he placed the DS on Rita's right hand. The Genius Mage couldn't believe that the World Traveler would simply give the console away to her. Rita stared down at the DS in her hand for a long time. Seeing that Rita wasn't saying anything, Chris walked next to her and told her to position her hand so that he could talk to her.

Rita blushed slightly. "U-um, I feel stupid doing this for you, but I want to see what you want to say," she said, allowing Chris to scribble in her hand. "I'd be happy to lend my DS to you for a time if you want. What? Just maybe, if you didn't demand to get it from me that time and instead asked me for it, I could've lent in to you with no problems." She looked away while sighing, turning back to see what else Chris was scribbling. "As long as you don't really destroy it, I'm fine with it. After all, you're a genius, aren't you?"

Karol and Toon Link watched as Rita looked away once more. However, they saw that she looked a bit guilty. "…Did Chris do it?" Toon Link muttered.

"I-I don't really know…" Karol muttered.

Looking down at the DS in hand, Rita felt that there was no need to take off any parts to study it. She cursed in her mind that she had lost any interest in studying the apparatus. But somehow, she felt a bit thankful for something she didn't want to admit. She grunted loudly and turned to Chris, holding out his DS back to him. "Take it away from me," she said. "I don't want this."

Karol gasped. "Is Rita rejecting a Blastia?" he asked bewildered.

"Quiet!" Rita yelled at Karol. "I have no idea why I don't want this anymore, but take it!" she told Chris, who was surprised at her reaction. "What are you waiting for? Take it!"

Chris stared at his DS for a while before staring at Rita. The Genius Mage was getting angrier that Chris wasn't doing any effort to take the DS. Before she could erupt, Rita was taken aback when the teen smiled a bit at her.

"D-dammit… Here!" Rita said as she forced the DS onto Chris's hand. She turned away from him and crossed her arms. "Geez, I don't know why you smiled to me just now and I don't want to find out why!"

Toon Link saw Chris grabbing his hand to scribble more words. "I can tell you're a nice person, Rita. You might be very cold, but you're actually very trustworthy. My friends think that you're dangerous, but I think otherwise. If you ever find yourself in trouble…we will be ready to help you."

"Would you please knock it off already?" Rita asked without turning to them. "I thank you for saying that but… Oh, dammit!" she cursed when she realized she had said thank you.

Karol and Toon Link chuckled at her. "Rita, were you thankful that they're going to help you when you want?" he asked.

Rita turned to them with a flustered look on her face. "If you value your life, don't tell anybody what happened here!" she threatened. "I-I might just ask you guys for help some time, but that's that!"

"Can you at least try to be a little bit nicer to us?" Toon Link read.

Rita shut her eyes. She contained her rage until she calmed down with a sigh. "…Yeah, I might just do that. But I'm not getting any friendlier than that, okay?" she asked aggravated.

"Heheh, this is going to sound cheesy, but I hope we can get to be friends until you can admit it."

The Genius Mage frowned. "Keep wishing for the inevitable…" she muttered.

"Thank you, I will."

Karol looked back and forth between Rita and Chris. He was awfully surprised that Chris managed to make Rita open a little bit up to others. "W-wow, you probably accomplished something very important today," he said. "I'm amazed."

Chris seemed to chuckle. "Thanks, Karol. After I tried to get over what happened to me, I wanted to make amends with Rita. Having another person to rely on could end up making me feel a little bit better with myself. Oh, I see now," Toon Link said, chuckling at Chris. "You saved so many hides thank to this."

"(Just wait until I tell Yuri about this,)" Karol thought while staring at Chris. "(He made Rita say thanks to another person. Heh, Estelle is gonna be so happy when she hears this, I bet.)"

Rita looked up to the sky as she grunted to herself. "(That guy's got guts to make me do this… But…I don't know. I think I feel a bit better after this… Ugh, what is wrong with me? Why can't I understand this at all? I'm a genius, for heaven's sake! Am I actually happy for making a friend with him? N-no, that can't be it!)" she thought panicked. "(I shouldn't admit that at all! And…and…who am I kidding? I'm a bit happy after all…but I'm not going to smile at him, not even to myself… Darn it, I'm doing it! Stupid lips…)"

The teen slowly looked depressed at the floor. Toon Link saw Chris scribbling more. "This made me feel better…but it's not enough, though. I'll see if helping Rita out in this request helps me more. Yeah, let's do that," Toon Link said.

Music stops

When Karol turned back to stare at the post office, he noticed that there was a small hooded person grabbing the doorknob of the door. Toon Link also noticed him, and he could tell he didn't work at the office at all. "H-hey, there he is!" Karol whispered.

The four saw how the hooded man easily entered inside the post office without anybody looking his way. The villagers who noticed thought he worked there, and they just let him be. "That bastard!" Rita muttered. "He's the guy who stole my scroll!"

"We need to get into the post office now! We've got him cornered!" Toon Link said.

The four ran out from their hiding spot and rushed inside the post office.

Wings Post Office – Mail Room

Once entering inside, the four found many mail bags scattered around the corners of the room with shelves that had several boxes that had goods in them. The walls were literally occupied to the roof from packages. There was a door on the right corner where it leaded to some rooms for the workers to rest, but the four weren't interested in going there. On the front wall of packages, they found the hooded man climbing a ladder as he inspected the packages to find the supposed relic he heard about.

"Ancient relic…ancient relic… Darn it, where's the damn ancient relic?" the hooded man cursed under his breath. "It was easy enough getting here, but where's the prized item I'm looking for? I bet I could sell it for millions in the really black market!"

"Hey, you, thief!" Rita yelled. "This is the end of the line for you!"

"Who goes there?" the hooded man asked, turning around to look down on the four staring up at him. "Some meddling children? What are you doing in here? Go away!"

"You're the so-called Smelly Beans Thief!" Karol yelled.

"Karol, stop giving him names!" Rita said. "Alright, I want you to hand over the scroll you stole from me!"

"Grr, impertinent girl, I'm not giving back my loot!" the hooded man argued, taking off his hood. The face of the thief was covered by a purple headband with a grey hat on his head. Oddly enough, the parts of his face were a shade of green. "You don't know who I am? You're talking to Popple, the Shadow Thief!"

While Chris avoided some nostalgia, Rita pointed up at Popple. "I give a damn about who you are! I want that scroll now or I'll kill you!" she demanded.

"Like I'm going to listen to an idiot girl like you!" Popple complained. "You should scram now!"

Infuriated by the thief's persistent attitude, Rita was enveloped in a red light. Popple gasped at the sight of her. "If you're not gonna listen, I'll MAKE you listen! O incandescent locus, annihilate the vulgar before m-"

"Rita, stop!" Toon Link yelled as he stepped in front of the mage. "You can't seriously throw a spell with all these packages! Quill is going to get angry!"

"He's right! We promised not to destroy this place!" Karol said.

Rita grunted and made the light go away. Popple gleefully laughed. "Well, well! You can't squash me without squashing another valuable thing in here! Why don't you be good boys and girl and just leave me alone?" he asked, much for the quartet's annoyance.

"Dammit…" Rita muttered. She didn't care much about burning the post office, but the others were keeping her from doing so.

Popple playfully waved a hand at them. "Looks like I'll win this time! I'll just take what I came here for and be on my way," he said.

"N-no, you won't run away!" Karol yelled. "We've got you cornered! The only exit from here is the door behind us! How do you hope to escape?"

"Idiot kid, I'm prepared for this! See?" Popple said, taking out a bag from behind. From the bag, Popple took out a pink-looking, nosed bomb. "You cornered me, sure! But you can't stop me from setting this place on fire! Hah, hah! How do you like this?"

Toon Link grunted at the thief. "You're such a cheater!" he complained.

"A smart cheater!" Popple said, raising the bomb. "So what do you want me to do? Take the relic and set me free, or keep me in this ladder and throw the bomb down? You better decided in less than a minute! I'm going to take the initiative if you don't! Don't get any crazy ideas!"

Chris was worried to start a fire in the post office. He tried to think of something while the other three did the same, though Rita was being tempted to use her magic without caring much about the place.

"How are we supposed to keep this place unharmed?" Karol asked worried. "We shouldn't have started a rumor of the fake ancient relic being here!"

Popple stared blankly at Karol. "…What did YOU just say?" he asked dumbfounded. "Are you telling me there's no ancient relic in this stinky post office?"

Karol got looks from the three, making him nervous. "U-um, n-no! I-I didn't want say that!" Karol said. "I-I didn't want to say that we started a rumor to lure you out from your hid-"

The axe wielder was swiftly hand-chopped by an angry Rita. "Karol, you stupid idiot! Shut your mouth if you're getting very nervous!" Rita complained.

"What the hell!" Popple said angrily. "You mean I was lured out by a false rumor about a good item? Boo-stupid-hoo! You've got a lot of nerve trying to do that! Oh well, you know that the consequence will be? This place is turning into ashes!"

"Uh-oh," Toon Link and Karol muttered while Rita smacked her forehead and Chris looked ashamed.

"Ha!" Popple yelled as he tossed down the pink bomb down, its rope igniting to start the countdown for the explosion.

Out of panic, Chris reacted and dove to catch the bomb. He successfully did it, but he panicked with the bomb about to explode on his hands. He seemed to yell as he tossed the bomb away to a random direction, which had Rita blocking the way. The Genius Mage yelped when the bomb landed on her hands. "I-I don't want this, no way!" she yelled, handing the bomb to Karol on the floor.

"Y-yiaaaaaaaah!" Karol yelped, handing the bomb to Toon Link.

"Oh no, I don't handle this kind of bomb!" Toon Link complained, tossing the bomb back to Popple's hands.

The Shadow Thief screamed when the bomb blinked red, its explosion about to set off. He gritted his teeth and tossed back the bomb to Chris's hands. "It's my gift to you! I don't need it!" he yelled.

Chris yelped and passed the bomb to Karol, who passed it to Rita, who passed it to Toon Link, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Popple, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Chris, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Karol, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Chris, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it Toon Link, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Karol, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Popple, who passed it back to Rita, who passed it to Karol, who passed it back again to Rit-

"Why are you idiots tossing the bomb back to me the most?" Rita yelled furiously to the roof.

"THE BOMB!" Karol and Toon Link yelled, Chris seemingly doing the same. The bomb dangerously blinked red faster than before, panicking the Genius Mage.

It was then that the door of the post office opened with a cheerful Parakarry slowly flying in with gleeful face. "Hey, Quill, I'm back! You're ready to start doing the errands for me?" he asked.

"HERE!" Rita yelled, handing the bomb to Parakarry, who had just opened his eyes to digest what was going on in the scene.

"Huh? W-what are you doing in here? Who let you in? AND WHY AM I HOLDING THIS BOMB?" Parakarry asked panicked.

The five (not including Chris) inside screamed their lungs out as the bomb set off on Parakarry's hands. Closing their eyes and covering their faces, they blocked the bright light that the bomb released.

A long while passed, and the light deemed out. The six slowly uncovered their faces, noticing that there wasn't an explosion at all. Exchanging looks, they looked down Parakarry where the pink bomb sat idly on the floor. Chris noticed that the bomb had a face with eyes, but those eyes looked ashamed for some reason, possibly because the bomb itself was sad that it didn't accomplish its feat to explode.

"…It's a dud?" Karol asked, breaking the silence.

"It's a dud…" Toon Link muttered with a sigh of relief.

"A dud it is…" Parakarry said, promptly fainting on the floor.

"A freaking dud…" Rita muttered relieved.

"A-a DUD?" Popple said with more emphasis. The fact he gritted his teeth harder than before made it obvious that he was ticked off. "These stupid bombs never failed me once! They never turn out to be duds! But fear not, because I still have more…somewhere in here!" he said as he rummaged inside his bag.

Having enough panic for a day, Chris looked upset and went to the ladder where he merely pushed it down the floor to crush Popple underneath. The Shadow Thief screamed loudly in pain until the World Traveler took the bag away from his reach, with Toon Link stepping on top of the ladder to make sure the thief wouldn't get away.

"U-urgh! Y-you damned kids!" Popple cursed under his breath and the ladder. "Y-you won't get away with this!"

Rita glared down at the thief, crossing her arms. "Funny, you stole the words from my mouth," she punned.

"Boo-hoo! Look at me laughing, will ya?" Popple muttered, surrendering by sighing depressed.

Later…

Wings Post Office

The local police (which were all Piantas) dragged Popple out from the post office with handcuffs on his wrists. The thief was forced to give back all the stolen belongings he had stolen from many different people by pointing out he was dragging two big bags with him in alleys close to the places he would pilfer. Once he was kicked inside the police car, he stuck out his head at the Smashers. "I'll come back one of these days, see? I will come back!" he proclaimed, only for a Pianta police to shove in his face into the car before all the police cars drove away towards the police station.

The recent commotion had taken the interest from several villagers, most of who turned out to be victims. Some police officers remained behind to start giving back everything that was stolen. As a very ecstatic Kylie took dozens and dozens of photos of everything she could aim her trusty camera for the newspaper, the Smashers were reunited in front of the post office with Quill having been returned from his errands. Parakarry had also recovered from his senses, but only because he "sensed" Kylie was near.

"I was glad to know nothing was broken while you were luring that thief here," Quill said, crossing his arms behind the counter. "Except for the ladder that was snapped in half, I've got no grudges against you."

"Yeah, Chris is sorry for applying too much pressure," Toon Link said, to which Chris looked away embarrassed.

"Oh, the ladder was already getting rusty anyway," Quill said. "But still, good job with the request… Where is the requester?"

"She's in the line to get her scroll. Don't you hear her curses?" Olimar asked while pointing behind to the large line of people in front of the police officers who were making sure they were giving back all the stolen belongings to their rightful owners. The line didn't seem to be moving since Goomez the Goomba was puzzling himself if the flower vase shown to him was his or somebody else's.

"Could this line move ANY slower?" Rita complained from somewhere in the line.

Quill frowned. "Well, not only you helped a requester with her problem, but you also made the whole village a favor by catching the thief. It's a good thing this post office was never targeted…before," he said.

"All ends well, though," Karol said. "With this issue done, Rita will come back with me to the others."

A long suffering hour of waiting later, Rita came back carrying the scroll she was asking to get back. "Oh yes, my scroll is back, and now my magic will get stronger for real," she said pleased before staring blankly at the Smashers. She then started looking inside her pockets for something. "I guess you did the job just fine…so this is the time for me to reward you. You don't use any Gald, right?"

Gald is the money currency used in all Tales of games, including Tales of Vesperia.

"Is it…tasty?" Olimar asked.

Rita rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a no… Okay, I got nothing else but this," she said as she took out a large-sized sticker that depicted her holding a scroll on her right hand. Some of the Smashers looked freaked out because the sticker had her smiling for once. Rita expected them to look upset at her, but Toon Link merely took the sticker without raising any questions. "(These people aren't saying anything for this? What a bunch of weirdoes…)"

Karol looked confused at the Genius Mage. "Rita, where in the world did you get your hands on a sticker with YOU on it?" he asked.

"I was doing some random blastia research with a machine I had uncovered a long time ago, and that same blastia produced that weird sticker with me on it," Rita said uninterested. "I didn't want to destroy that blastia so I just took off its parts away to keep them safe. I saw something weird in that sticker, though… I could've sworn it holds some kind of magic that copies mine… Oh well, I'm not interested in it since it doesn't have all my magic but just a few spells," she said, lifting her shoulders. "I thought you guys would get angry at me, but maybe you do know some way to use it. May as well give it away to you now."

"(We've got ourselves a nuke sticker!)" Popo cheered mentally.

"(Great, this sticker could have some lethal side effect and alter our personality to match hers…)" C. Falcon thought.

"Find My Stolen Scroll" Side-quest Completed!

Obtained Rita Mordio's Sticker!

This sticker is a nuke with a lethal side effect personality change (not really)! Allows the user to cast the spell Violent Pain (rains and pins down fifteen spears of darkness upon an enemy) and perform the Mystic Arte Ancient Catastrophe (massive elemental explosion to all enemies) during Over Limit.

"(Bummer, I expected some monetary reward…but I guess this is okay,)" Samus thought. "(…What have I turned into now? Why am I considering childish pieces of paper very important? They have powers so that's nice, but still they're stickers, for crying out loud…)"

Rita stared at Chris. The World Traveler blinked at her as she approached him to give him something else. "And…I want you to have this," she said.

The teen was surprised when the Genius Mage handed over a black gem with an unusual but beautiful glow. Some of them were marveled at the sight of the black gem. "W-wow, what is this?" Toon Link asked.

"(Now that could be one better reward to trade for money,)" Samus thought.

"That's a Black Onyx," Rita said. "Just holding that gem will help you to endure more hits. It apparently raises vitality by thirty percent. That's not too bad."

Karol was bewildered that Rita would give away a precious gem like that to somebody she didn't know much. "Rita, what is…wrong with you today?" he asked. "You're not this ni-OWW!" he yelled in pain after Rita hand-chopped his head.

"A-anyway," Rita continued while blushing, "I'm just giving it to you to apologize for what I said earlier… I think I went a bit too far with it. Yeah, there, I admitted it," she said rather upset, turning her back on Chris. "You're going through some hard times, aren't you? Well, I h-hope that gem makes you feel a bit better. It's too bad I can't tell what you're going to say, though."

"Thank you so much, Rita," Toon Link read Chris's scribbling.

The Genius Mage sighed to the sky. "Never mind that…" she muttered. It was very hard to tell, but Rita actually felt good that she helped the depressed teen after all. With her scroll in hands, she blamed she felt nicer because of it.

Obtained Black Onyx!

A really, really black gem. It multiplies the user's maximum health by 30%.

"Oh, that was so nice from your part," Olimar remarked. "You're actually a nice person."

"S-stop saying that!" Rita said embarrassed, turning back to the Smashers. "I-I have a good side, you know! I don't really care if you hate me, but I felt bad for once!"

"Your lips are twitching just by saying the word 'nice'," Samus pointed out.

"Tempt me and I'll scrap off that armor of yours to study it."

"Try me."

Rita refrained from doing so in public. "D-damn… (It was easier to beat them up before, but now it's almost impossible… Maybe I just grew too close to them…)" she muttered to Samus' amusement.

The bounty hunter chuckled. "I might lend you my armor to study it sometime. Think of this little offer as a sign that I trust you," she said.

The Genius Mage rubbed her chin, snapping out from her train of thoughts. "Hmm… Helping you guys is actually a good move for me all of a sudden…" she muttered.

Karol shook off his head from the blow, looking up at Rita. "L-liar, you're just taking advantage of the-OWW!" he yelled in pain after Rita smacked his head without looking at him.

The group of Smashers somehow had grown closer to Rita than before, and their small helping hand to the Genius Mage ended up in a good note with her. Some of them felt that she wasn't impossible to be friends with, and Rita was trying her best to avoid admitting she liked them. No matter how much technology they possessed that Rita wished to study for a long time, materials didn't give her a reason to like them. Rita was starting to see a bond.

"Alright!" Karol spoke up, albeit still hurt from the hand-chop. "I-I guess it's time to continue our way back with Yuri and the others, Rita! You're done here, right?"

"Yeah," Rita said, looking away from some of the positive looks the Smashers were using to look at her. "It's a shame I didn't find any good blastia."

Chris got a bit sad that the two were already going to leave. It was then that he got an idea. He grabbed Toon Link's hand to scribble a message, which Toon Link started to read. "Wait, Chris is saying something… Can you at least assist the funeral at the mansion?"

The Smashers gave some looks to Chris while Rita and Karol stared at him. "A f-funeral?" Karol asked frightened at the word. "You guys are holding a funeral in your home?"

"Well…yes," Jigglypuff said sadly. "Remember? Some people died after all…"

Rita nodded. "Oh yeah, you told me about that… But is it okay for us to go there? I mean, that mansion's owner wished us to stay away as far as we could," she said.

"(Hey, that was only you and not everyone else! Don't pit us with the blame!)" Karol thought.

"Do you still want to make something inside part of your property?" Nana asked.

"Not anymore."

"Then I suppose it is okay…as long as he doesn't tick me off. Though I don't know if Karol wants to come along, he will scream once he sees coffins if he does come."

Karol put up a serious face. "I-I'm not going to scream because of that! I'm already mature, Rita!" he complained.

Rita crossed her arms amused. "Then let's see how long it takes for your legs to shake," she dared.

"Okay, I'm gonna do it!" Karol said, heading to the north where the mansion was located.

Nana sighed at Rita. "You were tricking him into coming, weren't you?" she asked.

"Nah, he just thought I was daring him to come. I was having a little bit of fun," Rita admitted. "So anyway, are you going now or do you have anything else to do?"

Popo took out a watch from his pocket. "Um, the funeral is about to start in an hour… We should head back," he said.

Most of them felt bad that there were going to be burials at the mansion grounds. Chris tried his best, but he couldn't shake the thought about burying Lucario six feet under. Once the Pokémon reached that height, it would completely seal off any good memories for Chris. He gripped his hand into his pocket as the group proceeded towards the mansion.

-Smash Mansion-

Lobby

The double doors opened with the group entering the lobby. "I can't say it's good to be back…" Olimar muttered.

"I need to get ready for the event," Samus said. "I want to dress properly for the occasion."

C. Falcon nodded. "Oh, that means I'll get to dress properly too," he said.

"Is the helmet coming off?" Olimar asked interested.

"E-everything but the helmet," C. Falcon said. "I need to keep my…well, true identity a secret."

The employee gasped. "Your real name is not Falcon then?" he asked, to which C. Falcon ran away to the hallway in a hurry so that nobody else would question him about his true identity. "I-is that bad for people to know your identity?" Olimar asked loudly but he got no reply.

Everyone else except for Popo, Nana, Chris, Karol, and Rita separated to different ways to prepare themselves for the funeral. The Smashers and the guests that were walking around the hallways had gloomy looks on their faces, most of them wearing black outfits. Karol felt sorry to see their moods like that. He could even tell the lobby wasn't very lively at all.

"Oh my god, everyone really feels in the dumps," Karol said. "Where can we see the people who died?"

"They should be at the infirmary. They're going to move them out…" Nana muttered sadly. "Move them out for good, that is…"

"Even the mood is getting into me. It's contagious, I swear," Rita said.

Popo looked suspiciously at her. "You're feeling sorry as much as we do, don't you?" he asked.

The Genius Mage looked away. "B-be quiet, you," she muttered under her breath.

Around that moment, Master Hand appeared floating out from the kitchen, spotting the small group standing there close to the entrance. "You're back," he said before letting out a huge yelping sound when he looked down at Rita. Master Hand recalled that he had scribbled several obscene doodles in her picture on the wall. Said picture frame of all the uninvited visitors was being stared by Rita at that moment, enough for the hand to shoot the frame down with laser out of his finger.

"Kiah!" Karol yelped at the explosion of the frame.

The hand sighed in relief, but then he looked back at the girl who was staring mildly ticked off at him. Rita didn't say anything after catching a glimpse of her doodled demon-ed photo on the frame, but she pointed at her eyes with two fingers that she directed to the hand to indicate she was keeping a close eye on him. "I know…" Master Hand muttered.

"Good," Rita said.

"(I want to crush you but I have my manners around girls, even when they're extremely bratty…)" the hand thought angrily. "Well! I see you brought guests (YET AGAIN) this time! Are they here to take a room and invade our privacy like how many other people did in the past?"

"I-it's not that!" Karol said. "T-they invited us for the funeral you're holding!"

"Oh, that's understandable… Now, will you give me a moment with these three?" he asked as he floated closer to Popo, Nana, and Chris. He looked around until he whispered something. "I'm DEAD serious. Don't spread the word that people died here! The media could get all over my wrist if it winds up knowing that one fact!"

"They don't even know what media is!" Nana whispered.

"And for that, your hides are safe for today. But tell me what you're going to do next the next time, okay?" he whispered until he turned around to Karol and Rita. "It's nice of you two to attend the funeral, really. I wasn't certainly expecting you two to be around these parts."

Rita waved a hand. "We thought about coming here to cheer the mood a little bit," she lied. "Besides, I kind of want to see who died in here," she truthfully said.

"Please, don't say that word. I'm getting sick just hearing it being used so many times today," the hand said. "We're about to move the bodies…um, I mean, them out from the infirmary. If you want to see them, come to the seventh floor. I'm heading there myself… Chris, are you sure you want to come? I know you still feel…"

Chris looked down at the floor and scratched his right arm uncomfortably. He disliked seeing dead bodies, but he couldn't neglect looking at Lucario one more time. Not looking at him would make Chris feel horrible as if he wanted to forget who Lucario was. He gulped and rubbed his eyes from some tears, looking up and nodding to the hand. Karol looked down on the floor, sharing some of the pain. Rita was almost equally feeling sorry for Chris in a secretive manner.

"This is going to be very hard for you, but I suggest that you go there and see them all…including him," Master Hand said, turning towards the stairs. "Follow me, everyone."

"We're going to dress ourselves too," Nana said. "We'll go to the infirmary in a few minutes."

The six walked upstairs while having some worries about seeing the presumed corpses on the beds. One step closer to the designated place made Chris feel weaker and weaker emotionally. It was a given he wasn't going to resist another look at Lucario. But his feet weren't obeying his brain; they were heading to the room by themselves. He wanted to turn around and run away as fast as he could, but he didn't want to be called a coward.

Infirmary

All the visitors were told to leave the infirmary, but Pikachu and Lucas refused to do so. They were strongly clinging into Pichu and Ness respectively that the doctors had no choice but to let them be for a little while longer. Only Dr. Mario, Naomi, Marth, and Zelda remained behind to start moving the fallen Smashers away. The room had recently been emptied out from the visitors. All that remained was to detach the arm bands that were tying the patients' arms to their individual EKG machine.

"This is it," Marth said. "I dreaded for this moment to happen."

Zelda nodded sadly. "I can't believe things turned out like this… I just can't believe it…" she muttered, hiding some sniffing sounds. Marth comforted her by patting her back, but that only made Zelda sniff louder. "Why must people die in such a horrendous way? W-why?"

"Because diseases don't know their limits," Naomi said. "That's the cruelest fact in the medicine world. When diseases have a mind of their own as if they were created to achieve a particular task, they become deadlier."

Dr. Mario nodded in agreement. "I agree with you. It was a long struggle, but it gave us good and bad news in the end. We can only give our fallen patients a proper farewell… It makes me feel very bad, but we must give them our sincere respect," he said.

Naomi crossed her arms and looked down to the floor. She felt guilty that she couldn't have done anything more to keep her word that no patient under her care would die. She sighed, thinking that it was useless fretting for her results. "After all, my patients are not guaranteed to survive… It wasn't the Healing Touch's fault, but it was probably my fault…" she muttered.

The three stared at her. "Oh no, don't say such things," Marth said serious. "Thanks to you, we got a greater understanding about how doctors work. There wasn't anyone in this mansion that deserves to be blamed for what happened here."

Zelda regained her composure. "I thank you for all your hard effort, even though…it wasn't enough. No, I-I shouldn't say that… I thank you for doing your very best. Really, I do," she said honestly.

Dr. Mario patted Naomi's back a bit. "Stop blaming yourself so hard about it," he said. "We already established you're not the culprit. No one is the culprit at all."

The doctor stared at each one of their looks for a little while. Their looks were reassuring her that there was no reason to feel guilty in that moment of grief. She couldn't, however, shake off the fact she was sorry that her patients couldn't make it with her help. "…I can only thank myself that I did my very best till the end… Heheh, that might help me cheer me up a bit."

The doctor and the assistants smiled a bit and nodded at her. "That is how you're supposed to act," Marth said. "You're a very remarkable surgeon. With your professional skills and Healing Touch, you're really something."

"A blessing by the god of medicine… Hearing that is like putting my Triforce of Wisdom in the same level," Zelda remarked. "You're a very responsible wielder of such technique. I have no complaints about your performance during all those surgeries."

"See now? We support you no matter how guilty you feel," Dr. Mario said. "So please, be more optimistic after we're done with this one last job together."

Naomi's doubts were cleared out of worries. The doctor and the assistants made her feel at home. It was as if the guilt was slowly being carried off her shoulders. With that weight slowly decreasing, Naomi started to feel much better. She chuckled confidently and ran her hand through her hair. "Thank you for your support, everyone… Really, I'll take this to heart for sure because, well, I was just helped by a prince, a princess, and another fellow doctor. How can I say no to you?"

The other three chuckled a bit. "Okay then, now that you feel better, let's start moving out the others…" Dr. Mario sighed sadly with a frown. He could tell the mood was killed when he mentioned them. "Oh no…"

Marth shook his head. "It's fine…I guess. Let's get this over with and detach them from the EKGs. There's no point for them to keep using the machines if they can't…you know what I mean," he said.

The four instantly got in a depressed mood. Just before they could start doing their task, Naomi noticed that an odd sound echoed from somewhere in the infirmary. The surgeon blinked a few times and looked around to find the unknown sound. "Did anybody else hear that?" she asked.

"Huh? Whatever do you mean?" Zelda asked. "I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary…"

"Shh…" Marth muttered to raise silence between them. They remained silent for a long minute, but there wasn't an odd sound at all. After that minute passed, the prince shook his head. But then, the odd sound presented itself again. "I-I heard it…"

"But it's just a little, faint beep," Dr. Mario said. "The EKGs are still on."

Naomi shook her head. "Something about that beep isn't right," she said. "I'm used to hear those beeps in patient rooms that I swear another extra beep is quite unusual."

"So what is your point?" Zelda asked. "What is the point you're trying to make with that extra beep?"

The surgeon rubbed her chin. "Well, all the other EKGs on the patients who are recovering are beeping at the same rate in sync with their heart beats, right? That extra beep just now disrupted the rhythm. Let's see again… Shh," she muttered.

The three did notice that all the EKGs around the infirmary were beeping at a perfect rhythm. But between all those rhythmic beeps, one beep barely made itself noticeable. "Wait, is somebody having a heart issue?" Marth asked.

"Whatever this beep is, we need to find out that disruptive beep," Naomi said serious. "I'm not planning to leave unfinished business AND a required operation if needed. Move around and check the EKGs! Study their rhythms to locate that troublemaker!"

The four spread around the room to check on the EKGs with the in-recovery patients, staring to the machines for a few minutes while hearing that disruptive beep echoing somewhere. Some of the patients remained silent and confused about what the experts were doing. Each one of the doctors and assistants checked the active EKGs to see an irregularity.

"I don't feel bad," Link told Marth.

"I…still feel rusty…but otherwise kinda okay…" Falco coughed out to Dr. Mario.

"Nope, not a problem here…" Roy trailed off to Zelda.

"Still breathing and kicking here," DK told Naomi.

Sonic's snores didn't tell much, but his heart beats were completely normal. The four gathered back to the center to report what they found. "I didn't find anything," Zelda said confused, with Dr. Mario and Marth saying the same thing.

Naomi overheard that beep once more. "Okay, none of the patients have any irregularities, but that beep is still present somewhere else," she said. "Where in the hell is that annoying beep? Is everyone sure that there weren't any oddities?"

"No," the three responded in unison.

"If none of the patients in recovery are having problems…" Naomi was putting two and two together in her mind, finding a reasonable explanation. She turned her attention to the other EKG machines that were still being used by the fallen Smashers. Narrowing her eyes, she kept her focused eyes on the screens.

Zelda gasped. "That sound is coming from the others?" she asked.

"Might be," Naomi muttered. "Silence, please…"

The next silence was all they needed to pinpoint the foreign beep sound. In a hurry, the surgeon started issuing sudden orders. The patients in recovery and even Pikachu and Lucas were startled at the rumbling sound of the floor, as the four desperately ran around to perform different tasks. Meanwhile, Naomi could tell there was an unexpected ray of hope looking down upon them.

"Work faster!" Naomi instructed. "We can't lose this chance!"

Seventh Floor's Hallway

From the stairs, Master Hand came out with Chris, Rita, and Karol. The hand pointed towards the door leading to the infirmary. "Go over there. That's where they are," he said.

Karol gulped worried. "I-I'm a bit scared about looking at them… I-I need to stay strong," he encouraged himself while Rita roller her eyes with a frown.

"I'm going to feel a bit sick, that's for sure," Rita said. "But I want to do it still."

Chris clutched his hand to his chin. He wasn't going to hold up, and he knew that very well. He was going to have another breakdown that would further scar his mentality. But he stayed strong about his decision to see Lucario one last time and bid farewell.

Just saying good bye to his Pokémon would make Chris cry every day for him. Chris predicted that he would never heal in the incoming days in a very long time. No one would easily replace the spot Lucario left before passing away. To Chris, his Lucario was the definite person that fully deserved that spot besides him. He started to sob silently thanks to his muteness.

Rita noticed him. "H-hey! Don't you cry now!" she scolded. "Aren't you older than me? Show some dignity and stay strong!"

Karol merely grabbed Rita's hand to look down at his saddened look. The Genius Mage slowly felt guilty for scolding Chris so harshly. "Rita…" Karol muttered.

"…You're right…just this time," she muttered, staring at Chris. "S-sorry for scolding you back there… Get a hold of yourself, okay? Y-you need to…y-you need to… Ugh, why is it so hard for me to do this kind of thing?" she blamed herself.

Master Hand felt sorry that Chris never had a very strong emotional side. The hand patted the teen's back in an effort to cheer him up, but it was still useless. Chris accidentally started crying silently, burying his face on his hands. He cried and cried loudly in his mind for Lucario. He also cried loudly for the others to come back as well, but the cruel reality was hurting him even more and more. He then blamed himself for putting Lucario first than Ike, Ness, Pichu, and Fox. He felt very selfish. His mentality was breaking apart once more, and he couldn't stop the saddening thoughts from leaving his mind alone. Finally, he fell on his knees and supported himself from falling on the floor.

Karol felt powerless. He wanted to help Chris, but he himself didn't have a good idea in mind. The axe wielder saw himself in Chris when his role model had died. Making a fist, Karol sobbed silently to himself while Rita felt horrible for not helping much either. She scratched her right arm and looked away with a frown. She was lamenting she couldn't do a thing to help Chris, and she cursed the fact she couldn't open up much sooner. As for Master Hand, he looked towards the infirmary while imagining how awfully hurt Chris was.

But then, the hand gasped when he saw Dr. Mario stepping out from the room. The doctor found the four there, and he noticed Chris silently crying on the floor. Putting up a sad look, Dr. Mario slowly walked towards them. "May you all please come to the infirmary?" he asked.

"…Wait, I just remembered you weren't accepting more visits," Master Hand said. "What's with the change of thoughts?"

Dr. Mario looked down at Chris. "Chris, please, stand back up. You need to come as well you like it or not," he said. "You must see Lucario one more time."

Chris cried louder in his mind after hearing Lucario's name again. He wanted to stay there crying for as long as he wanted, but all changed when Dr. Mario knelt down to stared directly at the World Traveler.

"You can do this, Chris," Dr. Mario said. "For this time only, I'm letting you see Lucario one more time. Please, take the opportunity."

Chris kept sobbing to himself. He rubbed his eyes constantly to kept his tears from coming out. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure a bit before he finally nodded. He had to accept the truth and live with it, no matter how painful it was.

The doctor helped the teen to get back up to his feet, grabbing his hand to lead him to the infirmary so that Chris wouldn't run away. Karol and Rita exchanged looks and then followed right behind them. Master Hand shook himself a few times, foreseeing another breakdown. He headed for the infirmary as well to keep things under control.

Infirmary

Naomi, Marth, and Zelda saw the incoming visitors coming in. They saw Chris crying silently while Dr. Mario leaded him inside. Once Chris opened his eyes to look at Naomi, he was confused at her. She was smiling a bit at him for some reason. Chuckling, she placed a hand over his shoulder. "You've been suffering all day, but it's time that suffering goes away from your system," she said. "I'm a doctor, but I can't heal psychological wounds. Yet another flaw doctors possess."

Chris couldn't stop sobbing nevertheless. He looked around the infirmary, watching how Link, Roy, Falco, DK, Lucas, and Pikachu were all looking away from his direction as if they were all speechless. Even Rita and Karol didn't understand what was going on, but they felt sorry after seeing the fallen Smashers, the former trying not to take a look at the fancy-looking machines displayed around the room.

Naomi shook her head at Chris. "But you know what? I can classify one more medicine that takes anyone off-guard right after the end occurs. During my entire career, I've never had a medicine like that under my sleeve…but it happened today, and I'm happy I was able to see it working by itself," she said, slowly moving away from Chris's path.

The World Traveler stared at Naomi until he looked past the three. In an instant, his eyes shot wide open, with his tears coming to an abrupt halt. The shocked look on his face was perfectly still that he had turned into stone. He slowly closed his gaped mouth while his eyes slightly shook to the sides.

Naomi shook her head while chuckling, patting Chris's back slightly. "That medicine I was talking about? It's the blissful medicine we all call…miracle."

Persona 4 – SMILE

Chris's eyes started to blink, slowly digesting the scene before him. His eyes kept crying tears, but there was a very faint hint of happiness that gradually grew as he took slow and careful steps forward. He wanted to forget what he was looking at. He thought he had fallen unconscious when he was having a breakdown in the hallway, falling into some kind of dream or nightmare, but he could tell everything was real. The people behind him stood there, watching how Chris walked away from them.

To say Chris was happy was an understatement. His sadness slowly disappeared every time he approached closer to his spot.

In front of him, Lucario lied down on his bed unconscious, but the fact that the EKG showing heart beats' traces meant that the Aura Pokémon had revived. Albeit Lucario was in a weak state, it seemed that he was given another chance at life. Chris mouth gaped again, staring down at his only Pokémon. His face then broke into tears as he fell on his knees, completely bewildered. He buried his face in his hands, wishing that he wasn't living a dream. In his mind, Chris cried while thanking anyone out there who had made it possible for Lucario to live once more.

"I-I don't understand what happened!" Karol said, breaking the silence. "Wasn't he supposed to be dead? How did he come back?"

"He was…but he experienced a Lazarus Syndrome," Naomi theorized. "It's a very unlikely event to happen, but it's not entirely impossible. It very rarely happens after a patient pronounced dead has failed to be resuscitated a number of times."

"In all my years as a doctor, I never thought I'd see something like this happening…" Dr. Mario said.

"Miracles do happen…" Zelda muttered with a sniff. "They're not false… T-they're real… I-I can't believe they can save people from certain death…"

"Death is truly avoidable," Marth said. "I never thought a dead person could come back from the death like that."

Naomi chuckled. "But I have to give it to his partner," she said while staring at Chris on the floor. "A Lazarus Syndrome never shows by itself after a long period of time has passed. He was delaying the syndrome up until now."

Dr. Mario thought for a moment. "Lucario prolonged the syndrome?" he asked.

"I have no idea how his Lazarus Syndrome could take so much time, but it really did happen before our eyes… And on top of that, his heart beat is back to a safe level of recovery. Just what is he?" Naomi wondered curiously. "I don't know how, but has it something to do with his…um…species?"

"His aura, maybe?" Dr. Mario wondered.

"Anything could've been the reason…" Marth trailed off, sighing in relief. "Whatever that was, I'm glad it wanted to make Chris feel better."

The World Traveler lifted up his face, staring with his watery eyes at Lucario. Being silent, Chris couldn't tell how better he felt after the miraculous event took place. He at last forced a small smile under his tears, slowly clutching on to Lucario's hand. He thanked god so much for bringing his dear Pokémon back to him, and he thought he was indebted for life. Behind him, Zelda sobbed happily while Marth comforted her. Karol was so happy that he cheered and hugged Rita, who was merely staring forward while she smiled a bit while ignoring Karol. Master Hand was so shocked that he was speechless. He was so mesmerized that he fainted on the floor, although he was equally relieved like everyone else was.

Naomi glanced at Dr. Mario, who gave her a happy look. The surgeon had recovered from her depressed state after knowing that a patient of hers had undergone a Lazarus Syndrome. She wasn't waiting for a patient to go through that phase at all, but she was relieved to see the rare miracle occurred. "…Life can be quite unpredictable, don't you think?" she asked. "After you kick the bucket, someone out there will help you to stand back up from the most unlikely of places. You've got to be very, very lucky to stand up again from Death."

"Are you happy?" Dr. Mario asked.

Naomi nodded slowly while she shed a small tear that she wiped away. "My friend, I couldn't be any happier," she replied.

Dr. Mario chuckled, but then he noticed Pikachu and Lucas were away from the beds, looking very gloomy at him. Pikachu was scared to ask anything and Lucas was even more scared, the latter forcing himself to ask the doctor. "D-doctor…i-is Ness going to…r-revive?" he asked.

The surgeon sighed in shame. She was full aware that seeing somebody reviving implied that there was hope for the others too. Naomi wanted to cheer them up now that she had the chance, but she wanted to be truthfully honest. "I'm sorry…but…the damage they received was far greater than we expected," she said. "They were very young and their bodies couldn't handle the amount of damage…"

The doctor saw how Lucas and Pikachu looked down sadly. "…Lucas, Pikachu," he began, "please don't hate us for what happened. We did absolutely everything to save them. Lucario might have been lucky, but…it's not something we can control. We can't control life." He wanted to make sure Pikachu and Lucas wouldn't harbor a grudge on Lucario. "And don't hate Lucario either. Chris was just like you a few moments ago. Do you want him to feel bad if you two got into a feud with Lucario?"

"…Lucario isn't guilty," Pikachu spoke in a downed voice. "I…I should be happy he's still with us…b-but…P-Pichu…"

"Ness…" Lucas muttered as he sobbed silently. "I-I don't want to hate anyone… I-it won't make a difference. I need to b-be happy too…b-but it's going to be hard trying to accept this…"

"You two are actually very strong," Naomi commented. "Most children your age would try to find fake culprits to take out their anger just to feel better, but you acted more mature."

Pikachu and Lucas looked up at her, forcing some smiles. "I-I'm bad with revenges," Lucas admitted. "I can't really hate anyone…"

"I can, though…but Lucario is still a close friend," Pikachu said. "It's better having him than not having him…" He gave up and started sobbing, making Dr. Mario rub his back with care.

Link and Roy were thinking the same things for Ike, but they couldn't be jealous of Lucario. They thought that they should congratulate the Aura Pokémon for fighting off Death. DK had no regrets whatsoever, so he was whimpering rather loudly just by looking at Chris clutching to Lucario's hand, easily moved by the scene. Falco, on the other hand, had dark thoughts of jealousy. He was cursing Fox didn't have the same luck, but once looking back at Chris, the pilot felt horrible for getting mad, thinking that making a scene was unnecessary. He merely sighed and forced a smile towards the general direction.

Pikachu hopped to Lucario's bed, putting a hand on the Aura Pokémon's head. Sniffing, Pikachu smiled a bit. "Y-you thought I wasn't sad you were gone, did you? I-I was sad too…" he muttered. "I-I'm glad to have you back… Y-you can't see me now, but maybe you can tell we were all worried about you… Please, get well soon so we can talk, okay?" Pikachu shed tears and hugged Lucario to let everything out, wanting to feel better sooner.

Lucas approached Chris, who cleared his tears to look at Lucas. The blond boy sniffed sadly, engaging in a warm hug with the black-haired teen. The two sniffed, but they were happy. With no words to say, Chris relied on his action that Lucas was able to tell. Even though Lucas lost Ness, he was glad that Chris didn't go through the same thing. Lucas even felt a bit jealous of Chris, but he knew better than to make enemies with others. "(I-I'm a strong boy, mom…Claus…N-Ness…)" Lucas thought sadly while Chris rubbed his back, hearing Lucas sobbing to himself.

Chris gave Lucario one last look, feeling indebted to fate itself for bringing him back to the world. With his renewed spirit, the World Traveler bowed to himself to protect those who were dear to him. It was that same reason that made Lucario end up within the border of life and death, and Chris thought he had to do the same one day until he was sure to risk his life for others. For now, he needed to get prepared, wishing that no one would have to sacrifice. Perhaps, he thought, there were other methods to keep everything under control…

At last, Chris was sure that he wasn't alone in the world anymore, and he was going to share that good feeling with his other dear ones.

Naomi's Beliefs

"Life and death…" Naomi said as she recalled the events in her mind. "We doctors have a duty to see our patients standing back up from the clutches of Death. We play an important role in life itself."

The scenes showed rather quickly. Naomi was wandering off in deep thought as everything around here happened so fast. When she noticed, she was standing outside the mansion with many Smashers and guests all dressed in black attires. In front of them, there were four coffins with Ike, Fox, Ness, and Pichu inside. She saw how Master Hand gave out a speech to encourage everyone to never forget about what happened to their closest teammates. Slowly, one by one, each Smasher and guest gave out their own speeches that most of the time was addressing a single person. Chris, being mute, was still depressed that he couldn't voice out his opinions, but he enlisted Peach's help to pass out his words to the public.

"In the case our patients can't win the fight to survive, we shouldn't feel discouraged. These actions have a great impact in our overall career that teaches us not to lose hope and keep striving for ways to save more lives. With this said, some of us think Death itself is the most lethal of diseases. We try hard to prevent it from happening, although we know there's no medicine or treatment against it. Still, we learn that quitting our jobs is not a wise option."

The next second, Naomi bowed down cordially while graves were being dug out by some Smashers. The coffins were slowly being taken down into the deep holes as some people broke into tears. Chris sobbed silently, but Naomi placed a hand on his shoulder to make him look at her. Once he did, she shook her head to tell him he shouldn't be crying so much. The World Traveler was forced to agree, not wanting to show any more sadness than he had already displayed.

"We can defy Death many, many times, but the battle is never won against it. However, people realize that when the time comes, all the memories they had achieved through their short, long, or prolonged lives were very worth it. I'm speaking for everyone that memories are the only medicine that can truly defeat Death's sorrow. Those memories grow so strong that nothing can truly break them. I learned from experience that a small bit of happiness is all that someone needs to keep making bountiful moments with others. Death can take away life, but it fails miserably to kill our everlasting memories."

The surgeon found herself noticing that there was a new tomorrow morning. She was standing in front of four well-carved graves under the shade of trees that were on top of a small hill that overlooked the mansion's garden. She knelt down while putting her briefcase beside her, reading the graves to pay her respects.

~Ike Griel~

~A true man, he brought salvation to his country and eventually the world. His heroic deeds shall persist throughout history and, more importantly, his dear caring family~

~Pichu~

~A friendly Pokémon whom only cared to be gleeful and happy with no grudges. He was truly a real friend to many, wishing their very best till the end~

~Fox McCloud~

~A very promising leader in his world, a very valuable comrade for the whole universe, this young man made a name for himself to honor both himself and his father~

~Ness~

~An outstanding youth, he protected his world vigorously despite his young age. Surprisingly, he became a big role model to many kids who rallied him from behind all the time~

Naomi flashed a smile to the graves. "I didn't have many memories. That was my only fatal flaw. But even so, all the effort I gave out wasn't wasted for those who grew up close together. I am a doctor and I served my purpose. Though I failed to meet everyone's expectations, no person raised a fist against me. What else is there to say for me? I want to thank everyone for being so nice to me…and I will treasure this event for the rest of my life. I can't possibly thank you enough for giving me the chance to experience the thrills I used to have a long time ago…"

Applauses echoed in her mind. When she saw that the attendees showed her some admiration, Naomi was able to stand up firmly with no doubts. Their acceptance ultimately helped her to feel much better.

"I'll try to visit you when I have the time," she told the graves. "You put my image on a limbo but it all worked in the end."

The surgeon overheard someone coming from behind her. Naomi stood up and looked behind to see Chris coming her way. The teen stopped walking in front of the graves to pay a visit. He stared at Naomi.

"I'm almost ready to go back home to Europe," Naomi said. "I wanted to pay them one last visit."

The teen looked sad but then he seemed to be chuckling. He grabbed her hand to pass on a message.

"Thank you so much for everything, Naomi. I don't care that you and the others couldn't save everyone like we wished, but you still did a good job. I wished I could speak again to voice out my thanks, though… It's fine," she said. "You will get your speech eventually. It's not gone forever. Also, about your friend's condition… His heart might have restarted, but he's still in a critical condition. He will have to wait around two to three months until he can walk out again, and concerning the fact he fights, add two or three more months so he can make a full recovery provided that he doesn't do the opposite."

The teen smiled with a nod, scribbling more on her hand.

"I can wait. It doesn't bother me much," she read. "I hope it doesn't... Once I leave, I'll be sure to send letters to Mario. He helped me so much during my stay here that I can't lose touch with him. Is he perhaps a psychologist?" she asked chuckling. "He does a better job than being a doctor."

The two chuckled together, but they stopped once Wolf came from the mansion towards the graves. Chris was a little bit scared of the lupine that he backed away. The look Wolf had looked extremely ticked off. The teen refrained from talking to Wolf, but Naomi realized she never got an apology from Wolf when he had made a fit. As Wolf stared down at one particular grave, he grunted. "You want me to say something else?" he asked.

"A little sorry is enough," Naomi said. "It's about time you came out from your room. I remember you didn't assist the funeral yesterday."

"Was in a very bad mood," Wolf responded, looking at her from the corner of his right eye. "But I had second thoughts about what I did, woman."

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "You're sorry, aren't you?" she asked.

"I will never say that word," Wolf said. "…You can take this as if I said it."

The surgeon nodded. "Yes, you saying sorry is a little bit out of character," she admitted. "Thank you."

The lupine just nodded. "Isn't this the time for you to stay out of my sight?" he asked, seeing that Master Hand floated out from the mansion to meet up with Naomi.

"Time to go, I guess," Naomi said. "I want to go back to Europe and make sure the world hasn't gone down to hell with those scientist fanatics. I need to assist that meeting."

Master Hand nodded and snapped his fingers to make a portal appear before Naomi. The surgeon looked curious at the portal, hoping she wasn't going to experience some lethal side effects. "Thank you for helping us, Naomi. If we need help with more of those diseases - god helps us if THAT happens again - we will call you," Master Hand said.

"That's it, I'll be back in four days," Naomi joked.

"Meh, they can get too excited and break themselves up. That's what happens when you give them move sets," Master Hand said.

Chris looked upset and asked Naomi for help to voice out his opinion. "We never do that at all, stupid!" Naomi read.

"Hey!" Master Hand said annoyed.

Naomi chuckled. "Well, time for me to go to my home. I already said my farewells to everyone and made amends with my little fiery assistant. That portal isn't going to kill me, right?" she asked.

"It used to, but it doesn't anymore," Master Hand said, receiving looks from the three. "…That was a joke."

"…" Naomi shook her head and simply walked to the portal, looking back at Chris. The surgeon smiled while recalling everything that she saw, everyone who she met, and all the new memories she had made for herself. She waved her hand to the teen as she entered the portal that leaded to a safe place in Europe where she wouldn't be seen to avoid raising suspicion. With a bright light, the portal faded along with her.

"I'm glad this whole deal about diseases is over," Master Hand said. "It won't be too long before Tabuu attacks, though. He won't stop at nothing until he wins. So for now, let's rest and wait for everyone to settle down a little more, okay?" he asked, leaving the garden by entering the mansion.

Chris turned around and knelt down to the graves. He clasped his hands and prayed in his mind for his departed companions to rest in peace. Though he was sad to say farewell to them, Chris was equally happy. He promised to come visit them very often so he wouldn't forget them.

"Oh, and by the way, kid," Wolf began with a small grin as he headed back to the mansion, "I have no 'rival' anymore. You're going to fill that spot very nicely. Better stay careful or else you're gonna be blasted to the sky in your sleep."

At that, Chris yelped mentally and barely noticed Wolf left the garden. In a hurry, the teen had a panicked look as he caught up to the lupine to reconsider what he told him. As Chris pathetically tried to make his point come across, Lucas passed them while carrying a sunflower bouquet. The blond boy smiled warmly as he approached Ness's grave, promising him that Lucas would visit him daily. Looking up at the sky, Lucas bowed to stay strong in the long journey he needed to finish.

Albeit losing their members, the group was still going to continue on.

-Trauma Center: Second Opinion-

-Europe-

Caduceus Europe HQ - Terrace

Watching a plane flying away, Naomi took some fresh air after having settled down in Europe again. Her sudden disappearance shocked many executives, but she disregarded saying where she went during all that time. All she said was that she had taken a "little break" from her work, which of course didn't convince most people. Soon, her problems were forgotten once she started working.

"It's been a few days," Naomi told to herself. "I wonder how those guys are doing in their world… Heh, I should've taken some photos when I had the chance. Oh well, I can still send them some letters, but how am I supposed to send them one? I'll figure it out eventually…"

Behind her, a young surgeon stepped out from the door. The brown-haired surgeon wore light blue shirt with black pants and pale brown boots. He wore glasses, a black belt that had several pockets with some medicine and tools in case of an emergency, and he also wore a collar around his neck that had advanced technology for scans. "Dr. Kimishima, you're here," he said.

Naomi turned to her fellow surgeon. "Dr. Stiles, is the meeting about to start?" she asked.

"Yes, the officials are waiting for you to head over to the conference room," he said embarrassed. "They didn't send me, though. I remember you were here."

"Oh, I was taking in some fresh air," Naomi said. "Why don't we join them now, Mr. World-Renowned Doctor?"

"P-please, just call me Derek. I don't like when people give my nicknames," Derek said chuckling.

"Yes, your blushing makes it evident, Derek."

"I'm not blushing!" Derek suddenly protested, although he was blushing.

Naomi chuckled amused. "Dr. Stiles, we can't have arguments in the terrace. People are waiting for us, after all," she said as she headed back inside while Derek looked flustered at her.

The young surgeon slowly calmed down. "Say, she was surely doing something else here… Hmph, she is very enigmatic, not even saying a concrete explanation to her disappearance… Maybe she was doing stuff behind the scenes in secret. But what would be so important to keep as a secret from everyone? She's not a bad person, I can tell."

"Dr. Stiles, would you please come down? You can't keep officials waiting! Honestly, you're very reckless!" yelled a female voice from inside. "Don't let people think so highly of you if you can't even meet their expectations!"

"O-oh, sorry, Angie! I-I'm coming!" Derek said in a hurry, heading back inside as he wondered Naomi's little secret a bit more.

With one last thought, Naomi pressed on with her life. The ordeals she confronted were never going to be forgotten. She learned so much that she would employ in her career. Her sense of humanity was given back to her, and she was so thankful for the gift that was going to remain indebted. Along her way to the conference room, Naomi momentarily closed her eyes, muttering some words to herself.

"Sayonara, Smashers…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-"Persona 4 – SMILE" is a song reference to the same game. It plays many times, such as when you're achieving perfect Social Links with other people. The track really fits with Trauma Center. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it was composed by the same composer.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Geez, we dropped from twenty-or-so tracks to just one in a chapter.

I can't tell now, but maybe you were happy to know at least Lucario was spared. His resuscitation might have enlightened the sad mood of the chapter (even if there were a few jokes here and there), but it certainly helped to end this chapter with a good ending. But you're still wondering how I'm going to work on with the dead ones, right? You'll see how in the next chapter. After all, who says that you can't make more character development when a particular character is gone in the present? Did you think all those month skips were there just to make an excuse for new "worlds" to open up? There you go. I gave out a hint. ;)

Some of you might argue that Lucario suddenly coming back to life is a bit random, but I really can't tell if it's random. How do we humans know if Pokémon or other creatures can do that? It goes on to say that all people can be very different, even though they share same qualities. It's an interesting theory when you think about it. Besides, you could say that's another theme for this fiction. Not everyone can be the same, but they can still get along with each other very well (yes, we're also counting Pikmins (Olimar: Hurray!)).

Naomi was probably a very good character herself. You thought that the title was a Japanese farewell for the dead ones, but it was actually Naomi's words for everyone in general. She's Japanese, you know. And speaking of Japanese language, that conversation with her and Snake was made possible…thanks to the Google Translate engine. While it fails in certain areas that I supposedly hear, it made a good job trying to make it sound Japanese enough. To keep it true to the game series, even Derek made a small cameo at the end. ;)

So that's that. We have completed another memorable arc (that will be a big scar unless I do something about it). You're thinking the next chapters are going to be sad? Think again. Things will be okay (if you end up liking them, that is). Keep those pitchforks down and those torches cold until then. :D

The poll has closed down. Check the profile to see the next arc.

Just how will Chris survive without speech, anyway? He's got no voice, so we have to do something about the Smash Channel section. Thankfully, we got ourselves a substitute.

I encourage all mute people to review. :D

Or else I… Uh-oh, I don't have any good threats this time. Anyway… Oooh, substitute?

Alrighty, it's time for me to take on the spot! About damn time!

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness – Do Your Best, Girl!

Preview of the next chapter:

"From the ashes of the dead, hope rises up wearing white clothes that will put an end to all diseases threatening the world from extinction, while also making sure we got characters to cross rivers of magma for our entertainment," Etna said.

"I'm scared to know what you're up to with this…but continue," Naomi said.

"That hope is a doctor named Naomi Kimishima, who was blessed with the power of the demon god to make evil! But what is this! She uses that same blessing for good! She defies her own god using common sense!"

"How can you put 'blessed' and 'demon god' in the same sentence?" Peach wondered.

"Suddenly, Professional Surgeon Naomi comes up face to face with her arch-nemesis, the evil demon god, Inflew Enza, who is also her god! Pointing down his poisoned finger at her, she demands to fight against her in a battle of antibiotic gel and syringes! She gladly accepts and leaps at her own god with scalpels between her fingers, clashing against the giant-sized scalpel from her god! Talk about heroic!"

"Wait, didn't you say they were using antibiotic gel and syringes? How come they suddenly switched to scalpels?" Yoshi asked.

"Eat this! Here comes Super Healing Technique: PINCH OF RECOVERY!"

*Flashy lights with huge demon scream*

"Hey, this isn't a comic book! We can't use those in here!" Master Hand argued.

"With a win written down in her clipboard, Naomi heals her own god from his evilness! Inflew is grateful from becoming a good demon god that he gives out his title to Naomi! Now what will she do with the godly power she inherited? Will there be a bright tomorrow where people don't poison the air with their coughs?" Etna asked.

"I actually like that idea," Naomi said.

"Aww, come on!" Bowser argued.

"Next time on Super Demon-ness Naomi: Master of Surgery, Episode 183: Naomi VS. the All Incurable Dork Seiya! A patient who can't be saved by normal means? A new challenge arises for our brave surgeon goddess who will defeat the worst of diseases to ever exist!" Etna announced proudly.

"…" Chris was speechless.

"Honestly, we changed the channel special for her?" Ike's ghost asked.

"Yeah, I'm way more profitable. What can ya do?" Etna asked deviously. "I'm here to stay…and steal your screen time."

"Oh, brother…" Pit muttered.
*Chapter 184*: Listen to My Story

This came a little faster than the last time, so that's good.

From ngrey651:You truly did a most excellent job in keeping this chapter firmly gripped in drama whilst also providing that ray of hopeful light we readers so adore. Let's face it, deep down, all people love reading stories with happy endings. As we get older, we just expect more to happen in between the beginning and end, and the more challenges our protagonists overcome, the more that happy ending feels sweeter. :)

From me: Glad you liked the chapter, though this happy ending is far away from being the definite happy ending. Thanks again. :D

From PianistChris: Very shocking chapter.

It's a great relief that at least one 's an even greater relief that my favourite character will carry on in the story :D Unfortunately though, the others will still be missed a lot, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the next chapter. For myself, this arc will be most memorable due to the fact that it was the most shocking arc read-to-date; and I'm glad the 'dark' phase through this story is over. (At least, I'm hoping :], although the death of the other characters will still present a 'dark' sideliner in the ongoing chapters).

-Chris

(On a side note, when I read the previous chapter I was reading other books and for some reason all my favourite characters kept dying :S, so thank-you for reviving him :D )

From me: The dark phase is really over, don't worry. There's still so much to do with the characters that didn't make it. You'll see how I exactly deal with that theme…in this chapter. Thanks again. :D

From Dimention713:... While I am happy that Lucario is still alive... Everybody else is still dead... Sigh... I can't say much cause this chapter is way too sad... (Cries) All these memories and what not... Who will fill the gap that Ike, Pichu, Ness, and Fox? I really want to know! Anyhow, this chapter was sad... I was really hoping the scroll will do someting thus making Rita's appearance useful, but it wasn't... Well, this was Dimentio713 saying: "MASAMI HATA... YOU ARE A HACK! (Read Maskwitness Reviews to understand... Or watch Great Mission to Save Princess Peach)

Mecha-me: ... Hello? I'm still here!

Me: Oh! (Gets out magic gun) Give my regards to Edward! (shoots mecha) ... Honestly! Where do these guys come from?

From me: Those gaps will be filled very soon. And yes, I know replacements won't be enough to do that. Read the incoming chapters to find out more, okay? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Psycro4: Loved the chapter. You brought back Lucario, yay!

From me: Thank you for your feedback. I corrected all those mistakes, and your little lesson will greatly help me in my writing in future chapters. Thank you very much. :D

From FF and STH: My god Lucario is alive, lucario was not one my favorites character of your story but it still great he back in action soon but it still sad for the other, out of the 4 I miss the most it will be Ness and Ike.

Also how come we havn't hear from sonic in this chapter, I mean I know he was asleep but kind of wonder what he take on all this.

From me: It's not explicit explained in this chapter, but Sonic is as shocked as everyone else, though he quickly recovers from his depression. Unfortunately, he's not recovered from his condition. As for Ike, he'll be a special theme for this arc. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Safire Ranmako: Ok, first up are you going to stop torturing us? I mean it's been 2 months and you've only done 2 chapters. You use to put out a chapter every 2, 3 days and then you slowed to once a week, that was okay. But once a month isn't cutting it, it's torture. Are you going to update quicker?

Now that my rant is out of the way, I was so-so on this arc. It just wasn't my favorite tipe of dark fic. I mean it was darker than I usually read, but it wasn't that bad, minus the character deaths.

From me: *Bored Look* Once you wear my shoes, you'll notice how hard it is to write a fiction like this. That is life, my friend. Don't complain to me about too much. Besides, the only one whose believing that is being tortured is you. Have patience at all times with this story. I'll never stop writing for it.

So yes, thanks for reviewing. :)

From Decepticon Fan: I'm not sobbing, I'm sniffling still. ...However... Ike's ghost is promising...very promising. Could it be that the dead characters are coming back...or is it just a sick teaser?

I'm still kinda peeved as it just ain't the same without 'em.

Looking forward to Wolf's revenge. ...Whenever that may be…

From me: Actually, that preview thing was just done for humor purposes. Nothing of it is a hundred percent accurate at all. Well, non-Disgaea fans would be fooled the first time so I know how it feels. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Decepticon Fan (again?): ...I'm borderline angry and sad... With me, when I cry over anything, it's anger that's fueling the tears.

Of course Lucario gets a Life Shroom (figure of speech there). Did you give the rest of the deceased Poison Shrooms to keep 'em dead?

Wolf better do some serious vengeance on all whose responsible for the deaths.

Skeptically looking forward to the next chappie.

(I admit, you lost a lot of points from me)

From me: Weren't you here a review ago? I mean…

Well, those points I lost will come back slowly for sure. I'm certain you'll keep reading. Maybe, who knows, you could find some more appreciation for other characters you didn't want to stick with before. I'll see how things develop for you. Thanks again. :)

From TARDISreviewer: ...Well, the ending was certianly unexpected.

And I can assume the chocie of substitute is to further lighten the mood? (as much as that demon can, anyway...)

Or was there no other choice whatsoever?

Also, I immediately thought FF9 upon reading Chris was mute... I wonder if a letter's in order from that cast? (...assuming enough time passed in that world for the similar situation in disc 3 of that game to pass. No specifics to avoid spoilers in case other readers see this.)

From me: Just to lighten the mood? Actually, her previews will appear often at end of the upcoming arcs. :P

And yes, that's the place where I drew inspiration from Chris's muteness. I think it'd be a great point to use here in the story, and it also adds a little bit more of depth to Chris and his interactions with others. Too bad he'll suffer from his "silent main character syndrome" for a long time. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Speedy-Shifter: Nice job on these *sniff* last two chapters. Sorry about any *sniff* sniffs, Sad is still getting over the deaths with Scared. *sniff* But we're happy that Lucario is alive thanks to a mirical. Now they need to *sniff* work on Chris's voice. Now, my opinion on parts.

First of all, mutetism isn't what I expected from Chris. Sore throat maybe, *sniff* but mutetism

Amy loves Sonic too much.

Couldn't Nana have waited till after *sniff* the funeral to break the phone in case what happened to Lucario happened to Ness.

Pikachu and Lucas are stuborn. *sniff*

*Snake impression* Huh, it's about time Snake came back, but I don't know if it was a good or bad time. *End impression*

Was Rita in town as long as Naomi?

The answer to her question is that your more experienced with things like that.

It be a true mirical if the other 4 "sleeping" *sniff* smasher had the same thing happen.

Speaking of "sleeping" *sniff* smasher waking up, there is a way to put life in a empty body, but it involves anime. Specifcly Naruto. The Reanimation Justu can put life even in a puppet, but uses the life of the user. *sniff* Just wanted to put that out.

Lastly, will Naomi really meat Etna, or did you purposely put both there.

Now to get back to letting Calm do his work, which will be easier with knowing the character he's based on is alive.

From me: So many things caught people off-guard in this chapter. Ouch.

Saying that Amy loves Sonic is an understatement.

Nope, she couldn't. She was very afraid that the guy would call back.

Pikachu and Lucas…well, I guess they are stubborn, but they had a reason to be so.

I thought it was time for Snake to come out from his "retirement".

Hell, Rita was even longer in town than Naomi was. It was a bit ironic both of them left at the end of the previous chapter.

I forgot who asked what question…

Well, the other four suddenly awakening could've been a miracle, but a little bit too insane, don't you think?

Anime terms are out of the question here. Sorry.

That preview thing is absolutely false. Don't believe ANYTHING you read there. Again, sorry for that. :P

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From HopeFaith2: Dr Naomi is an awesome doctor and person. I haven't even heard of Trauma Center, but now, I want to buy the game and play it myself. Poor Chris. But it's okay, cause I'm 100% sure that he's gonna get his voice. Give it patience and time, and it will come around. The kids and Ness' dad was actually funny, yet sad (although I don't think you meant it being funny...) But, on the plus side, LUCARIO'S ALIVE! *does happy dance around bedroom* Even though he wasn't really alone, I'm glad Chris got Lucario back,which was probably the good thing you said was going to happen right? Though I wish the others came back too :(. Anyways, long story short, Amazing chapter, and can't wait for your update. Btw, it was really cool to see my own review in the chapter. Thanks! :D

From me: The dad and the kids' scene was both meant to be funny to a point and sad in the end. Also, the good thing I mentioned hasn't even appeared at all. Lucario coming back from life isn't the thing I was referencing. You'll see in time what that good thing is. And yes, all reviews are posted here so that I can have little chats with each one of you. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From (Somebody Who Likes To Be So Secretive About His/Her/Its(?) Name): 'Tis true, about miracles. The best way to at least give some happiness to the reviewers who shorted out their keyboards last chapter with their tears. Interesting to see how the Smashers recover from here and press on.

I'd also like to point out something to all the reviewers who speculated by what means the dead smashers could come back with a point they overlooked. The Wiimote allows the Smashers to venture into Chris's many games, one of which includes SSBB. Using this logic, would it not be possible for Chris to use the Wiimote to go into SSBB and arrive outside the mansion just before R.O.B. arrives, or before the fight against Tabuu (1st), pull the four characters out before they are defeated?

I know from reading past reviews, you don't usually take suggestions, nor use games which came out after Brawl. But I want to hear your thoughts on anidea that's been chewing me or a few days. In Epic Mickey, the characters inside of Wasteland cannot escape because they have been forgotton, which makes them lose their hearts. Knowing this, it should be noted that Ness is mostly kept alive through SSB, and Pichu has lost much luster with the recent games. Knowing this, if it wasn't for the fact that this is a very recent game (and you have already planned roles for the two for the future), would you consider the thought of doing an Epic Mickey arc that brings back Ness and Pichu? Again, I'm not suggesting an arc; I just want to see if that would be a plausable idea.

I trust you will set things right in the end, regardless of the in-between tragedies. Get to writing the next chapter, quickly now.

From me: Unfortunately, while that speculation of yours is true, it's way too risky to do. Sure, they could go back in time and stop them from being infected, but then that would make the AM pull out another trick and infect others or, worse yet, more of them. That's why time travel is not really recommended.

And thank you for spoiling me the game, whose idea won't be used at all.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

From wereAuraknight: ...yay... to happy for words...+coughs+ okay I'm over it

anyways i'm happy that Lucario is back. thx for doing that. even though i know it wasn't for me. thanks for making this story happy again :+") ( for me at least )

anyways to ans you're question the WereAuraKnight is like a were-wolf only with a Lucario! and my group the Aura Knights is a rank of Pokemon/Lucario lovers that spans many different chat-rooms, games and public events.

From me: I don't really use the readers' whims. That's putting too much attention that might ruin the chapters. However, if their ideas (that I never pick from what they say) are good enough, I might end up using them at some point. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Link5604: Yay for big black shiny rock that increases health! Yay for Lucario "coming back from the dead"! Yay for another chapter! Yay for a dud! And the biggest yay of all... YAY FOR FRY SAUCE! Now you know I want stop bugging you until you give me your opinion on fry sauce. Well now I have only two questions left, one do you work for Nintendo one way or another? Two, do you what 'baka' means?

-This is Mr. Ka-wam-ee-go-blam-ee, signing off

From me: 1) I don't work with Nintendo at all…but I wish I was.

2) Of course I know.

3) Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Ryan M: Thank you for bringing Lucario back, my friend. I was near tears at the chapter before this. It would have been nice for them all to come back, but I guess it's good that Lucario is back, at least. owever, I'm concerned with the stability of Link's, Ness's, and Fx's worlds. Without the rotagonis and main charater, wat will happen to those worlds?

From me: Master Hand thinks their worlds are just going to be fine, but he's TOTALLY wrong in that part… Well, actually, their worlds are going to be fine, but their friends and family… Something will happen when the word gets out, you'll see. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From S.S.: Disclaimer: Sonic Colors would've worked great as an arc but

1) Brawl came out too early (but still too late) 2) Sonic is already recruited 3) We're in a crossover section and 4) we're also in a HUGE Sonic Unleashed saga.

Anyhoo, this chapter was a little meh for me. The ToV gang was a nice inclusion. The Popple part was decently funny. Also even in this state of plot progress, you displayed of a lot of SSEWC-y jokes goodness. Chris being mute was absolutely what I didn't see coming. Real nice. :D

NOW FOR THE FLAMMMEEEEEESSS

Don'tcha think that SMILE is kinda... too cheerful for Lucario's revival? I mean Atsushi Kitajoh FTW and all that but that song would've been more suited at Lucario's awakening or something of the sorts. However, I haven't played Secret of Mana, Mother 3(seen walkthrough) or a decent RPG excluding the Mario RPGs, I can't give you any recommendations. Who am I to talk...

cf) Ch. 100

31. "My name is the great Luario"

Somebody had an issue with a character, so, why not remove a letter from the name? I'm sure they will not mind at all... Seriously, one important rule is never get the name wrong and bad written

cf) Ch.183 ~Ike Griel~

I've never played Radiance, but according to my super Edgeworth deductions, either you made a typo or Greil's name is Greil Griel.

Snake and Naomi talking in Japanese was kinda pointless, may I inquire what was.. uh... dammit, can't say this in a less offensive way... you know what I mean.

NOW TO PERFECTLY PLAGARIZE DIANAGOHAN AND GIVE A RATING!

Rating: Not your best, but still real nice

P.S. I now officially suck at reviews.. And you just gained another international fan cus I'm from which is a pretty nice place but fricking Nintendo of Korea took 2 years and 3 month to localize SSBB but 1 month to localize M&S at Vancouver. Sure, brawl has the trophy descriptions and all that but damn... AND THEY TOOK OUT CHRONICLE

P.S.S. If you lend me your ID, I can probably fix your grammar mistakes from previour chapters..

P.S.S.S. I am also a racist Goomba-Bidoof offspring.

P.S.S.S.S. We need a Persona arc. (Preferably 4)

...arrival of Flames of Disaster in 3.. 2.. 1..

From me: Ooh, how could I overlook that little name misspelling? Thankfully, I corrected it. Sorry for those Fire Emblem fans. D:

Nah, I don't think it was entirely pointless. I wanted Naomi to showcase her native language in the chapter, and Snake was a perfect candidate since he also knows Japanese… BTW, Naomi doesn't even look Japanese to me. But I think the anime portraits tell otherwise…I suppose.

Sweet, an international fan. I like the idea of my story being shown around the world… Wait, your country got Brawl THAT late? Oh my god, that's…extremely awful. And the Chronicle was taken out? That's way too much. You have my sympathy.

Crazy, I'm not giving my ID away. X_X

How does that racism thing work?

No suggestions, please. Besides, I've got no idea how an arc like that would work.

Flames of Disaster my butt. *Throws bucket full of water*

Thanks for reviewing! I don't think your reviews suck to me. :)

I think I'm slowly updating faster than before. Well, that's good because I want to make more humor and gleeful moments for all of you to enjoy. :)

It's time for a new arc to take the spotlight, and you've chosen Final Fantasy X no less… Admit it, you're just choosing this arc just for a certain Keyblade wielder to add more yaoi, I mean, more action to the fiction sooner. I know the feeling, but we're getting a bit closer for KH to be an arc. We just need to finish with this FF and FFVIII so that there's no confusion with the characters in there.

Anyway, Final Fantasy X was without a doubt the last faithfully game true to the series…until we crossed the XI boundary, where the series have taken some really nice turns but are slowly taking off from their roots. FFX was a return to the basics with a very fun new battle system. And the characters, oh god, the characters were all awesome. Without minding the horrendous lip-sync thing that didn't help the characters talk (and one VA tried so hard to lip-sync herself and sounded weird to many, unlike everyone else in the VA department who didn't do the same thing she did), the game became another huge gem.

Now, the SSEWC opens its doors to receive this arc.

…As a little side note, items' descriptions are going to be funnier this time while retaining their serious attributes. You already saw the descriptions in the previous chapter. Chris will also communicate with others with bold letters. There is also a special feature exclusive to this arc only. You'll spot it very soon. ;)

I encourage all die-hard Final Fantasy fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review. :D

Disclaimer: It's completely normal to see Marth related to yaoi. It's NOT normal to see Marth as a heterosexual figure. The fans have destroyed his (supposedly) male personality years ago. :l

Chapter 184: Listen to My Story

-Subspace-

Deep Inside the Great Maze

May 9 - Saturday – Morning

The swirling shadows of the Subspace started to make some people sick, one of those people being Bowser. It was a clichéd thing that villains were aligned to darkness for being evil, but the Koopa King thought that was just ridiculous. He just needed some fire and magma to make his point across, but seeing too much darkness was taking it up to eleven. He felt homesick for his castle.

"I have lost the traces," the Ancient Minister said. "The diseases I deployed were all taken out before they could even come close to finishing them off for good, though I'm positive everything went as planned."

Tabuu was mildly pleased to hear the news. "I will be happy if it did go as we planned," he said. "But we have to concentrate in more important matters besides taking them out of commission. Dr. Eggman, I believe you have something to share with us."

The evil scientist fixed his small glasses, folding his arms behind his back. "After working hard enough, I've located the next Temple of Gaia in another world. I'm certain this temple is the Chun-nan Temple," he explained.

"With that temple located, we only have one more temple to locate next," Ganondorf said. "But as usual, we need to make a full-scale search because the radar he uses does not quite pinpoint the exact spot."

"It's not my fault the temple can mess up the signals. They're truly powerful as they say."

"Enough," said Tabuu. "We must make the time we have beneficial. It will not be too long before those imbeciles track down the next temple. Their numbers might have decreased, but they will not stop."

"I'll be heading there this time around," Dr. Eggman offered. "I have some bad news, though. It's regarding the Shadow Nightmares."

"Did this unknown perpetrator have something to do with this?" Tabuu asked.

"No, it's the Nightmares themselves," Dr. Eggman said. "When I went outside to capture more Nightmares, they suddenly stopped coming out at night. I don't know exactly why this happened, but I have a little theory…"

"What is dat theory?" Dedede asked.

Dr. Eggman gazed off into the darkness. "I have the slight suspicion that Dark Gaia has caught up with what we're doing. I thought that the deity was a wild animal in a cage, but it's possible that Dark Gaia noticed that we're unwillingly taking its henchmen into custody for our purposes," he theorized.

Ganondorf stared at the doctor. "I thought the untamed deity liked us for giving its henchmen more power," he said.

"Yes, I know that is a good assumption, but then that made me think that Dark Gaia feels used. If that is true, we may be in for some real trouble if Dark Gaia suddenly lashes out on us… Or worse, it could just be acting out of instinct like any feral animal does."

Tabuu shook his head. "Is there no way to keep that uncivilized animal under control?" he asked.

"I'm trying to find out some way to appease the beast, but we should hurry up a little bit more with our matters," Dr. Eggman said. "We don't have a Shadow Nightmare ready this time. I have another reliable alternative, though."

"Good, then we should hurry up along. Who is going with Doctor Eggman?"

"Who will be good enough to escort me? I want some protection," Dr. Eggman said.

Charizard raised his hand. "I'm going. I need to have some action," he said.

Dr. Eggman looked ashamed. "Why do I have to tag along with a meathead dragon? I'm sad to say he's not very…intelligent himself," he said, much for Charizard's chagrin.

"Hey, I don't need any brains to get the point. You need my brawn to get ahead," Charizard said with a glare. "There's a reason I'm in this team, remember?"

"That reason is you being our team's pet dragon," Ganondorf said amused. ""I could use you as a worthy stead."

"In your super evil dreams," Charizard shot back.

Tabuu sighed at them. "I do not care that you beat each other up, but get going now. Lose any more time and I will lose my patience…or whatever patience I have left for the whole lot of you." With that, the embodiment of the Subspace warped away, leaving the ragtag bunch of misfits alone.

They suddenly felt a trembling sound. Looking to their right, Bowser fell down dazzled on his spiked back. "And what's dah matter with him?" Dedede asked.

"Meh, he was complainin' about swirlin' darkness being so dazzling and boring and what not," Wario said uninterested, leaving the villains behind by walking away into the darkness.

"What fool cannot understand the greatness of darkness?" Ganondorf asked.

"Anyone who is smart enough not to get excited with it," Dedede said shuddering. "I hate it little bit less than I hate that stupid pink puffball called Kirby."

Dr. Eggman furrowed his brow and walked away. "Come on, fire breath. We got work to do," he told Charizard, who simply fumed at the order and followed the doctor from behind.

Once they were gone, Ganondorf looked at the Ancient Minister. "You better not have finished that Triforce of Courage brat. I still need his corpse to extract that Triforce part from his hand," he said.

"He was never my initial target, but that's what happens when you want to take a fatal shot for somebody else," the Ancient Minister said. "If anything, blame his heroics for getting in my way."

Ganondorf thought for a moment. "Perhaps that could be a good excuse for you…" he muttered, the Ancient Minister turning his back at him.

"(One part of the plan is finished for the time being. While it didn't benefit me so much, I can still move on to the next phase very soon,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(But this isn't the right time. I need things to settle down first, preferably once we're done with Dr. Eggman and this whole foolish Dark Gaia topic…)"

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

Persona 4 – Heartbeat Heartbreak

The events that passed nearly a month ago had shaken up many people in the mansion. It was harder for some to tolerate the pain of losing their beloved ones, but many were able to stand up on their feet and keep on with their lives. The days ahead would be hard, but they weren't going to stop them.

Taking up the duty, Chris wanted to stay close to Lucario as many days as he could. The Aura Pokemon was able to regain his senses two weeks after he was diagnosed with a prescription to recover from his condition. After knowing everything that happened, Lucario was guilty for harboring a lethal disease, and he felt even guiltier after knowing Chris couldn't talk. The only thing that would cheer him up was Chris's constant visits to the infirmary.

Speaking of the World Traveler, Chris would often sleep in the infirmary on a chair to stay close to Lucario should there be any complications in his recovery. The teen was sleeping deeply, although he had slipped in his sleep to Lucario's bed. Not that Lucario minded, but he took advantage to place his hand over Chris's head.

With a long, silent yawn, Chris slowly woke up, noticing the spot where he was. He looked up at Lucario's hand, removing it quietly while the Aura Pokémon rested. But the carefulness was unneeded. Lucario would instantly wake up whenever he felt something or someone was moving him a bit. This time, it took him a small while to open his eyes, feeling weak thanks to his heart condition. When he Chris sat on his chair, Lucario smiled a bit. "Good…morning…" he struggled to say.

Chris shook his head and made a sign on his mouth so that Lucario wouldn't force too much energy. Lucario felt bad that he couldn't be of much help, but he obeyed his trainer's orders. He couldn't even exert any aura at all. Talking to Chris mentally was out of the question for now.

Both were forced to stay silent against their wishes. With nothing else to do, Lucario rested peacefully while Chris quietly sat close while thinking what to do. So far, he struggled to continue his normal life in his world, having to tell some lies to his superiors at school of what happened to him. His parents knew what happened to him thanks to Chris calling one of his uncles to tell them what was going on. They were worried sick, but Chris assured them that everything would be fine soon. His train of thoughts was stopped when he saw Dr. Mario coming in from the door.

Dr. Mario couldn't stop using his doctor attire. He vowed to change back to his plain Mario appearance once everyone was out from the infirmary. He felt it was his task to check on them until they made a full recovery. So far, none of them was told to leave, which annoyed some patients.

"Zzz…"

The doctor overheard a pink hedgehog's breathings nearby. Knowing where to find them, he turned to Sonic's bed where Amy lied down on the lower side of the bed. Like Chris, Amy didn't let Sonic a little moment of privacy at all. There was a good reason why she did it, though.

"Amy, wake up," Dr. Mario said. "It's morning already."

The pink hedgehog grumbled a bit until she looked up from her spot. She stretched out her arms and looked groggily at the doctor. "Good morning…" she yawned.

"It looks like you failed to accomplish your little task."

Amy's eyes fully opened. "But Sonic's been a good boy, sleeping under his bed sheet," she said as she pointed over to a bulge where Sonic was sleeping under. "See? He's so quiet."

"And that's what I'm trying to say. He usually snores so loud anybody in the hall can hear him. And if we remove the bed sheet…" Dr. Mario pulled the bed sheet back to reveal that said bulge wasn't Sonic but two pillows piled up over each other. "We can clearly see he fled away under our noses…again."

Amy disapproved that, making fists to her sides as she stood up from her chair. "Oh, he didn't do it again!" she complained. "It's the twentieth time he does this!"

Dr. Mario sighed with a frown. "I don't want to burden him anymore, but we've got no choice left…" he muttered, turning around to find Mewtwo standing right behind him. "You're already here?"

"The lone fact Sonic always runs away every single morning makes it obvious you're going to call me. Thanks to that, I came here so we get this over with," Mewtwo said, his expression not being so friendly. He concentrated for a few seconds until he warped away. A few more seconds later, he warped back, bringing a heavily breathing Sonic along with him. The hedgehog clutched his chest with both hands as if he was having an attack. Mewtwo grunted and used Confusion to move Sonic back to his bed, lying him down gently.

"Thank you, Mewtwo… You can go now. He hopefully won't bother you again," Dr. Mario said.

Mewtwo took a small glance to Lucario, who glanced back at him. Shaking his head, Mewtwo warped away to his room, leaving Lucario feeling a bit guilty. He could tell Mewtwo disapproved of his behavior when he was struck by the disease. For the time being, Lucario rested while thinking what to avoid.

The doctor approached the heavy breathing Sonic. "Care to tell me where you ran off to this time?" he asked.

"I-I was…j-just…taking some fresh air…i-in the mountains to the east…a-and I…c-collapsed midway…" Sonic managed to cough out.

Amy slammed her hands on his bed. "For goodness' sake, Sonic, your lungs haven't recovered yet! At this rate, you'll never leave this room unless you listen to the doctor!" she complained.

Ever since Naomi left the mansion, the hedgehog would wake up every morning, feeling confident that he was fine. He started sneaking out on his own no matter how bad his lungs were. His first escapes weren't so good because some of the Smashers had to go out and look where Sonic went, finding him collapsed on the ground while complaining he couldn't stand up without coughing all the small air he had. After a few times, Dr. Mario enlisted Mewtwo's help to locate Sonic faster, which bothered the Psychic Pokémon a lot.

"Sonic, you're stubborn to a fault, but that won't do any good to you," Dr. Mario said. "You're a fast runner and that takes a lot of pressure to your lungs when you're sick. Think of that this way: you can instantly get in critical condition in a second! How bad is that for your health?"

Sonic didn't want to admit it. He was too busy catching his breath. Dr. Mario shook his head and provided Sonic with an oxygen mask to get air into his lungs. The hedgehog slowly calmed down as he took in the air. "We're gonna have to put you in chains if you run away like that again," Amy said.

"You still need more time until you can be okay," Dr. Mario said. "Don't prolong your recovery more than it needs to."

Sonic gave Dr. Mario a thumb up while he rested and inhaled the air.

Garden

Meanwhile, in front of the four graves on the small hill, Marth was kneeling down to Ike's grave. The prince stared at the grave for a long while, sighing a bit depressed. It felt like a nightmare to the prince that a comrade fell in battle. Marth himself never lost a comrade before, and the thought of having one scarred him. He was glad Roy made it, he was sure of that. But Ike was equally the same kind of friend like Roy.

"It feels like we haven't seen each other in a long while," Marth said. "It feels like ages, too… I wonder how you're doing in the afterlife, my friend. Don't worry, Mist doesn't know what happened to you."

Upon touching the theme of Ike's sister, Marth couldn't bear to tell the Fire Emblem wielder about her brother's fate. Marth recalled how Ike talked about her sister Mist. He had heard how Mist cried easily. If she ever wound up hearing about Ike's death, the poor girl would be devastated. She had lost her mother at a young age, her father killed by the Black Knight, and now her brother was lost forever. Mist was saddened when her father died, but bringing up one more death to the family would kill her mind.

"Master Hand told us all not to divulge the news, but I wonder if we can keep the secret any longer," Marth said. "It won't be too late until all is revealed to everyone. I can tell that moment is just being delayed… If that moment happens, will I bear the news of your death and tell your sister? She won't stop crying if she hears that!" he argued, putting a hand on his face. "Ugh, I hate this… I hate all this happened because we weren't careful enough…"

The Altean thought about getting revenge on the army, but it wasn't going to solve a thing. Even though his pain would ease, Ike would still be dead. Marth resolved to continue.

Marth recalled he took Ragnell off from Ike's sheath when he was put in his coffin. The legendary sword rested alone in Ike's room where it would never be wielded ever again. Marth would have liked to use a sword like that to honor Ike but the sheer weight of that weapon was too much for his hands. He was puzzled, thinking how Ike could swing a monstrosity of a sword like that…with one hand to boot.

"Your sword Ragnell will catch dust as it is… I'll be sure to polish it for you until I can find it a worthy wielder of its power," Marth said. "I can't be that wielder. I have my Falchion right here with me. If it gets down to it, its wielder shall be somebody who thinks like you. A person like that will never appear, I know that well…"

From behind, the most unlikely of characters showed up from nowhere. Marth felt the odd presence (somehow. These guys freak me out when they sense people with their supernatural sixth senses. I mean, what the hell? Wait, since when did Marth start to sense people? Oh wait, he heard that guy coming, he didn't sense him. Phew, never mind…) looming behind him. Putting his right hand on Falchion's sheath, Marth turned around to find his assailant. "…Who are you?"

Sig blinked blankly, rubbing the side of his face with his left demon hand. Marth was a bit shocked to see the demonic hand. "…I was looking for bugs," he simply said. "I wound up here when I noticed. Gardens are great for bugs."

Marth stared blankly at the young bug collector. He never met Sig before. Link once told Marth about Sig, but the prince would have remembered the bug collector a long time ago. "I'm surprised people can still get away with it and just enter this garden as if it was a public park…" Marth trailed off.

Obviously, Sig wasn't interested in the slightest. He kept looking around to spot any bugs worth staring at. "Have you seen some golden bugs?" Sig asked emotionless. "Agitha is sad that her friends haven't come to her ball yet. I'm sad for her too."

Marth sighed. He wanted to talk to somebody else rather than the bug fanatic. "Sorry, but I'm currently busy with other things now," he said.

Sig stopped looking everywhere to look at Marth, thinking Marth thought bugs were useless. "Busy with what?" he asked blankly.

"Um… (Should I really engage in a conversation with a stranger?)" Marth thought. "(I suppose he's not dangerous, even though that hand of his is creepy…) You see…a dear friend of mine just passed away."

"Oh," Sig said in an uninterested manner. "Are you sad?"

"Yes, very sad, though you can't tell that right now," Marth said, staring at Ike's grave. "His death really depresses me. It had a great impact in myself that I…I just can't bear the thought any longer."

Sig rubbed his head with his demon hand. "You loved him?" he asked out of the blue.

Marth felt extremely embarrassed. He turned a shade of red, looking bewildered at Sig. "W-whatever told you that? I-I didn't love him or anything but just liked him as a friend!" he said.

"That's strange," Sig said, looking the other way. "You look like a girl. Don't you love him?"

Silence…

"…For your big information, I am a guy," Marth said with a bored look.

Sig studied Marth from bottom to top, locking his eyes into the tiara on his hair. "But why are you wearing a tiara?" he asked puzzled. "Men don't wear tiaras."

The prince rolled his eyes. "It's my sister's memento. I wear it to remember her," he said.

"Did she trick you?" Sig asked, thinking Marth's sister was playing a prank on the prince. "It looks ridiculous on your head. Anyone will think you look like a girl."

Marth dropped the idea of slicing Sig's head off with Falchion. He kept his cool around the curious bug fanatic.

"And I think you have girly looks besides the tiara."

Was Sig asking Marth to unconditionally slit his throat? Marth's hand shook as he took a grip on Falchion's hilt.

Sig looked blankly at Marth before he looked around more to find any bugs. "Hmm, I gotta go," he said. "I need to find those bugs or else Agitha won't get happy."

"Y-you should definitely leave me behind," Marth muttered through gritted teeth.

The bug fanatic looked back at the girl, I mean, guy. "Don't be so sad for your friend," he suddenly said. "I'm sure you can be happy once more. He is dead but you're still alive. You can try to be happy again."

The prince's rage faded away once Marth stared blankly at Sig. The bug fanatic looked to the west and then walked away silently into the forest. He inspected a few tree hollows to find the golden bugs until he was gone out of sight, leaving Marth to wonder what Sig told him.

"Will I be happy again?" Marth asked to himself. "Is it truly possible to find happiness after witnessing a friend parting ways forever? I'd never thought that I'd receive such an idea like that from someone like him…"

As he stared more at Ike's grave, the Altean walked back inside the mansion to ponder about the solution for his dilemma. Meanwhile in the forest, Sig stopped walking to wonder if Marth was actually a man and not a woman. The bug fanatic didn't find a plausible reason for the prince to be a male.

"She was flat-chested. I think he is a she," Sig told himself while looking around for more bugs in the forest.

Command Room

The command room felt deserted with almost no one coming there. The room would usually fill itself with a ragtag bunch of misfits in a second, but that never seemed to happen again thanks to the latest events that passed. The only one who constantly visited the lone room was Tails who was working like a zombie. The loss of Fox had a huge impact in Tails as if he lost a big brother. The two-tailed fox was almost an empty shell.

"That guy reached the same level of respect you have for Sonic or what?" Knuckles asked Tails, getting no reply as the youth calmly worked on his assigned computer. "He did it in record time no less… Oh, wait, Sonic did it the same way."

"Knuckles, just leave me alone," Tails said. "I have some work to do."

"I know, I know, I'm just saying," Knuckles said. "(He's giving me the boot, isn't he…)"

Knuckles couldn't tell that Tails had a depressed look on his face, staring at his computer to find any signals of the next Temple of Gaia. He was too lost in his research that he never looked at Chip flying in circles around the room. The imp had his feeble arms crossed as he flew around. "Guys, have you ever felt that you've been ignored for some odd reason?" he asked. "Cuz I feel somebody hasn't been paying too much attention to me lately."

"Yeah, I've been through the same thing," Charmy said, flying the opposite direction from Chip. "But it's nastier for me. People ignore me like twenty times ever since my debut was made public! How stupid is that? I wanna have more screen time!"

Chip stopped in shock. "W-we think the same!" he said.

Charmy stopped in front of him. "You're right! We're think the same stuff!" he said, engaging in a hug with Chip. "You're like the little soul mate I never found!"

"And you too!" Chip said in realization. "I wanna be your little brother!"

"Deal!"

"No, wait, I'm way older than you, like, some thousand years old. You'll be my little brother."

"Lame, you're smaller than me."

"Oh no, things are gonna be like I said. I'm the older brother."

"No, I'll be the older brother!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"You're a bad brother! I'll fight for supremacy! Prepare to be punished by your rarely seen deity!"

"Prepared to be pinched by your everyday bee!"

Knuckles' patience was put into test as the two airborne characters started fighting in midair, cursing each other to death. After a thick vein popped out from his forehead, Knuckles had it with them. "YOU MORONS SHUT THE HELL UP!" he yelled.

The imp and the bee stopped fighting in midair, comically suspended with feet and fists about to collide with each other. "He wants to fight for supremacy as well!" Chip proclaimed.

"Let's get 'im!" Charmy said.

"What?" Knuckles asked dumbfounded before the two dove for him, crashing into each other to create a blurry ball that went rolling back to the hallway. After Tails heard a crash he ignored, a furious echidna yelled his lungs out and started chasing after the two children around the hallway.

Tails stopped typing on his keyboard to rest for a moment. He stared at his depressed look on the screen while reflecting on his memories for a bit. "Fox…" Tails muttered.

The two-tailed fox didn't have too much time to think of the past thanks to a beeping alarm on the monitor of his computer disrupting the silence of the room. Tails shook his head to snap out from his state.

"A-another temple has been found!" Tails said serious, reading the detailed information on the screen. "I don't really like the data telling me that this world has a video game name… Oh well, I can't do anything else but accept reality… Accept reality…even whatever happened here…" he muttered sighing. He scratched his head for a bit until he snapped back again. "Man, what a way to put my hopes down…"

The two-tailed fox was startled when Master Hand flew into the room, having heard the little alarm. "Crap, our little time to rest is over already," he said. "It's time to inform everyone to get their gloves ready to do some fighting. Hopefully they will be in the mood to go to the next world and discover the next temple."

Tails hopped down his chair to the floor. "Can I go tell Sonic about this?" he asked.

"But that guy has been running out from here even though he's sick," Master Hand said. "Sonic is going to sit this one out."

"I-I know, but at least he needs to know…"

"Okay, fine, tell him but don't let him jump into the fray. He still needs to rest until he gets better."

The two-tailed fox nodded and ran away from the room, leaving Master Hand to imagine the days when the command room would be occupied by many people. He was going to miss not reaching the same limit anymore. Thinking that, he cursed in his mind for keeping the lethal secret from everyone who was close to the Smashers who passed away. "No tourney manager has ever dealt with this issue… Why, oh why did a poor hand like me have to get into this mess?" he asked himself.

Infirmary

Unbeknown to Dr. Mario's sight, a small creature entered through the door, curiously looking inside. The little creature wandered under the beds, getting the attention from some of the patients who decided to leave it. Eventually, the little creature made its way to the far side of the room where Chris spotted it.

Unable to say a word, Chris gasped mentally. He didn't remember seeing a Mime Jr. wandering inside the mansion before. The Mime Jr. turned towards his direction, looking happily at him. The Mime Jr. walked to Chris and stared up at him, tilting its head to the side. Avoiding the cuteness of the creature, Chris kept staring down at him. He then saw the Mime Jr. mimicking his moves, from blinking to moving his head.

From the door, Yoshi peeked out to find Mime Jr. The Yoshi had kept the little Pokémon a secret from everyone in the mansion to avoid getting Mime Jr. kicked out from the place by Master Hand. When Yoshi spotted Mime Jr. playing with Chris, he looked dismayed. "Yoshi?" Dr. Mario asked, making Yoshi bump his head against the door frame.

"O-oww…" Yoshi muttered in pain.

"Are you here to visit somebody?" he asked.

Yoshi shook his head. "U-um, no, that's not it… I was…looking for something I lost around here," he said.

Dr. Mario looked away for a second to find Mime Jr. standing there, making Yoshi face-palm. "What the… What is that?" he asked.

"D-don't tell Master Hand!" Yoshi pleaded. "I-I'm giving him some shelter until I can find his trainer! H-he got lost and I couldn't resist taking care of him! H-he's a baby and you know how much I like them! Please, please, don't tell anybody else about Mime Jr.'s existence!"

The doctor was confused for a little while, digesting what Yoshi was telling him. "…Well, it doesn't really concern me at all, so you're alone in this one, Yoshi," he said, Yoshi sighing relieved. "But don't share the blame with me, though. I'll pretend I never saw Mime Jr. in the mansion, okay?"

"Yes, anything will do," Yoshi said. "Just don't even tell anyone else about him…"

"Chris already knows Mime Jr. exists here," Dr. Mario pointed out.

"Oh, phooey…" Yoshi muttered. Forced to do so, he went to Chris to explain his situation. Naturally, Chris agreed to keep Mime Jr. as a secret from Master Hand, which saved Yoshi a lot of relief.

Dr. Mario then turned to the door where Tails appeared, panting heavily. "W-we've got work to do…" he said. "We've found the next Temple of Gaia."

Sonic raised a finger while still using the oxygen tank. "E-everyone…assemble!" he struggled to say.

"Um…not you, though," Tails said. "You need to rest until you're feeling better. I just wanted to come here to visit Sonic to tell him what we were doing while he's resting."

"Oh, I see," Dr. Mario said while Chris came with Yoshi, hiding Mime Jr. on his back from Tails.

"We're going to some world called…Spira, I believe," Tails said, not knowing that the name got Lucario's attention. "The next temple is somewhere in there."

It didn't take much time for Chris to recall the location. He smiled at the thought and walked to Lucario to inform him that he was leaving. The World Traveler noticed that Lucario was trying to say something. "Chris…can you please…" the Aura Pokémon muttered, motioning to whisper something to Chris.

After hearing Lucario's request, Chris thought that it would be possible to do it. Since Chris wanted to make Lucario feel better, he was going to do anything to do the favor. Chris nodded to Lucario before he left the infirmary behind.

"(Please, be okay out there, Chris…)" Lucario thought as he slowly went back to sleep to rest his heart.

Command Room

Half an hour later, the command room soon filled with everyone else. Master Hand wasn't feeling so good that the room looked a little bit more empty than usual. The Sonic reps didn't make much a difference (mostly because they weren't supposed to be in the mansion at all). "I know it's been hard for so many of you to tolerate the losses of our comrades," the hand said. "However, I know I speak for everyone that we want to stop such an event from taking place again."

There were no responses from the entire group. They all took a moment of silence for a few seconds until Snake spoke. "Get your gears working because we're going off to work," he said. "You all better stay sharper than before."

"I hate to admit it, but he's right," Samus said. "I'm not willing to stop and let the army kill us all next."

Small murmurs were spoken between each other until they all agreed to keep working. Master Hand felt a bit relieved. "Thank you," Master Hand said, showing the status of the next world to the group. "As you can see on the screen, we've found the next Temple of Gaia somewhere in this new world. Here is the status so we can assemble the next party."

Final Fantasy X
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Varied
Number of protagonists: 7
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 7
Member Requirements: A summoner, a swordsman, a samurai, a magician, a guardian, and a thief are required in the team. A free slot is available.

"Because there are five people in recovery at the infirmary, our member count is a little bit more limited than before," Master Hand said. "We must assemble the correct party. We don't want to stick out so much with the public of that world. Alright, get started," he said, everyone forming groups to talk with each other.

The World Traveled blinked as he sighed mentally. He looked around the room to find the perfect candidates for the next mission. With the requirements in mind, he went to find a person who would fit the role of a summoner.

"I had a little feeling that was telling me that I was going to come again," Zelda told Chris, finding her sitting on a chair alone. She would usually have Link by her side but she was alone this time around. "I'll be ready to go once we're all ready."

Chris merely stared at her.

"…I know," Zelda said frowning. "It doesn't look the same without Link, does it? It's good that he survived through that ordeal but I still need to wait for him to get better. I feel left out with everyone talking to somebody else… I need some kind of good friend who would like to talk to me and probably discuss relevant topics for the sake of not falling in boredom. Who would fill that role, though?"

Vector peeked out his head from the next row of computers. "Oh, oh, I always wanted to have a princess for a friend!" he said as he joined up with them. "Heheh, who knows? Maybe I can get a fortune out of the royalty if she wants to give me some work. I so wanna have my own massage chair soon…" he mused to himself.

Zelda looked back at Chris. "I just realized the gods of Hyrule hold some grudge on me," she said displeased, making the World Traveler chuckle mentally. The teen nodded and left her to deal with Vector.

"So, what do you to pay taxes?" Vector asked. "Me? I pay 'em all…using Charmy's allowance when he's not looking," he whispered deviously. "It's sorta mean but he needs to behave better around his own boss, don't you think?"

Zelda forcibly chuckled to agree with the crocodile. "(Gods, please give me strength to tolerate this man…)" she pleaded mentally.

Next on the list, Chris was thinking about finding a suitable samurai. There was almost no one who could fit that role at all. After all, the roster had some kind of preference on swordsmen over ninjas or samurais. In the end, Chris went to Meta Knight.

"The army is getting more violent with each day," Meta Knight told Chris. "They have stolen my Halberd and now they are ought to kill us for good. Do you think they will pull out something so dirty again?"

The World Traveler thought about the question. Seeing that anything would be possible, he nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I think so," Meta Knight said. "In other news, you want me to come with you all? I'm sorry, but that won't happen this time around."

The teen looked confused at the knight for a moment.

"Instead of my place, I want Kirby to go with you," he said. "The reason why I choose him to go in my stead is because he is getting out of shape in his fighting skills. He has been so lazy that he has avoided doing any sort of fighting these past months. I am making sure he turns into a decent warrior without straying away from his path."

Chris felt sorry for Kirby. Ever since Meta Knight came to the mansion, all the insane food rations Kirby ate were greatly reduced to the point he only had three meals with no desserts in between. Kirby was still young and he had Meta Knight as an imposing father figure looming behind his back all the time. It looks heartwarming, but then one look at Meta Knight's mask would kill the cute thought in a gruesome way.

Said puffball approached them with a blank look. "Kirby, you're going with them this time. I want you to get in shape. And no, it's not physically getting in shape but in your fighting skills," Meta Knight said.

Kirby made a worried look that unconditionally begged Chris to stop the madman from working the child to the ground. Avoiding making the knight point his sword at him, Chris restrained himself from petting Kirby (which he regretted a lot for not doing so). "Okay…" Kirby said sighing.

Meta Knight motioned Chris to leave them alone. "You leave him here with me. I'm going to tell him what he needs to do while staying with you," he said.

Thinking Kirby was going to receive a training schedule of massive feats, Chris left the two Star Warriors behind to look for the guardian. But then, Meta Knight spoke once more.

"On second thought… Kirby is staying here," Meta Knight said.

While Kirby beamed with glee, Chris turned back to the knight. He thought Meta Knight was giving Kirby a break.

"I am going to give him his training myself."

Kirby felt that a 1-ton weight fell on his head given his shocked look. Chris closed his eyes in defeat.

"If you want a worthy replacement, you can take Pit with you," Meta Knight said. "I have heard that he is avoiding going to worlds just because of his appearance."

"I-I am not thinking such things!" Pit suddenly said, overhearing the conversation from the back row. When he was looked by three faces, he looked embarrassed. "I-it's just that I feel that my services aren't required in so many worlds…"

"You can try to hide those wings of yours if they trouble you a lot."

Pit looked pale. "N-no, I don't want to take my wings off. I already went through so much psychological trauma… I don't want to do that again," he said.

"I know you well, Pit," Meta Knight said. "Would you leave all the work on our shoulders while you hide in a hole and think that the world is ought to get you? Will your conscience kill you knowing that?"

The angel looked away nervously. "U-um, I think so…" he trailed off frightened of the knight.

"Then draw out your swords and come out from that hole," Meta Knight said. "I hate lazy people more than anyone else. Why do you think I'm training Kirby myself?"

At that, Kirby got a defeated look on his face, falling down on his back.

"I'm not lazy and I'll prove you that!" Pit said serious. "I won't dishonor Palutena!"

Chris felt pity for Pit being manipulated by Meta Knight so easily. Then again, anyone with a young mind would run away scared from someone like the star warrior (even Chris). The teen left the determined angel behind until everyone was ready.

Pit stared blankly at Meta Knight. "Why do I think I was forced to do something I didn't want to do this time?" he asked.

"Hero senses, everyone else has those in them," Meta Knight simply said.

There were no Smashers who would fit a good role for the guardian part. But then everything changed when Chris remembered they had guests willing to lend their hands to them. He was about to choose Vector for a guardian when he thought bringing him to a place like a Final Fantasy setting would be…not really a good idea judging how Vector was so incompetent himself. Charmy was also out of the question. He was too hyperactive to go there. Espio would have been good but he had already taken a turn. Taking advantage of Vector making Zelda's life a little bit more miserable, Chris finally found a worthy character to be called a guardian.

A guardian that ironically wasn't guarding a very important emerald at the time, that is…

Knuckles looked up grinning at Chris. "Alright, it's time for me to go again. I've waited for this moment," he said, confusing Chris. "I'll be honest with you. My performance last time was a big disaster because I SOMEHOW wasn't keeping up with you when we were fighting against the enemy, but I've kept a close eye on your progress and abilities… This time, I'm scoring a win for the team."

Chris looked bored at Knuckles.

"Hey, why are you giving me that look?" Knuckles asked before Chris grabbed his gloved hand to scribble a message. "You have issues, sorry. Issues? Hey, I don't have issues! The fact you kept an eye on us just so that you could show off your power in battle is…a bit pathetic, sorry. WHAT! You better have another good reason to come again because otherwise I'll think you're just showing off. I'm not showing off! I-I have my pride as a fighter! Yes, I knew it was your pride having to do something with this after all… S-so what's your point? I don't want to look bad to everyone!"

The teen shook his head and waved at Knuckles. He then walked away from the echidna.

"…" Knuckles looked at Big. "Do I have issues?" he asked.

"I don't know, but you're looking for Froggy, right?" Big asked hopefully. "Isn't that an issue?"

"Eh, don't put me together with your issue…"

Big looked sad. "But finding Froggy is an issue… You're a good person, aren't you? Will you help me?" he asked.

Knuckles knew he wasn't going to get Big off his shoulders for a long time if he didn't agree with him. "Ugh, I'll look for the damn frog if you shut up," he said.

"Oh, I can do that. Thank you so much," Big said pleased.

"… (How did I get into this mess again? Something about me having issues…)" Knuckles asked himself.

With three people down in the party, Chris counted himself as the magician. Taking a step into the frontlines meant a faster death to him. Next on the list, Chris looked around to find a thief. Common sense struck him in the form of Wolf who was all alone on a corner of the room with arms firmly crossed over his chest. The teen took a moment to look at no one in particular, trying to say any dirty-sounding requirement would always end up with Wolf in it. He then went to Wolf to tell him to come along.

"I'm in," Wolf said bluntly. "I have some business to attend to with some guys if you know what I mean…"

Chris saw in his mind a bloody Wolf holding Bowser's head on his claw. The bloody Wolf crackled maniacally to the sky as rain poured down, the lupine letting out a long howl of victory as he tossed the head to a deep abyss where it was impaled by a stalagmite. To further add to the horrific thought, the bloody Wolf licked his claws, pretending to like the taste.

"Hey, kid, snap out of it," Wolf said. "Stop staring at me like that."

Chris snapped out of his senses. He briefly asked himself why Wolf looked so clean until he remembered he was nightmare-daydreaming.

"Honestly, having you mute is like talking to a wall," Wolf complained. "That voice of yours better come back or else you're going to be staring at me for a long while, and that might give other people the wrong idea."

The teen looked away embarrassed and walked away. When he was gone, Wolf started thinking about Fox. Wolf cursed at the idea of thinking about his forced rival that he wanted to yell his lungs out to James to blame him for the grief the lupine tried so hard to avoid. Wolf wanted to look tough.

"(Crap, I can't stop the thoughts,)" Wolf thought with a grunt. "(I guess I stood way too close to that guy. James, you freaking son of a-)"

After he was sure he was far away from Wolf, Chris sighed to himself. It was hard enough for him to talk to others without a voice and he was glad his point was taken across with a simple look at them. However, the one-look-answer fashion wouldn't last for long. He tried to rely on it one more time to tell Marth the obvious.

Chris found Marth sitting alone on a chair. The World Traveler saw how down the prince was with the fact that Marth rested his arms on his knees while staring down at the floor. He was always surrounded by Roy, Ike, and Link, often sharing thoughts about their swordsmanship. But with both Roy and Link out of commission and Ike gone forever, Marth was all alone.

Marth heard Chris approaching, raising his head to look at him. "I suppose you want me to go this time… Alright, I'll do it," he said sighing. "Maybe I can cheer myself up."

The teen looked worried at Marth. The prince was able to tell Chris wanted to ask him about his issues.

"You're wondering why I'm so down in the slumps, aren't you… No, wait, it's a given. You can tell why I'm so down," Marth said. "Well, I have never lost a friend like this, Chris. I'm glad Roy and Link are on their way to full recovery, though. But…losing Ike…it was unexpected for me."

Chris nodded worried. He blamed that part of his muteness was caused because of the others who passed away. There were so many sad reasons that Chris thought were excuses for some of them to keep on living, like Pichu being the youngest Smasher of the whole cast. When he thought about Pichu, Chris turned to the left where he saw the young Smashers silent, not a single one of them talking a lot. He saw Pikachu and Lucas in a worse mood since they couldn't raise their faces from the floor.

"Well, I'm not the only one who lost someone dear," Marth said. "This isn't sympathy but empathy that I'm feeling… God, it feels so bad; really, really bad. But you know what? I'm sick of this. I don't want to feel like this for any longer. I want to feel…well, happy. Somebody out there told me that I'd get happy sooner or later. The wait is killing me already, though… Do you think I can recover?"

The teen was unsure about an answer. He thought for a bit until he recalled that they were going to a new world. Chris pointed to the screen.

"…Perhaps I can distract myself in that world," Marth said. "Maybe I can find someone whom I can talk to and see if I can feel any better. Yes, that should do it. But…will it really help me?" he wondered.

Chris shrugged his shoulders.

"I think can do this just fine," Marth said. "Oh, and don't hesitate to ask me for help if you get in trouble. I feel a little bit better telling you this. Thanks, Chris."

Chris smiled a bit and nodded. With Marth enlisted on the team, the World Traveler left the prince behind. As soon as Chris left, Marth interlaced his fingers and got into deep thought.

"(Am I doing the right thing? Am I trying to hopelessly find another person who can fill the gap Ike left? I hope I'm not being rude…)" Marth thought worried.

The teen now faced another problem with the group. With six people ready on the list, he was unsure who to add as the additional party member. While Chris was thinking about who to choose, Chip appeared before him. "Hey there," he said. "It sucks not to be able to talk, doesn't it?"

Chris nodded. He really hated not being able to talk or utter a word. He felt like a typical silent main character.

"But don't worry, I think you'll get out of this problem soon," Chip cheered. "So anyway… I'm forced to come so that we have a chance to enter the sanctums inside the temples, right? But if I go, somebody has to stay with Sonic so he doesn't go bloody monster on us."

The World Traveler cursed every time he had to wake up from his sleep to keep Sonic's evil spirit from annoying anyone with his "eternal age of suffering" speech. But on a serious note, Chip had to stay close to Sonic at all times whenever the hedgehog turned into a werehog.

"What are we gonna do? He can't go out! He's recovering!" Chip said alarmed. "That's it, we're finished! The worlds are gonna be reduced to dust by my crazy brother, and Sonic meanwhile is gonna be someone else's puppet while that monster eats our insides! Ooh, the agony, Chris, the agony!"

Chris slapped the imp.

"Thank you, I needed that," Chip thanked Chris. "So what now?"

The teen looked at no one in particular and sighed while frowning.

A few minutes later…

From the hallway, Dr. Mario, Chip, and Sonic came into the room. The hedgehog had a small mask over his mouth to avoid his coughs from spewing out any drool. "Alright, here's what we're going to do with you," Dr. Mario told Sonic. "Thanks to you having a psychotic spirit that wants to see us all dead, you're going to have to go to the next world with the next group so that Chris and Chip keep a close eye on you. Sadly though, you need to follow my prescription."

"I know that," Sonic said bored, coughing a bit. "Don't run around no matter how much you wanna do it so you don't have fun."

"You're a speed maniac, Sonic. You need to avoid exerting your energy. Do you want to lie down in the middle of a wasteland, gasping for breath?" Dr. Mario asked.

"But I know you guys will come to pick me up, so why bother?" Sonic asked with a grin.

"Sonic, you might die if you keep doing that."

Sonic's eyes shot wide open. "U-um, u-uh, w-well… Gah, okay," he said, finally giving up. The hedgehog hated to wait around for so long and his temptations were getting the better of him. "I'm not going to run around too much so I can live…"

"Also, if you happen to engage in a battle, try to fight a little bit. Furthermore, don't let anyone hit your body or your lungs could get even worse."

Sonic looked frightened. "And if my get hit just once…" he trailed off.

"If that happens, then you'll have to wait even longer for you to heal completely," Dr. Mario said. "And you surely don't want to wait any longer, do you?"

"No, doc…"

"You're a good patient," the doctor remarked nodding. "Okay, it's time for you to get to work. Just don't overexert yourself, got it?"

"Got it," Sonic said before coughing. "Man, I hate this so, but so much."

Chip flew to Sonic. "Aww, don't worry. With my super collar controlling powers, you'll behave just nicely, Sonic," he said with a smile.

Sonic looked bored at Dr. Mario. "I'm suddenly thinking that I'm going to die for another unknown reason," he said, making the doctor sigh.

With the seven assembled, the teen walked towards Crazy Hand's counter. The unstable hand yawned loudly once Chris stood across the counter. "I feel like we haven't seen each other for a long while…" Crazy Hand muttered. "…Oh, wait. You're finally invading my privacy again? Goody! It's about time I get to sell more stuff that I HOPEFULLY see you use in battle with other baddies!" he rejoiced while Chris rolled his eyes. "BTW! How come you haven't seen your own extra abilities in the shop? I swear that you need to think about yourself a few times…and that time is now!"

Chris had to agree with the hand. While it was true that everyone had new batches of skills, he never thought about seeing his own batch. Taking the opportunity, Chris nodded to the hand.

"You want to nuke a village?" Crazy Hand guessed.

To avoid Crazy Hand from getting any weirder ideas, Chris seemingly sighed and motioned Crazy Hand to scribble him a message. But then Chris suddenly stopped the hand.

"Why?" Crazy Hand asked to no one in particular.

It was easy to scribble a message to anyone as long as their hands weren't extremely big or really small. Crazy Hand happened to be a huge hand himself, and scribbling a message on his palm would take a long time, not to mention it was unclear if the hand would really stay still for a single letter to be scribbled.

"Hey, I can wait, but I can wait for as long as two seconds," Crazy Hand said to no one in particular. "Anything that is above me after that time expires is sooooooo gonna be crushed."

Chris had no idea why Crazy Hand was talking to the air, but he was scared of scribbling a message on the hand after randomly talking to someone else. A new alternative was presented in the form on notes and a pen right on top of the counter. Sighing mentally, Chris scribbled a message on it for Crazy Hand to read.

"What are those fancy drawings?" Crazy Hand asked. "Oh, sorry, I can't read."

Chris crushed the note in his palm, containing his rage. It was a surprise the crazy hand even managed a shop. Then again, how come the hand just mentioned that he couldn't read now? Crazy Hand was obviously messing around with Chris.

"Yeah, I suck so much at reading that makes people rage. I'm so awesome!" Crazy Hand said.

The teen yelled mentally as he turned around and grabbed the nearest hand he could get. He ultimately pulled Peach to assist him in giving a message to the hand. "Chris is asking you to show him his extra abilities," Peach said, noticing that Chris was scribbling more. "He's also saying that he can't believe it took him so much time just to see a single list…"

"Heheh, that's what happens when I lie about not being able to read," Crazy Hand said.

"…What's that? Chris is calling you a bastard," Peach read unsure.

Crazy Hand didn't reply to that, just handing over the list to Chris. The teen fumed a bit and just browsed the list.

Jobs – Stickers – Smashing Abilities – Items – Sets (New!)

Smash Coins: 7301

-Smashing Abilities

-Chris

Job Throw Lvl. 1 – 1000 Smash Coins

Hands over a job to another party member one time per battle. Higher levels for this skill provide more options. Pros: Any experience gained in that job will be retained. The chosen job will be added to the target's skills. Clothes change too. Cons: The job won't be accessible for the original user until a battle ends.

Resist lvl. 1: Light – 1000 Smash Coins

Chris will reduce any received light-based attacks by a third (1/3).

Resist lvl, 1: Darkness/Shadow – 1000 Smash Coins

Chris will reduce any received dark-based attacks by a third (1/3).

Peach saw Chris scribbling another message on her hand. "Chris is asking why he has just three options he can have instead of everyone else having five options," she said.

"Heck no, we're not giving him anything else!" Crazy Hand said. "You already got dozens of jobs under your belt! What else do you want? Laser eyes? Flight powers?"

The World Traveler looked upset until he reconsidered. "He is saying that it's okay…but he feels a bit left out," Peach said. "Ooh, Chris, don't feel like that. I don't think you were left out."

Chris seemingly sighed in agreement. He was easily convinced by Peach. Looking at Crazy Hand, he handed over 1000 Smash Coins. "Free money!" Crazy Hand rejoiced.

The teen yelled mentally and scribbled a fast message. "He's saying that the money is for the Job Throw ability…and he's also cursing your name a lot," Peach said before sighing. "I'm glad you don't use really nasty words, Chris."

"Hmph," Crazy Hand muttered, snapping his fingers to give the ability to Chris. "Crush my dreams to buy my own mansion, why don't you," he muttered under his breath. "Oh, what's that? Thank you for shopping! May I interest you in buying more stuff for others? Let me give you some ideas to kill your wallet faster! Let Pit choose something for him! I swear our little angel feels a little bit neglected that he needs some fancy stuff!"

"I am not being neglected!" Pit said as he approached the counter. "I can still put up a good fight, I'll let you know!"

"Okay, prove me wrong! I dare ya!" Crazy Hand said as he gave a list to Pit. "WHATCHA GONNA BUY FROM GOOD YOUNG ME?"

Master Hand approached his brother and smacked him hard.

"Thank you, I needed that," Crazy Hand said.

"You need that all the time…" Master Hand muttered annoyed.

-Pit

No Wings – 1000 Smash Coins

Feeling uneasy under public eyes? This ability allows Pit's wings to disappear and appear at his will, allowing him to look more human.

Wings of Icarus EX Lvl. 1 – 1000 Smash Coins

Allows Pit's wings the ability to fly for a short time. It can be added with his jumps to give him more height. Higher levels will increase flying time.

Centurion – 3000 Smash Coins

Pit can call one Centurion in battle to aid him for short period of time, sacrificing his life for his commander… Why are you saying this looks wrong?

Resist lvl. 1: Light – 1000 Smash Coins

Pit will reduce any received light-based attacks by a third (1/3).

Resist lvl. 1: Darkness/Shadow – 1000 Smash Coins

Pit will reduce any received darkness/shadow-based attacks by a third (1/3).

Pit thought for a moment. "Hmm, those abilities sound very nice… I'd like to buy this one, and this one. Oh, and this one too," he said.

Crazy Hand shook himself. "Be more specific! How can anyone tell outside this room and the very fabric of existence what you bought?" he asked.

"…What?" Pit asked.

"Um, I think he wants to know what are you buying, as in, saying the actual names," Peach said.

The angel shook his head and pointed at the skills he wanted to buy: the two resistant skills and the Wings of Icarus EX lvl. 1. Chris felt pity for Pit not doing so much the past missions so he handed over 3000 Smash Coins to the hand. Snapping his fingers, Crazy Hand gave everything to Pit. "And you're powered up!" Crazy Hand said.

"But I don't really feel anything," Pit said.

"I COULD show you those feelings, but SOME people I know don't really want to feel the powah so they don't go crazy with it," Crazy Hand said. "Wanna buy anything else?"

Peach raised her hand. "I suggest that Pit buys the first skill so he can feel much better with the public," she suggested.

Pit's right eye twitched. "U-um, what? N-no, sorry, I don't want to buy that," he said. "I…I already went through enough traumas a long time ago thanks to that." Chris grabbed his hand to scribble a message. "This ability won't really take away your wings forcefully. You can even put them back at will! Besides, you don't go out the mansion because you're scared people might react weird around you! Well…I'm not sure…"

The princess stared at the angel. "Would you rather hide in here without ever showing your face to the world? I think that's a horrible thought if you ask me…" she said worried.

"(…How can I say no to her? I would hate to make her sad…)" Pit reconsidered the suggestion in his mind. It was true that he almost never went to the village to see the surroundings because he thought people had different views for angels. If he had the chance for the wings to go away as many times as he wanted, nobody would guess that he was an actual angel. He smiled a bit at the thought and nodded. "Okay, I'll buy it…so I can go out to the world without worries."

Chris gave out 1000 Smash Coins to the hand, reducing the count to 2301 Smash Coins. The hand snapped his fingers, giving the ability to Pit (in a boring way as the hand thought).

"Go ahead," Peach said confidently. "Put your wings away."

Pit gulped and looked at his wings. "H-how do I do that?" he asked.

"Think freely and your fantasies will come true…" Crazy Hand said in a saint-sounding voice, receiving looks from the trio. "…Alright, just think and poof they'll go away."

Pit blinked and then thought that his wings were disappearing. Behind his back, his wings shone a dim light as they were vanishing slowly in thin air. Once his wings were gone, the angel looked behind to see that his disappeared wings. He gasped when he could see that nothing was obstructing his view anymore.

"See? Doesn't it feel good?" Peach asked.

Pit stared at her, albeit with his eyes randomly closing out of sync. "A wingless angel am I again…" he muttered until he lost consciousness and fell forward, smacking his head against the counter until he fell down on the floor with a dumbfounded look on his face. Not feeling his wings revived some gruesome thoughts into his mind.

"Pit!" Peach yelled as she sat on her knees to shake the angel. "Oh my goodness, Pit!"

Crazy Hand chuckled, receiving an upset look from Chris. "Hah! He said some encouraging words but he ended up on the floor like I expected he'd do!" he said.

The teen frowned. When he looked at Peach's saddened expression as she tried to bring Pit back to consciousness, he decided to help her somehow. Fortunately, the angel opened his eyes, but he felt wobbly as if he was in a trance.

"Anything else you wanna buy?" Crazy Hand asked. "You should REALLY buy a new Assist Trophy set!"

The mute World Traveler sighed at the hand's ignorance for Pit's condition. Chris reconsidered buying a set. And so, he took the list to browse the selection.

-Sets

Tales of Symphonia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Tales of Vesperia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Fire Emblem Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Path of Radiance Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Disgaea Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF IV Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF VII Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF IX Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Megaman Legends Set – 1000 Smash Coins

Star Ocean Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Chrono Trigger Set – 2000 Smash Coins (New!)

Allows the random chance to call any of the Chrono Trigger members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex: Crono, Marle, or Lucca)

"…The FF IX set?" the hand asked, the teen giving him 1000 Smash Coins, further reducing the amount to 301 Smash Coins. Happy with the deal, the hand gave out a free Assist Trophy that guaranteed a character of that set to assist in battle. "BTW, there was something else I needed to tell you…"

The teen looked confused at the hand.

"Well, ya see, remember that some of our dear pals kicked the bucket here?" Crazy Hand asked. "They had some stickers on their stands, right? We…we can't take those off from them. They were the only ones who could remove their stickers and EVEN take out their stands to avoid getting them stolen or broken."

Chris looked down to the floor. The mere mention about the people who passed away sent a chill to his spine.

"It's like they took a secret to their grave! Seriously, this is a bit of a letdown. All the abilities they got? They also were taken with them," the hand said. "…Don't cry, little guy. Cheer up! Let's work together for a better tomorrow, one that will hopefully have me conquering the world!"

Although Chris highly disagreed with Crazy Hand's farfetched idea, he merely smiled and nodded to the hand.

A few minutes later…

Zelda, Marth, Sonic, Chip, Chris, Wolf, Knuckles, and Pit (albeit still shocked from not having any wings) were all gathered in front of Master Hand. "No more holdbacks this time, please," Master Hand said. "You eight have to find that temple as soon as you can."

"But we need to have the temple guardians to give us their tablets to open the doors," Knuckles said. "No doubt those guys are using the next guardians to go into the temples."

Zelda looked unsure. "Don't you think it's weird they haven't realized that they need another requirement to go into the sanctums?" she asked.

Chris looked at Chip, who was busy chewing on a chocolate bar. The imp was lost with the taste that he was ignoring everything that was happening around him. When his mouth was stuck on his bar, he noticed the others staring at his face. "…Whut us ut?" he asked.

"Oh, that chocolate you got there is tasty, nothing else," Wolf joked.

"Uh," Chip nodded, resuming eating his chocolate bar.

"…Anyway," Master Hand began, "have they ever seen Chip opening the doors?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Marth said. "Come to think of it, they would've found out by now that they're missing Chip as another key…"

"But if they happened to know that…they would try to capture Chip and keep him as another hostage," Master Hand said.

Chip overheard the conversation when he took a small break to get some air to eat his chocolate bar. "Who says what is going to do what on who?" he asked bewildered.

"Chip, the army could try to get their hands on you if they find out you're a key," Zelda said. "They have never seen you opening the doors, and they have never asked why you're always following us around in the first place."

"They think he's just a midget and nothing else," Wolf said. "How the heck would they think at first glance that this plushy is a deity?"

"True," everyone else said.

Chip didn't feel offended at all. In fact, he felt flattered. "Aww, I'm probably the most huggable deity to ever exist," he said.

Master Hand raised a finger. "Don't let the army know that Chip is a key himself," he said. "As long as they don't know that single fact, they won't get deeper into the temples. We need to keep them uninformed as long as possible, preferably after we're done with Dark Gaia."

"Let's hope we don't let them know unconditionally," Zelda said.

"Keep them out of sight," Master Hand said. "With that point taken across, go ahead to the next world, and good luck out there…and Sonic, be careful."

Sonic sighed with a cough. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful," he said.

Knuckles frowned. "He's going to be running around in three minutes," he said. "He's that stubborn."

"Why are we bringing him once more again?"

"Because I want to make up my poor performance in the last world I went to," Knuckles said.

The hedgehog chuckled. "Oh, you mean when you got your head handed over to you?" he asked.

"Wanna stay in the infirmary for another month, you stupid freak?" the echidna threatened.

The World Traveler wanted to yell, but he instead clapped his hands to get their attention. He looked upset to both Sonic and Knuckles, the former feeling guilty.

"It takes him to make Sonic shut up…" Knuckles muttered, receiving a hand-chop from Chris. "Oww!"

Chris crossed his arms at Knuckles. The echidna rubbed his head while he stared at the teen.

"…Alright, I'm not letting him get to me again," Knuckles said, Sonic chuckling mentally.

Chris nodded and used his Wiimote to open the portal. The party slowly walked inside the portal until they were all gone from the room. When they were gone, Master Hand looked at Crazy Hand. "Well, we're still in business, aren't we?" he asked. "Even though we don't have four with us anymore, we can still move on, right?"

"Oh yes," Crazy Hand said. "Money makes me go around."

"…Was it a good idea to let you handle the shop?"

"Of course! I can achieve my dreams thanks to you! I love you, dear brother!" Crazy Hand gleefully said, making Master Hand frown to himself.

-Final Fantasy X-

Listen to my story. This might be our last chance.

My story is still trying to reach the end. You know, the end, the place where all stories finish. It's the place where a sequel may continue with a new beginning. My story? Doesn't seem like it has a sequel but just a definite ending…

I've been whisked away from my home, Zanarkand, thanks to my old man. No, it's not the typical "moving away from home" thing, but rather a "monster who threatens a whole different world, who turns out to be your old man who has taken you away from home because he wants to mess with your little mind after he disappeared from home a long time ago" thing. Yeah, not exactly a very common thing to see nowadays, but still…

You got the idea. I'm practically a stranger to this new world everyone calls Spira. At first, after I found out that my Zanarkand was a civilization that was destroyed a thousand years ago…I didn't believe the facts until I had traveled around Spira for a time. I slowly grew up in this world, spending days with others.

In this world, my old man is the abomination everyone else calls "Sin", a monster of gigantic proportions that looks like a whale that appeared in this world as a punishment for people relying on the so-called Machina, machines that supposedly destroyed Zanarkand a thousand years ago in the Machina War.

To get rid of Sin, people of this world go on pilgrimages with their guardians to reach the ruins of Zanarkand, making pacts with aeons to hone their skills in order to fight Sin head on with the Final Aeon; a special aeon that sacrifices the life of a guardian. They try to bring the Calm, a period of ten years where Sin isn't seen again. Today, the Calm ended, and Sin is roaming the world again. The last Calm was brought by the last summoner who happened to be my old man's summoner. My old man was the guardian who turned into the Final Aeon and defeated Sin, turning into the new Sin himself ten years later. It's a never-ending cycle…

And you know what? The summoner who brings the Final Aeon sacrifices their life together with the guardian. In a nutshell, summoners travel to hone their skills, reach Zanarkand to sacrifice their lives and call the Final Aeon with a guardian, the Final Aeon destroys Sin, and the Final Aeon grows into Sin in ten years. Rinse and repeat. Just like that…

And I happen to be a guardian to the last summoner's daughter… She knows the danger she's confronting, but she smiles and says that she understands. To her, it's worth to have the Calm just for people to rest safely on their beds without having to worry about Sin for a time. She's sad, and she even admitted that smiling while sad hurts her a lot. She even practiced smiling when sad too…

But I have the feeling there's some other way to end this cruel cycle, except I haven't told anyone about it just yet. I know it'll bring Spira the Calm, but seeing her dying for the world just…looks wrong in so many levels.

Tonight, after we escaped from Spira's crazy religion, I found her alone in the forest. She was sad for her teachings having betrayed her. Yeah, I'd feel pissed if my religion would suddenly tell me that there's no end for a monster like Sin no matter how many times summoners have to throw their lives away, despite how everyone else in Spira hopes for an era of eternal peace like that. But at least I made her feel happy again. We shared a special moment together…and she's back to throwing her life away.

Man, isn't there some way to end this cycle?

And you know? My story was simple as it was…but then, who would've thought my own story would mix up together with someone else's?

-Spira-

Macalania Woods – Pond

Final Fantasy X – Macalania Woods

A forest of crystallized bark was shown under the still night sky. The forest of crystals would never lose its majestic look no matter how people would look at it from a different angel. Between roots, water flowed down in a gentle manner, flowing down all the way to the ocean far away.

Deep into the forest, there was a large pond of water with a crystallized tree in the center. On the small bank of earth, two people sat there under the stars. The two were two young teenagers that had recently shared a moment inside the water.

The first teen was a young dark-skinned male with messy blond hair. The guy wore black-and-yellow shoes with black shorts that had an extended pant right leg with a red emblem on it. He also wore black overalls with a yellow T-shirt underneath that exposed his built and his chest a bit. Over his chest, he wore a small silver necklace. His left shoulder was covered by a blue shoulder pad while his left arm was coated under small red belts and a shielded portion that reached his gloved hand.

The second teen was a young female. She was wearing an ensemble with a blue pleated, flower-patterned dress, black boots, and a black entwined-string camisole under a white sash of material that wrapped around her neck and over her chest. She also wore a yellow patterned obi with a foreign-styled knot and a decorative obidome that clinched the cords, two separate kimono-like sleeves hanging from her upper arms completed the white and blue ensemble. She had a small, blue-beaded earring that hung from her right ear, hidden by a lock of her brown, short hair, woven into blue beads with gold rings around the larger, middle bead, and a silver pendant around her neck.

The two of them stared at the stars for a moment until the young female chuckled. ""I'll continue," she said.

The young male nodded.

"I must... If I give up now...I could do anything I wanted to, and yet... Even if I was with you, I could never forget," she said.

The young male looked at her and then at the sky. He thought for a moment until he spoke. "I'll go with you," he said.

The young female smiled almost instantly and looked at him. "Hmm?"

"I'm your guardian. Unless I'm...fired?"

The girl chuckled and shook her head, smiling back at him. "Stay with me until the end. Please."

He looked up at the sky. "Not until the end... Always," he said nodding.

"Always, then…" she muttered.

Behind them, a looming figure watched from the shadows. The figure remained silent until it walked away to the camp they had set nearby.

The boy stood up from his place after hearing the figure walking away back to the camp. "Maybe…you should head back to camp first," the girl said.

"Roger!" he said. The two shared a small moment staring at each other until he slowly walked away from her. The girl stood up and looked up to the sky.

She sighed confidently. "Nothing can go wrong now…" she muttered. "…He's with me in this journey… I have my friends with me too…" She sighed once more and stared up at the stars. "But…should I finish this pilgrimage and… No, I already made up my mind… Father, please watch over me."

As she stared at the sky for a little longer, she wanted to run back to the boy to go back to the camp together. However, her idea was delayed when she spotted some kind of vortex forming over the lake. She got startled at it that she gasped loudly.

"W-what in the world?" she muttered under her breath, covering her mouth with her right hand. "W-what is that?"

The vortex was very unfamiliar to her that became paralyzed. From within the vortex, some figures stepped out and clumsily fell into the water. Thanks to the light the crystals of the forest gave out, she could barely tell what she saw. She overheard some yells when the figures sank inside the water. She hopped from the ground when the vortex disappeared in thin air.

The splashing sounds of the pond reached the young boy's ears. He gasped and turned around running to the young girl's side. "Yuna!" he yelled. "Yuna, what's happening?"

The young girl named Yuna turned worried to him. "Y-you're not going to believe what I saw just now, b-but…but…" she trailed off unsure.

"What is it? C'mon, speak up!" the young boy said.

Yuna pointed to the pond around the tree. "There was this weird vortex that dropped some people inside the pond!" she said. "I have no idea how could a vortex appear here, but it did!"

"A vortex?" the young boy asked confused. "Yuna, are you sure you're not dreaming stuff?"

Yuna looked upset. "Of course not! I don't have a reason to lie to you!" she said.

"O-okay, you're right on that point," he said, rubbing his chin. "But still…are you sure of what you saw?"

Yuna had no time to answer back. The two overheard the eight figures rising up from the water to catch air. Once they moved forward, they gasped after making out the figures' appearances.

"Dammit, what the hell is wrong with that portal?" Wolf asked upset, looking at Chris. "Kid, is that control of yours finally running out of batteries or what?"

Chris shook his head in panic.

"W-well, this surely was an unfortunate landing," Zelda said sneezing. "Oh no, my dress it's all soaked…"

"Is it really important to worry about clothes now?" Knuckles asked, looking around the pond. "Hey, where's Sonic?"

Since it was night, Sonic had transformed into his werehog form. The werehog suddenly rose up from the water, frantically moving his arms around. "Help, help!" he said, coughing loudly.

Knuckles grunted and swam to get a hold of the werehog's arm. "Oh yeah, I forgot you're a big cat when it comes down to water," he said.

"You saved me…" the werehog muttered coughing.

Marth frowned. "Falling into a pond while you're sick was pure bad luck, I suppose," he said.

Pit rose up from the water with a sneeze. "T-this is what happens when my wings are off my back!" he complained. "How can you all manage to live without having a pair of wings?"

"How can you manage to live without being so annoying?" Wolf retorted.

"What was that?" Pit asked.

"Enough!" Marth yelled. "We all need to calm down first before we can go out and find that temple!" They all took a moment to regain their composure. "Good…" he muttered until he looked at Chip floating in the pond, looking away from them. "You fell down too? But you've got wings…"

"See now?" Pit muttered under his breath.

Marth shook his head at Pit and then looked back at Chip. "Where are you looking at, anyway?" he asked.

Chip blinked a few times until he pointed away from the group, specifically to the two young teens staring bewildered at their way. When the seven turned to look at them, Chris's mouth gaped in shock.

"…Uh…" Zelda muttered uncomfortably. "…H-how are you doing tonight?" she asked with a worried smile.

The young male and Yuna exchanged glances without saying a word.

Pit gulped. He was about to call his wings back, but seeing that there were people around, he refrained from doing so. "U-um, e-excuse us from falling out all of a sudden…" he said. "Did they see us?" he whispered.

"Pfft, so what if they saw us coming from that portal?" Knuckles asked. "They already know our little secre-" he was interrupted by a downward punch on his head from Sonic, pushing the echidna back into the water. To Sonic's luck, a bark of wood floated nearby. He used it to support himself from sinking into the pond.

"…What should we do?" Yuna whispered to the young teen.

"Well… I don't have any ideas," the young teen whispered.

Marth raised a hand. "Please, we didn't come here to attack you or anything! Don't get the wrong idea!" he said. "W-we came here to…um…well…"

Zelda moved forward. "If you can listen to us for just a minute… Everything should become clear!" she said. "For goodness' sake, please, just stay there and listen to what we have to say!"

The two exchanged glances once more. "Um…okay?" Yuna replied confused. "A-are you sure those aren't fiends?"

"Fiends?" Sonic, Chip, and Wolf repeated.

"They're in no way fiends…" Pit trailed off. "They're coming with us. T-they're normal people just like you two! I swear!"

Sonic sneezed. "C-can we go to safe land? I-I don't wanna stay floating in the water!" he whined.

An enraged Knuckles rose up from the water with a ticked off look. "You really don't know your strength, do you, moron?" he asked Sonic.

"Knuckles, please!" Marth hissed without looking at the echidna.

A few minutes later…

The eight got back to safe land where they dried themselves a bit. Yuna and the young teen stood away at a safe distance to make sure the foreign group wasn't going to pull off something shady. "Thank you…" Zelda muttered with a sneeze.

The young guy crossed his arms. "Okay," he began, "Yuna here says that you guys came out from a portal in midair…"

"Yes…" Marth trailed off unsure. "You're probably not going to believe this…but…we come from other worlds."

"What?" Yuna and the young guy asked in unison.

"I-it's true," Pit said. "I mean, isn't it easy to tell us all apart? Just compare how each one of us looks like… That should give you a clue."

The two compared each one of the eight with each other. They could tell that there were some features that didn't quite match each other too well. "The lady's got long ears while the other girl has normal ears," the young guy said.

"What other girl is that?" Knuckles asked.

Wolf snickered. "He's talking about our little prince," he said.

Marth looked offended. "I…am a guy," he said.

Yuna stared at the tiara on top of Marth's head.

"This is just a memento of my sister…" he explained through gritted teeth while some of his comrades snickered a bit.

"Oh," Yuna said nodding in agreement.

The young guy snickered a bit. "Never mind what I said, then. You guys look really different from each other," he said.

"So…" Yuna trailed off, "is it true that…there are other worlds out there?"

"Yup," Sonic said coughing a bit. "This is another world from a bunch of other ones."

The young guy looked miffed at them. "Oh, and what's your reason for coming here, otherworldly travelers?" he asked suspiciously.

The Smashers explained their reason about why they were there to the two. At first, Yuna and the young guy didn't believe them. It took them a few minutes until they were convinced.

"An army is trying to conquer all the worlds out there including ours?" the young guy asked.

"And there's some kind of temple in our world that you're looking for to prevent a deity from going on a rampage?" Yuna asked.

"In a nutshell, yes," Marth said. "I know it's crazy, but that's the whole truth. We were sent here to find the temple and keep this world safe."

Yuna slowly looked away. "As if having Sin wasn't bad enough…" she trailed off, "there happens to be more dangers outside Spira?"

Pit stepped forward. "I believe that we need to join forces if we want to keep all the worlds safe," he said. "That is, if you two are the 'heroes' of this world."

Yuna looked back at them. "You could say that," she said. "We're on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin and free Spira from its suffering."

"What is this Sin creature?" Knuckles asked.

The young guy chuckled. "If you guys don't know what Sin is, then you really are from other worlds," he said. "Well, Sin is this really big whale-like monster with freaky gravity powers that is going around Spira destroying cities and villages while killing anything it reaches out (and he also is my old man…)"

"…Geez, this place is that messed up?" Wolf asked.

Yuna shook her head. "In a way, yes. That's why we summoners want to defeat Sin to save Spira and bring the Calm," she explained. "The Calm is the era of ten years where Sin isn't alive."

"And when those ten years end…" Chip trailed off.

"Sin comes back, ready to crush our butts for breakfast," the young guy said. "…Hey, we're getting a little bit sidetracked here, aren't we?" He puts his hands on his hips. "So what are you guys gonna do now that you're here?"

"Look for the temple we're looking for," Knuckles said. "But we're just new here. Shouldn't we need some guidance?"

Yuna though for a moment about their situation. "…Do you think everyone would let us bring them along?" she asked the young guy.

"Er… How are they gonna believe their story?" the young guy asked. "Sure, you saw them with your own eyes. I'm not so sure Auron is going to listen. He's going to say something like 'Yuna is making friends with strangers behind my back. I need to get drunk and forget what she did'."

"Sir Auron would probably give them the bad eye instead of getting drunk. He never does that…" Yuna trailed off. "Wakka could try to open up. Rikku is going to have some fun and say yes. Lulu will probably disagree. And Kimahri…"

"Why don't we just bring them and let them talk to the others?" the young guy asked. "Besides, I think I wanna have them stick with us for a time. Don't you think it's cool to have otherworldly friends?"

Yuna looked up to the sky. "Hmm… I like how that sounds," she said smiling. "We've got a chance to take a golden opportunity while we do our pilgrimage."

"Oh, I get it!" the young guy said. "Yuna, make 'em your guardians! They can pose as temporary guardians!"

"But even so…that's not going to be enough to convince everyone," Yuna said unsure. "…Let's see what happens, shall we?"

"Yeah!" the young guy agreed, turning back to the group. "You guys can stick with us and see Spira for yourselves. Let's travel together and find that temple."

"Is it okay?" Marth asked.

"Well, you passed the test we gave you," the young guy said smiling. "Let's see if you pass the others' tests, though. They're waiting for us over at the camp."

Zelda was worried about not passing said "tests" and get dumped into the new world. "I-I'm positive we will do just fine," she said.

Knuckles sighed. "Do we have to go through this with everyone we meet?" he asked.

"Hey, Knucklehead, stick with the program and don't complain," Sonic said couching.

Yuna bowed to the group. "Then welcome to our pilgrimage, everyone," she said. "I'm certain you're going to come with us in the end… Oh! I never introduced myself. Sorry about that. My name is Yuna. I'm a summoner."

Yuna is one of Spira's many summoners. The last Calm period was brought by her father Lord Braska ten years ago. Thanks to that, Yuna is revered as a popular figure across Spira thanks to her father's accomplishment. Now that the last Calm ended, it's Yuna's turn to bring another Calm and defeat Sin, knowing what the consequences will be if she fails to complete her pilgrimage. During her journey, she is aided by her guardians to ensure she makes it safely to Zanarkand Ruins. Being a summoner, Yuna has the unique potential of calling forth entities to fight in her place.

The young guy pointed at himself. "And my name is Tidus, nice to meet ya!" he said cheerfully with a grin. For some reason, Yuna herself was confused about Tidus' name.

Tidus is a famous Blitzball player of another Zanarkand. By fate, he was taken and whisked away to Spira by the monster Sin, who turned out to be his father Jecht. Tidus never liked Jetch because his father left him and his mom behind, disappearing into Spira. Tidus later found out that Jecht became a guardian to Yuna's father, and so the two share something in common. Wanting to beat his dad, Tidus enrolled himself as another guardian for Yuna in hopes to find out what is happening to Jecht, the new Sin terrorizing Spira. Tidus is not an adept fighter, but he has shown a lot of promise with swords.

Tidus and Yuna temporarily joined your team!

Each one of the Smashers introduced themselves to Tidus and Yuna. After they were done, Tidus pointed to the north. "The guys are resting at a camp across some trees," he said. "They're not too far away."

"Let's hope they accept all of you into our team," Yuna said. "I'm going to be sad if they say no."

"(And just maybe, they could make Yuna feel much better,)" Tidus thought.

Yuna nodded. "Alright, let's all go back to the camp," she said as she turned around, only to find a looming figure watching all of them from beside a tree. "Oh…"

The looming figure was easy to tell apart. Some of the newcomers looked a bit frightened when they saw the figure easily outclassed them in terms of height, the figure being around 6'8". Not only that, but the fact that the figure wasn't a human but a blue feline-liked person added to the fright. The person dressed in tribal clothes, which covered most parts of his body. He had long gray hair with a hair lock handing from each side of his serious face. The most distinguishable feature was the broken horn on his forehead. Silently, the person turned around and walked away.

"M-my goodness, who was that just now?" Zelda asked.

"Please, don't fear him," Yuna said calmly. "He's one of my guardians and closest friends. I was worried to see him disapproving you…but I think he's just doubtful, that's all."

"So do you know his name?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes, his name is Kimahri Ronso."

Kimahri Ronso was part of a race of proud warriors ten years ago. Unfortunately, he was mocked by his short stature on his race's standards (although he clearly outclasses any non-human in terms of size) and was furthermore humiliated after his horn was broken in a fight. Filled with shame, Kimahri deserted his tribe and happened to meet a young Yuna. Tasked with taking her to Besaid Island so that she could grow up peacefully, Kimahri has become Yuna's closest guardian. He rarely talks to people until they can gain his trust.

"He's not gonna open up with you soon," Tidus said. "If you wanna do it, then you need to gain his trust so he can speak to you."

"He isn't going to break our bones apart if we do something bad, right?" Chip asked gulping.

"Most likely he will…but seriously, you guys won't screw things up if you behave around him," Tidus said. "…I almost got mauled alive when I first met him, though."

Wolf chuckled. "He didn't do that to us. That's a start," he said.

While Tidus cursed under his breath, Yuna giggled a bit. "Shall we go back to the camp now?

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey!" a loud yell interrupted them from moving away from their spot.

"What now?" Tidus asked, turning to the north.

"I…guess we took a lot of time trying to go back that they're getting worried about us," Yuna said.

"Well, storming Yevon's HQ and making us enemies of a religion that has power over Spira isn't exactly something to be proud of," Tidus said. "We're fugitives."

"Excuse me?" Marth asked. "What is that about you being fugitives?"

Tidus chuckled nervously, scratching his head. "You see… Yuna here wanted to marry some guy to bring Spira a sense of peace."

"And I suppose Yuna didn't want to marry that person and so you escaped from the wedding, leaving an enraged cult of people ready to slice your heads off despite all the bliss and hope you established?" Pit asked.

Yuna shook her head. "You got some guesses right…but it's more complicated than that," she said. "We learned some cruel truths from the church of Yevon that shouldn't be heard from the people of Spira. That's not the only reason we're fugitives, though. We also killed Seymour before the wedding began, and he was a Maester for the religion. I was…kidnapped and forced to marry Seymour, but then we escaped from Bevelle, the place where the wedding ceremony was held."

Zelda thought hard. "Hmm… Wait, something doesn't make sense," she said. "If you killed that person who wanted to marry Yuna, then how come you're saying that he was in the wedding?"

Tidus rubbed his chin. "…Oh, right, you're not from this world," he said. "You need to learn some facts so everything makes sense first."

"Hey, Yunie!"

Yuna turned to the north where a young teen girl waved at them. The short, blond-haired girl wore a pair of flared green short-shorts with an orange belt, loosely held around her waist, and an orange sleeveless tank-top with side straps. She also wore a pair of goggles around her neck, a pair of boots, a gauntlet and arm guard for her right arm and a large protective fore-arm for her left arm. Around her right thigh she kept a pouch.

"You haven't come back to the camp yet! What's up with that?" she asked as she slowly approached the group with a smile on her face. "I know you two are friends, but this is taking things up to eleven!"

"Rikku!" Tidus and Yuna scolded the girl.

The young girl giggled, folding her arms behind her back. She tilted to the left to see the foreign group standing behind the two. "And on top of that, you invited people to see your little escapades? They better not be Yevon followers!" she said.

"N-no, they're not Yevon followers," Yuna said.

The girl named Rikku looked suspiciously at the group, particular the ones who weren't human. "You sure they aren't? They stick out like a sore thumb to me," she said.

"You stick out as a sore, annoying thumb," Wolf retorted.

Rikku stepped back. "A-and they can talk? They're not fiends?" she asked.

"They're neither fiends nor Yevon followers," Yuna said. "They're…friends from other…worlds."

Rikku blinked and then muttered a small laugh. "Are you two serious? These guys are from other worlds? What kind of farfetched idea is that?" she asked.

Yuna walked to Rikku. "Rikku, calm down a bit and just compare each one of them," she said. "You should tell the differences right away."

Rikku smiled and compared each one of them. Her little smile slowly disappeared as she found the differences. "…Ooookaaaaayyyy…" she trailed off. "Alright…so what was that talk about these people being from other worlds? Are you pulling my leg?"

Tidus and Yuna explained everything to Rikku.

"No way," she said shaking her head. "These guys are from other worlds out there, and they're here looking for some temple to keep some beast from going on a rampage?" she asked. "…WOW! That's gotta be awesome! I think I like them already!"

Tidus, Yuna, and the Smasher looked dumbfounded at her. "What? Really?" Tidus asked.

Rikku picked Chip and cuddled him. "Especially this little guy! He feels so squishy and adorable…" she trailed off with a dreamy sigh (along with Chip).

"I love you," Chip muttered pleased, Sonic face-palming at the imp.

"Can we keep him?" Rikku asked excited, Chip nodding.

"Rikku, they're traveling together. You can't adopt that guy!" Tidus said, dismaying Rikku and Chip.

Rikku let go of Chip and looked at Yuna. "Seriously though, are you for real? These guys come from other worlds?" she asked.

"They're not lying…I think," Yuna said. "Their looks aren't lying."

Marth bowed cordially. "We don't wish to lie at all. We want to establish a mutual bond between each other so that we may succeed in our goals," he said, his group agreeing with his words.

"Hmm," Rikku wondered for a bit, "well, you've got some cuddly people… Hmm-hm! They're in!" she said excited. "The more the merrier as they say! We need some more people to cheer Yunie after all the tragic events she's been through!"

Yuna clasped her hands. "Oh, thank you, Rikku. You're so nice," she said.

Rikku turned to the Smashers, putting a hand on her hip. "That's right! I haven't introduced myself yet! My name is Rikku, and I'm Yunie's pretty Al Bhed cousin," she said with a grin.

Rikku is a young Al Bhed, cousin to Yuna due to Rikku's aunt marrying Yuna's father Braska. Rikku is a very lively, kind-hearted girl who knows how to handle machina. She belongs to the secluded Al Bhed race that heavily relies on machina, making the race particularly hated across Spira to the point it's often the target of racism. However, Rikku is not a bad person, as she holds a tight sisterly love to Yuna and is a genuine friend. Knowing that Yuna is willing to sacrifice her life to defeat Sin, Rikku is trying her best to stop her from doing so. In battle, Rikku likes to steal items from the enemy and also mix items together for better effects.

"What's an Al Bhed?" Knuckles asked.

Rikku giggled. "Yeah, if you're not from this world, then you surely don't know anything about Spira. No worries, though! I'll be happy to tell you!" she said, raising a finger. "Well, an Al Bhed is a race full of super powerful people who can accomplish feats no other person ca-"

"And she's already decorating the truth," Tidus interrupted, making Rikku pout a bit.

"Party pooper," she muttered. "Fine, but the actual definition is a little bit boring…but that doesn't stop me from showing you how cool we Al Bhed are," Rikku said as she approached her face to Wolf, who moved his head back as she pointed at her green eyes. "See my eyes?"

Wolf wanted to refrain looking at her eyes, but he took a closer look so that she would step back. Upon closer inspection, the lupine saw some black swirls inside the green eyes. "Ugh, creepy… You've got swirls," he commented.

Rikku moved back. "Well that's a rather rude answer," she said.

"It was meant to be rude."

"Anyway," Rikku began, "we Al Bhed have green eyes with swirls, and we also all have a thing for machina. Really, those are the only two things that make us so special."

"And you're all blond for some other reason," Tidus pointed out.

Rikku looked at Yuna. "Oh, and Yunie's got swirl eyes too! But she's got only one," she said. "She's a half Al Bhed."

From his position, Pit took a closer look at Yuna's eyes. He found out that Yuna's left eye was blue while her right eye was green like Rikku's. However, her eye didn't have the swirl. "I see…" Pit trailed off.

Rikku looked at Tidus. "Oh yeah, Auron sent me to fetch you two because you've been alone for quite a time now… Do you want us to think some ideas?" she asked with a wink.

"U-um, no," Yuna said. "We should really head back to the camp now."

"Hold on! Are you bringing these guys too?"

"That's the plan," Tidus said. "You think Wakka, Lulu, and Auron will give them the nod?"

"Please, they have to agree. We just need one more vote! Four out of seven means that they're in!" Rikku said, heading back to the north. "It's getting kind of chilly in here, though."

Tidus followed her. Yuna turned to the Smashers and motioned at her direction. "Please come. If they don't let you come with us, they can at least give you a place to rest for the night," she offered, the group following them from behind.

"But it was just morning from where we came from…" Zelda trailed off. "We seriously need to set some kind of time to go to other worlds or else my metabolism is going to be severely changed."

Macalania Woods – Camp

"This forest is absolutely amazing," Zelda said as she admired the crystals that covered most of the trees in the forest. "It's like something out of a fairy tale. Why can't Hyrule have this kind of forest unlike the ones that have monsters in them?"

"Weren't you complaining a few seconds ago?" Pit asked.

"For the record, she's already complaining," Knuckles pointed out.

"There ARE monsters in this forest…it's just that this side doesn't have that many," Tidus said. "Be glad no monsters will ambush us."

Zelda looked dismayed at the fact. "I expected something to ruin the mood of this majestic-looking forest…" she said with a sigh. "It was too good to be true."

As they were nearing the camping site hidden under some trees and crystalized rocks, the group found four people sitting around a campfire. One of them was Kimahri, the imposing figure out of Yuna's group, who was standing several feet away. The other three were entirely three new people. Once they fixed their looks on the foreign group, the latter stopped on their tracks.

A young adult woman fixed her gaze on them. "Kimahri wasn't kidding when he said that you met up with some…interesting-looking people," she said.

Yuna gasped. "Kimahri told you all already?" she asked.

The woman who had spoken stood up from her spot. She had a very unique appearance because of the fact she dressed in an outlandish low-cut fur-lined dark grey and black dress that displayed her ample cleavage. She wore a huge collection of interlaced belts below the waist (that seemed just too many to all the Smashers because they couldn't tell how many they were, as if she was challenging people to take some wild guess), making up her skirt. Her black hair was tied up in a knot at the top with long braids dangling from it.

"He told us ahead of time," the woman said. "I thought he was making up a lie to hide something, but it turned out to be true…"

Yuna sighed, worried that the woman wouldn't let them come with the group. "So…" Yuna trailed off, "do you…have anything else to say?"

The woman crossed her arms. "Kimahri also told us that you let the lot of them into our group," she said. "He told us all the details."

"Oh my…" Yuna muttered.

"We were questioning ourselves if you had some sanity left, ya?" a man sitting by the campfire said. The man had orange hair with a long cowlick that hung back from the front of his hair. He was tall, had a good physique, and wore a blue headband on his forehead, along with a left armguard with a blue emblem imprinted on its pad, and some overalls that weren't connected to his yellow baggy pants. Underneath his baggy pants, he wore normal blue pants, together with sandals on his feet. In comparison to Kimahri, the man was the second tallest guy of the whole party. "Nobody's gonna believe first-hand that you made friends with otherworldly people."

"We can't doubt Kimahri, though," the woman said. "It was quite impossible to believe what he was saying, and he rarely even lies about anything."

"So then…" Rikku trailed off.

"We decided to see how things were gonna play out, ya?" the man said. "You weren't hurt by those guys, did ya?"

"Oh no," Yuna reassured the two. "In fact, we all became friends. They're good people from what I can tell."

"Otherworldly people, huh…" another man sitting by the campfire said aloud.

The second man wore a deep red haori with blue lining, kept closed with a thick, black and blue strap with two brown belts wrapped around it. He tucked his left arm into the front of his haori, making it look as though his arm was in a sling. There was a brown shoulder pad on his left shoulder that was intricately decorated with tan, green, and blue patterns, as well as a beaded ornament that dangled from it. He also wore black pants and shoes, the latter of which had brown straps and triangular metal plating adorning them. The man furthermore wore a black shirt with a grey collar with intersecting brown straps that was high enough to cover his mouth. His long hair was dark black with grey streaks and was held back by a gold ribbon. There was a large scar over the right half of his face and over his eye which was shut. On his right hip, he carried a small white jug with some foreign letter imprinted on it.

"I felt as if we wasted too much description unconditionally," Sonic said to no one in particular.

The second man stood up from his place to examine the foreign group. "Hmm, they certainly don't look like they come from Spira…" he wondered. "Each one of them sticks out as a sore thumb…a nasty one at that."

"Ha, I said the same thing!" Rikku pointed out.

He turned to Yuna. "Why do we have to trouble ourselves with their affairs? We've got Yevon trying to kill us off for going against their teachings," he said.

Yuna looked serious. "I can't overlook them," she said. "I saw how they came into…our world, and I'm convinced that something else is going to happen if we don't help them. Isn't it a summoner's job to protect Spira, Sir Auron?"

The man named Auron stared at Yuna until he fixed his gaze to the foreign group. "The summoner's job is to protect Spira from Sin… But it's not going to be easy to change your mind now, is it?" he asked.

Yuna looked worried. "I want to protect Spira from Sin…and whatever else wishes to destroy it," she said. "I…I honestly don't trust them so much, but I want to listen to their story. If they turn out to be enemies, we can probably…"

"Dispose of 'em?" Tidus intruded.

Pit felt threatened. "W-we are a hundred percent not evil, I swear!" he said.

The summoner looked back at the group. "I can tell they're nice people. I know it's weird that they came from these other worlds…and I know the risk of having them around," she said, turning back to Auron. "Sir Auron, don't you think it would be best to keep them close so that they don't act suspicious?"

"Hmm… You have a plan there," Auron said. "Fine, we'll let them come with us. If they do something out of the ordinary, we're going to take some drastic measures."

"I hope we don't end up taking those measures," Rikku said, grabbing Chip to cuddle him. "You hit this guy; you're gonna be a meanie in my book."

"Yeah, listen to her," Chip agreed, making tiger sounds at Rikku.

Auron frowned at the Al Bhed. "Don't blame me if we get in some sort of trouble later…" he muttered.

Pleased with the acceptance, Yuna turned to the woman. "Lulu, what about you?" she asked mildly excited.

The woman named Lulu eyed the group once more. "…I shall see if they can give us some help in our current situation," she said.

"So then?"

"They can come, but I support Sir Auron's idea," Lulu said.

Yuna beamed with a smile. She turned towards the orange-haired man. "Wakka?" Yuna asked.

The man named Wakka rubbed his chin, eyeing them closer. "I dunno… Bunch looks pretty shady to me, ya?" he said.

"Nah, it's just the creepy guy with the scouter for an eye," Sonic said, getting a light back smack to his head from Wolf.

"…" Wakka grinned. "Who cares? If they are from other worlds, might as well instill some good ol' Spiran knowledge that will cross beyond barriers!"

"Like machina!" Rikku suggested.

"Like blitzball!" Wakka added. "You guys know anything about blitzball?"

"We certainly do not," Marth said.

Final Fantasy X – Wakka's Theme

Wakka laughed playfully. "Really? Where did you come from, the backwater side of a shell? How come you've entertained yourselves without some good blitzball game? You need to learn the ropes of Spira after all, ya!" he said. "I'll be glad to teach ya everything ya need to know!"

Zelda felt grateful for the offer. "Oh, that's very gentlemanly of your part," she said. "I shall do my best to enjoy this world's culture to the fullest. I expect my friends to do the same."

"Perhaps I judged them a little bit too quickly…" Lulu muttered. "So far, they've given a rather good impression despite their looks."

Pit sighed. "Thank goodness you trust us…" he trailed off relieved.

Rikku cuddled her face against Chip's. "Who wouldn't trust such a cute little guy like you?" she wooed the little imp, much for his luck.

"We're not keeping him, Rikku," Auron said.

"Meanie," Rikku (and Chip) pouted.

Yuna looked at Tidus. "They all really did accept them after all," she said happily. "I can't believe even Sir Auron said yes!"

"Yeah, he's usually giving everyone the cold shoulder," Tidus said.

Auron overheard the two teens talking between each other. Just to act formally to the foreign group, he decided to introduce himself. "I'm Auron. I'm one of Yuna's guardians. Nice to meet you, I guess," he said. "I'm going to be aware of all your moves, just to let you know."

Auron was one of Lord Braska's guardians along with his close friend Jecht, Tidus' father. Thanks to Lord Braska's popularity, many guardians in Spira see Auron as a role model and a figure of total respect. It was him who brought Tidus to Spira from Zanarkand, as Jecht had requested Auron to watch over Tidus in his stead. Auron is an expert when it comes down to katanas, shattering enemies' hard defenses with relative ease.

"Hmph, I knew we were going to be put under watch from another group of people," Knuckles said. "It happens all the time when I tag along, anyway."

"No doubt it happens when you're here," Sonic muttered.

The woman stared at them. "My name is Lulu. I'm another guardian to Yuna," she said. "Now please don't harm her in any way possible or else you'll respond to me."

Lulu is one of Yuna's guardians and also a childhood friend. Lulu treats Yuna as if she was her younger sister, much like Wakka does as well. She had already taken part of some pilgrimages before taking Yuna's pilgrimage, making Lulu an adept. While she displays a rather cold demeanor and disapproves of people having fun during dire times, Lulu has a caring heart. As a guardian, Lulu assists the party in battle relying on possessed dolls that increase her dangerous Black Magic power.

"(Her look doesn't give me a good feeling at all,)" Pit thought. "(Why am I so shy around these people outside battle? I'm excellent at fighting monsters, but I can't even hold my own in public? …I guess not coming out of the mansion had something to do with me after all…)"

Wakka pointed at himself with his thumb. "The name's Wakka. You should respond to me if you give Yuna a hard time, ya?" he said with a friendly grin. "I could end up smackin' ya harder than Lulu here!"

Wakka is one of Yuna's guardians and also a childhood friend like Lulu. He is a fan and player for Spira's top sport called blitzball, but he recently resigned from his team in order to travel with Yuna so she can stay safe. Wakka also happens to be a close follower of Yevon, having his own personal grudge against Al Bhed rather than religious prejudice. However, after finding out the lies of Yevon and why Al Bhed were trying to save all summoners from their deaths, and also finding out that Yuna herself is a half-Al Bhed, Wakka slowly realized his unjustified hatred.

Yuna was rather upset that her guardians seemed to threaten the group more than treating them friendly. "Would you all stop giving those small threats? We need to give them a good impression!" she said.

"Sorry," Lulu began, "but we must be cautious. How are we supposed to deal with…otherworldly matters while we're on the run from Yevon?"

"Yeah, ya?" Wakka said. "We just fled from the capital, and now we're havin' a little more luggage to carry around. It's natural that we were gonna be cautious like Lulu said!"

"Natural to be cautious or natural to be a little bit wild?" Rikku asked.

"I think it's the last one," Chip said. "Your guys don't have many manners."

"I know!" Rikku agreed. "I'm surrounded by meanies! How 'bout you?"

"A few, but everyone else is good with me."

Tidus was a little bit confused at Rikku making fast friends with the little imp on her arms. He could tell Chip was enjoying his time being swayed around. He shook his head and looked at Auron. "Is it really okay with you for them to join us?" he asked.

"Frankly speaking, no," Auron said. "Did you expect me to say yes? I can't disobey my summoner's orders."

Rikku wondered. "So if Yuna told you to jump down a clif-"

"For your information, I have common sense left in me," Auron interrupted.

"And I wouldn't tell Sir Auron to do something crazy like that…" Yuna said.

Auron looked at Yuna. "Let's make this clear, Yuna. It was your decision to take them along for the ride. Whatever happens because of their actions will be your responsibility to take part of their blame. I highly disapprove letting some odd-looking people come with us at a time like this," he explained.

The summoner had a serious look. "Yes, I trust them just a bit, but it's my duty to see what they have in mind in this world," she said. "I'm interested to know what they want to do."

"So long as nothing out of the ordinary happens at their expense…"

And cue Dark Super Sonic appearing from Sonic's back, much to the Smashers' dismay. Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, and Wakka let out yelps while Lulu and Auron were a bit surprised at the spirit. As for Kimahri, the Ronso stepped forward, wary of the malevolent spirit crackling madly.

"MY TIME IS FINALLY COMING! IT IS BUT A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME BEFORE I GET TO SLIT THROATS AS MUCH AS WANNA! YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, AND YOU ARE SO GONNA GET F****D WHEN I TAKE CONTROL OF THI-AAAH!" Dark Super Sonic yelled out in pain as Chris had whipped Sonic's forehead with his whip.

The mute World Traveler had forgotten that he had changed jobs right in front of the seven newcomers. He gulped and looked worried at the other group, all of them staring intently at them all.

Marth shifted his eyes around in discomfort. "…Um…" he began, "…w-we can explain that."

"Y-yes!" Zelda agreed. "I-it's a rather long and complicated story, but we can tell you with all the details soon enou-"

"The freak wolf-hedgehog guy here has some crazy *ss blood thirsty spirit trying to take over his mind and body to go on a massive killing spree during the night, the kid over there likes to change clothes that gives him an absurd amount of skills that would be good enough if he didn't have a lack of confidence in himself, and we're sadly and unconditionally helping the freak to get rid of that annoying spirit so we can have a good night's sleep. Oh, and that spirit annoys and talks bravado every, single, stupid, night, and this kid can fortunately smack that moron with his whip to shut him up," Wolf said annoyed, seeing some of the bewildered looks many of them were giving him. "Detailed and long winded stories my butt…"

Tidus exchanged glances with Rikku, Yuna's mouth was gaping, Wakka blinked a few times, Lulu raised an eyebrow along with Auron, and Kimahri stood silently with eyes fixed on Sonic, who was whistling innocently to another way.

"…Oh my," Yuna muttered under her hand.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "That was some nutshell back there," he remarked sarcastically.

"I want to make things go faster. I despise long explanations," Wolf said.

Auron furrowed his brow. "Why am I thinking our deaths are far closer than we thought they were?" he wondered with a loud sigh.

"More of a reason to keep an eye on them," Lulu said, much for Yuna's dismay.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Pit argued. "Give Sonic the eye but we all are just fine! We're in no way cursed with his odd and creepy transformation!"

"Yeah, this form is creepy alright," Sonic agreed with a bored look, though he was being honest with his words.

Rikku wondered. "Aww, he doesn't look like this really?" she asked. "But he looks kinda cute to me."

The hedgehog looked frightened at the Al Bhed. "In WHAT humanly possible way do I look cute on this horrendous meathead body?" he asked.

"Everyone, stop for a moment!" Yuna interrupted loudly, getting the attention from everyone in the camp. "I…I wanted to say that…well…" She looked back at the foreign group. "Would you give me a few seconds to say something important? It's something that's been bothering me for a long while…and I think it doesn't really involve you, but if you're going to travel with us…"

"They'll become our accomplices in the crime for defying Yevon," Auron guessed, which greatly surprised Yuna.

"W-what?" Yuna was taken aback.

"It's not so hard to see how guilty you feel for draggin' us all in this crazy adventure," Wakka said with a grin. "We're with you till the very end."

"(No…forever…)" Yuna thought.

"Fugitives?" Marth wondered. "Oh, you did mention something about you being fugitives…"

Tidus didn't consider the part that they were all fugitives of a religion. "Well, it's not exactly the whole Yevon followers, but some people who are high up in the ranks," he explained.

"The Guado," Lulu said. "They're the one who make up the most parts of Yevon. There is not a single person of the Guados who consider us their allies."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "So these Guados are trying to stop you all, and they'll stop us too for traveling together, correct?" he asked.

"Most likely, yes," Wakka said. "I'm still shaken up from everything that happened, ya? We need to steer clear from Bevelle, the capital that is to the west of here. We're headin' to the northeast tomorrow."

"Where are you all going, anyway?" Pit asked. "This is a pilgrimage to reach some place, right?"

Yuna was glad that he asked. "We're all going to Zanarkand Ruins," she said. "That's the place where I shall call forth the Final Aeon to defeat Sin."

At the mention of the Final Aeon, some of the Smashers saw how Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka grimaced at the words. "…O-oh, oh! With you tagging along with us, nothing is gonna stop us so easily!" Rikku piped up.

"I suspect that you're fighters as well," Auron said. "Am I wrong?"

"We're all fighters except for Chip," Sonic said. "He's really fragile and squeaky for battles."

Chip raised a hand. "I break too easily. Don't break me, k?" he asked, to which Rikku giggled and cuddled his head for his pleasure.

"…Your abilities will help, then," Auron said. "However, do not leave us for a single minute. You are total strangers to the dangers of Spira that any native monster won't hesitate to kill you."

"I'll take your word," Marth said.

Tidus yawned loudly. "Why don't we rest for now? We had a rough day…" he complained.

Everyone else agreed and decided to camp out in their place, safe from anyone else who would pass through the forest of glimmering crystals…

Wakka, Lulu, Auron, and Kimahri were convinced to join your team…or your team joined theirs.

Final Fantasy X – Silence Before the Storm

During the next morning, Marth was first to wake up. He woke up earlier due to the fact the glimmering sunlight reflected from the crystal trees around him. The Altean prince looked around where the others were resting while sitting down in some place, leaning their backs to something.

"Everything looks peaceful despite what happened to us," Marth muttered to himself. "(I guess we're all still hurt from what happened that they're handling the loss very well… So then, where does that leave me? Why is it so hard for me to rest at ease unlike them? Does it have to do because I had never expected one of us to perish in such a way?)"

Marth got startled when he heard a yawn coming from nearby. He turned to the left where Tidus woke up from his spot. "What I'd kill to have a bed to sleep on…" he mumbled to himself, noticing Marth was awake. "Oh, good morning."

"Good morning," Marth said with a nod.

Tidus got up and dusted off his clothes. Since everyone else was sleeping, he wanted to talk to Marth. "I was wondering something…" he said a bit doubtful. "You've been to these other worlds you mentioned."

"Certainly," Marth said. "Just like you, I never thought that there were other worlds beside my own. It was a big shocker when I found out the truth…through some odd happenings."

Tidus folded his arms behind his head. "You still got other places to go besides here?" he asked.

"As long as our enemy is on the move, I shall go to fight them," Marth said. "While it sounds dangerous, I like to take my time and explore any world that seems interesting enough to me."

"Is Spira good for you?"

Marth looked at the crystal trees. "Right now, I'm surrounded by tree with crystal barks. There's something definitely going on in this world," he said.

"Yup, it's not like Zanarkand, that's for sure… Well, my Zanarkand is not like the Zanarkand of this world."

The Altean stared back at the blond teen. "Whatever do you mean by your Zanarkand?"

Boy, things started to get a little bit out of hand when these guys showed up from practically nowhere, telling us that Spira was in danger because of this weird army group… But I had to give it to Marth. He seemed like a great guy to me. I wasn't sure if they were telling the truth. I knew though that there was more about them than I could imagine. I thought about letting Marth know about my story. Hey, there was no harm in telling him whatsoever, was there?

"…And Auron and my big monster of a dad brought me here to Spira against my will," Tidus explained. "Auron told me that Sin was my dad, and I somehow felt that it really was my dad… Weird that you can fill those feelings just like that, huh?"

Marth agreed by nodding. "It's on all of us, not just you," he said. "Some people can realize some kind of sense just by having a family bond with each other."

Tidus shook his head. "My dad and I never had some sort of family bond… He was a drunkard," he complained, crossing his arms. "He always came home drunk from those crazy parties, he always didn't deal with me at all, and he left my mom alone when he disappeared here in Zanarkand. During all that time, I hated that he was a prick to us. To make matters worse, my dad was a famous blitzball player. It was hard to forget about him with all the ads and commercials about his goals and victories. How can a guy like him have so much popularity when he's a real moron?"

The Altean prince wondered about the question. "Perhaps people saw his false side while your family experienced his true side," he said.

"Yeah," Tidus said chuckling, "it's no wonder why he's killing people off in Spira without even caring. He's that stupid."

"I don't know… Had you ever thought about his true motives?"

"True motives for what?" Tidus asked. "He's harder to read than a book. I want to see him face-to-face and force him to apologize for all he's done to me, my mom, everyone else in Spira…and Yuna! She's heading for a cruel destiny, you know!" The blond teen refrained himself from yelling louder.

"What cruel destiny does she have?" Marth asked, looking at Yuna resting several feet away from them.

"The pilgrimage we're doing will have her sacrifice her life to summon the Final Aeon, which will then go on and defeat Sin," Tidus said. "But this doesn't make any sense at all… Sin comes back ten years later to terrorize Spira once more."

Marth saw how twisted the plan was. He had never seen Sin before, but if everyone brought it up so much then it was no wonder why Tidus was so upset with it. "And people think it's worth it?" he asked. "Rest at ease from that monster for ten years?"

Tidus sat down. He made sure to whisper a small secret to Marth so that nobody would hear him. "Yup, it's all worth it…but not for the summoners. When you arrived yesterday, I tried to convince Yuna to run away to my Zanarkand, but she said she wanted to finish this adventure."

"She's sure about this?" Marth muttered.

"Yes," Tidus said. "I know girls are a bit stubborn but…Yuna is not stubborn." He rested his arms on his knees, looking up at Marth. "…Summoners have it rough, don't they?"

"I guess," Marth said.

Tidus forced a smile and nodded. "I promised to her that I was going to be with her forever. And I…and I want to be true to my promise."

Marth shared Tidus' optimistic view with a good expression.

A few minutes later, everyone else started to wake up from their sleep. "It's time to set out to the Calm Lands," Auron told the group.

"The Calm Lands?" Knuckles wondered. "Are they really that calm?"

"Only one way to find out," Rikku said, everyone walking to the south from their camp to walk to the east.

The crystal trees were slowly being replaced by normal-looking cliffs that stretched out a bit to the east and then to the northeast. The blue grass of the forest turned into a dry path as each one of them looked around the path in front of them.

Lulu saw that the werehog had turned into a hedgehog. "Hmm, so your form actually does change," she said. "Why do you wear a collar around your neck?"

"Long, annoying story," Sonic muttered under his cough mask. "Don't you DARE tell her," he warned Wolf, who rolled his eye and frowned.

The light that reflected from the crystals surrounding the group was left behind as the looming shadows of the cliffs covered their illumination. They walked between the cliffs where a new area was awaiting them.

When they crossed the cliffs, they were met up with the most possible calm area they had ever been before. It was no wonder why the lands were called Calm Lands.

Calm Lands

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Determination

They were on top a long slope that went down to the left where it connected to a massive expanse of green land surrounded by cliffs. Around the land's corners, there were small spires of earth and big precipices that lead to deep abysses, but said abysses were too far away for people to reach recklessly. From their point of view, they overlooked a very peaceful plain that looked fitting to have a small camping site.

"The Calm Lands," Lulu said. "Long ago, the high summoners fought Sin here. The road ends here. Beyond, there're no towns, no villages. Only endless plains," she explained.

"This place was a battle ground?" Chip asked (from Rikku's arms). "You need all this space to fight that Sin monster?"

"Once you see how big Sin is, you'll have a good reason to fight that monster in this place," Tidus said

The princess stepped forward, clasping her hands to admire the lush green plain down below. "Wow…" Zelda admired the scenery. "It reminds me of Hyrule's fields… It has that feeling in the air."

Pit breathed in the fresh air. "And the air is so fresh and nice to inhale," he remarked.

"This place would make a perfect spot for runners for sure," Wakka said. "Too bad we ain't have any of those with us, ya?"

Wakka was clueless to know that Sonic himself was a professional runner. Unfortunately for Sonic's greatest dismay of all times, he was sick. The hedgehog sniffed silently to himself as he shed several tears, his feet begging him to run around free in the flat expanse of land before his eyes. He could just imagine the fresh air slamming gently on his face, doing all sort of running maneuvers and rest right in the middle of the land where nobody would bother him (namely a certain pink hedgehog and an egg-looking doctor, especially the former).

Knuckles listened to Sonic's sniffs. The echidna grinned and chuckled in triumph until Chris smacked the back of his head. "H-hey, what was that for?" Knuckles complained angrily to Chris, who simply stared at him with a small glare.

Auron turned to the group. "Many summoners stray from their path and lose their way here," he said.

Yuna walked close to the edge of the cliff where she fell on her back slowly and sprawled on the grass, staring at the sky while inhaling the air swept across the grass. "I've always…known where to go," she said.

Tidus looked down to Yuna. "I…I won't let you die," he said. "I'll find a way, somehow."

The blond teen offered Yuna a hand to stand back up. The summoner sat up and stared up at him for a while until she took his hand, pulling her back to her feet. She glanced at the amount of people that were part of her pilgrimage, and then she stared forward towards the north. "Let's go," she said.

Auron was the first one to walk down the slope to the left. The entire group followed him while Tidus stared a little bit more to the distance.

I told Yuna I would find a way. I guess I wanted to believe that words could make it come true. That was when I wondered if I could find a way using somebody else's help.

As the group descended down the long slope towards the plains, Zelda couldn't help but wonder why the Calm Lands came to be. "I wish there was some way for me to know more about the history of these lands," she said.

"Aww, young lady, pardon me for interrupting you, but would you like me to tell you how the Calm Lands came to be?"

They found an old priest dressed in green standing near the cliff of the slope. The old priest wore a green hat with a green robe and glasses.

"Your wish came true," Wolf said mildly annoyed.

Zelda was grateful for the offer that she didn't hesitate to ask the old priest about the Calm Lands. "Please do enlighten me about these plains' history," she said eagerly.

"Very well," the priest said.

Much to the lupine's dismay, it seemed that everyone else but him was interested in the lecture. Grunting to himself, Wolf put his hands in his pockets and walked down the slope alone. "I ought to rip my ears off at this rate," he complained to himself, walking away a significant amount of steps from the group. He inhaled the fresh air to relax, admitting that it was actually a nice remedy for his annoyance. "Well, I admit this place is calm, alright… Tis' the perfect place for me to just relax and let my mind stop thinking about that damned Fox."

Wolf could have sprawled on the grass if it wasn't for the fact that he overheard an annoying buzzing sound coming from nearby. When he opened his eye to look to the left, he saw an oversized red bee menacingly floating about.

"What in the…" Wolf trailed off confused at the monster bee. Further adding to the confusion, he heard a growling sound. The lupine looked to the right where some kind of blue feral beast that occasionally spewed a little bit of fire breath from its mouth. The confusion didn't end there when another bee showed up. The lupine had a dumbfounded look until her shook his head, glaring at the monsters. "Wasn't this place supposed to be calm or what?" he asked the monsters. "Tsk, it doesn't matter. You wanna mess with me? You're in for some trouble."

If it wasn't enough for one day, a scrapped machine showed up along with the fiends. Wolf once again looked a bit dumbfounded, finding no reason whatsoever for the machine to be literally on fire without exploding because said machine had fire burning its parts. He had seen machines with flamethrowers built into them, but one that was on fire was really ridiculous and simply unheard of from where he came from. Wolf was at a loss.

That, and the fact it made no sense to him.

"…The hell is wrong with this world?" Wolf asked to no one in particular, the four ganging up on him.

Meanwhile, back with the group, the priest had finished narrating the story of the Calm Lands to a grateful Zelda. "…And that, as they say, is that," the priest finished.

"Thank you for the lecture," Yuna said while bowing down cordially.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot to tell you something," the priest said. "There's a chasm, a great rend in the earth, in these parts. A scar from High Summoner Gandof's bitter battle with Sin, four hundred years past," he explained. "Be careful not to dwell too long in there if you stumble into the scar. There is the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth where restless spirits haunt those who go inside…"

Lulu mumbled some words to herself after hearing the mention of the cavern.

"Thank you, Father Maecher," Yuna said. The priest nodded to them, saying good bye and giving their best wishes to their pilgrimage. Knuckles had to smack Sonic's head to wake the hedgehog up.

Pit noticed that Wolf was missing. "Where did Wolf go to?" he asked. "Wasn't he with us just a moment ago?"

"I knew it! That guy's evil look was an obvious clue he was evil!" Wakka suddenly burst. "He made of with some kinda plan to murder Yuna!"

Tidus looked bored at Wakka. "I didn't take you five seconds to point fingers, huh?" he asked.

"And besides, that fool didn't actually escape. He didn't want to listen to Maecher," Auron said, pointing down the slope where two bees, one feral beast, and a machine on fire were beating up some familiar body lying down on the ground. "And that's what he gets for straying away from the group."

Marth gasped. "What on earth?" he asked until he dashed to rescue Wolf from the monsters.

"A-aren't those bees a little bit too big?" Chip asked frightened.

"And why the hell is that machine on fire?" Knuckles wondered.

You know, I never asked myself how some fiends in Spira didn't make much sense to me. Why people didn't ask themselves that question? I realized, they were frightened enough to forget about asking themselves that one question.

"Somebody…get these morons off my back…" Wolf muttered under the feral beast's mouth, which was about to open to eat his head. Just before doing so, Marth came in, slashing the fiend with ease. The two bees were startled, but they were pushed away by Zelda's Din's Fire. The machine on fire backed away, only for it to have its main body torn apart by a gleeful Rikku.

"Ooh, this piece is going to my arsenal," she said, not minding to help the lupine to get up.

Marth helped Wolf to stand back up on his feet. "You shouldn't have walked away alone," Auron said. "Fiends are on the loose everywhere on these plains."

Wolf coughed and glared nastily at Auron. "So why the hell is this place called the Calm Lands if there are monsters and stupid machines on fire, anyway? What's the point for the name?" he asked.

Zelda crossed her arms. "According to history, the final battle with Sin brought the Calm to Spira. It was thanks to that big success that these lands were called the Calm Lands, which reflect the Calm on its name. It's by no means literally a calm place," she explained.

"I suppose you learned that from that old man just now?"

"Yes, knowledge is power," Zelda said proudly, much for Wolf's chagrin.

Yuna looked concerned at Wolf, probably because he had injuries all over his body. "Allow me to heal your wounds," she offered, taking out her staff. "Light, heal the injured… Cura!"

A saintly light circled around Wolf's body, healing his wounds completely. The lupine pulled back his hand from Marth, adjusting his glove. "Now I know that you shouldn't take things too literally," he said.

Wakka laughed. "So! Why don't we cross the plains and reach our next destination, ya?" he asked.

Pit stared at the plains to find any fiends roaming about. "Are we going to stumble upon those machines o-"

"Machinas," Rikku interrupted. "The machine on fire we fought was a machina."

"Machinas…yes," Pit said. "Are we going to find more of those fiends and machinas?"

"Of course," Auron said. "If you're standing outside a settlement, you're bound to be attacked by fiends. All of you stay on your guard."

The princess was dismayed to know the plains were plagued by fiends. "I briefly wished the Calm Lands would be actually calm," she muttered.

From the north, a fan-powered machina came hovering gently over the plains. The group turned to the machina coming their way, where a person was riding it. "Rin's Traveling Agency, at your service!" he greeted. "We offer fine services at reasonable prices. Please consider making a purchase before crossing these vast plains."

"Rin's Traveling Agency?" Pit wondered.

"It's an old friend's agency," Auron said. "He is an Al Bhed who helped me a long time ago. He has got several inns spread along Spira for travelers to visit. He also provides customer services."

"Hmm, that sounds very convenient," Marth remarked.

"Sorry, but we got items already," Rikku told the merchant.

The merchant shook his head in shame for not selling anything. "Have a safe and pleasant crossing," he said, pulling back his fan-powered machina to head north towards a small travel agency post several yards away from them.

"…And he couldn't give us a ride across the plains because…" Sonic trailed off.

"That hovercraft was meant for one person," Lulu pointed out. "We will cross the plains by foot."

Not long after she said that, several big yellow birds with saddles on their backs walked into their view, performing a collective group of chirping sounds full of glee.

"Chocobos!" Rikku rejoiced at the big birds, minding their own businesses by eating the fertile grass.

Yuna eyed the saddles on their backs. "And they seem to be trained," she said.

Suddenly, a woman who was dressed heavily for a winter season came in riding another Chocobo of her own. Some of the Smashers questioned the woman's heavy clothing for such a warm place like the Calm Lands. "I hope you're not planning to cross this plain on foot," she said.

"(Well, I hope you don't catch a fever with all that clothing you're wearing. It's beyond ridiculous,)" Wolf thought.

"You own these chocobos?" Tidus asked.

"Yup, I'm a Chocobo Trainer," she said. "These cute guys aren't trained for people to ride on them. They need to undergo some training so that they become more useful."

Wakka stared at the docile birds happily eating on the grass. "Doesn't look like they're dangerous or untamed, ya," he said.

"If you want, you can train a chocobo and teach it to ride with somebody," the trainer said.

"Thanks, but we'll rather walk on foot," Auron said.

The Chocobo Trainer sighed. "I suppose you're right. Fighting fiends lets you polish your skills," she said, turning her chocobo around while staring at the group. "If you change your mind, I'll be around the plains. Try to find me to give it a go. After all, chocobos should be trained to be reliable." She commanded her chocobo to run away into the field while the other birds promptly followed her from behind, disappearing into the distance.

While Chris's ideas of petting a chocobo were demolished, the party headed towards the north. "You know, we should've trained a chocobo," Tidus said. "I really like those guys."

"And waste our time skipping on these plains? We need to polish our skills as she said," Auron said. "These fiends will be ideal for us so we're prepared to fight against stronger fiends in the future."

"Does that also have us?" Pit asked.

"Naturally, yes," Marth said, spotting a bunch of glimmering essences forming up in front of them. "Huh? What are those?"

Zelda saw how Kimahri silently took out a long spear from behind. "W-wait, why are you taking out your weapon?" she asked.

"Oh yes, you're not native to Spira…" Yuna recalled. "There was something important that you should know about fiends."

Lulu stepped forward. "Fiends are made up of pyreflies; the life force of disembodied spiritual energy," she started explaining. "When a person dies, their soul's spirit lingers on. Those very same souls stay in Spira should a ritual known as the Sending is not performed in time. They all linger because they do not feel that their time has come."

Chip looked frightened. "S-so they are souls?" he asked.

"Yes, the souls of the dead," Lulu answered. "The dead envy the living. In time that envy turns to anger, even hate. Ultimately, their souls fill up with malice, taking the pyreflies that wander Spira. When that happens, their spirits take the form of fiends that prey on the living."

Marth looked ill at the pyreflies before them. "These soul-like essences are the reason why fiends exist?" he asked.

Yuna nodded, taking out her staff once more. "And the dead have deemed us as their prey," she said. "Everyone, get ready! Here it comes!"

Final Fantasy X – Battle Theme

The soul-like pyreflies circled in midair until a rather big figure appeared before the group. The fiend before them looked like some sort of long black-and-grey anaconda with two long arms and a long tail that stretched nine feet back. It was a native monster to the Calm Lands known as Anacondaur.

"What in the name of all emeralds is that fiend?" Knuckles asked, stepping back from the fiend.

"No time to ask questions," Auron said, taking out a long katana that he hung over his right shoulder. "This is getting a little bit too crowded… We don't need too many people to take on this fiend. It's rather reckless to just rush forward in a big group."

"We've gotta split forces and let some of us fall back!" Wakka said. "Let's see, we're fourteen?"

"I can fight!" Chip announced.

"No you can't," Sonic said.

"Oh yeah…" Chip agreed.

"Six will do for this fight!" Tidus said, taking out a transparent blue sword that had bubbles magically floating inside the blade.

"Three for each group!" Rikku suggested.

The group allowed Auron, Tidus, Kimahri, Marth, Knuckles, and Chris to take on the fight, with the katana wielder taking the lead of the formation. "Listen to me very well because I'm not repeating myself," he said as they all stared at the Anacondaur. "Like I said before, fighting a single fiend with everyone is a risky and reckless thing to do. It's a little bit too much, but six is just fine for this occasion."

"What else do you want to share with us?" Marth asked, seeing that the Anacondaur was picking somebody to attack. "That monster isn't going to wait for much longer…"

"Whenever you feel that you're not up to fight a certain type of monster, switch your place for another person in the backlines," Auron advised. "My sword can pierce through enemies' defenses. I'm best suited to fight armored fiends. This fiend isn't heavily armored but I can still deal damage to it."

The Anacondaur eagerly moved its wary arms. "Anything else you might want to add?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes, and that is don't get knocked out in battle," Auron said. "These fiends are vicious enough to cling onto your bodies. If you're ready to go, let's do it. I foresee no difficulty for this fight…"

The Anacondaur roared down at them, sweeping its long tail to attack the entire party. Everyone stepped back in time but Chris was pushed aside to the ground. The mute World Traveler made a face as he resisted the damage, getting back up to attack the beast with his whip. The whip ended up dealing more damage to the Anacondaur thanks to its added effect to double damage done on monsters.

The Anacondaur wasn't pleased by the attack that it released some kind of glittering breath to the World Traveler. Chris gasped mentally as he accidentally breathed in the breath, his body suddenly turning into thick stone. The teen looked panicked right before he was petrified completely before their eyes.

"N-no way," Knuckles said shocked.

"He turned into stone?" Marth asked in pure disbelief.

"Focus!" Auron yelled from afar as the Anacondaur swept its tail, pushing Marth and Knuckles aside. "Don't lose all hope yet. We can cure him from his petrification."

"Ha!" Tidus yelled as he lunged to the monster and slashed its body with his sword. The Anacondaur recoiled from the attack, allowing Kimahri to use his spear to slash the monster upwards.

"Kid, go use a Gold Needle on him," Auron said as he stared at the Anacondaur. Tidus nodded and went to aid Chris while Auron held out his hand, charging up an attack. "You will hurt no one!" he told the monster. The katana wielder was engulfed in a red aura as he charged to the Anacondaur, swinging down his sword.

The Anacondaur screeched in pain as its body briefly shone red, Auron's attack apparently doing some sort of effect on it. Tidus glanced back at the beast as he took out a golden needle from his pocket, impaling it right on to Chris's petrified body. The Gold Needle pierced through the stone, the pieces falling down to the air and turning into dust. The World Traveler remained standing still until he blinked, regaining all of his senses. "You've gotta be careful around the fiends," Tidus said. "Well, I didn't know this one existed, but stil-"

Chris reacted quickly and pulled Tidus to the ground along with him to avoid a sweeping tail attack from the Anacondaur.

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "Time to get some spotlight time!" he yelled, rushing to the Anacondaur. The Anacondaur screeched and swung down its arms down to the echidna, who stepped aside in time to dodge the arms and perform an uppercut on the monster's chin followed by a kick attack.

Marth took advantage of the staggered fiend by slashing its throat. The Anacondaur screeched angrily as it collapsed onto the ground, its body fading into pyreflies that flew into the air and vanished. The Altean watched a bit amazed at the pyreflies. "So these fiends are made up of those…" Marth said. "The dangers the dead bring upon the living…"

"Hmph…well done," Auron muttered, putting his katana away.

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Determination

Kimahri put his spear away. Although it was hard to tell, the Ronso started to think that the new group was reliable after all. However, it would take them a little bit more of time to gain Kimahri's trust.

The rest of the group rejoined the six. "Is anyone hurt? I can heal your wounds," Yuna offered.

"Y-yeah, I got a sore arm," Tidus said, twitching in pain. "But I guess this guy pushing me down hurt me more than the fiend…"

Chris rolled his eyes and stared upset at Tidus. The teen wished so hard to have his voice back to complain aloud.

While Yuna tended everyone's wounds with her magic, Wakka grinned at Pit. "Seems your friends can handle a fight nicely, ya?" he said. "Good, you'll be a lot of help for Yuna and all of us."

Pit was a little bit bewildered that Wakka's mood changed too quickly. Ten minutes ago, he didn't hesitate to point fingers at Wolf, but now he had a different view of the foreign group. "…Yes, we're helpful," Pit said with a sigh. "There's no reason for us to be some kind of hindrance."

After Yuna finished healing everyone, Lulu proceeded walking to the north. "You've witnessed how fiends can suddenly appear out of nowhere," she said. "Keep your guard up at all times or you will regret it in the afterlife."

"Scaaaaaaryyyyyyyyy…" Sonic trailed off, grinning afterwards. "We handled that fiend thing just fine. What else can happen in these AWESOME plains?"

"You're calling them awesome because you're dying to run around, aren't you?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic sniffed rather fast. "But if I do run, I WILL die… I need to contain my temptations," he said determined. "I won't let the field get the better of me, no way… Who cares about these long, calm plains…with the flat land…and fertile grass…and peacefulness despite there being fiends…and the fresh air floating gracefully in the air…and… a-and…a-and…a-and…" His legs started twitching uncontrollably.

Chip gasped loudly and snapped his fingers. "Sonic, you will NOT run around until you get better!" he ordered, magically stopping Sonic's legs from twitching. "Phew…"

Rikku was curious to know why Chip easily calmed the hedgehog down. "You can practically tell him anything and he will listen to you, then?" she asked.

Unbeknownst to the Smashers, Chip was slowly but (not) surely developing a crush for Rikku. The imp crossed his arms proudly. "Aww, yes. Sonic is like my loyal dog…hedgehog…person, yeah," he said. "Want me to tell him something to do?"

Sonic's eyes widened at that while Rikku formulated ideas in her head.

Rikku raised her finger. "Tell him to jump down a cli-"

"Are we done with the chit-chat?" Auron interrupted hastily, much for Rikku's dismay. "We still need to cross the plains. We mustn't remain here for much longer."

The hedgehog developed a sense of respect for the guardian.

Half an hour later…

Anybody would think that the Calm Lands were supposed to be peaceful. Sure, at first glance, it looked really nice. That was some kind of illusion, though. Nobody never ever realized how one unlucky traveler would get wind up in some kind of nasty problem with the fiends roaming the plains. I was surprised, no, shocked that Spira's people never wanted to change the plains' name to Maul Lands instead.

And yes, we were those unlucky travelers. I wish those Guado good luck in crossing the plains because we barely even crossed half of it until a monster called Malboro ambushed us. I was pretty confident we would beat it. I'd wish to go back in time to shut me up or, better yet, stop me and run away. Now I see why Chris had that shocked look in his face and itched away behind everyone's backs. No kidding, because I'd do the same if Wakka went ballistic on me for no reason, and let's not forget the others…

In the solitary travel agency sitting almost in the center of the plains, a group of people walked slowly while most groaned in pain. Like a third of them were extremely injured for some random reason. Those people were Wakka, Pit, Zelda, Yuna, Marth, Rikku, Knuckles, Tidus, and Wolf. Upon arriving to the agency, Rikku dropped to the ground along with Wakka and Pit.

Marth burrowed his sword into the ground to support himself from falling down. He raised his face and looked around helplessly. The Altean had been poisoned and blinded. "W-where are we? C-can somebody tell me where we stopped? Is anyone out there at all?" he asked coughing.

"We're at the travel agency," Chip assured the prince, waving a hand in front of Marth. "Can you see me?"

Marth looked to the left. "Are you there?" he asked.

"You failed," Chip said.

"Never…allow me to fight…such a monster like…that…" Zelda said as she fainted on the spot out of exhaustion.

"That was some rough battle back there," Auron remarked. "This is what happens when we don't know what fiends roam these lands."

Lulu frowned. "Our performance was…disastrous, but I blame that unnerving fiend," she commented.

Pit looked like he had a seizure on the ground. He twitched uncontrollably. "W-w-w-w-w-what happened? E-everything went down to the underworld once something happened, but I can't remember what!" he complained, despite the fact he kept making faces.

"Didn't that monster breath out some kind of nasty breath on you?" Sonic asked coughing. "I think that had something to do with what happened."

Wolf wouldn't stop coughing, having been badly poisoned. "I…I think I'm crazy…because I could've sworn some idiot…hit me on the head with a ball…a freaking, HARD ball…" he trailed off coughing more.

Wakka weakly raised his hand from the ground, holding out a ball with a blue-and-white pattern. "That'd be…my blitzball… My weapon…ya?" he said.

"Who…the hell uses a ball…as a weapon?" the lupine complained.

"That'd be Watta!" Tidus spoke nonchalantly, his eyes spinning in an unreasonable manner. "He's gots the ball tos hits youse hards! Youse needs tous bees carefuls whens he's doingse thatse!"

Rikku coughed and pushed herself up. "Hey…he's too funny…way too funny to me," she said. "Ooh, he's confused…"

Auron frowned and rubbed his chin afterward. "Hmm, that monster's breath had many different effects that render people almost useless or almost dangerous when they're confused," he theorized. "The kid was slashing all of you because he was confused thanks to inhaling some of that breath."

Yuna was awfully worried about Tidus' condition. Unfortunately, she couldn't voice out her opinions because she was mysteriously silenced. Lulu gave the summoner some herbs that she ate, slowly recovering from her condition. "Thank you…" she thanked Lulu. "I need to…heal everyone…" she coughed out.

"Oh my, you were even inflicted with poison as well," Lulu said.

"Never mind, that breath is worse than we think," Auron corrected himself. He looked at the travel agency which looked a little bit too poor because it wasn't exactly a building but a poorly set tent that only covered the owner's little shop and some space. "We'll have to rest here for a little while until we set out north."

Knuckles raised his fist to voice out his murdering thoughts, but he had found out he was also silenced and poisoned. He cursed loudly in his mind, coughing silently to himself.

"We'll have to distribute our healing supplies between everyone. Yuna can't heal alone by herself with her condition," Auron said.

Chris changed jobs to his Scholar job. He flipped through his pages to cast Poisona on Knuckles, but once he held out his book, the magic didn't quite come out. The scholar was shocked at that. He was convinced that his natural muteness wouldn't get in the way too much, but his first spell was ineffective. He looked depressed for a while until Chip held out some herbs to him.

"These herbs are called Echo Screen…or something like that. I asked Lulu to give me some for you," Chip said. "Do you think these can help you get your voice back?"

Chris knew exactly what the herbs would do. He hastily picked the herbs and ate them, ignoring the rather awful taste they had. He hoped that his voice would be back.

Chip looked up to the sky. "But she told me that it wouldn't really heal natural muteness at all but I wanted to give it a shot myself. Oh, and she also told me that eating those herbs without being sick will make you puke."

The mute World Traveler stared dismayed at the imp until Chris felt that his stomach was growling. He clutched to his body and ran away behind the tent where nobody would hear him puking.

Chip blinked and sighed. "I guess they weren't so helpful," he said ashamed.

After everyone was nursed back to health, they all decided to stay at the travel agency to rest a bit. They had crossed half of the plains, and they would surely cross to the mountain to the north. Marth looked up to the mountain that stretched out to the sky with mist surrounding the peaks.

Tidus walked to his side, also looking up at the mountains. "See that mountain? It's called Mt. Gagazet," he said. "It's supposedly Kimahri's home."

Marth continued staring at the mountain. "What is in that mountain?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know much, but there should be some Ronso," Tidus said. "It's gonna be hard to convince them from letting us the pass, though…"

"Why?"

Yuna overheard their conversation. She walked to them. "Summoners and their guardians can pass through the mountain, but… We're going to have problems there," she said serious. "The Ronso are in-league with the church of Yevon. And after the incident at Bevelle, they are going to stop us from advancing."

The prince was concerned by the news. But before he could speak, he saw Lulu stepping forward, noticing a man that was approaching the travel agency's perimeter. "Father Zeuk!" she said surprised.

The dark-skinned man heavily dressed in green priest clothes with blue and green patterns on his arms, wearing an orange belt with a long piece of cloth hanging from his neck down to his ankles, with only his hands and bald head uncovered by his clothes. "Long time no see," he greeted. "You are Yuna?"

"Yes, that is me," Yuna said with a nod.

"Hmm, you certainly don't look like Maester Kinoc's murderer," he said.

From the ground, Zelda sat up with a shocked look in her eyes. "We're traveling with a-" she was interrupted by Chris covering her mouth, shaking his head in disapproval. Trusting Chris, Zelda nodded and lowered his hand.

"What'd you say?" Wakka asked Zeuk, stepping forward with a fist until Yuna blocked his path.

"Please, tell us what happened," she requested. "We all want to know what happened after we were chased out of Bevelle."

The Smashers also decided to listen in to the conversation, wanting to know their current situation with Yuna's group.

"Maester Mika has just issued a personal order, you know," Zeuk said. "It said that you and your guardians murdered Maester Kinoc and fled."

Marth looked at Tidus. "Is that true?" he whispered.

"Of course not," Tidus whispered. "We never murdered that guy, it was…"

Zeuk grimaced. "We are to kill you on sight, or so it says," he said.

Yuna gasped and looked down to the ground ashamed. Sonic could tell she felt guilty of what happened before they met. The hedgehog then overheard Auron who was looking away to the south. "What of Bevelle?" he asked.

"Things are calm on the surface, but the depths are turbulent," Zeuk said. "After the death of Maester Kinoc, Kelk Ronso left Yevon."

"Convenient," Auron commented. "Getting around will be easier with Yevon in disarray."

"Ronso…" Knuckles muttered, looking up at Kimahri. "Is he perhaps your brother or something?"

Kimahri looked away with a rather loud growl. "All Ronso have their tribe's name as their last name," Wakka whispered. "Hard to tell who belongs to the family, ya?"

Knuckles shrugged his shoulders. "I hope I didn't upset him too much," he whispered back.

"You did a lot, actually," Wakka whispered. "Kimahri doesn't really like to talk about Ronso."

"Oh, man…"

"But be careful, my friends," Zeuk warned. "You have been branded enemies of Yevon. You should avoid temples for the time being."

Yuna bowed cordially to Zeuk. "Thank you, Father Zeuk, for your warning," she thanked.

Lulu was confused that the priest came to the Calm Lands just to deliver the news. She knew he was attached to Yevon. "Father Zeuk, you came all the way here just to tell us this?" she asked.

Zeuk rubbed his clothed-covered chin. "To tell the truth, I was little curious to see…this summoner you're guarding," he said. "I hope the pilgrimage goes well, for your sake, too."

"…Thank you, Father," Lulu thanked in a rather depressed tone.

Wakka bumped into Pit's shoulder. "Uh-oh, there it is," he whispered.

"What?" Pit asked, and to an extent, Rikku, who stood close to Wakka.

"He triggered some old memories in Lulu," Wakka whispered. "You see, Lulu's been in two pilgrimages already. The first one ended up in quite a disaster, and she stopped her second with Father Zeuk some time ago."

Rikku slightly pushed Pit away to move her face between the two guys. "What's the story about the first?" she asked interested.

Wakka shifted his eyes, covering the left side of his mouth. "The summoner she was guarding during the first…she died before she could finish her pilgrimage," he whispered, getting interested looks from Pit and Rikku. "It's been a nightmare to her ever since. Don't tell her I told you this, ya?"

Yuna, Lulu, and Zeuk all performed some kind of praying salutation by slightly crouching down and positioning their hands as if they were holding a sphere in front of them to bow down at each other. "I must be off. I shall pray for all of you," Zeuk said, turning back around to walk to the way he came from as the group watched him disappearing in the distance.

"That guy is lucky and a little bit naïve," Sonic commented.

"Why?" Rikku asked.

"How can he just waltz into these lands and not get ambushed by those demons that almost handed over our own heads?"

"Um…Yevon followers are magically blessed with some spell that allows them to avoid fiends from skinning them alive?"

"Really?"

"There's no such ridiculous thing like that," Wakka said, looking bored at Rikku.

"Hey, we Al Bhed are anti-Yevon. How else should we know that?"

Marth felt bad that he was an accomplice. "Those Yevon followers are dangerous, right?" he asked Tidus.

"They can do anything and take out anything from their sleeves," Tidus said. "You're lucky you didn't have some thief who has some bounty on his head before."

The prince agreed by nodding. "Yes, I have yet to meet a thief," he said. "I wouldn't like to help a malicious thief to escape from the authorities."

"Hi," Wolf said grinning from his spot, the two swordsmen looking at him.

"…Never mind, I've been doing that unconditionally," Marth said ashamed. "But anyway, I don't mind helping you if you have a good goal in mind."

Tidus nodded. "We're the good guys. Don't worry about that," he said. "Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

"T-thank you," Marth said with a twitching smile, not liking the saying too much with the way it sounded. For the time being, the prince decided to rest and wait for everyone to get ready for the trip to the mountain. There were no visible drawbacks that would delay their time except for the fiends. But Marth thought that everything would be fine.

And then the Chocobo Trainer approached the perimeter, catching Tidus' attention. "Hey! I wanna train a chocobo!" he called out, stopping the trainer.

"Really? Oh, thank you!" the Chocobo Trainer said. "Let's prepare the training course!"

Auron grimaced. "It seems we're staying in these plains for a little while longer," he said.

"We're so getting pwned by those fiends," Sonic commented.

Marth cursed himself, wishing that he would be so easygoing like Tidus to forget his problems.

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Fun With Chocobos…With A Bastard Named Yojimbo And More? Why would the title have something like this? Who is Yojimbo?" Yuna wondered.

Chris mentally screamed at the name, hiding his money.

"Our problems are just beginning, it seems," Lulu said calmly.

"They began the moment these foreigners stepped into Spira," Auron said.

"We CAN still hear you, you know?" Pit asked upset.

"You were supposed to hear me out."

"…Harsh," Knuckles commented.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-The Calm Lands-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, Wakka, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri

References:

-There were a couple of TVtropes terms in this chapter.

-"Persona 4 – Heartbeat Heartbreak" is a song reference to the same game. It plays during certain days with a specific weather.

-"Final Fantasy X – Macalania Woods" is a song reference to the same game. It plays in the same name displayed on the title, though anyone can hear it in the eastern side of the woods.

-"Final Fantasy X - Wakka's Theme" is a song reference to the same game. It oddly never plays even if Wakka has his moments in the actual game, but the track can still be played at a special place.

-"Final Fantasy X – Silence Before the Storm" is a song reference to the same game. It plays first in the Kilika Woods, and then shows up again at the Macalania Woods' western side.

-"Final Fantasy X - Yuna's Determination" is yet another song reference to the same game. It plays in the Calm Lands… Why am I thinking the title puts too much attention on Yuna and not the Calm Lands themselves?

-"Final Fantasy X – Battle Theme" is yet another song reference to the same game. Always plays on all random battles with fiends. Such a glorious song…that shatters the world map navigation literally.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Throughout all the game, Tidus is always saying his thoughts to the player. He will occasionally say more here during the whole arc.

It was a slow start for the arc, but it sets everything for the next chapter. It's about time for Marth to take the role as the main protagonist. This arc will try its best to solve his conflicts to cope up with Ike's death. Tidus is going to be the "Arc Partner" for him and a perfect candidate to show you all Spira (even though he doesn't know much himself)… What do you mean I'm making Marth look gay? Curses you, yaoi fangirls! Stop getting crazy ideas!

(Seriously, am I making Marth look gay? Or is your knowledge about yaoi fics seeping into your answers? Geez, it's hard to make Marth look straight…)

I really can't say more about this arc other than the fact many of the party members are getting along with the FFX pilgrimage. More hilarity will ensue while keeping Marth's lesson. The next chapter will have…side-quests, surprisingly. Let's all have some fun in the Calm Lands while getting mauled by fiends!

There's going to be a new poll with a bunch of choices soon, but the poll won't be relied on for a very long time.

I encourage all Badass Auron fanatics to review. :)

…Or you'll get ambushed by Malboros and suffer a WHOLE BUNCH of status ailments.

Wakka: BOOYAH! *Smacks Wolf's head hard…with a ball*

Wolf: At this rate, my own head will roll, ironically, by a freaking, f*****g ball.

Rikku: Bless our developers for making us wield improbable weapons, LETHAL improbable weapons.
*Chapter 185*: Fun With Chocobos

I will kill myself if I can't update faster… No, that in turn would make everything much worse. D:

From ngrey651: Ahhhh. Final Fantasy X. It's a game that kind of doesn't take itself seriously because Tidus is as new to Spira as the player is. I mean, a SPORTS BALL is a deadly weapon, and they're off to go defeat a giant floating whale that's LICE is deadly and the only way to KILL this evil whale is to get a superpowered magical creature from a nearly-buck-naked woman who looks like a Disney sorceress. And now they're fighting alongside talking hedgehogs who can run at the speed of sound, and a wolf that flies a spaceship.

It's so silly and yet so simultaneously awesome at the same time.

From me: As long as I can contain everything under control, the mixture of personalities should come out nicely. Sorry for those who wish to see Jigglypuff bonding with Yuna. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From TARDISreviewer: FF10? I have yet to finish that game (yep, emulated. FPS takes a major hit because of it, though.

Also, I wonder where most of the hcaracters would be on the Grid? (not the FF10 cast, obviously.)

...That guy again? Well, I suppose it'd help with getting the Magus Sisters later on (though we're probably not going to see that. And becuase I play the PAL version, I am nowhere NEAR close. For those of you woh don't have hte PAL version, you don't. want. to. know. what I mean. Pretty comparable with monster arena bosses AND THAT'S JUST THE WEAKEST.

And on a fianl nost.

MALBOROS. ARE. MOTHERF**KING. EVIL! (but Great Malboros ARE EVEN WORSE.)

From me: Yes, this isn't the hellish PAL version where the game outright abuses your level. If anything, PAL territories were "Blessed with Suck" or something like that. If this was that…well, say hello to hell.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From FF and STH: Well I glad that this arc is final fantasy 10 and it look like we see Yojimbo next chapter which is good because I like that part with him in last time we saw him.

From me: Hmm, I wonder why you're glad about this being a FFX arc. Maybe you're a fan of the series. Thanks again. :D

From DeltaViolet21: Poor Marth...everyone thinks he's a girl...seriously, if he was, wouldn't his name be Martha?

Great chapter. I can see this arc having a great amount of depth now and in the future.

From me: We shall see if I can keep up with that… Thanks. ;)

From Grathmeld: Yay! It's a FFX arc! Happy Valentine Chris! *gives virtual chocolates* Ahem, for the story. You just made a typo on Jecht name by writing it Jetch. And the story's pretty nice as always.

Sonic will be refrained from running for a few chapters eh? that's pretty good since he's too cocky with that speed of him.

Cure Chris out of the muteness! It's just way too silent without spoilers from him.

Macalania Woods, what a good place for the team to drop off. Except if they're dropped on the sharp crystals. they'd be dead now. Lol at marlboro, they're annoying as hell with their Bad breath skill which gives you random status ailmens.

Yojimbo's gonna farm their money and the whole party might get some fun/trouble with the chocobos. Aww, Chocobos.

I think that's all, couldn't think of any comments again.

Sincerely, Grathmeld

From me: I never noticed how weird it was to write Jecht's name. That mistake was corrected, though, so thanks for pointing that out.

Saying that Sonic is too cocky isn't enough. D:

I tried, but he puked the Echo Screen. D:

There's the Great Malboro residing in the Omega Ruins. It is a cheating bastard because it ALWAYS will ambush you when it appears, giving you no chance to attack on the first turn. It gets worse if it unleashes Bad Breath as its first move. I think any equipped immunities will become nullified for some random reason. Yes, they're the devil with tentacles. The cast would've been dead by now if they encountered that monster.

Chocobo fun is here. Thanks. :)

From Decepticon Fan: About the double post last time, their server screwed up and didn't post the first one. :/

Anyways, I'm still gonna bear with this story. So long hilarious Wolf-Fox rival battles/arguments. I'm buying a Pichu plushie in his honor. No one kills my Pichu!

'Til next time!

From me: Don't worry, Falco will fill in for Fox, though he will most likely rip Wolf's face off faster than Fox… Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Link5604: Ahm what a nice calm place Spira seems to be, a forest made out of crystals, Sonic's dream come true and so much more! Although like any video game if the place seems nice and calm there is a 99.9% chance that monsters will appear out of no where and try to kill you. I noticed something, why are you not responding to my fry sauce qustions? Do you have something against fry sauce? Answer me or feel the wrath of one thousand fangirls!

From me: Er, about the fry sauce, I have never tasted it or heard about it. Yes, sorry about that… Thanks for reviewing, though. :)

From Blackglow: Yes! Final Fantasy X! Even though I was kind of hoping for Megaman Battle Network 3, this arc was a very strong second.I mean VERY strong tied.

Anyway,I was mainly excited for this arc because of a Let's Play of this game I was watching on youtube. It got me very interested in this game and its story, and seeing how the characters interact with the smashers is going to be quite a sight.

Thankfully, spoilers won't be a problem for me, the guy doing the LP is already past the Zanarkand Ruins, which brings me to a question. The Temple of Gaia in this world, please tell me it is in or near the Zanarkand Ruins. I really want to see how the smashers react to Seymour and what he says when he appears.

Probably a long shot... You probably put it on Mt. Gagazet. Here's hoping though!

From me: It looks like the temple is going to be near Zanarkand. I'll see if we can get to there in this arc. And yes, the maester with the monster hanging from his gut will appear for sure. Thanks again. :)

From wereAuraknight: W0W awesome chapter, great humor great dialog. I haven't played this game yet ( really want to play all of the final fantasy games)

but already I think I understand the characters. I pity Chris for eating the echo grass/screen/whatever ( I've always know it to be echo grass but anyways). Personally I don't think you are making Marth look gay. ( P.S. typing in Marth and right clicking it will suggest that you change it to Martha lol)

Anyways keep on typeing so i can keep on reading!

From WereAuraKnight

P.S. happy Valentines day!

From me: I'll punch myself if I make Marth look gay SERIOUSLY, but not comically. That humor can be gold if used right. :P Thanks for reviewing, dude. :)

From The Nameless Guy: Nice chapter, shame Chris can't use magic though...

From me: I corrected all the mistakes. Thanks for pointing them out. :)

From The Meddler: I've recently discovered this fanfic, and I've decided it is one of the best I have ever read. I almost didn't want to read it in the begining since it seemed really slow, but you proved me wrong. I now will stay up until three a.m. to finish an arc (I'm pathetic). Anaways, I'm not a FF X fan, but oh well. Also, the chapter was kinda slow. 1 more thing. *Takes big breath* Holy S**t! You had the balls to actullay kill off people! Awsome! Most authors won't even try to go there just to keep the story cannon. For this, I would definitly list you as a favorite author if I had an account. That's pretty much it. Can't wait for the next update!

From me: Uh… Wow, that was interesting to read. Maybe I should try killing more! *Hears big no* Okay, I won't do that. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From PianistChris: This'll be an interesting arc :p Due to the previous one.

I liked your humorous introduction of the smash characters towards the FF characters, and sonic will always bring humour when it comes to water :D The idea of the dead spirits trying to take the living was always creepy to me, and I'm looking forward to later battles - as well as the development of Marth, Chris' muteness, and the next chapter :)

-Chris

From me: There's moooooooooooore of spirits in this chapter. If it gets too creepy, you can always count on the doll that's always there for you to hug… Uh… O-of course I'm not saying you have one or something.

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From N the Puppet:I've always wondered how Sig came about.

Not that it matters really, but I'm just a little curious.

Poor Marth, but honestly, the tiara he wears does nothing that helps his case. :D

Speaking of blitzball, wonder how the smashers would do in a game...?

Again, nice chap!

From me: Well, if you want to see, he first appeared here in a previous Mansion Chapter. He came here because he apparently got lost to his way to an academy but settled in with the bug fanatic (Agitha).

Marth will never take off the tiara even if his life depended on it.

Ooh, let's see! *They all drown* Yeah… We better not see. I think I remember that Blitzball players hold up their breath inside water for a long time…

Thanks. :)

From S.S.: Disclaimer: Chris is the only, only, and only OC that I like. The rest are complete bulls$&&:$$

As myself doesn't have that many relations with Final Fantasy, I don't have anything to say much except good presentation like always. That bit with Mist.. was horrible. I don't mean horrible in that sort of way, as in Mist is really the last family member left of hers. Really,, I know that the Malattia victims are sort of random, but damn that must feel terrible. Poor Smash crew for dealing with that kinda secret. *Sniff* Bless Ike and his awkward moments eith Deviantart..

Speaking of Ike, FANFIC SCREWED UP AND IT'S STILL GRIEL DO SOMETHING GRAWWWWWWWWWR

Marth's tiara never, never does him any good. Especially in FF universes. Since Marth is suffering from severe mental torment, Shadow Nightmare would be rely dangerous. Nice plot add to destroy the possibility at the beginning. Although I would like to see it. Oh well. As long as there are no more OCs and shitty crackfics about highly successful games like super smash bros and persona why am i desrorying the english language by writing pathetic runon sentences *Shudder* sorry. Needed that.

The goomba- whatever offspring was to point out how absurd the ID lending thing was.

Rating: Ambiguous

Keep up the (really) good work, best writer of the eighth most popular section of the Games ! I mean it.

From me: Marth will receive even more spotlight in this chapter. It probably will help to expand more on his character development, whether this chapter humiliates him to no end for our amusement.

That sounded way too cynical for my tastes, didn't it.

Thanks for reviewing, man. :D

From Ario56: Finally get to review this AMAZING story. I started reading in January and now it's March...

I must say, this story is very well written. I wonder what will happen to Pichu, Ike, Ness and Fox, though. I'm sure they'll be brought back to life... but not the way Chris was...

I also wonder what will happen to Chris's muteness if echo herbs won't fix it...

Guess I gotta wait till the next chapter!

-Ario

From me: Chris's muteness will eventually wear off…at some point in the future. He has no other option but to tolerate the main character muteness syndrome. Yes, you've seen the same one in ALL FOUR nameable party members in Final Fantasy I. D: Thanks again. :D

From jj: hello i'm a new reviwer annd a big Red and R.O.B. and i have some question

1=when is Red gonna capture Charizard b/c i really want him to finnish his team

2= i thought red and his pokemon ccompatible job is isokfmg not scholar

3= When are the villian and rob and mr gaw gonna join

4= will you bring back alive ike, ness, pichu, and fox

5= when will Chris get his voice back

6= i request the next saga after sonic unleahed be a pokemon saga

7= include Red when you do a final fantasy 7 arc

From me: Ooh, multiple questions! Me likes it.

Someday he will capture Charizard.

You thought wrong.

Uh, what's the question again?

They'll stay in those graves forever, so…

He will get his voice back i-HA! You almost had me. :P

Denied.

Too late, see chapter titled "Yuffie".

Was that fun! Thanks for reviewing…er, questioning me. :D

From shadow-dog18: man its been a while since i last comment on this story sorry about that i don't have much time on the computer these days anyways wonderful chapter but poor Chris still cant talk but at least Luario is alive anyways keep up the great work on the awesome story =3

From me: Yes, I'll try to keep up the good work. Thanks. ;)

Yes, I know that faster update was a blatant lie once school decided to hit me hard with the last step for my graduation. But here's a nice thought: I'm still writing for you guys no matter how long it takes me to update. I'm going to try harder to do this thing.

SO THEN!

Back to important stuff. This chapter will further strengthen the bonds between the Smashers and Tidus' party. You'll get to see Marth shining more, be it stupid or serious. You're going to be the judges of that. For those FFX savvy people, we're sure to reach Zanarkand…most likely. There are some twists in this chapter, so be on the lookout for those. Also, I suggest that you use an Al Bhed Translator because this chapter contains some Al Bhed language. You can visit a small site by typing "Al Bhed Translator" in Google. There, you can easily have some fun translating words from English to Al Bhed or backwards. :)

I encourage all FF fans to read on, massacre all evil Malboros, and review. ;)

Disclaimer: The lucky desktop picture for today is a Tidus Desktop. Google is your friend for that. ;D

Chapter 185: Fun with Chocobos…With a Bastard Named Yojimbo and More

Spira

Calm Lands - Rin's Travel Agency

I wanted to lighten the mood a bit. I never relied on Chocobos before, but I guess it'd be nice to do it now. Staring at those guys for a while can make anyone fall for them, including me.

Tidus stopped midway. He chuckled and turned back to the travel agency, specifically to Marth. "Hey, Marth, why don't you give it a try yourself?" Tidus asked.

Marth blinked at the suggestion, staring at the docile big birds spread around the Chocobo Trainer. "What? Uh…" he trailed off, being taken off-guard by the question. The prince wasn't looking forward to riding one of the big birds. Marth would rather ride a horse or a Pegasus, but a Chocobo was like riding a small pony.

"C'mon! It's gonna be fun!" Tidus persevered.

"It will!" the Chocobo Trainer intruded and agreed by nodding, dismaying Marth in the process.

"I…" Marth trailed off, shifting his eyes in discomfort.

Marth was depressed, I could tell. I didn't care he would yell at me after this. I wanted to give him a little push and have some fun with a chocobo to train. I was going to do it too…but after him.

Final Fantasy X – Brass de Chocobo

In a matter of minutes, a straight course besides the travel agency was set with red balloons being the fences. In the middle of the two straight lines of balloons, over the starting line, Tidus and a confused Marth, who was riding on a docile-looking chocobo, were waiting for the Chocobo Trainer, who was on the finish line, to give a shout to start the training.

Marth was trying his best to digest what made him get into his position. So far, he connected two and two together. He was riding on some big wild bird instead of a Pegasus on a huge expanse of plains that, for some odd reason, didn't have any fiends to ambush him from anywhere at all. He was really puzzled to know how the Chocobo Trainer ever set the course without some tentacle monster eating her alive.

"How did I get myself into this situation, exactly?" Marth asked aloud.

"I spent like five minutes trying to convince you to ride our friend here," Tidus said, looking at the chocobo who pecked on the ground to find any unlucky worm to eat. "And I succeeded in that."

"No, you used Wakka, who put some kind of wrestling move to put me on this…bird…against my wishes," Marth said with a suspicious look.

Tidus looked up to the sky with a smile, trying hard not to laugh. "Really? I don't remember doing that," he said.

"Of course you don't," Marth said sarcastically.

Several yards away, just behind the line of balloons, the group stood close watching how Marth and Tidus talked between each other. "Don't they look like brothers?" Rikku asked. "They're arguing like ones. Aww, they remind me of home…"

"I thought you hated your bruddha because he almost KILLED us off that time," Wakka said with emphasis.

"I-it was for Yunie's good!" Rikku argued. "Um, wait… No, he really wanted to kill us until we told my daddy what was going on."

"Sheesh, you guys have issues with each other," Sonic commented, his eyes not looking away from the straight course across the balloons. He was being tempted once again, wishing his feet would disobey his mind.

Yuna was puzzling herself about the fact they weren't being attacked by fiends out of nowhere. "Sir Auron, is it okay for us to be standing outside the travel agency? I'm worried about the fiends…" she said concerned.

Auron highly disapproved of Tidus and Marth having their "fun time" with a chocobo. He would rather cross the damned mountain today than doing it tomorrow. "We'll see what happens," he said, staring at Tidus' direction as the blond teen happily talked with a pissed Marth. "Those two better get us something good from this training that can help us in our journey."

Chris was jealous of Marth. The World Traveler wanted to ride on a chocobo so badly. To Chris, a chocobo was better than a Pegasus or a horse, which was exactly the polar opposite to Marth's preferences. The teen wanted to shout for the training to begin so that he could have a small chance to ride on a bird.

Tidus moved his hands a few times towards Marth. "Okay, so all you need to do is steer this little guy here to reach the finish line on the other side. That's what the trainer told me," he explained. "You need to steer him as soon as possible so that he can understand why you're on his back."

Marth glanced at the docile chocobo. "Hopefully it won't think I'm riding on its back so that it can peck my face…or eat me," the prince said, fearing his latter assumption to become true.

Tidus looked over to the finish line where the Chocobo Trainer raised her hand from her chocobo's saddle. "Looks like it's time for the training to begin!" he said, slapping the chocobo's rear.

Needless to say, Marth was unprepared for the little push. Once Tidus slapped the chocobo, the big bird perked its head up and started running in a zigzag path towards the finish line. To say that Marth was scared was an understatement. The prince hopped recklessly on his saddle as he tried to steer the chocobo to keep it at a straight course.

"D-damned bird of hell!" Marth cursed loudly as the frightened chocobo was still startled by the small slap on its rear. "Left! Right! Right! No, left! Listen! Right! Right! Turn around! Oh my god, stop chirping!" he yelled frantically.

The group saw how Marth and the chocobo helplessly ran around in circles instead of moving any closer to the finish line. "I don't think he's doing such a good work with that bird," Knuckles commented while sweatdropping.

"Really? They look like they're havin' fun together," Wolf snickered.

"Definitely havin' fun," Rikku agreed chuckling.

"Yup," Chip seconded.

"Sure…" Pit muttered.

"I disagree," Lulu combo broke. "Sarcasm aside, anyone can tell how panicked he is with his yells."

"A Pegasus is more civilized than you!" Marth was heard cursing while the chocobo passed right in front of the group. "This is why I prefer cavalry horses better than big feathered birds like you! T-turn around for once! We're going back to the starting line!"

"Kweh!" the chocobo chirped frightened, still not getting over the little slap Tidus gave it.

Wakka scratched the backside of his head and looked at Auron for advice. "Sir Auron, should we help him and give him a helping hand, ya?" he asked.

"I'm in no way getting near that crazed chocobo. It's his own problem," Auron said.

Yuna hoped that Marth would get out of his issue soon. "I have faith in him," she said, even though the problem had escalated with the chocobo unconditionally trying to shake Marth off from its saddle. "I…am not so sure anymore…"

Up in the sky, the sun moved to the west a bit over the Calm Lands. A couple of hours passed until Marth was finally able to subdue the chocobo to his orders. Marth's blue hair was all messy after having a rough time trying to teach the chocobo to go on a straight path. He started thinking the bird had Down syndrome or something close to that for being so unresponsive.

"Hellish…big…bird…from the pandemonium…" Marth panted heavily while the docile chocobo pecked its right wing while standing on the starting line. "You won't…defeat…Altea's…prince…"

"Alright, you taught the little guy a lesson literally! Since you completed the training, this chocobo will take us anywhere on the plains," Tidus cheered.

"Sweet mercy…it actually exists after all…" Marth muttered relieved.

"Time for round two?"

The moment for relief was cut short rather instantly after Tidus said his words. Marth was dismayed to hear that there was a round two for the training. "W-what?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Didn't you know? You taught the chocobo how to ride, but the trainer told me that there are more training courses so that this little guy improves! Not only that, but she also said that there are a few rare items she has that she can give to us," Tidus said. "Want to give it a shot?"

The prince shifted his eyes. "…No?"

"C'mon, how hard can this round be? He already listens to all your commands!" the blond teen pointed out. "Surely this second round must be some kind of joke."

Marth looked back at the bird pecking on the ground. If the bird wasn't bent in making Marth fail to reach the finish line within the time limit, the prince would probably give it another shot. "…Those rare items better be worth it," Marth muttered, looking serious at the course in front of him.

The Chocobo Trainer saw the prince raising his hand to begin the second round. Gladly, she nodded back to him and blew in her whistle to start the training, giving Marth a nice start with the chocobo. In his brief moment, Marth felt that everything was going to be okay.

Zelda spotted some spherical objects coming from practically out of nowhere, rocketing towards Marth and the chocobo. "What?" she asked dumbfounded at the objects.

Wolf also noticed the objects coming out of thin air. "Oh, for crying out loud…" he trailed off with a frown. "First it was the machines…machinas on fire, then it was the dead people, who hate our guts with a passion, then it was the stinky monsters with NASTY breath, then it was the ridiculously hard balls that hurt like hell, and NOW those very same balls appear outta nowhere? Is the sheer amount of ridiculousness so bad in this world full of balls?"

"Blitzballs, amigo, blitzballs!" Wakka corrected, not that the lupine cared.

Marth's mouth gaped when he saw the flying blitzballs coming at his way. "What in the… Oh my goodness!" He was slow to react after one crashed right onto the chocobo's face. It didn't help that the startled chocobo stopped momentarily to regain its senses, allowing one blitzball to smack the prince's face head on. While Marth screamed in pain thanks to the ball breaking his nose, the chocobo lost all sense of direction, taking it upon itself to dodge the blitzballs. "Gah!"

Meanwhile, on the starting line, Tidus was wondering how there were blitzballs coming from thin air. "Well, that's a sight to behold," he commented. "Come to think of it…this is kind of nifty."

From the sidelines, the group watched helplessly as Marth tried to dodge the flying (blitz)balls. "Wow, I didn't think chocobo training involved flying blitzballs that come out of nowhere and SMACK your face," Rikku said interested.

"This is one of Spira's wonders," Auron said sarcastically.

Zelda looked at Lulu. "Is this really a common sight in Spira?" she asked.

Lulu herself wasn't much of a fan of chocobos. It was beyond her how the training even worked, and she had to admit it was ridiculous despite its good results. "…To some people, yes," she replied.

More hours passed and many smacks were received until Marth was finally able to reach the finish line under the time limit. The Chocobo Trainer had ignored completely the prince's exasperated look. The shaking prince and the trainer reunited with Tidus on the starting line. "You're getting good with the little guy!" the trainer rejoiced. "Well, you did it a little bit too slow, but it's okay as long as you train your chocobo."

Marth shot her a cold look, but it didn't faze her in the slightest.

"Congratulation for your efforts!"

The mere congratulating words sent a sense of relief to the prince. Marth was relieved to hear that the training was over.

"You can now challenge me to a race!"

"(If there are any gods in this place, it's certain that they hate my guts…)" Marth thought dismayed.

Tidus crossed his arms. "So when are you gonna give us some freebies?" he asked. "You did say you have some rare items to offer."

"Oh, I'll give them to you for sure if your friend and his chocobo beat me and my chocobo in a friendly race," the Chocobo Trainer said. "There's a big catch for this race, though."

Marth closed his eyes. "Please tell me there are no more flying balls in this race," he pleaded.

"What are you talking about?" the trainer asked as if the prince was crazy. "That's part of the training!"

"WHAT!" Marth snapped out loudly, but he quickly regained his composure so to avoid being rude to the heavily-clothed woman. He fixed his hair a bit and looked apologetic. "S-sorry for my rudeness… What did you want to say about the catch?"

The Chocobo Trainer raised a finger. "I wanted to say there are no balls in this race. If you want to get a better prize, you've got to pass through the balloons I'm going to set around the slope on the south to the far north end of the plains that lead to Mt. Gagazet," she explained. "It's even possible to have a 0:00.0 record time because popping the balloons reduces the time you accumulate while racing against me!"

There was absolutely no logic in having a 0:00.0 record time for a race. But judging what Marth already suffered…went through, anything was possible by now. He wanted to avoid making a bad impression with the trainer. "…Oh, I see," he said, falsely being interested.

It was a miracle that no fiends wanted to show up while the trainer set up the course with the balloons. The balloons were all scattered across the path to the finish line to define the course. The rest of the group gathered on the finish line at the end of the plains that lead to Mt. Gagazet (ironically the same place that they wanted to reach in the first place).

"How much of our time do we have to waste until this whole deal is over with?" Auron asked.

"Chillax! We've got all the time in the world!" Sonic said, his feet dangerously trembling to the point he wasn't going to take it anymore and run around the plains at any second. "If we got all the time in the world, we can do a lot of stuff as much as we want here, right?"

Pit was freaked out by Sonic's eyes randomly shrinking and growing out of sync. It was no wonder why Sonic was also called a speed freak. "S-Sonic, are you sure you feel okay?" Pit asked.

"Okay? Never been better! Standing on an awesome wide area right now! Nothing can beat how I feel today!" Sonic said hyperventilating, looking rather quickly at Rikku. "ARE YA WITH ME?"

"Yeah!" Rikku agreed.

"Rikku, don't give 'im any ideas!" Wakka warned. "The guy's not gonna take this anymore!"

Chris instructed Chip to order Sonic to fall asleep. Even after Sonic fell asleep on the soft grass, his feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they were still trembling rather uncontrollably, unsettling most of them. "…Is this normal?" Yuna asked.

"Course," Wolf said. "Whatever you think is not real it will turn out to be real in the end. Why, I'm going through the same thing today too."

Back with Marth, Tidus, and the Chocobo Trainer on the long slope, they were all waiting for the trainer to start the race. "3, 2, 1, go!" she said as she and her chocobo ran forward. Marth shook his head and told his chocobo to go after her while popping all the balloons on the way to the finish line.

"Good, he's doing okay," Tidus remarked from the starting line. "He's got really good with his chocobo. Makes me want to give it a try too…"

"(Dreaded bird, you know better not to mess with a prince,)" Marth thought devilishly as his chocobo ran next to the trainer's chocobo. "(You better be a good little bird or else your feathers are coming off and will be turned into a nice feather coat for Caeda.)"

Marth admitted that it was easier to handle his chocobo by now. Things were starting to look up for him at last, and all he needed to do for now was obtain the unreasonable record time by popping the balloons while making sure he dodged the birds that were coming right after them from the finish line's direction.

"…" It took a few seconds for Marth's brain to digest the info. "Wait a minute, what?"

True to be told, birds flew down from the sky and aimed right at the chocobo. Marth was so startled by them that the birds crashed on his chocobo, making it stop to regain its stance. The Chocobo Trainer was far behind him, but she caught up rather quickly once the prince's chocobo crashed with the birds.

It almost seemed that the birds were dead set on in making sure Marth lost against the trainer. It was a bit sad that the trainer herself was being assaulted by the birds as well. Anybody would think she was a professional at her own training courses.

"And you're not even complaining?" Marth asked enraged at the trainer.

"Not at all! It's all part of the race!" the Chocobo Trainer stated as she took the lead of the race. It looked like she was doing worse than Marth because she started to get stopped by the birds a lot more after passing the prince.

"Cursed birds!" Marth yelled loudly while he tried to calm down his chocobo. By the way, did we mention he was also cursing the big bird he was riding on as well? "You shall be the death of me! You heard me? Sonouchi, watashi ga shinakereba naranai rōsuto anata no zentai no shurui tonode, watashi wa sekaijū no mazushii hitobito o yashinau koto ga ōkii mono to kangae rareru dai kibona gochisō o motte iru! Soshite, sore no saigo ni sa remasen! Amarini mo ichi-nen no tame ni ōku no nokorimono ga atta wa yo!"

"Did anybody understand what he was trying to say?" Yuna asked confused.

"Must be a native language to his world," Auron commented, while Chris frowned behind him.

Rikku looked upset. "My language is better than his. So myhkiyka pnehkc ymm dra kioc du dra oynt. Tysh nekrd, ed'c paddan dryh rec. Tysh nekrd, ed'c paddan dryh rec!" she said.

The Al Bhed race happens to have its own language. As a side note, when translating Al Bhed, names are not translated to Al Bhed but remain the same.

"What diversity," Knuckles commented. "Everyone seems to be tired of English these days."

"No, English is the universal language," Pit said. "It is believed that Palutena created the language from where I come from. It must have branched out from there unexpectedly."

"No, no, it belongs to humans," Knuckles corrected.

"Liar! Don't call Palutena a liar!" Pit argued.

"I'm just stating the facts!" Knuckles yelled.

"You two are gonna be speaking the language that dead people speak if you don't shut your traps right now," Wolf threatened.

More minutes of agony flew by as Marth failed miserably to reach the finish line at the impossible record time. If it wasn't for the damned birds that crashed against his chocobo (and his face many times), Marth would have finished the race smoothly the very first time. After an hour, the impossible happened…

Marth reached the finish line several seconds before the Chocobo Trainer came in second. The prince's chocobo was doing rather okay after crashing with so many birds, but he had to give it to the trainer for actually doing worse than Marth did. The Chocobo Trainer's chocobo seemed to be drooling with a dummied look on its face. Not only that, but its feathered body was extremely wild and messy.

Pit studied the trainer's chocobo from the shaky legs to the twitching head. "…Are you sure your chocobo is okay?" the angel asked.

"Oh, the little guy will be fine after a bath," the Chocobo Trainer said, fully oblivious that her chocobo was without a doubt going to die that afternoon (at least that was what Lulu thought). "And now, let's see his score. After tallying all the birds and balloons, our total times are…"

-Trainer

Time: 1:55.7

Balloons: 3

Birds: 78

-Marth

Time: 0:33.1

Balloons: 18

Birds: 1

-Trainer

Time: 9:59:9

-Marth

Time: 0:00.0

"Wow!" the Chocobo Trainer exclaimed, making Marth's chocobo happy by making it jump and flutter its wings (though Marth didn't expect the move and fell down to the ground). "That's a new personal best! Congratulations! I'll jot it down in my book."

Tidus helped Marth to get back on his feet. "You did it, man!" Tidus congratulated.

"I don't care as long as I'm finished with all this…" Marth said, forcing a smile albeit his messy look.

The Chocobo Trainer hopped down from her chocobo, not even noticing her own chocobo fell to the side, finally giving up to its damage done by the dreaded birds. "Here's your prize!" she said as she handed over to Marth a small container with blue liquid that magically glittered from the inside.

Obtained Turbo Ether!

An energizing, non-alcoholic potion. Seriously, it's not alcoholic at all. Greatly restores a lot of energy to cast more magic.

Marth glared at the small container. "(I was pulling off my cape and hair for this insignificant ether all along?)" he thought enraged. "It's…thoughtful of your part. Thank you," he said.

"Unbelievable!" the Chocobo Trainer exclaimed once looking at the record time. "That was a perfect run!"

"Um, yeah, I thought you noticed that before," Tidus said. "I guess it's time for us to hit the road again."

"Wait! I have something special for your friend," the trainer stated. "I never thought I'd see the day that someone would actually achieve a perfect time!"

Chris wondered why as he rolled his eyes. Maybe the random blitzballs and birds crashing into innocent chocobos had something to do with it, he thought.

Marth could have erupted in anger for the item the trainer showed to him, but all changed when the trainer showed him a translucent crystal with a fervent orange background. The crystal looked extremely valuable, and it also radiated magic of some sort. "Here you go. I don't know what it's for, but I've heard it's priceless," the trainer said.

"…Thanks," Marth said honestly as he took a hold of the crystal.

Rikku nabbed the crystal off from Marth's hands, surprising the prince. "Uh-huh," she muttered, nodding to the crystal she held. "Wow, I can't believe these actually existed!"

"Hey, that's… Oh, whatever," Marth said. "It's not like I'll find some use to that crystal."

"Aww, you're so sweet," Rikku said. "Anyway, you know what this is? It's the legendary Sun Sigil!"

Obtained Sun Sigil…for Tidus' group!

All we know is that this thing is legendary for some reason. That being said DO NOT SELL IT AWAY UNTIL YOU FIGURE WHAT IT IS FOR!

"It's said that there are seven different sigils hidden across Spira," Rikku said. "Apparently, they're part of a set that help unlock some legendary weapons' true potential…and this sigil here is one of 'em."

Auron frowned. "Unfortunately, we cannot go back from the way we came from. Yevon is reinforcing its defenses. Although they're in disarray, we can't simply go back," he said.

"But these legendary weapons must be something, ya?" Wakka said. "What'd you say if we hunt 'em down along the line? Could be useful, who knows."

"I don't think we have time for that," Lulu stated, turning to the north where the cliffs made a small path to the other side. "We're done with the chocobo training. Let us press on to our destination."

Marth was relieved to know that the odyssey was over, but he was interrupted by the trainer once more. "Oh, I have something else to give you," she said. "You're a swordsman, right?"

"Y-yes," Marth said, afraid that a training that had flying balls would be held in the plains. "Why do you ask?"

The trainer took out from behind an extremely, sparkling-looking, golden sword that was the pinnacle of blades and hilts. Some of them watched astonished at the golden sword that Marth eyed with a good eye. He admitted that the sword looked extremely sharp. Its golden blade, along with the ancient manuscripts engraved on the center wouldn't be easily satisfied with a long detailed description. It was truly the ultimate sword in swordsmanship.

"HOLY DAMNED CACTUAR," Rikku said aloud, mouth gapping. "Is that…the Legendary Sword Excalibur?"

"That's the sword's name?" the trainer asked obliviously. "Well, I found this lying on the ground some time ago so I thought about keeping it as a special prize for people who wanted to train chocobos."

Wakka looked a bit skeptical. "How'd a sword like that be found lying on the ground? That sounds fishy," he said.

"Long story short, I just happened to stumble upon it," the trainer said. "I'm not a swordswoman so I don't really need it. You could put this to good use though."

Marth smiled a bit to the sword. He was going to use Falchion still, but he wanted to have another legendary sword in his arsenal. He gladly took the sword with a hand, raising it to the air. "…It is truly…"

What the prince never thought was that he felt a tremendous amount of humiliation pouring down into his very soul. Marth blinked confused. Something odd was happening to him. He could never understand why he felt extremely pathetic for no real reason. He was confused and panicked as to why he felt like an idiot so suddenly.

"U-um…" Marth trailed off. "What is this… What is this ridiculous feeling?"

"What do you mean?" Yuna asked.

Marth put down the sword to his side. "I…I somehow feel that I've done something I shouldn't have done in my life before," he said confused. "But I can't put my finger on what that is…"

Auron sighed. "Are you sure you're feeling okay today?" he asked. "Did one of those birds hit your head hard enough?"

The prince was offended. "Of course not, I still have my sanity," he said.

Zelda was worried that Marth had actually become insane out of that training she considered hellish and stupid. Her eyes drifted off to the sword Marth was holding. She had heard tales of the Legendary Sword Excalibur outside of Hyrule thanks to the knowledge she gained outside her world. She took a close look to the golden sword. "Well, I, for one, am honored that you got in your hands such an important sword," she commented. "It truly looks so…so…"

Marth stared at Zelda. "Why are you stopping?" he asked.

"…Er…uh…" Zelda's eyes were beyond bewildered. A close look to the sword revealed something very important to her. "…Is this Excalibur sword really that important as I've heard?"

"It is," Marth said. "They say that this sword belongs to the true king of a kingdom."

"And, it also happens to be very sacred," Pit said anxiously, feeling a bit jealous of Marth holding the sword. "No sword can outmatch Excalibur's finest blade and raw power."

Zelda looked at Pit. "So why is this Excalibur made out of cardboard?" she asked.

"What?" many of them asked in unison.

Marth took a closer look at the legendary sword. A closer look revealed that EVERYTHING that supposedly described the sword was completely false. The glittering lights that surrounded sword were actually glittering dust sprinkled all over the blade. Its golden color was just second-hand gold paint with obvious small areas that were left unpainted. The blade, as Zelda had explained, was entirely made out of cardboard and not actual sacred steel. Its supposedly ancient carvings on the middle of the blade were a bunch of doodles overlapping each other, done by a three year old. The handle was a stick covered in thick brown duct tape, and the edges of the blade had sharp paper sticking out to presumably hurt people by giving paper cuts.

The Altean was holding a really crappy sword…or whatever the hell it was supposed to be.

Rikku looked at the sword. "…Heheheheh!" she giggled. "This ain't Excalibur! This is its long-rumored fake sword, the Excalipoor!"

"Excalipoor?" Knuckles repeated.

"It's a cheap imitation of the legendary sword," Lulu said. "Some fools are foolish enough to come across with this atrocity of a sword. I've heard many people find this sword, believing that they found the real Excalibur. But when they enter in a battle with a fiend they test out…this sword which doesn't help at all. What's more, many swordsmen have died thanks to this 'sword' you're holding in your hands."

"…" Marth stared into the space.

Obtained Excalipoor!

The sheer amount of humiliation for holding this sword is just ridiculous. It's beyond professional swordsmen's thinking why you'd wield this thing. Seriously, did you really think this sword is a legendary sword? It's legendary for a kindergarten kid! The only thing that it's good for is for tricking other people but NOT you! Wait, you're STILL holding that thing? Damn, you SERIOUSLY are going to use it in battle? There's just no excuse to use it! Burn it with fire! Masamune wielders will laugh at your face if they see you using this sin! You're going to be the neighborhood loser! …Ugh, this sword is… No…just…no. Increases Attack +1 and Humiliation +1000.

Yeah, we kind of told you it sucks, didn't we?

Marth looked humiliated. He took one last look to "Excalibur" and tossed it to the grass. "Why do swordsmen die thanks to that sword?" Sonic asked.

"They think the sword has some hidden potential that will manifest itself in battle," Auron said. "Too bad they're just wishfully thinking for that. They never realize they're holding a cardboard sword."

Wakka laughed. "Hah! Who's stupid enough to fall for this sword? There isn't a single idiot in the world that can be tricked with this sword," he said.

"Yeah! Who would use this sword in a battle?" Rikku asked.

"Someone who is fooled, most likely," Lulu said.

Wolf's hopes for selling the supposed Excalibur in the black market were crushed. Inside his mind, he cursed that he was fooled to think it was the real thing. "We don't need a crappy sword like that," he said.

"Agreed…" Tidus agreed.

The Chocobo Trainer looked disappointed. "Oh, I'm so sorry for finding that cheap sword," she said.

Marth still couldn't shake off the sheer humiliation. "It's…fine. I'm not using it," he said.

The trainer smiled. "Thank you, and thanks for training a chocobo," she said, pulling Marth's chocobo. "Whenever you come back, you can use this guy to travel around the Calm Lands. Sadly, he needs to take a nice bath after doing so much work out there."

Music stops

"We need to be on our way," Auron said, not noticing Chris who picked up Excalipoor and decided to keep it in their inventory to sell it for a coin. Sonic looked bored at the teen, who gave him a nervous-funny look. "Mt. Gagazet's entrance is just beyond that point behind us."

"Alright, have a nice journey," the trainer said as she pulled Marth's chocobo away while inspecting on the fainted one she was riding before. "Giddyup!" she told her chocobo, who didn't respond at all. "C'mon, giddyup!"

The entire group just stared at her and then at the dead-looking chocobo on the ground. Everyone exchanged glances and shook their heads, pitying the chocobos under her care. They silently walked away from the trainer to avoid seeing a scene.

The oblivious trainer was going to spend a lot of time there, though.

Back with the group, Marth was happy to know the training was over with. He fixed his hair and looked at Tidus. "You, my friend, are going to pay for all I went through," he said.

Tidus looked sheepishly at Marth. "But hey, we got a sigil," he said. "I wanna find those legendary weapons Rikku told us about."

"Good for you because I probably won't be here long enough to hunt those weapons," Marth said with an upset look while Tidus merely folded his arms behind his head and continued walking along the beaten path to Mt. Gagazet.

As they continued walking between the cliffs, Rikku spotted several Al Bhed sentences carved on the rocky walls. "Ooh, lookie there!" she told the foreign group as she approached the walls to read the sentences. "See these sentences? They're all in Al Bhed!"

"Rikku, they don't know Al Bhed," Tidus said. "I'm barely learning how to translate those letters myself!"

Rikku didn't listen to Tidus and read the sentences, the group leaving her behind for a few seconds. In the walls, Rikku read a lot of stuff.

Sympunuc yna hycdo.

Lyldiync yna naymmo taytmo yht cbego.

Cunno, pid oui zicd mucd dra kysa.

Tysh oui du ramm, syh!

Dryd'c fryd cra cyet.

YMM OUIN LRULUPUC YNA PAMUHK DU IC.

Crid ib.

Hu, oui crid ib.

E vuikrd y Keyhd Ahaso Mupcdan yht mucd.

Oui Spirans ryja y mud uv desa eh ouin ryhtc du nayt drec. Cilgc du pa y huh-Ym Prat, rir?

The genki girl Al Bhed giggled and ran to join back up with the group. "You missed a lot of stuff back there," she told Wolf.

"And you got a lot of useless stuff," Wolf retorted.

"Meanie," Rikku muttered.

The group then reached a small gorge with two wooden bridges; one that crossed over a small abyss to safe land that then leaded to another bridge with a slope to the right that went down to the valley. Lulu stopped on her tracks to look down where the road continued, feeling a bit neglectful for some reason. Beyond the second wooden bridge, however, a long cave leaded to the other side where a cold air flew down and out to their direction.

"Once we cross those bridges and the cave, we'll reach Mt. Gagazet," Auron said.

"I wonder if the temple we're looking for is in that mountain," Knuckles said.

"Let's hope it didn't appear somewhere else behind us," Chip said. "We could get lost."

Sonic coughed. "D-don't worry, it has to be along the way here," he said. "We didn't see any temples back at the awesome plains behind us (WHY ARE WE LEAVING THAT PLACE?), anyway."

Yuna was determined to see that the foreign group would get to their destination. She was curious to know more about their mission. "Then let's continue our way," she said.

Pit noticed a particular blue sphere statue next to them. "What is that machine?" he asked.

"That'd be a Save Sphere," Wakka said. "This little baby has special uses. It can fix you up good in a second, and it can also take ya to a blitzball game!" He clapped his hands once. "Let's go to a blitzball game!"

"Hell no," Auron disapproved, wanting to reach the mountain once and for all. "We're not sidetracking anymore."

The group then crossed the first bridge and reached the other side. Lulu, however, walked to the right side where the slope that ran down the second bridge was. "I'm sorry for this… Can we make a small diversion and head down this way?" she asked.

Auron sighed and looked skeptical at the woman. "Strange, I never thought you'd try to go somewhere else like the kid and Wakka here," he said.

The belt-wearer turned to them. "Sorry for asking this so suddenly…but I have to tie up some loose ends," she said. "This probably isn't the right time to do it, but it's been nagging me for a while ever since we stepped into the Calm Lands."

"What loose ends are those?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm afraid I can't say now," Lulu said. "You'll see if we go down."

Yuna thought for a moment. "If Lulu wants to head down and solve some issues… Let's see what she wants to do," she said.

Tidus grinned at Auron. "Everything will be fine. If those Guado guys show up, we'll beat 'em up. We've got back-up this time, don't we?" he asked confidently.

"…" Auron furrowed his brow. "Fine, let's take this little diversion. I hope this is the last one we take for the day."

"HALT!"

All of them quickly turned to the source of the voice that came from the slope. From there, two heavily-dressed persons emerged and blocked the path to the mountain. Their most distinguishable features were their long fingers and their mouths covered by their clothes. The cold look on their eyes made the Smashers feel a bit threatened. One was blue-haired and tall while the other had a hunched back.

"…I curse my luck, alright," Auron muttered under his breath.

"Who are you?" Pit asked.

"They're Guado," Lulu whispered. "It's one of the four races of Spira. They are extremely attached to Yevon thanks to Maester Seymour, who is also a Guado."

"And they want our heads," Wakka muttered, giving the two Guado a glare. "Better watch out. They can tell you're accomplices of Yuna."

"Tsk, just what I needed," Wolf snarled. "As if the cops weren't enough, I have a whole religion bent on giving me a holy death."

"Summons from Lord Seymour!" the blue-haired Guado said. "Come with us," he ordered Yuna.

Yuna looked upset. "We have nothing to discuss with Maester Seymour!" she yelled, just for her group to surround her from preventing the Guado from taking her away. She was a bit surprised by the move.

"So yeah, out of our way!" Tidus warned, the others agreeing while the foreign group felt a bit left out, standing some feet away from the Yuna Protection Team.

The blue-haired Guado narrowed his menacing eyes to the Smashers. "There is no excuse to help these traitors of Yevon… You all are our enemies," he said. "Be they children, men, women, or fiends, there are no exceptions for your disgrace."

Chris looked up to the sky and cursed mentally. "How can you get away with this?" Zelda asked disgusted. "Your religion is clearly tainted with corruption. Can you not see the error of your ways?"

Sonic approached Knuckles without taking his look off from the princess. "She's clearly excited to be scolding them, huh?" he whispered.

"You bet," Knuckles muttered, pushing Sonic's face away.

"Foolish woman," the blue-haired Guado said. "Your tongue shall pay with your life. Lord Seymour's command must be obeyed! You will come!"

Chip laughed nervously. "Y-you see, we're kinda in a hurry so… Yeah, we can't meet up with this Seymour person," he said.

"Yeah, what he said!" Rikku said. "Yunie doesn't need to marry that guy! I mean, just look at his hair! What guy has a hair style like him?"

"Rikku, stop," Auron muttered annoyed.

The hunchbacked Guado stepped forward. "I warn you, the maester doesn't need you alive," he warned.

Tidus shifted his eyes. "That kind of says otherwise about marrying Yuna, don't you think?" he asked.

His question was going to be unanswered once he noticed that the ground was trembling. From down the slope, some kind of golem-machine walked up while leaving behind its footprints. The machine didn't have a head but it was composed of thick-gears and broad shoulders made out of hard rocks. The two Guado looked at them one last time until they crossed the bridge to Mt. Gagazet. "Do not worry. We shall pick up your corpses after our machina is done with you," the blue-haired Guado said.

Final Fantasy X – Boss Theme

"A machina?" Rikku asked bewildered. "So now they're using machina after the big reveal we saw in Bevelle!"

Lulu stepped forward while the machina roared somehow. "We need to assemble a suitable formation," she said.

"N-no way, I can't dismantle it like the other machinas," Rikku said. "C-count me out of this one, guys!"

Everyone else behind her agreed on a group. Auron, Wakka, Marth, Wolf, and Chris joined Lulu while the others fell back. "Be prepared for the worst," Wakka said. "This machine ain't gonna give us a walk in the park but hell instead."

"Please, that thing is so big that its movements should be slow," Wolf said. "What are we worried about?"

The lupine's thinking was horribly backfired once the machina (called Defender X) advanced forward towards them. Its first target was Chris, who silently yelped and ran away from it although it gave him chase.

"It's moving quite fast for my tastes," Marth said.

"May I remind you that he's chasing your friend?" Lulu asked.

Marth shook his head and rushed to Chris's aid. The prince tried slashing the machina, but his sword only caused sparks to fly out from Defender X's thick body. Marth gasped and was subsequently punched hard by the machina. The punch was so hard that he was sent flying across the field, landing recklessly on his back.

"You okay there?" Wakka asked.

Marth grunted in pain as he got back up. "T-that punch…it was just too strong…" he trailed off, Chris aimlessly running away from Defender X, the machina apparently trying to kill him off first. "B-be careful…"

Lulu frowned and took out a small Cactuar doll out of her right sleeve. "Then let me fight as well," she said.

Wolf eyed the small doll, which gave him some annoying memories. "What, are you gonna smack that doll on that machine?" he asked.

The woman refrained from replying as the doll surprisingly jumped out of her arms to the bare ground as it if was animated. Wolf was speechless to see the little doll bouncing on the spot while Lulu brought her arms up. "Let's see you under pressure!" she chanted under her breath, the Cactuar doll doing a spin jump while she brought her arms down to the machina's direction.

As Auron pushed back the wild machina, a huge splash of water violently rose up from the ground, dealing huge water damage to the machine. The splash was so big that water drops spread around the field, but the attack only staggered the machine.

Unfortunately, the Defender X fixed its attention on Lulu. From its spot, it grabbed its right wrist which blasted off a fast rocket punch towards the mage. Wolf stepped in front of Lulu and brought up his reflector. Instead of the rocket punch turning directions, it instantly broke through Wolf's Reflector, shattering the barrier into pieces. "(Wha-)" The lupine had no time to yell once the heavy fist sent him flying away towards the rocky wall across the abyss behind. With a pained expression full of anger, the lupine fell off the wall to the ground. "What…the freaking…hell…" Wolf muttered on the ground.

"Wolf!" Marth yelled. "Are you okay?"

Wolf painfully stood back up. "I was just punched across the entire field by a meathead machine that broke through my shield which was supposed to reflect the damn blow back… What makes you think I'm okay?" he complained loudly, feeling extreme pain running through his body. It felt like he had lost half of his energy. "D-damn, you weren't kidding when you said it was strong with its fists…"

"We must be careful if we want to stay alive," Lulu said.

Auron engaged the Defended X by himself. The guardian grunted as the machina lunged forward with both fists united to crush him. Auron swiftly stopped the blow with his katana acting as a shield, but the pressure the machina was applying to its weight was slowly pushing Auron back. "I need some back up! Will anybody step up?" the guardian asked loudly.

Chris stopped running away to turn around and regain his composure. Seeing that the Beastmaster was ineffective against the machine, the World Traveler changed to his Black Mage job. He held out his staff forward as he concentrated to cast a spell.

While Chris was busy with his concentration, Wakka rushed to the guardian's side. "Hey, Yevon Machina, catch this!" he yelled out as he tossed his blitzball from his spot. Defying all laws of physics, the blitzball actually pushed the machina back once it bounced hard on its left shoulder. The machina lost balance, allowing Auron to slash it hard across its chest. The blitzball somehow bounced all the way back to Wakka, who caught it by jumping once. "Yeah!" he said.

Marth was bewildered to know that a ball inflicted so much damage to a heavy machine. Either Wakka was really physically strong or the blitzball had some sort of curse that gave it much more power (the latter made more sense). The Altean stopped wondering about the possibilities to focus on the battle, dashing to the machina with Falchion ready to slash it. "I won't let my guard down again!" he yelled.

The Black Mage blinked at Marth's sword. He recalled that Stiltzkin taught them how to fuse magic and weapons for stronger blows. Wishing that his muteness wouldn't get in the way, Chris called forth a red glow around him that then he focused on Marth's sword.

Marth saw a red glow encasing his sword. He gasped when he saw Falchion covered in fervent flames that caused no harm or heat to him. The prince simply focused back to the machina, which was preparing to punch Marth away. The Altean grunted and dashed faster to duck under the flying punch, slicing his sword upwards. "Firastrike!" Marth yelled, the magic forcing him to shout the spell's name.

Chris was relieved to see that his magic manifested even though he couldn't chant. Unfortunately, his magic would only work a few times. "Perhaps you can provide some help to us," Lulu spoke from nearby, making Chris yelp silently. "You all have tricks under your sleeves."

The Defender X stumbled back until it regained its balance. Enraged by its enemies, it ominously roared and aimed its fist to Marth. The Altean gasped and blocked himself with his sword, but the rocket punch he received sent him flying far away beyond Lulu and Chris. "A-ack!" Marth gasped right as he crashed on the ground. He was already feeling extremely weak after he was hit twice. "I…I can…barely stand up anymore…" he muttered weakly.

Wolf soon rejoined them while Auron was left to fend off the machina. "Dammit, that machine sure does pack a heavy punch…" he said coughing. "Gonna need some healing before we're pushed off to our deaths down below this damned valley. Kid, do it."

Chris was unsure that his healing spells would work. He shook his head, knowing that he would waste time. His decision only made Wolf get angry at him.

"Y'know, I shoulda leave and call Yuna," Wakka said. "What do you say, Lu?"

Lulu was busy chanting another spell with the dancing Cactuar doll in front of her. "Leave and call Yuna! We can't have them lose their last breath with this machine blocking the way!" she ordered.

Wakka saluted the others while he rushed back to the wooden bridge. Moments later, Yuna rushed back to join the five. "I'm here to heal anyone who's gotten hurt!" she said.

As Chris instructed Yuna to heal Marth and Wolf, Lulu gasped when she saw how Auron's katana was pushed aside from his hand. She hurried with her spell. "A storm comes," she chanted under her breath, bringing her arms down behind the dancing Cactuar doll.

Several jolts of blue and yellow lightning surrounded and closed in to the Defender X until they all gathered at a single point, resulting in a huge explosion of thunder that staggered the machine. Auron took the advantage and went to pick his katana. "I have to give it to Yevon for using their machina to push my weapon off my hand," he said, turning back to the machina. "This will be the last time they do so, though."

Behind the guardian, Yuna used a high tier healing spell that instantly cured Marth from all his wounds. The prince was astonished to feel no pain at all. "Thanks…" Marth trailed off surprised before he rushed to Auron's side. Yuna went on to heal Wolf next.

Auron looked at Marth as they both got ready to fight the machine. "Drop your guard down once and you're history," Auron said while staring up at the machina.

"You're fortunate you're still standing," Marth said, before the two ran to the enemy together.

Chris noticed Wolf wasn't joining up with them. Upon looking at Chris, the lupine shook his head. "I'm not stupid. My claws and kicks won't do a damn thing to that damned machine. I'm only gonna get my claws torn apart like Swiss cheese," he told the mute teen just as he turned around to drop out from the fight to call somebody else into the battle.

The teen pondered how Wolf would even know a place like Swiss. His thoughts were stopped once Pit came rushing in with his blades on his hands. "I came here to fight," he said. He had an urge to take out his wings, but he didn't want to scare Yuna. Lulu would surely shoot him a cold look, and that in turn would scare Pit instead.

"Here it comes!" Marth said as both he and Auron sidestepped out of the way from a fist attack from the Defender X that created a big hole on the ground. The two swordsmen jumped forward from both sides, holding their swords with both hands to slash the machine downward. However, the Defender X reacted too fast to their attack by spinning on his spot, pushing the two swordsmen aside.

Back with the line of spell casters, Lulu prepared another spell while her dancing Cactuar doll hopped on its cotton-filled feet. "I hope you like it hot," she chanted under her breath, bringing down her arms behind the dancing doll.

A big explosion of fire engulfed the machina. The intensity of the fire even turned the background red until it vanished in a few seconds. The Defender X stumbled back on its feet thanks to the damage it received from the fire attack.

As Pit rushed to their aid, something unexpected happened. The Defender X seemed to be casting magic by itself. "W-what?" Pit asked astonished while joining up with Auron and Marth.

The Defender X swung its right arm. Clocks of time soon manifested on everyone. The spectral clocks' hands moved rapidly until they drastically lost speed, severely affecting all of them. Once the clocks disappeared, everyone felt that the time was going too slow. A few seconds to talk were only prolonged.

"Why is the time going so slow?" Pit asked slowly.

"This is just great," Auron sarcastically said. "That damned machina knows the Slowga spell."

"What is this Slowga spell?"

"It's an improved version of the spell Slow. Instead of just focusing on one enemy, it targets ever-" Auron was slow to react against a flying rocket punch that the Defender X fired off. The guardian was pushed far away, crossing the wooden bridge that led to Mt. Gagazet.

"No!" Pit yelled.

Chris found it difficult to concentrate faster. Lulu was unable to pull off her magic as well. Yuna was also affected greatly, with her healing spells delaying a lot. The three swordsmen in the front lines were drastically handicapped while facing the enemy alone.

It took Marth four seconds to gasp right before the Defender X lunged at him with both fists cupped together. The resulting attack was extremely damaging. Marth was crushed under the weight of the fists onto the ground. His pupils shrunk as his body was instantly taken out of commission, prompting him to faint on the spot.

"Marth!" Pit yelled for three long seconds.

A saintly light shone down upon Marth as the Defender X backed away. The light resuscitated Marth from his state, gently putting him back to his feet. The Altean shook his head and sighed. "I was very careless…" he trailed off, just in time to jump back and avoid a flying punch from the machina.

"An Auto-Life spell," Lulu remarked for three seconds. "If somebody slowed down faints, resuscitating will take off the effect with no problems. That should be useful."

Marth however didn't expect the machina to catch on since it started to cast another spell. The prince rushed to the machina and started to slash it with his sword as many times as he could to stop it from casting the spell, but the machina simply stood there and swung its arm in the air. The clocks manifested again and only affected Marth, the only one who was not slowed down.

"D-dammit!" Marth cursed slowly.

The Altean was pushed away by the machina's arm. The Defender X ignored Pit and focused on the three spell casters standing several feet away from him. It started to advance, making the trio gasp slowly.

"Yuna, call an Eidolon!" Lulu suggested. "Forget about healing Sir Auron and Marth altogether!"

"But they're…" Yuna trailed off.

Lulu knew that talking would waste a lot of time, so she only shot Yuna a cold glare. While Chris was praying to get out alive of the fight, Yuna let out a slow sigh and started to spin her staff in front of her.

The Defender X was approaching them. Lulu grunted mentally and shook her head. By the time Yuna was about to call forth the assumed Eidolon, the machina reached them easily and swept them all with its arm. The three spell casters rolled recklessly on the ground until they stopped right next to the abyss' fall.

"Too slow…" Yuna muttered painfully.

Marth was distraught. With everyone slowed down, the chances for surviving the battle against the machina were extremely slim. He was losing confidence until Auron came back "running" from across the wooden bridge. "This battle will be the death of us… Alright, we need to break the rule a bit and call reinforcements." With that said, the guardian whistled using his fingers.

From the wooden bridge, Tidus and Kimahri rushed in with their weapons ready. "Yuna!" Tidus yelled as he and Kimahri ran to the spell casters' aid.

Auron looked at Marth's miffed look. "It's a big mess when you have everyone fighting a single monster. We only fight with more of us when we know we can be defeated or die," he told the Altean before turning over to Tidus. "Kid, use your time magic!"

Tidus noticed how everyone was moving slower than usual. He nodded to Auron. "Alright, leave that part to me!" he said, focusing his magic.

Marth was surprised to know Tidus could even use magic seeing that he was a swordsman, but the prince was too distracted thinking about it that Auron sidestepped in time from a ramming punch attack from the Defender X, which sent Marth sprawling on the ground. Once again, the deadly punch pushed Marth over the edge, feeling almost no energy left to fight. "(R-ridiculous…this is…just ridiculous…)" Marth thought painfully as he stood up.

"Let's end this quickly!" Tidus apparently chanted as magic circulated around his right hand. The blond teen swung his arm to the side as clocks of time engulfed all the party members on the field. The clocks' hands spun normally until they started spinning at incredible speeds. The clocks then vanished in thin air.

Time itself seemed to go even faster to everyone. It took roughly two seconds for Marth to stand back up. Catching his breath was even faster, and he recovered his composure at a miraculous pace. Despite the fact everyone was moving so fast that even standing still made them look like they were going to run somewhere else, time wasn't a hindrance anymore.

Pure craziness started when Marth saw Tidus, Kimahri, and Auron charging to the Defender X at faster speeds while Pit just stood there dumbfounded, trying to comprehend how everything got a little too crazy. Blinking fast in confusion, Marth saw how Lulu and Yuna were bombarding the machina with black magic and white magic. Chris found himself in a similar situation like Pit.

The Defender X tried its best to cast Slowga. It had the intelligence to reach to good solutions, but there wasn't a solution to stop the fast attackers who damaged him with sword strikes, katana slashes, and spear-piercing attacks. It was then that the machina resisted several blows to swing its right arm against Kimahri's face, sending the blue lion several feet away until he somersaulted and landed on his feet before charging back again to the frenzy.

"Everything-is-so-fast-I-can't-even-think-fast-enough-to-do-something," Marth spoke in an absurdly fast pace. He was surprised he didn't bite his tongue. He rapidly shook his head and dashed quickly (understatement) to their aid while Pit did the same.

Chris thought he was going to get a big advantage with the time accelerating on his favor. He started casting spells, concentrating even faster than before. Unfortunately, all the times he tried to cast a spell ended up in just swinging his staff forward for no results. Thanks to the time accelerated, he got much fed up that it looked like he was losing his temper. Lulu stopped one moment to calm him down before she resumed casting spells with the insanely fast, dancing Cactuar doll in front of her.

The battle would have made a difference if Chris was playing through it like any person in his world would do. But the Hastega spell proved to be a game breaker outside of standard RPG rules. The poor machina was assaulted so much that it staggered so many times.

Music stops

And it eventually started blowing up, its parts coming off right after another. The rapid attackers stepped back as the pieces blew up and turned into bits that scattered around the field until they were swept away to the abyss down below. When the battle was over, time itself was put back to normal to all of them, the feeling of extreme adrenaline disappearing.

Auron put his katana away. "Well, that's that," he said as the rest of the group came back from the Calm Lands' direction.

"What in the name of the clouds did just happen?" Pit asked. "That spell he pulled out was…it was so disturbing!" he said.

Tidus looked upset. "How is my Hastega spell disturbing? It changed the tide of the fight in our favor!" he argued. "Yeah, you blink faster and you breathe like if there was no tomorrow, but hey, it's useful."

"I know the spell gives a big advantage that looks like we're cheating, but seriously…" Marth trailed off. "I couldn't even process what was going on around me."

"That shouldn't happen judging that the Haste spell line accelerates every aspect of human performance," Lulu said. "It does not affect aging, rest assured. You were too much shocked to feel its effects. That's the only reason I can come up with."

"I'm a first-timer for this kind of event, so…yes," Marth said.

Tidus bumped Marth's shoulder. "Hmm, does that mean you're very slow even when you're faster?" he asked, to which Sonic started laughing madly, much to Marth's chagrin.

"You're too slooow even when you're fast! Hahahahahahah-COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!" Sonic coughed loudly, Chip patting his spiny back to help the hedgehog catch his breath.

"Ahem…" Zelda faked a cough to get attention. "If we're done chatting among ourselves…I believe we're safe for the time being. Those Guado people seemed to have left after throwing that hideous machine on us," she pointed out.

"They thought their machina would kill us," Lulu said.

Wakka sighed depressed. "I'm still kinda shaken after Yevon showed us its dark side, ya? They went too far in betraying their own teachings," he said.

"They're hypocrites!" Rikku piped in. "They hate my family for using machina!"

"Before this conversation gets more off-topic, where are we supposed to go next?" Tidus asked. "Lulu's got some business to do down below, am I right?"

Lulu looked away from the team's wary looks aimed at her face. "If it's not much to ask…" she trailed off.

Yuna nodded. "I think we can take a small detour," she said. "I promise this will be the last detour until we continue through Mt. Gagazet."

As Lulu muttered a small "thanks", Auron nodded. "Let's move on," he told everyone who soon walked around the area to down below the wooden bridge.

The area down below the wooden bridge overlooked the valley of the Calm Lands. The cliff was very close to their feet as long as they didn't approach the edge to look down below. What stood out the most was the ominous purple smoke that came out from a cave to the right, said place was on Lulu's mind.

Curious, most of them approached the cave that had a slope going down as an entrance. Rikku zigzagged inside until she came back to ask, "Where are we?"

"Why the hell did you enter and came back outside like that?" Wolf asked.

"Curiosity is an Al Bhed's best friend?"

Lulu stepped forward. "The fayth is inside…as are other fiends," she said.

"The fayth?" Pit asked confused. "What is the fayth?"

Yuna cleared her throat. "It's the people who gave their lives to fight Sin. From their still-living bodies, Yevon took their souls and infused them into statues where they sleep eternally. When a summoner like me uses their power, I can call an aeon in battle to aid us," she explained.

"Yuna was trying to call an aeon in the battle before," Auron said. "She was interrupted midway, though."

The summoner looked shameful. "I blame the spell that slowed me down," she muttered.

"People's souls are infused into statues?" Marth asked amazed.

"The people who fought Sin willingly underwent the ritual to become the Fayth," Auron said. "They knew the risks they were taking, but they all agreed that getting rid of Sin is better than running away from it."

Chip pouted. "Why can't I be made up of souls? That sounds so much cooler than being a deity nobody has heard of," he said.

"Chip, stop ruining the moment," Sonic whispered.

Wakka took another look at the entrance of the cave and gasped to Lulu. "Hey. This where…"

Given Wakka's shocked reaction, Tidus looked confused. "Where? What?"

"The summoner I guarded on my first pilgrimage…died here," Lulu spoke almost silently.

Knuckles shifted his eyes. "So…is that summoner's grave inside the cave or something like that?" he asked.

"I'd rather not talk about that until we go further inside," Lulu said. "Yuna, let's go. The fayth awaits."

Having no other choice, the group went inside.

Cavern of the Stolen Fayth

Final Fantasy X – Silence Before the Storm

"Are we sure about this?" Pit asked mildly scared. "One step inside this cave and I'm already feeling a bunch of negative vibes out of all this ominous smoke floating about."

"Stop being such a Chicken-wuss," Wolf muttered annoyed.

"Oh, says the guy who gives a lot of negative vibes himself!"

"Repeat it again and let's see what I'll do to you in your sleep."

"I-I'll be quiet, sir…"

"You better be."

Chris was wondering how Pit was even a general for an army of angels given his rather unsure nature. But the teen couldn't blame the angel when it came down to describe the cave they were investigating. That, and how light and darkness disliked each other to death. Pit was the light and the cavern was the monster of evilness.

The cavern had the ominous purple smoke floating around the ceiling, but it didn't make it hard for anyone to look around. Almost in every corner, there were multitudes of pyreflies offering some illumination, though that feature was surely not meant to be a beacon for guidance throughout the cave. As for unusual phenomena, all of them could feel all kinds of negative emotions out of the pyreflies beside the chilling feelings.

"I feel sadness," Chip said before looking angry. "Now I feel anger," he said before looking like a maniac. "I feel fury," he said before looking sad. "And I feel sadness again… No, this is anger, actually. Grr."

"Over-exaggerating much?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm pretty emotional, let me tell you," Chip said angrily before sniffing.

"I'm sure he's just joking," Rikku giggled, embracing herself. "Ooh, but I admit I'm feeling a chill running down my spine."

"Well, there are so many pyreflies in here that never made it to the Farplane," Wakka said. "Never seen so many of them in the same place, ya?"

"I think it looks beautiful in some ways," Yuna commented.

"As long as they don't merge into a fiend…" Marth muttered.

Sonic cleared his right ear. "What's this Farplane place, anyway?" he asked.

"It's the place where pyreflies are sent for eternal rest," Lulu explained. "Summoners have a duty to perform the Sending to give the wandering souls a way to their rightful place. If the Sending isn't performed in time, the pyreflies will linger and turn into monsters. Those are what we call the Unsent."

Marth turned to Yuna. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to perform a Sending here?" he asked.

Yuna sighed. "Pyreflies that last longer are more aware of Summoners," she said. "They know that they'll be sent to the Farplane where their motives of anger and everything will be put to rest for the eternity. It'd be better if the Sending is performed right after a Summoner witnesses somebody…dying."

"The more a soul lingers, the more difficult it becomes for the Sending to be performed," Auron said. "Let's press on and forget about these pyreflies."

Yuna was sad. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't do her job like she wanted. She needs to stop blaming herself of stuff she can't accomplish. Wonder if Marth somehow felt the same. Something was troubling the guy a lot as well as he stared into space from time to time. And let's not forget his other friends. The only who didn't seem to have the least of worries was the little guy Chip.

The cavern had some diverging paths that leaded to dead ends. It took the group a while until they went down the right track, only for another diversion to take them by surprise. When Yuna walked further into a small space, Rikku decided to ask something that was bothering her.

"What's a fayth doing in a place like this, anyway?" Rikku asked. "Oh, to you newbies, a fayth is always found at the temples spread around Spira. This is the first I heard of one in a cave… You know?" she asked Tidus.

"Don't ask me!" Tidus said. "I'm as confused as they are!"

"They said that the fayth was stolen from a temple long ago," Lulu explained. "It was brought here in the end by the thief who stole it."

"To make a fortune because it was very valuable at the time?" Knuckles asked.

"To have a relic for decoration because it looked pretty?" Sonic asked.

"To be a complete douchebag because he thought it was fun?" Wolf asked.

"Yup, maybe, and pretty much yeah!" Rikku said, receiving a hand-chop to the forehead from Wakka. "Oww, not that hard, meanie!"

Auron shook his head. "With no fayth, summoners cannot train. Without training, they cannot call the Final Aeon. Without the Final Aeon, they cannot defeat Sin. That is why," he said.

"One vital piece breaks the entire purpose if it gets stolen," Marth said.

Zelda was unsure about the stolen fayth. "But given the information we know, stealing the fayth would cause many deaths thanks to this Sin monster. Why would a thief go to such lengths if it would benefit the thief to survive?" she asked.

"You know how the world is filled with these emo people who exist and wish for death and all that sorcery-kinda stuff and how they look down upon cheery people like me that they wish we should be feeling their emptiness of emotions they supposedly feel?" Rikku asked, receiving looks from almost everyone. "…Er…the thief was a douchebag. That explains everything," she said. "…Oh, I know!"

"It's not the fortune," Knuckles interrupted.

"Not that! If a fayth was stolen, summoners won't have to die!" she realized.

Wakka agreed. "That must be what the thief was thinking," he said.

"I kinda agree with him…" Tidus trailed off, seeing Yuna looking around the cavern. Around that time he looked at her, the summoner ran back to them with a startled look on her face. "Hey, Yuna, is something the matter?"

"I spotted a fiend coming this way!" Yuna said as she pointed to the north side of the path they were following.

Rikku screamed so loudly that almost everyone close to her ended up being deaf for a few seconds. She quickly tugged on to Auron's shoulder, much to the guardian's chagrin. "UAH! OH MY GOD! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! THIS IS IT! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THE DAY, BUT IT'S TODAY! IT'S THE MOST FEARSOME FIEND OF ALL TIMES, EVERYBODY! LET'S RUN FOR OUR LIVES NOW THAT WE HAVE THE CHANCE! OH MY GOD, IT'S STARING INTO OUR VERY SOULS! MOMMY, HERE I COME! I HOPE YOU RESERVED SOME SPACE BACK AT THE FARPLANE FOR CUTE LITTLE ME!" she screamed loudly.

A small robed green creature carrying a small lantern and a knife on each hand walked as slow as a snail to them. To say the creature measured a good foot of length didn't cause everyone else to panic in a very ridiculous fashion like Rikku did.

"IT'S GONNA EAT MY INSIDES!" Rikku screamed until Auron got fed up of her and pushed her away from him with his free hand.

"Big deal," Knuckles said as he rolled his eyes. "I bet I can crush that fiend with my foot alone."

Wolf looked miffed. "I dunno," he said. "Underestimating anything that looks remotely stupid can really kill us in some unbelievable fashion. Remember the machine on fire back at the plains? This little green midget is going to pull out some freaking weapon out of its sleeve."

"That's some description for a small fiend like a Tonberry you have there," Lulu said, revealing the fiend's name.

"…Is it really a little green midget and nothing else that seems extraordinary dangerous?" Sonic asked.

"Extraordinary? I don't believe so. Dangerous? I believe so."

"How so?" Pit asked.

The Tonberry took a few steps forward. "Using its lantern, it punishes its enemies based on how many fiends they killed before meeting it. Using its knife, it will most definitely kill anything that it touches," Lulu explained. "Or so I've heard from some travelers. Engaging it in combat is almost suicidal for most people."

Knuckles approached the Tonberry and ducked to stare down at it, the fiend staring up at him with its beady yellow eyes. "I'll be taking these away from you," he said as he reached for the lantern and the knife.

"NO!" Rikku said, sitting up from her spot while holding out her hand to the echidna.

"I'm using some common sense here! Just take away its weapons and it'll be wide open for attacks!" Knuckles yelled.

The Tonberry obviously didn't like the treatment it was receiving. Once Knuckles moved his hands forward, a small poke sound…

POKE!

A small poke sound echoed throughout the cavern thanks to the small knife poking Knuckles' gloved hand.

"…Ouch, even I heard that one from over here," Tidus said. "Leave the little guy alone."

Knuckles made no response instead of just ducking down still. A few seconds passed until he fell to the side with a knocked out expression on his face, his mouth wide open.

"Oh my…" Yuna muttered astonished under her hand.

Wakka blinked. "Wow, never seen a Tonberry in action before," he said. "The guy was literally taken out with no effort!"

"And so, the fool dies," Auron said, making Sonic put his hand over his chest to say his farewell to Knuckles. Chris slapped his forehead and frowned at the hedgehog.

A few seconds later, Knuckles was revived from the holy light. The echidna stood up, looked down at the Tonberry staring up at him, and then ran back to the group. "What? Is the Mighty Knuckles afraid of some mini-monster?" Sonic teased.

"S-shut up!" Knuckles yelled. "You go ahead and be my guest! Let's see how you fare against that…monstrosity!"

"But it's too slow," Zelda said. "We can probably just walk away and leave it behind."

"That sounds so mean," Rikku said. "Maybe it's looking for a friend."

"Weren't you panicking for dear life a minute ago?" Marth asked.

"T-that'd have been my other evil side you were talking about," Rikku said nervously. "She's my evil twin called…Riku."

"…I see no difference at all," Tidus said. "I mean, the name sounding the same. Good thing there's no person I know with the name 'Riku'."

Poor boy never knew that was a huge hindrance in another world that made a lot of injustice to Rikku as well, Chris thought.

Lulu said nothing and just proceeded forward, ignoring the Tonberry who calmly stared at her way. Soon, one after another, they all left the creature behind.

The Tonberry, however, was not going to give up.

"I think we got a bit off-topic again," Tidus commented.

"Meh, it happens a lot," Sonic said.

After walking through the winding paths, they eventually passed right next to a Save Sphere, reaching a dead end with a blocked path caused by a cave-in. Right before their eyes, pyreflies acted a little bit more violent than the other flying lights.

"Hey, something's not right here," Chip said.

"Another Guado fiend?" Wakka asked.

Kimahri shook his head. "No. An Unsent!" he said, startling some of them who never heard him talking at all until now.

Final Fantasy X – Lulu's Theme

The pyreflies, instead of creating a fiend, created the image of a woman who wore priest clothes. The woman eerily stared at them without making any movements. The Unsent locked her eyes on Lulu, who felt some sadness just by staring at her.

The black mage looked guilty until she stepped forward. "It is… It's you, is it not, Lady Ginnem?" she asked in an ashamed tone. "Forgive me… I was too young."

Wakka bumped Pit's shoulder. "It's the first summoner she guarded," he whispered. "It's the one who died on Lu's first pilgrimage. I wasn't kidding when I said Lulu is still being haunted by her past."

Pit stared at Lulu. "What should we do?" he asked.

"I… I have to perform the Sending so that she can rest eternally," Yuna said, taking out her staff. "Lulu…is this okay with you?"

"…Please, send her away, Yuna," Lulu muttered under her breath, not taking her gaze away from the Unsent.

Yuna nodded to herself and stood next to Lulu. The summoner then started doing a dance with her staff, with several pyreflies circling around her. However, the Unsent swung her arm to the right, sending forth a black wind that pushed Yuna's staff away for a bit. Yuna gasped at the reaction and stared at the Unsent.

"It's not good, she's resisting!" Wakka said. "She's clinging on to our world!"

"But she's not a fiend but a human," Zelda said confused. "Aren't all pyreflies supposed to turn into fiends and not humans?"

The summoner looked at Zelda. "Certain Unsent are capable of keeping their human form if they have a very strong desire to live," Yuna said. "Lady Ginnem probably has some sort of strong ties to this world that she wants to see them till the end."

Auron grimaced. "Her soul must've been lingering for so much that she became corrupted with her emotions," he said.

"So she became a stubborn soul like all fiends out there," Wolf said. "Another soul that wants us all dead."

"I don't think that's right to say that now," Marth said, looking at Lulu's saddened look. "(I've never seen her so down.)"

Lulu looked down. "There is no human…left in you now, is there?" she asked.

Ginnem's soul swung her arm in disrespect. Even the foreign group could feel the raw feeling of anger that ran through the Unsent's being.

Lulu shook her head, looking back up with a serious look. "Very well, then… Allow me to perform my last duty to you. My last…as your guardian," she said.

"And what's the duty?" Marth asked.

"Beat her to the Farplane but good!" Rikku said, rushing forward with her weapon ready.

"Assemble a formation," Auron said.

Lulu stood on her spot as Rikku, Wakka, Pit, Zelda, and Marth joined her side, the others backing off. As Pit unsheathed his dual blades, he said, "This is going to be an easy fight for sure."

"Beware, as the Unsent possess great power," Lulu warned. "Lady Ginnem was quite a strong summoner."

Out of nowhere, the space they were became distorted. The night's sky replaced the ceiling for a moment while a cherry blossom tree appeared next to the Unsent. A Japanese-like sound echoed in the cave while a tall-robed figure came out from below the cherry blossom tree. The robed figure was the aeon Yojimbo together with his dog Daigoro.

"(Say, I recognize that aeon from somewhere else…)" Marth thought. "(Yes, I remember Chris called him some time ago. Is this his native world, perhaps?)"

"It's an aeon," Lulu said. "It's the aeon that was stolen: Yojimbo."

"You know that aeon?" Wakka asked.

"Lady Ginnem and I… We came here to reach the fayth. I was young and naïve back then and Lady Ginnem was killed by the fiends inside this cavern after we had reached the fayth," Lulu explained. "She is asking Yojimbo personally to dispose of us."

"(But naivety shouldn't have been a hindrance for her summoner to get killed,)" Marth thought before realizing something. "(…Why are all people around me suffering from the same issues I have? Is this a coincidence…or is it something that wants to haunt me?)"

"Oh, now that sounds kind of cheap," Rikku said. "She's throwing her new toy on us!"

Marth shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "Then I won't let her 'toy' kill us. Let's all attack at the same time to deal more dama-"

"Hold your Chocobos!" Wakka interrupted while Yojimbo calmly waited for them to move. "Banging on an aeon too many times is a bad strategy, ya? Bang it one time too many, and it'll unleash its most fearsome attack on all of us! We better deliver very strong hits, not multiple ones!"

Pit looked dismayed. "B-but I'm very proficient at delivering multiple hits myself!" he said.

"Too bad. You shall just deliver a limited amount of hits," Lulu said. "Your mistake will force us all to share defeat."

"Or in this case, death," Rikku added.

"W-well, I want to see you forced to deliver less than two hits!" Pit dared.

Wakka slapped his forehead. "In case ya didn't know, Lu's magic always deliver one hit all the time," he pointed out. "And each hit packs a big punch."

"Oh my gosh, it's attacking!" Rikku said, warning all of them to look forward.

Instead of the samurai attacking with its sword under his robe, the dog Daigoro growled and charged forward, jumping and back-kicking Pit quite hard in the face. The hit was hard enough to push the angel to the ground. The dog steadily returned to its master's side.

"O-oww!" Pit yelled.

"Good doggy! That was one good back-kick attack…coming from an aeon dog, that is," Rikku remarked.

Pit sat up. "That being and his pet are our enemies in case you forgot!" he said.

"But I like doggies, anyway."

Lulu was already casting a spell with the dancing Cactuar doll hopping merrily on the ground. "Stop talking and fight," she said, bringing down her arms.

Yojimbo was then engulfed in a fiery explosion. The aeon backed away slightly and walked back to his spot.

"Creepy… He's not even attacking us," Marth pointed out.

Daigoro growled and rushed at them, this time targeting Zelda. The princess stepped back to slash the dog with her magic in midair. The aeon dog whimpered and drew back to Yojimbo's side. "I'm not letting a dog kick me in such a manner," she muttered.

"Oh, I wonder why…" Pit joked sarcastically.

Apparently, the aeon dog's owner didn't seem so pleased with Daigoro getting attacked (it was hard to tell if he was even angry due to his masked face under his hat). The samurai-for-hire took out one katana from behind his robe. The katana he took out then spread into six on his hand, which he then tossed rather nimbly to all six of his oppressors. Most of them grunted in pain after enduring the attack.

"I-I didn't see those coming!" Rikku said, her right eye twitching. "Damn, he's fast!"

"I'll say let's hit 'im hard!" Wakka proposed.

As the blitzball player rushed to the aeon, Pit was curious to know what kind of weapon Rikku was using. With a close look, he noticed Rikku was using a claw, albeit just one. "Wouldn't it be easier if you had two claws?" he asked.

"Nah, my other free hand comes in handy for when I use gadgetry. It's an Al Bhed preference," Rikku said, winking at Pit before she joined Wakka. "I've got a good hand for tossing grenades, you know!"

Wakka was fast to toss his blitzball at the aeon. Yojimbo decided to stop standing still for once to block the ball with his katana. The ball bounced off right on Rikku's face. The blond girl got pushed to the ground as the ball rolled away. "H-hey, that wasn't supposed to happen that way!" Wakka said.

"W-who happens when in what place where?" Rikku asked dazzled on the ground, the hit having confused her.

Marth and Pit joined forces and rushed to Yojimbo. The samurai aeon started to play more offensively, not wanting to sheath its weapon. When Marth and Pit both lunged at him with their swords ready, Yojimbo nimbly blocked them with his katana. Doing a head gesture to Daigoro, the dog took advantage of the blocked hit and quickly back-kicked Pit to the side to make him push Marth away, both of them falling to the ground. "R-really? T-that's the second time now!" Pit complained.

"Quick, get off me!" Marth said as the two scrambled around to avoid Yojimbo's sight. Rays of lightning that burst into a big explosion on Yojimbo prevented him from attacking the duo, courtesy of Lulu's magic.

Lulu saw that her first summoner's intangible soul was eerily standing a few feet away from Yojimbo. Ginnem's eyes coldly stared at her former guardian, giving her a chill in her spine. "…I will end my last duty today," Lulu muttered. "I will end it so that you may find the eternal rest you rightfully deserve…Lady Ginnem…"

The soul never reacted once to her oath. She kept standing there, letting Yojimbo do all the work for her. A flying Din's Fire burst right on Lady Ginnem, but she was unaffected by the blow.

"It's no use," Lulu told Zelda. "Even though she has a strong will to manifest herself in this world, it's not quite enough to make her body tangible. Focus on Yojimbo instead."

"And when I was thinking the battle would end sooner if I targeted her…" Zelda trailed off.

"Bad dog, stay away from me!" Pit told Daigoro, who growled angrily at him. "I'm warning you! Walk away or else you'll suffer!"

Daigoro barked angrily and simply ran to the (non-) angel. Pit had no trouble in slicing the dog with his dual blades, pushing it back to Yojimbo's side. The samurai aeon though didn't like the treatment to his dog that he started advancing towards Pit while blocking a blitzball hit from Wakka with his sword. "Uh-oh, you made the owner angry, and that shoulda been the other way around!" Wakka shouted.

Pit armed himself with courage. "I-I'm not scared to fight an entity such as yourself!" he told Yojimbo.

Yojimbo decided to use another attack. The samurai aeon sliced the air with his katana and sent a powerful yet silent wind (called Wakisashi) that slashed Pit across, pushing him back until he crashed against the wall. The samurai aeon then sheathed his sword into its sheath, looking over at Lulu.

Lulu mentally gasped as she tried to finish a spell. Yojimbo was too fast to digest what she was doing by tossing kunais at her. The black mage gasped outside her mind and closed her eyes to endure the hit, but Wakka tossed himself between her and the kunais, receiving the attack instead. "Uah!" Wakka yelped in pain as he fell on the ground.

"Wakka!" Lulu yelled, stopping casting a spell.

"I-I'm fine, just do your thing, Lu!" Wakka yelled, getting back up to his feet.

Lulu was starting a new spell, prompting Yojimbo to prepare his sword to send a wind attack. As he unsheathed his sword, Marth intercepted the blow with his own sword to block it with the blade. "I guess you're not s-" Marth was then pushed away by Daigoro back-kicking his back.

Yojimbo then sent the wind attack crossing next to Wakka, striking Lulu and Zelda head on. The black mage and princess grunted in pain as they were pushed back to the ground, the little Cactuar doll turning still on its spot before falling flat.

"D-dammit!" Marth cursed on the ground. "Zelda!"

"Lulu!" Wakka yelled.

The magic user panted under her breath as she slowly stood up, the princess doing so slower than her. "I can still fight… I won't just die trying," she muttered under her breath. "It is my duty…as Lady Ginnem's guardian…to give her the rest she deserves…"

At that moment, Rikku regained her senses and stood back up. "I can differentiate who's what and when's where, you guys!" she said. "Er, no, that sounded confusing, didn't it…"

"Who cares about that? Just join the fight!" Wakka scolded, before he was kicked right in the face by Daigoro.

Rikku nodded and took out a grenade. "And this little guy will make things easier!" she said, tossing the grenade to Yojimbo. Yojimbo merely bounced it back with his sword, making the grenade explode right in front of Rikku.

"My goodness, is she okay?" Zelda asked.

Inside the thick-cloud of smoke, Rikku stood still with her whole body covered in soot. She had a bored look on her face as she stared into space. "…You know, this is the first time somebody tosses back my own grenades. If I'm right, I'll really get scared if monsters are getting smarter than they used to be… For that matter…bleh," she said until she doubled over and fell on the ground.

"She fainted!" Pit said alarmed. "But she only got hit twice during the fight!"

"Not to sound like a show-off or anything, but I have a killer tossing hand…" Wakka said, chuckling nervously. "Why do ya think I try my best not to get confused, ya? Lu agrees that I go killing machine on everyone else if I'm confused."

The angel couldn't really believe that Wakka's deflected blitzball had caused so much damage to somebody like Rikku. He recalled how Wolf complained about the accidental attack smacking his head hard. "(For real,)" Pit thought dismayed. "(Are soccer balls…um…blitzballs in this world that deadly?)"

"Pit!" Marth yelled, warning Pit from Daigoro trying to back-kick his face again. The angel fortunately dodged the blow and retaliated by slicing the dog, indirectly tempting Yojimbo to slice Pit with his sword.

Zelda looked down at Rikku. "We must assist her or else the aeon might do something to her!" she said, turning to Lulu. "What should we do?"

"This." Lulu picked up a small feather (a Phoenix Down) from her (censored) and tossed it to Rikku's fainted body. Zelda stared a little bit bewildered at the woman as a reddish light shone down upon Rikku, giving her new energy to stand back up. Lulu noticed the awkward look Zelda was giving her. "Is something on my face bothering you?" she asked.

"Uh…" Zelda refrained from talking about the spot where Lulu had taken out the feather. "…No, I'm not...being bothered by anything…"

"…Huh," Lulu muttered with a frown, returning to cast a spell with her dancing Cactuar doll.

"(Has she got no shame in keeping items…in the wrong places?)" Zelda thought with a shrug.

"Hey, you better be careful not to get attacked by this aeon again!" Wakka advised Rikku.

Rikku felt unsure. "Uh, you know, I don't think it's time for me to step into battle for now, so…yeah, kthnx, bye!" she said in a hurry, running back into the cavern.

In Rikku's place, Tidus stepped into battle with his sword ready. "Everyone is still kicking?" he asked.

Marth and Pit were both being picked on by Yojimbo, who just started getting a little bit more violent by trying to push their weapons away with fast blows from his katana. It didn't help that the samurai was aiming at completely different points to screw their blocked spots. "W-why is he fighting more viciously this time?" Pit asked, not taking his look away from Yojimbo.

"Slicing his dog might have something to do with his behavior?" Marth asked.

"Aww!" Pit groaned out loud.

"Don't worry you guys! I have the solution for all our troubles!" Tidus said, preparing to cast Hastega. "I'll just speed things up a little bit for us and everything will be just fin-"

Daigoro tackled Tidus and pinned him down to the ground. The blond teen yelled as the dog angrily tried to bite his face off.

"Bad dog, bag dog, bad dog!" Tidus wailed helplessly, Daigoro's sharp fangs trying to cling on to his face. "Somebody get this troublemaker off me! Aah!"

Lulu frowned. "I had a feeling that relying on that spell too much was…too good to be true," she muttered.

"Have you used that spell many times before?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, but Rikku was right about one thing: Fiends are getting smarter amidst their indomitable hatred for the living…and that also includes her," the woman said as she overlooked Ginnem's restless soul staring from her place.

The two women were startled once Yojimbo pushed off both Marth's Falchion and Pit's blades off their hands. The two were caught off-guard and blown away by Yojimbo's Wakisashi. The aeon then looked back at Lulu, walking slowly towards her.

"She wants me dead…" Lulu trailed off, preparing another spell. "…It shouldn't have been this way when she was alive."

Zelda felt sorry that Lulu was ashamed. The princess felt some kind of guilt that could relate to the sharp woman. She briefly thought about the soldiers of Hyrule who gave out their lives for her (even though a big percent of them are mostly made up of pathetic cowards, a topic she greatly tried to discourage despite the fact most people's complaints back at Hyrule was almost always the same: "hire Cuckoo-wingless guardians and at least hire ones that have sharp pecks"). She thought that if she were to die, she could end up cursing her soldiers for the eternity or worse yet, Link or somebody else close to her.

Being around Lulu helped Zelda to understand a little bit more about people who protected her from harm.

"…I understand exactly how you feel," Zelda said. "It's just like a princess and her soldiers willing to protect her. But in your case, the person you protected died, leaving the guardian alone."

Lulu eyed her. "A princess… Yes, I suspected you belonged to some kind of royalty judging your clothing," she said. "But that's not something we should talk about for the moment."

Zelda looked at Yojimbo advancing to them. Wakka's blitzball zoomed by but it was (cheaply) impaled by Yojimbo's sword. "What the hell! That was way too cheap!" Wakka complained as Yojimbo sliced the torn ball into shreds.

Pit raised his hand from the floor. "Actually…I expected that to happen sooner or later," he said weakly.

"Seconded…" Marth muffled on the ground.

The princess stared into space until she shook her head. "…Let's give your protégée her well-deserved rest," she said, not even looking behind her where Tidus tried to avoid getting mauled alive by Daigoro.

"I hope your optimism upholds all the way to the ending result," Lulu said, casting another spell on Yojimbo.

A chilling mist enveloped Yojimbo's feet until a mighty glacier burst out with intensity. The glacier slowly faded away into cold mist in the air. To Lulu's surprise, Yojimbo stopped advancing and kneeled over in pain.

"Are we…" Zelda trailed off.

"Just a little more," Lulu said. "A couple more of strong hits should finish him off."

Behind Yojimbo, Marth was still conscious. The swordsman looked to the front where his sword was lying down. Reaching to its hilt, the Altean panted, slowly stood up on his feet, and turned to the samurai aeon. "(This should be it…) For…Altea!" Marth shouted as he raised his sword, activating the Over Limit with a burst of a rainbow aura engulfing his body.

"Huh?" Wakka saw the ethereal light surrounding the weak prince. "These guys can glow at will?"

"N-no!" Marth yelled bewildered. "I'll explain this later to you! For now, I'll finish him off myself! Ha!"

Pit, Wakka, Zelda, and Lulu saw how Marth swiftly flew over the ground right behind Yojimbo. The samurai aeon looked over his shoulder just in time to see the critical hit (pun) slashing him severely across his back.

Some kind of odd health bar that decreased to the last hit point randomly appeared and disappeared next to Yojimbo.

Music stops

Instead of being blasted away by the critical hit, Yojimbo stood there motionless until he fell lower on his knee, placing his hand on the still ground. The samurai aeon budged a few times as pyreflies started to fly out from his body. His body then turned into a phantasmagoric image slowly vanishing into thin air until it disappeared from sight.

Marth stood behind as the glow left his body. Feeling tired, the Altean dropped to his knees and sighed. "It's over…" he trailed off.

Daigoro itself started to fade away in thin air just like its master did. Once it was gone, Tidus sighed aloud. "MAN… Remind me to never fight angry aeon dogs again…" he muttered.

"…" Lulu, however, didn't think that everything was over. As Pit got up from the ground, she looked ahead where Ginnem stared blankly at them. There was something in the restless soul that told Lulu that the late guardian was docile. Right afterward, Ginnem's intangible image started to fade away into nothingness.

"S-she disappeared!" Chip said startled.

"Her soul was bound to Yojimbo," Auron said. "Defeating Yojimbo released the ties she had to this world; the ties of hatred that kept her soul dwelling in this cave until somebody put her to rest."

Everyone stared back at Lulu, who seemed to look oddly very quiet. "…Strange," Lulu said. "…I thought it would be sadder, somehow."

"You're not feeling sad at all?" Rikku asked.

Lulu looked away. "Maybe I've gotten used to farewells," she said ashamed.

Wakka walked to her, carrying some of the shredded pieces of his blitzball on one hand. He looked and shook his head at her. "You're stronger now," he said. "No farewells are gonna break you… You should be proud of that…and Chappu is surely smiling at you from the Farplane."

The foreign group was a bit shocked to see that the woman chuckled silently for a small second. Lulu frowned and looked back at Wakka, albeit with a blank look. "Wakka, I hope you're right…" she said.

"(She was chuckling and then she looks sharp again… Way to change the mood,)" Knuckles thought.

Lulu turned to Yuna. "Yuna, the fayth is inside. Go do what you came to do," she said.

"Uh…but you…um…" Yuna was confused a bit to the statement, but there was a fayth inside the cavern all along.

It was Yuna's obligation to see whatever fayth she came upon, no matter how treacherous the path is for us to pass. It's a duty that summoners have; a duty that makes them look like puppets bound to their job… I hated to think Yuna was a puppet.

"…Alright, I'll see it," Yuna said. "And…Lulu?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you solved your issues with Lady Ginnem…" the young summoner said, sounding sad that she brought up the late summoner's name to Lulu.

"…Thank you, Yuna," Lulu said, smiling a bit to her new protégée. "Hearing you say so makes me feel much better inside."

The summoner smiled back at her and nodded. "Now let's go visit the fayth," she said, looking at everyone. "And that includes our temporary guardians as well."

"Aww, that's nice," Chip remarked.

"Chip, it's another way of saying that we're her human shields," Sonic whispered.

"Aww, that's awful," Chip remarked, hardly sounding sad at all.

"Question," Wolf began, "is that fayth thing supposed to look like a dead end?"

The group looked forward to see a dead end where a cave-in occurred long ago. "For this kind of problem, we have the always useful… Oh, there it is! Over there!" Rikku said as she pointed in front of the dead end where a glowing pedestal rested. The pedestal had four different arrows that pointed to different directions. "Back there at the entrance I found another one. If we use this, we can go all the way back to the entrance or even go to other places that have this."

"Oh, that sounds very convenient," Zelda said relieved. "It is a real pain to get so much dust in my dress."

Yuna explained the mechanic of the glowing pedestal to the group. When they all gathered around the pedestal, Tidus pressed the arrow that pointed to the dead end. In a glowing light, the entire group materialized into light that was shot beyond the dead end to another room.

Cavern of the Stolen Fayth – Fayth's Altar

Hymn of the Fayth – Yojimbo

In the inner altar of the cavern, a big statue lied down in a hole where long scrolls with Chinese-looking scriptures blocked it from being taken away. The statue had the image of a samurai facing forward while readying his katana. What the samurai was facing forward was a rough design that represented Yojimbo's very image. On the corners of the room, there were torches with purple fire that enlightened the room.

"We're here," Auron said. "The fayth is resting right in front of us."

The foreign group stared down at the statue. "That is housing the souls of fallen people?" Pit asked.

"I only see one person depicted on it, though," Zelda said.

"Maybe he was the strongest person out of everyone," Knuckles said.

Lulu was regaining her composure after the battle, but she kept her cool. "It takes one person to undergo the ritual to become the fayth. That person's soul will give shape to the Aeon. It's not crazy to say that an Aeon might mirror the behavior of those who gave their life to them," she explained.

Yuna sat in front of the fayth. She performed the same salutation that Father Zuke did when he met them. "Why does she do that?" Knuckles asked.

"It's the Prayer to Yevon," Auron said. "All people who follow Yevon must greet each other with the prayer to wish them well. Summoners are fully obliged to do it to call forth the fayth to lend their powers." He looked at the foreign group. "If you want don't want to raise suspicion when meeting others, you should learn the prayer as soon as you can."

"But we don't follow the religion of this world," Zelda said.

"You'll be branded as enemies of Yevon if you don't," Rikku said. "We're pretty much that right now so…there's no need to do that prayer."

"We're as free as delinquents are," Wolf said chuckling. "Welcome to the club. How does it feel to be a thief against your will?"

"Pretty awesome," Chip said, receiving a smack from Knuckles and Sonic.

"Hey, we might be delinquents, but our job will do a lot of good to everyone in Spir-" Wakka was interrupted by Lulu giving her a sharp look.

Looking on top of the fayth, the room slightly turned dimmer until an intangible person appeared floating above the fayth. The person looked like a solider with a helmet over his eyes, and a docile dog also stood next to his side. The soul crossed his arms as he looked down upon them while Yuna stood back up.

"Amazing…" Zelda admired.

"Why is there a dog spirit?" Wolf asked. "What, the dog gave its life to become a higher being too?"

"Yes, now be quiet because this is important," Auron muttered, receiving a grunt from the lupine.

I wondered if they could feel the same air of gentleness that the Aeons gave me. I also wondered if Wakka and the others felt the same kind of stuff like I did…

"I am the blade of vengeance," he said. "They dare only whisper my name: Yojimbo."

"Who are they?" Chip asked, Sonic covering the imp's mouth to avoid interrupting the meeting.

"Summoner, I ask you. What do you want of me?" Yojimbo's spirit asked.

Yuna thought about the need she wanted to ask. She nodded to herself and looked up at Yojimbo. "To train as a summoner," she said.

Being very Final Fantasy savvy himself, Chris mentally slapped his forehead and frowned at the resolve.

"If you desire my strength, you must pay my price," Yojimbo's spirit said. "Make your offer."

A big "WHAT" echoed in the room from half of the people inside the cave. The echo was a bit too loud enough that a small pebble chipped off from the ceiling.

"Since when did an aeon start asking for money, ya?" Wakka asked. "What's an aeon gonna do with money anyway? They have shops at the Farplane?"

"Do not question my motives," Yojimbo's spirit said blankly. "This is the way I work with summoners."

"But…a spirit asking for money? That's completely unheard of!" Pit argued. "Please, tell us a plausible reason that can shed us some light to your stup-I mean, surprising decision!"

Even though Pit sounded a bit too rude, the others agreed with his argument. Yojimbo's spirit took a small while to respond to the argument until he looked at Daigoro's spirit and then looked back at them. "…Money is my only motivation to fight vigorously for my summoner's life," he finally answered.

"…" The group responded with silence.

"A little piece of gil makes the world go 'round as they say," the spirit added.

More silence.

"...I bet he's clearly trying to pose as an aeon spirit and take the money for himself," Knuckles whispered to Sonic.

Yuna shook her head and looked at them. "I must offer money to him," she said. "I cannot lose the opportunity to have another aeon under my guidance."

The stupid spirit is ripping your money off, Yuna!

"Well, if that's what you wish to do…then go ahead and offer him some money," Tidus said.

Dammit, I didn't want to say that! But this is Yuna we're talking about!

There was a small complication that showed by itself. Yuna didn't know exactly how much money Yojimbo was asking. From here, anybody could have guessed how long the negotiation would prolong.

"I offer 500 gil and my best wishes to you," Yuna said.

"No," Yojimbo's spirit said.

"700?"

"No."

"…1,400?"

"Haha, no."

"2,000."

"Try again, summoner, and then we shall come into some sort of agreement."

"2,500 sound okay?"

"It is not ringing any bells."

"How about 3,000?"

"I hope you are not jesting."

"Well…then make it 5,000!"

"Hmm… Sorry, no."

"7,000!"

"Still, no."

"7,500!"

"Continue…"

"8,200!"

"Not interested."

"8,700!"

"Ugh…"

"9,100!"

10,000 gil! 10,100 gil! 15,000 gil! 15,400 gil! 15,900 gil with an Antidote thrown in! It turned into some kind of auction to convince the damned aeon to join Yuna. And she looked like she was betting money BUT all by herself. This lasted for a good half an hour so I thought Yojimbo was having fun seeing Yuna offering absurd amounts of gil.

Oh, and everyone else decided to wait for her to reach the so-awaited deal.

"It's impossible! Stop trying! It's futile!" Chip cried out all of a sudden, interrupting Yuna's 90,000 gil offering. "He won't be pleased no matter how much money you offer him!"

"No, I must keep trying," Yuna said determined.

I'd say she was stubborn.

Shut up. I'm the one reading YOUR story so I'm helping you out. Beat it, water boy.

Prick…

"I cannot pass on this opportunity," the summoner said, not even minding the bored look Yojimbo's spirit was giving her under the shade of his helmet. "I must obtain this fayth with whatever means necessary."

"Do you at least have that…that huge amount of money to offer, though?" Zelda asked. "(If summoners get paid this high, then I wonder if poverty in this world is very limited or very abundant…)"

"I'm short on money. I don't mind if you give me some," Wolf jokingly said.

Tidus said, "Fiends in Spira carry gil with 'em. When we beat them, they drop the gil that we pick up and save."

Pit was a bit shocked at the fact. "Why are monsters carrying money in the first place?" he asked.

"Think the most logical reason for fiends to collect gil and you'll probably get a very horrendous picture in mind," Auron said, staring at Pit's confused look. "Here is a hint: Spirans carry money."

"…Uh…" Pit felt sick. To say Chris was mentally horrified was an understatement.

Yuna then resumed offering money offer after money offer. Yojimbo's spirit was very slowly getting impatient at the summoner. On the side of the living, Yuna's guardians (which also included the extra people tagging along) were getting much more impatient, namely Rikku who started lifting Knuckles' quills to get distracted, much for the echidna's chagrin.

"So are these like hair?" Rikku asked. "I thought you were a girl when I first saw you."

"I hate my life in other worlds outside of mine," Knuckles muttered under his breath.

After another good half hour passed, the aeon finally reached an agreement with Yuna…

At that point, Yojimbo's spirit and his dog were half asleep when Yuna offered the hefty offering price of 270,000 gil. "…Oh… Adequate... You are my client henceforth. My sword shall guard you on your journey, summoner," Yojimbo's spirit said.

"Finally!" Tidus, Wakka, Rikku, Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Pit, Zelda (and Chris, albeit mentally) said relieved. Yuna was embarrassed when she took into account how much time she took to reach the desired deal.

The summoner focused and took out a rather heavy bag with gil inside. The bag she showed to the spirit then vanished in thin air without leaving a trace. "Damn, that's creepy," Sonic said.

Yojimbo's spirit gave Yuna a nod of acknowledgement and started to fade away into nothingness together with Daigoro's spirit. Once they were away, Yuna turned back to her group. "I…I feel his presence," she said. "He is now going to watch over me."

"I presume he'll charge you money if you happen to call him out," Auron said.

"Sir Auron, I don't think something like that will happen," Yuna said. "I've given him enough money as it is. Why else would he want more?"

"There are greedy people in the world…and spirits can be even worse," Marth said.

"Me included, except the ghost part," Wolf said. "What? It was obvious from a light year away."

"…So, are we finished now?" Sonic asked. "Can we leave this cave behind?"

"Yes, we have lost a lot of time as it is," Tidus said. "I-I'm not blaming you, Yuna! I'm blaming that aeon! Please don't take it badly!"

Yuna sighed. "I'm glad I managed to convince him at last, but I'm…I'm quite embarrassed for all the time I took. I'm sorry, everyone," she said.

Lulu approached Yuna and gently combed her hair with her hand. "You did very well," she said, making Yuna blush albeit she smiled a bit. "It's your job as summoner to do as you wish."

"But…I still feel bad, though," Yuna said. She stared at the others until she made a decision. "Well…let's take our leave to Mt. Gagazet. Oh, Kimahri…"

The humanoid blue lion grunted silently after hearing the name, but he shook his head.

"…Let's go, everyone," she finally said. With her mind set, the group walked onto the glowing pedestal and warped out from the room.

Tidus and Marth were the last ones to warp out. "Are you feeling much better being around, Marth?" Tidus asked, folding his arms behind his head.

"Huh? Oh, yes," Marth said. "I think I feel better, but it's not enough yet."

"Yeah, it's too fast for you to recover," Tidus said before chuckling. "You'll do just fine later. If you got any problems, I'm the man to advice you."

Marth looked bored at Tidus. "You somehow convinced me to ride on a frenzied galloping bird," he said mildly annoyed.

"Hey…it was fun to watch," Tidus said, receiving a glare from the Altean. "I mean… It sure kicked you some bad memories!"

"Yes, and in doing so it gave me new ones that I DETEST even more," Marth said, turning back to the glowing pedestal. "Let's just get out of this room. The hymn that echoes in here is giving me some chills." He stepped onto the pedestal and warped away in a cocoon of light.

"Geez, lighten up a bit…" Tidus muttered as he exited the room.

The group never noticed that a determined Tonberry was dead set on following them, not even caring if that meant it would have to leave the cavern behind.

Music stops

Calm Lands – Mt. Gagazet's Entrance

The summoner party proceeded through the wooden bridge that crossed over the path to the valley they went down below. Once they walked inside the big cave entrance, Yuna turned around to look back at the Calm Lands. Tidus noticed her and sighed.

Sometimes Yuna would just stare off into the distance. I finally understood why.

The summoner walked ahead past by Tidus and stopped to turn back to him. She smiled and nodded to him, giving him a sign to follow her from behind.

She was saying goodbye to the places she'd never see again. It makes me think how they visited each world out there, just to look back and say farewell to all the people they met. They are probably very used to farewells like Lulu.

But Yuna was a different story…

Sonic felt a chill sensation running down his body. He embraced himself and looked around. "A-are we entering into a cold territory?" he asked.

"Mt. Gagazet is literally a snow mountain," Auron said. "You will be frozen alive if you're not properly clothed. In which your and your friend's case is…"

Knuckles sneezed loudly. "O-okay, it's getting very cold all of a sudden it's ridiculous…but I don't want to fall back behind," he said. "I-I still want to continue."

"It will get worse from here," Rikku said. "This is just the cave leading to the mountain. The mountain itself will be the death of you!"

Chip scurried into Rikku's arms. "I-I have an idea!" he said.

"Aww, of course you have an idea! I shall name you Squicky, and you shall be all mine…"

Chip sighed. "I don't mind being called Squicky. It's better than Chip for sure," he said, Sonic rolling his eyes in response as they crossed the cave to the other side.

Mt. Gagazet – Entrance

Just outside the cave, a winter land of snow greeted them. However, said winter land was a cliff that ran to the left of a wall with pillars making a path in between. To the right, there was a big abyss down below that led to certain death. Some of them looked up to see the tall white mountain extending into the clouds above where the peak was hard to see due to some clouds blocking the sight. A small cold wind swept the mountain gently from where they were, but it would get worse once they would get any higher altitude.

"B-brr," Sonic shivered. "T-this isn't going to improve my condition…"

Zelda agreed. "Yes, this is the worst place for you to heal," she said. "We need to improvise and come up with an alternative to keep you warm. Does anybody have a suggestion?"

"A-and while we're at it, can somebody help me a-as well?" Pit asked shivering. "I just noticed I have little clothing on me…"

Pit fangirls squealed.

Rikku snapped her fingers and took out a tent. "I've got it!" she said. "No, we're not going to rest here. I'm going to do some quick changes and use the tent's cloth to make some clothing for them."

"Are you at least good at knitting?" Marth asked.

"I suck, but there's always room for improvement!" Rikku admitted, much for Sonic's and Knuckles' dismay.

In a few minutes while doing a bunch of small mistakes, Sonic and Knuckles (and Chip) were all clothed nicely for the cold climate of the mountain.

Though saying they were clothed nicely was an overstatement. Rikku was telling the truth when she said she sucked at knitting. The three were wearing some stuff that was far from calling them clothes. They were wearing some kind of khaki-colored suits that were supposed to be pants and long-sleeved shirts. The glaring feature was the thickness of the so-called winter clothes they were wearing. Chip looked like he was a flying bean with a head sticking out. Pit was also given some parts of the suit, though they made him look like he was wearing big rubber bands on the free parts where he didn't wear much clothing.

"I… I'm going to reconsider having a wardrobe from now on…" Pit said.

"What the hell are these supposed to be? Winter clothes?" Knuckles asked as he budged his heavy-clothed body, albeit the ridiculous-looking suit was warming him up. Sonic thought it was his temper and not the clothes.

"Hey, I did my best!" Rikku argued. "It's better than dying in an ice cube for sure!"

Sonic closed his eyes. "I'm not complaining as long as I'm warm and cozy," he said. "I wanna heal faster."

"I know you hate this as much as I do, hedgehog!" Knuckles yelled at Sonic.

"Suit yourself. Some people would rather sacrifice their dignity to stay alive."

"Stop talking like some sage! Ugh, whatever!" the echidna said giving up. "I'll just have to get used to these clothes until we reach somewhere warm!"

Chip flew around. "So warm and fuzzy," he said happily.

Sonic has obtained the outfit, "Thick Eskimo".

Horrible clothing, awesome warm feeling. Sometimes one must sacrifice anything for survival, no matter how stupid you may look with this thing on.

Lulu frowned. "Rikku, I could've helped you with your clothes if you accepted my help," she said.

Rikku looked away. "I wanted to sharpen my knitting skills by myself," she said.

"You could've learned from Lulu instead of randomly ripping off the tent, though," Tidus pointed out.

"I'm one stubborn Al Bhed," Rikku responded. "This guy here refused too much."

Wolf rolled his eye. "I do have fur. This is all I need to stand this cold," he said.

"One of these days, I'll skin you alive to make myself a fur coat and see if you're not lying."

"Hope you don't wake up dead somewhere once you set one of your clumsy hands on my a-"

"Okay, okay, everyone! Stop it! Let's just go!" Tidus reminded everyone. "Auron's making grimaces like crazy as it is!"

"Good, somebody finally pointed that out," Auron said, walking forward between the pillars. Yuna felt a bit embarrassed, and all of them then followed the serious guardian from behind into the mountain. Sonic and Knuckles were having some problems trying to move their legs until they somehow advanced.

Final Fantasy X – People of the North Pole

A small walk took them into a big clearing surrounded by snowy cliffs where a stone arc stood proudly between them and an upward slope that leaded further into the cliffs of the mountain. They stopped for a moment to look around. "Something doesn't look right about this area…" Marth trailed off.

Zelda almost tripped forward. The princess worriedly looked down to see a multitude of footsteps spread all over the barren ground. She gasped when she noticed how long the footsteps were. "These footsteps are quite big…" she muttered.

"And judging the sharp ends they have…they could belong to fiends," Pit said.

Kimahri knew better than everyone that the place they were standing on was actually a meeting place. The Ronso looked around the cliffs, grunting silently to himself. "Big guy, what is it?" Sonic asked.

"…Of course," Lulu said. "After all, this mountain belongs to the Ronso."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

Before an answer could be delivered, the traveling group was startled by a big figure leaping down from nowhere. The big figure landed on one knee until it stood up, surpassing everyone in height. The figure was a long blond-haired Ronso with a wild look who wore tribal garments. Judging at his well-developed body, it was easy to tell he was very strong. He stared at them angrily, but he was staring longer to Kimahri. "W-who are you?" Pit asked, his hands resting on his dual blades.

Most of the foreign group was shocked to see the towering humanoid lion measuring beyond eight feet. "(Tall…huge…scary… All my most hated descriptions mixed into him…)" Zelda thought.

"(That guy better not push me down into the snow or else,)" Knuckles thought with a sharp look.

"(Geez, somebody took his vitamins… Push Knucklehead into the snow! It's really funny!)" Sonic thought.

"(The Ronso race is made up of…this kind of people?)" Marth thought.

"(One word truly describes the lot of them: meatheads,)" Wolf thought with a scoff.

"(I-I can take him down, no problem… Provided he doesn't fall on me…)" Pit thought.

"(Pfft, Sonic's got more power in furry mode!)" Chip thought bravely.

"(…)" Chris was mentally frightened.

There was no response from the angry-looking Ronso. Instead, somebody else showed up behind the stone arc. It was an elder Ronso who didn't look as mighty as the Ronso they met. However, he was being accompanied by another mighty Ronso who wore warrior-like accessories, albeit he looked a bit smaller yet strong-looking.

"Uh…" Marth trailed off, feeling uneasy at the towering Ronso close to him. "Who might that be?"

Auron looked at the long-haired Ronso. "That Ronso is Biran. He is the hero of his race," he muttered before looking at the Ronso standing next to the elder. "The one standing over there is Yenke, the Ronso's most powerful warrior. The elder is Maester Kelk, one of Yevon's maesters. He's the one who recently left Yevon after the turmoil we caused at Bevelle."

The Altean looked at Auron over his shoulder. "You said something about the first two. They bully Kimahri?" he asked.

"The broken horn Kimahri has… It's a big disgrace and humiliation in Ronso terms," Lulu muttered, staring at the serious Kimahri. "He left his home because he was ashamed of his loss."

"Summoner Yuna and guardians," the elder named Kelk said, "leave here at once!"

When they noticed, the cliffs around them were occupied by a multitude of Ronso, males and females, that appeared almost out of nowhere in an instant, not making a single sound to alert anybody. Most of the Ronso didn't look as imposing-looking as the two Ronso that appeared first to the group, but they all still looked menacing. "The hell? I didn't hear anybody coming and they just appeared from thin air!" Knuckles said.

"And I'm being honest when I'm saying that they appeared right after I blinked!" Tidus pointed out. "I was looking away by accident!"

"Cool, they're ninjas!" Chip exclaimed, Sonic hiding the imp behind his back to avoid trying their temper.

"Quiet," Lulu told them, gazing over the elder of the race.

"Gagazet is Ronso land, sacred mountain of Yevon," Kelk said. "The mountain will not bear the footsteps of infidels!"

The long-haired Ronso named Biran said, "Enemy of Yevon is enemy of Ronso! Leave, traitors!"

Yuna was a bit intimidated by the multiple glaring looks of all the Ronso surrounding the group, but she armed herself with courage to speak. "I have cast aside Yevon! I follow the temple no more!" she said.

"Then you will die by those words!" Kelk said.

The tension was rising in the group. Marth stepped forward, but Auron stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. The swordsman stared at the guardian confused until Yuna spoke again. "So be it. Yevon has warped the teachings and betrayed us all!" she said, most of her group nodding in agreement.

Wakka crossed his arms. "Nothing but a bunch of low-down tricksters, eh?" he asked.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Tidus said from behind with a fist raised.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Rikku cheered doing the same.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Sonic encouraged together with Chip.

Yuna chuckled mentally to herself while staring serious at Maester Kelk. "We have no regrets," she said.

"Blasphemers!" Yenke accused, assuming a fighting stance together with Biran. The traveling group stepped back until Kimahri ran forward and stood a foot away from the towering Biran. The hero Ronso stared down at Kimahri while Kimahri stared up at him. The two merely stood there, letting their enraged looks keep each other from fighting.

"(Compared to him, our beast guy is a gnome…)" Sonic thought. "(Ouch, no wonder why I heard they bully him.)"

"A summoner and her guardians..." Kelk muttered grudgingly under his breath.

"Lord Kelk Ronso, if I may," Lulu began. "Have you not also turned your back on Bevelle?"

Zelda nodded. "You turned down on Yevon, have you not? Why must you act disrespectfully to Yuna, who also happened to turn down the same religion as you did?"

Auron nodded. "But still, you guard Gagazet as a Ronso, not a maester. Yuna is much the same," he pointed out.

"Doesn't that pretty much pit you together with us as enemies of Yevon?" Tidus asked. "Why work for Yevon even if you're not working with them anymore?"

Kelk shook his head. "I did not leave Yevon behind. I wanted to get away from the turmoil to find a solution to all this mess that you have caused upon Bevelle," he said.

Biran grunted angrily. "Elder Kelk! Let Biran rend them asunder!" he demanded.

Yenke laughed, agreeing with the hero Ronso. "No escape! Not one!" he said.

Music stops

"…Wow, congrats," Wolf said annoyed, faking a small applause. "You two are worthy enough of the Meathead Award. No wonder why I thought you were just a big bunch of brutes with no cells in their brains."

"What?" Biran asked angrily. "Ronso crush fiend before night! Biran eliminates Yevon enemies!"

Pit looked serious. "You think with your fists and not with your heads!" he argued. "Why won't you remain quiet and let Yuna speak up her mind? She has no evil intentions at all!"

"I concur," Zelda said. "Words are enough to explain the situation at hand. Please, allow us to talk. You do not wish to cause a bad name for your race, do you?"

"These two on the front really like to skip the peace talk and beat up anybody merciless," Knuckles said. "You don't get anywhere like that, huh?"

"Yeah, let's avoid a fight when there's a chance," Sonic said. "Isn't that right, Chris?"

The mute World Traveler smiled a bit at Sonic's grin. Chris nodded and turned back to look forward.

Yuna was taken aback that the foreign group stepped up to defend her. She looked at each one of them along with her other guardians until she faced Kelk, her mind more prepared than before. "No, we will not flee. We will fight, and continue on."

"Traitors are omen to Gagazet!" Yenke said. "Ronso hate traitors! Yenke not like hornless Kimahri and traitors!"

"Enough!" Kelk yelled, apparently scolding the hero and warrior Ronso. Biran and Yenke grunted and stepped back in respect to the elder's wish. The elder then looked at Yuna. "You have been branded a traitor, but still you would fight Sin? Lost to the temple, hated by the people, yet you continue your pilgrimage?" he questioned, his tone of voice getting louder with each question he shot at Yuna. "Everything lost! What do you fight for?"

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme

Yuna looked down on the ground until she slowly started looking around. She first looked at her guardians standing behind her. She looked over the cliffs to the Ronso who haven't moved from their spot, listening intently to the argument. The summoner looked up into the clouds until she sighed calmly and nodded at Kelk. "I fight for Spira," she said. "The people long for the Calm… I can give it to them… It's all I can give. Defeating Sin, ending pain...this I can do."

Marth felt that Yuna needed more support to convince the Ronso. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "If I may speak… Yuna is working for Spira's peace," he said. "She betrayed her religion's teachings, but the same religion betrayed everyone. The only reason she has that allows her to keep walking is her resolution to defeat Sin, and that in itself is a positive trait that will benefit everyone, be they Yevon followers or not."

"Marth…" Tidus trailed off.

"It's not so bad when you think about it," Marth said. "My friends and I haven't traveled for a long time with her…but still, we are her guardians. We believe in her resolve to bring peace back to Spira. She won us over with her dedication alone."

"It didn't take too much for us to like her as well," Zelda added.

"Lord Braska's image clearly reflects on her," Auron said. "She works for the good of Spira. Why keep her away from doing what she wants to do?"

Kelk saw how Yuna's group believed in the summoner even though she was branded a traitor. He shook his head in shame. "Even sacrificing yourself?" he questioned, turning his back on them.

"How will it be, then?" Wakka asked. "Let us pass and fight for Spira, or block us and let us die in Yevon's dirty hands?"

"…Ronso, let them pass!" Kelk ordered, turning back to the group to find most of them surprised at the decision. Biran stopped staring down at Kimahri to turn back to the elder along with Yenke. "Summoner Yuna, your will is stronger than steel. Tempered steel that even the mightiest Ronso could not hope to bend…"

Yuna looked back to her guardians' pleased looks. The summoner was indebted with all of them for supporting her so much.

"Yuna, we bow to your will! Now go!" Kelk proclaimed as he opened his arms to the sky. "The sacred heights of Gagazet welcome you."

The summoner smiled and bowed cordially to the former maester while most of the group pumped out their fists.

For some random reason, though, Tidus and Wakka started beating each other up friendly in the background.

"We thank you," Yuna said. Once she turned to the group, most of them cheered for her. "E-everyone!"

"Yuna, you're awesome!" Tidus said.

"Such dedication can be recognized to the wildest of people," Zelda said. "You remind me of myself."

"Way to go, Yunie!" Rikku said as she leaped to Yuna with a tight hug. "You showed 'em what is right and what is plain down nasty with sincerity!"

Sonic winked at her. "You've got style, even though you look way too calm for my tastes," he said, getting a smack from Knuckles. "Okay, fine! You've got style!"

"This is perhaps your brightest moment so far, ya?" Wakka said with a friendly grin. "You've gotten stronger, Yuna."

"Agreed," Lulu said. "You've made us all proud of you once more."

Yuna blushed slightly, standing still while Rikku hugged her tightly. "I…I'm so embarrassed," she said. "It's because of all of you that I'm like this, so… It's not just me." Rikku stepped back to give her cousin some space. "I'd say that…that your support helps me to press on."

Chip flew close to her. "Well, duh! You've got a fluffy, adorable deity supporting you! Nothing can go wrong with me!" he said.

"Oh…thanks, Chip," Yuna said smiling. "You helped me too."

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged bored looks while Chris went up to Yuna to give her a message by scribbling on her hand. The World Traveler looked happy while doing it.

"I wish I'd have known you long before we actually met to see you acting like this. The way you convinced the Ronso was just…so awesome," Yuna read. "T-thank you, too," she said, feeling more embarrassed. The mute World Traveler similarly felt the same.

The situation would've been a lot different if they weren't there to cheer for Yuna. Their support rubbed off on all of us, Auron included. Yeah, we were surrounded by the Ronso's wary eyes, but they looked like they were proud of meeting Yuna; the one they branded traitor of Yevon.

Yuna was happy, and I was glad they made her happy. She had accepted a cruel destiny, but the journey was making sure she was enjoying herself.

"(…I wonder…)" Marth trailed off in deep thought as he watched the group congratulating Yuna. "(If they cheered for me like that, would I feel much better with myself? Would I forget all the worries that are troubling me? But… I'm not so sure that I could do the same…)" The Altean looked up into the clouds. "(…No, there has to be hope for me. I can only learn from Yuna how to feel happy without worries; what the future holds for me.)"

Final Fantasy X – People of the North Pole

A small time passed ever since the dispute was put at ease. The group rested in the area before they would attempt to climb the mountain as Kelk had advised them to be prepared. They were told that the mountain held the hardest of trials and vicious of fiends.

Marth was a little bit restless after thinking about his situation. He wanted to distract his mind by talking to some of the others around. The first person he approached was Yuna, who was staring forward to the path between the cliffs behind the stone arc.

"It's just a little farther now," Yuna said until she turned to Marth. "Thank you for what you did back there."

"It was nothing," Marth said. "I briefly thought they were harassing you for no good reason. I hate injustice, you see."

"I hope I can keep this up," Yuna said. "I'm truly sure about my decision to save Spira… I might die if I fail, but I can also die if I do succeed."

The Altean was sad to know Yuna's life could end badly either way. Protecting her for now would delay her unavoidable death to bring peace to Spira. "But if you'd ask me…"

"Please don't say more," Yuna interrupted, looking away. "I shall do this…and I don't wish to hear the consequences again so I don't feel bad."

"Yuna…"

Yuna looked at Marth with a smile. "So please, while we're looking for that temple, aid us."

"We shall do that, don't worry," Marth said, walking away from Yuna. The prince thought that hearing all the negative outcomes of Yuna's journey was making him feel worse. He stopped walking to overhear a conversation between Tidus and Rikku.

"You think of anything yet?" Rikku asked to which Tidus replied by shaking his head. Marth figured out that they were talking about Yuna. "I... There's just so little time. I don't know."

"Yeah, I know," Tidus said, crossing his arms. "We need more time to come up with an idea…"

"Ugh... This is a toughie..." Rikku complained, rubbing her hair with both hands.

Marth himself wanted to help Yuna as much as they did. Not helping her would only bring up the sad event Marth and the others witnessed a month ago. He shook his head until he noticed Auron was close to him. "Is something on your mind, Auron?" Marth asked.

"It is as I thought," Auron said. "Yevon is in turmoil. Mika, the maester holding it up together, tries to keep it whole, but it crumbles around him. It explains why Kelk abandoned Bevelle."

"I really couldn't care less what happens to Yevon, though," Marth said. "It is clear to me their teachings are twisted."

"That's because you are not of this world. To those who truly believe in the teachings...a time of much pain is coming."

Marth shook his head. "So anyway, what are you thinking right now besides Yevon?"

Auron looked up to the mountain. "Ten years ago, I looked up at Gagazet from where we stand now. All I could think of was how...how I might keep Braska alive."

"Braska was Yuna's father and you were his guardian along Tidus' father," Marth said. "You were close to them, by the way?"

Auron chuckled under his breath. "Braska was a lively fellow, contrary to what people who believed that he was very sophisticated. Rub off some of his feathers and he will change his attitude. As for Jecht, he was a moron but he eventually turned out to be a good friend," he said. "I felt that it was my duty to look over Braska's daughter in her own pilgrimage and Jecht's unstable kid. Call it a friend's promise for two fathers."

"You're not going to say anything against Yuna's wishes?" Marth asked confused. "She is going to die if sh-"

"I cannot do that," Auron said. "Arguing with Yuna about her pilgrimage is futile. The kid doesn't know any better."

"That's some trust you have there…"

"It comes with the experience."

Marth frowned in defeat and walked away from Auron.

"Your duties as guardian will soon end," Auron said as Marth left him behind. The prince saw Lulu looking up at the mountain with a small sigh. Noticing Marth nearby, she spoke to him.

"Yuna's...grown stronger," Lulu said.

"She probably is driven, though," Marth said. "I admire that a lot."

"That's why she's strong. She's still pressing forward. When weak people are driven they can't go far before they break. She keeps going forward, because she is strong," Lulu explained. "You are trying to be driven as well."

Marth was surprised by the statement. "You…" he trailed off mildly shocked.

"I've seen you fretting about," Lulu said. "Unlike your friends, you look sadder to me. I think you're dealing with some personal issues you have or have not experienced."

The prince sighed. "Yes, it's something I already experienced… It wasn't good," he said.

"Huh," Lulu muttered. "In that case, you might learn something from Yuna. She is a master of being optimistic while driven."

"I don't know for sure if I can do it like she does but…I'll try to learn from her to look up and press forward," he said.

Lulu nodded. "Yuna has grown strong. And I... All I can do is trying to keep up with her."

"You're as worried as I am about her, aren't you?"

"I don't want to be frank," Lulu said. "I don't want to make her sad. It's the only reason that keeps me from voicing out my concerns for her pilgrimage."

Marth rubbed his chin. "Maybe you should do the same thing you suggested me to do," he said.

"Just perhaps…" Lulu muttered. She thought about it for a little while. "Let's get ready for the climb."

Marth walked away from the woman to leave her alone to think about Yuna. The prince was just about to bump into Kimahri. The Ronso was silent, looking up to the path they were going to cross shortly. "Oh… What are you doing, Kimahri?" Marth forgot Kimahri was probably not going to talk to them directly. "N-never mind, I should just…"

"Biran and Yenke gone," Kimahri said.

"Huh? Uh…" Marth looked around the area. Truth to be told, the two strongest warriors who wanted to jump into a fight with the group had left the clearing. "I didn't notice they were gone," he said. He took Kimahri's reply as a sign that the Ronso was starting to open up to them. "Could they be planning something? They didn't look so good after they were scolded by their elder. (Who am I kidding? Those two had some sharp faces I couldn't even tell that. I'm just saying what they really must have felt.)"

"Biran is hero of Ronso. Yenke is powerful warrior," Kimahri said.

"Those two are probably going to attack us up ahead… I don't wish to fight them."

"Kimahri must fight. Kimahri must win," the Ronso said serious.

The prince was sure about not saying no judging Kimahri's serious look. Marth really wanted to object to violence. "I…am going cheer for you," he said. "(This is going to be awesome for sure,)" he thought sarcastically.

For once, Kimahri directed his look to Marth. Marth felt a chill running down his back. Though Kimahri was the smallest Ronso, he still towered over everyone in the group. "The sacred Gagazet. First time Kimahri climbs," he said. "Kimahri not see all sacred Gagazet."

"It must've been hard for you to desert your home," Marth said. He oddly felt he was getting somewhere just by talking to Kimahri. "If you…uh…get in trouble somehow…you can count on me for help."

"Kimahri grateful," Kimahri said. "Marth is dependable ally."

"R-right," Marth said. What he thought was helping him feel better suddenly turned into something creepy. Maybe Kimahri's tone of voice was the reason Marth was feeling threatened. "You're very dependable as well…"

Marth turned away from Kimahri.

"(I feel worse, now that I think about it…)" Marth thought ashamed.

A few moments later, the group was ready to climb up the mountain. "We will protect Yuna from her enemies," Kelk said. "Have no fear, because the Ronso will help you."

"Thank you, Lord Kelk. I appreciate your offer," Yuna said.

The climb then started. Chris was feeling unsure to climb through the mountain because he knew there was going to be a fight between Kimahri and the two Ronso just several feet away from the stone arc. But the moment they passed between the cliffs was enough to tell him that something was wrong.

Biran and Yenke were nowhere to be found. That lone fact told Chris that his group had caused an unexpected change in the storyline, or worse yet the enemy party was the one who did the change.

Either way, from now on, the big group was going to face the most dangerous feats.

TO BE CONTINUED…

"To Zanarkand Full of Peril. Why can't a single chapter have a nice little event instead of violence?" Pit asked.

"The word 'Smash' on the title pretty much says otherwise," Auron said.

"Yeah, you guys got served," Wakka said.

"Bring it on. I can take on any fool no sweat," Wolf said.

"Funny how you say THAT in THIS horrible weather with THIS suit on," Knuckles complained.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Mt. Gagazet-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, Wakka, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri

References:

-"Final Fantasy X – Brass de Chocobo" is a song… I wished I could shorten this because I always say the same thing. Oh, anyway, it plays whenever you ride a Chocobo.

-"Final Fantasy X – Boss Theme" It surely doesn't play in boss battles… Okay, I lied. It plays in most boss battles. Totally puts the feeling of danger.

-"Final Fantasy X – Lulu's Theme" Quite mysterious, don't you think? It plays in very few occasions when Lulu is the center of attention.

-"Final Fantasy X – Hymn of the Fayth (Yojimbo)" There are more versions of this theme, but this one plays in Yojimbo's room.

-"Final Fantasy X – People of the North Pole" Though there's absolutely no North Pole in this game, it plays in Mt. Gagazet. And no, this mountain is actually on the north, but Zanarkand Ruins actually occupies the northern area the most.

-"Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme" So full of sadness… It always plays when Yuna is having some memories of home or when she voices out her thoughts. But DAMN, this theme turns into something else in the sequel…

Out Of Curiosity…:

-That Excalipoor sword? Yes, we're still keeping it. Those FF savvy fans can already tell that the damned sword will call a certain someone from the shadows…

-That Tonberry you saw earlier? It's going to do a lot more…

And we've crossed over the next half of the arc.

I hope you enjoyed Marth throughout the chapter. That also goes to Yuna and Lulu for becoming important in their own scenes, and the cheapskate Yojimbo. That little change in the story about Biran and Yenke not showing up to fight Kimahri as they were supposed to is going to affect the order of events.

The next chapter is going to contain more with Marth, the temple, the FFX cast, and even more humor goodness. We're also going to be introduced to a new character that some of you want to see desperately to talk with the protagonists, and this guy should've been the big bad judging his reasons.

A poll is still open, but it's going to be reset because there were some options left out. Be sure to vote again to reconsider your choices or just choose the same option again.

With nothing else to say rather than saying I will keep writing, I encourage all readers to review. ;)

…Or Tidus will wield the Excalipoor.

Zelda: …We're not threatened this time? That is a relief.

Tidus: Thank you so much, guys! *Mutters swears*
*Chapter 186*: To Zanarkand Full of Peril

And the pilgrimage continues…after this hellish month of evil is over with.

From Sanfire Ranmako: Okay, first up some of you were wondering about Blitzball and how the players breathe, right? The answer is that right beneath the earlobe, or where the human's earlobe would be on the Ronso and Guado, are gill slits which allow the Blitzball players to breathe while playing. People who don't play have these too, they just haven't trained themselves in how to use them, explaining why you can only use Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku in the underwater battles.

Second, I LOVE FFX, and hope you'll put FFX-2 in at some point, you'd have to to introduce Paine for KH-2. Anyway I can't wait for the next chapter.

Third, I just wanted to tell everyone else that the "little spirit thingies" have a name in FFX, they are called Pireflies.

Sorry about that little rant, if you can't tell I'm a big FFX fan, and some thimgs just drive me crazy, ya'know.

From me: Paine will have to appear, as she's a special requirement to add KH2 (maybe). And it's understandable that some stuff drives you crazy. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From ngrey651: Heh-heh. It's always funny seeing the Tonberry pop up and display it's stoic ferocity. Death...is a little green turtle in a cloak. XD Can't wait to see what you've got planned for him!

From me: I got a lot for it to do. Thanks. :D

From jj: hmm marth seems a little not himself

it making him look gay his bond with ike and tidus

1= i'm bad at reading roman numeral what i ment to say is include red in a final fantasy 8 arc sorry for the misunderstaning

2= will the villian join at once or one by one

3=what jobs are compatible with the villains R.O.B.

From me: 1) I'll see if Red could be a worthy character for that arc, but that arc will have to wait a long time to take place here.

2) No.

3) Not saying.

What? Some questions shouldn't be answered at all. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Psycro4: So Chris can cast spells as a mute... All I heave to say is... Tonberry is a scary opponent! Good chapter in all.

From me: Thanks. And please, send your corrections over email next time. It looks a bit awkward that you point them ALL out in public. I hope it's not much trouble. Thanks again. :D

From FF and STH: Well this was a funny chapter but now I have some questions

1. Will the smasher ever see Gilgamesh now that they have the Excalipoor.

thing about the Excalipoor being made out of cardboard is very funny but hard to believe that people could mistakes somthing cardboard for steel, I would had it made out of the weakest metal but keep the same design of the real Excalibur and had Marth use it in battle and fail badly but in a funny way.

3. Man that Tonberry must really hate them, it would be funny if that Tonberry come at the last minute in a hard battle for the smasher and Tidus group and end up saving then.

4. Seen like the fight with Biran and Yenke will not happen, do hope the fight with seymour going to still happen.

From me: 1. No, the Four Old Men will come instead… Just kidding. Just wait until the expected character shows up.

2. Who said that this was the official Excalipoor? There's actually no Excalipoor in FFX, so this one is just one the many fake ones. The designs for swords vary greatly for each game world.

3. A…hero Tonberry? That's really unheard of.

4. It is. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Seitei: Hey, haven't reviewed in a while.

Ah, Final Fantasy X was good memories for me. Are you ever going to do a Dragon Quest saga? Or a (Chocobo's) Mysterious Dungeon saga?

And I don't care what happens to the characters, but that Tonberry better be awesome when they're about to leave Spira. As a summon... YES.

Update soon!

From me: Unfortunately, I was never interested in the Dragon Quest series. I only the Slime, and the fact the main character is always mute…I think. Also, I don't know much about Chocobo's Dungeon only by the fact is has…a Chocobo…go into dungeons…so…yeah…

We'll see what Tonberry does. Thanks. ;)

From TARDISreviewer: Hmmm... I wonder if anything will stop the Tonberry for now? (though seriously, if they can't take it out, they're underlevelled if it's a normal Tonberry. Worst case scenario? it's actually the Don Tonberry variant from the monster arena (which, for those who haven't played FF10, deals a lot more damage deending on kills than teh regular Tonberries, has almsot always landed one hit kills with its knife on myparty , and deals 5 digit damage to aeons if it attacks them (how much more? I have to have Bahamut shield just for it to survive ONCE (fortunately mine has Haste.))

A lack of reaction to that guy appearing agian...

also, obvious Gilgamesh foreshadowing is obvious. The only question now is WHEN he'll show up.

And Hastega is indeed a game breaking spell at the right times :)

... also, you really made light of the infamous sigil challenge... (I'll probably never get it.

Also, I lol'd at the argument with Tidus.

I wonder if you'll get a chance to show off Valefor and Ixion? (Considering they're the only 2 obtained up to this point who haven't appeared ins ome form earlier (I imagine Sonic will be a bit scared of Bahamut, considering what happened last time HE was summoned.)

Also, I'll leave off with a qeustion. Ever heard of the Touhou series of shooters? (bullet hells at that. Yes, even on easy they're going to be difficult, except for certain pattersn (CoughIcicleFallcough)

From me: I'm thinking about changing some certain aspects of that little memory of Sonic about Bahamut…and that is taking Bahamut out of the SA2 arc to put something more credible. Chris went so Mary Sue right there that I want to rip that part out and replace it for something better.

Oh, TWO-HUNDRED LIGHTNING BOLTS!

Thanks for reviewing. :)

From The Meddler: I'm glad my review was intresting! Anyways, I liked the humor in this chapter. Also, I have a theory. Marth is going to be the next person to get attacked by the shadow nightmare. Oh and one more thing: Are you still doing a Kingdom Hearts arc. I was reminded that you had a plan for it when I was looking at old chapters, and I wanted to know if this was still true. Well, that's all. Bye!

From me: Sorry, but facts in the first chapter of this arc reveal that there is no Shadow Nightmare ready. It's going to be replaced with something else THAT WILL GET SO MUCH SCREEN TIME! I'm still going to do a KH arc, but the time isn't near. You'll have to wait a bit more.

Thanks again. ;)

From N the puppet: Considering Wakka could hit SIN from a ship how far away, I'm not surprised he has a 'killer' toss. It's a good thing it's not the spiky-bladed blitzball. That'd be just gory. -_-;

Funny chap, though I'm surprised Yoji didn't talk to Chris at all. (Then again, Chris wouldn't even be able to talk back, and probably wouldn't after what happened last time.)

From me: Spiky-bladed blitzball? Thank you for the profitable idea!

Thanks for reviewing, dude. :D

From Link604: Anata iwa! Anata motsu hitotsu idai na shoosetsu! Now if I told you what that means, I would have to kill you, or do you already now?

Something I have to tell you though, the Mario Saga was amazing. Except for a few arcs in this disc, like the medical one, this is starting to lose its... I don't know. Pizzah, yah that's the word. One, you seem to be doing a lot of Final Fantasy arcs, what is this your 4th? Two, it seems like the Smashers can hardly do dittlely-squat and the world's hero are superior to them. Third, are you ever going to do anything with Young Link, like a Majora's Mask arc? Lastly, maybe you could get like that one zora band from MM, you kinda haven't got any newbies for a long time.

This chapters score: 5.5/10

But as you told me, don't let the reviewer contol you, sayonara!

From me: So you noticed. Yes, there were way too many FF arcs one after another that I'm going to balance things out. All of the FF options in the current poll have been taken out to make way for another different series. So please, anybody reading this, revive your childhood memories and vote for another game.

Oh no, the two group are almost equal in power. You'll see how everything goes in this chapter.

Young Link has been erased from existence and replaced by Toon Link. Having three Links running around is way too much for this story (and myself) to handle… Sorry, that also blows the Zora Band idea.

Thanks! You won't hopefully control me!

…That sounded so awkward, didn't it? D:

From brawlfan223: i really like how it's going

From me: K.

From Anona: This is the first time i reviewed for this fic because i spent a long time trying to read all of it.

Is Marth really the main character? From my point of view Pit is but that might be because i'm a Pit fan.

Why didn't Pit use his arrows when fighting Yojimbo?

Why couldn't the queen of gameovers (i forgot her name) bring the dead smashers back to life?

Why is it that every world has heard about excalibur?

And that's all (:

From me: Thank you for stepping up to reviewing. And now for the answers.

Pit is not the main character. It's your Pit fan-ness that is making you think that.

Pit's arrows are so weak that he would have to shoot a lot of them. If Yojimbo got hit many times, he would have murdered the whole party with his ultimate attack.

She's lazy?

Dude, it's freaking Excalibur… Okay, no, most worlds have at least some kind of tale about it. It's not so hard to imagine that.

Thanks for reviewing. :)

From PianistChris: Nice chapter.

Marth's incapabilities at certains different things (such as the training in this chapter) is what I find funniest in his character, and knuckles fear of the tonberry was even better xD

Looking forward to the next chapter, and to see what the Tonberry gets up to with the group.

From me: That Tonberry is fated to do so many great things in life…at the expense of our entertainment, of course. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

From huh: This is pretty good, I guess. Could you try something with Crash Bandicoot (Unless you already have, I've had to skip a lot of stuff to give this review since this stories so long)

From me: Sadly, I don't know anything about Crash Bandicoot so there is no arc about him. The only most memorable event that I remember is the spoof art of popular themes. Sorry about that. Thanks for reviewing, though. :)

From S.S.: Yo.

Disclaimer: Teddie as the favorite out of the whole P3&P4 cast? Man, I can see why you love him, but thats kinda overrated. Might be a good time to rewrite bio to.

Actually, FF (and CT for that matter) has not shown affection for me gameplaywise. So I pretty much skipped the whole story in the first reading. HOWEVER a more careful second reading states I yet skipped another marvelously done story and battle. Well done pal(who is about 10yrs senior to me), well done.

I demand your top 5 (or 10) VGM.

Rant of the day : CFalcon, at his first encounter with Chris in the mansion, ACKNOWLEDES the fact he is from the real world. And if you forgot it the whole truth revealing sequence chapter was after everyone was recruited. So U Suck. But seriously, do something.

Rating: Strangely awesome

Farewell, from awesome dude in SKorea

From me: Yes, I'm going to update my bio with many changes.

As for more changes, there will be more done to previous chapters so Chris acts more his age with the careful but calm persona he has in these latest chapters, not to mention the other characters as well. Be on the lookout for an announcement like that in the future. Thanks. :)

From Grathmeld: Poor Marth-a, he passed all those things for only a turbo ether and The Great Sword of Infinite Humiliation(despite the status it have) Excalipoor.

Poor chocobo, its owner is oblivious on the injury of her own chocobo.

Poor Yuna, she doesn't know how greedy is Yojimbo when it comes to money. And lol for the auction scene.

Anyway, nice work you have there, The Great(?) Excalipoor will be surely attract an idiot for sure. I wonder if that Tonberry will follow them into Sin and (probably) into the mansion? It will cause more death on mansion if it does get to the mansion. And at least this arc will make me know the next part of my stuck place(since my PS2's optic lens broke)... Even when he's injured, Sonic's still a pretty damn effing annoying cocky idiot. Oh right, why don't chip tell those feet to shut up again? That may work instead of commanding him to sleep, or maybe make him a branch. Soo, when will Chris be healed? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me in the next chapter or so! Oh well, maybe there's nothing more in my mind right now.

P.S: Get a Telephaty! Practice with Psychic!

Sincerely,

Grathmeld

From me: Chip isn't the smartest guy so he often forgets he has those manipulating powers at his disposal…

Not telling when Chris will talk again and take more space on the pages. Thanks for reviewing.

You know what? It's been a real downer for me to see so many fics in this section that end up being not entertaining…for me, anyway. I really get sick of the overabundance of fics about people falling for somebody's hot body of the same sex (of course, this is not meant to be taken so literally, but Yaoi fanatics HARDLY resist from stripping a fictional character down to their briefs). I used to draw inspiration from other authors that gave me so much excitement to write, and that era went down the toilet somehow.

It didn't help that my Mexican brethren turned out to be ALL YAOI FANS. WHAT THE HELL, "paisanos"? I can be sure that I'm saying all of them are Yaoi fanatics. It kills me off in the inside a little.

So then, I would like somebody, any of you, to recommend me a fic that has some real and good enough story that is worth reading all the time.

It can be something that isn't so gory, so bloody, so gay (especially SO gay), so stupid (script form must die unless it has a good explanation, and no, not because you're a newbie), really, really stupid (those trollers have no life), full of TFs (sorry, but Fox was born to be…a fox, rocket science not needed), something that really lives on internet memes (it's so hard for me to say that I really, genuinely like Mudkips with a straight face nowadays), HIGH SCHOOL FICS THAT ARE ALWAYS ABOUT TEENAGE ROMANCE (schools in fiction be damned!), cheesiness to the max (I give a DAMN if love makes these golden characters so crazy and annoying or if Mewtwo was raised by Yoshi and the first became "cool"), or in the worst of cases, people's farting problems (I'm sorry, but those who live solely on making females having farting problems have some issues I'd rather not talk about). Also, if they're asking for multiple OCs, we sure as hell know these fics won't live for long.

Also, I prefer stories with lots of well-thought-out humor. Heck, any of the aforementioned exceptions could be totally bypassed for the sake of humor. If there's a gay romance that is frequently joked about with cunning jokes, by all means, it's golden. Reading a good story will put me in much higher spirits to write all the time. And before you think, NO. I will keep writing as fast as I can.

…You'll need some good luck finding a good story around here. By all means, it doesn't need to be perfect. So…good luck, my good readers. I'm very sorry if I offended some people, but I seriously needed to get that out of my chest.

…

SO NOW, ON WITH THE STORY!

This chapter will include a lot of travel, and we actually made it to the promised place after all. Marth also has a lot more serious character development along with the others having a fair share of snarky comments (the king being Wolf. I knew it was a good idea to make a semi-villain guy stick up with the big jamboree). Since Tidus is the main partner character, he gets to be Marth's voice of reason…somehow.

And we also have killer blitzballs and a lot more.

I encourage all readers to read, adopt a Chocobo that doesn't like to listen to you no matter how many times to hit it with a whip, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Young boys today like to grow up to be blitzballs. Actual evidence can be found at Kilika Village right after its destruction by Sin.

Chapter 186: To Zanarkand Full of Peril

-Spira-

Mt. Gagazet – Mountain Trail

Final Fantasy X – People of the North Pole

And so, we moved on through the harsh cold climate of Mt. Gagazet. Somehow, I felt that there was more danger up ahead that I'd have imagined. Well, I think it might have to do with the guys tagging along with us. They were looking for a temple that appeared somewhere in Spira.

But I wondered if the temple was behind our path. I hoped that it was before Zanarkand. The only way to find out that was to cross the dangerous mountain.

"How do you pronounce your name, anyway?" Pit asked Tidus. "Isn't it Tide-us?"

"I pronounce it Tee-dus," Zelda intruded. "Even I'm confused with the pronunciation of your name."

Tidus lifted his shoulders. "Whichever ones suits you best, I don't mind," he said.

"Oh, come now," Zelda said unfazed. "You can't have more than one pronunciation. One of them must be correct."

"I stand by my guess that it's Tide-us," Pit said. "Tee-dus sounds too simple for my tastes."

"Tide-us sounds very foreign," Zelda argued. "Tee-dus is a simple one to say."

"So now you're choosing that pronunciation just because it sounds simple to say?" Pit asked bewildered. "My pronunciation has more…" he stammered to get a good reason.

The hedgehog moved his head to Pit. "Style," Sonic chimed in.

"Yes, style, that's it!" Pit agreed. "My pronunciation has more style than yours."

Zelda frowned. "Then I shall heed his words and use my pronunciation since it suits me best," she said.

Tidus chuckled nervously. "Geez, don't take my name too personal, you guys…" he trailed off.

"Quiet, Tee-dus."

"Yes, ma'am…"

"Another useless topic to discuss," Auron muttered.

Nobody was kidding when they said that Mt. Gagazet was a dangerous mountain. It had to do with the fact that there were ridiculously small paths that ran across a big abyss by touching the walls of either side. It became even more insane since said paths would usually go up and down, and with all the snow on them made them incredibly dangerous to walk on. One single misstep and anybody could die from one fall alone. To make matters worse, the abyss they were crossing had no visible bottom for the naked eye to see but had ice icicles protruding from the rocky walls. They were just about to start their climb until Yuna spotted a rock formation.

The summoner ducked to examine the rock formation. The formation wasn't necessarily made out of rock but rusted metal. It was beyond rusty, but they could there were weapons engraved into the ground under the snow.

"What are these rusty weapons doing in a place like this?" Tidus asked.

"These are the graves of summoners and guardians who failed," Lulu said, "more specifically, the ones who were bested by the mountain."

"Ah, so we'll end up digging our graves with our stuff as graves if we happen to die," Wolf said.

"Please don't say that," Pit said shivering.

They then started walking on the dangerous paths that had small space to walk on. They had to walk on the center in a line without falling to the sides. While the path was safe to walk with two people, they wanted to be safer by walking in a line. "I'm starting to miss the Calm Lands…" Rikku said. "Why isn't this mountain called Mt. Suicide again?"

"Because the first name has more impact," Wakka said sarcastically. "You stop complainin' and watch your step, ya?"

Zelda refrained from looking down. "I'm trying my best not to look down," she said. "I'll be paralyzed with fear if I catch a small glimpse of the bottom…"

"There's no bottom," Knuckles said.

"My nightmares became true," the princess said.

"There's kind of a bright side to all this and that isn't that we're almost finished," Marth said. "No fiends have ambushed us so far."

"I'm not going to be surprised to hear if they fell off the path," Wolf said.

"There's no proof for your notion, though," Rikku said.

The lupine pointed over to the edge where claw marks on the snow were running deep. Chris almost turned white of fear.

"W-well… Who can blame them?" the Al Bhed asked pouting. "They were probably walking through a blizzard! It's hard to see with a little sleet, you know!"

"I'm glad there's no blizzard," Knuckles said. "This makes the walk easier to cross. Just stay away from the edges and avoid looking down for too much."

"I'm kind of bored, guys…" Rikku said.

"Don't get so jumpy or you'll fall," Auron advised.

Rikku rolled her eyes. "I know that, Mr. Security," she said. She ran up ahead, finding a small cliff that went around the right wall.

"Rikku, hey, where're you going?" Tidus shouted. "It's dangerous!"

"She did that because she doesn't want to listen to Sir Auron," Zelda said. "But his advice is very important in this case…"

The perky girl came back running without even minding where she was stepping on. Rikku came back holding a yellow ring with a blue sphere in it. "Look! I found a sphere!" she said.

"You crossed a small cliff just to get that?" Chip asked. "…You're awesome!"

"Don't listen to him and listen to me instead," Marth said. "Is that sphere important? It looks peculiar."

Rikku nodded and showed them the sphere on her hands. "You're new around these parts, so I'll explain it. This, what I have here, is a sphere," she explained.

"No sh*t, Sherlock," Wolf said.

"Shh!" Rikku muttered. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that these spheres have some neat uses. They can be used as keys and recorders! They're made out of pyreflies infused with water from the Macalania Woods."

Pit stared blankly at the sphere. "So…you're saying that these spheres are made out of people's life energy?" he asked.

The foreign group made several looks, ranging from shocked to mere frowns. "…Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhh …" the Al Bhed trailed off for a long time. "…L-look, t-this sphere has a recording on it! Let's watch it!" she hastily said.

"…" Sonic shook his head. "How are we going to watch that?"

Rikku clicked on a button on the yellow ring to make a hologram appear. The hologram had a bluish background, but it was clear and big enough for everyone to see it.

Yuna gasped once the hologram showed an adult who wore a red robe with a crown and cloth that covered his head except for his face. The man had a long feather that hung from the top of his head. "Father!" she said.

"That's your father?" Zelda asked. "Yes, he looks like a priest to me."

"That is Lord Braska," Lulu said. "He was the last summoner who brought the Calm to Spira."

In the video, Braska was standing a path below the one where the group stood in front of the weapon monument. Behind Braska, there was a younger Auron standing in front of the monument. The differences between the current Auron and the past one was the fact the past one had his left arm exposed and his face uncovered. The man known as Braska started talking. "Hello, Yuna. I hope you are well. I wonder how old you are, now that you're watching this sphere. You must be very beautiful, like your mother. I wish I could see you," Braska said.

Under all the cold temperature of the mountain, Yuna blushed slightly at the thought.

"Oh, by the way... Jecht and Auron send their regards. So far, our journey has been very entertaining. Of course, it is a hard journey, but I have no regrets. It is the path I have chosen."

"But what a path he chose…" Pit muttered under his breath.

"Yuna, when you have grown, you will have to find your own path. Do what you must do, the way you want to do it. Doors will always open themselves to those who do."

Yuna shed a small tear that she wiped away. "I…I know what I'm doing, father. I'm following in your footsteps to save Spira…" she muttered.

"(She's kind of crazy to save this world with her life,)" Wolf thought with crossed arms. "(If I were you, I'd search for another alternative…)"

"Listen close, Yuna. Your future is yours to make. Live the way you want to. Whatever way that may be, you have your father's full support."

I thought he didn't think Yuna would turn herself into a summoner like him. If he was still alive, would he have stopped Yuna from doing this journey?

Braska, if only you were by her side…

"Yuna, I will always be with you," Braska said.

Tidus blinked and pointed at the hologram away from Braska's image. "Hey, there he is. That's my old man," he said.

Marth took a good look at the man who was walking on the upper path. It was hard to tell him apart since he was facing away, but the prince and the others could tell the man was an adult with a messy black hair with a red bandana on his forehead. He didn't wear much clothing save for his black shorts with a cape covering his right leg, with a protective steel pauldron on his left arm.

"Hmph," Zelda said fairly disgusted. "He's got some brain for walking around the cold climate shirtless."

Tidus scratched his head. "Yeah, my old man can be very…very, very stupid. This is just another time of those," he said.

"Oh my, I hope Sir Jecht didn't catch a cold," Yuna said.

"BLEACHOO!" Jecht sneezed loudly.

The hologram started to get shaky all of a sudden. Braska looked up into the sky were bits of snow were falling. The young Auron and Jecht then made a run for it before Braska turned off the video, ending the recording just before an avalanche could have been caught on tape.

"…I'm so sorry, Yuna," Pit said, thinking the three were dead.

"Uh, they were fine after that. My father did complete his pilgrimage," Yuna said with a nervous smile. "Sir Auron is here with us. That proves a point."

"Who knows? He could be a ghost," Chip said, Tidus giving him a look. "I'm joking! I'm joking! He's no ghost!"

"Why am I thinking their journey was hard because that Jecht guy caused them a lot of problems?" Sonic asked.

Auron sighed. "You're very right with that," he said. "Jecht was quite a handful, getting drunk at the worst of times. One time, he was drunk while riding a Chocobo and he confused the bird for a woman, and he tackled it down. Braska and I had to take Jecht off from the Chocobo before he could mate with it."

Most of them gave him freaked out looks of pure disbelief.

"And that wasn't the end of it," Auron said shrugging. "There was more, but I'd rather not talk about those…experiences. In a nutshell, most of our problems were caused by him with a lethal combination of alcohol. I'd been dead by now but I survived to his foolishness somehow."

"…" Wakka shifted his eyes. "E-even so, Sir Jecht was a good guardian, ya?"

"Yes."

Rikku turned off the sphere and handed it over to Yuna. "Well, you learn something disgustingly new every day," she said. "Let's move on!"

Agreeing with her, the group advanced through the cold climate of the mountain while carefully walking on the small paths that zigzagged from two big walls. According to what Yuna heard from Kelk, the area they needed to cross to reach Zanarkand Ruins was close. They necessarily weren't going to climb the mountain to the peak since it was heavily covered in mist that made it impossible for anyone, even the Ronso, to climb.

A little while later, they came across another pile of rusted weapons. Yuna knelt down to pray for the lost souls of the summoners who died on their climb.

"Summoners that die up here...aren't sent to the Farplane," Lulu said.

"Why not?" Tidus asked.

"Who would send them? They die alone," she explained. "The guardians who travel with them have to go back the way they came from to eventually tell everyone the news about their failed pilgrimages…if they can make it back, that is. Otherwise, nobody will ever learn from the result."

Knuckles thought for a moment. "And if they happen to die alone here without anybody knowing what happened to them…" he trailed off.

"Many have turned into fiends," Lulu said, "and they may want Yuna's company."

Yuna looked a bit restless. "I know they died unfairly by other fiends and that they want other summoners to suffer the safe fate, but…" she stopped talking.

"That's another way of saying that some people want to bring you down," Pit said. "But THESE people want to bring you down with them to the afterlife."

"Hey, Yuna will be fine," Tidus said with a serious expression. "Unlike other summoners, she's a tough nut to crack."

Yuna blushed. She felt a bit flattered at the remark.

"You're right," Lulu agreed with Tidus.

The group moved on the treacherous paths between the walls. "I'm going to do the unthinkable," Sonic said.

"Wait?" Knuckles asked with a bored look.

"No!" Sonic said. "I'm going to find some clothes I can put on for cold temperatures! My feet can get stiff if I remain running on snow all the time. BUT! I want to find some clothes that look cool on me."

"I don't know for certain," Zelda seemed to disapprove. "Your spiny back will be the death of many shirts. The suit you're wearing makes you look like you have a hunchback."

Sonic shrugged. "Will it hurt me if I got my quills taken off from my back?" he asked. "Hmm, they give me some more power for my spin attack, so I gotta find some clothes with holes on 'em."

"I…don't think you'd look good on them if you did that," Zelda said, briefly thinking Sonic wearing some small jeans. "Your back is a big hindrance."

Chris recalled that he had bought an ability to share powers with other party members, and that also would give them the same clothes according to Crazy Hand. He decided to try it out later since Sonic seemed to do well with the suit.

Tidus took his time to look at Marth, who had a blank look on his face. "Hey, Marth, you okay?" he asked. "You look a little pale or is it the temperature?"

Marth looked around until he sighed. To make sure they wouldn't be heard by anyone else, they fell back to walk at a distance from the others. "I'm feeling a bit bad," he muttered. "…No, I'm feeling worse than bad."

"Why's that? Isn't Spira helping you?"

"A bit, honestly," the prince said. "But hearing all these tales of people dying on pilgrimages… It just doesn't sound so good to me, you know."

Tidus sighed. "Yeah… That's the only reason why I don't want Yuna to go through this," he said, looking at Marth. "But that's not gonna stop me from coming up with a solution to all this craziness."

"At least you have time to help her," Marth said. "I had the time, but I couldn't do anything. And in the end…"

The blond teen stared at the prince until he grunted. "Okay, out with it, Marth. Why are you acting with that attitude behind everyone's backs?" he asked. "If you're feeling so bad after hearing all these tales, then tell me what's been bothering you from the start."

"A close friend of mine died nearly a month ago and his death still upsets me!" Marth shouted, but fortunately nobody else rather than Tidus heard his yell. Ashamed from raising his voice, Marth continued walking. "…Sorry, but I had to let it go."

"…Oh," Tidus said nodding, grabbing his chin with his right hand. "So that's what's been bothering you… Yeah, it all makes sense now."

Marth scratched his head and frowned. "Well… Now you know why I'm so upset," he said. "Look, it hasn't been easy for me to forget that dreadful event when a good portion of our team just…died of very insane complications… One of them happened to be a close friend of mine. His name was Ike. He was a respected general in his world, but he was around my age."

Tidus looked surprised. "You guys are generals at this age? Man, times in your worlds must be really bad, huh?" he asked.

"Please don't think we're inexperienced, Tidus. We do know how to work around skirmishes," Marth said. "In any case, Ike succumbed to a cruel death and…and I don't know how I'll ever feel okay with myself. It's worse than you think it is because he has a little sister that he always protected. Both of his parents are dead, and now Mist, her sister's name, is all alone to fend for herself in the world. Even worse of all…she doesn't know what happened to Ike."

"Damn…" Tidus muttered.

Marth sighed depressed. "Hearing all these tales of people dying… They're not helping me feel much better," he said. "Yuna is going to die at the end of her journey. That only will bring grief to all of us for sure. The mere thought about her giving up her life makes me think I can prevent awful events from happening. I did my best with Ike but it all ended in failure."

Tidus looked away for a moment. "…Yuna is my preoccupation, Marth," he said. "It's not yours. Don't take it upon yourself."

"Even so, Tidus, I feel that it's my duty as a friend to cherish what I already have," the prince said. "Losing what I have won't make any good for me. I want to help you out with Yuna." He thought about Tidus and Yuna. "…At least I'll try to feel better with myself by helping you. Don't you agree?"

Tidus looked worried at Marth until he forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm going to need all the help to save Yuna from her destiny," he said. "And if it makes you feel better, then it's all good!" He hung his left arm on Marth's shoulder. "You and I are going to make best otherworldly friends."

Marth laughed nervously. "Y-yes, that's right," he said. "I'm glad you think like I do."

"Sweet, you convinced him from joining our little team!" Rikku said, appearing right between Tidus and Marth. The two yelped and nearly lost their footing.

"R-Rikku!" Tidus yelled. "How long have you been listening?"

Rikku rubbed her chin. "Ever since you said 'Damn' with the ellipses," she said. "You got my interest after that."

The prince slapped his forehead. "Somehow, I knew someone was bound to listen to our conversation," he said.

"And I somehow knew Rikku was going to be in the picture," Tidus said.

Rikku crossed her arms. "C'mon, I can help Marth if I give it a shot!" she said. "If it helps Yuna with her problems, that's much better if you ask me! I'm all in with helping him with his emotional issues. I'm THAT nice."

"You're doing it mainly for Yuna," both Tidus and Marth said in unison with suspicious looks.

"And even if that was the truth, Marth would feel better all the same!" Rikku argued, eyeing Marth. "You can trust me, Marth. I can be a lot of help to you. Just tell me what item you'd like to get in somebody's possession and I'll take it."

Marth briefly saw Yuffie replacing Rikku in front of him. It didn't help the Yuffie was holding his tiara in his mind, playfully waving it to him. "Ack!" he yelped.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rikku asked confused, the mental Yuffie being replaced by Rikku in the real world through Marth's eyes. "What are you suddenly yelping like that?"

"U-um, I was just sadly remembering some awful memories…but those memories aren't that important to talk about," Marth said.

Meanwhile, in another different universe…

"Hey, Cloud, I suddenly feel not that important AND offended for no reason!" Yuffie yelled. "How do I solve this weird feeling?"

"Live with it until you shrug it off," Cloud said.

"Man, what an answer."

Back with the group…

"S-seriously, I'm not going to ask you to steal something from somebody else. All I need is support to pull through this," Marth told Rikku.

Rikku sighed. "That was the fun way to do it but I'm not really a thief. I'm just that nimble," she said, nodding to Marth. "Alright, I'll help ya if ya help us with Yunie."

"That's all I need…" Marth said sighing.

After letting Rikku help Marth, the trio and the rest of the group stumbled upon another rusted weapon formation. Yuna once again knelt down to pray for the restless spirits.

"All this way, only to fail," Lulu spoke. "It must have been tough."

Pit crossed his arms. "Considering how we have worked a lot until this point, it'd be a real waste to just die at this point," he said worried. "We have back up, but it'd be very unfortunate to lose now."

"Oh, yes," Auron said. "You have said that you have your own matters to attend like finding that temple you mentioned. So far, we haven't seen one anywhere on the way here."

"It is in this world," Knuckles said. "We've got to find it or else this world is going to suffer the consequences. And what I mean by consequences, I mean our enemies will come here to conquer everything."

"I'll give you total trust once I see some actual proof of everything you've said once you came out of nowhere," the guardian said. "I still hold some doubts about all of you joining our journey."

Sonic looked bored and pointed across the abyss. "Eh, no need for that. Why, the proof you so-wanted to see is right over there," he said.

Everyone turned to the east across an abyss where a familiar doctor and a (non) dragon (type) were surveying the mountain for the temple. Both Dr. Eggman and Charizard were unaware of the entire group on the other side of the abyss between them. "Please, for heaven's sakes, where can we find that temple?" Charizard asked shivering. "I-I can't take this cold anymore! We've been here even since we arrived!"

"Would you be quiet for a second?" Dr. Eggman asked, holding some kind of radar to detect the temple's energy waves. "I'm trying to think where to look next in this place! Not even my hot temper can help me to withstand this mountain!"

"Achoo!" Charizard sneezed. "How about looking for a cave and take shelter there?"

"Nonsense! It's still too early for night to fall!" the doctor argued. "If we wait any little longer, night will come and it'll freeze that little flame of yours into an ice flame!"

Charizard looked ill. "I-if this flame goes out, I'll die no matter how old I am!" he said. "I never understood how my life depended on this flame on my tail until a little drop of rain water dropped on my tail when I was a Charmander!"

"Quiet, I say, quiet!" Dr. Eggman argued. "Let me find a good point where this radar can find some unusual energy waves from the Chun-nan Temple!"

Back with the group on the other side of the abyss…

"And to make our story even clearer, when have you seen a guy with those twig legs and huge stomach in your home world?" Sonic asked, still looking bored.

"Or a talking lizard," Chip added.

Yuna hid her mouth. "We haven't met people like them before," she admitted.

"And to clarify, those are the villains of this story," Zelda said.

Funny, we already had some nasty villains in this story long before you guys came into the picture…

Auron rubbed his chin. "They do look malicious to me, but we must be careful," he said. "I don't even know if we can judge their power."

"The lizard monster is a fire user," Pit said. "The doctor is rather weak but he unleashes inventions on people so that he can run away."

Rikku smiled. "Inventions as in machines? I can scrap them off no sweat! …Or in this case, no frostbite," she said. "Let's go beat 'em up and TOSS them into the abyss where they won't annoy you ever again for the rest of your lives and freeze to their deaths!"

Everyone gave some grimaces to the Al Bhed's murderous idea. "…Even I'm not THAT violent," Wolf commented.

"We…kind of need the bald guy alive, thank you," Sonic said. "He's the one who keeps giving me some fun almost all the time."

"If by fun you mean putting our world into danger…" Knuckles muttered annoyed.

"And sadly, the uncivilized lizard must be kept alive so that an ally of ours captures him," Zelda said. "And we do NOT want to kill him with another method. Defeating them is the way to go."

Lulu thought about the situation. "What I can understand about what you want to do is…that we should rather avoid them than fighting them," she said. "It is for the best."

"Yeah," Tidus said. "Fighting in these conditions can be very risky. I mean, with the sleet, the coldness, the space, and the height we're standing on from safe ground down below… Hey, where'd Auron go to?"

They all just noticed that Auron had disappeared from the spot. "He fell down!" Rikku gasped.

"Actually, he's right now crossing the path ahead to reach out for the bad guys," Wakka pointed out, pointing at Auron calmly walking on the thin path that connected their side with the other side. The guardian walked cautiously to the lizard and doctor from behind until he cleared his throat.

Dr. Eggman turned around. "Yes?" he asked grunting. Auron triggered some anger in the doctor. "We're in the middle of something important right now. If you could leave us…"

"Sorry, but I couldn't walk away after overhearing some talk about some temple," Auron said. "That must be a coincidence because I saw an unfamiliar temple on the Calm Lands on my way here."

Dr. Eggman and Charizard raised their eyebrows. "Oh my god Arceus, there's actually hope in this mountain after all!" Charizard said.

The doctor sheepishly chuckled. "Heheheheh, sorry for my rudeness earlier, sir. Would you be so kind to tell me where we can find this…unfamiliar temple? We're not that familiar with the landscape, you see," Dr. Eggman said.

"(Yes, these people don't even belong to Spira…) The Calm Lands is to the south of here," Auron said. "Follow the path down this mountain and you'll get there in a few minutes."

Dr. Eggman grinned wide. "Okay, thank you for the directions!" he said as he called his mobile vehicle that he hopped on. Without even saying another word, the excited doctor flew down the mountain, leaving a bewildered Charizard behind.

"Come ON!" Charizard groaned as he painfully extended his wings to glide down the abyss. "Would you care to give me some heads up before you leave like that? Hey, are you even listening to me?"

The guardian saw how the two villains disappeared from sight into another exit that the summoner group didn't take. Auron frowned and then walked back with the group waiting for him. "The path is clear," he said.

"Wow, that was clever," Pit admitted. "Very, very clever."

Yuna smiled. "Sir Auron, thank you," she thanked.

Marth sighed. "You didn't tell them on purpose that those lands are filled with vicious fiends, did you?" he asked.

"That was part of my plan," Auron said. "They'll be fine. They didn't look like the bunch that dies out of stupidity."

"You sure?" Sonic asked with a sly smile.

"We should continue our climb. We can't allow them to catch up with us," the guardian advised. "Or rather, find out that there is no ordinary temple in the Calm Lands besides the one hidden between the cliffs."

"There was one back there?" Tidus asked.

"Yes, but it's not the temple they're looking for. It's just another temple that is quite hard to reach through foot. You would need a Chocobo to reach it."

Marth walked ahead. "We don't want to ride those birds again," he said.

Rikku looked upset at the prince. "Leave our feathered friends alone! They do no ill to us!" she declared pumping up her fist while Tidus chuckled to himself. The group then moved along the treacherous paths, slowly reaching their destination.

Besides reminding Marth about his fun time with the Chocobos, I saw him getting a bit restless. I realized that just hearing the word "death" or anything related to it was ticking him off.

I also realized this journey's whole purpose was to give Yuna her eternal rest. Marth arrived at the worst of times…

The pilgrimage group was about to reach a small cave when they found a man standing on the path. The man wore a green bandana around his head with a blue shirt, a yellow cloth wrapped over his green pants, and red sandals. Upon looking at them, the man performed the Yevon salutation. "Greetings, Lady Yuna. My name is Wantz," he said.

"We have met several times before, right?" Yuna asked.

"Not running today?" Tidus asked.

The man named Wantz shook his head. "I have to carry on my brother's business. You've met him, I think. O'aka XXIII, merchant extraordinaire?"

"Wait, you're that guy's brother?" Tidus asked mildly surprised.

"Who is this O'aka XXIII?" Zelda asked. "You seem to know this person."

"Yeah, he's a merchant who we stumbled upon several times in Spira," Tidus said. "He needed some donations to start his business and we helped him a few times." He looked at Wantz. "But you're his brother? The last time we saw him was when we were running away from Bevelle."

"My brother wanted to come help Lady Yuna. But the temple imprisoned him for helping traitors."

Yuna gasped at the news. "They imprisoned him because of us?" Tidus asked, a fist tightening to his side.

"He doesn't regret it, though," Wantz said smiling. "In fact, he told me before they took him... 'Don't worry about me, just go help Lady Yuna.'"

Yuna looked down to the snow, regretting that the merchant was put in prison because of her. "But, why would your brother do this for us?"

Wantz shifted his eyes, rubbing his head. "Well... Hey, this isn't the time for talking! There's dealing to be done!" he said enthusiastically.

"But…I want to know why he'd go to such lengths to help us," Yuna said, staring at Wantz.

Wantz sighed at the many eyes staring at him. "…Alright, I'll tell you why my brother wanted to help you out so badly, Lady Yuna. I would appreciate if you didn't tell him this. If he does tell you this someday in the future, try to pretend to be surprised," he said. "You see, we once had a sister. That sister of ours was a summoner just like you. But… Well… This is a hard thing to say, but she died in her journey to Zanarkand Ruins."

Yuna gasped under her breath. Tidus blinked at the news and cautiously turned to Marth, who was looking away to avoid the hurtful thoughts.

"My brother was very happy to know that Lady Yuna greatly resembled our older sister," Wantz said. "She started her pilgrimage at a young age, and O'aka and I were not cut out to be fighters so she left on her own…and that was the last time we saw her. She always told us that she was going to be fine, and that we her brothers worked for an honest living. We fret day by day every time we see you, Lady Yuna, walking on your path to destiny. No other summoner has made such an impact in us."

The young summoner blushed. "Oh… I-I see…" Yuna stammered.

"Oh, don't take this badly, Lady Yuna," Wantz said. "In fact, we're happy that you're the living image of our dear sister. We wish to make things easier for your journey no matter who is against you…provided we don't get killed."

"(Wonder if they were like this some years ago,)" Sonic thought.

"There are no merchants across the mountain, I fear," Wantz said. "Why don't you buy some stuff from me?"

Lulu nodded. "We're running low on Hi-Potions," she said.

"In that case… Welcome to O'aka's!" Wantz said with a warm welcome.

A little while passed after the pilgrimage group made their purchases. It was scary to see that all the items the merchant was selling were nowhere to be found. He seemingly took out all the items from behind his back. "I will be sure to keep your brother in my prayers," Yuna said.

"He's doing the same for you, Lady Yuna," Wantz said.

"Thanks."

The group continued their climb through the small paths until they reached a small cavern. They crossed it and reached a cliff overlooking a death fall where the far away snow awaited any unlucky traveler. To the right of the cliff, there was a path with stone pillars leading to a special site.

"Are we there yet?" Chip asked.

"Somebody cover his mouth with tape before he repeats it again," Wolf said. "I just know he's going to say it again."

"It's no use! I ran out of tape!" Sonic joked.

"We're almost there," Auron said. "It's just a little more and we'll reach the cave's entrance. Once we cross that cave, we'll reach Zanarkand Ruins."

"Say, did you hear something just now?" Rikku asked.

The group stopped on their trails just before they could turn right. When they noticed, they heard some painful sounds and roars coming from nearby. The sounds were too many, and they made some of them feel some chills.

"It sounds like somebody is being mauled alive by fiends!" Tidus said, just to see Kimahri running off to the direction of the sounds.

"Kimahri!" Yuna yelled, running to catch up with her guardian.

"Wait, it could be dangerous!" Pit said.

Almost everyone ran up ahead, running between the stone pillars. Tidus was stopped by Rikku who looked discomforted. Marth looked back to them and decided to stay back to see that they were going to be safe. "What is it now, Rikku?" Tidus asked mildly upset.

"I know this isn't the right time, but… Zanarkand is on the other side, you know?" Rikku asked.

"I know," Tidus said.

"Yunie is gonna get the Final Aeon, you know?"

"I know," the blond teen said depressed.

"I…uh…still haven't thought of anything," Rikku said ashamed.

"Me neither."

"What are we gonna do?" the Al Bhed asked preoccupied.

Tidus took a moment to sort of his thoughts, staring at Marth standing some feet away from them. "…We'll do something! We just don't know enough yet. Until we do, we really can't help Yuna," he said, pumping a fist and crossing his arms. "Let's got to Zanarkand. We'll find something there. It'll all come together! I know it!"

Rikku smiled and looked at Tidus from the side. "Hey... Just now you sounded like a leader, you know?" she asked.

"Star of the Zanarkand Abes!" Tidus said proudly with his hands on his hips. "Didn't anyone tell you?"

Rikku playfully bowed cordially to Tidus, moving her hand to the direction everyone ran off to. Tidus grinned and walked to Marth. "My optimism is my strongest weapon," he said. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine, Marth. You just…gotta believe, I think."

"That 'I think' makes me think otherwise…but it's okay," Marth said. "Let's go. The others surely found something up ahead."

After Tidus nodded, Rikku stood straight and gasped after seeing someone standing the way where they came from. "A-ahh!" she gasped.

Meanwhile, up ahead…

"Those roars came from here," Lulu said as the group ran through the path between the stone pillars. "Up ahead!"

Everyone stopped dead on their tracks once they saw before their eyes a gruesome sight. None of them said a word but gasped silently. Chris's eyes shook in fear until he covered his eyes with both hands. Some of them felt horror while some others felt shame. Out of everyone, Kimahri was the most shocked one.

"Why… Why… Why?" Yuna kept asking, her mouth hidden behind her hand. "Why did this…"

In front of everyone, Biran and Yenke, the two strongest Ronso warriors, were lying down defeated on the snow. Their bodies had been nastily injured with the blood mixing up with the cold snow. The cold climate went as far as to turn their fresh blood into red ice. Auron took a closer look to see that their eyes were halfway open.

"They're still alive…but not for long," Auron said. "Their injuries are far too much for healing spells to work properly."

"This can't be!" Yuna yelled as she ducked down, holding out her staff over Biran's body. "Please, hang in there! I'll save you!"

Yuna used the spell Curaga; the highest healing magic from the Cure line. Multiple sparkles of light enveloped the big Ronso's body, but the potent healing spell made no changes at all. Yuna felt desperate and she tried again but this time on Yenke's body. However, the same happened with no good results. The summoner stood back up, shedding some tears.

"I…I can't do anything…" Yuna muttered under her breath.

"Summoner…Yuna…" Biran muttered weakly. "We…Ronso…fail…you… We left meeting place…angry with Lord Kelk's scold… We found…Guado in the mountain…and engaged him in combat."

"Enemy…of Yuna…the Guado…too much…" Yenke muttered weakly, coughing blood. "Yenke…humiliated…with death…"

Pit looked ashamed, and then he looked up to Kimahri. The stoic Ronso kept staring down at the two warriors. There was a small hint of sadness somewhere along Kimahri's wild eyes. "…Kimahri shall avenge Biran and Yenke," Kimahri said.

Biran chuckled, but he felt more pain in doing so. "Kimahri…big fool. Kimahri not ready…" he trailed off.

"Hornless…hornless…hornless…" Yenke muttered.

The angel looked upset and stepped forward. "Would you cut it out already? Can't you see Kimahri wants to make you feel better? Stop all this hypocrisy!" he yelled. "You should be ashamed for turning him down! So what if he doesn't have a horn?" Pit wasn't so sure if he could follow the conversation. "He is Yuna's guardian! That must prove something to you! You didn't see him action after he left his home, but I've seen his courage; courage that must be respected among his race!"

Kimahri blankly stared at Pit until he spoke. "Kimahri…is not angry with Biran and Yenke. Kimahri wishes to help fellow Ronso," he said.

Biran turned his head to Kimahri. "…Kimahri…" He briefly turned to Pit. "…Kimahri has…good allies… Allies…with truth…and trust…"

"Hornless Kimahri…is no Ronso outcast…" Yenke muttered out while coughing. "Kimahri…is proud Ronso warrior… Ronso to…summoner Yuna…"

Kimahri moved Pit aside to kneel down to the two Ronso. "Kimahri will make Ronso proud in Biran and Yenke's stead," he said.

"Yenke…not angry with Kimahri…" Yenke muttered. "Yenke is proud…of Kimahri. So sorry…for broken horn…"

"Kimahri better…be true to his word…" Biran said, slightly grinning. "Sacred Gagazet…hear Biran! Ronso shall disrespect Kimahri…no more! Mt. Gagazet…is Kimahri's…closest ally!" he yelled. "Summoner Yuna…you are most fortunate…"

Yuna sniffed. "I…I thank you…" she trailed off.

The two Ronso warriors then passed out.

An eerie silence floated in the air as Kimahri hung down his head in respect to the fallen Ronso. The foreign group saw how the bodies of the Ronso let out pyreflies that flew out. As their bodies slowly vanished from their spots, Yuna cleared some of her tears and started dancing the Sending. The summoner gracefully moved her staff around, spinning it on her steady hand. The pyreflies responded to the dance by surrounding and circling around Yuna.

The summoner then stopped dancing, the pyreflies vanishing and leaving the world of the living behind. Yuna put her staff close to her, closing her eyes to keep some tears from falling down her eyelids. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

"They vanished…" Knuckles muttered. "People who die here do turn into those lights…"

"Their souls found their way to the Farplane," Wakka said. "Yuna did a good job sending them, ya?"

Zelda rubber her chin. "Before they died, they said that the Guado had killed them," she said, looking around the path. "But I can't see anybody around. Where did they go?"

"They said it was one person; a guy," Auron said. "There was only one person who inflicted so much pain in them. It had to be somebody with great power."

"But who?" Yuna asked, looking upset at Auron. "Who is inhuman enough to…to do this?"

Back with Marth, Tidus, and Rikku…

Final Fantasy X – Seymour

The trio found a blue-haired man standing on the path where they came from. The man had a very unique blue hairstyle that defied some laws of gravity since he had two curved, long horns running down his shoulders. His face had some visible veins on his forehead albeit they were almost invincible. He wore black boots with a long blue robe, a light blue cloth belt, a slightly opened red vest underneath that showed his chest that had black tattoos, and blue sleeves that covered his long-fingered hands. He also wore a necklace on his neck. The man cynically smiled with his fixed look at them.

"Ah, the son of Jecht," he said.

Tidus narrowed his eyes. "Rikku, run ahead and tell Auron!" he said.

Rikku looked back and forth between Tidus and the man. "You are not fighting him alone!" she said.

"Just go! Go!" Tidus yelled. "I have Marth with me. You can run now!"

Rikku looked worried at Marth, who looked confused at the situation. Judging how Tidus looked sharp, Marth decided to follow the flow, nodding to Rikku to assure her that he was going to help Tidus. The Al Bhed nodded and ran away to get the others.

"Tidus, tell me, who is he?" Marth muttered.

"Ah, you have made a new friend," the man said with a cynical smile. "That is most fortunate, son of Jecht. Somebody will keep you some company in the Farplane…or once you turn into hopeless fiends." He looked at Marth. "My apologies, but I believe you have no idea about who I am. I shall gladly tell you, young man. My name is Seymour Guado." He bowed. "I am the Maester representing the Guado. I, therefore, am their leader."

"Alright…" Marth said. "What is your business?"

"To stop you peasants from moving forward. It is not necessary to tell you that," Seymour said, turning to Tidus. "Now is your time to die. Prepare yourself, son of Jecht."

Seymour started walking towards the two swordsmen. "Not if we can help it!" Tidus said determined as Marth unsheathed his sword.

"Save some for Kimahri!"

Tidus and Marth turned to the path behind them where the rest of the group joined up with them. Seymour raised an eyebrow when he saw the quantity of odd-looking people that had joined Yuna's pilgrimage. "My, I take it that you decided to hire more guardians, Lady Yuna. But of course, the path to Zanarkand is a treacherous one indeed," he said.

"Who the heck is that guy with the absurd gravity defying hairstyle?" Wolf asked.

"Yes, I mean, that hair is some style…" Zelda said. She thought Seymour's hair looked dreadful.

"This is the guy who tried to marry Yuna just so that he could become a guardian and the sacrifice to fight AND become Sin!" Tidus said.

Seymour was amused. "You also tamed some fiends to do your bidding, I see," he said, angering the lupine. "Fortunately, it will all end here."

"Yuna, send him to the Farplane!" Lulu shouted.

Zelda gasped. "That person is an Unsent, then?" she asked.

"How do you remember that?" Sonic asked. "By now I forgot what the Farplane is."

"Hmph, you sure have a very weak mind," the princess said repulsed. "You need to learn to listen closely to all you hear from people."

"Oh, geez, sorry. I was distracted thinking how to get rid of my EVIL transformation!"

"Would you be quiet? Thank you," Knuckles said annoyed.

Yuna stared at them until she regained her senses. She started doing the Sending motions, but she stopped once Seymour chuckled. "A sending, so soon? Allow me to say something to the last Ronso before I leave," he said with a slight high-pitched chuckle. "Yours was...truly a gallant race. They threw themselves at me to bar my path. One...after another..."

"Whatever do you mean?" Marth asked. "Who are you talking about?"

Seymour opened his arms. "I am talking about the stubborn Ronso," he said. "Down the mountain, they tried to stop me but were killed merciless. After that, some rather unworthy pests up here fought me…but they suffered….no, they were blessed with death."

"You don't mean…"

Zelda shook her head in horror. "You slaughtered all the people down the mountain? Y-you killed an entire race?" she asked, to which Seymour nodded with a chuckle.

"(I'm gonna take a wild guess. He killed all of them with his hair,)" Wolf thought, looking at no one in particular. "(As if everything else I've seen so far isn't real. Don't think I'm crazy. My assumptions don't sound so crazy anymore.)"

"No..." Kimahri muttered with rage.

"Kimahri..." Yuna said sadly for Kimahri's loss.

"You could end the suffering of this poor Ronso," Seymour said.

Yuna got fed up by the proposal that she glared at Seymour. "I don't understand you!" she yelled.

Seymour turned around and stood near the cliff. "Allow Kimahri to die, and release him from his pain," he said, holding his hand out to the abyss. "Spira...is a land of suffering and sorrow caught in a spiral of death. To destroy - to heal - Spira, I will become Sin," he said, turning back to the group. "Yes, with your help. Come with me, Yuna."

"You're still planning to force Yuna into turning you into the Final Aeon to become Sin in the next ten years," Auron said. "You're dead set on that."

"Sir Auron, your words hurt me," Seymour said. "I am doing Spira its greatest future yet, and you dare oppose me? Perhaps I should release all of you from your suffering. I need Yuna alive, though."

"This guy plans into turning into that whale monster just to kill everyone?" Knuckles asked. "How crazy can these villains get? Where's the whole World Domination dream? You know the one you always hear?"

"It got way too old four years ago, Knucklehead," Sonic said. "Villains today are pretty damn sure destroying the world is much better for the evhulz because just taking it over is not enough. I heard some others want complete global saturation…or whatever that word means."

Marth ignored the two and glared fiercely at Seymour. "You won't get away with such foolish thought!" he yelled. "Life itself is not a curse but a precious gift!"

Tidus stepped in front of Yuna with his sword out, a fierce glare on his face. It was a cue for everyone else to ready their weapons.

"Once I have become the next Sin, your father will be freed again," Seymour said with a smirk.

Yuna gasped when she heard the maester talking about Tidus' father. Wakka, Lulu, and Rikku were also taken off guard by the news. Tidus clenched his fist and grunted loudly. "Aaaah! What do you know?" he yelled, rushing forward to the maester.

Seymour just laughed as a holy light rose up from behind his back. The group was startled by the heavenly light. "Pitiful mortal…"

Final Fantasy X – Challenge

From the light, an extremely odd-looking robotic part rose out, hovering right behind Seymour. The machine-looking ship had several curved stones around with golden spikes protruding from the front, along with some golden hands that hung down. The maester then slowly floated in the air as the abnormality sucked him in. When Seymour was sucked into the machination, his human form merged with it and turned him into some kind of statue in the middle of the arms and the spikes that completed the whole body. Seymour's statue form was now holding a very long spear that measured ten feet. In his new form, he was now called Seymour Flux. "Your hope ends here. And your meaningless existence with it!" Seymour Flux's distorted voice yelled.

To say the least, it was hard to describe what Seymour turned into. His monstrous form was complicated to put into words.

The lupine's mind was trying so hard to describe Seymour Flux's body. He gave up roughly three seconds after thinking. "DAMN, these enemies just keep gettin' weirder and uglier every time I blink," Wolf complained.

"Is this the right time to complain?" Tidus asked dumbfounded.

"No!" Auron yelled.

Everyone scrambled around until they decided on the six-party member team. Kimahri seemed to be the leader while Tidus and Yuna provided back up. Marth took the lead with Wolf and Knuckles supporting him. "Alright, this time, I'm not gonna be humiliated!" Knuckles said.

"Go look down the cliff," Wolf said.

"Very funny. That is so sweet of you."

"Focus!" Marth said. "I can feel so much energy coming from him!"

"And that will be the last feeling you're going to experience after I put you all out of your misery," Seymour Flux said. "It is sad that these new guardians did not get to enjoy your company so much, Yuna. Do you not want to heal Spira's sorrow? Let death carry you off like a peaceful slumber."

Yuna gripped harder her staff with both hands. "You can't run from your fate!" she yelled back.

"You have angered Kimahri," Kimahri said, controlling his rage. "The spirits of the Ronso will guide Kimahri's spear!"

"Those spirits are going to guide you to them," Seymour said. "You will be thankful in the end."

"Shut up! Why won't yo-" Tidus was cut off after hearing Marth letting out a big cry of war. Wolf and Knuckles were startled by the yell as their teammate jumped off the cliff to reach Seymour. "Marth, hold on!"

Marth was fed up with rage after hearing so much talk about death. The mere word was repeatedly used so many times ever since he started climbing that his tolerant behavior finally snapped out on Seymour. The Altean tried to stab the maester, but Seymour used his long spear to block Marth's sword. "It is obvious you want to be cleansed from your woes," Seymour Flux said. "I shall cleanse them so."

The Altean was easily pushed away back to the cliff where he landed on his feet. Marth panted heavily, glaring fiercely at Seymour Flux. Tidus ran to Marth's side to put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, get a hold of yourself!" Tidus said. "Marth, are you listening?"

"I need to kill this fool so he doesn't bother me anymore!" Marth yelled, not even turning once to look back and Tidus.

"Sorry, but that is not a good option," Seymour Flux said while raising his lance over Marth.

Marth gasped at the lance until Knuckles pushed him out of the way. "Out of the way!" Knuckles yelled. His eyes widened once the lance stabbed him on his body. The echidna, however, didn't get hurt badly as he thought. Knuckles blinked in confusion until he saw his body turning a disgusting shade of green. He gasped after seeing himself. "W-what is this?" he asked. "I feel so weird… And why do I suddenly want to eat flesh?"

"You've been zombified!" Tidus said.

Knuckles looked bewildered. "I was turned into a ZOMBIE?" he asked loudly. "How can you get turned into a freaking zombie like this? It makes no sense!"

Wolf was just about to say a sarcastic remark until Yuna spoke. "It's a very fatal status ailment that will make you weak against all holy attack, and that also includes healing spells," she explained. "Here, let me heal you from you-"

As Yuna was talking to Knuckles, Seymour Flux's golden arms moved in some familiar motion. The arms acted alone from the maester's will as if they were separated from Seymour's body. The golden arms were casting a spell that they directed to Knuckles.

A heavenly light of restoration shone down upon Knuckles. Instead of healing him of any fatal injury, the light itself made him feel a huge deal of pain. The echidna yelled so loud that he fell on his back, taken out with a single hit. "What the hell? What was that?" Tidus asked.

"That was Full-Life!" Yuna said. "It revives fallen party members, but its effect is reversed when somebody is under the zombie sickness!"

A holy light shone upon Knuckles. The echidna was revived for a second chance at the fight although he had half the health. "How many times…do I have to get knocked out like this?" he asked.

"So then, that spell meant to heal KILLS zombified people?" Wolf asked. "Okay, now that's bullsh-" He was interrupted by Seymour Flux slamming his long spear against him. The lupine went rolling all the way to the right side until he crashed against the wall.

"Wolf!" Yuna yelled. "Are you okay?"

Wolf opened his right eye while he gritted hard his fangs. "If anybody else asks me another question like that again… I swear a head will roll down this mountain," he said, slowly pushing himself off the wall.

"Resistance to your salvation is futile," Seymour Flux said. "Spira shall embrace death with open arms."

Tidus was once again startled by Marth's war cry. The Altean jumped off the cliff and blindly tried to score a slash on Seymour's face, but the Unsent blocked the blows with his spear. Marth was then pushed back to the cliff. "Marth, this is the second time you do this! Get a GOOD hold of yourself!" Tidus said.

Yuna and the others were starting to notice Marth's deep anger. The summoner focused back on the battle. "We must fight back!" she said.

At her request, Kimahri rushed forward and sliced up the lower body of Seymour Flux. Upon slicing it, the lower body twitched by its own. "Wait a minute. Did it just move alone?" Tidus asked.

"Seymour must be joined to that lower part…" Yuna wondered. "…It's just like before! Seymour has some sort of fiend aiding him!"

"Everyone, attack the lower part whenever you can!" Tidus instructed.

Knuckles stared at the lower portion. "That part has a mind of its own?" he asked.

"If you deplete its energy, it will steal life from Seymour," Tidus said. "That monster basically feeds on his gut!"

Wolf walked back to them, overhearing the instruction. "That is messed up," he said. "Then again, most stuff here is really messed up one way or another."

"Fools, you shall curse yours words," Seymour Flux said, just for Kimahri to slice up the monster under him.

The monster underneath Seymour Flux twitched painfully until it suddenly drained out life from his owner. Seymour Flux grunted in pain as his life was being stolen away from him. "Feed too much on my soul and you will pay the price along with me, Mortiorchis," he told the fiend attached to him.

Yuna gripped hard her staff. "Let me summon an aeon to aid us!" she said as she focused her mind into the staff.

"Fall back!" Tidus said, grabbing Marth forcefully from his wrist. The stern Altean was surprised by the sudden move as Tidus pulled him out of the way. Seeing Kimahri retreating as well, Wolf and Knuckles soon followed.

As Yuna was left to deal with Seymour Flux, she raised her staff above her. Surrounding her, an icy mist circulated until she knelt down right in front of huge ice shards falling behind her. From the sky, a spectral feminine figure descended into the ice shards. Once the spirit landed inside the ice shards, her reflection was shown on all corners of the icicles. The spirit was a light-blue skinned, beautiful woman who had long icy dreadlocks that ran almost all the way down her ankles, carrying a smooth blue cape on her right shoulder. Once she opened her eyes, she swung her cape to the left, shattering the icicles into sparkles of ice.

Yuna gasped and took the blue cape, gracefully landing on her hand. She kept the cape next to her as she looked at the aeon she had called. "Shiva, please help us," she told the spirit called Shiva.

From the right path, the other five overlooked the fight. "That is a spirit?" Knuckles asked shocked.

"Let the spirits take the form they want," Wolf said. "They can be ugly or dead sexy if they want."

Tidus stared at Wolf. "You like that aeon?" he asked.

"When did I say something about liking a spirit?"

"Never mind…"

Shiva focused magic into Seymour Flux, calling a heavy ice shard that damaged him. "Death awaits you!" Seymour Flux told Shiva. Seymour Flux then proceeded to cast a spell on the aeon. A straight line of fire pierced through Shiva like a sharp dagger. The icy spirit widened her eyes as she knelt down with her energies taken down in a single strike. Without spreading pyreflies, Shiva simply vanished.

Yuna was shocked to see her aeon taken down with no effort. "S-Shiva?" she stammered.

Seeing how Yuna was left alone, the other five rushed back to her side. "That…was it?" Knuckles asked. "I thought it'd last a bit longer…"

"Seriously, what a waste of special effects for an entrance," Wolf commented.

"This never happened before!" Tidus said. "Seymour learned a few new tricks after we beat him the last time we met him!"

"Unsent can have…surprising techniques," Seymour Flux said, his echoing voice chuckling with a high-pitched tone. "Death itself only enforced me more with power, as I am the arbiter of salvation for Spira."

As Tidus expected, Marth once again went ballistic on Seymour Flux's talk about death. The prince let out another war cry. "M-Marth!" Yuna yelled.

But Marth's third rush was stopped by Kimahri taking a hard grip on his left wrist. "Let me go!" Marth yelled to Kimahri. "I need to shut him up for good!"

"Kimahri thinks Marth is crazy!" Kimahri argued angrily. "Rage is no answer! Kimahri knows much!"

Marth gritted his teeth with a fierce grunt until the Ronso dragged him away from an impaling attack from Seymour Flux's spear. Tidus ran forward and slashed Seymour Flux across his face. "Son of Jecht, you are a hindrance to humanity," Seymour Flux said.

"And your very existence was a big mistake!" Tidus shot back.

The others watched as energy surrounded Tidus. The blond teen ran to the edge of the cliff where he jumped off towards Seymour Flux. He was slow to push Tidus away with his long lance, allowing Tidus to push himself higher into the air with a foot. Tidus' aquatic sword gathered energy as he raised it behind him.

"What is he doing?" Knuckles asked.

"He is going to do an Overdrive," Yuna said.

"A what?"

The echidna's question was never answered verbally. Tidus grinned wide and sliced the air with his sword, launching several energy blasts down below Seymour Flux and Mortiorchis. "Go take a nap!" Tidus yelled.

From below Seymour Flux, a big burst of energy pushed him and Mortiorchis into the air until they dropped down at their fixed altitude. Tidus landed back on the snow while Seymour Flux grunted in pain. "It will take a lot more to defeat me," Seymour Flux said until a small bag was tossed right at him. The bag upon contact opened, releasing a nonsensical odor that reached out for the Unsent's very soulless energy. Oddly, the Unsent gagged at the inhuman smell contaminating the air. "By the gods! What is this horrendous… B-bleah!" he gagged.

Back on the snowy cliff, the cocky lupine was tossing up and down the same kind of bag that was tossed at the Unsent. "This ought to change the battle's outcome by a lot," Wolf said with a chuckle as he put the bag inside his vest. "That crazy Puffy girl wasn't kidding when she said this bag would affect the likes of you."

"Argh!" Seymour Flux felt his monstrous body numb, unable to move even an inch. Even Mortiorchis was affected by the ungodly smell of the bag. "T-this is impossible! I-I cannot move!" Seymour Flux complained.

Tidus turned to Wolf. "What was that you tossed at him?" he asked.

"I grew curious and I took a very small sniff out of a bag," Wolf said shrugging. "Beyond that, you'll certainly die. You better not know what this is. Anyway, attack him while he's paralyzed! His defenses have been reduced."

Having in mind that any desperate attack would work, Kimahri let go of Marth so that he could run ahead and attack freely. "You shall pay for underestimating the living!" Marth yelled as he proceeded to unleash a Dancing Blade attack. The difference in the move he was using was that Marth's pace was a little bit faster and vicious. Seymour Flux stammered as his body was paralyzed in midair. "One more!" Marth yelled, using Dolphin Slash to deal a severe cut across the Unsent's face.

"Okay, this isn't going to be another screw up by MY part!" Knuckles yelled confidently, running to the Unsent. The echidna jumped off the cliff and delivered a harsh uppercut on the Unsent's stone face. Though Seymour Flux didn't display any emotion by the attack, he grunted in pain. "Alright, I made it up now!" Knuckles cheered.

Wolf rolled his eye at the echidna. The lupine thought about the fight at hand. "(Jumping to him is a bit risky… Time to swap places with somebody else,)" he thought to himself, retreating from the battlefield. From the right exit, a surprised Chris was kicked out by Wolf to take his place. "Hey kid, gotta fight to stimulate those mute vocal cords of yours!" Wolf called out.

Chris stared to the lupine's direction with a bewildered look until he gave up and went back to aid the group. The teen was going to find a way to get back to him in some way or another (which was sadly very unlikely much for Chris's dismay).

"Glad to have you back here," Tidus told Chris.

The teen saw Knuckles throwing a flurry of punches right on Seymour Flux's face. The Unsent then regained mobility and pushed Knuckles away from him to the cliff. "Damned fiend, you shall know true pain!" he yelled.

"I'm not a stupid monster!" Knuckles yelled.

Mortiorchis started moving on its own as it casted some sort of spell on Seymour Flux. A green barrier grew outwards, shielding Seymour Flux in some manner. "It casted Reflect!" Yuna said. "Don't attack him with spells or else they will bounce back at us!"

"Your advice is not going to make a difference, Lady Yuna!" Seymour Flux warned her as he performed a spell on his own. "Light and fire, make combustion and incinerate the very air to nothing! Flare!" he chanted as he bounced off his own spell on the reflecting shield.

The green shield shone a bit. The background turned orange for a brief moment until a heavy explosion of light and fire engulfed Marth completely. The intensity of the explosion was so grave that Marth screamed loudly in pain until the smoke cleared out. He knelt down in pain, panting heavily. "W-what…" he trailed off bewildered.

"Marth!" Tidus and Yuna yelled while Kimahri rushed forward without advice.

"I-I'm fine," Marth lied while standing up. "I was taken off-guard…"

"Spells reflected from Reflect can land randomly," Yuna said, handing him a vial of Hi-Potion. "It's impossible to tell who's going to receive the blow."

While Kimahri distracted Seymour Flux from attacking, Marth drank the Hi-Potion entirely, recovering some of his health. That little time to take a break from blindly charging forward to the Unsent made Marth realize how his actions were very irrational and outright random coming from him. Just seeing Tidus' look was enough to make Marth think about it. Yuna also seemed to be greatly concerned as well.

"…" Marth looked away ashamed. "…It looked odd, didn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty crazy, I'd say," Tidus said, not even noticing how crazy Knuckles had become after finally becoming useful in a fight. The echidna was starting to become a lunatic with a thirst for battle. Chris could only watch dumbfounded as the insanity consumed Knuckles while the latter attacked Seymour Flux with Kimahri. "It took one word to tick you off."

"What is happening to you, Marth?" Yuna asked. "You looked so calm to me a few moments ago until you got so furious."

Marth didn't tell anything to Yuna. The prince thought he had accidentally unveiled a secret from everyone. Tidus was in a similar situation. The blond teen never told everyone but Auron that Sin was his father. "I…" Marth couldn't find the words.

"Something is making you act like this, isn't it?" Yuna asked, ignoring the explosion of intense fire that engulfed the crazy Knuckles in the background. Out of the smoke, though, Knuckles jumped out and went ballistic on Seymour Flux. Chris was frantically keeping a close watch on the echidna so that he wouldn't fall down. "Was it…something that Seymour said?"

"(Wasn't it obvious?)" Marth thought worried, seeing the fight as if it was something very common. "…You could say that."

Yuna shook her head. "Please, Marth, don't let him get to you," she said. "You'll be sorry if he gets to you. I've…I've gone through the same phase as well."

"I did hear you almost married him to strengthen the bonds between your races," Marth said while hearing Knuckles' yells for more bloodshed. Being mute, Chris looked like a horrified child as the echidna drooled. "But it was all a trick just that he could become the next Sin."

"Leave my past mistakes alone," Yuna said concerned. "It's you we're talking about."

Marth thought the time to focus on him was unnecessary. He stared into space, namely how Chris swapped freaked out looks just by looking at Knuckles acting like a brainless barbarian on the enemy. Even Kimahri stopped attacking from time to time just to see Knuckles yelling out cheering yet violent outbursts. "…Talk about me later, please," Marth said. "We've got a battle to fight for our lives."

Tidus sighed. "(Yeah, I know he wants to change the subject, but still…) Okay, we'll continue fighting as long as you don't get so insane. I don't want a friend of mine to act like an idiot in front of all of us," he said.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Knuckles laughed maniacally, leaping to Seymour Flux and to the snowy cliff back and forth while sending flurries of punches and fists. "YOU WANNA HIT ME? I'M GONNA HIT YA! YOU WANNA DODGE ME? I'M GONNA DODGE YA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M FEELING SO ALIVEEEEEEEEEEEE! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Chris stared shocked at Knuckles. The teen then looked up to Kimahri, who nodded at him. "Kimahri feels embarrassed," he said. Chris gave him a defeated look of agreement.

"Yup, I don't know somebody who acts like that," Tidus said with a sarcastic look.

"But…" Marth just noticed Knuckles' behavior. It took two seconds for Marth to tell that Tidus was trying hard to ignore Knuckles, despite Yuna who was worrying even more. "…Never mind."

"So yeah, let's get back into the fray!" Tidus told Marth and Yuna.

What nobody was aware of was that Mortiorchis was preparing an attack to throw at the group. "No more fooling around!" Seymour Flux said as he pushed (the crazy) Knuckles away to the cliff's wall. Mortiorchis' hands moved up over Seymour's statue. The group saw how there were two long hilts unsheathed into the Unsent's upper part that later were pulled out, revealing to be long blue swords.

Chris whimpered in his mind how long those swords were.

Seymour Flux chuckled as he flew back and then dove down into the abyss. A second later, he flew up into the sky while delivering an explosive cross slash across the entire snowy cliff. The marked spot was filled with small but deadly bursts of explosions, damaging all of them at the same time. "YOU HIT ME! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU HEAR ME!" Knuckles said.

"Knuckles stop acting like an irrational fool!" Marth said. "I went through that too but you've got to stop!"

Knuckles pointed at Marth. "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW GOOD I FEEL! I'M FINALLY FEELING USEFUL FOR ONCE! IT FEELS AWESOME! YEAH, I WANNA FIGHT MORE WITH THIS GUY BECAUSE IT IS GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEA-"

Kimahri had enough of Knuckles that he punched Knuckles' head with his fist, taking out the echidna. Yuna gasped at the sudden move. "Kimahri!" she said.

"Kimahri knows what he is doing," Kimahri replied sternly as he grabbed Knuckles from his head and tossed him back like a rag doll to the right exit of the cliff. In Knuckles' place, Sonic ran out to Chris's side.

"What I saw from back there can be described in one word: priceless," Sonic said with an amused look, although Chris felt that Sonic shouldn't have come to fight in the condition he was. The hedgehog winked at Chris. "I know, I'm not gonna put up much of a fight."

The teen was surprised. Chris wondered who the hell he was talking to.

"Instead of throwing a fit like Knucklehead, I'm going to purposely anger those tier fanatics and use…items!" Sonic said taking out the Assist Trophy Chris had bought. Chris looked odd at Sonic. "What? I do browse the internet…just not those sites with the crazy shippers who like to defy the laws of nature. And by laws of nature, I mean me and Amy in a picture." He held up the trophy. "Let's see who's ready to put up a fight!"

The Assist Trophy shone brightly briefly until it shattered apart. A familiar figure leaped down in front of Chris and turned around with a grin. "Hey there! How you've been doing?" Zidane asked.

While Sonic gave back the same grin, Chris felt bad that he couldn't talk to Zidane. "Chris here lost his voice. Sorry if that sounds weird to you," Sonic said.

Zidane blinked. "(Him too?)" he thought before shaking his head. "Well, I'm sure you'll recover your voice soon. Don't worry!" he cheered Chris up, much for the mute teen's delight.

"More of these maggots? I am getting sick of this foolery," Seymour Flux said.

The thief turned to the Unsent and stepped back. "Whoa, would you look at that guy!" he said.

"He's the bad guy! Go and help us!" Sonic said.

Zidane winked at the duo as he unsheathed two dual blades from his belt. "That lance of yours is so mine!" the monkey-tailed boy said, leaping off the cliff to Seymour Flux.

Tidus, Yuna, and Kimahri noticed the newcomer. "Who is that person?" Yuna asked. "Oh, does he have a tail?"

Tidus tilted his head and rubbed his chin. "Call me crazy, but…I think he's one of ours in some kind of incomprehensible way."

Seymour Flux tried pushing Zidane away with the lance, but Zidane grabbed the lance with both hands and fell down to the hand grabbing it. "Nice try!" Zidane taunted, slashing the hand with both of his dual blades.

"Ugh!" Seymour Flux grunted in pain, keeping a tight grip on his lance as Zidane slashed it hard. "Insolent monkey, leave me alone!"

"I won't until I get my hands on this HUGE lance! A friend of mine is going to love using this! And if she doesn't then I'll sell it for big money!" Zidane said, seemingly having fun in making Seymour's life a living hell. "Gotcha!"

"What?"

Seymour Flux was shaken once he lost grip of his long lance. Zidane sheathed his dual blades and grabbed the lance with both hands, jumping back to the cliff. He held up the lance with a cocky grin. "Yeah!" he said.

"Wow, he actually pried it from Seymour!" Tidus said surprised.

Zidane looked dumbfounded. "Hmm, y'know, it feels kinda heavy," he said, tumbling to the sides. "She's not going to carry this big stick of metal around for long."

"Give it back to me, then!" Seymour Flux demanded, preparing a Flare spell.

The monkey-tailed thief gasped at the magical sparkles surrounding the Unsent. "Yikes, here you go!" Zidane said. Albeit instead of giving it back, Zidane tossed the lance right to Seymour's statue.

"AAAAHH!" Seymour Flux screamed in pain, taking a hold of his lance once more.

Zidane turned to the group and waved a hand. "Sorry, but I need to get going now! Good luck!" he said cheerfully, back-flipping into the abyss down below where he disappeared in a quick flash of light. Tidus peered down the abyss to see no traces of Zidane.

"…He looked very likeable to me," Tidus said to himself.

"Focus!" Kimahri yelled.

Seymour Flux grunted loudly at them. "This is it. I am mad!" he proclaimed as his entire being shook. "Prepare yourselves for your ruin!"

At the last second, Chris remembered the deadliest move in Seymour Flux's arsenal. The teen repeatedly tried to tell Sonic to go away. "Oh no, I'm staying!" Sonic said with a grin under his mask. Chris wished to strangle Sonic against his will.

Tidus held his hand close. "Let's speed things up once more!" he said, casting Hastega so that everyone would move even faster.

"I think not!" Seymour Flux said. "Blow away any blessings of omen! Dispel!"

Every single one of them was surrounded by shields of small pentagons that shattered apart upon concentration. The spell had nullified all status buffs that they were using, including the Hastega effect. "What? Aww, that's cheap!" Tidus complained.

"I thought your spell itself was cheap," Marth said as a matter of fact.

Yuna gasped loudly enough for the other five to look at her pointing at Seymour. "Look out, everyone!" she yelled.

They all turned around just time to see what was going on. Two long cloth-like fins on each side of Seymour Flux extended out, charging electricity. From between the fins, blue lights shot out and started burst all over the snowy cliff. There wasn't any second to escape from the attack, all of them having been hit.

Chris put down his staff to look around, feeling pain while doing so. He gasped mentally once he spotted Sonic unconscious on the snow. The teen picked him up to sit him while a light shone down upon Sonic, reviving him. "O-oww…" he moaned weakly.

But it wasn't quite over. Mortiorchis fired missiles from down below (it was beyond Marth and Tidus why there were missiles in an Unsent) that collided with the group. The missile barrage took out Sonic for good, followed by Chris and Marth. In a desperate move, Tidus and Kimahri shielded Yuna from the blows, although she was hurt less fatally. "Total Annihilation!" Seymour Flux yelled, pulling out from the cliff to fly away while sending missiles.

For a brief moment, the missile barrage stopped. Yuna was barely able to stand up from the critical blows. She caught sight of Chris being revived by the holy light for a second chance. However, Seymour Flux flew back to the cliff and shot down orange sparks that culminated in a bigger explosion, taking both of them out.

And the party was annihilated…

…

"Not yet! No!"

From the right side of the cliff, Rikku and Pit joined the fight for back up. "You big meanie! I'm gonna make you pay!" Rikku told Seymour Flux.

"The Al Bhed girl and a kid in rags have stepped up?" Seymour Flux asked amused. "Please, I hope you are not jesting."

"Q-quiet!" Pit shot back, turning to Rikku as he looked around at the fallen fighters. "How are we supposed to fight him ourselves with everyone like this?" he asked worried.

Rikku giggled and took out a Phoenix Down and an abnormal-looking potion. "Just leave that to me!" She turned around and crouched down to do something with the items.

Pit turned back to Seymour Flux. "Their souls have been sent to the Farplane," Seymour Flux said. "I assure you that their souls will be cleansed, and no misfortune shall follow them nevermore. Yours will go with them, I suppose?"

"They are in no way dead!" Pit yelled, fusing his dual blades into a bow. The angel aimed an arrow at the Unsent. "I am going to be the one to send you to hell instead!"

"Too bad you are not an angel because you are acting like a devil!"

Pit gasped (rather) dramatically at the insult. "T-take that back!" he yelled, shooting the arrow. Pit was a little bit blinded by rage that the arrow was ordered to strike the lower portion; Mortiorchis. The merged fiend twitched in pain at the attack and fell down unconscious. Automatically, it sapped energy back from Seymour Flux to revive itself at the expense of its master's life. "Did it just drain energy from you? No offense, but that seems unnecessary. I mean you and that fiend down below tied to your life…"

Seymour Flux grunted at the comment. "Mind your own business!" he yelled, casting Flare on himself to bounce it back to Pit. The angel was engulfed in the harsh explosion of light and fire that he crashed against the rocky wall behind him, sliding down to where Rikku was mixing the items she showed.

"Alright, thanks for the extra time!" Rikku thanked Pit, the latter giving her annoyed look that she ignored. She stood back up and tossed a shining light to the air. "Go, Mega-Phoenix!"

Multiple pillars of red light shone upon the fallen fighters. Intangible red feathers spread on their bodies as they slowly regained some energy. Rikku clapped her hands happily as the six got back up on their feet albeit they were weak. "T-thanks…" Tidus thanked.

"But…this is too risky," Marth said. "I can barely stand up and hold my sword…"

Sonic was coughing too much. He was stubborn to keep on fighting. He looked at Chris pointing back to the right exit. "A-alright… I-I'm leaving…" he said before Chris stopped him on his tracks. "…R-right…" Sonic walked slowly away from the battle. Once he left the area, Zelda ran out to take his place.

"That hedgehog's stubbornness is admirable," Zelda said sarcastically.

"Just a little more, you fools!" Seymour Flux announced. "The Farplane is ready to welcome your beings! And before long, Spira as a whole as well!"

"No, I will stop you!" Yuna said determined.

"You go, Yunie!" Rikku cheered, taking out another abnormal-looking potion from behind. "You guys! Let me heal you a bit with this Al Bhed Potion!"

The Al Bhed tossed up the Al Bhed Potion into the air where it broke by itself, raining its contents over everyone. The drops of potion proceeded to heal their wounds for as good as twenty percent. As Rikku smiled, she was struck by Seymour Flux's Lance of Atrophy from a blind spot, infecting her with the Zombie status.

"Rikku!" Zelda yelled.

Mortiorchis was ready to follow up with Full-Life. Seeing the monster moving his arms, Yuna handed over a shining potion to Rikku; a Holy Water. "Drink this quick!" Yuna said while Tidus, Marth, and Kimahri charged forward to stop the Unsent.

"But I just need to eat some brains," Rikku said, dismaying her cousin. "Just kidding!" she said, drinking the Holy Water. The sickening feeling of eating human flesh was dispelled from her body. Mortiorchis then used Full-Life on her, having no effect on her.

"Curses!" Seymour Flux complained. "How much longer will you maggots be cleansed with death?"

"Such a thing will never happen your way!" Marth yelled, jumping gracefully to the Unsent to use Dancing Blade in midair. The Unsent backed away slightly until Tidus jumped on Marth's shoulders to slam down his sword on the same spot Marth attacked, delivering even more damage.

From the snowy cliff, Kimahri performed his own Overdrive. The Ronso jumped forward acrobatically before gaining more height with a second jump that pushed him ever further into the air, right over Seymour Flux. With a loud yell, Kimahri fell down with his spear impaling Seymour's statue with a critical hit. "Ahh!" Seymour Flux yelled as all three melee fighters jumped back to the cliff. "You are trying my patience even more!" he yelled as he prepared another Flare spell.

Yuna saw the move and focused magic on her staff. "Not this time, Seymour!" she called out.

Marth gasped. "Yuna, your spell will bounce back!" he said.

"Not this one! This one can bypass Reflect altogether!" Yuna pointed out. "Blow away any blessings of omen! Dispel!"

Seymour Flux was surrounded by a wall made up of small pentagons that shattered into light. The green barrier that shielded him was no more, and…he used Flare on himself. "AHH!" he screamed loudly.

"Look out! The spell might have increased his magic's power!" Marth said before Chris face-palmed in the distance.

Rikku looked at Marth with a weird look. "Er, actually, he stupidly used Flare to hurt himself for no real reason," she pointed out.

"…SERIOUSLY?" Tidus asked loudly. "You used your spell on yourself knowing FULL WELL your barrier was taken down?"

"Shut up!" Seymour Flux said, not admitting his stupid mistake. Right before scolding Tidus, the Unsent was set on fire by Chris using Fira. Within the black smoke made by the scorching fire, Seymour Flux grunted.

The teen blinked a bit as he remembered that he could share jobs with his group. He tugged on Marth's shoulder to choose him for the little experiment. "What is it?" he asked.

Chris thought hard until he held out his hand to Marth. The teen thought in the Red Mage job, which manifested itself in the form of a glowing ball. Chris and Marth gasped at the shining ball until the teen regained his senses. He passed on a message on Marth while Kimahri and Tidus fend Seymour Flux off.

"I want you to use this. Hmm… Is not going to do some collateral effects on me, right?" Marth asked, to which Chris shook his head. "…Okay. I trust you."

Chris handed the shining orb to Marth, and in an instant, the Altean's clothes changed into the red clothes of the Red Mage, with everything and the big red hat and the long feather on the top.

Marth looked at his new clothes. He took out Falchion, which was spared from being replaced by another sword. He was a bit uncomfortable for wearing the clothes. "You should've told me that this job had these clothes…"

Chris looked upset.

"Okay, I know you can't talk." Marth looked back to the fight. "Might as well give these spells a try. Let me see what I have…"

Yuna nodded to herself. "It's the time," she said. "I'm going to call forth an eidolon! Everyone, back away!" she told them.

"Are you sure?" Rikku asked. "It's going to get killed with a single hit like Shiva!"

The summoner shook her head. "I just need a single attack!" she said, spinning her staff gracefully around her as winds swept the snow around her feet.

The mute teen grunted mentally once he saw Marth still thinking about what spell to use. Chris grew impatient that he grabbed Marth's hand to voice out his opinion. "Why are you so slow? Choose a healing spell! I-I'm sorry, but I've never tried out this kind of magic before! Don't blame me! Honestly, I'm a little bit stressed to think straight!"

"Marth, I'll comment on your new random clothes later, but let's fall back! An eidolon is coming!" Tidus called out.

The Red Mage's job then left the prince alone; probably responding to Marth's wish to not use the job. The clothes he wore were replaced by his usual clothes as a shining orb shot back into Chris. Chris didn't think he would share jobs in that way. "I'm more suited for close combat moves. Sorry…"

Chris shook his head and followed Marth to the right exit. Rikku was worried about leaving Yuna behind, but she was pulled over by Tidus as everyone else retreated to leave space for the eidolon to appear. Yuna stepped forward, holding out her staff to the skies.

An enormous roar echoed across the cliff until a huge dark figure descended from the northern skies. The dark figure revealed to be a huge dragon with darkish scaled all over its body with a huge orange wheel on its back, right behind its thick scaled wings. The dragon landed on its two clawed feet, roaring loudly to the sky before crossing its arms over its orange scaled chest.

From the side, Yuna was speechless, having called the eidolon Bahamut for the first time. "Oh, my…" she muttered under her breath, most of the others admiring the powerful-looking dragon from the sidelines.

The black smoke cleared out and Seymour Flux looked at the dragon looming over him. "Another eidolon? Lady Yuna, are you desperate to lose your guardians?" Seymour Flux taunted.

The Unsent got a reply in the form of Bahamut's roar. The dragon eidolon pulled its fists back, charging up the wheel behind its back. Bahamut jumped back and landed on his claws to aim at the Unsent with his mouth, massive energy concentrating inside.

Seymour Flux could feel the destructive force growing in Bahamut's energy. "Death awaits you!" he yelled to cast Banish.

"Mega Flare!" Yuna yelled back.

But the Unsent was too late to react. By the time he was about to launch the deadly spell, Bahamut shot out from its mouth a thin but intense beam of energy that created destruction in its path. Eventually, the beam expanded bigger to completely cover Seymour Flux and Mortiorchis, the former screaming loudly as imminent pain started to destroy all his ungodly being.

The beam of mass destruction then cleared out, and Seymour Flux was still floating over the abyss. Yuna gasped. "What?" she said.

Her speechless state was soon answered by Seymour Flux starting to blow up, or rather, Mortiorchis started blowing up. Seymour held out his hand to the sky as his monstrous form burst into pyreflies that spread around in the air, albeit the pyreflies were just a few. Bahamut sensed beforehand that it had no enemies to destroy, and so it took flight and flew away with a majestic roar into the skies. The others soon rejoined Yuna, watching how Seymour Flux said nothing as he faded away into pyreflies.

Tidus walked to the edge of the cliff, panting heavily as he glared up to the sky. "And stay up there!" he yelled.

Music stops

There was a small moment of silence. None of them forgot how Seymour told them that he had slaughtered the Ronso tribe down below. Kimahri put his spear away, though he looked blank. "Another enemy bites the dust… Phew," Sonic commented. "It's good we managed to beat him."

Nobody said anything. Yuna still remembered Seymour's words about Sin being Tidus' father. The others except Auron and Marth were astonished. Tidus didn't want to take a look at Yuna, having hiding the truth from her for a long time. Marth also felt the same. He knew everyone saw how he acted so furiously. Even Tidus was shocked.

One by one, all of them walked away to the right path. The foreign group was confused at this point what to do, but they followed everyone. Yuna remained behind on the edge of the cliff, her mind trying to understand what was going on. "He will become Sin...with my help," she said.

Everyone turned back to her. "Lies. Forget them," Auron said.

"Pardon me, but we felled Seymour," Zelda said. "He will no longer bother us…right?"

"This is the second time he has come back to the world of the living," Lulu pointed out. "He will come back. He has strong ties to this world. A strong desire to save Spira…in his own twisted way."

Pit looked dismayed. "Oh, that's just great," he said. "His strong goal is strong enough to keep him alive? That is so…so bad enough."

Yuna put up a serious look. "If he becomes Sin, Sir Jecht will be saved," she said. She was trying so hard to make Auron talk about Sin's true nature. Tidus also was another target to her point.

Auron stared blankly. "We're leaving."

Yuna had it with the dodging answers. "You know something! Tell me! "she demanded, at which point she ran to Tidus. He was staring away from her with a sharp look. "Tell me!" she demanded again. He gave up, and decided to explain everything to them.

"Sin's...my old man," Tidus said.

Wakka gasped along some of the others. "You hit your head?" he asked.

"Sin's…my old man. My old man became Sin! I don't know how or why he did it," Tidus said, looking up to the blizzard in the sky. "I felt him, inside… And when I did, I knew it was true… My old man is Spira's suffering…" He looked down with a long sigh. "…Sorry."

Yuna was at a loss. She was both angry and sad about the revelation. "Even...knowing that Sin is your father... Still, you know, I must..." she trailed off, not finding the right words to use. For a long time, Yuna never knew about Sin's true self; the father of one of her guardians.

"…Um…" Pit suddenly spoke up. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I don't understand what's going on. L-let me see. That Sin monster is Tidus' father? How is that even possible? Did his father become cursed by something and he grew into a monster of massive proportions?"

Zelda frowned at the angel's naivety. "Pit…" she muttered under her breath.

"Tidus, what should we do?" Pit asked. "How do we deal with this revelation?"

Tidus shook his head and looked down. "I know. Let's get him. I think my old man would want that," he said.

"You'd fight your own father?" Lulu questioned. Marth didn't need an explanation. He was already told by Tidus about his hatred to his father.

"Yeah. No problem there."

Wakka scratched his head confused. "Uh... 'Bout your old man... You sure this ain't some kinda bad toxin dream or something? Then, Chappu... I, uh... I think I'll just pretend I didn't hear nothing. I'm getting a little confused, ya? Why... Why'd all this have to happen?"

"We'll learn when we arrive. Soon," Auron said.

Confusion took a hold of almost everyone. After Yuna healed everyone, they all continued to walk (with Sonic dragging Knuckles along the path since the echidna was still knocked out, not even looking back how Knuckles' head bumped against the sharp rocks hidden in the snow) down the path to the right of the cliff, crossing a rock clearing with stone pillars similar to those they saw back at the base of the mountain. Rikku cheered herself with a treasure that was hidden behind a pillar, finding a very valuable gem. She told the group about her finding, but nobody really talked to her, much to her dismay.

Marth had his mind somewhere else. He felt down in the mood. By now, he remembered his barbaric display at the battle against Seymour. He hoped nobody would talk to him about it, but it was sure bound to happen sooner or later.

And woe answered.

"Your behavior back there was…amusing," Lulu told Marth in secret, away from everyone's ears. "What was that made you act so weird?"

Marth looked away from her. He didn't want to avoid Lulu, probably the sharpest woman he had met in a while. "So you saw…" he said. "…It's the concept of people dying that makes me mad. People who are close to me: friends, family, parents…"

"I can tell you experience some sort of unfortunate event," Lulu presumed, "or you don't want something like that to happen soon."

"It's both," Marth said honestly. "I went through it once and it felt horrible. Going through it once more will kill my mind."

"You will be a perfect example to me for what's to come," Lulu said.

Marth stared at her. "Why… Oh…" He looked at Yuna who was fretting mentally to herself about her decision to fight Sin; Tidus' father. "She will sacrifice her life…"

"And many will miss her," the woman said. "When she goes away, tears will be shed, and peace alone won't mend emotional wounds…including mine."

The prince didn't want to see Yuna lose her life willingly. Marth was having enough of sad farewells. "Your heart is telling you to stop her, that's for sure."

"As so everyone's," Lulu said. "Yuna has made her mind a long time ago, though…"

"It must be hard."

"It really is."

Everyone was shaken up so badly that there was almost no talk at all. The walk to Zanarkand became filled with uncertainty: my issues with my father, how Yuna, Wakka, and Rikku felt restless about fighting my old man, how Marth felt like an idiot for acting so strange in the fight against Seymour, and how the rest tried to figure out the best course of action.

At that moment, I wished so hard for all our problems to be solved by themselves. I wanted to watch the answers from a safe distance without doing anything. That way, I wouldn't be blamed for any mistakes.

Mt. Gagazet – Fayth Spring

"Wow!" Yuna said suddenly.

The summoner's sudden reaction was probably an understatement. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the spring they reached. There was a long path in front of them that led to a cave's entrance. The path wasn't the feature they were admiring, but it was its right wall. The wall was made up of stone people clinging into mystical wheels. The entire scenery was covered in a transparent blue coat of magic that radiated all over the area. To the left of the path, there was a spring with a vortex of water rising up to the skies. Its base was wide but its top was far thinner. It was so thin that it looked like it was gone in the air, but the energy that covered it said otherwise.

It was as if they all had stepped into some sort of dream.

"This is what basically the world I come from lacks," Wolf said, "a place where nature doesn't get screwed up by some skirmish."

"Well, from where I come from, everything is surrounded by deep magma," Chip said. "You won't see a single strand of grass."

Zelda looked at Pit. "Every time he tells us about his life as a deity, it makes me feel pity just thinking about it," she said.

"Nobody said deities had an easy life," Pit said. "Why else do you think Palutena is on the watch for Medusa's return?" He laughed playfully. "Of course, not even in a few years she'll come back, but Palutena concerns about such an event. But you don't need to fear. After all, I vanquished Medusa myself!"

"Be careful what you say because it might just come true one day," Lulu said.

Pit stared blankly to the air for a few seconds and chuckled nervously. "I know for a fact nothing like that will happen," he said.

"Your legs are shaking. I'm having second thoughts," Sonic said.

"You're kidding!"

"QUIET!" Rikku yelled to keep them on topic with the spring.

Wakka approached the glowing statues embedded to the wall across the cliff. "W-what are those?" he asked mildly frightened.

Yuna looked serious. "Those are fayth," she said while examining the wall.

"Compared to what we saw the last time with Yojimbo, this is amazing," Marth said. "(In other words, all the statues on the wall are from people that…)"

"A summoning!" Yuna suddenly said. "Someone is using these fayth! Someone is drawing energy from all of them!"

"This many?" Rikku asked confused.

"I can't count all of them. They are so many…" Zelda said. "The amount of fayth in here determines the amount of power for a summoning?"

"Who wields power on this scale, and what could they be calling?" Lulu asked.

"Well…some sort of powerful entities like those eidolons Yuna uses in battle?" Pit wondered.

Yuna shook her head. "I don't believe so. Nobody has heard of an eidolon roaming the world… It must be something else out there," she said.

The Al Bhed noticed Auron kept staring with a blank look. Being the most knowledgeable of the whole group, Auron was questioned by Rikku. "Hey, you know something, don't you? Spill the beans!" she said.

Auron started walking ahead just to stop in front of them, albeit looking ahead. "Look not to others for knowledge. This is your journey, too," he said.

"Way to act tough and make us all solve this big riddle ourselves," Wolf said, crossing his arms in disgust.

Rikku got worried about Yuna's safety. "Yunie might die, you know?" she asked.

Tidus sighed at the fact brought up by Rikku. "No... Auron's right," he said while standing in front of the ominous wall. "This is our... This is my story." He touched the wall slightly.

Chip gasped. "Everyone, he's trying to steal the spotlight from us! I knew it was his plan all alo-" He was quickly smacked by Sonic's hand-chop attack. Chris was just about to do it himself on the imp.

Something strange happened. After Tidus pulled back his hand from the fayth, he made a strange gasp and fell down unconscious. Wakka grabbed the blond teen by the shoulders to keep him from falling. "What's gotten into you? Hey!" he shouted. "It's no use! He's not responding!"

Marth was taken off-guard by the event. "Tidus! Are you okay? Is he really sleeping?" he asked.

Everyone gathered around them to check on Tidus. "Wake up! Wake up!" Rikku said.

"What is going on now?" Zelda asked concerned. "Is this wall full of statues especially hazardous in some mystical way?"

"No wonder why it's full of people turned into stone," Wolf said sarcastically.

Sonic's eyes widened. "He's going to turn into a statue?" he asked.

"No, that is just plain silly," Auron said.

Yuna grabbed Tidus' hand. She was afraid that he was killed off in some manner. "Wake up. Wake up, please!" she pleaded.

Either Yuna's call worked or Tidus simply woke up by himself. He blinked confused at the many eyes staring at him. "…Uh…hi?" he said playfully.

Many sighed exasperated. "Are you all right?" Yuna asked.

Rikku looked upset at Tidus. "Hey! We were so worried about you!" she said. "Don't go saying hi after passing out all of a sudden!"

"You okay?" Lulu asked.

Tidus looked a bit weird. "I...I'm okay."

Yuna saw Tidus' look. She was preoccupied that he had become ill. "What happened?" she asked.

"Nothing... I blacked out. I was dreaming. You called me...and I woke up," Tidus said.

"Romantic," Wolf muttered, getting a slight smack from Wakka. The lupine naturally grunted at the blitzball player and crossed his arms with a scoff.

"(Oh, he's hiding something,)" Marth said as he stared at Tidus' happy look. "(I don't believe that look of his. You might be lying now, but I'll see what is bothering you…so I can distract myself from my own issues.)"

Tidus stretched out his arms to relax. "Nothing like a good nap! Well, I'm ready. Let's go," he said.

"…Very well," Auron said. "Zanarkand is just ahead across that cave. Once we cross it, we'll be there."

Without another word, the group trenched onwards. Now there was more worry about what happened to Tidus.

"How long are you supposed to keep dragging your friend along the ground?" Lulu asked Sonic.

The hedgehog told Yuna that he was going to drag Knuckles around in hopes that he would rest, if bumping his head on rocks was considered resting. "As long as I think he's going to be under control," Sonic said shrugging. "He has his moments."

Of course, Lulu knew better that Sonic was making Knuckles' life a living hell, even in his dreams. Not wanting to question Sonic anymore, they all entered the cave, where more trials awaited…

NOTE: BECAUSE THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF INTEREST INSIDE THIS CAVE, WE WILL SKIP ALL RANDOM BATTLES AND WEIRD-*SS TRIALS TO THE POINT THE PARTY COMES OUT FROM THE EXIT.

Mt. Gagazet - Summit

By the time the group came out from the damp cave, the sun set in the horizon. One by one, they walked out to take in some fresh air. A few minutes ago, Knuckles had awoken. Since the coldness of the air was gone, Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, and Pit took off their extra "luggage" and stretched out their arms. They each commented how good it felt to be freed at last.

"What kind of trial has you sticking out from a colored hole underwater?" Rikku asked.

"What kind of trial has me using my blitzball to hit a protected sphere?" Wakka asked. "It looked convenient for me being there, ya?"

"You thought that was weird?" Zelda asked. "What about that mountain of a black blob that we ran into for about ten times until we came out?"

"No, I think it's fair to say that the most important thing to talk about is the dangerous Behemoth we found…or rather, found us more than four times," Wolf said. "I don't wish to run into those fiends again. For once, I feared dying by being mauled alive."

"Don't forget eaten alive," Rikku shuddered.

Wolf grinned. "Oh yeah, it looked like a wish come true when you were in its menu," he said, receiving a pout from the Al Bhed.

"And Knucklehead here got those two treatments combined," Sonic said.

Knuckles looked ticked off. "Hey! I didn't think it was that strong!" he said on his defense.

"Typical of you, ALWAYS challenging someone bigger than your size," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "When are you gonna learn that just because you're a few inches taller than me makes you stronger than everyone else?"

"STOP TREATING ME AS IF I WAS A CAVEMAN!" Knuckles yelled loudly.

"Stop acting like one, then," Sonic said with a cocky grin, cleaning his right ear.

"WHAT!"

Chris was startled when Sonic tugged to his arm all of a sudden. "Help me! I'm in recovery and this…caveman is harassing me!" he pleaded falsely, infuriating the echidna even more. "I believe he touched me inappropriately too!"

From a distance, Auron frowned. "How many times do you have to put up with this?" he asked Marth.

"You somehow get used to it," Marth said, though he couldn't care less about their affairs. During the trip inside the cave, he never got a chance to talk with Tidus or Yuna because they were interrupted by splitting paths where Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka would go underwater to unlock the way ahead and fight some of the most dangerous fiends.

The Altean saw the chance to talk to both. Tidus was looking away, and Yuna was looking ahead where Zanarkand awaited them below the long cliff. He smiled to himself and walked to Tidus. "Hey, Tidu-"

"It comes!" Auron suddenly yelled.

Right about that, a big fiend jumped down from the higher cliffs, blocking the path to Zanarkand Ruins. The fiend was a big silver beast with a long scaly tail and four wings on its back. The most threatening feature was the two claw-like pincers on the sides of its mouth.

"...Naze watashi wa subete no jikan korera no orokana mondai de chūdan sa reru nodesu ka? Kono ikari wa, nin'i no yori yoi mono o tsukuru tsumoride wa arimasen!" Marth cursed loudly.

"E mega drec geht uv drnemm duu!" Rikku said cheerfully, completely missing the point as the group prepared for the next fight.

NOTE: THIS FIGHT HAS NO REAL PURPOSE TO BE SHOWCASED EITHER. WE ARE SKIPPING THIS ONE TOO FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT SAKE AND SPACE! I MEAN, THIS BOSS IS WAY TOO CHEAP TOO! YOU THOUGHT SEYMOUR FLUX WAS BAD? THIS ONE WILL LAUGH AT YOUR FACE AS WELL! WE ARE ACTUALLY KIDDING BECAUSE THIS BOSS IS A SISSY WITH THE RIGHT STRATEGY!

TOO BAD THE GROUP KNOWS NO BETTER, AND CHRIS IS STILL MUTE TO GIVE VAGUE HINTS ABOUT IT!

AFTER ENDURING… After enduring a long battle with Auron slashing the Sanctuary Keeper harshly, the big fiend roared loudly in pain as its body burst into blue clouds. It lied down on the ground as a light surrounded it, eradicating its body into pyreflies that flew into the air and vanished.

"Finally," Zelda said, dusting off her dress. "Casting Reflect on us just so it could heal itself all its injuries with a potent healing spell and keep us from healing ourselves was a cheap move to do."

"But it was effective," Yuna said. "…Alright, it was annoying."

Rikku sighed relieved. "Hey! Can't we rest a little?" she asked. "That fight took a lot of energy out of me…"

"Seconded," Chip said, resting on her head.

"Silly, you were hiding all the time," Rikku pointed out.

"Hiding is actually very stressing. You have to watch out for falling rocks or the big bad noticing you from afar. When he gives you the evil smirk of evil, you know it's time to whimper and run away," Chip said. "That's what I was doing all this time! I'm tired because of it!"

"Oh yeah, you have a point," Rikku agreed, Sonic face-palming from his spot.

Auron shook his head at Rikku's suggestion while Yuna was busy healing the others. "No need to rest. We'll reach the summit soon," he said.

Final Fantasy X – Wandering Flames

Rikku crouched down to run a finger on the ground, Chip staring intently at said finger. "I know, that's why I want to stop for a bit. Soon means that... there's not much time left," she said depressed.

"Rikku..." Yuna trailed off.

The time was running out for Marth. Rikku's fact made a big point. Zanarkand was going to be the place where the summoning of the Final Aeon would take place, and Yuna would sacrifice her life willingly.

"Fine. I'll think on the way," Rikku said upset, standing back up. Chip hopped off her head as she started walking. The group then followed, but Tidus and Wakka remained behind.

Tidus was staring into space until Wakka brought him back to his senses. "Hey, come on, let's go," he said. Marth was nearby, and he walked to them.

"A little bit more," Marth said. "Yet we haven't found that temple we were supposed to find."

"Yeah," Tidus said. "If we don't find that temple… Well, we tried. It's gonna be a waste for dragging you to Zanarkand without making any accomplishments."

The prince forced a smile. "At least I made friends," he said.

Wakka grinned and hung his arm over Marth's shoulder. "We've come a long way. You better not leave because it's gonna get even harder from here," he advised Marth.

"…It is already hard in more ways than one to me," Marth said. Tidus could tell Marth showed a small hint of sadness in his look.

A chuckle came from the north. The trio looked back where Auron chuckled as he watched the sun set. "What's so funny?" Tidus asked.

Auron stopped chuckling. "You remind me of myself. Before, the closer I came to Zanarkand, the more I wondered...when we arrive, Braska will call the Final Aeon... He will fight Sin, and die. I thought my mind was made up long before. But when I stood here, my resolve wavered."

Marth was a bit touched by the story. "I would've never guessed you felt that way. You have a reputation as a legendary guardian in this world for a reason," he said. "You were seen as one years ago for sure."

Auron turned around to look at them. "Legendary guardian? I was just a boy; a boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing…" He nodded to himself. "That is my story."

Tidus took Auron's words to heart. As he watched Auron walking back down the right wall to Zanarkand, Tidus grew worried that he wouldn't be able to change anything.

I didn't want all these conflicts to end on a sad note. I wanted Yuna to live on. I wanted to look for another way to defeat Sin. I wanted Marth to stop fretting and looking sad. I somehow wanted to help his team to find that temple. I wanted to be…

I wanted to do so many things, and the time was running short. By next morning, possibly everything would end badly.

The four moved on as they reflected on Auron's words. An impatient imp flew around. "Are we there yet?" Chip asked.

"Somebody stop him from asking that before it gets any worse," Wolf said.

"Actually…we're here," Lulu said.

Zanarkand Ruins

Everyone looked towards the horizon where their sight was marveled by the sight of ruins making up the entire landscape. The sunset was reflected on the decayed walls that shone bright red, orange, and white. There was mist down below the old buildings that once made up the Zanarkand from a thousand years ago. Even though everything was laid down to waste, Zanarkand Ruins was a majestic place to admire.

"Wonderful…" Zelda said.

"This world gets more and more amazing with each new place we see," Pit admired.

"Don't forget the monsters get uglier and uglier as well. It sadly balances out the sightings," Wolf said.

"So…this is Zanarkand?" Knuckles asked. "It's all in ruins. It reminds me of my tribe's civilization."

Lulu was amused by the fact. "You have a tribe?" she asked.

Before Knuckles could respond, Sonic butt in. "He's the last of his tribe. The other ones? They were mercilessly slaughtered alive because they wanted complete global saturation…I mean, complete world domination by using these awesome emeralds of infinite power. And the guardian protecting the jewels did NOT take it well and turned insane with the emeralds' power," he said. "After that, their city went BOOM."

"That is…a rather interesting description," Lulu remarked.

Knuckles closed his eyes. "I hate to say it, but he's got the point. That happened a long time ago, though. No offense, but this kind of place relaxes me," he said.

Chip shuddered at the sight of the pristine city. "If my brother goes rampant, will your entire world turn into a magical place full of ruins as well, Sonic?" he asked.

"I doubt about the magical part, but…it could be even worse as in nothing everywhere," Sonic said. "Don't worry, Chip… I'll prevent that from happening."

A city dead for a thousand years. A city I had to see with my own eyes. The end of Yuna's journey. The last chapter…in my story. My thoughts, they kept floating up, and then slipping through my fingers. Slipping away before I could pin them down with words.

Down there, many horrible things for Spira's sake would happen soon. Rikku grew even more worried than before. She finally snapped out. "Yuna, I say…no! If we go down there, then you'll..."

Many of them put up worried looks. Yuna took a brief moment to consider, but she forced a smile while looking at her cousin. "Rikku. You're a true friend and I thank you, but...I must go...down, to Zanarkand," she said.

"(Cruelty,)" Zelda thought. "(The fate of this world at the expense of her life is just cruelty.)"

Rikku's shoulders felt tense. She shook her head. "I'm not saying we shouldn't go. But shouldn't we think about it some more? There's gotta be some kind of way we can save you, Yuna!"

"All my life, I knew this moment would come..." Yuna said. From his spot, Pit saw trails of tears scrolling down her cheeks.

"Yunie..." Rikku sobbed.

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme

Chris was starting to whimper at the sad scene. He was the only one who was on the verge of bursting into tears. Kimahri was the entire opposite to the teen's emotions, his sharp look intact.

When Yuna walked to hug Rikku, there was a recording sphere that was weakly hanging on her side. She was supposed to drop it, but Yuna put the sphere back on its place. Chris noticed the move, and that told him that the storyline had been changed. The sphere was meant to drop so that Tidus could watch it and see a recording she made in private shortly after arriving at the mainland.

But the sad scene between the cousins hugging each other was far more important to Chris than the little change. His eyes became teary, and a teary Chip offered a napkin.

Yuna and Rikku stared at each other. "Thank you, Rikku. Thank you for everything," Yuna said sobbing.

"Don't say that, Yunie! It's not over yet!" Rikku whined as she rested her head on Yuna's shoulder.

"Tell Cid…thank you."

"No... You can tell him yourself."

"Please..." Yuna pleaded.

Rikku pushed herself to stare at Yuna. "Yunie, don't say that because...we're gonna see each other again, okay?" she said, shaking her head.

"…Everyone, let's go," Yuna said as they stopped hugging each other. The summoner and the Ronso walked down the cliff as everyone else watched them from their places. So many complaints to Yuna wanted to be said, but she was very sure of herself that nothing would convince her.

"Why does she have to die?" Chip asked sadly.

"She needs to save Spira," Lulu said.

"Why does she have to die?" Rikku repeated with an angered expression. "She's my cousin! I can't allow this to happen!"

Auron started walking again, away from them.

"You're just gonna shrug it off like usual?" Rikku asked. "I can't believe you!"

The legendary guardian never stopped once. He possibly heard and ignored Rikku's outburst.

Rikku looked down sadly until Marth approached her. "Something will come up," Marth said hopefully. "You've been trying so hard to change her mind. Maybe she is trying to find an alternative, deep down within her."

The Al Bhed sniffed and looked at the prince. "…Thank you," she said. "I want to think that way…just to feel okay."

Marth looked over at Tidus. The grieving look on Tidus told him so many words at once. "(Would I let this happen to him?)" Marth thought. "(He and Yuna are way closer to each other than I think. If she just dies, he'll suffer far worse than I did.)"

Wolf sighed and started walking away. "Stop whining and let's go. Let's get this show on the road and interrupt it with some style," he said. "If you like her so much, then stop her when you think it's time."

Wakka overheard him. "Interrupt?" he said confused. "I dunno… She'll get mad, ya?"

Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand

They all continued their way around the cliff until they walked down a long rocky path high into the air. The path was long, surrounded by pristine buildings that looked like they were about to crumble away. The dampness of the air gradually increased until they reached the base of the desolated ruins. Down below, there was rocky bank with a high hill that overlooked some of the destroyed landscape.

The sight from the rocky bank was as incredible from the cliffs. They reached there to rest for a while, making a campfire in the middle as they sat around it, putting their weapons aside next to each other. There were flows of pyreflies flying freely without stopping. A floating river of white clouds surrounded the ruins above the water. Speaking of the water, the ruins were floating over the sea. Beyond the rocky land, the entire field was made up of fallen ruins with a crumbling coliseum in the distance.

"I feel some chills from the pyreflies," Zelda said. "Truly, this place is magical."

"You know, it feels more relaxing than my home," Knuckles said. "…I-I mean, it's not like I'm saying there are better places than my home."

"Quiet," Lulu said. "This is the time to think about what's coming next."

"Yeah…"

"I want to sing a song for the campfire," Chip said while sitting on Rikku's head.

"Don't," Wolf hastily said, leaning against the cliff.

Nobody spoke a word as Tidus put a hand on Yuna's shoulder. The summoner relaxed and smiled up at him. That smile hurt Marth from his sitting spot. Yuna closed her eyes to feel more relaxed until Tidus climbed the small hill to look up at the colored sky and the pyreflies floating by. He briefly smiled albeit his concerns for Yuna.

Listen to my story. This…may be our last chance.

Shortly after, Marth saw his chance to go and talk to Tidus in private. "Tidus… I wanted to talk to you now," he said. "Talking to Yuna would be…pointless because she isn't going to listen to change her mind again, and I don't wish to make her cry." He sat down on the rocky floor and looked to the same direction Tidus was looking. "…What are you going to do next?"

Tidus sighed. "I've tried everything, but I will keep trying," Tidus said. "I want my story to have a happy ending where nobody has to sacrifice for the sake of everyone else… An ending where Yuna lives is all I want."

"You and everyone back down want it very much," Marth said. "Myself included, even Wolf too. He's just acting tough."

"But if… But if there was something else to do to defeat Sin… well, Yuna is going to fight my dad," Tidus said. "It makes me mad that I won't get to punch him at least once. Well, Sin is a big thick wall of scales. I'll probably get hurt. Heh, only a nutjob punches something bigger than him."

Marth nodded. "Right…"

One last fleeting memory of his comrades dying finally convinced Marth to move on ahead and speak his mind.

Marth shook his head and stood up to look at Tidus. "Tidus, this isn't going to end on a happy note. I know that very well," he said. "I discourage the fact that you'll go through the same event I went through a month ago. If worst comes to worst…I'll pull Yuna out of harm's way so she can live."

Tidus chuckled. "No, I AM supposed to do that. If you do that, people will think the wrong stuff about you and Yuna," he said until he realized what he said. "N-not like I have a thing for her."

"It's so obvious you love her dearly," Marth said. "Love is even stronger than friendship alone. I was depressed with a death of a friend, but you're going to just stop having emotions once your loved one perishes… Is that worth it, I ask?" he asked. "Your friend's life for the world's sake? There's another option out there to make this easier and much less painful. Sin is thought to be very strong. It doesn't mean it's invincible."

Tidus looked away.

"Don't turn your back on Yuna now," Marth said. "The last moments are the most critical."

The blond teen kept himself from yelling out to avoid startling the others down at the campfire. "I know," he said. "That's why…that's why I'll think of something. We'll reach the coliseum, and then we'll talk to Yunalesca."

Marth recalled Auron's words when they were traveling through the cave. He said that the Unsent was sending them enemies to fight against to test them if they were strong enough to defeat Sin. All the trials, from the moment they stepped out from the cave, were all from Yunalesca.

Yunalesca was the first summoner who fought Sin together with her husband Lord Zaon. It was she who created the method to create the Final Aeon in exchange of human life. Her spirit still lingers even today, teaching summoners the technique of the Final Aeon to defeat Sin and bring the Calm. Yuna was named after her on her father's decision.

"It's always a trial of strength to test our resolve," Marth said. "But it's Yuna's resolve that matters the most."

Tidus turned to Marth. "It infuriates me that my dad is the big bad of this story," he said. "I want to fight him myself, but I just don't know if I can do it. If he was here, he'd laugh at me and call me a coward. For comedic purposes, he would punch me."

"How is that a comedic purpose?"

"For him it is, for me it's the pain," Tidus said. "It's the pain of having your own father look down on you and kick you aside 'cuz you don't reach his manliness and level of awesome."

Marth couldn't quite think of Jecht as the father of the year but more on the idiot bastard of the year line. "…Screw that," Marth said, surprising Tidus. "We shall break this cycle together and save Yuna from sacrificing her life."

Tidus chuckled. "Yeah, I like to think that'll happen very, very soon…"

The two returned to the campfire. However, Marth stopped midway down the hill's slope. Somehow, he felt a presence watching over him somewhere. "Wait…" he muttered under his breath, looking around the ruins.

There was nothing or nobody around the ruins, but Marth could certainly feel a presence. The pyreflies around seemed a bit disturbed as they moved to several directions until they floated by normally. Marth then caught sight of a person staring at him from the direction of the coliseum. Right after, the person disappeared.

His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat.

"Huh?" Tidus turned to Marth, looking at his pale look. "Hey, Marth, are you okay?"

"(N-no, it couldn't have been…)" Marth thought shocked. "(I-it wasn't… No, it can't be.)"

"Marth?"

Marth snapped out of his senses and looked down at Tidus. "I thought I saw a ghost… It was probably an Unsent," he said.

"An Unsent? It was…probably some enemy taking the form of a human person," Tidus said. "Don't let it bother you. We have a whole army with us if things go bad or plain down nasty."

"Yes…" Marth wanted that army to help with the worries he had. However, something was telling him that the person he saw in the distance was somebody he knew. It started to bother the prince a lot.

Final Fantasy X – Someday the Dream Will End

Everyone relaxed until night came. Tidus and his group were telling stories to the foreign group about their most cherished memories. "These two were laughing for no reason to the ocean, ya?" Wakka said. "We thought they went insane."

"I-it was a good time, though!" Tidus said on his defense. "Alright, it looked a bit silly, but it was fun to do."

Several chuckles came from most of them until Yuna stood back up. "I think it's time to move towards the ruins," she said.

She never meant to kill the cheery mood in the atmosphere. In a single second, everyone else sighed in unison under their breaths, standing up against their wills to stop Yuna from advancing towards her death.

"We shall cross the crumbled path to reach the coliseum on the other side," Auron said. "There is one more trial to pass inside to meet up with Yunalesca… From that point, Yuna will know what to do."

"(Sacrifice her life…)" Zelda grieved the thought. "(Why must good and interesting people like her just vanish in such a way?)"

Without a word, everyone stared to the north where the shadow of the coliseum awaited them. "It's incredible that we haven't found the temple yet," Knuckles said. "You think it might be up ahead?"

"I really hope it's there," Sonic said. He looked up at the night sky and sighed with a long groan following afterward. "Wait for it..."

"What?"

And Sonic let out a roar as he turned into a werehog once more. He put his fists on the ground, looking rather ticked off. "You know, the day was very long, I forgot I was cursed with this brawny body to begin with," he said. Rikku approached him and massaged his furry ears. He naturally stuck out his tongue with pleasure until he snapped out of it. "Hey!" he growled.

"Tee-hee, I like big brawny fiends," Rikku said. "You're like a big doll."

"Sorry, but I'm not resting on a shelf until a dog pulls out the stuffing out of my body," Sonic said. "…In which case, I'll rip its insides instead."

"(So, who's the caveman again?)" Knuckles thought with a snicker full of satisfaction.

The path to the coliseum was long. It was a bit hard for them to walk on the crumble path with the many small gaps that were close to the cold water, but most of the time the path would be high enough from the water. It seemed to them that the pyreflies' amount increased as they neared the dome. Many of those pyreflies looked like they were acting unusual. Occasionally, the pyreflies would gather in their path to make fiends that would show up to keep them from reaching their destination.

A gigantic flan of darkness dropped out from the sky called Dark Flan. Zelda backed away in disgust. "That thing is here as well?" she asked.

"They get bigger whenever we find a new one," Lulu said as she readied a spell.

Other times they would be found by the ever-so dangerous, two-long horned Behemoths.

"Not letting you eat me this time!" Knuckles yelled. "Taking you punk down!"

And sometimes, the most random of things would happen. They once found a winged-eyed yellow monster called Ahriman that would gaze into their eyes just to shoot a beam to confuse them. Wakka was one target. Since he was confused, Wakka would smack his blitzball into him many times.

But what didn't make much sense was the fact that he would throw the blitzball forward just for it to turn instantly and smack his head directly. He was just too strong for even himself that he would get knocked out by the law-defying ball.

Wolf grimaced. "I want to find that temple and get out of this world before a freakin' ball kills me off," he said.

To add more insult to the injury, they would also be ambushed by a ballerina-like plant monster with four long tentacles called Mandragora. It would use a dance called Ochu Dance, inflicting blindness, slowness, confusion, and silence all at the same time. Yet again, Wakka suffered a lot from this.

And thus Wolf was knocked out by a ball to his face, even though Wakka was blind. Pit understood the horrors of rubber balls in Spira thanks to the freaky event.

While all these random encounters took place in the long crumbled path, Marth couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched from the shadows. It started to freak him out to see that Unsent appearing from all over the place in faraway locations. He was sure he was being observed. The figure he saw would often disappear from sight before Tidus could get the chance to see it.

"You sure you're not seeing things?" Tidus asked.

"What would I get from lying?" Marth asked.

"Maybe you're really nervous that you're seeing things."

"I hope that's the case, but I don't feel nervous. I feel nervous when that Unsent comes out of the shadows."

"I can tell Yuna to perform another Sending if you want. Though I don't think the Unsent that is watching you will stay put and watch Yuna send it off to the Farplane."

Marth lowered his face. "I wouldn't send it off there any sooner…" he muttered under his breath.

Tidus raised an eyebrow. "What was that, Marth?" he asked.

"…" Marth didn't say a thing and continue walking through the crumbled path.

First it was Yuna who kept the secret from me about sacrificing her life that she knew from the very beginning, and now Marth won't tell me about that Unsent. If Marth just told me everything that was bothering him, I know I could at least do some vital progress with him.

I wished I could do the same progress with Yuna. It all seemed to work, but she was just relaxing all the time…

The damp crumbled path then ended with the stadium. As everything else, the stadium was in an old but stable shape. Tidus and Marth were the first ones to reach the stadium to admire it for a bit until the others caught up with them. "This is…an old blitzball stadium," Tidus said. "I guess there was blitzball in the old times in this world as well."

Marth wanted to avoid thinking grieving topics. "Maybe I should try it out," he said. In all honesty, Marth was willing to do anything to distract his mind no matter how stressing it would be.

Tidus could hear how much depressed Marth was. He disregarded talking about blitzball. "…Marth, that's it. I had it," he said, turning to Marth. "You've got to tell me what else is bothering you. The time is running out. I want to stop Yuna, but I also want to help you too."

Marth took a small glance at Tidus until his eyes froze in place.

"Yeah, I do happen to help other guys other than Yuna," Tidus said. "It's not something you should get surprised at."

Tidus then noticed Marth wasn't directly staring at him. The blond teen turned around and took a step back, spotting an Unsent staring at them. The Unsent suddenly turned around and ran away to the right, around the stadium's walls. Marth's feet didn't respond to his mind as he started chasing the person down.

"Wait!" Tidus said as he followed Marth from behind, the prince not saying a word.

Several minutes later, Yuna and the others arrived at the stadium's entrance. "We have arrived…" Yuna said. She felt a chilling feeling just by staring at the crumbled building before her.

"This is the last place of your journey?" Zelda asked.

"It's an old stadium. I presume battles were held there," Pit said, staring at the stadium.

"Tough guess, ya?" Wakka said. "This is clearly a blitzball stadium! Lady Yunalesca is waiting for us in this history-rich building! Maybe she is secretly a blitzball fanatic."

"Keep wishing," Auron said. "But I'd rather wonder where those two ran off to."

Pit looked around for Tidus and Marth. "I don't see them anywhere. Did they run ahead?" he asked.

"Seriously, running off like that at a time like this?" Rikku asked in pure disbelief. "They'll get their heads handed over to them if they go alone on their own! We struggle a lot fighting against fiends in this region as it is…"

Sonic looked up at Yuna. "You're not going to look for them?" he asked.

Yuna was busy staring at the stadium until Sonic bumped her leg slightly. "Oh… They'll be okay. I'm sure we'll catch on to them in a few minutes. Let's go inside," she said before walking ahead to the entrance of the stadium where a priest awaited her. The hedgehog looked at the echidna, shrugging his shoulders as each one of them followed the willing summoner from behind.

Upon spotting them, the priest walked out. "Journeyer of the long road, name yourself," he said.

Yuna nodded. "I am the summoner Yuna. I have come from the island of Besaid," she explained.

The priest neared her to stare at her blue and green eyes. "Your eyes, my dear. Show me the long road you have travelled…" He stared at her for a moment, staring at her determined eyes. "…Very good. You have journeyed well. Lady Yunalesca will surely welcome your arrival. Go to her now, and bring your guardians with you. Go."

The priest then walked past by them as he slowly vanished into thin air. Pit was startled to know that the priest was an Unsent himself. "It's incredible how one can't tell who is an Unsent and who really lives," Pit told Auron. "Do you have the same problems distinguishing between the dead and the living?"

"No, but you sure have them to perceive who's alive and who's dead right in front of you," Auron said.

"…What?" Pit muttered to himself. For a moment, he thought Auron was an Unsent, but he shook the thought off from his mind.

"Let's hope Tidus and Marth went up ahead. I can feel the restless spirits trying to take revenge of us," Zelda said as she looked at the multitude of pyreflies flying in the air around the ruins.

"I'd accept by death to be caused by them rather than a ball any day," Wolf said, crossing his arms. "Of course, I'm not going to get myself killed tonight."

All of them started walking inside the stadium. Yuna briefly looked back to see if Tidus and Marth were there, but she felt doubtful after not seeing them. Sighing, the summoner walked inside.

Zanarkand Ruins – Backside

Tidus and Marth ran along the right crumbled path, having lost sight of the Unsent that made the prince feel uneasy. Marth stopped running, and then Tidus came from behind, almost losing his breath as he supported himself on his knees. "D-did we lose him?" Tidus asked.

"Yes…" Marth said as he stared away. "I could've sworn that that Unsent…"

Tidus noticed the silence and looked up. "You're trailing off. I bet you found him," he said, looking in front of him. In an instant, Tidus' eyes widened as he stood up to stand right beside Marth. "…Is that…"

"…I believe so," Marth said, walking to the front to let his boots walk on flat surface. "So it was hiding here all along…"

The two teens stumbled upon an odd-looking area that didn't seem to belong to the Zanarkand Ruins' area. The grey flat surface with the bamboo and plants decorating the surroundings, along with the pagoda-styled building across the spacious floor made a big point clear for the Altean.

Chun-nan Temple – Clearing

They found the temple the foreign group was looking for, hiding right behind the place where Yuna would call forth the Final Aeon. Marth and Tidus were both amazed to find the beautiful-looking temple with its surroundings intact over the ruins. Just standing over the clean floor made them feel like they were on another different place. The pyreflies that flew around the air only added to the spiritual atmosphere in the air.

"It's the Chun-nan Temple," Marth said. "We…we have found it at last."

"The Chun-what temple?" Tidus asked. "That's a funny name."

Marth shook his head. "Never mind that! I need to tell the others that the temple is right behind the stadium!" he said. "This is the reason we came to this world after all!"

Tidus smiled after hearing Marth's hint of success in his voice, but then he looked a bit depressed. "I was kinda hoping you would stick around more to see Yuna…well…" he trailed off.

Marth blinked and then looked away. "Oh… I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to sound like that just now."

"You are a mess, no offense," Tidus said as he crossed his arms. "Your worries are messing up with your mind, man."

"I know, I know," Marth said, feeling a bit sick at the fact. He put a hand over his forehead to frown at himself. "My thoughts are scrambled up with my feelings that it's impossible for me to put a straight face right now. I think that I'll recover when we get back to our home."

Tidus grimaced. "Hey, you can recover right here. Just wing it," he said. "I feel the same like you."

"But maybe I'll recover faster…if we find that Unsent," Marth said. "I'm sure of it. He looked just like… Why is this possible?"

Tidus was getting annoyed that Marth never got to tell him who that person even was. The blond teen wouldn't even find the answer in some sort of literacy text at this point no matter how hard he browsed the previous pages. "Marth, can you please tell me who that person was?" he finally asked.

Marth looked unsure at Tidus. "I have many doubts, Tidus. All of this seems to be a big coincidence to me," he said. "If it's him, I would puzzle myself with why he appeared in this world as an Unsent… If he DID come here, then how did he make it…?"

"(He's missing the point. I want to know who that guy is!)" Tidus yelled inside his mind. He stopped his foot to stand straight. "Alright! Marth, you're gonna tell me right now who that person wa-"

"Well, good evening! We hope we're not interrupting something important, but you're kind of in the way."

Music stops

Tidus and Marth turned back to the way where they came from to see Dr. Eggman and Charizard standing several feet away from them. Judging how Charizard looked a bit freaked out, it told Marth that the dragon (?) was afraid of all the water surrounding the ruins and the temple.

"Oh no, these two made it here already?" Marth asked.

Tidus remembered the two villains. He stepped forward. "Hey! How did you even make it here without even being noticed by us? You appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden! Why's that?"

Dr. Eggman fixed his glasses. "In this day and age, people like us resort to the most eloquent explanation possible," he said chuckling.

"…And that is," Tidus said, throwing his hands slowly to the sides.

"We took a shortcut."

"…" Tidus and Marth stared.

"…How is there a shortcut?" Tidus asked. "I saw no shortcuts on the way here! The path we took was the only path to cross through the mountain and reach the ruins!"

"Believe me; I don't even know taking a shortcut in the first place!" Charizard said. "We just…kind of got here fast!"

Marth shook his head. "Wolf was right on one note. Logic does not exist in Spira," he said, putting a hand on his sword's hilt. "(They have the guardian captive. Making it here first before them gave us time to protect the temple. I better force them to hand over the guardian.) I would like to avoid a struggle here, so hand over the guardian of this temple. We need that person to proceed."

"In that case, be gone," Dr. Eggman said. "Filthy rats like you are too much of a hassle. Anyone who partners up with you is nothing but more trash to take out."

"Hey, I'm standing here!" Tidus said. "Nobody calls me a filthy rat! But can I ask why's the lizard dude shaking?"

It was obvious for Marth, but it all changed once Charizard spoke. He gulped. "I-it's not because of the water in the ruins! It-it's because of…this!" Charizard said.

A closer look at the fire user would reveal that he was carrying a long stick over his right shoulder. He pulled the long stick to show them a small cage on the end of it. Inside said cage, there was a familiar monster that the group had walked past by in the first cave they entered.

It was the Tonberry. The robed fiend looked around curiously until locking its yellow beady eyes to Charizard. The Tonberry walked to the little bars and stuck out its little knife between, moving it up and down slowly to pathetically reach Charizard out. The dragon (?) whimpered after noticing the move that he held the stick as far away as he could.

"It's the little guy," Tidus said. "How did you find it?"

Dr. Eggman sighed. "While some guy gave us the wrong direction to the temple we were looking for, this thing got in the way. Naturally and stupidly, my partner here sized up to it and tried chopping it alive. However, I don't know how, but that little midget poked his nostrils with its little knife and he fell down unconscious," he explained, his eyebrows lowering to the sides to show his disbelief. "I dragged him far away while I put that monster inside a cage…buuuuuuuuut…I thought it looked amusing so I brought it here with me to keep it as a pet."

Charizard's blue eyes shrunk further. "A-are you sure you don't have it just because you want to run experiments on it?" he asked. "I hope you don't have it around to scare the heck outta me!"

The doctor's glasses shone. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"B-bastard! E-evil! H-horrible! P-prick!" Charizard said. "If you want to keep it, put it back to the Subspace! D-don't make me carry it for you!"

"It looks amusing to watch," Dr. Eggman muttered. "Besides, having you carry it keeps you under perfect control. Of course, we could open the cage to let it out although I won't guarantee it won't leave you alone… No turning back now, can we?" he asked snickering.

Tidus and Marth exchanged looks once. "Looks like you guys are doing something else, so…" Tidus trailed off.

Dr. Eggman turned to them. "Oh no, you're not getting away from here. We could've ignored you, but you're with them. I can tell that because you're with the tiara-wielding boy," he said. "Step away if you don't want us to inflict massive damage on your bodies that you won't feel the same ever again."

"That sounded so sick right there to me, man."

"…Um, we'll kill you," Dr. Eggman corrected himself.

"Like hell you will!" Tidus said as he took out his aqua sword from behind. "You just try getting close to us, old man!"

"Tidus, don't tempt him. He could unleash a Shadow Nightmare," Marth said, worried mentally about him being the target of the dreaded monster. "If he releases that monster, it will steal your identity to punish you for whatever internal conflict you're trying to suppress with lies. In other words, lying to yourself."

Dr. Eggman sighed as he crossed his arms behind his back. "Unfortunately, we lack the means to release a new one… I…really don't want to say more than that, but fortunately we have a worthy enough replacement for this situation," he said. "Come on out, little birdy!"

A big screech echoed in the clearing as the bamboo and plants shook with the wind. Marth and Tidus looked up to the pagoda-like temple to spot a bird of darkness flying down. The bird was huge about twenty-feet tall. It was shrouded in darkness with a gloomy glow on its wings with shades of black and purple combined. It had several long feathered tails that flew in the air with its glowy, fiery red aura. It had a long neck with a small face. On its little beak, it was carrying a small cage where an old man was held captive. Once the dark bird landed on the path to the temple, it put the cage aside.

"H-help!" the old man in the cage pleaded. Judging how he looked so different, Tidus knew he wasn't from Spira. "S-somebody, anybody, get me out from this cage!"

"Who's that old man?" Tidus asked.

"That is some question," Marth remarked sarcastically. "I assume he's the guardian of this temple. We need to set him free and tell him that we're the good guys. He's necessary for us to go further in."

Tidus stared the huge bird. "Well, that big chicken is our enemy. Let's turn it into a feast!" he said.

Dr. Eggman laughed. "It won't go down so easily, boys! It was corrupted by Dark Gaia directly, but I forcefully took it under my control to work for me using my gadgets." He pointed up at the bird's head. "On the top, there's a small chip that I implanted to its skull. It's a strong chip, so no trying to break it!"

"H-hey! I wanna fight them too!" Charizard said, still keeping an eye on the Tonberry. The robed fiend was still bent on poking the Pokémon's belly.

"Nonsense. Somebody needs to keep an eye on my little pet," Dr. Eggman said with a wide grin. "It could break out of the cage and seek you out first… I mean, it likes you. That's why it wants to get closer to you."

"Oh, that's bull-" Charizard turned to make sure the Tonberry was inside the cage.

"Sorry, but you'll have to sit this one out," Dr. Eggman said. "Keep my little pet under control. I do not want to think what could happen if it gets out…"

Charizard himself whimpered inside his mind. For a second, he thought that working for the bad guys just meant that they were going to make fun of him. His little reason to beat up Red meant absolutely nothing to him, and he started to think a little more about his decisions a little harder than befo-

Oh, the Tonberry broke off the cage.

"WHAT!" Charizard turned to the cage…which still held the Tonberry inside. "Whew…"

Marth and Tidus faced the bird, which was named Dark Gaia Phoenix. "We can take it down ourselves! Isn't that right, Marth?" Tidus asked. "Let's keep an eye on each other!"

"Right," Marth said. "A battle will put my worries at ease. I won't stop now."

"Yeah, that's the way!" Tidus said.

But just as the battle was going to start, from the right, the Unsent that they were chasing walked out from the plants all the way between them. The prince felt the chills running down his spine while the blond teen stared dumbfounded. The Unsent turned to Dark Phoenix, looking straight up to its darkened face.

"Who called him here?" Dr. Eggman asked. "No matter. Dark Gaia Phoenix, do away with hi-"

The Unsent then jumped high and unsheathed a heavy, phantasmal sword that he swung hard against Dark Gaia Phoenix. The bird of darkness screeched out as it was sent spiraling away towards the temple's wall where it hit its head hard and fell down unconscious. The Unsent landed back on the ground and stared blankly at the bird he took down by himself.

Tidus and Marth were both shocked to see the raw power. Charizard and Dr. Eggman, even the Tonberry, looked astonished, even scared. "W-why? W-why does this have to happen this way?" Dr. Eggman asked horrified.

"Normal consensus states that the bad guys will lose in the end no matter what?" Charizard asked.

"…" Dr. Eggman was speechless. "…And that's why we need to achieve our dreams so badly... Wait, I have you here to fight! Go and beat them up in my stead!"

"Y-you know, I don't want to fight at all for some obvious reasons," Charizard said with a nervous smile, the Tonberry trying its best to reach him out. "I…I have a better job at taking care of your pet here. Y-yeah, I'll be doing that…"

The doctor stared bewildered at the Pokémon.

"…That vaguely implies that…we should run off and rethink our next move in the safety of our creepy-looking HQ that is somehow safe," Charizard stated bored. "Like, now?"

Dr. Eggman furrowed his brow. He shook his head and grunted loudly. "Fall back! This was such a waste of our time and resources!" He pointed at them. "You will get it next time! There is only one more temple to track down, and we'll find it before you can even locate it! Mark my words! AAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly as a portal to the Subspace opened behind them. The doctor was the first to run inside. Charizard was about to enter but he tossed the cage aside the portal to try to avoid taking the Tonberry with him.

Although Charizard ran inside the portal, the vortex was open long enough for the Tonberry to enter. The little door of the cage opened by itself thanks to the hit it got by landing, the robed fiend walked out, entered the portal despite Charizard's wishes and vanished with it.

Tidus chuckled. "Well, what do you know?" he asked before turning to Marth. "Things turned out great in the end for us. That Unsent is a nice guy actually… Marth?"

Marth was stone cold of fright. His heart beat faster as he stared at the Unsent in front of him. The Unsent turned around and stared coldly at them, his death glare fixed on Marth the most. "…You can't be here…Ike… You shouldn't be here…"

"Ike?" Tidus said. "So that's your friend's name?"

"He's the one…who died around a month ago," Marth said. "He's the one who caused me a lot of grief after he passed away."

Tidus stared at the Unsent. It was definitely Ike, even though its whole body and clothes were inside a blue shed that made him look like ghostly. Even a phantasmal version of Ragnell was resting in his sheath; the same sword he used to take Dark Phoenix out of commission. He didn't say a word nor did he move from his spot. Ike's Unsent was staring coldly at Marth with a hint of anger.

"And his spirit somehow made it here?" Tidus asked. "How is that even possible? Do souls get to travel anywhere?"

"I don't know!" Marth yelled. He was too much shaken by the Unsent's appearance to think properly about what to say. "I…I… What should I do? Is he here for a reason?"

Tidus waited for the Unsent to talk. "He doesn't seem very happy," he said. "He looks way too angry."

The Altean closed his eyes and took a step forward. He then opened back his eyes, stating at Ike's Unsent. "…Tell me something, Ike," he said. "Why are you here? Why did you appear before us so suddenly? Is there some unfinished business you need to finish before you can peacefully rest?"

The blond teen started to get nervous as the Unsent started making his moves. "Um, Marth? Why is he unsheathing his sword? Why is he pointing it at us? Er, why is he slowly starting to walk towards us? Why is he running now? Why doesn't he stop? MARTH!"

The truth was harsh, hitting Marth extremely hard from the inside. He didn't know why Ike had resentments that involved in fighting Marth. It wasn't a rivalry thing to settle down the score or anything, but it was pure hatred. Marth briefly thought that a month was enough to corrupt Ike's very soul completely.

Marth and I were going to face off against his friend. I would've never thought that this battle was going to be both dangerous to us…and very saddening to Marth…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Seventh Liar: Marth the Unsent. It comes out of the grave to claim his friend's life out of hatred that nobody knows about for now! How will these best friends fend each other off out of the mysterious reason behind the dead's curse? Find out next time in… What the hell! You already tossed the chapter title first?" Etna complained. "I was about to give a cool one!"

"Firstly, this is how it goes. Secondly, your turn isn't up until the next chapter," Pit said. "Why did you go ahead with this?

"I grew impatient."

"…What else?"

"Just that."

"…Demons are very simple it's ridiculous."

"Angels are so wingless today it's stupid."

"HEY! I have a reason for thi-"

"Preview time over, pal!"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Zanarkand Ruins/Chun-nan Temple-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Knuckles, Chip, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, Wakka, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri

References:

-Everyone loves the guy who wishes for Complete. Global. Saturation.

-"Final Fantasy X – Seymour" plays whenever said man is present. You just KNOW something sinister will happen…

-"Final Fantasy X – Challenge" plays when you fight Seymour as an Unsent. The theme is filled with a bit of solitude. It's somehow epic to me.

-"Final Fantasy X – Wandering Flames" is a rather mystic track. It makes you reflect on your journey's memories. What a nice theme…

-"Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme" plays when Yuna is under the spotlight. If you look at the other themes, they all sound magical…except Wakka's theme.

-"Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand" is the intro theme. It's so soothing that is so good… Did you listen to Tidus' story?

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Which sounds better? Tide-us or Tee-dus? Squeenix somehow settled with the last one.

-That Tonberry is going to do even MORE stuff than you thought it would do.

-Villains take shortcuts to make it to their destinations. By all means, they ignore the traps along the way. It's rather infuriating, don't you think?

And thus we made it to the last battle of this arc. Yes, sorry for making a little, big deal about the bird being the definite boss.

…But in doing this sudden move, people are going to speculate wildly. I JUST know it.

With Tide-us and Marth fending off Ike's Unsent, the battle is going to take a twist. The others look like they're going to be busy with the temple's trials, thinking the two went further inside. However, there are so many questions that are circulating around your little brains by now, aren't they? Since I feed on your minds exploding with all the speculation, I'm going to make you all think stuff.

…Geez, that sounded so bizarre. But yes, anything you ask miiiiiiight be answered in the epilogue of this arc. Enjoy the last part of the FFX arc! We have nothing else to remember it ever again!

...Oh, wait, the traveling Tonberry…

The new poll is wide open for votes! Let's stop using FF arcs to highlight a new series.

Actually, to be fair, there's one more temple left. There has been a hint about a temple existing in a world they already traveled to. Can you find the last temple's location?

I encourage all Chocobo adopters to review. :D

…Or Knuckles will go apesh*t in the next boss fight.

Sonic: Makes me think you love making Knucklehead's life a living hell… You're awesome!

Knuckles: I'm so suing that hand for letting you into this tourney thing.
*Chapter 187*: Seventh Liar: Marth the Unsent

Ike/Marth focus, no romance involved. We have set a combo breaker.

From shadow ninja koopa: A great chapter as per usual but i have a couple of questions, first is the fight with yunalesca in the next chapter and second, when did Chris gain the red mage job you gave it to marth for the seymour fight but i don't remember Chris ever obtaining the power. so please explain.

other than that keep up the good work

From me: Sadly, including Yunalesca's fight would take a lot of unnecessary Smasher-related stuff so it wasn't included in the end. So sorry for that.

Chris did gain the Red Mage job. Do you remember we skipped an entire chapter because of a collaboration I had with another author? I had the idea his job would move on to the next level there. Go check chapter 164. WARNING: That could most likely frighten you…uh…with its long-i-ness. Yes… Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Anona: Great chapter!

I re-read the first few chapters of this story and I have to say, your grammar has improved greatly.

Blech! I sounded really old in that last sentence.

To answer your qustion, I think Tide-us sounds better.

From me: Thanks for noticing my improvement. I do hope to get better at it, though. Thanks again. :D

From ngrey651: Heh. Lord Braska, wise, powerful, leaving a dramatic final message to his beloved-"HAAACHOOOO". The comparison between Jecht and Braska couldn't have been more hilariously stark. And to think, they'll soon be meeting up with Final Fantasy Lady Gaga-I mean Yunalesca!...seriously though, I see her, I keep thinking Lady Gaga. Weird outfit, wildly styled hair...imagining her singing Poker Face-(Bursts out laughing)

From me: It's sad both groups won't meet her in the end, though… BUT IF THEY DID, there would definitely be sexual jokes and lots of innuendo.

…Actually, let's not get more in-depth with that. DX Thanks for reviewing, dude. :)

From TARDISreviewer: ...SO basically, they just got their hands on one of what I refer to as the FF evil trio (the otehr 2 being behemoths and malboros. You can tell why I refer to thsoe 3 as an evil trio.) No good can come of this.

And I was actually wrong about that whole sigil thing, xD. (when I next tried the chocobo sidequest, from the point I was at I don't think it took even a single hour to get the necessary time.)

Based on the next title, I'm thinking that's not an unsent... Not entirely, anyway.

Also, seeming ridiculous thoughts might not be so ridiculous (those who have played FF10 up to a point soon to come in the story will know what I mean by this.)

and finally, ANNOYING ENEMIES AND BOSSES NEED TO BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED!

(...yeah. I referenced Doctor Who there.)

From me: They already faced the Behemoths, though. Wolf voiced out his hatred for them. Meteor spells be damned!

Anything ridiculous in any FF is a blessing…or a curse for us depending how we dealt with those. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From wereAuraknight: YOU ARE AWESOME! You tirelessly post this story's chapters with as little delays as possible, you make them so awesome and keep us on edge, you fully flesh out the character's personality and lastly, most importantly you don't make overpowered characters or overuse corny jokes!

14/10 FOR YOU!

also to hazard a guess as to where the temple might be... i have 2 guesses. the "real world" or in a Legend of Zelda world.

Keep on typing so i can keep on reading,

WereAuraKnight

P.S. i think the reson they don't call the series The legend of Link is because they don't want people to play the games for L.O.L. (get it?)

From me: Your two guesses are way off. If it was in Chris's world, there would've been a commotion (and also very unlikely because his world is not so connected with the other worlds). As for TLoZ's there's actually not a single clue it might there. Like I had said before, the temple's location was already foreshadowed in a previous arc.

Thanks for reviewing, though. :D

From The Unknown Guy Who Didn't Put His/Her Name: For starters I must say this. YES! FINALLY NO MORE FINAL FANTASY ARCS! YA-HOO! Sorry all you FF fans but there was just way too many of them. And to answer your question, yes that did sound weird, alright here comes the questions. *crack knuckles*

1) Are you ever going to do an arc in one of the smasher's world ever again, minus the ones that involves the final boss of a disc?

2) Is the subspace bomb and the primids extinct?

3) I am writing a fic finally and down the road my OC shall have a Lucario, and I was wondering if he can have the same characteristics as your Lucario, please.

4) Speaking of that fanfic, do you mind reading it? You are my idle when it comes to fanfiction.

5) I have decided to collect every NES game, am I crazy?

Chapter score 7.6/10

From me: 1) I have no idea if I will, so stay on the lookout for that.

2) Nope, they're not extinct.

3) Same characteristics? As long as it doesn't behave the same way as mine does, go ahead. (I'll raise an objection if it's like this one).

4) I'll see for myself how you do.

5) Possibly you are crazy, but I'm not stopping you. ;)

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Arashi: Okay, I will not lie, this fic is a rare gem on this site. It is lots of fun to read, and it's very refreshing to find something on this site that is actually entertaining.

By the way since you are a gamer, I'd like to ask: have you played Okami before?

From me: Many people have asked me a lot about Okami, but I never played it before. I think I'll see for myself if that series is entertaining to play… Thanks for reviewing. :)

From FF and STH: Great chpater, seen to made seymour look like a fool with mortiorchis and less threatening with Zidane and that fight was hard to win sometime for me but good job(also is is me or does chris use job with magic more then job with physical power.)

Ike apper as a unsent and come to fight marth, got to say I would never guess something like that was going to happpen.

Also was that the something good for the death of the 4 smasher, each one apper again to fight the alive smasher all power up for what ever reason you come up with.

From me: Wasn't it already stated Chris prefers to fight a long range with magic? I think you forgot that.

Hopefully, the reason behind his appearance will shed some light to your question. Not spoiling here.

See? This is exactly the kind of speculation I was talking about. That answer also lies in the chapter so look carefully for it. Thanks again. ;)

From Hopefaith2: Hello again! I'm so sorry it took me so long to review. I'm a high school senior who's trying to make sure she graduates and not get her acceptance revoked from college (You might know what I mean), so it's been hard for me to keep up with anything these days since I only have less than a month left of school. But enough about that, let's start with this review shall we? I'm gonna be completely honest with you by saying I never played a Final Fantasy game in my life (though I really want to, but no money :(). I only know a few things thanks to Kingdom Hearts. The rest I just looked up on google. Sorry. Poor Marth, still grieving over the loss of Ike. Yuna's about to give up her life to save everyone. Now that's sacrifice and determination right there. And Ike's ghost! Holy crap! I had a feeling it was someone he knew, but I didn't expect Ike at all! Please update as soon as you can, and keep up the amazing work!

From me: It was a hard thing to bring up my love for this story, so I updated it at last. Thanks for still being there for the story, girl. :D

From Andonexus Knight of the Damned: Charizard is afriad of the Tonberry! Ahahahaha!

From me: Yes, it's funny.

From Kain Everguard: They ditched Yuna...

Shame on them, since she was going into the temple to sacrifice herself.

The Unsent Ike makes no sense at all either, and Chris could have talked(written on the hand) indirectly to the group to give them the easy way to beat up the fish boss.

Well, your story is still pretty well written, so thanks for the new chapter, and have a great day

From me: I don't really think they ditched Yuna. Rather, Marth was really troubled about Ike's Unsent, and Tidus was very worried about each one of them that he went with Marth to keep him safe from trouble.

It will make some sense. And if Chris gave the smallest hint during that fight, they would suspect of him for knowing such a "well-thought" plan, don't you think?

Thanks for reviewing. :D

From hh: are you going to be a sly cooper arc i heard it is interesting game

you know i just thought chris in the kingdom heart arc that chris will accidently get his heart taken. chris get his heart back but a nobody is created that being a real persons nobody get transported somewhere else and later appear in the story. please take my idea in considerartion please i beg of you

also how many saga after mario and sonic. which series will it be from.

by the way when there will be a kingdom heart arc since it will be one of the more anticipated arc make it count

please take the nobody idea into consideration

From me: Yes…that thought isn't going to happen. Sorry, dude.

Wait and see which saga will be next. ;)

I don't know when a KH arc will take place. The only requirement is that they go through FFVIII to meet the key characters that appear in KH (but KH 1's Squall does NOT look like him at all).

The Nobody idea is so complicated, and it gives Chris too much attention. I shall leave things like that for him, sorry. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From N the puppet: Huh, wonder if Charizard would freak out even if it was someone dressed as a Tonberry? Or maybe even a doll...

On the bright side, Marth will be able to get some weight off his shoulders if he kills Ike...probably.

Sweet chap as always!

From me: I think…why, yes! He could be freaked out. Maybe…

You don't know how twisted (and base breaking) that solution would sound if taken out of context. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Destinydeck: So this is the first time I'm reviewing here...

My first comment, it's good. I rarely read great SI stories, that's for sure. Characterization are okay, but since there are some games I haven't play, I don't know a few...

Anyway, mistakes, none as far as I can see...

Comments on chapter 186:-

I admit unexpectedness, and Ike appearing as an Unsent is really surprising. Can I give a guess? The reason Ike's angry is because he thinks Marth abandoned him or tried to forget Ike as a friend or something similar because of now befriending Tidus?

From me: Ike's appearance as an Unsent shall be explained in this chapter, but your little guess is going to have a place in the fight. You'll see for yourself. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From MiSs DaYdReAmEr: Finally I made it! Hehe well, I started reading this story of yours when you already made 185 chapters. So it took me a while to get to your latest chapter. Anyways, I honestly enjoy this story very much. :)

From me: Thank you so much for enjoying the story. It is quite a feat people read the entire thing… Well, I just hope you stick around with us till the end. :)

I think it's time to say it. I had my first so called hiatus/writer's block. My mind simply blackened out of ideas and enthusiasm until I started to put the gears back into place. It's going to be really hard for me to kill that writer's block, but I want to keep the pace and go back to my update cycle.

And since I fear many readers left, I'll have to spice things up a bit. When will I do that? Once you get to the bottom of this page, you shall see my method to raise the hype.

Without further ado, let's continue with the story's summary. As (un)expected, Ike's Unsent has appeared to kill Marth. But what is the reason behind all this? Why did Ike's soul even come to Spira in the first place? Like always, everything is answered in the chapters, so why the hell am I writing this summary? …Oh, raise questions to entertain the masses. Right.

I encourage all readers to read, device strategies to defeat cheap-*ss Great Malboros, and review. :D

Disclaimer: Just to let you know, there's no yaoi in this chapter. Hurray!

Chapter 187: Seventh Liar: Marth the Unsent

Zanarkand Dome – Interior

The ruins inside the blitzball dome consisted of long circles of crumbled monuments that went to all directions with pyreflies freely flying around. There was a main path that connected each of those old rings that ultimately led to the Cloister of Trials where summoners and guardians would be tested in trials to open the way to the fayth. In the ruins, however, the final place would lead to Yunalesca's chamber where the Final Aeon would be summoned to fight Sin.

Yuna grew uncomfortable as they made their way through the circles. As they walked around, spirits of previous summoners and their guardians who completed their pilgrimages several years ago showed up. "This dome is filled with pyreflies. It's like one gigantic sphere. People's thoughts stay here. Forever," Auron told the group.

"So spheres ARE made up of human life," Pit said disturbed. "It's so creepy just thinking about it…"

Wakka shrugged his shoulders. "Don't think about certain stuff too much or your mind will get blown into pieces, ya? C'mon, we gotta press on," he said. "Let's meet up with Yunalesca and finish our long journey once and for all."

Rikku grimaced at the goal. One step meant one step closer to Yuna's final breath. She embraced herself as she watched her step. Chip, worried about her, flew in front of her. "Rikku, why don't you do something?" he asked. "Yunie is gonna die and you'll never feel okay with yourself!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Rikku asked worried. "It's no use. Yuna isn't going to listen to reason. Well, she DOES listen to reason, but she doesn't think too hard about what it could do to her… At this rate, I'm not going to have a cousin next to me anymore."

Zelda shed a tear. "I do not want her to go with this too," she said. "All the people I have met until this point have made special places in me…but none of them have perished in this way." She looked up to the night's sky through the uncovered holes in the decayed ceiling of the dome. "Actually, there have been some who gave up their lives for us. It's painful to think we know it's going to happen in a few hours."

Rikku shook her head. "Whatever you say, close relatives are far more special than friends to me… No, that sounded wrong to say. All of you are really nice people, but if Yuna dies, a piece of me is never going to be the same!" she said. "What can we…what can I do?"

"If I were in her shoes, I'd stop so the people around me stop whining so much," Wolf commented, not looking at them. "Kid, fretting and crying all the time for her has proved to be useless so far. You can continue doing your stuff, but it doesn't look like it'll change a thing."

"Now that's really mean coming from you!" Rikku said. "You don't really know how I feel! Why don't you worry about your relatives like I do?"

Chris thought Wolf was going too far with his comment. The lupine looked over his shoulder at them to say, "Simply because I have no relatives. For that matter, I am alone in the universe by blood."

The Al Bhed girl, as well as the others around her, felt a little bit of pity for the thug. Wolf frowned and let out a small sigh. "…" Rikku looked away, down the wrecked circles. "…Must've been really hard to fend off for yourself, huh… But I…but I care about my family so much, you know?" she muttered to herself. Chip hugged her to cheer her up but failed to do any good.

It was hard for Chris to tell if Yuna was going to back down at the last minute like she was supposed to do it. He feared that the storyline was altered so badly that it would culminate with her sacrifice. For a moment, Chris thought that death was possible.

After all, he had seen his friends parting ways forever from the group. Marth was living it the hard way.

"Where could those two have run off to?" Lulu asked. "It doesn't seem they went up ahead."

"Possibly they are already solving the trials for us to pass," Auron said. "I could be wrong."

Yuna thought they weren't even there, but she wasn't so sure at all. She was preoccupied that Tidus and Marth were ambushed by fiends somewhere deeper and they needed help. "Could they fight the fiends of the ruins by themselves?" she asked aloud. "What if they need help?"

"We can't split up now," Auron said. "If one of us goes alone looking for them, that one is likely going to be attacked."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "If that's what you're saying, then I'll go look for them," he said. "Somebody should come with me, though. The fiends in here are formidable to fight alone."

Yuna turned to Kimahri. "Kimahri, would you go with him?" she asked. "I want you to find Tidus and Marth. Try to check outside."

"Yes," Lulu said. "They could've gone to explore the surroundings. None of them is familiar with the region at all."

Kimahri just nodded and turned around with spear in hand. The echidna was taken by surprise once the Ronso had run off with a big head start. "H-hey, wait up, you!" he said as he followed Kimahri.

"Be careful he doesn't stomp on you, Knucklehead! He's way too big for you!" Sonic called out, coughing a bit for raising his voice too much. A "Shut up!" response answered him. "I should've joined them. What if Knuckles goes insane again?"

Pit looked bored. "If he does it again, that'd be an endangering character trait of his part," he said.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"I mean, we would have to reconsider taking him along to our missions," the angel said.

"Hush," the princess said. "We have other matters to attend to."

Lulu agreed. "We shall proceed and wait for them to come back. We cannot linger here any longer," she said.

Yuna looked back behind her. "But what if they don't come back at all?" she asked. "I'm worried that Tidus isn't fighting a fight he can win with Marth."

"Yuna," Auron began, "stop worrying and keep walking. Yunalesca is expecting us to complete the Cloister of Trials up ahead after we navigate this dome fully… A fiend is blocking our way."

The group looked forward where a familiar machina stopped their way through the dome. The machina itself was a blatant copy of the Defender X that the Guado had tossed them before, but it was acting on its own. "Look, it's another one of those machine things!" Pit said. "Uh, machina, yes!"

"This one doesn't seem to be controlled by the Guado," Lulu said. "It won't pose as a threat to us. Let us eliminate it to continue."

As the party assembled to fight the machina, Rikku sighed to herself and adjusted her claw to fight the heavy machine. She briefly wished that the machina would just block Yuna rather than trying to kill her.

Chun-nan Temple – Clearing

Final Fantasy X – Challenge

Tidus shouted at Marth to snap him out of his trance. "Marth, open your eyes and focus! He's charging straight to you!" he shouted.

Marth blinked shocked until he automatically clashed swords against Ike's Unsent. The prince felt a big deal of pressure from the undead's sword that he started to back away. Even though it wasn't the real Ragnell, the phantasmal version of the sword had the same raw power and, if any, stronger. "W-why?" Marth questioned the Unsent. "Why must you…"

"You think you can hold him off for a few seconds?" Tidus asked. "I gotta set the old man, I mean, the guardian free from his cage! Let me take him somewhere safe so he doesn't get to him or even think about hurting him!"

"Y-y-yes, go ahead!" Marth said. Tidus never saw how pale Marth looked. The little time Tidus was given came to an end when Marth was pushed away by the Unsent. "A-aah!" he yelped.

Tidus was just halfway to reach the guardian until he heard Marth's yelp. "Didn't you tell me you could handle it?" he said as he turned around to join the fight. The blitzball ace leaped forward and brought down his sword on the Unsent, but the enemy swiftly blocked it with his sword. "You're not killing him off!" he said.

As Marth tried to stand back up, he felt fright as he stared at Ike's Unsent. Many thoughts flew into Marth's mind to find out why his friend's soul would seek him out. "Why is he… Why is he seeking me?" he asked, not aware that Tidus was struggling to fend off the Unsent by himself. "There shouldn't be a reason for him to…try to hurt me… We are…"

"M-Marth!" Tidus yelled as he was being slowly pushed back. Now the Unsent was advancing to him, slowly leaning Tidus to the floor. "A few more seconds and I'll be sliced in two if you don't get over here to help me!"

"...Did his soul…get corrupted?" Marth asked with a blank look. "What could have…"

"MARTH, STOP STANDING THERE AND HELP ME!"

Marth snapped out of his thoughts and his feet naturally ran without him controlling them. Instead of helping out Tidus, however, Marth stopped right behind the Unsent. "L-listen to me, Ike!" he called out. "W-why are you trying to kill us? W-we're comrades! W-w-we are not enemies!" Marth shook as he said his words. "I cannot…I-I cannot find a good motive for this…or for everything you're doing!"

As Tidus was brushed away by the heavy sword, Ike's Unsent turned to Marth with a serious glare.

"Y-you have to stop this so that we can come to an agreement!" Marth said. "Was your soul corrupted after you…died? Why are you behaving like…like a fiend?"

The Unsent didn't respond verbally but physically. Ike stepped back and charged his sword to use Quick Draw. Marth simply stood there as he received the attack at full force. The power that the Unsent had was strong enough to send Marth fifty feet away, landing harshly on the floor. Once he had landed, Marth stared into space with confusion. He seemed to be numb to the pain running through his body.

"You bastard!" Tidus yelled as he pushed his feet up to stand up. "You're an Unsent but you can't say anything to him? I'm gonna smack you a good one for that!"

The blitzball player ran forward to the Unsent. Ike turned around and ran to Tidus as well. The two once again clashed swords, but Tidus' was pushed off his hand, spinning in the air and stabbing the floor several feet away. The blond teen gasped as he turned to see his sword until he received a harsh slash across his body while pushed away to the opposite direction.

Once more, Marth started to feel the pain as he regained his senses. He cringed a bit until he sat up, just in time to see Ike charging with his sword over his shoulder. "S-stop this… This doesn't make any sense!" Marth yelled, standing up while tolerating the pain. "You should know that…this fight is meaningless! Please, listen to me! Don't make me do something I don't wish to do!"

Ike kept charging without a single change in his angered look. Marth blinked on the spot. His right hand automatically grabbed Falchion to shield himself from the next attack.

"Violence isn't the option here!" Marth yelled.

Ike slashed vertically with his sword. Marth reacted to the move and stepped back in time to avoid. There was a wide open spot for Marth to strike back, but he refrained from doing so when he noticed Ike kept staring angered at him even when executing attacks. When Ike prepared to smash down his sword on the frightened prince, Marth performed his counter to slash him back, the hit connecting with his face.

"I-I'm sorry…but…you made me do this to you," Marth said.

To his horror, Ike's Unsent seemed unfazed by the slash across his face. It didn't even look like the living soul was even damaged so much. The attack only staggered him for less than a second. Ike quickly recovered and used a fast Quick Draw to push Marth away. The Altean didn't try to roll to stop on one knee but kept rolling until he stopped. Marth painfully stood up.

Behind them, Tidus reached out for his sword's hilt to rush back to the fight. "Old man, hang in there! I've got a friend to protect from some crazy ghost!" he told the guardian behind him.

"O-okay!" the guardian told him. "I-it's not like I care much about getting out this cage soon! Just…don't forget about me!"

"K!" Tidus said as he rushed to the fight. He shouted as he leaped forward to slash the Unsent's back, which he successfully did. Nimbly, Tidus pushed the Unsent aside to run after Marth and join his side. He handed over a Hi-Potion for Marth to drink. "Drink this up, quick!"

Marth staggered as he took the potion. He drank it and tossed the potion aside. "T-thanks, Tidus," he said. "I need your full support now…"

"Man, you need more than that! You need a psychologist to snap you out from your trance!" Tidus said, hearing the Unsent's feet running. He turned around and blocked the heavy sword from hurting him. "W-why can't you just stand still and listen to Marth?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Life…doesn't need…to belong to those who do not…do anything worth with it… Marth's life…is full of nothing… I shall…take it away…"

Both Tidus and Marth grew silent after the Unsent had spoken his words for the first time. Marth was the only one who couldn't move. "W-what do you mean? M-my life isn't meaningless!" he yelled. "I…I am the prince of a kingdom…and I look after my…"

"Your attitude is sickening; too sickening to belong to the royalty," Ike's Unsent said, gaining more strength to overcome Tidus' sword blocking the way. "You don't even need to live a life like that! I…I end it to put you out of your misery!"

The blond teen wasn't going to simply block the attack and ignore the Unsent's words. "What the hell!" Tidus said. "Who are you to come out of nowhere and tell Marth he should be dead? He's a pretty nice guy himself! I knew you Unsents had a few screws loose but this is just ridiculous!"

Marth's eyes shook as he tried to understand the Unsent's words. He looked down briefly. "How can my life be meaningless if I got worries about you when you… This is wrong!" Marth said. "Your soul has been…corrupted, Ike. I know you were not going to tell me that even if you were alive." He stood up although he felt still weak. "I need you to leave the world of the living…and rest in peace… It's going to be painful for me to cast you away, but it must be done so that you don't…turn into a monster…"

Filled with anger, Ike's Unsent pushed Tidus away, pointing his sword at the prince. "I shall deliver your death and put an end to your misery. My soul is not corrupted!" he proclaimed.

"(Is his soul truly corrupted?") Marth feared. "(What if he fully understands what he's telling me? What if I shouldn't be living? I don't know what to think of this anymore…)"

"Marth, listen to me!" Tidus yelled, getting Marth's attention. "If this guy is messing with your mind with those words, then you can get better! Just because he's dead doesn't mean you have to fret like this all the time! When my mom passed away, I was just like you until I stood on my own feet!" Tidus stared angrily at the Unsent. "Friends, family…they're both the same! It's just a matter of whether if you can live your life on!"

"But Ike right here is…"

"He's an Unsent!" Tidus said. "A corrupted Unsent! He's not even thinking straight about what he's doing! Remember Lulu's first summoner? Her soul was corrupted with anger and hatred because her soul was lingering too much in Spira! It's been a month since your friend died, hasn't it? His soul should be filled with fury too!" He swung his right hand. "So step up to him and send him off to the Farplane…or wherever he needs to rest in peace! If you're still friends, then give him what he really needs before he turns into a fiend himself!"

Marth was at a loss of words. He blinked and turned to Ike's Unsent. "…Ike…we're still friends," he said, slowly unsheathing Falchion. "…And as a friend…I just have to send you back to heaven… This is what you need the most right now… No hard feelings, Ike."

Even though the words of encouragement gave some hope to Marth, Tidus saw how Marth shook frightened. "(Aww, dammit, he's not so sure of himself! I gotta cheer him more…) Alright, you tell him off, Marth!" Tidus cheered as he sided together with Marth. "We're gonna take your friend back to where he belongs. Don't think this is some bad treatment or anything."

"I'll try…" Marth trailed off. "Ike…get prepared to take your leave from this world. If you try to resist, which I sadly am sure that you will do…we're going to have to force you to go away."

Ike's Unsent grunted. "You both are going to have to be the ones to die," he said until he let out a war cry and charged forward.

Both swordsmen took their positions. "Marth, we've got to fight better this time. Don't you chicken out of this one!" he said. "Charge!"

Tidus was the first one to charge as Marth sorted out his thoughts. Two seconds later, Marth followed Tidus from behind. Letting out a similar war cry, Tidus tried slashing Ike across but the enemy ducked down and used a fast Quick Draw to push Tidus forward, Marth running by to strike Ike. There was an obvious opening to attack Ike as he pulled back his sword "(C-can I really… No, I must!) Ha!" Marth slammed down his sword on Ike's back, finally delivering a good hit.

"O-oww!" Ike yelled out, looking up at Marth with a sorrowful expression. "W-why, Marth? Why did you do that?"

Marth gasped. "I-I'm sorry, Ike," he apologized. "I…I didn't want to…"

The Altean was tricked nastily with the fake response of concern. Ike hastily grabbed Marth by the wrist and tossed him away. Tidus got up in time to see the dirty trick. "What the hell! What kind of Unsent are you to trick Marth like that?" he questioned. "Are you sure you were his friend?"

The Unsent didn't say a thing back to Tidus. Marth stared bewildered at the living soul while getting up. "H-how could you…" Marth trailed off. "(I know he's trying to use my grief to take me off-guard, but how can I let this slip by and fight him?)"

"You're easily taken by your emotions that you shouldn't even in battle," Ike's Unsent said. "Knowing that, how else are you going to live a good life? I will take your life away no matter what!"

"This viciousness… You're clearly a fiend," Marth realized. "You're not the Ike I knew before… You're someone else who is trying to impersonate his very image and dirty his name."

"And you're not the Marth I knew," the Unsent said.

"…" Marth looked away. "I am recovering from that saddening event… I just need more time to get back on my feet!"

"Then I'll keep you sitting down on the ground!" Ike's Unsent said before he charged up his Quick Draw. Tidus rushed from behind and scored a hit against the Unsent's back, successfully staggering him to allow Tidus to regroup with Marth. "U-ugh!"

Marth raised his face to look at Tidus coming to his side. "Don't let him get to you like that, man!" Tidus said. "Marth, do you still think there's some good inside him now? Do I have to remind you what happened with Lulu's summoner before again?"

"I know… It seems that I can't quite get up on my feet like Lulu did," Marth said depressed. "I am trying hard to stand up to this challenge, but this is a bit too much."

Tidus grunted. "I'm no psychologist, Marth. I'm also trying hard to help you… So then, do us all a favor and get a hold of yourself if he says some heartbreaking!" he encouraged.

"It's useless…" Ike's Unsent said as he got back up on his feet. "This pathetic man has no reason to liv-"

"All Unsents are all the same, I swear!" Tidus shot back, swinging his left arm. "They think death is good and stuff, that everyone who's living has to be in their shoes to feel emotions they're feeling, and that death boosts their power to live longer. Well, here's my response! Just shut up or we'll send you back to where you have to be!"

Ike's Unsent grunted as he charged forward to the two. Tidus was the first one to stand in his position with his sword as Marth took some more time to gain his composure. "I'm not the same… I'm different!" Ike shot back.

Just as Tidus was about to strike back to defend Marth, a tall figure got in the way and blocked the phantasmal sword in time. The two teenagers gasped after recognizing Kimahri. "Kimahri!" Tidus said.

The Ronso didn't talk back, pushing the Unsent back to give them space. A few seconds after that, Knuckles rushed into the clearing, panting heavily while sweating. "Why do I…always have to be…slower than most people… It's…annoying…" he coughed out.

"You're here!" Tidus said surprised. "Where's Yuna and the others?"

Knuckles held out his hand to ask for a time out so that he could recover his breath. "…Whew!" he said. "Okay, that's better… You were asking me where the others were, right? They're inside the dome trying to get to that Yunalesca girl," he explained.

Kimahri didn't take his eyes off of the Unsent. "Yuna worried. Yuna requested Kimahri and stubborn person to go find Tidus and Marth," he said. "Yuna think you got lost."

Naturally, Knuckles was ticked off by the description. "Oh, so they don't know we're fighting this guy?" Tidus asked before sighing. "Well, that's just sweet…"

Knuckles turned to see the enemy, his eyes widening after realizing who it was. "Wait, isn't that… Hey, he's one of the guys who died a month ago!" he said, studying the phantasmagoric body. "He came back as…one of those Unsent guys?"

"Yes," Tidus said. "But he's going ballistic on us! He's been lingering way too long he got angry with us like all the other Unsent we met!"

"He's…our enemy," Marth said. "And he wants to kill me."

The echidna's mouth hung a little open until he turned to the Unsent.

"More of you are here…" Ike said. "It's not going to be different for anybody here. The result will still be the same… I'm going to kill you all for interfering with me so I can rest I peace knowing that I did my final good deed with no problems."

"…Okay, that totally falls in my black list," Knuckles said serious, tightening his fists.

Marth was thankful that reinforcements came in, but he felt bad that said reinforcements didn't think like he and Tidus did since they weren't going to go easy on the Unsent. He sighed, knowing that the worst was going to come soon. "Fight Unsent back," Kimahri said with his spear in hands. "Fight to live tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's tonight theme," Tidus agreed. "We gotta all work together to bring this fiend down!"

Out of a cue, the phantasmal Ragnell was engulfed in flames. The four except Kimahri were a bit surprised at the fire. "This situation calls for more desperate measures…" Ike said.

"Hold on right there," Tidus said, turning to Marth. "Did he use to do that when he was alive?"

"N-no, he never did that display at all," Marth said. "Is it possible that turning into an Unsent gave him that power?"

"Well, if you forgot, he hits really hard with his sword. I swear that thing is heavy."

"It is."

"Oh, that explains a thing." Tidus moved his foot back to take his position. "Looks like the battle is gonna get harder instead of easier. Guys, let's all be careful around that sword and its owner!"

"No need to tell me twice! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Knuckles charged with a war cry, ready to send fists to the Unsent. While he was yelling loudly, the flames on the phantasmal Ragnell flew out and trapped Knuckles quickly. His war cry yell was easily turned into a scream full of pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Tidus and Marth were horrified at the moving flames. "The fire moved by itself? What the hell! That should be impossible!" Tidus said.

"Wolf would say something to that complaint for sure…" Marth said.

"O-oh, never mind that! We've got to help him!"

Kimahri was the next one to charge. Ike simply stood there as the flames on Ragnell moved out to reach him out. The Ronso acrobatically jumped while pushing the burning Knuckles to the floor to dissipate the flames. The jump he performed allowed him to jump over the flames and land back on the floor to run at Ike.

Ike seemed unfazed by the dodging maneuver.

Taking his stillness in mind, Kimahri knew something was up. He turned around swiftly and spun his lance to block the incoming flames; the same flames that he jumped over to evade them. As it turned out, Tidus and Marth theorized that the flames could chase anyone down until they would hit a wall or the desired target.

Ike stopped standing still to use Quick Draw while Kimahri put the flames away with his spear. The Ronso roared out in pain as he was brutally slashed by the fiery sword on his back, pushing him back several feet away. The Ronso used his hand to push himself back to his feet to avoid rolling on the floor and get the wound on his back safely scratching it painfully. "Kimahri, are you okay?" Tidus asked.

"He's clearly not okay!" Marth complained. "That fiery sword must've done much more damage!"

Kimahri grunted at the pain on his back, but he nevertheless put up a strong stand. "Be careful…" Kimahri muttered.

Knuckles shook his head as he stood back up. "Taken off-guard again… I hate this!" he complained. "These Unsent are a royal pain in the a-"

"Sorry for butting in, but we better start running around!" Tidus interrupted.

The echidna was even more ticked off when he was interrupted, but he instantly knew why when he saw that more flames flew out coming at their way from the Unsent's sword. The four braced themselves until they spread around to avoid being burned. The situation got worse once Ike started chasing them down with his fiery sword. "Know this; you brought this upon yourselves…" Ike muttered darkly.

"(Why?)" Marth asked himself in his mind as he ran away from several flames chasing him down. "(Why must we all suffer through this fight because of my insecurity? This is…so unfair…)"

Zanarkand Dome – Corridor

Final Fantasy X – Between Ordeals

The pilgrimage group had been wandering around the dome for some time until they reached a sacred place; said sacred place was across a long ruined corridor where debris was scattered around the steps to the trials. The walk there wasn't very silent if they counted out the fights with the fiends. Auron was true to his word when he said that the dome was a gigantic sphere that recorded all the summoners who went through there before Yuna.

Just when they were about to reach the arc separating them from the trials, a new memory played out. They saw how Braska, Jecht, and the young Auron stood in front of the way to the next room.

"Are the trials ahead?" Jecht asked annoyed.

"Probably," Braska said.

"Here too, huh. Gimme a break…" Jecht said disappointed, dropping his hands down. "I was expecting, you know, 'hurray!' and fireworks!"

Braska stared at Jecht. "You can ask for them after I defeat Sin," he told him before his party rushed inside the cloister.

The recording entertained Yuna, snapping out of her mind after thinking about Tidus. "Hmm, if this dome is really a big recorder, all of us are gonna be recorded as well?" Wolf asked.

"It's possible," Auron said. "I don't know what times are going to be recorded, but I assume Yunalesca will record the most critical moments to inspire the next line of summoners to keep moving forward through the dome."

Chip gasped. "You mean I was making all those awesome poses for nothing? Aww, I was hoping I could be remembered in this world for the eternity," he said.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a way to tweak with the big sphere we're in to censor you out of the scene," he said.

"Seconded," Wolf said.

Rikku avoided making a comment by focusing entirely on Yuna. A few more steps until Yuna's life was taken away were enough to worry the Al Bhed. She wasn't tired of asking Yuna to reconsider her option. "Yunie… Um…" she muttered to herself, unsure if it was worth asking for the hundredth time to receive another no. "…Oh! Shouldn't we be looking for the others? Kimahri's taken a lot of time looking for Marth and Tidus…"

Yuna couldn't argue to that. It was hard to tell she wanted Tidus to be there with her rather than going off alone. "Just a little more," Yuna said. "We can't just walk off after arriving here, can we, Sir Auron? Is it possible that Yunalesca is waiting for us?"

"She has been waiting ten long years," Auron said. "She will get angry if we delay the meeting."

"How'd you know that, ya?" Wakka asked. "Unless that Unsent priest we met up at the entrance told her we were coming, a few more minutes wouldn't hurt her. Besides, Yuna is Spira's hope! She wouldn't want her de… Well, you know…that kinda state of mind…"

"I happen to know a few things about Yunalesca," Auron said as if he sounded a bit ashamed. "She completely dislikes people opposing her."

Lulu raised an eyebrow. "I have not heard of her getting furious over something," she said.

"Hmm, but this is just an assumption," Auron said. "I…judged her, that's all."

"(That was a bit weird coming from him,)" Zelda thought suspiciously. "Well, I would like to find Marth and Tidus. Leaving them with the fiends is such a concerning thing."

Sonic coughed. "They have Knucklehead. He's not that smart, but he can murder somebody when he wants to…when he is a psycho," he said snickering. "Not saying he almost did it with me. He ain't gonna catch up with me in a lifetime."

"Now I'm even more worried," Rikku said hopeless. "Yunie, let's rest this one for now! At least…at least make sure everyone is around you…"

Yuna grimaced a bit until she started walking into the cloister. Chris shook his head and hung it down in disbelief. It was conviction to Yuna's job or romance to the guy she loved. She seemed more attached with her role as a summoner than a normal person, or so Chris thought.

"Yunie…"

Wakka crossed his arms. "She's one tough cookie," he said.

"We cannot fall back," Lulu said. "The cloister of trials awaits us. It's our final test until we can meet Lady Yunalesca."

"The excitement, it's killing me," Wolf muttered sarcastically.

As each one of them followed the summoner, Rikku stood on her spot at a loss of words. Her eyes were watery but she wiped them off to keep the tears from falling. With a sharp turn around, the Al Bhed abandoned the group to find Tidus. "(He's the only one who can help me with this situation. It's too much for me to help Yunie, and I'm her closest cousin!)" she thought desperately as she rushed out from the ruined hall. Rikku didn't care if fiends were going to stop her. She would simply avoid them and run away as fast as she could.

Chun-nan Temple – Clearing

Final Fantasy X – Boss Theme

The calm clearing in front of the temple had turned into a battlefield full of chaos. The blue atmosphere was replaced by a red coat that covered most of the clearing due to flames going around at random directions. Inside the hellish inferno, Marth, Tidus, Kimahri, and Knuckles were all running to save themselves from being burned alive.

"How did we get into this mess again?" Tidus asked loudly.

"I blame my curiosity!" Marth yelled from far away. "It led me to find Ike's Unsent whose trying to kill us off out of pure hatred!"

"Damn your curiosity! Damn it!"

All of them had lost sight of Ike in the ensuing chaos of fire. Kimahri noted he had disappeared from his spot, and the Ronso didn't doubt he was waiting for a chance to strike at the most inconvenient time from somewhere. Judging the possibilities, Kimahri theorized that the Unsent hid inside the flames. "Show yourself!" Kimahri shouted. "Your essence is poison for Spira!"

"It's crazy in here!" Knuckles yelled across the sea of flames. "All this fire makes it hard to find that guy! Was he burned alive by his own attack?"

Tidus ducked down from a long flamethrower line. "We need some water to put the fire out, then!" he said. "I'm not a mage like Lulu, though! We better find some kind of alternative to find him and strike back!"

Marth felt pressured and paranoid, looking back and forth in the flames while dodging the fire. He sweated as he saw a blurry shadow moving towards him from inside the inferno. It freaked him out more when said blurry shadow seemed to teleport around the fires. "H-he's seeking me out…" Marth muttered. "He wants to…kill me in the confusion…"

"Hey, Marth, where are you?" Tidus called out. "Say something! Are you dead yet?"

"N-no!" Marth said bewildered. "How can you ask such a thing?"

"Good! Your pessimism tells me that it's clearly you!"

The Altean briefly rolled his eyes until he saw Ike's Unsent stepping out of the harmless flames. Marth froze on the spot until he readied Falchion. "I-I found him! …Or rather, he found me!" Marth yelled.

"And the next move will be me putting you out of your needless misery," Ike said.

Marth yelled out against the reply. As Tidus rolled out of the way from a stream of living fire, he caught sight of Ike's Unsent standing across a line of fire. "Found ya!" he said while jumping over the line of fire to reach both of them out. "Time to settle the score!"

Ike turned to Tidus while sighing. "Why must you interfere?" he asked. "You are trying to get rid of me to take my spot, don't you?"

"What?" Tidus asked.

"It's obvious you're trying to replace me for Marth as his friend. Otherwise, why would he engage in conversations with you during the whole trip in this world?" Ike asked angrily. "It just doesn't seem fair to me… Not fair at all."

Tidus groaned. "For goodness' sake, you're getting even crazier the longer you're here," he said. "I'm not even trying to replace you! I'm just adding myself to his list of comrades, that's all!"

Ike grimaced darkly. "A pathetic excuse coming from a lowlife fool like you," he said while Marth simply stared at the scene. The argument was hurting his very soul even though it was all clearly not true.

"This lowlife fool happens to know what's best for Marth," Tidus shot back. "You need to lie down and rest peacefully so you stop tormenting him. Seriously, what kinda friend kills another friend?"

"Do not get me started with this," Ike warned. "It was crystal clear you usurped my spot!"

Tidus freaked out. "This is just a random thought of mine, but I hope you're not saying you were more than just friends…" he trailed off.

There was a heavy implication that hinted an unfounded feeling that was the entire rage in the real world. Marth slammed his face on the floor. "Tidus… If you are trying to tease me in some dreadfully embarrassing ways…don't do it," he muttered.

The blond teen stared at the Unsent's ticked off look. Tidus chuckled nervously and scratched the backside of his head. "O-oh, I-I guess I assumed wrong. Sorry for thinking like that," he apologized before remembering he was fighting the enemy. "What I really want to say is you're gonna pack your things!"

Ike let out a barbaric yell as he charged at Tidus with the flaming sword in hand. "Death to those who dare oppose my beliefs!" he yelled.

Tidus got serious. "(That fiery sword will hurt like hell if it slashes me even once! I gotta get dodgy and strike the hits to accumulate damage… It'll be a lot easier if the others lent me their hands. I can't use my magic if he's chasing me all the time)," he thought, quickly darting off to the left. "(Argh, there's a lot of fire everywhere! There's little room to move!)"

Only then Tidus realized he and Marth were trapped in a ring of fire between the searing flames outside. The circle of flames was too high as well, preventing anyone from getting in or out.

"Aww, cheap!" Tidus complained just in time to dodge a slamming attack from Ike's sword.

"Not my fault you got in when I wanted to have my last chat with Marth," Ike said. "It proves you're an interloper!"

"No, no, no, no!" Tidus said playfully. "We were about to enter the damn temple until you got in our way! In retrospective, you ARE the interloper!"

"Enough talk!" Ike said, pointing his sword at Tidus. "Talk to my sword once it goes through your meek heart!"

"That'd be literally impossible because by then I'd be dead."

Ike simply chased after Tidus, triggering the latter's cue to run from him to come up with a strategy. While he was moving around, the blond teen took a few seconds to look over at Marth. It wasn't good. Marth was still in denial about what to do.

"Maaaaaaaarth!" Tidus groaned, barely dodging a stream of fire shooting out from the ring. "I'm BEGGING you! Stand up and help me out here to help you back!"

Marth once more snapped out and stood back up, picking up Falchion. "I…I have to do it… (Marth, stop this! You can't white out anymore… You have to face whatever this soulless enemy throws at you!)" The Altean forced a glare as he went up to join Tidus.

"BEHIND YOU!" Tidus yelled.

Marth gasped at the yell and turned around to see another stream of fire shooting out from the ring. His eyes widened as he jumped aside from the fire. However, the fire turned out to be targeting both of them. Tidus accidentally ran into the fire, letting out a scream of pain. "TIDUS!" Marth yelled.

"We're alone for a moment, but that's going to be enough."

The prince's heart skipped a beat when he felt Ike's presence very close. Marth's instinct kicked in, turning swiftly around to use Counter. Ike stood there without moving once, having withdrawn his sword from receiving a hit from Marth. "You're unsettling," Marth said. "You HAVE to leave, Ike! It's for the good of both of us!"

"I thought it was futile to talk to me because my soul was 'corrupted' or some stupid nonsense," Ike said while the stream of fire cleared out, leaving a charred Tidus dropping on his knees to rest for a bit. "I thought reasoning was a waste of time because of the same reason. Well, you might be right on that. Nothing will change my perspective of how I see things."

Marth shook his head. "It's the more reason to support the fact your soul is corrupted with negative feelings!" he said. "If nothing is going to change your perspectives, then you are…you are a fiend in our eyes! And like all fiends in this world, I must be the one to take you out myself!"

"And it's my duty to do the same to you. Now, COME ON!" Ike taunted.

Out of the circle of flames, Kimahri leaped into the ring to join the fight. "Kimahri!" Marth said.

"Wasting time is death," Kimahri said. "Use time wisely to gain upper hand!"

"Yes, I agree with you. Assist me," Marth said.

Ike grunted. "How many more of you will it take me to finish my task at hand? I better make sure you all go to hell with me!" he proclaimed.

Marth was about to dash in until he noticed Kimahri stepped back, making a hand sign in front of his face. "Kimahri, what are you doing?" the prince asked confused.

"Ronso Rage: Aqua Breath!" Kimahri said. Marth watched as the Ronso shot out from his mouth a bubbly stream of water that went on to drench Ike completely. The Unsent grunted as he was pushed back by the water. Kimahri then regained his position. "Kimahri has found weakness," he said.

"What?"

Ike's Unsent gasped when he saw his fiery sword had drenched badly from the sudden move. The fire he tried to call never engulfed the sword again, making him look at them with fury. "This was quite an unexpected flaw of my part… It won't mean anything, though!" he said.

"(So water powers down his sword,)" Marth theorized. "(I better make a note about that if his fire happens to come back…) Kimahri, let's go! You've gave us a big advantage for this fight!"

"Yeah! You go on without me!" Tidus said on the floor. "I'm gonna…take some time to recover…"

The Unsent yelled loudly while raising his sword behind him. Kimahri was the first one to rush and attack with Marth trailing off behind. Ike tried a horizontal slash, but Kimahri jumped over Ike to reach his backside. The Ronso wasted no time to strike Ike with his spear from the back, staggering him with the blow.

"No hard feelings this time… No more!" Marth muttered to himself as he started using Dancing Blade, successfully pulling off the entire combo on Ike. As Ike was pushed back, Kimahri used his spear to pierce a hole through the red cape to pull him up and slam him down behind with force.

"A-ack!" Ike gasped out at the hit on the floor.

Marth then recalled the raging fire. The fire seemed to respond to its owner's pleas by shooting out from the ring of flames. Kimahri and Marth were now forced to dodge the fire and let Ike stand back up to his feet. The Unsent used the time to stand back up and regain his composure, the fire stopping shooting out.

"You're getting serious this time," Ike remarked. "Might as well do the same!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A barbaric yell came from behind the Unsent. Ike turned around to meet up with a fist slamming right into his face, sending him rolling on the floor until stopping a few feet away. Wiping out his face, Ike looked forward to glare daggers with burned Knuckles. "You're here at last?" he taunted.

"SHUT UP!" Knuckles barked. "This infernal fire has been annoying me too much I had it with it once I saw you standing here!" He pointed his right fist at Ike. "You're going down to eat the dirt, ghostly fiend!"

"Again with me being a fiend when it has to be backwards in this situation…" Ike trailed off, standing up. "Come and give me all you got, bunch of fools!"

Kimahri was clearly the fastest one after Marth. The prince was amazed somebody so talk and imposing as the Ronso was so nimble. Joining the rush, Marth followed suit. Ike charged a Quick Draw to dash over the floor and smack them together at the same time, but both close range fighters jumped over and slammed down their weapons onto his shoulders.

"W-what?" Ike staggered, finding strength to move away from them. As he did, he was met by Knuckles punching him from the right side. "(H-how did he… Damn, I was too distracted to see him!)" the Unsent cursed mentally as he was pushed aside. Opening his eyes, Ike rolled back to avoid Kimahri's spear from slicing his side.

While the three were fighting against Ike, Tidus found the strength to take out a Hi-Potion. He desperately drank up all of its contents. "That's better, I guess…" he said coughing. "These things taste like bad medicine… Oh yeah!" He pulled back his arm to prepare a Hastega spell. "Hey, everyone! I'm gonna speed things up a bit!"

"Like hell you will do something as foolish as that!" Ike yelled.

The ring of fire responded to his angry response by shooting out streams of fire all around. The four were now pushed back into the edge of being burned alive in a matter of seconds. It felt as if the tables had turned for a moment because Ike disappeared from sight, hiding himself in the flames.

"Dammit! We were about to hand his head back to him!" Knuckles complained. He was sure victory was very close.

Tidus was ticked off he was interrupted so harshly. "Why did I have to go and open my big mouth to call the attention?" he cursed. "Really, I need to get better on that area myself…"

Feeling a tight grip on his shoulder, Tidus looked back to see Ike standing right behind. He gasped at the demonic glare the Unsent gave him. "I'll rather have you dead first so Marth stops using you as his shield… HA!" he said, tossing Tidus outside the ring of fire to burn him alive into a sea of fire.

Tidus screamed loudly enough to catch Kimahri's attention. The Ronso leaped out from the living fire to grab him in midair and save him from being burned alive. Tidus literally prayed inside his head for the rescue. "GEEZ, I was about to die roasted alive! Thanks," he thanked Kimahri albeit the Ronso dropped him off too quickly to step back and avoid a stream of fire. Tidus practically avoided it by falling flat on the floor. "Alright, I'm happy and angry…" he muffled.

Marth looked cautiously around. The fire had taken a lot of space inside the ring. He was separated once again from everyone, and he didn't like the fact he was forced to go alone. Anytime now, Ike could come out from the flames and drag him inside to show his sadistic nature.

Which was exactly what happened.

Marth was grabbed by the wrist, being dragged inside the flames where Ike simply stood there unfazed by the violent heat. Marth, on the other hand, was suffering a lot as the fire burned him alive. He tried to pry his wrist off, but the Unsent held a tight grip. "You're going to die like a dog," Ike said, "a filthy, scumbag of a dog."

"P-please…" Marth couldn't take it very well. The fire was going to claim his life in less than a minute if he didn't get out fast. "Ike… You're…corrupted…"

"And you're burned," Ike said, grinning in triumph. "This is a dirty move of my part, but it can't be helped. Your time is up…"

"N-no… I-I refuse to…die like this…" Marth was succumbing to unbelievable pain; pain that was too hard to resist with tolerance. "(E-everyone… A…am I going to be…t-the next one to…die…?)"

The prince felt his consciousness drifting away. He closed his eyes right before hearing a mighty roar.

"What?" Ike looked up to see Kimahri jumping up over the flames. The Ronso was doing the same hand sign, releasing from his mouth a stream of water that doused out the flames into pure steam. The water attack also ended up hurting Ike in some fashion he couldn't quite comprehend, letting go of the fainted Marth. With the fire gone, Ike wiped out his face right when Knuckles came charging in, delivering a back punch on his head. "A-ah!" Ike gasped in pain as he forced to roll away on the floor. The water had a positive effect by saving Marth from the fire.

Knuckles ducked down to check up on Marth. "Hey, respond! If you still can…" he trailed off worried, finding severe burns all over Marth's clothes. He prayed that the flames didn't get so bad to leave scars behind.

A light shone down upon Marth, giving him a second chance to fight. He coughed as he rubbed his head. "I-I'm still alive?" he asked as Knuckles sighed. "What a relief…"

"That guy held you in the fire to burn you alive," Knuckles said, letting go of the prince so that he could stand up. "He's getting more brutal."

Kimahri had landed a few seconds ago. His mind was extremely focused on the battle. "Here he comes!" he warned the two, seeing Ike rushing to them.

"Yes, stand back up so you annoy me with your filthy presence!" the Unsent said loudly. He took advantage of the fire by commanding it to surround his enemies in a much smaller ring of fire that slowly closed in. The fire even grew taller to prevent them from jumping over.

"Damn, we're trapped!" Knuckles said.

"Kimahri, use your Aqua Breath skill!" Marth said.

"Kimahri cannot use it too many times in succession," Kimahri said. "Kimahri needs more time to prepare."

Ike chuckled. "This time, you're all going to die! Wait a minute… Where's the othe-AHH!"

Ike staggered as a harsh slash came from behind. Tidus had slashed his back with his sword to score a hit. "Forgot about me for a sec?" he taunted, stepping back to stay on the defensive.

The Unsent chuckled darkly, turning to face Tidus. "And you thought that slashing me cowardly from behind was going to release those fools inside the flames?" he asked.

"The cavalry is here! Don't fret cuz here I come!"

From the ground, water materialized, rising up to create bursts that doused off the fire that surrounded the group. Ike watched astonished as the fire he had spread around to make confusion was being put away by the water itself. It took nine bursts of water to completely clear the entire clearing back to its pacific atmosphere. The trio was freed from the fire as well, surrounding Ike with Tidus on the other side. "What is the meaning of this?" Ike asked.

From the dome's direction, Rikku rushed into the scene with her claw on hand. "Sorry I'm late!" she casually apologized.

Tidus sighed relieved that more aid came. "Thank god you're here!" he said.

Rikku ran to his side. "Well yeah! You guys were absent for a long time that I got worried sick! You do remember Yunie is walking her last steps, right?" she asked upset. "She wants you to be right by her side when that happens!"

Tidus crossed his arms. "If that's so, then why isn't she here?" he asked doubtful.

"She's in denial!" Rikku complained. "It's like her job is brainwashing her mind. She didn't want to go look for you but instead walked into the cloister of trials without thinking so much…" She sniffed a bit and looked down. "…I need you help more than before…"

Tidus grimaced until Ike cleared his throat. "If you've forgotten, there's no telling you will live to see that girl again," he said. "Letting you go is going to give me a lot trouble I will regret."

Rikku stared confused. "Um, who's that guy, anyway?" she asked. "When I saw all that fire, I mixed a few items to put it all out to see who was here. I don't remember him, though…"

"He was the one who tossed all that fire around. He's the reason we're not there with Yuna," Tidus said. "Especially, he is looking for Marth to kill him."

"In other words, this guy came from the grave to kill us all and go back with him!" Knuckles yelled from his spot. "It's one of those Unsent people you talked about!"

"Unsent?" Ike said frowning. "You all are the Unsent. You still walk the earth you live on."

"Not this reverse perspective about who's a fiend and who's an Unsent crap again!"

Rikku did the math in her head. "Sooooooo…he's a bad guy. And we have to fight him or else we might all die before we even get to see Yuna one more time. AND if we die, we'll wait for Yuna in the Farplane," she said.

"Yes!" Tidus and Knuckles said in unison.

"…Well, ain't that scary and not pretty," she shrugged, Tidus face-palming with a frown.

"Enough chit-chat," Ike said as his sword caught fire once more, shocking the ones who already dealt with it. "It's yet another time for me to get serious! All of you lie down…and DIE for real!" he ordered.

Everyone but Rikku thought that getting too close to the fire sword would definitely be suicide. Putting the fire away would greatly decrease the sword's raw power in a cinch. However, Kimahri needed time to prepare his Overdrive. "Offensive or defensive?" Knuckles asked.

"Defensive!" Marth suggested.

"You defenses are not strong enough to withstand this!" Ike yelled out as his flaming sword became longer thrice its size. Most of them shocked at it. "Just killing one by one is too slow, so I'll rather slice three with a single attack. I, first, have to take out those who give me the most trouble…the animal and the perky girl."

Kimahri narrowed his eyes while Rikku dilated hers in shock. Seeing Kimahri bracing himself, Ike made a sharp turn and charged at Rikku. "I-I'm scared of REALLY long fiery swords!" she yelped, trying to run away from her enemy. Tidus of course wasn't going to stand by as he stood between Rikku and Ike.

"Long sword, fiery sword, it's all the same!" Tidus said, clenching his fist in front of him. "I'm gonna set the score!"

"Fool, so be it!" Ike taunted as he shifted his focus on to Tidus.

The Unsent didn't think that Tidus was actually going to pull off his own Overdrive. With his long sword, Ike sliced the very air with it to stop Tidus from coming closer, but the blond teen moved nimbly between the sword slashes. When he noticed, Ike had Tidus standing right in front of him. "Hack n slash!" Tidus said, starting to slash Ike continuously.

"A-arhg!" Ike grunted in pain as the assault staggered him, preventing his sword from being swung around. In total, the Unsent received eight slashes with the last one being a slam attack.

But Tidus wasn't quite finished. As Ike lost his sense of control, Tidus stepped back and burrowed his sword deep into the floor to use the hilt as a support point to jump high acrobatically, his head pointing down. "What the hell is he doing?" Knuckles asked. "He's got him off-guard and he's…!"

Rikku turned around and gasped. "Geez! I almost forgot!" she said as if Tidus being in the air was a signal. From behind, she took out a blitzball and tossed it to Tidus. The blond teen did like a soccer pro and kicked the ball with so much force that it ended up bursting into a big explosion upon hitting Ike. The Unsent yelled in pain, flying off several feet until landing on the floor.

"…Did the ball just blow up?" Knuckles asked bewildered.

"Blitzball are deadly," Marth said. "Dead deadly…"

As Ike tried to stand back up, Kimahri took the initiative to strike him with his spear. "Filthy coward, at least let me get back up to my feet!" Ike complained. Kimahri was the one taken off-guard when Ike swung his sword along the floor, striking the Ronso's feet.

In the blink of an eye, extreme pain surged in Kimahri. The Ronso grunted loudly, his feet producing pain by simply standing. Having no option, Kimahri backed away as far as he could to fall back on the floor to try to rest as fast as possible, giving Ike all the time to stand up.

"You're mine, big tiger!" Ike proclaimed as he dashed to Kimahri.

"He's done for if he's attacked!" Knuckles realized, rushing to Kimahri's side. The echidna yelled while preparing his fists to reach Ike out. The long fiery sword was the bane of his rescue as Ike used it to slam Knuckles directly on his body. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Knuckles screamed loudly in pain, easily brushed aside by the attack. Marth gasped when Knuckles rolled back with a large burn running across his chest.

When the light shone down upon Knuckles, it made it clear the attack he received was deadly. The echidna grunted as he opened his eyes to sit up. "That sword of his is extremely dangerous to even touch!" he said angrily.

The two heard a loud roar until Kimahri crashed close to them with the same large burn on his body. With no more strength left in him, the Ronso fainted out of the damage. "Kimahri!" Marth yelled. "We left him alone…"

"And he left us alone to fend him off," Knuckles muttered.

Marth was surprised when Knuckles yelled out in rage. The echidna got annoyed very quickly and, without thinking, charged straight to Ike. "Knuckles, wait! That's what he wants us to do…maybe!"

Ike heard Knuckles' war cry, instantly focusing on him. The Unsent charged up and used his Quick Draw, seemingly hovering over the floor to deliver a fatal blow on Knuckles. The echidna was sent soaring through the air until crashing down on the floor, throwing down his arms with his conscience already gone.

"No!" Marth yelled. He felt more pressure in the battle now that Knuckles and Kimahri were taken out by the enemy.

"Rikku, give me a hand and let's fight him together!" Tidus told Rikku, the latter still standing several feet away from the fight. She seemed very reluctant to step into the fight. "C'mon! You want us to go back with Yuna or what? I just know we're this close to beat him!"

Rikku gulped. "I-if you say so. (I don't wanna die before Yunie does… No! I have to stay positive! You gotta look up with a smile, Rikku! Don't let this fiend discourage you!)" she cheered herself mentally, running to Tidus' side. "We ought to go heal Kimahri and the other guy, don't you think? I don't think us three alone will help…"

Tidus stared over at Ike, who had now resumed running after them. "I'll give you time to go toss some Phoenix Downs on 'em. Wish me luck!" he said before he left Rikku behind to fight Ike for himself. Nodding to herself, Rikku ran around a safe distance from the two to avoid the attention.

"You're not getting away!" Ike yelled at Rikku.

"Eek!" Rikku yelped.

"Your target isn't her but me! Ha!" Tidus said as he leaped forward to slam down his sword on Ike. The Unsent used his long fiery sword to block it and push it off from Tidus' hand, shocking the ace blitzball player. "What in th-"

"BEGONE!" Ike roared out. He opted to use a new attack by burrowing his sword deep into the floor, calling forth an enormous eruption of fire that towered into the air. The eruption of fire was intense and quick at the same time, delivering another fatal blow as Tidus screamed out in pain.

Marth saw Tidus flying out from the tower of fire, crashing painfully on the floor. He conveniently fell besides his sword, but he never moved again after that.

"N-no!" Rikku said as she continued running to the other side of the clearing. "You can't just…"

The prince finally decided to stop standing around. He clenched his fists while thinking nobody had died. The mere thought that more people were going to lose their chance to live frightened him. "(Calm yourself down, Marth… Don't let this monster kill the people you care about…)"

"AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!"

Rikku's scream snapped Marth out of his train of thought. The reason why she had screamed was because Ike was now set on in taking her out of commission. If she was taken out now, Marth would be totally left alone to fight the Unsent if any reinforcements were on the way. "Once you are out, Marth will be next, and then my task will be finished," Ike said. "Don't make this so hard and let's end this! Let that foolish girl Yuna do what she wants to do!"

The Al Bhed girl was enraged by the statement. "No! I gotta live to see Yuna again!" Rikku shot back.

Marth gasped when Rikku turned around to face Ike. "What? No, Rikku! What are you doing?" Marth yelled in complete shock.

"I've got to shut him up myself! I-I won't let anyone talk about my cousin like that!" Rikku cried, not thinking with a straight mind that she could die trying to fight.

"No, stop!" Marth yelled. He gritted his teeth and ran forward to stop the eventual clash between Rikku and Ike. He made up his mind. He didn't wish to see somebody die first but him.

"Am I going to take out two birds with one stone? That is something I must carry out!" Ike said, taking a hard grip of his long fiery sword. "Prepare yourselves for your last breath in the world of the living!"

Rikku braced herself, not thinking straight that she would most likely die at her intent to suck his words up. Marth was solely focused on putting Rikku away from death, stepping up himself to take her spot.

Marth shed some tears. He was very afraid to die, but he couldn't help it. It was his nature to keep others from harm that forced him to put his life first in case the worst happened. He vigorously held his sword besides him as he rushed to Ike first before Rikku could even act.

Too bad Marth never expected Rikku to throw a grenade in the first place.

"What?" Marth said bewildered as a grenade was flung right onto Ike. Ike tried to shield himself from it, but Rikku had a fast killer throw. The grenade set off with an explosion that pushed the Unsent back. "B-but I…I thought that you…"

"DIE!" Rikku cried.

Marth noticed that Rikku was still crying despite her little interruption with the grenade. Out of nowhere, she took out several grenades that she flung right to Ike. The Unsent grunted and slashed the grenades swiftly with his long sword to avoid getting caught in them. The prince was alarmed that Rikku was tossing a plethora of them nonstop as if there was an endless supply of them from…somewhere.

Seeing none of the grenades managed to land on the Unsent, Rikku grew desperate. "Just stand there and die!" she cried out. Marth was thinking about rushing ahead, but the explosions and the long sword were keeping him out from fighting at close range. He wanted to tell Rikku that it was pointless, but she looked enraged and saddened that nothing was working now.

"Rikku, don't cry," Chip said beside her. "There's no need to cry when you have me next to you."

Rikku ran out of grenades just in time to embrace Chip in a warm hug. "But he's badmouthing Yunie so bad… I-I couldn't take it anymore…" she trailed off sniffing, making Chip's eyes teary.

"You're so nice…" Chip said, leaning his head to her face.

After a few seconds to take in Chip's sudden appearance from out of the blue, Marth shook his head and stared at Chip. "Chip? What are you doing here?" he asked.

Chip looked upset at Marth. "Shh. Go away, creepy man. I'm consoling her," he whispered. For some odd reason, Marth thought Chip was flirting with Rikku given he raised his eyebrows twice at him.

"Chip!" Marth yelled. "If you didn't know any better, we're in the middle of a fight!" he pointed out. He gulped when realizing Ike wasn't wasting his time to stand around by running to them. "W-we need to move out, fast!"

Chip grunted annoyed. "Don't worry, you. Sonic is gonna pull off a Big Damn Hero moment in a second. I just flew out from the dome's roof to get out faster and I flew down in a hurry when I heard Rikku crying," he explained. Of course, Marth failed to understand what Chip meant with the term he said, thinking it was some foolery of his mind.

Marth didn't wait. He charged right ahead. "I must stop you!" Marth yelled.

"And I must kill you!" Ike yelled back. He kept a tight grip on his long sword to strike Marth with it. Marth gulped as he braced himself to resist any attacks thrown at him. When he started to lose hope to survive, a deadly fast fist slammed on Ike's side, pushing him aside. Given that said fist was connected to a stretched, furred arm, Marth looked toward its direction to see Sonic standing there with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, go on and leave us behind while some guy is beating you up!" Sonic said, only to be whacked by a staff on the head by Chris who came before him. "Oww! Okay, okay, no cocky comments…"

Chris merely frowned and ran up to Marth until Sonic did the same. "What a relief…" Marth said sighing. "I thought we were about to die without anyone else knowing where we were."

Sonic pointed at Chris with his thumb. "When he fell back behind us, Chris suddenly turned around and ran out." He then pointed at himself. "Chip and I followed him so he didn't get his head handed over by the fiends on the way here. Good thing did, though. Something was really going on outside… Say, isn't that guy…"

"It's Ike's Unsent…" Marth said mournfully. "His soul somehow wound up in Spira and lingered for a long time he got corrupted. And now…he's bent on killing me and everyone."

Chris couldn't believe that souls could even travel worlds. It came as a shock to him that Ike would turn into an Unsent. But he forgot that when he gasped after seeing the others dropped dead on the floor. Changing from Black Mage to Fonic Hymn User, Chris didn't hesitate to go over and heal them with his magic.

Sonic grinned. "Looks like he doesn't need to talk for this one," he said, smacking his fists together. "You ready to move on to the next round? Hope you don't mind, but I'm tagging along to buy Chris some time."

"Yes, that'd be nice of you," Marth agreed. He once more felt that things were starting to look up to their favor with Chris taking the main healer position…

…Unfortunately, though, good luck wasn't on Chris's side again. He tried to cast Resurrection on Knuckles, but the spell quite didn't work at all. It was his muteness that rendered the spell almost useless. Disheartened by the fact, Chris looked serious as he tried again. It was going to take a while to pull off a good spell…

"…Okay, I feel the same like I was a moment ago," Marth said, feeling ashamed.

"HEY, if you forgot, you got your brawny dude standing next to you. Oh, and please don't think I like this form or anything," Sonic said upset. He looked away and put up a scary serious look. "Chit-chat time's over!"

Ike stood up without even saying a word. He just ran to them enraged. He had it with the interruptions from almost everyone. "Sonic, whatever you do, do not touch that sword of his! It can possibly kill you but certainly knock you out!" Marth advised the werehog.

"Thanks for the little heads up! HA!" Sonic stood there while throwing a fist to Ike. The Unsent was too slow to react at the fast fist punching his face. Sonic smirked at the hit, but he was slow to pull back his arm. Ike retaliated quickly by slashing his arm with his sword. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sonic screamed loudly as he pulled back his arm, helplessly blowing air on it. Not sooner than that, Sonic had lost control of his arm with the extreme pain on the black mark left on it. "U-uh, my arm's kinda…out… And that was the good one for punching…"

Marth looked up in disbelief. "…For real, Sonic?" he asked. "It took you five seconds to debilitate you? Well, I suppose that makes kind of sense since you're fast…"

Sonic pointed at him. "I do NOT get knocked out that fast! I was confident that time!"

"More like overconfident… You know that leads to death, right?"

"Already got told by that red-haired, scarfed girl I met some months ago."

Ike's barbaric war cry alerted them that he was approaching. Marth had to step forward. "Sonic, I hate to ask, but can you fight with your other arm?" he asked.

"Not really into lefty people's stuff, but I can still give it a try," Sonic said, grinning (cross "over") confidently. "We still need to give Chris a little bit more of time to heal the others."

If they could read minds, they would hear all the curses Chris mentally yelled, banging his rod in the air at a quick pace. None of them even saw what he was doing anymore.

"Y-you guys," Rikku called over from her spot. Marth refrained from looking away from Marth. "I-I can fight again. Let me give it a shot too!"

"Nonsense! You need to rest," Chip said. "Leave the men do their job while I coo you from your sadness."

Rikku sniffed. "Thanks, Chip, but I wanna help them," she said, dismaying the flirting Chip. "I-I gotta protect Yuna's name. Nobody else but me can do that well!" She pushed the imp away to join the two.

"Die, all of you, die!" Ike yelled enraged as he swung his sword horizontally. Fortunately, all of them avoided getting their heads cut off from the bodies by stepping back or ducking down. Doing the later, Rikku sneaked down the trails of fire in the air to run quick and slash the Unsent with her claw with a spin. "A-ah!" Ike grunted in pain, staggering a bit from the hit.

Sonic yelled while throwing a fist to strike him. With the advantage, Sonic did an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying into the air for a bit. The werehog proceeded by using the same fist to slam him down on the floor, cracking the concrete beneath it.

"Begone!" Ike yelled as he slashed the air, barely missing hurting Sonic's good arm. The Unsent rolled forward to stand back up and resume running to their spot. He opted to charge a Quick Draw to quickly zoom over there, shocking the trio. He yelled out as he burrowed his sword into the ground to call forth an eruption of fire. The three were too close to the tower of fire that Rikku ended up flying away, landing painfully on the floor where she lost consciousness. Sonic barely jumped out in time, and Marth sidestepped away in time.

"Rikku, my love!" Chip said bewildered as he flew over to her. True enough, the Al Bhed was knocked out. The imp opened his hands to the sides while screaming to the air "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?"

"Damn that guy!" Sonic snarled enraged. "CHRIS! How are things over you side?"

The World Traveler still struggled to get his healing spells to work properly. Sighing mentally, Chris turned around and shook his head. He started sweating bullets when Ike walked out from the tower of fire with an expression of anger directed at him. It became clear Chris was his next target. The teen (naturally) screamed out silently to the air. He turned around and ran further away from the area.

"H-hey!" the Temple Guardian called out from the cage. The old man was apparently spared from all the fire that had covered the field earlier. He thought Chris would finally open the cage he was trapped in but the teen instead ran past by without even noticing him. "A-alright, I'll just…uh…sit down and wait… Don't mind me…"

Seeing that embedding to his mind, Sonic stepped in the Unsent's way. "You got a problem with him, huh?" he asked, struggling in pain by bringing his damaged arm up. "Then you got a problem with me!"

"Out of the way, insolent furred monster!" Ike insulted as he swung his long sword. The werehog jumped over it, just to get lured into a trap by the enemy. Ike tossed his sword high up where it spun quickly in the air, slicing the werehog several times. The ghostly mercenary then jumped up and grabbed his sword's hilt to slam Sonic down. "Aether!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sonic let out a painful roar as smoke filled the place where he crashed with force. Once the smoke cleared out, Sonic was taken out by the powerful move. Due to the fire, the mask Sonic wore over his mouth was burned into ashes. Ike stepped back as a light shone on Sonic, bringing him back on his feet with half his health replenished. Fortunately, his arms were healed. He gritted his fangs at Ike and, without a word, leaped and pinned him down to the floor.

"You'll be sorry for this!" Ike said while trying to slash the werehog away.

But then, something quite unusual was happening to Sonic…

Ike stopped briefly to see that the werehog wasn't his usual self. Sonic's pupils were gone, leaving his eyes filled with white under an angered expression. His bare fangs somehow looked sharper than before with a disgusting drool that sneaked out between his fangs. There was a putrid black aura leaking out from his back that rose up in a calm way that could make anyone feel a sheer amount of negative force that wished to kill anybody on sight. Even the likes of Ike's angered souls would stop doing whatever they were about to do to be frozen under that expression lusting for bloodshed.

Marth was the only one besides Ike to notice Sonic's mood change. After running several feet away from the fight, Chris turned around and his eyes widened in shock when he looked at Sonic. Chip briefly looked back while crying over Rikku to see the werehog. "S-Sonic?" he whispered as if he had seen that event before.

Ike blinked a few times until he forced a glare; said glare was suddenly crushed under a heavy claw. The Unsent's shocked eyes were covered under the claws slowly pressing him to the floor. He once again tried to retaliate with his long sword of fire, but the werehog smashed his hand with the other free claw. Ike screamed loudly underneath the claw as pain ran across him. "W-what are you?" he asked frightened in a muffled voice. "W-what do you want?"

"What is going on with Sonic?" Marth asked at a loss of words. "He didn't activate an Over Limit or anything when I was watching or he does have an ability to do that… Wait…that black aura on his back… No, it couldn't be…"

Sonic unusually crackled with a devilish smile. Of course, it all made sense to the trio still on their feet that somebody had possessed Sonic. "WELL, WELL, WELL! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE UNDER THIS ULTRA POWERFUL HAND OF MINE? OOOOOOOOOOH, IT'S SOME LOSER WHO WAS KINDLY ASKING FOR THE BEATING OF HIS LIFE! OOPS! OR SHOULD I SAY THE BEATING OF YOUR AFTERLIFE IN YOUR SUCKY CASE?" Sonic asked, enjoying hurting the frightened Unsent.

The ghostly mercenary's head was further pushed down into the floor. "L-let me go!" Ike demanded loudly. "I have no business with you!"

Apparently, Ike's heart (if he had any) skipped a beat when the devilish werehog painfully moved down his claw to approach his sadistic face to him. "DUNNO WHY, BUT YOU PICKED A BONE WITH ME WHEN YOU BEAT ME UP WITH THAT LONG STICK OF YOURS. YOU REMEMBER BACK THEN? YEAH, I DO…BUT LET'S JUST SAY I DID NOT ENJOY THAT MEMORY THAT WELL." Sonic looked over to Ike's long sword. "SPEAKING OF WHICH…IT IS BURNING DANGEROUSLY. LET ME PUT OUT THE FIRE FOR YOU."

Ike narrowed his eyes as he commanded the sword's flames to shoot out and burn the werehog alive. He didn't know what method Sonic was going to use to drench the flames since there was no water to drown the sword anywhere.

Sadly, Ike never thought Sonic was actually talking about a second water source: his own drool.

Out of the werehog's mouth, a stream of stinky saliva drenched the flames right when they shot out. The stream also put the fire away while trapping the now normal-sized sword in thick layers of saliva. Marth made a disgusted expression even though the werehog's method did work, Chip stuck out his tongue in disgust, and Chris had a particularly weak stomach to resist such unconventional yet extremely gross method that he covered his mouth and ran behind the nearest bush of bamboo to puke.

Ike was grossed out as well. The fact a thick layer covered his right hand didn't help in his situation. Sonic smirked proudly while sucking out some drool, all the while staring at Ike's face. "DEEEEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS," he said in delight. "THAT STICK'S GONNA GET HARD TO GET OUT OF MY…SPECIAL TECHNIQUE."

"What k-kind of special technique is using your own drool?" Ike asked loudly, only for Sonic to get upset and quickly pound him with his right fist. Ike screamed out in pain once the werehog started jumping down over his body. The sheer weight was surely shattering any bones inside the Unsent. "S-STOOOOOOOOOOP!" Ike cried out in agony, but Sonic laughed and continued acting as if he was a child.

"DADDY, DADDY, LET'S GO HAVE SOME FUN!" Sonic teased, fully enjoying Ike's agony. "I DON'T WANNA GO TO SLEEP YET! I WANT TO WATCH MORE T.V. 'CAUSE I WAS WATCHING THIS AWESOME SHOW WHERE EVERYONE WAS MINDLESSLY STABBING EACH OTHER WHILE DRINKING SODAS WITH THEIR OWN BLOOD! WHAT DO YAH MEAN THAT'S NOT A SHOW? HOMIE, DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE SOME B***H!" He pounced even faster, much for the horror of everyone watching around him. When Sonic realized there was no blood at all on the already weak Ike, he stopped. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE? I AIN'T NOT SEEING NO BLOOD NOWHERE! HOW AM I GONNA LICK BLOOD IF YOU'RE NOT COUGHING IT OUT?"

The werehog panted heavily in a mindless state of rage while Ike thanked that he stopped crushing his body with hops. "P-pity… I ask…for pity…" Ike coughed out.

Sonic snarled nastily as he hopped off from Ike. But just as soon as Ike sat up, the werehog grabbed his cape and pulled him under his face. "Let me tell you something, my good ol' dead friend," the werehog said in a calm way while twirling his claw beside him. "I'm a person who likes…well, bloodshed and everything. In fact, it's my own kind of fetish. I get so excited when I kill, hurt, damage, crush, punch, eat, bite, crunch, lick, and spit anybody. But man, what fun is there if blood isn't involved?" He grabbed Ike by his hair, pulling him to his face's level. "And then I find you here. After some useless attempts to squish you like the bug you are for cutting me back then, the only thing I get from squashing you is just your ANNOYING, WORTHLESS, and EAR-SHATTERING complaints of pain!" He smashed down Ike's head back into the floor just to pull it back to his level. "Let me ask you this… IS THAT EVEN FUN?"

The wickedness reminded Chip of DSS. He wasn't mistaken this time. DSS returned even though Chip and Chris were present in the scene. To avoid attracting his attention, Chip remained low and hid behind Rikku's fainted body. From the other side of the clearing, a sickened Chris walked back from behind the bamboo bush.

Ike had to comply for his safety. "N-no, it's not…fun…" he spoke weakly.

DSS pulled him back to his face's level. "Well, you understand now. That's cute…NOT!" Ike screamed when the werehog slammed him down on the floor by pulling his hair. The Unsent started to look like a complete wreck. "I would've never expected to meet a bloodless guy like you. It's not even fun to cause pain if there ain't blood, amigo! Oh, and just to let you know, I've been confined into this idiot for god-me-knows-how-long I've grown…furious with a thirst for blood. And you ain't got no blood in you. SO THEN," he smirked evilly, "you're gonna make that up by being my punching bag; my undead, bloodless punching bag."

Ike was horrified by the idea. The werehog's power was easily overcoming his, and that sole fact was just too much for him to handle. There was no way to attack and save his hide. With all the facts added up, he began to panic. "I implore you! L-let me live! I-I'm not even finished with my business yet!" he begged as DSS's shadow loomed over him. "D-do as you wish with me later after I-"

He was hastily interrupted by DSS grabbing his head with a big enlarged claw. "Sorry…ain't can do," the werehog said. His enlarged claw slowly crushed the Unsent's head while DSS laughed maniacally to the night's sky. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SCREAM, YELL, SHOUT, BEG FOR MERCY! ALL OF THOSE THINGS COMBINED IS JUST…EXCITING ME A LOT! AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA A!"

Chris felt chills running down his spine. He could hardly believe that DSS broke free from the collar's power. Even though he was doing all a favor in eliminating Ike's Unsent, they all knew for sure he would turn them all into his chew toys after finishing with the enemy. The World Traveler closed his eyes as he changed to his Beastmaster job. If the collar didn't work, then perhaps controlling the beast's mind would call Sonic back. But Chris needed an opening to slap his whip on DSS…

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-A-ACK!"

Attack!

It was then Marth, Chip, and Chris saw that the werehog choked up in his own laughs, forcefully grabbing his throat. Ike was let go of his grasp by falling back on the floor though he was still conscious to see his captor choking painfully. "W-what…" Ike trailed off.

"G-GLEARGH!" DSS choked painfully. "W-WHAT'S GOING ON? W-WHY DO I FEEL SO ILL? M-M-MY LUNGS…B-BLEAH! I-I CAN BARELY…BREATH…AIR… W-WHY…WHY? A-ACK! A-ACK! A-ACK!" He got into a painful coughing fit that forced him to fall on his knees.

"Why is he… (Of course,)" Marth thought in realization, "(Sonic is still in recovery. The reason he's with us is to watch DSS. And since both share the same body, so do their health. Thus, Sonic's damaged lungs are giving him pain. That should take him out and leave Sonic alone! …Wait a minute… Wouldn't that mean Sonic would also die?)" Marth gasped at the fact.

DSS choked so badly that he felt weaker and weaker. He refrained from speaking given his uncontrollable coughing fits. Ike, out of panic, punched the werehog some feet away to pick up his sword. Unfortunately, his sword was under the very thick layers of saliva. The saliva was so thick that even he couldn't grab his sword to attack. "N-no! T-this disgusting…liquid…" Ike trailed off.

The Unsent overheard somebody rushing nearby. He looked over and saw the World Traveler approaching the choking werehog. Taking his time to grab his whip and focus some magic into it, Chris whipped the werehog's forehead. Sure enough, DSS's demonic aura vanished, leaving Sonic's fainted body behind. Thanking himself, Chris sighed in relief. He was sure Sonic needed some rest so that his lungs would stabilize. The coughing fits thankfully slowed down until they stopped.

Once the teen turned to the Unsent, he looked scared. But then, Chris shook his head and armed himself with courage. Ike could barely stand up and put up a good fight, and Chris was still at full health. With confidence, the teen charged to the Unsent. "S-stay back!" Ike yelled.

But Chris didn't listen. With a tight grip on his whip, the World Traveler got close to Ike and started whipping his entire body in frenzy. The Beastmaster finished his streak of attacks by circling his whip over him and slapping its end hard on Ike's face, sending him rolling back. Chris had pulled off a successful critical hit.

"Over Limit ready to go!" Kawashima announced.

A few seconds ago, Marth watched Chris brutally whipping Ike. It dawned upon Marth that the end of the fight was near. "…It is the end for this whole torment…" Marth muttered to himself as Chris slapped Ike hard away. "…It is my duty to end all this madness…and put Ike to rest…"

Once Marth heard Kawashima's notice, the Altean raised his sword, calling forth the Over Limit's rainbow aura. With a serious look, Marth dashed along the floor to deliver what he believed the final blow on Ike.

Ike stumbled back. When he slowly pushed himself to stand up, he gasped when he saw Marth rushing to him. He was frightened of the rainbow aura emanating from the fellow swordsman. "S-stop right there, please, Marth!" Ike pleaded. He even went as far as to sweat bullets. "T-this can end on a good note f-for both of us…so…s-stop! W-we're friends!"

The previous memories Marth had together with Ike flashed through his mind. All those good memories were going to be kept to himself. They were going to be a reminder that Ike was never full of evil but full of trust. His Unsent was only making a bad name of his reputation, and Marth wanted to save his reputation by slaying the fiend with the final blow. Once the Unsent was gone, Marth would finally rest assured that no one would torment him any longer.

Ike's Unsent had to be felled off.

"As far as I know, no comrade of mine hurts me without a good reason!" Marth yelled. "You are not my friend, you are not Ike, and you are not both of them! What you really are right now is…a fiend! Like all fiends of this world, you MUST be sent to a higher place!" He stopped on his tracks to raise his sword glimmering with light. In an instant, the swordsman shot himself right over to Ike. "Prepare yourself! HA!"

A mighty slash buried deep into the Unsent's body right when he was sent soaring through the air at a high altitude. A shocked look of horror in his face was frozen as the pyreflies that made him scattered in a long trail of lights over the bamboo bushes. Unintentionally, Marth made created the scenery of lights that dispersed and vanished. "T-this…is…the end…for…m-me… H-hahaha…haha…ha…uh…" the Unsent's last words echoed calmly as he vanished completely from Spira. His ghostly sword even turned into pyreflies, slowly fading away from existence…

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme

Marth stood still in the place where his sword ultimately defeated the Unsent. Closing his eyes, Marth sheathed his sword slowly as the rainbow aura vanished. Exhausted from the fight, he sat down to rest for a while. "I did it…" he trailed off sighing. "Now…I can rest…"

He wasn't very sure about resting after all. Marth felt bad that he fought a replica of his lost friend. What if that Unsent was really Ike trying to end his life through cruel punishment? Marth was at a loss. He stared off into space as his expression grew sadder. Maybe, just maybe, he really killed off the real Ike a second ago…

"…?" Marth looked up to see Chris and Chip coming his way. Chip stared blankly, but Chris reflected Marth's saddened expression. He was mute, but he knew how one felt with a simple look at their faces. "…I guess you noticed beforehand how bad I felt all this time, huh, Chris?"

The World Traveler nodded. He offered his hand to help Marth stand up, which Marth accepted with no words. Chris, however, didn't let go of Marth's hand to pass on a message to him. Chip curiously looked at it.

"It's over. You went through this pain even worse than all of us did. It's a really nice thought of you, though. You truly trusted Ike a lot," Chip read. "It's too bad he turned into a mindless monster ought to kill us, but he was turned into an Unsent. So then, I honestly think that was not the real Ike. This is a bit hard for me to grasp, but I believe your insecurity for feeling happy again made Ike's soul restless. And with his soul being here in Spira, it made it worse…"

Marth shook his head. "I shouldn't have come after all, then…" he said, but Chris objected to his little statement.

"We would have fought Ike without you. I think you needed to be here. Don't you feel better after clearing his name from being a fiend?"

"Honestly, not so much… I still feel in the dumps."

"I don't really know how to help you out of this. Maybe you should just accept the facts and try to be… Oh, you were trying to do that all along. Sorry for that. Anyway, there has to be a happy ending for your dilemma, Marth. You may have lost Ike, but…if it's not much to say…you still have us. I like to think I haven't lost so much when I think about all of you being by my side. That alone gives me enough hope to avoid crying. Yes, I still have Lucario, but… You know? I feel empty for losing the others too, but I'm in the way of recovery. At least I had found something that I already had that helped me to be happy despite all these bad events."

"And…that is…"

Chris scribbled another message before he looked behind. "Making so many friends overtime is a good move, too."

Marth stared at the general direction where Tidus seemed to be regaining his consciousness, though he was still weak from the fight. "U-ugh, my aching head…" he trailed off. He looked up and saw everyone else dropped on the floor. But when he looked at Marth, he was surprised they weren't under attack. "H-hey!"

The trio ran up to Tidus to help him. Chris had changed back to his Fonic Hymn User job to try a healing spell while Marth helped Tidus to get up. "I'm glad you're still okay, Tidus…" Marth said sighing.

"Y-yeah, I just need some rest…" Tidus said while flashy a cocky grin. "So, uh… Where did that guy go?"

"It's alright. We defeated him," Marth pointed out. "There were some…surprising events that took place after you got knocked out, but they helped us in the end."

Tidus was confused but he gave up trying to think too much. "I-I'll just think you cheated and stabbed his heart with your sword," he said.

"…What?" Marth asked upset. "I do not use that sort of method. It is dishonorable to end a fight by simply stabbing your foe. If that was true, then I'd be carrying a pocket knife with me all the time instead of my sword Falchion! No matter how dangerous the fight looks, resorting to stabbing is just too easy and cheap of a swordsman's part!"

Tidus suddenly started laughing after getting Marth all flustered. Slowly, Marth's annoyed look was giving up by a small laugh of his part. Even Chris laughed silently (though he so wanted to raise a discussion about stabbing and carrying swords around) with Chip laughing as well.

The small laugh helped Marth to think the other way around about sorrow. Just having a good time with somebody else, a new friend was the perfect way to help him feel better. Ike was gone for good, sadly, but there were always going to be more people out there that would feel the void slowly but surely. Of course, Ike wasn't going to be forgotten. Marth was going to cherish all the good times he had with him. They were going to be an incentive to pursuit happiness.

And Tidus was a preview of what great things were to come for Marth.

When Tidus got a small cramp attack, the laugh stopped. "I shouldn't even laugh… Man, I'm pretty beat," Tidus said chuckling.

"(Perhaps a guy as lively as him really did help me,)" Marth thought relieved. "(…Yes, I feel better now.)"

Chris had given up in healing Tidus with his magic, which put the healer in a bad mood. "Well, don't look so bad, Chris. You're having a small streak of bad luck, that's all," Chip said. "Let's wait for Yunie to come here…if she knows how most of us are dead carcasses on the floor, especially my sweetheart…I mean, Rikku."

Marth overheard footsteps coming from the dome's direction. Chip's wishes came true when they saw a worried Yuna trying to run as fast she could to get to them quickly. "E-everyone!" she said worried, seeing how the rest were lying down around. "Oh my, what happened here? I knew there was something wrong going on when none of you came back…"

"H-hey…Yuna…" Tidus called.

Yuna gasped once she saw Tidus. "T-Tidus!" she said shocked. "Oh no, this is worse than I thought. Please, let me heal everyone! I can't bear to wait a little longer!"

As she did so, from behind her, the rest of the group came walking into the clearing with some surprised looks. There was still a fair amount of soot-covered patches due to the living fire dirtying the floor. "By the goddesses of Hyrule, what in the world happened here?" Zelda asked.

"Logic would dictate they fought a monster while we're off dealing with some puzzle inside the dome," Wolf said frowning. "That trial back there was pretty darn ridiculous."

Auron studied the surrounding for a bit to theorize what happened. "Judging how everyone looks exhausted, you fought a fearsome fiend here," he said. "Am I right?"

A small while went by until everyone was fully recovered thanks to Yuna's healing magic with some Hi-Potions thrown in. Marth knew much better than Tidus and so he explained what happened and who they fought against. "An Unsent driven with malicious emotions," Lulu said. "I'm sorry you had to deal with the same thing you saw me dealt with before. It must have been painful."

"Painful doesn't quite cover it," said Sonic grunting. "More like painfully hot."

"But it scares me to think something like that even happened…" Marth said. "…But I'm all okay now. Somehow, I put all my grief behind me for real this time."

Zelda was worried. "If you did fight Ike…I mean, his soul, what of the others?" she asked. "Will we have to meet each other down the line and fight them to keep us alive?"

"No," Marth said. "This only happened because Ike's soul was drawn to here for some unexplained reason. That doesn't mean entirely that we'll fight the dead again. Luckily, it doesn't look like they'll come here. Ike's soul was…unlucky, I think."

Lulu thought for a moment about the possibilities. "It could imply the worst, but it was all a big coincidence; a bad coincidence," she said. "I can't say for sure if it'll happen again."

"But I think it was my grief that drew Ike's soul into insanity," Marth said. "I probably am the only one of my group who was scarred emotionally the most…"

"Who knows, really," Auron said. "Unsent are drawn to all sorts of reasons to keep on living. It's not crazy to think your lost friend wasn't happy that you were grieving his death all the time ever since he died."

Marth grew a bit ill as he blinked in realization. "Then, that soul was really his…"

"It wasn't but his restless essence trying to pass on a message to you in his own way, probably," Auron said. "Take Lady Ginnem's example. The reason she was lingering in this world was because she thought her unfortunate demise was caused by her guardian's troubled thoughts. No offense to you, Lulu."

Lulu sighed in a rare display of comfort. "I know what you're trying to say, Sir Auron," he said.

"As I was saying, Ginnem could've talked to Lulu, but her soul lingered for way too much that she became fury's slave," Auron explained. "That also happened to your friend. Your thoughts didn't quite ease his soul that he waited for the opportunity to cheer you up himself. However…"

"Ike became filled with negative thoughts and he thus turned into…a fiend," Pit said.

Auron nodded. "This is how I simply see what went on, though. Don't take my theory very seriously," he said.

Wakka scratched his head in confusion. "Uh…but it sounded pretty…convincing, ya? Sir Auron knows how to understand stuff better than I ever would…" he said. Tidus thought Wakka had ruined the mood a bit so he face-palmed himself.

Marth thought about the theory a bit harder. "…A message…" he muttered. "Ike was trying to tell me to cheer up and stop worrying about him… Heheheh…I guess I was acting foolishly." He looked at them with a brightened look. "I so needed that beating from him back there."

Zelda put a hand on her forehead. "Marth, I would rather not think that a beating is the way to psychological recovery. Don't make me think less of you," she said fairly ashamed. "I would not like to see you act like a masochist barbarian."

There was a collective amount of chuckles coming from most of them, making Marth feel annoyed yet happy. "Y-yes, I suppose you're right, Zelda," he said.

Yuna smiled warmly at Marth until she looked around the surroundings. "That reminds me… Isn't this the place you were all looking for?" she asked. Everyone soon turned to the pagoda-like temple where they spotted a cage with the old man inside.

Sonic Unleashed – Chun-nan - Night

The old man was asleep while standing up. Chip flew to the cage and knocked on it to wake him up. "Uh…? …Oh, good night…" he groggily greeted until he shook his head. "I-I mean, the battle is over? Somebody has bothered to pay attention to me?"

Chip didn't understand him. Pit approached the cage and sliced the lock to set the old man free. "Are you okay, sir?" he asked.

"O-oh, yes. Luckily, I wasn't touched by the flames earlier…" he said. "My name is Zonshen. I'm Chun-nan's village elder. I was kidnapped by that evil Dr. Eggman when he found out I was… I'm sorry, but even during these circumstances, I'm not allowed to go o-"

"We're here to enter the Chun-nan Temple and restore its continent back to its place," Chip said. "We also came here to rescue you."

"Besides just being a village's elder, I'm also one of the Temple Guardians," Zonshen quickly corrected, showing them the Sun and Moon Tablets. "Dr. Eggman was bent on using these tablets but he got mad when I told him there was a second key to reach what was beyond the doors..."

Pit's eyes widened. The guardian could've given away the fact Chip was said second key.

"But he said it was all rubbish," Zonshen said. "I guess I shouldn't have had spilled that bit of information, but it doesn't matter now. It's extremely unlikely someone else can enter inside without that second key."

Pit offered to explain everything to the Temple Guardian with the group soon entering the temple at last…

Chun-nan Temple – Inner Sanctum

The group from Spira admired the inner look of the temple. All looked so foreign to them that it was clearly impossible the temple belonged to Spira. "Looks weird to me, ya?" Wakka said. "Nothing looks like this anywhere in Spira."

"The existence of the temple is the final proof for me to truly believe them," Auron said. "I'm surprised, to be honest."

Wolf looked away. "Doubting us till the last minute?" he asked.

"Sometimes it takes even the smallest evidence to overturn all that you believe in. That is how Yevon tricked Spira the entire time until they started deploying machina."

While Sonic showed Chris the lifeless red Chaos Emerald to put it on the altar before them, Zonshen stared at Chip after finding out he was the key to go further and get the Planet Tablet from the doors. "So this young one is Light Gaia," Zonshen said. "Well, I'll be. I wouldn't have guessed he was a deity, let alone the existence of Dark Gaia's polar opposite."

"Trust us," Zelda said as Sonic approached the altar where he set the powerless red Chaos Emerald on it, "nobody would have expected Chip was a deity."

Chip chuckled playfully. "I'm such a sneaky cute little deity. A hundred percent huggable," he boasted.

The two groups watched as the energy of the dormant Chaos Emerald ran through the temple, filling in the small carved trails on the walls and the floor. The energy caused a small quake that shook the small pebbles around. The torches beside the groups burned with more intensity until the quake subsided.

"Chun-nan should be back on the planet," Zonshen said nodding as Sonic came back with the now restored emerald. "I thank you all for taking the burdensome task of restoring the planet. I was aware there was a group of people out there trying to save my home judging how Dr. Eggman complained loudly about a meddlesome lot getting in his way."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Is there anyone else back in his hideout?" he asked.

Zonshen rubbed his chin. "The Holoska Temple Guardians remain behind… You haven't found the Holoska Temple yet, right? I hope you find it as soon as you can to restore its continent and save the guardians from Dr. Eggman," he said. "Also, the Spagonia and Apotos Temple Guardians are there with him too."

"We already found their temples," Sonic said. "How come Eggman didn't bring them with him?"

"Don't you remember, Sonic?" Marth asked. "By the time Dr. Eggman had kidnapped the guardians, we had already found both Apotos and Spagonia's temples… That also raises another question," he said. "Sir, did you happen to see those guardians taken away before; the ones guarding their respective temples?"

Zonshen thought until shaking his head. "They weren't taken away even once after being brought in," he said.

"Seems Mr. Human Egg doesn't have the remotest idea to go to those temples anymore," Wolf said. "Good, that ought to give us more time to beat them in getting back there."

"Too bad they still have the guardians with them, though…" Pit lamented. "If there was some way to lure them out and rescue the guardians, we wouldn't have to wait for them to do their next move."

"For now, let's go back to the mansion," Zelda said. "Our mission is complete here."

"I wouldn't mind going back to my home," Zonshen said. "Would you be so kind to guide me back?"

Pit nodded. "We can take you back there if you want," he said.

They all noticed the pilgrimage group was completely left out of the conversation. Wakka had a small short fuse trying to understand the situation. "…What?" Rikku slowly realized what they said. She only cared about the part where they were leaving. "You're leaving us behind now?" She sounded sad when she asked.

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, our mission's done here. We don't have another reason to stay here any longer," he said bluntly. He looked at everyone in his group frowning at his clueless. "What?"

"N-nothing," Zelda said annoyed. "All I know is that you need to talk better without hurting somebody else's feelings."

"…Huh?"

Sonic looked away. "Another hopeless moment in the life of Knuckles," he muttered.

The group started heading out to part ways with each other. Rikku stared into space, as nothing had really helped Yuna change her mind. The Al Bhed hoped they would do something, but not even Marth was able to help. Rikku scratched her right arm as she headed out. She started to shed tears to herself.

I got mad. I got really mad. Yeah, we helped them to win that fight…sort of, but still… It didn't change the fact Yuna was going to sacrifice her life in the end. I didn't want to ruin the mood and yell at Marth for getting what he wanted while we didn't get almost anything. I bet Rikku was still thinking about it.

Who could blame her? I was doing the same thing as well…

Chun-nan Temple – Clearing

When the groups were out, Pit couldn't help but stare at Dark Gaia Phoenix resting against the wall. He stared blankly at it until he asked, "How come this temple had an evil guardian like it anyway?"

Zonshen then recalled the bird wasn't an enemy. "How foolish of me! Gaia Phoenix isn't a servant of Dark Gaia. It's been brainwashed by Dark Gaia itself to do its bidding… It's sad that it doesn't look like it's going to recover," he said.

Dark Gaia Phoenix's body then started shining brightly. Zonshen stepped back as the dark features of the possessed bird were replaced by a shiny plumage of feathers. Its evil look was replaced by one full of calm and peace. The temple guardian watched amazed as Gaia Phoenix returned back to normal, extending its wings to side to fly around the clearing. As it did so, it spread glimmering sparkles in the air. The group watched amazed from their spots. "Did it just heal?" Pit asked.

"If that bird is called Phoenix, then it makes sense it gets reborn with energy," Lulu said. "It's not like the Phoenix we know although it doesn't mean it has that name for nothing."

Gaia Phoenix screeched out as it flew in the way to the temple. The bird landed calmly and stared down upon them. Chip was so moved by it that he took out a chocolate bar. "Chocolate?" he offered.

Chip's group watched dismayed as Gaia Phoenix used its beak to grab the little threat and eat it. Chris chuckled mentally, remembering that it was the same thing Chip did in the actual game. Zonshen chuckled. "Gaia Phoenix shall remain here to look after the temple," he said. "I'm sure this place will return to Chun-nan once all the continents are restored to their rightful places."

Final Fantasy X – Yuna's Theme

Rikku, however, wasn't really focusing so much. She got so upset that Marth was leaving she went to him to at least say her farewell. "Y'know…we never got around in convincing Yunie not to give up her life…"

Marth gasped. "Oh no, I knew I was forgetting something all along…" he said with a frown. He looked worried at Rikku. None of them was noticing Yuna was staring their way. "Rikku, even if Yuna gives up her life for Spira… Be next to her side when that happens. Let her feel right at home with you."

"It's no use, though… I should really just give up," she sobbed. "Yunie…Yunie is gonna die… You know, when I fought that friend of yours…I blindly thought it would convince Yuna to live… I was wishfully thinking…that it was going to end that way…" Rikku stopped sobbing, but her eyes were crying more tears than before. "I'm gonna miss you guys anyway…"

Moved by her, Marth hugged her to ease her sadness. Rikku took advantage of the moment and used his cape to blow her nose. The Altean twitched a bit at her move, but he drowned his annoyance for now. "I'm going to miss everyone too…"

"But please…don't forget about us, Marth," Rikku said. "Forgetting your friends and family…is worse than death itself…"

It was hard to see, but Yuna was grieving what she was about to do to save Spira. Seeing Rikku crying so hard for her, listening to Marth's fight against the friend who pursued him to make him stop feeling bad in a cruel way, all of it made her think joining the long line of sacrificed summoners was suicidal. With her gone, Rikku was not going to forgive her. She even could tell Lulu and Wakka were against the idea. Kimahri must have been also wishing she wouldn't die. Auron looked like he was trying to give her a message about finding a true end her way in a very subtle way she never looked at for too long.

And then there was Tidus. He loved her so much, but she failed to reciprocate her feelings properly to him. There was a strong emotion of love she looked away from, fearing it would interfere with her duty as a summoner. Was a period of ten years without Sin really worth it? What if, just maybe, there was another way to bring an eternal calm?

Yuna looked serious. It was worth giving it a try.

"Rikku," Yuna called out, "I…I'm going to ask Yunalesca for another way to defeat Sin without sacrificing lives."

The news not only reached Rikku's ears, but everyone else heard it clearly. Nobody ever saw that Auron had flashed a small smile under his clothes' collar after hearing Yuna. Rikku lifted up her head to look at Yuna as if she said something crazy. "W-what did you say, Yuna?" she asked.

Yuna looked at everyone fixing their glances at her. She nodded to them with her serious look intact. "I said I want to look for a better way to defeat Sin without having to offer my life…or anyone else's to seek a period of an eternal calm," she said. "I shall ask Yunalesca about that. Besides…I…" she shed a small tear, "…I wish to see another Calm myself…with everyone."

"Y-Yunie…" Rikku sniffed. "A-are you serious?"

The summoner nodded. "I'm serious… I came up with this idea after thinking back about how each one of you lamented this journey… I saw it all perfectly, Rikku. Lulu and Wakka were opposed to the idea from the very beginning. Kimahri was also sad about it, but he never raised a word against me. And you and Tidus… You both showed concerns for me all the time…" She walked to Rikku. "If you didn't beg me to reconsider…I would've given my life with the second thoughts bothering me."

Wakka gasped. "H-hey, Yuna, what if Yunalesca says there's no other option, yah?" he asked. "What if you really have to…ya know?"

Tidus had to take advantage to encourage the idea. There was no way he was going to let Yuna back off now. "Oh no, if she says there's no way for that…w-we'll look for one!" he said determined. "Maybe she doesn't know any better without even trying herself! We're gonna screw the rules a bit our own way and slay Sin for good!"

Yuna looked down. "But…Sin is your…" she muttered.

"So what? My old man needs a reeeeeeeeally good beating for all he's done," Tidus said. "It's time to end Spira's cycle of fear, Yuna. If my old man opposes the idea then too bad, he's going down with style."

"…If you say so…" Yuna was unsure, but she kept her word. "So please, Rikku… Stop crying because…I'm going to see things through in the end. I'm going to hold on to the idea Sin can be defeated for good and end the cycle of fear in Spira!"

Rikku stopped sobbing as she stopped hugging Marth. The Al Bhed then ran to Yuna and leaped at her with a tight hug. Rikku was so happy she began cheering while crying tears. She could hardly believe what Yuna told them all. "Yuna! You're…you're awesome!" she cheered happily. "We're so gonna see things through together! No one's gonna die on my watch!"

Yuna blushed as she too started shedding tears. Suddenly, Chip joined the hug. Chris and Zelda then hugged next. Pit and Wakka came next, and then Tidus joined in too. Sonic gave up and went on to join them as well. The others who didn't join the group hug chuckled heartily at the tender scene. With so many people looking after her, Yuna thought she was crazy to just throw away her life away and miss so many people; people that she dearly loved.

In the end, everything was just gonna be fine with Yuna. We kept hugging her for a while minute. Man, everyone really cared so badly about her… I was so happy they all thought that way. It was even better when I reminded myself there were otherworldly people ought to fight for her cause.

In a few words, all that weeps and concerns gave us all a new hope: a world to live together with Yuna… Though, in my case…

Nah, let's just leave it at that.

"Alright, alright, we all had our fun and sappy moments together," Wolf said clapping, followed by the group breaking the group hug. "Time to head back home."

Yuna walked to the lupine and stared blankly at him. Wolf raised an eyebrow until she hugged him, making him blush slightly. "You need some love too," Yuna playfully said. "I'm going to miss you."

"W-what the…" Wolf stammered until he grunted annoyed. "Y-you woman! S-stop this, it's embarrassing if everyone's looking this way! D-dammit…"

Most of them broke into a friendly laugh until Wolf broke free from the hug. Yuna chuckled heartily while the lupine looked away embarrassed. He cursed the thought he had actually enjoyed the small hug for a bit. "Someone's got a crush!" Wakka teased.

"Shut up, Killer Ball Fanatic," Wolf snarled.

A little moment of teasing later, both groups were ready to leave to their respective destinations. "Please come back one of these days," Lulu said. "I enjoyed our fair share of time together. It was…livelier."

"Yes, I enjoyed it too," Pit said. "I can hardly wait to see more of Spira soon. It looks like a nice place to go sightseeing."

Wakka grinned. "Maybe you guys could come over and watch a couple of blitzball games! I heard next season is gonna have even more action from the other teams," he suggested.

Wolf rolled his eye. "Watch people smack each other over a killer ball?" he grinned at the thought. "Hmm, it should actually be entertaining if I'm not the one playing that game… Watch as the players get their last breath. That's my idea for entertaining the masses." Wakka had to face-palm at that twisted idea for entertainment.

"Kimahri wishes good luck," Kimahri said nodding. "Kimahri is going to miss everyone."

Knuckles sweat dropped. "(Hard to tell he's gonna miss us with that straight face… It freaks me out a bit,)" he thought shuddering. He shrugged his shoulders and did a handshake with the Ronso.

Pit gave Kimahri a handshake as well. "You helped me to see imposing people as…friends," he said embarrassed. "Don't take it so badly. I'm new to adventuring outside my home."

"Kimahri thinks Pit is a good, strong friend," Kimahri.

The angel stared at him and chuckled. "Thanks, really," he said relieved. Knuckles snickered behind his back.

"Your journey shouldn't be over by now if your enemies are so persistent in their goals," Auron said. "I can tell there's more in reserve for you."

Sonic sighed in agreement. "Yeah, our journey always gets longer and longer somehow. It's fun, though," he said, for some reason, sticking out his tongue. "With guys like these…it's so exciting… WOULD YOU STOP IT?"

Rikku giggled, stopping rubbing Sonic's ears. "I'll miss rubbing your ears. They're so soft and squishy…" she dreamily sighed. Once the werehog showed her his fangs, she stepped back. "Okay, okay, no more rubbing for you. You shouldn't have complained because you were enjoying it. Mood killer…" she muttered the last two words although she chuckled to herself. She gladly opened her arms to receive Chip. "And I'll miss you the most!"

"All the girls always miss Chip," Chip said.

"What?"

"Chip will miss you."

"D'aww…" She cuddled him, much for his pleasure.

Yuna gave Marth one last hug. "Come back again, Marth," she said. "I'd be happy to see you all again soon."

"Are you sure you'll be around, Yuna?" Marth asked concerned.

"I'm going to fight for my future," Yuna said determined. "We're going to defeat Sin our way."

Tidus smiled after hearing her out. "Drop by if we run into trouble. We get in a lot of trouble just traveling around," he said.

Marth could understand me better than before. One look at my face told him that I thanked how things turned out for the better. He taught me a valuable lesson.

A sorrowful person can have hopes to turn into a stronger person. And when I say stronger, I mean emotionally strong.

Yuna grabbed Marth's hand, confusing the prince. "Also… You will do just fine without Ike, Marth. But there was something I wanted to tell you so you don't lose those memories of him," she said. "It also goes to your team too."

"Hmm? What'd that be, Yuna?" Marth asked.

Yuna smiled warmly. She was encouraged to speak louder when she saw everyone looking at their way. "The people and the friends that you have lost or the dreams that have faded...never forget them." Her small speech deeply moved Marth because, after all, it was true.

Smash Mansion

Infirmary

Final Fantasy X – Wakka's Theme

The team had returned to the mansion to rest from their mission. The first thing Chris did in the afternoon was drop by to the infirmary and visit Lucario. The Aura Pokémon was still in a delicate condition, but Dr. Mario assured Chris he was going to be just fine. Sonic had to be returned to his bed since he had overexerted himself due to DSS taking over his body.

What was strange about that occurrence was that Sonic didn't remember being possessed. That worried the group a lot but decided to talk about it another day for the time being.

"I had a rough time back there, but I also had a lot of fun to. I wished you were there so you could meet Yuna. I agree with you she's amazing in person."

Lucario was happy to know Chris had a good time in Spira. The World Traveler chuckled silently while taking out a sphere. The Aura Pokémon stared oddly at it until his trainer scribbled something on his hand again.

"I almost forgot about that request you told me to do while I was there. At the last minute, I managed to do it. Go ahead and start the recording. Somebody was looking forward to meet you someday."

Lucario grabbed the sphere and stared at it until pressing the mechanism to play it. A hologram shot out from it, revealing Yuna standing there. At the sight of her, Lucario got excited.

"…Yuna, it's recording," Rikku said.

Yuna stammered a bit until she bowed. "Hi there, Lucario. That's your name, isn't it?" The scene slowly moved to the right where Chris nodded to Yuna. The screen pulled back to her. "Chris told me you were recovering and that's why you couldn't come to meet me in person. He showed me a photo of you, and I thought at first glance you were a dog. My bad."

Lucario blushed slightly.

The screen shook for a bit. "Y'know, I wouldn't want to think what would happen if he hugged you. You saw that spike on his chest? He's gonna pierce you through, Yunie! I smell something fishy is going on around here," Rikku wildly guessed.

Yuna looked embarrassed. "R-Rikku, we're recording! Don't say that kind of thing! …O-oh, we're still recording. Sorry for that little interruption, Lucario…um… What else can I say to him?" she asked at a loss of words. Lucario could see that, even if he was out of the camera's view, Chris covered his face with a hand.

And things went downhill from there when Rikku herself turned the camera to record her very suspicious-looking face. "Now you listen to me, dog guy! If you stab Yuna with that spike of yours JUST once, I'm gonn-"

While the Chris in the infirmary slammed his head on the bed and buried his dismayed face, the sphere's screen was nabbed by Chip. Compared to Rikku, Chip's face was so close that his green eye was in the way. "And if you make Rikku mad, I'm gonna have to use a shaver to make a fur coat out of you! …Um…it'll be a pretty nice fur coat because you've got yellow and blue fur," he said.

Zelda was the next one to grab the sphere, though she knew how to use it correctly. The screen now focused on Yuna again. "Lucario, I'm very sorry Rikku made you feel uncomfortable. You see, we're all kind of stressed after dealing with some events… I…I still don't know what else to say to him," she said ashamed.

"Give me that here!" Rikku suddenly appeared from nowhere and tried to reach out for the sphere, but Zelda backed away from her. "I got a thing or FIVE to tell that guy! Those red eyes of his take warning, Yuna! And I want to say something about all the innocent people he's killed with that spike on his chest! I'm not letting the body count rise up one more!"

"Rikku!" Yuna yelled.

Zelda then started running away from Rikku. The sphere was now moving its view violently around, though Lucario could catch a glimpse of Knuckles and Wolf snickering in the background. "S-stay away from me!" Zelda hopelessly yelled, not aware the sphere was recording. "I don't want to trip and break the sphere! A-ahh!"

The sphere was flung into the air, landing firmly on Tidus' hands. "U-uh…hey there," he greeted until Rikku tackled him down for the sphere. The sphere was tossed back into the air where Auron caught it, handing it to Wakka. The blitzball player focused the screen back to Yuna.

"Very sorry for what happened…" Yuna said. "In any case… U-um… This is hard to do. I mean, I don't even know what to say to him if I didn't even meet him. I don't want to hurt your feelings, Lucario… But when you get the chance, let's meet up together." She chuckled. "Chris told me you are very strong. I'd like to see how strong you are. And…"

The World Traveler grew impatient with the silence and pulled Yuna's hand to write another message.

"He told me you like people with good auras and that I have strong one which wouldn't make you hate me," Yuna said before smiling. "It must be a great power to sense auras."

"There it is! Yunie, give it to me!" Rikku shouted off-screen.

"Hurry up before she threatens him more!" Pit suggested.

The summoner didn't have anything else to say. "Well, I'll see you someday, okay, Lucario? May you heal completely soon," she said smiling as she turned off the sphere right before handing it over to Chris.

The Aura Pokémon shook his trainer, making him raise his face. "Thanks…" Lucario struggled to say.

Chris wrote another message on his hand. "This sphere is valuable. It's the one she used to write her farewells to her group. She rewrote the entire memory just to send you the message. I guess that means she is dead set on living life after all."

Lucario felt flattered. His trainer merely smiled embarrassed and embraced him. The Aura Pokémon thought he was lucky for receiving such a sphere from the summoner. "(I'll look forward to meet her in person soon,)" Lucario thought excited. He looked outside just to relax for a little more.

Garden

Meanwhile, Marth approached the graves on the small hill to lay down a bouquet of flowers in front of Ike's grave. The prince knelt down to speak to his departed friend. "Ike, you acted pretty rough back there," Marth said. "But I needed that so badly… Okay, I didn't like it too much, but it helped me to realize everything will be just fine from now on."

As if Ike had listened, the wind gently swept the grass. Marth took the natural occurrence as a positive signal.

"I'll come to visit you every day, just like Lucas does with Ness," he said. "Roy promised he was going to do so too. You're never going to be alone again…my friend. Oh. I'll take care of Mist if she ever finds out what happened to you." He sighed. "She's probably going to have a nasty breakdown…so I'll be by her side to give her some company. It's the least I can do for you."

Out of nowhere as always, the bug fanatic Sig walked out from the bushes, still searching for the golden bugs. He spotted Marth by the grave. Sig blinked a bit and walked to him. "Is your friend okay up there?" he asked.

Marth looked a bit surprised at Sig, not expecting him to come to the mansion's grounds. "Oh, uh, yes," Marth said. "Ike is doing okay up there. I just came here to tell him a few things."

"Oh," Sig said almost as if he didn't sound interested. "Don't make him feel alone. Spirits cry if they don't have friends to spend the time with, and they get angry if they're very annoyed."

The Altean shrugged at the advice. "Believe me…you're not wrong at all with that," he said.

Sig smiled a small smile. "I'm never wrong. I need to find the bugs," he said, lazily waving his demonic hand at Marth as he slowly walked back into the woods.

"…We seriously need a wall around the mansion in case a thief or the press gets inside," Marth muttered before turning back to the grave as he stood up. He chuckled at it. "Yuna taught me not to forget about you, you know. And I'm going to keep remembering you…" he took out a hammer, "by steeling your sword in a daily basis to keep it in top shape. I won't feel like I'm losing time with my…our hobby now. So yes…take good care up there." He turned back and walked away.

The prince gave the grave one last look until he laughed a bit to himself and entered the mansion, passing by Lucas, who was doing another visit to the graves with a cheerful look on his face.

And that's how our story together came to an end. Even these days, I wonder what Marth's been up. Surely he's off saving the world or something cliché like that. But hey, it sounded like fun all the same.

…

Hope he doesn't mind if I try to find where he lives. Yup, I would have more fun to myself. And as a bonus, I'll bring the whole gang too. Yuna is ought to be delighted with the idea. But then, there's that certain little problem about me being… Oh well, that's a topic for another day.

Marth…everyone…and especially you, Yuna…thanks for everything you've done for me.

Final Fantasy X – Victory Fanfare

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have received 4000 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

-None of occurrence.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-Was somebody hoping to see yaoi? Sorry for asking…

And thus, another arc has come to a happy ending. With Ike's soul put to rest, Marth doesn't look like he's going to worry for nothing anymore. If you're still thinking the others are going to haunt them, well, that ain't gonna happen. Ike was given the opportunity to do so.

By the way, this doesn't mean we've seen all of the FFX pilgrimage. There still remains the sequel…

And as shocking as it might look, DSS seems to be returning to cause even more trouble. You'll just think the worse is starting to manifest if he can break out of the collar's control. The big showdown against Dr. Eggman is not so far anymore.

OH YES, did you forget about the runaway Tonberry? It's still there.

Okay, now it's time to start up the hype. How am I going to do this here? Well, let me tell you I've been around looking at other certain games. And I've watched them a lot because they all have such interesting plots and characters. SO HERE'S A LIST:

Ace Attorney Series: I remember I said it was better if I put Professor Layton into the mix, but after playing through Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (support the petition for AAI2), I thought about making an actual arc (a completely original arc) in the end. HOWEVER, there has to be so many ideas in order to make a true "Turnabout" chapter with twists, evidence, who the hell killed the Red Pikmin, and all that stuff. So yes, this arc will be hard to do. I'm not sure when I'll make this arc happen, though. But I'm letting everyone know our favorite blue lawyer will make an appearance after all.

Portal Series: This is an Xbox360/PS3 game that spawned the most humoristic yet dangerous sentient robot GLaDOS. Not only that, but it also introduced the enigmatic main character Chell. I first looked into the series when there was a controversy about a parent complaining about "adopted children jokes" in Portal 2, and I was very satisfied with the writing (that I highly recommend to watch, of if possible, play the game) that I thought about making an arc out of it as well. Hey, it's better than dwelling into the FPS cliché game that is Call of Duty.

Eternal Sonata: I never believed I never saw the full game, and I still have yet to watch it fully. But I think the concept of exploring a dream world was a neat idea, and with late famous Frederic Chopin as an actual character, I could make a homage to the composer by tinkering a way to incorporate the wonderful story of the game. It looks like this game will receive its own arc too.

FFXIII: The mildly controversial entry of the entire Final Fantasy series had a heart-touching story with interesting characters. The theme I liked the most was oppression against a race of people that never tried to overthrow the highly advanced civilization floating in the sky. However, I think this arc will have to wait a long time till it makes a spot in the story.

FFVII – Crisis Core: Anything Cloud does, Zack can do better. Yes, we're pulling off a time traveling law and get to meet the infamous, goofy and funny Zack Fair and his days when he worked for Shinra as a SOLDIER; everything Cloud wanted to be in a time before he went all serious. Like FFXIII, this arc will wait too.

Cave Story: Fight inside a cave and find an exit! This description lacks a LOT of information because there so happens to be a big story behind this simple Metroid-esque game. Out of all the new arcs shown here, this one could be appearing very soon. Hope you like the bullet hell this game provides!

Okami: I'll very soon look into this game. If it's good enough, an arc will be made to please the readers.

As a bonus, any sequels that have yet to be released in-story time might be moved to their timeline. I figured out Chris doesn't necessarily have to own the games to make their worlds appear, so now, even more worlds will appear to give a sense of discovery to the whole cast. Meaning if Pokémon Black & White Versions were released 2 years later, they will appear earlier than expected (I'M NOT SAYING WE'RE MOVING THAT PARTICULAR SEQUEL VERY SOON SO DON'T GET EXCITED FOR THIS ONE YET. IT WAS USED AS AN EXAMPLE).

In other news, there will be "remakes" for old arcs.

The Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance arc will be expanded to match correctly with the timeline of events.

Tales of Symphonia will also have a remake. Changes planned for it are dropping Alice & Decus' appearance and have it take place when they first invade the dojo, Kratos having a much bigger role ordered by his boss, and a few more scenes of interactions with all the group while getting rid of some cheesy lines I want to eliminate for good.

So that's all I can do to raise the hype. I hope all that gives you more excitement for the story. With nothing else to say, I encourage all readers to review to voice out your thoughts about the chapter and the hype. :D

…Or Fox will come back to life as an Unsent to torment Falco for not cleaning his Arwing.

Fox's ghost: I'd rather come back to life and torment him for not even dropping by every day to talk to my grave. At least Pikachu does is more than he does.

Falco: Sorry, I ain't talking to stones.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - Battle Comrade (Companion)

Preview of the next chapter:

"In Spira High School, Yuna Richworth is the most popular, prettiest stereotypical teenager. She is so sweet she doesn't mind all the attention of her peers. She has led a life of complete luxury, but there was something missing. She did NOT have a guy to love! She desperately looked for one to fall in love with!" Etna said.

"I-I…O-oh my…" Yuna trailed off embarrassed.

"But one day, she fixed her eyes on the rebel boy named Tidus Hobosteen. He wasn't exactly a great guy. He always ignored the teachers and tossed snarky comments from time to time. It was incredible a girl like Yuna liked a bad guy like him. Unbeknownst to her, he actually loved her back! But he felt unworthy. He tried so hard to be the ideal guy for Yuna but always ended in complete failure!"

"Why the hell does my last name sound so incriminating?" Tidus asked.

"Oh god, he actually cares about her dramatic story," Lulu said.

"Not so fast, bucko! Hobosteen had a rival in love! It was Marth Goodlooks; the most bishonen guy in the school district. One brush at his hair would practically cause sparkles to fly off and excite the fangirls. But his heart was solely reserved for Ms. Richworth, and she had to admit he was kinda cute! Tidus is now jealous and angry!" Etna said with excitement.

"Wait, what?" Marth asked.

"Congrats! You're in the story! This is gonna get thicker," Chip said giddily.

"You mean the plot is going to get thicker," Sonic said.

"And hell breaks loose! Tidus tosses the first punch! He kills Mr. Goodlooks! But what is this? Goodlooks rises from the grave as an Overlord swearing eternal revenge on Hobosteen! The science club's gloves are off, ladies and gentlemen! How will Hobosteen fight in the seemingly epic yet unfair fight for his true love?"

"Why did things go down to hell so…randomly, ya?" Wakka asked.

"I have to say…this story would be pretty silly to watch," Wolf commented.

"Next time on Spira High School of Drama: Episode 188 – The Bully is Bullied! Fight for Love and Dignity to Victory! Will Tidus fend off the Overlord, or will Yuna fall in love with Ike Hotstuff, the boy living next door who has the power to create thousands and thousands of Yaoi fanart with a simple look at his face? Can this get even better or worse? The drama is getting even more romantic and sappy!" Etna announced.

"I would so totally watch that! It sounds like fun!" Rikku said.

"You've got to be kidding," Zelda said disgusted. She somehow thought the sentence she said sounded weird.

"This is the reason why we FF reps should never step out from our respective series. We would look like fools otherwise," Auron said.

"Getting Genre Savvy much?" Sonic asked.

"You didn't get yourself involved with Disney…yet, so quiet."

"Grumpy guy…"
*Chapter 188*: The Part Where the Plot Gets Confusing

I have no idea what was going through me while I was writing this chapter. I fear it became…a filer.

From jj: like the Ike yaoi joke

this wasn't really epic as the other battle

how much more arc until the gaia battle

when its over will there be a sappy scene when chip goes bye bye

will tere be a love interest for Chris thats all i have to ask

also include Olimar in the next arc or as soon as you can i notice the last arc he went to was like 12 arcs ago

so i want olimar to get his screentime

also i notice how you give every smasher a fair share of screen time thats a hard feat you know

From me: It surely wasn't that epic to you because the whole FF X cast didn't participate. I wanted to avoid throwing all of them into this fight or else it'd become the long-winded battle like what happened in the SO3 arc.

We're getting very close to that battle…if it's even happening.

I believe there will be a "sappy scene" when Chip goes bye bye on us. I'll make it LESS sappier than it was on the actual game.

Do not force me to include characters. I'm going to do my best to find the best spot for Olimar to take the spot soon, though. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From Psycro4: Good chapter, grammar errors at the beginning. To tired to check them all today.

On other news: Eternal Sonata as an ark! I can't wait!

From me: Aah, looks like I struck your giddy spot once I brought that game up. Once the poll closes down, all those suggested series will take their shots along with the runner ups. Thanks again. :)

From shadow ninja koopa: sword made of fire that can lengthen check, control over fire check, 50% water damage nice one Ike.

is it just me or was Ike near impossible to kill but then again they didn't have the complete group so i guess that's kind of obvious.

bringing in new worlds, hmm i can see this going either way. i like the idea of exploring new worlds (XIII and portal especially) but it would mean the group will have to adapt a lot more than usual. however it definitely would make it more interesting.

keep up the Etna previews there hilarious. I'm curious about the remaking though. Are you going to backtrack and change somethings or is there going to be a time warp.

Anyway keep up the good work.

From me: There's not going to be a time warp. It's easier if I just go back and change things around to make it look much better. Thanks for reviewing, dude. :D

From Safire Ranmako: One idea I had would be a God of War Arc.

Man I hate Writer's Block, I have this KH fic I'm writing and I have plenty of ideas for the middle of the fic I just can't seem to get past the beginning of it.

Anyway I loved this arc, I can't wait for the next part.

I'd also like to see Prince of Persia Sands of Time.

From me: I honestly don't know much about God of War but I think it's a bit too gory, isn't it? Also, Prince of Persia… Hmm… Then again, I guess I should see that one in more detail… Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From ngrey651: How sad that Ike had been so corrupted in grief. What I wouldn't give to see just one "considerate" bad guy, who DOESN'T act like a sociopath. Used to be the villains would just break open banks or plot world domination, now they kill Green Lantern's girlfriend and stuff her in a fridge for KICKS…

From me: Well, those anti-villains would be the likes of Wolf, right? I don't know if I could make it work in some different way. Thanks again. :)

From wereAuraknight: ... It's me again!

i spotted several little errors, one being you spelling "treat" as in candy as "threat" as in a danger.i also spotted a major error, being that you didn't finish my review question, or your answer!

otherwise a great chapter, with dss being quite funny. I always think as dss as d.s. Super whenever i read it.

super spicy curry anyone? with bunny ears? with an add hasetga spell? way to much speed, even for sonic probably.

that's all. L8ter

~WereAuraLucario

~keep on typing so i can keep on reading

~we don't have cookies

we don't have cake

we have Lucario

The Aura Knights.

From me: Oh, my bad. I finished the review reply.

As for the crazy speed set up… Actually, I'd love to see that in this fic someday. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From MiSs DaYdReAmEr: I'm glad Marth can finally keep going without worries. Well anyways, this was a good chapter. I hope you don't have another writers block~ ^_^

From me: Nothing else to say but to thank you for voicing out your thoughts. Thanks. :)

From The Meddler: Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're done with Final Fantasy ten! So, I have a couple of things to say.

1.) s**t, DSS is back. But Sonic doesn't remember? How does that work?

2.) You're planning MORE Final Fantasy arcs? Geez, you must really like this series!

3.) A Portal arc?. . . I don't know how that's gonna work, but I do know it's a cool game. And if you need help writing for the main character, Chell, go to youtube and search Chell's Mind. It's a great look into. . . well, Chell's mind.

4.)And. . . yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm looking foreward to the next update!

From me: 1) So you noticed? It looks like DSS is actually becoming stronger inside Sonic's mind that Sonic is starting to lose complete control of his own mind. I shall elaborate on that in later chapters.

2) As a matter of fact, I have the crazy idea of showing all FF games (except the mime-filled FFI) eventually. But I want to make sure each arc is set apart from each other through long periods of usage. Sadly, I overlooked a very crucial fact… You'll see what I'm talking about in this chapter.

3) I know a Portal arc will be hard to write but I think I can pull it off somehow. I'll have to think with portals.

4) Thanks for reviewing. :D

From N the Puppet: Pfft! You have to admit. The way Unsent Ike put it made their relationship seem...questionable. (Thankfully it wasn't...uh, at least for me. Dunno about others. *CoughyaoifangirlsCough*)

Eternal Sonata would be a very enlightening trip for the brawlers, that's for sure. Though, can't be sure how Chopin will react seeing non-humans pop in his 'dream'. -_-;

Portal would be hilarious! Witty banter AND cake! Actually, it'd be better to not to get the cake. (Especially Kirby.)

Well, in Okami route, Chris and them will have a GOD of all things on their side, so that'd neat to see. (Plus, it's another wolf!)

A brawler arrested for a crime...poor guy/girl doesn't stand a chance against whatever plot you have up your sleeve. Still, that wouldn't stop me from reading about it. :3

FF XIII...I dunno why, but I keep thinking Lightning will get a certain pokemon for a fan. (Maybe it's because she acts kinda like Cloud?) ?.?

Then again, theres Zack, who's Cloud's mentor-ish friend. Hmm..

Cave story...have no clue how that's going to turn out.

Annnd that's all I have to say...geh, talked too much. X.X

Chris might need to stick with scholar-item if his muteness keeps up though...

ANYways, another nice chap!

And can't wait for the next arc(s).

From me: Who cares about Chopin's reactions? He's got some goofy-looking totem pole as the final extra boss. That pretty much defeated the whole fantasy aspect his dream had. :P

I'm sure about the cake part but not so sure about the witty part since you-know-who doesn't appear in Portal until Portal 2.

God*****t another wolf! (No offense really portrayed)

I don't even know if a Brawler is going to get thrown in jail. Sorry, I've got no idea what I'm going to do with that arc yet.

If anything, Lightning will slit Lucario's throa-I mean… Not really sure what'll happen in that case scenario. Zack knows better than Cloud, though.

A Cave Story arc is actually easy to do. Heck, I have it planned out with some twists thrown in too. Thanks for reviewing, dude. ;)

From FF and STH: Well look like they won against unsent Ike, nice fight and when DSS just appaer, made it better and it look like DSS seal is losing it power.

The list of game in this chapter was all great was only 2 I never play but I can't wait to see then all as arc.

There is one big Questions I want to ask you, you must of hear about the the new Untitled Super Smash Bros sequel for the 3DS and Wii U that will have most likely have new characters, items, and story. Will you end up add any of that to your stoy when it come out.

From me: Dear god, no. I'm not planning to expand upon the next series. I have the scary idea this story will end just when the sequel is released… Oh no, I'm going to wreck that expectation into bits. Thanks again, though. :)

From Grathmeld: Hi again now! School's a misery to my online schedule... Anyway, Good Chapter you make there! I say it's A! *some random applause are heard*

First is, ew. I don't know and more like don't want to know how Sonic's glands produce a saliva so thick you could slice it... even though it works on fending off enemies and such. Nice description on how messed up Ike's beatings.

Next, kinda dissapointed that you don't include the fight with sin ._. don't really mind though.

AWW, how sweet! Lucario got a valuable sphere of his own! Never let it be stolen by sphere hunters now.

For next arcs, between Crisis Core or Okami? I would prefer Okami more. Not to mention the sequel of it in DS.

Mini stories of crossovers? Sounds like fun... and full of randomness inside. Make it good if you continue on it will ya.

Okay, no more for today i guess. I was hoping that i could reach 1k characters at that counter beside the Review. But couldn't just put random words in this page ._. So, see you!

From me: I would've included the fight with Sin but decided to start from the Macalania Woods due to more character development for both groups (Chocobo Sidequest). Thanks for reviewing. :D

From superdramafan11: one of the best and longest fanfic ever

if all the gameing company made a anime on their video game and the basis is super smash bro brawl this would be it

but they might have to replace Chris and Lucario friendship since it would show favoritism toward a single smasher

but it would be good

a good theme song for your story might "through the fire and the flame" by Dragon force check it out its a good song

HA HA i checked out chapter 100 and in the preview section for Klonoa series it mentioned NESS while in final fantasy 8 preview it mentioned FOX both alive and well which is proof you will probably revive smashers from the dead back.

by the way when will the smasher be facing Duon and Meta Ridley don't lie yo made them face Galleom and Ridley so they have to face the other 2

like say for Duon for the chance join or for Meta Ridley Rob might join.

one last thing are you trying to say that games released after Chris's time line will be in the story despite not being released yet pure genius

well see you

ps= make the Dark Gaea battle as epic a s you can.

From me: I'm never, ever suggesting real-life music tracks as they don't have anything to do with video games. Doing that is like turning the chapters into fictional AMVs.

HA! Have you forgotten those "previews" I did back then were just possibilities? Sorry but Fox will remain deader than dead even if we touch that arc early. (Besides, I think I had a crazy mind).

Don't know when they'll be facing them.

Yes, I mean that, but I'm not going to exaggerate with some that came out this year for example. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From PianistChris: Finally managing to get back to this I found the arc ending to be great, it was a great idea to have a fight between Marth and Ike in order to resolve his loss and it played out very fluently and was a great read. DSS's possible return is something I look forward to as it shows to be a challenge for the team.

On a side note, I like that Portal 1 or 2 would be a possible arc, I love both games and it would certainly be funny.

My last note is the Tonberry. That's probably something I'm looking forward to most just because its hilarious xD

From me: The Tonberry shall return.

…Thanks for reviewing. :)

From jioplip: Starting off, I would just like to express how much I like this story as a whole:

Probably one of the main reasons I enjoy this story is the presentation, specifically, that it's written as though it were a game being played, I personally find it to be a perfect fit for this story.

Another reason I like this story is the characters, Chris for instance is a refreshing character to read, being personable, energetic, and of course, having to deal with the fact that he almost always knows too much. He is both a strong fighter and one who lacks experience, which, combined with his many abilities, makes him almost somewhat of a paradox in battle.

Though moving beyond Chris is how you wrote the rest of the cast, making them very real and interesting, and showing both the good and the bad(though maybe not for Mario) in each of them.

Moving on to the review:

This chapter was phenomiminal, can't wait for the next one!

I found the Ike's unsent coming after Marth was a very emotional and... I suck at words, so to synopsise-ize what this review could have looked like: Chapter is awesome, characters are devoloped, my vocabulary needs work, keep up the good work, YOU are awesome, I love this freaking story.

From me: Thank you so much for being a passionate reader. I hope your high expectations for this fic become true (except wishing for total annihilation and yuri/yaoi chapters since we so totally discourage those). Please do stick around with the story. :D

From Hopefaith2: I absolutely loved this chapter. I actually thought that you were going to put yqoi in it between Marth and Ike. Seriously, because if you did,then I was going to leave this story and never come back to it, for real. I absolutely positively hate Yaoi stories! We all know that they're straight, so why are writing a gay story between two straight guys. Don't get me wrong, I am not a homophobe. I love and accept homosexuals happily. I'm friends with homosexuals and I was estatic when gay marriage was officially legalized in my home state of New York. Homosexually is a choice, but these characters are not given the choice at all. Alright, enough ranting, this chapter was really touching. I'm glad Yuna didn't kill herself in the end, and I have a feeling that her and Tidis are gonna get together in he near future( as a video game somewhat). I cannot wait till you update again! And before I finish,I graduated from high school Sunday! So now, I have more time to read this amazing fanfiction! Please update soon! I can't wait to find out what happens next!

From me: Well, it's a given Tidus and Yuna are going to end up together as canon laws dictate (possibly). But for now, let's leave them alone for the time being and continue with the second main plot. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Absolute Destinyzero: It's me, Destinydeck, in case you didn't know.

Ah... That's why Ike's an unsent, though my little guess was unexpectedly in. Hm... Poor Ike. Wanting to help but instead got negative...

Overall, I find the chapter satisfying. ...Though, to be honest, I chuckled at a blushing Wolf a little.

Hm... Ace Attorney or Okami... Don't know what to choose. Hm... I like both, the beatiful art of Okami, or the awesomeness of Ace Attorney series...

Though, if you put Professor Layton in, you could actually mix it with the Ace Attorney series, since Capcom and Level 5 are making a crossover game of said series.

It's just a suggestion though, so you can ignore this if you want. Keep it up with the good story.

-Destinyzero passing by-

From me: At least I know Ace Attorney can be a very fun thing to read on anyone's DSs. Fan fiction does it very good justice. As for Okami… I'm still "researching" it as hard as possible to understand what's going on there.

I'm not mixing those two at all unless I see it fit or until I see an actual English release. However, thanks for the suggestion, dude. :D

From BNVshark123: Hey, don't you think that you should end this fic? It seems like now you're just going on and on trying to squeeze as much out of this fic as possible, leaving no end in sight.

All good things need to end sometime, my friend.

From me: Hey, don't you think you should be asking this kind of question in a PM instead about making it public? Also, my love for this fiction is so great that it won't die as long as it keeps readers with hope that there are many authors like myself worth spending time with instead of those repeated themes filling the pages. I'm with you that good things need to end sometime, "my friend", but this fic's end is still far away from happening.

By the way, don't you also think you should be writing down an actual review instead of an implied hate-filled response? I just know you dislike the long-running streak this story has. That didn't stop famous authors in real life to stop making sequels, so I'm going to have to follow their examples.

From Snowland316: You know what? I honestly haven't been reading this since you killed off all of those characters. (I can't find it in my heart to forgive you either) I had loved it SO much and then you crushed me with that tragic chapter.

Anyways, now that those characters won't get their Combined Final Smash with Chris since they're dead, now what? Matter of fact, Ch. 164 had so much character development in it and you say it's not important to the plot?

Doesn't Chris need all of them to achieve his goal?

This story is so long I think you're forgetting main concepts. Now that major characters are gone forever from the plot, now what?

From me: That particular chapter is not so important because it influences this universe being briefly intertwined with another author's universe. Wouldn't it look a bit too much to give that author too much attention by referencing that chapter that people would complain if I made the Smashers remember it so much? Also, the character development displayed there is just a stepping stone to bring characters closer without having to explain each time why X and Y are so friendly. Like I said before, no favoritism will last for long under my watch ESPECIALLY with that particular chapter.

Chris doesn't need them all to achieve whatever goal you think he wants to reach.

Here's the thing that will change your whole perspective.

What if I really haven't forgotten about the main aspects and I'm just focusing on the actual main aspects? I think you need to specify those main aspects. Thanks for…reviewing?

I think this chapter isn't as much as a filler because there are relevant events going on. But be warned as really, really absurd stuff is about to ensue several pages down this very sentence except for the final pages. You what's more absurd? It's actually better than it sounds…in its own mechanics. I bet newcomers to this crazy stuff is going to like it a lot.

For that matter, we absolutely encourage people to listen to the given tracks to give them an idea of what's going on.

That says a lot about what this chapter is about, don't you think? Well then, enough screwing around!

I encourage all music lovers to read on, tap your fingers with the rhythm, and review. 8)

Disclaimer: This chapter was not made on drugs. Seriously, it wasn't.

Chapter 188: The Part Where the Plot Gets Confusing

…

Good Gravy! Helping People

Never Felt So Degrading Before!

Subspace

Deep Inside the Great Maze

June 13 – Saturday - Morning

Deep inside the infinite darkness and emptiness of the Subspace, Tabuu, the Ancient Minister, Dr. Eggman held a private meeting. The private meeting was private because there were extremely shocking news that Dr. Eggman had to report. If anyone would have heard them, more chaos would have spread. "Dark Gaia is starting to move by itself," Dr. Eggman said. "It looks like it cannot hold itself still any longer."

"Are you certain of this?" Tabuu asked.

"Lately, negative energy coming from the core of the earth has been very quiet, but now it's starting to amass," Dr. Eggman said. "What's more, it's become utterly pointless for me to seek out the roaming Nightmares. The suspicion that Dark Gaia might be planning utter destruction without our civil guidance seems very probable…"

"But then, how can we hope to get a hold of its power if it's planning to run rampant in the end?" the Ancient Minister asked. "Aren't destroying the temples the solution?"

"Destroying the Gaia Temples is…actually a bad idea," Dr. Eggman said. "As it turns out, the temples need to be left alone. They have to be kept hidden from outsiders so that they don't recover their lost energy. Technically speaking, if the temples are 'offline', managing Dark Gaia is an easy thing to do… However, since our enemies have been restoring energy into the temples, they're wrongly tempting Dark Gaia to retaliate sooner than later."

Tabuu thought more about the situation. "Restoring energy into the temples makes Dark Gaia angry, and leaving the temples alone keeps it tamed for a while. Destroying the temples would only give it confidence to do whatever it wishes to do to its home world," he said.

"In a few words, the temples act as locks. If you destroy those locks, Dark Gaia will be released. And if you try to LOCK them, the beast inside will get more vicious overtime to get out forcibly. We've been doing the whole process wrong this whole time," Dr. Eggman explained. "If we wish to tame that monster, we mustn't allow Sonic and his ragtag team to activate those locks and we must keep ourselves from blowing said temples to smithereens."

The Ancient Minister shook his head. "It's incredible you managed to overlook such a crucial detail unless you weren't expecting Dark Gaia to be very sentient about the part where we try to control it," he said.

"Y-yes, I never expected that detail. I was pretty confident the beast would just sit quiet," Dr. Eggman said. "With all the facts in mind, we must device some strategy to give us more time to try to control Dark Gaia."

The Ancient Minister started doubting the scientist on a very important part of the plan. "…Dr. Eggman, I couldn't help but wonder how you're planning to control Dark Gaia," he said, making the doctor look confused. "I suppose you have a plan to tame that beast, right? You should have a good plan to go through all this entire process."

"U-uh?" Dr. Eggman responded dumbfounded. He scratched his head while Tabuu seemed to get impatient. "W-well, to be honest, we're actually waiting Dark Gaia to recover all its energy. After all, it was the one who separated the continents with the temples. It used such a great deal of energy that it got extremely exhausted and now is resting inside the planet. From the beginning, I knew it was sentient all along! Don't you think it'll thank us for giving it time to heal by lending us its strength?"

"In my opinion, I'd say it's using us to backstab our backs in the right moment," the Ancient Minister said. "Lord Tabuu, will you risk his plan and put us in trouble?"

"There is nothing we can lose," Tabuu said. "Dr. Eggman shall be the one responsible for any mistakes. If somebody is going to fall, it will be him and him alone. I put my unconditional trust on him."

Dr. Eggman nodded. "I'll be held responsible for everything," he said. "Our new course of action is to keep those imbeciles from meddle their noses in the temples they have yet to restore. And now that we don't have a reason to keep those guardians with us…well…bringing them to the temples could give them a chance to do their mission. We wouldn't want that to happen, right?"

The Ancient Minister gasped mentally.

"So we will keep them in here for the rest of the time until Dark Gaia is released," Tabuu said.

"Lord Tabuu," the minister began, turning to look up at him, "we must bring the guardians with us."

Dr. Eggman raised his eyebrows. "Wait a second. What did you say?" he asked. "There's absolutely no real need for us to bring the guardians! In fact, I hate to realize bringing them to the temples was a very bad idea all along!"

"They are kidnapped," the Ancient Minister pointed out. "Haven't you thought about the possibilities? Instead of letting them rot to death, we can force our enemies into doing what we wish them to do."

Tabuu looked into said possibilities. "There will not be a way for them to even move if we do use our guests as shields," he said. "The Ancient Minister does bring up a good point…"

Dr. Eggman didn't like the idea too much, fearing that the plan would be useless against them. "B-but, but, but we can't bring them along. What if something goes wrong? That pesky Sonic isn't the brightest guy in the universe but he can still give us a lot of trouble!" he objected.

The Ancient Minister stared blankly at the doctor. "I hate to be the one you're arguing against, Dr. Eggman. Surely you don't think we're…good for the task?" he asked. "You don't think we can put up a fight? That in itself is a big offense to our organization. Lord Tabuu's underlings might be a little bit unreliable at times, but he does have faith in us for a job well done." He looked up to the darkened space. "Maybe you can get a boost of confidence if I offered myself to take part of the plan? Lord Tabuu was satisfied with the last mission I took care on my own."

Tabuu nodded. "The Ancient Minister does have the best plans in mind. It compares to Ganondorf's, but the big difference is that the minister acts alone without making much of a fuss with a big army," he said. "Therefore, we shall use his plan to use the guardians to our advantage."

"Oh!" Dr. Eggman grinned. "But just for safety, let's take their tablets away from them. They don't have any use if they don't have the tablets to open the doors of the temples!"

The Ancient Minister nodded. "Please allow me to confiscate the tablets myself," he said as he started leaving. "Giving them to the likes of Bowser will result in a horrible backfire moment for sure…"

The doctor rubbed his hands together. "Yes, please do," he said before sighing after the minister left the scene. "Phew, I thought he wasn't going to think about leaving the tablets with them. I feel much safer knowing that…"

"The Ancient Minister only failed us all once in the past, but he had atoned for his biggest mistake in life," Tabuu said. "He is a figure to trust in the entire army."

Dr. Eggman looked up at Tabuu. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention the search for the Holoska Temple is still running even as we speak," he explained. "It's possible that we can find it today. The numbers are quite lying so… You know, I'll just say I'm excited our plans are working out well."

Tabuu sighed in disgust. "They do say optimism incents people to do better…" he trailed off unsure if the saying was working with the giddy doctor.

The two would never know the Ancient Minister had something in mind to do about the guardians and the tablets. As he exited the darkness, the Ancient Minister started devising his sudden plan. "(It's one more plan to ensure the next steps can be pulled off. Everything would've been tossed down the toilet if they weren't going to bring the guardians alone… Say…this will establish a hint of trust to that particular person…that I will use greatly for my advantage in the very end.)"

The Ancient Minister was sure to succeed and set his race free from Tabuu's hands.

-Smash Mansion-

Command Room

Outside of the command room, there was a fierce deluge that made it impossible to see farther than a hundred feet. For security, all the Smashers never set a foot outside. Taking the initiative with the weather, Master Hand called an important meeting. "Firstly, I would like to congratulate our three Smashers for having successfully recovered," Master Hand said. "We don't have the other three ready to leave until a month passes by so yeah, congrats."

The hand was talking about Roy and Falco. But since everyone was still a bit lamenting the fact their numbers were reduced permanently for unfortunate reasons, only a few clapped. Those few would be made up of the people who overcame the grief faster than the others.

"…Geez, that was such a dull round of applause," the hand muttered. "W-well, in any case, it's come to my attention that we're finally nearing the ending of this struggle against the demi-god trying to kill…I-I mean, harm us till we can't move anymore, just like everyone else out there is always trying to do."

Silence…

"…I shouldn't bring up that word or something heavily related to it, should I," the hand dully asked.

Peach smiled hopefully. "It's fine by me. I still drop by their graves when I have time," she said. "And I…always have time to spend."

"I-I'm good too," Lucas said weakly. "I've been too used to that…"

"I don't think you should be boasting about something like that…" Olimar said.

"(At this rate, they'll force me to fill in those gaps with replacements, and I don't want to think about the wars that'll unleash over the internet.)" Master Hand cleared his throat. "You know what? Let's get this meeting started if anybody still cares about saving our butts from being crushed under some wild monster. And by wild monster I mean Chip's crazy brother."

Chip raised a fist. "Oppose the evil monarchy and set us free from torment!" he called out. Naturally, nobody cheered for him.

"As I was saying, we're getting closer to end all this conflict," Master Hand said as he began moving around. "One temple has yet to be found, three of them need their energy restored, and one is lying underneath the enemy's base."

"OUR enemy's base," Amy said, referring to Dr. Eggman.

"Right. So now, we're going to start moving out by restoring Shamar Temple's continent," he said as Layla and Ehsan stood up from their seats, having been called from the village to restore their temple's continent. "Thank you for coming here with us today."

"We wouldn't want to miss the chance to help our planet," Layla said. "And since you managed to get the tablet from…" The young girl looked sad when she looked at a sad Big, still feeling lonely without his amphibian friend. Layla felt bad to see him in such a sad mood that pressed on with her talk. "…Since you have the tablet now, it's safe to go into the inner sanctum and restore the energy."

Ehsan sneezed. "We shall use the pedestals to teleport to the Shamar Temple. The Mazuri Temple is going to be our main method to jump from temple to temple since it's the closest place to your base," he said. "That way you don't have to appear far away from your desired locations. Unfortunately, the Holoska Temple is still missing. Until you find it, you cannot teleport there immediately."

"Just for security, we're going to send a guard party to keep them both safe," Master Hand said. "Chip will naturally follow them as he's a vital piece to open the doors. I'll allow the craziest party arrangements to go to the temples as long as you don't step out from them."

Everyone looked at each other until Yoshi, Marth, Meta Knight, and Samus stepped forward. Since Samus was there, C. Falcon moved forward while she wasn't looking.

"So you five will be the escort," Master Hand said. "Alright, I'm confident you won't get in trouble if we do things as fast as we can."

"Anything to end the conflict," Samus said. "I wouldn't want to fight against that demonic monster in the core of the earth."

Master Hand nodded. "There's a heavy deluge outside so wear your rain coats while getting to the Mazuri Temple. Once you're there, teleport to the Shamar Temple and restore the energy to its continent," he said. "Tails, we need a Chaos Emerald for that, right?"

Tails took out the lifeless yellow Chaos Emerald, handing it over to Yoshi. Just when he was about to get it, Vector snatched the emerald from the young fox. "H-hey, what's the big idea?" Tails asked.

Vector waved a finger. "You forgot already? It's time for me to shine!" he said. "Espio's got enough spotlights and Charmy has yet to go anywhere, so I'm offering my services to keep this trinket safe."

The two-tailed fox was unsure. "Um, well, if you say so as long as you don't make any trouble…" he trailed off. "Alright, I'll trust you in this one. Just don't drop the emerald for goodness' sake. Wait… Usually I'll hear a complaint coming from Espio and Charmy." Tails looked behind Vector, finding no trace of the chameleon and the bee. "Where are they?"

Vector chuckled. "Charmy's a heavy sleeper so he's sleeping upside-down his bed. As for Espio, he's also sleeping with the birds," he said. Part of what he said about Espio was half-true, though. In reality, Vector knocked out Espio with a punch to relax for the morning. The chameleon was up there in his room inside a closet against his will.

The crocodile started juggling the emerald on his palm. "You just leave it to me," he said. Vector wasn't making Tails feel any better.

"Don't worry about him and the emerald," Samus said. "We won't let him break it."

"Phew, I feel better now," Tails said while mildly annoying the crocodile.

Master Hand tapped his brother's counter. "Enough screwing around. Get moving out now. The sooner we do this the better," he said. With that, the assigned party began escorting the two guardians out with Chip on tow. The imp looked behind and flew back to the hand with a concerned look. "What is it this time?"

Chip fidgeted his fingers. "Um, is something going to happen to Sonic if we don't come back at night?" he asked. "He's still recovering at the infirmary…"

"Chip, you'll be coming back in at least one hour," the hand pointed out. "Sonic won't go nuts on us by the time you come back. If for some random reason you don't come back, Chris will take care of things himself."

"Then why don't you?"

The hand raised a finger, briefly falling silent. "…You know, as long Sonic's in the mansion and doesn't get out, I can pretty much stop that demon inside his head without endangering myself with the army…" the hand mused. "Oh well, the hedgehog won't go out if I'm roaming the halls." He pushed Chip away. "Now go, you little cloud cuckoolander, and do your stuff."

The imp saluted formally before fly out to the halls to catch up with the team. Once he was away, the hand decided to talk about the evil spirit in Sonic's body. Ever since he saw how the spirit once again took a hold of Sonic's body, the hand was shocked and horrified to think another gruesome event would soon happen again.

"Everyone remembers Sonic's evil counterpart?" Master Hand asked suddenly. "Well, it seems he's trying to do his dream and kill us all. AND JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT the outside world wasn't bent on getting us, the 'inside' world wants the same too if you catch my drift."

Olimar raised his hand. "I propose we freeze Sonic in cryogenic sleep until we find a way to exorcise that evil spirit from him," he said.

"Meh, it could work, but that…thing inside him has got lots of strength. I speculate he'll break from the ice," Master Hand said before he shook himself. "That wasn't exactly the thing I wanted to talk about, though. What I wanted to talk about is…that we so need to find a way to finally get rid of DSS before he skins you all alive."

The Smashers stared blankly at the hand for not including himself in the carnage. "Isn't he going to get you too?" Ivysaur asked.

"Pfft, as if," the hand said. "He doesn't know I'm close to a demigod. If he pinches me just once, I'll vaporize him and BURN him to oblivion. SADLY, I can't because he's technically using Sonic's body. Even when some of you annoy me for really silly complaints, I kept myself from crushing people… And to boot, I don't even know diddly-squat about exorcism. I thought that practice was a waste of time." He floated over to Chris. "Besides, Chris is getting so annoyed when that spirit comes out at irregular times of the night that he can't even lift one eyelash anymore!"

Everyone noticed the World Traveler was sleeping on his chair. He had fallen asleep right after the meeting started.

"I swear Tabuu picks the wrong people to work with," Master Hand said. He turned around just in time to avoid seeing Chris falling on the floor. Surprisingly, the fall didn't wake him up. "Why can't we just go back into deactivating bombs? That seemed easier…"

"No use fretting over it," Squirtle said. "It's not like he's making time by working with a third party enemy or devising a way to get rid of us."

Master Hand remained silent. "…Making time… Well…" He "looked" up to wonder. "Is it really possible he's making time with all these distractions or is he really trying to stop us through these other methods?"

"What if it's both?" Nana asked. "Now that I think about it, Tabuu was weakened in that battle we had with him a long time ago, didn't he? Is he still recovering?"

"Who knows," the hand said, turning back to them. "But it makes me worried to think he's buying time for something big… I hope we're all guessing wildly. We need to take things slowly and carefully. Take it fast and we will all trip and fall into a pit full of spikes."

"THE BANE OF ALL SIDE-SCROLLERS," Crazy Hand loudly said, though everyone ignored him.

Snake decided to talk. "What's our next move, hand?" he asked. "Do we just wait and see what happens next in this messed up storyline like we always do?"

Tails nodded. "Afraid so. I'm doing my very best to find the Holoska Temple while we're all discussing," he explained. "So far, nothing is coming up in the radar. I'm starting to wonder if I should perform another run in all the previous worlds I've already scanned."

"I can't believe there are so many worlds besides ours," Cream voiced out her thoughts. "Just how many have you scanned, Tails?"

The two-tailed fox looked away. "…Like a good 50,000 worlds?" he said, much for the dismay of everyone. If Chris was awake, he would have thought that at least half of those worlds weren't worthy of being called worlds since there was a big chance those worlds were under issues with licensed games. In a few words, TV programs copied and pasted into…

Oh god, let's not get that argument into this, please.

Zelda shook her head in disapproval. "I do like to visit new worlds, but I do not wish to visit that many. I'll get tired out of getting new enemies just by passing through some road," she said. "I hate it that my status as being part of the royalty is not a universal thing."

"Better being treated like a commoner than a celebrity unless you want those cameras to peek out from those bushes," Snake said.

"(Funny, I expect that to happen here soon,)" the hand thought devilishly. "As always, let's wait for them to make the next move. It looks like the rain outside is subsiding a bit… I can't hear many drops falling. For now, the meeting is over. You may all return to your activities."

Lucas silently walked away to visit the graves outside the garden. He made a habit to talk to the gravestones outside in hopes of informing Ness the next plan they were going to do. He brightened himself up and walked outside as everyone else walked to different ways in the mansion.

A few minutes later…

Garden

In all the history of Smash Mansion, there were a few occasions when something so dismaying happened. In fact, it was so rare to witness such a rare event because, well, they were rare events for something. But what happened in the garden easily won all the previous rare events to take the throne for being the most dismaying event ever.

In a matter of minutes, everyone gathered outside the garden after Lucas saw that particular piece of info. He couldn't tell if he was lucky or unlucky to have found it first than everyone else. Normally it would've been Toon Link because the swordsman always roamed outside in the woods to relax. What had happened there behind everyone's backs was a topic to worry about for the rest of their lives. It could even be interpreted as a very embarrassing and shameful event.

So what was that event?

Half of the whole cast looked down below in a big hole situated right above a sewer system which had an average fast current of wasted water running to the north. The hole had been created by the intense deluge making the earth turn into mud. Most of them realized the deluge was the strongest one yet and that might have been the main reason for the earth to give up the fight against the water. The stench flew out in a direct direction, making all who looked down to step back and pinch their noses in disgust.

Of course, why was this event so embarrassing? Anybody would think that a big hole that connected to the sewer system by accident wouldn't be so embarrassing. Maybe a little bit embarrassing, but that wasn't the main point for all of them to worry about such common things like a stinky garden or a dirty soil. Master Hand would take care of it very easily himself with a snap of his fingers.

The main reason why they were all dismayed was…

"Really? We put their graves and coffins RIGHT above the FREAKIN' SEWER SYSTEM and they fell into it for god-knows-when?" Falco finally voiced out his rage.

The Smashers accidentally buried their fallen comrades above the sewer system on top of an inconveniently placed, broken ceiling below the earth under the coffins without even knowing the sewers was right down below. Since the earth turned into mud by the heavy deluge, the coffins' weight made them fall faster into the water. It was impossible for them to find out when the precious boxes fell down and were taken away by the dirty flow of water. Worse yet, the small hill disappeared and turned into the very same hole they were all trying to stare down without backing away by the stench.

"I, uh, never thought the sewers were there…" Master Hand said in his defense. "I'm honest. I REALLY didn't think the sewers were right below the hill!"

Popo looked sick. "We just made the sewers stink even more!" he said.

"D-don't panic. Their coffins were designed so that not even the smallest drift of air would get in or out. Water is also another thing they're protected against." Master Hand said. "Their bodies will be just fine!"

"That's not the point here anymore," Roy said. "The point here is we LOST them forever!"

Red thought a bit. "Why don't we…uh…search for them in there?" he asked.

Nobody was going to go inside the sewers even if the coffins were taken away by the flow. A few minutes would be enough to knock out anyone out of cold.

"…I speak for everyone when I'm saying we're not that crazy to investigate the sewers," Pit said sighing. "The stench is just…no…just no…"

Luigi frowned at the situation until he got an idea. "T-these sewers have an exit somewhere, right?" he asked. "What if…"

Master Hand shook himself. "I'm afraid I never looked into the sewers' geography to see where they lead. And besides if the sewers do connect to the sea far away then it's going to become a much harder search," he said before turning to Mewtwo. "You're the master of teleporting. Can't you seek them out or even detect them?"

Mewtwo was also at a loss of words. "If they were alive, I could find their energy. But since there is practically no energy left in them, I can't do miracles on lifeless bodies," he said.

Wolf looked away. "Neat, now Fox will get lost somewhere else until that coffin of his gives away in the future," he said. "(James is going to kill me if he finds this out soon… Damn you, Ancient Minister. Once I see you, you'll wish to be dismantled before I lay a hand on that head of yours.)"

"So nobody is really going inside?" Master Hand asked. "I-I can't go in because…i-it's too cramped and…stinky…oh, and very dark too."

"Ditto," Crazy Hand said. "I might get the rabies if I touch the nasty water."

"We would need gas masks for a search like this," Snake said. "However, there remains the fact the sewers could be infested with monsters. I know it's a crazy assumption but judging how there are fiends in the woods, it's not entirely impossible to think there are abnormalities in there. Furthermore, their coffins could have ended up in separate ways if there is more than one straight path."

"Or there could be crocodiles," Diddy said shrugging. "Crocodiles like the live in there under all that waste."

Pikachu sighed defeated. "Well, it makes me mad to say this, but we have lost them forever because they literally fell down the toilet…" he trailed off. He was feeling guiltier for letting Pichu to get lost in such a twisted way.

Amy pouted and looked at Knuckles. "I don't want to feel so bad for them. I want you to jump in there and look for them!" she said.

"WHAT! I'm not gonna dive into that kind of water unless I'm crazy!" Knuckles protested. "Besides, I'll die if I take a small sniff of that horrendous smell! If you gave me a helmet it would be a different story!"

The pink hedgehog looked angrier at the echidna. "Well, can you see someone here who is actually wearing such helmet? Because I can't see anybody wearing one!" she said.

It was then everyone realized there was one Smasher who fit the description. They all looked towards the edge of the hole where Olimar was looking down to see if he found anything. The killer stench didn't faze him in the slightest since his helmet protected him from being knocked out. When he heard silence, he looked up and saw everyone staring at him. "…Why is everyone looking at me as if I did something shocking?" he asked obliviously.

"…Throw him in," Ivysaur said blankly.

Olimar quickly caught on as his eyes widened (or opened fully). "W-wait, I-I know I won't get ill if I go in the sewers but…b-but I can't do this alone! W-what if there are monsters in there after all? I-I'd love to go any day if I had some support like a companion watching my frail back!" he said. "Before anyone says anything, my Pikmin are not enough for the task!"

Yoshi looked up. "Who can go with you? It has to be somebody who can also resist the stench in there," he said. "Somebody with a helmet…"

Chris backed away, knowing better that he had Olimar's job that gave him a helmet. Everyone forgot Chris had a job like that so that worked for his advantage. If there was a place Chris never wanted to explore, that was the sewers of any world. Unfortunately, Toon Link saw Chris backing off which gave him the suspicion Chris was that other guy they needed. "CHRIS HAS A HELMET…SOMEWHERE!" Toon Link yelled out, attracting everyone's attention to Chris. The World Traveler stopped backing away, sweating all over when the eyes were on him.

"Hey, Chris does have a helmet in one of his jobs!" Master Hand realized. "Chris, if you really like us so much please go with Olimar and find those coffins!"

Chris thought it was unfair to prove his partnership with the others to force him to do tasks he didn't want to do. Sadly, he had to listen to the hand's orders. The teen changed to his Pikmin Captain attire with said helmet and walked to Olimar in defeat. "Don't worry; I feel the same," Olimar said apologetically, dismaying Chris.

"I-I would like to go with you too, b-but…" Peach chuckled nervously, "t-the smell is quite too strong for me to resist…"

The teen thought the princess was courteous for speaking her mind. Nobody else did the same thing, though.

"Yuck, the smell is starting to linger too much in the garden. Let me fix that for you," the hand said before snapping his fingers. In a blink of an eye, the big hole of mud was replaced by a man hole over a set of stairs. "There, you can go inside without letting that entire stench stagnate the whole damn garden."

Olimar looked behind to see some flowers withered thanks to the smell. "Oh, poopy. Peach and I are in charge of keeping the garden in top form…" he lamented. "Well, we're going to have to plant some new flower seeds later."

"Worry about that later and go get those coffins back," Master Hand said. "Or else do you want their bodies to rot like nothing?"

Chris sighed silently and pulled out the man hole to open the way. Before he could go down, Olimar told him to take out a band of ten Pikmins with him. Feeling a bit more confident with the company of the veggie people, the twelve went down the hole…only for the unlucky nosed Red Pikmins to instantly die upon taking a small sniff out of the stench, their souls floating away into the sky. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Olimar was heard screaming.

Master Hand looked at everyone. "Okay, there's no way for us to give you directions in there, so best of luck out there! I'm confident nothing will go wrong," he told the rescue party. "As for all of us, we'll wait for the escort party to come back. If something bad happens in there, just yell as loud as you can! The waters in there do make a lot noise."

Everyone heard Olimar's whimpers echoing from the man hole. He wasn't getting over the dead Pikmins at all until Chris and the small band of Pikmins helped him to move forward into the darkness of the sewers. Luckily, both of their helmets had glowing tips on them, giving all the light they needed to walk the way.

"…If anybody wants to stay behind and wait for them, be my guest," the hand said as he floated away. Pretty soon, everyone slowly walked back into the mansion to spread out and do their personal things. The only ones who remained behind were Peach and Jigglypuff. Peach wanted to stay alert for any yells of help while Jigglypuff eagerly wished Pichu to come back and be placed somewhere safe.

"Do you think they will find them?" Jigglypuff asked worried.

"Oh, I'm positive they will, but I'm not so sure myself judging how mysterious the sewers are…" Peach trailed off. "I'd like to remove those withered flowers in the meantime. Would you like to help me?"

"Okay. I want to do something productive outside," the singing diva said as both girls started working on the garden while waiting for the rescue party to come back soon. It seemed to them that the rest of the day was going to be pretty normal with no chances to see an attack from the enemy party.

Sadly, this was the world of Brawl…or we think that's the name of this world, anyway. Something really crazy was begging to happen…

Super Hidden HQ Hidden Somewhere

"This is getting really ridiculous. We can't go help people if our own personnel haven't healed yet!" a figure exclaimed from the shadows while talking to his superior. "It's been almost a year ever since they broke their legs during a small rehearsal we had!"

"It was your idea to have a rehearsal while sky-diving," his superior said. "I told you seven times to check if the backpacks had parachutes in there but no! There was nothing in there and they fell to their deaths…almost! Your overconfidence is your greatest flaw!"

"I-I know I have my flaws, sir, b-but… Alright, it was all my fault," he admitted. "But I'm not angry because of that! I'm angry because nobody has accepted that little request we posted on that particular village for a long time! And besides, we're supposed to be the ones helping people, not the other way around… Why don't we call our high-ranked members, anyway? This is a dire situation."

"Sorry, but I can't deny your teammates' vacations. They deserved it after many jobs well done. You're the only one left we have here to work… It's just that we need temporary replacements. Don't lose hope yet. You're one of our top workers. Don't let me down now."

"I won't, sir," he said. "I will wait as long as it needs to be before our lucky backup members arrive."

"That's the spirit," his superior said.

"I'm going to put my faith into this day. This will be the day we will continue working for the people of the world our own way. We mustn't let them down. (Yeah, like this day will be any different,)" he thought sarcastically.

-Nintendo Village: Morning of New Beginnings-

Post Office

Help the People of the World

We are an important organization that helps people across the globe with their problems. Further details shall be given once this request is taken. Special Note: We seek only two people.

Roy was ready to disapprove. "No, Pit, we can't just take this request lightly. I don't feel so sure of helping this organization to aid the world… It sounds so fishy to me," he said.

"But Roy, I want to become a better person," Pit said in his defense. "Palutena will most likely add this to my record of achievements."

"What record of achievements? You saved Skyworld from Medusa but that's about it."

Pit raised two fingers. "Not only did I save Skyworld BUT I saved Palutena AND became her army's general," he said. "Those are all my achievements."

Roy looked dully at the angel. "…And what else?"

"That's all. They may not sound so much, but they mean a lot to me."

Roy didn't want to bring Pit's hopes down so he remained silent.

It was Roy's idea to bring Pit to the village and accept a few requests to kill off some time. The red-haired swordsman wanted to bring Marth along but he had gone with the escort party. The only available option was bringing Pit instead. Roy wasn't expecting the angel to choose such a shady job from all the other requests. Then again, most of the requests were weird in their own way. On a side note, Pit got used to appear in public without his wings. However, he had nightmares about not being able to make them appear at will.

"If this will bring forth world peace, I'll do it gladly," Pit said.

Quill looked perplexed. "Maybe I should give you a heads-up about this particular request if it changes your minds," he said. "The requester…never showed up here."

The two stared at him confused. "The requester never came here?" Roy asked.

"W-well, he or she wasn't seen at all when we noticed," Quill said. "In fact, the request was given to us by a letter left on our counter. There wasn't a return address to it but it did say it was for the post office staff. The letter belonged to some organization of sorts and it basically said the same thing as you've read in the request so we put it up there. I suspected this was some kind of emergency for the requester."

Pit rubbed his chin. "Strange…" he muttered.

Roy wasn't very sure about the request. "Pit, I'd say let's take another one. I don't like what's going to happen if we do take the request upon ourselves," he said. "…Oh! Let's see this traveling swordsman!"

The angel shook his head. "No, Roy, I want to see what's going on behind the anonymous request," he said. "What if this secret organization is scheming world domination instead? As an angel of justice, I cannot overlook this."

"When did you even turn into an angel of… You know what, never mind," Roy said. "If I chose another request you'd get mad at me for the rest of the day so… Let's go ahead and take it, then. BUT IF ANYTHING HAPPENS it will be your fault," he warned Pit. The angel merely smiled as if the warning was very friendly.

Quill gave them a wing badge as an indication that the request was taken. "Alright, you're all set to go," he said. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention the place to meet the requester… There is no such place."

Roy winced. The request was maybe a joke now. "Is this…what people call…trolling?" he wondered. "I feel like an idiot…"

The Rito shook his head. "The requester didn't put a place to meet you," he said. "But they did say they were going to contact you as soon as possible. I don't know how, though."

"What? How are we supposed to meet the requester if there's no place to meet him or her?" Pit asked doubtful. "I think I'm starting to wonder if this is really a goo-"

Out of a cue, flying sleeping darts flew out from nowhere. Quill was struck down by one on the throat, knocking him out on the counter. Roy and Pit gasped but were too slow to avoid getting struck down by more sleeping darts. The two fell unconscious as everything around them went blurry. Roy could barely tell somebody approached the scene and dragged them out to somewhere else…

Super Hidden HQ Hidden Somewhere

Inside the very dark room, Pit and Roy were lying unconscious on the floor while a spotlight shone down upon them. Being annoyed by the light, Roy woke up and sat on the spot, looking around to see where they were. "H-hey…what did just happen?" he asked.

Pit next woke up, somehow not being bothered by the light at all. He gasped when he saw nothingness around them. "W-where are we?" he asked. "T-this isn't the enemy's turf, is it?"

"I-I don't know! They would've already killed us on the spot if it was…unless they want to brainwash us to turn against each other!" Roy said as a matter of fact. He unsheathed his sword just in case anything would jump out from the darkness. "Alright, Pit, I'll beat you up later after we get out of here, but we need to escape and find our freedom. I don't like how this place looks like."

Pit stared at Roy. "F-fine, it was my fault we ended up here! But beating me up in the future is something I'm not looking forward to!" he said as he unsheathed his dual blades. "If there's anyone out there, step out already so we can finish this!"

Roy darted his eyes around the area. "Don't jump into the darkness, Pit. Who knows what'll happen in there," he said. "Darn it, if there was a way to contact the others to rescue us…"

Out of the darkness, a voice came out. "Ugh, seriously? The backup people we waited for so long are these two? I expected somebody less…action-y. These two look ready to stab us with their swords and what not."

Pit and Roy looked around to find the source of the voice. "O-okay, now we know somebody is out there," Roy said. "W-we can reach to an agreement if you let us out as long as it doesn't involve very gruesome and unusual punishment. We don't really wish to fight."

"Then can you make us all a favor and sheath your weapons? They're not really my style."

"N-no!" Pit shot back. "Show yourself and we'll judge your appearance if you're trustworthy or not!"

"…Well, I'm not that dangerous-looking, but… Alright, I'll go ahead but don't stab me yet."

The two swordsmen heard footsteps coming from the south. They turned to said direction and prepared for the worst. They were waiting for some monster to jump out or a bomb to be thrown at them, but all that ever came out from the darkness was a young man wearing a tuxedo and dark glasses. Besides just the sharply clothed appearance, the man's most prominent description was the swirly orange hair he had.

"…Hello," the man said.

Roy was the first one to guess first what's going to happen. "Oh no, it's the government. They finally found incriminating evidence for a crime we haven't done yet! Master Hand was acting paranoid about the whole matter with the authorities, but it was true in the end!" he said. The law was the only thing Roy couldn't fight against. To be honest, nobody could fight against the law without getting arrested.

Pit thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. We haven't done a crime at all! There's no reason for the government not ruled by Palutena to throw us in jail!" he said. "I won't let officials take me away against my will until I hear some good points behind the case…though I don't doubt Roy here did something."

The red-haired swordsman stupidly nodded until he did a double-take. "Wait, Pit! I haven't done a bad thing to upset the law!" he said in his defense.

"How do you know? I started to suspect you were…a suspect of the law," Pit said shadily. "There could be more than meets the eye."

"W-well, what about you?"

"As if! I'm an angel. If I did something wrong in the past, I'd been punished by Palutena herself a long time ago. Sorry, Roy, but there's no way to incriminate me of anything. So logically, you're the one here who needs to clear out a few things!"

"What in the name of my kingdom makes you think I did something bad?"

"Um…that sword you're holding is not yours actually?"

The man rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "We're not part of the government or anything, you two. Stop thinking we're going to bring you to the precinct," he said. "It was funny the first five seconds but it got old a bit after that."

Pit and Roy sighed relieved. "Then don't dress so formally like that. That causes some impressions…" Roy muttered.

"Sorry, that comes with the job," the man said. "Anyway, I take it you accepted our request?"

Pit showed him the wing badge. "This is confirmation enough, I believe," he said.

"Yup, that's the badge I wanted to see," he said. "On behalf of the organization, I'd like to thank you for providing your services to us. We were in a long limbo until you came around."

Pit smiled hopefully. "So you are part of an organization that helps the world!" he said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to see how this organization helps people with their problems."

Roy was worried about the request. "Wait, hold on a bit there. Firstly, I'd like to see what this organization does and why it needs us to help it," he said. "And…aren't there any lights in this place besides the spotlight shining down on us? It feels claustrophobic e enough…"

The man grinned and snapped his fingers.

Dim lights turned all over the ceiling until everything was illuminated. Roy and Pit were surprised to see lots of high-technological machines surrounding the oval-shaped floor. In front of them, there was a big screen that displayed the world map in a green layer (though they couldn't tell exactly if that was their world map). The big screen was situated in front of a wide desk where somebody was sitting against a chair. With a closer look, the two found a second person in there. The person was an adult with grey hair with sideburns and a black mustache, wearing grey glasses and a tuxedo with small star emblems on the ends of his sleeves and an extra one on his tie. The fact his tuxedo had small spiked pads on his shoulders told the two he was the boss. On his desk, there was a small presentation card sitting idly but they couldn't read it from where they were.

"Ike would have destroyed this place by now," Roy joked as he admired the place. "It's way too advanced for his mind to handle."

"Ahem," the serious man across the desk cleared his throat, "well, your assumptions were spot on. Nevertheless, I'm glad we found the replacements for the job."

"Yes, sir," the guy they met said. "I think we're almost set to initiate our duties once they…change their costumes."

The two looked at him. "Wait, we have to change our clothes to help you out?" Roy asked.

"Didn't we say we would give you the full details once you accepted the request?" he asked. "We're going to tell all the details one by one. For now, though, you and your friend need to get changed into my uniform. The organization doesn't give its members so much freedom with their attires, so please understand that part…"

"…Oh well," Roy said.

A few minutes later, the two changed their clothes and weapons in exchange for tuxedos with black glasses. If the two swordsmen were walking out in the street, none of the people who knew them would recognize either one of them.

"You know, I kind of like the tuxedo," Pit admitted. "It gives that vibe of professionalism."

"I hope nobody makes fun of us for wearing these," Roy said. "They would never let us live it down."

"There's no need to worry about people finding out your identities," the man said. "The black glasses are designed specifically so that nobody can remember who you really are. They don't wipe out memories, though. Don't think this is some kind of UFO secret team."

Roy looked at his attire. "What does this organization do to help people? I have the feeling we're going to get stolen documents from a company ruled by an evil executive," he said.

"Oh no, we don't do that," the serious man over the counter said. "We help people to overcome their life issues through our special methods."

Pit was interested in the idea. "You mean we'll encourage them to achieve what they're striving to get?" he asked. "Wow, that doesn't sound too bad, actually."

Roy recalled they haven't exactly asked their requester's name. "By the way, what's your name? We forgot to ask for it in the beginning," he said.

"I can't tell you my real name, but while I'm working for the agents, my codename is Agent J," he introduced himself with a grin.

The sharp man behind the counter interlaced his fingers as the presentation card in front of him became illuminated. "And I'm the leader of the organization: Commander Kahn," he said. "I'll be your superior and commander-in-chief until we release you from the duties we'll hand over to you three. That means Agent J shall be your team leader. Whatever he tells you to do, you must follow it no matter how crazy or insane it sounds."

"Nice, a team for missions," Roy said. "How exactly are we supposed to help people in trouble, though? Do we just go over there and provide our aid?"

"Before we get to that, we need you to fill a document where it says we shall look out after you should another troubled person needs our help," J said as he showed them a document and a pen.

Roy took the document and the pen, reading what the document had on it. After reading it, he signed it together with Pit. "Oh well, anything to help the people of the world," Pit said.

By signing this contract, the replacement (Roy) thereby affirms that he and fellow helper (Pit) will lend their services to our organization if we require their assistance. In case of absence, we shall contact their company - for other generous replacements for our own personnel. Under no circumstances shall this contract become void if one party does not agree with the other party. In the event that the new members fail to help people, it will fall on their responsibility to acknowledge their missions' failures.

Signed By: Roy & Pit.

"Our company?" Pit asked.

"I think he means our group," Roy said. "You know, the Smashers?"

J grimaced at the name. "What kind of barbaric name is 'Smashers'?" he asked.

Roy looked embarrassed. "W-we didn't choose that name. Honest." He looked back at Pit. "Should we go ahead and add our company's name?"

Pit shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. I mean, I'm sure most of them think helping people out is a nice thing to do," he said. Roy then signed down the last part of the contract, handing it back to J.

"Excellent," J said grinning. "And as for the way we do our missions…"

Not long after saying that, a red alarm blared out inside the room. Agent J and Commander Kahn looked towards the screen where it was pinpointing the location where trouble was arising. "Alright, our first mission! I've been waiting for this for a long time now," J said while the screen displayed all the information regarding the person in need of help.

Pit and Roy, however, weren't as excited as J was. One look at the victim's info was enough to render them speechless. "W-wait a second…isn't that…" Pit trailed off.

A few minutes ago…

-Smash Mansion-

Underground Sewers

Meanwhile, the small rescue party made entirely out of Pikmins and two innocent bystanders was searching around the sewers for the lost coffins. Chris and Olimar were feeling equally frightened as they walked on the dirty concrete for any signs of the foreign objects. The Pikmins were staring blankly at everything around them. It almost felt as if the Pikmins didn't give both captains some company. If only they could talk and survive from a measly hit, then both captains would feel much better.

"I-I don't have a clue about where they are in here," Olimar said. "H-how long have we been walking through the sewers? I think it's been…an hour or so."

Chris couldn't talk at all but he would give Olimar messages using his hand whenever he needed to. The constant dripping sounds of drops falling from the ceiling didn't make him feel good. Worse yet, they made him think they were being followed.

"It's bad enough you can't talk, Chris," Olimar said. "I could probably mistake you by a big Pikmin…"

The teen felt offended by the comparison but he was too busy feeling a bit frightened with the scene. Most of them kept a watchful eye on top of the flowing water to see if they stumbled upon the disappeared coffins. They opted to separate from each other to cover more ground but it seemed very dangerous to do so.

"I wish Samus was here with us. I'd feel safer she was with us because she's very courageous… Unlike me, though…"

Chris caught on with Olimar and groaned mentally. He scribbled a message on the captain's hand.

"O-oh, I'm not going to make a drama out of this. You worry too much," Olimar said. "But thanks, anyway."

The band of Pikmins continued their walk until they started hearing some unusual sounds coming from the dirty water. Instead of looking back, the group started sweating a bit. They thought the weird sounds were just their heads playing mind tricks on them. But the sounds gradually started to get louder and louder as if they were getting closer to them.

"Y-you know, the sewers get scarier the longer we stay in here," Olimar said while fidgeting his fingers. "I wish we had a map of the area…"

Chris stopped in his tracks when he remembered Kawashima had an internal map. He took out his DS and opened the dual screens to turn on the power.

"Oh, good heavens! I forgot you had that with you," Olimar said relieved. "Ask the virtual face if he can gives us directions. I don't know which way we came from anymore."

To Chris's dismay, his DS was out of battery life. He closed his console and looked ashamed at Olimar. The captain replied by throwing his arms down in depression while the Pikmins around them patted their backs for some moral support.

The sounds suddenly became noisier. The big band stopped mourning their bad luck to look around both ways of the sewers to see some large bodies sticking out from the dirty water. "A-aren't those… Did we find them?" Olimar asked surprised.

Chris forgot about his fright to smile hopefully. When he took a closer look at the foreign objects, his face turned pale when he spotted scaled skin and wary eyes staring up at him. The long, rectangular-shaped objects sticking out of the water weren't coffins but…large crocodiles.

Almost instantly, Chris leaned back to the wall of the sewers until Olimar and the Pikmins took a quick close look. They all whimpered in fear and leaned back as well. "C-crocodiles," Olimar stuttered. From both ways of the tunnel they were walking, it looked like there were around eight large crocodiles ready to eat them alive. They weren't moving away from their spot, staring up at them with pure delight to satisfy and fill their stomachs. "L-l-l-lots of them…" Olimar muttered.

The situation got worse once the crocodiles crawled out of the water to surround them. Most of those crocodiles munched empty air to show their eagerness to get a bit out of one of them. The prey hugged each other in a big circle as they trembled in fear.

"D-d-d-don't panic, everyone," Olimar said. "I-I-I'm sure these crocodiles just want to be our friends."

Chris miraculously scribbled down quickly on his hand, "WHAT ON EARTH MAKES YOU THINK THAT?"

"I don't know!" Olimar cried out, giving in to their misfortune. Once the crocodiles started licking their lips between their long jaws, it was their cue to scream and turn around to the way they came from. Fortunately, they became separated from the big school of crocodiles. Unfortunately, they found out they got lost in the sewers.

And to make matters worse, Chris tripped down and fell into the dirty water. Olimar and band of Pikmins turned back when they heard him splashing the water with his body. Due to the strong flow, Chris couldn't manage to get back on safe floor.

"N-n-n-noooooooo!" Olimar yelled as Chris tried his best to get back to the floor. But everything went downhill once Olimar noticed the big school of crocodiles coming Chris's way. They slowly advanced towards him to enjoy the thought of eating human flesh in a long time.

Olimar shook his head many times as he was paralyzed with fear. He wanted to save Chris so badly but he was afraid of things going very wrong in the end. As far as he knew, Olimar could fall down and become human bait. Seeing the Pikmins horrified at the scene put him under a lot of pressure, and it became worse as Chris helplessly was dragged away to the crocodiles. Olimar never felt so useless. He thought Chris would die in vain after getting nothing out of their search for the lost coffins. Even worse yet, if Olimar escaped and left Chris behind, everyone back at the mansion would shun him away, especially the scary-looking Lucario.

Oh dear god, Lucario, he thought. Lucario would so kill Olimar without a second thought if he found out Olimar couldn't save Chris in time.

Finally giving up, Olimar grabbed his helmet in an effort to grab his head and yelled to the ceiling, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Super Hidden HQ Hidden Somewhere

Olimar's scream for help was then picked up by the radar in the HQ. Roy and Pit were surprised to know the very same radar gave very specific details such as giving pictures of the situation, the state of shock of the victims, and how dire their situation was. "Agent J, prepare your team!" Commander Kahn ordered with a stern look.

The two newly recruited agents looked serious. "Alright, so we just go there and rescue them, right?" Roy asked. "This is going to be an easy mission to do."

J looked at Roy as if he was crazy. "What are you talking about? We're going over there to help them overcome their problems. It's against the code to give them a hand," he said as he, for some reason, handed out wireless microphones to them. "Our mission is to give them enough moral support so they can achieve their goals."

Pit and Roy stared at the wireless microphones for a long time. They had no idea why they needed microphones in the first place.

"…Well, what are you doing standing there? Grab your mics," J said blankly.

"…But…what are we exactly going to do with these…microphones?" Roy asked. He failed to see whatever J was trying to say.

Pit got an idea. "Oh, I get it. These microphones are for when we need to call the commander to request backup if something goes wrong," he said. "I know very little about secret organizations but that must be it…"

J grimaced. "Actually, we're going to use them to cheer on the troubled targets," he said. "We'll cheer them on with our groove that will pass on to them. When I'm saying groove I mean we're going to dance."

Roy stared at J. "Oh, dance as in fighting?" he asked.

"No, dance as in dance literally."

"…" Pit and Roy were left speechless.

"Well? Are you going to stand there all day again?" J asked impatiently.

Pit looked upset. "What is this kind of joke supposed to be?" he asked. "For Palutena's sake, this doesn't make the slightest bit of sense to me! I-I'm never going to dance! The mere thought is just so…so embarrassing and humiliating!"

Roy flushed. "Y-yes, what he said! I-I thought we were supposed to help people through common methods! What do you mean by d-dancing? Do we even look like dancers to you? In fact, you don't look like it either with your tuxedo!" he argued.

J groaned. "Look, you guys already signed the contract and you can't go back to your word. You agreed that you'd follow our orders to the extent of the rules unless…there is no unless!" he pointed out. "The Elite Beat Agents work this way all the time."

"Elite…Beat…Agents?" Pit repeated every word confused. "Is…that supposed to be the name of this organization? It doesn't sound so professional to me for some reason…"

Commander Kahn was getting fed up of the argument that he slammed his hands and stood up, startling Roy and Pit. The man looked at them with a seriously stern look that made their bones chill with fright. "There are people begging for help out there and you dimwits are not even moving out! Unless you want to help people, I wish to hear your complaints immediately before they get eaten alive by the crocodiles!" he looked away rather dramatically. "For years the Elite Beat Agents have stimulated people to work hard for their own good. We work day and night to teach people that they can become successful if cheered upon. What kind of mundane thing is rescuing them, I ask you both? Nothing good will ever come out of it that way… We believe in them…and they must know they need to believe in themselves so that they don't repeat the same mistakes in the past…"

"Commander…" J muttered.

The commander stared back at them. "If a kid is struggling to keep the bed from getting wet, we don't wake them up. Instead, we help that child to hold on so they learn how to keep it under their control. If a puppy strays away from home, we cheer on the poor dog so it makes it back through its determination. If a dancer is having a rough day, we use our groove to inspire them to achieve stardom. If a departed soul regretted to tell his wife how much he loved her, we make his very soul give messages through every possible object around her," he said before slamming his fist on the desk. "AND FOR THEM, we cheer them on from the background to teach them they have the power to do it without losing hope!"

Roy and Pit thought his speech was a bit farfetched, but they had to admit the idea didn't sound very bad if people really think they didn't have hope to avert disaster in the future for themselves. The two looked down on the floor in shame.

"So what will you do about it?" Kahn asked as he pointed at the screen. "Give them a way to cheat to fail the next day again or make them do it for themselves?"

"…" Roy looked up. "…Let's do it, for them."

"Yes…" Pit said, looking up. "Let's make them believe they can do it."

J looked grateful the commander had convinced them. The commander sat back on his seat and pointed at them. "Agents are…GO!"

Pit and Roy have obtained the outfit, "Elite Beat Agent."

Fight your way through dancing. The helpless need your groove to obtain success. Cheering people on never felt so honorable.

Underground Sewers

Target: Olimar

Age: 36

Sex: Male

Misc. Info: Family man desperate for work. Likes flower gardening.

Olimar was sitting down on his knees as he tried to come up with a plan to save Chris from the carnivore crocodiles. "W-what am I supposed to do?" he asked loudly to his Pikmins. It didn't help they were running around in circles. "A-aaaaaah!"

Several miles behind Olimar, the most random of things approached fast through the water at a fast speed. It was nothing more than a black-and-white stripped boat skidding over the flow. And riding on top of said boat there were the three Elite Beat Agents, J handling the wheel with a wide grin while Pit and Roy sat behind in complete surprise. The dirty smell forced them all to wear gas masks over their dark glasses. It was against the rules to take off the dark glasses if they were going to wear something over their faces as well.

"You people have a boat for sewers?" Roy yelled.

"Always use the most useful method to get to them like we like to say!" J yelled. "Alright, we're getting there! Prepare to jump out to safe land and follow my moves if you can! Remember this very well: the more our moves look perfect, our targets will get what they want to do! If we fail, they will fail too!"

"WHAT? Their very lives depend on us?" Pit asked.

"You signed the contract! Didn't you read the bottom line too?"

"We did, but we didn't think it meant this!" Roy responded.

"Enough talk, we arrived! Everyone, go, go, go!" J ordered as he turned off the boat, allowing them jump out to safe land across the other side from where Olimar was mourning helplessly. As they got in formation, J flashed his golden badge.

Episode 1

Stinky Sewers! The Appetizing Aroma of Human Flesh

Not On the Menu!

Elite Beat Agents – Canned Heat

"I-I can't do this!" Olimar told himself. The Elite Beat Agents across the water started waving their arms over their heads in sync. Their groove then moved on to Olimar, who then looked up with excitement as he too copied their arm waving as well. "Suddenly, I think I can actually do it…"

"Are you ready?" the agents asked before breaking out of their arm waving with the mics ready. "3, 2, 1, go!"

Breaking rather instantly from his arm waving, Olimar blew on his whistle to get the control over the stressed Pikmins. "Don't waste time and let's help!" he encouraged. The Pikmins saluted as they approached Olimar to grab and toss all the way over to the crocodiles. The band of twelve Pikmins amazingly started attacking the wild crocodiles which got in a panic when the little band banged on their heads.

As the agents were dancing, Roy flushed red under his glasses. "(Oh my god, it is working…)" he thought.

"(Palutena is laughing as we dance inside these sewers…)" Pit thought.

Olimar couldn't believe the Pikmins were doing a great job at distracting the crocodiles from eating Chris, who was barely inches away from the struggle. Sadly, Chris was frozen in terror as he watched said fight. Fortunately, the crocodiles were very busy trying to eat the rabid Pikmins.

And then Roy tripped while dancing, provoking the other two to lose sync. "H-hey!" J yelled. They all stood up as fast as they could to catch their lost tempo again.

The fight against the crocodiles turned on their favor all of sudden as they began gaining the upper hand on the small plant people. Out of some miracle, the Pikmins were surviving but not for long. Olimar quickly fell into desperation while Chris swam against the flow to keep himself away from them. "D-dear god!" Olimar screamed out.

"Break!" J signaled his team to stop dancing.

A crocodile broke off from the fight to leap on Chris. The World Traveler screamed silently for help, causing Olimar to shake his head. When he saw a Pikmin soul floating away from the struggle behind the crocodile, Olimar plucked out a Purple Pikmin and grabbed it by its leaf to toss it all the way to the hungry crocodile. "EAT THIS!" Olimar yelled.

Things didn't work quite well as Olimar had expected. He used a lot of force to throw the Purple Pikmin that he accidentally slammed the floor with it. The force of the impact was just too much and Olimar was catapulted across the water, only to get his helmet stuck right in the crocodile's jaw. Olimar screamed out as he and the crocodile fell into the flow with a big splash.

Indirectly, the big splash did help Chris in the end as he was pushed back to safe surface. Not only that, but Olimar was pushed out when the crocodile fell into the water. But in doing so, Olimar only gained a small heart attack. "I-I'm alive…" he moaned.

J stared frustrated at the backup dancers. "Yes, that wasn't meant to happen at all, you guys," he said.

"Dammit!" Roy and Pit cursed.

Back on the scene, Chris and Olimar had to sacrifice all the Pikmins in the fight to give them time to escape. Unfortunately, the crocodiles left the Pikmins to die in the water as they quickly swam to their prey. Chris got so scared and grabbed Olimar's hand, accidentally dragging him like a flowing flier.

"Okay, we can still make it!" J encouraged as the crocodiles zoomed by their area. "Get your moves going, guys!"

"It's not over yet?" Roy asked bewildered but was forced to do as J ordered. The trio was now dancing to cheer on the fleeting duo. First, though, they waved their arms above again to pass on their groove once more.

Funnily enough, the scene stopped briefly as Olimar waved his arms over his head again. But he wasn't doing it alone. Chris had gotten all giddy and excited as well. It was obvious since he was also arm waving too. Then suddenly, the scene changed back to how it was with Chris dragging Olimar from behind.

Slowly but surely, Olimar gained confidence to run by himself. Chris didn't care he lost his grip on Olimar's hand once the captain turned the roles around and dragged Chris from behind at an absurd speed. At least the crocodiles were falling behind. "WE CAN DO IT!" Olimar screamed out. Chris passed from being a bumping luggage to a frightened man flowing on the air behind Olimar.

"A-alright, everything's going great," Pit said.

"Keep up the pace!" J encouraged.

The crocodiles sweated bullets while they were trying to swim as fast as they could. Nevertheless, they persisted in their task to eat their prey alive at all costs. It was better than eating the random stuff that fell into the water.

"Break!" J ordered.

Olimar let go of Chris to let him run for himself. The short captain then came to a halt when he saw a cascade of water falling down a big depth. Olimar sighed briefly before seeing Chris running past, right to the end of the road where he jumped off without thinking. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Olimar screamed out as he plucked six Pikmins out of the concrete. In a second, all the six Pikmins formed a long chain that Olimar tossed to Chris' waist to wrap him in them.

Olimar pulled back just in time as the crocodiles jumped out to eat Chris in the air. In the end, Chris was pulled back to safe surface once more while the crocodiles fell down into the depths of the cascade.

"P-phew!" Olimar sighed loudly while Chris caught his breath.

J was pleased with the result before the trio resumed arm waving again. "Things are getting better after all. Don't stop now!" he encouraged. Pit and Roy were at a loss of words, but they felt silent again and decided to go along with the plan.

"L-look over there, on the water flow!" Olimar yelled as he pointed all the way back where they came from. With a closer look, they found a floating coffin drifting by. They all looked ready to celebrate until they saw a rather large school of crocodiles blocking the way back. "A-aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Olimar, Chris, and the six Pikmins got so desperate that they ran and jumped to the coffin to use it as a boat. The EBA's groove got back to them once more, forcing the captains and even their Pikmins to do arm waving again.

It looked creepy when the crocodiles themselves did arm waving as well.

When Pit and Roy blinked confused at the scene, things went back to pure insanity as the event resumed to its chaotic pace. Thanks to the good job of their previous break, Olimar had the idea of using all six Pikmins to paddle the coffin-boat with tremendous stamina that it went skidding over the water. The speed of the coffin was so strong that it pushed back all the crocodiles blocking the path. Several crocodiles had their jaws wide open right before being slammed against the wall to the sides of the flow. Olimar stood proudly on the center of the coffin while Chris sat on his knees on the top, watching amazed how the boat beat the crocodiles.

"How is that even possible?" Pit asked while dancing in sync with his team.

"Less talking and more dancing!" J ordered.

And then the trio tripped down because of Roy losing his footing.

The scene turned back on them in the wrong way as the Pikmins lost all the confidence to paddle. Absurdly, the captains were now using the very same Pikmins to slap back the crocodiles that leaped to their boat which was now moving really slow on the water. "B-back off, I say, back off!" Olimar shouted as he and Chris helplessly slapped anything moving on sight with the Pikmins.

"Recover, recover, recover!" J ordered frantically. "We can recover our pace!"

The crocodile fight then changed. Four Pikmins were paddling the boat while Olimar and Chris used the other two to slap a fewer amount of crocodiles leaping to them. All the same, both were frightened to the bones.

"Break!" J ordered.

The worse happened when a big school of crocodiles leaped from all directions to the coffin. Chris and the Pikmins screamed out loud as Olimar panicked in the middle. "P-please, don't eat us!" Olimar yelled as he accidentally went into Over Limit, calling forth the Dolphin on the coffin.

Due to the relatively small space of the sewers, the moment Olimar climbed into the cockpit and turned on the engine, the spaceship barely even took off and exploded in a big explosion that turned all the dangerous crocodiles into dust. The explosion also helped to give the coffin a boost to swim away from the spot. Unfortunately, said explosion ended up killing the Pikmins and covering Chris in deep soot. As for Olimar, the captain fell on his back with a shaking body and fully opened eyes. "…" Olimar was speechless as to what happened.

The event turned out badly again. J flashed an upset expression under his gas mask to the fellow swordsmen. Pit and Roy sighed just before the victims saw another crocodile school coming from behind. With no Pikmins in hand, Olimar turned to the opposite direction to see a light. "T-the exit is…" he was dismayed to see the light like a mile away from them, "all the way over there…" he finished, falling into depression.

The dancing trio resumed their arm waving to pass on their groove one last time. Olimar was pulled back to his feet as he and Chris arm waved too. The two looked back to see yet another school of crocodiles after them, except the last one had an obscene amount of them that completely blocked any possible route of escape. With that dangerous note in mind, Olimar somehow plucked out six more Pikmins from the wooden coffin and ordered them to paddle as fast as possible.

Due to the bad performance earlier, the Pikmins struggled to paddle fast. Chris hugged Olimar in a tight grip that was taking out the air out of his body. Eventually, the EBAs picked more groove, and the Pikmins were able to paddle at a decent speed. Chris and Olimar stopped hugging each other to stand on the tip of the coffin in a lame attempt to stay far away from the crocodiles. More groove from the agents changed the scene for the better as the Pikmins gained an incredible boost of stamina to paddle the coffin, turning it into a rocket skidding on the water.

Despite the fact Olimar and Chris were hanging on for their dear lives, the clear expressions of success on their faces said otherwise as the gang of crocodiles fell way behind them. Everything was going very good…until Pit tripped again.

"Break!" J suddenly ordered.

"No!" Pit and Roy yelled in disapproval, but they couldn't go against his order.

Once again, the scene fell back to its worse outcome. But thankfully, the rescue party reached right down below the exit. "T-there's not enough time to pull the coffin out!" Olimar yelled as the crocodiles were almost catching up to them. When he locked his eyes on the Pikmins, Olimar gulped with the idea he came up with.

-Smash Mansion-

Garden

Peach and Jigglypuff were startled when a foreign object was thrown out of the man hole. Right when the object fell on the grass, Chris climbed out fast followed by Olimar holding a long chain of Pikmins that were bent in very wrong ways. Olimar wasted no time to slam down the man hole to block the way to the crocodiles. "We're alive, oh my gosh!" Olimar said.

A delighted Peach came to them to see if they were okay while Jigglypuff went to check on the coffin. "You did it!" she said pleased.

Wasting no time, the quartet surrounded the coffin to open it and see who they brought back to safe land. Hopefully the body inside was in perfect conditions…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they all screamed.

Instead of any of the lost coffins, they had recovered the wrong one all along. The coffin they brought had inside a ReDead, of all things, that slowly rose up from its slumber to terrorize them.

The next second it stood up, Peach took out her frying pan and sent the zombie to kiss the sky with a powerful smack out of sheer horror. With the ReDead disappearing in the distance, Olimar and Chris had no other choice but to faint as the bent Pikmins gave up life and died. "Why…" Olimar lamented in his saddened state.

And thus, the four coffins were lost forever. For obvious reasons, Olimar was never, ever going to go back into the crocodile-infested sewers again…

Music ends

Elite Beat Agents HQ

Commander Kahn grimaced hard after seeing the recording of the mission on the big screen. He was glad the victim and his friend were able to escape certain death, but he wasn't happy their task ended in an average way: they got alive yet they didn't bring at least one of the four coffins back. Roy and Pit were lucky the mission didn't end in a very awful way or else the commander would have skinned them alive. They were under contract after all.

J and his backup were standing in front of his desk until the commander turned his chair around. "Well, agents, it seems everything went…just fine," he said. He was clearly not very satisfied. "Rest assured we won't crush you under an anvil. You have some ways to go, though…"

"I think we forgot to tell you the part about us NOT being expert dancers. We're not that good like J is," Roy pointed out. "In fact, I'm surprised our…not-so-good moves helped to save their day in the end."

Pit had changed his belief to help people through the agents. "But I…I don't want to dance anymore!" he complained. "I was never born to be like one. I was born to be a general of Palutena's centurion army!"

J honestly thought Pit was nuts. "Okay, if you guys really feel so pressured with the job, then I hope you don't mind that we invited your boss to come here and settle some matters about your pledge to the contract you signed," he said.

At that, Pit and Roy looked shocked. "Our boss?" they both asked in unison.

"How did you invite him here?" Roy asked. "Isn't it bad to reveal…"

"We cannot reveal the location of our HQ so we took the liberty of using sleeping darts to drag your boss here," Commander Kahn said. "I did all that work for myself, mind you."

Pit looked bewildered. "Um…wow…" he muttered. "…I didn't think you would use sleeping darts on him too…"

Commander Kahn looked up to see a familiar disembodied hand descending down from the ceiling. "There you are, my dear Smashers…" he trailed off with a hint of murder. Anyone would be angry if somebody shot someone else a sleeping dart while they were watching their favorite soap opera in the security of their room. "What did I tell you about not signing documents behind my back while you're under my contract?" Master Hand wasted no time to scold the two.

"B-but they didn't tell us how they helped people!" Roy said. "They told us how after we signed the contract! The contract didn't even state anything about dancing to give groove or some crazy term!"

"Why do you think you have to refer to me when doing official meetings?" Master Hand asked. "There's no way for us to back down their contract! They're actually under government law to work so going against the contract you knuckleheads signed is going to put us ALL under their hands!" He looked away. "That means one part of us is going to be out there in other worlds while the other part is going to be wearing those stylish tuxedos…dancing to cheer on the needy!"

The two swordsmen were late to realize the part where their comrades were all going to be forced to work for the agents too. "Mind you. We only recruit people that might have what it takes to do the job," Commander Kahn said. "It's possible we won't require all of your guests to help us out but just a few of them."

Master Hand turned to the commander. "That eases me a bit but not enough," he said, turning back to the swordsmen. "Well? I hope you'll be ready after they use sleeping darts on the others because I'm going to tell on you once we go back to the mansion to establish a feeling of...prevention."

"Y-you wouldn't!" Pit said. He was scared just thinking what kind of insane punishment the likes of Snake would come up with.

"Oh no, I would!" the hand retorted. "Consider this your punishment for putting us into this mess! I'm not going to punish you myself… I'll let them punish you two. Don't worry, though. I'm sure all of them will understand."

"R-really?"

"Hell no."

Roy groaned out loud. "…Pit, this is your fault. Just saying," he muttered. Pit objected to argue back as nothing good would come out of harming the red-haired guy.

J tapped his foot. He felt a bit of pity for the two. "There's going to be a reward once we're done with the lot of you," he said. "But not now. If you want to get that reward, you've got to work hard with us until we see when it's time for you to leave. Isn't that right, commander?"

Commander Kahn raised an eyebrow. "You stole the words from my mouth, Agent J," he said, scaring J a bit with the tone of his voice. "We are waiting for our agents to get out of recovery from the skydiving training session we had months ago. Next time, we shall use the jetpacks. They're safer and less life-threatening."

The three newcomers stared bewildered at the commander. "I don't want to think about what went wrong with that training session…" Pit trailed off.

Master Hand looked around. "You better treat my guys with respect and handle them carefully. If I hear news that they fell into some bottomless pit, the government is going to have a word with you," he said.

Roy looked bored. "Geez, I had the slight suspicion we were stuff to you," he muttered.

"Unless we perform another skydiving training session, we won't let something bad happen to them," Commander Kahn said. "You have our word, giant disembodied hand."

"Um, Master Hand is good enough, thanks," the hand said. "Luckily there doesn't seem you really need our help so we'll be going…somewhere." The hand found out there were no visible doors around the secret room. "I hate it when these super-secret agencies have no doors to outside."

"Don't leave just yet," Commander Kahn said. "Your boss is here. It's a good chance to warn you about our sworn rivals…"

The trio stared blankly at him. "What rivals? This agency has rivals?" Roy asked. "But wait, if there are rivals, wouldn't that mean those said rivals cheer on people as well?"

The commander stood up while J gulped. "We heard rumors about another group who do the same thing as we do to people. While it's nice to see other groups help the needy, it's incredibly degrading to us as they steal the spotlight. Moreover, the fact they got into our turf makes it worse," he said. "We understand our main purpose is a totally positive deed, but we mustn't let them think they can just waltz literally into the scene and put us out of work. The people depend on us."

Master Hand was getting a bit fed up of the unveiled rivalry between the EBA and the mysterious group. "Oh dear god, like we needed even more pressure," he said. "So who's this other group you're worried about?"

Kahn turned his back, arms folded behind him. "They were supposed to be stationed around the other side of the globe: our Asian siblings," he said figuratively. "And they are called… To be honest, they're a young group; a cheerleader squad that respond to the cries of people yelling the word 'Ouendan'. However," he turned back to them, "they changed their policy to hearing their call for the common help word. Let's just call them…the Ouendan."

"Sir, that's their actual title," J pointed out.

"Okay, they're the Ouendan," Kahn said. "Whenever somebody is crying out for help, we need to beat them in getting there first. If we fail to reach our destinations in time…they are going to be the ones doing our job without our permission."

J looked at them. "Since we've been out of resources for months, they've taken all the calls ever since," he said. "Our absence has forced them to think they own the turf. As you can see, the EBA needs to recover its lost reputation as soon as possible. But for that, we wait until somebody is about to lose it all."

"…Wow…" Roy flat out said. "Who would've thought you guys had it rough like that."

"Yeah… I know it's somehow humiliating for you to do all this, but we need help badly," J said. "We don't want to hurt that other team but we don't want to be forgotten either."

Master Hand, oddly enough, sniffed. "I-I understand what you mean by that. It's bad enough for us not to start the tourney with our whole lot problems that won't just stop piling up. Eventually, our beloved fans are going to get confused if they asked themselves who we are," he said. Pit and Roy were taken aback by his sudden reaction.

"Thanks, man," J said. "You're a cool giant disembo…you're a cool hand."

The hand "nodded" sadly. "Y-yes, I get that a lot," he said. "Alright, I'll let my guys work for you as long as you want…b-but don't keep them working for too long. Promise us that you won't over exaggerate with your missions. The least times we're bothered the better."

"You have our word on that too," Kahn said. "Looks like there are no more missions for you to take and stay here any longer. You're free to go."

Famous last words.

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

Elite Beat Agents – Stage Intro

Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Dr. Mario checked up on the patients he had for today (which were the same). He walked to Link's bed to tell him some good news. "Good news, Link," the doctor said. "Your recovery was faster than we expected so you can leave the infirmary whenever you want to."

Dr. Mario, 35

"Nobel Prize nominee"

"Really? Wow, thanks," Link said relieved. "It's been a long while after I last stepped out."

Link, 18

"Country swordsman"

"Yes, it's been a long time," Dr. Mario said before frowning. "Though I couldn't say the same for her…"

Link looked next to his bed where Zelda was lying down. The princess had been struck with a fatal cold and a fever that she got shortly after leaving the garden. She was barely able to open her eyes just a bit. "J-just…great…" she muttered.

Princess Zelda, 17

"Soon-to-be-queen"

Dr. Mario looked at his clipboard. "Well, Zelda, it seems you'll stay here in the infirmary for the rest of the day," he said.

"B-but I can't…" Zelda said.

"Why not? Certainly your condition is really bad for you to even walk," Dr. Mario said. "Why don't you want to rest here?"

Zelda coughed. "There was a meeting I was supposed to attend back in Hyrule… A letter arrived to me saying that I must present at a meeting with the kings and queens of other regions far away from my homeland… If I don't show up, I will disgrace my family's name."

"No, you're not disgracing anyone," Dr. Mario said. "They will surely understand the condition you're in."

Zelda sat up. "No! I-I must attend the meeting or else…Hyrule could wind up in a war!" she said.

Link and Dr. Mario stared shocked at her. "Wait, what kind of meeting is that in the first place?" Link asked.

"There's been news about a skirmish between these two vicious nations' leaders that they're about to declare war…but I intercepted their argument by agreeing with an official dispute to prevent their fight to erupt," Zelda said. "I told them to come to Hyrule today to discuss and reach an agreement… I-if I don't present myself…they could…involve my land into the war…"

The doctor grimaced. "Uh… Well… When you put it that way… I don't think you should overexert yourself with your current condition," he said. "Zelda, you could faint during the meeting if you still want to go."

"B-but!" Zelda clearly objected.

Unbeknown to Zelda, her condition was even more than met the eye…

Inside Zelda's Immune System

Yes, you're reading right.

Inside Zelda's Immune system, there was a virus trying to do harm on her. To make things better understandable, the virus she had inside was very sentient enough to have a humanoid form. The virus was a blue-skinned, purple haired imp wearing a black suit and a mask that covered his eyes. The virus was promptly named Mr. Virus.

"Heheheheheh!" Mr. Virus said delightfully with a long fork and a butter knife he held on each hand each. "Mr. Virus is the name! Ready for the second round?"

He was asking that to a white blood cell. Oddly enough, the courageous white blood cell was a human-looking person. The cell happened to be a beautiful, short-pink haired woman who wore a white outfit with a small white hat over her hair. She was holding a large syringe with green liquid in it. "Not if I have anything to say about it again!" she declared.

Cap White

"White Blood Cell"

The two knew each other. Cap White had defeated Mr. Virus a long time ago, but now he was back. Without warning, the two leaped at each other. Mr. Virus easily pushed Cap White away to burrow deep his fork and knife into the veins. "Yahoo!" he said.

"No!" Cap White shouted.

Infirmary

Zelda looked even more ill than before. "This condition…is getting worse by the minute…" she muttered. She could nearly dream about her beloved Hyrule burning down in flames. That scary vision was too frightening for her that Zelda shook her head, starting to lose her mind. "I need to leave immediately! I can't let Hyrule be destroyed!"

Dr. Mario gasped when Zelda tried to sit up again. "Zelda, no! Stay on bed!"

"Hyrule will perish if I don't!"

"You might hurt yourself for using too much energy!"

"I don't care! My people are first than me!" Zelda protested.

"Zelda!" Link shouted. The scene looked so bad the others in there watched mildly scared of what she could do to get out.

Zelda loved her land so much she would do anything for it. That was the main force that pushed her to leave it behind and resolve the conflict with the Subspace Army in hopes it won't get attacked. But if her beloved land fell down due to diplomatic issues while she was away, Zelda would never forgive herself even if she could defeat Tabuu one day. That would pretty much mean her land went down to hell behind her back. Her illness got worse. She cursed that illness so much that she wanted to scream out for help even if it was impossible for anybody to aid her somehow.

Cap White was also losing the battle against Mr. Virus. If there was something the white blood cell hated the most was losing to her sworn enemy. She felt the urge to call for help as well.

And both finally broke down together.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Target: Zelda

Age: 17

Sex: Female

Misc. Info: Never meant to be a queen.

From outside the window, a microscopic flying object flew into the infirmary. Using zoomed in vision, the small object turned out to be a spherical ship with a propeller on the top. Inside the glass ship there were three familiar agents, all wearing masks to cover their mouths. They were J, Roy, and Pit, the first maneuvering the ship to fly it through the air. Of course, Roy and Pit were awestruck that the agents had shrinking technology to partake in missions to invade people's bodies.

"Seriously? You have shrinking ships to go into people's bodies?" Roy asked bewildered.

"Like I said before, always be prepared with anything to get to our destinations!" J said.

"Does that really include infiltrating the very blood veins?" Pit asked astonished. He yelped when the ship passed by a seemingly giant Lucario on the bed.

For some unexplained reason, Roy briefly turned white after seeing Lucario as well.

"We do all it takes to do the job," J said as she ship neared its destination. "The only thing we can't do is time traveling."

The swordsmen looked forward where the ship flew down into Zelda through her wide open mouth as she was still freaking out from her nightmares. The ship carefully moved into her throat to avoid having her puke them out until it made its way through the complicated network of blood veins. J wasn't fazed from thinking they were inside a girl, but Pit and Roy almost puked. A small while later, they reached the location where the secondary targets were found.

"I lost all dignity as a man for entering a woman's body…like this," Pit said. When he saw the secondary target, Pit stared for a moment as did Roy.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a moment," Roy repeated. "White blood cells are women?"

"Apparently," J said as he docked the ship. When the hatch opened, J jumped out. Pit and Roy followed suit, their minds blown for digesting the entire craziness of white blood cells being women in nurse outfits, and on top of that, entering Zelda's immune system. As usual, J flashed his golden badge.

Episode 2

NURSE! Take Me Out Of This

Bed At Once!

Elite Beat Agents – La La

Just hearing the start of the song made both swordsmen feel a bit too embarrassed. "E-er…" Pit stammered until he was forced to do arm waving again. Palutena was having a moment of amusement for sure by now.

Cap White felt down in the slums until the groove moved on her. She suddenly started doing arm waving as the entire space and time stopped to give her encouragement to fight.

"Are you ready?" the EBA asked. "3, 2, 1, go!"

Breaking off from her excited moment, Cap White picked up her large syringe and started running down into the blood veins to treat the areas where Mr. Virus attacked. Mr. Virus creepily started chasing her down, almost to the point of catching up with her. Given her worried look, Cap White was struggling to get away from him. "No! It's my job to cure the ill!" she shouted.

"It's my job to kill you! Hahahahaha!" Mr. Virus yelled.

The pace of the scene picked up after the EBA managed to dance correctly. In a blink of an eye, a rush of adrenaline ran through Cap White as she started running absurdly fast complete with a mad face of excitement. She looked back to find the helpless Mr. Virus clumsily chasing after her.

"Alright, things are looking up faster than before!" J said pleased.

"But the song! It…it doesn't sound so…so appropriate…for…" Roy couldn't find the words.

"Don't talk too much or we'll lose the tempo!" the veteran agent pointed out. "Break!" he said, relieving Roy and Pit from dancing.

Back at the scene, Mr. Virus caught up quickly with Cap White. The white blood cell gasped as the enemy was ready to impale her with his long fork, but she performed an acrobatic dodging maneuver by somersaulting over him. Mr. Virus looked shocked until Cap White was the one who impaled him with her syringe, making him burst into air. "Yeah!" Cap White said.

Outside the immune system, Zelda started to feel healthier. "I think I can actually make it…" she said.

"Really?" Dr. Mario checked on her. "Huh, this is strange but you're right…"

Link was too much confused as he muttered, "The hell?"

Inside her immune system, the event once more turned bad again. Although Cap White had felled Mr. Virus, more copies of him came out from the skin, all chuckling darkly at her.

"At this rate, my kingdom will be doomed though!" Zelda was heard saying.

Cap White gasped until the EBA resumed arm waving to pass the groove again. The groove even went on to affect Zelda though nobody did see her doing arm waving as well due to time and space stopping.

When time resumed, Cap White got surrounded by a white aura as she nimbly used her syringe to shoot down all the copies that leaped on her. It was all thanks to the EBA's previous performance that allowed her to fight back all by herself. "Back off!" she shouted.

"How long are we supposed to dance to this dignity killer of a song?" Pit asked loudly.

"Until we can make her leave the infirmary!" J replied back.

And then they all tripped down.

Cap White's white aura vanished very quickly as she was then being stomped by all the Mr. Virus copies. Giving her pained look, everything was going downhill so fast. The EBA seemed to sweat in desperation as they tried hard to dance in sync again. If they continued looking exhausted, the event would end in the worse outcome possible: Hyrule falling down in flames and Zelda turning into an empty shell of emotions even if she recovered. Worse yet, Link would have no home to go back to either.

Roy was actually thinking hard about the worst outcome. If Zelda failed so would Link. He looked serious and encouraged the agents to dance (despite the song not sounding very suiting to males but females). Slowly but surely, they picked up their lost tempo.

Yes, we know Roy was losing the whole point in focusing helping Link rather than Zelda.

Cap White vigorously got up and pushed the multitude of Mr. Virus copies back with her syringe though their collective evil laughs were pissing her off. Eventually, her white aura was restored, and she was back to shooting the copies with her syringe. "Okay, we're right on track!" J said with a wide grin. "Break!"

The Mr. Virus copies then piled up on each other to merge and create a huge Mr. Virus. The giant pointed down at Cap White with his fork, but the valiant nurse didn't care about the size. "You're the one going down!" she yelled as she jumped up. The two looked desperate as Mr. Virus swung his fork at her, but she used the fork to gain a second jump and strike his face with her large syringe. The giant screamed out as he burst into air while she landed perfectly on the floor. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" she said pleased.

Back at the infirmary, Zelda looked even more relieved as she was sitting up. "Doctor, I feel better than before," she said.

"Well, I'll be," Dr. Mario said. "Miracles do happen."

"That's a bit too much to call it miracle," Link said.

"Oh, hush, Link," Zelda said annoyed.

Back inside her immune system, the battle still raged on. Another Mr. Virus sprouted out of the skin looking furious. "I won't fall down!" he yelled.

"Oh Nayru, help me to get better sooner!" Zelda called out from outside, pressuring Cap White to finish the job. The EBA created more groove with their arm waving to pass it on to Cap White and Zelda. Like before, Dr. Mario and Link were extra "victims" of the groove as they also broke to arm waving as well.

Cap White then noticed from far away a high concentration of illness. She started running away to the location with Mr. Virus chasing after her. The scene pretty much was a repeat of the "first act", but that didn't stop the agents from dancing more.

"Isn't there a…um…manlier song?" Roy asked out of the blue.

"Are you nuts? This song fits the situation," J said.

"I'd agree with you if Zelda was a French maid…" Pit said. "…What's a French person like?"

"Frenchy, I think," Roy said. J could only hold back a chuckle.

"(These guys are really nuts… And that's why I like them,)" J thought until saying, "Break!"

Cap White tripped down by accident, letting Mr. Virus to catch up with her. When the giddy virus leaped on her, Cap White let him be impaled by her syringe that she raised up. She wiped off the sweat from her forehead with success. "Just a bit more," she said.

Back outside the immune system, Zelda's illness was slowly disappearing. "I do believe in my wishes to defend my kingdom!" she said pleased.

"You're amazingly recovering so fast," Dr. Mario said.

Link noticed the envied looks from the other patients in the room. Albeit he chuckled nervously, he felt relieved for seeing Zelda doing very well.

Inside the immune system, Cap White gasped when she saw a horde of Mr. Virus running about. When they fixated their looks on her, the war was on. The white blood cell heard Dr. Mario telling Zelda that she still needed to rest. "What would I give to step out from bed?" she screamed out.

The EBA arm waved to pass their groove. Once more, Cap White, Zelda, Dr. Mario, Link, and even Mr. Virus broke into arm waving for a small while until time resumed. With the previous performance's results, Cap White got enveloped in a white aura as she started flying into the crowd of Mr. Virus to pummel each one of them with a single smack of her weapon.

"This is it, the final part of the song!" J said while his backup agents danced along with him. "Don't trip now or it could cost us the happy ending to this story!"

"And that would cost Zelda and Link their home…" Roy said. "I feel so but so bewildered, you know. I'm never going to tell Zelda we were, of all things, dancing inside her body."

"If this is what J does all the time, the others are going to take part of this soon," Pit said. "We're so going to get mauled alive by all of them…except Peach. I have a strange feeling that's telling me she will be delighted to hear the news."

"Pray to heavens we get to even hear her voice because we won't be living for long once we say 'Hey, everyone! Do you like to dance? Well, we stupidly enrolled the lot of you to work for an undercover agency of DANCING agents! Now please stop advancing menacingly towards us. I really don't like it when people do that to me,'" Roy said.

"Oh, please, I bet they'll like the idea after I take them to us," J said.

"You're missing the point," Pit said. "It doesn't matter if they do come with you. It matters that Roy and I won't be living for long after that!"

"…Meh, you can live with it."

"We're not going to be alive!"

Amazingly enough, the EBA never lost the step of the dance despite their argument. Once J yelled the word to stop, the event proceeded as followed. Cap White managed to shoot down the last Mr. Virus with her syringe, completely defeating the illness. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Mr. Virus yelled out as he faded away into nothingness.

Cap White ran a hand through her pink hair as she smiled in triumph. "Always stay healthy," she said.

Later that day, a meeting was held at Hyrule Castle with the kings of warring nations awaiting Zelda's arrival to the big table in the throne room. The princess took her seat on the side of the throne as the meeting started. Link watched from a window as Zelda delivered her speech of peace. In the end, peace was guaranteed for the three nations.

Zelda looked up to the ceiling with a content look on her face. "(The goddesses answered my call… Thank you so much,)" she thought with relief as, inside her, Cap White winked her eye with success.

And so, Roy and Pit were dismissed from working for the day.

Music Ends

-Smash Mansion-

Lobby

Evening came by so fast. Once Zelda had returned from her small trip to Hyrule with Link to amend peace, the escort party had returned in time to say they managed to restore Shamar's continent back to the planet. The Smashers sent Layla and Ehsan back to their homeland through a portal since they were done working with them.

Master Hand held another meeting during that same evening but in the lobby. All of them (except for Espio and Charmy who had been knocked out of cold by Vector again) were either sitting around in the couches or standing up while leaning to the walls. There was some news he had to share with everybody regarding the location of Holoska Temple. "Everyone, thanks to Tails' efforts to search for the new temple, he finally was able to pinpoint the temple's world," he said.

Tails cleared his throat. "Based on what I picked up with the radar, the temple was effectively found on a world you guys already explored," he said. "It looks like it was there even before you left, too."

"What's the name of that world?" Yoshi asked.

"Well, that world doesn't have a name as in a title, but I did find some information," he said. "Does the name Baron come to mind to any of you?"

The Smashers got into deep thinking all at once until Nana looked up from her thinking position. "Baron, don't you mean… It's Palom and Porom's world!" she said. "Yes, that's it! I still remember the name of that kingdom very well!"

"It's Cecil's world?" Zelda said. "What a surprise… The temple was found there?"

Popo found out another lost memory. "You know, when I was wacko that time, wasn't there a talk in the town about a mysterious temple appearing north of it?" he wondered. "I think we totally ignored that part…"

"But we couldn't help it," Zelda said. "At that time we weren't looking for the temples. It was unfortunate we never got to take a look due to how the events unfolded when we were helping Cecil get to the castle."

Master Hand listened. "Good, you seem to have made acquaintances in that world already. Wouldn't it be so much to ask them to lend us a hand again?" he asked.

Nana was pleased with the idea. "I bet Porom isn't going to mind the idea," she said. "(How lucky we are to see you both soon again!)" she thought very excited. Porom had made it to the best friend spot for the pink Ice Climber.

"It's been so long since we went there. I wonder how everyone is doing," Popo said.

The hand nodded. "Okay then, everyone. Our path of action has been settled," he said. "Tomorrow morning, we'll deploy another group to go and find the temple there. We've got to do this as soon as we can to gain the upper hand on the army. There's no telling what they can do to the temple other than destroying it to bits."

"Annihilate us before we step into the temples?" Samus wondered. "Well, that's been another reason they possibly do it. It's not so hard to find out."

Master Hand turned away. "Well! That's it for the small meeting for tonight. You are all dismissed," he said. "There's no use talking about how horrible Olimar's expedition turned out to be."

Olimar lowered his head. "I blame the crocodiles…" he muttered. Chris similarly wasn't feeling in the mood.

"…Oh, but I think it's worth mentioning that some of our friends here enrolled you all against your wills into an agency of dancing agents that cheer on people around the globe," he said to which everyone stared at him as if he was nuts. "Yeah, I'm tired to get into an ensuing argument, but you can ask both Roy and Pit about that. After all, they're the heroes who signed the documents behind our backs! Hope I can see you both wasting our oxygen tomorrow morning because I think the body count will decrease soon! Toodaloo!" he faked a merrily sound as he flew away into the hallway.

Roy and Pit changed to their usual clothes right after J used sleeping darts and dragged them out to the forest to avoid uncovering the EBA's HQ. They ditched the clothes as soon as they could to avoid the other Smashers from asking why they were wearing tuxedos. They were merely delaying the time of their possible deaths as Master Hand was sure to tell everybody about it.

In the present time, Roy and Pit slowly shrunk into their seats as half of the multitude of eyes were looking at them with intent of murder. "…You broke the sacred code of the mansion," Pikachu spoke darkly. "Never sign documents behind the hand's back palm."

"I expected this to happen soon," Wolf said. "The teenage group is bound to screw things up 'cause they don't think things through. You two have the worst developed minds ever. No wonder why angel boy whimpers so easily."

"How could you possibly be so…so… Ugh, even that's not enough to describe the stupidity you just did," Zelda said clearly offended. The swordsmen were refrained from saying they were dancing inside her hours ago.

"We're sorry, we're sorry, we're sorry!" Roy pleaded. "W-we weren't told about how that agency worked until after signing the damn papers, I swear!"

"Idiot, that's how that kind of agencies work," Snake said. "They make you sign official documents right before unveiling their true motives. It's a very dirty move on their part but there is no going back once you scribble down your name above the lines… It's about time I killed some b*****s myself."

Pit turned white. "P-please, don't kill us! Y-you'll feel so bad if you do the wrong choice to us!" he said. "Your consciences wouldn't take it!"

"No, your consciences can't take what you just did," Snake said. "We're merely helping you to relieve that stress by lynching you at the same time."

Peach looked unsure. "I'm not sure about that. That won't change anything," she said until looking very thrilled. "But the idea of cheering people with dancing is such a delightful idea!"

"Dear god, we really did get to hear her say that after all," Roy muttered thankfully.

Jigglypuff was also delighted. "Ooh, dancing is close to singing. You got my vote, boys," she said. "I may not look like it but I love to dance."

Ivysaur looked dull until asking, "Raise your hands if you hate the idea to the core," he said before almost everyone else raised their hands in favor. "Now say aye if you want to beat each one of the two in matches with their handicaps raised to a hundred percent for massive damage. Oh, and disable all items but throw in Smash Balls for added punishment effect. Better yet, also allow Super Mushrooms to wait for the balls to appear."

"Aye," most of them said much to Roy and Pit's dismay.

Falco smirked. "I like the idea of beating them to death in matches. I can use the damned Landmaster to crush them all I want without feeling remorse," he said. "Rinse and repeat…rinse and repeat…"

"Seconded, but I'm throwing low hits," Wolf said snickering.

Red walked to Roy and Pit with a blank look. Ivysaur followed him from the side. "Red, say something! I know you want to help us!" Roy said. "Prove them wrong that we're not a disgrace to the people close to our age range!"

The trainer shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, but you guys pretty much destroyed people's trust on me once I get older." Right after that, Ivysaur used Vine Whip to wrap both of them tight. "Because of that, I'm going to do the best I can by trapping you both and take you to the Battlefield to start your gruesome punishments. Be glad I won't throw a punch to you, though. Squirtle is going to do the honors for me."

"Traitor!" Roy and Pit accused Red.

The lobby slowly became emptied out as the rather large crowd of Smashers left for the higher floors to do some late night matches and cream the swordsmen as best as they could to make them have nightmares for the rest of their days. The ones who were left behind were Peach, Jigglypuff, Chris, and the Sonic team (except for Vector who misbelieved he was part of the team and went to join them in the carnage, albeit none of them minded him that much).

"Good thing we're not really part of them or else we would be dancing," Knuckles said.

Amy rubbed her chin. "I dunno. What if that agency does it with us too? They could confuse us," she wondered. "I'm just saying if, but I can't rule out that. A lot of crazy stuff always happens every day in this particular world…"

"…Be right back. I have some idiots to punch restlessly," the echidna said as he walked away to join the carnage.

Cream looked blankly at the direction Knuckles walked to. "Isn't anybody here going to stop them from hurting them emotionally?" she asked.

"I thought Peach was going to object but she didn't," Jigglypuff said, turning to the princess. "Why didn't you?"

Peach shifted her weight on the couch. "Don't get me wrong but I really liked the idea they accidentally signed us all to do. It's just that they should've consulted us before doing it… Besides, I think they deserve some discipline because what they did was a bit too much for us to take lightly," she explained, receiving looks from everybody. "I-I was going to object punishing them through violence but I knew everyone would disagree with me."

"…" Amy rubbed her chin. "I'm bored. Let's go grab some popcorn and watch the carnage ensue."

They all naturally agreed to the idea until Chris remembered he had to go up to the infirmary and stay there until Sonic's evil spirit came out to whip it back into the werehog. Chris simply waved at them as he rushed upstairs. "He's got it real rough, don't you think?" Cream asked innocently. "I'm worried about him."

"He's the only one who can keep Dark Super Sonic at bay," Tails said.

"…Oh! That reminds me I need to go with him too!" Chip said. The imp pulled back his fists before faking running in the air as he flew away.

Right before any of them could stand up and go to see the matches, a loud roar echoed from the high floors. They all turned upstairs where they found a rabid werehog holding a distressed Chris over him with a huge claw. The Beastmaster was clearly screaming out for helped. They all gasped loudly when they saw Sonic's demonic face. "Oh my goodness!" Amy said.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" DSS crackled madly. "You thought I'd be kept inside this stupid idiot's body for long? Well, guess you weren't thinking about MY possibilities of breaking out for myself!" he said. "I hope you don't mind if I take my little friend for a walk during the night! I promise he won't come back alive here!"

"S-somebody stop him from escaping!" Tails yelled.

"Shut up, fox boy!" DSS ordered until he leaped down the stairs.

However, just as he did, a frying pan slammed pretty hard on his face that ended knocking him against the wall. The ensuing hit staggered him long enough to let go of Chris in midair. The World Traveler quickly put himself back together and turned around, while still in midair, to whip the werehog's forehead hard and force the spirit to go into hiding inside Sonic's body. Once doing that, the werehog fell unconscious.

Cream stared shocked at Peach, who was frozen on her spot after tossing the frying pan. "Phew…" Peach sighed in relief.

Although Chris felt surprised for doing such a quick reaction, he wasn't all that quick to react to his face-first fall on the floor. He mentally cursed at his misfortune.

Peach and the others ran up to go help Chris and Sonic. From upstairs, an ill-looking Chip flew down. "I-I heard a roar coming from nearby as I was going up," he said shaken until focusing on the scene. "O-oh no…"

The World Traveler rubbed his face as he got up with Big's help. He then looked worried at the unconscious werehog until feeling some chills running down his spine. "Chris, are you okay?" Peach asked as picked up her frying pan. "I was lucky my frying pan saved you from getting hurt from that beast."

Chris gulped until bringing himself to scribble a message on the princess' palm. "I was just about to reach the infirmary when all of a sudden I was ambushed by that beast from the darkness. I could barely see Dr. Mario shouting down the hallway… I was really, really lucky you stopped him in time," he wrote down.

Tails was very preoccupied about Sonic's well-being. "Sonic… That spirit living inside of you doesn't want to leave us alone just yet, isn't he…" he muttered to himself.

Cream hugged Cheese so tightly in her arms out of fright. "Didn't Mr. Master Hand say Sonic's evil spirit is growing stronger now?" she asked. "If he gets really strong soon…is he going to kill us?"

"No, we won't let that happen," Peach said. "It's our priority to keep him from coming out of Sonic. It's just… We haven't found a definite solution to get rid of him once and for all."

"If we don't hurry, what if Chris and Chip's control over him stops working?" Jigglypuff asked. "Could it be Chris's muteness is weakening the 'seal' put on Sonic?"

Chris believed it was the mental trauma he still had with him after the hurtful event a month ago that kept him from concentrating. He honestly felt okay though, but he wasn't so sure about his control losing its power.

Cream thought for a moment. "I'm starting to think we should take care of Mr. Sonic through more…necessary means," she said. "That evil spirit inside of him could break out twice if we're not very careful."

The rabbit's concerns were just the start of a dreadful mission to end the nightmare. Everybody knew something for a fact that either party was going to go down with no hopes to stand back up forever.

The future for them all was very hazy and hard to predict at the moment…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"A Deity Out of Hand"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References

-The EBA follows the usual eastern episode format as seen in, for example, the Pokémon anime.

Out Of Curiosity…:

-The EBA and the Ouendan share special trophies in SSBB itself. Go check them out for nostalgia purposes.

-Cap White and Mr. Virus are actual characters who appear in an EBA stage. However, this will be the only occasion the targets in the actual game make an appearance.

Yes people, this story somehow introduced the EBA agents. Moreover, they're going to be part of special sidequests that make up the special EBA arc I have in hands. Even more so, selected Smashers will dance against their wills to aid the EBA with its short personnel issue (but we're leaving out the "cool Smashers" from ever dressing in tuxedos because we fear it would ruin their personalities). The idea of making an actual EBA arc in their universe was very bland since, well, there's not a lot of material to shape the arc up.

AND THEN I got the idea to bring them into the "Smash" world and cheer on the troubled people there. As per regulations, most of those targets are going to be the Smashers themselves to keep them under the spotlight.

Even crazier yet, we're bringing the EBA spiritual Japanese siblings, the Ouendan, to debut in the arc as well. They're going to appear in the next installment of the special chapters (Mansion Chapters) to duke it all out in this private (and implied) rivalry against the EBA. That also means we're using their Japanese tracks to be faithful to their game.

Enough about the EBA arc though. Let's move on to the big cake.

The incoming chapters are going to revolve around the final steps to the end of this saga. Sorry to all who were fed up with the FF arcs but I had put the Holoska Temple in FFIV some time ago. But to make things a bit easier to tolerate, the continuation of this FFIV arc is going to be short. That's right, the next arc is a mini arc set in an already-known plot in the sequel of the game. I predict the mini-arc of being no longer than two chapters.

Also, there's going to be a lot more focus on DSS's eventual uprising… You just know things are going downhill from that given fact… To be fair, the enemy party is going to be facing problems on their own too.

BTW, those lost coffins are not that lost to begin with. Don't fret about 'em just yet.

With all these cliffhangers in mind, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. :D

I encourage everyone who's wishing for a happy ending to this saga to review. :)

…Or else we're suggesting the g*d-awful La La's original version.

J: Not even are we allowed to use that version for how dreadful it sounds.

Pit & Roy: *Group sigh*

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness – Do Your Best, Girl!

"Poor Angel Trainee Flonne can't just catch a break from bringing kindness to Demon Overlord Laharl. She has tried everything to convince him that good is good, but he always breaks into fits of rage! Vassal Etna says no when asked to help her. Oh no! How will Flonne deal with this huge dilemma all by herself?" Flonne asked dramatically.

"Easy. Defeat him in battle. It's the usual way to prove somebody is wrong through violence no matter how bad the victor's answer is in reality," the Ancient Minister said.

"Seconded," DK said.

"Out of nowhere, the EBA jump out from the nearby trash can! Through the absolute grooving moves, Flonne is filled with determination to teach Laharl all about love! It looks like he cannot resist the temptation to work for good thanks to the EBA's efforts to save Flonne from despair!" Flonne said excited. "Wow, he's got good moves for the groove too."

"S-stop this humiliating dance at once! T-this is a direct order from your Overlord!" Laharl declared.

"Too late, busy dancing, groove working," J said.

"The tables turn around! Laharl willingly accepts to listen to everything Flonne has to say! Oh my, the plan is working after all! Through the magic of music, Flonne and Laharl walk on the path of redemption along with the Prinny Squad and Etna herself!" Flonne narrated.

"Shake that booty, dood!" a Prinny said.

"We're losing our focus here. We must recover it at all costs!" Diddy said seriously.

"At the end of the day, Flonne succeeds on her mission! Laharl has now become an avid follower of good, and now Heroine of Love Flonne moves onward to teach all demons of the Netherworld all about the teachings of love. How will her final mission turn out after the EBA leave her behind? With her confidence restored, Heroine of Love Flonne aims for total victory!" Flonne said excited.

"Dear god, she's such a Love Freak," Wolf commented.

"You just noticed that?" Pit wondered aloud.

"Next time on Heroine of Love Flonne: Episode 189 – The Angel of Love! The Netherworld in the Road to Eternal Evilness! Will Flonne fall? Will Laharl return to be his bad self again? Will Etna become Flonne's sidekick eventually? Find out soon in the nearest TV set near you!" Flonne said. "I must say, this is a lot of fun to do."

Etna came walking into the scene with a blatant fake smile on her face. She was keeping a gun behind her back due to Flonne stealing her job. "Hi, Flonne. Whatcha doing?"

Oblivious to Etna's murderous intentions, Flonne smiled and closed her eyes just in time to avoid seeing Etna aiming her gun at her head. "Oh, hi there, Etn-"

*BANG*

"Now I hope you learned your lesson this time… NO ONE STEALS MY DAMN JOB, okay?" Etna asked as sweetly as possible.

"These girls are completely nuts," Samus said.

"Almost everyone around us is a crazy psychopath," Pikachu said.
*Chapter 189*: A Deity Out of Hand

For a very short arc, it does have a lot of events going on in there.

From Safire Ranmako:If you want a few more of the off the wall game ideas, I'd suggest some like Jade Empire, Monster Lab, Brutal Legend, Guitar Hero, or something like Epic Mickey.

And in God of War there's a bloodless mode making the game play like a teen rated game.

From me: Dear god, the suggestion box was pretty much closed down once the previous chapter started. Besides, seriously? Guitar Hero?

It's a shame I didn't know if the previous chapter was of your liking…

From jj: YOU INTRODUCE THE EBA AGENTS I NOW TOTALLY LOVE YOU

wow all i wish was olimar get a bit more screentime and what do you know he got more screentime.

to tell you the truth i thought the only way for EBA to appear was to have a sidequest focusing on them

please tell me this repeat arc there will be a shadow nightmare battle

you know if this is the 1st time they got to ff4 arc than the shadow wouldve been Popo or Nana but considering they solve their problem almost i hope there will be a shadow battle and it will be really good

by the way why did Pit and roy beg red to save tem b/c there teen smasher

just keep up the goodwork

From me: I think your little request was well-executed in the previous chapter. But honestly speaking, it's not enough for Olimar. I still want to have an adequate arc for him (NO SUGGESTIONS).

Like I said before, the Shadow Nightmare events are over with. You'll see why that happened in this chapter…probably.

You answered your own question. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From dragon19kyoshi: Sound like this story is getting even better! let's hope that they can defeat Tabuu!

From me: Thanks! I'll pretend you liked this chapter.

From PianistChris: I'm looking forward to the next mini-arc, and more of the dancing, especially when it comes to characters that haven't an ounce of dance-material in them :D

The lost coffins is kinda creepy for me, but nevertheless I can't wait to see what you have in store with them. :p

From me: Ooh, trust me. I have a lot of stuff to do with those coffins. And no, I don't mean a necromancer is going to find and use the bodies for creepy stuff like that. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From jioplip: O.O Wow, I've never even played EBA, but that was just hilarious.

I heavily look forward to the future appearance of the Elite Beat Agents, as well.

Also, one thing I want to point out: A drought is when there is no water, the words that woukld have fit into the situation where drought was written would be; downpour, deluge, shower, or maybe torrent.

And yes, I used a thesaurus.

Otherwise, this was a very enjoyable chapter, but I'm forced to wonder, what happened to Quill after being knocked out?

From me: Phew, thanks for pointing that out. The correction was implemented. As for Quill, he's okay. He just doesn't remember what happened at all and supposed Roy and Pit left the post office. Thanks for reviewing, dude. :D

From TARDISreviewer: ...What is this I don't even.

Yeah, I REALLY don't get this one at all.

Alos, I see you're plannign to do basically every FF game from 2 onwards. This is certainly going to be interesting (and VERY pleasing in the case of 5...)

SAo... yeah. not much to comment on, really.

From me: Oh, that's too bad you couldn't comment. Well, I do plan to do that but in an ordered and fair order. I've got no idea why there aren't people voting for, say, Banjo-Kazooie. Maybe I should do away with the poll choices and make an arc of my liking… That still could work. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From FF and STH: I love the Eilte Beat Agents, didn't think it would last more than 1 or 2 chapter but I happy. Not much to say but that you update faster then before.

From me: I shall strive to update as fast as I can. Thanks for supporting me. :)

From wereAuraknight: Ello:) it's me again.

just posting to say what a great chapter, and to recommend a really neat song to you. it can be found at newgrounds .com/portal/view/574257

or at youtube.

also wanted to ask you, since the characters are in a video game, what about glitches? or cheats? the two are oft found in many video games, but i could understand if you didn't want to put them in here. though glitches could prove to be interesting,(ex kirbys inf shock wave.

hope to hear your responce

wereauraknight

P.S. i check this story every day, is that a sighn of loyalty,? or obssesion? thinking of changing it to once per week

From me: I'm not using remixed tracks from people or real-life songs…unless you wanted to show me one for myself. But sadly, I dislike newgrounds' website.

Heheheh, of course I know about glitches and all that. That's why I'm focusing a future mansion chapter in the dangers of hacking and "glitching" the world through…well, hacking and "glitching". That should be full of comedy gold. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From TheMeddler: Okay, I have to type fast, because I only have Internet connection for the day. So, I'm guessing the next chapter will have more Sonic in it, right? Sounds good to me! And Chris better get his voice back soon, or there will be. . .well, probably a remake of the last time Dark Super Sonic (or as I call him, Dark Super Sadist) got out. I can't wait for the next update!

From me: There's not much about Sonic in this chapter, but there's a lot about what relates to him. I won't say anything until you scroll down from here. Thanks for reviewing. ;)

From Absolute Destinyzero: ...Elite...Beat...Agents...? (Was playing the replay of the game while reading the story)

Ryudo: He's stunned speechless so let me be reviewing.

Now, for starters. EBA truly made this guy (Points at Destinyzero)surprised. Though he had fun laughing and smiling.

...Why the heck did they put the coffins above a SEWER SYSTEM of all places!-?

...Now me and Zero are imagining the Smashers dancing and/or cheering... EBA style. Or maybe Ouendan style...

...I have no more comments. Good luck.

From me: Ooh, nice way of using in-game replays while reading the sections.

Even though Master Hand is the supposed god of the world they're in, he's not exactly what you can call a know-it-all so he often forgets the places he made, such as the sewer system right below the garden (bizarre, I know). That's what makes him loveable, though.

Look forward to the Ouendan's debut soon. Thanks again. :)

From Hopefaith2: At first when I read the summary for this chapter, I was quite confused and perplexed by your question. But as I read on the chapter, I was very surprised at the chapter and how it commenced.

What I mean to say is: OH MY GOD! ELITE BEAT AGENTS! I FREAKING LOVE THEM! And when Pit and Roy were in those suits, I squealed since I'm a big Pit fan (yes I'm one of them to an extent.) And you made an MIB reference, which is all cause I'm so psyched for the third MIB that's gonna come out soon! Anyways, I was laughing and crying when I saw them trying to help Chris and Olimar, even though I knew it was wrong too in their predicament. But, all in all, everything and everyone was fine (except Pit and Roy, but that's what you get for singing contracts with guys in suits). So, I can't wait for what else you got in store of us man! Keep up the amazing work and update soon!

From me: I just knew there was a squealing Pit fan imagining Pit in a tuxedo around here. Well, let's see if you can show me the same enthusiasm for the next part of the EBA arc. Thanks for reviewing. :D

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.

While it does contain some important events, I admit there could've been more so that's why there's going to be more NEXT chapter. That next chapter shall introduce the start of the big battle…maybe. Maybe just tie in some loose ends for the preparation of the final boss of this saga.

AND AS FOR THIS CHAPTER…

This special FFIV arc is set in the sequel, the After Years except for the fact it starts off with Palom's sage training. From there on, the plot is a lot different than it was because there are more FFIV characters that make their debut in the story for the first time ever, and one of them is a spoony one.

I also have a special announcement at the end of this page so don't cheat and skip all the way down just yet… Move that cursor away from the scroll bar to the right…don't click it…come back here…

I encourage all FFIV fanatics to read on, adopt a Chocobo, and review. :D

Disclaimer: Failure to take care of your Chocobo will result in the PETA branch of FF to cover you in red paint.

Chapter 189: A Deity Out of Hand

-Smash Mansion-

Command Room

June 14 – Sunday – Morning

The Smashers were preparing for the next assigned mission. Master Hand gathered the team in the command room as usual to discuss their plan thoroughly. "Good morning, everybody," he greeted. "None of you has forgotten about the next phase, I presume. Well, that's very good. As you may remember from yesterday's meeting, we mustn't waste any more time and get on with the mission."

"The way you sound makes me think we're about to reach the end to this long struggle," Marth noted. "I wish it was like that."

"Pfft, let's pretend we're actually making it to the very end. I'm kind of excited myself," the hand admitted. "So without further interruptions, the next target is a world you have already explored some time ago. I want things to go smoothly as possible so…I'm planning to send in the very same people who went there."

"Cheers!" the Ice Climbers said, receiving stares from everybody else. The two smiled nervously and looked away. And to think Zelda was about to say the same thing…

"We were very cautious that one last time with the four party members, so we're increasing the bar to eight," the hand said. "Just like before, I want people that can blend in with the world's environment… I don't mean wear a bush over your head, Vector."

Vector grumbled and tossed the bush aside.

"I meant people who can't raise suspicion about being from other worlds," the hand said. "As default, Chip is going to be your annoying Navi fair-I-I mean, your little companion for guidance…if we can put him in that specific department, that is."

For some reason, the imp didn't feel quite his usual giddy self. Chip stared emotionless at Master Hand without saying any crazy thing his mind wanted to voice out. The hand got confused by his blank behavior, but he decided to keep talking.

"As I was saying, Popo, Nana, Zelda, and Chris are going to lead the new team around the world," Master Hand instructed. "You guys are going to be in charge of choosing the appropriate people to tag along with. Zelda, I hope you don't mind we put you through another mission because this is the second time you do it in a row…"

Zelda looked offended. "I personally like to be asked to help everyone," she said. "Besides, I was feeling nostalgic of my last time there. It'd be such a good refreshing experience to see my old friends again."

Chris stared suspiciously at the princess until he calmly went over to her to scribble a message. Zelda gasped mentally, but she blushed a bit and pulled her hand away.

"I-I did not want to hear such an unrelated fact from you!" Zelda said embarrassed. "I'm not concerned about…n-not when he is… I-I mean, stop staring at me like that, all of you!"

Snake rolled his eyes. "I bet it was something very embarrassing to admit," he mused.

Zelda glared at Chris, who stepped back in fear. "You better not tell any of them what you just wrote down on my clean palm…or else," she clearly threatened. The World Traveler gulped and nodded a few times to get her point across. The young Smashers deviously speculated what Chris wrote to her.

"…Awkwaaaaaaaaard," Crazy Hand teased until receiving a small slap from his brother.

"Forgetting what I just saw, I want everyone to prepare the next party," the hand said. "Alright, get to work to assemble it!"

Tails looked around in an effort to find Sonic. "So, um, are we going to call Sonic again? I think he's recovered now," he said.

"Oh, about that…" Master Hand spaced a bit, "the situation has gotten worse with Sonic after Peach told me his spirit tried to maul Chris alive yesterday. Furthermore, the 'seal' put on him is starting to lose its power. I…had to resort to more drastic measures to keep that murderous spirit at bay so… I tossed Sonic inside a magic box his spirit won't be able to break through."

Amy looked upset. "You put that invisible box on my dear Sonic then? No wonder why I couldn't give him his breakfast today!" she said. "He's gonna die of hunger!"

"Hey, that magic box was made by your host for extreme security purposes," Master Hand said. "The spirit inhabiting his body has unfortunately grown too powerful enough to take control right after he comes out. Before, his intangible essence would just sprout out and talk nonsense until Chris whipped him good. Now it just takes him a second to turn Sonic to the dark side."

"Once his spirit comes out, he won't be able to exit that magic box," Mewtwo elaborated. "Chris now has to wait patiently to get an opening to put the spirit to rest."

"If he even lets him touch a small bush of fur, that is," Knuckles said. "You're not planning to toss Chris into the box with the rabid werehog inside, are you?"

Master Hand disapproved the idea. "That magic box can create a mist of sleeping powder to knock him out unconscious. In the event he falls asleep totally, Chris just needs to enter the box with my permission and smack the werehog slightly." He twirled his finger. "Presto. The evil werehog won't slaughter or touch anybody else at all."

Cream looked worried. "But that means Mr. Sonic won't go to missions anymore…" she muttered.

"Ah… Yes, that means that also," the hand said sighing. "I'm afraid Sonic is going to remain inside the mansion until we can eliminate his dark side for good with a good solution. No matter how many times he objects to the idea, he's going to be caged inside the box. Dr. Mario is going to look after him since he's still recovering."

The pink hedgehog crossed her arms. "Can I have your permission to feed him?" she asked impatiently.

"You need me to be there to open the box. Wait until the party is assembled and ready to go," the hand said. "That reminds me the four of you should start doing your stuff now. Get to it."

Final Fantasy IV DS – Troian Beauty

Even though Master Hand said the four were going to choose four more, Chris was left to do the choosing himself. The World Traveler was a bit shaken up by what happened yesterday, but he managed to get his composure back once he started walking around the command room, seeing the others talking with each other.

Chris was happy to see them conversing. It was times like this that eased him.

Judging the nature of the world, he went up to ask Link for his assistance. "You don't need words to tell me you want me to go, right?" Link asked.

The teen scribbled a message. "You hurt me when I'm the one whose voice is gone. It should've been the other way around so you could stay faithful to your…mime-like personality," he said.

"H-hey, I talk a lot. Your world just happened to portray me as a mute guy," Link said upset. "In any case, I'm wondering what happened in that world that made Zelda feel so upset with you. Why did she get angry at you earlier?"

Chris looked away until he brought himself to write a message. "I'm afraid I'm going to get lynched under royal orders if I were to tell you that."

"Oh… It must be something very disconcerting if she acted like that," Link said sweat-dropping. "I'll find out by myself. Hopefully it wasn't something so embarrassing."

Chris thought the shippers were ought to get him if he disclosed more information, so he stayed silent about giving any hints. He just waved a hand at Link as he walked away to get another person to tag along with them. Toon Link came to mind.

"I want to meet these two friends Popo and Nana met," Toon Link said. "What are they like? I forgot to ask them that myself."

"Imagine a smart and well-behaved girl with his mischievous and ill-mannered twin brother running around, preferably the twin brother running away from getting a smack from her twin sister."

"That dull description you gave me was way too short but otherwise very self-explanatory," Toon Link said. Chris felt offended. "I can see what kind of troubles we'll get ourselves into once we run into them… In that case, I'm all in!"

The teen stared bored at the swords-boy. "But it's obvious you'll regret getting in trouble caused by other people."

"At least endangering my own frail life brings me thrills right before they happen… Yes, I'm weird like that," Toon Link admitted. "Bring the thrills on!" he said as he started swinging his sword around on the spot. Chris avoided thinking Toon Link was a maniac by calmly walking away from him. Soon after, Toon Link grew tired of swinging his sword around.

In Ike's memory, Chris went up to talk with Roy.

The red-haired swordsman looked very calm except for the occasional nervous tic with his entire left portion of his body. That nervous tic was never there before, but it was easy to assume that nervous tic was caused by something that happened recently.

"Oh, I'll be ready to go," Roy said. "Anything to take me away from these crazy lunatics…"

Chris overheard the small mutter. He raised an eyebrow at Roy.

"I know what you're thinking. I had pretty nasty moments yesterday after my punishment hour began," Roy said. Chris thought he was seeing things but Roy's nervous tic seemed to get worse. "I can live up with fair punishment, but let's just say some people here don't really like to go down that way all the time…and they use cruel and unusual punishment instead."

Right before Chris could ask what kind of punishment was that, Roy did a change of roles and scribbled what happened to him. So far, what Chris saw was very, mentally frightenin-

He could've sworn Roy wrote down wedgies as the last part of the punishment list.

"It wasn't your usual…! It was your usual…with giant-sized people doing it!" Roy said. He never brought himself to say the word aloud judging how traumatized he looked like. "Our anti-hero here used me as a human yo-yo more than twice with that! And you know what was scary? He laughed with his deep-scary-*ss voice while doing it! Even now, I can hear his laughs in my mind!" By anti-hero, Roy was referring to Wolf. "And don't let me talk about C. Falcon. That guy is way more insane with his punishments… Ah, I'm so relieved I get to leave this place for a little while. Some of them haven't let me live it down yet because somebody tossed me a brick while I was looking out the window!"

Chris had no idea who would throw a brick at Roy but he didn't give it too much thought to it. Given how Roy looked so scared, Pit was on similar tracks for sure seeing how the angel was standing several feet away from any of the punishers nearby.

"Thanks for letting me in…" Roy said, as his nervous tic showed less than before. Chris gave him a silent funny look and walked away to leave him be. He was pretty sure the nervous tic was going to be there with Roy for a few more days if nobody else would give him a hard time.

The teen was about to go for Marth until Charmy got in the way. The ADHD bee folded his arms behind his back while looking away with a cheeky smile. Chris knew what the bee wanted, but he wasn't honestly thinking the bee would blend in with the world's setting. "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII was wondering… It was Espio's turn before, so it's natural for me to go next!" he finally broke out. "C'mon, you gotta let me in! I swear I'll help you guys out even more than Espio did! He was just sulking all the time. I saw that!"

Charmy would never find out Chris had a small fear with bees. Seeing how Charmy was basically an oversized yet small bee person, that stinger on his rear would surely hurt like hell. The teen made sure not to let Charmy get the better of his fears by acting as normal as possible.

"Or else I'll sting you!" Charmy said happily. Okay, that almost did it to Chris. "Heheheheh, just kidding! I'll behave as good as possible, I promise! You can smack Vector if I don't do a good job. The boss is held responsible for any failures caused by his underlings. That means I can do as many mistakes I can without getting scolded at all!"

The dull look Chris gave Charmy wasn't certainly agreeing with that.

"…Alright, you can smack me yourself if I do something bad," Charmy admitted. He then grabbed Chris's hands. "Please, let me join you this time."

Chris gave up and nodded. Something told him Charmy would bawl all day if he said no. Quickly, Chris was almost tackled down by Charmy's hug. Chris couldn't shake the fact the hug felt like a glomp.

"You're the very best like no one ever was!" Charmy said. That sentence scared Chris a bit until he broke free from the bee's hug. With the team set to go, the teen walked to the insane hand's counter in hopes of buying something of value.

For some reason, Crazy Hand's counter was covered in thick layers of dust and spider webs hanging from the edges. "You finally dropped by! Man, I feel it's been like months ever since I opened the doors to my establishment. Wait, why are you giving me that look? Okay, so I added all this dust to prove a point so what?" he asked as if Chris's expression told him stuff its owner didn't utter. "I wanna hear your voice. It's like talking to an emotionless wall and my imaginary friends."

Chris sought Toon Link's help to pass on messages to Crazy Hand.

"Alright! Buying time!" Crazy Hand said giddily.

Jobs – Stickers – Smashing Abilities – Items – Sets (New!)

Smash Coins: 4301

"You should, like, totally buy items and sets," Crazy Hand said. "I'm bored about giving people abilities. After dwelling too much with those tourney fags, I want to see real men and WOMEN use items! Who cares if somebody hates you for it? I say go ahead and use items all you want!" he encouraged.

"Yeah!" Toon Link encouraged. "I miss using my items. Let's give everyone else the chance to use items!"

-Items

Assist Trophy – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy

Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Beam Sword – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Bob-omb – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Bumper – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Cracker Launcher – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Deku Nut – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Fan – 100 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Fire Flower – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) – 400 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Franklin Badge – 400 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Freezie – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Golden Hammer – 1000 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Gooey Bomb – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Green Shell – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hammer – 700 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Heart Container – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Home-Run Bat – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hothead – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Lightning – 600 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Lip's Stick – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Maxim Tomato – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Metal Box – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Mr. Saturn – 100 Smash Coins – 100 copies
Pitfall – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Poison Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Poke Ball – 800 Smash Coins – 6 copies
Ray Gun – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Screw Attack – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Smart Bomb – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Smash Ball – 1000 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Smoke Ball – 100 Smash Coins – 5 copies
Soccer Ball – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Spring – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Starman – 800 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Star Rod – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Scope – 400 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Superspicy Curry – 300 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Team Healer – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Timer – 500 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Unira – 200 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Warp Star – 600 Smash Coins – 2 copies

Items in hand:
Block Meal

Stored items:
None

Crazy Hand showed them a Green Shell. "I found this lying around. Looks like somebody here forgot to keep it safe in their inventoryyyyyyyyyyyy," he said.

Chris picked the Green Shell, seeing that it was the same durable Green Shell the babies gave to him a long time ago. The teen put it back in their inventory for future uses. A small silence followed as he tried to pick one new item to buy until he went to buy a Bunny Hood, a Poke Ball, and a Bumper. He paid off all the items with 1400 Smash Coins, the count reduced to 2900 coins. The mentally unstable hand gave out the items and cashed in all the money.

"Thanks for making my dreams come true…sooner!" Crazy Hand said. "Anything else?"

The last step in Chris's shopping list was buying a new Assist Trophy set.

-Sets

Tales of Symphonia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Tales of Vesperia Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Fire Emblem Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Path of Radiance Set – 3000 Smash Coins

Disgaea Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF IV Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF VII Set – 2000 Smash Coins

FF X Set – 2000 Smash Coins (New!)

Allows the random chance to call any of the FFX members to the battlefield to give a helping hand. (Ex. Tidus, Yuna, or Auron).

Megaman Legends Set – 1000 Smash Coins

Star Ocean Set – 2000 Smash Coins

Chrono Trigger Set – 2000 Smash Coins

"Buy the Vesperia set, pleeeeeeeeeease?" Toon Link suggested. His choice was probably influenced by Raven. The swords-boy hoped the Assist Trophy would hold the old man inside.

Chris decided to go along with his idea and bought the Tales of Vesperia Set. Crazy Hand obliged the selection and gave out a special Assist Trophy to the two of them to use. "And your money count is at 901 Smash Coins! Can I tempt you to buy more stuff?" He sighed boringly. "Or you can do some saving…" He wasn't thrilled with the idea of waiting for more money. Chris chose to save more money for the time being, dismaying the hand.

A little while later, Popo, Nana, Zelda, Chip, Charmy, Chris, Link, Toon Link, and Roy assembled their positions as they faced Master Hand in front of the room. "The next team is finally ready to go," Master Hand said as he himself snapped his fingers to open the portal to the world. "I want you all to seek out the temple as soon as you set your feet on fresh soil."

"Isn't that the same thing we've done before countless of times?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to burn the mere thought into your minds so you don't walk to anything that might distract you from our objectives," the boss said. "We're always counting on you all with this mission."

"We need to find Porom and the others. They could probably know something about the temple," Nana said.

"That is mere wishful thinking," Zelda said. "I believe Cecil is well-informed about the temple's sightings more than they do. I still recall he's traveled the world over unlike the twins."

"How about asking the evil seeker sage?" Popo wondered. "What was his name? Tell…something…"

"Tellah."

"Yeah, that guy."

Link shook his head. "Why don't we discuss this once we get there for real?" he asked. "There's a good chance the people you met know about the temple but we can't be sure just yet."

"I want to go now," Roy simply said. His nervous tic seemed to be acting up even more.

Toon Link sighed and walked into the portal. "Less talking and more walking! Standing dumbfounded won't get things done by themselves!" he said with an eager Charmy following from behind.

Vector raised a fist. "You screw anything in there and I'll reduce your paycheck!" he said.

"I don't receive a paycheck anymore! You reduced it way too low it literally disappeared!" Charmy yelled out.

"Don't make me make you work to pay me!"

"He gets it, Vector. Now stop shouting. I don't want everyone to look at us like we were crazy," Espio said. "In this case, you're the crazy one, though…" He muttered the last part.

The chosen party confidently walked into the portal before it vanished in the air. Once they were gone, Master Hand turned back to the rest of the group. "Had fun during the punishment time?" he asked.

Pit closed his eyes in frustration. He could only walk away to the hallway so that he didn't hear the collectible amount of evil-sounding chuckles coming from the punishers. That particular night was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Music stops

-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years-

-Earth-

Sea

The vast blue sea stood in front of a ship that was en-route to a desert town by orders from the Mysidian elder to take two of his apprentices around the world. One of his two apprentices had grown bitter with the idea of staying in Mysidia forever without realizing the dream of becoming a sage. The other apprentice grew worried about the other, so they embarked together in a worldwide trip to become knowledgeable about how their beloved planet worked.

Well, for one, the one who requested such a trip was the one who wanted to become a sage. That person grew a little bit older, but he was still too young to take on the trip by himself. He was way too headstrong and stubborn, though. It looked like he wanted to become a sage as soon as possible no matter what. The only one following his every step from behind was his twin sister.

"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!"

"Oh, for heaven's sakes, Palom! Stop staring at the sea for so long!"

"There was…nothing else to do… I'm bored…and sick…"

The sea's voyage was Palom's first challenge in becoming a sage just like Tellah was. The twins had been out in the wide open sea for a week now, but their destination across the waters was very close. Porom was just in the middle of a small speech about what made a sage a real sage just when Palom when on to rush to the side of the ship to let out his stomach pains.

The annoyed sister pulled his brother back once he felt a bit better after his accident. "Honestly, Palom, you've got to stay focused while I'm talking," Porom said.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault I stared at the waves for too long," Palom retorted, folding his arms behind his head. "I just found out I have slight seasickness, that's all."

"If you say so. Your actions are going to say even more than your mouth says," Porom said. "Anyway, where was I?"

"You were talking about Tellah who traveled the world with the elder…" Palom said, feeling a bit sick.

Porom nodded and continued with her story. "I shall continue, then… Eventually, the elder returned to Mysidia and devoted his life to protecting the world's magic. Tellah, meanwhile, continued his travels for years afterward, using his power for the good of all mankind."

Palom stared at her intently. "How long did he do that for?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, at least decades," she said as if the fact was meant to tell Palom he wasn't going to make it.

"(Oof. That long?)" Palom thought. "(Well, gotta do what I need to do for that… But still, decades…)"

"And at the end of his journey," Porom continued, "he decided to settle down in Kaipo, where Anna was born."

Palom stopped thinking about traveling the world for decades so that he pretended he was listening. "Huh. I didn't know that," he said.

His twin nodded. "Of course, it'll probably take longer for you than it did for him," she said. "Even after hearing my rough explanation of how to become a sage, are you willing to do it yourself?"

"Well...I'll give it a shot. I'm in this for the long haul," Palom said. "Besides, I want people to worship me. I like how it sounds."

Porom rolled her eyes. "Yes, I knew you'd say that sooner," she said. "But seriously, once you do become a sage, try to act your age. If you wish to have a reputation, you have got to shape it up nicely."

Palom looked annoyed at her. "You're telling me that as if you wanted to become a sage yourself," he said.

His sister blushed and looked away. "I-I do not wish to become a sage," she said. "I love Mysidia a lot. I'm planning to follow in the elder's footsteps to protect the world's magic myself."

"You do that while I'm off being worshiped by the entire world," Palom bluffed. "This is gonna be awesome." His moment of excitement was broken once Porom smacked his head. "Oww! What was that for?"

Porom put her hands on her hips. "Palom, you've got to grow up mentally and stop taking things lightly like that. If you really wish to become a sage then you better stop acting so immature!" she scolded.

"Hey, this is my mission! It's not yours so don't tell me what to do!" Palom yelled. "I can do this my own way! Just watch as I walk Tellah's path with my chin up!"

"Hush!" Porom said. "I'll see how that training of yours goes. Just don't come crying to me if you don't succeed!"

"You're supposed to cheer me up, not bring my hopes down!" Palom said.

The twins broke into an argument while the crew ignored their ramblings. A sailor approached the captain as he steered the wheel. "Cap'n, are we gonna let them argue again?" he asked.

"Let them mind their own business," he said. "We're not responsible of any fights. We're just getting paid for taking them where they want to go. Though it's getting too noisy out here…"

The argument ended with both twins facing away from each other, arms crossed firmly over their necks. Annoyed, Palom looked up to the sky to see a small twinkle that grew into a hole. He blinked surprised at the hole in the sky that he tugged Porom's cape to get her to see it. The ship was several feet away from reaching the hole. "Porom, look up! Something weird is going on in the air!" he said.

"Palom, this isn't the time to be joking," Porom said, finally turning around to look up. Her mind slowly processed what was going as she said, "You better start thinking what we are going to do…in…uh… Wh-what in the world is that mysterious vortex?"

"How should I know?" Palom asked until the crew noticed said hole. "Let's check it!"

"N-no! What if it has some kind of monster?"

Before anyone could do anything, the vortex produced a few unfortunate people who stepped out and fell right down into the sea, all the while screaming their lungs out. Only two of said people flew down to reach their unlucky teammates floating up in the water.

Toon Link quickly rose up to catch his air. "W-why did the portal appear over the middle of the ocean?" he asked.

"Why must I fall into a bigger body of water again?" Zelda asked annoyed. "Is this some kind of message from the goddesses? Are they forcing us to drown?"

"Zelda, don't say that!" Link said. "It's just… We just have bad luck arriving at the worst of places!"

"Makes me think if Master Hand ever checks where he opens those portals…" Roy said. "I suspect he likes to make our lives miserable for his enjoyment."

"S-seconded," Nana said. The first thing that struck her mind was that they were dropped off in the middle of the ocean with no hopes to reach the mainland. "A-anyway, are we supposed to swim all the way to…anywhere?"

"I-I don't see land nearby…" Popo feared. He couldn't look so far due to the small waves blocking their vision. "W-we're lost in the sea!"

"Yay, this is like a movie!" Charmy cheered. "It's a matter of time before you guys start eating each other for the survival of the fittest!"

Link glared up at Chip. "Your sickening thoughts for entertainment are so mentally frightening and unsettling," he said. "Maybe we ought to eat you first."

"Don't count on that. He's a big bug," Nana said disgusted.

"Stop fooling around and let us go look for mainland!" Zelda ordered as the waves constantly changed their altitude. All of them were rising up or going down. "If only there was a ship nearby that could pull us out…"

Not long after that, the group saw a ship coming their way. They were all relieved to see the ship until Charmy opened his mouth to yell, "PIRATES!"

"What?" all of them said in unison, fearing the bee wasn't kidding. Charmy went down to hide behind Link.

Their fears of being hold hostages were put to rest once a normal-looking crewman peered out from the top of the ship as it slowed down to check on them. "Heeeeeeeeeeey!" he called out while waving a hand. "Are you okay? Hold on, we'll pull you back onto the ship!" he said.

"The goddesses are with us after all!" Zelda said in high spirits.

"Zelda, stop bringing the goddesses into this…" Link muttered as ropes were tossed down for them to climb the ship with them. Just before any of them could grab the ropes, Palom looked down on them.

"These guys must be shady, everyone!" Palom said with a suspicious look on his face. "What if they plan to beat us once we turn our backs on them? I suggest we drown them alive!"

"…Palom?" Popo said confused.

"You don't dare guess my name without hearing… Wait, what?" Palom said confused until he took a closer look at the group. While he did, Porom cautiously looked down from behind him. "Sweet mother of goodness! It's Popo!"

"Oh my, it's Nana!" Porom said delighted. "And all of them must be their friends… What are you waiting for? Climb the ship, quickly!"

The Ice Climbers were both excited to go back on the ship that they were the first ones to grab the ropes.

A small while later, the ship continued its route after the group got onto the ship. The captain was kind by letting them hitch the ride for free until they reached the twins' destination. Obviously, Palom and Porom weren't going to stay silent about it for long. Each set of twins went to greet each other first before the mages could greet the rest of the group.

The newly met Smashers introduced themselves to twins before Nana and Porom got together again. "I am so happy and…shocked to see you both again," Porom said pleased, holding hands with Nana. "I would never imagine you would drop down from the sky literally."

"It was…an inconvenience of our boss's part," Nana said chuckling. "But I don't mind so much after being rescued by your ship. That and seeing you again after we last saw you turn into stone."

Palom looked proud. "Our valiant efforts to keep you guys from being squished by those walls paid off, and so we were restored by the elder shortly after we learned you left," he said with a cheeky smile. "Things got better in the end for all of us! Cecil and Rosa were crowned king and queen of Baron, all our friends got better in their homelands, and I just started my trip around the world to become a sage like Tellah was!"

"And I am making sure Palom does not get into trouble since, after all, we are still too young to do such a big task for him," Porom said. "The elder let us go in this journey if we traveled together."

Zelda was interested after hearing Cecil himself turned into a king. "Cecil became the king of Baron? Oh, that is wonderful news indeed," she said. "And he also married a woman no less?"

Link looked at her. "Odd, why did your tone of voice go down for a second there?" he asked.

The princess grimaced as she flushed. "W-what? I-I'd never… D-don't pretend you're not thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking, Link! Honestly!" she said upset.

"Thinking who thinking was thinking…what?" Link asked confused, but Zelda refused to talk back. The rest of them stared at the two for a few seconds until some of them shrugged their shoulders.

"…Anyway," Porom began, "although you came back here…what is your motive to come back like that? I don't suppose you wanted to see us again."

Roy said, "We found out that something wrong was going on with your world. We're looking for a temple that appeared out of nowhere."

"A mysterious temple?" Palom asked, folding his arms behind his head. "Well, you don't hear about a mysterious temple that much nowadays."

Porom crossed her arms to think about the temple they were looking for. "I'm sorry, but I do not know anything about a temple," she said.

Toon Link sighed. "Time to go on a blind hunt for the temple around the world, everyone," he said. "It was inevitable."

"Woohoo, a big adventure!" Charmy cheered. "This is a new world. It's gonna be so fun to climb mountains and investigate caverns to find lost treasure together!" Chris frowned and stared at Charmy with a bewildered look. Charmy stared at him until his brightened look slowly faded away. "I mean… How boring is to go on a big adventure around this new world," he said in an effort to correct himself.

Porom shifted her eyes. "Is there any explanation about why is Chris so silent? He didn't say word when I said hello to him," she said. "Is he perhaps…silenced?"

Palom looked up with an idea in mind. He took out from his pockets some familiar-looking herbs that he showed to Chris. They were Echo Screen herbs. "Eat these right up and you'll be cured!" he said.

A fleeting memory which showed Chris puking behind the Calm Lands' Travel Agency made him yelp in his mind. He shook his head quickly and put his hands on defense. "He refused to eat the herbs knowing it would cure his silenced state? Hmm… Oh no, is he mute for real?" Porom wondered. "That is such a bad thing to hear…I-I mean, know about. I'm so sorry."

Chris gave her a forced smile.

"And to think you used to talk to us… At least your muteness is temporary, right? Yes, I don't think you have a lot of bad luck," she said. "I wish I could help you out with my White Magic but even we White Mages can't cure natural muteness."

"He'll recover sooner or later," Toon Link said. He turned to his group. "What are going to do now?"

"I suppose we should stick with them and see what else ensues," Roy said. "Where are you two headed to?"

Palom grinned. "Well, we're gonna go visit Tellah's grave at Kaipo," he said.

Porom stared at him. "You are going there?" she asked. "I didn't know you had that place in mind."

"Of course! I've got to go and send my prayers to my role model!" Palom said. "Doing so is gonna give me more of a reason to become a sage, don'tcha think?"

The twin frowned. "I'll just ignore the part about getting good luck and just think you're doing a good gesture to Tellah," she said.

"Tellah's grave?" Zelda said. "Did he…pass away?"

"Sage Tellah passed away during a struggle after we last saw you in Baron," Porom said. "I don't know the full details but Cecil told us he used Meteor in the end, knowing full well it would exhaust his life… His grave was made in Kaipo right beside the grave of her daughter. The townspeople there pay honor to his grave."

Palom nodded. "The first big step to my training is dropping by his grave," he said. "After I'm done with that first step, I'm heading to the Underground Waterway to defeat this big octopus that Tellah and Cecil once felled together!"

Porom nodded until realizing she didn't know Palom was going to kill a big monster. "What? Palom! Are you…are you seriously going there just to defeat that monster?" she asked upset.

Palom turned to her. "I gotta follow Tellah's path, right? What's better than defeating that monster by myself? It'll help me strengthen my Black Magic!" he said. "I'm bringing you along for the ride so I don't kick the bucket early. Your White Magic is a big help durin-AAHH!" he screamed when Porom smacked his head hard. "I take it you don't want to heal me then?"

"No! I'm just outraged for hearing such a suicidal idea from you!" Porom scolded. "You have got to take things easy! You don't charge straight ahead to the challenge you cannot pass for now!"

Palom looked at the Smashers. Giving his mischievous look, he was going to take advantage of the situation. "Why so serious? We've got our good ol' friends to back me up!" he said. "I just know Popo is gonna say yes!" He bumped his pal's shoulders.

"Eeeeeeeeeeer…" Popo trailed off.

"Pss, Popo," Palom whispered while still looking giddy, "this is the part where you agree with me."

"But…really now?" Popo asked worried. "I don't really decide for everyone, you know…"

Palom looked dully. "I used to like you more when you were insane, just saying," he said. "Alright, so I don't have their final decision on this… But come on! They're surely going to follow us around wherever we go!"

"No," the Smashers said.

Palom hung down his head. "You guys suck…" he muttered as silently as possible to avoid angering them.

"Like we told you before, we're here to find the temple," Zelda said. "Sadly, we cannot follow you from behind and fight a dangerous creature that could possibly eat us whole."

"… (If you can't beat 'em... Change of plans, Palom!)" Palom looked up with a forced smile. "In that case, let's do some changes around my schedule!" He pointed at them. "After I'm done with my business at Kaipo, Porom and I are gonna assist you in finding that temple! That way, I get to go around the world, and I get to ease Porom's worries about getting a big octopus from drowning me alive in its inky ink!"

"…" Porom sighed. "Always trying to seek a way to get out of your troubles…"

Palom stared at her. "I can read faces. Yours is saying you don't want to let go of the opportunity of walking with Nana," he said deviously.

Porom briefly smiled at the thought until she shook her head to look serious and collected. "I-I do not, as a matter of fact… Ugh…" she said embarrassed until she gave up to his brother's desires. "Fine, we shall assist them in finding that temple. However, I want you to behave and start thinking like a sage."

"And thinking like a sage I shall do!" Palom said excited.

Palom has somehow forced your team to let him in for a time!

Out of her brother's annoyance, Porom temporarily joined your team!

"I feel like we've been tricked somehow," Roy said.

"I don't because we haven't lost sight of our mission," Charmy said. "W00t! Told you I was focused."

"By the way," Porom began, "I cannot help but notice you have brought some…interesting characters with you."

"The name's Charmy the Lovable Bee," Charmy said, shaking hands with a confused Porom. "I'm tagging along with my friends to help them out. The guy behind me who's been in denial since morning is Chip." He shifted his eyes to whisper," Chip's a deity from another world. Can you believe me?"

Porom blinked at the statement. "That person…is a…deity, you say?" she asked. "Pardon for being rude but he does not look like an almighty deity to me. He looks so…so…feeble? No, that isn't the word I'm looking for to describe him…"

"Squishy?" Palom wondered aloud.

Porom disregarded the description. "Oh well, if you say so...though I have my doubts about him being an actual deity. Why, deities are supposed to be mighty-looking," she said.

"..." Chip was staring off into space.

"Oh, great, you knocked the batteries outta him," Charmy said. "He's got into a trance!"

"What are batteries?" Palom asked confused. "Is it some kind of food?"

While the twins and the Smashers tried to discourage the talk about batteries and Charmy earning a smack from Link, Chris noticed Chip had been at a blank long before Porom described him harshly. Chris wasn't so sure if Chip was playing or not, but he decided to wait to see if Chip would say something first.

Kaipo Desert

Tales of Symphonia – Desert Flower

Several hours later, the boat finally arrived at a ship dock. The dock wasn't necessarily filled with boats but just the one they were traveling on. From the ship, a bridge was extended down to touch the firm concrete to allow the passengers to go down. The only passengers were the Smashers and the twins. After setting foot on the floor, they turned towards the west were the high dunes of the desert awaited.

"We're going to have to cross that desert?" Toon Link asked.

Porom walked a few steps forward. "If we walk directly from here, we'll reach Kaipo," she said, turning back to them. "The walk there is going to be very rough with all the heat, but we can arrive there in an hour or so."

Zelda sighed. "I dislike traveling through deserts when I'm not properly dressed," she said. "Also, I kind of hate turning into Sheik for this."

"The heat shouldn't be so bad," Roy said. "Do we have water canteens?"

"We shouldn't need them because people can get to Kaipo without succumbing to the desert's weather," Porom explained. "But if we happen to travel for too long, we could get Desert Fever..."

"Desert Fever?" Charmy asked. "I get it. People get so crazy for the desert that they get a fever!"

"...Not exactly," Porom said. "Desert Fever is a different kind of your regular fever. Anyone who catches it while passing through the desert may potentially die if not treated with a Sand Pearl from an Antlion. We must pass through the desert as fast as possible without getting so worked up under the heat."

"Neat," Popo said sarcastically. "This is the desert of death."

Palom walked further ahead from Porom to pump up a fist. "This is the best first trial to my path to become a sage! C'mon, we've gotta reach Kaipo before evening! I still wanna go to the Underground Waterway today," he said excited.

His twin sister frowned. "Alright, I am not going to complain to you and neither will I show you the facts once you are sorry when you get us in trouble," she said.

"I know, I know," Palom said. "Let's go!" he said enthusiastically, marching towards the desert with his chin up.

"That guy is going to get his head handed over to him soon," Roy said.

"Please don't remind me that..." Porom said.

And so the group walked to the west while following Palom from behind, leaving the dock as they did so. Barely five minutes passed for Zelda to comment on something odd. "The desert's heat isn't that unbearable as I've heard from others," she said, noticing the temperature wasn't that hot.

"You're right..." Link said blinking. "It feels like a walk in the forest where it's not cold or warm. Does this desert get affected by seasons, perhaps?"

"T-that is... How can this be?" Porom asked confused as they slowly walked down from a big dune. "It is supposed to be so hot in this time of the year. Why is it that I can barely sweat under the sun? Something doesn't seem right about this..."

"You mean it's not normal?" Nana asked. "Is it some kind of curse?"

"There shouldn't be such a curse like that," Porom commented.

Palom stopped walking ahead from everyone to let them catch up with him. "This desert got so weird all of a sudden to me," he said. "Where's the challenge in crossing it by foot if I can't get fatigued? This is such a big letdown!" he complained, crossing his arms and pouting at the same time.

"Hush!" Porom said. "I consider this unusual change of weather a blessing rather than a curse. You should be glad we won't be catching Desert Fever soon because of this."

"That takes away the challenge," Palom said.

"Poor brain of his was raised the wroooooong way," Toon Link muttered.

Popo rolled his eyes. "Who cares about the unusual weather? Let's continue moving on to the town," he said, the others agreeing with him. "Unless it bothers us a lot, let's leave it like that."

"(It is quite bothering, though. I have never heard of Kaipo Desert feeling so...so warm like this,)" Porom thought. "(What is going on here? I better ask at Kaipo to find out about this...)"

The Desert Oasis, Kaipo

Roughly an hour of traveling through the desert later, the group reached the twins' first stop. The town of Kaipo was a quiet place where people with white turbans and Arabian clothing would walk around with buckets of water and the like. The most prominent feature of the town was the large oasis with fresh water that occupied even more land than the town itself. Porom told them the town was founded after finding the oasis a long, long time ago.

The group moved through the crowd of people as Porom took them to the edge of the oasis where two graves sat by next to each other. Truth to be believed, the graves belonged to Tellah and her daughter Anna.

Tellah, the great sage, rests in this desert oasis together with

his beloved daughter Anna.

Anna, daughter of the great and gentle sage, rests in this

desert oasis surrounded by eternal love.

"Here we are," Palom said. "The old man's grave."

"Have some respect, Palom," Porom said. "Huh, I didn't realize Anna was here as well."

Zelda went to sit down in front of Tellah's grave. "I still remember how often you told us about feeling evil nearby," she said.

"He was a human evil seeker," Popo said. "He was funny while he was blinded with so much rage."

"I couldn't even hold a straight conversation with him once I said the word 'revenge'," Nana said. "He would swing his staff around, wishing eternal suffering to the guy he was looking for."

"Then he used Meteor and died..." Palom said. "...I think I'm gonna be more careful myself if I ever get to learn that cool spell. Tellah released the seal to Meteor. Maybe us Black Mages can learn it at last?"

Porom thought about the possibility. "I suppose so. But please don't go causing havoc once you do learn it. Remember, a sage does not use magic for evil," she said.

"Tsk, I know that," Palom said.

Roy approached Anna's grave. "She was his daughter, right? Did you know anything about her?" he asked.

"Anna was Tellah's daughter and King Edward's girlfriend," Porom said. "Cecil told me Tellah didn't approve of their relationship so King Edward, disguised as a bard, fled with Anna to Damcyan Castle. Unfortunately during their stay, the Baron's fleet army bombarded the place and killed almost every single inhabitant... Anna herself shielded King Edward from enemy arrows and that's how she died. It was thanks to her King Edward is living today, but he still comes here once a week to pay his respects to her."

"What a truly romantic tale," Zelda remarked.

"Don't get any ideas of doing it yourself like he did," Toon Link said. "Love makes you crazy after all."

Zelda flushed. "I-I have no experience to travel the world alone by myself, let alone disguise... Oh, I can do all that by being Sheik..." She looked away. "S-still, don't say that kind of thing to me."

"Let's all pay our respects to them!" Palom said suddenly.

The group had a small moment of silence to pray for both deceased souls. They first prayed for Anna's soul.

"(Anna, the woman Edward loved with all his heart. She must've been a nice lady. Maybe kind of like our mom,)" Palom thought.

"(Anna...I witnessed in person the grace and profound love you possessed within. May you rest in peace alongside Tellah for all time... Sometimes I wonder...if I too had a chance. A chance to become a woman like you, a woman who knew how to love more deeply than anyone else,)" Porom thought.

"(For a minute there, I thought I was going to put your shoes on with how you protected your beloved one from an assault,)" Link thought. "(Thanks for reminding me how enjoy my time with everyone.)"

"(Thinking about you made me think about my mother,)" Toon Link thought. "(Aww, memories...)"

"(Hey, I was never so good at this myself. Can you see if you can see other dead people up there? I heard rumors Mighty died in a car accident!)" Charmy thought wrong. "(If he's hearing me, hi Mighty! Vector still hates you for leaving us behind! Try to give 'im a good scare in his dreams if you can!)"

"(...)" Chip was still at a blank.

They then went to pray for Tellah.

Porom thought, "(Tellah...may you be happy together with Anna for all eternity. And may you guide us with your infinite wisdom. Especially Palom, he needs it.)"

Palom smiled and thought. "(Hey, old man! Guess it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I'm finally here, I came to visit your homeland and everything. I hope you're watching over me, Tellah... Because someday I'm gonna be a sage, just like you!)"

"(I wonder if you can sense evil up there? I would like you to be here and tell us so,)" Nana thought. "(Heck, you could teach us how to sense evil. We could be always prepared for the army to attack us at any moment... Just kidding, Tellah.)"

"(How do you even sense evil, anyway? I want to know AND learn so badly...)" Roy thought.

Chris thought an old-fashioned prayer.

Before they could stop praying, they heard footsteps coming from behind. They all ignored the person approaching them until he said, "I'm thankful you're paying your respects to Tellah and Anna."

They looked back and saw a young man standing there with a warm smile. The blond man was wearing bard-like clothes, most of which had a light red color along with a long yellow cape hanging from the backside of his neck. He also wore a red hat with a feather pointing up on the right-side edge.

Charmy randomly thought, "(He looks spoony to me.)"

"Oh, King Edward," Porom said, bowing cordially. "I didn't think you'd show up today."

"Yes, I came here today to visit their gravestones like I usually do," the man named Edward said. "I wasn't expecting you two and...your friends, I believe?"

Porom gasped after he noticed, but Palom took the initiative. "I'm doing my sage training by traveling 'round the world. They're all coming with me to give me some good support!" he said enthusiastically. "I told 'em we were going to drop by Tellah and Anna's graves before we could start, though."

"Aren't you a little young to do sage training?" Edward asked. "Then again, you two are the youngest mages I know. It is not my place to ask a question like that. I'm sorry."

"(My, what a courteous man he is,)" Zelda thought. She mentally yelped. "(N-no, Zelda, you cannot think that kind of train thought! Oh, why, oh why do I get so riled up with men like this?)"

Porom coughed. "As I was saying, Palom is taking the sage training so I'm traveling with him so he doesn't get himself killed," she said. "These are our friends who helped us that time before we turned into stone."

Edward bowed gracefully. "It is an honor to meet you," he said. "My name is Edward Chris von Muir but you can call me Edward. I am the king of Damcyan."

Edward Chris von Muir (or Edward for short) is the king of Damcyan. He once was in love with Tellah's daughter Anna until she sacrificed her life for him. Ever since, Edward has devoted Damcyan's wealth to help rebuild the towns destroyed during Golbez's ploys. He likes to travel the world by disguising himself as a bard, and he is a very strong person to hold his own in battle using his musical skills with the harp.

Zelda accidentally was the first to introduce herself. "My name is Zelda. I am the princess of the faraway land of Hyrule," she said.

"Hyrule? I have never heard of such a land in the world," Edward said confused.

A long half hour of explanations later...

Edward was filled in with the events. "People that come from another different world than ours? That is...most shocking, I suppose," he said. "I can't fathom the idea of existing worlds watching over us."

"I know it's really insane but it's true," Roy said. "And there so happens to be a place in your world we need to visit before it's too late. That temple is the reason we're here."

"Temple..." Edward muttered. "...You're looking for a temple, you say? Why, I might know what temple that is."

The Smashers stared at the prince. "Wait, you know about a temple?" Palom asked.

Edward nodded a few times. "Some time ago, there was a talk about mysterious ruins close to the waterfall north from Baron. It was found out that the ruins were in fact a temple," he explained. "Some people have investigated it but did not find anything of interest. There has been speculation about what it might be... Could it be the temple you're looking for?"

"It might be it," Toon Link said. "No, it has to be it! Was that temple there before?"

"No, it wasn't there before," Edward said. "It appeared after Baron was taken over by Golbez. Cecil thought it was related to Golbez but that wasn't the case either. Everyone has left the temple for now."

Palom turned to the group. "We've got to inspect the temple ourselves, guys!" he said. "Think about the chances! This could help my sage training a lot...uh...somehow, in some kind of bizarre way!"

"Alas, you're overreacting," Porom said. "But still, that's the way you're all heading to, correct?"

"Pretty much, yes," Roy said.

"Alright!" Palom said. "Next stop: Northern Baron Waterfall!"

Edward thought for a moment. "Hold on a second. The way to Mist from here has been blocked off by the cliffs. If you're planning to reach the waterfall, you should consider to travel by ship around the land to Baron," he said. "Unless you don't want to take the slow route, the fastest route is climbing said cliffs. I don't recommend such a thing since it's inhabited by monsters."

"Unfortunately, we should try climbing the cliffs," Link said. "We've got to get to the temple before our enemies beat us to it."

"Your enemies... That Subspace Army group," Edward said. He looked away for a moment until he nodded to himself and stared back at them. "I wouldn't want to burden you, but I would like to come along and see what is going on with that temple."

Porom gasped. "King Edward, you seriously cannot follow us! You have duties as the king of Damcyan, don't you? Leave the work to us so you don't have to worry your kingdom!" she said.

"No, it's alright," Edward said. "Remember? I have traveled the world as a bard. I've passed trough caverns, mountains, and valleys to satisfy my desires. I know my way around. Besides, I don't have to attend to renovations in five days."

"If you say so..." Porom said unsure.

"I am also intrigued with your friends from the other worlds," Edward said. "Yes, a single look would most definitely tell me they do not belong anywhere."

"It's the oversized bee following us, isn't it?" Roy joked.

"Yeah, it's me!" Charmy said. Chris was trying to remain calm. Charmy's overreacting behavior was sure a bit annoying since he did not even provide any help but mindless banter about how happy he was for being on a mission.

Edward chuckled. "Well, that could be an obvious reason. If you didn't explain yourselves earlier, I would've thought tamed monsters," he said. "It is settled. I shall accompany you all the way to the waterfall."

Spoony Bard Edward...

Edward has temporarily joined your team!

"What an honor," Zelda said. "A traveling king in our party would definitely add more special members to our team."

"You're saying that because there are virtually no kings but princesses in the full roster," Toon Link said.

"Y-yes, do you have a problem with that? Because I'm thrilled with the idea," Zelda said upset.

"I'm looking forward to see what you can do. You all...well, most of you look like you know how to defend yourselves," Edward remarked. "Before we set for the cliffs, let me pay my respects to Tellah and my dear Anna."

The bard went to approach the gravestone of his former love interest. From under his cape, he brandished a bouquet of flowers that he placed in front of the gravestone. A moment of silence with mental prayers soon followed until he was all set to go.

"Incidentally, King Edward," Porom began, "have you noticed the unusual weather in the air? For some unexplained reason, the desert doesn't feel as warm like it used to. In fact, this is the first time the desert has felt less hot."

Edward looked away. "You noticed too, then," he said. "The desert surrounding Damcyan doesn't feel any different than the Kaipo desert even though both deserts are close to each other but separated by the mountains. In conclusion, something is affecting this desert alone."

Toon Link turned to Chris to whisper a question. "Pss, they've been talking about this for a long time now. Was this supposed to happen chronologically?" he whispered.

Chris looked around for a bit as he tried to remember such an event. In the end, he found out the change in climate shouldn't have happened in the first place. He wrote down, "This is entirely new to me. It shouldn't even happen at all."

"Hmm... Did you guys mess something up while you were here?"

"Yes, Toon Link. We somehow made a misstep and ended up destroying the climate of this desert... Of course not! We didn't cause a big or small change at all."

"Really now? I think something else is causing this..."

"Let's not stay here any longer and get moving," Roy suggested. "Where are we heading to now?"

Edward pointed to the south. "To the south of Kaipo lies the Mist Cliff. We must climb the cliff to reach village of Mist. There, we shall head through the Mist Cave to the other side of it where we shall head for the waterfall," he explained.

"Do you think we can meet up with Rydia?" Porom asked.

"I think she's in the village," Edward said.

"Who is this Rydia person?" Link asked.

"Rydia is the last summoner of Mist. She traveled with Cecil for even more time than all of us did," Edward explained. "She's a very useful and kind person, and a powerful summoner and Black Mage to boot. We could ask her to come with us."

"Oh well, the more the merrier," Palom said. "Ooh, maybe I can get some tips from her."

Porom grimaced and sighed. "Oh no. You gave him ideas..."

With Edward having joined their ranks, the group set off to the south. But soon, they were bound to find out that the warm temperature slowly fell down as they crossed the desert. It would eventually turn colder and colder in comparison to the desert. Furthermore, the clouds shrouding the southern sky made them feel uneasy...except for Palom, who took it as an exciting challenge to prove himself as a sage-in-training.

-Smash Mansion-

Garden

Back at the mansion, Red was going out with the Sinnoh trainers for another expedition around the lands surrounding the mansion grounds. Red hoped that they wouldn't stumble across the freak accident they had with the weird Digletts last time. It had been a long time ever since a crazy accident like that happened but it was burned into his brain if he ever read the damned mole's name again. It was the same story with Dugtrios.

"If Barry doesn't screw this up again, we should come back to the mansion without having nightmares for the night," Lucas (the trainer) said annoyed. "Do we need to remind you how badly it went for us that time when you went crazy on those Primeape gang?"

Barry crossed his arms. "Not my problem my awesome Magneton couldn't beat them," he said.

"You mean the three Magnemites you glued together thinking they would fuse and evolve into a real Magneton?" Dawn asked bewildered. "Dear god, Barry, you need to get your facts right."

"So what?" Barry asked. "You guys are jealous."

"Again thinking we're jealous of your obvious Pokémon abuse," Lucas said. "In any case, let's go into the forest and see if we can find a new kind of Pokémon today. If worst comes to worst, we shall all use Barry as bait."

Barry grinned confidently. "Doing that'll let me stay closer to the Pokémon than any of ya. I'll be the first one to catch one before you do. I can't believe you haven't noticed that you give me the initiative!" he said, oblivious to the fact the plan never worked for him at all. "Oh man, I said my plan out loud! You know, something doesn't sound right about it now that I think about it for more than five minutes straight..."

"...Oh! Would you look at the time?" Dawn faked. "There's supposed to be a Pidgey flock coming from the east right now. What do we all say if we get going now?"

"That's weird," Red said. "I don't remember a flock like tha-" He was shut up by Dawn stomping on his foot. He dropped down as the pain was a bit too strong for him to resist.

"When you have to get the point, you've GOT to get it as soon as you can," Squirtle wisely advised. "It's worse if it came from a girl."

"Right!" Barry agreed, not minding Red dropped on the grass. "I wanna have my awesome Pidgeot soon!"

"M-me too..." Red groaned in pain.

Red happened to be looking to another direction as he tried to get back up on his feet. He blinked a few times as he spotted two persons slowly walking out from the forest into the garden. The two unknown persons were a young man dressed as a butler while the second one was a young teenaged girl with a frail look on her face. Red could only stare confused as the girl calmly looked around to admire the garden full of blooming flowers.

"I'll be," the man said. "The walk through the forest didn't leave me the impression of a well-maintained garden to reside in the area. It reminds me of the flowers I have taken care of in your castle."

"..." The girl closed her eyes as if she was displeased. "You didn't forget to water them before we left, did you?"

"Of course not," the man said, not fazed a bit by her displeased look. "I am always on schedule so that I don't let you down. You have got nothing to fear."

"Good, I always expect you to do your very best," she said, opening her eyes with a small hint of a threat. "Otherwise, you wouldn't want me to be disappointed."

The man chuckled. "By all means, I wish you the very best," he said. "The only times I can truly disappoint you are... Hmm... Let us not bring those times again."

Red got back up on his feet, not noticing the Sinnoh trainer and the Pokémon's stares. "Hey, Red, what's up?" Lucas asked until he looked to the general direction. "Hmm? Who are they?"

Barry pointed at the two peacefully standing there. "Intruders, in my MANSION? I say let's take 'em out!" He sprinted towards the two innocent bystanders, prompting the others to follow him in an attempt to stop Barry.

"Oh my god, not again!" Dawn groaned out loud.

On the other side of the garden, the two unexpected visitors were gazing at the flowers until the man heard some annoying sounds coming from nearby. Oddly enough, the sounds he heard made him remember an unwanted memory of the past. Finally, he heard the source of the sounds coming from the west. "What in the...? What is that young man doing?"

"EENTRHUDARS!" Barry declared.

"Intruders? Us?" the man asked confused until the crazed trainer was stopped abruptly by some vines wrapping around his waist. Looking further ahead, the man saw a small group of trainers and their Pokémon approaching them. The two visitors stared at them until they reached them out. The man looked up at the blond trainer being held up by the Ivysaur's Vine Whip until he decided to ignore him altogether. "Oh, pardon us, but we couldn't help but hear your...friend accused us both of being intruders."

"P-please don't listen to him," Dawn said, chuckling embarrassed. "He does that a lot even when somebody enters his room."

"I...see..." the man said.

Red inspected the two guests. The man did look like he was some sort of royal butler as he wore sophisticated clothes such as the black shoes, light purple pants, white shirt underneath the black tuxedo which had a golden watch sticking out from a pocket, and the white gloves and black bow tie on his neck. His combed short black hair was the weirdest thing that struck Red as odd since he also had dark yellow hair running back in the middle of the black hair.

The young teenaged girl, in comparison, didn't look too much different. She had very long pale brown hair that covered all her sides except the front side where anybody could see her pink dress and pink shoes. Her motif took the form of white ribbons hanging on each side of her hair and shoes. Her small, long-sleeved white jacket formed a ribbon above her waist. Though she looked like a sweet person, Red had already seen how bossy she acted to her companion.

"Why, I must say his attitude reminded me of another person Lady Caitlin and I know...unfortunately," the man said grimacing. "Both us cannot stand that man even if he's part o-"

"HEY, PUT ME DOWN!" Barry yelled at Ivysaur. "I need to show these two some manners myself! What kind of intruders are they to enter to my property?"

"Shut up!" Dawn yelled annoyed, turning back to the two confused visitors. "Don't listen to anything he says, please. He doesn't own this mansion right here. We're all just guests."

"There's no need to panic," Lucas said. "I don't see why you can't admire the mansion's garden."

The man smiled warmly. "Thank you for the hint of hospitality," he said. "But as it turns out, we didn't plan in winding up here. Lady Caitlin wanted to have a walk and breath in some fresh air to relieve her mind from the stress of watching battle after battle. And yes, I mean Pokémon

battles."

"(So they also got lost... Wait, battles?)" Red's train of thought was changed. "What kind of Pokémon battles are those?"

"Ah, Pokémon battles that are specially arranged in such a way our trainers can develop a strategy to defeat their foes by accumulating points to allow certain specifications to play before each battle starts," the man explained with a warm smile. "It is how we control the Battle Castle at the Battle Frontier in the Sinnoh region."

Lucas, Dawn, and Barry gasped at the mention. "The Battle Frontier?" they all said in unison.

"You mean to say the Battle Frontier is open to the public, sir?" Lucas asked.

"Why, yes. The Battle Frontier opened five months ago," the man said. "Are you planning to take on the different challenges the facilities bring to young trainers?"

"Yes!" Barry said. "That's where my dad works at! He's the Tower Tycoon of the Battle Tower!"

The man and the young girl stared at Barry as if he had said something insane. The man then looked dully at him. "...You're the son of that man?" he asked unimpressed. "Now that I think about it, you two have a certain resemblance... Yes, the same hotheaded attitude is uncanny."

"Wait, hold on," Dawn interrupted. "You know Barry's dad?"

The young girl closed her eyes annoyed. "I cannot believe such a man was allowed into our ranks," she said. "We do know the kind of person he is. He is the first one who opens his big mouth whenever we are gathered for special meetings. Usually, he's also the one who gets very excited like a child."

"Palmer and his son behave almost the same," the man said. "He is a bit mellower, but that's not enough to justify his hyperactive nature. Wherever you are, do not stand in his way while he's running or else he'll fine you."

Lucas and Dawn chuckled embarrassed. "T-that's Barry's dad, alright," Dawn said.

"...Oh!" the man said before bowing cordially. "Where are our manners? I almost forgot to introduce ourselves to you."

Pokémon Platinum – Battle Castle

The young girl's annoyed look changed to a blank look. "My name is Caitlin, head of the Battle Castle," she said.

"And my name is Darach," the man said, looking up at them. "I am Lady Caitlin's loyal valet and caretaker."

"My name's Dawn," Dawn said. "These are my friends Lucas, Red, and you should know Barry by now."

Barry looked annoyed. "Yeah, yeah," he said until Ivysaur let go of him, leaving Barry to drop back to the floor.

"By all means, it's a pleasure to meet you," Darach said. "Are all of you seeking challenges in the Battle Frontier? Well, it's open to the public. I'm sure Lady Caitlin would like to be entertained with your performance in battle."

Caitlin looked away. "If they can really appease my desires," she muttered to herself.

Lucas took out a Battle Frontier pamphlet from his bag. "It says here trainers can challenge the heads of the five facilities after meeting certain requirements. However, this pamphlet is a bit outdated so it doesn't have much more information than that," he said.

"After you have defeated several trainers in a long winning streak, you are allowed to fight with Lady Caitlin for a Frontier Print," Darach said, holding a hand to his lady. "Should you succeed in battle, you are awarded with a silver print to commemorate the proof of your victory. But you can continue your streak to fight her again for the gold print, which will indicate you have mastered the Battle Castle."

"Only few trainers have ever achieved such feat," Caitlin informed. "It is so boring and pathetic to see those who build a big streak just to lose in the next fight."

"(Ouch, she's so harsh,)" Red thought.

Darach chuckled confidently. "Please, milady, let us keep some good optimism," he suggested. "I am suspecting you are growing bored of our walk. Perhaps you are stressed with the fact we got lost?"

Red said, "You can go back to where you came from if you walk back. It's really that easy."

"Really now? Huh, that never occurred to me. How embarrassing it is to admit it," Darach said with a happy look, though Caitlin wasn't that thrilled or amused in the slightest. "Thank you for telling us that. I was getting worried myself too."

"Darach," Caitlin began, "I am bored. I wish to do something else to relieve my boredom."

Darach turned around and bowed to her. "What is your request?" he asked.

Caitlin stared at Red's Pokémon and then looked at the trainer. "I wish to see a battle with his Pokémon right this instant," she ordered, shocking Lucas, Dawn, and Barry.

Red's mind slowly processed what he heard. His Pokémon realized sooner before he did. "...Wait, what did you just say?" he asked confused.

"I wish to see you in battle," Caitlin said blankly. "I'm in the mood to see what you can do in a Pokémon battle, or are you trying to imply you don't know how to fight in one?"

"I-I do know, but this...this was really so sudden to me..." Red admitted.

"HEY!" Barry burst in, pointing an accusing finger to Red. "Why do you want to fight him and not ME? I won't let ya talk about my dad like that, and I don't care what you think of me! Are you scared of fighting the great son of the great Tower Tycoon Palmer or what?"

Darach somehow looked ill all of a sudden as Caitlin seemed to grimace slightly at the statement. For a very odd reason, the wind around Caitlin grew a bit stronger as the flowers' petals were being bent. Lucas, Dawn, Red, Ivysaur, and Squirtle looked around in confusion as if the wind seemed to respond at her sudden change of mood. Darach, meanwhile, slowly shook his head at her, not fazed a bit by the strange occurrence.

"Milady, I don't think Palmer's son meant to insult you or anything," Darach said. "I speak for everyone here that your orders shall be followed correctly. Please, don't get angry over this. I shall see that everything goes according to your liking."

Caitlin stared upset at Barry until her mood changed to a calm one. The wind around her calmed down as soon as she did. "...That is fine with me," she said, Darach sighing in relief. "But I wish to see a battle now."

"(What was that all about?)" the trainers and the Pokémon thought at the same time. Were they thinking that the young girl had some kind of control over the wind? They slowly disclosed such a crazy thought from their minds.

Barry, however, thought the girl had psychic powers. Of course anyone was going to say she didn't have such a thing.

Darach turned to Red. "Please, I would like to see the battle Lady Caitlin is currently asking for," he said. "She is part of the Frontier Brains, I remind you. It is an honor to get such a request from a Frontier Brain to fight without meeting the criteria to fight one through normal means."

"Well..." Red trailed off, as Lucas, Dawn, and Barry practically nodded their heads as many times possible to convince him to take the offer. "...Okay, I'll fight her."

The valet smiled. "Wonderful," he said. "Let us prepare the battlefield. Hmm... Ah, the clearing at the center of this garden seems to be big enough to hold the battle."

Everyone else turned around to the center of the garden. The garden itself was a big square with paved floor running to four different directions, with squares of flowers and grass on the edges. Right on the center, a wide enough circular clearing with sophisticated benches in front of the flowers was situated.

"I can testify that place wasn't there before," Barry said.

"I can testify that we don't care either way," Lucas said.

A few minutes later, the battle preparations were almost done with. Lucas, Dawn, and Barry sat on a bench on the west side as they watched Red take the west portion with Ivysaur and Squirtle. On the east side, Caitlin stood across the battlefield with the ever courteous Darach at her side.

"Alright, Red, this is going to get tough," Red muttered as he gazed at Caitlin. "They're part of the Battle Frontier place I've heard so much about. She must be really strong..."

"Well," Darach began, "how does a 3-on-3 fight sounds to you?"

Red stared blankly at the requirement. "U-uh..." He looked down at his only two Pokémon. "I...only have...two at the moment..."

Out of a cue, a Pikachu waltzed into the scene, shaking its ears a bit. The group watched as the Pikachu then went to Red's side, climbing up to his right shoulder. "Oh, would you look at that. That Pikachu must be yours as well," Darach said.

"Pikachu?" Red muttered so that Pikachu could hear him. "Why are you here?"

"Pika pi kapika pi pi pi," Pikachu said.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Pika pi kapika pi pi pi."

"Huh?"

"Pika pi kapika pi pi pi."

"...Come again?"

"I WATCHED YOU ALL FROM THE WINDOW AND DECIDED TO COME HERE TO FIGHT A REAL BATTLE, YOU DIMWIT!" Pikachu yelled aloud. "DEAR ARCEUS, CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND MY LANGUAGE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES?"

Caitlin and Darach could've sworn the Pikachu just spoke English. "Did that Pikachu just..." Caitlin trailed off, unsure of herself.

Pikachu froze into place, as well did the trainers and Pokémon. Red quickly devised an idea to deny the undeniable "I-I think we're all a bit riled up that we're hearing things..." Red said. "Y-yes, maybe it's the excitement of fighting a Frontier Brain that's making us hallucinate."

"Hmph, I do not believe we are behaving like that," Caitlin disclosed. "But maybe we're truly mistaking that we heard a Pokémon talk."

"Yes we are," Dawn said embarrassed, waving a hand. "L-let's just think Red's Pikachu came from the house to aid him. He likes to rest all day, the little one."

While Pikachu looked upset at the statement, Darach shook his head to regain his composure. "Right... As I was saying, you shall have a 3-on-3 battle. The first one who manages to defeat all the Pokémon of any trainer shall be the winner of the match," he explained cordially. "Do you have any objections?"

"(Did he really buy that?)" was all Red thought.

"Red?"

Red shook his head and looked serious. "N-no, I'm good," he said.

"Very well, Red," Darach said.

"..."

Red watched as Caitlin quietly stepped back from her spot to take a seat on a nearby bench, allowing Darach to stand on her place. The trainers and Pokémon were staring oddly at him. "Excuse me, but what are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"Why, I'm taking Lady Caitlin's place," Darach said. "For a reason I'm not at liberty to disclose, she cannot battle... Consequently, I will do battle in her ladyship's place."

"What?" Barry asked, standing up on opposition. "Why can't she battle? Is she chi-"

Lucas covered Barry's mouth. "That's an interesting...reason to hear coming from a Frontier Brain," he said.

"My apologies, Red," Darach apologized. "You must understand that Lady Caitlin is in no real condition to fight a battle by herself. That is why I'm left with no choice but to do everything for her in her place. We are not trying to dishonor you in any way."

"I...ah..." Red was at a loss of words. "I don't mind... (What is going on with her? Why doesn't he just say that she doesn't have Pokémon?)"

"Good!" Darach said delighted. "Lady Caitlin is surely pleased by your acceptance. But first, let us have the battle she was looking forward to." He held a Poké Ball firmly on his right palm. "Albeit you won't get a reward for battling me, let's do it for good sportsmanship."

Red nodded, looking at his Pokémon for confirmation that they were ready to fight. "Okay, I'm ready to give it a go," he said.

Lucas walked to the north area. "If I may, can I be the referee of the match?" he asked.

"Oh, I was about to ask for one," Darach said. "Very well, you may remind us the rules."

Lucas smiled. He took out from behind a red flag and a white flag. "Alright, everyone seems to be ready for the battle. The match shall be between Kanto Trainer Red and Castle Valet Darach. Each side shall use three Pokémon each. Once all Pokémon from either side is unable to battle, the match shall go to the winner. You may change Pokémon during the battle. Are the two sides ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," Red said.

"By all means, yes," Darach said confidently. "I shall begin if you don't mind."

"In that case," Lucas began as he raised his flags, "the battle begins...now!"

Darach bowed cordially, pulling himself back. "Let me assure you that you won't be shortchanged by facing me... En garde!"

-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years-

-Earth-

Holoska Temple – Entrance

In the frozen temple of Holoska, a figure stood on the entrance to the temple. It was the Ancient Minister. He seemed to be waiting for Dr. Eggman to show up. The minister had to drag the Temple Guardians alone by himself after not being able to contact the doctor since yesterday.

"(What is taking that buffoon so long?)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(I suspected he was going to come and make sure I wouldn't do something weird. That person has his moments, but his intelligence is dangerous...for my plans.)"

The doctor had to go back to his base in his planet to check on Dark Gaia. He went there yesterday after the meeting they had with Tabuu but hasn't reported back at all. The Ancient Minister was the first one to notice his absence.

"(...No, I should perhaps wait,)" the Ancient Minister thought. "(It is annoying, but it can't be helped...)"

-Sonic Unleashed-

Earth

Eggmanland

Albeit it was day in other universes, it was late night in Dr. Eggman's theme park. The doctor was at his secret lab in the very core of his base where he was sitting in front of his desk, checking up on Dark Gaia's state. For whatever reason, he was unimpressed about the data he gathered. The doctor then brought up an underground camera he sent down to the core of the planet to have a visual of the deity.

"The data has shown so far that Dark Gaia has been restless this past few days," Dr. Eggman said. "There is this abnormal behavior that's bothering me..."

In the virtual screen, the video showed Dark Gaia frantically moving around the planet's core, madly swinging its claws around in hopes of destroying the spires of rocks around it. Dr. Eggman furrowed his brow at what he was seeing.

"You've been very calm before, you little monster," Dr. Eggman said. "Are you so angry because you started to take notice of your minions being altered by science and dark arts? And here I thought you were just a mindless puppet. You are in no way a deity."

Dr. Eggman raised his eyebrows as Dark Gaia stopped going around. It looked like it calmed down.

"Oh, what now?" he asked. "Are you tired? That's what you get for using your energy for trying to destroy the air. I'm gonna be here for a long time watching you until you go to sleep. Too bad I have other business to attend to." He stood up from his chair. "I'll just leave you be for now. Be a good rabid deity and go to sleep."

Dark Gaia turned around, locking its eyes into the screen. Dr. Eggman could've sworn the deity had listened to him and, moreover, stared directly at the camera.

"Pfft, you heard me talk or what?" Dr. Eggman asked. "Eh, who cares. I'm overemphasizing a bit..."

Just then, the beast roared aloud and slashed the camera into bits, ending the live video.

"And it just noticed the camera now," Dr. Eggman muttered. "Damn that deity. Now I'll have to send another camera in there to spy you a bit more."

The floor then started to shake. The doctor looked down and gasped.

"What the heck?" the doctor asked until the tremor grew in power, making him trip and fall down. He pushed himself from the floor to look around his lab. "A-an earthquake? Impossible! I constructed Eggmanland over safe land where Mother Nature wouldn't bother me...or the government!"

Not long after that, the doctor heard a lot of noise coming from outside. Then the alarm blared loudly with a red light illuminating the whole lab. He stood up and ran to the window where he screamed loudly, but the noise easily muffled his yells.

The doctor watched in horror as the very land he created with his robots was brought down before his eyes. The demonic-looking Ferris Wheels leaned against each other while the buildings broke apart. The roller coasters slowly fell into the darkness. The theme park was apparently built over high ground since there was no telling how far the ground was, and so the doctor couldn't see well where his machinations were going to end. All he knew for sure was that his hard work was all getting destroyed for an unknown reason.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Dr. Eggman finally asked. He scrambled up and went to his screen to check if the network was still working. Fortunately, he managed to confirm that the destruction wasn't caused by natural disasters. "THEN WHAT IS CAUSING ALL THIS?"

The doctor tried bringing up all cameras over the perimeter of Eggmanland, but they were all being destroyed under the chaos before he could get to see anything worth examining. Multiple blurry screens soon filled out his vision, panicking him a lot more.

"Camera 053 offline...camera 079 offline...camera 189 offline...all cameras...offline..." Dr. Eggman wasn't liking any of this. He banged his fists on his keyboard, insanity slowly taking over him. "What is the meaning behind all this? How could Eggmanland fall down so fast?"

The doctor realized a crucial factor.

"THE TEMPLE!" Dr. Eggman said. "Oh no, I can't let the temple be destroyed! It's right down below my lab!" He started typing on his keyboard to open a fast way to the temple. Out of a cue, the floor opened up behind him. The doctor jumped back as he descended from the chaotic destruction. When he looked up, his very lab blew up. "MY LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB!"

Clumsily landing in front of the temple, the doctor fell down on his rear. He shook his head and looked around his surroundings. Dr. Eggman stood up in a direct path to the ancient temple. But that was only half of what he saw. When he looked behind, the doctor yelped when he found pure darkness shrouding the way up to the surface.

"N-no...t-that can't be..." Dr. Eggman feared for the worst. That was when he remembered he had a communicator to report anything to the Ancient Minister. He could use it to flee from the inevitable destruction. The doctor burrowed his hands into his pockets as debris started falling around him. When he took out the machine, Dr. Eggman briefly cheered with a wide, maniacal grin. "Time to get out of her-"

-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years-

-Earth-

Holoska Temple – Entrance

Final Fantasy VIII – The Salt Flats

The Ancient Minister thought that he waited for too long. Within his robe, he approached a communicator to call the doctor. "Dr. Eggman, I'm not sorry to talk to you now judging you are not here yet. Tabuu likes everyone to be early for all missions even if we're not in the Subspace," he said. "Now tell me why you're not here yet."

"..."

"...Dr. Eggman, stop the silence," the minister said. "The call managed to get in. I'm not the kind of person who likes talking to walls if you know what I mean with that."

"...Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

"..." The Ancient Minister was confused to hear that the call had been lost. It did clearly enter just fine, but it was also cut off rather abruptly. A closer look at the screen of the communicator showed that the receiving communicator seized to function altogether. "It stopped functioning? That is strange... Did I call while he was venting off his anger? No, he didn't seem like the kind of person who does that..."

Something hit his mind.

"(Then again,)" he thought, "(if he doesn't show up at all, I can do this without many restrictions... What if he does show up, though? No one is monitoring my moves at the moment... Yes, I can work this out. I don't care what happened to Dr. Eggman as long as I can do what I want to do first.)"

The minister's plans were going to work in the end, for Dr. Eggman disappeared without leaving a trace...

Mist Cliff – Mist Side

At the base of the other side of the tall cliff that divided the Kaipo desert and the village of Mist, an unlucky climber fell face first to the grass after the rock he was standing on gave away to his weight. He was lucky he fell ten feet away from the ground, but he mentally yelled in pain as more climbers safely came down from the cliffs. Charmy and Chip were the first ones to reach the fallen one.

"Congrats! You reached the base of the cliff first!" Charmy congratulated Chris, AKA the unlucky climber. "I think you cheated for falling in the middle of the race... Cheater!"

Chris tightened his fists. He was soon going to become the next Vector (in anger terms) if Charmy kept acting so childish and annoying. He couldn't shake the feeling Charmy wanted to annoy him the most out of everyone else. He thought positive thoughts to keep himself from slitting Charmy's throat in half. Becoming a Vector was the worst that could happen to him.

But he grunted mentally after he realized he could've turned into a Moogle to fly up and down. He cursed his back luck and memory so much.

Roy was the first one to climb down next. He gasped and went to help Chris to get up. "Phew, you're okay," he said. "The cliff IS really high..."

Chris wiped out the grass from his face as everyone else managed to climb down safely. The ones who had a blast during the dangerous trip over the cliff were both sets of twins. The Ice Climbers were born professionals when it came down to climbing, providing Palom and Porom with climbing equipment to ensure they would keep themselves from falling off.

"I must say, that was an exciting experience," Porom remarked as she gave the ropes to Popo and Nana, the White Mage's twin brother stretching his hands in the background. "Not to mention it was the only way to climb up and down so safely."

"Grownups these days do it the manly way by using their hands," Palom said. "Kids like us, though, do it the smart way by using otherworldly climbing equipment not native to our world!"

Popo shrugged at the statement. "Don't say that! We don't want to temp people to go advanced when they're supposed to find out by themselves," he said.

Edward was the last one to climb down. While he did so, he was thinking, "(Popo and Nana sure used some intriguing life-saving equipment. I should try to ask them to tell me their secrets so adventurers of today can survive traveling through treacherous mountains. If they do not comply to my wishes, I can try to remember exactly the materials' shapes.)" He turned around to rejoin with the group. "The village of Mist should be just up ahead now."

"Please tell me we're not climbing another cliff again," Zelda said. "A princess of my caliber shouldn't do such tremendous tasks."

Link grumbled. "Zelda, don't start this again," he said.

"Hush, you," the princess replied. She then realized she could've turned into Sheik to do the job faster and more secure. Zelda cursed her bad luck and memory so much. She felt somebody else went through the same misfortune just now.

The group continued their way to the village. It was then that Chip stopped following them from behind as he felt strange, as if something had reacted within him. "What is...this feeling?" he muttered to himself. "I never felt like this before... I felt a chill... Is it... No..."

Chip shook his head and flew faster to catch up with the others.

Mist

The village of Mist looked like a pacific village with nothing special to it. There were houses scattered around the fresh grass with a single farm to the south. The villagers were kind enough to all travelers who passed through their hometown. Long ago, the village never allowed outsiders to enter. Times had changed so fast that the village warmed up to new visitors.

Edward was leading the way to the village, coming to a full stop to show the others around. "We have arrived," he said. "Welcome to Mist."

"Aww, I thought this place was really shrouded in actual mist," Charmy said disappointed.

"Funny you say that," Edward said, looking up at the sky. "Months ago, this place was home to the Summoner race. People who could call entities known as Eidolons to aid them. However, when Baron was under the enemy's control, it fell down in a bloodshed caused by my friend Cecil and Kain."

Zelda gasped. "Cecil killed villagers?" she asked.

"No, please let me finish," Edward said. "Cecil and Kain were tasked to deliver a ring to this place, not knowing why they needed to do so. That said ring activated by itself once it was brought here. The ring shot out flames that engulfed the houses, burned people alive, and killed all summoners in one assault..." He looked away. "Cecil and Kain were at the time loyal to Baron when it was being used as a puppet for Zemus, the one who caused the entire problem across the earth. After they witnessed such massacre, they bowed to rebel against their kingdom. From there, the adventure started..."

"I see..." Link said. "But why is this place called Mist?"

"Before Cecil and Kain arrived here, Rydia's mother called forth the Mist Dragon to protect the village from outsiders. The dragon inhabited the Mist Cave as a means to keep Baron away. Sadly, the two of them slayed the dragon, and a summoner's life is tied with its Eidolon... So then, Rydia's mother was killed along with her dragon." Edward nodded. "Mist's name originates from the Mist Dragon. It was here where the founders were blessed by the dragon's protection."

"Cool!" Charmy said. "Can we see this Mist Dragon?"

Edward chuckled. "Sorry, but there's only one person in here who can call the Mist Dragon, and that person is my friend Rydia," he said. "Come with me. Hopefully she's at her house today."

Toon Link looked up at the sky. "It's still cloudy," he said.

Everyone else looked up as well. "You know, it's getting colder over here," Palom said. "I thought I was feeling crazy but I can tell the temperature's dropped down a lot in the village!"

A snowflake made its landing on Chris's face. The World Traveler blinked a bit until a multitude of snowflakes started falling all around the village. "It's snowing here," Edward said. "It has never snowed in Mist before."

Porom looked at the king. "How do you know it never snowed here?" she asked.

"Mist is pretty close to Kaipo desert even if the cliff separates both of them," the bard explained. "But still, the heat of the desert manages to warm this region. It could be snowing in Baron a few times but never in Mist. I'm starting to worry about this abnormal weather affecting the village..."

Link shook his head. "Let's get to your friend's house first," he said. "We can ask her if she knows more about this."

"I don't think so, but it's worth a try," Edward agreed.

The group then followed the bard to the northwestern part of the village where a solitary house with a gravestone to the right was located. Losing focus on the gravestone, Edward stared at the house for a little while until he went to knock on the door. "Hope your friend is here," Roy said. "She could know what's going on."

"Coming!" came a female voice from the other side of the door. When the door opened, a young woman came out.

The woman was gorgeous in most of the group's males' eyes. She wore knee-high, golden heeled boots along with draperies adorned in stars on her arms. She was also wearing a green one-piece dress that covered part of her thighs and neckline. She had long green hair with a golden hair ornament around her forehead. Some of the males thought she was beautiful. Charmy thought a perverted bee-related pun.

"Oh, Edward!" she said smiling. "I didn't think you'd drop by today... Er... Uh..." She blinked once she saw the multitude of people right behind Edward. "...I...see you brought an entire brigade with you..."

Edward sighed. "I should perhaps explain everything to you. This won't take so long," he said.

Half an hour later...

By the time Edward had finished his explanation, which told about the Smashers, the temple, the army, and the mission, the village was covered in a thin layer of snow. Some of the Smashers started to feel some chills. Even Edward's friend was embracing herself, never thinking that her clothing would become so dangerous in the once warm village.

"...And we're just on our way to the temple they're looking for," Edward finished.

"T-that's some explanation," his friend said. "H-hold on... I-I need to wear my robe..." She closed the door and made them wait for half a minute until she came back, wearing a long green robe that kept her warm. "That feels much better..."

"Rydia, I was wondering if you could come with us should we find danger on the way there," Edward said. "It appears that our world is on the edge of another war."

"I was about to leave for the Feymarch... Oh well, I can hold on to that," she said nodding. "With my Eidolons, you don't need to worry about being mauled alive. I'm tagging along." She chuckled heartily. "I need some excitement for another adventure after all."

"Oh yeah, she's now talking my language!" Palom cheered on right before Porom smacked him on his head.

Rydia chuckled. "I haven't introduced myself, have I?" she asked. "I'm Rydia, nice to meet you all."

Rydia is the last survivor of the long line of Mist's summoners. She first blamed Cecil on the massacre until she saw the kindness in him, convincing her that he needed her powers for good. It is worth noting that Rydia was once a child and had aged faster due to a fateful event with the Eidolon King Leviathan who took her to the land of Eidolons where she trained to become a strong summoner. Despite her gorgeous looks, Rydia has the heart of a child inside.

Summoner Rydia has temporarily joined your team!

After a small moment of introductions, Rydia joined her hands. "Let's have some fun like the old times," she said. "I know it's a bit weird of me to get excited over dangerous trips around the world, but I didn't want to tell the others I liked to fight and go to new places outside of my village."

Zelda was pleased to hear that, relating so well to the summoner. "Well, you and I think the same way," she said. "You had less chains tying to your home than I used to have... No, I still have some of those chains. But I'm faking my departure for Hyrule just to help my fellow friends."

"Oh yes, you're a princess," Rydia said. "I've never met a princess before. The kingdoms only have kings and queens. The closest person to a princess we had was...Edward... I-I mean, in male terms, anyway."

Edward chuckled. "I'm not offended," he said. "Sorry for interrupting your talk. We're all going to head to the waterfall right away before evening."

Rydia stepped out from her house and closed down the door. "We can talk while we walk," she said. "Let's hope Mist Cave didn't get any changes with the cold climate."

"In that case, let's get a move on!" Toon Link said. "Time is very crucial for us if the army gets there first. Another distraction can make us lose the race to get there first."

"Agreed," Roy said. "Let's go."

Chip twiddled his fingers a bit until he brought himself to say, "U-um...er...uh..." He stammered but then he gave up. Nobody heard him at all, and that somehow made him feel relieved. The imp wanted to tell them about that sudden feeling he got a moment ago. His insecurity to tell them overcame him, thus delaying what he wanted to say.

Final Fantasy IV DS – Hey, Cid!

And just when they all walked a few feet away from Rydia's home, they heard a yell and then felt somebody fell down to the ground. They all turned around back to the house where a gray-haired man wearing a pale purple cape on his back lied down on the snow. "O-oww..." the man muttered.

"Look out!" Charmy warned. "A thief was just about to raid your home! Let's beat him up to teach him a lesson!" He was eager to pinch the guy to death.

"He does look shady..." Link admitted. "Maybe he's right. Who would wear such unfitting clothing during this weather?"

"To be fair, Link, this sudden climate change took everyone in the village off-guard," Edward said. "...I do admit this man here didn't think the region was like this."

The man on the snow shivered, his body shaking with chills. "C-cold..." he muttered.

"...Oh god, it's him again," Rydia muttered embarrassed.

Edward smiled a bit. "I was just pretending I didn't know him," he said. "He's not our enemy, everyone. In fact, you're all looking at the king from the Eblanese family of Eblan."

The foreign group certainly didn't think the man was a king given he was standing on top of Rydia's house for no reason.

Popo looked dull. "Wow, is it just me or does this world has some people nobody would ever guess are part of the royalty or what?" he asked.

"Not everyone is going to walk around wearing a crown and a robe to indicate their social status," Porom said.

The shivering man slowly stood back up. Once he took his time to embrace himself, the group studied his appearance. The gray-haired wore high-heeled boots over gray pants with a black belt. Although his lower body was well-clothed for the cold, his upper body wasn't all that protected given he only wore a black leather plate that barely covered half of his chest. He also had a gray bandana covering the lower half of his face, covering his mouth and nose completely.

"H-hi...e-everyone..." he greeted.

"What an unlucky person," Toon Link said. "I feel pity for him for walking through this cold."

"Really? That's odd. I lost all respect right about now," Nana said.

"Achoo!" the supposed king of Eblan sneezed. "S-sorry for dropping by all of a sudden..."

Rydia crossed her arms. "Edge, you're always dropping by all of a sudden. Don't you have a kingdom to rebuild?" she asked ashamed. "This is the thirtieth time you escaped from the castle to see me. When are you going to stop making your people worry about your whereabouts?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the man named Edge said. "I-I just c-can't help myself... A-achoo!"

Nana turned to Edward. "I don't want to sound rude but he doesn't even look like he's cut to be a king if what Rydia said about him is true," she said.

Edward sighed with a frown. "I was expecting somebody to comment about his status," he said. "As a fellow king, I suppose people can be more judgmental of his...hot-blooded attitude than they do with me."

"Oh, please, King Edward," Zelda said. "You certainly have a royal vibe on you no matter if you dressed like a bard or a clown. Your mannerisms are that of a true king. I know that very well from experience myself. This man...could be a beggar."

"H-hey, I h-heard that," Edge said with a worried look on his eyes. "I-isn't anybody gonna give me something warm? I-I could totally need that!" He slowly approached Rydia, which only gave her a bad impression about what he really meant by getting warmer. "H-hug me for ten minutes! That's all I need t-to feel better and w-warmer!"

Well, that did it.

"N-no!" Rydia said. "Edge, you're starting to freak me out!"

Edge turned to Zelda, who stepped back as if her instinct told her that there was a C. Falcon nearing on her. "Y-you there! I could have a hug now!"

"I-I don't hug random people to keep them warm even if I was insane!" Zelda protested harsher than Rydia did.

"O-ouch, that hurt..." Edge muttered.

Popo opened his arms, shocking Nana. "Come'ere and I'll give ya a hug," he said. "I'm way warmer than them."

Edge stared at Popo, his eyes twitching. "Ugh, so not my style..." he said.

"Oh, for heaven's sake..." Edward finally got desperate of the fellow king that he walked away. The group stared at the first king as he went inside a clothing shop. In a matter of seconds, Edward came out carrying a gray robe that he bought with his money. The king then brought the robe to Edge. Edge initially stepped back and that annoyed Edward so much that he slammed the robe on Edge, not minding the fact the long gray cape was under the robe.

"N-not cool!" Edge said. He removed the robe and the cape to put back on the robe first and then the cape right after. "Whew..."

"Better," Edward said. "You should stop shivering in a moment."

Edge gave him a relieved face. "Thanks, that actually feels very good," he said.

Rydia smiled. "Alright, we can leave him behind and go now," she said.

The group barely walked several feet away until Edge realized they were leaving him behind on purpose. "HEY!" he called out until he ran to stop them from leaving him alone. "W-who said anything about leaving me alone? You guys are all so...so cold!"

"I smell irony," Palom said.

"Shut up, twerp," Edge muttered with a threatening glare. He looked worried once he looked at everyone else. "You can't just leave me like that! I need to know why you're going away with Rydia! I-I mean..."

Link shook his head. "Get a hold of yourself," he advised. "Stop and think what you're trying to say."

"Oh, I should do that..." Edge said. He let his brain think for a few seconds so that logic would hit him hard. "...Alright, I'm collected now... Where are you going with such a big group of children, swordsmen, bee-guys, and Edward?"

Rydia looked at the group. "Should we?" she asked.

Everyone gave up and agreed. "Tell the desperate loser already," Charmy said.

"We were just about to investigate the temple close to the waterfall north of Baron," Rydia said. "These guys came from other worlds to see what's going on."

"...Excuse me? People from other worlds?" Edge was interested to hear more from Rydia. "Come to think of it, they don't really seem to come from somewhere around here..."

Toon Link rolled his eyes. "It took him several minutes for his mind to register that info?" he asked bewildered.

The king was told everything about what he (supposedly) wanted to know. Unlike Edward's explanation, Rydia managed to cut out much of her point of view to make Edge understand without frying his brain from so much information. All the while, Edge had a hand on his chin while nodding to every single word Rydia said.

"Ah, now I get it...I think," Edge said.

Rydia put her hands on her hips. "Well?" she asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Follow you all the way to that temple, of course!" Edge said with a giddy look. "You taught me that I needed to protect the whole world and not just Eblan. I'm not letting some Submarine Army destroy our peaceful world!"

The red-haired swordsman was about to correct Edge. "It's... You know, I'm not even bothering," Roy said.

"Yay, that's the spirit," Rydia faked excitement. "You're not planning to go back to Eblan? It is still trying to recover from Rubicante's last attack..."

"Why should I? The kingdom can rebuild by itself for today. I need to make sure you don't get hurt," Edge said with a surprised look. "If a guy lies a single finger on you, I'll unleash my rage upon them!" He tightened his right fist, showing it to the group. "No way you're going alone without me."

Link could have sworn seeing C. Falcon's vivid image standing right on Edge's spot which caused him to lament their bad luck. "(Oh my goddesses, they have their own one too,)" he thought dismayed.

"No matter what you say, I'm coming along!" Edge said determined.

Rydia face-palmed. "At least introduce yourself to our new otherworldly friends. You've got to show some mannerisms as the king of Eblan," she said.

Edge heard that suggestion from his adviser one time too many, but he was willing to listen to it if it came from Rydia directly. "Okay!" he said sheepishly, putting his fists on his hips. "Nice to meet you all! The name's Edge Geraldine, only King of Eblan and superb ninja master!"

Edge Geraldine (or just Edge) is the remaining member of the royal Eblanese family. Since he is the only one who successfully mastered all ninja techniques, it is his job to pass on the training to those who reside in Eblan in order to protect the kingdom. Despite the fact he became a king not long ago, Edge strives to have a life without so many royal matters that he must do one day to become a true king. He is EXTREMELY hot-blooded and, to the dismay of many, kind of a womanizer. Edge believes that his beloved half orange is Rydia though the later does not have the slightest interest on him at all. Although his attitude leaves a bad impression, he is a very skillful fighter.

"This is gonna be fun," Edge said. "It feels like good old times, traveling around the world, defeating baddies... Aah, memories."

"Please don't say that..." Rydia trailed off with a sigh.

"Extra points for you being there," Edge told Rydia.

"Seriously, that king training has turned you into a lost cause," Rydia said bored. "Is it really that necessary for you to flee from the castle just to come all the way here and see me in the most unexpected of times?"

"Hey, it feels like I'm being told to stay in the house. You'd do the same if you didn't have another option! In fact, you did the same thing...well, something just like that one time, remember?" Edge blinked. "Uh... Are you going to slap me if I say yes?" he asked.

"Depends."

"Yes!"

"...You're not worth the slap," Rydia admitted.

Toon Link chuckled and looked deviously at Link. "Those two kind of remind me of you and Zelda," he said.

While Link kicked Toon Link on the rear, Zelda grimaced and blushed. "W-why do you people try so hard to pair me up with Link? Honestly, I don't see what's so funny in that!" she said.

Roy clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Can we just please leave the village and get going to the temple? We're running out of time!" he said.

Edge nodded. "The guy speaks the truth! Full throttle to the waterfall!" he said.

The Smashers felt so much sorry for the king's attitude. What Rydia said about Edge was true: he became insane of not seeing her in long periods of time. "What a stalker with a crush," Nana remarked sarcastically.

Hot-blooded Edge has forced his way into your team without your consent!

Music stops

With the lively ninja having joined their ranks, the group set off to the west. What they didn't know was that Chip wasn't all too interested in having another member in their party. Light Gaia was bothered by that feeling so much that he started to get worried about his time. Very soon, all would be over. The journey would probably end with Chip returning to the core of the earth and rest for the eternity.

Chip enjoyed seeing the outside world a lot that he was going to cherish the fruitful memories he had created. Just thinking that his time would end soon put him in a state of misery. He wanted to stay outside longer. He wanted to be with Sonic's side. He wanted to have fun. He wanted to eat more sweets and have a nice time.

"(...I guess this happens when you make friends,)" Chip thought. "(You just don't want to let go of them knowing you're about to depart for the eternity...not seeing them again...not even one more time...)"

Chip didn't have any idea about what was left to come to them. If they succeeded, Chip would leave. If they failed, Dark Gaia would kill Chip and everyone. Either way, he was going to part ways soon. He shed a few tears and wiped them out to avoid being seen crying.

Unbeknownst to Light Gaia, the next event was a step closer to a future filled with blood and insanity caused by an evil spirit besides Dark Gaia that was about to be freed...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Darkness' Sentient Mind. Oh boy, does that sound creepy..." Palom said. "...Perfect for sage training!"

"Be my guest and go to fight a deity that will crush you under its hand's weight," Porom said.

"Sweet! That makes it even better! Here I go future super sage!"

"Why do I bother..."

"Sibling love. It happens," Nana said.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Mist-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Charmy, Palom, Porom, Edward, Rydia, Edge

References:

"Final Fantasy IV DS – Troian Beauty" plays in Troia Castle. What a beautiful, enchanting remix...

Out of Curiosity...:

So did the English dictionary accept "Spoony" as a word or not?

And now the plot has thickened even further. I think it's obvious to deduce what happened to Dr. Eggman's base given the mysterious darkness he saw with his own eyes. But where does that put the Subspace Army?

The Frontier Brains' appearance was planned for a long time now. The reason why they appeared is because I wanted to indicate that the Sinnoh trainers shall soon leave the mansion. But beyond that, the battle between Red and Darach will happen in the next chapter.

As for Chip, I have more stuff to do with him. This will lead to his eventual departure from the story...if he manages to live through the new direction, that is.

Well, that's about it for now...

Wait a minute, you didn't just skip the chapter to read the special announcement, did you? How can I put this...

This special announcement isn't related to this story at all, but I think it's worth mentioning that I started my Youtuber status in Youtube. What that means is that I'm now able to record my own playthroughs of the games I have. If you wish to see my channel, go to the link of my profile and see if I'm worthy enough of getting subscriptions from my fellow readers. Don't worry about this distracting me from writing though. It takes a while to upload videos. Using that time, I can multitask and write for the story at the same time. I have experience writing humor so that's why every single description of my videos will have some notes filled with some jokes (if they happen to make you chuckle at least). The good thing is that I'll appear more active in Youtube so that you don't think I'm "dead" or something.

With no much else to say, look forward to the next suspense-filled chapter. I encourage Spoony Bard fanatics to review.

...Or Rydia is marrying Edge next chapter.

Roy: How is that even threatening?

Rydia: The fact I don't love him and that he makes me sick when he gets lovesick should explain why that sounds threatening especially to me?

Edge: I love this threat, then!
*Chapter 190*: The Darkness' Sentient Mind

Sweet goodness, I stop writing for some months due to classes and I find chaos in here. People bypassing rules to exclaim how miserable they feel, annoying trollers, people asking for OCs given they seem to not know how to handle the main cast of the section, lots of yaoi (what a shock), and flying pigs flying everywhere... Oh, wait, what? I'm back!

From ngrey651:

Oh, Chip...it'll be sad to say goodbye to him, I've grown so fond of him.

You know...there was something I didn't say to you that I feel I should have. Usually I am very, VERY against character death, I mean, why take away the ability to tell stories about them? But the deaths of the others in the disease-ridden chapters of tragedy were well done. You built them up, you made them feel like more than random tragedy, and there were deep and dear consequences. So even though I sort of got pissed at you for killing them off like that, I also really respect how you handled their passing. Thank you.

From me:

I'm pretty sure you'll stick around even though the story disposed of four characters in one fell swoop. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From TARDISreviewer:

I think the reason it's mainly things like the FF games being voted is they're the more well known ones. Less well known will = less votes. FOr an example, if you hypothetically decided to do, say, a Touhou arc, you'd get barely any votes for it, because it's not well known. Whereas choosing an FF arc would get many more votes in comparison.

On that subject... I'll put a question to the other reviewers if they decide to read it - Who has the superior Mega Flare - FF's Bahamut or Touhou's Utsuho Reiuji?

I haven't played the sequel to FF4, so quite a bit will be new t ome. Good thing all 5 FF4 characters are ones from teh original game.

Also, Palom's sort of right about the Meteor thing - He (and Rydia) are indeed able to learn it. Why is he only partially right? Because, should the player decide to elvel grind enough, they can learn the spell BEFORE Tellah breaks the seal.

And an interesting note about Edward - he is only actally useful in the GBA and DS versions (DS makes his ability VERY useful indeed, possibly on par with the Sing ability of FF5 (which is VERY good on supprt, as I know from personal experience), whereas the GBA version allows you to put him back in the party at a certain point, and upon hitting level 70, he gets very good stat gains (he can very quickly become the quickest character in the party, and the harp found in the bonus dungeon unlocked at the same time makes him good in random encounters in the final dungeon because it deals extra damage to dragons - Yes, that does mean he'll be hitting for 9999s.)

...OK, I didn't intend for this to be derailed into FF4 ifnro, but... yeah.

And reviewers, make sure to answer my Mega Flare related question if you can. (hell, FF5 Bahamut's Mega Flare even looks similar to Utsuho's - jsut replace the white explosions with shrinking minisuns and add blue orbs.)

From me:

I think I'm going to do away with the poll and let my instinct take in to give a proper order. And for that, the next poll will be the last one. This is kind of a risky move, but I'm sure everyone will understand. Thanks for going too much into detail abou-I mean, for reviewing. ;)

From dragon19yoshi:

Now that's more like it! Sonic Unleashed and Final Fantasy? Sounds like my favorite chapter!

From me:

Er, I honestly don't like that combination. It's a good thing Final Fantasy is the more dominant one. Thanks for commenting.

From Safire Ranmako:

I'm sorry for my last review. I'd ment to say I don't care very much for EBA so I can't really say much for the chapter, but I accidentally hit the review button before I got my thoughts from my head to the page. Again I'm sorry.

This chapter was much better, I loved it. I can't say much more than that.

Though I'd still like to hear your thoughts on my Epic Mickey suggestion, even though it probably won't amount to much.

From me:

*Throws shotgun away* That takes care of a problem, I suppose. As for Epic Mickey, I don't really like that game. It looks a bit too depressing (even though that's supposedly the theme for it). But thanks for reviewing anyway. :D

From FF and STH:

Nicely done here, we almost seen all the cast of FF4 beside Kain and rosa (hope to see them in the next chapter)

Also with the pokemon battle with red and Darach, at first I thought their would be something about pokemon black and white because Lady Caitlin is the also an member of the Unova Elite Four, being all because you said something about Chris not necessarily have to own the games to make their worlds appear.

From me:

Sorry, Rosa and Kain already appeared briefly in the FFIV Arc, but they're not appearing here (Kain for a better reason).

We're talking about Darach and Caitlin in Platinum terms, so there's nothing about Unova in her. Thanks again. :)

From jioplip:

...

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...

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...I can't think of anything to say...

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... ... ... ... ...Hi...

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...This is getting ridiculous, so...

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Awesome chapter, overall, and I'm looking forward to the Pokémon Battle next time. AS well, I'm looking forward to seeing the Ministers short-term plans.

Also, I'd just like to say that one major reason I like this story over others is that you don't just write for what people always WANT to read, that's what I feel makes a story great, when the people who are reading don't like what's happening in the story, because that means they care about the characters and don't want to see them go through tragic and sad events.

For example, in a story that avoided loss and death, and just "got the team together" I would expect G&W and R.O.B. to join the smashers, but with this story, I just don't know what will happen, because you write what people don't want to read, even though, at the same time, they DO want to read it, because that's what makes this story great.

So, in short, I congratulate you on superb writing, and I hope you continue to write what I do and don't want to read, because I want to read both. :)

From me:

Those two Smashers will come up soon enough, but not now. There's a very, very important story plot when their time to act comes, though. Until then, enjoy the story. :D

From jj:

you know i been wondering by the time red capture charizard will he leave to finish his journey as he's the only smasher who didn't finish his adventure well hes the only pokemon smasher that does have a adventure. and look like chip is getting serious hmm about time

you know when i 1st start reading this fic because it was the longest and best super smash bro fanfic at 1st i thought i wasnt gonna like it since there is a smasher (lucario) from the start and i despise stories focused on one charectar. because

1=you did games like wind waker take place near the beginning of the game whic when in middle of games like now it would be interesting

2= it was boring seeing Lucario do all the fighting with Chris hardly doing anything except showing his fanboyism i mean you dont want chris to be gary stu but come on he hardly did anything

3= because Chris and Lucario bond creeps me out a little no offense and when Chris get the tiniest of scratch Lucario gets mad that irritated me a little

it wasn't until melee smasher join that it finally got interesting so i basically skim through some of the 1st saga

sorry for that rant i just had to say it but otherwise good job and something will tell me chris get his voice back in the least expected moment and i miss hearing his reaction to thing writing isn't enough because i wanted to see his reaction to elite beat agent but keep up the good work

From me:

Red is probably going to think about finishing his journey IF he does catch Charizard.

And I do understand about that rant. The beginning of the story still bothers me a lot, so I'm going to have to do more adjustments to give everyone a better representation. I'm going to fix Chris up and have him act like he does now, and I'll throw some more stuff to fix some grave errors. For now, though, I wish to finish this saga. Thanks for giving me something to think about. :)

From cybirdude:

I have two questions. First off, I want to ask if the smashers are going to gain new non-shared abilities (ex. Yoshi's Color Change). Secondly, why don't you use Mewtwo, Pikachu,Pichu and Red anymore? I'm not suggesting you use them more, but I'm just asking why.

From me:

The Smashers will gain new abilities. In fact, a new one is learned in this chapter.

Mewtwo can't really go to many worlds because it's in his character to deny most missions. Pikachu is kind of trying to rest from what happened to Pichu. And Red… Well, to be honest, the selection of words puts a few of them at a disadvantage, so I'll fix that up very soon. For now, just wait. Thanks for…asking?

From Genndy Oda C.O.G:

Great chapter! I'm happy to metaphorically see Palom and Porom again. Lady Caitlin was a nice touch as well. I hope to see other Frontier Brains as well in time. On an unrelated note, will there be a Punch-Out arc during the course of the story? Your characterization is brilliant.

Sincerely,

Genndy Oda C.O.G.

P.S.: For the love of all that is good and holy, please don't kill another Pokèmon.

From me:

Mwahahahaha, of course I have a Punch-Out arc in mind. But it's not really an arc since there isn't much to elaborate to make Mac a fighter outside the ring (how ironic). BUT! I have a golden idea to make a single chapter that'll be extremely entertaining enough.

And no, I'm not killing another Pokémon. Rest assured. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From N the puppet:

O.o;...Wow, for some strange reason, I thought it was Rachel and Valkenhyn who were talking to Red. (Maybe because of how they acted similar?)

Hm, kinda weird to think Edge is older than Cecil given how he acts.

Can't wait for the next chap!

From me:

I've got no idea who those two are. *Looks them up in Google* Oh, BlazBlue characters. I see.

You think that's weird? I've seen plenty of protagonists being younger than older characters that look about the same young age. Luke and Guy from Tales of the Abyss come to mind. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From S.S.:

Disclaimer: Ya know how Duke's mystic arte is Brave Vesperia? And Brave Vesperia was siblings with The Child of the Full Moon? Duke wasn't a fanboy of Yuri and Co, he is ESTELLE'S BROTHER. Sequel alert. (This theory was entirely thought up by me.)

I'm BACKKK! Misleading title of Ch187 is misleading.

Anyway, nice to see a new arc... although it's FF4 again... who cares, half of me reads this for the game, the rest is for the story. Then again you introduced me to now my favoritest games ever(Persona&ToV) Thankyou with all my heart. I mean it. (Whenever I do a review think of it as more of a PM esque.)

Got sidetracked. Anyway it's nice to see your Bio updated and left plotlines here and there (TCSOarccough). Also SUBSCRIBATION!111one I think I did it as early as your Pork Tank vid.

Anyway whenever I review expect the most chaotic writing style you have ever seen. Despite living in a country sandwiched between China and Japan I do know grammar and spelling. I just have very bad writing techniques.

Thank you for reading this horrendous review.

PS. Q of the day: Your arcana(s)? Mine is Fortune

From me:

I'm a bit confused as to what I read just now, but I think you're happy. Thanks again, I guess. :)

From The Meddler:

You Spoony Bard!. . . Okay, I'm not a fan of that game, but I still had to say that. XD Nice chapter. It looks like Dark Gaia's arrival is getting closer and closer. I wonder how that's going to happen, since Sonic is currently stuck in a box? Oh well. I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

From me:

Oh, all your questions are kind of answered in the chapter. The end does raise even more questions, though. Get reading and enjoy it. ;)

From fanfic reader:

this is an amazing story. it took me 3 weeks to read it from the start to where it is now. there were a few strange moments where you missed a word or 2 but other than that i can't find anything wrong with it.

can i please request a tales of phantasia for GBA arc? it is a truly amazing game. i personally put it on par with the FF games, but thats just me.

From me:

I kind of want to makes a Tales of Phantasia arc, but I lack all the info about what happens in the actual game. Besides, it doesn't help that it's gone through some horrible translation issues that I might unleash the fans upon my back. Soon enough, I'll see what I can do.

AND PLEASE, EVERYBODY, STOP REQUESTING ARCS I'M NOT ASKING FOR!

Thanks for sticking with me, dude. :D

From Eliz:

Gohboh: High Score=/=Mary Sue. :P

The REAL FACTOR is just how you HANDLE the character AND how well is the story WRITTEN...just a reminder. Bad writing makes Mary Sues and the test only serve as a guideline. :3

(BTW: Hope Chris recovers soon. :D)

From me:

O…kay? I didn't understand the first sentence, but I think you like the story too. Thanks, I guess. :)

From Bomb Ring:

I was the no name person a few chapters asking you if in my fanfic if I could use your Lucario in my fanfic. What I meant was his physical characteristics, you know his heigth and strength...though it is going to be a while until a Lucario is going to appear.

I give this chapter a 7/10, I have seen you do better.

From me:

Uh, wow, kind of demanding in a sense. Well, to be fair, Lucario isn't just one of a kind, so it's up to you to do whatever you want as long as the one you're going to create isn't incredibly the same as my Lucario in terms or, well, everything he is.

WELL!

I'm back, everyone. I hope I can stay here and give you faster updates despite the fact I have college.

In this chapter, you shall see the ending of the mini arc, the ending of the Red VS. Darach battle, and the controversy thrown at the end of the chapter. After all that's done over with, we're entering a Mansion Chapter, and then the final arc to end the saga at last.

Without any more interruptions, I encourage all devoted readers to read on, stop the endless supply of yaoi material, and review. :)

Disclaimer: This fic is indirectly telling people that furred characters are okay to kill. Wait till PETA hears about this to gain attention, and then say they like the story without removing whatever stupid-looking flash game they made about it!

Chapter 190: The Darkness' Sentient Mind

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

Being inside a magic cube was the last thing Sonic needed to be. Master Hand put the magic cube to cover the area surrounding the hedgehog's bed. The cube was invisible but tangible. Sonic was known to be quite claustrophobic when it came down to closed spaces. Fortunately, the fact the cube was invisible didn't cause him freak attacks within his mind.

Acting freaked out was a thing, though. Asking was another issue.

"You sure I'm not trapped inside a cube?" Sonic asked with a sheepish smile.

Dr. Mario sighed. "No, Sonic, you're not trapped inside a cube. It's all inside your mind. If you step off the bed, you're going to crash for running too fast," he said. He was intentionally messing with the hedgehog's mind to keep him at bay.

"Yes! That's logical!" Sonic said nodding. "There's no way you guys would imprison me like an animal because you're not that bad with me! I just need to sleep and wait for my full recovery!" He quickly slammed his head to his pillow. "Just gotta wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wai-"

The hedgehog kept saying the same word over and over again while the doctor turned around to see Amy. "As you can see, everything's just fine...if you ignore his mental stability," he said.

Amy sighed. "There's nothing we can do for him," she said. "It's for the better. I know soon enough he'll be falling for me like always." She joined her hands while she said that.

"(Now I'm worried about her mental stability,)" Dr. Mario thought.

The doctor remained silent while the pink hedgehog fantasized about her dream wedding. They could only hear Sonic's repeated words. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kil-"

"...Kill?" Dr. Mario and Amy repeated in unison, looking back to Sonic.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wai-" Sonic kept repeating, raising his head several times.

The doctor raised an eyebrow and turned to Amy. "Did we just hear him repeat another word?" he asked. "I'm sure he just said..."

"Uh...maybe it's his mental stability acting up?" Amy wondered. "His mind is being brainwashed... Oh well, that happens to crazy people. But you better make sure Sonic doesn't get insane like, say, Vector."

"Oh, I won't allow that to happen," Dr. Mario said. "I have a degree in psychology. I can fix him up in a month or so."

Amy was amazed Mario was also a psychologist. She wished Sonic would do other side jobs besides just being a plain free bird. "Isn't there anything you can't do?" Amy asked as a matter of fact.

The two of them or the others at the infirmary never noticed that Sonic put up a suspicious look with a hint of malicious intentions as he started muttering the word "kill" with great emphasis...

-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years-

-Earth-

Mist Cave

Final Fantasy IV DS – Into the Darkness

The Mist Cave was a mystic place with a sense of protection. True to its name, the cave was mildly filled with mist that could fool travelers into losing their footing given that there were abysses under small bridges across the cave itself. Today though, the cave had undergone a drastic change. It had turned into an ice cave with mist. Every single speck of rock and earth was encased in thin ice that made the cave look crystalline.

"The cave turned into ice?" Rydia wondered aloud, taking several steps forward to look around. "I can't believe this... It hasn't even snowed so much as to freeze this cave!"

"Nor the cold was enough either," Edward theorized. "This is truly unsettling..."

Toon Link raised an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me this wasn't frozen before?" he asked.

Rydia turned back to them and shook her head. "No, I could've sworn the cave was normal a day ago," she said.

Edge looked up. "What if I told you I just went through here and it wasn't like this?" he asked with a serious look. Everyone replied with a big "what" question. "It's true. I passed through here an hour ago and it was a loss less chillier and frozen than now."

"Can we really believe your words?" Zelda asked skeptically. "You are not trying to scare us, are you?"

"Your Majesty, I do not wish to lie your humble ears," Edge said, crossing his arms. "I speak only the truth."

"This time," Palom added.

"Quiet, twerp."

Link sighed. "He does sound pretty serious about it, though. I think he's telling the truth," he said.

"Good to have some support from the lower class!" Edge said happily.

The Hylian looked bored. "Please don't say that..."

Rydia looked around more. "So the Mist Cave was unfrozen an hour ago yet we got here and saw everything frozen... Something isn't really right here," she said. "This must be related to the mysterious climate change all over this region. I have a feeling we're getting very close in finding out the source to all this."

Roy raised a finger. "The problem is where that source is," he said. "Do you believe it's somewhere around here?"

The summoner closed her eyes. "We summoners can feel earth's life and magic. Black Mages and White Mages can also do the same... No, it doesn't feel like an unusual energy is dwelling here," she said as she opened her eyes again. "Whatever froze the cave must've done it from far away and outside."

Palom concentrated. "Hmmmmm... Nope, I can't sense anything," he said disappointed. "What a bummer. I thought I was strong enough to sense evil just like Tellah. I really have a long way to go..."

Porom shook her head. "We shouldn't linger in here any longer. The Mist Cave is a pretty short place to go through. We can reach the exit to the other side in less than five minutes if we hurry up," she pointed out. "Just watch your step."

"And the monsters," Edward said.

Edge rolled his eyes. "The monsters in here are WAY too weak for us. Just whack them once and they'll keel over," he said.

The group moved on to the exit of the cave. As they did so, Edward recalled Edge came from the south. "Edge, you came from the south, didn't you? Did you notice anything strange while you made your way to Mist?"

Edge thought for a moment. "Well, all I can say is that it was about to snow when I crossed the cave," he said. "It felt cold on Baron's side as well."

"So then Baron is being affected too," Porom said. "This mystery is creepy…"

Toon Link grimaced. "I just know we're going to end up fighting some big monster," he said. "Everyone, clean your eyes nicely. We must attack the beast's weak point for massi-"

"Please don't say that," Zelda said. "If we fight such monster, Link shall take it on by himself. He's got the necessary experience and skill to do it alone."

Link obliviously nodded until he realized what the statement meant. "Hey, I fight monsters four times my size all the time but this could be very different! This world is probably more dangerous than Hyrule is!"

"At least Hyrule isn't being ruled by Ganondorf. It's become a much more peaceful land since then," Zelda pointed out. "I like to think you'll put your life on the line before I get to do it."

"You fight for our country too!"

"That's why I give support from behind," Zelda said with a happy look. Link could only grumble some words.

Edge hung his right arm on Link's shoulders. "You two remind me so much of me and Rydia," he said. "It's so nice to see there are others out of this world that shares the same feelings for one another." Link could only blush a shade of red after hearing that.

"Dear goodness, don't say that aloud, you poor excuse for a king!" Zelda scolded while she flushed. Rydia similarly flushed though she said nothing to avoid getting attention.

"I-I'm still learning the ropes!" Edge shot back. "Very soon, I shall be a respected king! My country needs me for I am Eblan's last living member!" he proclaimed.

"Start behaving as one, then," Rydia said dully.

"Ouch," Edge said to heart.

Roy whispered to Edward," Do you have to deal with this too all the time?"

Edward furrowed his brow. "As surprising as it might sound, I'm just starting to see this more often than before," he responded. "Now I know how it feels to see your friends' true colors the more time you spend with them… It is quite embarrassing."

"Touché," Roy said.

"I love romantic drama while traveling through a cold cave," Charmy sheepishly told the others.

Baron's Region

The monsters in the cave were pretty weak and thus the group curb-stomped them with no effort. Soon enough, they reached the exit of the cave to the other side of the mountains separating Mist and Baron. Though they were expecting to see a peaceful time, they witnessed something much worse. Upon coming out of the cave, they were met by a strong blizzard that ravaged the land before them. They watched shocked as the strong snow swept the land. The fact the snow was piling up everywhere made things bad.

"Yay!" exclaimed the Ice Climbers gleefully as they raised their hands above until some of the others looked serious at them. Popo and Nana smiled embarrassed until they sighed in defeat.

"A blizzard…" Rydia muttered.

"Is it just me or are things getting harder for us, nature-wise?" Palom asked. "…Cool! This is a test worthy of a sage-in-training like me! Mother Nature is sure a worthy opponent."

Porom grunted. "This also means we can die out there from frostbite or worse!" she scolded her twin brother. She shook her head and looked forward. "Should we really press on, though?"

"If might get worse if we don't move on," Link said. "It's better that we continue our way to the waterfall."

"I agree," Edward said. "I've been through worse before. Surely we can handle this strong weather by ourselves if we walk together without separating. The way to the northern waterfall shouldn't be a long way to go."

Edge nodded. "Let's have some good optimism, people!" he encouraged, walking several steps forward to lead the way. "Our hot passion for adventure should keep us warm enough!" He started walking away; not noticing the group stared at him from their spot.

"Dear god, he's starting to descend into cheesy insanity," Roy said.

Rydia frowned at her ninja companion. "This is just the tip of the iceberg for Edge. I fear he's not going to act his age and behave like a king at all," she commented.

"This could sound a bit cynical for me to say but his kingdom is going to fall by his own hands," Porom said.

Zelda closed her eyes. "Honestly, he gives royalty a bad name with his mere existence," she said.

"Can we please stop talking about Edge's demise and keep going to the temple before evening?" Toon Link asked. "…Aw, crap! We need to do this fast before evening! Who knows what Sonic could do once he goes evil werehog!"

Palom turned to the swords-boy. "Who's this Sonic guy and what's a werehog? Is it edible?" he asked oblivious.

Link raised a finger. "We have this hedgehog, speed-obsessed friend of ours who's resting at home right now as we speak. He's been cursed by his arch-nemesis by turning into a werewolf, or in his case, a werehog every night," he explained. "Long story short, he's desperate to find a remedy to his curse because not only is he cursed but a bloodthirsty evil spirit takes over his body every night as of late now. And when that spirit comes out…you'll see the true definition of a true cynical and sadist person."

Edge came back, overhearing the explanation. "Pfft, werewolves? That's so cliché," he commented.

"There's nothing more unoriginal like werewolves and anything related to them. It's so overdone," Edward commented. "Why, I admit I fall sleep whenever I read books about them."

Palom chuckled. "Hedgehog guy turns into a werewolf at night? Man, that's so overdone these days! People prefer vampires versus werewolves better! But I'm not a fan of that. It's so overrated with girls and I'm not a girl," he said. Chris could only stare in shock at no one in particular after hearing the grave implication.

Nana looked away. "Goodness, do all worlds out there think the same about werewolf stories or what?" she asked.

"But even I think the same, and I don't even read books!" Charmy said. "…I watch the movies, though, waiting for something cool to happen… It never…comes…" he sniffed.

Silence…

"…Temple? Now?" Popo asked.

"Oh, right," everyone else said before moving on with their journey.

The harsh climate kept monsters away from the group seeing how the monsters of the area weren't used to live in the cold. More often than not, there were eagles dropped dead and buried down under the snow. The most frightening part to some was the falling monsters that rested on top of trees.

"Those Goblins are frozen to death!" Palom noted.

"Yes, this is so unsettling," Edward said. "Is this blizzard worse than we think it is? Will it kill the monsters first before it eventually reaches Baron next?" he wondered.

"It's good enough that monsters aren't ambushing us like they did while we were climbing the cliff," Link said. "But can that Baron place be prepared for this?"

"I'm not so sure," Porom said. "This could be bad news for Baron if people start giving up against the cold… B-brr, it is getting colder the longer we walk."

Edge looked up at the cloudy sky. "Is Cecil going to be aware of this? I wonder what he'll do to help his kingdom," he said.

Roy started shivering. "There's got to be something going on around these parts. Maybe it's the temple that's causing this climate in the first place?" he asked.

"How could that be?" Toon Link asked. "The other temples didn't do that kind of thing before if I remember. Are you sure this world doesn't have a curse or a big bad messing with the environment?"

Rydia shrugged at the thought, recalling an incident some time ago. "No, it couldn't be that person…" she muttered to herself. "I don't believe there's a bad person who can do this. We made sure everything was peaceful again."

As they moved through the snow, the blizzard gradually got stronger and stronger with every passing minute…

-Smash Mansion-

Garden

Pokémon Platinum – Battle! Frontier Brain!

Darach pulled himself back as he brandished a Poke Ball from behind. "Do entertain Lady Caitlin, my friend. Go, Houndoom!" he called out as he tossed the Poke Ball high up in the air. A light shot down to the floor once the ball opened up, revealing a loyal yet strong-looking Houndoom who growled at Red.

Red gulped as he took out his Pokedex to get more insight about the canine.

Houndoom – Dark Pokémon

The flames it breathes when angry contain toxins. If they cause a burn, it will hurt forever.

Red yelped a bit. "I-I think this could get really bad if my Pokémon get burned with its flames," he said.

"Red, don't listen to the Pokedex entries!" Lucas (the trainer) said. "They're often riddled with over exaggerations than many Pokémon researchers tend to write down for some reason! If you think too much, your mind could get a nasty headache."

The Kanto Trainer blinked bewildered. "Then how come we use these if they give us false info?" he asked.

"No idea! It's kewl to fill it out!" Barry said. Albeit crazy, it was a very reasonable idea for many. "Good for reading while in the bathroom!" he added to the dismay of his friends. Even Caitlin grimaced.

"Please do not listen to your machine's information," Darach said. "Let us just fight. Oh, and don't worry. Houndoom's flames don't really cause eternal burns." His Pokémon was so well trained that it nodded in agreement.

Red was still worried, but he shook his head to get back into the game. "N-never mind, then. Squirtle, go!" he told his Pokémon. Confidently, Squirtle walked into the battlefield and assumed his spot.

Lucas raised both of his flags. "Begin!" he called out.

"(Okay, it's been a really long ever since I had a battle. It's time to get back into this…)" Red thought before he pointed forward. "Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

"Dodge it and get close to use Crunch, Houndoom!" Darach shot back.

To Red's horror, Houndoom turned out to be a stronger Pokémon once it easily stepped aside and began charging to Squirtle at full throttle at an alarming speed. Even Squirtle was taken off-guard. "A-ah, keep using Water Gun!" Red ordered.

But even using Water Gun proved useless as Houndoom zigzagged all water shots while coming closer. Eventually, Houndoom lunged forward and opened its mouth to reveal its sharp, bare fangs.

"(HOLY-)" Squirtle screamed mentally until he used Withdraw the moment Houndoom's fangs latched onto one of the holes. Red gasped after seeing that happen.

"Hmm, astute," Darach remarked. "But it won't be enough in your case, I'm afraid. Shake that shell!"

Houndoom started shaking Squirtle's shell to force him to come out. Red was panicking about the move until he got an idea. "Squirtle, use Water Gun from the shell, hurry!"

Squirtle armed himself with courage and used Water Gun, scoring one clean hit to Houndoom's face. The Dark Pokémon growled in pain as it backed away, releasing the shell from its mouth. Squirtle fell back on the paved floor and came out from his shell.

"I must say, I've never battled a Squirtle, much less its evolutionary line," Darach admitted. "Most people who challenge the Battle Castle have fully evolved Pokémon. My fighting style revolves around exploiting anything they bring to me. I've never seen somebody use very 'young' Pokémon. Are you planning to evolve your Pokémon soon?"

Red looked unsure as Squirtle and Ivysaur eyed him. "As long as it's okay with them… I respect their opinions," he said.

Darach smiled. "A true trainer listens to their Pokémon's wishes. Well done," he said. "However, the battle hasn't ended yet. Houndoom, use Roar!"

Houndoom let out a loud sounding roar that forced Squirtle to cover his ears. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon was pushed back to Red's side while Ivysaur's feet acted on its own, taking him to the battlefield. The Seed Pokémon blinked in shock as to what happened.

"H-hey!" Red called out. "W-what did just…?"

"Roar forces the opponent to withdraw," Lucas said. "And then, a Pokémon of your team is chosen at random."

"Is that really allowed?" Red asked. "That kind of messes up my strategies!"

"It is meant to do just that," Darach said amused. "Houndoom, approach Ivysaur and use Fire Fang!"

Ivysaur gasped. He had a big fear against Fire-type Pokémon that he practically shivered at the dangerous-looking Houndoom running to him. It didn't help Houndoom was larger than he was. As flames leaked out from the Dark Pokémon's mouth, Ivysaur shook in fear.

"Do something, you idiot!" Barry called out from the bench.

Red shifted his eyes around until something popped into his mind. "Ivysaur, use Vine Whip to cover its mouth, quick!" he ordered.

Ivysaur closed his eyes and shot out his vines to Houndoom. The Dark Pokémon's mouth got wrapped up tightly with the vines that flames were kept inside. Houndoom itself got panicked at the move that he shook its mouth to get free.

"Phew…" Red sighed.

"Red, stop sighing and concentrate!" Dawn encouraged. "You gotta show some skill!"

"R-right," Red said, breaking from his moment of relief. "Ivysaur, throw Houndoom away! And yes, you can open your eyes now!"

Ivysaur opened his eyes and saw what he was doing. He grunted as he tossed Houndoom aside, but the Dark Pokémon landed on its feet without sustaining damage. It growled menacingly at Ivysaur, sending a shiver down his back. "That Pokémon sure needs to be more courageous…" Caitlin muttered under her breath. She seemed unimpressed by Red's performance.

"Get sharp, Ivysaur!" Red cheered. "It's just a Fire-type! No need to worry!"

"(My frail flower bulb could burn REALLY badly!)" Ivysaur screamed mentally. He would die if he saw the leaves on his back burning fervently.

Darach chuckled. "Houndoom, try using Fire Fang once more and please dodge all attacks!" he ordered. His loyal Pokémon growled and ran after Ivysaur, its fangs covered in flames.

"Use Vine Whip again!" Red ordered. Ivysaur felt a little bit more confident that the trick would work again.

But it was trap.

"Change your focus and bite its vines!" Darach ordered.

Red and his team gasped loudly as Houndoom's fiery fangs opened up and bit one of Ivysaur's vines so hard that Ivysaur cried badly. The vines' pain went directly to his body, and the burning feeling made everything worse. What's more, the fire of the fangs engulfed the entire vine, ending with Ivysaur being engulfed in fire himself. "Ivysaur!" Red yelled.

"Pokémon Bonfire!" Barry said. He got a hit in the elbow by Dawn.

"Do something or Ivysaur is gonna get knocked out!" Dawn said.

"I-I'm trying to!" Red said. "Ivysaur, try pulling your vine back!"

But Ivysaur was busy trying to resist the pain as Houndoom kept a tight grip on his vine. The flames weren't making things easier at all.

"(What should I do now?)" Red thought dismayed. "(If I don't do something…) Ivysaur, aim Houndoom with Bullet Seed!"

Ivysaur knew he could do that just fine if he hurried. He aimed the bulb of his back to Houndoom and then shot a barrage of seeds that struck its face hard. The Dark Pokémon grunted under the pressure until it backed off, releasing Ivysaur's vine from its fangs. Ivysaur pulled back the vine and sighed in relief as the flames went away.

Sadly though, Ivysaur became briefly engulfed in flames before they put away themselves. That small happening meant bad news to Red. "He's got burned…" he muttered.

Ivysaur was already panting heavily in pain. "(Why do you think…I hate Fire-types the most…huh?)" he thought dismayed. He wasn't surely going to last for any longer if he got hit again.

Darach noticed Ivysaur's exhaustion from where he was standing. "It looks like your Ivysaur won't hold on. Do you still want to continue? I'm asking because I don't want to hurt your Pokémon so badly," he said.

"I…I'll…" Red stared worried at Ivysaur. The Seed Pokémon pulled himself back together and eyed Red with a serious look. "…We'll keep fighting on!" he told Darach.

"Such fervent determination…that's what we Frontier Brains like the most from trainers such as you," Darach said pleased. "Will you show Lady Caitlin how long can your devotion last, though? Let's see! Houndoom, get close to Ivysaur and use Crunch!"

Red gasped when Houndoom charged forward again. "(This Houndoom likes fighting close combat, right? I haven't seen it using Ember of Flamethrower at all…which means we should try attacking from a long distance.) Ivysaur, I know you're hurt, but try using Vine Whip again!" he ordered.

Caitlin looked unimpressed. "Repeating the same move again? How unoriginal," she commented. Red could sweat-drop at the comment he heard.

"(He so wants to kill me,)" Ivysaur thought dismayed, but he still used Vine Whip. He shot his vines against Houndoom once more.

Darach chuckled. "Lady Caitlin dislikes seeing trainers use the same moves over and over again. I guess it's about time to wrap things up aroun-"

"Wrap those legs and slam Houndoom around!" Red interrupted.

Houndoom was taken off-guard once the vines dove down and tangled up around his four legs. The Dark Pokémon gasped before the vines pulled it to the air and the pulled it back down to the floor, crashing its head hard against the paved floor. Houndoom let out roars of pain as Ivysaur kept banging it against the floor.

Caitlin blinked with interest at the sudden turn of events. Darach sweated a bit. "Alright, I guess you're different from other trainers," he remarked. "Houndoom, use Counter!"

Houndoom's eyes shot open as a blue aura enveloped its body. When Ivysaur crashed the hound against the floor, the force ended up pushing Ivysaur back with double damage. While Houndoom got back up on its feet, Ivysaur wiggled its own feet as it tried to get back up. "Ivysaur!" Red yelled.

"(No use, Ivysaur out, bleh,)" Ivysaur thought giving up, lying upside down with black Xs on his eyes. Barry let out a dramatic gasp.

"No!"

Lucas raised a white flag to Darach. "Ivysaur is out!" he said.

Although Darach smiled a bit at his small victory, Houndoom looked exhausted due to the constant slamming it went through. Red called back Ivysaur with his Poké Ball and sighed. "Well, this just goes on to say I need to get more used to battling trainers…" Red muttered. "Squirtle, go! Your opponent's weak!"

Squirtle returned to the battlefield, a serious look on his face. "Houndoom, use Crunch on Squirtle!" Darach said, wasting no more words to continue the battle.

"Stay on the spot for the right moment, Squirtle!" Red said.

"What!" Barry called out. "Whatcha have in mind letting your Squirtle become turtle soup?"

"Barry, shut up! I know what I'm doing!" Red yelled back without glancing at the blond.

"Whatever you have in mind, Houndoom shall out-speed it," Darach said confidently.

Houndoom leaped high on Squirtle to burrow deep its fangs into his skin. The speed of its fall was a bit too fast, but it all went according to Red's plan. "Squirtle, use Surf!" Red ordered. Squirtle suddenly rode a stream of water that appeared out of nowhere below his shell, pushing him up with the water. Houndoom widened its eyes as the stream of the water crashed hard against its whole body as Squirtle skipped right over its back.

"How can that move be Surf?" Darach asked surprised. "It is so different compared to what we've seen." He shook his head. "This isn't going to mark the end fo-"

"Spin around and use Water Gun!" Red interrupted.

Houndoom was taken by surprise once Squirtle charged his water to release a strong stream from his mouth. The pushing force pulled Houndoom back to the surface, crashing hard against the floor once more. A small dust of cloud covered the field as Squirtle landed back on his feet. He looked back just in time to see the knocked out expression on Houndoom's face.

"…" Darach remained silent until he slightly smiled.

"Houndoom is out!" Lucas said. "Both opponents now have two Pokémon each!"

The valet merely returned Houndoom to its Poké Ball, putting it away from sight. "Thank you for showing such a marvelous performance in battle," he told the sphere, looking back to Red. "Impressive. You are truly full of surprises. Lady Caitlin is having a good time watching."

The trainers looked at Caitlin's blank look. There wasn't the slightest hint of amusement on her empty look. "Er, how…uh…never mind," Dawn said.

Inside the mansion's halls, Samus and Falco passed by the window and saw what was going on outside. "Are they having one of those Pokémon battles?" Samus asked.

"Looks like it," Falco said. "Some people barged into the garden too."

"Well, as long as they don't give Master Hand trouble, I guess it'd be worth watching from here," Samus said. "Let's stay put until their battle ends."

"Meh, nothing interesting is going on elsewhere. Might as well," Falco said grinning.

Back outside, Darach pulled out another Poké Ball. "We're lucky the show isn't over yet," he said before tossing the sphere high up. "Come on out, Staraptor, and show us your graceful flight!"

Out of the ball, the Predator Pokémon appeared in midair, flapping its big wings. "Staraptor!" it cried out with an intimidating look that paralyzed Squirtle a bit.

Even Red seemed affected. He took out his Pokédex to get the Pokémon's data.

Staraptor – Predator Pokémon

It never stops attacking even if it is injured. It fusses over the shape of its comb.

"Oh, please! All Pokémon don't stop attacking either!" Red argued.

"Stop arguing with the know-it-all machine and fight, fight, fight!" Barry cheered on.

Red regained his composure and looked at Squirtle. "D-don't get too scared! Sure, it's intimidating look is intimidating but even still…" he trailed off. He was unaware about the fact Squirtle's (and his) attack power was reduced by ten percent. "Let's bring that bird down with Water Gun!"

Squirtle put up a tough look and shot a water stream to Staraptor. "Double Team, let's go!" Darach ordered swiftly. Staraptor cried loudly as it multiplied into several images around the air. The water shot just went through one of them, failing to hit the real target.

"I-I've never dealt with this kind of move before!" Red admitted. "What should I do?"

"Blindly hit all of them!" Barry suggested.

"Alright… Squirtle, hit each one of them until you find the real one!" Red issued. Squirtle promptly listened and began shooting all the fake Staraptors with Water Gun. Suddenly, one of the copies dove down upon the Water type.

"Aerial Ace, now!" Darach said. Staraptor's wings suddenly shone as it slashes Squirtle hard with them quickly. The blow knocked Squirtle back several feet away as Staraptor gained flight.

Red grew worried that the hit was too much for Squirtle. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon seemed to be struggling a bit getting back on his feet. "It's got a lot of strength but that isn't enough to knock you out!" he encouraged. "Don't give up just yet."

"An admirable display for victory," Darach remarked. "It will satisfy both of us at the end once I finish this. Staraptor, get close and use Return!"

The Predator Pokémon turned around in midair and dove down for Squirtle. The Water type gasped. "We've got to hit harder this time! Use Hydro Pump!" he said.

"Hydro Pump?" Caitlin wondered. "A Squirtle like that one knows that move already?"

Squirtle gathered as much waste as he could in his mouth to release a powerful stream of water to Staraptor. The Flying type stopped descending to turn around, but it was too slow as the blow was a direct hit. "Critical Hit! Nice!" Lucas remarked.

Staraptor fell a bit from the air until it regained its balance, shaking its soaked face. "That was incredible. Like I said before, not many trainers compete with un-evolved Pokémon. But those Pokémon do learn moves faster than it stronger counterparts… Well! All the more entertaining!" he said very pleased. "Staraptor, try using Return on Squirtle, and please do mind the water."

Staraptor chirped out in agreement just as if the Hydro Pump was nothing to it. Squirtle and Red gasped at the move. "Try shooting it down with Hydro Pump again!" Red issued.

Squirtle swallowed a lot of air to shoot another powerful stream of water. This one was dodged by Staraptor. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon however didn't stop his attack as he moved it around Staraptor, miserably missing it every time the water tried to lash down itself on the Predator Pokémon. Finally, Staraptor got so close to Squirtle that it slapped its wings hard.

The move was stronger than it looked like as Squirtle cried out in pain. With a roundhouse kick from Staraptor's talons, Squirtle went rolling back to Red. "What… No!" Red said, seeing Squirtle knocked out of cold right in front of his feet. He looked ill just looking at Squirtle.

"Squirtle is unable to battle!" Lucas announced. "Red has now one Pokémon left!"

Staraptor pulled back as Darach smiled slyly. "You don't look like you know much about Staraptors despite what your Pokédex told you," he said confidently. "Staraptors are known for having lots of attack power. Your Squirtle wasn't probably too strong to resist one of Staraptor's attacks and so it gave up." His sly look was replaced with a friendly one. "Oh, but don't be discouraged! I'm quite enjoying myself here. That Pikachu you have there should give us a real show given your other Pokémon members were so good."

Red called Squirtle back to his Poké Ball. The trainer looked at Pikachu on his right shoulder. "…Do your best out there. I know all your moves," he told Pikachu. The Electric type looked serious and nodded, jumping off from Red to the battlefield while gathering sparks on his cheeks.

Caitlin yawned, much for Darach's dismay. "Darach, please end this fight already," she said. "I'm getting tired just changing moods…"

"A-alright, Lady Caitlin," Darach said, adjusting his glasses.

Dawn looked dull. "Geez, that guy is so eating from her palm," she muttered.

"Really? I don't see 'em doing that…" Barry said oblivious.

Red sighed mentally just before the battle would resume its way. "(It's times like these that I wish I could catch Charizard… Does he really want to side with those guys anymore?)" he thought concerned. "(I know I can give him better treatment than they do to him…)" He watched as Pikachu leapt forward into the battle.

Music Stops

-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years-

-Earth-

Holoska Temple – Clearing

Final Fantasy IV DS – Into the Darkness

The blizzard raged on with much more force around the land, but it didn't seem to occupy the clearing in front of the Holoska Temple. The group finally arrived at the desired location without much trouble since the blizzard froze any native monsters they found on the way. The clearing in question was surrounded by pristine cliffs frozen in thick ice and snow, with big dunes of snow that they had crossed over. The waterfall was so cold that it eventually froze as well, forming a big wall of ice that leaded to the upper region of the mountains. To the left side of the frozen waterfall, the Holoska Temple rested. Thanks to the frozen architecture, the temple looked like a frozen palace that looked gorgeous from the outside. The inside looked far worse from the outside, though.

"It's…so beautiful…" Popo sniffed, shedding a tear. "It's like an ice paradise…on ice…"

"I always wanted to make a shining igloo," Nana said hopefully.

"I shall never understand your creepy obsession with ice," Toon Link commented. Everyone looked away in time to miss the Ice Climbers running back to dive into the snow dunes. "But anyway, we made it! The temple we've been looking for is right over there!"

Edward admired the surroundings. "But why on earth is this place not affected by the blizzard?" He looked back to see the snow not even making contact with the area they entered. The snow was sure trying to slam into the clearing, but it mysteriously moved aside. "It's just as if some force is trying to prevent the snow from burying the clearing…"

Rydia closed her eyes. "…There's an unbelievably magic force in here," she said, opening her eyes again. "It's…out of this world? I've never felt something as this powerful before!"

Edge crossed his arms. "So this place isn't native to our world? Huh, I kinda figured as much," he said.

Rydia looked worried. "Odd… While there is a positive energy flowing out from this place, there's also pure malice right here in this area," she explained. "I wonder what's all this…"

Link looked at her. "Positive and negative energies at the same place?" he wondered. "Why is that?"

"If you don't know any better, how would I know?" Rydia asked. "That evil feeling isn't assuring me at all."

Porom looked up. "Even I can feel the energies flowing out of control," she said.

"O-oh, yeah, me too!" Palom said hastily. "A sage-in-training like me needs to purge this place from evil and let goodness and…uh…positive energy take over!" He walked a few steps ahead from the group. "Any ideas?"

Roy sighed ashamed. "Why don't we just go into the temple and find out for ourselves what's going…?" he suggested. "There should be at least something inside."

"And if there's malice," Zelda began, "we all agree that Link must lead us himself so that he shields us from gargantuan monsters."

Link obliviously nodded and began walking forward. Once he heard chuckled from behind, he realized what he was doing. "Hey, stop messing with me like that! That's not nice!" he said embarrassed until the chuckles died out all of a sudden. The group stared past him with blank looks. "Alright, that's better but…why are you staring like that?" He turned around and gasped.

From the temple's entrance, a robed figure came out with a frozen, blank look. It was the Ancient Minister alone. Everyone remained silent as he seemed to hover above the snow thanks to the wheels under his robe. Most of the Smashers stared at him with intense hatred for what he did last time they met, with Popo and Nana peeking out their heads from the snow. The newcomers blinked in confusion. Chris stared worried at what he could do to them if they let their guard down by accident.

"Chris, this is a random comment but I somehow thought you were nonexistent for a long moment," Toon Link said. Chris could have easily gotten teary-eyed if it wasn't for the minister's presence.

"Greetings," the minister said. "It's been some time since we last met. Have you enjoyed yourselves lately?" he asked.

"How could you ask such a thing after what you did to us?" Zelda asked repulsed. "Thanks to you, Ike, Pichu, Fox, and Ness are all dead! I wouldn't have ever imagined that something so saddening like that would happen… You need to be punished for your crimes!" she yelled. The newcomers took this as a cue to glare at him.

The Ancient Minister shook his head. "Punishment? Crimes? I think you picked the wrong person to blame," he said.

"Uh, no, we're absolutely sure you're the criminal here," Roy said, a firm hand resting on his sword's handle. "Who was the one who killed Ike? It was you. Don't try to deny it."

"It's really sad you cannot understand what I'm trying to imply… My own work could be haltered if you don't follow," the minister said.

Toon Link blinked. "What do you mean with that? Are you trying to say you're not responsible for killing Ness?" he asked serious.

"Yes, yes I am trying to," the minister agreed. "What I'm trying to say is that my crimes don't have to fall on me. Rather, you should be looking at the bigger picture…" He turned around. "Sorry, but I cannot let you know more."

"Good, because we didn't want to anyway," Link said, unsheathing his sword. "We wanted to slay you down."

"Oh no," the minister said, looking over at them from his shoulder. "As it turns out, you don't see those other buffoons watching my every move. This is going to work for my advantage," he said. "There shouldn't be a skirmish here today."

"Well… I'm confused," Popo said. "What's going on?"

The minister turned to the frozen waterfall where a cage descended down with some people trapped inside. They were a group of five people; four who wore thick parkas and one who dressed as an old scholar. Two of the four wearing parkas looked like they were a couple while the other couple was made up of elderly people. "Please, set us free!" the man said. "We've been captured for a long time now!"

Edge tightened a fist. "You bastard, keeping hostages for your dirty tricks!" he yelled.

"Silence," the minister said. "Let me finish what I'm trying to say before I do set them free for real."

The statement made everyone stare at the minister with blank looks full of confusion. "Did I…just hear right?" Porom asked. "You're planning to just let them free…just like that?"

The minister nodded before turning away from them. "This whole Dark Gaia scheme…it's absurd and stupid," he said, shocking some of the Smashers. "It's a total waste of time to our goals. I'm the only one who thinks this, though. The others are willingly letting themselves listen to Dr. Eggman's words, even Lord Tabuu... Me? I think the whole plan as a whole is a big act of foolery that shouldn't have been touched at all." He turned back to them. "I'm in no way helping you to succeed. I'm using you to end this sooner. There's nothing we can gain from this plan to take control of Dark Gaia."

Chip grimaced and looked away.

"…Really?" Charmy asked. "That's it? You're giving up? No fair!"

"It's fair," the Ancient Minister said. "I'd rather give up on this than continue before Dr. Eggman stabs us in our backs. I know that man is completely insane despite his high IQ he likes to boast every time he open his annoying mouth." From the underneath side of his robe, four tablets slipped down to the snow. "Just take these things and the guardians before I get sick of this whole affair. If Lord Tabuu asks, I shall tell him that I was outnumbered and I had absolutely no assistance from Dr. Eggman that I had to fall back. He was supposed to be here with us but failed to show up…"

Rydia tilted her head. "Well, you are really outnumbered…" she admitted.

"Yes I am," the minister said. "I've got no hopes in winning a fight against you all at the same time under these conditions."

Link stepped forward. "Wait a minute! Do you think we're just going to let you go like that without taking you with us and receive your punishment?" he asked serious.

"Taking me as a hostage would draw a lot of attention from my superior, don't you think?" the minister asked, opening a portal to the Subspace from behind. "Besides, that cage can explode if I give a push of a button. It would be a waste if the guardians happened to die in front of your eyes…"

Most of the Smashers grunted in discomfort as the cage was brought down to the snow. It then opened without trouble, releasing the guardians from inside.

"And now this is my cue to leave," the minister said. "See you lat-"

The minister's good bye was interrupted by a tremor in the clearing. The group of people looked around to see what was going on. "What's happening now?" Palom asked. "I knew it! This was a trap set by you!"

The minister disapproved the thought. "I'm afraid I'm also confused," he said. "To be honest, I cannot produce tremors through sheer will…"

The ice in the middle of the clearing started to shatter into long cracks. It wasn't long before a ferocious roar echoed from within the ice itself. The roar only made the long cracks widen even more to the point the clearing became filled with them. The tremor only intensified until the ice shattered as a figure of pure darkness rose out. Seeing the monster made everyone but the minister gasp and look up.

"Oh my goodness!" Porom gasped. "What is that monster?"

"A monster, duh," Palom dully said, getting a whack from Porom.

The monster in question was a long dragon-looking creature whose whole body was a long neck with a head. Its whole body was purple with big, glowing green orbs running down from its back. It had shining light blue lips and fangs, with two long light blue horns that ran back to the sky.

Chip stared at the monster. "I-impossible… I-it's one of my brother's strongest monsters…a-and it appeared during plain day? What's going on?" he wondered aloud.

"That thing really is a creature from the night!" Zelda said. "Just look at its purple body… There's no way it could inhabit the earth at this time of the day!"

"(They are right,)" the minister thought, looking away as the monster was staring at his enemy party. "(How can Dark Gaia minions appear during the day if they're supposed to dwell during the night? Something definitely isn't going well according to this useless plan… It's more convenient to drop this out for good, then,)" he thought. "Well, this monster does not need my presence. I shall be going now… You better survive or else your efforts to save the hedgehog's world will be futile."

A portal to the Subspace opened up behind, and he went inside. "W-wait, you!" Link shouted, but the minister never turned back as the portal closed down. "Damn!"

"It's futile. We lost him…" Roy lamented until realization hit his mind. "Uh… Well, I think we need to complete three things first now."

"W-what are those three things?" Porom asked.

The red-haired swordsman pointed over at the four tablets lying on the cold floor where the minister left them. Next, he pointed over at the four guardians backing into the cell in fear of the monster. And finally, Roy pointed at the monster itself; Dark Moray.

"Reach over and get those tablets, rescue the people over there, and beat the monster to a pulp?" Edge summarized, unsheathing two katanas from their sheaths. "Oh well, it's not like things can get any worse. We're easily outnumbering the beast."

Final Fantasy IV DS – Boss Battle

Cue a multitude of Nightmares and Dark Masters sprouting around the beast. There was at least twenty-five of each type, reaching fifty enemies in total. The group watched bewildered at the turn of events, and even Rydia blamed Edge for opening his mouth under the bandana.

"Lady Irony is JUST ought to get our heads, I swear…" Toon Link muttered, all the while sighing and taking out his sword. "So what's the plan for those guys?

"Charge and hope you smack something!" Palom agreed to a suicidal idea of his own and blindly charged into the fray. The others could only watch in horror before Link came up with a solution.

"Look after each other and get the tablets and the guardians!" he suggested.

And thus they all charged into the fray, starting a big battle for the forces of good, where victory was at hand! This is what Chip thought.

Chris ignored feeling that the universe itself didn't have much faith in their victory while he tried to accomplish saving the guardians in the wide open cell. Fortunately, he managed to avoid being spotted or followed by an enemy as they were all picking fights with the rest of the team. Good thing Edge went hot blooded on a big pack of nine, he thought. When he reached the cage, Chris tried to tell them to seek refuge.

"What are you saying? Say some words!" one of the four parka guardians demanded.

"Save that for later, dad. We must seek refuge out of this battle!" his son, who was the adult, said. "It looks like they came here to save us. We mustn't draw much attention!"

The guardians ran out of the cage for the backside of the frozen cascade. For a brief moment, Chris felt he didn't exist without his voice. He hung down his head in agony as Chip approached him from behind. "Chris…I think you need to help the others," he said in a depressed tone.

Chris looked up and ran back into the battle. Chip merely stared as the teen walked back to look at him.

"You're probably wondering why I'm sounding so…down in the dumps?" Chip guessed. "Well… LOOK OUT!"

The teen turned around and yelped silently as a Nightmare lunged at him. From the left side, Roy came dashing in, slashing the monster with his sword. The monster was pushed back into the snow as the swordsman backed away. "Chris, you've got to stay focused!" he advised before he went after the enemy.

Chris looked serious at Chip for a moment. "Y-yeah, t-this isn't the time for me to sound like this," Chip agreed. "I-I'll just stay away from the fight. I-I'll cheer for you!" Chris could see Chip's uncertainty very well, but he ran into the battle with his whip ready to lash onto the monsters. "…I know we're gonna win…and only I know I have so little time left…"

On the left side of the battlefield, Palom was smacking a Nightmare with his rod. There wasn't a free space for him to cast spell without getting interrupted by an enemy. "Yeah, stagger! Us sages-in-training need some time to be useful! You can't be a sage if you don't have time on your side!" he proclaimed. The Nightmare grabbed the rod's tip to stop it. "…Well…crud, I wasn't expecting that."

From behind the Nightmare, Popo came into view by jumping high, bringing down his hammer on the Nightmare's head. The Nightmare screeched out in pain as it let go of Palom's rod. "You're okay?" Popo asked.

"T-thanks, dude," Palom said. Just as they smiled, a cold breath ravaged the side of the field they were on, freezing them under thick icicles. Their looks inside the icicles were frozen solid, their eyes wide in shock as to what had happened.

Dark Moray was a big threat in the battle, taking the center of the field for its long head to turn around and attack at all directions. It had used its cold breath to freeze the two young boys while also freezing a few of its minions. It only cared about getting rid of the Smashers and their allies, having no intention of keeping the minions around.

"It also froze its minions? What a beast!" Charmy yelled from behind a rock. That severely implied he had no intention to fight the dark legion. It all turned against him once he was surrounded by five Nightmares. "I-I'm considering joining you guys! N-no need to raise those pincers of yours!"

The five Nightmares were about to leap on the bee before a playful tune echoed. Although Charmy was himself charmed by the tune, the monsters all screeched out in pain before they dissolved into the ground. From behind them, Edward stood playing his harp. "They're no different from the monsters native to this world," Edward said, still playing. He noticed Charmy was flying around him, completely dazed at the music filling his ears. "I think you're overreacting. My music does not entice…er…bugs like you seem to be."

"Keep playing and don't wonder stuff," Charmy said with a dandy look on his face.

While Edward looked a bit bewildered at the bee, he saw Rydia backing away from the fight as Zelda kept a good number of Dark Masters trying to harass them by launching Din's Fire as many times as she could. "T-they're resistant to my fire attacks! They're just being bumped back!" Zelda said.

Rydia held out her hands, making some sort of sign. "Can you keep them back long enough for me to call an Eidolon?" she asked. "I'm pretty sure I can devastate most of them with just one!"

Zelda started sweating. "B-by all means, do it!" she said.

"Keep your hands off the ladies!" Edge called vigorously from within the crowd. Zelda looked to the left were a headstrong man was seen pushing a great quantity of enemies away just to make a quick path way to them. In a matter of seconds, Edge was already standing in front of the princess. "Your Royal Ninja Guard is here!"

Zelda briefly saw C. Falcon replacing Edge. She was horrified at the comparison until the mental image went away. "G-goddess, that was mentally unsettling…" she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Edge overheard her, but the little distraction was enough for the enemies to pile on top of him.

Although their numbers were being reduced, Nana noticed that more enemies were coming out from the cold floor. "T-they just keep coming!" she shouted from somewhere. "H-has anyone seen Popo?"

Roy slashed a few Nightmares and spotted the frozen twins a few meters away. "I see them! I'll go to free them right away!" he said.

"O lord of fire, burn them down with your mighty hellfire!" Rydia chanted out as flames surrounded her. She thrust her palms forward as a mighty entity, Ifrit, appeared from a tower of fire that erupted from the ice, melting a wide portion of the snow behind it. "Go forth!" the summoner said, commanding Ifrit to aim at Dark Moray.

The lord of hellfire roared out as it stepped back and crouched down, incinerating flames suddenly engulfing its whole body. In a quick move, Ifrit shot into the crowd of enemies, easily taking anything in its path to Dark Moray. The big monster was busy freezing Chris and a handful of its minions until Ifrit crashed right into it with unbelievable force. Dark Moray let out a painful roar as two of its three glowing orbs shattered into glimmering sparkles of ice. Ifrit then pushed the monster down, the devil landing on the ice floor to disappear in a cloak made out of flames.

Zelda was incredibly shocked. She could tell the monster of darkness had suffered a great deal amount of damage since it seemed to be gasping for breath. "It's already on the ropes!" Toon Link exclaimed from the right side of the field. "One more strike ought to kill it for good! Ooh, that could be a new record!"

Dark Moray didn't want to admit it was about to die. It had never predicted that it could've been damaged so easily. To keep its prey at bay, it roared loudly, calling forth about a hundred enemies. "You've got to be kidding me!" Porom called out from within the crowd of enemies.

Rydia shook her head as enemies approached her. Obviously, Edge stood close to her and Zelda. "T-there's way too many of them now!" Zelda said. "How can we possibly strike with so much chaos going on?"

Around that time, Popo and Palom set themselves free from the icicles. Seeing the multiple enemies covering the entire place, they gasped in unison. "GEEZ, I was out for like three minutes and hell is freezing over already?" Palom asked bewildered. "…On the other hand, this has become a TRUE test to become a sage!"

"More like it's become a test for surviva-" Popo was pinned down by a multitude of Nightmares. Palom was also similarly pinned down as well, but Popo at least had an effective weapon to smack some of the enemies back.

On the right side of the area, Link used as many Spin Attacks as he could to have more space to breath air. He noticed he was close to the frozen Chris, so he went over to him and kicked the ice to shatter it. The World Traveler could only bite his teeth multiple times, feeling very cold. "I know this is sudden, but we've got more company than we bargained for!" Link told Chris, just in time to turn around and slice a Nightmare in half as it was about to land on his back.

"The Over Limit is ready!" Kawashima said. Most of the Smashers heard his call, but they were all too busy to even activate the ability.

"H-hey, guys!" Roy called over from the north side of the field, fending off a group of Dark Masters. "That monster in the middle is weak against fire! I should use my Final Smash on it to see if I can kill it in one bl-" He was cut off by a terrifying cold breath freezing him and a handful of enemies.

"And that's one way to eliminate the easy way out of this…" Toon Link muttered, standing a few feet away from the affected area. Noticing he could go over and break Roy free from his frozen state, he rushed over to his side. "WHOA!" he yelped and stepped back from Dark Moray's icy breath lingering in the air. The swordsboy made a face and turned to the beast. "Now you have a bone to pick with me?"

The monster shot a rather big ice ball that surprised Toon Link. When he tried to run fast, the slippery ice made him trip, causing the ice ball to crush him under his weight as it bounced off the floor and rolled away. Toon Link lied face down in a hole with his body's outline.

"Oh my god! Is he alright?" Charmy called out from behind the rock.

"I-I'll go check on him!" Popo said, hastily jumping over the Nightmare crowd. He used the enemies' heads to make a quick path over to the north side of the field, which was slowly being overrun by more Nightmares coming out from the cold floor.

"I won't let you go alone this time!" Nana said from the northeastern section, doing the same thing with the enemies to join Popo.

"I feel like we need to cooperate for this!" Porom said as she ducked her head and charged into the multitude of Dark Masters to catch up with the twins, avoiding swinging pincers from the Nightmares.

The field was at a total chaos with the groups fighting each other. Palom then wanted to follow the three to the north side of the field as well judging the Nightmares were creeping in. "H-hey, I suddenly thought that doing this on my own is a bad move to become a sage!" He unprofessionally spun his rod over his head and ran forward, pushing his way to the north. "I-I'm actually making it!" he said gleefully. "Fear the Great Sage-in-Training Palom!"

"This isn't a time to be so boastful, and I'm speaking from experience!" Edge called out, eyes and katanas darting around to keep the enemies from laying their dark hands on "his precious ladies" standing behind him. It didn't mean that Zelda and Rydia were having a peaceful time, though. They were both pushing enemies back using Din's Fire and whip attacks respectively.

"We need just a little more aid from Ifrit to beat their boss. I'm sure of it!" Rydia said. "I can't be so busy trying to attack with my whip, though!"

Zelda stopped attacking and turned into Sheik. Rydia was mildly shocked at the sudden event. "When magic isn't working, you just know you have to break skulls with your hands," Sheik said. She brandished several kunais between her fingers that she tossed ahead, striking a row of six Nightmares right on their eyes. The Nightmares screeched out in pain and vanished.

"You can change into a ninja?" Rydia asked shocked.

Edge turned to their direction. "Yes!" he said, raising his weapons. "I knew we had more things in common! Being a female ninja makes you awesome instantly!" A Nightmare came running to him, slamming Edge back into the crowd.

Sheik grunted. "He's not going to let me live it down after this, is he?" she asked.

"I-I know this isn't the time, but you've got to help him!" Rydia said. Sheik frowned and leaped into the crowd. The summoner meanwhile slowly made her way to Edward to handle the enemies better.

Edward was trying to make a way through the crowd of enemies, playing a very agonizing yet charming-sounding tune with his harp. "I can't keep playing my music for so long. I'll eventually get exhausted…"

"The world knows cruelty after all!" Charmy whined after hearing the prince out.

The battlefield was extremely frantic with both parties trying to beat each one down. Dark Moray started to freeze even more parts of the field in an effort to freeze its enemies, not caring much about freezing its minions given they were expendable. "Taste a bomb!" Link yelled, flinging a bomb once he found a window of time open to do the action. The bomb flew into the monster's mouth, accidentally swallowing it. Dark Moray then bloated for a moment as it became stunned by the explosion it digested.

"That stopped the monster…" Edward trailed off. "Link, perhaps you can stop it from using its icy breath with bombs to buy us all time to counterattack!"

"Yes, I'll do it gladly!" Link said, just in time to spin around and slice three Nightmares in half. "Just let me get my own time to do so! All these enemies are crazy!"

"Well, that doesn't sound so reassuring anymore…" Porom muttered under her breath as all the twins made it to where Toon Link was buried down. "Oh my, are you still breathing?"

"Your body gets used to being crushed by rocks… I'm not a Hylian anymore," Toon Link spoke from under his spot. Popo and Nana grabbed him from his hands and pulled him off the floor. Meanwhile, Palom and Porom smacked their rod and staff correspondingly against the icicle Roy was trapped into. The red-haired swordsman eventually broke out from the icicle, feeling a cold chill running down his body.

"You're not getting a cold, are you?" Palom asked.

"N-no, I-I'm fine," Roy said. "Thanks for coming to my aid."

"It is out pleasure…but I'm afraid our brief moment of calm has ended," Porom feared as the group of children and Roy was surrounded by Nightmares. "They're not going to give us a moment to rest easy at all!"

Suddenly, some four Nightmares were pushed away by a heavy, light blue sword that Roy spotted. Surprisingly enough, Chris was using the Ranger job at last. Given his worried expression, he wasn't actually enjoying using the job. Since casting magic was pretty much useless with the multiple enemies lashing out on him, he was forced to choose a close combat job.

While Popo and Nana were giving time for Palom to cast Black Magic and Porom to heal their injuries, Roy stared deeply at Chris. It wasn't the fact he was randomly focusing on Chris because he wanted to. Just like Marth, Roy felt bad that Ike was no more. The fact Chris was wearing an almost exact replica of Ike's clothing would make Roy think quickly of Ike.

Roy saw that Ike's essence was still living in all of them.

When Chris was pushed down to the cold floor, Roy snapped out of his state and rushed over to his aid. He didn't want to think about losing somebody else. It was understandable Chris didn't intentionally wanted to represent Ike with the clothes, but Roy learned that all of the people he met were as important as Ike was. He had forgotten that when he used to command his own army, cherishing how many people supported him. "(Maybe I forgot that side of me when I came to the mansion under Master Hand's orders…)" Roy thought, slashing the Nightmares about to pile down on Chris. "Stand up, Chris! The fight isn't over!"

Chris looked up to Roy and slowly stood up.

"I know we're busy, but we need to fight together!" Roy said while taking care of the rabid Nightmares trying to hurt them both. "You're not very experienced with the sword yet, but I'll gladly teach you how to use it!"

The World Traveler stared at no one in particular. He never expected that offer at all, and he didn't even want to fight with a sword in the first place. To be honest, Chris hated fighting with swords. After the weird time stop was over with, Chris was going to give Roy a message of not training him wit-

Chris cursed his head off after recalling the moment of discovering Roy's first Combined Final Smash was happening since the sea of Nightmares stopped moving. "Oh, hey! I remember Marth talking about this weird feeling when everything around us is locked into place. It's about time my turn came up!" Roy said excited.

Since Chris was still mute, even talking mentally during the time stop was considered talking with the mouth. Because of that, there was no way to tell Roy how unsatisfied Chris was with the offer. He did trust Roy a lot but not so much on the swords.

"Too bad I can't hear you now, but I just got this small preview of our move. Let's try it out on that monster! I'm sure we'll beat it with this new technique! I'm sure you agree with me. You don't need words to communicate. I can tell you agree with me a hundred percent."

Now Chris was scared of Roy's overexcitement. None of this would have happened if he didn't change to the Ranger job, he thought.

The time resumed its march as Roy neared Chris. "Alright, so we do it like this and…"

The two swordsmen put their swords close together. Suddenly, both swords shone a bright red color that later got white stripes, making it look like the swords were vibrating with the power of flames.

The two blinked in shock at their swords, but then they stared forward at Dark Moray. Link was keeping it busy with tossing bombs into its mouth whenever it tried to use its icy breath to freeze people around it. "Now's our chance to show this off. C'mon!" Roy encouraged Chris.

But there were lots of Nightmares keeping them from reaching the monster. They knew that they only had one chance to use their new skill, and just swinging their swords once would waste their try.

"Pyroblast!"

The two gasped as fire rose out of thin air, engulfing the Nightmares barring their way to their boss. From behind, Popo and Nana managed to use Twincast thanks to Palom, Porom, and Toon Link distracting the enemies. "You did master Twincast after all!" Porom said gratefully.

Popo and Nana waved at the two swordsmen as the Nightmares succumbed to the flames, opening the path to Dark Moray. The two charged forward, only for another barricade of Nightmares and Dark Masters appearing from the ground. "I've got the feeling they know we're after their boss…" Roy muttered under his breath. "Dammit, we can't waste our attack on them!"

Edge was seen jumping high up, doing many different hand signs. "Hey, just to let you know, I'm not the only one who has tricks under my sleeve," he said rather coolly. "Eblanese Ninjutsu Thunder Technique: Blitz!"

As soon as the ninja said his words, several lightning bolts rained down upon the battlefield, striking hard a big area full of Nightmares and Dark Masters. Roy and Chris watched as the latest barricade of minions was felled thanks to Edge's Ninjutsu. "We're almost there!" Roy said charging in.

"For the record, Edge doesn't even need to say all those words at once…" Edward trailed off.

"He was just trying to sound very cool," Rydia said sighing.

Dark Moray narrowed its eyes upon the two swordsmen that it gathered a stream of cold ice into its mouth. Conveniently for the monster, its troops marched and blocked the way to the sides so that Roy and Chris would freeze without any chances of escaping. "Ugh, that's cheap, you know!" Roy complained.

"Do not stop!" Porom called from afar as she and Palom joined forces to use Twincast.

"Help is on the way!" Palom called out. With a twirl over their spot, the twins pointed their fingers up. "Comet!"

The time of the day briefly shifted to the night as glittering lights shone in the vast space above the battlefield. Soon, star-shaped comets rained down upon Dark Moray and its minions. The Nightmares and Dark Masters were pushed away by the comets while Dark Moray became struck down by a few of them, stopping it from using a cold breath to freeze its assailants. Moreover, the stars even stunned it into place for a little while. "Your end is nigh!" Roy called out as he and Chris leaped to the beast. "Leo Burst!"

Everyone watched as the two swordsmen smashed down their swords hard on the monster's head. Both of them seemed to explode in a big burst of fire that covered Dark Moray entirely, with a screeching sound of one glowing crystal breaking apart forcibly. The blast of the explosion even pushed away and killed Nightmares too close to the area affected, a strong gust of wind blowing out from the very center. The Nightmares and Dark Masters that were safe from the explosion soon screeched loudly in pain as their very bodies started to vanish. A few of them desperately tried to retreat so that they would get safe, but none of them could leave in time for their imminent demise.

"Look! Everybody's dying!" Palom said.

"It seems their very lives were tied to their leader's life," Edward said, sighing in relief, "a truly waste of effort judging how the monster ruthlessly slaughtered its own soldiers of darkness."

From the center of the field, Dark Moray was head crashing its long head on the cold floor. The smoke slowly cleared out with both swordsmen's swords cutting deep into the beast's skin. Roy and Chris remained motionless until Dark Moray's eyes rolled up into its head, its very body fading away into nothingness…

Music stops

New ability learned! Leo Burst!

Charges up both swords to deal great fire damage upon the target without breaking a sweat. Warning: The attack automatically activates the moment a swing is done.

Sonic Unleashed – Holoska – Day

"…" Roy pulled back his sword and sheathed it firmly. Chris slowly pulled back his sword and clumsily sheathed it. "Alright!" Roy said pleased. "That attack we did back there felled the beast! If this attack is that strong, just think about the possibilities we could have once we go into higher levels! I could use your help to defeat my enemies back in my world so that I can preserve peace during times of war!"

Chris closed his eyes and grimaced. He looked at Roy and promptly slapped him hard.

"O-oww!" Roy complained, rubbing his cheek. "What was that for?" The mute teen wrote him a message. "I'm letting you know something, Roy. Screw that sword training, screw those crazy fantasies of yours, and screw your overexcitement. Be happy you finally got your combined attack and leave me alone for a while. ...You're such a killjoy when you're like this," Roy said depressed.

The others soon regrouped with both of them while Chip went to fetch the guardians hiding behind the frozen waterfall. "That was very well done," Edward remarked. "You two… No, we all performed excellently."

"Oh yeah!" Palom said. "I feel like I went up by three levels with some leftover experience!"

"Palom, it does not really work that way," Porom grimaced.

"How do you know? It really does feel like we grow stronger like that…"

"Whatever!" Edge said with a happy expression. "What matters is that we beat that monster!"

"I'm going to have to agree with him," Rydia said. "It was such a mess, but we pulled through with no problems."

"I swear to the goddesses of Hyrule that you were the one who dealt even more damage to that monster than any of us did," Zelda said impressed.

Rydia looked embarrassed. "I've been trying to keep my experience with Eidolons in top shape whether I have time to spare in the Feymarch…" she trailed. "You never know what could happen to you down the road in this world. Monsters don't really let you take a break when you're traveling."

"Worst case scenario, they eat you up," Charmy said. "Whew! I'm exhausted of hiding behind a rock! Fighting is so tiring…"

Link frowned at the bee's laziness until he turned around to see the guardians and Chip walking to them. "Thank goodness we got here in time to rescue all of you," he said.

"Yes, yes, we're truly grateful that we had saviors all along," a male adult in a thick skimo said. "Pardon for not introducing ourselves. My name is Jari-Thure." He showed them his family except the scholar. "She's my wife Sarianna, my father Jari-Pekka, and his wife and my mother-in-law Ursule."

The scholar stepped forward. "I'm not related to them by blood, but we're related when it comes down to being Temple Guardians. I'm Gregorios, Temple Guardian of Apotos," he said.

"The pleasure is all ours," Zelda said. "But I'm afraid we don't have much time to talk among ourselves."

Ursule, the elderly short woman, nodded. "Yes, I agree," she said. "You must be aware of the current situation. Our planet has been broken up into floating masses of continent due to Dark Gaia's eventual awakening. We guardians of the Holoska Temple know how to open the doors within. For that, we require the tablets."

Toon Link took out eight pieces of four tablets. "Here. I got all of them before the enemies could take them," he said.

Gregorios and Jari-Pekka took four pieces each. For Gregorios, it was easy to piece the pieces to make the Sun and Moon Tablets. Jari-Pekka, on the other hand, was holding the pieces with no idea what he was supposed to do. "Right! So, uh, how do I do it?" he asked. Some of the group gasped.

"Is this the part where we should start to cry in agony and brace ourselves for my home to go boom?" Charmy asked. "I was rehearsing so hard to make it look real."

Sarianna sighed and took the pieces. "Sorry, but Jari has his Alzheimer moments… Let me move this here and there and… There," she said, holding the Sun and Moon Tablets.

"Wonderful," Link said. "Let's move on into the temple."

Porom looked doubtful. "Is it safe in there?" she asked, looking at the temple. "Hmm, it does not seem that there is negative energy flooding out…"

"It's perfectly safe," Rydia said. "We defeated the monster keeping us out from it."

Holoska Temple – Inner Sanctum

The inner sanctum looked extremely similar to the other temples, except for the facts that there was a light blue theme color painted over the stone walls and the blue torches.

"This little person is Light Gaia?" Ursule asked. "Hmm, there was no mention of there being another deity opposite to Dark Gaia…"

"I get that a lot," Chip said. "But it's…kind of my duty to settle things with my brother once all of this is over with. We're almost there…" He trailed off. Chip was starting to get even more depressed as time went by. It was certain he would reach his brother in the end.

Chris slowly walked to the altar, holding the dead blue Chaos Emerald with both hands. Midway, though, Charmy intervened by swiftly taking the emerald off his hands. The teen blinked in shock as the bee accidentally slammed the emerald down upon the hole in the middle of the altar. Soon enough, energy of the temple radiated into the emerald, causing a small tremor that shook the area.

"Ah, our homeland has been placed back into the planet," Jari-Thure said. He turned to Gregorios. "It'll be Apotos' turn very soon."

"Yes," Gregorios said, fixing his glasses. "I do wish to do this as soon as possible to return peace to my own homeland… And besides that, I need to return this book," he said, holding a non-important book. "I believe I've been held captive for quite a long time. I surely passed the deadline…"

Edward looked at the group. "Your time here is coming to an end, I presume," he said. "It was brief, but I thoroughly enjoyed your stay. I had my fair share of fun."

Palom grimaced hard. "Ed! Man, you're kicking them out way too soon!" he said before getting smacked by Porom's staff. "Oww!"

"Hush, you! We must not keep them any longer if a world is in real danger by a powerful, evil deity of darkness," Porom said. She stared at Nana. "…Oh, it does feel saddening to see you leave…"

Nana smiled and hugged Porom. "But this time, you'll see us leave personally," she said. "Last time wasn't really that good, remember?"

Porom hugged her back. "You're right," she said. "I feel better all of a sudden."

Edge happily opened his arms to Sheik. Sheik naturally backed off sideways. Edge naturally and slowly walked toward her. Rydia naturally pulled him by his cape, making him fall naturally on his back. "Well, I guess not everything is going to work naturally good for me," Edge said.

"Not even in eternity," Sheik commented.

"So true," Rydia agreed.

Palom crossed his arms. "Hopefully, when you guys come back, I'll be a full-fledged sage by then! I'm gonna work hard to achieve my ultimate goal. Who knows! I might even become stronger than Tellah!" he said in high spirits.

Popo stared long enough at Palom for Toon Link to whisper, "Let's worry after he starts a fire everywhere."

Link shook his head and turned to the group as Charmy flew back with the restored Chaos Emerald. "We still have some time left before night comes. What do you say if we go to Apotos through the warp pads to finish our duty?"

The Smashers agreed with the idea. Taking the guardians with them, Palom, Porom, Edward, Rydia, and Edge waved them good bye. Once they were gone, a small trail of magic-looking spores floated in the air until they vanished completely.

"I have just realized that their success might impact our world as well," Edward said.

"It doesn't sound too good, but we've been holding out for quite a long time now," Rydia said. "I think we're okay with how things are outside."

"Yup, good optimism made us survive otherworldly dangers," Edge said. "Oh! That reminds me. I would so talk about my first meetings with them so that people respect me more."

Rydia chuckled. "Yes, everyone but us," she said. That comment hit Edge really hard as he hunched down in defeat. His group laughed for a small while until they all left the temple behind, their memories with the foreign group safely kept for themselves.

There was something that was in the Smashers' minds. There was that disconcerting fact about Dark Gaia's minions appearing during plain day…

World Completed!

You have gained 4000 Smash Coins!

- Smash Mansion -

Garden

Pokémon Battle Revolution – Sunny Park Colosseum

Darach smiled friendly upon seeing Pikachu taking its place. "I have high expectations for that Pikachu. Your Squirtle and Ivysaur gave Lady Caitlin a good entertaining time," he said.

"(Did they now?)" Lucas and Dawn thought, looking away with uninterested smiles.

"(Gah! I know I should be existed for using Pikachu for the first time in a battle, but I don't know if I can use him well!)" Red thought. "L-let's stop talking and get on with the fight, shall we?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"Right," Darach said nodding. "Staraptor, get close to that Pikachu and use Return!"

The Predator Pokémon dove down upon Pikachu. The Electric type stood in a fighting stance. Pikachu waited patiently for Red to issue a move "(…RED! DAMMIT, GIVE ME AN ORDER ALREADY!)" Pikachu thought.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Jolt!" Red said.

The simple move made all trainers question the existence of said move, given Thunder Jolt wasn't an actual move a Pokémon could learn. Even Pikachu began to reflect how he was so unfortunate to know that extremely exclusive, yet weak move. Pichu was also in the same problem. "Thunder Jolt? There is no such move like that," Caitlin said, highly disappointed for the trainer shouting a made-up move. "Are you sure you know what moves your Pikachu even has?"

"(NO!) A-ah, yes, but… Look! He's doing it!" Red suddenly shouted. To everyone else's surprise, Pikachu mustered his strength and pushed a jolt of lightning to the air. Staraptor was shocked to see the actual move and crashed against it. Although the attack was weak, it hit the bird hard enough to paralyze it in midair. Since the jolt of lightning looked quite peculiar, it certainly shocked (no pun intended) everyone.

"What the…?" Caitlin was at a loss of words. "But that's…"

"Impossible!" Dawn finished.

"Impossible is possible! I've seen it all!" Barry said. "I need to take a photo outta this!"

Darach was fairly impressed by the move that he could only watch Staraptor plummet to the ground, the paralysis taking great effect. Pikachu stared in pure disbelief until he shook his head to get back into the game.

Red pulled himself back together. "Pikachu, stand on top of Staraptor and use Thunder!" he ordered. Pikachu hastily jumped on top of Staraptor and called forth a fast Thunder that fell right on the two Pokémon. Staraptor chirped out in pain as heavy electricity ran through its body. The attack was so potent that it ended up knocking the Predator Pokémon out.

"Sta…rap…" Staraptor said dazzled, its eyes having turned into swirls.

"Ugh…" Darach firmly pointed his Poké Ball to get Staraptor back. Pikachu, meanwhile, stepped back with a confident look on his face.

"Pika Pi. (Level 100, punk,)" Pikachu said.

"…Well, that was a very bad move of my part," Darach said with a small laugh. "I wouldn't have expected that 'Thunder Jolt' was really an attack… I need to check my facts right," he said as he brandished another Poké Ball. It was a bad thing he was going to lose his time looking Thunder Jolt up after the fight. "Clearly, I'll be at a disadvantage using this…but my expertise tells me that will not be the case. Come forth, Empoleon!" he called out as he tossed the ball forward.

A light shot down upon the field, revealing the Emperor Pokémon moving his steel wings aside. "Empoleon!" he called out proudly.

Red had to analyze the Pokémon with his Pokédex.

Empoleon – Emperor Pokémon

If anyone were to hurt its pride, it would slash them with wings that can cleave through an ice floe.

The trainer was a little worried that Pikachu was going to be slashed really badly. "(…Stop thinking these entries are the absolute truth about Pokémon!)" Red thought to himself. "Alright, this should be an easy win for us, Pikachu! Don't drop your guard!"

"Hahaha, this shall be more interesting than before. I'll make my last chance to win this battle a memorable one just for Lady Caitlin," Darach said. "Ready now, Empoleon? Use Waterfall!"

Empoleon wasn't exactly very fast, as he seemed to be walking fast rather than running to Pikachu. Pikachu, however, knew that he needed to be careful once seeing Empoleon raised his steel wings. "Pikachu, try to… DEAR GOD!" Red yelped out upon looking up.

Just as it didn't make much sense that Squirtle summoned water below his feet while using Surf, a waterfall produced itself in thin air above thirty feet. Pikachu looked quite frightened at the water descending upon his side of the field, and Red feared he'd be taken away by the water as well. "You better hurry or else your Pikachu shall drown," Darach said friendly, not minding the waterfall he made Empoleon summon.

"Red, don't be scared! Just tell Pikachu to avoid that!" Dawn said. "Well, it won't be easy, but try it!"

"…PIKACHU, AVOID THAT WATERFALL!" Red yelled his order so loud that Pikachu snapped out from his frightened state. "U-um, jump high! (Wait, wait, wait, jump high?) …Quick Attack to the air!"

Pikachu's ears firmly stood once hearing the order. The Electric type whizzed through the air right above the crashing waterfall flooding the arena. As water covered Red's shoes a bit, Caitlin looked up at Pikachu. "Good," she muttered.

"We mustn't be disrespectful to the garden," Darach said nodding. "Empoleon shall take great care of his attacks so that no accidents occur. I cannot guarantee said accidents won't end up affecting your Pikachu, though. Empoleon, approach Pikachu and use Brick Break!"

"Brick Break?" Red wondered until he saw the tip of Empoleon's wings shine a bit. It was then that Red remembered that the Smash law clause was still in effect even though the fight should have played as a normal Pokémon battle. By using Quick Attack, Pikachu was unable to use another attack as he fell down. Pikachu gasped loudly as Empoleon harshly smacked his wings against Pikachu's cheeks, sending him tumbling along the tiled floor until coming to a stop. "Oh no!"

"We're not over yet," Darach calmly said. "Before Pikachu stands up, use Waterfall once more!"

A mighty waterfall popped out of thin air again, and Pikachu himself felt out of shape for feeling a lot of pain. "(Remind me why I don't…want to evolve yet,)" he thought. It was possible that Darach's Empoleon was trained well enough to hit really hard, but he didn't have time to ponder so much as a mighty waterfall crashed down upon the field, washing him away towards Red.

"Pikachu!" Red yelled, spotting Pikachu struggling to get up. "C-can you still fight?"

"Y-yes…" Pikachu whispered silently. He shook his head to dry himself from the water, turning back to Empoleon with a tough look on his face.

"Oh, Pikachu seems agitated," Darach said. "Don't let his anger be his downfall in the battle. Empoleon, use Brick Break again!"

Dawn sighed. "If he's using it again, I can assume Empoleon's other moves aren't that effective against Pikachu," she said.

"Makes me wanna wish Pokémon had more than four moves, y'know?" Barry asked, his eyes concentrating on the battle.

Red thought hard about Pikachu as Empoleon dangerously closed in upon his target. "(I've got to take advantage of Pikachu's speed. He is quick after all… I hope he's not too hurt, though. We need to pull this off…)"

Pikachu was waiting for Red to guide him, but he was wondering why it was taking Red so long to say a thing. He gulped as Empoleon was a few feet away. "(I can't really trust him at all. I'll force him to study the entire Pokémon move set if h-)"

"Jump over his wings and use Thunder on his head!"

Pikachu, out of pure instinct, jumped on Empoleon's wings as soon as the latter swung them against the smaller creature. Empoleon gasped as Pikachu swiftly climbed over its pronged crown and summoned forth a thunder than crashed down on both of them. Darach and Caitlin gasped silently as Empoleon took the blow directly, Pikachu leaping down to take his fighting stance.

"I mustn't let myself get caught by simple outcomes such as these," Darach muttered as he watched Empoleon regaining his composure. "Right behind you, use Brick Break, fast!"

"Pikachu, jump!" Red yelled back. Pikachu understood well enough and jumped over a mighty swing of Empoleon's wings.

"Turn your wings around and smack him away!"

"Use Quick Attack to pull back fast!"

"Chase after him by using Waterfall!"

"Zigzag left and right to pass the waterfall to get close to Empoleon!"

"Use Brick Break once Pikachu gets close to you!"

"Jump and use Thunder Jolt in midair!"

"Shield yourself using your wings!"

"Quick Attack to appear behind his back, then use Thunder Jolt once more!"

"Turn around an-no!"

Pikachu struck Empoleon with another Thunder Jolt, shocking his body. As Darach told Empoleon to turn around and swing his steel wings, Barry was at the edge of his seat. "Oh boy! If this was a written battle, imagination should totally make this look full of win!" he said.

"Barry, stop it," Dawn muttered uninterested.

Pikachu put up and confident look as he stepped back to Red. "Alright, you're doing great!" Red said.

"(Yes! I-I know…)" Pikachu thought tired. He wasn't still feeling better after that Brick Break collided against him. All that moving around the field made him feel even more tired. Red blindly didn't see Pikachu's condition until Darach brought it up for him.

"Certainly, all that moving around isn't going to do well to your Pikachu," Darach pointed out with a blank look. He then smiled and said, "Let that fact be the catalyst to your defeat… I shouldn't have spoken so soon."

Darach saw that Empoleon emitted some static out of his body. The Emperor Pokémon panted heavily, moving slower as it walked to the sides. Caitlin gave a bored look at Darach, and that mere look made him sweat bullets. "Darach…" she trailed off. Seeing her butler get overconfident was something she wasn't going to let him live it down.

"My bad, Lady Caitlin," Darach said with a worried look on his forced, happy look. "I'm getting very excited myself for having such a…fun time dealing with a Pikachu and his smart trainer. You haven't seen me battling an unexpected strong Pokémon like it, right?"

Red almost felt proud of the compliment until he saw Pikachu snickering to himself. "(Y-you…)" Red thought with a small hint of violence. "(Then again, I'm not really that smart… H-hey! I shouldn't bring myself down!)"

"…Perhaps," Caitlin said. "But do finish the battle soon. I don't think we can stay here any longer."

Barry was just about to yell "TORCHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!" to taunt Caitlin after Dawn had forcibly covered his mouth with both of her hands.

Darach bowed cordially in agreement and turned back to face the battle. "Empoleon, let us not make Lady Caitlin wait. Waterfall!" he ordered.

Waterfall didn't technically need Empoleon to move an inch, and that put Pikachu at a disadvantage as he was catching his breath from all that running. The mighty waterfall materialized from thin air again, this time trying to get Pikachu for good. Red grimaced and thought, "(Pikachu's too tired to continue… We'll have to do our last move the strongest one to win the battle…)"

Pikachu gulped mentally as the water landed hard on the floor and went after him. "(I'm so out of shape…)" Pikachu thought. "(I can't be at level 100 if I can't live up to it!)"

"Pikachu, use Skull Bash to pierce through the water!" Red said.

"(Oh well, I have to heed that insane idea…)" Pikachu charged and then shot himself over the water flooding the floor. As he spun in midair, the end of the Waterfall's barrier considerably got weak enough for him to blast through, barely reaching Empoleon. Upon landing, Pikachu looked up in surprise as the Emperor Pokémon looked down in disgust.

From inside the mansion, Falco sweat dropped. Seeing waterfalls falling down from nowhere was pretty hard to digest. "And they give ten-year olds permission to have those nuking monsters?" he asked.

"The Kanto region is quite alright today so… They must've gone through some serious responsibility lessons before getting permission," Samus commented.

"I heard they skipped a bit of school. Bonus points for that."

Back to the fight, Pikachu was too tired to move, but Empoleon was almost equally tired himself. Both Red and Darach could tell either side was going down in just one move. "Pikachu, leap to Empoleon and use Thunder!" Red yelled.

"One last Brick Break should finish the battle! For Lady Caitlin!" Darach emphasized.

Pikachu looked serious as he gathered sparks on his cheeks to call forth a thunder, and Empoleon showed the same kind of determination by trying to break through his paralyzed body to smack Pikachu away with his glowing wings. Eventually, a lightning bolt crashed down, and two thick fins crashed right against the thunder. Inside the field of electricity, Pikachu's bewildered look was seen being hit by Empoleon's wings, and Empoleon himself was electrocuted so hard that its pupils shrunk in shock, his whole body radiating with painful electricity coursing into his steel frame.

Music stops

Both Red and Darach gasped in unison before everyone else gasped right after. Pikachu was tossed away to the left while Empoleon was frozen on his spot. When the Electric type stopped tumbling on the floor, Lucas saw his fainted look. When the Water/Steel type lost all body control, he fell hard forward with the same kind of look. "Uh…" Lucas trailed off, not noticing that a small breeze swept the garden. "…Both opponents have been taken out, so… The match ends with a tie!"

"A…tie?" Red said.

"…" Darach didn't look quite happy or angry. He oddly seemed to be frozen.

"Aww!" Barry groaned loudly, standing back up. "Just when things were getting interesting! How could this even happen?"

Dawn did an exasperated sigh. "Well, I, for one, think both of you did really well," she said as the breeze slowly grew strong enough to sweep the trees' leaves. "So yeah! It was a good battle all the same!"

"A…good battle…yes…" Darach muttered, fixing his shiny glasses. Something about the look on his face didn't make Red feel so good. Even though the battle came to a tie, Red had a good time.

"Uh…is something wrong?" Red asked as he went to pick Pikachu from the floor. Darach calmly returned Empoleon to his Poké Ball.

The loyal valet put up a bright look. "Oh, don't worry about me. In fact, I quite enjoyed myself in the battle albeit we ended with a tie," Darach said, for some reason sweat-dropping right after as the breeze suddenly grew even stronger; stronger enough to become really windy. "It's just… Let's just say I can't be seen during this kind of victory…" He trailed off as his looked sideways to Caitlin.

Dawn's hair started to be taken away by the wind that she grabbed it with a hand. "Gosh! Why's there such a strong wind all of a sudden?" she asked while unconsciously turning to see Caitlin sitting idly on her bench.

And that's when everyone noticed something was really off about the girl.

Caitlin had a dark shade over her eyes. Somehow, the shade hinted hostility. The look on her eyes told everyone that she wasn't pleased with what she saw at the end of the duel. By now, everyone knew Caitlin was a very hard person to please despite how Darach tried so many times to ease her displeasure with his performance against a "very-goofy trainer like Red" as she thought (Red: Hey!). Moreover, Caitlin didn't like the tie his loyal butler got. At all.

To cut to the chase, Caitlin was furious. To a few people, a tie meant that there was nothing gained out of a fight that told both sides didn't get stronger or weaker. Simply put, a tie was a complete waste of time, and Caitlin was notgoing to be happy with it.

As if Mother Nature reacted to her emotions, a very strong wind swept the entire garden. The strength of the gust was so strong that many unlucky flowers got their petals ripped out forcibly. Red, Lucas, Dawn, and Barry took cover as dust flew into the air as well. Darach's glasses shone in pure disbelief as if he knew what was going on.

And when Barry suddenly glowed and was tossed to a tree, Dawn screamed. "BARRY!"

Barry screamed as he dove into the tree, tangling himself in the branches. "H-HEY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" he called out.

"What in the world is going on?" Lucas asked. The wind wasn't really that strong enough to toss Barry to a tree, let alone take a smaller child away. But when he felt that some unknown force wanted to push him away, he gasped, and then he was pushed down to the floor. Dawn soon followed suit, and then Red was pushed along with Pikachu, except farther away. "S-something's not right, and I'm not talking about the wind!" Lucas said.

Inside the mansion, Samus and Falco saw the odd event in front of them. They looked at each other confused. "The hell's going on outside?" Falco asked. "You saw that annoying brat getting thrown away like a rag doll, right?" He still hated Barry after getting smacked on the forehead with a ball a rather long time ago.

"And I barely saw some glow as well…" Samus stopped to think. "Hmm, that glow…"

Falco's eyes widened upon seeing an object set on crash course to the window they were using. "DUCK!" Falco yelled out, pulling Samus to the floor as a potted plant crashed against the window. "Damn!"

Whatever was going on outside, it wasn't natural but supernatural. Everyone who ducked to keep themselves on the floor tried to resist. Eventually, Darach was pushed back, tripping on the floor. "N-no, it's getting worse…" he muttered to himself, looking back to Caitlin. The girl seemed unaffected by the odd occurrences, as she was firmly sitting on the bench with the vengeful look on her face. "At this rate, she'll…"

But then, Caitlin gasped as she felt a strong power interfering with her mind. The girl's eyes slowly closed until she lost consciousness, calmly lying down to the side of the bench. As soon as she fainted, the strong wind and the power behind it came to an abrupt halt. Darach quickly got back up to his feet and went to check on his protégée. As for the others, they looked up from their spots and stood back up with Barry yelling and falling down in the background.

"W-what…was that?" Dawn managed to say, confused as to what had happened.

"I have…no idea," Lucas said while Barry came back rubbing his butt. "Are you okay, Barry?"

"Try getting tossed from a good fifty feet just to fall down from a tree…" Barry muttered in pain. "My cute butt…"

Red checked up on Pikachu as he walked to them. "W-well, we're alright except for Pikachu, of course," he said. "He'll need to rest for now."

The four trainers looked over to Darach budging Caitlin to wake her up from her fainted state. "(This is rather odd… Her mood swings don't stop so simply like this,)" Darach thought to himself with a serious look as he looked at the fainted girl. "(Normally I need to calm her down slowly and carefully whenever she gets very frustrated because of trivial things bothering her… How in the name of the Battle Castle did she just…faint like that? Is this something I should worry about…or…be glad that happened?)"

The four trainers walked to him. "Hey, is she okay?" Dawn asked. "She didn't look affected before she fainted…"

Darach stood back up, putting a friendly smile. "It seems the shock of the event was too much for her to handle," he said. "Luckily, she'll come back to her senses very soon… Ah, Lady Caitlin is awakening."

Just as Darach said, the fainted, frail girl woke up from her sudden state. She saw everyone looking down at her, so she sat up straight. "I…don't know what happened to me," she said. "Did I…faint?"

"Yes, you did," Darach said, offering his hand to pull her off the bench. "Milady, we cannot have you fainting like that here. It would be best if we went back to the Battle Frontier so that you can relax."

"…" Caitlin gave a small nod and took his hand to stand up.

Red, Barry, and Dawn were very confused as to what happened, but Lucas somehow couldn't shake the feeling that Caitlin had something to do with the odd occurrence, and that Darach looked mighty suspicious about her as well. However, whether he was right or not, it would've been rude to question them at the time, or ever.

"The battle was enjoyable, Red," Darach remarked. "I will look forward to see you all again sometime. If you do stumble upon the Battle Frontier, we'd be delighted to have you in the Battle Castle to take the challenge."

Caitlin looked away. "If we can even get back to the castle ourselves…" she muttered.

Red looked a bit hesitant to tell them how to go back home. He had heard from some people that all lost people eventually return to their respective worlds by just walking back from where they came from. "You can possibly go back home if you retrace your steps…as in…walk back," he said.

Darach blinked before chuckling heartily. "Why, that obviously is the best option we have," he said before bowing down, Caitlin doing the same in a silent manner. "We liked to be here, but it's time for us to leave. Without further ado…" They both turned around and walked to the east. "Farewell."

The trainers watched the two guests moving into the forest, barely seeing Caitlin taking out a letter from somewhere. The letter's address told her that it came from a faraway place called "Unova." "…" She stared intently at the letter.

Darach sighed as he eyed the letter. "I can't believe they're still bothering you with joining the Unova League again. This is the fourteenth letter, is it not?" he asked.

"…It's an offer that is open all the time. They told me several times that the spot has been reserved just for me," Caitlin said uninterested. "My current condition would make battles…very disastrous if I was to accept the chance to be part of their Elite Four."

Her butler nodded with a blank look. "I'm glad you realize how bad your condition is." He smiled. "Who knows, though? Perhaps, I shall see the day when you'll be able to obtain the necessary strength to control your emotions and psychic power connected to them. Let us hope nobody ever finds out about that before you get better, Lady Caitlin. (We fortunately avoided that today…)"

"…Yes," Caitlin said as they disappeared from the trainers' sight.

Dawn did an exasperated sigh. "That's that, everyone," she said. "We're gonna call it day, right?"

"What about our Pokémon Capture Spree?" Barry asked. "But yeah, I wanna eat."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "Yes. Tomorrow we should start thinking about going to the Battle Frontier now that it's open at last," he said."

Red blinked at what he heard from Lucas. "Wait, what?" he asked, getting the Sinnoh Trainers' attention. "You're…going to leave so soon?"

Dawn looked away, folding her arms behind her back. "Oh… That's right. The reason why we've been here is because we've been waiting for the Battle Frontier to open," she said. "And now that Darach told us that it's open to the public, I guess…it was about time for us to leave."

"We've stayed in the mansion for far too long," Lucas pointed out. "We don't want to cause more trouble for Master Hand, anyway. It's sad, but it was expected."

"I guess…" Red trailed off.

While Barry merrily hung his right arm on Red's shoulders saying how awesome he was or something close to that, Dawn got in deep thought about what to do for Red. She was good friends with him, and she was thinking about giving him some kind of gift to remember them by. When she realized Red was meant to do greater things with the rest of the Smashers for the sake of the universe, Dawn knew what to give him later. The gift she had in mind was a very rare item she had found back in Sinnoh, but she felt that it was probably going to be used in better hands with Red.

Meanwhile, several floors above them, Mewtwo calmly looked down upon the garden. With crossed arms, he sensed Caitlin's being slowly walking away from the mansion. "(Why are psychic powers born in a few humans? I can't fathom how powers like mine are meant to be a special gift… In ignorant minds, it is highly…destructive,)" he thought. "(But even so, her powers are still in need of some training with her emotions. She was lucky I sensed and seized her attacks before they could get worse…)"

Frowning to the mere idea of psychic humans, the Pokémon retired to his room.

Back on the first floor, Samus and Falco stuck up their heads. They looked through the broken window for a little while to inspect the area, finding the two guests long gone. "Oh…they're gone," Falco said.

"That was some event," Samus said. "The garden looks in a bad shape…"

Falco turned around and walked away. "I don't know you, but I don't want the hand to see us close to this place. He may think we did something to the garden that he'll put our butts to work," he wisely advised.

"…Yes, you're right…" Samus muttered as she parted ways with the avian, hoping they wouldn't bump into Master Hand while getting away from the hall.

The trainers called it a day and went back into the mansion. Minutes later, Olimar, whistling, came out with a watering can. "My turn's coming up," he said to himself. "Time for some water sprin…kling…"

Before his blank look, there lied a wasteland of petals and leaves littering the floor of the garden. The flower beds were almost completely razed with a few flowers barely holding onto their petals. All the hard work he and Peach had put into restoring the garden to its pretty look was once again thrown into the toilet by human error (or chaos). Was the garden in such a mess before?

"…" Olimar stayed silent until he fainted, falling on his back. Things didn't get any better once Master Hand himself saw the mess outside and Olimar fainted on the spot.

Master Hand reminded himself not to have a garden in the backyard. The place was better off with a big pool because it seemed way easier to clean water than sweeping the damn floor all day. And maintaining flowers was an arduous job in itself. For now, he snapped his fingers to clean the mess, though that didn't quite extend to restoring the flowers.

Later that midnight…

Infirmary

The party had returned safely from their trip to the Holoska Temple and the Apotos Temple. With both temples restored, their respective guardians returned back to their nations to join back up with their families. That was all Chris informed Lucario before the first went to sleep.

Lucario was awake in the infirmary, staring out of the window to the moon. He wanted to get out of there and sleep with his trainer to see that he was being protected under his good hands. Waiting to get better was starting to nag Lucario a lot. Besides, he also wanted to get out and stay in top shape to stay strong, and hopefully get even stronger. He was one very stubborn Pokémon, but he had to listen to the doctor's orders. After all, Lucario made a vow not to jump into a fray without thinking. It was the opposite result of that vow that put him in that dangerous condition in the first place.

With DK's loud snores bothering him, and werehog Sonic competing against DK for the first place in the Loud Snore Contest, Lucario endured the unusual punishment. When he realized he was still awake during midnight, Lucario punched himself mentally. If he wanted to feel better soon, he needed to get plenty of rest. His heart started to feel much better than before; enough to let him have a conversation without stopping mid-sentence to catch his breath.

But for now, Lucario slowly drifted off to sleep, turning his head to the right to catch a small glimpse of some dark entities hopping onto Sonic's bed.

…

Lucario's eyes shot wide open after he noticed clearly what was wrong in the room. He blinked, seeing three Nightmares that appeared out of nowhere intruding into the werehog's closed space. The Aura Pokémon was shocked that he didn't sense their malevolent auras stagnating the air of the room. "(…That magical block Master Hand set up… It's blocking all means to sense anything inside of it!)" Lucario thought as he sat up straight. The predicament of the moment didn't let him focus all too well, mostly because he felt a bit weak. He could have truly sensed the auras if he had focused a little more, but alas, he needed more rest.

Inside the invisible cube, Sonic was in a deep sleep. When he felt something hopping on his bed, the werehog grumbled and opened his annoyed eyes. However, instead of Sonic, DSS was the one who woke up. "What the hell…" he muttered until his eyes fully opened after spotting the three Nightmares surrounding him. "The f*ck?"

It all happened in a flash to DSS when the three Nightmares suddenly leaped at him, covering his vision. What Lucario saw before him was mildly terrifying when the Nightmares seemed to press their very bodies into the werehog for no real reason. Lucario couldn't really tell at the time that DSS was the one taking over Sonic, so he blindly thought Sonic was in a fit.

But when a werehog scream echoed loudly, it became clear that Sonic was suffering deep pain. "NO!" Lucario yelled out. He fired off an Aura Sphere to the Nightmares, but the invisible cube shielding Sonic easily dispersed the sphere into flames that vanished right after. Grunting, Lucario was out of options.

DK suddenly woke up screaming after being startled by the scream. "PUTRID BANANAS ARE EATING ME!" he proclaimed before noticing he was out of a nightmare. And then he looked to Sonic and screamed once more.

"Y-you!" Lucario said, making DK turn to him. "We need to alert the others about this!"

The ape gulped. "H-how? We're supposed to stay on our beds!" he said.

"T-there should be a way!" Lucario said through gritted teeth.

The Kong was absolutely terrified of the Aura Pokémon, but when he recalled that essential part about Lucario, he got an idea. "C-can't you mentally contact them?" DK asked terrified.

"…" Lucario cursed himself and tried to send a message to whoever was close to him. Since he had enough stamina to sense multiple auras, he went ahead and startled everyone out of their sleep. "Everyone, come to the infirmary! Sonic is under attack!" he said telepathically.

"…Cake?" a drowsy Kirby somehow replied back.

"…Just come to the infirmary! Master Hand, we've got an emergency!"

"Pipe down!" Master Hand replied, waking up from his sleep. "Why the hell are you causing a massive awakening throughout the mansion, anyway?"

Lucario was utterly frustrated. It didn't help that Sonic was screaming in the background. "The cube you put on Sonic is keeping us away from the Nightmares! They're…they're doing something to him, probably getting stabbed to death! I can't really see anything from where I'm lying down!"

Out of cue, a red alarm came out from the ceiling. DK looked up scared, not seeing that red alarms popped up everywhere inside the big house. Although it was pretty loud, DK could hear the mansion being in a panic. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sonic howled out.

"Grr, why isn't anybody coming here?!" Lucario demanded.

The first to arrive was Dr. Mario, though calling Mario with his doctor title right now was questionable since he was dressed in pajamas. "Oh god," he muttered once he saw what was going on.

"Do something! Sonic's being mauled alive inside that invisible cube!" DK said.

The scene inside the cube wasn't clear at all. In fact, all Dr. Mario could see was a dark blob shrouding the upper half of the bed. Somewhere from within that blob, Sonic had stopped screaming. When Master Hand warped into the room, he yelped right after. "AAAAH!" and then he screamed.

"Master Hand, remove that cube!" Dr. Mario said. "It didn't stop people from getting inside!"

"I-it should've stopped anyone!" the hand said. "Unless, well…the enemy appeared from the floor… I kind of forgot putting a barrier under the bed. You could say the cube is an incomplete cube…" The doctor stared blankly at Master Hand, his mouth drawing a thin line. "…CUBE GOES BOOM!" he said as he curled himself into a fist and banged the cube once, the invisible barrier shattering and its fragments fading away.

Dr. Mario slowly approached the blob of darkness. "I…uh…ah…" Getting close to Sonic seemed to be a crazy idea. When a few sparks flew out, the hand and the doctor feared for the worst to happen before their eyes. "N-no, we can't interact with him as he stands now!"

Whatever happened next was very weird. The blob of darkness suddenly shot away from the bed to the ceiling, causing a huge crack in the process. Mario, Lucario, DK, and Master Hand watched the blob stand still until it started bouncing around the room, causing quite the mess inside as it jumped from bed to wall, from wall to ceiling, from ceiling to floor, and from floor to wall. The blob was so fast that attacking it was out of the question. It went all over the place as if somebody accidentally ate three Super Spicy Curry plates; it was both fast and dangerous to touch.

"How do we stop it?" Master Hand asked. "That blob has Sonic in it!"

"Uh, actually…" Dr. Mario pointed at a very tired Sonic lying on his bed. Since the werehog was breathing, he was luckily still alive. "Sonic is there…"

Master Hand stared at the werehog while the blob was tearing the infirmary apart behind his wrist. "If Sonic is there… Why is there a blob in the first place?" he wondered until noticing the blob jumping out from the open window close to Lucario and DK. "I-it left! Hurry! Close the window!"

Dr. Mario hastily closed down the window and turned to the hand. "…Wait, what difference is there to close the window? As you've seen already, that blob was strong enough to wreck the infirmary," he said.

"Well, we can't leave the window open all night either way, right?" the hand asked.

The blob then returned, destroyed the window, and bounced into the ceiling to shoot back outside to the ground floor. Master Hand and the others remained motionless. They thought the blob had a mind of its own judging there was no other reason to come back except to break the window.

Master Hand zoomed into the window to look outside down below. "You window-breaking-beast thingy!" he called out to the blob, which was absorbing itself into the ground. Dr. Mario looked out the window in time to see the dark ball vanish. "Huh… It's gone…"

The alarm that woke everyone in the mansion made them all come into the infirmary in quite a hurry. Most of them were being late getting there because they had to pick their weapons and what not to attack; no matter if most of them weren't properly dressed (Zelda reddened a deep shade of red just seeing the shirtless Wolf, who she found oddly attractive for being a non-human. Nana had fainted for some reason).

"What's the matter with her?" Toon Link asked.

Popo looked the other way. "She's pretty weak against people she finds really attractive. I've got no idea why she did it now, and I don't want to find out," he explained.

Naturally, Amy ran to Sonic's side. "Oh, Sonic! You're not dead, are you? Please, tell me so!" she cried.

Sonic simply woke up and saw the multitude of people crowding the infirmary. Everyone was staring intently at him. "It's midnight, you guys…" he trailed off. "Are you all having a midnight party…or what…?"

"…" Everyone fell silent for a brief moment.

Snake turned to Lucario. "I thought you said the hedgehog was getting mauled alive… In retrospect, that wouldn't have been such a bad idea, now that I think about it," he said.

"He was…" Lucario said. "But…I couldn't see clearly what they were doing to him. I thought he was yelling in pain. He was screaming, after all…"

Dr. Mario moved into the crowd to check up on the werehog. There weren't any wounds on him at all. "That's…odd," the doctor said confused. "Sonic seems pretty healthy to me."

"Wait…" Tails trailed off. "Isn't it dangerous that there's not a cube locking him in?"

Instantly, anyone close to the bed stepped back as Master Hand brought the invisible cube up again. Sonic clearly heard his buddy's question, and he even saw the cube shining for a moment. "Oh, you guys DID trap me in then!" he snarled, curling his fists.

"It's for your own good…and our well beings," Marth pointed out. "That malignant soul inside of you could go rampant at any time and kill us in our sleep. I suppose you don't want that to happen, do you?"

"N-no," Sonic grunted. His little ears then perked up a bit. "…Uh, that's strange… I feel different…" The werehog felt that whatever weight he had before was gone. Sadly, Sonic couldn't explain exactly why he felt a tad different than before.

"Of course you feel different. You're a big ball of fur," Diddy said.

"That ain't it!" Sonic said offended. "It's just… Before, I used to feel that bastard's presence inside of me. But now…it looks like he's gone for good. I can't feel him anymore."

Mostly everyone gave the werehog many dull looks. They all doubted his words.

"…Nobody here trusts me at all, do you?" Sonic asked bored.

"I-I'm sorry, but even I can't trust you, Sonic," Peach said sincerely, feeling a bit guilty.

"Y-yeah!" Luigi said. "What if that monster is talking to us right now? Maybe you're not Sonic! You're trying to trick us to let you out and slaughter us on the spot! And I'll probably be the first one to die!"

"And if you're going to slaughter us, at least let me get dressed!" Toon Link said, showing his blue pajamas and messy hair. "Who's heard of people dying in these clothes?"

Master Hand stared very long at Sonic. "…Well… Let's see if he's telling us the truth," he said. "I'm going in." The only one who gasped out of the crowd of people was Kirby. Chris gasped, but for obvious reasons, he wasn't heard at all. "I feel kind of ticked off that Kirby and Chris are the only ones worried about me, but I think everyone here knows I'm almost invincible outside of matches."

"That's a first for me," Knuckles said.

"Not me," Vector said.

"Shut it, you," the hand said as he made the cube vanish. When he moved into Sonic, he called the cube to keep the werehog and himself inside just to be sure the beast wouldn't take somebody hostage. Looking down upon the werehog, Master Hand concentrated hard to call forth his own psychic powers to dwell into Sonic's subconscious.

"Please don't screw my mind," Sonic said. "I've got no idea why, but I'm not very good at handling psychics so well."

"A very tempting option that could seriously save us a lot of trouble in the future, but I'll have to pass on doing that," Master Hand said as he glowed in a pinkish aura.

Within Sonic's subconscious, Master Hand found some bizarre things floating idly by. Most of them were visions of big open spaces of land where there were no walls, chili dogs with ungodly amounts of ingredients on top, Dr. Eggman robots missing body parts where Sonic's Homing Attack would've gone through, and a single picture of Amy…behind a window. The last item slowly spun into place, revealing a small written text behind the photo that read, "Most Annoying Fangirl Example / Avoid Her At All Costs."

"I think I know why I forbade myself from inspecting other people's minds," Master Hand said shrugging. "They're not like Crazy's mind, bu-"

"Just get on with it!" Sonic growled.

The hand grumbled as he looked around the subconscious a little more. Besides the things he saw, there were no signs of an evil presence flying around. Sure, Sonic had some personal issues lying around, but his mind was safe. The hand stopped glowing to bring down the cube. "That evil spirit within Sonic…is gone," he said.

A lot of them blinked in pure disbelief. Wanting to make sure Master Hand was correct, Mewtwo himself read Sonic's thoughts. "…He is right," he said after a brief moment. "Dark Super Sonic's presence has completely disappeared."

"But how?" Lucas asked. "I-I thought he was still there in him..."

"How could he disappear just like that?" Cream asked. "Mr. Sonic got rid of the evil spirit troubling him by doing nothing?"

Sonic didn't care in the least how he made the spirit leave. He tossed his stretchable arms up to the ceiling, making two holes in them. "OH YEAH! He's gone!" he said in triumph, getting an annoyed grunt from Master Hand. The werehog flashed a nervous fang-filled smile and pulled back his arms. "L-like I was saying before, he's gone! I'm purified!"

"T-that's great, Sonic!" Chip said, bringing himself to high spirits once more. "Now all that's left to do is get your werehog form outta the way so that you're good! Oh, maybe you should do nothing and let it go too!"

Dr. Mario was unsure about what happened to Sonic. And suddenly, he remembered the dark blob that plowed through the infirmary. "That blob that assaulted Sonic before… It must've done something to him," he said.

Persona 4 – Who Goes There?

Everyone in the room looked at him. "Blob? What blob?" Roy asked.

"Don't you see how the infirmary looks like?" Dr. Mario asked. Sure enough, everyone had ignored how destroyed the infirmary looked like. A few gasps were heard. "Earlier, Lucario told us that Sonic was being assaulted by Nightmares that got inside through the floor because Master Hand had forgotten to put a barrier down the bed."

"H-heheheh…" Master Hand silently chuckled as a few glares looked up at him.

"When I arrived, the Nightmares must've done something to Sonic," Dr. Mario said. "None of you came here in time, so the blob already fled and disappeared outside… But that's not all." He looked worried. "Sonic doesn't look like he's injured or anything, but Master Hand found out that the spirit was gone for good… That's…the part that I'm worried about."

"…You don't mean…" Zelda trailed off. "…You don't mean that the blob that fled had something to do with the spirit being gone, do you?"

Dr. Mario nodded. "I'm afraid so. It makes a little bit of sense if you connect two and two together," he said.

Espio looked stern and crossed his arms. "The blob took the spirit away?" he asked.

"…It's highly likely that scenario happened a few minutes ago."

A few whispers floated by as the Smashers talked to each other about the concerning news. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Wolf said disgusted. "That hellish guy is on the loose now? The enemy spirited him away from the hedgehog to set him free?"

"Or worse…" Dr. Mario continued. "This is all a theory I just came up with, but I don't think they simply wanted to release him… More like they kidnapped him for some other purpose they have in hands."

Chip shook his head horrified. "N-now that you mention it, my brother's henchmen appeared during the day when we last fought them," he said. "M-maybe he's got some wicked plan in store for us by using Sonic's evil spirit?"

"If that's true," began Snake, "it's a given they're going to use him against us. After all, that idiot only cares about getting joy out of slaughtering people for fun. If they're not using him, it's the same thing either way. Now, if he was released, that could only mean one thing…"

"Getting out of the mansion at night will sound even more dangerous to do?" Jigglypuff wondered, making a heavy gulp.

"N-no! I-I don't want that monster to break through the mansion and beat us to death!" Diddy whimpered. "I-it was kind of safe with Chris whipping him back into Sonic, but now that's not going to work anymore!"

Master Hand cleared his throat. "Relax. I learned from my mistake, so I'll put up a barrier that'll protect the mansion's perimeter right now," he said, reassuring many of them.

"Um…" Peach was unsure about another problem. "But if he's really out there… Won't the village be in danger too?"

Several negative responses soon replied to her. "Oh Farore, no," Link said. "Now we got to alert everyone outside the mansion to be careful about him!"

"If he really is running wild," Snake added.

"Everyone, stay calm!" Master Hand said. "Ugh, this will give me a big headache, but I'll try to set barriers on all places with people so that they stay safe. However, we must alert them about staying close to their homes. If they step out from the barriers I set up, I don't want to imagine very bloody scenes giving me nightmares during my sleep."

"Then go do it now!" Pit said. "We should tell them about what's going on tomorrow. So I think setting the barriers right now is urgent."

The hand turned to look through the window. "Great, now I have work to do during midnight," he said. "If the barriers are attacked, I'll try to set up a mental link to alert us from anything suspicious. You should all go to sleep."

Most of them were worried about what was going to happen next, but they all slowly left the room (with Popo dragging Nana away). Tails had to convince Amy from leaving Sonic alone, but he didn't see Chip looking down to the floor. He was just trying to forget about the eventual farewell to the group, but the recent event made him the worst ending was going to happen instead of the bittersweet ending.

All that was left to do was to be cautious of the monster waiting for them to step out of their home…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten – Sparking

Within a small, desolated theater, the red curtains covering the big screen opened up, showing a picture of Dark Gaia. "The heroes have reached the final leg of their adventure, and now they're preparing themselves to fight the greatest evil they've ever fought! It is the dark monster known as Dark Gaia, ready to bring eternal darkness to the world!" Etna said.

"I don't really remember the part about bringing eternal darkness…" DK said.

The picture changed to one where Dark Gaia loomed right above the mansion, looking right down upon a very terrified Lucas. "With claws the size of Flonne's love for love, Dark Gaia sharpens his senses to bring damnation and chaos just for the hell of it! He measures approximately a twentieth of the whole planet, so how are the ant-sized Smashers gonna deal with him? I call dibs of splattered pools of blood! Looks like they'll have to create some kinda Super Mega Ultra Fantastic Mushroom to grow big!"

"U-uh, I suddenly don't want to fight Dark Gaia!" Lucas whimpered.

"Oh, about the mushroom thing, I call dibs on it. I'll put it to good use for this fight and personal gain. I'll be unstoppable, I swear," Wolf said darkly.

"Stay away from it! W-wait, we don't even have something like that with us!" Master Hand said.

Once again, the picture changed, with a cartoon-looking Dark Gaia happily swallowing the planet. "The biggest finale yet is very close, my friends! Who shall win the fight against supremacy, the forces of good or the giant force of darkness? I guess it's rather obvious who's gonna win! Like they say, the bigger you are, the easier it is to kill!"

"I'm starting to believe you don't like us at all," Marth said.

"Next time on Smashing Force Powerful Smashers: Episode 191 – Break Time Before We're Crushed! Gotta Hit The Gym Hard! Because just being many isn't enough to win a fight against a deity!"

"And how is working out at the Gym going to make a difference in all this?" Meta Knight asked.

"Well…having more badges proves you're strong?" Red wondered.

"Red, we're not talking about that kind of Gym," Squirtle said before the lights deemed out.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-

Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

- I feel that mentioning that particular reference directly would sound silly, but you probably know which one I'm talking about. *Shrugs*

- "Disgaea 4 - A Promise Unforgotten - Sparking" plays during the "Next Episode" segments of the game. Beware, they're filled with sardines!

Out of Curiosity…:

- I'm surprised I'm still alive after implying how bad that reference's origin is. Girls would've killed me by now.

…Guess seeing DSS getting kidnapped through exorcism (yes, that's exorcism Dark Gaia style, so they DID end up doing it!) wasn't very expected, right? And with dark minions walking during the day, it all just means everything is going downhill fast.

All the more reason to reach the true end for the arc!

I think more excited to do the next Mansion Chapter. Speaking about Mansion Chapters, I came with the decision that Mansion Chapters shall now be featured after the end of every arc, dropping out the triple arc rule. Besides that, the current poll shall be the last one, giving me all freedom to choose a good order for future arcs. Because seeing Banjo-Kazooie untouched was too much for me to bear alone.

In case I'm not so alive, you can always find me in my Youtube page. That's the only public place where you'll see me uploading walkthrough videos.

Oh, and for the people who "reviewed" the note chapter with your usernames, you kind of lost your chance to review this one. :l Then again, you can do it anonymously here.

Let's all look forward to the very end of this arc. I encourage all exorcists to review. :)

…Or Barry's bringing Caitlin back to piss her off and blow the mansion away.

Barry: Hey!

Ivysaur: It's not crazy to think that'll happen for sure.
*Chapter 191*: A Chip to Remember

An update for the story? What blasphemy is this?

From The Meddler: It's about time! XD Seriously though, glad to hear you're not giving up on the story. I can't wait for the next chapter!

. . .On an unrelated note, my brother wants you to know he put this story on the tv tropes recommendation page. :)

From me: The publishing of this chapter makes it clear that the story goes on.

Oh, he did? Oh, thanks, I guess. As long as it's not taken down from there… Either way, I don't mind. Thanks. :)

From tailszero: heh. so far, this fic has been going on for a while, and i have been reading it. i laughed, cried, and felt like complaining about lucario acting gay. i am one of the few people who probably were unhappy when it turned out lucario was not dead, because for a moment i actually thought i might see some charcter development in chris. keep on going, you are going to need a ton of chapters made to explain all of your loose threads.

From me: I'm absolutely sure none of the characters in this fiction are gay. If you think Lucario is…well, he's being an extremely overprotective person over his trainer. I suppose that's his character flaw? Thanks for reviewing. :)

From PianistChris: Can't wait for the next chapter, as well as the many following arcs and suspense as to what will happen!

Ofcourse its understandable that the updates aren't as regular as they used to be :)

From me: Wish I had all the time of the world like I used to. Thanks for keeping up with me. :D

From dum dum dum: Ok,this chapters a little disturbing. But i suppose that was your intention. Hope you update soon, It doesn't look like it'll end anytime soon either. In the future, could you include spyro (Classic or legend, not skylanders) He's one of my favourite game characters, and i'm honestly tired of the final fantasy characters. Otherwise this stories good, keep going and have fun writing it.

From me: Anybody who suggests arcs should TOTALLY head for the forum that I made several months ago. Seriously! The place needs people to flourish into a community of sorts.

But thanks for voicing out your thoughts, anyway. :D

From wereAuraknight: Awsome chapter, glad to have something to read.

It's a pity that lucario is still bedridden, but at least he's not dead.

i've just beat trama team, i can really appreciate the previeious chapters way more.

and if DSS is on the loose, what will stop him?

will it be?

Aurageddon?

From me: I won't talk about DDS that simply, but I can say that he won't disappear just yet. Thanks for reviewing. :D

From dragon19kyoshi: Impressive! I like it! This is amazing! Keep it up and thanks for my first review. I enjoy it!

From me: You're very welcome. ;)

From Safire Ranmako: WOW! I can't think of any other way to say it. That was amazing...

I'm speechless.

From me: Okay… I think you are so I'll go along with that.

From ngrey651: Wait, you're really doing Banjo-AAAAWESOME! I LOVED that game! It was so wacky and original. I love stuff that doesn't take itself too seriously. :D

From me: I seriously need to add some wacky-looking worlds to increase the possibilities. That, and I need the goofy-looking Smashers to take a chance. Hope you look forward to it.

From FF and STH: The sonic unleashed saga is almost over and now dss is gone from sonic. Hopely you undated sooner but understandable when it come to college and thing like that.

Sad the poll about to go, really like it even if I one of the guy who go for the FF arc (mostly to try to get Kingdom heart to appaer) but it your story to do what you want.

From me: Hey, that sounds like you're angry with me. It's true what they say that it's hard to convey feelings in the internet. But I know you're a happy guy, so let's leave it like that. Thanks for sticking with us. :)

From Kain Everguard: Thanks for the new chapter dude.

Your writing is good as always.

I hope you update soon!

From me: And the update's here. Now to wait for the reviews…

From Long: This has got to be the longest fanfiction ever written. Has anyone ever finished reading the whole thing? 3,000,000 words? All I can say is it doesn't seem like you know how to wrap up a plot in a printable size book.

From me: If people started reading this from the very beginning, then it was possible to read it from start to finish.

Except I didn't even THINK a few would sit down for entire days reading it all. That's determination…unhealthy determination, but it's…er, kind of okay.

Oh, and don't insult me. Blame the fact this game has over 35 characters that need their spotlight. I enjoy doing this. Don't hate me. D:

From jj: this is a awesome story hmm i wonder if the other frontier brain will come

awww no elite beat agent.

i have to say your story is that of a novel. sorry about college

just wish you update quicker

queston when will you start doing lv 2 and 3 final smashes

From me: This chapter does feature EBA goodness, with a little extra to add about that same topic. As for those powerful attacks, they'll come pretty soon. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From N the puppet: Sweet! Evil sonic's separated from normal sonic. :D

...Crap, evil sonic's separated from normal sonic. DX

Wait, Luke and Guy? (Checks google) Huh, never knew that. o.o

Actually, that was just a mistake on my part. I have an old strategy guide for FF IV, which strangely labelled Cecil as 16-17, while Edge was 26-28. (I checked later online that this wasn't the case) Still, you raised a very good point. -;

College can get hectic, though, that's for sure. If updates slow down though, then they slow down, there's no helping it. Besides, homework/studies kinda take priority, though I'm just stating the obvious so I'll just shut up now. X.X

Still, can't wait for the next chap!

From me: FF strategy guides are evil. That FFIX was the worst offender I've ever seen for a guide next to the incomplete Prima guides for Pokémon.

But sweating blood was enough to make me continue, so here's your 191th gift. Enjoy. :)

From DevilHunterDaniel: This is simply amazing.

I like very nice cliffhangers if it could be known as one.

You have what I wish I could have:creativity.

But I remembered something from previous chapters.

you'll probably find out

From me: Er, nope, I don't really know what you're talking about. You need to be more specific. Thanks for sticking around. :D

From Bomb Ring: Sorry that you thought I was being demanding, but you did make a good point on you don't really own the physical characteristics, I just wanted your word so (if I ever finish that story) people wouldn't claim that I stole your idea, you know what I'm saying? Anywho, other than that little thing I just have one question, how many hits does this story have so far? This is a question I have been wondering for quite a while.

Chapter: 8.5/10

Result: This is more like it.

From me: How many hits? Well, according to the story's chart, it has over 260,000 hits. It's not necessarily Youtube hit level, but it's pretty high for me. I wish it comes to 1 million hits.

At least I'm sure KH yaoi fics reach higher numbers that I do…

…

Thanks for reviewing! :)

OKAY! It's been a pretty DAMN long while ever since this fic took the first page all for itself (maybe), but after enduring countless of trials to revive this dead chapter, it's finally completed.

I'm so starting to make small recaps just in case the humongous chapters make you forget.

PREVIOUSLY: The Smashers managed to activate all the temples except for one. New bonds were made with some of the FFIV cast.

NOW: Chip tries his best to be remembered on random people that have almost no importance to the overall plot with mixed results. His second-to-last day somehow has him ending up inside a trashcan against his will.

Oh, I like how this sounds.

Without further interruptions, I encourage all alive readers to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: The author hopes that this story never turns into something akin to "My Immortal".

Chapter 191: A Chip to Remember

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

June 16 – Tuesday - Morning

"And with this off from your neck," Chip began as he removed Sonic's collar from the hedgehog, "you're completely free from my mind control."

"Good riddance!" Sonic said pleased.

Dr. Mario raised a finger. "But you still need to rest for a few more days."

The hedgehog grumbled some nasty words and sank his head into his pillow.

Sonic felt great otherwise. With the collar gone from his system, he was one step closer into becoming a normal hedgehog again. He now just needed to liberate his soul and mind from the werehog influence to set him free, and take the challenge to wait for his lung recovery. If looks meant anything, Sonic was losing that challenge.

"Just a few more days till you recover, Sonic," Dr. Mario said before walking away. "Patience makes perfect."

"It's practice makes perfect," Sonic said.

"Your case is special," the doctor simply retorted.

While Sonic sighed aloud to rest, Chip was seen fiddling with his fingers. The imp was very worried about his last day of enjoying the wonders of the surface world (and the universes). That day would be pretty chaotic as well, since he just knew he would fight against his destructive brother. Taking out the fact he was a deity, Chip felt useless. "…Sonic," Chip said. Sonic replied with a small grumble. "Will everyone here miss me once I'm gone?"

Sonic slowly sat up. "Like half of us will," he bluntly said.

"…Oh well! Half is good enough," Chip said optimistically. "But seriously, I'm not feeling okay with myself as how things stand. I feel like…I need to something to be remembered."

"Something to be remembered? Doesn't saving the world with a giant stone statue is very good?"

"Kind of, but I want more," he said as he flew up a bit. "I want to do something with my own hands right now, not after this is over. So…I was wondering if you could give me any ideas."

Sonic thought for a brief moment. "Helping people out with their issues wouldn't b-"

"That's it!" Chip said smiling. "People always remember you when you're doing good deeds for them, like favors!" He turned his back on Sonic. "I need to find a place where people ask for help. My goal now is to go around doing just that!" The hedgehog rested on his bed. "But for it to be excellent, I need to help as many troubled people as I can!"

Chip flew out the window of the place and then he came back to the hedgehog.

"I don't think I'll be able to do much myself…" Chip trailed off until he snapped his fingers. "Get others to help me help people! Thank you, Sonic!" He then flew out through the door, blissfully ignoring Sonic had fallen asleep.

-Nintendo Village-

Wings Post Office

"Remind me why we tagged along with you?" Roy asked as he, Marth, Pit, Meta Knight, and Chip were standing in front of the post office. Parakarry was merely staring at them.

"Because you guys have good hearts, and they told you to help me help people," Chip said.

"No," Marth began, "after the three of us said no, you started crying and smacking your head against the wall… And when that didn't work, you used a hammer, and from there things got weird until we gave up and followed you here."

"And by weird, you threatened Pit by trying to cut a feather off from his wings," Roy said, making Pit shrug. "Sure, we know his wings don't actually let him fly, but he was lucky he pulled them off before you closed the scissors!"

Pit sighed. He was particularly feeling pathetic at the part about his wings being for show.

"And then I took them away from you," Meta Knight said. "I didn't feel safe with you trying to cut Pit's hair next, so that is why I followed you."

"ANYWAY," Chip said, sheepishly smiling, "thank you for coming with me, you guys." The four just stared incredulous at him. The imp turned around to face Parakarry. "You, the flying turtle with the cool helmet, we're here to help people with their troubles!"

"So I heard," Parakarry said pleased. "It was about time you came!" he said annoyed.

"Why do I feel hostility from you?" Roy asked.

"Because you guys got yourselves a rival that's been taking the requests!" Parakarry revealed.

"Your hostility is completely unfounded for that reason, but… Somebody else is taking requests besides us?" Pit asked.

Parakarry looked dully. "This board doesn't exist solely for you, you know," he said. "But anyway, you better stay on your dutiful toes or else you won't get to hear thanks from the needy, let alone get a prize! That guy hasn't done a good job so far, let me tell you. Why, he just comes in all embarrassed, stating how his task ended in failure. I swear, his attitude drives me up the wall!"

The four exchanged glances before the red-haired swordsman stepped forward. "Out of curiosity, what's the name of this rival of ours?" Roy asked.

"Hmm… I forgot," Parakarry said. "I kinda remember his name was extremely easy to remember yet really boring-sounding. Why, I think you guys have someone else with a really unbelievable name, too, but that's too coincidental. Meh, it doesn't matter that much. One thing I remember is that the guy is a dog guy chewing a bone between his teeth. He was pretty cocky with his speech, now that I can recall… Oh well."

Chip saw this rival as a potential threat to his wishes. "I-I can't allow that person from getting the better of me!" he said. "We must help people ASAP before I leave!" With that said, the five stared at the board of requests. It looked like there weren't any new requests, and the old requests were still there.

Upon closer inspection, there was a new request after all. It piqued Chip's interest so much that he wanted to accept it right away.

I'd like to see the Smash Mansion with my little brother

This is a request reserved only for Mr. Marth, Mr. Meta Knight, and Mr. Pit. Last time I had a good time with you all, so I was wondering if you would take me to your home to visit it. Oh, and if you don't mind, I'm inviting my little brother Theodore with me. I'm sure we'll have a great time unearthing the wonders of the world together. We shall appear close to you.

From Velvet Room Resident, Elizabeth

Pit suddenly turned ill as Chip absent-mildly took the request's wing badge. "W-why? Why did you choose that one?" he questioned. The name Elizabeth was not good for his well-being.

Chip's smile was devoid of any punishment. "It had you guys on it! Whoever this Elizabeth is, I thought it'd be easier to help somebody you already know!" he said excitedly. "And I don't know her! That makes it even better for me!"

"Oh yeah! The person who requested that kindly told me to reserve it for you," Parakarry said with a happy look. "That's really nice. Requests that only want you to help are a way to stay ahead of the competency."

"So we're having another wonderful time with Elizabeth…" Meta Knight trailed off. "This day suddenly turned better."

"How did it get better?" Pit asked shrugging. "If you didn't read the description, she's bringing another person with her! And if that person is just like her, I just know they're going to stare at me with those yellow eyes full of interest for…well, anything they find extremely fascinating!"

Marth pressed the bridge between his eyes. "Pit, stop acting so scared and let's just enjoy this while it lasts… Oh, I don't even know if we're going to enjoy this ourselves," he said with a sigh. "Even though she's…unique, we can't help it."

Roy was confused at the whole talk. "Um, what? Sorry, I don't know what you guys are talking about. Is this Elizabeth person that unsettling to Pit?" he asked.

"Why would I be unsettling? In fact, I'm sure you all enjoyed the time we spent together. I really liked hanging out with you, so I'm hoping everything we do today is as thrilling as last time."

The five of them turned around to find the source of the voice. Sure enough, like she had written on the request, Elizabeth had appeared practically close to them. Specifically, she appeared behind the shivering Pit. "(Oh Palutena…)" Pit thought, his right eye twitching at her.

Elizabeth blissfully smiled. "Like I wrote down on my second request, I appeared close to you," she said chuckling. "My master dislikes people to do this sort of thing because it is rude, but I grew curious so I did it myself… I have to admit, it is fun," she continued chuckling amused.

"(How… I didn't hear any footsteps,)" Marth thought puzzled. "Uh, it's good to see you again, Miss Elizabeth."

"Likewise here," Elizabeth said, looking up to the sky. "I was trying so hard to keep my excitement from taking over me as I did my way to meet you here, but I'm afraid I won't be able to contain it any longer." She looked back at them with a smile. "And my humble brother was very interested in coming here. I went ahead and told him to come with me as well. He's right here, as you can see."

Right next to her, they all just noticed the other guest coming along for the ride to their home.

There was a blatant family resemblance with Elizabeth and the guy since the man also had the same pale skin color, the same grey hair, and the same yellow eyes. He also was wearing the same blue color scheme for his formal clothes. He wore black boots, black pants, a blue long-sleeved shirt with four circles over his waist that greatly resembled Elizabeth's pattern, and a small blue hat that made him look like a flight attendant more than anything else. Comparing his age with his sister, he certainly looked fairly young-looking, and very attractive given how many passerby females were mesmerized at his looks.

"Good morning, everyone," the man cordially said. "I'm Elizabeth's younger brother. My name is Theodore. It is nice to meet you in such a fine day as today."

"…So far, that's a normal greeting," Meta Knight muttered.

"(Oh, just you wait. This guy is waiting to say something frightening the least you expect it,)" Pit thought. "(It's a good thing I've gotten used to hide my wings. It's actually really convenient.)"

Elizabeth turned to Theodore. "The little masked one is Meta Knight, the man who looks kind of odd is Marth, and the one with the white clothes is Pit," she said. She eyed Roy and Chip. "Hmm, I don't quite remember these other two."

"Chip's the name, eating desserts is my game," Chip said.

"Er, I'm Roy. Nice to meet you," Roy said.

Elizabeth seemed pleased with the new introductions, and so did her brother. "These two shall be a preview of what's to come for us. We want to meet your group entirely," she said before staring at Chip. "I feel a tremendous dormant power within him, for example. Aw, the joys of meeting new people…"

Chip blushed and waved a hand down. "Oh, you…" he muttered, growling in affection.

Theodore suddenly looked quite perplexed with the worried look on his face. "Please don't do anything to Elizabeth," he told Chip. "Otherwise, I'd feel obligated to deal massive damage upon your little body."

The very weird protective fact didn't surprise Chip at all, but a few of them somehow knew the man knew of a way to hurt people really badly. "I take good care of my girls! She's not gonna get hurt," he said.

"Ah, then my mind's been put at ease," Theodore said with a pleased smile. The four swordsmen stared at him for a few seconds in pure disbelief that his sister had been flirted with by a small imp. "But let us not waste any more time. Shall we head for this mansion?"

"Yes," Chip said excitedly. He made sure to show the siblings the mansion.

Pit just knew today was going to be extremely weird.

Persona 3 – Joy

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

The group of seven reached the front entrance of the mansion. Both Elizabeth and Theodore looked up at the height of the house with interest. "Welcome to the Smash Mansion!" Chip said. "There are so many rooms in there that you won't practically have enough time in the day to inspect them all!"

"The size of this place surprises me, and yet excites me even more," Elizabeth said. "Did I hear we won't have enough time to see all the rooms? If that's the case, I'm willing to put up another request to arrange another meeting with you."

"Great!" Chip said before any of the actual mansion's residents could object. "There are a lot of people who come from different places far, far away from here. Some of them are not exactly that nice, but they're cool."

Theodore smiled. "Cool people? I've heard that a lot from where we come from," he said with a proud air swirling around him, closing his eyes as if he was showing off. "True to what I expected, people like cold climates in a suitable environment where they can perform their activities. I wonder why then it is particularly warm in here? Oh! I suppose the mansion itself is a big fridge! Now that makes sense!" He nodded to himself. "Cool people surely do take this seriously! I must brace myself."

The Smashers stared at Theodore as if he said something weird, and he did. "…That is not the case," Meta Knight said. "By cool people, Chip meant people who are nice individuals to hang out with."

Theodore opened his eyes, looking worried at the news he considered shocking. "I don't understand how the word cool doesn't relate to coldness," he said.

"Uh…" Roy trailed off. "It just has a different meaning when you use it differently. I mean, it has more than one definition."

"…Oh yes, I see," Theodore said proud of himself for understanding. "My, Elizabeth was right about the outside world. It's full of surprises."

"I'm happy you're enjoying this, brother of mine. Can we enter now?" Elizabeth asked. "Let us start this journey into the unknown."

Main Lobby

Elizabeth and Theodore looked around the big space within the main floor of the mansion. "Ah, I can mentally see how a person would enjoy to rest in this area," she said. "There is that time-killer device they call TV on the wall, for example."

"Time-killer?" Theodore said worried. "How does such a weapon exist? Humans do have some dangerous tools to twist reality. Imagine the thought if they suddenly used that technology for their selfish desires! The agony! The despair! Oh, the humanity!" He was saying it so dramatically that the Smashers thought he was doing a bad joke. Something told them he was not even trying to get attention.

"It's not LITERALLY a time-killer device," Marth said. "It just lets you watch programs to keep you entertained. It is by no means dangerous…"

"Unless you stick your face against it for a long time," Roy said.

Theodore regained his composure, but he was not so sure. Roy's fact further confused him. "I-I see," he said. He made a mental note about staying away from the screen.

All the while, Elizabeth looked amused at his brother's behavior. "Moving on," she began, "you did mention there were others living in this huge house. I expect them to be just like you." The siblings saw a floating disembodied glove coming from the second floor. "Oh my, here it comes!" She said excited. "Our next new friend! A giant floating disembodied glove!"

"At last, somebody we can acquaint with," Theodore said pleased. The Smashers thought the siblings had giant gloves as friends for a brief moment.

"Who are these two?" Master Hand asked. "I know you guys let them in! Don't try to hide it!"

"It's okay, Master Hand…sort of," Marth said. "It was part of their request to visit the mansion. They're one of the troubled people from the post office."

"Oh, getting a reward by letting strangers into my house? Somehow that sounds PRETTY understandable from YOUR point of view," the hand complained.

"And he talks!" Elizabeth said. The hand was wondering why she didn't scream bloody murder yet. "I can feel a tremendous amount of power coming from him. Most interesting…"

The hand blushed. "Oh, you…" he chuckled, and then he stared at the unwanted guests. "…Wait a minute. I don't even feel your presences…"

Theodore nodded. "It seems you're not able to track down our very beings. I am sorry, sir, but only the residents from the Velvet Room are able to sense us," he explained. "Do not be alarmed. We're not here to cause chaos in your humble home."

Pit narrowed his eyes. "(At least not physically,)" he thought.

"We just want to meet your roommates to establish mutual bonds," Elizabeth said. "I don't think that is dangerous at all. Would you let us enjoy ourselves? Judging how you are a strong being, it makes me think the possibilities are endless."

Master Hand was flattered. "Er…well…I guess I could give you permission," the hand. "Alright, you can go anywhere in the house. Just don't stray too far from your guides." With that, he floated away into the hallway of the first floor.

Right away, Elizabeth spotted an elevator in the second floor. "Theodore, would you look at that! An elevator meant to take anybody to their destinations in the house," she said.

"Let us see if it has an infinite amount of places to go," Theodore said. The Smashers gasped when the siblings suddenly started running upstairs to the elevator. They all had a small slow start, and thus they couldn't stop the siblings from getting away.

"What was that about not separating from each other?" Roy shouted to the elevator's closed door. The elevator began moving up. "Oh no, where did they go? They could be anywhere!"

"I fear to think what weak mind gets to know them," Meta Knight said. "Separate and find them."

"Hurry!" Pit said alarmed as all six of them ran upstairs to find the siblings.

Fifth Floor

The two velvet siblings were seen walking out from the elevator. "It usually takes us longer to reach our destinations," Elizabeth said. "I admit that went over so fast…"

"Ah, but don't fret, my older sister," Theodore said. "Though we got here faster than expected, there is a new area to explore for ourselves."

Elizabeth looked interested once again. She looked to their right where steam was coming from below the door. "Look at that," she said curiously. "There is some sort of fog coming out from that door. I wish to see what is causing that." The two siblings went over to the steam and opened the door.

They both failed to notice the golden label on the top of the door frame that read "Wolf".

Further inside, the siblings saw even more steam coming out from behind another door to the right. There was the sound of water falling down from the other side as well. "We're one step closer to the truth behind the mysterious steam," Elizabeth said.

"Please, do open it," Theodore said, hearing the sound of the water stop. "I do love to find out the truth behind mysteries. Just think about it for a moment. We're about to unravel this mysterious…mystery of the outside world!"

The door to the bathroom opened up by itself.

A few seconds before, Pit was running down the same hall when all of a sudden he saw Wolf's door wide open. He stopped right after hearing the lupine scream, with special emphasis to each single word, "WHAT-IN-THE-F*CK?"

"A-ah!" Pit yelped. He remembered this was usually the time the lupine used to take a bath. Sadly, he also knew why he was screaming, and thus stepping into the room was suicidal.

"Hmm," Theodore was heard saying, "sir, I do believe you are not quite wearing a lot of clothes. I know it's quite rude to appear before others like you first came into the world of the living."

"OUT!" Wolf demanded loudly.

Elizabeth flushed with interest. "I have no idea what took over my cheeks to redden like this, but I'm feeling quite attracted to this non-human," she said before chuckling amused. "Is this perhaps how you find yourself a hot stud? How thrilling!"

"O-OUT!" Wolf yelled louder with an obscene feeling of pure embarrassment that would haunt him forever. Pit backed away as the two siblings were pushed out from the room, the door slamming hard on their backs.

"T-there you are!" Pit said bewildered at the siblings. Both of them couldn't tell why they were shoved out from the lupine's room given their confused looks. "What were you thinking, running off like that without us following you?"

"Why, we were thinking about meeting others ourselves," Theodore replied calmly. "The rather loud person we just met was pretty amusing." He shook Pit's right hand. "I thank you, Sir Pit, for letting us come here."

Wolf apparently overheard the conversation. "The stupid angel face brought you two oddballs here? Stupid kid, you're getting another PUNISHMENT TIME after I get out of here!" he threatened with all the intent of absolute murder.

Pit was not ready to go for another round where a giant played with him like a life-sized, beaten up doll. The best plan to do was to avoid Wolf at all costs starting now. He grabbed the two siblings by their hands and dragged them away from the dangerous zone. "Can we ask you why you're so scared?" Elizabeth asked amidst the getaway.

"Don't make fun of me and just run!" Pit replied, the three of them taking the elevator down to the main lobby as fast as possible before a beast would leap out from a door.

Main Lobby

"No way," Roy said shocked. He was shaking his head.

"Yes way," Elizabeth said before Pit could continue. "The people of this universe made it seem like such a big deal, but in the end, it was really fun."

"It is sort of fun, but I don't think it was fun for everybody but you two," Meta Knight said displeased.

The others rejoined after a small while. Pit could've sworn staying in the mansion was not safe anymore. "I'm still confused about something else besides the fact that Wolf person shoved us out from his room… Why was he naked? I found that unnecessary," Theodore said. "Furthermore, why was steam coming from behind him?"

Marth pressed his brow. "First off, he was taking a bath with hot water. Second, you need to…uh…not have clothes on if you're planning to take a bath," he explained.

"A bath?" Elizabeth said.

"As in, people needing to clean themselves daily," Roy said. He started to realize why the others were not that happy to see Elizabeth and her brother from the start. To avoid sounding rude, he discouraged scolding the bright-looking siblings. "I thought you knew about that… I mean, don't you two take baths?"

"Why?" Theodore asked confused. "We never found the need to do that."

"…Then how come you don't even smell?"

"Oh, I see now," the male sibling said proud. "Humans are cursed with the horrors of smelling if they decide against cleaning themselves for a time. My dear sister and I are not cursed with that sort of thing." He looked worried at them. "I'm sorry you are cursed, though."

Chip gasped. "Who knew smelling bad was a curse!" he said surprised. The ones with common sense knew none of them were being sarcastic in the slightest.

Elizabeth meanwhile turned around to face the kitchen. There was a good scent filling the air. "My body is being enticed with this smell for some reason…"

Chip pointed at the kitchen. "That place is the kitchen. You can make lots of delicious food and eat tasty desserts. My favorite is chocolate," he said.

Elizabeth smiled. "Oh? That is right. Living beings often are sick with the hunger disease. Digesting this food is the only cure for that horrible curse," she explained. Roy was a bit mortified after hearing her. Her feet moved to the kitchen without her consent. Theodore swiftly followed his older sister closely from behind. The group feared what could happen next, so they swiftly followed the weird pair.

Kitchen

Peach was humming happily to herself as she stirred a ladle inside a big pot of fresh, hot chicken soup she was preparing for the infirmary's patients. She soon noticed the party of people approaching her. "Oh, hello there," she greeted the two velvet siblings. "I wasn't expecting visitors today."

Theodore eyed the princess's obscene pink dress. "How charming!" he said. "That dress with the blinding pink color you're wearing suits you."

"Oh… Thank you," Peach said mildly shaken. "You must be…"

"Theodore," the man said cordially. "She's my little older sister, Elizabeth."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom," the princess said nodding. Marth thought she went a little too far with her introduction seeing Theodore looked confused.

"A princess of a kingdom?" Theodore said puzzled. "That is strange. I thought princesses were part of fantasies on books humans read to amuse themselves… Unless… Fantasy is reality!" He nodded proudly. "I feel like I'm on the spot, right? Don't worry, there's no need to explain this one since it is pretty obvious."

While Peach was silent about his theory, Meta Knight seemed to shrug. "For once, he is right on something," he muttered to himself.

"Would you like the two of you to stay for lunch? The chicken soup will be ready shortly," Peach invited.

Theodore looked shaken next. "Chicken soup?" He gasped. "How did you put live chicken into this pot?"

Peach stopped stirring the ladle, staring at Theodore. "Live…chicken?" she wondered. "Oh no, the chicken was already…um…not living anymore."

The man sighed in relief, but then he gasped once more. "You tossed their corpses into the soup, then?" Theodore felt really sick all of a sudden.

"N-no, they were broken into pieces," Peach replied. That didn't make Theodore feel any better as he had visualized a very morbid picture in his mind. The princess quickly caught on. "W-what I mean to say is, the chicken…" She couldn't exactly explain how the chicken was found. Peach feared explaining the whole process.

"…It is a special kind of chicken that was not alive to begin with," Meta Knight suddenly said out of the blue, having had enough of Theodore's childishness. "Fear not. There is no blood."

"…" Theodore remained silent.

Elizabeth smiled. "Interesting," she said. "The smell of this chicken soup is beginning to have some effects on my mouth. I can't stop drooling… You must be some kind of…witch."

Marth, Roy, and Pit could hardly believe Peach was called a witch. The princess stared flatly at the blond woman.

"Why?" Peach asked as sweetly as possible to avoid sounding rude.

"Because this chicken soup's smell… It's having a rather powerful effect on me," she said. "I can hardly wait to taste it. Eating food before in that restaurant was a delightful experience, but I wanted more food." Elizabeth stepped closer to Peach. "Would you mind if we asked you to eat?"

The princess, shockingly, smiled. "I see! That was supposed to be a compliment! (I think…)" She nodded. "Okay, you can take a seat. Everybody, please join in. There's plenty for everyone."

Pit's mouth gapped. "(I can't believe she didn't snap out at her,)" he thought.

At that time, Kirby happily waltzed into view. Meta Knight turned to him. "As expected of you, you always come right on cue," he said.

Half an hour later…

Peach and Roy were astonished after witnessing the impossible. The others knew what was going to happen. On the long table in the center of the long kitchen, Elizabeth and Theodore were finishing with their 22th chicken soup bowl, cordially cleaning their lips. The princess didn't see any changes in their stomachs. Even Kirby, who was held from eating everything, was refrained to eating two servings but he was amazed by their incredible appetite. Not even Meta Knight wanted to stop the siblings. "That was very delicious and refreshing," Theodore said.

"I…but…uh…thanks?" Peach said dumbfounded. She recalled the pot was empty of soup. "O-oh! I didn't notice we ran out of chicken soup. I guess I'll make more so I don't leave the others starving."

"Good. I'd like to have some more," Elizabeth said.

Marth disapproved this idea quickly. "U-uh, why don't we go somewhere else? Don't you want to meet more people?" he asked.

The blond woman looked curious. "Splendid idea," she agreed. "Let us go this infirmary." The party slowly left the kitchen area behind with Kirby staring at their way until they were away from sight.

"…I like her!" Kirby brightly told Peach. The princess chuckled; unsure if it was a good idea to let the siblings eat the entire soup without kindly asking them to stop.

Infirmary

Elizabeth was the first one to enter the room, admiring the different devices and beds placed in an arranged order. "This must be the infirmary," she said. "It is the place where souls are about to move on to the next life and where the healthy ones stubbornly slow down the process to make miracles happen."

"Right!" Chip agreed until he realized what she had said, which made him feel gloomy. "Um…here! You can talk to my good friend Sonic. He's over there."

Theodore looked over at Sonic. "Ah, a sick one," he said, walking over to him. The hedgehog opened one eye at him. "Is your soul perhaps being ripped out from your body?"

"Funny, because one did get rip out from me a few days ago," Sonic said.

The velvet man laughed for a bit. "What a sense of humor! He just said he had more than one soul! Unless this body can act all on its own," he said. "…Am I talking to a corpse?" he wondered.

"No," Sonic said. "And yes, I still have a soul."

"Confusing," Theodore said. "We must establish a closer bond to understand each other better in the near future."

"Do that another day," Sonic said, turning away from him.

Theodore didn't exactly take his sarcastic comment as rude. "Great! I'll wait until that promised day arrives," he said satisfied. Sonic could only roll his eyes as a silent response.

Elizabeth felt a bit jealous that her younger brother made a new friend (in his point of view, anyway). She looked over to the window where Lucario was sleeping. "I believe this is my turn to establish my own mutual bond," she said excited, walking all the way to the Aura Pokémon. She eyed his body, especially the sharp spikes on his chest and wrists. "It looks like this poor soul was impaled with extreme prejudice on his chest and wrists," she said in a somewhat downcast mood. "And here I was getting my hopes up trying to make a new friend…"

Meta Knight walked to her. "He's not dead. Those spikes are part of his body," he explained.

"Really now?" Elizabeth smiled. She started stroking his head with affection.

Lucario yawned and opened his eyes for a bit to look at her. "(…No, it couldn't be her… I don't feel her aura at all. This should be some kind of dream…)" he thought before going back to sleep.

"That's Lucario," Chip suddenly said, coming out of nowhere. "He's got this freaky skill of seeing people's auras from far away and up-close!"

"Now that is exceptional," Elizabeth remarked. "But I feel he won't be able to sense even mine. You could say my brother and I can make our auras disappear and appear at will." She went over to the snoring DK, where she started stroking his hairy head. "Hmm, he is kind of cute for being quite big…"

Theodore approached her. "Let's go somewhere else," he said excitedly. "There should be more places to see…and more people to meet!"

"Yes, let's," Elizabeth said nodding.

After they were all gone from the infirmary, Lucario recalled what Elizabeth had said. "…Not being able to sense their auras… What?" he asked himself.

Music Room

Dragon Roost Island

The party's next stop was the music room. They saw how the musicians were all hard at work trying to emulate the lost tracks they had yet to finish. At least half of them were on that. The other half was meanwhile sitting down in different seats on different rows doing something else. Theodore smiled and nodded. "Symphonies for the ears, I hear! It is a good change over all the requiems our master likes to hear a lot all the time," he said.

"Requiems…" Pit shrugged at the thought.

Elizabeth stepped forward, enchanted by the music being played at the theater-like room. "Music does have its effects on people… Oh! Even I'm feeling attracted to it! Many like to perform rituals called…dancing." She then started dancing.

Or at least she thought she was dancing. Elizabeth did some weird hip movements along with arm swings. It could've been classified as an Egyptian dance, except it very loosely resembled one. Theodore and Chip were the only ones delighted at her "dance" movements. "My sister has got a natural talent for this, wouldn't you agree?" Theodore asked.

"She does!" Chip agreed.

From atop the stage, Mona, playing the guitar, watched the guests and the weird blond girl dancing. "That's not how you're supposed to be dancing to this song…I think," she muttered.

"May Valoo have mercy upon her rather disheartening dance…" Medli muttered.

Back with the group, Elizabeth stopped dancing. "That was extremely thrilling," she admitted. "But now I want to do something else… I saw how the musicians on top of that stage were using these so-called instruments. Those are the tools that produce music, right?" She looked around the floor until she found a flute lying down. "This should do nicely."

It was incredible that she had picked the instrument. It wasn't because the Smashers thought the flute was very good…

It was because the flute had a very thick blob of drool where the mouth should go. The group gasped as she placed the flute's mouth piece into her own mouth, and Elizabeth played a very horrid sound that didn't disgust Theodore and Chip. Roy turned around in shock, seeing Marth fainting.

The sound of her flute was luckily drowned in the sound of the music being played. However, most of the musicians sitting on the seats turned around, wondering what kind of music was being played behind their backs. "…" Ashley stared in pure disapproval. Red (the devil) frowned and covered his ears.

Lanky was infatuated after seeing her use his flute. "…I'd hit her," he muttered. Tiny Kong stared incredulously at him.

Elizabeth stopped playing the flute, smiling at the small applause she got from Theodore and Chip. The rest of her audience, meanwhile, grimaced hard. "Thank you, I'll play all day… I always wanted to say that, hmm-hm," she said chuckling.

"…Horrible," Ashley muttered.

"Hmm, are flutes supposed to taste like…bananas?" she wondered aloud. Roy could not take it anymore and so he made a fast exit to the nearest bathroom. "I suppose musicians have special ways to stay fed."

"You're killing me here," Meta Knight stated.

"She's such a good humoristic person, isn't she?" Theodore asked with all the obliviousness of the world.

Living Room

Persona 3 - Joy

Elizabeth was seen running into the gorgeous-looking living room. She started looking around. "Is this it?" she asked. "Oh, it is! I've heard a lot about this special recreational area. They say you can sit down and talk like there is no end! Gossiping and uncovering secrets from the individual you're talking to," she said as the group entered the room.

"That's…kind of right," Roy said. He and Marth still felt sick.

"Look over there!" Chip said, pointing at Zelda enjoying her tea time alone. "You can probably engage in a conversation with Zelda!"

"And I shall do so," Elizabeth said nodding. Zelda just noticed the party of people in the room. "Her royal-like appearance suggests she is like Princess Peach. This is ought to be worthwhile. Um, hello there!" She went over to sit next to Zelda.

"Oh, um, hi," Zelda said, smiling a bit weirdly at her sudden visitor. "I wasn't aware we had guests."

"I'm a special honorary guest by request," Elizabeth said. "My name's Elizabeth. You must be Zelda. I heard from my little guide back there."

"I…see," Zelda said nodding.

The princess moved back once the velvet woman itched closer to her. "So tell me… What kind of guys do you like?" she asked curiously.

Zelda nearly had a mental breakdown at the sudden, simple question that made her heart race a bit. "(W-why ask THAT question now?) T-that is a very intimate question," she blurted out.

"I know," Elizabeth said truthfully. Zelda thought she was making fun of her. "I wanted to get to the point to make our first get-together very memorable. Usually, girls like to talk about this a lot, getting very thrilled about the blush-inducing answers." She saw Zelda blush. "You have been blush-induced, too, I see… So do you like them with or without shirts?"

Zelda chuckled nervously as her face reddened. She stood up and hurriedly walked out from the room, not exchanging even one last glance with Elizabeth. The group, seeing that, approached the girl. "What did you tell her?" Meta Knight asked.

"I was just asking about guys she liked and if she liked them shirtless or not," Elizabeth simply said confused. "I admit that was too brief."

"…"

Theodore grimaced. "I want to have an intimate conversation," he said as if he was whining a bit. He then saw Snake walking into the room. The velvet man smiled and walked to the mercenary. "Howdy there," Theodore greeted.

Snake eyed him. "And you are…?"

"The name is Theodore," Theodore said. "I was seeking out somebody to talk to. I was wondering if you'd like to talk with me about a string of intimate questions such as your favorite foods and places to see."

"Not right now or ever." Snake quickly labeled Theodore as a weirdo and walked out of sight. Theodore stood there, tilting his head confused.

"That was…quick, too," Theodore said, sounding quite disappointed. He looked down as in he felt defeated. "Huh, we both can't seem to last too long talking with others save for our kind guides. If this how you feel when you…suck?" he wondered, terrified of the word he just used.

Chip pumped up a fist. "No! You mustn't give up yet!" he encouraged the siblings. "There's always hope when you feel pretty bummed out! I'm sure somebody is going to like you enough that they'll want to keep talking to you!"

"Optimism is supposed to be a source of good, positive source of energy," Elizabeth said. She stood up and smiled. "Perhaps we aren't trying hard enough? We certainly can do better than this. Going easy on people hasn't proved that effective."

"(I fear what she means by better and going easy on us,)" Pit thought worried. Everybody else in his team thought the same.

Yoshi was the next victim to walk into the room of mental punishment. Theodore smiled and approached the curious green dino. "Now this is peculiar," he said. "I thought the so-called dinosaurs were extinct millions of years ago."

"Uh, yes, but not my type of dinosaur," Yoshi said. He felt bad calling all Yoshis with such a prehistoric word. "We're very alive. Yoshis, I mean…and my name's Yoshi."

"Right, Sir Yoshi," Theodore nodded in approval.

It looked like the conversation with Yoshi was going to be pretty normal even though Theodore wasn't talking to a human that could temp him into voicing out his weird facts. Yoshi was pretty tempting, but Theodore found the right words to go along…

…Until Chip opened his mouth to reveal more info, anyway. "Yoshkins here can lay eggs!" he suddenly said.

"(Inb4scream)," Roy thought, slapping his forehead.

Theodore proudly chuckled to himself. "That is a weird fact," he said. "I learned that only animal female beings have the ability to reproduce through laying eggs. But," he continued, making Yoshi curious, "this should mean you're fully gay."

Meta Knight saw the horrified, petrified look on Yoshi's face. He could not take it any longer. "I believe our time has expired," he told the two velvet siblings. "Such a shame, really."

Elizabeth sighed. "Yes, I know. We've been too long outside I worry our master will scold us," she said, standing up from the couch. "Theodore, let us leave from here."

Theodore sighed as well and bowed to the pretty shocked Yoshi. "Sorry that our little conversation had to end so abruptly. We shall meet again someday," he said with a warm smile before the guides and the velvet siblings walked out from the room, leaving the green Yoshi behind as he stared into empty space.

Luigi then walked inside and saw Yoshi just standing there without moving. "Yoshi?" he wondered.

Yoshi muttered, "…Am I…gay?"

The green plumber blinked and then puzzled himself why Yoshi would ask such a thing.

Front Entrance

The guides were seen standing in front of the double doors with the velvet siblings standing away to the direction of the big hill to the village. "We must arrange another meeting very soon," Elizabeth said with a content grin. "We weren't able to meet the rest of your camaraderie today."

"In that case, may I suggest a…dinner party?" Theodore asked. "I've heard all household people tend to gather together in this ritual where everybody tries to heal their hunger disease by eating food."

"What a wonderful idea," Elizabeth said, clasping her hands together.

Meta Knight nodded in agreement, shocking the others but Chip. "We can do that," he said. Pit and Roy were mentally protesting so loudly at the idea.

"It's settled. I shall make an appointment soon," Elizabeth gleefully said with all the calmness of the world. "That reminds me. I haven't rewarded you for your job well done." She took out three cards and handed them over to Meta Knight. "These cards shall help you in your long fight against this army."

Obtained Mazionga!

Quickly casts multiple lightning bolts on all foes in range, dealing moderate lightning damage in an instant.

Obtained Megidola!

Blasts all foes with pure light. Bypasses all defenses and deals moderate damage in an instant.

Obtained Bufula!

Encases one foe inside a thick icicle that breaks apart, dealing moderate ice damage in an instant.

Theodore shook his head and gave two more cards to the knight. "I'd feel ashamed if I didn't reward you myself," he said. "Please use this to the best of your ability."

Obtained Diarama!

Heals a single party member's health by forty percent in an instant.

Obtained Stagnant Air!

Makes all party members and foes weaker against getting a status effect.

"Thank you," Meta Knight thanked with a small nod. Theodore replied with the same and stepped back with his sister.

"Well, then," Elizabeth began as they gave one last bow and turned around to walk back to the village, "We'll look forward to visiting the mansion for our promised dinner party."

"Till next time," Theodore spoke, already a few ways away from the mansion's front entrance.

Music stops

As Chip waved at them, the Smashers stared incredulously at Meta Knight for the early decision he had taken. "What is wrong with you?" Roy asked. "You just said yes to their idea without consulting us?"

Meta Knight stored the cards into his cape. "I know you all can't tolerate their unique attitudes breaking every single mind with their questions," he said, "but as long as they give us tools to make our fight against the army easier, we shall endure their presences for as long as we need to."

Pit crossed his arms. "You're thinking about getting your airship back the most for sure," he said.

"Yes, I won't lie about that," the knight said before he swung his hand at the air, calling forth a strong gust of wind that blew up on one spot in mid air. The others stared at the sudden magic spell that required almost no time to finish, which pointed out that he had used the Garula spell on his trophy stand already. "Useful, as you can see."

"…" Pit uncrossed his arms and sighed. "Well, he does have a point as always…"

"You can't argue with him about it," Marth said until noticing Chip's terrified look. "He's not going to use that on you. Why are you looking so scared?"

"B-because the people I just helped are going to die in front of me!" Chip responded as he pointed far away from the mansion's grounds.

The swordsmen all stared forward where they saw the velvet siblings staring at a huge blob of darkness coming out from the ground. A Titan suddenly hopped out and growled down upon the siblings. "W-what?" Pit said in shock.

"It's one of my bro's lackeys!" Chip cried out.

"But Master Hand put barriers up on the mansion and the village!" Marth pointed out until they realized something. "…Unless the two barriers aren't exactly covering the spot they're standing on!"

The imp then said, "I'm so calling this a case of laziness to protect nature!"

Meta Knight took a quick initiative and he was already flying along the ground. The others quickly followed and ran as fast as they could before the velvet siblings could get severely hurt from the monster. Both Theodore and Elizabeth, though, continued staring up at the savage monster.

"There is an overwhelming amount of malice coming from this monster made out of darkness," Theodore commented until Meta Knight flew around and to the front of them. "Ahh, Sir Meta Knight. Glad you could join us again today."

Meta Knight ignored commenting on the weird expression and drew out his sword. As the others reached them out, Elizabeth stepped forward and passed Meta Knight. "I sense hostility," she said. "Please let me take care of this monster myself."

The knight had to comment on her suicidal idea. "What are you implying?" he asked.

"I'm implying that I know how to fight," Elizabeth said with a blissful smile. She slowly took out a velvet book from behind as she said, "I might look like a simple elevator attendant. But in truth, I know several effective ways of inflicting pain…"

Many things were happening at once. The Smashers could feel that an unbelievable strong presence appeared before them. Most of them shuddered at the overwhelming feeling of power that seemed to come from Elizabeth herself. It was as if the moment she took out her book was when she indirectly revealed the true extent of the power she was hiding all along. Theodore, of course, looked unfazed. "End this as quickly as possible, my dear sister," he said.

"And I shall do," Elizabeth said, suddenly glaring the Titan with a cold look on her face that hinted murder. The Titan promptly roared and raised its mace over them.

However, it acted very slowly. By the time it was deciding to smash them all down, Elizabeth flipped open the cover of the book, its pages flipping wildly as a glowing card floated out from a page. "Your fate is in the card…" she trailed off as she slapped the card, shattering it into pieces that converged in a single point in front of her.

A small, red-haired fairy-like apparition was created out of the shattered remains of the glowing card. The apparition, called simply Pixie, smiled warmly and opened her arms at the Titan. The Titan suddenly realized how suicidal it was on its end to harm the woman before it.

But it was too late.

Four shining lights appeared from the sky and circulated around them, joining right under the monster's feet. What happened next was nothing short of amazing as the lights shone brightly as a single one that blew up in a blinding explosion that caused strong gusts to blow away in all directions. Inside the explosion, Elizabeth's side was completely unharmed save for the wind pushing them back (Chip was blown away for being the smallest). The velvet siblings simply stood there, staring at the spot where the monster used to occupy as a roar of pain echoed.

The blinding dome of light cleared out, and Elizabeth kept the book away. "That's that," she said chuckling. "It wasn't so difficult to annihilate."

"(S-she's…she's so powerful…)" Pit shuddered. "(Her power could even match a god's power!)"

"(I was sort of expecting her to be this strong,)" Meta Knight thought.

"(Holy…crap!)" Roy thought in shock.

"Well," Elizabeth said, dusting off her velvet clothes with a hand, "we'll continue from here. I hope we meet again very soon."

"Have a good day," Theodore said nodding, and the two siblings resumed their leave to the village, crossing over the tall slope until they were out of sight. The Smashers just stood there, staring at the direction they left.

Marth cleared his throat. "That was…uh…very morbid," he said.

"Tell me something that wasn't morbid about them," Roy said, shaking his head. "Still, I can't believe what I saw after all these weird events with them in the mansion! How did you manage the last time you met them?"

Pit looked defeated. "It wasn't easy. I thought my mind was gone after she ate eight meals without even feeling full," he said. Chip came back flying from the direction he was blown away. "I hope you're happy because they're gone."

Chip in fact did look happy. "Yup, my first job was a success… But I wanna do more tomorrow," he said determined, pumping up a fist.

"Good, because I won't be there," Roy said. "And those two won't get a dinner party with everyone that easily. The mansion is Master Hand's, anyway."

Main Lobby

"Of course they can come and hold a dinner party with everyone!" Master Hand said without objections. "They're the only guests so far that have flattered me the most! Besides, they don't deserve being put on the wall of unwanted guests." He floated away from the group.

"Dammit," Roy muttered.

Marth rubbed his chin. "Well, yes, they're the only two who haven't tried to kill him outright on the spot," he said.

"What about The Master and his pupils at Chris's birthday party?" Pit asked.

"They never said a thing to him, ever. He couldn't care less for anybody else like them," Meta Knight said.

It was a given that the velvet siblings would return very soon. For the rest of the day, they all dispersed and went to do their things. Unfortunately, a very pissed Wolf caught Pit in a hallway a beat him up really horribly that the angel got a nervous tick. Snake saw the scene but never dared to raise a finger.

June 17 – Wednesday – Afternoon

Chip was pretty bored the next day, lying down lazily on the couch. He feared that nobody else would go with him and help a sorry soul in the village. He tried the same tactic to bring Peach and Zelda for the ride by intentionally (and literally) breaking his right arm, but he ended up being the one in need of help thanks to Peach bringing him to Dr. Mario. He was now sporting a cast on his little arm.

"I think it was a bad idea from the start to fall from the top floor without using my wings," Chip said. "…I should've flown down to crash faster and look more convincing!"

The doors of the mansion were knocked on hard from the other side.

The imp rolled his eyes and sat up. He looked around, not finding another person. "Coming…" he muttered, his call not being loud enough to stop the knocks from the doors. He flew to the doors and opened them. "Noon," he said.

The visitor eyed him from feet to head and shook his own head. "Hello. I am here to see a friend of mine," he said.

"Eh, chances are he's here," Chip said. "And it's most likely a man. Have you seen the lack of girls in here? What's up with that?"

The visitor stared blankly and kept talking. "I don't care. I want to see this person currently taking residence in this big mansion," he said.

"Who's that you're looking for?"

"Ike Greil," he said.

Chip shrugged his shoulders and turned around to shout at the empty halls. "IKE GREIL! C'MERE! SOMEBODY'S LOOKING FOR YA!" There was no reply from his shouting. "I HAVEN'T LOOKED UP ALL OF THE NAMES YET, BUT IKE GREIL SHOULD TOTALLY COME OVER HERE!"

A person replied by showing up from the kitchen. Link walked to Chip. "Chip, stop shouting like that. It's bad enough that everyone's looked up in their rooms that all halls echo with the slightest sound…which is impressive since the halls aren't that empty," he said and looked at the person standing outside the mansion. "…"

"Oh, finally, somebody else I can talk to," the visitor said. "Now, Link, can you tell Ike to come here and tal-"

"SOREN!" Link yelped loudly and closed the doors on Soren's face.

The mage wasn't grateful for the sudden move that he commented on it. "I had a feeling you weren't the gentlemanly type," Soren called out from the other side.

"S-sorry! It's just that…uh…I saw some sort of monster outside!"

He heard footsteps turning around. "Well, there aren't any monsters. Thank you for leaving me to die outside if there was one, by the way," Soren sarcastically said.

"K-keep looking out! When you spot it, tell me so!" Link then turned back to Chip.

Chip looked at Link, the latter breathing a bit too hard. "Why so shocked? I was about to help him with directions and stuff!" he said.

Link muttered through his teeth. "H-he's a special case!"

"Then that's my kind of case!"

"You don't get it!" Link said. "Ike's one of the four who died back then! Don't you remember?"

Chip gasped. "The yellow one!"

"That was Pichu! Oh, what do I bother…" He walked a little away from the door. Chip instantly opened it back, causing Link to close them right when Soren had faced them for a brief second. "Chip!"

"I'm starting to get more annoyed than I am now," Soren said flatly.

"I think I saw it behind you!" Link shouted. He looked at Chip. "What was that for? Let me come up with an idea to get around him!" he whispered and pushed himself from the doors.

Chip nodded and said, "Oh, right," and then he opened the doors once more. Soren had like two seconds walking forward until the doors were closed down by Link again.

"CHIP!" Link yelled.

"…I have many murderous thoughts now," Soren called out. "Conveniently enough, all of them involve you screaming in agony, Link. They all look very graphic from the looks of things."

Giving up on Chip's short span of attention, Link opened the doors to let Soren in. "Sorry… I guess it'd be better if you came in. Maybe I was hallucinating about seeing a monster…" he said, chuckling nervously. Soren, like anybody else he met, deemed the Hylian a weirdo in his eyes and stepped inside.

Soren looked around the big lobby, not even minding the giant mirror connected with some sort of wire to the wall. "What matters now is that I finally got in to talk to Ike," he said. The Branded faced Link and ignored Chip's existence. "Can you get him to come here?"

Link needed to delay time for Soren to get him out the mansion without using force. Convincing Soren was like talking to a wall, however, since there would be nothing that Link could ever hope to use to make him walk out. "W-why are you here? I mean, why come all the way from Tellius to the mansion?"

"Simple," Soren said.

"(Oh no, he said simple,)" Link thought, expecting a ground-breaking rebuttal.

"He hasn't responded to all the letters I've sent to him nor Mist's," Soren said as a matter of fact. "The most obvious answer here is that he's been lazy trying to write. He was never a good writer but good at swinging swords around." He stared more at Link. "Luckily, words are much better for him. So I figured I'd wander my way to this place… It was a weird journey. I've got no idea how I got here in the first place, but it doesn't matter that much. What matters to me is to talk to Ike."

"U-uh, yes, I see," Link said.

An unwanted silence made Soren get more annoyed. "…So then, can you get him?" he asked.

"(If I could talk to the DEAD, maybe I would!)" Link thought panicked. "Y-yes, I-I think I can…"

Soren started to get suspicious about the Hylian. "You're awfully frightened in such a good day. I hope this doesn't have to do with Ike," he said.

"H-heheh, it doesn't…" Link sighed and frowned. "I'll go get him…" He pulled Chip away from Soren to whisper, "You stay here and delay time for me to come up with an idea to get him out."

Chip blissfully smiled and nodded before the Hero of Twilight walked upstairs and disappeared into the halls. The imp turned around and saw Soren heading for the couch to sit down and wait. Waiting patiently was out of his actions and now he felt a bit impatient. To get some stress out, Soren took out a book and started to read it mentally. The imp went to sit down next to him, staring at the book.

"Is that your favorite book?" Chip asked. Soren ignored him. "I don't like books. They're boring."

Real subtle there, stupid!

Soren slowly grew to hate the imp. "Don't you…whatever you are, have to do something else to do?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm free for the rest of my days," Chip said, leaning to Soren. "That's why I'd rather talk to people like you and pass the time."

"I'm busy. Go away," Soren said.

"That's rude," Chip said. "I bet I just need to defrost your coldness to uncover a very caring person."

Obviously, Soren was getting fed up by Chip's nonsense that he tried his best to ignore. Luckily, he thought, he would go away and leave him alone.

The imp then sat on the middle of his book. Soren's stare turned into a malicious glare that screamed bloody murder. Chip was too oblivious to this. "I'd say put books away and talk to me!" he said with a bright smile.

The Ice Climbers were seen walking down the stairs right in time to see an imp being pushed off by strong winds through the closed window. After Chip was blown outside by crashing through the window, the twins gasped in unison and picked their hammers. "Intruder!" Popo shouted, and the two ran down to face the mysterious intruder. They then stared up at Soren and looked confused.

Soren stared at the two. "Oh no, it's you two. The lunatic and the loudmouth," he said in a bored tone, thinking his day would get worse than it was.

Nana sulked. "Hey, I'm not a loudmouth!" she said before shaking her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Likewise," Soren said. "I wasn't expecting you both to live here as well. You didn't drive Ike nuts, I presume?"

The siblings exchanged glances. "Uh, no," Popo said.

"As for my sudden visit, I came to see Ike," Soren said flatly. "However, it seems Link is taking a lot of time to get that oaf. Perhaps you two know where he is."

Popo rolled his eyes and put his hammer away. "Well, duh, Ike's de-" Nana quickly covered his mouth and followed up the talk.

"Ike's definitely sleeping," Nana finished Popo's morbid sentence. The two started sweating, something Soren thought was meant to happen sooner since both defied the laws of physics. It was a hot summer, after all.

But on a serious note, Soren started to get more and more pissed by the minute. Something was being hidden from him. "…What is wrong with you people?" he asked. "Why is the lot of you sweating and stuttering like imbeciles just by asking about Ike? You're not hiding something, are you?"

Nana sweated more as she uncovered Popo's gulping mouth. Her parka was probably tighter. "No, we're not hiding something from you," she said without trying to sound weird.

"Good, now show him to me personally by taking me to his room."

Popo responded quickly, "Too bad cuz he's as dead as a frozen climber."

Nana stared at her brother with a big gap on her mouth in complete and utter shock. Soren's eyes widened after sinking in the quick reply that it started to make sense about why everyone was acting suspicious around him, except for the annoying imp that got on his nerves.

Popo then realized what he had said. "AWW!" he groaned loudly.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance – Dreaming of Home

"…Perhaps I'm hearing wrong," Soren said, wishing his ears were not hearing correctly, "but I heard your obnoxious brother say that Ike was…dead."

Nana hung down her head along with Popo.

"…" Soren shook his head and heard footsteps from behind. Marth and Roy were standing there on the stairs, having listened to the last part of what Popo said. "I demand you both to take me to his grave immediately. I know you had at least put his body somewhere."

"But…" Roy trailed off.

"Are you deaf? Take me to his grave," Soren said. His tone of voice was slowly sounding nervous. "You imbeciles must've put him in one! Take me there!"

Marth was the only one in the room mature enough to talk to the troubled magician. "Soren…you're not going to believe this, but an accident happened to his grave. It was…well…it's hard to explain, but his coffin disappeared in an underground river just below his grave."

Soren was completely dumbfounded and furious at the news. "This is the LAST thing I wanted to hear. Where is his sword, then? It's an extremely valuable treasure that shouldn't be put inside a coffin! You must've been smart enough to avoid putting it in there!" He stepped closer to Marth. "Tell me!"

The Altean had no choice but let everything go. "Ragnell…is in his room on the third floor, right next to the stairs," he said. Soren didn't hesitate and ran away to the location. Worried, they all followed him a few seconds later.

Third Floor's Hallway

Marth caught a small glimpse of Soren entering Ike's room, locking the door behind him. The four ran to the door, with Roy knocking on it before Marth grabbed his arm and stopped him altogether, giving him a stare that said that it was best to leave Soren alone for a while.

They could hear Soren sobbing in the room as the sound of knees falling down to the floor were heard. The magician was standing in front of a long drawer that had Ragnell resting next to a photo of Ike, a bouquet of flowers inside a vase with water next to the two items. "You idiot…" Soren was heard saying. "It was against this stupid idea of yours as did everyone else… If those ingrates never came, then this wouldn't have happened to you!"

Roy frowned. "It is kind of our fault…" he muttered.

"B-but…but you told us all that you'd be fine on your own," Soren said. "And I guess that was a lie seeing how you're gone forever till we die! Even then, I won't know if taking our lives will help us reunite again!"

"Please, don't resort to suicide…" Marth muttered.

"…This is just too much for me to take in… Just imagine what Mist will do once she hears about this! Her father is gone, her mother is gone, and now her dumb brother is gone! She doesn't have anybody in the world! She's all alone! What do you suppose am I going to tell her? Mist will die of a heart attack!"

The four Smashers could picture Mist breaking up in their minds. They prayed that she would never know what happened to her brother, but she would someday learn the truth. It didn't help that Soren would most likely sue them all or sent the rest of the mercenaries to burn down the mansion.

Master Hand appeared from beyond the hallway. "What are you all doing standing in front of Ike's room?" he asked.

"Soren knows everything," Marth simply said. The hand heard sobbing on the other side.

"I'll be damned. My wrist is getting sued like I predicted," the hand said sighing. "Everyone, start packing up. I'll take the blow."

"Seriously! Getting sued is the least of our problems!" Roy scolded the hand. "We've got to convince Soren about what's going on here!"

"What is there to understand?" Nana asked angrily. "His best friend in the whole world is dead and he's pretty pissed with us! There's no snowball chance in hell that he'll walk off without killing somebody to vent off his anger!"

Marth looked upset. "Let me talk to him. I know Soren is the hardest person to read, but I've tried hard to get acquainted with him," he said, reassuring the hand.

"If I remember, he blew you off all the times that didn't have to relate to war strategies," Roy said. "And then he used to point out the many fatal flaws of your plans that I wouldn't ever think of bringing up in a lifetime, let alone find those! Let's face it. He won't listen."

"Maybe it's good to give it another try…"

They waited several minutes in silence as Soren kept sobbing to himself, mourning over Ike's death. Eventually, the magician fell silent and stood up, giving one hard look to Ike's photo before he made his way back outside, cleaning his eyes before opening the door to look composed. He stared at them with a long, hard look. "I must be going insane because I'm seeing a disembodied floating glove. That ruins the mood," he criticized.

Master Hand grumbled. "Instead of insulting me, you should consider me as an equal in social terms," he said. "I'm Master Hand, the owner of the mansion and the leader of the group here. You're Ike's friend, right? What do you want from us?"

Soren was still confused at seeing a talking glove, but things around the mansion should be pretty serious even if it was silly to talk to a glove. He stood there silent and responded the question by answering, "Stay behind and prevent accidents from happening."

Many flat "whats" came out from every single one of them.

"What I mean is that I shall remain behind and keep the news about Ike's death a secret as long as I humanly can," Soren explained with a sharp look. "I'm not clueless. You couldn't possibly let him die by YOUR hands."

"R-right," Roy said nodding. "He was killed off by our enemies."

"Then I shall avenge him while I stay here," Soren said.

"WAIT A SECOND THERE," Master Hand said. "How should I know you won't sue me?"

"Would you let that go already?" Popo asked annoyed.

Soren shook his head. "Suing? Oh no, the least that could happen is letting the Greil Mercenaries rain death upon your being before realizing who the true enemy is," he bluntly said. "Well, I expect half of them to murder before asking, anyway."

"Pfft, I can vaporize anybody if I wanted," the hand said relieved. "But I'm a very kind guy."

"Whatever," Soren said. "If you don't want to have the entire Tellius continent learn about the news about the death of the hero that put an end to King Ashnard, and worse of all have Mist hear about it, then it's best that I join this resistance of yours to take Ike's place."

Master Hand turned around to think while the others exchanged glances. He faced Soren. "…Okay, you can stay and keep this a secret to everybody you know."

Soren nodded, understanding. "Very well," he said without even showing signs of happiness.

Soren has joined your team permanently!

The mansion's snarkyness has been increased! Holy cow, is it big now!

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance – For Victory

"Well! This hasn't ended well yet, but we can delay the time tears are shed to the ground," the hand said before floating away. "I'll let you guys show Soren around the house."

The Smashers were thinking they were dumped with the insufferable magician. "So…welcome to the team!" Roy said, forcing a twitching smile.

"Hmph, I guess," Soren said. "I'm going to have to take Ike's room as my own room to keep a close watch on his sword. I don't want it to get stolen or else that'd be the last straw of patience I have for this place."

"You're so sweet," Popo said sarcastically. The Branded ignored him.

Marth and Roy took upon themselves to show Soren around ever since he decided to live with them and fight the Subspace Army…

Main Lobby

June 18 – Thursday – Morning

The Smash Mansion and its habitants learned the terror that was Soren. He wasn't exactly a person who wanted to hurt them for his amusement, but it was a given that he did not want to talk to one them. At all. Striking a small conversation would often end with him brushing people off.

Peach naturally tried to be friends with him, but she pestered him like there was no end. Soren thought that her pink dress was an eyesore for his sight. That dress ought to be burned so it would stop blinding people with its bright color, he thought. He was wondering if the fire would turn pink as well, but he shook the thought off. At least her food got to his stomach just fine, just without a grateful thanks.

Soren had taken a liking to staying at the library of the mansion to let time go by as he read many different books. Samus just happened to walk in there and then it took a small incidental glance to her "charms" for Soren to criticize her overall lack of shame while wearing the Zero Suit. She rolled her eyes the first time, but it took ten straight minutes of pure intense complaints for her to snap and use her gun on him. Luckily, Falco saw the scene as he was passing by the area and he held her back by dragging her away from the library, but it didn't quite help that Soren started insulting him as well for his unsettling black spot on his pants. Before Soren could be touched and die, Marth and Roy came in and dragged both enraged Smashers away. Soren, as usual, sighed annoyed and went back to reading in peace.

Chip knew that it was suicidal to stay close to Soren after he was sent to a world of pain. His arm did a miraculous recovery, probably because he started to recover his dormant deity-like powers, but they did not heal mental instability. He got excited after hearing that Sonic could finally go out as his lungs had recovered fully, but Dr. Mario told him that the second that he had told Sonic about the news, Sonic had disappeared from the infirmary in a flash.

Amy was upset that he had run past her when she was bringing chicken soup to him. Like a rabid fangirl, she gave chase. "I'm gonna find Sonic!" she shouted as she passed Chip on the couch, running outside the mansion.

"W-wait up, Amy!" Cream shouted as she and her friend Cheese passed by, leaving the house behind.

The imp looked like he had a resolve to help other people that didn't have Soren's face. He sat up and looked determined. "Today's the day I continue helping people!" he proclaimed to no one else. "And I shall be the best like no one ever was!"

Kirby happily strolled by in front of the couch and stopped in front of Chip.

"You there! You're coming with me!" he said. Kirby absently nodded, thinking delicious food was a sure thing. "Alright, I have a new party member! Now we've gotta find that person slouching over in emotional pain and give a helping hand!"

At that moment, the double doors of the mansion were slammed open by a familiar agent in a black tuxedo and swirly orange hair. "Who's ready to give a helping hand with some awesome groovy moves?" J asked with a wide grin. Chip nearly fainted after somebody had answered his call.

"Me! Me! And him!" Chip said, dragging Kirby to J.

The EBA eyed the rather small contributors. "Uh… No offense, but I was expecting somebody taller… Er, who cares? You two are all I need," he said. "First, we need to give you some pimping clothes before going to work."

Kirby then swallowed J whole. Chip was mortified after he saw the pink puffball doing such a move. "Kirby! Oh man, you couldn't hold your urges!" he said, but then J was somehow dumped out from behind Kirby (which Chip believed didn't paint a pretty picture), and the warrior suddenly gained black shades and swirly orange hair.

J was at a loss of words about what happened to him, and he stared at Kirby. "…That was gross in so many ways, but I've got to admit that your style won me over," he said grinning. Kirby replied with the same grin. Chip nodded to no one in particular with a grin of his own.

Outside

Elite Beat Agents – Stage Intro

The two girls and the Chao walked to the direction of the village where they hoped to find Sonic. At least Amy was the one hoping for that. Cream was merely tagging along. "The nerve of him!" Amy complained with tight fists to her sides. "How dare he run off without saying a thing? Sometimes I don't get Sonic at all!"

Amy Rose, 12

"First Rabid Sonic Fangirl Ever"

Cream knew best. It was clear as the water that Sonic was never going to stand close to Amy for five straight seconds without running off. It was possible for that occurrence to happen, but only if he wasn't looking at her face. "Amy, how are we supposed to find Mr. Sonic?" she asked the golden question.

Cream the Rabbit, 6

"Wait, she's six?"

"Well, that's easy," Amy said. "We'll lure him out somehow!"

"How?" Cream asked curiously.

Amy was stumped. "Eh… I can always wear a pretty dress for him!" she said with a hopeful tone. She could imagine a dress that didn't border into dangerous territory.

"But Mr. Sonic couldn't care less about clothing…" Cream muttered. The comment sank Amy's idea so quickly as if she was shot.

"I-I guess he won't stop and stare at me," Amy painfully admitted. "I know! We'll chase after him!"

"There is absolutely no concrete answer to such a crazy idea that could make us catch up with him even if we wasted the energy in our bodies to a point that could potentially kill us."

Amy stared at Cream and so did Cheese. "…What?" she asked.

Cream blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you," she said.

The pink hedgehog was surprised that Cream used big words, but she brought herself back to earth, or at least she thought she was back on a sane level. "S-still, there's a way for everything!" she said determined. "You can't possibly fail to lure Sonic out! I'm going to come with the best idea ever!"

Cream smiled with Cheese. "Yeah! Tell us your idea!"

The comment hit like a truck that then backpedaled and sped away forward to deliver ultimate pain on Amy. The pink hedgehog's eyes started twitching. "I-I will! It…it's time for me to think!"

Inside Amy's head, a void of nothing produced nothing good for her to use. As Cream and Cheese anxiously waited for her to suggest her brilliant idea, Amy grew desperate. This wasn't enough for her to get a breakdown, but when her mind realized that it was futile to get Sonic to even kiss her, her descend to madness was obvious. The idea she desperately wanted to create was clouded with negative thoughts about dying a virgin and to never walk with her future husband over the long red carpet between many friends sitting on long benches, waiting to hear the confirmation of their everlasting love.

Instead, that red carpet had her tripping to the sides, leading directly to a black hole without holding somebody else's hand. All of a sudden, fleeting images of her bad future constantly blinked so fast that it made her insane.

At last, inside her mind, Amy broke down and screamed, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Target: Amy Rose

Age: 12

Sex: Female

Misc. Info: Totally not a rascal anymore.

Elite Beat Agents – Sk8er Boy

Deep into the woods, a helicopter holding a platform from below flew out. On said platform, three dark figures stood professionally as the aircraft went after the girls, answering Amy's mental scream for help. J, Chip, and J Kirby brandished their EBA emblems.

Episode 3: Blue & Pink!

Two Colors Destined For Each Other (Or So The Pink One Thinks)!

At the site of the problem, Amy was slouching over in defeat until the agents started waving their arms to the sides. Their groove hit her hard, and in a blink of an eye, she was doing the same with a happy expression. She felt revitalized with energy. In reality, this was happening inside her mind with no way for Cream to watch her doing that.

"Are you ready?" the three agents asked. "3! 2! 1! GO!"

"I got it!" Amy said, snapping from her thinking. "We're building our own hot dog stand to make him go hungry!"

"Yeah!" Cream agreed, and the two were off to the village to gather everything they needed.

~ Nintendo Village ~

Plaza

The village's people were shocked to see three blurs rapidly going into every single corner of the village. One could barely tell that two girls and some flying blue blob were in those blurs. A lot of stuff was being taken out of all the shops the trio visited for separate, eventually making a big pile of different tools and ingredients right in front of the plaza.

"Good! We're making good progress!" J said as he and his backup were dancing. "I had my doubts, but you two are really good at this!"

"Those solitude times listening to really depressing music yesterday finally paid off!" Chip said, wearing a small tuxedo with black shades, dancing in plain midair.

"You've got issues, but now's not the time for that!" J said. "Halt!" The trio stopped dancing.

Right in front of the fountain of the plaza, the trio checked up all the tools, materials, and ingredients. "…Yup, we've got everything!" Cream said with a notepad and pen in hands.

"OK!" Amy said confidently, and then she realized how many things they had collected. Time was not going to be kind to them, or at least she thought. "Oh no, we don't have enough time!"

Cream looked puzzled, but the agents on top of the faraway helicopter answered Amy's call by waving their arms to the sides again. Besides just a very ecstatic Amy, Cream and Cheese joined in the arm-waving along with her. Nobody else passing by saw the three doing the cheerful routine before the trio broke up the moment the agents resumed dancing to pass on their groove.

Amy picked up a hammer and a saw. "Building time is up!" she said.

The civilians now decided to look over to see the three of them rapidly forming some kind of creation with wood and iron bars. The passerby were utterly shocked at how the three of them were working so quickly and firmly without having an accident with hammers and nails scattered around them.

"I just like how this looks so inhumanly possible!" Chip commented.

J grunted. "Don't you talk while w-!" An accident took place as Chip bumped into J, the first getting so ahead of himself in their dancing routine. J Kirby tripped because of this and now they got into a mess.

Due to the loss of groove, Amy banged on her thumb so hard that it felt like it had blown up. She screamed bloody murder as she fell to the side of the road, holding out her thumb in pain. Cream and Cheese had to stop to futilely calm her down and cure her with simple words of worry. The agents, meanwhile, pulled themselves back together to recover their lost rhythm. It became apparent that Amy forgot about her hurting thumb once she went back to work on the hot dog stand.

J then issued the order to stop the dancing. The other two agents looked over to see how their second round affected the result.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese stood in front of a beautiful and attention-grabbing hot dog stand. It was particularly small, but it was big enough to hold its own all the same. With a bright banner on top that read "The Hot Bun", the trio was delighted. "It looks great," Cream said.

A Pianta police officer while banging his wooden weapon on his palm dangerously stomped his way to the three. Amy looked at him and gasped mentally. "(Uh-oh! We didn't ask for permission to put this here!)" she thought alarmed.

Instead of getting dragged away to the penitentiary, the police's stomach grumbled. "S-say, is the hot dog stand open?" he asked as if his stomach seemed to be more important than his job.

The three exchanged glances and nodded with bright smiles. "Y-yeah! We just opened!"

From above the skies, Chip sighed. "Success!" he said.

"No, not yet! The objective hasn't been met!" J said.

Soon, many civilians saw that the hot dog stand was open. Due to the fact that village only had one restaurant that didn't serve hot dogs, the hot dog stand became increasingly popular, and soon the girls had on their hands many customers making a long line in front of their small but tempting stand for hot dogs. The hot dogs were flying away like crazy while they were exchanged for bucks of money. "We're selling these so fast!" Cream said, her being the one in charge of the cash register. She looked over to see a familiar color blue mixed up in the line. "Oh my! Look!"

Beyond the long line of people, a grinning Sonic was standing there at the end of the long line. The smell of the hot dogs had lured him in, and he was anxiously licking his lips just thinking about having his very first chili dog after being given his freedom.

"Yes!" Amy said before her vision took notice of something. "NO!"

It was obvious that Sonic stood at the very end of the line of people, but what made Amy scream in her mind was that said line wasn't exactly just long. The line of people was unbelievably and ridiculously long that it twisted along the road into some weird directions. The line would go forward only to somehow turn 180 degrees, then turn to the left, then to the right, then across itself into an alley just to come back from another alley. They had over 300 customers to attend. "We're running low on supplies!" Cream pointed out, making things look worse.

Amy could only fall into depression as she cautiously slowed down her hot dog-making skills. It was the best she could do to delay their failure. But then, the agents started waving their arms to continue the last portion of their routine. Amy, Cream, and Cheese were arm-waving once more, but the groove was so powerful that the customers broke into doing it by making a pyramid of them with Sonic at the top with a gleeful expression.

Since the agents got a good result in their previous round, the girls furiously sold hot dogs as Cheese took upon himself to resupply the low amount of ingredients. It was pure insanity at this point as the hot dogs' supply was kept at a dangerous minimum while the stove practically shot fire into the air, with the completed products coming out fast and perfect in some unimaginable way.

In the line, Sonic was surprised to see customers being attended very quickly. Waiting wasn't such an issue he couldn't handle. His perfect chili dog was right around the corner outside the alley he had entered.

Then Chip tripped in midair.

"Dude! How can you fail like that?" J asked as a matter of fact.

Their groove loss affected the event at the fountain. Everything felt so slow and sluggish as a chuckling Amy casually prepared wienies on low fire to give the slow Cheese enough time to gather food. The customers were not pleased how the service wasn't going anywhere, standing there with dull looks. Sonic himself now looked bored. He looked so bored that he started yawning, thinking that he could probably leave and go somewhere else to eat.

In a blink of an eye, the agents put everything back to how it was: fast service at ridiculous speeds. "Halt!" J called out. He was worried that Amy's happy ending would never come.

Down below, the girls managed to attend all customers, leaving a grinning Sonic standing in front of the stand. "SONIC!" Amy squealed in delight.

Sonic yelped mentally at the sight of the person he didn't want to see. "Y-you three work here?" he asked.

Amy brandished a chili dog that was literally sparkling with all the different spices sprinkled all over it. Its tasty figure forced Sonic's eyes to stare at it, one of his eyes shedding a tear. "Shut up and take my chili dog!" she said happily.

The hedgehog snatched the chili dog and started eating it. The girls and the Chao stuck out their heads from the other side of the stand in anticipation of his judgment. "…" Sonic could feel a background of flowers blooming as his eyes cried at the taste that took him to heaven. "It's GREAT!" he shouted.

Amy jumped out from the stand and grabbed his hand. "Go out with me and I'll make you more whenever you want!" she pleased.

That question brought Sonic to Earth. "(Uh…) Okay?" he said confused about his hesitant decision. Amy could only leap at him with a big hug.

The scene ended with a shot of Amy hugging Sonic with Cream and Cheese looking over from the hot dog stand that stood next to a pile of money. Sonic's perfect chili dog was, meanwhile, right under the bright sun.

Music stops

The agents' helicopter calmly flew away from the location into the direction of the woods. "Well done, guys," J said pleased. "We managed to cheer that girl to achieve her goals."

"That was awesome!" Chip said. "We should do that again!"

J sighed. "If this was a video game were we could replay our missions nonstop…then it'd be possible," he said. Chip and J Kirby shyly looked away after hearing that. "But it's not. As long as we make people overcome their issues, it's okay with me."

His cell phone suddenly rang loudly. J took it out to answer the call. "Commander Khan, what is it?" he asked.

"J, they're here!" Khan shouted over the phone. "That accursed cheerleading squad from Japan has invaded our turf!"

The helicopter stopped abruptly, making Chip and J Kirby tumble over to the edge without warning. "WHAT!" J said in shock. "N-no! They're already here? Where are they?"

"While you were busy, someone else at the village shouted for help. I was about to report it to you, but then I heard some Japanese words shouting over the transmission… Head over there immediately! They're at a toy store trying to help the clerks convince a shy girl from buying a bear plush!"

No matter how ridiculous it sounded, it was serious business to J. "We're going back!" he told his temporary teammates as the helicopter turned around and zoomed out back to the village at full speed.

Toadish Toy Heaven

Ouendan 2 – Go my way

J could clearly listen to Japanese music coming from the southern section of the village. J Kirby and Chip overheard some whistling sounds along with some strong beats coming from somewhere around the same direction. The helicopter stopped its way to let J gaze upon the scene in front of the Toadish Toy Heaven store. He fixed his shining black shades. "Just as I feared… They're here like we expected!"

In front of the store in the rather deserted street, there were three figures performing a cheering routine. At first, it looked like something the EBA would do, but the cheering in particular looked far more aggressive and loud, as if said level of power would make targets feel powerful. There were also the occasional whistling sounds from a whistler that accompanied the moves of the unknown squad.

Inside the store, a Koopa Troopa clerk was seen shouting many positive descriptions about a small teddy bear that caught the eye of a familiar little Toad girl with pigtails that was considering bringing it back home with her. It was the same emotionless Toad girl who caused many mental breakdowns about reality and space to Chris and Marth.

Music stops

The agents had arrived at the end of the squad's mission. The Toad girl walked out with the teddy bear in both arms while the Koopa Troopa clerk was awarded a raise for his job well done. "Follow me!" J instructed his two teammates as he leaped down to the street. The two followed, unsure of what was going on. When J landed behind the squad, he pointed a finger to the middle one that he knew was the leader. "You!"

The squad that was invading the EBA's territory looked very Japanese. J didn't care much about the leader's lackeys but the actual leader. The leader of the troop was roughly a few inches taller than J. He had tall brown hair that spiked forward with a red bandana over his forehead that extended behind his back. He also had a tough look, wearing a black Japanese uniform that was called a gakuran, except his squad's style had long robes that left space for their feet to be seen.

"Tsk, that silly agent outfit…" he muttered. Like J, he pointed a menacing finger to his face. "You're part of those Elite Beat Agents! Specifically, that J guy!"

"Glad you know my organization," J said not amused, "but I don't like how you don't know where to work! This area is off-limits to you and your squad, Ryuta Ippongi!"

Ryuta Ippongi, the leader, grinned. "Funny, because we didn't see any names anywhere. If this is YOUR area, then why was there a soul crying out for help?" he asked.

J didn't want to admit that his agency was short on personnel. "T-that is something you shouldn't know!" he said, making the Japanese trio chuckle. "We were busy with another target!"

"HA!" Ryuta faked a serious laugh that sounded quite angry. "Our kind never makes up excuses to avoid helping people! What kind of rat hole did you crawl out of? Your stupid name sounds incomplete. Let me finish it for you! J stands for jerk!"

Making fun of J's single digit name was a touchy object to him. "Don't you DARE make fun of my name! I-it's cool!" he said. Ryuta's group chuckled once more. "That doesn't matter! Take your Ouendan squad out of our turf!"

Ryuta stepped forward. J Kirby and Chip could see fire in his eyes. "We won't! As long as your lot can't help others, we won't leave! We have all the resources to help as many people as needed!" he said. "Leave this place instead of us! This is the best opportunity for us to have more places to go unlike Hayato Saionji and his stinking Ouendan squad of Asahi!"

J groaned. "Oh man, not another Ouendan squad…"

J's teammates were confused to the whole problem. "Um, so what do we do now?" Chip asked.

"I'll tell you what, dog…squirrel…thing!" Ryuta said, pointing to the outskirts of the village. "There's your answer!"

J Kirby looked tough and shook his head. J similarly did the same. Chip then joined with his group until they all crossed their arms.

Ryuta raised an eyebrow. "So that's how it's gonna be…"

J said determined, "Yes, we won't move from here."

The Japanese leader grinned. "Then we have no choice but to resort to typical Japanese school rituals…" He snapped his fingers. "Atsushi! Ittetsu!"

A minute later…

Down the street, three shaking trashcans moved to the sides as Ryuta and his squad walked away from sight, laughing out loud. The middle trashcan tripped over and J fell out of it, his black shades tilted to the right a bit. He adjusted them while he removed an apple core from his hair, saying, "Those bullies…"

Chip peeked out from the left trashcan, trembling in fear. "I-I never thought this would be so bad!" he said, twitching. "T-this is the thanks I get for trying to defend my team? U-unfair! Scandalous! I smell like trash!"

"Uh, breaking news: that's what happens when somebody throws you into a trashcan," J said.

Kirby had lost his J ability after he jumped out from the right trashcan. He shivered and felt sick just smelling like trash.

The agent rubbed his chin. "Now that we have rivals to take care of, our reputation is at risk," he said. "Do you guys have any idea…"

J saw that a shaking Chip was the only one listening to him. Kirby was already on his way back to the mansion to take a small shower and eat food, feeling quite exhausted for the ordeal he went through. The imp looked at Kirby's direction and sheepishly smiled at J. "I…I gotta go! See ya later!" he said, quickly flying away from the terror that was the trashcan.

The orange-haired agent looked to the sides, all left alone. "…Well, crud," he said shrugging, walking to his base on his own. He was sure that he was going to ask the Smashers for help because, after all, they were all under a contract.

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

An uninterested Kirby entered the mansion while Chip kept bugging him about helping more people. "You're already tired? Please!" Chip begged, but the double doors closed to keep him away from Kirby. The imp sighed and slumped over while flying. "He's so hard to convince…"

The imp then overheard some sounds coming from the right. He looked up to see the Pokémon Trainers, Squirtle, and Ivysaur standing close to the forest. Curious, the imp hid behind a nearby bush to listen to the conversation. From the look of things, the Sinnoh trainers were leaving the mansion for good, seeing how Dawn was hugging each one of the three mansion residents before stepping back.

"Today's the day," Lucas (the trainer) told Red. "We're sorry we caused Master Hand trouble for…uh…taking rooms."

"But I pulled you all in there," Red said.

"And you should've kept us in there longer!" Barry scolded Red, the latter tuning him off from his mind. "Aww, man! I gonna miss that bed! It was so bouncy!"

"Barry, quiet!" Dawn scolded and turned to Red. "I'm not sure if we're coming back because we don't even know how we ended up here, but…w-we'll try to visit this place if we happen to find our way back to Sinnoh!" She tried hard not to cry.

Lucas forced a smile. "If we come back, we'll tell you how we've been doing… In fact, let's stay in contact by writing letters," he said. "Or if you happen to be in a Pokémon Center, you can try to call us."

Red looked back at Dawn. She was staring flat into space. "Dawn?" he asked.

"…Oh! Er, sorry," she said embarrassed. Red noticed she had her arms behind her back as if she was hiding something from him. "L-look, we know how important it is for you and the rest to save universes and all that, and we know you have an eye on this Charizard you've been hunting…no, that's a strong word… Trying to capture… Oh yes! The Charizard you're trying to capture!"

None of them thought the word "capture" was weaker than "hunting". Dawn noticed this and she blushed.

"W-whatever!" Dawn said, shoving some kind of red wrapped gift to Red, shocking him. Lucas and Barry both thought so many wrong things about the move that they thought Red was a lucky bastard. "H-here! This is going to help you a lot!"

"A present?" Barry asked bewildered before composing himself. "You never told us you were gonna give…a…present to him!"

"It w-was a surprise!" Dawn yelled. "I didn't want to tell anybody!"

Lucas cleared his throat. He was oddly blushing like Barry was. "W-well, that sort of makes us two look bad!" he said.

The girl looked away. "Go ahead and give him something, then!" Dawn said angrily. "You don't wanna feel bad, huh? Then do the same!"

They both wanted to hide any hints of romantic feelings so badly that they were not thinking straight as they rummaged through their belongings in their backpacks to give something to Red, who didn't really understand what was going on. "H-here!" Lucas said, shoving a Full Restore to Red.

"Here!" Barry said, shoving a wasted blue Poffin to Red.

Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Dawn, and Lucas could only stare in silence at the absurd present coming from Barry. "…Really?" Red and his Pokémon asked dully.

"You're never pleased with anything!" Barry complained, handing over a Rare Candy. "Take this! It's some weird funky candy I found somewhere!"

Red was particularly clueless to what a Rare Candy was. "What do you expect me to do with this? Eat it for five seconds?" he asked.

"That's for your Pokémon, dummy!" Barry pointed out. "It's a treat! Show some love to them!"

"Yeah! Show some love to us!" Ivysaur said nodding.

"Don't encourage him," Red whispered.

An unwanted silence settled in. The trainers looked disappointed until Lucas spoke up. "So I guess nobody else has anything to say…" He nodded and, yet again, forced a smile, waving a hand at the three. "This is it, then…"

Barry waved his hand. "You're my bro from Kanto! Don't you forget that!" he said.

Dawn rubbed her eyes and waved her own hand. Soon enough, the three were already walking into the thickness of the forest. "W-we'll see each other again soon, everyone!" she shouted. "Please, be careful and…take care!"

"Don't forget about us!" Lucas shouted.

"If you do, I'll haunt you in your dreams!" Barry yelled.

Red shed a small tear as the trainers got mixed into the trees where their figures were last seen leaving the mansion's grounds. Ivysaur looked up and used a vine to clean his trainer's eye. "T-thanks," Red muttered. His two Pokémon leaned to his legs to make him feel better.

"And they're gone…" Squirtle trailed off, shedding a tear. "They were nice enough guys…"

Ivysaur remembered that Red was still holding the small gift Dawn gave to him. "H-hey," he began, sounding quite sad, "why don't you open that and see what she gave you?"

Red recalled and looked down at the gift. "I wonder what it is…" He slowly tore the gift's wrapping to find a certain spherical pattern that he recognized very well. After tossing the piece of fabric away, their eyes widened. "Holy…!"

"DUDE!" Squirtle said in shock. "H-how?"

Ivysaur's mouth gapped. "How could she leave something like THAT to you?" he asked. "Sure, we have that cliché that is saving universes, but…but this is too much to get from a trainer!"

Red quickly stored the item into his pockets. "I-I know, but this will seriously come in handy once we see Charizard again," he said. "I'll keep this safe… (Thanks, Dawn…)"

His Pokémon nodded in agreement before going back into the mansion, not even aware that Chip saw everything unfold.

The deity looked sad. Chip saw how the Sinnoh Trainers had a chance to come back to see Red and the others, but Chip's final farewell would be his last with no chance of ever coming back to the second house. The thought was just too much for him to handle, and he began crying to himself.

As he cried, Chip didn't see a humming Cream dragging a small trolley that carried a towering tower of dollars of about ten feet, Cheese sitting on top. "Hmm?" Cream heard Chip's crying sounds from the right, and she turned to look to that direction. "Chip?"

Chip looked at her with watery eyes. "I-I'm okay!" he whined. "I'm just sweating through my eyes!"

Cream knew he wasn't sweating through his eyes. "Why are you crying?" she asked.

Chip instantly flew to her side. "Because I don't feel okay with leaving everyone behind to go back to live inside the core of the Earth!" he whined.

"You mean Mobius?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't help that it looks like Earth, or why it keeps changing its overall geography every year!" Chip said, crying even louder. "I've been helping people these last days, but I always end up getting hurt in some way! I helped these two yellow-eyed people just for a Titan to come out to hurt them where I felt helpless as I was blown away from the scene by that sexy woman! I tried to help this serious guy to pass the time but he blew me away too, except it hurt a lot! And then today I helped you and Amy to get Sonic to you, but then these crazy Japanese bullies tossed me into a trashcan!" He was now hugging Cream, crying on her small right shoulder. "It's all downhill for me from now and I still feel empty! BWAAAAAAAAH!"

The rabbit could not fathom how it started with yellow-eyed people and ended with Japanese people, but she patted Chip's back affectionately. "There, there," she said. "I'm sure things will come around!"

"I told myself that sixty times after that guy blew me out the window yesterday, but I don't feel like saying it again!" Chip bawled.

Cream grimaced and got into deep thought. She looked at the pile of money behind her with Cheese staring down at them. "…Hmm," she muttered as she got an idea. "Chip, do you like ice cream?"

Chip cried a "YES!"

"Then I know what can cheer you up!"

Later that night…

Kitchen

Over the long table of the kitchen, there were different ice cream buckets that took all the space for anybody to sit down. Almost the entire population of the mansion was there eating anything that was ice cream, which also included the musicians. Crazy mixes were created as strawberry and lemon ice cream were in a single cup, spheres of ice cream making a small tower that would slowly move to an area not licked yet, and blending many flavors into spirals of colors that conflicted with each other.

"You spent all the money we made on ice cream?" Amy asked Cream, the former licking a two-high orange ice cream cup.

"Yes," Cream said, licking her strawberry ice cream. Cheese was holding a small cone with vanilla ice cream. "I wanted to make Chip happy with an ice cream party."

The rabbit noticed the pink hedgehog's eyes twitching from time to time. "Oh, I see," Amy said smiling.

"…Is something the matter, Amy?" she asked.

"(My honeymoon's plans with Sonic…are melting away like ice cream right in front of me!)" Amy thought alarmed in a state of shock, the money that they had gotten from the hot dog stand gone forever. In Cream's defense, Amy never told her about what she had in mind before the money was spent on something else. "I-I think I have brain freeze from eating too much ice cream. That's all."

"Liar," Popo and Nana said with upset looks, both holding ice cream with their respective parka colors. "You don't look like you got brain freeze," Nana pointed out.

"H-hush, you two!" Amy muttered. Cream and Cheese looked confused.

Ignoring the conversation from behind, Soren stared at his cup with chocolate ice cream. Ice cream did not even exist in Tellius, and he was hesitant about eating it. "Soren, just eat it," Marth said, eating his own blueberry ice cream. "It's good."

"I have no way of knowing if this won't kill me later," Soren said.

Roy rolled his eyes, eating apple ice cream. "We're eating it with confidence here," he said.

Soren shrugged a bit and slowly started eating it. Though the flavor was good, he did not even smile. "Hmm, good enough," he said.

"(The guy who never smiles,)" Roy thought frowning.

Several feet away to the left side of the kitchen, the werehog Sonic approached Pikachu, Lucas, and Diddy. "Hey, we're making a celebration before Chip leaves and I haven't seen him around," he said. "Do you know where he went? I hope he isn't crying outside to the moon."

Diddy shook his head, his cup empty of banana ice cream. "I'm sure I saw him here a moment ago. He looked pretty happy," he recalled.

Lucas, while licking his cone with lemon ice cream, looked worried. "You don't think he left somewhere to cry alone?" he wondered.

"Please, he was smiling like an idiot," Pikachu said, holding a rather small cone with strawberry ice cream. "I know that kind of smile doesn't go away that easily. He's somewhere around here, hiding behind somebody else."

"Don't get sick, but my nose can't even pick up his smell," Sonic said.

"Thank you for giving me an ugly picture," Diddy sarcastically said until they all heard a scream coming from Tiny near the table. "Tiny, what's wrong?"

The female Kong backed away from a bucket of chocolate ice cream. Her scream had caught everyone's attention, swearing that the bucket itself was budging to the sides. "The ice cream's alive!" Crazy Hand declared.

"That's not true! Don't listen to him!" Master Hand said alarmed.

Sonic's face fell. "Oh god, don't tell me…" He walked to the table and picked the bucket with a claw to see its contents. A very dazzled Chip smeared in chocolate came out and hung himself on the border of the ice cream with a big frozen smile. "Chip!"

"Farewell…parties…are the best…" Chip muttered happily. "You guys…are the best…" He held two thumbs up as he slowly sank into the already melted chocolate ice cream pool.

A good chunk of the people in there that ate of that same bucket suddenly got sick and decided to leave the area to their rooms, half of them running in a hurry to a race to the nearest bathroom available. Disgusted with the sight, Soren stared at his ice cream. "…This didn't come from that bucket, did it?" he asked.

"No," Roy pointed out.

"Yes… I won't take any chances," Soren declared, putting the cup aside and walking back to his room.

Light Gaia had a severe brain freeze that night, but he thought everything was worth it. Now he was able to think about leaving the mansion behind with a bang, even if that meant that he dove into a bucket of good old chocolate ice cream and passed out on that.

Unfortunately, most household guests would never erase the grotesque picture from their minds for a pretty long time. That was sadly the only way of remembering the loveable imp that was known as Chip for as long as possible.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten – Sparking

Within the same small, desolated theater, the red curtains covering the big screen opened up, showing a picture of Dark Gaia. "The heroes have reached the final leg of their adventure, and now they're preparing themselves to fight the greatest evil they've ever fought! It is the dark monster known as Dark Gaia, ready to bring eternal darkness to the world!" Etna said. "…HEY! We already got through here!"

"You missed my special ME episode!" Chip complained.

"Ugh, I'll have to improvise here!" Etna complained.

"Don't you ALWAYS improvise?" Yoshi asked.

The picture on the screen showed Dark Gaia eating everyone up in a fistful. "The battle of battles is almost here, and our heroes must stop their destiny of becoming a deity's meal as soon as they can before it awakens!" Etna narrated. "Something tells me we're getting a huge battle, anyway! Why prevent something you can't even stop in time?"

"We appreciate your confidence in us," Zelda said sarcastically.

The picture changed to the group being shown inside Dark Gaia's belly through an X-ray scan. "You could say that being inside the beast's belly is the safest place to be right now! It's obvious the gastric acid can kill you, but you have some more seconds as the world outside is destroyed!"

"Your morbid ideas disgust me," Soren said.

"Hey, I see Ness and Pichu in that shot! Does that hint at something?" Nana asked.

"Her previews are not even spot on! Don't get your hopes up!" Knuckles complained.

The shot changed to Dark Gaia's dark face. "Next time on Dark Gaia Chronicles: Episode 192 – The Meal is Here! Is It Food or Candy?" she said. "What a big controversial question!"

"This is extremely…gross," Tails noted.

"You guys are the meal slash candy. Don't look at me, heheheheh," Etna chuckled.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash Mansion-

Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Soren, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

References:

- Doesn't Mobius change its geography with each game? I thought its name was…Earth…

No Out Of Curiosity…

Okay, this is not a ruse. The next chapter shall begin the finale for the arc. I'm not really sure if it will take a lot of chapters since there's not much to add to it, sadly. But the final battle? Oh, that's going to be different, and I'll be introducing something else in there that will shorten all boss battles greatly.

To make everything interesting, I dragged Soren into the story to make the Smashers deal with the friends of their, uh, dead comrades to include a realistic situation of the problem about keeping everything inside the mansion. I feel that Soren is a slightly mellowed version of Rita, though. This does NOT mean we're having more replacements.

Glad to be back here again! Please do visit the forums to create a community! Oh, and my Youtube channel has been bustling with new videos by yours truly. At last, I feel like I'm doing this right.

I encourage all fanatics to review… Yes, you can review now for real. :)

Or else Chip shall get another brain freeze for eating too much chocolate ice cream.

Chip: Good things happen to good deities!

Sonic: Stop tempting him already! Really!
*Chapter 192*: Journey to the Center of Earth Mobius

Due to some decisions, I decided to take this decision… What's that decision? Read below the comments.

From twilight sporcle: does anyone even read this story

From me: The 500 people that do read every chapter do. Oh, and it keeps increasing.

From Kiss Me Slow: That is a lot of words

From me: And that's a few words.

From ngrey651: The minute you wrote "Yeah, but it doesn't help that it looks like Earth, or why it keeps changing its overall geography every year!" I laughed my head clean off. It DOES seem to change with every game!

Though I gotta admit...even now, the whole "death of the comrades" thing does still bother me. It's my opinion that a major character death shouldn't occur unless no more stories could be told with that character. And if they ARE gonna die, it ought to be a very big deal, like when Boromir dies trying to defend Merry and Pippin, or when Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 tries to save the city from the horrific machine he created. They'd best go out swingin', you know? But dying on the table from disease?...that's just so...lackluster.

From me: Geez! It's not like I've forgotten about those guys. If you have faith in me, they won't be forgotten. Trust me on that one. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From KoopalingFan: Great! One question:

Where's Mr. Game and Watch?

From me: I thought it was obvious? He's imprisoned in the army's HQ.

From N the puppet: FF IX...I bought the guide so I WOULDN'T have to go online... X.X

Aw, Red's not doing so good? Wonder what happened. (Though, considering the people that are asking the jobs...)

Elizabeth...(cue mind-crushing flashbacks)

...Just wait till she gets in her Arena mode...yeesh.

Bet even Culex would start running when she shows up.

Or get stuffed in a coffin; depends how she feels.

Can't wait for the next chap!

From me: I remember getting the guide as well, but that was when I didn't know much English. I was using it wrong. :(

Oh yes, Elizabeth is a creepy and stupidly powerful young woman that shouldn't be messed with, even if she messes up your mind to keep her happy. More of her and Theodore will come soon, though. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Safire Ranmako: Good Chapter, I guess.

But I really wish you'd do something more with Mewtwo.

Also I'd like to suggest Okami as a future World.

From me: Ironically, Mewtwo's getting more spotlight in the finale of the arc. Get to smiling, now.

And please, don't suggest arcs in here. Do them in the forum where there's a thread specifically made for this. Thanks again. :)

From jj: OH MY GOSH YOU FINALLY UPDATED!

Sorry had to let that out of my system.

Hah Hah i love those 2 creepy kids and thier complete ignorance of regular things.

You know the more charactars we meet that arent smasher all seem to be stronger than them.

Tale of vesperia gang: Stronger than the smashers and they are only the tip of the iceburg which is why sometime i think that Tabuu could be beaten by rita alone.

On the subject of Rita. in terms of personality she's complex but her powers make her a total power sue.

Every single smasher thier is always get beaten up by Rita's stupid Elemental barrage move. She always get what she want and hardly ever get beaten up herself b/c if she is capable of destroying tabuu i'll swear i'll sue for making a power sue.

Sorry i had to let that out of my system.

We finally make it to the finale but to tell you the truth the werehog saga was foreshadowed in the wish star saga but i dont see any foreshadowing of the next saga whats the deal?

Yay Elite Beat Agent and one that was hilarious

those other squads such big jerks

Anyway hope your next chapter will be faster and another thing Soren joins the brawl does that mean he get the full brawl honor or be soemone like Geno and if he got the full brawl honor whats his compatible job.

OH MY GOODNESS I totally forgot the joke about Falco's Landmaster final smash

now thats fox is dead that joke will never happen sniff sniff

WWWWHHHYYY!

Anyway can we see some more Diddy and Donkey they are so under appreciated

See you soon hopefully

Ps: If Crazy Hand had a voice actor it would totally be Jerry Jewell Believe me he's an expert on playing psycho character look UP Barry the chooper from fullmetal alchemist or Russia from hetalia

From me: Everyone's not really stronger than the Smashers, but the same applies in reverse. It's just that the Vesperia gang was far more advanced in their universe. If you've seen the Disgaea series, craziness starts after the story's over…

There's absolutely no foreshadowing to the next saga…or perhaps you didn't label something worthy of being foreshadowing for a saga? Not all the sagas will be that long…

Soren becomes a parent character that will accompany them, just like the Sonic reps. However, he will stick around more. Oh, and Diddy gets to be part of the finale, too. Thanks for reviewing.

From RedLink030: Nice chapter! Wolf is gonna be angry about working with Pit from now on! Hm... I have no clue about the present (cough)masterball(cough) at all. Haha, Chip's drunk on ice cream.

Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs is a good choice of an arc, like Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat would be interesting to see controls. For some random chapter, how about Chris getting invited to Mario Party? How about a new saga where the smashers getting drunk/high on sugar and getting loose into the real world?

From me: People, can you please stop suggesting arcs in here? I've made myself clear several times before and yet this keeps happening. There's a big reason why I made a forum for this kind of issue.

And, to be honest, that last idea for an arc sounds like a crack fic, and this isn't one. Sorry. But thanks for reviewing, anyway. :D

From bb: Great chapters as always i was just wondering a few things

1) Although i was just wondering something about compatible jobs heres my personal opinion of the remainign smashers compatible jobs

ROB: Hacker (Seems like an obvious choice)

Mr GAW: I sincerely have no idea

Wario: Thief (Nuff said)

Bowser and Ganondorf: Beastmaster (It fits with Ganon inner beast and bowser being an obvious beast)

2) When are we going to see the Battle room again b/c i want to see more of the boss and the only one i can guess looking back at the chapters they were introduced are that the bosses include Sephiroth and Giratina

From me: 1) Good opinions, but they are not set in stone.

2) Pretty soon. That place has been collecting dust for a long while now that it needs to be cleaned.

Thanks for reviewing, dude. :)

From awesome guy dude.101: Awsome chap chip in the ice cream classic oh sory this is the first time I Reviewed awsome chap p.s I bet the final batte is going to be epic!

From me: oh yeh thnx dood its goig tu bee epic, I suear. ^0^

From FF and STH: I don't know why but the thought of kirby with agent J hair bright me some kind of delight but I do hope to see even more EBA.

Soren really join the team permanently and not just temporary, can't say I saw that but I like it.

It seen Dawn give Red a Master ball but couldn't Master hand give Red one, I mean he use one for Mewtwo.

I never Play Persons 3 but did Elizabeth and Theodore act like that in the game.

From me: Clearly, people want to see Kirby hats. I'm giving them to them in the finale.

Did Dawn really give something like that to Red, though?

Yup, I'm not kidding. Both siblings act like that outside of their realm, like fishes out of water. Thanks for sticking with me. :)

From rr: I was looking back at previous chapter and i have to ask one thing

WHAT HAPPENED TO CULEX! from chapter 129

Please answer

From me: He became a bonus boss in the Battle Floor.

From DeathclawVictim: In response to the story length:

"Oh, and don't insult me. Blame the fact this game has over 35 characters that need their spotlight. I enjoy doing this. Don't hate me. D:"

You obviously like writing this, and I know the fun of writing. I also don't want to sound like someone ruining your fun by saying "NO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS". But still, this story is one of the longest works ever composed in the English language. It is longer than the notoriously wordy Atlas Shrugged and War and Peace put together. Now take those two books and add the entire Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series', and they still don't equal your story, totalling around 2.5 million words to this story's 3.3 million and counting.

So you want each of the 35 characters to have a spotlight. I'd say focus individual stories on individual characters, but it's your story. So, allocate 10,000 words to a character, about the length of a few chapters on other fics, and add 100,000 extra for other stuff, and you have 360,000 words, a little long, but still novel-length.

Now say you want to give each character a NaNoWriMo-length novel, 50,000 words each. That comes to 1.75 million words, and adding 500,000 for extra characters or whatever you want still puts it below the length of this story.

Have you ever considered breaking one overall timeline (for lack of a better word) into multiple stories? It's more accessible (there's a reason why an author who can successfully write 15 100,000 word books is more commercially sought after than one who writes one 1,500,000 word book), and each work would have a sense of finality.

If you want this to just be a writing down of all your favorite game stuff, then that's one thing. But if you care at all about its literary quality, the story is too long. Much too long.

From me: Hmm, I do admit that this story got a bit out of hand, but then again, it's kind of incredible (to me) that I could achieve something like this. I have considered splitting things up, but I'm seriously thinking that I will split the story into two after I'm done with this arc. And by that, I mean Part 2. I'm kind of worried that newcomers will wonder what the hell's going on if I do that move…

BUT ANYWAY! I want to be recognized. Luckily, this story isn't filled with nonsensical gibberish. That helps in my goal. Thanks for giving such a in-depth review. :D

So you guys might be wondering what that reason is.

Since I figured that the arc wasn't going to be that long, I thought that publishing shorter chapters would be more ideal and faster.

…So yeah! That's pretty much it.

Previously: Chip felt emo and then resolved himself to help people himself. He got hurt many times for our amusement, ending with him getting drunk on ice cream (somehow).

Now: The team prepares to commit suicid-uh, finish the very last leg of the mission against Dark Gaia.

I encourage all headstrong readers to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: So many people want a second circle pad built into a new 3DS model, yet they fail to realize the nonexistent amount of games that support it. What the heck are they thinking?

Chapter 192: Journey to the Center of Earth/Mobius

-Smash Mansion-

Chris's Room

June 19 – Friday – Morning

Chris couldn't believe that the mission to restore Sonic's world was today. It was incredible that he was tasked to go into the core of the Mobius (or was it Earth?) during his Summer Vacation. A few weeks of enjoying relaxation outside school was a student's happy time. Saving a world at the start of vacations was not supposed to happen.

The World Traveler wanted to rest in his bed and hope that everybody would forget that he existed until the problem took care of itself. Chris just covered himself with the bed sheet and clutched himself against the patch of yellow fur to his left side, bumping with steel fabric by accident.

He did not remember a patch of yellow fur being there.

Unable to wonder aloud, the teen's eyes opened, looking up to see Lucario's chin resting on his head, blue arms wrapped up around Chris. The Aura Pokémon opened his eyes and looked down at Chris with a smile. "Good morning, Chris," he said.

Lucario did not even think that Chris would get angry, which he did. The World Traveler pushed himself away from his Pokémon and started ringing the nearby bell on top of his drawer to get somebody into the room. Out of cue, Dr. Mario walked inside, and Chris took out his DS to write a message to the doctor, which read, "Lucario just fled from the infirmary into my room!"

Dr. Mario chuckled. "No, he didn't. It's just that he has recovered from his critical condition," he explained.

Chris blinked at the news and then went to hug his Pokémon who hugged him back while growling, happy to see that Lucario was finally feeling oka-

"Sadly, though, he can just walk around the mansion's grounds," Dr. Mario interrupted the moment of rejoicing. The two stared back at him. "His heart is healthy enough to give him more freedom, but fighting isn't really advised yet. He has to rest calmly for…a month at best."

Lucario sighed. "You don't know how it feels to be like this," he said disappointed, but Chris hugging him tighter put the Aura Pokémon back into a happy mood. At least he could be with Chris everywhere again, he thought.

"You can be out of the infirmary like DK," Dr. Mario said. Chris saw the fleeting image of said Kong running across in front of his room to go to Diddy's room next door. They all heard a small celebration going on. "But he also needs to rest without putting himself in danger. Beating on his chest is not good." The doctor casually used his cape to change outfits, reverting to Mario. "And since nobody else is at the infirmary, I can stop wearing my doctor uniform… Oh yes, I'll see you two later that the command room." With that, the plumber walked away.

Chris and Lucario were staring at him, wondering how in Luigi's name he changed clothes just like that. The World Traveler could change clothes in a blink of light, but Mario's method looked out of place. Writing on his DS to convey a message, Chris wrote to Lucario, "I wish I could change jobs like that. It looked so good."

Lucario frowned and merely pulled Chris to him. The World Traveler felt offended by the response, and Lucario sensed it and apologized profusely for it. The two then continued to rest and enjoy their small reunion.

Command Room

Master Hand saw how each one of the party members of the group slowly showed up inside the room. When everybody gathered, he started to speak. "Good morning to you all. Everyone, today is the day we put an end to this madness," he said. "It's time to finish up with Dark Gaia before it comes out of his cage inside the core of the Earth."

"I thought you meant Mobius," muttered Crazy Hand.

"This mission needs heavy preparation," the hand continued. "Important points to consider are the fact that the location for the final temple is…this."

Tails brought a virtual image of the area that they needed to go. "Dr. Eggman built a… What?" the two-tailed fox stopped short once they got a clear view about Dr. Eggman's Eggmanland, which for some reason occupied its own continent piece.

The park of madness was destroyed, torn apart to millions of pieces that lied around in a big complete mess of Ferris Wheels leaning on top of each other, buildings burning within their structures, and roller coasters broken in pieces with many tubes holding nothing on top of them. It was sunset, and the overall scenery looked scary.

"The entire place is…is in a big wreck!" Knuckles said.

"How could this happen?" Tails asked. "Several days ago, the amusement park was standing!"

"You didn't check before and after that?" Sonic asked, his arms crossed firmly over his chest.

Tails shook his head. "To be frank, it was impossible to check from up close due to interference a long time ago. I suppose Dr. Eggman put anti-tracking devices around the perimeter of the park," he said. "I just noticed today that the interference was gone…and then I just found out this, too."

Samus rubbed the chin of her helmet. "Why on earth would his base be destroyed, then?" she asked. "Did an accident happen?"

"It's kind of impossible for everything to have gone down like that," Espio speculated. "Dr. Eggman was assisted by the Subspace Army, right? Then why did this even happen?"

Chip clutched his hands to his necklace. "…Everyone…" he trailed off, "…days ago, I sensed something while we went to the Holoska Temple… I shrugged the horrible feeling running down my back, but I feared that it was related to my brother in some way…"

An eerie silence fell in the room. "W-what do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"…I think…I think my brother is close to getting his energy back," Chip said. "I sensed wild energy that time, too. Is it maybe because he caused this?"

Nana shivered. "Y-you mean that monster is already out?" she asked.

Chip embraced himself. "The two of us are pretty connected to each other right now. It's been a few days ever since I last felt anything else. It's all quiet now, but I don't know how much longer it'll take before he can come out." He looked serious. "He's dormant. We shouldn't waste much more time! Let's get down to the temple before he gets the chance to wake up!"

Link eyed Chip. "Did you turn into some spiritual radar?" he asked. "Can you feel anything else?"

"Hmm…" Chip got into a thinking position. "My brother's lackeys are looming inside the park. They're hiding away… Oh, wait! I see some kinda pattern!" he said. "It's like they're all blocking a straight way leading to somewhere deep inside… Ooh… The park extends to underground… The way is pretty long, too… Maybe they're protecting the way to the temple? I guess it is."

"Which means we're in for a lot of walking," Toon Link said sighing. "And then we shouldn't forget all the fighting…"

"Stop the booing," Master Hand said. "Like last time, I'm sending more than nine people. I'm sending…ten people!"

Many dull looks were given away to the hand. "Because one person makes a huge difference," Roy said with a big hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Master Hand chuckled. "Heheh, just pulling your legs. I'm sending fifteen of you there," he said. "Well, there's yet another fact I wanted to bring up. Dark Gaia monsters are all weak against light attacks. If you can exploit that weakness like crazy, I'm sure you'll get around pretty fast!"

Zelda grimaced. "We're devoid of light-based attacks. The only one who's closer to use light-based attacks is Pit…" They all looked to the corner of the room where Pit was hunched over, looking all pale. "I…have no idea why he's like that."

"I know," Snake said, pointing a finger to Wolf. "That guy beat him up nastily when I saw them three days ago."

Wolf scoffed. "Not my fault he dragged strangers into my room without my permission," he said in his defense.

"Please! Whatever you did to him, we need him with a stable mind now!" Diddy said annoyed.

The lupine rolled his eye. "Hey, angel face, get your act together," he said. Pit only shivered in response. Wolf grunted. "Get up before I straighten you up myself!" Pit only budged slightly. It took one fist hitting a palm harshly for the angel to stand right up in fear.

Luigi walked to Pit. "U-um, are you okay?" he asked.

"N-never felt better," Pit said trembling. "I-I'll be fine in a little while…" He sat down on the floor and turned his back on everyone.

Master Hand looked speechless until he took the attention again. "Granted, he's not the only one who can use light attacks," he said as he turned to Chris. "As your boss, you're going into the fray."

The World Traveler looked defeated. He started to think that being one of the main characters was not really that good since they were expected to fight and die trying in the worst of cases. Chris considered changing his status to an NPC or a recurring extra, but that was probably impossible to do at the moment.

"It feels so good to command mute people," the hand wondered aloud. "It's like using pawns on a chessboard!" An Aura Sphere blew up on his floating body, creating a small but strong explosion. "Okay, I deserved that… But anyhoo, time's a wasting! You should prepare as much as you can. Here's the info for you to go over."

Sonic Unleashed
Current Status: About to be screwed. Hard.
Race: Humans and anthros
Number of protagonists: Varies
Level of danger: High
Members allowed to dispatch: 15

Wi-Fi Waiting Room

As everyone broke into multiple conversations across the room, the World Traveler felt that he needed to assemble the party. It only took a few steps away from Lucario to unintentionally catch Soren's attention. The Branded was then accompanied by Roy. "You're supposed to be the one who decides who gets to go," Soren said. "Frankly speaking, I feel that you need guidance."

Chris had chosen to use his DS to write messages to people, and he showed Soren a message. "I lose all leadership after we arrive anywhere."

The insufferable magician looked like he had an easier time handling the wonder that was technology. It was kind of amazing how he didn't blow up the nearby toaster whenever it popped a piece of bread out. "That makes me feel secure," Soren said. Chris felt once again offended but the Branded did not even care one bit about anybody's feelings. "Roy here told me all about how this mission in particular is the most dangerous one to date. Even so, I am going to tag along to demonstrate the extent of my skills."

"And because I don't want him to feel so left out, I'm going to come along as well," Roy said.

Soren turned to Roy. "I hope that doesn't imply that I am but a child to you," he said. Roy shook his head quickly, as he knew just how powerful the kind of people like Soren was. "In that case, let us watch each other's backs once we're thrown into battle."

Having Soren could actually be very helpful, Chris thought. The entire roster was in need of mages as fighters. But not that it would happen. He believed the roster had a thing for males with swords the most. The World Traveler walked away from the two.

"He must've gone through stressful times for becoming mute," Soren noted.

That was three people counting himself. Chris was stopped by Knuckles, who was standing in front of the huge entourage of people that was nicknamed as Sonic reps. "I know we want to prevent a final battle of sorts. I want to come along one more time," he said.

Espio was pushed to his side by Vector. "As Espio's boss, I'm sending him in!" he said, but Espio instead pulled him next to Knuckles. "H-hey!"

The chameleon grinned. "You've been nagging us way too many times that you haven't done a thing," he pointed out. "Show some sportsmanship and make a grand finale for the team."

Vector was not an idiot. At least he told himself that considering they all were about to stop a deity from going loose on the planet. It then dawned on him that he could "slightly" relay on the rest of the party to get hurt while he assisted them from far awa-

"Are you a chicken?" Charmy interrupted.

"WHAT?" Vector asked angrily, flexing his rather noodle-looking arms. "I'm not scared of the dark or somethin'! I can hold my own whenever the hell I want!" He pointed at Chris. "I'm coming along!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "This sure brings back some memories…" he muttered to himself, not aware that Vector heard him clearly until the crocodile put a tight grip on him with his freem arm.

"Yeah, like good ol' memories!" Vector said winking. "I wonder why you never joined us when our adventures started…"

"That's because you as a boss is a very bad idea that can get me killed!" Knuckles barked. Chris felt that he wasn't needed to see the conversation, but then Sonic butted in with a smirk on his face. The teen was now worried.

"Ahh, how good it is for the dream team to be together again," Sonic said with a devious look. Knuckles shot him with a glare and Vector gave him a thumb up. He turned to Chris. "Obviously, I have to come. I gotta follow the script."

"But we want to avoid that script from becoming reality if the last part does show up," Chip said. "I hate my own script for that matter! Why can't it be something less violent with more sugary stuff?"

"Because our universe is filled with so much action that we're not some cheap Saturday morning cartoon," Charmy added happily. "Or anime… Hey! Anime is cool!"

With six people ready, Chris walked away as soon as he could seeing that Knuckles and Vector got into a heat debate while Sonic added more fuel to their fire. The hedgehog was never going to change some of his ways, the teen thought.

Chris bumped into Samus. Were people stopping his way now? "I think it's time for me to participate," she said. "The team will need somebody who can scan perimeters and abnormalities in the vicinity."

The hunter made a very compelling argument. Samus was just pretty useful in many different ways, either providing info with her inhuman scanning visor or kicking enemies soundly. Chris nodded to her.

"But I had something in mind to make my fighting skills more efficient," she added. Chris tilted his head. "I remember seeing a skill at the shop that would definitely help me fight against dark creatures. You catch my drift?"

The teen got the idea clearly. There was a Light Beam that was available for her for purchase. Chris gave Samus a message about buying it after the team was assembled. She nodded and let Chris go to fulfill the first requirement.

With seven people, the teen was almost halfway done. He recalled the scared Pit on the corner. Walking to where Pit was trying to close his mind out from the outside world, Chris tapped his foot to get Pit's attention. When that didn't work, Chris grimaced and slightly kicked Pit on his rear. "O-oww!" Pit yelped at the small hit. He looked over his shoulder, fearing it was Wolf. "O-oh! It's you," he said relieved.

Chris frowned.

Pit sighed. "Sorry… But you didn't see what Wolf did to me!" he complained. "You would feel like I do! I know you know how far he goes when hurting somebody!" Chris agreed on that. "…You're here to drag me to the mission, aren't you."

Chris nodded.

"…Well, they do say you forget about your problems when fighting," Pit said. Chris did not think that was true. "Alright, I'll be ready when we leave."

The World Traveler left the angel for himself. But then Pit almost had a heart attack when the teen went to talk to Wolf. Three things would come out of the move: Chris trying to defend Pit just to get the former beaten up to a bloody pulp with the latter adding up to it for good measure, the teen asking Wolf to come with them where nobody would see the lupine giving the occasional punch to Pit, or both things combined.

"Asking me to come along now, aren't you?" Wolf asked. "Hmm, I'm expecting bloodshed from this mission… But on the other hand, I've got a few things to do to those bastards for taking down my own prey." He nodded. "I'm in for this."

After Chris had walked away, Wolf gave one look to Pit. The angel looked away and sweated bullets. He could've sworn a dark chuckle came from him.

Nine people were ready. Kirby strolled by and Chris picked him up, smiling at him. Kirby smiled back and hugged him. Chris hugged him back and set him down. "I want to come!" Kirby happily said. Chris could not say no to him and nodded in agreement. The two did the same routine and stopped after the human left the happy Star Warrior behind.

The little scene was not left unnoticed.

"You give in so easily to his… I refrain from saying the word."

The teen looked to his right where Meta Knight had watched them. Chris nervously smiled.

"Besides noting that, I wish to come," he said. "This is a perfect opportunity to see how Kirby has grown."

Yet again, Kirby was going to be monitored by the supposed father figure that Meta Knight looked like. Chris was once again prohibited from saying no to another puffball, and calling that puffball a puffball was discouraged greatly. Then again, both of the puffballs were incredible when fighting, so it all worked out in the end.

Meta Knight showed him some stickers that were previously cards. "These might come in handy in this mission," he said. The teen could've sworn he had seen the cards somewhere before. "I got these from doing some…unique jobs during my free time. If I bring them up in detail, you would probably stare at me weird."

Chris shrugged and left the knight behind after nodding to him. Randomly, he thought about his sacred voice ever coming back to him. He felt annoyed that he was still mute even after Lucario was allowed to walk out from the infirmary. He shook his head and focused on getting four more people.

That was when Mewtwo approached him with crossed arms firmly on his chest. Chris didn't like that stance as it just implied that Mewtwo was going to toss people aside with his head. "I'm not going to toss you aside," Mewtwo told Chris, making the latter yelp mentally. "I'm here to tell you that I'm coming with all of you."

Most of the team knew that Mewtwo had a fatal weakness against dark creatures and anything that was strong against his type. Since the location of the final mission of the day was in an area heavily influenced by darkness, it was not a good idea for him to get close to the destroyed amusement park or else he would be the one getting "destroyed" the most.

"I know," Mewtwo told Chris. He was reading his mind. "But this side of me has to end someday, and that day is now. I shall confront those dark creatures so that I can fight against them. I'm sure my power shall bring them pain."

Once more, saying no was discouraged. Chris just nodded and walked away from the Psychic Pokémon. He couldn't just hold up for long when looking at rather cold gazes, unlike his rather weak flaw at staring at extremely cute characters and give himself in to them.

"(A Psychic type fighting a dark creature…)" Mewtwo thought. "(Even I have my own doubts about doing this decision…)"

With three more people to go to prepare the big party, it was then than Toon Link, Diddy, and Lucas came to Chris. "The three of us want to fill in," Toon Link said. "You have way too many adults and pretty matured people in the team. And no, we think Vector is not all that mature."

"Yeah!" Diddy said nodding before looking quite worried. "I really wish DK was feeling much better for this, but I think I can take care of myself just fine." He showed his peanut popgun. "This will do!"

A peanut beating a deity would be a sight to behold. That was incredibly impossible to see, though. In a more serious point of view, Diddy needed more battle experience than Toon Link and Lucas.

Speaking about Lucas, the blond, as usual, looked unsure. "I never got to the point where I fight a deity… If we hurry up, we can avoid that fight, right?" he asked, but then he nodded to himself. "Then I want to do this."

With the team assembled, Chris headed to Crazy Hand to buy the necessary skills and equipment for the deadly mission. "Feels like the final battle is coming!" Crazy Hand said. "Not the one we're preparing for, but still! I know you wanna avoid fighting Dark Gaia. Me? I wanna see a fight of that magnitude happen!" Chris gave him a disapproving look. "If you're THAT worried, you should so buy stuff from me." He put a 'Sale' sign on the counter. "Today, we're having a special sale! All stuff in the shop is 50% off! Buy like crazy!"

An opportunity like this would surely not come another time. The teen went to check the discounted wares.

Jobs – Stickers – Smashing Abilities – Items – Sets

Smash Coins: 4301

At that moment, Samus approached the counter. "I remember seeing a skill for me to use my Light Beam again," she said.

"Ooh, requests," the unstable hand said. "Alrighty. Let me bring up your menu."

Smashing Abilities

- Samus

Screw Attack EX – 500 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Screw Attack its true nature. Samus can cross over long gaps by jumping 5 times. This move can constantly damage enemies on the way she goes.

Ice Missiles – 1000 Smash Coins

Samus will be able to launch ice missiles. These missiles are guaranteed to freeze an enemy for a short period of time.

Morph Ball – 1500 Smash Coins

Allows Samus to use the Morph Ball. Along with using this to cross through small spaces, Samus will be able to use Bomb (module), Boost Ball, Power Bomb, and Spider Ball (for climbing magnetic surfaces).

Annihilator Beam – 2000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus's Arm Cannon the potent Annihilator Beam; a beam infused with light and dark energy that gives a lot of damage to enemies weak to light and dark attacks alike. Charging this attack will create the Sonic Boom, creating a rift in space to deal damage to all enemies.

Resist lvl. 1: Status Ailments - 1000 Smash Coins

Gives Samus immunity to some kinds of status ailments as long as she remains using the Varia Suit.

Samus grimaced. She eyed the Annihilator Beam. "I feared it was this instead of the regular Light Beam…" she muttered. "Is it possible for you to offer me the Light Beam for separate?"

Crazy Hand grumbled. "If that's gonna end up with me becoming a bit, HMM, richer, then… Let's go ahead!" he snapped his fingers and randomly blew up. The smoke quickly cleared out, and he was seen holding his position in the air. "Whoops. Wrong action. Let me try again," the hand said, snapping his fingers once more. The small list now had a new skill.

Light Beam / Dark Beam – 1000 Smash Coins

Allows Samus to change between her Power, Light, and Dark Beams. Do note that ammunition for Light and Dark Beams can be emptied out if they do not pick up ammo from defeating enemies. Charge function is available for both beams.

"Huh. Well, it would be a complete overkill if I had to keep unlimited ammo," Samus said. "Go ahead, Chris."

The teen promptly handed over 1000 coins to the hand. With a snap of his fingers, Crazy Hand gave Samus the two beams. The hunter noticed that her suit had been altered a bit, and she raised her arm cannon as it briefly changed between the Light and Dark Beams. "There you go! Armed and dangerous against creatures of the light and darkness!" he said.

"Thanks," she said. "There is an overabundance of those enemies in many other worlds… These will come in handy for sure." She nodded to Chris and walked away from the place.

The teen rubbed his chin. "I think you're into buying light-related stuff today," Crazy Hand said. "But on the other hand, you should think about the defensive side! Attacking all the time can be often bad if you can't keep up a good defense." He nodded. "Everything's 50% off, after all! Judging from the teammates you have, lemme give you all the people who can get resistance against darkness!"

- Pit

Resist lvl. 1: Dark/Shadow - 500 Smash Coins

Pit will reduce any received dark/shadow based attacks by a third (1/3).

- Chris

Resist lvl. 1: Dark/Shadow - 500 Smash Coins

Chris will reduce any received dark/shadow based attacks by a third (1/3).

- Mewtwo

Resist lvl. 1: Dark/Shadow - 500 Smash Coins

Mewtwo will reduce any received dark/shadow based attacks by a third (1/3), though overall super effective damage will be the one reduced slightly. Along with this, Mewtwo will be able to attack dark creatures, dealing normal damage without penalties.

All abilities were very good, especially the last one that would help Mewtwo a lot. He gave 1500 coins to activate all resistances with a snap of Crazy Hand's fingers. "Yes! Good purchases!" the hand said. "Anything else? You've got 1801 coins left. For further reference, here's the list of items you have."

Items On Hand:

Block Meal

Green Shell

Assist Trophy

Bunny Hood

Poké Ball

Bumper

Stored:

Miracle Gels x3

Chris wondered where those Miracle Gels appeared. "Oh, those gels? I found them lying around," the hand said. "I remember you got them from that lazy dude who was running away from this maniacal girl. Oh, you! Forgetting these items will be the death of us! …Probably!"

The teen recognized that it was reckless of his part.

"HA! A point for me!" Crazy Hand said. "Now, I'd recommend buying items this time. Half price, remember?"

-Items

Assist Trophy – 250 Smash Coins – 1 copy

Bunny Hood – 150 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Beam Sword – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Bob-omb – 150 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Bumper – 250 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Bunny Hood – 150 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Cracker Launcher – 250 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Deku Nut – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Fan – 50 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Fire Flower – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) – 200 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Franklin Badge – 200 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Freezie – 150 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Golden Hammer – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Gooey Bomb – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Green Shell – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hammer – 350 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Heart Container – 250 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Home-Run Bat – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Hothead – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Lightning – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Lip's Stick – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Maxim Tomato – 150 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Metal Box – 150 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb – 50 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Mr. Saturn – 50 Smash Coins – 100 copies
Pitfall – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Poison Mushroom – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Poke Ball – 400 Smash Coins – 6 copies
Ray Gun – 150 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Screw Attack – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Smart Bomb – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Smash Ball – 500 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Smoke Ball – 50 Smash Coins – 5 copies
Soccer Ball – 250 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Spring – 100 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Starman – 400 Smash Coins – 1 copy
Star Rod – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Mushroom – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Super Scope – 200 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Superspicy Curry – 150 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Team Healer – 100 Smash Coins – 3 copies
Timer – 250 Smash Coins – 2 copies
Unira – 100 Smash Coins – 4 copies
Warp Star – 300 Smash Coins – 2 copies

Taking advantage of the deal, Chris bought a Smash Ball, a Super Mushroom, a Heart Container, and a Starman. The money count now dangerously hung at 451 coins. "Oops. Your inventory is full with items," the hand said. "Would you like to store something? Since the gels are pretty small, maybe that Green Shell won't do much…"

Chris took the advice into heart and changed the Green Shell for the three Miracle Gels.

"Okay! You're all set!" Crazy Hand said. "Oh, there was something I needed to tell you…" Chris listened intently. "Since you're all going to this really hard mission, let me tell you that…" he gave a thumb up, "it was nice knowing you."

Mortified and sulking with the response, Chris just walked away with the items. The hand's sane brother saw what went on and approached him to slap his wrist. Frowning, Master Hand left his brother behind as everyone on the team gathered for the next mission.

"Please be sure that you're all absolutely prepared for what's to come," Master Hand told all of them. "From afar, I see a bunch of misfits. From up close, though, I see…those very same misfits, except they now have this common goal to finish a mission with a look on all their faces."

"Stop ridiculing all of us, especially me," Soren bluntly said.

"OK, OK. Ignore what I said before and just brace yourselves." The hand snapped his fingers to open the portal himself. "Because I don't want the controller to make you land somewhere in the sea, this portal in particular will take you right in front of the entrance of the destroyed amusement park. If anything bad happens, reinforcements will come. Just…make sure you come back alive. I don't like the look of things in there…"

His worry made most of the half of them to reconsider about doing the right choice. But they kept their decision. "We already agreed on fighting till we're done," Samus said. "It's a long way, still, but it has to be done either way."

"Yes," Mewtwo said. "This is troublesome, yet we are the only ones who can handle it."

Lucas sighed. "I wish it was someone else who could do it…" he muttered to himself.

"But no one else can, so let's stop fretting over that fact," Meta Knight said. "Let us proceed and finish this one nightmare once and for all definitely."

Tails walked over to Sonic to give him the last drained Chaos Emerald. "You must come back safe, Sonic," he said. "I'm not going to give you the rest of the emeralds to avoid accidents from happening."

Sonic looked miffed. "You know, if you just gave me the other six emeralds, I bet I'd be unstoppable," he said.

The two-tailed fox shook his head. "We can't use the emeralds so recklessly, Sonic. I thought I made myself clear a long time ago," he explained. "If the emeralds got lost somehow, or they ended up on the enemy's hands…"

"We don't want to have another repeat with YOU powering up the final boss because you kept bragging," Roy reminded the hedgehog, making him grimace and sigh in defeat. Tails got the message and just smiled.

The hedgehog forced a grin. "Alright, I'll just take this one out. Let's get this werehog out of me quickly! My solution is a few steps away!" he said.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "(I have the slight suspicion that he's only in it for his personal gain…)" he thought to himself before Vector pulled him with his arm. "H-hey!"

Vector, at that moment, was confused about crying for a reason because his life was in danger or how emotional he felt over everyone's resolutions. "You guys are the best," he whimpered, crying on a grossed out Knuckles' shoulder. "There's no way we can lose here… Onwards!" he cried out, dragging Knuckles into the portal.

Soren pressed the bridge between his eyes. "Whatever happens, let that guy run into trouble without assisting him," he said.

Roy chuckled. "Please, don't be that harsh, Soren," he said.

"I wasn't being harsh. I was being rational," Soren said as he walked into the portal.

Master Hand stared at the Branded for a long time. "(Oh, don't you worry. For I have the ultimate plan to get rid of all of these Sonic reps in one fell swoop)," he thought deviously.

Sonic saw that Chip stared at the portal as well, but the expression on his face was frozen. The deity was probably thinking that this was it. It was the time for his last stand in the surface world before going back to the core of the planet. "…" Chip shook his head, clutching a fist to his puffy chest. "This is my destiny…and I have to do it." He smiled at Sonic. "No hard feelings. This is really it."

"Then, let's go and obtain victory," Toon Link said. The team nodded and slowly left the command room towards the dangerous destination. Once they were all gone, the portal vanished as always. Everyone who remained behind wished all of them good luck in the mission.

"I hope they do okay…" Peach muttered to herself, as the virtual screen gave a clear image of what was going on right in front of the destroyed entrance. Mario and Luigi merely placed their hands on her shoulders as they all watched from afar the ensuing conflict…

-Sonic Unleashed-

-Eggmanland-

Ruined Entrance

The portal opened up close to the entrance of the wrecked amusement park of evil, over a long path of cracked floor that didn't seem to stop anywhere as the entire place was deserted and barely able to stand up with its fallen skyscrapers. The now-ruined neon sign "Eggmanland" was missing letters and electricity, with only a letters flickering with life only for small sparks to jump out from time to time. The only entrance the place had was rather small, under the neon sign.

One by one, the party members stepped out from the portal and watched their steps, as many cracked portions of the floor were uneven to each other in terms of balance. After Lucas shyly stepped out, the portal vanished behind him. All they did for now was look around at the demolished land. "Here we are…" Pit muttered, looking up at the sunset. "It's hard to believe this used to be a theme park…"

"I bet the theme park would kill you," Sonic said. "There's no way Eggman could build a theme park for everybody's entertainment but his pleasure."

Being the only one not familiar with the wonders of technology, Soren noticed how drastic the place looked like compared to Tellius. He had expected castles and horse riders, but not a wasteland of metal and sparks of electricity. "This is certainly something else," he noted with a blank look. "It doesn't feel like a place where I belong to or a place I'd like to stay at."

"My place is better than this place," Knuckles boasted.

This little statement was begging Sonic to make fun of it. "If you mean standing around some ruins with a forest and a mountain floating in the sky with nothing else to do, then yeah, it is better," he said.

The echidna, oddly, grinned at Sonic. "Oh, I saw you there on my island resting on top of the mountain once. You were enjoying yourself," he said.

"(Crap, he saw me?)" Sonic thought. He grinned with a nervous look. "T-the mountain sure does feel like a good spot to rest," he admitted, losing the small battle against Knuckles for once in a long time.

"Stop talking about vacation spots and let's get this done," Wolf finally said, eyeing the entrance to the madhouse. "Our mission starts inside. Let's get down to that temple and keep that monstrosity from tearing up all of us."

Shadow casually nodded. "Agreed," he said.

"Because seeing a floating continent with Dr. Eggman's name on it has to be a bad omen," Rouge commented.

"I shall eliminate all traces of Dr. Eggman's machinations," Omega stated, tightening his clawed hands.

"Well, you heard them," Diddy said smiling as the group moved forward.

They all then noticed what was off, but Soren was the only one who noticed first since he stared cautiously at the three newcomers who had appeared out of nowhere. Both Mewtwo and Meta Knight had also done the same, and they all frowned at their team's slow reaction. The team turned around and stopped. "What the… Shadow?" Sonic wondered in surprise.

"And you!" Knuckles pointed at Rouge, who just smiled amused.

"And him!" Vector pointed at Omega, who didn't even react to the accusing finger.

Rouge walked to Knuckles and put his hand down. "It's rude to point at other people unless you're not working for the government," she said. "Hi there, little Knux. How've you guys been all this time?"

"Dandy," Sonic said. "We've been world-hopping and stopping Dr. Eggman and the army from conquering all sorts of places… And then we came to his home to punch him low just for fun."

Shadow crossed his arms. "Very funny, faker," he sarcastically said. "We know your little team isn't here to hurt Dr. Eggman so casually."

Rouge raised a finger. "We've been watching this entire story," she pointed out. "Honestly, how would a normal person even miss seeing the world's continents splitting away like a big jigsaw puzzle, just for those same pieces to fall back into place without explanation? That logic is baseless. It's obvious Dr. Eggman was behind this mess of land."

"We made up our minds to come investigate Eggmanland to see what was wrong," Omega said in his usual monotone voice. "It is never a good thing for Dr. Eggman to build anything. Therefore, obliteration is needed."

"Then we found you guys coming out of thin air," Rouge said. "That explains why Sonic and the rest of the gang was nowhere to be found. Seriously! Many cities were wondering where the blue burr was to save them from destruction."

"Even I need long breaks from my job as an Egg-buster," Sonic sheepishly said.

Toon Link stepped forward. "So what are you planning to do? Maybe you should come with us," he said. "There's a lot you've missed besides seeing the chaos in here."

Shadow was not looking forward to the idea of tagging along with the world's most obnoxious hedgehog. He didn't exactly mind the others, but Sonic was like the annoying little cousin who never shut up for ten seconds. "I'd prefer to go it alone…" he trailed off.

"Your survival won't last for long, then," Meta Knight advised. "There is no telling what is dwelling inside this wrecked site, but it won't be easy to handle it alone."

Rouge grimaced. "These guys sound very sure about the whole deal than we do," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Shadow, you should listen to them. I wouldn't want to commit a small mistake that can put an end to me."

"Tsk, if only I had a Chaos Emerald, it'd be enough to go through here without issues," Shadow said. "Speaking of which, I've been looking for the emeralds and I haven't found them at all… You have them, don't you?"

Sonic showed Shadow the drained Chaos Emerald. "There's no power left in it. No Chaos Spear or Chaos Control for you," he said. "There's a temple inside this stupid amusement park that can recharge this, though. As for the other six emeralds, they're fully recharged and we're keeping them safe back in our base to avoid 'accidents' or something," he said rolling his eyes, raising a few fingers to make fun of the fact.

"What a drag," Shadow said as he inspected the emerald, feeling no power coming from it. "In that case, give me one of those recharged emeralds."

"We're trying to avoid accidents here," Samus retorted. "We can't just hand one to you."

Shadow grimaced. "Suit yourself, then," he said.

Rouge grinned. "Let's all take a small stroll into Dr. Eggman's base," she said. "I bet Omega doesn't mind having a few more allies."

"Anything and anyone that can kill Dr. Eggman is welcomed," Omega said, scaring some of the younger people in the group.

"Take that as a yes, you guys," Rouge said with a wink, mentally frowning at Omega's simpleminded mentality.

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega temporarily joined your team!

"Our numbers have increased. Normally, having a lot of people in a battlefield is not really recommended," Soren commented. "This could slow us down."

Rouge tilted her head to the sharp-looking teen. "Talking about being slow is not a trait you could slap on Shadow," she said. "Trust me. He gets the job done just as fast as Sonic does."

"Minus the unnecessary taunting, which gives Shadow a big advantage over his aggressors," Omega said.

Sonic knew Shadow was taunting him with those remarks. "Okay, Team Shadow Is Awesome, get a move on," he said as he started walking into the wreckage. "The job won't get done itself."

Lucas hid behind the serious-looking Kirby. "Does somebody have a flashlight? It looks pretty dark in there. I'm scared about getting attacked from somewhere I can't see…" Omega responded by opening two small compartments to the side of his belt that shone light out. "U-uh…thanks…Omega."

"It was about time we moved on," Mewtwo said. And thus, the big group proceeded forward under the destroyed neon sign.

Ruined Way

Inside the wreckage of the amusement park, the team could see long winding ways that were under a roof of rubble that had big cracks where light ran down. The path they were taking looked a bit too long for their legs to endure, as if the path itself was meant for fast hedgehogs to follow and not anybody else.

"This path looks suspicious to me," Pit said.

"Well, duh, it was meant only for Sonic, or even Shadow, to use," Knuckles said. "Isn't Eggman so thoughtful?"

"I sense a very odd friendship bond from this," Rouge said amused.

The blue hedgehog chuckled. "Hey, I enjoy going through his tracks. Think of them as training tracks with lights on 'em," he said.

"Lights that want to kill you," Diddy said.

They all walked around big fragments of buildings that were unusually cut across by the path, along some spiked balls that had been torn off from their metal poles meant to spin two of them for added danger. "How unsettling," Soren noted. "The overall architecture, as I imagine, was clearly blindly put together. I cannot fathom how this would be beneficial to its creator. What a waste of time."

Roy looked away. "Clearly for keeping people away," he said.

"What a sickening sense of fun."

Toon Link grew bored of the silence besides their footsteps that he looked to Chip. "Haven't you sensed any enemies yet?" he asked. "I expected a few of them to jump out and scare Lucas by now." Lucas forced a glare on him.

Chip frowned. "It was weird, but all the enemies I sensed had suddenly…disappeared," he said confused. "They're not even on the way I thought they were protecting."

"Should we separate and go to different ways?" Diddy asked, him being the only one taking the scenic route from above the wreckage by leaping from high spots to low floor. "It's not that dark and I see how some places go deeper inside."

"Separating is not advised," Meta Knight said. "Who is not to say we could encounter one of those Shadow Nightmares in the wrong path?" Many of them shrugged at the thought.

"The hell is a Shadow Nightmare?" Rouge asked. "Is it like Shadow here but acts like a Nightmare?"

Sonic said, "Firstly, good Shadow joke. Secondly, it's this demonic creature that makes a copy outta you and starts bashing your darkest lies that you won't ever admit that easily and truthfully. For short, they mind-screw you so much that you'll be crying."

The team known as Team Dark stared.

"…" Rouge turned to Shadow. "Any dark lie you won't ever confess?"

"Shut your trap," Shadow replied.

"I never lie," Omega said.

Rouge chuckled. "Well, as long as a monster like that doesn't ask me about romance, I'll be fine," she said.

"Er, I think it uses the one you'll be most embarrassed of," Toon Link pointed out.

Rouge looked very shocked inside her mind, but she stared into space and blushed a bit. "Oh… Um… That would be…pretty embarrassing," she said. Forcing her own will, her blushing faded away in a desperate manner once a certain echidna looked at her for a second. The same happened when Shadow raised an eyebrow at her.

Sonic was about to make Rouge's life a living hell, but Chris saw the smirk on his face and then he slapped his side, making the hedgehog grumble some nasty words to himself.

"Hmph, I don't understand the concept completely," Shadow stated.

Chris was too slow to see what was going to happen in Sonic's Fun Time. The hedgehog just needed to get that out of his system. "Allow me to show you," Sonic said as he quickly lunged himself to Shadow's back, clinging to him as Shadow tried to shake off the hedgehog from him.

"Y-you stupid faker! Get off me!" Shadow demanded. Sonic had taken the demonstration a little too far as he started to support himself using the black hedgehog's head and mouth. After a moment of struggling, Sonic jumped off in front of the angered Ultimate Lifeform.

Sonic put a hand over his face, letting one evil eye stare at Shadow with a malevolent grin underneath. "I am you, Shadow the Hedgehog…" Sonic said trying to mimic Shadow's voice. "You shall never admit that Sonic the Hedgehog is the actual Ultimate Lifeform."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "That's a lie."

"Is it?" Sonic stepped closer. "Your mouth says lies, but your brain and heart know the truth. Why can't you accept it? Does it reeeeeeeeally hurt to admit it?"

The Ultimate Lifeform scoffed. "Get out," he threatened.

"I won't leave you," Sonic said. "In fact, not admitting your truth has made me so strong right now." He grabbed Shadow by his shoulders. "There are two Shadows running around. I'm supposing the real faker has to go…like…foreve-" Shadow had enough that he punched Sonic away to a pile of rubble, his head getting stuck in it. "O-oww!"

Shadow pulled back his fist. "You, being an Ultimate Lifeform… Nonsense," he muttered.

"For good measure, add a fight that prolongs for a very long time till you accept whatever dark lie you've been trying to deny to yourself," Wolf added. "Don't stop on the hedgehog, though. I'd like to see an actual demonstration as he gets beaten up." Toon Link have him a disapproving look.

Knuckles chuckled loudly and extended a hand to Sonic. "And that's how the Shadow Nightmare works," he said, not minding the fact Vector looked horrified at the example. Sonic pulled out his head from the hole.

Rouge had to chuckle as well. "That makes it look less scarier but a tad more annoying," she said as Chris walked to the blue hedgehog lying down on the rubble, the former holding a message on his DS that read, "I tried to warn you." Sonic shot him with an annoyed look before hopping back onto his feet.

"I sure do hope that the actual danger looks more threatening than this joke," Soren bluntly said.

"It is," Roy said.

"Thank goodness."

Lucas looked around as they continued their way through the mess of fallen Ferris Wheels. "Why hasn't anything happened yet?" he asked.

"Because it's better that way?" Samus responded. "Really, I wish this eerie silence doesn't stop after we restore the last temple."

At that moment, Chip stopped flying forward as they entered a section that had piles of rubble scattered irregularly, with the path suddenly turning into a docile-looking steep hill down. "Wait… I sense them…" he muttered in fear. "T-they're slowly creeping out from…everywhere! WAIT, NO! They're all retreating…but…there's only one of them?"

"One of them?" Pit wondered. "What do you mean one of them? Is it really powerful for just being one?"

"Hey, hey, you haven't introduced us to this little plushie," Rouge said. "Why are you guys taking him so seriously?"

Meta Knight looked away, his hand resting on Galaxia's hilt. "It's hard to believe it at first, but he's the manifestation of Light Gaia. He is just the positive and benevolent half of Dark Gaia, the creature trying to destroy the world from the core of this planet," he explained.

"…" This was Team Dark's general response.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin – Quest Battle

Before questions could even be asked, right before them, a dark mist materialized on top of a pile of rubble. Instead of a Nightmare or a Titan, the mist itself shrouded its owner completely to the point a simple stare wouldn't show even a limb. An exception was that there was an even darker figure inside of the evil fog.

"What in the world is that?" Rouge asked with a flat look.

"Unknown assailant detected," Omega said. "I cannot come to a reasonable conclusion about its origin with a scan."

"But I'll tell you what that is: an enemy!" Diddy said, hopping down from the crumbled iron beams above them.

The dark mist suddenly went rushing right straight at them. It was enemy, judging how it treated half of them like bowling pins pushed aside. Knuckles grunted as he stood back up, looking behind where the dark mist was eerily facing them. "H-hey! They were never that fast!" he complained.

Soren was lucky enough to have avoided the instant blow. "Unfathomable… How can creatures like that one exist with such speed?" he asked.

"Hello?" Sonic asked dully, but the Branded ignored that.

Out of a cue, Chris brandished his staff to cast a Light spell on the monster, but the dark mist knew that mages were a bad influence and so it shot directly at him. As Chris gasped, Shadow interjected by spin-dashing the dark mist into some fallen iron beams, creating a cloud of dust. Not wanting to waste time thanking the hedgehog, Chris held out his staff, casting Holy Lance.

The spell did not work.

The mute teen cursed his bad luck, and he was instantly knocked back by the dark mist, bumping his back across a long distance. Shadow was taken off-guard, as he was kicked across his cheek back to the pile of iron beams he had sent the enemy to. Pit and Roy partnered up and went after the dark mist with their weapons shielding them from any sudden moves. The dark mist jumped high and then struck Pit down with a flying kick. Supporting itself with Pit's face as a stepping stone, it shot into Roy's waist, sending him away to crash against a wall.

Pit shook his head, stepping back. "That monster is just too fast!" he complained.

Away from them, the World Traveler was getting back up with Kirby watching over him. There was an odd thing Chris noticed he was rammed into.

The blow felt like a perfect oval spinning. He had seen that kind of attack before somewhere.

Seeing Kirby's serious look put the teen back into action. Now that he was far away, he was probably safe from throwing spells. Kirby dutifully stood close to protect him.

Back to the battle, Meta Knight had taken action, using Drill Rush to land multiple hits on the dark figure. The dark mist swiftly avoided it by stepping back, but it was then kicked hard by Rouge, the bat having jumped close to land a flying kick on her own. As the dark figure bumped into the cold floor, Toon Link threw a bomb that blew on its back, followed by Omega shooting bullets with his claws into the cloud of smoke.

The dark figure shot out into the air, leaving a circle of empty smoke as well. Meta Knight followed by shooting out with his wings, reaching it out quickly. The dark figure somehow started to avoid the rain of slashing slices from the knight, just for a fully charged Shadow Ball to come out of nowhere and collide against the unknown enemy. The dark figure crashed back into the crumbled floor, but it rolled away once Knuckle was about to punch it down by a small leap. "Damn!" Knuckles shouted.

As the hard-to-see-through enemy dashed away, a ray of light pierced through it, making it stop in its tracks. They noticed that Samus had changed to her Light Beam. "Sorry for asking, but WHY didn't you do that before?" Sonic asked.

"These shots are limited. Now stop talking and attack it!" Samus shouted, changing to her Power Beam.

The dark mist struggled in pain as it tried to break free from the rather simple shot, but four lances of light shot out from the floor and impaled it severely, causing super effective damage that locked it further into place. While Chris sighed for his successful spell, Shadow rushed forward and slammed into the dark mist with a spin dash. Sonic followed closely and slammed it back to Shadow with his own spin dash, followed by Wolf quickly stepping around the black hedgehog to slash his claws down hard.

Lucas then directed a charging PK Freeze into the stunned dark mist, exploding into ice and trapping it inside an icicle that was flung into the air. With a quick flying kick, Rouge shattered the icicle into pieces along with dark figure inside. "Done!" she said.

Music Stops

A time had passed as everyone rested for a bit, pondering what was the mysterious enemy they had encountered. "Forgive me for asking this question too much, but what was that?" Rouge asked puzzled.

"There was no way we saw an enemy like that before," Roy clarified.

"I have an analysis of its overall performance," Omega announced. They all turned to him with curious looks. "Appearance aside, battle prowess and innate skill can only confirm to an already-known subject we all know."

"What?" Diddy asked. "You have a clue?"

Rouge grinned. "Omega, always analyzing every nook and cranny during a battle. That is so like you," she said. "Well, dear, would you mind enlightening us about your hypothesis?"

"The only result is almost a perfect match, but it is most likely the right one," Omega said before turning to Sonic. "The ominous enemy fought just like Sonic in every single detail. Therefore, the enemy was an almost exact clone or copy of Sonic the Hedgehog."

Many of them were a bit shocked to hear the killer machine reveal such a very accusing result to the blue hedgehog, who only stared dumbfounded with wide eyes. The mute World Traveler didn't see it coming at all and just shrugged what he had thought was familiar when he was struck by the enemy in the previous battle. But to hear a statement like that only reinforced the idea he was about to discard.

"That monster was Sonic? I mean, a copy of Sonic?" Toon Link asked. "Well, that kind of explains why it moved so fast, but really?"

"My scans do not lie," Omega said. "The enemy we just fought was using Sonic's battle style. The data I gathered is very accurate on that point. It did not match Shadow's battle style, however."

Shadow stared at Sonic. "How does it feel to have your own line of fakers?" he asked. "I know my line was pretty much obliterated when I found them all. Yours could be already polluting the entire planet as we speak."

"Very funny, Shadow," Sonic said dully. "This is way too crazy for me to believe." He turned to face a worried Chip. "Chip, you know something?"

"No!" Chip said, shaking his head many times. "I-I've got no idea that my other half could even produce a mook like that in your resemblance!"

"This will pose a lot of trouble if that monster down there can make more of that annoying rat," Wolf smugly said. "We fought well against one, but if four or more appeared down the road in this wrecked place…"

"Light attacks proved extremely effective," Samus pointed out. "It's clear that they hate light attacks so much that they get stunned by their intensity."

Lucas looked unsure at the fact. "But only you and Chris can use light attacks," he said.

Pit looked serious. "My arrows are light attacks themselves!" he said. "They're not that powerful like theirs, but they will never deplete as long as I'm breathing."

Knuckles grimaced. "If Dark Gaia can make copies of Sonic, does that mean it can make copies of us, too?" he asked, discouraging the possibility of facing an evil dark version of himself.

For once, Chip's brain was coming up with ideas as he pondered to himself about the point the echidna brought up. "No… Something like that won't happen, guys," he said. "Think about it. Dark Gaia could've done that months ago, but he never did it. So why now?" he asked. The foreign group thought that his point sounded very convincing.

"How on earth would he start doing it now, then?" Mewtwo asked.

"I… Ugh, I don't know," Chip said. "I could imagine Dark Gaia got stronger by the time we got here, but it still doesn't make much sense to me."

Vector moved his head out to them, the crocodile hiding behind a pile of iron beams ever since the dark figure appeared. "Hey! I thought we were running against the clock?" he asked loudly. He cherished the idea of getting out of the hell hole as quickly as possible.

While Soren silently frowned in the background about the crocodile's cowardliness, Meta Knight nodded. "He is right. Let's continue," he said, and the group continued moving forward, down the slope of metal.

The instant their feet had walked down a few seconds, a lot of grumbling sounds of unstable metal slipping down echoed. They felt that the path was not properly secured. "I don't like that sound," Diddy said, knocking the floor a bit.

"If there was not such a concentration of dark energy in the air, I would easily take you over," Mewtwo pointed out. "But my attacks only seem to work properly. My mental prowess has been greatly crippled. Teleporting great distances have become almost nonexistent. I can only teleport a few feet ahead."

Shadow looked up, swearing that the piled up iron beams above them were slipping by each other. "This doesn't bode me well," he muttered.

"Structure is weak, and it becomes notably unstable ahead," Omega affirmed. "Proceeding with extreme caution is greatly advised to avoid accidents."

Wolf grimaced. "This place is coming down. There are just too many of us walking down," he said.

"Please, be optimistic for once," Rouge said. "Omega, what spot on the floor is stable?"

"Analyzing…" Omega said. "…The entire path is unstable at best."

Soren, being the only one who didn't know how the metal monster could say such accurate info, kept walking with a flat look. "Is it that easy to trust somebody like that thing?" he asked.

"Dear, Omega can scan anything and come up with good solutions. You talk like he's evil," Rouge said. "We're in this together, after all. I was kinda missing the echidna's loud ramblings when I went to check on his floating island."

"Don't say I'm loud!" Knuckles loudly said. "Wait, you went to Angel Island? You had better not stolen the Master Emerald!"

The bat shrugged. "For the last time, I'm not stealing those world nukers. I only tried to steal them that one time because I was trying to get to Dr. Eggman," she said frowning. "It happened one time. Give it a rest!"

Sonic grinned. "One time is enough to make him think you're going to do it again," he said. "Why, I kicked him one time in the ankle and it spiraled down from there."

Knuckles was about to give in to Sonic's insulting jokes before Toon Link groaned. "Would you please stop before you two kill each other?" he asked, ignoring the fact that the metal above them was slowly coming loose.

"Pfft, I'd kill him before he kills me," Sonic boasted. The iron beams were still slipping.

"You wanna try?" Knuckles asked, fists ready. The structure above them was giving in to its own weight, most likely because the group had arrived at the time where it would probably collapse on them.

Roy stood between the two anthros. "Stop! Let's not get this out of control!" he said. Far above them, a multitude of crumbled remains of the buildings were pushing the debris down.

"Yes, I agree with him," Meta Knight said. "We don't need the two of you to act like children right now when the enemy might take advantage of the commotion."

It took a long pile of rubble that fell down from the wrecked ceiling to make them all stop and turn at it. When the well-deserved silence came in, they heard clearly how the path ahead was not going to hold on any longer. The badly made-up ceiling was also in a similar state.

That and the iron beam that almost brushed right next to Vector's right arm. The crocodile gave in to his fears as his eyes widened in shock. "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" he screamed loudly as he swung his arms above him, running forward. Although his idea sounded wrong, they all had no other option left since the path behind them was closing with an innumerable amount of big fabrics of rubble.

"Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!" Lucas screamed louder and louder before making a run for it. The ceiling above them suddenly became a chaos of steel, metal, and pieces of wall raining down on them. The eerie silence became filled with loud noises and screams from the less courageous as they hoped to get through there alive.

Panic ensued.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIE!" Vector cried and panicked, which was the general consensus of most of them.

The ensuing panic was not a pretty sight. Toon Link, from his point of view, saw many of them desperately looking above to avoid running under something that would crush them on the spot, but a few were looking down their feet with extreme concern. The reason why was because the weight of the ceiling was not giving the unstable floor its opposite state. Long cracks soon filled the floor they desperately ran over on.

Worst of all, holes were starting to show up.

Nobody could remember what happened after that, but many of them were quite far away from each other and thus fell down into the holes. The ones who were taking flight as a way to avoid falling down were pushed down instead by the falling debris. Climbing back up was nigh impossible now that the debris of mixed metal and wall covered the same holes that it had caused in the first place.

The group was separated into different directions against their wills, alone in the infinite darkness of the underground's dangerous reaches as they continued their long fall…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Eggmanland-

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Soren, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckle, Vector, Shadow, Rouge, Omega

References:

- "Persona 2: Innocent Sin – Quest Battle" is a reference to the same game, which plays whenever you take part of the special episodes. Since this is the finale of the arc, I wanted something with a little more oomph than the standard Nightmare battle theme.

Although the group ultimately got more allies, all went down to hell after they were all separated… WHO FELL DOWN WITH WHO? Kind of expected to have equal shares of people being split up so…I'm changing things a bit. Mwahahahahaha.

The first chapter of the finale has been delivered, but there are more to come…like, around three or four parts depending on how long this gets. While I'm cooking up the next chapter, start speculating about that weird monster that mimicked Sonic's battle style.

I encourage you and the people that keep suggesting me arcs in here and not the forum to review.

Or else those arcs you're suggesting here will be banned from being used.

…

I'M DEAD SERIOUS, REALLY.

Sonic: Pfft, he's so joking.

*INTENSE STARE*

Sonic: …Uh-oh, he's really serious. Seriously…
*Chapter 193*: The Unnerving Darkness

And thus there was a chapter. NOTE: I shall only respond to reviews that have concerns to the chapters or something somebody wants to nitpick for some reason.

From RedLink030: Hello. I just finished reading every chapter of this. I have a few questions.

1. What happened to the Miracle Gels that Raven gave the Smashers?

2. How does Jaydes isn't able to bring back the Smashers?

3. When is a Level 2 CFS going to appear?

Thank you for your time

From me: 1. Crazy Hand stole them. In a more realistic answer, I simply forgot.

2. Honestly, why would you think she has to revive them? She's pretty busy to conflict herself with such issues.

3. Soon.

Thankies. :)

From Kain Everguard: Dont know if you answered before, but what is the point of the saved file at the end? if there is a saved file, why not go back and load the file that had every smashers alive?

From me: To give a sense that the reader is "playing" the story by having a small pointer about what's going on with the current party. There's no real use to the save file otherwise. If they ever used it, there would be no Fourth Wall! Thanks for reviewing. :)

From jj: That was fast but it is better with a slightly long chapter over a short period of time than a extremely long chapter after a long period of time

Anyway look like all the sonic reps joined together thiers a shock (Sarcasm)

So how much chapter until the saga is over?

Ah well keep up the good work

From me: I'm sure that it's about two or three chapters. I'll find out. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Insert Name Here: Few stories have reached your level of writing. Most of which, I have not read.

When I first discovered this story, I was amazed. You've got over three million words. It took me two whole months to get to this point.

I love the way you put references in, some more obvious than others. I'm pretty sure that I spied 'apologized profusely' in either this chapter or the last one.

I'm also pretty sure that I counted eight 'E's somewhere in here. (If you get this, you will be upgraded from my favourite author to my super favourite author. ::::D)

Also, I wonder what Red's (the Pokemon trainer) reaction will be if he met Manga!Red. Personally, I think it'll be hilarious, but I'm not good at judging these kinds of things. I'm about 95% sure that this isn't going to happen but I might as well bring it up just for the heck of it.

That's...all I have to say right now. I would ask you to update soon but I read earlier that it puts pressure on you or something. So...thank you for reading an anonymous reviewer's...um...review. Keep writing and I'll keep waiting for the next update, even if it takes, like, six months.

*DRAMATIC EXIT*

From me: Sorry, but I don't know about the eight 'E's thing… Oh no, I lost the chance. D:

Red will never meet Manga!Red only because this story shall never use comic worlds like anime worlds, as I think they're both pretty unfaithful ways to give to the games and pretty lazy ways to get crazy people in here.

But thanks for your overall thoughts! :D

From RedLink030…again…: I bet Vector will be all by himself. Either that, or he ends up with Sonic, Chris, or the serious characters. Great chapter overall. Will you do a big 200 chapter special as well? By the way, thanks for remembering the miracle gels, like I suggested in my review for the filler chapter 192.

I was also thinking of new abilities, like Kirby picking his ability if it's normally randomly chosen, or his ultra abilities as his over limit. Link's over limit could be turning into Wolf Link. Olimar could use a spicy potion on his pikmin. Falco could use his Arwing. DK could summon Rambi as his over limit, or use his clap grab to stun enemies. Lucas could use PK Love Omega or even Lifeup Omega to heal. Please take this into consideration.

...I know what you have planned for the coffins... You find something that can bring them back to life, but don't have the bodies. You find the coffins in other worlds, bring them back to the mansion, and revive them. Sorry if I spoiled it.

From me: 1) No.

2) Pfft, fat chance.

3) Who's writing the story now? Me, so yeah, you're way off track. They're gone forever.

Thanks for assuming wrongly! :D

From Genndy Oda C.O.G: AuraChannellerChris,

Wow. That was a very impressive chapter. I am eagerly awaiting the next one. Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Genndy Oda C.O.G.

P.S.: If it's possible, could you use more music in the upcoming chapter?

From me: Depends on how things go in this chapter for the music part. Thanks for liking the chapter. :)

From KoopalingFan: This is a great story! Now allow me to say this...

To those of you who keep complaining how long this story is, look at the other reviews and see how POPULAR it is! You guys are just to lazy to read the whole thing! Just read one scene at a time and read the rest of it later on your free time! If you don't like it, go away!

From me: Wow, I feel very touched, really! Other people defending this overly long story… Thanks! :D

From Andonexus KotD: I didn't expect the chapter to end the it did, & that Shadow impression was so funny. Overall, it was a great chapter. However, you should try doing a cliffhanger at least every 3-4 chapters. I reccomend Minecraft as a sort of filler/real Arc, cause it's fun if you like building things.

From me: There's a forum where you can recommend arcs, but just to save you the trip…no. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From TheSoraKid: Oh no! Someone has suggested an arc here!

From me: Waste a review chance with this kind of message and you'll be in my black list.

From awseomeguydude1o1: awsome chap DONT SAY THAT WORD THE WORD IS...dood...lol its still in my head. oh and when is the kingdom hearts arc i heard a guy say up the great work! :)

From me: It'll come eventually. Thanks.

From Crescent Blue: Wow, just wow. I seriously can't believe how LOOOONG of a story this is! It's taken me months to get to where I am now!

Perhaps you should've split up this story into parts. Like when Disc 1 was finished, Disc 2 should've been posted separately as part 2, etc. I mean, I swear this has to be the longest fan fiction on this site! Not just the number of chapters, the length of the chapters alone! _

I enjoyed the story, minus you killing off Fox and Pichu. :-( Honestly, I was considering not reading anymore. I guess it was needed for the sheer length of this. :/

In any case, this story is certainly unique and written like an anime saga. If there were an anime of SSB, I can imagine it being exactly like your story. Just the right amount of humor, action, romance, etc.

However, like some anime series, they can be long and drawn out. Take Pokemon, Detective Conan (aka Case Closed), etc. Those have ridiculously long plots and little progression to a conclusion.

But hey, it's your story.

From me: Nah, splitting the story would make a lot a trouble for what it's worth.

It if was an anime…I'd so make it an American-Anime series, like Avatar! But no, this is just a crazy dream.

Thanks for liking the story so far. :)

To dash456: I simply don't want to answer your suggestions because they're either already on use or pretty uninteresting…oh wait, I answered them already. Never mind.

Whew, I swear to god, my mind came to a complete stop. A writer's block is your worst enemy while you're dealing with life and college. However, I do persevere!

Now it's time to see what happened to all the unlucky ones who were separated from each other.

I encourage all light fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Suck it, people! Bayonetta 2 is so Nintendo domain now. (Not like I even play the series but still, HA!)

Chapter 193: The Unnerving Darkness

-Eggmanland-

Ventilation Shaft

Time had passed ever since he could remember. Soren had never fallen into a deep pit before in his life, and he wished that the event had never occurred in the first place. Almost his entire body hurt. He wondered how he even managed to survive such a long fall and the falling debris of metal. It was pure luck, he thought as he struggled to open his eyes to look at his surroundings.

"…" He gained a bit of energy to tell where he was. The place was dark, but there cut wires with loose electricity that illuminated the place a bit. He wanted to sigh in relief after seeing that he was not alone. Lucas, Wolf, Pit, and Samus had fallen along with him. He noticed that Samus was already awake, barely standing up. The Branded stood back up, resisting the pain of the fall. "You're…alive… That's good."

"And you too," Samus said. "Granted, my armor shielded me from getting some serious injuries with all that metal pushing us down, but the shaking was too much," she pointed out. "I wasn't expecting you to resist."

Soren closed his eyes. "Luck seems to be on my side on my last legs. I'm grateful," he said. "Literal heavy duty is not my forte."

The hunter looked at the three unconscious Smashers. "We shouldn't move on if they're like this," she said. "We've been separated from the others, it seems…" She scanned their bodies, hoping they were breathing. "Good, they're still breathing just fine."

Soren briefly shrugged his shoulders noticing their dark surroundings. "I can feel how an evil feeling rakes the place…" he muttered. "It's not familiar to me, but it's not good."

"I'm not adept on the magical aspects so I'll take your word on that," Samus said, hearing some grumbles coming from the lupine. "One of them is rising up."

Wolf grunted, curling his hands into fists as he opened his eye. "That damn fall… All that…stupid metal pushing me down…" he muttered through gritted teeth, slowly getting up by himself. He dusted his clothes off and saw both Soren and Samus. "Huh, you two survived…"

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," the bounty hunter said.

The lupine grimaced briefly and then turned to the other two lying on the ground. Seeing Pit, he kicked his side. "O-oww!" Pit shrieked and rolled away, waking up in shock. "C-Chris! Stop kicking me on th-oh no," he quickly shivered in terror, looking up at the smug Wolf.

"Hi, angel face," Wolf said. Pit backed away more and nearly touched some loose wires with his wings. He had taken them out as the chaos high above rained down, his back getting struck down by a falling iron beam.

"Quit the needless terror on him," Samus said. She saw Lucas coming to his senses. The blond boy adjusted his messy hair. "And please don't scare him either."

"Uh-uh…" Lucas groaned a bit before looking around, worried at the darkness around them. "Wh-where are we?" he asked the golden question.

"Somewhere deep down within the wrecked amusement park," Wolf said, looking up to the blocked hole they came down from. "That fall must've been pretty long and messy. The hole we fell in is completely blocked."

Pit stood up and yelped after getting a wing zapped slightly by a wire. "G-great, I don't see how we'll get back out from this one," he commented. "Can't everyone back at the mansion do something to help us?"

"From the looks of things, they didn't send help," Samus said. "It's justified since we could've opened a portal down here instead of in front of the entrance. That, and the temple is surely making interference with all transmissions."

"Once the temple is running normally, we can possibly establish contact," Wolf said. "That's happened a few times before. This one shouldn't be any different."

With that out of the way, Lucas continued trying to look through the darkness. "Does anybody have a light? Omega's not with us, so…" he trailed off.

"…Can't you use your powers?" Samus asked.

The blond raised a finger and then remained like that for five seconds. He blushed and tried to spark energy out of his hand. Lucas had done it a few times before, but he thought that it was possible for him to do that himself. He opened his hand, and white sparks of energy did give them a lot of light. "Before asking, make sure you can do whatever question you have in that big head of yours," Wolf said.

Lucas gulped. "Y-yes, sir," he muttered.

The light made their surroundings clearer. They were standing in a wrecked dead end of a way that looked like a square, except that said squared form had been bent to the left and to the right. There were rather big fans trying to spin. "This should be some kind of ventilation shaft…a big one," Samus said.

"So there's a floor below us," Wolf said.

"Or not…" Pit said unsure. "It's probably buried under rubble. What if there's no exit ahead?"

Soren grimaced. "Let's first find a way we can take to that temple you keep talking about," he said. "If worse comes to worse, we'll have to make our own way by piercing through the wreckage."

"But that could kill us!" Pit protested.

"True, but let's ascertain that first," the Branded said. "Hmm, that imp is resting over there."

The group looked forward where Chip was lying down on the floor. Lucas ran up to check up on him. "…The chocolate bunnies… They can't be trusted…" Chip murmured. "…We must eat them before they melt."

Wolf pressed the bridge between his two eyes. "Can't he stop dreaming about his creepy obsession with chocolate at a time like this?" he wondered rhetorically.

Abandoned Robot Factory

Persona 4 – Secret Base

Kirby was giving in to his hunger. Blinking, he opened his eyes and rolled forward to sit. He saw Rouge, Omega, Diddy, Roy, and Mewtwo lying down on the floor. A flicker of light on Omega's eyes startled the puffball a bit.

"System rebooting…" Omega somehow muttered. He pushed himself back to his feet. "Fall has not caused considerable damage. All devices within are working correctly," he said and stared down at Kirby. "Good, you are alive."

The puffball merrily hopped to his feet and cheered a bit. His cheering made Diddy wake up, grumbling a bit in pain. "Ooh, that hurts…" he complained, sitting back up and staring up at Omega. "…Not the prettiest thing I've ever seen after waking up…"

"I was not designed to be pretty," Omega bluntly said. He ignored the two of them chuckling to themselves after hearing the last word. Next, Rouge and Roy woke up.

"My head… Some chunk of wall struck me on my head…" Rouge muttered. "…Oh, I'm alive. That's good," she said, standing back up.

Roy used his sword to support himself by burrowing it down the wrecked floor. "Well, you got it easy. Two iron beams fell on me!" he said. "But since I'm not buried on them, they got stuck up there…" He looked up at the blocked hole. "Good news is that we're alive. Bad news is…"

"We are trapped down in here," Mewtwo said, surprising the others who didn't see him floating back up to his feet. "I do not know how long we fell down, unfortunately. I wonder how everyone else is doing."

"They are separated," Rouge said. "I saw how many of them fell into other holes before I got knocked down myself."

Roy asked unsure. "Do you think they're all okay?"

"Who knows…" Mewtwo trailed off. "It is hard to tell if they even survived." The others looked quite perplexed at him. "…But they should not be dead. If we survived, they possibly survived as well."

"I hope," Diddy said.

It was around two seconds later that they looked around their area to inspect it closely. They spotted a wrecked conveyor belt with remains of Dr. Eggman robots scattered over it. Their remains were also scattered over the dusty floor, with piles of rubble burning faintly in the darkness. The fire gave them light to see where they were.

"This looks like a robot factory," Rouge said.

"Overall architecture matches that of Dr. Eggman's robot factories," Omega said. "No life signals found. Area is completely isolated."

"Typical of him to build a robot factory underneath his beloved theme park…" The bat spotted a tunnel to the left side of the conveyor belt. "Huh, a path's right over there. It might lead us to somewhere else."

The team hoped that it would take them to the temple.

Frigid Den

Meanwhile, in a cold area underneath the amusement park, Sonic, Knuckles, Vector, Meta Knight, Toon Link, and Shadow were lying down on the floor. Everyone felt shivers running down their bodies that they regained consciousness almost at the same time.

Toon Link was the first one to jump and embrace himself. "B-brr!" he shivered. "W-we're alive!"

"Yes, we are…" Meta Knight muttered. He was the only one of the group who wasn't so fazed by the coldness. "But we have been separated from the rest, judging from what I can see."

"Ugh, now that's not good news," Knuckles said before sneezing. "Worse yet, we fell into this cold place!" He looked up at the corners of the room they fell into to spot ventilation ducts shooting particles of ice. "The air conditioner inside the amusement park turned this area cold!"

Sonic shivered. "Damn, that fall was really bad… I saw how everyone fell into other holes than the one we fell into." He looked up at the patched hole. "No going back through there... Hey! Maybe I can pierce through i-"

"Don't," Meta Knight quickly interrupted. "Try to pierce through and you'll make the entire weight fall on us. It's a possibility I wish to avoid trying altogether."

"Y-yeah! Don't do that!" Vector said angrily. "Think hard! We're gonna die if you don't think! Thinking is good now!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "The crocodile's obviously too scared about it. That should give you a hint about your suicidal idea," he stated. "But let's drop that and see where we are."

Knuckles looked around a little more. "Well, for one, we're alone… Also, the place is kind of dark to see," he pointed out. The wires in there were almost dying of energy seeing how the sparks were slowly dying out. "Not a lot of good points…"

Shadow crossed his arms. "This is ought to get interesting, if not a lot more dangerous," he said. "I wonder if Rouge, Omega, and the others made it safely?"

Toon Link looked serious. "We resisted that fall! They're surely okay, too!" he said. For good measure, he unsheathed his sword to stay alert. "But for now we need to get out of here and try to reunite with the others."

Sonic took out the drained Chaos Emerald. "Good, I still have it with me. Maybe we can try to find the Temple of Gaia while we're at it," he said, keeping the emerald away.

"Dibs on the recharged emerald," Shadow said grinning.

"Permission granted," Meta Knight said. Sonic stared dismayed at him. "I'm just doing the right thing here. I won't feel okay with myself if I let you use it."

Shadow stared confidently at Sonic. "Nice to see how much faith they have on you," he said.

"Shut it," Sonic grudgingly said.

Toon Link looked down on the floor, sighing a bit to himself. "Wonder how the others are doing…" he muttered.

?

Chris was having the worst entrance ever. Having fallen from god-knows-how-deep, he found himself groaning mentally, opening his eyes in the darkness. Hoping that there was floor to use his staff as a support to stand back up, the World Traveler slowly stood back up.

Not good. He was alone.

The teen shivered, forgetting the fact his body hurt after the fall. Desperate, he brandished his DS to talk to the only person besides Lucario who would stick with him forever. "Howdy there," Kawashima said. "Why the long face? Oh, sorry. I shouldn't ask that now."

Chris used the DS's light to illuminate his surroundings. The only thing he saw was scrap metal everywhere.

"Nobody is with you?" Kawashima wondered. "That poses a problem. Sorry, but I can't properly locate anybody while we're close to those temples…" He sweat-dropped. "Those monuments give me a run for my money when I try to be useful!"

The teen was not a fan of the dark. Seeing that Kawashima was the only companion that he could talk to, Chris left the DS wide open, using it as a flashlight of sorts. He hoped to find his way to somebody else, he thought after looking up at the debris of steel that had blocked the hole he fell into.

Besides just making wrong turns, Chris was not looking forward to stumbling upon the kind of enemy they faced on the entrance. It would be a complete disaster if he were to fight one by himself. Although light spells were on his repertoire, his muteness crippled his ability. Furthermore, he would be the only target.

Chris focused on his current situation. He found a ruined path that lead somewhere else. Feeling quite scared, the teen moved on with Kawashima on his palm. "Press on to adventure!" Kawashima said. "If we get attacked, I just know you'll protect me!"

Sadly, that was brutally true.

Ventilation Shaft

"It is a good thing that my 'universe' does not have any of this," Soren commented bluntly. "I would not dare to imagine fighting a war inside steel fabrics."

"Ike did get use to this," Lucas said.

"That's because I know he's been put into this kind of environment against his will…or he willingly accepted the circumstances. Like I said before, he just rushes ahead sometimes without thinking."

"Let me guess. You looked after him," Samus said.

"More like I was babysitting him than doing that," the Branded said.

The first group continued its way through the long ventilation shaft. Either it was a good or bad sign that the general path was turning into a rather tame steep going down instead of going up. "This path better take us to the temple," Pit said.

"But even if we get there, we don't have the emerald," Samus pointed out. "While we can clear the path of beasts, we can't do much once we reach there."

"We'll have to go looking for the hedgehog and the rest," Wolf said. "Of course, I'm assuming no other accidents happen. You can never trust a wrecked place like this to hold itself together."

Chip was meanwhile pondering to himself. "The closer we get underground, the more I feel something…bad," he said. "We're getting closer to where my brother is."

Lucas gulped. "I wish he was further away…" he muttered.

"But…yet again, there's something else that doesn't feel right with this," the imp said. "I can tell his dark self is familiar, but there is another part of him that wasn't there before…"

Pit stared at Chip. "Are you sure you're not sensing other weird things because you're not fully recovered with your powers?" he asked.

Chip embraced his body. "I don't really know… I'm a complete wreck like Eggman's theme park," he said. Wolf silently nodded to the fact, getting a small slap on the head by Samus. "Normally, I'd feel my brother's presence just fine when I'm right next to him. I never got this far away from him…without all my powers."

"Those powers of yours better come back if they're that good," Wolf said.

"Oh, they're pretty good!" Chip said, brightening up. "Honestly speaking, I can do much more besides just making a huge stone creature out of all the temples! Like, for example, I can give my divine blessing to those worthy of dispelling any kind of darkness, be it good or bad, to inflict massive damage."

The group stopped walking and stared at the imp.

"…Did I say something weird?"

"Yes," Samus said. "Specifically, the part about giving people your divine blessing to ward off the darkness of any kind."

"Oh… Yeah, I forgot to bring that up," Chip said with a sly, nervous smile. "I bet that the moment I recover my powers, I can try to do that."

Wolf glared. "Try to do that?" he asked. "Are you messing with us, or you don't know how to even do that?"

Chip sweated bullets. "I…I…I think I'm overreacting! Doing something like that would be cool, but it's good to imagine!" he said in his defense. "To be honest again…I have never tried doing something else other than making the Colossus…"

Lucas sighed. "I thought we got some kind of big advantage right there…" he trailed off.

"How can you people even rely on him?" Soren asked incredulously. "So far, you've been saying that he is some kind of deity."

"Do you want the short explanation or the long one about how he really is a deity?" Pit asked.

Soren looked away. "I'll just bite and see where this goes. You do show genuine trust to him… I'll be watching, though," he said. Lucas saw the mage taking out his Wind tome. "We aren't alone by ourselves."

Persona 2: Innocent Sin – Quest Battle

Down the tame slope, two dark mists materialized, along with three small dinosaur heads that squealed rather angrily at them. "Two more of them!" Lucas whimpered.

"And they've got more of those weird-ass monsters tagging along," Wolf said, eyeing the small dinosaur heads. The heads only had a rather docile dinosaur figure, but they also had small bodies with two small foots that supported them. They were actually called Little Rexes.

"I don't mind those things, but the dark mists? Those can be deadly!" Pit said, unsheathing his double daggers.

"Who cares? Fight!" Samus said as she rushed forward with Wolf. Pit silently tagged along with Soren to keep him safe, while Lucas held his ground to protect Chip.

The dark mists were informed about how their assailants were a bad sight, and they quickly vanished from sight, actually having run somewhere inside the darkness. Samus barely missing hitting one with a Light Beam shot. "Nice bad shot," Wolf muttered, noticing the Little Rexes barking. The three of them lunged at them, opening their jaws big. It didn't take much effort for Wolf to step to the side and smack one of them into the other two, crashing against the steel wall.

A torrent of wind formed around the three Little Rexes before it violently sliced them into bits of darkness. "Those were pushovers," Soren noted. "But it felt like they were a distraction."

They looked forward where the two dark mists had fled to. The sparks from the hanging cables didn't reach far enough to let them see beyond. "I'm chasing them down!" Samus called over. She had a night visor built into her suit.

"Not letting you take the credit for this…" Wolf said as he followed. His eyepatch luckily had night vision functionality as well.

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and went ahead, making his right hand glow with his energy. "I-I can do this too!" he called over, only to be joined by Soren and Pit with Chip quietly and carefully flying behind them. The blond kind of regretted doing the move, thinking that he was only going alone.

Abandoned Robot Factory

It wasn't far too late before Rouge's party was ambushed by two dark mists that were accompanied by eight green dark bats. Said bats flickered with sparks, indicating that they were Thunder Bats. "Those are a new enemy type…" Diddy said before the group engaged in combat. He felt undermined since Kirby showed a serious side that he barely saw.

Unlike Samus' location, there was more illumination in the wrecked corridor they were walking. Some of them suspected that something was going to happen judging the big open area of red metal surroundings, and they were right.

The dark mists purposely played the defensive by dodging the blows that were directed at them, letting the electric bats take on their intruders. "Sorry, but we're so not related, boys," Rouge said, leaping straight at two bats to kick them down.

The bats remained there, hovering in the air. Rouge briefly thought that it was so easy until both bats struck her down with two lightning rays coming out from their bodies. The bat fell down, only for Kirby to leap next and swing his hammer on the two bats. The hit was too much for the electric bats to take that they dispersed into spores of darkness, dying out. Kirby then walked over to Rouge, the latter lying down in a bit of pain.

"I admit… I got too cocky there…" Rouge said, managing a small chuckle.

Roy and Mewtwo were chasing down the dark mists as the others were occupied with the bats behind them. The two mysterious aggressors ran to the top of the steel ceiling and shot down at the two Smashers. Both were struck down and pushed back even further, flying kicks colliding on their faces. Roy bumped along the ground, but Mewtwo gained his stance and shot a quick Shadow Ball at one of the dark mists. "These monsters… It feels like we are fighting Sonic," Mewtwo muttered, his eyes wary of the dark mists.

"Y-yes, it feels that way for sure," Roy said, getting back to the psychic's side. "It makes the fight even harder, though!" Two electric bats zoomed by, crashing into the cold steel due to Omega firing missiles at them from close range. The killer robot, Kirby, and Rouge were taking on the bats.

Roy then noticed a serious Diddy on their side. "I cannot fathom what you can do out here," Mewtwo bluntly said. Diddy didn't say anything, other than sticking out his tongue to the side as he held a banana peel on his right hand. As if he was calculating where to place it, the Kong tossed it at an empty spot where a dark mist stepped on it and clumsily crashed hard and fast against a pile of rubble. It got impaled on the head due to an iron beam's tip torn off into a makeshift spiky tip, and so it vanished.

Diddy grinned at Mewtwo, who kept staring at their enemy's unlucky spot. "What was that again?" he asked.

"I float, standing corrected," Mewtwo muttered. He felt quite embarrassed that a monkey could handle them better than he did.

That didn't mean that the battle was over. The other dark mist was lurking around. It had seen the fate of its comrade, and it shot off behind Diddy to slam his back at the steel wall. "Too slow!" Roy said, slashing the dark mist across its unseen back. As the dark mist seemed to stretch out in pain, Mewtwo approached it and used Psychic to give it the same treatment it gave to Diddy.

The spider monkey had slid down to the floor at that point that he latched onto the dark mist's face, madly beating on it for its attack. Diddy noticed something when he felt the creature's face, but then a Spin Dash shook him off. Suddenly, a fully charged explosion of fire collided down on it due to Roy having jumped twice to land a extreme hit that made the enemy vanish. "Using that hurt me a bit…but it had to be done," Roy said.

"Good, but it seems more of those bats are attacking the rest behind us," Mewtwo said. "Those creatures can become a pain to deal with it they keep stunning us. Let us go."

"R-right," Diddy said, rubbing his head. Only he didn't tell that the enemy he beat on had a familiar shape. If it was true that they copied Sonic's fighting style, then what Diddy felt was a curvy head that had quills on the back…

?

Chris was not having the best day ever. There he was, surrounded by three dark mists that were all sitting high atop three piles of rubble. Maybe his shock was making him go crazy, but he could've sworn that the three of them had flashed maniacal smirks under the flickering lights and sparks from the hanging cables.

"There is no way you can fight them as a mage!" Kawashima shouted. "You need time to cast spells, and they are not going to give it to you that easily!" The dark mists looked like they were standing up, making Chris back away. "You need to fight at close range if you want to defend yourself!"

He had no other choice. Chris gulped and turned into a Moogle Knight, thinking that flight would be a good choice to avoid attacks at any range. The teen Moogle unsheathed his sword…

…and the dark mists stopped being surrounded by the darkish auras.

It was a frightful experience for Chris. He saw through his eyes three dark hedgehogs that greatly resembled Sonic, down to the maniacal smirks and glowing green eyes. They all were silent and couldn't utter a word, but their actions would leave horror upon the Moogle. Why do they even look like Sonic? He thought. There was no reason for them to mimic Sonic!

…Unless…

His train of thoughts was stopped as the three Sonic look-alikes disappeared from sight. The Moogle yelped a silent gasp and looked around, hovering above the spot he was standing on with his sword clutched close. "I know it's futile to even fight enemies THAT fast, but…uh…IBelieveInYou!" Kawashima quickly said. Chris's mildly forgot about his horror by rolling his eyes.

Seeing that being so close to the floor would be a bad idea, the Moogle took flight, his eyes darting around the perimeter of sparking cables. Gulping, he proceeded forward in hopes that he would get closer to some place where he hoped to find the others…or they would find him first.

Hearing something falling from behind, the Moogle's breathing quickened as he turned around. There was nothing. A fabric of steel just fell down from the ceiling. Then, he quickly turned back to the frontal direction where a series of cables scrambled down the floor. There was nothing to fear…yet, he thought to himself.

A small blink was all that it took for him to stumble upon the Sonic-look alikes upside-down the ceiling. Quickly backing off, the Moogle saw the smirking hedgehog supporting itself with its feet acting as hangers from a thin iron beam.

Yelling a mute shout, Chris closed his eyes and wildly slashed the hedgehog across. The monster didn't even react that fast. It was too busy trying to frighten the Moogle that it received the full blow. With a downward slash, the hedgehog of darkness crashed down below. "GET A MOVE ON!" Kawashima shouted in encouragement. Chris didn't care what was going to happen next. He just flew away.

As the hedgehog of darkness was left behind to grumble, the Moogle sighed in relief until he looked down to see the other two hedgehogs running backwards, staring at him with maniacal looks and crossed arms. Those two were mocking him as if they knew they were going to toy around with him to no end.

The fact that both of them fell into holes, coupled with their rather distraught looks as they fell in, made it look like to Chris that they weren't exactly thinking straight. They were trying to scare him without even thinking about where they were running into. "I'm starting to wonder if those monsters came out right as they were supposed to," Kawashima commented.

Chris briefly forgot about his fear until a shadow blur ran below him and stopped several feet away. With a rather serious look that didn't have a smirk this time, the shadow hedgehog curled into a Spin Dash and shot itself upwards to the Moogle. Stopping midflight with a look that needed a scream, Chris dove under to avoid the blow, the curled menace striking the ceiling.

The chase was on.

The Moogle had to avoid the three hedgehogs at any cost as he tried to make contact with another Smasher down the way he went. Luckily, there wasn't another path to take, but he begged for his life that the path didn't lead to a dead end. Destiny wouldn't be that harsh to me, he thought.

Destiny is that harsh to me, he corrected himself as the three hedgehogs had joined up right behind his pom-pom's trail.

The serious looks on their faces somehow were far scarier than the actual smirks. Chris made his red bat wings feel the burn of his desperate wish to survive the chase, flying as fast as he could. When the hedgehogs all curled into balls, it was now the Homing Attack Dodging 4 Ur Life Minigame. Homing Attacks, as the name implied, tried to home on the scared Moogle, one by one trying to strike him down. The dark hedgehogs didn't uncurl and just rolled over the steel floor, trying to take the Moogle down as fast as possible. If they could get him down, their next plan was to give him wedgies.

Unaware of what kind of bullying they had in mind, Chris now had another issue to deal with: the path ahead was a dead end. He was trapped with three homicidal maniacs trying to torture him till he died. As he reached the dead end, he turned around and gasped silently as a Homing Attack missed his head by a few inches, crashing on the steel wall.

On The Other Side Of That Wall

Meta Knight's intrepid team of misfits was slowly passing by before they heard something crashing against the steel. The rumbling made them stop and look around. "That's weird. I didn't hear that before," Knuckles said.

The rumbling started to become far more common, with crashing sounds becoming gradually louder. A small piece of the wall to their right fell off, but they ignored it. Chris, however, did not. When he took a small chance to rest his frequent dodging, his eyes wandered into the hole when he spotted a familiar hue of blue on the other side. He quickly had to move away from a Homing Attack. "Could it be that monsters are becoming rampant?" Meta Knight asked.

Briefly, Chris wanted to yell for their help as he took one more glance. "Eh, let's ignore it and continue down this way," Sonic said. The Moogle considered stabbing the hedgehog but he forgot when he had to move away. "Let's not get involved."

"You're not good thinking, huh?" Shadow asked. "It doesn't matter if we have to avoid the enemy. They will still catch up with us. We need to remove the trash."

"And besides! What if those sounds are coming from the others fighting those things?" Toon Link asked. Chris was thankful.

"Probably the wind pushing steel down, making us think otherwise," Sonic said. Oh, how Chris wanted to stab him where it hurt the most.

"Y-yeah! I second him on that!" Vector said, nodding rather freaked out. He wanted to come out of there without laying a single fist on something that would latch into his body, though the chances of that happening were incredibly slim.

When he thought it was enough, Chris took his time to avoid the Homing Attacks to stab the very hole with his sword as many times as possible to gain their attention. The sword made the others on the other side notice the gap in the wall where the steel was coming out of. "T-that's a sword!" Toon Link said, but then the sword froze into place before slowly being taken out. "That sword wasn't surrounded by darkness, so…!"

The Moogle had been taken down. He never thought a single Homing Attack would hurt like hell, but then it dawned upon him that his body was considerably smaller, and the previous chase had tired him out. His wings having been partially stunned with a single blow, the Moogle slid down as the maniacal hedgehogs uncurled and began their slow advance on him.

When Chris looked back over his shoulder, the hedgehogs were about to grab…something from his rear. He realized where they were going with that and mentally screamed, feeling morbidly violated and abused in an unspeakable manner. Chris would know very well how Pit and Roy felt.

Thankfully, his humiliating experience was short lived.

A drilling tornado, courtesy of Meta Knight, came out from the steel wall and the hedgehogs looked up. The middle hedgehog got the attack in full and was pushed back. The hedgehogs followed him with their gazes as two Homing Attacks collided on their backs and pushed them back clumsily.

Chris then felt somebody picking him up, and he opened his eyes and saw a grinning Sonic. "Hey, buddy. How are you doin'?" he asked in a cocky manner.

"You know this…creature?" Shadow asked.

"Uh, yeah. It's just Chris who changed into a job that makes him look like this," Toon Link explained.

Chris smiled sarcastically, barely narrowed his eyes, and slowly tried to stab the hedgehog, but then Sonic let the Moogle fall back to the floor on his face, his rescue party looking at their assailants. In one flash, Sonic and Shadow got into a fight as Meta Knight and Toon Link charged forward into the fray.

Chris then felt forgotten quite quickly. Knowing that Knuckles and Vector were staring down at his frail self, Chris, his face still on the floor, used his DS to pass down a message. "Vector, you're the expendable one. Shield me," it read.

"I-I ain't no one's no meat shield!" Vector said. Both Kawashima and Knuckles wanted to act like grammar Nazis, but they didn't, thinking it wasn't worth it.

The other four were taking care of three shadow hedgehogs. "Would you look at that? The monsters do look like Sonic," Shadow said. "Faker, you do have a line of your own set of fakers. How do you feel?"

"Emo?" Sonic asked grinning.

"I'll let that comment slip for now…" and the hedgehogs became locked in heated battle with Meta Knight and Toon Link trying to keep up with their speed.

As Knuckles offered a helping hand to the Moogle, Vector heard something from behind. Turning around, he froze and turned pale. "T-there's another one right behind us!" he screamed. Knuckles gasped as Chris pushed himself up in shock, seeing a fourth maniac blocking their way.

"I know I dislike seeing Sonic's grinning face often, but this is ridiculous," Knuckles said. "So then, I'll let all that fury out on him!" He leaped to the shadow, who just kept grinning and sped underneath. The echidna landed on his feet and turned back where the shadow was trying to use Vector as a shield.

"GetOffMeGetOffMeGetOffMe GetOffMeGetOffMeGetOffMe!" Vector frantically yelled as he tried to uncover the Sonic shadow, but it kept teasing him by quickly standing behind him to every direction. Its reflexes were getting on Knuckles' nerves as he tried to find a blind spot. "Don't punch meeeeee!"

However, the shadow was fixing its attention on the echidna. Chris just noticed how the shadow was ignoring him. Seeing he was standing on the side, the Moogle put up a tough face and charged silently with his sword.

It was not a good option.

The shadow's eye moved to look at the Moogle. As Chris gasped for breath, the shadow stepped back and, once the Moogle flew between him and Vector's back, used an upward knee blow into Chris's relatively small stomach. Gasping even more for breath, the Moogle fell into the steel floor, getting kicked away harshly by the shadow. As the shadow smirked in pleasure, Knuckles scored a direct fist into the side of its cheek.

Vector was told by hand signals to go check up on Chris. Knuckles faced forward and got a Homing Attack to the face. The crocodile scurried to the Moogle's side. "U-um, does it hurt?" he asked desperately, poking Chris's stomach. The Moogle forced his will to ignore the pain and push Vector's finger away. He stood back up, feeling a bit exhausted.

On the other side with the three troublemaking shadows, Meta Knight just pierced through one using Drill Rush. As the shadow vanished with painful face, the warrior turned back and saw Knuckles getting knocked back by a Spin Dash. Leaving Vector to do something useful was not even an option, seeing he was biting his gloved-fingers. Meta Knight then sped to them, leaving the other three to fight the other two remaining shadows.

The knight arrived in time, slashing a Homing Attack away from smacking into Knuckles' face. The slash was ridiculously close to slicing the echidna's face. Knuckles let out a huge sigh as Meta Knight engaged the shadow. "D-don't know whether to say thanks or stay still in horror…" Knuckles muttered.

"Your meddlesome kind shall be eradicated," Meta Knight said as the shadow dodged all the several slices of air he threw at him. "I can only have one of you around. Two is already too much to tolerate with a sane mind."

"I'm pretty sure he was talking about not having more than one Sonic," Knuckles said. Sonic said "Hey!" from afar as he continued fighting his own battle, being assisted by Toon Link.

The shadow merely smirked at him, but then he looked to its left and grabbed Chris by its wrist, avoiding a side stab. In a very slow sequence, Chris cursed his luck, but Meta Knight took the opening and stabbed the shadow under Chris's very sword. The shadow's smirk suddenly turned into a painful expression as the knight pulled Chris to his side. The speed then resumed, and the shadow was slashed away to the cold wall behind, clutching its darkish wound with a hand.

"That was rather reckless," Meta Knight told Chris without facing him. The Moogle Knight sighed to himself. "But I'm sure you can hold your own against it if you can truly find a blind spot." He moved Galaxia to the side. "Let us both face him off."

Then time stopped around them.

"(So this is it…)" Meta Knight communicated. "(The strange feeling that stops everything around us to signify a strong connection…)"

The Moogle thanked the gods for having set a firm bond with Meta Knight. But…why? He hadn't exactly spent too much time with the knight.

"(Sadly, you're just about the few ones I can trust who are not that insane. I've been watching your actions, and they seem…likeable enough, shall I say.)"

In other words, you consider me and the few ones the only ones that aren't exactly annoying or crazy in some way, Chris thought. Poor Donkey Kong was never going to be Meta Knight's best pal.

"(Enough talk. Let's use this new technique.)"

Time then resumed, and the shadow they faced together was staring at them with a pure intent of murder. "Sorry, but your mood to kill needs to be put to rest," Meta Knight said. The shadow gritted its few fangs and charged at them with a Spin Dash.

Needless to say, the retaliation came out quite fast Chris's body reacted on pure instinct.

"Quickly…" Meta Knight began as he took Chris's wrist and, together by Meta Knight standing on top, spun into the orange Mach Tornado. The Moogle turned into the base while the knight turned into the top of the whirlwind, but there was a difference. Chris had merged his Moogle Lance into the Mach Tornado, turning it to a pale green color that shot cutting winds that damaged and pulled anything close into itself. The shadow was pulled around the tornado, uncurling itself as it started to get sliced from the outwards winds.

Having more control, Meta Knight moved the tornado into the other battle. Sonic, Shadow, and Toon Link felt a slight breeze as the other two shadows were brusquely pulled away with shocked expressions. The trio stared at the tornado and the visible cutting winds inflicting damage on all three shadows before all of them were pulled right inside the tornado. A flash of white slowed time, and the tornado had stopped abruptly. On the white background, a fierce black X-crossed slash, each side having one of the two who had created it, crossed everybody's vision as two foreign bodies were seen launching into different directions. The one of the middle had its body torn apart into four.

"…this ends," Meta Knight finished, the white background disappearing as the two shadows bounced off the walls and floor. The middle shadow had been eradicated brutally, leaving no trace as expected.

New ability learned! Lance Tornado!

Upgrades Meta Knight's Mach Tornado, giving it longer duration and more attack power. Deals moderate damage to all enemies trapped in the winds.

Though Meta Knight was unfazed, Chris's tumbled to the sides due to the extreme spin as he couldn't handle the vertigo very well.

Shadow saw that Sonic stared wide-eyed. "Y'know, I know it wasn't me, but seeing your image split into four makes your stomach hurt…" the blue hedgehog said.

"Wish it was really you," Shadow responded.

"Grow up."

"Ironic."

"Touché."

"A-hem!" Toon Link called out. "We're not done yet!"

The other two shadows that had bounced around were lying down in utter pain, clutching their bodies tightly. Toon Link saw Meta Knight stabbing one through the back, killing it definitely. Not wanting to keep fighting more, Toon Link leaped to the other one and used a downward stab. The last shadow stretched out in pain before it vanished from existence. "And…it's over, for now," Shadow said.

Persona 4 – Secret Base

After spending some time resting to regain their energies, the group + Chris continued their way down the path. "You're lucky we got through you in time," Toon Link commented. "Sonic was just this close in convincing me to leave."

The Moogle shot the hedgehog with a glare. Sonic whistled blissfully before he felt all weird. "Oh, no!" he cursed loudly as he turned into a werehog. "Dammit, it's nighttime already? Damn this to hell!" he complained till he remembered that a certain black hedgehog hadn't been explained about his transformation at all. He froze, thinking Shadow wasn't going to let him live it down.

Shadow stared flatly at Sonic, arching an eyebrow.

Sonic stared back, some fangs peeking out from his snout.

"…"

"…"

"…Hedgehog, what did you get yourself into now?" Shadow finally asked, as if he was annoyed to see the wolf-hedgehog-thing.

"Got some negative vibes into me ever since that Extreme Gear tourney I went to… And now, I turn into a werewolf, I mean, werehog every night," Sonic said. To get it over with, he stretched out his rubber-like arms to the ceiling. "Cartoon powers included with the package, as you can see."

Shadow stared intently at the retracting arms before he rolled his eyes. "Tsk, werewolves… They're really overused these days. Looks like you got the short end of the stick."

Sonic groaned. "Aww, please let him be the last person I hear saying that! I'm getting sick of the overused werewolf idea everybody in the DAMN universe seems to know!" he complained.

"But it is overused!" Toon Link said.

The werehog snarled. "Okay, you're the last person, so you guys better not continue!"

"Stop fooling around and focus on the path," Meta Knight advised, feeling the only one mature enough to take the brief leadership. He was really the only one for everybody, sadly. "…None of you have sensed how dense it feels?"

When the knight pointed it out, there was a heavy feeling lingering in the air; a negative energy that radiated like waves of water washing ashore before coming back with stronger force. "M-my tail wants to go between my legs," Vector said gulping. "(Oh no, the final boss! I-it's almost here! I don't wanna die young and sexy!)"

"Are you sure it's not the faker's furry body making the air feel denser?" Shadow asked. Sonic hand-chopped the back of his head lightly. They both shot glares at each other before Chris helplessly put himself in the middle. Shadow swatted him away with a hand.

"To prove your point, we've been around Sonic for so long it never happened," Meta Knight said. "He never did radiate negative energy…"

"…So we're getting even closer to…Dark Gaia or the temple?" Knuckles asked. "It better be the temple. Judging our luck, it's Dark Gaia standing in front of the temple."

"Don't say that!" Toon Link scolded, gulping. "Maybe we should just run!"

The others took the suggestion without thinking much about it and ran down the path. The only one against it was Vector, who remained behind with crossed arms and an annoyed look. After a few seconds of glaring at his surroundings, he started sweating bullets. His eyes suddenly looked perplexed until he jumped and ran to them after hearing a steel beam falling somewhere in the darkness behind his back.

Chris, though, briefly thought about Meta Knight. It felt just wrong that Meta Knight chose him as one of the few who could deposit his trust into. He made a mental note about doing it right with him after the mission was over with.

Abandoned Robot Factory

Blasting a shadow into nothingness using a Shadow Ball, Mewtwo sighed to himself and turned his team. "It looks like we got rid of them all…for now," he said.

"Extreme caution is still advised," Omega said. "Let us expect the worst down this way and prepare ourselves for anything."

"No need to tell me twice about that, Omega," Rouge said. The robot's been repeating similar-sounding instructions before. "It's steel hell down here."

While Diddy chuckled to himself about the pun-niness of the word "steel", Roy rubbed his sore arm after getting a Homing Attack on it. "Those shadows we saw suddenly revealed themselves," he said. "They are Sonic copies…"

"That explains the fighting style Omega had analyzed," Rouge said. "To add a little more to the data, there was some serious cockyness in them it reminded me of Sonic trading blows with Shadow. I don't want to have to put myself into that area." She rubbed her head, feeling it a bit too sore for her tastes.

"If they ever get more serious than they got, it could be a huge hindrance to fight them in groups," Mewtwo theorized. "I know Sonic can become a very reliable teammate, but his…attitude leaves a lot to be desired."

"Well, these guys leave desire, but in a different way," Roy noted. "Anyway, is everyone still good to go?"

The party then continued their way down the ruined path beyond the robot factory. Ten minutes of walking later, Kirby stumbled upon a bloated body. He poked it and heard some mumblings. "I found somebody!" he cheered, but then he got depressed, thinking he found a dead person.

"…Oh dear," Rouge muttered, examining the body. "It's…Dr. Eggman?"

Said doctor pushed himself off from the rubble and coughed loudly, his back facing the wary group. Omega silently raised his metal claws, ready to shoot away. The egg-bodied doctor then turned around and froze. "…Oh…crud…" he trailed off.

Mewtwo acted quickly and held the doctor tight into a psychic force, keeping him off the ground. "I might be weak here, but as long as I stay close to anybody, I can lift them with no problem," he said.

Dr. Eggman felt that he could at least move his head. "Just great… I just got up and I turned into a hostage," he said. "Wait, is that Omega? OH NO!"

Rouge tried to move Omega's bullet-filled claws down, but the robot didn't budge. "Eh, he won't shoot. I know he's expecting you to say something like, for example, what the hell happened to your base and theme park," she said with a grin, knowing full well they had the villain right where they wanted.

Unfortunately for the doctor, they deserved to hear. "Things got awfully down fast," he said. "I don't know how many days it's been ever since…my precious base…was torn down into pieces… It's a big waste of resources! It took me a long time to built this place without police interfe-" Mewtwo applied more force around the doctor's throat, "-a-and so, I was just minding my own business, coming up with a strategy to, well, stop you from stopping us, when all of a sudden, the whole theme park was destroyed in front of my own eyes!" Kirby sat on his feet, finding it a relaxing spot.

"And I assume Dark Gaia is the culprit behind this story," Roy said.

"Y-yes! That evil fiend… It…it just…it just went rampant all of a sudden!" the doctor explained. "I was keeping watch with an underground camera, and then, it looked at it…and the vision went blurry. Right after, my beautiful base was slowly destroyed into smithereens! Knowing that the temple was in danger, I went down there in a hurry, hearing the voiceover shouting me the conditions of the entire base…"

"…And then?" Diddy asked. "I thought you and the army were close allies working together…closely?"

"W-well, I was alone that time, sadly," the doctor said. "So then, I reached the temple and tried calling the Ancient Minister for an emergency portal…before I was knocked out by something…" He sighed. "There was this…wall of darkness right in front of the temple…and it had pierced the floor to the ceiling… I suspect it was Dark Gaia that knocked me out…"

"And then you found yourself here," Rouge said.

"Yes…"

Roy grabbed his head. "Oh no, he said Dark Gaia was in front of the temple," he said, turning slightly pale.

"No, you dolt!" Dr. Eggman said. "That monster is unstable, even when it tries to rest! Knowing it, it's lurking the core of the planet, waiting for any unsuspecting prey to come close to the temple below my base… At this point, I don't even care about it anymore! My plans of controlling it have gone down to hell…"

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "You just came up with the foolish idea of using us as bait and see if you can control that damned monster while it's busy trying to kill us," he pointed out. Dr. Eggman gasped before the psychic force was given more pressure. "I wonder, will you truly reconsider as your entire being is slowly crushed…?"

"I am quite enjoying this scene," Omega said. Rouge gave him a weird look. "…But I would greatly prefer if I was burying bullets into his lard-filled stomach."

"G-GAH! ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Dr. Eggman cried out in pain. "I-I won't do such thing anymore! I-I promise!"

Mewtwo's face turned dark. "I dislike being tricked by just hearing you out," he said and applied even more pressure.

"P-PLEASE! I-I WON'T!"

Mewtwo's hand closed a little bit.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

Feeling that the scene was quite gruesome to watch, Roy had to speak up. "Mewtwo, stop! Don't let him turn you into some kind of killer!" he shouted.

The Psychic type kept the pressure on, but he eased it off to a point where the doctor wasn't in danger of getting killed. "He got a point. You better be thankful," Mewtwo said, though it sounded like a very unnerving threat. "But you won't escape that easily anymore…"

"R-right now, I only care about living…" the doctor said, but then he saw Mewtwo closing his hand, "m-my mind is so hard to convince when I have a good plan for my personal benefit! D-don't blame me!"

"This is getting old fast," Diddy said. "Let's just keep him prisoner and feed him to Dark Gaia when we get the chance."

"I support the thought," Omega said.

As Dr. Eggman shivered in horror, Mewtwo just kept him hovering before they all started to move down again. Kirby had the leisure of riding on his feet as a seating place. "Question: You know how far away the temple is?" Rouge asked.

"Er, well…" the doctor looked around, "everything looks so wrecked it's hard to tell…"

"We fell into a long hole that brought us to a robot factory," Roy said. "We've been going down this way for half an hour, not counting the time we spent fighting dark creatures."

"The robot factory is the closest area to the temple," the doctor said. "I built it close just in case to keep the temple under strict security. That way, the robots made here would reach it without trouble. There are some tight passageways made to transport the robots faster, but I assume all of them got destroyed…"

"So that means we're very close to it," Diddy said smiling before looking depressed. "But we need the Chaos Emerald Sonic's carrying with him…"

"He shouldn't lose the emerald right now," Rouge said. "I know those two hedgehogs can keep those world nukers with them no matter what happens."

"I think you forgot the time when Sonic made the villain super powerful," Roy pointed out.

Rouge still had that wound from that battle on the back of her right ear. "Make that one responsible hedgehog," she corrected herself.

Mewtwo gazed at the doctor, who sweated bullets. "I-I didn't come up with another plan!" he shot back.

"No, I was thinking about asking you if restoring the power into the temples will seal Dark Gaia," Mewtwo said.

"W-we-"

"Stop," Mewtwo said with a dull look. "I am still quite…pissed, but besides the other suicidal plan you were trying to formulate, everything else became clear."

"You know something?" Roy asked.

"…No," the Psychic type said. "This imbecile doesn't even know if the temples will be enough to seal that monster. He thinks that the monster is capable of resisting the power of the restored temples now that it briefly tried to come on out on its own… Remember, he thinks it won't be enough. We can at least try the main idea."

Kirby just sighed and took his time to sleep, much to the doctor's chagrin as they continued down the ominous way to the temple.

The Deepest Reach

Unlike the broken-looking paths, the deepest part of the theme park was wide enough to hold several giant robots, as if it was big enough for security purposes. Due to the fallen debris and mess of steel beams piled up on top of each other, managing security was completely discouraged. The floor, although shattered, flickered thin lines of light blue light that were vaguely trying to point straight north. Beyond a tall opening, the structure slowly turned into ancient ruins that didn't blend well to the overall chaotic setting. The ruins were obviously not meant to be part of the doctor's theme park of madness.

Approximately three-hundred feet away from the entrance of the temple, Meta Knight's intrepid team of misfits emerged from a rather small hole. After each one of them jumped out (though Vector was the last one who got stuck and tried to worm himself out), they looked around their new surroundings.

"Take a note, everybody," Toon Link said. "A big wide space like this begs to be called the main room where the most precious treasure lies ahead."

"Or the twenty-foot tall robot bent on killing ya," Sonic said.

"Who likes my genre savvy idea better?" Most of them raised their hands. "All against one, I win."

"Lucky bastard," Sonic muttered.

"Sure, if we can even tell if this is the main way," Shadow said. Their vision of the entryway to the temple was blocked off by the biggest portions of fallen debris they had never seen before. He noticed the rare sighting of soil under their feet. "Earth…"

"We're probably at the very bottom of the theme park," Knuckles said. Vector popped himself out from the hole in the background. "And hey, the cold floor is kind of trying to merge with the soil! Maybe we ARE standing extremely close to the temple by now!"

Meta Knight looked to the left side, which was mostly occupied by steel floor. The right side had soil being the dominant element. He looked to the sides of the debris where makeshift paths could be taken to proceed around the structure. "Let's move through those paths," he told them.

"Uh… Don't you hear something?" Sonic asked, cleaning his left ear with a finger.

It was then that they heard some kind of commotion going on close to where they were. It wasn't coming from the other side of the debris but from the wall of debris to the left side of the wide room. They turned to said direction. "Whatever's going on over there, it sounds serious," Toon Link said. They could hear shouting and explosions going off.

"Whatever's going on, we're surely needed. Why else would there be explosions?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, this place might as well be blowing up at a REALLY unfortunate time," Toon Link said. "…But there's not even a lot of rumbling. Let's see here!" He took several bombs and placed them around the wall. By a small second, Toon Link managed to outrun the big cartoony explosion he set off. The wall gave away and fell down, almost reaching everybody's feet.

Lucas and Soren were seen emerging from the hole in the wall, looking quite tired. The Branded noticed the others. "Good, we have made contact with each other at last," he said. "There is no time to talk. We're being ambushed by a horde of those obnoxious speedsters!"

Shadow grinned. "It feels really good to hear somebody call your kin like that," he told Sonic, who rolled his eyes and frowned.

"How many are there?" Meta Knight asked with his Galaxia resting at his side.

"As many as us six," Soren said. "We are not holding out too well, so we need your help."

"They're pouring in!" Vector shrieked out.

Firstly, Samus, Wolf, Pit, and Chip all ran out from the hole, feeling quite relieved to see reinforcements ready for battle. Secondly and lastly, six smirking Sonics ran out and looked joyful to see more prey. "Oh, great. The room's overall annoyance quotient skyrocketed," Wolf muttered.

"Hey!" Sonic shouted, and the brawl was on.

Persona 3 – Unavoidable Battle

As a fight erupted, the last group was slowly approaching their location not from the ground level, but from the ceiling. High above them, Roy's group walked through what felt like a loose floor of iron beams and debris. They started to hear a clash of swords and other sounds that most likely implied that a battle was taking place. "H-hey, I heard something," Roy said.

"It's coming from below," Rouge said. "Omega, be a dear and tell us."

"The sound is coming from below."

"Thank you."

Mewtwo looked down the floor. He did spot a few holes that ran through the unstable floor. He narrowed his eyes, seeing movement through some of the holes. "There might be others nearby, but we must head down immediately to ascertain it," he said.

"Oh, joy. Like I look like I want to see the pesky hedgehog," Dr. Eggman muttered.

"Well, the fastest way would be making this floor fall down. It does feel kind of like the entrance's path…" Diddy said. Kirby looked serious, hopped into the air, and used Stone. "Wait, Kirby, we haven't decided if we shou-!"

Kirby didn't stop. He intentionally fell down at full force. For being a small character, the puffball gave the floor its last stable form. The debris and iron beams all crumbled down from the ceiling underneath until a hole gradually grew, making them fall down. Only Mewtwo, Rouge, and Omega hovered and descended down, seeing Roy and Diddy having not much luck. Kirby was still stuck as a stone, waiting to hit safe floor.

Vector carefully backed away from battle until a pink stone with only two angry eyebrows instantly fell down in front of his feet. He yelped and ran back as debris and iron beams rained down on the battlefield. The Smashers and the six hedgehogs looked up in unison and scattered around to avoid getting crushed. Soon, Roy and Diddy clumsily fell down, followed by the other three calmly landing with the imprisoned scientist in tow. "Hey there," Rouge said, winking at Knuckles. "Hope you didn't miss us, especially me."

Knuckles briefly blushed. "Q-quiet, you bat girl!" he barked.

Seeing the six evil Sonics, Roy drew out his sword. "I was expecting a battle reunion," he said. "Let's get the battle over to have only the reunion part!"

The six evil hedgehogs smirked and disappeared from sight. Soren felt the wind pushing his cape to the sides. "They're running around at high speeds. They must be scheming something," he said.

Mewtwo grunted and put Dr. Eggman inside a cage of iron beams that the first had made quickly. The doctor then grunted next. "I know, I know. I'm the load," he said. "On the good side, I'm indirectly being protected from more hedgehogs!"

With that worry out, the Psychic Pokémon had his full attention in the fight.

He wasn't expecting that he was their prey.

Mewtwo was hit brutally from all directions as Homing Attacks took him off-guard. What happened next was a mess of people trying to score a hit to interrupt the evil Sonics. Sonic and Shadow managed to pin down two, but the other four were too fast for everybody to stop. Mewtwo was being slammed around in midair, and even his darkness resistance wasn't enough to let him recover his composure.

Soren proved to be a worthy ally. Having a high mastery on the wind, he drew out a Tornado tome and set said ravaging force loose. The four evil Sonics were stopped in midair and pulled in viciously into the whirlwind. They were then sent rocketing towards different directions after the tornado vanished. Three of them crashed down the floor, but one landed on its feet and disappeared, running at a high speed to stay out of sight.

Roy stared in awe and asked, "Why don't we have that many magic users in the roster?"

"Master Hand likes sword users the most for some reason," Samus noted.

Back in the Smash Mansion, Master Hand felt insulted.

Back in the fight, the three evil Sonics that were thrown away were being ambushed by the rest of the team. However, the one that had escaped was now crashing into the Smashers trying to defeat them all. Sonic and Shadow had also been pushed away, setting the other two doppelgangers free. Now all six were running around out of sight.

"Great, they're at it again," Diddy said. "Guess I have to use the cheap trick again…" He tossed two Banana Peels in two random spots. He wanted to throw out more, but the laws of the tourney were holding him back from doing so. Some of them saw how he lazily pulled back his right hand without any peels. "This makes no sense, really!" he complained.

One evil Sonic stepped on one peel, making him slid on the ground at an absurd speed. He ended up taking another with him into a wall of loose rubble. Both of them crashed into it, making rocks bury them alive inside. A few seconds later, though, both used Spin Dash to come out of it, looking particularly pissed for falling down for such a trick. They then widened their eyes once another evil Sonic slipped on another peel and crashed into them.

"Really, that cheap trick is cheap for a reason," Rouge commented before she was tackled away into the floor. She grunted as she got up. "Harming a woman… That is one big death wish…"

Arming himself with courage, Chris swung his sword hard to send three slicing waves of air after the evil Sonic that had tackled Rouge. The slicing winds gained considerably speed in a second, slicing the shadow up. The Moogle Knight saw a serious Kirby high-jumping into the shadow, swinging his hammer into its face. The evil Sonic made a hurtful expression as it soared across in the air, only to be blasted into spores by one shot from Samus' Light Beam.

"Four more to go!" Samus told everybody just before two evil Sonics rammed into her from behind, pushing her away. The two smirking monsters jumped back to avoid Shadow's Homing Attack and Sonic's stretchable fist, ramming themselves into empty floor. They merely stepped back without suffering injuries, though Sonic shook his claw a bit.

Shadow noticed how the background itself looked unusually darker. He then looked at Toon Link glowing with an aura that changed colors. His eyes were bright yellow. "Something ridiculous is about to happen, isn't it?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. He never knew what a Final Smash was.

Toon Link could've used his signature Final Smash, but he resorted to use a different skill altogether as time came to a halt around the battlefield. He was looking at the two smirking Sonics that ignored his presences. The fact both were standing close to each other gave him a chance to attack to deal huge damage. With his sword placed right in front of his face, he chanted, "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth! Come, Gnome!"

With a poof smoke, the giant…gerbil wearing an iron red ribbon flipped once in thin air and let his heavy girth be known to the battle, right above the two smirking Sonics. Time itself had resumed, and the two evil hedgehogs noticed they couldn't even move due to a magic glyph below their feet. Looking up in horror, they tried to scream as Gnome's weight squashed them flat. "PARTAY THEIME!" Gnome noisily shouted, his weight causing four waves of stalagmites to protrude from the ground. He saluted to Toon Link before disappearing, leaving no trace of the two evil Sonics behind from where he landed.

One of the waves of stalagmites pushed an unsuspecting evil Sonic aside to the wall. Seeing it weakened briefly, Wolf decided to go all out on it in a special way. He grabbed Chris's tiny self from his back and pulled him in front of his face. Chris whimpered mentally at the lupine's sharp face. "Kid, change into that thief thing of yours to rip its soul out. Hurry up before that nightmare gets up!"

His will completely obeying the lupine, Chris changed back into human form once he wore the thief's clothes. He grabbed Wolf's wrist and began an incantation.

"…Oh yeah, you're mute," Wolf muttered.

Then his right claw glowed in an ominous aura. At first, Wolf blinked, but then he smirked and pulled his soul-ripping claw, looking over to the evil Sonic as it stood up. Quickly, Wolf dashed to it, his claw fully open and ready to crush its soul.

The standing monster then noticed Wolf, but it was too late. Wolf thrust his claw into the hedgehog's small chest, passing right through it as the claw grabbed a malicious purple sphere that held on to its host for dear life. The evil Sonic had an extremely painful look on its face, but it tried so hard to keep its soul back into its body.

Wolf felt pressure as the purple tendrils tied into the sphere were pulling harder into the enemy. "Damned…thing…!" Wolf grunted through his greeted fangs, his arm pulling the soul hard.

"Let me help you out!"

Wolf and the evil Sonic looked to the left where Knuckles leaped into the fray and punched the hedgehog's face to the opposite direction. The force of the echidna's punch ended up cutting the tendrils attach to the body. As the evil Sonic looked over in complete and utter shock, Wolf chuckled and crushed the purple soul into his fist. The evil Sonic vanished, its eyes turning white without life.

"Ahh, that punch felt good," Knuckles felt satisfied. Chris rolled his eyes, but he admitted that was an excellent showcase of teamwork. The wolf and the echidna grinned to each other in understanding.

"Don't get cocky now, dear," Rouge said. "There's one more to go."

The last evil Sonic was seen looking down upon them from a hanging high beam into the ceiling. It smirked and hopped down to the battle, feeling quite sure in taking all of them on.

Though once it saw that it was greatly outnumbered by seventeen fighters (Chip and Vector were taking cover behind a pile of rubble), its courage sank down rather fast with a worried expression.

"Not feeling so sure now, huh?" Shadow asked, but then the shadow grinned and disappeared. In a second, it appeared, holding Chip hostage in his hand. "What an effective, dirty strategy…"

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!" Chip called out…to the Elite Beat Agents. Sadly, it was J's rarely seen day off. "Nuuuuuuuuuuuu, it doesn't work!"

Everyone was too busy worrying about his welfare. In a flash, the evil hedgehog ran to the opposite direction of the temple, dragging Chip with him. Out of a cue, Shadow gave chase, leaving everyone else behind. "Well, this is the part where we all take a supporting role and let the hedgehog save the world," Rouge said.

"The good old times aren't that good, I admit…" Knuckles muttered.

"God! It sucks feeling like this!" Sonic noted, sitting down.

"I would hate to imagine taking a role like that in a war," Soren noted, looking to the way the hedgehogs went.

"If only the darkness of this place didn't hamper my powers," Mewtwo said, "I could have decimated that monster."

"Oh, they're coming back our way," Roy said. He saw Meta Knight walking to the direction where the evil hedgehog was running to. Seeing him, the others prepared to attack.

The smirking evil Sonic ran further away from Shadow, who was mere feet away from reaching him out. All the while Chip was screaming his lungs out. The evil Sonic was looking over his shoulder to his pursuer, smirking and sticking his tongue out at them.

That fact was probably the reason why Meta Knight thought it would be a good idea to stand in his way, taking out any possibilities of the enemy jumping over. The evil Sonic then was abruptly interrupted once Meta Knight impaled the ground with Galaxia, making the hedgehog trip over him into the air with a shocked expression. Mewtwo used his psychic power to pull Chip away from his grasp as Knuckles knocked it aside with a fierce punch to his face. Omega followed by blasting three small missiles into his body. Pit shot an arrow that landed right on the monster's eye to stun him with pain and disorient him for Samus to pierce right through it with a Light Beam shot, eradicating the last evil Sonic.

Chip was placed next to Mewtwo as the former sighed in relief. "I'm…alive…. Phew! Here I thought he was taking me to his leader!" Chip said.

Music stops

After the battle, the team decided to rest for a bit and discuss all the facts they could gather from what each one of them found. Being the only healer, Chris was healing everybody with healing magic that more often than not wouldn't work right due to his muteness. Sonic's transformation was also discussed.

"That is so cliché," Rouge noted. Sonic responded with a very long grunt.

Meta Knight wasn't feeling so sure that the magic department of the team was in the hands of Soren and Chris. He decided to reveal what he had been doing with Marth and Pit. "The cards!" Pit realized.

"Yes," Meta Knight said, holding seven cards, having used one already. "This is what we got for doing side jobs." There was an unnerving feeling about the cards looking familiar to Chris. The knight then went on to explain what each card granted to the wearer.

"I'll take the healing one!" Roy said, putting the Mediarama card on his trophy stand as a sticker. "A healing swordsman, now that's useful."

"I pick fire 'cuz it's cool," Sonic said, choosing Agilao.

"Megidola for me," Meta Knight said.

"Ice!" Kirby cheered, picking Bufula.

"Thunder suits me," Samus said, picking Mazionga.

"I suppose healing one person is not too much of a burden…" Wolf said, picking Diarama.

Nobody had picked Stagnant Air, but Chris decided to pick it. "Well, we're all geared up to go," Roy said. They all turned to Dr. Eggman.

"You all had your happy time blasting those dark hedgehogs into nothing," Dr. Eggman said, still incarcerated within the bent iron beams. "As you all can see, I'm not stupid enough, or at all, to destroy my own base! Dark Gaia is on the loose!"

"Really? Last I checked, building a base over a homicidal monster is not really the smartest thing to do," Sonic said with a grin. "But enough of that! I just know my monster wolf side is about to leave forever, so… Tell us where the temple is!"

"Right behind this pile of rubble," Dr. Eggman said.

The party then noticed a few big enough holes that lead to the other side of the pile. Mewtwo set the doctor free, but only for him to go back into the psychic cage. As Kirby dragged a horrified Vector to them, they all crossed the wall.

On the other side, the grand finale of their current journey would be over. The soil under their feet was now easily being dominated by cold steel that surrounded the entrance to the last temple. Originally, a big metal door blocked the entrance, but it was all torn down. Beyond that point, the previously protected sanctum of the temple stood proud from the inside. Sonic's creepy eyes dilated with glee. "It's so…beautiful…" Sonic noted.

"Alright, his insanity is reaching the highest point yet," Toon Link said. "Let's get over there before Dark Gaia says something."

The imp sniffed. Nobody listened. Chip sniffed loudly. Everyone listened. "This is it, isn't it…?" he asked. "The end is right in front of us…"

"Oh, right…" Knuckles remembered. "You're supposed to return back to the core of the planet to keep your other half in check…"

"Yeah…" Chip said. "Once the temple is restored, it'll be parting time…" He moved forward and turned to them. Meta Knight somehow felt that the time they had left was running short. "Before we finish this… I just wanna say that I…I enjoyed our time together. You all taught me a lot during the entire journey… I met people…I experienced love and loss…I found out I liked sweets and candy… There was just so much I saw with my own eyes! It kind of makes me not want to go back to my old job…" He looked serious, albeit he was crying more tears. "But don't worry… I was destined to take on this job for myself. I'll be happy to know that I got to do a lot of stuff…so then…I'll protect all that I enjoyed by going back to my home."

Sonic approached Chip. "It was nice having you, Chip," he said. Chip's eyes filled with tears and he embraced Sonic tightly. Sonic sighed and embraced Chip as weakly as possible as to not crush him unconditionally. "Don't forget about us."

"A-and…a-and don't forget me! I keep things in check down there, after all!" The imp smiled at the others, a few of them returning the smile. Vector was particularly whimpering and using napkins. "You all are awesome… I'm so honored you all helped me out with this burdening task…" He pushed himself from the werehog. "It is my turn to do my definite job."

"Yes," Meta Knight said. "Unfortunately, we shouldn't stop here. We need to get in there, now."

"Y-yeah!" Chip said, feeling embarrassed. They all started going towards the temple. "Let's get a move on! I have more in my speech I have to say! Like, for examp-"

The rumbling on the floor was not a good sign.

"I curse our luck," Mewtwo muttered before everyone broke into a sprint. They were all about 250 feet away from the entrance of the temple.

It felt like the rumbling was slowly escalating into a full blown earthquake. Shadow could have reached the temple first before anybody else, but he was refrained by Rouge from leaving them. "Screw this," Shadow said as he grabbed Rouge's and Omega's hands, rushing into the temple.

The black hedgehog felt sure they wouldn't get into trouble, but it was all proven false once when, from the ground, a wall of purple and dark colors rose up into the ceiling.

Everybody stopped dead cold on their tracks when they saw the suspicious-yet-menacing wall blocking their way. Dr. Eggman shrieked loudly and said, "IT'S DARK GAIA!"

"Oh, hell no!" Sonic grunted loudly. They turned around, only to see another wall blocking the way. "D-dammit, we're surrounded!"

Omega acted quickly and shot the front wall with bullets. None of the bullets even made a dent, falling flat on the ground. "Weaponry ineffective. Chances of survival are slim," he said.

"That is such an encouraging fact," Rouge said sarcastically. The ground under their feet was now giving away to their weight as it cracked violently.

Once boulders started falling down from the ceiling, Diddy, his hands covering his hat, looked up and froze in horror. He saw that the two walls blocking their way weren't exactly walls…but they were long, tall, scaly skin with dark claws that closed in on them. Judging how long the huge claws were, there was no escape. Both claws were closing on them. "A-AAAAAAAHHH!" Chip screamed.

And thus they all lost all senses as darkness closed in…

…

?

Chip had to admit something. Their luck was cursed definitely. One minute, they were standing in front of the last temple just fine. The next minute, though, everything just went down in a blink of an eye. He just knew when to complain as he slowly woke up from whatever had happened in front of the last step of the journey.

His vision was blurry first, but he noticed that the air felt warmer. Then, his vision came back to him, realizing that he saw vivid red and yellow lights into the distance. When he found out his face was staring down at a humongous amount of fiery magma over rocky edge, Chip whimpered and quickly recovered his flight. "A-ahh!" he shrieked and immediately looked around where he was. He shook his head in pure shock.

Several miles away from below, the planet's core calmly radiated with energy. A lot more miles away above his head, a huge dome of earth blocked the sight of the night sky. He saw a big unprotected portion of the dome intact, probably because it was the continent that held Dr. Eggman's destroyed base.

"(Did…did I fall down from…up there?)" he thought in shock. Chip gasped and looked around for the others. Luckily, an unconscious Sonic and Chris were lying down on the warm rock. That was when Chip saw many rock platforms floating around almost the entire aerial area above the magma. On top of each platform, there was a member of his team unconscious. He counted all of them and sighed five seconds later, feeling okay that no one had fallen down into certain death.

Chip wondered how none of them was being burned alive by the heat. In fact, the air didn't feel quite as warm as he thought. "But why…" His body felt funny when a small flicker of light shone on the palm of his right hand. Noticing it, he shook it for a bit. "W-wait…maybe I'm giving everybody protection… Oh yeah, my deity powers are coming back to me!"

"Shut up…" Sonic lazily muttered. "I'm eating the world's biggest chili dog here…"

"Oh, joy!" Chip went to Sonic, slapping his furry face. "Wake up, you're alive! W-we're all alive!"

"ACK!" Sonic pushed Chip away, his eyes opening fast. "What the… Huh?" He sat up and looked around, bewildered at his surroundings. He saw Chris next to him. "Hey, bud! Wake up! We're in quite a fix now!"

Chris mumbled literally silently and raised his face from the ground. When he saw the werehog's face, Chris felt okay. When he saw where they were, Chris felt an extreme case of vertigo until Sonic slapped his head a bit.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Sonic growled. "We're alive, that's what matters the most now!"

The others around the floating rocks started to regain their senses. Once they also got to see where they were, many unbelievable comments were quickly shouted aloud. "Well, now this is…really, REALLY bad…"

"By far the worst place we've fallen into," Toon Link said. "I was waiting for an underwater kingdom with a giant bubble of oxygen again, but nooooooooo. I got the one without a kingdom but with boiling magma below instead!"

"I know for a fact that this isn't the time to complain, cat-eyed boy," Rouge said. "I'm surprised we're not being toasted alive!"

"Uh…yeah… That could be because of me…" Chip said, raising his hand. "You see…my powers are coming back to me, and I think they acted out of pure instinct to protect you all while I was out…"

"…You're a fluffy deity. Therefore, your assumption shouldn't sound so crazy by now," Diddy said.

The semi-powered deity raised his fists. "Alright! I'm almost back to full steam!"

"Quit the unnecessary cheering," Soren said. "I have no idea how we're supposed to deal with this new problem." He looked up. "Getting back to the surface will prove to be a difficult task in itself…"

"N-not much, really," Lucas muttered under his breath. He saw that the floating rocks all went up from where they were, but they also went down. "We could possibly hop from rock to rock all the way back to the top…"

"If all the rocks are reaching out that high, that is…" Knuckles trailed off in frustration.

Meta Knight shook his head. "Escaping from this place isn't going to be easy," he said. "Dark Gaia is lurking around these parts for sure."

"Where is Dr. Eggman?" Mewtwo wondered aloud. "I lost my focus on him when I passed out."

"Eh, I didn't count him," Chip said. "He wasn't worth being counted with the rest of us."

"Aww, you learn so fast," Sonic said proud of the imp.

Kirby turned around and found pure darkness a several floating rocks away. He blinked confused and saw that the darkness inside a very bright core of magma wasn't a common sight to see. The puffball peered down and saw an enormous tower of darkness coming out from the core itself. Kirby gulped and looked up, feeling that the huge wall of darkness was staring down on all of them.

Sniffing a sickening smell and hearing some extreme heavy breathing made the Star Warrior gasp so loud that he got everyone's attention to the dark wall. The less courageous all screamed loudly, while the more courageous backed away, putting strained looks on their faces and reaching out for whatever weapon they had with them.

The screaming and the intense stares to the wall of darkness all came to a stop when a distorted voice so casually said, "Hi."

"…Huh?" Sonic's ears perked up. Everyone now was staring confused at the voice, looking around for the source.

"It's been so long ever since we last saw each other so un-formally… I was missing you, guys! Thanks for coming to my new home! You were all kinda high up there, so I personally brought you down to meet me!"

There was no mistake. The voice was coming from the wall of darkness. And the casualness of its tone somehow sounded frightfully familiar to some…

"No…" Chip muttered silently.

Sonic barely muttered a "How?" as his fierce eyes shook slightly in horror...

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The Joy of Bloodshed Incarnate"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Soren, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip, Knuckle, Vector, Shadow, Rouge, Omega

References:

- None

And so, the final battle is at hand against Dark Gaia! …Wait, did it use to have a voice before? Ooh, something in the timeline has changed drastically. The next chapter shall be the beginning of the final battle…of THIS arc, of course. Will it contain the end as well? Probably, probably not! I'm getting sick of this whole werehog business so I'll make this go away with a bang.

In other news, I do want to say some good news. The story itself is so infamously big and popular; it has its own TVtrope page (though it is kind of empty…)! Please, do visit my forum and the page itself to contribute and add all kinds of tropes I have amassed throughout this long story!

Also, ever since I got Colors! 3D, my digital artistic skills are steadily growing. That means I'll have my own set of official artwork for the story itself sooner or later. Sweet practice is sweet.

I encourage all readers to review. Oh, and please don't wish me or the story bad luck for that disclaimer thing in the reviews. Things just happen that way in gaming, so accept them with dignity and enjoy the ride.

…

Or else, Sonic will continue to be a werehog for the next chapters to come…if he comes out alive, that is. *Audience gasps*

Sonic: I'd rather die!

Pichu's ghost: Really? You wanna become like me?

Sonic: Yuck, being a ghost is worse than a werehog.
*Chapter 194*: The Joy of Bloodshed Incarnate

And thus the final battle (of this saga) begins…

From RedLink030: I haven't played many sonic games, so I don't know who it is. You also stole Legretta's "Too slow!"

From me: Really now? You think two mere words are enough to warrant a reference to something? Not everything you read is exactly one…

From awsomecoolguy1o1: wow great chapter. but i do have some questions first who was the voice? 2nd what does dark gala look like? and last why does it take so long for you to make a chapter? im only asking because i hate subspens any ways keep up the great work! p.s whats the next ark or act?

From me: And your answers are…

1 – Answer in the chapter.

2 – Pretty sure you can look that up in the internet.

3 – Life.

Enjoy the chapter. :)

From Lotus Moon: However, one thing has been majorly bugging me for a long while. When you (shamelessly) killed off Fox and poor little Pichu, I never expected that and was (and still am somewhat) angry. In the Star Ocean chapters, MUCH was revealed about James McCloud and Wolf O'Donnell. I never saw the promise/deal concept coming and it was original! James asking Wolf to look after his son? Brilliant plot twist indeed! Now that Fox is dead (permanently?), what's going to happen to that now?

I would've loved to have seen how Fox reacted when he found out about it. How would that change their rivalry, etc? What if he finally found his supposedly dead father?

Honestly speaking, I'll never forgive you for killing off a major character in such a way. I do think I saw a previous reviewer saying that them dying on a medical table was lame (can't remember the exact wording *shrugs*), but I completely agree. If you were going to kill off a major character like Fox, he could've AT LEAST had some issues resolved/discovered, etc. It was still even MORE sad to see innocent Pichu die. What did he do? Did you hate him?!

From me: I know many of you are still peeved for what happened back then, but I wanted to create an atmosphere for the story that would imply that you that "anything can happen, be it good or bad". In due time, you'll forgive me soon enough. ;)

From Safire Ranmako: Now as for this episode it was somewhat good, for what seemed to me like a filler episode, but Chris' silence is starting to get annoying, how long until he regains his voice?

By the way when the voting was going on I liked your idea to do a Quest 64 Arc. Are your going to do one?

From me: Chris is finally getting better…sooner or later. Truthfully, his muteness is annoying me too, so expect him to recover his voice soon.

Also, yes, I'm planning to make a Quest 64 arc with a lot more character development and more details.

Geez, the comment section seems shorter now that not many people ask some interesting points. But it's still good! This fiction is probably the most watched one.

Lately, I've been getting into art, and it was a sudden spark of interest that made me continue writing. I guess it's the excitement that is giving you all a clear picture of events of the story itself. More info about this down below.

With the info above kind of out of the way, the final boss fight of the arc starts now.

I encourage everyone to read on, read this with a light on, and review.

Disclaimer: This is so cliché.

Chapter 194: The Joy of Bloodshed Incarnate

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

After the wall of darkness started to talk like any other casual person, the group was stunned in utter silence. There was something extremely familiar with how the darkness talked that it gave many chills to most of them. "…Chip?" Sonic began.

"Y-yeah?" Chip said.

"You never told us your other half could talk."

"H-he never talks!" Chip pointed out. "He's always raging incoherently! There's no way he learned how to talk!"

"But I just did, little bro!" the darkness spoke, chuckling darkly. "I learned by myself how to talk. It feels good! Now I can voice my thoughts aloud to all of you!"

"And…I'm sure he never used to talk like some maniac…"

"Oh, that feels…bad to hear," Dark Gaia said. "…NAH! I like how that sounds very much! It makes me feel butterflies agonize inside my titanic stomach!" He moved around the space of floating rocks, the platforms being pushed aside. "But anyway, it's so nice that all of you took your time to visit me! I was getting so but so lonely…" He lamented in a very overdramatic way, sniffing a bit. "After all…getting ripped out from the hedgehog of love and justice makes somebody lonely, that somebody being ME!"

Sonic shook his head. "I had a feeling that it was you!" he snarled and pointed a finger at the darkness. "It's Dark Super Sonic!"

"What?" Toon Link asked, completely bewildered. "But that thing in front of us is Dark Gaia! How could it be DSS?"

"B-I-N-G-O!" Dark Gaia praised, clapping its gigantic claws. He was still too dark to see any of his features. "You got it! It's me! The highly powerful Dark Super Sonic in the biggest piece of flesh you'll ever see!"

"This just doesn't add up," Rouge said. "Who is this Dark Super Sonic?"

"I barely remember hearing about him…" Shadow muttered.

"He was an evil spirit born from negative Chaos Emeralds that I fell into that long time ago… Remember?" Sonic asked. "We never got to solve that little issue!"

"Well, he became completely forgotten," the black hedgehog said. "I believe you told us that you didn't feel weird after you went through that episode."

"But I'm here, little Shads!" DSS said laughing. His voice was so distorted, but they could tell it was him due to the attitude. "I'm here better than ever! I never knew I'd get to merge with a chaotic deity, but I did!"

Chip gulped. "W-what do you mean merge?" he asked. "How did you…how did you merge with my brother at all? I-I can't understand how this even happened!" He put himself behind a growling Sonic to stay safe. "We thought you were gone for good after you got exorcised from Sonic!"

The dark monster seemed to turn around. "It was quite a painful journey from what I can recall…"

Flashback

-Smash Mansion-

Infirmary

The night Sonic was being besieged by Nightmares had changed the current scene. Struggling on his bed, DSS was currently controlling the hedgehog's body. But at the same time, he was the one being harmed as the claws from the creatures burrowed into his body with ease. "I had no idea what was happening, but it felt like Dark Gaia's creatures were trying to…rip my very essence from the hedgehog," DSS narrated.

The Nightmares then merged into the ball of darkness that contained DSS in it. As it broke through the infirmary (and jumped back into it to shatter the closed window just to jump back out), it dove into firm ground and vanished inside.

"When I came to, I could only look into the infinite, purple and black darkness… It was crazy. I could even see my very soul, which was an exact replica of the hedgehog for damn obvious reasons, but I looked way sexier."

DSS was seen falling into the darkness until he heard a mighty roar from behind. He looked over his right shoulder and gasped at the sight.

"There he was, the big boss of your adventure, looking down on me as if I was some cockroach he didn't want to look at. Well, spoiler alert! I didn't like seeing him either! Too bad he was somehow trying to connect to me with his very essence as well… I know, I still have NO idea how he managed to do that either, but whatever rolls my way!"

"What the hell are you looking at?" DSS asked Dark Gaia.

"In short, he's got a few screws loose."

Dark Gaia didn't respond with words, but he responded by grabbing DSS in his giant claws, snarling down at him. "Again, WHAT THE HELL?!" DSS asked loudly, though his shouting was overwhelmed by the giant's roar. He felt some chills once the monster brought him right in front of his multi-eyed face which was several miles wide. "I'm pretty bad at intense staring contests! What do you even want from me?!"

"Then things got really awkward from there…"

As DSS and Dark Gaia stared at each other, DSS didn't see some small tendrils of darkness rising above the beast's scaly fingers. When he looked down, DSS was pierced through all sides by the tendrils, feeling agonizing pain. As his body limped upwards, DSS screamed.

"Besides the piss-awful pain, the monster was channeling its feelings into me. Then I realized…it was his way of talking…injecting some COMPLETELY unneeded syringes into his prey. Yet again, I had no idea how he could do that. Anyway, as I screamed, I saw how my vision had you guys in it, and it was frantically trying to keep a hard look on that plush of a deity you have there with you. The pain was sooooooo awful, but I knew what I was seeing. The scenes I saw changed way too many times… There I was, seeing how all of you were smacking down the guy's minions one by one."

DSS's eyes saw all the different encounters the Smashers have had with the creatures of darkness. He even saw the Shadow Nightmare battles. Due to how frantic the visions were, the Shadow Nightmares were all secretly focusing on Chip as they were all busy dodging and attacking.

"The overall movie was just so unnerving. It was as if the damn guy was in love with his other half. How come none of you ever saw the creepy eyes looking at your little idiot? All those monsters were focusing their attention on the Chip guy while fighting! Dark Gaia was pretty messed up…but I knew his hatred for his other half was so deep he wanted to kill it…"

"…Okay, and why would Dark Gaia even seek you out of all people?" Roy asked. "You would think he'd go for Dr. Eggman…"

"The guy was so twisted, but not THAT twisted. He really wanted to get back at the ones who imprisoned him in the core of the Earth…or Mobius…or whatever this planet's name is. So, he knew I existed… Through the pain he gave me, there was some weird sixth sense he gave me… I was able to understand his feelings, and even his roars! As I was being tortured, he kept roaring down at my face, and I understood all that what he said! In a few words, he told me that he needed to find somebody who could tell him how to deal with the lot of you and his other half. He was actually getting scared of you all! What a wimp! Well, that's what I thought, so…"

The tendrils didn't unplug from DSS, but they stood still, letting the spirit gasp for air. "D-damn… That was some…conversation…" he trailed off, feeling that Dark Gaia was waiting for a response. "…So…you want my help in taking them out for good…"

Dark Gaia, oddly enough, nodded slowly. DSS's speech wasn't being understood, but it was the tendrils attached to his body that enabled Dark Gaia to understand him. DSS felt the nod without looking up.

"I…I barely know how to take them out!" DSS said. "They're a smart bunch… I swear that if only I was in total control of the hedgehog's body while transformed into that hideous furball… Eh?" DSS felt Dark Gaia talking through him. "…You can't do that? Aww, c'mon! It'd be really easy to… What? You CAN'T put me back into his body anymore? BULLCRAP! Was this planned out correctly? How am I supposed to help you? Being your stupid conscience or something?"

"I found something out. Dark Gaia told me that he was currently in a state of calmness, but it was going to be lost very soon, meaning that he was going to go rampant into the surface of the planet with no hopes of going back. So, to avoid that, he wanted some second mind to act on his stead… Wanna guess who that second mind was?"

"You want ME to be your second-in-command?" DSS asked in shock. "Hold on there. I only do damnation and bloodshed. That is my job resume. Can you accept it? Hmm… Oh well, gotta take what I can take… BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING AS A FREAKY SPIRIT?!" The tendrils attached into his body were shaking…but Dark Gaia wasn't doing anything. In fact, it looked hesitant. "You pulled me off the hedgehog, and now I can't do shit like this! What should I do? Shout loudly in the ears so they bleed? WEAKEST. METHOD. EVER!"

DSS was too busy raging and complaining that he failed to notice the shrieks from the deity. The tendrils attached to DSS turned an ominous dark blue color that slowly seeped into the dark scales, turning them into the same shade of color. Dark Gaia was trying to detach the homicidal spirit, but it was no use.

"AND NOW YOU WANNA BE THE BOSS OF ME? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, YOU MONSTER!" DSS yelled at the struggling deity. His rage blinded his mind. "OH, HOW I WISH YOU WERE MY SLAVE INSTEAD! YOU ARE GOING AROUND, MAKING PEOPLE'S FUN END RATHER QUICKLY WITHOUT MUCH EXPLANATION. I LOATHE THAT, Y'KNOW! YOU MADE A BIG MISTAKE TRYING TO COARSE ME INTO THIS!"

Although DSS was staring madly at Dark Gaia, he didn't notice the dark blue glow covering the deity's entire body. The head was just about to be reached by the color, but Dark Gaia roared in pain. It was then that DSS felt no pain, but rather, feeling stronger…

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CRYING OUT NOW? DID YOU FINALLY FIND OUT HOW STUPID IT WAS TO KIDNAP ME? GUESS WHAT! I'LL…I'LL…I'LL KIDNAP YOUR VERY SPIRIT TOO!"

"I felt great all of sudden as I said that. The syringes inside my body felt like they were bending to my own will. Better yet, it also felt like my entire being was taking over the big dummy. I watched him trying to take me off, but his claws wouldn't listen to him anymore. He squirmed around like a desperate worm but to no avail! Something inside of me woke up; a sudden surge of negative power that felt so…sensual."

"H-hey, watch those words!" Toon Link called out. "Kirby here shouldn't listen to those words!"

"Meta Knight, what's sensual?" Kirby asked. Meta Knight grumbled.

"...So, moving on, as my rage eased a bit, I saw what was going on at last…"

DSS fumed in anger until he noticed Dark Gaia's humongous head being covered by the dark blue glow. Blinking confused, DSS asked as he lifted his newly acquired left claw, "H-hey, what's wrong? Feeling blue under the weather? I know I sound pretty threatening, but there's no need to…EWW!"

He just noticed his hands were still in a tight grip, but DSS saw how Dark Gaia's left claw was waving at him. DSS forgot his hands weren't moving, but he felt the movement of the left claw as if it was his own. Grimacing, he made a thumb up with the claw, and then he looked up at Dark Gaia, the dark blue glow having consumed his head halfway through. "…Listen, I don't know what's going on, but I think you messed with the wrong person here…"

"I started to connect two-and-four together..."

DSS smirked. "Well, well! You forgot you were messing up with a spirit powered up by a bunch of fake, negative Chaos Emeralds. And, you know what? Seven Chaos Emeralds makes anybody a living god! A bunch of 'em makes me an EVEN stronger god of negative power! Your deitiness is pure crap compared to my being. I have a super powerful dark conscience. You only have a mindless body bent on pure rage. Sure, I have pure rage too, but I know how to think straight!" The dark glow was now covering the top portion of the head as the monster slowly lost the will to squirm and roar. "And I don't have a physical body yet, so… DON'T MIND IF I BORROW YOURS FOR THE ETERNITY!"

Mentally, Dark Gaia roared in pain as the last straw of his will fell under control of DSS. As for the smirking spirit, he closed his eyes as he sunk into the deity's claw, merging into his new body…

End of flashback

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

"…Aaaaaaaaand end of the story," DSS said. "In short, guy kidnapped me, told me what he wished to do with me, I got better, he got weak, I took over his body, and now I'm gonna kill you guys like never before."

Chip shook his head. "My brother…is gone?" he asked. "I know he's been a really bad person, but I feel sorry for what happened to him…"

"Nah, I can still hear him in the backside of my mind," DSS pointed out. "He's trying to reclaim his body back, saying something like how unfair this is and all that crap. I went through a whole lot more crap so I really needed the boost." He turned back to them. "Too bad he's gonna be in there for the eternity! Keeping him under tabs is waaaaaaaaaaay too easy for awesome me!"

"So sickening…" Mewtwo muttered. "To think two beasts merged in such a way…"

"I was the stronger one. I'm happy to know that," DSS chuckled. "So yeah, I watched you guys from my other half all this time, y'know, restoring power to the temples and what not. Dark Gaia was so kind to tell me that letting you do your work would cause…severe hindrances to me," he explained. "Then I saw you up there. And when I did, I told myself, 'Hey, why let them kill me now that I'm super big?' After that, I decided to stop you from doing something idiotic. All those Sonic-look-alikes? They were my personal creations. They all looked just like their father! Sad thing they never quite stopped you. I tried to order them to steal the emerald and Chip, but they always came too close to that."

"Crap!" Sonic complained. "We never got to restore the last temple with the emerald!"

"And it's gonna stay like that," DSS said. "Just try to escape from the perfect image of an underworld! You could probably escape from here if you climbed all these rocky platforms to the top, but that would take a hella-ella lot of time… BTW, I don't know why there are floating platforms to begin with. This core is weird!"

While the hedgehog deity blabbed on and on, Mewtwo looked around and thought, "(The concentration of darkness isn't as strong as it was up there… Staying close to him weakens my powers, but it seems his reach hasn't developed fully yet. If I can get away from him quickly, I can certainly teleport through great distances all the way to the top while bringing Chip and the emerald… I pray that he doesn't reach his full power. For being a deity, he's not very used to his powers…)"

"There's absolutely NO way you will make a dent on my awesome new body," DSS boasted. "I'm full of scales of AWESOME!"

Pit aimed an arrow at him. "Die, monster! You don't belong in any of the worlds!"

DSS chuckled. "But it was not by my claws that I was once again given THIS godly body," he said. "I was brought here by this idiot who wished to make me his conscience."

"Conscience?!" asked Roy, unsheathing the Sword of Seals. "You tried to steal Sonic's body to kill us all! You're no conscience!"

"Perhaps that could be said of all the people who tried to do the same…uh, kill you, that is!"

Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing as he looked at nobody in particular.

"Your words are as sickening as your sight! Mankind ill needs a monster such as you!" Pit called out.

"What's with all the sudden drama?" Rouge whispered to Shadow. The black hedgehog shrugged, only trying to come up with a strategy while the conversation went on.

"What is a hedgehog?" DSS asked, disappearing from sight. Almost everybody gasped and looked around. "A miserable little pile of poop when it's not me! But enough talk…" Knowing how the phrase's end would lead to a battle, Chris readied his small knife, only then realizing how fruitless it would be to stick a small knife into a huge megalomaniac. He changed to his Fonic Hymn User job, waiting for DSS to finish the phrase…

…

"Well, talk about anti-climatic," Toon Link said. "I thought he was going to go insane on us."

"He is still around," Mewtwo warned them. "The darkness from his very being makes my skin shudder. All Psychic-types would feel the same way."

Sonic remembered a part. "Wait a minute. He forgot to snuff my transformation outta my body!" he complained. "He's supposed to do that right about no-"

Soren swiftly turned around. "Behind us!" he yelled. The group found the dark shadow standing still behind all of them.

The shadowy aura was vanishing from the bottom.

Looking down from the floating rocks, the group saw the dark scales being revealed. An unnatural color of dark blue was slowly taking form until it reached the top of the head.

A strange mutation had taken place in Dark Gaia's body once everyone saw the face. The most obvious mutation was that the area around the humongous eyes had loosely shaped into the shape of Sonic's own eyes, only though that the deity had Sonic's head shape between what looked like to be a huge mouth that was shut. On each side of the mouth-looking head, a red orb shone brightly. On top of the head, dark blue crystals loosely resembled the blue hedgehog's quills, only the deity's were all thin beams of hard crystal pointing back. Between his green, demonic eyes and fang-filled mouth, a long nose made out of purple crystal hung. Behind his gargantuan back, dark blue tendrils lazily floated in midair. The monster was slouching down calmly, his thin-yet-dangerous dark blue claws hanging down from the sides.

"What in the world…?" Knuckles breathed out, shivering at the sight.

"He…is not the same…" Chip muttered under his breath.

"Seriously," Wolf added, sickened, "it's like the hedgehog himself mutated into that. The nose though looks ridiculous."

The deity started to talk. "Emptiness…" he muttered, though everybody heard him clearly. "No life…around…"

Final Fantasy VIII – The Extreme

"What is he saying now?" Soren asked.

"The overall existence…is corrupted…" DSS muttered, slowly looking up from his spot. The group slowly took their positions. "I…only exist to…judge your exploits…"

"I-I'm scared…" Vector gulped.

"You all went through so much to reach here… I commend all of you," he said in a benevolent voice. Most of them only narrowed their eyes. "Fighting and making good things happen…with others… It must have been real nice to feel all that…"

"You're not making much sense saying all this now," Shadow said.

"But I am… I…am quite…proud of you all…" DSS said, his heavily-mutated face smiling a nightmarish smile. "In fact, because of you, I was able to become into the new god of this world… There is no greater reward I can think of to congratulate you. I feel so…so alive…"

"Enough of your foolish monologue," Meta Knight said. "It's clear you want to start this fight as soon as possible."

DSS looked worried. "But…I am really being grateful," he said, turning around. The dark blue tendrils floated away from them, but they all felt they were being watched. "Please…just hear me out this time… I can't really express how much I need to thank you…"

"Stop it!" Toon Link shouted. "How can we even trust a guy like you saying such things?"

"Perhaps I started to realize how foolish this is," DSS spoke softly. "I realize now that…this fight you want to have with me is a waste of time… That is why…I feel like telling you all this." He looked up into the upper mantle. "All the people up there are waiting for you to fix the planet from its chaotic state… You really shouldn't make them wait any longer, or else things might just go wrong the more time you waste. That is why… I want you to finish me off and get over this senseless fight."

Chip blinked in complete and utter bewilderment. Gulping, he asked, "A-are you…serious with this?" he asked. "Is there really any good in your heart?"

"Does he EVEN have a heart to begin with?" Samus asked annoyed."

DSS chuckled. "I never knew I had a heart…but it just recently appeared inside my titanic chest," he said. "And it's trying to tell me something important, that you must all make haste, or else…or else you are going to suffer a horrible fate down here. I…I really want to listen to what it is trying to say for once…"

Team Dark exchanged glances. "Yup, a lot of drama," Rouge said.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "So then, you wanna surrender now and let us win to heal the planet and complete Chip's mission?"

"LIKE HELL I WANT TO!" the deity screamed as he violently swung around, opening its huge claws at them. "I've never felt so alive before! This is just too awesome to pass up! I get to finally make you all my b*tches like it was supposed to from the very beginning!"

Everybody quickly assumed their battle positions. "I don't know if we can really make much of a dent in him!" Rouge said. "Should we find some sort of weak point?"

"Weak point! HA!" DSS laughed mockingly. "You're sure desperate if you wanna find a weak point in me! You know what? I'll let you do that…if you can even get to bury a pathetic sword into my flesh! LET THE PARTY BEGI-" Four lances of holy light suddenly struck his right eye. Granted, since he was a gargantuan monster, the lances looked like toothpicks. But the sudden yelp he caused made him fall back, covering the right portion of his head with a giant claw. "WHAT THE HELL?!" he demanded, using his good eye to look down upon the perpetrator.

Chris was standing there, his staff stretching out to the deity. Albeit most of them gave him expressions of approval, the World Traveler was shaking in his boots. The staff was even trembling. "Nice hit, kid," Wolf said. "…Except now you made him bloodthirsty."

"OH, YOU, I HAVE A BONE TO PICK UP WITH YOU," DSS said in a clearly angered tone. In the background, Mewtwo calmly teleported away from the battle, though his movement was severely hampered by the deity's dark presence. "I forgot you and I had some unfinished business to FINISH!" He violently roared and brought up his claw upon the small human. Screaming mentally, Chris was suddenly grabbed by the werehog. Sonic barely used his stretchable arms to pull himself, Chris, and Chip away from the heavy claw attack, destroying the rock platform they were on. "Cat and mouse, huh?"

Soren kept a sharp look, but he was the only one to notice Mewtwo was getting away. The Branded thought the Pokémon was ditching them behind, but something told him that it wasn't the case. Mewtwo did notice his look from far away. "(Soren, listen. I want you to use your wind magic to bring Chip and the emerald to me.)"

The Branded was surprised that the Psychic-type had used telepathy to call to his mind, but Soren decided to go along with the flow. "(You have some sort of plan in mind,)" he said.

"(The plan is for me to bring Chip and the emerald to the temple high above. However, if I stay close to that maniac, my teleportation won't reach long distances. If I can stay away far enough, I'll be able to teleport all the way back to the surface. It seems whatever dark presence that was plaguing the destroyed theme park is gone… He is focusing his whole attention on us.)"

Soren looked back to hear a roar from the deity. By the time he noticed, everybody had dispersed along the rock platforms to avoid DSS's claw attacks. "(Sounds like a plan, then. I shall try to get to that annoying thing and his furred beast. Fortunately, I can control the wind to do what you want me to do.)"

"(Very well. Make sure to avoid a confrontation at all costs.)"

The Branded nodded and turned to the left where the werehog was escaping from the giant claws. "STOP MOVING! I CAN'T KILL YOU THREE IN ONE SHOT!"

A charged Light Beam struck down his left eye. The powerful blow was enough to make the deity roar loudly in pain. Turning sharply to the right, DSS saw Samus. "Typical of big monsters," she said. "The eyes are always the weak point."

"SHUT IT, FEMME ROBOT!" DSS was clearly enraged at the point of the battle. He focused his attention on the bounty hunter by raining down ten tendrils of his back onto her. Samus quickly hopped away from the rock as one tendril after another tried to strike her down to the magma hundreds of miles down below.

"(Good, he's distracted,)" Soren thought to himself as he made his way to the werehog. To get his attention, in case his voice's loudness would reach the deity's ears, Soren picked a rock and flung it to Sonic's face.

"Oww," Sonic dully said, turning to face Soren. The werehog completely ignored the fact Chris and Chip were trying to get off from his back, but his busy arm kept a tight grip on them. "Did you turn evil or what?"

"Enough with the jokes," Soren said. "Mewtwo has an effective plan to deal with that monster."

The trio raised their faces. "We're all ears," the werehog said, eyes wide.

As Soren explained the situation, the rest of the team kept the monster busy without knowing what was going on behind the scene. Toon Link was climbing a set of rocks to shoot arrows from high up. Thinking that striking the monster's eyes was good enough to cause a lot of damage, the Outsetian reached a high enough height. He aimed for the gargantuan eyes down below. "Hope this works!" he muttered to himself, releasing a falling arrow.

DSS was still trying to murder Samus. When Wolf suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sliced one of his tendrils down with his claws (which put a lot of strain in Wolf's claws as he had put a lot of force into his move). The lupine grunted in pain, but the monster also grunted. "I give it to you that you're strong enough to pull that off!" the deity remarked until an arrow bounced off from his left eye. Grunting loudly, the deity looked up, locking eyes with Toon Link.

"That didn't work?!" Toon Link said shocked. He realized that the previous blows at his eyes were all light-based attacks. "Crap, I forgot!"

"YEAH, AND I FORGOT THERE WAS THIS ANNOYING LITTLE BRAT RUNNING 'ROUND!" As Toon Link screamed loudly, the deity mashed up the fingers of one claw to turn them into a deadly, long spike that went up. Toon Link launched his Hookshot into a far away rock just in time to avoid the impaling spike going through his old position.

Behind the deity's back, Team Dark took a mental note about the deity's weakness. "Light blows are a no-no for him, then," Rouge noted. "That is not good. I've seen only a few of them using light attacks. Our team is devoid of those."

"Perhaps I should go all out on his eyes…" Shadow trailed off, his eyes staring at the rings on his wrists.

Rouge saw the hedgehog reaching out for both rings. Gasping, she grabbed his shoulder. "No," she said, interrupting him. "Don't you lose a valuable chance to inflict as much damage in one go. I don't want you limping over across the rocks."

"It is advisable to wait for the right opportunity to strike down the enemy at full force," Omega said. "Data gathered so far tells me that the scaled body is extremely thick and unlikely to be easily pierced through. The eyes, however, display a weaker shell of thickness. Therefore, I theorize that constant damage in that area will produce some good results."

The bat smiled. "It sort of feels like cheating having you around," he said.

"I am perfection of Dr. Eggman's robots," Omega said, not even really showing off but stating it as a fact.

"Sure, sure, perfection," Rouge said. "So, what's the plan, Shads?"

"We can assume that a strong enough blow will hurt him on the eyes…" Shadow exchanged glances with his team, giving one last glance at the monster's back full of tendrils. "Ready to do some running on the monster's back?"

Rouge winked. "I like some adrenaline now and then," she said before the black hedgehog took their hands and jumped high enough from rock to rock to make a big leap at the backside of DSS.

Feeling quite a small push behind his back, DSS unsuccessfully twisted his head. "Hey, what's going on back there?" he asked, not receiving a reply. "Feels kinda itchy!"

Team Dark was now running among the tendrils behind the monster's spine. Shadow narrowed his eyes once the tendrils started acting up, rising up and aiming down at them from his point of view. Smirking, Shadow predicted the incoming tendrils trying to press them hard down onto the scaly skin of the deity. With impressive agility, the hedgehog and his team swiftly avoided getting struck down.

One tendril, though, made Shadow gasp. The unaccounted tendril was in a very convenient position to lash them away. "Sadly, you're not Mr. Perfect," Rouge said sighing, bracing herself for the blow.

It was then that Samus fired yet another charged Light Beam blow onto the monster's eyes. Roaring in pain, DSS lost focus of his tendrils for one bit, allowing Shadow to outrun the lashing tendril meant to slap him away. Taking advantage of the loss of focus, the black hedgehog dramatically increased his speed to zoom by the back and reach the top of the head. "Initiate Gamma formation!" Omega said.

"Oh, sweet," Rouge remarked as the trio leaped to the front area of the monster's face, making quite a huge leap that positioned them falling in front of the deity.

"What are those guys up to?" Roy asked, standing on the right side of the hulking monster.

Omega moved in front of the two, grabbing their hands this time. The robot started to spin madly into place to gain momentum for a powerful blow. "Releasing, now!" he announced as he shot both Shadow and Rouge to the eye DSS wasn't covering. Shadow curled into a madly fast Homing Attack while Rouge spun fast for a potent Drill Kick. The two almost instantly collided against the slimy eye's outline right on the same spot.

DSS started to feel the burn in his eyes till it turned into a very nagging feeling, as if a syringe burrowed deep into his being without even trying to cure anything. "AAAAAAAAAAAH! GET…OFF!" he roared.

The two teammates were then swatted away harshly by one giant claw. Shadow and Rouge both stood still in complete shock, their rather small bodies blowing out all of the air in their lungs as they were sent blasting off across the landscape of floating rocks. A long cloud of dust formed as their frames disappeared into the distance. The group was completely horrified.

Knuckles, in particular, looked pretty indignant. "ROUGE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He climbed up the rocks and glided down a pretty long distance to go check on the bat. Omega had landed back to safe ground, but he went to aid the echidna all the same.

During the commotion, Soren had explained everything to the trio. "This is our chance," Soren said.

Chip gulped and flew in front of him. He clutched the last Chaos Emerald Sonic gave to him. "I-I can try to fly as fast as I-"

The Branded didn't lose much time and instantly conjured a stream of fast wind that enveloped the imp. Soren barely saw Mewtwo's figure in the far-off distance. "You better act quickly or else we might end up like those two back there…"

Light Gaia looked worried for a moment but then looked serious. All traces of bravery quickly left his face as soon as Soren swung his arm hard, commanding the winds to shoot out fast to Mewtwo's direction. The imp went soaring across the space of floating rocks till he became a small frame. The Chaos Emerald luckily didn't fall down.

Far away on the other side of the battle, Mewtwo felt his incredible powers coming back to him at full force. "It always feels great to recover the full extent of my powers…" Grinning to himself, he turned to the battle to see Chip and the emerald being flung at his direction. Stretching his right hand out to the imp, Chip shone a blue color as the force of the wind vanished. He was then pulled safely next to Mewtwo. "Here you are."

"M-Mewtwo!" Chip said impressed. "I-I never got to do this, but I feel a very strong power coming from you!"

"Hmm, I assume your powers are coming back to you as well," Mewtwo said nodding. "There is no time to waste. We must teleport to the surface."

"Y-yeah! I need to call out to the Gaia Colossus, and fast!"

The two moved closer before Mewtwo used Teleport, disappearing from the inside of the planet.

Little did they know that DSS was keeping close tabs on the temple's grounds, even if he was busy fighting the group.

As soon as Mewtwo and Chip had reached the area nearby the temple itself, the real Dark Gaia inside of DSS started roaring madly within his mind. "The hell are you saying now?" DSS asked. "Somebody just reached the temple? AND THEY HAVE THE EMERALD AND THE PLUSH TOY? BUT HOW?" Furiously, he looked around to find the two missing people. Once he clarified that fact, DSS screamed. "YOU IMBECILES WERE DISTRACTING ME?! WELL, I'M SENDING A FEW PRESENTS FOR THOSE FOOLS!"

"Oh crud, he noticed!" Sonic muttered under his breath.

DSS laughed madly. "There we go! Hope they can get out of this one alive all alone by their lonesome selves!"

-Eggmanland-

The Deepest Reach

Both Mewtwo and Chip teleported safely in front of the temple area. The area around was now completely wrecked and almost unrecognizable, but the big entrance of the temple was across the hanging rocks over the deep abyss to the core of the planet. "W-we made it back!" Chip cheered, clutching to the emerald.

Mewtwo nodded in approval until he felt his powers disturbed. He clutched a hand to his face, feeling weak. "Don't give this nonsense again…" he muttered.

Chip, oblivious, took it as an offense. "Hey, let me be cheerful," he said, his back turned to a multitude of rising shadow copies of Sonic covering the entire perimeter between them and the temple. "You really need to smile truthfully more often because then you won't make many friends like I d-"

"You idiot, not you! Them!"

The good deity turned around. His eyes instantly dilated in fear. A multitude of evil smirks were flashed at them. "…Thinking back, this was kind of suspiciously…e-easy…" The shadow clones slowly moved closer to them. Mewtwo wasn't so sure if he could handle all that many clones at once.

Recalling that there was a small chance to use that move…

Mewtwo closed his eyes and called forth the power of the Smash Ball. The bar had recharged due to the battle taking place down below. Sighing to himself, the Psychic type launched himself to the fray.

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

"It looks like somebody already used the Overlimit," Dr. Kawashima noted. "Mewtwo is fighting up there by himself."

"Oh no, this is bad, really bad," Sonic commented as he guarded Chris, who tried to launch Holy Lance onto the busy deity trying to pick a target. The World Traveler failed to concentrate hard enough, cursing his luck.

DSS felt a small arrow of light dig into his right eye, but this one only bugged him a little. His eyes darted behind a formation of rocks where Pit was seen tossing arrows as fast as he could. "C'MERE, LITTLE ANGEL!" DSS said, smashing his giant right claw into the rocks to catch the angel.

Pit gasped and tried to glide down to another place, but the claw got him in a very tight grip that was just begging to break his skeleton. As he screamed in pain, spores of light gathered on top of the deity's wrist and shot down with extreme force. DSS cried out in pain and released the angel, letting Pit fall on a rock as he tried to recover.

"Who in the HELL did that to me?!" DSS demanded, only for another shower of potent light to smack down on his forehead. The light even managed to damage him without going for the eyes. "Quit DOING that, whoever you are!" His eyes then locked onto Meta Knight, standing far away from the battle while using Megidola.

"(This spell is quite fast and effective,)" Meta Knight thought, only hearing his rather heavy breathing, "(but it takes up quite a lot of energy out of me…)"

"Badass guy going down!" DSS announced as he pushed his entire body towards the Star Warrior. Bravely, Kirby appeared on his path and made him stop by extending one tubby arm. The deity glared down at the puffball. "WHO DARES?! The pink marshmallow?!"

While failing to get another Holy Lance in, Chris shook his head in horror after hearing the evil monster. He didn't know what Kirby was going to do. "H-he's too young to die! N-not Kirby!" Lucas shouted from somewhere in the space of rocks.

"OUTTA MY WAY!" DSS roared, his eyes practically several inches away from a defiant Kirby.

A closer look at Kirby would reveal that he looked quite stuffed in the mouth. Kirby closed his eyes and released a rather huge star projectile that crashed with great force against the deity's damaged eyes. The blow was so strong that it pushed DSS several feet away, all the while roaring in pain. The puffball landed back on a rock and cheered with a small dance. "Very well done, Kirby," Meta Knight remarked under his breath. "Taking advantage of the commotion to suck up the floating rocks…"

"Beware the nice ones, indeed," Soren noted.

Getting a small ray hope in Kirby's actions, Lucas mustered up his courage and charged at the deity. He passed a rock which had Diddy on it, hearing him say, "Yet another brave soul goes to get a hit. It's do or die…" Lucas suddenly got scared and stopped running.

"…Why do you need to say that now?" the blond asked, clearly irritated at the spider monkey. "I was actually f-feeling brave for once!"

"…Oh! Don't mind me. I'm just being dramatic, is all," Diddy said, showing a cheeky smile. Lucas could only groan, recovering some courage to continue charging forward. As Lucas approached the monster, Diddy took out a banana peel, staring at it. His face fell. "Not really thinking here that this is gonna do some good against somebody whose body is attached to the core of the planet…"

"H-hey, big meanie!" Lucas tried so hard to taunt the monster.

DSS turned and "smiled". "Thank you, that's such a nice description," he said.

Lucas shook his head and shot out from it a PK Thunder. Narrowing his eyes, DSS merely swatted the sphere of electricity into nothingness. Lucas grunted and launched another, still getting the same treatment.

"You know, eventually, I'm gonna get bored and eat you like Dr. Eggface," DSS told Lucas, swatting Toon Link nearly a mile away as if he was nothing. The blond gasped loudly and used PK Freeze. The mist of ice quickly flew to the deity as it charged in power. "Please! You're really despera-" As he tried to block the mist's path, it slipped through his scaly fingers and crashed at full force against his right eye, creating a patch of thick ice. "AAH! I HATE BLONDIES!"

The blond kid smiled and preened a bit. Samus then appeared next to him and fired a fully charged Light Beam, turning into a Lightblast. The ice covering the eye shattered brutally, making the deity roar. "Nice, that seemed to be very effective," Samus remarked. "Do you think you can pull it off again?"

"Y-yes, I can try," Lucas said. He was feeling much better now.

"We should tag-team, then," Samus said, "but I'm afraid I'm running low of light ammo…"

"Oh…"

Samus grabbed his hand and pulled him away, not noticing the newly panicked look on Lucas's face for what she had said at the end.

DSS regained his composure, looking around to see the Smashers dispersing all around his titanic body. "You're all like little rats trying to outsmart the big bad kitty!" he said. "And why the hell does it feel like I'm not even strong enough to resist all your puny attacks?"

Dark Gaia inside of him roared, trying to convey a message while also cursing the evil hedgehog.

"(Better not say this out loud to not make them feel like they're winning, but… I'M NOT FULLY POWERED YET?! What do I have to do to achieve full power?)" The real deity roared, still cursing the evil spirit. Just in time, he dodged a slicing energy air coming from Kirby's Final Cutter. "(Absorb the werehog's essence? Why him? Is there some relation between the two of you?)"

The deity explained to the hedgehog that Dr. Eggman's machine had the accident of releasing energy from Dark Gaia into the blue hedgehog, hence why there was a transformation that changed him whenever night came around. In fact, Dark Gaia's recovery time would've been greatly reduced if that part of him hadn't been ripped out from his very soul.

"(Okay, I kinda got all that, but it doesn't really explain why the fuck he can even turn into a wolf,)" the evil hedgehog said. Dark Gaia roared slightly. "(…Yeah, I thought you didn't know either… WHO CARES! I need to find myself a tasty treat among these rats…)" He blocked a Megidola blow from Meta Knight with his claw, but the force of impact hurt him. "Hey, werehog! Wanna get rid of your werehog form?" he called out, chuckling darkly.

A brightened Sonic raised his head out from behind a rock, but there was something wrong about the proposition. Most of the Smashers thought it was weird that the deity wished to do Sonic a favor. The werehog himself absolutely didn't sense what was wrong, blinded by the fact he wanted to get rid of the werehog body once and for all. After failing yet another Holy Lance, Chris looked suspicious. "Of course! That'll make the battle easier for me!" Sonic said, getting the deity's attention.

Chris blinked and tapped the werehog's shoulder. Sonic saw the look of concern on the teen's face.

"This one's a sucker," Sonic said with a wink. "He's not gonna know what hit him once I'm back at being the old me."

Chris thought that Sonic was easily being blinded for his wish to become a normal hedgehog once again. In truth, the Smashers that noticed the odd proposal didn't even think it was going to happen that way. Maybe DSS wanted to get Sonic out from his hiding spot to eat him in one go.

Some of them gasped once Sonic went to the deity's direction with a smirk on his face, not before placing a confused Roy next to Chris to keep him safe. Although it was a very thoughtful move on Sonic's part, Chris broke into a run and tried to catch up with the werehog by double jumping as carefully as possible, leaving a confused Roy behind. "H-hey, it's dangerous out there!" Roy said, grunting and following after the two. "(Sonic is being tricked and he's not even noticing it! I knew his desire to become a hedgehog again was strong, but there's got to be some common sense in him!)"

"Sonic, what are you doing?!" called out an indignant Meta Knight, still trying to recover his breath after using another Megidola. "Don't be such a fool and fall back!"

"Yes, YES! I really AM gonna do it!"

And the deity slowly opened its grotesque mouth.

-Eggmanland-

Deepest Reach

As the battle down below continued, minutes before, Mewtwo engaged into heated combat against the horde of evil Sonics by launching Psychic Finisher. Although he could only throw ten Psycho Cuts, Mewtwo tried his best to pull in as many panicked hedgehogs as possible. Chip was closely hovering next to the Psychic type. "Y-you're pulling it off!" Chip said amazed, only to see three smirking clones shooting themselves with Homing Attack towards Mewtwo.

Instead of giving Mewtwo a reasonable and helpful note, Chip opted for the overused choice.

"A-AHH!"

Mewtwo, though, quickly darted his eyes to the shadows and instantly used a free hand to use Confusion and pull them into the vortex of Psycho Cuts in midair. His senses having being heightened by the Over Limit power, Mewtwo chuckled to himself as the clones that never realized quick enough about him having an automatic counterattack hopelessly launched themselves into his Final Smash. After a horde of around fifty clones were pulled into the circling Psycho Cuts, Mewtwo said the word while stretching out his right hand, closing it abruptly.

"You pitiful individuals shall receive NO mercy."

And the Psycho Cuts stopped circling, quickly slicing inwards inside the circles. The fifty clones all had painful expressions as they were sliced into bits, vanishing in thin air. Mewtwo's rainbow aura then dissipated, putting him at a disadvantage against the rest of the horde. In truth, he only managed to defeat a fourth of the army. "N-no, there are still too many of 'em!" Chip said.

Mewtwo grunted. "I highly doubt my chances of survival now that I'm weaker around this malignant darkness…" He stared at the smirking clones until something hit his mind. From behind, he took out a Starman. "The inventory is shared among all of us… This might just be what we need."

Just as the idea of plowing through the hedgehogs sounded perfect, Chip overheard a buzzing sound coming from somewhere. "Hey, what's that sound?" Chip asked.

The psychic heard the sound coming from above. Since he couldn't quite sense bodies with the evil hedgehogs, Mewtwo could only guess. "A sound that might just complicate things…" Narrowing his eyes, Mewtwo saw a tunnel that was slowly being illuminated by… "An airplane?"

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIC!" came a very indignant voice that echoed through the engines of the airplane. As the airplane got closer, Mewtwo could see Tails riding the red airplane.

"Tails?" Mewtwo wondered aloud. The army of hedgehogs looked up and saw the two-tailed fox descending at high speed.

"I'm not gonna lose a chance to help you out!" Tails shouted, taking out some three grenades from his seat. "(Hope these help to make a difference. They're rushed prototypes, but there's no time to do some tests first…)"

Mewtwo and Chip saw the fox tossing three grenades into the fray of the battle. Upon contact with the ground, the grenades did not create an explosion. The grenades burst into blinding lights that forced the entire squad of evil hedgehogs to scream in pain, as if the light from the grenades was hurting them all even if they shielded themselves. In fact, Mewtwo, covering himself from the light as well, could see that the horde slowly vanished, the piercing light of the grenades stabbing their bodies.

In ten seconds, the army of clones was gone, and Tails pulled over to where Mewtwo was. Judging the worried look on his face, Tails lamented not helping the real blue hedgehog. "Oh, I thought Sonic was down here… I-I mean, it's good that I made it in time…" he looked around, not finding the rest, "…kind of? Where is everybody?"

Mewtwo stored the Starman away. "There's no time to lose. We must enter the temple." He and Chip hovered to the entrance of the temple. Tails gasped and followed them using the Tornado, flying close by. "How did you manage to make it all the way down here?"

"I was keeping tabs on the monitor the whole time like I always do," Tails explained. "The sensors put around Dr. Eggman's park suddenly ran out of energy like an hour ago, but I couldn't get a clear visual of the underground area. Like half an hour later, we all saw a clear picture of the depths thanks to me hacking into the camera system… I was lucky the security system of the park had some life left." The trio made it to the temple. "When I didn't see any of you anywhere, I got worried, so Master Hand helped me to get ready by going back to my workshop and use the Tornado. The grenades you saw there were a very hard prototype I designed to help fight those monsters… I have a few grenades left with me. I think we can still use them to fight… Wait, where is everyone?"

"They're all fighting down below over the planet's core," Mewtwo said, making Tails gasp.

"My brother, he woke up some time earlier," Chip said. "But that spirit inside Sonic somehow got to my brother, and he managed to take over his body!"

"T-that can't be true!" Tails tried to deny. "How could that happen?"

"It doesn't matter," Mewtwo said as they arrived at the inner sanctum of the temple. "We must give power back to the final temple." He grabbed the emerald from Chip's hands and quickly placed it on the pedestal while Tails landed a few feet away. The temple then became filled with life as it returned the power into the emerald as well. As the walls and the drawings on them shone, a rumbling followed until it came to a sudden halt.

Chip groaned as Mewtwo picked the emerald. "H-hey, how come nothing happened?"

The ancient text on top of the pedestal shone. Looking up, the trio saw a stream of light coming out of it. Feeling drawn to it, Chip carefully backed away in defiance. "What is that?" Tails asked, until it stretched itself out and shot to Chip, absorbing him into it. "C-Chip!"

The imp gave one small yelp before the light pulled him inside the temple. Both Mewtwo and Tails exchanged glances right as the temple received an aftershock.

Little did they know that all the temples scattered across the worlds reacted the same way.

Final Fantasy VIII – The Mission

Final Fantasy IV

-Blue Planet-

Outside the Holoska Temple

Edward had taken upon himself to set an exploration camp outside the frozen temple. The exploration team was just finishing setting the camp, with the dutiful king of Damcyan leading it. "In a few minutes, we will begin researching this ominous temple," Edward said nodding. "I hope that my dear friends can be helped with whatever I can do to help their cause. Too bad this feels like a hobby judging the amount of tasks I have to do for the restoration of the world…"

A sudden trembling alarmed the entire camp as the glaciers supporting the Holoska Temple broke apart. While men were screaming, Edward, shocked, saw the temple slowly rising up from its position.

"What the…" Edward breathed out as a strong gust of wind flew out from the temple, as if some force had taken over it. As mist from the ice escaped through the cracks, the temple uplifted into midair; floating up before the exploration team. The king of Damcyan let go of his jaw for a bit, amazed at the event. "What is going on?"

Pokémon Colosseum

-Pyrite Town-

Suburbs

The sudden earthquake that took place in the town of thieves caused many habitants to run out from their homes and stare at the floating structure of the Apotos Temple hovering in midair, across the western canyon.

It was around that time that Wes, Rui, Espeon, and Umbreon were about to part ways by buying items from the local market. The four stared at the looming temple in surprise, although Espeon could sense an odd feeling of calmness from the temple. "W-Wes!" Rui said. "Isn't that the temple in The Under we visited last time?"

"Yeah…" Wes trailed off. "I wonder… Is this Red's doing?"

"(There really is nothing to fear, though,)" Espeon thought. "(I don't feel particularly threatened… What about you, Umbreon?)"

"(No, I don't feel threatened either,)" Umbreon said, as they all stared at the floating structure.

Final Fantasy VII

-Wutai Village-

Kisaragi Mansion

Cloud and his team were currently taking a small rest from their journey to the north in Wutai until the sudden shaking of the earth made them all look outside the windows from each one of their rooms. The looming shadow of the Adabat Temple floating over Da Chao Mountain had alarmed the population. "What is going on now?" Cloud said.

"Crap! I knew that fishy temple would spell bad news to my home's culture!" Yuffie said, until she realized that the panicked tourists outside her window were all evacuating Wutai in a rush, leaving the native residents behind. "…Would you look at that! Good things happen to good Yuffie!" she said smiling.

"You are so damn f%^$#d up in the head," Cid wisely commented, smoking a cigarette.

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time

-Trading Town of Peterny-

Workshop

Roger was "busy" trying to catch a small nap as he "worked" at his station along with the insufferable Chilico moving across the table. Once his tired eyes saw the shadow of the Spagonia Temple outside the window, he screamed and slammed his hands on the desk. "FAYT!"

Fayt, writing a book, got startled by the yell along with the rest of the people working in the workshop. When Roger pointed outside with a shaking finger, Fayt stared out of the window. "What is that?" he asked, mildly breathless.

Sophia gasped and covered her mouth as she said, "Isn't that the direction where they found the temple inside the aquatic garden?"

"Maybe those maggots are up to something," Albel said, mildly surprised at the phenomenon.

Peppita clasped her hands as she stared at the floating temple. "Please, let Fox be okay…"

Final Fantasy X

-Spira-

Outside Zanarkand Ruins

Before the group could face off against Sin, Tidus had requested to see the Chun-nan Temple one more time to see if it was standing. He wanted to do Marth a favor by making sure it was still standing with the phoenix in it. The blond teen had somehow made a friendly bond with the mythical creature. "Hey, phoenix!" Tidus called out to the Gaia Phoenix, who was standing in front of the temple itself. "Things are good around here?"

Auron shook his head, bewildered. "I have no idea how you managed to befriend that bird," he said.

Tidus winked at him. "It's true what they say about the stomach being useful to reach the heart," he said just as he tossed a bag of seeds to the big bird, which caught it with its beak and swallowed it.

"Maybe we should give it a cage!" Rikku suggested.

"We can't keep the little birdie!" Wakka complained before an earthquake took place. "Whoa! W-what's going on?"

The group saw how the entire area tied to the temple itself seemed to be rising up. Each one of them quickly turned around and ran to the ruins, as the Gaia Phoenix stood up and chirped loudly. It looked like it was waiting for this moment to happen eventually.

"What's happening?" Yuna asked, being carried by Kimahri on his arms. They all looked back as the area of the temple was uplifted from the ground, floating in midair as it gained height.

"Dunno, but Marth's gonna kill me if the temple gets randomly destroyed!" Tidus said.

"Perhaps this isn't really something to worry about…" Lulu muttered to herself, rubbing her chin.

Megaman Legends

-Kattelox Island-

Uptown

As Megaman walked out from the TV station after participating in a special show, an earthquake took place, cause panic among the rich people of the city. "W-what the?!" Megaman looked around in shock. "An earthquake?!"

"Megaman!" Roll called over from the walkie-talkie. "Are you there? Respond, please!"

"Roll, yeah, I'm fine," he said as he ran away from the building in case one decided to collapse. "There's a sudden earthquake taking place!"

"I know!" she said. "Hold on. My radar can locate where it's taking place… Huh?"

"What is it? Found something?"

"M-Megaman, it's coming from the direction of Lake Jyun," Roll revealed. "It's happening around the area where the guys and you found that temple within the sub-gate! …Oh goodness, something is coming out from the lake!"

Megaman gasped and ran over to the docks, thinking it was the work of the Bonne Family. Instead, what greeted him from the overlooking point of the dock was the looming shadow of the floating Shamar Temple. The big ripples of water made it evident that it had come out. "T-the temple is rising into the air!" Megaman shouted.

"I-I see it from the radar, too!" Roll said. "I wonder if this is their work…"

"Whatever it is, we shouldn't intervene unless it's endangering the people of the island," Megaman said, staring at the temple intently as people gathered and saw the event from his position.

-Smash Mansion-

Front Entrance

After an earthquake took place around the area of the mansion, the guests of the house ran out to avoid the chance of the building falling down (though Master Hand made the mansion resistant to shakes of the earth). As the Smashers and guests ran out, they saw the Mazuri Temple rising into the air from far away. "The temple is rising up!" C. Falcon said.

"They're fighting," Master Hand said. "They surely are fighting Dark Gaia."

"Please, let them win the fight!" Amy said, clasping her hands. "They gotta save our home!"

Lucario felt a bit of strain in his recovering heart. He had wished to accompany Tails and aid Chris, but he felt that he would be a hindrance if he were to have a heart attack. Mario had advised him about what to do. He only narrowed his eyes and made a fist to his side. "Chris, please…win this one for me and all of us. And…please come back alive."

To their collective surprise, the Mazuri Temple vanished in a bright light, leaving a small trace of the sparkles of light lingering for a bit. "It-it vanished!" Jigglypuff noted.

"More like it teleported away," Nana said.

"C'mon! We gotta see if we can get some kind of visual on the fight itself!" Popo suggested. The people present agreed and ran back to the command room. Nobody raised an objection due to having dragged the musicians into the audience as well.

Sonic Unleashed

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

Boss Battle Song 1

The party, completely unaware of what was going on high above, was now trying to hold the giddy werehog from reaching Dark Gaia. As DSS opened his mouth wide to absorb the hedgehog's essence, Samus and Lucas had positioned high above the rocks. With a nod from Samus, Lucas used PK Freeze and forced it all the way on top of the deity's right eye, freezing a small portion that was later shattered with a Lightblast. "AAH!" DSS roared in pain. "NOT THE DAMN EYE AGAIN!"

Samus stared at the gauge of her arm cannon, noticing a crucial fact. "Oh no," she muttered.

"W-what?" Lucas shyly asked.

"That last Lightblast drained out enough ammo out of me," she sadly informed. "I can only fire a couple of Light Beams."

"N-no," Lucas started trembling, to which Samus placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't get scared," she said. "I know that we will somehow come out victorious."

Lucas slightly smiled until he gasped and pushed Samus out of the way from the deity swiping a giant claw blow at them. Samus' eyes widened as she saw the blond boy rocketing towards the south, crashing against rocks as he was seen landing on one without his consciousness.

"LUCAS!" Samus yelled, landing on her back on top of another floating rock. "You'll pay for that…" she trailed off.

Lucas was thankfully revived by a shining light. Far away from his location, both Shadow and Rouge had been revived by the same light due to having joined the team for the time being. Knuckles and Omega were relieved to see them both okay. "What was…that just now?" Rouge asked as the four tried to return to the fight.

"It's some kind of effect that the guys from the mansion have that lets them have a second chance in a battle, but they only come back with half of their health," Knuckles explained. "Well, that's what I was told."

Rouge shrugged. "Yeah, I feel kind of wonky still," she said. "That monster is just so dangerous…"

"One swatting motion is enough to put us out," Shadow informed. "We must be careful least we wish to fall down to our deaths."

Back to the battle, Sonic had reached DSS to the dismay of the group. "Hey, big guy!" he called out. "I'm ready to get this werehog outta me!"

DSS regained his composure and looked down, pleased with the werehog. "Alright, hold on right there as I absorb you," he said, opening his gargantuan mouth.

Chris then caught up with the werehog at last, trying to reason with him that DSS was trying to pull something. Sonic snarled a bit at him. "Hey, Chris, just let him do his job to get over with this!" Sonic said.

"Yeah, spoilsport, outta the way!" DSS said, picking the World Traveler with his claw. Sonic gasped and tried to set him free by stretching his arms to the scaly claw. The World Traveler screamed, or at least seemed to. "Off, you!" the deity said, pulling his claw away from the werehog's reach.

"HEY! Let him go right now!" Sonic demanded, snarling and making fists.

"Only if you agree to my demands!" DSS said, before two banana peels fell on top of his head. He looked up to see Diddy using his jetpack to fly. "Oh great, a flying monkey."

Diddy thought all this time that the jetpack could only serve him as a triple jump of sorts, but he was delighted to know that it served just fine. "How do you like that?" Diddy asked, showing off, only to be swatted away by the deity's claw. Just like the others, Diddy bumped along the rocks until stopping at one, complete out of cold till a light shone down on him.

"That was unnecessarily anti-climatic," Soren commented, getting the attention of the monster. Grunting, he felt pressured at fighting such a huge foe. "How shall I do this, now…"

"You guys plain suck, admit it!" DSS taunted, not seeing a silent Roy falling from above with the Sword of Seals clearly pointing down at an upper region of his eyes. Roy was actually charging up an attack and, as soon as he had landed, unleashed an explosive blow of fire that burned deep into the monster's eye. "HOLY CRAP, STOP IT!" he said, mildly slapping Roy without using much force.

Roy landed on a rock and looked up, mildly dazed by the slap. "Yes, a strong enough blow seems to do the trick on him…"

"But sadly, that wasn't enough to set Chris free!" Toon Link reminded him from above.

Wolf grunted. He had been purposely avoiding fighting directly, as he thought that he wasn't going to do much damage by himself. Suddenly, an idea struck his mind. He took out the Block Meal. "This will supposedly make me invisible if I ate it… Hmm, I think I can do something useful with this." He stared at the block till he ate it slowly. The lupine slowly turned invisible until he disappeared from sight. "Heh… Now let's have some fun."

Without even suspecting the lupine, DSS never saw Wolf climbing up the rocks and landing on the top of his head. Due to the thickness of his body, DSS never felt him. The lupine smirked and then moved quickly to the region of the eyes. Taking out his Blaster, he impaled the knife into the eye and managed to burrow it deep, causing DSS to yell. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly, trying to swat Wolf away.

Wolf had not only turned invisible, but he was intangible. Pleased with the fact, the lupine grabbed the hilt of his Blaster and pulled down hard to leave a very visible scar on the monster's eye. DSS was left helpless, trying to push Wolf away but to no avail. The lupine kept going all the way down. DSS, out of pure horror, tried to teleport away, but the pain coursing through his vision made him lose a lot of focus. He started swinging his claws wildly, letting go of Chris.

Sonic gasped and saw the barely conscious Chris soaring through the air. Using his stretchable arms, the werehog quickly climbed up and gained enough pulling force to propel high, managing to catch Chris without trouble. Grinning to himself, Sonic pulled them both back to a floating rock. He looked down to Chris flashing a small smile.

Sonic felt guilty and looked worried. "I'm…I'm sorry, Chris," he spoke softly. "I was just so…so delusional about ridding myself from this fur body suit…"

Chris nodded in comprehension, passing out on his arms.

"NO!" Sonic shouted loudly. His worries soon were eased once a shining light gently touched the teen's body, reviving him for a second chance at the fight. "Phew…" He put the teen back to his feet. "Nice to see you still standing. I got really worried there…"

Chris sighed as well, before putting up a serious look and staring down at the screaming deity trying to find the invisible lupine. Wolf had reached the lower area of the eye, but he burrowed his claws into the eye's flesh to climb up, all the while impaling the Blaster's knife into the left eye. "Another Over Limit is ready!" Kawashima said.

Seeing that there was an opening to attack, Chris turned to Sonic. The werehog instantly knew what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, Over Limit should be used by me here," he said.

Back down below, Wolf had climbed the eye all the way up with extreme perseverance. As he was just about to make another scar on the eye, his body became tangible, no longer invisible. "Shit!" he cursed, but then he took a tight grip on the Blaster and dove down once more, causing even more pain to the deity.

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" DSS roared loudly as Wolf moved all the way down. It was just too painful for DSS to even reach out for the lupine. Chuckling to himself for a job well done, Wolf pushed himself away with a free leg and landed back on a rock.

A mighty howl suddenly echoed from high above. DSS's left eye had been badly damaged as he tried so hard to open it. Looking up, his eyes narrowed after seeing a rabid, glowing werehog with no pupils stretching out his sharp claws at him. "GONNA GO MAD, MAD, MAD!" Sonic howled loudly as he landed with great force on the right eye area, his claws literally piercing through the thick layer of the eye.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" DSS was nearly incapacitated as the rabid werehog began to do the same thing Wolf did to deal as much damage, only that Sonic was clearly giving his very best to rip out the eye's flesh with extreme brutality.

Shadow and the others had reached the battle, seeing the werehog having a wild time on the deity. "Hmph, that hedgehog is actually pulling it off nicely," Shadow remarked with a grin.

"Y-yeah!"

The black hedgehog's group turned to the right where Vector was hiding away from the battle. He was shaking too much that it seemed like there was an earthquake in the little rock he was occupying. "How long have you been hiding?" Rouge asked.

"S-since the beginning…" Vector admitted, but then he forced a tough look. "B-but we're winning! Somehow! So that's good enough for me to cheer you all on!"

"…You're pathetic," Shadow simply said.

"I know, sir," Vector admitted, making Knuckles shake his head in shame.

DSS suddenly grabbed the werehog, still latched to his right eye. "GOT YA!" DSS said.

"Oh no, this was just too good to be true," Samus said.

But she was wrong on that assumption. DSS pulled the werehog off his eye, but Sonic was smirking evilly as his arms stretched to unbelievable distances as DSS pulling him far away. The group gasped when they saw the claws were still burrowed deep into the flesh of the eyes even as the werehog was getting off. With a mighty pull and a howling roar, the werehog heavily grinded his sharp claws along a vertical line all across the deity's eye. DSS kept making things worse on his end, pulling the werehog further away. The pulling only made Sonic's slashing blow all the worse. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"CLAW FOR CLAW," Sonic yelled, his burrowed claws separating forcibly from the monster's eye, "EYE FOR EYE!"

As everyone in the space of rocks covered their ears from the deity's piercing, screeching roar, Soren grunted. "I can't tell if I should comment on that bad line or not right now," he said.

DSS's eyes had been rendered useless as he tossed the snarling werehog away. The deity turned blind. "AAAAH! I CAN'T SEE SHIT!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, not seeing the toothy grin Sonic flashed at him as the Over Limit ended, the glowing aura vanishing.

"W-way to go!" Lucas cheered. "T-that should really put things in our favor!"

DSS managed to overhear the blond. He forced a chuckle. "SO WHAT IF I CAN'T SEE? At least I can do…THIS!" He swung his arms wide open as a screeching sound echoed through the air. The group covered their ears and felt that their bodies were being pulled…

"U-uah!" Toon Link yelped once he saw his feet being pulled by a shadow circle that had formed below his feet. Frantically trying to get himself off, he saw the rest of the group facing the same.

Everybody found themselves looking at pure darkness…

"E-everyone?" Lucas asked, looking around. "W-where are we?!"

"Hey! Don't shout at my ear!" Diddy yelled back. "Wait, you're right next to me?"

"U-uh, yes, but I can't see you at all…"

The group was floating in some kind of dark void that completely blinded their vision, despite the fact all of them were floating right next to each other. In front of them, a line of purple zigzagged to the left and to the right, revealing a huge, long mouth that slowly opened up. "Taste dark breath!" DSS proclaimed as he fully opened his mouth, everyone now able to look at each other.

"Watch out!" Soren shouted.

From the mouth, agonizing sounds of monsters roared out as countless of thin streams of dark and purple engulfed everybody, along with black smoke that felt poisonous just breathing it. The group's screams and yells slowly died out as each one of them was incapacitated. The huge mouth then closed shut with a loud sound, and the dark void pushed them all back to the battlefield over the core.

Sin's Darkness

Obliterates all enemies with the planet's mass of negative thoughts, inflicting poison and dealing massive dark damage.

The attack had proved to be devastating. Everyone were tossed back to their positions through the shadow circles, all knocked out. The only one who barely managed to survive the hit was Wolf, having received a small resistance from darkness since the start, but he was succumbing to poison. "U-ugh…" Wolf trailed off.

"How the hell did you manage to survive?!" DSS bellowed, hearing the lupine. The deity was still disoriented with his weakened eyes.

Since some Smashers hadn't been knocked out twice already, only Sonic, Samus, Kirby, Roy, Meta Knight, Toon Link, Soren, Knuckles, Omega, and Vector. Everybody else was out of commission. "This…isn't good…" Samus said gasping.

"We're severely handicapped on both sides…" Soren said, dusting off his robe. "(His enormous size would prove to be a real pain if he realizes tha-)"

"I'M SICK OF THIS!" DSS roared. "I've been going easy on all of you only because I wanted to toy around, but as always, I underestimate what you can do…" He started swinging his claws around without any sense of direction. The rocks surrounding him were shattered very easily. "I don't need my eyes to destroy whoever is in my way! I'M JUST TOO DAMN BIG, AFTER ALL!"

"N-no, no!" Toon Link said as everybody spread out further away from the rampaging deity. "I don't see how we can defeat him this time!"

"It's simple! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN WIN THIS ANYMORE!" DSS laughed maniacally.

Meta Knight then realized a crucial fact. The ones who were already knocked out twice remained behind. He had only noticed that Sonic was carrying Chris and Kirby. "The others are still back! We must rescue them!" he ordered.

"Our chances of survival are getting smaller by the second as it is," Omega stated, making Vector scream bloody murder. "The only thing we can do is stale for time."

"Stale for time for what?" Soren asked. "What else is there we can do?" He looked up and remembered Mewtwo. "…If they are still alive up there…they need to hurry…"

A rumbling sound came from behind Sonic as he leaped from rock to rock, trying to save Chris and Kirby from getting killed. Looking over his shoulder, the werehog gasped when he saw the deity charging straight at him. "Whoever's in my path, I'm not feeling sorry!" he joked.

Sonic gritted his fangs and tried to accelerate his pacing, but the deity quickly gained up on him. Closing his eyes and gritting his fangs even harder, the werehog closed his eyes as he made one last leap…

…

The entire group was suddenly teleported far away from the rampaging zone without much explanation. The deity was blindly charging at anything without ever feeling their presences.

A few miles away, the entire group found themselves standing on top of a flat surface of stone. Looking around, it was as if they were standing in the middle of a big clearing surrounded by stone pillars supporting roofs of stone. On the center of the floor, some unknown glyph covered the very center.

"What in the…" Soren trailed off, shocked to see where they were. "What did just happen?"

"We seem to have teleported away…" Meta Knight muttered, trying to catch his breath.

"But how?" Knuckles asked, until everyone turned around and saw Mewtwo and Tails running up to where they were. "Tails?"

"Tails?" Sonic said confused.

"Sonic, everyone!" Tails said relieved. "You're all okay! …Well, most of you, anyway, but none of you seems to be really dying."

Mewtwo crossed his arms. Sonic thought he was being smug as always. "Good, we made it in time," he said. "That whole rumbling was taking quite some time."

"Wait… So that means…" Sonic stepped forward and stared up at the big structure that loosely resembled a head with glowing green eyes. "Holy hell, Chip! You did it!"

Sure enough, the head-like structure looked like it was nodding. "H-hey, everybody!" Chip called out within the head. "We did it! We pieced all the temples together to make the Gaia Colossus! You're all standing on the top part, safe from that monster."

"Huh…" Soren trailed off. "I can see it and barely believe this is actually happening."

"No need to be so negative…" Chip said. "After we restored the energy to the last temple, all of the other temples left their resting places and teleported together just below Eggman's theme park. From there, the Gaia Colossus was formed, and the whole extent of my powers came back to me… I was the one who sensed all of you fighting so I decided to teleport everybody to this safe spot."

"Phew…" Toon Link said, sighing and sitting down. "Things are just crazy as they are, but at least there's some hope left to win this fight…"

"Pfft, it's okay now," Chip said chuckling. "Even though DSS is controlling my brother's body, he hasn't reached his full powers yet for some reason. In the state he is, I can knock out some sense into his thick skull!" The Gaia Colossus smacked its stone fists together, causing a tremor that made most of them lose their footing. "O-oops, sorry… Let me make that area you're standing on unshakeable… There."

Sonic grinned. "Chip, he can only reach his full power if he absorbs my werehog essence," he said. "I'm…really pissed for saying this, but we're gonna have to look somewhere else to get rid of my transformation without making this boss fight any harder than it is now."

"I see…" Chip trailed off, unsure. "Well, no matter… While you guys recover on that spot, I'm gonna go and start pummeling him. It's about time I fought for myself!"

"You're just confident because you're a giant made out of stone," Samus pointed out.

"H-heheh, yeah, feeling big usually gives you lots of confidence…"

"Will you please stop bragging and fight?" Soren asked. "We'll try to heal the others as soon as we can just in case something goes awfully wrong during your fight."

"Nothing will go wrong!" And with that, the colossus advanced forward to the site DSS was blindly destroying. The group meanwhile tried to nurse the unconscious ones back to health.

As DSS was busy shattering the expanse of rocks around himself, a glowing green fist collided hard against his face. "W-what the heck?!" he said loudly, only to receive a potent uppercut that made him bite his own tongue. Dark Gaia, furiously, started to point out the facts to him. "T-they managed to restore the power to the last temple?!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Chip said. "DSS, you've been scaring me way too many times, but not tonight! I'm fully powered up to give you your just desserts!"

The evil deity groaned aloud. "Aw, come on! The plushie is giving me the beatdown this time?!" A fist knocked him aside. "AAH!"

Dark Gaia, as much as he hated to admit it, said that it was over for them. He complained to DSS that he shouldn't have toyed around with the group and instead went straight to kill them all for good. In a loss of words, DSS said, "YOU SHOULD'VE SAID S-"

Music stops

Chip delivered one final uppercut to the evil deity's chin, snapping it out from its neck. Lifeless, the dark head went spinning out of control high above the space of rocks. The Gaia Colossus stretched out its gargantuan arms to the sides and fired off a beam of light that pierced through the head, dissipating the dark figure. "DONE!" Chip shouted loudly as he and the others looked up, DSS seemingly vanishing from existence.

The long snake-like body that supported the head started to vanish just as soon as the head was gone. Floating in front of the spot that once occupied Dark Gaia and DSS, the Gaia Colossus became still.

"…It is done," Chip spoke. "Dark Gaia has been defeated, guys…"

A small time passed as the rest of the team woke up from their unconscious states. Seeing that everything was at peace and Chip had suddenly gained a massive boost of girth, they spent some time recovering from their blows.

"Sorry, guys, but I need some time to rest before I can take you all back to the surface," Chip pointed out. "In truth, I kinda didn't recover all my powers so I went all out with what I had in those blows."

"I can't believe you," Sonic said. "You got tired so easily this quickly?"

Chip didn't know the answer for that question, so he avoided it. "L-look, what matters is that we won at last, and that's what counts," he said.

Soren sighed. "Typical of you," he muttered.

Once Chris took the role of healing everybody, the team was almost back at full health. Suddenly, Rouge realized something. "Wait just a minute. What happened to our fair doctor?" she asked. "Didn't that monster say he swallowed him whole?"

"Huh, I guess he died at last," Shadow said chuckling. "He had it coming for so long now."

Sonic looked worried. "Well, there go all my hopes for epic sequels," he said, only for Kirby to slap him slightly. The werehog didn't feel the little slap but he grunted anyway.

Mewtwo was standing several feet away from the group, staring up at the space. Confused, Chip decided to talk to him. "Hey, Mewtwo, is something bothering you?" he asked.

The Psychic-type turned around. "Is it normal for the core of the planet to radiate the same darkness even though Dark Gaia is gone?" he asked.

"Hmm? Uh…" Chip made the Gaia Colossus scratch the head segment. "There was never a fight between the two of us this entire time. Each one of us keeps the other in check, but if you ask me, my brother is the evil one. If he was gone, I'd probably enslave the entire human race to do my bidding."

Ignoring whatever morbid statement Chip made, Meta Knight approached Mewtwo. "But he is gone, isn't he?" Meta Knight asked.

"Not really…" the imp said, making everybody turn their heads at the colossus. "B-but wait, don't panic! This is our natural cycle being renewed! After we part ways, Dark Gaia will come back, but this time I'll be around to keep him in check. I'm counting on you to keep another evil villain from disrupting the balance of light and darkness, though."

Out of a cue, small orb of darkness floated up the colossus and entered the clearing in front of the head. "A-aah!" Lucas yelped, stepping back. He stared at the odd orb of darkness, radiating some kind of mist.

"Oh, that's him in his early stage of recovery," Chip said. "Think of him like me except without a body. It'll take him a looooooooooong time to recover."

Sonic, curiously, approached the orb. "Not so tough anymore, huh?" he asked, ready to poke it with a finger. "You were fighting without your full power because you didn't have this essence in me. Too bad I'm gonna carry it far away."

There was a very disturbing feeling that Chip couldn't shake after hearing the werehog. "Without full power… A missing essence inside of… OH NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Sonic's eyes widened once he had poked the orb of darkness through. The instant his sharp nail made contact, the orb acted up by engulfing the werehog's body. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sonic screamed loudly, seemingly suffering.

The rest of the group backed away, many of them gasping. "O-oh no, what now?!" Diddy complained.

"My brother is reacting violently to Sonic's essence!" Chip said alarmed. "The way he is now doesn't let him suck it out from afar, but he can do anything to Sonic if they touch each other somehow!"

"And you decided to say this now?" Samus asked annoyed. "This isn't the time to complain! Use your otherworldly powers to eradicate your brother!"

"I-I can't! It's against the rules!" Chip said as Sonic continued screaming. "If I get rid of my brother for good, the balance will forever be broken and I might just lose it in the near future!"

"You've got to be joking!" Wolf yelled. "Are we forced to stand and watch what'll happen next? AGAIN?!"

The event in front of them soon ended as Sonic fell to his knees. The clear blue fur on his body and smaller body frame made it clear that he was cured from the werehog curse at last. The fact made him chuckle. "Hey…I'm not a werehog anymore…"

Roy stared at the orb of darkness, somehow noticing a figure growing out from the inside. "F-forget that! W-we probably have some more problems!" he said.

It was near-impossible to tell what happened next. The group only heard a silent yet unsettling sound that came from behind their backs. Turning around, they saw a huge hole that ran deep into the Gaia Colossus. As soon as they noticed the hole, the glowing green eyes on the head dimmed down till they were gone. They felt the Gaia Colossus going still, floating lifelessly in midair.

"…Chip?" Knuckles called out, recalling that the colossus was only alive if Chip controlled it. "Chip, are you…"

Being used to hearing certain sounds, Toon Link's eyes shrunk. "I…I heard some kind of stabbing sound coming from that hole!"

Sonic stood back up, looking behind him to see the orb of darkness gone. "That monster… It disappeared…" he trailed off.

"It made that hole," Mewtwo pointed out. "But this time, I don't feel my powers to be so weakened like last time."

Soren narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to imply that the egotistical bastard is back?" he asked. Mewtwo nodded. "And what of the deity on our side?"

As soon as he had asked, a foreign body brushed past his face. The group saw the body landing softly on the ground. When they stared at it, they felt breathless. "N-no…n-no…n-no…" Vector whimpered.

The imp had been forcibly tossed back out from within the colossus, knocked out unconscious. Despite how they wished that Chip was unconscious, it was far worse; there was a gaping dark hole that crossed his small body from the front and the back. He was not breathing anymore.

Assuming the worst was a waste of time. Chip had been killed off.

"NO!" Sonic yelled, Chris rushing to the imp's side to heal him. While Chris managed to perform Resurrection, the spell did no effect at all. "Y-you gotta keep trying!" Sonic ordered harshly. Nodding, Chris tried his best.

"Futile…"

Slowly, each one of them turned to face the hole where the ominous deep voice came from. An outline inside the dark hole loosely resembled Sonic's frame as it floated out into the clearing.

"Your efforts…are all futile…"

The statement told them the worst: the battle was not over yet.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Farewell, Darkness. Good-Bye, Light"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Soren, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Knuckles, Vector, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Tails

References:

- Hardly any, other than the tracks.

Out of Curiosity…:

- If any of you expected me to use any of the final Sonic Unleashed tracks, you're wrong. They're just too cheery and upbeat that it just didn't set the mood right, so I chose other tracks.

To be honest, fighting a giant boss like Dark Gaia is just so dull considering the characters are all fleas compared in size, so there's really not much to say about how I portrayed the battle. Luckily, the next one has a final boss their own size.

Like I said before, the final boss fight of this arc is kind of bland, but the second (and last) chapter of the entire saga will be the next one. Now that you've seen how Chip was…killed off brutally, it'll just open up the possibilities if the story ends up offing someone else… So pray that doesn't happen.

The next chapter will conclude this long saga, and it shall include a very special preview for what's to come.

Just so you know, I've started to upload my own artworks through Colors! 3D (and by extension deviantart) using this very same username (as of this chapter's date, see that Lucario in my avy? I drew that). At last, some initial, official fan art of the entire body of this series has been released. Take in mind that I'm just fresh to this. It'll be some time before I even get to draw the Brawl cast…

Also, be on the lookout for rewritten chapters. Chapter 3 is close to being completed and it'll be done very soon.

I encourage all Chip fans to review, or else…uh…bad things will happen in the next chapter.

Lucas: And that's terrible…
*Chapter 195*: Farewell, Darkness, Good-Bye, Light

Holy hell, a fast update including the final chapter of the Werehog Saga…

Due to the lack of reviews, none of them shall be posted here to comment. However, to the one who asked me about Let's Plays, I don't like any of them.

First, though, let me bring some important points.

1 - There is a rather HUGE announcement at the end of the chapter that will SURELY make all people labeling me as the worst author to ever see rejoice with the biggest news to ever hit the story. In fact, there's not an author break at end.

2 – There are a few big music tracks being used here, but they could count as big spoilers if you care about… Well, it's a special track from Trauma Team, so you've been warned.

3 – Because I feel like there's really not much to work on, this final chapter of the Werehog Saga turned a bit shorter than I expected but still long enough. I doubt you want to see things dragging on for no reason.

4 – Tons of "official" art of the story have been uploaded to my deviantart and Colors accounts (both using the same username as seen in this site). Be sure to watch them and see how Chris exactly looks like to give you a better depiction of his looks.

With all this out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the final chapter of this saga. I encourage all Sonic fans to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: You most likely scrolled down and skipped the entire chapter to see that big announcement before even reading THIS part.

Chapter 195: Farewell, Darkness. Good-Bye, Light

-Earth/Mobius' Core-

Gaia Colossus – Temple Ground

The group could feel fright just staring at the shadowy figure coming out from the hole. Once the figure was outside with enough illumination, the group gasped.

The figure looked like Sonic, except it was several inches taller, hovering above the stone floor. The entire body shape, while it resembled Sonic's, looked drastically different with features taken from Dark Gaia. On each region, there were pointed quills pointing away, the base of each single quill having a very strong blue color that was slowly overtaken by a purple one before the tip would turn dark. His shoes looked very gothic with the same colors, as well as the big claws that looked sharper than the quills themselves. The face was a nightmare to see, the mouth being large enough to cover cheeks by displaying arcs of lustrous, blue-and-purple fangs. The eyes were completely green, with wild-looking pupils staring into their very souls. A predominant dark aura surrounded the monster.

"Well…crud," Wolf noted. "Yet again, the monster resembles the hedgehog."

"I'm getting more and more sickened, truthfully," Shadow said with a deadpan look. "Now, who might you be?"

"I am Dark Gaia," the figure spoke. "That insolent rat who took over my body has been weakened during that fight you had with him to whom I must thank you… Before, I was a monster who couldn't even talk properly, but now that I have absorbed the rat's own conscience and negative thoughts…" he shook a clawed fist, "and that other foolish hedgehog's essence, I have reached my perfect form; a form that is beyond your wildest dreams."

Lucas gulped. "Y-you're the true Dark Gaia?" he asked.

"Yes, I am Dark Gaia, but in a body that resembles the spirit that took over me," Dark Gaia said. "I feel stronger than ever, to say the least. I do not like this look myself…but it will have to do to kill you all." He grunted. "All this time, I have been watching you travel the worlds, restoring power to the temples. My minions all were either manipulated into corrupting your souls or straight out killed by your hands. As you would have imagined…that did not make me feel good."

Sonic stood back up, staring at Chip's body. "Why…why did you kill him…" he asked, knowing full well the answer. Sonic tried to ask something to make the ensuing battle all the better.

"My brother was an idiot," Dark Gaia said. "The moment he was expelled out from the planet was the moment he lost all sense of dignity and power. During all eternity, I have waited for the moment to dispose of him myself…but to no avail, as our own existences kept one another in check." He chuckled. "It was then that you surface dwellers tried to take over that my wish came true, and I was able to kill Light Gaia at last."

The dark glow got darker as Dark Gaia held out a claw. Thinking he was going to shoot them, the group dispersed until they saw how a vortex of darkness formed in front of him, followed by a frightened scream that came out from said vortex. From the dark portal, a screaming Dr. Eggman was pushed out. "Dr. Eggman, you're…alive," Rogue said, mildly impressed.

"I want to thank this human for having done all this for me, not even knowing the possibility of me taking control of the entire situation," Dark Gaia said. Dr. Eggman, gasping for breath, looked over his shoulder and instantly yelped.

"A-AAAAAAAH!" Dr. Eggman screamed and ran away from the deity, reaching out for the team.

Toon Link shook his head after seeing the pale doctor trembling in fear. "Good goddess, what happened to you all this time?" he asked. "Last time I remember, that guy had eaten you!"

"I-I-I was lucky that he didn't know how to chew his food," Dr. Eggman said, shivering in horror. "A-and then I just found myself here all of a sudden…"

"You are not even worthy of being swallowed by me," Dark Gaia said. "It was that sickening bastard who decided to swallow you, not me. I felt that it was about time you got out of my system…" The vortex disappeared and he slowly approached the group. They all felt a horrendous powerful feeling that made them all back away. "And now, let us move on to the main act of tonight before you even get to leave…"

Luckily, Tails and Vector had scurried away behind a pillar of stone. The two, looking worried, stared at the event from afar. "W-what should we do?" Vector whispered.

"I'm sorry, but… It's their fight," Tails said, suddenly putting up a tough look. "We're probably just gonna get in their way if we try to help. Besides, I can't really take a hit, honestly…"

"M-me neither," Vector said, though Tails shook his head in disbelief.

The group managed to take their positions, even though each one of them was backing away from the mad deity. "If that hedgehog spirit even listened to what I had to say, none of this would have happened at all," Dark Gaia said. "His useless cockiness was the catalyst that made him lose against the likes of you. But I am different. I get straight to the point…"

"Y-you sure?" Diddy asked, taking out his peanut popgun. "N-not feeling a bit cocky?"

"Even feeling a bit cocky will mark my downfall, but not now," Dark Gaia said. "I am utterly superior and stronger than any of you… Urgh!" He placed a claw on his face, feeling disturbed. "What is going on now? Ugh!"

The group dropped their guard for a bit as they saw the deity struggling and panting. "Oh no, he's going to mutate," Roy said.

"I'm hoping not…" Kirby spoke softly.

Inside the deity's mind, a very rabid DSS cursed loudly. It turned out that DSS wasn't entirely gone, now being the one held within the mind. "GET ME OUTTA HERE!" DSS's voice roared out from the deity's mouth. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO USE MY BODY'S IMAGE!"

"S-silence, you fool!" Dark Gaia shot back, struggling to keep DSS quiet. "You had your chance to redeem yourself yet you wasted it unwisely! Now suffer the prison within my own mind!"

"You're kidding me!" DSS shot back. "I'm gonna be the one to hand their heads back to them. You need to stay back and watch the show!"

"ENOUGH!" Dark Gaia yelled, releasing a strong wind that swept the entire clearing. The group covered their faces from the dust flying everywhere. After a few seconds, the wind subsided. "You shall not say another thing!"

Meta Knight stared blankly at the struggling deity. "A weakness so soon, perhaps?" he said. "The two spirits are trying to take dominance over the body."

"We can possibly exploit that fact alone in battle if those two really hate each other," Soren theorized. "But beware; this fight is surely not going to be any easier than the previous one."

The statement made the group feel a bit more confident with themselves, looking sharp at the evil deity. Noticing their tough looks, Dark Gaia snapped his neck a few times, readying himself for battle. "You all had your happy lives till this point," he said before opening his claws at them, "but your pathetic existence has come to an end!"

Boss Battle Song 1

"Let my darkness consume you all!" Dark Gaia said, shooting himself into the fray. The speed he used was so fast that he was already facing Roy head-on. Dr. Eggman let out a yelp and quickly went into hiding behind the many pillars to the east, hiding much further away from where Tails and Vector were. Vector really wanted to follow him for safety, but Tails held him back by his wrist, much to his dismay.

Quickly, Roy yelped and tried to slash the creature across, only for the Sword of Seals to be caught in one claw. The sparks that jumped out from the clash made the red-haired swordsman widen his eyes. "U-uck!" Roy grunted.

"Your little toy does no effect on me!" Dark Gaia said as he chuckled darkly.

While holding Roy into place, Dark Gaia turned to face Toon Link rushing at him. Laughing a bit, Dark Gaia grabbed Roy by the face and tossed him at the young boy, making them both roll back a long distance to the right side of the clearing. Both Tails and Vector gasped, hiding completely behind the stone pillar as the two Smashers crashed against it, creating a cloud of dust. "O-oww…" Toon Link groaned.

Dark Gaia looked to the right and instantly disappeared, avoiding a claw slash from Wolf. Landing on the floor, the lupine grunted and looked around before Diddy's head crashed into his skull from behind. The evil deity stood there, looking very pleased. "Just try to even touch me. I shall retaliate with more power!" he taunted.

"(He was kidding,)" Meta Knight noted. "(He turns out to be cocky…or is it true that Sonic's evil spirit is twisting his personality even further?)" The Star Warrior then noticed the deity appearing right before him. The two clashed sword and claw, but it felt that Dark Gaia was holding back as Meta Knight felt the struggle between both of them strange. "You're holding back your full power, aren't you?"

Dark Gaia chuckled, swatting an angered Diddy away without looking. "Oh, then I will gladly show you! ARGH!" he used his free claw to blast the knight away with a dark wave that passed through his body.

Something was wrong once Meta Knight landed on the floor without attempting to regain his balance. Kirby ran to his side and gasped, seeing the knight's eyes dimmed down. "M-Meta Knight!" Kirby said in horror. The Star Warrior was knocked out in one strike.

"N-no way, he just got knocked out already!" Rouge said alarmed.

A shining light brought the knight back to his feet. Standing back up, Meta Knight panted a bit. "That was…too much for me to handle," he admitted.

"Back up again, huh?" Dark Gaia asked, chuckling, before he approached the knight once more, locking themselves into the same position as Kirby backed away. "And we are back into the same position, only now I get to blast you away again." His free claw gathered energy.

But so did Meta Knight's free hand.

Narrowing his demonic eyes, the evil deity noticed the glowing hand before he was struck down by a potent ray of light. Meta Knight, having used Megidola, stepped back to Kirby's side. The pink puffball cheered until the knight held a hand to him to make Kirby stop hopping. Confused, Kirby looked forward and shivered in fear.

Dark Gaia looked very much unharmed by the powerful blow. It only pushed him down slightly. "That tickled," he chuckled. Meta Knight started to wonder if there was a strong enough attack to hurt him.

Suddenly, four lances of light sprouted out around the evil deity. Looking up, Dark Gaia got the four lances into his head, getting impaled through. To Chris's dismay, the lances, although having impaled him, only shook him a bit. There wasn't a grunt of pain coming from the enemy. "O-oh no, that didn't work," Lucas said.

"That felt more like a massage than anything else," Dark Gaia said. "Your light attacks are so weak. Why even bother to use them?" As soon as Chris grimaced, the evil deity vanished from sight. Gasping, Chris looked around, feeling that he was being the target.

Sonic suddenly rushed and picked the teen on his arms, avoiding a meteoric crash coming from above. Dark Gaia's clenched fist impacted the floor, creating a small earthquake that made some of them lose their footing. "Geez, that guy is serious!" Sonic said, stopping running and placing Chris back to the floor.

"It occurred to me that I must dispose of the hedgehog first…" Dark Gaia trailed off, turning to Sonic. The two locked eyes and then suddenly broke into a mad dash around the clearing, making the rest step back and remain cautious about not stepping in their way.

"Shadow?" Rouge piped up. "I don't think Sonic can handle things by himself."

Shadow scoffed a bit. "I guess you're right on that," he said before joining the mad dash. It looked like the three hedgehogs were running laps around the battlefield. Catching up to Sonic and Dark Gaia, the black hedgehog grunted. "Like your new powers, faker?"

"Shadow, it's not the time to taunt me!" Sonic said.

"Not you, faker," Shadow clarified. "I'm talking about the other faker here."

"You hedgehogs are just like cockroaches," Dark Gaia said, briefly disappearing and bringing a horrified Lucas by grabbing his wrist. "But your speed is just…so good to have, combined with my godly powers."

"L-let me go!" Lucas cried out. Shutting his eyes, Lucas send a PSI blast to the evil deity, but it merely crashed onto the back of his head and did nothing else. "A-ah, let me go!"

Grunting, Shadow advanced and delivered a fist into the deity's face. He instantly pulled it back, feeling that he just punched a tough wall for no reason. Chuckling darkly, Dark Gaia slammed Lucas onto Shadow, knocking them away from the running circle. Now Dark Gaia and Sonic remained. "You saw that, did you not?" Dark Gaia asked. "Try throwing a fist to my face. I dare you."

Sonic saw how useless it was to do the action, so he came to an abrupt stop. Dark Gaia then stopped running on the other side of the field. "Not really sure how we're gonna fight this one," Sonic muttered.

Tails suddenly got an idea and tossed something at Sonic. "Sonic, catch!" he shouted, tossing a Chaos Emerald to the hedgehog. "This emerald's got all its power back!"

Sonic gasped and caught the emerald on his hand. "Okay, time to turn things around!" he said with a smirk as he harnessed the power of the emerald, swinging his arm towards the evil deity. "Sonic Wind!"

A violent gust of blue wind engulfed Dark Gaia, but he yelled at the top of his lungs and dismissed the vortex of wind. "Is that all you got?" he asked Sonic.

"Oh, damn," Sonic muttered, the emerald on his hand being taken Shadow. The blue hedgehog blinked and turned to the black hedgehog. "Shadow?"

"I need the boost more than you do, hedgehog," Shadow said, now harnessing the emerald's power for himself. He made a fist and shook it to Dark Gaia, fully opening his palm. "Chaos Spear!"

Several yellow lances of energy materialized in thin air and went after Dark Gaia, who simply stood there and flexed his claws. Suddenly, his claws caught a dark aura that stretched out, and he slashed the yellow lances into bits once they were about to collide against his body. "Running out of tricks yet?" Dark Gaia asked.

"Not quite, no," Shadow said, tapping into the emerald once more. "Chaos Control!"

The entire field was engulfed in a negative void that froze time for the evil deity, but the rest of the team was largely unaffected. "Time has stopped for him," Rouge said. "Is it time to go all out o-"

The void suddenly disappeared as the villain's dark aura overtook the frozen time, nullifying the special move entirely. Shadow widened his eyes, surprised that somebody could render Chaos Control useless. "W-what the…" he could only breathe out.

"I am sorry to say this, but your useless emerald powers are simply…useless against a dark deity like me," Dark Gaia stated. "Not even a single emerald will prove to be effective!"

Sonic grunted and looked over at Tails. "Tails, didn't you happen to bring any of the other emeralds?" he asked.

The two-tailed fox looked concerned. "I-I didn't bring any of them with me," he said, dismaying his buddy. "I thought that it'd be a bad idea to bring them here in case something horrible happened while I made my way down here…"

"Oh, crud," Sonic said. Then, a sudden thought crossed his mind. "(Wait, now that the emeralds are fully restored, I can probably try to turn into Super Sonic using an Over Limit at last…)" Dark Gaia warped in front of Sonic and blew dark energy into his chest, blasting him away to a stone pillar. The hedgehog became knocked out as he fell back down, a shining light bringing him back to his feet. "That didn't feel so good…"

"It is like all of you are mere punching bags trying to punch me harder," Dark Gaia taunted as he stopped both Roy and Meta Knight from slashing down their swords on his head, grabbing their weapons with both claws. He sharply turned around and tossed them away. He shot like a bullet to them with a flaring dark aura, smashing straight into them. Both Roy and Meta Knight had been pushed all the way back to the south of the clearing, the two losing consciousness. Since Roy hadn't been knocked out already, he was brought back for a second chance. Meta Knight, however, wasn't so lucky anymore. Roy could only gasp when he saw a chip of the knight's mask broken down. "N-no!" Roy said, shivering a bit in fear.

"Meta Knight!" Kirby cried out, putting a serious look as he stared at Dark Gaia. Chris gasped once he saw the puffball rushing ahead into the fray, brandishing out his cutting blade. Dark Gaia turned around and saw the Star Warrior rushing to him.

"What a joke," he said, warping in front of Kirby and delivering a gut-shattering kick. The pink puffball went soaring across the air till a panicked Chris caught him on his arms, only seeing the downed expression. As Chris shook his head, Kirby was brought back for a second chance. "Let your feelings consume you whole! You are simply throwing your existence away!"

Samus shot him with a single Light Beam, earning her his full attention. "You should stop ignoring the rest of us," she said as Omega stepped in and fired a barrage of missiles at his direction. Dark Gaia simply stood there to receive the explosive blows, not budging in the slightest.

"Missiles have proved to be ineffective," Omega stated as Dark Gaia shot himself out from the cloud of dust, engulfed in a potent dark aura. It was then that a banana peel fell on his eyes, making him stop and take it off. "Strategies with unusual distractions, however, seem to be effective," Omega added.

While Samus shook her head in disbelief, a shaking Diddy was standing several feet away from Dark Gaia. "It is always the monkey who thinks that he is quite the prankster," Dark Gaia said. "Do not make me mad…"

"Y-you better stop, then!" Diddy shot back, only making the evil deity grunt annoyed. Without even approaching Diddy, the deity swung his claw hard, sending a huge aerial shockwave that sliced through the spider monkey's very soul without making any visible scars. The white on Diddy's eyes made it obvious that he had been knocked down easily, only coming back for a second chance at the battle. "T-that just felt wrong!" he complained.

Another set of Holy Lance impaled the deity's body but to no avail. Snarling a bit, Dark Gaia turned to face a mildly determined Chris holding his staff against him. "I have COMPLETELY forgotten about you, useless maggot!" he said, instantly vanishing. Chris somehow knew that he was about to be crashed down into the floor. He was right, spotting a black comet falling down from high above his spot.

Sonic tried to rush to his aid once more, but the evil deity saw the running hedgehog and changed directions to Sonic instead. The blue hedgehog widened his eyes as Dark Gaia grabbed his wrist and tossed him away, before forcefully delivering a blinding, fast punch into Chris's stomach. The World Traveler felt all the oxygen in his lungs pulled out before he went rolling recklessly to the west side of the clearing, losing consciousness. The light that gave him some temporary angel wings only brought him back to his feet, feeling still weak after receiving the blow into his stomach.

Pit then rushed to Dark Gaia with his dual blades. Dark Gaia turned to face him. "Begone, you insolent angel!" he said as he sent an aerial shockwave from his dark claws.

Pit suddenly stopped midway and brandished the Mirror of Light, reflecting the shockwave back to Dark Gaia. To his surprise, the shockwave actually hurt the dark being, pushing him back. "That worked? Hey, that worked out!" Pit said. "I knew the Three Sacred Treasures would do something!"

"Just how in the world did you even manage to hurt me like this?" Dark Gaia asked, looking particularly angry. "Well, no matter. I just need to avoid using long-range attacks against you."

Pit groaned a bit. "And to think I had actuall-AAH!" he yelped in surprise once the deity started clawing against the mirror without making much of a dent or scratch. The angel, however, kept his position, but he was slowly pushed back as the deity furiously continued his barrage of attack. "A-a little help here!" he called out to the others.

Soren narrowed his eyes until he saw that Mewtwo was nowhere to be found. Looking around a little more, he spotted the Psychic-type hiding behind a stone pillar to the west side. He approached him as the others kept the deity busy. "I wouldn't have imagined you to be the type of person who hides from an important battle," Soren noted.

Mewtwo didn't respond with a scoff. "I am probably the only one who has noticed how near-impossible our chances are to defeat a person like him," he said. "My powers just recently started to weaken as soon as the battle started. I am in quite a predicament, as you can see…"

Soren closed his eyes. "Perhaps you are right," he said. "But there must be some weakness we can exploit against him."

"Even Chris's strong light spells don't do much," Mewtwo pointed out. "The only way, as I see it, is that we need to retreat and rethink our battle strategy. Unfortunately…I presume that the others back at the mansion cannot open up a portal down here."

He was absolutely right. The others back at the mansion were able to watch the match, but Master Hand tried to send in reinforcements by trying to open a portal. He was only forced to snap his fingers, not even producing a small speck of light. He had theorized that Dark Gaia's presence was intervening with the portal he tried to open up.

"So, are you suggesting that we somehow distract that monster to make a getaway?" Soren asked. "That would surely mean to sacrifice someone to buy time for the rest."

"Ugh…" Mewtwo trailed off in thought until Dark Gaia showed up right in front of his face, making him widen his eyes for a brief moment before the deity grabbed him by his throat.

"Why is the cat hiding away?" Dark Gaia asked, as he was struck by Soren's wind magic. Truthfully, the deity let go of Mewtwo for a bit, long enough for him to float out from his hiding spot. "Tsk, what a waste of my time…"

Soren stepped back to gain some distance as Mewtwo sided with him. "I doubt I hurt him with that," Soren said. "But this is bad. He has noticed us." A sudden sound echoed from his right, spotting Dark Gaia upper-cutting Mewtwo's chin. Shocked, Soren couldn't react fast enough to avoid an elbow blow onto his chest, followed by a dark pulse of energy that went through his body. Both Soren and Mewtwo were knocked out, being separated to two different ways. Both had to come back for a second chance at the fight.

"I gotta make this count…" Wolf muttered under his breath as he unsheathed his Blaster, trying to stick the knife portion deep into the deity's eyes. Once Dark Gaia turned to face him, the deity shot another wave of darkness with a slash. The lupine quickly brought and used his Reflector, deflecting the blow back to Dark Gaia.

As Wolf grinned, his grin suddenly disappeared once his Reflector shattered into pieces.

"The hell?!" he said as the pieces of the little machine fell down to the floor. "Was that attack just too much for this crap to handle?"

"If I let you deflect my attacks back to me any longer…" Dark Gaia began, panting a bit in anger, "I am going to make you all bleed for real."

The lupine grunted but put up a tough look, returning back to his original plan as he dashed to Dark Gaia. The deity, once again, awaited the lupine to get close to him, thinking about slashing Wolf with his own claws.

Suddenly, Omega showed up and fired a barrage of bullets, as Rouge hopped from his back and dove down for a drill kick. Knuckles then joined the bat and spun down with his fists ready for a collision. Dark Gaia turned as the bullets crashed into his thick-skinned body, only for Wolf to drive his knife into the deity's eyes.

The knife only slipped, and Wolf could only watch his hand losing grip on his Blaster. With a mighty fist to the side of his face followed by a dark blast, Wolf was rocketed all the way to the east side. Next, the evil deity stretched out his claws and caught Rouge's feet and Knuckles' fists, shocking both of them. "Have I not told you this before? Your efforts are all futile!" Dark Gaia stated.

Knuckles and Rouge then screamed as they were tossed to the stone pillars, making the frontal structure fall down upon them as the pillars gave away to the force. As a cloud of dust formed, both fighters were knocked down unconscious. Once they were given a second chance to fight, they both came out from the cloud of dust, panting heavily. "One false move and he's onto us!" Knuckles said.

"I know, Knux, I know…" Rouge said, but then Dark Gaia appeared before her and grabbed her neck. "U-ugh!" she gasped out for air.

"Rouge!" Knuckles shouted, seeing the bat being pulled over the evil deity and slammed down hard into the stone floor. Not stopping, Dark Gaia chuckled and turned around to slam her back. "Y-YOU!" the echidna said enraged until the deity tossed Rouge away, the bat having been knocked out a second time. Omega went to her aid, taking her to a safe spot.

Dark Gaia was just about to give chase to the robot until he screamed all of a sudden, a strong wind pushing the echidna back but not enough to cause considerable damage. "W-what do you want now?!" Dark Gaia asked, feeling DSS trying to convey a message.

"It's not fun that you have all the fun for yourself!" DSS yelled. "I wanna have some fun, now!"

"You will stay there and be consumed by my own willpower!" Dark Gaia stated. "Ironically, you are the most annoying rat out of everybody trying to hurt me a bit!"

Samus showed up behind the deity and swung her arm. "Mazionga!" she called out, conjuring several thunderbolts that struck the deity down. Sonic, from afar, recalled his own magic and used Agilao, creating a burst of fire that trapped the evil deity within. Kirby held out his small arms, using Bufula to create an icicle that froze Dark Gaia inside.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Roy recalled his own magic. He pointed up his sword into the air and said, "Mediarama!"

A gushing, healing wave touched everyone's bodies, recovering quite a big chunk of lost health. "Aww, that feels so relaxing…" Diddy said with a dreamy look.

While Roy gave himself a pat on the back, tiredness hit it. He crouched down a bit and shook his head. "D-damn, that magic took quite a bit of energy out of me…"

"Well, thank you for that," Wolf said. "I was about to use my own healing magic, but you did a favor for me."

"You're pretty much making fun of me."

"Yeah, can't argue with that."

Dark Gaia thawed out from the icicle, grunting annoyed after receiving the barrage of spells. As expected, he looked pretty much unharmed. "I wonder how long much longer you plan on trying to stop me?" he wondered aloud. "A-aah!" He grabbed his forehead, feeling DSS calling out to him. "What do you want this time?!"

"I'm gonna take over for a bit, that's what I want!" DSS called out, disturbing the deity's dark aura. Screaming, Dark Gaia grabbed his head and crouched down on the floor as a battle of two minds ensued within his head.

Chris then looked down to his pocket, getting a call from Dr. Kawashima. "There's an Over Limit ready, but you should try to use it when the time is right," he said. "Be extra careful and just think carefully… This enemy is just too strong for all of you."

Just as soon as Chris looked depressed, the fight within Dark Gaia's ended. They all heard his loud coughs echoing across the clearing. The evil deity slowly stood back up, grinning maniacally. "Damn… That felt good," he said, his voice slightly changed. "Guess that idiot wasn't really that strong."

"Oh no," Sonic said.

"That evil spirit within you has returned, faker," Shadow said grunting, as Omega brought the unconscious Rouge to his side.

Dark Gaia, or rather DSS, turned to face them with a heavy hint of murder in his eyes. "I think it's about time we started with the actual bloodshed in here," he warped away and grabbed Chris by his neck, pulling him twenty-feet into the air, "and I'll start with YOU!"

The World Traveler immediately started gasping for breath as the group tried to aid him. The ones with weapons fired directly at DSS, but a dark barrier that wasn't there before appeared to protect him. "Let him go!" Sonic yelled.

"No can do!" DSS said, giving Chris a very scary face. "Your time to die has finally come. I'm sick of you trying to spread goodwill and positive thoughts to others across the different universes! Granted, each single one of you did the same but your stupid bond with the hedgehog forced me to experience all that firsthand!" He shook Chris a bit for his amusement. "But not tonight, you don't! Instead of making you suffer, I'm gonna go straight to the action and TOSS YOU DOWN THE PLANET'S CORE!"

Horrified at the idea, Chris started to whack the spirit's head with his staff, only for the dark barrier to bounce off the blows. As the teen frantically tried to get himself loose from the monster's grip, DSS shot off away from the clearing and the Gaia Colossus, bringing Chris along with him.

As everyone stared in shock at the small silhouettes, Chris's DS fell down next to Sonic.

Music stops

Far away from the battlefield, DSS laughed maniacally as he pressed the teen's neck, hovering above the sea of burning magma. "Now," he began, "nobody will even hear you scream…because you just so happen to be mute right now."

Chris couldn't take it anymore. His eyes started to swell with tears as the pressure on his neck slowly drifted him away into an unconscious state.

"I waited this moment for a long time now," DSS said softly. "The moment that you die for real without any hopes of going back to your almighty dog and friends… Yes, solitude is just wonderful…"

The teen closed his eyes, imagining a sad Lucario running to save him from falling. It almost felt like Lucario was really there; ready to deliver a devastating punch to DSS. Unfortunately, Chris's mind was playing tricks on him as he descended into psychological trauma once more…

DSS raised the teen up and then shot him down to the core with a mighty swing of his arm. "Enjoy the spa down there!" DSS said, laughing out loud as he flexed his claws.

The only energy Chris had left was enough for him to look at his rapid descent to the magma of the planet. He could only shed tears that left a small trail floating in the air. It would be all over for him. He had just one life left to continue, and it was going to be his very last stand. He shivered in fear as he let everything go, closing his eyes.

The inevitability of letting yet another dangerous threat obliterate more than just a city was a nagging feeling Chris couldn't shake off. Nintendo City had been ravaged before, and now Sonic's entire world was going to suffer the same fate. The teen told himself that it was so unfair that their second attempt would end in failure…

"…"

Somehow, Chris felt that a voice was calling out for him. He couldn't open his eyes to see, but he swore to have heard something.

The voice suddenly got loud enough to hear…

"CHRIS!" his mind echoed with Lucario's voice. But it was clear that Lucario was not even there physically, in which case the teen wondered how he could hear his voice so clearly. "Don't give up on me just yet! You can still survive!" It looked impossible for Chris to even change jobs. "Just…just try to call out to somebody who can help you! You need to shout and believe!"

If things really got down to having to believe with the heart, it was better than nothing. Chris, however, did not have any forces left to even shout. He couldn't even scream properly due to his current state.

"Dammit, Chris!" Lucario cried out, until his aura flared up with energy. "GUUUUUUUUAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGG HH!"

An odd occurrence happened as the Aura Pokémon's aura seemed to transfer over to the teen's body, despite the fact there was a boundary keeping both from reaching out with their hands. Truthfully speaking, some of Lucario's aura managed to pass through into Chris's body. It allowed him to snap back out from his mildly unconscious state.

Once the mind talk was over, Chris widened his eyes as he approached the magma. His throat felt like it opened up through sheer force of will, and the first word he used in a long time was a real scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Before he could fall down into the magma by a mile, Chris was swooped away by a golden trail.

The teen's body had latched onto whatever caught him and interrupted his fall. It was almost a force of habit for him to do it. Feeling a nice breeze hitting his face, Chris slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "H-huh? I-I'm not…dead…burning alive?" he asked.

"Hey, your voice is back! That's great!"

Chris then raised his head, staring at a shining Super Sonic carrying him on his arms. Relieved to see the cocky golden hedgehog, Chris wiped out his tears and embraced him. "Sonic! You saved me!" he rejoiced, laughing together with the golden hedgehog. "I'm so but so happy that you saved me!"

"No sweat," Super Sonic said, handing over a DS to Chris. "Your little teacher alerted me about a free Over Limit just as soon as you were tossed down. I had to fly like hell for you, you know!"

The teen chuckled heartily. "Well… I was just about to lose hope until…Lucario somehow gave me some of his aura to stay breathing as I fell down…" he trailed off, smiling at the thought. "Perhaps…just perhaps, that's the special reason why he's even a legendary Lucario meant to…protect me… He defied whatever laws of universe to contact me…"

Super Sonic flew back to the Gaia Colossus. "Dunno how he can do that, but that's awesome," he said. "Listen, Chris. Whatever time I have left as this is all I need to weaken that guy. You and the others need to think of something while I buy you time."

Chris's face fell. "Oh, right… The fight isn't over yet."

The two eventually reunited with the rest of the group, many of them relieved that Chris was alive and well. "Oh, thank goodness, you're okay!" Toon Link rejoiced.

"And… And I got my voice back!" Chris said, making many of them look surprised. Wolf had used Diarama on Chris right after, grinning a bit after hearing the news. "I can finally talk again!"

"Yay!" Kirby cheered, jumping to the World Traveler's arms. The two rubbed cheeks with each other until Shadow spoke.

"Bad news," he began as he pointed south, "the monster is back, quite pissed, I might add."

The group turned south to face an enraged DSS, panting heavily at the sight of Chris (and to some extent Kirby) standing, not even heavily burned. "WHAT IS THE DAMN MEANING OF THIS?!" he demanded. "You should have burned alive till everything was reduced to ashes and those ashes reduced to nothing!"

"I saved him," Super Sonic said, glaring at his evil spirit. "Got a problem with that?"

"Ugh, not you," DSS said.

Chris gulped and stepped forward. "Y-you need to stop all this senseless bloodshed you have in mind!" he said. "I-I can't believe you're still bent on doing that! There's just nothing good about it!"

DSS raised an eyebrow. "You got your voice back?" he asked before laughing. "Wow, that's nice! Honestly, I was annoyed that you couldn't even say a word to me! You can rip you to shreds and hear you agonizing screams fill the ai-" He was suddenly punted by Super Sonic striking his stomach. "U-ugh!" he grunted in pain.

"So, you're sick of him? Then I'm sick of you!" Super Sonic said.

DSS panted heavily in anger. "How dare you interrupt me?! DIE!" His claws stretched out with the dark aura as he launched himself towards Super Sonic.

The golden hedgehog narrowed his eyes as he prepared himself to strike. The group behind him prepared for another useless onslaught of attacks in hope of turning the fight in their favor. They watched as the background became blurry and time seemed to stop for the angered DSS, the sound of the core falling silent…

"…Wait, what?" Lucas said. "W-what's going on now?"

"Time just…stopped? Without using the Chaos Emerald?" Shadow wondered. "Is this another power from that monster?"

Just as they looked around, they felt a benevolent presence appearing from behind their backs judging some kind of bright light manifested. They all turned to face a bright light hovering above the dead Chip's body. "W-what is that?" Diddy asked.

"It's…it's me, everybody…" the light called out to them in a soft voice. They then recalled Chip's voice. "I don't have much time left to communicate with all of you…so…I have…to make this quick…"

"Y-you're still alive?" Pit asked, shocked. "How?"

"Light Gaia and Dark Gaia can't die just like that," Chip said. "That doesn't mean you can't snap us out from going crazy, though… If you can defeat Dark Gaia once and for all, the balance will surely be restored and everything will go back to being the way it was before all this madness began…"

"How do you expect us to defeat that monster the way we are now?" Mewtwo questioned. "Super Sonic can inflict damage, but our combined power is not enough."

"That is why…I wanted to give you guys one last help…" Chip said, the orb of light shining brighter. "I'm gonna use the last of my essence to heal all of you first…"

The entire group was covered by shining light that made their bodies feel rejuvenated. The ones that were knocked out unconscious suddenly regained their composures, blinking and looking around their surroundings. "What happened?" Meta Knight asked, touching the chipped part of his mask. He looked at Chip's shining orb.

Chip chuckled. "Now that everyone is patched up…I'm gonna bless you all with my sacred power," he said.

"You can do that?" Super Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I can…but know this: my blessing will not increase your strength or anything, but it will give you a powerful element of light that'll be enough to hurt Dark Gaia. In fact, it's kind of like a purifier that's especially designed to counterattack darkness itself… You will also be able to resist his attacks much better, increasing your defense against darkness as well." The shining orb shot small streams of light that struck each one of their bodies.

There was something warm and positive that enlightened their very souls. As their bodies shone, a sacred light took over every single one of their moves. Samus saw her Light Beam cannon being refilled to the max. Mewtwo, although not feeling the same, felt a very strong feeling that almost easily compared to his original power. Super Sonic himself felt the warm light even though he was using the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Even Vector and Tails, who were several feet away from the scene, were touched by the light.

A few seconds later, the light died down. Each one of them looked at themselves to see if there was anything else that had changed their looks but there was nothing. "Wow… I feel…just fine," Knuckles noted. "I don't feel any stronger, but there's really something burning in my chest…"

"Yes, I do feel something similar, too," Mewtwo said. "It will probably be enough to change the tide."

"None of you get overconfident, please…" Chip said, getting their collected attention. "I'm afraid to tell you that this blessing won't last long. It will probably wear off in less than an hour. I, sadly, can't…can't stay talking to you…" The orb of light was dimming down.

Super Sonic moved forward to Chip's essence. "Chip!" he called out.

"Sonic…everyone…" Chip trailed off, chuckling silently, "this is the last time we'll get to talk like this… I…I want to say that…I'm very happy that you warmed up to me…" The orb was dimming down even more. "So…so I want to say…thank you for everything…once more…" And then, the orb vanished. "…Just fight for the future of the worlds out there! You gotta win this for everybody else…and me!"

They watched as Chip's dead body disappeared as well, some lamenting his departure. The blurriness that stopped time slowly disappeared, making time go back to its course. They all turned back to face DSS. The evil spirit stopped going forward, shuddering just staring at them. "What?" he said, shaking his head. "Where did this energy come from? Where did you guys get this sickening presence all of a sudden?"

The group only replied by readying themselves for battle. Super Sonic stepped forward with a wide grin. "A good friend of ours just gave us a very important gift," he said, raising his fists. "That gift is the power to bring you down once and for all!"

"What? Don't make me laugh!" DSS said. "I feel a bit tingly, but that's it! It's not gonna make a difference for you!"

Tales of Vesperia – Encounter With The Unknown

The evil spirit flexed his claws and chuckled darkly. "Come get some!" he demanded, rushing towards the group.

DSS and Super Sonic locked themselves into combat, stopping each other from moving further. "You're not gonna pass through me!" Super Sonic said.

"Oh, I ALWAYS wanted to have this kind of confrontation: super sexy guy versus super ugly guy!" DSS said, only then noticing that something was awfully wrong. Super Sonic was actually pushing him back without much trouble. "(H-how the?!)"

"O divine spear, run my enemy through!" Chris was heard saying, his staff holding out in front of him. "Holy Lance!"

Four spears of light surrounded the spirit and impaled him through. Unlike last time, the attack's light element had been greatly enhanced judging how DSS yelled in pain, losing the struggle against Super Sonic once the latter delivered a fast punch that sent him flying away. Flipping in midair, DSS regained composure. "D-damn, that hurt like fu-" A Megidola strike from Meta Knight slammed him down into the floor. "AAH!" he yelled.

The teen chuckled, feeling quite accomplished that his spells would work just fine from now on. "Chip wasn't kidding about giving us a boost," Roy said.

"We really have a chance at winning this fight!" Toon Link said.

"Then don't waste any more time and take him down fast," Soren said, bringing out his book. "We cannot let this opportunity go to waste. Go all out!"

DSS got back up to his feet and saw around eight of the group - namely Wolf, Mewtwo, Kirby, Meta Knight, Knuckles, Rouge, Omega, and Toon Link – going after him. "It makes no utter difference t-ah, you know what, I better shut up and act." He grinned and clashed claw against sword with Meta Knight. He saw a glimmer of light covering the sword. "You weren't kidding about getting a boost of power…"

Meta Knight's sword didn't manage to push the evil spirit back. He surmised that everyone was at on equal ground against the spirit now, Super Sonic having more power for obvious reasons. "We're now almost equal," Meta Knight said.

DSS pushed the sword away, sidestepping from Toon Link slashing his sword at him. He then raised his claws to block Knuckles' fists and Rouge's kicks. "Oh yes, now we're getting somewhere here!" Knuckles said.

"Yup, and about time, too," Rouge said with a wink. The battle "couple" suddenly halted, feeling their limbs stopped by the spirit. DSS roared and slammed them both against each other, tossing them away. "I-it's true what they say about feeling cocky…"

"No matter," Knuckles said. "We can still keep fighting!"

DSS looked to his left and avoided several Psycho Cuts and a Final Cutter wave from Mewtwo and Kirby respectively, he then back-flipped from Wolf trying to slash his back, leaving a white trail with his claws. As DSS landed behind Wolf to slash his back instead, Wolf turned sharply and clashed claws against him. "How does it feel to be disturbed by whatever blessing we got from that little guy?" Wolf asked.

"Nauseating, now, BEGONE!" DSS demanded, pushing Wolf away to the side. The lupine landed on his feet and used Wolf Flash, instantly appearing right on top of DSS to burrow his claws into his eyes. "YAAAAAAAH!" he screamed, grabbing Wolf's wrist and slamming him down to the floor.

The lupine grunted in pain but felt that the damage was considerably weaker than before. Grinning with the fact in mind, he watched as DSS was pushed and sliced through by a small whirlwind created by Soren. The Branded had noticed that the invoked wind left a trail of light behind as it manifested. "So it's true that we have been blessed by him," Soren noted.

DSS yelled, sending a dark aura that dissipated the whirlwind carrying him. Grunting annoyed, he warped to Soren's side and pulled his claws back for a strong blow. "What's worse than spell casters? QUICK SPELL CASTERS!" he said, bringing his claws forward at Soren.

Soren gasped and braced himself, but Omega rose up between the deity and Branded to intercept the attack with his own metallic claws. "Unknown light element has increased our odds for victory," Omega said. "The enemy does not stand much of a chance anymore."

"KEEP THE FACTS FOR YOURSELF!" DSS roared, pushing both Soren and Omega with a dark blast from his claws. The blast could've knocked them both out before, but now it just felt like any normal attack. DSS was about to lunge himself onto them, but Diddy had latched himself onto his head.

"AAAAAAAH!" Diddy yelled madly as he smacked the deity's head around.

"MONKEY GOING DOWN, TOO!" DSS yelled as he grabbed Diddy by his sides, only to receive a Holy Lance attack that he received directly to his chest. Stunned by the attack, Super Sonic came in and slammed himself into the deity, letting him go of Diddy as he crashed against several stone pillars in the background.

Super Sonic felt the Over Limit about to run out, so he stopped in midair and opened his arms, the Chaos Emeralds disappearing from sight. "Well, crud… It was good while it lasted," Sonic noted. "But still, I can feel Chip's power in my body."

"Let me show how things are done, faker," Shadow said, seen standing right next to Sonic as DSS shot up from the cloud of dust, hovering high above the air. "Are you going to come down to fight or what?"

DSS grunted loudly, his rage not letting him hear Dark Gaia's speaking inside his mind. "You insolent fool!" Dark Gaia called out. "Light Gaia has blessed them all with power strong enough to put you out of your misery! You need to stale the fight until they can no longer use light!"

"SHUT UP! THEY MAKE ME SICK!" DSS roared, looking to the front to see Pit gliding down to his direction, ready to use his dual blades. "YOU MAKE ME SICK TOO! AWAY!" He sent a wave of darkness after Pit.

The angel gasped and tried to out-maneuver the dark wave by flapping his wings and gaining more altitude, only barely dodging the wave. DSS looked down and moved away to avoid Shadow's Homing Attack, looking at the spinning sphere whizzing by. As he was distracted looking at Shadow, Pit collided his dual blades against the spirit, making him fall down to the floor down below. "The light shall guide us to victory!" Pit called out.

Kirby and Toon Link ran after the spirit, only to be pushed away by a dark wave that erupted as soon as DSS started screaming. "I can't let myself get beaten down like this! I-I gotta kill you!" he said, warping away and releasing a barrage of slashes against Wolf. The lupine grunted in pain as the spirit continued to slash him into bits.

"Need some help here!" Wolf yelled out, getting continuously stunned into place. Luckily, he would resist a lot of the hits due to the added darkness resistance as somebody else rushed to his aid. That somebody else turned out to be…Vector.

"YAAAAAAAAH!" Vector screamed as he lunged himself to DSS and delivered a hard punch on his crystallized cheek, pushing him away from slashing the lupine.

As Wolf regained his senses, he looked a bit bewildered at Vector. "You, of all people, saved me?" he asked.

"Y-yeah!" Vector said, showing a very odd sense of courage. He was flexing his noodle arms, proud of himself. "I was sort of touched by that light from the little guy! That made me power up a hundred levels! So then, I waited for the right moment to make my entrance!"

To the east side of the clearing, a deadpan Tails sweat-dropped. "He's so easy to convince," he muttered to himself. "All I had to do was tell him that he was capable of defeating Dark Super Sonic if he really proposed himself into doing it after he watched everybody gaining the upper hand of the battle…" He hid himself behind the pillar. "I was also touched by the light, but I'd rather not get in Sonic's way. I'm not much of a fighter, anyway…"

Wolf stared blankly at Vector. "You're an idiot, but whatever. Thanks," he said. Vector then was knocked away by DSS throwing a punch himself. Wolf grunted and used Diarama to heal himself from the wounds, almost completely healing the pain. A big chunk of his energy was traded off to balance the usage. "Here for more?"

"I ALWAYS want to GIVE more to all of you!" DSS said as he moved his claws forward to grab Wolf's neck, only for the lupine to duck down and deliver an uppercut to the spirit's chin. Startled a bit, DSS punched the lupine's stomach with a blast of dark energy, pushing him several feet away.

DSS quickly warped away and appeared before Chris, who had tried to cast another Holy Lance. "A-aah!" Chris yelped and backed away, the evil spirit grabbing his wrist.

"You're gonna PAY for using light against m-" Meta Knight interrupted him by kicking his face away.

The knight turned to Chris. "We should exploit combined attacks," he said.

But then, something within Chris unlocked a new spell. The World Traveler instantly pulled off a new chant. "Wait, something new is coming up! O holy water, rain down your powers! Holy Rain!" He spun his rod and pointed it up skyward.

DSS flipped back to his feet, charging towards the teen and the knight. He only widened his eyes as the sky above the clearing was filled with yellow lights. Looking up, he shook his head as streams of light rained down everywhere. "RAIN OF LIGHTS?!" he yelled as the field was struck down by several rays of light that randomly struck down. DSS tried to avoid the lights by running to several sides of the field, but he couldn't predict exactly where the lights rained down, only worsening the damage he received.

Chris quickly changed to his Moogle Knight job. "Let's do this, kupo!" he told Meta Knight as he unsheathed his small sword, the rain of lights ceasing. The two swordsmen hovered over the floor as they approached DSS.

"Stay back or else I'll-!" DSS was about to send a ripping claw attack through the air, but Toon Link and Roy ganged up on him, slashing him on each side. The evil spirit became stunned into place as the two other swordsmen pulled off a combo. "A-A-AAH! STOP THIS NON-" A Mazionga attack from Samus, followed by a Bufula from Kirby, only increased the amount of damage as thunderbolts and ice held him into place. The combined attacks were soon reaching a 50 combo chain. "U-U-UGH!"

"Let us start," Meta Knight said as they both reached the evil spirit. Meta Knight used Mach Tornado to float up while Chris took the lower portion, his wrist being grabbed by Meta Knight. Using Moogle Lance within the tornado, the two then became a pale green tornado that violently moved into DSS. Both Toon Link and Roy backed away as the tornado pulled the spirit inside, slashing him at least a dozen of times before the small knights stopped spinning from the top, slashing DSS across with an X-strike. The combined blows counted up to a 72 combo chain.

"You've filled the Over Limit quite fast!" Dr. Kawashima pointed out.

DSS suddenly grabbed Meta Knight's wing and slammed him down the floor, followed by a barrage of dark blasts with the full intent of knocking down in one go. "DIE, DIE, DIE!" DSS roared. Chris gasped and flew to DSS, only getting grabbed by the face. DSS, without even looking, tried to crush the moogle's head.

Shadow then rammed into the spirit with a Homing Attack, pushing himself off with his feet to deliver a flying kick. "I'll make sure I bring down fakers like you!" the black hedgehog said before he was grabbed by his neck. "U-ugh!"

DSS started a furious fist barrage as he held Shadow above the ground. Slicing winds then appeared out of nowhere and pushed the evil spirit away, setting Shadow free. Knowing who did it, DSS warped in front of Soren and slashed him across the face. "D-darn it!" Soren said, turning around and trying to get away.

DSS grunted and barely managed to start a mad chase due to Mewtwo teleporting in front of him, smashing concentrated psychic energy out from his palms followed by four Psycho Cuts. "WHAT A PEST YOU ARE!"

And then a yellow bag smashed right against his face. The bag in question let out a very nauseating gas and several sparks that engulfed the evil spirit. DSS suddenly found himself gagging and coughing uncontrollably, feeling weak all of a sudden.

"EAGH!" DSS dropped to the floor, grabbing his scale-covered throat. "DEAR FUCK! W-what the hell is this smell?! G-GYAGH!"

"How do you like a bag to the face?" Wolf called out from afar, juggling a small bag; the Grabbag Stun Bomb R-2 given to him by Puffy. "Sorry, I just had to weaken you with these."

"I-I don't feel…so good…" DSS muttered, feeling that his thick body became softer after inhaling the bag's contents. He quickly warped above the clearing to stay away from the battle and recover his composure. "W-what now?!"

"THEY ARE CLEARLY HANDING YOUR HEAD BACK TO YOU!" Dark Gaia complained. "YOU NEED TO STALE THE BATTLE!"

"SCREW YOU!" DSS said, his ego getting the better of him as he descended back into the fray, his claws flaring with dark aura. He coughed a bit and smirked. "Who's gonna come for me?" He warped away to avoid a Holy Lance spell from Chris. "Tsk tsk! Not this time, you don't!"

Chris grunted as Shadow sped to the deity, clashing a fist against a claw. The two held each other by their blows, trying to overcome their foe. "The world doesn't need more than one faker running around!" Shadow yelled.

"I agree wholeheartedly!" DSS yelled back. "You and your little cocky rival are in dire need to DIE!" He shot a dark blast into Shadow's fist, pushing him down the floor. The spirit laughed as he lunged himself at Shadow, burrowing his claw deep into his chest. Even though the dark aura seemed to have pierced through the black hedgehog, it was actually attacking his very soul, inflicting some serious damage.

"D-damn!" Shadow said, still having the dark aura's claw inside his chest.

"Maybe I should spin it a little!" DSS said, but then he was tackled by Kirby and Toon Link, saving the black hedgehog. Flipping in midair, DSS growled in rage at the two. "Just how longer are you all going to make me EVEN MORE FURIOUS?!" he bellowed.

"Till you keel over!" Toon Link called out, using the Over Limit. Taken off by the rainbow aura, DSS and the swordsman locked eyes with each other, and then the first found himself trapped within the symbol of the Triforce as Toon Link shattered the dimension in the middle of triangles along with the evil spirit. "YAH!" he gave one last blow that sent the monster rocketing off into the sky, crashing his back on a pillar and falling down on the floor with his feet.

"DAMN! That hurt more than it should!" DSS said. "(I gotta do something before these guys cut my butt off! I can't waste this chance to kill them off!)"

DSS looked up to see four holy lances about to impale his body. He grunted and warped away, avoiding the spell in the nick of time. He just happened to warp behind an unsuspecting Pit, who gasped and quickly blocked the spirit's claws with his dual blades. "B-back off, you monster!" Pit said.

"Pipe down, useless angel!" DSS said as he kicked Pit's chin with his shoe, sending him twenty feet away to where Chris was casting magic. Upon noticing the teen's frame, DSS's eyes turned wild. "Why do I keep forgetting about you?" he asked.

As a worried Chris gasped, he and Pit locked eyes for a small second. "Quick! Let's pull off a combined attack!" Pit suggested as DSS warped away from sight. Looking down, Chris noticed a flaming comet of darkness was descending upon him. He needed to act quickly.

"Pow Hammers!" Chris called out, turning Pit's dual blades into red mallets. The angel approached Chris and used him to hop up, spinning the red mallets. "I-I don't think that'll be enough to stop him!" Chris told Pit as the first ran away from the crashing site.

The teen then noticed Vector running in the opposite direction, making a high leap to where Pit and the dark comet were about to collide. The crocodile chewed gum and blew a big bubblegum right in between the two contenders. Pit used his wings to pull himself away, shocked to see what was going on. "S-seriously?" Pit asked.

"Hey! Gotta use what I have!" Vector said.

The dark comet, humorously, crashed into the bubblegum balloon before falling back down. As Pit landed back, he saw DSS standing back up, covered in Vector's gum. "What the hell kinda joke is this?!" he demanded, clearly grossed out for having gum stuck in his many scaled quills. He got a reply in the form of Pit spinning his red mallets into his face, accompanied with squeaky noises as the mallets hit the deity head on. Though ridiculous, the attack proved to be quite effective, with one last mallet smack that pushed the spirit to the floor.

Gathering dark energy, DSS dispersed the gum, only to be shot down by Omega's gatling fingers from afar. Grunting in pain, DSS warped and rammed his scaled knee into Omega's head, making the robot crash against the wall behind him. Omega noticed the gap on his metal chest. "I must try to recover physical properties," he said.

"You won't recover them anytime soon!" DSS called out, engulfing himself with a potent aura. He was quickly interrupted by Soren casting a tornado that trapped him in, spinning madly as the violent winds sliced his body. "A-ARGH!"

"I wasn't planning on using one of my rarest tomes," Soren began, standing several feet away from the turbulent currents, "but you have forced my hand to do it."

"ENOUGH!" DSS blasted the tornado with a loud yell, which was actually his dark aura reacting violently. He fell back to the floor and used a strong Homing Attack on Soren, knocking the Branded back. He then raised his claws, shooting dark trails that rained down upon Soren, striking him rather severely, and feeling his soul trying to be ripped apart from his body. "TASTE PAIN!"

Rouge approached the deity and kicked him with several swift kicks, trying to keep him on his spot long enough for Knuckles to join in and punch his stomach swiftly. "We're finally getting somewhere!" Knuckles said.

"You keep saying that. It's getting really old fast," Rouge said, making the echidna grunt just before DSS managed to warp away high above the clearing.

DSS grabbed his head in pain, feeling Dark Gaia trying to take over. "THERE IS NO WAY I WILL LET SUCH A PERSON LIKE YOURSELF GET THE BETTER OF ME!" Dark Gaia screamed loudly as the flaring dark aura suddenly got a reddish color. DSS shook violently as he felt his consciousness being put to rest.

But he was not going to let things go like that any longer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" DSS screamed himself.

Everybody down above looked up, watching the evil spirit struggle to keep dominance over the body. "Should we try to intervene?" Roy asked.

"I have no idea…" Sonic said. "But while he's busy, let's heal our wounds a little more!"

"Let me do the honor! Mediarama!" Roy raised his sword, calling forth lights that healed everyone's wounds a great deal. Sadly, he felt his energy quickly being sapped away for using the spell. "U-ugh, all at the expense of my own stamina… And Chris makes it look so easy…"

"H-hey, it just so happens that this job I have gives me a lot o-" Chris was interrupted after hearing a blasting sound coming from above. His eyes widened, along with everybody else's.

There was an evil red aura that mixed up together with the dark aura of the monstrous deity. They all watched as DSS descended calmly, twitching uncontrollably. A hint of pure madness was plaguing his wild eyes, as if he had descended into downright insanity. "H-how fun!" DSS said. "I-it looks like b-both of our consciences a-are trying to t-take over the same body!"

"Y-you insolent b-bug…" came Dark Gaia's voice through the same mouth, not dropping the maniacal smirk as his head twitched in several directions.

"Oh goodness…" Samus trailed off. "We seem to have set him off to deep end."

"Or rather, them," Mewtwo said.

Samus grunted and fired a Light Beam, striking the deity's eyes. Feeling briefly blinded by the shot, the evil deity and spirit covered their eyes just to receive a Lightblast blow from Samus. Snarling in pain, the deity and spirit warped away and kicked Samus from behind, sending her to slide on the floor.

Chris clutched his rod close to him as he tried to cast a spell as quickly as possible. "O holy water, rain down your powers! Holy Rain!"

The monster looked up as streams of lights rained down upon the field. Unlike last time, he was fully concentrated, warping all over the field to avoid all the shots. It only made everyone scramble around to try to land a blow to stun him.

Suddenly, Mewtwo appeared before the monster and used Confusion, slamming him down hard to the floor, followed by a Psycho Cut that raised him back to his feet. "BEGONE!" Dark Gaia's voice said, thrusting a sharpened claw into Mewtwo's chest.

The Psychic-type's irises shrunk as the monster removed his claw sharply from his body. "W-why must this…uh…" he managed to say as he collapsed on the floor, his second chance over.

"No! How could you!" Diddy called out, charging after the deity himself. The monster turned to the spider monkey and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Diddy then felt something get into his back before it was removed harshly. His eyes turned white as he too collapsed down.

"The hell? He's knocking us all down with a single strike!" Roy said, just to receive the same action once he lost sight of the monster.

"Die, you idiots, DIE!" DSS's voice said, watching Roy collapse in front of him. He raised a cocky eyebrow as the redheaded swordsman stood back up after a shining light gave him a second chance. "How annoying…"

Roy shook his head and quickly got away from the monster, turning a bit pale after seeing a dark aura trying to rip him apart. Thankfully, the effect gave him brief invulnerability. As he ran back, Roy saw Sonic using Spin Dash to ram himself against the monster. DSS grunted and held his claws out to stop the ramming attack, sending Sonic back with a blast of dark energy. The monster's head twitched, changing to Dark Gaia.

The black and red aura acted up violently.

"THOSE WHO DARE DEFY DARKNESS SHALL BE DEFIED INSTEAD!" Dark Gaia yelled as he slammed down his claws into the floor. The atmosphere around the clearing turned dark and red. Before long, the group looked down at the darkened floor pulsating with black gases. From the darkness of the floor, tons of scaled thorns rose up, violently ramming against each single one of them. The thick thorns then started spinning into place, ramming one fighter against the other. The thorns then shone in an unnatural red glow before a long chain reaction of explosions filled the entire field. Their sights became blurry, as one screen of darkness swiped the atmosphere back to normal.

Dark Gaia Punishment

Punishes the just with the mystery of darkness itself, dealing high dark damage to all enemies caught in the blow.

The nasty attack had reduced everyone to their knees, feeling exhausted. "T-things are just starting to get worse by the second…" Rouge muttered under her breath.

Dark Gaia's head twitched, turning back into DSS. "O-oh yeah, y-you guys got really served right there!" he said before a Megidola pushed him down to the floor. "I-I can't…be defeated…"

Chris barely noticed how the monster struggled to get back up to his feet. "H-he's surely just about to lose!" he said, supporting himself with his rod. "W-we're doing great!"

"I-I shall crush…" DSS's head twitched, reverting to Dark Gaia, "a-a-all of you…" another twitch, "t-t-till you can't n-no longer…" yet another twitch, "e-enjoy your m-meaningless lives a-anymore…"

Kirby rushed to his side and started knocking him around with his hammer. Samus, kneeling down, held out her hand and unleashed a Mazionga, striking the monster from all sides with several thunderbolts. Soon enough, the evil monster found himself locked into place once Meta Knight and Roy slashed him multiple times. Omega and Soren joined in, firing bullets and calling slicing winds respectively. Wolf then stood back up and rushed forward as he fired several energy blasts from his Blaster. A combo chain soon reached 80 hits.

"Another Over Limit ready!" Dr. Kawashima said. "Come on, he's on his last breath!"

Chris looked serious and focused his magic on DSS. He was feeling rather weak, his energy having been spent quite a lot for using so much magic. "O-one more…Holy Lance…"

Sonic panted a bit and used the Over Limit, turning into Super Sonic. "THIS IS IT, THE VERY LAST PART OF THIS LONG FIGHT!" he said as he charged forward into the frantic fray that kept the evil deity stunned.

The World Traveler panted as he tried to finish his chant. "O divine spear…run my enemy…through…one last time!" He spun his rod and pointed it directly at Dark Gaia/DSS. "GO FORTH, HOLY LANCE!"

Music stops

Time slowed down as the evil deity kept being attacked from all sides, unable to move an inch by himself. The thick scales that covered his body were giving up to the sheer power of light that came from everybody's attacks. Nobody did notice how the two entities in the single body started to shatter apart into pieces that vanished in thin air. As a sacred glyph of light formed below his feet, Dark Gaia and DSS were now sharing the same vision only in time to watch three of the lances going through his body, shattering the hard outer shell that was his body.

As for the fourth lance, Super Sonic did a risky move and grabbed it with a hand. Yelling loudly, the golden hedgehog shot himself at an incredible blinding speed right onto the deity, impaling him hard on his chest. Dark Gaia and DSS looked down in horror as the last lance made several cracks of light shine all over his body. They then noticed the grinning golden hedgehog, taking him far away from the Gaia Colossus high up into the air. Super Sonic drove them both upwards as the cracks of light expanded all over the dark body and eventually the eyes.

Super Sonic only managed to hear the distorted voices one last time, each one giving their own share of final words.

"I…I guess that…" Dark Super Sonic trailed off, his eyes becoming numb. "…If I destroyed everything…there wouldn't be anything else to destroy… So then…I realized too late how…how stupid my idea for fun was…"

"Idiot…" Super Sonic said, feeling that Dark Super Sonic's essence had vanished forever.

"You fools…" Dark Gaia said. "I…I will come back at full force one day in the distant future…to destroy the world…without needing help from somebody else…"

"Just try to do that…" Super Sonic said, grinning widely. "Chip is gonna be there to keep us all safe."

"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAHHHHHHHHH!"

The golden hedgehog pushed himself off, leaving the stabbed lance on the deity's body. Super Sonic and the rest of the team watched the deity's body radiating with intense light before it started to explode. The small explosions then escalated into bigger bursts of light that were accompanied by Dark Gaia's screams of pain. The explosions then seized for a few seconds before a bright flash came out from him, the last remains of his new body vanishing forever for the time being…

"…" Super Sonic continued looking up at the bright flash as he moved back down to rejoin the others, his golden form wearing off. "…We did it, Chip…" he muttered, falling down to his knees exhausted.

Trauma Team – Rosalia's GUILT

What followed after the battle were many cheers coming from the very bewildered fighters. Chris could only shed a few tears after recalling how they were able to defeat such a powerful foe with the help of the deceased Light Gaia. He chuckled before he started crying a bit, finding it very hard to believe that they managed to save a whole planet and possibly the rest of the universe from the threat that was Dark Gaia and Dark Super Sonic. He was amazed that the battle had gone down so well that Chris thought that, if they really fought whatever fights the future held in store for them as good as they did now, they wouldn't last painfully long.

"Kid!"

Chris snapped out a bit and turned to look at a very pissed Wolf.

"If you got time to shed tears, you got time to heal!" Wolf said grinning. "You're the team's healer! Patch me up before I start thinking about doing the opposite to you!"

"O-okay," Chris said, wiping his tears, "I'll gladly heal everyone who needs some healing…"

Minutes passed as everyone gathered into a big circle. Tails and Dr. Eggman had joined in to celebrate their victory, but they all stared flatly at the doctor once he loudly started to hop up and down. Noticing this, Dr. Eggman stopped and cleared his throat, turning around in embarrassment. "S-so…you all did well to correct my horrible mistake," he said. "Dark Gaia and Light Gaia are now resting to recover their powers, but I swear this time I won't meddle with deities."

They all turned to face Mewtwo. The Psychic-type crossed his arms and nodded. "Unbelievably, he is telling the truth," he said. "His mind is trying to forget everything about what he did with this whole chain of events. He doesn't want to have anything to do with the army any longer, thinking that it's just too much trouble and stress for what it is worth for him."

"Uh… Yes," Dr. Eggman said. "I had enough of mind-readers as well."

Many of them chuckled until their surroundings started to shine in a dim light that gradually became stronger. Groaning, Toon Link said, "Oh no, here comes the unexpected final boss who will hand our heads back to us JUST like last time! I feared this would happen again!"

"I don't think it'll happen again…" Chris trailed off, as the light under their feet shone brightly. They all felt as if they were being whisked away from the inside of the planet, given that a dome of light rose up and covered their vision of the outside…

Surface – Windmill Lookout

The dome of light then dimmed down to reveal that they all had been taken back to the surface in front of a solitary windmill overlooking the sea. It was very late, seeing as there was a full moon in the night sky. "W-what?" Vector said shocked, completely in a loss of words. "A-are we in…heaven?"

"No, you silly man-child," Rouge said smiling. "We're back outside the core of the planet."

Shadow crossed his arms, feeling a faint breeze. "Hmph, I wonder who did this favor for us," he said, implying a hint of sarcasm. "You don't think that Chip person did this, do you?"

"Something tells me Chip did it," Kirby suddenly said, climbing to Chris's back. "Maybe he's looking after us!"

"But what about the Gaia Colossus back down there?" Diddy asked. "Is it going to be okay, floating in the air all alone?"

"I think it's safe to say that…" Tails trailed off in thought, "that it will separate into the temples, and then they will all return back to their original resting places." He looked worried. "This is just a theory, mind you. I hardly deal with the mystical intricacies of magic."

Sonic grinned and stretched out his arms, opening them to the full moon's grace. "And things are back to normal!" he said. "The werehog in me has disappeared for real! It does feel great to be a hedgehog under the moon…"

"Y-yes!" Chris said, smiling in relief. "You're finally back to normal and the Chaos Emeralds are back to their full power. I'm guessing you'll be able to use your Final Smash without any trouble now."

Sonic put his arms down and turned to Chris, flashing him a grin. "Yeah!" he said nodding. "All in all, all ended well for… Hey…" He noticed a faint glint of light appearing before his face. The hedgehog felt like grasping it with both hands. "What's this?"

"It's me, Sonic…" Chip's voice came from the glint of light.

Wolf groaned a bit. "Dear lord, this guy is really hard to shut up," he muttered, getting a shoulder bump from Samus.

"I…I wanted to…say one last farewell the right way," Chip said. "The balance between light and darkness in this world has finally been restored for real, and now I can…rest in peace knowing that I returned to my old job…" He chuckled heartedly. "But since I have little energy left to communicate with all of you one last time…I…I want to wish you all good luck in the future you saved… I know there are still bad guys trying to keep you from doing good, but you have my full support."

"Chip…" Chris trailed off, shedding a small tear. "I-I won't forget you…none of us will…"

"Thanks… But before I go back to my sleep…" The glint of light shone brightly, turning into the green necklace Chip carried around with him. Sonic, surprised, blinked and saw the necklace floating down gently on his hands. "Sonic…have my necklace as a reminder of me…"

"…" Sonic smiled at the necklace, staring at a small glint of light within the green orb. "Yeah… I'll keep this with me for sure, Chip."

Obtained Chip's Necklace!

A very precious memento left by a cheerful friend. Equipping this will absorb all light damage and nullify all dark damage.

Chip was heard sniffing a bit, but he composed himself as he started to lose the connection with them all. "…It is time for me to leave…"

Chris gasped and quickly signaled his team to say something in unison. Chip couldn't tell at all what they were going to do, but then it all became clear once the Smashers all said, "Take care, Chip, and please never change."

"You…you guys…" The imp then lost the connection, sniffing a bit louder. Even if his essence was gone, they all heard him saying a very upbeat, "Y-you're all amazing! Thank you so much for everything, and take care of each other!"

Persona 3 – Brand New Days

As Sonic stared blankly into space, he saw light coming from the other side of the sea. The group of people watched as the sun slowly rose up from afar, the full moon hiding away. "Hey, it's morning time," Roy said, admiring the beautiful scene beyond the cliff. "Now this is a fitting end for this mission."

"Pfft, yeah, right!" Sonic said, keeping the green necklace. He turned to Shadow. "I know there's only one way for a fitting end of my liking. Shadow, I'm up for a small race against you down the coast. You up for it?"

Shadow, oddly, smiled a bit before he grinned. "I kind of missed doing this ever since you mysteriously vanished," he said, walking to Sonic's side. The hedgehogs then were gone from sight.

Soren grimaced a bit. "That blue hedgehog is sure a very active one," he commented.

"H-hey!" Toon Link looked offended. "How rude of him to ditch us behind like that!"

"Really now?" Meta Knight asked. "I believe Sonic deserves this. After all, he completely and utterly loathed his werehog form. Let him be a bit childish." He touched the chipped part of his mask. "We all deserve our own fitting ends…" He then turned to look up at Chris. "You, for example, are going to get yours in a few seconds."

"H-huh?" Chris stared confused at Meta Knight before he saw him pointing away to the direction Sonic and Shadow had run away. "O-oh…"

From the beaten path, Chris's ever so loyal Lucario came walking into the scene, only stopping after he and his trainer looked at each other from their spots. Swelling with tears in his eyes, Chris broke running to his Pokémon, leaping at him while stretching his arms wide. Lucario smiled and opened his arms as his trainer's face mildly hit the side of his chest. Instantly, Lucario put a tight hug on Chris, the teen crying happily on his furred chest. "Welcome back…" Lucario muttered, growling a bit in affection afterwards.

"L-Lucario…" Chris muttered. "W-we…we won the fight…"

"Yes…" Lucario said, shedding a few tears of his own. "I… We all watched it from the mansion… And then I saw you about to…to die…s-so I got really mad that I started yelling your name to…to give you my support…"

Chris looked up at Lucario, tears still coming down the former's cheeks. "I felt your aura going into me… You felt that?"

Lucario nodded, pulling Chris back to his chest. "It was a very odd experience…but it worked out all in the end…" His body started to glow with aura, calling out Chris's own aura to merge together in harmony. "There is truly a special connection between us…"

Chris and Lucario laughed together before they both heard a multitude of people coming from the latter's direction. Breaking up from their hug a bit, the two looked behind as the rest of the Smashers and the Sonic reps joined them all to celebrate their victory. That same day, it all was followed by a celebration party at the Smash Mansion where many of them, relieved, continued the bountiful event. Just for once, they also allowed Dr. Eggman and Team Dark to join them, feeling that the doctor really needed to be given a break for once.

Sonic's planet was then forever protected from an unstable balance of light and darkness, all thanks to Chip. Dark Super Sonic was gone forever, his threat becoming a thing of the past none would like to remember anytime soon.

The future, for now, looked bright…

"WEREHOG SAGA" COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY!

YOU HAVE GAINED 40000 SMASH COINS!

Overwriting File…

-Smash Mansion-
Chris, Lucario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic

Etna suddenly walked into view, holding a reel. "Hey, guys!" she said cheerfully. "Look what I found here."

"Oh no, what is it now?" Toon Link asked. "It better not be one of your made-up previews!"

"Relax, it's not," Etna said, sounding a bit pissed. "In fact, I went ahead and took a small peek at it. What I found in here…is gonna blow your minds away… Well, not mine since I don't give a damn, but the people reading this might get pretty…let's say, thrilled…" She played the reel.

The following preview scenes are all at random, but they are all included within the next set of chapters without fail.

...

"I'm obliged to do this!" Chris argued. "I'm…I'm going to find out the whole truth behind you!"

The Ancient Minister scoffed, turning around. "What can a mere child like you hope to find out about me…even if I don't know my past myself?"

"With evidence!"

…

"I…I miss him!" Pikachu cried. "It's just… It's just so unfair that we celebrated our victory against Dark Gaia a month ago without him! You don't know how I feel right now! I feel like crap just thinking about what we've gone through so far!"

Lucario closed his eyes. "I know how you feel…"

Chris started to sniff himself, dropping to his knees to pet Pikachu's head. "…Wait…"

…

"I-I can't believe this," Peach said, stepping back. "How could this happen?"

Mario sighed. "She surely knew that we shouldn't intervene with her affairs so she closed down the only door leading directly to her," he said.

"Aw, fiddlesticks," Luigi complained.

…

"You're REALLY the most unsettling person I've ever met before in my life," Chris muttered at last.

"Ha ha," Joshua laughed. Nobody could tell if he was mocking everyone or not. "Don't you worry, Chris. As time passes, we will eventually unearth our hidden feelings for each other. Perhaps, we will be more than…best friends?"

The black-haired teen quickly stepped away. "The hell, Joshua, put a lid on it!" Neku complained, grabbing his head. Chris immediately approved of the orange-haired boy's rant.

…

"I can't let you go any further!" Lucario said, stopping Chris from going to the higher floors of the mansion. "If you still wish to go up, I…I'll have to…" His fists flared with aura as he lunged at Chris with a violent roar.

"HOLY CRUD!" Chris screamed, turning tails and running down the hall. Enraged, Lucario pursued his trainer down. "H-HELP!"

…

"Resist all you want," the Ancient Minister said. "We shall begin this…interrogation of yours."

Behind the bars, Chris looked serious. "You will see how this process is going to make you spill everything you're trying to hide so fervently!"

Return to Normality Saga

Begins

…

He ran down the alley until he got mixed up with the crowd once more. Oddly enough, the crowd still didn't get into an uproar just looking at his non-human face, as he was just an apparition that none could see. It started to annoy him so much that he raised his fists to his sides, yelling at the top of his lungs to the white sky over the towering skyscrapers.

"WHERE IN THE HELL AM I?!" Fox yelled loudly, his voice echoing throughout the streets in hopes of the people ignoring him to listen loud and clear. As he screamed, he pondered the heavy question that burned inside his mind. "(Is there any hope for me to come back to life OR WHAT?!) SCREW EVERYTHING!"
*Chapter 196*: The Sudden Kidnapping

I have recovered my overall passion for this story.

From The Happy Riolu: My feelings were so complex after reading this chapter for many reasons. One, Chip died which freaking sucked. Two, Chris got his voice back which is a good thing. And three, Lucario and Chris fight over something that I dont know yet but well soon find later on. But hey great chapter though hope you keep going at it.

From me: Chip did die, but he's shown to be okay. As he had said, he's recovering together with Dark Gaia. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From .50: In a perfect world; this entire series you've been writing would be made into either a AAA video game crossover franchise or a hit Anime/Manga. When I first discovered your series on TV tropes you had already written up to chapter 191. It took me two weeks to get through it all and I became so entrenched in the story despite the awkward grammar here and there. Obviously now I have to wait like everyone else for new chapters but I'm glad to have something to look forward to here. The preview of things to come at the end of the chapter really lifted my spirits (Not going to bring any of them in particular up to prevent spoilers obviously) and seeing all the characters interact with each other is such a thrill. I also like the added touch of including songs to play during the specific points in the story; really helps paint the picture. Can't wait to see where you take this thing!

From me: Wish Nintendo could see how much potential this story has to become a very successful series…but sadly, that would only happen if I tried extremely hard to get their attention. However, I'm very grateful that you like this so much, but if you can, try to see what grammar errors pop up so frequently to help me fix them. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

From Safire Ranmako: First off this is the best chapter yet!

Second I'd still like your take on the Sam & Max idea as you still haven't updated yourself on the Forem.

Third I have to say this HAS to be the best Boss Battle I've ever read!

Please keep going...

Safire Ranmako

From me: One, thank you very much.

Two, I'm completely clueless to those two, but I'll see what happens once I use my free time to enjoy whatever they have… They ARE a video game first, right?

Three, wow, really? Hopefully nobody found it rushed… Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

Surprising to see this story updating so fast? Well, now that I have a lot of free time, and the fact that I really want you all to see what this new saga has to show, it boosted me a whole lot to write like crazy. Hell, my passion for art is matched by this enthusiasm.

Now, we're about to enter the most controversial saga to have ever graced this story: the Return to Normality Saga.

In the first chapter, we're changing things around for the next set of chapters by having them being narrated by Chris. That means anything that happens will be seen through his eyes. No other events shall be shown showing the other Smashers unless Chris is there to tell. Yes, Chris is most likely taking a central role.

Many events still take place to fuel your overall excitement, but it's time we turn over to the very serious side of things…

I encourage all readers to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: See my art! You need to have a clear picture of Chris in order to like him more!

Chapter 196: The Sudden Kidnapping

?

July 26 – Sunday – Evening

There was no way to describe the bind I got myself into…

As I sat down the small ledge of my little prison, I was at a complete loss. Nobody knew where I was. I didn't know how exactly I was taken into this dangerous place. I looked up at the dark, white ceiling, sighing to myself. Today was not my day…

I then turned to the left to stare at the light coming through the bars that held me from escaping. I contemplated the option of attacking the bars, but that would make things worse by alerting the entire facility about my actions. I better hold my ground…

Judging the fact I was kidnapped by the Subspace Army and I was surely held somewhere deep inside the Subspace Bomb Research Facility…escaping would increase the odds of me getting into much more trouble. If only…only if Lucario was here…

I tried my best not to give up hope, so I began to recall how the day even started. I smiled a bit to myself as I remembered how things were looking good till they rapidly were drained down the toilet in a blink of an eye. A few surprises here and there, just for some nasty ones to show up…

Long Flashback, the same day, during the morning

-Smash Mansion-

Chris's Room

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn - Vale

I had missed the normal days where Lucario and I slept together. As I yawned a bit, I opened up my eyes to see a sea of yellow fur with a sharp chest spike standing across the fur. I felt a tight grip, suddenly spotting Lucario's big arms wrapped tightly into my smaller body. The Aura Pokémon had placed his snout on top of my head as he growled occasionally in his sleep. Lucario was surely trying to keep me safe at all costs. After all, so much had happened a month ago that he kind of got into the idea of staying by my side all the time.

Well, we already were doing that a lot before, but this time, Lucario stood closer to me. I didn't really mind, though. I felt very happy with the idea.

I briefly recalled how Master Hand was able to convince Sonic's friends from leaving the mansion for good. The scene had been quite nasty. No matter what, Tails and the others were bringing strong points that explained why they needed to stay. Master Hand "wisely" responded with a fake yes and suddenly opened up a portal, telling them to go get their stuff to move in back with us. Dr. Eggman, feeling unwanted, merely shrugged and left without much a word. He was probably trying to forget everything and rest. After all of them had run inside, Master Hand closed down the portal and laughed. Many of us DID think that they would surely show up one day ready to hurt Master Hand, but it seemed unlikely for the time being. On the other hand, we had to admit that they didn't need to keep helping us, as our fight against the Subspace Army was currently our own business and we would rather keep it for ourselves.

I remember turning around to see Soren say, "If you ever try to pull that trick on me, I assure you that your fingers will be severed."

To my annoyance, Sonic was hardly seen around the mansion till nighttime. I just let him enjoy his freedom of being a full-fledged hedgehog 24/7. He deserved it so badly.

Snapping back to the present situation, I looked up to see Lucario let out a mighty yawn, catching a glimpse of the rows of sharp fangs inside his mouth. He immediately opened his eyes and stared down at me, chuckling deeply as he decided to playfully caress my cheek with the tip of his muzzle. It was times like these that made me forget that the strongest Lucario of the Pokémon world was under my care. I really found it adorable that my towering Lucario had such methods for affection.

After a month had passed, Lucario's recovery was definite. His heart was fully recovered, and he was able to fight once more. Through the month, I would see Lucario asking me to go out to train him. I would sit on his back as he did around a thousand pushups, only for Pikachu and Jigglypuff to sit down with me and add to the weight. Even then, Lucario still proved to be the Hercules version of Pokémon. Pikachu always joked, saying, "Hi, Chris. How is Hercurio doing today?"

…Come to think of it… Now that I took a closer look, Lucario was showing traces of musculature in his body. His arms looked a bit sharper and defined, and I could swear that his neck had gotten a little thicker. Though faint, his legs looked different. Furthermore, with the fact that he had made it a habit to pull my head to his chest, I barely noticed some gaps under his fur that felt like bumps. Somewhere down his chest spike it felt like there were even more muscles…

Suddenly, seeing Jigglypuff faint all of a sudden all the time made sense to me.

Was he really doing a lot of exercise? Lucario was probably worried that he had lost so much time doing nothing but rest that he must've had made a very conscious effort to get back in shape. Then it hit me: are Pokémon able to change their looks drastically? I needed to keep a close watch on Lucario before he could put a Machoke into shame…

That would also mean that he would get EVEN stronger; stronger enough to convince the Pokémon League of banning him from battles…

Maybe I should let him continue and see where this would end. I was curious to see how far he could go…but for now, I would stop him by spending quality time with him.

"Good morning, Chris," Lucario said in his gruff voice. It did sound like a giant was talking down to me. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you," I said, chuckling and rubbing my cheek against the side of his chest. Oh dear god, I felt a very thick thing under all that fur that frightened me. If I was somebody else, I would surely squeal with glee. "I wonder what we're going to do today…"

"You finished your homework already, right?" Lucario asked.

"Oh yes," I said. "Always finishing it right after school." It was a fact that I always finished my homework very soon JUST because I had an important job: save the world with a bunch of strangers that I liked very much. "What do you want to do today?"

"Exercise."

The image of Super Lucario immediately clouded my mind. He was carrying a mountain on a single palm.

"A-ah, I was thinking about doing something else…" I said, hastily coming up with a random idea, "…why don't we explore the forest around the mansion? I heard from Red that he's seen Pokémon appear." I smiled. "Get this. I heard from him that Master Hand is letting him catch Pokémon as long as he doesn't use them for the missions."

Lucario smiled a bit. "It'll be nice to have more friends of my own…if Red manages to catch one," he said, sitting up. I sat up, still staring up at him. "…Didn't you say you wanted to catch Pokémon, too?"

"Oh…"

Days before, I started to think about the possibility of me catching Pokémon of my own. I really liked the sound of the idea, and Lucario surprisingly didn't object to that. He was feeling confident that he was going to be my biggest pride and joy in the event I got another Pokémon, and he was right on that. However, unlike Red, I wanted to catch very specific Pokémon of my liking. The idea of storing hundreds of them in a PC seemed a bit too cruel. What if a neglected Tyranitar would come out and suddenly lash out at me for ignoring it for three months? Did trainers experience such events?

Specifically, I wanted to catch someday a Shinx, a Poochyena, a Mudkip (this is TOTALLY not a joke), and a Growlithe. If there was a new generation coming soon, I would probably extend that list with two or three more Pokémon. And I would NOT keep them all in their Poké Balls. I would let them all run around all over my room and even let them all sleep together with me and Lucario.

The refreshing image of all mentioned Pokémon cuddling up to my face made me feel really happy.

"Oh yes," I said. "I want to catch a Shinx, a Poochyena, a Growlithe, and a Mudkip very soon."

Lucario gave me an odd look. "You're not joking with the last one…are you?" he asked.

I grimaced. "Seriously, the internet makes things look less serious," he said. "YES, I'm getting a Mudkip. In fact, that was my first favorite Pokémon before your line showed up with all your glory… That doesn't mean I'll neglect you, though. I want you to make friends with all of them… And someday we will all challenge all the important Lucario trainers out there we've met, including any idiot!"

Lucario rolled his eyes, but he really liked the idea. "Chris, don't be silly. The chances of an idiot owning a Lucario are extremely slim. I can't really imagine some obnoxious kid owning a Lucario, let alone a Riolu," he said.

"Now that I think about it, that's so unlikely," he said. "I don't look like it, but I respect the likes of Cynthia and Riley for being like us. I would probably feel very, very humiliated just knowing there being some annoying trainer owning one."

We both fell silent.

"…Why are we talking about this again?" I asked confused, raising an eyebrow.

Lucario shrugged. "It just came up," he said.

Outside

After taking a shower and having eaten breakfast with some of the others present at the kitchen, Lucario, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and I (in my Chozo Arts job) all set out to the forest surrounding the mansion, specifically the northern portion. Come to think of it, wasn't there supposed to be a tennis court somewhere around here? I guessed that Master Hand got rid of it, or maybe he needed one snap of his fingers to make a door appear. I just forgot thinking about it as soon as we all stopped walking.

"You weren't kidding. There are Pokémon just beyond the backyard," I said, admiring some dancing Sunkern hopping about on top of a branch. Me having a very weak constitution against all cute creatures, I barely looked away from the Sunkern.

"So, I was thinking…" Red trailed off, taking out a bag with seeds from his backpack, "I thought about catching Pokémon without having to fight them straight on."

We all looked at him as if he was crazy. "Oh, Red. I never thought you were the kind of guy who liked Safari Zone," Pikachu joked.

"What?" Red said. "Uh, anyway, you guys remember that a Pokémon Center and a Poké Mart opened downtown, right? Well, I bought these seeds from the mart. The clerk told me these are useful to lure bird Pokémon." He tossed some seeds to the barren ground. "I want to test this out. The idea I have is bond with them without fighting."

Though it sounded crazy, I had to admit the idea sounded very nice. "Wow, you're getting somewhere with this," I said. "If this works, maybe I'll try it out for myself. I…can't really think what would happen if I had Lucario punch a Growlithe."

Squirtle looked devious. "One slap coming from him and the dog's head is as good as dead," he said. Lucario grunted a bit and looked away annoyed.

We all then saw shadows showing up from the sky. Suddenly, a few Pidgey landed gracefully on the ground and pecked the seeds. "Alright, it's working," Ivysaur said. "Keep those birds away from my bulb, though…"

Red smiled. "Okay. Squirtle, go talk and try to convince somebody to come with me," he said. Squirtle waddled over to the Pidgey flock, surprisingly getting into a friendly conversation me and Red weren't able to understand. Sadly, the Pidgey looked more interested in the free food than following some human around. "…"

Suddenly, more shadows flew by, and this time three Hoothoot appeared. I was curious to see how they hopped on the ground with one foot, only to see that they had the innate ability of hiding two feet. They all started pecking the seeds. For security, Red tossed more seeds to keep everybody entertained. "Um, Pikachu? I didn't want you do this, but…" I heard Red saying.

"Eh, no problem. Anything to make things more lively," Pikachu said as he went to talk to the Hoothoot. He got into the same situation, much to Red's dismay.

Luckily, yet another flock of bird Pokémon came in. Four Taillow descended and started eating. I thought that destiny was trying to give Red many chances to catch a Pokémon without fighting. "Oh, I got this," Jigglypuff said. Her version of the story was met with the same result.

There was a fourth flock coming down. Four Starly joined the big feast of seeds. "Ah… Oh well, I'll try…" Ivysair said, his legs shaking a bit as he got into a conversation with the fourth flock. They were just as interested on the seeds as the rest of the bird Pokémon.

I looked at Red. He looked like he was about to retire in defeat. "Just give it a little more time," I told him. "Surely one of them will accept the offer…"

As I told him that, a fifth flock, or rather, one more bird Pokémon landed down and started pecking the seeds scattered over the ground. There was something about the last bird that made me and Lucario stare at it in a bit of shock. Red, though, ruined the moment and said, "I never took an interest on Spearow."

"Red…" I trailed off, widening my eyes. "That's not a Spearow…"

Red looked at the bird. "It isn't? Well, maybe it's a Chatot."

"It's not a Chatot either," Lucario said.

We all took a closer look at the bird. It looked like some sort of pigeon to me. It had a puffy gray chest with lifeless yellow eyes that focused on the seeds. Its little wings were also gray, but the left and right parts of the surface were of a light dark color with a gray line running in-between. It had two pink spheres on the top of its small, black beak. Its feet were pink with black nails.

"…This is a brand new Pokémon!" I suddenly said in surprise. "I don't remember seeing one like it before…"

"Seriously?" Red asked, taking out his Pokédex to examine it. The device told him that it had no information regarding the new creature. "Either this is busted, or that Pokémon is really new… Sweet!"

I didn't want to let the new Pokémon go like that, so I looked at Lucario. "Lucario, try convincing it about following Red… Oh, and try to learn its name," I said. Lucario nodded and approached the bird Pokémon, kneeling down.

The bird Pokémon hopped and turned around, looking up at the imposing Pokémon. "(Helloooooo!)" it chirped in its own language, stretching a wing to Lucario. I couldn't really tell what was going between those two… "(You're a big Pokémon! How do you do?)"

"(Good,)" Lucario said, but to me and Red, it sounded like a growl. "(What's your name?)"

"(Pidove!)" the bird said. "(I'm a cheerful Pidove! I think your name is Luca-something, right?)"

"(Uh, yes, Lucario,)" Lucario growled. "(Listen. Do you want to follow that human behind me?)" He looked at Red over his shoulder.

"(A trainer? Ha!)" Pidove mocked. "(Only if he fed me every day, I would probably follow him!)"

"(He can do that if you want,)" Lucario growled. "(He's a very good human.)"

"(Reeeeeeeeally now?)" Pidove said. "(Huh, I never thought about being raised by a human before… I've seen Pokémon Trainers giving their Pokémon a lot of attention, and most of the time, it's always good!)" It fluttered its wings a bit. "(Alright, you got yourself a deal if he does feed me every day!)"

Lucario smiled and stood back up, watching the Pidove take flight and stop in front of Red. The trainer gasped. "W-what do I do?" Red asked.

"Pidove will only follow you if you feed and groom him," Lucario said.

"Well…" Red took a bunch of seeds. Rejoicing, the Pidove chirped and then started eating the seeds. "Oh, alright!"

"I'm jealous," I said. "You managed to catch an unknown Pokémon…"

Suddenly, Pikachu ran back to us with a Hoothoot in tow. "Hey, guess what!" he said. "I convinced this one to join Red!" Red looked down at the Hoothoot, who then flew up and hoisted itself on top of his hat. Red felt a bit of pain as the Hoothoot tried finding a good position, we all watched it rest on top of Red's head, its big red eyes staring forward. "Yeah… He's kind of odd, let me tell you."

"Two Pokémon in a row!" I said, feeling more envious. "Your method really does work! I'm going to try that out for myself next time I get to see the Pokémon I want…"

Red looked happy as he had two new Pokémon to look after. It was a shame he didn't get to take them with us during missions, but I guess Master Hand made it that way only because he wanted us bond with each other during battle better. I then remembered how we fought against Dark Gaia. I could tell everybody was in perfect sync throwing attacks with near-perfect coordination, and that probably wasn't because of Chip – rest in peace – blessing us with his light.

Suddenly, Lucario narrowed his eyes and looked around. "We're being watched…" he muttered. "And…I can sense a very troubled aura expressing sadness and loneliness…"

This wasn't common of him to say an aura that felt sad and lonely. Lucario's ability to read emotions through people's auras was something I hardly got to see him use at all, as he used mind-reading the most. The look on his face made us wary of our surroundings as the others stopped talking to the flock of birds. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps coming our way filled our ears. We all turned to the east where we saw somebody come into view.

It looked like a trainer…

"Salutations," the trainer said with a wide smile and a very calm look in his eyes. "I was wandering around this forest when I looked at you and your Pokémon having fun… It pleases my heart to see such a deep connection between all of you. A world of Pokémon where humans don't need to keep them confined in Poké Balls…"

Red and I were kind of taken back by what the trainer had told us. I decided to study his look. He had long green hair that reached his waist a bit. He had a slightly pale look around his rather cheerful-yet-calm green eyes. He wore a thin white jacket with a black shirt underneath, his pants being a very pale, light cream color. I stared at the nice black hat he wore on top of his head before I moved down and saw the small yet eye-catching trinkets he wore. A necklace with a yellow-and-blue ovals orbiting around a dark core was on his neck, a black-and-gray bracelet on his right wrist and golden rings on his left wrist, and a weird yellow cube that looked like a finished puzzle hung down a thin chain on his left pocket. He had the same size as I had.

"Excuse me?" I heard Red say. "What do you mean with a world where humans don't hold Pokémon in Poké Balls?"

"Oh, it's just a thought I had in mind…that I wish to accomplish for the benefit of all one day," he said in a friendly tone. "But, say, can you let me inspect your Pokémon? I saw how each one of you seemed to talk English just now. That excited me a lot!"

My group and myself did a collective gasp. "(H-he HEARD us?)" Jigglypuff thought in shock. I saw the mysterious trainer crouching down to her. She was shivering.

"Ah ha," the guy said, smiling warmly at Jigglypuff. "You are an odd one, but you hold such a strong attachment to your friends."

"T-thank you…" Jigglypuff whispered, gasping afterwards. "Ji-Jigglypuff!"

"Please!" the guy said chuckling. "There is really no need to hide your secret! I welcome the idea of Pokémon being able to talk like us humans! If that means a stronger bond can be obtained, do continue!" He stood up, turning to face us. "It fills my heart with such joy seeing how you have all your Pokémon out like this."

I went ahead to ask the golden question. "J-just…who are you?"

Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 – N Encounter

He continued smiling. "My name is N," he said simply.

…Uh, okay, that was a REAL imaginative name right there… I could tell Red was even more freaked out, but who was he to judge this guy? He had a weird name as well.

We saw N opening his arms. "Pleasure to meet you all, really. I come from the Unova Region," he said, piquing my interest in the region he just mentioned. "I never thought I'd find Pokémon like yours that could communicate using our speech. That is wonderful! I bet you all spend bountiful times together every day just like I do with Pokémon myself." He placed a hand over his neck. "I wouldn't mind the idea of being friends with you myself."

"Uh…what?" Red said.

"I feel like there's something important to be learned here," N said. "Will you please let me talk to your partners and see how they feel about you?"

"I…guess it's okay…" I said.

"Wonderful," N said, turning to look up at my towering Lucario. "Hello. I heard your name is Lucario. How do you feel about your trainer?" he asked with profound interest in his eyes. "Does he treat you well?"

"Yes," Lucario said, pulling me under his arm in affection. "I could never ask for somebody else to raise me like Chris does."

"Aww, thank you!" I said, embracing him tight. Lucario growled and rubbed his cheek against the top of my head.

N laughed heartedly. "Yes! I can see how the two of you are so close to each other! You're unlike any other trainer and Pokémon I've met before. Such an imposing Pokémon displaying such feelings for his trainer…" I briefly pitied those he met. He knelt down and looked down at Ivysaur. "Yet another Pokémon not native to my region… Tell me, little one. Is your trainer good to you?"

"Y-yes," Ivysaur said. "He takes good care of me, too."

"Ah, yes, yes," N said, pleased with the answer. "Hmm, I can tell your bond with your trainer…"

"Red," Red said.

"I can tell your bond with Red isn't as strong as theirs," he said, motioning to me and Lucario. "But no matter. Yours is pretty solid, and it has a lot of great potential."

"Thanks?" Ivysaur said as N stood back up. He then went over to see Pikachu.

"…Huh, that is strange," N said, looking quite doubtful. "I can't put my finger on it, but you seem to have separated from your trainer…"

Pikachu looked very shocked. "H-holy… What ARE you? Some kind of Pokémon whisperer?"

N laughed a bit. "I have the innate ability to communicate and understand all Pokémon," he said. I was thoroughly impressed that a person like him could exist. Sure, the idea that there was a human who could understand Pokémon was a bit plausible, but still amazed me that he could tell so much about somebody at first glance. "So, you're currently away from your trainer…yet you like him a lot."

Pikachu shrugged. "I have my moments with him," he said. "I really would like him to grow a brain, but somehow, he always goes back to zero when it comes down to Pokémon. It's…really frustrating that we never get so far."

N closed his eyes. "Perhaps someday your trainer will finally realize for himself how to mature with his Pokémon," he said. "But…why do you think he'll never grow past his ten years?"

"I dunno!" Pikachu said. "The universe itself is pretty weird!"

"What a funny one!" N said, clearly dismissing Pikachu's worries as jokes. He stood back up and turned back to us. "You all are a pretty bright bunch. I look forward to see how each one of you treat your Pokémon. I hope you don't mind if I stick around these parts, keeping a watchful eye on your progress."

We so needed to keep this guy away from the mansion itself.

"Incidentally," N said as a Pokémon appeared from behind him, jumping to his shoulder, "here's my little special friend whom I have spent most of my life with."

We all stared at the next brand new Pokémon that N had brought with him. This one was a little dark fox with a very whimsical and devious look in its blue eyes, as if it wanted to cause mischief on us at any moment. It had red feet with a pale dark body. Around its neck, it had puffy dark fur that almost looked like a collar just like the tail on its back. It had red eyelids with a red spot over each eye, combined with a small fluffy hair on top of its head which had red fur on the tip. It giggled deviously. I almost called it Giggles the Devious.

"Say hello to Zorua," N said. Zorua nodded its head, giggling once more. "He's a lively one."

Zorua suddenly leaped off N's shoulder and landed on my head. Looking up, I saw him looking down at my face with the same devious look, giggling once more. He then leaped to Red's head and tried to take off his hat. The Hoothoot had been pushed away, looking perplexed at the Zorua. Pidove only looked up in curiosity. "H-hey, no!" Red said, grabbing his hat. Zorua giggled as he landed back to the ground, approaching Pikachu. Hoothoot claimed its resting spot once again.

What happened after surprised us the most.

Zorua flipped in midair and changed his overall appearance into Pikachu. "W-whoa!" I said. "I-it can transform!"

"No way!" Red exclaimed, only to spot Zorua's fluffy tail had not changed at all to turn into's Pikachu's. "Oh, he didn't change completely…"

Pikachu looked flattered. "You're like some sort of Ditto," he said. Zorua then flipped in midair and assumed his natural form, leaping back to N's side.

"Life is always good around him," N said nodding. "He and I will watch you all." The idea of having such an odd character like N watching us raise our Pokémon seemed frightful at first, but he really didn't look like he had bad motives in mind. I thought it was okay to let him do what he wanted to do. "Say, do you keep your Pokémon in their Poké Balls most of the time?"

"No, not really," I said. "It feels pretty lonely without having them out…" Lucario pulled me in another embrace. I simply chuckled at him.

"Nice to hear that," N said, looking up to the sky through the trees. "I'm on a journey to liberate Pokémon from the oppression that is Poké Balls…"

"Wait, why?" Red asked confused.

N looked a bit serious at us. "It just doesn't look right," he said. "To me, it looks wrong that we humans trap them into those spheres without bonding with them directly. Pokémon are not monsters, but rather, people with the same hearts as us. We are too shy to approach one another in a different way… I have watched people enjoying the company of Pokémon through battles, though, so that makes me feel a little better. It's a small glint of hope that's enough for me to pursue this goal I have." N looked at us with another smile. He was enjoying himself. "So far, you two top my list."

"We're glad to hear that…" Squirtle muttered.

Music stops

I noticed how N's look turned flat once he looked at Lucario. When I noticed, Lucario himself was looking away as if something was nagging him. "Lucario?" I said. "Hey, Lucario, what's wrong?"

"Remember when I told you that I felt an aura that was sad and lonely?" Lucario said. "It's still out there…and it feels like it's about to perish."

N narrowed his eyes. To me, he didn't look sad and lonely. He was the complete opposite. "You have a power to feel auras, then?" he asked. "Very surprising… Where is this aura you're talking about? Is it perhaps a Pokémon?"

Lucario focused. "…It is a Pokémon. A small one at… Oh no," we heard him mutter under his breath as he suddenly broke into a sprint, leaping above several bushes into the deep parts of the forest. "Follow me, everyone!" he called out.

N looked amazed at the quick Lucario. "I can tell he was raised so well," he said before he went to follow Lucario. I, Red, and the rest of us went after the two, ignoring the flock of bird Pokémon flying away after having finished their feast of seed.

Half a mile away from where we had started running, we barely saw Lucario come to a full stop as he looked down at the base of a tree. As I got closer with the rest, I saw a very solemn on his face that hinted sadness. "L-Lucario!" I called out as we managed to reach his spot. I looked at the spot he was staring down at. "What is it that has you so riled… Oh… Oh no…" I covered my mouth in shock. Red and the Pokémon dropped their jaws, reacted similarly to the shock we saw together.

To our collective surprise, there was a wild Riolu lying against the tree. The sad thing was that it looked…it looked like it was just about to die… We all knelt down and took a closer look at its face. It was sickly pale. Its cheeks were a bit hollow and its little body frame looked unusually thin. I moved down my eyes to see that its belly was…it had a horrendous gap. It was barely breathing, trying to hold on to dear life… Just looking at it immediately made my eyes shed tears. I was so attached to Riolu in general that I didn't care with who it was with, as long as it was being raised properly with a dignified attitude.

"It…it is dying of starvation," N said, looking serious. "If it's not fed in less than an hour, it might not make it…"

"N-no!" I said, carefully grabbing the lifeless Riolu on my arms. I could see its small chest swelling very little with air. "W-we need to save him! Red! Do you have any Pokémon food?"

To our dismay, Red shook his head. "S-sorry, I only brought those seeds," he said. "But let's not waste time! We need to go back to the mansion!"

We all decided to do just that, with N and his Zorua tagging along.

Kitchen

Pokémon Black & White – Emotion

In a hurry, I tried to keep Riolu conscious, long enough for Red to find something good in the fridge for it to eat. We were all sitting around the table, worried sick about the dying Pokémon. I was on the verge of crying out as Lucario had a flaring hand of aura on the Riolu's head, trying to keep it alive by transferring aura into it. "Red, find something!" Lucario said as a scold. "My aura can't be a substitute to cure hunger!"

"U-uh!" Red peered out from the fridge, holding an apple. "T-this might do!"

"I don't think it's strong enough to eat through the apple so simply like that," N said. "You'll have to peel it off."

Red didn't look for something else and quickly went to peel the skin off the apple. He frantically looked for a knife inside a drawer "This is gonna take a while as it is!" Ivysaur said before leaping to the top of the counter, using Razor Leaf. The apple was instantly peeled off almost perfectly, being cut into eight pieces. "There!"

Red stopped looking for a knife and picked all the pieces, hurrying to our side. He gave all the pieces to me, and then I brought a piece close to the dying Riolu's mouth. "P-please! Open your mouth!" I pleaded desperately. "You need to eat!"

Lucario then growled, instructing the Riolu to do what I said. We all got closer, staring at the Riolu not budging much. "Are…are we too late?" Jigglypuff asked.

I felt the Riolu budging. Widening my eyes, I saw it opening its mouth a bit. I carefully slipped a part of the apple piece into its mouth, and I felt how it had bitten off the tip. We all saw it munch on the little piece and, before long, it gained energy gradually. Its red eyes were opening up, not minding the fact that it had been taken somewhere else. It looked like it only cared that he was being fed…

Four pieces of apple later, the Riolu's eyes were opening little by little. Looking up to Lucario, he said, "His aura is coming back to him… He's going to be okay."

We all sighed, relieved that we had saved the Riolu's life. I consciously fed him the rest of the apple pieces, seeing his calm eyes looking around the kitchen and the people staring so intently at him. Once he looked at Lucario, the Riolu hardly looked anywhere else. He seemed shocked to see such a huge Lucario looking down at him.

That was until his little stomach growled for more food. He covered his belly, all of us hearing him grunt. "I-I'm going to go get another apple…" Red said.

"I'm so glad…" I muttered as I started to rub the Riolu's head. "I was so worried that we wouldn't make it in time…" The Riolu looked up at me with a flat expression, blinking confused. Maybe it was thinking why I was so worried…

N and Zorua exchanged glances. "I'd like to see you take care of that Riolu," he said. "Something about the fact he was near death puzzles me just thinking about it…"

"Let me read his mind," Lucario said, staring intently at the Riolu. The Emanation Pokémon looked up, as if he had felt the Aura Pokémon entering his mind. "…From what I can gather, it wandered off into this land, and he couldn't find any food that he ended up collapsing… He didn't eat for two days straight."

I clutched the Riolu close to me, shocking it a bit. I thought that I was getting a bit too sentimental with it, but I was easily going with the flow of the situation. Red came back with eight more apple pieces that I took from him. The Riolu saw the apple pieces and started eating as soon as I brought them to his mouth. "You keep eating all you want," I told him, getting his attention. "I'm not going to let you go till you're all better…"

Riolu blinked. I wondered if he understood me. It was kind of sad that he didn't show much emotion. Maybe he was really scared about dying that it just horrified his mind…

N chuckled. "Do take care of him," he said. "I can tell Riolu needs somebody to look after him. If he couldn't find any food outside, I don't want to think what would happen if he's set free just like that."

I saw Lucario kneeling down to take a closer look at Riolu. The little and big Pokémon stared at each other for a long while. I smiled a bit, wiping a small tear from my eye. "Well… I got myself another Riolu," I said. "I'm going to be looking forward taking care of him… Maybe I'll end up teaching him important values like I've done with Lucario."

Lucario smiled at me. "I'm looking forward to that plan, too," he said, looking back at Riolu eating another apple piece. He was so quiet, but he was probably being very shy about talking to any of us. Hopefully, Riolu was deep down grateful that we saved his life.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 – Exploration

Zorua and the rest of the Pokémon gathered closer to see Riolu as I fed him. I heard N sigh in relief. "This was such an eventful morning," he said, "but Zorua and I will be taking our leave." His Zorua giggled and jumped to his shoulder, looking at all of us. "Remember that I will drop by to see how all of you progress with the dear bonds you have with all your Pokémon… Especially, I'm looking forward to see how you raise that wild Riolu. With that look of his, I bet a Poké Ball is not necessary to establish a mutual friendship."

"Y-you'll see," I began, "that I'll keep him safe from danger."

"Yes, you will," N said, and with that, he turned around and waved us good-bye as Zorua looked over at us, waving a small paw. As N went to the double doors, Master Hand came floating down the second floor just in time to see the green-haired trainer leave without much of a word.

Hearing him grunt loud, Master Hand came into the kitchen and saw the three new Pokémon with us. "You had a good morning catching new Pokémon?" he asked. "And…inviting guests?"

Riolu covered his face, frightened of the floating hand. "D-don't worry," Red said as Hoothoot and Pidove sat on his shoulders. "They're not going to cause any trouble in here. We're going to train them."

"Hmm, maybe they'll be good for extra security…" the hand mused, floating away to the other side of the kitchen.

"…" I looked down at Riolu, seeing him uncovering his face. "Welcome to the Smash Mansion, Riolu. I hope you become good friends with everybody here." The Pokémon all smiled and cheered a bit, but Riolu kept staring flatly at us. One day, I knew he would smile…

Main Lobby

We all separated and went our different ways. Red and his four Pokémon went back to their rooms to get to know Hoothoot and Pidove while Pikachu and Jigglypuff went to the backyard. Something about their looks warned me about some kind of event I needed to see. I had spotted how depressed they looked all of a sudden…

Since Riolu was still feeling weak, I took it upon myself to carry him around on my arms with Lucario following us. Riolu still felt hungry, so we took three more apples with us. The Emanation Pokémon had enough strength to eat through the core, but I cut them all down into pieces and put them in a container for Riolu to carry on top of his chest. He was entirely busy picking the apple pieces, ignoring anything else happening around him. I just let him do his own business.

Lucario and I then noticed Soren standing in front of the open entrance. We saw Parakarry delivering a letter before he sped away back to the village. Suddenly, Soren picked a letter and tore it open, grunting to himself. Whatever he read in the letter made him feel nauseous… "This isn't good," he said, turning to look at us and ignoring the absolutely adorable creature on my arms.

…What? I find Riolu adorable! Sue me!

"What isn't good?" I asked, and Soren shoved me the letter he read. Both I and Lucario read it…

Dear Soren,

I pondered this for a long while, but I need to see my brother again.

I know he's been doing other stuff that he hasn't responded to any of my letters

this entire time, so I'm gonna head down to where you went

and personally give him a piece of my mind. Ike needs to stop

ignoring his little sister, you know! Please expect me to arrive

at that Smash Mansion place.

Sincerely,

Mist Greil

Oh dear goodness… I felt a bit of vertigo that I quickly snapped out of it.

Mist was coming here.

Ike was totally NOT around anymore.

Mist would cry like never before and most likely blame everything on us.

And Soren was trapped in the conflict.

"N-no!" I said, dropping the letter out of shock. "Not Mist! She's never going to let this go down!"

Soren grimaced, pressing the bridge between his eyes. "I know. She…she is done for," he said. "Once she finds out that Ike is no longer with us, she's going to break apart psychologically and enter a complete state of denial."

"Those are such encouraging words," Lucario sarcastically said.

The Branded stared at us with a serious look. "In any case, things aren't going to get pretty around here IF she manages to find her way to this place," Soren theorized. "I'll just have to keep up with the lies should she make it to the front door."

Lucario crossed his arms. "Is it really a good idea to lie and stale for time?" he asked.

"Mist is the most emotional person to ever walk alongside us in the company," Soren pointed out. "I'd rather give her bliss of ignorance than straight out crushing her dreams of ever seeing Ike again. Unless you people have some way to bring back the dead without any repercussions, Mist is going to scream her head out." Scoffing a bit, Soren walked away back to his room, clearly cementing his overall insufferable attitude towards us.

"…We're so screwed if she finds out!" I said in shock.

To which Lucario said, "For now, let's prepare ourselves for the worst and just do something else to distract ourselves from this dilemma."

I guessed that he was right. I looked down at Riolu, still busy eating his apple pieces. "…Hey, Riolu, do you want to go see the village with us?" I asked him, not having any hopes in getting a reply coming from him.

-Nintendo Village-

Wings Post Office

The three of us didn't go alone to the village. Yoshi, his Mime Jr. that somehow made me swear that I saw somewhere else, Olimar, Popo, Nana, Lucas, and Falco (of all people) accompanied us to see what else was new to see at the post office besides the fact there were actual Pokémon Trainers mixing up with the crowd of different races. Red wasn't kidding when he said that the newly opened Pokémon Center and Poké Mart were attracting outsiders.

"Hey! Let me fight your Lucario!"

"For the last time, NO!" I told a Lass trainer. She pouted and walked away, surely wishing me the worst of luck. Holy crap, these trainers are such an eager bunch waiting to do battle! Leave me alone! I already turned seven offers for a battle, for heaven's sake!

"Enjoying the attention?" Falco asked in a mocking tone, grinning ear to ear.

"Shut up, you," I shot back as we reached the office. I wondered why none of the trainers in town tried to catch a Pianta. Maybe they were smart in some ways… We then saw an interesting scene taking place in front of the office as a bored Parakarry was attending a person we have never seen before.

"What do you mean the side jobs are closed for today?" a bewildered…dog-looking…anthro guy asked, slamming his fists on the counter. Given the fact he was dressed very peculiarly, I assumed he was a very important character. "I wanna do some odd jobs!"

"Sorry, but you'll have to come back tomorrow," Parakarry said, looking very deadpan as we stopped walking right behind the dog person. "Besides, I'm sorry for being dreadfully honest to you in specific, but…you suck at helping people out!"

"It's not my fault!" he complained. "Things just don't turn out well, that's all! Second chances are always good!"

"Yeah, right," Parakarry said, rolling his eyes. "But this is your FIFTH chance in a row! That's just asking too much!"

"Grr!" the dog guy grunted, all of us spotting a small bone he held with his sharp teeth. He scratched his head quickly and eventually calmed down, turning around to look up from his depressed expression, his ears perking up a bit. "Huh? Who are you, guys?"

"Geez, what a question," Nana said.

I immediately found myself checking the dog guy out. He looked just a few inches taller than me. Judging his look, I at first thought he came from the same world the Star Fox crew (and Wolf) came from, but it didn't seem likely. This dog guy wore some very thin brown boots with silver plates on the front, with buckles of iron protecting his knees. Above that, he wore more stylish clothes. He wore shorts with red patches to the sides of his brown gloves and blue patches coming together at the center, his crotch covered in a black patch that joined with the two other colors from above. He also wore a small red jacket over his blue shirt of similar design, his chest area having three green orbs that formed a triangle formation. I also found a green orb on the backside of each brown glove he wore. Although his face had orange fur on the upper portion that went and merged down to the white fur of his muzzle, he had semi-wild brown hair that stuck out from his red hat and blue goggles. That same hair wasn't short, seeing as he had an even longer portion running behind his back to his waist. As I saw that his red hat allowed his dog ears to point out, I spotted his orange tail behind.

Dear goodness, how did I remember all that?

"Well," Falco began, "we're just your average people having a nice day walking down the village."

The dog guy mumbled. "How come there aren't any Caninu or Felineko around here?" he asked. Okay, he was surely not from Falco's world. "It's driving me nuts."

"We don't really know what you mean by those terms…" Yoshi trailed off, confused. Mime Jr. mimicked his babysitter's expression.

The dog guy suddenly grinned widely, showing off his sharp teeth. I just noticed his fangs were so fervently holding a dog bone. "So who cares! Everyone here is a friendly bunch. That's what matters," he said. "Except the postman behind me…"

While Parakarry looked deadpan and flew back into the office, I decided that it was worth knowing this dog guy. "Who are you, anyway?" I asked. "What's your name?" I felt that the question was forever going to tie us all with him.

He chuckled and gave us a thumb up. "The name's Red Savarin, Hunter extraordinaire!" he said with in a bright tone. "In short, I'm a bounty hunter who makes a living out of doing odd jobs." He looked at Lucario. "Oh wait! There's a Caninu with you!" He narrowed his eyes a bit, making Lucario back away a bit. I thought Lucario didn't want to intrude into Red's mind…

Wait, he was also named Red? Wait till I tell OUR Red about this.

"…Uh…nope," Red Savarin said. I should probably call him by his first name since our Red isn't here. "You look like a Caninu but you look pretty ancient and different."

"Sorry for being ancient," Lucario said, sounding a bit offended.

Lucas rubbed his chin. "Um… Is a 'Caninu' some kind of dog person…and a 'Felineko' a kind of cat?" he asked.

Red nodded. "Yeah! You figured it out! I'm a proud Caninu myself." He looked around to see the different people walking by. "I got here a few months ago with my little sister Chocolat. We were kind of flying in the air in our airship when all of a sudden we wound up all the way down here…" He crossed his arms and looked up at the sky. "So weird, I tell you. The surface world has people not like us!"

"Surface world?" Popo wondered.

"Yeah, surface world," Red said. "You probably don't know that the sky above is filled with floating islands where Caninu and Felineko live!" I quickly thought that Red had probably wandered off into this world by accident and was coming up with very improbable ideas that his world and this one were one and the same. "But even then, Chocolat and I have been flying around the sky, not finding a single floating island! What's up with that? You know anything?"

"Yeah, I know that there aren't any islands floating in the sky around these parts," Falco said. "I should know. I've flown my ship around here." I recalled that Master Hand allowed Falco to bring his Arwing into the mansion like half a month ago. That flying vessel was locked up inside a garage hidden in the trees of the mansion's backyard.

"Aw, shucks, we're completely lost," Red said, his ears drooping a bit. Should I tell him that he was essentially in another world?

"…Uh…that's because this isn't your world," I brought myself to say it. My group stared at me. "In fact, you just traversed two different universes by accident!"

Red widened his blue eyes at me and laughed nervously. "W-what are you trying to say with that?" he asked. "I-it's so freaky! Of course this isn't another different world altogether!" He looked away worried. "Chocolat did tell me that she had her doubts, though…"

"No, seriously," Nana said. "All the people you see here? They all wound up in this world just like each one of us did. You're not an exception."

Red looked like he was trying to sink everything in. The poor dog grabbed his head for a small while and turned to look back at us. "I…I think I'm gonna have to leave back to the airship and see what Chocolat has to say…"

"I totally told you that I wasn't crazy!"

The girly voice that came from Red's hat made us look at it.

"I-I can't believe it either, but all the proof I gathered points out to the answer! We ARE in a different world, Red!"

"Cho-Chocolat!" Red said, mildly shocked to hear her.

"I heard everything," Chocolat said. "There are no floating islands around these parts, there are no Caninu and Felineko either, there are a bunch of people that don't even look like they belong here, there are no airships flying about… Holy catnip, we're WAY off track!"

"My head hurts…" Red muttered.

I smiled with a worried look. "It's safe to say that you'll eventually find your way back to your world," I said, trying to calm him down. "So many people wander here just for them to leave and make it back to the world they came from. We all know that. We're very well informed."

Red sighed, his bone still hanging onto his teeth. "If you're telling the truth, I gotta follow the flow for the time being…" He brightened up quickly. "Thanks for the little heads up. While me and Chocolat look for a way back home, we're gonna be hanging around here doing odd jobs."

"If you can even finish one," came Chocolat's irritated voice. "We just recently got into this whole business, you know! You better shape up before the food in the fridge runs out!"

"We can live on noodle soup forever!" Red argued. We looked dully at him.

"I'm sick of noodle soup!" Chocolat said. "Sadly, I AM having one right now! It's so degrading!"

Red chuckled and looked back at us. After finally introducing ourselves to him, he got the brilliant idea of dropping by the mansion some time. "Well! I'm gonna take the day off, so, see ya later!" He ran away from sight to the right.

"More new faces," Lucario said.

"I kind of like it this way," I said before we noticed Parakarry making sure that Red was gone. "Is something bothering you?"

Parakarry looked at us with a bored look on his face. "That's the rival I told you about," he said. "He's the guy taking on the jobs besides all of you."

"He is?" Yoshi wondered.

"Yeah, and he's an idiot!" Parakarry said annoyed. "He hasn't finished a single job successfully! If he keeps failing so much, it's going to hurt our reputation. I implore you to fix whatever he thinks is broken!"

Falco grinned. "Oh well, gotta fix what's really broken: his brain." We chuckled at his little joke.

After having met the enthusiastic Red Savarin, the rest of the day went by once we went back to the mansion… From there, things started to go downhill…

-Smash Mansion-

Garden

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep – Ventus Theme

Everyone had split up from the three of us. I looked down at Riolu carrying the empty container of apple pieces. Disposing of it at the kitchen, I remembered that Pikachu and Jigglypuff looked so down after N had left. Lucario used his aura to locate them. They were outside in the backyard, sitting on a bench. Lucario told me that their auras were conveying an emotion: utter sadness.

I feared the worst, so we quickly made our way to the garden. As Lucario had said, they were there, looking down at the concrete with flat looks while they were sitting down on a bench. Once we got closer to them, I spotted wet trails of fur right beneath their eyes.

Pikachu perked his ears up and saw us approaching them. "I sensed your auras," Lucario said. "They are both telling me that you're…"

Pikachu looked away. I saw him twitch a bit. "Y-yeah," he said. "What of it?"

"Please, don't say anything else…" Jigglypuff pleaded without looking at us. "We just want to let this go for ourselves…"

"No," I said. Riolu, for once, looked at the two. "If we leave now, it's just going to make us feel bad."

Pikachu turned to look at us. His eyes were sparkling with tears. "W-why do you always have to intrude with others' problems?" he asked, trying to make us leave them behind. The question hurt me, but I held my ground. I tugged onto Riolu for support. "We want to be left alone!"

"You're both hurting," Lucario said. "If this continues any longer, I'll have to read your minds."

"Don't you dare!" Pikachu demanded, startling Lucario. "It's completely rude to do that! That's why Mewtwo never does that kind of thing!"

"Pikachu!" I shouted. "Please! Get a hold of yourself! We want to help! Is that so wrong?"

"What can you two do to help?" Jigglypuff asked. She was being a little nicer than Pikachu. "You can't bring Pichu…"

"Jigglypuff!" Pikachu scolded. His tears were now coming down at full force. Just hearing Pichu's name was enough to make him break down, covering his own eyes. Since I was very sentimental, I too started to shed tears. "Why do you have to run your mouth like that?!"

"…You miss him," Lucario said solemnly. "I didn't read your mind at all, but it's obvious. You suddenly thought back about Pichu that you…" He stopped. I thought he was trying to avoid making Pikachu and Jigglypuff feel worse.

"Yeah, alright!" Pikachu said, giving up. He was crying. "That's the reason why we're so unhappy! I can't hold this any longer…" He muttered the last words in a very unintelligible tone. I could only shake my head as I sniffed a bit. Riolu, meanwhile, was confused as to why everyone looked so down. "This sucks! I started to feel like this not too long ago!"

"W-what?" I asked.

"I…I miss him!" Pikachu cried. "It's just… It's just so unfair that we celebrated our victory against Dark Gaia a month ago without him! You don't know how I feel right now! I feel like crap just thinking about what we've gone through so far!" He clutched his body. "In fact, some of you looked at me feeling so down in the clouds during the party that I tried really hard to keep it a secret, but I can't….I can't…!" He bawled and curled himself on the bench.

Lucario closed his eyes, kneeling down and patting Pikachu's back. "I know how you feel…"

I started to sniff, dropping to my knees to pet Pikachu's head. As I did so, I started to think about the rest. I lamented how Mist was trying to get here and find out that Ike was no more. I have seen Lucas look so depressed ever since the party as well that I recalled he didn't say much when we went to the village, looking almost lifeless. He was probably not over Ness's death, either. And as for Fox, Falco hardly ever mentioned him and Wolf would only grunt if somebody mentioned his name to him…

I was actually lamenting Fox's passing the most. I really don't know why, but…it was as if there was something so important in him that just told me that I had lost a family relative… Why…why was I thinking this so suddenly out of the blue? I did remember that we both used to talk with each other more than I did with everyone else (except Lucario). We hardly even shared intimate secrets, so why was I…

I…I probably was just getting too much into this…but I truly hoped to see Fox once more.

It was not like we could just waltz our way to the Underwhere and request Queen Jaydes to…

…

"…Wait…" At that moment, I had wondered the same thought. "…I…I…"

KH: Dream Drop Distance – Dearly Beloved

Why? Why didn't I remember about this crucial fact a long time ago? It was…it was really simple! I was some sort of special guy who could keep my memories from the Underwhere because, I theorized, I didn't have a video game world of my own.

I knew exactly where to find that door leading straight to the Underwhere!

As I came to that realization, I also remembered that Mario, Luigi, and Peach had gone through there themselves, so it was just a matter of bringing this idea to them for them to figure out what I had in mind. I sadly couldn't tell anybody about the Underwhere, not even Pikachu or Lucario. I remembered Jaydes warning me not to divulge the fact that many people ended up there, so I had to act optimistic… It was all coming together!

"W-what?" Pikachu asked.

I smiled, handing Riolu over to Lucario. "I know just the thing that will finally solve this!" I said. "B-but…I need you to stay here. I'm going to go somewhere with Mario, Luigi, and Peach. Lucario, please wait for me and keep Riolu in check!" I immediately stood up and ran back inside the mansion.

"Where are you going?" Lucario asked.

"A place I should've gone to a looooooong time ago!" I responded. "I'll be right back! Don't worry about me!"

-Super Paper Mario-

-Flipside-

Flipside Tower

I found myself riding a very strange white elevator with Mario, Luigi, and Peach, all of us having been turned into paper looks. The four of us were accompanied by Merlon, Flipside's resident know-it-all. The four of us were very delighted after I had proposed to visit the Underwhere through the door on top of the tower. As we went up, Merlon talked. "Lady Timpani and Lord Blumiere are living happy lives," he said. "Why, they visited me a few days ago."

"I'm so happy to hear that," Peach exclaimed. Too bad I didn't get to come here with the team when a mission was issued. I would have liked to meet Tippi.

The elevator soon reached its destination; the top of the Flipside Tower. Once we stepped out, we saw the row of seven colored doors and the seven crystal hearts hoisted on top of each one of them. "Nice thinking right there, Chris," I heard Mario telling me. "I had forgotten about the Underwhere all this time."

"It kind of feels like cheating, but if you're so sure about this…" Merlon said, trailing off. "Queen Jaydes is an acquaintance of yours. She'll help you out."

"Of course she will," Luigi said. "Oh man, I can't wait!"

Since the door leading to the Underwhere was all the way to the right, we walked to the other side of the tower. "Ooh, I can't wait, either!" I said. "Hopefully we can reach some kind of agreement with Jaydes to solve…this…"

I felt the universe coming down at full force.

Music stops

Once we did reach the door to the Underwhere, we gasped in unison. The door was barricaded with a ridiculous amount of locks that together made a very messy shield of iron. To be honest, there were cage-like bars on top of all the locks to add insult to the horrible injury we all got in a second. Silent, I tried to budge the bars, not making them even shake. I tried shaking it harder, but I felt that it was me shaking instead.

Being the one with the widest set of eyes, Luigi said, "W-WHAT?!"

"Oh…oh dear," Merlon said, walking to the locked door to inspect it. "I…I don't know how this even happened…"

"Merlon?" Mario wondered.

Merlon turned to us. "I haven't come here in a long while now," he stated. "It's been almost a year or so ever since I last checked the tower. I'm…I'm very surprised to see the door all locked up like this!" He stared back at the door as I helplessly kicked the bars, trying to let my frustration out. "These locks aren't normal. I can feel that these came from the Underwhere itself."

Peach looked sad. "Did Jaydes herself do this, then?" she asked.

Mario sighed. "She surely knew that anybody else shouldn't intervene with her affairs so she closed down the only door leading directly to her," he said.

"Aw, fiddlesticks," Luigi complained.

Merlon grunted. "This is a clear violation, though," he said. We stared at him. "She cannot, under any circumstances, close down this door. The Ancients and Jaydes were close people sharing mutual secrets. I am a descendant of the Ancients myself." He walked over to the lock once more. "…How cheap! These locks were specially designed to stop my own magic, too!"

"You can tell that with just one look?" Mario asked.

"Yes," Merlon said.

I was at a complete loss of words. After having this wonderful idea, everything fell down on me. It was unfair. It was so unfair that I came to a dead end. What was Jaydes doing? She told me everyone at the mansion had at least over 99 lives! Why, then, did none of the four come back to life?

Was something bad happening in the Underwhere? Before we even came here, I tried using my Wiimote to try to enter the world through there, but it ended up taking us to Flipside instead. I did some more tries and they yielded the same result. But now that we found this lock keeping us from entering…

Peach shook her head in shame. "It's…it's so unfair," she said. "We came all this way for nothing?"

"I did come all this way for something, though… Rather…somebody…"

The new voice made us turn to the left. As I turned around, I lost consciousness when something had struck my neck…

End of long flashback

?

This is how my day had turned out. The morning had many surprises. The afternoon had one unexpected turn of events that deprived me of knowing whatever happened to Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Merlon. It was from good to right down nasty.

I had been kidnapped by the Subspace Army. I hadn't seen any of its members, but it was so obvious. The doors beyond my little cell resembled the doors seen in the Subspace Bomb Factory levels of the actual game. I had lost complete contact with the rest…even Lucario and the Riolu I had found…

…

Just recalling the fact I BARELY did anything with the precious Riolu I had gotten made my blood boil. I angrily stood back up and approached the bars. "LET ME OUT OF THIS DAMNED PLACE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I had been imprisoned for hours, but I couldn't tell if it was dark out already. "There's a very important Riolu waiting for me!"

To my dismay, I attracted the attention of one person. I backed away as the Ancient Minister showed up from the right. This person…this R.O.B…he was the entire reason why Fox, Pichu, Ike, and Ness were no longer here… "Enjoying our cozy room?" he taunted me. "We will be bringing you food from the outside."

"S-save your stinking food!" I told him. I lost my train of thought. "What have you done to the others? Why did you kidnap me of all people?!"

I saw him fall silent for a bit until he started talking. "In the current situation you're in, it won't matter much to tell you everything." Idiot. The others were surely on their way to save me fro- "I showed up at that world you were, waiting for the right moment to make our move and bring you here without much struggle. We were…spying on you from afar."

"What?" I said. "H-how can you even spy on me? Were you…around the mansion's grounds?" He nodded. "H-how?! Lucario and Mewtwo should've detected your presence if you were spying us from afar!"

"Oh yes, they could have…if my squadron and myself were natural living beings like you, human," he said. I got confused. "Those two can only detect people as long as they are tied to the natural life… My people and I, however, are an intelligent race capable of ignoring having a soul…and in your guardian's case, aura."

I was cornered. "T-that's…"

"Impossible? Unbelievable?" he said in a mocking tone. "It's possible and believable."

I tried to change the conversation. I was concerned about Mario and the others. "W-what did you do to Mario, Luigi, and Peach?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "We just rushed in and took you captive. Granted, they did see us taking you here, but they failed to follow us. I assume they went back to the mansion to alert the rest of the lot."

"T-they'll come for me, all of them!" I shot back. "Especially Lucar-"

"I'll like to see them try after we dropped a special Subspace Bomb into that dreadful home of yours."

My jaw dropped. He just said they dropped a Subspace Bomb there… "W-what?!" I said even more bewildered than before. "T-the security of the mansion sure-"

"We've been working on this Subspace Bomb in specific to break through the defenses," the Ancient Minister said. "It went through two hours ago, but we haven't checked if it was successful or not. I'm not worried, though, since I feel confident that we took care of your team once and for all…"

I felt so sick in my stomach, as I stepped back in shock. Was he telling the truth? If a Subspace Bomb had made it to the mansion… Did they manage to disable it? There was a Riolu in recovery waiting for me to return and attend him, dammit!

"I could say we saved you from suffering their fate," he continued. "We're just delaying your fate."

"S-shut up!" I complained. I was shaking, scared of what else they had in mind. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my head. "This…this can't…this can't really be happening…"

"It is, and I shall enjoy every single minute of it," he said. "You lazy people are all going to lose this war for our own good."

I feared that he was right. I sneakily tried to bring my Wiimote out to open a portal and go back to the mansion…but then I noticed that my pockets were empty and hollow. I gasped and frantically looked around. My DS was also gone!

"I took your things off from you," the minister said. I felt more and more cornered by the second. "I tossed them before we could reach this place. I could've taken them here to run some tests and discover anything valuable, but I did not want to run the risk of triggering some kind of hidden tracking device for your…friends to use in case they succeeded."

Dear god. All hope was quickly dying on me. The only hope I had was…myself… If I even managed to escape from this place, I was probably the last man standing. I didn't want to think about the possibility of being alone… Without Lucario, I was almost helpless. I couldn't fight back…

…

Wait, I CAN fight back. I just realized I had all my jobs with me. Changing to my Red Mage job, I unsheathed my sword and charged at the bars to slice them down. The moment my blade touched the bars, a strong electrical charge was released; shocking my entire body before it violently pushed my back against the steel wall. I slid down, painfully trying to recover from that shock. I had forgotten that I had decided against breaking out in a situation where somebody was staring right at me…

"It's futile," he said. "Your fancy clothes and weapons are just going to make it all the harder for you to survive in here… Sadly, though, we cannot hurt you."

"Wha…w-what?" I asked.

"You're vital for the next part of our plan," he said. "All shall be revealed after I bring you to Lord Tabuu."

It dawned upon me that the very final boss of this whole ordeal was probably a few feet away. I had NEVER met Tabuu face-to-face. Since he lived in the Subspace…wouldn't that mean that I was to enter said place…all ALONE without backup? What was that cybernetic-looking old man going to do with me? Today was NOT my day.

"You're to follow me in an hour or so to have an audience with Lord Tabuu," he said. I had one hour to live. "Until then, I'm keeping watch."

"W-why?" I asked, getting back up and tossing my fancy red hat to the ledge I was sitting on. "Why are you keeping watch? Aren't you…very high in ranks?"

"Yes, I am," he said. "But Lord Tabuu can't really trust those imbeciles with this important task. Charizard could have probably entered your cell to burn you alive in your sleep even if he was told not to hurt you."

I felt a bit relieved but not enough to change my mood.

"You can ask me anything, virtually," he said. "I don't mind toying around with your questions. Anything to make this less boring…"

I raised an eyebrow at the proposal he gave me. What good would it do, though? But if I was to escape from here - and I had high hopes for that – it probably was a good idea to gather as much information as possible. I looked serious, trying to think of something… When I stared at him for a few seconds, I tried to come up with anything worth asking. Then questions began to fill my mind. Many good ones, if I said so myself.

"…Why are you working for Tabuu?" I asked. "Weren't you supposed to aid us instead?"

The Ancient Minister looked down. "He provides a home for my race," he said. "In exchange, we work under his wing."

I looked serious. Something was off… "That…that can't be true," I said. "You know full well that I'm from the real world. With that in mind…I know that you didn't like working for the army at all!"

For the first time, I heard him grunt.

"What do you know?" he asked annoyed. "What are you implying?"

I saw a bit of hesitation. I asked myself if I should continue and press his buttons more… Might as well. I was destined to be screwed sooner or later here. I, sadly, lost some hope when deciding this, but it was better than nothing. "I…I feel that you hate being here."

"Are you mad?" the minister asked. "What makes you think such a bewildering thought?"

I glared. "D-don't you lie to me," I said. "There is no way you like working for Tabuu!"

"I like it here," he shot back. I was suddenly under the impression that he was hiding something… "I can tell engage myself into a long discussion with you, saying many facts about why I like working for Lord Tabuu."

Oh, do tell. "Then…I hope you don't mind that I…interrogate you," I said. I felt scared, but this had to be done to shed some light into whatever he was trying to avoid. "Anything to make this less aggravating."

"Resist all you want," the Ancient Minister said. "We shall begin this…interrogation of yours."

Good! He fell right into my trap. It was now a matter of whether one of us managed to outsmart the other. I needed to concentrate hard on the facts that I had learned after playing through the Subspace Emissary game myself. Behind the bars, I looked serious. "You will see how this process is going to make you spill everything you're trying to hide so fervently!"

Thus, we locked eyes; my brown eyes against his yellow circles inside his hood.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Moderato 2009

FIRST ARGUMENT

~ Sworn Loyalty? ~

I had to stay on my toes and remember every single detail that came out from him. If I used some logic against his claims, then perhaps I might force him to stutter or reveal something that he can't contradict back. However, I needed to be careful not to make him angry or else he might shut himself off from me and label me the most annoying teenager in existence…

"To make this discussion all the better," he began, "I'm going to record my own voice and repeat it back at you as many times as you like."

Wow, he was making things easier for me.

"I wish to see you squirm and look helpless; trying to uncover anything you think I'm hiding."

Douchebag.

"So, here I begin," he said. I gulped.

"Lord Tabuu is the most benevolent entity to ever grace the universes."

"After he had partially won the fight against your team, he took me back in to his side."

"At first, I was scared; frightened, even, but he showed mercy and gratitude."

"In turn, I lent him my race's services to work for his goal: conquer the worlds."

"We did not object to this. There was nothing in this plan that involved us getting betrayed in some way or another."

"That is all I can say," he said. "I will repeat every single sentence to you if you wish. Just try and see how you can't respond…"

"I…I'm going to have to listen to every single sentence." I needed to press each statement just to be safe. I bet he wouldn't mind.

"Suit yourself," he said. The playback started…

FIRST REBUTTAL

~ Sworn Loyalty? ~

"Lord Tabuu is the most benevolent entity to ever grace the universes."

Oh, please! You could put him beside Peach and everyone would call her a goddess! "What kind of benevolent person is one that's trying to KILL everybody?" I asked.

"He doesn't want to kill everybody," the minister said. I stared flatly at this. "You're just resisting, which in turn makes him TRY to use that method. Desperate times call for desperate measures… But on a serious note, your kind is a plague that needs to be corrected."

"We don't feel like being corrected, then," I shot back. "He's not all that benevolent."

"Whatever…"

This leaded nowhere, so I told him to continue with the next line.

"After he had partially won the fight against your team, he took me back in to his side."

I remembered Master Hand telling us all about how everything had started. This seemed to match with what the minister had said. But I needed to question him further. "You didn't even think about refusing him?"

"I'll be honest," he said, moving to the next line…

"At first, I was scared; frightened, even, but he showed mercy and gratitude."

"I can hardly believe he showed mercy and gratitude to you…" I muttered.

"He did," he said, "and I was thankful that he spared my life."

I grimaced. "But…but you could've escaped with the others at that moment!"

"I was the last one standing back then," the minister stated. "When Master Hand was cornered, I was at a loss. The fight was in Lord Tabuu's favor…so I joined the winning side when he asked me about what I should do next."

Seriously now? I was just about to call him out for being a coward, but that would definitely stir his mood for the worst. I looked unsure. "I…I see… Continue with the next line."

"In turn, I lent him my race's services to work for his goal: conquer the worlds."

"Why would you help him with that?" I questioned, crossing my arms. "What's in there for you to gain?"

"A world for my race to live peacefully," he responded, sounding pleased at the thought for sure. "With that promise, I am devoted to make that goal come true…even if it means getting rid of you."

I got scared but I continued. "You really lost hope in winning the fight against him…"

"No, there was no hope at all," he said chuckling. "I was given this golden chance to stay alive." I told him to move on to his fifth statement.

"We did not object to this. There was nothing in this plan that involved us getting betrayed in some way or another."

"Nothing?" I questioned.

"Yes, nothing," he said. "We are working for him, and there are no repercussions that involve us losing anything. We work dutifully day and night for his cause."

I lingered a bit on that statement. A thing hiding in the back of my mind told me that something was up. "Um…if you don't mind…could you please add another sentence to confirm this?"

"Sure, why not," he said. A sixth statement came in.

"You think that there is proof that says we are suffering under his rule?"

I lingered even more on that statement than I should. I thought hard about a response until my mind got a very irrefutable answer that he couldn't hope to counter. "Of course there is!" I suddenly raised my voice.

Music pauses

He laughed. "Oh, really?" he mocked. "What makes you think that?"

"Simple," I said, very confident on what I was about to say. This better make him talk more… "The Subspace Bombs…they can only be activated by sacrificing two R.O.B.s."

"…Ugh…" he grunted, looking away. I cornered him! "That…that dreadful…"

"What now?" I asked.

"…" He looked back to me. "There's no way I can hide that one… Yes… The Subspace Bombs can only be activated by sacrificing two unlucky users…and they need to be specifically two random people of my race…"

I didn't want to smile to avoid looking cocky. "There it is!" I said. "What kind of benevolent person makes…uh…YOUR people sacrifice themselves for his goal? That's just not good, am I right?" He was silent, unable to find something to counterattack my evidence. I was really getting somewhere important with thi-

"A person that knows sacrifices must be made to attain universal peace," he said, breaking my train of thoughts. He was back to sounding confident…

H-hey, he wasn't supposed to say that! This wasn't supposed to turn out this way!

"A-are you kidding me?" I said, shocked. "Y-you just now looked sad!"

"Did I?" he asked, his mocking tone coming back. I HATED that tone. "You must be hallucinating."

If only my hands would reach out and wring his litt- "I wasn't hallucinating anything!" I shot back. "You don't feel sad seeing your race getting mercilessly sacrificed against their will?"

"We all have agreed to it," he said. "Do you want to continue this useless banter? You have reached a dead end…"

I needed to keep this going. He DEFINITELY looked sad just now…even though it was hard to tell with his fancier clothing covering his face. Now that I thought about it, it would still be hard to tell without it anyway… I mean… "Oh yes, I want to!" I said. "You're still up to something after I mentioned the bombs! In fact, what are the chances that the bomb you sent to the mansion had two more of you in it? I want to prove to you that, deep down, you are NOT okay with all this!"

He stifled a small grunt. I touched a button. "Fine…" Our eyes locked once more.

Music resumes

SECOND ARGUMENT

~ Not Okay? ~

I listened carefully to the second set of his argument.

"We have been told since the very beginning that the Subspace Bombs would work using two vessels."

"It was a hard decision, but we had no choice but to accept."

"As long as I chose the less reliable, only the smartest ones would remain behind. I'm okay with this."

"You can see it's a process of elimination that involves the trash being disposed of first."

Ugh, I couldn't believe what he was saying! Was he completely heartless or what? That was a new side of him that shocked me the most, but I needed to trek on if I was to uncover anything useful…

SECOND REBUTTAL

~ Not Okay? ~

"We have been told since the very beginning that the Subspace Bombs would work using two vessels."

"…And just like that you accepted?" I asked. "This WAS right at the beginning before my team fought for the first time, right?" I had to say, I could probably unearth more about this war using his side of the story.

"Yes," he said. "At the time, we had nothing. We occupied the Isle of the Ancients as our only home. For the benefit of our survival, we were promised a world of our own."

Oh no, this was getting complicated. He just said a very confusing piece of info: the fact that they used to live alone in that floating island…and Tabuu just appeared out of nowhere? "Wait, so you lived on this island before even meeting Tabuu? How did you meet him?"

"We found data in our home that told us about the process of opening the Subspace," he said. "We…we had sacrificed our first two victims. Thankfully, the explosion was barely bigger than six feet, and then we gazed into that portal to find Lord Tabuu. From there, he promised the world he envisioned for us, and thus he saw from his spot how we possessed advanced technology tools. Slowly but surely, we eventually formed the Subspace Army. From there, we gathered allies to help our cause, all of them being promised their own wishes. The war then started…"

Holy crap, what did I just find out about? Does this mean that his "race" was the cause of all this in the first place? I really wanted to dwell more into this, but I had to move on… Wait, no! I had to look more into this! "Are you conscious that you might have possible started a very bad event?"

He fell silent again.

"…Hello?"

"…Conscious?" he suddenly said. "We were conscious. Our curiosity was a special gift we all had…"

It made me doubtful that he responded like that.

"It was a hard decision, but we had no choice but to accept."

"All for the good of finding a bigger place to live?" I questioned.

"You get awfully bored seeing the same place without transportation to take you down to the surface world," he said. "We had no prior knowledge of building airships. We don't even know how to build one. That was why Lord Tabuu used his powers to allow us to steal Meta Knight's Halberd and use it to spread the Subspace Bombs."

Things slowly started to make sense. Being able to tell if he was EVEN saying the whole truth was another different matter. "Huh… That's…interesting."

"Hmph," he muttered, moving on to the third statement.

"As long as I chose the less reliable, only the smartest ones would remain behind. I'm okay with this."

How inhuman! "T-that's just so cruel!" I said.

But then he said, "But completely justified. The unreliable ones felt that it was a great honor to be remembered by spreading the goodwill of Lord Tabuu. We pondered this for days till we came to this conclusion."

"I…I can't believe this…" I stammered. "How is it possible that your people are okay with this, too?"

"We are a proud race, after all," he responded. "There are no big losses that make me feel sad, even if I looked at my brothers going off in one mighty blow."

…? Was it just me, or did he twitch once he said the last set of words? I pressed on to the last statement.

"You can see it's a process of elimination that involves the trash being disposed of first."

"Unbelievable…" I muttered.

"Oh, but I respect my less fortunate brothers," the minister told me. "I shall forever remember their sacrifices with me feeling honored for having such brave people…"

I came to a dead end. I pondered what statement to look more into. No way was I going to let this stop like this. "I want to examine each statement once more…"

He sighed. "If that's your meaningless wish, so be it."

"We have been told since the very beginning that the Subspace Bombs would work using two vessels."

"It was a hard decision, but we had no choice but to accept."

"As long as I chose the less reliable, only the smartest ones would remain behind. I'm okay with this."

"You can see it's a process of elimination that involves the trash being disposed of first."

My eyes felt strained just thinking hard about what to do with the right statement. What else was there I needed to use to prove he was sad? Thinking back, we were talking about the past, even before the war started. I had used a useful statement that could easily be tracked down as common knowledge to my world. Just perhaps, I needed to use a fact of the past that involved him looking ashamed at the loss of seeing his "brothers" sacrifice themselves…

…

Looking ashamed in the past?

"Please repeat the third statement!" I said. He just seemed to shrug and repeated it.

"As long as I chose the less reliable, only the smartest ones would remain behind. I'm okay with this."

I pointed at him with what might be described as an accusing finger. "You're NOT okay with it!"

Music stops

I wiped off the sweat building up on my forehead with the backside of my right palm, looking serious once it was clean. This was so exhausting. "Why must we come to this?" he said. "I'm okay with it. That's all you need to know."

"And you need to remember the events yourself!" I said.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Objection! 2009

"What?" he asked puzzled. "Remember the events myself? There's no need to remember anything of the past."

"That could be true…" I glared. "…However, I disagree! I remember myself how you looked down in the dumps seeing the first Subspace Bombs going off! I should know this because I watched the cutscenes that had YOU having flashbacks of your brothers before they all were consumed into the voids!"

"A-ah…" He backed away a bit. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You must absolutely know that the universes are all part of different video games. Therefore, after seeing this reaction of yours, you know full well that the people of MY world know about the events that transpired during the war, including the moments where you were lamenting the loss of your family!"

"Wha… You're spouting nonsense, foolish child," the minister said.

"Please!" I said, clearly annoyed. "If those R.O.B.s were less fortunate, then why would you go ahead and think about them as you fled away from your pursuers? Deep down, you were sad seeing them go!" I stepped forward. "This contradicts what you had said about being okay with this when you're not! You hold them all dear to you!"

"Grr…" I heard the minister grunting. I hoped I didn't make him angry. "I can't…I can't deny that either… You're sharper than I thought you were…"

I stared flatly. "You shouldn't feel bad, though! You're losing your family members one by one…or two by two, anyway. It's completely justified that you look sad seeing them go, assuming you are very attached to them."

"…Yes…I'm very attached to every single one of them," he finally admitted. Oh yes, I was making vital progress. "But still…we all want to…to obtain our promised world…"

"Then at least try to…" I trailed off, thinking about what else to say, "…try to do something that doesn't require sacrificing your friends at all!"

"Impossible," he said. "We are forever grateful to Lord Tabuu for giving us this golden chance. It's a very sad truth, but we have no choice."

My right eye twitched. "And you can't just leave him behind? I…I…I could try finding you all a new world…" I felt sympathy after hearing his story. Anything to stop this unneeded threat was welcomed. It sounded so impossible for now, but it could happen if I had the chance…

He was back to laughing at my expense. "You? A kid finding us an ideal world?" REALLY WOULD BE NICE TO STOP CALLING ME THAT. I WAS GROWING A MUSTACHE SOON…THAT I WAS GOING TO IMMEDIATELY SHAVE DOWN SOON AFTERWARDS SINCE I WAS SO INDIFFERENT TO HAVING HAIR THERE. Why was I EVEN complaining about this now? "I admit you have intelligence in you, but it only goes so far…"

"Y-you won't know till I try!" I said. "Don't you want to have another way that doesn't need your people throwing away their lifes?"

"Firstly, they're not throwing away their lifes in vain," the minister said. "Secondly, Lord Tabuu's method has a high chance of succeeding just as soon as we get rid of the people opposing us. Your method is a mere dream."

Music stops

All went down the drain once Ganondorf showed up. The minister and I looked at him. "Why are you two arguing?" he asked, grimacing. "Tabuu wants to see the kid now."

While I grunted for hearing him call me a mere kid, the Ancient Minister sighed. He was taking advantage of this interruption to avoid talking to me. "Yes, yes…" I heard him say.

Ganondorf looked curious. "Hmm? Has he said something hurtful to you?" he asked.

"Kind of, it's none of your business, Ganondorf," the minister said. "It's a personal argument that has no bearing on this plan."

"It better not be…" Ganondorf looked at me with venom in his eyes. I was a bit paralyzed. "Trash, let's go." The minister opened the cell, the bars sinking into the floor. I heard the pressing of a button, and I suddenly found myself trapped in a cube with a light blue force field. Looking up, I saw a tile hovering above my head that generated the force field to another tile I was unluckily stepping on. I contemplated attacking it, but I had too many assailants guarding me… The tile below my feet rose up, keeping me suspended in midair as it moved out into the steel hallway with the two generals guarding the front and rear.

I started trembling in fear. I was to meet the boss of the Subspace face-to-face… I wanted to continue talking to the Ancient Minister and find out more information.

For now, I braced myself as I was directed to the Subspace…

Please… Lucario…everyone…be safe… I'm going to…I'm going to go back to the mansion soon enough… I promise…

…

No! I won't promise it! I…I'll do it for my sake!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The Hidden Agenda"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Isle of the Ancients-

Chris

-Cannot ascertain team's fate for the moment-

References:

- "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 – Exploration" is a very relaxing theme that plays on the world map menu.

- The Ventus Theme and 3D's Dearly Beloved tracks belong to Kingdom Hearts. The first sounds sooooooo sad, but the newest version of the main menu theme sounds so hopeful…

- The AAI tracks used here are the first basic set that plays at the start of each argument. There are more tracks that help build up the suspense as you're getting closer in finding the culprit…

So many events happened in this chapter that surely made you excited to see what'll happen next. Let's count them off:

1 – Lucario is getting stronger than he already is. Hercurio is coming…?

2 – Red is catching new Pokémon. He even got a rare 5th gen! This also means that the 5th gen has begun in the story ahead of time.

3 – The enigmatic, fan-favorite bishounen N has become a regular character.

4 – Chris is also bent on catching specific Pokémon, but now he has another Riolu to look after…but will he even get to take care of it, though?

5 – Mist is coming. Hide the Ike facts.

6 – The cheerful Red Savarin from the game "Solatorobo" has become a regular character along with his little sister. This is before he gets to be a decent Hunter; before the events of his game pass. I haven't forgotten about his special robot…

7 – The door to the Underwhere is locked for some reason. Just what is going on in there?

8 – Most important of all, Chris has been kidnapped after coming up with the idea above.

9 – Chris has made it his task to gather info about what's going on within enemy territory, provided he gets out alive…

10 – It's unknown what happened to the Smash Mansion…

Dear god, that's a lot of events to keep track.

What will happen next? It's all centered on Chris and his kidnappers. More secrets about the Subspace Army shall be revealed in the next chapters… Yes, I'm so sticking to the AAI format as a nod to the series, meaning Chris will have more interrogation portions. Still, though, I have that Ace Attorney arc in mind so don't lose hope.

I encourage all shocked people to review…or else the Riolu gets it.

…

W-what did I just say? DON'T YOU DARE HARM THE RIOLU! (I find Riolu adorable. Sue me.)
*Chapter 197*: The Hidden Agenda

I should've mentioned this before, but this set of chapters are short yet long enough to put a lot of necessary elements to make them good chapters…I think.

From TheSoraKid: Also how did the Ancient Minister simply capture Chris without Mario, Luigi and Peach seeing or noticing it?

From me: Like he had said, they just rushed into the scene and kidnapped him as quickly as they could. They did notice as explained in the chapter, but the three were slow to keep Chris safe and went back to the mansion.

Wow, the comment section is a lot shorter when I only pick the doubts. To all who reviewed, thank you so much. It's been a very long while since the chapters received around twelve reviews, but I'm positive people will regain interest in the story if I can keep up with these fast updates.

Moving on…

This chapter could be defined as the end of the first half of this arc. And as you might know, the second halves of the arcs turn into the climaxes where everything starts to get serious. This arc, however, is a lot serious in the chapters I have in mind. We'll continue seeing the events through Chris's POV, and there are more arguments included in the chapter. Oh, and there's going to be a quite unimportant yet significant piece of art released in my artist accounts that will represent the main attraction of the arc. Let us call it…the promotional artwork for the arc.

Without further ado, I encourage the shocked audience to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Can't really think of a witty remark due to the seriousness of the chapter.

Chapter 196: The Hidden Agenda

-Subspace-

Deep Inside The Great Maze

It was kind of a magnificent sight to enter the dark realm, but there was so much wrong with the overall picture as soon as my body felt such negative waves radiating from every single direction of the space. Back at the facility, there was a hidden door that leaded to the Subspace directly. I thought it was kind of a downer that I didn't see very tall double doors, but the Ancient Minister had told me that there were many simple doors all over the place that were just like that door for easy entrance to the Subspace.

I was still trapped in the cubic force field. My escort stopped in front of a dark cliff. I looked around, scared of what else might happen next. Darkness completely ruled this sickening place with bring outlines on the floor to indicate there were places to step on, but I doubted that this was made out of darkness. If it had been made out of darkness, Lucario should have felt his powers weakening. That was not the case.

As I stared around the swirling dark colors of dark blue and purple, my heart skipped a beat once a blue glow appeared several feet away in the air. That glow slowly materialized into…Tabuu… The cybernetic-looking boss of the Subspace was embracing himself as he seemed to stare down at me. I couldn't tell what look he had on his face… I shivered just looking up at him. He better not use his Off-Waves on me…

"So…this is the presumed World Traveler," Tabuu said.

"Y-yes," I said. His voice frightened me. It sounded a bit too deep for my tastes. "And you're…Tabuu."

Tabuu seemed to nod. "You are correct," he said. "It was about time that we met face-to-face in these circumstances. I have met the others, but not you."

I embraced myself. "W-what do you want from me?" I asked. The faster this conversation went the better. I just noticed Charizard, Bowser, King Dedede, and Wario showing up from behind, most of them smirking or smiling. If I broke out from this force field, I would surely lose taking all of them on. If Lucario was here, he would hand their sorry heads back to them, all the while scoffing.

"I requested the Ancient Minister to pick you up," Tabuu said. "The time to have a friendly chat with each other needed to come eventually, but I will keep things short since you are just a pest who does not need my full attention." That ticked me off a bit, but as long as he didn't get so interested in me…

I heard Bowser groan. "Tell me you're not going to have a friendly chat!" he said. He so wanted to burn me up. I could tell.

"Silence," Tabuu said, turning back to me. "Do you want to say anything before I continue?"

Should I interrogate him? Oh no, that was suicidal. "I…I don't have anything to say to you," I said in complete defiance. I heard the villains chuckle. Now I was their amusement. "So…go ahead and begin whatever you want to tell me…"

"Such impudence," Tabuu said. "And here I thought the World Traveler would put up a fight."

I looked up, forcing a glare. "I-I hate to admit this…but the way things are for me right now…I have no real chance to make a difference by myself… I'm a pacifist."

"That should make things easier for me in this conversation," Tabuu said. "I am also a pacifist, but I raise a sword should a foolish person try to do something…unfortunate." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Fortunately, you know to do the right choices in the right situation."

I scratched my arm and looked indifferent, shaking my head in disgust. The odds were against me.

"Now, let us get to the point," he said. "I have brought you here for a special task you will not dare refuse. You will do as I say."

That statement made me look up. "Now you want me to work for you?" I asked, completely astonished at the idea he had in mind. "I-I can't betray my team like this!"

"Nobody said anything about betrayal," Tabuu said. "I want to rob you of your knowledge…as in taking over your mind's overall thoughts and learn all you know about all the worlds we want to conquer, in a few words."

…

Say WHAT?!

I gasped and started shaking. Where was this person trying to get? "W-what?" I breathed out in shock. The bastards around stifled a laugh just seeing me shaking in my boots. I brought a hand to cover my mouth. "R-rob me of my knowledge?"

"We have kept a close watch on you," the minister suddenly said. "For being a human from the real world, you have displayed a surprising amount of intelligence about each one of your teammates. Furthermore, based on the data we had gathered, how could it be a coincidence that you found the right people to aid your team on the other worlds that were not having a part in this war?"

These guys have been spying on me all this time and I never noticed? What the hell! "W-wait a minute! How could you even assume that I know too much?" I asked.

"From a high position outside, we saw your room," the minister said. "I'm just going to say that you like babbling too much information every single morning to your days to your loyal partner. You laugh merrily whenever mentioning how successful your missions turned out to be only because you somehow had very accurate information about every, single, world."

B-babbling too much? My eyes shook. I had never thought that they would go to such lengths to treat me like a guinea pig. But…that was true…

After every mission, I liked to mention every single detail so much to Lucario every morning. Deep down, I liked to meet the most important characters of each world and discuss with him what I learned from my own escapades. It was a given everyone in the team knew that I knew too much. It was pure bliss, though. Whatever I could to help with our job, I would gladly do it.

Just…the thought that these people found out that I essentially had that skill in particular…not aware of my surroundings…

"H-how…" I was back again to having a complete mental shock of realization, "H-how…how long have you been doing this to me?"

"The very first time you arrived at the Smash Mansion," the minister said. "Honestly, now. How could we let brand new, unexpected reinforcements from the real world itself go unnoticed just like that? You were far too precious to ignore. We also spied on your Lucario, but he did not have those outbursts you had, even if he had experienced them all firsthand."

"You were an easy target to pick, naturally," Ganondorf said, grinning evilly. "Bringing your mutt over here would cause a lot of problems. We had you as the last resort after seeing how weak your overall personality is against a threat." I-I was slowly building up confidence in me in every battle! I'm just too slow to be very brave like Lucario himself… "You are a smart one, boy. You are not trying to tear down the facility, for example!"

It felt so insulting that I had been called a coward in their words. I ignored their collective chuckles and looked up at Tabuu. "Y-you expect me to just let it all out and tell you everything I know about all the worlds?" I asked.

Tabuu held out a hand. I covered myself in case he wanted to shoot me with a lance. "Your knowledge would prove a great asset to my conquest of the worlds," he said. "But we knew you would not let the information slip down that easily… That is why you are to be put inside a special machine the Ancient Minister has designed to upload your mind's conscience into mine."

Sick!

So sick!

So but so sick!

"A…What… I… Ah… A-ah…" The words couldn't just come out. I was paralyzed.

Tabuu continued. "Just in case the process fails, it will kill you. I do not wish for that to happen so that I grasp the precious knowledge you have within you. There will not be any significant losses, though. If I do not get your thoughts, you are simply going to cease existing. It will be one less annoyance to deal with…"

It was so horrifying just to think about it…

What kind of freaky things would happen if my mind was forcefully uploaded into Tabuu's? He, of course, was an extremely powerful entity, probably even stronger than Dark Gaia. I was just a mere teenager who possessed multiple jobs to fight, but they weren't enough to make a difference. I could possibly find out that mental struggle was real, yet I didn't trust myself that I could keep my ground.

I fell to my knees, completely speechless. My jaw was down, and I was unable to close it. I had a total mental breakdown as I tried so hard to ignore all this…

I lost track of what was happening around me. I heard them all laugh as they approached my floating cell. Luckily, I closed my eyes shut to shut myself off from the outside world. The darkness of my eyelids was perhaps the only happy place I could be. Their laughs were slowly silenced as I felt my cell moving back, feeling the presence of the Subspace disappear…

-Isle of the Ancients-

Chris's Cell

Chrono Cross – Star-stealing Girl

The next thing I knew, I was clutching my arms into me as I lied down on the small ledge to rest. Using my oversized red hat, I used it along with my red cape to cover myself, shivering in fear and coldness. My flat eyes stared at the cold steel wall in front of me. The corridor and the cell had been robbed of the light from the ceiling. It was so dark… I was so glad that the meeting with Tabuu had been so short. I guess I wasn't that much of a threat to talk to…yet, that made me feel so agitated…

"Just in case the process fails, it will kill you. I do not wish for that to happen so that I grasp the precious knowledge you have within you. There will not be any significant losses, though. If I do not get your thoughts, you are simply going to cease existing. It will be one less annoyance to deal with…"

The world was lost to me after I recalled Tabuu's words. Not just my world, but the rest of the worlds. It really did look like I had lost the war…and with that, everyone else was also done for…

My wide eyes started to shed tears before long. I…I started crying and sobbing silently to myself, all alone in the dark. This nagging feeling of being completely alone without having somebody by my side felt so…it felt so bad and nasty… No matter what I tried to think, I could just not stop thinking being so sad about everything…

I desperately held onto the people that had made a difference in my life…

Lucario…

Did I fail you as a worthy trainer? You were always happy around me. Of course I didn't fail you… The only thing I lamented was…not being able to be by your side anymore… I'm sorry…

I'm so, but so sorry…

I can't escape from here… It was all over, Lucario… There was still so much more we could do to spend the time together. I had already taught you so many human things like reading, writing, advanced math, basic computer skills, and even talking in Spanish, but there was so much more to learn…together. I wanted you to be with me here. I felt so but so alone not having my pride and joy taking care of me, dutifully pulling me under his arm and growl at anybody who dared wake me up in the middle of the night. I don't know if you already perished, but I hoped to see you and everybody else in the Underwhere in case that was our final resting place…maybe we would get to see Fox and the others if they were there…

…Oh, Fox…

I realized at last that…that you were…that you were a big brother figure to me… I really wanted to see your face again but not under these circumstances. If I saw you again, I would…I will start smiling and laughing, just happy to see you look back at me and say something witty like, "You gone crazy, Chris?" I wanted to take a photo with you and keep it in my room right next to my bed. For some reason…I remembered I was so scared of your face because the thought about meeting you in person was making me feel scared. When you suddenly smiled back then, I couldn't control myself and I smiled back without even thinking. That was such an odd event…but I felt so happy… I thought that keeping a photo of you every morning would make me smile and think that…I was lucky to have friends like you.

I cherished the thought for a few seconds before I was back to sobbing to myself once I thought back about my parents… They still don't know a thing about what I've been doing behind the scenes the whole time! If only they knew, it would take a heavy load off my shoulders. I really wanted to present Lucario to them, but I always feared the worst would happen. I started to lament how it was too late to tell them anything else… They would completely lose it if the days in my world passed by and the people who looked after noticed my absence…

I sobbed slightly louder when I saw the Riolu I had brought into the mansion in my mind. The poor thing… Did he get involved into the explosion without knowing? I shouldn't have brought him if I knew this would happen…but it would have probably wandered off into the wild and get into much worse trouble. He was so scared when I held him… The only way that cheered me up a little is that Lucario was keeping a very close watch on Riolu…but what were the chances that they were both unharmed?

Then there was the rest of the team in the mansion…and I had wished I had grown closer to every single one of them. There were a few of them I needed to bond with; there was more to their stories for sure. Did…did those stories end the moment the bomb hit the mansion? They all should've escaped safely! Master Hand should've taken them all back to safety! I shut my eyes as more tears streamed down my face.

The sound of somebody coming to my cell alerted me. It made me blink quickly and rub my eyes. Whoever it was, I needed to look decent enough to avoid making any of those heartless bastards laugh at me and further drive me down to insanity…

…How did I just snap back to my senses like that? It made no sense to me that I was able to recover some of my sanity. Maybe…maybe I was delusional; hopeful that there was a way out of this. I knew deep down that it was lying to myself. I looked over my shoulder and saw the Ancient Minister staring at me with his shining yellow eyes under the darkness.

"What…what do you want now?" I demanded with my voice still sounding disturbed for my little crying session. "D-did you come here all alone to make fun of me even further? Well, you're out of luck…" I resumed sobbing, covering my face. "J-just…leave me alone…"

"Impossible," I heard him say while I sobbed. "I need to use your undivided attention to have my revenge on Tabuu."

Perhaps I heard wrong, but he just said that he wanted to take revenge on Tabuu…

I brought my hands down and looked up in my sad state. I looked pissed. "What?" I said. "I think I didn't hear you clearly…"

He emphasized what I thought I heard him say. "Tabuu has to pay for what he has done to my race, which is why I am going to use you for my own benefit."

I grabbed my head in pain. "What the HELL is going on here?" I muttered. "Everything is…everything is changing so many times I can hardly keep up with all this!"

I said the whole truth. I was so, but so annoyed that the entire day was filled with so many events that my kidnapping made the good things hurt me the most. This morning, I was under Lucario's watchful eye. This evening – assuming it was even evening – I was under my clothes' cape to stay warm and wait for my impending doom, all the while all alone! And now he just comes here to drop the bomb by saying he wants to take revenge? Why was everyone so undecided?! What should I believe? Who should I trust? What should I do?

"You only need to pay attention to what I have to say," the minister said. "It guarantees your survival and your eventual escape from this damned hellhole."

That sounded just too good to be true that I grunted at him. "As if I could trust you!" I shot back. "There's no other way I could run now that you told me yourself that my family…I mean, the guys at the mansion were taken out by that Subspace Bomb you mentioned!"

"Have hope," he said. I was losing it because I could have sworn he, of all people, told me not to lose hope. "We don't have sentries there right now just because I wanted to lessen the losses of my people. There is still a chance for all of them to have survived."

I clenched my fists. "Why…why are you suddenly sounding so positive?" I asked.

"I don't like you, either," the minister said. "I hate all of you, but the current circumstances have forced me to make a truce with you."

"A truce?" I wondered, my eyes losing that boiling anger. "…Wait, this is just too much for me to sink in…"

He sighed annoyed. "We better make this conversation quick, and please do not raise your voice. I have disabled the security of this particular area to have this private meeting," he said. "Next morning, I will have to reactivate the security cameras. None of those idiots bother to do anything at this hour."

I was still having a difficult time following all this. I was emotionally broken down. I was torn down into pieces. I didn't care what else they were going to do to me since I was essentially done for…

…So, once again, I felt completely cornered. I was doubtful that he even wanted to help me… Whatever, I thought. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt… Ike, Pichu, Ness, and…Fox, please don't get frustrated that I haven't ripped him apart with spells.

"…You killed some of my friends," I said. "…You want to help me, still?"

"I am…sorry," he said. I widened my eyes, but I did not accept his words yet. "I never intended to do this myself… I had to keep up my mutual trust with Tabuu in order to avoid raising suspicion. All this time, I have been longing for the day to get back at him for all he's done to my people…" He muttered all this, but I could tell he sounded rather perturbed. He went on. "You don't know the turmoil I went through just waiting patiently for a perfect opening to strike…"

"I-I should know the turmoil myself," I said. My glare became a bit stiff. "I lost someone dear to me because of you."

"You never lost Lucario," he said.

"I…" I thought about Fox flashing a grin at me in my mind. I shed a tear and shook my head, unable to even greet him. "I have more than one special friend…"

"…" He shook his own head. "Don't get any ideas about this. I am truthfully sorry for having committed that heinous act, but that doesn't mean I want to be friends with you." He looked away. "Like I said a moment ago, this is a truce between you and me. Both of us want to escape from here and forget everything to live a better life…"

I rubbed my eyes and stared at him. "Easy for you to say. I might as well be trapped in this world without somebody waiting for me…not even Lucario…" I sobbed a bit after saying his name. I tried hard to stay silent. "…But…if you're telling the truth now, what was all that about loyalty to Tabuu?"

"Mention that name to me, and I will assure you that I will kill, "the minister said. "The arguments we had hours ago were not telling the whole truth of the big picture. I only mentioned a few facts that did happen, but anything else where I glorified Tabuu's name…and my own feelings…was all a big fat lie I used only because we were being watched under the security cameras." He stared at me. "Now, though, there is nobody around to see us talk in private. Ganondorf and Bowser…they never liked my sight. The rest are a bunch of lunatics with petty dreams I could not bother looking into. We should be worrying about Ganondorf the most, though. Bowser is a lunatic himself."

I wanted to chuckle, but I was looking very seriously at him. "So then…you really want to have a truce with me?"

"Yes," he said nodding. "I was the one who proposed this plan to Tabuu to begin with. After having spied on your personal affairs, I deemed you the only one who would listen to my story."

I paused. "You're to blame for what's happening to me, then! Unbelievable!" I whispered loudly. "You're just making this worse for me, you know that?"

"And I know we agree that Tabuu needs to be stopped," the minister said. "What would you rather do? There is probably not a home you can return to…but you can still work alongside me and severely weaken the fool by taking away his only method to even dwell the worlds: my people and the knowledge to build the Subspace Bombs."

I turned my back on him and crossed my arms. He was not leaving.

"And…we will set Mr. Game & Watch free."

I gasped and looked at him. How could I forget about Mr. Game & Watch? He's been imprisoned here ever since they lost the fight. He was the source of the Shadow Bugs and with that most of the army's monsters. He was probably the only one I could completely trust if the Ancient Minister…or rather, R.O.B., was telling the truth. "He…he is here?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "Let me tell you my plan…"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Investigation ~ Middlegame 2009

"Tomorrow is the day you are expected to have your mind drained," he said. I felt sick just hearing that. "However, I managed to get a hold of being the one to escort you personally without a second person. Everyone is going to be waiting at the room to watch an event that will never come to be…since I will be taking you to the Halberd instead."

"The Halberd?" I said, blinking. I rubbed my eyes a bit more.

"The second part of this plan is the most significant part," he said. "Right now, I have told half of my people to board the Halberd. To remain unsuspicious, I have told the others that the Halberd needed a full scale routine check, to which I clearly lied. The entire facility has the other half working, but they will rejoin the rest after the coast is clear once we're informed to 'take' you to the room… Tabuu cannot see anything beyond the Subspace, so he will essentially stay out of this entirely."

He really wanted to leave….and so did I.

"The third part comes into play after the coast is clear," he continued. "After I get you out of your cell, you are to follow me while wearing a fake set of cuffs. Instead of taking you around within a force field, I will tell them that you managed to disable the system inside your cell that I was forced to hand-cuff your hands. As we move, we will stop by Mr. Game & Watch's room to set him free from his imprisonment. He will support us once we fill him in on the matter…provided he listens."

I looked worried. "I could try to convince him…"

"Yes," he said. "The fourth part then begins right after setting him free. We will accelerate our pace and make a run for it to the Halberd's hangar. We will board the ship and get out of there as soon as possible."

"And what happens next?" I asked.

"Anything," he said. "I will heed to your wishes and take you anywhere you want. I suppose that we could try going back to the mansion…if it's still standing, that is. I plan on giving the Halberd back to Meta Knight before my people and I take our leave from this conflict. We don't wish to be involved in this any longer…"

I looked down. "Do you think the bomb went off?" I asked.

"It's hard to say," he said. "I wasn't…involved in the process of this particular Subspace Bomb, but I was told it was different than any other bomb." I looked confused. "I find it quite odd that I wasn't filled in on this, but I did suggest the plan and I got busy doing the rest of it. Again, I'm sorry for doing it this way."

I sighed in defeat. "I have one more question… Why are you helping me?"

"I can't do this alone without having a 'reason' to start my plan," he explained. "I was the one who started this plan, after all. I had been brainstorming the perfect way to exact my revenge by dealing a big blow without making anybody think I was doing it. This is a huge process, as you can tell, so that is why I need you to make it look like I'm working for them when I'm truly not. In other words…you're the key that will open the way to Tabuu's downfall tomorrow."

He sounded very convincing, but I was doubtful that this was true. He saw me looking doubtful, actually…

"I am telling the whole truth now," he said. "Tomorrow, I'll be back to mocking you to conceal my true motive…"

I closed my eyes.

"…Please," he said in a strained tone. "My people… They mean so much to me… I don't want to have them suffer even more losses…"

It was the first time I heard him sound sad. I opened my eyes to stare at him for a long while… There really wasn't anything I could do by myself… "…Fine," I said. "…This better work tomorrow. I really want to go back home in the real world in case…" I didn't want to think about the entire crew having been killed or anything. "…I want to go back to the mansion."

He nodded in agreement. "Very well… Thank you," he muttered very silently. "If anything happens tomorrow, you must remember that I will be most likely insulting you. Through my insults, try to discern the messages I'll be sharing with you. I don't think any changes will happen, though, but you never know…"

I looked worried. "Then I'm guessing I'll have to pretend being screwed over, even though I AM still being screwed over."

"If you put it that way, then yes," he said. "We should stop this for tonight… The event is scheduled a little late in the morning. Get plenty of rest."

I looked at the small ledge to my left. "That is going to be a hard thing to do…"

Suddenly, he slipped an old-looking blanket through the bars, along with a worn-out pillow with gaping holes. "Use these for the time being," he said. "I stole these from Bowser's room. Needless to say, his body is the bane of all beds."

I silently went over to pick up the bed accessories. I muttered a small thank you, and he turned around and left me alone. I stared his way for a long while till I went to accommodate myself on the small ledge. Even though the blanket and the pillow were beyond a state I would highly approve of, they were still useful to make me yawn.

I was still frightened of what was going on, but I managed to fall asleep…

The next morning…

I was woken up by the sound of something striking the bars of my cell. I yawned and looked over my shoulder to see the Ancient Minister back. The light had turned on the moment he had approached my cell. Recalling that we were under surveillance, I 'acted'. "You're here to take me to that dreadful…mind uploading machine, aren't you?" I asked, sitting up.

"Change of plans," he suddenly said. "It has been pushed for this afternoon."

What? I had the right to look confused. "What?" I said this time.

"I was not given any details that you should worry about." I had all the right to worry about this change. "I was told that Lord Tabuu wanted to delay the time a bit for reasons I have yet to understand." I could tell that he was also confused under this fake personality. Was this going to affect our plans? "I was told, however, to guard you so that you don't make anything funny…"

We were now stalling for time, or that was what I thought. It occurred to me that I had a personal task to complete: investigate whatever I could find out from the army. The Ancient Minister knew a lot… Maybe I could uncover something else… "I'm up for more arguments."

"Ha…" He laughed a bit. "Still trying to find secrets from me? How pathetic."

"T-think whatever you want," I said. He was doing a great job faking insulting me, but it was kind of ticking me off. "The next thing I want to talk about is…" What else was there to talk? There should be a topic to talk about. I stared at him, and then I had a new idea. "What I want to talk about you is…about yourself."

He looked like he was tilting his head. "What do you want to know about myself?"

"It's kind of fair that you had already spied on my life," I said. I truly wasn't so sure about using that as an excuse. "You're an interesting one…but I wish to see your story. You keep saying that your people are a race, yet…can robots be called a race?"

"…" I felt that he was looking at me as if I had said a very farfetched thing. "For goodness' sake… My people and I are a race… Fine, let's get into the next pointless argument."

I was probably being too hasty with this. However, I didn't know him completely. It puzzled me a bit that he always called a bunch of R.O.B.s. a race of people… They were robots. They were living in the Isle of the Ancients…

Huh… The Isle of the Ancients itself was a completely mystery to me. It was known that his "people" live here as their home, but wasn't there more to it? I was really getting to another vital point in the next argument.

Our eyes locked into the heated third argument.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Confrontation ~ Moderato 2009

THIRD ARGUMENT

~ The Race of Robots ~

"As long as we can remember, we have resided on this island for a long while."

"The proof is quite simple. There was nobody else other than us."

"It's impossible to say that there was somebody else other than us, given we couldn't find a non-R.O.B. person."

"I can recall vividly how long it's been since we were aware. It's been roughly five years that we noticed."

I found it weird that he said those things, but I had to press on. "Those are some facts…" I commented.

"Facts that should stop you from meddling further into my business," the minister said. I narrowed my eyes. He could tell I wanted to go ahead with it anyway. Was I able to get anywhere this time, too?

THIRD REBUTTAL

~ The Race of Robots ~

"As long as we can remember, we have resided on this island for a long while."

"Really now?" I asked. "You never asked yourself why you were on a floating island to begin with?"

He grunted. "How should I know that?" he asked. "We simply went with the flow of the situation. We were happy from the start before we realized how boring it was that we couldn't go down to the world. Some of us jumped down to find out more…and they were never seen again, sinking into the sea below…"

"Oh…" I felt guilty. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Keep your sorry to yourself," he shot back. I moved to the second statement.

"The proof is quite simple. There was nobody else other than us."

I rubbed my chin. "Well, yes, I can't see how there would be somebody else. You would have mentioned a person by now."

"I know," he said. "Luckily, we had ourselves to keep company till we unearthed a few secrets from the island."

He surely meant the upbringing of Tabuu. "And a secret was how to call Tabuu out," I said. He nodded.

I raised an eyebrow. How was there a secret that told them how to reach Tabuu in the first place? I could press this statement harder, but it was better to press the rest and then figure out anything from there…

"It's impossible to say that there was somebody else other than us, given we couldn't find a non-R.O.B. person."

"There's a forest outside along with some mountains," I said. "…Any birds?" Ha! I found a small opening.

"They travel around the world because they can fly, you idiot." Why you little… "They don't count, unless you suggest we were created by birds?"

Obviously, there was absolutely no way to affirm that. "N-no," I said, shaking my head. Pressing this statement would have him fire insults at me at full force. The next statement should clear a few things out.

"I can recall vividly how long it's been since we were aware. It's been roughly five years that we noticed."

"Only…five years?" I wondered aloud, scratching an eyebrow. "That's an awfully short span of life to tell…"

"It is odd," he said, "but it was acceptable. We were a curious bunch. Our curiosity ultimately led us to use the technology that was here to call on Lord Tabuu."

I looked down. "That then in turn led to this very event…me being kidnapped by your team."

"Correct," the minister said. "It all turned out great in the end. Sure, we have sacrificed a few numbers, but it was all good. You know this already."

"Yes I do."

Last night's chat with him revealed that he hated the very fact. He was truly not happy with how the events had turned out. For now, I needed to concentrate on the actual topic about his people being a race. I needed to look back on the statements once more…

"As long as we can remember, we have resided on this island for a long while."

"The proof is quite simple. There was nobody else other than us."

"It's impossible to say that there was somebody else other than us, given we couldn't find a non-R.O.B. person."

"I can recall vividly how long it's been since we were aware. It's been roughly five years that we noticed."

Which one was the black sheep of the lot? Going back, I looked puzzled once he said that there was technology in the island when his people became aware of their situation. I pressed the second statement one more time.

He sighed. "I had already told you that there was no one else besides us."

Think harder… There was something off I noticed. If that was true, then why was it that…? "Sorry, but you're wrong on that," I said.

Music pauses

Indignantly, the Ancient Minister shook his head. "What is this foolishness you're bringing up now?" He had gotten angry. Was he still acting? "How could you even believe there was somebody else other than us?"

I pointed at him. "Because you yourself admitted that there was technology here from the beginning!"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Pursuit ~ Lying Coldly

The sudden yelp made him back away once realization hit in. "A-ah!" he yelped. "T-that…"

"I'm onto something here, am I not?" I asked, my glaring eyes staring intently at his figure. "Where did this technology come from, anyway? Did your kind build it from materials scattered all over the place?"

"…N-no…" He shook his head and moved forward to regain his stance. "When we noticed, the corridors you see here… They were all already here…" I heard him grunt in annoyance. "Why did I never look more into this? I was so distracted with the concept of living so much that I never wondered how this place came to be… I only started to get serious once we found that data about opening Subspace portals."

I nodded. "That also brings me to yet another point…"

"Huh?"

I shot him with a sharp look. "This data you speak of? You didn't make it! It's been here long before you woke up for sure! Otherwise, you should've known it was here!" I crossed my arms. My mind was on a roll once I looked quite a bit into the fact that data was here… "Data just doesn't come out of anywhere either. Somebody had created that data, but that person had long deserted this place for whatever reason!"

"No!" he shouted shocked. Shaking his head, he went back to a more refined estate of mind. "Sorry for the sudden outburst… But this is ridiculous. You are getting somewhere with your plausible theories…but they don't confirm that there really was someone else here."

"Still!" I said. "You can tell this is absolutely weird! The whole facility was already here when you woke up! That data… Why was that even there? You never found that odd, either?"

"Urk…" He trailed off for quite a while. "N-now that you mention it… There wasn't anything else we could find after checking that data's information. There was no person credited in the file. I told you before that we were very curious, unable to predict the future ahead of us."

I was making good progress here. I couldn't tell if he was telling the truth, but his reactions seemed far too real to discard as fake acting. "But now you're starting to wonder if there was a person, or more than one, that had created this place?"

"…Yes," he said. "Unfortunately, while you present a good case, you lack physical evidence to prove your assumptions."

I felt as if he had thrust a dagger into my body. "A-ah…" I was relying fully on the facts that it never occurred to me to have physical evidence in hand. I was going pretty strong into the argument, but one single attack at me could completely destroy my point. "We…we can inspect the facility…"

"You are completely insane if you think we're going to let you snoop around like it was nobody's business," he said. He was regaining his composure fast. Sure, attacking him while he was stuttering had the possibility of opening his vulnerability, but I also had to remember that he could also end the whole thing. I was the one on the receiving end of the arguments, after all, and that alone made me grunt. "You can only imply, but that's it."

"Urk…"

"Are we done with this, then?" he asked. "What else is there for you to know?"

Fortunately, I had plenty of things to talk about. I looked back to the facts I had gathered so far, trying really hard to organize them in my mind. I so needed a notepad and a pen…

The Ancient Minister hates Tabuu a great deal that he has made it his goal to betray him. He's been doing this from the very beginning, from the looks of things.

He greatly resents all the R. that had been sacrificed.

He doesn't want me, or anybody else, to help him out because he's sick of everything.

Personally, there's the possibility that his "race" had been created by an unknown person he claims not having seen at all.

The Isle of the Ancients itself was a whole mystery worth talking about. "What about the Isle of the Ancients itself?" I asked. "Your people woke up in the floating island. My next point is this: where did the island come from?"

I heard him fall silent for a while. Maybe he didn't know… "Anything to make you stop talking nonsense about my people… I do have my doubts about the island." Before I knew it, our eyes locked into yet another heated argument.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Confrontation ~ Allegro 2009

FOURTH ARGUMENT

~ The Isle of Mysteries ~

"I am fully aware that our home is a floating island over the sea."

"As to why there was such a place to begin with, I can only infer that it has no connection to the surface world."

"Unfortunately, there were no signs in here that told us about a connection."

"The island has been floating aimlessly over the sea even when the war against your team started, overlooking an expanse of nothing. The island was suspended into place, not budging one bit…"

"When we first woke up from our sleep, we tried going down, not knowing that we would get ourselves killed just toppling down. We didn't grasp death's concept for a while."

"We found ourselves isolated from the world on top of a flying cage…"

There sure was a lot more of statements that made things look harder than before. I better not screw this one up. With no physical evidence to show, relying on the facts was all I could do to make him spill the beans…

FOURTH REBUTTAL

~ The Isle of Mysteries ~

"I am fully aware that our home is a floating island over the sea."

"That should have made you wonder why there was a floating island in the first place, right?" I asked.

"Absolutely," he said nodding. "Let me tell you this, though. We have inspected every inch of the facility itself, and besides the data we'd found, there was nothing that implied the island once was part of the surface."

The thought never came up to me. Maybe the floating island wasn't floating all the time. I drew some similarities with Knuckles' Angel Island. That floating island, now, floated because of the Master Emerald. Was there a probability that this island had a similar power source? He just said there was nothing they found, but… "Not even something that…uh…powered the island to float?"

"Sadly, that's pure speculation for the moment," the minister said. "We only know that it floats. If we could get it to fly, we wouldn't have thought too much about stealing Meta Knight's Halberd."

So much was out there that needed to be looked at, but I was put behind bars. I closed my eyes for a bit before moving on to the next statement.

"As to why there was such a place to begin with, I can only infer that it has no connection to the surface world."

"Why?" What a simple yet dull question, I thought.

"From where we were, we looked down upon the sea," he said, possibly reminiscing. "We sent a few search parties to see the forest and the mountains of the island, and still, we found nothing that could imply a connection to the surface world. That's how we arrived to that conclusion."

So the island had no connection to the world down below because there were no connections here. I wondered about another possibility, but I felt that I needed to move on with his next statements.

"Unfortunately, there were no signs in here that told us about a connection."

I had learned that he said there was data about how to bring Tabuu into the picture. "You're wrong," I said. He stared at me. I knew there was a contradiction. "The data you found about Tabuu… I believe that's a connection right there."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Since when did this become a stare contest? "Well?"

"Sorry," he said, "but I absolutely see no relation whatsoever to what I had stated."

"W-what?" I was completely sure this was going to work! "B-bu-"

"No."

And just like that, I felt like I had a life bar brutally bursting with an explosive sound, depleting like a sixth of the full amount. Of course, whether I had a life bar or not didn't matter, but my credibility's importance of the argument had been nonetheless decreased. "Ah!" I yelped.

"Don't you even dare bring trivial matters into this argument," he warned me. "If you keep doing this, I'll be obliged to shut myself off from you, no matter if you have a concrete answer, and our conversations shall finish."

"I just committed one mistake!" I pointed out. "B-but…I won't fail next time that I assure you!"

"We'll see how long you last," he taunted. I steeled myself. Rational thinking was the key to keep moving forward in this. I exactly didn't have all the time of the world, but whatever time I had left was probably enough to keep our battle of wits going.

Pressing that statement again seemed like a big no-no, so I moved on…

"The island has been floating aimlessly over the sea even when the war against your team started, overlooking an expanse of nothing. The island was suspended into place, not budging one bit…"

"You thought that it was possible for the island to have moved?" I asked. No way was I going to disagree with this just yet! My credibility was at stake.

The Ancient Minister shook his head. "That was also unknown to all of us," he said. "It's possible that this island is man-made, but like I've said before, there's no concrete proof to confirm this either."

"We had already discussed earlier that it was still possible t-"

"Yes, but I have started to believe something," he interrupted. "Anything is possible in this world. What if your assumptions are completely off-track?"

"L-logic is the key to solving this mystery," I shot back.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," he said, shrugging a bit. "Your logic could crumbled down and bury you alive."

"S-stop it with the taunts and let's move on." I was getting more and more peeved as time went by.

"When we first woke up from our sleep, we tried going down, not knowing that we would get ourselves killed just toppling down. We didn't grasp death's concept for a while."

It would have been hilarious to see robots tumbling down to their deaths… Oh my goodness, what did I just think? I needed to avoid looking like a sadist in front of him! "That's…very unfortunate…"

He nodded, rather slowly, I should mention. "I still miss the first ones to go away just like that… We also grasped the concept of missing others of your own group days later. It was an amazing feeling, but then it turned very grim to us. We have told ourselves not to do it and look for another efficient way."

"Sorry for hearing that…"

"Please, I don't need your pity." How much of that was true? The talk we had last night shed some light to his true personality. He still wasn't kin to the idea of me helping him. I was his key to get out of here without raising much suspicion till we break out.

I was really sorry. Really, I was…

"We found ourselves isolated from the world on top of a flying cage…"

"But…you had each other," I pointed out. "That diminished the nagging feeling of being alone… I should know myself. I never had many interactions with others before Lucario came to me." I smiled and shed a tear just saying his name. Lucario was the coolest… I so needed to tell him that if he was still okay.

"…I guess…" the minister agreed. "We yearned for more. This place was a prison. The world below was laughing at our expense. We challenged the world and came successful."

He was clearly lying. They did get a way to interact with the rest of the world and beyond at the cost of their own freedom. Thinking about it, they had more freedom in the island before meeting Tabuu, ironically. That was such a very cruel turn of events… I did not want to question him on that. "Yet, you're a bit sad."

"…" He remained silent before talking. He agreed with me in his mind. "Are you done examining my statements?"

"I want to have another look at them," I said. He shook his head in disapproval, but then he replayed all the statements once more.

"I am fully aware that our home is a floating island over the sea."

"As to why there was such a place to begin with, I can only infer that it has no connection to the surface world."

"Unfortunately, there were no signs in here that told us about a connection."

"The island has been floating aimlessly over the sea even when the war against your team started, overlooking an expanse of nothing. The island was suspended into place, not budging one bit…"

"When we first woke up from our sleep, we tried going down, not knowing that we would get ourselves killed just toppling down. We didn't grasp death's concept for a while."

"We found ourselves isolated from the world on top of a flying cage…"

Pressing the third statement had remained a very tempting thing to do, but I didn't want to risk him getting angered at me in case he remember my atrocious mistake at trying to solve an inconsistency. The other statements, though, looked pretty normal to me. But the way he worded the third statement…

"Unfortunately, there were no signs in here that told us about a connection."

Something was awfully off about this. Bringing up the data with Tabuu had proved to be a disaster in itself, so I needed to point out contradictions in his argument. Fine, so I needed to stop using proof that was tied to this location…

…

This location…

I blinked and rubbed my chin. He didn't want to hear anything about the isle itself again because he was sure there was nothing tied to it. So what if I needed to think outside the box?

…Or rather…think outside the isle? Was there something beyond the isle's location that looked odd? He told me there was a sea down below. Yes, I recalled that the island was situated over the sea. I also recalled that anybody could look at it from the expanse of land that was overlooking…

…

My mind then got its well-deserved answer. "I…I object to that!"

Music stops

"Oh?" he said in a mocking tone. "Did you find another meaningless thing in here? It's incredible how you can keep using the same, boring responses…"

I blushed in embarrassment. "T-this isn't about that!" I complained. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and looked serious to keep my tone. "You said yourself that it was meaningless to find anything in the island."

"Right," he said. "As you can see here, there isn't anything you can find in the facility itself that says that there's a connection."

I narrowed my eyes, keeping the urge to smile. "Fine. I'll just throw this out for you to figure it out quickly: you forgot to mention the damned expanse of land that the war too place on."

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Pursuit ~ Lying Coldly

"U-ugh!" he backed off, as I had kicked him using my own sight. He figured it out. "T-the…the place the war started…"

I rubbed my chin. "I had wondered that there were even more strange things going on when you said you found no evidence here that had connections to the world down below…so I looked outside, remembering that the war took place in a rather big expanse of land with so many different places… Of course, I also thought back when you said the island itself only floated in midair without moving."

He was back to shaking his head in denial. The minister knew where I was going with this…

"If that's true, then…" I widened my eyes, "the island was clearly overlooking the whole land itself because it's been there all the time!"

"T-that was a mere moment of ignorance from my part!" he said, quite flustered. Be it ignorance or not, it was a contradiction through and through. "That piece of land… It's not even worth mentioning here! Who would care about some unrelated continent?"

"Me!" I defended. "Now that I think harder about it, something else doesn't add up! I remember that the expanse of land had so many suspicious locations that, when you think hard, were quite not blending well sitting right next to each other!"

"W-why?" he asked. "What is so wrong about these places?"

"Why, for example, there's the fact that a forest is close to a canyon," I said. "Further east, if that's east, there's some ruins. Further down the same way, there's even a glacial peak…next to the ocean… If we go west, for some reason, there's an abandoned castle and, of all things, an abandoned zoo as well!"

"A-and?" he questioned. "These locations are just random!"

I felt that I needed to pick the best examples to counter this argument. Otherwise, my credibility would suffer a great deal. He was agitated, ready to strike hard at me with a verbal response… "…The abandoned zoo…" I picked. "Do you know who built that zoo before it was abandoned?"

"H-how should I know?" he asked. "None of my people came from that accursed place if that's what you're inferring!"

"The zoo itself proves that it was man-made," I said. "That heavily implies that people were nearby at some point. To further support this thought, there's a castle further east from that place, too! Both places surely have a nice view of the floating island!"

"Ah!" he yelped, feeling once again attacked. "B-but…but the floating island isn't even that close to the land! It is hovering above the sea!"

"That doesn't matter!" I countered. "It would be a sight to behold a floating piece of rock in the horizon! Who would ignore that? There might not be a connection in the isle…but the fact there are places that were obviously built by somebody else means that you were all isolated from ever knowing there was once more strangers down there!"

"This can't be…" he muttered, back to shaking his head in disgust. "After…after we had turned the entire expanse of land into an extended facility…it also never occurred to me where those buildings came from…"

"Wait, what?" I said confused. "You turned the entire land into an extended facility? How did that happen?"

He seemed reluctant to disclose more info, but he went ahead. "We used a chain of Subspace Bombs to consume everything after the fight with Lord Tabuu had ended in a draw of sorts… It once belonged to the same world the Smash Mansion is located. If you were to visit that place, you'll find the ocean to the north…where the land once stood…"

A very forgotten memory made me realize that we had spoken to Rayquaza. It had said that the place the war raged on had disappeared mysteriously… So this is how it disappeared: the army blew a whole bunch of Subspace Bombs to…

Wait, Subspace Bombs were used. There should be a gigantic void. "But you used Subspace Bombs! Isn't there a big void back at that world?" I asked.

"Lord Tabuu used his powers to teleport the void into a new world he had created…" he explained. "He was powerful enough to hide the entire crime scene. This, in turn, weakened him, as he was not strong enough to make such a feat without overexerting himself after the battle." Huh, that was new one to me… "We're essentially in another world between the universes…one that Lord Tabuu is trying so hard to create. It could be said that this world is Subspace itself, but Lord Tabuu couldn't quite manage to dwell freely around these parts. In short, he's still trapped in the real Subspace."

"So which is it? Is this Subspace or not?"

"This place currently is in a corrupted version of the Subspace," he explained further. "Lord Tabuu cannot come here. A sad fact, actually. He is trying to recover his strength day by day. It took quite a heavy toll out of him…but it was done to ensure our overall safety against our enemies."

That revealed more shocking truths. I was lost somewhere in a corrupted world… But who cares about that now? "So then, you turned the land outside into a larger facility?"

"Yes," the minister said. "It was constructed to mass produce Subspace Bombs…but there was an unknown assailant who severely slowed down the production that we found ourselves unable to make bombs for a very long while."

There was somebody else in here other than them? "Uh… I can't imagine how you people have another person interfering with your plans…" I trailed off. I was stumped in that one.

"Perhaps we don't know who that person is since he or she refuses to show up," he said. "But just maybe, you know who this person is."

"I…I really don't know anything!" I shot back. Was I now being interrogated?

He seemed suspicious that I did know who that person was when he said, "It could be very obvious that you know that person yet you haven't realized at all…"

Logic would help me out of this bind. The entire mansion was ruled out. There was no way one of us was hiding such a dark and intimate task…well, perhaps Snake, but not him. I briefly remembered that his crew had stuck some kind of communication chip onto my head without my consent, but they should have said something by now. The minister probably disabled that… Back on topic, the only person I could think of that was sabotaging the facility could only be…

…

The Ancient Minister. I was surprised at this, but I needed to stay quiet. He probably didn't tell anybody in his group for obvious reasons.

He spoke. "You're not responding. Perhaps you don't even know…" He nodded. That nod…I think he figured out what I figured out. He sighed. "Still, about that assumption that there were people down below…"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Investigation ~ Middlegame 2009

"There should be a connection down there," I said.

"Probably," he said, agreeing. "But you can't prove when that was there." I grimaced a bit. He had a point. "What if the zoo and the castle were built a very long time ago and this island…was never floating in the air before those places were deserted?"

I scratched my head. "Y-you raise a good point…" I shook my head. "But the theory is there. Was the facility…old and abandoned when you woke up?"

"Suspiciously, it was very clean," he said. "Everything looked brand new and unused."

Oh, great, the mystery was getting even harder…but I should really remember what he said. The facility was brand new and untouched when they woke up, and if there was a connection, the ruins and everything down below were abandoned. Both had been deserted, yet the floating island's facility was up and running… Holy crap, this was giving me a headache…

Silence set in once more between the two of us. The Ancient Minister turned around to look away as if he got in deep thought. I wondered how much time passed since we started talking. I sat down on the ledge and rested my chin on my hands. I gave the minister a glance once he turned around to look at the left side of the wall… He gasped. "What the…"

I blinked. "What?" I asked.

"You don't need to know that the security of this particular cell has changed to a more mundane lock that needs a physical key," he said. Even I could tell he intentionally told me that…but he was at a loss of words. Wait, wasn't there some button outside that unlocked my cell? I could've sworn I saw it when I was escorted out to meet Tabuu. "I don't have the key, yet I was told that I was personally going to take you out myself."

Just what was going on now? First, I remembered that the minister told me that he wasn't involved with the development of the Subspace Bomb that was sent to the mansion, if it was even successful in its mission. Second, my supposed date with a special mind-sucking machine was delayed. Now, the lock of my cell changed to a simple lock that needed a key… What was frightening was that the Ancient Minister was never told about these changes, except for the first one but he didn't know the reasons behind the sudden change. He was above everybody in ranks…yet he was being left in the dark, and he and I were dead-set on escaping.

Did this use to happen in the past a lot, though? "Do you always go through these problems all the time?"

He turned to me. "Never," he said. "It absolutely makes no sense that Lord Tabuu is not keeping me informed during these past days…" He suddenly moved away down the corridor. "Stay there and don't do anything stupid. I'll be right back and get my answers."

I felt a little tired, so I just lied down my head on the pillow that was given to me…

…

I don't know how much time had passed since I last spoke to the minister, but he came back and pressed a button. Thinking it was time to make a move, I stood up, only to see the wall next to me opening a small window that held a tray with…piles of nuts and bolts. "What is this?" I asked.

"Your food," the minister said.

Of all the insulting things I've gone through the entire time I've been here, he expects me to eat these tools?! I took the tray and stared down at it. "I'll be rude right now so why did you think I woul-" I stopped when I saw that the piles of tools were hiding three perfectly, well-kept apples and a banana. "…Where did these…?"

"Eat your food and stay quiet," the minister said. Maybe, just maybe, he hid the food himself… "It's almost about time we'll be leaving to your demise."

I looked worried, but then I went to eat the fruit. Peeling the banana was easy. It was a miserable feeling having to eat the apples without skinning down the red core, but I could make do once I made a hole wide enough to eat the inside. The two of us remained silent, though I was making kind of a bit of noise eating by my lonesome.

As I was about to continue eating my third apple, I heard him say, "I…have been informed that King Dedede will be accompanying us. He is the one who has the key."

I almost lost the grip on my apple when realization hit in. King Dedede…I honestly didn't put much attention to any of the other villains because they were all a bunch of egoist bastards. The Ancient Minister was clearly different from the lot. Back on the actual matter at hand, this meant that King Dedede would immediately alert the rest about our little plan to escape. I wanted to discuss this with the minister, but the security cameras in the corridor greatly discouraged me to do it. From where I was sitting, the cameras were not able to see the spot I was sitting on. All the more reason to believe I was completely safe to eat actual food.

King Dedede needed to leave us both alone, so how were we going to deal with him? I could attack him if he turned our back on us, yet the damned cameras would see everything and our plans would fall through!

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the fat penguin strolled into view with his big hammer on his right shoulder. He had a very devious look that scared me a bit. "Hi!" he casually said. "Today's the big day! The kid's gonna have a nice brain-uploadin' session he'll never forget…if he gets to keep a little itsy bit of his mind!" He broke into a loud laugh.

I heard the minister grunt, clearly frustrated that our plans were falling through. I also grunted, sharing the same feeling as Dedede kept laughing out loud. I spied with my eyes that the minister was carrying a set of handcuffs. Was he…going to go with this, knowing we're both being watched by the enemy?

Dedede stopped and grinned as I moved closer to the bars, leaving the tray behind on the ledge by the blanket and the pillow and putting my red hat on. I saw him take out a key, grinning wide at us.

"And now…" he trailed off as he inserted the key into the slot, twisting it to open my cell, to which then he hissed a loud whisper that completely took us off-guard, expecting a very "smart" comment to finish his sentence, "…it's about time we leave this freaky facility behind once and for all!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The Grand Escape From Everything"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Isle of the Ancients-

Chris

No references or curiosities were present this time.

And now, the arc has suddenly turned into a new direction after a few more mysteries have been uncovered. That doesn't mean the arguments have ended…but sadly, the next chapter has the final set of arguments… On the other hand, they are far, FAR more important. It's just a matter of time before one of them has their eventual breakdown…

The end of this chapter marks the surprising twist that Dedede is really not entirely happy working with the army, but why? This question shall be answered pretty soon in the next chapter. The stage is set for the grand escape, but will it be easy? Something else might be afoot…

Oh yes, Mr. Game & Watch is finally making an appearance after a particularly long absence. Look forward to that, but I don't think he'll be…fine…

Be on the lookout for that promotional piece of art I mentioned. I'm going to make it a habit by releasing promotional artwork for the arcs in the story, both old and new, to make me a better artist.

I encourage everyone to review, or else Chris loses the battle of wits against the minister, forever losing the chance to uncover the biggest mystery yet…
*Chapter 198*: The Grand Escape From Everything

The day the grand escape happens has arrived.

From GuyroMaster: I noticed something in the Thrid Argument. When R.O.B. said that there was no evidence that there had been others on the island.
Does Chris not know that the R.O.B. units have an On-Off switch on the lower section of their base? I'd say that that is pretty good evidence of something. Not sure what excatly, but it is some type of evidence.

Anyways . . . I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

From me: I love that my readers get into the story like this.

Yes, that is a good piece of evidence. But will Chris realize that? You'll have to read this chapter to find out. Thanks for liking the story. :)

From Safire Ranmako: First great chapter.

Second, Sam & Max started out as a LucasArts game in the late eighties. The game was revived as a TellTales game, that was played out like episodes in a T.V. show and incidently was the basis for the cartoon show. You can tell because the show used the same cells as the TellTales game.

Why didn't you say that R.O.B. was on Chris' team at the end? Because at this moment he is, and it looks like King DeDeDe is going to join them.

From me: Oh, I see. I'm going to look at that series if it's deemed worthy enough for an arc…or cameos.

R.O.B. is still not joining Chris's side. However, this chapter does state that he's temporarily joining the team. You'll have to read to find out more, though. Thanks. :D

From superdrama11: ROB forever one of my fav smasher and finally someone pays attention to poor

From me: Um, I think your review got cut off at the end, but let me say that this story strives to give everyone all the spotlight they need to become memorable characters. ROB, however, has a much bigger role… Thanks for caring. :)

From FF and STH: By what year is it in this story, I just want know.

From me: The year the story is set is 2009, I believe… Now that I remember, there shouldn't be any homework to do during that month. Maybe I'll just casually mention that Chris is taking a summer class to lessen the time he needs to have for himself… Thanks for reviewing, dude. ;)

From unknown person who didn't bother to have a username: Wait, is Chris still gonna argue with the Ancient Minister?!

Or is it with someone else?

From me: He's still arguing with the Ancient Minister. This is the last chapter he'll do that, though.

Oh yes, all the people who reviewed in the past are showing up again. It makes me feel so accomplished that the love for this story keeps being strong. Thank you so much, everyone.

BUT ANYWAY!

This chapter is going to be the start of many polarizing events that will forever change so many things for the future. Whether the future will be good or bad is unknown, but I assure you that you'll love where I'm heading to with this…

With nothing else to say, I encourage all robot fanatics to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Sakurai, no offense, but this is how you make a deep plot for the Subspace Emissary.

Chapter 198: The Grand Escape From Everything

-Isle of the Ancients-

Chris's Cell

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - Investigation – Middlegame - 2009

Dedede…just said that he wanted to escape? Once I noticed the bars had sunk into the floor, I snapped out from my dumbfounded look. "W-what did you say just now?"

Dedede looked perplexed and whispered, "This ain't the time to wonder while we stand around like this! We gotta move to that there flat black guy and make our escape, now!"

The minister kept staring at him. "Dedede, what is this foolishness you're talking about?" he demanded.

"Don't you act innocent!" Dedede said, pointing at the two of us. "You're planning to escape!"

Both of us silently gasped. The cameras seemed to be focusing on us… That wasn't a good sign. Should we try to deny it? "W-what makes you think that we're going to escape?" I whispered.

Dedede turned his back on us and walked a few steps away. "I'll explain everything once we bust outta here. The rest of those idiots are waitin' for me to bring dah kid to 'em, but they know something is goin' on with the Ancient Minister!"

The minister gasped next. "They…they found out?" he asked. His façade was now destroyed. At least he wasn't going to insult me anymore…I think. "How? I was very secretive all this time."

"Move!" Dedede whispered, and we both followed him down the hall. I was thankful that my cell was being left behind. There was a great wave of relief just seeing it disappear as we turned right into another hallway. "We shouldn't run but walk to avoid makin' a scene. That there flat black guy's room is a little further ahead from here. Once we get there, we make a run for it to the Halberd!"

Our cover had been blown, but it gave us freedom to finally converse with each other without having to act. The minister and I accelerated our pace to stand next to Dedede as we walked down through an automatic door. "Dedede, explain yourself," the minister said. "Explain everything that you know."

I saw Dedede sighing, still looking peeved. "Tabuu knows ya can't be trusted anymore," he whispered, much to the collective shock from both of us. "He's been tryin' to keep ya in the dark to disorient yer plans and catch ya red-handed."

"How in the world did that fool even notice?" the minister asked. Dedede was glad somebody else had called Tabuu a fool, I could tell from his grin.

"He started being suspicious of ya as soon as ya reported how there was this little perpetrator slowin' the production of Subspace Bombs," Dedede explained. "He had the rest of us attend private meetings that didn't include ya. Ganondorf wanted to make ya squirm and suffer once you were caught!"

"Ugh…" the minister grunted. "Those bastards…"

I was still surprised that Dedede lent us a hand. "B-but…but why are you helping us?" I asked.

"Cuz I've been doing this for a long while now!" Dedede said, quite proud of himself. "I only joined their little army THIS TIME just ta see what else they had in mind, feignin' ignorance about what happened in that war! As always, they're up ta no good, I tell ya! They changed the lock of the cell ta have one of us accompany the two of ya…and they never suspected I'd betray them behind their backs! Foolproof, ya know!"

King Dedede joined your team!

The Ancient Minister temporarily joined your team!

I had forgotten how Dedede had a rare side where he really cared about protecting Dream Land from the villains. I never thought it would resurface at this point, but I was kind of glad he did. I suspected that he had his own motives, though… "Are you doing this protect Dream Land?"

Dedede looked away. "Um, yeah, doin' it for the home," he said, sounding embarrassed. "Dream Land is a great place of dreams. Me, bein' dah king, needs ta…put up an example for my citizens…" I really questioned if anybody liked Dedede. When I spoke to Kirby one time, I asked what he thought about him. He said he saw Dedede as a friend, even if the king liked to pull pranks on him. That puffball was truly very forgiving…and possibly very naïve. "Enough of that! We gotta keep moving fast but steady to Mr. Game & Watch's chamber!"

The minister and I had to change a few things about our escape plan. "It's still possible to escape from here," the minister said.

"Yeah, but we gotta hurry," Dedede whispered. "The longer we make 'em wait, the more likely they're gonna come out and look after us through the security cameras! Nobody is lookin' at them things right now!"

I had absolutely no idea how the facility was laid out, so I was forced to follow either Dedede or the Ancient Minister… They were both heading there, anyway, so it didn't matter. But now that Dedede has forced himself into the group, I had to ask a few questions. "Dedede, what are you planning to do after we escape?"

Dedede sighed again and looked a bit apologetic. "Guessin' I'm gonna have to join Kirby and Meta Knight," he said. "Meta Knight is gonna kill me after what I did ta him when the Halberd was stolen from his base… So you're gonna have to stop him from stabbing my sorry butt!"

I gapped my mouth in disbelief. "D-don't you put me between you two! I fear that guy a lot if I get to his bad side!"

"So?!" he asked as if he was demanding me to do the unthinkable. "I've seen ya get buddy-buddy with many of 'em! You're gonna be my shield and you're gonna like it! I have loads of things to talk about once we get there at the mansion!"

I arched an eyebrow. "What sort of things are those?"

"Gonna have to make you wait for that," he said and I groaned afterward. "I'm kinda worried that we'll get spotted. Keep it quiet."

We were now walking down a set of stairs. Next to the stairs, there was a slope that the Ancient Minister used. I thought the slope was used for the robots trying to transport stuff or move up without suffering any issues with the elevated steps. Just how much farther till we got to Mr. Game & Watch? "How long do we have to walk?"

"His chamber is not too far from here," the minister said as he we turned left. These corridors seemed to go on forever. I forgot where we started… "A few more turns and we'll get in there."

Just how much trauma has he gone through? I was talking about Mr. Game & Watch. I feel just bad thinking that I've enjoyed my free time in my mansion knowing that he was here against his will. The opportunity to save the Smasher (eww, I hated that term given to us) was finally at hand… I wondered what kind of story he had to tell…

Minutes passed as we passed through corridors and doors. Elevators got into the mix, but I subconsciously thought that we were going up. "This place goes on forever…" I said.

"And we're still in the Isle of the Ancients," the minister said. "It would have taken this much time to reach the room holding that machine. We must not stop."

"Let's walk a little faster!" Dedede suggested.

I sure wanted to leave with something worth taking. Breaking up from our path would not be a wise thing to do. There should be another factor I haven't considered to look into… I thought back at the arguments I had with the minister. "Um, minister?" I began. "The other arguments we had earlier…were you lying about any of them?"

The minister looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but then again, it was hard to tell. "Only the insults were lies," he said. "The rest…it was the whole truth." He faced me. "You were bringing strong points that I could not deny. Somehow, I felt that there was…that there was more to my past that I didn't know… I was under the illusion that you happened to know more than I did."

"Uh… Well…" I looked away. "I was only bringing facts into light. I don't really know that much more…"

"…Yes, just as I thought," the minister said. "There's no way someone else like you knows more that I do about my past."

It struck me as odd that the minister told me that. Was he trying to suppress a horrifying experience of the past? Just as I was pondering this, we stumbled upon a very curious event… Down the hallway, there was a normal R.O.B. keeping watch. We stopped just as soon as it looked at our way, hearing the minister gasp. I saw the minister moving to the other robot.

"What are you doing here still?" the minister questioned. "You must rejoin the others at the Halberd immediately… What was that? How could you…" He shook his head. Dedede and I exchanged glances, not being able to tell how the two were keeping up a conversation while one of them wasn't even saying a thing. "Look, I don't care how much you believe that being here is good. We will all eventually be sacrificed senselessly if we don't escape."

The robot stared long into his eyes before turning around, turning around a corner.

We heard the minister grumbling a bit as he joined us again. "He better escape…" he muttered.

"That robot-thingy ain't wants to leave?" Dedede asked.

"I can't fathom how he came up with such thought," he said. "He told me that he didn't want to leave because it was hopeless to stand a chance against Tabuu…"

"B-but we can stand against Tabuu!" I said, looking serious. "We can render him powerless once we complete the tasks, right?"

"Yes," the minister said. "It's just… They don't see the point… And this is very weird to me. I have already told my race what we were going to do and most seemed to agree…" He turned around. "No matter… Let's continue to the chamber and end this as soon as possible. We cannot waste more time."

Dedede and I shrugged and listened to his suggestion, except we turned left around the corner. I looked back and the robot was gone somewhere. "Oh, that reminds me…" I began, "how were you able to talk to him? Also, why is it that he didn't say anything?"

"I can only communicate with them," the minister said. "I was the only one of the whole bunch who was capable of speech. There's probably some kind of memory installed within me that enables me to talk right now. As for how I can understand the others…we transmit our speech through our eyes within our range of vision. If you see two others staring at each other, they're talking."

I looked confused. How was he able to talk while the rest didn't? Yet another mystery popped out. "You never wondered why you could talk?" I asked.

"Never. I never saw the need of finding out. I was glad I could do it, though," the minister said. "It makes me feel a little…special."

The last word he said suddenly made my mind gather my thoughts together. It made me realize that he was indeed a special kind of R.O.B. The question was how this did even happen… He was high on ranks with the army. He could communicate with both robots and his allies. He had a conscience…and he could even display feelings!

"We're here!" I heard Dedede said.

The door we stopped at didn't look any different from the rest of the doors I've seen. We simply entered… And there he was.

Mr. Game & Watch Chamber

The room we entered had a pale green glow due to a big tube of water that held Mr. Game & Watch inside. I took a good look at the flat character. Just like the minister, I couldn't exactly tell if he looked happy or sad. Imagining that he had been a prisoner all this time, it was obvious he was in so much pain. In front of the big tube that radiated the green glow, there was a control panel. Looking to the left, I spotted some more machines I could never get to operate. Moreover, there was junk tossed around the floor.

"Finally…I see him at last," I said as I looked up at Mr. Game & Watch. He was suspended in the very middle of the tube, not even budging… Well, I've seen the way he walks around. I wondered if he could talk properly.

I saw Dedede moving to the control panel in front of the tube. "This is a tough cookie to crack but it can be done," he said. "I'm gonna go ahead and release him. Stay put while I'm workin'!"

"So now we need to wait?"

"Yeah. This thing is attached to the security system," Dedede said. "If you don't wanna trigger the whole thing, you need to disable it first in case you wanna move this guy somewhere else. This place hasn't been the same location he's been! He's been moved quite a lot before."

"It takes quite a bit of time to disable the security and release him," the minister said. "Security here is very uptight. For the time being, don't leave the room and wait for Dedede to finish. Once Mr. Game & Watch is free, we'll make a run for it to the Halberd."

I sighed and decided to walk around while thinking about the Ancient Minister. Recalling the facts, he was a special R.O.B. who could talk and display emotions… Thinking again, the other robots could display emotions as well. All those previous times in the past where I had seen their looks…they all had to point out somewhere…

"Hmm?" I stepped forward and looked around the rest of the room. "Um, would you mind if I looked around here?"

"There's nothing valuable here," the minister said. "Go ahead and knock yourself out. You better not cause some sort of outlandish issue while you're here."

"I-I won't," I said before I began examining every nook and cranny. The machines were very dull, and I didn't want to risk activating something I shouldn't have. The junk that sat around the floor was probably the only thing I could examine…

There were so many pieces scattered around. Most of them were ripped apart from whatever they came from, and some more looked oddly charred. Where did the junk come from? The Ancient Minister seemed to have more trust in me now that we've been discovered. It wouldn't hurt to ask away…

"Hey, where did all this junk come from?" I asked.

"Those are remains of friends of mine that were involved in unfortunate accidents within the facility," the minister said. "I believe there are more remains left behind in other rooms. This place has some."

"Oh…right…" I felt guilty asking him about this now. I picked up a random piece. It looked like it was once part of the base of a R.O.B. Cleaning the surface of the piece I narrowed my eyes after spotting a few ineligible letters. For whatever reason, the letters had been hastily scratched by another object, but there were a few letters I could tell apart. "…ad…y…"

Obtained Unknown Piece #1!

A charred part of an unfortunate R.O.B. On the side, the letters "…ad…y…" have been spared from being completely erased.

I tilted my head and decided to keep the part for further examination. As I looked around more, the minister shook his head at my direction. "What do you hope to find with this?" he questioned me.

"I-I don't know, okay?" I said as I inspected a few more pieces. "I want to kill some time."

He stared at me for quite a bit. "Suit yourself…"

"Oh, I will." I picked up another piece. To my surprise, the piece I picked up next looked like it had the same shape as the first one. Turning it over, I found more letters. Once more, the letters were ineligible due to some deep scratch marks. Worse yet, it looked like it was missing a half. I inspected the letters. "…Ma…y…"

Obtained Unknown Piece #2!

A charred and broken part of an unfortunate R.O.B. On the side, the letters "…Ma…y…" have been spared from being completely destroyed.

I kind of was noticing a pattern, but I wanted to see if my suspicions were correct. Sweating, I looked around for another piece. "How long till you set him free?" I asked Dedede.

"Still need more time here," Dedede said, not pressing anything on the panel. "There are some horrible upload times 'round here. This place has some nice security with the worst response time ever!"

I rolled my eyes. I would've never thought that computers here were that bad. However, that would probably give me enough time to keep investigating. I scoured the floor for more pieces. After a minute of finding nothing, I found yet another piece that resembled the last two. It was simply charred this time, but even then, I could make out the letters on the other side. "…a…by…"

Obtained Unknown Piece #3!

A charred and broken part of an unfortunate R.O.B. On the side, the letters "…a…by…" have been spared from being completely destroyed.

"It's not that I mind, but why are you keeping all those parts for?" the minister asked. "You better not think you want to have them as souvenirs."

"N-no!" I said indignantly. "Y-you'll see what I'll do with these parts."

"You better dispose of them if they happen to cause an accident while we escape."

I grunted as I continued looking around. In front of me, there was yet another piece. I picked it up and turned it over to see what the letters were. Sadly, the letters had been completely chipped off… Wait…

Looking back at the other pieces, the letters on the pieces were charred, possibly because of an explosion. However, after taking another look at the fourth piece, the depth of the scratch was just…odd. It was pretty deep and almost crossed the over side. If I was right, the explosion should have caused more damage, yet the scratched part looked safe. Taking yet one more look, I did find more letters. Although they had already appeared before, there were differences. The letter "M" didn't seem to have letters before it, nor the letter "y" on the right side…

There was one more letter as well. Under the two letters, I found the letter "D".

Obtained Unknown Piece #4!

A broken part of an unfortunate R.O.B. On the side, the letters "M" and "y" don't seem to have more letters to the left and to the right. Underneath, the letter "D" in caps was found.

"The letters M and D are in caps. I don't think whoever wrote this had crappy writing…" I muttered. When I saw that I went through every piece, I sighed. I could probably use these four pieces to make a good case…

On the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a piece lying down next to a machine. I went over and picked it up… Unfortunately, the piece I picked didn't resemble the rest, but there was a peculiar thing to it. A switch for turning it on and off was on top. Since these pieces were all remains from other robots, it was safe to say this piece also belonged to a long gone R.O.B… Wait, all of them had this piece on the base of their shape…

Obtained Switch!

A broken piece that has a switch that used to turn a robot on or off. All robots have this.

"I found a lot of junk," I noted. "But this junk might just have the thing I need to uncover what he has to say…" I braced myself and went to the minister. "I'm done picking things. Are we ready yet?"

"No," the minister said. "We're going to have to wait a little more time. I fear we'll have to run for real…"

I turned to the big cylinder. Dedede was boringly tapping his hands on the side of the control panel, staring flatly at Mr. Game & Watch. "Well, this is…kind of a sudden thing to say, but…" I faced the minister, "I wish to know more about yourself."

"Why?" he asked. "Why are you so hell-bent in prying into my own personal matters?"

"B-because…I don't fully believe that you just happened to be created out of the blue!" I said. Dedede looked over, confused as to why I was raising my voice a little, I assumed. "What I'm trying to say is that…you're special."

"Thank you for the remark."

"N-not like that, though," I said. "I want to say that it's just odd that you can talk to us just fine without being like your…uh…relatives in here."

"I was born this way," the minister said. "Certain individuals can come into the world excelling over the rest."

"B-but you're a very intelligent robot who's able to do so much," I said. "Just the fact you can do a lot as a robot implies a lot of things."

"…" He lowered his head, staring up to me. "I'm not just a mere robot, I'll have you know," he said as if he wanted to warn me. There was no choice. I was pressing his buttons. "I don't like where you're bringing this useless argument from, but you better stop it. This is not the time to be talking about this.

"I'm obliged to do this!" I argued. There was still time to do what possibly could be the very last argument. "I'm…I'm going to find out the whole truth behind you!"

The Ancient Minister scoffed, turning around. "What can a mere child like you hope to find out about me…even if I don't know my past myself?"

"With evidence!" I saw him turn around. He looked at the pieces I was holding on my hands. "These might just look like junk to you…but there's something in them that make up a sign."

"…" He sighed rather loudly, obviously tired of this. "…I'll humor you for a little more…but this better be the very last conversation we have. I keep saying this a lot, but we do not have much time. You better hurry this up before we regret it."

"As soon as Mr. Game & Watch is released, we'll run," I told him. "I…I promise." Ugh, I hated making promises I couldn't keep. I'd rather do stuff I can absolutely finish.

Dedede mumbled a few things as the two of us locked our eyes. This was it: the last string to uncover more mysteries.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Confrontation ~ Allegro 2009

FIFTH ARGUMENT

~ The Special One ~

"This better be good," Dedede muttered.

"From the beginning when I woke up, I had found out that I was able to do more than the rest of my race."

"None of them had the qualities I possessed. Anybody else that wasn't me would see them as silent people."

"It was these qualities that allowed me to be the default leader of the lot."

"…And then, I assumed the role of the Ancient Minister when Tabuu enslaved us all."

"Still, I can't see how there was an ulterior motive that made me special. There just wasn't anybody else in the isle when we woke up."

"I am special. There's no denying it."

If the past arguments taught me anything, it's that he is not flawless in his statements. Even if he makes a mistake, I needed to point it out. Now that I have actual evidence, I could make a much stronger counterattack that he could not possibly try to deny it as a theory.

FIFTH REBUTTAL

~ The Special One ~

"From the beginning when I woke up, I had found out that I was able to do more than the rest of my race."

"How did you feel when this happened?" I asked.

"I felt quite proud of myself. Everyone looked up to me," the minister said. "I started to develop a proud sense that only gave me an incentive to work harder. Little I did know how far it would take me…and where I would end up in the present that is now."

"A guy being bossed around by a blue guy inside some weird-butt dimension that wants total conquest!" Dedede said. I wasn't expecting him to say something.

"Yes, just like that," the minister said. He moved on to the next statement. Better heard everything before making a hasty choice…

"None of them had the qualities I possessed. Anybody else that wasn't me would see them as silent people."

"Yet…can they understand people like me?" I asked.

"Yes, they can understand. It's people like you who can't understand them. When Tabuu came, the others would act like puppies trying to convey a message… He destroyed them when they got close to him, saying that they were scum for making him lose his time. That insolent bastard…"

"U-um, try to keep your anger in check, please," I suggested. "We're working to stop this, remember?"

"Sorry, I needed to vent off some anger. I've been keeping this to myself all this time…and it feels very good to let it all out," the minister said. "I'm probably going to spend my time insulting Tabuu's name so much that it'll turn into a hobby."

"You're nuts," Dedede said with a grin. "We could sit down and share insults with one another!"

"Dedede, you're not helping…" I muttered.

"It was these qualities that allowed me to be the default leader of the lot."

"Were all of them pretty submissive to this?" I asked.

"It was sudden, but they didn't object," the minister said. "I think that there could've been a big difference if they had developed an ego for themselves. When Tabuu came, they all said I should be the one to lead them around as I could communicate with him."

"Maybe they were using you ta save their hide," Dedede said.

"How could you say such a thing? We're all dignified people," the minister shot back. "But, perhaps, their fear played a big factor, and I held them all dear to me…"

I was wondering if pressing all the statements would make him feel sad. Cruel as it might sound, I needed to keep the heat on his story and point the inaccuracy I had to find…

"…And then, I assumed the role of the Ancient Minister when Tabuu enslaved us all."

"You were enslaved?" I questioned. "I thought you said you accepted his help."

"At the time, he was acting benevolent," the minister said. "But he didn't show his true colors before the army had been assembled. The moment Mr. Game & Watch was captured was the time he started bossing all of us around. I saw the moment we established a mutual work ethic to be the moment he enslaved us for his benefit."

"Alright, I see how that turned out…but where did this Ancient Minister figure come from?"

"These clothes you see are what shall remind me of the sin I have brought upon the worlds," the minister said. "I…I will never get rid of them. Let this be my way to atone for my mistakes."

"What crazy talk is that?!" Dedede demanded. "Tabuu's gonna go down one of these days!"

"If that day ever comes, I'll take these clothes off, knowing well that he will disappear for good…" He sighed. "Don't try to make me take them off now. They hold a symbolic meaning that I wish to keep."

"I understand…" I looked worried as he moved on.

"Still, I can't see how there was an ulterior motive that made me special. There just wasn't anybody else in the isle when we woke up."

"You mentioned that you woke up," I pointed out. "I already know when, so how and where did you do that?"

"How? I simply gained conscience," the minister responded. "I can't recall exactly how I woke up, but when I looked down at me, I deemed that moment to be when I did so. All of us were outside the facility when this occurred, staring at the sunset across the sea… I can recall the vivid scene even today… The sunset, it was a great discovery that we cherished. Staring at the sun going down somehow puts me at ease…"

"Cheesy," Dedede said. I grimaced at him and he just rolled his eyes.

"No matter how hard you try…we were alone in the world that was our isle," the minister lamented.

"Would you be open to the idea that there could've been somebody?" I asked. "Maybe that person was there before you woke up…"

"Impossible," he said. "Let's continue." It looked like he was trying to deny the possibilities. I pressed on, though.

"I am special. There's no denying it."

"That I can't really deny," I said. "You're an outstanding robot from what I know about you."

"Huh," he simply said. "It's been some time ever since somebody has praised me. My people hardly do that anymore only because they don't…they don't think my plans to win the fight against Tabuu are enough…yet they try hard to convince themselves."

"Didn't know all those robots were that complicated," Dedede commented, looking down at a small screen on the panel. "Gee! This thing is pretty slow today! I'm gonna need more time!"

I rubbed my chin as I considered the statements. I noticed he wasn't saying much this time around. He was probably conflicting himself about recalling beyond the past. "Let me go over your statements."

"As you wish… That is the only thing I can grant you."

"From the beginning when I woke up, I had found out that I was able to do more than the rest of my race."

"None of them had the qualities I possessed. Anybody else that wasn't me would see them as silent people."

I wasn't so sure if this was the right statement, but now that I had evidence, I could try to make him talk more. "Um… Here!" I said, showing him the switch I had found. "Do you possess something like this?"

"Everyone has that," the minister said.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…" Along my train of thoughts, I came to a halt. I barely realized in time that this didn't exactly hold any significant meaning to his statement.

"…GRR!" I turned to look at Dedede. "What the hell are ya tryin' to get with that? That's useless junk!"

I felt my credibility taking a heavy nosedive into failure. I looked away, not wanting to admit the embarrassing move. The minister sighed. "Unlike the previous times I was insulting you…please don't do this again," he said.

"I-I'll be more careful next time I pick my choices…"

"It was these qualities that allowed me to be the default leader of the lot."

"…And then, I assumed the role of the Ancient Minister when Tabuu enslaved us all."

"Still, I can't see how there was an ulterior motive that made me special. There just wasn't anybody else in the isle when we woke up."

"I am special. There's no denying it."

These pieces of evidence looked odd, yet using them without thinking too much about it could seriously damage my credibility. Just as I thought the way was easier, it was harder instead! Was there no way to tell what was odd with his statements? Dedede grew impatient as I remained silent while gathering my thoughts. He was just fueling my own impatience…

Focus! There's got to be something I need to go over! I told him to repeat the statements again.

"From the beginning when I woke up, I had found out that I was able to do more than the rest of my race."

"None of them had the qualities I possessed. Anybody else that wasn't me would see them as silent people."

"It was these qualities that allowed me to be the default leader of the lot."

"…And then, I assumed the role of the Ancient Minister when Tabuu enslaved us all."

"Still, I can't see how there was an ulterior motive that made me special. There just wasn't anybody else in the isle when we woke up."

"…When we woke up…" I repeated. These were robots that… Thankfully, something clicked inside my mind. "Your side of the story is clearly incomplete!"

Music stops

"How can you infer that my side of the story is incomplete?" the minister asked before I showed him the Switch. "You're…bringing that up again? What difference is there this time?"

"What I'm going to say is going to shock you…I think," I said a bit unsure. "This switch I'm holding right here… Have you ever touched it before?"

"Never," the minister said. "But just to clarify, every single robot out there has it over 'On', even me. I can remember how it was like that when we… Never touched it before…" He grunted a bit. "Y-you can't mean…!"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Miles Edgeworth ~ Objection! 2009

"I seriously mean it," I said, satisfies that he was catching on. "All those robots are able to move around because they have their switches on!"

"N-no!" the minister said. Dedede widened his eyes. "T-that's such a crazy theory! It couldn't be that simple!"

"But what if it is?" I asked. "If these robots need to have the switch on, wouldn't that mean they needed somebody else who was awake to turn them all on?"

"I-if that was true, then…" He shook his head in denial. "But still! Your evidence makes a compelling case, yet there's no proof that might tel-"

"Hey!" Dedede called over. "I'm not done yet over here, but there's something you should see over there!" He pointed to his right where a mantle was covering a machine. He walked over to it and pulled the mantle off, revealing a perfectly well-kept R.O.B. in it.

"How come I didn't see that before?" I complained.

The minister immediately moved forward. "How in the… Why is that one not moving? Has his life been taken away behind my back?"

"Don't be silly!" Dedede said. He ducked down to take a closer look at the base of the robot. Finding the same switch I had found, he flicked it on.

The R.O.B. immediately came to life, looking around where it was. I saw the minister slowly moving to see the new robot. "T-this cannot be...this cannot be!" The robot stared at him. "U-uh… You need to escape from here! You must head down to the Halberd! Do you know where it is?" The robot nodded and made its way outside the room. The minister, though, only watched the robot going away. "W-what…What am I supposed to believe now?!"

I feared the worst. He was losing it.

"C-calm down!" I said.

"How can I calm down after seeing this atrocity?!" the minister demanded. "W-why does it take the simple push of a button to turn us off? What sick joke is this? D-does that mean…I…I can also be turned…off?!" For the first time, I saw him raising his robe so we could see his base.

"One way to find out!" Dedede said as he quickly went for the minister's switch.

Wait. What.

"S-stop!" I shouted too late once Dedede had turned the minister off. Gasping, I looked up at the robed robot and…his eyes were still on. "…W-what?!"

The minister looked down at himself in shock. Dedede backed away, and I heard him gulp. "I…I didn't turn off?" the minister asked.

"But I turned you off! The switch went all the way down there!" Dedede said.

This sudden revelation only made things harder. The other robots could be easily turned off, yet the minister lacked that "weakness" for some unfathomable reason. The minister lowered his robe and went to approach me. "How do you explain this now?" he asked, his voice trying to avoid yelling at me. "Why am I still turned on while my switch itself is off?! Does that answer your question about me being special?!"

"I-I…" Think fast, you idiot! Don't let his shock make him shut himself off from you! "You're special, alright!" I told him. "However, that doesn't explain why the rest needed the switch on! I can only think that…that…"

Think of a good theory! These pieces of evidence don't have a good chance against his demand!

"…That somebody left you on and you never realized it!"

"What?!" the minister said. "What sort of joke is that now?"

"It's very possible that you had been turned on all this time… I mean…you didn't turn off when your switch was turned off. How else would you explain that?"

"I-I can't explain how that even happened…" the minister muttered. "I…I guess… No! I was…"

"Perhaps that's how you were created…"

"How I was…created?" He stared at me. "…I…I didn't have a creator!"

I considered the facts now. They were robots. Somebody had to create them from the beginning. How else would the minister not turn off when his switch was turned off? He was special, alright. He was designed differently than the rest. "I believe this calls for…well…" I looked to the glass tube holding Mr. Game & Watch before looking back at the minister. "This calls for the very final argument…your creator!"

Dedede stared at the minister, who was trying to suppress his anger and shock. "A-a creator, you say… You really think somebody created me?" the minister asked. He was breaking down.

"Yes…and I shall prove it to you!" Our eyes locked against each other, the feeling that the minister couldn't hold back present as his body shook in fear…

I'm sorry…but you need to snap out of this and accept who you truly are… Here goes…

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Confrontation ~ Presto 2009

FINAL ARGUMENT

~ The Creator ~

"Are you out of your mind, thinking that my race had a creator?!"

"Rubbish, just rubbish, I say!"

"I-I do admit that there are some oddities I never dared look at, but that's just it!"

"There's no way to tell that we had a creator of our own. We're special people! Not just mere robots!"

"You better stop spouting nonsense! I can't…I can't…I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE."

"YOU'RE JUST AN IGNORANT CHILD WHO CANNOT FIND THE ANSWER!"

"BEFORE YOU COMMIT A GRAVE MISTAKE, BACK OFF FROM ME!"

"THE TIME IS RUNNING OUT! WE BETTER DROP THIS IDIOTIC CONVERSATION NOW!"

A sea of insults was tossed right at me…I was thinking I was going too far with this. Those insults were very well real. But still, somewhere within those insults, there was something else I needed to exploit. "If you fail to bring up a good point just once, that will be it!"

"W-what?!" I asked, bewildered at the limit put onto my shoulders. "Y-you can't do that! I need t-"

"Gather information? Screw that!" he snapped out. I could've sworn Dedede was shaking in fear. "YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHANCE TO SPEAK…SO YOU BETTER NOT WASTE THIS!"

"C-can I at least hear all the statements as many times as I want?"

"…Fine!" the minister said. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that, but I won't be so nice with the limit!"

"Dear god, ya kid!" Dedede called out from his spot. To my dismay, it looked like he was about to finish since he turned to the control panel and started clicking buttons. "Ya got him very riled up now!"

"Quiet, you!" the minister said, completely stealing the words from my mouth. "So, get on with this already! You don't have time!"

How could he put this limit on me? Then again, he was starting to shut himself off from me. The facts I brought up were truly making a huge difference on him… I decided to keep my thoughts to myself till I found the weak point in his argument.

FINAL REBUTTAL

~ The Creator ~

"Are you out of your mind, thinking that my race had a creator?!"

No, I truly mean it. Robots need to be constructed by a person.

"Rubbish, just rubbish, I say!"

You're saying that because it might just be true…

"I-I do admit that there are some oddities I never dared look at, but that's just it!"

Oddities you never looked at…

"There's no way to tell that we had a creator of our own. We're special people! Not just mere robots!"

You ARE robots, though! You're all still special, yet a mystery is keeping you all from realizing the truth!

"You better stop spouting nonsense! I can't…I can't…I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE."

All the nonsense I've been bringing up till this point has proved to be true…so it's not nonsense!

"YOU'RE JUST AN IGNORANT CHILD WHO CANNOT FIND THE ANSWER!"

I've grown during my whole journey! I'm actually starting to mature better because of all the crap I've been through!

"BEFORE YOU COMMIT A GRAVE MISTAKE, BACK OFF FROM ME!"

I never meant any harm to you! I won't commit a grave mistake!

"THE TIME IS RUNNING OUT! WE BETTER DROP THIS IDIOTIC CONVERSATION NOW!"

Just let me finish it, then! The evidence I have will shed light to the final string! But what statement should I pick?

…

"I-I do admit that there are some oddities I never dared look at, but that's just it!"

…This is it…

This is the one… I cleaned the sweat from my forehead and pointed straight at him.

"OBJECTION!"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Confess the Truth 2009

"Y-you…you object to this? Why?!" the minister demanded…and I showed him all the pieces of evidence I had gathered in the room. "The junk you picked up? That's your reason?!"

I looked down at each individual piece. When I saw the letters on each one, I started to notice that the letters… The pieces that had the same letters were all in the same position. If that was true, then perhaps I needed to piece each letter back together. However, the minister needed an explanation. "The pieces I have here…" I began, "each one has letters on the back."

"A-and?"

"Among these pieces, I can see that the letters weren't moved. They all fit into place," I explained. I could see Dedede nodding to himself. "The letter 'M' is repeated in two pieces. It's in caps, so it's safe to say it starts a word. Next to the 'M', there's two pieces that reveal the next letter, which is a lowercase 'a'. Followed by that, a piece reveals that the next letter is a 'd'."

"…Mad…?" the minister wondered.

"Oh no, that's not the end of it," I said. "Two pieces reveal that there's a syllable next to the first word, which turns out to be…'by'."

"Mad…by…"

"Furthermore…there's quite enough of space between 'Mad' and 'by'. I couldn't find a piece that had the next letter, but pairing those two would really make anybody believe the right thing about the missing letter… You know what letter is next to 'Mad'?"

The minister looked down. "…Is it…'e'?"

"And with that letter added in, the most logical explanation is that it read 'Made by'."

He looked up. "S-so?!" he demanded. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that, since these pieces all belonged to different robots that were involved in accidents I don't know much about, all the robots…were made by this single person…" I showed him the last piece that had the letter 'D' in caps. "Made by D."

"N-no…" He backed away. "T-that's incomplete! You can't just…"

"And as you can see," I continued, showing him all the pieces, "I was puzzled to find that the letters on the pieces were all scratched up. The areas around these pieces are…they are perfectly flat, yet the center of these scratch marks doesn't overlap."

"What does that mean?" Dedede asked.

"…There was a person who tried so hard to eliminate the evidence about who created all the robots."

"W-who?!" the Ancient Minister asked.

"Given your sudden reaction…it wasn't you," I said. "This person knew that he or she would be found out soon enough if whatever was written down below would stir somebody to look after that person. If I'm right…this person doesn't want to be found for a reason." I grimaced. "I can't really tell what that reason was, but it confirms that there was a culprit involved."

"B-big deal!" the minister said. "Those pieces you picked could have possessed those scratch marks just by coincidence! You don't have anything else that can prove your crazy…" When he saw me and Dedede nearing his position, the minister realized. "A-ah!"

"I have something to cement this proof: you!" I said, pointing at him.

I saw Dedede opening his right sleeve. "Waddle Dee! Turn that robot over!" Five Waddle Dee rushed out from his sleeve and picked the minister up.

"P-put me down!" the minister cried out. I quickly went to see his base. "PUT ME DOWN!"

I gasped and backed off. The Waddle Dee, by Dedede's orders, tilted the base and the minister's head to let him see what I had found. "…N-no…no…no…no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" he shouted in pure agony.

Under the minister's base, there was a spot that held the same shape of the pieces I had found. A big insult to his injury came in the form of the word 'Made' followed by a deep scratch mark that had chipped off the rest of the unknown name from the person called "D". The Waddle Dee put the robot down and immediately joined their king's side. The minister was gasping. The truth…had been revealed.

"You're the proof of my assumptions!" I said. "You weren't affected by any accidents in the past, yet you have that convenient spot chipped off!"

I could've sworn sparks jumped out from his eyes…

"The person who chipped the letters off knew that he or she would be found out soon enough because there's a huge chance there's something in all the robots that must be forgotten at all costs!"

The sparks were jumping out.

"Yet, during his or her rush, that person did this without being too perfect. The letters that were left behind tell that much! That person was desperately trying to eliminate the crucial evidence!"

He was now twitching.

"A-and…and that's why…all the robots had a creator who wanted all of you to avoid finding out about your true past! You, however, were designed so differently because…because you had a more important role to your creator!"

The twitching and the sparks stopped. Dedede, the Waddle Dee, and I kept staring at him for quite some time…before he began exploding within his clothes. We all backed away as the minister was pushed to the sides, as if he was being knocked around. The scene looked very horrible once he started to scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA H!"

"H-hey! C-calm down!" I tried to calm him down but the explosions inside of him were not stopping. They kept going, breaking into a long chain of small bursts.

"G-great, you're killin' him!" Dedede said, his Waddle Dee group hiding behind his back.

"N-no! I'm not killing him!" I protested as I turned to the minister. "S-stop exploding! You might really die!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" To our collective shock, the minister moved around the room, slamming his body hard against the random machines. Dedede quickly went over to the control panel to protect it from the rampant robot as the Waddle Dee formed a human barrier that shook in fear. I decided to join their side as we watched the minister wrecking the machines that had no utter relevance to us. The pieces that I had inspected were pushed aside as the Ancient Minister kept screaming in pain. I really, really wanted to stop him, but his frenzied state convinced me otherwise. The explosions within his clothes were getting louder and bigger.

And then, he weakly moved to the center of the room, where a very violent explosion inside his head inflated the air in his clothes. The hat sitting on top tipped over to the front, and then we noticed that his yellow eyes had been obscured within the smoke that escaped from the holes and openings of his clothing…

The explosions and the screaming had died down completely…

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Reminisce ~ False Relations

"…Ancient Minister?" I called out after a moment of silence. "…Are you…alive?"

"…" The yellow eyes within the hood slowly came back to life, but the minister didn't raise his head. "…I…I had visions…"

"What?" Dedede asked. "Whatcha sayin' now?"

"As…as I screamed…I…I saw visions…" the minister said. The seven of us walked to his side to check if he was okay. "T-those visions…they were…they were from the past…"

I had to ask about these visions. If a robot like him can have visions, then it must be very important. "W-what were in those visions you had?"

"When you pushed me to a corner I could not escape from…the memory inside of me…unlocked lost memories that I swore I never had…" He tried to move his head up, but then he dropped his gaze down. "…As if by magic…the words you shouted at me…they helped me to…to remember very startling facts…" As he spoke, his head screeched while trying to look up at us. "In those visions…I saw the isle…rising up from the surface…"

I covered my mouth, Dedede gapped his jaw, and the Waddle Dee exchanged curious glances.

"…There was more…" the minister continued, but now he was sobbing, "from down below…I saw…I saw a blurry image of a man watching the Isle of the Ancients taking off into the sky…"

"T-this man!" I hesitated to bring it up. "P-please, tell me that you remember this man!"

"I…I barely remember…" the minister sobbed, "t-this man… Just seeing him…made even more memories…appear… I…I don't know why…b-but…there…there was a time when we weren't alone…and that man… He was there with us…"

"Holy…" Dedede trailed off.

"T-that's…not all…" He started crying silently. I felt extremely guilty just seeing him in such a depressed state. "E-every time I try hard to remember…I remember that I used to laugh together with my people…and that man was there… S-so then…why…why did this man suddenly…abandoned us? H-he…he left us behind in this floating isle…and he made the isle himself for us to live in…"

This was just too much for us to understand. Solving this single mystery behind the Ancient Minister only brought forth even more mysteries…all revolving around a man he used to know…

"Why…" he sobbed, "why…do I feel…so alone? W-why…why can't…why can't I stop thinking that…we were left alone…without explanation? T-that man…he was…he was our creator…yet he abandoned us…" His face was now looking up at us. "T-the sadness within me… I-it's proof that…I…I enjoyed the company of that man… Why do I feel…so alone in the world?" He shook his head. I noticed Dedede and the Waddle Dee were sniffing. "W-what did we do…to deserve this horrible destiny? A-are we…guilty of…bringing Tabuu? O-or…did we do something…unspeakable…in the past…to that man?"

The Ancient Minister suppressed a feeling of being alone in the world this whole time…

That feeling… It's the entire reason why I wanted to do this long, excruciating journey in the first place. During my travels, I saw how each one of the characters had a special someone to spend the time with. They were all truly happy to be able to enjoy life together. I was an example of that… After all, it was Lucario who had shattered that nauseous feeling with his presence. Each one of us in the mansion had a person to rely on…

Mario had Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi.

Link had Zelda.

Toon Link had the young Smashers. From there, Popo and Nana had each other, yet they liked to be with Pit.

Olimar had his Pikmin and family.

There's really no need to explain how close DK and Diddy were.

Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur liked Jigglypuff.

Pikachu…used to have Pichu…but he still has us.

By some extent, Samus had C. Falcon and Snake.

Fox and Falco had each other, yet Wolf probably had them from afar, too.

I could see how Mewtwo had Lucario as a worthy rival, yet the two were most likely friends in arms.

Marth and Roy…they used to have Ike, yet they support each other all the same.

Kirby had Meta Knight.

Lucas found a good friend in Ness…

Sonic liked all of us.

Master Hand did find it his job to look after Crazy Hand, but I thought that they still liked each other all the same.

Lastly, there was me and Lucario…

But…where did that leave the Ancient Minister? That man he mentioned was perhaps his true companion…

My eyes started to shed tears after listening to his questions. There was a feeling of empathy I could easily relate to with him. After having listened to his story with the Subspace Army, it was evident that he suffered through the ordeal alone. To think I used to feel that horrible sensation… "You…you never had somebody else besides that man?" I asked.

"…No…" the minister muttered. "…My people…or rather…all the robots don't share anything with me… They all had lost hope…and only I can guide them… Yet there was nobody else I could feel happy with…" His cry got a bit louder. "After…a-after recalling these memories…I realized how alone I felt the whole time I plotted against Tabuu and the army… Your team…they did try to open up to me, yet I…yet I did so many unforgivable things to them…in the past and the present…" He lowered his head. "Deep down…I was probably jealous of seeing you all having such a good time together…that I wanted to force you all to feel how bad I felt…"

I walked to him and shook my head.

"There's no way I can atone for everything I did to…to escape from this damned prison," the minister said. "I can only fade away, never to return…"

I dropped to my knees and embraced him.

"H-huh?! W-what are yo-"

"Stop it!" I cried. "Stop it… You don't have to suffer any longer!"

"W-why are yo-"

"I care about others!" I interrupted. "It pains me so much to see others suffering from solitude… I went through there myself!" I heard him gasp. "You DO know how it feels to be all alone without having somebody looking after you most of the time every day, right? Guess what, I've been there, and it's horrible!"

"…" I heard him cry, yet my own cries were deafening my hearing.

"Having to do things alone is just…wrong!" I shouted. "I want to help you… I don't want you to feel like this anymore!" Then, I remembered the words he told me while I was behind bars. "You told me yourself… Anything is possible in this world." I pushed myself from him to stare directly at his eyes. The tears in my eyes would not stop. "Anything! Just anything can solve your problems! So please, don't go losing your own hope like your friends!"

"U-ugh…" The minister looked away from me. I could hear Dedede and his cronies sobbing. "…Why…why do you want to help me?"

"Because you deserve a second chance…" I muttered, fixing his slouched hat on top of his head. "…And no matter who tells you that you're nothing but trash…I'll stand right by your side and defend you with everything I've got…"

"…"

"…S-so?"

"…There was yet another vision just now…" He looked up to me. "…In that vision…the man appeared again…and he said…he said that I should not waste the opportunities that are given to me…" I looked shocked. "I'm not lying… In his own, distorted voice from my vague memory…he said I needed to avoid feeling alone…that I had the others robots with me… Yet now, I don't truly believe that robots were all supposed to be my only friends…"

"And…"

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – Solution! ~ Splendid Deduction

"Although he might have deserted us…there has to be more to this mystery…" the minister said. "…But until we uncover this…I shall…join your cause with dignity."

I gasped, along with the other six behind my back. I heard the sound of water draining down. "T-the process is complete!" Dedede said.

"W-what now?" I asked with my eyes wide, ignoring the king.

"You…you have showed me that solitude is a horrible thing," the minister said. "The man in my visions didn't want me to waste such a chance like this… I need to expand my horizons and…and pursue my own happiness…while in the company of others…" He slowly approached me. "The solitude you felt yourself… Was it as nasty as mine?"

"…Yes…it was very nasty…" I said. The sound of the glass tube lowering down echoed. "I spent more than half a year with Lucario…and when he was about to take a crucial decision to leave me alone so that he could return to his world…he suddenly turned around and hugged me tightly…" I started sobbing, but I was happy just remembering that distant memory. "Then…he said that I was his true trainer…and the solitude was gone in an instant…"

"…That sounded…so nice," the minister said. "Do you think I'll be able to feel like that one day?"

I knelt down and embraced him once more. "S-silly robot! You're not alone anymore!"

"…!" He gasped loudly. "Y-yes…I'm not alone anymore… I'm…I'm not alone anymore!"

For the first time, I heard the Ancient Minister rejoice with glee. He was even chuckling whole heartedly before breaking into a happy laugh, a clear sign that his long struggle of solitude had ended at last. He had turned into a very valuable ally to my team…

The Ancient Minister has truly joined your team!

I kept embracing him as we laughed together. I realized myself that I felt all alone in the facility, thinking that there was nobody else to trust…yet here I am, embracing the very person who had done so many horrible things to us in the past. The Ancient Minister, though, was just an unwitting pawn working for Tabuu. He never did mean any of the atrocities he committed. He was an empty seashell that had a hidden pearl of sadness that begged for company of other pearls…

…

Look at me, being all dramatic…

"B-but…what if they shun me?" the minister asked me. "And…what about that man?"

"I told you… I'm going to be by your side," I reassured him. "If they hurt you, I'm going to have to complain till they understand. I do know how to pull some strings around to have an advantage… As for the man you saw in your visions…we'll just have to look all over the world and find him. I know he has a lot more to say… Till then, though…I'm never going to leave your side like he did…ever."

The minister leaned his head against me. "…Thank you…thank you so much!"

The time was right. I stood up and turned around to face the eventual release of Mr. Game & Watch. I saw the flat character comically stumbling down to the floor without much motion. In three frames, he got up and looked around, all the while beeping. "Well, he's finally free!" Dedede said, wiping some tears away.

Shyly, I approached the flat character. He seemed to stop to look at me. "U-um… H-hi there," I greeted him. "I-I'm the newest addition to the Smashers… My name is Chris, and I'm here to get you back to safety…"

"…Oh…you are?" Mr. Game & Watch said in surprise. He could really talk, and his voice wasn't made up of beeps! It was only his movements that made those beeps. "I…I was waiting for this…"

"You probably went through a lot…"

"Yes…yes I have…" He looked like he was clutching his arms into an embrace. "I don't want to talk about what they've done to me…"

"It's okay," I told him. "What matters now is that we need to escape from this hell. Dedede and the Ancient Minister are into the plan as well."

The minister approached the flat character. "Mr. Game & Watch…I'm truly sorry for…"

"I know…" G&W said. The minister and the rest of us gasped. "You used to talk to me while you were alone… I could hear you just fine from the inside of that tube…"

"O-oh… I…I didn't think you…"

G&W chuckled. "I also heard everything just now," he said. "I can relate to you, even though I do have some friends back in my world… Your story is just…unfortunate…so I want to give you and everyone else a hand… Now that the days of extracting Shadow Bugs from me are over, I'm not going to let them have their way anymore."

Mr. Game & Watch joined your team!

I think he turned to face me. With this character, it was pretty hard to tell where he was looking at. "So! You must be a really new teammate. I don't remember you before during the first war, that's for sure."

He seemed like such a good person. I thought he was traumatized a lot. "Y-yes, Master Hand just happened to enter my world after you had…lost the fight against Tabuu… I kind of got pulled into this," I said.

"Oh, I see, I see," he said nodding, beeping all the while. "I'm glad you did, or else I probably wouldn't have gotten out from that tube…"

"As if my intrusion made a difference…" He probably was saying the truth.

"…" Mr. Game & Watch shivered. "But…have you guys found the other copy they made of me?"

Music stops abruptly

"…Say what again?" I asked. He just did not say…

"Oh? I thought you guys knew that they…that they had made a copy of me to extract more Shadow Bugs…"

Dedede blinked. "T-they did WHAT?!"

I turned to the minister. "There's a second copy around?!"

"I…I didn't know there was…" The minister backed away. "How in the… I can't… Dedede, you don't know either?"

"N-no, I dunno!" Dedede said, sounding angry. "I was never told about this! Hey, you! Are you sure there's a second copy?"

"Y-yes," G&W said. "I experienced the extraction myself. I know they made off with a second copy! I even heard them saying that they'll have that one for an emergency in case I escaped! But I also heard they can't produce another copy without me, so that'll put a wrench into their plans…"

"That doesn't change the fact Tabuu has an emergency reserve to keep producing Shadow Bugs!" I said. "We need to find that secon-"

"No!" the minister said. "We can't waste any more time! We'll have to drop that plan and just escape! My people…I mean, the rest are waiting at the Halberd!"

To my dismay, the door behind us slid open without our consent. "So this is where you scum were! I waited for this day to come; the day I get to slit your throats and bathe myself in your blood!"

We all turned around to face a very peeved Ganondorf staring our way. The Waddle Dee scrambled around and entered Dedede's sleeve. "Aw, great!" Dedede said sarcastically.

Ganondorf drew out his light sword. "You shall not escape from here!"

Final Fantasy IX – Run!

"We'll see about that," I heard the minister say before he shot a rather potent laser out of his eyes, surprising Ganondorf and taking him off-guard. The force of the laser pushed the Gerudo King to the wall behind him. "Why are we standing here doing nothing? We must run to the Halberd! Forget about going after the second copy!"

"I have no idea where it is!" I protested.

"Follow me!" Dedede said as he sprinted out from the chamber. G&W, the minister, and I all followed him down to the left as Ganondorf tried to stand up.

"You will not be able to escape from here, bunch of fools!" I heard Ganondorf yell. "The entire facility knows you are trying to do this!"

"W-what did he mean by that exactly?!" G&W asked.

"Worst comes to worst, he means that the likes of Wario and Bowser were not the only ones alerted of our plans," the minister said.

"Which means…" I trailed off with a defeated look.

The floor under our feet shook. As we crossed the path to another hallway that was completely ignored by Dedede, we caught a glimpse of Porky in his spider mech. "HEY!" he shouted at us as we passed his sight. "You guys aren't supposed to escape! C'mere and stay!"

"Great, the old fat kid is after us, too!" Dedede complained. The sound of missiles being fired from behind did not make us feel fine. We looked over our shoulders, spotting at least five missile.

"How are we going to destroy those missiles?!" I asked. G&W came close to me as we ran down the hallway.

"Hold me, quick! I got an idea!" he said. Not sure what he was thinking of doing, I held him to my side. He took out what appeared to be a frying pan that he flipped up, tossing black sausages that collided against the missiles, making them explode. The explosion of the missiles didn't catch up with us. I put him down as we continued to run.

"Why did you need me to hold you?"

"I can't properly aim while moving, so…yes."

"Oh."

"Turn around this corner!" the minister shouted. We turned around the corner he told us to turn, finding a long slope going down. The inclination of the slope only made us all accelerate our sprint. "Don't run too fast! We can't tell if there's somebody else waiting for us!"

I saw Bowser showing up at the very end of the slope, fire trying to get out his mouth. "Where are you all going?!" he demanded, pointing a claw at us. "Just come a little closer and see what I'll do to all of you!"

I changed to my Agent job and aimed my revolver to his face. I started shooting, yet he covered his face with his arms. My bullets weren't doing much. "Ugh, he doesn't budge at all!" I said.

"AWAY!" Dedede yelled, taking out a Waddle Dee from his sleeve and tossing it all the way to Bowser. Bowser's eyes widened when he saw the Waddle Dee…or rather, a Gordo facing him.

"AAH!" Bowser yelped and ducked down, letting his shell absorb the impact of the Gordo. As the Gordo bumped away and disappeared, we were just about to reach him when he looked up, snarling at our sight. "Yo-"

Without even thinking, the four of us used his face as a step to jump over his back. I was first, G & W was second, the minister just hovered above him, and Dedede planted a very heavy step on Bowser's nose. I kept looking back, seeing that Bowser had been dazzled. "That felt good!" Dedede said, giving a loud laugh as we disappeared down the hallway.

As we turned right, we found Wario in the middle of our path. "Hey!" he shouted. "I can't let you pass!"

"M-move!" I demanded as we continued running.

"Aw well, I tried," he said before sitting down next to the wall. We all stared at him as we passed his spot.

"That was…" G&W trailed off.

"Bizarre," I finished. "Is he up to something?"

"To be honest, Wario was never a good worker," the minister said. "He was only promised riches that I bet Tabuu will never give to him."

I grimaced and then stopped. The three saw me stopping that they also had to stop. "Bathroom break? Don't be silly!" Dedede said.

"N-no, that's not it!" I said as I turned around and went to Wario. "W-Wario?"

"Eh?" He eyed me. Dear god, did he always show his big teeth? "What?"

"Do you…uh…like working for the army?"

"I only work for them because they promised money!" he said as a matter-of-fact. "But I'm a lazy person! I hate 'em all!"

I looked around. "…If you want to, you could join us…"

He laughed. "HA! Aren't we enemies or what?"

"I'll give you the double amount Tabuu promised to you as soon as we reach the mansion," I said. "And whatever jewels we find in our missions, you can keep them all."

Wario's jaw dropped and he instantly took out his motorbike from god-knows-where. "Lead the way, suckers!" he said, revving his bike to join the other three.

Wario joined your team!

As I stared in disbelief at what I had done, I joined up with the four, resuming our escape. Dedede looked at me. "That was all it took for ya to convince him?" he asked.

"He's very simple-minded…" I responded.

"Ah, true dat."

Despite the fact Wario was using his bike to move, his bike was only moving as fast as we did. "What's the plan, then?!" Wario asked. "I heard from the others you're planning to escape!"

We realized that Wario could have more information that could be useful for us during our escape. "Wario, you probably know more about their plans," the minister said. "Tell us, what did they say?"

"Eh, my memory's wonky," Wario said. "I was kinda dozing off when they said they were going to throw every single higher up against you all… HEY! That means I'm against them, right? You better save me!"

"Some help ya are…" Dedede trailed off. The two glared at each other as we hastily turned left, entering a door. I barely ran past the door and quickly caught up with them.

I noticed that the hallway we entered was getting wider. My face fell once I spotted Petey Piranha down the path. "And now we have to deal with him?" I asked. Petey then noticed us and roared, if that was possible for a man-eating plant wearing underwear.

"Hey, Petey!" Dedede called out, pointing behind Petey. "What the hell is THAT?!"

Petey absentmindedly turned around and saw…nothing. We all passed through his blockade by his sides. Looking back, I saw Petey gasping and hopping on the floor, thinking he was angry he fell for the trick. Instead of chasing after us, Petey merely sat down, yawned, and lied down.

"I swear to god, this place is full of very incapable people," G&W commented.

"It makes me think Tabuu tried to gather allies without even thinking who was useful," the minister commented. "We're about to reach the hangar of the Halberd. It's just a few more feet away!"

We entered through a door that was directly in front of us. To the sides of that door, another hallway was found. From the left, a snarling Charizard saw us all passing right in front of him. "There you are!" he roared. Once we had passed the door, I heard him roar. The door behind us violently exploded, and from it, the Fire-type took flight to chase us down while spewing fire.

This hallway had yet another long slope going down. It allowed Charizard to glide down. By the heat of the fire, we could tell he was fast approaching. "We need to stop him now!" I said. I grabbed G&W and put him up. He tossed several sausages at Charizard, yet the dragon burned the flat food before any of them could hit him. "Not good!"

The minister stopped and turned around, firing a charged laser to Charizard's face. The Fire-type roared in pain as he took a nosedive into the floor, bumping along the slope before coming to a halt right in front of the minister. Scoffing, the minister turned around and joined us. "There is no way any of them shall prevent our escape," he said. "I will simply not stand for that."

"Well said!" Dedede remarked.

"Ha… So this is how it feels to have people praise you sincerely…"

I smiled a bit as we made it to a wide room. It was so wide that it could hold probably a thousand robots. To the sides were big doors. To the front of us, there was an even bigger gate. Curiously, there was some machine in the very center that did not make me feel well just staring at it… Where did it come from?

"The Halberd is just across that gate. We must hurry!" the minister said.

"LEAVING SO SOON?!" the machine in the center of the wide room asked. Oh no, it was transforming into something big… It was Galleom. "We cannot let you leave like this! You are to be executed for your petty actions!"

I just noticed we were still running like hell, though we all did gasp when Galleom showed up. "Don't engage in battle with him!" the minister warned us. "He wants to stale for time to let the rest behind us catch up! Try to come up with a distraction!"

Galleom was big enough to block anybody in our little group of five, but all of us spread out while still keeping our goal to make it to the northern gate. I was in my Agent job, so I tried hard to aim at the monster's eyes to incapacitate him. The helmet over his eyes made it very difficult. "The damned kid is trying to escape, too? You shall be the first one to perish!"

"I-I'll have you know that I'm well above a kid's age!" I shot back.

As his big hand loomed over my head, a laser shot pushed his hand away. Grunting, Galleom looked behind where the minister was staring up at him. "You will not lay one of your filthy hands on him," he said. I was glad I heard him say that.

"Oh? The traitor who happened to be Tabuu's most trusted advisor is on this, too?" Galleom asked, taking one massive jump to turn around. "I never liked your sight!"

"Huh, how ironic. I didn't like your sight either. I'm glad there's a reason we can hate each other to death."

Although it was very good that he was voicing out his thoughts like that, I felt it needed to be done another time. I changed to my Fonic Hymn User job to cast a spell behind the machine's back. When I looked to the gate's direction, Wario was waiting over there. "How about you get over here already?!" he asked.

I saw Dedede to the left. "We gotta stop this metal head from followin' us!" he said.

"I'll just open this!" Wario said, walking over to a small control panel to the left. The gate then opened quite quickly. On the other side, there was a pale brown corridor.

I was soon reaching the chant part of my spell as the minister dodged a crushing step from Galleom. "O holy water, rain down your powers! Holy Rain!"

The moment streams of light rained down upon the wide room, it was the moment the rest of us took an early start for the corridor, seeing Wario already entering the corridor with his bike. Galleom turned around to face us, but due to his size, the rain of light struck him down on all his body parts. Even though the rain lasted for ten seconds, it was enough for us to make it through the gate. Just as we all entered the brown corridor, the minister went to the side to get close to another control panel next to the gate. Galleom growled and turned into his mobile form, ready to slam himself into us.

"HURRY!" I screamed.

The minister managed to close the door in time before a loud crash echoed on the other side. Sighing in relief, I waited for him to come over to go down the brown corridor. The entrance to the path closed down by a pale gray door.

Halberd - Interior

At an intersection up ahead, Dedede, Wario, and G&W were standing in front of an elevator. "We all made it," G&W said.

"This elevator will take us to the cockpit of the Halberd," the minister said. "We are essentially inside the Halberd."

"So wait, we're all the way up the ship?" I asked as the elevator came down. We boarded it, taking us up.

"This was the fastest way to get to the cockpit," the minister explained. "The bridge and everything else is down below. The robots are inside the ship, I believe. As soon as we make it up, we'll start the engines and escape."

Escape from this infernal place was very close… I hoped nothing would go wrong… Just a little more, everyone!

Battleship Halberd – Cockpit

We entered the cockpit in a hurry. How did Meta Knight keep this place clean? Everything kind of looked rusty, but under all that rust there were machines turned off. To the front, there was a naval ship's steering wheel that overlooked the windows. The minister approached the steering wheel as he turned several gizmos on. The floor beneath us shook. "T-tell me that's the ship starting!" I said.

"Yes," the minister said, taking the wheel with his mechanical claws.

I took my time to look forward and lean to the window to see what was outside. The Halberd was massive. I could see the long bridge and the cannon from the cockpit. Outside the Halberd, the facility's gray walls were pointing out to the blue sky… The blue sky… I remembered this was a corrupted world of the Subspace, yet there was a blue sky outside. It was a fake yet it eased me a bit to see it. Freedom was at hand…

I could feel the Halberd shaking wildly. "The engines are turnin' on!" Dedede said with a grin. "So far, so good!"

"Hurry it up!" Wario said, sitting in a corner. "They're gonna kick my butt around if they catch up!"

The Halberd seemed to be moving forward. I felt the entire structure moving up before it slowly took off through the hangar.

And soon, the sky was looking down at us…

Final Fantasy IX – Airship Hilda Garde

The world outside the facility was a scary place. When I looked down from the cockpit, I saw that the facility extended over a wide expanse of land that resembled the site of the war. White and gray buildings were covering everything. Only small pieces of land remained behind. I could see where the glacial peak and the jungle once stood judging the small landmarks next to the buildings and domes. Around the edges of the gigantic facility, the entire thing was floating up in an endless expanse of sky. There was nothing down below… It was as if the Isle of the Ancients had pulled the land with it high up into the sky.

Yet, the sun above the facility eased my worries. This entire world was a fake…but it tried so hard to emulate that feeling of freedom.

"W-we made it!" I cheered. "We managed to escape!"

"We faced some horrible interruptions back there…but it seems we did escape without much trouble," the minister said.

"U-uh…" I looked worried. "We're still inside the world created by the Subspace, right? How are we going to get out?"

"The Halberd's cannon was modified to open portals to other worlds," the minister explained. "All I have to do is set the coordinates of the 'Smash' world and that'll be all." There was a control panel next to the steering wheel. He let go of the wheel and started pushing a few buttons. I looked outside to see the cannon down below shooting a massive beam that opened a similarly-sized portal right in front of the Halberd. From the other side of the portal, another blue sky awaited. The minister moved to the steering wheel, commanding the Halberd to move into it…

-Smash World-

Blue Sky

The Halberd passed just fine through the portal before it closed off. I actually didn't see it close down, but I imagined it did. "Kind of morbid to know this place is called Smash World…" G&W commented.

"I know," I said, grimacing. "That's such a very unfortunate name… Luckily, nobody else knows the title… But who cares? We did it!" I looked back outside to see that we were flying over the ocean. "It's just a little bit more… Wait, where's the Smash Mansion at?"

The minister looked forward. "It's all the way up north from our position. We're quite far away from the mansion, sadly…" he muttered. "It's going to take us a lot of time before we reach the land across the sea."

"Why couldn't ya just open a portal over the house?" Dedede asked, suspicious.

"That's because we don't know how the people fared against the Subspace Bomb that was sent into their home," the minister explained. "In fact… Dedede, Wario, do either of you know what's so special about this Subspace Bomb? I was never filled in on the matter."

Dedede rubbed his chin. "Ganondorf was in charge of that all this time," he said. "He never said a word to any of us because we're a buncha fools who could mess things up for him, that's what he said."

"There's no denying it… Ganondorf has become Tabuu's right-hand man," the minister said. "…I don't care, however, what happens in the army for now. I'm concerned about the wellbeing of the others. I hope they can forgive me for everything…"

I approached him and put my hands over his shoulders. "You have me for support, remember," I said.

The minister remained silent till he chuckled. "Thank you…my friend."

No doubt there was a strong bond growing between the two of us. I felt so happy that the escape plan was a success. We stared out to the sky till G&W looked down to the bridge. "…H-hey!" he said. "There's someone standing on the bridge!"

The five of us looked down… There was a R.O.B. staring up at the cockpit and waving an arm. "That's strange," the minister said. "What is he doing outside? It's kind of dangerous to be standing there while the Halberd is moving… I better put this in auto-pilot and go down."

"W-wait, I'll come with you," I offered.

"Don't mind if we head down there too!" Dedede said. Wario looked like he wanted to protest, yet he shrugged and stood up. The minister pressed a few buttons to the left side of the wheel, probably setting the auto-pilot option of the ship. After doing so, we all headed down the elevator.

Battleship Halberd Bridge

I hate how we had to take several elevators to get outside to the bridge, but I let that slip. The fact we had escaped brought me a lot of joy. The air outside felt a bit too hard, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. We went over to the stray R.O.B. on the bridge to see what he wanted. Obviously, the minister was the only one who could talk to him.

"I know you're glad to see us," the minister said, staring at the robot. "Why, though, are you outside?"

There was a long silence between the two of them. "He can talk through silence or what?" Wario asked.

"No, he just needs to stare at his eyes to talk," I said…to which then the minister backed off slowly. He shook his head and turned to us, his head still shaking. I could've sworn he was grunting, but the air outside was a little too loud. "Did...did something happen?"

"They…they're all gone!" the minister said. "All of my comrades…t-they all willingly abandoned the ship before we could take off!"

Final Fantasy IX – Black Waltz

Why the hell does destiny have to RUIN the moment? Seriously! I'm getting sick of this!

Back on the topic at hand, the minister kept shaking his head. He really wanted to drop on his knees…if he had them. "W-what do you mean?" I asked, bewildered at the statement. "I thought you said…"

"The one behind me…he didn't want to leave," the minister said. We stared at the stray R.O.B. as he continued talking. "Just now, he told me that…he told me that everybody started leaving after every single one of them had boarded the ship… He said that all of them saw the escape as a useless method to gain freedom because they all fear Tabuu…"

Dedede grunted. "They have a second supply of Shadow Bugs. They have a supply of slaves to work to the ground… Dang it!" he complained, kicking the air.

"But…" G&W began, "why did this one didn't leave, then?"

The minister turned to the R.O.B. "…He tells me that he has some hope left in him to escape to a better place…" He sharply turned around. "It's very nice that he remained behind, yet hearing this makes me… Damn it all!"

I shook my own head and tried to calm him down. "U-unlike last time, you have actual support!" I said, trying so hard to cheer him up. "W-we'll rescue the robots once we rejoin the rest back at the mansion! I…I promise!" There I was making a promise I didn't know I could keep…

But that did help him look up to us. "…I…I will believe," he said. "Until that day arrives…I must save the ones I can save for the moment…like this one." He turned back to the robot, getting into another conversation. "…Oh… Oh no…"

"What?" Dedede asked. "There's more?"

"He wants to warn us that we're not alone in the ship! He saw some kind of flying monster entering through the portal from behind!"

There was a loud roar coming from behind us. Turning around, we saw nothing…until we all looked up over the roof of the cockpit to see a horrendous sight staring down at us…

It was…Meta Ridley. The Space Pirate Leader was perched on top of the cockpit with his wings firmly resting on his sides. With a loud roar, Meta Ridley jumped all the way down…

Wait a second…he was falling on top of…

"NO!" I shouted as I pulled the Ancient Minister to our side. Without looking back, a loud crashing sound shook the portion of the floor we were standing on. We covered our eyes as dust flew back, lightly smacking into our bodies. Once the dust was gone, we looked forward and gasped.

Meta Ridley had crushed the stray R.O.B. into pieces. The parts that made up the robot had been reduced to small scraps that were scattered all over our feet. The head in particular rolled to the minister's side. He stared down at it…and as Meta Ridley dangerously opened up his wings and his metallic claws, the Ancient Minister snapped out in a fit of pure rage and screamed, lunging himself to the dragon as we all gasped and joined his dangerous advance.

The escape was not over yet…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The End of Two Perspectives"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash World-

Chris, Wario, King Dedede, Ancient Minister, Mr. Game & Watch

References:

- The tracks used here belong to AAI, while the other half belongs to FFIX. The "Black Waltz" track remains as a very heart-wrecking reminder of what a particular Black Mage had to see… Perhaps you can draw a parallel with the Ancient Minister.

Well, it seems Chris has assembled a very odd team of people, yet there's one last line of defense that they need to take down before calling this a successful escape…

Besides that, a lot of OUR ROB's past has been unveiled. Unfortunately, I'd say this is going to be the start of a long time before the team looks more into the matter. All you have to know is that the Isle of the Ancients never used to float all the time, and that there's a mysterious person that ROB remembers who desperately tried to part ways with him…

The next chapter is probably going to be half as short as this one. Looking at the title, it means that two POVs are going to be shown: the present, which has Chris narrating the events through his eyes…and the past, which has Lucario and the stray Riolu spend the time together after Chris unwillingly tossed himself into the big conflict and before the mansion deals with the fall of the special Subspace Bomb…

Alright, the suspense has been set. So now, I encourage all of you to review. Or else everybody will suffer great losses…

Dedede: You already scared 'em all enough! They can't take another death!

O-oh, right…
*Chapter 199*: END OF DISC 2: The End of Two Points

Forgot to mention this, but this is the end of disc 2 of the story.

From Yue Twili: Woo-wee! This one is going to be nuts! I honestly hope that the other Smashers are alright...

From me: You'll see a brief glimpse of what happened to them here.

From GuyroMaster: I have one question to ask, did the Ancient Minister give Chris back his DS and Wiimote off scene?

Another question, that doesn't involve the story, do you have high anticipation for Smash Bros. 4?

From me: The Ancient Minister said himself that he tossed Chris's belongings before they kidnapped him. You can see the proof in chapter 196.

Oh yes, I have high anticipation for it. I don't want to say more than that, though. Thanks for liking ROB's backstory. :)

And here I thought I'd never see the day when this story would end disc 2. I guessed wrong… You surely noticed that the end of the disc is ending a chapter or two earlier. Well, that's because the magnitude of the events shown in this chapter make it a very suitable ending… What events are those? You need to scroll down to find out.

In this chapter, two different POVs will be shown: the past that has Lucario narrate the events after Chris left…and the present which has Chris and the escape team dealing with Meta Ridley.

I encourage all relieved fanatics of the story to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: For some reason, the hatedom against Lucario is burning these days… What is happening over there in Japan?

Chapter 199: END OF DISC 2: The End of Two Perspectives

The Past – Lucario's POV

-Smash Mansion-

Garden

He smiled, handing Riolu over to me. "I know just the thing that will finally solve this!" Chris said. "B-but…I need you to stay here. I'm going to go somewhere with Mario, Luigi, and Peach. Lucario, please wait for me and keep Riolu in check!" He turned around and ran back into the mansion.

I was concerned and curious about where he was going. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"A place I should've gone to a looooooong time ago!" he responded. "I'll be right back! Don't worry about me!"

And he was gone…

The four of us were confused as to why Chris suddenly brightened up. His aura was overtaken with happiness, but I didn't read more beyond that. Tracking him down using my power, I saw Chris going to the kitchen where Mario, Luigi, and Peach were. After talking for a small while, their auras emitted happiness. Just what was Chris…?

"I'm going to leave for a few months," I heard Pikachu said. Blinking, I looked down at him with Jigglypuff, interrupting my watch on Chris. "I…I can't take this any longer… I need some time away…"

"Pikachu?" Jigglypuff said, her aura emitting full concern.

Pikachu stood up and wiped some tears away. "Look, I'm too depressed right now it's not going to be good for missions," he explained. "Frankly speaking, I do miss not being around with Ash. I've left my cousin with him a little bit too long, anyway. He's probably wondering when I'm going to go back and take my place. I'm gonna go see Master Hand to let him know." He jumped down the bench and started walking to the mansion. Staring after him, Pikachu turned to us and forced a smile, waving an arm. "Till we meet again, you guys…"

He let out one small sob and ran into the mansion, leaving the three of us behind. I quickly surveyed the mansion with my aura. Chris and the other three were gone. I missed the time when he left himself… Not wanting to pry into Pikachu's matters, I decided to let him alone.

Pikachu left your team.

Jigglypuff sighed. "Wish I had a trainer to distract my own depression," she commented. "But you know me; a free singing soul wandering around…"

I sighed. I felt the aura of the mansion filled with very different emotions. Waves of happiness and sadness were everywhere, clashing against each other. It was such a confusing situation for a master of the auras like me. However, would Chris's waves of happiness bring a solution? I wanted to read his mind just for a little bit…

Feeling something budging on my arms, I looked down at the small Riolu. I didn't tell the others this…but this Riolu was a newborn. It's been just a few days when this one hatched from his egg, but his parents weren't anywhere nearby. He was alone to fend for himself, and he had stumbled upon this world by chance, nearly dying of starvation.

Auras, I had once taught Chris, were strong and important waves that greatly resembled one's soul. The auras were affected by an individual's emotions and the mind. Making connections, us well-trained Lucario could potentially track down auras within a mile, but my range stretched well over a hundred miles. Since auras were influenced by the mind as well, my kind – not Riolu – could read minds as well. It gets a little more complicated beyond that. The mind also happens to store vivid images that a person went through, which means somebody like me can see through the "mind's eye" and see a very strong memory the person holds very dear, as long as that person's imagination doesn't twist the memory like making another person within it a monster. Telepathy was an added bonus, naturally, yet my stance at my home taught me that not all Lucario were able to communicate with humans due to the fact they didn't know how to talk English, so telepathy was limited to Pokémon.

I am the strongest Lucario. Therefore, all these abilities were easy for me to do.

The Riolu on my arms stared up at me. His aura was emitting waves of fright, sadness, and confusion. Reading his mind, I found out he was…scared of me because I looked very intimidating. He was frozen in terror.

Jigglypuff suddenly hopped down the bench and stretched her arms. "I need my own way to distract myself… Oh, I know! I'm going to go see the musicians at the theater. Maybe they'll let me sing on stage!" She hummed happily and skipped away, yet her aura told me she was trying really hard to suppress her own sadness.

And that left me with the scared Riolu.

Chris's Room

Chrono Cross – Star-stealing Girl

Being outside wasn't making Riolu feel better, so I brought him to our room to have a talk with him. He was so frightened that I couldn't bear seeing him like that any longer… I had to make sure he felt in good hands. I put him down on the bed so he could lay down, his aura still emitting negative feelings. "There is no need to fear me," I told him in our language. "You don't need to be so shy."

Riolu refrained himself of saying anything. He just stared at me…and his eyes were filling with tears. Inside his mind, he had a storm of emotions that weren't making him feel good. I started petting his head with care.

"The two of us are the same," I told him. "You are my pre-evolved form, and I am your evolved form."

Riolu started shaking.

"I…I'm here to protect you from harm…" I knelt down and looked at him with a similar expression. Perhaps my eyes were scaring him. "The last thing I want is you being scared of me…"

"…R-really?" Riolu asked, finally talking to me. "Y-you…you won't eat me?"

I looked confused. "Why would I eat you?" I asked him. Chuckling now was not an option. "You're a very defenseless Riolu who needs protection till he can live properly."

Riolu's shaking was slowly stopping, yet he was still scared. "I-I'm a…Riolu?" he wondered. The tears were now streaming down his cheeks. "I…I'm confused…and scared…"

I rubbed his head. He was starting to open up a bit to me. "There's no need to be scared…" I muttered. "I'm a strong Lucario who will keep you safe from harm."

Riolu started crying, much to my shock. "I want my daddy and mommy!" he yelled. "I don't want to be here! Where are my daddy and mommy?! I don't want to be alone!"

"P-please, don't cry!" I shouted. Only then I realized I had quite a deep, gruff voice that scared him a lot more. "You're not alone! I'm here to take care of you!"

Riolu stopped crying loudly. "D-do you know where my mommy and daddy are?" he asked. "W-why weren't they around when I hatched from my egg? D-did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head. "I…I don't know where they are," I told him. He started whimpering. "But I'm here to make sure you're safe! You need protection!"

"I-I want my daddy and mommy!" he cried. "T-they need to protect me, not you! Y-you're a scary person!"

"I-I might look intimidating to young Pokémon like you, but I assure you I'm not a monster!" I told him. "I'm a very protective Pokémon who wants to make his trainer proud of me!"

"A…a trainer?" Riolu whimpered. "Is…is he your daddy?"

"N-no…" I trailed off. "He's…he's a very special person I hold dear to me… The human who was holding you and feeding you with apple pieces…he was very worried about you. He was on the verge of crying when he saw you dying of starvation…"

Riolu sobbed. "W-why was he worried about me? H-he wasn't my daddy or my mommy!" he complained.

"…But we did save you from dying."

Riolu blinked, his jaw opening slightly. Before long, he cried to himself. "B-but I want my daddy and mommy!" he whined. "I-I want to find them!"

He made me wonder if I was like him. If I were a Riolu again, would I be acting like that? I had a family, so I briefly thought about what would had happened if I missed them like he did. Being a Lucario surely steeled me from such depressing thoughts… I kept rubbing Riolu's head. "You need to accept the facts… You're somewhere far away from your parents, yet you were saved from dying all alone."

Riolu covered his eyes. "I want my daddy and mommy…" he muttered.

I shut my eyes. "I know…that's why I'm going to…that's why I'm going to be your uncle."

I saw Riolu look up. "My…my uncle?"

This Riolu was a child. He only thought about his family, so I figured that he would want to solve his dilemma with something that could relate to his parents. I wasn't related to him through blood, mind you, but it felt my responsibility as a Lucario to look after the young Riolu. He was alone in the world…just like when I felt around Chris before I accepted him as my true and only trainer. The solitude was gone when I pulled Chris to me without second thoughts…

"Say there's this one small chance that we're related," I told him. "I'm your evolved form. I was once a little Riolu like you. Don't you think we could possibly be part of the same family?"

Riolu sniffed. "B-but…I don't know if you're my uncle…" He was trying so hard to hold on to the memory of his parents. I peeked into his mind and I saw nothing that resembled his parents. "Y-you're scary…"

"I told you before that I'm a good Lucario," I told him. "It's my duty to look after you while your parents aren't around."

He shook his head in denial. "M-my daddy and mommy are somewhere!" he yelled. "Y-you can't say they're gone forever!"

"I'm not saying they're gone forever," I shot back. "We'll try looking for them through your aura."

"M-my aura?"

I nodded. "We Lucario and Riolu, along with the rest of the world, have singular auras. Those auras are manifestations of our souls," I explained. "You're the Emanation Pokémon. You can barely track down an aura since you recently hatched from your egg…but I'm a master. The aura you have was born from two auras. In the event that I find two auras that when mixed make up yours, I'll be able to tell who your parents are."

"I…I don't believe you," he muttered. "What's this about auras? I don't know what you're talking about!"

It dawned upon me that he was still a newborn. He needed guidance so badly. A Pokémon battle usually would stir his own skills, but that method was greatly discouraged. I had to make him understand. "I want to train you myself," I told him. "But…but I want you to trust me…"

"Trust you?" he said. His aura was emitting anger. "I don't want to trust you! I want to look for my daddy and mommy!"

I had it with his whining.

I stood up to my full height and tightened my fists. "And you want to go outside and die of hunger? Is that what you want?" I asked, raising my voice. He was back to emitting waves of fear. "There's no telling what will happen to you! You're still a baby who can't defend himself! You have no survival skills and nobody to rely on!" I heaved my chest a bit before I collected myself. "If you want to do all this, then leave! I wanted to give you a home and a place where you could eat, but it's obvious you're delusional with the idea that your parents are outside! I'll just go ahead and say that they're not within a hundred miles! You're basically throwing yourself to die!"

Riolu sobbed louder. He didn't know what else to say.

I quickly put up a worried look and knelt down. "Don't you see where I'm trying to get? I want to keep you safe!" I told him. He was now crying. "I'm not scolding you! You were given a chance at life…and I don't want you to waste it!"

"W-why?!" he asked. "W-why are you so mean?!"

I shook my head in frustration and pulled him in a tight embrace, making sure he wouldn't get hurt with my chest spike. His cries instantly died down when his head rubbed against my fur. "I'm not trying to be mean! I…I don't want you to be alone!"

Riolu fell silent, but I could hear him whimpering. I rested my muzzle on top of his little head. We both had been yelling at each other, so we needed a little bit of time to rest. After two minutes or so, Riolu was calming down. This was probably the best moment to keep talking. "How do you feel now?"

"B-better…b-but just a bit…" Riolu muttered. "Crying next to you made me feel calm… I don't know, but…I feel fine…" He whimpered regardless. "I-I hate this…"

I kept a tight embrace on his little body. "It's okay now," I told him. "You're not alone. You have me for support."

He didn't move for a few seconds. Then, Riolu looked up at me. "You don't think I was…abandoned?" he asked.

"I like to think you weren't abandoned," I reassured him. "Just perhaps, a hard decision forced your parents to leave you behind for your sake…" He sobbed. "…Whatever that reason was, I don't care as long as you're okay with me."

"I…I want to find them so badly…"

"We will."

"U-urk…" He willingly hugged my chest. "…You're not going to abandon me, right?"

I rubbed his head with care. "You're far too precious to abandon," I told him. "I'm going to be your uncle, and Chris is going to take care of you, too."

"C-Chris?" Riolu wondered. "T-the person who was feeding me?"

"Yes," I said, smiling a bit. "He adores special Pokémon like you. He gladly took you in to our little team. I bet he's never going to leave your side once he comes back."

"…" Riolu shivered a nuzzled his face against my fur. "Is…is he a nice person?"

"Oh yes, he is. He's the one who let me live with him…and we eventually turned into Pokémon and trainer," I said. I chuckled at the bountiful memories. "I'm warning you, though. Chris is going to groom you a lot."

"Groom me?" Riolu wondered. "What's that?"

"Just imagine he's going to make you sleep close to us during the night, for example," I said. "Chances are he will hold you close and rub noses together."

"T-that…that doesn't sound normal…"

"Believe me, you'll like it," I said chuckling. "I go as far as to lick his face."

Riolu looked up in surprise. "Y-you lick his face?"

I blushed in embarrassment, looking away. "It makes him laugh…" I defended. "When he cries, I just pull him close and lick his tears. Needless to say, he enjoys it, and I enjoy it. I don't see what's so wrong about that…"

Riolu, for the first time, giggled. "You're funny," he said.

"S-say what you want about me, but it's fun," I continued to defend my point. "Why don't you try it?" He looked startled. "You'll have Chris eating from your palm if you lick his cheek just a bit."

Riolu blushed and looked away. "…He won't get mad at me?"

"He'll immediately hug you without second thoughts."

"…Heehee," he giggled, and I saw his tail wagging a bit, "y-you know…it doesn't really sound so bad to be here… I…I…" He was back to sniffing, his aura emitting waves of regret. "I'm so sorry… I never thought I'd end up here without my family… B-but after thinking things again…I…I want to stay here with you."

I pulled him to me with one arm. "You won't regret this decision," I whispered. "Once Chris comes back, we're going to be doing a lot of things together… You're going to have a really nice time with us."

"What kind of things are we going to do?"

"Lots," I told him. "He's surely going to teach you do write and read."

"Are they fun activities?"

"Yes. Also, I can help you train so you can become stronger."

Riolu paused. "…Can I grow big like you?"

"Uh… Not big like I am, but you'll grow big once you evolve into a Lucario," I said. "Evolution is nothing to fear."

"Huh…" He wagged his tail and rubbed his face against my chest. "I don't care what happens…as long as you're there with me."

"Be certain that you're never going to be alone." I hugged him tightly, making sure I wasn't going to crush him. I closed my eyes, hearing him sob. His sobbing, though, was not hinting sadness. The aura waves that I picked up from him told me that he was happy deep down. Smiling to myself, we embraced each other for a long while till I was sure he let everything out from his system.

"Please…be a nice uncle to me," I heard him whisper.

I chuckled at last and whispered to his ears, "I'm happy to have a little nephew like you." I was glad our little conversation didn't prolong for too long. For now, it seemed to me that Riolu would be fine. I had to keep a very close watch on his emotions…

The rushing of footsteps came from the hallway, and I quickly identified the source to be Mario. I turned to the open door and saw him stepping inside. "Mario…" I muttered. "Your aura is telling me you feel anxious…"

And then Mario said, "Chris got kidnapped by the army!"

Final Fantasy IX – Beyond the Twilight

Command Room

The news that I had never thought about hearing came as a big shock than then turned into pure frustration and rage. Containing myself, we were called to the command room as an emergency meeting was held. I was leaning against the wall, completely bewildered at the situation. Riolu didn't want to leave my side, clutching his arms around my chest as I held him with my left arm. The two of us shared the same aura: uncertainty. After I had told him that Chris was a nice trainer, he could only stare into space once he heard the news.

Why… Why didn't I go with him?! When Mario told me that, I immediately grabbed him by his overalls and demanded him why he didn't do a thing to protect him. Luckily, before I could commit a grave mistake, he calmed me down. Riolu got scared of seeing me like that, and I quickly apologized.

"Everyone, settle down!" Master Hand said. I just snapped out from my thoughts, having ignored everyone voicing out their concerns. "This is a pretty dire situation indeed… I guess it was expected they would use such a dirty trick."

"But we didn't know when they would do that!" Toon Link said.

I looked to Peach trying to get everyone's attention. "To fill everyone in of the event… We went to Flipside to…to do a special task we thought would help our cause," she said. Just what was that task she mentioned? I didn't want to read her mind, but the fact Chris was involved in this task was tempting me to do it… "Long story short, we failed to accomplish anything… And then, suddenly, we saw the Ancient Minister appearing out of nowhere, and then he shot Chris down with a gun of some sort!"

I couldn't bear this any longer.

I closed my eyes and entered Peach's mind. While she related the event, I was sure I would see it with my own eyes using her mind since she was trying so hard to recall it. I was glad when I found myself using her vision of the past…

Ignoring the fact that Peach was covering her mouth in shock, I saw a beam whizzing between all of them. Peach jerked her face to the back just in time to see Chris getting hit by it, immediately losing consciousness on the floor of whatever place they were.

No!

I grunted a bit to myself as Peach turned to see the direction of the beam's source. The Ancient Minister, Charizard, Ganondorf, Bowser, and Wario were standing behind their backs, and without much thought, they pushed Mario, Luigi, Peach, and someone else dressed in a wizard costume out of the way. Since I was using Peach to see the events, she stumbled to the floor while still keeping an eye on the villains.

They were grabbing Chris!

Mario and Luigi quickly got up and tried to attack the imbeciles with fireballs, but a portal to the Subspace opened, and then…they were gone before any of their attacks could land… I saw that they had tossed Chris's belongings to the floor, and that meant Chris had no way to open a portal for himself…

And they took Chris…

…Those…THOSE DAMNED….THOSE DAMNED BASTARDS JUST DID NOT KIDNAP MY-

"L-Lucario?"

I snapped my eyes open and looked down at Riolu. He looked scared. "Y-yes?"

"Y-you were breathing too fast…and you were showing your fangs…" Riolu muttered. "I felt I was being crushed against your chest…"

"A-ah… S-sorry…" I muttered an apology. "I just got very worked up after hearing the news…"

"W-well, don't get so worked up, then…w-whatever that means…" Riolu gulped and leaned his head into my fur. I looked guilty, but I wanted to hear what everyone else had to say. It looked like Peach had finished with her explanation. She was holding the tools Chris had with him: his control, his DS, even Stiltzkin's bell…

"They already tried kidnapping the kid in the past," Snake said. "It was the night when I cordially entered the mansion." That surely made me feel better, not to mention you talked trash to me that same night. I resisted the urge to snap his neck.

"But now," Link began, "they took him all the way to their base of operations…and we don't even know how to reach their HQ!"

"That's the biggest disadvantage we're facing," Master Hand said. "Without knowing where they are, there's almost no hope t-"

"Don't say that!" I suddenly interrupted, startling everyone. "You must know some way to enter their base and rescue Chris!"

"I-I don't know how!" he said. "Before, the place where the war happened was all the way up north from here. However, that piece of land and the Isle of the Ancients disappeared completely from the map after that!" Everyone suddenly broke into murmurs. "It's unknown if they're even in this world anymore!"

"D-dammit…" I muttered, baring my fangs. "T-there's got to be something we can do!"

"What?" Nana asked. "We have no means to find their base…"

"I've tried really hard to pinpoint their location," Master Hand said. "I've been doing this for a long time now…and nothing ever came up. I can only open portals for worlds that aren't hard for me to enter."

"We could lure them out…" Pit trailed off. His aura told me he was unsure, and it turned into embarrassment once everyone looked at him. "I mean… They only step out from the Subspace when they need to appear…"

"Okay, I think you're up to something with this idea," Marth said, "but the question is how to lure them out."

We turned to see Master Hand. "…If you want to lure somebody out, you need bait," he said. "…And I do NOT want to be the bait."

"Hmm? Oh, I didn't think about using you as bait," Pit said. "I wanted to suggest another one of us…but you do look good enough."

"Nayh," he said. "I don't want to risk myself. Tabuu really wants to capture me. If he manages to catch me, he's going to use my own powers against the universe…and that'll be it for everything."

I narrowed my eyes. "Then you better have another idea," I said. "The longer we waste time doing nothing here, the more Chris's life is going to be in peril!"

"Lucario," I heard Mewtwo say, getting my attention, "I can sense a lot of worry from your mind. You better calm down and think carefully about what to do before you snap."

"You don't know how I feel," I muttered. "You don't have a trainer yourself."

"And? That poor choice of an insult won't change the fact you need to calm down. It's hard for you to do such a thing, but it would ease us all."

I looked around. The group was staring me. Their auras were all emitting different emotions, but most of them were fear induced by me. I grunted, sighing. "I…I'll try to calm down… Sorry…" I looked away, feeling weak.

"Anyway…" Master Hand said, "…that idea of luring them out is nice…but who's going to be the bait?" he wondered. "It has to be somebody they least think to be a threat…"

I grunted mentally. I was surely not in that category. They knew how powerful I am and how close I am to Chris…

We were all taken off-guard once the alarm blared off all of a sudden. "W-what's happening?" Yoshi asked.

The virtual screen turned on in front of us. It displayed a very unsettling scene outside… There was an invisible force field that acted as our security for the mansion in case the army wanted to attack. Master Hand had fixed the system, but there was some kind of sphere trying to break through the barrier…and then the barrier shattered, and the sphere slammed right into the mansion's front wall. The shaking was immediate and the mansion shook with a small tremble. "What in the hell?!" Master Hand complained. "T-that sphere is…"

"Quick, we must go out!" Meta Knight shouted.

Front Entrance

We all rushed out from the double doors, looking up at the unknown sphere that was hanging onto the wall. Many, many gasps came from everybody once we identified the sphere…

It was a Subspace Bomb…

And the countdown was at three seconds.

My eyes widened in complete and utter shock as many of us screamed. Without thinking, I told Riolu, "SAVE YOURSELF AND DON'T COME NEAR HERE!" and then I immediately tossed him over the sea of trees to the east. I had put quite a lot of strength in that swing as I heard Riolu screaming at the sudden action, disappearing into the leaves over the trees nearly two miles away.

I looked back up as the wind turned violent all over the place, and th-

End of Lucario's POV…

The Present – Chris's POV

-Smash World-

Battleship Halberd Bridge

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy – The Ends of Battle

"N-no, wait!" I shouted loudly.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" the Ancient Minister demanded to Meta Ridley, firing a charged laser that pushed the space dinosaur back. Due to the strong wind, Meta Ridley only budged back a bit, screeching and taking off into the air. "Now you run away? Get back here!"

Meta Ridley circled above the bridge, but I was very concerned about the minister. "P-please, calm down, you!" I shouted.

He looked at me over his shoulder. "He just destroyed one of my kin before my eyes! I can't let him go unpunished!" he shouted.

"DUCK!" Dedede yelled loudly. We both looked up and quickly tossed ourselves to the sides, avoiding an energy blast of fire sent by the metallic monster. I heard Meta Ridley screech loudly before I looked up and saw him flying faster than the Halberd, getting away to the north.

"He's planning to do something, but we need to plan a strategy, too!" G&W said.

"W-what should we do, then?" I asked.

"Easy," Dedede said, pointing at Meta Ridley. "We take the bird down and pummel it ta death!"

"Yes, that's an effective method," the minister said. "We need to weaken his wings and force him to land on the bridge. Our attacks won't reach him if he stays airborne."

"But that leaves us to damage his wings while he's flying…" I trailed off. "That means our attacks have to reach him… Oh wait, I know!" I changed to my Black Mage job. "My magic can reach him! I can strike him down with thunder magic!"

"How curious. I never knew you could…er…change powers in a blink of an eye," G&W said.

I blushed. "J-just because I can change powers, it doesn't mean I can rea-"

"He's comin' back our way!" Dedede suddenly interrupted.

I readied my magic. Luckily, Thundara was an option in my repertoire. As I focused, I saw Meta Ridley rapidly heading our way…right on top of the floor of the bridge. Gasping, I got out of my focus and lunged to the side to avoid a sweeping tail attack. The others did the same, as Meta Ridely flew high up. I quickly got back up and resumed my focus while looking at the flying dinosaur. "Lightning bolts, shock my enemies with great power! Thundara!"

A dark cloud formed on top of Meta Ridley. He accidentally flew into it right when it generated wild electric lightning bolts that jumped out with great force. Screeching loudly, Meta Ridley dove down to the bridge and crashed, dazzled by the blow. It budged a bit, and then we saw sparks jumping out from his body. He had been paralyzed. "Now!" the minister said.

As I readied another Thundara to keep Meta Ridley on the ground, the Ancient Minister, Dedede, and G&W ran to the monster's side and started throwing a wide assortment of blows. The minister brandished his claws and smacked them right onto Meta Ridley's skull. Dedede swung his hammer wildly on the right wing, and G&W took the left wing and…slammed an ignited flat flame against it, somehow burning the wing. How that even worked was beyond me, but it did work, anyway.

Wait a minute, where's Wario?

I looked behind me and saw Wario sitting all the way next to the cannon. The nerve of that guy! He was being lazy! "HEY!" I called him over as my Thundara spell was about to finish. "A little help would be appreciated!"

"I'm gonna fight once he's down for sure!" Wario yelled. "No way I'm gettin' close to that thing!"

"Grr!" I grunted and turned around to the battle. "Lightning bolts, shock my enemies with great power! Thundara!"

Several lightning bolts rained down on Meta Ridley's body, further electrocuting him. To our dismay, the sparks that his body emitted were gone, and he quickly pushed the three away from him. Quickly, Meta Ridley extended his wings and took off. "Aw, he's gone!" Dedede complained.

"We did deal quite a lot of damage together, though," the minister said. "…It feels really good to release your stress like this."

"Oh dear goodness, please don't turn violent now," I commented before a loud roar made us all look up at Meta Ridley. His claws were glowing, and he rapidly descended to us. Without warning, Meta Ridley slammed his claws down, creating a swiping energy wave that pushed us all down to the floor. He screeched at us and then took off once more. "D-dirty…bastard…" I muttered as I got up. I saw Meta Ridley flying behind the cockpit tower.

"What's he doing now?" G&W asked.

"Nothing good for us, of course," the minister said.

We saw Meta Ridley entering the cockpit itself, slamming right through the windows. "H-hey, what in the heck?!" I shouted.

"This isn't good," the minister said. "Ridley is quite an intelligent being even if he's a rabid monster. He's been taught how to operate the Halberd." Oh… I had forgotten he was the leader of a bunch of spatial murderers for something.

Dedede blinked. "Oh, now you're gonna tell us he likes reading in his free time!" he said before the ship shook a bit.

The four of us looked to the cannon. It was…aiming toward us, and it was charging a beam! Wario immediately took notice of the cannon and screamed his head off, jumping to the side. Doing the same, we quickly ran to the sides and dodged a massive beam that shot straight into the air right above the floor of the bridge. I ducked down, so I didn't see more beyond that. The shaking died down, and then I looked over to see the beam gone. Meta Ridley roared and took off from the cockpit.

"That beam is completely dangerous!" the minister said as we regrouped. "It has been heavily modified to include another function!"

"What? How many times has it been modified?" G&W asked.

"Two times; one is the inclusion of the portal opener, and the other one to turn it into a lethal weapon of mass destruction." Oh, weapon of mass destruction. That sounded s- "If we are unlucky enough to stand in front of it…there is no doubt it will vaporize us from existence, so we better be careful if he tries using it against us!"

Aw hell. "Another problem to be careful of…" I muttered.

I saw Wario running up to us. "F-fine, I'll fight!" he surrendered. "B-but you better keep me safe! I don't wanna die rich and beautiful if I can get richer outta this!" Criticizing Wario of his beauty was greatly discouraged.

"Kid, ya better wipe up another spell!" Dedede demanded. Grunting that I was ordered around by him, I concentrated another Thundara, keeping a close watch to Meta Ridley's movements.

Then I noticed he was gone from sight. "Where did he go now?" the minister asked.

Yet again, without warning, Meta Ridley showed up from the left side of the ship and delivered a heavy slash across our position. His claws and hard tail pushed all of us back, almost sliding down the ship. We all screamed and quickly got up before we could fell down to the ocean. "W-what a dirty trick!" G&W complained as we went back to the center.

"S-still, that hurt like hell!" I said, dusting my clothes off a bit. I noticed the damned monster was gone again. "Oh great, where did h-" I was pushed aside by the minister, barely dodging another swiping attack from Meta Ridley. The others managed to dodge in time, rolling away clumsily. "A-again?!"

"He went down again!" G&W said. "I think he's trying to throw us overboard!"

"First it's the cannon, and now it's the ocean?" Dedede complained. "We're seriously not havin' a good day!"

"We mustn't lose time!" the minister said. "Once it comes back up, we have to block his mad rush at us!"

"Block it how?" Wario asked.

"Dedede, how accurately can you swing your hammer at the right moment?"

"I'll have ya know years of constant hammer swingin' were never wasted!" Dedede boasted.

"Good. Charge a hammer attack and wait for him to come back up," the minister instructed. "Hopefully, once you let go of your hammer, Meta Ridley will fall on the floor."

Dedede grinned rather evilly and walked to the front, holding up his hammer. I realized he was using his Jet Hammer ability once the hammer turned into a mechanical weapon. After five seconds, Dedede felt the pressure of hammer overtaking him. And right on cue, Meta Ridley roared and appeared from the left side at high speeds, ready to claw us down.

He hadn't seen that Dedede was in his way. With a mighty swing, Dedede smacked Meta Ridley's head, and the spatial dinosaur was pushed back to the floor, the blow of the attack dazzling him as he grabbed his head in pain. "He's down! Attack!" G&W said. He and the rest went over and started attacking the enemy wildly.

Sickening as it was, a laughing Wario went over to his head and…farted a big explosion that made the monster shook wildly. The guy rocketed up into the air before falling flat on his rear. "Ah, I needed to do that so badly," he said, much to my disgust. It didn't help that the smell was pushed by the air all the way to me and I-

DEAR GOD WHAT DOES HE EAT.

I shook my head and concentrated on the battle. Good thing the Halberd was flying fast… "Lightning bolts, shock my enemies with great power! Thundara!"

Several lightning bolts struck Meta Ridley down as everyone else kept attacking madly. I wondered if we had pulled off a combo chain, but I quickly stopped once Meta Ridley spun in place, snatching G&W, then roaring and going afte-

GOING AFTER ME?!

I screamed before Meta Ridley grabbed me with his free claw, taking off into the sky. The grip on his claw was hurting my body, and I was being shaken wildly to further disorient me. I barely saw G&W on the other side of the monster. My vision was pretty much screwed as we were shook. I could barely make out that he was dragging us far away in front of the Halberd, flying over the ocean…

Then it hit me. He let go of us to fall into the ocean down below.

"W-we can't fall down!" G&W shouted.

"I-I know!" I shouted back. "P-perhaps I…" I shut my eyes and quickly changed to my Moogle Knight job. With the sudden transformation, my little wings on my back fluttered hard as I tried to reach out for G&W. I managed to grab his hand in time to push us back to the Halberd. Given the pressure of the wind, I couldn't exactly fly up properly, but I did slow our fall down long enough for the floor of the Halberd to fly underneath us. When safe floor was in sight, I purposely fell down clumsily, kupo... "K-kupo…"

"We…we made it…" G&W muttered. I shook my head and pushed myself up, seeing Dedede, the minister, and Wario coming our way.

"Thanks goodness you're both okay," the minister said. "That monster just can't stop using those dirty tricks."

"Where did…" I was gasping for breath. That grip he put on me was trying to crush my body, kupo… Oh great, now the Moogle verbal tic was getting into this, kupo. "Where did he go now, kupo?"

Dedede pointed up. "Well, that flyin' bird is up there chargin' somet-RUN!" he quickly shouted, and all of us were blasted back by a big fireball that created a big explosion. That blast almost made me feel like I was losing consciousness, but I held on to my little sword as we were sliding all the way to the center of the bridge, kupo. "R-really…really dirty…" I heard Dedede say, kupo.

All of us were getting damaged quite a lot, so I changed to my Scholar job to be a little bit more versatile. I felt my mind sharpening just changing to this one. "I-I must provide healing…" I muttered, standing up and brandishing my book of spells. "Heal the wounds… Cure!"

I had applied the spell to affect all of us. I surmised that the five of us only got around ten percent of our health restored, but it was enough to stand back up. I was puzzled to see that my healing spell had worked on a robot like the minister. Maybe the magic worked just fine because…well, it was magic. That conclusion made me wince, but I could not complain. "I'm starting to lose hope…" G&W muttered.

"We mustn't," the minister said. "After all we went through together we just can't be defeated at this point. It'll be extremely infuriating otherwise…" He looked around for Meta Ridley. When I turned around after hearing a roar, we saw the Space Pirate Leader's metallic tail sticking out from the cockpit. Gasping, I looked down to see the cannon aiming at us. "SPREAD OUT IMMEDIATELY!" the minister ordered.

We all screamed and quickly ran to the left side of the Halberd. A second later, the cannon shot a massive beam of destruction that disappeared into the distance over the ocean. Would those beam shots reach out for some place far away? I did not want to think that places were being destroyed, so I focused back into the fight to distract myself.

Meta Ridley pushed himself out from the cockpit and went back to flying around. He was looking for us, and then he quickly locked his eyes on the side we had run to. Roaring, Meta Ridley flew close to the floor and slammed his mechanical tail into the floor, running it along the bridge. Realizing that he tried to cut somebody in half with it, the five of us jumped straight into him…

Thinking back, that was such a very desperate move.

Without saying anything, I shut my eyes and used my book's cover to smack the monster. I did not see what the others did, but they surely attacked so suddenly like I did. When I opened my eyes, I saw my book burrowing deep into Meta Ridley's right eye, seeing King Dedede slamming his hammer down on his head, Mister Game and Watch taking out some sort of flat turtle that sprinkled damaging water on the monster's chest, the Ancient Minister using his lower base to shoot a blast of fire, and Wario using one foot to kick Meta Ridley's chin. Our combined attacks ended up pinning the monster down to the floor.

"T-that worked?" I asked in shock, getting off from the stunned monster.

"Yeah, let's pummel him down!" Wario said.

I was so not into the idea of fighting at close range, so I backed off. In this job, only a handful of basic spells were available… I needed the experience so badly. "Shock him down! Thunder!" I called out, a strong lightning bolt landing squarely on Meta Ridley's head. Since this spell was pretty easy to cast, I did not stop. The chant came off almost right away. "Shock him down! Thunder!" Another lightning bolt struck his head. "Shock him down! Thunder!" Yet another one paralyzed him into place. "Shock him down again! Thunder!" One more lightning bolt made him roar in pain. "Do not let me down now! Thunder!"

A sudden surge of magic unlocked within my subconscious…

"Lightning bolts, make their very bodies tremble with your power! Thundara!"

Instead of one small thunder, several lightning bolts rained down all over Meta Ridley's body. It roared loudly in pain as the rest kept damaging his body parts further. I had learned the spell Thundara for my Scholar job. My current level of Intelligence in this job was far greater than my Black Mage job; therefore, the magic I used here dealt almost 1.5 more damage than usual.

Sadly, the Scholar job was not as versatile as the Black Mage. That meant this job could not learn anything else beyond the –ara spells. In the magic department, this job was going to be eventually overshadowed by my Black Mage job once I learned far stronger magic…

I gasped when Meta Ridley pushed them all away, taking off to the air. Wondering how much longer we had to fight it, I used my book to use Study on the monster. It will hopefully reveal anything valuable. My mind suddenly was given the knowledge I needed regarding Meta Ridley. "…His health has been reduced to more than sixty percent… He has no weaknesses or strengths," I said. "We are almost there! It is just a little more until he falls down!"

"G-great!" King Dedede said, panting heavily. "W-was wonderin' how many smacks he needed!"

A roar made us look up. Meta Ridley was back to activating the cannon. We quickly scattered around and dodged another beam…but something was wrong. Meta Ridley was still tinkering with the machines within the cockpit, and then he took off.

We barely heard the sound of the cannon moving behind us. We gasped and ducked down just in time to avoid another beam from vaporizing us. "N-no!" the Ancient Minister shouted. "He put it in automatic! Now we need to keep an eye on the cannon while fighting him!"

"S-so?" Wario asked, getting back up. "We just gotta head over to the cockpit and deactivate it!" He quickly made a run for it, but Meta Ridley suddenly swooped down and slashed Wario across. I heard the fat man yelling as he was pushed to the wall next to the cannon. To my shock, Wario fell down unconscious.

It was no big deal, though. The Second Chance ability would pull him back to his feet.

…

…

…Anytime now…

…

…

…What was going on?

The Ancient Minister stared at me. "When we brought you into the facility, Tabuu used his power to dispel whatever benefits were attached to you whenever you entered a battle," he explained. "The only tool we could not take away from you was your Trophy Stand…"

I shook my head in disbelief and took out my Trophy Stand. I put it away and then tried to take out an item… There was nothing. All the items I had with me were gone.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized. "It's still a mystery to me how we're putting up against Meta Ridley himself…"

This factor made me feel very uneasy inside my stomach…but he was right. We were putting up just fine against Meta Ridley. There was no way we could lose now… Wait…that also meant that using an Over Limit was out of the question. I tried to call out for it as I clutched my book, but nothing came. My worries just became a lot worse.

"TAKE COVER!" King Dedede shouted as he pushed me down from getting my head sliced in half by Meta Ridley's tail. We both got up and turned to the direction of the cannon. It was recharging. A dilemma came in when I puzzled myself what to look at: the murderous Meta Ridley or the equally dangerous cannon. From the looks of it, the cannon was set to aim at us and not Meta Ridley. Just our luck…

Without a second thought, we dispersed and dodged another beam. As the beam kept firing, I heard a scream coming from the other side. Fixing my glasses, I turned around and saw Meta Ridley taking off into the air while clutching somebody on his feet… The Ancient Minister had been caught! "LET ME GO!" the Ancient Minister demanded, firing a charged laser from his eyes that struck the monster's face.

Something was awfully wrong. Meta Ridley held the minister tightly even if the first hard roared in pain. I then saw that the monster shook the Ancient Minister around. He grunted so loud that we all heard him, trying to get off from the claws.

I did not want to just watch. I flipped the pages of my book to use Thundara. Since this was a stronger spell, it required more time to cast. My mouth gapped when I saw Meta Ridley using his tail to change grips on the minister. His flexible tail's tip then brought the Ancient Minister right in front of his face. Flying at the same speed as the Halberd, my eyes widened when I saw a horrifying sight…

Meta Ridley was trying to crush the minister with his fangs. The Ancient Minister's screams for help filled me with a mix of sadness and rage. King Dedede and Mister Game and Watch watched stunned. "W-we have to help him!" Mister Game and Watch yelled.

"B-but that monster is so high up!" King Dedede pointed out.

"Then let me strike him down!" I shouted as I reached the end of my chant. "Lightning bolts, make their very bodies tremble with your power! Thundara!"

Lightning bolts struck Meta Ridley down. The force of the attack forced him to let go of the Ancient Minister. Luckily, my magic was set to never harm my allies, so the minister was unharmed…

Yet the fact I could not see his eyes' glow did not pain a good picture. He fell down to the very tip of the bridge, lifeless. The clothes he wore had been ripped apart a bit, but they still covered his body and he was not broken. Meta Ridley, though, was still flying despite my attack…and then he turned tails and flew away to the other direction. The three of us were confused once Meta Ridley turned into a small dot into the distance, vanishing from sight…

"He's…he's gone…" Mister Game and Watch muttered.

Then the sound of the cannon recharging snapped us out. However, the cannon was not aiming at me, King Dedede, nor Mister Game and Watch. Wario was next to the cannon, sitting unconscious, so he was out of trouble… Turning to the direction of the cannon, I immediately cried.

It was aiming straight at the Ancient Minister, and he was not even moving!

Final Fantasy VIII – Trust Me

King Dedede and Mister Game and Watch screamed to warn the Ancient Minister, but I knew he was not going to make it alone. I quickly broke into a sprint. Due to this job's lack of speed, I changed to my Space Mercenary job and quickly gained a boost of speed. I was not running any faster than Falco, but I used all my energy to reach out for the minister. The cannon was still charging. There was still time!

"Come back!" G&W shouted. "Y-you can't!"

"W-wake up!" I cried loudly, ignoring G&W's pleas. "Please, WAKE UP!"

The Ancient Minister was not moving. Going directly in front of the cannon was suicidal, but the path to reach him would be shorter.

"There's no way I can atone for everything I did to…to escape from this damned prison. I can only fade away, never to return…"

Please, wake up or you're going to die without even knowing!

"H-huh?! W-what are yo-"

"Stop it! Stop it… You don't have to suffer any longer!"

This doesn't have to end like this! Not after you started having hope in me!

"W-why are yo-"

"I care about others! It pains me so much to see others suffering from solitude… I went through there myself! You DO know how it feels to be all alone without having somebody looking after you most of the time every day, right? Guess what, I've been there, and it's horrible!"

I managed to reach his side and quickly grabbed his sides to push him away. The cannon… It was just about to shoot! It didn't move once I started pushing the minister away. I could still make it!

"Having to do things alone is just…wrong! I want to help you… I don't want you to feel like this anymore! You told me yourself… Anything is possible in this world. Anything! Just anything can solve your problems! So please, don't go losing your own hope like your friends!"

I had seen the magnitude of the beam several times already. The distance I was pushing him wasn't enough yet!

"…Why…why do you want to help me?"

"Because you deserve a second chance… And no matter who tells you that you're nothing but trash…I'll stand right by your side and defend you with everything I've got…"

I pushed harder. Damn it, wake up! I can't do this alone!

"…Yes…it was very nasty… I spent more than half a year with Lucario…and when he was about to take a crucial decision to leave me alone so that he could return to his world…he suddenly turned around and hugged me tightly… Then…he said that I was his true trainer…and the solitude was gone in an instant…"

As I pushed harder, I could see his eyes turning back on…

"…That sounded…so nice. Do you think I'll be able to feel like that one day?"

"W-what…" he muttered weakly, but I kept pushing.

"S-silly robot! You're not alone anymore!"

I heard the cannon shoot the beam. Closing my eyes and screaming loudly, I gave him one last push. Our eyes locked into one another…but this time, no arguments would come out of them.

"Y-yes…I'm not alone anymore… I'm…I'm not alone anymore!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

End of Chris's POV…

Narrative's POV

The beam shot at full force into the distance. The Ancient Minister barely saw a fleeting figure being struck down by the beam. As he pushed himself back up to his base, the powerful beam kept going until it disappeared. Shaking his head, the minister quickly went to join Dedede and G&W. Wario was now grumbling a few words as he regained consciousness.

"What…what happened just now?" the minister asked. "Where is Meta Ridley?"

"He…he left as soon as he dropped you down," G&W said. "We don't know why he left…"

The minister turned to Dedede. "And…and where is Chris?"

Dedede looked flatly at him until he closed his eyes and shook his head solemnly.

"…" The minister turned to G&W. "Where is Chris?"

"When you got knocked out for a moment there…" G&W began, "Chris rushed to your side as soon as we saw the cannon about to shoot at you… He…he rushed to your side and pushed you away in time to avoid the cannon…"

The minister looked at the direction where he had lied down. Looking around, Chris was nowhere to be found. "I can't see him anywhere…" He remained silent as he saw trails of ripped cloth flowing back. The hat on top of his head had disappeared. "…No…no!"

G&W lowered his head. "While you did manage to avoid the attack…Chris pushed you away but… but he…"

"No…no…no…"

"He was… He was…"

Chris has been killed off…

"NO!" the minister cried loudly. "He's…he's…he's not dead! He can't be dead!"

"Hey!" Wario called over. "We gotta stop this cannon from shooting anymore!"

Dedede shed a few tears, but he looked serious and pulled the minister to his side. The Ancient Minister remained silent in complete shock as the four went back to the cockpit. The minister looked back to the bridge as another beam shot out with great force.

Battleship Halberd – Cockpit

The cockpit had been made a mess due to Meta Ridley shattering the window. A strong wind pushed the shards of the window all the way to the back. As soon as the quartet entered the room just in time to see another beam shooting out, Dedede went to the left side and deactivated the cannon. The Ancient Minister moved to the steering wheel, yet he didn't take the wheel. He stared forward into thin air. Remembering that the Halberd had spare windows, Dedede clicked a few buttons and a new windshield appeared to cover them all from the strong gust of winds.

The Ancient Minister ignored the events around him. He vaguely recalled how Chris had risked his life to save his. When he remembered, he grunted loudly and rested his head on the wheel. He had no words to use…

"B-but…what if they shun me? And…what about that man?"

"I told you… I'm going to be by your side. If they hurt you, I'm going to have to complain till they understand. I do know how to pull some strings around to have an advantage… As for the man you saw in your visions…we'll just have to look all over the world and find him. I know he has a lot more to say… Till then, though…I'm never going to leave your side like he did…ever."

The minister started sobbing…

"…Thank you…thank you so much!"

"You told me…you told me you were never going to leave my side…" the minister muttered. Behind him, Dedede and G&W exchanged worried glances while Wario rested on the back. "And you never did…except that you risked your life to save me…"

It was so cruel for the Ancient Minister to just think about the teen that had opened up to him. When he thought he had found the one to make him happy and feel accompanied, destiny took it all away from him in a blink of an eye.

"I trusted you…and I still trust you…" the minister sobbed. "What…what am I supposed to do now?!"

"…ROB…" G&W muttered, approaching the robot from behind. He placed his hands on the minister's shoulders. "We can make it to the mansion…"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" the minister demanded, not turning to face the flat character. "He was the only one who gave me hope to continue with my life and save my friends from Tabuu! But he sacrificed his life for mine…" He looked up. "I'm wondering now if I needed to die instead of him!"

"Stop blabberin' nonsense, you!" Dedede suddenly shouted. "Ya gotta live with reality! The kid's gone…" he sniffed and quickly wiped some tears away, "but he'd be laughin' at us if he saw us like this!" He pointed to the sky. "W-we gotta make it to that there mansion and fight in his name!"

G&W turned to Dedede. "Wow… I didn't think you were the sentimental one," he commented.

Dedede's lips immediately trembled before he fell to his knees and started crying, his face nearly touching the floor.

G&W stared at the king for a while before turning back to the minister. None of them saw Wario silencing a small sob. "ROB… We have to move on," he said. "For his sake…"

Meta Ridley, the minister assumed, was only attacking them to cause havoc and nothing else. He only wanted to kill them, and knowing that they were standing a chance against him, Meta Ridley surely caught on and tried to dispose of them quickly. He also knew that they were overpowering him, so he tried to kill him off to feel satisfied with himself. Meta Ridley had failed and succeeded: failed to kill the Ancient Minister, but succeeded in obliterating one of them…

He missed Chris dearly, and the memory would continue to haunt him as long as he lived. First, the mysterious man had deserted him for reasons unknown. Now, the teen had a good reason to desert ROB, and the minister blamed himself for knowing the truth behind the only topic that wasn't a total mystery. Chris had sacrificed his life for him…

The Ancient Minister fell into depression and sadness as the Halberd continued flying north to the direction of the Smash Mansion, not knowing that more tragedies would befall to them…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Smash World-

Wario, King Dedede, Ancient Minister, Mr. Game & Watch

References:

- An exclusive new track for a game that hasn't reached America and Europe (as of this chapter's date) was used. The track "Bravely Default: Flying Fairy – The Ends of Battle" is a boss theme.

- "Trust Me" is a very, very touching track from Final Fantasy VIII. The first time it played, I tried so hard not to cry when Selphie and her team…you know, I don't want to say it.

So many horrible tragedies happened in this chapter. The character roster got severely reduced to just four that are working behind the scenes…and the kicker is that Chris has died, dropping him down from the story. The future now is very uncertain…

…

I guess I should try to encourage you to review, though I'm pretty sure the flames are going to hit me full force…

The Future (Current Present Time)

?

The sound of people chatting with one another echoed through his ears. As if he had fallen in the middle of a busy street, Chris thought that hell was filled with images of people around a random city. He remained unconscious without moving, but the loud noise started to annoy him. His body felt numb, so he let everything go its way.

"…Dear god, shut up and be quiet…" Chris muttered. "…"

He remained silent for ten seconds before he realized he was actually hearing people and feeling the cold floor with his body. Opening his eyes, Chris saw a multitude of feet walking past him. He yelped at the thought of being stepped on and quickly pushed himself up, seeing the public passing by.

"A-ah! S-sorry for sleeping in the middle of the…" Chris stopped short once a random passerby passed through his body. He froze in horror. "D-did…did that person just walk…t-through me?" He looked around.

Chris scanned his surroundings during his freak out. He was standing on top of a crosswalk full of people crossing it from either side. As more and more random passerby walked through him, he caught sight of a multitude of buildings and skyscrapers reaching out for the sky. Up north, a giant building with an electric sign displaying the number "104" on the very top was situated in the middle of two streets. He looked to the sides to see that west and east lead to other places of the city he found himself in.

"W-where…where am I?" he asked, shaking in fear. "K-King Dedede?" He looked up. The Halberd was nowhere to be seen. "M-Mr. Game & Watch?" He looked behind him, and there was nobody. "W-Wario!" He looked forward, not finding Wario anywhere. "R-ROB!" he yelled loudly as the people kept passing through him, and soon he found out that none of them knew he was standing there, grabbing his head in fright. He shook his head and quickly ran to the west without thinking, tears swelling in his eyes. "What is this place…? Why did I end up here…? Why is it that nobody can see me?! WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!"

He soon found himself in a public square where people were gathered around a golden statue of a dog. To the left side of the statue, there was a burger joint. Chris, however, saw it futile to enter the establishment and ask for help judging the happy people sitting around the statue weren't paying him any attention. "H-hey, can you see me? Hey!" he called the people over, yet none of them heard him at all. "N-no… W-what kind of hellish place is this?!" He backed off to a wall next to an alley, sliding down and falling on his rear.

Chris started whimpering, and soon he clutched his arms around his knees and sunk his face behind them. This was most likely hell, he thought. A city populated with many citizens going on with their every day events without worries of suffering his fate. He started thinking that the crowd of people was ignoring him to make him feel unwanted…and his greatest fear was to be all alone in a place he didn't know about.

Depression soon set in…

On the street behind the building Chris was, there was a person who was running into the same issues Chris had gone through when he woke up. This particular individual reacted with the same emotions, yet he soon became enraged, running madly around to see if he could find anybody who could really see him. Feeling ignored like this was just stupid, he thought. He entered the alley that lead to the statue.

He ran down the alley until he got mixed up with the crowd once more. Oddly enough, the crowd still didn't get into an uproar just looking at his non-human face, as he was just an apparition that none could see. It started to annoy him so much that he raised his fists to his sides, yelling at the top of his lungs to the white sky over the towering skyscrapers.

"WHERE IN THE HELL AM I?!" Fox yelled loudly, his voice echoing throughout the streets in hopes of the people ignoring him to listen loud and clear. As he screamed, he pondered the heavy question that burned inside his mind. "(Is there any hope for me to come back to life OR WHAT?!) SCREW EVERYTHING!"

Kingdom Hearts – Dearly Beloved

At that moment, Chris could've sworn hearing a familiar voice right next to him. Raising his face, he sniffed a bit and looked up. His eyes widened right after. The person who was standing right next to him couldn't possibly be… "…No…no way…"

Fox panted heavily until he heard a very familiar voice to his right side. He looked over his shoulder, a glare still plastered on his face, and his eyes instantly widened. The sobbing teen that slouched down against the wall was certainly not… "…Y-you…"

The two remained staring at each other for half a minute. They both felt that they were being watched by the other. "(It…it can't be…!)" Chris thought as he cleared his tears with his arm, standing back up. He and Fox stared at each other at eye level, looking up and down to see if the person before each one of them was real. The person in front of each one of them could tell at least somebody knew they were there.

Shyly and curiously, Chris touched Fox's right shoulder…and his hand didn't go through as he rubbed it a bit. He moved his hand up, brushing against Fox's chin. The white fur of his muzzle tickled him a bit, and Fox, feeling embarrassed, slapped Chris's hand away, to which then he himself realized that his own hand didn't go through Chris's. They both gasped at the same time and stepped back cautiously.

"…Is…is that you, Chris?" Fox asked.

"Y-yes…yes, it's me…" Chris said.

"I…I can't…I just can't believe you're…." Fox grunted, narrowing his eyes. "Okay, you tell me something the real Chris would know before I jump to conclusions! This better not be an illusion!"

"H-huh? Uh…" Chris looked away before looking back to the vulpine. "There was this girl named Peppita who held a crush on you, but the two of you came to terms with each other and became friends instead." Fox gasped. "…I-I want to make sure, too! T-tell me! What did you do when I told you I was scared of your face?!"

"Uh… I smiled right back at you….and then you smiled right after…"

"…"

"…"

The moment Fox dropped his serious look for a small smile that hinted a warm welcome made Chris feel right at home, smiling right back to him as if recalling that same event a long time ago. Crying loudly in a positive manner, the teen lunged himself to Fox with open arms, only for the vulpine to catch him and lift him up using his overall superior strength with a small spin on his spot.

"I-it really is you! I thought I wouldn't be able to see you again!" Chris cried happily.

"But here we are, reunited once more and ready to find our way back home together!" Fox said.

The two laughed merrily together till both couldn't laugh anymore, even if the crowd ignored that there was a very relieved teenager who finally reunited with the big brother figure he thought was gone forever from his life… And thus, the dreadful feeling of solitude was gone forever.

Chris rejoined your team!

Fox rejoined your team!

END OF DISC 2

NEXT TIME… A NEW START…

Next Chapter:

"The World Ends With Them"

"The hell? We just reunited and the world is ending for us already?!" Fox asked bewildered.

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file? (Warning: Doing so will force you to follow this side of the story. Are you sure you wish to continue with this?)

Yes

-Shibuya-

Chris, Fox

…Er, sorry, bucko! Game's really not over yet. Whoopsie.

Enjoy the start of disc 3 next chapter, beginning with the special arc: The World Ends With You.
*Chapter 200*: START OF DISC 3: TWEWT

Let the start of the disc 3 begin in this New Year…

From YiazmatXII: 1. Will Duon (The Blue/Pink Subspace Machine thing) make an appearance later?
2. What happened to Mr Tonberry? Will it be seen again or is it gone? I don't really remember.
3. How many Discs are there? 4?
4. Chris and Fox! Does this mean they will be reunited with Ness/Ike/Pichu? If not, will we ever see them again?
5. ...wait Fox? How did he get here?
6. Is the mysterious creater of the ROBS (Mr D) a real character (Is actually real/someone created the idea of D.. before) or an original character (One you made up)?

From me: 1. Ha! Somebody did notice Duon didn't appear during the blockade portion. That machine is going to appear very soon. Duon wasn't left out at all…

2. Er, oops, I forgot about it…but then again, now that I was reminded of it, I'm going to mention it very soon.

3. Four discs are there. I feel the story needs to continue.

4. Who knows? You need to find out.

5. Yet again, I don't want to say the answer for that.

6. Chris shall forever be the only OC this story will have. Chances are people figured out who his creator was. It should be pretty obvious by now about his true identity if you use some logic about ROB.

7. Thanks for the questions and the review. :)

From GuyroMaster: Shibuya is the name of the place Chris and Fox are currently? What game is Shibuya from? Will Chris and Fox come across the other 'dead' smashers in the next chapter?

From me: All of your questions shall be answered here, as well as others who have already asked similar questions. Do enjoy the ride. :)

From RedLink030: ...What would happen if Chris collected a 1-up?

From me: He would get a life, I guess. :P

From jj: Question: you will explain world end with you for those who hadnt played the game?

complaint: It had occur to you that maybe you give fox just a little bit too much screen time i mean you try to balence it out but Fox is just as bad as lucario when it comes to smasher focus

From me: Of course I will explain the game arc. I always do that.

I have to admit that the focus on some particular characters is more centered on them than others, but I do struggle to give everyone an equal amount. So yes, I admit that Fox is the next in line who gets too much attention…yet he didn't get too much in all the chapters he was missing. To remedy that, he's kind of replacing Lucario's role in spotlight terms, but I will try to lessen his impact.

Also, why complain? Lucario and Fox hardly get any attention in this section over the humans. Thanks for the review. :)

From N the puppet: Will they all be in different 'already dead' worlds?

From me: Maybe, maybe not, but it'll be a real drag to have "already dead" worlds as it is… Thanks for reviewing, dude. :D

Welcome, everybody, to the third leg of the story! To celebrate the occasion, we shall start things with a brand new arc: The World Ends With You.

In fact, I'm going to let you into a small secret… The entire reason why I decided to kill some of the Smashers was solely because I wanted to make a proper excuse to have the TWEWY arc even happen. I have to say that people instantly pulled knifes and pointed them at me when the story canned four main characters, but to reward you for your trust in the fic, I shall give you what you want to see…not that I'll spoil everything right here.

And now for the serious stuff.

The TWEWY arc is going to be the longest arc the story has ever had before. Yes, I'm not lying. A long struggle will unleash (NOT SONIC STYLE) that will force me to include the entire story of TWEWY, seeing that interrupting it at a certain point would be bad. However, not everything about TWEWY will get shown. I'm going to remove certain scenes of the game that I find completely useless for you to read. Instead, you'll see the most important stuff happen. We're also deviating from certain key points that DO happen in the actual game. Chris and Fox are not the only deviations. For the people who haven't played TWEWY…you've been warned. Spoilerific stuff will appear.

I want to say more things. A few days ago, this story has reached over 300,000 hits. Also, congrats to FF and STH for being the 2000th reviewer. Thank you so much, everyone! Keep enjoying this story, and help me to become a better writer!

Aaaaaaaaaand that's all I have to say. With all those points in mind, I encourage all Fox enthusiasts to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Exchanging like 30 characters to have 1 appear again is completely fair!

…

Wait.

You see a file filled with papers on your desk. Curious, you pick up the file, only for you to slip two pictures and a document by accident over your workspace.

The two pictures had a character each. One had a black-haired teen smiling shyly, and the other had a humanoid fox grinning and winking sideways. You wonder where the rest of the pictures holding the other characters are since you do remember having them in the folder. Shrugging, you pick up the document, wanting to know what would happen to the two characters in the story now that were reunited with each other…

Chapter 200: START OF DISC 3: The World Ends With Them

- The World Ends With You –

-Shibuya-

Statue of Hachiko

"A symbol of Shibuya located right by the station. Japanese know it as a popular meet-up spot."

Shiki's Day 1 – Reapers' Game

The World Ends With You – Déjà Vu

The busy crowd of people continued walking around the statue area, not even minding that there was an intimidating person wearing a humanoid fox outfit talking to a teenager who just so happened to be wearing the same style of clothes minus the outfit. Both Fox and Chris were sitting down on a bench after having laughed their heads off from the moment they had reunited.

Fox put his hands behind his head, grinning at Chris. "So," he began, "glad I got to see somebody who can tell I'm right here."

"M-me too," Chris said, wiping a few tears away. "I really, really missed you, Fox…"

The vulpine chuckled. "I imagined you did," he said. "I don't get to act this happy…but since we're in this mess, I needed the relief." He looked blank as he examined the area. "Really, though… I was getting sick of being ignored by all these persons…"

Chris looked to his direction. The people were still ignoring the two. "…I wonder where we are…" he muttered. "…But that aside…I'm so, but so happy."

Fox raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Huh, I didn't think you'd react like that so happy back there…"

The teen looked worried about saying it to Fox, but Chris felt it was the right time to let it all out. "That's because…" Chris struggled to say the words. "…That's because when you…when you died…months later, I started to miss you a great deal… A few days ago, I even realized that…" he looked away, "I realized that…that you're very special to me."

Fox widened his eyes. "I'm very special to you? How?"

The teen smiled a bit, turning back to Fox. "…Well… My mind just couldn't stop thinking about you," he said. "I remembered all the times when we hung out together. Back then, it wasn't very special until I started thinking more about you… It hit me, then, that…that I subconsciously saw you as a big brother to me."

The vulpine blinked in shock, looking away in embarrassment. "A big brother…" he muttered.

"Y-yes…" Chris nodded shyly. He couldn't stop blushing. "…This is so embarrassing… When I saw you here with my own eyes…it made me so but so happy," he muttered the last words. "Just seeing you made me jump with joy, you know…"

"So want me to be your fraternal big brother."

Chris gasped. "I-I, uh…"

Fox smiled and turned to Chris. "Y'know, this is all pretty sudden," he said. Chris felt dismayed. "…But that doesn't mean I can try to assume that role soon."

"W-wait… You really want to be a fraternal big brother to me?"

Fox sighed as he looked away. "Look, Chris… Right now, the two of us are dead…and we're here in this weird place," he said. "The situation looks pretty bad. I'm still shaken just knowing we're partially alive. I can't deal with other stuff so…bear it with me."

Chris looked down depressed. He really didn't care much that he was dead as long as somebody as important to him like Fox was around to keep him company. Without looking, Chris felt Fox pulling him to his side under his right arm. "H-huh?"

"Chill out, Chris," Fox said, grinning down at him. "I never said I was gonna leave you. We're gonna be supporting each other and get out of this weird situation together somehow." He held out his left hand. "How 'bout it?"

The teen stared at Fox's hand. Smiling, Chris took Fox's hand and looked up at him. "You got yourself a deal," Chris said as the two chuckled.

Then their eyes went wide.

As if some kind of spiritual connection had been born out of shaking each other's hands, the two felt a bit of vertigo as the background filled with flashy lights. For a brief moment, Chris was looking down at himself, and Fox was looking up to himself. Without warning, the two shook their heads and looked at each other once more, feeling that they were right back in their bodies.

"…What the HELL was that about?" Fox asked.

"How should I know that?" Chris asked, grimacing. "I…I was looking down at my face!"

"And I was looking up to mine!" Fox said. "In fact, I was…right down there where you were."

"And I was right up there where you're sitting…"

"…"

"…"

"Eww," they both said. Chris pushed himself from Fox. Exchanging grimaces, Fox smiled a bit and then Chris started laughing. "You feel anything different?" Fox asked.

Chris shook his head. "No, I don't… I wonder what that was about," he wondered. "Are we…sick?"

Fox looked dull. "Feeling pretty alive here despite being dead," he said dully. "Also, I haven't grown a third arm on my back yet, so I'm safe. You?"

"Feeling okay…" Chris said. "…This place is absolutely creepy."

"No kidding," Fox said, turning back to the crowd of people. "With all these people ignoring us, especially me for being you-know-what…we're stranded in some other world."

The two eventually forgot about the weird sensation they felt after shaking hands. They were distracted looking around the area. "I guess we need to start looking for some clues to get out of here…" Chris sighed. "Then again, we're dead."

Fox grunted. "Don't remind me, please," he said. "We shouldn't worry about getting out of here. We should worry about reviving and THEN getting out of here."

The two felt completely stumped as to what to do. It was very nice that they had each other for support, yet the overwhelming facts of their situation were overshadowing their bountiful reunion.

"…Soooooo…" Fox trailed off, looking at Chris. "Know any places where they can bring back the dead?"

Chris turned to him. "No, I don't know this place at all," he said dully. The two looked away from each other until Chris looked at Fox. "Weren't you running around the city already?"

Fox looked at him. "Yeah, but I was so sick with anger that I didn't pay much attention to the stores… At least I know this city has stores," he said. The two looked away once more. Fox eventually sighed and burrowed his hands into his pockets.

He felt something touch his right hand.

The vulpine so casually picked the item inside his pocket and took it out. He stared down at an item he swore was never there. "What is this?" Fox asked, to which Chris turned to him. "I didn't have this…pin before."

Chris took a look at the pin Fox took out. It was a small black pin that held the image of a stylish white skull mark. "I didn't know you were into pins," Chris said.

"Uh, I'm not, really," Fox said. "Screw it. I'm tossing this away."

The vulpine pulled back his hand and tossed the pin away. Sighing, Fox leaned back…and then he saw the pin was on his palm. He gasped and tried tossing it away, but Chris never saw the item leaving the vulpine's hand. Fox grunted and picked the pin with his other hand. He swung his hand, but he felt the pin was stuck to it. "Maybe it's getting caught on your gloves?" Chris asked.

"I'm not even putting the needle on!" Fox complained as he continued swinging his arm, but the pin never left his side. Giving up, he groaned and leaned back to the bench, staring at the pin stuck on his palm. "Damn this little pin! It won't leave me alone!"

Chris grimaced. "How can a pin not leave you?" he asked. "Are you sure it's not stuck?"

Fox opened his palm to Chris. "Here, pick it up for me and trash it," he said. The teen reached out for the pin, but then some kind of invisible force pushed his hand back. "W-what the…"

"Ah!" Chris rubbed his hand in pain. "I-I don't want to touch that thing! It just hurt me!"

Bewildered that a little pin was causing them so much trouble, Fox left it alone for the time being. He put the pin back into his pocket and pulled back his empty hand. "Well…" Fox shook his head, realizing the pin was gone. Immediately, he pulled it back out. "But…" He was able to slip the pin back into his pocket without much trouble. He then figured out that the pin was bent on staying with him one way or another. "Crap…"

"It doesn't want to leave your side…" Chris trailed off. "How odd…"

"Great, another odd thing to add to our list of odd events," Fox said. "First oddity: we're dead in some city where everybody can pass right through us. Second oddity: we went spiritual during a brief, harmless hand-shaking. Third oddity: some skull pin wants to screw me over."

"Do you have to put it that way?"

"Not helping making me feel better, Chris…"

"Sorry…"

"It's okay." Fox took out the pin and stared dully at it. "It's not like this pin is going to solve our problems." He put a grip on the pin and focused on the people walking by. "We'll just be staring at all these people walking by and…and…"

There was an odd sensation that made Fox stand still into place. The background all around him turned blue, and he suddenly heard many voices calling out at him at once. He grunted and winced, feeling that his mind was spreading out, if that was even possible. As he stared forward, he saw clouds hovering on top of a few citizens. Without thinking about it, Fox felt that he could read people's thoughts…

Looking to a girl who was in some high school, Fox heard from her, "(Ooh, that person who just walked by smells great. Wonder what scent… I should ask so I can pick some up, but talk about awkward! 'Excuse me, I was just smelling you…')"

"…What?" Fox asked in disbelief, looking away from the weird girl. He fixated his look on an older girl who was probably in her mid twenties. His mind suddenly pried into hers.

"(Ohh, my throat!)" she complained mentally. "(It's all that karaoke. Guess I overdid it with a week straight of eight-hour solo sessions…)"

"Uh…okay?" Fox responded confused. He found himself staring at a very blond woman…and then again, he heard her thoughts just fine.

"(Today, I'm gonna make 100 people happy. What goes around, comes around!)" she thought with glee.

"How the heck is she going to make 100 people happy?" Fox found himself asking until he snapped out, releasing the tight grip from the pin.

The blue background disappeared from his vision. He blinked and looked around, confused as to what he had done. "Fox?" Chris called out to him. "What is wrong with you? I heard you saying something about a girl making 100 people happy… What was that about?"

"Chris?" Fox said confused. "You mean… You didn't hear their thoughts?"

"Hear their thoughts…?" Chris looked even more confused. "What do you mean?"

"I…I guess you didn't hear anything…" Fox looked worried before staring at the pin. Wondering if the pin had anything to do with the sudden mind reading power, Fox looked at the crowd and, without looking, put a tight grip on the pin.

The blue background stretched out from where he was sitting. He gasped once the clouds of thoughts appeared on top of a selected few. He looked at a young, tall man wearing a black trench coat over his shoulders. "(Ooh, those glasses, that lab coat… HAWT. I can't go a single day without dropping into Nishimura Drugs just to gaze at her.)"

"You don't say…" Fox muttered, turning to another person nearby the man. A girl wearing some black lolita clothes caught his eyes, and then he was able to read her mind clearly.

"(Ohh, why does my place have to have roaches? They're so creepy!)" she cringed mentally. "(Can't someone get rid of them for me? Wonder if Dad'll do me this one favor…)"

"Okay…" Fox then decided to turn to Chris… There wasn't a cloud of thought hovering above him. The vulpine let go of the grip, and the blue background disappeared.

"There you go again, talking to yourself…" Chris said.

Fox, however, grinned at Chris and showed him the pin. "Guess what, Chris. This pin here? It lets me read people's minds." He was sure the connection was there.

"What?" Chris asked. "Oh, you're kidding me! That's not funny!"

"What? I swear I read a couple minds when I clutched this pin into my hand!" Fox defended. He recalled that Chris had been pushed away by the pin somehow, so Fox grabbed Chris's hand with his free hand. "U-um, maybe you'll be able to see for yourself if we hold each other's hands while I do it…"

"I feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden," Chris commented as Fox clutched the pin in a grip. "Really, this is getting a bit too out o-" and Chris saw through his own eyes how the blue background appeared all over the area, "o-o-of hand?!"

Fox chuckled. "See now? I wasn't kidding, right?" he asked while Chris looked shocked. The vulpine pointed at the clouds of thoughts on the people's heads. "Do you see those clouds?"

"Y-yes," Chris said, sounding scared.

"Focus on one and try reading it."

"U-uh…" Chris tried to do whatever Fox wanted him to do, but he found himself unable to go beyond. "I…I can't read anything."

"You need to look at the clouds."

"I'm doing that, but nothing happens."

"Wait, really? Hmm, maybe…" Fox focused his eyes on another person. There was another high school girl to the left. His mind immediately read her train of thoughts.

"(Seeing Hachiko reminded me-I forgot to feed the dog!)" she thought in despair.

"A-ah!" Chris yelped. Fox let go of the pin, turning the background normal again. "I-I read her mind!"

"You did now?" Fox asked.

"Y-yes, she was thinking about feeding her dog," Chris said, startled by the supernatural feeling. "But I really couldn't read her mind until you looked at her…"

Fox stared down at the skull pin. "Perhaps you can only read minds that I want to read myself…" He grinned to Chris. "Talk about rad. I have the power of mind-reading."

Chris smiled a bit. "It kind of suits you," he said. "Oh! Maybe we can find something out of your mind-reading power!"

"You're suggesting we go around the city reading everyone's minds?" Fox asked, and the two fell silent.

"…Mewtwo always made it look fun and tempting," Chris said.

Fox chuckled. "Let's do this!" he said as Chris grabbed his hand. Clutching the pin, the two entered the blue background as more people entered the area. The two immediately caught sight of a young, beautiful woman walking by. Although Chris didn't really want to pry into a woman's mind, he was taken into it by Fox. "Now let's see what she has in mind…"

The woman thought, "(Hopefully nobody will find out that I'm really a man.)"

The vulpine released his grip, and the blue background immediately disappeared as soon as he did so. Exchanging bewildered looks, a flustered Chris told Fox, "F-Fox, I suddenly lost all interest in mind-reading."

Fox coughed, blushing under his fur. "M-me too." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back. For their dismay, the she-male sat down across from where they were. "W-we gotta stay clear from this place and from her…I mean him…I-I mean her…I-I mean… Gah!"

"I get what you mean. There's no need to think about it!" Chris said. He saw a girl around his age running into the scene, looking around for something. He ignored her. "But where should we start looking?"

For their surprise, the girl looked at them in shock. "Y-you!" she said, running to Chris. "Quick! Form a pact with me!"

Chris thought that she wasn't looking at him. "Oh no, this is too good to be true now," he said as the girl grabbed his hand in a hurry. "There's no way she just…grabbed my hand…"

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, glaring at Chris. "We need to form a pact before the Noise get to us!"

"Hey!" Fox walked over to them, looking serious at the girl. The girl, though, yelped at the sight of the humanoid fox. "You leave him alone! He's with me."

"Huh?!" the girl stepped back. She stared at Fox from feet to head. "N-no way, you're with this weirdo wearing a fox costume? You made a pact with him?"

Fox took that as an insult. "Pardon me? I'm not wearing a costume," he said.

"That doesn't matter!" she said, quickly getting worked up. "Ugh, this is a drag. Quick, have you seen someone else I can form a pact with?"

Chris looked confused. "C-calm down, please," he said. "You keep saying something about a pact…"

The girl looked around and sighed. "Just my luck. The mission hasn't been given out yet… Maybe I still have time to make it," she said, rubbing her chin. "Maybe I need to calm down and wait for a Player to come out…"

Fox and Chris exchanged glances. As the slender girl pondered on what to do, they examined her. The girl had long red hair that reached the back of her shoulders under a big pale brown hat that had white stripes on the back. Judging her stylish set of clothes, the two inferred that she was probably a fashion girl. She wore a small red short-sleeved shirt under a short yellow hoodie where a small necklace with a small cross hung around her neck. She wore a (dangerously) short green skirt with a bag strapped around her waist below her exposed midriff. Her feet wore high-heeled brown boots that nearly reached her ankles. On both wrists, she wore yellow wristbands. A small ring was on her left pinky finger.

It was around that time they noticed that the girl was…very, very thin. In fact, the rest of the people had very thin bodies. Looking at each other, Chris found out that his look had changed to resemble the people. Fox had also looked considerably thinner, but his body showed thicker body parts, probably implying that he had more muscle mass unlike the two teenagers.

"Excuse me…" Chris said to the girl. She turned to him. "I…I noticed you could see us…"

Fox widened his eyes. "Hey, he's right," he said, eyeing the girl. "How come you can see us?"

"Huh?" she looked confused. "You two don't know, then? All of us are dead."

"Ugh…" both Chris and Fox muttered. The fact she knew that much implied she knew more than they did.

The girl looked apprehensive, interlacing her hands over her waist. "I think I owe you two an apology… You know, rushing in and demanding weird stuff that you don't know."

"I guess is okay," Fox said, grinning at her. "You're just as shocked as we are."

The girl couldn't shake the fact that this man wearing a fox costume had done an amazing job at being very realistic. The muzzle moved as he spoke, and the tail behind his back wagged very slightly to the sides at very realistic angles. She also dug the overall cadet style the two strangers were going for, but the fox looked far better in it. She shook her head and snapped back to reality. "Y-yeah, you're right, fox person," she said, forcing a smile. "By the way, nice style, you two! You both look cool in those clothes. I'm really digging them."

"Uh… Thanks?" Fox said.

"…Oh! My bad," she said embarrassed, flailing her hands a bit. "I think we need to start properly from the beginning…" She cleared her throat and smiled. "Hi, you two. My name is Shiki Misaki."

Shiki Misaki is a young 15-year old teen who aspires to be a fashion seamstress. She has very extensive knowledge of what's in and what's not, so asking her about the current trends of fashion is greatly encouraged. Always upbeat, Shiki likes making new friends in hopes of showing them her ideas. Curiously enough, many at her school admire the clothes she has sewn up that will no doubt give her a professional career at a young age soon as long as she has a trusting fashion designer by her side. Her most prized valuable is her homemade stuffed black cat called Mr. Mew that she never leaves behind.

"So sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier," Shiki said. "It was completely rude of me…"

Fox chuckled. "It's okay, Shiki," he said. "I'm Fox. Fox McCloud."

"…Really?" she asked. "Your first name is simply Fox? Aren't you taking this costume idea too far? Are you one of those avid otaku cosplayers?"

Fox, insulted, opened his mouth wide.

"…" Shiki blinked. Fox then tried pulling off his "mask" in front of her, but such a thing never came off. "…Ah!" she yelped, backing away as she flailed her hands. "You're not kidding! You're really a humanoid fox?! Oh…em…gee!"

"Calm down!" Fox said. "I was born this way. I'm not some sort of monster!"

Shiki slowly regained her composure. "I… How… Were you affected by some sort of spell when you died or what?" she asked.

"No!"

"B-but… How is this possible?!" she asked in shock. "Shibuya doesn't have people like you! Are you an…alien?"

"NO!" Fox yelled at her, making her shake in fear. "I-I'm sorry! No! I'm not an alien or anything! I just ended up here with him!" He pointed at Chris.

"O…okay…" Shiki calmed down a bit. "I'm…I'm going to go along with it and accept who you are… I need to get used to seeing humanoid foxes…"

Fox sighed. "Fine, have it your way," he said.

Chris looked back and forth until he decided to talk. "H-hmm, hi there," he said. "My name's Chris… Chris Garcia."

The vulpine raised an eyebrow and looked at Chris. "What kind of last name is Garcia?"

"You didn't know?" Chris asked. "That's my last name… It's a Mexican last name I inherited from my father's side. For that matter, my second, maternal last name is Bennett."

"Chris Garcia Bennett…" Fox grinned. "Never knew you were Mexican, Chris."

Chris chuckled embarrassed. "W-well, I do have Hispanic blood running through me… Really, though? I never told any of you that?"

"Never said a word, not even to Master Hand."

Shiki looked confused. "Uh… Nice meeting you, Chris?" she said.

"O-oh, sorry, Shiki!" Chris apologized. "I just found out I never told Fox my two last names."

"Yeah, I noticed," she chuckled. "So anyway, you two don't know abou-"

"UGH!" the three of them felt pain coming from their left hands. Startled by the sudden pain, the three of them looked at their palms…to find some sort of countdown with numbers plastered on their palms. "What in the hell?!" Chris yelped.

Fox gasped and tried to peel off the numbers from his palm, but his fingers passed right through the countdown. Taking a good look, the countdown started at sixty minutes. "Why is there a countdown on our palms?!" he asked.

"Not good!" Shiki said, turning cautious as she took out a pink phone from her bag. "The mission's started!"

The two Smashers looked at her. "What mission?" Chris asked.

"Does one of you have a phone?" They shook their heads. "People usually have phones with them around here… Uh, that doesn't matter. Here, let me show you…" She showed the duo the message she had received in her phone. Reading the message, it said…

Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and Face erasure. -The Reapers.

"The Reapers?" Fox and Chris wondered.

Shiki closed her phone. "Wow, you guys really don't know anything…" She looked serious. "The two of you already made a pact with each other if I recall correctly… Listen, I need to find myself a partner before Noise attack me. Mind if I tag along with you?" She smiled. "I'm in dire need of two knights in shining armor to protect me…"

Chris blushed. "W-wait, you're talking about me, too? S-sorry, Fox is the only knight in shining armor you need."

Fox glared at Chris. "What does that mean? Oh, now you're pinning the work on me." He pulled Chris to his side. "While you wear the Star Fox uniform, I'm your boss. Whatever I said goes, period."

Chris just noticed he was using his Space Mercenary job. "Aw, chucks…"

"I'm gonna accept that as a yes for now, if you don't mind," Shiki said deadpan. "Geez, do you two get out much?"

Shiki joined your team!

Fox turned to her. "Out of curiosity, what did you mean when you said Noise?" he asked.

"There's no time to explain!" she suddenly said. "Look, what you need to know now is that the countdown on our palms is a warning! Once it reaches zero…the three of us will erased!"

The two stared at her.

"…That means we're going to disappear on the spot and truly die!"

The World Ends With You – Despair

"WHAT?!" the two finally said.

"Good, you understood that," Shiki said, her face turning a bit dark. "That message we just read told us to go to Ten-Four northeast of here. If we reach that place, the countdown will disappear and we're going to be safe… Only problem is, you two can enter Ten-Four while I can't. I need to find a partner and make a pact before the Noise get me!"

Chris shivered. "W-what are the Noise?"

"The monsters that go after Players like us," Shiki explained. "When partners are alone, the Noise go out from their hiding places and hunt people like me. We can get away from them, but we need partners to stand a chance against them…" She grunted and turned around. "Please, you guys, you gotta keep me safe until I find myself a partner! There's still plenty of time before the countdown hits zero, and Ten-Four is pretty close to here."

While Chris looked unsure about what to do, Fox assumed the leader position and nodded. "You're an important source of info. The two of us are completely lost," he said. "We're gonna keep you safe, Shiki."

She turned around and smiled. "Thank you so much!" she thanked him. Turning around, the three saw an orange-haired teen running into the scene. He was huffing for air.

"Should be…safe…here…" he huffed.

"Great, he seems to be alone!" Shiki said before running to the teen. Distraught, the duo followed her. When they looked to the left, they saw frogs appearing out of nowhere. "Noise!"

Fox and Chris looked at the frogs. "Frogs?" Chris wondered. "Noise are frogs?"

The vulpine narrowed his eyes. "Something's funny with those frogs…"

The frogs the trio saw were unnatural. The upper portion of their bodies looked normal…but the lower portion is what made Fox and Chris shudder. The legs of the frogs were creepy, thin red lines that loosely resembled the outlines of legs. It wasn't crazy to think that the outlines looked demonic.

They looked to the huffing teen grunting at the frogs. "Rrgh... Freakin' frogs! Just leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you!" he complained to them.

Screams filled the air as the trio looked to the left. To add further confusion to the otherworldly duo, they saw people being consumed by red, demonic-looking symbols that engulfed them whole and disappeared from existence. "What… What is going on?!" Fox asked.

The teen they saw caught sight of the event. He grabbed his head. "They vanished! Why are people disappearing!? What's happening...? Why am I even here? What the hell!" he complained. To his right, three frogs appeared and got closer to him. The teen grunted and backed away. "They're gonna get me..." he muttered. Fright was taking over his body.

Shiki then approached him from behind along with her two guards. "Found one!" she said.

The teen turned around. "Huh? Who are you?" he asked, clearly confused at the situation.

"You! Forge a pact with me!" Shiki said. Fox and Chris felt this was a repeat of her establishing character moment.

"Uhh..." The teen looked at the frogs. "I've kinda got my hands full..."

Shiki grunted in frustration. "Listen! If we forge a pact, we can beat the Noise!" she said.

"Who cares about a little noise?" he asked.

"You wanna be erased? Hurry up! There's no time! Make a pact with me! Please!" Shiki pleaded. "I can't just have these two protecting me all the time!"

The teen looked at Fox and Chris. Feeling quite unneeded for another introduction, the two looked away from him. The orange-haired teen shook his head and looked at Shiki. "A-all right! I accept."

Fox and Chris saw Shiki grabbing the teen's hand. Without telling what was going on, the two never found out that both Shiki and the teen shared the same spiritual link that they both had gone through earlier in the day. After a few seconds, the teen gasped and looked around. "What's with the lights show?" he asked.

Shiki ignored his question and tossed him a pin. Remembering the other two, she tossed them the same kind of pin. "Here, you three!"

Chris panicked and nearly let the pin fall, but Fox caught it with a swipe of his hand. The three of them looked down at the pins… They had the image of a red flame. "Another pin? Seriously?" Fox asked. "Why is everyone into these?"

As the confused teen looked at the pin, Shiki said, "I'll explain later! Right now we have to stop the Noise!

"Uhh...OK?" the teen said.

Shiki assumed a position. "Get ready!"

The four stared at the frogs lunging at them. Suddenly, the feeling of being ripped apart in space illuminated the four's vision…

The World Ends With You – Long Dream

The skies above the statue of Hachiko were undisturbed by the sudden separation of space taking place in front of the statue. Finding himself with crossed arms, Fox looked around. Behind him, the teen was disturbed that everyone had disappeared from sight. The vulpine then noticed Shiki and Chris were gone. "C-Chris? Shiki?" he called out.

Almost immediately, Fox could sense Chris's presence close. At the same time, though, Chris was nowhere. "F-Fox?!" Chris called out. "I can see where you are, but you're not here with me! Shiki's here, though…"

Freakishly enough, Fox turned to the burger joint entrance where he felt Chris was there. He wasn't there, but it felt like he could see through Chris's eyes. Quickly connecting two and two together, Fox theorized that the four had been taken to two different spaces that had the same area. "Everybody!" Shiki called out. "There's no need to fear! This is how we battle Noise!"

"What?" the teen behind Fox asked. "Fight the Noise?"

Out of a cue, the three frogs that had lunged at them appeared out of static. While the teen backed away, Fox assumed a fighting stance. "The four of us are connected with our partner. Even if we're not standing right next to each other, we can still communicate and see what's going on in the two planes!" Shiki explained.

It was then Fox saw through Chris's eyes that he and Shiki were being ambushed by three more frogs. "Chris, look out!" he warned.

Hearing Chris yelp, Shiki continued. "The three frogs we saw earlier are the same ones in both planes," she said. "So to speak, the four of us are fighting the three same Noise. That means if one side of us eliminates one of them, the other one in the other plane disappears as well!" The frogs began to advance. "Explanation time's over! We gotta fight!"

"How?!" the teen asked. Fox and Chris, though, had plenty of ways to fight.

"The pins I gave you all, try to use them!"

Fox and the teen stared at the pins with fire. While Chris debated with the idea of changing jobs, Fox became interested on the pin. "Maybe it's like the pin that let me read minds…" Fox wondered. Putting up a serious look, the vulpine clutched the pin and held out his free hand to the frogs.

His hand glowed with fire.

Gasping, Fox felt energy launching out from his palm to a frog. Right after, the frog was surrounded by violent fire that appeared out of thin air. The surge of energy was tied to Fox's own focus. His eyes felt a bit of strain, and then he soon found out the trail of fire moved using his will. The fire ran all around the three frogs until it vanished. He felt that the pin ran out of energy. "This thing's busted!" Fox said. Looking over his shoulder, the teen saw the fire.

"Pins run out of juice if you keep using them," Shiki explained. "But don't worry! They can recharge, but you need to avoid the Noise while it recharges!"

"O…okay, I got all that," the teen said. Mimicking what Fox just did, the teen's hand caught a fiery glow, and the same trail of flames surrounded the frogs. They all twitched in pain until the fire disappeared. "Not good, it needs to recharge."

Over to the other side of the plane, Chris saw a peculiar event. Shiki was not using any pins of her own... She was instead using some small stuffed black cat that went after the frogs. The stuffed doll didn't have any claws, but once it slashed its hands out on one frog, ripping energy marks were appearing and damaging the frog. With one last slash, the doll delivered an uppercut, "erasing" the frog from existence. "Are my eyes deceiving me or are you…?" Chris trailed off.

"I'll explain later!" Shiki said.

"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!" Chris complained. To his overall shock, a frog latched its demonic legs into his face. "And you get of-OWW!" The frog leaped off, the "claws" of its legs delivering a harsh blow into his face.

Oddly enough, Fox had felt a stinging feeling of pain right at the same time Chris was attacked.

Chris grunted and took out his Blaster, shooting the frog repeatedly. Shiki saw him using the gun. "Oh, I'm weird for using Mr. Mew? You're using some sort of toy gun!" she complained.

"This isn't a-" The two frogs then disappeared. While Chris thought he had finished the frog he was attacking, the other one was simply reduced to static.

On the other side of the plane, the teen got stunned when he saw Fox using Fox Illusion, slashing right across the two frogs. Chuckling to himself, Fox stood up and dusted off his palms. "And that's that," he said.

The planes then merged together…

The World Ends With You – Déjà vu

"Great job, you guys! You really know your stuff!" Shiki said.

Startled, Fox looked around. The people that walked around the statue returned, and he saw that Shiki and Chris were standing right in front of him. The teen was similarly shocked as to what had happened earlier. "That fire... I did that!?" he asked, recalling using the trail of fire on the frogs.

Shiki gasped. "Whoa! You can use the pin? You must be really good at psychs," she said chuckling. "Guess I found the right partner AND the right group, huh?"

"That's what you call those flames? A psych?" the teen asked.

Shiki nodded. "Yup. And now that we've made a pact, the Noise won't come after us!" she said as she turned to the duo. "We make a pretty good team, by the way! (But that's odd…)" she thought. "(I was sure I was told only two people could fight the Noise… How did these two enter the battle just like that?)"

"In other words, we're safe," the teen said. He became calmer. Shiki nodded.

Fox crossed his arms. "Enough with the chit-chat!" he said. "I want to know what's going on around here!" he demanded Shiki. Chris was similarly concerned.

The teen became a little startled when he remembered that there was an intimidating guy wearing a very convincing fox outfit. But when he heard Fox demand Shiki for questions, he decided to go along with it. "Hey, he's right," he said, crossing his arms. "I dunno what's going on around here. I demand some answers."

Shiki felt pressured that the three were staring intently at her. She looked at her palm to see the countdown… It was at forty-five minutes. I still have time, she thought. She smiled at the teen. "Okay, we've got plenty of time if we don't waste it," she said. "What do you want to ask me about?"

The teen crossed his arms. "What are Noise?"

Shiki sighed. "They're the monsters we just fought. Duh," she said. "Those frogs we fought were Noise. If you didn't get to make a pact with me, they'd have erased you… Oh, when I say erase, I mean that they'd basically kill you."

He nodded. "Okay, I get that," he said. He showed her the pin. "What about this? Never thought a pin could grant me the power of fire."

She rubbed her chin and looked at the other two. "Did you three really use the pin?" she asked. "And it worked?"

Chris looked away. "I didn't use my pin," he said.

"But we did," Fox said. "It was pretty easy in retrospect."

Shiki clapped her hands once. "Wow! Those pins never worked for me, but it did for the two of you!" she congratulated. "For some reason I don't know, only certain people are able to use like two or three pins in battle against the Noise." She eyed the teen. "Anyway, where are my manners? My name's Shiki Misaki. Call me Shiki."

The teen looked like he was in deep thought. "(I call this wack,)" he thought.

Then Shiki so casually said, "We've got a long week ahead of us!"

The trio stared oddly at her. "A week? Week of what?" the three asked in unison.

"The Reapers' Game is seven days long, right?" Shiki asked.

"Y-you're not supposed to respond with a question," Chris said unsure. "…What do you mean by Reapers' Game, though?"

Shiki looked embarrassed. "There I go again, not answering your questions," she said. "Well, the Reapers' Game is… Hey, whoa!"

The trio looked to the right to see the teen walking away to the east. Without warning, Shiki ran after him. Feeling quite peeved, Fox said, "Just how many times are we going to be left in the dark? Chris, let's follow those two! Shiki still needs to answer our questions!"

"R-right! Please lead the way!" Chris said, and the two followed the other duo…

Unbeknownst to the quartet, they were being watched from the statue of Hachiko. A figure watched them run away to the next area. He muttered a very unsettling chuckle as a small grin grew on his lips. "This month is going to be interesting," he commented. "I wonder how these new Players are going to affect the outcome of Shibuya's Game. With some small tweaks done to the system, they'll be able to rely on each other better. The show is just starting…" He hid behind the statue, disappearing from sight.

Scramble Crossing

"Shibuya's scramble crossing, the most famous of its kind in the world. The giant TV screens gracing the buildings are a sight to behold."

As if destiny was being a tad too cruel, Chris never forgot the place where he first woke up. Though now, he looked around and admired the big TV screens on the buildings surrounding the crowded crossing. Passing through the people's bodies made the otherworldly duo feel sick, but they managed to track Shiki and the teen right in front of them. As Shiki walked next to the teen, the two reached them. "Why are you following me!?" the teen asked.

"Why are you making yourself so hard to follow?" Shiki demanded.

The teen scoffed and waved a hand at them. "Screw you three. I go where I want."

"Go where? We're trapped in here!"

"Wait, trapped how?" Fox asked.

"What?" the teen said. "Don't be stupid."

Shiki grunted, ignoring Fox's foot tapping the floor in annoyance. "You're the one being stupid. We made a pact. We're supposed to stick together! You can't beat Noise alone. You can't survive!" she said. "Why aren't you like these two?" She pointed at Fox and Chris without turning to them.

"Survive what?" the teen asked. "The only thing I need to survive from is you."

Shiki shook her head. "The Game! Don't you wanna win?"

"We're in a game?" Chris wondered aloud.

"Pfft," the teen muttered, turning away from them. "Play games on your own time."

"Hey! That's not funny!" Shiki said. "They'll erase us if we don't win! You saw what happened to those people! You wanna join them?"

Fox sighed in defeat and decided to casually enter the conversation, signaling Chris to do the same. Perhaps then she would pay attention to them, he thought. "Yeah, that was a horrible sight," he said.

"Besides, we're partners," Shiki pointed out. "Partners work together no matter what."

The teen looked angered. "No way! Don't make me a part of this," he said. The three saw that he was clutching a familiar-looking pin that Fox and Chris saw before… It was the same pin Fox owned, actually. The vulpine's ears perked up a bit at the sight of it.

"You're already a part of this," Shiki said. "You're a Player, just like all of us."

"A what? I'm not playing anything," he retorted.

Shiki grabbed his wrist, making him gasp. "Oh yeah? Then why do you have a Player Pin?"

"A Player Pin…" Fox showed them his own Player Pin. "So this is what this pin's called…"

"See? He's got one, too," Shiki said, showing them her own Player Pin. "Here's mine."

Feeling like an outcast, Chris wondered if he had a Player Pin as well. He searched his pockets until he took it out. "Oh my goodness, I have one too!" he said.

Before Fox could suggest Chris to try mind-reading, Shiki interrupted by showing her palm that had the timer counting down. "Don't you have a timer on your hand? We all do..."

The teen pulled out his left hand and saw the timer. It was at thirty-five. "What. The. Hell," he muttered.

"See, you're part of the Reapers' Game, too," Shiki said. "All four of us are part of it. You can't deny this any longer." The teen lowered his face, his orange hair obscuring his eyes. "We don't have time for this! The clock's ticking! We've only got 35 minutes! Let's hurry to Ten-Four!" she suggested the three.

"'Ten-Four'? What's that?" the teen asked, looking up.

Shiki pointed at the building to the north. Chris remembered seeing the building with the sign "104" on the very top. "Ten-Four! 104? You got the mail, right? 'Reach 104 or face erasure.' That's the spot we all need to go!"

The teen looked down and got into deep thought about what to do. The timer was still tickling. Grunting to himself, he looked up at the trio. "All right, you win. Lead the way," he said.

Shiki couldn't help but smile. "Good. Now, for the last time... Tell me your name."

The teen scratched his head with a deadpan look. "Neku. Neku Sakuraba."

Neku Sakuraba is a 15-year old teen who completely dislikes being around people, as he feels having somebody by his side would slow him down. The indigo headphones he wears on top of his head helps him isolate his mind from the world by listening to music almost endlessly. Very rude and unmannered, Neku does not have any friends. His hobbies include listening to music and admiring graffiti art in the streets.

Once they had time to inspect the teen, they did it right away. Neku did give the loner vibes. He had spiky orange hair under his big indigo headphones. He wore a sleeveless shirt with a funnel-shaped collar (that completely covered his neck) and an indigo stripe outlined with gold going down the middle, where on his neck he wore his MP3 player as a necklace. He also wore a yellow sweatband on his left arm, and white shorts held up by a loose-fitting belt which gave the bad impression that his shorts were going to go loose. Black shoes with an indigo stripe outlined in gold, similar to the color and style of his shirt, covered his feet.

"Neku, huh? Cute name," Shiki said. Neku thought about telling her to shut up.

"O-oh, I'm Chris," Chris said.

Fox grinned. "Fox McCloud. Nice to meet you," he said.

Neku got back into his own thoughts. "(So I'm expected to stick around these three? She seems reliable… But this guy and his weirdo of a fox friend don't make me feel so good… Ugh, I want to be alone. This is getting too crowded for my tastes…) Whatever," Neku told the two.

Neku joined your team!

Shiki chuckled and stared at her three companions. "All right, Neku, Fox, Chris. Let's go over to 104!" she said. Looking at Neku, they saw him walking…east, completely going off-track from where they needed to go. Getting frustrated, Shiki ran to Neku. The duo followed her suit just as the teen was about to enter a business district. "I told you! We can't leave!" she told him.

Neku shrugged his shoulders and, on purpose, walked faster. "Oh, please," he said. A second later, he crashed against a wall."Durff!" he mumbled against the wall.

Chris covered his mouth. Neku hadn't run into a wall. Somewhere between the Scramble Crossing and the business district Neku was going to enter was an invisible wall that blocked their path. Fox stared. "Somehow, I knew that was going to happen," he said.

They saw Neku pushing himself from the invisible wall. Angered, Neku tapped the spot where the invisible wall was. While Shiki didn't react, the other three looked impressed that white hexagons spread out all the way to the sky, completely blocking the path to the next street. "You gotta be kidding me!" Neku said.

"Next time, try listening," Shiki said, putting her hands on her hips.

Neku continued to stare at the invisible wall. He felt trapped in the Scrambled Crossing with three other weirdos. "…So this is all part of that 'Reapers' Game'?" he asked. She nodded.

"(This is nuts. She's actually telling the truth? Then that means the mail I got-)"

"S-sorry to be interrupting," Chris said. "Don't we have to go to 104?"

"Yeah, let's not waste any more time!" Shiki said. She grabbed Neku's wrist and pulled him with her. As he protested loudly, Neku eventually listened to Shiki's demands and walked north with Fox and Chris.

Chris sighed. Noticing this, Fox looked at him. "What is it? You look down," Fox said.

"I'm just confused," Chris said. "And depressed… Are we doing the right thing here, Fox?"

Fox folded his arms behind his head. "All we know is that we're in some kind of Game," he said. "Really, I don't want to just drop out from this. There's got to be something we can do…" He stared at Neku and Shiki walking a longer distance than the two. "She knows her stuff. We need to get information out of her."

"If she gives us the chance, that is…" Chris trailed off. "She's not ignoring us on purpose, right?"

"Pretty sure she isn't," Fox reassured him. "She's very worried about this timer in our palms. If it hits zero, we're…erased."

"…No other option, is there?" the teen asked, shaking his head as they passed through more unsuspecting people. "Just…what made us end up here?"

"We'll find out as soon as we win this Game…somehow," Fox said, pressing the bridge between his eyes. "We have each other. That should keep us from going insane."

Chris chuckled. "I'm glad you're putting it that way," he said. Suddenly, he felt a hand tugging on his sleeve. He stopped and looked down.

"Pardon me, but you look like a friend of mine," Ness said, as he and Pichu stared up at Chris. "I just want to make sure my eyes aren't deceiving me."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Ness?" Chris said.

"Chris?" Ness and Pichu said.

At the mention of his name, Fox stopped and turned around, gasping at the two. "Y-you two?!" he said shocked, walking to their side. Neku and Shiki stopped walking to see what made the duo stop. "I-is this…?!"

"Fox?" Pichu muttered, unsure. "Y-you're here, too?"

The four Smashers exchanged glances until they all broke into loud cheers. Ness and Pichu lunged to Chris, the latter kneeling down to embrace them both. Fox, meanwhile, knelt down and rubbed Ness's hat. "I-I can't believe it! It's you two!" Ness rejoiced until he pushed himself away from Chris. "Wait, this is too good to be true! Tell me something the real Chris would know!"

"You kind of didn't want me to help you when we first met," Chris said.

Ness's eyes widened. "Holy steaks, it is you!" he said, and then he went back to hugging the teen. Pichu just went with the flow and climbed on top of Chris's head, rubbing his face with glee against his hair.

Fox stood up and crossed his arms. "What do you know? We're not the only ones who ended up here after all," he said.

Ness and Chris broke their hug and stared at him with bright looks. "It makes me so happy to see you!" Pichu rejoiced before he started to sniff. "I-I thought Ness and I were alone…"

Chris grabbed Pichu and hugged him tightly. "Now, now, everyone is here," he said. "Let it all out so it makes you feel better." Pichu sobbed on his chest as he rubbed his back with care. Chris looked down at Ness. "I'm surprised that you're here as well."

Ness nodded. "Pichu here found me wandering around the streets," he explained. "…Or rather, I found him hiding inside a trash can."

Pichu turned his face around. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to mention that!" he whined.

"What are you talking about? You never said that!" Ness complained.

"Oh, wait, I didn't. Whoopsie," Pichu muttered, blushing a bit. "A-anyway… Please don't leave us behind!" he pleaded. "I got all scared where I suddenly woke up in the middle of the street, and nobody even stepped on me with their feet!"

"You're kidding me? We're tagging along for the rest of the days!" Chris said.

Ness rejoined your team!

Pichu rejoined your team!

"Yay!" Pichu cheered loudly. "I feel a lot better!"

Ness, though, kept his excitement in check to ask about the people around the city. "What's that about, anyway?" Ness asked, seeing a high school boy passing right through his body. "It's so freaky. None of these people know we're here."

"That's because we're dead," Fox said. "The four of us…are dead."

Pichu and Ness looked down in depression. "Yes… I do remember when we died," Ness muttered. "…But then, how come we ended up here? Is hell a place where countless of people can't see you?"

"I thought that at first, too…but it's not like that," Chris said. He whispered, "I think this place happens to be another world from the many we've visited before…"

Pichu's ears perked up. "A-all we need to do is call Master Hand!" he said. "R-right?"

"I don't think that's easy," Ness said. "We're dead. It wouldn't make sense he can see us. He's not THAT much into the supernatural."

Fox then remembered that he hadn't asked Chris how he died. "That reminds, Chris… How did you die?" he asked. Pichu and Ness looked at him. "I died when I felt my body burning like crazy…"

"U-us too," Pichu and Ness said.

Chris looked away. He remembered that he had died by sacrificing his life for the Ancient Minister, and then he remembered he was the very same person who killed the other three from the very beginning. If he mentioned that he saved their murderer, they would hate him before he could explain himself fully. For the time being, he thought, he needed to keep things simple. "…I…I sacrificed myself to save…to save Kirby from getting vaporized by a cannon." Inside his mind, he felt horrified. "(Oh no, I…I just lied to them!)"

"Oh…" Fox trailed off. Seeing Chris's depressed look, the fox smiled and hung his arm on Chris's shoulders. "That was very noble of you, Chris."

And now the unneeded praise made him feel worse than before.

"T-thanks…" Chris muttered, forcing a smile. "I'm still shaken just remembering what I did… One second, I was running around just fine. The next second, I felt a lot of pain until I lost consciousness…"

"Well, your death was less agonizing," Ness said. "Ours was pretty long, infuriating, and painful."

"I don't want to remember that!" Pichu said. "Let's just rejoice!"

"Hello?" The four turned to Shiki and Neku standing there. "Uh, did you find more Players?"

Neku looked bored as he examined the two newcomers. "Now you got a big-headed kid and a yellow rat following us around? Oh, no thanks. I had enough with the new party members," he said, turning around and walking to 104. "See you at 104."

Ness glared. "He did NOT just call me big-headed!" he said.

"A-and I'm not a rat! I-I was born this way!" Pichu whimpered a bit until Shiki picked him up. "Huh?"

"Aww, how adorable!" Shiki said as she held Pichu up. "You don't look like Noise to me. You're sooo cute!" She brought him close to her face and rubbed her cheek with his.

"T-teehee," Pichu giggled, wagging his tail a bit. "I like you!"

"And you can talk, too!" Shiki said, not stopping with the cheek rubbing. Just seeing them both like that made Chris feel jealous. "How adorable! I'm never letting you go! You're far too precious to lose!"

"…" Chris looked at Fox. "Incredible how she practically melted at his sight without asking questions like she did to you."

Fox closed his eyes, forcing a strained grin. "Chris, don't make me commit a grave mistake in the middle of the street. By the way, that grave mistake involves you quite a lot."

"I-I'll be quiet, sir," Chris muttered, stepping away from him.

While Shiki and Pichu were busy, Ness opened his left palm to the two. "What's this, anyway?" he asked. On top of his palm, there was another timer. It was at twenty-five minutes. "I can't take it off, and it's freaking me out. What's going to happen once this thing hits zero? My hand's going to explode? I'm going to go blind?" he asked. "…I'm going to have some serious bathroom problems?"

Shiki overheard him. Stopping rubbing cheeks with Pichu (which he lamented dearly), she looked at Ness. "(Wow, he's got a big head,)" she thought. "(I mean…) Once the timer hits zero, you'll be erased," she said.

"…Erased as in…disappearing?" Ness asked and she nodded. "…TAKE IT OFF FROM ME, TAKE IT OFF FROM ME, TAKE IT OFF FROM ME!" he pleaded as he flapped his left hand.

"I-it's okay! That means you're also a Player like all of us!" Shiki said. Then she remembered Neku had walked away. "Oh no, Neku! Look, I'll explain later." Chris grunted loudly. "If you want to take the timer off, we need to reach Ten-Four! It's the building up north from here!"

"Er, sure, I don't mind," Ness said, quickly calming down. "Anything to take it off from my palm!"

Pichu's ears drooped as he showed her his little left paw… He also had a timer. "I have that, too…" he whimpered.

Shiki gasped. "Oh no, not you too!" She looked serious and pointed north. "We've got to take you all to Ten-Four. Hurry! My partner is trying so hard to leave me behind!" Pichu looked skeptical as he got dragged away by her against his will.

Ness's face fell. "We're going to be running around a lot, aren't we," he asked.

"Yup," Fox said, and the three followed Shiki.

The six Players caught up with each other and proceeded north to 104. Unfortunately, none of them foresaw that an invisible wall was between the Scramble Crossing and their destination. One by one, the six crashed against the wall and fell back on their rears. Since Pichu was being held by Shiki, he got in a very…uncomfortable position between the wall and Shiki herself. She decided not to talk about it. "Oww!" Neku yelped. He stood up and touched the wall, banging a fist against it. "It's blocked! There's no way past!"

Shiki shook her head as she was helped by Fox to get up to her feet. "We can't get through!? But this is the way to Ten-Four!" she said.

Ness looked at the time. It was at eighteen minutes. "Eighteen minutes to be erased!" he said. Pichu scampered on his feet and tried pushing the wall down.

Neku grunted and looked around. He noticed that a red hooded man was staring their way from the center of the scramble. Raising an eyebrow, Neku crossed his arms. "(Why do I feel like I'm being watched? That guy over there. What's he staring at?)" he thought.

The loud noise of the people didn't let Neku hear the red hooded man whisper, "Pact confirmed."

Shiki held out her hand to touch the wall, not noticing that Pichu stumbled forward through it. "What are we gonna do about this wall?" Her hand went through. "…Huh? It's gone!" The other Players went to touch the empty air. The wall had disappeared.

Neku turned around. "What's up with that?" he asked.

"Weird," Chris commented. "Why would it go down just like that?"

Shiki shrugged. "No idea. A lucky break, I guess!" She ran forward. "C'mon, we gotta keep moving. Ten-Four is right in front of our noses!"

Neku couldn't shake the fact that the wall had probably disappeared as soon as he looked at the red hooded man. Looking over his right shoulder, Neku saw the man. "(Something about that guy in red...)"

A lot more people walked between the man and Neku. When he noticed, Neku lost sight of the man completely.

"(Huh? Where'd he go? Weird,)" Neku thought until Ness approached him. "What do you want?"

"Excuse me, Orange Head," Ness said, hinting murder in the last two words. He didn't like being called big-headed. "We're leaving you behind. Hurry!" He broke into a sprint to the north. Neku grunted and ran north as well, trying to think about the man.

104 Building

"A hub for cutting-edge pop culture throughout Japan. TV soaps are often shot here, giving the place huge name recognition."

The group of six ran forward until they reached the entrance of the tall building. The four Smashers looked up to the towering building. It probably had like six big floors judging the size of it. There was a great influx of customers coming in and out from the automatic doors. "Made it!" Shiki said.

The six Players felt a tickling sensation on their left hands. Each one of them looked down at their left hands, finding that the timer had vanished. "The timer vanished!" Neku said.

Ness and his group sighed in relief. "We…we did it," he said.

"Whew! Mission complete," Shiki said relieved. "I think we can rest for the remainder of the day. I thought we weren't gonna make it."

Fox put his left hand back into his pocket. "Okay, that means you're not going to rush away in a hurry," he said. "It's time for you to answer our questions."

"Y-yes, he's right!" Chris supported Fox. "It's about time we get some answers out of you!"

Destiny was out to get the Smashers once they all heard a voice coming from somewhere. "Pfft. Big Deal," the voice said. "Only an idiot would screw up on Day 1."

Grunting loudly, Fox raised a fist to his side and looked to the left with the rest looking his way. The voice was coming from the west, but there was no way to tell where the source came from. "Who's there?!" Neku asked.

Shiki looked preoccupied. "Oh, no... A Reaper?" she wondered.

"Reaper..." Neku trailed off.

"What's a Reaper?" Pichu asked, gulping. "It-it sounds bad…"

For the time being, the Reaper that talked to them remained silent about answering their doubts. "You six are gonna get erased sooner or later. So come on. Help a girl out and earn me a few extra points, 'K?" As soon as she said that, frog Noise leapt out from thin air and approached the six.

"Those monsters again..." Neku said, his hand reaching for the fire pin he got from Shiki.

Being new to seeing the frog Noise, Ness and Pichu stepped back. "Let me guess. Those aren't normal frogs," Ness said. "Well, like that's going to make a difference to me. I've fought weirder creatures before. These frogs don't have a chance."

Shiki looked serious at the group. "You know how to fight now, right?" she asked. The five nodded to her. She turned to Neku. "This time focus your thoughts on me!"

Neku looked shocked at her. "What? Fight your own battles!" he said.

"Please!" pleaded Shiki. "To stop the Noise!"

Neku sighed and assumed his position. "...Fine. Come on!" he said. The six stood one next to each other as the frog Noise leapt to them. The space, once again, ripped apart in two as Neku, Fox, and Ness were separated from Shiki, Chris, and Pichu…

The World Ends With You – Hybrid

The busy streets in front of the 104 Building cleared out from people. Although the six were standing right in front of the entrance, two sets of three were in different planes. Sharing each one's sights, the six were surrounded by four frog Noise.

"What the heck happened just now?" Ness asked. "Why… Why is it that I can see what's Pichu's looking at?"

"The two of you made a pact?" Shiki wondered. "Listen, uh, Ness. You and the cute little one are partners. That means the two of you are working together as a team. The frog Noise we're all facing are showing up in two different planes of space. If one side defeats one of them, its copy on the other plane will disappear… Did you get all that?"

"Uh, yes, I think," Pichu spoke next to her. "A-as long as we can defeat them, everything will be alright, right?"

"In general, yes," Shiki said. "There's no time to talk. They're coming!"

Ness and Pichu were shaken. They could catch glimpses of what the other was looking at, yet they weren't there next to each other. Just like the other two teams of Players, there was a very supernatural link that linked them all together.

"Wait, you two don't have any pins to fight?" Shiki asked just before she saw Pichu releasing a jolt of lightning that hopped along the street and collided against a frog. "H-huh?! Did you just…" A frog latched onto her head and leapt away, delivering a nasty blow that pushed her down. "Oww!"

"H-hey!" Neku grunted in pain as he used his fire pin. "Why did I feel pain just now?!"

"Partners share the same life…" Shiki muttered. "The six of us are sharing the same life during these fights with their respective partner. Whatever happens, don't get yourself hurt too much! A partner fighting on a plane can get hurt enough and get both Players erased!"

Fox grunted. "So you're saying if I go completely unscathed but Chris gets damaged a lot, we both lose?" he asked. "This is such a drag. Chris, we better be careful and support each other! My life literally depends on you!"

"A-and my life depends on you, too! Don't put all the blame on me!" Chris shouted back.

"Would you all just shut up and fight?" Neku asked, holding out his fire pin to call forth razing fire on the frogs. "Gotta make these frogs go away!" He got startled when he saw a green flash growing in size in the middle of the three frogs. Once the flash got there, it violently exploded in a huge burst of energy. The frogs were completely eliminated, disappearing in black and white static. "How the…"

"Ha," Ness said, folding his arms behind his head. "Even dead I still got it."

Neku eyed him as the rest calmed down. "You did that just now?" he asked. When Ness nodded, he said, "Maybe that big head of yours is not for show."

"Would you stop calling me big-headed?" Ness asked. "If I want to, I can fling you to a trash can with my mind alone."

"Hey, you guys, don't fight!" Shiki said, relieved that the battle went down pretty fast. "We can beat the Noise faster as a team!"

Chris smiled. "The six of us do put up well against them," he said. "There's no need to worry if we keep it up like this."

Fox noticed that they weren't returning back to one single plane. "Wait, Chris, this isn't over," he said. "We beat all the Noise but we haven't returned…"

"Oh, give me a break! I can't stand seeing you all hogging the same fight!" the girly voice said. "That's it. You're going to get it now with these!"

Out of nowhere, two red symbols appeared from the left and the right. These symbols were far big, and then on the street they materialized into seven-foot tall bears that roared upon seeing their prey. The bears were large and gray. Just like the frogs, the bears were deprived of having natural body parts. Beginning from their shoulders, the bears had yellow demonic outlines that formed menacing claws.

The two sets of three leaned their backs against each other. "Bears? They better get distracted with honey between their claws!" Ness said.

"I don't really think these bears have food… We're the food!" Shiki said.

Fox sized up to the bear on the left and delivered a flying kick to its neck. Ness took the bear on the right and smacked its head with his bat, having to pull off a double jump to reach it. Neku didn't want to try attacking without using a weapon, so he kept his distance and waited for his pin to recharge.

Shiki, not being bound to pins, held her distance between the other two bears in her plane. Both Pichu and Chris were amazed to see her little stuffed cat launching itself to the bear on the left, delivering several slash marks that clawed its fur out. Roaring in pain, the bear swiftly pushed the doll away and rushed to the three, its claws ready to rip them all apart. Looking to the right, Pichu whimpered when he saw the other bear doing the same. "W-we're cornered!" Pichu cried.

"N-no, we're not!" Chris said, grabbing Pichu. "Use Thunder once they get close to us!"

Pichu shook in fear. Once the two bears were close, Chris let go of Pichu as the latter called forth a violent thunder from above. The ensuing impact of the lightning bolt reached out for the bears, pushing them back harshly. Shiki blinked as Pichu landed back on the floor, slightly dazzled. "He's full of surprises…" she muttered.

Chris drew out his Blaster and started shooting the bear on the right while it tried to get up. "Shiki, don't stand there!" he said. "Use your creepy doll and fight!"

Shiki got flustered. "Hey! Mr. Mew is not creepy!" she said indignantly. Beside her feet, Mr. Mew hopped from foot to another, as if he was dancing on the spot. Whether the little doll was being controlled by her or not was a very hot topic of wild-mass guessing. Out of a cue, Mr. Mew lunged himself to the bear on the right. "He just does his own thing!"

"He does his…own thing… Yes…"

"Behind you!" Shiki warned. Chris turned around and was flung away to the floor by a quick slash from the bear on the right.

Fox shuddered on the other zone. "Hey, be careful up there!" he said as he delivered a well-placed upper kick into the bear's crotch. Since Chris saw everything Fox saw, he did not want to wonder why the vulpine would attack down there.

The bears were holding out well, much for the group's dismay. That all changed once Neku's trail of fire burned the bear on the right alive. With one last roar, the bear vanished in white and black static. "One down!" Neku said.

"One more to go!" Ness said.

Needless to say, the remaining bear on both zones struggled having six different opponents laying an utter smack down on it. With one last uppercut from Mr. Mew, the bear roared and was erased from existence. "Yeah! That was great!" Shiki rejoiced.

With the battle seemingly over, the zones merged together…

The World Ends With You – Calling

Being newcomers to the whole two-plane feeling, both Ness and Pichu got startled when the crowd of people appeared once again. They even gasped when they saw each other again. "G-geez," Ness said. "Are we supposed to fight that way all the time?"

Chris shrugged. "As long as we're here, it seems so," he said.

Shiki sighed, looking worried. "But you heard her... Day 1 is nothing," she said, recalling the girly voice they heard. They noticed the voice stopped talking. "What if the missions only get harder? We've got six more days... Are we gonna make it? I...I don't want to be erased..."

Pichu's eyes widened. "Wait, six more days?!" he said in shock.

Ness grabbed his head. "Six days stuck in this city? Oh, that just doesn't sound good."

Shiki looked away and took out her phone, staring at something displayed on the screen. The other five were left thinking what they were going to do for the span of six days in the city filled with crowds of people that would never see they were standing there in front of them. "This Game…" Fox muttered, "…it runs for a whole week…"

Neku distanced himself from the five and grabbed his head. "(I can't believe this... Why am I stuck here?)" he pondered, grunting to himself. "(What if I'm erased!? What the hell kind of game is this? This can't be right… Gaaah! I'm really stuck here? In Shibuya!? How did I end up in Shibuya?!)"

"Hey, Orange Head," Ness called out. "Don't go bursting a blood vessel."

"Shut up!" Neku said, snapping out from his thoughts. He turned to Shiki. "You, stalker!"

Shiki pocketed her phone and looked angry. "Hey! I have a name!" she said.

"Whatever!" Neku said as he approached her. "I want you t-"

The world went white to all six of them, and their hearing became muted. Although their eyes were wide open, they stared into space as one by one they collapsed on the floor and became unconscious. Having no will of their actions, they passed out on the middle of the street as people helplessly and indirectly stepped through their bodies.

…

Shiki's Day 2 – Don't Kill Me

Station Underpass

"A tunnel beneath the train tracks. The eerie graffiti and gloomy atmosphere keep people away despite its proximity to the station."

The sound of the train running over the tracks below the underpass of the station made a lot of noise that they couldn't handle. Grumbling, each one of them opened their eyes just in time to see a train passing above their faces. They gasped and quickly stood up, only realizing too late that they weren't exactly standing in the way of the trains that disappeared away into the distance right above their heads. "What the…?!" Neku gasped.

"W-where are we?!" asked a shocked Pichu as he looked around. He found that they had appeared below train tracks of some station. Under the tracks, pillars of concrete supported the weight of the trains that quickly crossed over them. The area below the tracks was a dark place with walls filled with graffiti art. Next to the pillars, bicycles held tightly with chains were leaning one next to the other. To the left, the light of the day gave some illumination to the underpass where they could see people walking by. To the right, there was the entrance of an unimportant sewer system that held no special features.

"...I hope this works out."

Turning to the left, the group of five saw that Shiki was awake, but she didn't seem to be shaken with the sudden change of scenery. She was instead busy, staring down at the screen of her phone.

Regaining his composure, Neku approached the unsuspecting girl. "Hey!"

Shiki immediately withdrew her phone and backed away. "Aaack! Don't scare me like that!" she said.

While Neku thought some nasty insults for her, the other four walked to their side. "What just happened?" Ness asked. "Where are we?"

Shiki looked up at a train passing over their heads. "Well, for starters, I think this is the underpass by the station," she said. "There are trains passing one after another. I can tell that much."

Neku crossed his arms and looked serious. "(That's weird. How'd we get here?)" he thought. "You, why did we end up here?"

Shiki averted her eyes from him. "…I don't know," she muttered. Besides Neku, Fox stiffened his flat look. "I was told by other Players about the basics of the Game. Beyond that…I don't know much about what's going on." She rubbed her chin. "I only know about some battle basics and how you need to complete a mission each day of seven to win the Game… I'm so sorry, you guys."

Chris shook his head and kicked the air slightly. "I knew it was too good to be true," he muttered.

Fox grunted. "I still have a big pile of questions, too," he said.

Shiki forced a smile. "We could find somebody who can explain to us about how this works," she said. "There's some hope left. Let's just clear missions and win the Game! The prize is getting a second chance at life!" They were now staring intently at her, but Neku wasn't buying any of the whole being dead thing. "This isn't some kind of competition either, so if we work together we might all revive!"

Ness smiled a bit. "Oh my dear goodness, we can come back to life if we win this?" He shook Chris's legs. "Work your butt to the ground and get us out!"

"Y-you're also working your butt, then!" Chris shot back.

After the atmosphere became a little brighter with a few laughs (though Neku was the only one who was against doing such a horrendous action), a beeping noise came from Neku's and Shiki's pockets. "There's the mission!" Shiki said, getting serious as she took out her phone. She let the four Smashers look at the message once Neku begrudgingly shooed them away from looking down at his.

Set the cursed sculpture free. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. –The Reapers

Pichu's ears drooped. "When it says we have sixty minutes, doesn't that mean…"

"Oww!" they all cringed in pain. They exchanged worried looks until each one of them stared at their left hands. A new timer with sixty minutes counting down appeared on their palms.

"I hate, HATE this timer!" Ness complained. "It's just there to remind you that you're getting screwed over in an hour!"

"Sorry to say this, but that's the reason," Fox said annoyed.

Neku lowered his face into his collar, obscuring his eyes. "(Sound crazy to me… But, maybe not that crazy.)" He touched the tip of his spiky hair. "(I saw it happen to those people by the station.)" He thought back on the red hooded man. "(…And met a Reaper… I can't believe I'm even entertaining that thought. But I know what I heard.)" He stared down at his phone and saw something peculiar. He looked at Shiki. "Why'd the date change on my phone?" he asked.

Shiki looked up, confused at the question. "A day must have gone by."

Neku, along with the other four, widened their eyes. "What?!" they all said.

"I think we fell asleep after the mission," Shiki said. Once again, she turned serious. "But that's OK. We need to focus on today!"

"Are you insane?" Fox asked. "We lost our senses and got dragged all the way down here! Who the hell dragged us, anyway? I don't feel comfortable knowing some stranger was touching my body! …I feel violated just knowing that!" He picked the tip of his tail. "I'm a damned fox, for crying out loud! I get weird looks from people!"

Neku shrugged. "(We were in the middle of the street, in broad daylight! Why would we fall asleep?!)" he thought. "(Maybe we passed out. And then…woke up here?)" He played with the tip of his spiky hair. "(Everything in between is a blank.)"

"I told you, I don't know all the answers!" Shiki said. "Look, we've been given an hour to complete today's mission. We gotta do this as quickly as we can or else we'll suffer the consequences!"

Ness sighed. "So we're going to rush all over the place and do these missions without knowing full well what's going on?" He grunted. "That's not how we do things around here!"

"Yet we're forced to do the opposite," Pichu said, sighing in defeat.

"Really sorry I can't be of much help…" Shiki said. "You do want to get this over with, though, so let's work things out from there." She looked at the condition they needed to clear. "So…this 'cursed sculpture', it's gotta be talking about the statue of Hachiko. But then what's the curse?" Shiki looked at Neku. The orange-haired teen was busy thinking about how they ended up in the underpass. "…Neku?"

Neku turned away from them. "(Did somebody drag us here for real? Or-)"

"C'mon, Neku, pay attention!" Shiki said.

"…" He was completely tuning them all out from his thinking.

Getting frustrated, Shiki shouted, "Hey! What, now you're ignoring me?" She swung her hand to the side. "If we don't work together, we'll fail the mission!"

"…" Neku kept staring away from them.

"You don't have to be like this…" Shiki said preoccupied. Looking at the Smashers, she felt that her partner was the only one who wasn't being too cooperative with her. She had seen the good chemistry between Fox and Chris. Ness and Pichu didn't mind each other's company. Yet Neku and Shiki were not connecting at all. She made a habit of taking out her phone and stare at the screen in hopes of finding encouragement. Sighing, she asked to the phone, "What am I doing wrong?"

Pichu walked to her. "You're not doing anything wrong, Shiki…" he spoke. "You're doing your best to help us…"

"…" Shiki looked down at Pichu and picked him up, caressing his little chin with care. "Thank you," she whispered. Getting a sudden boost of encouragement from the giggling Electric-type, she smiled at Neku. "All right! No point in standing here. Let's go find Hachiko."

"Where's that?" Chris asked.

"Remember the spot where we met yesterday?" Shiki asked. "That place had a statue. That was the statue of Hachiko… Did you know that the spot is said to hold a special meaning?" she asked, chuckling a bit. "It's said that the statue of Hachiko is a special place where people meet up."

Fox grinned at Chris. "I do believe that was a special place," he said. Chris gasped a bit and looked away, hiding a small smile.

At that moment, a person slumped over to their side, appearing from behind a concrete pillar. He rubbed his head, not knowing where he had ended. "Uh, do you guys know where I am?" he asked. "I was running around, passing through people that couldn't see me at all somewhere when I suddenly woke up…here…"

The six turned to the man. Neku and Shiki only raised single sets of eyebrows, but the Smashers raised them all.

The man raised one eyebrow. "…Er…"

"…Ike?" the quartet of Smashers said.

"…You guys?" Ike said startled.

"Oh my goodness, you're…you're okay!" Chris rejoiced along with Ness and Pichu.

Ike brightened up quickly. "I can't believe it!" he said. "I'd never thought I see you all in the afterlife!"

"Hey, don't say that," Neku said. "This isn't the afterlife or anything. (What is UP with this guy? Did he lose his way to an anime convention? He's wearing cape and everything… Why do I have to walk around this many weirdos?)"

"Um, okay?" Ike said confused. He turned back to the Smashers and smiled as Pichu climbed his back and lied down on his messy hair. "I'm so lucky to find you here… Are you four on a mission or something?"

Ness shook his head. "Ike, I hate to break it to you, but all six of us here are dead," he said. "We're not on a usual mission like always…"

"…How does that work?" Ike asked, rubbing his chin. "So you're saying we're dead, yet…the afterlife doesn't look all that heavenly from what I recalled."

Shiki couldn't help but enter the conversation. "Uh, hi there," she said. "I heard you. This isn't heaven or hell. This is Shibuya," she explained. "We're all part of the Game… Do you have a Player Pin and a timer on your left hand?"

"What?" Ike said confused. He opened his left palm to them. He also had a timer at fifty-four minutes. Opening his right palm, there was a Player Pin. "So you know what these are? I tried to get rid of them as soon as I felt the pain, but no luck whatsoever…"

"Oh dear," Shiki said. "Another person who doesn't know what he got himself into… Hey, wait a minute," she said as she eyed the others. "You ALL know each other?"

Fox looked bored. "I suddenly feel like she has a pile of questions for us for some reason," he said sarcastically. "Yes, we know each other pretty well. We kind of used to live in a single home…until we died."

Shiki could tell the big differences that set them apart. A few looked sharper, others looked out of place, and one of them had a disproportionally big head. "…You're not…from Shibuya, are you?" she wondered. "You're not from Shibuya…but how?"

The five Smashers exchanged glances. "Should we go ahead and tell her?" Ness asked.

"But the timer is kind of scaring me…" Pichu muttered.

"We should explain everything to her once we clear this mission," Fox suggested.

Chris looked at Shiki. "We'll explain everything after we clear the mission, if you don't mind… At least we do have answers for your questions," he said.

"…Oh…okay," Shiki said nodding. "The mission takes priority, after all." She turned around and saw Neku a fair distance away from them. Looking perplexed, Shiki went to join his side no matter how much he protested.

The four Smashers turned to Ike. "Ike, do you have a partner?" Chris asked. "Did you make contact with somebody?"

"What are you saying? I don't have a partner," Ike said. The rest shuddered. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh no… This does not bode me well…" Fox muttered. "Ike, whatever you do, stay close to us. The four of us are partnered in groups of two."

"And since you don't have a partner…monsters are going to hunt you down," Chris said. Ness and Pichu looked surprised, not being filled in on the matter before.

Ike blinked. "Monsters?" he said. "Monsters are around here?"

"Yes, so stick close to us," Fox said. "They seem to hunt down people that don't have partners…"

"…" Ike shrugged. "I'll stick close to you. It's not like I don't have anywhere else to go…"

Ike rejoined your team!

Chris smiled, chuckling as he did so. "And now the dead ones have been reunited at last," he said, getting the attention of the four. "It really was possible to have you back…"

"Wait, we're the only ones that died?" Ness asked. "Only us five died from the rest?"

"Uh, yes…" Chris said, his smile fading away. "The mansion hasn't been the same without you four. So many of us have been mopping around over your deaths…" He recalled something and turned to Ike. "In fact, Ike…Soren himself is at the mansion."

Ike gasped. "Soren visited the mansion?" As the mercenary pondered the question, the other three felt like asking Chris what else he knew about the living world.

"Hey, you guys!" Shiki interrupted. "We can't stand around doing nothing! Let's clear the mission ASAP!"

Chris sighed. "I know you have many questions for me, but we should really focus on this mission to get our timers off…" The worried four nodded and went back to join Shiki and Neku. As they did so, Ike was explained everything about the Game, being told about a mission every day of the week.

It turned out that Ike wasn't the only new face around the underpass. The group found a red-hooded man standing next to the bicycles. His face was obscured by his hoodie, but it looked like he was staring at them. Neku crossed his arms. "(Where have I seen this guy before… Oh, right…)"

Shiki didn't understand why Neku was staring at the weird man. She pointed west. "Neku! Hachiko is this way!" Neku ignored her. "Come ON!"

"Ugh… Go yourself," he muttered, but he was forced to accompany the bunch of misfits against his will.

Then they all crashed against another invisible wall. "O-oww!" Ike recoiled back. "What the… There's some sort of wall here!" He touched the wall with his hand, calling forth white hexagons that spread out like waves.

"What? Another wall?!" Shiki said in shock.

"Oh no, I don't do well in confined places, especially if those places happen to be shady places!" Ness said. "Get me out of here!" Pichu shocked his body a bit with a small jolt. "That doesn't help things, you know!"

"But Hachiko is this way…" Shiki said. "No… We'll never finish the mission now."

"(All she ever does is whine…)" Neku thought. "(Then we have got to get through. We got past the wall yesterday. Maybe… Is there some kind of rule?)"

"What should we do?" Shiki asked.

To which then Ike drew out Ragnell and tried taking down the wall with a strong swing. Neku, Shiki, and the others gasped as Ike was pushed back twenty feet away, sliding down on his back. "H-holy crap, Ike!" Ness said.

"I-I guess that doesn't work…" Ike muttered as he stood back up, unsheathing Ragnell. Chris blinked once he saw that Ike had Ragnell with him. It wasn't possible for him to have Ragnell…and then the teen looked at Fox. He wore every single piece of equipment with him, including the headgear. Ness had also taken out his baseball bat for battle. Since he could change jobs just fine, there was no need to doubt about not holding any weapons.

Chris did think that it was lucky that everybody was wearing clothes. It would've been a nightmare otherwise.

"A s-sword?!" Shiki shrieked. "T-that's a real sword? N-no kidding?!"

"(God, this guy is taking cosplay to a new level,)" Neku thought. "(Well, the others are into it, too…)"

Ike walked back to the group. "Brute force is, as always, not an option," he said sheepishly.

"U-uh… Nice sword?" Shiki commented. "It…must've taken you a lot of work to do that."

"What?"

"W-we shouldn't waste time asking for questions," Ness interrupted. "We got a wall to take care of."

Shiki looked back and forth between the wall and the group. She sighed in defeat. "Y-yeah, let's go back to focus on the mission," she agreed. Turning back to Neku, she saw he was staring away. "Neku, is something wrong?"

The six looked at the direction he was looking at, noticing the red-hooded man by the bicycles staring their way. "Is…he staring at us?" Chris wondered.

Shiki tilted her head at the red-hooded man. "That guy… You know him?" she asked.

"(I remember… He was at the crossing yesterday by the wall. Who is he?)" Neku took out his Player Pin. He had already used it by accident, having heard so many people speaking out their thoughts at once. Due to the fact the underpass was devoid of people except themselves, Neku thought that he could pull it off without getting a headache. "(I'm gonna try reading his mind…)"

The orange-haired teen brought his hands to the sides of his headphones, bringing the Player Pin close as he closed his eyes. The six Players heard him whispering, "Focus…"

Within his mind, Neku saw the blue background taking over the entire area surrounding him. Through his mind's eye, he saw the red-hooded man. Unfortunately, the man did not display any thoughts to dwell into. "Hmph…" Neku muttered.

Shiki looked at him. "What is it?"

"I can't read him."

As if Shiki knew what he was talking about, she gasped. "What?! You can't scan him?"

Fox rubbed his chin with two fingers. "You tried mind-reading his mind, then?" he asked.

Ness grimaced slightly. "He can read minds?"

The vulpine showed him his own Player Pin. "This pin here lets you mind read others if you focus enough," he said. "I can read minds using this…"

The Onett resident felt undermined. "Hey, that's not cool. I'm supposed to be the only mind-reader here who doesn't use some item to help." He brought his hands to the sides of his head and tried to read the red-hooded man's thoughts. Nothing came out. Ness found a void of darkness that produced nothing. "…He's not even thinking about anything!"

"Were you even using your pin?" Shiki asked.

"No?" Ness said. "I can read minds just fine."

"…Add another question to my pile, then," she said in a deadpan manner. She was so lost with these newcomers.

Neku grumbled as he thought, "(I had no trouble scanning people yesterday. Maybe the rules changed?)" He looked at his pin. "(Or maybe the pin is broken.)"

Outside his thoughts, Neku heard Shiki ask, "Can we finish the mission without being able to scan?!"

Ike stared at the man with a serious look. "Is he dead as well?" he asked.

Shiki widened her eyes. She realized the man was truly staring at them. "W-wait, maybe…maybe he's dead, and he can see us for teal!" She walked closer to him. "You there! Can you see us?"

"Yes," the red-hooded man said.

"Well, damn, that was fast…" Fox commented.

The man sighed in annoyance and approached the group. "Scan and erase all the Noise in this area," he said.

"(Are those conditions to move on?)" Neku wondered to himself.

Gasping, Chris looked around. The Noise they fought frightened him. "T-there aren't any Noise around here, though!" he pointed out. "Where are they?!"

The red-hooded man simply said, "The world is more than just what you see," before he walked back to his spot, leaving the group of seven confused.

"He left," Shiki said.

"S-so creepy…" Pichu shuddered.

"Not to mention rude. Riddling us with a riddle is just plain low," Ness commented. "The world is more than just what you see…"

"(I don't know what his deal is…)" Neku thought. "(But he's part of the Game, that's for sure. Which can only mean one thing.)"

"Hey, he just spoke to us…" Chris pointed out. "Is he probably part of the Game as well?"

"(Bingo.)" Neku looked at the Player Pin. "(The world is more than just what you see…)"

Fox looked at Neku staring down at the Player Pin. "Hmm…" He took out his Player Pin. "…Well…if you can read minds using this, then perhaps… Hey, I think we need to use this to find the Noise."

"Find the Noise using the Player Pins?" Shiki wondered. "That might work… But first…" She turned to Neku. The orange-haired teen sighed. This was not going to end well for him. "I meant to ask something… Shouldn't you try some other pins? You've got more, right?"

"Wait…there are more pins to use?" Chris asked.

"Yeah!" Shiki nodded. "They should've given you a whole bunch."

"You don't say…" Neku searched his pockets. Feeling quite a lot of pins, he took them all out. For their surprise, he carried five more pins. One had the image of lightning raining down, one had a hand firmly open, one had an energy blast going right, another had a wave of air slicing left, and the last one was…another Player Pin.

"Why is there a sense of collecting them all?" Ness wondered with an amused smile.

"At least they should be easier than collecting Pokémon," Pichu said.

"Why not test them out?" Shiki suggested. "Remember the flame pin yesterday? Well, I wasn't able to use it. You and Fox were able to use it just fine…" She smiled. "So maybe-"

"I get it," Neku said, catching on. "Certain pins only work for certain people. I've got to try them all and see."

"Takey-takey," Fox said as he swiftly took the lightning pin from Neku's hand.

"Nab!" Pichu said as he swiped the hand pin.

"Whoopsie. You let this one go," Ness said, taking the energy blast pin.

"What the-" Neku shook his head and grunted afterward. "Those are MY pins! Go find yours, you bunch of motherf-!"

"Oh, grow up, you," Fox said with a cocky grin. "We're all working together as a team. Our survival depends on these." Chris casually picked the pin off from Fox's hand and handed it back to Neku. "…What are you doing?"

"I…I get the feeling Neku needs the pins more than we do," Chris admitted. "The five of us already know how to fight by ourselves without using the pins. And I don't believe Neku has some innate battle skills, right?" He looked at Neku. "Right?"

"(Huh, now that he mentions it… I did see how all of them used some weird moves,)" Neku thought. "(…Just who ARE these guys? Are their cosplays giving them power?)"

"Right?" Chris repeated.

"…I'm not into fights at all. I need the pins to advance for myself," Neku said. Little did they know he was heavily emphasized the last word. While Fox grunted in the background, Neku clutched his Player Pin and scanned the area around the red-hooded man.

Something was different.

The blue background was being plagued by three symbols hovering over the red-hooded man. The symbols were Noise waiting for their prey to concentrate on them. Neku focused on one, and the symbol went over to him. The next second, the group had been whisked away…

The World Ends With You – Long Dream

"You are new to this," the red-hooded man said. "Let's see how you can use your pins effectively in battle."

As if there were two trains running at the same time in both dimensions, the group of six was split into three. Oddly enough, despite not having a partner, Ike was sent to the upper zone with Shiki, Chris, and Pichu. "W-whoa!" Ike said, startled that he was separated from the others. "What did just happen?"

"A Noise fight!" Shiki said, looking serious as two frog Noise appeared to their left. "I kind of feel bad just fighting two of them…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ness said from the lower plane, "that guy just said that he wanted us to test the pins Neku got. Maybe these monsters are going easy on us."

"Test them?" Neku wondered, looking at the pins he had. He eyed the pin with the wave of slicing air. "It looks like this one needs me to slash the air…" He backed away a bit as the two frog Noise from his plane approached him. Thinking quickly, Neku clutched the pin and swung his arm forward.

His body instantly flew over to the two frogs. The swinging motion he had made created a slicing cut that turned his hand into a weapon. His hand pushed the two frogs back. Understanding how the pin worked, Neku then unleashed a barrage of slicing blows.

"Enough!" He delivered a few that had him swung his hand to the sides, but the rest made him realize that upward slicing motions were as effective. Sadly, the pin quickly ran out of power.

"Hey, next time, I want to try using that one!" Fox called out from his spot.

In the upper zone, the four kept their distance from the frogs. "Why are we backing away? Those frogs don't look all that dangerous to me," Ike said.

"I feel that we need to let Neku learn how to use his new pins," Shiki said. Ike couldn't avert his eyes from looking down at the dancing Mr. Mew beside her. "He's my partner. I need him to at least fight Noise."

In the lower zone, Neku stepped back as he waited for the pin (called Shockwave) to recharge. "(Just don't let the idea that I want to become friends with any of you get into your head,)" he thought, feeling that the pin had recharged. He turned sharply around and sliced the two frogs. "(You're all just a ticket outta this Game thing. That's all you are.) C'mon!" he shouted, slicing the frogs in half. Turning into static, the frogs disappeared.

Wasting no time after erasing the Noise, Neku called the second yellow Noise symbol over, pulling them all into the two zones again.

Doing so resulted into another oddity. Ike was now dwelling the lower zone instead of the upper zone. "H-hey, what's going on?" he asked. "I was with the other three somewhere else. How come I…" He stopped talking once two more frogs appeared.

Meanwhile, in the upper zone, Pichu wondered what he could do with his pin. "(A hand… What could it do?)" He noticed that there were a few signs and traffic cones scattered around the zone. He could've sworn they weren't there before.

"I don't remember seeing these here," Shiki said.

Pichu looked back and forth between his pin (called Psychokinesis) and the traffic cones. "Uh, all I need to do is this, right?" He held the pin with both paws. Looking at a traffic cone, Pichu suddenly felt his mind wanting to fling the object away.

To their surprise, the traffic cone was flung to the two frogs, smacking them right into their heads.

Pichu's ears perked up. Quickly, he held the pin again, and the traffic cone that he flung came smacking the frogs on their backs. Still using the pin's power, Pichu flung a nearby scooter that nearly squashed the frogs flat. "A-ah!" Pichu yelped.

"Is it just me, or everybody but me can use pins?" Shiki asked, mildly ticked off. "The only pin I can use is the one I put on Mr. Mew."

"That reminds me," Chris began as he took his fire pin, "I haven't used mine… Like this?" he asked, clutching the pin and releasing a stream of fire that his own mind controlled. Gasping as he saw the small blazing fire, he directed it to the two frogs, successfully erasing them all. "W-wow…" he muttered, startled by what he just did.

"Oh, EVERYBODY is a pin master," Shiki said annoyed. "But maybe you really can't use that many pins… I-I'm not saying I want you to have the worst of luck, though!"

Neku saw that there was a third yellow symbol to get rid of. He called it over, and the group appeared on both planes for the last time. Ike, though, had appeared back with the trio in the upper plane. "How come you keep changing places?" Pichu asked.

"Seriously, it's like you're some sort of glitch or something," Shiki commented. "(Then again, how come ALL of you can enter the same fights me and Neku start? They don't know for sure…)"

Neku and Ness decided to use the last two new pins of the collection. Clutching the lightning pin (called Thunderbolt), Neku closed his eyes and started levitating, much to the group's surprise. Suddenly, out of nowhere, lightning charges came and enveloped the frogs, staggering them with electricity. "Damn, I wish I could do that," Fox said.

As the lightning kept shocking the frogs, Ness stared at the pin (called Force Rounds) in his hand. "This one looks like an energy blast. Naturally, something has to come out of my hand, right?" he asked rhetorically, clutching the pin with his left hand and holding out his open palm to the frogs. A sudden rush of energy went into his palm and shot several bullets that struck the frogs down. "Ah, the satisfying feeling of shooting energy blasts out of you palm…"

"That's it, I don't want to feel left out anymore," Fox said. Instead of using his fire pin, there was something else that was related to fire. Wondering if he still had it with him, Fox clutched his right fist over his chest, calling forth a red glyph under his feet. Smirking a bit, a chant came to mind. "Burn and disappear! Fira!" He swung his fist to the side, and the frogs were encased in a huge flame. Within the flame, the frogs were erased successfully.

"You can use magic here?" Chris asked in complete surprise.

"Huh, I guess anything I put on my Trophy Stand died with me," Fox said.

"That's great! It'll make things easier."

The two planes then merged together…

The World Ends With You – Déjà vu

Experiencing the fusion of two zones three times in a row left Ike very dizzy. "P-please…time out…" he muttered.

"How could you get dizzy?" Shiki asked. "Sure, we fought three battles in a row, but I don't feel weird at all." She rubbed her chin. "Maybe that's what you get for not having a partner?"

"Then…then I better find one soon…"

As Shiki looked worried over Ike's situation, she turned to Neku. He had the same look that said "I'm thinking here so you better not talk to me you big weirdo". "You were right. We have to scan to see the Noise," she said.

"That takes care of them all," Neku said.

Behind them, the red-hooded man said, "Objective met."

A sound of something opening came from the left. Turning around, Shiki immediately touched the wall, finding out that there was no wall trapping them anymore. "I-it's gone! Why?" Shiki asked in surprise.

"Aren't you paying attention?" Neku asked. "Because we took out the Noise, the wall disappeared."

Chris sighed in relief. "So that's how you make these walls disappear… We just have to beat Noise," he realized. "With that many of us working together, doing these missions will be easy."

Shiki recalled the nagging question burning in her mind. "But that's odd…" She got everyone's attention. "I thought you were supposed to fight Noise with a single pair of Players, yet you all easily barged into our fight without trouble…"

"That is because the rules of the Game have changed for you."

Half of them gasped when the red-hooded man approached them. "W-what did you say?" Ness asked.

"The Game has changed the rules for you," he said. "Before, a single pair of Players could fight in two simultaneous zones. These two Players would not be able to see each other at all. However…new rules were issued by the higher ups. In this case, Players can now communicate with each other when purging both zones from Noise. Furthermore, the Game has become easier if Players do happen to work together with another pair… Not many have found out about the last condition, though." He pointed at the seven of them. "In fact, you are the only ones who have done it so far. Rest assured that you are not breaking any rules for now."

A big assault of questions was ready to be unleashed on the man, but he walked away and vanished before their very eyes. "…What is with that guy?" Shiki wondered.

"That was very…informative," Ike said. "Is he probably one of those higher ups he mentioned?"

"(He must be one of them,)" Neku thought.

Shiki stared at the spot where the red-hooded man had disappeared. "He's gone, so there's no use talking to him anymore…" Chuckling, she turned to face Neku. "Well, anyway...You did great."

"What?"

"You were able to use all the pins!" she said with relief, making Neku look at the pins he had.

"So?" he asked.

Shiki smiled warmly. "You're like some sort of psych genius!"

Neku sighed mentally. "(Come on. Using a couple of pins doesn't make anyone a genius. Don't be naïve. The bigger question...is where these came from.)"

As Neku thought to himself, Chris noticed an odd occurrence. The orange-haired teen had two Player Pins with him instead of one. "Um… Did you notice you have two Player Pins?" he asked.

The loner stared flatly at him. "So?"

Shiki noticed the second Player Pin. "So why two? You only need one," she pointed out. "Does anybody else have two Player Pins?" The Smashers started searching around their pockets, finding no extra pins with them. They all shook their heads. "Weird…"

"(How should I know where I got a second one?)" Neku thought. "(Why do I have any of them? I need them for psychs, so I can stop the Noise from killing me. But how'd I get 'em?)

The fashionista felt a bit too stressed that Neku wasn't saying much. "Well, umm..." The glare she got from him made her panic a bit; panic enough to flail her hands to the sides. "Two is better than one! So, like, don't feel bad!"

"(You're the one who said I only need one...)"

Shiki looked relieved. "Think how lucky I am! My partner's a psych whiz. A genius! You're a genius, Neku! I'd never make it without you!" The Smashers aww'd silently.

Neku grunted mentally. "(If you're going to flatter someone... you could try to sound a little genuine,)" he thought.

They felt that the teen was ignoring them all once he turned his back on them. Looking perplexed, Shiki asked, "Neku, you listening?"

"..."

His partner grunted. "Stop that. I'm just trying to be nice," Shiki said.

"I'm listening," Neku said casually, not turning around still.

"Well, how am I supposed to tell when you just stand there?" She crossed her arms. "You should take off those headphones. It's rude."

Oh no, she just did not diss my headphones, Neku thought.

Turning around sharply, Neku glared at her. He was in high gear now. "Would you shut the hell up!" he yelled. "I just met you. I don't like you." He scoffed and faced his back to her. "And I don't give a rat's ass if you think I'm rude!" Without much of a word, Neku started walking to the west as a saddened Shiki stared after him, her eyes completely blank.

Ike stepped forward. "You better apologize to her!" he shouted at Neku.

"Shove that big sword of yours up your ass and then try talking back to me!" Neku retorted without looking back. Many jaws fell. "Mind your own business, freaks!"

Although the atmosphere had suddenly turned for the worse, the others looked at each other. "The nerve of that guy," Ness said. "He's pretty anti-social."

"It's like a bizarre, opposite version of me," Chris muttered.

Pichu noticed that Shiki looked sad, staring at her phone. He heard her mutter to herself, "What am I going to do?" He climbed her back all the way to her left shoulder, startling her a bit. She immediately pocketed the phone into her bag. "Don't feel sad, Shiki," Pichu said. "You still have us…"

Shiki silenced a small gasp, a small tear running down her cheek. She forced a smile and petted Pichu's head. "Thank you, really…" She saw that the others were looking at her with bright looks, but those looks were forced. "I still have you guys…" She gasped when she realized she was partner-less. Turning to the west, they saw Neku about to reach broad daylight. "Hey! Wait up!" she called out as she broke into a sprint, unintentionally dragging Pichu on her shoulder.

"I hate this," Ike suddenly spoke. "She has to use his help to make it out of this Game thing, and yet he behaves just like Soren: very anti-social."

"No kidding," Ness said. "Let's hope he's not the villain of this story…"

"…" Chris looked unsure. "Should we really let them go alone? He might just make her cry…"

"Also, she kind of stole Pichu from me," Ness said.

"Move!" Fox suggested. The four followed the trio down, out of the underpass at last…

West Exit Bus Terminal

"A terminal served by most Tokyo bus lines. Normally, this is your ticket all over the city."

The exit of the underpass led them all into whole rows of busses stationed across a fence. The place they had entered was now teeming with people that, as usual, didn't know there were some weirdos wearing some stylish clothes coming from the underpass. Posters for upcoming events were occupying a lot of space over signs and walls. To the north, there was an Easter Island-esque statue in the middle of a small garden, right in front of a building that held no particular features.

Seeing that Neku was accelerating his pacing, the six quickly joined him, much to his chagrin as he crossed his arms and looked at them with disgust. "Where are you going? I'm your partner!" Shiki shouted at him, her hand still petting a worried Pichu's head. She was subconsciously using him for support to confront Neku.

"…Gotchu punks now."

Yet another new voice startled them. Chris turned around just in time to receive a heavy fist punch his stomach. The hit was so bad that he doubled over and fell to the floor, clutching his damaged area. "Why…do I have to get hurt now…" he muttered.

"Hey, what's going on now?" Shiki asked, facing the newcomer standing in front of the hurt teenager.

Judging his looks, the newcomer was another teenager that had a punk look going on. Although he was the same age as Neku and Shiki, he was tall enough to reach Chris's height. The teen wore a black beanie with a big skull mark on the front. The beanie had a small tail running behind his short blond hair, which was hidden by it along with his fierce blue eyes. He wore a sleeveless orange shirt under a sleeveless white shirt, with a black chain necklace reaching his stomach. On the low end of the chain necklace, he had a black skull. He wore pale yellow pants baggy shorts with red-and-black shoes. On the left side of his pants, he wore a chain of strings tied together. His left wrist, meanwhile, had a think black leather wristband. The punk look was reinforced by his sleek built.

"You got us good yesterday," he said, confusing Shiki as Fox passed her and approached the punk, "but today I'ma crush you y-OOF!"

Fox immediately delivered a punch of his own up the punk's stomach, intentionally delivering a stronger punch than the one the punk had given to Chris. Losing his breath, the blond punk doubled over on the floor, gasping for breath as Fox adjusted his right glove and glared down at him. "You better have a good damn explanation for punching my own partner!" Fox complained. "But something tells me you don't, so stay the hell away from him if you know what's good for you!"

Humorously, Chris closed his eyes and cried. "M-my hero…" he muttered before Fox helped him to get up.

"You okay?" Fox asked.

"I-I'll manage…" Chris muttered. Fox grinned and patted his back. "(I forgot he's kind of into violence…)"

While Neku dropped his glare to stare down at Fox's victim, Shiki shyly stood close to him. "Um… You've got the wrong person," she said. "Neku, you know this guy?"

"Don't insult me," Neku said. "I don't go around punching people to make problems."

"Oh, that makes me sooo glad," Chris said.

Ike stared at the punk, still doubled over. "Geez, Fox, you kind of went too far," he noted.

"So what? He was messing with us for no reason. I hate this kind of people," Fox simply said.

"Beat, stop it!" came another voice from the west, although the voice sounded far sweeter and inviting. Staring forward, the group of seven saw a young girl running to them with a shocked look on her face. She looked down at the punk. "They're not… Oh dear, he already got himself hurt." She sighed in defeat and hung down her arms, closing her eyes in shame. "I wish I could've run faster…"

The girl that had run into the scene was very young to be considered younger than ten years, but not older than twelve. She was a blond girl who also wore a black beanie with a small skull emblem hanging on top of her head. Her beanie was small, so it didn't obscure much of her blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a long-sleeved, pale orange T-shirt with a skull cross symbol on the front, though the black skull on her shirt made a heart shape. Over that skull symbol, there was a necklace that held a bell. Below her shirt, she wore baggy white shorts and yellow-and-black shoes. Her face hinted a sense of kindness.

In a low voice, Ness pointed up at Fox and said, "He did it." Fox gave him a nudgie.

The young girl stared at them. "Sorry if my partner annoyed you," she said. "He's very hot-headed and only thinks things through after punching." For some reason, she did not ask why there were a few of them who dressed rather peculiarly. "Are you all Players? You must be. You wouldn't be looking at us if you weren't. I can see you're all holding Player Pins."

"Oh…" Shiki trailed off. "…So what's his deal?"

The young girl looked down at the punk. "Give him a few minutes, please," she said.

Two minutes later…

Having recovered a bit from his strong blow, the blond teen was slouching down in shame, his partner smiling behind his back. "Yo, sorry I jumped to conclusions," he said.

"Sorry you punched me!" Chris complained. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The girl chuckled. "You'll have an easier time asking what is right with him," she said. His overall taller partner felt embarrassed. "But anyway, he was thinking you were Reapers. That's why he kind of startled you."

"(Don't pit us with them,)" Neku thought. "(How do they even look, anyway?)"

The blond punk scratched his head, looking up at the sky. "Yesterday this pink-haired chick cornered us before we could get to 104," he explained, slouching down just remembering the event they had gone through. "Then Pinky sicked a buncha Noise on us… Messed us up bad, yo."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Are you color blind, or do you see any pink in my hair?" he asked.

"Color blindness is another wrong thing with him," the girl said casually. His partner didn't yell back at her. He just blushed a bit.

"Yeah, yo…" her partner said, standing right back up. "Hey, hold up. We should do introductions." He grinned. "The name's Beat."

"Beat" is a very impulsive 15-year old youth of Shibuya who likes skateboarding and goofing off all day. He never does keep his thoughts to himself, voicing them out as quickly as possible. Brawn dominates the area in his mind, while intelligence is barely holding any ground that prevents him from understanding many hard words. Despite his tough look, he is a big softie at heart, and he also doesn't mind the idea of making friends as long as they don't rub him the wrong way. He is absolutely embarrassed of his first real name. His manner of speech is that of a stereotypical punk. For some reason, he is incredibly submissive to his young partner no matter how many times she teases him.

"And this is my…" Beat hesitated a bit, "…my partner, Rhyme."

"Hello!" Rhyme said brightly.

"Rhyme" is the total opposite of Beat in many aspects. She is an extremely sweet, kind young girl who very, very rarely thinks ill of people. Rhyme has a very earnest and hard-working attitude and has an addiction to adages and no shortage of smiles. Even though she is young, Rhyme holds many dreams and a lot of imagination for the future. Despite her rather punk-look, Rhyme is pretty mature and smart whose parents are proud of her, unlike her headstrong partner Beat. Without her, Beat would be completely lost in the Game.

"Hi! I'm Shiki," Shiki said. "We're kind of a big group. Let's see…this here is Chris," Chris nodded, "this here is his partner Fox," Fox nodded, "next is Ness," Ness nodded, "next is his partner Pichu here on my shoulder," Pichu wagged his tail, "and next is Ike," Ike nodded.

"Wow, that's a lot of Players," Rhyme said.

"Yo, lots of 'em is wearing cosplays," Beat said.

Rhyme stared flatly at him. "I don't think those are cosplays," she said as she approached the vulpine and stroked his tail. Fox blushed under the fur of his face. "I've never seen such a convincing cosplay… Ah, it moved!" she said startled…and then she smiled. "How curious! I'm so lucky to meet people like you all."

"What?" Chris said. "You're not scared of seeing a humanoid fox or a little yellow creature?"

Rhyme mumbled a bit. "Being dead and yet feeling alive leaves an ever bigger impression, if you ask me," she said. She giggled. "Anything in between kind of becomes not-so shocking anymore."

"Yo, Rhyme," Beat said, looking wary, "dontchu go easy on them!"

"Why?" Rhyme asked as she picked Pichu and held him close to her cheek. The Electric-type giggled as he rubbed his cheek with hers. "They're not exactly destroying anything. Why are you judging books by their covers like that, Beat?"

Ness stared at Rhyme, very incredulous that she had no intention to scream her head off. It was kind of a rare time when a normal human reacted so kindly to them. "(Where has her kind been ALL this time?)" he asked.

"Whaaaaaat?" Beat asked, rubbing his head. "I'm not judgin' no books."

While the rest of the group looked dull at him, his partner frowned. "Forget what I said," Rhyme said with a small giggle.

Shiki chuckled and noticed Neku was several feet away from the big group, feeling that it was getting too crowded. "That over there's Neku. He's my partner." They looked to Neku. He gave them a good look at his back. "Ugh…"

"What's with the phones? He still mad?" Beat asked.

"No…he's just Neku. Don't feel bad," Shiki said.

"But he was insul-" Shiki quickly covered Chris's mouth without looking.

Beat grinned. "Hey, I know!" he said. "Lemme give you a tip to make up for jumpin' yas. You figure out how to use your phones yet?"

"You mean our cell phones?" Shiki wondered. "Well… We don't get any calls… Sending messages doesn't work either. All we do with ours is check the mission mail." She sighed. "Do they do anything else?"

Rhyme said, "We played around a bit and found some things-"

Beat interrupted her. "Whoa, you mean you ain't usin' yours? You two…I mean, seven gonna get owned down the road, yo!"

"I'm not too old enough to own my own cell phone yet," Ness said. "Damn parental rules."

"My headgear is my cell phone of sorts," Fox said.

"I'm a home phone person myself," Chris admitted.

"I don't even have a home to use the phone," Pichu said.

"What's a cell phone?" Ike asked. The other Smashers shot him with odd looks. His question would never be answered.

Shiki, Rhyme, and Beat dismissed the mercenary's claim as a joke. "It's cool!" Beat said. It really wasn't that cool to him. "You seven got questions, you ask us. Gotta put our heads together, you feel me?"

Shiki got startled when she felt a small tremor of footsteps. The Smashers got closer to the fourth pair of Players. "We got a lot of questions!" Chris said.

Rhyme stared at her left palm. The timer was at forty minutes. "I guess we have time to answer questions," she said. "Oh! That reminds me. You can pick your pins using your phone."

"We got hammer space for that," Ness said.

"…Okay?" Rhyme said confused. She took out six pins with images of cans of orange sodas (called Cure Drinks). "Here, you can have these. We have extras so don't be shy!"

"Sweet!" Ness rejoiced. He, Chris, Ike, Pichu, Fox, and Shiki took one each.

Fox smiled and crossed his arms. "Well, here's our first question. Do you know why we lose consciousness after clearing a mission?" he asked.

Beat looked up while Rhyme rubbed her chin. "All we know is that clearing a mission will take you away somewhere else without your consent," Rhyme said. "I guess you'll be taken away after clearing today's mission, too…but Beat and I never finished the mission yesterday, yet here we are."

Shiki bit her lip. "Hmm, maybe you guys got taken here after we cleared the mission," she theorized.

"If that's true, then we doesn't need to worry!" Beat piped up. "Sweet!"

"Yeah," Rhyme said. "Other Players might clear the mission, and anybody who's still in the Game can advance."

"Let's kick back and relax, yo!"

The young blond shook her head. "It's too early to say. That doesn't sound too good," she said. "What if we're able to clear a mission and we just…don't do it and nobody else can? I don't want to think what'll happen if these timers hit zero…" She stared at her timer. "Maybe we'll get erased if we hit zero…or maybe not."

"Wait, nothing happens if it hits zero?" Ness asked.

"Who knows?" Rhyme asked. "They just told us that we shouldn't waste time. Nobody ever did hit zero yesterday at all."

"Hard to tell, yo," Beat said, sighing.

"So what is this Reapers' Game thing?" Chris asked.

"We have to stay alive for seven days," Rhyme answered.

"And there's a new mission every day," Beat answered.

"And if you take notice, the Reapers are the same ones who send the missions," Rhyme said. "We don't know much about the Reapers themselves, but they are…very strong. If you meet one like the girl with pink hair from yesterday that attacked us in the scramble crossing, you got to run away."

"I have a feeling we can take them on," Ike said with a serious look.

"Uh, I don't know if a big group can make a difference," Rhyme said. "If you want to tell who the Reapers are, they have black wings on their backs that kind of resemble the outlines that Noise have. They are incredibly strong…"

"We couldn't scan her," Beat said. "Dontchu try scannin' a Reaper. You won't get nothing."

"Or other Players, apparently," Rhyme added.

"If she's a Reaper…doesn't that mean she gives the missions to us?" Chris asked.

"Who knows…" Beat trailed off, scratching his beanie. "There is more than one Reaper. Yo, that reminds me, 'sup with today's mission? It don't make sense."

"What's your take on the mission?" Shiki asked.

"The cursed sculpture or whatever?"

"It's gotta be Hachiko," Rhyme said.

Shiki brightened up. "Yeah! That's just what I said!"

"But the problem is the curse part," Chris said. "What's that about?"

Rhyme thought for a moment until she sighed. "You got me," she said.

"We should probably start by heading that way," Shiki said.

"Can't," Beat said, looking up. "There's a wall, yo."

"No problem," Ness said. "We figured out that we need to clear some conditions to open those walls. There was this guy in red that seemed to open the wall that held us back there."

Rhyme smiled a bit. "Oh? Really? We did see men in red near the walls," she said. "So they can open the walls…"

The Onett boy stepped forward and showed them his pin. "What about this? How come this pin works as some sort of weapon?" he asked.

"Pins are the rage in Shibuya," Rhyme explained. "There are over 200 pins that people wear over their clothes. When you wear the right pin, you'll become popular in some way… But here in the Game, the pins gain special properties that let Players fight Noise." Her face fell. "I dunno why many pins don't work with some Players. I can only use a few."

"Me uses only one," Beat said. "Gives my skateboard some crazy power, yo! I can smack Noise silly with the base while I ride it! I doesn't need another pin."

Shiki smiled and looked at Neku. "He can use a lot of them for some reason he doesn't know," she said. "Oh! And the guys can use some as well. I only use one, though…but it's pretty useful."

The group fell silent.

"…Did we run out of questions?" Chris asked.

"Looks like it," Ness said.

Rhyme chuckled. "Good! Always happy to help," she said.

"We can do this together," Shiki said, brightening their moods. "Things are bound to get tough as days pass, but all of us managed to fight Noise just fine."

Rhyme's mouth opened and then she closed it. "You can fight together? That's really nice!" she said impressed.

Beat smiled. "Yo, we should all work together!" he suggested. The big group nodded in agreement, except for Neku who was still standing away from them.

Rhyme nodded. "They say two heads are better than one. And nine has to be better than two!" she said, making a happy expression and folding her arms behind her back.

"I love that kind of math," Ness commented. "Let's do this."

Shiki nodded next. "It'll be more fun that way. Right, Neku?"

The Smashers immediately dropped their bright looks. "Oh dear," Pichu muttered. "You mentioned the one…"

Neku had been out from the entire talk from the very beginning they met Beat and Rhyme. Turning around, the orange-haired teen crossed his arms. "Do what you want. I work alone," he said. "There's way too many weirdos following me around. I don't need two more."

Shiki stomped on her steps as she approached him. "Neku! How can you say that after all the help they gave to us?" she asked.

"(Don't ask me. Maybe I'm just angry.)"

"We're on your si-"

"I can't scan you. You could be Players…" he narrowed his glare, "or you could be Reapers. I have no way of knowing."

"That's completely absurd!" Ike said, suddenly stepping into the conversation. Beat and Rhyme watched. "We don't even know what they are!"

"And?" Neku questioned. "Like I said before, I can't tell anything. For all I know, you people are ought to stab my back."

Chris covered his mouth. Things were suddenly escalating for the worse. "W-we would never do such a thing!" he said.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Neku asked rhetorically. "Just go the hell away."

Shiki interjected. "But the Player Pins!" she said.

"That's not enough," Neku said.

"Yo, Phones!" Beat called over. "What the hell's your problem?! We just lookin' out for you, and you treat us like this?"

"Don't get angry, Beat…" Rhyme muttered.

Ness shook his head at the fourth pair. "We're not like him! We really do appreciate your help!" he said.

Rhyme looked worried. "I can see where Neku's coming from," she said, sighing in shame. "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth…"

Seeing Rhyme sad instantly pushed an anger button inside Beat. Slowly but surely, the blond punk lost it. "Rrgh… YOU PIECE A' DIRT!" he yelled angrily. "Screw you! We don't want your help!" Scoffing, he turned around and walked away. "Let's bounce, Rhyme."

Rhyme noticed she was still holding Pichu. She stared at his saddened face. "Please, don't leave us…" Pichu whimpered.

"…" Rhyme suddenly looked serious and stood her ground, surprising the rest of the team. "This can't go on like this," she muttered. "This is a big chance for us to pass just like that…" She petted Pichu's head and walked closer to them, putting up a smile. "You don't mind if I tag along, do you? I'll try to do my best to support the team."

Shiki gasped. "Wait, you're coming, then?"

"Sure!" Rhyme said, ignoring the dark glare Neku was giving her. "I can't just leave you, not after we spoke. Besides…" she held Pichu up above, "how can I refuse not spending time with the rest of you? I really, really want to get to know you all better. It's not like you get the chance to have a little guy like this around you for a day."

"Yay!" Pichu rejoiced, winning over her heart. Rhyme giggled as she brought him close to her face.

"Just having Beat is not enough to make me feel okay, you know?" she said, turning to the Smashers. "I won't get in your way… In fact, don't get in my way, okay?" she teased. The five could only reply with a few chuckles.

Rhyme joined your team!

Shiki clasped her hands. "Thank you so much, Rhyme!" she said. "But what about Beat?"

Rhyme put up a blank look. "Let's just say I have almost complete control over him," she said. Out of a cue, an angry Beat rushed back into the scene. "Hi there, Beat."

"Whatchu doin', Rhyme? Let's bounce!" Beat said. "We don't hafta work around some guy who keeps puttin' you down!"

"Oh, that's okay. I know Neku didn't mean those things," Rhyme said.

"(This girl… She's good,)" Neku thought, "(…at annoying me. Tsk, whatever…)"

"What?!" Beat said, making a fist. "Rhyme! You can't be serious!"

Rhyme moved her face down, but her eyes looked up at Beat. "Beat, don't make me say the word," she said.

"Huh?"

"Daisuke-"

"BWAAAH!"

The action came hitting their ears like a truck. The group quickly covered their ears in pain. Beat hid his extremely embarrassed look behind his arms, standing on one foot and somehow keeping perfect balance. Rhyme, though, didn't look fazed. "So?" she said.

"Y-you're…you're not doing this right, yo!" Beat whimpered behind his arms. "C-C'mon, Rhyme! Let's ditch them!"

"No," Rhyme said, heavily emphasizing the negative word. "I made up my mind. I'm going with them. We've got to take this chance, Beat. We can't let it slide!"

"B-but this is crazy!"

Rhyme sighed. "Daisuken-"

"BWAAAH!" Beat yelled so loud that it made many of them back away. Rhyme continued being unfazed by the overly loud noise that was Beat's scream.

"Geez!" Ike said, covering his ears. "That guy's got good lungs! What is wrong with him?!"

Rhyme stared blankly at Beat. "I'm sorry, Beat, but you give me no choice," she said. "I'm gonna have to keep doing this till you agree."

He was not looking forward to hear that name again. "A-awright!" Beat said, shivering in fear as he stood normally once more. "I-I'll tag along! There! Happy?"

Beat made your ears bleed and joined your team!

The young blond giggled. "I knew you'd understand!" she said.

Once he saw that everything was calm, Fox put his hands down from his ears. "Dear god, why does he yell like that?" he asked.

"Ah, it's nothing, really," Rhyme said, waving a hand. Beat looked defeated. "Beat just dislikes hearing his first name because it's very embarrassing."

"Why is it so embarrassing?" Pichu asked.

"N-no need to know, you little yellow mouse!" Beat said in desperation. "Really, Rhyme, pullin' off something like that is just…just…just…!"

"Oh, hush, you," Rhyme teased. "I know what we're doing here, Beat. There is no need to worry as long as we stay together as a group of Players."

Beat eyed Neku. "He thinks we're Reapers!" he said. "I'm never gonna be one!"

"We know we aren't," Rhyme said. "That's enough for us to convince him. Regardless, we have six other people for protection… Of course, we're protecting them too." She turned to the group and nodded. "The timer's putting us under stress. Let's go to Hachiko!"

Her partner forced a twitching smile. Beat was ready to beat Neku up if he dared make Rhyme feel bad again. "Y-yeah, yo, let's get goin'!" he said. Despite the funny looks he got from the group, the nine Players moved north.

Shiki wasn't going to let Neku off the hook after he tried to shoo Beat and Rhyme away. As a very enthusiastic Rhyme got into a friendly talk with the Smashers while Beat gave them odd looks, Shiki approached a silent Neku. She had to talk to him seriously. "We should all stick together, and you know it!" she whispered to him.

"Then why don't you go with them?" Neku asked, giving her a pissed look.

"Listen to yourself…" Shiki said. "We're partners, Neku. But I don't understand you!" she snapped rather loudly. "Let me in! Tell me what you're thinking!"

Neku crossed his arms. "Let yourself in. You can scan me," he said.

"You know that's impossible!" she hissed. "Besides, we're right here. Let's just talk to each other-"

He looked away. "And say what?" he asked. "I'm not opening up to anyone. Ever." He pocketed his hands. "Other people just hold me back. I can do things my own way." With that, he walked further away from a perplexed Shiki.

"N-Neku!" she called out. After Neku did no effort to look back at her, she sighed in depression. Once more, she took out her cell phone to stare at the screen. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do…"

"You could ask us for help…"

Shiki quickly hid her phone and looked down. Pichu was staring up at her. Forcing a smile, Shiki picked him and carried him on her arms. "Oh, it's you, Pichu," she said.

Pichu frowned. "Please, drop the petting," he said. "I want to focus on your problem with Neku."

"Wha…?" Shiki looked shocked. "I…"

The Electric-type looked worried. "Stop it, please," he said. "I'm just not a mindless Pokémon trying to act cute to get anything I want. I can understand others' problems just fine!" Shiki wondered what a Pokémon was. She thought it was something young fanatics of Shibuya were enthralled with. "I've seen you struggle to get Neku to like you! …And we're struggling to do the same, too."

Shiki sighed. "I can't believe you're…"

"I figure a loooooooooooot of things for myself," Pichu said. "I want to help you the most, Shiki. I really want to!"

"How?" Shiki asked, tilting her head.

"Let me in. Tell me what you're thinking."

The teen gasped, recalling the same words she shouted at Neku. "Well… We hardly know each other…"

"That didn't stop you from trying to get Neku to open up to you," Pichu pointed out. "He's your partner, I know, but it's still the same. My friends and I…and you are in a big problem. You said yourself we need to stick together."

"Y-yeah…"

Pichu raised a paw. "How about it? Can you let me in?" he asked with a sweet smile. "I don't want to see you mop around like that! If Neku doesn't want you, you have me!"

Shiki thought things over, nodding shyly afterward. "Okay… I'm going to let you in, then," she said.

The Electric-type frowned. "You're unsure. Try smiling for me," he said. "I wanna see you smile! Be optimistic! Things will turn out okay!"

The fashionista smiled a bit. "Okay, I'll push him a little harder until he opens up to me," she said.

"Remember that you have me," Pichu said, playfully nudging his head into her face. With some renewed hopes, Shiki joined the group.

In the darkness of an alley, a tall figure stood a good seven feet. He stared at the group, but his overall focus was on Shiki. "That young lady… She has just the ingredient I need," he spoke in a gruff voice, fading away from sight.

Twenty minutes later…

Statue of Hachiko

Beat and Rhyme proved to be valuable allies. They had seen Beat using a skateboard that acted oddly by releasing strong air waves that came out from multiple skidding motions. He could also hop into the air and constantly smack Noise down. As for Rhyme, she held the reigns of the team. She was only able to use a few pins, mainly ones that were energy blasts. Both of them, though, admitted that it was so weird to have so many people fighting the same Noise at once. They became awfully impressed when the Smasher side showed no signs of using pins much of the time.

The group of nine Players made for an excellent team, despite the fact Neku was trying really hard to distance himself from everyone, especially Shiki herself. Many nasty nicknames came to his mind, and he just happened to use a few of them whenever she "nagged" at him long enough. No matter what happened, Pichu and some others consoled Shiki whenever she felt down in the slumps. The situation got so bad that even Beat tried to rip Neku a new one, but Rhyme held him back…in spirit, which was not very effective. Fox and Ike had their hands full trying to keep the punk away from reaching out for Neku's throat. Worse yet, Neku had come up with insulting names for the Smashers. "Biggie Head" wanted Ness to throw him to the trash. "Furry Furball" was just begging Fox to rip him a new one instead. "Furry Furball Fanboy Sidekick" utterly made Chris feel bad.

Pichu did notice that, whenever Shiki got sad, she would take her phone out and stare it for long periods of time. The young Smasher tried a few times to sneak up on her and see what she was looking at, but he was very slow. Shiki so fervently hid it back into her bag. Taking it out when she wasn't looking felt wrong, Pichu thought. He tried asking her about it, but she dodged the question. What was she hiding?

The only distraction that worked nicely was the mission itself. After taking down a wall, the group had done other requirements to find out what the curse of Hachiko was. They had scanned a man who wished to rub Hachiko. When Shiki said that Hachiko looked different, they figured that they needed to rub it. The golden statue was plain dirty, and there was a blue scar that looked like blue dirt on its left side. The Hachiko area turned out to be over a rightward slope that was connected to the west exit.

The nine stood around the statue of the dog. Being invisible to the crowd of people, they were completely safe from getting labeled as public perpetrators.

"Rub it, eh?" Beat said.

"I hope we don't get cursed," Rhyme commented. "Hachi Fest made me doubt about touching Hachiko in the wrong spot…"

The statue was a little bit too high for the nine to reach. Pichu, Ness, Rhyme, and Neku were given a boost by the others to rub the statue. They had already scanned the statue, but there was nothing. However, they learned from a very, very messed up, alive man that the statue's worries needed to be "rubbed away". Shiki weighed less than Neku, but she had a short skirt. She thought it'd be scandalous if somebody were to…

There was an angry growl.

"You say something, Neku?" Shiki wondered.

"Nope," said Neku. They polished the statue a little more… For whatever reason, it started to turn grey. It was suddenly gaining fur on top of everything.

"You know... It seems the more we polish... the less this looks like Hachiko..." Shiki wondered.

"GRRRRR..."

"Yo, I think the fox is doing the growling!" Beat said.

"I don't growl like that," Fox said.

"GRRRRRRRRRR…"

"I…think it's coming from…" Rhyme trailed off as she polished the backside of the statue. There was more fur that shot up once the dirt was put away. Gasping, Rhyme pushed herself back, and Beat caught her in time. "T-the statue!"

The others looked at the statue taking the shape of a very vicious grey wolf. The moment they saw that it was breathing heavily, they backed off and put their partners down to the floor. Unlike the frog Noise, the wolf Noise looked a lot more dangerous. Its front legs were blue outlines that heavily defined claws, and its tail had also been altered by the outlines. On its grey fur, it had blue scars that ran all the way over its head, circling around its white eyes.

"So that's the curse in the flesh!" Ike said, drawing out his sword.

There was only one wolf Noise, but then four more wolves leaped out from the background and guarded the statue stand. The wolf they had released leapt down and assumed the front, baring its fangs together with its pack.

"None of you guys really think the frogs were hard, right?" Ness asked. "These monsters are surely a lot harder to deal with…"

Fox cracked his knuckles. "I'll just imagine I'm beating Wolf four times," he said with a grin. The five wolves leapt to the group, and the planes were disturbed…

Neku, Fox, Ness, and Rhyme appeared in the lower plane facing Hachiko statue. Shiki, Chris, Pichu, Beat, and Ike appeared in the upper plane facing the burger joint next to the statue. Out of static, the five wolves appeared simultaneously in both zones, growling menacingly.

"I forgot to say something important!" Shiki said. "Have any of you seen a green aura taking over your body as you attack?"

"Oh, I barely remember seeing that when we got to fight Noise," Chris said.

Rhyme took over. "That's a light puck," she said. "Supposedly, two partners tied to each other transfer energy to one another as you fight Noise. When one delivers some kind of strong blow from multiple ones or just one single blow, they create a light puck that goes over the other Player."

"And what happens, then?" Pichu asked.

"If you can successfully deliver a strong blow while having the light puck…your last strong attack with become two times as strong, and the light puck is gonna pass over to the other Player," Rhyme explained. "It doesn't end there! You need to act quickly or else the light puck will vanish. If you do it quickly enough, and you and your partner are very in sync, the light puck will grow stronger, which means you might even make your last attack three or four times as strong!"

The wolves growled and started running around the groups, keeping a careful approach to their prey. One of the wolves even brushed against Ike's left leg, to which then he put a tight grip on his sword. "It sure is bad enough that I don't have a partner to use that light puck thing," he said.

Rhyme wondered why a partner-less Player could fight Noise just fine, but all that was dropped once a wolf took her by surprise and lunged at her face. "A-ah!" she yelped.

Ness stepped in and smacked his baseball bat against the wolf, pushing it away. "I saw the drool in their fangs," he said, shuddering. He saw the tip of the bat with some drool on top.

The Onett had unintentionally started a light puck. A green aura shot out from Ness's body, vanishing in thin air. In the upper zone, the green aura materialized and went to join Pichu's body. He felt a warm feeling once the aura circled his small frame. "U-uh, I got it!" he said. "I got the light puck!" Shortly after, Pichu clutched his Psychokinesis pin and flung a nearby bicycle.

The bicycle was flung with strong force. It crashed against two wolves, pushing them back against the wall. As they let out collective whimpers of pain, the light puck in Pichu's body vanished, going over to Ness's body in the other zone. "And now I have it," Ness said. He didn't foresee that three wolves charged at him. Ness yelped as one by one the wolves burrowed their fangs on his arms before leaping away and running around once more. The light puck then vanished without passing to Pichu. "Aww!" Ness groaned.

"Yeah, it's not that easy to pass the light puck around," Rhyme said. She clutched her Force Round pin and shot energy blasts by putting both of her hands together.

Due to the overabundance of Players, the wolves stood no chance against their overwhelming teamwork. Soon enough, the five wolves were erased, and the nine were returned to the same space. Looking at their left hands, the timer was gone. "We did it, everyone!" Shiki said relieved. "The timer's gone!"

"Kind of evil of their part to have two cursed statues," Beat said. "Those Reapers make me sic!"

Shiki twiddled her thumbs and turned to Neku. "Hey, Neku…"

Neku looked flatly at her. Pichu intently stared at the conversation with the others. "Yeah?" he said.

"You said before you don't need any friends," she said.

Neku nodded. "Yeah. Your point?" he asked, touching a tip of his spiky hair.

"Well, you couldn't have solved Hachiko's riddle without me," she said. "It was me who figured out that we needed to polish Hachiko, right? You were…kind of acting slowly."

"What? Get real," Neku said.

Shiki looked worried, but she needed to get it all out of her chest. "If I hadn't noticed the pattern, we might not have cleared the mission," she pointed out. "Even Rhyme didn't get it."

Rhyme chuckled. "That was smart of you, Rhyme. I'm glad we tagged along," she said. Beat playfully rubbed her beanie hat.

Neku sighed. The other eight knew things were about to get nastier than the last time he lashed out on Shiki. "Listen, Stalker," he began, "I don't need you to solve one stupid riddle."

Although half of the team shot glares at Neku, Shiki decided to play it safe by teasing him a bit. "Riiight," she said. She smiled and said, "Well, if you ask me-"

"Arrrgh! This is soooooo infuriating!" came a girly voice that sounded familiar. "What… You nine again?"

Neku and Shiki immediately recognized the voice and gasped, turning to the left to see a person standing there. "That voice… You were at 104 yesterday!" Neku said.

Beat made a fist and growled. "It's Pinky!" he said as Rhyme hid behind his back for protection.

The group of nine saw through groups of living people a pink-haired girl that knew they were standing there, staring at her face. The 17-year old pink-haired girl had short pink hair that looked slightly combed, wore a little bit of red lipstick, and wore a dark blue gloved sweater that covered her hands and very short black shorts that barely reached a third of her thighs. She also wore high heel white stilettos that passed her ankles. Perhaps the most terrifying feature the woman had was the set of thin dark wings on her back that budged slightly from time to time. Her full name was Uzuki Yashiro.

Uzuki Yashiro is one of the highest ranked Reapers that work for the Reapers' Game. It is her job to see that Players play the little tourney, and it is also her job to eliminate Players. She is a hotheaded girl who hates to see her plans of "fun" being ruined, and she can't stand laid-back people who brush her off like nothing.

"Well, excuuuse me for doing my job," Uzuki said before calmly walking to them. Neku and Shiki were on the front, but the others were standing behind them.

"Then it's true?" Shiki asked, carefully hiding behind a serious Neku.

"(A Reaper... She gives out the missions?)" Neku thought with crossed arms.

" You know," Uzuki began, staring blankly at the group, "you owe me a bowl of ramen. For not disappearing like you're s'posed to."

Neku tilted his head the black wings on her back. "(This...girl is a Reaper?)" he thought.

"What's wrong? Too spooked to answer?" Uzuki asked. Smiling evilly, she opened her left hand, her nails underneath the cloth sharp enough to resemble claws. "Well, this should bring you around!"

Uzuki called Noise to fight the group…but instead of taking everyone down, Neku and Shiki vanished from sight, leaving the other seven with the Reaper behind. "H-hey, where did they go?!" Pichu asked.

"They're fighting my Noise alone," Uzuki said with a satisfied grin. "As for you, I have other things to do with you…"

Beat wanted to reach out and punch her, but he didn't want to test her. Rhyme was holding his good arm behind. "Pinky! Yo gonna go down soon!" Beat shouted.

"Not you two again," Uzuki said in disgust. "Didn't our last confrontation leave a good lesson for you?"

"Yeah! That taught us to beat you harder today!"

"Don't waste my time, you little fool," she said. "I'm not here to pick a fight with a brainless monkey and his shy little squirrel friend…" She turned to the Smashers. "I'm here to have a little talk with you, freaks."

"What?" Ness asked.

Uzuki pressed her brow. "Honestly! Where the hell did you come from?" she asked. "All I was told about was that you wandered into the Reapers' Game and joined it, despite not even belonging to Shibuya! What is up with that?"

"Uh…" Chris trailed off, unsure as to how to respond to her question. He thought they were all going to end up in the Underwhere, yet they ended up in Shibuya instead. Was the other place having some problems or was there another entirely different reason behind their appearance in the Japanese city? "We're not sure ourselves…"

"Ugh, don't give me that," Uzuki said, placing a "clawed" hand on her forehead. "It's bad enough you came out of nowhere… No matter, though," she giggled. "I get to play with special toys regardless. You're just gonna have to play the Reapers' Game by the rules!" She faced Ike. "But you, on the other hand…"

Ike gasped. Uzuki surely realized he didn't have a partner with him. He was supposed to be prey for Noise.

"…I'll have to see you squirm with this little person I happened to find!" she said as she held out her hand, making a fainted body appear as she held it with her right hand…

Final Fantasy IX – Beyond the Twilight

The only Smashers who recognized the body that appeared through static were Chris and Ike. Chris covered his mouth in complete shock, stepping back in fear. Ike, however, gritted his teeth and stepped forward. The black-haired teen was at a loss of words, unable to find an explanation to the odd event…

Uzuki was holding an unconscious Soren by her hand, his feet barely touching the street. "SOREN!" Ike yelled loudly.

"You recognize this weirdly-dressed guy?" Uzuki asked amused. "Oh, then things are going to be even better!" She saw Ike approaching her, but she moved Soren's body back, using her other claw to point at the spot where his heart was. "Get any closer and my claw is going through his frail chest."

"U-ugh…" Ike grunted, holding his position. The others shot glares at the Reaper.

"(But…but… Soren was never dead!)" Chris thought in shock. "(He was alive at the mansion before I left! If that's true, then…)" He shook his head in denial. "(It just can't be possible… That Subspace Bomb didn't really…!)"

"You dirty rat!" Beat yelled, shaking a fist. "I'ma gonna crush you once I-"

"Shuuut uuuuuuuuup," Uzuki said annoyed. "Look, what matters is that I have a hostage here. If you wanna play nice, you gotta listen to me, okay?" She looked blankly at them. "He'll be okay! Act rude and he goes bye-bye forever!"

At that moment, Soren was heard mumbling things. He slowly opened his eyes and looked behind him, shooting a weak glare at Uzuki. "You disgusting woman…" he muttered.

She shook him a bit. "Don't you go make things worse than they are for you," Uzuki warned Soren. "You wanna die?"

"You…better let me…" Soren moved his face away from her, noticing that Ike was several feet away from him. His weakened look regained a bit of energy as his eyes opened up a bit. "…Ike…Ike, is that you?"

"Y-yes!" Ike said, forcing a small smile. "It's me, Soren…"

"How…how glad I am to meet you…"

"Enough with the pity talk," Uzuki said. "Those two better come here quick. I'm getting bored waiting for them to beat my Noise."

Rhyme looked serious, peeking out from Beat's back. "How did you separate Neku and Shiki from us?" she asked.

Uzuki giggled. "Us Reapers don't have a problem doing that with Players that work together in groups for this Game in specific," she explained. "Only the lot of you realized that soon. No other Players are banding up with each other. That makes our job easier to do." She narrowed her eyes, keeping a dastardly smile. "Don't go thinking that you'll be able to fight Noise as a group forever. We have studied your progress from Day 1, and my bosses told me that we can't let things be THAT easy for you."

Fox grunted. "Yet another thing that was too good to be true… Darn it," he said.

"Oh, shut up," Uzuki said. "There's no rule that says you can't help each other with the missions! Fighting is an entirely different matter." She looked at Soren, who was giving her a nasty glare. "Your face will get that glare stuck on you if you don't stop."

"B-bite me…" Soren muttered.

"I wish I could, but there are other matters for me to attend to."

Neku and Shiki suddenly reappeared, seemingly worn out from the battle they had to go through alone. Shiki huffed as she noticed they were back. "That…that was so…" she managed to say.

"Unbelievable…" Neku added, looking over at the group. "Why didn't you…come?"

"That's because I said no," Uzuki said with a satisfied smile. "Okay, I need to move things along a little faster today, so I'll be brief with you."

Shiki gasped. "N-no! You're not planning to erase us that early, right?!" she asked. "Reapers like you can do that without much effort!"

Hearing the statement, the other eight slightly backed away. Uzuki laughed for a bit. "Ha ha ha! Aww, what? You're giving up? Booo-ring. Don't get my hopes up like that! Killjoy." She smirked and pointed her free claw at them. "Now that I'm in the mood... maybe I should finish the job."

The group gasped. The less courageous stepped back further, while the more courageous tightened their fists to be ready for an incoming attack.

Uzuki suddenly dropped her stance. "But...I can't do that," she said. Neku blinked confused. "Let's try something fun instead! That was my whole reason for holding this little hostage here," she said, eyeing the pissed Soren.

"(Another weirdly-dressed freak?)" Neku thought annoyed. "(…Oh, I know where this is going. He's related to these other freaks.)"

"A special bonus challenge for you! If you pull it off, I'll let you out of the Reapers' Game!"

The nine Players stared shocked at her proposition. Neku, blinking surprised, said, "You...you will?"

"You betcha!" Uzuki said giggling. "Sweet deal, huh? So, like, what do you say?" she asked with a small wink.

"(A ticket out...)" Neku wondered in his mind. The special challenge was tempting. He wanted so badly to go back to his life and leave the rest of the group behind for good.

Shiki saw through the entire thing before she said, "Neku, don't! Don't listen!"

"Don't!" Rhyme said. "This is clearly a trap! Don't be fooled by her lies!"

Uzuki grunted. "You back there. Shut up!" she said angrily. She smiled at Neku, seeing that he was interested in her idea. "Now, are you in, or are you out?"

"I'm in," Neku said. The others could only gasp.

As Shiki yelled his name in disbelief, the Reaper got into a small chortle. "Whee! 'Atta boy! Now, let's get started," she said. "The others can play along if they want. It'll be all the more fun! But… Oh, I forgot to mention," she said before narrowing her eyes. "If you fail... I erase you all on the spot."

"What?!" Neku said.

"Aww!" Chris groaned. "Now you see what you put us into?!"

Uzuki ignored the teen. "Thankfully the rules are veeery simple…" she trailed off.

"What rules are those?" Beat asked, still shaking a fist.

Uzuki put up a dark smile. "You have three minutes...to erase your respective partner by your own hands."

"WHAT?!" everyone but Neku said in shock. They all quickly exchanged glances with one another and backed away. Uzuki could only laugh a bit.

"Look at you all, backing away from your loyal partner!" Uzuki laughed. "Where was all that trust you put in them? Did it go away in a blink of an eye after I told you the simple rule?"

Pichu sobbed. "I-I can't… I can't erase Ness!" he cried. "It'd be like killing him to save my own life!"

As Uzuki's smile faded away at the statement, Ness lowered his hands and sighed. "I…I'm not going to erase Pichu, either," he said. "He's younger than me… I wouldn't live a good life knowing I killed him…"

Uzuki grunted. "Just because I don't want to move on to erasing you right away…I want to see what the others have to say," she said with a grin. "I wanna see somebody betraying their partner!"

Beat and Rhyme looked at each other. The blond punk looked away from her. "…Yo…I won't beat you up, Rhyme," he muttered.

Rhyme smiled warmly. "I'm not capable of hurting somebody, let alone you, Beat," she said.

Beat looked at her. After a few seconds, he smiled a bit. "Y-yeah, you're my…" He hesitated to say something important. "…You're my partner... I need you."

The young blond giggled. "I need you too in case things go badly."

Uzuki stuck out her tongue. "That was the cheesiest thing I've ever seen!" she complained. "Oh well, there's two pairs left."

No matter how easy it was for him to hurt others physically, Chris would never raise a hand against a Smasher. The serious look Fox was giving him made Chris wonder if Fox was going to go ahead with it. "I don't want to erase you, either…" Chris muttered in fear.

"And frankly speaking, me neither," Fox said. The serious look was still there. The teen was about to shed a tear. "…" Fox grinned. "C'mon, Chris! I wouldn't live with the guilt of killing you."

Chris looked startled.

Fox approached him and hung his right arm over his shoulders. "If she plans to erase us both, then she better try hard to lay a claw on our heads. I don't believe that we can't beat her together," he said with a wink.

"…F-Fox!" Chris said, hugging the startled space mercenary in a tight hug.

As Uzuki watched the vulpine pat the teen's back, she shook her head in complete disgust. "Really now? No betrayals?" she asked. "Really, really boring!"

Shiki smiled as she saw the Players support each other till the very end. When she looked at Neku staring intently at her, her bright look quickly disappeared. Neku was conflicted inside his mind. "(W-wait! Dammit... She's asking me to kill someone. There's no way I can do that. But if I don't...)

Shiki grimaced. "Neku..." she muttered in fear. Seeing that was in a big predicament, Pichu hopped to her shoulder to support her.

"Don't do it, Neku!" Pichu said. "You don't like us, but you don't hate us that much! You know you can't do that to Shiki!"

"30 seconds!" Uzuki said. Neku wasn't moving. The words Pichu told him were giving him second thoughts. "Still on the fence?" Uzuki asked before smirking. "Then let me give you an incentive…" She pointed at Shiki. "That girl? She's been spying for the Reapers."

The group gasped. "What in the world are you saying?!" Shiki asked. "I-I don't even know the Reapers!"

"Y-yeah!" Pichu said. "H-how could Shiki be a spy? She was with us all the time!"

Neku faced Shiki. "What? She's a spy?" he asked.

"Hey! What are you saying!" Shiki said indignantly.

Uzuki casually said, "Thanks for checking in so often. We couldn't have done it without you."

Shiki glared at her. "Shut up! Don't lie!" she yelled. "Neku... She's making all of this-"

Neku obscured his face inside his shirt's thick collar. "Your phone," he said. "Why did you keep playing with your phone?"

At this question, Shiki gasped. "Huh!?" She looked worried. "Oh... I was...just..."

"Just SPYING," Uzuki emphasized with a giggle. "She's not very good at covering it up."

"I didn't spy! I swear!" Shiki yelled at the laughing Reaper. When she turned around to look at the others, Shiki saw their blank looks. "What… Why are you… No!" She shook her head. "Y-you can't possibly mean…!"

"I…I did see you playing with your phone…" Ness said.

Fox's look hardened. "You were doing that a lot," he pointed out.

"It's…it's not true, right?" Chris asked, shaking his head in denial.

"That looked fishy, yo," Beat simply said, looking away.

Rhyme's face fell. "I don't want to believe it…" she trailed off.

Ike was too busy to care about Shiki judging he kept an eye on Soren. The Branded wasn't moving. He knew struggling would make the situation far more stressful for Soren than it was now.

As for Shiki, she shook her head at them. "Y-you guys… I…I don't…" Her eyes swelled with tears. "I would never…! I don't want to…!" She was finding herself at a loss of words.

Pichu looked sad at her. "Shiki… Y-you weren't…"

"No!" she cried to Pichu. "Pichu, I wasn't spying on you! You…you have to trust me!"

"I…I-I…"

Uzuki sighed. "G'bye. And thanks for playing," she said. Shiki backed off in horror. "10 seconds... You're the star, kiddo," she told Neku. "Just do things your way."

"…" Neku remained silent, yet Shiki knew he was going to do it to her. The others wanted to say something so badly to object, but they were held back after hearing the Reaper mention that Shiki spied on them.

"What are you waiting for?" the Reaper asked before flexing a claw. "Do what comes naturally. Save yourself. Screw everybody else, right?"

The tearful Shiki turned to Neku. He wasn't looking up from his collar. His eyes were hidden behind his hair. "Don't, Neku…" she sobbed. "Don't kill me..."

The seconds were counting down. Neku just said, "I have to."

The world around them felt slow as Shiki stared with a worried look at Neku. Softly speaking, Shiki told to Neku, "Please...don't kill me."

"I have to," Neku muttered under his breath.

Frightened, Shiki started backing away from her betrayer. Pichu suddenly was flung away by a psychic force that Neku had used on him judging he had swung his arm. Ness quickly caught the Electric-type with his hands, and both stared at the orange-haired teen slowly raise his right hand at Shiki. Energy was forming under Neku's palm, as he clutched an extra Psychokinesis in his left hand.

Shiki felt pressure on her neck. Gasping for breath, she felt her feet separate from the street. As people keep walking by laughing as if they were mocking the entire scene, the other seven watched in horror as the young teen was lifted up into the air. "NOOOOOO!" Pichu yelled as he went after Neku. But then, a small blast pushed him back.

Uzuki held some sort of gun with her claw. She used it to shoot Pichu. "You there! You better not do anything funny!" she yelled before pointing at Soren. "Or else this guy here gets it too!"

Ike grunted loudly as the others did the same. "Let him go!"

"Ooh, the best scene is coming up!" Uzuki said as she saw Shiki trying to free herself from Neku's psychic grip.

"…This…this can't go on like this!" Rhyme said. "We have to stop Neku!"

The others immediately agreed by nodding their heads. "We need to give her the benefit of the doubt!" Ness said.

The Reaper grunted loudly. "Are you forgetting I have this little excuse for a Player here?!" she demanded. The Smashers held themselves back as Ike blocked them from going any further.

"Shiki is going to die!" Pichu cried.

"And what about Soren?!" Ike asked.

"U…ugh!" Shiki was starting to lose consciousness. Neku was actually holding himself back from killing her, yet his strong wish to revive tempted him to strangle her…

The world became dark for Shiki…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Shiki's Week – The Jealous One"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Shibuya-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike, Neku – Shiki, Beat - Rhyme

References:

- Many TWEWY tracks were used here. There are too many that are yet to be used…

A hell lot of surprises came in this chapter. It turns out that all the dead Smashers ended up in Shibuya's Game…

Oh dear, that raises many questions, especially considering the fact that Soren showed up…

Just to make things clear, we're not having more characters from the Smasher side join the group. Whatever happens in the next chapter, we're probably going to have Chris, Fox, Ness, Pichu, and Ike around for the rest of the arc. Will Soren get the pass, though?

BTW, a promotional artwork for the arc has been released at my Colors and DeviantArt accounts (I have the links in my profile). See the team in TWEWY (and my) style (that look pretty decent)! Check it out, please! I wish to get better.

For you TWEWY fanatics, it should be pretty easy to notice the huge changes done to the story of the game. For you newcomers, I won't say them as to avoid you from getting spoiled of the real thing. Will Shiki survive this one, though? It looks like Pichu found his world partner in her…if he can keep anti-social Neku from strangling her.

I encourage you all to review…or else…uh… Oh no, I can't scare you at this moment.
*Chapter 201*: Shiki's Week - The Jealous One

Let the Reapers' Game pull you in…

From TheSoraKid: But in any case, will the Smashers be told of what their entry fees are?

From me: Yes, their entry fees shall be explained in this chapter. Do enjoy it. :)

From NowhereStarr14: And who is this, "Mr. D"? You didn't make him up? You said it was pretty obvious who it is, but I'm completely stumped. I happen to own a R.O.B. and know of the two games that used him on the NES, Gyromite and Stack-Up, and the main character of both games is Professor Hector. That's who I thought built the R.O.B.'s, but then it would have to be, "Mr. H," or something. The ONLY thing that starts with a 'D' relating Smash Bros. is Duon, but I'm almost positive that he, she or whatever it is is not the guy. Unless of course it has nothing to do with Smash Bros. Only time will tell.

And this TWEWY section, it's going to be longer than they Werehog section? Good God, the Werehog section was a HUGE chunk of the story already! But don't worry about it, I'm sure it will be just fine.

From me: He's not a made up. In fact, I'll just go ahead and say you figured it out to avoid teasing everybody about it… However, nobody knows where the doctor went to, but I won't say a thing about it till the time is right.

No, no, no. You're misunderstanding. The TWEWY "section" isn't going to be longer than the Werehog saga. I said that the TWEWY ARC is going to be the longest arc of the story, meaning it's not going to be four chapters… How many chapters there will be, though, it's a mystery. Do enjoy this chapter, too. :)

From Weird Oregonian: Is that curse still plaguing Captain Falcon?

From me: Yes, but luckily, it hasn't killed him so he won't appear here. :P

Also, no, Bob, I don't play Animal Crossing, but since it's very popular, I'll give it a try someday along the road…

Well, you people, it's time for this chapter to come into the light. A lot of hilarity, explanations about the Reapers' Game, and serious situations are all nicely packed up in here. For those of you who played TWEWY already, be on the lookout of the severe "drastic" changes that were done to the main story.

Did Shiki survive, though?

Note: The tracks used here are all TWEWY tracks with the exception of one, but for those of you who don't know, you might end up finding the FULL versions of said tracks somewhere. If it loops, you're listening to the in-game tracks.

I encourage all fashion designers to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Hell yes, Fox is very trendy.

Chapter 201: Shiki's Week – The Jealous One

Shiki's Day 3 – Who 2 Trust

-Shibuya-

?

It all seemed like everything happened so fast, but it didn't. Neku grabbed his head in pain as he found himself sprawled on the floor of some unknown location. "Nngh…" He grunted, standing back up. When he opened his eyes, Neku gasped. He found himself standing in the middle of complete darkness. Behind his back, there were some fences. "What is this place? It's dark… Is it nighttime? No, I'm indoors." He gasped again, recalling the events from yesterday. "Wait! The girl!" He frantically looked around in the darkness. He found nothing. Feeling alone at last, he hid his face under his collar shirt. "She's gone."

…

"Because of me…" Neku recalled the event. He had lifted up Shiki from the floor using Psychokinesis. When she was being lifted up, several pebbles also rose up, probably because Neku was having second thoughts of erasing her and couldn't control his grip on her all that well. The others were yelling at him from behind, yet he didn't care in the slightest what they thought about him. "…I need to get out of here." He looked up from his collar shirt. "Where's the exit?" He took out the Pyrokinesis pin. "If I use this pin for a light…"

Neku quickly found out that he couldn't make the pin work.

"Huh? It doesn't work," he said, much to his dismay. "So I can't use pins… Oh well," he shrugged his shoulders as he stuffed the pin into his pocket. "I'll just have to feel my way around." Not sooner he said that, he heard footsteps. He crossed his arms once he saw Ike's outline in the darkness.

"Oh…it's you," Ike said flatly. "You woke up here, too."

"Just my luck," Neku muttered. "I'll never get rid of you all."

Ike stiffened his look. "Like it or not, we're going to follow you around until we finish this Game thing," he said. "I bet you want to get out of here as soon as possible, too."

"Well, yeah."

"In that case, bear with us," Ike suggested. "Use us as your pass to come back to life. If you don't want to bond with any of us, then don't even bother and just do things your way."

Neku rolled his eyes. "If you want to put it that way, then that's okay with me, I guess," he said. "Just a 'friendly' warning… Don't you dare get in my way…alright?"

Rhyme had said the same words in a playful manner yesterday, but Neku's manner was an actual threat. Ike felt a bit pressured. "…Okay," Ike said nodding.

The sound of footsteps coming from behind Ike made the mercenary turn around. Neku looked forward carefully. "Ooh…" a voice said. "So dark… Where am I?"

"Show yourself!" Neku demanded.

"Ahhh!"

Neku gasped as the source of the voice came into their view range. "You?"

"Neku?! Ike?!" the fashionista said, looking startled. "You scared the crap out of me!" She calmed down and looked apologetic. "Don't do that," Shiki said.

"I scared YOU?" Neku wondered.

"Well, of course!" Ike said. "You nearly took her life away yesterday! Of course she'll be scared of you! You were going to turn into her potential murderer!"

Neku grunted, trying to ignore the mercenary. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked Shiki.

Shiki crossed her arms and moved her face away, though she looked at Neku sideways. "It was dark. I was looking for a way out!" she pointed out. Under the darkness, they couldn't see a few bruises on her legs. "I must've tripped a half a dozen times." She saw Neku taking out the fire pin. "Neku, pins only work when we fight Noise," she said.

"Really?" Neku asked. He recalled he used one outside of battle.

"Well…with a few exceptions," Shiki added.

"Like psychokinesis," Neku said. It was odd hearing him say, "W-well… It's dark. You should be more careful."

Ike raised an eyebrow. "That's odd. You never voiced concern for Shiki before," he pointed out, to which Shiki widened her eyes.

"(This is… No, I shouldn't take advantage of this,)" Shiki thought as she put up a smile. "You kidding, Neku? I already found the exit!"

Neku was back to glaring at her. "Then why didn't you lea-"

She sighed. "I'm not going anywhere without you," said Shiki. She rubbed her nose a bit. "C'mon, I'm not that useless, am I?"

The orange-haired teen looked at Ike. He couldn't tell the mercenary was giving him a funny look. "Don't do anything dumb like wander off," Neku said.

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking up at the dark ceiling. "Which one of us has been acting dumb?"

As Neku looked away in embarrassment, the trio recalled the events of yesterday…

Yesterday, the 2nd day…

Statue of Hachiko

The group of Players watched helpless as Neku slowly strangled Shiki's throat. A very thrilled Uzuki watched the event with all the intention to enjoy every second of it. "Now let's see some results!" she said.

"Hey! That's enuffa that."

Everyone but Shiki looked behind the Reaper to see a man standing behind her. He didn't look quite pleased to see the young teen being strangled by the orange-haired teen. Turning around, Uzuki faced the man. "Uh, what? Who are you?" she asked.

The World Ends With You – Calling

The man sneered a bit and said, "Ah-ah-ah, sister. You gotta play by the rules," he warned her in a friendly manner that made her blood boil a bit. "Making 'erase your partner' the mission is a clear violation."

Neku immediately let go of Shiki, the latter falling on her knees and gasping for breath. Their group widened their eyes and gasped in unison. While Uzuki grunted under her claw, the group said, "It is?!"

Uzuki sighed. "I know that," she said, much to her chagrin. "I was just having a little postgame fun."

"What?!" Neku said in shock. Glares were attacking the Reaper's back, but she paid no attention to them.

The man rubbed his chin and raised an eyebrow. "One mission per day. That's the rule," he said. He held out his palm to the air and grinned. "And only the Game Master can pick the missions."

Uzuki walked to the man. "I know that, too!" she said. "But I'm not the Game Master. Which MEANS this wasn't a mission…which MEANS I didn't break any rules!"

Pichu shook a bit with anger. "H-how could you do this to us?" he asked as he went near Shiki. "You nearly made Neku erase Shiki!"

The man nodded, looking serious at Uzuki. "Then start walkin', sister," he warned her. "You work's done for the day."

Uzuki hardened her look at him as she felt the group's collective amount of glares trying to pierce her back. "…Hmph. For a Player…" she began, "you know a lot about our rules."

"You tricked me!" an indignant Neku shouted behind her, shaking a fist. "All that about letting me out of the Game – that was all a lie!"

The Reaper turned to him, still holding a very conscious Soren with her claw. "Like, that is so rude!" she said. "I do not lie. If I erased you, that's still letting you out of the Game!"

"Hey, we don't know if that's even true, and we sure as hell don't want to find out by getting erased," Fox said.

"You guys should just stop meddling into this," Uzuki hissed. "…Ugh, you totally ruined all my fun. Time to call it a day… We can play some more another time." She turned around and walked away, but the man that had told her out stopped her. "What?"

"Sister, you still have something you shouldn't take as a freebie," he said, looking over at Soren. The Branded was getting mighty ticked off, and he seemed to be rummaging through his clothes for something. Once Soren picked something, he looked up at her with a nasty glare "Drop that Player, now, before you make things worse for you."

Uzuki narrowed her eyes. "How could you be threatening a Reaper like me?" she asked. "Look, I know you like the cop role a lot, but I'm getting very piss-"

Uzuki did not see a hinge of a book slamming right onto her face, specifically her nose.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed loudly, letting go of her attacker. Soren landed on his feet and quickly made his way back to the group's side. As he did, he made sure blood didn't get on his tome. He ignored a few of the cheers the group was giving him for hurting the Reaper, especially a very pleased Beat.

"Soren!" Ike said surprised.

Soren, for once, forced a small smile. "Greetings, Ike. It's good to see you alive and well," he said. "No matter what happens now, I'll see that we get out of this."

Soren joined your team!

"Nothing is better than a good book slam to the face," Ness said. "That was pretty awesome."

Uzuki wiped her face. When she saw that her nose was bleeding, she tightened her claw, and her eyes went white with rage. "GRRRRRRRRRRRR!" she grunted loudly at Soren. He was putting up a blank look. "You little pest! How dare you smack that dirty book on my face?!"

"I should be the one asking why you tried to hold me hostage," Soren said. "The likes of you make me utterly sick."

"SAY THAT AGAIN!" Uzuki demanded loudly.

The man behind her put a hand on her shoulder, laughing all the while. "I warned you," he said. "Scram now. You can't really touch them till the seventh day, sister."

The Reaper was cornered. No matter how much she grunted and hissed, she was prohibited to act on her own. "Shut up!" she said, and with a scoff she flew away to the north. "Next time we meet, I'm gonna rip you to shreds!" she shouted, disappearing from sight.

"Good, she's gone," Soren said. "I…I was feeling a bit scared, but I managed."

"Ha ha ha ha!" the man laughed amused. "Well now, that was an impressive scene, if I do say so myself!" He approached the group of ten, putting up a friendly look.

Shiki got up, recovering her breath. She smiled at the man. "Thank you so much," she said as Neku crossed his arms, feeling ticked off that he had been tricked. "We owe you our lives, Mister…um…"

"Hanekoma," the man said while lazily scratching the back of his head. "Sanae Hanekoma."

Sanae Hanekoma is a very laid-back barista who owns a coffee shop at Cat Street. Owning a place where people gather for a hot cup of coffee, Hanekoma knows a lot of gossip of Shibuya. He's very into the Gatito brand of the thirteen that rule Shibuya's fashion, selling small trinkets of said brand as well as coffee and tea. However, it seems he has his fair amount of secrets…

Sanae Hanekoma looked like a person that woke up in the morning late. He had combed black hair and a slightly shaved mustache. His eyes were half-opened behind his dark glasses. He wore a formal pale gray T-shirt under a light black vest, complete with black pants and the rare sight of black sandals. On his left wrist, he wore a black watch.

He grinned at them. "Think of me as a sort of…guardian," he said chuckling. "I watch the Game to make sure shady types don't start bendin' the rules."

"That Reaper tricked us," Neku said.

Hanekoma narrowed his eyes at him. "You mean she tricked YOU," he said. Neku remained silent through the barista's serious look. "You ignored the young lady, fell into a trap, and very nearly snuffed her for good." He rubbed his chin, amused at the teen shaking his head. "If you think you can do everything yourself, you're in for some hard lessons. See the party of people you got behind your back? Now THAT's a good example of teamwork, if you ask me."

"…Wait…" Rhyme trailed off. "Were you watching us, Mr. Hanekoma?"

"Oh, yeah, I was," he admitted. "I was lookin' the entire event from the alley back there. I didn't want to step in to see how the lot of you would see through sister's lies…" Hanekoma eyed Neku again. "Too bad one of you turned out to be the black cat of the pack… Now!" he shouted. "Apologize to the young lady."

Neku widened his eyes. "'Scuse me?" he asked.

"Hard feelings don't make for good teamwork," Sanae said with a grin. "You wanna survive or not? Go on!"

Both Neku and Shiki looked at each other. The group behind them waited for the two to reconcile. Shiki could've done it before, but she doubted herself when Neku tried to strangle her. The two stared at the other's face for quite a bit of time.

Surprisingly, Neku said, "…I'm sorry."

"Neku…" Shiki muttered before she shook her head and smiled. "I, um… F-forget it. I'm over it. I mean, you didn't… She made you do it, right?" She blushed and flailed her arms. "And I should've stood up for myself better. So let's just put it behind us."

Hanekoma let out a laugh. "There! Problem solved!" he said.

The group, however, looked extremely confused. Shiki easily forgave Neku, and they had a feeling the orange-haired teen did want to strangle her regardless if he was tricked. Pichu looked stunned. "W-what?" he said. "Shiki! You're forgiving him too easily!"

"It's…it's okay, Pichu!" she said. She never saw that the group shook their heads in disbelief. "I need Neku, and he needs me to win the Game. We just have to be more careful from now on! There are no shortcuts to win this, after all…"

Pichu sighed. "Oh well… I won't forget about what happened a moment ago, though," he said. "I'm doing this because you need each other to continue…"

Hanekoma grinned, nodding all the while. "Now listen up, you ten," he said. "There's only one way to stay alive in this Shibuya. Trust your partner!" He eyed Neku. "Especially you, Phones."

"'Phones'?" Neku said, looking away from Hanekoma.

"You know what trust is, right?" he asked. "Partnership is essential to surviving the Game. Alone, you face limitations. But partner up and you can smash right through them. Same goes for when you fight the Noise." He nodded. "You may think you're alone, but you're not. Your partner is in the other zone, sharing your energy…literally. So you gotta sync up and send that energy back and forth."

"Are you talking about the light puck?" Ness asked.

"Yeah!" Hanekoma said. "The light puck is a symbol of trust between you and your partner. Besides that, don't you dare leave your partner behind! There won't be light pucks to use!" he said chuckling. They felt that the man was a person to trust. He looked back at Neku, who was hiding his look under his collar. "You won't sync up unless you OPEN up. Talk to her!" he suggested. "Tell her how you're feeling. Lay it on her! That's the fastest way to get something across."

Knowing that Neku was being lectured and pushed back to a corner where he couldn't deny things anymore, Shiki armed herself with determination. "He's right, Neku!" she said. "Look… I know I hold you back. I'm…not that good at psychs… But still! I want to win at this Game. And I want all of us to do it together!" She looked serious. There was no holding back. "Just tell me what you're thinking! I just want to understand you!"

"…" Neku replied with silence.

"Neku?" Shiki wondered, feeling that she had lost the argument once more.

"For cryin' out loud, you insensitive jerk!" Beat shouted from behind. "Let her understand you!"

"Y-yes, let her!" Chris agreed. "Otherwise, you're going to suffer the consequences during a mission because you don't want her around!"

"Yeah!" Pichu said nodding. "Neku, listen to her! You need each other really badly to make it out from this!"

"…I want to understand me, too…" Neku muttered. Their eyes widened while Hanekoma raised an eyebrow. "But I don't."

"What…" Shiki muttered in a loss of words.

Neku looked up. "I can't remember anything but my name… I woke up in the intersection with no clue how I got there, no clue why I'm part of this stupid Game. I don't know anything…"

"What?" Ness asked. "(He IS from this world, right?) How is that even possible? Did you smack your head hard when you died?"

Neku shook his head. "I don't know…because I can't remember…anything."

Shiki looked a bit guilty for hearing him out. "But… That means…what?" she asked. "You have amnesia?"

"…"

Hanekoma cleared his throat. "Sorry to hear it, boss… That's rough," he commented.

End of flashback, Present Day

?

The World Ends With You – Déjà vu

Back under the shade of darkness, Shiki kept the look of guilt. "I can't believe you've lost your memory…" she said. She looked away, mildly annoyed. "You could've told us sooner."

"I didn't know," Neku said. "It's just my name I remember, and my attitude towards others. Beyond that, it's all a blank."

Ike shook his head. "Perhaps you really struck your head hard before you died," he said.

"Who knows?"

Shiki rubbed her chin. "It did strike me as kind of strange," she said, "that you knew nothing about Shibuya or the Game."

"What, like you do?" Neku asked, confused.

"Well, I don't know EVERYTHING, but…" Shiki trailed for a long while until she smiled. "Anyway, we got lucky, thanks to Mr. Hanekoma and his advice." She rubbed the lower part of her nose. "I feel like you and I can finally talk."

Neku looked away. "Like I have another choice…" he muttered. Ike chuckled.

A multitude of footsteps suddenly came from many directions. Looking around, the trio saw faint outlines of the rest of the group. "Oh, there you are, everyone," Shiki said. "I was wondering if we got separated." The glaring green eyes next to her made her yelp. "A-ahh!"

"Hey, I take that as an offense," Fox said.

"S-sorry, I'll never get used to seeing that face of yours… Can't you drop that look?"

"Nope, he's stuck with it," Chris spoke. "Welcome to my little club. I reacted the same way a looooooong time ago…" Fox grunted and pushed Chris away. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"

"It looks like we woke up at the concert hall in A-East," Rhyme said. "This place is dark for the moment."

"This is A-East's concert hall? Huh, I never guessed," Shiki said. "I've been here a lot of times with Eri before…uh…" She shook her head. "Well, this is around the time we get the mission, so…"

The group waited patiently till Soren approached Ike. "Whatever is happening now," the Branded began, "it better end soon. I don't like the sudden change of settings…"

Ike looked at him. "Soren…" he trailed off, unable to say something else.

"Hey, yo!" Beat suddenly piped up. "Maybe we can take a small break and go eat! We're in A-East. There's a chance we can enter other places...like my favorite spot!"

The group looked at the punk. Rhyme was smiling. "Oh! You don't mean…" Rhyme trailed off. "We can go to Dogenzaka!"

"Hey, hold on," Ness said. "What are you two scheming?"

Beat grinned. "Missions come outta nowhere," he said. "But we ain't got no timers, right? It's a good time to goof off and relax! I know a good place where we can rest."

Fox crossed his arms. "How can we even eat if we're dead?" he asked. "For that matter, how are we supposed to communicate with the living like this? Food is for living people only, I presume."

Rhyme looked up at him. "It's pretty simple, Fox," she said. He raised an eyebrow. "You'll see once we go over Dogenzaka."

Dogenzaka – Ramen Don

"W-wait, we can't just open the doors like this!" Chris said as Rhyme pushed the doors open. A ringing bell rang on top of the right door that alerted the owner of their presence. "They might freak out an-"

"Hi, irasshai!" a slightly gruff voice replied from behind the wooden counter across the place. The owner of the establishment saw the group of ten entering his domain. "Oh, a big group, eh? Good, good! Please have a seat and order your ramen!" He turned around and attended several pots brewing with hot pasta.

The Japanese establishment looked very normal. In front of the double doors, there were four tables with rows of seats put in a vertical order. The floor had white tiles that were a bit unpolished, but they looked just fine. Across the four tables, the gray wooden counter was devoid of smears and drops of soup, neatly arranged with some chopsticks ready for the customers to use. Across the counter, the chef's working station stood proudly. Ladles and frying pans were hanging up above the counter while brewing pots were cooking a nice scent that wafted into their noses. Beat drooled slightly.

The man attending the shop was the owner. His name was Ken Doi. He was a proud ramen cook who only cared about serving good old fashioned ramen. He dressed almost entirely in white, complete with a white cap and common glasses over his friendly eyes. Not many knew that he had a fervent passion for cooking ramen. Ramen was, in a few words, his life. His mission was to please customers with his exceptional ramen cooking skills.

Fox was speechless for a brief moment, and so did the rest of his group. "Did he just…greet us?" he asked.

Rhyme nodded. "He's not dead or anything. He's alive," she said. "He can see us, though."

"But…how?" Pichu asked, perched on Ness's head. "How can this be?"

"It's simple," Shiki said, knowing where Rhyme was going to. To the left of the entrance, there were creepy red-and-black graffiti symbols plaguing the entire wall. The symbols looked like they were even running on top of the seats and tables. "Those symbols allow Players to enter shops and restaurants. So…it's sort of like a symbol that makes you visible to the people inside these places."

"Who the hell put those unnerving symbols all over the place?" Ike asked. "How did they get away with it?"

"The Reapers did," Rhyme said. "They're under orders from the Game Master. It's to make things fair for us Players. Luckily, none of the living can see them. Only we can see the symbols."

"(Freaky,)" Neku thought. "(These guys thought everything through… Oh well, it's not like is a bad thing.)"

"T-that's good and all, but…" Chris trailed off, staring at the wooden counter, "do we have any money?"

Beat chuckled and brandished around ten-thousand yens. "Buyin' ya all everything you can eat!" he said. "Beating Noise gives you money, yo! There's always a reason to fight them all when you wanna!"

As a few cheers came right afterward, the group of ten misfits all took their seats. Beat, Rhyme, Fox, and Chris took the counter. Ness, Pichu, Shiki, Ike, and Soren took the table in front of the counter, and Neku sat down in a table with nobody else, though he was sitting behind Soren's back. The atmosphere suddenly became lively as they all ordered the different ramen dishes, though Neku seemed to be a little bit more open to the idea of talking to them…not by much.

SMT: Devil Survivor 2 – Connected Hearts

The orange-haired teen decided that eavesdropping on their conversations would be ideal enough to get to know the weirdos. Neku looked over his right shoulder to spy on the four at the counter.

Being unfamiliar with Japanese utensils, Fox didn't understand how people could eat with two sticks of wood. There weren't any forks around. He needed to learn how to use the two ridiculous tools. He was holding the two with both hands, one in each. Looking to his right, he found Chris in a similar situation. The teen had seen how some people held the chopsticks between their fingers, but he couldn't get it right.

"Here, I'll teach you how to use them," Rhyme suddenly said. Fox turned to her. She was holding two chopsticks between her delicate fingers with good firmness. "You need to put them between your fingers like this…" She pinched empty air with them. "And this is how you grab food in a bowl."

Fox studied the movement and the position of the chopsticks while Chris did the same. Grinning, Fox understood the way to do it, and he quickly learned. Chris, similarly, managed to hold the sticks right. "Thanks," Fox told Rhyme.

Rhyme giggled. "You're welcome," she said. She felt it was the right time to talk. "You two aren't from around here…are you?"

Neku leaned back his head as he listened. "(Good, she's making them fess up,)" he thought.

The vulpine exchanged a gaze with Chris. Ken Doi was busy cooking. The teen nodded to him, and Fox nodded back. Fox turned to Rhyme. "It's going to be hard to believe this, but Chris, Ike, his friend, Pichu, Ness, and I aren't even from this world."

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?!" Beat's loud question made the rest turn their heads to their direction. "Yo! What's that suposda mean?"

"I overheard," Soren said, having learned how to use the two curious sticks of wood by himself. "That is the truth. None of the six of us belong to this world. We… How should I put it… We belong to different worlds from one another. Ike and I, though belong to one world."

"(…Okay…)" Neku thought, grimacing a bit.

"What?" Shiki said, raising an eyebrow. "How could that possibly be? There are…more worlds out there?"

"This is crazy," Beat said, playing with his chopsticks. "You not pullin' our legs?"

"Definitely not," Chris said. "We truly come from other worlds…"

Rhyme tilted her head. "That's incredible," she commented. "I knew there was something off about you, but not in a bad way."

"(Oh, c'mon,)" Neku thought. "(Are they high?)"

"But…the fact there is more than one world out there…" Shiki trailed off. "…We're not alone, then?"

"Oh no, it's not something you should worry about," Ike said. "There are some crazy laws that make it impossible for millions of people to cross over to other worlds. We do possess the means to do that…or at least used to."

The young blond rubbed her chin. "Well, I'm going to assume you're right, so… Does that mean you've been to other worlds besides ours?" she asked with interest.

"We've been everywhere," Pichu said, smiling a bit. "And we have a whole bunch of friends back at this mansion where we all live together."

"And since we were forced to play this Game…we want to find a way to go back to our homes," Fox said.

"As for the reason why we ended up in this place…" Ness trailed off, "…we've got no idea how it even happened. At least it's better than losing consciousness altogether."

Neku turned around. "Not from around here, then," he said. "I knew it was strange to see a yellow creature and a humanoid fox walking around Shibuya."

"Well, all of us fell into the same problem," Shiki said. "To me, it doesn't matter what happens as long as we can win the Game and come back to life."

Chris looked worried, shuddering at the thought of being trapped and erased. "There's so much I want to do," he said. "I want to keep doing a lot of stuff…and then I want to finish some tasks I left unfinished."

Fox looked at him with a grin. "Does one of them involve your Lucario?" he asked.

"…" Chris's face moved down as he stared at the wooden counter.

"…?" Fox tilted his head. "Did I strike a nerve? Oh, sorry…"

"…I don't…" Chris looked to the sides in confusion, "…I never had a Lucario before…"

Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme could only blink after the Smashers let out a few gasps. "What the… Are you serious?" Ness asked. "Chris, for god's sake, you have a Lucario."

The teen shook his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked. His face was serious. "I never owned a Lucario in my life. Sure, there's this one in our team back at the mansion, but he's not even mine."

Pichu's eyes dilated. "I-I can't believe I'm hearing this!" he said. "Chris, what happened to you before we died that made you say this?"

"…Nothing," Chris said. There was an odd sense of solitude he felt in his mind. "Why are you guys saying I have a Lucario? I'd most certainly cherish the very thought, but sadly, I don't have one."

"Chris, this isn't right," Ike said, looking serious. "You do own one; a Lucario that can destroy an entire mountain with a single fist!"

"A Lucario so huge that can stare at a big monster at eye level while he can stare down at you!" Ness added.

"A Lucario so powerful that can outright kill other Pokémon with just a sneeze of his!" Pichu added.

"A Lucario you spent a lot of time with that never left your side," Fox added.

"What?" Chris muttered. "Are you seriously saying all that? And for that matter, aren't you taking things a bit too far with those descriptions?" he asked. "If I ever had a Lucario like that, I would probably take on the Sinnoh League with just that one Pokémon!" Fox grabbed the teen's head and shook it a bit. "Stop that!"

Fox pulled back his hands. "Something is awfully wrong with you, Chris," he said. "You'd never say such things about Lucario that way."

The teen looked saddened. "What are you trying to say?" he asked.

"He means that you aren't being yourself," Ike said. "You're…suffering from some kind of effect."

"…" Chris embraced himself a bit. "How strange that you're saying all this to me… But…but…" he shook his head, "why…why does it really feel like I'm missing something?"

"That's because you know you have a Lucario like that!" Pichu said.

"…But I don't…" The Smashers sighed in defeat.

It was extremely odd that Chris had forgotten about his Lucario so suddenly. The four Smashers could never think about Chris without indirectly thinking about the Aura Pokémon. The two were inseparable after all, so there was no doubt that the teen was suffering from some case of amnesia.

"(I don't understand who this Lucario person is,)" Neku thought as the Shibuya Crew watched confused at the event. "(…But if his group is trying so hard to make him remember, then he must be suffering from amnesia…like I am.)"

Soren pressed his brow. "One oddity after another," he commented. "I just wish I could take Ike back to Mist so she'd stop sending those letters, but alas, she's coming to the mansion."

Ike looked at his partner. "So who's this Mist person?" he casually asked.

The Branded stared into empty air until he looked sideways at the mercenary. "…Tell me you just didn't ask that," he said.

"But I'm serious, Soren," Ike said. "Who's Mist?"

Soren wasn't taking the whole being dead-yet-alive thing too well. He was stressed that they were in such an unknown predicament that he was letting everyone guide him around the weird-looking city with skyscrapers and funnily-dressed people walking around the streets. Now, Ike had the nerve of asking such a dumb question. "(Now, don't you jump to conclusions yet,)" Soren thought as he gave Ike a wary glare. "(He must've hit his head while wandering around this strange place. Yes, it must be it…) She's your little sister, Ike," Soren said calmly. "The sister you hold very dear to you, since she's the only one who's related to you by blood."

"Really?" Ike asked. "I never had any siblings."

"…Okay, this is extremely ridiculous," Soren said. "Ike, you have a little sister."

"No I don't."

"You do!" Soren raised his voice a bit. "How could you say this to me with such a straight face? Tell me you're joking!"

"But I'm not joking!" Ike said. He was getting looks from his group. "You guys, you believe me, right?"

"No," Chris said. "You definitely have a little sister named Mist…"

"What? That can't be it…" Ike shook his head. "Yet…it does feel like there's something I vaguely remember from the past…"

Soren glared. "Tell me you at least remember the company!" he said.

"Yeah, I do," Ike said. "There's Titania, you, Oscar, Boyd, Rhys, Rolf, and the others…but I don't recall who Mist is."

"Good… You haven't forgotten about them," Soren said. "But still, what foolishness is this?"

Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched by a mysterious figure that spied on them from outside, on the right corner of the restaurant's window. It was the same person that had appeared behind the statue of Hachiko two days ago. "Huh, it seems their memories in particular aren't that easy to take away," he said, flashing an amusing smile. "It's too bad not many Players have a powerful force of will…especially him," he said as he eyed Neku. The figure chuckled and walked into an alley. "I'll see how this plays out. Maybe perhaps they can override the Producer's seal…"

Back at the establishment, the Onett boy sighed. "Ugh, this is just great," Ness said. "Both Chris and Ike have amnesia."

"Neku does too," Shiki intruded.

"…Wait…." Fox looked shocked. "…If they suddenly lost those memories in particular, wouldn't that mean that we…" He looked at Chris. "Chris, start telling me stuff I should know!"

"What? Uh…" Chris stammered a bit. "…You do know who Falco is?"

"A lazy bastard who can get the job done when he puts his mind to it," Fox said. "Also, he's my best friend."

"Okay, what about Slippy?"

"My team's mechanist who develops some amazing tech for us to use," he said.

"Um, Peppy?"

"My father's old friend who recently got a promotion and got to be general for the Cornerian Army."

Fox knew about his father, so there was no point for Chris to ask about James. "How about Wolf?" Chris asked.

The vulpine grimaced. "Some guy I want to get rid of forever and yet keeps tabs on me all the time for some weird reason I don't know," he said. Chris knew the truth, though.

There was one person Chris didn't mention. He felt this was it. "…Do you know who Krystal is?"

"…" Fox stared. "…You got me. I don't know who that is."

"Oh no," Ness said. "She's your ex!"

"Whoa there," Fox said mildly shocked. "I haven't considered getting hooked up with somebody yet…but if you're true about that… Damn," he muttered, grunting a bit. "That name does make something in my mind react…"

Ness looked at Pichu. "You know you have a best friend in a Pikachu, right?" he asked.

"U-uh," Pichu looked worried. "There's a Pikachu in our team, but I hardly know him."

"Not you too!" Ness groaned. "Okay, try telling me stuff!"

Pichu was a bit nervous that he couldn't remember anything about Pikachu, but he focused on Ness. "Let's see… You know Lucas, right?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Ness said. "He's sort of my clone when it comes to skills…"

"Yes, yes," Pichu said. "Um, do you remember your personal friends?"

Ness looked up to think. "There's Poo the Prince of Dallam, Jeff the genius of the team, and Paula Polestar," he said. "I know the first two very well, but Paula doesn't even have anything special in her. She was kind of like a blank person."

"…I think you really forgot stuff about Paula," Pichu said.

"Aww," Ness groaned and lowered his head.

Ike twisted his mouth and a bit, and then he turned to Soren. "Soren, what about you?" he asked. "Do you feel something is missing?"

"Hmm…" Soren wondered. "…There's not much I can find, sadly."

"C'mon, there's got to be something," Ike said. "Maybe you know somebody very well."

"In that case, I'm going to say that I don't know you very well," Soren said. "In fact, I only talk to you because you're the leader of the company."

"What the…" Ike got closer to Soren to whisper something to him. "Soren, don't you remember I saved you from starving to death?"

"No," Soren said. "Why would I starve to death? I did appear before your father when I was all alone, and he offered me shelter."

"But I was the one who did that!"

"You never did that."

Ike pulled back and sighed. "Soren here has forgotten all about me," he said. "The only thing he knows is that I'm the leader of the Greil Mercenaries, but nothing else."

Shiki mumbled a few things. "You know, guys…" she began, "maybe this is exactly what Mr. Hanekoma meant…"

Rhyme recalled the event and nodded. "He did say that Players come to the Game in exchange of the one thing they value the most as their entry fee," she explained. "That means…all of you lost very precious memories to participate in the Game…and it's possible that Beat, Neku, Shiki, and I got our most valuable aspects taken away." She smiled. "If you ask me, I don't feel that there was anything lost in my mind."

Rhyme never saw Beat looking away with a strange look full of guilt.

Shiki looked down, sighing depressed. "I…I rather not talk about my entry fee," she said. "It's just… It's just not going to make me feel good, okay?" Pichu was tempted to ask her what it was. Out of respect, he didn't do it.

Neku knew his memories were his entry fee. "My memories are surely my entry fee," he said. "Nobody knows me…so I can't tell what I lost."

Chris grimaced at the weird chain of events. Still remembering that each one of them had lost something important, he didn't remember having an almighty Lucario at all. To distract himself, Chris looked to Soren. There was a matter he needed to ask him… "Soren…"

"Yes?" Soren asked, turning to the teen.

"There was something that's been bugging me," Chris said. "…How did you die?" Soren blinked and looked away. "I…I heard the mansion had been attacked by a Subspace Bomb before I died…"

"WHAT?!" the other Smashers said aloud, staring bewildered at the teen. The Shibuya Crew gave them weird looks.

"How did that even happen?!" Ness asked.

Chris gulped. "I-I don't know if the others managed to stop the bomb in time or if there was EVEN a bomb to begin with," he said. "That's out of the question so don't ask me about it. I don't really know…" He stared at Soren. "…But Soren…he was there at the mansion…"

"…Wait, wait, wait," Fox said, looking serious. "Chris, are you implying that a Subspace Bomb killed the rest?"

"T-that's impossible!" Pichu said. "Those bombs only suck pieces of the world into the Subspace! They don't kill!"

"Yeah, how do you explain that, Chris?" Ness asked. "Are you thinking that Soren got killed by a bomb?"

"Ugh…" Chris mumbled. "I just don't know…but I did hear from the villains that they dropped a Subspace Bomb on the mansion when I got kidnapped…"

"…You got kidnapped?" Fox asked. "And then they killed you?"

"(…Oh dear goodness… I never told them much about that part…)" Chris realized. "U-uh, yes… I got kidnapped, but I want to know from Soren about that Subspace Bomb!" he said, trying not to talk much about the entire odyssey he went through. Luckily, their eyes gazed at Soren…

Soren was looking hesitant.

"…Soren?" Ike said, budging Soren a bit. "Hey, Soren, is something wrong?"

"…" Soren shook his head. "…I don't remember how I died."

"…Aww!" Ness groaned. "For the love of-! Why is everybody here having severe amnesia issues now?!" he complained. "You! Are you sure you don't remember anything?"

The Branded grunted. "Listen," he said. "I do remember that I was alive," he confirmed. "I vividly remember being called to that command room place where we were informed that you, Chris, had been kidnapped by the enemy."

The teen looked down. Fox patted his back.

"After that…" Soren shook his head, "…my memory went blank. There wasn't anything else that I could remember after that."

"Oh no…" Chris muttered. "How could this be? I hoped Soren would know about the Subspace Bomb…"

"My apologies," Soren said. "It seems that was another 'entry fee' those Reapers took out from me. The words 'Subspace Bomb' do right in my head…"

"Yet there's no way to tell if a bomb was sent there," Ike said. "This is such a big bind we're in…"

Fox's look stiffened. "And that's not the only bind, and I'm not talking about participating in the Reapers' Game," he said. When Chris looked at him, the teen knew what he was going to ask. "Chris… Why would they kidnap you in the first place?"

Chris sighed. "…They tried to have my brain's knowledge uploaded into Tabuu's conscience," he said. "They…" Chris gasped mentally when he remembered there were four native Shibuya citizens hearing their every single word. Also, Soren was thrown into the mix. None of the five knew about the idea that every world was a video game. "…And by knowledge, they wanted to suck the life out of me by transferring it to Tabuu, and then he would use it to easily conquer the other worlds."

"…Oh…" Ness knew what Chris meant. "That makes sense…"

"Oh yeah…" Fox nodded. "I suppose that'd be a good reason to kidnap you…"

Ike nodded as well. "But I'm curious…" he trailed off. "How did you manage to escape by yourself, Chris?" he asked. Chris's eyes widened. "You were taken to their headquarters. Security must have been really tight in there…"

"U-uh…" Chris tried to come up with something… He could lessen the big lie he said by adding a few truths. "…You're…not going to believe this, but… The Ancient Minister…he helped me to escape."

"…O…kay…" Ness muttered. "…That's…really not convincing me…"

"I-it's the truth," Chris said. Suddenly, he realized he could try to make them listen if he didn't bring the big reveal yet. "The Ancient Minister was secretly trying to betray Tabuu all along."

Fox crossed his arms. "Well… I kind of believe you there, Chris," he said, to which Chris gasped. "But…I don't see how that bastard wanted to betray Tabuu judging HE KILLED US OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE." Even though Fox hadn't raised his voice, he heavily emphasized the last words with a bit of burning anger. The Shibuya Crew stared, a few of them gasping after hearing him out.

Things looked wrong, Chris thought. The vulpine's words did make the other four Smashers look a bit pissed. "(Should I continue?)" Chris wondered. "(I…I have to. I don't want to keep lying… It's just too much for me to bear! But still, I don't want to bear their collective anger, either!) I saw it through my own eyes!" Chris argued. "The Ancient Minister was just being manipulated by Tabuu to gain his trust so that he could plan the perfect time to stab his back!"

"Urk…" Fox looked away.

"Please, you have to believe me!" Chris pleaded. "If you can't believe me, then at least hear my entire story!"

Ness rubbed his forehead. "I-I think we can let you continue," he said. "Really, you don't like to lie… It's just incredible, you know? After all, we helped that guy before he…before he left us again."

"Thank you…" Chris said, sighing in relief. "The story gets a tad weirder, though…" The World Traveler explained every single detail about the escape that took place in the facility. He also tossed the facts that Wario and Dedede had a change of heart and joined the escape team, along with the rescue of Mr. Game & Watch. The Shibuya Crew kept listening without saying much of a word, but Neku had an eyebrow raised all the time. He thought Chris was making up a rich storybook.

However, Chris left out the fact that he had been arguing with the Ancient Minister. As long as he didn't mention that, it was going to be safe to keep them from getting angry at him…

"…And then the cannon from the Halberd shot me down after I pushed Kirby out of the way," Chris finished. "And that's how I ended up here…"

"…Uh…wait…" Pichu muttered confused. "…Chris…"

"Yes?"

"There was something that doe-"

The World Ends With You – Economical Shoppers

Ken Doi came in, handing two bowls of hot ramen to Beat and Rhyme. "Food's ready," he said with a warm smile. "I'll go get the other orders." Once he handed over everyone's bowls, he said, "Enjoy my works of art!"

Getting out from the confusion, the sweet aroma of the fresh ramen filling the air summoned many smiles. It was an exquisite-looking soup with fine noodles tendered to perfection, pork meat thin and juicy, thick cubes of meat floating on a corner, a few spices sprinkled on another corner, and the overall picture of the dish a sight to behold. Pichu dropped the question entirely and rejoiced when he saw his big bowl of ramen right in front of him.

"Are we sure this isn't heaven?" Ness asked. And they all dug in.

Once more, the air became lively as they all ate among each other. The ones who struggled to get used to use chopsticks to eat had some unfortunate accidents, but they caught on quickly.

The group had a fair share of laughs. Some snickered at Ness getting a piece of meat stuck between his teeth and never telling him about it. Beat nearly died laughing when Fox had a quite long noodle hanging down from the very center of his mouth. Just like Ness, he didn't notice until Chris told him about it. Fox slurped it all in one go.

A little time passed, and they finished their meals with satisfied looks on their faces. Much to their chagrin, a surge of pain ran through their left hands. Taking out their phones, the Shibuya Crew read the next mission…

Defeat the master of A-East. You have 360 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers

"That's an awful lot of time," Rhyme noted. "This mission is surely a hard one."

"Aah!" Shiki let go of her phone by accident. The phone slid back to the floor. Being close to it, Neku looked down at the screen. "Don't touch it! I got it!"

Pichu managed to see a picture on Shiki's cell phone. He hopped down and stared at it. Shiki felt that a secret was revealed, and there was no going back to deny it any longer. She picked it up. "(Nice photo,)" Neku said as the others got up from their seats and approached them.

"...You looked?" Shiki asked.

"The screen was face up..."

"Oh yes," Ness said. "So, were you staring at that photo all those times back then?"

Shiki sighed. "I guess I shouldn't try to hide this any longer…" She forced a smile and showed them the photo. There was Shiki and a black-haired girl wearing round glasses posing happily for a photo. The photo itself had orange flowers as a frame. Shiki hesitated a bit to point at the brown-haired girl. "That's my friend. Her name is Eri. She was in my class," she said.

Neku said, "So all those times-"

"Yeah. I was looking at this," Shiki confessed. "I was sort of drawing courage out of this photo to pull myself together… You could say I'm trying so hard to win this to reunite with Eri."

"That's so sweet of you," Rhyme remarked.

"And you yell at me for keeping secrets!" Neku said. "It's just a photo."

"It's not just a photo!" Shiki suddenly snapped. "This is a very precious thing to me. I'm glad it wasn't…" There was an odd pause. "…I'm glad it wasn't taken away as my entry fee…" Somehow, Pichu couldn't shake the feeling that Shiki was hiding something else.

"Yo!" Beat piped up. "The mission! It says somethin' about this master of A-East."

"Oh, we were there," Rhyme said. "It's just right next corner from here. Let's go and defeat it."

The group nodded and headed out. As soon as they left the shop area, Ken Doi never saw that they vanished for the living walking around the street…

"…But…" Pichu muttered to himself. "…But Chris didn't say anything about Kirby being there…"

A-East – Concert Stage

The World Ends With You – Game Over

As it turned out, the time they were given looked suspicious enough to imply that the mission wasn't easy. The team found out that they needed to repair the lights of the concert hall in order to find the master depicted in the mission. They spent about five and a half hours going to other places to fulfill certain requirements to convey a message to the living about repairing the broken lights.

"So, did you get how to imprint memes into people's minds?" Rhyme asked.

The young blond and her punk partner knew a few more tricks under their sleeves. The group was taught about memes and imprinting.

"Memes are words related to the mission that help players to solve it, and those words are sent to your phones to use them," Fox recalled.

"And imprinting is the Player Pin's ability to shove a meme into a person who is alive so that they remember doing something they need to do," Ness said. "It's like telepathy, really."

"Yes, you got the gist of it," Rhyme said as they entered the dark concert hall. They walked close to each other to avoid getting lost. The guy in charge of repairing the lights had been influenced by the party to go back to his job and find a piece needed to repair the short circuit for a concert to start that same day. "It's just a matter of time before we find the master of A-East."

"Punk's going down!" Beat said, smacking a fist into his palm.

Neku took out a white pin that had no images on top. Shiki looked at it. "Oh yeah, Mr. Hanekoma gave that to us," she said. "We should try that out!"

Rhyme, Fox, Ness, and Ike took out four more white pins. "I don't see how these are going to help us out," Ike said.

"Well, remember what he said?" Shiki asked.

Flashback

Statue of Hachiko

Not shortly after the previous flashback, Hanemoka was seen talking to the group of ten. "OK, Phones!" he said enthusiastically. "In honor of your growth as a human being, and a friendship saved from the rocks, I'm gonna give you a little advice, and a little gift." He rubbed his chin while grinning. "Make sure you remember it all."

Neku was a bit ticked off that Hanekoma was calling him with a nickname. "(OK, but... First, could YOU remember my name?)" he thought. Voicing out his thoughts, Neku said, "Um, Mr. Hanekoma. It's Neku. Not 'Phones'."

The barista laughed heartily. "Oh, right! Sorry, Neku. My bad," he said. "I got it now."

"I wonder."

The man held out a hand. "So let's start with some Q & A. You got questions? I got answers," he said.

Widening his eyes, Ike stepped forward. "You seem very reliable," he said. "So please, tell us about this Reapers' Game."

Hanekoma nodded as he scratched the back of his neck. "To win the "Reapers' Game"...you must complete seven missions, one each day," he said.

Shiki looked unsure. "So...is it true that if we don't, we'll be erased?" she asked.

The barista grinned. "Well, only if you fail, to be precise. You two aren't the only Players. If any one Player completes the mission, you all do," he said.

"But we can't just slack off," Fox said. "We gotta play by the rules and do the missions. If we can do it and no one else can…"

"Then we all wind up erased," Neku said.

Hanekoma nodded. "Furthermore, the Reapers grade the Players," he said.

"Grade us?" Ness said. "How?"

"Eh, they have a weird system," Hanekoma said. "They even go as far as to grade your performance in battle. Some Reapers are put on that job to see how well you do. Here between us, try achieving a Star Rank in battles! It's proof that you and your partner can fight together without fail!" he encouraged. "Naturally, you get points for finishing a mission."

"But..." Shiki trailed off, "what are the grades for?"

Hanekoma grimaced as he scratched the back of his neck once more. "On the seventh day, you'll know," he said, bringing his hand back down to his side. "Just clear the missions. You'll be glad you did," he said, looking serious.

Fox narrowed his eyes. "You aren't purposely hiding stuff from us, are you?"

"Now where's the fun in that, fox guy?" Hanekoma asked. "But rest assured. Things won't go wrong as long as your support each other."

Neku stifled a small grunt, but he focused on the next question. "What are Reapers?" he asked.

The barista grinned. "Their main job are running the Game, and testing the Players. So like that sister who gave you trouble before, they'll get in the Players' way from time to time," he explained.

Shiki looked disgusted just remembering Uzuki. "She was such a creep…" she said.

"And a Pinky cow!" Beat added, shaking a fist. Hanekoma didn't know where he got the cow part from.

Neku continued with the question. "So they're like some kind of group?"

"Yes!" Hanekoma congratulated Neku. "Very sharp, Phones." Neku grunted annoyed at the nickname. "You've seen the guys in red, by the walls? They're Reapers, too."

"Whoa, really?" Shiki asked. "But the guys by the walls never attacked us."

"Not all Reapers are cut from the same cloth," Hanekoma said. "Some are Harriers; others are just Support. The wall Reapers are Support. They won't attack you. All they do is issue conditions to pass the walls."

"So, in that case," Chris began, "whenever we see those guys in red, we're expected to cross the walls they guard."

He nodded, looking serious right after. "The Harriers, on the other hand, hunt Players for a living. It's not just their job, either. If they don't dispatch Noise, erase Players, and score points... THEY get erased," he emphasized.

"Wow," Rhyme commented. "They're also in the same predicament as we are…"

"Yeah, but they have benefits," Shiki said.

"But you do have benefits!" Hanekoma said grinning. "You're not tied to the job! You can make it out of here just fine if you put your minds into it!"

"So we're their lunch," Neku summarized.

"Everybody's gotta eat, kiddo..."

Pichu shook his head. "It's kind of sad that they can get erased, too," he said. "I feel sorry for them…"

"Eh, they absolutely love making people like you suffer, though," Hanekoma said. "Whatcha wanna ask me?"

Neku knew a good question. "Mr. Hanekoma...Who are you?" he asked. The group nodded in approval to the question. It was a bit weird that a man like Hanekoma knew so much about the Game.

"What, me? Pfft..." Hanekoma chuckled as he thought about the answer. "All right. I'll tell you a little," he said. "The name's Sanae Hanekoma. Born March 3, blood type A. I'm a Pisces and one hip café barista, mista."

"Oh, that's really nice. I would like to drink some coffee about now," Fox said until he recalled the answer once again. "Wait, that wasn't exactly what he meant, I think."

But Hanekoma went on. "I'm a big gambler. My favorite word: 'windfall.' 'Natto' gets my tummy rumbling," he said as he playfully rubbed his stomach. He was given so many weird looks.

"Okay, now this is getting a bit to-"

"As for my physical dimensions…" Hanekoma went on. Rhyme shyly blushed and looked away.

"Stop," Neku said annoyed. Hanekoma wasn't going to answer the question truthfully. "Please."

Shiki looked up, wondering about the man. "So you run a café?" she asked. "I thought you said you were a guardian."

Hanekoma put a finger on his chin, grinning wide at them. "The café's like a hobby," he said before laughing loudly. "Totally hip, right?"

"Yeah! I think it's cool," Shiki said. Neku was a bit confused at the development of the conversation, and so did a few others behind his back.

"Drop by my place if you get the chance," he suggested. "I'll give you the best cuppa joe you ever had in exchange for cash money, of course." He chuckled loudly.

"I could use some coffee now and then," Fox said smiling.

Ness narrowed his eyes at the man. "(This guy is not normal… There's something about him that doesn't make me feel all that well,)" he thought. "(He's too cheery. I can't read him well…)"

"(What kind of invite is that?!)" Neku thought.

Suddenly, Soren stepped forward. "You seem reliable enough, Hanekoma," he said. Ike shook his head, thinking that the Branded was going to bring the man's positive attitude down in one shot. "Tell me something about this place…" A living person walked through him. "Why is it that the people walking around the area can't see us? Why do they pass through us like it's nothing?"

"Cuz' all of you area dead, you included, kiddo," Hanekoma pointed out. Soren looked dully at him. "Yup, pretty dead yet alive and kicking. It's not so bad, though. You can still get a second chance at life if you win this."

"This...IS Shibuya, right?" Shiki supported Soren's question.

" You bet," Hanekoma said nodding. "But not your Shibuya. It's an alternate Shibuya we call the 'UG.'"

"'UG'?"

"As in 'Underground,'" Hanekoma pointed out. "The UG is one big chessboard for the Reapers' Game."

"You expect us to believe that?" Neku asked.

"Well, when he puts it that way…" Rhyme trailed off.

"Crazy, yo," Beat said. "Just crazy and hard to believe."

Mr. Hanekoma grinned at them. "The Shibuya you came from is called the RG. The 'Realground,'" he said. "The RG and UG exist in the same space. What you see is the RG - the real deal."

Soren saw other people walking through his body. "Two spaces of time that share the same setting but are standing on different dimensions… That is quite odd, I might say," he said. "But alas, it doesn't matter much to me. I wish to solve this oddity and find our way back home as soon as possible."

"Yup, that's the spirit, kiddo," Hanekoma said. "Let me tell you a few more things about who rules this place…"

"Oh…" Ness trailed off in thought. "You know, the question about asking for the boss of this Game never crossed my mind. So, who runs this place?"

"The UG is run by the Composer," Hanekoma said. "The Composer is Shibuya's supervisor."

"Shibuya has a supervisor?" Neku wondered. He was starting to stop believing in Hanekoma. "Right."

"I can't say anything more on that subject," he said. "It's classified, you dig?"

"What?" Chris said. "You just casually say something about this Composer person and you stop it here?"

"Yeah!" Hanekoma said in a peppy tone.

"…Suddenly, your reliability has been severely reduced," Fox commented with a flat look on his eyes.

Hanekoma chuckled. He took out from his pockets five white pins. "Now, for that gift I promised..." he trailed off a bit before he gave every single pair of Players one of the pins he held, "in honor of these two here making up!" he added, staring at Neku and Shiki.

Ness stared at the pin. "Gosh, this place really has a thing for pins," he said. "But what's the big deal with this one, though? It's all blank…"

"This one's a little different. It takes two people to use," he said. The group stared intently at him. "It only works against the Noise, when any two of you ten are in complete sync. The more you get in sync, the more you Fuse your energy, the stronger the psych this puppy will unleash," he explained in detail

Fox grinned down at the pin, clutching it in his fist. "Now I see why these pins are so popular around here," he said.

"Hey! The people who are alive can't use them to attack or something," Rhyme said. She and Beat looked down at her blank pin. "Thank you, Mr. H."

"I'm warnin' ya," Hanekoma said with a grin. "It's not just about fusing. There are some…important details you'll find out on your own. It all depends on your partner."

Right after, Chris felt something unlock in his mind. Similarly, Pichu, Shiki, and Beat yelped a bit. The five exchanged confused glances. "Let me guess… All of you felt something right now, right?" Shiki asked.

"Y-yes," Pichu said. "It's weird… There's some kind of explanation about something I didn't know about that just…appeared out of nowhere…"

"Huh…" Shiki rubbed her chin. "Well, I got something, too. It's about guessing what cards with symbols on them are hiding face down. I…need to pull a combo to use cards and guess right to get synched with Neku." Neku stared at her with an odd look.

"Yo!" Beat said. "Says here I need ta…uh…match deck cards together?" he said. "Eh, I'll pull this out just fine…"

"Now I'm awfully concerned," Rhyme muttered.

"Um…" Pichu trailed off. "In my case…it says I need to recharge my electricity at the right amounts to do the fusion…"

"You're so getting hurt if you overcharge…" Ness muttered. "Which means…I'm getting hurt, too… Dang…" Pichu chuckled nervously. "Don't you fail me!"

"As for me…" Chris began, "it's something about using the right elements against the opposing elements that come against me."

Fox winced a bit. "Things just get weirder and weirder and weirder," he muttered.

Ike noticed that Soren didn't have a partner. "Oh, Soren…" Ike began, getting Soren's attention, "I need you to form a pact with me."

"What?" Soren asked. "What does that mean? We're in some kind of pact already."

"This is different," Ike said, holding out his hand to the Branded. "Grab my hand and you'll see what I mean with this."

"…" Soren looked flatly at Ike's hand for a moment. Slowly, he grabbed it.

The two suddenly saw flashy lights in the background as their consciences linked together. For a moment, the one standing opposite to the other felt that they were inside the other's body, staring at their own body. A few seconds later, the two regained their composure.

"Ugh…" Soren closed his eyes, pulling back his hand. "I didn't feel quite well back there…"

"Me neither…but it's gone now," Ike said. "I think that makes us both partners…"

"…" Soren opened his eyes, blinking a bit. "Huh… Suddenly, there was something inside my mind that just awakened," he said. "It's about attacking the weakest units with my wind magic."

"Alright, I'm back to being confused again," Ike said.

"Oh, don't make those long faces now," Hanekoma said. "You'll do just fine! Just relax and you're going feel like a peach." He turned to Neku. "You've got talent, Phones. You can use a much wide range of psychs than the others. Learn to cooperate, and you might be able to use this one, too." He looked at the others. "That goes to the whole lot of ya, too!"

"Yeah!" Shiki agreed, turning to Neku. "You're great at psychs. Way better than me."

"You think?" Neku asked, accidentally grinning a bit. While Shiki nodded, he thought, "(Trying very hard to get buddy-buddy with me now, aren't you?)"

"There, see? You take good care of that," Hanekoma said.

"Let's try and get to work, Neku!" Shiki said. She looked at the other eight. "You guys, too! Let's do this right!"

Neku grabbed the tip of his hair. "(But...I can't use it by myself. I'm supposed to sync up with HER?)" he asked in complete disgust. He turned away. "(Not happening. What good's a powerful pin if I can't use it?)"

"Just to be clear..." Hanekoma said, interrupting Neku's thoughts. "You need more than talent to use that. It takes somebody with style...if you catch my drift."

Neku turned around and nodded. "I'll use it," he said. "And please... My name is Neku. Not 'Phones.'"

Hanekoma laughed loudly. "Oh, right!" he said. "Sorry 'bout that. I got it now, Phones!"

As Neku grunted loudly, the other nine laughed for a bit at him.

End of flashback

A-East – Concert Stage

"He was such a nice person," Rhyme said smiling.

"And really bad with names," Neku said.

"Hush you, Phones," Ike said.

"Want me to grab that sword and shove it up you-"

"HEY! Let's all concentrate on the mission!" Fox interrupted. "They're about to fix the lights of the hall!"

The group looked north where they heard an unsettling fact. After having run all over the place to convince an intern to help repair the lights, they heard from him that nothing was turning on. The darkness of the stage still persisted, much to the group's dismay.

"That's not good," Ness said. "They can't fix the lights?"

"What's wrong now?" Neku asked. "We made that guy get the fuse…"

"I dunno," Shiki said. "Maybe the fuse wasn't the problem."

"Oh, don't give me that," Beat said, shaking a fist. "We worked our butts off for this, yo!"

Suddenly, Neku gasped after spotting a rather large shadow appearing out of nowhere. The sound of wings flapping made everyone look up to see red eyes glowing in the darkness. A small screech echoed… "What in the hell?!" Ike said, drawing out his sword.

"Something's in here!" Neku said, getting ready for a fight. "It's coming! Get ready!" A loud screech made them all get in position. Although everything was dark, the concert hall was divided in two…

The World Ends with You – Give Me All Your Love

The group of ten was already used to fighting Noise that the first impression of getting dragged into battle wore off quickly. Now, the ones sent to battle took it with a little grain of salt, meaning they didn't look all that perplexed.

On the lower plane which was the floor of the concert hall, Neku bobbed his head a bit as he listened to the music of his headphones, Ness waved a finger that controlled a small sparkle of PSI energy, and Fox grinned as he tightened his fingerless gloves while looking to the sides for enemies. On the upper plane which was the iron beams right above the floor, Shiki busied herself by staring at the picture on her phone as Mr. Mew danced beside her, Pichu hopped from one foot to another with a smile, and Chris took in a few breaths to relax himself.

The other four were nowhere to be found. What Uzuki had told them about not being able to fight as a big group proved true before, but there was nothing to fear. They pulled through the battles just fine.

Now, though, a new problem came.

The battlefield was pitch black on the lower plane with a looming figure flying around. The upper plane, meanwhile, had a little bit of illumination due to the wires of electricity being chewed on by dark-and-red bats that swarmed around the trio standing on the iron beams.

"Watch yourself," Neku said. The battle started.

Shiki gasped when she noticed a swarm of bats chewing on the wires. There were two sets of wires, one of each side. "There are bats up here trying to cut off the wires!" Shiki said.

"And there's some huge monster flying around the set down here," Fox said, seeing a darkened silhouette screeching at them from a spot. Neku wasted no time and called forth a trail of fire that went after the monster. The monster didn't do a thing once the flames engulfed its body since it spread out its wings to dissipate the fire. "Dang, this one doesn't get hurt easily."

"Maybe we need to beat the bats up here?" Chris wondered.

"That should be it!" Pichu agreed. Suddenly, a few of the bats pushed themselves away from the wires to fly around the three. "H-here they come!"

On the lower plane, Ness saw the monster's glowing eyes stopping in front of him. Suddenly, the monster slammed down its wings into him, sending Ness tumbling back in pain. "O-oww!" he groaned. Grunting, Ness shot a PK Fire to the monster's face. Despite the explosion of fire, the monster flew away. "Ugh, it's not hurting it!" Ness said.

"We better dodge that monster until we come up with some way to fight back!" Fox said. The trio on the lower plane dispersed.

Meanwhile, on the upper plane, the other trio faced off against the bats. Shiki kept ordering Mr. Mew to scratch a single bat flying in midair. Once she pumped up a fist with a jump, Mr. Mew delivering a scratching uppercut that pushed several bats away. "Go!" Shiki cheered.

"Oww, oww, oww!" Chris yelped in pain as three bats spun their bodies, turning their wings into cutting weapons that slammed against his back. Feeling the sting of pain, Fox felt damaged as well. "S-sorry, sir, but this job won't do much for me!" he told Fox as Chris changed to his Dragoon job, brandishing his spear. "These many bats won't do well for my magic spells… I have to fight at close range." Quickly, he turned around and stabbed a weakened bat through, watching it turn into black and white static that faded away.

Pichu lunged himself into the bats chewing on the cables. "You want some electricity? Here's some!" he said, calling forth a Thunder that struck him down and reached out for the monsters. The potency of the attack made the bats flee away as sparks flew off their bodies. They then stopped and turned around, not liking the fact their meal time had been interrupted by the yellow mouse. Pichu gasped and jumped down to the iron beams, suddenly being targeted by the bats. "H-help!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Shiki said, ordering Mr. Mew to go over the group of bats. The fashionista felt pain coursing through her since Neku had been attacked by the monster on the lower plane. "Neku, are you okay down there?"

"Yeah, I didn't see where this monster got to," Neku said. "We're trying to figure out an opening to attack, but this thing doesn't stop! Hurry up and swat those bats down! It's so hard to fight in the darkness!"

Mr. Mew delivered a scratching uppercut on the group of bats. Half of them faded away. Chris ran below the living doll and used the tip of his spear to cut through the other half of bats, getting rid of them. The left side was now devoid of bats chewing on the cables. The trio turned around and focused on the right side. "We cleared one side!" Chris said. "We're moving on to the next one!"

Fox flipped back from the monster's wings trying to impale his body. "I used Fire Fox on him earlier, but it didn't even budge," he pointed out. "Maybe the darkness is giving it some sort of perfect defense!"

"Then that's probably the reason why there are bats chewing the cables up here!" Pichu said as he rushed to the cables and called forth another Thunder. There were no props or anything he could use to fling with his pin. "W-we're almost done! Hang in there, Ness!"

"Lancet!" Chris shouted as he rushed forward with smoke dragons forming to his sides and stabbed the group of bats, draining their energy into his body. His vulpine partner felt a bit revitalized. The bats got angered by the attack that they shielded the cables while one was interrupting the electricity flow. "They're angry!"

There was a rush of energy that coursed through Fox. The vulpine felt something shake in his pocket. Taking the blank pin that he received from Hanekoma, the vulpine saw that it had an image. There were two Blasters shooting away. Grinning, Fox clutched the pin to activate its psych. "Chris, 100 shots! C'mon!"

"R-right!" Chris said.

The two planes suddenly merged together to allow the two Players to fight the group of enemies. Fox took out his Blaster and aimed at the group of bats as Chris was forced to change to his Space Mercenary job again, taking his own Blaster. The two fired a barrage of laser shots that pierced through the bats' bodies before they stood back-to-back, firing a hundredth laser that vaporized them all. They had used Fox's Lvl. 1 Combined Final Smash.

The planes separated, and the wires on top were saved from the bats that were protecting them. With the flow of electricity back in line, the lower plane became illuminated with light that revealed the monster before them. It was a gigantic yellow bat perched on an iron beam using its large red wings. Being a Noise, the bat's wings were demonic red outlines. "Damn, that thing is ugly," Ness said.

The bat Noise screeched loudly before Neku launched himself to it, slicing it apart with swift hand movements. After a long combo, the pin ran out of power, and Neku was forced to step back. "Hey, there are a few bats showing up!" Shiki informed them. "They're trying to chew the cables again!"

"Don't let them!" Ness said. "I just saw that this monster down here flinched in pain after Neku attacked it!"

"FIRE!" Fox shouted as he slammed himself against the bat using Fire Fox. Unlike last time, the monster screeched loudly as it was forced to fly around, wary of its prey's moves. Fox landed back on the floor and looked over his right shoulder. "Just as I thought, this monster is wide open when there's light!" he pointed out.

Neku felt a rush of energy coming from his pocket. He took out his Fusion pin. It had been charged up thanks to Shiki, and now it had an image. It was an image of two interlaced stars on top of each other. Feeling it was the right time, the loner clutched it.

Shiki felt the rush as well. As the planes merged together, the two Players leaped in each opposite direction. "Ready to die?" Shiki asked as Mr. Mew followed suit.

"Then die!" Neku said.

The background was filled with an orange light. The other two pair watched as Neku, Shiki, and Mr. Mew warped in and out at different places, slashing every single enemy in sight. The enemies tried to retaliate, but the trio's blows were pushing them back. As the damage escalated, the monstrous yellow bat screeched out in pain as its followers vanished into static. In a flash, the planes separated.

Due to the intensity of the attack, the yellow bat landed hard on the floor and covered itself with its enormous wings. It was stunned. "Look! It's not moving!" Ness said.

"This is our chance!" Fox said, holding out his glowing hand to call forth a trail of flames that engulfed the Noise. Unlike last time, the fire did make it twitch wildly.

The team of three worked good enough to send light pucks back and forth. Sadly, they weren't exactly being quick about it. Their attacks delivered constant double damage, but they never went above that mark. Regardless, it didn't stop any of the trio on the lower plane to keep attacking.

Ness suddenly collided hard against it using PK Thunder. The monstrous Noise shrieked as it crashed against a set of stereos in the background. Once Neku had stopped his barrage of slicing blows, the bat pulled itself up and called forth a swarm of red bats. The trio backed away as the bats warped into the upper plane and, once again, started chewing on the cables. The lights were down the moment they got perched onto the electricity. "Not good," Neku said. "We're back in the darkness."

"Then we just have to keep it going!" Shiki said.

Some time passed as the team above brought the bats down. However, it looked like more bats were swarming around, and thus their progress was a bit too slow for their tastes. "They just won't stop coming!" Pichu said just before three bats sliced his back. "A-ahh!"

"Ugh!" Ness felt a nagging pain coming to him. Knowing that Pichu was taking quite a beating that was passing over to him, the boy use the Cure Drink pin, making a can of soda appear. He quickly chugged its contents down his throat, recovering fifty percent of their lost health. Ness tossed the can away. "Good to know that food here isn't a waste to eat," he said.

Feeling quite a bit of pain, Fox decided to use one again. He chugged down the refreshing liquid into his mouth, and then his wounds healed up in a blink of an eye. Crushing the can with his hand, the vulpine tossed it over his shoulder. "Be careful up there, Chris!" he called out as he dodged the bat's wings in time.

"Aww, please!" Chris groaned. "Did I get hurt the most? I better pay more attention…"

Ness took out his Fusion pin. It was charged up completely with a picture of Pichu's silhouette covered in sparkling electricity. It was Pichu's Spark Bullet. Clutching the pin, Ness merged the two planes together. "Hey, Pichu, get a move on!" he said.

"Right, right!" Pichu said.

Due to Ness's small size to toss Pichu with a hand, the rodent jumped to Ness's side with a quick spin. The young Electric-type glowed with sparkling electricity, turning into some kind of human ball of sparks as he slowly fell down. Ness took out his bat and carefully aimed at the row of enemies before them. With a clean swing, Ness smacked the bat right onto Pichu's frame, and the Electric-type was blasted off with great force and a thunderous sound. The bullet of electricity pierced through the bats, erasing them from existence.

Once Pichu landed back on the floor, the two planes separated. The monstrous Noise became mesmerized by the lights turning on that it cringed and embraced itself in pain. "Again with that, huh?" Neku said, clutching the Pyrokinesis pin. He and Fox joined forces to call two trails of blazing fire.

Ness double jumped and used PK Thunder. The whirling ball of electricity moved around to his back, sending him blasting off to the Noise. With a mighty impact, the yellow bat screeched loudly and disappeared in a wave of black-and-white static. Now with their master gone, the bats swarming over the iron beams faded away.

"Yeah! That was great!" Shiki said before they were blinded by light.

The Reapers that were in charge to grade their progress watched the entire battle from the shadows without saying much. Reviewing their overall performance, the Reapers slapped a "B" grade on their battle result. "It could've been better," a Reaper said.

"Yes," another said. "They got a little bit too banged up."

"Not to mention they dragged the fight a little bit too long, too," a third one said.

"Also, that whiny boy annoyed me every single damn time a bat struck his back," the second one said, referring to Chris. Nodding to each other, the Reapers disappeared as the planes merged back together…

The World Ends with You – Underground

Having successfully defeated the Master of A-East, the six returned back to the dark concert hall right in front of the other four. "Geez! Talk about a heart attack!" Shiki said in shock.

"But why complain?" Ness asked. "We pulled through just fine." He looked at the timer on his hand. "…WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" he panicked loudly. The group gasped loudly and stared at their timers.

"That wasn't the master?!" Fox asked.

"Nope! Clock's still ticking!" Neku said in shock as he looked around.

"You're kidding!" Shiki exclaimed. "Then…where's the master?!"

The team had actually wasted a lot of time trying to solve the riddle that only twenty seconds were left. "W-we're almost out of time!" Pichu shrieked.

"Keep looking around!" Ike said. "That master must be somewhere in here!"

Hearing the sound of wings flapping by, Beat and Rhyme turned around and saw a yellow bat trying to make its escape from them. "Don't drop the ball, yo!" Beat said as he and Rhyme rushed to the bat. "Here's your 'master'!"

The two blonds lunged at the bat. Beat boarded his skateboard and smacked the wheels hard on the Noise while Rhyme followed by firing a small blast of energy that obliterated the Master of A-East for good. Exchanging small grins with each other, the two Players landed back on the floor. The timers disappeared from their hands, successfully completing the mission in the nick of time.

"PHEW!" they all sighed in relief, some of them letting out a small laugh afterward.

Beat and Rhyme walked to them with content looks. "Yo, looks like we made it," Beat said proud of himself.

"Yup!" Rhyme said with a giggle as she folded her arms behind her back. "The timer's gone now. Mission complete."

"Hey, that's my line," Fox muttered under his breath. He heard Chris chuckle next to him, and he playfully pushed the teen forward.

Neku overheard the technicians saying that the power was back. "Looks like they're in business," he said.

Knowing that there was going to be a concert, Rhyme looked doubtful. "This place is gonna fill right up," she said. "We should step outside for now." The group nodded and made their way out…

A-East

"One of Shibuya's shadier neighborhoods. The street winds past 'live houses' (concert spaces) and gothic-lolita boutiques."

A-East was indeed a shady place. It was almost deprived of the light of day seeing that the concert hall was not open to the idea of having a roofless top. The small buildings that stood across the concert hall's entrance were tall enough to shield the area from light. High above, cables were hanging down, which further blocked the sun's rays from entering. The overall look of the small area was good enough for the nearby gothic-lolita boutique to sell its extravagant products.

A small time passed as the team conversed about what happened in the mission, which involved Beat nearly shattering their eardrums with a few resounding "BWAAH!"s that forced a few of them to smack his head. They saw how people started to flood in the moment they had been told that the concert was going to take place after all. Smiling, Shiki said, "Look. The concert's starting."

"But still…" Ike trailed off. "…You know that 777 guy we met today? He was the leader of the band of the concert, right?" he asked. "How could he talk to us?"

Soren recalled the repulsive-looking punk. The moment the group returned to the concert hall area, the band leader spotted them and requested the ten to go find the technician in charge of the power maintenance. It was all too weird that they couldn't speak directly to the technician while they did so with 777. "'Cause he's a Reaper," Neku simply said. Shiki gasped in shock. "Mr. Hanekoma explained all this."

"Oh, yes…" Rhyme trailed off in thought. "Only Players and Reapers can see us. Everyone else…doesn't."

"That guy didn't look like he had a partner, either," Fox said, crossing his arms. "But if he was a Reaper…I wonder why he didn't attack us… I guess they're really making sure Players play the Game accordingly."

"Correct," Soren said. "That much we know. Unlike that ill-mannered Harrier Reaper girl that held me hostage yesterday, there seems to be some kind souls around…but let's not get carried away, thinking that the next Reaper we meet is going to be nice."

Rhyme slumped over a bit, looking distraught. "You think…we'll make it?" she asked concerned. "We barely got out of this mission just fine…"

"We'll make it," Neku said, surprising Rhyme's depressed mood. "No matter what!" he added, turning away.

The group was impressed that Neku said those words, but most of them knew he was irritated with the idea of being dead. The only one who couldn't tell the difference was Beat. "Heh. Think you can deliver, Phones?" he asked.

There it was again, the horrible nickname given to him by Hanekoma. Arching an eyebrow, Neku simply said, "Daisuke-"

"BWAAH!" Beat yelled at the top of his lungs. Ike, angry with the sudden outburst, punched the guy as softly as he could. "Oww!"

"Oh, sorry, but you deserved that!" Ike said. A few of them chuckled at the exchange.

"Well," Shiki said, "here's to good teamwork, everybody! If we keep working together, nothing can really go wrong!"

"Does that call for this, then?" Ike asked, holding out his hand in front of them. Staring at the hand, the group knew where he was going with.

"An all for one thing!" Beat said, rubbing the spot where he had been punched. Grinning, Beat placed his hand on top of Ike's. Rhyme giggled and did the same.

Unlike the three, the rest didn't want to go with it. It looked a little bit too much to do it. "I dunno…" Ness said unsure. "It's…kind of…weird, you know?"

"Aww!" Beat groaned. "You guys no fun! C'mon! Dontchu have the balls or what?"

"I-I would really ask you not to put it like that!" Chris complained.

"C'mon!" Rhyme encouraged with a look that hinted no malice whatsoever. "It's for some good encouragement!"

"U-um…" Shiki shyly joined them. "O-okay, I think I can do this if you want…"

"Well…" Pichu muttered before he climbed over Shiki's back and stepped on her arm, putting his little hand on the four, "if she's going to do it…" Shiki blushed.

Perhaps the magnitude of the embarrassment would lessen if more people joined, Chris thought. He joined the five. "I-I've never done this before," he admitted. "But there has to be a first time for everything, as they say…"

"Dude…that's sick," Beat said.

"Not really everything!" Chris shot back.

Seeing his partner had joined the little unsettling idea, Fox didn't want to be left behind. He begrudgingly put his right hand on theirs. "Alright, alright, I'm doing it," he said with a tone of embarrassment.

Soren noticed Ike was giving him a hopeful look. "You're not going to stop looking at me with that look if I don't do it too…" he muttered. Sighing, Soren went over and held out his hand.

"Fine," Ness said, standing on the tip of his feet to reach out for them. "This better end quickly, though!"

Noticing that Neku was the only one left, Shiki looked over at his back. Not wanting to be the only Player whose partner wasn't there for her, she looked a bit flustered. "Neku, come over here!" she said. "Don't let me do this without you!"

Neku turned around and saw the big circle. "…Oh, hell no," he muttered with an intent of murder.

It was a given he was going to refuse. The group exchanged a few looks and then ran over to his side. Startled, Neku tried to run away, but they grabbed his right hand forcefully, putting it down their hands to keep him from escaping. He grunted loudly as he saw their looks ranging from annoyance to amusement. The only one who was giggling was Rhyme. "Okay!" Rhyme cheerfully said. "I'm going to start this so nobody else feels bad about it."

"I feel bad being tied to this rubbish," Soren said.

"Seconded," Ness said.

Rhyme nodded. "All after me…" They moved down their hands. Half of them refused to join the chant.

"All for one, and one fo-"

The group of ten immediately lost consciousness, and they clumsily fell down on top of each other in very uncomfortable body positions. As their wide eyes stared at the very alive group of people storming inside the blaring concert hall, the whole day passed without their consent…

?

Meanwhile, in a dark place that faced a counter and several rows of wine glasses, there were a few shadow figures staring at a screen that displayed the ten dropped "dead" in A-East. One of the figures was a tall slender man who had long black hair that rested on his shoulders, wearing a white shirt under a long sleeved black tuxedo and black pants. On his neck, there was a set of red headphones that he almost never put them on his ears. He chuckled contently as he watched the ten from the relaxing spot that was his bar seat. "What a crew of Players," he commented.

One of the figures within the darkness of the ominous place walked forward. It was a young woman who gave very refined vibes of self-composure. The woman wore glasses over her watchful eyes, and she had long blond hair that was neatly combed and well-kept. Her black, sleeveless dress suggested that she was the kind of person who liked to act as a secretary of sorts. She wore long-heeled black stockings with refined white high heels. "Today six Players were erased, sir. That puts us at the 50% erased mark," she reported until she looked at the screen. "Oh… You're watching that bunch, I see."

"Yes, Konishi," the first said.

Mitsuki Konishi is a crafty and cold young woman. While she may not look like the part of a villain, Konishi is ranked among the highest in the Reaper hierarchy. Dutiful and very composed with an attitude of iron, Konishi assists the Conductor with reports of each day of the Reapers' Game while keeping a good eye on their team.

Konishi delicately fixed her glasses as the reflection of the screen appeared on them. "Sir, this might be a good question to ask right now, but why did you let these Players enter the Game in the first place?" she asked. "They do not even belong to Shibuya. However, they are not to be messed with. They clearly know each other…"

Her higher up chuckled as he crossed his legs, his stylish white boots almost touching the counter from below. "It was a little experiment that the Composer wanted us to try out," he said. "Their souls wandered into Shibuya, and he didn't want to waste the chance. I am intrigued myself, Konishi," he said as he turned to her. "The fact they know each other further supports the experiment."

"What are you implying?" she asked.

"The Composer wishes to see what could happen if more like them were to appear here out of nowhere," he said. "They can interact with the environment just fine. Their entry fees are a sight to admire, you know."

"Honestly, sir," Konishi said, stiffening her blank look, "what does the Composer hope to accomplish with this?"

"He never told me about that point," he said with a grin. "It won't matter much in the end, though. Let us see how the plot develops. They are still Players. Therefore, they play by our rules."

"Yes," Konishi said. "I wish I could be the Game Master of this week. Higashizawa is doing a fine job, but I fear he doesn't care much about these peculiar Players as much as we do…" She eyed the unconscious Shiki. "He only cares about that one."

Her superior fixed his own glasses. "Let him have his fun. He is doing excellently," he said. "I believe that concludes today's report?"

"Yes," she said nodding. "We have our regular meeting tomorrow. Same time as always, sir."

He chuckled darkly and interlaced his fingers as he rested his arms on the counter, watching as the Reapers he had sent to retrieve the Players dragged them away to a different location…

Shiki's Day 4 – Erased…?

The next day, the setting didn't change. It still showed the bar hidden in complete darkness. Konishi was meeting up with a new coworker who just arrived a little late; late enough to cause her to grimace. "Tick, tock, Minanimoto," she said. "You're nine minutes and forty-two seconds late."

The new figure that stood before her didn't come of his shadow, flashing a cocky grin. "Tick, tock yourself, Konishi," he said. "Why are we even here? I can think of a decillion better ways to spend our time…than by having MEETINGS. Right, Megs?"

Konishi didn't like Minanimoto to address their superior with such an insulting nickname. "You will address him as Mr. Kitaniji," Konishi said.

"It's fine," their superior said from behind Konishi's back. "Are we all here?"

"Hey, Megs," Minanimoto casually said. "Who's the bulldozer?"

Kitaniji, their boss, was standing next to a towering man who measured at least seven feet tall. This man looked very imposing, wearing a jacket that had several shades of gray ovals over a black shirt underneath. He had pale brown hair that resembled loose headlocks. Between his rather large hands, the man had a goat emblem right over his…crotch area over his pale blue pants. He wore baggy gray pants and large sneakers. His eyes were hard to see due to the suspicious shade that covered them.

"Meet Higashizawa," Kitaniji said, "this session's Game Master. He'll be handling my affairs in my stead."

Higashizawa nodded. "You do me a great honor, sir," he said. "Watch! I will turn this week's fracas into a fricassee!"

Minamimoto chuckled. "You planning to erase them, or EAT them?" he asked.

Kitaniji sighed. "Yes, crack your jokes. But his skill is proven," he said.

Konishi turned to the screen where the large group of ten was waking up in front of the 104 Building. "Now, sir, we got some matters to attend to," she said.

Minanimoto grinned wide as he saw the ten talking about how weird it was that people could walk through them. "Heh, so these are the random numbers that decided to show up along the problem, huh?" he asked. "Finding random numbers is my specialty."

"I see how you are getting excited there, but sadly, you are not this week's Game Master," Konishi said. Minanimoto burrowed his hands into his pockets. "It is, however, still unknown how these souls even wandered into Shibuya in the first place. We should probably be cautious, just in case something unexpected happens. Moreover, they have…fighting experience."

"But they're so zetta slow," Minanimoto commented. "Just wait! I'll divide them up, and then I'll subtract them until they're a bunch of lifeless zeroes!"

"Yes, yes, I understand," Konishi said. "Higashizawa is in charge, though. He excels in tactics, intel, willpower, decisiveness, performance, his Player erasure rate... He surpasses our expectations on every count. A man of sound judgment like Mr. Kitaniji would not choose him otherwise. And he knows how to cooperate unlike som-"

Minamimoto waved a hand, getting tired of the praise the large man was getting. "Cooperation is garbage," he said as he turned around, ready to leave. "Anyway, I'm out. This is subtracting from my arts and crafts time… Oh, but I'll look forward to work with those random numbers!" And then, he walked away, leaving a mildly frustrated Konishi behind.

"Wait just a-," Konishi grunted when the guy was gone from sight. "Mr. Kitaniji hasn't spoken yet!"

Kitaniji chuckled. "Let him do what he wants," he said. Konishi nodded. "Now, then... Higashizawa. You're doing very well."

Higashizawa grinned. "Thank you, sir!" he said. "Over half the Players have been erased. The plates have been licked... Dessert is imminent."

"Excellent," his boss said. "I look forward to it… But I also expect you to erase those ten you see before your eyes." He pointed at the screen. The group was now talking with each other while Neku stood several feet away from them, keeping his thoughts to himself. He was thinking that it was a dream that nobody in the living world could bother him at all. He debated if the dream would end once he won the Game. "The ones that do not belong to Shibuya are a threat. They can fight without using pins."

"Ah, unexpected ingredients with rare flavors," Higashizama said, smacking a big fist against his palm. "This is ought to make a surprise meal. Fear not, sir! I shall take care of these unruly Players… Especially, I have my eye on one of them." He was eyeing an upbeat Shiki as she petted Pichu's head with care.

"I expect you, as my proxy in the Game, to leave no Player unerased," Kitaniji said.

"The proof is in the pudding," Higashizawa said. Konishi was getting tired of his food-based puns by this point. It was the only point she thought was an annoying trait of him. "The pudding...of their doom."

104 Building

The World Ends With You - Calling

Beat grinned wide once his cell phone rang. "Mission time, yo!" he said.

"Nothing the ten of us can't handle!" Shiki said.

"Yeah!" a few of them said as they read the next mission.

Reach Towa Records. No time limit. Fail, and face erasure. –The Reapers

"Hurray! No time limit or getting stung in our palms!" Pichu rejoiced until he reconsidered the mission's info. "…Wait… No time limit?"

"But...that's waaay simple!" Shiki said. "It's so weird that they're not giving us a time limit to worry about!"

Fox rubbed his chin. "It does sound too easy," he said. "Something's fishy about this… I just know it…"

Soren closed his eyes. "It's a trap," he said. "It is so painfully obvious that the Reapers are setting up a trap in that place they want us to reach. I suggest that we do not separate at all, or we might just face erasure for real."

Rhyme grimaced. "Towa Records is a ten-minute walk," she pointed out.

Beat rubbed his neck. "So we're just walkin' a couple blocks? Man. I was pumped for a brawl, yo!" he said.

"The less we fight those freaks of nature, the better," Ness said. "I don't want to keep fighting those demonic frogs and wolves. Also, those evil tadpoles that get stuck on your legs? Gross."

Neku walked to them. "(But this is too weird. Hundred yen says they've got something else up their sleeves,)" he thought.

"So, should we head down there?" Ike asked. "The only way we can complete this mission is by walking right into their trap."

"There's no other way," Soren said. "We shall walk straight to there, but no matter what, we will not go alone. We need to stay sharp for anything that might happen."

Beat groaned. "Aww, that wrecks my idea, yo!" he said. "Me and Rhyme wanted to race ya down to Towa Records!"

"Uh, that's just you," Rhyme said with a small giggle. "I don't want to go alone with just you, Beat. Separating is not really a good idea for now."

It was then that Shiki's eyes were drawn to the little bell that hung around Rhyme's neck. "Omigosh. Rhyme, is that what I think it is?" she asked.

Rhyme looked flatly at her. "Huh? What?" she asked.

"That pendant!" Shiki said. "Where did you find one?"

The young blond held her small pendant on her palm. She smiled at it. "Oh, this? Yeah, I heard they sold out quick. How'd you know about it?" she asked.

"I saw it in a magazine," Shiki said. The group didn't know that she was now pumped up. "I looove following the latest clothes and accessories. Lucky...I wanted one sooo bad."

Rhyme giggled. "I'm sorry I can't give you mine," she said. "But it was a present from my brother." Beat turned around and looked up the buildings around the 104 Building.

"You've got a brother?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Rhyme said nodding. "Older. He's really nice. Hope he's OK..."

Due to how noisy the people that walked past through them were, none of them heard that Beat was, oddly, sniffing to himself. "Oh, I'm sure he's doing great. And you'll see him soon!" Shiki encouraged.

Rhyme nodded. "Yeah... I hope so. So you're into fashion?" she asked.

"Uh-oh," Fox whispered to Chris. "Girl talk incoming. Brace yourself for this one."

Shiki didn't hear the vulpine's little comment and focused on Rhyme's. "Totally! I want to be a designer. I love making clothes. But right now it's just a hobby," she said.

"I still think it's pretty cool," Rhyme agreed. "It must be nice to have a dream - to be head over heels about something…" She slumped forward a bit as in deep thought. "I don't know what it's like. Not really…"

"What?" Ness asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't have a dream?"

Rhyme shook her head in shame, not noticing that Beat looked at her over his shoulder. "No... But when I look at Beat I think: keep moving forward. Because someday my dream will find me…" She smiled at the Smashers. "Maybe I need to hear other people's dreams to get some inspiration. I hope this isn't much, but…what are your dreams?"

"M-my dream?" Chris said as the others looked at him. "Uh, well… There are so many things I wish to do now that I was given the chance to travel through worlds…but I think I'm going to stick with completing a career in university."

"And Lucario is going to be there to support you," Pichu said.

"Why do you keep saying that I have a Lucario?" Chris asked. "But…anyway, maybe I'll study computer science…and then, just maybe, I'll give game design a go."

"That's nice," Rhyme said. She looked at the others. "What about you?"

"Uh…" Ness trailed off. "I'm kind of still in that phase, you know. Maybe I'll try to become a famous baseball player."

"Here I thought you were going to use your psychic powers for something else," Pichu said.

"Oh no, that's kind of cheating right there," the Onett boy said. He bumped Ike's right leg. "Okay, your turn."

"My turn?" Ike said. "Honestly…I already achieved my dream. I lead my father's mercenary company in his stead. Only problem is that I'm…not working on it right now."

"(The more time I keep listening to them, the less I believe their insane stories of world-hopping,)" Neku thought. "(…I wonder, though…)"

Ike looked over at Soren. "Oh, is it my turn?" he asked. "I'm not at liberty to say."

Rhyme forced a small smile, but the others weren't that satisfied with the response. "Aww, come on!" Ness groaned. "Can't you at least drop a hint?"

"It's unknown to me what I'll do," Soren stated. "For the time being, I work under Ike for the mercenaries, and that's just it."

Ike rubbed his head. "We better win this Game to recover your lost memories. They're the most important ones holding those secrets…" he muttered.

"As for my dream…" Fox trailed off before looking annoyed, "…it's to get out of this hellhole and resume my life."

"…" The group stared at him in silence.

"…Good enough," Ness said. Everyone else nodded.

Rhyme chuckled. "Beat's really good at skateboarding," she said. He says his dream is to be the world's greatest skater. If he can do it, then so can I." Beat's rather depressed look faded away once he forced a grin. "Thank you so much for telling your dreams, everyone. I'm sure I'll find my own dream soon."

"That reminds me," Shiki began, "you didn't ask Neku for his dream."

"Sink back into solitude," Neku spoke.

"…"

"…Okay… That's still a dream, I guess," Rhyme said unsure.

Remembering that they had no time limit to worry about, Shiki eyed the 104 Building. "Can we take a little side trip?" she suddenly asked the group. "We got all the time of the world to reach Towa Records. Mind if we stop at Ten-Four?"

Pichu looked at the towering building. "Won't people see us in there?" he asked, spotting the familiar graffiti inside the huge store. "Oh, they'll see us…"

"It'll be fun!" Shiki said. "There are many sorts of people in Shibuya. I guess nothing bad is gonna happen with some of you entering the store despite your looks."

"If you say so…" Ike said. "If somebody screams bloody murder just looking at Fox, you're being held responsible."

Fox glared at him. "Are you treating me like some sort of animal?" he asked.

"No, but we would rather have you behave," Soren said with a small sneer. Fox grunted in response.

It looked like the group agreed to enter the building. Neku, being unfamiliar with Shibuya, asked, "So... Why do they call it 'Ten-Four'?"

"You mean 104?" Shiki asked. "Isn't it obvious? Break it into two numbers, and you've got 10-4."

Silence…

"…I see people here don't have the remotest idea what they're doing for a living," Soren dully noted.

104 Building – Store

The World Ends With You – Economical Shoppers

Neku could hardly believe that he was coaxed into entering such a crowded place with an even stranger group of people tagging along, but there was no other choice. He needed Shiki against his will. The ominous graffiti made them tangible for anybody to see and touch them, which meant that the nagging pushing of other customers became a new issue to endure. Shiki was used to it. "Ugh... It's a zoo in here," Neku said. "Are they having a sale or what?"

Chris was a bit of a stranger in the store. But overall, it was a mess of giggling, gossiping high schoolers hunting hot deals down with the right outfits to become the newest thing to talk in the streets to emulate their idols of teenage magazines. "I feel I don't belong to this kind of world," he said. He was used to video game conventions, not fashion conventions.

"No kidding there, genius," Ness sarcastically said.

"Ten-Four's always like this," Shiki said with an intact smile until she let out a high-pitched squeal that left most of them nearly deaf for a brief second. "Ah! Omigosh! That outfit! Is that the line?" She ran over to a line of girls trying to get whatever outfit Shiki had spotted using her reserved eagle-eye skill for clothing.

"So far, this little diversion is getting on my nerves," Soren commented. "Please let it be over soon."

"Well," Fox began, crossing his arms, "if I ever get hooked up with somebody, I'll steer clear from this kind of place."

"You kind of got hooked up with Krystal," Chris said, and Fox looked at him, "…and then you broke her heart."

Fox grimaced. "I dunno who she is, but she better be good. I've never considered romance before in my life," he said.

"If she was within hearing range, she'd already snapped your neck in half, I kid you not," Ness said.

Neku shook his head as he saw Shiki walking to the rather long line of squealing girls. He saw Shiki walking back, apparently not finding the outfit very appealing.

Shiki casually began a conversation. "You don't know how badly me and Eri…" She sighed after a small pause, looking worried while remembering her past life. "Sorry... Me and my friend used to come here."

Pichu's ears perked up. "Oh, you mean your friend in the photo?" he asked.

Right after Shiki nodded, a multitude of girls squealed loudly, startling the group. "IT'S HEEEEEEM!" they heard.

Shiki gasped. "Hey...Over there!" she said, pointing to the left side of the store. There was a group of giggling girls looking at a seemingly attractive blond man looking at a line of clothing. The man in particular was slender, wore a very stylish white T-shirt that heavily drew upon a French style with brown pants and white sneakers. His short blond hair was combed nicely in such a style that any girl would turn to stare at his eyes for long periods of time, as if their virginity was taken away with a small, direct gaze. He was holding a white jacket over his shoulder that begged the nearby group of girls to steal it from him at all costs.

"The prince looks sooo hot!" a girl commented.

Another girl had a phone out, ready for anything. "I gotta snap a photo with my phone!" she said.

Neku sighed in relief, thinking that Noise were inside the store for a moment. "Oh. Not Noise... Just noisy," he said. "Who is that guy?"

"Eiji Oji. The Prince of Ennui?" Shiki said in a tone that implied that it was common knowledge. "He's the latest superstar. People love his don't-give-a-damn attitude."

"Oooooooh, he's THAT kind of guy," Ness said.

"Hate those with a passion, yo," Beat said.

Shiki continued. "His blog 'F everything,' gets 100,000 hits a day!" she said.

"F…Everything?" Chris repeated. "That's…uh…"

"'F Everything'?" Neku repeated. "What kind of blog is that?"

"You know…" Ness trailed off, "he gets to F people and the like."

Just before Shiki could say anything to that, the group was surprised to see Eiji coming to them. "You, young man!" he called out, his entourage of raging fangirls trailing behind him, hiding behind lines of clothing. "What are you doing in Ten-Four if you can't even coordinate an outfit? Have you no sense of Shibuya's trends?" He inspected the Smashers. "Your friends here have some questionable fashion trends as well…"

"I take offense to that," Ike muttered.

"(Who the...)" Neku sighed. He knew they weren't getting out of there without talking to the blond freak. "Trends?"

Shiki nodded. "Yeah, you know. Like what brands are hot?" she said.

The Prince smiled, pleased to hear her. Noticing the smile, the entourage of fangirls labeled Shiki as a dangerous opponent behind her back. "Ah, the blessed voice of wisdom. At least one of you knows how to dress," he told Shiki.

The fashionista chuckled with pride. "I have to! Shibuya is every girl's war zone," she said.

"Good thing I'm not a girl..." the eight males of the group said in unison, just for them to notice and shrug afterward.

The Prince looked serious. "You should know a trendy outfit can turn a pigsty into the loveliest of gardens. But you, in that outfit? It's like wrapping the rose of youth into a spicy tuna roll." With a bishie flick of his blond hair, the Prince walked away, his legion of fangirls following and never looking at the odd group again.

Chris stared long at the Prince as the latter left the building. "Wow… Just…wow…" he trailed off. "I never paid much attention to guys like him in my school, but…wow…"

"(Arrogant snob,)" Neku thought. "(I am not...a...a spicy tuna roll!)"

Rhyme blushed and shyly twiddled her fingers. "I…kind of see his blog from time to time," she admitted. The group looked shocked at her. "And his advice is…is always pretty spot o-"

"Oh, no," Neku interrupted. "Count me out. I don't care about trends. I wear what I want to wear."

Shiki immediately became enraged. "Ugh, no, you can't do that! They call it a fashion statement for a reason!" she said. She cleared her throat. "How you dress sends a clear message."

"(Then I wish I had more zippers...so I could tell you to ZIP IT,)" Neku thought.

"Truly, the world of fashion is a girl's war zone," Soren said. "From where I come from, nobody really get this worked up over clothes. What you have is what you keep almost forever."

"Wow, that's hell right there…" Shiki gasped and flailed her hands. "O-oh, sorry! I didn't mean to sound rude!" She stared at them. "Look, you've got potential. You could be sooo much cooler. And I KNOW fashion. C'mon, it's so easy to be trendy."

"Easy for you to say," Fox said, forcing a grin as he showed off his jacket. "I am trendy." Chris gave him a dull look.

"The Prince did not acknowledge your trendiness," Shiki pointed out. Fox's ears perked up a bit as he glared at her. "Therefore, you need help…" She looked back at Neku giving her a hard look. "Well, I'm not going to force you. But your clothes..." She winced. "They're, um..." She grimaced. "Not, like, bad, but..." Her lips twisted a bit.

Neku felt that she was touching a nerve. "WHAT?" he asked loudly.

Shiki flailed her hands again. "Ahh! Nothing, nothing! Just forget I brought it up," she pleaded.

The orange-haired teen looked away from her. "(Suddenly, I feel naked.)"

Ike was a bit confused on the whole matter with trends. "What's so great about trends?" he asked.

Shiki smiled. "Well, Shibuya's kind of unique. Trends here change really quickly. And they change YOU, and the people around you. So it's better for you if you can stay in control of them," she said.

"Oh, I know," Ness said. "Control the masses with your good looks… That's for girls!" he complained.

"Hey, that's so not true!" Shiki argued. "Men can pull it off without looking weird! Oh, and don't go thinking the Prince is weird, either! He knows his stuff." Nobody heard Rhyme saying a weak "Yeah!"

Neku turned to her. "I don't need help being cool," he said.

"I know what I'm doing, Neku," Shiki said. "I've been studying fashion bit by bit, so I can be a designer one day. I've always liked to sew," she said. "I started with little things like stuffed animals."

"So the one you're always carting around - you made that?" Neku asked.

Shiki took out Mr. Mew from behind, the group staring at the black stuffed animal. It suddenly jumped down and put its chubby hands on its hips. Luckily, no one else in the store saw the doll. "Yup," she said, feeling proud of the little doll. "The clothes I've got on, too."

Ike blinked at her. "Wow, you made those clothes yourself? That's very impressive," he said nodding.

"Heh, thanks," the fashionista said. "But the clothes, I just sewed them. Eri did the design…" Her mind came to a sudden halt once she said her friend's name. None of them could tell that, deep down, Shiki was hiding something. "She's the amazing one… I still have a lot to learn. But one day..."

"I have to say, that's really amazing," Chris said. "Looking how dedicated you are into fashion, it makes me want to start on my own projects with what I want to do for a living that I want to enjoy doing no matter what."

While Shiki smiled at the thought, Fox grinned at Chris. "I'll look forward to see what you do for the future," he said. The teen blinked in surprise at the small praise.

"O-oh!" Chris said, smiling shyly to the vulpine. It did feel like there was a strong bond growing between the two, or so Chris thought. "T-thank you, Fox. I'll try to give it a go soon enough once I have time to spare!"

Pichu stared at Mr. Mew waving at them. "You made that one?" he asked.

Shiki looked embarrassed, flailing her hands. The group briefly thought that she was making a habit of it. "I...I made him a long time ago, so he's not very good," she said.

"Why do yo still have it?" Beat asked suddenly. Rhyme shot him with a serious look that he ignored. "Stuffed animals is for little kiddies."

Shiki looked sideways at him. "Shut up! This is my psych!" she pointed out. "How else am I gonna fight off the Noise?"

"You mean..." Neku trailed off in surprise, "you use that piggy as a weapon?"

Shiki complained while yelling, "He's not a pig! He's a cat! Mr. Mew the cat!"

"Oh…" Pichu trailed off. "…What happened to Mr. Mewtwo?"

The fashion seamstress gave him a funny look: a blank one. "What?"

"Uh, nothing…" Pichu looked away.

Ike tilted his head at the doll. "What made you think that doll looks like a pig?" Neku grabbed Ike's head and moved it at an appropriate position while staring at Mr. Mew. "…Oh… OH…. OH, I see it now. He does look like a pig." He nodded.

"What in the-?!" Shiki said bewildered, as the others being a safe distance away from her chuckled.

"'Mr. Mew'?" Neku repeated, looking up to the ceiling while scratching his head. "(How old is she? Three?)"

Shiki looked sideways at them. "Look, I only know how to use tele...whatever," she said.

"Telekinesis?" Neku said. "OK, but why a stuffed animal? Couldn't you pick something more powerful? Like a knife or a...a lead pipe or something?"

The PSI user looked suspicious at Neku. "Geez, from what alley did you come from?" Ness asked. Neku silenced a small grunt and pushed the boy away.

"I tried putting my Groove Pawn pin on something else," Shiki said. "But Mr. Mew was the only thing that worked…" She looked up to the ceiling, rubbing her chin in thought. "Besides, I'm not really moving him. He just sort of does his own thing."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe that is what you call telekinesis," he said.

"Hmm... I guess not."

Mr. Mew turned his back on them as he crouched down. Neku stared down at it. "(The pig moves on its own?)" he thought. "(What if it's possessed, waiting to pork-chop us in the back of the head?)"

"…" Ness looked ill. "So if you're NOT moving it…who's moving it?"

Shiki looked away. Seeing that she had absolutely no answer for the question, some of them stared shocked at the animated doll, thinking that some sort of demon was controlling it… It looked at them over its shoulder. Many backed away almost immediately. "Stay away from that thing," Fox advised Chris.

Its owner shook her head. "I know he turned out awful, but... without him, I never would've started sewing for real," Shiki said.

Rhyme chuckled nervously, feeling that Mr. Mew was looking at her. "Y-you gotta start somewhere, anyway," she said.

"Aw, not you too!" Shiki groaned, picking Mr. Mew up from the floor.

"She picked it up!" Chris said yelping.

"Would you please stop it?" Shiki asked irritated, keeping Mr. Mew away. "He's not gonna kitty-chop us on the back of the head or something!" Neku shrugged at the thought.

Rhyme sighed and then smiled at Shiki. "So you wanna be a fashion designer, Shiki?" she asked.

Shiki was glad that the topic had changed. "Yup! I want to make clothes for a living. Nice clothes make people happy. And that makes me happy, too," she said.

"(Hmph… She's got her whole future planned out,)" Neku thought. "(Never woulda thought.) So that's why you're so picky about clothes," he said.

"Heh heh," she chuckled. "I try. But I still have a ways to go. There's so much to learn."

"Cool," the orange-haired teen said, trying to sound just as subtly nice as possible. "(I didn't give her enough credit. She's got a dream. That's more than I can say…)"

"WELL!" Ness said suddenly, stretching his arms above. "It's nice to hear you're really into the world of fashion design, Shiki, but I think it's time for us to get moving to the mission."

"Yes…" Ike trailed off, being slightly pushed aside by a high school girl looking for a new outfit to wear. "This place is getting a little bit too much for me to bear any longer."

"Oh, you're right," Shiki said. "But next time, let's try to do some shopping. You guys need to wear something else different if…you want to go ahead with it."

"Meh, I'll see what I can find for myself if there's something that catches my eye," Fox said. At that moment, he noticed that the Prince had returned. He approached them and looked down at Pichu. "Did you forget something?"

"Oh, it's nothing, man with the fox outfit," the Prince said as he looked at Pichu with a grin. "I wanted to say that this little, animated doll is…cute, shall I say." Chris then saw that the Prince's legion of fangirls was hiding behind him, several feet away. They were eyeing Pichu with lustful eyes all of a sudden… "I'll F this in my blog… F this creature," the Prince said. "F it to high heaven!" And with that, he turned around and left the store for real.

Fox grimaced. "You don't know how obscenely bad that sounded…and on Pichu, of all people."

Pichu started sweating bullets as he looked up to them. "I got F'd!" he squealed scared. Some unknown hands grabbed his sides and pulled him away. "EEEEEEEEEEH!"

To the overall shock and surprise from the group, the girls tailing the Prince didn't go after their idol. They all screamed and lunged after Pichu, the girls wanting to know where to get one like him at a nearby store while Pichu cried out for help. A brawl ensued as the group tried to fend off the group of crazy girls from grabbing Pichu for themselves. "Stop it!" Chris yelled as the store clerks were alerted. "It looks like you want to violate poor Pichu!"

The World Ends With You – Déjà vu

Shibu Department Store

"An upscale department store just a skip away from Shibuya Station. Famous brand names dominate its floor space."

The group was lucky that they became intangible and invisible as soon as they ran out from the freak accident that occurred at the store. They made their way quickly to the east side of the Scramble Crossing, reaching yet another prestigious store of three floors. Said store was the most expensive place of Shibuya where people's wallets would instantly die at the items sold there, which reached the hundred-thousand yen mark…and beyond. Anybody rich enough to buy anything from there would become an instant hit among trend seekers. Sadly, the group was considered to be poor by the store's standards.

They had come across a weird kind of Noise: Pig Noise. They recalled Hanekoma saying that the Pig Noise had rare pins, and that they shouldn't waste time if they spotted one around the area using the Players' phones where it would tell them that Pig Noise were nearby. That was a side quest to do, though, so they concerned more about the mission: reaching Towa Records.

"Girls…" Ike trailed off. "They're a force to be reckoned with when in groups…"

"Yeah," Beat said. "Gonna have nightmares the moment I get back to live my life, yo. Stayin' away from a whole bunch of 'em."

"Lucky me," Neku said, not noticing the rather creepy glare he was getting from Shiki for no reason. She was even shaking. "I backed away just in time to avoid their clawed nails..."

"Stop it," Fox said with a grunt. "One of those psychotic girls tried ripping my clothes off."

"A-a-and I remembered some awful memories from the past thanks to that event…" Pichu shivered, being embraced by a similarly shivering Chris. "R-remember when those fans almost kidnapped me?"

"Oh, don't make me remember that event," Ness said. "Let's be happy that we escaped from those…monsters."

"At least we didn't get banned from the store because they have to go through that a lot it's pointless to keep customers like them away," Rhyme said. "…But it's creepy to think this happens a lot of times in there…"

Shiki grunted so loud that they stopped walking east. "Ahh, enough!" she said, staring at a shocked Neku. "Just looking at you makes me cringe!"

"What did I do!?" Neku asked in surprise. "(What's gotten into her?)"

"Oh… Oh no," Chris said. "Shiki finally snapped…"

"It's not that," she fumed, looking at Neku. "It's coming loose."

"Umm..." Neku looked confused. "(What, your grip on reality?)"

Shiki crossed her arms. "Neku... That button on your shorts."

Neku blinked and looked at his left pocket. A button was coming loose from the side. "Oh, yeah," he said as the others looked odd at the loose button. "What does it matt-"

"It matters!" Shiki shrieked. "I can't stand things like that!"

"Whoa there," Ness said. "It's just a button. There's no need to get so worked up ove-"

"Off."

Their eyes widened in unison after hearing Shiki demand Neku to take his shorts off. "What?" Neku asked.

"Your shorts. Take them off!" she said indignantly. "I'll fix the button."

Neku considered the gravity of the situation, and so did the others. Chris, Rhyme, and Pichu blushed and looked away. Ike, Soren, Beat, and Fox stared incredulously at Shiki. Ness, meanwhile, tried to lower his cap down to cover his eyes. "Are you high!?" Neku asked. "I'm not taking my pants off in front of you, in the middle of the street!"

"Oh, grow up," Shiki said. "What, are you going commando? You're invisible! No one's watching."

Neku pointed a shaking finger at the eight. "ALL OF YOU are watching!" The ones that were watching turned around. "Now YOU'RE watching!"

Shiki dangerously approached him. Neku gasped and turned around, only to find that he had somehow been cornered behind a sign next to the wall of a building. "Now! Pants! Off!" she emphasized every word, and then she lunged at Neku's lower body while the others turned around and heard him scream for help behind the sign. Shiki was now in high gear. The people that went through their everyday lives never noticed the event at all as they walked by.

"Doooooon't!" Neku screamed.

The Branded closed his eyes. "The nerve of that girl," Soren commented, seeing the fleeting image of Neku's shorts lying down the sidewalk.

"Today's being pretty crazy, yo," Beat said.

"No, the girls today are being pretty crazy," Fox corrected. He looked down at Rhyme. "Not you, Rhyme, and hopefully you won't turn out like them… Ugh…" He shrugged his shoulders.

Thinking that the event was going to last forever, the group of eight saw a satisfied Shiki walking out from the sign, putting a needle and a thread away. A very embarrassed-yet-surprised Neku walked out, wearing his shorts on with the button fixed neatly on his side pocket. "There. All done!" she said. "Whew, I feel much better. Loose buttons drive me nuts."

"No kidding, girl," Ike said, backing away from her as the two partners rejoined them.

"That was...fast..." Neku commented, almost breathless of the humiliation he went through a few seconds ago. Luckily, nobody laughed. They were freaked out by Shiki. "You always carry around a needle and thread?"

"Of course," Shiki said. "They come in handy. Plus I enjoy sewing. If you need anything else mended, just say the word!" She then turned to the group and her eyes, as if having an exclusive, natural, innate skill, glared down at a very glaring spot…

…She was looking down at Fox…

"…Oh no," Fox muttered in a low tone, looking down at himself to see where she was staring at. The others gasped and looked away, all the while getting as far as possible from Shiki's next victim. "…Oh no… NO, NO, NO, NO!" He shook his head, blushing under his furred face. There was a rather large tear that was running across…his crotch area. It probably appeared there during the ensuing brawl that took place at the 104 store. His jaw wide open, Fox then noticed Shiki was nearing his position. "D-don't you put a finger on me down there!"

"TAKE… THEM… OFF!" Shiki lunged at Fox, pushing him all the way back behind some conveniently placed piles of boxes that hid the scandalous scene of a young teen ripping a young adult fox's pants off. Even though Fox had a lot more physical strength, Shiki's rage-induced state gave her enough willpower to overthrow his resistance; his futile resistance.

The unzipping of pants ensued.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Fox yelled.

"T-that scream…" Chris gulped, catching an unfortunate glance at Fox's pants being taken off before being pulled back behind the boxes by Shiki's hand. "It…it's going to get burned into my mind forever…"

"(Will I have to strip again?)" Neku wondered, looking away from the boxes. "(I'd better take care of my clothes...)"

A few seconds later, a relieved Shiki walked out with a satisfied look on her face. Right after, a defeated Fox walked out, his dignity having been crushed while his pants were fixed up. The tear had vanished thanks to Shiki's masterful sewing skills. "All done for real!" she said.

Fox blushed deeply under his fur. Nobody would ever notice the redness of his face. "That…was not…my greatest experience yet…" he breathed out. "I feel so violated…"

"This is so haunting you, even after we get out of this fix," Ness said.

"Shut up…"

With the rather embarrassing events finally taken care of and Shiki's overall passionate attitude redeemed, the group continued northeast, making sure none of them had a clothing malfunction that would force Shiki to go insane again.

They stopped walking, though, after they noticed two young people talking to each other in front of the store. One of them was a high school girl with short black hair wearing her tied gray jacket over her green skirt, and the other was a young business teen with brown hair carrying a suitcase. "How's work going, Makoto?" the girl asked.

Makoto looked down in shame. "Bad," he said. "The boss wants me to promote some new pins. But how?" he asked. "I don't know anything about pins."

"Sound rough," the girl said.

"Why would we stop now?" Soren asked. "We shouldn't indulge in the living's life, seeing as we aren't alive ourselves."

"Oh…" Shiki looked at the girl. "She's Mina. She's a friend of Eri," she pointed out. "We talked a few times before, so I was wondering what she was doing talking to him… I think I know him, too. His name is…Makoto."

Pichu narrowed his eyes and quickly hid behind Ness. "S-she's one of the girls that tried to kidnap me at the store!" he said.

"Stay away from her?" Ness suggested.

The fashionista grimaced. She felt lucky that Mina didn't see her at the store at all. "U-uh, let's keep listening on their conversation, if you don't mind…" Shiki trailed off.

Makoto closed his eyes in a serious manner. "Yeah. I've been trying to study up," he said. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Like, people use pins to play Tin Pin Slammer, right? So I'm thinking of hitting the slam-off at Molco next week!" He chuckled at his idea. "To pick up the lingo, you know?" He sighed, remembering that he had no chance at going there. "But tickers are completely sold out."

Mina stared at him. "The Tin Pin slam-off, huh…" she muttered before smiling at him. "If you had a ticket, you'd go?"

Makoto brightened up a bit. "Uh-huh," he said.

"Hmm…" Mina had a wonderful idea in mind.

Shiki noticed that another high school girl was staring at the two from afar. The newcomer wore the same high school uniform as Mina, but the only difference was that she had a semi-sharper look on her face and long pale brown hair. "Huh? Isn't that…" She had a very nasty suspicion about her friend Mina talking to Makoto alone. Glaring at Mina's back, the girl walked away with a grunt.

"Hey, wasn't that Ai?" Shiki wondered until she saw Makoto and Mina entering the expensive store before them.

"Look, that store has that weird graffiti in there, too," Ike said. "Maybe you could go talk to them."

The mercenary wasn't expecting the fashionista to act against the idea. "N-no!" Shiki suddenly yelled, startling the rest of the group. "I-I… I can't let Mina see me like this!"

"What?" Neku said. "Why are you talking about? You don't look bad or anything… You're not making sense."

Shiki embraced herself and shook her head. "I can't let her see me," she muttered. "She might just tell Eri about it…and then…things would get really bad…"

Pichu tilted his head at her. "Why?" he asked. "Don't you want to see your friend in there? It's going to make you feel okay if you do…"

"…" Shiki closed her eyes, shedding a small tear. "…Not like this, you guys…" she said. Wiping the tear away, she looked serious. "This just isn't…the time for me to go talk to Mina or anybody else I know…" She took out Mr. Mew and clutched it against her chest. Without a second thought, Shiki ran northeast.

"Hey, wait up!" Neku yelled, chasing after his partner. Not wanting to leave them alone, the group went after the two to avoid getting separated.

"What is wrong with her now?" Ike asked, concerned about the girl.

"Well, unlike a moment ago," Soren began, "she just doesn't want to see her friends for whatever reason she's hiding from us. Now, she's running away."

"We've got to catch up with her!" Rhyme said. "She's probably walking right into a trap around Towa Records!" The group chased the two down, eventually reaching Towa Records by passing through another district between the department store and their destination.

Towa Records

"A record store born in the US of A. Currently, the store's collaboration with the artist 'CAT' is creating a buzz."

The first word of the new area subtly pointed out the towering skyscrapers that loomed over the street. To the right, the group saw several large, thin buildings that reached out for the sky. Each of the buildings was dedicated solely on selling music to avid music fans looking for the hottest music track of the season. In big eye-catching banners and TVs, the graffiti art of a black cat head showed prominently all over the place.

All of that was largely ignored once they spotted Shiki leaning against the wall next to a store, clutching Mr. Mew tightly as she saw them approach her side. She was thinking hard about something that happened to her before she died. She closed her eyes, recalling the vague argument she had with a dear friend…

"Shiki… I know you're trying really hard to be a fashion designer, but you've been breaking your head over this little project you're trying to finish. You've been working on it for a month now…"

"I…I guess so, Eri…"

"Look, you're an excellent fashion seamstress… But…"

"But what?"

"You're not meant to be a fashion designer."

"H-how could you say to me?! And I thought we were best friends forever?!"

"W-wait, Shiki, don't hang up on me! Please, don't cry!"

"S-shut up, you! I don't want to talk to you anymore, you hear me?!"

"There you are," Neku said, snapping Shiki from her thoughts. "What's wrong with you all of a sudden? You're having way too many mood swings today it's freaking me out."

"…" Shiki looked away. "It's…it's…it's something I don't want to talk about…"

"Not this again," Fox muttered.

"You guys…" Shiki sniffed. "I don't want to talk about this problem I have… It's just too much…" Her eyes looked away from the few worried looks she was given. "…There was something that happened to me before I died…but…that's all I'll tell you about…"

"A problem?" Pichu wondered.

"…Sorry, Pichu, but I can't even tell this to you," she said, sighing a bit. "It…it only matters that we reached Towa Records. The mission is complete…"

Beat grinned and ran ahead in front of the most popular record store. "Yeah, we did it!" he called over, waving a hand. "Why dontwee chill out inside the store? I wanna buy a few CDs!"

Rhyme smiled at the idea, and the others wanted to see Shiki in high spirits again, especially Pichu. While the Electric-type smiled, he saw Rhyme's expression look sickly ill. "Rhyme?" Pichu wondered.

Rhyme's eyes were shaking in fear as she spotted a dreadful Noise symbol passing down the multitude of people. The symbol was unlike any others they've seen before. It was a red-and-black symbol that resembled the jaws of a shark of all things. Immediately taking a sprint, the young blond saw the symbol move right under Beat's feet. It was going after him, and he had separated from her side far enough to get hunted down by Noise.

Beat's smiling face disappeared as soon as Rhyme lunged at him to push his body away. For a brief second, the two recalled an unfortunate event through the sound of a car trying not to crash into them. However, there was no car this time, but a huge Noise shark that jumped out from the symbol and tried chomping the blond punk.

The team could only watch in horror as the shark Noise brought its mighty jaws upon Rhyme…and then, the sound of a bell pendant falling down lifelessly on the street echoed in Beat's ears…

Rhyme left your team…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Shiki's Week – Shiki & Eri"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Towa Records-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Shiki, Beat

References:

- The usual TWEWY tracks were used here, and we aren't even done with them yet.

- "SMT: Devil Survivor 2 – Connected Hearts" is a track that plays during doubtful situations in the same game… Oh, by the way, people like to compare both Devil Survivor and TWEWY due to the fact they both use the 7 day format, but they're extremely different, obviously.

Well, I hate to break this to you, but I'm leaving you with a nasty cliffhanger for this chapter.

You surely noticed how this chapter has the title "Shiki's Week" in it. That means Shiki plays a central role in the story more than Neku, even though Neku is the one who'll end up getting a lot of character development in the end… That goes to the others, though. Shiki's Week also focuses on Pichu quite a lot.

First, though, let's recap the Smashers' Entry Fees:

Ness: He has forgotten about Paula (which hints that he has romantic feelings for her).

Pichu: He knows Pikachu, but all memories of him had been taken away.

Chris: He never owned a Lucario, and thus he can't even remember anything about him.

Fox: Krystal is completely gone from his memory.

Ike: Apparently, he claims that he doesn't have a younger sister; Mist.

Soren: He knows Ike as his leader, but beyond that, the utter respect for Ike is mostly gone. Furthermore, the memory of the accident at the mansion has also been taken away.

Now let's see the Shibuya Crew…

Neku: The memory of his death is gone.

Shiki: Refuses to say what it is.

Beat: Hasn't said anything yet.

Rhyme: She doesn't know, either, but it looks like Beat knows…

The readers that DO know what their entry fees are please don't say them. Let the others find out through the story.

Now the dilemma that Chris faces shall be shown next chapter: he's lying to his group about what happened to him before he died. This problem is going to cause some…severe issues of trust if the next chapter does end up with him confessing the truth. Also, that Ike VS. Marth fight event hasn't been forgotten, either, but it's going to come up soon, too.

Remember that I'm releasing official artwork of my stories. Hell, a new TWEWY artwork was finished to reflect this chapter's Noise battle. The links to my accounts can be found at the top of my profile.

Do enjoy next chapter, but do review this one! I like to hear your thoughts and critiques!

…Or else Fox is getting viola-

Pichu: Don't go there, please!

Fine… Or else Chris is somehow going to pitch an idea to Shiki to make Mr. Riolu the doll!

Beat stared down lifelessly, right in front of his feet, at the bell pendant Rhyme used to wear around her neck. Tears welling up, he let out a loud scream. "RHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYME!" He stood back up as he grabbed the bell pendant. He stared at it for a long time until he closed his eyes shut and looked away. "Why… WHY?!"

"Beat…"

"Why did she have to be erased now?!" Beat asked loudly to the sky. "She…she was my partner, dang it! I was meant to protect her no matter what, and she protected me instead!"

"Uh, Beat…"

"How am I gonna make it out dah Game without a partner?! This is sick, yo, SICK!"

"Beat."

"I sweat, whodevah did this to Rhyme…it's GONNA PAY HAR-"

"BEAT!"

"WHAAAT!" Beat looked down at Rhyme. "Can't you see I'm cryin' for you?!"

"Yes, I see, and I think that's very sweet of you," Rhyme said, smiling a bit. "Can you please give me my pendant now? I feel kind of naked without it."

"…" Beat blinked at the realization. "R-Rhyme? Y-you okay?" He wiped his tears away and looked at the scene before him more clearly.

Rhyme wasn't standing up. The young blond was being held under one arm around her waist. That right arm belonged to a deadpan Fox, who then decided to blink at Beat with a grin. "Hey," he said. "Quit the crying now. She's okay."

Rhyme never left your team!

"B-but…but how?!" Beat asked, completely at a loss of words. The vulpine chuckled and put Rhyme down on her feet. "How did ya even…?"

"I saw Rhyme suddenly running after you, and I spotted that bastard shark below your feet," Fox said as he crossed his arms. "I thought none of you two was going to make it, so I helped myself and joined the plan."

Rhyme took her pendant back, putting it back on her neck. "It all was so fast!" she said, turning to look up at Fox. "When I pushed Beat out of the way, Fox came from behind in a flash and grabbed me, and he even got to slice the shark's nose!" She folded her arms behind her back. "Thank you so much, Fox! You're my hero!"

"Don't mention it. All is possible when I can use Fox Illusion anytime," Fox said with a wide grin. He felt a lot of pride that completely overtook the embarrassing moment he went through a few minutes ago.

Beat forced a chuckle and patted Fox's shoulder. "Yo! Thanks!" he said. "If it wasn't for you, we both woulda been a goner!" He grinned. "I'm forever indebted to you!"

The other seven rejoined their side, relieved that nobody was erased by the shark Noise. "That was incredibly amazing, Fox!" Chris praised his partner. "For a moment there, I thought nobody was going to survive that Noise!"

"Very nice job," Ike said nodding. "You reacted quickly. I was just as impressed… Nice thinking, Fox."

"Yeah!" Shiki said. She had forgotten her own dilemma of the past after witnessing the event. "I was so worried, too. Good thing nobody got erased…"

The vulpine kept hearing their praises one by one. He closed his eyes as he chuckled. "Aw, please, you guys," he said. "You can stop praising me now. I know I'm a good hero, but this is too much."

"…" They all fell silent.

Fox opened his eyes. "What?" he said.

"Eh…" Ness looked away. "You ruined the mood. I don't feel like praising your heroics anymore."

"Me neither," Pichu said.

Fox glared at them. "HEY!" he grunted, making them laugh for a small while. Shrugging, Fox decided to laugh with the group.

Soren faked a small cough. "I'm sorry for interrupting this rather bountiful moment, but…" he turned around and glared at a familiar face, "we should be celebrating after getting out of this trap that Harrier Reaper girl set up for us."

Gasping, the rest of the group turned around and saw an infuriated Uzuki staring at them with a hint of murder in her eyes. "Why did you get in the way?!" she demanded Fox. "Seriously! You otherworldly people are making me FURIOUS sticking your noses where they don't belong!"

The vulpine glared fiercely at her. "Oh, I'm SO very sorry you dislike seeing me do my own thing!" he said sarcastically, putting a hand on his hip. "You'll have to bear it for a LOT longer as a long as I'm playing the Game!"

"(He's so cool…)" Chris thought.

"YEAH!" Beat said, stepping forward. "Pinky, you're gonna PAY dearly for tryin' to erase Rhyme here! Prepare to get smacked around!"

The group assumed their positions. "GRRRR!" Uzuki grunted loudly, flexing her claws.

"Now, now, Uzuki," a lazy-sounding voice came from behind her. "Don't go bursting another blood vessel. After all, it was me who was gonna erase that little girl, not you."

"Oh, hell no," Neku said. "Here comes yet another one of them…"

"And I suppose this one isn't friendly," Soren said, narrowing his eyes at the sight of black wings coming into view...

TO BE CONTINUED…

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Towa Records-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Shiki, Beat - Rhyme

…Oh, I forgot to say this, but Rhyme is a very charming character, and also my favorite one from the cast. Why not let her live? I'd feel REAL bad if she was eaten alive. I actually hate the idea of giving you a nasty cliffhanger, so I'll let you go with the fact that Rhyme is alive and well. :)

…

And while I cook up the next chapter, WORSHIP FOX IN THE MEANTIME. (I'm exaggerating, you know).
*Chapter 202*: Shiki's Week - Shiki & Eri

The drama kicks in before Day 7.

From ngrey651: Thank GOODNESS she's not dead. I'm getting really, really tried of the trend in fiction to kill of characters just to invoke a sense of horror or dread in the audience and make them immediately empathize with the characters. It's a cheap trick.

From me: But not here. I want to expand a little more on Rhyme's character. Do enjoy her unsettling wise behavior for a young girl. :)

From Bob: Great chapter. Love the part where shiku goes bit crazy about buttons. Also I think u should update yr profile thing as it is bit old. So yeah Awesome chapter and thanks.

From me: Oh yes, I'll update my profile soon enough. Thanks for reviewing a bit. :)

From Koopacrazy: Great chapter this is gradually becoming my favorite fic can i ask if we'll see anything about the other smashers still near the mansion or the newest smashers getting away from Subspace.

From me: Oh, I don't know myself. See how things turn out here for now, okay? Keep enjoying the story. :D

From Ignore Me: I'm glad that Rhyme's alive, but how will they beat...um...the lady? (I'm not bothered to remember her name) without a - ? (Does it even matter? It's been a while since I played the game.)

From me: Shh, don't spoil things for others. I'll have something to fix that issue soon. ;)

From GuyroMaster: 1. When will we find out what happened to the other Smashers?
2. When I saw one of your DeviantArt pictures for this story Arc . . . I saw Lucario behind the group. Does this indicate that he may possibly appear in this arc, or was he put in the picture just for looks?

From me: Oh, finally! Somebody is finding the links between my story and my artwork! For what you found, there's definitely something…but not the way you think. This chapter should probably solve that doubt you have. ;)

From BOB JOHNSON: what

y-you can't just have rhyme not die that

that's KIND OF AN IMPORTANT EVENT

that sort of drives a goodly number of the rest of the game's plot threads in their entirety

and what... what the fuck

why

From me: Besides the unnecessary insults, do you really feel like calling me out for something that isn't happening right now? Seriously! It's people like you that think they know how everything is going to turn out when they don't. Have some patience, man!

From jj: Quick question the doctor who created Rob is that the doctor from cave story.

From me: Quick answer no.

From DeathclawVictim: I have to say I'm disappointed by the entry fees. It seems for the Smashers its all some variation on memories. This is copying the game without really getting the meaning, and doing so in ways that subtract from rather than add to drama.

For instance, take away Ike's ability to wield a sword. All he can do is clumsily swing it and harm himself in the process. Now the Smasher has to learn to fight in a new way to save himself and get his old swordfighting skills back. Then, once he does get his skills back, an antagonist could comment that he values fighting more than his own younger sister-cue drama. Similarly, Ness loses all his powers and only keeps his bat. Variations on memories don't give it as much potential.

From me: Believe me. I could've gone with that, but there's an even bigger, ulterior motive to the simpleness of their entry fees. In fact, this chapter discusses that…so I hope you like the explanation. :)

From NowhereStarr14: *sigh* I wish I knew more about, 'The World Ends With You' game, It'd be easier to understand and connect with the characters, I only know them from Dream Drop Distance.

From me: Buy a new copy from Amazon. You'll be completely in love with the game, I kid you not.

Also, there weren't two endings. It's just that people dislike having nasty cliffhangers that I wanted to cut them some slack and have a nice cliffhanger for a change. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From a guest: Could you do a DBZ arc? Goku's awesome.

From me: *Laughs hysterically* And gain cheap reviews that easily in this section? That is so cliché I'm not even bothering!

I had a few setbacks trying to finish this chapter (namely college), but in the end, I always get the upper hand. So then, I give you guys the new chapter. A lot more explaining about a few important things is given out. Also, Shiki gets to have more spotlight along with others.

I encourage all fashion designers to read on, enjoy, and review. :)

Disclaimer: Where is the Pichu love in this section?

Chapter 202: Shiki's Week – Shiki & Eri

-Shibuya-

Towa Records

The group of ten stared at the newcomer that came out from behind the fuming Uzuki. The new Harrier Reaper looked like he didn't care much about the situation that had robbed the angry Reaper from seeing Beat and Rhyme getting erased, cockily chuckling as he tasted his orange lollipop. "Like I said," he began, standing next to Uzuki, "it's my fault I couldn't erase one of them."

"You take it too easy!" Uzuki complained. "We gotta erase Players, or else we're the ones getting the boot!"

"Easy there, girl," her companion said with an amused grin, his lazy eyes under his transparent glasses gazing at the group. "We can still have our fun time with these guys."

Soren furrowed his brow. "Yes, that one is clearly against us," he said. "What a drag this has become."

"So this was a trap set up by you!" Ness suddenly said, stepping forward.

"I like to call it a surprise," the newcomer said.

The group stared at the second Harrier Reaper to get familiar with his looks. He had messy orange hair that slightly resembled a messy Mohawk of sorts, with a strand hanging on the left side of his face. He wore clear glasses over his lazy eyes and a lollipop that he never let go. He wore a black parka vest with the white emblem of a skeleton imprinted on top. He also wore pale magenta pants and white sneakers, with a chain hanging on the side of his left pocket. On the back of his vest, the trademark Reaper wings calmly fluttered a bit.

"From the looks of things, they seem to be partners on the job," Fox said.

Uzuki furrowed her brow at her partner. "Kariya, this better not lower our score," she said.

Koki Kariya is Uzuki's insufferable Harrier Reaper partner who accompanies her a lot. He is the polar opposite of the girl's overall being, liking to spend time being lazy more than putting effort in his job. However, there are rumors that he could easily be an office of the Game, though he has an ulterior motive about why he's not rising in ranks…

Koki chuckled, sucking on his lollipop. "Relax, Uzuki," he said. "We're far above the score to worry about missing one prey. But you gotta say, I was pretty close there."

"Ya punks!" Beat said, shaking a fist as Rhyme stood next to him with a serious look. "You tryin' to erase us usin' dirty tricks? We can plays as dirty!"

"But we're not allowed to fight them straight on," Ike said, recalling Hanekoma's lecture, "and they can't hurt us directly or else they get penalized."

"Bravo! You do know your stuff about the Game," Koki said with a grin. "BTW, whatever happened to that focus on the Noise I released on you? It's still around…"

Gasping, the group looked around the street to find the shark Noise. They suddenly spotted the shark fang symbol coming from the north, and its owner leaped out at them as if the concrete was water. Now that they were standing next to each other, a Noise battle broke out as the planes separated for a chosen set of Players…

The World Ends With You – Someday (Japanese)

Right in front of the most popular establishment of Towa Records, Ike unsheathed Ragnell and stared at its blade, Rhyme was playing around with the little bell on her neck, and Fox cracked his neck a bit. On the upper plane, Soren's total focus was on his wind tome, Beat circled his left shoulder, and Chris was looking up to the sky, hoping to get out just fine from the battle.

On both planes, a lot of Noise materialized out of black and white static. Both planes had frogs Noise. The first kind they had encountered from the beginning, the Dixiefrog, was accompanied by a brand new kind of frog Noise. This frog Noise, called Bigbanfrog, was just light blue in color with the characteristic of spewing damaging bubbles. The upper plane was devoid of the shady-looking tadpoles - called Bigbansprog - that circled the street on the lower plane. The little Noise liked to be in a big swarm to latch on Players' legs to slow them down while fighting the rest of the Noise.

Finally, there was a brand new, dangerous addition to the mix. A demonic-looking blue shark's fin was sticking out from the street, causing ripples of water to stretch out. It was the deadly shark Noise called Swing Shark that wanted to erase Beat.

"Ready for a beat down?" Beat asked. The battle started.

The Swing Shark dove down into the street and caused a distortion of space as it treated the concrete like water. Due to the mess of Noise, the group lost sight of it for the time being.

The Bigbansprog wasted no time in latching on the Players of the lower plane. "These things are at it again!" Ike said, trying to run away with a few Bigbansprogs circling his legs. "It's bad enough that I can't run that fast!"

Getting annoyed by the creepy critters, Fox grunted and used Fire Fox to burn them alive as he collided against two Dixiefrogs. It was not long before more swarmed his legs. "Damn these freakish things!" he complained.

"I'm glad I'm not down there," Chris said, shrugging at the sight of the Bigbansprogs. A Bigbanfrog latched on his face and jumped away, delivering a harsh blow that pushed him to the street. "H-hey!"

"Hey, be careful up there! I feel your pain, literally!" Fox told his partner.

Soren sliced several frogs with his wind magic, but then he gasped and stepped away when he saw a rippling distortion appear in front of his feet. The Swing Shark emerged from the concrete and chomped empty air brutally before diving back down. "That accursed shark is here," Soren noted. "I assume it's the leader of the pack. We must eliminate that monster soon."

"Leave it to me!" Beat said, boarding his skateboard and chasing the Swing Shark down. He noticed that its fin was up and, thinking that it was a weak spot, started scratching the concrete. The screeching of the skateboard's wheels sent shockwaves that dealt quite a lot of damage. As a last hit, Beat stepped back and slammed his skateboard down on the fin, making the shark roar in pain. "GET OUT!" he exclaimed, passing over a light puck to Rhyme.

Unfortunately, Rhyme wasn't as lucky on her end. While she was using Force Rounds to send energy blasts to the multitude of frog Noise, the shark on her plane bit her right arm, and she just barely pulled it back. The blow she had received made her yelp in pain. "Oww!" she yelped, waving her arm. The light puck vanished due to her tardiness. "That was such a nasty attack…"

"Rhyme, careful down there!" Beat said, feeling the stinging pain in his own right arm. "Dontchu let it chomp ya down!"

"It is my duty to protect my comrades," Ike said as he shook the Bigbansprogs from his legs and giving chase to the shark. "Take this!" He slammed Ragnell down on the shark's fin, causing it to roar in pain and stop swimming in the space over the street. It immediately resumed swimming around.

Soren held out his hand to cast a whirlwind of air that sliced the group of frogs. Suddenly, a green glyph shone under his feet, and he sharply turned around and called forth another stream of winds that tore half of the frogs down. "Wow, that came out pretty fast, Soren," Rhyme noted from the lower plane.

The Branded dusted off his tome. "It's my Adept skill that allows me to attack in quick succession," Soren explained, ignoring a Dixiefrog that was just about to latch on his back until Chris fired a stream of laser shots with his Blaster on the Noise. "It only comes up occasionally, but I don't rely on it too much."

"That's amazing…uh…whatever that skill means," she said with a bright smile. She gasped when spotting the Swing Shark going to their way. "I-it's coming to us!" she said.

Knowing that magic was kind of useless due to the amount of enemies focusing on them, Chris sighed and changed to his Moogle Knight job, unsheathing his small sword. "I-I'm slowly getting into close combat, kupo!" he proclaimed before he swung his sword hard. "Moogle Lance!"

At this point, the Shibuya Crew learned about Chris's unique ability to change jobs, though they weren't filled about the rest of his repertoire. "Aww, you look so cute in that job!" Rhyme said, to which Chris shyly blushed under his furred face.

Three aerial shockwaves shot out from the swinging motion, instantly colliding against the fin of the shark. Staggering, the Swing Shark stopped moving for a little. Seeing an opening, Soren conjured slicing winds to further damage the shark until a Dixiefrog latched onto his face and pushed him down. Gasping, Rhyme turned around and shot several energy blasts from her palms to keep incoming Bigbanfrogs away from her frail self.

Back on the lower plane, Fox sidestepped away from a harsh bite attack from the Swing Shark before he pushed his feet from the street to deliver a flying kick on the shark's nose, causing it to submerge into the rippling space. It was then that he got a light puck from Chris. Thinking quickly, he used Fox Illusion to deliver a strong slice, passing the light puck back to Chris. "Good!" he exclaimed, standing up. "We're doing okay!" He spoke too soon once two Dixiefrogs got on his face and pushed him down to the street.

"Spoke to soon!" Beat said from the upper plane, using his skateboard as a shield to defend himself from a Dixiefrog. He quickly rushed at it to send shockwaves by grinding his board's wheels hard into the ground. "But yeah, doin' great so far!"

"UGH!" Ike felt a sharp pain coursing through his body despite the fact he wasn't attacked at all. "S-Soren!"

"Sorry…" Soren spoke weakly. "That shark sneaked up on m-"

"AH!" Fox grunted in pain, almost losing his balance. "W-what the…"

"M-my frail body, kupo…" Chris muttered, breathing heavily. "That monster almost…ate me up, kupo…"

"A-alright, I just need to use this…" Ike used a Cure Drink pin to produce a soda can that he quickly drank. He tossed the empty can away over his shoulder. "Whew! That feels a bit better…"

Fox was also drinking his own soda can. "We can't fight just like before," he said, actually slamming the can into a Dixiefrog. "If we get banged up too much, not even we get the benefit of getting knocked out!"

"I know…" Chris said. "My reviving spells don't work as long as we're playing this dreaded Game, kupo…"

"Focus," Soren said as he sliced the Swing Shark's fin with wind. He caught Rhyme running away from three Bigbanfrogs. "Complain about anything else later. We're fighting for our lives here."

"Always the serious one… I can't argue you with that, though," Ike said. He felt a sudden rush of energy, and then he took out his Fusion pin. Instead of white void, a new picture surfaced. It was Ragnell's image with relentless winds surrounding it. "Soren, let's go!"

Soren closed his eyes. "Whatever it is, it must be good," he stated as Ike clutched the pin. An altered variation of Ike's Lvl. 1 CFS was unlocked.

The two planes briefly merged together to allow both friends to stand next to each other. Out of instinct, Ike prepared his Counter move while Soren awaited the Swing Shark to get closer to them. Taking notice, the shark Noise swam their way at a great speed. Once it lunged out to have a bite of Ike's face, the mercenary took it as an attack, and he immediately swung Ragnell hard into the shark's skull.

However, just before Ike struck the shark, Soren had mixed the power of the winds with Ragnell, causing a mystical whirlwind that covered the legendary sword for added extra offense. As a result, the harsh sword blow ended up causing the shark to spin madly in midair until flopping hard into the street without going back underwater.

The two planes separated, and the group gasped to see the shark stunned into place as it tried to swim back down into the street. Chris gasped and immediately sliced a Dixiefrog, felling it into a blur of white and black static. "The shark is out, kupo!" he said as he changed to his Space Mercenary job. "What's our next course of action?"

While Rhyme took it upon herself to blast the shark, Fox felt a rush of energy. Grinning, he took out his Fusion pin, accidentally having the backside up. "Silly me, taking this thing out backwards… Hm?" His ears perked up a bit after noticing an odd occurrence on the backside o the Fusion pin.

Unlike the head side of the pin, the tail side had a different image. The image looked like it resembled some sort of creature with an angry look on the white of its left eye while surrounded by blue and purple flames. Fox could also notice a few set of fangs below that angry eye.

"Huh…" Fox tilted his head, barely dodging a Bigbanfrog while doing so, his attention on the pin. "Wonder why this Fusion pin has two sides like this…" He looked to the flopping shark. Looking serious, Fox clutched the pin to activate its psych. "Well then, here goes! C'mon, Chris!"

The two planes merged back together as Fox and his protégé stood side by side…

And nothing happened.

"…" Fox looked around with Chris. "So… What happens now?" he asked. "I don't feel like pulling off some extraordinary move…"

"Well, if you ask me…" Chris began, looking quite perturbed, "I feel a very odd sense of solitude and…danger…"

The vulpine stared at the teen. "What does that mean?" he asked confused.

"I don't know…" Chris shivered. "But whatever this is…I…I really want it to end…"

"GUUUUUUUUUAARRRRRRRRRGH!"

Startled by the menacing roar that shook the very street they were standing on, the two gasped and looked up at the source of the roar. Fox's mouth hung open while Chris blinked in shock at the figure standing on top of a skyscraper. The vulpine's irises shrunk. "Is that…?!"

Chris's eyes widened. "A Lucario?!" he finished.

Standing on top of the tall building, there was a very pissed-looking Lucario looking down upon the battlefield, his fists flaring up with intense aura. "WHO DARES HURT MY TRAINER?!" he demanded before he leaped down from the high height, landing right in front of the startled duo without facing them. He growled menacingly at the flopping shark and the group of frogs. "I WON'T LET YOU DISTURB CHRIS ANY FURTHER!"

"W-what?" Chris asked, completely at a loss of words. When he noticed that the Lucario easily towered over he and Fox, Chris gasped. "O-oh my goodness, this Lucario is so tall!"

Fox wasn't so sure how it even happened, but it really became clear to him that Chris had no recollection of his own Pokémon. As the enraged Lucario brought his hands to his side to charge up an attack, Fox turned to Chris. "He's your Lucario, Chris!" he said. "I dunno how he even appeared out of nowhere, but I guess it's the Fusion pin that let him come out…"

"He's…he's my Lucario?" Chris asked.

His question was unanswered once they saw Lucario charging up an ungodly amount of aura between his palms. As his body radiated with powerful aura, Lucario let out an ear-shattering roar as he shoved his hands forward, firing off a massive Aura Storm that engulfed the unlucky enemies within its reach. The intensity of the attack was just too much for the Noise to take, and the Swing Shark died in a spectacular fashion.

The Swing Shark shone brightly until it shot out several lights. The lights then burst into a dome of light, just for the background to become a messy set of white and black static that grinded against each other, as if it were a television receiving no signal. Once the waves of black and white static came to a halt, the shark was nowhere to be found, along with its cohorts.

The two planes were still merged together, and the rest of the Players that participated in the fight appeared, looking quite impressed at the event that had taken place. Despite the fact the battle was over, the wild Lucario was still there, standing at his full height. While Fox smiled a bit at their victory, Chris only stared at the towering Pokémon's back.

"Hell yeah! That was tight!" Beat exclaimed all of a sudden.

The Reapers in charge of grading the fight were hiding inside an alley. They were nodding to each other until one of them slapped a B rank on the group's performance. "Short but easy," one said.

"Yeah, that was some intense finishing move," another one said.

"I wished there was more teamwork, though," a third one commented. "They're still a mess of uncoordinated blows it's not even appealing."

The Reapers nodded and disappeared…

The World Ends With You – Underground

As the rest of the Players saw the other half appearing from their fight, they went over to join their side. The Smashers, though, yelped at the sight of the Aura Pokémon standing a few feet away from his trainer. "What in the heck?" Ness said.

"It's…it's Lucario!" Pichu said.

"Lucario?" Neku wondered, crossing his arms as he saw the Pokémon looking at them over his shoulder. "(So this is the guy that he forgot about…)" He looked Lucario from head to feet. "(Huh… He actually looks kinda cool…and badass…)" He lowered his face. "(Phew, good thing I didn't voice that out…)"

Once Lucario stared at Chris's surprised look, he smiled a bit and turned to face him. "Are you proud of me?" he suddenly asked as the Shibuya Crew exchanged glances. "Those monsters won't trouble you any longer, Chris…"

"Uh…" Chris shook his head, confused that there was such a big Lucario looking at him with a friendly look. In truth, there was something very deep in Chris's subconscious that told him not to be scared of the tall Pokémon. A weird feeling inside of him told him that running away shouldn't be done. "T-thank you, I guess…"

The Lucario made a happy expression and went over to his trainer. Chris's eyes widened once the Aura Pokémon pulled him to his side with his left arm, nudging his muzzle on Chris's hair. The teen blinked and blushed slightly once he heard the dangerous-looking Pokémon growl with affection. Still, Chris didn't want to escape the embrace. Consciously, he wanted to. Subconsciously, he didn't want to, and this side won over his decision, though there was a nostalgic feeling that he secretly cherished to himself.

"Aww, he's so cute for being so big!" Rhyme exclaimed, folding her arms behind her back.

"R-Rhyme, I don't think that's the right expression," Shiki said before staring back at their way. "…On second thought, that kinda looks cute…" she flailed her hands once Neku shot her with a look. "I-I'm a girl! I do find some things cute!"

Ike stared. "Wait, hold on… How can this be?" he asked, getting Lucario's attention. "Are you also dead?"

Lucario, surprisingly, shook his head. "No, I'm not dead," he said as Chris looked up at him. "I'm just a figment of Chris's mind that was given the chance to appear and protect him from harm…" He smiled down at Chris. "I'm not the real deal, but his mind yearned to be reunited with the real me. This is the best it could do to provide him with some assistance… And even then…" He pulled Chris to his chest, his cheek brushing against his fur. Quite a bit alarmed, Chris tried to escape, but he still didn't do anything. "His memories of me have a clear picture of my attitude."

Fox grimaced. "(How could that Fusion pin call him out?)" he thought. "(Does that mean the others can use a second Fusion move? But then, what about this…figment of Chris's mind?)"

"…" Chris chuckled. "You're a funny one," he said. "But seriously, do I remember owning a Lucario?"

Lucario gasped. "W-what?" he asked. "Y-you…don't remember me?"

"No…" the teen said, pushing himself away from Lucario's embrace. Somehow, he didn't want to stop for a reason but he ultimate chose to stop anyway. "I don't remember you at all, but I'm very thankful for helping us out… That was very sweet of you," he commented. The feeling of nostalgia got a bit stronger, yet Chris didn't remember. "I thought your kind would be the lone wolf type, but I'm wrong about that."

"…Ugh…" Lucario clenched his eyes shut. "How…how can you not remember?"

Chris looked worried. "Remember?"

"…" Lucario opened his eyes, shedding a small tear. "Please…remember Lucario…" And with that, the Aura Pokémon vanished, making some of them gasp.

"…" Chris stared the spot where the Lucario was standing. "Remember Lucario…" he muttered, feeling a small hint of loneliness. "Why is it that…just saying Lucario's name makes me feel…weird? It's like I feel…alone…"

Fox looked serious at him. "Chris, you and Lucario are inseparable," he said. "Look, I don't know how things are working around here, but there's surely something in your mind that's really attached to Lucario's memory… And no matter what," he pointed at the teen, "your subconscious IS yearning for you to reunite with him."

"I…I just don't understand how…" Chris shook his head in denial.

"You're his trainer," Pichu said. "You two are so close to each other! You've got to remember him!"

Soren frowned. "What chances does he have to remember his entry fee?" he asked. "Perhaps there is some kind of outside force trying to play tricks with his mind. I still am sketchy about this world affecting us in the weirdest of ways…"

The group of Players never noticed the presence of the same person tailing them from the shadows. Upon hearing the Branded's claim, he looked amused. "My," he began, "one of them is pretty smart to notice my little experiment on those Players… Luckily, though, it's just an assumption on their part. I'll see if the others have the same kind of power to hold on to their entry fees…"

"That was pretty weird, then," Ike said. "But how did he even appear?"

"The backside of my Fusion pin did that," Fox said, looking at everyone. "It turns out there's a second Fusion for us to use…I think… That's what called him here."

"Really now?" Shiki wondered, rubbing her chin. "That's kind of neat, but at the same time weird… Neku, have you found a second Fusion on the backside?"

Neku shook his head. "It never occurred to me to check that out," he said. "I'll try that out once we get the chance."

"Me too," Rhyme said. "I'm curious about a second Fusion…"

"…Wait…" Ike trailed off. "How do we know if it won't be the same?"

Shiki feared that it would reveal some kind of secret. "M-maybe it's not the same for all of us," she said. "Still…let's try that out once we're ready for it."

Now that the atmosphere was calmer, the group noticed that Koki and Uzuki were gone. "Those Reapers are gone," Pichu said.

"Tsk! Here I wanted to beat 'em up," Beat said. "Oh yeah!" he grinned and turned to Fox. "Thanks a lot for helpin' us back there, yo!"

Just as Fox grinned, the group of ten immediately lost consciousness and fell down to the street…

Shiki's Day 5 – Empty Urban Legends

Tipsy Tose Hall

"A popular corner whose arcade and karaoke boxes draw crowds. There's even a store specializing in American comics."

The new area where they were taken to was close to the northern section of Shibuya. On the south side, there was a small park area where, not surprisingly, a lot of people hung out, but many of those people were young teenagers who were a little bit too much into popular children's games like the addicting Tin Pin sport and manga. To the north side of the section, there were exclusive stores selling those very same magazines and video games. The northern left side led to one of Shibuya's costly stores while the right side led to a foreign street with foreign restaurants.

Rubbing his head, Neku stood up. "Oh, great…" he muttered, taking out his phone to look at the date. "Another day's passed…"

The others, sprawled on the floor, woke up and stood up, looking at their new surroundings. "Huh, this is Tipsy Tose Hall, isn't it?" Shiki wondered.

"Hell yeah!" Beat said, shaking an excited fist. "This is one of mah favorite places! Love wastin' a lot of my time in…" He paused and blinked, suddenly looking gloom. "…Uh…yeah, this place is great," he said in a less enthusiastic tone while Rhyme tilted her head at him.

Chris looked south where he saw a lot of young teenagers hanging out. He noticed that many of them dressed kind of peculiar. "And that's supposed to be the crowd I should be hanging out with," he said as he heard some enthusiastic yells…some very, very crazed enthusiastic yells. "…Okay, maybe not."

"So we passed yesterday's mission just fine," Ness said. "It's just a matter of time before we get a new one for today…" He eyed the nearby stores before squealing. "Magazines and comics! Oh boy, I need to start a new collection soon! Those are fun!" The nine gave him odd looks. "…Hey, I'm still young and naïve…"

"Suuuuuure you are," Pichu said with a suspicious look.

A nearby beeping indicated that the worst was just about to come. Turning to the Shibuya Crew, the Smashers saw them taking out their phones. "Mission's here," Rhyme said.

Free Spain Hill from the Noise. You have 200 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. – The Reapers

"Here it comes…" Ike muttered, and then they all flinched in pain, getting a new timer for the mission. "Ugh, I hate when that happens… So, where's this Spain Hill place?"

Shiki pointed to the right where an alley was, except said alley looked a bit too crowded with normal-looking people. To their dismay, there was a Support Reaper guarding the wall leading to the path. "It's right over there…but there's a wall for sure."

Soren grunted. "Let's get this over with. Only a few more days till we get out of this mess," he said.

A time passed as the group engaged into more Noise fight. Eventually, they gained entry to Spain Hill without much happening.

Spain Hill

"A narrow, Mediterranean street lined with eateries, bookshops, and more. As you climb the stone-paved steps, you'll want to veer off and explore."

It felt like they were back to A-East, judging that there was almost no light coming down from the cramped buildings. The stone-paved steps of the path took anyone to the various bookshops and foreign restaurants. Just like all of Shibuya, there was a lot of people walking around, most of them liking dark places and indie stores.

"There are stores just about everywhere in this city," Ness noted as they walked up the steps of the hill. "And all of them are packed."

"I can just imagine how the economy prospers every day," Ike said. "Back in Tellius, we're still in an era where our economy is being retooled under Elincia's ruling."

"Ah, yes," Soren said. "From what I heard, the nobles aren't quite pleased with her decisions, even if she does have the best intentions for her people… Not any later, it won't be too long before a revolt erupts."

"Soren, stop being so gloomy about that," Ike said.

"I'm telling the truth."

"Soooooo…" Shiki broke in as they reached the middle section of the street. Chris suddenly fixated his gaze on the Mexican Hot Dog restaurant. "The mission told us to get rid of the Noise in Spain Hill…" She looked at Neku. "Let's scan the area."

"It's too bad we need to work…" Chris said, eyeing the entrance of the restaurant. "I wish to go in there."

"Mexican Hot Dog…" Fox read the green sign over the entrance. "Well, we do have three hours to spare, and we're already here."

Suddenly, from the automatic doors of the restaurant, two familiar faces stepped out with blank looks, though they both looked sad. Shiki gasped and backed off, seeing Mina and Ai walking out. "It's them!" she said.

Ike eyed Mina. "It's the girl from yesterday that caused you… I mean…" he trailed off. "It's not like you want to talk to her, though, if I remember."

"Y-yeah, there's no need t-" Shiki was interrupted once Mina started talking, conveniently stopping right in front of them.

"So yeah…" Mina told Ai. "Eri's been down in the slumps ever since Shiki died in that accident." She shrugged, remembering the newspaper article. "It was…so tragic. I shouldn't have gone over to the Scramble Crossing to see the big commotion… I saw the blood splattered on the street in a long trail and then I saw…" She shuddered, recalling the body's state. "Her family is suing the bus owner, but witnesses said that she crossed the street during a red light."

"Please, don't talk about it," Ai said, sighing. "It's not making me feel any better."

"Sorry…"

Shiki looked away, taking out a heavy breath. Pichu looked up at her with concern in his eyes. "I guess…that's how I died," she said. "I was…run over by a bus while I was crossing the street."

"That's unfortunate…" Fox commented.

"Yeah…but it wasn't really that simple."

Neku looked at her. "Not that simple?"

The fashionista shut her eyes. "S-sorry, I'm running my mouth again," she said. "I don't wish to remember what happened before that…"

As Pichu's ears drooped, he listened to the girls' conversation. "Eri is gonna attend her funeral in a few weeks. I'm going with her," Mina said. "I called her yesterday and she's been holed up in her house ever since she found out about Shiki."

"I see…" Ai muttered. "Well… Let's stop talking about tragedies for now," she said, oddly looking peeved. "What's on my mind right now is bothering me a LOT more than what happened to Shiki."

Mina raised an eyebrow before looking worried. Just today morning, Ai had been subtly trying to avoid talking to her for an event that she witnessed yesterday at Shibu Dept. Store. "Ai, are you mad at me?" she asked.

Ai closed her eyes, folding her hands behind her skirt. "Don't be ridiculous," she said.

"You…you sure?" Mina asked.

Ai felt irritated just hearing Mina's voice. She surely figured out the scandalous thing she did yesterday, Ai thought. "Yes! OK?" Ai said, raising her voice.

The group gasped when they saw several yellow Noise symbols surrounding the two girls. Although the symbols were swarming them, they didn't go after the Players. "Whoa!" Neku said in shock. "Look at all the Noise! What's up with those two?"

"Looks like they're having an argument," Shiki said, "and that's drawing all the Noise."

Ike narrowed his eyes. "You don't think that those are the Noise we're supposed to take care of, do you?" he asked.

Shiki nodded. "It must be them. Let's try getting rid of the Noise around them!" she said determined.

The group of Players nodded and scanned the Noise to draw them all to their side…

However, after defeating them all, the group came back to the UG just to find a lot more of Noise symbols swarming around the high schoolers. "No… Look!" Shiki said. "Here come some more!"

"What?" Ness said. "Aw, we just fought them without trouble! I knew this was too easy! No wonder why they gave us a lot of time for this mission!"

"If this keeps up, we'll never pass the mission," Chris said.

"Crap. This will never work," Neku said.

Shiki stared at the two girls, still looking at each other with doubtful looks. "Those two keep drawing more in," she said. "What's their story, I wonder?"

"Ah…" Soren nodded. "It's just like before back in day 3. The troubled draw Noise in because of their inner struggles that change their overall decisions," he said. "If we can somehow help these girls out, then perhaps… Let's listen a little more."

The group focused back on Ai and Mina. "Hey, Ai," Mina began, "are you free around this time next week to come to Shiki's funeral?" she asked, but Ai didn't reply back, her eyes shut.

"…Probably," Ai said, not opening her angry eyes. "Why?" she asked with an obvious hint of venom that scared Mina.

"N-nothing… Forget it."

"…" Ai remained silent as the group watched the yellow symbols getting even closer to the girls.

"I can feel all that negativity just standing close to them," Rhyme said, shuddering. "It's so creepy…"

"That should be attracting the Noise," Neku theorized. "It's like when they hijacked the tech because he was jealous of 777."

"But remember… He was possessed by the Noise," Rhyme said. "Those two don't look possessed to me. It's like they're calling out to the Noise…if that's even possible."

"Then we have to fix their issues with each other," Fox said. "But…how do we do that? Getting rid of the Noise through fights is easy, but we can't interact with the living unless they enter one of the shops."

Shiki knew where he was going. "N-no, we can't just wait for them to enter a shop," she said. "It could take a lot of time."

"True," Soren said, to which Shiki sighed in relief. "But first, we need to find out what is wrong with them before we go on to giving a helping hand."

The fashionista smiled and turned to the girls, not minding the fact that Pichu was still bent on figuring out her own share of trouble. They looked surprised when Ai suddenly put up a smile for Mina, but they could tell it was a forced one. "Mina…" Ai said. "You really didn't go to Shibu yesterday?"

Mina looked hesitant. "I…I didn't. I swear!" she said.

"What the…" Beat muttered. "HEY! She totally did go to Shibu yesterday!"

"Alright, we're getting somewhere after all," Chris said.

Mina smiled. "Quit asking, Ai," she said.

"Sure, whatever," Ai said.

It was then that the group saw the Player Pin appear on Ai. It told them that they were allowed to scan her very thoughts to imprint memes into her mind to change the course of her actions. For now, though, the group lacked memes to use, so they decided to read her thoughts instead.

What came out from her mind was a different sounding voice that bordered on murder.

"(She is so lying,)" Ai thought. "(I saw her with him. I'll never forgive her… If only I could prove it!)"

They stopped scanning her mind. "Oh… Yes, I saw Ai at Shibu too," Shiki said. "She looked pissed when she saw Mina talking to Makoto."

"Wait, something's weird here," Fox said. "What business does she have with that Makoto guy? It's obvious she was referring to him in her thoughts."

"I dunno…"

The girls continued talking with each other. "I'm serious!" Mina said. "Ai, please…"

Ai faked a nod of agreement, flashing a smile that unsettled the group. "Uh-huh. I believe you," she said.

Mina looked worried. "Arrgh. No you don't," she said. "Come on…"

The group gasped when they saw the Player Pin flashing on Mina. "Hey, she has her own set of thoughts going haywire!" Ness pointed out.

"This really is more complicated, then?" Chris wondered until they all read Mina's thoughts next.

"(Shoot!)" Mina thought in desperation. "(She's so onto me! Now what? Do I just tell her?)" she puzzled herself as she stared at Ai's unsettling smile.

"She's hiding something," Soren said. "And whatever it is, she doesn't want to tell Ai."

"It's OK," Ai said, chuckling. "I know."

Mina gasped rather loudly, and so did the others. "What?!"

"…How you feel," Ai added suddenly, making Mina sigh in relief.

The two stopped talking, and the group formed a circle to discuss what to do next. "So," Fox began, "we know that Ai is suspecting something about Mina regarding that Makoto guy."

Neku nodded. "And Ai herself is hiding the truth from her," he said.

"Mina is…" Pichu thought hard. "…Is Mina…um…in love with Makoto?"

Chris looked unsure at the claim. "Well, that's kind of the point I was considering, but I didn't want to reach that conclusion to…give them the benefit of the doubt," he said, looking at his group. "(…I wonder if they'll give me the benefit of the doubt if I mention to them that I saved their…)"

"Yes, that must be it," Rhyme said with a blank look. "It could explain why Ai is…jealous of her… No, she feels betrayed that Mina is taking Makoto for herself."

"So then," Beat said, "Ai's in love with him?"

"Yeah, but she was first before Mina came in," Shiki theorized. "…Oh no, this…this really can't be true…"

Soren furrowed his brow. "Let's not jump to conclusions ourselves," he advised. "We must figure out a way to imprint those meme things Rhyme told us about."

"Finding memes," Ness said. "We should start looking around for somebody spouting those key words."

They nodded and walked around with their partners to find someone else voicing out their thoughts aloud without much care. It meant that reading people's minds was out of the question. In fact, Fox wanted to read somebody else's mind until a very scary person appeared before them. "Holy crap, it's the she-male!" Fox exclaimed, and he and Chris hightailed out of Spain Hill to Tipsy Tose Hall.

Ike so casually mind-read the assumed she-male, thinking it was a girl. When he found out the truth, he looked away. "Honestly! Respect them!" Shiki said annoyed, not seeing that Beat was slowly dragging Rhyme away to the hall as well.

Tipsy Tose Hall

The Players found nobody to get memes from, so they moved down to the hall once more. "Nobody was there in Spain Hill," Chris said. "Maybe we need to look around here…"

"Yeah," Ness said. "Somewhere, there's a guy talking to himself."

"You really don't know how bad that sounded just now," Fox said.

"So what? I come from Weird Land myself."

"Ah… Touché."

Soon enough, there was a businessman talking to himself! He didn't look particularly peculiar, but they stopped to hear him out. "Where is all this merchandise coming from?" he asked, sighing to himself. "First, Reaper Creeper," he said as he held a sepia paper with a coin. He then took out a red pin…that resembled the Player Pin a lot. "And now these Red Skull pins…" He pocketed it and sighed once more. "I'm not one to turn business away, but something about this mystery supplier… It smells risky…"

Neku rolled his eyes. "Well, let's not concern ourselves with his issues too much," he said.

"Hmm…" the business man muttered. "What should I do?" He suddenly gasped, getting an idea. "I know! I'll ask 'Reaper Creeper'!"

"?" Neku crossed his arms. "What's up with that guy?" he asked.

They heard the man say, "Reaper… Creeper…"

"…Oh, how sad," Ike said. "He lost it."

"No he didn't," Rhyme said, chuckling a bit.

Shiki wondered, "Hmm… It looks like some kind of divination…" They saw the man place the paper down on a ledge, putting down a ten-yen coin on top of it. He stared fiercely at the coin, as if waiting for it to move by its own over three different, Japanese symbols: a white yes, a black no, and an orange random. "See how he put that ten-yen coin on the paper? He's going to make a decision based on where it moves."

"…HA!" Ness laughed. "What, is he going to move it without looking?"

"It's not gonna move on its own," Neku said, frowning.

Shiki looked devious. "Unless we played a little trick," she said.

"…Where are you going with this, exactly?" Chris asked. "That look in your eyes… Oh no, is there another loose button?" Fox gasped and looked at himself just to be sure.

"Nope," Shiki said. She turned to Neku. "Think you could use your psychs to give the coin a little push?"

"Wait, I can do that?" Neku asked, his eyes widening.

"It's a little coin," Shiki pointed out. "It's not a living person. As long as it is some kind of small item, we can manipulate it just fine… Well, I heard this from some Players while I was looking for one," she explained. "I don't know the full details."

"…" Neku simply walked over to the man's side and quickly moved the coin to the black no.

"Gaah!" the man yelped at the sudden motion of the coin. "So quick! So decisive! That's my Reaper!" he exclaimed. "Marvelous!" But then, he fell silent. "…Huh? …Wait a sec. Last time, I'm pretty sure it moved more slowly." He sighed. "You know, I was so busy watching, I probably bumped it or something."

"For crying out loud!" Neku complained. The man didn't hear him.

"Hmm… Let's give this one more shot!" the man said.

"Ugh, fine," Neku said. "I'll move it slowly…"

"White! Go to White!" the man urged the inanimate coin.

"Okay…" Neku slowly moved the coin to the white yes, impressing the man.

"Whoa!" the man said. "White! An answer, clear as day! Nothing beats Reaper Creeper when you need answers." He closed his eyes as Neku backed off. "All right, White means… Umm… What did I ask again?"

Several groans came from the group. Neku kicked the man's rear out of frustration, but his foot went through, which actually painted a nastier picture.

"…Reaper…" the man began anew, "Creeper… What was my last question?"

The group almost sighed in unison. "Let's move on," Neku said, clearly annoyed.

"Let's," the others said, frowning at the unreliable man.

"Of all things," Soren said, looking at the man walking away in defeat. "We wasted some valuable time just trying to please this fat man."

Suddenly, the Shibuya Crew's phones rang. They took out their phones and saw that the meme "Reaper Creeper" was added to their phones. "Maybe it wasn't such a waste of time!" Rhyme said, looking relieved.

"Awright!" Beat said. "This meme might just work for us!"

"I'm not so sure that this is going to resolve the problem with those girls," Fox said. "Let's look around for more memes we can use to imprint on their minds."

After noticing that they could go east from their position, the group moved to a new area next to Spain Hill's path.

AMX

"A major Japanese CD store on Central Street. Nearby you can find shoe stores, lingerie shops, and other clothing boutiques."

Yet another row of stores awaited the Players, only this time the one with the big blue AMX letters standing in the center of the building to the east was the eye-catching one. From the steps leading to the store, many content people carrying CDs came out while talking among each other. The street in front of the store was big enough to allow a lot of people to walk and visit the various stores to the sides of AMX.

Down below the store's steps, the group spotted none other than Makoto in deep thought. "Hey, it's the guy the girls are fighting over!" Chris said.

"Please!" Shiki complained. "We're not a hundred percent sure if Mina even likes him!"

"…Something isn't right about that guy," Ness said, noticing that Makoto was making some harsh-looking grimaces. Curiously, the Onett boy used his Player Pin to scan his mind…and found a yellow Noise symbol hovering around him. "He's got one small Noise on him!"

"Let's swat it down!" Beat said grinning.

After successfully getting rid of the Noise, Makoyo suddenly brightened up, making a fist. "OK!" he said. "Enough self-pity. I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it! Persistence pays off!"

"What a youthful young man!" Ness exclaimed sarcastically.

"First, I need to find a ticket to the Tin Pin slam-off," Makoto said in high spirits before running off.

Neku frowned. "Uhh…first, you need to do your job," he said.

"I'd better hunker down and check the pavement!" they heard Makoto shouting to himself.

"…Loser," Fox muttered.

"Classy," Neku muttered.

Their cell phones rang, and the word "Tin Pin ticket" was added to their list. "A ticket for Tin Pin?" Beat said, scratching his head. "What's a ticket gotta do with this?"

"Well, only memes that are related to the mission add up to our list, so it maybe has a connection with our problem," Rhyme explained.

"…Come to think of it," Ike began, "I do remember Mina talking about a ticket yesterday."

"Hmm, the mystery between those two is coming together," Ness said. "Think we have everything now? Maybe it's time for them to confront each other." Shiki looked at him, but Ness didn't mind her. "Those two need to solve their problems before things get any crazier than they are. If they don't fix it up, then they'll end up not talking to each other."

"Yes, we need to hurry," Chris said. "We might lose them. Let's go!"

The group of Players ran back to Spain Hill, leaving a saddened Shiki behind. When he noticed that Shiki wasn't following them, Pichu went back to her. "Something is bothering you again!" he said annoyed. "Shiki, let's not separate from the others! The Noise could get to us!"

"…Oh, oh yeah," Shiki nodded before sprinting to Spain Hill with Pichu.

Deep down, the fashionista related to what Ness had said about Ai and Mina. It hurt her emotionally that she shed a few tears that she wiped away quickly. Pichu did notice the tears, and he grew even more worried than before about Shiki's stability. "(If only I could find out what she's hiding…)" Pichu thought.

Spain Hill

The World Traveler had taken a small diversion by going into the Mexican Hot Dog. The group figured out that they could order food to eat while trying to help Ai and Mina out. Luckily, the two girls were still standing in front of the restaurant.

"Muchos gracias!" said the clerk inside.

"NO!" Chris was heard shouting. "Esa no es la manera de decir esa despedida! Que te pasa?! Se supone que deberias de decir 'MUCHAS gracias' en vez de 'MUCHOS gracias'! Que no sabes como hablar mi lenguaje o que?!"

"W-what are you talking about?" the clerk asked, barely understand the Spanish language. "I-I'm just working here for the money! M-my supervisor told me to say it like that!"

"Then tell that supervisor to talk proper Spanish! Me enfurece oir a la gente hablar sin saber que estan diciendo correctamente!"

The Players stepped out from the restaurant, most of them eating hot dogs. They were never going to forget the event that they witnessed. None of them understood a word Chris said back there. "Geez, Chris!" Fox said, looking shocked at his partner. "What was that about?"

Chris looked annoyed. "Let's just say I don't like hearing others talk Spanish with the wrong word usage," he said.

"Oh, so you're bilingual," Ness said. "Still, that was quite a scene you made there… I'm never learning Spanish."

The teen gasped. "N-no, it's okay if you try!" he said. "I'll be happy to teach some of you how to talk the language."

"Save that for later," Soren said as they approached the girls. "It's time for us to finish today's mission by giving these two a little push."

Neku clutched his Player Pin to convey a meme to Ai as she thought, "(She is so lying.)"

He was just about to imprint "Reaper Creeper" into Ai's mind until he remembered that they had gotten a new word at the Mexican Hot Dog… It was the word "Taco". Shrugging, he imprinted the word into Ai's mind. "There…" Neku said.

Ai fiercely looked at Mina. "I wish I could shove a Taco down your throat, Mina!" she said vehemently. "I wish I had a Taco in hand right now, actually! A Taco might just choke you up good on the street!"

Mina's mouth hung open until she closed it for protection. "U-uh, what?" Mina asked dumbfounded. "Ai, w-what are you saying? (Please tell me she's not losing it now!)"

A round of laughter came from some of the Players as Ai blushed to herself. "I-I mean, nothing!" she said. "I-I just don't know why I suddenly said that!"

"O-okay," Mina said. "B-besides, I already ate a hot dog…"

"Phew…" Ai muttered. "(Goodness gracious, what was that about?)"

"HA!" Beat laughed, clutching his hands on his stomach. "Oh man, that was rich!"

Neku sighed. "I let my curiosity get the better of me," he muttered.

"M-my funny bone!" Chris laughed.

Ness controlled his laughter and decided to imprint the right meme into Ai's mind… But there was a devious chuckle that came from the young psychic. "Seriously!" Ai said, glaring at Mina. "A Taco should solve my problems! Don't you dare underestimate the deadliness of a Taco! TACO POWER!"

"…Wha…?" Mina was completely dumbfounded at the statement, but they never heard the hollering laughter from the Players in the UG. Fox had been reduced to laughing on the floor, and so was Beat.

"Ack!" Ai yelped. "S-sorry… I don't know what's wrong with me all of a sudden!"

Soren was the only one who didn't find the event very amusing. Grunting, he took matters into his own hands and imprinted the meme "Reaper Creeper" into the suspecting high schooler. "There. That should take us somewhere," he said, closing his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, Soren," Ike said stifling some chuckles. "We were having some fun back there."

"Sorry, I dislike times like these so much when we know that our very existence is in peril," the Branded said, waiting for the others to stop laughing.

"…Taco," Beat said, and they were back to laughing out loud. Soren grunted and stepped closer to the girls to hear them out.

Ai suddenly looked blankly at Mina's weirded out expression. "(…Reaper Creeper?)" she thought. "(Of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner!)" she realized, content with her idea. "Say… Mina…"

"Oh," Mina interjected. "Please tell me your sudden fascination with tacos is gone." Hysterical laughter ensued in the UG, much to Neku's chagring.

"What th-no!" Ai said annoyed, realizing too late the opposite of her response. Chris, defeated, fell on the floor. "I mean, yes! (Urgh! What was wrong with me?!) Um… Ever heard of 'Reaper Creeper'?" she asked, deviously thinking that she was about to shoot Mina down with her lies.

"Reaper Creeper…" Mina said before brightening up. "Oh, yeah! That magic game people were talking about at school, right? The one that answers your questions!"

Ai nodded. "Wanna try it?"

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Mina agreed.

"Guys, c'mon! Pull yourselves together now!" Shiki said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "They're going to use Reaper Creeper!"

Rhyme stifled a small giggle. "S-should we fake it this time?" she wondered. "I guess there's no other choice but to play on Ai's side."

"Yeah…" Neku said. "The truth needs to be uncovered, sadly."

Shiki stared at Neku. "What does that mean?" she asked. "You're not thinking that Makoto is cheating on Ai, are you?"

"Dunno, but let's try it out to see what happens," the orange-haired teen said. "It's better that they stop lying to each other before it gets any worse."

"Agreed," Soren said. "Lying like that is just despicable and very low. Besides, our lives are in danger. We must resort to this method. Ai is going to find out about it eventually, but we need to accelerate the process a little bit."

"…" Shiki looked away in thought. "(Why am I comparing myself with them?)" she asked. "(Why do I hurt so much?)"

The group focused on the girls talking with each other. "OK," Ai said. "Reaper Creeper has a few rules."

"Like what?" Mina asked curiously.

"First, someone has to summon the Reaper," Ai explained.

"Kind of creepy to think the Reaper is supposed to be one of us," Rhyme noted.

"Ooh, let me do it!" Mina asked excited, oblivious to Ai's trap.

"…All right," Ai said as she took out the sepia paper and a ten-yen coin over her hands.

Mina smiled as she looked down at the paper. "Reaper… Creeper… Before we get in much deeper…" Ai looked confused. "If you're here all right, go to White!" Mina called out.

Neku shrugged his shoulders and slowly moved the ten-yen coin to White. The laughing stock slowly stopped laughing to concentrate on the mission. "There," he said.

"White!" Mina said impressed. "Cool… The coin really moved!" She looked at Ai. "So, like… We said, 'if you're here, go to White.' And it went to White."

"Just think of the possibilities," Ness said. "We can essentially manipulate people into doing stuff."

"Oh, please," Rhyme said with a blank look. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves."

"Whoa…" Mina said in awe. "That means… The Reaper's here! Creepy! Can you believe it? Reapers exist!"

Neku frowned. "(I hope I'm not being compared to a real Reaper,)" he thought, discouraging the very possibility.

"That's right," Ai said. Her plan was slowly coming along. "And they can see right through a lie." She hinted a lot of venom in her last statement, but Mina couldn't see through it for now.

"Scary!" Mina commented.

"(You're gonna get it now,)" Ai thought. "All right, Mina. Next question."

"What are you gonna ask?" Mina asked.

Shiki sighed. "Here it comes," she said. "The moment of truth…"

"Hmm…" Ai faked not knowing what she was going to do. "Why don't I ask about you?"

Mina looked startled, having a small suspicion. "About m-me? Why?" she asked.

"(Because I'm onto you, you tramp,)" Ai thought. "(You and Makoto.) Reaper…" The group noticed that Ai's look turned into an angry scowl. "Creeper… If Mina has a boy she likes, go to White!" The two looked down at the paper. "Mina has a crush on someone, doesn't she?"

"…Well…" Neku turned to the group. "We're not absolutely sure about if Mina likes that guy for real."

"Oh! I guess not," Shiki said. "Let's try black instead."

Fox nodded, still eating a hot dog. "Right. Let's not assume the worst," he said.

The orange-haired teen slowly moved the coin to black. "Black?" Ai said. "WHAT?!" she shouted, completely torn apart by the answer.

Mina stared blankly at her. "Um, Ai-"

"(Black means NO,)" Ai thought in defeat, but she wasn't going to give in so easily and let things go as they were. "(But that can't be true. I saw her with him yesterday. Her and Makoto…together!) Next question!" Ai said, startling Mina once more.

Mina started to get worried about Ai. "Ai… This isn't like you," she said innocently, which further infuriated Ai.

"Oh no," Pichu said. "She's really losing it now!"

"So?" Soren asked. "It won't make a difference. We must press on."

"REAPER," Ai said angrily with as emphasis as she could muster up. "CREEPER. If Mina has secrets that should be brought to light…go to White!" She turned to Mina. "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?!"

"What?" Mina said.

"Yeah, she is," Neku said.

"…But on second thought…" Rhyme began, getting their attention. "How do we even know that she's really hiding a secret from her? Sure, we saw them talking to Makoto yesterday, but that doesn't mean she's REALLY hiding a secret in specific."

"How?" Ike asked. "She's keeping her meeting with Makoto a secret."

Annoyed that the group discussed about what to do, Neku decided to go along with their plans to see the look on their faces for their decisions by moving the coin to black. "Why is it Black?!" Ai asked furiously.

"Please…" Mina spoke softly. "Ai!"

"The Reaper is lying!" Ai came to a sudden conclusion. She had it with Mina. "I saw you!" she accused her.

"What?"

"This is it, Mina!" Ai shouted. "Last question!"

"Ai, please stop…"

"REAPER. CREEPER. Yesterday Mina met with Makoto. And she LIED to me about it. If I'm right…GO TO WHITE!"

Mina felt that she had been found. "What?" she said. "Ai, you knew about that?" The tension between the two grew as Ai kept the sepia paper away. "Aww… You saw us?"

"Yes!" Ai said angrily. "I know all about you."

"Yo," Beat said. "Hopin' they don't get into a catfight."

"Brace yourself, then," Soren said with a dull look. "If it must come down to this, it was fated to happen sooner or later."

Ness shook his head. "This is sooooooo gonna be bad," he said.

Ai stepped closer to Mina. "You and Makoto and your little-"

To the surprise of the Players, Mina quickly smiled and handed out two items to Ai. "Here," she said.

Ai looked down, her angry expression still intact, at two tickets for the Tin Pin slam-off. "What… Two tickets?" She looked up at Mina as her eyes welled with tears. "How could you, Mina… You knew I liked Makoto."

"I'm sorry," Mina said. "I just wanted to help."

"What?" Ai and the Players said.

Mina looked serious. "Makoto wants to go to the Molco slam-off," she explained. "But he couldn't get a ticket. He told me yesterday." She warmly smiled. "So I started mailing my friends. I figured, you know, maybe if I scored two tickets…"

"Oh, Mina," Ai said, sounding calmer. "You didn't…"

"You and Makoto go have a great time."

A few of the Players gasped. Ai's mouth hung open a bit as she exchanged glances to the tickets and Mina's face. "You got them for me?" she asked.

"Yup!" Mina said smiling. "Now you can put the moves on him, hee hee," she giggled.

Feeling that her nasty suspicions had been shot down, Ai wiped her tears away and stared at Mina's bright look. "Mina… I'm so sorry…" she apologized. "I totally got the wrong idea…"

Mina grabbed Ai's right hand and placed the tickers on it. "No worries," she said. "It's partly my fault for fibbing to you. We're friends. What's one little argument?"

Ai kept staring at her with a sad expression, but then she chuckled. "…Yeah," she said.

"…" Soren narrowed his eyes, spotting the yellow symbols decreasing in numbers. "Now's our chance to attack," he said.

An easy Noise fight later, the group looked down to their timers. They had vanished. "Phew! Mission complete," Rhyme said. Fox facepalmed in the background.

Shiki, relieved, looked over to Ai and Mina. "Looks like Ai and Mina made up, too," she said, making them look over to the two best friends.

Ai smiled. "Hey, let me take you out to eat," she offered Mina. "It's the least I can do."

"Really? Awesome!" Mina exclaimed. "How about sundaes?"

"Sure!" Ai agreed. "Let's hit that family restaurant up the street." As Mina cheered a bit, the two girls made their way up the stone-paved street, all the while giggling and having a fun time.

As most of the group smiled to one another, Shiki looked quite perturbed just seeing the two girls laughing without a care in the world. Trying to keep her thoughts to herself, she focused and came up with a natural reaction. "Aww…" she said, turning to Neku. "See how nice it is to have friends?"

The simple question was a bit too much for Neku. "(No,)" he thought.

"Sure, you may butt heads now and then," she continued as he turned to her with the group, "but life is more fun that way."

"(Fun? Right. Every time you argue, you end up meeting halfway and getting nowhere,)" Neku thought. "(What's fun about letting other people hold you back?)" He waved her off. "I don't see the point of a relationship built on lies."

"Excuse me?" Fox asked, looking a bit peeved. "What is that supposed to mean? We don't have relationships built on lies." Chris looked away, unsure about his own dilemma. The World Traveler never knew that the vulpine looked sideways at his direction, raising an eyebrow briefly. Fox then focused back on Neku. "You gotta open up a little more."

"Whatever," Neku said. "I hope you're not thinking that I'm actually enjoying my time with all of you. We're just working to get back our lives."

"Neku…" Shiki muttered, seeing some of them were shooting glares at the teen. "You don't lie to MAKE friends. I agree that wouldn't be right. But sometimes, you need to tell a fib because you ARE friends. Not all secrets are bad secrets." Sighing, she took out her phone to stare at her photo of Eri and herself.

Neku turned to her. "(Her and that photo…)" he thought.

Shiki pocketed her phone. "Hey, Neku?" she asked. "Is it really okay for you to think that you don't need friends?"

"That's right," Neku said. "It's just…not my thing. If people don't like my train of thoughts, let them be."

"Huh," Ike began, "looks like you remember your attitude before you died."

"And I'm happy I didn't build a new one with complete amnesia," Neku said. "I don't need anybody to help me out."

To this, Shiki decided to step in. "But I…I do have someone I need," she said. "Eri used to do everything for me. There was nothing she COULDN'T do. She had a ton of friends. Everybody at school loved her, because she was so outgoing. And the outfits she designed were so cute. Eri was the one who got me started making clothes."

Neku casually said, "I thought that pig of yours was the reason."

"He's a CAT!" Shiki said angrily. "Ugh. Anyway…" She smiled. "She saw me making Mr. Mew. And then she said: 'Wow, you're really good with a needle.' So we got talking, and she let me help her make clothes."

"That's a nice story," Ike commented.

Shiki nodded, feeling a bit at home. Pichu took the opportunity to climb her right shoulder. "I owe her everything. She gave me purpose. Meeting her, talking to her, getting to know her… It made me want to be something more."

Rhyme giggled. "I really want to find my own purpose someday," she said. "Just hearing you out makes me want to try really hard." Beat grinned, proud of his partner.

Neku looked away. "We better get this over with," he said. "Only two more days till we win."

"Hello, young lady," a baritone voice spoke from behind the group, causing them to turn around and gasp at the towering figure.

"Who's there?!" Shiki asked.

"One of those Reapers!" Fox said, looking fierce.

The World Ends With You – Forebode

"Correct," Higashizawa said. "But not just any Reaper."

The group backed off once Higashizawa appeared out of the blue to greet them all. None of them could compare at his obscene height of seven feet. "H-he's huge…" Pichu whimpered, clutching himself to Shiki's face.

"I am Yodai Higashizawa… Game Master by proxy," the Reaper introduced himself.

"Game Master?" Chris wondered, Fox standing in front of him for protection. "Are you in charge?"

The hulking Reaper nodded. "HEY!" Beat shook a fist. "Are you the one who wanted to get me and Rhyme erased yesterday?!"

"Wow, he's quick into blaming others," Ike said. "But really, he kind of has a point if he's in charge of everything that's happening to us."

Yodai crossed his massive arms over his equally massive chest. "No Players were meant to escape yesterday's chowder of destruction," he said.

"Tough luck there," Fox said, glaring up at Yodai. "We managed to survive that trap your subordinates set up for us."

"Again, correct," Yodai said. "You managed to survive because you are strong and smart enough to predict the result of your recipe. It's a dog-eat-dog world. A logical hierarchy, much like the food chain."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "Where are you getting with this weird analogy?" he asked.

Yodai continued. "The strong reach the top and win the Game," he said, "while the weak are left behind, the heels of the proverbial loaf."

Shiki hesitated, but she stepped forward while Pichu looked serious. "Are you trying to say Beat and Rhyme were meant to die yesterday?" He nodded. "Rhyme tried to protect Beat herself! You call that weak? Take it back!"

Yodai chuckled amused. "I admire your courage and loyalty, young lady," he said. "Delectable. This calls for a taste test!" He cracked his massive knuckles. "Let us see how you fare as fare for the Noise!" Immediately, the group was pulled into a Noise fight…

The World Ends With You – Transformation

The stone-paved street of Spain Hill became empty with people as Neku, Rhyme, and Ness stood their ground on the lower plane while Shiki, Beat, and Pichu took the upper plane once more. "Again, we've been separated from the others," Rhyme said. "But we can't lose this fight! I know it's gonna be tougher, but we can hold on!"

"Yeah!" Shiki said as one single Noise materialized in front of them. "Look! It's just one of them!"

Except things weren't looking so good for the only two Smashers of the group. "…!" Both Pichu and Ness breathed heavily after noticing the small Noise.

Beat looked down at Pichu. "You okay, little rat?" he asked.

"I…I can't…" Pichu stammered, completely in shock. "It can't be…!"

While Pichu was paralyzed into place, Ness examined the Noise before them. It wasn't just a normal Noise that was a heavily altered animal with demonic features. No, it was a familiar-looking Noise that greatly resembled a person both Pichu and Ness knew very well.

They were confronting Pikachu, or at least, something that was trying to look like Pikachu. Although the main body looked intact, its paws and feet were transfigured into clawed symbols along with the long yellow tail that was the most distinguishable body part with a set of twisting spirals. The brown stripes on its back were all jagged up.

"Do you like my kitchen's rat?" Yodai asked, his voice echoing. "It's a Pikander. It dislikes other rats from entering the kitchen just to eat the food. Suffice to say, it likes burning others into tasty raw meat using electricity."

Ness shook his head in disbelief as the Pikachu, or rather the Pikander, hissed at them. "How did you even create that…monster?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure this world doesn't have Noise like that!"

Neku looked at Ness. "You know that thing?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Pichu said. "It looks like somebody we know back at the mansion. How did you do this?"

"Ah, interested?" Yodai asked. "Your memories are fine spices for our grand feast, little one…"

"…What?"

"Enough talk! Don't let the food spoil!" Yodai said, directly starting the battle.

"CHUUUUUU!" The group of Players was taken off-guard as the Pikander used Thunderbolt, shocking them all. The quick attack took about a fifth of their overall health once it stopped to regain some energy.

"Holy crap, yo!" Beat said, grunting in pain. "We gotta take care of the pest quick!"

Shiki shook her head to regain her composure. "T-that attack was dreadful," she said. "But we're six against one! We gotta make this count!"

Pichu looked the least unfazed from the six, given that he had no memory of Pikachu for the time being. "It's just a monster trying to look like Pikachu," he said. "His electric attacks won't do much against me. I'm an Electric-type myself! I can try to fight it…if I don't get overpowered."

"Charge!" Neku said, and the six Players were upon the Smasher Noise.

Of course, the six were separated into groups of three; therefore they were facing two Pikanders that shared the same body. Just as Beat was about to grind the wheels of his skateboard on the Noise, the Pikander avoided his blow and scurried away back to Shiki and Pichu. "C'mere, you little monster!" Beat said.

Shiki gasped and ordered Mr. Mew to launch himself into the offensive. The stuffed cat hopped over to Pikander, but the Noise sidestepped from the furious slashing blows and lunged all the way to Shiki's right leg. "H-hey, get off m-AAAAAAAAAA!" Shiki shrieked as the Pikander rained down a severe Thunder on her, pushing her down to the street.

"N-no!" Pichu said as he used Skull Bash, colliding hard against the Pikander. The evil Noise hissed and backed off, giving Pichu enough time to go over to Shiki's side. Beat suddenly came from behind and gave chase to the bastardized Pokémon. "Shiki!"

"…I-I'm okay, I think," Shiki said, shivering, as she stood back up. Mr. Mew lifelessly waltzed to her side. "That Noise isn't like the others! It seems a bit too smart for my tastes!"

"It really is acting like the Pikachu I know," Pichu said, looking perplexed. "He's very quick. You need to be careful where it goes!"

"Yeah, we kind of found that out already," Neku spoke from the lower plane as he called a trail of flames to burn the Pikander inhabiting their side. Luckily, the full attack staggered the demonic rat into place. "Go!"

"Right on it!" Ness charged a PK Blast that went over to the trapped rat. A massive green explosion was set off, and the rat hissed loudly as it was blasted away, only for Rhyme to follow it up by shooting energy blasts from her palms. The rat spun madly in midair, but it then used Quick Attack to zigzag its way back to the floor, its cheeks sparking with electricity.

"It's too fast!" Rhyme said.

"Don't let that throw you off!" Neku said as he launched himself to the rat, sending slicing blows. Just as he thought that he had trapped the rat in some nasty blows, the Pikander's body emitted electricity, shocking Neku's body and stopping his flurry of attacks. He was paralyzed by the static. "D-damn!" he grunted.

"Neku, hang on!"

"That had better not been a joke!"

"N-no, it wasn't!" the blond girl said. Rhyme took out a brand new pin that she had obtained during some Noise fights. It was a pink pin with the image of an incomplete beam. It was called the Happy Beam. Unlike the Force Rounds pin, the pin let her fire a multitude of bullets. She did so, but the Pikander noticed her moves and dodged the bullets. "Ugh…"

"PK Fire!" Ness suddenly shouted, firing a small bolt that collided against the Noise and trapped it in a small tower of fire. The boy quickly went over the tower of fire and smacked his baseball bat hard, sending the Pikander away into the air.

"Damn this static!" Neku muttered, as he found his movement greatly hampered by the sparks jumping out from his body on occasion. "It needs to be lifted up soon or else I'm gonna lose it…"

"Don't worry. I've got your back!" Rhyme called out, but the teen would rather not have anybody back him up if it was a less dangerous situation.

Back on the upper plane, the other trio dealt with their Pikander zooming around the field. Beat tried hard to keep up with the bastardized Pokémon using his skateboard. "You gotta stop moving someday!" he called out to the rat, but the Pikander spun around and fired a ball of concentrated sparks that crashed into Beat, pushing him twenty feet back. "Augh!"

"Hang in there! Mr. Mew is coming!" Shiki said as she commanded Mr. Mew to go over the Pikander's side to initiate a slashing combo. Four furious slashes later, Mr. Mew spun its right chubby hand and uppercutted the Pokémon into the air. "Go!" Shiki called out, jumping into the air.

Pichu stared at her. "You keep doing that whenever Mr. Mew does that uppercut," he said.

"Sorry, force of habit," Shiki said sheepishly until she noticed the Pikander smacking its tail into Mr. Mew to push him away. It locked it maddened eyes to the two and quickly dashed to their side. "A-ah! It's coming!"

Pichu looked serious and blocked the Pikander's way. "I-I always wanted to be a Pikachu. Don't make me have nightmares with you in them!" he shouted as his cheeks gathered sparks. He used a Thunder Jolt that bounced along the stone-paved street, but the Pikander swiftly dodged it and smacked its tail right on Pichu's face, pushing him back a bit.

"Don't hurt poor Pichu!" Shiki yelled as Mr. Mew stood back up and hopped over the Pikander's side, delivering a flying kick that pushed the monster aside from Pichu's range. "Pichu, get back up, quick!"

Pichu coughed and stood up, his left eye twitching. "I-I can do this just fine!" he encouraged himself. Clutching his Pin, he flung a bicycle against the Pikander, pushing it further away.

"Our Fusion pin is charged up," Rhyme said from the lower plane. "We can't take any chances against this Noise. Beat!" She clutched the Fusion pin to activate its psych.

The two planes didn't merge together, but the two blonds could feel the latent power of the Fusion pin coursing through them all the same as they got in position. "Pick it up, Rhyme!" Beat called over.

"Yeah!" Rhyme said.

The two Players quickly started teleporting around the field while delivering shockwaves and energy blasts against the hissing Pikander on both planes. The Pikander tried to shock them with static, but it was always taken off-guard by the blonds disappearing from each plane just to teleport back and forth between the two dimensions. A flash of light manifested, and Rhyme and Beat were back to their respective planes.

The Pikander flinched in pain, but it charged at the group on both sides. "That still wasn't enough!" Beat said, shaking a fist.

"Not on my watch!" Ness called over as he rushed to the Pikander, grabbing him with his mind. The Pikander shrieked in frustration as it tried to use a Thunderbolt on the boy, but Ness acted quickly by flinging the rat into a nearby wall. Upon collision, the Pikander yelped loudly before it vanished in black and white static. "There! The fight's over!" Ness said, much to the relief of the Players.

The Reapers in charge of grading them saw the whole battle from the Mexican Hot Dog restaurant, all of them holding hot dogs. They slapped a B grade on the group's performance. "Not bad," one of them said, "just like this hot dog."

"Ugh, I don't like mine," another one complained, coughing a bit. "Too many spices… It's too heavy for me."

"Idiot," the third one commented as the two planes became one once more…

The World Ends With You – Forebode

Out of thin air, the six Players that had fought the Noise fell down to the street. The other four were left out to wait for them to come out, and thus they looked surprised to see them all back, running to their side. Yodai then appeared before them, looking very pleased at the outcome. "I see I've sunk my teeth into something good," he said.

"Wha… What was that we just fought?" Pichu asked, looking up at the towering Reaper. "I…I saw Pikachu in that Noise monster, but it wasn't him!"

"What are you saying?" Chris asked.

"Oh, details," Yodai said as the group looked up at him. "You, my clients, happened to fight one of our finest meals that we are mass producing as we speak," he said. "It is thanks to your individual minds that we Reapers have reached a new development for our master plan."

"Stop talking in circles," Soren said, furrowing his brow. "Get to the point."

"Fine, young man," Yodai said, staring at the Smashers. "We know the lot of you doesn't belong to this menu…or rather, this world, for one."

The six otherworldly travelers gasped and so did the others. However, Neku was the one who looked a little bit more confused at the development. "(What?)" he wondered. "(These guys are really not from Shibuya?)"

"Second," Yodai continued, "your entry fees – your memories – are the finest condiments that we have ever laid our kitchen mitts upon. Through those memories of yours, we are able to confirm the belief that you are special in more ways than one." He held out a massive hand. "Thanks to you, Mr. Kitaniji is working in a very important project through the use of your memories. In fact, your little friends here faced a Pikachu that we have turned into Noise…"

"A Pikachu turned into Noise?" Fox said. "Just what are you doing with our memories?"

"I'm running my mouth," Yodai said. "To put it simply, expect your own memories of the past to erase you from the Game when you least expect it."

Ike shook his head as he rested his hand on Ragnell's hilt. "How dare you use our precious memories against us?" he demanded. "That is plain dirty!"

"We are a very curious bunch," Yodai chuckled. "My master chef doesn't want me to keep talking about the matter. For now, don't go easy on us."

Shiki put herself in front of Yodai, not minding the fact he was like four heads taller than her. Pichu shyly climbed her right shoulder. "We'll never lose to you!" she said, and the rest of her group glared up at the Reaper.

"Sadly, I've had my fill for the day," Yodai exclaimed. "I only came here to meet you, young lady."

The group looked confused at the statement as Shiki's serious look was almost lost in thought. "Me? …Why?" she asked.

"To get a closer look, of course," Yodai said before he cracked his huge fists. "At the charcoal-black envy beneath the barbecue of your heart."

"…" The group just blinked at him. "…I'm sorry?" Ike said, not sure what Yodai meant with his food analogy.

"I don't understand what he's trying to say," Shiki said.

Soren, though, was slowly deciphering the Reaper's weird wording. "He just said that, deep down inside of you, you're envious about something," he said.

The fashionista gasped and shook her head. "W-what? No! I'm not envious of anything or…or anyone!" she denied.

"Oh, don't you, though?" Yodai asked, sounding amused. "You can't fool me. You know the feelings are there, so you bury them. You talk of loyalty, of dreams and friendship. They're no more than a lid on your stir-fry of jealousy."

"…" Pichu noticed that Shiki's eyes were trembling. "S-Shiki?" he whimpered a bit. "A-are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Shiki said, but her tone sounded troubled. "H-he's just pissing me off a bit, that's all…"

The Electric-type forced a glare on Yodai. "Y-you big meanie! Stop insulting Shiki!" he yelled. The female teen wanted to smile at him, but her inner thoughts were far more conflicting.

Yodai continued. "Oh, how deeply you must hate yourself," he said. "You have EXACTLY what you always wanted…but it's not enough, is it?"

Chris tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. "Shiki lost her most valuable possession as her entry fee, didn't she?" He saw Shiki embracing herself. "…Shiki?"

"No one loves you," Yodai said, to which many of them gasped and fumed a bit at the statement. "You can't love yourself. And so the jealousy consumes you."

Shiki glared up at him, her hands turning into fists to the sides of her skirt. "Stop it!" she demanded loudly.

"Stop being such a big jerk to her!" Pichu warned, his cheeks bouncing a few sparks out. "I-I'm warning you, really!" He knew very well that attacking someone who could potentially erase them in a snap was not a good option.

"Don't listen to this guy," Rhyme told Shiki, standing next to her. "He's trying to make you lose it. It's probably their job to make things stressful for you while you complete missions."

But the Reaper drawled on. "That friendly sugar coating can't sweeten the selfishness inside you," he said. "You think you're more important than anyone else. And THAT'S where jealousy begins…"

No one else other than Yodai knew, but Shiki felt that she was being read so easily. She denied Yodai's claims, but her denying was never going to stop the haunting feelings that she was bottling up. "No…" She looked at a loss of words. "I'm not-"

"You are," Yodai interjected. "And you know it." He grinned. "Why else would your entry fee be-"

Almost immediately, Shiki lost it as tears formed up on her eyes. "Stop! Don't say it!" she cried out. The group gasped after noticing the abrupt change of mood in her.

Yodai chuckled in amusement. "That complex of yours is a bruise on the tomato of your soul."

While Soren thought that Yodai's food analogy was screwing up with the mood of the scene, he saw Shiki backing away in fear from him. "No, I… I'm just…" She stuttered a bit.

"Nothing will change if you are restored to life," Yodai said, further confusing the group as to what the two of them knew that they didn't. "You'll just go on hating yourself and being jealous of everybody else."

The young teen looked to be in deep emotional pain. "No. Please, no more…" she muttered under her breath. Shutting her eyes, Shiki avoided looking at the group as she sprinted away from the scene. Pichu unluckily fell down to the floor on his feet, but he yelled for Shiki to come back. Fortunately, Shiki stopped running, but she didn't want to approach them, fearing that they had found out about the dark secret she kept.

Neku looked shocked. "Restored to life?" he said. He turned around to look at Yodai. "What are you trying to say with that about her?"

"Oh, all in due time, young egg," Yodai said. He turned his back on them. "See you in Day 7. Keep it fresh."

Chris was glad that the imposing Reaper was just about to leave. He felt very undermined to have an enemy with such a huge body stalk them from the shadows.

"…Oh, that reminds me," Yodai began, looking over his right shoulder at the World Traveler," young man, it is completely disgraceful to lie to your friends about your little adventure."

"W-what?" Chris said.

"Don't act dumb," Yodai said. "Your rotten apple core can't keep you safe from my sharp knife. You were…kidnapped, I believe."

The teen shook his head as his group looked perplexed at him. "J-just how much do you know about my memories?!" he asked. "I still have many of them in me!"

"We do keep copies of what we see in each little head of yours," Yodai said. "But that's not the point here. What I'm trying to say is…that befriending the one that killed your friends is a heinous act indeed. And even if you were put under stress of the situation you were, you truthfully became his friend in the end… Why, you even sacrificed your own life for his."

"(No!)" Chris shouted loudly in his mind, and soon the Smashers stared at him.

"…" Fox looked sideways at Chris. "Chris… What is he saying?"

Chris could spy that Fox's right hand turned into a fist. From the looks of it, the fingerless glove was being stretched a bit too far. "He's not…he's not…! (Yes, that did happen, and I even said I was going to defend ROB for his acts. But I never thought I'd get into this kind of problem with his victims at all!)" He felt cornered, and he knew there was no going back. "It's…it's true."

"What?" Ike said.

Yodai chuckled as he disappeared into the darkness. "I cannot stay here any longer. See you later, Players," he said, his dark chuckles echoing.

As the rest of the Shibuya crew watched the scene, Chris felt a lot of weight trying to crush his body with the stares his group was giving him. "I…I did befriend the Ancient Minister…I mean…ROB…" Chris muttered, making Ness, Ike, and Pichu gasp. "In fact, through the arguments I had with him, I managed to find that he was just as troubled as we are about Tabuu… I…I kind of saw myself in him because both of us felt alone in the world because we didn't have real people to rely on…"

Pichu gulped. "A-and that thing about sacrificing your life for Kirby's…"

"…was a lie," Chris finished. "The reason why I died is really because I pushed ROB out of the way of getting killed by the Halberd's cannon… Kirby was never around." He looked worried at them. "But you've got to believe me! I really hated him for what he did until he showed me his true colors! I…I believe that he's changed for the better!"

Ness looked away, Ike scratched his head, and Pichu looked unsure.

"…I…I'll just have to show you once we win the Game," Chris said. It was then he noticed Fox was giving him a hard look. "Fox?"

Fox was not pleased that Chris had lied to them. He suspected that the teen was hiding something the moment Neku commented about building relationships on lies. In retrospect, it looked quite odd that Chris stuttered a few times when asked about his last adventure, but Fox brushed them off as simple shocked reactions. After all, Chris would never experience anything like this beyond his home world. "Just how many times are you gonna keep lying to us?!" he suddenly yelled at Chris. "How many times are going to take till you learn that we can understand your issues?!"

Chris trembled in fear. He didn't want Fox to be the one to snap out so violently. "I-I didn't know how to say this!" he said. "I mean, I helped your murderer to escape death! I thought that was a bigger issue!"

"I give a rat's ass about that guy who put all of us in this stupid situation in the first place! He's nothing to me anymore!" Fox yelled, taking a hard step forward towards Chris. "I care a LOT more about people not lying to me just like that! Seriously, I can't believe you because of this!" He turned his back on Chris. "You vowed a long time ago that you were never going to keep secrets and truths away from us!"

The teen looked sad. "I-I know," he said. "I just didn't want any of you to get so angry at me fo-"

"Shut up!" Fox yelled. "And you asked me to be your big brother?"

Chris could already tell where the vulpine was going to with the rhetorical question. "(Oh no. Please, don't!)"

"How the hell can I have a little brother who's not willing to be honest?"

The teen stepped forward and put a quick hand on Fox's shoulder. "This is just a small mistake on my part!" he said, feeling Fox's body shake very slightly with rage. "I don't want to keep lying like that ever agai-" But Chris couldn't avoid what happened next. Turning sharply, Fox lifted his left fist and almost nearly broke Chris's nose. However, as Chris froze in the spot, he saw Fox's fist barely brushing his face. In front of the fist, the teen's irises shrunk in horror. "A-ah!"

"…" Fox begrudgingly pulled his fist back, glaring fiercely at his partner. "The only reason I'm not breaking that nose of yours is because you're my partner for this stupid thing," he said. He closed his eyes and walked a few steps away from Chris, who was now on the verge of collapsing in tears. "We're in this together…but that's it. There's nothing else in specific I want to talk about."

"…Uh… U-uh…" Chris fell to his knees and covered his face, muffling his whimpers as he cried to himself. He waited for a Smasher to console him, but Ness was conflicted with the news. Pichu was confused about what to do, but he chose to console Shiki over Chris. Ike was debating himself about the truth of the teen's situation. Fox now shut himself off from ever talking to Chris unless it was about the Game in general.

Neku looked away, not wanting to get involved into their troubles. "(This is why people drag others down,)" he thought. "(So…their relationship is really built on lies…)"

Just like that, everybody lost consciousness. Another day went by, but that didn't stop the unconscious Chris from shedding tears to the cold, stone-paved street…

He would find out later that Rhyme actually cared a whole lot about both he and Shiki. She watched the entire scene, and it felt wrong to her to see everyone getting torn down so easily. The young blond didn't have enough time to express her feelings, given that they were knocked out cold…

The World Ends with You - Calling

Shiki's Day 6 – Superiority/Inferiority

Scramble Crossing

Fazed after feeling a forced sleep-induced event, Neku stood up from his spot and looked around. "Back at the scramble…" he muttered, only to find a red pin on his palm. The pin in question looked like the one that the businessman from yesterday was holding, but Neku didn't remember it. He stared down at it. "(Where'd it come from?)" he asked. "(It looks kind of like the Player Pin… It doesn't work for scanning…) Hmph. Weird pin." He pocketed it and saw that the others, except for Shiki, were standing up.

"Yet again…we've been taken away somewhere else," Ness commented. "Oh, it's the crossing again." He felt an item on his palm and he looked down at it, finding the same red pin. "Hey, where did this come from?"

The other Players saw that they also had the mysterious pin with them. "I don't recall having this with me," Soren said. "Those Reapers surely gave this to us."

"So, is it dangerous to have these?" Rhyme asked.

"Could be," Fox said. "But I have a feeling we're gonna be using these sooner than we think."

Neku nodded. "…Where's Stalker?" he asked. Suddenly, their phones rang. "The mission!"

Dominate the scramble crossing view at 3:00. You have 180 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. –The Reapers

They flinched in pain as a new timer got imprinted on their hands. "Right on cue…" Neku muttered. "(Hmm… Strange mission… We're standing in the scramble now – but what's the view? …Dammit. I don't know Shibuya well enough to make sense of this.)"

"Dominate the view?" Rhyme perked up. She looked at the several huge TV screens on the buildings surrounding the crossing. "Hmm, maybe it's about the TV screens, but I might be wrong."

Just as Neku thought that they had a clue, he turned around to find Shiki standing there. However, she looked lifeless with the blank look on her face. "What do you make of this?" Neku asked.

Shiki folded her arms behind her back, looking away. "Dominate the view? …No idea," she said.

The orange-haired teen crossed his arms in frustration. "(Wow. Thanks for giving it all the thought,)" he thought. He now noticed how depressed she looked. "(What's gotten into her?)"

"Um, Shiki?" Beat said as the others grouped together. "You okay? You look down, yo…"

"…" Shiki didn't respond to his question.

Neku was just a little bit perplexed that Shiki wasn't being so open unlike yesterday. The speech Yodai gave to her greatly affected her, he could tell that much. However, the fashionista looked like some sort of empty shell due to how emotionless her face had become. "Well, wait… Look again. Maybe there's a hidden clue," Neku said.

Shiki rubbed her chin, her eyes looking still sad. "The scramble crossing at three o'clock?" she wondered in a dull tone.

"Yo!" Beat called out. "Somethin' are gonna happen, or maybe we make it happen!"

"Um, I think it has something to do with the TVs around here, but I'm not very sure," Rhyme said until she turned around to look at the rest of the team. "Let's go have a look…oh…"

The otherworldly people listened to the talk about the mission, but other than that, there was an unsettling silence as Chris stared at them with a pained expression. The teen felt so ashamed for lying to them about the Ancient Minister, and he hoped for dear god that they would forgive him. "Please… You can't be angry with me," Chris said. "I was only doing what I thought was right!"

Ike was actually more open to forgive Chris, but his small speech got interrupted by Fox. "Tsk, and you thought lying was right," he said, driving a nail deeper into Chris's skin. "Some decision…"

"Now," Ike started, "I know the fact his little lie was…not a good thing to do, but…Chris was just doing what he thought was…well, right," he said. Soren looked dully at him. "Look, I feel a little peeved that he did it, but I already went through this problem a long time ago with another guy until he told us his reasons for his motives. I can give him a break." The teen needed all the relief he could get.

"Hmm," Soren wondered. "So this Ancient Minister guy was your murderer, and he went on to aid him to escape their base," he said. "That is a hard dilemma to solve in the values department so simply."

"Soren, you're not helping."

The Branded shrugged a bit. "While his actions sounded wrong," he began, looking at Chris, "there was no harm done in the end."

"That's what you think," Fox said, shooting a glare to Soren. "Chris went through a lot more events than we did when we died. Who's not to say he's lying about something else?"

Chris gasped, looking a bit pissed. He felt guilty just looking angry. "I'm not lying about anything else!" he shot back, but then he stepped back when Fox's eyes went to him.

"How can we tell you're not lying now?" Fox demanded. "We're unlucky that we can't read Players' minds with our Player Pins, but I wish I could do it on you right now. In fact…" He looked down at Ness. "You're a natural mind reader. Go ahead, and read Chris's mind."

Ness blinked a bit. "What?"

"You heard me. Read his mind."

The Onett boy felt a bit torn apart as he stared at Chris. "L-look, I REALLY don't want to read somebody else's mind like his," he said. "It's…again my code of ethics to read any of our group's minds…"

"Oh, that's bullcrap!"

"Hey! I only read minds when I feel something is pretty off!" Ness complained. "He's not thinking something nasty, and we always know he never does anything that bad!" He looked up at Fox and pointed a finger at him. "Well, now that I thought about it a little more, I think you're the one taking things a little bit out of proportion yourself just because of one simple, harmless lie!"

Fox gasped, not expecting Ness to side with Chris. "I-I'm not!" he said. "It's just…!"

Chris felt a little more relieved until Ness spoke. "I feel pretty shaken up myself…because he helped our murderer," he said. "I…I don't care about his little lie to sugarcoat the truth. Don't get me wrong, but I still want to talk to him. Not now, though. I want to…I want to let the fact that ROB is actually working with us…"

The vulpine grunted and looked at Pichu. He frowned. "Why do I bother with you," he muttered. "You're obviously with him, too."

Pichu looked sad, trembling at Fox's imposing glare. "I-I have the same reasons like Ness," he said. "You…you need to be less strict with him!"

The vulpine looked at the teen with a confused look. Shaking his head, Fox only walked away as the others watched on. He couldn't walk far away, so he simply turned his back on them. Looking at the others, Chris said, "Um… Thank you for defending me a bit…"

"It's kind of okay," Ike said. "Fox just took it a little more personal for some reason. I think it comes as a burden to him because he's a leader… And me, being a leader, I understand him a bit, but I already reflected on my attitude."

Soren recalled what Ike meant. "You mean about Nasir," he said.

Ike nodded. "Yes, exactly," he said. "Back then when he did some unquestionable actions against our fight against Ashnard, we found out that he was only doing it for his granddaughter. Chris, I don't really believe that you have bad intentions like…backstabbing us in the back."

"Of course not," Chris said, trying to sound as composed as possible to avoid anyone else from thinking he was not being sincere when he was not. "All of you are…very important to me, and I wouldn't try to piss you off for anything in the universe."

"Yeah…but is it okay with you if we don't talk to you for a little bit?" Ness asked, dismaying Chris. "We're still friends, don't worry about that, but we want to reflect a little on you-know-who being a good guy."

"…" The teen sighed, but he understood nonetheless. "It's fine. We're on a timer, anyway." He looked over at Fox and sighed depressed.

"Give him some time, too," Ike suggested, forcing a small smile. "Just leave him alone until he can find forgiveness for you."

"But…what if he doesn't?" Chris asked, and he felt it was right to tell them. "I really was looking to the idea of him becoming a big brother figure…"

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Pichu said until looking a bit serious. "Yes, give him some time! He'll be talking to you before long!"

Fox was actually overhearing their talk, and while there was a part of himself to forgive Chris, he strongly believed that he shouldn't so casually go back on his words. Unfortunately, he was a very proud guy who didn't like lies too much. He never saw the apologetic look Rhyme was giving him from afar…

After cheering Chris up a bit, the Smashers approached the Shibuya Crew. Pichu then recalled Shiki was out of it. "Shiki, are you… Oh, who am I kidding…" he muttered, frowning. "There's something wrong, I know that…"

"That Yodai guy was a jerk," Ness said. "Did his words get to you?"

"…" Shiki didn't reply and looked away.

"I'll take that as a yes for now… But pull yourself together," he said. "So…just let it all out, girl! We know now that you're jealous of somebody you know, but it's okay!"

"No, it's not," Shiki muttered, loud enough for them to hear. "I'm…a nasty, repulsive person…"

"Oh no, that's how emo people talk! Don't you dare go emo now!" Ness said, thinking that Shiki would chuckle a bit. He thought wrong. "…Shiki, snap out of it. How can you even be a nasty person? You're not a traitor. We already confirmed that…"

"Ugh…" Shiki shook her head. "…We…we need to get busy with the mission…" she muttered.

Pichu sighed. "Shiki…" He debated if he should talk to her. "…Is…your envy that bad?" It looked like Neku cared to hear what was troubling her, only because he felt everything would go down the drain if he didn't pull herself together.

"…" Shiki's eyes turned to the east where she saw a familiar person standing on the corner of the street. "…Makoto is over there."

While Pichu thought that she was avoiding the questions, the others looked over to see the businessman looking down to his feet. "Oh, it's that guy who we thought the girls were fighting over," Soren said. "Leave him be. He could lead us to yet another girl fight."

Unaware of dead people looking at him, Makoto sighed to himself as he said, "I'm done for…"

"What's that guy mumbling about?" Neku asked. They went to his side to listen closely. Soren wondered why they needed to do that, but he rolled his eyes and followed.

"I can feel time slipping through my fingers," Makoto muttered. "Three more hours… Then I'm gonna get the ax. So long, Makoto. Heh…"

"He said three more hours…" Chris muttered.

Neku suddenly put the pieces together in his mind. In three hours, it was going to be three o clock. "Hey! I think this guy might be the key!" he told the others. Shiki remained silent again.

Thinking back, Shiki did a lot of help in figuring out the missions' objectives. It nagged at Neku to think that she was very useful, but it nagged him even more that she was at a loss of words in the last days they needed to win the Game. Getting a second chance at life was too close yet so far away that pressured Neku to talk to her. "(T-talk, dammit!)" he cursed mentally. "(Why is she so quiet today?) So, um, yeah… Let's scan him, OK?"

The others stared at Shiki's emotionless expression. "…Well…let's go read his mind, yo," Beat said.

The group clutched their Player Pins and read Makoto's troubled mind together. "(Waaaaaah…)" he whined. "(Has the boss lost his mind? Shelling out the money for Q Floor… The commercial will only last a few seconds. Not enough to catch the eye…)"

"Catch the eye?" Rhyme wondered. When she looked up south at the building looming behind them, she figured something out. "Oh yeah, now I get it! This is our mission!" she brightened up.

"Really?" Shiki asked, without as much enthusiasm like she used to show.

Neku frowned at her, having figured out the message. "Think about it," he said. "The time matches up – 3:00. And catching the eye… Eye? View? Same thing."

"Oh, now I see," Ike said. "His issue must be related to our mission through comparisons." His face fell. "But what's the Q Floor place he mentioned?"

Shiki looked to Rhyme's direction, where she was looking to the building south of their position. "Everyone. Up there…" she called out weakly to the giant TV screen, possibly the biggest one of the entire city, embedded to the building's top portion. It was playing different sets of commercials from time to time. "The big screen – that's Q Floor."

"Wow, that screen is huge…" Ness said, mesmerized at the high quality of said television. Ike felt the need of destroying the damned thing with his sword as it looked too…dangerous, but he didn't want to make a scene and embarrass himself in front of Soren. The Branded just brushed the fact that there was some sort of big window in the vicinity.

"It's a TV designed only for commercials to show up for the people around here to see," Rhyme explained to the group. "You should see the uproars when something unexpected shows up in there! People go crazy."

"This is all starting to make sense!" Neku said.

"So dominating the scramble crossing view," Shiki began, as Pichu noticed the lack of eagerness in her voice, "means getting the crowd here to watch that guy's ad?"

Beat shook an eager fist. "Yeah, that shulbee it!" he said.

But then Shiki said, "That'll never happen," surprising the group. "People look straight ahead when they cross. Or at their feet."

"…Shiki…I never expected you to say that like…that," Chris muttered. "You sound way too negative for my tastes…"

"…" Neku crossed his arms. Maybe she just needed some more time, he thought. "Our mission is to get them to look UP. They have to see that ad."

"What do you think the ad's for?" Shiki asked, averting her eyes from them all.

"Like I know," Neku said sarcastically. He turned to see Makoto. "…Maybe he can answer that."

The group looked over at Makoto sulking. "It's all over," he said. "I'm doomed… Trapped in the flaming wreckage of my own life…" No sooner he said that, some of them groaned when a yellow symbol circled around his head.

"Great," Neku said with emphasis. "The Noise have a hold of him." He turned to Shiki and the others. "You know what that means."

As Shiki didn't say another word, Beat stepped forward. "Another beat down is needed!" he said.

The overall negativity of the atmosphere made most of them feel a bit overwhelmed by the young teen's attitude, but they went on to defeat the Noise plaguing Makoto's mind. The Noise battle went down badly, mostly because the perturbed ones – Chris, Fox, and Shiki – took part of it. These three were conflicted with their thoughts that it didn't seem like they cared much about surviving. Luckily, they pulled through.

"Ugh, that was a mess back there," Fox said. "Chris, your performance was just too bad."

"Says you…" Chris muttered. "You got ganged up by those crows the most."

"Did not," Fox said, even though it was true. "Do better next time or else my head is gonna get handed back to me definitely."

"Ugh…"

As Rhyme continued to look at the development, the others looked back at Makoto. He was now smiling and making a fist. "Chin up, Makoto!" he said. "Snap out of it!" From his right pocket, he took out the same red skull pin the others had obtained. "True, these pins show no sign of becoming the next big thing. But it's my job to MAKE them the next big thing!"

"Huh… He has the same pin we have right with us," Ike noted as some of them stared at their newly acquired pins.

"So…is he advertising it?" Ness asked.

Pichu gasped. "Maybe…maybe he was the one who gave this to us!" he said. He gasped a second time after thinking things a little more thoroughly. "Then he's…a Reaper!"

The group digested the possibility for a little while. "…Naaaaaaaah!" most of them said.

"It's just a regular old pin," Shiki said, almost in a monotone voice. "No one's gonna watch an ad for it."

"That's for sure," Neku groaned. "But the guy's a pro, right? I'm sure he's at least got a plan." They looked back at Makoto.

The young businessman closed his eyes in deep thought until he opened them, chuckling at a new idea he got. "OK! First, I'm going to hand free pins out," he said, "and fill Shibuya with walking billboards!"

"Alright," Ness said nodding, "he's getting somewhere."

"Hmm…and to get people's attention, I need some 'hip' one-liners like that book suggested." He closed his eyes to remember the book he read. "Let's see… How about, 'Totally gnarly!'"

Pichu winced as Ness pinched the bridge between his eyes. Beat likewise winced and scratched his left shoulder.

"'Come get some hot stuff!'"

Fox began debating if Makoto was totally straight while Ike backed off a bit. Neku shook his head in shame.

"'Unreal, bro!'"

Soren pitied the man a bit, closing his eyes, as Chris shook his head in pity. Rhyme sighed silently.

"Perfect! The slang of the moment! If I get everyone talking about the pins in time, they're sure to watch the commercial!" Makoto showed his white teeth in success.

But the rest of the team was thinking the opposite. "Uhh…no?" Neku said. "They're going to think you're nuts."

"And they'll even question if he's into women," Fox added.

"'Come get some hot stuff'?" Shiki said. "That sounds like a pickup line… And pins aren't exactly a hot topic to begin with. No one's going to take them."

"Then we gotta help the idiot out," the vulpine said.

Suddenly, the three poor excuses of pickup lines were added to the Players' phones. "Aww, hell no!" Beat groaned. "These lame-o lines got added to our phones!"

"That makes it even more obvious that this is our mission for the day," Neku said. "We've got to use these stupid lines to promote this weird pin of his."

The group saw that Makoto had caught the attention of two random passerbies. As the Players looked on, the businessman sweated and fidgeted a bit. "Oh no, he's a lost cause," Ness said. "Let's see if we can use these memes on his head."

Most of them decided to listen to Makoto's conversation with the passerby, but not all of them were focused. Shiki was looking away, staring into empty air as her right hand held a weak grip on her phone. She wanted to look at the picture of her and Eri one more time, but she didn't want to do it anymore. She felt crushed and humiliated, even if the group had listened to her argument with Yodai and didn't know much about her personal issues. Still, she felt horrible. She didn't want to tell anything to anybody.

Pichu was not going to have any of it, and so he made his way to her as the group helped the helpless Makoto out. She heard his little footsteps and immediately knew where he was going. "Pichu… Don't say anything," she muttered, sighing. "I want to be all alone…"

"…Screw that," Pichu said, finally bringing himself to say the "s" word, but it wasn't enough to faze Shiki. "Shiki, it's gotten a lot worse now! You keep hiding this deep dark secret, and it's making me feel so worried about you!" He wanted to climb to her shoulder, but Pichu didn't want to risk being pushed off by her. "You need to pull yourself together or you're gonna keep mopping around like this!"

"You know everything you need to know from me…" Shiki muttered, her tone still stuck in a monotone type. "I…am a failure of a friend…"

"Failure of a friend?" Pichu shook his head. "You're not a failure!"

"But I am… I can't show my face around after you saw what happened yesterday…"

"But I still don't understand this jealousy you have towards someone else!" Pichu said. "I've felt jealous about other people in the past. I know I'm not the strongest fighter there is, but…but I don't let that drag me down! I'm happy the way I am!" He looked away. "Well, I do plan on evolving to a Pikachu someday…" he muttered and looked at her back. "It's just a small bit of jealousy for sure!"

"…" Shiki looked up at the sky. "…And I feel really horrible for it," she said. "I don't deserve to live and see…"

Pichu blinked, thinking that Shiki was running her mouth. He wanted her to accidentally slip information, but Shiki was far more focused in keeping her jealousy in the shadows. The Electric-type's ears drooped as he frowned, looking to another way to think about a way to help her out.

He could only look on as a giggling Shiki walked northeast of the scramble crossing.

…

"…Huh?" Pichu's eyes widened a bit. He felt that his mind was playing a nasty trick in his eyes, but he could've sworn that there was a second Shiki around the area. He really wanted to chase the second Shiki down, but it wasn't advised to leave Ness behind to become Noise bait. Pichu was probably seeing things. The second Shiki he saw looked alive and real. Blinking a few times, Pichu looked up at the Shiki stuck in the UG. "Uh, Shiki… Do you happen to have a…twin sister?"

"…" Shiki was now clutching Mr. Mew with both arms. She decided to stay silent for real.

"Oooh…" Pichu muttered under his breath, his face looking down the street. "(I…I could've sworn there was a second Shiki right there!)" he thought alarmed, looking to the area where the other Shiki went. "(What is going on around here? I need to solve this before the end of tomorrow!)" The small Smasher looked over his right shoulder at the others as he thought hard about the solution for Shiki's troubles.

"Look, those two he's talking to look kind of tough," Ike said as he eyed the two people, who looked like they were a couple that were into gangs. "Maybe the memes we got have to relate to them…"

"It's such a simplistic method, but we don't have another choice," Soren said. "Nothing bad can come out of this."

"Except for Makoto getting kidney-punched mercilessly," Ness said. "With that in mind, let's choose…

And Makoto was forced to say, "Totally gnarly!"

The punk named Sota gasped. "'Scuse me?" he asked, making Makoto sweat bullets, thinking that he had annoyed the young couple.

"I mean... umm... My...my grandpa!" Makoto breathed out. "It's my grandpa. He's...he's all gnarly!"

Soren looked frustrated. "My, what a stupid excuse," he commented.

"Gnarly?" Sota said, staring intently at Makoto. Makoto took it as a warning sign that he was getting it.

"F-from his arthritis!" Makoto said. "The poor man beats himself up because no one wears these pins. When I see his gnarly hands tremble with guilt, I..." He sniffed sadly. The group of Players rolled their eyes. "I just... Ohh, Grandpa!" Makoto took an unnecessary moment of silence to add more to the drama, seeing that Sota and Nao – his apparent girlfriend – looked a bit confused at the weirdo. "So, um... Would you do me a favor, and wear one of these pins for him?"

"Here comes some old-school beating," Ness said dully. "There's no way this guy bought that stor-"

Much to their surprise, Sota grinned and said, "Hells yeah."

Makoto gasped. "Whoa! Really?"

"What's your name?"

Makoto stuttered for a bit. "It's... Makoto Miki. Friends call me Mick."

"Mick..." Sota nodded. "You're a good man."

Nao giggled. "Yeah! Like, that was totally moving?"

"Somebody shoot me, yo," Beat muttered. No one shot him.

"Handing out pins for your grandpa in the scramble..." Sota actually shed a small tear. "That's aces, dawg."

"Like, I think I'm in love?" Nao said, stifling a small giggle. Soren face-palmed.

Sota shook hands with Makoto, grabbing a pin for himself and Nao. "We'll wear your pins. It'd be an honor," Sota said.

Makoto shook his head in disbelief, but his wide smile made it evident that he was really happy. "Th-thanks!" he said.

"Hang in there, Mick. We'll be rootin' for you."

Nao nodded in agreement. "Hope your granddaddy, like, cheers up?" she said, and then the two were off, wearing the unpopular pins with a lot of pride. Beat stuck out his tongue and pointed at it.

"Who?" Makoto said, forgetting about the fictional grandpa with arthritis. "Oh! M-me too..." He chuckled, confident of himself. His plan was working! He could actually pull it off if he put his mind into it! There was no way he could lose now. "Wow, I'm on fire today! OK! Time to hand these out someplace else!" With his renewed faith, the young businessman walked up northeast to Center St. Entrance, ready to face the next challenge.

"I can't believe it," Ness said. "Yet one more thing added to my list of most unbelievable crap I've ever seen."

"It works all the same," Neku said. "Follow the loser down!"

The group went up north. As Pichu walked close to an emotionless Shiki staring into the distance, the others saw that the way northeast was blocked by a Support Reaper in a red hoodie. This Reaper was a little bit out there once he started a weird quiz time called "Reaper Review". Confused at the development, the others faced a small session of three questions about Shibuya. Solving the review would grant them pass to where Makoto went.

Fox could've been ready to take on the quiz, but he was stopped short once Rhyme pulled him back from behind his jacket. "Fox, I need to talk to you," she said.

"What is it?" Fox asked, giving her a friendly grin.

Rhyme crossed her arms. "I wonder if you'll look at me with that face after telling you this," she began, making him arch an eyebrow, "but your reason for being angry is completely…unfounded."

"…" Fox sighed, knowing full well that Rhyme was one of those who were wise beyond their years. He looked away with a blank look. "Why are you interested in this?" he asked, looking from a distance at Chris's back. "This is between him and me. Don't get into this, Rhyme."

"Sorry, but I have to," Rhyme said, giving him a serious look. He looked down at her. "Otherwise, there won't be a happy ending."

"…Tsk."

"Fox, really," the young blond began, "he lied to you once, so what? There's no need to be so aggressive."

"He lied to me twice already about…something else," Fox said, shaking his head. "I gave him a chance after that one, but I never knew he'd pull this out again. It pisses me off to have reliable people who keep hiding secrets under my nose because they don't trust me... It stinks."

"I don't think I should ask too much about the first time he lied in the past," Rhyme said. "All that matters to me is for you two to become friends again in the present where you need to have a stable teamwork."

"…"

"Are you honestly going to never talk to him in friendly terms again?" the young blond questioned. "You don't seem like the type who wouldn't talk to someone close to you, even if you do have quite a sharp face."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Listen, I don't want you to ge-"

"Don't give me that," Rhyme interjected. "From how I see things, you're slowly starting to become a worse example than Neku himself."

At this, the vulpine forced a glare. He didn't like to be compared to someone worse than he was. "Are you telling me I'm worse than that anti-social jerk?" he asked.

"No, but the way I see things, you're descending into his area while he's getting out of it," Rhyme said before she pointed at Neku. Fox looked over, and he saw the orange-haired teen trying to get Shiki to talk to him.

"Hey, you," Neku said, sounding a bit rude. "Snap outta it."

"…" Shiki averted her eyes from his. "Everything is…useless. It's worthless."

Neku frowned at her. "What's gotten into you?" he asked. "I need you to stay focused. It means that…I need you to be back to your cheerful self. It might cost us the Game." He grunted a bit once she gave him the silent treatment. "This isn't like you."

"This isn't like me, really…" Shiki muttered. "I'm a horrible person because of that…"

"What?" Neku grimaced. "I feared your grip on reality was coming loose." He turned his back on her and looked away. "You better change that attitude. It's…not like I care much, but this is a dire situation for me. If we weren't partners, I probably wouldn't give you as much attention… Ugh," he muttered. "Why is this so hard to do? I knew people drag others down. I don't want her dragging me down…"

"I dragged all of you down…" the emotionless Shiki said, much to Neku's dismay. Pichu overheard her and, once again, looked preoccupied. "I shouldn't live again…"

"…Maybe…maybe I need to give you some air," Neku said, his hair obscuring his eyes. "Yeah, that must be it. I need to give you some space so that…uh…you can reflect on your problems."

"…It's useless, though."

Neku grunted and walked away. "(Damn it! She better get it back together!)" he thought as he reunited with the others, not noticing Rhyme and Fox staring his way. "(It's so annoying…)"

The vulpine and the young blond looked back at each other. Rhyme brightened up. "Neku is defrosting," she said. "But you're freezing. If you freeze, you're not gonna have a nice time."

"Says you," Fox said, crossing his arms. He furrowed his brow in thought. "…Rhyme, why are you so interested in getting into my business?" he asked.

"It's just…" Rhyme fiddled her fingers a bit, "I'm doing my best to come up with my dreams, y'know? So, when I watched all of you getting so stressed over the events from yesterday…it made me think that maybe my dream is to be...a good friend." She chuckled, embarrassed about what she said. "See? How silly of me. That's not very descriptive." She folded her arms behind her back. "While I chase whatever dreams I want to find, I want to be a good friend and help you out while I have time. I dislike wasting time."

Perhaps, if he could change the topic a bit, Rhyme would get off his case. "Why don't you like wasting time?" Fox asked, though he learned from Falco that wasting time was just that: a waste of time.

"I'm a very active girl," Rhyme said. "I don't like to brag, but I'm sort of a prodigy at school. My parents are so proud of me for being a very achieving student. I'm proud of what I've done, and I wish my older brother was kind of like me." She looked a bit depressed. "He…he probably is not lamenting my departure."

"(Oh, sweet. Now I feel like the bad guy,)" Fox thought dismayed. "(I've got to cheer her up now...) Why'd you say that?" he asked.

"My brother is kind of the total opposite of me," Rhyme said, looking up. "He does badly at school, my parents get on his butt a lot, and I feel that he is jealous of me because of who I am. I remember that he's given me a few reprehensive looks whenever my parents looked the other way… But still," she forced a small smile and nodded, "I like him a lot. I really like him for who he is. It's a bit sad he doesn't have the same thoughts for me. He's a bit stupid, though, but that makes him funny."

"…" Fox looked away. "(…This girl is downright mature for her age… She's probably even more mature than I am!)" He gasped mentally and shook his head. "(Hey, hold on there. You can't go thinking that! It's like I'm saying she's winning!)"

Rhyme blinked, forgetting about her depression. "Oh, how silly of me. I got distracted talking you about my past life," she said, giggling a bit. "Let's go back to your issue."

"(Crud.)"

"Wall open!" the Support Reaper said as the wall blocking the way northeast disappeared. Nodding, he walked away, never to be seen again.

"Hey, the wall is open!" Ike called out. "Let's move!"

"Oh!" Rhyme turned around, though she looked up over her shoulder at the vulpine. "You're a bit lucky, Fox. We'll continue this at a later time. We've got something else to do." She ran with the others to the next area.

The vulpine stared her way for a while until he sprinted off, stealing some glances at the worried World Traveler who never directed his face at him. Grunting, Fox focused on the mission at hand.

Fox never noticed that Beat heard their talk from the beginning. The punk clenched his teeth and went to Rhyme's side without much of a word. She looked up at him and smiled, and he instantly grinned, forgetting about their talk for a brief moment to enjoy Rhyme's sweet smile.

Center St. Entrance

"A stomping ground for Shibuya youth. In the 80s, it gave birth to the 'Shibu-Kaji' (Shibuya Casuals) fashion movement."

The small street had a small space for people to walk through, but the towering skyscrapers on both sides of the street weren't enough to stop the light of day to shine down. Up northeast, the way leaded to AMX, though the group had no business to go there unless Makoto had to.

They saw the weirdo businessman about to talk to his new prey: it was a young teenager who looked a little bit too much obsessed with the Tin Pin sport many liked, but not like him. Shooter, the teen's self-proclaimed nickname, was a hardcore guy who would jump in glee to join up with somebody else to talk about the greatness that was Tin Pin. His overall, over-the-top appearance made him look like he came out from an anime. He had everything. He wore a large red bandana, wrapped on his forehead, with its tails running behind his head; a band-aid placed on his left cheek; big, black, fingerless gloves; an orange jacket over a white T-shirt, tight blue pants… He was the epitome of a rabid fanboy.

It freaked Chris out a bit. For a second, he thought he had seen the guy somewhere else before, but he was probably confusing him with other characters from the anime he had seen.

Not that this was anime, he thought.

"Ooh! That kid's sure to take one," Makoto said as he approached Shooter, the latter who was looking the other way. "Hey, there, slugger."

Shooter turned around with a wide grin on his face. "WHOAAA!"

"Hoo boy, this is going to be rich," Ness said in a deadpan manner as they looked at Makoto's startled look.

"Lemme guess, bro," Shooter said. "You want me to make you one of my Slammurai... Right?"

Soren sighed. "This city is just full of weird Beorc," he muttered.

"Uh..." Makoto didn't like where this conversation was going. "I didn't-"

"Don't be shy!" Shooter encouraged, further confusing both Makoto and the Players. "It's cool! SLAM ON!"

Makoto never dropped the startled look on his face. "No. I'm not here to-"

"What's your favorite whammy?"

"Buh-"

"What are you ranked?"

"I...I... I don't know!"

"Sheesh," Ness commented as the Player Pin flashed on Makoto. "This kid is…unbelievable."

"Just looking at him makes me want to slow him down," Chris muttered. "…Violently," he added, muttering to himself more than anyone else. The group went on to read Makoto's mind to give him a hand with Shooter.

"(Who...who is this kid!?)" Makoto thought in shock. Feeling that there was nothing else in his thoughts, Ness knew the right meme to use. He imprinted "Unreal, bro!" into the businessman's mind. With renewed determination, Makoto smiled and said, "Unreal, bro!" to Shooter.

"WHOAAA!" Shooter was thoroughly impressed once he caught a small glimpse of one of the pins Makoto was holding in his other hand.

It was enough shock for Makoto to look startled yet again. "Huh?"

"What's that pin?" Shooter asked, pointing at one of the pins.

Makoto looked confident. So many mood changes for a day, he thought. "Oh, this?" he asked with a pleased grin.

"Yeah! Tell me where you got it!"

Makoto had a speech and everything! It was bound to sell! "Well-"

"What's its Attack?" Shooter interrupted.

Makoto's speech was obliterated into pieces. "Uhh... unreal, bro?"

Fox grimaced. "For god's sake, he's not really describing it usin-"

"Seriously?" Shooter said, impressed. The vulpine grunted loudly. "How about its Defense?"

"Unreal, bro!" Makoto said with more enthusiasm. Things were getting back on track! There was an opening to make his next move, and he didn't want to waste any more time t-

"Whoa! BRO!" Shooter said before stepping back. "You and me gotta battle. I want that pin!"

"Huh?" Makoto and every single Player responded with the same reply.

Shooter took out a bunch of pins from god-knows-where, scaring Makoto. "Ready?" he asked, even if he was already in high gear. "Slaaam...ON!"

There was a bright flash that startled the Players. The flash was so brief that it went away. Makoto stood there, astonished at what had happened. Naturally, Shooter didn't look shocked. He was rejoicing and looking happy. "What in the name of Crimea was that?" Ike asked. "All I saw was this flash and…"

"Woo...hoooooo!" Shooter panted while Makoto stared into space, his left hand stretched out with one of the red pins. "I won, bro! Better practice up. Rely on pins alone...and you'll never be a true Slammurai!" Shooter encouraged, oblivious of Makoto's stunned expression. The hyperactive teen chuckled and took his prize from the businessman's hand. "I'll be taking that pin. YOINK!"

"…" Makoto shook his head, not minding the fact Shooter was kissing the pin with extreme affection that was enough to cause the Players to look away from him, utterly disgusted. "Huh? But... OK..." Makoto smiled and walked north to Tipsy Tose Hall. "It worked!"

Makoto ignored hearing Shooter say, "I'm gonna be the best like no one ever was with this baby!"

"Okay, now I'm extremely perturbed," Soren said as he pressed his brow, following Makoto. The others stared at Shooter rubbing the pin against his cheek and, morbidly disturbed, followed the Branded in a hurry. "This should be the last time we get to see another unsettling person…"

It turned out that Makoto met the tech guy who had repaired the stage back in Day 4. After using the "Come get some hot stuff!" meme several times to instill a reaction, the group was officially horrified of what they saw: the tech guy looked like he was thinking in deep thought with closed eyes, looking the other way before Makoto showed up from behind and kept repeating the same line over and over. With each try, the tech guy, his eyes still closed, slowly but surely approached Makoto without turning around…getting a little bit too close; too close to make one think that the techie was invading Makoto's privacy zone, but the businessman didn't mind. He even broke the sentence apart to emphasize his point, with a stressed look on his face all the while. It just worsened the overall mental picture.

"Come get some hot stuff!"

The techie looked giddy.

"Oh! Hot stuff!"

He chuckled and moved closer.

"Ooh! Hot!"

He moved even closer…

"Yeah, hot stuff!"

He was literally several inches away from touching Makoto.

"Come get some!"

The techie turned around. "...I'll take one."

"UGH…" most of the Players said in disgust.

Scramble Crossing

"Now to witness a phenomenon in the making!" Makoto cheerfully said as he looked up at the big TV. "I bet I'll have to BEAT back all the fans. Let me walk around and observe."

The group was back to the Scramble Crossing, watching on as Makoto walked around to see if people were wearing his pin. Truth to be told, the path to success was never easy. He had only handed three pins to three random people; two of which were not quite right in the head, though Makoto himself could be a potential third. "Oh, come on," Neku said. "Handing out a few pins isn't going to ignite Shibuya. We better go after him."

"This guy is a big…loser," Ness said, feeling pity for Makoto. "He takes everything for granted. And if he doesn't succeed, WE ARE THE ONES GETTING THE BOOT."

"It's true about what we've said before," Ike said nodding. "The universe doesn't like us."

"Just...give it up." The group blinked after hearing Shiki talk. The fashionista had been silent the entire time ever since she spoke to Neku, or barely spoke to him. "Even if we do clear the mission... I'll still... I'll never be..."

Neku grunted loudly and turned to her. The others were ready to keep him from doing something unforgivable. "Hey, what gives?" he asked, but Shiki simply stared at him with an emotionless look in her eyes. Looking a bit embarrassed, Neku looked up and scratched his head. "You've been acting really weird today. It's almost 3. We need to get moving, or we'll fail the mission."

This was his chance to question Shiki with the rest of them paying attention. Pichu stepped forward and looked up at her. "Shiki, why are you so down? We know you're jealous of somebody. You can redeem yourself!"

Shiki was now looking away, feeling horrible beyond words. "...So what?"

"Huh?"

"There's no point. You heard what that Reaper said," Shiki said.

Beat grunted loudly and slammed a step on the street. "Hey, yo! Quit it already!" he said. "We bustin' our heads over you here! You used to be all bunnies and rainbows yesterday before that bastard gots to talk to ya! Are you still bummed?"

"..." Shiki didn't want to think about it. She shook her head and said, "Even if I finish the mission... win the Game... Even if I come back to life... I'll still just be me. What do I do..."

Ike tilted his head. "Shiki, I'm afraid you lost us there," he said. "What are you trying to say? You need to stop being so cryptic."

"We shouldn't bother her too much if she doesn't want to," Soren said, having enough of the young teen's attitude.

Ike knew that Soren was going to insult Shiki with the next sentence that was going to come out of his mouth. The Branded didn't care much about others that weren't part of the mercenaries. "Soren, stop right there," Ike said. "Don't say anything else. Neku needs Shiki to get it together."

"…The rules of the Game," Soren muttered. "Fine, but I don't see how we're going to fix her personal trauma with herself."

Neku grunted and got closer to Shiki, not caring about what the others would say to him for actually caring about her issues. "What were you asking just now?" he asked. "What is so wrong that's making you so…out of character?"

"I thought I'd changed. But I'll never change. I'll just go on hurting," she simply said without turning back to them.

"What?" Pichu said in confusion. "What do you mean you never changed? What…what does that mean?" he asked as he frowned at the puzzling question.

Shiki sighed and turned around, folding her arms behind her back as she looked down at her feet with her eyes. "I was never pretty...or smart..."

Thinking that he had the answer, Chris blushed a bit and said, "W-well, I can attest that you are both of those things," he said. Pichu nodded in agreement, but they were dismayed when Shiki shook her head in denial. "W-wait, that wasn't it? (Maybe she wants more…?)"

"There was nothing special about me at all," Shiki continued. "I hated myself. I wanted to change, to be somebody else…" She stiffened her blank look. "…To be Eri."

"Eri…" Pichu muttered. "…Isn't she your friend? The one you kept mentioning to us a lot?" Shiki nodded. "But I don't understand! I remember the photo of Eri and you. She…well…not to be rude, but you look prettier than she is…" He noticed that Shiki had finally gotten a new look on her face, but it was a negative one. She was grimacing. "I-I didn't mean to insult her, really! Don't look like that, please…"

"…But it didn't work," Shiki said. "I never got to be like her like I thought…"

Neku stared at her, until his eyes slowly drifted away behind her back. The others suddenly looked behind her and gasped in surprise. "I don't-"

"Oh my…goodness!" Rhyme said, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Holy…" Fox trailed off as his eyes widened, "crap!"

Neku backed off. "WHOA!" he exclaimed as Shiki looked deadpan at him. The headphone-wearing teen pointed behind her. "Over there! Is that... you?"

Shiki immediately yelped and turned around in complete and utter shock, though Pichu wished there were a positive reaction. "Ahh!" she shrieked.

"I-I knew it!" Pichu said with his little beady eyes wide. "I didn't see things!"

The group was at a loss of words as they watched an exact duplicate of Shiki giggling and talking to Mina among the crowd of people that crossed the scramble. It was another Shiki that looked exactly like her. Their eyes weren't seeing things. The Shiki they saw was alive and breathing without a care in the world.

"Shiki's got a twin sistah?!" Beat said in shock. "Why didn't she say anything about her?!"

"I-I…" Shiki composed herself, her eyes looking away from her apparent doppelganger.

"What is going on here now?" Rhyme asked until the group overheard the second Shiki talking enthusiastically with Mina.

"The other day," she began with extreme excitement, "I found just the cutest outfit at Ten-Four!"

"Seriously?" Mina asked, knowing full well that this Shiki knew what she was talking about. She wasn't wrong about her critiques towards fashion, so Mina needed to see the outfit. "Hey, why don't we head over there?" she suggested brightly. "You've still got some time, right, Eri?"

There was a strange, sudden reaction after hearing Mina calling the second Shiki with the name Eri. They recalled that Eri was supposedly the girl with glasses in Shiki's photo. "…Eri?" the group of Players repeated, looking back at a dismayed Shiki.

Not wanting to confront reality, Shiki sniffed and almost made a run for it had it not been for Pichu blocking her way. "T-this has got to stop!" he yelled angrily at her. "I…I… We can't handle this anymore! What is happening here?! Don't go running away now!"

"Just who are we talking to right now?" Ness asked, stepping forward. "If that girl over there is…if she's you, then… Well, what should we believe?" He grabbed his head in pain. "Ugh, this is so confusing…"

Soren narrowed his eyes. "That person in the living world… She must be the real Eri," he said, getting looks from everybody else. Shiki bit her lower lip as she stared at him. "And the person we're talking to here is nothing but a phony of her."

The group gasped. "Soren!" Ike scolded. "Think about before speaking!" He crossed his arms and stared at the fashionista. "True, maybe she's not the real Shiki…or Eri…or whatever… But that doesn't mean she's been giving us trouble from the beginning."

Chris looked back and forth between the two Shikis. "If that's truly Eri, then who is Shiki?" he asked.

Shiki's eyes trembled with sadness. She ultimately fell cornered once more. Sighing with a frown, she chuckled silently and stared at the group. "So now you know," she said. "It was futile for me to keep hiding it any longer…"

Neku crossed his arms. "Know what?" he asked.

"…What my entry fee was," Shiki responded, to which the group blinked in surprise.

"Wait, hold on there," Fox said, giving her a tough look. "What are you saying? What was your entry fee exactly?"

"My appearance," Shiki said, looking down at her feet. "I…gave up the way I really look."

"Your appearance?" Neku said in utter disbelief. He looked back to Eri. "Then-"

Shiki nodded mournfully. "This is Eri's body," she pointed out, much to Pichu's overall surprise. "I don't really look like this…"

The Players exchanged bewildered looks with each other before staring back at her. "Oh…my…god…" Ness trailed off, heavily emphasizing each word. "Your entry fee was your appearance?"

"That girl with glasses in the photo…" Rhyme trailed off. "That was…you?"

Shiki nodded once more, feeling that it was about time to explain her story to them. "Yes, that was the old me… When I got to the UG and I saw myself..." she looked back at Eri talking with Mina, sitting down on nearby bench, "I freaked."

"…Yeah," Neku said. "I would, too."

"But it was a happy kind of freaked."

Pichu's ears perked up at this. "You were…happy?" he said. "Why'd you be happy?"

Shiki chuckled at the thought. "Because this is what I always dreamed of - a new me," she explained, forcing a strained smile. "I hated who I was. All I wanted was to like myself… To be cute, and smart, and perfect...like Eri."

Soren realized the truth behind her. "You are jealous of Eri," he said. Grimacing a bit, Shiki slowly nodded. "This is what led you to think yourself as inferior, so you yearn to be like her. Eventually, though, you knew that you wanted to be just like her…and then, from there, you became increasingly jealous…"

"…" Ike shook his head, disapproving of Soren's little speech.

"…Hold on. Something doesn't add up," Fox said, blankly looking at Shiki. "Hanekoma said that our entry fees were the things we value the most. You just said you hate yourself… So then, why would the Reapers even take your appearance away?"

"H-he's right!" Pichu said nodding. "Why was your appearance your entry fee, Shiki?"

Shiki looked doubtful at them. "At first...I didn't get it either," she explained before smiling sadly. "I was so excited to be Eri that I even acted like her- all bubbly and cute..." She frowned and looked depressed, staring at her fake hands. "But it was just an act. Inside, nothing changed. I'm still the same person I've always been." She chuckled, a small tear falling down her left cheek. "Then…I realized. I'll never be Eri. Deep down, I never wanted to be…" The tears were almost coming down full force. "I was just jealous… The Reaper was right… What I value most is ME!"

"S-Shiki…" Pichu sniffed. "Y-you don't have to…you don't have to be so sad…"

"But I have reason for that, Pichu…" Shiki whimpered, looking over at Eri laughing with Mina. "Eri has all the things I don't. Looks, brains, design sense. Lots of friends... I envied her. And now that I'm inside her body, it just hurts even more… It's the proof that I'm horrible…"

Neku obscured his face. "(All this time...she's been as confused as me,)" he thought.

Shiki turned a bit vicious. "The truth is, I'm scared!" she said. "I keep trying to sound brave, saying we need to win the Game, but... I'm scared of getting a second chance!" she pointed out, a few tears falling down to the street. "What if it's like the Reaper said? I don't want to come back to life if it means being jealous of Eri all the time!"

"C-calm down!" Pichu told her. "Get a hold of yourself!"

The fashionista panted a bit until she calmed down. "I…don't want to be that person," she said. "That's why I think that…I shouldn't go back to the way I was if it means hating myself for something I am not…" She clutched her hands over her chest and sniffed. "This eats me every time I think about it… You don't know how it feels…"

"In the end, it's a matter of jealousy," Soren said.

"It sounds so simple, but…" Shiki shook her head. "I never thought I'd end up here in Eri's appearance… I shouldn't have committed suicide if I knew this was going to happen! I should've disappeared from everyone's eyes instead of dying!"

At this, most of the group gasped loudly. "You committed suicide?!" Chris asked.

Shiki sniffed. "Yes… My death wasn't an accident…" she muttered. "I pretended to be ignoring the bus that was coming down the street, walking all alone… I wanted everything to end quickly so I couldn't suffer any longer…" She embraced herself. "Before that happened, I had a horrible argument with Eri over the phone about the fashion design idea I had come up with that I had been working over months to no end… She said that I wasn't meant to be a fashion designer…and that's when I lost it…" She stared at them, trembling. "The person whom I wanted to be deep down…told me the most horrible thing…"

Rhyme looked worried. "I don't want to sound rude, Shiki, but…wasn't it a bit too much to overreact like that?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't touching a nerve.

"…It was everything I had," Shiki said. "At that moment, I didn't care I wasn't like Eri. Being a fashion designer was everything I had that made me happy… It gave me hope to live." She looked back at Eri and Mina. "I worked so hard in the fashion design idea for months… Then, one day, after I told her how frustrating it was for me to come up with something good, she went ahead and told me I should just drop it because I never quite got the design right. That…that made me furious…" She took out Mr. Mew, looking down at him. "There was a storm of emotions in me when she said that. I became crazy; so crazy that it made me think…life wasn't worth it…"

"…" Pichu stifled a small sniffing sound.

"…So…I left home...and…and then I came up with…committing suicide…" She clutched Mr. Mew over her chest, falling into silence as many of them stared at her with perplexed looks. "…And that's how I got into this…"

Fox closed his eyes. "And to think you were so sassy when we first met…"

"…Because back then I was so thrilled to be Eri," Shiki muttered. "I was delusional… I thought I'd be reborn in her body…but that was just pure wishful thinking… I didn't care about anything else other than making friends and winning the Game. I felt like I had a new chance to start anew. I made friends with all of you…but I built my bonds on a nasty lie…" Some of them saw her whimpering sadly. Her hands started pressing Mr. Mew's sides. "In the end…everything I did here was just a big waste of time! This was just a dream before it turned into a living nightmare of my own desires!"

"T-that's not true!" Rhyme said. "You can't be serious, Shiki!"

It was then that the dreadful atmosphere got slightly shattered once Neku stared at her and said, "Well... I like you the way you are."

Shiki and the others stared at him. "Huh?" Shiki could only reply.

Further destroying the mood, Makoto's bewildered voice startled them all. "Noooooo! No one's wearing the pins! Why not!?"

Neku sighed. "Looks like we can't relax yet," he said, staring intently at Shiki. "Listen. We're going to finish this mission. So promise you'll focus on that for now. OK?"

"Ugh…" Beat muttered. "We're still on the clock, yo. I forgot aboudit."

The pseudo-fashionista cleared some tears and nodded, thinking that finishing the current mission was important. She didn't want to win the Game now, but it would be a major disgrace for everyone else who wanted to revive. Shiki wasn't quite done, though. She was dead set on disappearing forever. "…All right," she muttered.

The group focused back on the mission. They saw the Prince appearing to give Makoto some tips about making his pin popular. Even still, despite Makoto got his renewed spirit for the ninth time in a row, Rhyme explained to them that the pins they wore in combat made their brands popular with the people of the real world. It meant that they needed to use the red pins they themselves got out of nowhere in multiple Noise battles.

Sadly, the pin they got turned out to be a total hindrance instead of a good boon. Once equipping the pin, their movement in battle became very slow. They tried to run, but their running feet never took them too far away. Putting up with it, the group eventually made the pin extremely popular in the Scramble Crossing. People now were staring at a surprised Makoto and mumbling things among each other.

A giddy Makoto watched the people starting to get their hands on his pin. "Whoa... I get it. I really get it!" he said. "The trends are mine to command! Now that the word is out, I just need to wait for the ad to run…" He, creepily enough, giggled with glee. "This is my lucky day!"

"Screw you and your damned pin!" Ness said as he hopelessly swatted Makoto's head with his bat, only getting it to pass through his body. "This thing is annoying in battle! I got several crowds on my head thanks to you! Good thing we're never going to see this thing again!" Sighing, Ike pulled the angry Ness back to the group. Once motioning at Shiki, Ness calmed down. She was still gloom about the talk from earlier.

"Well," Neku began, "we did it."

"Did we?" Shiki asked.

Neku nodded. "Hey, we gave it our best shot. Let's just cross our fingers."

Shiki fell silent, recalling the talk they had a moment ago. "Neku...everyone… Umm... I'm sorry," she apologized. "If we fail, and it turns out to be my fault for slowing us down..."

She was taken off-guard after seeing Neku shake his head in disagreement. "No big deal," he said. Suddenly, he looked embarrassed and blushed a bit. "We all, umm..."

"Hmm?"

Neku gulped mentally once the eyes were on him. "We…all have our bad days," he nearly stuttered out.

Shiki's eyes blinked once. "Neku..." She forced a small smile that made everyone else feel fine. "Thanks."

"Yay!" Pichu cheered, his little tail wagging. "You smiled again!" And then, Shiki's smile faded away, much to his dismay. "N-no, you're not supposed t-"

Neku gasped and saw Eri and Mina close to where they were standing. "Hey, it's her," he said. Shiki yelped and turned around as the others looked at the two high school girls.

"So, Eri," began Mina, "How come you haven't designed anything lately?"

Eri suddenly looked gloom, making Shiki confused. She always saw her supposed best friend in high spirits every day, so it was very unlikely of her to look so down. It was her natural trait to be very upbeat, but seeing like this was almost unheard of. "Actually..." Eri trailed off with a concerned look. "I'm thinking about giving it up."

As Shiki and the Players gasped, so did Mina, who knew that Eri was a prodigy at fashion design. "What! Why?" she asked, fully shocked. "You're so talented!"

Shiki couldn't believe her ears. "She's giving it up?" she muttered. "Eri, why...?"

Neku looked at her. "If you want to know, scan her," he suggested.

She looked troubled at the suggestion. "What? I can't do that!" she said. "She's my…my friend. I can't eavesdrop on her thoughts!"

"Even after all you've said," Soren began, "you still consider her your friend?"

"…" Shiki closed her eyes. "I'm just confused about what to think, you know…" While looking at her, Ike frowned at his tactician.

They went back to listening on the two girls. "Eri, why would you give design up?" she asked, to which Shiki stared intently at Eri.

Eri then said, "Well, there was this girl, Shiki-"

Shiki's eyes trembled in fear. "Neku, everyone… I have to go!" But Neku grabbed her wrist to keep her from running away, surprising the group. "L-let me go!"

"You keep running away from your troubles! It's pissing me off!" Neku scolded her. "No more! You're gonna stay put and let everything outta your system!"

"B-but…"

"Just drop it!" Pichu said, walking to her side. "You need to stop running off like that! It's not good for your health…I think."

"I'm..." Shiki trailed off, staring at the Players' faces. She looked down at Pichu. "…I'm sorry," she said before Neku let go of her wrist. "I didn't want to hear Eri talk about me. I was…afraid."

"Why should you be afraid of her?" Ike asked.

"Remember what I said before?" Shiki asked. "She said, and I quote, 'You're not meant to be a designer'. I never had her talent..." She looked very gloom, and everyone could tell she was descending into depression once more. "I guess she finally got fed up and-"

"Oh, would you cut the crap?" demanded a frustrated Neku. "Who ARE you?"

Shiki looked up at him. "Huh?"

Neku blinked. "You're you," he said. "You're not Eri. You'll never be Eri. You'll only ever be you."

"That is a fact," Soren said. "Your pursuit to be just like that friend of yours is useless. The minds of people are unique, and they should never strive to become a total carbon copy of someone else they think is better than they are. It is an insult to life itself to try to change yourself into someone that you will not clearly be no matter how hard you try."

"Soren!" Ike scolded. "Couldn't you put that with nicer words?"

Shiki shook her head. "He's right… I'm a bad person. But she's so much better-"

"Forget her!" Neku interrupted. "You need to live your own life. If she can do it, so can you. All that matters is that you try."

The Players were taken aback to hear the anti-social teen give her a speech that they thought Neku was defrosting from his negative attitude. From the corner of his eyes, Fox noticed Rhyme's smile directed at him. He looked away, feeling a bit flustered.

The seamstress stared long at her partner. "Neku-"

"You're lucky you're jealous," Neku told her. "It gives you something to shoot for. So...shoot."

Shiki couldn't believe she was chuckling after Neku told her that. A happy Pichu climbed to her shoulder. "I kind of don't like how everyone put it," he said, "but you can find something you're good at!"

"Something I'm good at…" Shiki muttered. "I always wanted to be a designer… After what I went through before I died…" She lowered her head. "Is there something I'm really good at?" Pichu gave her a blank look as he waited for her to talk.

The clock on the big screen in front of Q Floor indicated the time. It was 3 PM already. The screen beeped loud enough to get the attention of a few people walking by. Looking up, the Players saw the time. "The commercial's about to air, yo," Beat said.

Meanwhile, Makoto was biting his fingernails. "Sooo nervous..." he muttered. "Will people watch?"

Shiki feared that she had made them lose some valuable time. Looking apprehensive, she looked at them. "Everyone…"

"They've got to watch," Pichu told her. "We worked so hard!"

Sure enough, it wasn't long before they heard the random passerby talking out loud as they looked up at the commercial. The red pin showcased prominently on Q Floor. "Hey! Up there!" someone said.

"That pin. Who designed it? It looks like-"

"Hey, cool graphic."

"I never wear pins. But this one..."

"Where can I buy it?"

Shooter, the unsettling teenager into Tin Pin they met earlier, flashed his red pin to his fellow friend. "Hey, man, look what I got."

"You HAVE one?" his friend asked. "Aw, lucky..."

To Shiki's surprise, Eri and Mina looked up in awe. Eri pointed up at the screen and said, "Oh, I know that pin!"

"Ha ha," Mina laughed. "You would, Eri. Wish I had one..."

The seamstress's eyes looked at Eri for a long while. Forcing a smile, she looked at her group. "Everyone, can I have a minute? I want to go stand by her," she said.

The headphones-wearing teen saw that their timers had vanished. Their mission was a success. "Hey, you're off the clock," Neku said.

"...Thanks!" she said. With Pichu in tow, Shiki went over to stand next to Eri's side, the latter completely unaware of her presence. The others approached the two living girls to hear them out.

"Eri, you shouldn't give up design," Mina said.

Eri sighed, looking gloom. "I told you," she said. "This girl, Shiki… I'm nothing without her."

"…Huh?" Shiki blinked.

"What?" Pichu said. "She said she's nothing without you…"

Mina nodded at Eri. "Yeah, you said that," she said. "What, did you two have a fight?"

The World Ends with You – Lullaby for You (English)

Eri looked down. "A fight? I wish," she said. "Shiki died. In an accident the other day."

"I'm so sorry," Mina said. "It keeps making me feel so bad just hearing what happened to her."

Eri suddenly forced a smile and looked at her. "No one else could ever make my outfits," she said. "Shiki gave them life. Made them real."

"You must have trusted her a lot."

The designer chuckled heartily. "I did!" she said. "She was an amazing person. She cared about people - and always noticed the little things. If I missed something in my design, Shiki always picked up the slack. And her stuffed animals!" she said, recalling Mr. Mew. "I wouldn't know where to begin. She had a sharp eye, skilled hands. Motivation. All the things I don't have."

Mina smiled. "The way you talk about her, she must have been something," she said.

"…" Shiki sniffed, and Pichu tried to wipe her tears away with a hand.

Eri fell silent as she recalled a personal, tragic event. "The day before her accident... I said something I'll always regret."

Mina blinked, confused. "What?" she asked.

"She was upset 'cause she couldn't come up with a good design," she explained. "I wanted to cheer her up... so I told her 'You're not meant to be a designer.'" Recalling Shiki's image in her mind, Eri shed a tear. "I mean, she had such a great future as a seamstress. But I think I really hurt her feelings. I planned to apologize the next day...but I never saw her again…"

"E-Eri…" Shiki whimpered silently.

Eri looked up to the sky. "She's still my best friend. Even now. I want her back, so I can tell her I'm sorry...and so we can be a team again."

Mina sniffed a bit. "T-that's so sweet of you," she said.

"Ugh…" Eri wiped a few tears away. "The only thing I can do now is visit her funeral and…wish her the best of luck wherever she is right now…" Shiki got startled when Eri looked at her direction, but she knew she couldn't see her. It felt a bit too real for Shiki all the same. "Shiki, that day when I told you that… I wish I could've said that in another way that wouldn't make you snap out like that… I'm so sorry, my friend…"

"…Eri…" Shiki called her out, stepping forward while clutching a hand on her chest. "I…I'm so sorry, too!" Pichu nudged his face to her head to try to keep her some company. "It makes me feel so bad to be so jealous of you… I-I never thought you felt that way about me! I always looked up to be just like you, and I never would've thought you looked up to me… I thought I was…a bad friend…nobody would ever try to talk to…"

Eri smiled warmly. "Mina…" she muttered, still seemingly looking at Shiki's direction. "Don't laugh, but I think…I think Shiki heard me."

Mina chuckled. "That'd be so sweet!" she said. "It's like you two were true friends that not even death could take apart!"

"…" Eri turned to her. "Oh, don't put it that way! It feels a bit creepy," she chuckled. "This isn't the time for us to lose, anyway! I want to make something special for her event tomorrow. I don't want to be sitting down on a bench and do nothing. I…I want to make a speech for her and everything."

"Then we better come up with good ideas!" Mina said brightly. "A friend of yours is a friend of mine. Let's not disappoint her! She's probably watching over you as we speak."

Eri briefly grimaced, but she shook her head and nodded. "If she's watching over me...I hope she truly heard me out…" The two girls smiled at each other and walked north together, not minding the fact they were being watched by Shiki.

"All this time…" Shiki trailed off, covering her face with both hands, "all this time I thought nasty things about Eri…"

"Shiki!" Pichu shouted, making her look at him. He smiled and said, "See now? Your jealousy wasn't that bad! Eri felt the same thing about you…well, I think," he said. "I think neither of you was jealous of the others… I think that the two of you needed each other so badly because…because you are a team."

"A…a team…" Shiki muttered. "…Perhaps…perhaps you're right… I did feel lost without Eri, and she was always looking for me when she was stuck in her designs…" She shed more tears and caressed Pichu's left cheek. "And I was thinking both of us were downright jealous… Still…" she looked depressed, "I…I don't care about her looks or anything else she has that I don't have…but I wonder if I'll make a lot of friends…"

"…You did that already!"

Shiki looked at him. "W-what?"

Pichu pointed at the others. "None of us is really mad at you," he said. Shiki saw that many of them were smiling at her direction. "We like you the way you are!"

"I…I can't believe it," Shiki said. "After all I went through, you all like me?"

"It wasn't that bad," Ness said. "Everything was in your head."

Fox sighed. "You nearly violated my personal space," he said before he chuckled, winking once at her. "I can let that one go…this time. Next time, I won't let you near me."

"I truly don't mind either way," Soren said, "so as long as you don't cause us trouble. What happened in the past were mere little distractions."

Ike looked at Soren. "You were struggling there to find the right words, huh."

"…Quiet, you," Soren muttered, closing his eyes annoyed.

"You…you are a nice friend," Chris said, tilting his head. "I can't really deny that to you. You helped us out a great deal."

"And even if you weren't you," Beat began, grinning wide, "you should totally stick with that friendly face, yo!"

Rhyme giggled. "You were being regressive," she said. "You probably were so shy when you were alive. If you could only borrow a bit from Eri's personality…you could start doing lots of things."

"Yeah!" Pichu said, rubbing his cheek against hers. "You're okay the way you are, Shiki! We'll support you till the very end!"

Shiki blinked in surprise and looked at Neku. "Guess you two both need each other," he said.

"Neku... You think I'm OK the way I am?"

Neku, for the first time, flashed a small smile. "Hey, Shibuya's got room for all types. Who else is gonna make stuffed piggies?"

"He's a cat!" Shiki shouted, though without venom. She chuckled and wiped the last set of tears from her face. "Heh heh... Neku...Pichu…everyone… I want to see Eri again," she said nodding. "So we can be a team. I'm…I'm ready for a second chance!"

Pichu cheered and hugged the side of her face. "You're back to your old self!" he said. "Or is it a new self? I don't care! I'm so happy for you!"

Rhyme suddenly went over and hugged Shiki. Chuckling heartily, Chris joined them. Beat sighed and hung his left arm on her shoulders. Soon enough, Ike, a reluctant Soren, Fox, and Ness joined the small group hug. Shiki looked at each one of them and cried. This time, she wasn't crying because she was sad. She was crying because she had true friends who liked her a lot. For now, she relished the moment and leaned her head to Pichu. "Thank you…" she whispered. "Everyone…thank you so much… I'm so happy to have so many friends…"

Neku wasn't ready to do a group hug, but he at least chuckled, something he didn't question to himself. "All right," he said. "Then whatever it takes... Let's win... Let's live. Just one more day!"

"Yeah!" the others said. When they saw the flustered look on Neku's face, they laughed together and broke off from the hug. Neku obscured his face under his hair and pretended to listen to his headphones, turning his back on them.

Meanwhile, Shiki and Pichu, their cheeks against each other, looked at each other as everyone else laughed. "Pichu," she began, "thank you for trying to help me out. It means so much to me…"

"That's because I like you," Pichu said, rubbing his red cheek against her face. "I can't wait for this to end tomorrow! I wanna see your true self!" He giggled and looked embarrassed. "I really like how you look like in that photo… I have a thing for glasses girls…"

"…Pichu…" Shiki grabbed him by the sides and hugged him tightly, his cheek touching the side of her face gently. "Thank you…"

"Tee-hee!" Pichu giggled.

The seamstress looked forward with a serious look. "That Yodai…" she muttered. "He tried to get the best of me… Now it's personal," she said. Pichu looked serious. "He's gotta pay for trying to drag me down like that."

"Yeah!" Pichu said, his cheeks sparkling with electricity. "We need to give him a piece of our minds!" With her state of mind recovered, Shiki looked up to the sky with Pichu before they lost consciousness once more.

From an alley, a satisfied Hanekoma watched their bodies on the street. He grinned as he said, "Those guys are really somethin'."

The next day was the last. After that, their second chance was at hand…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Shiki's Week – The Pudding of Their Doom"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Scramble Crossing-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Shiki, Beat - Rhyme

References:

- You SURELY caught one of them.

Whew! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, especially the second half.

Now the things you need to remember:

1 – The Smashers' memories are being used against them for something big…

2 – Apparently, the Smashers are being used as guinea pigs. Chris failed to remember Lucario, even if he was put in front of him.

3 – Chris is bilingual, and kind of a grammar nazi.

…Well, there weren't that many points.

Sadly, I don't have much to talk about here. However, what I can really say is that the next chapter will draw an end to Shiki's arc. Does that mean the rest of the team will get a happy ending too, though? Only I know. Yes, I'm that evil.

Special Note: I'm now a proud Wii U owner! If anyone wishes to follow my posts on Miiverse, look for "AuraGuyChris" in there.

I encourage all readers to review.

Or else Shooter is becoming the main character of an anime show, and he will never age, thus making you outgrow him in the ensuing years.

...

And then I'll shove a taco down your throat.
*Chapter 203*: Shiki's Week - The Pudding of Their Doom

Hmm, it looks like this chapter was a lot shorter than I imagined. The reason because it is so short is because I omitted a few points of Day 7 that just didn't fit with the narrative, as it would make the chapter very stale.

But be happy! A lot happens here, anyway.

From YiazmatXII: If I'm not mistaken, we've just past the 5 year anniversary of this story. Congrats!

From me: …Ah, hell! I didn't do anything special for the fifth year anniversary. But thinking back, I've never done it that much before. I'm going to start doing special stuff for the story's anniversaries. Hmm, maybe I'll do something after this saga is over…

From NowhereStarr14: Good chapter, very uplifting and heart-warming near the end, I guess I could say. One thing I'll note is that I like how realistic it was, where the group after all the problems they've endured start to get sick of each other and where all the arguments and real troubles really begin. I imagine some serious, "stuff" is gonna' go down in the next chapter.

From me: Well, yes, some serious stuff does happen in this chapter, I guess. And there's still much more stuff to see… Thanks for reviewing! And also, getting a copy through Amazon should be cheap.

From GuyroMaster: Great chapter! I love how you set up for the final confrontation. The most cherished memories are going to try and destroy the Smashers/Shebuya Crew.
By the way. I think I figured out what happened at the smash mansion, in terms of smashers surviving the Subspace Bomb. I remember a scene in the SSE story where Mario, Kirby, Link, Pit, and Yoshi escaped from a Subspace Bomb that detonated right next to them. I'm certain most of the smashers managed to escape, but I could be wrong.
I guess this is a question: Are the Noise that the group(s) battle against on the last day all going to be from the collected memories that Yodai mentioned? That would certainly add a lot of difficulty to the mission.

That's all from me. Can't wait, but will wait, for the next chapter.
GuyroMaster

From me: Unfortunately, none of the Smashers escaped in time. The bomb set off right away when they noticed.

Maybe, maybe not! See for yourself what this chapter has in store. Thanks for reviewing.

From Koopacrazy: Once again great chapter i felt bad for Chris in this chapter although im very excited to see what will happen on the 7th day!
P.S. Congrats on being a wii u owner i'll be sure to follow your posts.
Until next chapter

From me: Soon enough, Fox will amend things with him…though when that'll happen, or if it's going to even happen, won't be told unless the story says so.

Oh, thank you for following my posts! Too bad it's pretty barren right now. Maybe not many readers can afford a Wii U right now… Thanks for reviewing.

From BOB JOHNSON: I'm going to ignore that thing that happened at the end of the chapter to say that I'm rather fond of Generic Reaper #3 and also that I would totally watch an anime about Shooter.

From me: Other than being amusing, that's insulting. I wonder what's wrong with you…

From 4lex2316: Found this story a month ago, and have been reading it almost non-stop since then. And I've only just finished.

This story is amazing, and I still can't get over the fact this story is over 3 Million Words!

You do know it's the longest story in Fanfiction history, don't you?

From me: *Sigh* I know. With such devotion I have for the story, it makes me think, "Hey, you. Why don't you work really hard to pitch this idea to Nintendo to make a popular Saturday Morning Cartoon/Anime?" Sadly, this is pure wishful thinking.

But that's just a crazy dream that'll never be. One can dream, though. Thanks for liking it. :D

From FF and STH: Great chapter, but I do wonder why you add that Shiki committed suicide when originally it was an unknown accident, So why suicide because I can't see her doing that out of jealousy and not being able to be like Eri.

From me: I found it the only "rational" thing for her death to be suicide, because otherwise it'd sound so convenient that she died it an unknown accident after she argued with her. If you ask me, it sounds more fitting that she really did have nasty identity issues that just…erupted when Eri last spoke to her, prompting her to just leave everything behind and give up.

If it's too gritty for you…then I'm sorry. It's a good thing nobody here bashed me for quite a deep thing. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Bob: It was the same day I read this chapter and got bullied. After reading this chapter I felt bit hopeful. But this review is not about me but about the chapter. All I can say about it that it was really... Uplifting. Great chapter, really moved me. Cool Beans. (:

From me: Oh… Bullying. Well, for that kind of thing, it's always a good thing to speak up to an adult who CAN comprehend the situation. No matter what anyone says, just report that. If you can, do it anonymously.

It feels good to know that my chapters can bring people's hopes up. Thanks! :D

From Half-Dragon D: Hello ACC. Long time reader, first time reviewer. Normally I wouldn't review a story in any way but something was just bugging me and I just had to do this.

First the review: Your story is one of the best stories that I have ever read on this site. I like how you write the characters and the many crossovers you have put into this story as well. For the current arc, I am glad to see the characters that were killed back again and the reason for them being killed in the first place. I like the things you have done for the TWEWY arc, especially letting Rhyme live and giving Pichu a good spot in the story with helping Shiki with her problems. It looks like Shiki's week is drawing to a close, and if the arc continues at this rate the whole TWEWY storyline should be done in maybe 8 or so chapters.

Now for what's been bugging me: It really is just something small but I felt the need to get it out in the open anyways. It has to do with Fox, or more specifically his trophy stand. You see, in your profile page you have Fox with these stickers on his trophy stand: Fire (1), Fira (2), 18-Volt - Arm (Attack 4)(1), Fox - Energy (Attack 18)(3). In chapter 165 during the fight with Rayquaza you had Fox also put on the Boots of Prowess (3) and Fayt (2) stickers. This currently adds up to 12 pts on Fox's trophy stand and unless you take into account the chapter before it (which you said at the end of it that "this chapter is not going to be referenced ever again from now on, so, if any of you say something relating to this chapter in other chapters...prepare to get a scold from me.") where you increased the trophy stand size to 12 (and since I'm already writing about things in that chapter, you also evolved the Swordsman job to the Red Mage job), the trophy stand size would still be at 10 and Fox would have too many pts on his stand. By the end of this all I'm really want to know is while the chapter its self is not going to be referenced, are the things that affect the characters themselves (such as the two thing I have mentioned, the trophy stand size and job evolve) still in effect? Like I said at the beginning of this, it really is just something small that was bugging me.

Please do not get angry at me for bringing it up, and if you do get angry I'm sorry for it. While I do not review, I am always keeping an eye on this story. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next chapter.

From me: Oh no, it's okay! When I said that I wasn't going to reference that chapter again, I meant that I wasn't going to mention the collab part much, except for the battle development that happened that time. So yes, Fox's stand is full and it's not overflowing.

Nice to see somebody like you like the story so much. Thank you for the support, and continue enjoying the future chapters. :)

Hmm, I'm not so sure about how this chapter turned out. Part of me thinks that I made Yodai's battle a bit too short, but I'm going to leave that to you to decide. Logic is probably going to be tossed around.

In this chapter, Day 7 happens, and draws a closure for Shiki's focus… For those of you that know what happens in TWEWY next, prepare yourselves for "him" to appear.

I encourage all optimistic people to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Shiki looks disturbingly close like Xion of Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 203: Shiki's Week – The Pudding of Their Doom

Day 7 – Wakeless Dream

-Shibuya-

Scramble Crossing

Kingdom Hearts: 3D – Calling -Kingdom Mix-

The last day of their collective nightmare came once the group of Players woke up in the middle of the Scramble Crossing. As they looked around, they formed a circle and exchanged glances. "This is it… Day 7," Shiki said. "We've worked so hard to come to this day… We can't just lose the final mission."

"I…I really can't believe it…" Ness trailed off, looking happy. "After we're over with this, we can go back to our old lives…"

"…" Shiki looked down at her feet. "Back to our old lives…"

Pichu jumped to her shoulder. "Do you have doubts, Shiki?" he asked.

"No, it's just weird," she said, smiling a bit. "If this Game didn't exist, we all would've ended up somewhere else with no hope of ever going back to live life." She looked blankly at them. "But something's bothering me about the Reapers' Game… Why does it even exist in the first place?"

"That's something that's been bothering me a lot," Rhyme said. "I see it as some kind of sadistic way for these Reapers to toy around with the dead. But is it really like that?" she wondered aloud. "So mysterious…"

"Who cares as long as we're guaranteed a second chance?" Ike asked. "If we get the chance to question them, let's take it, but I think it'd be a bad idea to confront them." He sighed. "They do have our only means to revive."

"Agreed," Soren said. "Sadistic or not, we must make them give our lives back."

Fox grunted. "And we gotta do this fast," he said. "I'm worried sick about the others back home. That Subspace Bomb that was dropped there …"

"Yeah…" Ike muttered, looking sharp. "What if the time we spent here was also spent up over there? We need to finish this."

"Yeah, yo!" Beat exclaimed, shaking a fist. "We gotta do this!"

Their phones rang, containing the last mission of the long week.

The Game Master awaits you on the freeway. Defeat him. You have 600 minutes.

Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers

They all flinched in pain as their timers reappeared on their palms. "I'm getting so sick of this annoying timer…" Chris muttered, waving his hand.

"Wait, it says here that we need to defeat the Game Master," Neku said. "The Game Master was that huge guy with the goat emblem over his crotch, right?"

"Ram," Soren corrected.

"Whatever."

"Yodai," Shiki said, stiffening her look. "He tried to make me feel so bad about my…about my insecurity for not being exactly like Eri." She nodded to herself and looked at everyone staring back at her. "I've got to give him what he deserves for doing that to me."

Pichu nodded. "He needs to pay!" he said, and everyone else nodded. "I hope we all get to fight him at the same time. Isn't he supposed to be crazy strong?"

"Whatever happens, we're in this together till the very end," Ike reassured. "Let's all do our best against Yodai. So, where's the freeway again?"

Beat pointed west. "It's beyond Hachiko, dudes," he said. "Let's not waste more time! Our lives are just arounda corner!" They all agreed and broke into a group sprint towards the Statue of Hachiko.

As they ran west, Rhyme went to approach Fox's side. "This is our last chance," she said, smiling up at him. Fox groaned mentally. "If you two don't make up before we go to fight Yodai, it might put a stop to our plans to revive."

Fox grunted annoyed. "I believe we're fine the way we are right now," he said, looking over at Chris staring forward as he ran with the others.

"That's what you think, Fox," Rhyme said. "I've seen our Noise fights and, from the looks of them, I saw how the two of you weren't being so supportive of each other… The two of you were acting by yourselves instead of together. It was a disaster, if you ask me."

The vulpine frowned. "That was bad luck," he said.

"Then you have some pretty bad luck," she said. "Fox, stop acting childish." She got her attention once he directed a sideways glare down at her. "You need to lose yourself up a bit and make amends with Chris."

"We're going to win this whether we end up being friends again or not," the vulpine said. "So no, we don't need to reconcile."

"Okay, so what's next after that?"

Fox blinked. "What?"

"If you two don't reconcile and end up reviving, what's next?" Rhyme asked. "Are you both going to go your own separate ways?"

"I…I guess…"

"I can't have any of that," the young blond said as they neared Hachiko. "You two were such good friends before Chris was forced to confess about what happened to him before he died… You two make such a good team; I could possibly confuse you as brothers, actually!"

"…B-brothers," Fox stuttered at the word. He gasped when Rhyme took a hold of his hand.

"Don't let your ideals get the better of you," Rhyme said. "Friends are nice to have around. Getting fed up over one small thing… It's not good. You saw how Neku and Shiki made up. Why can't you?"

Fox looked away, struggling to sort out his thoughts.

"It's a wonderful world," she said with a giggle. "It's people like us that makes it wonderful when there are no barriers separating us. Don't put those barriers yourself. Shatter them apart and cross to the other side."

"…" Fox looked down at her. "You really are too smart for my tastes."

"I get that a lot."

Statue of Hachiko

Just as they were about to confront a Support Reaper that was blocking the way to the station, Neku stopped in his tracks and looked over to the establishment next to the red-hooded man. Blinking, he saw the burger joint inside. "…This could be our last meeting together," he muttered under his breath. "(What if we can't defeat Steroids? What if we mess up badly? … We've got a lot of time before facing him off…)"

The orange-haired teen clapped his hands once to get everyone's attention. They stopped running and looked at his direction. "What is it, Neku?" Shiki asked.

"I… Uh…" Oh crap, this was harder than I thought, he thought to himself. He didn't know what was making him make a small speech. He wasn't used to talking to people, but Neku had been pulled in to trust the bunch of weirdos standing in front of him. "I was wondering if…we could take a break at the local burger joint… I'll pay for the food."

They all looked at the burger joint to their right. "Hmm, I could go for a burger…" Ness muttered.

Shiki realized something crucial and gasped to herself. "Neku, am I hearing right?" she asked. "Are you…actually wanting to hang out with us?"

"…" Neku obscured his eyes from theirs. "I think you could put it that way."

"Did character development finally hit you?" she asked amused.

Neku looked flustered under the strands of orange hair. "…Maybe," he said, moving his face up. "Looking back to what Hanekoma told me, I saw how important it was to…how important it was to extend my horizons to reach other people out." Neku wanted to pull out a knife and slit his throat, but it wasn't a good option now. "I remember that in my past life, I used to be alone in the world because I didn't like people. I was tired of them."

Rhyme blinked. "Did you recover your forgotten memories?" she asked.

"No," Neku said, looking blank. "The moment I died… That's still a blank. I do remember my personality and my life before I got pulled into this weird challenge." He looked back at the joint. "Now, though, being here not only helped Shiki to realize how good life was… I…kind of realized that…" he looked at the others, "…maybe making friends isn't that bad."

The group fell silent for a moment to digest what Neku had said until Pichu said, "Y-you called Shiki by her name!"

"Huh?" Neku blinked, seeing Shiki doing the same before she smiled, truly grateful of what she heard.

"You did!" Shiki said, taking a step forward. "Neku, you called me by my name instead of an insulting nickname!"

"I… Oh… Yes…" Neku actually smiled a little, making Ness think that a puppy had died somewhere in the world. "It was a small slip up on my part."

"No, no, no," Shiki said, chuckling. "You finally are thinking of me as a friend."

"What?" Neku asked rhetorically, looking peeved. "I-it was a small slip up! I never said I-"

"Yo, Phones!" Beat grinned and said, "You're invitin' us fora meal! That says a lot!"

Still peeved, Neku said, "Daisu-" making Beat scream his lungs out. Ike kidney-punched him to shut him up, the mercenary being the nearest person standing close to the punk. Everyone else ignored the event. "Look, I'm seriously thinking about taking my offer back," Neku said.

"Then we better take advantage of it and fast!" said a pleased Chris. "I don't feel hungry, but skipping these days so casually without our consent is making me crave for food."

"…" Neku closed his eyes as everyone entered the burger joint. Soren was not going to ask how odd the interior of another building looked like. "Just because you're all thinking I'm being a bit too friendly, I'm gonna guess what you want."

The team suffered the pain that was Neku buying a lot of random food that they didn't like for a number of reasons.

Pichu stared at the large hamburger in front of him. "T-that's too big for my little stomach," he said.

"Do I seriously look like I'm into veggies? Is it because I look like an animal to you?" Fox complained, staring down at his salad.

"Ugh, barf!" Beat said, holding…a vanilla ice cream.

"And you call yourself a punk? It's ice cream! Everybody likes ice cream!" Neku complained, holding a hamburger. "…Even me, but not that much!"

"Yeah, but this is for little kiddies! I'm a grown man! Screw candy!"

"I have several reasons that don't help your case, you big dummy," Rhyme giggled. She looked at her Double Burger. "…That's… This is too much for me to handle…"

Chris stared at his salad with a depressed look. "I KIND OF look like it, but I'm not a vegetarian," he muttered.

"I'm not drinking this weird beverage," Soren said, pushing his cola aside. The French fries smelled nice, but he didn't want to eat a weird hybrid of potatoes.

The corn chowder in front of Ike didn't give him a good impression. He wasn't into eating corn much. He liked spicy and meaty food. "Wasn't there…uh…anything else?" he asked.

Shiki was not particular fond of the Double Burger. She pushed it aside to Beat. "You finish it…" she said.

Even though Ness liked ice cream, the vanilla and chocolate swirl made him feel undermined compared to everyone else's food. "I said I wanted a burger! How much can you fail?" he asked Neku, only getting an annoyed grunt as a reply

In the end, Fox swapped his salad for Soren's cola and French fries, Beat happily took Shiki's Double Burger for her ice cream, Pichu swapped his hamburger for Ness's Soft Serve Swirl, and Rhyme and Chris swapped their food.

Which left Ike stuck with the corn chowder. "…" He stared at everyone already digging into their food. They stopped eating to stare at him. "…I'm a meat person."

"…Fine," muttered a sighing Neku as he went to order Ike a burger.

Maybe it was because he had bought a lot, but the young teenager girl across the counter was fidgeting whenever Neku came to her. She whispered to him to come back during her break, but Neku declined the offer and never found out he got a girl with a crush on him. Luckily, no one else knew about this.

Station Underpass

The group of Players had a few setbacks as they reached the area they had appeared back in Day 2. The lonely station underpass looked deserted, and Higashizawa was waiting for them on the east side. It felt like a dream to them that their lives were around the corner. They needed to work together to fight against the Game Master, and then everything would be over.

"Game Master's just ahead..." Neku trailed off.

"Finally, we end this right," Ike said. "One last hurdle before we go back to our lives."

"Such insanity has to end soon," Soren noted. "I cannot wait to be alive again."

Shiki nodded, clutching Pichu on her arms. "Finally...the end is in sight," she said, smiling at the others. "It's been crazy, huh? Our time in the UG."

"This is perhaps the craziest time I've ever had before," Ness said. "My fight against evil toasters doesn't compare to this."

Beat eyed him. "Evil toasters?"

"Don't ask me more about that."

"…K."

Shiki chuckled as Pichu looked up at her. "But I learned something about myself - how lucky I was," she said. "I took each day for granted. Woke up, went to school, talked to Eri. Came home, ate, watched TV. Then conked right out. It was so... NORMAL, I never thought of it as living."

"Our side of our lives is radically different," Fox said. "Each day, we're fighting for our lives and other people outside our homes. Makes me jealous how you guys have it that easy."

"Yo, I'd love to fight for my life each day to make it interesting," Beat said, looking quite pumped up. "Y'know, if I was alive on dah first place."

"Trust me," Chris said, sighing at the painful memories where he got himself hurt. "Be careful what you wish for, they say, because you won't know how bad it can get once you get it…"

"You really are special…" Shiki trailed off.

Pichu giggled. "But we all are special in some way or another," he said. "I really admire you for who you are."

The seamstress giggled next. "But this week woke me up, made me feel more alive...than I ever did when I really was," she said. "I didn't know what I had lost until I realized how important it was for me. To live every day, working hard to achieve your dream… It's precious, and that's why I learned a lot."

Neku nodded. "The best is still ahead," he said. "Once we win, and come back to life."

"Yeah!" Shiki agreed, looking at her partner. "Neku...Pichu…everyone… Thanks for these last seven days." She chuckled at Neku. "You're pretty good at this partner thing. You loosened up, you know! I didn't think you'd get to be this friendly."

Neku gasped once everyone stared his way. "Pfft..." he muttered. "Save it for when we win, OK?"

"Someone's getting flustered," Ike said, hiding a sly smile under his hand.

"Am not!" Neku shot back, causing everyone else to laugh for a bit. Soren sighed, still wondering why the group wasn't moving to fight Yodai and finish the dreadful competition. Neku turned to the right to see the area where Yodai was waiting for them. "...Ready for the big boss?"

"You know it," Shiki said. "Hey, if we make it through this...let's meet up in the RG. You, me, Pichu, and everyone else."

"Yeah!" Rhyme said. "That's a promise there."

Pichu looked happy. "I like that idea!" he said. He didn't notice that his team looked unsure about the proposition. "I want to see the real you so bad!"

"But you might not recognize me, so..." Shiki trailed off until she got an idea. She took out Mr. Mew with a free hand. "I know! I'll bring Mr. Mew with me. We can be a team again!"

Neku looked at the pig/cat doll. "I'll...think it over," he said.

Shiki chuckled, waiting for the bountiful time as she turned to the right with the rest of the team. "OK. Let's finish this!" she said before they ran deeper into the underpass.

The group reached a dark area where light wasn't passing through the gaps. Inside the darkness, they saw Yodai's yellow eyes shining. The imposing Reaper walked out, seeing them all assuming fighting stances. "You're late," he said. "A shame I had to set the table before cooking the main dish."

"We already ate, anyway," Ness said. "And besides, that food was surely not going to kill us. Or poison us."

Shiki grunted and pointed at him. "We're not on the menu. You are!"

Higashizawa chuckled in amusement, seeing the little girl he had tortured in Day 5. "Ah, hello there, young lady," he greeted. "I've been waiting for this day… What the…" He noticed something in Shiki's heart. Yodai was able to tell how troubled his opponents were by reading their hearts. When he saw there was no negativity in Shiki's heart, he became surprised. "What's this? The jealousy in your heart - my secret spice! It's...gone," he lamented.

Soren pinched his brow. "You do take this food analogy idea too far," he said.

Shiki grinned confidently at Yodai. "Lost your appetite?" she asked.

"But...you were green with envy!" Yodai said in astonishment. "Begrudging to a light golden brown! So deliciously jealous..."

"That's right. I was jealous," Shiki said, looking up serious at the Reaper. "That's how lucky I am! It takes an amazing friend to make you jealous. So you can just get ready to lose!"

"You tell him!" Neku encouraged.

Shiki nodded. "I swear I'm getting my life back!" she said as everyone assumed their positions, backing her up. "Eri's waiting in the RG, and you...are NOT gonna get in my way!"

Higashizawa grunted, displeased after hearing her rousing speech. He stared at the other Players glaring up at him. "You've gone stale, young lady," he said before smacking his gigantic fists together. "But no matter. A true chef can whip up a toothsome meal even from the basest of ingredients! Mr. Kitaniji has given me a recipe...and I intend to cook it."

"Hope you don't mind if we give you some rotten ingredients for you to work with!" Beat said, flexing his fingers. "You're gonna like the taste!"

"I-It's about time we whip you up good!" Chris said, trying to look brave.

Soren closed his eyes, keeping a firm hand on his wind tome. "Please, if anybody makes another food analogy one more time…" he trailed off.

"…You are the last Players of this week," Yodai pointed out. "It'd be such a waste for your spices to go unused. This is why I must prepare the dish hot and ready…" Yodai slammed a hand on the hard concrete, making a deep crack beneath it. "Now...prepare to be spicy tuna rolled!"

"I'm not a stinkin' spicy tuna roll! Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Neku said annoyed. His complaint went largely ignored.

The Players gasped and backed away as they saw Yodai smacking his fists together. Something odd was happening to his body as he started to grow in size to even bigger height. His clothes slowly ripped apart as purple fur grew all over his skin. His upper body grew wider to the sides as his chest became rather slim yet hard under the fur. As the last pieces of clothing were ripped apart by his growing body, he stretched out his head as it went a transformation from human to a ram with large brown horns, retaining his long messy hair turned gray. His hugs hands turned into massive claws that had the Noise marks covering them, said Noise marks being purple. His legs turned into thick ram legs with the marks on the bottom. On the backside of his huge body, demonic Noise wings not meant for flying grew out.

"…I didn't know they could do that…" Ike muttered, looking shocked at the development.

The Players stared up at the monstrosity before them. "H-he's gotten even bigger!" Ness said, backing off.

"You little rats need to evacuate my kitchen at once!" Yodai said, grinning wide as his huge nostrils breathed thick steam out. "But you can't do that anymore. You are needed to be in my pot of doom!"

Despite being underwhelmed at the large monster, Neku grunted and stepped forward. "Bring it on, Steroids!" he called out. "We've seen weirder shit during the whole week. You're just begging us to beat you!"

"Brave words coming from a spicy tuna roll," Yodai said, chuckling darkly. They felt the dimension splitting apart…

Kingdom Hearts: 3D – Twister –Kingdom Mix-

All of the Players were dragged into the same fight. As some darkness filled the area, they could all see Yodai's gigantic ram form looming over them. On the upper plane, Shiki, Pichu, Beat, Chris, and Soren were on top of a high platform while facing Yodai's upper body. On the lower plane, Neku, Ness, Rhyme, Fox, and Ike were on the street, facing Yodai's entire form. For some unexplained reason, it was raining in the darkness of the day. A few could see light shining down on the desolate area of the freeway, though Yodai's eyes were shining brightly. "WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN," he boomed.

"Then don't mind us trying to destroy you and your kitchen," Ike said, unsheathing Ragnell. "Prepare yourself."

"This is the last leg before we get to go back to our lives," Soren said, taking out his Elwind tome. "I won't let this monster finish us. It'll be very demeaning to be stopped by such a ridiculous guy who is into food puns."

"W-we have to live!" Chris said, changing to his Black Mage job. "We need to go back to the mansion and…and to our lives as well! My parents need to see me once more!"

"Just a little more…" Rhyme said, clutching her hands over her chest as she looked up serious at Yodai. "Our dreams, they're calling out to us! I want to find my dream!"

"Goin' back no matter what, yo," Beat said, twisting his neck and dropping his skateboard on the floor. "Not lettin' this big hairy punk beat us!"

Fox cracked his fists. "I still got a lot to do with my own life, too," he said, glaring up at the ram monster. "I didn't come all this way for some ram guy to trample my goals!"

Ness pointed his bat at the Noise. "You, the guy with the hairy body!" he called out. "I want to see your face once I get to slam your head off before I revive!"

Neku looked up, his right hand glowing with a new pin he had been using for Noise fights. "I learned so much during my stay here in the Reapers' Game," he said. "Now, I value…a few things I never cared for… I want to learn everything I have yet to learn for myself. Living life now has a new meaning to me."

Shiki took out Mr. Mew and placed him on the floor. The doll became alive and stood up, looking proud. "My jealousy is a thing of the past," she said. "I…I want to go back with Eri! I truly care for her now more than I did before! She's my best friend who learned so much from me, and I never noticed how valuable I was to her… We're a team…" She looked at the others. "And all of us here are a big team, too. We're like a family…"

Pichu's cheeks sparked with electricity as he stared at Yodai's ram head. "We're a family!" he said. "And just like a family, we stick together through the worst of times!" He gulped and said, "B-bring it on, you big animal!"

"Brave words coming from succulent spices!" Yodai remarked as three Pikanders suddenly whizzed by, appearing on top of his back and hissing down at their prey. The group gasped at the sight of the electric rats. "I won't let you be raw all the time. Let us commence!" as he said that, the three Pikanders hissed louder and jumped down on both separated teams.

"T-those Noise do look like Pikachu!" Chris gasped.

"We gotta split up our forces and deal with both the Noise and Yodai!" Neku said, stepping out of the way to avoid a Skull Bash. He grunted and looked up at the ram Noise. "You ready for this?"

"As a chef, I am always ready to prepare the main meal of the day," Yodai said, pulling his right claw back. "Let me pound your little bodies!"

The Players in the lower plane were at a disadvantage. Yodai easily towered over the entire battlefield. With a quick swipe of his giant claw, the hulking Reaper pushed all four Players aside, dealing quite a lot of damage. The Pikanders ducked down to avoid the blow, almost out of pure instinct. "We got careless…" Rhyme said as she got back up on her feet.

"We've got watch out for those swiping blows of his," Fox said, wiping a small trace of drool from his snout. "All the while, we need to get rid of those freaky Pikachu monsters… Let me take those on."

"That makes two of us," Ness said.

"Make that three," Rhyme said. "I'll provide support to you, guys."

Neku nodded and looked at Yodai, breathing steam out of his nostrils. "Hey, sword guy," he told Ike without turning to him.

Ike looked annoyed. "You could at least call me by my name," he said. "I mean, your started calling Shiki by h-"

"Stop talking and just lend me your help against ram crotch!" Neku said, taking a head start by running below Yodai's imposing body. As he did so, the light puck covered his body thanks to Shiki landing a harsh blow with Mr. Mew on Yodai's chin. Clutching a pin with the image of a stalagmite made of ice (the Ice Risers pin), Neku smacked the air upwards with his palm, raising a very stylish-looking ice spear from the ground, colliding against Yodai's chest. It was followed up by two extra spears being released as a wave on his waist.

"UGH!" Yodai grunted in pain, the attack being doubled up due to the light puck. "I'll pound you!" he told Neku. Raising a massive fist, the Reaper crashed his fist down on the teen. Ike suddenly stepped in the way and activated Counter. In quick retaliation, the mercenary smacked the fist back, inflicting some damage and starting his light puck chain. "Now I see why the lot of you managed to overcome the frying pan that was the other six days…"

"Exactly!" Shiki said from the upper plane as she and Pichu fought against Yodai while Soren, Beat, and Chris took care of the Pikanders plaguing their side. "We worked so hard to reach this day. We can't lose to you!"

"I don't get why you and your people need to test us out!" Pichu said, firing a Thunder Jolt. "Why do you even exist? Why…why does this game exist at all?"

"That is not for you to know," Yodai said, raising a massive fist over Shiki's and Pichu's heads. "It is part of our secret recipe for Shibuya's humanity."

"Why focus on Shibuya of all places?" Shiki questioned as Mr. Mew delivered a harsh, cutting uppercut on Yodai's chin. "It's a harmless city full of people who want to enjoy life to their fullest!"

"Truly, now?" Yodai asked, bringing his curled fist down on the two. Both Shiki and Pichu barely dodged the blow. "Shibuya is corrupted with a nasty, unneeded ingredient. This soup won't just do for the main course."

Soren took his time to turn around and question the big ram Noise as Beat and Chris fought the Pikanders. "And what is this nasty ingredient you speak of?" he asked. "Surely, this must be a pretty serious thing. I can't imagine a petty reason for doing this grandiose event."

"It is a serious thing, indeed," Yodai said, stopping his attacks on the upper plane while his other counterpart in the lower plane fought Neku and Ike. "That is why the Reapers' Game exists in the first place: to correct the wrongs of Shibuya's humanity!"

"Did you listen to me?" Soren asked, narrowing his eyes. "Stop avoiding my question. What is the reason your people are opposed to this weird city's affairs?"

"Did YOU listen to me?" Yodai reiterated. "That is part of the secret recipe. We can't just go on babbling it out. That will ruin the surprise… But now, it is time for a taste test." He opened his mouth wide, creating a dark void in front of his face.

Shiki and Pichu withheld their attacks; not wanting to know what would happen if they touched the weird void. Back on the lower plane, Neku's icicle spears reached out into the void, getting sucked into it. He grunted because he and Shiki had reached a triple potency light puck, and it got lost once he delivered the powerful attack. Ike stepped back to avoid risking getting sucked into the vortex until it vanished once Yodai closed his big mouth. "That void just absorbed my attack!" Neku said.

"And how tasty it was!" Yodai rejoiced, licking his big lips with a drool-soaked tongue. "Ahh, it felt good…"

"…" Ike narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you healed yourself after absorbing his blow…"

"Fine, I won't tell you," Yodai said, raising a massive fist that Ike dodged once it tried crushing him. "I have many secret recipes that I won't let anybody read them!"

"…Yeah, that pretty much answers my suspicion," Ike said, seeing Yodai grunt. "Everyone! If he opens his mouth again, don't attack! It heals him!"

Through gritted teeth, Yodai asked, "H-how can you be so sure about such an effect being real?"

Ike looked bored at him. "We've fought a dozen evil bad guys with extraordinary powers," he said. "After the fortieth time, you've seen everything."

"You're too savvy. I can see why your memories are so…valuable," Yodai said, bringing his fists together to create a big sphere of sparks. "I'll char your bones black!"

Both raw Noise did the same move. As the rest of the Players were busy dealing with the Pikanders, a rain of sparks bounced out from the sphere. The attack was so chaotic that everyone was struck by the bouncing spheres of electricity, disrupting their tempo with the battle. The new attack caused a lot of interruptions that just weakened everybody due to the Pikanders shocking them all with a triple-powered Thunderbolt.

As the relentless attacks stopped, Shiki dropped to her knees as they heard Yodai laughing loudly to the rainy sky. "We won't…make it…" she trailed off.

Infuriated to hear that they were just about to be erased, the vulpine stood up from the floor. "Screw…that!" Fox yelled, and the five Players in the lower plane all took out a Cure Drink. The overall vitality for all Players was restored by a half. "No way is this our last hurrah…"

"Stay put for a little," Yodai said as the Pikanders whizzed around the battlefield. "You cannot hope to have a good meal!"

Soren sharply turned around and conjured extremely strong winds that delivered great damage on Yodai's ram face, performing a critical hit with his Elwind tome. The ram Noise grunted loudly in pain and briefly rubbed his head in pain. "Not done yet," Soren said, doing a small spin into place as he delivered another blow, slicing Yodai's covered face with four directional winds. "There."

"Little pest…!" Yodai proclaimed, putting his big claw away. "I thought you'd shudder at my power!"

"With that food analogy of yours?" Soren forced a small grin. "No thanks. I can't just shudder at your food-based analogy."

"Soren, don't temp him!" Ike said as he received Soren's light puck. He saw a Pikander being mercilessly slammed right on Yodai's right arm. The little monster hissed loudly as it fell down to the floor, disappearing in static.

Looking over his shoulder, Ike saw Ness panting as he held his bat firmly on one side. "That takes care…of one of them," he muttered.

Neku ran up to Yodai and clutched a charged Fusion pin, calling out to its psych. This prompted Shiki to act together with Mr. Mew once the planes merged together. "We can't lose, Mr. Mew!"

"Sure, sure, leave me out from your little cheer," Neku said annoyed.

The background filled with lights as Neku and Mr. Mew warped around all over Yodai's body to deliver multiple slashing blows. Once the planes separated, Yodai grunted in pain. "Little lady… You and that pig of yours need to be eaten raw…"

Shiki looked a bit pissed. "Oh, NOW you think Mr. Mew is a pig?!" she asked indignantly. "First it was Neku, and then it was Ike, and now it's you? Good thing we're enemies because that gives me a good reason to smack you good!" Neku and Ike exchanged glances, shrugging at her statement.

"Shiki, please," Rhyme said, shooting energy blasts on an unsuspecting Pikander. "Don't complain about Mr. Mew in the middle of the fight."

As Shiki huffed, Fox felt ready to pull out his Fusion with Chris as he stood close to a pillar supporting the train tracks above. Grinning, the vulpine clutched the Fusion pin on the backside to call on Lucario…and nothing happened after a little while of standing there. Now he looked like he was just striking a cool pose that looked unneeded in the heat of battle. "…What?" Fox asked, looking down at the Fusion pin.

There was an unsettling black cross slapped on top of the whiteness of the pin. Fox never saw a cross before, and the fact there was one greatly confused him.

"What in the hell?" Fox asked, glaring down at the pin. "Why is this cross on this freakin' pin? Why doesn't this work?"

From behind the pillar, a figure peeked out his head to him, looking serious. "That's because you and your partner are not sharing a mutual trust with one another!" said Hanekoma.

Fox gasped and looked behind him, finding the barista leaning against the pillar. The first question that came into Fox's mind was, "How in the heck did you even…"

"Enuffa that," Hanekoma said. "What matters here is your trust to your partner…and when I say this, I mean there's no trust at all!" He crossed his arms, as if looking like he was scolding Fox. Truth was that he was really scolding him. "Fox man…what have you done?"

The vulpine ignored the brawl taking place behind his back. Fortunately, the two Pikanders and Yodai weren't paying attention to their conversation.

"This life decision you just took is yet another one that's gonna be added to your long record of 'most unbelievable crap I've done in the past that I regret ever doing because I'm such an idiot'!"

Fox's jaw fell down. "W-what did you just say?" he asked.

It was clear that Hanekoma didn't care much about Fox's questions that didn't relate to his trust issues. "Do you want to commit another mistake?" Hanekoma asked, hiding fully behind the pillar. "Don't destroy another strong bond because of your stinkin' values! Appreciate the things in life that you have! Like they say, you won't know what you treasure until you lose it! The Fusion pin is not about power. It's about the unbreakable bond between you and your partner!"

The leader of Star Fox kept staring into space until he scampered behind the pillar to question Hanekoma further. To his shock, the barista was gone from sight. "How the…" Fox frowned, looking down at the crossed-pin on his right palm. "…He said this was something I'd regret…" He looked up. "But I need to use this to stand a chance against that ram guy on the back or else we get erased! He better…give his trust to me."

An annoyed Hanekoma stuck his head out from another pillar close to Fox. "Geez!" he said, getting the vulpine's attention. "You REALLY are completely missing the point! What I'm saying is, MAKE UP WITH CHRIS, NOT HIM, you damn furred fool!" Once he pulled his head back, three seconds passed and then he stuck it out to say, "And stop tryin' to catch me as if I were a golden rabbit. You're busy fighting for your life," before completely disappearing from the scene behind the pillar.

The vulpine stared at the barista's way for a little while until he looked down at his feet. "(How did he know that I've done some bad decisions in the past? Just…who is he?)" Fox thought, puzzled at Hanekoma's knowledge of his own past. "(…Is he probably a Reaper, too?)"

His fur shuddered in pain, making him grit his fangs hard. Feeling dizzy and weak, Fox focused back on the battle, seeing that Chris was slammed down on the floor by one of Yodai's fists. "G-god dam-" Fox complained. "C-Chris, hang in there!"

Yodai removed his massive fist from the teen, letting him gasp out for breath. His partner used a Cure Drink to heal their combined health. Feeling much better, Chris stood up and dusted off his clothes, only for a Pikander to latch onto his back and shock him. "AAAAAHHH!" Chris screamed, and so did Fox as the pain was shared.

"Punk!" Beat said as he came from nowhere and pushed the Pikander down to the floor. The punk's skateboard harshly stomped on the electric monster, scrubbing the floor with its face. As the Pikander hissed loudly in pain, Beat moved back and then slammed his skateboard down on its furred back. The Pikander stretched out every limb in its body before disappearing into static. "Nice try!"

The teen shook his head. "T-thank you…" he muttered.

"Only one more of those rats to beat!" Beat said, quickly boarding his skateboard and aiding Soren and Pichu with the last Pikander.

"Guard yourself!" Shiki suddenly shouted at Chris's direction. When Chris saw a looming shadow, he yelled and lunged himself to the side, avoiding a crushing fist from Yodai.

"You will pay for killing my precious kitchen pets!" Yodai proclaimed as he broke into a slamming fist barrage. The ten Players scrambled around as they tried to avoid his massive fists.

Ike clutched his Fusion pin. "Soren, come on!" he called out, the planes merging together.

Both Ike and Soren stood next to each other. The Branded raised a hand as he called forth some strong winds that circled over them while the mercenary shielded himself with Ragnell. Yodai, though, knew that Ike wanted him to attack. "Fool! I know what you're trying to do!" he said, not wanting to move at all.

"It's rather obvious, I admit," Soren said until an all-knowing smile crept into his face. "Too bad not all great minds think alike."

Confused at the statement, Yodai looked down and saw the last Pikander mindlessly using Skull Bash to slam itself into Ike. "NO, YOU RAT!" Yodai yelled, but it was too late. Ike instantly released a heavy swing that released a gushing tornado that slammed right into the Pikander, trapping it into a vortex of slicing winds that cut it down into several pieces that disappeared from existence. The whirlwind then went on to slam right into Yodai's stomach, actually pushing him back to the wall behind his sweaty back.

Ike and Soren exchanged one last look before the planes separated. As Yodai panted, Neku suddenly ran to his space and held his hands out. "Enough!" he said.

Above Yodai, several large pebbles struck his head down. The rain of rocks kept going for a while as Neku clutched his Meteor Magnet pin. The stones eventually died out, but it didn't stop Neku from using Ice Risers again. Three spears of ice rose up from the ground and struck Yodai's chin down to his chest.

"(T-these Players are giving me such a hard time trying to stop from serving the menu!)" Yodai mentally grunted. He smacked his fists together and yelled, "WE'VE PREHEATED LONG ENOUGH!"

"It looks like he's losing the fight," Rhyme noted as her companions gathered around her. "We can do this! Just a little more!"

"I WON'T LET YOU PESKY CHILDREN CAUSE HAVOC IN MY KITCHEN ANYMORE," Yodai complained, flexing his large biceps under the rain. "I'VE GOT A MEAL TO DELIVER…FOR MYSELF!"

"If we get beaten up, yo…" Beat trailed off, "we're gonna poison ya so badly, you're gonna be runnin' to dah bathroom!"

"Ugh…" the other nine Players responded.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Beat asked, annoyed.

"NO MATTER!" Yodai said, opening his mouth wide to create a void to suck their attacks. Nobody did anything and waited for him to stop. Three seconds later, he chomped the air in anger before the ten Players launched themselves on his massive body. "AH!" With the Pikanders defeated, Yodai was left to deal with everyone. Grunting, he brought his hands together to cast a sphere of sparks. "Those bones, I'LL CHAR THEM BLACK IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

A rain of sparks came out from the orb, making everyone gasp and scatter around. During the frenzy of the attack, Yodai kept a busy claw holding the orb into place to use his right fist for a second way to attack. Ike looked up in time to get crushed down. "AAAAH!" he screamed, passing the pain to Soren.

"I-Ike!" Soren shouted, but then he was crushed down as well. "D-DAMMIT!" he shouted.

"You leave them alone!" Shiki said, directing Mr. Mew to climb onto Yodai's fist. The stuffed down used its little chubby paws to run along the ram's arm all the way to where his face was. Once close to Yodai's fuming nose, the doll released a flurry of slashing blows.

"GET THIS PIG OUT OF MY FACE!" Yodai complained. "HE IS NO GOOD FOR MY RECIPE!"

Shiki shook a fist. "He's a CAT!" she said with heavy emphasis on the last word. Luckily for Shiki, she got the light puck just before Mr. Mew delivered a harsh uppercut on the ram's chin. Powered by the light puck, the blow pushed Yodai to the wall, as Mr. Mew back-flipped all the way to Shiki's side.

Neku raised three icicle spears into the ram's body, actually managing to make Yodai yell in pain. The ram Noise opened his mouth to suck their attacks into a void of darkness to recover energy, but everyone knew by now that attacking now was not advised. The ram chomped the air once to close his mouth. "I can't work with you!" he said, panting heavily. "You're just…not good for my meal I have in mind!"

Yodai tried to push them off with his massive arms, but everyone managed to avoid his large limbs.

Thus began Yodai's last stance.

The Players began a long chain of attacks that were powered by the light puck being passed around. Beat rode an arm to jump high into the air and slam his skateboard repeatedly on the monster's face. "Yo, we're comin' back to life!" he yelled, as the wheels of his board grinded against Yodai's face. The skin of his face was pulled off to the sides, making the ram yell.

Ike tossed Ragnell above to spin it right on the ram's upper body, continuously slashing it. As Ike jumped for it, he said, "We've got a strong will to live. Don't underestimate us!" as he grabbed the hilt of the sword and brought down the weapon on Yodai's chest. The ram grunted loudly, clutching his chest.

A rain of harsh lightning bolts fell all over his back. His strained eyes looked at Chris clutching his staff with both hands. "I…I have a life to resume, too!" he said, mentally chanting the Fira spell. He looked serious and pointed his staff at the Noise, igniting his face whole. "A-also…I want to see this Lucario I have!"

Soren followed up by stepping next to the young mage and tossing a whirlwind of slicing winds that engulfed Yodai's furred arms. "Life and death shouldn't be toyed around like this," he said, furrowing his brow. "You Reapers only made the grave mistake of underestimating the people you dragged into this sickening game of yours."

As Yodai panted heavily and grabbed a side of his face, a growing green flash slowly floated in front of his chest before exploding in a massive blast of energy that created smoke. "I've seen a lot of weird stuff in life," Ness said, standing on top of a rock. "…But I like seeing that weird stuff. It gives me many thrills to experience, you know?"

Yodai wasn't sure what to clutch, so he clutched the area over his chest. As he did so, Rhyme jumped and fired several energy blasts from her palms, striking his good eyes. "My dreams… I feel like I used to have them," she said. "Just thinking about making dreams is enough to give me strength to overcome the trials you set up for us!"

Fox pulled his hand back and swung it quickly, throwing a Fira spell on the ram's legs. He clutched the Pyrokinesis pin with the other hand, igniting Yodai's legs with scorching flames. "I have…my own things to resolve," he said, glaring up at the monster. "I can't just die knowing that I've done some stupid shit I'm not proud of doing!" He didn't notice, but Rhyme turned around to stare at him for a brief time.

Pichu quickly leaped from the floor to land on top of Yodai's head. As he gathered electricity to call forth a thunder, he said, "I have many dreams myself! I want to, one day, evolve into a Raichu! I also want to keep playing around! It…it looks silly, but doing that again never gets old!" Using Thunder, a strong lightning bolt crashed down on the Noise, shocking his body whole. The Electric-type leaped off back to the stage, siding with Shiki. "I just know it! He's about to lose!"

Shiki looked serious. "I have to go back to my life…and to Eri, too," she said, putting a fist over her chest as Mr. Mew looked up at her. "When I thought I was so jealous about her, I thought I was…"

"Would you please not break into a monologue in the middle of the battle?" Neku interrupted.

Shiki blinked, and then she looked angry. Pichu carefully stepped away from her. "Hey! No fair! Everyone said something inspiring!" she complained.

"Yeah, but they did that while attacking!" Neku felt a rush of power in the Fusion pin. He took it out and stared down at it. "What the…"

The Fusion pin didn't have the two intertwined stars. Instead, the two stars were united in a single star while Mr. Mew stretched out his right fist out over the combined star. Neku remembered that the Fusion pin never had this appearance before. Nonetheless, he shrugged and clutched it to active its psych.

The planes didn't merge, but Neku and Shiki felt a very strong sense of attachment. In their own perspective, the two felt like they were sharing the same body of the other. They opened their eyes, as if they knew what was going to happen next. "Neku, come on!" Shiki called out.

"Right behind you!" Neku shot back.

In both planes, a plethora of flying Mr. Mews appeared from the sides, crashing their fluffy fists against the ram's imposing body. Yodai screamed in pain and complained about the damned stuffed pigs hurting him so much. As the many Mr. Mews struck every limb in his body, the attack didn't end there.

The rest of the Players blinked bewildered once they saw Neku and Shiki appearing into view, riding on top of large-sized Mr. Mews. While Shiki looked dead serious about what she was doing, a few ones could notice the dull look on Neku's eyes. "I'm never going to live this down, am I," he asked rhetorically.

The two large-sized Mr. Mews duck down beneath Yodai's body, spun their fluffy fists, and then struck the ram's body severely with a heavy punch that pushed Yodai into the air, screaming loudly in pain as he was engulfed in white and black static. The Players shielded their eyes as Yodai's form started to shine brightly. Stretching every part of his large self out, Yodai said, "N-NO! I…I CANNOT DROP OUT NOW! THE MEAL HAS TO BE FINISHED!"

Kingdom Hearts: 3D – Someday –Kingdom Mix-

For a moment, everything stopped. Yodai knew well that his time was over.

"M-Mr. Kitaniji…" Yodai muttered as the planes merged back together. The team of Players watched on as the long struggle for life came to an end…

As the Players felt that their bodies were pulled back to one single plane, they noticed that the battle was over. In front of them, Yodai – back in his human form – was kneeling down in pain. He remained silent as he caught his breath, looking up at them. "…"

The seamstress gulped, but she stepped forward from the group. "You lost," Shiki said. "We won."

"In...indigestible!" Yodai proclaimed. "I lost?"

"I know. Hard to believe," Ness spoke. "But that's how things are. There's nothing you can do about it."

"To think you young Players would reach this far…" Yodai muttered. "There hasn't been anybody with such determination…come all the way to the seventh day… Heh…" He grinned at them. "Looks like…you'll get to enjoy the last dessert."

"That's nice of you," Soren said. "So you are testing people out after all, right?"

"I'm…not allowed to say…" Yodai looked at Shiki. Chuckling, he said, "Well done... young lady... Your rotten core of jealousy…is forever gone from the menu…"

As Shiki looked back at her team, she chuckled heartily. Seeing a bright light, the seamstress turned around and gasped. Yodai was disappearing. He was standing up but, as he did so, his essence was completely snuffed out. He was gone.

The orange-haired teen nodded. "Game over," Neku said.

Shiki walked to them, a growing smile on her face. "That's it?"

"Yeah!" Pichu said, hopping on his spot before climbing on Shiki's right shoulder. "We won!"

Chris joined his hands. "Yes! We get to back to life after all!" He shed a tear and wiped it out quickly. "I never doubted it one bit…"

Rhyme folded her arms. "Good job, everybody!" she congratulated. "I don't want to think what would've happened if we didn't partner up all the way to the seventh day. I'm glad we worked together for a greater good."

Beat showed his teeth. Nobody wanted to point out he had a piece of lettuce stuck between his front teeth. "Great! This nightmare is really gonna end!" He stared down at Rhyme's beaming look. "(And…)"

Soren smiled a bit, though his eyes looked dull. "Through the adversities, we shouldered on just fine," he said. "Personally, I'm grateful that we get a second chance. It's time to leave this dreadful place of the dead."

"Finally," Ike said, sighing with relief. "It felt like such a long time ever since I died…but now, destiny is being kind to us."

Suddenly, there was a flash of light that startled everyone on the spot. They looked around, feeling that their bodies were being taken away. "Wh-what's going on?" Shiki asked.

"Shiki?" Neku called out.

There was a second flash of light, but they felt no omen from it. They exchanged glances and remained silent for a moment until Shiki spoke. "I don't think this light is bad," she said.

Neku nodded. "Yeah... Feels almost like a...pat on the back."

"A warm welcome back to the world of the living!" Shiki said, and everyone chuckled, content of the thought. "…Everyone…" she trailed off, getting their full attention, "…thank you so much for everything you've done for me."

Pichu nudged his face on her cheek. "Don't worry! You needed help badly!" he said. She laughed and caressed his cheek with affection.

Ness sighed. "Okay, I know it's about time for us to go back," he said, opening his arms to the dark ceiling. "Go ahead, you. We're ready for this."

Rhyme saw Fox grinning. The young blond walked to his side and looked up at him. "So," she began, "are you going to say sorry to Chris?"

Fox stopped grinning and looked down at her. "Uh…" he trailed off, unsure about it.

"…" She rubbed her chin, and then Beat walked to her side. "Is this perhaps one of the 'stupid shit' you've done?" she asked.

Beat gasped and glared at Fox. "Hey! You teachin' her some bad words now?" he asked.

The vulpine stared at him. "What the- No!" he said.

Rhyme chuckled and looked at her partner. "Beat, Fox here is thinking about saying sorry to Chris for snapping out on him," she said, and Fox's jaw dropped. She had just spread the word out to the punk.

"What?" Beat stared back at Fox. "That's right! You got in his case like a rabid dog because of one harmless lie, yo!"

Fox sighed, looking away from them. "Y-yeah," he stuttered. "I'm not…so proud of that…"

The punk slammed a hand on Fox's shoulder. "Then you gotta admit the truth!" he said. "Life's no good when you do stupid choices! I…I did something I regret doing." Fox stared at him. "…So that's why you need to amend things! If you ask me and if I was in your crazy-looking boots…I'd just say sorry to him and go have a soda at a stand together!"

"…I'm not so sure about the soda par-" Fox wasn't quite ready for Beat busting his head out for him.

"ARGH!" Beat put a grip on Fox's right wrist. Startled, the vulpine was dragged back to the group, specifically, right in front of a confused Chris.

"U-unhand me now!" Fox complained, but Beat put him in front of the person he had yelled at.

"There! Spit it out!" Beat said, crossing his arms. "You don't say sorry, I'll give you two black eyes!"

Rhyme joined them. "Beat, I wasn't really expecting you to… Oh, never mind," she said, looking defeated. She composed herself and looked at the teen. "Chris, Fox has something important to say."

Chris looked a bit frightened at the vulpine semi-intense stare. "Y-you do?" he asked.

"(Oh no, now he fears me,)" Fox thought, frozen into place as everyone looked their way. "(Now this feels like the first time we met… Oh wait, I pointed a gun at his face that one tim-)"

"W-what do you want to tell me?" Chris asked. "…Are you still mad about me lying to you?"

Fox snapped out of his thoughts. "I-I, uh, ah…" He scratched his head, grimacing a bit. "L-listen, Chris… Rhyme got me to talk about…about what I did to you…" The teen looked away from him. "…So…so she told me to…"

The station underpass filled with a bright light that blinded them from one another.

Knowing where this was going, Fox groaned loudly and said, "Oh, COME ON!"

"And right on the good part, too!" Beat was heard yelling.

Nonetheless, the Players vanished from the underpass as soon as the light cleared out. They were taken somewhere safe where they would rejoice their victory with no strings attached. The long battle had come to an end…

Music stops

The Next Day…

Scramble Crossing

The light for people to walk across the street turned green. As soon as it did, the citizens of Shibuya began walking. They were busy with their everyday lives, not knowing that Shibuya was ruled by the Reapers from the shadows of the dead. Reapers were not allowed to appear in the RG. They awaited anybody unlucky enough to die in any way possible. It was their job to see their pray play the Reapers' Game. Beyond that, only the ones in charge of the challenge knew full well about the intention for doing it.

Neku grunted as he opened his eyes. He found himself lying down on the street. Grunting, he slowly stood up. He looked to his sides, finding Ness, Pichu, Chris, Fox, Ike, and Soren standing up just as soon as he did.

People passed right through their bodies…

A concerned Pichu looked around. Remembering that they were a large group of ten, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme were gone. The three young Players weren't by their side anymore. Pichu looked down and whimpered a bit, only for a similarly concerned Chris to pick him up and clutch him with both hands, lamenting the events that happened between yesterday and today.

"Why..." Neku spoke, his face obscured by his hair. He was frowning many, many times. "Why, why, why..."

As the others looked at him with depressed looks, a beeping sound came from his pockets. His hand lifelessly picked it up…

On the screen, there was a mission to complete.

There was an unsettling silence, ignoring the upbeat people talking and passing by. Ike closed his eyes. Soren pressed his brow and frowned. Ness sighed slowly and looked away. Chris lied his head down on top of Pichu's head.

And Fox suddenly gritted his fangs, tightened his fists, and yelled at the sky, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

Joshua's Day 1 – Rulez

Shiki, Beat, & Rhyme left your team…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Joshua's Week – The Most Unsettling Person in the Universe"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Scramble Crossing-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku

You have now reached the end of Shiki's week…

And now comes Joshua's week. A new character will fill the spot for the next chapter. I wonder who's that going to be. *Rolls eyes*

In all seriousness, though. The TWEWY arc is not even halfway done. There's still a lot to show that it'd feel incomplete just to end it here and now. The Return to Normality is far away… For those of you who have completed TWEWY, the next character is just going to be as weird as you know him. And for the people who haven't played the game… Please don't spoil yourselves with the storyline now. Either follow the story till the end, or go nab a TWEWY copy somewhere.

All I can say about the next part of the TWEWY arc is that Ike is getting more focus, along with Ness (and Soren). Also, will Fox get to amend things with Chris? Hanekoma himself is a huge mystery, given that he seems to know Fox's backstory…and can appear in battles for some mystical reason. Freak barista powers?

Also, for anyone who cares, my username in Miiverse is AuraGuyChris. I'm quite the artist now that my deviantart account is booming with artwork. (Except on Miiverse, I've only drawn Zelda CD-i images. It's funny to see people saying, "It's not Rubees, it's Rupees!")

For now, wait for the next chapter, okay? I encourage everyone to review.

Or else Neku is going to be called a spicy tuna roll again.

Neku: Hate being called that…

Ike: I don't see what's so bad about it.

Soren: He likes spicy things, just to let you know.

Neku: …Ugh, that doesn't sound too good…

Ike: …What?

Fox: You're supposed to say, "No homo."

Ike: Huh?
*Chapter 204*: Joshua's Week - Most Unsettling Person

It turns out that the Reapers' Game is going to last a long longer than YOU expected.

From NowhereStarr14: ...Sooooo...they're still...dead...? ...huh. I'm...confused... I thought the whole point of this was if you win in the seven day period...you win your life back...but...they're still dead. How come Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme got their lives back and no one else? How and why is Neku the ONLY one out of the TWEWY group that didn't get their lives back? Who's this Joshua guy? I don't...understand...what just happened... *intakes breath* WELL THEN! Hopefully next chapter, you explain what in the world just happened at the end. Oh, yeah, the rest of the chapter was good, by the way.

Also, I kinda liked this chapter bring short, and I wish the other chapters were a tad bit shorter too, because, I liked that I was actually able to finish this chapter in one sitting. With all the other chapters, I've had to leave the page up and come back to it later, and after that it still usually takes a good couple hours to finish. I've actually fallen asleep, trying to finish a chapter before. So...maybe...could you shorten the future chapters down a little? Maybe? Because trying to find where you left off on a big wall of text, is absolutely miserable.

From me: Oh, all those questions of yours are nicely answered in this chapter.

However, I don't know what to feel about having shorter chapters. True, if there's nothing of importance I can add, then I just stop the story there. So, really, I think the longitude of the chapters will be entirely random, but they'll be long anyway. (I consider more than 10,000 words long-short and 30,000 words long-long). Thanks for imparting your thoughts. :)

From GuyroMaster: Well . . . I kindof expected this to happen. At least they already know what each day holds right, right? Somehow I doubt that. I'll just have to keep reading.
Continuing off the answer for my previous question . . . since you said no one escaped the Subspace Bomb at the Smash Mansion (although I still think Sonic would have escaped and maybe Lucario, but I digress), what will have happened to them? Are they in Tabuu's realm of Subspace . . . and did they turn into trophies when that happened? (I'm going off of what happened to King DDD in the SSE since no one actually saw him turn into a trophy).
By the way, I like your referance to the Golden Bunnies in Super Mario 64. [Those Bunnies . . .]

Anyways, that's all.
P.S. - You know . . . I kind wish that the next smash game has a more 'interactive' side like a hub world and story like this where . . . I guess you could train as your Mii and become the best in the tournamet all the while interacting with the smashers, after recruiting them in the Smash World, and maybe a level up system to upgrade and change your fighting style. That would make the next smash game the best to date. Don't you agree?

From me: It looks like your question about what happened to them is going to be half-answered in this chapter.

Though I wasn't really trying to make a reference to Super Mario 64 with the golden bunnies… Pure coincidence, I guess.

I have mixed feelings about a hub world because apparently the Smash world in the games has every single character taken out from their own worlds. To this day, I wonder why 35-something characters are fighting an army in a desolated piece of land…unless there's the implication that there's more beyond the army battlefield. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From Koopacrazy: So Soren huh the only thing i know about him is what was shown in KH:DDD, but im glad to see this arc continue i'm starting to like Neku more and more. Until next time Stay Perky!

From me: Last time I checked, Soren never appeared in KH: 3D.

From FF and STH: Can't really say much about this other then it was great but I do wish this chapter was longer like the rest but maybe the next one will be.

From me: Oh, I hope you're not implying that you can't find much to talk about because it was short…

I can't believe how fast I wrote this chapter, and I'm a college person. Somebody must've taken over me…

Many of the doubts that my fellow, dedicated readers have are going to be answered in this chapter. Those who played TWEWY surely know the answers, but there are some important answers that belong to the Smasher side…

Also, here we introduce a new character from the TWEWY universe, along with the new antagonist who will toy around with the Players. There's a lot to see here, everyone.

I encourage all the snobs out there to read on, enjoy, and review. (No offense to snobs, of course.)

Disclaimer: Shiki is basically Colette Brunel if she ditched her love for pets for fashion design.

Chapter 204: Joshua's Week – The Most Unsettling Person in the Universe

The World Ends With You – Game Over

-Shibuya-

Scramble Crossing

There were a lot of emotions circling in their heads: anger, frustration, bewilderment, and sadness. The seven Players gathered in a circle to discuss what to do next. As soon as they did so, Fox stopped screaming to the heavens. "-UUUUUUUUUUCK!"

The mercenary walked to his side once he thought it was the right time. "Did you let it all out?" Ike asked.

Fox panted, looking very satisfied the next second. "Y-yeah," he said. "That felt good… No wait, no!" he complained. "This isn't good at all! We're still stuck in this stupid Reapers' Game for another week!"

Pichu sniffed, Chris still clutching him. "It's not fair!" he complained. "We worked so hard to make it all the way to the end…"

"He expects us to just start over?" Neku asked, crossing his arms. "What the hell were the last seven days for, then?"

"A sickening waste of time because apparently we didn't satisfy their goals they imposed on us," Soren said. "That's how I see it. It's unforgivable that that Kitaniji person never mentioned that we had to do much better than the last week."

Ness looked angry. "Ugh, I can't believe this…" he muttered. "Here we are, dead, standing in the middle of the street, where we have to go through the whole ordeal a second time."

Ike sighed. "There's no other way," he said. "Eventually, we will go back to life."

"IF Kitaniji keeps his word for it," Fox said, making a fist. "If he doesn't, I swear I'm gonna break those glasses of his."

"I really wouldn't advise you to hit the guy who rules over the dead…" Chris trailed off, petting Pichu's head. "We…we have to follow his rules."

Neku nodded. "I hate to admit it, but that's how we're gonna be getting out of this fix," he said. "Me? I'm not losing. Not now. Not a chance." He looked down at his phone to read the mission aloud.

Game I: x=30+74, t=60 min.

Incompletes will be destroyed.

The Players braced themselves for the flinching pain. Out of nowhere, the timers appeared on their left palms. The mission had started. "There's the timer..." Neku said. "The mission format's different."

Ike's face fell. "X=30+74..." he trailed off, unsure of what he just said. "Uh… Why are they giving us math problems now?"

Ness rolled his eyes. "If they're doing that sort of thing now, then that's no sweat for me," he said. "X=30+74. The answer is 104."

"Correct," Soren said. "The time is an hour, or sixty minutes. Therefore, we can rule out that 104 isn't a timer…but the location." He looked north where the 104 Building stood. "We need to get to that building to finish the mission."

There was a Support Reaper standing in front of the way to 104 Building. He approached them and pointed at Neku. "You need to find a partner," he said. "Otherwise, you and your lot aren't going anywhere past the wall."

Neku grunted, remembering that Shiki was gone. The only ones who had their partners were the Smashers, but Neku was alone to fend the world for himself. "Yes, I know…" he muttered. The Support Reaper nodded and walked away.

"Shiki…" Pichu trailed off, sniffing. "We've gotta win this for her…"

"…" Neku looked serious at them. "Guys… Is it okay for you to keep following me?" he asked." We weren't… I mean, I wasn't that friendly with you that much during the last week."

"What are you saying?" Ike asked. "You're one of us now."

"We can work together again," Fox said. "Kitaniji said that it was okay for us to support each other, as long as we work even harder to revive."

Neku was thankful that the Smashers had his trust. He smiled a bit and nodded at their looks. "Thank you, all of you," he said. "I'm not going to drag you down… For now, though, I need to go to Hachiko and find myself a good partner."

Chris looked worried. "Oh, a new partner for you," he said. "If the past is any indication, we're going to have a lot of explaining to do because of our…collective uniqueness."

"…Don't worry about that," Neku said. "I still don't believe that you six aren't from this world… But never mind that! Let's go to Hachiko and then to Ten-Four!" The group nodded and ran west to the sacred place of meetings.

Statue of Hachiko

Neku ran faster than the others to find a partner quickly. When he made it in front of the statue, he frantically looked around for a partner-less person. The others soon caught up with him and helped him with his personal dilemma. "Come on... There has to be someone!" Neku said. "I need this... I have to win!" His thoughts went back to Shiki smiling warmly at him. He grunted annoyed. "...For her sake, and mine. Now come on! I gotta find me a powerhouse!"

"A powerhouse? Really?" Fox asked, raising an eyebrow. "Neku, the partners for today are possibly newbies who don't know what they got into after dying. Finding a powerhouse today is not going to happen. After all…we were the only Players that made it the last week."

The orange-haired teen sighed in frustration, facing the facts. "You're right… I'm technically starting from zero, unlike you guys," he pointed out, turning to face them. "Well, all of you are pros by now, but where does that leave me? Sure, I can use a wide variety of psychs, but… They're useless as long as I don't have a partner."

"Then Neku, allow me to be your partner."

There was a new voice that made them gasp. Looking around the area, the Players found nobody.

Suddenly, Neku felt his body losing contact with the world. He felt an extreme case of vertigo as his body was taken over by an unknown third-party that saw what he was seeing through his eyes. Feeling connected as well, Neku saw his own self standing in front of the statue, with somebody looking at him from behind. Whoever that was, Neku knew where that person was standing. "A pact? With who?!" Neku wondered aloud.

When he felt back in his own body, Neku gasped and turned around to look behind the statue.

There was a young teen looking at him with a grin that could only be defined as shady and unpleasant. The teen in question had unnatural, pale silver hair that was combed in different strands that hung down over his gray, short-sleeved button T-shirt. He wore pale black pants and white shoes. Overall, the young teen looked not that particular in appearance, if somebody didn't count the unsettling facial expressions he gave to people from time to time. In attitude, the youth was a very creepy person.

"W-who're you?" Neku asked.

The young teen chuckled amused and stepped out from his spot, walking to the group. He eyed each one of the Players staring his way. "Howdy," he greeted with his grin intact. "It's nice meeting you, Neku. I was looking forward to seeing you."

"…" The Players fell silent at the statement.

"…What?" Neku asked. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Your friends here, the ones wearing funny costumes, speak a little bit too loud for anybody like myself to ignore so easily," he said, still looking amused at their blank looks. He saw Neku giving them a grimace. Chuckling, the newcomer said. "Allow me to introduce myself, Neku. The name's Yoshiya Kiryu. But Mother and Father call me Joshua."

Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu is a young 15 year-old teen with a clever mind. However, Joshua comes off as an arrogant person with a snobbish attitude. Very sly and really wise beyond his years, Joshua's attitude tends to put many people off. Whenever he's not focused on important matters, he likes teasing people about the most trivial of things. He is often seen acting on his own.

Neku stared at Joshua for a long while, trying to digest what kind of partner he just got. The mysterious teen smiled a bit at him. "I guess you can call me Joshua, too - seeing as how you're my dear, dear partner," he said. "Hee hee..."

Neku's mind was set ablaze. "Your what!?" he asked.

"Your partner," Ness said. Neku kicked him away.

"…That's nice," Ike said, trying to cheer up the mood for his party. "Neku, you managed to find yourself a partner." The look Neku gave Ike didn't make him feel good.

"You seem like such a pro at this," Joshua said nodding. "I just...helped myself."

At this statement, the group blinked. "A pro?" Neku wondered. "How could you know that?"

Joshua hid his mischievous grin behind an open palm. "I've been watching you, silly," he answered. "Very impressive, by the way."

"How?" Soren asked, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer. "Have you been spying on us? …No, that wouldn't be possible. We were told last week that…" He frowned. "Were you in the Game last week, by any chance?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah," Joshua said, chuckling once more. "I know how things work around here because somebody was nice enough to tell me the rules of this Reapers' Game… I was a pretty sneaky one, let me tell you. I was unlucky enough to be partner-less." He tossed his hands to his sides. "Even today, I still wonder how I made it unscathed. I must be cursed with awesome."

"Cursed with awesome…" Fox trailed off, looking dull. "Sure…"

"(Who the hell IS this kid?)" Neku thought to himself, crossing his arms as he continued staring at his new partner.

Joshua looked up to the sky, sighing with relief. "Today's the first day and all... Let's just take it easy, hmm?" he asked, sounding a bit sweet. He looked back at them. "Why don't you start by giving the area a scan, partner?"

Neku raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "We have to get to Ten-Four."

"Oh, it's just that I want to see how you do things," Joshua said. His grin was perturbing Neku a lot by now. "Like I said before, you're a pro at this. Let me learn from the best."

Chris shuddered. "W-wow, you're…so nice?" he asked, unsure if his statement was right to say.

Joshua nodded. "Also, why don't you all try scanning the area?" he asked. "I don't want us to fight Noise if it's not necessary. Scan a few minds with Neku." He turned around and walked away at a distance where no Noise would put him in peril, but far enough to avoid listening to the Players.

The Players thought that Joshua was hiding something. He definitely didn't look like a Reaper, but there was an air around him that made them feel odd. Why he wanted them to scan the area sounded even weirder, but there was no harm unless they drew Noise to them. Many of them shrugging their shoulders, they used their Player Pins to scan the area anyway.

They suddenly came to the realization that there was a thought bubble hovering over Joshua's head. "What the…" Neku trailed off as they focused on the thought. "Is that a thought bubble over him?"

"But how?" Fox wondered. "Players can't scan each other… Why does Joshua have a thought bubble? He's clearly dead."

The Branded grimaced. "This Joshua person is very mysterious," Soren noted. "Maybe it's just me, but we shouldn't scan his mind."

"Oh, give me a break," Neku said. "I want to see what this guy is thinking. I have the chance now. Who cares if we can suddenly scan his mind? Don't tell him about this, though… Something about Joshua isn't right." He went ahead and scanned Joshua's mind. The others looked unsure and went with him.

"(…)" Joshua's mind was completely blank, but…

The Players were forced to see an image of a place that they were unfamiliar to. They saw a highway over a backstreet and a wall full of posters and stylish graffiti. There were some abandoned shops to the right of the wall, and in the middle of that place were some stairs leading up to a new place.

A quick mental shock forced them to grab their heads in pain, losing view of the scene. Joshua overheard them grunting in pain and walked close to them. "Something wrong? Are we not feeling well?" he asked.

Neku shook his head, feeling like he had a headache. As he grabbed his head, he looked up at Joshua. "It's…nothing…" he muttered.

"Oh man…" Ike muttered, grunting at the pain in his head. "What just happened back there?"

Joshua sighed, looking unimpressed. "Is this going to be a problem?" he asked. "I need you to pull it together. Unlike some people," he eyed the Smashers, "I'm new at all this. I'm expecting a bang-up job from you, Mr. Escort."

The Enigmatic Joshua joined your team!

Neku didn't like the idea that somebody like Joshua was expecting great things from him. "...I'll be fine," he said.

Joshua smiled a bit. "Will you? Wonderful," he said. "Then can we go?" Chuckling amused, Joshua walked to the east, leaving everyone behind.

After Joshua was away from hearing range, the others stared at Neku. "Some new partner you got for this second run," Ness commented. "Couldn't you have gotten someone else?"

"I-I second the thought," Chris said. "Have you seen the way he grins and laughs to himself? It's like he's laughing at us."

"Ugh," Neku muttered. "Look, it can't be helped. I screwed up finding him of all people… But I wonder what he's up to," he said, crossing his arms. "He's been watching me, for example. How weird is that now? Something's going on with him."

"And he gives you quite a lot of attention," Soren noted. "He hasn't bathed an eyebrow to our way ever since he came from behind this statue."

"…" Neku fought the thought that Joshua wasn't totally straight. "…I don't want to go there," he said shrugging. "I gotta cut him some slack. He just gave me a bad first impression. I can't base his whole attitude in one impression alone."

Pichu smiled. "Wow, Neku. You really grew up ever since we met the first time," he said. "Now you do care about people!"

"I…I guess," Neku muttered, sounding embarrassed. He noticed that Joshua came back, his hands inside his pockets. "What?"

"What's the holdup, Neku?" Joshua asked.

"It's nothing."

Joshua stared. "Don't tell me you're still stuck on the mission mail. Please." He chuckled. "It's painfully obvious. X marks the spot." He took out a gray phone to show him the mission, as the others watched intently. "30+74, Neku. We're headed to 104." He pocketed his phone and smiled a bit. "If you ever find yourself stumped, I'd be happy to help you along. Just say the word. I promise you my advice is spot-on. Lucky you, having me as your partner." He seemed to be grinning mischievously.

Seeing the grin, Neku decided to keep one thought to himself. "(I'm going to choke this kid.)"

Joshua decided that he had enough about ignoring the Smashers. He turned to look at them with a know-it-all look. Neku felt a bit indebted to them for turning Joshua's eyes away. "Oh! I can't say I'm particularly interested, but... I'll go ahead and ask, for the sake of convenience," he said. "Who are you, people? I see you're dressed peculiarly. Did you die on your way to an anime convention?"

Chris chuckled, sounding embarrassed. "N-no, we didn't die like that," he said. "M-my name's Chris. Chris Garcia Bennett."

Pichu, Ness, and Ike turned to Chris. "That's your full name?" they all asked. The teen simply nodded.

Fox nodded. "Fox McCloud," he said. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, I guess."

Pichu wagged his tail. "I'm Pichu!" he said.

"My name's Ike Greil," Ike said. "This quiet guy over here is Soren." The Branded looked suspicious at the gray-haired teen, as if he didn't trust Joshua at all.

"Nice," Joshua said. "I wasn't expecting I'd get partnered up with so many Players at once. This must be my lucky week." He smiled, rubbing his chin with a finger. "Good. I thought I was having some nasty bad luck… Oh, and by the way…" He looked sideways at Neku. "You got a charming name yourself, Neku."

"(Gaaah!)" Neku thought, feeling a lot disturbed at his name being charming.

"Well then, Neku, everyone," Joshua said. "Shall we head for 104? This timer can make anyone feel nervous."

"Y-yeah…"

"Hmm? Is something wrong, my dear partner?" the enigmatic teen asked. The concerned look he put up looked fake. "…Am I possibly freaking you out?"

"(YES.) No."

"Okay," Joshua nodded. "Just making sure. Anyway, let's go." The unsettling teen started walking first before the rest followed suit. As they walked back to the Scramble Crossing, Joshua looked at the Smashers. "I've seen you, too. You are also pros at this Game. Say, what's your story?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "Hmm, your costumes look a little too real. Fox here has some realistic body movements."

"That's because…" Ike wasn't sure about telling someone like Joshua the whole truth. The others stared at him. "…We really aren't from Shibuya, or this world, for that matter."

"Really now?" Joshua asked, not minding a living person passed right through his body. "Otherworldly people? Huh, what do you know. I can hardly believe you're not from this world."

"It's true, though," Ness said. "Only Neku here belongs to your world. We ended up here somehow…"

Joshua gave them a blank look, as if he was keeping something to himself. Chuckling, he smiled a bit while nodding. "I see," he said. "Assuming you're saying the truth, you're not from here. That's peculiar. Are you hoping to get your lives back after finishing the Game?"

Fox grunted. "If he keeps his word for it," he said.

The enigmatic teen raised an eyebrow. "Who's this he?"

"Megumi Kitaniji," Soren said. "The Conductor of the Reapers' Game. He is a servant to the Composer person we were told about. From what I could gather, he receives orders from the Composer. We finished one week, but… The Conductor decreed that only one person from all of us gets to revive. The ones that weren't revived – us – were told to win this week."

Joshua remained silent for a few seconds. "…I see," he said. "And did someone else get to revive?"

Neku grimaced. "I don't want to talk about it now," he said. "Just thinking about what happened when we met that guy makes me cringe."

"Oh, alright," Joshua said, looking a bit disappointed. "Everyone, don't worry. You have my support. With me on your side, you can't go wrong." He snickered.

"…So…" Pichu began as he climbed Chris's back to his right shoulder, "what's your story, Joshua? How did you die?"

Joshua smiled. "I was shot by a thief entering a store," he said, and everyone thought that the smile he gave was really unneeded considering the way he died. Somehow, Neku thought Joshua liked being tortured like that. "I was trying to be a hero, but I was foolish. That's how I died. Tragic."

"That's…noble of you," Fox said.

He waved him off. "Nah, that was stupid of me," Joshua said. "As for my story, I don't have anything to say. I'm just a normal boy trying to find his way back to his home… But this Reapers' Game has got me interested." He grinned. "I want to learn more about it."

"…For the sake of going back home, I presume?" Soren asked.

"Oh, yes, I guess."

"You guess…"

"It's a pretty good guess."

The Branded sighed. "Suit yourself," he said. Ike frowned at his tactician's mood.

As they continued walking east, Pichu noticed some kind of candy dropped in the middle of the street. Since he was riding on Chris's shoulder, he poked his face. "Chris, look down there!" he said, pointing at the candy in front of the teen's feet. "It's candy!"

Chris frowned. "Pichu, I'm not going to pick candy from the street," he said.

"But…doesn't it look like it's from this dimension?" he asked, seeing that a living person stepped on the candy and didn't break it with their foot. "See? It's from our side! Maybe it's important!"

Looking around to see if there was another Player who might have dropped the candy, Chris picked it up. It was actually a lollipop wrapped up with purple plastic. On the cover of the plastic, the letters "K" and "U" were inscribed, and in-between was the plus sign. "…I'm still skeptical," Chris said. "What if this is some sort of trap set up by those Reapers?"

If they had been in another situation, they wouldn't really consider the candy to be a trap (unless a stranger gave it to them). It was weird that there was candy on their side at all. "Maybe…" Pichu trailed off.

"…Oh well, I'll keep this," the teen said, storing the candy in his pocket. "It could be part of the mission."

Obtained K + U Lollipop!

An insignificant lollipop with two letters found in the UG. Not being from the RG makes it dubious.

Scramble Crossing

"Want to clear this wall? Then take down these Noise!"

The group met up with the Support Reaper blocking the way to 104. Neku crossed his arms and stared at the invisible wall in front of them. "Another wall..." Neku muttered.

Joshua chuckled. "So we need to clear out a few Noise to get by. All right." He took his hands out from his pockets. "What better time to go over my combat skills?"

Ike stared at Joshua. "That reminds me. How do you fight, Joshua?" he asked. "Do you use some sort of doll to fight for you?"

"Why would I use such an inconvenient way to fight? Sounds pretty annoying to leave everything to a doll," Joshua commented, and for a moment, Neku winced. "Don't worry. I think even you should be able to follow along."

"(He has to be doing this on purpose...)" Neku thought to himself.

"Put simply, I play things high or low."

"High…or low?" Chris asked.

Joshua nodded. "You should be able to pick it up on the fly. Ready for a little warm-up?" Neku was a bit intrigued about his partner's way of fighting. He nodded to him. "Then let's begin, hmm?" The Players signaled the Reaper to throw the Noise at them. On reflex, Joshua assumed his fighting stance, and the planes were separated…

The looming buildings of the scramble stood high around the large street. Feeling familiar with the sense of being ripped apart to another dimension, the pro Players all appeared for the fight. A happy-looking Joshua was seen in the upper plane as he flicked a small strand of his hair, looking pleased at three red crab Noise, that were called Carcinofolk, strode around in front of them. "Have fun, Neku!" he called over to his partner, which made Neku gag mentally.

"So, crabs this time," Ness said. "This should be easy."

Joshua took out his phone, raising it in front of his face. "And this is how I'm going to fight," he said.

Pichu, Chris, and Soren stared at the device. "You're fighting with your phone?" Chris asked, confused.

"Don't underestimate the power of speed dialing, Chris," Joshua said.

The World Traveler stared. "…Alright…"

The enigmatic teen chuckled as his thumb began dialing numbers at random. It took him a few seconds, but Joshua managed to produce something out of his phone device. "Go away," Joshua said blankly, swinging his arms to opposite directions. From above the crabs, foreign objects surrounded by a blue aura dropped down. The objects in question were a vending machine, a bicycle, and a traffic cone that crushed the crabs on contact. The objects bounced off and disappeared. "There."

The Players blinked. "…Your phone can produce objects to fall on enemies?" Ike asked, looking through Soren's eyes.

"Yeah," Joshua said, the crabs a bit dazzled by the attack. "That leaves me wide open for an attack, though. I'll lose my focus on my dialing and I'll need to start over." He smiled at his teammates. "Keep those Noise away from my face, would you? Treat me like some sort of mage-type character." He looked serious and turned around. "Those crabs are coming here. Prepare yourselves."

The battle went on without much trouble. As one crab remained, Joshua decided to explain more about his battle skills with his phone. "Oh, Neku. It looks like we can pull off a Fusion move," he said. "I obtain my stars by matching numbers that are higher, lower, or equal than the numbers shown on my phone. I matched six now."

Neku didn't see much point to use a Fusion move on the last Carcinofolk, but he shrugged and put a grip on the Fusion pin anyway.

"Follow my lead!" Joshua shouted.

"Screw that!" Neku shot back.

The Players watched as the two Players were engulfed in a bring light that linked in a thin line of sparkles transcending the two planes. As they floated up in midair, Neku and Joshua were surrounded by a rain of objects that crashed down upon the field. The lone crab Noise was crushed down by traffic cones, vending machines, bicycles, traffic signs, scooters, and even a motorbike. By the end of the attack, cars, of all things, fell down hard on the street and terminated the Carcinofolk for good.

"Hmm-hmm, predictable," Joshua said, pleased with the outcome.

"Holy crap, cars," Fox commented as both Neku and Joshua landed their feet back on the ground. The planes then merged back together…

The Reapers in charge of grading the fight didn't grade their performance. They were watching on top of a skyscraper. "It's one of those tutorial fights," one Reaper said.

"Lame," the second Reaper said. "Too bad you can't grade tutorials."

"At least we got front row seats for this," the third Reaper said. "…Boring."

The World Ends with You – Calling

Even though it looked like this was Joshua's first time, he didn't look shocked when he found himself standing back in front of the Support Reaper. Chuckling, Joshua looked at Neku. "You did pretty well back there," he said. "You are a psych genius. Did you understand the way I fight?"

Neku nodded. "But I have a question," he said. "How can you even rain junk down on Noise with your phone? Or…how do you know how to fight if you said you had no partner in the previous week?"

Joshua pressed his brow, finding the questions irrelevant. "I was told by a friend of mine how to do all that," he said. "Nice person, by the way. Without him, I'd be lost."

"Who's that friend?" Ike asked.

"Sorry, but I don't want to say," the arrogant teen said. "He likes to keep things a secret."

Fox rolled his eyes. "He surely didn't tell you how to establish a sense of trust," he said. Looking at Chris, the teen forced a small smile. The vulpine grinned a bit in return and nodded. The group didn't say anything about this positive gesture.

"My alliances lie on you," Joshua said, chuckling in amusement. He looked back at Neku, who wished he didn't have his attention. "Prove to me how worthy you are. We're in this together from now on. You watch my behind, I'll watch yours. Sounds good, partner? Hee hee..."

Neku shuddered as a response as he heard the Support Reaper say, "Objective met. Wall clear!"

"The way's open," Joshua said. "Let's finish today's mission and get rid of this unnerving timer on our palms."

104 Buidling

The group of Players stepped into the area of the bustling building. Almost immediately, they felt their timers vanishing from their palms. They breathed out a sigh of relief. "Timer's gone..." Neku said. "We're safe. That's one day down..."

"First days are always easy," Pichu said. "But tomorrow…"

"Yeah, they're not gonna leave things just as easy all the time," Fox said. "Tomorrow, we're gonna be scrambling around like idiots."

"Would you please not put it like that?" asked a frowning Soren. The Branded looked to the entrance of the 104 Building. "I do not wish to think what they're going to do… Also, that pile of stuff in front of the entrance is hideous."

Blinking at his statement, the team looked to the general direction. Many jaws dropped down when they saw a pile of junk standing proud before their eyes. The pile of junk contained busted refrigerators, worn-out tires, bent, long cables, broken antennas, beaten-up iron boxes, pieces of carton, long tubes…the overall picture looked so random and weird.

"Do people seriously put random piles of stuff in front of buildings?" Ike asked.

"Well, someone does," Joshua commented. "Neku... What do you suppose that is?"

"What the hell?" Neku exclaimed, almost at a loss of words at the extraordinary event in front of them. The pile's shadow loomed over them. "That junk heap wasn't here before!"

"You're zetta slow!" came an amused voice from somewhere.

The party looked around the area to find the source of the voice. "Why is it that there's always a weird voice coming out of this place during the first day?" Ness asked.

"Ness, really," Chris began, his eyes looking dull, "this is the second time it's happened. You're supposed to ask that the third time."

"You become so genre savvy about these things with two tries by now."

"Forget that!" Neku said, turning to Joshua. He thought the enigmatic teen was using another voice for a moment to tease them. "Who said that?"

Joshua pinched his chin as he stared at the junk heap. "Don't look at me. Look at your junk heap there."

The party looked up at the pile of junk. There was a shadow standing on top of it, sitting down and looking down at them. "There's somebody up there?"

With their eyes blocking the sun's rays, the group saw a newcomer grinning wide at them. It was an 18-year old teen that wore some eye-catching clothes. He wore a black cap over his short, messy gray hair that had a red bandana underneath; a black coat below his chain necklace; gray jeans that had shredded marks above and below his kneecaps; and black boots. His hands were tattooed with black flames that reached out for his elbows.

"I said, you're zetta slow!" the punk-looking teen said, looking very peeved all of a sudden. "How long does it take to crack a Z-class code, you factoring hectopascals!"

"…I'm sorry?" Ike dully said.

Neku suddenly grabbed his head in pain. "Nngh! My...head!" he muttered through his gritted teeth.

"Neku?" Pichu said concerned. "Neku, are you feeling okay? What's wrong?" His ears perked up, hearing the teen's feet landing down in front of them. For a moment, Chris thought that he had met N's bizarre evil twin brother, but that was entirely impossible.

The teen smacked a fist into his palm, grinning deviously. "Sho Minamimoto. Remember the name. I'm the new Game Master."

Sho Minamimoto is a high ranked Reaper who works under Kitaniji's orders. Always enthusiastic about his work, Minamimoto is a hard-working teen despite what his rash looks might imply. He is a total math freak who likes integrating math terms into his speech, and he also likes making junk heaps everywhere, as he sees the world as pure garbage. He excels in all areas of leadership, except for one: cooperating with others.

Neku composed himself, but he was still grabbing his head. "Then you're a Reaper," he said.

Minamimoto nodded, but then his eyes widened after taking another look at them. "Wait. You... You're a Player this time around?" he asked.

"…Who are you looking at, exactly?" Fox asked, crossing his arms.

Minamimoto grabbed the tip of his cap and looked away, showing his teeth with his grin. "Hmph. Now that's a happy miscalculation," he said. Looking extremely excited, he opened his arms up at them. "This brings me one iteration closer to my desired solution!"

Soren sighed. "I'm going to regret asking this, but why are these Game Masters so…insane?" he asked. "Why the need of using analogies in their speech patterns… First it was food analogies, now it's math analogies."

Sho wiped his nose with a thumb. "What is that, you little, weirdly-dressed hectopascal?" he asked. "Can't comprehend my solutions? You're so zetta slow!"

Pichu grimaced. "What does he mean when he says 'zetta'?"

Joshua looked away. "Zetta: a prefix in the metric system that denotes a factor of 10 to the 21st power or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000," he explained. Everyone that wasn't Minamimoto stared at him. "In other words, he's saying that we're extremely slow to understand him."

"Ding-ding!" Sho said. "Good! You know your metric system. I'm flattered!"

"Hee hee..." Joshua giggled. "Day 1, and the GM's already putting in an appearance? Not one for tradition, are you?"

"Tradition?" Sho said, laughing afterwards. "Tradition is garbage!" He smacked a fist into his palm. "CRUNCH!" he said with heavy emphasis. "I'll add it to the heap!"

There was a hurricane of thoughts inside everyone else's minds. "(What a big weirdo,)" Fox thought.

"(Ugh, another Game Master who is so high in the clouds,)" Ness thought.

"(He is just as creepy as Yodai was…)" Pichu thought.

"(Why did my head just hurt?)" Neku thought.

"(Those speech patterns really do throw me off, it's annoying,)" Ike thought.

"(Why do we always attract the crazies in every world we go?)" Chris wondered.

"(I really am tempted to use my wind tome on him,)" Soren thought.

"(Oh, those looks everyone's giving to him… Rich,)" Joshua thought in amusement.

"This is my Game," Sho said. "And I only allow two things. Flawless calculations..." he smiled as he said next, "and beauty!"

Joshua nodded. "I'd hear you were quite the eccentric..." he trailed off.

"Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owner Approach," Sho said as a matter of fact…

…Which wasn't really largely understood. "…What?" everyone but Joshua asked in unison.

The enigmatic teen sighed once more. "He's using a mnemonic for the math term SOH-CAH-TOA," he explained. Ike was at a complete loss, but he felt that everyone else was in the same spot as he was. "Looking further into it, it's the three trigonometric functions and their defining words' first letters put together: Sine, which equals Opposite/Hypotenuse; Cosine, which equals Adjacent/Hypotenuse; and finally Tangent, which equals Opposite/Adjacent. Looking even further into it, it is a play of syllables for the Japanese slang 'sou ka' for the phrase 'sou desu ka,' which translates to 'really…' or 'I see…'"

"…What?" everyone asked again.

"…" Joshua was not amused. "In a few words, he used a complicated math term to simply say 'I see'."

"Oh," everyone said.

"Daaamn! You're good," Sho remarked Joshua, nodding in approval, "but not as good as me. Now, time for a little quiz."

Pichu's eyes were feeling weak and worn out. "I don't like where this is going anymore, you guys…" he muttered.

"How much weight will I let you Players carry in the UG?" Sho asked.

"Pray tell," Joshua said.

Minamimoto opened his arms to them and said with extreme pleasure, "One yoctogram!"

Pichu's eyes became swirls at this point. Concerned, Chris picked him up. "Nice," Joshua said, not feeling good about explaining another term to the others. "That puts us on the atomic level?"

"Precisely!" Sho said, very pleased. "You 000s have no value here. So! Now that I have you rounded up..." He walked away a few steps. Chuckling, he turned around and took out a pale blue megaphone out of nowhere, putting it at maximum volume. "Attention, all yoctograms!" he called out to them, nearly deafening their ears as the sound waves echoed all across the block. "It's X 2 DIE!"

The space distorted once more, signaling a new Noise fight…

The World Ends with You – O-Parts

The 104 Building loomed over the two planes. A pleased Joshua stood in the center of the street along with a serious Soren flipping a few pages of his wind tome. On the lower plane, a wary Neku examined his surroundings along with Ike. Before both parties, a rhino appeared out of thin air and landed hard on the street. The rhino was another corrupted Noise version. It had thick yellow legs and a black upper body that was decorated by demonic symbols that switched blue to red towards the higher ends. The rhino Noise didn't have a normal horn on its muzzle, but rather, it had an absurdly long horn composed of the hellish symbols that compromised a Noise form, making it look all the more menacing. It was called a Dub Rhino.

"Have fun, Neku!" Joshua called over. Neku was losing the count on how many times Joshua was freaking him out. Ike readied Ragnell and prepared to engage the rhino Noise with Neku.

"Hey, bunch of zeros!" Sho called from beyond the planes, sounding giddy. "A friendly tip! Don't ignore the extra digits in this calculation! Ignore them all, and I'll add you to the heap!"

Once the battle started, Soren took his time to figure out what Sho had meant with his analogy. Suddenly, he found some sort of shadow peeking out behind a stop sign at the fight.

As Joshua chuckled and released a set of objects to fall down on the rhino, it wasn't staggered by the attack. The light puck was passed over to Neku, who then used Ice Risers to increase the damage. The rhino roared out in pain as a result.

The shadow behind the stop sign suddenly turned to the rhino Noise and held out a shadowy staff. Soren then saw the rhino Noise being engulfed in a green light that seemingly restored its life. The Branded grunted and pointed at the shy shadow. "That shadow hiding behind that pole is healing this Noise from afar. After it!" Soren said.

Joshua raised an eyebrow at the shadow. "Hmm? Oh, that thing was distracting you," he said, and Soren stared at him. "You know, you shouldn't keep this kind of thing from us. It's rude."

Soren's right eye twitched. "Forget my lack of manners," he said sarcastically. "But just as you'd expect in my world, getting rid of healers is top priority to keep battles from dragging on."

"Can't argue you with that, my fellow partner," Joshua said as he speed dialed and unleashed a pile of objects to fall upon the shadow. The shadow looked up and screeched, lunging its body closer to the fight to avoid being crushed.

It was then that Ike and Soren noticed that the dark shadow wasn't all that dark in color. In front of Soren, there stood a darkened version of Mist. This Mist didn't have irises in her eyes, but she did have a bunch of Noise symbols covering her cheeks and arms. The very image made Ike shudder.

Ike, though, knew exactly who she was, unlike how he thought he didn't have a sister a day before.

"What in the goddess' name have they done to…?!" Ike breathed out, ignoring the rhino slamming its massive horn on him. The mercenary yelled in pain, as the pain itself reached out for Soren on the other plane. "U-ugh!"

"Hey, be careful!" Neku said, casting a rain of stones to fall on the rhino Noise. He then noticed that the same shadow was hiding behind a motorcycle. Grunting, Neku used Ice Risers to impale the shadow from below, pushing it into the fray of battle. It clumsily fell on the street and slowly got up, shaking its head. Or rather, her head. "Defeat the healer first, they say…" Neku muttered, and then he launched himself across the street to unleash a barrage of sideways slicing blows, using the Masamune pin. "Enough!" he yelled, the back of his palm slamming hard against the shadow girl's cheek.

Shockingly enough, the Mist Noise disappeared in static. Neku's feet landed on the street as he blinked in surprise. "Oh, those Clericures don't have big numbers in defense," Sho commented from beyond the planed. "A shame, really. They add up nicely to the healing equation. Too bad they are so frail and thin like 1s are!"

"Then why even bother to… Oh, healing. That explains things," Ike said. However, he grunted as he slammed his sword down on the Dub Rhino's horn. "(Now that I remember Mist… It's even more painful to see her own image corrupted by the Reapers. It's just like those demonic Pikachu that Yodai was using against us.)"

Joshua summoned objects to fall on the Dub Rhino, but then he gasped when the rhino's horn slammed down on him, pushing him several feet away. As his back landed on the floor, he casually got back up to his position. "Alright, I'm gonna make a memo of this animal's horn," Joshua said, forcing a grin. Neku complained, though, since he also felt the brunt of the attack.

As the rhino was sliced brutally by turbulent winds thanks to Soren's wind tome, Ike felt the Fusion pin react. Putting a grip on it, both he and Soren stood next to each other, waiting for the Noise to slam its horn on them. The rhino did as he was predicted to do, and thus it caused Ike's Counter to unleash a violent whirlwind of winds that pushed the rhino high up into the air. The rhino landed hard back on the street, just for Neku and Joshua to follow it up with their Fusion. A rain of junk fell down all over the place, followed by empty cars crushing the rhino.

The rhino roared loudly as it began to shoot bright lights from its body. Within an explosion, the background became a fuzzy mess of static before it calmed down. The battle had been won. "That was quick," said a pleased Joshua with an all-knowing smile.

From the top floor of the 104 Building, the three grading Reapers nodded, slapping a B rank on the group's performance. "Man, it's like these guys don't like putting too much work on their battles," the first Reaper said.

"Give it some time," the second Reaper said. "They need to get better, eventually."

"I root the underdogs, anyway," the third Reaper said just before the planes merged back together…

The World Ends with You - Detonation

After the dreadful battle with the rhino Noise and the Mist doppelganger, the fighting Players appeared right back in front of the 104 Building, shocking the two groups of partners. An amused Joshua played with a strand of his hair as he looked around for Minamimoto. The Game Master for the week was gone from sight, except for the hideous junk heap in front of the building. "Whew..." Joshua sighed. "Well, so much for Day 1."

As Neku pondered why Sho knew him, the others turned to Ike and Soren. The mercenary looked down at his feet, recalling the nightmarish Noise form of his young sister. "Those bastards…" Ike trailed off. "How can they even go to such lengths to make us to lose it in these Noise battles?"

"Quite disturbing, I should say…" Soren commented. "Despite the fact we recovered most of our memories as an exchange for clearing the previous week, they still want us to face the memories that can spell doom on us in more than one way. Absurd."

They could tell that the Noise fight had its surprises. After Ike told them that they had used Mist's image, they frowned. Chris grimaced, feeling goosebumps. "There's more to come, isn't there…" he muttered.

Fox grunted. "We can put up a fight against their monstrosities," he said. "Anybody they try to create is just a copy. Let's not hesitate if they do something else."

Ness nodded. "Let's not get into a traumatic state, shall we?" he said.

Joshua chuckled as he faced them all. "Rather fascinating, wasn't he?" he asked, referring to Sho. Neku and the others could only stare at him in silence, feeling that Sho was a big weirdo. "At least we won't be too bored this week, hmm?"

"Says you," Ness said. "That Sho guy just doesn't give me a good vibe."

"Oh well," Joshua said, frowning.

Neku narrowed his eyes at Joshua in such a way nobody could tell. "(This kid knows me, too...)" he thought. "(There's something seriously not right about him.)"

Joshua looked at his partner. "I wonder what the little math fetishist will think up for tomorrow," he said with a grin. "Exciting times, huh, Neku?"

"(Hmph. He's shady... Still, 'trust your partner,' right? I need him if I'm gonna survive the UG - if I'm gonna WIN. Better get used to it.)"

The enigmatic teen nodded. "Well, the eight of us should be able to cruise right through this week - between your psychs, my inspired brilliance, our partners' incredible abilities, and our excellent teamwork. Hee hee..."

Some of the group did a collective shrug as Neku thought, "(Ugh, I'll never get used to this! But I'll deal with the devil if that's what it takes. ...This time's for keeps. Hang in there, Shiki.)" He looked at the Smashers, hiding a small grin. "(These guys hopefully will keep my sanity around Joshua.)"

Their eyes went wide for a moment, and then they all fainted on the street. A day quickly passed by without their consent…

Joshua's Day 2 - Reapers

Scramble Crossing

The group grunted and grumbled things as the sun's rays dawned upon their faces. When they noticed several people walking to their sides, they rose up from the street and looked around. Neku placed a hand on his head. "Nngh... Where...?"

"The Scramble Crossing," Pichu said. "We're here again…"

"If only we were alive, I wouldn't complain about appearing here so many times," Ness said. He noticed that Joshua wasn't with them. "…Neku, don't panic, but Joshua isn't here."

Neku actually looked relieved. "And the bad news?" he asked.

"Neku, don't make that look…" Chris said. "You need Joshua against your will to win the Game with us."

"Ugh," Neku muttered as he started looking around for his partner. Blinking, he found Joshua standing several feet away from them, talking on his phone. They didn't see his eyes were fully open as he looked away from them.

"Are we still on track with the goods?" Joshua asked to the phone. "What? You already got them in!?"

Fox rolled his eyes. "He's just there, talking to his phone…" he trailed off.

Everyone quickly realized that the simple event was actually a big one considering the dead really had no way of calling to anybody as long as they were Players. Well, everyone who wasn't Ike and Soren.

"Wait a minute... How did he place a call!?" Neku asked in shock.

"How could he even do that?" Ness asked. "More importantly, who's he talking to at this time of the day?"

They overheard the teen saying, "The scramble... Which areas? ...Sealed? In that case... ...and the time limit at... And? Anything else?"

Fox narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious at Joshua. "Just what is he exactly doing?" he asked. "What was that about areas being sealed?"

"You don't think that…he's reporting in to the Reapers?" Ness wondered.

Pichu shook his head. "Oh, please! You're kidding me!" he said. "We went through this with Shiki already! We can't really assume Joshua is really backstabbing us!"

"But the facts are pretty convincing now," Fox said. "Shiki revealed why she was staring at her phone so many times. Joshua…" he frowned, "Joshua is not normal. At all. He's been giving me the creeps just as much as he's done to Neku."

"Oh, good. You can tell," Neku said, not sounding sarcastic. He turned back to Joshua. "As much as I'd love to ditch his ass, I can't clear the mission without him."

"…Wait, we're going to scan his mind again?" Ike asked, seeing as Neku was taking out his Player Pin. "Isn't it…dangerous to do that on him? Don't you remember the shock we got out of nowhere from yesterday?"

"That makes Joshua even more mysterious," Chris admitted. "Why can we see a scene play out in our minds just trying to read his empty thoughts?"

"Exactly," Neku agreed. "It was Udagawa Street… I know that place very well myself."

Soren asked, "I thought you didn't know much about Shibuya."

"Udagawa is part of Shibuya," Neku pointed out. "It's just way out there from the area. Shibuya is kind of unknown to me. I never got to walk too much across the scramble to care. That should explain why I'm unfamiliar with the popular spots a lot of people go to…" He clutched his Player Pin. "Guys, let's give it another go. Joshua has to spill the beans about what he's trying to hide. I know he's hiding something…"

Unsure about scanning Joshua's mind, the others used their Player Pins to direct their attention to the busy person.

…

The same scene from yesterday played out in their minds once more. They saw against their will the setting from before: a lonely district with tons of ads stuck to the walls, alongside a wall decorated with stylish graffiti. The wall in question had in the middle an image of some sort of cat head with bat wings to the sides and two gloved hands above…

Then, everything went dark for a moment, as they witnessed a Player Pin dropping down to the floor… The pin, though, did not land on the street. Instead, it landed on top of a fainted person lying down lifelessly. When they noticed who the person was, they gasped.

It was Neku himself. He was unconscious right in front of the wall with graffiti, and nobody else saw the weird occurrence. The Player Pin fell on his shirt's collar, but he never picked it up himself…

A flash of light forced them out from Joshua's thoughts, and they grabbed their heads in pain. It felt like they had gotten a sudden headache. Neku was the one who had the biggest headache.

"G-god…" Fox grunted, a hand over the right side of his head. "There…there was more in there this time…"

"I…I saw Neku passed out on the floor…" Ness muttered, taking off his cap to rub his head. "…W-why…why did we see that?"

"That was... me?" Neku wondered, gritting his teeth. "Why was I passed out in Udagawa?"

"More importantly…" Soren trailed off, the headache nagging him, "…why would a scene like that be inside Joshua's mind? Normally, a memory like that should be with you, Neku…"

Neku tried to fight the headache, but he spoke to them nonetheless. "That was Udagawa Street…" he trailed off, aching in pain. "I think…that's the place where I died…"

Chris was rubbing his head as calmly as possible. "You died…there?" he asked.

Everyone felt that the headaches were going away as some time passed while Neku thought about his death. "…I think so…" Neku said, standing straight. His right eye was still closed. "But that memory… Since Joshua somehow has it with him…it probably means that…that he saw me die…"

Pichu shook his head to ease the pain a bit. "Joshua saw you die?" he wondered. "Are you sure? Are you going to ask him?" he asked, his ears drooping. "…Did Joshua do just that, though?"

Neku blinked and looked over his shoulder at Joshua, the latter continuing talking on the phone, unaware that his mind had been scanned. "Probably he didn't just watch…" Neku remained silent, trying to set his thoughts back into place.

The vulpine slowly picked the headphones-wearing teen's thoughts. "You're not thinking that…" Fox looked at Joshua, "he killed you, are you?"

"I can't just ask him that," Neku said, nodding at Fox's guess. "If that sparks some huge fight, I'm screwed. We need to work together to clear these missions. I can't afford to risk it," he explained, and everyone nodded. They felt like they knew Joshua completely, and he was a guy who didn't like being nagged at when he himself was nagging everyone with his peculiar attitude. "Still...he knows something."

Around that time, Neku's phoned beeped loudly. "And there's the mission of the day," Ness said, looking bored beyond belief.

"Hmm?" Joshua was now walking back to them, looking blank and oblivious to their discussion. "Was that the mission, Neku?" he asked.

Neku regained his senses and turned to Joshua. "What? Oh... Yeah. (For now, I can only watch and wait.) The mission says to-"

Joshua interrupted Neku by chuckling loudly. Soren knew this wasn't going to end well. "Say, Neku, everyone. I have a little proposal."

"A proposal?" Pichu wondered, cocking his head to the side.

"Let's play hooky today," Joshua said. "Forget about the mission."

Joshua's outrageous suggestion sparked loud, negative responses from everyone. "What!? Are you crazy?" Neku asked. "If we don't do this, we get erased!"

Joshua sighed, sheathing his hands in his pockets. "But there's someplace I reeeally want to go," he said. "Let the other Players take care of the mission. It's not as if we have to do everything."

Fox looked pissed. "Sorry, but we can't just let everyone else do the job while we're doing nothing. I hate staying put for no real reason," he said. "I believe we have the means to finish today's mission."

The ambiguous teen looked a bit peeved, even though his eyes looked dull. "And I'm sorry myself, Fox, but there's a reason why I want to play hooky," he said. The two locked eyes and Chris hoped to dear god that Fox wouldn't throw a punch. "I'm sure the other Players are competent enough to take care of this distraction for us. Let's enjoy our time a bit, hmm?"

Fox looked away. "I can't afford to screw around on this!" Neku vehemently said, stepping forward. "I'm not letting anything jeopardize this Game." He wanted to add, "not even you," but he didn't want to piss Joshua off.

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't get so wound up, Neku," he said. "It's only Day 2! Enjoy it while it's still easy."

Neku grunted. "I'm not just playing this for me anymore!" he said, and Joshua raised an eyebrow. "Her life is on the line, too."

Ike looked down at the street. "So much happened after we supposedly won the Game, Joshua…" he trailed off. The silver-haired teen stared at the mercenary. "Let us tell you so that you can understand what we're going through…"

Flashback

Dear God's Pad

The World Ends with You – Amnesia

It was so bright. Their eyes were blinded by blinding lights that came down from high above from the very heavens. Beyond the horizon, there were three looming towers obscured by a misty light. Below their feet, a dark floor shone with the reflection of the intense light that engulfed the entire space. They weren't under the station anymore. They were now standing in the very place where souls were judged to go back to the world of the living. Their souls were now being judged. The ten Players tried to ward off the blinding lights with their hands.

Neku shielded his eyes, wincing under his right hand. "Where are we?" he asked.

Shiki grimaced, using her hat to make some shade. "It's too bright... I can't see a thing," she said.

"Is this the place?" Ike asked, squinting his eyes. "It's so hard to see with all this light…"

"Well… This better not be heaven," Ness commented, his eyes narrow. "The UG felt like hell, so… No, this should be a big bad joke from their part."

Rhyme was getting a bit used to the light that came from high above. The sky was completely white, yet it felt mystical to her. "I don't think this place is heaven, everyone," she said. "Somehow, it feels a little dull to me."

"Damn… Then I want to see a place I recognize," Fox said, seemingly forgetting about apologizing to Chris. He looked at the three towers in the distance. "Last time I checked, I didn't die in a place like this."

Shiki looked confused at the situation as she looked around with the rest. With Pichu on her right shoulder, she felt a little better. "So... Are we...alive again?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," a deep voice spoke from behind. "Not yet, anyway."

Beat assumed a fighting stance as many of them got in position, though Chris, Pichu, Rhyme, and Shiki stepped back. "Who's there!?" Beat asked, stepping forward.

Megumi walked out from the blinding light beyond their line of sight. They could only blink as he made his appearance present to the Players. "Hello, and congratulations," he greeted, clapping three times in a slow fashion. "You all are victors. How did you find our Game? Enjoyable?"

Pichu knew this person was a Reaper of a high rank. Gulping, he asked, "W-who are you?"

"Megumi Kitaniji," Megumi said. "Conductor of the Game, and loyal servant to the Composer."

"Conductor?" Soren wondered, looking suspicious. "Are you the head of the Reapers' Game?"

"Not necessarily," Megumi said with a grin. "I act as a vice-president of sorts to the Composer, the true head of the Reapers' Game. I only make his voice known, seeing as he is a very busy person. What he decrees goes, period," the Conductor explained. "I do have some control over the Game, but it only goes so far… Nonetheless, I shall be happy to inform you of your heroic deeds to win this week's Game."

Ness smiled wide as the others looked satisfied. "Alright!" he said. "This is the part where we go back to our lives!"

"About time, yo!" Beat rejoiced. "Time to ditch the dead and go back to live our precious, rad lives!"

As everyone celebrated the bit of news and Megumi watched them from a distance, Rhyme looked down at her feet and then pulled Fox's hand. "You need to continue with your apology," she said, and the vulpine gasped. The excitement died out soon after. "I get the feeling that you need to patch things up before you go back to live."

"W-what?" Fox said, looking at Chris. The teen grimaced and moved his eyes away from his gaze. "C-can't we wait? We're just about to…"

The young blond was starting to get sick of the older male fidgeting the apology scene that she finally snapped in complete and utter annoyance. In a scolding voice, Rhyme said. "Fox!" The Star Fox Leader looked shocked, and so did Beat. "You're starting to annoy me with you putting this off so many times! I know so well that deep down you're very, very sorry about snapping out on Chris!"

Fox mentally screamed, and Chris blinked thrice at the statement. "L-look, Rhyme…" Fox trailed off, but then Rhyme did a small jump to grab his neck scarf to pull his head to her eye level. "G-gah!"

"Apologize! Now!" she said. The others were a bit terrified of her as she dragged the bewildered young adult to Chris's side. Beat shuddered as she let go of Fox's scarf. "This is the moment I've been waiting for ever since I spoke to you personally! Don't you screw this up now, you hear me?"

Fox looked down at her, his irises shrunken with a hint of fear.

"…Whew!" Rhyme sighed out, satisfied of her deed. "Oh, that felt so good to let everything out of my system!" She then blushed a bit and folded her arms in front of her. "Everyone, don't be surprised. I won't snap out like that ever again…unless I'm tempted to." For a brief moment, Fox had lost all confidence as a man.

"…" Forgetting about Rhyme's scary outburst, Chris stared at Fox. "So…you want to apologize to me?" he asked, and Fox focused back on his partner. Chris clutched his arms, embracing himself a bit. "I'm not sure how I feel about that…"

"I…" Fox looked worried, stepping forward. "Look, Chris, I…I really want to…I really want to apologize for being such a douche to you." Rhyme wasn't so satisfied with his statement, so she patted his back hard once. "I really lost it because I was still perturbed of the fact that we were playing a game to win back our lives. I think I was…secretly storing all the frustration in me for dealing with this situation…even when we reunited back during the first day."

Chris's look was stiff. "…You were purposely bottling it all up until someone made you snap?" he asked. At this, the vulpine closed his eyes in shame. "Fox, I-I can't believe you! And here I thought that you weren't the kind of people who made such awful mistakes!"

"Y-yeah… I'm…" Fox looked back at Rhyme, and she nodded at him. "…I'm one of those people…"

The teen blinked twice. "You're admitting that?" he asked.

"…" Fox looked serious and stared back at him. "Yeah, I am!" he said. "You know, actually! I've done a lot of mistakes in the past! Bad decisions that keep screwing me over in the long run because I wasn't thinking straight, like not having any money to pay for the Great Fox's maintenance, for example!" He wasn't too proud of being broke. "And this little problem I made up, not you…is something that I also regret…" he trailed off, his ears drooping a bit. He sighed and said, "I'm not particularly proud of what I did to you… I nearly broke you nose over nothing, really…"

Chris silenced a small sniff. "F-Fox…"

"It's…this kind of problem that makes me think things over so many times…because I never thought about the consequences, only thinking that I was going to be okay alone on my own," Fox muttered, feeling guilty. "…I don't really deserve to be a fraternal older brother to you, Chris… It'll only hurt you to have someone like me around to support you."

The teen looked away, shaking his head. "…You thought that I didn't take that into consideration?" he asked, and Fox looked shocked at him. "I knew that it was going to be hard to…to ask you that suggestion. After all, I know that you didn't have a good upbringing because your dad is…"

Chris stopped talking, knowing full well that James McCloud was alive and kicking. It didn't feel right to just…

But then, he got fed up by keeping the secret from Fox. In fact, a sudden gush of frustration came in once he thought back about James. It was about time for Chris to take his own decisions, he thought, and knowing Fox's past made him realize something crucial: James McCloud has been the worst example of a role model to ever conceive. If Chris wanted to establish something quickly, it was to tell Fox about it. However, he debated the idea of telling Fox about Wolf's dark secret… Ultimately, he chose to casually say the truth about James. He wasn't all that ready to have a spatial thug slit his throat in his sleep.

"…is totally alive and watching you from afar!" Chris suddenly said.

Fox's jaw dropped. "W-what did you say?" he asked. "H-hey, why are yo-"

Chris stepped forward. "Fox, talking to you right now made me realize that I shouldn't keep this secret!" he said. The others exchanged confused glances. "The truth is that your dad is not dead! He was there in Peppita's world when you left me alone at the plaza! He showed up to tell me everything!"

The vulpine was completely shocked and at a loss of words. "C-Chris, I can't…"

"No! You listen to me! I'm not crazy!" Chris said. "James is back in your world! He ended up in Peppita's world because of a worm hole took him there for some odd convenience! The reason why he didn't come back to you when he went to face Andross was because he wanted to give you a push to take over Star Fox!" He sighed loudly, but he wasn't done yet. "He told me to keep it a secret, but I'm done with it! After hearing you admit your own faults, I can only blame James for doing bad parenting!"

"B-bad parenting?" Fox shook his head. "Chris, really, I think you a-"

"For goodness' sake, Fox, the man just simply feigned being dead so that you could take over his spot earlier than expected instead of just telling you to do it himself!" Chris interrupted, and Fox's shocked look remained intact. Seeing his partner's confused look, Chris looked worried and said, "…Don't you trust me?"

Fox had to admit that the conversation had gone a little bit off-the-hook once Chris brought the topic about the vulpine's supposedly-dead father, but the comedy died out when Chris asked him about trust. "…I…I…" Rhyme intentionally banged a fist on his back. "Oww! That hurt!"

"Ahem," Rhyme simply coughed.

"I swear, I don't like being bossed around by little…" Fox groaned and looked back at Chris. "…I…I trust you," he said. "…Even though I really find it hard to believe that…my father is alive…"

Chris looked down. "…Yet…I feel a lot of pity for you, Fox," he said, and the young adult went back to staring. "Maybe it was because your father didn't properly raise you, but…I know you're too smart to make these horrible mistakes."

Fox sighed, and then he nodded. "I know that…" he muttered.

"…" Chris, for the first time in a while, forced a smile to Fox. "So…do you want to be friends with me again?"

The vulpine looked up and forced a small grin. "I guess...if you want to," he said.

"No, it's not if I want to," Chris said. "I don't want to force people. It's only fair if the two of us really want to be friends again. I don't want to chain you to something you're against."

"I-it's okay, really," Fox said nodding. "It's fine by me, Chris…"

"…Let's start from zero, then," the teen proposed, taking Fox off-guard. "Let's make a new start to make things right this time. Until then…I don't want to hear you agree to be my big brother."

Fox remembered that he had scoffed at Chris at the idea of being a big brother figure to him, and he lamented the memory so much that it hurt him. "…Okay, it's a done deal," Fox said, smiling a bit. "I want to sort out my thoughts before I agree to that."

Chris smiled. "Does that mean you'll really become a big brother to me someday?"

"Yup," Fox said, but then he gasped when Chris lunged at him with open arms. Stepping back and keeping himself from falling back on Rhyme, the vulpine noticed that the teen was hugging him tightly. "H-huh?"

"Thank you…" Chris muttered behind Fox's head. "I really wanted to talk to you in friendly terms again… It was hurting me so badly…"

"…" Fox chuckled and patted the teen's back. "Me too, Chris… Me too…" He mentally grimaced after hearing the truth about his father's fate. Fox made a crucial, mental note about asking Chris for more details about his claims. It all sounded too sudden…

Content with the development, the others exchanged some bright looks – sans Soren and Neku – as Rhyme felt content with the scene. Once the two reformed Smashers broke out from their warm hug, the group turned to face Megumi. "That was a moving scene," Megumi said. "There is a bit of humanity in all of us, no matter how we look or where we came from."

Ike blinked. "Wait, so you know that we aren't from…"

"Yes, I know that very well," Megumi said. "Regardless, you took a part in this. Whoever ends up in the Reapers' Game has the full authority to get what they want to get." He cleared his throat as everyone waited for him to get on with it. "Now then, regarding your fates... As per the Composer's mandate, the number of Players to be given new life this round is... One."

"…"

The calm silence everyone gave the Conductor was just about to break in half in the most violent way possible. Hearing the simple statement was all it took for them to fall silent, not moving an inch from their spots. Only one of them was allowed to go back…while the others were left behind at the Reapers' mercy.

"…What," Ness dully asked, his eyes blinking many times.

Fox continued staring until he gathered as much air as possible in his lungs, his face going into an all-out angered glare. "Oh, YOU ARE SERIOUSLY NOT TRYING TO PISS ME OFF!" he yelled, though Megumi looked amused at his outburst. "I DIDN'T FIGHT FOR MY LIFE FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK JUST TO HEAR THAT ONLY ONE OF US GETS TO GO! ALSO, I JUST HAD A HEART-TO-HEART TALK WITH CHRIS, AND YOU GO AHEAD AND RUIN IT BY SAYING THAT CRAZY SHIT ON OUR FACES?! THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, REAPERS?! DO YOU LIKE MAKING PEOPLE SUFFER OR WHAT?! IT'S PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT JUST MAKES ME BUST HEADS OPEN AND RIP INTESTINES QUICKLY WITH MY FANGS!"

Chris could only piss himself after seeing his partner completely bonkers. "F-Fox, you need to calm down before doing anything rash!" Chris said, keeping a safe distance from him.

Fox, surprisingly, smiled at Chris. "Don't worry, Chris," he said, his voice sounding a bit too serene. "I'm quite alright. I'm just letting it all out." Once he faced Megumi, Fox went back to his full-rage mode. "YOU REAPERS KEEP GIVING US THIS SHIT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT MAKES ME FURIOUS! OUTRAGED…AND SICK WITH ANGER! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN YOUR HEADS TO TOY AROUND WITH US LIKE THAT?! I DEMAND A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW BEFORE I FREAKING BREAK THOSE GLASSES OF YOURS!" He panted heavily; so loudly that the other Players could hear his voice echoing in the distance. "FUCK THIS SHIT, FUCK THESE RULES, AND FUCK YOU ALL!"

Neku wasn't particularly thrilled after hearing Fox complaining like never before. Admittedly, he wanted to do the same, but not as much in the same anger scale. "(Geez, tell us how you really feel,)" he thought.

Amidst the silence, someone spoke. "…Nice," Soren suddenly said. "Insult the very person who can potentially turn us to dust. Real smart there, genius."

"Soren, shut up!" Fox managed to yell. "You're not helping me feel any better, or any of us for that matter!"

"Good, because I wasn't even trying," said Soren. "I was expecting them to pull out something like this."

Shiki tried to forget the vulpine's outburst, seeing as Megumi didn't say a thing. The Conductor was calmly staring at them with a pleased grin. "About…one of us only going back…" she trailed off. "That's...that's cruel! I thought everyone got to come back!"

Megumi fixed his glasses. "Any and all specifics are decided by the Composer. That is His exclusive and incontrovertible right," he informed.

Shiki looked angry. "Why do you think we came this far!? To live again! Every last one of us wanted to come back alive!" she yelled, everyone else nodding. "And you drop the bomb now? This is really, really unfair!"

"Like I said before," Megumi said, his dark glasses shining a bit, "the Composer's mandate is absolute. I do not have the right to change the reward. Every Player must follow the rules."

Beat swung his right arm to the side. "That's sick, yo!" he complained. "Is it always like this all the frickin' time?!"

"Sometimes," Megumi said. "I don't know the reasons behind this week's reward. I was only instructed to grant the lucky Player their pass to go back to life."

Soren closed his eyes. "If we are to assume we pick someone from our group…" he trailed off, and one by one his group looked at him, "…what would happen to the others?"

"Soren!" Ike said.

"Yes, Ike," Soren said, looking up at his leader. "I can't start an argument with him if he's not in charge of the situation. As you've heard, the Composer is the higher up who decides what happens in the Game. He, as the Conductor, only acts as a voice. I have a bad feeling, but…" he stared at Megumi, "would it be possible to convince the Composer from changing his mind?"

"Negative," Megumi said, shaking his head. "He is very busy with other matters at the moment, and he doesn't want any of us below his rank to keep you waiting to reach a decision. The Reapers' Game runs forever…" Megumi chuckled for five seconds, holding out his hand. "Besides, none of you get to pick who gets to live."

The fact infuriated Fox, but Chris stepped forward to keep his partner from screaming to the heavens. "What? We don't get to pick who?" Chris asked.

"No. During your Noise fights, we have tallied the points you have accumulated over the long week," Megumi explained. "The hour of reckoning draws near. Your points have been tallied, and the Player to be reborn decided."

Pichu gulped. "Then who gets to be reborn?" he asked.

Megumi didn't fix his gaze on a single Player. As the ten Players had mixed feelings from being anxious to being scared, the Conductor finally fixed his gaze on somebody. "Congratulations... Shiki Misaki."

Shiki immediately gasped as everyone else turned to her. "M-me!?" she asked in surprise. "But... I can't... I'm not going back alone - I can't! It's unfair! And why me!?"

"We grade Players according to their performance during the missions. You scored the highest."

The seamstress disagreed. She felt that the others were going to be jealous of her. Not wanting them to think of her that way, Shiki shook her head. "But that can't be right! Neku is way better with psychs than me! The others are just as good as he is, and all I've been doing so many times during the week was mop around… And the riddles, they solved most of those, too. One of them should be the one to go back!"

Rhyme looked confused. "Just how do the Reapers grade Players?" she asked. "I…I don't want to sound rude to Shiki, but… No, wait, I can't say that," she said. "She must've done something so special that helped her to grade the highest from all of us. What was that?"

"Unfortunately, even I can't say that," Megumi said.

Neku knew that the gravity of the issue was against them. As he heard some of his team grunting, he said, "If only one of us gets a second chance...what happens to the ones left behind?"

Megumi looked away from them. "If you still cling to life, you may reenter the Game. If you lean toward destruction, you may join our ranks as a Reaper. Otherwise, should you welcome oblivion, erasure is also an option."

Ness considered the options. "Well, that…bit about becoming a Reaper is totally out of the question," he said. "All of us want to be reborn again."

"But that means we'll have to go through a second week of the Game," Ike said. "Another week full of dangers…"

Fox grunted, shaking a fist to his side. "If this can't be done another way…then…" he sighed, calming down a bit, "let's take that offer…"

Rhyme sighed as well. "It's so frustrating, but nothing else can be done to remedy this," she said. "And…I guess Shiki deserves to get the prize."

As Shiki blinked in surprise, she saw everyone nodding. Neku then turned to face her. "Shiki... You go on ahead," he said.

"No way!" Shiki said.

"Just go!" Neku said, looking serious. "Trust me."

Shiki was against the idea. "I'm not leaving without everyone, Neku!" She got serious. "I'll enter the Game again. Let someone el-"

"Out of the question," Megumi interrupted. "As I mentioned a moment ago, this was decided by the Composer Himself. Your wishes don't mean a damn."

Hearing the saddening fact, Shiki looked down at her feet, taking out Mr. Mew to get confidence. "No way..."

Ness walked to her side. "Shiki, it can't be changed," he said. "You should go back while we stay behind."

Neku nodded. "Don't worry about us," he said.

Shiki started shedding tears, not content with the decision. "But Neku-"

"Didn't you swear you'd go back and see Eri again?"

She felt silent, recalling how bad Eri looked like without her. Deep down, Shiki wanted to come back to Eri and tell her everything she had gone through. But it wasn't to her that she was leaving a large amount of friends behind to fight in the Game.

"I still don't even know how I died," Neku told her. "I don't know if I have anything to go back to. You do, Shiki."

"Neku..."

Pichu started whimpering, nudging his cheek against her face. "S-Shiki, just go," he said. "You wanted to go back to Eri so badly… It's just right for you to take this chance! None of us really have a good reason to go back!"

"…But we do," Chris said.

Shiki nodded. "Neku…just might not have a reason…but everyone else does!" she said, wiping a tear away. "You guys need to go back to your home and find out whatever happened to that mansion place. Rhyme wants to find her dream. Beat surely wants to…" She trailed off when she noticed the painful expression on Beat's face. "…Beat?"

The rest turned to Beat. He made a fist to his side as he seemed to be crying. "Huh? Beat?" Rhyme called out to his partner. "W-why are you…crying?"

Beat gasped and quickly wiped his tears away with an arm. "N-nothin'," he said. "I was gettin' in the moment…"

"…Okay," Shiki said, forcing a smile. "I always thought you were a bit too sentimental."

"(Ugh…)" Beat thought to himself as the focus went over to Shiki. "(I can't let her go through dis again! She's suffered enough! These Reapers…they're the worst! I don't care what it takes for me to do it… I want to find a way to make her go back!)"

Neku spoke to Shiki once more. "You're not gonna start slipping back now, are you?" he asked, to which Shiki looked confused. "Back to the old Shiki."

Shiki shook her head in a shy fashion. "N-no..." She sighed, forcing a smile to his partner as he truthfully smiled back to her. "I'm so sorry, Neku," she said, as Pichu giggled and patted the side of her head. "Thank you. I'll go back - back to the real me."

Pleased with her response, Neku nodded. "There you go."

The seamstress eyed the others as she set a reluctant Pichu back to the floor. "I'll be waiting for you - every day, in front of Hachiko...till you come back," she told the group, as many of them smiled warmly at her. She gasped once Pichu jumped to her leg, hugging it tightly. Chris started to sniff and went over to hug her as well, dragging a reluctant Fox with him. Ike chuckled and joined the group hug, but Soren remained behind. Ness and Rhyme then joined in, leaving a whimpering Beat behind.

As Neku watched and chuckled seeing Shiki hugging them all, he said, "I'll see you there soon. That's a promise."

Megumi started to get impatient as they kept hugging the seamstress. "Finished your goodbyes, then?" he asked, though his question was a rhetorical one.

A flash of light suddenly shone down on them, and Shiki felt her body being taken away. Everyone quickly backed away from her, spotting glittering sparks of light floating up around her. "Neku! Everyone!" she yelled, only for another flash of light to make her feel strange. "Once you see the real me, will we still be friends?" she asked.

"Count on it," Neku said. "You'll always be Shiki."

"Besides!" Pichu piped up, being picked up by Chris. Both of them were shedding tears and on the verge of crying. "I told you I have a thing for girls with glasses!"

Shiki laughed for a bit as she clutched a hand over her chest. Gasping, she looked down and felt the floor no more. Her feet were floating in the midair, and she was progressively rising up. Spotting Neku stretching out his hand to her, she cried a few tears and smiled, trying to touch the tip of his fingers with her hand once more. Then, out of nowhere, Pichu climbed Neku's arm and tried to touch her hand…

But then, in a flash, Shiki was gone…

Shiki left your team…

As they looked up in the spot where Shiki had disappeared, Ness looked up at Ike. "She deserved this more than we did," he said. "She suffered through so much during the week…"

"Yeah…" Neku said. "The Reapers caused her to fall into deep end because of her issues with Eri… She felt lost." He smiled and said, "Now she gets to fix things up."

Chris wiped some tears away and then looked ill. "Uh… Wait," he began, "…isn't it going to be weird that she'll just appear out of nowhere when everyone's thinking that she's dead?"

"…Oh, crud," Ike said.

"Relax," Megumi said. "She has been taken back in time before the moment that made her decide her fate. In other words, the day where everything changed for her is being rewritten for greater good. She also remembers everything about the Reapers' Game, but she can't simply blurt out the fact to anybody."

Pichu sighed. "Thank goodness…" he trailed off.

"And now it's your turn, Players," Megumi said. "You seem to have your mind made up."

Neku nodded, the others bracing themselves for their second round. "Damn straight," Neku said. "I'll play your Game again."

"…But not me."

Everyone in the vicinity of the weird space turned to Beat, looking down at the floor. "Beat?" Rhyme was shocked. "Beat, what did you say just now?"

"I ain't going back…" Beat said. He grunted loudly and pointed at Megumi. "I had enough of this crap, yo! I can't see Rhyme takin' another go at this!"

Soren furrowed his brow and stared at the punk. "Why is it that you need to ruin your only way to be reborn like this? I can't fathom your reasoning," he said.

"Screw that!" Beat complained. "Rhyme… Trust me in this. You can't go back to the Game. I'm gonna put you back to your old life myself, whatever it takes!"

Rhyme was confused at the claim. "Beat, I… I dunno why you're acting like this so suddenly," she said. "In fact…now thinking back…you acted so overprotective for me during the whole week ever since we met. At first I thought you were being a nice person despite your looks, but…" She felt an odd sense of nostalgia. "…I'm not a good person for you to get so worked up. I know we're partners. Is that your whole reason for being…you?"

"You don't understand!" Beat said, suddenly sniffing. "You're…very special to me, but I can't tell you that just yet! You need to leave me behind, too! You got so much to live for!"

"Well…" Rhyme was at a loss of words as everyone stared. "Sure, I said that I wanted to make dreams…"

Ike said, "Beat, you need to calm down. We're probably going to get lucky this week by being reborn again. Isn't that right, Megumi?"

Megumi rubbed his chin. "The Composer might change his mind and let you all go back to being alive all at once in the next week," he said. "Don't take my word for it. Frankly speaking, I hope I can convince him. It gets old to have the same reward…"

"No," Beat said, and everyone in his team looked bewildered. "I want to make sure she gets back home, no matter what it takes!" He closed his eyes as he recalled the options he had. "Even…even I'll turn into a Reaper for her sake!"

"What?!" everyone asked.

Megumi chuckled. "That option is within my jurisdiction, though," he said. "Throwing your life away to make someone else get their life back… Understood." He nodded as he said, "The Reapers welcome you to our side."

The other Players were fully against the punk's decision. "H-hey, this isn't really good!" Chris protested. "Beat, you can't be serious abo-"

"Shut up and let me do my stuff, yo!" Beat shot back, gritting his teeth. "It's for her sake!"

Rhyme looked angry at him. "Beat, stop it!" she said. "I don't mind being put in another week. I know now that you appreciate me for…a reason you don't want to say, but this is just too much for me to just simply allow!" She grabbed his right hand with both hands. "Listen to me, Beat!"

Megumi fixed his glasses. "Sadly, there is a small inconvenience you have to live with during your job as a Reaper…"

Beat was completely trying to ignore the protests from his partner. "I don't care what it is," he said. "As long as Rhyme can go back to Shibuya…I'll put up with it."

"Beat!" Rhyme started to cry out to him, pulling his arm many times. "I can't let yo-"

"Nice," Megumi said, and then he held out his hand to Rhyme's direction. "You have assured a way for her to go back to the RG. Unfortunately, to be sure that you are going to be a good, hard-working Reaper…you need an incentive that'll remind you of your goal."

Beat stiffed his look. The young blond looked at the Conductor. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"My little girl," Megumi began as his hand started to glow in a red aura, "you will become that incentive."

"!"

Rhyme was completely dumbfounded, but she didn't react in time to defend herself of what was coming to her. Beat immediately gasped as a red lightning bolt came out from Megumi's open palm, striking Rhyme down to the floor. The young blond screamed in pain as her very form shone brightly, blinding their vision. "RHYMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Beat screamed out as he dove into the light, trying to get a hold of his suffering partner.

The very person that had helped him with his issues being turned into a pin made Fox's blood boil. "You BASTARD!" Fox yelled to Megumi. "What have you done to her?!"

Before anything else could happen, the light on the floor dimmed down until it disappeared. The Players looked down; spotting Beat sprawled on the spot where Rhyme had fallen… But Rhyme wasn't there anymore.

In her spot, there lied down a pin… It was a black pin with a white image of some sort of little animal stretching out its Noise-like wings to the sides. When Beat saw the pin, he could only freeze and stare down at it. "R-Rhyme!" Pichu said.

Rhyme left your team…

"…Ugh…" Beat took the pin, standing back up. "What…what did you do?!"

"Relax," Megumi said, chuckling. "She has been turned into that pin as your entry fee of sorts. During this week, you'll work as a Reaper. Depending on how well you do your line, she will return to the RG at the end of the week. Is this a deal you'll take?" he asked as he held out his hand. The others stepped back, trying to defend themselves from any bolts of lightning.

"…" Beat put a grip on the pin and started walking to Megumi's side, to the overall shock of his team. "Yeah… I agree…if you keep your fo'it."

"Beat, you dumbass!" Neku protested, but the punk was told to keep walking away from the scene. As he disappeared from sight, Neku continued shouting, "Are you outta your mind?! Come back here! You can't trust these Reapers that easily!"

"He's…gone…" Chris muttered, seeing Beat's back vanishing from sight…

Beat left your team…

"Damn!" Fox said, kicking the air once. "I can't believe this is happening!"

"You tell me," Ness said, looking angry at Megumi. "You're crippling us one by one! Shiki's gone, Rhyme…got turned into a stinky pin, and Beat now is a Reaper!" He frowned. "Oh god, Beat's a Reaper now! If that means what I think it means…"

"Oh no," Chris muttered. "We're playing for another week, aren't we? Does that mean Beat is going to…fight us down the line?"

"Who knows?" Megumi casually said, and everyone glared at him. "It's for you to find out for yourselves. You'll make this second week an exciting one."

"Enjoying yourself?" Ike asked, feeling sick of Megumi's sight. "What else are you going to pull out from your sleeves?"

Megumi sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. "Fine," he said. "I decided myself that I need to give you a break."

Ness looked dull. "You're saying that in a figurative speech so that you smack us with a bed, aren't you," he said. His team stared at him with odd looks. "I come from Weird Land! Don't judge me!"

"Before the next Game begins... allow me to return your previous entry fees," Megumi told them, and they were surprised after listening to his words.

Everything happened so fast. A flash of light came again, and it made them feel an agonizing headache as they felt memories being poured into their very minds. As some of them yelled in pain, some dropped to their knees. Inside their minds, the memories they had lost played out automatically to make them remember their most important valuable treasures.

Pichu's ears perked up. "Pikachu… Pikachu!" he said. "I remember! Pikachu is my role model!" He blushed and looked away. "U-um, I shouldn't have said that out loud…"

"Mist is…my little sister," Ike managed to say. "Yeah… That's it… I do have a little sister I look after!"

"So then…" Ness stood back up. "…Paula really does mean something… Umm…" He blushed. "Y-yeah, I remember Paula now. You don't need to hear me beyond that."

"Then…then I really do own a Lucario!" Chris said, sniffing sadly. "How could I forget completely about him? I feel so horrible… I need to go back to his side!"

Fox felt his headache going away. He grinned a bit. "So I used to have a crush on Krystal. I know who she is!" he said, until he realized that he was her ex. Looking bored, he asked, "Wait, why was I trying to remember that I broke up with her? That's…not good."

"You forgot about her," Megumi said. "But now you remember her. Whatever happened in your relationship is just something that doesn't concern us."

"…" Fox rolled his eyes. "I so need to patch things up with her soon…"

Soren stood up from the floor and looked at Ike. "…You saved me that one time," he said. "It's because of that that we…that I feel indebted to you."

Ike smiled a bit, though he knew Soren was deliberately trying to avoid saying that Ike was his friend. "Good, you remember that," he said. "…Wait, you still have another memory left…about…"

The Branded nodded. "The memory about the mansion incident… It was real," he said, getting the Smashers' attention. Chris shook his head, not wanting to believe it. "I remember everything so vividly. There was a lot of panic when that bomb descended from the sky and crashed into the mansion's front wall. We didn't know it was a bomb until we made it outside to look at it… There were numbers going down, and then many of us screamed. We tried to run away from the explosion, but it was too late… Everyone got caught up in the ensuing chaos when I saw the purple and black space expanding out to take us. The screams just got louder as their voices became silenced. But…I suppose that it killed me somehow." He closed his eyes. "It was a nightmare…"

"No…no!" Chris said. "I can't… Somebody should've escaped! Lucario should! He knows ExtremeSpeed!"

Soren shook his head. "The bomb blew up right after we came out to look at it," he said. "…The annoying hedgehog did manage to escape, but then he turned around and dove into the explosion. He only got himself taken into hell for no reason… Maybe he was trying to see what he could do inside the explosion, but I don't know… Somebody did manage to escape, though, and I never saw that creature again."

"Creature?" Pichu asked. "What creature?"

Soren looked at Chris. "The odd creature you were carrying around with you," he said. "That Lucario person tossed him far away with impressive strength mere seconds before the bomb blew up. I saw how it disappeared into the forest's trees…"

"The Riolu!" Chris said, relieved to hear the news. "Lucario saved the Riolu in time!"

"A Riolu?" Pichu wondered.

"Y-yes, there was this Riolu that was starving to death," Chris said, looking sad remembering the little one. "We took him in to take care of him… Before I was kidnapped, I left it with Lucario."

"Yay!" Pichu rejoiced. "I get to make another friend if we go back soon!"

"…If the Riolu is okay and around," Chris said, scratching his arm. "He was very shy and scared… I hope he didn't go back to the site of explosion. I'd hate to think what'd happen if he got himself into this mess…" He then noticed that Neku was grabbing his head in pain. "Neku?"

"I get it now..." Neku spoke, putting his hands to his sides. "This explains a lot. My memory...was gone...because you took it!" he told Megumi, who merely grinned.

"Indeed," Megumi said, staring at the Players. "Memories are the single greatest determinant of a person's identity. A worthy entry fee, wouldn't you say?"

Neku rolled his eyes. "That's swell and all, but I'm glad I got everything… Hey..." He blinked. "Wait just a... Where's the rest!?"

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "Beg pardon?"

Neku shook a fist. "It's missing!" he said. "How did I die!? I still can't remember anything about my own death! I was looking up at the tag mural in Udagawa... Then the next thing I remember is waking up in the scramble!"

"Oh really? Most fascinating..."

"What?" Ike said. "Are you holding his memories back still?"

Neku stared at Megumi with an indignant look. "Cut the crap! You're the one who..."

"HOWEVER," Megumi said. "That has nothing to do with the Game."

"What!?"

"I returned your memory in its entirety," Megumi pointed out. "If you still can't recall something, well... you must never have had it in the first place."

"…That sounds kind of true, but he's talking about his death…" Chris said. "I should know! I remember how I died! Why can't he?"

"What can I say?" Megumi said, shrugging his shoulders. "What could I possibly stand to gain from depriving you of that memory? Hmm?"

Neku was confused about the missing piece of his memory; the piece that revealed how he died in the first place. "(...He's right. So why is that the only hole in my memory?)" he thought to himself.

"Now then," Megumi said. "As for everyone's new entry fees…"

The seven Players blinked. "Wait, what?" Ness said. "You're going to take our memories away again?"

"I'm going to change things a bit for you, Smashers," he said. "Ah, Smashers. That's such a barbaric name for the likes of you…but it's very fitting. Your fox friend taught me that." Fox scoffed.

"Ugh, no, it's not," Chris disagreed.

"Anyway," Megumi continued, fixing his glasses. "There is nothing else you Smashers have that I can use as your entry fees…so I'm going to make Neku Sakuraba your entry fee of sorts."

Neku gasped as the Smashers looked confused at the claim. "T-the hell does that even mean?" Neku asked. "I'm their…entry fee?"

"Not quite," the Conductor said. "Their victory now depends on you, if you can make it alive through the second week. Essentially, you are not allowed to get erased in a fight… If you do, their world ends with you, Neku. They cease to exist."

"What kind of sick joke is this?!" Fox asked furiously. "Now our lives are tied to his?"

"Oh, I wouldn't get angry if I were you," Megumi said. "I'm merely…forcing you to cooperate closer to see how far one can go to meet their ends. You're now his bodyguards for life…literally."

"Sick…" Neku trailed off, staring at the Smashers. "It's not right that I'll carry their weight with my life… Screw it, I'm doing it," he said, shocking some of them. "I already know my way around the Game. No, WE know. This won't make a difference." He crossed his arms and nodded to Megumi. "Bring it on."

"I'm not finished yet," Megumi said.

"…What?"

"I was talking about their new entry fee, not yours," the Conductor said with a wide grin. "A Player's entry fee is that which they hold most dear. That is the rule. I've already taken the liberty of collecting yours."

"…I ask again… What!?"

Megumi held out his hand. "This time, you're playing for...Shiki Misaki."

End of flashback

Scramble Crossing

The World Ends with You - Detonation

Neku had his eyes closed as Joshua stared with a blank look. "He made her my entry fee," he said. "Because of that, Shiki's trapped in a limbo somewhere in their domain… I got her dragged back into this." He shook a fist and opened his eyes. "But I'll be damned if I let it end this way. I'm winning this Game. And I'm not relying on other Players doing it for me." He looked at the Smashers. "Only I can rely on them to help me get through…"

"And we need to keep you safe at all times," Ike said. "It's like we were hired to protect you."

"On top of all that, we must return to the mansion…" Chris said. "Now that Soren confirmed my doubts about what happened… Everyone else is suffering as we speak! It's probably been a whole week ever since the bomb exploded! I can't live with that weighing my mind."

Pichu nodded. "Pikachu… I'll go help you once we're done with the Game. Just another week…"

Joshua remained silent until he said, "Hmph."

Neku got upset. "Hmph, what!? Weren't you listening?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," the mysterious teen said. "And here's me playing the world's tiniest violin."

Neku and the others were very close to snapping out on Joshua after hearing his little comment. "You little... I just-"

Joshua tossed his hands to the sides, looking uninterested as ever. "Did you think you were special? Every Player here put up something they loved. Everybody makes sacrifices." He eyed the Smashers. "You may think you are special too while you really aren't. Once you're thrown into the Game…you're nothing else but another Player for the Reapers to toy around with."

Neku noticed he was clenching his fist between him and Joshua. "Sacrifices? Are you... (No,)" he thought, composing himself from causing an accident in the middle of the UG. "(Gotta calm down. Losing it here will only make things worse. Just take a deep breath and...) How about this?"

Joshua opened his eyes, though he had gotten a bad impression from Neku.

"First, we complete the mission. After that, we can do whatever you want." He looked at the others. They nodded at him.

"Hmm..." Joshua thought for a moment, and then he grinned confidently. "Oh, I suppose. You'll just owe me one."

"(Owe you one what!? You're a Player! Clearing the mission HELPS you! Ugh...) Fine."

"Unbelievable, Joshua…" Fox muttered to himself.

"You have yourself a deal, Neku," Joshua said. "So? What's the mission?" He saw Neku taking out his phone.

Game II: Acquire the square root of 3 Au pin. t = 300 min. Incompletes will be destroyed.

As if the message was waiting to be read, the eight Players flinched in pain as the timers were added to their palms. Joshua looked particularly unfazed, but Pichu thought he was faking it. "Oh, come on!" Ness said. "The mission arrived like twenty minutes ago, and now it decides to throw the timer?"

"So it seems," Joshua said, looking amused. "Let's see this mission We know it has something to do with a pin. Any thoughts beyond that, Neku?"

"Au...The periodic symbol for gold?" Neku wondered. Ike wondered what a periodic symbol was. "A pin made of gold, maybe?"

"Hmm... Not a bad hypothesis," Joshua said. "Let's go with that for now. What about square root of 3?"

Neku took some time to answer the question. "Well, the square root of 3 is 1.7320508," he said.

"…Right down to the littlest number?" Chris said, clearly amazed. "Neku, are you some sort of math whiz?"

Neku shrugged. "It just helps that I had an exam about square roots before I went to Udagawa," he said. Joshua's impressed look soon faded away. "Is this some kind of entry code, though?"

Joshua rubbed his chin. "Ooh, a tantalizing possibility, Neku! I'm so proud," he said.

"(...Bite me,)" Neku thought with as much venom as he could muster.

"But I think it's referring to a street here in Shibuya," Joshua said, looking amused once more. "The Reapers use numbers to refer to each of Shibuya's streets. Route 1, Route 2 and so on..."

Ness stared incredulously at Joshua. "Uh, Joshua, forgive me for asking, but how do you that?" he asked.

"While I was alone by my lonesome in the previous week," Joshua began, "I spied on some reckless Reapers, loudly referring to those streets as routes. I thought it'd be a nice idea to remember what they were saying so…I just helped myself." He giggled. None of them liked his giggles too much. "Told you I'm very useful. Neku is so lucky… You guys are surely wishing to have me as your partner."

"(NO,)" they all thought.

"(…Crap, he's with me. Damn it!)" Neku thought.

"So let's check out Route 3," Joshua suggested. "It's the road leading from Cadoi City to Molco. Shall we?" Burrowing his hands into his pockets, Joshua walked east from them.

"…Gosh," Ness said. "Joshua is the most unsettling person of the universe I've ever met."

"Tell me about it," Neku said. "He's a huge change over Shiki. At least she was nice to me…and made me believe that friends are important." He blinked when the others stared his way. "…Yeah, I said it. Sue me now if you want."

Pichu chuckled and climbed his back to his right shoulder. "You've grown, Neku!" he said. "I like the new you like I liked the new Shiki!"

"Cut it out, you little rat," Neku said, though he grinned a bit under his shirt's collar. "Back me up so we can save ourselves…and Shiki, okay?"

Pichu saluted him as the team made its way east, joining up with Joshua. As they walked side by side, Joshua noticed the wary look Neku was giving him. "...Hmm? Keep staring and you'll make me blush. Route 3 runs between Cadoi City and Molco."

Neku shuddered, probably even harder than before. "I heard you. Let's go."

In a peppy tone, Joshua playfully said, "Yes, sir!" and followed Neku's lead.

Minutes later…

Cadoi City

"One of Japan's department store chains. While the focus is on fashion, they also sell furniture and jewelry."

Caodi City lied between Shibu Dept. Store and Towa Records. It was a place with a large building that included different stores that were set apart from the other stores the Players had seen before. Northeast, to the right side of the large building that held the popular stores, was the way to Towa Records. To the left side, the way to Molco was paved over a sidewalk. The group found out that the mission was connected to winning the Tin Pin Slammer tourney held at the Molco mall. The Hero's Pin was the prize to win. It was a golden pin; the pin the mission wanted Players to get.

"So Neku has to win a children's tourney to pass today's mission," Ness said.

"Hey! Why do I have to be the one to participate in that lame tourney?" Neku asked.

"Because everyone bailed out the moment you said we had to win it, Neku," Joshua said, yet again, looking amused at his partner's misfortune. "Here's a spoiler: I said bail first."

"Argh…" Neku muttered. "Fine… But if I lose - somehow – you all will regret it… Wait, no, I can't say that," he said. "Shiki's life is on the line. If I lose, nine lives are being snuffed out forever… Ugh, I hate carrying the whole weight for myself."

"I don't do the whole sweating thing, Neku," Joshua said as they crossed the corner to Molco. "You look ripped. I'm sure you'll be alright, especially me."

"(I'm so gonna choke him if this keeps up any longer…)"

Joshua suddenly got into a fighting stance, the group hearing him gasp. When they looked forward, they noticed the reason why he had gasped… There were two Noise that were on the loose. The Noise in question were two kangaroos. Just like the rest of the demonic Noise, the kangaroos were monsters. They had long, dark claws on their feet along with sharp kneecaps that stretched out behind their backs. However, the freakiest feature they had was the black color of their bodies. The animal Noise jerked their heads to the group's direction, looking angered at their sight.

"Are those Noise!?" Neku asked.

Pichu gulped. "W-why are they all black?" he asked. "None of the Noise we've fought were black!"

"Black Noise?" Joshua wondered. "They do look different than the usual riffraff, I admit…"

Fox turned his body sideways, his glare fixed on the Noise. "I get the feeling we're not going to outrun them. The way to Molco is past them," he said.

"It looks like we'll have to fight either way," Joshua said, looking serious. "It's the old-fashioned way to deal with Noise."

Soren took a step back. "Beware. Their black fur may mean something crucial about their nature," he advised. "The other Noise we've fought were multicolored. These Noise… I sense an omen."

"I sense an omen every time I see those monsters about to rip my head off," Ike said. "I'll take your word for it, though."

"Then we take 'em out!" Neku said. Everyone agreed before charging at the Noise. Unfortunately, they never knew beforehand that they were about to face their toughest battle yet…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Joshua's Week – Joshua's Happy Fun Time"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Cadoi City-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Joshua

References:

- You can so spot the Zelda reference in this one.

Many things were explained in this chapter: three of the Shibuya Crew were taken away through the most unbelievable ways possible, what Soren saw before he eventually died mysteriously, Chris and Fox finally becoming friends once more (and Fox learning that James is very alive), everyone got their memories back (except apparently Neku), Joshua's…ambiguous attitude towards Neku and the others (oh wait, that didn't get solved yet), and the reason why not everyone got to come back to their old lives. In a sense, everyone is still trapped within the Game for another week.

And Joshua is going to prove that he's the most unsettling person in the universe so far to have perturbed the characters, unless he already did. What is he hiding, though? (Not a photo of his superior friend, mind you). Eh, you TWEWY players already know what the deal with Joshua is, so I'm just teasing the rest.

The next chapter… Hoo boy, Joshua is going to drive everyone crazy. Not to mention fan-favorite Minamimoto… There will be more personal conversations. That I assure you.

Extra Notes: To reflect the change with partners in this chapter, I'm going to be drawing a new artwork that'll show Joshua very prominently.

I encourage you math freaks to review, or else the story shall feel obliged to make a lot of weird SOHCAHTOA jokes.

Fox: Some Obscene Hellish Crap Appeared Hot To Our Amusement.

Chris: Sorry for asking this, but… What the hell does that even mean?

Fox: My lame attempt at trying to define how FURIOUS I am right now.

Pichu: I'll come up with something good. You'll see!

Ness: Wheee…

(The author challenges writers to write all sorts of SOHCAHTOA jokes in your reviews, no matter how silly, AS LONG AS THERE ARE REVIEWS THERE).
*Chapter 205*: Joshua's Week - Joshua's Happy Fun Time

Joshua becomes a new threat to the group's tolerance of unsettling people.

From ngrey651: Poor, poor, Fox. I understand his frustration perfectly and you did a great job with him in this chapter. There is, without a doubt, NOTHING more aggravating than being forced into something you didn't want to join, not knowing the rules, not knowing how you win, and then being told you don't even get to pick what you win when you DO win. I would have punched that jerk right across the face. And I'm a technical pacifist myself.

From me: Oh ho, this isn't the last time we'll see Fox rage like that again, I kid you not. :)

From NowhereStarr14: And while I was reading, I remembered who the Joshua guy was, from Dream Drop Distance, the guy that helps Sora and Riku. ...so is he really THAT creepy and weird in TWEWY? Because, I don't know, I thought he was...kinda cool, in Dream Drop. He actually helps you instead of Neku bein' all, "Nah, man, you can't be ma' partner man," and just leaves Sora. But I can't argue too much about him because I need to first play TWEWY and fully beat Dream Drop Distance so I can truly understand Joshua's character.

From me: Dream Drop Distance Joshua is kind of the kid-friendly version of the TWEWY Joshua. TWEWY Joshua, on the other hand, is the biggest magnificent bastard you'll ever see. I didn't like his KH representation because he was being…too soft. I wanted to see his scheming nature.

So this is why this chapter will show a lot more on Joshua's thoughts. Do enjoy it. :)

From GuyroMaster: Looks like my question was in part answered. Sonic . . . what did he hope to accomplish by jumping into the rift . . . use the Chaos Emeralds to stabalize it? (I don't even think he could do that . . . without Shadow)
Those Reapers . . . they make me burn with anger. How much crueler can they be than . . . well . . . you know what . . . I don't have the words to describe their cruelty without swearing (I'm not going to do that though).

I don't have much else to say, but I was looking at some of the older chapters from the Sonic Unleashed arc and their was something that I was hoping you could clarify.
You played the Wii version of Unleashed for the arc correct? If so then, if I did my count correctly, the group only restored, technically, 6 Chaos Emeralds. I'll explain how I came to this claim.
I remember that Tails got the Sun and Moon tablets from the Guardians of Spagonia Temple before they were even kidnapped (I don't think they were ever rescued, this will come into play in a minute).
I'll just go down the list and double check things: (I'll use parentheses to show the order the Emeralds were restored according to your story.)
Pokemon Colleseum Apotos Bell Tower (6th)
Nintendo Village Mazzuri Temple (1st)
Star Ocean Spagonia Temple
Final Fantasy VII Adabat Temple (2nd)
Megaman Legends/64 Shamar Temple (5th)
Chrono Trigger Shamar Sun and Moon Tablets (Froggy was not retrieved)
Final Fantasy X Chun-nan Temple (3rd)
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Holoska Temple (4th)
Mobius/Sonic Unleashed Eggmanland and Last Temple (7th)
- With the list done, let me get to the details. If I remember, the gang returned to the Apotos Bell Tower, but there isn't a Chaos Emerald temple in Apotos, because it shares the same landmass as Spagonia. If I remember reading correctly, the gang never returned to the Spagonia temple and the Guardians were never rescued from the Subspace, so how could the Spagonia temple be opened? The answer, It can't, because the Guardain of the temple is the only one who can combine the two pieces of the Temple Key and make the Planet Tablet (the tablet should still be seperate after Tails tried to put the pieces together). So, unless I'm wrong, the Spagonia Temple Guardians are still locked up in the subspace and Froggy is also there.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've double checked and I think that this is all correct. Sorry if this was a long comment to read, but it was just something I wanted to confirm.

That's all then. Can't wait to see what happens next in TWEWY: Joshua's Week.

From me: Sonic jumped back in because he knew that the Subspace was just a place where he could actually enter (which is what he probably did in the main game too). But what happened to Soren raises some interesting questions…that I won't bring up here till the time is right.

The Spagonia Temple was actually restored behind the scenes. Their guardians were clarified to be safe by Tails whom had already gotten the tablets from them. Also…as a little change of things, the Apotos Bell Tower was made to have a Chaos Emerald altar in this continuity.

But yeah, Froggy is still pretty much screwed in the Subspace. Hmm, didn't Big get tricked into leaving the mansion, though? Sounds like an extra quest is in order. Thanks for reviewing and noticing the little details. :)

From BOB JOHNSON: So, Obviate Her Case's Appositeness & Helpfulness To Our Amusement. I realize the last third was taken from yours, but I already had to learn a new word to make that, so sue me.

What that means is that I don't understand the significance of Rhyme's death being delayed. When I spasmed about that earlier, I was a bit irrational about it because I get irrationally mad about things on the internet, sorry. But with the events of this chapter, it doesn't seem like it really had any overt significance to the story as a whole. The only thing Rhyme actually made a difference in was that subplot about Fox being mad at Chris, and now that that's over the plot is re-railed to having her be dead. It seems a somewhat pointless move.

Also, really, there's NOTHING else that he could take? Nothing. I find that highly unlikely. What about Pichu's capability to evolve into something that doesn't suck, or Chris's video game collection that entirely defines him as a person, or what measly points of Strength Soren has so he isn't weighed down by his ultra-heavy books? (i am totally not bitter about path of radiance, no sirree.)

Also also Joshua is the best in the entire world. This is not a comment about your fic, I just thought I'd mention that.

From me: Mwahahaha, you REALLY think that delaying Rhyme's "death" was all there was to it? In truth, something else happened to Rhyme, but I won't say what it is yet. The ensuing chapters will explain that there was a drastic change that'll go under the radar…but it's up to you to find out what that drastic change was. Her job wasn't just to be the Heart between Chris and Fox.

Actually, I did consider things for Kitaniji to take away from the Smashers, but I saw it pointless. I could've gone with the Shiki route by depriving each one of them from their partners, but that'll question Ness about his relationship with Pichu, make Chris and Fox's growing brother bond look a bit too unsettling to digest, and Ike and Soren… Uh… I'd rather not fuel the gay shippings those two have. I also could've made them lose those people they're heavily attached to, but that would ruin whatever future plans I have for the new chapters. Your suggestions sound…a bit odd, I admit.

So I'll be wishing here if you'll finally like something about the arc. Godspeed and all that. ;)

From WeirdOregonian: Oh the insanity. I already played the game so I know sort of what's supposed to happen but something crazier's going to happen here huh? What happens when Chris and the others are returned to life, does that mean their burials will have never happened? And what happened to Queen Jaydes?

From me: Sadly, I feel obliged to NOT answer those questions because of important plot reasons. Maybe their burials will get undone, or maybe something else'll happen at the end… Yeah, I can't truthfully answer those questions. Let them weight your mind till the arc's actually over. :)

Remember that I'm only answering reviews with importance to the plot. That doesn't necessarily mean that I don't consider your reviews worthy.

Yet another chapter that got done surprisingly fast and it's a little longer to boot. A lot about Joshua gets shown here, including a few extra scenes added for some hilarious dialogue. But then, some scenes were omitted because they had no point being displayed. In a few words, the chapters closely follow the 2-day chapter format.

The Noise battles in this chapter weren't that special. But from a point of view, that would only suggest that the group is getting so good at fighting, which would make sense considering that they've been fighting Noise behind the scenes. The Game Master fight at the end of the week won't be as short as Yodai's fight, though.

So then, enjoy more days with the insufferable Joshua tagging along with the group. Oh, and lookie here! The story's got a new cover for Joshua. You can see the full thing at my deviantart account.

Disclaimer: Marth should wear a mask over his eyes in this story.

Chapter 205: Joshua's Week – Joshua's Happy Fun Time

-Shibuya-

Cadoi City

The World Ends with You – Hybrid

The building that was the main attraction of the area stood proud in front of Pichu and Joshua. In the lower plane, Ness and Neku stood next to each other in front of a messy section in front of a boutique and several other shops. Knowing that they were separated from the rest, the Black Noise took shape in both planes, looking at them with murderous looks. "Don't make this worse for yourselves," Joshua told the Black Noise, and the battle was on.

"Another fight where everyone else is waiting for us in the UG," Ness said annoyed until he rushed to the kangaroo of the left while Neku went after the one on the right. "I hate these fights. They're almost completely random all the time."

"And for some reason," Joshua added as he dialed random numbers to throw falling objects on the black kangaroo on the right, "Neku and I are always pulled into all of them regardless of what happens… Wouldn't that mean they like seeing us fighting together? I'm flattered."

Neku grunted loudly at the statement as he used Ice Risers to impale the kangaroo on the right with three icy stalagmites.

The Black Noise didn't flinch or even shriek in pain.

When Neku noticed that, Ness found out by himself when his bat felt like it struck a stone wall against the other black kangaroo's face. It growled and used a flexible leg to ram Ness to the side. The two Players in the lower plane managed to send their light pucks to their respective partners in the upper plane.

Around that time, before the light pucks could engulf their bodies, Pichu's Skull Bash did no effect on his target, and Joshua's random objects only bumped his prey's form. "Huh? That didn't seem to work at all," Joshua mused just when the light puck manifested in his body.

Pichu bumped back to Joshua's side, rubbing his head. "Oww…" he groaned.

The Black Noise in the upper plane squatted down before jumping high up into the air. As Pichu gasped and Joshua quirked an eyebrow, the two stifled some gasps and jumped out to opposite directions to avoid some full heavy stomps from both monsters. In the lower plane, the Black Noise sat on their tails and brought up their legs, and then they used their tails to shoot their forms and clawed feet to Ness and Neku. The two acted too slow and got ran over, getting slashed by the kangaroo feet. "Oww!" Neku shouted in pain, getting back up on his feet.

"What's wrong?" Joshua asked while smiling, despite the fact he shared the coursing pain. Neku muttered a harsh curse as his partner finished dialing on his phone to create trash in midair. The objects crashed down on one of the Black Noise.

It shrieked in pain and desperately pushed the mystical objects from its body.

"Hmm?" Joshua blinked at the event. As his light puck was passed back to Neku, Joshua saw Pichu using Skull Bash on the other kangaroo. Unlike last time, Pichu's hit connected, pushing the large monster back. Pichu's light puck then was passed down to Ness's side. Joshua was a very observant person who could tell differences right away without running a third try. "When these Noise aren't damaged with our normal attacks, they feel pain when we have the light puck…"

"Huh?" Neku raised his head as the light puck reached him out.

"Don't you get it, Neku?" Joshua asked as he opted to choose the defensive by stepping aside from the ramming feet attacks. "The light puck is their weakness. Only attack when you have the light puck. When you don't have it, just wait till your partner sends it back to you."

Ness then charged a PK Blast and burst the air around one of the Black Noise. When the attack connected, the light puck in him boosted the power greatly that the kangaroo was violently pushed into a nearby wall, leaving a large mark on the concrete. "Hey, he's right," Ness said while the light puck transcended the planes to reach Pichu. "So that's how you go on about… What the?!" Ness immediately stepped aside from a chilly icicle of ice forming from under his feet. He recognized the move as the icicle stretched out and broke apart. Grunting, he looked to his left and gasped.

The Black Noise weren't alone. They were accompanied by another Noise hiding behind a pole. Just like Pichu and Ike, Ness was now facing a Noise version of somebody close to him. In his case, it was Paula herself. The Paula that stood in a fighting stance wasn't the real one, just like the others, but her distinguishable features didn't go unnoticed. The Paula Noise wore a ribbon made out of Noise marks over head, said ribbon hovering above her. Her calm face had the marks as well, but the rims of her dress were nearly covered by the demonic marks swirling about.

"Oh, come on! They also got my own personal monster to beat?" Ness complained, and the Paula Noise responded by shooting a lightning bolt from her hands. The Onett boy was struck down by the blow, landing on his back. As Pichu felt the pain in his body, Ness got back up and dusted off his shorts. "You're not Paula… You're a monster posing as her! I don't care what I'll do to you now!" He tossed a small spark of PK Fire that exploded into a burst of flames right in front of her face. The Paula Noise screamed in a distorted voice as she backed away, and then she saw Ness smacking his bat hard right on the same burned spot, pushing her aside.

Joshua found the other Paula Noise showing up behind a downed kangaroo. "Your little friend is up here too…and she doesn't look black to me." He grinned as his phone locked on the Paula Noise and the downed kangaroo. Joshua swung his arms to the sides as a vending machine, a bicycle, and a stop sign fell on top of both Noise. The monsters shook their heads in unison after the trash fell down on their heads, and they glared daggers at Joshua. "Just die."

Neku forgot about the light puck when he felt the Fusion pin twitching. Without a second thought, he activated its psych, prompting a satisfied Joshua to initiate the combined blow. The two planes were struck down by a rain of random trash that crushed the Noise several times until a wave of empty cars flattened the monsters. Once the attack was over, one of the kangaroo Noise keeled over and disappeared from existence. "One down!" Neku said.

"There's still another one!" Pichu said until noticing that the other black kangaroo disappeared from sight. To his dismay, Pichu was crushed down by the creature's heavy body falling from high up in the air. "A-aaah!"

"Argh!" Ness shuddered in pain, only for the Paula Noise to use PK Thunder on him. The boy was pushed back to the street, and he gasped when the girl Noise ran to his side with sparkling hands. Covering his face with an arm, Neku suddenly zoomed in and conjured a rain of stones that hit her body multiple times. Using the Mercury pin, Neku launched himself to her to deal waves of slicing blows with his hand. With a strong sideway slash to the side of her face, the Paula Noise screamed as she faded away. "Ugh… Thank you…" Ness muttered, getting some help from Neku to stand back up.

The other Paula Noise in the upper plane disappeared as well, but Joshua was the next one to get crushed down by the other kangaroo. Yelping in pain, Joshua clenched his eyes shut as the kangaroo remained on top of his frail body. "No!" With the light puck, Pichu released a small concentrated sphere of electricity in front of his face, delivering a strong blow of lightning that pushed the kangaroo off from Joshua's body.

"Be careful!" Neku called out to Joshua.

"I got a little too cocky…" Joshua informed. "Nothing too grave to cry over…"

It was Ness's turn to use his Fusion pin with Pichu. The two partners appeared in the same plane, and Ness charged his bat to smack the spinning Pichu in midair right into the kangaroo's head. Its beady eyes wide, the black kangaroo's body turned into static right before leaving the world of the dead for good. "Predictable," Joshua said with a flick of his hair.

The battle had ended well. The three grading Reapers came out from the Cadoi City building and slapped an A rank. "Good, good," the first one said.

"They're starting to get the ropes now," the second one said.

"Wonder how much longer till those ropes snap," the third one said, as the two planes merged back together to their original form…

The World Ends with You – Game Over

Neku, Joshua, Ness, and Pichu reappeared before the other two teams. As Ness dropped on his knees, Neku had to complain about the stressful fight against the black Noise. "What the hell were those?" Neku asked. "I've never seen black Noise."

"Dreadful monsters…" Pichu shivered in fear. "I…I don't want to face off against evil kangaroos…"

"Likewise," Joshua said. "Those Noise were vastly different than the ones we fought before. We could only hurt them if we had the light puck…" Although the gravity of the situation was heavy, Joshua managed a smile. "You know what that means? It means we've got to stay more in synch to keep the multiplier rising to attack their weak points for massive damage."

Neku could've sworn that Joshua heavily emphasized the last six words. "(Wow... Maybe this kid does have his uses-)"

Joshua raised an eyebrow at Neku, seeing as he was staring. "Hmm? Don't tell me you didn't notice, Neku. That doesn't inspire much confidence, partner." He chuckled, much for their collective consternation that he was making fun of them as a whole.

Neku quickly corrected his stopped train of thoughts. "(-even if he is a snot,)" he finished.

Soren stared at the spot where the black Noise once were. "Why would those Noise pick a fight with us?" he asked, and everyone stared at him. "All of us are tied to our personal pacts, which should prevent us from getting ambushed by the Noise. The Noise you just fought were clearly out in the open, viciously waiting for Players to come close."

Chris looked scared. "Y-yes, you're right," he said. "Normal Noise can only fight us if we scan them with the Player Pins. These were out in the open…"

Ness looked worried while sighing silently. "Guys… They also used Paula for this," he said. "Those Black Noise were accompanied by a Noise version of her."

"You too, then?" Ike asked. "An evil version of Pikachu and Mist…now that Paula girl you know," he said before grimacing. "There's more to come, isn't there?"

The World Traveler froze at the possibility of facing a Noise version of Lucario. Likewise, Fox didn't want to think about fighting Noise that resembled Krystal or someone else close to him. "Please…please don't let that happen," Chris prayed to himself.

Joshua rubbed his chin, looking down. "How bizarre..." he muttered. "If we stumble upon black Noise, or THEY stumble upon us… We can try to escape or fight them head on. I, myself, wouldn't like to mess my hair with them." He flicked a small strand of hair and turned to Molco's direction. "Molco's over there, anyway. Let's go."

The team of Players was concerned about the black Noise hiding somewhere around the corner. Wary of the demonic monsters, they pressed on to the site of the mission.

Molco

"A series of department store buildings centered on teen and twenty-something fashion. Don't miss the exhibition space for a dose of pop culture."

Although the Smashers started to believe that Shibuya had so many similar stores across every single corner, they could tell that each area was a different turf for other businesses. The Molco Building, which held the prestigious (at least among the fans) Tin Pin Slammer tourney stood north, facing a large street and the other smaller buildings that had no hope in making a stand against the outrageous deals. The group walked past a telephone booth (Fox thought that telephone booths were so last century) and saw some young kids and teenagers conjugating around the entrance of the Molco Building.

Seeing the big Tin Pin Slammer Tourney sign hanging on top of the entrance made them stare. Getting ideas out of the banner, the tourney was about the pins they used in battle, but it was highly unlikely that it was a bloodbath where Players fought against each other. Chris thanked god for not having that kind of barbaric sport.

"So this is Tin Pin Slammer... All I need to do is figure out some way to win this," Neku said.

Joshua pointed at a particular pillar that had a Reaper sign imprinted. "Good luck with that. At least there's a Reaper decal here. You won't have any problems entering," he said.

Neku remembered the explanation about the decals back when they had gone to eat ramen bowls at Ken Doi's. "The decal makes us visible, right?" he asked, hoping that they didn't need to enter a jungle of weird people back when Shiki spurned them to enter the dangerous blood lands that were the 104 Building.

"Yup. Every shop licensed to sell to Players has one." The mysterious teen looked at the entrance. "If you don't hurry, you'll miss registration, Neku."

The headphones-wearing teen grimaced as he looked at the Smashers. "Seriously? None of you is going to enter?" he asked. "It'd be much better if I had some sort of backup in case I don't make it."

Chris considered the suggestion. "Well… I think I'll give it a shot," he said. "This is a tourney, though… I'm so getting toasted during the first round."

"Fine, fine, I'll enter, too," Ness said. "Hopefully, my smarts will make a difference in the middle of this weird crowd."

Ike forced a smile. "Oh, maybe I should enter, too," he said. A few Smashers – the ones not named Chris and Soren - exchanged glances and snickered. "Hey! That's not nice! I'm sure that I can do something if I propose myself to do it!" He looked at Soren for support.

Soren did not say a thing.

"Soren, you're supposed to encourage me."

"…Against the odds, Ike," Soren began, "you don't stand a chance against other people who are surely professionals…when compared to your level."

"…Screw that! I'm entering!" Ike said, looking peeved.

"Let me increase our odds. I'm going in," Fox said.

Soren looked away. "Forget about it. I don't want to ridicule myself in front of a crowd," he said. "I'm staying behind and watch you participate."

Joshua looked appreciative; at least that was what Soren hoped. "Good. The bench isn't going to be a desolate place for me," Joshua said.

Pichu waved a small flag. "I'll cheer you on from the sidelines with them!"

Ness noticed the little item. "Pichu, where did you get that?" He also noticed that the Electric-type was wearing a bald samurai head. "…And where did you get that, too?"

"Oh, these?" Pichu asked. "I found them at random locations ever since the first day. Shibuya is filled with weeeeeeeeird lither… But then I thought that I should pick this up anyway!" He rejoiced a bit. "I have a lot of stuff stored, too! Wanna see?"

"Later," Neku said, thinking that Pichu looked very peculiar with the ears sticking out from the bald samurai head. The orange-haired teen looked up at the banner of the tourney as they got inside through the glass doors. "(I've never played Tin Pin Slammer in my life. I hope I'm a natural... That, or the luckiest guy on the planet. Shiki's counting on me... Well... Here goes!)"

Molco Building

At least the 104 Building had people - mostly girls - that were a little bit closer to Earth, the Players could agree unanimously.

After making their way to the main floor of the Tin Pin Slammer tourney and registering for it, they were met up with a bunch of avid kids and teens chatting among themselves in large groups scattered around the large salon. Large tables especially designed for players to play Tin Pin Slammer were set up evenly away from each other. Banners with large pins drawn on them were decorating the walls, even hanging down from the ceiling. The tons of Tin Pin veterans were young people, as expected, though a lot of them dressed a bit over the top. Unlike the girls that would squeal at new lines of clothing, the people in the building were a little bit high of sugar. There were even cosplayers participating. It really did look like a jungle where people and animals coexisted.

"DUDE!" a random player said as he pulled Fox's 100% real tail. "You gotta tell me your secret for making such a kewl outfit! It looks so real…and it also feels so real!"

Fox pulled his tail away. "Back off from the tail!" he really wanted to say. "N-no, it's a trade secret," he really said.

"Aww…" the Tin Pin player slumped down and walked away. Fox could only shrug.

He turned around to face the others. "He's the seventh person who's bothered me about my body," he said. "Ugh, I hate these anime conventions…"

"But Fox," Joshua began, looking amused for the 56th time, "it's thanks to anime conventions that you can roam free into the open without having hunters shoot your head!"

The vulpine made a face. "Some of them touched me inappropriately, for god's sake!" Fox complained. "At this rate, I'm going to cause a scene, and heads will get kicked!"

"I wouldn't like to agree with you," Soren said, sighing in disappointment. "I agree this time only because I've gone through the same treatment so far, except without the inappropriate touching, which I'm thankful for."

"Seconded," Chris said. "I could possibly drop my Black Mage clothes for my usual attire, but…I want to be prepared for anything."

"Thirded," Ike said. "People can't stop asking me to touch my sword." Joshua chuckled a little bit uncontrollably for some reason.

"Fourded," Ness said. "Unlike you guys, I'm wearing casual clothes… But they won't just stop poking my head because they think I'm a Japanese mascot from a show! Is my head really that… Oh, who am I kidding…"

"Fifthed," Pichu said. "It's been twelve times already that somebody has tried to take me away." He was perched on Joshua's right shoulder. As much as he wanted Soren to let Pichu on his shoulder, the Branded refused. Joshua offered himself, but he was just too creepy for the little Smasher to tolerate, but Pichu knew there was no other choice but resist the burden.

Ike stared at the tables placed around the large hall they were in. "So, uh, does anybody know how to play this Tin Pin thing?" he asked, as the group looked at the wide assortment of pins they've gotten out of Noise fights. Truth to be told, the Players got so many pins through fights that they were practically full of them, but not all of them used pins. The Smashers mostly preferred to fight using their innate skills, but Neku relied heavily on pins.

Neku looked at his six pins. At that moment, an unknown person bumped hard into Neku's back. "Gah!" he said as he stumbled forward, right before he could fall flat on the floor. "What the..."

"SORRY! I wasn't watching where I was going!" said the person.

When the eight Players turned to face the newcomer, their faces fell, except for Joshua. The outrageous look of the young teen that had bumped into Neku was hard to forget. It was Shooter, the same weirdo that Makoto had spoken to. "(We're inside a building with a decal,)" Soren thought dismayed. "(Therefore, this unsettling kid can see us…)"

Shooter wasted no time to take a peek of Neku's pins before the reasonably mature teen could say anything scandalous. "Hmm? Hey, you've got some pins, bro!" he said and smiled, turning to look at the rest. "You all do!"

Neku certainly didn't predict meeting Shooter in person. Thinking again, Shooter was…not normal, and so finding him in the convention of Tin Pin Slammer was not rare. "Um, yes?" Neku said.

Shooter grinned. "So you're entering the slam-off?" he asked.

"That's right!" Joshua piped up, and that marked a nasty start for things. None of the Players liked where the conversation was going once Joshua had spoken in a positive tone that was begging to freak them out at any second (the question about freaking out Shooter was discouraged since he was a freak himself, or so they thought). They had hyperactive Shooter on one side, and creepy Joshua on the other. "Losing's not an option. ...For Neku."

Neku grimaced. "(But you're cool with the idea?!)" he thought.

Shooter smiled. "So, if you're not losing, then- Wait, you're going for FIRST?" he asked, a little bit too dramatic for Soren's tastes. "WHAAAT!? With THOSE pins? Are you crazy?"

"Wh-what's wrong with my pins?"

The Tin Pin fan grumbled a bit. "Is this, like, your first time EVER or something?" he asked in pure, utter disbelief. "Forget about the slam-off, those pins won't win you a single round!"

"(The kid's sure blunt enough.)"

Joshua was having a good time from the amused look on his face. "I take it you're playing today, uh..." he trailed off, him not having met Shooter to know him well.

"Shuto Dan," Shooter said with a smile, all the while showing his teeth. There was a piece of candy stuck between his front teeth. "Call me Shooter! And yeah! I'm actually kinda famous around here - the slickest Slammurai (dun dun DAAAH!) in town! None of my buddies can touch me!" he boasted, proud of himself.

"(Oh… He's one of those kids,)" Fox thought, looking dull.

"Wow, Shooter. You must be a real expert," Joshua remarked. Shooter failed to tell the sarcasm apart, but Joshua sounded very convincing to him. "Are there any tips you could offer? ...To Neku and the rest."

"(Thanks a lot, partner!)" Neku thought, frustrated.

Joshua smiled a bit. "Come on, Neku, what do we say?"

Neku felt a bit cornered; cornered by weirdos who didn't stop nagging him. In a way, this was worse than the Noise, he thought. "...Please?" he asked, defeated. The others had no other choice and nodded, all for the sake of the mission.

Shooter shed a tear. It felt like a Tin Pin school, and he was the honorary teacher! What a great day! "Well, you do look pretty hopeless..." he muttered, trying so hard to keep his cool. "OK, my bros! Tin Pin's a battle between SOULS!"

With an introductory explanation like that, Ness just knew this wasn't going to end well. And he was right. Some minutes later, after studying Shuto's weird doodle papers that supposedly explained everything there was to know about Tin Pin Slammer (Soren swore he lost a lot of IQ points trying to understand the damned paper) and Shuto's own weird explanations (apparently, the Players needed to understand the heart of the pins and trust their decks with FERVENT passion), Neku decided that they had enough after a few practice matches.

"NICE!" Shooter exclaimed. "You picked it up pretty good!" He shook a determined fist. "Every pin's got its own stats, so try a buncha stuff out! Keep in mind, though, you can only play with the pins you've got on. You can borrow special slamming pins to play with. You could play Tin Pin Slammer NAKED, man!"

Neku needed so hard to wince at last. "Thanks, but...no," he said.

Shooter chuckled and looked up at the clock. "WHOA! Look at the time! See ya! Good luck!" He turned around and ran off.

Thus, the Tin Pin Slammer tournament started. Thanks to Shooter's (weird) explanations, the Players playing to win the tourney faced off against some tough opponents…

…Opponents so tough that the Smasher side was utterly obliterated during the first round, leaving a surprised Neku to fend off for himself as he moved up to the ranks.

"That snake!" Ness complained, everyone but Neku sitting on the bench with Soren, Joshua, and Pichu. He and the other losers were eating ice cream, courtesy of the tourney clerks to give losers a prize of consolation. Ike, however, gave his cone to Pichu, much to his delight. "Shooter was probably not telling us the whole thing on purpose!"

"That's what we get for randomly trusting a guy like him," sulked Fox, slouching forward with his chin resting on his right palm and the other hand with his half-licked cone. "If Neku doesn't win this, we can kiss our lives good-bye."

Chris sighed. "I don't want to think that we're history only because we didn't win a children's tourney," he said. Looking at his cone, Chris lost himself in the taste of chilly vanilla flavor.

An hour later, much for their collective relief, Neku rose up to the semi-finals of the tourney. The team was impressed that he had learned how to play Tin Pin like an expert (but Ness assumed that Neku had fought the weakest players). Then, Neku had a small break time. As he sat down next to Joshua, his partner grinned. "Very impressive, Neku," he said. "Show those fifth graders who's boss." The rest of the team just knew Joshua poked fun at their loss.

"(Thanks for killing my high, man,)" Neku thought. He really missed having Shiki around instead of the insufferable Joshua.

Shooter suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling the others. "Too bad next round, though," he said, having overheard their conversation. "You're facing the TOP SEED, man. You're history."

"Top seed?"

"That means crazy insane strong," Shooter said nodding. "Dumb luck won't get you through the next match." He chuckled darkly (a bit too darkly) and walked away.

The team stared at his direction until Shooter ran off into the public of players. "…That reminds me," Soren spoke, "I have kept tabs on him ever since we met. I haven't seen him getting defeated once."

"Very sharp of you, Soren," Joshua said. "That means Neku has a chance of fighting our dear friend."

Neku grunted. "I pray that I don't…" he muttered under his breath.

Joshua smiled to himself and snuck away from the group to do something on his own…

Three minutes later…

An excited and determined Shuto "Shooter" Dan stood across the table, facing a cursing Neku in the semifinals. "HEY, MAN!" Shooter called out. "I'm impressed you got this far! Sorry, but I can't let you win this one. Because I'M gonna win it!"

"I'm up against this kid?" Neku muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Ugh... (Well, if this is what it takes...)"

From the stands, his team watched intently as the match started. "He better not lose this," Chris said, and Fox noticed the venom coming from his words.

"Chris, I think I just heard you a bit too angry right there," Fox said.

"And that was completely intentional," Chris said, looking at Fox as the others looked at him. "Neku worked so hard to reach this spot. After all the hard work he's done to get all of us through the Reapers' Game, it all comes down to this Tin Pin Slammer thing everyone's so excited about. Because of how things are, I'm rooting for him to defeat Shooter and the finalist so that we move on to another day filled with perils and Noise. But right now, our stoic Neku is facing off against hyperactive Shooter; a person I really disapprove of because of how he acts around people. If Neku were to be defeated by some guy who's life was entirely dedicated to a children's game while disregarding every other important value there is, he would surely feel completely undermined, and so would I if I were in his shoes. I know about this, Fox. I really do. Shooter is the manifestation of a Shonen hero: a hero who is completely and utterly stupid yet is the right one who can go around killing everybody he fixes his gaze to. The more stupid they are, the more experienced they will be, but I know for a fact that Neku can handle that guy because at least Neku has a nice brain. It would be completely infuriating to see Neku lose right here in case he did some ungodly bad decisions during the match. And because of all this, I really, REALLY don't want to meet another guy like Shooter if I got the chance to face someone else who has the same profession as me. I doubt there's another World Traveler out there, but I'm also a Pokémon Trainer, for example, and I know for a fact that my Lucario can pretty much kill somebody by accident, so I'm happy to say that no other Lucario trainer, no matter how stupid or how smart they are in battle, can make me feel undermined… In short, Neku better win this for us."

"…" Fox looked up and rubbed his chin. "Oh, you're absolutely right," he said, completely being honest. "I think the same thing."

"Thank you," Chris said. "Besides…it's the kind of people like Shooter that just…make my blood boil because…" he lowered his head, "…they remind me about how foolish I was when I was younger…"

Fox stared. "What?"

"Sometimes…I relate myself to others," Chris admitted. "When I see those others acting like I used to…it just makes me feel sad, too. One day down the road, they're bound to suffer because of how they act…" The teen stared at the vulpine. "…You're not the only one who's done some stupid life-changing decisions, Fox… In retrospect, that made me mature quickly at the cost of…" He frowned, recalling that everyone in the team was looking at him. "Sorry… I shouldn't have gone on in a tangent…"

The vulpine looked empathetic and patted his partner's back. "…I'm not saying that you'll get through that again, but you have my full support," he said. "Hang in there, Chris."

"…Thanks," Chris muttered, almost smiling instantly. The fox chuckled and pulled the teen closer to his side, and soon the two laughed with their team.

Surprisingly, Joshua didn't comment on the small conversation. He looked blank, and Soren noticed this. "He got you to thinking, huh?" Soren said.

Joshua looked at Soren and grinned a bit. "A bit," he admitted. "I'm amazed how the human mind can reflect on some trivial things to make them look so serious." He chuckled. The Branded felt perturbed. "Not everything is comedy…"

"Taste the rage of my Red Kaiser! Innn...PINCIBLE!"

The sudden uproar coming from the public made them jerk their heads to Neku's direction. They barely saw one of Neku's pins whizzing by his cheek, flying off before it dropped dead on the cold floor. "Gah!" Neku yelped, looking behind him as the public went wild. "It...it's over. I lost?"

Shooter chuckled, pumping up a fist. "You seemed pretty tough, bro! I had to get serious!" he said.

Back at the bench, everyone but Joshua froze into place as the announcer of the matches said, "And just like that, the match is over! Shooter does it again! The top seed moves on to the finals!"

"…" Chris sniffed and buried his face on his hands. As he whimpered, Fox patted his back. "Whyyyyyyyyyy?!" he asked, his arms clutching a similarly sad Pichu.

Shooter jumped several times in the air as the public applauded him. "Watch out, Shibuya! When I'm on, I am ON! Woo!" he exclaimed with glee, giggling like a maniac right after. "Time for the final match! Better luck next time, bro!" he told Neku, who looked beyond pissed at his loss. Shooter was too oblivious to notice the mood change.

"There is no next time!" Neku said, stomping his feet as he made his way back to the group. Staring at their ill looks, he obscured his face behind his collar. "Shiki... I'm sorry, I-"

"Aww, what a shame," Joshua said, standing up. "Not that I'm shocked. You're a Tin Pin virgin. What could you do?"

Neku was just about to choke Joshua on the spot. "Don't you see what this means?!" Neku asked, almost completely enraged by Joshua's teasing. "We failed! We screwed up the mission!"

"Oh man, it's over!" Ness bellowed. "We're getting erased just because Neku couldn't win a stupid, overrated children's game!"

"Hey, don't drop the blame on me!" Neku yelled. "I…I screwed up… I'm so sorry…" He looked worried.

Joshua giggled. "You sure did," he said. "But relax..."

"Joshua, for heaven's sake!" Ike snapped, standing up. "We're going to stop existing in a matter of minutes! I checked the timer and we only have ten minutes left! Unless you have some idea in mind to get us out of this fix, we're not going to make it in tim-"

"Uh-oh! Looks like trouble for our champ!"

Right after listening to the enthusiastic announcer's voice, the group turned to the direction of the final pin battle between Shooter and his opponent. The people around the floor gasped dramatically as something went wrong on Shooter's side. "What's the commotion?" Soren asked.

"What indeed?" Joshua wondered. "Sounds like an upset."

Neku knew they didn't have time, but they should at least pay attention to what possibly might be their last event in the Game. "Let's check it out," he suggested.

The eight Players made their way through the crowd and spotted Shooter struggling to use his pin shooting-device to start the match. It was the device that all Tin Pin players used to launch their pins into battle. Shooter's Red Kaiser was heavily modified by himself to work tremendously, but it seemed to not work at all. "My pin... It won't eject!" Shooter said, looking extremely desperate. "No, Red Kaiser! NOOO!"

"Thinking back at the weird rules I barely comprehended," Soren began, "if your pin launcher doesn't work, you can't play, and your opponent wins by default."

"Also, you're not allowed to get a replacement from what I heard…" Chris said.

"It looks like a freak malfunction has cost the top seed the slam-off!" the announcer pointed out, making the crowd erupt in cheers as Shooter yelled to the heavens while he fell down on his knees. "Victory goes to dark horse slammer Sota Honjo!"

"Oh, my!" Joshua said, putting up a fake surprised look. "Looks like Shooter lost."

Staring at the confident person across the table, the Smashers vaguely remembered seeing Sota somewhere else before. "Uh, guys, that player looks a bit familiar," Pichu said.

"Hmm… Isn't he one of the people that Makoto guy spoke to?" Ike asked. "Yeah, I think that's the same one. I can't forget that…curious way of dressing." As Sota got the Hero's Pin from the announcer, the Players felt a weird feeling on their left palms. Since the budging feeling felt too sudden, they looked at their palms, seeing the timer gone from their hands.

"Huh? The timer's gone," Neku said.

Ness tilted his head. "But why?" he asked. "We didn't clear the mission!"

Joshua smiled as he looked over at Sota. "The guy who just won is a Player, too," he pointed out, surprising the group. They stared at Sota walking away from the public as everyone started to leave (Shooter still looking a sickly white in the background) when all of a sudden a giggling young girl came to his side. If memory served them right, the Smashers also remembered the girl that was hanging out with Sota when they were approached by Makoto last week. It was Nao.

As they passed the group, the two lone Players talked to each other. "So, like, where'd the timer go?" Nao asked.

Sota winked at her. "Mission accomplished! We did it, Nao!" he rejoiced with her as they left the area behind.

"…Thank the gods!" Chris rejoiced as everyone else looked relieved. "We're still in the Game!"

Joshua frowned with a chuckle. "I thought you knew," he said. "It doesn't matter which Player clears the mission. So there's no reason for us to get all worked up over it."

Neku sighed, not seeing a determined Shooter running after Sota and Nao. "Whew... We're safe," he said, smiling a bit to his team.

Molco

Shooter could see Sota and Nao exiting the building. As he crossed the corner to demand a rematch, he stopped to catch his breath. "Wait up, man! I want a... rematch..." Since Sota and Nao were Players tied to the dead, their forms disappeared once they got out from the range of the decal. Shooter blinked, completely stupefied. "Huh? Where'd he go? You can't just win, then disappear! It's not fair!" He shook a fist to the sky. "NOT FAIR!"

The team of Players came out from the building and carefully snuck away from the crazy Tin Pin fanatic. As they got out of the range of the decal, Joshua said, "Let the other Players take care of the missions. We just need to do what it takes to stay alive. ...Whatever it takes."

Neku wasn't feeling too good with the idea. He looked at his partner. "And what if nobody clears the mission?" he asked. "If that kid's toy hadn't broken when it did...that would've been the end of us!"

"And I certainly don't want my essence to be snuffed out because some insane kid beat us," Soren commented.

Joshua giggled. "Oh, I'm willing to make some minimal effort." He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "You don't really think that was an accident, do you?"

Neku's shocked look was frozen into place as he thought that Joshua was implying something. "Uh, Joshua, what do you mean by that?" Ness asked. "Did you…?"

Joshua nodded. "I borrowed your opponents' pins and swapped in a few of my own," he said. "I went to have a friendly chat with him, and what do you know, he fell right into my little trap. Of course mine had a few...adjustments made." He handed Neku a few pins. "Here, you can have the originals."

Neku stared at the good pins on his hands. "Unbelievable..." he muttered. He got a Tin Pin Fire pin which had three fireballs circling around and a Tin Pin Custom which had the image of a frozen flake of ice.

"I'm not sure how to feel about what you did back there, Joshua…" Chris trailed off.

"Please, we can all agree that our lives are more important than some children's game," Joshua said, frowning at their disapproval. "You didn't need to win, Neku. Shooter just had to lose."

Neku grunted at his partner. "You're... You're devious!"

Joshua lifted his shoulders for a bit. "Oh, come on. You wanted to win. Wasn't that the whole reason for participating?"

The graffiti fan rolled his eyes. "OK, fine. Then why didn't you tell us anything?"

"Hee hee... Don't you think it's more fun with a little suspense?"

"No," everyone else said at the same time. Joshua thought that everyone shared a single mind judging the response came out fast.

"Besides, you might've won anyway. I didn't want to hurt your feelings," he said with a small wink that drove Neku's hair stand erected for a brief second.

Neku was just about to cause an accident in the street, so Fox stepped forward. "Joshua, would you please stop toying around like that?" he asked as a matter of fact. "Have you forgotten that you're also bound to lose your chance if we fail?"

"Yeah," Joshua said, smiling. "It's just that I trust other Players to do our work. They're no small fry. Where's your trust in them?"

Ike looked dull. "Is it safe to say that you don't want to do anything about the missions?" he asked.

"Jackpot, my dear Ike," Joshua said smugly. He looked at Neku, glaring at his way. "If you're done, it's my turn now."

"For what?!" Neku said. "(Calm down… Calm down… Don't snap this kid's neck… You're better than this, Neku!)"

Joshua, unfazed at the loud response, said, "I've got an errand to run, and you're all coming along."

Ness crossed his arms. "An errand to run? We're dead. How can you possibly have an errand t-"

"Neku agreed to this," Joshua pointed out, not wanting to disclose the purpose of his errand. "After the mission, we do what I want."

"Rrgh!" Neku gritted his teeth behind his collar, but he really did say that they would let Joshua do what he wanted to do after the mission was over. "...Fine."

"Peachy," Joshua said, starting to walk south from the building. "This errand of mine has its benefits for you. You'll gain something out of it…but I'll get the fat prize for myself."

The other Players begrudgingly followed the enigmatic teen from behind. "Asking you about that is a secret right now, right?" Ike asked and Joshua nodded. "Honestly, Joshua… You could open a little to us about your intentions to do your stuff."

Joshua's look turned blank before looking at Ike. "I'm wide open," he said. "You guys just don't know how to take a joke."

"You're practically joking around the fact we might get erased," Ike said, his eyebrows arching down the direction of his brow. "Do you really want to get a second chance yourself?"

Joshua blinked and looked away. "Huh… Perhaps I'm delaying that to happen," he said. "The Underground has me very intrigued, Ike. Don't you want to find out what makes this place work the way it does?" He grinned amused and looked at the mercenary. "Lucky for me, I have the resources to figure things out. You guys practically serve as nice guinea pigs."

The others stopped walking. Joshua stopped walking a few feet away from them and turned around.

"I'd advise you to get a move on," Joshua said. "We can't waste anymore time as it is."

"Oh, says the guy who just called us guinea pigs and shrugged the mission off," Neku said. He was steadily getting annoyed of his new partner's attitude.

Even though Joshua was faced by multiple stern looks from the Players, he kept on smiling at them. "Those frowns are going to turn into smiles after I show you what I want to do around here," he said. "Once we get to the scramble, I'll reveal a few things about my motives." He grinned. "You're in for some surprises. Hee hee…"

Soren could hardly believe that Joshua was being helpful in the shadiest of ways. Looking to his right, the Branded fixed his gaze on a horrendous junk heap in the middle of the sidewalk. "Would you look at that…" he trailed off, uninterested at the junk heap. "It's one of those junk heaps."

Pichu looked at the shadow of the junk heap. "Indeed it is…" he trailed off.

"I can attest that that wasn't there before when we got here," Fox said. "Wouldn't that mean that Sho guy is around here?"

"Yeah," Neku said, crossing his arms. "But I don't want to see him again. Let's ditch this place and go to the scramble to see what Joshua wants to do so badly."

Joshua felt touched. "Ah, now that's the tone of voice I like to hear from my dear partner and his friends," he said.

"Let's ignore Pi Face's junk heap," Ness said, and everyone nodded as they made their way back to Cadoi City.

Before anyone could say anything, a familiar voice called out to them from behind their backs. Turning around, they looked dismayed to see Minamimoto looking furious and over-the-top, standing on his junk heap right before leaping down to them. "What, you're just going to ignore me? You half-blind hectopascals!" he called out.

"Oh, gee… It's the math fetishist himself again," Fox said in a tone of full boredom.

Neku suddenly grabbed his head when a headache feeling almost instantly appeared right after looking at Sho. "Nngh! Not again..." he muttered.

Pichu looked up at Neku. "Neku, are you okay? Are you having another headache again?" he asked.

Joshua giggled, ignoring his partner's grave state on purpose. "Oh, look. It's a stray Reaper," he said as Sho approached them with his hands burrowed into his pockets. "You seem even grouchier than usual."

"Damn right!" Sho said. "That game was zetta dull! I saw the whole thing with my own eyes. Are you trying to bore me to death?" He shook with rage. "How about a little flair!? Give it some edge! You brain-dead binomials are pathetic!"

"Hey, tell that to Joshua," Ness said. "We didn't have much say in the matter, besides getting our heads handed to us during the first round…"

Joshua pinched his chin. "Wow, you sat there watching the entire mission? Do GMs always have that much time on their hands?" he asked.

Minamimoto chuckled confidently. "No comments from the peanut gallery. Your opinions are garbage!" He smacked a fist into his palm. "CRUNCH! I'll add them to the heap!"

"So are yours, then," Ike simply said.

That made a vein pop out from Sho's head as he looked sideways at Ike. "What did the zero just say to me?" he asked, his tone low but his smirk wide.

"I just said your opinions are garbage," Ike said. Soren narrowed his eyes and sighed mentally. "You keep spouting math nonsense that doesn't make any sense to us. It's like you just want to get attention by trying hard to sound important while you aren't."

"…HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sho laughed jovially. "You, incomplete fraction, make me laugh!" He stepped closer to Ike, and Soren was ready to fling the maniac Reaper away with his wind tome should he need to. "Care to say more funny problems to my face?"

Ness cleared his throat. "Unless you want to get divided by zeroes, since you think we are a bunch of zeroes," he said.

"DIVIDED BY ZEROES!" Sho laughed harder at the statement. "Oh goodness, that was some really good joke right there!" He took a moment to regain his composure, looking down at Ness with a smirk. "School boy! I won't be getting divided by a zero. That's just an improbable process that can't be computed no matter how hard you try to find a reasonable solution! I am…IIIIIIIINFINITY!"

Pichu's eyes were swirls once more, and Chris picked him up out of worry. "Please tell him to stop…" the Electric-type muttered.

Joshua's look suggested that he was having a field day with their reactions. "Hee hee... I figured you weren't much for criticism," he told Sho. "Otherwise, why keep making those senseless junk heaps?"

Minamimoto chuckled and shed a tear as he grinned at his junk heap behind his back. Everyone but Joshua shook their heads in dismay. "Every inch of my work is flawlessly calculated. Look at the perfectly understated silhouette. How can you not see the beauty!?"

"…Because we're not into junk?" Chris wisely responded.

"Digit, you stand on a world of garbage!" Minamoto told Chris, who just blinked at his statement. "The garbage all around needs to be added up to come up with a good iteration! Admire the beauty of my art!"

"No, you freak!" Ness said, disapproving the mere thought. "Marry your art and leave us alone for a change!"

"No can do, little centimeter! But I'm already married to my art," Sho said, ignoring some of the chuckles from the team. Neku, however, was still grabbing his head in pain, unable to do something. "...Time for a little quiz. What's the probability of you Players surviving the week?"

Soren rolled his eyes. "I'm going to have to guess it's zero in your equations," he said.

"ZERO, same as your taste!" Sho said contently before walking next to his junk heap. Turning around, he took out a megaphone and put it at maximum volume. The team quickly covered their ears. "Attention, all tasteless tetrahedra! If you want to live, show me the limit of U as I go to infinity! Not that there's anything any of you can do. You fractals have no future! QED. Class is dismissed!" Laughing jovially, the Reaper walked behind his junk heap and disappeared from their sight.

Right after he left, Neku stopped having a headache inside his head. He cursed how it was possible for him to get a lot of pain whenever Sho appeared to insult them all with his math analogy. "Oh, Neku," Pichu said, looking up from Chris's arms. "Are you alright? You've been grabbing your head a lot these past few days…"

"The pounding stopped for now…" Neku trailed off, getting a few concerned looks from the others. Joshua was obviously not in the same category. "This is so frustrating… All of it…"

"We can rest assured that we won't see Sho again after we heard him let it all out of his chest," Ike said before making a face. "I can't stand that guy."

"Nobody can stand them," Chris rephrased. "They're all nuts."

Joshua gazed at Neku. "Think he's got a thing for you, Neku?" he asked.

Neku was back into his angry state of mind. "What!? How the hell do you figure that?" he asked.

Joshua rubbed his chin. "Oh, please! The way he follows you around?" He looked at the others. "I wouldn't be surprised if he got a thing for you, too!"

"Eww, no," Ness said. "I don't let guys like him follow me around. And besides, he's a Game Master, so… He's supposed to keep tabs on us Players, right?"

"I don't see him chasing after the other Players."

The group fell into silence after realizing the fact; the annoying, grave fact. They wondered if Sho had met up with Sota and Nao, but he clearly ignored the other Players when they walked out from the building. "…Oh, crud," Fox muttered. "He really has a thing for us…"

"I wouldn't be so surprised myself," Ike said. "We're not from this world. We're like golden statues for them to simply pass up like that. It's one drawback that's going to keep showing up to throw us off whenever they want."

"...Or is it my fault?" Joshua asked, covering his mouth with a hand as he looked away and pondered the assumption.

"(What?)" Neku thought to himself. "(That's right... He might be tied in with the Reapers. If he is, that could explain why the GM is stalking us. ...Still. I'm just speculating. It's too soon to reach any definite conclusions. Except...maybe one. I'd have to be crazy to trust this kid!)"

"One thing is for sure," Soren suddenly spoke. "The Reapers treat Players like toys no matter how you look at it. Tomorrow will be another day to get toyed around mercilessly."

It was so true that it made everyone grunt. As he looked up to the towering buildings, Ike felt that they were being watched from somewhere on the rooftops. Looking around the mesmerizing structures, Ike saw a shadow standing in front of the sun. Shielding his eyes, he narrowed his eyes to make out a thin figure, but he couldn't trust his vision too much. When he blinked once, the figure was gone…

"Somebody was just spying on us," Ike told the others.

"What?" Soren asked. "A spy?"

"Oh, certainly, it's another person who is totally not another spy," Fox said, sighing afterwards. "It's incredible how we're judging everybody we meet after a day passes."

"No, I'm sure this time," Ike said. "It felt like that to me."

"I'm going to have to say that you should ignore that feeling," Ness suggested. "And if there's a spy, we're bound to find out what they want from us. It's the natural way of things."

Before the mercenary could voice his opinion even more, the Players fainted on the sidewalk, and another day went by...

Joshua's Day 3 – Roamin' The Streeeeeeeets

Scramble Crossing

"Aaaaaaaaaand we're back in the scramble," Ness said, faking excitement as the others rose up from the street's cold floor. He looked to the side and found Joshua talking on the phone once more. "He woke up first than me."

Joshua said, "Yup... I'll be there today. You'll have it all ready for me, won't you?"

Ike was starting to get very annoyed by Joshua's secretive attitude. The others couldn't really think anything else about Joshua other that he was a guy who liked teasing them to no end. "I picked a few things up about cell phones," Ike said. "Is he talking to the same person from yesterday?"

Pichu smiled. "Ike, you're starting to learn a few things now!" he said, but Ike thought Pichu was making fun of him.

"Shouldn't be long till the mission shows up," Neku said. "That'll snap him out from his talk with whoever he's talking to."

Five minutes later…

As Neku and his team waited for the mission to arrive, there was nothing that alerted them. Neku's phone didn't receive any mail for a few minutes, and he was waiting anxiously to get started before Joshua had a chance to talk and subtly tease them all. To kill some time, Ness decided to tell a few tidbits about himself to the others. "In short," Ness said, "I'm actually taking advanced classes to get to high school earlier."

"I wouldn't have figured out that you were a hard working kid," Chris said, clearly amazed. "It's hard to think you're that good…"

"I know my personality doesn't reflect it much, but hey, I do what I can."

"Reminds me of how I went back to school after defeating Andross," Fox said with a grin. "I was quite a popular teen for the rest of my school year at the academy."

"Show off," Pichu said, and Fox glared at him.

Neku had listened to the talk for a bit, but he was too busy looking at Joshua's back, waiting for his partner to make them all feel uncomfortable. "OK..." Neku said. "What's the deal? It never takes this long." He took out his phone to see if there was some mail. "Am I even getting reception?"

The Smashers turned to his direction. "Uh-oh," said Pichu as he saw a smiling Joshua walking to them. "Here he comes…"

Joshua got closer to Neku, his unnerving smile intact. "Say, Neku," he said.

"(...That smile makes me nervous. What are you scheming now?)" Neku pondered as he pocketed his phone. "Yeees?" he trailed off, faking being interested.

"You and the others are coming with me today, right?" he asked. "There's someplace I'd like to go." He noticed that everyone fell silent, going back to staring at him. "You never followed through on your promise yesterday. So today, you're making it up to me. ...Right?" He sighed. "We haven't got anything else to do yet. So let's go take care of my stuff first."

Neku looked angry. "No way! I told you yesterday - first, we do the mission. Then you can play around," he pointed out as the others watched on. "Besides, the mission could show up any sec-"

There was a beeping sound coming from Joshua's pocket. He took out his phone and raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, you're right. There it is, Neku!" he said without moving his smile to them. "Let's see... Proceed to Cat Street. Time limit: 15 minutes."

"Cat Street…" Chris said. "Where's that again?"

Neku, however, gasped and looked incredibly shocked beyond words. "Fifteen minutes!? That's on the other side of Shibuya!" He looked at the others. "It's all the way to the northeast of here, and it's far away from the scramble!"

"What?!" Fox suddenly shouted, his irises shrinking. The others similarly gasped in unison, but Soren looked doubtful about something. Turning sharp, Fox said, "We've got to get a move on and run!"

"We'd better hurry, then," Joshua added simply.

"No joke!" Neku said. "Shut up and start running! Come on!"

"Yes, sir!"

And thus began a mad dash to the northeast corner of Shibuya.

Cat Street

"A street lined with cafes, import furniture stores, and other classy establishments. Neighboring Harajuku Station might get you there quicker."

The Smasher team had to admit that Fox was a lot stronger and faster than he looked. This was proved once he hoisted Chris, Pichu, and Ness on his arms while keeping a fast quick pace with his feet. Cat Street was all the way to the northeast side of Shibuya, and after dealing with a few shortcomings on the way there, the Star Fox leader made it first in time, just a minute short of failing the mission. As he panted heavily for exhausting a lot of stamina, Fox let out a long sigh and collapsed on his back, which in turn caused the trio to fall on him. Since his little team finished the mission, it also saved all Players from getting erased.

"Y-you run pretty fast…" Chris said.

"I don't want to brag, but I run faster than him," Pichu said as the three got off from the vulpine's body. "But…thanks for doing it!"

"Whew…" Fox breathed in and out. "I…don't…want…to…do that…again…" His partner crouched down and patted the vulpine's head a few times.

"…You know, you could have just taken Chris with you," Ness said. Fox tiredly turned his eyes to him. "Only one pair of Players is enough to finish the mission."

"…Craaaaaaaaaaap," Fox breathed out, closing his eyes in defeat.

A few seconds later, the other two pairs of Players ran into the street and stopped short in front of the exhausted Fox. Neku huffed as he rested his hands on his bent knees. "Made it!" Neku said. "Did we clear the mission!?"

"There was no mission to speak of," Soren said. "Furthermore, there was no timer."

"…" Everyone but Joshua stared flatly at the Branded before looking down at their left palms. If memory served, the flinching pain that usually came to them after reading the mission never came to be. Since Joshua himself had said that there was a mission, they quickly labeled him as the culprit of the joke. "What?" Ike said, looking at his tactician. "Soren, if you knew this beforehand, why didn't you tell us so?"

Soren looked at the smiling Joshua. "I wanted to see what Joshua is so fixated about," he said. "I just let things develop from there. I don't really trust him too much. Though, if he wanted us to come here in such a hurry…"

"…I…hate you…two…so much…" Fox muttered to himself. Only Chris managed to hear his words.

Joshua smiled jovially and looked around. Cat Street was a place to unwind. Even though there weren't that many stores that exhibited an air of popularity, some people liked to visit the local cafes to relax. There was one special café that picked the enigmatic teen's attention. "It's that café just over there, Neku," he simply said, pointing at a café to the right side of a Y intersection.

"You lied to us!?" Neku asked, more pissed about the lie than the fact they just crossed almost a complete half of Shibuya on their running feet.

"Kinda, yeah," Joshua said nodding. "I'm surprised it worked this well."

"You... UGH! I can't believe you!" Neku said, tossing his arms up and turning his back on Joshua.

"I have to admit that I had my doubts when I noticed Soren grimacing a few times on the way here," Ike said. Noticing that everyone looked a bit exhausted, he wanted to brighten things a bit. "…At least the running was a good exercise, right?" He was met up by a few glares, but Fox's bordered on straight out murder. "I…should shut up for now."

Joshua chuckled. "Oh, come on. No harm done," he said. "It's not like we have a real mission yet. Anyway, here we are so let me get this done."

Neku took a little bit of time to compose himself. Choking Joshua was extremely tempting now, but he needed the partner in him to continue – if Joshua had that partner at all. "You must love jerking people around," Neku said with a lot of obvious venom in his voice.

"There there, Neku," Joshua cooed. "Just be grateful this wasn't a real mission. If it were you'd be erased. You took forever getting here." He looked down at Fox. "Though in retrospect, our champion athlete would've saved our hides." When Joshua looked away, Fox flipped him off.

"Hey, I..." Neku grunted. "Why are you doing this to us!?"

"I felt like drinking coffee," Joshua said. "Cat Street has a lovely café. Care to join me?"

Soren stared. "Is this the main reason to pressure us to get to this place?" he asked. "All that just so you could satisfy yourself with a mug of coffee?"

"Yup."

"Unbelievable," Ike said. "No, wait, this is too soon to judge. I bet Joshua has something devious in mind. It couldn't be just because he's thirsty for a drink."

Joshua raised his hands. "In my defense, I tire out easily. Hence the reason for my coffee cravings," he said.

As Fox started to regain some energy back into him, Ness covered his face with a hand. "Joshua, just get this over with so you can focus on more important matters," he said. "I know you're not going to reveal your dark, dark secrets to us until you take us to that café." He heard Fox panting heavily.

"He better…treat us…for some coffee…" the vulpine said through gritted fangs. Scared that Fox would bite his hand off, Chris carefully patted his partner's back. Although many of them looked frustrated at the silver(gray?)-haired teen, they went to the café Joshua wanted to visit so badly to dispel all secrets once and for all. Otherwise, Neku was going to go into full-choke mode.

WildKat

The World Ends with You – Economical Shoppers

The orange walls and the slow-moving fan on the ceiling made for a relaxing atmosphere that expelled a coffee smell that exited the open establishment. Thin chairs and tables were spread out all the way to the end of the sidewalk outside, but the distance from the main counter with arranged coffee mugs wasn't enough to keep customers from smelling the strong, sweet aroma of coffee. Just smelling the air made the Players feel a bit perturbed.

Once Joshua stepped inside, he looked behind the counter where the owner of the establishment was cleaning a coffee mug with a napkin. "Mr. H? You in?" he said.

The man turned around, causing the Players to gasp. The owner turned out to be Mr. Hanekoma. "Heyyy! I was waiting for ya, Josh," he said in a friendly tone before looking over at the others. "Ah, you brought some customers. Some of them look very familiar."

"Mr. Hanekoma!?" Neku said surprised.

"Hmm? Oh, Phones!" Hanekoma said. "What, you and your folk're in the Game again?"

Neku looked a bit preoccupied. "Yeah... And because of that, Shiki's... She was my entry fee."

Mr. H raised an eyebrow. "They took the young lady, huh..." he trailed off, his voice hinting a bit of lament at the news. He forced a chuckle and shrugged his shoulders as he walked out from the counter's backside. "Well, buck up. Nothin' you can do about that right now. 'Sides, boss, I'm sure she understands."

Neku blinked and smiled a bit. "...Thanks."

Joshua looked back and forth between the two. "I see you two are acquainted," he said.

"Yeah. He saved our asses more than once last week."

Joshua nodded. "What a coincidence. He's been in the business of saving my ass for some time," he said.

Pichu mumbled a bit. "Did he help you to survive the previous week alone?" he asked.

"My, Pichu, you sure have an active imagination with the right answers," Joshua complimented, but Pichu shuddered at him. "Yes. Mr. H was the one who helped me to get through my unlucky times by my lonesome. He's a great source of info."

Neku thought as he watched Hanekoma flashing a small grin, his right hand busy while cleaning the mug, "(The two seem to go way back. Is this where Joshua learned all about the UG?)"

Hanekoma turned around and walked behind the counter. Joshua suddenly looked blankly at him. "Ya seem exhausted. Fox man here looks like he's been in some rough times," he said. "I haven't heard anythin' aboudah a mission yet. So, why don'tcha stick around and rest for a bit? I make some crazy coffee. Oh, and I make some good ol' breakfast for the kiddies."

Ness smiled. "If you don't call me a kiddy, I'll take your offer."

It had been a long time ever since they took a rest from the days full of perils. The group of eight Players divided into two groups that took a table with four chairs each, close to each other. Neku sat down with Ike and Soren while Fox and Chris sat with Ness and Pichu. Joshua, though, sat alone in a table set apart from them as he placed his chin on an open palm. As Hanekoma went to the back of the café to prepare them some food, the Players relaxed. "I needed the downtime so badly," Ike said.

"It's been really rough on us," Chris said. "What with all this stuff about being dead and the Reapers' Game… Sometimes, I wonder if we'll ever make it back home to settle things down again."

"…That reminds me," Ike began as he looked at Chris, "you're the only one who's lasted longer in the living world… What has happened ever since we died besides you getting kidnapped?"

The teen stared into space and tried to summarize everything that had happened. "So many things happened after you died," he said. The attention was focused on him. Even Joshua bathed an eye on him. "For starters, we finished things with Chip and Dark Gaia… He sacrificed his life to help us defeat the monster. Oh, and also, Sonic got rid of his werehog form forever, along with that stupid Dark Super Sonic thing."

"Good," Ness said, flailing his legs a bit. "I never liked seeing him turn into a muscle fur ball."

"And you also got rid of DSS?" Pichu said. "That's even better! He frightened me a lot…"

"But Chip sacrificed himself?" Ike asked.

Chris forced a smile. "He did, but he's now resting in Sonic's world to keep Dark Gaia from ever coming out from the core of the planet," he said. "So…in a way, he's still alive. He was so thankful for having enjoyed the outside world."

The others nodded, but Fox wanted to ask a question. "What about the others?" he asked. "Before you got kidnapped, how was everyone holding up without us? I bet Falco never visited my grave because he's not that sentimental."

Chris looked down. "We…kind of got over your deaths for a while," he said. "Fox, Falco has almost closed himself off from the world. He hardly ever got out of his room. Ness, Lucas has been visiting your grave every day, dropping some sunflowers from time to time."

Ness looked a bit gloom. "Oh, Lucas…" he muttered. "I forgot he really liked me as a friend after sorting out his problems with his dead twin brother…" He looked away, looking a bit sad. "Hmm…"

Chris looked at Ike. "Ike, Marth and the other swordsmen visited your grave frequently," he said, until he recalled a nasty memory when he said Marth's name. "…Ike, this is going to sound a bit crazy, but… Did you ever fight Marth as an enemy?"

"Huh?" Ike blinked twice. "Fight Marth as an enemy? Um…" He shook his head. "I…don't think so… Why are you asking that?"

"Well…" Chris didn't know how to put it. "There was this world we went to find another temple, and apparently Marth's nagging memories of you resulted in your soul being drawn to that world. When I saw you…you weren't yourself. You were a dead soul trying to kill Marth and all of us."

Ike's eyes widened. "That can't be right…" he trailed off as Soren looked suspicious. "…But…now that I think about it… I seem to remember doing something…heinous before I came to my senses in Shibuya…" Chris looked a bit surprised. "I can't remember the details clearly. What I can remember is that I was…furious for some reason…"

The teen looked ill. "Then you got to fight us as some sort of undead monster… It was a very tragic experience," he said. "But ultimately, Marth put your spirit to rest, and everything was set right…on our end, anyway." Ike looked down, vaguely recalling the unknown memory. Chris looked at Pichu next. "Pichu… Pikachu really didn't take your death too well."

Pichu's ears drooped. "He didn't?"

"Pikachu is completely heartbroken," Chris said. "…In fact, when I saw him, he gave me an idea to go for you guys at a special place where all dead people go to, which wasn't supposed to be here in Shibuya. It was a place Mario knew well, but…" He looked down. "It was from there that I got kidnapped so suddenly…and got me killed."

"Oh, Pikachu…" Pichu sniffed, embracing himself. "I'm…I'm touched he likes me so much… I want to go back to his side and have fun together like we used to…"

"You're not the only one," Ike spoke up. "All of us want to go back to our common lives."

"Or what you like to call normal lives," Soren said. "Fighting some army from an unknown location wasn't certainly the best thing that has ever happened to us."

Fox looked serious at the Branded. "We're the only ones who can fight the army," he said. "If we let them do as they please…all the worlds are done for."

Neku had been listening to their conversation from the beginning. "Huh, you guys went through a lot of things from the beginning," he said. "An army, though?"

Ike held out a hand close to him. "It's the Subspace Army. It's an army led by a terrifying person named Tabuu," he explained. Joshua raised an eyebrow. "His army has the means to travel across the worlds to engulf them in the Subspace, which is an area of pure emptiness and chaos."

The orange-haired teen shrugged at the thought. "W-well, before, I wouldn't believe any of it… Now, I do think you're not making up some crazy story," he said. "It's hard to believe that an army wants to conquer other worlds…" He looked out to the living people that walked by the café. "…Do you think Shibuya is a target as well?"

"If we can get here," Chris began, "the army targets anything they reach. So…it's our job to fight it back." He sighed mentally, wishing that there was no need to fight. Though because of the conflict, he knew it was the reason Chris got to travel across the universes in the first place.

Ness looked up at the ceiling fan. "So many bad things are going on back in our HQ," he said. "Getting through the Reapers' Game is our top priority to start fixing everything. I want to stop Lucas from visiting my grave every day…" He shuddered. "It's going to be weird looking at my own grave once we go back."

"That's good because…" Chris's mouth babbled a little too much by accident, getting some looks from his team. "…I…should go ahead and say it…"

"Say what?" Fox asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Chris hung his head down. "There was…a deluge one day," he said. "The deluge was so bad that it ended up weakening the ground under your graves where we put your bodies inside coffins. Those coffins were too heavy, apparently, and…there was a sewer system right beneath the earth."

Silence…

"…" Fox's eyebrows were perfectly making a good glare on his face, even though his eyes were halfway closed. "Chris…"

"…Yes…" Chris muttered.

Ness had a similar look on his face. "Please tell me you're making a good joke…because we're not laughing at it," he said.

Ike placed three fingers on his forehead as Soren quickly figured out why there weren't any graves in the mansion when he first got there. "I don't like where this conversation is going…" he muttered.

Pichu blinked and looked down in shame. "The coffins that had us fell right into the sewer…didn't they…" he trailed off.

Fox looked sideways at Chris, who was still hanging his head down. "And the way you put it makes me think that you guys didn't try to get our bodies back to safety," he said, his right eye twitching.

Chris moved his head up, looking very nervous. "W-we tried, really!" he said. "The sewer just smelled so bad that only Olimar and I went to retrieve your bodies because we had helmets!"

"…And why didn't Master Hand just…make more helmets for the others?" Ness asked.

"…" Chris groaned mentally. "…Because he doesn't know any better like always…" He looked away from Fox's peeved look. "…In short, Olimar and I failed to find your coffins…and Master Hand presumed that the sewer was connected to the sea, so…"

"…" Ness's body shook. "…So…NOW WE KNOW THAT OUR BODIES WERE LOST TO THE SEWER…AND THEN THEY POSSIBLY GOT LOST IN THE SEA, WHICH IS WAY WORSE…"

"…Pretty much…"

"…" Fox's grin twitched a little too violently. "Hopefully a frickin' shark didn't eat us whole by now," he said through gritted fangs.

The teen smacked his palms together in an apologetic fashion. "I-I'm sure Kitaniji can arrange something to fix that little inconvenience!" he said. "He'll revert the day we died or… U-uh…can he do that? O-okay, maybe not, but…"

Ike hung his head behind his back. "Oh man… This…sucks," he said.

Soren sighed in discontent. "I somehow expected something like this to happen," he said. Noticing that the other Smashers were not looking happy at all, he said, "We should worry about that later. We're busy trying to win the Reapers' Game."

Fox calmed down a bit and patted Chris's back. "Yeah, I guess…" he agreed. "Maybe Kitaniji can arrange a solution for this…disheartening problem… Crud…" He closed his eyes in frustration as Chris lightly patted his back for some support.

Joshua suddenly chuckled. The team was reminded that they were still with him. "That was a nice story," he said. "It'll make a good book seller."

The others sighed loudly. "Joshua…please…" Neku muttered.

From the doorway behind the counter, Hanekoma watched unimpressed at Joshua's back. "(Tsk, tsk, Josh…)" he thought. "(Phones doesn't need my advice… You need it the most.)" He grinned and clapped his hands together to get their attention. "The house's offerings are getting ready to go! Prepare those tummies of yours!"

Joshua raised his nose a bit to smell the coffee aroma. "Hmm, I'm in paradise…" he said in complete pleasure.

Neku looked back at the Smashers. "After hearing that story, it puts a lot more weight on my shoulders," he said. Joshua turned to his direction. "Practically, the fate of other worlds depends on me taking you guys out from the Reapers' Game…" He obscured his face.

"Neku…" Pichu said.

"…That's why I don't plan to lose," he said, recalling Shiki's bright look in his mind. "I have a reason to do this, too… So let's keep working hard together." The stares were there for a few seconds until the Smashers smiled a bit and nodded. "(Geez, what kind of trouble did I get myself into with these guys?)"

The group enjoyed a relaxing break after Hanekoma brought the best things on the menu: a House Blend that made Joshua feel like he was in heaven, Coffee that energized Fox and Neku right on the spot, Donuts and Pancakes for Chris, Ness, and Pichu, a Pumpkin Soup that Soren found appetizing, and a Bouillabaisse that surprised Ike's taste. After finishing their break, the group and Hanekoma walked to the front entrance of the café. "I hate to seem impatient, but could we, you know?" Joshua said.

Mr. H nodded. "Sure thing, J. Lemme see your phones," he said.

"Yours too, Neku."

Neku blinked. "My phone? What do you need with it?" he asked.

"Just doing a little upgrade."

Hanekoma chuckled as he took Neku's and Joshua's phones from their hands. "More features the better, right? Gimme just a sec, guys." He walked back into the café.

Joshua looked at the others. "I told him we were coming, so it shouldn't take long," he said.

"Oh…" Ness wondered about the calls Joshua made during the days. "So you were talking to him all this time?" he asked and Joshua nodded.

Pichu rolled his eyes. "I knew Joshua wasn't all that bad like Shiki," he muttered to himself, pouting a bit. He heard Hanekoma's footsteps from the shop.

"Sorry for the wait, guys," Hanekoma apologized as he handed the two Players their phones. "Here ya go."

Joshua and Neku took their phones back. "Thanks," Joshua said. "Now we can finally go on a little hunt."

Soren furrowed his brow. "Joshua, what are you scheming this time with this hunt you just mentioned?" he asked. "Please, the lie about a new mission is old by now. There's no timer on our hands."

Joshua giggled. "You'll see when we find it." The teen raised his phone to see if there was some sort of special signal. After a few seconds, he pulled it back to his eye level. "Hmm, no response around here."

"Just what is that tracker supposed to…" Fox frowned. "Knowing Joshua, he won't tell us until he finds whatever he's trying to find…"

Joshua nodded and turned to the group. "Ready to go, everyone? We'll canvass Shibuya and look for signals," he said.

Neku and the others pondered if they needed to go along with Joshua's plan. Hanekoma raised an eyebrow and stared at Neku's doubtful look. "What's up, Phones? You look like ya got something on your mind," he said.

The orange-haired teen knew that it was a good time to ask Hanekoma about a few things. Once he saw Joshua a few feet away from them, he asked Hanekoma, "So how do you two know each other?"

"What, me and Josh?" Hanekoma said. "I've known him for a while now. He'd swing by when he was bored, and we'd talk. When he was alive, that is. He's lucky that he found his way into the Reapers' Game." His look turned blank. "See, he's a little special..."

"I can totally make a lot of definitions about Joshua with just that word," Ness said with a dull look. "…But I'll bite. What's so special about him?"

"He sees things."

Neku looked confused. "Things? Like what? 'I see dead people,' kind of sees things?" he joked.

But Mr. H nodded his head. "Pretty much. That's how he knew about the Game," he pointed out. "He saw Players and Reapers and all when he was still alive."

Chris's eyes widened. "Joshua has a sixth sense like that?" he asked, looking at Joshua trying to find a signal with his phone. "That just begs to ask how he has that ability in him…"

"And he used that when he was alive, no less," Soren said. "Truly an enigma…"

Hanekoma grinned. "And when he wanted to talk about it, he came to me," he said. "There aren't many folks who'd listen, if you know what I mean." He scratched his head a bit. "In a way, he's been alone all his life. He's pretty aloof, and can get prickly from time to time, but he's not a bad kid."

"Huh…" Neku grimaced. "Alone all his life…" He could make some similarities with himself and Joshua just by listening to that fact.

The World Traveler looked worried as he moved his gaze down. "So Joshua is kind of like me when I grew up on my own…" he muttered.

Fox shook his head. "We're not giving him a chance just because he didn't have a good upbringing," he said. "It's like he already shot Neku with a gun and is just casually hanging out with him after saying sorry or something."

Neku grimaced. "Way to put it like that," he said.

Hanekoma stared at Phones. "In any case, he's your partner. You're gonna have to be friendly," he said, but Neku replied with silence. "Easy to tell he's been drivin' you nuts from the get-go. Give him a little chance, not because he's got a bad past." He twirled his hand a bit. "Oh, and you probably are wonderin' about the mission for today. Well, let me tell ya that the Game Master's the one who handles all the missions, so I can't tell you what I don't know. But yeah, usually it's one mission per day."

Ness's mind echoed with Sho's laughs. "That Sho guy, the garbage fetishist, didn't issue a mission yet," he pointed out. "Is he purposely not giving a mission?"

The barista mumbled a bit. "Oh, he's the Game Master?" he asked. "Yeah, guy's pretty wacko. Don't let his crazy hard math talk get to ya. They just like messing with Players' heads."

"(If they like messing with our heads,)" Neku thought, "(does that include giving us instant headaches?)"

"The missions are guaranteed to show up on your phone. When one's issued, you'll know. So don't go losin' that phone, Phones," Hanekoma advised.

"We just got to tough it up for five more days," Fox said. "Only five more days…" he sighed.

Neku looked down at his phone. "So what's this phone upgrade you gave us?" he asked.

"Oh, the tracker?" Hanekoma said.

"Whatever you call it. So...what, it picks up some kind of signal?"

"Pretty much," the barista said. "I set both your phones to locate energy spikes now. The tracker will point you towards the nearest spike."

"What exactly is an energy spike?"

"You can ask Josh what you guys are looking for."

Fox laughed for a bit before looking deadpan. "Seriously, tell us what it is," he said. "Joshua keeps leaving us in the dark from his dark motives all the time."

"I said you gotta trust Josh," Hanekoma said, suddenly looking serious. "Don't mind the teasin' he pulls out of nowhere. Eventually, he'll be a little nicer, and things will develop from there." He grinned. "Hard to have somebody to truly like that guy… Oh wait, I am his friend!" He laughed to the sky, frustrating the group. He calmed down a bit to explain something else. "There's one other feature in there now, too."

"Another one?" Neku wondered. "What's it do?"

"I told Josh how to use it. Ask him."

Pichu looked away, his eyes fixed on Hanekoma. "I think I know why the two of you are friends… You keep teasing the heck out of each other," he said.

To change the subject, Fox stepped forward. "Hanekoma," he began, "I want to know how you knew about the things I've done in my past." The group looked confused at the claim as the barista raised an eyebrow at the fox. "When we fought Yodai, Hanekoma appeared when I was alone in the battle for a moment. I dunno how he even showed up…and he started scolding me for snapping out on Chris." His partner didn't want to remember the bad memory in his mind. "So, Hanekoma, how come you know about my past?"

"It's not only me who knows that," he said, making Fox's eyes widen. "…All the Reapers who don't have anythin' else to do know a few tidbits about all of you, too! Lots of 'em pass through here to have a mug of coffee. They also take breaks now and then like you do!" He chuckled as the group looked dismayed at the news. "You're the talk o' town! You're popular!"

Two Reapers in black hoodies walked by, not noticing the Players and Hakemoma in front of the café. "So whatcha think about that kid and his big blue dog of mass destruction?" one asked.

"I think they're totally gay for each other, with a good taste of bestiality added for good measure," the other said. The two left the street as they broke into laughter.

It was then that Pichu noticed Chris's body shaking. "T-they just didn't call me…" the teen mumbled under his breath. Fow furrowed his brow and frowned. "Those…bastards…!"

"They know how to have field days at the expense of other Players' memories…" Ike sighed. "I suddenly feel naked."

"I'll add that inconvenience to the list of things I hate from the Game," Ness said.

Hanekoma held out a hand. "Gotta win the Game to stop that nonsense from happenin' again, I'd say," he said until he focused on Neku. "If you're bored, go take a walk with Joshua. You still don't have a mission, right? It'd be a waste to just sit around all day."

Neku looked at Joshua. His partner was still busy fiddling with his phone. "Yeah, but..."

Mr. H shook his head. "You don't look convinced. Did you forget already?" he asked. "If you wanna survive in this Shibuya, you gotta-"

"Trust my partner, I know. It's just..."

"You still got a long way to go, Phones. Knowing it in your head doesn't mean much if you don't act on it." He smiled as Neku fell silent. "Enjoy every moment with all ya got."

After hearing the little sentence, Neku gasped in surprise. "What!? What did you just say?" he asked, making the group blink.

"Huh? I say something weird?"

"'Enjoy every moment with all you've got,'" Neku repeated. "That's the motto of the one person I respect. I've made it my mantra. It's the way I live."

Ike rubbed his chin. "You respect somebody, Neku?" he asked. "Hmm, you were pretty closed in your own world when we first met, so that person you respect shouldn't be somebody you just met during the Game… Who do you respect?"

The orange-haired teen looked away. "…CAT," he said. "I respect CAT."

"CAT?" Pichu said. "You respect a cat?"

"No," Neku said. "CAT is this company that's quite popular in Japan. They make some of the most badass graffiti you'll ever see. The one we saw in Udagawa… That one is my favorite. I like to hang out there after school." He crossed his arms. "The company does a lot of stuff, too, from furniture, clothing, accessories… Everything. They also come up with lots of mottos that people like to relate to, and I guess they make pins on the side, too. One of the mottos they use is 'do what you want, how you want, when you want.' I'm a huge fan of CAT myself." He smiled. "When I think about CAT, it…makes me feel good, y'know."

"Huh… I never expected you to be a fan of something like that," Ness said.

"I practice my graffiti to follow on CAT's footsteps so that one day I get to join their ranks," Neku said, sounding a bit proud of the fact. "One day…"

The barista chuckled. "You coulda fooled me," he said.

"…Well, now's not really the time to be enjoying life," the graffiti fan said.

"Uh-huh... You really have got a long way to go," Hanekoma said until he burrowed his hands into his pockets. "Listen up, everyone! 'Specially you, Phones! The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push your horizons out as far as they'll go."

Neku rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? I'm stuck in the Reapers' Game. I can't even leave Shibuya. How am I supposed to expand my world?" he asked until Hanekoma pointed at the Smashers. The teen stared their way until he figured it out. "Oh…"

"Yup," the barista said with a grin. "I gave you one heck of a hint, Phones. Now it's for you to do the rest… But don't forget about Josh, either! Guy needs a good friend badly." He raised his chin. "Now go on! Git!" With that, the barista retreated back into his café.

Joshua sighed loudly and walked back to the team, putting up a smile. "Mr. H likes to babble some…unnecessary topics now and then," he said. "I wish he'd stop telling people like you about me, but what can I do? I'm not his boss or anything." He giggled. "Now, my dear partners, let's go find ourselves an energy spike around Shibuya before the mission shows up."

Though the team wanted Joshua to be friendlier, if that was even possible, they decided to follow along with his shady scheme to see where it would take them. It had to be an important thing to do, at least.

Music stops

Cadoi City

After crossing several areas to go back to the scramble crossing, the group of Players walked in front of the main store of the area until they heard somebody calling out to them. "Found ya!"

Neku gasped and looked around with the others. "Who's there!?" he asked.

"That voice sounded very familiar…" Ike muttered until they heard feet landing behind their backs. Turning around, the Players uttered some silent gasps as they stared in pure disbelief at the horrific sight before their eyes…

It was Beat.

However, Beat wasn't himself anymore. After having joined the Reapers, Beat now had a set of demonic black wings on his back; the wings that signified complete loyalty to the higher ups of the Reapers' Game. Besides the wings, Beat looked the same, though he had obtained great power under his punk-looking appearance.

Before anyone could express relief to see Beat just fine, he flexed his fingers and said, "Get ready to hurt, Phones! You and your lot are gonna bleed today, yo!"

Neku's face fell at the sudden declaration for bloodshed. "You really joined them," he said. "Those wings on your back… Yeah, you've become a Reaper."

Pichu shuddered, standing on top of Chris's right shoulder for protection. "B-Beat, why do you want to hurt us?" he asked, but Beat didn't turn to his direction. "I thought we were friends!"

Joshua raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin while staring at the Reaper Beat. "Neku, you have Reaper friends, too?" he asked. "My, my. You certainly do get around."

Beat scoffed. "He ain't no friend a' mine. I only came here to erase you punks."

Fox crossed his arms. "Erase us?" he said. "Beat, you're being irrational. You know for sure that you don't want t-"

"Shut it, you furred piece of crap!" Beat interrupted, shocking Fox. "I really wanna put the hurt on ya. Dontchu make me waste time. I'mona clock!"

"The hell are you saying now?" the vulpine asked, suddenly glaring at the punk. "You're nuts now?"

"I ain't nuts," Beat muttered, scratching his shoulder. "You are nuts, and nuts gotta crack someday…"

Chris forced a strained glare. "What's happened to you?" he asked. "If Rhyme was here, she'd be mad at you for choosing the bad guys' side!"

Hearing Rhyme's name made Beat's blood boil. "Shaddup!" he yelled at Chris, and Fox stepped in front of him for protection, almost completely out of pure reflex. "You ain't know nothin' about that! Don't bring her intathis!"

Pichu blinked when he noticed some sort of creature perched on Beat's left shoulder. It was there when Beat reappeared. The creature was some form of Noise that took on the appearance of that of an orange-furred squirrel with Noise marks running back to the sides of its body. "Hey," Pichu said. "Where'd you get that Noise from?"

Beat looked at the Noise on his shoulder. Somehow, they could tell that it was giving a sad look through its beady eyes. The punk grunted and pointed at them. "You don't need ta know!" he said. "Bring it, punks! I'm raring to go for a fight!"

Before Neku and the others could protest, the planes were separated in a slow flash of light…

The World Ends with You – Junk Garage

Joshua playfully flicked a strand of his hair while a wary Chris looked around the plane in anticipation for another Noise fight. In the lower plane, a serious Fox looked to the sides with Neku until Beat's Reaper form appearing floating in midair, all the while floating with his skateboard under his feet. "Did you grow a pair?" Beat asked. "'Cause if you did, I'm gonna bust them open!"

"Eww, no!" Chris shrieked, only to notice that Beat hadn't appeared in the upper plane. Instead, there was a floating shadow that resembled Beat's Reaper form. "Is…that…"

"Harrier Reapers can fight while using a shadow copy," Joshua informed the group, staring up at the floating Beat shadow. "Sadly for them, this means that they can get hurt regardless of where they are."

"Ya know too much. Let me see the blood!" Beat said, and the battle officially started. "Half a minute is all I need to show ya not to mess with me!"

"Self-imposing a challenge?" Joshua asked. "You Reapers are all the same."

"Prissy boy, I'll show ya!" The Beat shadow in the upper plane moved its skateboard to Joshua. The sly teen stepped aside with a small grin, watching the shadow swoop the ground. Because Joshua was treated like a mage character, Chris was forced to change to his Space Mercenary job to become the close-range fighter. Taking out his Blaster, he started shooting the shadow once it went up into the air.

The shadow grabbed its skateboard and blocked the laser shots completely. As Chris complained about the move, the shadow suddenly warped right behind his back and slammed its skateboard on the ground, creating a small shockwave that dealt quite a lot of damage. "Goodness!" Chris gasped out in pain, running away from the shadow.

"Argh!" Fox felt the pain, but he was able to sidestep from Beat trying to ram his flying skateboard on his head. "Chris, pay more attention if he gets out of sight!"

"I'm too fast for you. You're too slow, man!" Beat called from behind the vulpine. As Fox looked over his shoulder, Neku used his Mercury pin to intercept Beat by unleashing several slashing blows. The blow actually made Beat stagger into place, and Neku followed it up by using Ice Risers, elevating Beat into the air with three strong stalagmites of ice. "Diagh!"

"I can!" Neku said, and then he used his next pin in line. Taking a grip on Meteor Magnet, Beat was struck by falling pebbles that disrupted the flapping of his Reaper wings. Shaking himself off after the attack ended, Beat sent five spinning blades from his skateboard that spread out and sliced both Neku and Fox. Gaining momentum, Beat warped back to the air.

"You punch good, yo," Beat said.

Meanwhile, in the upper plane, Beat's shadow sent the same spinning blades after Joshua and Chris. But then, Chris got an idea and brought his Reflector into the game. Enveloped in a blinking hexagon, the five spinning blades bounced back to the shadow, slicing it several times. Joshua chuckled at this and dialed a random number, calling forth three vending machines that crushed the shadow down to the pavement.

The shadow and Beat suddenly swapped places. Now Beat was in the upper plane and the shadow was in the lower plane. "Hi there," Joshua said while Chris gasped at Beat's sight. "Enjoyed the beating?"

"Shut it!" Beat said, zooming quickly to Joshua to grind his wheels on his face.

Joshua wisely sidestepped out of the way, but the grin on his face didn't go unnoticed by Beat. In slow motion, Beat's eyes widened when the sly teen moved his phone up across his shoulder, with the camera side facing right directly at Beat's eyes. "Smile," Joshua said as his thumb pressed the dial.

A bright flash filled Beat's vision, causing him to scream and drop on the ground. "SEIZUREEEEEEEEE!" Beat screamed as he grabbed his face with both hands.

"Ha ha," Joshua laughed for a bit as he turned to an astonished Chris. "Come on, Chris. He's squirming! Now's your chance."

"O-oh, um, right," Chris said. Because he didn't want to risk Beat grabbing a part of his body at close range, he changed back to his Black Mage job and conjured a spell. "Lightning bolts, make them squirm violently! Thundara!"

Joshua looked up to see several thunderbolts crashing down upon Beat's squirming body, making him scream loudly in pain while the brief image of his skeleton was somehow seen through the electricity. Down below in the upper plane, Fox's Fusion pin reacted violently, and he didn't waste time to use it. The two planes merged together and Chris reverted back to the Space Mercenary job to pull off his Combined Final Smash with Fox. The two rapidly shot ninety-nine lasers that pierced through Beat and his shadow, before one charged shot added up to a hundred. "Nice shot there!" Fox encouraged.

The planes separated, and Beat started to feel weak. "Yo man… We in trouble…" he muttered to himself as he quickly warped away from Joshua's falling objects.

The shadow in the lower plane wasn't having a good time with the other Players. When it thought that it had warped away from safety, Fox came from behind using Fire Fox, passing the burning fire into its body. Beat winced just before Neku called forth three stalagmites of ice that struck the shadow harder.

"(T-these guys got crazy strong… I-I can't…)" Clutching a hand to his chest, Beat decided to hold out his hand to them. "I-I quit, yo, I quit!" he said.

The four fighters stopped on their tracks and looked at each other. The planes then obeyed Beat's command, and thus they merged back together…

The World Ends with You – Calling

The planes merged back together, and the space was recovered once more. Neku, Joshua, Chris, and Fox reappeared back in the world, barely catching Beat dropping to one knee on the ground as his Noise pet shrieked at his ear. "D-damn…" he trailed off.

"Huh?" Pichu cocked his head to the side. "You beat him? But why didn't he get erased?"

"He chickened out at the last minute," Joshua said with a small smirk. "You know what they say. If you run from a fight, that's considered a lost."

Fox tightened his gloves as he stood in front of Beat. "You lost," he said. "Want to keep fighting us now?"

"Screw…you…" The Reaper flapped his wings hard to float in the air, looking pissed at the group. "Screw ya!" he yelled at them. "I-I had bad luck in that fight, is all!"

Joshua giggled. "Ah, the loser is being a bad loser. How exquisite," he said, and Beat took it as a taunt. The enigmatic teen frowned with a blank look. "Not everyone is a good loser, it seems…"

"GRRRRRRRR!" Beat grunted. "Listen to me, prissy boy! Next time we meet, I'm gonna rub your faces on the sidewalk so hard that your bones are gonna chip off!" Before they could talk to him, Beat flew away over the buildings as he cursed the pain he received in the battle.

"Hey, wait!" Neku called out until Beat disappeared from sight. "He got away…"

"Ugh, talk about your delinquent Reapers," Joshua commented, putting his hands in his pockets. "A direct attack on Players three days in? Such egregious rule-breaking!"

Ike kept staring at the direction that Beat left. "He's doing this for Rhyme, isn't he," he said. "He joined the Reapers to get her back to the living world."

"The nerve of that guy," Ness said, fixing his cap a bit. "Why does it look like he's being controlled by the Reapers?"

"No…" Chris trailed off, scooping Pichu from the ground. "Beat only wants to make sure that Rhyme goes back to her home while he's taking the fall." He shook his head as he reflected on the battle. "But that's just…stupid. He could've joined us in this week!"

Neku stared at Joshua's grin. "(And then I would've formed a pact with him instead of Joshua…)" he thought to himself.

Soren grumbled. "Beat knows us," he said. "You fought well against him. I can't be sure what tricks he'll bring the next time he reappears."

Fox's glare turned blank. "It's no big deal," the vulpine said. "If he wants another beating only because he wants to beat us, he'll get one until he snaps out of it."

Ike looked unsure. "Beat beat with violence?" he wondered.

"Hey, he's not that smart. Guys like him only get things through with a beating to their heads. Sad, but true."

Chris sighed with Pichu. "Yet again, violence keeps being the answer to our problems…" the teen muttered.

Joshua then stared at Neku. "I should be careful, hanging out with you," he said. "If that was a friend, I'd hate to run into one of your enemies... Brr!" He faked feeling a chilling wind. Chuckling, he turned around to the direction of the scramble. "Anyway, let's move on."

As they went back to searching for an energy spike somewhere in Shibuya, the Smashers grouped together to stay safe from Reaper attacks. With Beat hot on their trail, they had to endure the next days of the week even more…

Sometime later…

Dogenzaka - Ken Doi

A lot of drama involving ramen shops fighting for popularity ensued, much to the overall surprise of the group. They could've avoided being part of the scene, but Joshua's phone tracked an energy spike from the area around Dogenzaka. The Noise were in high alert on poor Ken Doi's train of thoughts, and that was enough proof for the Players to act against the ramen wars between Ken Doi's unpopular ramen shop against Makoto's Shadow Ramen shop.

Speaking of Makoto, it was the same loser businessman the Players helped during the first week's sixth day. However, Makoto's success with the red skull pins gave him a huge boost as a young entrepreneur, and he had quickly climbed the ranks for professionals. The Players were wondering how the heck he came to get a complete makeover that brought forth his hidden jerk, and said makeover was a literal one. Before, Makoto looked like a timid person in front of people. Now, Makoto had turned into a literal douchebag who knew how to manipulate people through his shady business plots, judging how he had Ken Doi and even the Prince eating from his palms. The professional businessman had his hair combed back with gel, wearing a slick pale yellow outfit that contrasted to his common one from four days ago. Even weirder was the fact that the short span of time was enough for him to grow a small goatee.

Ness thought that Makoto got an evil corporate makeover.

And because the group didn't like people with that kind of attitude, they completely crushed (evil) Makoto's schemes for his Shadow Ramen shop to become an everlasting fad that would drive Ken Doi's business to bankrupt. It was an outrage to Neku to see Makoto use CAT's pins (which turned out to be the same red skull pins from before) to trick people into visiting the gaudy Shadow Ramen shop, and he was completely satisfied when they saw Makoto's combed hair give out to the sweat on his head as he spoke to the Prince, who had eaten an exceptional new creation from Ken Doi.

"Babe, babe... Calm down. You're talking crazy, Prince," Makoto told the Prince. "You work for us. It's your job to make Shadow Ramen a success in your blog."

The Prince grimaced at his ex-worker. "I knew after tasting Sebastian's ramen again. I refuse to be a part of this!" he vehemently said. "Not if it requires me to keep lying. And you've got it backwards, Mick. A store isn't good because people talk about it. It's the product. The taste! People talk about a store because it's good! There's love in Sebastian's soup - love for the people eating it. That's the sort of ramen I want other people to know about!"

Makoto started to grunt. "Ugh...Eiji," he muttered until he scoffed and turned his back on the Prince, walking out from the establishment without looking at the sly looks from the Players standing between Ken Doi and the Prince.

"Sooooo good to crush his dreams for evil domination," Ness said. He and Pichu did a bro fist.

Joshua kept staring out from the place. "Shibuya today is inundated with 'adventure.' And when all anybody offers is 'something different'...you get hungry for the familiar. It's comforting. Love has always been the world's best secret ingredient."

"Gotta fill more than just your belly," Neku said, nodding with everyone else at Joshua's reflection.

Ken Doi grinned. "Heh... Love, huh?" he wondered. "Guess I forgot that somewhere along the way. I'd harp on about it left and right, but...those new experiments were all just me trying to get in on the show. I forgot the important part - the smile on a satisfied customer when they're done eating. My job is making ramen that makes people happy. Popularity is no reason to change my soup. I've wasted all this time..."

The group was seen eating from Ken Doi's newest ramen creation: a ramen bowl that had a whole chicken with sardines and seaweed, mixed with a hint of pork bone. It was a mixture of something special, yet it was a very simple dish that truly befitted people's stomachs with a taste of heaven. It wasn't something like Shadow Ramen shop where the cooks danced as they made their own shady-looking ramen. Ike could hardly believe people could dance while cooking and he thought that was…too weird to digest.

"Oh, maaaaan, this is great," Fox muttered in a low tone. "I don't want to die without eating this as many times as I like…"

Chris whispered to Ness, "I think I found out that Fox likes eating chicken the most."

"But you've still got your chalk," the Prince told Ken Doi.

The ramen prodigy smiled. "Heh... Right. I can cook a lotta ramen in one month! I'm stickin' to my guns!"

After thanking Ken Doi for a succulent bowl of ramen, the group made its way out as they heard the Prince proclaim that he was going to talk about Ken Doi in his blog, F'ing it to high heaven. They were glad to hear that the "F" word the Prince used prominently wasn't a bad word. It just stood for "Fabulous."

"Fabulous it…" Pichu said, shrugging at the popular shtick. "I like 'F it' better…"

Dogenzaka

"A slopping street flanked by shops toward the eccentric. Once, this hill was a popular setting for novels."

Dogenzaka stood between the 104 Building and the A-East Street. It was a hill with shops that exhibited eccentric clothes and furniture. The area was famous because of Ken Doi's ramen shop located at the corner where people would get to the 104 Building. To the north end of the hill, the shady Shadow Ramen shop had a huge line of customers wanting to see the next big thing in ramen goodness, but the Players knew that the shop would fall to bankruptcy as they watched a sweating Makoto trying to keep the people from going somewhere else in the next days of the week.

"Serves him right for manipulating others into doing his job," Chris said with a blank look. "I feel guilty, though. We kind of had a part in his complete evil makeover…"

"We had no choice that time," Fox told him. "I don't want to help him out during a mission again. For now, Makoto is alone."

"Hopefully the guy's place will take off," Neku said, referring to Ken Doi's establishment.

Joshua kept staring at the Shadow Ramen shop. "I was thinking. 'Something different'... Maybe everyone in Shibuya is here searching, struggling for a peek into their neighbor's worlds," he said. "When those neighbors change, they get scared; feel they have to change themselves - even what makes them who they are."

"The way you put it makes it sound very tame," Soren said. "In Tellius, changes are brought almost by force in case a war breaks out. I'm glad that peace has settled in after the Mad King's War ended… Changes are always abounding, no matter where you look."

"It's a matter of changing," Ness began, "or not changing at all."

"Right," Neku said. "You don't want to change, but you don't want to be left behind either."

Joshua said, "Of course not. We can't go through life alone. We're part of a community. We have to live by its rules. And the more we connect with people, the trickier those rules get."

"It's a nice thought," Chris said as a cocky Fox hung an arm on his shoulders. "But when the people you like to hang out with work together with you, those rules become easier to deal with."

Neku could have said the opposite to that, but he had grown a little too friendly to change his thoughts. "It's…not that I disagree with this… I'm living free. Like CAT," he said. "It's just easier on my own. Nobody else's baggage. Nobody else tying me down. ...People aren't meant to figure each other out." He stared at the Smashers for a small while of silence. "…At least the people that aren't your friends. So many of them exist in Shibuya."

Joshua nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I'd rather just get rid of them."

"Wait, huh?" Ness said.

"Same as Neku," Joshua said with a grin. "Those headphones you wear say it all."

Neku touched his headphones with both hands. "Maybe I'll take them off once I'm sure…" He lowered his face down into his collar. "You guys are changing my thoughts altogether… Just perhaps, I can…"

"Will you look at the time!" Joshua jovially said as he looked at his phone. "It's been quite a long while since we got a mission, and no mission presented itself today."

Ike nodded. "Sho is slacking off, that's for sure," he said. "Probably thinking some ways to get his math terms into his speech…"

Joshua sighed loudly. "It's probably too late now. Our little hunt will have to continue tomorrow, too. The signal's disappearing."

The tracker in their phones seemed to react when they got close to the pins the people were wearing in the Shadow Ramen shop. After a while, thought, the amount of people never seemed to diminish in numbers, and yet the signal got weak. "But before it was reacting to these pins, right? It's still picking mine up faintly," Neku pointed out.

Joshua looked unsure. "There was a whole bunch of them before. Maybe they added up to a stronger signal?

"So why CAT's pin, anyway?"

Joshua discouraged the assumption by shaking his head. "It's not what I'm looking for. I know that..."

"OK... Then what ARE you looking for?"

Joshua looked up. "Well, put simply..." He smiled. "I'm looking for what this tracker is tracking."

"Aww!" the Smashers groaned loudly, causing Joshua to stifle a small laugh under his hand.

"(What the... Oh, that's real helpful! What the hell is this kid after?)" Neku thought annoyed, just for his eyes to go white as they all suddenly fell unconscious in front of Ken Doi's shop, the demonic decals unable to reach them out to turn them visible to the living people walking across the sidewalk…

Joshua's Day 4 – Pinned

Scramble Crossing

It was the middle day of the second week. The Smashers were nearly getting there to the seventh day where they expected to face off against pro math fetishist Sho. The Smashers and the small Shibuya Crew had woken up early from the street, and the otherworldly group stared intently at Neku and Joshua looking serious at each other while sitting on their legs. They could imagine sparks flying between the two Players. Neku's look was blank while Joshua's look was dull. The two looked back down, and Neku suddenly raised a fist to the air with his triumphant pin in it. "Yesss! I win!" A few of the Smashers started clapping.

Strewn around the floor, there were pins outside white boxes that denoted a rectangular Tin Pin Slammer field. All of Joshua's pins were out of bounds, much for the enigmatic teen's chagrin. Looking very unimpressed at his defeat, Joshua looked up at Neku. "This isn't fair, Neku," Joshua said. "When did you suddenly become a Tin Pin expert?"

Neku raised a cocky eyebrow. "And why should I answer that?" he asked.

Joshua rolled his eyes as he stood up. "How about because I'm asking you!?" he asked, feeling quite embarrassed of his defeat. Ness and Fox exchanged sly smiles, enjoying seeing Joshua get so flustered over the children's game. "Have you been secretly training?"

"Maybe," Neku said. "Look, a win's a win. That means we wait another hour for the mission."

"Ugh, Neku... Cut me a little slack."

"Not happening. I won. Therefore, we wait."

Joshua sighed loudly, opening his eyes fully to roll them perfectly. "Ugh, fine... But this is a huge waste of time," he commented.

"Someone's being a bad loser today," Ike teased. Joshua shot him with a dull look.

Neku liked how Joshua was losing the fight of wits against them. "(This is getting to him. Keep it up, and he's bound to crack,)" he thought. Then, he realized something bad about teasing Joshua. "(…He's going to return the favor ten-fold down the road, isn't he…)"

The waiting for a mission was annoying them. At any minute, they would flinch in pain once the timers were back on their palms. Ike didn't like the thought of that too much. He just looked away as the team got to talking about what they were going to do today, though Joshua decided to call Hanekoma to pass the time, closing himself from Neku.

The mercenary's eyes widened when he saw two familiar Harrier Reapers casually walking by. When his look stiffened, Koki and Uzuki stopped walking to look at him. Instead of an assault of taunts and threats from the Reaper woman, she just sulked while Koki looked pleased. "Don't bother us now," Uzuki said, looking away. The other Players suddenly noticed their presences.

"I still have some business with you for nearly erasing Soren," Ike said, looking serious.

Uzuki sighed and rolled her eyes. "Look," she began, "I know you wanna let it all out on me, and so do I, but… This week is our week off," she pointed out.

Ike's glare faded away for a blank look. "Your week off?"

Koki chuckled as he licked his lollipop. "Yeah. Orders from the GM himself," he said. "Harrier Reapers – us – can't touch Players for this week. For some evil reason, we were given a week off." He took out his lollipop from his lips and stared intently at it. "Lucky you."

Uzuki grunted. "This is killing me from the inside!" she complained, taking out her gun. "I haven't used my little baby here to cause havoc for Players! I wanted to go to the RG to recruit a few ones with it!"

"Alas, girl, that's illegal," Koki mused. "Orders are orders. I wouldn't mind having another week off to relax…"

The hot-headed Reaper grunted and put her gun back. Some of the Players sighed in relief. "You're always dozing off whenever you get the chance. I like doing some mischief myself."

"That's illegal as well, unless you make Noise do your job," Koki said. "Also, we can't even throw Noise at them. That's a complete order for standby."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "How odd that you don't get to do your job this week," he commented.

"It's Math Man's idea for all the Reapers to keep their paws from them," Uzuki said, still looking peeved. "At any rate, I'll snap."

"That's good and all…" Neku said. "So, leave us alone to do our things."

Uzuki simply scoffed and started walking away. Koki remained behind for a moment until he followed her suit. "(Now… Where did I drop that thing?)" Koki thought to himself as he looked around the floor for a lost item. "(I'm sure I had it with me three days ago…)"

Soren watched as the two Harrier Reapers left the scramble. "Sho is doing some shady work around here," he said. "Why put the Reapers on standby? That is just like giving Players a break."

"I don't like it either…" Ness said. "Something is afoot."

Joshua then approached them as he continued talking to his phone. "How can you be busy, Mr. H? Your café is always empty. ...Fine, fine. Sorry. ...Later. Ugh..." He closed his phone and stared at them. A grin crept up his face when he looked at Neku. "Say, Neku. Could you do me one teensy favor?"

Neku forgot about the Harrier Reapers. "(Bingo. Now, to beat him to the punch,)" he thought deviously. "If this is about the wait, I'm not listening."

"Fine. How about a trade?"

Neku had a good plan in mind: force Joshua to do his bidding by waiting and wasting time. It was a given that Joshua disliked doing nothing. "(Right on cue!) OK... Answer my question, and we'll go with you."

Joshua raised his shoulders. "You've twisted my arm. Go on, shoot."

"...What are you after?"

Joshua chuckled as the others stared. "You're curious?"

"If you don't feel like talking, we can wait."

Joshua mentally sighed, but he giggled outside from his mind. "Hee hee... It's nothing major," he said. "I'm going to jack Shibuya."

"...Right," Neku said, clearly unimpressed. "How 'bout a real answer?"

"That was a real answer."

"How in the…" Chris trailed off. "Jack Shibuya? How?"

"That's why I'm looking for the Shibuya River."

"There's a river around Shibuya?" asked Pichu.

But then Joshua wanted to change the subject. "My turn to ask a question," he said, and some of them grunted. "Do you really want a second chance, Neku? What's waiting for you in the RG? You're as alone there as here. What's the difference?"

Neku made a face. "…My old life is waiting for me, of course," he said. "Also…there's a lot waiting for me in the RG. Before, I used to blow people off from talking to me… Now, I want to see for myself how far I can go with them." As Joshua looked blankly at the statement, Neku turned to the Smashers. "What Mr. H told us back at the café yesterday made me think about my issues."

"Hee hee. You don't have to answer. I don't really care," Joshua said. Neku suddenly wanted to choke him. "Now let's get started. How's our signal today?" He looked at his phone. "Hmm... It's coming out from past Shibu-Q Heads. That puts it over near-"

Neku gasped. "Udagawa!?"

"Oh, right!" Joshua nodded. "You know the city well, Neku."

"Only the parts I care about visiting," Neku said. "Udagawa Street is almost like my personal home. Anyway… It's coming from Udagawa, right? Let's go."

Joshua looked a bit surprised. "Well, this is new... Someone's an eager beaver today." He chuckled to himself and started walking northeast.

"H-hey, wait!" Pichu said. "What's this about the Shibuya River?" He saw Joshua looking over his shoulder at them with a sly grin before focusing his attention to the next area. "Not again…"

When he got away from hearing range, Neku turned to the Smashers. "He doesn't know that I'm luring him to Udagawa," he said. "It's the place where…I died."

"Well, this is going to get even more serious," Ike said. "He remembers seeing you dropped dead on the ground. Maybe he'll say something." The others stared. "…Oh, wait, he won't. Sorry."

Neku nodded. "Joshua still has many secrets. I can tell," he said. "Mr. H told us to be friendly with him… I wonder how much longer it'll take us for him to open up a little."

"Possibly right before day 7 ends," Chris said. "Things like this always get resolved at the last minute."

"Please don't say that," Neku said, grimacing. "I'd rather have him be less…himself before the week finishes. C'mon, let's go to Udagawa. It's kind of close to the scramble." They started walking northeast. "We just need to walk past Tipsy Topsy Hall, pass Shibu-Q Heads, and then we'll get there in no time."

"We just need to clear the walls those Reapers set up all the time," Pichu said brightly. "We only need a few minutes!"

Destiny clearly hated them all.

Hours later…

Shibu-Q Heads

"A chain store that sells pretty much anything, including seasonal and party goods as well as collector items. They even have a drugstore."

The Players dealt with what everyone called the detour from hell. Case in point, 777 – the guy they met in the last week's day 3 - turned out to be a Reaper that had a job as a famous indie musician in the RG. Because he had lost an unimpressive mic with bat wings (literal bat wings that fluttered by themselves), he had his Reaper friends block off the path to Shibu-Q Heads, forcing the Players to help him with his case to find his little baby. To no one's surprise, Minamimoto had swapped the mic for his megaphone because it looked pretty cool, not even telling anybody about the little exchange he did that caused a lot of frustration in the end.

It was kind of hilarious that the mic with bat wings was discarded into a junk heap for the sake of keeping garbage art alive. The group had even less respect for the Game Master's crazy antics.

Shibu-Q Heads was a place where people that liked to assemble parties gathered. The building that overlooked the street in the front stood proud. The smell of medicine could be smelled even across the street, and the several collector items hanging from behind the windows made for an alluring store.

"So many hours lost trying to find a creepy microphone," Ness said. "We reek with bad luck."

"We were just there at the wrong time," Chris said. "I'm glad that was over. I don't want to solve mysteries during this hellish game…"

Joshua, in contrast, looked chipper. "Boy, do I like some good mystery solving," he said. "But anyhoo, Udagawa is just across the street from here."

As they walked in front of the chain store, a shadow passed by. Looking behind for the shadow's source, they looked up and saw a pissed Beat landing back on the pavement. "Gotchu punks," he said. "Hope you brought your A-game today, yo."

"Ugh, again?" Ness complained. "Why are you suddenly so antagonistic to us? What happened to friendly, dumb Beat?"

"I dunno the answer!" Beat said. The Noise on his shoulder looked worried.

Neku stepped to the front, being cautious of the Reaper. "Beat... Don't do this," he said. "We don't want to fight you."

"Beggin' won't work, yo!" the Reaper said. "You losin' your time!"

Neku shook a fist. "Look, I have to win! For Shiki, too! So would you please go away!?" he demanded.

Beat swung his arm. "Shut it! Le's jus' do this!" he said.

"The old way!" And then Fox took a quick sprint and delivered a harsh kick to the side of Beat's face that pushed the Reaper to the sidewalk. The Reaper got his wings bent in uncomfortable positions as he stood back up and wiped some blood from his mouth.

A familiar bell necklace was flung over Fox's head, but he completely missed it.

"Y-yo! What dah heck?!" Beat complained. "You didn't give me… Huh?!" He saw the Smashers congregating around Fox, taking out their weapons. Neku and Joshua simply stared from afar before joining their side. "W-what gives?! You're not playin' like you'r-"

"Quiet, you!" Ness said, his bat pointing at Beat. "We prepared ourselves in case you showed up again. We're not letting you initiate a Noise fight against us."

Chris's staff was glowing with magical power. "Beat, you left us with no choice…" he said. "You have two options: you can leave us, or we knock you around."

"D-dirty piece of…" Beat blinked when he saw his Noise pet standing between him and the group. "N-no, don't!"

The squirrel Noise stood on its hind legs and spread its little arms to the sides, as if it was trying to keep the group from approaching Beat. "Your Noise pet is…shielding you?" Neku said. "Forget about it. You guys, don't stop there in case Beat wants to fight."

Beat quickly scooped the squirrel Noise back to his shoulder. He grunted at the group, ignoring the squirrel's noises of protest. "…Fine," Beat said, walking to the side as he kept glaring at them. "Have it yar way… But next time, I'll be the one knockin' blood outta some lips!" Taking a small hop in the air, the Reaper took off to the east.

"Whew... That was pretty close," Joshua said, looking at Neku. "He's serious. He must really not like you."

"I don't get that guy at all," Ike said. "He wants to procure Rhyme with a safe way to send her back home. He should've joined us in this week…"

Pichu shuddered as he remembered the squirrel Noise. "So, did anyone wonder why he's with that Noise pet?" he asked. "Beat looked pretty concerned about that pet."

Soren put his wind tome away in his cape. "Probably some kind of test to keep him from doing anything unruly," he said. "That reminds me… I thought all the Reapers were supposed to be on standby."

"Hey, you're right," Ike said. "Why is Beat not following orders?"

"Maybe he's got special permission…to erase us," Neku said, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows, really? All I care is getting through the week without casualties. It was pure luck that you guys can use your weird powers to fight outside Noise battles. Good thing we discussed this today."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Fox said. "We shouldn't rely on doing this too much. What if that's against the rules?"

Suddenly, a Support Reaper in a black hoodie walked by and overheard their conversation. "Whoa… You guys beat up a Harrier Reaper?" he asked in pure disbelief. They turned around to look at him. Just like all the other Support Reapers, they couldn't see his darkened face. "You've got guts, or you're probably suicidal… Yeah, suicidal. That Beat has become quite a star among Reapers…but you 'Beat' him up? Damn, his honor is surely broken."

Ness rolled his eyes. "Is that against the rules?" he asked.

"Er, not really, but my higher ups like seeing Noise fights instead of normal beat downs, you know?" he asked. "Only bad thing it'll cause is to lose a golden opportunity to rack up some points."

"Oh, that's very nice of you for telling us," Chris said.

"Nice? Not all Reapers are cut from the same cloth," the friendly Reaper said. "Hmm, you look familiar, by the way… Oh, right. You're those Players everyone's talking about." He seemed to be staring at Chris and Fox. "Just to let you know, you shouldn't use that Fusion pin that calls out to that big blue dog of mass destruction… It also obliterates the points you get outta a fight!"

"What?" Fox said. "We can't use Lucario?"

"Nope. Don't even think about it," the Reaper said. "Sure, it's a good idea to use that monster when you think things are not gonna be okay… But if you can avoid using him, you're safe to get high grades from the grading Reapers IF you did a nice job in the battle… Wait, if you feel cornered, then you obviously didn't do a good job. Silly me."

The teen looked away. "It's a good thing we haven't used him that much…" He sighed, wishing to be by Lucario's side once more soon enough.

"That's all I wanted to say," the Reaper said. "I'm rooting for you."

"You are?" Pichu asked.

"Yeah. Never before was a chance when we got some special Players playing the Game," the Reaper pointed out. "A lot of my co-workers can be a pain in the ass. Some are nice, though. You won't see many like me around." He waved at them and started walking away. "Careful about this week's Game Master! I don't like that guy one bit."

When the friendly Reaper left the area by going south, Joshua flicked a small strand of hair. "That little info was good. Let's hope there's a Reaper that can tell us that we don't need to win the Game, hmm?" he wondered.

"Yeah, that's not happening," Neku said.

Suddenly, Joshua's eyes looked down at the floor, finding a pendant necklace. "Hmm? What's this, Neku?" he asked, showing the pendant to the group.

"…That pendant…" Pichu said, sounding sad as he recalled the owner of the necklace. "It's Rhyme's necklace…"

Fox grunted, even though he looked ashamed. "This was apparently a very popular accessory that Rhyme got through sheer luck," he said, and Chris noticed he tightened a fist to his side. "Rhyme…"

"Did Beat drop this?" Ness asked. "Maybe we should give it back to him when we see him again. Rhyme is so valuable to him, almost as if they were siblings."

"I guess so," Joshua said while shrugging.

Chris frowned as he looked at the pendant. "…Rhyme didn't deserve any of this," he said. "Why did she have to suffer just like Shiki?"

"She was such a nice person to us," Ike said as he looked at Fox. "A little too smart to know what to do to help others. She was somebody special among people."

"Is that the reason why Beat liked her a lot?" Pichu asked. "He was very overprotective of her."

"Possibly," Neku said. "Beat only wants to get her through this…even if it means beating us in the process."

Joshua frowned, twisting his right shoulder a bit. "Are we done talking about those two?" he asked. "Udagawa is waiting, Neku. No use crying over spilled milk."

Ness winced. "Joshua, what was that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You should forget about thinking about unlucky people that didn't make it," the enigmatic teen said with a blank look. "Why care about them at all? Neku, you gave me a vibe that you disliked others."

"(Of all the things to say right about no-!)" Neku thought frustrated as the team forced some small glares at Joshua. "(Calm down, calm down…) Hey, they helped us to get through," Neku said in the calmest tone he could achieve. "They weren't annoying to me."

"So? I don't see why you should waste time standing here and fretting about it," Joshua said dully until he walked north to Udagawa.

"God dam-" Fox shook his head. "He's back to his teasing attitude again."

"If I can recall, he didn't like staying put during the first minutes of the day," Soren said. "Even someone like Joshua can snap at us like that. This is kind of a surprise to me."

Ike continued staring at Joshua before they went after him. "This feels like a test…" he said as they passed through the living's bodies. "A test to see if we can get Joshua to be friendlier with us."

"Then I don't want to fail that test," Neku said. His thoughts suddenly focused on the familiar surroundings he was used to see every day after school. "(And whatever is going on in Udagawa…it better not antagonize Joshua even more.)" As the headphones-wearing boy and his team quickly caught up with Joshua, they started ascending some stairs going up to a cramped, hidden section of the city…

Udagawa Back Streets

"A hang-out spot where some shady but cool youth gather. CAT artwork is displayed neatly on a large mural to instigate people to get into the fad."

Udagawa looked like a solitary place where almost no people decided to venture. There were two lonely shops – a music store and a punk fashion establishment – standing in front of a large mural that had a completely appealing graffiti covering the entire wall. On the center of said graffiti, there was a large cat head with bat wings and two gloved hands pointing down from above the feline's head, decorated over several other strokes of colored paint that made for a nice picture.

The area was composed of some stairs that led up to the stores and the mural. But every wall that wasn't the mural was a complete utter mess of rock band fliers and old paper ads that littered the stairs. The air had its own kind of litter: cables lazily hanging down between the small buildings. Even the scooters parked on the sidewalk looked deserted since they were also covered in fliers. While Soren was thinking about bringing up a code of ethics to recycle trash, the group was walking up the stairs as Joshua decided to strike with a conversation. "Know Udagawa well, Neku?"

"Yeah. I used to come here after school."

"With your friends?" The tone Joshua used in the added question sounded a bit amused.

Neku mentally sighed. "Please. I don't do groups," he said. "I never met anyone fun to be around when I was alive."

"Hee hee. Me neither," Joshua said. "We seem to have a lot in common." The group mentally disagreed with the fact, though if Joshua had joined them in the first week, they would most definitely agree. "You know, Neku... Shibuya's a lot like you. Cut off."

Neku started to use the hand-rails. "Where did that come from!?" he asked.

"The UG is split into different areas. Shibuya's just one of them, just like it's only one part of the world at large. Each UG area has unique rules. You can't travel between them."

"Mr. H told you all that?"

Joshua grinned. "...Oh, so you know about our conversations. As I was saying, every area has its own rules. They never meddle with each other." He raised a cocky eyebrow. "Sounds familiar?"

Neku shook his head as they neared the music store. "That could apply to anyone," he said.

"Hee hee... Maybe so. As long as we all have our own worlds, people will never really understand each other."

"I disagree with that," Ike said, and Joshua looked sideways at him. "You say it as if everyone is closed off from each other when they're not."

"Did I touch a nerve?" Joshua asked. "Okay, my dear Ike, tell me what you can say to contradict my hypothesis."

"Oh, it's simple," Ike said as he held out a hand. "I'm a leader of a large mercenary group back in my world. If each one of my workers has a world of their own, then why do they take some time to support each other with their problems? Their worlds are joining together when they do that."

"What about everyone else that's not in your mercenary group?" Joshua queried. "Can you attest they're like them?"

Ike remained silent for a moment. "I bet they are," he said. "So don't write people off like that."

Joshua chuckled. "Sorry, but sometimes we gotta accept reality as it is," he said. "A world for every person that can't be visited no matter how hard you try."

Chris grunted, feeling that he was being insulted for having entered so many worlds in a metaphorical sense. "You're wrong about that, Jos-"

"Please, Chris!" Joshua tossed his hands to the sides. "I get how you guys broke through those barriers with your friends. You're not like Neku here." He smiled his trademark creepy smile. "You can't talk for everyone, can you? Ike was desperately trying to prove me wrong. That's why I don't believe him that much." He ignored Ike shooting him with a glare on his back.

Neku decided to speak up to deter the attention from the Smashers. "I thought I'd never respect anyone, until I saw CAT's mural and discovered a new philosophy," he said.

Luckily, Joshua shifted his attention to Neku with a blank look, though the Smashers felt insulted. "'Do what you want, how you want, when you want it,' was it?" he said.

Neku nodded a few times. "Yeah. It blew me away," he said as a small smile crept up his face. "CAT was living the life I always wanted to, but never thought I could. 'Finally, someone who gets me,' I thought. Enjoying the moment's about freedom. I just need to do my own thing like CAT. Forget about other people and just enjoy my life..." The Smashers couldn't tell if Neku was being negative once more, though some had their suspicions that Joshua was indirectly changing Neku's mindset at times.

"Absolutely. Who needs other people's values?" Joshua asked. "It's easier to just live by your own rules."

Neku suddenly shook his head, causing Joshua to blink. "But... I don't feel that way anymore," he said. "Since coming to the UG, reading people's minds - Shibuya's full of people with just as many viewpoints. Mr. H said the world ends with me. To expand my world, I have to learn to look farther - not write off other people's values as inferior." A few of the Players brightened up at his little speech. "...Maybe I had it backwards. Maybe I need to open up to really enjoy-"

Joshua sighed too loud. "(Way to break the combo, Neku…) Yoo-hoo? Neku?" he called out, clearly waving a hand in front of his partner. "Well, we may be stuck in Shibuya. But you can still see a fair ways. Why do you suppose that is, Neku? Why show us what we can never reach?"

Neku truthfully didn't know how to answer that, but he did come up with an answer. Sadly, Joshua was getting impatient under than grin of his.

The sly Player looked to the front as they ascended a few sets of stairs to the top part of Udagawa. Taking out his phone, he saw that the tracker was getting a signal from the north direction. "Hee hee. That mural you mentioned is up ahead, right? The signal's coming from that direction. Let's take a look."

The Players were starting to get to know Joshua a little more, and they didn't like how he saw the world through his eyes. What Hanekoma had said about Joshua's lonely life did a heavy number on him, but some of them started to pity him for what he went through. "Not having friends can drastically change a person as they grow up, huh…" Ness muttered.

"Then I thank god that I made some friends when I lived alone," Chris commented.

The World Ends with You - Forebode

Just before they could reach the mural that Neku used to visit a lot of times, the Players came to a halt as they heard a familiar voice coming from the same direction. They quickly hid next to the corner to take a peek of what was going on… "3 is the point of the 1," they heard Minamimoto mutter to himself. The Game Master was kneeling down in the center area between the mural and the nearby punk shop to the left. Beneath him, there was a large sigil drawn over the pavement. "4 the 1-5-9 are 2."

"Great, it's Mr. Equation again," Ness said.

"Why's he here?" Fox asked. "Is he following us again?"

"Shh!" Joshua hissed as he stared at the sigil. "Let's see what he's up to."

"6-5, 3-5! 8-9, 7-9! 32384 62643 38327! And...perfect," Minamimoto chuckled to himself as he stood back up and grinned down at the suspicious-looking marks he drew all over the pavement. "Soon... Soon I'll have my desired solution." With a silent laugh, the Game Master walked to the right into an alley where he completely disappeared in the darkness.

Neku was thankful that he didn't get a painful headache again. The group walked out from their hiding spot and stared down at the marks Sho had drawn. "What was all that about?" Neku asked as he continued staring the way where Sho disappeared to.

"His ultimate expression of art evolving into a new level?" Ness asked as he looked at the large glyph-like image under their feet. It looked like graffiti, except it looked a bit too evil with the black-and-white marks spreading out from a symbol that vaguely resembled a Noise symbol.

Neku then looked at each corner of the glyph. "Vandalism? He drew it just now, right? More of his loony art?"

The sly teen took out his phone. "I wonder... My phone's responding to it," he said.

"To these scribbles? I thought you were looking for the Shibuya River."

"I am."

Nowhere around Udagawa remotely resembled running water. "Uhh... I don't see any rivers."

"Thank you, Neku," Joshua said. They saw him rolling his eyes. He was interested in the markings on the floor. "What IS this? Considering the artist, it can't be anything good."

"What he drew here unsettles me," Soren said. "Erasing it should… No, wait, this could be a trap. And it could alert him of our moves if he comes back to it."

"Exactly my thoughts," Joshua said. "Let's leave it for now."

Neku and the others ignored the weird strokes on the floor to look at the CAT mural across their spots. "There's the mural," Neku said as he smiled at it. He wanted to place a hand on it to pretend he was getting some rave ideas to do for the rest of the day. It truly did bring him peace to his mind. "Cool-looking, isn't?"

"Well, I'd say," Fox said. He rubbed his chin and grinned. "It does have a charm to it."

"It's not like anything I've seen in other shady places around my world," Chris said. "They're always bad-looking letters painted with a single color."

"Tsk, that's cheap," Neku said. "That's a baby step. CAT does best with their graffiti."

"Say, Neku?" Joshua suddenly asked, looking amused at the mural. "I'd like to check over by that mural. Do you mind?"

"Uh...sure." Neku's face darkened as Joshua walked to the mural's direction. "(The weasel beat me to it... What's he need over there?)"

As Pichu watched Joshua looking around for something, the Eletric-type's ears perked up, hearing something coming from behind them. Ness looked down at him. "Did you hear something?" Pichu asked. "It was probably my imagination, though. The city's full of footstep sounds all over."

Ness blinked and looked behind them. There was nobody there, but he could've sworn that somebody was spying them from behind. "There's no one there," Ness said. The two partners shrugged and turned to Joshua's direction, not noticing that Koki and Uzuki had their eyes set on the glyph below their feet.

Because Neku wasn't feeling safe with Joshua near the mural, mostly because the scene of the crime was right in front of it, they approached his side. Looking at the others, Neku could tell that the Smashers wanted to question Joshua about that memory. Neku nodded at them just in time to hear Joshua say as he admired the graffiti, "Impressive graffiti."

"It's CAT's. This is my favorite spot," Neku said. Inside his mind, turmoil quickly set in. "(And the spot where I died in your head. ...Wait. I assumed I was looking at your memories... But couldn't it just have easily been your imagination? What I saw doesn't prove anything. You could've had nothing to do with-)"

"Still with me, Neku?" Joshua called out. "You spaced out."

"Oh... Sorry."

Joshua sighed before chuckling deviously. "You've giving me déjà vu."

"What?!"

"You know, when you feel that you've experienced doing so-"

"I know what a déjà vu is!" Neku said. Joshua smiled knowingly and turned around to face the mural. "(Déjà vu? From when? Did...did you really see me die?! Were those scans really of... Was that my death!?)" He stole one look from the Smashers as he took out his Player Pin from his pocket. "(I have to know for sure. ...One more scan.)" Looking sideways, Neku nodded at the Smashers. The Players exchanged glances and took out their Player Pins. A mass scan reading of Joshua's mind was in order.

…

The Udagawa Back Streets replayed in their minds. As the image moved up through the set of stairs, everything went a little fast, but they kept a grip on the memory. When the view of the image finally reached the top area, there had been a change. Unlike the last time they had scanned Joshua's mind, the memory didn't stop there.

The memory displayed a content Neku looking up at the mural with a smile on his face. As his mind was completely empty of nagging thoughts, Neku stepped forward and touched the cat head on the mural, feeling inner peace. The others that weren't Neku thought that the secluded teen could've been a nice person to hang out with before his character development hit in. Though it was truly creepy to see Neku even smile truthfully to the graffiti.

Talking to one another was discouraged since Joshua was a little too close to them.

Suddenly, the calm atmosphere was fated to be ruined.

The Neku in the memory jerked his head to the left to see somebody running in a hurry, appearing on the left corner of the mural. The view then looked to the right where, surprisingly, a familiar person rushed towards Neku with a gun in his right hand. Once their eyes met, Neku froze on the spot as the running person grinned maniacally, raising his gun with eyes wide in delight.

They couldn't see the moment the shot was fired, but everything went white when the loud sound of a gunshot echoed. The memory froze for a moment once the gunshot was fired… Then, Neku's body slowly fell to the ground. The view had changed behind his back, and when Neku fell down, his attacker panted a bit, looking very satisfied with his gun blowing a small trail of smoke…

Joshua never looked so crazy to them. The obscenely maniacal look on his face was burned into their minds…

As a sudden wave of pain made them all snap out from their mind reading, they grabbed their heads in pain. "(I... It was here,)" Neku thought.

"(T-that can't be…)" Ness shivered. "(He didn't just…! Why?!)"

"(W-why?)" Pichu embraced himself. "(Why would Joshua even do that to Neku?)"

"(This can't be right!)" Chris yelled. "(This is just too much! Sure, Joshua can be very odd, but this just…)"

"(Sick… I can't believe this crap!)" Fox grunted. "(To think we've been hanging out with his… Dammit!)"

"(Tried to be a hero?)" Ike wondered. "(Yeah, more like he tried to be the villain…and succeeded at it!)"

"(Murder was the last thing in my mind,)" Soren thought perplexed. "(Joshua, stop making things worse for you as they are.)"

Joshua used a finger to rub the tip of his chin once he noticed them grunting in pain. "Something wrong, everyone? Hmm, Neku, you look like you're in heavier pain than the rest…"

"(He... He killed me!)"

Joshua tilted his head, looking blankly at them. "Hello?"

Neku started to get better in his head. Once the others stopped feeling pain in their heads, they opened their eyes and looked at Neku. "...I'm here," Neku weakly called as he stood upright. "Just a little dizzy. I'm fine."

Joshua smiled. "Good. Let's move on. Nothing else to see here." He frowned as he looked at his phone. "Ugh, this tracker's leading us in circles... Did Mr. H give me a dud?"

There was a mess of thoughts inside Neku's mind as everyone could only stare in pure shock at Joshua, who was pondering to himself why the phone wasn't working like he wanted. He was oblivious to their looks. "(How can he act so normal around a guy he killed? He sought me out as a partner! ...Hell, why kill me at all? What did I do? Did he know me when I was alive? I didn't know him. Random homicidal impulse? Ugh, he must have had a motive... Too many questions!)"

The struggling Player stared at Joshua for a moment.

"(One thing's for sure, though… I'm partnered to my killer.)"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"Joshua's Week – My Partner, My Killer"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

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-Udagawa Back Streets-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Joshua

References:

- Massive damage, dudes and dudettes!

Well… We reached a very heavy point in the TWEWY story: the part where Neku learns that Joshua is his killer. If things weren't that annoying to the group, they'll get even worse in the next chapter until the expected fight against Sho comes up and they somehow manage to win against the crazy math lunatic.

For some reason, I think this chapter didn't do that much for Ike and Ness. They're the focused characters for this week, so… There's going to be more involvement with those two. Soren, I suppose, is supporting Ike's ideas, and Pichu shall be doing it for Ness. It remains unclear to me how things will develop now that everyone knows that Joshua is a dangerous person with a gun hidden somewhere.

Koki and Uzuki are going to start getting more development. For you genre savvy readers, you should totally know by now what Koki is looking for, and this thing he wants to find wasn't scripted in the game at all. Go on and deduce the item!

I encourage all readers to review, or else I'm making the dead guys' coffins fall over the end of the sea.

Ness: The Smash World – a stupid name by the way - isn't squared.

Fox: How'd you know that? I never took an interest about that world.

Ness: Because I'm just guessing. What the hell kind of world is this, anyway?

Ike: I propose that we scout the world to unveil its secrets!

Chris: No. Let's just use some sort of flying camera to do everything for us… But wait, we need to think about the battery power.

Pichu: Hurray for unconventional technology!
*Chapter 206*: Joshua's Week - My Partner, My Killer

It's the buildup to the biggest show of the week.

From ngrey651: At long last we learn the truth about Joshua! I saw glimpses of his misanthropy before, but now that hinting about his true nature isn't just a hint. It's waving a giant sign reading "villain" around, bouncing up and down yelling "I AM A SOCIOPATH". But I admit, Beat's behavior is baffling...

From me: Glad to see you're enjoying the arc so far! By the looks of it, you don't seem to have played TWEWY. I'm happy to see newcomers enjoy the thrills of getting into a new thing. Thanks. :)

From Bob: I've got a question. Since everyone's um... Important person is going be turned into a Noise then that means Lucario will turned into one right? If I'm right I will be so surprised, since I can't imagin Lucario as a noise. Also if Lucario is like Level 10000000 it's going to really hard for the teams to beat him. Cool beans for the chapter.

From me: If that were the case, then yes, a bastardized version of Lucario would be a certain possibility, though I'm not so sure about the ridiculous level part that much… Guess you'll have to find out if this does happen or not. ;)

From FF and STH: Also I kind of notice that for Joshua week that the fight are in 2 pair where shiki week had them in 3 pair, I just wonder why.

From me: Nah, you're reading too much into this. It's just an unintended coincidence to see this pattern I accidentally brought up. :P

From NowhereStarr14: Also, I'm now starting to get the whole point of, 'TWEWY'. The whole game, is basically telling you life is a gift. So many people take advantage of it, and once you're dead, you're dead. That's it. Now, with this whole, 'Reapers Game', people who die, get a second chance. It's then when they finally realize, You Only Live Once, (...waitaminute...) and they start to value the small things in life and actual life itself. At least that's what I get from it. And about Joshua in Dream Drop, yeah, I can agree, he is like a, 'kid-friendly' version of him, I've recently started playing Dream Drop again (my friend's been buggin' be to finish it, so then he can play it. :P), and he's not a straight up douche like he is in this.

From me: Yes, you're totally grasping the concept behind the game's theme. It's even further reinforced in this chapter.

Oh, and Joshua is still being the hugest teasing douchebag this story has ever had before. Oh joy, but we all have our guilty pleasure when enjoying our characters get screwed up in any way possible. Enjoy. :D

After a long excruciating month filled with the longest homework papers I've ever done before, I managed to finish this chapter here. If people decide to "review" a chapter to call out to me…beware because I might ignore your questions for a true review. I'm a college student now so this slow pace is to be expected, sadly. But still, that's not an excuse for you to publicly call out to me. I'm alive! Just follow my channels/Miiverse accounts to know I'm working on this!

WHEW!

Anyway, I have some embarrassing news… Well, this chapter here? It was kind of finished, but only the non-battle parts, which means like 90% of it was done. I kind of made a new rule to do my stories now. I do the personal conversations between each character first, then the battle stuff for later. You guys surely know by now that I kind of dislike writing battle scenes because I don't find them that interesting (but oh good lord thank you that the battles are just as good as the character development for you).

That's not the embarrassing thing I'm talking about… The thing is, I somehow skipped writing battle scenes in favor of writing the rest that I…kind of have the next two chapters half-finished already by the time of this writing, which means the next chapter is going to be finished very soon.

HOWEVER!

Because I don't want you guys to skip reviewing this one, I'll have to hold the next chapter back till I've seen a reasonable amount of views and reviews in this chapter. Take in mind I'm not forcing you to review, though!

So yes, that's the gist of it. Now go enjoy this chapter or else I'll have you fired.

I encourage all fashion hunters to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: Coming soon to your living room: Xbox One! Now with added TV, TV, TV, Thee-bee, and SPORTS, SPORTS, SPURTS, SPHURTS, SPOURTHS!

Second Disclaimer: The story does not hold itself responsible for faulty console advertisements. Just look at those one-sided Dish VS Direct TV commercials.

Chapter 206: Joshua's Week – My Partner, My Killer

Joshua's Day 5 - Turf

-Shibuya-

Scramble Crossing

The World Ends with You – Game Over

"Hello? Yeah, Mr. H? It's me," Joshua said before looking a bit mad. "You gave me a bum tracker!"

Several feet away from Joshua, he was being shot mercilessly with glares from the rest of the group. Yesterday's revelation that he was the one who killed Neku almost utterly drove whatever trust the group had for him to the trash. "He killed me... Why?" Neku wondered. "What would he stand to gain?"

"Random homicidal impulse?" Ness said. "Ugh, I just can't believe he killed you."

Pichu was probably the most frightened Player out of the seven. He made a rule of thumb not to leave Chris's shoulder, but then Chris made a rule of thumb to stay close to Fox's side just in case Joshua decided to off somebody. "And isn't he supposed to be too young to use a gun?" Fox questioned. "Unless you tell me that Shibuya doesn't have the best gun laws."

"That…that doesn't matter!" Neku complained.

"How intriguing," Soren commented as he looked down to wonder on the event. "Such weaponry that can kill people from afar at blinding speed… I'd hate to see how something like this would end up in Tellius."

Ike sighed. "Soren, I think you're missing the point," he said. "Joshua killed Neku because…of a random homicidal impulse. Yeah, I don't have a clue, either."

The Branded frowned. "I know that," he said. "It's pointless to think about why he even did that heinous act. He clearly knows Neku participated in the last week…"

"Fastest way is just to ask," Neku said. "...Ugh, no. We still don't have enough proof. And besides..." He stared at Joshua's back. "Three days... Three more days, and it's all over."

Chris shuddered. "Aren't you worried that Joshua might just…turn on us when we least expect it?" he asked.

"I don't see why…" the graffiti fan said before crossing his arms. "He's my partner. The pact we made ties us together. He's so giddy about the UG that he can't afford to just lose whatever he's looking for around Shibuya."

"Okay, I see how that'd go," Ike said. "But what about us? We're not his partners. If we piss him off a little too much, he could possibly…"

"I won't let that guy kill any of you," Neku said, looking serious. "I'll go insane if I was left alone with him. You're my sanity balls."

Ness looked away. "I know that was supposed to be touching, but don't call me a ball, please," he said.

"There's no mission today either," they heard Joshua speaking to the phone. "Yeah, we can get there. Something else is bothering me, too."

"Three more days with him," Neku said. "He's a loose cannon. I need to watch my back."

Ike didn't feel right with having a killer in their party. "I can tell these three last days are going to be the most excruciating days we've ever experienced," he said.

"Oh joy," Fox dully drawled.

"You better!" Joshua shouted to the phone. "OK, thanks. Later." As he pocketed his phone, Joshua stared forward before turning around and heading back to the group, with a small, growing grin forming in his lips. To avoid causing suspicion, the team held themselves from stepping back out of fear, or getting into a fighting stance.

"This is for Shiki," Neku said. "I can last a few more days."

Joshua rejoined them. "All set?" he asked.

Neku wanted to ask him about the tragic killing scene. However, he needed to keep himself from blaming Joshua in the open. As much as he hated Joshua's guts, there was no other way to win the Game without his help. "First, I have a question," Neku said.

"Oh? What is it today, Neku?" his partner asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What are you after?"

Joshua sighed, expecting something else more important. "This again? I told you. I'm jacking Shibuya," he said.

"But what does that mean?" Neku questioned. "You're looking for some river. Then what? Tell me now, or you're on your own."

Joshua knew very well that he could yank Neku around to his will, but having him refuse to his whims would be disastrous, not to mention that losing the unconditional help from the extra Players was not advised. Sighing, he said, "Fine. I'll keep this simple. Remember who's in charge of Shibuya?"

"The Composer," Soren responded.

"AKA the douchebag who hates reviving more than one people," Fox added, though he muttered the phrase to himself through gritted fangs.

Joshua nodded, not hearing Fox. "Very good," he said. "Right now HE'S got Shibuya jacked. Under his control. I want to change that."

Chris considered the thought. "…Joshua, are you trying to…become the Composer?" he asked, and the group stared at the silver-haired teen with wary looks.

Neku blinked. "Wait. You want to bust in on the Composer with guns blazing?"

"Eventually," Joshua said, lifting his shoulders a bit. "I have to find him first. He should be at the Shibuya River. Hence our search. Satisfied?" He smiled a bit at the small query.

"So you're telling us that we've been running around Shibuya trying to find him?" Ness asked.

"With a busted tracker, yes."

Soren looked away in thought. "This sounds like a serious hunt," he said. "Hmm… Sho seems to be the most active Game Master unlike Yodai, and we had made some suspicions that he was following us around. Wouldn't that mean…"

Joshua nodded. "I don't think he wants to find Neku," he said. "Me, most likely. I guess he's onto me."

Fox glared. "Joshua, why do you even want to find the Composer?" he asked. "What do you hope to do?"

"Jack Shibuya," Joshua said amused. "The way he runs things around here should need a little more…spice, if you know what I mean. Who knows, maybe I can change the entire framework and alter some annoying rules like for example…how many people get to go back to the RG."

"…" Ike looked worried. "Um, that'd be fantastic, I admit… But isn't the Composer supposed to be an extremely powerful man capable of bending reality?" he asked. "I mean, the Reapers' Game exists because he exists…"

"You want to fight him?" Ness asked Joshua.

"Oh, we're gonna fight him," Joshua said, hiding his amused look behind a palm. "With our combined might and connected hearts, we shall conquer the hardest of trials. It's like heroes do. You guys are hero-material. We can't go wrong."

"Oooooooooh, no," Fox said, crossing his arms. "We're not THAT strong to defeat a person who's literally close to godhood… It'd be really rad if we could, but no, you can't be serious."

"I don't want to get toasted by a god!" Chris protested. "Well, maybe Lucario could defeat a god, but I never wanted to find out if he could do that!" He shook his head. "…I-I mean, we can't possibly defeat the Composer by ourselves!"

"How would you know?" Joshua questioned, lowering his palm to the side. "He could be a big wimp who hides behind his servants' backs just to look strong. Don't you want to see for yourselves?"

"The logical answer is no," Soren said. "It was a close call when my group complained to Kitaniji about the last week's result. And yes, I didn't complain one bit." He shook his head. "…Since you seem to always have something in your sleeve, Joshua, I assume you have a plan in mind to confront the Compose head on?"

"Very, very sharp, my dear Soren!" Joshua said, sounding amazed. "I do have a plan."

"And you won't tell us what it is until we reach him."

"That's the natural way of things so, no."

"HMMMMMM…" the other seven Players grunted in unison.

"Ugh, just what we need," Neku said. "I'm in this to win! I can't afford any unnecessary risks!"

"Neither can I," Joshua said. It was obvious that everyone's narrow glares implied some heavy contradictions to the enigmatic teen's previous answers.

"(Then why are you... Ugh, this kid is the devil!)"

Joshua then asked, "Ready to go to Mr. H's?" He took a moment to show them his phone. "I want to get him to fix this glitchy tracker."

"You're still going after the Composer?" Neku questioned.

Joshua nodded. "Of course. Now come on." He started walking east to Shibu Dept Store. "You've asked your question."

When Joshua wasn't within earshot, the group continued to talk behind his back. "Now he wants to pit us against the Composer himself," Ness said. "I'd love to smack Joshua with my bat, but I don't want to give Neku a disadvantage in the game."

"You don't know how much I'd want that disadvantage," Neku said, and thus the group followed Neku's killer once more for another day. "Only three more days for this nightmare to end…"

"Let's not get too distracted by that fact," Ike said. "For now, we've got a killer to deal with…"

Chris looked at Neku. "When are you planning to confront Joshua about it?" he asked. "Is it a good idea to keep this from him?"

Neku just blinked a few times as they were about to enter the next area. "Jeopardize the Game over this… I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place," he said. "I need proof to prove Joshua that he had a hand in my murder. I can't just randomly shout at his face about it, can I?"

"No," Soren said. "It'll be unwise. We must endure his teasing until the time is right." He winced a bit. "When that time will happen is still unknown…"

They had joined up with Joshua again. But just before reaching the section where the scramble and the department store were divided, they heard feet landing behind them. Turning around, they saw an amused Koki staring at them while sucking on a lollipop. "Hey, kids and freaky cosplayers. How goes?" he greeted.

Ness stepped forward. "Something's afoot," he said.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I don't know?" Ness asked. "Yesterday, you just walked by without paying too much attention to us. Now, today, you're greeting us directly. That's why I'm saying that something's going on."

"Oh, sharp," Koki said. "You up for a little game?"

"Excuse me?" Neku said. "We're kind of in a Game already."

Joshua waved Koki off. "Look, we're busy here," he said, not liking the odd attention that Koki was giving to him. They could tell that there was a sudden change of expressions when the Harrier Reaper looked at Joshu-

Ike immediately turned to the direction they were going to, hearing another set of feet landing nearby. He spotted Uzuki standing in their way…and she then turned around and raised an invisible wall between the scramble and the department store. "Wall's up!" she giggled.

"The hell are you doing?" Ike asked.

"Sowwy," Uzuki said before she took off into the air. The mercenary was just about to reach out for her, but Soren instinctively held him back with a hand on his shoulder.

As the others similarly protested with annoyed shouts, Koki pulled his lollipop out and started to take off himself. "Now then... Game on? I think so!" he taunted until he escaped into an alley, his shadowy figure disappearing.

Pichu looked at the direction of the wall. A Support Reaper was suddenly put there to put a new challenge on the group in order to open the way. "Oooooh, I hate those Reapers," Pichu complained.

Neku knew they were messing with them. There was no mission today either, unless one was going to arrive at any minute. "Dammit, what did they want?" he asked.

Joshua looked a bit perplexed as he stared at the direction they were going to. "My guess is they've set up walls along Route 2...all the way to Cat Street," he speculated.

Fox looked grim. "That'd be a real pain in the butt, but either way, they're on the move," he said. "But I thought they were on standby! What happened to that?"

Soren sighed. "Sometimes, workers find loopholes they can abuse that don't break the rules. That's what I assume they're doing," he explained.

"Oh, well. We'll just have to play along," Joshua said with all the calmness of the world.

The group was forced to clear a series of walls set up by Uzuki and Koki all the way to Cat Street, just as Joshua had predicted. The second Reaper in the Shibu Dept Store tasked them to get salty ramen from Dogenzaka. When they brought the food to him, he got excited. "Ooh, you brought it! ...Ugh." He wasn't particularly fond of how it looked like. "Where'd you get it? It looks foul. Keep it man."

Ness took the ramen bowl from Neku's hands. "Your loss, then," he said before digging the bowl with chopsticks ready.

The Support Reaper shrugged at the sight of the hideous ramen – or at least he thought it was hideous – being eaten by somebody younger than him. "Way to kill my appetite. Wall clear!"

In Cadoi City, they were confronted by another Reaper in a black hoodie, though he wasn't the same one they met at Shibu-Q Heads. Suddenly, jazzy music started playing in the background as per mandate of the event.

The World Ends with You – Economical Shoppers

"Miss me? Like a bolt from the blue, it's time for the Reaper Review," the Reaper said enthusiastically. The team, having faced the challenge a few times before, was ready to answer the set of questions. "And away we go! Ready to use your noodle? Today we'll be talking ramen. Specifically Dogenzaka's own Ramen Don!"

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay," Chris faked being excited, along with flailing his open palms in front of him. The Reaper took it as a compliment anyway.

"Question 1! What's the name of Ramen Don's plucky owner?"

"Ken Doi," Neku said.

"Or Sebastian, whichever you like to call him," Joshua giggled.

"If you say so..." the Reaper said before shouting, "Question 2! What's the secret menu item he only serves to friends?"

"Insta-noodles!" Pichu answered brightly.

"I know, right? Question 3! How much will a bowl of shio ramen run you there?"

"Hmm…" Ike trailed off in thought. "I remember the price was…580 yens."

"Aha! I see what you did there," the Reaper said nodding. "OK... The results are in! Reaper Review, Lesson 4! Survey says..." A loud happy jingle rang out. "You pass! So pass on through." The wall behind his back opened up, relieving them a bit. The Reaper suddenly raised a finger before they could proceed. "But! Though you may forget the Review - rest assured, it remembers you…" He slowly walked backwards into an alley as he said, "We'll see you again. Bye-bye for now!"

The World Ends with You – Déjà vu

"Gosh, many of them are so messed up in more ways than one," Fox commented, still staring at the way where the Reaper had disappeared.

"Nice to see there's a lot of diversity in personalities between the Reapers," Joshua noted. The others shrugged the statement and proceeded to Towa Records.

Just like the previous Reaper, the Reaper in a red hoodie standing in the way to the next area north of the local CD store imposed them with a weird request. "Want past this wall? Heh heh heh." He turned to face Neku. "...You. Orangeylocks."

"Me?" Neku asked, hopelessly trying to confuse the Reaper.

"Yeah, you!" the Reaper rectified. "Come back wearing all Mus Rattus threads. Do that, and I'll let you and your buncha friends pass through here."

The group walked several feet away from the Reaper. "Mus Rattus?" Chris wondered. "What is Mus Rattus?"

Joshua raised a finger to his side. "That's the bargain brand that's branched out all over Shibuya," he explained. "Mus Rattus is pretty low in the popularity scale when it comes down to fashion statements because of how…boring their products are. The other twelve brands are far more popular in comparison." He chuckled at Neku. "Sounds like you'll have to deck yourself out in it, Neku."

"Me? Wear that?" Neku frowned. "Ugh, I hate these walls..." He pinched the bridge between his eyes and looked serious at the group. "I can easily afford those threads. They're pretty cheap. This means that we're going…" closing his eyes for two seconds, he opened them back up to emphasize the rest of his idea, "…shopping."

Ten minutes later…

The Support Reaper didn't mind the people that didn't come to his wall. Though the group of Players standing a safe distance away from him was the only good thing to see in the day; he had been assigned to pester these specific Players by Koki and Uzuki for some evil reason he wasn't told about. When the group came back from some shopping spree to Cadoi City's building, he raised an eyebrow under the shade of darkness of his hoodie to admire the Mus Rattus-walking advertisement that was Neku Sakuraba.

"All right, I'm a walking ball of Rat. Can we get that wall cleared now?"

"Pfft... Snrrk!"

"Can I help you?"

Joshua covered his chuckling mouth. "Oh, no. I'm just fine. Ready to go... Ratty McRatterson?" The others soon started chuckling silently.

Neku gulped and approached the Support Reaper. A shopping trip later, Neku had discarded his trademark clothes – except for his shorts and headphones - for some un-trendy clothes at the store. He was wearing a pale brown cap with an M insignia on the front, a red t-shirt with Mozzy (Mus Rattus' mascot's head printed on the chest), beach sandals that weren't that particularly eye-openers, and, perhaps most ridiculous, he was lazily holding a Mowzy plush by its chubby right arm. "Happy now?" Neku asked, hearing faint chuckles coming from behind.

The Reaper quickly covered his mouth, which was spouting several huffs of air. "Pfft! Aha ha... What a chintzy outfit, man! It suits you," he remarked.

Neku narrowed his glare, and people could actually see the scowling shape his lips took due to the lack of collar of his chintzy red t-shirt. "...Excuse me!?" he demanded.

"Objective met. Wall clear!" the Reaper announced as he started to leave into the darkness. Right before he was going to disappear from sight, he broke into a guffaw.

The others approached the indignant teen. Joshua couldn't just let this opportunity go like that. "Hee hee... He said it suits you, Neku," Joshua said.

"I heard him!" Neku shouted, staring angrily at his supposed friends grinning and chuckling like idiots at his face. "At least this is over. Let me go change my clo-"

"Nope."

"WHY NOT?!"

Joshua merely giggled and walked up-north. "We can't wait for you to undress, Neku," he said. "What if a mission shows up while you're busy? Let's reach Mr. H's place as soon as we can."

Neku opened his arms at Joshua's back. "I'm a freakin' loser dressed in rags!" he complained loudly. But since Joshua was standing dangerously far away to get ambushed by Noise, Neku grunted loudly and followed his partner with intent of murder. The Smashers quickly followed him and continued snickering at his silly look.

"Should we tell him that he can drop Mowzy now?" Chris asked, snickering a bit.

"I feel…a little evil today, so…no," Fox muttered under his heavily restrained laughs. "This is golden."

Miyashita Park Underpass

"A tunnel beneath the Yamanote train line that circles central Tokyo. The graffiti inside never stays the same for long."

Beyond the tunnel, Miyashita Park resided. Inside said tunnel, graffiti was reigning over the walls that faced away from the busy street separated by hand rails. The Players were already familiar with the area, having crossed through it in a hurry to reach Cat Street two days ago. Because Joshua unnecessarily lied to them about a mission with a really short countdown, they never took a second to admire the shady place. In contrast, they could compare the area with Udagawa.

Neku tossed Mowzy away to the nearby street, much to the dismay of a few Players who were obviously laughing mentally. He wanted to get rid of the threads plaguing his style. If Shiki were here, she would laugh her head off at him, Neku thought. Blocking the way to Miyashita Park was another Reaper in a black hoodie. "Want past this wall? Play me at Tin Pin!" He was staring directly at Neku. Feeling the leering, Neku sighed loudly and crouched down to the floor where a conveniently-placed Tin Pin Slammer field was set up by the Reaper. The Reaper chuckled at Neku's horrendous clothing and knelt down. "You ready? Here we go!"

As some of the Players decided to watch the game unfold, Ness looked to the direction of the street where, next to the handrail, there was a bouquet of flowers and two soda cans sitting alone. "Who'd leave that stuff in the middle of the street?" Ness wondered to himself as he went to see the random items.

Upon closer inspection, the bouquet of flowers had a small note attached on the brim. The Onett boy leaned forward to read a small passage:

Daisukenojo Bito & Raimu Bito

May you find peace in the afterlife together as siblings…

Sincerely, your family and friends.

Ness blinked and then noticed an unsettling smear of black right in the middle of the street. The black smear had faint traces of red color that he quickly recognized as wasted blood. Looking ill, he backed off and bumped into something with his feet. Looking behind, he found Pichu standing there. "O-oh, Ness," Pichu said. "What's wrong? Sorry for nearly making you trip…"

"W-well…" Ness turned to the direction of the items, and Pichu followed his gaze. "I found that bouquet with a note about two people that died here…" He pointed at the smear of blood on the street as a car drove by. "I THINK an accident happened here. See that dirty part of the street?"

"E-eugh," Pichu shivered. "T-that's blood, isn't it?"

"Yes…" Ness shrugged. "They were siblings, too, or so the note says."

Pichu's ears drooped a bit. "That's sad," he commented.

"…" Ness shook his head and looked at Pichu. "C'mon. Let's forget about this. We don't even know who those two were."

The Electric-type thought for a moment. "Do you think they ended up in the Reapers' Game like us?" he asked.

"Maybe…" Ness trailed off. "Maybe we'll see them somewhere? I don't know. We haven't seen any Players anywhere besides Sota and Nao yesterday." He looked over to the group, seeing the Reaper standing up before Neku did so. "Looks like they finished playing that game…"

The Reaper turned his back to Neku, losing the Tin Pin match. The Reaper felt very humiliated. He had trained so hard at Tin Pin, but so far, he never beat anybody. "...Crap. Is there NOBODY in this world I can actually beat!?" he asked loudly before sighing. With a wave of his hand, the wall opened between the underpass and the park. He burrowed his hands in his pockets, walking away and sulking into the shadows. "Look, just go. I...want to be alone," he spoke as he disappeared. Soon after, some mumbled cries echoed.

"For heavens' sake," Soren muttered. "It's a stupid children's game. It's not a big deal."

"For some grownups, it is," Joshua said. He grinned at Neku. "Way to go, Neku. You showed those college rejects who's boss."

"HMMMMMMMMMMMM…" Neku mumbled a loud grunt in his closed mouth, as he saw Joshua walking to the park. With the wall down, the group proceeded to the area between the underpass and Cat Street.

A few minutes later…

WildKat

Hanekoma wisely covered his mouth as he examined Neku's untrendy Mus Rattus clothing from head to shoes. "Snrk…"

"Not you too, Mr. H!" Neku complained. "…Oh, wait. We made it here. Time to throw these clothes to the trashcan!" Hearing a discouragement from Hanekoma, Neku took out his formal clothes and went behind the counter where he ducked down to hide himself from his group's eyes. A minute later, Neku rose up, dressed in his usual attire. Looking at the Mus Rattus clothes on his arms, he slammed them into the trashcan next to the counter; not minding the fact the clothes had overstuffed the little recycling bucket.

"Look what ya did!" Hanekoma said with a blank look as Neku rejoined their side. "Now my trashcan is unpopular thanks to you, Boss!"

"Knock it off already," Neku sternly ordered.

Hanekoma frowned at his trashcan's misfortune and merely held out his hand at the two Players with phones. "Just let's see that phone," he spoke in a downcast tone that Chris considered too dramatic.

Joshua nodded. "Thanks. It's been responding to most of Shibuya," he pointed out.

"I'll have it fixed in a jiffy. Sit tight."

"Neku's phone, too," the killer said. "The camera. It lacks that other feature." Hanekoma winked once and then went back to the room across the counter.

As they waited for him to come back, Joshua stared off into empty air, not aware that the others were fixated on his being from behind. "(Why did he do it?)" Neku thought. "(Why would he want me dead? He's trying to jack Shibuya... Do we play into that? That's crazy. What could I do?)"

"(More and more enigmas are piling up,)" Ike thought. "(This plan Joshua has in store for the Composer… Why can he even see dead people? Ugh… Thinking too hard about this is making my head hurt…)"

"(Why do we need to have a teasing killer with us?)" Chris thought. "(He's younger than me and he's already murdering people because it's fun? This is so wrong…)"

"(Now he wants us to fight some sort of god who rules over the dead,)" Ness thought. "(What did we do to deserve this? Exist? I didn't do anything THAT heinous to be sent here, right? I'm a good boy!)"

Neku's look darkened. "(I don't know how to jack a town! Then again... He made the pact with me. Did he kill me just so we could partner up?)"

"(Why even kill Neku in the first place?)" Fox thought. "(Why him? Nothing adds up to this! …Oh, sweet, now the math fetishist's speech pattern is getting into me.)"

"(Joshua won't kill you… Joshua won't kill you…twice…)" Pichu gulped mentally, sweating a few bullets. He was so unfamiliar with Joshua, thinking that he was going to pull out a knife, smirk, and stab an unlucky Player. "(…Get killed twice? Oh Arceus, it's possible! It's totally possible!)"

Soren narrowed his eyes. "(If he turns on us, that'll probably be it,)" he thought. "(If that were to happen, we'd have to retaliate and let everything out. Unfortunately…we need decisive evidence to make him confess his crime.)"

Neku blinked. "(If I want to ask, now's the time...) Hey," he called out to Joshua, stopping everyone's train of thoughts. "(Gotta keep it simple and unsuspicious…) Why'd you make a pact with me?"

"Hmm?" Joshua turned around. "What's this, now?"

"When we first met, you said you'd been watching me. What does that mean?"

Joshua felt a bit silent until he smiled a bit. "Ahh. So that's what this is all about," he said.

Immediately, everyone's eyes widened. "(D-did he find out already?!)" Ness thought, looking alarmed. "(Good gravy, this guy is obscenely sharp!)"

"I've always been able to see the UG," Joshua said, easing everyone's worries, though it was odd that he didn't say anything about their surprised lucks prior to what he just said.

"(This is the freaky ability Hanekoma mentioned?)" Neku recalled. "Even when you were alive?"

"That's right," Joshua said. "Lucky me, right? I saw things others couldn't. I knew about the Game here in Shibuya. I saw the Players. Reapers, Noise... The whole works." Neku considered the thought about Joshua watching him when he was alive, but that was unlikely. Joshua had said that he was in the previous week as a Player who didn't get a partner at all. "The Game intrigued me. I was following it on my own when I met Mr. H."

"When was that?"

Joshua brushed a hand. "Oh, years ago," he said. "You already know the story; except that was Mr. H's part… So I became a regular at his shop, listening to his stories. The more he told me about the UG, the more I came to see its charm."

Ike looked confused. "So wait, Hanekoma told you about the UG and his connection with it?" he asked.

"What can I say? He lets others in when they know full well about his weird hobbies," Joshua chuckled.

"What charm was that about the UG?" Neku asked.

Joshua looked up at the lazy fan on the ceiling. "People racing across the city in a life-or-death struggle?" he said. "Find me another rush like that in Shibuya."

Fox put a hand on his hip. "You wanted to join the Game because of pure adrenaline?" he asked. "You know you can potentially get your life taken away a second time, right?"

"I know the disadvantages full well," Joshua said. "But I have my ways to work around them and have a wild fun time… Life for me was one giant bore. Just the same thing, day after day... Now THAT felt like death." He stared at the Smashers. "You said you came from other worlds, supposedly. Just maybe, I'd like to see the thrills you enjoy over there… Lucky for me, Shibuya has some interesting dark sides. My imagine spot for your thrills is probably far better. I can tell that much since this is your first time getting into the wonderful excitement that is racing for your very lives…"

"…Thanks, but no," Chris shrugged.

Neku similarly shrugged at the claim. "So you...came here?" he asked. "Did you… I don't know… Did you really die as a hero?"

Joshua laughed for a bit. "That bit? Oh, I guess I said that," he said. "I purposely killed myself that day, seeking death from somebody else to get into the Game. I'm…quite frail when thinking about shooting myself in the head, hence why I went with that. Imagine this! People shooting themselves in the head." He opened his arms at them. "I decided I belonged in the UG."

Neku suddenly drew comparisons between himself and Joshua. Those comparisons led to suppressed rage that was slowly trying to get rid of the implications to let the truth pour in without evidence. "And you thought I did, too?" he asked.

"...Hmm?"

"You want to be here? Fine. But not me." When Neku took a step forward and shook a fist, the others quickly shielded themselves from an ensuing argument. "You ki-"

"All done!" Hanekoma chimed in with a wide grin, oblivious of the scene.

Joshua turned to his friend and smiled. "Really? Let's have a look," he said.

"Dammit!" Neku muttered under his breath, though the others were a bit thankful that they delayed a possible feud between both Players.

As Joshua and a frustrated Neku examined their phones, Hanekoma asked, "That do it before I head out?"

Joshua irked an eyebrow. "Oh? Where are you going?"

Mr. H chuckled as he grabbed the metal wall in front of the establishment, closing it down. It was the reason why the outside lacked chairs and tables. "Just a little errand. Shop's closed for today. Later, boys." He waved at them and sauntered across the sidewalk, going west. "2-3, 2-3..."

Joshua watched his acquaintance leaving the area. "Well, the tracker's fixed. Shall we?" he told the group. "Oh, before we do... Neku?"

"What?" asked Neku.

"My turn," his partner said with a blank look. "I suffered through your questions, didn't I? Now I have one for you."

"...What?"

Joshua's lips curled into a smile. "How'd you die, Neku?" he asked.

It was so hard for the group to keep themselves from gasping. Sadly, they all gasped in unison and turned to the astonished teen, who didn't look fazed by their reactions at this point. "What?" As if his rage had been set aflame once more, Neku got himself ready to punch Joshua's prissy face. "You tell me, ass-"

"COUGH! COUGH!" Ness said, interrupting the ensuing feud.

The enigmatic teen raised an eyebrow and looked down at the Onett boy, not noticing that Ike and Fox held Neku back from leaping to Joshua. "Now, that's cheating right there," he said. "You said cough, while you should BE coughing instead."

"Y-yeah, sorry," chuckled Ness nervously.

Neku's gaze couldn't leave Joshua's sight. Ultimately, he sighed and shook his head. "(No,)" he thought to himself, trying so hard to calm down. "(...Two more days. He wants me to play it that way? Fine.)"

Joshua turned back to Neku. "So how'd you die?" he asked again, oblivious to Neku's murdering thoughts.

"...I don't know," Neku said. The others sighed mentally.

Joshua blinked, looking confused. "Don't know? Is that even possible?" he asked, rubbing his chin.

Neku nodded. "My memory was the entry fee last Game. Most of it is back, but..." he frowned, "there are still a few holes."

"I…see…" his partner responded slowly. "That's interesting… Well, ready to go to the next location?" he asked, suddenly smiling once again. He took his phone and pointed it southwest. "The signal's coming from the scramble crossing."

"By all means, let's go and get this over with," Ike said. "I'm sure we can arrange a few things with the Composer, if he turns out to be a benevolent person."

"I bet my hairy tail that he's more of a douchebag than we give him credit for," Fox said dully. With their next personal objective given out by Joshua, the group retraced their steps back to the scramble crossing until…

Miyashita Park Underpass

As they passed through the dark tunnel full of graffiti, there was a shadow that was standing in front of a wall on the other side of the street and the handrail. The shadow's owner hopped over the rail and stood between them and Towa Records. "Yo, Phones," Beat said.

Neku gasped, and the rest of his team immediately looked sternly at their former friend. "Beat..." Neku trailed off. "You're at it again?"

"Wasn't the beating we were about to give you yesterday enough to make you reconsider about attacking us?" Ike asked.

Beat rolled his eyes, and his Noise pet looked sad. "Yo, that was me bein' stupid," he said. "I didn't think you woulda mess my hair up thata way! For that, I'm gonna deliver som' damage back tenfold!"

Neku shook his head. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"You stupid? I'm a Reaper," Beat said, pointing behind at his wings. "Ain't these proof enough for ya?"

Joshua looked serious with a hand in his pocket. "Don't be silly," he said. "Reapers aren't allowed to-"

"'Reapers ain't allowed at, Mommy! Wah wah wah!'" Beat bellowed in a childish tone. "Shut it! This Reaper's here to erase ya! Now bring it, yo!"

"Are you daft!?" called a girly voice from behind the hasty Reaper. Looking behind, Beat grunted as he saw Uzuki and Koki approaching him. The others prepared themselves to face off against more than one Reaper if they suddenly decided to turn on them.

"Hey, no touchy, Freshmeat," Koki said with a blank look under his glasses. "Rules are rules. Reapers can't attack Players until Day 7 - and only the Game Master."

Uzuki nodded, looking a bit pissed at a Reaper who was bending the rules instead of her. Unlike Beat, Uzuki listened to her superior's orders. Her life was also on the line. "Yeah, and we're all on standby. GM's orders," she explained further. "Leave the Players alone. You may be new, Freshmeat, but you can't just-"

"I'm special!" Beat interjected. "I'm runnin' a special op for the Conductor, yo."

The statement made Uzuki gasp, though Koki's eyes widened as a response. "Special op!?" she shouted.

Behind Beat's back, the group got into a circle. "They seem to be busy arguing between one another," Soren said. "The question is: should we prevent Beat from initiating a Noise fight against us, or should we let him do it so that we can gather points to get better grades?"

"Risk fighting a strong Reaper," Ike began, "…or make it up by fighting a lot of Noise while we don't have a timer to worry about."

Joshua flicked a strand of hair. "My vote goes to fighting little critters instead of their parents, if you know what I'm saying," he said with a chuckle.

"I don't like the Reapers. They like messing with us a little too much," Ness commented. "I vote for beating Beat the old way again." They all agreed to skip the fight entirely. Grinning, Fox suggested Chris to do something.

Back with the Reapers, Koki looked amused. "My, my! A rising star, are we?" he said.

Beat nodded, his Noise pet frowning in disgust. "That's right, Lolly. Twinkle twinkle," he said.

Uzuki grunted loudly and flexed her gloved claws. "Ugh! Why'd he pick you?" she asked. "I have seniority!"

Beat shrugged. "Beats me," he replied. "Now you senior citizens can hobble off, aight?"

"Aaargh!" Uzuki gritted her teeth, her eyes turning white with rage. "Cocky little punk!"

Kariya laughed for a bit and grabbed his partner's shoulder to hold her back. "C'mon, girl, take it with dignity," he said. "Let's leave the kids and their crazy cosplayers in peace. Have fun, Freshmeat." Smiling jovially, Koki dragged the enraged Uzuki away from the site of a battle.

Beat sighed loudly and turned around to face an angry-looking Chris face-to-face. "Pfft, whatever. Aight, Phones, le's…" He shook his head and realized what was happening. "Wait, what?"

Chris pulled out from behind a serious-looking Pichu, quickly placing him on top of Beat's head. Beat blinked obliviously at the electric rat until sparks gathered all over Pichu, calling forth a strong Thunder that ran into Beat's whole body. The ensuing blow made Beat scream, to which then Chris took his staff out and slammed the top into the side of the Reaper's face, knocking him to the street. Pichu hopped off just in time and returned to Chris's head.

"THE HELL!" Beat complained as he rubbed his face. When he opened his eyes, he muttered a small gasp when he saw Ike, Fox, and Ness surrounding him with their weapons pointing down at him. The Noise pet started whimpering loudly at the sight of their aggressors, and even more so when the others covered any escape routes. Beat decided to hold his ground, gritting his teeth with rage. "You playin' dirty again?!"

"We only play dirty just because your people aren't any better than this!" Ness shouted.

"Exactly," Fox said, keeping a tight grip on his Blaster. "What's it gonna be, Beat? We can let you go one more time like before."

"I'm no chicken!" Beat yelled. "I can take ya on again!"

Neku frowned and took out from his pocket a familiar trinket that made a ringing noise upon being taken out. The sound of Rhyme's bell made the Noise pet perk up its head in surprise, and Beat similarly gasped. "Isn't this pendant yours?" Neku asked. "

For a brief moment, Beat's tough look was replaced by a surprised one. "That's..." He looked angry again. "Hey! Low blow, man!"

"You dropped it the other day, Beat," Neku said.

"Specifically, when Fox kicked you aside," Chris added.

Beat grunted. "Yeah, sure. Now gimme it back!" he demanded. "If you think you can use that to bargain, think again, yo! I'll pry it outta your cold, dead hands!" At this, the others moved their weapons closer to his throat. Beat wasn't feeling so good with Ike's large, heavy sword being mere inches away from scratching his skin. "U-urk…"

The Reaper expected the Players to make him do a favor for them, but Neku dropped the bell on top of his chest. "No bargains!" Neku said. "Here… It's yours."

Beat was given room to raise his head to stare at the bell on his chest. The Noise pet carefully went to touch the curious accessory with its pawns. "...Why'd you gimme it?" Beat asked, looking up at Neku while ignoring the others. "We enemies, yo."

"It's important to you, isn't it?" Neku asked. "It's Rhyme's… It's all you got that keeps you attached to her in this way."

Pichu sniffed a bit. "You're a big softie, Beat," he said. "You're just acting evil because they want you to be like this…"

"But it was your decision to join their side," Soren said. "Instead of tagging along with us, you became their living marionette for their big show. You reap what you sow."

"…The heck does that even mean?" Beat asked. "I didn't reap a thing!"

"…" The others exchanged flat looks.

The Reaper watched as his aggressors removed their weapons from his space. They backed off several steps to give him enough room to stand up. Grabbing the bell with one hand, Beat stood back up and looked serious at them. "Hmph. Dontchu be expectin' any thanks," he said.

"Nope," Fox said, sheathing his Blaster. "You'll only end up owing me twice. Remember? I saved your sorry butt the week before."

"…Whatever," the Reaper scoffed. Clenching his eyes shut, Beat took off into the skies, though his Noise pet looked remorseful at the entire situation…

"(...Bye, Beat,)" Neku thought, watching the Reaper disappearing over the buildings to the south.

"Is the delinquent Reaper gone now?" Joshua asked. "Hmm... A special op..."

"That bit of info sounded weird," Ness said. "What's so important that they needed Beat to be a special op?"

"Fight us head on," Soren said, recalling the argument between the Reapers. "If he's allowed to fight us, that'd mean why he wasn't held back by the rules."

Fox made a fist to his side. "Those Reapers are starting to make me feel sick," he said. "But everything should end in three days…

Joshua let the silence last for a bit until he chuckled. "Time's a wastin'," he said. "We need to get over to the scramble crossing lest we want to provoke that guy's nerves again. Shall we, everyone?"

Nearly forgetting that they had an errand to run, the group continued its way to the central area of Shibuya while reflecting upon Beat. "That Noise he's always carrying around…" Pichu trailed off. "…Something feels…familiar about it…"

"What?" Ness asked, looking at him.

"Er, nothing. Talking to myself about the Noise pet," he said. Ness merely shrugged.

Towa Records

As they passed through the front of the CD store, Neku suddenly looked up at the large screen with the familiar-looking cat head with bat wings displayed on the large monitor. He couldn't help but smile at the awe-inspiring image with the words "Cat'n Core" next to it. When he stopped walking, the others followed his gaze to the TV. "This is CAT's latest..." Neku muttered.

"Oh, what's this?" Ness asked, looking sly. "Is Neku having fanboy urges all of a sudden?"

"Knock it off," Neku brushed him off, though without the venom. The tone he used sounded a bit playful. "I can't help myself. I gotta see what this Cat'n Core is all about…once I come back to life." He sighed. "Sucks to be stuck in the UG right now…"

Joshua blinked at the picture on the screen. "Shibuya's full of his stuff, hmm?" he wondered. "It must take a ton of time. I'm surprised he keeps that silly café open."

Neku looked at him. "Huh? CAT opened a café?" he asked, sounding surprised. "Where? In Shibuya?"

Joshua giggled. "You feeling alright, Neku? How many times have you been there now?"

The CAT fanboy was having a mental dilemma. "What!? Where the heck is it?" he asked, stepping forward. The others exchanged blank looks.

"Cat street, silly." Joshua smiled knowingly.

"…Well," Chris began, "the only café we've gone to is Hanekoma's café…"

"…Waaaaaait a second…" Ness said.

Neku almost had a heart attack; the good kind of heart attack. "Cat... No way!" he gasped.

"Yes, way," Joshua nodded. "CAT is Mr. H."

"NO WAY!" Neku said, sounding incredibly impressed. "Mr. Hanekoma!? Is CAT!?" He started to breathe a little too fast and loud. To give him physical support, Fox patted the teen's back a few times. "Whoa...whoa! OK, calm down." His inner excitement was about to explode several hundred times.

Joshua was completely amused at his partner's reactions. "Hee hee. I'll try," he giggled.

"Mr. H? Seriously?" Neku asked. He wanted to shake Joshua's shoulders so badly, but he still thought Joshua was a douche. "I don't believe it!"

"How did you not know this?" Joshua asked, rubbing his chin. "I thought you were CAT's biggest fan."

Neku calmed himself down to recollect his thoughts, fighting the tempting thought to go ask for Hanekoma's autograph. "He never does interviews in person. He's never released any photos, either. I never even knew he was a 'he'!" he explained until sighing in pleasure. "Man... Mr. Hanekoma... I can see it, though. From the first time I saw him, I knew he was special."

"Suuuuuuure you did," Ike said, looking dull.

"Special in that he knows way too much about us," Fox said.

"But still…we talked to a celebrity a few times while he's incognito," Chris said. "I feel special in the inside!"

"Damn, I've talked to CAT!" Neku rejoiced. "That is freaking RAD!" He started to breathe in and out even faster than before. Soren could only stare at the odd reaction, and the others chuckled a bit to themselves.

The World Traveler approached the younger teen, knowing full well how to help Neku release his excitement. "Neku...you're breathing too fast," Chris said. "I know how to make you feel much better. Trust me. I've been in this kind of situation one time too many back at my home city. All you have to do is yell to the sky. Let it all out just like that."

Udagawa

A loud "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!" echoed from the other side of Shibuya, though the living never heard it. A Reaper in a black hoodie hidden in the shadows looked up and then around. "Damn! Somebody's in good spirits while playing the Game!" he said.

Towa Records

The Smashers stood frozen and impressed at Neku's strong lungs. "Whoa…" was all Fox could say about the event, eyes wide. Much to his chagrin, his visor's green glass shattered into pieces and fell down to the street. There was no way he was getting it repaired till the Game was over with.

"…My," Joshua suddenly spoke, grinning a bit. "That was some scream."

"Scream? More like a cheer!" Neku said. "Damn, that felt good."

Joshua giggled. "Hee hee. I'm happy you're happy. Just don't tell him where you heard, hmm?" he said. "I'd hate to see the entourage of fangirls at his café. He's estrogen brigade bait material…apparently."

Neku nodded a bit too fast. "I won't," he said. Joshua silently checked his tracker to make sure that it was working, mindlessly walking several feet away from earshot. The CAT fanatic suddenly gasped. "Guys, I think I figured something outta this."

"What?" Chris asked. "What did you figure out?"

"If Hanekoma is CAT, that means he's NOT the Composer," Neku said.

Looking confused, Ike asked, "Why'd you think Hanekoma was the Composer? Would the Composer be so easygoing to be walking out during the middle of the day?"

"I have MANY doubts about that man," Fox said, looking suspicious. "He can enter Noise battles at will, for one. And c'mon, he knows about the UG while he works in the RG. I don't know you guys, but that kind of qualifies as being more of an important person than a guardian."

"Yeah," Neku agreed. "That's what bothered me about Mr. H. Joshua's looking for the Composer. Hanekoma's helping him. The Composer wouldn't be that dumb," he explained.
"Besides, Josh is too sharp not to notice."

"…Unless," Pichu began, "Mr. H really was the Composer and he's just toying around with us for some evil reason behind the scenes."

The group thought hard about the possibility. "…NAAAAAAAAAH," most of them said.

"That'd be just plain weird," Ike said, "not to mention it doesn't make any sense."

"Guess I was over thinking things," Neku said, chuckling a bit. "CAT can't be the Composer."

Joshua sighed loudly and walked back to the group, smiling again. "I still don't get why he's so popular," he said. "It's just street art."

Neku turned around to him. "CAT's works all follow a single, consistent aesthetic. And he keeps the quality up," he said. "Most important, his work speaks to people. That's tougher than it sounds."

His partner giggled in amusement. "Is it? I bet you'd have little trouble," he said, to which Neku and the others looked confused. "Use your Player Pin."

Neku took out his Player Pin for a brief moment. "What's this got to do with-"

Joshua pointed at the pin. "If you know what people are thinking, it's easy to grab them," he said.

"So what, so we find out that they're not the gender they're happy with?" Fox suddenly blurted out. Joshua gave him a funny look.

"Not really what I meant…" Joshua shrugged.

"It... it would be an advantage," Neku said. "No, I'm not talking about finding out who's a travesty. I'm talking about reading people's thoughts."

Joshua nodded again. "Why bother with talk?" he asked. "With sifting through the lies we all tell? You could talk till you're blue in the face and not hear the truth. And we all see things differently anyway."

Ike grimaced. "What kind of world did you grow up in, Joshua?" he asked. The silver-haired teen raised an eyebrow. "That is some dark thought right there. Aren't you open to the idea of talking to other people that isn't us?"

"To answer your first question, Ike…" Joshua looked blankly at him, "…I grew up in Shibuya, AKA the giant bore of my life without thrills."

"Yeah, you said that before," Ike said. "But what I mean is that it doesn't look like you made the effort to even talk with others."

The teen winced a bit.

It was a first to see Joshua react like that to the group. Noticing the odd reaction from Joshua, Ike blinked. "Joshua?" he called out.

Joshua looked blank again. "Oh… Sorry, I spaced out a bit," he said, grinning again, though the grin looked forced. "As for your second question…people around Shibuya looked one-dimensional to me, it wasn't worth it." He waved a hand. "I never found the ideal group of people to socialize with. I felt distant because of that."

Having listened to Joshua, Neku thought to himself, "(But we can TRY to find out, right? Expand our worlds through each other. Maybe that's a better way to go; the real way to enjoy each moment.)"

"You OK, Neku?"

Neku came back to earth. "Yeah, I could try to be CAT with this pin. But why?" he asked. "Where's the enjoyment in that? I'd rather broaden my world my own way."

His partner stared long at his face for quite a few more seconds, giving Joshua some thought about his method. "Neku..." Joshua giggled again. "Hee hee. Your face is priceless."

Everyone else mentally sighed, seeing as the mood of the scene had been broken once more by Joshua's teasing antics. "Huh? (Who asked you!?)" Neku demanded.

"Anyway, we really should make for the scramble," Joshua said as he started walking south to Cadoi City. "We may not be getting missions, but we still only have so much time."

The group exchanged frowns and followed the teen from behind, standing a safe distance from him. "Yet again, Joshua makes a huge change in the mood," Ness said. "I can't believe that guy."

"Hello?" Neku called out sarcastically. "He killed me. His attitude reeks with odd stuff. I can't be safe around him. Joshua is starting to shed more light about his reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna sympathize." His face darkened under the shade of his frontal hair. "At the end of the day, he's like an antagonist to this tale."

"An antagonist who wants us to fight the Composer of the Reapers' Game," Soren said. "Speaking about the Composer, I'm not looking forward to facing him. We are getting better at dealing with Noise. Dealing with a person close to godhood, though, is a different field altogether."

Pichu shuddered at the thought. "I don't want to fight the Composer… I just want to win the Game and go back home for real," he said, and Chris clutched him with both arms to give him some company.

"Him and his Composer hunt... He's really serious?" Neku said, looking up. "Kid's crazy. He's on his own."

Ike stared at Neku. "Yeah, let's not fight the Composer. We should leave his personal affairs to himself," he decided.

"Besides…Shiki is on the line," the orange-haired teen said, making them look worried at his previous partner. "I can't put myself into risk because Joshua wants it. Telling him this now would be a bad idea… He got stressed a minute ago when Ike asked him about him not talking to people. Pushing another button can cause him to explode."

"Yup," Fox said. "In the meantime, let's fight a few Noise fights on the way to the scramble to get some points for ignoring fighting Beat back there." He grinned and tightened his gloves.

Chris sighed and took out his staff in disappointment. "Let's go beat the creepy spiny hedgehogs again…" he muttered.

"Cool! I can pretend they're Sonic to make the killing all the more satisfying!" Ness said. He felt their looks turning his way. "Hey now, I hardly ever talked to him, and all he's done to me was bring trouble to my doorstep. Fair balance, you see."

Shrugging at Ness's morbid thought, the group engaged in Noise fights as they made their way to the scramble. However, it was only making Joshua feel impatient with the sudden stops to scan the area for Noise.

"DIE, YOU HEDGEHOGS, DIE!" Ness yelled out.

Scramble Crossing

Eventually, they were back to the scramble, which was also known as their unconditional resting spot that they were always tossed to mostly every day of the week. When they walked to the center, Joshua's phone beeped loudly, making him stop to check on the tracker. "Hold it. I'm getting a signal," he said. "It's coming from-"

"Wait a minute," Neku said, stopping on his tracks. Joshua was still focusing on his phone, though he sighed loudly in his mind, knowing what was going to happen next. "You want to take on the Composer."

Joshua memorized the direction of the signal and pocketed his phone. Looking dull at the others, he asked, "Haven't we been over this?"

"Joshua, my friend," Ness began in a fake friendly tone that gradually turned honestly hostile as he went on, "we know you're such a great person, but there's NO effing way we're beating the Composer for you! We want to play it safe!"

As the silver-haired teen looked like he was subtly glaring at them, Neku continued. "We have to win this Game. I'm not taking on any more risks," he said. "I have a person tied to my run, and I can't just risk her for this either."

There was an unsettling silence that made the mercenary sweat a bit, his team looking fiercely at Joshua. "(Okay, nobody says another word,)" Ike thought. "(Joshua has one of those gun-things somewhere in his sleeve. Let's not push him any longer for us to turn into his living shooting targets.)"

"We are not taking part of this suicidal activity of yours," Soren added with a stern look.

Ike sighed. "(…Of all people. Screw us over, Soren, why don't you?)"

Joshua gave them all a hard look. For a moment, they thought he was going to object, but then he rolled his eyes and nodded. "Fine. I won't ask you to get involved," he said. "At least let me pinpoint the River."

Neku sighed. "OK, but that's it," he said. "No way am I getting my butt cut down because you want us to do that."

"Hee hee. You're so generous," Joshua said, making most of them shrug. "The signal's coming from the station underpass." With the location in mind, the enigmatic teen started walking away from them once more.

"Well," Fox began, smiling a bit, "that went better than I expected."

"But it makes me wonder how Joshua is going to deal with the Composer all by himself…" Ike said. "Does he know what he's doing? He might just die."

"…Seriously, Ike," Neku began, looking up at the mercenary, "the guy killed me off, and you're worrying about his safety? Did I miss a cue?"

"Er, no, but… I wasn't really that concerned about Joshua," Ike admitted, though he wasn't thinking straight about the teen's impossible plans. "I was simply wondering."

"Who cares?" Ness asked as they began walking to the Statue of Hachiko. "Let him suffer while we don't. We're almost there to the last day, anyway."

The fact relieved their weary minds. They continued engaging Noise fights until they reached the underpass, and now Neku had obtained some new pins to try them out in battle.

Station Underpass

Returning to the same spot where they had fought Yodai to win the Game made the veteran Players feel frustrated with how they got screwed over their prize and how the other previous Players got even more screwed than they got. It turned into a very creepy place that they wanted to forget as soon as possible, only to get rid of the frustration of knowing the shady rules of the crazy sport.

"I hate this place with a passion," Fox said.

"Me too," Pichu said.

To their collective dismay, the Shibuya River was located in the same area. Joshua's phone beeped with quick beats as they approached the large entrance of the city's sewers on the other side of the underpass. They came to a halt when Joshua himself stopped, admiring the scene in front of their faces. "Looks like the tracker's working now," he said with a small giggle. "Welcome to the Shibuya River."

Ike blinked in surprise at the large entrance. The only floor that was there was filled with sewer water running under several sets of chains that blocked the way inside from low and high heights. A large red Noise symbol sealed the entrance from trespassers. "…How did we miss that out the last time we were here?" Ike asked as a matter of fact.

"Yodai had some freakish attention powers," Pichu said. "But really… I never noticed that before!"

"Hmm? You were here before, and you never saw the suspiciously big entrance to the sewers?" Joshua asked. "Wow, you are dense."

Neku grunted. "We didn't care about it too much, okay? Besides, look at that Noise symbol!" he said. "It looks a little more demonic than the ones we scan with our Player Pins! It practically screams 'get any closer and you'll die.'"

Once more, they heard Joshua chuckling. "So, anyway," he said, "the Composer's just ahead beyond those chains…but as you can see, we're blocked out."

Chris mumbled a bit. "You certainly have some way to get pass through that wall of chains, don't you?" he asked.

"Nah," Joshua said, turning his back to the sewer entrance. "Unless we get rid of that wall, this is the end of the line. Let's head back and gather more info."

"What?" Fox glared at Joshua from behind. "What makes you think that there's somebody who knows how to get pass through this wall? Are we going to ask Hanekoma about this?"

"You read my mind without using a pin," Joshua said, looking over his left shoulder at them. "Mr. H is the only one who knows how. If not, we can risk ourselves and ask the Reapers."

Neku grunted loudly and walked ahead, blocking Joshua's way. "Joshua, I swear to god, if you're taking us into dangerous territory…"

Joshua sighed, looking blankly at Neku. "Neku, do I need to remind you that we're connected through a pact?" he asked. "If something happens to me while playing the Game, you're wide open to Noise ambushes. Let's assume that if we can deal with the… Huh…" Joshua stopped talking and looked around. "Wait, something isn't right…"

"You tell me," Neku said.

"No, seriously," Joshua said sternly. "I heard…rumbling… I feel the rumbling on my feet…"

The Smashers looked down at the floor where they saw a few pieces of loose pebbles rattle as they shook around. "Hey, he's right," Ness said. "There's rumbling in here."

Recalling that they were underneath an underpass, Chris looked up at the train tracks. "But we're below the tracks," he said. "A train is approaching from somewhere. Wouldn't that cause the rumbling?"

"No, this is very unusual," Joshua said. "The trains around Shibuya travel fast enough that you wouldn't feel the shaking of the floor longer than six seconds. The shaking is lasting longer than ten seconds by itself…and it seems to be increasing in magnitude."

Pichu feared the workings of the earth. As an Electric-type, he feared the nightmares that were the Ground-types. "I-is there an earthquake coming here?!" he shrieked, climbing Chris's head and making the teen gasp. "I-I hate earthquakes!"

Fox gasped. "An earthquake in this populated city? We're right in the middle of the tallest buildings right under the shadows!" he said.

"I can tell that the rumbling isn't part of Mother Nature," Joshua said, rubbing his chin. From behind, Neku held his position. "It's following some kind of rhythmic pattern. Earthquakes are not into rhythm, which means…"

Joshua didn't notice it in time, but Neku was standing quite a few ways away from his spot, enabling Noise to attack the latter without retaliating through a Noise fight. Suddenly, Neku felt the shaking of the floor stronger from where he was standing. A loud roar made him turn to the left where his chest met a long, devilish horn ramming harshly against his body. Nearly losing conscience, Neku's body was tossed back to the southern wall where he yelled loudly and slid back down. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"NEKU!" the Smashers yelled.

From where he was standing, Chris could see a trail of blood smothering Neku's clothes, specifically close to where his chest area was. "H-h-he's…bleeding!" the teen gasped out, freezing at the sight of the body's fluids leaking out. "He's bleeding so badly!"

Ike grunted and looked at the source of the horn. The others stepped back when they saw a black Noise standing between them and Neku. Just like the black kangaroo Noise that they had fought several days ago, it was another kind of black Noise that heavily resembled the rhino Noise Minamimoto had tossed at them. But, if Soren's theory was right, the black Noise was extremely hostile enough to attack Players without previous warnings. The black rhino in question even had an armored body of thick skin outlines with white lines on the edges. "Aw, hell!" Ike said, drawing Ragnell out. "It's one of those black Noise that attacked us days ago!"

"H-help…" Neku muttered loudly enough for them to hear his plea from his spot. He clutched his body with both arms and tried to resist the coursing pain by stopping the bleeding. "U-uh…"

"No, Neku!" Fox yelled, gritting his fangs and tightening his fists. He tried to run to his aid, but the black rhino roared and blocked the way, glaring daggers at them all. "Damn you, you big butt! Outta the way!"

Ness grabbed his head in panic as he looked over to Neku. "C-Chris, you need to use your healing magic on Neku!" he said. "I'd do it, but Master Hand never let me use PK Lifeup!"

Chris reluctantly changed to his Fonic Hymn User job. "But I really don't know if my magic is strong enough to stop heavy bleeding…" Looking serious, he forced a glare and began focusing his magic into his rod. "S-screw it, I need to give it a shot!"

As if the black rhino knew what they were talking about, it roared and charged straight for Chris. At the sight of a one-ton monster wanting to kill him, the teen screamed and turned tails, running away as fast as he could. The other five Smashers blocked the way and took out their weapons, though Pichu shuddered as he gathered sparks into his pouch cheeks. "Back off!" Ike demanded.

Chris stopped running away, but now he was too far away for his magic to reach out for Neku. "N-no, I need to get closer!" He quickly glanced at the charging rhino. "B-but…but I'm so scared…" As he looked back at the bleeding Neku, Chris clenched his eyes shut and started whimpering. "No… Neku…I'm…I'm sorry…"

"(Is this…how…how it ends?)" Neku thought in despair, feeling that his vision was getting blurrier by the second. "(I…I failed? I failed to…make a difference in this Game? What…what about Shiki?)" His tired eyes glanced over at the charging rhino and then to the Smashers. "(Guys… Shiki… Everyone… Sorry… If only I could…)"

When he looked at Joshua, Neku mentally screamed.

His partner wasn't bathing an eye his way, instead looking into space. A sudden surge of energy enabled Neku to avoid stuttering. The negative feeling ended up giving him enough willpower to hang on to dear life out of pure anger. "(I'm in my deathbed and he's just there doing nothing?! Joshua, you freaking assho-!)"

Joshua was, meanwhile, staring in complete stress at the sight of Neku hanging on to dear life. If Neku were to be erased now, Joshua would lose a valuable asset to his plans, and he couldn't truthfully manipulate the others as he saw fit. Because of how annoying everything was to him, he had no choice but to resort to other drastic measures. He stepped in-between the Smashers and the rhino, shocking his group and stopping Neku's bewildered thoughts. "Joshua, what the hell are you doing now?!" Fox asked. "Get out of the way! You don't know how to fight outside Noise battles!"

"Oh, all right..." Joshua replied smugly, pulling his right hand over his left shoulder. "I was hoping to avoid this."

"Joshua, get out!" Ike yelled.

As the black rhino rushed to them with its long horn ready to deliver massive damage, Joshua furrowed his brow and swung his right arm with a clean moving motion. "You…are done!" he shouted.

And then from the sky came out a massive beam of light that crashed down upon the black rhino, engulfing it within an ethereal laser that completely and utterly vaporized it into nothingness. The force of the blast was so strong that it pushed air away to the incredibly shocked looks from the others that weren't Joshua. Even Neku became numb to the bleeding as he watched the massive beam holding into place over the spot that had annihilated the black Noise.

When the beam of destruction died out into a small line, the black rhino was no more. His job fulfilled, Joshua burrowed his hands into his pockets, turned around, and looked blankly at his team. Their wide eyes and shrunken irises gave him a clear picture that they were close to pissing themselves from the sheer amount of power that he called out of nowhere. From behind, Chris's jaw was wide open, but he regained his senses faster than they could and went to aid Neku, hoping to stop the hemorrhaging of his chest with several First Aid spells.

In practice, they were very relieved to avoid fighting a black Noise, but after seeing Joshua attack with a massive beam from out of the blue…

"…Holy…SHIT," was all Fox could say from the extraordinary event.

Soren blinked a few times until his eyes returned to their normal size. "Alright…" he began, "I suppose everyone's nagging question for this time would b-"

"Since when can you call those freakin' BEAMS of light from the sky?!" Ness interrupted. Close enough, muttered Soren.

Joshua tossed his hands to the sides. "I told you, I hate working up a sweat," he said.

"…" Ike shook his head and looked serious. "Seriously, what the heck, Joshua! This doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me!" he complained. "How can you pull out those beams out of nowhere? Are you wearing some sort of special pin you never used until now?"

"Pretty much," Joshua said, still looking blankly at their surprised expressions. "I have it equipped in my pants, but I wouldn't recommend you to look inside my pockets because it's not there…" He giggled with an unsettling tone.

"Gah!" Fox squicked. "T-that doesn't matter! Neku can't even use his pins outside of battle, but you can?"

Joshua raised his chin, looking confused. "About that… Didn't he use a pin when trying to strangle the partner he was with during the previous week?" he asked.

Pichu stared. "A-ah… Y-you saw Neku when he was tricked into…"

"Oh yeah, I did," Joshua said. "I remembered how he managed to do it outside a Noise fight, so I wondered if I could do it my own way." He smiled a bit. "And what do you know? It worked for our advantage. No need to complain about it, hmm?"

"But… You could've done that before," Ike said. "But you didn't just because you were being lazy?"

"I like being lazy, so yeah," Joshua nodded.

"…You're unbelievable!" the mercenary complained.

Joshua chuckled. "I know you guys have tons of questions about me. However," he looked back at Neku and Chris, "we must see if my partner is holding up…"

"Neku!" shrieked Pichu, causing the others to remember about their fallen comrade. They quickly rushed to his side, watching Chris stretching his glowing rod over Neku's wounded area. "Neku!"

"Hmm…" Chris mumbled as he focused his magical power into his staff. "First Aid!" A shock of light was sent into Neku's body, giving a warming feeling to the wounded teen. He grunted in pain, but he felt that it was going away. Looking surprised, Neku felt that the large wound under his clothes was being mended. As Chris's rod glowed with magic once more, he asked, "Neku, are you feeling okay?"

"Y-yeah…" Neku muttered under his breath. "F-feels like the wound is…closing… But…argh…it hurts when it closes…"

"U-um, that doesn't matter as long as you're feeling less pain after it," the healer said. "Are you?"

"Yes… The pain is gradually…disappearing…" He forced a smile. "Thanks…you're saving my life here…"

"Oh, thank goodness…" Chris sighed out in relief, making the others feel relieved as well. "Just one more… First Aid!" Light gently touched Neku's body and the wound under his shirt closed completely.

Despite the fact there was still a feeling of numb pain, Neku carefully used his energy to stand back up, his hands covered in the blood he had lost. "Whew…" Neku sighed. "Thanks again… It still hurts a bit, though, but I can't complain."

"Sorry about that," the healer said, looking apologetic. He cast First Aid once more. "How about now?"

"…Nope, there's pain in there," Neku said as he looked at his bloodied shirt. "Doesn't seem like it changed at all."

"It didn't? That's odd…" Chris trailed off with worry. "Maybe I can only heal heavy damage to a certain point? I never got to heal somebody that got hurt this badly before… Back when we were alive, previous battles always pushed us all to our limits, but there was hardly so much blood lost."

"It's fine," Neku said. "I don't know how this works, but I'll rest for the time being, doc."

Chris chuckled. "Yes, that's the least I can tell you to do to recover from the pain on your own," he said. Fox grinned at Chris and congratulated him on a job well done, making the teen blush with embarrassment.

"Nice job," Joshua said, and then the focus was back on him. "I picked the right people to work with."

Neku looked blankly at Joshua. "Since when could you do THAT?" he asked, referring to Joshua's beam.

"Like I said before, I hate working up a sweat," Joshua said. "That's all you need to know. Oh, and that I use a special pin to do so."

Neku grunted and shook a fist. "Joshua, that power of yours could've been a gre-"

"Oh, come now, Neku," his partner interjected. "Now's not the time to complain. What matters is that we're all safe because of our incredible teamwork as Players."

Just when Neku was about to continue with his speech, a voice suddenly spoke out from nowhere. "Braaa-vo!" The team looked west to see a grinning Koki stepping into the scene. "Afternoon, kids and cosplayers," he greeted.

"It's you again!" Ness said, glaring at Koki. "Don't think we forgot how you blocked our way to Cat Street! Are you here to cause more mischief, you childish old man?"

"What a weak taunt," Koki said, sucking on his lollipop. "Nah, I didn't come here to do anything…other than talking to the pretty boy in your group." He looked amused at Joshua. "...Hey, pretty boy. You're ALIVE, ain't ya?"

The group went silent at the random-sounding statement. "Uh… What?" asked Chris. "What does that even mean? Joshua is dead like us…"

Koki "tsk'd" a few times. "Nope, pretty boy is totally alive AND playing the Game," he said. "And I have proof to prove it… Remember that helluva blast he pulled outta nowhere? Yeah, no pin gives a Player that kinda power." He pointed straight at Joshua's blank look. "Only alive people can use that tremendous power for their own gain!"

Persona 4 – Who Goes There?

Annoyed about the random strings of revelations, Soren closed his eyes. "For heavens' sake…"

"…Oh, HERE WE GO AGAIN," Ness complained loudly, getting sick of the impossible bewildering revelations that surrounded Joshua. "What the hell is going on now?! As if slowly deciphering Joshua's creepy secrets weren't enough, now we're to believe he's alive while he's here with us?"

Fox crossed his arms over his chest. He wanted to get out of the habit of doing the same action. "How is Joshua playing this thing without being dead?" he questioned, trying to keep himself from erupting into a raging fit. When he recalled Koki's words, Fox uncovered a lie and glared at Joshua. "Wait…that means what he just said about wearing a pin was a lie!"

"You think muah is gonna tell you how just so the word gets out? No way, man," Koki smugly said, pulling out his lollipop from his lips. "Better to stay silent about it. You know, living folks aren't allowed in the Game. That makes him a rule-breaker."

Joshua dealt with their stares the same way as he did before: he shrugged. "Whoopsie-daisy, I got found out," he said.

Koki chuckled. "I could erase you right now," he said.

Neku hated Joshua a whole lot more than before, but the pact that tied them together kept Neku at bay. "No!" Neku said.

"But... I won't," Koki sighed, making them blink. Soren was thankful that the villains were downright stupid at the most inappropriate times. "Too much work. 'Sides, that Noise was givin' us hell, too. So let's just say I blinked." He turned his back on them, but he looked sideways. "Not next time, though. You'll be erased before you know it. ...By Uzuki. Later!" With a jovial laugh, Koki walked off and disappeared around the corner of the bus station.

When Koki was out of sight, the team turned to Joshua. The prissy teen merely blinked. There were even more questions that circled around their minds after Koki so bluntly stated that Joshua was somehow playing the Game while being alive. "Joshua... Was that true? You're alive?" Neku asked.

"Cat's out of the bag," Joshua said, grinning. "Yes, Neku. I'm playing the Game alive."

"B-but that's impossible!" Ike said. "How can you violate the rules and get into this without having to die? I'm so confused now…"

"There's a loophole to everything," Joshua said. "Sneaking in means I don't have a Player Pin, but such is life."

"You don't have a Player Pin?" Chris asked.

Joshua chuckled confidently. "Why would I make Neku scan the area when we first met?" he asked. "I asked him to do that for me because I lacked a Player Pin. Did no one even notice me?" He made a happy expression. "I kept using you to finish the missions. Without a Player Pin, I can't do missions. Neku here was a great help when I formed a pact with him."

"Holy hell, Joshua…" Ness muttered. "Ugh, why didn't we notice this sooner?"

"Not like it was gonna make a difference now, would it?" Joshua asked.

Neku was just about to be at a loss of words. "So you just-"

Joshua brushed him off. "Please, it's not a big deal," he said. "We formed a valid pact. We're just like any other pair, Neku."

"...No."

"Hmm? I didn't catch that."

Neku had it with Joshua. He just couldn't stand the manipulative bastard anymore. Glaring at his partner, he demanded, "No, we're not, you punk! How can you say you're the same as us? You're alive!" The Smashers gasped in unison at his outburst. "You're here 'cause you want to be! Not us! I don't want to be here! I'm not playing the Game for kicks, dammit!"

Joshua wasn't fazed by Neku's glare. "No, you're playing because you want to live again. You still get something out of this."

The memory of the murder heavily weighed Neku's mind that it finally crushed him to say everything.

"You little bastard... Only what you TOOK from me! YOU killed me!"

The Smashers knew the gloves were off the moment Neku pointed an accusing finger at his partner, who merely arched an eyebrow and pinched his chin. "Neku!" Ike scolded. "I thought we were supposed to avoid blaming Joshua abou-"

"Aww, Neku. You said you didn't remember!" Joshua interrupted with a dark-looking grin that made them all stare bewildered at his expression. "You sneaky little thing. So what if I did?"

"WHAT?!" Neku loudly yelled.

The response unleashed a whole lot of angered thoughts among the Players. It didn't help things that Joshua looked so relieved and happy while everyone else was tearing their hair apart. "No… this can't be it!" Ike complained.

Chris immediately covered his mouth with both hands. "J-Joshua! Y-you can't really mean that…"

"I KNEW this guy took everything for granted a little too much," Fox said, glaring fiercely at Joshua.

"N-no… No!" Pichu backed off to Ness's side. "Why do you look so happy about what you did to Neku?"

"You sick, sick prick!" Ness yelled. "This is the last thing I wanted to hear from you!"

"Stop shouting nonsense at Joshua," Soren said, and everyone else looked at him. "…The deed was done. We can't do anything about it."

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Neku asked in demand.

Soren was about to explain the nasty implications of their current situation. He had kept a wary eye on what Koki had said about Joshua. But before he could continue, Joshua giggled and asked, "What if I am the one who killed you? You're going to do something about it?"

A blood-curling scream of absolute murder came out from Neku as he lunged at Joshua to pin him down to the floor. The Smashers gasped and tried to subdue the angered teenager from ripping Joshua a new one. But just as Neku's hands were about to enter Joshua's private space, everything went white…

Joshua's Day 6 – Beast on the Prowl

Scramble Crossing

The World Ends with You – Déjà vu

A day went by right after Neku tried to strangle Joshua's grin out of his face. Grunting at the awakening, Neku stood back up, noticing the others standing up along with him. The sudden transition of days somehow made him feel better, ready to take everything with a little grain of salt until he'd use a whole hand. "Back at the scramble again..." he trailed off.

"Phew!" Chris sighed loudly. "I didn't want to see the rest of that scene yesterday…"

Neku mumbled a few swears as he crossed his arms. "Well, I'm still feeling bad because I didn't break a neck," he said. "But, anyway… One more day down." He looked behind him where Joshua was standing several feet away from them, talking on his phone. "On the phone... Mr. H again?" he wondered.

Ike rubbed his forehead, frowning all the while. He knew that the group wasn't going to see Joshua with the same light as they did before. "I can't just believe this happened," he said. "Joshua pretty much revealed that he killed Neku."

"And he's happy about it, too," Fox said with a stern look. "We're partnered with a murderer who's trying to do who-knows-what with this city…"

"That makes matters even more perilous," Soren said. "Anyway, I was going to say something yesterday before we were cut off again." The group looked his way. "As you all know, Joshua is somehow playing the Game alive…but we weren't told about how he can pull it off."

Pichu shivered. "I'm so shocked," he said. "He can see the dead…and he can come to the UG at will?"

"Unfortunately, the details behind his methods still remain in the shadows," the Branded said, and everyone nodded. "But that's not the worst part. It gets worse than that…for us as a whole. Koki said that Joshua is a rule-breaker. Then he said that he could erase him despite the fact all the Reapers but Beat were on standby, so erasing Joshua would technically jeopardize Neku's chances of winning the damned thing." He grimaced and looked at the busy teen on his phone. "What's more, we had a hand in his schemes, which turns us into his accomplices."

Ness groaned. "Don't tell me we're going to suffer because we never knew that Joshua was breaking the rules!" he said.

"We're essentially confronting some shady people here," Soren pointed out. "They aren't going to give us a break by saying we didn't know. That is a poor excuse to get pardoned… If worst comes to worst, we'd be forced to play another week." He closed his eyes. "But I'm only bringing the worst case scenario. At best, they'll cripple us."

"Dammit!" Fox snapped his fingers. "Just when we thought everything was getting better, too!"

"It got worse the moment Joshua made a pact with Neku," Ness said, sighing at their misfortune. He looked back at Joshua. "…Does Hanekoma even know that he killed Neku? And he's still helping him out?"

Neku looked grim. "Mr. H… He…he really doesn't know," he said. "I refuse to accept it. No way."

Ike eased his frustrated look. "Neku, are those fanboy urges I've been hearing about acting up?" he asked.

"I…I just don't know who to trust," Neku said. "I CARE a lot about Mr. H being CAT. Joshua tossing this wrench into the gears just…annoys me. Hanekoma wouldn't be this nasty with us, especially me."

"That's just another mystery that surrounds that guy," Fox said, shaking his head. "He's helping your killer out without even knowing what happened. Should we tell him?"

"Somehow…I feel like we shouldn't," Ness said. "Let's not drag Hanekoma into this mess until we make sure he knows about it. What if he suddenly turns on us, too? What if that crazy barista is secretly toying around with us like Joshua? After all, they're best friends…"

Chris grabbed his head. "What should we do?" he wondered to himself, and his partner dutifully patted his back. "I'm stuck in a hard place…"

"We're stuck in a hard place," Pichu rephrased.

"All right. I'll call you," they heard Joshua saying. He chuckled to himself and walked to them, the events of yesterday not having changed his views in the slightest. "Morning, sunshine," he told Neku in a friendly tone.

Neku narrowed his eyes. "Har har. You're killing me, Josh," he said. Then he rolled his eyes. "Oh, wait..."

Joshua sighed, sounding a bit frustrated. "Again, say it was me," he said. "What are you going to do?"

Confused, the group blinked. "(How much longer will it take for this guy to fess up?)" Neku thought. "That's easy! I'll-"

"Erase me?" his partner suggested.

"Don't tempt me."

"Oh, please. We're partners, you and I," Joshua pointed out with a blank look. "If I go, you're dead in the water." As he heard Neku grunt, Joshua looked at the others. "No laying your hands on me now, okay? Unless you want to make Neku suffer, too. Shame, you guys were ready to do that during the first week."

It was starting to become very obvious that Joshua spied on them all from the shadows. "(Just how much did he see?)" Ike thought. "(What else is he going to casually mention?)"

"(You smug little piece of snot!)" Neku thought. "(You knew that going into all this! You knew you'd be safe if you made a pact with me! But why kill me in the first place?)" The last question made him wince in the outside of his mind. "(You could have picked anybody! Why me!? You don't care about the Game or the missions... Just pushing along your little agenda.)"

There was a sound that they thought they would never hear again. A simultaneous beeping sound came from Neku's and Joshua's phones. "Mail? Now?" Chris said. "They're starting to give out missions now?"

"A mission!?" Neku gasped, taking out his phone.

"Game VI: Beat the bosses of 2.2360679's 0+5. t = 60 min.

Incompletes will be destroyed."

"Nngh!" Neku winced when the timers appeared on their palms. "There's the timer..."

"I completely forgot that Pi-Face stopped giving us missions for three days straight," Ness said. "…Hey, this felt even more painful than before! That guy did it!"

Fox shook his pained hand. "Let's not complain and focus on the damned mission," he said. "Now we're on the clock again. What were the details?"

"The bosses of 0+5..." Joshua trailed off in thought. "Meaning two fights?"

"I'm more interested in that 2.2360679 part," Soren said. "Because we're dealing with a guy who is too much into math, it must mean something meaningful."

"Let's leave that for now," the silver-haired teen said. "First let's see where we have access to."

Neku noticed the odd focus on the mission coming from Joshua. "You're sure into this today. What do you care about missions?" he asked.

Joshua looked sideways. "I care plenty, Neku. I am a Player."

"You're alive."

"Maybe so, but I'm still a Player," his partner said. "If I'm erased here in the UG, the RG me dies. My stakes are just as high as yours."

"Then why put yourself in danger?"

"Beats staying in the RG. I think you already know why." Joshua waved a hand. "Now let's go."

Neku blocked Joshua's path. "Wait. Don't think for a minute I've forgiven you," he stated. "I'll put up with you to clear the mission. That's all."

"That also goes for us," Ike said. "You've done some horrible deeds to get what you want from the Reapers' Game. But because the rules of this sport prevent us from knocking some sense into you, we've got no choice but to continue with this till the end."

Joshua smiled knowingly and walked around Neku. "Hee hee. Yes, sir," he replied. As the others exchanged blank looks, they were now traveling closely with Joshua. They started heading northeast to the Center St. Entrance. "The bosses of 2.2360679's 0 + 5... Even I'm at a bit of a loss today... Let's begin with a check of which areas are open."

Each day was slowly but surely making the other seven Players hate Joshua even more. Between the insufferable teasing and the secretive nature of the teen, their stakes to win the Game were being severely hampered. They wanted to get everything over with. It was only two more days till the results were going to be given out, assuming that Kitaniji would grant them all a second chance.

When they were about to enter the Center St. Entrance, Fox's ears perked up at the sound of rushing feet, making him stop. When the sound got gradually louder, he narrowed his eyes and turned around, spotting a black kangaroo Noise rushing head-on at them. "EVERYONE, ANOTHER ONE OF THEM!" Fox alerted, causing everyone to turn around and gasp.

Luckily, a Noise battle was triggered…

…Which left Fox and Chris behind.

The two Players looked at each other and gasped in unison. "O-oh no," Chris shivered. "We're not allowed in the fight?"

The vulpine grunted. "Guess we gotta tough it up outside and wait for them here," Fox said, burrowing a hand in his pocket. He smiled at Chris. "…What do you want to do?"

"Well, since we're outside the planes where those black Noise are hunting Players down…" Chris hastily moved behind Fox and grabbed his shoulders for protection, "I need protection so…no hard feelings." His partner frowned while sighing.

The World Ends with You – Twister

The giant screen in front of Shibu Q Floor displayed the popular brand of the area: Pegasso. The brand turned its extensive line of clothing and pins get a boost of power in the UG, though the brand was seemingly absent within Neku's pins. Noticing that Ike and Ness were pulled into the battle, Neku felt relieved. "Good to have some backup," he said as the black Noise surrounded them, appearing from thin air. The aforementioned black Kangaroo, called Eurobeat Boomer, appeared from the right.

From the left, a new kind of Noise appeared.

There were two black minks whose bodies curled up, floating in midair. They were called Death Metal Minks. These Noise liked to attack by turning into small tornadoes that chased after Players. Below their necks, clawed Noise symbols curled back, as if they were wearing armor. Despite this, the mink Noise kind were the most easily to dispatch, but they weren't so sure about the black version, as it needed to be struck using the light puck in play.

"Yeah, it feels really nice, indeed," Joshua spoke from the plane above Neku. The enigmatic teen calmly raised his open palms to his sides and floated up, taking out his phone on his right hand.

Joshua floated up.

Both Soren and Pichu widened their eyes in surprise as they watched Joshua floating in the air, his shirt and hair even going so far as to float calmly in different directions, as if there was a calm gust of wind that was the reason why Joshua suddenly gained supernatural powers. "J-Joshua?" Pichu squeaked. Only then Ike, Neku, and Ness noticed the event using their partners' eyes.

"Holy…" Neku breathed out.

"Yup?" asked Joshua, looking very amused at their looks.

The Branded kept staring. "…You're floating like it is nothing," Soren blankly pointed out. He blinked once. "What is the meaning of this? How can you…"

"Didn't you know? I'm blessed with awesome," Joshua said. They heard the angry growls from the black Noise. "Oh, we don't want to keep them waiting, do we?"

"No!" Ike yelled. "Joshua, that's it! I can't take this teasing of yours anymore. How the hell can you even float in the air?" he asked, making Joshua chuckle. "This makes less and less sense every minute!"

"Maybe everything around us is illogical and therefore I found a loophole in the system I could abuse?" Neku's partner wondered. He was clearly teasing them some more.

Ness winced. "What is this… I don't even…" He grabbed his head in frustration.

Neku gasped when he heard the black Noise's growls getting louder. "W-watch yourselves! Here they come!" he warned them all, and the battle started.

Before anybody could move, Joshua dialed several numbers into his phone. Instead of having to wait for junk to crash down on the monsters, every dial Joshua imputed was answered by saintly lights coming from high above the sky. Completely speechless to see the Eurobeat Boomer getting blasted by light beams from above, the other five Players were clawed by the Death Metal Minks from behind. "Hey, pay attention down there," Joshua said with a blank look as he finished dialing numbers.

Stronger light beams rained down upon the Eurobeat Boomer. The light beams were so strong that, in fact, smiling, serene angels cloaked in pure light floated down from the beams. As they recovered from the blows, the Players clearly saw the angels vanishing once the beam dimmed down into nothing. To say the Players were impressed was an understatement.

"FIRSTLY, Joshua can float," Ness said as they finally focused on the battle at hand, mesmerized whenever the floating Joshua dialed numbers to ask the heavens for assistance. "SECONDLY, he can shoot beams from the sky… AND THIRDLY, he can call angels? Angels?!"

Ike brought Ragnell down upon a Death Metal Mink that hastily squirmed in the air and dodged the harsh blow. "Is there SOMETHING you're not telling us here, Joshua?" he asked, slashing the mink from below. There was definitely something odd if a person could call upon the gods. "I mean, ANGELS? Since when can you do that?!"

"Silly Ike," Joshua said jovially, blasting the second mink with the saintly beams. "Players that are alive are given incredible powers. My power was how to be blessed by angels and using their power for greater good. I am a saint, after all!" He swung his arms open to deliver a stronger beam upon the mink, said beam being surrounded by smiling little angels descending from high above.

"Joshua, you're anything but a saint!" Ness complained, not sure whether to feel frustrated by another secret from Joshua or feel very jealous of the awesome beams. He was sure it was a mix of both. "I know you're not telling us something here!"

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Brush my facts off, why don't you?" he asked rhetorically, until a Death Metal Mink slashed him down. Losing his focus, the silver-haired teen fell down on his back. "Ugh!" he grunted in pain, stepping back up and hopping back to his position where he warped back into midair.

"On top of all that, he can warp?!" Neku shouted.

"I know, I know, I'm Mr. Amazing," Joshua teased, returning to his attacks upon the two Death Metal Minks. "Listen, could you please focus on the battle?"

"Fine!" Neku said. The loner teen had a new deck of pins to use. One such pin was the Ichimonji. Pulling his open right palm back, the teen thrust it forward, releasing a phantasmagoric spear of energy that impaled the Eurobeat Boomer on its chest. Despite the gravity of the wound, the black kangaroo was pushed back, roaring angrily to Neku. Busy with the roaring, it was then cut down by Ike's Ragnell powered up three times in intensity with the help of the light puck. "One down!" Neku said, until a violent twisted rammed hard against his back and pushed him down to the street. "Augh!"

Ike turned around and cut the twister to stop the Death Metal Mink from spinning. Staggered by the blow, the evil mink was pushed harshly away by a charged green explosion of mental energy from Ness's PK Blast, powered up two point five times. The light puck transcended the planes and gently engulfed Pichu, who then used Skull Bash to bash his head against the other Death Metal Mink. It connected, delivering a hit that was nearly three times as strong.

Joshua kept dialing and dialing numbers all the while to keep the Eurobeat Boomer staggered with Soren's wind magic. "Let me step things up a bit," he calmly said.

Soren looked back at him as the Branded sent a violent whirlwind from his palm to the evil monster. "What do you mean b-"

The silver-haired teen had dialed a large quantity of numbers. When he passed the seventh number and ended up dialing twenty-one numbers, Joshua felt a rushing sense of sacred power as he swung his arms open. From the skies, two large feminine angels gracefully holding large lances crashed hard against all the present Noise on the battlefield, altogether with even larger beams that seemed to shoot them down faster. The other five Players stopped on their tracks as they witnessed the malevolent Noise impaled with extreme prejudice to the street, looking up at the serene angels that tightly held the spears. The intensity of the attack, powered up by three point five times, was enough to eradicate all the Noise in a single fell strike.

As the spears retreated with the angels, Joshua chuckled ominously while he calmly descended back down. "Predictable," he said, amused at everyone's shocked looks.

The three grading Reapers watched from the top of the floor the entire battle. Thoroughly impressed by the team's dynamic, they slapped a star on their rank. "Beautiful," the first Reaper said.

"I'm practically crying tears," the second Reaper noted in a deadpan tone, though his eyes were indeed shedding tears.

"Love me some teasing," the third Reaper commented. They nodded in complete approval as the planes merged back together…

Music stops

The six Players reappeared in the UG, surprising Fox and Chris who were interrupted playing a long game of rock-paper-scissors. The two ran up to them to check up on them all. "A-are you okay?" Chris asked.

"Y-yes," Pichu said, lying down on the street. "…Joshua can float, warp, and call angels with his beams to fight!"

Anyone would be dumbfounded after hearing the statement. "…What?" Chris stared at Joshua.

Joshua looked amused. "I guess you could say I have…divine protection," he said. "I've been told that I'm an angel."

Neku had amassed a large quantity of secrets from the enigmatic Joshua that he didn't know where to begin. He was his killer, yet he said he was blessed. If the giant female angels with heavenly spears didn't prove a point, he didn't know any better than that. Neku pinched his brow. "Y'know, this isn't making any sense to me whatsoever," he said. "Let's just brush this off."

The mercenary was probably the only one who couldn't handle all the secrets Joshua hid from them. "Brush it off? Oh no, this just begs to be discussed," Ike said. "Can people who voluntarily get into the UG obtain a lot of power like that? Something about it seems way off."

The enigmatic teen tossed his hands to the sides. "I only recently figured it out. Maybe I'm a natural at using my powers for greater good," he roughly explained, but none of them believed him fully. "Stop it with the glares and let's continue before one of those Noise ambush us again. I swear Neku is lucky to have me as his partner." With an unsettling giggle that made Neku shudder, Joshua started walking northeast. The others couldn't complain about losing time. They were at fifty-five minutes before the countdown would hit zero.

"He's a young teenage killer who can summon beams and angels while floating in midair," Ness muttered. "…Holy crud, just how are things messed up in here?"

"This is why I should have never left Tellius in the first place," Soren commented, until shooting Ike with a glare. "I could really use this sentence against you, too."

Fox's ears perked up once more. Grunting, he turned around and spotted a black kangaroo Noise rushing at them. "Oh, come on! Here comes another one!" he alerted the ones, making them turn around.

Before anyone could say anything, there was a sudden flash of light that blinded their vision. Covering their eyes, the group waited two seconds for the light to die down and block an incoming attack from the black Noise. Quickly moving their hands and arms down after the light died down, they stared forward…and the black kangaroo was no more. It had disappeared.

"Wh-what just happened?" Neku asked.

"Hold on, this could be a trap," Ike said as he looked around for the black Noise. The others looked around as well, but they couldn't find the monster anywhere. Just to make sure, they even looked up at the buildings for any signs. "…It's gone. Why?"

"Noise like that one just don't up and vanish, do they?" Ness asked. "So what happened? Did it commit suicide when it knew Joshua was with us?"

Joshua's eyes were fixed in the sky, but he didn't find anything. "No…" he smiled, "it seems we owe someone for saving us."

Chris clutched a shivering Pichu with both arms. "Wait, somebody protected us from that Noise?" the teen asked. "What makes you think that?"

"Noise just don't do that. That's a hunch I have," Joshua explained. "Why would the mindless beasts disappear randomly? Someone helped us to get out of this fix."

Neku blinked a few times. "...Beat?" he said.

"Beat did this?" Fox asked. "…Nah, it couldn't have been him. He'd yell and taunt us otherwise."

"Either way," Joshua began, "we were lucky. Stay sharp today, everyone. The Noise are on the march."

Ike grunted. "The Noise are attacking us now… Well, the black Noise at least," he pointed out. "Does that mean the Reapers are breaking the rules about their standby position?"

"I've got too many questions to wonder aloud, Ike, but we're on a timer for today," Joshua mildly scolded the mercenary. He resumed walking to the Center St. Entrance with the others. "Now, let's see what roads are open. Time's a wasting. Today is surely gonna be eventful…"

Because the black Noise were terrifying creatures to fight, the group was far more alert of their surroundings than before. The Smashers decided to become a circular wall to keep Neku and Joshua safe, though not so much for the latter since he had what Chris liked to call "Jesus Beams" to protect himself. "What's up with the Noise today? They're acting so strange..." Neku wondered while walking. His partner was thankful his feet were busy walking.

"There are generally two types of Noise," Joshua said. "Strays that emerge from negative emotions in RG people, and the ones Reapers make to erase Players. Strays won't attack Players, so..."

"The Grim Heaper's out for blood?"

Soren didn't like the theory. "He is now giving Players a mission for the first time after days," he pointed out. "Assuming the black Noise are his, then he is hunting Players down."

Ike remembered that they met Sota and Nao during Day 4. From what Sota had told them, Players have been mysteriously disappearing without leaving a trace behind, even when no missions were issued. "What Sota and Nao told us two days ago… Do you guys remember? He said Players were disappearing. And the Noise they saw...those were the black Noise for sure," he recalled.

"Oh, you're right," Joshua said. "Could the black Noise be tied with the math maniac from the beginning? So many questions…"

Chris stared forward as they neared AMX. "Just what are the black Noise?" he wondered. "Is this another aspect of the game we weren't told about?"

"I'd hate to know that was the case again," Fox said through gritted fangs. Moving quickly, the group reached AMX, finding that they could pass to the area without a wall blocking the way.

Perhaps it was best for them not to have entered the aforementioned area in the first place. But when they did, the events that had transpired would take a turn for the worst…

AMX

The World Ends with You - Forebode

"Gyaaah!"

There was a loud scream that didn't come from the RG. It was coming from the UG instead. When the group heard the scream of pain, they stopped walking to look through the living people for the source of the scream. "That scream… Where did it come from?" Ike asked, and then he saw an ill-looking Chris pointing to the west. When Ike looked to the same direction, he gasped.

There was a Reaper in a red-hoodie clutching his chest with both hands as he backed away from a black Noise that was growling menacingly at him, red gushing blood bathing its silver claws. "The hell is up with this Noise!?" the Reaper asked, making the black Noise more wary of his moves. "I…I'm not gonna make it at this rate!"

The group was at a loss of words until Neku said, "A Reaper. He's being attacked by Noise!"

"W-why?" asked Pichu. "Aren't Noise supposed to obey them?"

"What the hell is going on now?" Ike asked.

Joshua narrowed his eyes at the sight. "Well, Neku?" he asked. "What would you like to do? That Reaper seems too helpless to fight back. I wouldn't stick my nose into this, but since you're such a hero…"

Neku grunted. "We've gotta help him!" he said. "It's just…wrong to see him getting beaten up!"

Joshua shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so," he said, until they felt the ground behind them shake. Looking over his shoulder, Joshua spotted more black Noise blocking their path for an escape route. "Speak of the devil, here are more of them."

Ike unsheathed Ragnell as the others took their positions. "These Noise are prowling the whole place now!" he said. "It's getting ridiculous!"

Pichu looked back at the panting Reaper. "B-but what about the Reaper guy?" he asked.

"These'll have to come first," Joshua said. "He'll have to tough it out till then."

The "hero senses" that Joshua liked to call suddenly acted up on the Star Fox leader. "…No way!" Fox suddenly said as he grabbed a distracted Chris's hand, dragging him to the west to aid the Reaper. "Ness, take Pichu with you and lend us a hand!"

Ness got taken off-guard at the sudden order. "W-what? Oh, I-I'm going!" he said, running with the pair of Players along with Pichu.

But the black Noise that were barring their way wouldn't have any of it. The eight Players were, against their will, quickly dragged into a single Noise fight to avoid any of them from helping the unprotected Reaper. A while later, the group came back from the fight and immediately went for the Reaper… But he was gone from sight, along with the black Noise. And on the spot where he used to be, there was a large smear of blood. Chris gasped in a low tone and backed off, grabbing his beating chest with both hands, being the first one who spotted the bizarre liquid. Noticing his quick breathing, Fox grabbed his shoulders and shook them a bit to snap him out.

"He…" Soren trailed off. "Darn it…"

"Gone, I'm afraid," Joshua muttered, not wanting his shoes to get touched by the blood dripping to his direction.

Neku grunted at the sight of the blood in front of his feet. "We left him to die..." he trailed off.

"If that Noise hadn't appeared from behind and dragged us all into the same fight," Ness began, looking ill, "t-this wouldn't have happened! It's as if they knew we were going to stop them from killing that guy!"

"Yeah… It seemed that way to me," Ike said. "…Crud! I feel so helpless…" He looked at Chris panting heavily, clutching his hands to his chest. "Chris?"

"B-blood… T-too much blood for two days…" Chris gasped out as a worried Fox tried to calm him down, turning him away from the morbid sight. Yesterday, when Neku had lost blood, Chris managed to avoid getting paralyzed with fear. But today, he saw a lot more blood than before, it drove him nearly speechless. "I-I can't…stand blood…so much…"

"I think I remember him saying that he absolutely hated to see blood…" Pichu trailed off, gasping silently when he noticed a trail of blood going after his feet. He scampered a few feet away for protection. "I-I…I don't like it much, either…"

Fox felt the shivers shaking Chris's body. "Well, I don't mind keeping him from seeing blood if there's any in the way," he said, forcing a smile at Chris, but the teen was too scared to change his emotion, making Fox sigh.

Joshua raised an eyebrow at the paralyzed teen, but then he looked down at the blood and rubbed his chin. "Why was that Noise attacking a Reaper?" he asked. "It bothers me to know this actually happened before our eyes…"

"Do Noise made by Reapers not attack them?" Neku asked back. "If so, did these Noise appear from somewhere else?"

"Who knows…" Ness said. "Last I remember, nobody told us – as usual - about the black Noise. But…" He shook his head. "That Reaper guy acted like he had never seen one of them."

Ike rubbed his head a bit. "This is getting a bit too out control. Should we keep moving forward?" he asked.

"We're on a timer, Ike. It's the only thing we can do," Soren reminded the group. "We must finish this mission to play it safe. In case we encounter another person being ambushed by those dreadful monsters…"

"Yeaaaugh!"

The scream that came from above made them all look up just in time to see a dead body falling hard on the street. Everyone froze, utterly shocked at a Reaper in a black hoodie coughing up blood (Fox quickly blocked Chris from seeing him) and then disappearing in blurry static, effectually having been erased. Before he could disappear from existence, the Players noticed the large claw mark across his body. It was so mentally scarring to just remember it, just like the bloody mess that he left behind on the concrete.

"…My god!" Ness finally said, breaking the eerie silence. "It's either raining dead Reaper bodies or the world of the dead's gone mad!"

"That Reaper... He's..." Neku shivered, feeling guilty for not having saved another Reaper's life.

Joshua knew the sentiment full well, looking blankly at Neku. "That's not your concern, Neku. Let's move along," he suggested, being the only one besides Soren who wasn't all that perturbed about the bloody spot on the street. It was even more horrendous that the living were walking over the disgusting smears of bloods like they were ignoring them. When Joshua saw that Neku was still staring at the second spot, he said, "You shouldn't feel bad, Neku. You didn't know him. Plus, he was a Reaper."

"It stills feels really wrong," Ike said, getting Joshua's attention. "Sure, we didn't know him, but it makes me remember the few times I saw helpless people getting killed back in Tellius." He closed his eyes. "I can't just shrug this off that easily!"

Joshua hmm'd. "Stop getting so dramatic and get a move on, you," he said. "We're at 45 minutes now."

Ike cursed a few words but he complied with the order. With Fox carefully pushing Chris to the west, the group proceeded to Tipsy Tose Hall while the gruesome memories of the dead Reapers plagued their thoughts…

Tipsy Tose Hall

If the dead Reapers that the eight barely knew weren't going to make such an impact in their overall stability, they were just about to suffer greater turmoil when they overheard a blood-curling scream coming in front of the main hall of the street. At the time, Chris had regained some of his senses, enabling him to run with the rest to the direction of the scream. Neku gasped loudly. "Look!" he said as he pointed forward at a horrifying sight.

It was Sota and Nao facing off against more black Noise. However, Sota was shielding Nao from the monsters, and the latter was anything but healthy. The dark-skinned blond had an innumerable amount of bruises that were bleeding heavily. From the spot where they were rushing from, the Players couldn't see her clearly. "Nngh! More of 'em?" Sota wondered.

Nao couldn't move. She lifelessly fell to the side of the sidewalk and gasped for breath, looking up at Sota with a sorrowful look on her eyes. "Sota, sorry... I can't..." she started to trail off in a very weak tone.

Sota gasped and knelt down by her side, forgetting about the menacing monsters inching closer. "Nao! Stay with me!" he begged her with tears starting to fall from his eyes. "We're finishing this thing together!"

But Nao slowly lost her vision as the seconds went by. She clutched his hands with hers and smiled warmly. "I'd... love to...but it...doesn't look like I can." She forced a chuckle. "Sorry... Sota..."

"Nao!" Sota cried out.

But it was too late. In a flash of light, Nao's body vanished in static, and Sota found himself kneeling down and holding nothing but air. "Nao!" he cried out once more until shutting his tearful eyes. "Dammit... DAMMIT!" There was a nagging feeling that made him think that, somehow, his essence was slowly being…

"N-no…no…please, no more!" Chris shrieked, covering his eyes quickly to forget the gruesome scene.

"No!" Neku yelled out as they caught up to Sota's side. The lone Player quickly looked up, looking surprised at them. "We'll handle this!" Neku told him.

"B-but…does it make a difference, yo?" Sota asked, forcing a smile and looking away. "I have no… I don't have Nao with me anymore. If you lose your partner…you're also taken down with 'em… I feel like my body ain't gonna stay down here for much longer…" His body didn't have any fatal-looking bruises, but Sota did feel like he was being whisked away.

"Stop talking like that!" Ike scolded the young punk. "We'll talk after we get rid of these bloody monsters!"

The World Ends with You - Amnesia

The black Noise were engaged in a Noise fight against all of them, and they procured to finish it quickly to get back with Sota. Once having defeated the malicious Noise (and Chris and Fox finding the fact very out of whack that Joshua can float and shoot saintly beams from the heavens), the group reappeared in the UG and went to Sota. He was standing up, looking relieved. "You OK?" Neku asked.

Sota nodded. "Yeah... You saved my ass," he said. "Heh, for now, anyway. I lost Nao... I don't have much longer. Nngh..." He almost fell back, but Ike kept him from falling by grabbing his shoulders. Even so, Sota started to feel much weaker.

"No!" Ike said. "You need to hang on!"

"C-can't hold on much longer…" Sota said. "But…but I want to hold on just a tiny little more…"

Neku grunted, clenching a fist. "If... if we'd gotten here sooner-"

"Ain't your fault, dawg. I wasn't strong enough. End of the story," Sota interrupted, feeling even weaker still. He grinned at the group, watching the negative looks that ranged from sadness to guilt. "Neku, Joshua…Ike, Chris, and… Ah, I forgot everybody else's names, but I got most of 'em right…right?"

Neku nodded, looking worried. "Yeah."

"You eight survive…" Sota told them with a forced grin. "Get your old partner back. I hope all nine of ya get…back safe… U-uh…uh…" When Sota finally closed his eyes, his body disappeared in static while a flash of light covered the dreadful sight for a brief second. Ike pulled his hands to his sides and stomped the floor once in frustration.

Neku suddenly grunted loudly. "We were too late!" he said. "They were right there, but...we couldn't do a thing."

Chris gulped and avoided looking at the bloodied spot where Nao had collapsed earlier. "T-things are starting to get so bad around here…" he muttered. "So many people dying…from either side, no less… It's like we're being hunted down by a third party…" He couldn't take it anymore and embraced himself in fear.

Joshua looked around the area. "We may be the last pairs," he said. "Let's stay sharp."

"Us? The last pairs of the game…again?" Pichu wondered, leaning his head to Ness's side. "I didn't see other Players getting erased the previous week… Now, I-I've seen them vanishing like the Reapers…"

"Friggin' Reapers!" Neku complained. "Do they even know what they're doing? Damn it all!"

Joshua looked amused. "Angry?"

He turned sharply around to face Joshua. "Hell yes, I'm angry!"

"At least you're still in the Game," Joshua pointed out.

"Yeah? What about the people who aren't?" Neku questioned, trying to pin the blame on Joshua even though the prissy teen wasn't at fault for it. "Screw the Game! These are people, not toys!"

Joshua stared long at Neku. "Why the sudden interest? I didn't think you cared about other Players," he said.

Neku took a moment to reconsider his thoughts while the others stared. "No..."

"No what?"

Neku looked up from his collar at Joshua. "Sure, other Players are strangers. Not just Players. Everyone," he started. "I don't know who they are, where they're from, what they care about. But...since I came to the UG, I...I've talked with them a little. Got to know them a little. Felt them a little... Felt my world grow. Just a tiny, tiny bit." Joshua's amused look dropped after hearing the small speech. "It's different now. They're not just some strangers. I can't shut them out like that."

"My, my. This isn't like you at all," Joshua said, returning to grinning. "Well, just don't get your hopes up. You'll never really understand the people around you."

As Joshua felt some glares from the Smashers, Neku said, "Enjoy the moment."

"Hmm?"

"Enjoying your world means making it bigger," the orange-haired teen said. "I finally get that. The world as one person sees it is tiny. You've gotta... gotta reach out to other people."

Chris nodded, his shivering of blood disappearing by the second after having listened to Neku. "Y-yes…he's right with that," he said. Joshua looked at him. "I…I used to live alone in my house, and I started to understand why a life of solitude is just…dull, just like you said before. I…I really wanted to hang out with friends a lot, but I grew up in a generation where mostly everyone was one-dimensional…" He looked at Neku as the World Traveler got out of his shocked state. "…What Neku said just now made me reflect about that… When I got the chance to expand my 'world" to reach other people out…I felt very happy. I made so many friends ever since then; friends that I could relate to in some way or another." He sighed. "…Frankly speaking, I had a very rocky start because my mindset back then nagged others, but that was my own fault…but I'm slowly getting out of it."

"Yeah… Can't say I was angel-like either," Neku said. "In my version, I shut people off all the time. Didn't care a thing about them until I got into the Game (no thanks to you, Joshua,)" he thought vehemently. "But I've seen a lot of Players racing around Shibuya to fight for their lives. Sota, for example, said that he didn't care about entering the Game once more to save Nao's life… If Shiki and I never got to be…uh…friends… Would she have cared about my sorry butt if she was playing instead of me right now?" He frowned. "No, she wouldn't because I'd have screwed up."

Joshua smiled a bit. "Are you making friends now to have benefits?" he asked. "Sounds to me you only want to get your way."

"No!" Neku scolded Joshua. "Life is a whole lot better when there's someone else with you, and it gets even better when you have a whole bunch of people looking out for you because they really give a damn about what I do!"

The Branded noticed the bright looks of the Smashers. "(It…also makes me wonder a bit,)" he thought. "(But the people I met despised me for who I was…until I met Ike… I suppose I only met the wrong people all that time…)"

Joshua felt silent as he looked at Neku's determined look. "Hee hee. Maybe so," he giggled. "Only by allowing strangers in can we find new ways to be ourselves. It's possible."

Pichu smiled brightly. "Joshua, are you going to let strangers in, then?" he asked. "Maybe your life back in the RG will be more fun!"

"Ha ha, no," Joshua said, and their bright looks disappeared. "Mother told me not to talk to strangers."

Music stops

"…"

"(…I freakin' hate this guy,)" Neku thought.

"(Way to kill off the mood again,)" Ness thought.

"(I mustn't make him bleed in front of Chris… Damn it, but it's so tempting!)" Fox thought.

"(Why is he so hard to read? Drop the teasing for a bit!)" Ike thought.

"(…It's like he was waiting to ruin everything from the beginning! Darn it!)" Chris thought.

"(Oh, right…this is why I lose hope in humanity every hour of the day,)" Soren thought, lamenting his hope on society.

"(We're always this close to getting somewhere…)" Pichu lamented.

"Hmm?" Joshua looked at each one of them. "Come now, I said it was possible. I just…barely agree, is all."

Neku broke his silence first. "Right…" He scratched his head and looked around. "Anyway…let's get back to the mission."

Joshua nodded. "It looks like this mission's up to us," he said. With the mood already broken once more, the group continued to the area that divided the hall with the department store of pharmacy. Noticing that there wasn't a wall, the enigmatic teen brought up an important point. "Looks like Route 5's the only one open."

"Route 5?"

"From the scramble crossing out to Udagawa," Joshua explained. "Do you remember the number in the mission mail? 2.2360679." He rubbed his chin. "It's the square root of 5."

Ike sighed. "Yet another one of those crazy mathematical terms of his…" he trailed off. "That guy likes to tease us (even worse than you do, Joshua… Wait, what am I saying? Joshua is worse.)"

"But…I'm confused," Ness said. "What's the 0+5 term for?"

Joshua twirled a hand. "Route 5 spans a total of six areas: the scramble, Center Street, AMX, Tipsy Tose Hall, Shibu-Q Heads, and Udagawa," he theorized, though it wasn't really a theory but a fact he had learned. "Assuming the scramble is 0..."

Neku connected the dots together. "Udagawa would be 5," he answered.

"Precisely. Problem solved," Joshua said, grinning knowingly. "Our targets are the bosses of the scramble and Udagawa. Because we didn't see anything special in the scramble, Udagawa would be the spot to house the bosses. 0+5=5, hence why Udagawa marks the spot. "

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Two more missions and we're done with this everlasting crap. Let's go!" he said, suddenly breaking into a sprint. The others followed the vulpine from behind to the next area.

Shibu-Q Heads

Another unbelievable sight made them stop when they saw two huffing Harrier Reapers backing off from black Noise hunting them down. To keep their distance, the group hid behind the wall of the Shibu-Q Head store, sticking their heads out. "Well…crud, this really confirms everything now," Ness said. "Those monsters are out for any kind of blood no matter from who it is."

Uzuki and Koki were panting heavily, looking weak and struggling to stay standing up any longer against the black wolves that bared their bloody fangs at them. Koki fixed his slipped glasses and asked, "Still with me?" to Uzuki.

Uzuki preferred to vent off some anger. "Where the hell did these Taboo Noise come from?" she asked, and Soren immediately made a point of what she had said about the black Noise for further reference.

"Game Master musta cooked 'em up."

His hotheaded partner gritted her teeth in anger. "And sent them out after us Reapers? What is he, crazy!?"

Kariya gasped. "Incoming, Uzuki!" he warned her as the Taboo Noise leaped towards her with fangs wide open.

From behind the wall, the Players exchanged a few glances. The statements made by Koki added a whole lot more to their list of unresolved matters. "The Game Master…" Chris trailed off. "…That Minami-whatever guy did this? He created those weird Noise?"

"Looks like it. He sounded serious about it," Ike said. He grunted afterwards. "All this senseless chaos is being caused by that crazy guy? Has he no respect for his fellow comrades or what?"

"Obviously, he doesn't," Soren said, narrowing his eyes as he saw Uzuki shooting a Taboo Noise back. "…This is incriminating evidence if what he said was true. Thinking logically about this, I can surmise that Sho Minamimoto has no qualms for his teammates and would rather dispose of them."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "Soren, that's pretty heavy stuff to say, but I do agree with your theory," he said. "It would add up to his odd behavior." Ike's partner noticed the emphasis of those two words and grimaced at him.

"Odd behavior?" Pichu wondered.

"Hello? He hasn't been issuing missions for three days straight," Joshua pointed out. "We saw him doing that street art back in Udagawa, for example, and let's not forget the junk heaps spread around the city… Okay, so the last one is a complete waste of time of his part, but the point remains."

"But the simple yet hardest question is…why?" Neku asked, looking back at the Reapers fending the Taboo Noise. "What does he get by eliminating random Reapers and Players?"

"It's their job to get rid of Players," Fox said. "But…getting rid of Reapers, too? Something reeks here, and I don't like it... It's too creepy."

Joshua looked back at the fight. The Reapers weren't getting the upper hand against the black monsters. "They're having a rough time of it," he said. He grinned at Neku. "Well, Neku? Do we send in the cavalry?"

"Are you crazy? They deserve this for messing with us yesterday," Ness said.

But Neku said otherwise. "Let's do it," he said, causing the others to look shocked at him. "They'll hate it."

"You're so vindictive," his partner said. Suddenly, some of the Smashers smiled slyly after thinking about it again, though Soren was pondering why everyone was so stupid to let their enemies live when there was a clear chance for them to be ridden of the enemy party forever.

"Oh, I know that look," Chris whispered to Soren. "I'm always getting screwed by logic when I most need it. It usually backfires when I use it for my favor… Trust me on that."

The team of eight suddenly rushed out from their hiding spot and passed the two Harrier Reapers. Koki blinked in surprise and Uzuki looked bewildered at the development. "What the hell?" she muttered under her breath.

"Don't say a thing," Ike said without looking at her, unsheathing Ragnell. "We gotta take care of these black Noise!"

"T-the heck are you saying?" Uzuki asked, but then the Taboo Noise leaped at their new prey.

Another dreadful Noise battle later, the team reappeared in front of the popular store where Uzuki and Koki had taken a small break to regain their energies. When the Players reappeared, Neku turned to them. "You guys OK?" he asked.

Koki grinned pleasantly at the question, but Uzuki fumed with anger as she stood back up. "You twerps... Why'd you help us? Are you, like, stupid?" she asked, frowning at their way. "We're your enemies. Hello? Seriously. We can take care of ourselves!"

"Yeah, you REALLY took care of yourselves very good back there," Ness mildly taunted, causing a vein to pop out from Uzuki's forehead.

Kariya, however, chuckled. "Whew! You guys saved our butts. We were eight kinds of boned," he said, much to his hotheaded partner's shock. "Enemy or not, if somebody helps you, you say thanks," he told her.

Uzuki grimaced and stuck out her tongue. "Ugh, whatever," she said, before looking at them. "I didn't ask for your help! Just thinking about it makes me want to barf. A Reaper needing a Player to save them? Seriously, gag!" She turned around and started walking away, several glares striking her back. "We're leaving, Kariya!"

As he watched her leave from the area, Chris looked at Koki. "…You always have your hands full with her, don't you?" he asked. Fox discouraged his partner from fraternizing with the enemy by shaking his head.

"You don't know a thing," Koki chuckled in a friendly manner. "Two simple words are all she needed to say... Is it that hard?" He waved at them and followed Uzuki away from Shibu-Q Heads. Koki, though, seemed to engage himself in some kind of search, given his gaze was looking around the street floor. He muttered about a lost lollipop that was very special to him…

Neku kept staring their way before they disappeared. "She'd rather have been Noise food?" he wondered.

Joshua shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe 'barf' is her version of 'thank you.' Let's get moving," he suggested the group to move towards Udagawa.

As they made their way to their pinpointed location, Soren decided to discuss a few things with them. "That guy mentioned some crucial bits of info," the Branded said.

Fox looked sideways at him. "You mean about those black Noise called Taboo Noise and that Sho is summoning them?" he asked. "Yeah, those two pieces sound pretty wild."

"Why would Pi-Face even do this to his own teammates?" Neku wondered. "Doesn't make any sense for him to just get rid of 'em."

Joshua arched an eyebrow and pinched his chin a bit. "Maybe he'd rather destroy everything that's gotten into his world instead of just ignoring it all." He chuckled and stared at Neku. "He's like an agro version of you, dear Neku."

Neku grunted, shooting Joshua with a glare. "Don't say that. We're nothing alike," he shot back.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you don't have any special powers to call those bloodthirsty Noise," Joshua said, sighing. "Though, I'm very intrigued as to why he is doing all this, too…"

"Complete citizen saturation?" Ness wondered aloud.

Ike grimaced. "Why is it that we're getting even more questions than answers?" he asked. "The Game is riddled to the top with them, it's staggering."

"And so many Players are being mercilessly slaughtered while they're at it," Neku said, grunting at the fact. "Even Reapers… They're not safe, either."

Joshua smiled as they approached Udagawa. "Fret not, my dear companions," he said. "Everything should be solved once we fight the Game Master of the week. He's got to have all the answers for this."

"Unless he confuses the hell out of us with his math speech," Ness said with a bored tone.

The group felt alone in the UG. The whole playground had nightmarish monsters hunting anybody down, and it made them feel scared as well. The loud people that were alive in the RG talked endlessly, and even then, there was a special kind of silence that overwhelmed the loud noise. It was a truly creepy sensation.

Udagawa

Neku and the others rushed ahead into the area, stopping on the stairs. "We're here. What's the time?" he asked.

Joshua looked at his timer. "Thirty minutes left," he said.

"Nice! We made it here with a lot of time to spare," Ike said. "It's too early to celebrate, though."

Neku nodded and took out his Player Pin to scan the area. "Piece of cake. Let's wreck this thing!" he said, drawing the bosses of the mission into a Noise fight. The planes then were split in half…

The World Ends with You – Emptiness and

Several posters and fliers away into the wind, being carried off into the sky as multiple figures materialized around the focused bunch of Players preparing themselves for another Noise fight. Two black bears - called Wall of Grizzly - that towered over the group surrounded them from both sides of the planes, half of the Players getting into their fighting stances. "G-go away, you monsters!" Chris mustered to yell, and the fight started.

"These are Taboo Noise," Joshua said, warping back into the air to dial numbers that called saintly beams from the sky to strike down on a single bear. The bear, though, didn't stagger, and instead rushed ahead to their side with claws stretched out. "Only the light puck will deliver massive damage to them."

"Or a Fusion," Ike said, taking on the right bear with Ness.

From the corner of his right eye, Chris noticed that there was a dark entity hiding behind a handrail. It was another Taboo Noise that then hopped over and rushed into the battle. Minamimoto christened the black version as Blushieblack to make fun of its darker blushing points. "U-um, Ness, they've got a black version of Paula, too!"

Ness stopped running and looked behind him to spot the other copy of the Noise in his place. "Aw, hell!" he groaned, choosing to go after the bastardized version of his old friend.

Joshua noticed the extra contender and grinned. "Now, why can't they make Noise versions of the people I found boring?" he asked as he dialed on his phone to call on raining light beams from the sky. "It'd be a nice change of pace to release all my boredom on them."

"Joshua, please…" Neku trailed off, sighing afterwards. Looking serious, the orange-haired teen tapped onto a new pin's power. It was a grey pin – titled Superfine Beam - that had darker gray arrows pointing eastwards. Holding out his right hand, it gathered energy in less than two seconds and fired a large, slow-moving bullet that burst upon contact against a Wall of Grizzly. The monster roared, staggering at the blow as he received a second shot on its stomach. Due to the light puck doubling its attack power, Neku passed it back to Joshua.

Neku failed to notice that the Wall of Grizzly Ike was attacking with Fox suddenly howled, somersaulted above them, and slammed down its overgrown claws in the center of their spots, delivering a strong shockwave that pushed them back. The other Noise then slashed Neku upwards into the air, depleting his health by twenty percent. "Hey, Neku," Joshua called over, as Neku flipped in the air and landed on his feet. "Watch out, please. As much as I'd love to watch your back, the planes separate us from doing so." A thunder suddenly crashed down upon Joshua, taking him off-guard. "Eugh!"

The Paula Noise on the upper plane held her hands towards Joshua's fallen body before Pichu latched onto her face and used Thunder, delivering lightning damage that was at least over two times in intensity. The Electric-type passed the light puck back to Ness and quickly hopped back from the Blushieblack, who then fired a small bolt of fire that burst into flames all over Pichu. "E-eek!" Pichu shrieked in pain.

With a powered light puck, Soren faced the Taboo Noise. "Begone, you hideous brat!" Soren called from afar as the pages of his Elwind tome flipped madly while his right palm conjured a seeking tornado that went after the Blushieblack. Turning to the Branded, the Blushieblack got the attack head-on and was dragged away, the winds slicing its dark clothes and skin. As it crashed against the wall with the pushing winds, the Blushieblack slid back down and started panting, until its body was set aflame by a Fira spell from Chris. Shrieking, the Blushieback faded from existence.

"Phew…" Ness sighed in relief. "Not even eviler Paula can't take a hit."

"Good job there!" Fox called out from the lower plane, getting a light puck that gave him a chance to inflict a strong blow three times as strong. Suddenly, he winced in pain, his fur briefly standing on their ends. "C-Chris!"

The World Traveler was sliced up, getting tossed into the air and slamming hard against the concrete by a Wall of Grizly. It then howled and slammed its claws upon the mage. Screaming loudly, Chris started to lose consciousness, and Fox even felt his being slipping away. With Fox taking out a Cure Drink and drinking it completely down his throat, the light puck powered up the healing sensation, refilling their health back at maximum. Fox grunted and looked up. "You okay up there?!" he called out to Chris.

With rejuvenated health, Chris quickly (and desperately) scurried out from underneath the growling bear. "Y-yes!" he shouted back, standing back up and backing off from the growling seven-foot tall Noise.

"Good, now use an attack to pass the puck back to me!" Fox gasped and quickly back-stepped from a heavy slash from another Wall of Grizzly.

Casting a spell would take time, Chris thought. Gulping, he put a hard grip on his staff and bonked the bear with it. "U-um, here! Take this!" he yelled out. Though comical, the bonking dealt a finishing blow that enabled the light puck to pass down.

Joshua had watched the event while lazily dialing numbers from above. He grinned and cocked his head to the side. "Ahh, nothing like a good bonk on the head," he said, as he watched the teenager passing below his feet from an angry-looking Wall of Grizzly. While Chris told Joshua to be quiet, the enigmatic teen felt a rush of power through the Fusion pin. "(Nope, not a good time to use it now, I'm afraid,)" he thought until releasing several stronger beams of light on the Noise. "(Let's stall the fight for a bit, Neku. I wish to see what we can do together… Hee hee.)"

Ike struck the first Wall of Grizzly with a vertical slash from Ragnell, though he was too slow to keep the light puck in play that it vanished. The beast roared and started advancing towards him. "These monsters are stronger than the other Noise!" he grunted. Tapping on the Fusion pin, he and Soren stood side-by-side and let the black bear strike Ike's blade to counterattack with a heavy slash and gushing winds that dragged it away…yet still, it landed on its chubby feet and roared. "See? They resist everything we throw at them!"

Neku tapped into a new pin's power. It was an ominous-looking pin that had an undulating pattern mixed with black, yellow, white, and a dominant reddish color. The pin – christened Live Slow, Die Fast – was a stronger psychokinesis pin than the first one he had obtained. Stretching his hand over a scooter filled with fliers, Neku tossed the object to the second Wall of Grizzly's face, knocking it down to the floor. But then the bear stretched its clawed limb and made Neku trip, falling face-first. "D-damn these Noise… Damn the Taboo Noise…" he muttered under his breath as he quickly got back up and backed away from the growling monster.

Ness and Pichu tapped onto their Fusion pin. Aiming carefully, Ness hit the electric ball that was Pichu at a high speed, passing right through both bears on their stomachs. Even still, the bears recoiled back and howled ferociously. "Would you please just go away?!" Ness asked bewildered, starting to sweat due to all the running from the imposing monsters.

Fox wanted to use his Fusion with Chris, but somewhere along Chris's blows, he failed to match the right cards against the mental ones, preventing them from reaching their combination. Jumping and delivering a right kick on the second bear, the Wall of Grizzly grabbed his kicking leg and slammed him down to the concrete. Grunting loudly in pain, Fox used Fire Fox to escape from the bear's grasp. "We're used to finishing fights fast…but this one is starting to drag on," the vulpine said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

As Joshua grumbled a bit and delivered several beams of light upon the bears in the upper planes, he felt a second rush of power. Chuckling confidently, he told Neku, "Neku, try using the Fusion pin now."

"Huh?" Neku stopped himself from using his Ichimonji pin, taking out the Fusion pin instead. Earlier, he noticed the adrenaline rush at the same time Joshua did. The previously-blank pin had a stronger level to use. Over its surface, the pin now displayed two falling rocks emblazoned in ice and fire respectively. Hearing the bears growl loudly at the sky, Neku grunted and put a grip on the powered pin.

Feeling their souls becoming one, Joshua opened his arms. "Work for you?" he asked Neku.

Neku similarly opened his arms with perfect sync. "What do you think?" he asked back to his partner.

The two partners floated up into the air a little higher until a meteor of fire crashed down from nowhere. The other Players gasped at the sight, until a meteor covered in ice crashed down next to Pichu, though the shivering Electric-type wasn't damaged by the friendly blow. Looking up in the sky, everyone else saw several large chunks of rocks falling down from space at high speed, right before chaos erupted in both planes. In the lower planes, Neku was surrounded by meteors blazing with intense fire that crumbled down upon the two black bears. In the upper plane, the serene Joshua was floating between assaults of dead-cold icy meteors that spread shaved ice everywhere at their feet while breaking apart on the Noise. The Wall of Grizzly roared and howled in pain, only for more and more spatial rocks to crash against their maws, silencing their sudden whimpers.

"Holy goddess!" Ike was heard yelling in the chaos of flying fiery pebbles, trying not to run around like a headless chicken.

"Floating, warping, ANGELS, light beams, and now METEORS?!" yelled a bewildered Ness.

"Nice to know Joshua is going with a very random theme!" Fox yelled, feeling shivers as a fiery meteor passed through his body without crushing him against the floor.

The brutal attack quickly subsided, and the Wall of Grizzly team was reduced to lifeless bodies on the floor. As Neku and Joshua landed back on their feet, the bears let out silent growls with their demonic claws having been crushed into bits. Their wild eyes turning white, the bears eventually faded away. "I firmly believe that there is no such thing as too much overkill," Joshua said, followed by an unsettling giggle as he flicked a strand of his hair.

"…" Not sure what to say about the magnificent event, Chris ultimately said, "U-um…we won?"

From the top of the stairs, the grading Reapers were sitting down on the steps. Nodding at each other, they slapped an A rank on their performance. "Not bad, not bad," the first one said.

"Too bad we can't grade them on the intensity of the battle," the second one commented. "Man, it'd be easier for us to grade crowning moments of awesome instead of…the speed everyone takes down the Noise with."

"Yeah, 'tis a shame indeed," the third one said, right before the planes merged back together…

The World Ends with You - Detonation

The eight Players reappeared back in a single dimension of Udagawa. Looking at their palms, the timers were gone. "Mission complete," Fox said, grinning with satisfaction.

"Just one more day…" Chris muttered, forcing a smile. "One more day…and that'll be it…"

Joshua burrowed his hands into his pockets. "It's gonna be lonely without you," he said. Everyone looked at him, remembering that he was the Player who could float, warp, call upon angels, shoot light beams from the heavens, and summon meteors from outer space. All the added facts only made Joshua look even more distant from his killer persona. "I mean, are you sure all of you is getting back to their lives? I, for one, am not looking forward to going back myself."

Shaking his head from the weird troubling thoughts, Pichu looked sad. "Joshua, don't say that," he said. "We really want to revive."

The vulpine looked angry. "This will be it for sure," he said. "They can't just throw us back into this madness once more. I am utterly sick of running through this city, fearing that I'm getting my tail spit back to me."

"I know, I know," Joshua said. "But hey, I'll ask kindly to be sent back to another round so that I can investigate the Reapers' Game even more." He smiled at Neku. "You were such a good partner, Neku. I'll miss you the most, you know."

Neku shivered. "(Well, I ain't going to miss you one bit, you crazy murderer,)" he thought. "(I'll steer away from your presence. You're the only person I don't need to have in my world… As for others…)" He closed his eyes, going back to thinking about Shiki. "(Hang in there, Shiki. One more day...)

"Heh heh heh... Zetta fun times."

"Oh no…" Chris muttered. The team looked at the top of the stairs to see a grinning Sho Minamimoto walking down the steps. As he approached, Neku got a sudden headache that made him grab his head in pain. "Y-you!"

"What are the little zeroes doing 'round here?" he asked. "I thought you were divided by now! You are just too hard to subtract… Heh." He grabbed the brim of his hat, letting their serious looks strike him at full force.

"Hee hee. Why, hello there," Joshua said with a friendly smile. "Bored again? Or maybe just lonely."

"Can't have you 8 dying on me. My calculations'd go haywire," Sho said, narrowing his eyes and smirking. "I'd lose all motivation to create. Glad you pulled through."

"You sick bastard…" Ike muttered.

"(Glad? Why would he be glad?)" Neku thought amidst the pulsating beatings of his headache.

Joshua whistled a bit. "Ahh! So you were the mystery helper in the first fight," he said. "Thanks for that."

"What?" Pichu blinked. "He helped us? When?"

"…The second Taboo Noise near the scramble," Ike recalled, looking surprised at the Game Master. "You got rid of that one for us?"

Minamimoto opened his arms, flexing his fingers. "Anyone too weak to beat a 000 like that is garbage. CRUNCH!" He smacked a fist and a palm together. "You have some infinite potential. I couldn't just sit down and let you get crushed under those large numbers I cooked up!"

Ness pointed an accusing finger at him. "Hey, wait! You're creating those damned Noise that are hunting anyone down except for you!" he accused Sho. "Why are you even doing this? Won't this get you into trouble for eliminating your own colleagues?"

Sho winced a bit, but then he quickly chuckled. "Incompletes don't need to waste the air of the UG!" he said. "I'm surrounded by garbage. If I can't make my works of art with 'em…then I'd rather destroy them all to keep the environment clean from random factors!"

"Spare the crazy reasoning of yours," Fox said, ready to punch the mathematician's nose with a fast blow. "Tell us why you're suddenly rebelling against everyone you know."

"Heh! Sorry. I don't give zeroes the elevens of my results," Sho said with a small chuckle.

"Don't give us this bull," Soren said with a stern look. "What are your motives behind annihilating everyone with those monsters you created? Stop trying to dodge the question, lest you want us to somehow report you to Kitaniji."

Sho laughed. "Players can't report anything to my bosses," he said, making Soren grunt but also doubt his credibility. Ike tried to move forward, but Soren held him back with an arm. Sho showed his teeth at them. "Remember what tomorrow is? Day 7! That magical day when I get to go hands-on." Raising a finger, he asked, "Time for a little quiz. How fast will I erase you?"

"Not too fast, I hope," Joshua said, dull with interest.

"299, 792, 458 m/s!"

Pichu's eyes turned into swirls. "Not this again…" he muttered helplessly.

Joshua chuckled. "The speed of light?" he pointed out.

Minamimoto wickedly grinned at them all, even Neku, who was still grabbing his head in pain. "I'll correct the deviation that saved you last time we met here," he said. "This time, you're a dead man." He hopped back in midair and vanished before their eyes, making them gasp.

"Gone again!" Ness said. "That guy drives me nuts!"

"Of course, that was to be expected," Fox muttered. "He just wasn't going to reveal his evil plot to us that easily, which by the way boils my blood even more… Everyone in here likes to tease the hell out of us."

"Even Joshua," Chris babbled too much, but Joshua didn't care about the fact. "But anyway… There was something odd about what he said in the last part that bothered me." Neku's headache eased its pain, allowing him to open his eyes. "I think he was looking at Neku and Joshua when he said they were going to die for real… But…he was talking to one of them in particular. I couldn't tell who it was because that stupid (and stylish!) hat of his was obscuring his eyes…"

The teen had struck a very important piece of info, but Joshua chuckled and waved him off. "Really, Chris. You're questioning a madman's ramblings," he said. Chris looked blankly at him. "Why don't we wait till tomorrow to find out? Tomorrow won't be fun. I can only imagine what he'll try."

Neku submerged himself into his own thoughts. "('Last time'? What did he mean by that?)" he pondered. "(Was he talking to Joshua? He does seem to be Pi-Face's target.)"

"No…" Ike trailed off. "I can't shake that off just like that, Joshua." Joshua stared. "Sho is trying to hint at something here with what he said."

Joshua sighed. "Again, you're questioning a madman, too," he said with a tone of boredom. "Lookie here, I never met the guy cordially before. Happy now? He and I are unrelated. I'm a god and he's a peasant…in my eyes only."

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Joshua, are you lying to us?" he asked.

"Hmm? Nope," Joshua snickered. "I'm telling the whole truth. I wouldn't gain anything by lying to you. The obvious link to that guy is surely Neku." He looked at his partner. "Right?" Neku shook his head.

"Neku never met him at all. His memory was given back to him," Ness pointed out. "If he doesn't remember, that means Pi-Face was referring to you, Joshua!"

"Oh, for the love of… Would you please stop nagging at me about it?" Joshua asked, getting annoyed. "He is insane and totally not sane in the head. If you want, we can pin him to a wall and make him confess everything."

"At this point, I don't care if we have to go through that suggestion," Ike said.

Neku looked very suspicious at his partner. Joshua and Sho met for sure. The thought stuck with Neku the most. "(So the two of them faced each other here before... When? I can't blame anybody for wanting to whack this kid... But he'll have to get in line. Once tomorrow's done...)" He blinked and looked up to the sky.

So many questions weighed their minds as a small silence settled in.

Joshua had killed Neku, but the first heavily implied that he had done the deed despite the fact everyone but himself saw the very event take place in Neku's mind.

The black Noise – Taboo Noise – were on the prowl, hunting friend and foe alike. There was no safe place to be in Shibuya. Every alley was just as dangerous as any other location they visited.

Then, Sho Minamimoto was the biggest threat they were about to face in the last day. The creator of the Taboo Noise who didn't have any special importance towards his comrades and only cared about his outrageous junk heaps and toying with Players. He was the last hurdle for everyone to go back to their lives…

…Lastly, there was Joshua's dubious plot to jack Shibuya and take control of everything…

"Surely," Joshua said with a wide grin before they started to faint, "tomorrow shall be the most eventful day of the week… Hee hee."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter

"Joshua's Week – Divided By Zeroes"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Udagawa Back Streets-

Chris – Fox, Ness – Pichu, Ike - Soren, Neku – Joshua

Hoo boy, next chapter, the gloves are off…yet again.

It all boils down to Joshua and Sho making their moves and using the others for their schemes. Which side will be successful is unknown; unless you already played the game and know the plot (DON'T YOU GO WATCH THE NEXT DAY). But hey, I'm throwing my own alterations, so who's not to say if I'll follow all the events like the script says?

Anyhow, I only showed a handful of battles here because only important things happen in them. The other ones? I don't want to bore you with the details or else it'd look repetitive and stale.

Oh, Joshua. You're looking like a second big bad of this story with all the teasing. The next chapter is probably the last one where you get to take the spotlight, and for the Smashers to finally go back home…maybe.

Remember that the next chapter is nearly finished as of this writing, but I'll hold it off until the time is right. For now, I encourage all readers to review, or else Ike is dressing with Mus-Rattus brand clothes…and I'll draw a picture to prove it!

Ike: NOW I'm the one getting humiliated?

Ness: It's only fair. It was your time, after all.

Ike: Well, at least this is the worst thing a Lord like me can get into.

(Unknown Blue-Haired Lord): Oh yeah? My guardian here put up posters of me naked in every tent of the whole camp! In comparison, your embarrassment is pretty passable!

(Unknown Stewart): Milord, it did raise troop morale. There is no need to feel so bad.

Pichu: Hey! No calling characters that don't have a chance to appear in the story!
*Chapter 207*: Joshua's Week - Divided by Zeroes

The week's final battle is upon…you.

From ngrey651: You know, you really have to admire the Reaper's persistence. They've lost, what, ten times now to our heroes and yet somehow STILL think the same tactics can beat the same people? They're like Shibuya's Team Rocket. Only playing God.

From me: Eh, I don't think they're comparable to Team Rocket. If you looked for a good example, that'd be Tron Bonne back in the Legends arc.

From BOB JOHNSON: I forgot how much I enjoy Joshua in any medium. He's pretty great. Well, his performance was kind of stilted in Kingdom Hearts 3D, but that's beside the point.

I enjoyed this chapter because it was the "OH WOW JOSHUA IS SO AMAZING" Power Hour most of the time and I do like myself some Joshua, but I took a bit of issue with Chris's random monologue in the middle of Day 6. Besides the ellipses making him sound like William Shatner, it seems kind of insensitive of him to just butt into Neku's big moment to talk about himself and his own trials in interpersonal communication, especially with the different degrees of the issue here- of course you post the reviews in the chapter proper, so spoiling Neku's personal issues with regards to causing anti-sociability would be rude of me, but Chris's stated reason for not wanting to hang out with friends is a sweeping generalization about other people that really does not even make any sense considering that by his own standards he's rather one-dimensional, not to mention that the kid's been living with his dream kung-fu metal dog dad brother for ages now, which sort of precludes any pretenses of a "life of solitude." It's right there in the word, kid, you've got to be one guy to have solitude. It's just, like, kid, I know you love to complain about things, but time and place. Time and place.

(Also, what do you think are the odds that Fred was the one who made those mousepads of Chrom's butt? To raise troop morale for the lucky few, of course.)

From me: You're absolutely right. Inserting Chris into that conversation feel very unneeded to me while I wrote it, so that's why I reworked that to have Ike make an impact without forcefully comparing himself to Joshua. I could've put Soren there, but he's more of an anti-social jerk than Joshua is.

A chance of Frederick knowing about mousepads is still a mystery to me…

From NowhereStarr14: 'Tis almost the end of the, TWEWY arc, hopefully everything goes and wraps-up well, but, I'm expecting something to happen, like a twist, or, basically something big, holding off till the end. I shall wait and see. And just a note, if, for whatever reason, the next chapter isn't the end of TWEWY, I won't do a review. I wanna' hold off till the end, so I can just do one big review, talking about the arc as a whole, and how I feel about the game, in general.

So, yeah, uhhh, the chapter was good.

Yeah, sorry, I really don't have much to say, that's why I wanna' wait till the end. Actually, I've got one thing to say; it's about Joshua.

So, from what I remembered from the last chapter, Josh ended up bein' a pretty scary customer, 'cause he killed Neku, for an unknown reason. Then, as I read this chapter, I realized he's not as scary as I thought he was. He's just, an immature, four-year old. All he does is tease people. That's kindergarten shit, I don't even know why the group freaks out about it, and basically says, 'Stop teasing us, Josh!' C'mon, you're all adults. Just, don't even go down to his level of immaturity. Yeah, I know he killed Neku, but, still, it's just simple teasing.

From me: What makes you say there'll be a twist in the end of this chapter?

Yes, the group doesn't like his teasing too much because they're in a very tight situation of life and death, right in-between those two. If they were alive, they wouldn't mind the teasing that much. Also, technically, only Fox is the one true adult of the group, but he's very affected by others too easily… Thanks for the review. :)

From Bob: Thank gods your still writing. I mean seriously you were away for a month. But nice work anyway. I've been thinking about the clothes theat the smashers ever since Shiki went crazy for buttons. Do the smashers ever wear different clothes. Or they just wear the same thing and look boring. Also does chris ever wear normal humane clothes. I'm going a bit off topic a bit so it's a great chapter and I can't wait to see/read what happens when the emotional and 'heroic part" happens. Anyway see ya later Cool beans.
P.S I'm hoping to see more 'insert name here' meets the smashers. When Henry meets Lucario is like Critical Hit on Gangrel for revenge.

I know this is a stupid idea, but since the Smashers are trapped in the subspace maybe the new charecters from super smash bros wii u/3ds can come and recuse them. See ya

From me: They wear the same clothes all the time. It's rumored they have a horrible lack of fashion of statement, something Neku also doesn't enforce.

Yup, that's a stupid idea. It'd look very forced and random at this point in time. Don't worry. I won't use that here. See you.

Also, do NOT "review" to inform you of a little mistake. This is why people should have accounts when reviewing this thing…

From I hate math: There's almost 3 500 000 words now when this review was written.
If it took 1 minute to read 1 000 words, it would take two days and a half to read this fic, nonstop.

3 500 000 / 1 000 3 500 minutes
3 500 / 60 58 hours
58 / 24 2,5 days

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

HOW ARE YOU NOT DONE YET?!

From me: Because you hate math, I won't correct you. You're probably right.

Why am I not done yet? BECAUSE THIS FIC WILL DIE WHEN I DIE!

…Honestly speaking, it's because I love everything that is Nintendo, so I want to rule over everything by making the mother of all crossovers out there. This will probably get done once I get married or something…yeah.

Before I get to talk about the chapter, let me talk about the current internet events. So now we have a new Smash game upon us with three revealed characters to boot. So NOW people reading this story will wonder if we're going to see the new reps. Well, let me be honest… Since this story is forwarding some of the new games so that the gaming universe isn't affected closely by the real world's events, there is a good chance that these new characters will someday join the team. BUT! While I do know enough about all of them to make them worthwhile characters…I don't even know how the hell I'm going to make something serious out of…the Wii Fit Trainer, for example… So yeah, time will tell how I'm getting that sorted out.

SO FOCUS ON THE CURRENT EVENTS FOR NOW, 'k?

Here it comes, the week's end and the Smashers' eventual return to their homes. Will they be able to make it with the murderous Joshua in tow? You'll find out soon enough as you scroll down.

I encourage all teasing people to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The Villager may or may not be a serial killer.

Chapter 207: Joshua's Week – Divided By Zeroes

Joshua's Day 7 – Clash of Desires

-Shibuya-

Scramble Crossing

Kingdom Hearts 3D – Calling –Kingdom Mix-

Once more, and hopefully the last time, the blue sky and people's chatter greeted Neku. Grunting, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around, spotting his friends waking up from their unconscious states. Blinking, he noticed that Joshua was looking his way. "Day 7..." Neku trailed off.

Joshua nodded. "Indeed. Kind of a shame," he said. "We never found a way into the Shibuya River."

Ike looked at him. "What makes you think we can't get there anymore?" he asked. "…Oh, this is the day we're going to fight Sho for real."

"Yeah, that's it," Joshua said. "I don't know how things are going to turn out after we fight him. Anything is possible." He shrugged his shoulders a bit. "For all I know, the Reapers are already on my case, and they'll want to dispose of me the moment I step into the winner's circle…" He grinned at Neku. "Surely, my dear partner Neku will protect me from harm, right?"

Neku's answer was a negative one that he didn't want to voice out. It was the last day of the week. He needed to make Joshua come clean about the controversy that was him shooting Neku at Udagawa. "Joshua... Why'd you kill me?" he asked. The others looked serious, knowing full well that time was running out between the two Players.

Joshua, however, blinked confused. "I killed who, now?" he asked, making them all sighing mentally.

Neku sighed out loud. "Drop it, Josh," he said. "You said it yourself."

Joshua looked away with an amused look. "I just asked what you'd do if I had," he said.

"(Would he please stop dodging the question?)" Ike wondered. "(He killed Neku! Why doesn't he just admit it?)"

"(It's like he's trying to purposely act innocent to bend Neku's will for even longer,)" Soren thought. "(When will he realize his little game is just fueling our collective rage?)"

"(All is a game for this twisted guy,)" Fox thought with a grimace. "(Is there an end to Joshua's teasing?)"

"(And once again, Joshua keeps being oblivious to what he did…)" Chris thought. "(There should be a point where he's wide open for a full confession!)"

"(Why can't he stop playing around with us?)" Pichu thought. "(I never get that far! This is just so annoying…)"

"(Only one more day, Ness. One more day and you'll get your chance to smack him good with your bat…and throw him at a wall with your mind,)" Ness thought with a dull tone. "(…Geez, I'm a very cynical boy.)"

Neku felt that everyone was debating and arguing how Joshua's act was the most tedious thing besides the Reapers' Game. Stepping forward, Neku asked, "Look, did you or-" before the beeping of his phone interrupted his query. "Rrgh... The mission," Neku said, sounding aggravated. He stared at Joshua's unsettling smile. "When we're through with this, you're telling us everything."

Joshua giggled. "Hee hee. Whatever you say, Neku," he said. "Whatever you say…"

Feeling defeated, Neku took out his phone to read the mission's description to the others.

"Game 7: Erase the Game Master at Pork City. time = 600 minutes.

Incompletes will be erased."

Immediately, their hands felt a sharp pain that made them wince, though Joshua only half-closed an eye. "Nngh... Well, this is it. Just us and the Grim Heaper."

Fox grinned with delight. "Let's let it all out of him for trying to hunt us down with those insane monsters patrolling the streets," he said. "Bonus points if you pretend he's Kitaniji while beating him."

Chris shrugged. "I really disapprove how…excited you get in a fight," he said. Fox stared blankly at him. "Seriously, you're…and I dare say it, too violent sometimes."

"I know for sure you want to do that, too," Fox said.

The teen stared. "…No, not really." The vulpine rolled his eyes. "I'm a pacifist who always fails at avoiding confrontations. I'm starting to see a pattern here…"

As Neku saw how his team chuckled at Chris's misfortune, he turned to look at Joshua. The silver-haired teen was staring into space. "What?" Neku asked to get his partner's attention.

Joshua blinked and looked back at Neku. "This mission seems odd," he said.

"What? How?" he asked, noticing that everyone looked their way.

"Ah, well," Joshua said. "No sense in worrying about it. Shall we head to Pork City?"

Ness cleared his throat. "Don't you mean New Pork City?" he asked.

"Nope," Joshua said, smiling.

Neku would never get the references. "That's past Dogenzaka. Let's go," he said.

"After you."

The team went up north to the 104 Building. As they went there, Ike started looking around the area to find other Players. He could only spot a lot of living people chattering and walking to their singular destinations across Shibuya. The trendy clothes and their speech patterns were making his head hurl, but he kept focusing on the Players. It was no good. The UG seemed to be devoid of Players. "Are we the last Players again?" he wondered aloud.

"Yes," Soren bluntly said.

Ike gasped. "Soren, uh… That was too blunt to say," he said.

"No, it's the truth," Soren reaffirmed. "They all may as well be dead by now."

"H-how?" Chris asked, finding the statement very morbid. There was so much death in the world they ended up that he couldn't take it all by himself. Luckily, having the semi-dead ones with him helped to keep him sane.

"Think about it for a minute," Joshua suddenly took over for Soren. The Branded waited for him to say his version of the tale. "So far, we've been the only ones clearing missions first. There weren't missions for three days straight, mind you. Who's not to say that the other Players were…confused at the Game?" He smiled. "Sota and Nao did clear a mission, but that's it. Beyond those two, we never, ever ran into other Players in the open routes for six days, did we?"

"N-no…" Pichu shuddered. "W-we never saw anybody else…"

"Exactly," Soren said. "The other Players were taken off-guard with what was happening to them… If we go an extra mile, we can even assume that the Players that weren't erased the first day got to the next day without partnering up with somebody else. They got lucky to survive one day alone…only to be mercilessly hunted down by the Noise." He looked grim. "The Harrier Reapers like those two don't even dare explain things to their prey, since it's their job to erase them. We seem to be the luckiest ones of the lot…"

The vulpine shook his head. "That's because we had prior knowledge of what we were getting into…sort of," Fox said. "I mean, if Shiki hadn't LOOSELY explained the ropes of the Game, Chris and I would've been as good as dead by now."

Neku grunted angrily whenever he heard Shiki's name. She was trapped in a limbo between life and death because she had become a very important person to him, and the Reapers deemed her a suitable entry fee... He hoped that it wasn't straight-out love. No, it was admiration for her determination to follow her dreams and trying to be a nice friend. "She helped me a lot…" Neku muttered to himself. "…We're the only Players left again."

Ike continued to look for others still. "This is a nightmare," he said. "A nightmare where people like us are toyed around before we truly die…"

Joshua chuckled contently. "Then, once I jack Shibuya," he began, "I'll turn this nightmare into a dream."

"…" Everyone else shrugged at the thought.

"(You as the boss will make every single Reaper giggle and tease Players even more just like you would!)" Ness accused mentally. "(…Is it a good idea to leave him do whatever he wants while we go back to our home? Joshua is going to do drastic changes to this game…)"

"Alone in a game to win life back…" Chris muttered. "…It's an empty world here. It gives me the chills. We have our partners for company, but what about the rest? I feel so bad just knowing how many civilians got erased…" Fox patted his partner's back as they moved to the 104 Building.

Suddenly, Neku's phone went off with a beep. He took it out, looking confused. "Hmm? Another mail?" he wondered.

"P.S. Have cow and mouse on hand."

"…O…kay…" Chris said, confused. "We can have mice on our hands, but cows…"

Fox closed his eyes. "Chris, we're not meant to take this literally," he said. "It's another one of Math Fetishist's riddles."

"…No, it's not," Soren said. "This mail-like message in that odd device doesn't just look like it came from him. There is absolutely no math involved in the writing."

Joshua nodded. "This entire mission seems odd," he said.

Neku then started to notice the weird pattern that Joshua had caught a moment ago. The mission mail lacked any math terms usually used by Sho Minamimoto. The guy never dared talk normally without shoehorning a math term. "Yeah... It is a bit different," Neku agreed. "No riddles. No weird numbers."

"Yet again, something is off with the UG. I'm not surprised," Ness noted duly. "…Okay, I'm surprised. Pi-Face is not being himself by sending mail like this to us. Did he reach a new level in insanity?"

Soren wondered about the mails. "This shouldn't look so odd if it were another person," he stated. "But Sho Minamimoto has a math analogy that he is so fond of like Yodai's food analogy. Not even trying to sound crazy is…crazy by itself." He looked around. "This could be a trap."

Joshua pinched his chin. "Who can say? Though I have my guesses," he said. "Hee hee. All we can do is play along. We can't win if we don't complete the mission. We do have timers. That should point out that this mission isn't that much of a trap."

Neku decided to drop the suspicions. "Right."

But his friends were not going to drop it, only keeping the weird fact to themselves. "So, as for that P.S… What do they mean by cow and mouse?" Pichu asked. "I'm stuck here. Somebody smart say something!"

Joshua grinned and raised his hand.

Pichu sighed, followed by everyone else.

Pork City

"A large building that could be interpreted as a small city within a city. Many stores and restaurants mainly target the female audience."

The Smashers were surprised to know that they had ignored the humongous building all this time ever since passing through Dogenzaka. Pork City was perhaps the tallest building to ever grace Shibuya. Its looming shadow darkened the southern portion that had the entrance to the small city. In truth, it didn't look like the main entrance, which was plagued mostly by women coming in and out with unbelievably big shopping bags, was the point they needed to focus on. Rather, it was the lone, large elevator door several steps away that was being guarded by two Reapers; one in a red hoodie and another one in a black hoodie.

The foreign group looked up at the towering building. It truly gave them the feeling that the construction's rooftop was reaching out for the sky's limits. "Okay… This building is New Pork City material," Ness said.

"Holy crap," Fox exclaimed. "Not even the buildings at Corneria are this big."

"Not even Elincia's castle can be described as big compared to this," Ike commented.

"The Radio Tower at Goldenrod City is so small!" Pichu squeaked.

"Oh, I do believe the likes of us can achieve feats like this," Soren said. "It's just that a project to build such a large building would take a few years to complete."

"(I think this world's version of Shibuya exaggerates a few facts…)" Chris thought to himself. "(Hmm, I do remember reading an article about…Mark City…)"

Neku was at a loss of words at their comments. He tried to ask Joshua about Pork City. "This is where he's hiding?" he asked.

Joshua nodded. "It's a good spot for it."

"How's that?"

Joshua approached the wall of the building and placed a firm hand on it, making them stare at his back. "All the stray thoughts in Shibuya flow through here. They hit Pork City and rise up above the city... then come crashing back down again. Always building, never lessening..."

"Wow…" Chris muttered, looking back up at the rooftop. "This place holds a deep meaning like that?"

"Well," Joshua pulled his hand back and grinned at them over his right shoulder, "that is apparently how the Reapers put it their way. Mr. H so kindly informed me about Pork City and its connections to the UG."

Neku could just imagine a giant Minamimoto sitting his butt on the rooftop and laughing maniacally to the sky, with thunderbolts and rain in the background. "And he's sitting on top of it all?" he asked. "Smug bastard."

Joshua giggled. "Attention seekers do tend to favor high places," he stated.

"That's him, all right… (I just need to take him out. Sit tight, Shiki.)" He suddenly felt odd. Ever since stepping into the building's area, there was some kind of invisible force that was slowly trying to push his conscience around. Blinking, he saw the rest of them looking odd as well, with most of them placing a hand on their foreheads. "Everyone felt that, too?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Pichu muttered until he shook his ears. "That was weird… What was that?"

"My guess is that this place has some sort of lock," Joshua said. "Hmm, maybe our pins got affected by this wave. I heard that Pork City holds even more dark secrets. One of those secrets is that the Reapers fabricate a special atmosphere that locks pins." He giggled at Neku. "So hey, Neku, did you figure that P.S. out already? The hint is in the pins…"

Neku nodded, equipping himself with pins that were part of the buffalo (D+B) and rat (Mus-Rattus) brands. It meant that his preferred deck of pins was discarded over a hastily-put one. "I figured it out," he said. "It's a drag, but it must be done."

"Nice. You're ready for the worst, I presume?"

"(If you mean getting stabbed by you on the back during the last minute of the boss fight…then yeah, I'm ready to direct that knife back to you… Prickly snob.) Yes."

Ike started walking to the Reapers standing in front of the elevator. The group looked his way and followed. When Ike called them out, the Reapers gasped loudly and looked at the large group of Players. "Players? Here?" the black Reaper said.

It was strange to see Reapers react in such a way, as if they didn't know that Players were going to pass through. "Um… Yes?" Pichu said, cocking his head to the right. "We were told to come here…"

Joshua nodded and showed the mission mail to the two confused Reapers. "That's the mission. Erase the Game Master here in Pork City," he said.

The red Reaper mumbled a few swears and looked at his fellow Reaper partner. "You heard anything about this, man?" he asked, making Soren raise an eyebrow.

"Nope," his partner replied. "Mr. Minamimoto told us to guard this spot. That was six boring days ago."

The red Reaper fell silent. "...Well? What do you think?"

"They're here on a mission, right? Why not do the usual?"

"Makes sense... If they're here on a mission, that means Mr. Minamimoto wants 'em here."

"Wait right there," Soren interjected their talk among each other. The Reapers turned his way. "It's clear that something isn't right here. I demand answers from you."

"Huh? You high, man?" the red Reaper asked. "This is confidential info. We can't just go blabbering everything to normal Players like you! Oh, sure! You dress really funny, but that ain't gonna change anything."

Soren discouraged talking about his "funny" way of dressing. Seeing his partner's furrowed brow, Ike stepped in. "What kind of confidential info?" he asked, getting their attention. "It's not necessary to know what that confidential info is… Just…you look confused."

"…" The black Reaper grumbled. "…Well… There's no harm in telling them this, I guess." His partner shook his head, not knowing what he was going to say next. "Mr. Minamimoto is kind of busy, resting up on top of this building here. We…we weren't informed about Players coming here to meet up with him."

The red Reaper grunted. "That's all you need to know!" he said suddenly. "But you got mission mail saying you NEED to pass through here, so…yeah, you know where this is going."

Ness rubbed his chin. "So," he began, "you're saying you weren't told about us coming this way, and we heard you saying he didn't tell you, either…" The black Reaper started sweating; though he wasn't sure what he was even doing guarding a random building. He was sure, though, that he was getting it if he let Players just waltz in. "…Yeah, guys, there's something very wrong about all this!"

"Indeed," Joshua said, grinning confidently at the Reapers. "It's like…he doesn't want to warn you, or…someone else is asking us to erase him ourselves."

"Wha…?" the red Reaper trailed off. "Why would a high-ranking Reaper even…?"

The black Reaper gasped and punched his partner's right shoulder. "And you say I babble too much!" he said.

"Ouch!" the red Reaper rubbed his pained shoulder. "You hit too hard, man!"

"O-oh, sorry… Got fed up a bit too much," he apologized. "I guess I was releasing all that bottled up anger after six days of complete, utter boredom."

"Oh yeah?" the red Reaper asked right before swiftly kicking his partner in the crotch. He doubled over on the floor in pain, making most males wince. "It does feel good!"

"C-critical hit to the nads…" the black Reaper muttered.

The eight Players exchanged blank looks until Neku sighed. "Enough with the fibs," he said. "So what, are you letting us pass?"

"Only if you meet my terms," the red Reaper said, "you can pass."

Ness grimaced, ignoring the black Reaper grabbing his private area with both hands and groaning in pain. "…Did you know your boss is hunting all of you down with those black Noise?" he asked.

"…What?" the red Reaper asked back. "What do you…?"

"It's true," Ness said nodding. "Sho is killing everybody who's weaker than him. You two are also in his To Kill list."

"T-that can't be…" the red Reaper stammered. "I-I do remember the Conductor saying Reapers were being erased by strange Noise in an official meeting two days before…"

"T-t-to…tell the truth…" his partner groaned on the ground, "I-I never liked Mr. Minamimoto… He always spat on our faces whenever we brought work-related stuff to his table… I-I mean literally. He really did spit on us!"

Joshua grinned. "Oh, the Reaperity," he said.

The red Reaper stared at them, grunting. "You're saying Mr. Minamimoto is the one behind these freak accidents? During that small three-day break with no missions, Players were erased without even entering Noise battles and us Reapers were put on standby till today…and then Reapers started being targeted, too? This is madness!" He kicked the air. "I lost two of my best friends to those monsters! John and Doe never deserved this!"

Despite the fact Chris had never met the Reaper's best friends, he felt a lot of sympathy over the fact they died over nothing. Ike took it a little bit more personal, seeing as he was furrowing a glare…

The black Reaper stood back, flinching in occasion. "Y-you're sure Mr. Minamimoto is behind all this?" he asked.

"…Yeah," Neku said, remembering Sota and Nao disappearing from existence. "Pi-Face is making those monsters because he sees everyone as garbage." It dawned on him that Ness was trying to get an idea across. "…And you wanna keep working for him?"

"…" The two Reapers exchanged looks. "No way, man. I'll take a scolding session by Konishi over working with that madman any longer," the red Reaper said. "What says you?"

"Ditch him!" the black Reaper said, recovering slightly from his previous critical blow. "Let these guys shove their kicks up his butt for us!"

The red Reaper nodded and ignored the disgusted looks from the Players as he turned around and waved a hand to the elevator's wall. "Wall clear!" he said, taking the invisible barrier down. Turning around, he nodded to the Players. "Show him not to kill our comrades!"

Fox looked worried at them. "You sure you guys need to go this far?" he asked. "Aren't you going to get punished for letting us pass so easily?"

"Look here, man with the incredibly-convincing humanoid fox costume," the red Reaper began, "Sho Minamimoto is the hugest douchebag you'll ever work with. Everyone in the Reaper circle admits that he excels at almost everything…but teamwork." He shook his head in disapproval. "He despises working with others. He's a big loner freak. Just try shaking his hand and he'll surely bite it off."

"Or spit at your face," the black Reaper added. "…No, he'll spit at you."

"Guys like us would rather have him get erased very soon under official Players," the red Reaper continued. "There's a rumor that he's been trying to take on the Composer, for starters…"

Joshua blinked. "Wow, a complete rebel, wanting to get rid of his boss?" he asked. "He is out for blood."

"Yeah, but don't say we told you this," the black Reaper said. "It's not ENTIRELY clear he's going for that crazy goal, but with how things have been ever since this month started…" He fell silent. "…Not telling you anymore than that. Sorry." He and his partner walked a few steps away to let them enter the elevator doors, which then decided to open wide. "Give him the beating of his life for us!"

"And don't worry about your points," the red Reaper said. "We'll give you the max quantity so you can play it safe from here."

Some of the Players smiled and nodded, stepping into the large elevator (though Ike was reluctant to enter it at first until Soren pushed him inside). The Reapers waved at them before the doors closed, the shaking feeling of the elevator confirming that it came to life. They were now going up, with soothing elevator music playing in the background.

"Everybody hates him a lot," Neku suddenly said.

"No kidding," Pichu said. "But I'd feel angry if I worked with a person like him, so I understand…"

Ness sighed. "Good thing I brought that up to them," he said. "We've fought, what, 200 Noise battles or something for this week? I'd say that's enough to warrant a definite pass to our lives."

Joshua looked up at the ceiling. "They told us a lot of info with that friendly chat," he said. He then smiled at his reflection on the glass-like metal in front of him. "Namely, the fact this Game's month has been really weird."

Chris wasn't going to like the idea of getting his nose into more Reaper stuff. "Oh no," he muttered. "What are you thinking now, Joshua?"

"Hmm? Well…" Joshua crossed his arms, suddenly looking serious. "I have noticed a few oddities in this month ever since I entered the game… But I can't say for certain what they are."

"…Please tell me you're not deliberately teasing us again," Fox duly said.

"No teasing, I'm afraid," Joshua said, indirectly revealing he liked to tease them. "My suspicions, for now, are focusing on very subtle points… This week had its fair share of large mysteries. The Taboo Noise belong to those mysteries I found, for example, and then there's the Game Master himself..."

Neku obscured his face. "The Game's is getting crazier and crazier every day," he stated. "…I'm not sure if I can keep up with each revelation. It's making my head hurl…"

Pichu looked up at Neku. "Like those headaches you get whenever we meet Pi-Face?" he asked.

Pichu made a point. Remembering the headaches, the others looked at the confused teen. "How come you get those headaches, anyway?" Ness asked. "Every time he shows up, you end up grabbing your head until he's gone from sight."

"I…I don't know," Neku said, feeling even more at a loss than any other thing. "He appears, I grab my head. It's as simple and twisted like that…"

"There is a connection somewhere," Joshua said, scratching his head. "Neku, did you meet up with him when you were alive? Maybe he's your best friend turned evil over your death."

"…How in the name of CAT do you think we're related?"

Joshua giggled. "Never judge two books by their covers, they say," he responded simply, and Neku frowned for the umpteenth time. Still, Neku focused on the matter very closely, but the group didn't know what to say about his assumed hidden connection to the mad mathematician. "Maybe your memory isn't complete still," Ike said.

But Neku said no. "Doesn't feel like it," he said. "I'm pretty sure I got almost everything back… (And that reminds me…)" He mentally glared at Joshua's smiling expression. "(The one thing that's making me feel so anxious is the memory when this bastard killed me… Are we still partners? Ugh… My kingdom for a stick to beat him up with.)"

The elevator music stopped playing, and the doors opened up. The Players started stepping out, finding another pair of Reapers talking to one another. When the two Reapers looked their way, they suddenly gasped. "Players!?" the black Reaper gasped out.

The red Reaper hung his mouth open. "Why are they here?" he asked.

"(Again?)" Neku thought. "(No one likes to inform anything to them…)"

Joshua chuckled. "We're here for the mission, thanks," he greeted.

The two Reapers exchanged glances. "What mission?" he wondered.

"I dunno," his partner said, shrugging his shoulders. "But the guys downstairs let 'em through."

Ness thought for a second and stepped to the front. "Look here…"

Several minutes later, the eight Players were now riding the elevator to the rooftop of the massive building. Security was pretty undermined today, and the second pair of Reapers they met were just as equally irritated by Minamimoto that they cheered on them to erase him for good. Like the previous Reapers, the second pair was met by unfortunate events that took their loved ones away, never to return to the land of the living dead. "Everyone really wants us to put his head on the receiving end of a lance," Ike noted.

"Says a lot about his work attitude," Joshua said, looking amused. "But hey, I'll take what I can grab on. Nice thinking there, Ness, by the way."

Ness waved him off. "I wanted to use some common sense against them," he said. "After what happened yesterday…it leaves a pretty bad impression about your boss when he's off slaughtering comrades because he thinks everyone is garbage."

"You tell me," Fox said, making sure he was ready to face off against the math fetishist by tightening his gloves and fixing his vest. "We'll make him garbage once we're done with him."

"Hurray for justified violence," Joshua cheered. "Which reminds me… Neku, are all your pins in order? I suspect he's just ahead."

Neku grunted, taking out his collection of pins and sorting his deck out. "(I should put my A-list pins back on,)" he thought.

The enigmatic teen looked around inside the elevator. "Looks like a clear shot up to the roof, if those Reapers were telling the truth," he said. "The brand restrictions aren't likely to reach that far. I recommend you wear the pins you like best, Neku." He looked at the rest and giggled. "You guys, use your innate skills as you see fit."

"You don't need to remind me that," Ike said. "This is going to be it for real. We'll cut his head off his shoulders and move back to our lives."

"We'll be doing a huge favor to the Reapers in the end," Chris said. "There's really no way they can complain about this. All of them just don't like Sho at all."

"I'm going to feel great relief once our run is over," Soren said. "Let us hope for the best. Backing off now is not an option when victory is at hand."

"Right," Pichu said, hopping to his right shoulder. "One more battle is all we need to finish everything here, and then Shiki'll be saved!"

Ness smiled. "Yeah, she needs to get out of that limbo," he agreed. "We made her wait for a whole week. It's the least we can do for her." Neku chuckled confidently. Saving Shiki was going to become a reality.

But then, that made Fox think about the other ones that were being left behind: Beat…and the missing Rhyme. "What about Beat and Rhyme?" he asked, and suddenly the mood changed. "Those two are still trapped in this infernal contest…" Very attached to the optimistic young blond, Fox stiffened his serious look.

"Oh no…" Neku muttered. "I completely forgot about them…"

Chris stopped smiling when he thought back about the two. "They're…They're trapped, aren't they…" he trailed off, sounding gloom. "…What about Beat, though? We kind of completely stopped his chances to fight us head on. Won't that…um…deduct the points he needs to survive as a Reaper?"

Joshua looked away. "Reapers are also in the same situation as Players," he pointed out. "Players and Reapers alike need to do their work, or else the Composer shall give them one last judgment that will rob them of their lives. We kicked the rebel's butt one time too many that it's clear he won't get free from his punishment." He tossed his hands to the sides. "He's a lost cause by now."

"…" Neku wanted to object to him, but the reality was honestly cruel. "…I wish there was a way for us to help them out. At this rate, they'll both get erased just because Beat thought siding with the Reapers was a good idea."

Fox grunted. "That idiot got Rhyme into this," he said. "I can forgive Chris for lying, but I can't forgive Beat for choosing that boneheaded decision… I should know myself." He looked worried at his partner. "The decisions that'll last longer than any other thing screw me up all the freakin' time…"

"Fox…" Chris muttered, looking apologetic.

"…It pisses me off," Fox continued. "My stomach is gonna twist again and again if I keep thinking about Rhyme and Beat after we finish this fight."

Soren frowned, taking out his Wind tome. "Only faith can possibly spare their lives now," he said. "We have no means to remedy their fates."

Ike looked away, resting a hand on Ragnell's sheath. "How can anybody feel so bad after winning?" he wondered. "It doesn't make sense…"

Joshua chuckled as he felt the elevator stopping, opening its doors to the rooftop. "We're here," he called out to their scrambled thoughts.

The Pork City rooftop had an expanse of the blue sky stretching over the horizon. Without getting close to the borders of the floor, no one could tell at first sight that a sea of buildings and people were far down below. Stepping out from the elevator, the Players looked around for any sights of Sho. When Pichu looked down at his feet, he spotted a shadow looming behind them. He gasped and looked behind, finding Sho looking extremely perturbed. "T-there he is!" he yelled, making them all turn to the small block that occupied the elevator's space. Everyone immediately readied themselves, though they looked confused seeing Sho's shocked expression.

"Nngh!? You eight?" Sho muttered through gritted teeth. "How'd you find this place!?"

There was even more confusion arising from his shocked state of mind. "Is that a joke?" Neku asked.

"The mission mail told us to erase the Game Master of Pork City," Fox said with a serious glare. "That Game Master is you. Do the math, you crazy fetishist."

Minamimoto blinked twice, backing off a bit. "What? An inverse matrix!?" he said, trying to digest all the info as quickly as possible.

"Shut up!" Ike demanded as he took out Ragnell from its sheath. "We've got a bone to pick with you for toying around with us like garbage!" he yelled. "You've been killing friend and foe alike using those monsters without even caring about their personal lives! Not everything in the world is garbage. YOU are garbage that needs to be disposed of before you reek!"

The Game Master grunted until he smirked confidently. "...Doesn't matter," he muttered under his breath, jumping down and landing his feet firmly on the floor to stare at them all at eye level. They backed off, ready for anything. "You just saved me the trip."

"Your higher ups don't like your guts, it seems," Soren said, making Sho wince briefly. "…Yes, it all makes sense now when you piece every small bit of info together."

"W-what are you digit going on about?" Sho asked, sweating and panting.

Neku started to realize the oddities surrounding the mystery of today's mission. "Your Reapers guarding this tower let us through without objections after we told them how big of an ass you are to your comrades!" he said. "Killing without remorse has its consequences, y'know."

Sho grunted louder, smacking a fist into his palm. "Big deal, stupid numbers! All the zeroes are waiting for me to add them to my heaps of art. Screw teamwork, screw everyone, screw YOU."

"You're starting to break…" Ike pointed out. "Are you realizing something crucial now?"

Sho swung his arm to the side. "My calculations are okay… I'm not scared of a big number!" He smirked maniacally. "The Composer and the Conductor are also garbage. I said this before, didn't I? EVERYONE BUT ME IS GARBAGE! CRUNCH!" He smacked his fist into his palm again. A few seconds of heavy breathing later, he eased his anger as he looked over at Neku and Joshua. "Enough… I was hoping for a little reenactment. Same spot, same setup as last time..."

Pichu looked confused. "What are you going on about?" he asked.

Neku realized that he didn't get a nasty headache this time. But then irony cruelly reminded him that the headache was delayed, and he got struck by an even nastier pulsating feeling inside his head. He grabbed his head with both hands and fell to his knees. "(L-last time? Nrrgh! Not now!)" he yelled loudly, causing the Smashers to gasp and get to his side.

Joshua held his spot and raised an eyebrow, but then he remembered that there was a fierce enemy before them, which prompted him to look serious for once. "You OK, Neku?" he asked.

"Waaaugh!"

The scream of pain was unusually loud. Neku's head beat at irregular intervals that made its owner think that he was going to explode from the nasty headache. To Sho's amusement, Neku dropped to the floor, his fingers digging deeper into his head's skin and hair. Writhing in pain, Neku felt a few set of hands grabbing his sides for some support after he was squirming and screaming for a long while. "Neku?! NEKU?!" Ike called out, shaking the teen. "Answer us!"

"T-THE HEADACHE…D-DAMMIT!" Neku screamed.

Grunting, Fox looked at Chris. "Use your healing magic!" he said. "Can it cure headaches?"

"I-I don't…" Chris gulped and changed to his Fonic Hymn User job, quickly taking his rod out and placing the tip over Neku's head. The World Traveler had never cured a nasty headache before, and he wasn't so sure if his healing magic was potent enough to do the job. Confused, Chris placed a free hand on Neku's throbbing head. "N-Neku, hang o-"

Music stops

There was an incredibly potent sensation that was transferred over to the Smashers making the slightest physical contact with the screaming teenager, even going as far to extend to anybody connected to a receptor. Because Ike, Chris, and Ness were in some way trying to restrain Neku while their partners' hands were being supported on their shoulders to take a closer look at Neku, they yelled in pain, and their minds acted up abnormally as a flash of light took over their sight. Their Player Pins shook with energy, indirectly activating a lost memory…

Their minds were connected amidst the screams they produced, but then, a familiar setting soon showed up…

After Ness managed to contain the pain in his head, he gained more focus until he gasped at the sight in his mind's eye "(A-ah…)"

The Udagawa Back Streets played out in their minds. Loose posters and fliers flew by the winds as the scene moved up the stairs to the wall with the stylish graffiti. A happy-looking Neku was staring at the wall, placing a firm hand on it to let his clouded mind get filled with peaceful thoughts.

"(T-this…again?)" Ike muttered, regaining his focus.

Fox regained control next, looking surprised at the memory. "(Wh-why are we looking this again?)" he asked.

Soren regained his senses and noticed the scene, having listened to his group's thoughts. "(Neku's memory… Hmm… Did we…did we get this after approaching him during his episode of pain?)" he wondered.

Neku grunted, still feeling the throbbing pain, but he was intently staring at the memory nonetheless. He briefly had forgotten that he was angry at Joshua for shooting him dead at his favorite spot. And out of a cue, his killer appeared from the left and rushed with a gun ready to fire. The Neku in the memory calmly turned his head to Joshua's direction, where their eyes locked into a stare. As the Neku in the memory looked confused, his eyes widened when Joshua raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

BANG

The loud bullet shot made Pichu's ears tremble for a moment, and then the bullet case fell lifelessly to the ground right before Neku fell next, with a shot of Joshua smirking with pleasure. "(Eugh, that sickening smirk of his!)" Ness complained. "(This isn't the time to see this! We know he killed Neku! Why do we have to see this once more?)" Ness asked. "(There's no point i-)"

A collective set of gasps followed next when the Smashers and Neku noticed a radical change in the memory scene.

The Neku in the memory had fallen down to the floor, true…but that was just it. He just fell on his rear with an astonished look on his face, staring up at the maniacal Joshua. The bullet shot from the gun had actually passed over Neku's shoulder, its intended target being someone else that was standing right behind the assumed target. Mysteriously enough, there was a third party lurking around the scene that had showed up right about the time when Joshua dashed into the scene…

Without a doubt, the third party wasn't such a stranger to the group.

"(…What…the…hell?)" Chris gasped out.

Behind the fallen Neku, Sho Minamimoto grabbed his bleeding right shoulder with his free hand, clenching his teeth in pain. In his damaged limb, a gun was gripped tightly while he tried to resist the absolute pain. "I blew it..." he muttered under a cough.

"What!?" the Neku in the memory said obliviously until he realized there was a madman behind his back. Standing up and turning around, Neku's irises shrunk as he saw Sho grunting and raising his gun, resisting the agonizing pain of his shot shoulder. Backing off helplessly, the Neku in the memory braced himself for impact as the watchers gasped once more in shock…

BANG

And the memory faded away…

Back in the real world, Joshua blinked as the seven Players were lying down on the floor, grabbing their heads in pain. After a while of nothing, they all regained their senses and opened the eyes in realization of what they had seen. "Oh… You're alright," Joshua said, looking happy. "What went through you now?"

Neku and the others stared up at Joshua. The creepy smile of his didn't instigate any murderous measures like before. After witnessing the memory, all accusations of Joshua being Neku's killer disappeared. Neku, the one being the most affected, was speechless. They used to pin all the blame on Joshua for committing the heinous act from the beginning, but the memory showed clearly how the evil Game Master had done the deed instead, which in turn eliminated Joshua as the potential suspect. Grunting, he grabbed Joshua's hand to stand back up as the others got off by themselves. "I…I can't…" Chris muttered, "…I can't believe this… All this time…"

"Joshua was… He was innocent!" Pichu said, making Joshua smile after hearing his words. "He never killed Neku!"

"By the goddess…" Ike muttered, feeling ashamed. "We've been blaming Joshua for a crime he didn't commit for any real reason all along…"

Neku kept staring at Joshua's jovial smile until the first looked back at the Game Master, looking blankly until smiling sadistically. "It... it was you?" the murdered teen asked, though his tone slowly shifted to a scowl.

"Neku..." Joshua muttered.

Neku took a step forward, his eyes forming a glare at Sho. "You killed me..." he muttered until yelling, "You stole my life!"

Pichu grunted and emitted sparks from his cheeks, getting into a fighting stance. "How could you?!" he asked. "Why kill Neku? W-what did he do to you to kill him just like that?"

"Why even wonder that? He's a madman!" Ness exclaimed. "He's a lunatic who escaped from the madhouse! I say we erase him for make us hate Joshua over nothing!"

Soren cleared his throat. "This event by no means makes Joshua any more likable than he is now," he said. Everyone stared at him. "He didn't kill Neku, but he sure did tease us a lot during the whole week, acting all secretive and mysterious. This doesn't give him an excuse to act like that."

There was a small silence that settled in. "…Oh…" Chris said. "…Yes… I don't like him a lot… I just think it's fair for us to clear his name." Mentally gasping, the teen feared falling on Joshua's black list.

Joshua grinned knowingly instead. "You're awesome, Chris," he remarked.

The teen shuddered, his thought process having been changed. "You're REALLY the most unsettling person I've ever met before in my life," Chris muttered at last.

"Ha ha," Joshua laughed. Nobody could tell if he was mocking everyone or not. "Don't you worry, Chris. As time passes, we will eventually unearth our hidden feelings for each other. Perhaps, we will be more than…best friends?"

The mother of all morbid thoughts was released at last. The black-haired teen quickly stepped away and hid behind an equally-frightened Fox. Neku was acting serious before, but now he was hurled from his serious look. "The hell, Joshua, put a lid on it!" Neku complained, grabbing his head. Chris immediately approved of the orange-haired boy's rant. "T-that aside, you bastard!" he yelled at the Game Master. "The hell were you doing killing me on my favorite spot?! Why even me?! Are you crazier than just being nuts?!"

Minamimoto, though, laughed at them, drawing the attention. "Hmph," he muttered as he and Neku stared at one another. "That's insignificant."

Neku knew Sho was talking about the moment he died. "What!?" asked an enraged Neku.

"I totally was expecting him to say that so it's not surprise now," Ness commented. "…You know what? Screw this! Let's start the battle already so that we can let it all out on his sorry back!"

The Game Master chuckled loudly until cackling up in maniacal laughter. The wind on top of the rooftop suddenly picked intensity. "I've had enough chatter. Come get derived," Sho said, his irises shrinking in fury. "This time I'm eradicating you all from my spatial coordinates! Drown in the sea of imaginary numbers!" Everyone took this cue to assume their positions.

An earthquake shook the floor under their feet as they watched Sho flexing his arms down to his sides while bending his knees, crouching down and feeling raw power inundate his body. From behind his back, six large Reaper wings sprouted out before shattering into pieces. The fragments of the wings then shot down on his lower body, heavily altering the look of his legs. Instead of human-looking legs, they had now been turned into demonic limbs that resembled the feet of a lion, their claws digging deep into the concrete.

"INFINITYYYYYYYY!" Sho yelled with passion, smirking evilly at them.

Chris braced himself and stiffed his grip on his staff. "T-there's no way I'm letting a madman erase me now, not after making it this far…again!" He gulped. "Lucario… Everyone is waiting! That's enough driving force for me to keep…to keep pressing on!"

Fox turned his body sideways, staring directly at the monster. "I've been waiting for this. Another moment where I get to kick another crazed idiot to release all my bottled up anger." Chris opened his mouth to object. "Don't say anything, Chris!" he said without looking. Chris sighed and decided to let it slip.

Pichu jumped to Ness's head. "I won't let another week go by while Pikachu is sulking over my d-dead body!" he shuddered at the "d" word. "Literally! I want to finish this nightmare!"

"You and me both!" Ness said, stretching out a hand sparking with PSI energy. "I had it with these Reapers and their plain-down nasty games. Here's a game of my own: Reaper Massacre!"

Soren grunted and took out an Elwind tome. "Must these higher ups transform into mindless beasts bent on taking pleasure over killing their prey?" he asked rhetorically. "Hmph, it'll only make the victory even more satisfying. You all are monsters."

Ike pointed his sword to Sho. "You're crazy for math. You'll be happy to know that dividing people in two is possible to do with a sword like this," he said. "Unless you're not a masochist, you'll enjoy the feeling before you get erased!"

Joshua flicked a strand of his hair and grinned. "My, everyone has some rousing speeches today. I'm afraid I didn't prepare my own with time," he commented. "Oh well, what can you do? Guess I'm gonna just have to provide my willing support to Neku and everyone for this battle. No hard feelings, okay?" He winked at Neku. Thankfully, Neku never saw the winking action. "Neku, are you ready now?"

Neku's right hand glowed with energy, tapping into a pin's power. "You bet I am!" he said. "It's payback time for killing me! After this, I'll set Shiki free from her imprisonment!"

"COME AT ME, RADIANS!" Sho declared, the planes distorting into two…

The World Ends with You – Someday

The clouds above Pork City shifted around as if being perturbed by the being that had separated the planes. Both groups, although standing on different planes, found themselves looking up to a grinning Minamimoto, floating over the chasm that led to the city's buildings down below.

They noticed that the Game Master had foregone his demonic legs for his human ones. "Hey, how come you're back to your normal look?" Ness asked.

"My calculations don't need an explanation for this!" Sho replied back with a crackle. "I'll add you all up into my divisions! Prepare to be iterated!"

"Yup, he's a madman," Joshua said, warping to midair. "Let us begin, why don't we?"

"Yeah. Here!" The Game Master tossed two black-and-white spheres to their direction. The two objects then separated and fell on each opposite side of their positions, until Taboo Noise materialized and growled angrily at them. They were a Wall of Grizzly and a Grunge Wolf; a black version of the wolf Noise kind. "Have some fun with my pets in the meantime!"

Soren grunted. "I suspected that he would call those monsters in the fight," he muttered, taking out his Elwind tome from his robe. "Listen, everyone. We must divide our efforts by picking different targets. We mustn't let that imbecile keep throwing these things to us."

"Right," Ike said. "If we let him do what he wants… Uh… Wait a minute…" He looked around to find the Game Master, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"He's not down here!" Neku called over, until he was tackled by the Grunge Wolf.

"Oh?" Joshua rubbed his chin, still floating in the air. "Seems like he only appears in the upper plane while his pets take on the field... Haha, that doesn't matter one bit." He stretched his phone out and looked at Sho while Joshua's team started fighting the Taboo Noise on their plane. With a few dials inputted, the light beams that came down from the sky didn't reach for the Game Master. Rather, they fell down on the Taboo Noise. "Oh, I forgot the Game Masters were into being cheap…"

"Ha ha," Sho laughed confidently, watching his two pets starting to attack them. "You zetta digits are hilarious! Well, try hitting me!" he taunted, opening his arms. "My perfect mathematical creations won't let you even reach your desired numbers!"

Chris yelped and ducked down from a quick slash from the Wall of Grizzly, only for the Grunge Wolf to leap on his back and bite his neck. "AAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly in pain as Soren swung his hand and called forth slicing winds that pushed the wolf aside from his back. The teen wanted to cry, having not being bitten so harshly before, but he pressed on with the fight and smacked the Wall of Grizzly with his rod. Pichu joined in and called a Thunder next to him to shock the bear, starting a light puck chain with their partners down below.

"Let me take on that damned wolf!" Fox shouted from below, feeling the coursing pain on his body.

"How beautiful!" Sho remarked from his spot, watching the fight unfold. He sat on midair cross-legged. "Perfect creations of my intellect to prey upon the little decimals of life! You've gotta admit that my iteration-"

"Done here," Joshua interrupted as he delivered a large beam upon both Taboo Noise, the incredible laser being powered up by two point five times. The two Noise roared loudly as their beings faded away. Turning around, the teen cocked his head to the side. "They were perfectly disposed of."

Sho chuckled. "I see, I see! Here, have some more," he casually said as he tossed three whirling circles on both planes. The three circles then turned into more Taboo Noise, this time the monsters being styled after crabs. The crabs had spider-like legs under heavily-armored shells and thick claws. Over the hidden beady red eyes and said white shells were black Noise marks closing in. They were known as the Carcinopunk. "Let the problem continue! I want to see some deductions!"

"Oh, how much I loathe these crabs…" Ness muttered under his breath. The crabs in general were experts in defending at the right time with their shells whenever they saw a frontal attack. They were also quick on their little feet and quite nasty with their iron-clad pincers that liked to snatch their prey's legs.

"Show me your beauty!" Sho taunted as the battle resumed. "Bore me with simple terms and I'll CRUNCH and add you to the heap!"

"There is no problem with that, truthfully," Soren spoke. Raising an eyebrow, Sho saw the Branded conjure winds from right above the floor, underneath the Carcinopunk. He then raised his hand upwards, flipping the three critters on their backs. The crabs tried hard to remain grounded, but the force of Soren's Elwind overwhelmed their resistance. The crabs found themselves unable to flip back up, wiggling their legs and large pincers around.

Sho grunted. The Carcinopunk, or the species as a whole, were used to standing on their feet. With the crabs on the upper plane widely exposed to all attacks, Joshua and the others began launching attacks after attacks: Pichu with his Thunders electrocuting the small monsters, Chris with his Blizzara spells freezing them all, Soren with winds that flew downwards and sliced the exposed bodies, and Joshua with his large lances of light from the heavens. With the combined chain of light puck-passing from the lower plane, the Carcinopunk were dealt with too fast.

"Keep it up," Joshua encouraged the team.

The Game Master chuckled confidently. "Heh. Maybe you're not that slow after all…" he trailed off as he tossed more of his creations into the battlefield: a Death Metal Mink and a Eurobeat Boomer. Sho, though, thought that his enemies were taking the Taboo Noise way too quickly. Their rapid blows and combination wasn't factored in his plan to get rid of them. "(How come these binomials are deducting my own binomials? Dang, I need to add something to this…) …No! You're all zetta slow!" he yelled, warping to the battlefield himself. He chuckled, smirking evilly. "It's time to get into the mix…"

Neku noticed that Sho hadn't appeared in the lower plane. "That guy is still up there! Deal with him while we deal with the Taboo Noise!" he yelled over to the other group.

"Chris, you and Pichu should take on the other Noise," Soren instructed. "Our forces must be equally divided to survive this fight."

"Survive?" Joshua chuckled, starting his dialing moves on his phone. "We're here to win it, dear Soren."

As Chris and Pichu fought the Death Metal Mink and the Eurobeat Boomer, Sho flexed his fingers. "Can you catch up to me, zetta slow binomials?!" he taunted.

Joshua chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's not so bad for me," he jovially said as he started to shoot light beams from the sky…which Sho dodged expertly by warping several times across the air. The enigmatic teen narrowed his eyes. "Using the speed of light now? How annoying…"

Sho laughed, quickly dodging swirling winds from a strong tornado conjured by Soren. "So zetta slow!" he taunted them. "You're so zetta slow it makes me laugh! Can't you be any faster, zetta sons of digits?! No! Because you're soooo zetta slow!"

As Chris ducked to the side to avoid a whirlwind attack from the black mink, he grunted. "You and Sonic would become the best of pals, taunting everyone else for being slow…" Chris muttered, grunting afterwards when a Thunder spell that fell down on the mink. With Fox's light puck charged up to three times, the force of the attack stunned the monster into place.

Pichu crouched down, barely missing the ramming attack from the Eurobeat Boomer. Before the kangaroo could pass over, the Electric-type called forth a Thunder that impacted on the monster, making I screech. The little Smasher scampered off and looked up, seeing Sho dodging Joshua's light beams as he warped all over. "Ooooh! He keeps warping all over the place!" he complained. "How can we attack him like this?"

"If you can't reach the speed of light, you'll only come close to decimal units," Sho taunted, making Joshua narrow his eyes as he kept firing beams of light from the sky. "Your light is zetta slow, son of digits! You bring shame to the speed of light! You don't deserve the power…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Joshua said, sighing. "Guys, could you please land a hit on that guy? The others back on the lower plane have their hands full with the Taboo Noise." He winced, feeling that Neku was rammed by the Eurobeat Boomer. "My usefulness only goes so far…"

Soren kept firing whirlwinds from midair, though his blows were far slower and predictable than Joshua's. Chris took a small moment to attack with Fira, but he was even further hampered, as his spells took a considerable amount of time to finish. The Branded, nevertheless, kept conjuring winds from all angles to toss the Game Master off. "No, he is too fast," Soren muttered, calmly chanting in his mind. "I've never seen such a foe appear all over the place..."

Sho then warped behind Soren, surprising him. "Die, radians!" he proclaimed, shooting a wide array of spinning purple blades from his palm. The swirling energy balls spread out and struck each one of them, getting pushed down to the floor.

"Be careful!" Neku shouted from below. "Damn it, the light puck chain was broken! Let's start over with the blows!"

A rush of power dawned on Chris, having gathered enough power for a Fusion with Fox. "Fox! Should we use Lucario here?!" he shouted as he got up from the floor.

Fox somersaulted behind to dodge the ramming Eurobeat, grabbing its face with one hand to pull himself down and deliver a harsh kick on its back. With the push of his foot, the vulpine leaped back. "No!" he said, taking a grip on the Fusion pin. "Let's not use him at all. Instead, let's use our Fusion now!"

"R-roger!"

Sho then stopped warping. "What are yo-"

He was hastily interrupted as the planes merged together, putting his Taboo Noise and himself in the line of attack from ninety-nine shots from the duo. Wincing at the laser shots going through his body, one last charged shot pushed the Game Master down, but his Taboo Noise were erased at the end of the Fusion. The planes were divided again, Sho warping away from the scene to toss two more Taboo Noise: two Walls of Grizzly. "Have some more fun with my creations, radians!" he taunted, laughing loudly.

"Dammit!" Fox cursed.

Ike similarly grunted. "More of these beasts?!"

"Like I said before, we must defeat him to stop the influx of Taboo Noise," Soren said. "Don't stop now."

Joshua blankly stared at Sho and started to fling light beams from above, but the Game Master was back to his long warping session. "What a total drag," Joshua noted. "Can I also call you speed freak? It oddly suits you."

"I won't accept nicknames like that from little digits!" Sho said.

"Weird. Pi-Face, Math Fetishist, and Little Uno were accepted…"

The World Traveler was about to cast Fira on a Wall of Grizzly, but it got erased faster than he expected by Ike's charged fire sword blow. With Pichu miraculously shocking the other Wall of Grizzly multiple times by going around its large body, Chris eventually gave up on using spells, Sho's laughs annoying him greatly. The teen felt his life being depleted when he heard a loud grunt from his partner. "My spells take a lot of time to even reach him out… I need to change things a bit… Let's see…um… Maybe…" In a flash, he changed to the Agent job and unsheathed his revolver. "Long time I haven't used this job… Well, here goes!" He gulped and took aim of the warping Minamimoto. "(I think bullet shots are slower than Joshua's beams… It shouldn't matter. I can shoot a lot with this gun.)" He hesitated, trying to find a clean shot. "(…Wait, there's a skill right here I haven't used… Dammit, it's not a sure-shot one! But it can try to lower his speed…if it works on bosses…)"

Sho didn't seem to get tired, warping and laughing at once while dodging all the attacks trying to reach out for him. "Zetta slow, zetta slow, zetta slooooooooow!" he kept taunting them. "Can't you numbers even move up one level?"

"L-let's take those proverbial gloves off now!" Chris suddenly said. "Reckless Abandon!" From his revolver, a bullet encased in a red aura shot out…and barely landed on Sho's right cheek. The warping suddenly stopped as Sho looked quite perturbed at the sound of the shot. "Dammit!" Chris cursed.

"(U-urk…)" Sho, thought, found himself stopping for a moment. Something in his mind activated when he was barely shot. The sound of the bullet being fired by the revolver made him remember a scary event, but when a light beam struck him down, he grunted as Joshua and Soren joined forces by raining light beams and calling slicing whirlwinds. The Game Master was tossed off his game. "A-argh!"

Pichu blinked in surprise after delivering a Thunder powered up by two point seven times. "T-they're hitting him!" he said. "But…why did he stop? Chris failed to shoot him on the face!"

The World Traveler was similarly confused, staring at the gun smoke from his weapon. "It's really strange… Why did he hesitate?" he wondered.

Joshua grinned with an unsettling chuckle, his thumb busy while dialing numbers. "What matters is that he was paralyzed with fear when the bullet missed him," he said, unleashing several saintly beams that were accompanied by little angels coming from the sky. "Great job, Chris. I am impressed."

Chris looked up at the floating Player. "B-but I didn't even think…"

The silver-haired teen frowned with a smile. "Would you get with the shooting time already?"

"O-oh! R-right!" He raised his gun and aimed at the Game Master. "Reckless Abandon!"

Sho's eyes widened, and he quickly warped away from the debuffing shot. When he reappeared several feet to the left, he hesitated to move when he heard the shot being fired again. This moment allowed Soren's Elwind whirlwinds to trap the Game Master within a small tornado that was blasted by Joshua's light beams from the sky. Dialing several numbers in quick succession, the enigmatic teen swung his arms wide and delivered a beam that was accompanied with a feminine angel holding an even larger spear. The Game Master was punted by the spear on his chest that he was pinned down to the floor.

"You got him!" Pichu cheered, but then Sho warped back to their level, appearing right behind their backs. They quickly turned around and faced him, but Pichu was slashed upwards by the Wall of Grizzly. "U-uah!"

"Hey, Pichu! Care to take care of that one for me? Our lives ARE kind of tied together!" Ness complained, though he finished the Wall of Grizzly by shooting himself with PK Thunder, colliding hard against the large bear.

Sho grunted loudly and gritted his sharp teeth, seeing his fourth wave erased. "You hectopascals drive me nuts!" he yelled, getting their undivided attention. "I'm gonna have to divide ya by three!"

Chris gulped once he saw the Game Master's body throbbing with energy, slowly turning into something large and demonic. "I don't want to find out why he said three…"

His doubts were answered when Sho's being became a blurry image that gradually grew larger than any of them, standing over ten feet in height. When the blurriness went away, there stood a large black-and-white, bipedal lion with the same set of Noise-like legs and large, thin, yet thick arms with sharp claws. "EEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!" the large Taboo Noise, named Leo Cantus, roared down at them. "RADIANS…COME AT ME!" As if things weren't any better, the large lion-like Noise tossed three more Taboo Noise from his claws: three Eurobeat Boomer.

"Well…now things escalated quickly," Ness muttered.

Neku and Joshua had actually saved their Fusion for an unexpected occasion. This being one, the two agreed to use their powered Fusion. As the planes merged together, Joshua asked, "Neku, care to team up?"

"…Yeah," Neku muttered, albeit a bit solemnly as he recalled doubting Joshua as his killer.

Stunned into place, Leo Cantus and his Noise army looked up at the rain of icy and fiery meteors that created chaos and destruction above the rooftop. The kangaroo screeched distortedly as Leo Cantus covered himself with its arms, resisting the several blows crashing on him. Surprisingly, the Taboo Noise were erased, except for their boss. "Nice warm up, digits!" Leo Cantus taunted, chuckling to himself.

The planes got divided once more, except the Players of the upper plane watched the large bipedal lion warp away. A few seconds later, he reappeared in the lower plane with the others. The others gasped and backed off at his sudden appearance. "He's down here now!" Ike said, right before Leo Cantus warped behind him and kicked him down with a swift kick. "Ugh!"

"Zetta slow!" Leo Cantus declared. Hearing Fox's rushing boots from the side, he warped behind the vulpine and kicked down as well. "SOOO ZETTA SLOW!" he scowled down at the vulpine, until an energy lance slashed his side, courtesy of Neku's Ichimonji.

"Hey, pay attention to the others!" Neku taunted, but Leo Cantus appeared by his side and kicked the Player up into the sky, slashing him across the face as well.

"…" Joshua blinked and looked around the upper plane. "…Why aren't there any Noise up here?" he wondered aloud. "He's not tossing anything…"

"Huh… You're right," Soren noted. "Why did he…?"

"You little sons of digits need to be divided PERMANENTLY," Leo Cantus proclaimed, teleporting high above the Players on the lower plane. "Shut up now and face division! No pucks made out of light will help you cheat!"

Suddenly, it became clear. "He is depriving us from starting a light puck chain," he muttered. "Damn him…"

Joshua sighed, landing back on the floor. "No interventions, huh?" he said.

With no light puck to back the ones in the lower plane, they were wasting a lot of time delivering blows that weren't powerful enough to deplete a sizeable chunk of his health. Random episodes of pain went through the partners in the upper plane as they witnessed the fight from a safe, but silent distance. Neku was slashed up by an upward kick, followed by Leo Cantus grabbing his body and slamming him down on the floor, causing Joshua to wince in pain. "G-gyah!" Neku muffled a loud grunt.

Fox came dashing from him, using Fox Illusion and slashing the beast across his body. However, Leo Cantus warped away immediately and came rushing behind the vulpine instead, slashing him across the back with both claws. "A-aah!" Chris felt the severe pain on his back as well, and then he found out he was sweating and panting. "I-I…don't' feel so good… Fox…let me…" He noticed that his vision was affected by his current condition. As if he was staring at a television losing signal, his surroundings were distorting into random static. The effect was solely affecting his eyesight, since the others didn't see it. They did see the effect whenever they got pushed to their limits, but the sight was uncommon outside of very dreadful battles. "H-here!" Chris took out a Cure Drink, revitalizing his partner's health.

Seeing the soda can, Pichu did the same. Soren, on the other hand, couldn't use the Cure Drink pin, being one of the pins that were barred from his unknown ability to use a certain kind of pins. Joshua was also in the situation. "Thanks!" Fox said, feeling his body healed completely.

He blinked. He was near a critical point that a simple Cure Drink couldn't heal to maximum health. Then Fox remembered that his last blow on Leo Cantus had sent a light puck to Chris, who then used a healing pin that sent the light puck back without having delivered a blow. With the light puck empowering his soul, Fox ran away from Leo Cantus. "The healing pins can still pass light pucks around!" he said, causing Leo Cantus to gasp.

The others in the upper plane blinked in realization. "Nice find," Joshua said, nodding a few times. "I guess we're not that far away from making a difference."

Leo Cantus back-stepped several times to gain some distance. "You zeroes can't have ones added up! I let you go and you'll mess up my factoring process!" He tossed three Taboo Noise on both planes, all of them turning into Carcinopunk. "There we go! Three is better than one!"

"Here we go again…" Ness duly noted, taking out his bat.

"Oh my," Joshua suddenly spoke, floating back up and readying his phone. Narrowing his eyes, he warped back to safe floor and saw one Carcinopunk turning into a spinning blade that shot itself to the spot where he was floating. Once the crab was gone, he floated back up. "Not to be rude, but your math is off. Clearly, we're eight over four," he pointed out.

"The answer is point two!" Leo Cantus gleefully responded, to which he got odd looks from the Players in the lower plane. "…Hey, wait a zetta second!" Suddenly, a Carcinopunk smacked him right on the face, having been shot by Ness's bat. The armored crab managed to deal a fair amount of damage due to the fact it was heavy. Shaking his head, Leo Cantus transmogrified into Sho Minanimoto. He chuckled, with his face looking mildly beaten up. "Zetta slow!" he taunted Ike as he dodged a slashing blow from Ragnell. The mercenary felt a palm on his back until several blades of energy shot out, slashing him across. "Die, radian!"

"Y-you damned…" Ike tried to tolerate the aching pain on his back. Secretly, his hand went for his Fusion pin, expecting Sho to attack again. His answer proved to be true when Sho reappeared in front of him, wide palm ready to shoot.

"Get derived!" Sho laughed.

"No, YOU get derived! …Whatever that means!" Ike shot back, tapping into the Fusion pin's power. Both he and Soren quickly reunited and shielded themselves from the energy blades shooting out from the Game Master's palm. Once three of them connected with Ike's sword, Ike slammed down his sword and unleashed a potent tornado that crashed right into Sho's body. As the Game Master grunted loudly in pain, the tornado took a sharp turn and went after the Carcinopunk on the back, trapping them into the slicing winds. Despite the severe blow, the Game Master and its cohorts were only beaten up badly.

Sho landed on his feet, still being pushed by the dying winds while his creations managed to keep their spots by falling hard. Noticing that there was a trail of blood on his lower lip, he grunted to himself and warped to the upper plane, standing far away from the battle taking place on the other battleground. Wiping the bloody trail, he scoffed. "I don't get this…" he muttered. "How in the world are these zeroes overwhelming my factorizations and simplifications?! They were supposed to fall off the dividend by the time they started…"

"That's because we possess the only vital point you're missing from your 'perfect' being," Joshua spoke, floating right behind Sho. The Game Master felt a chill down his spine just hearing the enigmatic teen's voice, but none of the others noticed as they were too busy handling the Carcinopunk. Soren wasn't allowed enough time to use winds as the crabs had been somehow informed that he was bad news to them. They were quickly crowding around his feet, trying to snatch him within their pincers. "What was that again? …Oh, teamwork."

"S-so?!" Sho said, turning around and stepping back, staring intently at Joshua's smug look. The mere mention of the word sent him to near-insanity. "Teamwork is garbage; an unneeded expression that makes no difference within the formula of perfection! I discarded that obsolete term because it only slows me down to a minimal zetta level!"

Joshua crossed his arms, cocking his head to the side. "Then why is it that our use of teamwork is driving you to high end?" he asked.

The Game Master drew his hand back to prepare a barrage of energy blades. "Because it makes no sense to me! Your…stubbornness to overcome my test shouldn't be this problematic! You should've dropped dead into the sea of imaginary numbers several minutes ago!"

"Hmm… Well, I'm not drowning," Joshua replied with a silly grin. "Your math is off, therefore."

"MY MATH IS NOT OFF!" the Game Master snarled, thrusting his palm forward to release even faster blades of energy. Once they shot out at a faster speed, Joshua chuckled ominously and warped right in front of Sho. "G-guh!" he grunted once his enemy's phone was shoved in front of his face.

"Say cheese. This'll be a keeper," Joshua said, calmly pressing a small button to release a blinding flash from his device.

Sho's eyes widened as the force of the flash blinded his eyesight. He grabbed his tearful eyes and fell down on his back, having an episode of squirming on the ground. "SEEEEEEEEIZUREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he bellowed to the sky. As he yelled, Joshua warped back into the air and called forth several blasting beams of light from the sky, falling down on full force. When Neku's powered light puck arrived just in the nick of time, the teen dialed up more than eleven numbers, allowing him to pin the Game Master to the ground with a large lance held by a female angel. Along with him, the other Carcinopunk were skewered mercilessly by three lances of light, helping the others get rid of them.

Before Joshua could tell them to attack, Sho recovered quickly and transformed into his large Noise form once more. Growling, he tossed three more Taboo Noise into the air, turning into three Eurobeat Boomers. Feeling the planes merge together, the large black lion turned around, getting smacked right on the face by Ness and Pichu's combined Fusion move. The pulsating sphere of electricity went through his body, just as the lined kangaroos standing behind him. After receiving the full blow, the planes were divided again.

Sho warped back to the lower plane and grabbed Ness's small body, lifting him up from the ground. "YOU ZETTA SON OF DIGIT IS MISSING A NUMBER: ZERO!" he growled, slamming Ness harshly on the ground. The force of the impact was so strong that Ness bounced back into the air, where Sho followed by slashing and slamming him down back to the concrete, creating a hole.

"A-ah… D-dang…" Ness muttered, trying to stand up. He took out a Cure Drink from behind, but he gasped when he saw the lion's looming shadow giving him shade. Looking behind, Ness froze as a clawed foot fell down.

The hit was intercepted by Neku using his Ichimonji pin. The lance of energy pushed the foot away, nearly making Leo Cantus slip. Ness quickly scampered off and took the Cure Drink to recover energy, hearing the lion roar a distorted sound. When Leo Cantus looked back at Neku, several bullets of energy coming from the teen's palm collided against the beast's grey chest. Leo Cantus shielded himself with arms and looked over at Neku's fierce glare, asking, "You just can't let this go, huh, binomial?!"

"You killed me, you bastard!" Neku shouted back. "I'm not holding anythin' back against you!"

"What's a little worthless zero compared to me?!"

Neku took that as a heavy insult. He used a new pin – called Frozen Cool – that had the image of an icy stalagmite rising from the ground. With a right palm engulfed in a blue aura, Neku raised it, erecting a stalagmite made of ice from below Leo Cantus. Getting a stalagmite with a sharp end impaling your crotch hurt more than it sounded, as Leo Cantus roared loudly as he was pushed into the air even. Moreover, the attack didn't end there. The stalagmite of ice wasn't fully erected. It took three mental pushes that poked the large beast three equal times before the ice structure shot upwards, slashing his body.

Leo Cantus landed back on the ground, trying to fight the temptation to hold his crotch with his claws. "H-how dare you try to divide me like that?!" he complained to Neku.

Then he noticed Neku's palm was still glowing, rather stronger.

"Oh, sh-"

"Up goes the big kitty!" Neku taunted, erecting one more stalagmite from the ground. Because Leo Cantus was still fazed by the blow, he couldn't warp away, and was struck by the attack at full force. It hurt even more once Neku got the light puck back from Joshua, only to deliver it back with charged potency. Feeling his Fusion pin pulsating with power, Neku knew he could use his attack with Joshua.

"Don't," Joshua muttered.

"What?" Neku asked, blinking, as he erected one last icicle from the ground, causing torturing pain to the lion in front of him.

"Trust me, Neku…" Joshua trailed off, busying himself with the Eurobeat Boomers. "…We can go higher than this together. Just give me more time and we'll have this fight in the bag."

The word "trust" made Neku feel sorry for distrusting Joshua throughout the week. It was only fair to give him his full trust now, seeing as their lives were about to be spared once more. "…Alright," Neku said, nodding to himself. As he let the icicle fly upwards into the sky, the large lion fell down back to the floor, grimacing with a sickening expression. He warped to the upper plane.

"Z-zetta…low…" he muttered, turning back into his human form. "…Too zetta…low… NO!" He mustered up his energy to stand upright in midair. "Get erased by these zeroes now and I'll never hear the end of it…"

"Y-you won't get away!" he heard Pichu yelling. Grunting and turning around, Sho dodged a charged Skull Bash from the little Electric-type. When Pichu fell back, he pouted and looked up at him. "You're not supposed to dodge!"

Soren felt the need to comment from afar. "Perhaps if you didn't yell, this wouldn't have happened," he said, frowning afterwards. "Honestly now. When you're fighting somebody, you need to be as stealthy as possible. Don't shout loudly. That'll give the enemy ideas and time to react…"

Chris knew Soren had indirectly jabbed the entirety of a Pokémon battle. The jab though made Chris think about a Pokémon battle situation. "(Actually, he's right about it. Shouting moves out loud sounds like a suicidal idea in practice… Maybe I should try to come up with a strategy for Lucario,)" he thought as he looked away, ignoring the rushing ramming blow from a Eurobeat Boomer, meaning to knock him off the building seeing as the creature quite idiotically fell to its death. Fox managed to see the event that he glared and grunted on instinct. "(Hmm, if we could use telepathy during a battle, our opponents wouldn't even have an idea of what we'd do to counteratta-)"

"Chris, would you please stop daydreaming in the middle of the battle now," Soren suggested in a deadpan tone. "You were this close to getting knocked off the building."

The World Traveler noticed the Branded was next to him. "O-oh! S-sorry! Really!" he apologized.

"It's like you don't want to revive."

"Sorry…"

"Stop apologizing a lot."

Chris opened his mouth, but he opted to nod silently, focusing back on the battle until he heard a roar coming from the right. Sho had once again turned into his large Noise form. "I must eliminate the random hectopascals! It's the only way to solve this…" he growled, warping away from getting blasted by Joshua's beams.

Joshua then gasped when a claw grabbed his throat, lashing him down to the floor. Gasping for breath at the blow, Joshua pushed himself up, getting kicked harshly on the back of his head by Leo Cantus. Now thrown into the air, Joshua tried to regain his stance, but Leo Cantus grabbed his frail body once more and spun twin in midair to slam and bounce Joshua against the floor. The sudden assault of attacks was enough to put Neku and Joshua in critical health, being pointed out by the blurry static filling Joshua's vision. "N-Neku, do something…!" he gasped out, trying to stand up as the rushing claws from the lion Noise went after him.

The other two Eurobeat Boomers ignored going after the other Players and instead focused entirely on Neku and Joshua. The Smashers noticed the sharp turns that the monsters took and gave chase to them. One Noise managed to stop Neku from drinking a Cure Drink to restore life, adding more damage. "D-damn!" Neku yelled as his back slid across the floor to the northern small ledge of the rooftop.

"I should've done this little math trick when I had the chance!" Leo Cantus said, missing a swift kick on Joshua's head as the teen rolled aside and managed to stand on one knee. "The two of you were the ones disrupting my formula process all along during the whole week. Eliminating you will give me the apples of the faraway tree, and I'll reign over gravity!"

"That made no sense whatsoever to me," Ike muttered under his breath as he went after the kangaroo.

"Neku, Joshua, move!" Ness yelled to encourage the two.

On the upper plane, Chris stopped moving when an idea crossed his mind. Changing to his Fonic Hymn User job, he held out his rod towards Joshua as the others went to the western portion of the rooftop. "Holy power, come to me!" he chanted. "First Aid!"

As Joshua forced his pained body to roll around to dodge the heavy falls from the kangaroo, he was then engulfed in a warm green light that restored some life back to him. He was still in pain, but it gave him enough energy to keep up with the monsters bent on erasing him first. Although Joshua was feeling better, he felt several blows coming from the lower plane where Neku was stomped on twice by the falling kangaroo. Due to this, the healing effect was overwhelmed with more pain. Around that time, the physical attackers managed to catch up with the Noise to diverge their attention from their prey.

Leo Cantus was struck by slicing gales colliding against his stomach. Growling, he looked at Soren, who didn't move from his spot. "I'm dominating gravity!" he said, warping over to the Branded's side. Narrowing his eyes, Soren swiftly stepped back from a quick roundhouse kick to the face. "Any tree can drop an apple, so I'll drop the freaking moon on you!"

By the time Neku and Joshua managed to regain their senses, they saw their vision blurry with static. Through the vision, they witnessed the Smashers fending off the Noise with all their might. Neku had more willpower than Joshua to stand back up, but Joshua managed to do the same, wiping the horrendous sweat on his forehead. "Neku…no more Cure Drinks left?" Joshua called.

"Sorry… I'm empty of 'em," Neku called weakly.

"It's…not something I should hate you for…" He tried to move his arm with his phone towards Leo Cantus' direction. The enigmatic teen noticed that Soren's dodging came to an end when he was kicked down to the floor. "Look…Neku…let me dial up one more time…and we'll end the battle…"

Neku's face darkened under his hair. "Just do it… We don't have the light puck on play, though…"

"It's okay… I need to match a card with the right number for this to work…"

"I'm not the one who likes taking shortcuts using made-up ideas," Leo Cantus said, hastily grabbing Soren by the neck and placing him over the abyss beyond the rooftop. Chris and Pichu gasped and tried to intervene by rushing over to them, but the large lion used a free foot to slash them back. "But sometimes…some numbers can turn into good mach numbers when falling down under the effect of gravity!"

"Damned…bastard…" Soren coughed out. "It's…no surprise to me you'd do this anyway…"

Ike fell sick, seeing through Soren's strained eyes the murderous lion holding him from his throat. "LET HIM GO!" the mercenary demanded.

"Hahahahaha!" Leo Cantus laughed. "You there, radian! Check your multiplications again! In your POV, it's illogical to add that to this now!" He was steadily letting go of Soren's neck. "In MY POV, it's the real answer!" Many discouraging words were yelled at him to stop. If Soren fell down to his death, Ike would follow suit. The Game Master would eliminate both in one shot, and then he could do the same with the other Players. When Soren felt the grip on his neck lessening, he tried to hold himself to the arm as best as he could. "Fall into the sea of imaginary num-!"

Several pieces of random junk fell down on his head. The junk didn't exactly make him stagger or get hurt at all, but he nonetheless grunted at the worthless attack and looked back at Joshua's unnerving grin. The teen was standing up and panting heavily. "Hello there…" Joshua greeted.

Neku felt his heart skip a beat when an absolutely rush of power called out to him from the Fusion pin. He remembered that Joshua forbid him to use their most powerful move for some reason, but when he took out the Fusion pin, it all became clear that Joshua's mysterious nature was playing for his benefit. The blank pin didn't have meteors crossing across. Instead, there was a purple moon falling down southwards while engulfed within a yellow aura that looked like it was on fire.

Leo Cantus growled loudly and pulled Soren back to the floor with a quick pull, making him stumble. The lion quickly warped and held Joshua by his neck instead, putting him above the abyss. Despite this, Joshua kept grinning confidently. "You shot me in the arm that one time…" Leo Cantus muttered under his breath. "I'll crush you against the gravity far below my level!"

Neku wasn't going to have any of it, though, as he clutched the Fusion pin to activate its psyche.

Right after that, Leo Cantus felt tremendous power coming from Joshua. The clawed hands that held his neck were trembling and separating from the teen. It was a strong psychic force coming from Joshua himself that pushed Leo Cantus away, skidding back to a halt. Suddenly, his feet left the floor, and he looked down in horror. A moment ago, he proclaimed his dominance over gravity, but now gravity was against him, as he tried to warp back down. It was futile to resist the invisible force that held him in midair. Growling and trying to flail his arms, he looked forward and saw a confident Joshua floating over the abyss, coming back to the rooftop.

The planes then merged together, and both Neku and Joshua were standing close to each other. Though both had radically different looks, it sent a chill down the lion's spine all the same. "YOU RADIANS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO RULE GRAVITY! I DO!" Leo Cantus shouted.

When the planes merged, the Smashers noticed they were reunited as well. Ike quickly went over to Soren's side to check up on him until he focused back to the battle. As they saw Neku's right hand glowing with an ominous aura, a large shadow loomed over the rooftop. Looking around, the shadow didn't just cover the rooftop. In fact, it also stretched out across all of Shibuya as the shadow gradually covered all buildings and streets. Confused as to what would cause such an event, the Smashers came across another odd event: the background was turning red in color. Along with the color change, Pichu saw rocks floating up from all around the building, and he even felt like his body was pulled up… When everyone looked up at the source, they were undecided as to whether to scream or be silent at the whole thing.

The cause of the shadow was the moon itself, essentially turning into a fiery asteroid that pulled everything to itself with its presence, falling down into Earth's orbit. Because it looked like the moon knew no friends or enemies and was classified as the mother of all "Oh, Crap" moments, Chris instinctively fainted first on his back, followed by Pichu and Ness. Ike, Soren, and Fox were just there, frozen in utter shock as the large planetoid approached the sky from outer space. The fact they weren't pulled from the floor was a clear sign they were somehow going to be spared from the imminent chaos. Still, watching destruction and damnation would leave a heavy mental scar in their minds.

"…The moon," Ike muttered loud enough.

"Joshua and Neku are bringing the frickin' moon down," Fox added in a deadpan tone.

"…Certainly, he's some sort of omnipotent being," Soren commented, admiring the terrorizing event unfolding by itself.

"WHAT THE…" Leo Cantus trailed off.

Neku's hand glowed stronger as he said, "Another world awaits…" and lifted the large Noise with two fingers high into the sky towards the moon.

"And you're going," Joshua finished, snapping his fingers. The snap caused the moon's descend faster as Leo Cantus's fleeting dot in the sky turned into a small meteor that was meant to stop the moon from destroying all life in Japan. The Players heard his loud screams echo from afar until it crashed against the moon.

Then the moon blew up in a massive explosion. The flames of disaster rained down upon the sky, but the destruction and large chunks of the moon vanished as soon as they reached the outline of Shibuya's buildings. The Smashers blinked and looked around at the falling debris sparing Shibuya from total destruction. However, one piece from the destruction did fall down and create a crater on the floor. It was Leo Cantus's blurry being disappearing into black and white static that all that was left from the impact was a semi-conscious Sho Minamimoto spewing smoke from every limb of his body. His Noise form was terminated, but so was the battle.

Neku was also similarly shocked at the whole event as his trusty partner Joshua flicked a small strand of his hair and said, "That was quick."

Worried that they had offed the moon from existence, Neku looked up. The moon was floating there in space during the afternoon, which meant that the moon that had fell down was just Joshua's power taking the form of the real deal. He sighed very slowly, not noticing the grading Reapers hiding behind the rooftop's door. Nodding to each other one time too many, they slapped a Star rank on the report. "Dude, they owned his lion butt," the first Reaper said.

"Ah, that felt sooooooooo good to see," the second Reaper said.

The third Reaper tossed a bag with popcorn behind. "This made my day, guys. It really did," he commented. Pleased with themselves, the planes then went back to their original form…

Kingdom Hearts 3D – SOMEDAY –Kingdom Mix-

The battle was finally over.

With a triumphant return to the UG, the Players stared at Sho appearing in midair and dropping to one knee, panting heavily and coughing some drool mixed with blood. The fainted ones woke up and looked around. "What…happened?" Chris asked.

"I was having this weird dream where Joshua was too OP for our own good when I saw the MOON falling down on us…" Ness added.

"Uh…that did happen," Joshua said, flashing a small smile.

"…MAAAAAN, not even Mewtwo and Lucario put together could pull that off!" Pichu squeaked in realization.

Chris felt sick as Fox helped him back to his feet. When he looked at Sho panting heavily, he gasped. "H-how the… He's still alive after that?!"

"Not for long," Joshua said, stepping forward. "His Noise form was eradicated. He used that as a substitute to delay his erasure. Some of the damage from that final attack managed to pass over to his human form." He chuckled. "That doesn't change anything, though. We won this week's Game with flying colors."

Neku wanted to smile, but he held his composure. He calmly stepped forward and said, "It's over now. You lost the fight. Time for you to get going."

Minamimoto grunted and wiped a small trace of blood from his lips. "Hahhh..." He stood back up, struggling to support himself on his feet. "You're zetta persistent..."

Chris couldn't hold up the huge relief that he chuckled loudly. Falling moon and laser beams from the heavens aside, victory was achieved once more. "We did it!" he said. "We won the Game once more!"

"Isn't it a little too early to celebrate?" Soren asked before everyone could break into cheers. "It'll be a victory once Kitaniji holds the side of his deal. Let us not get our hopes so high."

All excitement died down, but Chris smiled a bit. "I-I know… Sorry," he said, seeing the others chuckle at him. He blushed embarrassed, but he couldn't help but join them anyway.

Joshua looked back at Sho. "Aww, what's wrong?" he cooed. "Weren't you going to erase us at the speed of light? Thinking back, you failed the first second of the fight. What a bad liar. That calculation was fated to go wrong."

"Heh heh heh..."

The Game Master, despite having lost the fight, muttered a dark chuckle. The others stared his way confused until he broke out laughing to the sky. "Haaa ha ha ha haaa!" he laughed, his body shaking with pleasure. "3.14159265358979323846264338337950288419716939937 51058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170 67982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408 12848111!" he broke into a long detailed form of pi.

"What the hell?" Neku said as he and the others stepped back cautiously. When they noticed, they appeared somewhere else on the rooftop. The Players were backed into the northeast corner of the floor, effectively standing between the Game Master and a large abyss of air that had the city down below.

"Admittedly, he did get a moon fall and explode on his head," Ike said.

"I'm sure that didn't have much effect on this laughing fit of his…" Soren trailed off.

"The world's made up of numbers!" Minamimoto declared at their faces. "I've been reverse-engineering my desired solution all along! And here it is!" Raising his hand and feeling that his body was starting to separate from reality, Sho smirked again, and then the Players felt an ominous yet powerful feeling manifesting in the Game Master's hand. Their bodies involuntarily shook; a feeling that was close to fear.

Joshua gasped loudly. "Look out! That psych's a Lv. i Flare!" he warned them.

"The hell is a Lv. i Flare?!" asked Fox.

"I-I don't know but it sounds pretty bad!" squeaked Pichu as he hid behind Ness.

"I am victorious!" Sho said, bringing his hand in front of him, targeting them all.

Neku looked behind him and saw the area they were cornered. "Nowhere to run!" he said. "I-is this it?! We're gonna lose after winning?!" He gritted his teeth in frustration as light began to intensify, giving them the illusion that scrambling around the floor would prove to be a fatal decision.

In the span of three seconds, so much happened during that critical moment.

Joshua knew that everyone would get erased by the nasty attack from the crazy Game Master, unless he was to push them back down from the building. With a frozen smile, Joshua stepped in front of Neku and pushed him back to the group. The simply push was enough to cause a long chain for them to fall off the building due to the fact that the surprised Neku bumped clumsily over Ness and kicked him back by accident, who then took Pichu along with his fall. The loner teen tried to grab someone to hold himself from falling, but he ended up taking an unsuspecting Ike by his wrist. Soren gasped and tried to grab Ike, but because the difference in weight was too much, the Branded ended up getting pulled from the floor. Chris quickly tried to reach out for Ness and Pichu, but he had leaned out too much that he slipped down. By the time he was stretching his hand out to his partner, Fox was the only one standing…until he was back-kicked squarely on his butt by Joshua, falling down as well.

From the position they were, they looked back at the top of the skyscraper to see a blinding white void consuming the rooftop where Joshua was fully opening his arms to shield them from the incoming explosion. Grinning over his left shoulder, Joshua said his parting words to Neku. "But Neku... I thought you couldn't afford to lose," he said, looking back at the mesmerizing light about to make a full-head collision to his frail body. "Give up on yourself…and you give up on the world."

They watched Joshua's frame disappear within a massive explosion that blinded their vision completely. As their screams filled the fleeting air and their bodies rapidly fell down the large building, Neku screamed, "JOSHUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

After the bewildering event was over with, their bodies vanished from the UG's existence. Back on top of the rooftop, soot covered the entire floor where some spots were almost left untouched. The spot where Sho Minamimoto was standing was now empty with a print of his shoes' outline. On the spot where Joshua had been, only one item was spared from the explosion. It was his cellphone, broken into pieces. The screen was lifelessly holding onto the memory chip until it died out, along with its owner…

Joshua has been erased…

Dear God's Pad

The World Ends with You – Amnesia

From thin air, Neku and the Smashers fell down on the flat floor. Grunting in pain at the sudden change of settings, they each got up and were glad to see that they were still in one piece even though they were falling from an incredible height. "We… We're here again…" Pichu muttered, grabbing his head in pain. "…"

"…" Neku ignored the fact. He instead thought back on Joshua sacrificing his life for them all. Likewise, everyone else felt a sense of guilt that they never felt towards Joshua. But then, when he found himself standing in the saintly-looking space, he gasped. "The Game ended!? When? How? Joshua! Where's Joshua?"

Soren frowned. "Erased, I'm afraid," he pointed out. Even the likes of Soren were ashamed of what had happened moments ago. Not that he liked Joshua in any way, but he felt that at least apologizing to Joshua for getting the brunt end of their suspicions was in order. "He…stepped in front of the attack and pushed us off from the building." Neku blinked and stomped the floor once in anger.

"This is so horrible…" Chris muttered. "We got the pass at the cost of his life… It's just like Ike said before," he said, and Ike shut his eyes in realization. "You win, and then you lose…"

"Worst of all, we never got to apologize formally to Joshua," Ness said, looking a bit sad. "He was a pain in the rear way too many times, but I don't like not apologizing to somebody in time." He grabbed his head. "If…if I knew that crazy math fetishist was going to pull this…!"

"I just had it with this stupid game!" Fox suddenly growled. "Everyone is laying down their lives for us because we can't seem to predict their moves in time! We could've prevented a lot of those events!"

Chris gasped. "N-no, nobody is laying down their lives!" he protested. "Joshua…even Sota and Nao did-"

"It felt like that to me," Ike interrupted, making some of them gasp. He was very conflicted over the thought of the countless of people dying. "…Even the Reapers that were erased by Sho's Taboo Noise could be seen as bait so that we could make it. I know for a fact a few people were fighting for our cause, too. It doesn't help all Players and Reapers are doing their jobs to survive that it makes everyone look like we're unconditionally helping one another under the same circumstances…" He sighed slowly, depressing the mood in the air. "I'm so disturbed by the death rate…"

"Shhh."

Blinking at the hushing sound, the seven Players turned to the left to see a pleased Megumi appearing from the light. Some of them looked blank, but the others were shooting him with glares. "Kudos. Victorious yet again," he said with open arms. "Yet another week where only you win the Game while the rest are departed to the afterlife. Let me take a moment to congratulate you, and to thank you for your assistance."

"Assistance?" Ike repeated, confused. "We never…"

"Ah, but did you not rid us of Sho Minamimoto, the rebel?"

They blinked once and exchanged looks. "The Grim Heaper was a rebel?" Neku questioned. "He wasn't on your side after all?"

Megumi burrowed his hands into his pockets. "The moment he said I was garbage should've told you everything," he said, chuckling. "He was always not one for teamwork. I helped myself with the rules of the Game by telling you to do your stuff."

Neku realized soon what he meant with the last words. "Then that last mission-"

"Was issued by me," Megumi finished.

"You were using us?" Fox asked, throwing his hands to the sides. "Geez! That's another one to add to the list about what I think of you all!"

"Not to mention this manipulation indirectly led to Joshua…" Neku gasped. "What did you do to Joshua?"

Megumi shook his head. "Joshua is no more."

As Neku grimaced and lowered his face, the others did the same, lamenting Joshua's loss. "I…I knew it…" Pichu sniffed. "There was no way Joshua could've survived that massive explosion back there…"

"He took the brunt of Minamimoto's attack," Megumi said as they kept averting his gaze. "Both boy and lion vanished. Nuked to oblivion, no doubt."

Neku felt sick in his stomach even more when pressed with the fact. "Then he died...protecting me?" he muttered. "Why would he do that?"

Megumi shrugged his shoulders. "He must have had some affection for you as a partner," he stated. "He was a fool, though. No partner merits that kind of sacrifice."

"Unbelievable…" Ike trailed off. "Even after all the things we whispered behind his back, he decides to just put his life on the line? That's not how this works!" he complained. "There must've been another reason for Joshua doing that for our sake!"

"He liked you very much," Megumi said, turning his head to Neku. "Especially you."

Neku felt like crap when he was told the importance he was to Joshua. "...I did this," he muttered under his breath. "(I blamed him. He's gone because of me. I accused him of shooting me, but he was innocent! I made him feel like he owed me something. I didn't... We didn't trust him. My partner. I didn't even apologize. I'm the worst... I never told Joshua I'm sorry.)"

"And we never apologized in the end…" Chris reminded them. Neku wasn't feeling any better. "…I'm so horrible…"

"I can see you're taking this hard," Megumi commented. "But you needn't blame yourself. Technically, he never entered the Game. He didn't actually exist in the UG." He held out a hand. "How could he disappear...if he was never here in the first place?"

The headphones-wearing teen glared up at the Conductor. "That's not funny!" he called out.

"And," Megumi continued, "we mustn't overlook his grave transgressions." They were all taken off-guard by the implication until he followed with his explanation. "Meddling with the UG from the outside? Breaking into the Game? The living people are not eligible to play." He pointed a finger at the seven Players. "And now you, too, must be punished...for abetting him in his crimes."

They gasped, naturally, because the truth stung painfully. "P-punished!?" Neku repeated.

"With erasure."

"What!?"

Nobody was too pleased to hear the accusatory words directed at their ears, even less so with the "e" word. No one was as pissed as Fox, whose gut feeling told him that there was no "effing" way they were going back to life no matter how hard he tried to muster up his hope. Immediately before he could turn into a mindless animal and hurl himself to Megumi and strangle him, Ike and Chris grabbed his arms while Ness opened his palms to put a psychic restraint on his mouth because he heard when he managed to yell out "You BIIIIIIIIIIIII-!" too loudly in time, which was still echoing within his bloodthirsty mouth. Pichu was the only one who wisely stepped away, shaking in fear.

Soren ignored the rabid beast wearing clothes and narrowed his eyes, grunting with his response. "I knew it. This was bound to be mentioned," the Branded grimaced. "Joshua's actions were far too suspicious that it'd warrant us to get punished for cooperating with him."

Ness yelped, somehow finding himself straining with his psychic lock on Fox's mouth. "What?!" he said, utterly shocked. "N-no way, don't kid! We made it this far with a far better track record! Now we won that Noise fight and our prize is…ERASURE?!" He looked frightened at Megumi. "P-please, spare our lives! Oh man, I never thought I'd say this! Please, don't! I'm too young to die!" To the surprise of many, he started whimpering.

Megumi kept staring at their wary looks, finding guilty pleasure in making Fox explode with rage by now. Grinning amused at the scene, the sadistic Conductor then said, "...At least, were I to go strictly by the book."

All activity quickly seized. The seven Players fell silent, and even the vulpine stopped trying to run and scream his head off. "…Pardon?" a much calmer Fox uttered as Ike and Chris let go of his arms.

"But lucky for you, we repay our debts," Megumi said. "The Composer has generously decided to enter you in one final Game with a penalty. You may not refuse."

It wasn't like hearing the fact that another week full of peril was the greatest gift of all. It was entirely the opposite.

"…And exactly how is that any better?" Soren asked deadpan, ignoring the blood-curling scream from a re-angered Fox. This time though, he managed to get an early head start from his restrainers until Ike and Chris lunged themselves at his back and pinned him down under their combined weight. Ness then put the lock back on, wondering why a normal person could input so much energy against a psychic move.

Neku gritted his teeth, realizing that Shiki's return was delayed further. "Another Game? But what about Shiki?" he asked until demanding, "What happens to her!?"

"Nothing," the Conductor said. "The last Game is null and void. Your entry fee will be carried over, as well as their condition to keep protecting you at all costs."

Neku looked back at the others, and they looked back at him. "That's... That's the penalty?" he said.

Megumi disapproved. "No. Your penalty is disqualification from all Games beyond the next. You will not be allowed to play again..." he trailed off for a bit to add, "again. Rejoice, for this shall be the final time you'll get to go back to life for real. All of you will have the benefit assured without strings attached." Despite the "good" news, Fox kept screaming inside his mouth, and Chris started shedding tears.

"Y-you better keep your words this time!" Ike yelled from the floor. "N-next time, I'll let this beast under my body punch your glasses!" Pissed, Fox used the backside of his left foot to kick the mercenary.

The loner teen looked at Megumi. "This is our last shot?" he asked.

Megumi nodded. "Now, I must collect your entry fee," he said while staring at everyone in the room. The fact he was staring at everybody meant that no one was safe from getting a personal value taken away.

All actions soon seized once more. The trio stopping Fox thanked themselves that he stopped squirming, but it was too brief to relax. "W-what?!" asked Pichu in tears. "N-nooooooo! No more, please, no more!"

Neku was just as shocked at the requirement. "I... I already paid!" he said. "They already paid with me as their entry fee!"

Megumi adjusted his glasses. "For your last entry, yes," he said. "But one entry fee is required for each Game. Composer's rules. I'm afraid I can't bend them." He gazed at the Smashers. "Oh, the Composer doesn't want to let you go free with the last requirement this time. You're also subject to the rule."

"Aww, crap!" Ness groaned, his team looking sick.

Neku started to feel very pressured at the odds of surviving the next game. Things couldn't get any worse, he thought. They were already bad as they were. "Dammit... What else can you possibly take from me?" he finally asked, wanting to end the torture.

Megumi's glasses flashed. "It's already been taken, along with theirs."

"...What?"

Before anybody could say anything, the Conductor's guests fell unconscious. They managed to see a satisfied grin from Kitaniji's lips just right before slipping away from reality…

?'s Week – Sensible, Senseless

Scramble Crossing

The sound of the street light for pedestrians turned green, and people started walking across the busy streets. Opening his eyes, Neku saw himself lying down on the concrete as the living's feet mercilessly stepped through his body. Getting up and dusting his clothes, Neku looked around the area…

The Smashers were not with him.

He was alone in the middle of Shibuya; alone for the Noise to hunt him down with no worries about the Player retaliating without a partner, or even friendly protection from another pair.

"Dammit... Why... WHY!?" he bellowed to the sky.

Towa Records

After waking up and noticing that Fox and the others were nowhere in sight, Chris started to panic. He was alone. The people in the RG walking around him didn't make him feel any better, because to them he was an invisible ghost. Bracing himself, the World Traveler looked around. "F-Fox?!" he called out, walking south to Cadoi City. "Pichu? I-Ike? Ne-ess?! Soren?! NEKU?!"

It was no use. No matter how loud he yelled, there was no response. He thought that the loud people yelling and talking drowned his own yell, but he continued yelling as he padded his way to the south.

"(W-was this my entry fee?)" Chris wondered. "(Did…did they take Fox away from me?)" he thought alarmed until, to add insult to the injury, he bumped hard into an invisible wall that blocked him from proceeding to Cadoi City. It was a rule to go to Hachiko where partners were available to choose, if the new partners managed to stay alive long enough to live for it. Falling on his rear, Chris grunted in pain and looked up at the flickering wall. "O-oh, you've got to be kidding me!" he yelled.

Sighing, the World Traveler got back up to his feet and wished for dear life that Noise weren't around to eat his insides. Because Towa Records had two exits; south for Cadoi City and north for Miyashita Park Underpass, Chris then went over to the north, holding out a hand in case another wall wasn't trapping him in the musical store area.

When he reached the boundary of the two areas, his hand…did not go through the wall that boxed him in Towa Records. His self-esteem quickly fell into despair. There were no other ways he could go in the area. Chris was effectively trapped inside a cage. Seeing laughing people walking through the walls just fine made him think that the situation was really unfair to him. "N-no… Oh god, no!" he said, shaking his head too many times. The only good thing that made him feel okay was that he could at least fight Noise outside the planes. Knowing this, Chris sighed with relief and cupped his right hand in his Blaster's empty holster.

"…"

Last time he remembered, there was a Blaster in his holster.

Looking down at his lap, his holster was devoid of his Blaster. Looking to the left, his Reflector was also gone. Thinking back, his weaponry was with him when he woke up in the very first day of the first week before meeting up with Fox. The weapons were gone now, and that wasn't a good sign. Chuckling nervously, Chris said, "J-joke's on them! I still have other jobs with weapons for me to use!" Changing to his Black Mage job, Chris tried taking out his staff.

"…"

The fact he needed to try taking out his staff made it clear that his other jobs weren't spared.

Chris started sweating, snapping his gloved fingers to make a staff appear. Sadly, the weapon never materialized. Even pulling his hand behind his back to take out anything from hammerspace was no good either. "…I…I don't need a staff to use magic! It only amplifies my magic power! I-I'm still good to go here!" He sighed, calmly trying to cast Fire to use it in midair in front of him.

"…"

There was no magic glyph forming under his feet. Because it was the last method for him to use, Chris desperately tried to bring his magic power forth. But, it never came after several tries. Focusing his mind into magic only made him get a slight headache. When his head felt pain, Chris eventually stopped, not wanting to risk having his head potentially explode in case that even happened. "…This… I'm…screwed…" he muttered, voluntarily falling on his rear as he stared at the invisible wall. "…Oh no… This can't be! No!" he yelled at the wall. "How am I supposed to get out of this fix? Fox isn't here to help me! N-no one else is!"

As if destiny answered his pleas, some hard footsteps came from behind his back. He didn't hear them, however.

"L-Lucario…" Chris was just about to start shedding tears until he heard the footsteps. He blinked in surprise and froze on the spot. The footsteps sounded like the steel walking around, which pointed out that Fox was standing there, surely with a big grin. Smiling, Chris stood up and turned around, his hopes renewed. "Fox! I'm so glad to see you her-" Immediately, his irises shrunk, and his eyes shook when he took a deep, frightened breath that nearly earned him a heart attack.

Devil Survivor 2 – Countdown

Chris could've sworn the sounds came from iron boots, the usual kind Fox always wore. But when he saw the source of the sounds, all renewed hope was brutally torn apart and replaced with horror.

The source of the footsteps was not too pleased to see its prey quivering in fear, as it only caused the monster to growl. The owner of the clawed feet that tore the concrete of the UG flexed back its demonic knees, pulling its curled claws in a wary stance while its glaring, red, empty eyes narrowed. It barred its sharp-looking fangs while its tail made up of a multitude of sharp curves stretched out. Chris could still hear the silent growls of the monster through his own heavy breathings.

Chris then grabbed his chest with both hands where his heart beat madly in anxiety. The Noise form of Lucario turned into a real nightmare, standing fifteen feet away and flexing its tensed arms down. It was known as the Aura Hunter among the Noise ranks; a monster that located pure auras to eradicate them swiftly and brutally, as they were a nuisance to its aura sensing abilities.

It was certain that Chris had been reduced to a trainer in terms of battle performance. With no weapons and magic at his disposal, let alone a partner, the World Traveler backed to the invisible wall, shaking his head madly as he processed the grave situation he got himself into. The Lucario Noise was not going to hold anything back. He was in a fighting stance, as if the real deal was defying his trainer. Every inch Chris moved back, it only caused the monster's growls to grow louder and louder, baring its drooling fangs even more as a result.

Worst of all, Chris got a serious breakdown. In all his years, he never expected to see such a horrifying sight. The person he considered his ultimate Pokémon was now hell bent on ripping him to shreds without remorse. True, Chris knew this wasn't the real Lucario per se. It was a Noise-tailored version whose main task was to hunt down singular Players, and he was his prey. It was all the more reason for Chris to pray for dear life that his Pokémon of mass destruction were here to obliterate his evil copy and bask in the glory of being congratulated by his dear trainer…

Reality wasn't such a nice thing, though.

Gulping and sweating all the water out from his body while also admitting that he was just as good as dead, Chris said, "OH, HOLY FU-!" before the feral Lucario let out a deafening howl and quickly lunged at the human…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"?'s Week – Alone"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Scramble Crossing / Towa Records-

Chris / Fox / Ness / Pichu / Ike / Soren / Neku

Oh, brother. Things suddenly got even worse than they were.

Okay, seriously now. If there are people sick of this arc taking too long, then let me tell you this: this is the definite last set of four chapters for the arc. Though what'll happen next after that is…still to be seen, or what'll happen during this arc as a whole. You TWEWY players surely saw this coming anyway. Like I said before, making an arc go for four chapters for this…just wouldn't work because of how the plot is structured.

Let's get down to talking. There's one final week to pass. Joshua has been erased in the most unexpected way possible. The group didn't get to apologize formally to him. Now the group has been seemingly separated in an UG filled with Noise. Neku has no partner like all of them… Of course a Lucario Noise would show up eventually.

Hate to leave you with another cliffhanger…but worry not! Someday, the Twister of bad luck will end as to no give you a sense of Déjà vu, or else it's Game Over.

The next chapter is nearly finished as of this writing, but I'll wait some time before it's published. For now, I encourage all readers to review…or else Chris will make a habit of daydreaming in battle.

Chris: That's like one sure way for me to get offed.

Pichu: Seriously now. I'm the frailest of the group and you've been killed THRICE already. Something is really WRONG here. Take that advice to heart!

Chris: Leave it to the frailest of the group to tell me to dig myself deeper…
*Chapter 208*: Unknown's Week - Alone

The start of this week comes with a lot of events.

From FF and STH: Now as for making something serious out of the Wii Fit Trainer, is she not almost like Mr. game and watch. Where both are characters I would not think you could do story wise serious.

Do you know of Pokemon x and y and of the new fairy type. With that Jigglypuff is going to be an dual-type Normal-Fairy Pokemon, is that fact going to be add for her in your story and if yes then how.

From me: I really can't say what I'll do down the line so…yes. You'll have to wait and see.

From BOB JOHNSON: Ha, I honestly wasn't expecting you to agree with me. A lot of authors get really defensive about their self-inserts, so seeing you admit that that was kind of overstepping boundaries comes as a real surprise.

I take issue with Chris's character pretty frequently because he feels really entitled. Him butting in last chapter is just a symptom of the whole issue where he's actually really kind of a jerk. He defines himself entirely around video games by choice, since he knowingly makes sweeping generalizations about other people, and then acts like that's a horrible punishment even though he's clearly living the dream life for a person like him (he has a real life Lucario as a roommate!) It also feels like a lot of the characters in the fic like him for very flimsy reasons and take his side a lot. (And his heart is as pure as an angel's according to Lucario. Sorry, but there's no way in hell.) That and the massive amount of powers he has... Well I'm sorry to tell you, since you clearly feel strongly about the sentiment, but Chris really is kind of a Mary Sue a lot of the time. (Oh, and one of his jobs is Anise, which I personally take issue with, but that's just me.) Not that I dislike the fic- dislike isn't the word, it's kind of a complicated relationship- I just can't stand Chris, is all. And Lucario by association.

So taking a break from complaining about Chris, I think a big reason that some of your readership has dried up is that this arc has kind of overstayed its welcome. A bit of formatting necessity because of how you decided to do the arc, but still. Most of your arcs are just a vignette from the story of the game, or some unrelated story set in the world of the game, but this is the entire shebang and, due to that, a lot of the more ancillary characters that people might like (for me it's Snake. I miss Snake,) haven't shown up in ages. That, and a lot of it is battle scenes, which you admitted you have trouble making interesting. I actually don't see why the arc had to be this specific Reaper's Game rather than another one in another location, which also probably would've made it stay fresh longer for the people, like myself, who HAVE played TWEWY and therefore already know all the twists. (Rhyme's delayed death must be a hell of a long con, it still really hasn't made any difference.) It's also an issue because TWEWY's story is largely about isolation and designed for a very small core cast that, by circumstance, can't really talk to other people. Having this massive group kind of takes away a lot of the atmosphere of the game, which is one of my favorite things about it, personally. That and a lot of the Joshua messing with Neku is pretty distilled thanks to him having to pull hexuple duty on mocking people. Not that that matters now that he's dead, but still.

Oh, and one last thing: why does everyone ALWAYS need to pitch in anytime something happens? I feel like that really breaks a lot of the flow of the chapters, since every time a boss fight happens or people ruminate you're going to get about eight or so lines to exactly the same effect. A few people can, but the entire group is not one gestalt entity that needs to have eight thoughts or lines every time something happens. Please cut down on that a bit.

Anyway, looking forward to this arc finally ending. Maybe then we can get back to the parts of this fic that it's named for!

From me: I really couldn't agree more with you. Those flimsy reasons that the others feel like having for him are one of the main issues I have from the start of the fic (which is one of the reasons I'm doing a retcon to make everything more believable). So yeah, your complicated relationship is completely understandable.

Also, for those last two bits? …You scare me, man. It's like you know that I'm aware about what I'm doing. I'm talking about the feeling of isolation and the other random battle bit. In truth, there's something big about the first one, and the other one… Well, you'll see once the next Game Master fights the group. Thanks for reviewing. You've been one smart reviewer. :)

From NowhereStarr14: So! What I wanted to say originally, is, this cliffhanger is...a pretty big one. Actually, a lot of the big fight scenes in this story are pretty long and epic. And I was wondering...is the ending of this story going to be...good enough...? I mean, with these scenes and them being so long and epic, you're setting the bar so high, and if the ending isn't as epic as the rest of the other scenes happening, it could possibly ruin the whole story because of it. I'm not trying to be rude, but, seeing how the Werehog fight and this Noise Lucario fight coming up is so huge, I'm just wondering...are you gonna' be able to top them?

From me: I'm not always concerned about "how I can top this" when it comes down to writing something similar. In fact, I only concern myself if there's something to write about. In the end, it's all about finding your favorite moments out of all the examples the story gives to you.

And now, the next and final week starts with a lot of facts and… Oh wait, that's a bit too much to mention here.

As I wrote this chapter, I pretty much outlined how everything is going to play out, so it took me some more time to come up with the final plot I have reserved for the TWEWY arc. With the start of this week comes a lot more drama and emotion, which also introduces a lot more conflict. You could say that, even if you have an idea of how things are going to turn out, the most important thing is how you're ending there. It's where character development comes forth.

With nothing else to say, I encourage all readers to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: I think I also have a guilty pleasure in making Fox bust his head off.

Chapter 208: ?'s Week – Alone

?'s Day 1 – Sensible, Senseless

Devil Survivor 2 – Desperate Situation

-Shibuya-

Towa Records

The flying fist about to crash and crush Chris's head against the invisible wall made his body react, diving to the left. The Lucario Noise struck the wall with its fist, and it miraculously didn't break. Breathing hard, Chris's eyes froze on the feral Noise still with its fist resting on the wall. When the red, empty eyes stared down at the World Traveler, he screamed, scrambled up to his feet, and ran south as he heard the monster growling with anger, its clawed hands glowing with a purple aura.

"W-what now?!" Chris asked, not wanting to take a look at his pursuer. "I'm boxed in with a beast who wants to kill me! Where the hell should I run to?! I can't outrun him! If they based this Noise on Lucario completely, wouldn't that mean he's inhumanly strong?!" he asked to himself, stopping short when the Aura Hunter appeared right in front of him, having used ExtremeSpeed to defy speed. Yelping, Chris reared back, but the monster slapped him hard on his face, sending the teen to the right side where he crashed hard against the wall.

Chris was nearly fazed by the slap and the crash as he slid down to the concrete, his Black Mage hat falling to the side. He knew the monster was going easy on him, but it didn't look like that anymore once he heard the Noise growl a war cry and slamming its clawed feet as it made its way to him.

His mind racing with fleeting thoughts, Chris looked around and then found the entrance of the music store. Though a small touch of his head revealed that a bleeding bruise was somewhere in his hair, Chris shivered with fear and made a run for it inside the store. It was unknown to him if it was possible to seek shelter inside a building with a Reaper decal, but there were no other options. Caring for his life over anybody else's, Chris took the decision to enter the store, its double doors opening automatically at his feet's request.

Briefly, a cold but strong hand grabbed his neck collar, but when he made it inside the store, the dark hand lost its grip when it reached the boundary of the decal's shield, an invisible wall pushing it back. When Chris noticed that the stomping feet seized their chase, he looked behind and saw the fully-angered look of his predator. The Aura Hunter growled with power to the sky, demanding his prey to come on outside.

The terrifying sight made Chris feel very sick. The feral monster then charged an Aura Sphere that took several seconds to finish. Yelping, Chris dove to the right and barely saw the sphere of destruction vanishing when it came into contact with the decal's barrier, not even causing an explosion. The effect of the barrier only caused the Lucario Noise to growl loudly. It then began to shoot Aura Sphere after Aura Sphere.

Chris gulped and looked back. The Noise was stubbornly trying to attack him from the outside. It was obvious since the Aura Spheres, which Chris noticed were a shade of purple instead of a calming blue color, were clearly going to his direction. Nonetheless, the barrier separating the world of the living and the world of the dead negated the murderous blows.

"Hey, you there, dropped on the floor! You okay?"

Chris gasped and looked to the counter to the left side of the entrance. There was a glasses-wearing clerk with a dark pale afro hair who was scratching his head at the weirdly-dressed teenager gasping for breath. Listening to the insane growls of the Lucario Noise, Chris could tell for a second that the clerk didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary happening outside, except of course for the teenager who lost his way to the next anime convention in Shibuya and was dramatically looking very perplexed. The Black Mage job made Chris stand out so much in public. "U-um…" Chris stuttered.

The clerk, named Yoji Iwata, winced. "Hey, I know you bunch like getting into your favorite anime characters' roles, but this is just too much," he said, not hearing the Lucario Noise's deafening growls indirectly trying to wreck his store only to kill Chris. "Wow there! Your head's bleeding a little!"

The teen coughed and saw the small stain of blood on his hand. "I…"

Yoji frowned. "Gotta threat that soon!" he said. "You need to head over back home or a hospital in the area to get you treated!"

Widening his eyes, Chris looked outside. The Lucario Noise stopped its relentless attacks to leer down at his face. Looking pale, the teen didn't want to step outside, as it would mean certain death. Explaining the situation to Yoji would only label Chris as a lunatic. "I-I feel fine," he lied to Yoji. "I just…tripped on the sidewalk while coming over here! I was…uh…" He looked around the store, finding many shelved CDs. "…I came over to check out some music… Yes!"

"You…serious?" Yoji asked. As if the monster outside understood the conversation, having actually listened with its excellent hearing, it stomped the ground with one foot and bared its drooling fangs towards Chris's way. Yoji saw the teen yelping a bit, and the clerk looked outside to see visible public walking by and ignoring the invisible juggernaut waiting for Chris to come out for the beating of his life. "Are you being chased by somebody?" he asked, blinking at the outside scenery.

"(YES! A BEAST THAT MAKES ALL OTHER BEASTS PISS THEMSELVES!) N-no…" Chris stuttered in fear, seeing the very visible Noise throwing fist after fist at the decal's barrier.

"…Huh, that's odd," Yoji exclaimed, looking back at Chris. "Well, you're free to browse our cool selection of music tracks. Just…don't drop any blood on the cases…" He remained silent until he sighed and said, "You don't look like you want to leave now, and I don't want to make a bad name to the store for refusing to sell to a customer. Business's been pretty bad this last week… I think we have a first aid kit somewhere in the back." He stood up from his chair and walked to the back of the store.

Music stops

Sighing with the aid of the clerk, Chris looked back at the Lucario Noise. He backed away when he saw it punching the barrier angrily, but then the barrier got fed up by the constant punching that it pushed the Noise back to the street. Chris looked serious and stuck his tongue out, seeing the beast pushing his feet up and rushing back to beat on the barrier.

Yoji came back with a first aid kit. Thankful, Chris was nursed by putting a bandage over the side of his head with the bleeding bruise. When Yoji was done putting it, he forced a smile and said, "The bleeding ain't so bad. You can use the headphones to listen to the music you want to purchase over there."

Chris looked to the right side of the counter where several chairs and headphones waited customers to be used. When Chris looked outside, the Lucario Noise stopped attacking the barrier to intently leer his way. Shuddering in fear, Chris told Yoji that he was going to stay in the store for some time while browsing and listening to music. With the reminder that a bloody monster was waiting for him, the Black Mage walked to a chair with a headphone set. Relieved to find a shelter in the store, Chris proceeded to remove his Black Mage hat to put the headp-

His Black Mage hat was gone.

Looking up at the empty space of air, Chris noticed that his trademark hat was gone. He looked behind to the spot where he dropped when entering the store and the hat wasn't there. A quick glance behind the wary Lucario Noise told him that his hat was visibly lying down on the sidewalk, stuck in a hand rail by the wind. "My hat…" Chris muttered. "(…That's the least of my problems right now,)" he thought as he sat down on the chair and put the headphones on to avoid making Yoji think that he was crazy or something. The Black Mage pressed a button on the wall to play whatever CD was already inserted in the slot. As the CD was read, Chris lowered his face. "(I'm trapped inside a music store with the image of my Pokémon trying to erase me brutally… Worst yet, Fox and the others aren't around to save me…)"

As he wondered what to do now, the song The One Star played in his ears. After listening to the track for a little while, Chris started bobbing his head a bit.

"…This track doesn't sound too bad," Chris said, forcing a smile and letting the track vanquish his sorrows.

Molco

From behind a pillar, Fox stuck out his head and looked around the area. When he woke up close to the mall where the Tin Pin Slammer was held, he felt disheartened to know that Chris and the others weren't around. Thinking that his rather strong attachment to the human was his new entry fee, Fox beat himself up for it. If Chris was sacrificed, Fox was prepared to deliver a rousing speech to make it up for the consequence, though he was thinking about doing something good for Chris in return.

When Fox woke up and tried leaving the barricaded area, he saw a very ominous sight in his surroundings. His heart beat too fast when he spotted the Noise form of his failed love Krystal surveying the area, prompting him to hide inside the mall to gain protection from the decal. Recalling the monster's vivid image in his mind, Fox saw the blue vixen donning her tribe's attire, except the attire was heavily altered to make it look like she was part of a demonic cult that worshipped demons. The staff looked more like a spear, but Fox couldn't recall more than that, other than the fact the overall evil look was very provocative to many…and obscenely erotic to his eyes only.

"It's true what they say… Evil is sexy," Fox muttered until he realized what he just said. "Get it together, idiot! Not need to drool over a monster taking her form now! That monster isn't her and you know it!"

"(You'd totally hit her, though,)" his guilty conscience called out.

"Shut up!" Fox hissed to himself. "…And now I'm talking to myself." He blamed his previous fits of blind rage to Kitaniji. When he thought about that name, his blood boiled for a brief second. There he was, in his third Game. At this rate, he was never going to get out alive, even less so without a partner and his weapons.

Unlike Chris, Fox at least had very good physical prowess. He didn't rely on his weapons too much in close combat, so that was a good point. Though fighting a Noise in the middle of the street without backup would prove to be a waste of time. For all he knew, the Krystal Noise would pull out some kind of trick the original never had.

A shadow passed by and Fox hid behind the pillar. It was the Krystal Noise, looking for her prey. Peeking, Fox carefully watched her movements. Along with the previous descriptions, he noticed that her tail was encased with light blue curved pieces, and her toes had small sharp nails. If the Noise hadn't been the image of his failed love, then his heart wouldn't be beating fast. Otherwise, he would just sweat.

"(Hit her!)"

"No!" Fox shouted. He hid back just in time to avoid the empty blue eyes of the vixen. Hearing the footsteps in the strangely lonely area, Fox saw her shadow walking to the east. Noticing the entrance to the Molco mall next to him, he entered the double doors for a shelter. Perhaps the decal prevented Noise from entering. "(I'm going insane,)" Fox thought as he tried to restrain the newly-gained conscience. "I need to rest inside… Maybe a Player will pass by and…I'll have to join forces with someone else… Hmm, I remember there was a fast food restaurant in here. I've got some bucks to spare."

Fox failed to notice the "Furry Convention Today!" banner outside the mall. Some of the worst wolf whistles ever resounded in his ears.

Shibu Dept Store – Bel Airplane

Ike looked down from the second floor at the scene below. A Mist Noise seemed to be leading a group of feral Noise that was made up of a rhino, two wolves, and three porcupines. The monsters were all surveying the area for Players. The mercenary had caught their sight from afar and thought about taking them on for a moment there until he noticed that Ragnell was gone from his sheath. Cursing his luck, Ike found out that he was boxed in the area with the monsters. If only the Mist Noise was alone, he would take her on without a sword, but she was accompanied by monsters.

Having entered one of the most expensive stores of Shibuya, Ike noticed that the gaudy setting he stepped inside was filled with very fashionable accessories with the most unbelievable price tags ever conceived. The yen count easily reached the hundred-thousand mark; a mark that scared the hell out of customers with the thinnest of wallets. Ike didn't care about the prices much. He was glad the store was a safe haven for him to hide from the monsters outside.

The silver-haired woman who kept tapping her nails on the glass counter wasn't fond of people who entered the store and didn't purchase a thing. She'd be lucky and very impressed if only one customer would buy even one piece of jewelry in a month. There was no way anybody in Shibuya could afford to buy the items in her shop. Her boss told her not to voice out frustration, which was something her boss was not proud of. "Please have a look around," May Kurokawa said, trying hard not to hiss. "(Another customer, another poor sap. Man, running this store is boring.)"

Ike then turned around and looked at her somewhat dull look. Remembering that he was a weirdo in the living's eyes, the mercenary felt awkward. He wasn't a person to do shopping unless his sister would nag him to get souvenirs from exotic places in Tellius. Soren was the one in charge of finances, not Ike. Seeing that everyone in Shibuya liked to shop a lot, Ike needed to blend with the public for now or else the clerk would probably demand him to leave, essentially pitting him to the monsters outside. "Uh, yeah, I'll do that," he said.

She cocked an eyebrow, but she wasn't getting her hopes up. The anime fanboy she had inside the floor didn't look like a rich person. The cape with the torn end suggested as much.

Because Ike had amassed a large quantity of yens from fighting Noise battles, he could at least afford the three most expensive items in the store or even more than that if the prices were a tad lower. He grabbed a genuine gold chain necklace from a stand and showed it to her. "I'd like to buy this, please…"

May shot him with a look of surprise. The accessory he just picked was one of the most expensive items for sale, and the gold was actually genuine. Not that the other prices were dwarfed by the extra zero, but damn, this guy was very brave. "Okay," she managed to say as she proceeded to process his purchase. "(Holy damn, what just happened?)" she thought, a mix of being impressed and shocked.

Ike just blinked, unfazed about what he just did. What was he going to do with an accessory? It looked too precious to him, and he hated looking like a noble unless he needed to look like one. He wasn't into the whole fashion thing, but he had to do it so that nobody would kick him out to his death. When she gave him his purchase in a small bag, Ike felt…odd just holding a shopping bag.

"Uh… I'll be waiting for your next visit! (This man is unbelievable! He just shelled a quarter million yen without wincing!)" she thought alarmed as Ike started looking around the store while stealing glances from the Noise looking for him outside. As he did so, the woman at the counter kept stealing glances of his back.

Soon enough…she fawned that the weirdly-dressed young man was the hottest stud she had ever seen before. So much bravery to buy gold in the store convinced her that she had a crush on him.

The oblivious Ike suddenly winced in pain, his eyes shrinking when he saw a horrendous sight on his left palm.

It was a timer. One hour till he was erased.

104 Building

A deadpan Ness blinked behind the automatic doors of the second largest building in Shibuya as he and a Paula Noise stared intently at each other. When the boy woke up and caught the attention of the Noise, he tried using his psychic power to throw her, but it didn't come off and he was tossed instead. After a small while of getting the occasional bruise from dodging her murderous blows, Ness ran into the building, where he found out that the Paula Noise couldn't get past the entrance, despite the fact happy people kept entering the building. He felt dismayed when he learned that his yo-yo and bat were gone from his arsenal, even more when the timer showed up on his palm without warning.

Without Pichu, he thought his entry fee was his powers and his partner, though he had his doubts.

"I'm guessing you're not going to leave me alone," he told the quiet Noise outside. She shook her head. "You know, the real Paula isn't a brat unlike you."

A clerk of the store in the first floor approached Ness from behind. It was a lady named Aily Ueno, a friendly kind of clerk. "Hey, little boy. Are you lost?" she asked. "(Look at that head!)"

Ness looked up at her. "Nope," he said. "I'm just standing here to wait for my mom. She's veeeeery busy hunting down deals in the third floor. It's really boring to wait for her so I'm walking around to kill some time."

That made no sense whatsoever, but the clerk looked confused. "Alright… If you say so…" she walked away, wondering how children today were getting big-headed.

Ness sighed and stared back at the Paula Noise. "Tell your boss he's the biggest jerk for taking my powers and weapons away, would you?" he asked, looking peeved. "There's no way I'm winning the Game without a partner or a pair of Players protecting me."

Ness didn't want to go into the store and lose time buying something. He needed to focus on the outside area to spot a solitary Player and make a pact. He looked sad when he thought about Pichu. The Electric type would be brave around others, but by himself he had very low self-esteem. With no way to contact someone else, Ness looked to the south towards the scramble crossing…where he spotted a familiar face touching the invisible wall that boxed him in the area within two more walls.

"What in the… Oh, holy god!" Ness rejoiced as he spotted Mr. Hanekoma grinning up at the wall. Making sure he was within the barrier, Ness stepped out while the Paula Noise eerily stared his way, waiting for him to come out fully to burn his fingers. "Mr. H! OVER HERE!"

"Hmm?" Sanae blinked and looked to the entrance of the store. He grinned and waved at the boy. "Oh! Hey there, Bigheads!"

Ness's right eye twitched at the nickname. "Call me like that again and I'll-!" He shook his head. "N-never mind that! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Me too!" Sanae said before turning around and walking away.

"…HEY, STOP!" Ness called out, stopping the barista in his tracks. The loud people were drowning his voice. "I need your help here! See this weird-butt monster next to me?" he said while motioning to the Paula Noise. "I don't have a partner and they took my abilities away to fight back! Can you act like my guardian and get rid of her? Dear god, her red eyes are unnerving!"

The barista chuckled and scratched his head, turning around to face the boy. "Er, I kinda don't have that much authority," he said.

Ness's face fell. "W-what?!" he yelled.

"I said tha-!"

"I KNOW!"

Sanae laughed to the sky. "As I was sayin', I can't help Players if rules ain't bein' broken!" he pointed out. Ness opened his mouth in shock. "Sorry, but you gotta solve this problem by yourself! That's how the Game works!"

"Don't you think I tried?!" Ness asked, sounding enraged. "I got turned into a helpless child! I tried leaving the area to find the others but all the paths were blocked by walls! In fact, I'M FREAKING TRAPPED WITH A MONSTER RIGHT NEXT TO ME IN HERE! How the hell am I supposed to get anything done like this?!"

Sanae rubbed his half-shaved chin. "Ya don't say…" he trailed off. "Hey, I just remembered! Whatcha doing in the Game still? Didn't ya win?"

Ness's body shook just remembering the fact. "STUPID KITANIJI PENALIZED US BECAUSE JOSHUA WAS AN ILLEGAL PLAYER!" When he remembered that Joshua and Sanae were best friends for life, he said, "Wait a second! You two are best friends and you were helping him to find the damned Shibuya Water or whatever! In a way, you owe us for this so HELP ME OUT HERE! I'm losing it!"

Sanae looked deadpan all of a sudden. "Hey, hold your horses there," he said. "I didn't think Joshua was an illegal Player. How else would I know that? Whatever the little guy was doing was none of my concern. I was just givin' him his toys to play."

Ness wanted to overturn the fact to his favor. "O-okay, maybe you're telling the truth. You're not evil enough to tease us like Joshua… By the way, Joshua got erased!" He could see Sanae's glasses shining for a brief second. "…I saw that scary glint in your glasses! Did I strike a nerve?"

"…Sorta," Sanae said. "That's…too bad. Here I thought he'd make it through…" Burrowing his hands in his pockets…he turned around and walked away, much to Ness's dismay.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!" Ness yelled. "D-don't leave me here! Help me, damn you!"

He saw Sanae raising a lazy hand. "Don't ya worry!" he called out without looking back. "Things'll get better if you wait a little more, little guy! Godspeed and all that!" Ness then saw the barista's frame disappear within the rows of the public, vanishing in the direction of the scramble.

Ness begrudgingly raised his hand with the timer. "I'M ON A TIMER! I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER THAN FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES! W-wait, don't you go now! No, no, no! Noooooooooooo!" He dropped to his knees and sobbed on the floor. Feeling bewildered that his only option for survival ditched him behind, Ness blinked and looked to the Paula Noise, still standing there and staring directly at his face. "…Don't you have anything better to do than mocking me with that blank look?" The Paula Noise shook her head, much to his dismay.

Statue of Hachiko

Pichu wasn't having his best day. He was panting heavily as he had entered the Sunshine restaurant to the left side of the statue. After waking up there, he was immediately attacked by a Pikander. Unlike the other human-looking Smashers (with Fox having the excuse of being a furry person in disguise), Pichu needed to avoid human contact as much as he could, so he hid behind a chair that faced the outside. Having outrun the Pikander, Pichu stared out from his hiding spot to the outside.

Finding out that he couldn't let a single spark from his cheeks was just the tip of the iceberg. He was truly defenseless. Were all of them his entry fee? That didn't make sense…

"Ooooooh…" he groaned. "This is sooooo bad… Waking up without Ness and the others is the worst thing that could happen to me…" He sniffed, looking outside for any signs of the monster hunting him down. "…Where did it go? I was sure he was right behind my little tail… Hey, isn't this an important meeting spot?" he wondered to himself, seeing no distraught Players around the area. He got confused with all the living people walking by; it was hard to tell who was a Player. But because there was no panic, none of the people he saw was part of the Game.

His ears drooped in a sad fashion, sitting down and sniffing to himself. He was stuck there staring out into the open. Pichu hadn't actually touched any of the two walls leading to the central bus station and the scramble crossing. The Pikachu Noise pretty much told him that he wasn't allowed to go out lest he wanted to get erased. If the others were, by any chance, in the same situation, they were definitely screwed.

Right before Pichu lost hope, he saw someone running from the direction of the scramble. It was a Player since he ran through the living's bodies. Pichu's little eyes widened with surprise as he saw Neku running into the scene with an exasperated look on his face. "Neku!" he squeaked in delight, hopping from his spot. "Yay, I'm not alone! I need to get his attention an-" He gulped, quickly recalling the Pikander. "I-I need to get his attention without luring that beast out from its spot! U-um… What should I do?!"

Neku stopped running right in front of the statue. Panting heavily, he stood up and yelled, "Hey! Somebody! Holler back if you haven't made a pact yet!" He frantically looked around for any Players. Looking behind the statue, there wasn't a douchebag bent on teasing him nonstop for a whole week, which was arguably worst than nothing. "Anybody!?" he yelled back, but no reply answered back. The area was oddly quiet. "Huh? Where are all the Players?"

His phone suddenly beeped. Neku had already received a mission mail, which was to make it to 104 with a partner. But now, he received another mail to his phone. Wondering what it was, he took out his phone and read the mail…

"P.S. This Game only has one Player. Best of luck."

The world suddenly felt like the worst place to live. "What!?" yelled a shocked Neku at his phone screen. He pocketed his phone and looked around, hoping that it was a lie. "I'm the only one? Then I can't make a pact! I can't fight the Noise!" As he walked west with tons of negative thoughts filling his mind, Neku stared out into space until he saw a little yellow body waving its little arms at him from Sunshine. Blinking, Neku gasped at the smiling Pichu. "Pichu!" he said with huge relief washing over his contrived mind. He quickly entered the restaurant and knelt down where the Pokémon was, only to be pushed back a bit when Pichu lunged at his neck with a big hug. "H-hey!"

"Oh, goodness! I'm so happy to see you!" Pichu cried out, Neku involuntarily placing a hand on the Electric-type's back. "I thought I was the only Player left behind! Bwaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"What?" Neku said, until Pichu's cries started to hurt his ears. "S-shut up! Get a grip on yourself!"

Pichu took a few seconds to clear his tears quickly. Smiling a little bit (which made Pichu shudder just looking at his sincere smile), the lone Player placed him on top of an empty table. "Okay… I-I feel a little better now… No, much, MUCH better!" Pichu rejoiced.

"But…this can't be," Neku said, making Pichu blink twice confused. "I was just told that I was the only Player left…"

"Wh-what?" Pichu replied, his eyes shrinking. "B-b-but I'm here! I'm a Player! U-um… Here!" He showed him his Player Pin. "This should prove it, shouldn't it?"

"Yes…" Neku shook his head later, however, which made Pichu look even more confused. "…Thing is, I just received a P.S. mail saying I was the only Player left… How, then, are you here?"

"…" Pichu looked left and right until looking up at Neku. "You really are wasting your time asking that to me, you know," he said in a dull tone.

"…Fair enough," Neku sighed. "This is weird. What's going on around here? For a moment, I thought that my entry fee was…the other Players." He looked down at Pichu. "But you're here."

"Yes, I am…" He shivered and hopped to Neku's right shoulder. "L-look, I'm worried about the others. If I made it, doesn't that mean they're somewhere in Shibuya?"

Neku looked serious and nodded. "Yes," he said. "I have a feeling they're all okay somewhere…which means we gotta search for them ASAP." With renewed hope, the two exited the restaurant, away from the decal's protection.

It then hit Pichu that they hadn't made a pact.

Gasping, Pichu told the walking Neku, "N-Neku, we need to make a pact quick or-!" before a lightning bolt struck them both down. Pichu managed to resist the blow, being an Electric-type, but Neku screamed louder than he did. Wobbling to the sides, Neku fell down in one knee, letting Pichu roll forward by accident. "Owie…"

"G-gah…" Neku shuddered, a few sparks jumping out from his body. Looking up, his eyes froze when he stared down at a feral Pikander standing between him and Pichu. His whole body then froze next. The damned rat was separating both pact-less Players from forming a last minute pact to fight back. "Oh, just perfect," he said.

Pichu stood up and looked frightened at the monster's back. It looked behind and hissed at Pichu, making him shiver. Neku took the little distraction to stand up, but he was very close to finishing his move when the Noise darted its face at him, its pouch cheeks sparking with electricity. Sweating, Neku kept his gaze fixed on the Pikander while Pichu remained there without moving an inch.

"W-what do we do?" Pichu asked, his calling not enraging their predator.

"Ugh…" Neku grunted, making fists to his sides. "(One small step and this rat is gonna fry me to death with electricity… I still feel weak after that blow I got a second ago… Grr, damn! Where are the others?! If Pichu made it, then where's everyone else?! I… We need them here!)"

"Yoo hoo!"

The girly voice made Neku wince. He avoided moving his head, only moving his eyes to see Koki and Uzuki standing right behind the frightened Pichu. "Oh, just great. Reapers!" he complained.

Uzuki smiled sadistically. "You're still here! Well, aren't you the sweetest? Sticking around juuust for me!" she said, giggling a bit. Both Neku and Pichu started to fear for their lives. They haven't made a pact, which meant that the Harrier Reapers could do anything to them. They wanted to escape, but the Pikander heeded the Harrier Reapers by warily looking at both of them. "Sowwy, our little pet here won't let you go."

"Y-you crazy bitch!" Neku swore harshly.

Uzuki's right eye twitched as Koki snickered at her. "Now…how about a little countdown until the ball drops? 10!"

Pichu began crying tears as his ears picked the sound of a gun being loaded with bullets. Neku saw the whole thing from his position, but he wasn't going to escape. With the Pikander keeping them from escaping and the two Harrier Reapers blocking the way, Neku lost hope for real. "It's all over."

"It…it is…" Pichu sniffed. "It's…over… N-no…"

Uzuki, pleased, continued her countdown. "9! Kariya! You owe me ramen for this. 8!"

Koki sighed, frowning at her statement. "Yes, ma'am," he drawled. "Just pay attention. 'This' isn't done yet. For all I know, you'll screw up big time before you reach the countdown."

She blinked twice and shot him a look. 7! Like you know anything! ...Ugh, fine. Zero!" She raised her gun at Neku's face. The Player gasped and backed off, only making the Pikander hiss and lung at him with its body covered in yellow electricity. Pichu looked up and cried out, shutting his eyes to avoid looking at the gruesome scene in front of him… Uzuki puckered her lips out as she said, "Buh-bye! Muah."

As Neku fell back from the two threats, he closed his eyes in resignation and lowered his face. "(Shiki... Joshua... I'm sorry,)" he thought solemnly, waiting for his demise…

…

A skateboard whizzed right in front of Neku right when he heard a shot being fired his way. Pichu quickly opened his eyes and saw the skateboard reflecting the shot back to Uzuki's puckered lips. The girly Reaper's eyes widened as the shot connected with her face, pushing her back to the floor. Koki blinked several times at the development until he saw the skateboard crashing down upon the Pikander, grinding the helpless monster against the ground. Screeching and growling loudly as its body became a bloody mess, the disfigured Pikander then vanished into static. The skateboard then pulled back and landed next to an astonished Neku.

"Yo yo yo, not so fast, yo!" Beat said with a dark glare at his comrades, the Reapers.

Neku's jaw fell down, and so did Pichu's. "B-Beat?!" Pichu said, then he let out a small yelp and went over to Neku's side. Sighing with relief, the small Smasher looked back at Koki and the fallen Uzuki.

She was not very pleased, and this was an understatement. The Harrier Reaper grunted loudly and gritted her teeth with rage as she stood back up, Koki simply looking down at her priceless expression. "WHAT THE HELL?!" she called out to Beat. "Tell me why you're here before I slice that punky face of yours!"

Beat scoffed, his Noise pet shaking its whiskers. "The hell you doin'? Quit playin' dirty!" he complained to the two. "You can't have a Game with jus' one Player! Maybe the Composer's down widdat, but I ain't him!"

"Huh?" was all Neku could say until he stood back up, keeping his distance from Beat in case he was actually planning to strike him with his guard down.

The punk Reaper raised four fingers. "First you gimme some lame special op and make me snipe my friends, and now you gonna take down a defenseless Player?" he asked, though Koki was tempted to point out that there wasn't a fourth item in his speech. "Ain't you Reapers got any honor? Now you got me all kinds a' pissed! Y'all goin' down, yo!

Kariya grinned jovially. "Oh, to be young and foolish again!" he said. "Try switching on your brain, Freshmeat. If you fight us, you die." He used his lollipop to point directly at Beat's face. "Right now you're treadin' on thin ice."

Uzuki calmed down a bit, rolling her eyes at the rebel Reaper. "Yeah. I mean, what kind of IDIOT chooses the Players over the Reapers?" she asked.

Beat grinned. "Ha! You're the idiots, yo. I ain't treadin' on thin ice!" he said.

Uzuki was confused at the reply. "Huh? You got some plan i-"

"Shibuya ain't cold enough for ice, stupid!"

As silence settled in, a rustling wind pushed an empty soda can between the two parties, rolling all the way to the front of the statue of Hachiko. Neku and Pichu exchanged deadpan glances until the loner teen muttered, "Um..."

Beat obliviously thought that he had outsmarted the two Harrier Reapers. Satisfied, he looked at Neku. "Yo, Phones! You an' me is gonna pact. Aight?"

Neku and Pichu gasped, and so did Uzuki, though Koki cocked an eyebrow at the suggestion. "(…Well, crap, I don't know what's going on here,)" Neku thought as he stared at Beat's stretched hand. "(But he said pact, and I need one so badly!)" He nodded confidently and grabbed Beat's hand. "...OK. Let's do it!"

Immediately, their souls felt united in a white flash, as their senses suddenly became one for a brief moment. Pichu looked up in surprise, only then noticing that Beat's Reaper wings disappeared the moment the pact started its show. After the wings disappeared, the two newly-partnered Players glared daggers at the Harrier Reapers. "Awright!" Beat said. "Feels so good to be back, yo!"

Koki smiled amused, though Uzuki was just about to tear her hair off at the betrayal. "Snotty little worm! The gloves are off! TAKE THIS!" she yelled loudly, calling more Noise from thin air. Pichu screamed and jumped to Neku's shoulder for protection.

Beat had a different idea than fighting Noise. He grabbed Neku's hand and started running east to the scramble. "Hey, Phones! We gotta bounce, now! This way!" Distraught, Neku and Pichu were dragged away from the Reapers and the Noise. Uzuki and Koki were taken off-guard, having been outrun by the punk.

"You little... You dare run?" Uzuki called out as the Noise grew restless. "Come BACK HEEERE!"

Kariya then grabbed her shoulder to stop her from chasing them down. "Whoooa, Uzuki! Stop, stop," he said, getting a demand from his partner. "We gotta report to the brass. You know how this works."

Uzuki's eyes twitched with rage. "But, but-"

Koki frowned before winking once at her. "You'll enjoy punishing them more if you take it slow," he advised.

Uzuki stared at him for a long while until she frowned with disgust. "Yeah... Good point," she agreed while taking out her phone to call the higher ups about the grave deed Beat committed. "Hey, this is Yashiro, Route 3. We have an emergency. A Reaper-"

Koki chuckled, staring the way where the three Players had run off to. "Hoo boy... Now the real party starts," he said. "(We were told only one Player was playing the Game. Ignoring the freshmeat, that little yellow mouse managed to bypass the rule… How did that happen now?)" he questioned. "(Wow, is HQ gonna get confused now…)"

Scramble Crossing

Neku kept yelling at Beat to stop dragging him around because the punk was putting an unnecessarily strong grip on his grip. Grunting, Neku pulled his hand back and stopped running, making Beat grin at him. "Booyaka! We made it," he said.

"Yay, we did!" Pichu cheered, until looking confused at Beat. "But why? Why did you help us?" he asked. "Weren't we enemies three minutes ago?"

The punk chuckled, looking at Neku as he caught his breath. "'Cause Neku was hung out to dry, man. I wasn't about to leave his sorry ass to die."

Neku managed to get all the air he needed to talk. "Right... My hero," he cheered with a dull tone.

Beat nodded a few times, feeling proud. "Tha's right! Wait, you're makin' fun a' me!" he said until shaking his head. "Hey, look, yo, I owed you. Tha's all."

"For what?" Neku questioned.

"Rhyme's pendant." The punk showed them the special trinket. The Noise pet on his shoulder chirped a happy sound as it looked at the accessory.

"Big deal. It was yours, so I returned it," Neku said. "Wait... That's the only reason you helped me?" Beat nodded with a grin. "Geez, man! You're a Reaper! They'll kill you for partnering with a Player."

Beat pocketed the pendant. "Aww...quit bitchin'! Leas' you and the little mouse still alive," he pointed out, to which Pichu pouted for being called a mouse.

Neku noticed the absence of Beat's Reaper wings on his back. "Hey, your wings are gone!" he said.

The punk looked over his shoulder at the empty space behind his back. "Huh? Oh yeah. Guess they are," he said. "Lame, the power boost's gone. I won't beat up some Noise outside fights now…but, meh, what can ya do?"

Neku and Pichu blinked. "You don't care?"

"About what? That Reaper crap was lame, yo," the blond punk said. "I was gettin' sick a' how they ran things. The good guys suit me better." Proud of his new alliance, he smiled at Neku. "But forget me, man. Why you and the little guy in the Game again? What happened to the prissy kid you was with? Hey…" He looked down at Pichu, and then he surveyed the area. "…Where the others? They go to their anime convention?"

Neku saw his timer. It was at forty-five minutes. Knowing full well that he had time, he and Pichu explained everything to Beat: from the point Joshua sacrificed his life to allow them to continue to the point where they woke up alone in the UG. "That sucks, man," Beat commented, looking peeved. "How can Shades be such a sneaky bastard? Takin' all the Players as an entry fee!"

Neku frowned. "Doesn't matter. I was forced into this either way. Shiki's still gone..." He lowered his face, feeling guilty for dragging Shiki into another week. The loner teen then saw Pichu climbing his shoulder.

"I still miss her a lot, too," Pichu said. "And the others… They're somewhere out there… They're waiting for us to finish the game!"

The loner teen nodded. "What choice do I have? Just one: win," he clarified. "Joshua bought me this chance. I'm not gonna waste it. I have to stay alive."

Beat was pumped up to make their wishes come true until a familiar barista waltzed by next to them. "Huh? Hey, it's coffee man!" Beat said. Neku and Pichu looked to their left and gasped, spotting Hanekoma whistling to himself.

"Mr. H!" Neku said, and the barista stopped in his tracks to look at them.

"Oh, hey there, Boss!" Hanekoma said with a deadpan look coupled with a friendly smile. "Whatcha doing now? Got yourselves tangled in another Game? The poor lady is stuck for even longer, huh…" He lamented for a brief moment.

Neku kept his fanboy urges under bay from demanding an autograph to CAT. He didn't distract himself on their situation. "Mr. H, I'm so glad to see you," Neku said, wishing that he wasn't going to squee. "Yeah, we got ourselves into another week, which will be my last…at last."

The barista nodded, looking at Beat and Pichu. "So you say," he said. "Eh, you'll do just fine, Phones. You're the only Player who's managed to get this far two weeks in a row. The Game never saw somebody this dedicated, y'know!" he then laughed, but Neku felt proud to be congratulated by CAT himself. Such praise was golden.

"(Keep your damned fanboy urges under control, you dolt!)" Neku screamed. "Thanks," he said coolly, hoping he didn't sound so forced.

Beat mumbled a few things as CAT kept laughing. "Hey, yo! We kinda busy here," he said. Neku shot him with a subtle glare. "You busy with your coffee shop?"

Sanae stopped laughing. "Today's kinda my day off," he said. "I'm doin' some guardian duties around the place."

Neku crossed his arms. "Guardian duties? How?" he questioned.

Pichu nodded. "B-but there aren't any other Players other than us!" he pointed out. "How can you be busy when we're the only Players in the UG?"

Sanae grinned and pointed at 104. "You're the only Players? But I just saw Big Head inside the store ovather!" he pointed out.

"Big Head…?" Pichu's face fell until he pieced the weird nickname together to one person that could be called that. "…Ness! Ness is there?!"

Sanae nodded. "Yup. He's inside the store getting protection from a weird Noise thingy," he said, to which Neku and Pichu gasped. "I warrant he won't make it if somebody doesn't finish the mission first. Why dontcha head there now? He was screaming his head off as I was walking away." Pichu gave him a weird look.

"(Uh… What?)" Neku's mind stopped to think about the fact. "(You just…walked out on him?) N-not to sound rude or anything, but isn't it your job to…you know…keep Players safe?"

Hanekoma lazily scratched his head. "Um, being a guardian doesn't mean I protect Players like a shield." He chuckled. "I don't make the rules. I merely enforce them."

"…Right…" Neku trailed off. "(…Holy crap, he's so…so…cool,)" his mind thought with complete adoration. He even fawned a little. "(Gah! Here I go again…)"

Pichu yelped and budged Neku's head. "We gotta save Ness from the Noise!" he said. "He won't last too long by himself if we don't head over there fast!"

Neku looked at the direction of 104 with the others. "If Ness is there…then…maybe the others are somewhere in Shibuya, too!" he said. Hanekoma grinned. "We're not totally alone, then! If we can make it there, we'll finish the mission too!" He then looked distraught. "But…last I checked, there was a wall over at 104."

Beat suddenly chuckled and flexed an arm. "eavitt a me!" he said. "I can use my secret weapon on those damned walls!" The other two Players blinked in confusion, exchanging glances.

"Seems you three have everything under control!" Sanae said, turning around to leave for his establishment. "I'll leave ya now. Don't want those Reapers to think I'm givin' ya too much help… Good luck in this week, Phones! You'll proooooooobably need it." He walked away to Shibu Dept. Store, laughing to the sky.

As Neku grinned at his idol, Beat raised an eyebrow. "Wow, man," he said. "That guy's a bit nuts."

Neku looked blankly at him. "Oh, I'll tell you what I know about him later," he said. "It'll blow your mind away."

"Wha…?" Beat trailed off confused until Neku and Pichu went over to the wall blocking their path. The blond punk caught up with them and looked up at the invisible block…just as he was running smack-dab into it. "AUGH!" he recoiled back. "Stupid %*)$)#%)$T$$#^%$ ^ $%#$^ !" he swore harshly at the top of his lungs, impressing Neku and Pichu at the gravity of the swears.

Pichu covered his ears. "Eugh! T-those swears!" he whimpered. "T-they were so…so harsh!"

Neku kept staring for a little longer until he noticed that the red Reaper guarding the wall was nowhere in sight. "Strange. Where's the Reaper of this wall?" he wondered aloud. "But this is the way to finish the mission…"

"I ain't got no time for this!" Beat bellowed, pulling his fist back.

Neku arched an eyebrow. "What are you going to do? Break the wall with you-"

Beat's fist passed through the wall, shattering the invisible fabric into shards that vanished in thin air. The headstrong Player pulled his fist back and stared at the bewildered Players. "C'mon!" he said, ignoring their impressed looks.

"…Did he just… Whoa…" Pichu trailed off, unable to find the words.

"Yeah… He just smashed the wall like it was nothing!" Neku said. When Beat shouted for them, the two continued to 104…

Towa Records

Chris was sick. The timer that had appeared on his left palm eighteen minutes ago meant that he wasn't long for the world in less than an hour. He was oblivious to the fact his team was separated across Shibuya at singular points. He wanted to escape from the store, but the stubborn Lucario Noise kept a close watch on him, guarding the entrance with crossed arms and keeping a watchful red eye on his prey.

The World Traveler had been bobbing his head nonstop for long periods of time, even after the timer manifested on his palm. The catchy music helped to ease his worries a bit, but then it felt like he was listening to an over-the-top requiem before his last breath approached. Mindlessly bringing his open palms to eye level, he gasped when he saw that the hideous timer was gone. The mission of the today was cleared. "Oh my goodness… The timer's gone!" he said, taking his headphones off from his head. "Which means…there are Players besides me in the Game!"

A wave of relief washed on Chris, sighing at the news. There was still hope to survive the Game for another week. He wiped a single tear from his eye and turned to look at the exit where Yoji was busy reading a magazine on the counter…

Most important, the Lucario Noise was gone from sight.

"(H-he's gone!)" Chris thought. "(T-things are starting to look up! I better make my way out and…)"

But then realization hit him. There was no way things would be so easy, he thought. The possibility that the Lucario Noise surely went to take a hiding spot to ambush him the moment he would step outside the store wasn't a farfetched idea. The mission was done, so there was no need for Chris to risk himself and let a monster beat him to death… What about the other Players? The finished mission proved that he wasn't truly alone in the third week, but he needed to send a message that he was partnerless.

Then he noticed his mage hat was still stuck in the handrail.

"(If my group is out there… Can they recognize the hat?)" Chris wondered. "(I'm the only one who wears something that peculiar… Oh wait, I'm in Shibuya. The hellhole of cosplayers.)" He sighed. "(They could just brush it off like that… No! I need to be hopeful!)" He looked serious, completely ignoring the odd looks Yoji was giving him from the counter. "(Fox has sharp eyes. He can tell right away that I'm in the area! If…he's still here…)"

104 Building

Ness wanted to cry, except he didn't want to cry because he was sad. Rather, he wanted to cry because he was very happy to see his friends coming to his rescue. The Blushieblack had suddenly turned around and initiated a Noise fight, leaving Pichu behind as Neku and Beat fended the monster by themselves. When the partners stepped into the area, the mission was cleared, though the threat of being erased by Noise was still a reality.

The troubling thoughts didn't faze Ness. He was happy to see Pichu rushing inside the store and lunging to his face with open paws. "Ness!" Pichu rejoiced.

"The first time I'm so happy to see a Pokémon in my life again," Ness muttered under Pichu's body. The two separated and stared at one another. "What a relief! Here I thought I was the only one alive…"

Pichu sniffed, but then he held out a paw. "Let's make a pact again!" he suggested. "We're screwed if the Noise get to us without a pact!"

Ness nodded and grabbed Pichu's little paw, waiting for the feeling of reunion combine their souls in some spectacular way… However, such a feeling never came to be after mindlessly holding hands for ten seconds. "…Pichu, I think you forgot to say the magic words," Ness said.

Pichu looked apprehensive. "W-what magic words? Um, I said pact and all that!" he said. "…Wait, do we even need to say magic words for this to work?"

"Well, how else would you explain this?" Ness asked. "When I first found you, we made the pact without saying anythi-" His eyes shook in fear. "…We didn't do a thing to make a pact when we grabbed hands before," he said in a deadpan tone. Pichu similarly copied the same expression. "Why we'd need to say words right now is beyond me…"

"…" Pichu's hand lifelessly slipped down Ness's hand, and the two stared into space as they digested the horrible implications that it meant not to have a partner to fight the Noise. "…Ness…I'm super scared…"

As realization hit in like four trucks running over them, the Onett boy gulped, trying to calm himself down. "…DAMMIT!" Ness complained loudly. "Our weapons are gone and now this? HOW CAN YOU EVEN WIN THE GAME WITHOUT A PARTNER?! There's no snowball chance in hell we'll survive an entire week without fighting Noise! We're their bait as soon as we step out from here!" Pichu whimpered a bit, noticing that many people inside the busy store were staring down at them. Getting looks made Pichu feel sick, so he suggested Ness to calm down. "Ugh, sorry… I'm just pretty irate now, okay? I have a good reason."

Pichu sighed. "Look…I'm just glad you're okay," he said. "I don't want to think about what's going on until we find the others…"

Ness sighed in defeat next. "…Yeah, I don't want to bust my head over this while we can go out and find the others…IF they're still there," Ness said. "But dammit! Another stinking week in this?! This better be the last time!"

After hearing his complain, Pichu looked back outside where Neku and Beat reappeared in the UG. He went outside, followed by a confused Ness. The two duos gathered in front of the building. "Oh, you're still here," Neku said, looking down at Ness. "That's a relief."

"I've got a bigger relief than you did for sure," Ness said, until slowly looking up at Beat and his Noise pet. The punk scratched his back and looked away. "…What is Mr. Rebel Reaper doing with you?"

Neku didn't feel like explaining it himself. He bumped a shoulder to Beat to get him to talk. "Uh, yeah, yo," he said, forcing a smile and looking back at the two. "I'mma good guy now. The bad guy side stinks."

Ness grimaced. "Just like that you joined our cause?"

"Yeah!" Beat said with more emphasis. "Them Reapers were playin' tricks on Phones. I couldn't just stan' it no more," he explained. "'Sides, he gave Rhyme's pendant back to me. That was a done deal in mah eyes!"

"…But you were…" Ness frowned. "Ah, forget about it. Anything to keep Neku safe from erasure. With you on the team the week shouldn't be that worrisome…except that Pichu and I CAN'T make a pact!"

Neku and Beat gasped in unison. "What do you mean you two can't make a pact? That's ridiculous," Neku said. "Are you sure you're not doing it wrong?"

"How can you even mess up a pact?" Ness asked, looking confused. "We tried with words and without them. Nothing happened at all!"

Pichu shivered. "I feel alone just thinking Ness and I can't partner up!" he complained. "This is so bad… We also don't have our powers to begin with! We're defenseless against everything in this hell!"

"Dang, dudes," Beat muttered, smacking his left palm. "I smell Reapers. They musta done this, yo. Can't stop playin' dirty!"

Neku grunted, rubbing his head. "What sick joke is this?" he asked. "Not being able to make a pact will severely reduce your odds to win the last Game. How is anybody going to win besides me?"

Ness pointed at Neku. "You ARE our salvation," he pointed out. "Aren't we still locked with that challenge they put on us? As long as you're alive, so are we?"

"…Oh, crud," Neku muttered, his bangs obscuring his face. "Now I feel more pressured to win this… I gotta take you guys to the winning circle no matter what." He looked up from his collar. "That talk about other bad guys trying to take over the worlds, including Shibuya… It scares me to think the universe's done for should I fail this round."

Beat looked at Neku. "No problem, Phones!" he said with a cocky grin. "Ya gots me for this run. You can't go wrong with my Reaper knowledge! I DID study for once in my life!" He was very proud of the last statement.

Ness crossed his arms and nodded a few times. "You were with them! That's right!" he said. "Don't you have some secret Reaper intel now that you joined us?"

Beat grinned. "I do!" he said. "I kinda quit at the last minute, but I made off with a few presents. Heheheheh…" He took out a black pin from his pocket. It was a pin with a black background behind a white key. "Check this out: a key to open up those damn walls all over the place! It's a Lvl. 1 Keypin."

Neku was surprised to know Beat had smuggled a key in the first place. He looked down at it with Ness and Pichu. "A key?" he wondered. "This can open up the walls?"

"Yup!" Beat said, feeling proud and pocketing it. "You saw me breaking that wall back there? I used this baby for it. Nothin' can stop us now! …'Cept for the walls that can't be opened up with this." He frowned. "…But don't fret, my men! We can go almost anywhere!"

The three Players felt relieved that there was a way to bypass the walls, but that made Neku worry about something else. "Wait… Won't your ex-leaders get angry at you for doing all this for us?" he asked. Beat looked lost. "You said you helped me so you could repay a favor."

Beat shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

Neku raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason?" he asked. "I can't afford any surprises in this Game. Why put yourself in jeopardy?"

The blond punk scratched his head, mumbling a few things. "…What's a 'jeppardy'?" he asked. Ignoring their deadpan looks, he said next, "Look, man. I dunno your big words. But I do got another reason."

"You've got another reason to help us out?" Ness asked. "Something else besides saving Rhyme?"

Beat winced, feeling guilty for remembering Rhyme. The Noise pet looked sad at him, exchanging worried looks. He quickly regained his confidence and shook a fist. "I wanna set Shibuya up widda new Composer," he said before pointing at himself with a thumb. "Me!"

Neku, Ness, and Pichu blinked several times after hearing the other reason for Beat to join them. It took ten full seconds for the others to understand exactly what Beat had said before the Smashers promptly laughed out loud and Neku just kept staring at Beat's jovial look. Truthfully, Beat couldn't tell many things apart. He really did think Ness and Pichu were laughing with him instead. "…Pardon?" Neku finally asked.

Beat grinned confidently. "Smart plan right there, huh?" he said. "I'm awesome!"

"…" Neku shook his head. "No, you're suicidal. Seriously, what?"

His third partner blinked. "Hey, whatsdamader?"

"Uh, Beat…" Neku trailed off, looking down at Ness and Pichu in their laughing fit. They were now rolling on the floor, clutching their stomachs with both hands. The teen then looked back at Beat. "…Why do you even want to…become the new Composer?"

"'Cause!" Beat said. The laughs intensified in volume. "The Reapers are doin' their job really bad. I can fix it up easily!" The laughs became louder.

Ness regained some composure to talk. "Oh man, that's good," he said. Beat smiled obliviously. "What makes you think you can do a good job running this place?" Even if the question sounded clearly like a jab, Beat felt like a president.

"Oh, yo'll see!" Beat said. "Jus' lemme get to the end of the week! I'll show ya all my experisouseci!"

It was blatantly obvious that letting Beat become the omnipotent Composer was perhaps the biggest boneheaded decision to end them all. Neku could remember the days when Beat was babied by Rhyme to avoid doing rash things. Challenging Ike to a Hamburger Off at Sunshine came to mind, which ended up with Beat being defeated after the sixth Double Burger disagreed with being digested into his stomach. Ike, surprisingly but not so much to Soren, was spared from Beat's fate. "(…That's not even a word. Don't you mean 'expertise'?)" Neku thought, looking dismayed at the whole thing. "Ugh, okay, you two. Stop laughing. We need to find the others ASAP before the day ends."

Ness and Pichu tried hard to stop laughing. "O-okay," Pichu said, sighing as he stood back up. "Y-yeah, let's go back to rounding up everyone! The Noise could get to them if we don't hurry!"

"But where should we go?" Ness asked. "Shibuya is a pretty big place to look for one single person! Let's not forget the walls and the Reapers. Where could they be?"

Neku grunted. "…Like you, they could be hiding inside the stores," he said. "I found Pichu inside Sunshine. He told me the Noise didn't get to him while he was in there. If they're not outside in the streets, they must be in the stores."

"And each area of Shibuya has a store!" Pichu pointed out. "Okay, where should we start?"

And Beat suddenly ran off south to the scramble. "Yo, follow me!" he called out. The other three gasped at the sudden head start he got that they followed him. "C'mon!"

"Hey!" Neku yelled. "You're my partner! Don't go running off too far! Where are you taking us, anyway?"

"I know where they are!"

Shibu Dept. Store – Herbal Remedies

Ike was freaked out by May up there in Bel Airplane after noticing the weird looks she shot him from her work space. Very oblivious to the crush she had on him, he moved down, aware that the Noise were looking for him outside. The mercenary went down one level of the building to enter the first floor, which had a radically different establishment. The gruff-looking, gray-haired man wearing traditional Japanese robes sitting next to a table full of special herbs and remedies that cost a pretty yen shot him with a wary look; a look that was just as unsettling as May's. The man surely expected the youngster to buy something, but that was a rare thing to see because nobody dared ingest the costly herbs. The shop was arranged with tables displaying expensive food like jumbo chicken, extra fine noodles, cordyceps, and the like. Compared to Bel Airplane, Mind & Body Foods had some reasonable prices that, in the long run, accumulated pretty fast should somebody happened to buy more than one item.

"…" The man, known as Banzai Ayanikoji, stared long at Ike, spotting him looking out the store's doors. "…Ahem." Ike looked back at him. "I'm not quite fond of window shoppers."

"Oh, um…" Ike randomly picked a something: Curious Mushrooms. "Here, I'll have this."

"…" Banzai's eyes widened. The mushrooms Ike had picked were the most dreadfully expensive stuff in the whole store. It was nearly more than half a million yen. Said mushrooms were told to bring guaranteed fortune to whoever that ate them, besides just giving the owner of the store a month worth of vacations.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Ike asked, showing him the hefty amount of yen.

"…What? Uh, nothing, son!" Banzai said, his tone filled with less venom. Suddenly, he was smiling wide, proud of Ike for going with the deal. Ike didn't care about what he was doing, as long as he was kept inside the store from the horrible monsters outside. "You're quite the odd one, but the good kind of odd."

"Uh, thanks," Ike said. He felt awkward as he got the mushrooms from Banzai.

"Ah, those clothes you're wearing. Are you perhaps one of those crazy anime cosplayers I've heard about from my son?" Banzai asked, his tone sounding friendly. "My son Shuto likes to talk about them a lot every day and night. Maybe you know him?"

Ike constantly stole glances from the outside. The Mist Noise riding the rhino Noise was still hot on his trail. "I don't think I do, sir," he said.

"Hmm? Oh right. My son likes to take on crazy nicknames to blend in with the crowd he likes to hang out," Banzai said. "Maybe you've heard of…Shooter?"

The nickname sounded familiar to Ike. Telling himself that nickname over and over yielded an answer in his mind: the sharp man running the herbal store was the father of the biggest Tin Pin fanatic they met during the Tin Pin Slammer tourney: Shuto "Shooter" Dan. "Oh…now I remember that guy," Ike said. "Yeah…I've met him once. Quite energetic, isn't he?"

"Is he ever?" Banzai chuckled.

Ike wasn't a friend to the odd boy. He thought Shooter was not normal. He could stand people like Pichu and Fox, but oddly the human side was in more ways terrifying outside his world. When he thought back about his world, Ike immediately picked names from people in his army that were just as weird as Shooter, namely the rather scatterbrained Marcia and her lazy bum brother Makalov, Kieran, and the poetic Bastian to an extent. True, those people were weird, but they were his close friends. Just the thought of seeing them all again helped Ike with the struggle against the Reapers' Game.

Only Ike's ears heard the rumbling from the outside. Looking out, he gasped when he saw Beat and Neku showing up outside in the street, engaging in a Noise fight against the monsters. Once they were gone, he felt relief when he spotted Ness and Pichu running into the scene next. Saying his good bye to Banzai, Ike approached the entrance of the building to get the two's attention. They quickly noticed his presence as soon as he opened the glass doors. "Over here!" Ike called out.

Ness and Pichu rejoined with the mercenary successfully and explained everything that was going on. Once Neku and Beat returned from the Noise fight, the mercenary wasn't too happy to see Beat among their ranks.

"It's because of you that Rhyme is a pin," Ike said. "You could've joined us last week instead of trying to rip us a new one."

Beat grunted, grabbing his left shoulder. "Ugh…"

Neku stepped between the two, holding a palm to each one of them. "This isn't the time to reflect on the past," he said. "We found you, Ike. You can be safe with us from now on."

The mercenary nodded, smiling a bit at Neku. "Yes. I feel much better knowing we're back together. Well, at least half of us…" He looked worried. "We still need to find Chris, Fox, and…Soren."

Ness nodded. "Beat said he knows where they are," he pointed out. "He took us here because he knew you were tossed into this place."

Ike looked back at the sulking Beat. "Really now? That's useful," he said. "How do you know?"

Beat merely grunted and sprinted towards Cadoi City. There was a wall blocking the path and no Reaper guarding it. Screaming, Beat pulled his fist back and punched right through the wall, lowering it down with the key he was entrusted. He rushed eastwards, prompting the others to follow him. "Would it hurt you to hold your horses?!" Neku shouted.

"I ain't have no horses!" Beat yelled back. "Whaddah hell are ya talkin' 'bout, Phones?"

"Oh boy…" Ike trailed off.

Molco

A very horrified Fox ran out from the Molco building after finding out too late that there was a furry convention today. Being constantly asked about how he made his "costume" far too real and cool and the weird marriage proposals from some people he couldn't tell their genders apart (luckily, these were far rare to spot) made him feel utterly sick of himself, even more with the ones that touched him in places he wanted to forget and the ones who grew desperate and tried prying his clothes and "mask" off. Suddenly, the thought about Joshua chuckling to himself came to mind, and he shrugged it off quickly.

Once he came out several feet away from the entrance where he saw the glaring banner hanging up behind his head, Fox rested his hands on his knees. "Dear god," he muttered, panting heavily. "What is wrong with these people? Why can't these generic humans be normal for once?" he pondered, making it a rule of thumb to check for convention banners before entering any large buildings in the area. "…Scratch that. What is right with them?"

He could've pondered the scarring questions a little more, but the sound of rushing feet made his ears perk up. Turning to the right and stepping back quickly, he dodged a pointy lance burrowing its tip into the concrete. He forgot all about what he went through in the building once he glared at the Krystal Noise that was hunting him down. Known as a Vixenance, the Noise was very athletic and deadly with her staff that she used like a lance.

"I'm happy you look like her," Fox told the monster. "…But you're not her. That pretty much makes you uninteresting. Since you're Noise, I have an excuse to beat you up." He wasn't going to retreat, as he already knew he was trapped within the walls of Molco. Despite not having weapons, Fox was good at some martial arts and defense. Quickly thinking on stealing the staff from the Noise to use it as his weapon, he had everything he needed to make his stand. "C'mon!"

The Vixenance charged with her staff trailing behind. Fox was fixed on getting the staff more than anything, as it would probably disable her from inflicting a lot of damage. When she came close and brought her staff above her head, Fox swiftly stepped aside and let the staff fall down. Quickly, he grabbed it with both hands and took it off from her hands.

The vulpine stepped back and grinned at her. "I didn't think it'd be this easy to disarm you," he said. "You monsters can't just copy the real deals very good, can you?"

The Vixenance didn't move. She just snapped her fingers.

The staff Fox held suddenly caught ablaze, making him yelp and let go of it. As he was distracted flailing his hands, his enemy kicked him on his stomach and pushed him away. She grabbed her blazing staff without getting burned, letting the flames rage on the frame of her weapon. Regaining his stance, Fox grunted at her. "Of course… That was oddly too easy," he said. "Dammit… Well, no sweat. I don't need your weapon to kick you hard." He motioned at her to come at him.

The fight resumed. With the staff on fire, Fox needed to be more careful. He was a professional when fighting one-on-one as there were no other people to worry about, though the unaware people walking by the scene in the RG made the scene look weird. Fox brushed it off and focused on the battle. He was swifter than he looked, as evidenced once the Vixenance started throwing blows with her staff. Low sweeps were jumped over, medium-leveled smacks missed hitting his head, and vertical blows were stepped aside. When Fox saw an opening once her staff brushed on the floor quite suddenly, he neared her and pulled off a roundhouse kick on her face.

His foot went through her without feeling physical contact.

Fox's green irises shrunk in surprise until she saw his hesitation and smacked his snout sideward with the hard end of her flaming staff. Fox got knocked back down to the floor and gasped for breath. Quickly regaining senses, he rolled aside and stood on one knee, avoiding a quick downward smack. "How… Why…?" He shook his head, glaring at her. "What the hell? My foot just passed right through you! That shouldn't happen! (Oh man, this is the worst. If I can't hurt her, how am I supposed to defend myself? Only thing I can do is keep running away from her…)"

Fortunately, he was swift on his feet. With the Noise guarding the way to the Molco building, Fox risked it by going south, knowing full well that there was a wall there. He was thinking about luring the Vixenance away so that he could have more space to make a run for it to the building, the only area that provided him with shelter... When he remembered there was a not-so good event inside there, Fox quickly considered his options: stay outside with a Noise he couldn't hurt literally, or go inside and risk his fur getting skinned off by rabid people. He chose the second, much to his dismay, as he reached the wall to Cadoi City and jerked around to see the Vixenance rushing towards him like he predicted.

He backed off against the wall and glared at the not-Krystal. "I don't have time for you," he said. "Now this has become a survival of the fittest."

"There you are!"

Fox blinked and looked over his shoulder. He sighed loudly when he saw Neku standing on the other side of the wall. He was probably the reason why the timer vanished in the first place. "Neku!" Fox said. "Thank god you're still here!"

Neku gasped. "Duck!"

Fox ducked down and avoided his right eye getting stabbed by the fiery lance. With the Vixenance looming over him, Fox heard a loud crash from behind. The wall shattered into intangible pieces as Beat's fist went through it. The Vixenance seemed to look surprised at the event, and so did Fox, mainly because he didn't see Beat coming into this at all. With the wall shattered, Neku and Beat engaged in a Noise fight against the Vixenance, leaving an astonished Fox behind as he stared into space.

He then heard rushing footsteps coming from behind. Quickly standing up, Fox saw his other comrades coming into the scene. "It's you guys," the vulpine muttered, smiling a bit. "Whew, I thought I was the only one left…"

Ness looked dull. "Sorry, but you're not the definite main character of this story," he said. "That aside, you're okay as well. That's good."

"I'm just as glad to see you again," Ike said. "The Reapers separated each one of us by tossing us into different areas around Shibuya."

Fox counted the three of them, noticing that Chris and Soren were missing. "Wait… Where are Chris and your partner?" he asked. The three of them looked away, indifferent to the question. "…Don't tell me you haven't found them yet."

Pichu shook his head. "We're looking for them, too," he said. "…Neku started finding all of us one by one…and Beat became his partner for this Game!"

Confused at the news, Fox waited for Neku and Beat to return from the battle. Half a minute later, the two partners reappeared, looking a bit exhausted. "Darn it," Neku said. "These Noise they're using act differently than the rest. It's like they're more aware of our fighting style."

"Please don't say that," Ness said. "When you put it like that, I can't help but think the Noise styled after our friends are trying to become a little more human themselves…"

"They're monsters, regardless," Ike said. "I won't go easy against that bastardized version of my sister. She's alive and well in my world. She's not here to cut my head off."

Ness mumbled a few words. "(Maybe it's because I'm younger, but I don't feel so good either way…)"

Beat grinned. "Yeah! One more good man joins the team!" he said, pleased to have saved Fox. When he stared at Fox, he noticed the rather grim look he was giving him. "…Uh, you okay, yo?"

Fox's grim look turned into a glare. "I still remember how Rhyme got turned into a stupid pin and you decided to side with the Reapers over us," he said. Beat gulped and looked away. "How dare you even come back to us like everything's okay and stuff? Do I need to remind you that you wanted to erase us a few days ago?"

Neku wasn't going to let an argument start right now. He stepped between both, briefly recalling he did the same with Ike a few minutes ago. "Fox, I know you're just as pissed to Beat as everyone else here," Neku said, getting Fox's glare. "…But he did save me and Pichu when Uzuki and her Reaper partner tried to off us both."

"…" Fox sighed. "Well, he's lucky you two were in trouble…but I still have my doubts," he told Beat. "I can't trust you after you came back from the Reapers. I gotta play it safe with you." He suddenly noticed the presence of the Noise pet perched on Beat's right shoulder. "I mean, you even have one of those monsters following you!"

Beat grunted. "This ain't no monster, fox man!" he shouted back, shaking a fist. The Noise pet shivered in fear.

Neku blinked, remembering the Noise pet. "Wait a sec. How is it that you still have that Noise pet around?" he questioned.

"Argh!" Beat rubbed his head quickly. "We ain't got no time to waste, Phones! Someone else's close to here! Um, I remember that weird shy kid with the infinite wardrobe was dropped off nearby! C'mon, time's a wastin'!"

Fox's eyes looked shocked, quickly forgetting his problems with Beat. "Chris!" he realized first. Beat took off south with a head start, the others following him from behind. "H-hey, hold your horses! We need to stay together!"

"Why can't ya guys stop bringin' that up?!" Beat yelled, his Noise pet hanging tightly to his shirt. "I ain't have no horses with me!"

"Oh, brother…" Fox muttered duly.

Towa Records

Several minutes ago…

Around the time Neku and Beat had found Ike, Chris was starting to grow impatient in the music store. He didn't know how much longer he'd have to pretend he was there to buy a CD. From time to time, he looked outside to see if there any signs of any familiar faces. The Aura Hunter was nowhere to be seen, but Chris couldn't risk it. The predator was surely waiting for the right moment to emerge from somewhere and murder his victim. It had been angered so much when the decal's barrier blocked it from reaching out, or at least that's what Chris thought.

As the clock ticked, the World Traveler wondered why the next day hasn't started yet. Morbid as it was, fainting in the middle of the street to advance the clock was the common thing to do. A week felt like two days or less because of how the Reapers' Game worked, but not it felt like the normal passage of time was weird just being itself. Something was definitely wrong if the day's mission was completed yet nothing else happened, Chris thought.

Looking out the glass doors, Chris's waiting finally came to an end when he spotted a familiar face lazily walking down the street, bobbing his head while recalling a nice tune in his head. Even if Mr. Hanekoma wasn't a Player, he was everything Chris needed. Foregoing the fact there was a Noise outside, Chris waved good bye to the clerk in the store and came out, rushing towards Mr. Hanekoma. "M-Mr. Hanekoma, wait!" Chris called out to the lazy barista. The teen forgot to pick up his mage hat stuck on the handrail.

"…Hmm?" Sanae stopped in his tracks and turned around, meeting a very relieved Chris. The teen stopped running and greeted him. "Oh, it's you, Chris senpai! Hose it goin'?"

"B-bad," Chris shivered. "I've trapped inside this area. I can't move out to look for anybody else…and I don't even know if there's anybody else in the game!" He looked at his palm that used to house the timer. "Well…there are people playing the Game. The timer disappeared so suddenly. That should mean there are, right?"

Sanae nodded. "A-yup, there are," he said. "Fact is, I met up with Phones and that punky friend of his. They're playin' the Game together."

Chris looked confused, his relief replaced by the neutral emotion. "Neku's here? And…what punky friend are you talking about?"

"The guy who has a megaphone inside his mouth and likes to scream bwah-something?" The teen blinked, falling silent. "Oh, um, his name was Beat."

"…Beat?" Chris said. "But Beat turned into a Reaper bent on erasing us! Good thing we defeated him all the times he tried to do that… Still though, Beat betrayed the Reapers by joining Neku? I thought he couldn't do that, or anybody else in the evil team for that matter."

Hanekoma chuckled. "Oh, that's possible, alright," he said until looking dead serious. "…Though that's a lethal chess move to do, senpai. The Reapers are a hasty bunch, I tell ya." He scratched the back of his neck. "You turn your back on them, they'll stab that back slooowly…then they'll twist the dagger 'til you're done for."

Chris shuddered. "…I would've liked another kind of description, but does Beat even know this?"

The barista laughed loudly. "Eh, who knows?! He should! Reapers are told everythin' about the Game and their tasks to do," Sanae said. "Would be nasty not to listen to 'em!"

Thinking back, Chris was glad Neku was around. But when he learned that Beat was with him, he brainstormed some possibilities. "Beat betrayed the Reapers and now he's with Neku, and the Reapers don't like being betrayed…" he trailed off. "…Is Neku going to be affected?"

Sanae nodded. "No way he's gettin' off dah hook either, senpai," he said. "If one Player is planning some dark stuff that threatens to destroy the existence of the UG or a Reaper leaves their team behind, the Reapers are told to take drastic measures against that Player and their partner." He looked up to the sky. "In a way, the partner that's not doing anything ends up suffering because their lives are tied with one another."

Chris felt sick. "W-what do you mean threaten the existence of the UG?" he asked. "Beat is pretty scatterbrained as it is! How can h-"

"Surely 'cuz, when he was a Reaper, he was taught about how they work," Sanae interrupted. "Now, it's like they gave Phones an exploitable tool to bypass several rules altogether! They had their chance to strip Beat from their ranks, but he quit during the Game's transition. The Composer can't directly affect Players until they are erased or they win the week. A little birdy told me that this was your last week, though, so if you win…you win, and they can't go back on their word. In doing so, whatever Beat got his 'ands on has the potential to disrupt everything to hell and they can't do anythin' abou'it if Neku wins. Beat got a sure ticket to victory!" He sighed. "…But anybody under the Conductor's command can do whatever they please before they finish all seven days. The fingerless gloves are off, senpai! No one's safe in this week!"

"Oh… Oh man," Chris grabbed his stomach. With all the information given to him, he thought he was told there was no way things were going to stay as easy a day ago.

"Furthermore…"

The teen groaned. "Oh, come on! There's more?!"

Sanae nodded, not flinching at the reaction. "Nah, actually, this has to do more with you as much as it does with Phones," he said. "If they erase Neku, all of you guys are done for, too. You're still tied to that condition of protecting him. Did you forget?"

Chris looked deadpan at the older man. "…Why don't you just tell me we're essentially screwed and be done with it?!" he demanded. "Honestly now! How can we win with all those odds stacked against us?!"

The barista chuckled. "They could have erased you during the awards ceremony but they didn't," he said. "Well, Beat betrayin' them was outta the blue, but you're here, ain't ya! You can make a big difference if you believe, senpai! Clap those hands with enthusiasm!"

"There is absolutely NO logic in what you just said…" Chris shook his head. "…Well…you're a guardian of the sorts, so maybe you're giving me an unneeded riddle I have to figure out soon enough."

Sanae rolled his eyes. "Sure, senpai, sure," he said, nodding a few times.

Chris looked around. "Maybe there's a chance to win this…but not like this," he said. "Mr. Hanekoma, like I told you before, I'm trapped in this place. Is there any way for me to escape and meet up with Neku?"

"Aw…" Sanae chuckled. "Sorry, senpai. Can't help ya out that much."

The teen wanted to cry so badly. "Y-you suck!" he complained. "T-there's this demented Noise who looks like my best Pokémon that's hunting me down in here! I don't have Fox with me so it makes things really hard for me to survive! Also, my weapons and magic don't work on it!" He grabbed the older man's shoulders. "Please, you need to help me!"

Hanekoma sighed and looked around. "Alright, senpai… 'spose I can at least do this for ya," he said with a small wink. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers loudly.

The southern wall suddenly flickered with light until it shattered into pieces. Chris saw in shock as the intangible shards fell apart into nothingness, disappearing in thin air. With the wall gone, Chris was allowed to go forth. "Oh…oh god, thank you!" Chris hugged Hanekoma, the latter feeling very uncomfortable. "Sorry for saying you suck! You're awesome and all that!" He let go of the barista and walked a few steps away towards the open path. Stopping in his tracks, Chris blinked and turned back to him. "T-there's one more thing I need to ask… Do you know why I don't have my weapons and… What the…"

The barista disappeared from his spot. Chris could only see living people walking by the street, but Hanekoma was nowhere to be seen.

Feeling alone, the World Traveler sighed. "Maybe I was relying too much on him… He can't just go around helping Players that much," he muttered, looking up from the floor. "…That's enough moping around for one day. I need to look for Neku! As long as I'm with him and Beat, I'll be much safer." He looked to his right where his mage hat was flung south. "Oh, I forgot my hat got stuck there…"

Turning to walk south as his gaze followed the mage hat, his eyes eventually found themselves focusing on someone after the mage hat flew by the person that was staring at Chris. The individual was clearly looking straight at him and no one else, so he felt some company… When Chris fully scanned the person, though, it became a major problem.

The Aura Hunter stood between him and the way to Cadoi City. The monster growled menacingly as it started stepping forward, one crushing step at a time. The teen started breathing heavily while grabbing his chest and feeling his heart beat madly. The wound he had gotten on his head acted up by the sudden rush of sweat, but he tolerated the slight pain. He really wasn't going to tolerate the incoming world of hurt that was coming his way from the monster. "I-I knew you were around here, waiting for me to get happy AND TOTALLY RUIN MY GOOD LUCK!" Chris complained. "(He HAD to appear right between me and my only way out! I don't have good reflexes to dodge his blows! …Oh, screw it! I have to pass, even if he punches blood out of my mouth!)"

Perhaps he could fly away to gain more space to dodge. Quickly thinking of that, Chris changed to his Moogle Knight job. Noticing the absence of his small sword, the Moogle shrugged and was relieved to know he could at least fly in midair. Bracing himself and hearing the monster roar violently, Chris took off as fast as he could, flying upwards.

The Aura Hunter growled and jumped quite quickly to the direction Chris was going to. Gasping and gulping, Chris swirled right and barely avoided a Force Palm on his face. Briefly thanking himself for dodging the blow, the Lucario Noise used his free hand, grabbed the small fighter's backside and slammed him down back to the concrete.

Chris screamed loudly as his frailer body bounced off from the street, landing hard once more after the forceful pull back to earth. Grunting and slowly pushing himself off, a fierce kick coupled with ExtremeSpeed sent him crashing swiftly against the wall of the large CD emporium. Screaming louder, the Moogle bounced back to the street, barely feeling good enough to stand up without hurting himself. His wings had been damaged so badly by the impacts that flying was not an option any longer. His entire body was just in a similar shape, but all of his limbs hurting like hell made it near impossible to try to stand back up.

The rushing feet echoed, overcoming the sound of the living people's feet. Because the Moogle Knight wasn't exactly a job with a lot of stamina against larger and tougher foes, Chris indirectly doomed himself. His concentration was constantly being lost as he tried to change jobs. No doubt the Lucario Noise was going to erase him. After having survived the first mission of the third week, it felt so unfair to him that he was going to die either way. Hearing the monster's loud panting sounds, Chris could only whimper and cry, trying to see his entire life flash through his worn eyes. When the large shadow loomed over him, Chris unwillingly embraced death to get it over with…

Perhaps, out of desperation, he thought about moving. His body was getting into so much pain, but escaping from the monster was the best thing that could happen to him. Summoning his energy, the Aura Hunter's hand failed to grab the Moogle as he suddenly scurried away and stood up. With some focus, Chris changed to a job where he was turned back into a human: the Black Mage job. His legs hurt badly with the pain having moved to equal portions of his body, but it didn't matter. He was gaining distance away from the Aura Hunter, who then roared in protest and chased after him.

As Chris forced himself to run, he felt liquid on his lips. With a quick swipe of a finger, he found out he was bleeding. It wasn't enough blood for him to lose it, so he kept running south with everything he got to avoid being reduced to a bloody corpse on the street. Looking down the street among the living people, he spotted his mage hat being swept westwards to Cadoi City. He was going there as well.

The sight of a fierce-looking punk and his entourage of misfits gave Chris a lot of hope as they rounded the corner of the two areas. "E-everyone!" Chris yelled in relief, getting their attention. The mage hat bumped quietly against Fox, who probably looked the most relieved of them all.

The small smiles and grins were short-lived as soon as Chris saw Ike's s horrified look. "CHRIS, LOOK OUT!"

A fierce palm collided hard against his back and he was blasted off into the air, spinning madly and sending small drops of blood around. The Force Palm applied on his back was the last thing he needed. His body was almost out of commission, and landing hard on the sidewalk didn't help things. It was really it right now and there, because he was steadily losing energy to control even the slightest motion with a finger. Destiny played a cruel trick on him by letting him get so close to his comrades just to be pushed to the verge of death. His hearing becoming deaf by the second, Chris could only hear a multitude of rushing feet coming from all directions. He whimpered, not having enough force to cry anymore.

"You BASTARD!" Was all Chris could hear from a bewildered Neku, as a shadow lunged at his limp body lying down on the sidewalk just for two more shadows – Neku and Beat – making their stand against the demented Lucario and initiating a Noise fight.

Kingdom Hearts: BBS – Ventus Theme

With the threat seemingly gone, the other four Smashers immediately circled around Chris and checked up on him. The World Traveler had been beaten up so badly that his body was starting to look like a corpse. His pants were dirty, but his mage robe was dirtier with ripped portions and missing pieces. On his back, a large hole on the clothing where the last Force Palm came into contact left a large, red-swollen lump that was close to bleeding. His face was all jacked up due to his nasty falls from high altitudes. The bandage on his head gave up, reviving the previous wound he had gotten earlier in the day.

"No… No!" Ike yelled as they examined the teen. He quickly went over to check his heart beat. The beats inside were beating still, but they were gradually becoming slower. "Damn, his heart rate is too slow!"

"Y-you can't be serious!" Ness said, shaking his head. "H-he can't die here, not after all we've been through in this stupid challenge!"

Pichu noticed the dirty bandage and quickly put in on the teen's bleeding head. "W-what can we do now?!" he cried. "Chris will die if we don't heal him somehow!" Ike picked the downed teen from the floor to give him some support.

Fox gritted his teeth as he shook his previous partner a bit. "D-dammit! Don't you die on us now!" he complained. "Say something; anything! Please, don't die!" No response came from the teen. With the unneeded silence making itself clear, some started shedding tears as they looked on at the fainted comrade. "…Respond, DAMMIT, RESPOND!" The vulpine shook him harder, but Ike told him to stop.

There were coughs coming from Chris. They quickly gasped in unison, seeing him cough out blood. His eyes completely filled with tears, the teen whimpered and cried to himself. Pichu forced a smile. "Y-you're okay!" he said. "O-oh, I thought you were…"

"I…I…" Chris sniffed, and Ike felt how the teen's body shook in fear. "I-I don't…don't w-want to…d-die… F-feel…s-so…w-w-weak…"

Ness gasped, looking horrified. "D-don't say that now! You've got to hang in there!" he said.

Ike felt utterly sick just thinking about having a friend die on his arms, but he didn't want to let go either way. He gulped as he said, "If you've got energy to talk, don't talk! You need to conserve your energy!"

Chris's vision gradually became blurrier, seeing static cover the world through his tearful eyes. "T-this…t-t-this…i-i-is…the…w-worst…" he coughed, only then he felt the other three grab his left hand. He tried to take a grip on theirs too, but he couldn't even do that. Just knowing he felt weaker made him pant heavily, desperate to cling to his life. "I-I…am…s-so…s-scared… D-don't…le…a…ve…me…"

Fox grunted loudly. "Stop talking, you moron!" he yelled. "Hang on to your life! You can't give up now!" He hung his head down. "P-please…" he sniffed, something he was surprised to do. "…Don't die…"

His breathing became faster by the second, terrifying the others with the worst outcomes. "…S-so…scared… D-don't…w-w-want…to…d-die…a-a…lo…ne… U-uh…" His head lifelessly looked aside, his eyes closing with tears still falling down his face, mixing with the blood coming from his head.

In a flash, Chris's existence was no more, and Ike felt the weight being taken off his arms. The others' grips on his hand balled their hands into fists, looking up in dismay at the spot where Chris once stood. Completely mortified at the event, they fell in silence for about ten seconds, breathless and trying to understand what had happened. It was impossible to hold back the tears that were welling up in their eyes, and so the tears were set free. Pichu started whimpering, clutching his face against Ness. The Onett boy slowly put his hands to the sides of his face, his small cries turning louder by the second. Ike was frozen there, hoping that his arms weren't playing a trick on his mind by getting rid of the weight. As for Fox, he dropped on his knees and supported himself on his hands, staring down at the floor, feeling guilty as his tears fell down.

Chris has been erased…

As they kept sniffing under their breaths, the vulpine grabbed his head with both hands and screamed at the top of his lungs, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"W-why did this happen…?" Ness cried. "W-why did he have to die first again?! Why does he always die?! I don't get this!" He hugged Pichu for support. "Does destiny hate his guts or what?! It's so unfair!"

"I-I always thought I'd be the first one to die!" Pichu cried. "S-so unfair…s-so unfair… W-waaaaaaaaah!"

Ike kicked the air and started cursing himself. "I always try so hard to keep all the members of my company alive by the end of the day… I'd never thought…this could happen eventually…" he trailed off, trying to come to terms with the event. "…Were we too late?"

"Of course we were too late!" Fox yelled, standing up and glaring at them through his eyes. They noticed how he was crying. Even with a tough look, his eyes were watery. "We were separated because those imbeciles wanted to dispose of us without any help! And they were good enough to kill Chris of all people?!" He tightened his fists even harder. "He's gone through far more shit than we have individually! This was completely uncalled for!"

Pichu stopped his crying to look up at him. "W-what else can we do now?" he asked, sniffing. "Chris is gone forever…"

It pained so much to hear the statement. "N-no…no way, he's not gone!" Fox said, his glare turning into a saddened look. "I won't accept this that easily! H-he could still be somewhere, waiting for us to rescue him from death itself! W-who's not to say that's possible around here, huh?"

Ike looked away, though his eyes looked down at the street. "Well… I do have to…um…admit that anything is possible by now…" He didn't want to be delusional, but Ike had to admit that staying hopeful was better than moping around as long as insanity didn't take over. "…But how can Death itself be defied once you're erased in the Reapers' Game?"

Ness bit his lip, trying to suppress his cries. "Those b-bastards never explained everything in full to us…not even to Shiki," he pointed out. "T-they could be hiding something like that… I don't know, you guys, b-but… Chris is gone…"

Fox lowered his head. "…Stop saying that," he muttered. "STOP SAYING HE'S GONE FOREVER!" he demanded loudly.

As they felt silent, Neku and Beat returned from the Noise fight. They had arrived looking exhausted, even more tired than when they fought the Vixenance. "D-damn… That weird dog Noise was harder to erase…" Neku trailed off, until he noticed the saddened looks from the team. "Wait, what's going on? Why are you…" His eyes widened. "…Oh no… N-no! Don't tell me…!"

Beat and his Noise pet looked down at the bloody spot on the street. He grunted loudly and yelled. "STUPID (%$(# %$( %($## #$#!" he swore harshly. "We didn't 'ake it!"

The loner teen shook his head. "How could we be so slow getting here?!" he asked rhetorically. "Damn those Reapers! Yet another life snuffed out because of this sickening Game!"

Ike held himself together to stay sane. Pichu and Ness were hanging down their heads, and Fox was possibly far worse than the two children. Neku and Beat were taking it just as hard, though they held back their tears until Beat himself looked up and tried to keep his own tears from flowing down his face, his Noise pet looking remorseful. "…If we keep mourning," he began, "we're going to lose valuable time, guys… It…it can't be helped…"

Fox glared nastily at him, after picking up the mage hat that Chris had been chasing. "Then what the fuck do you propose, smart guy?!" he demanded. "We don't have any leads as to what to do now!"

Ike glared back. "You need to calm down, especially!" he shot back. Fox grunted as a response. "Don't you understand we haven't found Soren? He's out there alone with those monsters roaming the streets! We…were too late to save Chris…" He swallowed his breath, feeling guilty just remembering the lost life. "…But I'm not planning to waste any more time knowing Soren doesn't have a partner to survive alone. Chris was special to all of us in some way… Would you want to see another life get lost?"

Ness rubbed his eyes with one hand, his other hand patting Pichu on the back. "No… N-no, I don't want to see another one of us dying again," he said. "Soren needs our help… I can't afford another loss… Not now!"

"…" Neku lowered his face. "We're not on a clock for the rest of the day. We've got all the time until they decide to knock us out like they always do." He looked back at Beat. "Hey, Beat. Do you know where Soren is?"

Music stops

Beat's Day 2 - Style

Scramble Crossing

It was incredibly quick to feel the sense of drowsiness come at full force. They didn't even get a chance to see the world falling down. Waking up in the middle of the scramble, the six Players gasped and stood back up. "T-the next day?" Pichu wondered aloud.

"Yeah… Looks like it," Neku said. "Damn…"

Ike started looking around for any signs of Soren in the perimeter, but he didn't find the Branded anywhere. "Soren isn't here! He's somewhere else still!" he said, the most alarmed of the group. "We must look for him!"

Neku decided to ask Beat about information. "Beat, you know where he is? Thanks to you, we manage to locate Ike, Fox, and…Chris yesterday," he asked.

Beat chuckled nervously.

There was an unsettling feeling that everyone got once they heard the punk chuckling like that. "Beat, what's wrong?" Ness asked.

"Ah… Well…" Beat chuckled again. "…I was jus' guessin'."

"…What does that even mean?" Neku asked.

"Yeah… I didn't know where they was," Beat said, looking at Ike and Fox, ignoring the fact the latter looked very disheartened. "…So yeah!"

Neku closed his eyes in frustration. "So…you're saying that you just…ran around Shibuya like a headless chicken looking for people because you thought they were there?" he asked.

Beat mumbled to himself. "Whaaaa…? Hey, Phones," he began, forcing a small grin, "headless chicken can't run! They're dead like that! Dontchu know that?" He was confused when he saw Neku face-palming.

"Geez!" Neku grunted. "And here I thought you know what you were doing! That was pretty risky back there!" He looked back at the others. "…But we're lucky we found them."

The punk grunted next, looking down at his fist. "Yeahs, but what 'bout Chris? I failed, yo…" he trailed off, his Noise pet copying his facial expression. "They gots him… I shoulda run faster!"

Fox looked sorrowful. With the fact they haven't gotten a mission yet, he wanted to believe Chris wasn't gone. He tried to think of alternatives to defy death within the Reapers' Game, until he noticed he was still gripping the mage hat he had picked up yesterday and came to a reasonable conclusion he thought was reasonable at all. "…Everyone," he spoke, looking serious and storing the hat away, "…I think…there's a way to get Chris back."

The other five stared at his direction. "How?" Neku asked, crossing his arms. "What are you thinking? He's nobody's entry fee like Shiki is for me. How can we possibly bring the erased back?"

The vulpine thought back when Joshua was planning to meet the Composer to take his throne for himself. It was a good answer than any other. "…We're gonna go to the Composer," he said, tightening a fist to his side. "It's about time we meet him in person."

The Smashers and Neku gasped, but Beat grinned confidently. "That was my plan from the beginnin', yo!" he said. "That guy in white clothes should screw reality and what not! He can bring back dead people fosho!"

Hearing the news, the others smiled. "Wait, really?" Fox asked. "I was bringing some random answers, but… He can bring dead people back? Chris can be saved?!" He felt very relieved with the possibility actually existing.

Beat smiled wide. "…Not sure, yo!" Immediately, the others groaned. Fox wondered why he wasn't choking him.

"Beat…" Neku sighed mid-sentence, "…what did you even get to see when you were a Reaper? Did you even get to meet the Composer?"

The punk twisted his lips. "Hmm, nope," he said. "I wanted to, but Shades said no every damn time I asked. Like tryin' to meet a celebrity!" he complained. "But twas good, Phones! After all, I'm gonna become the Composer and change everythin'!"

While Ness and Pichu chuckled mentally, Ike and Fox exchanged odd looks. "Wait… You want to become the Composer?" Ike asked. "Why?"

"'Cuz!" Beat said. "Yo, the rules are screwed up, the Reapers don't gots the balls to play fair, the Noise make me sick… I hate everything they do!" he stated. "Also…that's the only way for Rhyme to come back!"

Fox wanted to laugh, but when Beat brought Rhyme into the discussion, he glared. "You idiot! How can you be so sure that winning the Game isn't enough to bring her back?" he asked.

Beat looked miffed. "'Cuz the Reapers are cheaters! They've been cheatin' ya to death, literally! I wanna change that and make the Reapers' Game a paradise!" he said determined. "I gonna get my hands dirty just for her!"

"…Holy crap, you are crazy," Fox said, looking duly.

"Crazy enough to work! Glad you're with me on this, Foxy!"

"When did I ever…? You know what, screw you, and please don't call me Foxy," the vulpine muttered the last part, seeing as Beat was at the top of the world in his own world. "What matters to me is to get Chris back from the dead while also getting Rhyme as well." Beat was happy to know he had his unconditional help, even if Fox wanted to rip him a new one.

Pichu shivered, embracing. "Um, guys? How are we going to fight Noise if we can't make a pact?" he asked. "…Ness and I can't make a pact for some reason, and our weapons and skills are gone this week."

Fox sighed. "You three, too?" he asked. "I thought I could at least fight that bastardized Krystal with my physical attacks, but all of my kicks went through her without hurting her… What do you mean you can't make a pact with him?" he asked, looking at Ness.

"We just can't," Ness said. "We tried several things to make it work, but it didn't."

Pichu nodded, climbing Fox's right left to get a hold of his hand to show him what he meant. "What can we do if we can't make a pact with the partner we hav-"

As much as how Fox and Pichu were completely unrelated in terms of being even friends, the pact didn't fail to work as soon as they grabbed hands. Vertigo took a hold of them as their souls resonated with one another. The two stared into space, briefly exchanging their singular visual range before going back to their bodies. Whatever had happened was already done, and they fully knew that they made a pact by accident.

Chris was decent and enough for Fox to work with. Pichu was very used to Ness that their teamwork was above passable. When each lost their chance to remain with their respective partners, it only meant one thing: insecurity. Fox looked down at his new unlikely partner and summed it all up with a well-placed, "…Oh, fuck."

Pichu was clearly offended, clinging to the side of his waistline. "W-what do you mean with that swear?! Am I not good enough to you?" He sniffed. "Y-you're horrible! What does Chris see in you?"

Fox grunted. "Hey! I have never. EVER paired up with you of all people! Which is incredible because I have been paired with Jigglypuff…once in a random match!"

Pichu grunted next. "Then you're out of luck! We're partners in this last run, and you're going to like it!" he shot back.

The vulpine turned to Neku. "Can't you swap partners with…" After giving Beat a look, he took it all back. Pichu pouted. "Never mind. He's all yours."

Neku rolled his eyes. "Yaaay," he said out of boredom, but Beat felt proud.

Ness got annoyed. "Get a grip on yourself, you big kid," he told Fox. "It's important that you don't have a reason to get hunted down by Noise now that you're with Pichu… Which reminds me…" he trailed off as he looked at the partnerless Ike.

Ike stared down at the boy and quickly caught on. "…No, absolutely not," he said.

Ness groaned slightly. "Why not?" he asked. "You need a partner, I need a partner, you know where this is going! Don't make this any harder than it is!"

"I must find Soren first!" Ike said. "He doesn't have a partner either! I can't let him go around without any means to fight!"

"You'd rather risk your life and lure Noise to us?" Ness asked. "They've been getting stronger every day! I've noticed that from the beginning of this long ordeal! Here, give me your hand!" He tried to reach out for Ike's hand, but the mercenary put them over his head. "No fair! I'm not that tall! Get those hands down here!"

"Stay away from them!" Ike demanded.

Ness sighed. "Well, this calls for desperate measures…" He strongly kicked Ike right on his left knee, making the mercenary grab his area and yell. Taking advantage, Ness grabbed one of his hands, making a pact with Ike. After the sense of vertigo was gone, Ike continued to rub his knee multiple times. "There! We're guaranteed to stay safe."

Ike glared at him amidst his pain. "W-what have you done?!" he asked. "Soren doesn't have a free partner for real!"

"You'd rather put me in jeopardy over him? I know you two are very close because that guy has never smiled to any other person other than you in a few occasions," Ness said, eyes suspicious. "Yeah, I noticed. He was always the smart one so it was hard for me not to see that."

Ike was pushed to a corner. "U-uh… You'd find some way to make it work by yourself?" he suggested.

Ness's glare intensified. "Screw you. We're working together until we win the Game."

"Then what about Soren? If we find him, what can he do by himself?"

"We can stuff him inside a shop each day of the week at the expense of his extreme dislike with people so the Noise don't get to him," Ness suggested. Ike wondered why Ness himself didn't come up with that when he asked to find another way. "Don't give me that look! It can work out! Let's just not say this out loud to the higher ups."

"I'd rather you do that…" Ike muttered.

"What was that?"

"I wish Ike was my partner," Fox muttered.

Pichu hissed. "So I'm not good enough for you? You've got a big ego!"

And then they were off. Neku watched helplessly as the broken team of Smashers started arguing to each other for petty reasons. One argument was about how there were some rules as to who should give orders during a fight, another was about how there should be good synchronization to exploit the light puck even if such self-imposed rule was never there to remind them about it, and another argument was a pointless complaint about how one partner needed to do something else other than doing their own thing (Fox and Ike tried so hard to take leadership roles in their pairs to no avail). It became worse when they started complaining about other stuff that didn't even have anything to do with the Game but their mannerisms and even looks. Fox was offended when Pichu said he wasn't buff but just plain-looking, and Ike didn't take it too well that his knowledge of technology was poor compared to Ness.

As they went on and on, Neku visualized their odds in clearing the Game without a fourth pair of Players and the most vital thing of all known as perfect sync. When he himself looked at Beat, who then in return flashed a grin, the chances to win became clear: slim to none and then to nonexistent. "(Oh yeah, we're fucked,)" he thought to himself, since he was the life that was chained to theirs. "(How did these guys even manage to make it this far without going at each other's throats?)" Staring at them all for a little while and knowing that their arguments were never going to end, Neku turned into the voice of reason, a very rare trait he found fascination with. "Okay, stop it!" he yelled. They didn't listen. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" They finally stopped arguing mid-sentenced, looking startled. "You people are insane, complaining about stupid things right when we're in danger in this last week! Did you forget the meaning behind partners? Trust! Even Joshua…even Joshua knew that when we were busy talking behind his back!"

"…" Each pair of partners exchanged worried glances with each other.

Neku gave them a few seconds to do something. When they didn't, he continued. "It's been hard on us," he said. "With all these weird, infuriating events happening to us every day, they're breaking us apart little by little. They…even took Chris down." Remembering that name made the Smashers look away, saddened. "That was when we were separated, though. We're back together…and you guys can only complain with your new partners? Do I need to remind you I've gone through that two times already because I technically didn't have any other choice? Why can't you accept the change? We're talking about our lives here."

"…Things really have changed if you're suddenly turning into the voice of reason," Ike admitted.

"That's because I learned to open my world so that strangers enter it… Joshua tried to diverge that from me, but it didn't work. Shiki had showed me how messed up I was when I needed her…" He lowered his face with guilt. "…Trust and teamwork can only help us to pull through this hell, didn't you learn that? Guess your worlds are closed off to even yourselves..."

Fox sighed. "I really hate to admit it, but he's completely right," he said. "…I'm so riled up for what happened yesterday… I can't stop thinking that Chris can be really gone."

"I have the same thoughts," Neku said, looking up. "Maybe it is time we meet the Composer himself. We gotta do it by playing fair. The Reapers put a lot of traps the weeks before, yet here we are, aren't we?" He held out a hand. "The Composer should have the power to make wishes come true, even, if this creepy-ass dimension exists under Shibuya. I…I think being in denial about such a thing can help us stay sane, only because we're fighting for something that we want to get back."

Ness sighed next. "We lost a lot of good people on the way here," he pointed out. "…It's all up to us to hold a meeting with the boss in charge. I-I don't want to think we're gonna face off against a God, but what else can we do?"

Pichu gulped, still clinging to Fox's leg. "Besides, we're soooooo death if we tell Lucario that we couldn't protect Chris," he simply said. "…He'll snap…and then he'll snap us."

"…Oh, crap," the other three Smashers said in unison. Neku and Beat blinked.

"Huh? I dunno how that guy can truly… Oh wait, wrist spikes. I get it," Neku said. "…So, what do you guys say? Can you endure this week with your new partners just for the sake to win? Who knows, maybe we can finish this early if we go to the Shibuya River right away."

Beat nodded. "The Shibuya River! I wanted to crash there yesterday!" he said, smacking a palm. "The enemy base is deep under the city, yo. We should go there right now and stop wastin' time!"

Suddenly, Neku's and Beat's phone beeped in unison. "And there's the mission," Neku said. "We're back on the clock, but we must infiltrate the river and ignore the mission."

"Go where? You haven't even read the mission."

Gasping, the six looked around after hearing a new female voice coming from somewhere. Hearing heels walking delicately on the street, Pichu turned west to spot a blond woman wearing glasses and refined clothing fixing her gaze on them. He told them to look his way, spotting her sight. "Who are you?" Ike asked.

It was Mitsuki Konishi, Megumi's right-hand woman and secretary of sorts. "Greetings. I am this week's Game Master, Mitsuki Konishi," she introduced herself with a stoic look.

Ness examined the woman from heels to head. "Doesn't look demonic, crazy, creepy, insane, punk-looking…" he trailed off. "…Oh, finally! We meet somebody who doesn't look odd!"

Konishi chuckled. "That is because I do not fancy myself with looks," she said. "I only focus on what is most important: my job as a Reaper."

Fox had to glare at her. "In other words, we shouldn't take you too lightly," he said.

"Yes, that is the most eloquent answer I was expecting," she said, fixing her glasses. "I must apologize in advance for you having to deal with the rebel Mr. Minamimoto. He was completely out of our hands when he was the Game Master." There was a glint on her glasses that everyone spotted quickly. "However, I am warning you that I do not overlook any small trivialities like he did."

Neku thought, "(Damn! They sent us a professional who takes her job seriously!)"

Beat scoffed at her. "Tsk... This is the Iron Maiden?" he asked. "Move, yo! I ain't got time for you!"

Konishi – the Iron Maiden - looked at Beat, her expression turning a bit cold. "So primitive," she commented. "You think I can't see what you're up to? You were going to ignore the mission and cause some kind of trouble. After all the trouble Mr. Minamimoto had set up for us with the Taboo Noise we can't get rid of, we have our hands full as is."

"So what, yo?! I'm a Reaper. I don't gotta do some stupid mission!" Beat shot back, though the others knew that he wasn't a Reaper anymore.

She wasn't amused in the slightest. "...As I thought," she muttered. "Well, I regret to inform you that you were officially expelled from the Reapers yesterday. As of today, you are just a Player."

Beat rolled his eyes. "Pfft. Whatever. You can't fire me, 'cause I quit, yo!" he said.

The Iron Maiden rolled her own eyes. "Oh, don't act like a child," she said.

"You think I'm actin'!?" he asked, shaking a fist.

Konishi shook her head in disapproval. "...No, I can see it comes quite naturally to you."

Beat chuckled, proud of himself. "Heh heh. Damn right!" The others could tell right away that she was clearly making fun of him, given that they were looking ashamed his way. Neku, in particular, briefly looked at the sky in annoyance. Even the Noise pet was ashamed, but Beat never noticed their dull looks.

"Uh, dude..." Neku trailed off, looking back at Beat. "She's making fun of you."

Beat's brain slowly processed the statement. "WHAT!?" he finally realized, much to their collective dismay.

Konishi frowned at this while sighing loudly. "Since I can't reverse evolution and speak your language, I'll keep this brief," she said. The seriousness of the situation came back once they looked at her again. "You may be a Player now, but you still broke Reaper rules. Which means you have a penalty coming." She smiled knowingly in a subtle, devious way. "They explained to you that a Reaper's points determine his or her lifespan?"

Beat nodded. "Yeah, so? Big deal, yo."

She fought the necessity to sigh. "You've earned 0 points," she pointed out, her eyes half-way open. "Not a very hard worker, I see."

The punk grunted at her. "You was gonna make me sic Noise on the Players!" he called out to her. "That ain't what I signed up for."

Ike looked annoyed. "That is pretty much how the Reapers like that woman who held Soren work, you dolt," he said.

Konishi nodded in agreement. "Then I can't fathom why he did," she told them. "One person's success is built on another's sacrifice. And besides... If I'm not mistaken," she looked at the Noise pet sitting on Beat's shoulder, as it then shivered at the sight of her eyes fixed on itself, "your only motive for becoming a Reaper is sitting perched on your shoulder. One little Noise?" she frowned. "Talk about petty."

As everyone else looked confused at the Noise pet, Beat gasped and covered the Noise with a hand. "Shut up!" he hissed at her. "What do YOU know?"

The Iron Maiden was growing steadily annoyed with the rebel. "As you wish," she said with a serious look. "0 points. That leaves you with about five days to live, including today."

"…Five days to live?!" Neku shouted, as Beat BWAA'd at the fact.

As Beat looked like he was about to let his jaw fall down between his feet, the others had to face-palm in unison. It was needed, as it was yet another thing they weren't warned about. Since Beat was Neku's partner, his defeat would mark the end of it all. "Great going, genius," Fox said through gritted fangs. "None of this would've happened if you didn't side with them at all!"

Beat composed himself. "Then I ain't gonna last the Game..." he muttered.

"Including us, because that rule of keeping Neku safe is surely still on play," Ness said. "Is it?" he asked Konishi. She nodded. "Dammit!"

The Game Master turned to Beat. "The Reapers' wings are not license to do whatever you please. Ponder that during the time you have left," she suggested him. "Now then, Player, in honor of your fall from grace, why don't I claim your entry fee?" With a snap of her fingers, the Noise pet sitting on Beat's shoulder was forcefully warped to her hand, being clutched in her fingers.

Beat looked sick when he noticed the shrieks of the Noise. "What!? NO!" he yelled. He was just about to lunge himself at her, but Ike and Neku held him back to avoid making a fatal mistake. "LEMME GO! I AIN'T LETTIN' HER TAKE HER AWAY!"

Konishi narrowed her devious eyes. "I wonder what you hold dearest. Could it be...this Noise?" she wondered with a small, sadistic smile. "It is, isn't it?"

Beat broke off from their grip on his arms, but he held himself back. "Give her back, you Iron Witch!" he demanded.

The Game Master shook her head, ignoring the shrieks from the Noise trying to escape from her clutches. "Hmph. I have a better idea," she said as she then applied pressure on her grip. The Noise pet started squeaking in fear. "Since this seems to be distracting you..."

"NO! Don't you do it, yo!"

The squeaking sounds from the Noise got louder as the grip that held it tightened so much that it burst into black and white static. To Beat's horror, the squirrel Noise left a pin on Konishi's palm. The pit itself was a black background with the image of the Noise as a white body, stretching its white, thin wings to the sides as it if was crawling on the pin itself. Unlike Beat's outburst, the others didn't know how to react, their looks confused. They just stared at the pin on her hand and tried to keep Beat from causing a scene.

"…" Pichu blinked twice as he stared at the pin. There was something oddly, eerily familiar about it that kept bugging him to remember where he saw it before. With the palm pulling back to Konishi's side, he couldn't identify any further than that.

"There," Konishi said, keeping the pin in her hand. "Much more manageable. Now you can focus on my mission."

Beat growled at her. "Why you... Gimme that pin!" he demanded loudly, but the others kept holding him back by his shoulders. "Youse guys dunno what she's doing! Lemme go!"

"Would you please calm down for a sec?!" Neku yelled. "We're in the presence of the Game Master! We can't allow any more mistakes from our part. It's bad as it is!"

The Game Master nodded with a know-it-all look. "Correct. It'd be unwise to provoke me right now, as I haven't issued the mission yet." When she looked at the Smasher team, there was something in her gaze that didn't quite make them feel right. "There is one last issue I must address before we even start…"

"…And that issue has to do with us?" Ike asked.

"Oh, it has to do plenty with the whole lot of you," Konishi said, her eyes narrowing. "For instance, Neku Sakuraba's entry fee was all the Players beside him." She shot Beat with a dull look. "That was before one of our Reapers decided to 'quit' during this week's transition, of course. It was the only problem beyond our control that we couldn't properly manipulate." She looked back at them. "That other issue aside, as I've said before, you shouldn't even be here in this very day… I wonder, how did you break the rule? I'm very perplexed as to how this even happened. Care to explain yourselves?"

"Wait, what?" Fox asked. "We weren't supposed to be playing right now?"

Mitsuki sighed, knowing the answer to his response. "With a response like that, I assume you're saying you don't know how you got in? Inconceivable," she commented, adjusting her glasses with one finger. "This is not an easy transgression you can just shrug off, you know. Breaking into the Reapers' Game against the Composer's wishes is the highest crime you can commit."

Ness was at a loss of words, and so were the others, until he asked, "How in the heck do you think we managed to break into this week's Game if we didn't know how?! How are we suddenly breaking a ton of rules just playing this damned thing?! You guys never explain the whole thing! Of course this was bound to happen!"

She narrowed her eyes. "As it stands, we do explain the rules in every single detail," she said. "Every Reaper stationed at every route kindly explains the rules to you. If they mention what you're supposed to be doing, it means anything else you think is right might be judged, depending on what it is."

"Bullshit!" Fox complained, pointing a finger at her face. "We could spit during the day and you'd erase us for contaminating the UG's environment without telling us!"

"As far as I know, there is no such silly rule. Still, don't spit. It's gross in my presence," Konishi said in a deadpan tone. "But I do understand the point you're getting at. However, you're rule-breakers like your new partner friend. The punishment for this is very severe."

Pichu groaned. "I know… You took our powers and weapons away, and we can't hurt the Noise outside a Noise fight…"

"No," Konishi said. They stared. "Those little conditions were set after we've witnessed how you defended yourselves from a Reaper on duty. Mr. Kitaniji put those conditions in effect after the last week was over, as to keep the likes of you from making your run easy. Take in mind that we did not expect you to escape your fate from Neku Sakuraba's entry fee, so it's not like we knew you were going to participate again." She cleared her throat. "Also, that is not the only condition. There is one more." Ness silently groaned. "You cannot use your innate skills in Noise fights either. Now you must use pins to fight accordingly like all other Players have done before."

Ike closed his eyes in annoyance. "I've got a gut feeling that's telling me you haven't finished with your facts yet," he said. "There's no way this is the end of it."

"And you are correct, Ike," Konishi said with a smug smile. "I haven't mentioned the punishment for your crime. No matter if you didn't know about it, we can't let Players like you spread the word and threaten the existence of the UG by bypassing entry fees of all things. You could do another crime like this and…that would be disastrous."

"WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WE BROKE ANOTHER RULE," Ness emphasized through gritted teeth. "Gosh!"

"Alas, you must be more careful, or else your whole existence shall be erased for good," Konishi continued. "…By which I mean, literally."

Pichu cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Getting erased is just that, right?"

"Normally, yes," Konishi said. "But you've been given the Complete Existence Failure entry fee for causing the ruckus in the first place." She smiled cynically. "What this entails is that anybody who knows your name and history will forget about you, as if you were never there in their lives from the beginning. Any events where each one of you achieved a significant development shall be overwritten, hence why your existence is gone forever, along with your names… Your close friends won't even get to feel weird trying to remember something that never happened," She chuckled. "That is to say, this is the ultimate punishment."

Most of their irises shrunk in horror at the lethal entry fee. "…Y-you can't be serious!" Ness said. "T-that's way too much for us to take in!"

"Oh, please, as if playing for your lives wasn't enough incentive," Konishi added. "You are just merely being…pushed to do better and avoid doing useless tasks that shouldn't be conceived. If you can follow the rules accordingly, you won't suffer this fate."

When Fox recalled Chris had been erased, he was very close to having a mental breakdown. "C-Chris got erased before knowing this, damn you!" he yelled at her. She stared back. "Is he done for, then?!"

"Not entirely done for, mind you," the Game Master said. "You still remember his name and his emotional value to you."

The group exchanged glances, indirectly saying that they remembered him. "A-ah… I do remember him…" Pichu trailed off. "B-but…why? I thought he was completely gone from our memories!"

"The entry fees are collected at the end of the week," Konishi pointed out. "Hence why your memories of him haven't been overwritten. Once you win the Game…or get erased, whichever comes first, none of you will remember the name Chris. You will bask in happiness once you get your lives back, not even aware of the sacrifices done by that person…"

Ike glared at her. "That is the most unfair fact I've ever heard," he hissed. He wasn't going to let things go the way they were, seeing as the others were looking hopeless, though Fox kept looking sharp. "We need to meet the Composer and demand him to give Chris back to us!"

Konishi's glasses became foggy. "What is this scheme of yours?" she asked. "Are you really going to try to defy the definition of death in this dimension? My, you are just as boneheaded as Mr. Beat here." She smiled deviously, her eyes looking professional. "Do you want to make things less painful for you? Then start forgetting about him right now. He has become dead weight in your minds."

Fox was steadily getting furious by her insults towards the teen that he felt his blood boiling. "Okay, you better shut your mouth now," he warned her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "There is no freaking way I'll forget about Chris just because you're telling us to do it."

Konishi frowned at the statement, seeing the others looking as serious as he was. "Fine. Suffer, and let that feeling drag you down to defeat during this week," she said.

Before she could continue, Fox interjected. "Stop trying to make him feel like trash, you tramp!" he shouted with a fist to his side. Her right eye twitched at the curse, but he didn't care about pissing her off a bit. "We're going to meet your damned boss and beat him down if necessary!" he yelled. "Somewhere in this dimension, Chris is waiting for us. You guys have some incredible reality-bending powers to do just about anything. You can manipulate the death of people, for instance. Who's not to say this Composer guy can do miracles? Have you even met him yourself?"

She looked away, falling silent for a brief moment. "…Why even ask about me meeting him?" she questioned. "That is irrelevant."

Neku blinked. "Wait, you don't even know if he can do this for us?" he asked.

Konishi stifled a small grunt. "What people I have met before does not concern you all in the slightest," she muttered. "Enough about these questions. First, your mission." Fox wanted to press her on the matter, but she was focused on the mission. He couldn't afford to insult her a little more and cause the end of their run. "How about... 'Defeat me. You have 6 days,'" she said with a small smile, though the condition surprised them a lot.

"That's a veeeeeeeery odd advantage you're giving us for once…" Ness said. "Hmm, are you doing this out of consolation of your heart?"

"I never took consolation into consideration for this," Konishi pointed out.

"Darn, you are a cold."

Beat scoffed at her. "Yo, I don't need no six days," he stated. "I'm gonna finish this right here an' now!"

Konishi disapproved the thought. "A predictably hasty response," she said. "...Let me finish. Keep jumping the gun like the unmannered ape of a fox you have in your ranks (Fox: Hey!) and you're going to fail. Don't you care what becomes of this pin?" she asked, showing them the pin once more. Again, Pichu couldn't shake the fact he saw that pin before.

"Dammit!" Beat cursed. "That ain't fair..."

"So what?" Fox asked, still glaring fiercely. "Do we just take you down right here? That'd be too easy…"

Konishi chuckled. "Of course not. We haven't even started yet, so let me continue… At this point, I am going to move to a certain place. I will stay in that place for the next six days. You need to find me."

Neku nodded. "So it's like hide-and-seek," he said.

Beat grinned confidently. "We just gotta find you? Tha's easy, yo."

"Correct," she said. "We call this Reaper Sport 2: 'Hide-and-Seek.' I picked something at your age level," she added with a small chuckle, offending the older teammates. "Best of luck to you." She turned to Beat and dropped a Player Pin in front of his feet. "Oh, and here. You'll need this. I'm looking forward to watching you squirm and choke, powerless to find me...powerless to stop death from finding you," she turned to the Smashers, "weak to even secure your entire existences… Take care." With an echoing chuckle, the Game Master stepped back towards the direction of 104 and vanished in thin air. Beat ran forward to stop her, but he was too slow to reach out for her.

"Yo, get back here, dammit!" he shouted angrily, only for their palms to react painfully at the same time. "Nngh!"

Neku flinched and stared down at his palm. "The timer," he said. "We're back in the Game."

"We can't waste any more time!" Ness suddenly said. "She put things easy for us! We just need to give her a beating and we'll be set to meet the Composer before the week even ends!"

Ike grimaced. "It sounds way too easy to me," he said. "We only need to find her and then defeat her? Somehow, finding her seems harder than it sounds. I smell some sort of nasty trap."

Neku shook his head. "Regardless, it's the only lead we have. She went to 104," he said, looking to the popular venue. "We gotta get there and wrap things up."

Beat grunted and tightened a fist. "I need that pin!" he declared. "Otherwise bein' the Composer means nothin'."

"Wait, why?" Neku asked, not being able to tell that Beat didn't want to hear any more questions. "That Noise that was with you. What wa-"

"That ain't no Noise, Phones!" he interrupted quickly, making the others stare his way. "Le's bounce!" He started running north with a head start. Again, the rest felt like they were being dragged around, except with more pressure unlike the times they had with Joshua. Ike tried to ask Beat about the non-Noise, but the punk kept interrupting his questions and demanded him to focus.

Without having to hide anything from Beat, talking while running was going to become their usual routine from the next days. As they ran, Pichu climbed to Fox's shoulder, feeling strange being the unlikely partner. He shuddered as he thought about the horrible implications that would happen after winning. "After hearing her saying our existences will disappear from everyone's minds… What's going to happen to Chris?" he wondered. "Not getting beaten up by Lucario over nothing is worse than getting beaten up now…"

Fox kept looking forward. "Stop it, you," he muttered. "Chris isn't done for yet."

"I don't know myself," Neku said. "So much is in play now. It's hard to follow what's even possible."

"Perhaps if we find Soren, he could figure something out of all this," Ike suggested. "He's very good at discerning ambiguous answers more than I do."

"I'd love to hear what answer he has regarding Chris's situation," Fox said.

Ness winced. "Wow, you're the most preoccupied out of all of us for him," he said. When Fox gave him a stern look, he added, "I know, I know, you two had an episode a week ago and you feel it's right to be so concerned."

"That's not all of it," the vulpine said, looking guilty. "…He is a true friend. It's like Falco without the jackass attitude except without the courage and brilliant expertise."

The others shifted their looks a bit. "You know, comparing Chris to Falco is like comparing cereal with meat," Ness said in a deadpan tone. "Worst. Comparison. Ever."

"Y-you get what I mean!" barked Fox. "I'm not letting him disappear forever. Those Reapers are getting their collective asses kicked for messing around with us. They want us to play fair while they're being unfair."

Ike recalled the crime they had broken unwillingly. "That reminds me… She said we weren't supposed to be playing the Game at all," he brought up as they neared 104. "But here we are. How did this happen?"

Pichu shrugged as Neku and Beat looked their way. "I dunno," he said. "If we didn't do it, someone else did it for us…right?" he was very unsure of what he said for last. "…Did someone do it?"

"Hmm, you bring a good point," the mercenary said. "I mean, sure, we have…HAD skills to fight outside Noise fights before they confiscated them all. But bypassing entry fees altogether is a bit of stretch. You don't suppose we have powers we're not aware of?"

"Ike, this isn't a cheap anime," Ness commented, hearing the inevitable, "What's an anime?" question from his recipient. Beat made a funny look. "We don't have death-bending powers… So…someone did it," he said, sounding sure about his theory. "Someone had to drag us out from the entry fee they put on Neku."

"But she didn't mention anybody," Neku said. "She doesn't want us to find out how you did it, though. Why would she babble the details to us? Besides, we can't trust the Reapers with higher ranks…or the rest of them."

Ike pressed the matter a little more. "But why even call us back?" he asked. "Who gains from this? I don't see how it works for them. With us around, Neku has more chances to win the Game, if he was meant to be the last Player."

Fox frowned. "Well, that someone has to pay for what happened to Chris," he said. "If they wanted to have Neku win, at least try to keep us together so we wouldn't lose our lives! Ugh, this is the worst…"

"You goin' in circles, man," Beat spoke up, scratching his head. "Keep sayin' a buncha weird stuff and mah brain's gonna blow! Jus' be glad you're okay and dat's that!"

As silence settled in, Neku recalled the Smashers couldn't fight using their skills anymore. "You guys need to gear up with some pins," he said. The others winced at the idea, relying solely on healing pins and mostly ignoring the rest of their badly-customized decks. Because Neku was the one holding all the pins for himself, he took out a large bunch of them with two hands. "Take your picks. We're gonna be fighting some weak Noise to find out which pins work for you."

Pichu sighed, looking down at the pins as they started picking at random for something good. "The universe is practically depending on us to set everything right… This stinks," he commented.

They were entering the 104 area, but the others were at a loss. The mysteries surrounding them were getting more complicated, as they faced their own dilemmas. The Reapers' Game had one last challenge for them to face, but winning would be pointless if they wouldn't manage to save Chris. Their desire to bring him back turned into delusion, or that was what they thought it was. Out of everyone, Fox took it harder upon himself for being Chris's partner. Feeling like it was his fault somehow, the vulpine felt guilty but wanted to rectify the event.

"Let's make a new start to make things right this time. Until then…I don't want to hear you agree to be my big brother."

"…Okay, it's a done deal."

Those particular words were the ones that burned themselves into his mind the most and when coupled with the saddening scene when he witnessed Chris crying for life, Fox yelled multiple times inside his mind that it was completely unfair. Determined to bring about a happy ending, Fox steeled himself and moved on with the rest. He felt sympathy for Ike, who was just as determined to find Soren.

Only the Composer could change things for the better. For now, though, they needed to defeat Mitsuki Konishi and get an audience with the main boss.

Dogenzaka

The four Smashers had been equipped with pins to fight. After a lot of trial and error, they managed to find some good pins that worked for them. As they got to Dogenzaka looking for Konishi, Beat cursed their luck, until they were met up by a black Reaper. Till that point, they thought things couldn't get any worse than they were, but the Reaper brought bad news to them: things got even worse.

"The UG's on Emergency Call," the Reaper said, looking as if he wanted to fight them. "When the UG's continued existence is threatened, neutralization of the malignant factors takes priority."

The statement made the others feel sick, but Beat was oblivious. "Sorry, man, but I don't speak geek," he said.

The Reaper shook his head with dismay. "It means the ban on attacking Players has been lifted. You're just a bounty to me now. I'll make officer if I erase you."

"Wait, what?" Ike asked.

"…" Fox noticed that the Reaper was accompanied by two more Reapers from behind. Like their partner, they looked like they wanted to fight them as well. Since the Reapers never fought them head on, it only meant that they had all turned into bounties to claim, essentially making everything harder than it was. It was made clear that Konishi had lied to them: they weren't told in full about the "little" details. "…Fuck my life," Fox added with a lot of venom, eyes half-closed. Ness wanted to point out how awfully bad-mouthed he had gotten but decided not to, only because he felt the same way and allowed the vulpine to vent it off. Wherever Chris was, the team swore to save him from an imminent fate.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter's Title:

Beat's Week – Uzuki & Kariya's Playtime

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Dogenzaka-

Fox – Pichu, Ike – Ness, Neku – Beat, Soren(?)

References:

- The Ventus Theme track plays whenever Ventus is the main focus in BBS. Something that I noticed is that almost all playable characters have very sorrowful themes that makes somebody (like me) feel sad…up until Sora Theme comes out. Seriously, he gets the cheerful theme while everyone else get themes that make them feel like crap? It's like power-up music in his case.

When I said there was going to be drama, I meant it. With Chris off the map, a lot is being risked. Oh, his erasure is not the only thing you should be concerned with. Try to wonder why the Smashers even got off from the entry fee imposed on Neku… A lot has been changed for how this week is developing towards the end. One of those things is more development…for Rhyme, for instance. She might not show up, but one can exploit flashbacks to get some good results.

The next chapter will deal with Beat's own development, including the many traps set for the Smashers and how they try to defy the impossible and rescue Chris…if he can even be rescued, that is. While it looks like Fox has taken the spotlight, he hasn't. The others are getting development because of…how indifferent they are as unlikely partners. Yeah, they can't magically be perfect fighting friends just like that.

Two last bits: For those who haven't played the game, I'm keeping that "?" title to keep Beat's identity a secret outside the actual chapters…unless you people read the manual. It spoils a LOT of stuff if you think hard about it. Also, my profile has been updated with everyone's profiles. I also went out of my way to give everyone birthday dates, which will or will not become an important thing down the line. Try to guess why those dates are important because those aren't random at all.

I encourage all readers to review, or else Aura Hunters will haunt your sleep.

Fox: Hey, I should probably beat the author for making us go through this!

*Several lightning bolts fall upon Fox, knocking him out char black*

Ness: And that's why you're never supposed to take the easy way out… Idiot.
*Chapter 209*: Unknown's Week - Uzuki & Kariya

Let's get this show on the dead road.

From BOB JOHNSON: You mean if Ike dies, then Micaiah will have always been the sole protagonist of Radiant Dawn?! Oh god, no! What a horrible fate!

From me: Wow. Truthfully speaking, I never thought about going THAT far. That gave me a small laugh.

From Outrider: youhave droped many things off the face of the story, black mage village, agitha's bugs, chris' ds, friendship levels, etc.

From me: The Black Mage Village was just a small setting to explore, but there is more beyond the village.

Agitha's bugs are going to be taken care of very soon.

The "DS Friendship Levels" are still there. It's just that Chris hasn't had the time to bond with the rest of the people he needs to bond with.

So yeah, there you have it. :)

From SuperSmashFan: I said all that to make this point, I'm not saying you're a bad writer, this story has been a real treat, but it's getting too lengthy. This is turning bittersweet for me.

From me: Oh, and it's going to keep getting longer till everyone and their dogs never forget about me!

From GuyroMaster: Now...the last thing I was wondering. Since I saw on your DA that you've seen the news about the Mega Forms... I have to ask, There are 2 more Final Smash levels (lvl.) to unlock. I have to ask if the Mega Forms for Lucario and Mewtwo could end up becoming a Final Smash for one of those two levels?

From me: Absolutely not. I had already planned something much better than going Digimon (I know the term "Mega" is "Ultimate" in Japan so don't bring it up here!) with those two.

But as for showing their Mega Evolutions… Yeah, that'd happen eventually, but it won't be overdone.

From SnowLotus: Though one thing bugs me, Galactic Knight made no appearance at all. :-( Don't you like him? Please have him star as a main villain or maybe even as a cameo role. PLEASE! He's one of the best Kirby characters out there.

From me: I like that stupidly strong super boss! He's just somewhere in the Battle… Oops, telling too much here.

From Kirby Fan: I also wonder when or if Red is going to catch Charizard. Why doesn't he find another one to catch? I hope that Charizard's a female! :-)

From me: Charizard is going to get caught soon enough. In fact, Red is prepared to deplete his HP.

From Towerdepths: 1. Why would you take out your OC like that? I understand that he's had some bad runs, but giving him a second chance at life and snuffing it like that just seems so harsh... by the bastardized version of his favorite Pokemon, too. Honestly, I think that's rather cruel.

...
Aw, who am I kidding? You got guts to kill an OC like that, man! It was almost like I was there in person, how you conveyed the message... That boldness and perseverance, I believe, is what sets you apart from the other authors I've read.

2. You just love to make things hard for the cast... don't you? Not only having natural abilities sealed, but making them a sort of quarry to the Reapers and those freaky Noise? Wow.
I can expect them to make some kind of miraculous recovery, though. As they say, it's always darkest before the dawn, eh?
Keep it up. I would hate to see such a great story fall apart.

From me:

I had Chris killed because I want to… Sorry, I can't really say more than that. Whether he really makes it or not remains to be seen.

Of course I love making things hard for them! It's a guilty pleasure of mine to watch them break their heads and go insane.

From YoungNintendoJr.: What happened to the four Pokemon Trainers that befriended Red and came to stay in the Smash Mansion?

From me: They were three, not four. They all already left the mansion the chapter before the final arc of the Werehog Saga.

Thank you all for reviewing!

So now, after dealing with school and my somewhat overbearing family, I'm back to writing more chapters for you. This TWEWY arc needs some closure to move on to more plot-important events. In this chapter, Beat takes more spotlight to reveal what his relation with everyone is, and a few more secrets are brought to light.

I'll have you know that I somehow ended up finishing two future chapters while this one was barely halfway finished. However, when those chapters are going to be published isn't known. Those chapters happen one after another, but releasing them both at the same time is something I'm debating because people tend to put two reviews in the latest chapter…

Oh, and I DID notice how much attention this story got because of tumblr. There was a crazy flow of notifications in my hotmail account, telling me how around hundreds of people started faving this story to death. Sadly, so many of the "reviews" I got were there to congratulate me for writing a very, very massive story in the internet, so I had to delete a lot of them when there weren't anything worth talking about (as in, three-word sentences) and I'll still continue taking useless reviews down. But as for congratulations? Yeah, they're going too.

I underestimated the power of tumblr…and every day, the message keeps being passed around! It won't be long before Nintendo rears its head and sues me… Wait, I didn't gain a single cent out of this.

Well, for now, do read, enjoy, swear the Reapers' names off, and review.

Disclaimer: AuraChannelerChris really doesn't own anybody in this fic, except for his OC. All characters belong to their respective owners. (Yeah, I need to put this here just in case.)

…

The story's Lucario can destroy the entire solar system if he Mega Evolves.

Chapter 209: ?'s Week – Uzuki & Kariya's Playtime

-Shibuya-

Dogenzaka

The World Ends With You – Calling

The only six Players of the Game didn't like to hear that they had turned into bounties for the Support Reapers to hunt down without restrictions. It was yet another reason to complain to the Composer. Though the fact they were a threat to the UG's existence rubbed them the wrong way. "Okay, you said we're a threat to the UG?" Ness said, getting the three Reapers' attention. "Here's what we do. We won't tell absolutely anybody about what's happening to us."

"Not that easy, big-headed kid," the black Reaper said. "Can't say anymore than this. We let you go, everything goes down to hell."

"This is hell as it is, you moron," Neku said, eyes dull.

"Oh, and thank you for NOT telling us why for the umpteenth time," Fox said, though the dullness of his eyes covered absolute murder. "That is so sweet of you, not to mention that your kin not informing us about what's going on is what most likely leads to this kind of situation in the first place…which in turn erases us."

Being the most hot-blooded person of the lot, Beat didn't care about taking them on. "Take your best shot. But I'm tougher than you think," he said.

"I saw that response coming from a mile away, somehow," Ike commented, knowing that a confrontation was inevitable.

"Whatchu mean?" Beat asked, completely oblivious. "I was right here…"

"…" Everyone responded with silence.

The leading black Reaper shook his head to get back on-topic. "Ha. You think you're tough? Not when we've got an O-Pin!" he boasted, laughing with his partners and ignoring the Players' blank looks.

"'Oh pin'? Whassat?" Beat asked.

"It makes us a dozen times more powerful than usual!" the leading Reaper boasted proudly of the fact, but they weren't going to show the Players the pins they were talking about. "Prepare to die, Daisukeno-"

"Bwaaah!" Beat screamed loudly, interrupting the Reaper quickly by nearly deafening everybody in the scene. Getting angered for hearing the degrading name, he shook a fist to them. "Oh no you didn't! Now you askin' for it!"

Ike cleaned his right ear before the fight could start. "Why is it that you always scream when somebody is trying to say your name? Um, what's your first name again? I never get to hear it," he said.

Beat eyed the mercenary. "Yo, tha's not the point now! It's fightin' time with these punks!" he said. Being warned that the Support Reapers were powerful with the mysterious O-Pins, the party braced themselves as Neku, Beat, Ike, and Ness were pulled into a Noise fight, leaving Fox and Pichu in an awkward moment.

The two briefly exchanged looks before looking away. Pichu was very unsettled to have the obviously larger vulpine as his partner, and Fox was just as unsettled, if not feeling like they weren't meant to be together. Ike and Ness at least seemed to have a very small point of respect towards each other, but the other two were close to being hopeless in a tag fight. "…Um…can you keep up with me in a fight?" Fox asked, breaking the awkward silence in the UG and ignoring the loud people in the RG.

Pichu looked up. "I…guess?" he asked. "…Can YOU keep up with me?"

Fox looked offended. "What does that mean?"

Pichu then looked offended. "W-well, I'm faster on my feet than you are! I can zoom by and you wouldn't notice!"

The space mercenary rolled his eyes. "C'mon, I can spot you," he said.

"Sure you can, but I know you can't," Pichu said. As a matter of fact, he was standing behind Fox now. The vulpine gasped at the Electric-type's absence and then looked behind. "See? You didn't notice! I feel doomed. I didn't have this kind of problem with Ness."

"T-that was just one… Anyway, why is speed even important?" Fox asked. "Ness is slower than the two of us! Besides, I was talking about our supposed synchronization, not speed!"

Pichu mumbled. "Uh… I don't think we have any synchronization at all because of obvious reasons. Those obvious reasons being we hardly ever spoke to each other and…we don't even think of anything about the other," he pointed out. After a brief silence, Pichu said, "This is happening because you don't think too highly of Pokémon!"

Fox looked miffed. "I don't care about your species. Why should I?" he asked. "Chris is obviously fascinated about...all the monsters that keep multiplying every time I blink, but I'm pretty wary of what they can do to me in a fight." He shuddered, remembering a painful memory of a Ho-oh burning his body to ashes. He thanked it was just a simulated match with no chances of dying, but it was terrifying. "I'm surprised you didn't shock me when you climbed my leg earlier."

Pichu pouted. "H-how rude! I can control my sparks very well! …Unless people touch me inappropriately. That's when my defense system kicks in," he said. "I-I'm a powerhouse in my own right!" When Fox had no comment for that with the sheepish look on his face, it only angered Pichu. "S-stop looking funny at me!"

Fox covered his mouth. "S-sorry, it's just too hard to imagine you being…"

The small Smasher narrowed his beady eyes in a suspicious way. "Oh, that is it," he muttered. "I may not have my electricity to attack anybody…but I can do…this!"

Sometime later, the other four Players reappeared, along with the three Reapers. As Beat grinned down at the panting Reapers, his companions turned around and saw a weird scene. Fox looked like a wreck as he helplessly tried to take Pichu off from his body, the little rodent going about biting several limbs and tickling the vulpine. Even if Fox looked very tired and swollen in some furry parts, Pichu was sweating from all the effort he used in dodging his partner's chasing hands. "…What did just happen while we were away for a minute?" Neku asked, just in time to see the two collapsing on the street, tired of the odyssey. "…You know what, I don't wanna know. First, I want to take care of these Reapers for real." He turned back to the Reapers.

Despite all the boasting from before and the fact Ike and Ness weren't at a suitable position to be called partners, the fight was all too easy for them. The leading Reaper looked up at them with hatred in his obscured eyes. "H-how!? The pin didn't work?" he wondered.

Ike sighed. "Once again, overconfidence screws the enemy team," he said. "I'm glad things were easier after…this unneeded change of partners," he added as he looked at Ness, who merely stuck his tongue out in a dull manner.

Beat chuckled at the Reapers. "Heh. You all talk, man," he taunted. "It don't work 'cause you WEAK."

As his cohorts disappeared in erasure, the Black Reaper pounded a fist on the concrete and said, "I underestimated you, Daisukeno-"

"Bwaaah!" Beat interrupted noisily, covering his blushing face. "Dontchu say it!" he demanded as he saw the Black Reaper smacking his face down, fading away in blurry static.

Neku and the others never truly got to hear Beat's assumed real name in full. They only got so close to "Daisuke-" before the punk would scream his head off to the sky. "Die-sue-what?" Neku wondered.

Beat composed himself. "U-um, forget it, yo," he said. "We got us a bigger problem."

Surprised, the group saw a totally-not-so-good-looking Fox and a sweaty Pichu rejoining them so early. As Fox combed the ruffled parts of his fur back to a more presentable look, he said, "Those Reapers are treating us like bounties? Just what the hell is happening now?"

Neku looked away. "The Emergency Call... That's what they said," he said. "We're gonna have to fight off the Reapers now."

"What's an Emergency Call in their eyes?" Ness asked. "Did we break some super important rule to make this happen?"

Beat suddenly grunted loudly, getting their attention. "Rrgh, dammit! Why they gotta get up in our grills when we busiest? Biggie Head is right, why'd it have to come to this, yo?" He ignored the angry huff from Ness.

The others stared long at Beat for ten seconds. What Konishi had told them moments ago was related to Beat having defected without making much of an impression among the Reaper hierarchy. Since he was told secrets of the Reapers' Game, it was obvious that the Emergency Call was brought upon because of his rather suicidal move when saving Neku and Pichu. Finally, Neku said, "Uh, because you betrayed them?"

Beat blinked twice. "..." He looked up and scratched his head. "..." He twisted his lips in confusion and looked down at his feet. "..." His brain slowly processed the fact, and then he got it, much to their collective dismay. "Bwaaah!" He covered his embarrassed face in a hurry. "You sayin' it's my fault?!"

Fox sighed. "You were told tons of secrets…that you possibly forgot right about now," he pointed out. "But they're not gonna buy anything now, even if you really forgot all about it."

Ike frowned. "I'm starting to hate this week the most," he commented. "…And Soren is somewhere having to face this alone. We need to get a move on!"

The blond punk put his arms down and grinned forcibly. "Well...we still OK!" he encouraged. "We jus' gotta take out the Reapers if they try somethin'. Right?"

His partner rubbed his forehead. "There's no other way," he said. "Works for me. These ones were all talk with their O-Pins or whatever. They're all just Noise. That's all there is to it."

Pichu looked around for any sights of Konishi, when he stared at Ramen Don right next to them. Inside, he could see its owner happily making noodle soup of all kinds in his large pots. Remembering the first time he went in there with everyone during brighter times, Pichu's ears drooped. Shiki, Rhyme, Chris, and possible Soren were all gone from the team, and it made him feel very sad just thinking about how some of them still had a chance to survive while one of them was possibly gone forever. "Aight, le's go find the Iron Maiden," Beat called out.

Neku decided to bring up a point once Konishi was called into his mind just hearing her name. "Something bothers me about the GM of this week, guys," he said. "…Why didn't she erase us right there at the scramble when she had the chance?"

"What do you mean?" Ike asked. "Isn't the Game Master's job to challenge us?"

"Yeah, but why challenge us with a simple game of Hide-and-Seek?" Neku questioned with crossed arms. "Why not finish the job by fighting us right away? What's the point of issuing some roundabout mission?"

Neku had brought a very nice point to discuss. However, unlike Shiki who liked to give time to her friends, Joshua and Beat had their own ways to skip the talking altogether, the latter showing it by rushing west all of a sudden. "Yo, le's move!"

The orange-haired teen and the others gasped at Beat's rushing movement that they followed him, only because that if he were to be erased Neku would follow suit against his will. "Beat, we must try to come up with a plan before mindlessly rushing ahead!" Ike suggested as they caught up with the punk.

"No time, yo!" Beat said, almost nearing the place where Shadow Ramen used to be. "Keep talkin' and they'll cashup to us! I can't let 'em do that!"

"You're a little right about that," Ness said, "but we've got to plan out our moves ahead of time now that we're bounties. I mean, everything's getting a hell lot more dangerous than before!"

Beat groaned. "Jus' trust me! I'm dah man!" Ness was tempted to snark, but he decided against it.

Just before they could cross over to A-East, a black Reaper showed up from nowhere, surprising them. "Hold it, renegade," he said in a warning tone.

"Ah, hell," Fox muttered. "Look, can we just forget about this bounty hunter deal you have with us?"

"No way, furry man," the black Reaper said. "I'll get an assured promotion if I beat you all down…and I'll probably skin you alive to get me an awesome fur coat. With this O-Pin of mine, I can't lose!"

As Fox made a mental note to keep hands from touching his fur, Beat stretched his fist to the Reaper. "Punk! Show me whatchu got!"

It wasn't so important to know what happened next. Despite not having their powers and skills, the Smashers made quick work with the Reaper and his cohorts during the battle, erasing them from existence. Fox and Pichu didn't even manage to sync averagely during the battle, but they still did a good job, mostly because Neku and Beat were the ones doing all the work although they weren't that close in sync either. Having returned to the normal plane, Neku shuddered. "Those Reapers are now going to appear when we least expect them… I hate to say it, but now they're getting erased if they fail to erase us. I feel like a murderer."

"Unfortunately, there's no other way," Ike said. "This world is a huge test of survival for the fittest. Me, though? Killing people has become a disgusting hobby of mine back in my home world."

It dawned on Neku that the Smashers had more extraordinary lives than his, if he ignored that he could fight monsters in the semi-afterlife dimension. Some looked like hardened warriors while others looked a little out of place, but he had seen Pichu's unlimited electricity and Ness's psychic powers. Those were worlds he probably was never going to visit, though he had their representatives to get a small taste.

Beat's world, however, was a world where you had to run and finish things quickly without thinking. Said world spotted a chuckling Konishi floating backwards towards A-East with a smug look on her face. "HEY, THERE SHE IS!" Beat said.

A-East – Lapin Angelique

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn – Comfort's Call

He was disgusted by how everyone dressed in the modern utopia. The flashy dresses and the ridiculous sharp costumes were an eyesore not worth his time, yet it was everywhere he turned his head to and thus made it impossible to ignore them all unless he had Ike to distract his mind or thought about strategies to perform in battle. Simply put, Soren wanted to escape from Shibuya and go back to Tellius with the company. He would even put up with the likes of Kieran to…

Scratch that. Nobody but Oscar would put up with Kieran. Marcia and Mia were good candidates for the task too, but not Soren. Thinking of Kieran helped Soren to keep his mind out of anxiety, if doing so put him in another kind of anxiety.

There was another distraction within the shop he used as a safe place to keep himself away from Noise. When he found out during the first day of the third week that he couldn't cast wind magic with his tomes outside in the open, Soren quickly figured out that being alone in the streets was suicidal. He was the first to remember that Noise never entered shops with decals. Speaking of the distraction he was referring to, it was the clerk of the store dressed in black gothic lolita clothes with a small black top hat on the side, called with the nickname Princess K. Lapin Angelique was another brand popular in Shibuya, aimed to gothic people who liked to dress mostly in black without going too far to give an "emo" impression.

Princess K was one of those people who spoke in first person. Just the speech mannerism was enough to remind Soren about Kieran. She allowed the young man to window shop around the shop, not knowing that his intention was to wait for a Player or Ike to show up outside looking for him. The princess of the establishment liked the way Soren dressed, as it was close to an original design for the brand of her shop. "Princess K likes your peculiar way of dressing," she told Soren. "It's like one of those costumes those otaku people at conventions would wear, but it looks natural on you."

Soren felt there was no way he was getting rid of her, and he had to feign interest to avoid getting kicked out. He walked around the black void of dressed and outfits displayed on the walls and glass boxes. Apparently, the ones in the glass boxes were the most expensive ones. "…" Then again, Soren wasn't that good at talking about irrelevant matters. If he was put into a strategic position, he would talk and give directions without stopping. Outside of that, he was outside his fish tank. "…Thank you," he said, his inner eyebrow subtly twitching at the two words. "I'm rather fond of my clothes."

"Hmm, where did you get those?" Princess K asked. "Princess K has never seen such style anywhere else in the Lapin Angelique brand. Are those self-made?"

"Yes," Soren said. Faking a smile was just pushing it to his system. He needed to keep that frowning expression. "These were made by a special tailor, though… The tailor travels abroad, however, as is difficult to get a hold of his whereabouts."

"Oh… Princess K is ashamed that she can't get into contact with him," she said in disappointment. "The princess can pull some connections to get the boss of her shop's brand… Oh well, keep enjoying the wares," she said with a cordial skirt vow. "Your patronage is highly appreciated from Princess K." She walked away to her counter, and Soren thanked the goddesses for his gift: complete solitude.

He took a moment to glare outside where he saw his hunters. Soren had entered 777's turf, the Concert Hall being on the other side of the street of the shop he entered. There were three Reapers – 777 himself – standing outside and looking everywhere for Players. They hadn't seen Soren yet, but the Reapers were now infamously known for being loudmouths that spilled a lot of valuable information. Thanks to this, Soren kept himself well-informed. As silence set in, he cautiously moved closer to the entrance to listen to their talks.

The trio of Reapers formed a circle. 777 was the epitome of punkness everywhere, dressing in a very outrageous fashion. Besides the black Reaper wings on his back, he wore a dark vest with black markings that highly resembled that of the Reapers, a small skull collar on his throat, a short blue tank top that displayed his navel area, thick belt over pale green, ripped pants, and a large chain hanging to his side. The most hideous feature Soren found in the band leader was his blond Mohawk that had several spiked ends on his head. The Branded stood close to the shop's entrance, hidden behind the wall to overheard their talk. "Heard that, boys?" 777 began. "The UG's in a state of emergency."

"Huh? You don't hear that nowadays," a Reaper commented. "So, what's the reason?"

"Dunno much," 777 said. "The higher ups said is its existence that's in peril, and that the scoundrel Daisukenojo Bito caused it."

"…You mean Beat?" the other Reaper wondered. Soren narrowed his eyes. "What'd he do?"

"He betrayed us Reapers by defecting from our side," 777 said. "Lame, and he showed some promise as a Reaper… Well, we can't do anything about it except claim the bounty put on his head and his partner's" He chuckled. "His partner is Neku."

"Hey, that's low, man," the first Reaper said. "Didn't he help you with your mic issue a week ago? Doesn't sound cool to just…erase him. Besides, I hate the stupid megaphone you got to sing in public."

777 grunted. "Don't diss the 'phone! It's awesome!" he hissed. "I just need to get rid of the stupid SINE, COSINE, TANGENT sound effect thingy it's got stuck inside and I'll be set for life! I think I'm gonna end up destroying it 'cause Math Freak's voice just irks me now…"

Soren furrowed his brow and waited for the Reapers to speak of more relevant things, listening to 777 talking about the damned thing. The Branded needed to extract more intel no matter what.

"…Yeah, it makes me feel bad for Phones," 777 said. "He's such a cool guy. He got me outta my fixes…but I do value my life. Don't wanna be on the Composer's bad side." He shook his head. "And didja hear about those special Players that got here two weeks ago? They're playin' the Game for a third time…and they got out from the entry fee's penalty. All six of them are on the run."

"(Ah, finally, something important I can listen to,)" Soren thought with relief. "(All six… That makes it obvious that Ike is here, unless… I better keep listening.)"

"Jus' one of them got erased yesterday," the second Reaper said. Soren listened intently. "That cosplayer kid with multiple powers. You know the one?"

The Branded's eyes widened for a bit at the news. "(Chris got…erased? This can't be…)" he trailed off. Soren had considered Chris as a valuable asset in the battle department; a valuable asset that severely lacked good potential due to his unneeded antics like fidgeting and hesitating during fights. The teen was a driving force among many Smashers, but Soren quite honestly thought that Chris felt like a hindrance at times. He just didn't want to voice out his thoughts to avoid an argument. Bad-mouthing Lethe and Mordecai during their first encounter nearly ended with Soren's head getting smacked off his shoulders, after all, and a similar repeat would probably put Ike on the line. "(Ike is safe, but this cuts our resources greatly…)"

"Oh, the Chris guy! He was a shy one, hiding behind that fox guy," 777 said. "Wow, feel sorry for what happened ta him. Kid had a good run…"

The first Reaper then said, "Should we write him off that fast, though?" he asked. "You know how the erased Players aren't completely killed from the Game until the next week starts, right? I got to hear some whispers from the Conductor once…" 777 looked interested. "He said the Composer holds the souls of the erased with him till the end. The Conductor gets to count the death count himself, but he can't reach out for the souls. The Composer, on the other hand, can supposedly…bring back the erased Players if He wants to."

"Get out, man," 777 said.

"Hey, you heard it from me, and I don't lie," his comrade said. "Straight out from the Conductor himself. You ain't didn't hear it from anywhere else!"

"That's crazy, man," the singer said. "…And that bit about erased Players was completely unknown to me. I didn't know the big boss could tamper with the departed… That's so frickin' rad." He frowned next. "But when has He ever revived Players?"

"Almost never? I don't know myself," the second Reaper said. "But He can bring back the erased. It's just we never get to see if He does it at all."

The first Reaper cocked his head. "You think He's gonna just…bring back one little soul or something?" he asked.

"How should I know that? I just know He can revive erased Players!" the second Reaper said. "I didn't eavesdrop longer than that! Just keep it a secret between us or else Konishi'll have my head for dinner and leftovers, and this EC is gonna skyrocket to the heavens…"

777 chuckled. "Ha ha, you just called your head fat."

"I didn't!"

Soren stopped listening to the meaningless conversation to gather his own thoughts. "(Thank you for your unconditional information. I assure you that this will be a useful asset to my tools against you… On the other hand…) Soren brainstormed some ideas. If they were telling the truth, Chris's soul was probably done for as it was. "(The Composer holds the souls of the erased, but it's unknown if he has ever revived someone before. A direct audience with him could possibly let us ask to get Chris back…or it could lead us all to get erased right there… Why should we bother with him?)" he asked. "(…Oh, right, all of them are quite close to him, especially Fox. There is no way to avoid this if I mentioned the fact out loud. And chances are that they stubbornly believe that he can be saved, if they know he was erased, so there's no point in arguing back anyway)"

"So, Neku's entry fee was all the Players of the game," the first Reaper said. "But I heard that the Conductor and the Composer took another entry fee that they didn't mention to Neku's group."

"(…What?)" Soren listened closely.

777 sighed. "Man, you guys keep gettin' your ears mixed up in the wrong blender!" he hissed. He looked to the sides to see if there weren't any eavesdroppers around. "Alright, I'm game for this. What's that entry fee they took from 'em?"

"You heard it first from me, but…" the first Reaper shifted his weight, "…they took a vital piece of memory from somebody of those Smasher guys."

As Soren blinked at the startling bit of news, 777 grunted. "Memories, memories, memories! Can't they ever be any original?" he complained, until he lowered his voice. "I know, I know, memories make a person their own person, but it's gettin' old, my men. Why can't they ever take cash for entry fees, or, damn, their beloved half orange or their own house?"

The second Reaper gulped. "Let's not raise our voice any louder… The walls have ears, dudes," he warned them.

His partner continued. "Word of the Reaper street says that the one they took the memory from was…that emo kid in the wizard robes. The guy with a mark on his forehead."

Music stops

Soren's pupils dilated in shock at the revelation.

"Okay, enough aboudah secrets!" 777 said, burrowing his hands into his pockets. "We've got work to do! We gotta find those bounties before the others do! I smell an easy promotion once we erase those guys for our bosses! Luxury and mountain of microphones, here we come!" His comrades cheered on and walked their different ways, as 777 walked back to the concert hall.

The Branded then walked forward, deeper into the store, as he scrambled his own thoughts to find out what was taken from him. "(How can those imbeciles never stop taking memories away from us? It's infuriating!)" Soren hissed mentally. "(What have they taken from me this time? What's so vital in my memory that needed to be confiscated from my own mind? Ike is still a very impor… Wait a minute… I can still remember Ike and…the others.)" He crossed his arms and looked around the shop's wares to pretend he was window shopping for Princess K, who fixated her gaze on him from the counter. "(…I thought they'd take those memories from me again. Then what else was taken anyway? Did I witness an event I shouldn't have seen during this infernal challenge? Nothing comes to mind…)

Soren completely ignored the yells from 777 calling out to several people, as both were too far away from hearing range.

"(…No, I vividly remember all the stupidities we did with Joshua,)" Soren confirmed. "(…And there doesn't seem to be anything else regarding my stay in the Reapers' Game. Now, what else is in the line? Ah, my memories from Tellius… Hmm… No, everything else about Tellius and its people are there. Ashnard stands out the most, but he isn't important…)" He grunted silently and furrowed his brow. "(…I don't understand this! What else is there? I can't find anything! Did something else happen between those two events?)"

Thinking hard about the memories in-between, Soren then remembered that there was indeed a middle ground.

"(…The Smash Mansion,)" Soren recalled. "(Yes, that would be the spot that stands between both of the locations in timeline terms. Well, let's see here… Hmm… The day I arrived at that barbaric-named manor is impossible to forget, the day I went to that world full of scrapped metal where that evil deity resided is there as well, and then there's nothing of importance in the days with no meaningful events… Oh, there was the last day I died because of that bomb…)"

…

"(…This… Wait… No, this can't be…!)" At last, Soren had found the hole in his memories. "(That day the bomb blew up…why does it feel incomplete? Why is that event so important for the Reapers to have taken away from me? Unless there was a key component that would endanger their existence… No, that's unlikely. This is a separate universe altogether, as I was taught from Master Hand. Nobody in the mansion seemed to know about Shibuya at all. That narrows down the possibilities of the reason why this memory was shattered… I need to keep forcing my way in.)"

Several seconds passed as Soren tried to piece the lost memories harder.

"(…Backtracking a bit, the memory cuts off…)" he pinpointed the spot where it all became blurry and strange, "(…at the point two seconds after the bomb blew up and everyone panicked… After that, nothing else is there. The point when I died is missing as well… But I was sure I remembered how I died before! I had assumed the bomb killed me… Why didn't I notice this occurrence before? Those bastards… I need to report this to Ike and the others.)" He looked up and turned to the exit. "(I should just follow the flow and assume that piece of my memory is critical in defeating the Reapers, and… Could it also be connected to the Composer? I can't make theories now with what I have. I must find Ike!)" He carefully took a look outside the shop to see if he could find the others.

And found them he did.

A-East – Concert Hall

Right in front of the concert hall, Soren found Ike and Ness standing there, averting their eyes from each other as they waited for the other two pairs of partners to come back from 777's fight. With no Noise and Reapers around the vicinity, Soren made a run for it while calling Ike over. "Ike, over here!"

Ike looked up and turned to the north, a huge wave of relief coming in after seeing Soren alive and breathing. "Soren!" he shouted and ran to him with a smile, with Ness following next to be at a safe distance.

Soren rejoined your team!

Soren reached their side and sighed. "Good, it seems we have reunited without repercussions," he said, but his face darkened a bit. "I can't say the same for Chris himself, though…"

"Wait, what?" Ness piped up. "You know what happened to Chris?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Soren said. "I've been on the run for a whole day yesterday, around the area near the Udagawa Backstreet, just to wake up in this area with nowhere else to go… I took refuge over there at that overly-fancy shop." He looked at Lapin Angelique and then back to Ike, and then down to Ness. He looked back and forth between both of them, finding Ness's partner nowhere to be seen. "…Where is your partner? That yellow rat…"

Ness grunted. "Long story short, all the other Players became Neku's entry fee, Beat betrayed the Reapers and became Neku's partner, our powers have been banned in and out fights, we can't have our normal partners make a pact with us so that we take other partners instead and that's why I forcibly – and please don't kick me in the face for it - became Ike's partner, and…they kind of don't want us or anybody else who knows about us in our worlds and beyond to remember we exist if we happen to lose the Game this time for DIRECTLY working with Joshua's attempts to jack Shibuya."

"…" Soren somehow managed to understand all the points in one sitting. "…Talk about crippling," he merely commented. "And what was that about everyone forgetting about us? That sounded hard to believe."

Ike said, "If we lose this time, all the people who know us in our worlds will forget completely about who we were. It's called a Complete Existence Failure penalty as that woman told us. Oh, that woman is the new Game Master for this week, and we were challenged by her to seek her down before the week finishes. If we find her and beat her, we can win the Game ahead of time."

"We saw her floating into the concert hall when we rounded the corner," Ness explained, pointing at the dark hall. "But that 777 guy stopped us and said he was hunting us down like all the other Reapers! We became bounties!"

Soren nodded. "Yes, everything fits with what I heard on my end," he said. The two partners got confused. "While I was there at the shop, I eavesdropped on 777 and his cronies. That's how I learned about Chris's demise." Both Ike and Ness winced at the fact. "…And I found out about some other important news that I need to tell you before a Reap-"

Cursing his luck, Soren and the others saw the other Players and 777 reappearing in the UG. 777 looked sweaty and beaten, falling down on one knee. "Damn... You guys are tough," he coughed. "Daisukenojo Bito… I underestimated you."

Beat bwaah'ed loudly, deafening them for a brief moment. "BWAAH! STOP IT, MAN!" he complained. "Now call me Beat!"

Neku duly thought, "(Is that all that matters to him?)"

Beat faced his team. "That cost us time, yo. Le's keep mov- Hey!" He grinned when he saw Soren in the group. The Branded felt perturbed by the punk's sight fixed on him that he looked away. "It's mage guy! Though' you were dead!"

Soren couldn't quite forget the previous week when Beat was on their heads trying to erase them. His attitude was just the worst to tolerate every day of the week. The Branded begged Ike to do something through sheer mental power, but that was useless. "Oh, you're alive," Neku spoke up. At least Soren could tolerate Neku, turning to face him. "I'm glad you survived yesterday… But Chris didn't."

"I thank my luck for surviving," Soren said. Since 777 was in the vicinity, he couldn't speak up the secrets he had learned moments ago. He needed to shoo the Reaper away. "And you managed to defeat this Reaper. Well done," he subtly congratulated them, facing Fox and Pichu, the latter who was perched on the vulpine's left shoulder. Quickly after, Fox placed Pichu down. "Especially considering you're not using your usual partners."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I haven't become used to this change, let me tell you," he muttered. "Pichu here doesn't just sync up with me at all, unlike Chris."

"I'm sooooooorry I'm not your non-romantic soul mate," Pichu dawdled in a sarcastic tone. "What's that they say for this? Oh yeah. No homo."

With Soren back with the group, they turned to 777 gasping for air. "Hey, hold up," he said. "Finish what you started... End me."

The Branded took the request to heart and discarded it from there. "Please do so, Ike," Soren said. Ike felt no need to do it, infuriating Soren.

Then Beat spoke, "End you? Yo, I didn't even wanna start you," he said. "And I ain't got nothin' 'gainst the UG, either. You got a show to play, man."

"Yeah, it feels just wrong to erase you," Ness said. "…We haven't forgotten how you made us go through the detour from hell some days ago, though. Taking away your life isn't something I'd do now."

Neku nodded. "Go rock out. You gonna let down your fans?" he asked.

777 blinked in shock after hearing them out. He was silent for a moment until he stood back up and chuckled confidently. "Heh heh... Man, today IS my lucky day," he said. "Thanks, Phones. You, too, Daisukenojo!"

Beat screamed loudly. "Bwaaah! Yo, you askin' for mo' pain!" he asked with a shaking fist, his face full with sweat as the others gave him funny looks. By now, it was revealed that his full name was Daisukenojo Bito. The criticism to that was greatly mixed. Some found it funny from a punk like Beat, others found it very odd, and others just didn't care.

Though Ness couldn't help but grimace every time he heard the name. "(Why does that name sound familiar to me?)" he wondered. "(It feels like I heard it before… But where? So much happened all these days it's hard to remember what happened when…)"

Neku pulled Beat back to them. "Hey! Calm down..." he suggested. "Want to start another fight instead of doing more important tasks?"

"F-fine!" Beat said, actually shedding a tear. "I'll le' him go…this time!"

777 backed off to be safe. "Dai-I mean Beat," he said, tossing him a small item that he caught in the air. "Here. Take this."

Beat and the others looked at the item. It was a pin that had the black image of the Player Pin's skull on a white background. The lower portion of the skull, though, had a key-like design. "Whatchu givin' me, man?" Beat asked.

"My keypin," he said. "Don't ask why. Doesn't matter. I don't like owin' people." He nodded to them. "You'll need this to continue."

The punk grinned and clutched the pin. "Aight, then. Thanks, man." He faced the team. "...C'mon, my dudes! We gotsum iron to find!"

"Who are we looking for, exactly?" Soren asked.

"The GM of this week," Neku said. "It's a woman who's taking the role after we defeated Math Freak last week. Her name was Konishi, I think. She only gave us one mission to complete for the whole week at any time: find her and defeat her in battle."

"If we're quick enough, we might finish the entire week ahead of time and…and save Chris from certain death," Fox said. "We saw her going inside the concert hall."

"What?" 777 blinked. "You're up against the Iron Maiden, Miss Konishi? And you're sayin' she went back in my turf? Naw, you're mistaken." He shook his head in dismissal. "No one's inside the space. I would've seen 'em go in."

Everyone but Soren looked at the building. "You didn't see her?" Neku asked. "(But she went right past him... Still, he doesn't look like he's lying.)"

"Tell you what," 777 said. "I'll go in check myself. Feels like I'm sniffin' a promotion in Reaper ranks if she's coming here!" Laughing, he entered the darkness of the concert hall. "Hey, anybody in here?" he shouted loudly. After receiving no response, he yelled. "I said, HEEEY!" Despite the louder call, he didn't get a single reply.

"…B-but we saw her going in there!" Pichu said. "Our eyes were fixed on her all the time!"

"Maybe she warped somewhere else just to taunt us?" Ike asked. "These Reapers have some unique skills, remember. Hers is probably warping around Shibuya."

"See? Nobody…" they heard 777 said from the darkness until hearing him scream, "Gwaargh!" His scream was followed by a flash of light. The group immediately assumed the worst whenever they saw a flash like that. It was the same way Chris left the UG in a second, and seeing it here again on a Reaper they knew was nearly traumatizing.

Neku gasped. "What happened?" he asked.

"It-it sounded like he got erased!" Pichu shivered. "S-should we go in there and check?"

"He can't be erased!" Beat said, grunting and charging forward into the darkness. "Yo, Phones, ever'body! C'mon!" he rallied them on. Uncertain to follow him, Soren resigned himself to do so with the rest. He could tell they had been running around due to Beat's impatient attitude, and he was right about it. Soren needed to tell them what he found out, especially because it also had to do with their main enemy…

A-East - Concert Stage

The group was familiar with the dark location. Every time they could in the past, the concert stage would be shrouded in darkness, arriving whenever there weren't any concerts taking place. "It's pitch black..." Neku said.

"How convenient we arrive here every time the lights are out," Ness commented. "Would it kill someone to have some lights on?" He bumped into something soft; something that was clearly a person. "…"

Fox shuddered. "I am willing to forget you bumped down there if you agree to forget about it too," he said.

"Okay. I'll take your offer kindly."

Beat cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hey! Porcupine! You aight?"

"Let's have a look around," Neku said. "It won't be easy to find him in this darkness…" His feet suddenly kicked something dropped on the floor right in the middle of the concert stage. Picking up the stray item, he called the others over. "What's this?" Using whatever light the concert had, the group made out some sort of black collar with a skull mark on it. "It's the choker 777 had on."

"What was that doing here?" Ike asked. "…You don't suppose…"

Neku nodded slowly, dropping the choker down rather lifelessly. "...She erased him," he said. The others looked a little put off by the fact. "Damn it!"

"What!? That lowdown, dirty..." Beat kicked the air with rage. "How could she do somethin' like that?!"

"Probably because he gave us that keypin," Soren pointed out. "I don't know much what you've been doing, but what is that keypin for?"

"It's for opening walls without asking Reapers to open them up after doing a mission in each area," Neku explained. "Not all walls can be opened with a single key, though. There are levels for each wall."

"So we have some sort of freedom of exploration in Shibuya," Soren said. He looked around for anybody else in the stage while Beat circled the place to find Konishi. "…Wait, this seems like the right time to bring up what I found out from spying on the Reapers."

"You found something out?" Fox asked. "What's that?"

"It's confidential info about the Composer himself," Soren said. "He…"

Music stops

There was an abrupt stop that came out of nowhere, just at the same time Soren's eyes had widened. Despite the lack of visibility, the others gasped out in shock and backed off from him. Ike didn't back away quickly. He wanted to rush forward and stop the event himself, but it was too late. His eyes were fixed on Soren's chest, where some sort of dark claw had pierced right through his heart, spilling a lot of blood that dripped down on the cold floor. The Branded didn't move but bled from the mouth, his energies quickly depleting at an alarming rate.

The dark claw retracted in a second and Soren collapsed dead on the floor.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ike cried out, checking up on Soren. He didn't want to move his body, hearing a faint sound coming from the incapacitated Branded.

"E-everyone…" Soren gasped blood out, forcing his face to look up at their shocked looks. "T-the…Composer… G-go…w-with…h-him… H-he…c-" His last words, drowned in blood, died out, and he disappeared in a flash from existence.

Soren has been erased…

"No, no, NO, NO!" Ike yelled, slamming a fist on the floor. Shocked by his reaction, Fox tried to pull him back up, but the mercenary pushed him away. "Why did you kill him?! WHY?! He didn't deserve this crap either!" Fox grunted and decided to back off from him, thinking that leaving Ike to mourn his friend without interruptions would be for the best.

The loner teen couldn't believe another life was taken away so fast. He started shaking his head until he screamed himself. "W-why?!" Neku asked loudly as Ike descended to madness. "We're losing people each day now?! Can't those Reapers stop killing us off?"

"DAMN THEM ALL!" Beat yelled, stomping a foot on his spot. Swearing very harshly, he looked up to the dark ceiling. "Y u gotta do this, yo?! It's not fair! No way I'll go back to ya after this!"

"That is nice to hear. Vexatious monkeys like you only deserve pain for endangering the Underground's existence."

They heard Konishi's voice echoing from somewhere inside the stage. Feeling utter rage boiling up in his blood, Ike stood up and looked around. "Where are you?!" he demanded. "Come out and face us, here and now!"

"No can do," Konishi said, her voice hard to locate. "I was planning on having you fight a big Noise…but crushing your chances to win through this way is far much better and productive. Psychological warfare is perhaps the best weapon to deal with trivialities."

Fox had a bitter reason to kick her face badly now. "How is this any fair?" he asked. "Why would you even kill Soren?"

"Simply because Soren learned of unthinkable information normal…no, any Player should never know," Konishi explained. "I cannot very well let him do as he pleased when he learned about that. Imagine if he were to spread the word among you! It would cause unfixable damage to the Reapers' Game."

"Y-you killed him over that?!" Ike asked, his tears welling up in his closed eyes. "You'll pay for this!"

"You head Reapers are all the same!" Neku yelled. "You never explain things fully and expect confused Players to just play along! I thought you'd explain everything to us for a change…but you're like Math Fetishist!"

"Don't compare me with that wreck. And seriously, I don't see how I'm guilty for this," Konishi said. "I'm merely doing my job. You shouldn't feel so angry about what happened. He broke a serious rule that was completely his choice to do, as he had admitted to spying on Reapers while-on-duty."

Beat grunted. "Iron Face!" he called out. "Is that why you offed Choker?!"

"Yes," Konishi clarified. "He was expendable as well, I'm afraid. That keypin he gave you was nicely exchanged for his own life, but he never considered the option until it was too late to rectify his big mistake. I have said before how I am doing my job, right?" she asked before chuckling. "I'm just reminding you so you get it memorized in those heads of yours, in case you forgot."

Pichu pouted. "D-don't make fun of us!" he yelled. "You'll be sorry once we find you!" He did a double take. "Wait, didn't we find you already?"

"I'm not in here anymore," Konishi spoke. "The day is about to end for you, and the next day will greet you after I stop communicating with you." Her voice seemed to warp all over the darkness, confusing them as to where she was. "Until then, I wish you good luck. I look forward to the futile confrontation…or not." She giggled and cut off the conversation, just as Ike screamed to her to show up anyway. When she didn't, the mercenary grabbed his head and dropped to his knees in despair.

"Every single day, I hate those guys even more!" Ness said. "Chris was erased, Soren got erased today, who's going to be erased next?!"

Neku stared long at Ike trying to compose himself on the floor. He decided to leave him alone to mourn his friend, but Neku knew Ike would lash out angrily like Fox did early in the day. "…It better not be any of us," Neku said, looking serious. "Guess we know how to play the Game fairly with what we're not supposed to know."

"It makes no difference," Fox spoke up.

"Why?"

Fox shook his head. "Soren was erased because he didn't have a partner," he pointed out. Pichu blinked when his new partner looked down at him. "We have partners, though. Our comrades are our shields for cheap kills outside Noise fights. They've crippled us too much already, true…but we can soldier on if we keep our heads in the game."

"…Yeah, maybe you're right," Neku said. "We're getting closer to the last day of this ordeal. No way am I going to stop and have a breakdown now." He saw Ike standing up, head lowered. "Ike… I'm sorry about what happened to Soren. We're all sorry."

"…" Ike grunted and turned around to face them, clearing some tears away with an arm. "Soren said…Soren said something about the Composer," he huffed. "He said we need to go there with him."

Beat grimaced. "The big boss?" he said. "What did emo guy say?"

"He said we need to go there where the Composer is," Neku said. "Wasn't he trying to reveal a deep secret about him? I wonder what that was…"

"Soren tried to say something crucial here," Ness said. "This is a fact that involves us for sure…"

"But what?" Beat asked. "Mayb' his super secret hideout, yo? I know that punk is inside the Shibuya River somewhere! Emo dude didn't hafta know aboudit!"

"No… That wouldn't be it," Fox said. "It was probably another thing… Damn it, if only he told us in time…" He crossed his arms and got deep in thought.

Beat's Day 3 – The Composer

Scramble Crossing

TWEWY - Calling

"…?!" Fox and the others blinked in shock at the sudden change in settings. "The hell?!"

Neku cleared his eyes and looked around. "...Huh!? The scramble!?" he said in shock. "A day already went by?!"

"S-sheesh!" Ness shuddered. "And we didn't even have to wake up for this one! Creepy!"

Beat was the most freaked out of the group. "But we was just at A-East, yo! She dumped us back at the starting point?" He grunted and turned to the north. "C'mon, men. We gotta head back!" Neku and the others told him not to run off. "What for!? We know where she's at!"

"We know where she WAS," Neku said, emphasizing the last word. "But we couldn't find her."

Beat winced. "Yeah, we did look pretty hard, but-"

"We don't really have any proof she was really there," Neku interjected.

The blond punk was losing his patience fast. "You heard her laughin' at us!"

"It's possible that was all just a setup," Neku theorized. "Think. Why would she appear there and just show up to off 777 and…and Soren?" He was trying to be careful not to sadden Ike. The mercenary was looking quite perplexed and doubtful more than the others. "…Let's check some other places today. We've got 777's keypin, right? We just have to be thorough."

Beat sighed in defeat. "Aight. Fine," he agreed. "But it's Day 3, yo. I don't got much more time."

"Hard to tell when the day is going to end with no missions other than finding that woman skunk," Fox said. "I won't be so nice to her if she reappears again…"

"I speak for everyone that no one will let her go that easily," Ness said. "She's lucky I don't have PSI Rockin' right now. A good scooter toss is going to help my stress."

They looked towards Ike. The mercenary hadn't said a word after breaking down back at the concert hall over Soren's death. Feeling sympathy for him, Pichu went to him. "Ike?" he spoke. "We all know how you feel… Important people who were special to us sacrificed themselves for us to continue on… Don't look so down, please!" he pleaded. "M-maybe the Composer can revive the erased Players! Let's have some hope!"

Ike mumbled a few words. "Soren practically has no family to go back to… He only has the mercenaries," he muttered. "And even then, he only opens up to me at times… He is nearly completely alone in the world."

"One of those lone wolf types, huh," Neku said. "…Like I'm one to talk. I know how that feels. I never saw Soren laugh even once during each day before his…" He averted talking about the "d" word. "You guys came from other fantastic worlds, didn't you? I can try to imagine how harder it was for Soren in particular."

"I come from a world where war among nations is almost an every day event," Ike said. "That was when there was a war… Soren always closed up to people but me because... No, I don't want to talk about the first time I met up with him." He nodded to himself. "He would hate me if I told you that. I want to believe he's still here, somewhere.

"Then stay optimistic," Ness said. "If we get to mop around, we'll fall into Konishi's trap! She wants to crush our emotions to drop our guards! Let's show her how wrong she is about that by smacking those glasses from her face!"

Although Beat got pumped up by the speech, he groaned out loud. "This sucks, man... I am so boned!" he complained loudly. "Why can't there be some easy way outta this?"

Before a snarky remark could be said, another girly voice said, "Well, there is!" Recognizing instantly the voice, the six Players whirled to the east and found a grinning Uzuki standing there. "Like, take it down a notch, Freshmeat. Or should I call you Rottenmeat?"

"Great," Fox began, "it's the childish Reaper girl. Things can only go bad from here."

Uzuki sneered at him. "Naaaaaaaah, things can get better for you if you listen to me, furry face," she said. None of them was impressed or mildly excited at her words, causing her to stare blankly at them all. "Ugh, I hate the silent treatment. Totally not cool, you lot."

Beat got into a fighting stance. "You here to take us out? If you gonna bring it, then bring it!" he warned her. "We're in a hurry, yo."

Uzuki sighed and boringly dangled a pin on a claw. "Oh yeah? You don't want THIS?" she asked in a dull tone.

Everyone stared at the pin with dull surprise until a closer look at it made them gasp, though Beat nearly screamed his head off. In Uzuki's claws, there was the pin that was Beat's Reaper pet before. "That pin!" Beat yelled.

"The GM passed it on to me," Uzuki said with a grin. "She made me substitute GM for the day!"

"Substitute GM?" Ness said. "Why make you a substitute now? Does that mean we have to beat you up to win the Game?"

She saw them nearly ready to leap at her, but she held out an open palm. "Hold it right there, skippies!" she warned. "Attacking the substitute GM before the mission is given out goes against the rules, and I know what you guys have been doing lately! You don't wanna make me erase you for being even more disobedient…" She giggled evilly.

"Yo, gimme that back!" Beat demanded her, his eyes focused solely on the pin.

"Hooold on," she said. "This is your entry fee. You can't have it back unless you win the Game." She covered her ears when she had indirectly triggered Beat's loud screams. "Gosh darn it! Stop it with your yelling, Rottenmeat! Anybody can hear you all the way to Wildkat from here!"

"We try hard every day to keep him from doing that," Pichu said. "We fail. Horribly."

She stared. "…Uh, anyhow," the Harrier Reaper said. "How about we have a little bonus round? If you finish my mission, I'll give you back the pin."

Beat blinked. "Yo, fo' real?" he asked.

"Wait right there," Ike said, stepping forward. "What happened to the other condition? If we defeated that Konishi woman, we could win the Game ahead of time. Does the same apply to you?"

"Nope. Sorry, caveman. That doesn't apply to me," Uzuki said, irking the mercenary. "The GM is busy with other stuff that I can't tell ya about. You'll have to listen to me if you wanna pass through the day!" She giggled. "It's my call."

Neku looked bored. "And of course you'd never try to trick us." Uzuki saw the rest putting up the same expression.

"What?" she said, faking being offended. "Oh, come on. You think this is all a ruse?" She held the pin high above her head with a malevolent smirk. "Fine, I'll just destroy the pin, then-"

Beat flailed his hands. "Wh-whoa! Don't!" he interrupted.

Uzuki grinned. "Ahh, now you believe me," she said.

"(Why is Beat so flustered over that pin?)" Ness thought. "(It was just a Noise pet he had. What emotional connection does he have with it? Honestly, it's hard to read that guy at all. I better ask why he cares so much about that Noise pet.)"

"So! Here's your mission," Uzuki began. Beat's nose suddenly got something inside that made him wince. Uzuki turned around and raised a finger. "We are going to play Reaper Sport 4:"

Before finishing that statement, Beat sneezed so loudly that Uzuki's words were drowned within "ACHOO! ACHOO!" that nobody in the team heard her clearly. For whatever reason, Uzuki didn't hear the sneezing.

It became clearer when she turned back to them. "You have 60 minutes," she said. "Fail, and… Well, I'm not an official proxy, so I can't erase you."

Beat didn't ask for an apology to his loud sneezing. "Then why you think we gonna listen to you?" he asked.

"We didn't hear her clearly due to your loud sneezing!" Fox complained. "You! Repeat the rules again!"

"What?" Uzuki said. "I hate repeating myself! You guys heard what I said!"

"If we did, we wouldn't be asking you to repeat it again," Ness pointed out.

"Fine… We're playing Reaper Sport 4. There, happy?" she said. They kept their confused looks at the odd game title. "As I was saying before… I can't erase you...but I CAN erase this pin." She smirked as she held up the pin again, infuriating Beat further. "Oh, get over it," she told him, pocketing the pin. "Now... Ready, set... GO!" With a giggle, she took off northeast, waving a taunting hand their way.

Beat grunted and nearly ran after her. "Dammit! Get back here, Pinky!" he demanded her.

"Hey, this could be our lucky break," Neku said. "It beats hunting after the real GM."

The blond punk eased himself a bit and sighed. "Yeah... I guess," he said. "We don't need Ironface if we get the pin back. Yo, le's chase after Pinky and clear this mission!" He was ready to run away after Uzuki until Fox grabbed his right shoulder.

"So what is this Reaper Sport 4 mission she gave us?" the vulpine asked. "You were a Reaper before. Don't you know what that means?"

Beat smiled, though said smile seemed to twitch in confusion. "Reaper Spurt 4, right?" he repeated wrongly.

"Sport," Neku and the others corrected.

"Right, Sport," Beat nodded. "Umm..." He quickly scratched his hat as he tried to remember what Reaper Sport 4 meant. "Well, RS 1 is 'Russian Roulette,'" he said. He ignored the blank looks. "RS 2 is 'Hide-and-Seek.'"

"…What is this?" Pichu asked. "I don't even…"

"So RS 4 must be…uhmmm…" Beat scratched his head faster.

Ike got angry. "What does all that even mean?" he asked. "Russian Roulette? Hide-and-Seek? That doesn't sound too professional for the Reapers to do… Wait, what's a Russian Roulette? Sounds worth looking at."

"Ike, we're apparently playing RS 4," Neku reminded him. "Whatever that is, Beat knows… Let's just wait for him to find the answer in that empty head of his."

"So, you resigned yourself to get screwed," Ness said.

"Pretty much."

As the blond punk tried to remember the information, a familiar business guy walked nearby. It was the same business guy back from the first week, Day 5: the same one who indirectly introduced the group to Reaper Creeper. He sighed loudly to himself as he said, "What should I do? Maybe it's time to break out Reaper Creeper..."

Beat then yelled in triumph. "Oh yeah! 'Reaper Creeper'! That's what RS 4 is!" he remembered, though his unsure look didn't ease their minds.

"You just pulled that out of thin air," Neku said.

"Did not! Hey, I used to be a Reaper, yo! We cool." He forced a grin that twitched even more.

The PSI boy noted the twitching. "Calling it. We're going to fail today," Ness said.

"Does it matter just to fret now?" Ike asked. "Let's go with what Beat knows it's the right thing. We're sitting ducks otherwise." The group nodded, making Beat sigh.

"OK, so... how does RS 4: Reaper Creeper work?" Neku asked. "I don't remember the details to that. We haven't done it in a long while since the first week…"

"I vaguely remember moving a yen coin to a Yes or No answer on a paper," Pichu said, climbing Fox's shoulder. The vulpine was really not used to have a Pokémon perched on a limb. "That's what it was! Let's find a person who wants to use Reaper Creeper to complete the mission!"

Neku was impressed how Pichu was smarter than Beat, though it didn't come off as a surprise when rethinking it. "How 'bout the guy who just walked by?" he suggested. With the task in hands, the group went after the business guy heading northeast; the same direction Uzuki went to. It didn't take long for them to catch up with him.

By the time they got to him, they overheard him talking to himself. Ness smiled knowingly how the Shibuyans liked to talk out loud. "Hmm... Ever since discovering Reaper Creeper, I've let it make decisions for me... Too many," he said.

"Wonder how he's going to do it at the wedding vows without getting caught," Fox muttered. The others chuckled.

"Not that I can complain. I owe much of my success to it." He looked up in deep thought, admiring the skyscrapers of the city. "But still...it doesn't feel right."

All chuckling seized after hearing him out. "What? He ain't gonna do it?" Beat said.

"Weird, for him," Neku said.

"Should I keep relying on this?" The business guy took a moment to consider what to do. "Of course! I'll just ask it! Wouldn't that be a fitting end!" In the semi-afterlife, the Players facepalmed, but Beat cheered the guy on anyway. Taking out the piece of paper and a Yen coin on top of it, the business man was ready to ask the decisive question. "Reaper... Creeperrraaargh! What am I doing?" he asked to himself, putting the paper and yen back to his right pocket. "I have to quit cold turkey."

The group groaned in unison. "Aw, quit jerkin' us around, pops! Hurry up and Creep!" he demanded.

"Now I remember why messing around with this guy back then was severely lacking in good results," Ness said.

Neku evaluated the fact and narrowed his eyes at Beat. "...Are you SURE this is what we have to do?" he asked.

Beat got more dull looks from the rest. He started sweating. "Y-yeah! Reaper Spurt 4: 'Reaper Creeper'. I used to be a Reaper, yo!" he tried hard to convince them he was right…hiding the fact he wasn't entirely sure it was the mission of the day. "Trust me, Phones. Now let's get that guy to-" The business man was walking away to the Center St. Entrance. "Huh? Where'd he go? Oh, crap! We gonna lose him! Book it, ever'body!" He ran off in pursuit of the man.

The Smashers looked at Neku. "Must...trust...partner..." he muttered through gritted teeth. Sighing with him, the group chased Beat next to the next area.

Center St. Entrance

"Hey! There he is!" Beat said as he pointed forward. Among the happy Shibuya people, the business man was fretting to himself. More important than that, the group saw Uzuki flying by next to him, giggling their way as she went to the AMX area. "Huh? You see Pinky jus' go by?"

"Yeah. She was giggling," Neku said. "What's up with that?"

"Forget about her," Ike said as he saw the business man going to AMX as well. "Our target is going that way!" The group rushed after the man just as Ness caught up with Beat.

"W-wait a minute, Beat! Let me ask you something important!" Ness said as they ran up north. "W-why do you care so much about that Noise pet pin? What's so important to you about it?"

Beat jerked his face away from Ness. "U-uh, that's not important to talk-a-bout now!" he said. "We gotta get it back!"

"No, Ness is right," Neku said. "Why do you care about it? Beat, please, tell us. We want to understand what's going on with that pin, the Noise pet, and you."

The punk hesitated to explain the bomb he had to reveal. "…That Noise isn't mah pet," he said. "…That Noise is… It's Rhyme, yo."

The running stop right there before entering AMX. Even Beat stopped running, knowing what the reactions would be. Shyly, he turned to face them himself.

"…That…that Noise you had on your shoulder…" Ike trailed off. "…That was Rhyme?"

"Yeah…" Beat admitted. "Them Reapers turned her pin into a Noise… She was my reason to be so brainwashed while I was wonadem."

"Ahh, sick," Neku said, obscuring his face. "They can turn Players into Noise?"

Pichu shivered next to Fox's head. "They turned her into…into a Noise? Why?" he asked. "They could've turned her back to normal instead!"

"No, they wouldn't!" Beat said. "They said it was better that way just to pull my strings, yo! I'm so pissed off at them for it!" He shook a fist. "That's why I wanna get that pin back so badly! It gets destroyed, Rhyme gets offed and I kill myself next!"

Fox wanted to scold Beat, but there was no time to lose. He grunted at him and said, "Okay, that's a better reason to be rushing off. Let's finish this mission to get her back safely to your side!" The others nodded and dropped the subject, running to AMX to find the business man.

For once, Beat was the one left behind as he pondered what to do. There was one last secret he didn't tell them about… Clenching fists, the punk let a tear fall away from his face as he ran after them.

AMX

Beat was a very fast runner when he wanted to be, joining up with them in record time in the area full of music junkies and head bobbers. He started looking around for the business man. "Dammit, where'd he go now?" He looked northwest where he missed Uzuki, giggling and flying away as if she was taunting them all. The others, though, caught sight of her.

"Hey. There goes the Reaper again," Neku pointed out.

"What, Pinky?" Beat said, looking at Neku.

"Yeah. She just took off. You didn't see her?"

"Yo, are we lookin' for the guy or not?"

"Yes we are, but what's her deal?" Ness asked. "Why is she just…flying off and teasing us? I smell another trap here. I can never tolerate her."

"She's doing a swell job at it," Fox said, crossing his arms. "Her teasing is making me want to kick her face with a pin. Her plan is working."

"Calm down, you," Neku said, noticing their angered looks. "Focus here. The man is our main objective to get Rhyme's pin back."

"We gotta track down that guy an' finish the mission!" Beat agreed loudly. He went back to running off without warning them. Still, this time they understood his quick actions now that Rhyme had become an important goal for them to reach.

Tipsy Tose Hall

On the very same spot where they saw the business man for the first time, he headed there to reflect on the issues regarding a subordinate of his company. Just as he reached the spot where he had made it his personal place, he saw the aforementioned subordinate sulking and looking away from the people. The Players saw the man heading to the other guy who was facing away from everyone. The sharp suit and the combed hair weren't so hard to forget only because he had received a sudden makeover in a week alone. "Huh? What's he doing here?" Neku asked.

"Isn't that…the Makoto guy?" Ike wondered. "The same guy who was running a pin campaign in the first week and the shady Shadow Ramen shop in the second week?"

"Otherwise known as Evil Corporate Business Madman With A Goatee Makoto, so yeah" Ness said. They grimaced at the long nickname.

The business man noticed Makoto sulking in the corner. Gasping, he called out to him. Makoto blinked and looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening after. "Oh! Boss..." Makoto muttered weakly.

The Players stood behind the unaware business man, looking at Makoto. "No good," Pichu said. "He's distracted with Makoto."

"Shh, this could be our chance," Fox whispered. "Maybe he needs to stay put to rethink his next move. He better use Reaper Creeper to get this mission over." The group nodded at his notion and listened to the two business people.

Makoto grinned meekly at his boss. "Boss, how have you been?" he asked.

"Fit as a fiddle, thanks," his boss said with a blank look.

"Sorry you had to see me like this," Makoto said in despair. "Remember the new business I opened? I just don't have the knack for it." He lazily tossed his around in a circle. "I made this big show about leaving the company. I thought I was sooo smart." He sighed and looked saddened. "But you know, Boss, I didn't know a damn thing. Shibuya ate me alive, heh heh..." Despite his chuckling, he still looked down in the slums. "Boss, tell me. What am I supposed to do now?"

His boss shifted his weight awkwardly, not sure how to help his pupil. "Oh, Makoto..."

Makoto forced a grin. "Heh, I'm sorry. That's not a very fair question after what I did to you," he said.

His boss's eyes lightened up when he let his lifeless hand touch the paper for Reaper Creeper in his pocket. "Now just hold on, Makoto. (Reaper Creeper always yields the right answer. Makoto needs solid advice, and with this...I can give it to him!)" He took out the paper from his pocket, making Makoto stare at it with dull interest.

Beat and the others looked relieved. "Damn right, pops! He's gonna do it, Phones!" He shook Neku's shoulder. "Now's our turn to Creep, yo!"

Neku had actually listened to the talk more than the others did. Something about letting a piece of paper – and his own opinion – decide for a solid answer felt…wrong to him. As Makoto and his boss stared at the paper together, Neku rethought his move once more. Closing his eyes, he didn't move his hand over the paper after the business man opened it up fully. "No," Neku said, shocking the others. "Not this time."

"What?" Ike asked. "Why not? This is our chance to get Rhyme back!"

Neku looked serious at them. "He needs to find the words himself," he said. "I wouldn't have cared to do this for him days ago. It's completely different now. It feels like cheating just to do it like this, you know?"

Beat was at a loss. "But Phones..."

"There are many other people in Shibuya every day," Neku pointed out. "Let's go find another person we can make use Reaper Creeper for something less important than this. I don't wanna decide the future of a company without knowing what I'm doing… Would you guys do otherwise knowing this?" He saw the Players exchanging worried glances until they shook their heads one by one. "Yeah, thought so. Desperation shouldn't take the best of us now."

"Gaaah! It's not moving!" the boss spoke from behind Neku's back. "Please! Creep to me, Reaper!" he pleaded to the unmoving coin on the open paper.

Makoto thought his boss was losing it. Shrugging, he looked away from him and said, "Hey, Boss, look... I gotta take off." He tried to walk away but his boss dropped the paper and yen coin on the floor to grab his shoulder.

"W-wait, Makoto!"

"Huh?"

The business man felt crippled without the Reaper Creeper paper to decide for him. But he tried to make the right decision for Makoto. "Do you...remember when you first started with me?" he asked Makoto, making the bankrupt young man reminisce of the past. "On your first day, you had this twinkle in your eye, and you said, 'I want my customers to be happy!'"

Makoto chuckled. "Heh... We all start somewhere," he said.

"Makoto!" his boss said. "Back then, you had your head stuck so far up in the clouds, you couldn't get anything done right."

"That was a sight to behold two weeks ago," Ness snarked. He was hushed to be silent.

"Heh... Sounds a lot like me now," Makoto said.

"Not quite," his boss disagreed. "The 'you' I knew first? He didn't need fancy clothes to be cool." He opened his arms. "Marvelous! That's what you were." He lowered his arms down to his sides, smiling truthfully at his worker.

The young entrepreneur blinked in realization. "Boss..."

"I think you need to search back and ask THAT person where you should go from here," he suggested. "So what if you mess up? Nothing we do in life is truly a waste."

"Wow..." Makoto looked down at his feet to reflect on his boss's words for a little while. "…All this time I've been rushing into things. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I want," he muttered, grinning confidently at his superior with open eyes. "Thanks, Boss."

His boss laughed for a bit. "No, I should be thanking you," he said.

"Huh? For what? "

The business man looked behind, down at the scrapped paper for Reaper Creeper. He chuckled and turned back to Makoto. "Nothing, nothing," he reassured him.

Makoto flashed a confident grin. "Hey, Boss. I gotta get going," he said as he started to leave.

"All right. Show the world what you've got!" he told his young employee, watching him walking away down south. The business man sighed and looked back at the paper of Reaper Creeper. "Heh heh. Who needs some piece of paper? My own answers beat the hell out of black and white. I've Reaper-Creeped for the last time." With his reassuring words to himself, he hummed in triumph and went off to his own way, leaving the Players behind.

"Good to see he finally got the memo," Ness said. "He may as well be doing flower fortunes."

"Damn straight!" Beat said. "...Hey, wait a minute." His eyes looked horrified. This was a bad sign.

Fox was genre savvy enough to know what was coming next. "Cover your ears!" he alerted the rest, quickly cupping his ears.

"BWAAAH!" Beat screamed loudly, completely ignoring their annoyed looks. They uncovered their ears and rolled their eyes. "Phones, you've doomed us, man! Who's gonna play Reaper Creeper now?"

"I thought I said we'd find someone else to do it!" Neku retorted. He then got into thinking about the whole business of the mission, and there was a bugging feeling that was telling him to go over the mission's topic with the only reliable source they had: Beat. "About this 'Reaper Creeper' business... I gotta ask you."

Beat blinked. "What, yo?"

Neku crossed his arms and asked, "Is that REALLY today's mission?"

The Smashers looked at one another. "I've been pretty skeptical about today's mission as well," Ike commented. "Beat, are you very sure this is what the mission is about?"

Beat sweated. "Yo, I told you-"

"I don't think you remember," Neku interrupted.

Beat sweated more. "I do! Like I said, I Reaper Spurt 4-"

"It's SPORT," Neku said, nearly fuming.

"Hrrrm..." Beat sighed and slumped forward. "Sorry, guys. It's been two days since I was a Reaper. I don't remember too much."

The other five looked bored. "…Beat, two days isn't that long," Ness pointed out. "You really are suffering from short term memory loss, aren't you?"

"Maybe he forgot he has short term memory loss too," Pichu snickered. He grimaced when Beat looked saddened for a change. "U-uh, sorry, please! I'll never behave like Pikachu does! I didn't mean to offend you that badly!"

Neku was starting to miss having Shiki a lot more than before, and even Joshua was part of the thought process. The loner teen walked to Beat's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, next time just be up-front about it. We'll never work the mission out by taking shots in the dark."

"Funny you say that because that's how it could've been seen that way the previous week because of Joshua," Fox said. "But Beat can be convinced to hold himself back and is far closer to Earth than Joshua."

"He is?" the others asked in surprise.

"I am?" Beat added, much to Fox's chagrin.

"…Yeah," Fox said without the oomph he tried to use. "He is very anxious because Rhyme is on the line for him, just like the rest of us are. Rhyme is precious to him…and us, too."

The blond punk looked at them. "Man... Why I gotta be like this? I never change," he said. The mention of Rhyme's name sent him to a small journey to the past as he remembered when she was by his side in the first day of the first week. "Rhyme used to say the same stuff like a hundred times, man. You remind me of her, yo."

"I can imagine," Ness said. "Rhyme was the brains while you were the brawn."

"Hey, Rhyme wasn't squishy stuff!" Beat complained, shaking a fist. "Whatchu got against her?!"

Ike grunted. "He meant she was SMART and you were the FIGHTER of your pair," he said. "Dolt," he muttered to himself.

"Oh!" Beat nodded several times. "Yeah, she was hella smart." He sighed. "I miss her a lot, man. Whenever I got feisty, she'd put me back to my senses. On the first day of the first week, we tries to take down Pinky…but she said no, tellin' me there was no time for mistakes and we should take it slow an' steady. When we joins you, I kept bein' told not to rush ahead."

Pichu remembered the times they had when Shiki was alive. "You really were pretty pushy," he said. "But the whole group's votes outnumbered you all the time."

"But more important, she had a brain unlike me!" Beat said, looking down at his feet. "She always had some saying. And she knew to think ahead! But me... I never learn. Even now, when she needs me the most."

"I can probably understand the burden you're carrying," Ike said. "It's her life you're trying to save. It's like you two are siblings with how you complimented each other's weaknesses and strengths…" He chuckled. "That takes me back with my own sister Mist. I'm also trying to fight for her life, in a way. But Beat, you must try to learn from your own sister." He looked serious. "She only wishes the best for you."

The blond punk nodded, smiling a bit. "I know I gotta think things through. I really do, man. But I freak out instead of findin' the answer," he grunted. "Some brother I make."

"Yeah…" Fox trailed off, nodding.

After exchanging glances, a simultaneous record scratch echoed in their heads.

"Wait, hold on, what?" Neku said quickly. "Brother?"

Ike stared. "Rhyme's your sister?" he asked, bewildered, just as how the rest looked like.

Beat blinked. "What, didn't I mention?" he asked. "Yeah. We from the same family."

"U-unbelievable…" muttered Ness. "You and Rhyme are…siblings? You two don't even look alike! Except for the blond hair and the hats… Naaah, those weren't clear hints."

Fox felt his blood boil a bit. "Incredible, JUST incredible," he said. "Not only is she your little sister, but you had the nerve to stop listening to her right at the end of the first week without thinking ahead of the consequences? You're incredible!" he scolded the punk.

"I know, man!" Beat admitted. "Feel so sorry aboudit since we came to the UG together…"

Ike was just as angered as Fox, though it was a little more personal. Even so, he held himself back from punching Beat in his gut. "You came to the UG together?" he questioned. "How'd that happen? Did you die at the same time?"

The punk bit his lower lip and nodded meekly. "It's like I killed her, man. You don't know the half of it." He started to sob, much to their surprise. "T-that accident…that time…that…that…"

"H-hey, hold on!" Pichu called out. "D-don't cry now! If the memory is so bad, don't try to remember how you died!"

"Why I gotta be so stupid?" Beat cried to them, sucking up some breath to gain momentum. "I thought I could bring Rhyme back by becomin' a Reaper. That turned out great, huh?" he complained. "It feels worse when I think that far back, yo…"

"And then she got turned into a Noise," Fox said.

"Yeah, she turned into that when I made a pact with 'em," Beat said, trying so hard to compose himself from his small breakdown. "Was promised to have her back completely if I did mah job, but that ain't took me nowhere! But I figure if I become the Composer and rule Shibuya..." he trailed off, looking at his right open palm before clutching it into a fist. "Ya know? Whoever takes out the old Composer gets the job."

Neku had listened to the full story without saying much, but he was truly listening to his partner's pleas. "Is that how it works?" he asked.

Beat nodded. "Yup. And once I'm in charge of Shibuya, I can fix Rhyme. I owe her a second chance, man!"

Ness rubbed his forehead. "You are serious about becoming the Composer just to save her life," he said. "You're very desperate so you want to seek out that solution… It doesn't mean that's smart to do! You're gonna get your sorry butt incinerated with light or whatever they toss at you, and knowing our luck, we're getting toasted as well! You better have planned out your whole strategy ahead."

"Uh…" Beat trailed off, not even able to muster up a weak grin.

"…Gosh, we're finished," Pichu muttered.

"It doesn't change anything," Fox suddenly said. "Soren said we needed to get to the Composer. There's got to be a reason why he wanted us to go there, and that reason better be bringing Chris and Soren back from the dead."

Ness rolled his eyes. "Fighting the final boss of this world is so not good," he said. "Even less so when said final boss is a DAMNED GOD OF A PARALLEL DIMENSION OF THE DEAD! We're not that strong enough to beat a person like that! We're six people right now but that won't matter much!"

Ike was feeling down with the facts. "Doesn't hurt to try…I guess," he said. "I don't want to go back home empty-handed without Soren and Chris. It'd feel like an empty victory if we don't all come back together."

Beat felt reinvigorated by their determination. He looked at Neku. "Listen up, Phones, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once…" He slammed both palms together and bowed to Neku. "Help me... You gotta help me save her. I ain't that smart. I just crash my way through things. But that ain't enough to save Rhyme. I need help!" He looked up while still bent. "I need... I need YOU and everyone else's help."

"…Screw you," said Neku, shocking the rest.

Beat's jaw dropped. "What!?"

"Just what we needed," Ness said. "Neku's turned agro on us again in the worst of moments."

Neku rolled his eyes and turned to Beat. "Don't be an ass. She's my friend. And you act like I'd mind saving her," he told him. "Besides, I'm just crashing my way through this, too. Even if we beat the GM and survive, they'll just get us on some technicality, probably for making a pact with you. But I don't get any more chances." He raised a finger. "There's the Emergency Call, too."

The Smashers turned serious. "We'll get screwed over for real if we win this week by playing their rules," Fox said. "How do we know Kitaniji will keep his word after we were told we've been breaking rules like it's nobody's business? They're gonna send us back to a fourth week and keep doing that until we can't continue anymore…and Chris and Soren will pay the price with us… I can't have that crap anymore!" He shouted.

"I-I wanna end this with a happy ending too," Pichu said. "I'm so very sick to play this stupid thing over and over again. They want us to be here forever with whatever excuse they come up with!" His cheeks emanated some sparks as he pouted. "Besides, I'm a young Pokémon! They can't harass younger people like this! I know I'm right with this! Right, Ness?"

Ness was the only one so far who wasn't so open to the idea of fighting a god. But he was surprised to see Pichu looking so serious, and he was younger than he was. "…Ah, screw it!" he groaned. "I'm gonna be dragged into the final fight anyway. I should accept what's coming to us and just do whatever I can to support the battle. Like Pichu said, I'm a kid… Ugh, I still feel sick about the whole thing. I won't back down to fighting the Composer."

"Me neither, not after Soren was killed so brutally before my eyes," Ike said. "The Composer holds all the answers for our problems, and he has never done anything good for us, not even show up to see his face. What's coming to him is a fight from us…provided we can defeat him together. We could've had a chance when we were ten Players."

Neku obscured his face. "Let's face it. Shades wants us gone," he said. "If me and Shiki are gonna make it back to the RG-"

"Don't sweat it, man!" Beat said. "I'll bring you all back to life, soon as I'm in charge."

"It sounds so morbid to turn you into the Composer," Neku said, looking up. "All right. You better not get drunk with power once you do become him."

Beat laughed for a bit. "Yo, uh... thanks, Phones," he said. He looked at the rest and said, "You too, my men. You're great guys to hang out with."

Neku chuckled. "Like Mr. H said: 'Trust your partner.'" He felt better just recalling his idol's advice. It was truly pushing them along the good path.

The others nodded, though the Smashers were still not feeling attached with the different partners. "Heh heh! True dat," Beat said.

"So what's today's REAL mission?"

Beat's right eye twitched, much to their dismay. "Well...first le's track Pinky down," he suggested, shyly walking away to the west. With their hopes to win today's mission slightly crushed after the emotional talk, the group followed the more level-headed Beat from behind without having to run. It was a welcome change.

Welcoming a rabid Uzuki was a far out cry to a warm welcome. She grunted so loudly that they gasped and spun around to face her grabbing her head in frustration. "Careful there! You're going to burst a blood vessel," Ness said.

"Ugh, what's with you losers!?" she asked, getting three feet away from them. "Don't you want to win at ALL!? I oughta crush this pin! I swear, if you take one more side trip-!" She tried to calm down for a bit, but it didn't help that much as she had hoped. "I mean, what's the point of tag if you don't chase me!?"

"…Excuse me?" Ike said. "Did you say…tag?"

Fox looked bored. "It keeps getting more and more bizarre each day in this world…"

"Huh? Tag?" Beat wondered. "Wait, so Reaper Sport 4-"

"It's 'Tag,' you dolt!" Uzuki finished.

"…Wow, just wow," Ness said deadpan. "Reapers are the strangest of people I've met so far; stranger than the creepy camera man who stalked me during my journey without question."

"I was expecting something more dangerous," Fox admitted. "What a letdown. They really are mocking us older people with these games."

"Oh, so it was a simple game of tag?" Pichu said. "That's why you were floating away! I thought you were teasing us like you always do!"

"I was teasing you!" Uzuki yelled, not noticing how Neku was oddly silent and looking indifferent. She was pulling her hair with her clawed hands. "Didn't they teach you anything at all? That's like the most basic of basics! Some rising star you turned out to-"

Neku silently went over to her side and poked her right shoulder. "Tag," he said. Everyone else stared blankly.

Uzuki blinked, snapping out from her anger. "Huh?"

Neku stepped back to his group. "You're it." The simple fact made the Players laugh at the Reaper.

"What!?"

"Oh goodness, that was nice!" Ness said. "Phew! I guess that finishes today's mission, right? That wasn't too bad at all!"

Beat grabbed his stomach, even pointing a finger at her. "Bwa ha ha! You see how stupid she is? She just walked right up to us an'... Bwa ha ha!"

The pink-haired Reaper looked very dumbfounded at the whole deal. "That...that last tag doesn't count! And did you just call me stupid?"

"Yo, you are! I ain't never seen no one suck so bad at tag," Beat said.

"Shut up shut up shut up! You have no right to call anyone stupid!" she complained to him.

Fox and Ike knew there was a fine line between laughing too much and laughing too little, so they stopped laughing once they saw the pink-haired Reaper looking mighty pissed. "Let's not press her buttons any more than we need to," Ike said.

"But we did finish the mission, in a way," Fox said. "Be a graceful loser and just give Rhyme's pin back to us." He held out a hand to indicate his point. "That was the part of your deal. It's been long enough for her to be trapped inside a stinky pin for two weeks. She needs to come back to us."

Uzuki grunted as she stared down at his gloved hand. She slapped it away, causing Fox to glare at her. "I...I've got another mission for you! 'Defeat the pissed off Reaper!'" she proclaimed, opening her clawed hands on her sides.

"Hey! Play fair!" Neku complained, shaking a fist. "Why do you have to do it this way? I can't tolerate how you keep toying around with us this way ever since day one!"

The vulpine was none too pleased at this statement that his blood boiled up once more, even more so when it had to do with Rhyme's existence. "You crazy, egotistical…BITCH!" Fox barked, causing the others to take their positions. "You know what? Screw you! I'm gonna beat the living daylights outta your ugly mug of a face and dismember it all! Don't want to keep things easy? That's juuuuust fine with me! I need to vent off some steam right about now!" He moved his right foot back. "You Reapers always try to win at the end of the day with whatever rules you come up with that it's very sickening!"

"I have to win this Game. I don't care what it takes!" Uzuki complained, opening up her claws at them. "Now bring it, you little turds!" With the Players in high gear, the dimensions became blurrier…

Despite the long complain from earlier, Fox was dismayed to know he and Pichu were left out from the fight. "C'mon! Don't give me this now!" he swore to the sky.

"Maybe calling her a…uh, 'B' word and telling her how much she sucked wasn't a very good idea," Pichu suggested. The vulpine just sighed and sat down on a step to wait for them to finish the fight. Pichu meanwhile looked away to see if anyone was hunting them down, not even thinking about talking with Fox any longer.

The World Ends With You – Emptiness And

The bustling streets of Tipsy Topsy Hall were empty in the Noise dimension. As wind pushed forgotten fliers away, Beat and Ness materialized in the upper plane in front of the hall while Neku and Ike appeared in the lower plane close to the park area. The enraged Uzuki appeared in the upper plane, with a shadow double covering for her in the lower plane. "I'll blast you till you can't move anymore!" she declared, taking out a small Reaper-made gun from her back. The shadow clone did the same. "Why do you gotta get in my way like this?!"

"We keep asking ourselves the same question whenever we see you!" Ness yelled at her. Using a sparkly violet pin with a black plus sign on the center (the pin called – and embarrassingly sounding – Sexy+), he used its psychokinesis effect to throw a nearby Stop sign at her. She swiftly dodged it, making her madder. "If we happen to win this one against you, I'll feel very refreshed with the victory!"

"You winning against me is like letting all Players win the Game!" Uzuki shot back, along with an actual pink blast directed to Beat. The punk used his skateboard to block the blast, but it did push him back some. "But you are very important bounties for me! I'll get an instant promotion!"

In the lower plane, Ike clutched the Kanesada pin – a pin with a purple-on-orange background with a silver K letter. "You are monsters no matter how hard I try to make you have some humanity!" the mercenary called out. The pin's power, curiously, gave him some kind of air sword to well adapt with his style of fighting (something that Neku had noticed before). He immediately launched himself at the shadow and delivered several harsh slashing blows. "Especially you! Soren suffered a lot because of your group and now his life may be gone!" His last blow sent a light puck to Ness…but the light puck almost immediately faded away.

The Harrier Reaper twitched in pain, feeling her shadow's pain. "That small fry's gone, isn't he? Well, good riddance! Too bad I didn't get to go for the kill!" she complained. Taking aim on Beat, she fired a flower-shaped shot. The blond punk gasped and raised his skateboard, but the shot stopped right before colliding with his weapon. The flower shot spread into multiple flowers circling around the skater, confusing Beat and dropping his guard down when the flowers struck his body on all sides for quite a lot of damage. "But it won't matter much once I blast you all to ribbons!"

"Pinky's gone mad!" Beat said, grunting at the stinging pain. He quickly boarded his skateboard in midair and smacked Uzuki's face several times by meteor-smashing the underside of his weapon. "Yo! Better not crush Rhyme's pin while we beat yo' makeup! I'm gonna go mad!" He sent a light puck to Neku. The puck only managed to stay on for three seconds before it faded away.

"URGH!" Uzuki was pushed down to the floor. Screaming, she got back up and flew back to the air. "Look at you, worrying about this girl! Talk about vomiting my guts out! Turning into a Reaper just to save this one person? What are you, an idiot?!" She got a scooter smacked to her stomach thanks to Ness. It was his turn to send a light puck to Ike but said boost of power vanished as soon as it engulfed Ike.

"We've gotten into lots of problem, no matter how we keep playing this," Neku said, clutching his Ice Risers pin and erecting a large stalagmite from the ground, blasting it towards Uzuki's shadow and delivering a lucky critical hit. The light puck was sent to Beat. "And we keep breaking rules. You're probably breaking as many rules as you can just to get what you want… How does that make you any different than us?"

"I'm not here for a pep talk by some snot!" Uzuki yelled, sidestepping in midair to avoid Beat ramming his skateboard against her head. While she was distracted, Ness used a new pin. The pin was a smiling red strawberry in front of a green background. Though it looked it was made for kids, the pin had a unique effect in the UG. Swinging his right hand, Ness sent a slow fireball towards Uzuki. The fireball struck her back, but it didn't fade away. It bounced off from her and kept bouncing slowly around the plane. To make things confusing for her, Ness sent four more slow-moving fireballs at different directions to keep her from flying around. "You! Stop it with the balls!" she aimed at Ness and fired off a flower bullet, which then spread into more bullets and struck Ness on all sides.

"Like it or hate it, we's gonna get Rhyme back from your hands!" Beat said, taking off to the air to smack her down again. She swiftly dodged, running into a bouncing fireball. The move sent a light puck to Ike, but the rushing aura vanished very quickly.

"Why does this keep happening?" Ike asked as he stared at his hands. "The light puck never went out that fast before! Why is it doing it now?" A blue shot struck his back, and his body felt weaker not because he got damaged. "U-urgh!"

"Hey, keep your head in the game!" Neku said as he ran to the right corner of the battlefield. He suddenly gasped when he saw a shadow forming on the floor. From said shadow, a beast jumped out and roared at him, its hands flaring up with a purple aura. "Ugh, not this thing again!"

"What?" Ike looked back and gasped. It was an Aura Hunter – the Noise form of Lucario. The mercenary vividly remembered the monster delivering a killing blow on Chris two days ago, and seeing it here in a battle against a Harrier Reaper meant bad news. "N-not good!"

In the upper plane, Ness heard rushing feet going his way. Whirling around on his feet, he saw the other Aura Hunter dashing to his side. "Just great! We also have this monster to deal with?" he asked until he used the Sexy+ pin to ram a large car against the Aura Hunter, making it yell in pain as it was pushed aside, though it flipped in the air and landed on its floor-crushing feet. "…Huh? That actually hurt it?"

"Yo, man! That dog gave us lotsa trouble before!" Beat called out as he engaged against Uzuki, blocking her bullets and trying to ram her with his pin-affected skateboard on her body. She warped away to avoid the blows and then appeared from behind her attackers to shoot their backs. "They hit like trucks on high gasoline, but they jus' can't take no hit! They're weak!"

"I don't remember the Lucario we know take that much damage," Ness said as the Aura Hunter focused on him. "He could take a brick to the face without flinching!" Four blue shots struck the back of his head, pushing him forward. Coughing and getting back up, Ness heard the rushing feet again and he instinctively rolled aside to avoid a Force Palm blow. "I know my Pokémon matchup table, so, taste some fire!" He clutched a new pin called Fiery Spirit, Spirited Flame – a pin with a tower of red and black flames rising up over a white background. Just like the image, a tower of fire engulfed the aura monster, allowing Ness to get back up and back away. Sadly, the pin's power couldn't last longer than two seconds. The flames dissipated and the monster looked mighty pissed at Ness.

"BLAM!" Beat suddenly came sending multiple shockwaves from his skateboard. The shockwaves struck the Aura Hunter's feet, making it trip down harshly. Beat finished his moves by slamming down the tip of his skateboard on the Noise's back, inflicting three times a shockwave's damage and sending Neku a light puck. "Course it's easier with more buddies!" Beat said, pulling and going back to fight Uzuki.

In the lower plane, Ike wasn't as successful at avoiding the Aura Hunter. It managed to swiftly rush to his side and use Force Palm on his chest, sending a very painful sensation across his upper body that was also shared with Ness in the upper plane.

The mercenary's body felt paralyzed.

"W-what t-the hell?" Ike stuttered as he felt his body going numb at irregular times. He then got a fist blow to his face, pushing him down to the floor. Gasping at the rabid monster raising an aura-engulfed palm, Ike tried to shield himself, but then Neku came rushing straight with a spear of light that struck the right side of the Aura Hunter. The monster roared a yelp while it was blasted off to a nearby wall. Quickly, Neku helped Ike to get back up. "T-t-thanks."

"Yeah, it was a single strike from its hands to get us like you got: paralyzed," Neku said. "Beat got to do double the work when that happened to me."

"A-argh…" Ike's body twitched, losing time to move and react.

"It'll wear off in a little while, but that's enough time for that monster to strike you down," Neku said, and then he backstepped from several bullet shots from Uzuki. The Harrier Reaper switched places with her shadow to inhabit the lower plane. "This fight should end if we take her down first."

"I'm gonna shove up my shots up your butts, you turds!" she called out, taking aim of Neku and firing at will at him.

This put Ike in a predicament as he was left to fight the evil Lucario. With his body paralyzed, his chances to run or even dodge blows were nearly impossible. He had to act fast and work around the problem. Hearing the monster's indignant roar, Ike jerked his head to the right and saw the Noise rushing to his side with palms flaring with malevolent aura. "N-Neku, I could use your help here if you can!" the mercenary said.

Neku needed to keep Ike safe, even if Uzuki would get in the way. "Beat, Ness, try to take out the Noise first!" he told the others. "Ike will get erased otherwise!"

"And that means I go away too!" Ness realized. "Beat, help me here!"

"Awright!" Beat said, turning around and gaining speed on his skateboard towards the Aura Hunter. "Yo, dog! I'mma puttin' a leash on ya!"

"No hurting the doggie!" Uzuki yelled as she fired a flower bullet at Neku. The loner teen saw the bullet dividing into five flower shots chasing after him, so he skillfully dashed off to the left and avoided them all as they struck the concrete. Swiping a new pin called the Eyes Full of Hope, which had rows of multiple colored stars over a white background, the teen used its power to trap Uzuki in a sphere of light that sparkled brightly and delivered continuous damage. With Uzuki fazed by the attack, Neku focused on the Aura Hunter. He used the same pin he used to conjure a spear of light – the Go 2 Hell pin, a pin that had a wild design going on with shattered black-and-red circles over a sickish dark yellow background – and let the spear guide his hand right into the Aura Hunter.

The Aura Hunter, this time, sidestepped and managed to use Force Palm on Neku's left shoulder. The teen yelled in pain as he tumbled down the floor. Quickly telling he wasn't paralyzed from the blow, the teen rolled away from another Force Palm blow. Getting up, Neku persisted and used Go 2 Hell again, this time the piercing blow striking the Aura Hunter. Before the blow connected, Neku had received the light puck back from Beat. The damage was multiple two point five times over, squarely stabbing the monster Lucario through its body. It roared in pain at the sky and faded away in static. "It's down!" Neku said.

The Aura Hunter in the upper plane vanished as well. "Good! Now we can focus on the crazy girl," Ness said.

"Crazy?! I'll show you crazy!" Uzuki said as she warped back to the upper plane and aimed at Ness, shooting crazily at his way.

"Way to prove my point," Ness dully said as he took a sprinting start from the spot of impact.

Beat blinked, feeling a rush of power. "Hey, Phones! Fusion time!" he said.

Knowing that doing a Fusion would heal them a bit while delivering a lot of damage, Neku nodded and took out their Fusion pin. The blank pin had a new image. It was a wild background covered by two skateboards. Clutching the pin to activate its psyche, the planes merged together.

"Pick it up, Phones!" Beat said, riding his skateboard with a head start.

"I'm there!" Neku called out, not riding his own skateboard and opting for teleportation.

A confused Uzuki looked around the plane until Beat came in and slammed his skateboard on her back, pushing her aside where Neku warped in front of her and delivered an energy slash across her face. The Harrier Reaper then stumbled back where Beat reappeared and crashed his right shoulder against her, causing her to lose her balance while Neku once more appeared in front of her and slashed her upwards. These actions kept repeating for a long chain of five seconds, with each Player striking the Harrier Reaper in different spots. The Reaper was then struck down to the floor, and the Players went back to their respective planes.

"GOSH DAMMIT!" Uzuki hollered, pushing herself up and wiping some blood from her lips. "Don't you know how to treat a lady?!"

"Really? Do we need to call you that?" Ness asked.

Uzuki lost it and shot wildly at Ness using flower bullets. However, she fired many different shots, which only increased in quantities once they all split up. That many shots would most likely erase Ness on the spot, and Ness thought exactly that. The Onett boy gulped and started running away from the shots. Given how he was trying to move to different directions, the shots were hunting him down. "RUN, YOU LITTLE BIG-HEADED TURD, RUN!"

While lost in her rage, she didn't see Beat sending ground shockwaves with the wheels of his skateboard. The "lady" flinched in pain and then got hit harshly across her waist.

Uzuki raised her gun and shot a blue blast right on Beat's chest.

"YEARGH!" Beat fell on the floor and panted heavily. He felt his body weaker.

"There!" Uzuki said as she shot a flower bullet. The ensuing damage piled up pretty fast on Beat and Neku. The shot divided into five flower strikes that crossed Beat's body, and he could tell it hurt way more this time around. "Wanna keep tossing that skateboard on me again?!"

Neku started panting along with Beat. "O-okay, we just need this," he said, taking out a pin that replaced the Cure Drink pin. It had a picture of a happy crocodile about to eat a flying butterfly – the pin called Croc Leisure. Despite the look, it had the same effect as a Cure Drink, as evidenced when Neku took out a soda can with the pin's image imprinted on it. The drink helped them to recover a thirty percent of their health. Feeling unsatisfied, Neku used the pin again, their health nearly recovered.

"C'mon, it's just her!" Ness said. "We can finish her off if we focus everything we have on her!"

"Don't underestimate me! I'm a Harrier Reaper!" Uzuki screamed. She needed to throw them off if she wanted to erase them all, so she started to freely warp all over the planes with her shadow. Confusion did start to settle in as the Players weren't sure were to strike.

"Typical of a teasing woman like her," Ike said. "…Huh? Hey, my body isn't numb anymore."

"That's great," Ness said. "Can your body, like, strike her in less than a second?"

"Uh, let me see my pins… Oh, here!" He raised a pin.

Neku looked at the pin. "Ike, you idiot! That's a 100 Yen pin!" he scolded. "Those are the pins we use to sell for money! They're useless in battle!"

The mercenary gasped. "S-sorry! I guess I wasn't paying much attention to my deck…" He changed that pin for another one in his dubious deck. Because he was slow on getting a good pin, Uzuki took her chance to strike his back with a blue shot; the same kind of shot that made Beat feel weaker in his body. This was followed up by a flower shot that Ike couldn't avoid in time.

"AAH!" Ness yelled. "W-what is in those shots of hers? They hit very hard!" He used his own recovery pin – a pin with two Flamingos staring at each other, the pin called Healing Flamingo. Taking a soda can with the pin's picture on it, Ness and Ike recovered health, but then they lost more than what they recovered after Uzuki blasted Ike with four blue shots in quick succession. "Dammit! Beat, Neku, do something!"

"I'm on it!" Neku said, seeing Uzuki giggling and warping around the planes. He clutched a new pin on his right hand and called forth its psyche. "C'mon…! Track her down!" The pin he used had an image of three purple spiders on a dark web. The pin's name was Network Spider. Despite the look of the pin, spiders didn't come out from it.

Rather, homing thunderbolts materialized and easily tracked Uzuki down during her warping movements. Her Reaper wings were stunned into place as she was electrocuted in midair, being immobilized for a brief moment. "OWW!" she yelled.

"Ike, c'mon, she's right there!" Neku told Ike. "Get revenge on her now!"

"Y-yeah, let me use a pin!" Ike said. Opting to use a pin he already used before, he used the Kanesada pin again and launched himself into a volley of air strikes right on Uzuki. He delivered a harsh upward slash, sending a light puck to Ness. "There!"

Beat managed to crash into the Reaper's shadow, making the shadow twitch in pain to regain its composure. Like its owner, the shadow looked furious under its dark shade. "Big Head, now's your chance!" Beat said as he saw the light puck engulfing Ness's body, only for it to fade away half a second later. "Huh?! What gives, man?! Can't use a stinkin' light puck once?"

"I-I don't know, but who cares?!" Ness said as he ran over to the shadow's side.

"(Something's whacked out with these guys,)" Beat thought. "(Is their light puck all busted up on its rear or what?)"

Ness used a new pin – this pin had the picture of a sneaky white ghost over a blue background, called the Aqua Monster. Once he got close to the Harrier Reaper, he pointed at five different points to create five stationary bubbles of water. Since he needed Uzuki to approach the water balls to deal damage, he used the Sexy+ pin to ram a random traffic cone to her side. Uzuki screeched as she was pushed into a ball, forcing her to take damage as the water blew up on her. It pushed her towards another ball, then another one, then another, until she had hit all five spheres. "Good!" Ness said, sending a light puck to Ike as Beat rode his skateboard and rammed it against the staggered Reaper.

When the light puck engulfed Ike, it faded away too quickly. "Why does this keep happening to you guys?" Neku questioned as he dodged several bullet blasts from the shadow. "I can hold on to Beat's light puck longer than you can." He used his Network Spider pin to trap the shadow inside the lightning bolts, but it moved fast and dodged expertly.

"I don't remember very well, but wasn't there something about connecting with our partners to make the light puck stronger?" Ike asked as he kept a lookout on the shadow.

"Yes, there was. I can hardly connect with Beat 'cause he's hard to get on," Neku said.

"Hey, I ain't hard to ride!" Beat called out, missing the meaning.

"But we do have a little chemistry somewhere in our teamwork," he said, receiving the light puck from Beat and standing still for five seconds. In those five seconds, the light puck faded away. "Five seconds. Ours last five seconds which is enough time to boost the power of our next attacks. I've seen Fox and Pichu's fading away nearly a third of a second! You and Ness's fade away…in half a second."

Ike took a moment to understand why they couldn't get enough time to strike with a light puck. The light puck had been a blessing to deliver stronger blows, and many times before it would help to end fights very fast. But with no light puck, the time it took them to finish fights would prolong. This would in turn give their enemies more time to finish them off, as they didn't need a light puck to deliver a lot of damage. They were severely crippled by the rules imposed on them as they were…

"Behind you, Ike!"

Ike gasped and quickly dove to the right, avoiding five flower shots from Uzuki herself. She had warped back down. "I should've left you back with the furry guy and the yellow rat to make this easier for me!" she complained.

"ENOUGH!"

"Wha-?!" She turned around and was severely damaged by a powerful ramming blow from Neku, who had used another different pin. It was a pin with a picture of a dark flame with yellow streams that gave it a feeling of rushing at high speed, known as the Velocity Tackle. The loner teen took a quick step and got engulfed in an energy barrier as he shot right into Uzuki. The Harrier Reaper screamed in pain and warped back to the upper plane. "D-DAMN YOU LITT-!"

Then her run ended as soon as a Volkswagen fell on top of her, courtesy of Ness and his Sexy+ pin, who was taking on the shadow instead. Uzuki was unlucky enough to swap places at the worst of times. "…I just love these pins," Ness said, looking at his psychokinesis pin. "I wouldn't be able to throw cars around that easily with just my normal psychic powers."

As Beat laughed in the background at Uzuki's demise, her right claw stuck out from the car. "N-nooooooo!" she groaned in pain underneath the car. She was hiding exhaustion thorough the fight, and she could've used her healing skill to recover damage, but the Players kept interrupting her at every opportunity she had that it was nearly impossible to use the skill without getting hit and lose focus. Knowing when to retreat, she snapped her fingers, and the planes started to merge together…

Right before the planes merged, the grading Reapers were watching the fight from the hall for avid Tin Pin Players. Nodding to each other, they slapped a "B" grade on their battle performance. "I only gave them a B because of the car finish," the first Reaper said. "That was suh-eet."

The second Reaper nodded. "Agreed. Why can't we have most fights end with such ridiculous finishers?"

"Hey, we're Reapers! We can tell the Support Reapers to do us that favor," the third Reaper said. "…Sucks all Support Reapers are hunting these guys down instead."

"Sucks to be a Grading Reaper," the first Reaper said.

The World Ends With You - Calling

As the planes merged together, a tired Uzuki fell down on one knee and panted heavily, cursing heavily her humiliating defeat against the Players. "Victory is fun when you beat up on the bastards that keep tricking you…by crushing them with a car!" Ness remarked as they started to appear in the UG. Fox and Pichu noticed their return and went back to their side, looking relieved that they had won the fight. "That should teach you not to mess with us anymore! You better learn this time or I'll crush you with a truck!" He blinked and sighed. "That's it. I call dibs on all psychokinesis pins!"

"They only work if you have stuff lying around the field," Neku pointed out. "I wouldn't rely on 'em when there's n-"

"Well, I'll use Beat or Pichu as replacements," Ness said. Beat and Pichu stared at him. "What? We can think about some crazy strategies that way!"

"…You've got a sick sense of humor, Ness," Pichu noted.

Beat grinned confidently as Uzuki looked up at them with intent of murder. "Look out, yo! One more punch and you gone!" He held out a hand. "Hand over the pin an' we might spare you."

"About time Rhyme got saved from you," Fox said. "Now, be a nice girl and give us the pin already. We cleared your second mission fair and squa-"

"AAAaaaAAAAAAaaaRRRRRRrrrRRRrrrGGGGgggGGH!" she hollered in complete rage, standing up and rubbing her head in a very frantic manner. "Take your mercy and shove it!" she screamed at them all. "Next mission!"

Everyone else glared in frustration. "You insane, pathetic, crazy bitch!" Fox complained, pointing a finger at her face. "When will you EVER have enough of this?! Now you're pissing me off just as much as Kitaniji does every time I see his face! Stop this nonsense!"

Neku nodded. "He's right, you know!" he said. "Enough is enough!"

Uzuki wasn't going to let them have their way with her, even if they did clear her missions without screwing up at all. "I WANT MY PROMOTION!" she complained loudly, pulling her hair. "I'm not shooting for any Miss Nice awards!"

"Promotion?" Pichu wondered. "What's that? Why a promotion?"

She fumed with anger as she stared at their glares. "I've been working my ass to rise up in the ranks of the Reaper hierarchy a long time ago!" she complained. "You're bounties for all Reapers, you idiots! If I managed to erase you this one time alone, I'd get promoted to an officer in a single bound and do whatever I want with Players each day! That's what Miss Konishi told me!"

Ike looked duly at her. "I don't see how much different that is because you pretty much do the same thing now whenever you want," he pointed out.

"Shut it, blue-haired turd!" Uzuki screamed. "You don't know anything! This is a huge deal to me, AND YOU NEED TO CROAK RIGHT NOW BEFORE I LOSE MY CHANCE!"

"Hate to break this to you, but you're already breaking," Neku pointed out next. He rubbed his chin in though. "No, scratch that. I like breaking it to you."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGRGGHGHRHGHRH!"

Beat covered his ears. "Yo! Stop screamin'! You makin' me deaf here!" he complained, though the others took it as pure irony coming from the blond punk himself. "Hand over Rhyme's pin!"

It was then that Kariya appeared from above the air and landed next to his angered Reaper partner, surprising the Players. "Aw, now girl..." he cooed sarcastically, though he was amused all the same when he saw her look. "Face the facts. They got you whupped."

Ness blinked. "Now you're supporting us?" he asked. "That's…awfully nice of you."

"Oh, be quiet, both of you!" Uzuki hissed at them until focusing on Kariya. "You can underachieve all you want. But I want to move up!"

Koki had listened to her very loud screams and had actually come up with a window-shattering question he knew she didn't consider. "Up, up, up, and then what?" he asked.

Uzuki suddenly stopped fuming when she reconsidered the answer she was trying to find. She really wanted to be an officer one day, but after being reminded that there wasn't much of a difference with her current job as pointed out by Ike, she felt she was at a loss. "Well..." she trailed off. "I-I-I-"

"Don't know? Then don't bother," Koki said, grinning. "Shooting for nothing sounds crazy to me."

"Huh?" Ike said. "Shooting for nothing? What does that mean? I thought she said she could do anything as an officer."

"That's what she said," Koki said, still grinning. "But really, you don't do anything you want when you're an officer. You only become admired by everyone, but all you ever do is assign missions and show up your face for true fun at the end of the week…and then either you win or you get erased. Don't see why she wants to have that kinda life. That's my opinion."

Uzuki fumed with anger and turned to him. "Then what about you! Why'd you turn your promotion down?" she asked, the Players behind her listening to their conversation intently. "Yeah, I know about it. They were gonna make you an officer. And you threw it in their faces. I mean, what is that!?" she yelled. "You got a crush on me or something? Can't bear to leave me!? I don't want to be your ball and chain. It's not fair!"

"(If only I had that thing with me, then…)" Koki sighed in the outside. "Being an officer sucks. I thought I made myself clear, Uzuki. Why join the brass and strut around doin' nothing? Sounds like a total bore." He flashed a small smile and opened his arms. "I like the field, simple as that. You can feel the pulse out here. People's ideas conflicting, changing..." He licked his lollipop suavely. "I like bein' in the audience. I'm a stargazer."

As Uzuki digested this, Pichu said, "You get to do more when you're a rank lower than an officer?" he wondered, and the Harrier Reaper nodded.

"Yeah," Koki said. "I like the thrill of scoring points to stay alive each day rather than sitting on a chair and wait for the lucky ones to make it to the top, giving you one small workout in seven days." He looked back at Uzuki, now sporting a blank look on her face. "'Sides, if I join the officers, how am I gonna sucker you into buyin' me ramen?"

Uzuki puckered her lips out and looked away, slightly blushing and hiding said blushing from the Players. "...Jerk," she muttered. "Well... I guess I can stay in the audience a bit longer, too." She wanted to force a grin, but she couldn't. There was confusion settling in after hearing her partner out.

"Yeah, girl. Stop and smell those concrete roses." Kariya chuckled and turned back to the Players. "Now then. Sorry to drag on like that. Here. For your trouble." He tossed Beat a black and white object… It wasn't Rhyme's pin, but it was something else.

"A Lv. 3 keypin?" Beat wondered. He grunted and pointed at Koki. "Yo, you can keep this. Gimme Rhyme!"

Kariya chuckled once more, but it sounded a little too ominous… "No can do. I haven't had my fun yet," he stated, earning another set of glares from the Players.

"Are you kidding me? We cleared two missions in a row today!" Ike said, clearly disgusted at the teasing. "She lost fair and square even while she tried to pull out dirty tricks on that battle, and she was appointed as the Game Master for a day! Give us Rhyme's pin!"

Koki sighed. "She was only told to keep an eye on ya," he pointed out. "Issuing missions is beyond her. In truth, she was screwin' around." Uzuki flashed a rather psychotic grin at them. "But she's had her share of fun. I want my share of fun with you all." He was holding Rhyme's pin between two fingers in his right hand, showing it clearly to them. "Teasing rhinos can get dangerous and boring after a while, though…so I'll let you guys keep this little trinket. Beat me at my little game, and the pin's yours. No screws attached."

Neku and the rest sighed in unison. "You swear this time?" he asked. "I'm ready to bust butts if you say no."

"On my life," Koki said, until he rubbed his chin and grumbled a bit. "Wait, that doesn't work." He chuckled. "Anyway, I won't be pulling any punches."

Beat narrowed his eyes. "Dammit, fine," he said. "What's your game?"

"You'll love it, Freshmeat," Koki said. "All you have to do...is beat me."

Fox rolled his eyes and tightened his gloves. He had lost count how many times he had been doing that for a while now. "Fine, this better be it to save Rhyme," he said. "Bring it on!"

Beat's Day 4 – Indelible Guilt

Miyashita Park Underpass

"DAMMIT!"

The loner teen grumbled as he woke up by hearing Fox's loud indignant scream. Neku grunted as he pushed himself from the floor, sitting up. His vision slightly blurry, he looked around his new surroundings. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're awake," Ness said, appearing from his right. "Another day passed before we could even notice…again, and we appeared all the way here now."

Neku nodded as his vision went back to normal. Standing up, he looked at the other Smashers fully awake and ready for the next trial they needed to overcome. "This is an unusual place to start," he said. "I thought we were fighting Kariya…"

"Oh, that we are," Fox said, looking serious and mighty pissed. Was his face getting angrier and angrier-looking every day? That was what Neku wondered. "They surely tossed us in here on our way to challenge him. What we finished with that maniacal girl yesterday doesn't count for him… We're facing his challenge first." He looked to the direction of the street behind the concrete pillars, finding Beat looking away from them. "Anyway, you need to see this. Beat woke up first and we found him standing there and…sniffing."

"Sniffing?" Neku wondered. "What now? Did he remember a touching story that touched his punky heart or what?"

"Not sure how he could do that unless he listened to people's thoughts, but…" Ike trailed off. "Let me go see what's wrong with him now." He walked to Beat's side and tapped his shoulder a bit. "Beat? Everyone's awake now."

Beat spun around, his watery eyes blinked, and the group immediately covered their ears. "WAAAH!" he screamed in shock. "You up already?" he asked, quickly cleaning his face from the tears. The group got confused as to why he was crying in silence but decided not to press him any further about it.

"So it seems," Neku said. "Weird place to start the day, huh?" Beat then looked away, as if he looked…guilty of being there, yet none of them could only see him grimacing. Neku cocked his head, looking just as confused as the rest. "…Right?

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah," Beat said, nodding fast and sounding somewhat preoccupied.

"…Are you okay, Beat?" Pichu asked.

The blond punk quickly forced a wide smile on his twitching lips. "AAAAAAIIIGHT!" he said with high spirits, startling them. "Time to give Lollipop a lickin' and get Rhyme back, yo!"

"That was an awfully fast recovery," Ike said. "But you can't fool me. You were sniffing to yourself about something, weren't you?"

"I-ah… Bluey, please," Beat said. "I'mma fine. Dontchu worry 'bout me, 'kay?"

"Saying that just makes us worry a lot more about you," Ness pointed out. "Something is definitely bugging you, and I can tell it's not about that Koki guy because if you were crying about him…"

"I-I'm fine!" Beat shouted. "Phones! You with me here? Lollipop needs a lickin'!"

Neku wanted to press Beat about what he was doing by himself. The blond punk would try to dodge the question again if Neku tried to question him so he went with Beat's flow. "Yeah... You said it. The way he was talking, we gotta beat him today," he said.

Beat nodded a few times, sighing mentally that he wasn't getting them on his case. "Yeah, jus' be ready, guys," he said. "Lollipop's one tough customer."

"What difference is there?" Fox asked. "Uzuki was mostly an erratic woman who couldn't bother to focus whenever she was pissed at us during that fight. I do expect him to be a little more focused than her, bu-"

"Naw, man, Kariya's skills put the brass to shame," Beat interrupted. "He's only a small fry 'cause he likes it that way."

"Oh… They talked about him turning down his promotion, didn't they?" Pichu wondered. "He's likes to be less important among them just to be more active around the city? We hardly saw him doing much last time."

"He's been holding back all this time," Beat said. "Lollipop keeps Pinky in check. You've seem 'im bossin' her around! Trus' me when I say he ain't' gonna mess up like Pinky did, yo."

"That's nice of you to worry about us by warning us about him," Ness said. "…Creepy! You ARE worrying about us that badly and our names aren't Rhyme!" Beat gasped loudly and looked away to hide his blushing cheeks.

Neku stared wide-eyed. "Who are you and what have you done with Beat?" he asked. "You're far too nice! Almost…peachy-like!"

The punk started sweating, stuttering in his words as the eyes were on him. "N-naw, man! I was jus' sayin' we gotta be vegetant! We after the Composer, not Kariya," he said."

"What the hell does vegetant even mean," said Ness in a deadpan tone.

"Vigilant," Neku corrected. "And is the Composer that strong?"

"Yo, we discussed this, didn't we? I mean, he's gotta be, right?" Beat said, regaining some composure. "How else he gonna keep sly punks like Shades in line? All I'm sayin' is we ain't gonna get a better warm-up than Kariya." He smacked a fist on his palm. "So let's take him down, rescue Rhyme, an' then book it to the Shibuya River!"

"And after that, we'll confront the Composer so he can try to bring Soren back to life, along with Chris," Ike said. "It better be easy…"

"Well, you better man up, yo, cause we gotta find Lollipop. Le's start at the scramble," Beat suggested, walking westwards to the direction that led to Towa Records.

Neku was touched by his partner's newfound dedication for the group, which made him think about the fact Beat had a timer of his own, mentioned by Konishi on Day 2. "(If the GM was right, Beat's only got two more days after today... I'll be toasted by then, and…everyone else will…)" He grunted and put up a tough look. "(No, I can't fail now. Not after listening to their incredible story about keeping other worlds safe… I gotta take them out of here or my world goes kaboom.)"

To his dull surprise, Beat ran up to a wall blocking the way.

"Oof! Oww, dammit! Freakin' wall..." Beat complained.

Feeling unlucky, Ness went up towards the path to Miyashita Park and found another wall, trapping them all in. "We're boxed in," he said. "Beat, you've got those keypins, don't you? Use them."

"Yeah, yeah," Beat said, searching his pockets. "Now where's that keypin?" His hands didn't feel the pins to open the walls. He gulped and looked at them. "It's... it's gone! The keypin's gone, man!"

"What? Gone?" Ike said. "T-that can't be good. We're trapped in here for real."

Beat grunted and looked back towards the street under the concrete. "...Tsk. Here, of all places..." he muttered to himself, albeit a little too loudly that the rest heard nearly clearly.

"Here?" Neku said. "What do you mean?"

The blond punk gasped and looked away from their gazes. "N-nothin', aight?" he said, only pilling up the questions they had about his recent behavior for the current day.

"Trapped without any Support Reapers telling us what to do to open the walls," Fox said. "They're playing even more dirty this time around! They keep driving me nuts. Now what do we do to get outta here?"

Beat suddenly took out a box from behind. "Yo, you know when I woke up, this was lyin' next to me," he said, showing them the square box with a button on top. "Can't open it for the life of me… Wait! I don't have no life here!"

Ike grunted. "Enough with the smart facts," he said. "It's a little box with a button."

"…Wouldn't that be a trap?" Ness asked. "Beat, did you press the button already?"

"I smacked it, if you're askin' that!" Beat said. "Didn't open!"

Neku glared. "Are you crazy? What if it was a trap?" he said.

The punk stared down at the box and then back at them. "Yo, you show me a button, and I wanna push it. Aight?" he said. The group began questioning how smart or severely dumb Beat was in reality.

"I think they design traps like this with you in mind," Neku added. He looked at the rest, showing bored looks of dullness.

Beat was about to toss the box down in frustration. "Sh-shut up, yo! Leas' we know the button don't work." He pressed the button. "Press it an' this weird voice comes out…"

The Players spent the rest of the time figuring out a riddle about the box by defeating Noise plaguing the underpass. Using a piece of paper which contained hints as to how to open the box that was conveniently on the floor close to them, the Players slowly but surely opened the box, getting a Lvl. 1 Keypin. Sadly, they could only use this to proceed to Miyashita Park, where they found another box to open using a similar answer while fighting Noise. Once opening that box, they found another box inside, causing Beat to swear his head off. Once having opened that box, they managed to get all the keypins needed to proceed to Towa Records from the underpass.

As they were about to touch the wall to the record store, Neku spoke. "All right. Open it up," he told Beat.

It was then Pichu noticed Beat had vanished. "U-uh, Beat's gone!" he said, alarming the group and making them feel sick. If Beat was gone, Neku would be gone, and then everyone else would be gone in a flash.

"Of all times to disappear in the middle of the week!" Fox complained loudly, until he turned around towards the direction of the street beneath the underpass where Beat's back faced them. "There he is!" the vulpine said. "Beat, get your butt over here!"

"…" Beat didn't move, with his full attention on the flower bouquet that was under the handrail. He heard them approach, but his sudden sobbing made them stop on their tracks. He clenched his fists and tried to swallow his breath, failing to do so as his sobbing became louder. "A-ah… U-uh…"

The loner teen exchanged glances with the Smashers and then back to Beat. "…Beat?" Neku said. "Hey, man, what's wrong?"

Ness looked at the bouquet of flowers. "Oh, he's crying about that?" he said. "He's crying about the people who died here by a car accident. What were their names again…?" He got closer to see the little note next to the flowers and the cans of soda…

Daisukenojo Bito & Raimu Bito

May you find peace in the afterlife together as siblings…

Sincerely, your family and friends.

The first name on the note had become well-known to them by know, and they gasped when they realized what Beat was sobbing about. "T-that name… That's you," Ike said. "You died here?"

"This is where..." Beat nearly choked up on his words, "where me an' Rhyme died."

"R-Rhyme died here, too?" Pichu muttered. "Then…Raimu Bito is…"

"That's Rhyme's full name…" Beat revealed, not ready to face them with a face full with tears. "We only go by our nicknames. It's somethin' she picked up from me 'cause she thought it was unique and fun."

Fox's mouth gapped as he looked into the street to the large smear of blood plastered on the street. "My god…" he muttered. "You both got ran over by a car?"

The blond punk cringed at the thought. Steeling himself, Beat turned to them, looking serious. "That morning' me an' my folks had it out on me 'cause I had flunked another stinky math test at school," he explained. "It was like the last time they didn't want me no more, men. I was a delinquent when I was breathin'; a true bad guy who skipped school and wasted my days wastin' time while havin' a wild time out there. I'm not really some bookworm unlike…unlike Rhyme." He looked down. "My bosses are pretty hard on my back, yo. Back then, I was livin' the good life, not carin' 'bout what they told me to do. If you saw me alive be 4 comin' here…man, ya wouldn't recognize me. I'd probably beat your lunch money outta ya without thinking."

"Okay…" Ness trailed off. "You were a true troublemaker when you were alive. That much I understand. But how did you end up getting run over…and how did Rhyme get into this?" He looked back at the sickening smear of blood.

Beat looked over his right shoulder at the scene of the accident. "…Told ya my folks snapped out on me, right? Well, jus' like always, I took off… Anytime I did that, Rhyme would pitch in and stick her head into my business." More tears streamed down his cheeks. "Rhyme was a true angel, compared to the devil I was… Perfect straight A student, cheerful girl with lotsa friends, my folks' prodigy…she was everything they wanted me to be, and I get real angry when they compared me with my younger sister!" He swung his head to them. "I know I'm pathetic compared to her! I'll never be a good for something! It made me real angry when I was told that too many times! And she looked out to me when I ran off from home all the freakin' time, smiling and saying stuff I thought was sappy…"

Ike grimaced. "You were very prideful before you died, weren't you?" he asked. "You couldn't bear to be compared to her."

"And I made her life a livin' hell," Beat said.

"What?"

"I was rowdy with her…a lot," the punk said, scratching his left shoulder. "I played some small pranks now and then, but she always giggled! She didn't look no sad! It made me even angrier she enjoyed the pranks! It's like she thought I was a big bunny or somethin' crazy like that. My folks saw most of 'em and I got punished a lot… But when…" he looked down at the flowers on the street, "but when I ran out from home this one time…Rhyme was super worried as always, trying to bring me back home to make up with our folks. I was…I was here trying to do some graffiti with black paint on this side of the street and I heard her coming from the other side…t-then…" He started choking up on his words. "The car, yo. It came screamin' toward her, I...I jumped in front of her, but... I ain't strong enough to stop a car, yo."

"Excuse me?" Fox spoke. "You tried to stop a car with your hands?"

"Everything happened too fast! I wasn't thinkin' straight! I told ya I'm an idiot!" Beat yelled. "I coulda pushed her off, but…but…this happened! We got here 'cause of me…and now she may be lost if I don't do somethin' quick…" He resumed sobbing. "Compared to her…I'm nobody. She had so much to do, man. She had a whole future ahead of her! And I couldn't save her… I got a chance to hit the books again, but what about her?"

The Players exchanged worried glances. Neku felt concerned about what he heard from his partner, feeling sympathy for his past struggles. "I'm...I'm really sorry, man," Neku said. "It must be really hard for you to cope with all this."

"I killed her," Beat said, looking up with some tears blurring his vision. "I stole her future...ya know? Rhyme wasn't a loser like me. She had dreams. Things ahead of her. If I... If I hadn't run outta the house... Hadn't fought with my folks... If I'd pushed her outta the way a second sooner…" He heavily lamented the event. Something he did so often against his parents to end up with death was so unexpected in many ways. Beat thought this was karma at work to get back at his failures.

"…Come on," Ike spoke. "You're saying it as if Rhyme is lost forever."

Beat looked at Ike. "I dunno if she's fine or not…" he muttered. "The Reapers ain't care a bit about people like us! They could be playin' around with us jus' to laugh."

The mercenary tightened a fist. "Would you stop mopping around like this?" Ike asked, sounding serious. "We haven't seen ourselves if we can truly go back to life yet. We've got things to finish once we revive, and making up your mistakes from the past should be easy now that you look like you want to fix everything, especially everything you did to Rhyme when you were hostile against her!"

"(Fixing mistakes of the past…)" Neku thought. "You know she didn't hold it against you."

Beat grumbled. "I'll never know," he said.

"What?" Pichu cocked his head. "How will you never know? You two were so happy being with each other when we were all together! It was hard to see how you wouldn't like her very much when she was so happy to be with you!"

"Yeah, she never blamed me," Beat said. "…Her memory was gone, yo."

Ness gasped. "Her memory was gone?" he asked. "Aww, c'mon! They played that trick on her, too? How many times are they going to keep messing up with people's memories?"

"No idea… And you know what's even weirder? I'll never know what they took away from me when I died," Beat said, looking at their blank looks. "Makes me feel like my entry fee was her memories… When we woke up in the UG, an' whatchu think she said to me? 'Nice to meet you.'" He frowned. "I mean, talk about your sick jokes, man. Rhyme didn't remember a thing about me."

"Sick… Those accursed Reapers…" Fox muttered, shutting his angry eyes. "…What about her entry fee?"

Beat shook his head. "She didn't remember me, and she prob'ly wasn't payin' attention to what she lost. Whatever it was, it musta been somethin' big. I ain't got no clue about what that was…" He then burrowed his hands on his hat. "Can I…can I really bring her back to how she was, you guys?" he asked them, staring down at his feet and watching his tears falling on his shoes. "And if I do, can I make it all up to her?"

Beat felt his right shoulder being patted by Ike. He looked up at the mercenary. "I think you will," he said. "You sound earnest. I can see you'll make it all up to your little sister."

"I dunno if I can after thinkin' back about what I've done to her," Beat said. "I'mma loser…" He heard a quick grunt before being punched on his left cheek. "Oww!" he yelped, looking at Ike. "What was that for?"

"Quit it with the depression!" Ike scolded him, as the others looked shocked at them. "You looked so optimistic before you reached this day! Why can't you put that optimism in this for Rhyme? There is hope for you to solve your problems with her."

Beat rubbed the sore spot on his face. "And?" he asked. "…Le's say she revives. What then? She'd be angry at me for killing her! She didn't have her memories when she was here in the damn UG…"

"…But she did win the Game."

"Yeah, she did! What's the difference?"

Ike thought back on Rhyme after she had won the Game. When she was turned into a Noise… "…There's a good chance she still liked you when they turned into a Noise," Ike said. "…Yeah, think back! Wasn't she so overprotective of you when you tried to fight us? Perhaps, just maybe, all of her memories were given back to her…"

Beat gasped, staring wide-eyed at Ike. "I-I… H-how?" he wondered. "Rhyme was herself when she was a Noise? That's insane!"

"But still possible," Ike said. "She wasn't acting mindlessly. She tried to protect you from us. She had a conscience."

"But what if she didn't get her memories back?" Beat questioned. "What if she was still in 'Who The Hell Is Beat' Mode?"

The mercenary tried to think back to the day where they had won the first game. "Wait a minute. We all got our entry fees back to us when we won the Game," Ike said. "She could've gotten her memories back."

"…" Beat sighed. "Man, you really wanna cheer me up, huh…" He looked blankly at Ike. "Why you wanna stick your nose into my business?"

"I know how it feels to be a big brother," Ike told him, smiling a bit. "I have a little sister myself. We don't have the same situation you have with Rhyme, but I'd do anything to keep Mist safe because she is my whole family. Watching you breaking up over Rhyme…you do love her just as much as I love Mist."

Beat's irises shrunk while his mouth gapped. "I…"

"See? It's clear to me you want to do anything for Rhyme, too," Ike said. "Even if it's impossible, you want to risk everything. You have this crazy idea to become the Composer, for example. That's very insane…and still is, but what matters is how you're willing to do that for Rhyme." He shook his head. "You're not a horrible brother, Beat. You want to help her. It's how you care about her that keeps you from being horrible… You really understand what I'm trying to say, right?"

"Hmm…" Beat looked away, only for his sobbing to come back again. Ike pulled back his hand and watched the older brother sniffing for a bit to recollect himself. "Thanks…" he muttered, forcing a big smile. "Wish I coulda have friends like you in the real world. I mention this to the guys I hang out with, they woulda laughed at my face and I woulda killed 'em with my skateboard." The others didn't feel very secure with Beat anymore. "I'm…I'm gonna bring her back!" he said confidently. "And we'll start from the beginning with a good start back home!"

Neku nodded. "We're with you, you know," he said, looking over at the rest of them smiling. "It's suicidal to do it alone like this."

Beat smiled. "Thanks," he said as he went over to the wall blocking the way to Towa Records. With the Lvl. 3 Keypin, he smashed the wall down for a faster result. Now the way was open. "Sorry, I was wastin' too much time back there."

"No problem!" Pichu said. "We understand you better after hearing you out! …You're a big softie!"

"S-softie?!" Beat stuttered. "Now a yellow mouse is telling me that? Gosh! I am hopeless." The Players laughed at this until Beat joined them. "Aight… We...we gotta get over to Towa Records! Le's go, people!" With his doubts cleared out, Beat led the way towards the record store.

Towa Records

Coming back to the spot where Chris was erased by a bastardized version of his loyal Pokémon made the Smashers feel sick. Perhaps the place they reached was a way to bring their hopes down to stop continuing with the Game, but it actually caused the opposite. They got a boost in their spirits to keep moving forward for their sake, wishing to revive him from erasure. None of them was as serious as Fox was, who fell even more serious about rescuing his lost partner.

"Where you at!?" Beat shouted as he reached the center of the area and began hollering out for Kariya. "Come on out!"

The rest caught up with him and started looking around the buildings and alleys for any signs of the Harrier Reaper. "C'mon, you!" Fox yelled, tightening his fists to the sides. "Let's finish this glorified wild goose chase here and now!"

Neku darted his head all over the area for Kariya, but eventually a hard search yielded nothing. The district didn't seem to have Kariya. "He's not here," he said.

Beat scoffed and looked at his partner. "Tsk... Fool's prob'ly hidin' somewhere," he said. "Yo, what if we scan for him?"

"I thought it was impossible to scan Reapers," Ike said. "They're simply ignored by our pins, aren't they?"

"No, but we might find anotha' clue!" Beat said. "Lollipop surely left somethin' in that weird scan place!"

Neku shrugged, but it was better than wildly looking around for someone who didn't seem to be there. "All right," he muttered and clutched his Player Pin. The others similarly did the same (sans Beat who wanted to keep using his eyes) and focused their minds together to scan the street and the buildings around them, trying to forego scanning people's minds to read their thoughts… They admitted the street was bustling with a lot more people than before, probably because there were sales in a market nearby.

There didn't seem to be anything odd at first, as there were no oddities besides the floating Noise symbols that yearned for Noise fights in their personal planes. Among the sea of Noise symbols, there was nothing…

"…?" Pichu blinked his mental eyes as he looked around for thought bubbles to scan. Although it wasn't his interest to read minds, he found it strange that there were no thought bubbles floating in the scanned area. There were only Noise symbols floating around, but the iconic thought bubbles were absent… Completely absent, actually. It was as if the people weren't thinking about anything. "H-hey, why can't we scan people's minds, you guys?" he asked aloud.

"What?" Ness looked around his scanned perimeter. He couldn't find any thoughts floating around. Unlike previous times, the Players would stumble across thought bubbles as they fought Noise after Noise. They ignored them most of the time to avoid finding very embarrassing or mentally scarring secrets, though not finding a single one in Towa Records was odd, considering how Shibuya was always bustling with people. "I-I can't see any thought bubbles, either!"

"Are you sure?" Fox asked mentally as he scanned the area once more. His results yielded nothing. People were only walking by, but their thoughts weren't there floating over their heads. "What in the world…?" he muttered.

Neku wanted to make super sure that his mental eye wasn't going haywire. A thoughtless Shibuya was by far the strangest event. He should had known: no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't stop hearing people talking and laughing when he was alive, and it still applied in the Underground… Then he realized something else. The people that were walking right through them were oddly silent. They weren't doing chatter. They were just walking with normal expressions on their faces. Seeing them all walking was scary. "…We can't scan!" he said as he stopped using the Player Pin. The others soon got out from theirs.

"What? That's whack, man!" Beat said. "Try again."

"…" The others decided to give it another go, just in case the Player Pin was failing them.

A quick use yielded the same: people walking, mouths closed, and minds either empty or blocked out.

"This is the freakiest thing yet…" Ness muttered as they went back to using their eyes. "Everyone in the RG can't think of anything! They're like mindless zombies without thoughts!"

"Zombies are thoughtless, though," Pichu pointed out. "Um, are they really zombies?"

The Players stared at the people walking across the street and sidewalks. Their faces were blank for the most part, though some did flash a few smiles now and then. However, their mouths were closed, and only the sound of their footsteps was making a lot of noise around the music stores. The entire street only echoed with that sound multiplied several times over. "…So darn creepy," Neku said. "It's like they're just walking bodies that can't process thoughts, only moving around."

"Wonder how it feels to be that empty-headed, man," Beat said. The other Players stared long at his face. "…What?" he asked, oblivious to their assumptions. "Did I strike gold?"

"No…" Ike muttered. "No, it's not that. But anyway, what is the deal with the people who are alive?" he asked. "It's a sea of thoughts whenever we used the Player Pins to fight Noise. Now it's a barren land of Noise without the thoughts getting in the way."

Beat rubbed his neck. "So this means...what? Everybody's a Reaper?" he asked.

"C'mon, please," Neku told him, rolling his eyes. "You see any wings? And if they were Reapers, they'd notice us."

"Aight...so then what, yo?"

"…" The Players looked at the people walking by, examining them to see if they had anything unusual on their belongings. Other than the outlined mysteries, they noticed that everyone who wasn't talking was wearing a red-glaring pin on their clothes. That red pin, with the black skull design on its center, struck their minds as a familiar object. "…What the…?! Hey, look! Red Skull pins," Neku said.

Beat looked at the red pins on the people's clothes. "Yeah, all the people's got 'em..." he muttered.

"Aren't those the same pins Evil Ex-corporate Makoto was promoting in the first week and beyond?" Ness wondered. "They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are," Fox said, crossing his arms. "It looks like they really took off and now everyone's wearing 'em. That's popularity for you."

Neku pinched a tip of his bangs. "Gee, I feel bad we had a hand in this. It's busting up our Player Pins for sure…" He gasped with the others. "Wait! What if it's the pins? Maybe they block our scan, like the Player Pins!"

"Could be, yo," Beat said. "Rhyme said Players can't scan each other."

"Or technically people carrying Player Pins," Neku said. "It's like the pin blocks the signal."

Ike stared at the Red Skull pins. They were all clearly being shown off on the people of the RG, as if to indicate they were up-to-date with the current trends. "Those pins are acting like Player Pins, you say? Huh, does that mean everyone is a Player?" he wondered.

"Of course not," Fox said, looking serious. "They're not running like headless chickens like we are, and they don't see us passing right through their bodies or the other way around."

"Hey, maybe we got into a bizarre dimension today where every human alive can't think for themselves and we didn't notice it yet, and then after realizing this we will fall into some sort of trans-dimensional black hole where we'll end up right back to the real UG where everything that was weird is a common thing to us," Ness said, receiving some hard looks from everyone but Beat.

"…How the hell can I NOT completely rule out that assumption now?" Fox asked as he put up a grimace.

"Simply because we've gotten into the weirdest of situations every day, everything is extremely logical somehow," Ike said, sighing. "Man, it does feel like the universe is ought to get us."

"This is the first time the universe was ought to get me," Neku told them. "But just what kinds of stuff have you guys gone through?"

"You ever fought a giant parasite threat that wishes to assimilate with an entire universe just because it's the only thing it can do?" Fox asked.

"Have you fought something that looks like a giant fetus-brain hybrid?" Ness asked.

"Did you ever fight an evil madman who wishes the utter annihilation of a country just because he seeks greater power in a dark god imprisoned in your sister's medallion?" Ike asked.

"Ever felt how awkward it is to be inside a sphere for a long time until you're called out from it?" Pichu asked.

The loner teen and the blond punk exchanged faces for a moment. "…Alright, point taken," Neku said. "Still, the Red Skull pins are like the Player Pins for the RG, if we are onto something here."

His partner chuckled. "Naw, they can't play the Game if they alive," he said, tapping his head with a finger. "THINK, man!"

Neku pretended that a long deep echo took place inside Beat's head. "We can't all be great thinkers like you," he said, and the others nodded in agreement.

Beat gasped silently and rubbed his chin to get out more brilliant theories. No wonder Rhyme had so much fun doin' this, he thought. "So, yo, the Red Skull pins, they a CAT design, right?" he asked.

"Wow," Neku said, looking impressed, "you know CAT?"

"Hells yeah, I ain't stupid," Beat said, making them answer the question about his intellect to themselves. "Everybody in Shibuya knows CAT! The two pins sure look alike, huh?" He took out his Player Pin and held it up in front of his face while drawing similarities with a random by-passer's Red Skull pin. There weren't any similarities but completely copied designs, except for the palette swap in colors.

"They do," Neku said.

Beat turned back to him. "It can't be a coincidence. The same guy musta made both, yo."

"…Hanekoma made the Player Pin as well?" Fox wondered in a quiet voice. Everyone but Beat looked like they were wondering the same thing, though Beat didn't hear them out as he was trying to compare his Player Pin with another random person in the street. "I hadn't thought about it. The Red Skull pin was said to be a CAT creation, which means Hanekoma did it himself."

Neku's right eye twitched. It was a kind of twitch that was meant to look bad. If Hanekoma really made the Player Pin as well, it would only mean that he was… "So that means...he's also gotta be...uhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm…" Beat said, coming to dead ends in his wild theories. He scratched several parts of his body for physical support or whatever he was trying to get support from. "...Meh."

"Riiight," Neku said, breaking the others' train of thoughts. In truth, the loner teen had a bad feeling about what Beat had mentioned, and the Smashers felt the same given their stoic looks. He wanted to stop Beat from suggesting some outrageous answers. "How 'bout we go get Rhyme?"

"Oh! Good call!" Beat said, grinning wide and losing focus on the matter. "Lollipop is waitin'!" He started looking around and swearing Kariya's name.

"Naw, that's ridiculous. It can't be him..." Neku muttered as the others overheard him. "Mr. H wouldn't try to do this to us, would he? What do you guys think?"

"You're assuming Hanekoma is hindering our progress?" Ike wondered. "No, that's ridiculous as you said. Why would he be against us? What does he gain?"

"He's a guardian of the UG, apparently," Ness said. "Well, whatever he thinks is a guardian. I still haven't forgotten how he SO CASUALLY LEFT ME TO FEND OFF A TABOO NOISE OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT STORE!" He fumed for a bit until he composed himself. Neku noticed how Fox and Ness were gradually starting to be super sarcastic and ultra snarky with each passing day, and it was a matter of time before their more down-to-Earth partners would snap at any minute. He was scared he was losing it as well. "So yeah, I have my doubts about his motives just because of that little incident."

"That can't be true," Neku said. "No way." He didn't want to prolong the conversation.

Pichu looked up at Neku. "Neku?" he piped up. "You sounded too serious right there… Are you sure you don't thin-?"

"You're talking crazy if you think Mr. H is setting us up for something bad," Neku said defiantly. "He couldn't be…!"

"Why are you sounding so defensive about Hanekoma now, of all times?" Ike asked.

Fox looked sideways at the mercenary and simply said, "CAT fanboy trying to defend his idol no matter how harsh the truth may be about him. Keyword: may."

"Oh," said the mercenary. "Wow, Fox, you can tell?"

The vulpine raised his shoulders. "When you attend a military academy, it's not so different from a normal high school in my world," he said. "Hence, I did listen to my fair share of popular planet idols among fan circles. They were all annoying. All of them."

Neku ignored the fact and grunted for being called out on his hobby. "I-it's not my fanboyism acting up!" he shot back, though he knew he wasn't so sure himself. "I just can't see Mr. H being a bad guy after all he's done for us."

"You're lucky he didn't abandon you with a monster," scoffed Ness.

"B-besides that, Mr. H couldn't be doing this to us," Neku said. "What does he gain opposing us like this?"

"He could be like the Reapers by having a twisted sense of humor," Fox said. "Even I wonder if most Reapers are mentally challenged and are drunk with power."

Neku admitted the Reapers were the shadiest people ever, but to pit Hanekoma with them was unthinkable. He prayed to the universe to end the talk with something else more important to not think about CAT as a potential villain. Anything to forget the attention on Hanekoma was welcomed, even Kariya descending from the sky to taunt them.

The universe said yes.

Kariya descended from the sky to the middle of the street, sucking on a lollipop as always. "Oh, here already?" he asked them, getting their undivided attention. "That was fast."

"Yo, shut up!" Beat yelled at him. "You done sayin' your prayers?"

Koki chuckled confidently. "Still a ball of energy, I see," he said before snapping his neck by circling his head around his shoulders. "Fine. Make me do some work, why don't you?"

"Wait, hold on there," Ike suddenly called out. "Tell us something. Do you know why the people who are alive don't have thoughts over their heads?"

The Harrier Reaper suddenly dropped his happy look for a blank one, but this was just for three seconds. "Guys, guys, if I told you this, I'd get in trouble with the higher ups," he said. "Let's say I dunno what you're talking about and leave it at that."

Pichu's cheeks made some sparks. "T-tell us what's going on with them!" he said. "They're not talking at all, either! They're just walking!"

"I told you guys, I'm pretending I dunno," Koki said with a small smile. "Drop it, or else I'm gonna be forced to drop your heads to the street as well… Oh, I am tasked to do that regardless, huh?"

The six Players took their stances. "Here he comes..." Neku trailed off.

Beat jerked his head to Neku. "Phones, everyone, careful. He's-"

"What? Do I detect WORRY?" Neku asked.

"Huh!?"

"Who are you and what hav-"

Beat grunted loudly. "I'm right here, man. Quit that! I'm jus' tellin' you not to screw up, yo!" he said slightly enraged, turning back to the grinning Reaper.

"Tsk, tsk. Squabbling?" Koki taunted. "You won't beat me like that. Come on. What are you waiting for?"

"You heard him, my men! It's time for a throw down!" Beat encouraged.

"You better hold your word after this!" Ike told Kariya. "Stop playing with us like that!"

"We're ready!" Neku said. "For Rhyme!" Ready for a fight, the Players saw Koki snapping his fingers, making their vision blurry as the world split in two…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter's Title:

"Beat's Week - Reasons 2 Live 4"

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite file?

Yes

-Towa Records-

Fox – Pichu, Ike – Ness, Neku – Beat

And that's it for today's chapter.

It always seems the team is going to get some crucial information, only for Reapers and Noise to get in the way… What Soren knew about what happened to his death scene was going to be a complete shock to you, but, uh, you know, the Branded's dead. You only know that there's this small chance he and Chris may be revived through the Composer… But since I like making the characters suffer so much for this arc, who knows? Maybe the pain will keep going on.

…

Well, looking at my schedule for the story, it seems two or three chapters are left for the arc, but there's an unknown amount of chapters for their ordeals to continue. Will these ordeals continue, even after finishing the Game…or losing it altogether? Oh, suspense, do keep them all with doubts and uncertainty.

But fret not! I'll do everything in my power to finish the arc before the month ends, unless school gets in the way. Two future chapters are ready whenever we reach them out first. Next chapter, the light puck's malfunction is going to be a central theme for the Smashers. Make anything out of that if you will.

I encourage everyone to review, or else Ness will drop a Volkswagen on you with his Sexy+ pin.

Ness: Can I drop a Toyota on them instead?

Pichu: No! Drop a Honda on' em!

Neku: I'll never understand why he keeps threatening people like this…

Fox: Neku here wants to be crushed under a Mitsubishi.

Neku: Did not! Shut up!
*Chapter 210*: Unknown's Week - Reasons 2 Live 4

See this here wall? I'm breaking it.

From GuyroMaster: In response to the question I had before, after playing Pokemon Y, I can now see why Mega Evolutions as a Final Smash is kinda impossible...but to avoid any spoilers I won't say more than that...assuming that you haven't played the game yet...And just to double check myself on this...
Pichu said he's never been in a pokeball... But didn't Chris have to keep Pichu and Jigglypuff in Pokeballs during the Pokemon Colosseum? Chapter 150 if I recall.

From me: Unfortunately, you forgot that in the SSB games logic is screwed (see Jigglypuff's Final Smash). It'd give Korrina a heart attack if she ever knew which would defunct her explanation of people and Pokemon having a strong bond to do it (even though that was proven wrong because my Pinsir hates me to death yet it can evolve anyway).

...Maybe... Naaaah.

Oh, stupid continuity. Thank you for reminding me that! I want to make sure the little details are always addressed so everyone smiles.

From NowhereStarr14: [Your review is huge so I'll have to answer it below.]

From me: It looked simple from the beginning, but it's actually more complicated. Besides, there is much more about Tabuu and the Ancient Minister that shall explain a lot of the story and why it's been such a long struggle for supremacy.

I really wouldn't say Chris has a perfect relationship with Lucario. Oh no. He hasn't cleared a huge obstacle yet, but that's for another day...for now.

Relax! The end of this saga will explain everything you need to know about what's going on in the world of the living. Things will become clearer and clearer once this arc is done for.

As for adding too much to the story... Dude, I said from the beginning I'd give everyone the focus they need. With 40 people or more, this was bound to happen. I WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS WITH MY IMAGINATION.

Well, to clarify that little rant you've made, not everything about those two is sunshine and rainbow roads. Chris has spike scars...and also, he's not perfect... But yeah, I think rewriting that chapter's little bit should be done soon.

Thank you for the long post. Now go watch a Saw movie.

From BobTheCat240501: Aw man... Why did you have to post at the worst time possible? I mean, why couldn't you post when I had broken my arm. But now I'm so busy, Pokemon x, exams, bush fires, Halloween candy, second last book of Heroes of Olympus... So much to do! But after all that I managed to read chapter 209. I gotta say that the players have changed a lot, ness and fox have gone all mad and angry, neku actually has feelings and Beat cries.

I don't know why but its like your writing has gone bland and dull. Maybe it's the fact I had a enough sorrow and death ( I mean after all the bush fires and chris dying). Anyway a good average chapter that I will probably never read again(sorry if I sound mean).

From me: Sorrow and death is a huge deal in this arc, but this eventually will be over...or not? The theme is solely closed-off to this arc, but what could happen if it were to leak out?

From BOB JOHNSON: Anyway, don't think I didn't see that sneaky way out you added for Chris to come back. I suppose it's not a surprise that the main character is going to probably make it to the end of the story. Really I'm just happy as long as this arc ends. Which will probably happen in like two chapters because the game's almost over.

From me: Hot dang, you do focus on the important stuff. However, a director once said that you have to betray people's expectations if you want them to follow you, so...did I really add hope in the way you expect it?

From Outrider: overall good chapter. you inspired me to look this game up on the internet, so this arc's storyline was ruined for me. it will be very interesting how you use upcoming events with the smashers influence.

From me: Despite the fact I did nearly the whole game, the game by itself holds even more secrets than I'm letting on.

From Ckbrothers: Also, what ever happened to that random riolu? And, will you go to the pov of Chris and Soren in the "soul cairn"? And will you make a super long kingdom hearts arc? Anyway, continue making such awesome stories!

From me: Someone still cares about the little tyke! He'll show up soon.

What in the heck is a Soul Cairn?

Oh no, no. I won't do a huge arc for that.

Thank you. :)

For all those people who keep gushing over the story being hella-ella long: Thank you. Give me my Nobel Prize already.

WHEW! I was affected by a horrible writer's block until the magic came back to me. With the wall hopefully gone, I wish to finish this whole arc this month if possible, though that depends greatly if my studies don't get in the way and my family doesn't suddenly request me to do their stuff... That is life, people.

Oh, and don't think I haven't seen the news yet. The next generation is introducing a whole lot of stuff, and I'm actually running out of things to keep the story going. Well... I see what I can do with that if it even happens, but I don't want to be so hasty as many of the people in this place have gone on ahead and started using a new character before fading away and being forgotten in the horror that is your story drowning in the next page.

Drastic measures would be taken, but let me tell you something: I shall never make Chris older than 18 for this thing. And no, I'm not ignoring the other people in the team.

Anyway! It's time to focus on the now and see what this chapter has in store for the four Smashers we know are still in the game. The fate of the universe and all that cliché stuff is in their hands. Time to give them some more character development, I say.

Please read on, enjoy, and review this chapter while I cook up the next one, which is half-way done as of this writing.

Disclaimer: "Mrgrgr" shall become the newest angry sound of the story.

Chapter 210: Beat's Week – Reasons 2 Live 4

- Shibuya –

Towa Records

The World Ends With You – Twister

The Gatito brand showed off its products on the big screens of the building in front of the deserted street that was turned into a battlefield for Noise and Players to duke it out. On different planes, Neku and his team appeared and, shortly after, the aloof Koki Kariya and a shadow companion materialized, both licking lollipops as if to taunt them all. "Game on, Players," he said. The battle immediately began.

The pin deck that Fox used was a combination of fire pins and physical pins: the Crackle Pop Barrier, a pin with a picture of an angry cartoon lion that granted the user a fire barrier to ward off attacks; the Velocity Attack pin, a pin with a picture of a flaming comet that granted the power of ramming into enemies at high speed; the Tin Pin Fire, a Tin Pin one with the picture of three fireballs that could ignite enemies from afar; the Izanami pin, a pin with small written words over a blue background that was an upgraded form of pyrokinesis; and lastly the Healing Flamingo, a pin with two flamingos in the sunset used for healing."At last, a good chance to smack those glasses with your face," Fox said. He conjured a trail of flames to chase down Koki.

Koki laughed as he skillfully dodged the trail of flames. "Don't be rough now, please. These are one of my favorite pairs."

The deck Pichu used was a combination of electric pins and some shooting pins: the Wonder Magnum, a pin with a stylish pink background and white lines used for shooting three-way bullets; the Bear Hug Magnum, a pin with a picture of a hack flying above (oddly enough) for bullets to penetrate defenses; the Lightning Storm pin, a pin with the picture of a smiling cloud to create orbs of electricity go around the field; Storm Warning, a pin with the picture of an unlucky person shocked mercilessly inside thunderbolts to strike any enemy from afar with lightning bolts; and lastly the Healing Bunny pin, a pin with a white bunny that granted healing. "Let's break his glasses to make him feel under the weather!" Pichu suggested, shooting bullets towards the direction of Koki's shadow by putting his small palms next to each other. It was actually a rad experience for the little Smasher to shoot energy bullets like that. Too bad his aiming needed work as the shadow dodged the blows easily.

"Really? Don't discuss about his taste in glasses now. It's time to fight," Neku said. He gasped and dodged a yellow blast that had the shape of a shuriken which got stuck in the ground.

"Hey. Don't blame me. The fox guy started this!" Koki said, trying to sound serious albeit with a smile. He tossed two shurikens at Fox, who dodged them both quickly by sidestepping. "Don't solve the problem. Stop the cause of the problem!"

"Fine then! We'll remove the glasses and there won't be more talk about them!" Neku yelled, thrusting forward with an energy spear to strike Koki. The Reaper warped to the back and sighed.

"I admit. That was smart," Koki said. "The retort, I mean."

"Enough abouda glasses talk!" Beat called over, trying to slam his skateboard against the shadow but only falling down to the floor. "Lollipop! You're gonna go down and like it!"

The shadow responded quickly by shooting Force Round bullets his way, dealing damage to both Beat and Neku until the punk shielded himself with his board. "Yeah. My job is to take you down. No hard feelings, 'kay?" Koki said.

"So...you don't want to take us down really?" Pichu wondered, stopping in his tracks to attack the Reaper as he looked up at the Harrier Reaper.

Koki looked blankly. "Technically, no. I don't wanna," he said. "My boss wants me to and I can't go back on her word. If you wanna keep going at it, you better show me what you got." He flinched when he felt his shadow being relentlessly attacked by Beat's skateboard. "I'm fightin' for honor and all that. Who knew?"

"Damn, an anti-villain," Fox noted, also stopping in his tracks. "I do give props to people like you for fighting honorably."

Neku grunted. "And you guys aren't doing what he wants you to do! Stop talking and get back to fighting him! Our lives are at stake here!" he said as he received the light puck from Beat. Unfortunately, Koki warped away from his sight to stall for time.

"Neku Sakuraba, you are a diamond in the rough," Koki spoke from behind several feet away, making the teen turn around to face him. "C'mon now. If what your otherworldly friends say is true, the whole fate of the universe is in your hands. Do us proud!"

Neku ended the long talk with a grunt and a charged shot from his palm that Koki avoided by warping back to the same spot he was before, startling Fox who activated a fire barrier and managed to burn the Reaper for a few seconds. Koki flapped his wings to fly back and put the fire away quickly.

"I was expecting more of a fight coming from someone like you," Fox said.

"Sorry for sounding so cliché, but, I'm just gettin' started," Koki said. Snapping his fingers, he invoked an electric sphere that circled around...and just calmly floated around Fox, the sphere striking his body and electrocuting him in place. As Fox yelled, Koki yawned. "A guy like me likes to keep it easy and not-so hard, y'know?" He warped away quickly from Neku trying to pierce his chest with a lance of energy from his palm. With the two together, Koki reappeared and let the ball damage both of them.

"I-I'll be right there, Fox!" Pichu said as the damaged started to pile up on his side. The shadow had the same mannerisms as its owner, though without a voice. It also called forth an electric sphere and simply flew close to Pichu. "I'll have you know, electricity is my specialty!" he said. Using the Storm Warning pin, the little Smasher called forth several lightning bolts that coursed through the shadow's body, damaging it and stunning it into place.

While it was stunned, Beat came racing down furiously from behind and spun his skateboard very close to the shadow to send shockwaves from the ground, followed by a harsh slam that sent Neku a light puck. Pichu also sent a light puck to Fox, but unlike the first pair's, theirs just lasted a single second. To Koki's chagrin, his sphere vanished, allowing the two Players to step back and regain their stances. "Hey now. How did you survive the Game with that weak-butt light puck prowess?" he asked Fox, having noticed how the puck went away too fast. "Thought you guys were better than this?"

Fox growled. "What do you care?" he asked before using the Velocity Attack pin to ram his shoulder against Koki with brute force. The Harrier Reaper coughed and grunted, being pushed back over the street and using his wings to avoid falling down.

"Even I know teamwork is key in this plane," Koki said, fixing his lollipop in his lips. "You won't last a day if you continue having that light puck around. If you can beat me, that'd just be a miracle... Just sayin'." The vulpine showed his fangs and used the same pin again, this time failing to ram into Koki as he warped to the right side of the plane.

As Fox took a more serious attitude and began attacking faster and more recklessly, Neku grimaced. "(This guy isn't kidding. He knows what's going on with these guys,)" he thought to himself as he used a Cure Drink to heal his and Beat's injuries, the healing power doubled by the light puck they shared. A stronger light puck was passed back to Beat."(Can't they tell by themselves?)"

"Uagh!"

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Koki yelp in pain. In the upper plane, Beat had delivered a nasty blow at the shadow at the end of his skateboard-smacking, his power tripled by the puck being passed back to Neku. The loner teen felt the warm light even stronger than before, so he knew he needed to act quick to deliver a ton of damage in one go. Watching Fox run out of uses for his Velocity Attack pin, Neku spotted Koki appearing close by. He held out his palm to charge a large shot that caught Koki by surprise, getting blasted by the wall facing the large CD store of the street.

"Now... That power right there is essential," Koki said, looking rather pleased despite being attacked with such power. He pushed himself from the wall and chuckled. "Get back to the basics and learn how to play properly, little fox. Otherwise, you won't get too far in this cruel world."

Fox grunted. "I only need to get past you to prove I can!" he said.

Koki warped to the far left side of the plane. "I'm just a mere obstacle, man. I'm trying to impart some useful knowledge here."

In the upper plane, Beat and Pichu saw the shadow charging some sort of odd shape between its glowing hands. It brought down its hands down, shooting a...sperm-looking worm that blew up in a massive explosion in the middle of the street, reaching and engulfing both Players. They yelped and were pushed back to the floor as they felt a good chunk of life taken away from their bodies. "Yo! What 'as that?!" Beat complained. His questioned went unanswered.

"It takes a few hits to the head to leave you confused, man. Get your hollow head back in the Game!" Koki teased as he exchanged spots with his shadow to show up in the upper plane.

"Phones! Fusion Time!" Beat called over.

Koki sighed. "Oh no," he said blankly as Neku clutched the Fusion pin and activated its psyche. The two partners started attacking each plane by slamming hits and disappearing from sight, knocking Koki and the shadow around. With some healing granted to the two, the planes returned back to normal with Koki knocking his head a few times. "It's all part of the Game to use Fusions freely... Call it a free hit for Players. Hey, you. The little yellow mouse. Can you do a Fusion with your partner?"

Pichu blinked. "A Fusion with...Fox?" he wondered.

"Yeah, with the furry guy." Koki flew away from a skateboard smack from Beat to continue the conversation. "Beat and Phones can do it. Can you?"

The Electric-type shrugged. "W-we haven't used one at all since we became partners..."

"...Really now," Koki said, sounding displeased truthfully. "This won't stand like this for much longer. Can you truly make it alive this week?"

Pichu looked tough. "W-we can! We're not partner-less!"

"That's sweet and all, but..." Koki warped to the far left to avoid a roaring Beat from pinning him down to the ground from midair. "...you guys won't make it like this. I know what I'm saying."

Pichu gasped and then used the Lightning Storm pin to create three orbs of lightning that went bouncing all over the plane. Koki couldn't predict exactly what path the spheres would bounce off, so he eventually go smacked by the spheres in a reckless manner. He seemed to be struggling as he fixed his glasses. "Can we call it a day...?" he spoke.

"Not after we've come this far in beating you to the ground!" Fox called over. He witnessed the shadow holding out its right palm at him to call a long vertical line of blue shurikens that went his way one after another. Grunting, he took cover behind a red car that got nearly destroyed by the razor-sharp weapons cutting right through its roof. He moved up his head to see the shadow from behind the car. "That reminds me. How come you didn't call a Noise monster to fight us like your partner did?"

"Was I supposed to?" Koki asked, faking a shocked look. "I don't need some lapdog do my work this time. I want to see how well you guys fight together. Beat and Neku work well, and that's something." He flew up to avoid a charged shot from Neku. "The mouse and fox working together, though... They wanna make me gag."

As Fox grunted loudly, the teen looked surprised. "Are you testing us while you're supposed to erase us right here and now?" Neku asked.

Koki nodded. "Yeah. Takin' down two birds with one stone. It works wonders that way." His hands glowed and he shot out a weird yellow worm that went between Neku and Fox. The two gasped and then yelled when a large explosion was set off, pushing them aside to the floor. "Like that."

"The hell...?" Neku rubbed his head, getting back up and looking at Koki. "Was that an explosive...sperm?"

The Harrier Reaper grimaced. "That...kinda came out of the blue..." he muttered as he felt his shadow counterpart being smacked by Beat and electrocuted by Beat at the same time, both sending light pucks to their partners. As usual, Fox's light puck vanished right away, much to his frustration. "No. That didn't look like a sperm. What makes you think...?" Out of curiosity, he used the same attack and shot it down, carefully taking a good look at it. Fox and Neku managed to outrun the explosion in time. "...Oh hell. It does look like a sperm. Damn. I need to reshape that thing before my colleagues start making unfortunate implications out of it."

"The hell's a sperm?" they heard Beat asking as he landed back on the ground. "Is it food?" Pichu stuck out his tongue.

Koki whistled. "Well, one former colleague doesn't know his biology," he said satisfied. "Enough chatter, please, and let's end this. UAGH!" he yelped when he felt an elbow clashing against his back from behind. Fox had sneaked from behind and used Velocity Attack again. As Koki bumped along the street, the vulpine followed it up with his Tin Pin Fire pin to set the Reaper aflame on the spot.

"Neku! He's all yours!" Fox said.

"Got it!" Neku called over as he rushed to the downed Reaper and used a new pin: the Pamper Me Tether pin, a pin with the picture of an orange house behind a chain. What this pin did was cast two wired chains from midair right above Koki, effectually trapping him and discouraging movement to avoid getting scratched by the pointy wires.

"D-damn, left my guard down..." Koki muttered under the wires. "I can't just croak in here an-!"

A loud snap on the back of his neck made Koki spit drool and some blood. As his eyes bulged out in pain, he briefly caught a glimpse of Fox who had used his velocity pin to deliver a harsh downward kick on the neck. Granted, the blow could have been less painful, but out of luck Fox had used another light puck from Pichu. It was worth noting that the vulpine didn't expect his attack get stronger nor he was expecting a light puck. It was pure luck that helped him to terminate Koki, plain and simple.

With too much damage accumulated, Koki disappeared from the plane along with his damaged shadow. As Fox grinned down at the spot where the back of his right foot was, the other three Players sighed in relief. High above the building with the large screen, the Grading Reapers were drinking lemonade at their own leisure. Having watched the fight, they just nodded and slapped a C rank to their performance. "Everything's going to hell and we still have to grade these guys..." the Reaper on the left said.

"They're the only Players left. We could be relaxing with the other guys by now, but not while they're still alive," the Reaper on the right said, frowning as he took a sip of his drink.

The Reaper on the middle grimaced inside his dark hood. "Wish I could have an O-pin..." he muttered. The space started to distort again to unify the two separated planes...

The World Ends With You – Underground

Back in Towa Records, Ike and Ness saw their team reappearing from the Noise fight. Happy to see them well, the two rushed to their side as they watched Koki reappearing afterward. He looked slightly fazed by the fight, rubbing his sore neck with his right hand while his left was busy with his lollipop.

"H-hey! I thought we erased you!" Pichu said.

"Nah. At the last moment, I just decided to bail," Koki said in a casual tone. "I'll get a low score for escaping a fight, but I got enough points to avoid suicide by Iron Maiden. My guys would be lost without me... Not bad for Players outta this world…literally," he added while staring at the Smashers.

"We've got fighting experience just as much as you do," Fox said, looking blankly.

"Yeah, but you adapted quite fast to your pins," Koki remarked. "But not as good as Orange Locks over here. Never seen a Player with such a wide range and freedom to use any pin he finds."

Neku blinked at the statement. "Really? Is using many pins at once a rare ability?" he asked.

"Dunno the very specific details, but that's how it goes," Koki said. "You're a rare breed, ya know."

"Uh… Thanks."

"Betchu had enough!" Beat piped up with great enthusiasm. "Shoulda thought things through when fightin' us!"

The Harrier Reaper sighed, quite amused at the results all the same. "What can I say? I know when I'm beat," he said with a chuckle, brandishing Rhyme's pin from his right hand. "You win. Here's your pin back." Seeing Rhyme's pin looking fine made the Players smile a bit. Koki was actually a person who knew how to be graceful even during his defeats. Not unlike the feisty Uzuki who would throw a tantrum every time her plans didn't go as planned.

To their great dismay, Uzuki appeared from the sky and hollered angrily at her partner. "What are you DOING? Ugh, Kariya!" she snapped out on him until she collected herself. "You lazy bum. Who said you could call it a day? Now look sharp before I put on my angry face!"

Ness groaned. "Oh god, what NOW?" he asked. "What else do you have to say?"

"Uzuki!" Koki said aloud, though he faked being shocked. "What are you doing here?"

Uzuki shot the Players with a scoffing look and then turned to Koki. "I came to see if you were goofing off. And it's a good thing," she said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly! I can't take my eyes off you."

"Oh," he grinned, "do you have to be such a drudge?"

She fumed a bit at his face. "Hey, who told me to put my heart into my work? Now you're gonna have to let me help."

This bit of news didn't sound all too well to the Players. "Wait, what?" Pichu said. "What do you…?"

Beat chuckled confidently. "Tha's perfect, yo. We'll take both you and Lollipop at once!" He ignored the other five Players staring at him with annoyed looks. "How many licks could it take!?"

"Beat, shut the hell up!" Neku scolded.

The smug looks on Uzuki's and Koki's faces cemented the fact another fight harder than the first one was coming their way. To reinforce their annoyance, Fox punched Beat's face. "What was that for?!" Beat demanded. Fox simply grunted and punched him again, Beat's obliviousness adding fuel to the fire. "Stop that!"

"And you want to save Rhyme? You freaking moron!" Fox scolded. To keep things from escalating further, Ike held the vulpine back by grabbing his arms in a lock.

"Aight, Uzuki. One more fight," Koki spoke up, looking just as ready as he had looked during his fight. "If I have to."

Uzuki giggled rather maniacally. "You have to," she teased. "I'll buy you a bowl of ramen later."

"Why can't we ever catch a break?! It's always a fight every day!" Pichu complained loudly. He let out a cry and took out the lollipop he and Chris had found several days ago. "M-maybe licking my own lollipop will give me strength to press on! Don't judge me, everyone! I'm still a child!"

"Huh? Lollipop?" Koki blinked until he looked genuinely shocked. "N-no, stop, you rat!"

Everyone – Uzuki included – were taken off-guard by the stoic Reaper and stopped what they were going to do, even Fox who was trying to break out from Ike's grip to beat the punk some more. The Harrier Reaper's glasses shone briefly as he stared at the piece of candy Pichu was holding meekly with both hands. He could only blink confused at Kariya. "…What?" Pichu said as he was just about to take off the lollipop's wrapper.

"Don't remove the wrapper!" Koki said, trying to go back to his calm self while clumsily failing to do so judging his sweating face.

"What the-?!" Uzuki looked bewildered at Kariya. "Kariya, what the hell are you doing no-?!"

"Look, just…just give me that candy back to me!" Kariya said hurriedly, and everyone listening to him opened their mouths in surprise. "I'm not gonna watch that getting sucked on the wrong lips right here and now!"

The Electric-type looked up and down between the Reaper and the candy. "…I don't follow," Pichu said, looking just as confused as everyone else.

The Reaper gulped. "W-where did you find that?" he asked. Uzuki's annoyed glare was steadily looking more and more murderous. "Tell me, where did you get it?"

"This?" Pichu said, looking at the lollipop. "Um… I think I got this in the second week's first day around the statue of that golden dog."

"The Statue of Hachiko," Koki said. "…Yeah, that's the last place I checked out a week before, right at the final day… Heh heh," he chuckled, sighing. "I should've looked harder…and much earlier before this happened."

Neku looked back and forth between Koki and Pichu's lollipop. "So wait, what's going on?" he asked. "Why'd you stop the fight for this piece of candy? I didn't take you for a candy freak before."

"I totally did!" Beat said, rubbing the sore spot on his face. "Lollipop's always licking a lollipop evruy time I see 'im! He can't go no day without his sugar!"

"Guilty as charged," Koki added happily, not even noticing the grimace on Uzuki's face. "Yeah, so, can I have that lollipop back? It means a lot to me."

"Oh, for the love of-!" Uzuki couldn't finish her sentence, as she had descended to loud grunting sounds through her teeth.

Pichu tilted his head. "Why is this lollipop so important to you?" he asked. "…If I can ask that to you, I mean."

Kariya chuckled. "Let's just say that one is meant to be given out as a gift," he said. "Oh, and then let's say I pulled out some RG strings to make it exist, even. Getting to make a lollipop of such high quality… It's no easy task." He licked his own lollipop. "But it's not for me. I'm keepin' it as a gift for someone."

"…" The Players exchanged glances.

Uzuki wanted to claw Koki's face so badly, given she started snarling at him. "Alright, I get it. You lost your candy and you wanna have it back," she said. "That's no reason to stop the fight we agreed to do!"

Her superior looked sideways. "So you're suggesting me to win it by erasing them in the fight?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, genius!" she said. "It's the only way to keep this…ugh, fair!"

"But then…what if we lose?" Koki asked, looking blank. "I can't afford to lose. These guys are real good, Uzuki. And to risk that piece of candy… I'll never forgive myself for losing it." He saw Beat trying to reach out for the lollipop, but Pichu hugged it to keep it to himself, wanting to hear the Reaper out. "…Tell you what, you guys. You give me the lollipop back, and we'll give you the pin."

"What?!" was everyone else's reply, including Uzuki's more furious one. Koki chuckled and raised a palm towards Uzuki, indirectly telling her to be quiet.

"Are you…are you serious?" Ike asked. "You'll go to such lengths just to get this piece of candy back?"

"Hey, I did pour sweat and blood into getting that lollipop myself," Koki pointed out. "Don't wanna see my hard work get wasted because of work-related problems. Why not offer the easy way out and just do it this way? C'mon, don't be shy." He chuckled again and brandished Rhyme's pin from his left hand. "What do ya say? Deal?"

Neku stared at the pin with intent, but he could tell Beat was far more focused on it than his willpower will ever let him on something else entirely. "How do we know this isn't some kind of trap again?" he asked.

Koki sighed and merely tossed the pin to Beat. The move startled the punk, causing him to frantically try to grab the pin in midair until he managed to catch it. While Uzuki grabbed her hair in complete and utter frustration as to what was developing in front of her, the Players were outright shocked. "Because I already gave it to you. Don't be the bad guys now, huh?" Koki said.

"Oh well… Here!" Pichu approached the Reaper and held out the lollipop. Satisfied, Koki bent down and picked the candy from the Electric type. "Nice doing business with you!"

"Thanks, weird-ass yellow mouse," Koki said, twirling his lost lollipop in his fingers. "This means a lot to me."

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!"

The startled Players and Koki looked at the screaming Uzuki. She was utterly furious; more so than all the previous times combined. Her eyes were white with rage, her claws tried to rip out her hair in wild angles, and her body shook with the boiling blood building up inside of her. "ARE YOU $#^%)%($(%^$&^(#(% *)%$* )$ )) !%)!&% KIDDING ME?!" she swore at the top of her lungs. "I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MAKE KARIYA DO HIS WORK RIGHT, AND THEN I SEE THIS HAPPEN INSTEAD?! WHAT IN THE ^$#^%#& $*%$$%% !$#$^ HELL!"

Fox winced. "I don't go that far with my own profanity," he stated. "But…chill out?"

"CHILL OUT?! I'LL CHILL OUT AFTER I MAKE A FUR COAT OUTTA YOU!" Uzuki bellowed. "THEN I'LL BURN IT INSIDE A BURNING TRASH CAN AND DANCE AROUND IT WITH A STUPID SMILING FACE!"

"Yeah, that last sentence lost the disgusting feeling you were aiming for…" Fox trailed off, eliciting another furious scream from Uzuki. He gasped when she took out her gun from behind, aiming at them all. However, Kariya blocked his enraged partner from breaking more than one rule against her good track record.

"Uzuki," Koki said, looking over his left shoulder at her. "Stop. I am in charge of today's procedures. Whatever I decide goes."

She didn't stop looking mighty pissed beyond reason. "I WON'T ACCEPT THIS, YOU HEAR ME?!" she screamed at him, causing Kariya to close one eye for protection. "I WON'T ACCEPT ANY MORE SCREW UPS WITH THESE IDIOTS! WHAT ABOUT MY STUPID PROMOTION?! I WAS WORKING MY SORRY ASS FOR IT! I HAD THE CHANCE TO GET IT FOR REAL TODAY…AND YOU BLEW IT JUST BECAUSE OF A LOLLIPOP YOU LOST THAT THEY FOUND FOR YOU?! YOU'RE THE MOST. UNBELIEVABLE. HARRIER. REAPER. I. HAVE. EVER. SEEN!" Koki looked dully at her reddened face. "HOW ARE YOU GONNA MAKE UP FOR THIS LOSS NOW?! YOU SCREWED UP MY ONLY CHANCE TO BECOME SOMEONE! I'M ALL EARS TO HEAR YOU OUT, YOU DAMN PRI-!"

Koki held out the lollipop to Uzuki. "Happy Anniversary, girl," he said.

"…" It took several blinking eyes from everyone else for the world to fall silent. For Uzuki, she had to blink seven times until her eyes went back to normal along with her shaking body and reddened face. "…Huh?" she muttered.

The lazy Reaper looked away. "It took a lot of effort to get you this gift for your anniversary in becoming a Harrier Reaper," he told her before he went over to Uzuki and placed the prized lollipop on her left hand. "Hope you enjoy it. It's made with a mixture of all fruit flavors it could possibly pack in a single marble of tastiness. Your mouth's gonna explode several times till it goes out with its core."

"…B-but…" Uzuki looked down at the lollipop she was angry about. "…A-anniversary? For me?"

"Yeah. This is the day, ain't it?" Koki asked. "This is the same day you were promoted to Harrier Reaper status from being a lowly Support Reaper a year ago. I still remember the day…" He looked up to the sky. "You were excited as a schoolgirl for an entire week, causing problems to all Players for the thrill of it. Eventually, that enthusiasm died out very slowly whenever your plans didn't carry out completely. You kept going at it because you wanted to keep rising higher in the hierarchy." He looked back to her astonished look. "I know I said I don't plan in rising up in ranks. Wishin' you best of luck is all I can do, girl."

"U-uh…" Uzuki stuttered awkwardly. Her eyes wandered off, confused. "T-that still isn't a good reason to just forfeit the battle like that! T-today is kinda an anniversary to me, but…"

"I was willing to throw away a fight just to get that little trinket for you," Koki said, smiling. "Ain't I a touching person?"

"…" Uzuki was at a mess of words inside her mind. She felt a little happy that Koki had gone ahead and obtained a lollipop for her, but she also felt frustrated that the day of her promotion a long time ago had fallen on the same day of the week. In the end, she felt she had dragged down her chance of a promotion just because it was her day. "…This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't lost this!" she said irked, taking the lollipop's wrapper off and quickly putting the candy inside her mouth. "…Hmm… This does have a nice, unique taste, though…"

"Jackpot," Koki said satisfied, licking his own candy. "Glad you like it."

The two Harrier Reapers kept staring and looking at each other's eyes for a while as the Players simply didn't say anything and remained silent. It was as clear as day that Koki had feelings for Uzuki, which made many of them wonder what kind of taste the lazy but strong Reaper found in her that enticed him completely. At least, now that they saw a new side of them, they could continue on with their quest now that Rhyme's pin was back with Beat.

Beat held up Rhyme's pin to the sun in order to convert the pin back to its creature form. "Now, Rhyme, come back ta us!" he said, trying to activate the pin's psyche…and kept doing so for half a minute until he realized something was way off about the pin. "Hey… What are they tryin' to pull…" Slowly, he grunted silently until it went to a full-blown loud grunt that startled everyone else. He pointed an accusing finger at Koki and, surprisingly, the Harrier Reaper did look shocked. "Yo, punks! This ain't Rhyme!"

"W-what?!" Pichu said. "T-that's not Rhyme's?"

"'Course not! This pin's a fake!" Beat said, crushing the pin in his palm (though he did struggle to crush it for a moment) and then discarded it by smacking it on the street.

The Players went to glaring at the Reapers, though they noticed both Uzuki and Kariya were at a loss of words. "You dirty, lying cheaters!" Neku said. "You NEVER stop cheating even once!"

"Hey, don't you blame this on us, orangey locks, " Koki said, his right eye twitching. He looked away from their glares. "Damn! I KNEW I couldn't trust her. Hoodwinked again!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Fox asked. "Are you trying to get off easy from this?"

Koki held up his open palms against them. "There, there. Don't toss punches just yet," he said. "Truth is…the Iron Maiden gave us a fake on purpose."

"Iron Maiden?" Ike said. "That was Konishi's nickname, so…"

"They were tricked by their own superior?" Ness said. "The most collected Reapers like her resort to that, even on her subordinates? Talk about low…"

Uzuki looked shocked at Koki. "What!? Then where's the real pin?" she asked.

"Where do you think?" Koki said, rolling his eyes. "She has it with her. We were used as bait to play her own little game with these guys… I hate to break this to you, Uzuki, but she also lied about the promised promotion." He spat to his right. "And since she didn't think we would come out alive from this, she would get away with her plan anyway. She used us to stall them for time." The Players started to complain among themselves after hearing this.

Uzuki's mouth gaped in horror once she realized she had been lied to horribly. "Then my promotion… All of it…" she trailed off, feeling stupid as she thought she felt.

Koki approached the Players, specifically Beat. "Beat, I don't know what to say," he said. "We've been making your life a living hell since yesterday for no reason. I don't like being lied to like this… She made me do work, y'know?"

Beat sighed. "It's aight," he said. "Betchu ain't never even seen the real pin. How would you know?"

"That's no excuse. I should've seen through the trick," Koki said, stretching his hand and handing over a pin to Beat. "Here. It won't make up for today…but take it."

Beat had gotten a new keypin. "A Lv. 4 keypin? What's this for, man?"

"For everything," Koki said. "Right now…the UG needs you six to have this."

The odd statement made them stare at Koki. "Pardon?" Fox asked. "The UG needs us? Why?"

"You'll see what I mean once you get through the week," Koki said. "It's something we lowly Harrier Reapers can't do for ourselves. Really, this isn't another stinky trap. This is an actual favor you'll do for all of us."

"I don't really like where this is going," Ike said. "But why now of all times? Why would this dimension need us?"

"Yo, le's not ponder that!" Beat said, smiling at Koki. "I know what to do here!" His friends didn't bother to give him shocked looks. Beat was a complete loose cannon that was very hard to understand until he would come out clean. Neku did look surprised, though. There was a small strand of trust Neku held for Beat; a strand far stronger than what the Smashers could achieve. "C'mon, evrubody!" Before taking off to the south, Beat looked back at Koki. "Oh, yo, 'fore I forget. Watch your backs."

Koki and Uzuki blinked. "And why would we need to do that?" he asked.

Neku said, "The last Reaper to give us a keypin got erased. We think the GM was responsible."

"What? Ms. Konishi is erasing Reapers herself?" Uzuki asked. "Sheesh! Why are things getting so out of hand now?"

"Well… That just adds another thing to the pile of what's awfully wrong with the UG," Koki said, looking stoic. "Hate to see this plane changing so badly." This statement was a line that the Players (not Beat) would remember as they would continue working for the next half of the week.

"Dontchu go bein' the next, aight?" Beat told them.

"Aight. Thanks for the advice," Koki said nodding. "We can take care of ourselves. Right, Uzuki?"

"Hmph," Uzuki crossed her arms and looked unappreciative. "They can mind their own business. Go on, scram…before I get grumpy." She took a brief moment of silence to say something else. "And, um…sorry about yesterday."

"…Did she just say sorry to us?" Ness asked, looking surprised.

"Truthfully speaking?" Fox added.

Uzuki blushed slightly. "Why are you giving me those looks? I do have some honor left behind in me!" she shouted. "Apologizing isn't that hard to do!"

Koki laughed for a two seconds. "You guys better start heading out," he said. "Uzuki will bring up her claws if you stay here any longer."

Neku nodded. "Right. We've got a Game Master to find," he said. Nodding with the rest of the group, the Players started heading south out of Towa Records with a new keypin in hand. Uzuki and Kariya watched as the Players left the district behind, and the two Harrier Reapers engaged in a conversation.

"Face it, she just used us to stall for time," Koki told Uzuki. "Kiss that promotion of yours goodbye."

She shook her head. "Never."

"Huh?"

"I won't give up. Not now," she said determined. "Don't you see how messed up this all is? They treat us field Reapers like we're tools! I mean, this work environment is just…ugh!"

Koki chuckled in recognition. "Ugh-ier than it was back in the day, I'll give you that," he said.

Uzuki stared at the people that walked across the district, continuing with their lives and unaware of the layer of the UG covering the entire city. "Kariya… I love this town just as much as you," she said. "So I've decided. I can't leave Shibuya like this. I have to change it. All Reapers deserve to enjoy their work. To feel rewarded!" She opened her arms to emphasize her point.

"My, oh my. That certainly sounds epic," Koki said nodding. "Well, you let me know how that goes."

Uzuki smiled teasingly. "Ha ha. Nice try. You get to be my little helper."

"Bleh!" Koki faked gagging. "Since when?"

"Together we can move up the ladder - really change things!" she giggled.

Koki looked up at the towering skyscrapers. "A happier Shibuya for all Reapers," he mused. "It does have a nice ring to it…"

Uzuki nodded several times and stretched her tired arms. "Anyway… I'm whipped for the day," she said. From her right pocket, she took out a familiar red pin with a black skull. "Fat lot of good these O-Pins did us."

"You mean these?" Koki said, taking out his own Red Skull pin. "They're toys. They don't do anything."

The female Harrier Reaper took a closer look at the supposedly-faulty pin. They had been told that the pin would grant Reapers a huge boost of power, but so far, none of the Reapers actually felt anything. The Support Reapers were very caught up in the description that they never could tell there was a boost of power anywhere. All of the Support Reapers were mindlessly thinking they were far more powerful than before, only to never face cruel reality until they were erased. "No way… Duds?" Uzuki said.

"Something, anyway," Koki said. He wanted to toss the damned pin away, but he stuck to his orders. "Now how 'bout that ramen? I'm ready to-"

"Those kids and their otherworldly friends," Uzuki interrupted as she looked back to the way they left. "They're fugitives. Enough to warrant an EC." She looked back at Koki. "Why'd you let them have the keypin? If the GM catches wind of it, she'll slash more than our salaries."

The lazy Reaper sighed. "Uzuki, don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Shibuya's breaking."

She blinked. "Breaking? Don't be so dramatic."

"The town's…homogenizing. Turning simple," he said.

"Hmm, now that you mention it…" As a Reaper, they could sense and feel the thoughts of people passing by, even floating high up in the air. Reading thoughts would thrill most of them when the dead victims would turn up in the Game and find out that they lost their most precious gifts of all. Uzuki and Koki noticed the thoughts were starting to dim, despite the fact Shibuya was packed with people every single day. With people thinking the same things, it would greatly and severely reduce the fun in giving them missions while in the Game. It would be just like toying around with lifeless dolls that couldn't show emotion. "The usual cacophony of thoughts has quieted down…"

"Yeah. Because they're changing, focusing - all on a single point," Koki said.

Uzuki shivered at a possibility like that. "You think it's an omen?" she asked.

"Dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. "I just hope that point isn't a period, The End. That's why I said those guys can get to the bottom of this. We can't just because we're married to the job. We cheat on the job, it will come and decimate us. They CAN beat the job and do a huge favor for us… Then, after that, we can fix the mess they leave."

Uzuki clutched her head with both hands. Koki turned around and saw her grunting. "Ungh…ahh…ahhhhhh…"

Koki raised an eyebrow. "Uzuki?

She started screaming. There was a nagging feeling building up in her head that she couldn't stop. Her body was twitching wildly as something was gaining control of her senses. She screamed louder and louder as the sensation kept overwhelming her limbs, until it started polluting her mind where the damage felt even worse and impossible to stop. "Aaaaaaugh!"

The lazy Reaper blinked. "Hey, Uzuki, what's wrong?!" he asked, until a mental hit stroke his head harshly. His vision started to become blurry, his glasses not being enough to help him see clearly. His forehead was starting to burn with a fever, but his whole body was starting to twitch against his will. Soon, Koki barely saw Uzuki dropping to her knees and screaming for the feeling to stop at once. Koki's irises shrunk as his teeth clenched the lollipop in his mouth. "Nnngh! My…my head…" he muttered right before they lost their senses, collapsing on the middle of the street.

The lollipop Koki had obtained for Uzuki had fallen down, shattering apart. The lazy Reaper would never know that the candy was lost like that, for he and Uzuki had their minds shattered…

A shadow loomed by inside an alley, watching with pleasure how the Harrier Reapers doubled over in pain and fainted. Baring his teeth, the shadow said, "Hmm, that took a while. Longer than I assumed." It chuckled and flexed the fingers of its hand. "Hmph! This body will zetta take some getting used to. But it's only a function of time." It smacked a fist onto a palm and started walking away into the darkness. "Now…let's crunch some more numbers!"

Beat's Day 5 – Vanishing Point

Scramble Crossing

The Players were tossed right back to the middle of the scramble, not feeling or seeing the passing of a single day. Neku once again found himself sprawled on the floor until Pichu budged his head to wake him up. The loner teen grumbled and opened his eyes, rubbing his forehead lazily. "This is…the scramble?" he wondered as he got up, seeing his team wide awake. "Another day's gone by…"

"Which means only three more days for us to find Konishi," Fox said. "We lost two days because of those two Reapers being used as bait. We can't afford to lose more time than it is now."

"Agreed," Ike said. "Three days to find and beat her to the ground to clear the Game. Then once we do, we'll get taken to the Composer…or Megumi."

The vulpine grinned. "Either way is good. Fight the Composer or break Megumi's glasses with a fight," he said.

"Sure, sure," Ness said. "I wouldn't be surprised both of them can bend space and time while we can only use some popular pins everyone's crazy about, just like the stupid Red Skull pin whose only main power is to…slow us down in battle." He looked at the people crossing the scramble. All of them were wearing the useless pin on their selves. "Why's everyone suddenly wearing them all, anyway? I thought the pin's popularity was established the sixth day of the first week of this long ordeal."

"Beats me," Ike said. "I don't understand any of this fashion trend stuff. I don't see myself wearing the pin, even less so while fighting Noise."

"It's just there for you to get with the trends," Neku said. "What Shiki said that one time still doesn't make any sense to me. The pin is stupid, and I like wearing what I'm wearing right now."

Fox snickered. "Don't you want to wear a lot of rat stuff?" he asked.

"Don't tempt me to snap that tail outta your butt," Neku said in a monotone, yet threatening-sounding voice. "Anyway, I don't want to wear the pin just because it's popular. What does it matter what people think of me if I don't? Shibuya may be a battlefield to be with the crowd, but…I like to expand my own world my own way myself," he said before smiling a bit. "Mr. H wasn't kidding when he suggested me to do just that. I feel…free just thinking about it: like a whole new world of possibilities I've been ignoring opened up to me."

"Atta, Neku," Ike said confidently. "I can't believe I'd hear you say those words in the past. You've grown."

"Thanks, Ike," Neku said. "Having that as my mantra helped me to pull through the Game, and you all helped me a lot, too. I'd probably be lost without you supporting me… Wait, are you supporting me because your lives are tied to mine?" He looked suspicious.

The mercenary scratched the back of his neck. "Well… I admit I was supporting you in the first day of the second week because of that little fact," he said. "I had my doubts you changed for the better so quickly when you tried to apologize to Shiki."

"Yeah, I admit it too," Fox said, shaking his head. "You looked more bearable as a person to talk to back then but still not enough to make me like you as a friend. I couldn't adapt to you right off the bat without seeing first if you changed for real."

"Guilty too," Pichu said sighing. "I still thought you were creepy… Shunning us off and only opening to us because Joshua was pressing your buttons a week ago. I think I started seeing you as a friend after we started suspecting Joshua of killing you…"

"It's very different now," Ness said. "You're a far better person than you were before. I can say with a straight face that you're important…as a friend, and I can say that 'f' word without my lips twitching! That should tell you something, Neku."

Neku blinked after hearing each and one of their statements. One by one, they smiled a bit his way, reassuring his doubts. "…I…I don't know what to say," Neku said, looking away. "Thank you…I guess. Thanks for saying those things to me. It's that kind of attention that helps us bond better with our partners, and other strangers… Wait, bond with our partners…" There was a topic Neku wanted to bring up to the Smashers. He looked back at them. "Speaking about bonding with our partners, I feel like me and Beat are understanding one another much better than before (somehow), but…what about you guys?" The Smashers looked at one another. "You have different partners for this week and none of you have bonded too well at all… What gives?"

"Bond well?" Pichu wondered. "How can you tell?"

"The light puck," Neku said. "It fades away way too fast before any of you can use it in battle. That weird aura thing is what helped us clear fights faster without dragging them for too long. Koki laid a smack down on us because you weren't completely in synch." He crossed his arms. "And before this week, you synchronized perfectly with your previous partners. What happened to that? Can't adapt to your replacements?"

Ness looked up at Ike. "You have a point there…" he trailed off.

"Then why is it that you can't do it correctly?" Neku questioned. "I thought all of you knew each other?" He watched as they began exchanging glances and rubbing several parts of their bodies in embarrassment. They weren't able to say a good answer without offending their respective partners. "Seriously? …None of you are close friends?"

"W-well, we are friends," Ness said. "Just…not close friends."

"We bump into each other over at our home frequently," Ike said. "The only respect we ever give to others is by simply fighting battles together. There are special people who matter a lot to us more than the people we see ourselves each day. We've never been paired up so forcibly like this." He shot Ness with a look. The Onett boy crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I've seen it before how you worked so well with your original partners," Neku recalled. "You held good conversations, even if you weren't talking to your partner. How come you're so suddenly…broken up in battle?" He looked away embarrassed. "I don't like calling myself an expert between making bonds with others just yet, but…"

Fox got annoyed. "Oh, now the loner teen who used to shut people off is giving us advice to bond with others?" he asked. "We've surely come a long way for this to happen. Am I going crazy?"

The orange-haired teen looked serious at him. "Hey, it's not my fault this happened," he said. "I'm merely pointing out things. It's your job to figure out how to mesh well with your new partner if you wanna keep winning Noise battles, and this is the last week, I'm reminding you." He looked to the various exits across the scramble for any signs of Reapers hunting them down from the shadows. "This became the hardest week by far where we need to use our combined team effort to pull through… Sappy, I know, but it can't be done any other way. I can only say to you to try to…hmm…understand one another better?" he suggested, the Smashers seeing the grimace he put up. "That's how it works in the end. I can somehow understand Beat's feelings better and now it's easier to sync up with that empty void in his head."

Just thinking about Beat was enough to make Neku drop the entire discussion. When Neku noticed Beat wasn't around, it became a major concern.

"Wait a sec, where's he?" Neku gasped. "B-Beat?!"

Not long after that, the blond punk was seen running around the scramble in circles, 'Bwaaahing' his head out. As he grabbed it and turned around to regroup with the others, he stopped in his tracks and oddly started exhibiting a wide array of emotions: he was sad, shocked, laughing, happy, shy, careful, timid, hysterical, bashful, brave, hasty, docile… The entire show scared the five Players watching a massive breakdown out of Beat. "Crap, man! Crap crap crap!" he finally said, settling with hiding his face behind his hands.

"…Can a human really react like that?" Fox asked Neku. "He looked like he was glitching like hell."

"You're a humanoid fox, so I better answer that question," Neku said. "…No, you can't. Only Beat can." They covered their ears after Beat screamed one more time. "All right! Pipe down."

"How'm I supposed to pipe down, yo? It's Day 5!" Beat said, recovering slightly from his massive breakdown event. "Where the hell is Ironface hidin', man!?"

Neku held out his hands in a defensive pose. "Relax. We've still got three days."

"We ONLY got three days, yo! An' I got less than youse guys, remember?"

"Dammit, I forgot that woman said you were meant to seize existing right on Day 7," Ness said. "So that means we have two days to find her? This stinks!"

"We ain't gonna make it!" Beat said, grabbing his head. They saw how his body started shaking in desperation. "I still gotta get Rhyme back, then we gotta bet the Composer… Plus that WALL is blockin' our way to the Shibuya River! An' there might be more past it!"

Pichu's eyes wandered away, looking dull. "After hearing so many bad facts in one go, I can't really feel sad about our problems…" At that point, he sniffed. "I'm turning into an emotionless monster!"

"No, you aren't," Ness said. "Fox may have turned more foul-mouthed than ever, I may complain a lot more than before, you may have become emotionless, and Ike may have…uh, whatever he turned into. I can't tell." Despite the fact Ike didn't feel different than the rest with their newly acquired negative traits, he felt offended to be singled out of it like that. "But all of these traits will disappear after we're done with this world!" He looked at Beat. He was breathing in and out very quickly. "With Beat like this, though, Neku fails, we fail, Shiki fails, and then the entire universe outside this world fails because we failed too. You could say this damned Game decides the fate of the future of many other worlds because it's so DAMN fun to tease us around, not knowing they're screwing themselves as well! AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE ABSOLUTELY FINE!"

Ike shyly stepped away from Ness. "Yes… We are absolutely fine," he faked sounding reassuring.

With the team looking out of it with their chances stacked so badly, Neku took up the voice of reason skill to try to bring them together to a stable level of sanity. At least Fox looked like he wanted to help. That or he was trying to find a good sentence to vent off his anger next without contributing. The furrowed brow was a big hint it was what Neku feared he would do. "…Well, one thing at a time," Neku began. "First: calm down, all of you. I'll lose it next if you keep it going. Take a deep breath."

The other five Players took a slow, deep breath, and released it all at once. They felt a bit better.

Neku nodded and turned to look at Beat. "That Lv. 4 keypin we got yesterday, what does it open?"

"Kariya's key?" Beat wondered, taking the keypin out to show. "Udagawa."

That place was scary just knowing that it was the site of the murder scene where Neku was killed by Minanimoto. Going back there gave the Smashers a chilling sensation. What if they would get killed by a gun in the UG? Pichu feared the most that this would happen to them. "All right. Let's search there today," Neku said. "We've rounded nearly everywhere except there."

"Fine. The Iron Witch cost us two days. I ain't losin' anotha' one," Beat said determined. "No draggin' your ass. We gotta dash, my men!" Once Beat took off northeast to Center Street, Neku grouped with the Smashers as they ran.

"Try to bond with your partners," he told them. "Otherwise, we're not getting so easily from this week's Game with all the Reapers trying to cut our heads off. So much is on the line."

The Smashers reflected on this suggestion, looking at their new partners. But how could they manage to establish a bond with a person they didn't get to spend the time with so much before? This was a lot harder than it looked like because of how their backgrounds were so different. Pichu didn't particularly have an interest in space ships and Fox never cared about looking too much into Pokémon stuff while Ike was a fish out of water when talking to people hailing from more modern eras and Ness wasn't too fond of looking into the eras of old. The Smashers had the wrong tools to use. To cope with a random person they hardly spoke to in equal terms outside of battles in order to keep their lives and save more than one world alone would be one of the hardest hurdles to cross yet…

Center Street Entrance

"Wow!" Pichu suddenly exclaimed, being perched on Fox's right shoulder. He was the first one to try to get closer to Fox, as much as it didn't give him a spark of interest. "Fashion trends in Shibuya sure are something!"

No way would this conversation bring them closer together, Fox thought. It was better than not doing anything else while running around Shibuya. This was for Chris and Soren, but mostly Chris because Fox did feel a strong attachment to him. His smile twitched as he said, "Y-yeah, who woulda thought?"

"I know!" Pichu falsely laughed. This was starting to make them cringe really fast. "Just look at those girls with the glowing red eyes while everyone else is minding their own business! They're moving in the middle of the street but the people aren't noticing them! I wish I could join a trend like that!"

"Yeah, me too, Pichu!" Fox said, and the two awkwardly laughed until they started gagging. "What the hell was that you were trying to do with me?" he asked, glaring sideways at Pichu.

Pichu pouted. "I'm sorry if my little chance didn't do much," he said sarcastically. "I was trying to get to be friends with you! You were following the flow…"

"Yeah, well, that didn't do any good to me," Fox said, rolling his eyes. "…Oh, one more thing. That bit about girls with red glowing eyes? That was extremely random and not so good to talk about. I swear that was the thing that made me gag."

"How can my own talks with you make you gag? You're unbelievable! (Don't admit that made me gag, too. Look sharp!)" Pichu complained, looking away at the girls with red glowing eyes standing in the middle of the street. He continued looking angry until his mind told him that it was surely unhealthy to have red glowing eyes as a normal human girl. "W-w-wait! I-I wasn't lying about the girls with red glowing eyes, Fox!" he said while flailing his hands. Fox came to a stop and saw Pichu pointing back to the center of the street where he found Ai and Mina motionless.

"Huh… Aren't those Ai and Mina?" Fox wondered. From the angle he was looking at them, he couldn't see their eyes. He told the others to stop running so he could go and check what Pichu admitted to have seen. It was a stupid fact to believe something like that. As Fox wondered if Pichu was going mentally insane, he passed right through the girls' living bodies and turned around to look at th-

Their once-serene looking eyes lost all sense of human characteristics given their eyes were indeed glowing a deep shade of red.

"…AAAAAAAAH!" Pichu screamed when he clarified his random assumption to be true, while Fox stared blankly, though his jaw was open and still. His mind had a hard time processing what was going on now, and this was happening in the RG; the place where inconceivable crap other than being late to buying popular fashion clothes was never a thing unlike the UG. Red glowing eyes were never a category to pick.

"Hey, what's going on?" Neku asked as he and the rest reached the two Players. When they looked at their general direction, they gasped in unison. "The heck?"

"Dude!" Beat said, eyes wide. "Their eyes…like…they's glowin' red! That ain't healthy!"

Ike moved his hand through the girls' heads, making sure they were still alive. They were alive without a sense of awareness that they had stopped walking around in the middle of the street. "Why are they like this?" Ike asked. "This is beyond creepy."

"To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption," Mina began speaking in a creepy monotone that made them shudder, mostly because she spoke so suddenly.

Then the similarly-affected Ai added, "That this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"

That was another oddity the Players had to add to their list of growing mysteries. The girls had just chanted some sort of words that sounded so out of character coming from highly spirited high school girls. "What?" Fox said, grimacing and furrowing his brow. "What was that they said?"

"…Correct the wrongs of today with a light of true redemption to turn this place into a paradise?" Ness summarized, looking up at Neku. "What is this, Neku? Some kind of new trend exclusive to Shibuya that the girls are trying out?"

"As if there's a trend where your eyes glow like this!" Neku said, dismissing the possibility and staring at the girls. They weren't moving around at all, but they were breathing. Beyond that, they were lifeless persons standing around doing nothing. "This isn't normal, obviously. Something's up in the UG."

"But what?" Pichu asked, looking worried at the girls they had seen before. "What could affect the RG like this?"

"Yo," Beat spoke up to get their attention. "Coulda been the Reapers, or Ironface! Reapers can get into the RG and mess things up! But tha's crazy, yo! They don't go there 'cause it's prolibitheded." The last word made the Smashers wince.

"Prohibited," Neku corrected. "Hmm, no sweating or looking doubtful… Yeah, I can trust you on this one."

"Yeah, Phones!" Beat said, until realizing what Neku said. "Hey!"

Fox took out his Player Pin, staring intently at it. "Could this be related to our current mission?" he wondered. "Could she be behind this?"

"We weren't told about this happening," Neku pointed out, rubbing his chin inside his collar. "Still, though, we better get a move on and see what's up with these girls by talking to a Reaper willing to spill the beans…" He looked at the other people walking by, not minding the girls blocking their path. There was nagging sense of silence growing in the area as only footsteps echoed within the buildings' walls. It didn't bode Neku well.

"Aight!" Beat said and took off faster than ever. Because losing Beat would mean to lose Neku and subsequently lose their lives, the Players left Ai and Mina behind. The girls never truly moved from their spot ever again…

Tipsy Tose Hall

The Players hastily crossed AMX due to Beat running really fast to reach Udagawa in record time. This made Neku feel like the punk was in such a hurry to wrap things up, yet Neku and his team had the same wishes in mind. Beat's way of doing his stuff wasn't very appreciated, however, mainly because the other Players needed to be extra careful after witnessing so many events in a single week. Beat didn't care much. He wanted to save Rhyme and clear the final boss as soon as possible.

"Dammit! Where she at?" Beat hollered, fists to his sides, as he surveyed the area around the hall area. Half a minute later, the Players caught their breath as they reached him out.

"Take it easy!" Neku told his partner, walking to his side. "You're just gonna tire yourself out...and the rest of us!"

"Not Pichu because he has a special seat on my shoulder that I never lent him," Fox pointed out. The small Electric-type sighed and jumped down, looking a bit peeved as he waited for them to recover.

Beat swung around while grunting loudly. "Like I care, yo!" he yelled at Neku. "Shoutin' is the only thing keepin' me calm!"

"Then please don't take after Fox when he's pissed," Ike noted. "Please, Beat! You need to calm down! We'll get through this week ahead of time before we hit the seventh day…hopefully!"

"Howchu know that?" Beat questioned. "You got a sure ticket?"

Ike needed to decipher the odd slang of the current era and be able to use it in his favor. He felt helpless to understand a lot of the things people thought in their minds when using the Player Pin's power. Moreover, the word "ticket" was unknown in Tellius. "…No?" Ike responded, making Beat grit his teeth. "(Incorrect answer!) W-we can hope! Hoping for the best is our best way to keep our heads in the game!"

Beat eased a bit with the small suggestion. Neku took his chance to talk to him. "You always run on full blast, huh?" he said.

The blond punk rubbed his head and looked at Neku. "Not even close, man," Beat said. "Only since comin' to the UG. When I was alive, I took everythin' at my own pace."

Eyes stared at one another. Yet again, Beat revealed another fact about his real life that sounded unbelievable at first. "YOU?" Neku said, voicing out everyone's thoughts.

Beat nodded, looking guilty. "Yeah. I wasn't crazy about nothin'. Tha's why my folks always bitched at me." He looked angry as he recalled their words, "'You gotta get into a good school! You gotta think about your future!' All they wanted was results, man. Like I really give a crap, you know?"

"Yeah… I think I do," said Neku as he thought about his parents. Neku's life with his parents sounded less harsh than Beat's. Unlike how Beat's parents demanded his son to be someone in life, Neku's parents felt distant. It was a different kind of negative emotion running between both.

"They kept expectin' stuff I ain't got, then made me feel like trash when I didn't give it," Beat continued. "They'd say, 'Why can't you be like your sister?' I hated it…and pro'bly still do if they keep at it!"

Fox stared at Beat. "Beat, sorry for being the responsible person here, but your parents only wish the best for you," he said. Beat and Neku stared back at him. "I'm gonna sound very nagging when saying this, but did it ever occur to you they mean well?"

"Hard to say, furry man," Beat said, grabbing his left shoulder. "All they do is yellin' when they see me! It drives me nuts!"

"I can only imagine how you used to behave, after saying that bit about taking your time for everything," Ike pitched in. "From where I come from, only nobility gets to go to school to be raised as nobles to rule the nations. When you're part of a school, you're going there for your greater good."

"You sound like 'em! Not funny!" Beat complained. "Dontchu keep supportin' 'em! I warnin' ya!" He curled up a fist, ready to toss it without hesitation.

The mercenary narrowed his eyes. "Just look at yourself reacting like that!" he scolded. "We know nearly everything we need to know about you. No wonder why listening to your parents is the first thing you need to do!"

The blond punk kept gritting his teeth hard and tightening his fist as he let the talk sink in. Neku watched as Beat lowered his fist, sighing in displeasure. "…'haps you're right, man," he muttered under his breath. "Lemme keep tellin' the whole story first…"

"Alright…"

"I was sayin'…" Beat continued, "I quit tryin' altogether. Give up on myself, so my folks would, too. And the funny thing is, they did."

Pichu frowned. "That's very, very sad," he commented. "They don't care about you anymore?"

"It's not their fault," Fox said, looking sharp as he crossed his arms. "It's Beat's fault it went down like that. Their trust in their son has probably disappeared by now… To top things off, he and Rhyme are dead to them, literally." For a moment, Fox thought that it was his job to bring them both back to the world of the living. The attachment with Rhyme was strong in him.

Beat looked down to the floor until he looked back up at them. "Rhyme stuck by me, though," he said. "Yo, I could rob a bank and she'd still be there for me."

"Don't you go robbing a bank after this!" Ness said. "Sorry. I'm just tossing out ideas to keep you from doing something stupid."

"Heh… Betchu Rhyme'd say the same," Beat said, forcing a small smile. "She always had the right words. 'I know you have a dream,' she'd say. 'You just haven't dreamed it yet.' …But it got old, bein' pitied by my lil' sister. So I started to push her away, right up to the day we died." He took a deep breath. Recalling the dreadful event in his head put him down in a bad mood he didn't want to keep revisiting again. Unfortunately, the sound of the car crashing into them was what he kept replaying in his head ever since they died. And in the current week, the memory was burning a hole in him that he couldn't bury.

"But you've GOT a dream," Neku said suddenly. "Rhyme said you wanted to be world's best skater."

"That was all jus' made-up, man."

"Made-up? Why would you-?"

"Rhyme was beatin' herself up. Said she had no dreams."

"No dreams of her own?" Ness wondered. "Not a single one?"

"I told ya she had dreams when she was alive," Beat said. "But then she said here, 'Why come back to life if I've got nothing to live for?'" He stomped the street once in frustration. "Damn, yo! Tha's all backwards… She's the one who had a million reasons to live! I-I can't say what she wanted to do 'cause I didn't look hard enough… Maybe she wants to be an astro-person, for all I know! It's messed up anyway!"

Pichu thought back about Rhyme when she was with them. "Rhyme had no dreams but she had them when she alive?" he said.

"Dunno… I ain't care about her before this," Beat said. "Add that up to the 'Why is Beat so Damn Stupid' list…"

"How could she have no dreams at all?" Fox questioned. "She was the brightest person I ever met that wasn't ditzy in attitude. She was collected about everything that happened to us every day. Hell, she's far more mature than I am now… And she had no dreams to live for?"

"I get the feeling Rhyme was far more depressed about the fact she died than all of us did," Ness assumed, getting looks from the rest. "She was around my age (even if we really differ in looks). At this age, you don't care that much about what you want to do in life… That's for kids that are too busy thinking about what to play next. What if she only wanted to bring Beat back to life herself?"

"Are you saying she resigned to her dreams?" Neku asked.

"Uh, I'm not trying to sound so negative here, but…maybe?" Ness said. "Also, just maybe, she kept looking for a dream before dying, and she only cared about supporting Beat till the end?"

"T-that's both great and saddening! She…she must have had a dream to follow!" Pichu complained. "She cares about everyone but not herself? That makes her sound like she only exists to bring the best out of everyone around her!"

"You're wrong, little dude…" Beat said. "I realized somethin' then. Rhyme's all I got left. So I said to myself, I gotta find the words, like she did for me. Tell her her dreams are coming, just like mine did…even if that's just a big lie. …But all I did is fool her into thinkin' I'm worth dyin' for." He smacked his forehead. "I'm an idiot, man. I waited too long to realize what she meant to me. I'm nothin' but an IDIOT!"

"Beat…" Neku trailed off. Another side of Beat was revealed and coming to a close. "You're definitely an idiot. A huge idiot."

The Smashers gasped while Beat looked pissed at him. "Whatchu say!?"

Neku crossed his arms and said, "Why would you let your 'rents push you down like that? That's not the Beat I know." He frowned. "Don't go the distance for other people. Do it for yourself."

The skater teen looked confused. "Huh?"

"Like you're doing right now," Neku pointed out. "Just go as far as you can go. The 'results' will come later. Right, you guys?" He turned to the others. "Do you think Beat finally got the memo?"

"Ah, uh…" Ike stared at the distraught punk. "Well… I have to say, the Beat of today seems to be an improvement over the one from the past. All that rushing around Shibuya to get things done… That could transcend well in his normal life."

Ness tilted his head. "I guess I could see him rushing around like an idiot to get those results his parents want to get," he commented before smiling. "Yeah, it's possible. The new Beat is a good kind of idiot."

Fox chuckled. "Heh, this wasn't exactly the kind of resolve I was looking for Beat at all, but it works out if we put it that way," he said. "Keep that mentality around once you and Rhyme go back to life. It should do wonders to you."

"I agree very much!" Pichu said nodding. "Beat's changed for the better, just like Neku did! He can take on his life much better now that he's realized everything that was wrong with him!"

Beat stared back at their smiles, while picturing Neku was hiding his behind the collar of his shirt. The rebel's lips trembled a bit at this, and a small tear that nearly fell down on his cheek was quickly wiped out. "Phones… You guys…" he muttered.

"I'm sorry about Rhyme. But what's done is done," Neku said, placing a hand on Beat's right shoulder. "Focus on the now. She wouldn't want you wasting energy on regret. Why do you think she stuck by you? She knew you could do anything you put your mind to."

"So, she knew beforehand you could do it…" Ike chuckled as Beat looked surprised. "I'm telling you, she was something for someone so young."

Neku nodded in agreement. "Anyway… I'm lucky. How many idiots have the stones to screw over the Reapers and help the underdog?"

"Beat, our idiot, that's who," Fox said with a grin.

Beat, for the first time in a while, called the loner teen by his name. "Neku…"

Neku pointed at his face. "You're an idiot, so start acting like one." He looked away with a frown. "Don't you turn into a deep thinker on us…yo."

Beat looked down at his feet, and he started chuckling and trying so hard to keep his laughs inside his mouth until he couldn't hold it all anymore. The Players let him let it all out. "Pfft… Bwa ha ha! You said it, man! I ain't the sentimentious type!" They weren't about to correct the misspelling of the word, just to keep the mood. The punk pumped up his fists into the air and said with more spirit, "Aaaaaaight! I feel much better, yo! Jus' wait! I'm gonna send everybody home! Rhyme an' Shiki…an' that Joshua kid…an' these guys…an' of course YOU, man."

The graffiti fan was relieved to see Beat back in line. Perhaps now he would behave much better. "All right, then," Neku said.

"Hoooooo! I am so fulla fight!" Beat said, breathing deeply. "Time to win this Game and change the world!" Miraculously, he didn't take a head start to Udagawa. He simply turned around and noticed that a black Reaper was staring their way from the corner to Shibu-Q Heads. "Hey… Check it out. A Reaper!"

The Players looked serious as they looked back at the Reaper. So far, the Reapers hunting them down would show up every time they entered a new area in Shibuya. They would all drop like flies trying to take them on, and it started to annoy the Players greatly how they kept showing up as if there was a whole army of them to be erased by their hands. Speaking of being erased, erasing the Reapers made them feel guilty. They were forced to abide by the rules. "Here comes another fight against those guys," Ness said. "Can't they ever learn they can't beat us?"

"…"

The black Reaper wasn't moving towards them. Watching him standing there and doing nothing to subdue them was strange. Being bounties sought after by everyone in the UG was a quick way to big rewards. But a Reaper that wasn't actively chasing them down when they were in front of him wasn't common to see. "Wait, why isn't he attacking?" Neku asked.

"Maybe he don't see us," Beat said.

"Uh, why? He's looking straight at us," Ike said. "I can never get to see their eyes under those hoodies of theirs. I can feel their cold stares, still…"

Fox narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I can pretend I can feel their stares too," he said. "The fur on my head shutters."

"Okay, let's trust Fox's animal instincts and go with that one," Ness said, earning a glare from the vulpine.

"Hmm… It might be a trap," Neku said, looking at his team. "Watch yourself."

"Aight! Yo!" Beat said. The Players tried walking past the black Reaper blocking the way to Shibu-Q Heads. Just as soon as they were about to get closer to him, the black Reaper moved in their path…rather clumsily. His feet wobbled to the sides, though he stood upright and covered the middle portion of their path. This angered Beat the most. "Yo, outta the way!" he demanded.

The black Reaper didn't reply; only staring straight at them.

Beat flexed his fingers. "You wanna fight, punk?"

The black Reaper opted to stay silent; staring straight…almost lifelessly…

Beat wasn't very good at being patient now of all times. "The hell, man! Is he deaf?"

"Hey, you," Fox said, fiercely glaring. "Out of the way. We've got business to attend to at Udagawa ASAP. Are you trying to fight us too?"

The black Reaper wasn't going to say anything.

"...Hello?" Pichu asked, waving his little hands. "Sir? We need to pass through you…"

The black Reaper was breathing very, very slowly. It was all the noise he could use to reply.

Neku narrowed his eyes. "Something's definitely wrong," he said.

The black Reaper…mumbled a grunting sound that startled them a bit. The sound sounded restrained, making them think he wanted to say something but a force was preventing him. Then, shortly after the grumbling sound… "Urrrg… To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption-"

"Huh?" said Neku.

"Wha…?" trailed off Ike.

"That chant…" added Ness.

"Guy's trippin', yo," added Beat next.

"-that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…" he finished, speaking everything in a monotone voice unheard of from other Reapers they had met.

Beat was confused. "Yo, who broke this guy's antenna?" he asked.

Ike gasped next. "Those words he said! Those are the same words those girls said back there!" To reinforce his point, the group saw red glowing eyes under the hood of the Reaper. "He's also under the same condition!"

"Wait, a Reaper is also acting like them?" Ness asked. "Why would they?"

There was no more time to talk as the black Reaper suddenly went wild and lunged at them, spreading his Reaper wings to gain a head start. "Look out! He's coming for us!" Neku warned. A Noise battle started, pulling them all into it.

The black Reaper showed up with more of its comrades backing him up. As the Players were surrounded by three Reapers in each plane, they noticed that all of them were behaving the same way as the first one. They were growling…their fingers bending to unusual angles. Just as soon as the battle started, the Reapers would growl unnaturally at the Players while launching their blows at them. Pichu caught sight of drooling even as he dodged a lunging motion from one. "W-what is wrong with them?!" Pichu asked. The group called out to the Reapers to make them say something other than awkwardly roaring at their faces. It was no good. The Reapers were completely wild and out of control.

"They're acting like a bunch of wild animals!" Neku called out, dodging a swift kick from a black Reaper. "What's gotten into their minds?!"

"Now it's strange to wonder that?" Fox asked annoyed. "These guys were messed up from the beginning!"

"Not the Support Reapers, though," Neku noted, calling forth to his Network Spider pin to electrocute one target. "These guys followed directions without laughing at our expenses, unlike the Harrier Reapers and Game Masters. Why would they act like this?"

"You've got a point with that," Ike noted, sidestepping from a shockwave sent by a deranged Reaper. Neku had enough time to watch as the mercenary was engulfed in a light puck that vanished half a second later. "It almost feels like they're monsters."

"(The light puck vanished way too fast! These guys need some serious help there…)" Neku thought to himself while he was on-topic. "It can't be done any other way. We must erase them if we want to keep going!"

"No hard feelings, you people!" Ness said.

After a while, the six Players returned to the UG without much trouble. The deranged screams from the Reapers made the fights easier solely because predicting their blows with the roars they made every time was a dead giveaway. "The Reapers have gone nuts," Fox said with a serious look. "This isn't good for them. I can tell."

"Yeah," Neku said. "Those red glowing eyes were the same ones like Ai's and Mina's. And that weird chanting… It can't be a big coincidence." He rubbed his forehead. His head started to hurt as he tried to decipher the events. "They're related."

"No doubt about that," Ike said as he looked around the RG to find some peace. He did find some peace of mind with the sudden silence that shrouded the hall area. "An event that affects both humans and Reapers alike, huh… Oh, thank the goddess. I need some silence to think without any distractions."

Pichu smiled. "Silence? Shibuya is always so noisy every day. I wanted to get some peace and quiet," he commented. "So nice to see the people quiet and still for once!"

Fox nodded, rubbing his ears. "I welcome any and all kind of silence anytime during this week," he said. "A quiet Shibuya is…"

Then Neku gasped and said, "…the scariest event to ever happen!"

What he said for last finally made the rest realize that the RG was at its oddest state ever. The people that used to walk around and talk endlessly with one another were…silent and unmoving. Their eyes weren't looking anywhere else other than straight. Most certainly, they were alive and breathing. They just didn't move or say anything else. In turn, because the Players noticed that everyone in the RG was doing nothing other than existing, the entire place was dead in the noise department…

A can of soda rolled across the street. The rolling sounds echoed in the middle of the buildings. This was not a good sign in the once-noisy Shibuya. Granted, it was just the hall area that was silent. But an area where Shibuya was silent was scary, even more so when said area was the made-up HQ for all avid, headstrong, noisy Tin Pin Slammer players.

"…HELLOOOOOOOO?!" Pichu raised his voice loud enough to produce an echo. To his and everyone else's shock, he did make an echo that kept bouncing all over the place. "U-uah!" he yelped and hid behind Fox's legs. "S-Shibuya's gone quiet!"

"That can't be!" Neku said in denial. "This is one of Japan's busiest cities. How can it suddenly fall silent? What the hell is wrong with this place?"

"Yo, it's awful quiet," Beat said as he stomped the ground twice. Even his stomping created an echo, like bouncing a ball hard. "Betchu som'one could hear me al' the way to Kat Street."

"Anybody could hear you from anywhere, with or without noise," Ness pointed out. Beat looked as oblivious as ever. "But yeah, this is an extra layer of creepy."

Ike walked to a nearby blond punk girl. Her eyes were still, even dull-looking. Next to her was a young boy who had the same expression. The rest of the people he looked at weren't any different. Absolutely everyone in the hall never dared look different than anybody else that was alive. "Too quiet…" Ike muttered. "…It's giving me the creeps."

"This is the Reapers' doing," Neku said as he inspected his own set of people. "Why are they doing this?"

"Hey, let's try scanning some of them," Fox said, unnerved by the silence of the district. "I could yield a clue."

"Yeah!" Beat said enthusiastically, taking out his own Player Pin. "Le' me join in!" Clutching their Player Pins, the Players went to a full scan mode of the area to inspect the minds of the populace nearby. Fortunately, unlike yesterday, thought bubbles manifested over the people's heads, allowing them to dwell into their thoughts.

…But a quick scan from each person yielded the same thought process; an ominous chant that they had become familiar with.

To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…

Every single person nearby thought the same words without any small differences. Adults, teenagers, children, and old people were all having the same thought. No one in the RG was safe, at least in Tipsy Tose Hall. Since Shibuya was a city where popularity ruled the streets, there was a huge chance everyone else wasn't safe from opting for silence forcibly out of the blue…

The astonished Players opted for some silence themselves as they tried to understand what was going on. "Everyone…everyone is thinking the same thing!" Ness pointed out.

Behind Pichu, he found the business man that was talking to Makoto two days ago. Like everyone else in the perimeter, his eyes were red, and he spoke the same words as everyone else. "To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…" he spoke in monotone.

"Even that guy is affected," Fox said. "Damn…"

"They don't move…they can't say or think anything else…" Neku muttered as he tried to find someone in the world of the living who was unaffected. Nobody was safe. The street was never going to be noisy. "…It was kind of my dream for people to shut up, you know." The others stared his way. "I still want people to shut up and never talk. Listening to them out loud every day got on my nerves that I always went to Udagawa to relax. That was the only place in Shibuya where it was quiet enough to relax."

"Are you saying you like this?" Ike asked. "We can tell these people aren't being themselves. They aren't doing this on their own free will!"

"I know," Neku said, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. "I wish for some quietude. A silent Shibuya is too much…and I want to find out why the Reapers are silencing Shibuya." He looked up from his collar. "This irks me a lot."

Beat caught sight of an important item that everyone was wearing. "Neku, look!" he called out, pointing at every single Red Skull pin that the people were wearing on them. "They still got on them pins!"

The Players then examined each person wearing the glaring red pins that clashed harshly on the everyday clothes from each citizen. "The Red Skull pins are everywhere," Ness said. "Are they really the cause of all this?"

The loner teen remained silent to sort out his thoughts while the rest brainstormed about the pins being the culprits. "But these pins we use in the UG don't work normally in the RG," Ike said as he took out a whole bunch of them from his right pocket. "Can pins work in the RG as well…under special circumstances?"

"Probably," Fox said, pressing his brow. "That implies the Reapers have more control over the RG… Ugh, they can also extend their power to the living world? Do they rule the whole city?"

"Hmm?" Ike noticed that, from the bunch of pins he took out, he was still carrying a Red Skull pin with him from way back during the first week's sixth day. "Hey, I have a Red Skull pin with me here." He grabbed it to show it to the rest.

"W-wait, don't hold it!" Pichu said. "It could turn you into them!"

"That's not true. I don't feel anything," Ike said. "Maybe the effect activates after you keep holding on to it for a long time? Anyway, this pin gives me the creeps so I'll just drop it." He dropped down the pin in front of him.

Fox walked to the pin and crushed it under his right foot. "This damned pin is to blame, then!" he said, gritting his fangs. "Everyone isn't thinking straight because of this! And we had a hand in their scheme since week one!"

"Wait, what?" Ness said.

The vulpine turned to them. "Did you forget? We helped Makoto make this pin popular when Shiki was moping around," he said. Mentioning Shiki's name around Neku only made the teen feel guilty about her imprisonment as his entry fee. "Now everyone in Shibuya is wearing it to stay up-to-date with the trends…and it's obvious the Reapers are orchestrating the entire event."

"That's some thought process…" Ike said. "So, we were used?"

"Sick," Neku commented. "The Reapers were planning this all along from the start to do…what?" he said the last word as a question. "Why would they silence Shibuya in the first place?"

"Because they have a very sick sense of humor - just like we have stated multiple times already - and they got bored of us?" Ness wondered.

"…Then this is perhaps the sickest example yet," Neku said. "There has to be an explanation."

"Wait, hold up…" Beat suddenly trailed off. When he tried to use his brain to get to a point, they saw his eyes bulge out in shock. Taking a quick cue from this, they covered their ears from the impending "Bwaaah!" and then he lowered his voice to a suitable level and said, "Of course! Yo, man, I think I finally get it!"

"Get what?"

"The Composer! I know who he is!"

This was too good to be true for them to know the big bad's identity from Beat. Therefore, there was no reason to get excited over his little outburst. "I can't take you seriously for some reason," Fox sarcastically said. "I wonder why?"

Beat grunted. "Yo, I know, really!" he said, nodding several times. "You wanna know? It's CAT, yo!"

Neku was quick to sigh and say, "No, it's not."

"Besides Neku's fanboy urges coming out into the open," Ness began, earning another glare from Neku, "I agree with him."

"Huh? Whatchu mean, 'no'?!" Beat questioned the serious Neku. "How can you be so sure? It's gotta be CAT, no matter how you slice it."

"But we don't follow!" Pichu said. It was a general knowledge among the group that Sanae Hanekoma was CAT, but they couldn't see how he was the Composer. "Why would he be the Composer, Beat?"

Beat raised three fingers for two points only. "The Player Pins… The Red Skull pins… They all the same design, yo. The same guy!" he pointed out. They did have to admit that the Player Pin had the same design as the Red Skull pin, except for the alternate palette swap. But was Hanekoma the one who designed the pins in the first place? He was a pin designer of the Gatito brand; a very prestigious brand in Shibuya that was the most popular among the most hardcore people.

"But CAT is Mr. Hanekoma," Neku revealed to Beat, who blinked several times to understand the message. "He saved us from trouble before!"

"Hanekoma… You mean King a' Coffee?" Beat asked, his body shaking. "No way, yo! He's CAT!? I…I NEED TO GO GIT HIS AUTOGRAPH!" He was about to take off all the way to Cat Street until Ike and Fox held him back from his wrists. "Augh! 'K! Fine! No autograph!"

Neku saw Ness grinning rather mischievously. "(Oh no. He found another tool to tease,)" he thought, making a mental note of it.

The punk sighed and faced the others. "King a' Coffee is CAT…? Then that makes him-!"

"Stop!" Neku interrupted incredibly fast, and he noted the eyebrow Ness raised curiously at him. "(Little snot! Don't you dare say I'm having a fanboy urge now…e-even if it might be true!) Mr. H can't be the Composer, all right!?" he shouted at Beat.

"I'm right there with Neku," Fox said. "How could that guy helping us from the beginning be the main villain of this story? It just doesn't make sense to me, no matter how I look at it from different angles." Neku was thankful that there was a logical mind among the crowd.

"A-aight, man. Sorry…" Beat said, questioning himself if his theories were right. "So, umm…I'm getting kinda confused, yo. You sure Coffee Man's CAT? I mean, how would you know that?"

"Joshua told me," Neku said, making a fist to his side while a memory of Joshua flew by. "And I believe him."

"The prissy kid you was with? The kid who gave me a seizure with his phone?" Beat shuddered. "Sure you can trust him?"

"He was my partner." Neku looked more serious than ever. "I trust my partners."

"Then I hate to tell you, man, but…Hanekoma's the-"

"Joshua was looking for the Composer. Same reason as you. And Mr. H was helping him," Neku explained in order to sway the attention away from his idol, whom he thought was a man that would never plan anything dastardly after being such a positive influence to his fans and the Players.

"So, like…he was helpin' out the kid who was tryin' to whack him?" Beat wondered. "I dunno, yo. I beat the H-Man was just playin' priss-kid."

"But he told me!" Neku argued rather strongly. "'Expand your horizons! Enjoy the moment!' The exact opposite of what's happening around us. This Shibuya isn't Shibuya at all… He'd never do this!" He was clenching both fists. The Smashers could tell he was determined to protect Hanekoma from being a possible villain.

"Hmm… Sounds like you're reachin' to me," Beat said. "…ARRRRGH! I suck at this analystical crap, yo." He rubbed his cap several times in a crazy fashion. "All I know is that Shibuya's messed up, and the Composer's the one doin' all the messin'. Whoever he is, I'm takin' him out!"

Neku reflected on the small possibility of his fears being true. "Leave Hanekoma out of this for now," Ike suggested. "Let's prepare for the worst once we reach his lair in the Shibuya River."

"Thanks, man! Don't wanna bust a cap inside my head," Beat thanked profusely and pointed at the path towards Udagawa through Shibu-Q Heads. "Now le's haul ass while there's still time!" He did wait for them to start running in the middle of the silent crowd. Once they did, their rushing feet echoed in the air for a long time. The scary factor was being raised several notches as their noise became the only source of life, ironically, in the dimension for the dead…

Shibu-Q Heads

Their fears of Shibuya falling silent became clearer after arriving at Shibu-Q Heads. In front of the large store building, every citizen in the vicinity would be better off described as breathing statues with broken records playing the same sentences every minute. The next district wasn't noisy at all, save for the fact that they got surrounded by brainwashed Reapers wearing the Red Skull pins on their clothes. Just as before, the crazed Reapers acted like animals during the Noise fight that ensued in the middle of the area. Even if they hit harder than usual, their wild minds were easy to predict to the Smashers who couldn't use the light puck correctly.

The six Players reappeared from the planes into the UG, panting heavily after erasing more unlucky Reapers. "Damn…" Fox muttered, trying to catch his breath. "It's bad enough we had Reapers hunting us down… It's totally different when a whole bunch of 'em join in the same fight…"

Beat huffed several times while grabbing his chest. "…Did we get 'em all?" he asked.

Neku wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Yeah…" he replied.

Pichu sighed loudly, having a small moment to lie down on his back. "Whew… Please no more fights for a while…" he pleaded. "I scrambled around that last battle like crazy…"

"Everyone we fight now will be an animal if they wear those Red Skull pins," Ike said.

"What the hell they want, man?" Beat asked, hunching over to recover his breath. "All that redumption garbage… I don't get it, yo."

Neku recalled when Ike unwillingly turned into one of them by holding the Red Skull pin close to his side. There was no doubt the pin was causing the whole commotion in the RG and UG. After having discussed the matter about Hanekoma being the Composer and the creator of the pins, a big storm of doubts spun in his mind. He sighed, trying to avoid thinking of the grave implications.

"Guys, what's gotten into you?" The Players turned to the path towards the hall, finding a Black Reaper staring their way and frowning to himself. When he noticed they were staring at him, he gasped. "You!"

Beat scoffed. "What, you wanna fight?" he asked. "Then bring it, yo!"

"Always the hasty one..." Ike muttered. He wasn't about to walk away, until something struck him as odd about the Reaper... Namely, the fact the Reaper wasn't sporting his own set of red eyes.

Neku also realized. "Wait, Beat," he said, holding his partner from lunging at the innocent guy. "He's not acting like the others."

"Huh? Uh, well... Yeah, you right," Beat said, straightening up. The Black Reaper sighed.

"Hey, what happened to your friends?" Neku asked.

"Seriously, man," Fox said, crossing his arms. "They're all acting out of it just like everyone else in the RG."

The Black Reaper shook his head, completely lost. "I...I dunno," he said ashamed. "Up until yesterday they were fine. Then, bam. They all started sayin' the same thing." The Players exchanged curious glances.

"Is it the weird pins the people are wearing?" Pichu wondered.

"Pins?" the Reaper said, scratching his head. "I-I don't know anything about some pins."

Beat looked even more confused. "So how come you ain't actin' like 'em?" he asked.

"That's what I wanna know!" the Reaper said frustrated. "...Wait. What if they know I skipped the emergency meeting the other day? And now they're ignoring me? Oh, no!"

Ness rolled his eyes. "Geez! I thought you guys were more organized than this!" he said. "Why'd you skip meetings? Won't they have your head for it?"

"Y-yeah, something like that. I'm scared!" he said, actually shivering. Looking around for any signs of his comrades, he gulped. "Or what if these are our new orders?"

"Might as well mimic them, then?" Neku suggested.

"G-good idea!" the Reaper said as he started to recall what they were all saying. "Umm... To write the countless thongs of... Dammit!" he cursed, knowing for sure he got it wrong. Sulking as he tried to chant the right words, he turned around and left. They still kept hearing him cursing aloud even after he disappeared by the left corner of the street.

Neku got into thinking while the others snickered for a bit. "(So the Reapers are acting funny 'cause of this emergency meeting?)" he thought. "That shed some light into the issue, don't you think?"

Ike nodded. "An emergency meeting... It must've been about the UG being in chaos," he theorized. "But then that implies the meeting changed the Reapers and...they were wearing the pins too?"

"That one Reaper we saw here had no idea, but it was the truth. They were all wearing the pins as well," Fox said. "I need more confirmation if the pins are truly the cause..."

"Yeah..." Neku agreed...and then he found a random box to his left. "Huh? What's this box?" he wondered. The others noticed the box as well. Ducking down and picking it, the teen opened it. "Oh, snap!" he said in surprise as he took out...a Japanese uniform commonly used for street gangs; the Head Honcho uniform, described as a uniform with red lining and a gold dragon on the back.

The Players grimaced. "...All I can say is...what?" Ness said. "This is what, the twentieth box or so you've found?"

"Yeah... Shibuya's littered with trash like this," Neku said. "No way this is related to the case."

"Okay, so, are you going to get rid of this uniform?" Fox asked.

"Nah. The clothes might come in handy later on, probably. I feel like I gain strength when I wear these...random clothes... But I dislike the style of this one," he said, putting the uniform away.

"Yo, Neku! Snap out of it, yo!" Beat said, nearly knocking Neku's forehead himself. The punk was ready to leave them behind. He wasn't a person of fashion advice unlike Shiki. "We gotta find Ironface!"

"All right…" Neku said, and he cursed when he sounded depressed about everything that was going around in Shibuya. While Beat couldn't tell right away, the Smashers did, staring his way with blank looks. Noticing their gazes as he started walking, Neku spoke to them. "You can tell, can't you? You're sharper than Beat will ever be."

"It's about Beat's assumption about Hanekoma being a bad guy, right?" Fox asked. Neku nodded. "I can't swallow that either. That guy is a good man who wouldn't try to do this after getting to know him through his popularity… Neku, would you have thought differently of him if you didn't know he was CAT?"

The teen mumbled a bit. "Yeah," Neku admitted. "He was a random stranger that liked to tease me about my views of the world till he gave me those talks… CAT is a very influential person I've wanted to know for all my life when I got into his stuff. Those mottos of his struck me up there so easily… And Mr. H is a pretty swell guy." He chuckled as he remembered the day he saved them all from Uzuki's trap. "He'd barf if he saw Shibuya like this."

"Well, what if he already saw this?" Pichu asked. He got a hard stare from Neku. "U-uh, did I say something weird?"

"He probably saw this and he isn't the Composer…" Neku theorized. "I'd see him trying to find an answer to solve this problem." He was having a good thought process that would help him to keep his mind cool until he noticed Beat standing still right before entering the area to Udagawa. "Beat?"

"Yo…look!"

The Players stopped on their tracks and saw a bizarre scene right in front of them. It wasn't the multitude of people that were under the effects of the Red Skull pin in the RG. It was the fact that the closed-off area to Udagawa that needed the lvl. 4 keypin to open became visible for them to notice a gapping, shattered hole in the middle of it. Like a broken window, the hole was floating in midair. They had bumped into the walls plenty of times before and tried to break them down with attacks, only to fail miserably at it. Seeing a wall with a hole now was shocking in the least.

"What the hell?" said Neku, surprised as they looked up at the hole.

"That wall's got a hole in it!" Ness said. "I thought we couldn't break those!"

Fox got wary and examined the area around the broken wall. On their side, there was the somewhat invisible glass shards scattered on the ground, while in the other side there wasn't anything. "Whoever broke this wall did it from the other side of it," Fox surmised. They agreed on this little statement when they saw the shards themselves. "Something…or someone did it with enough force."

"But this wall's Lv. 4, yo!" Beat said, feeling envious that he couldn't smash down the wall himself without a keypin. "Nobody could smash through this. Not even the top brass, man."

"Not even Game Masters?" Ike asked, seeing his group's worried glances. "Okay. This is completely freaky."

Right at that moment, the busted wall shattered into a million pieces, all of its fragments vanishing after shattering further on the street. The way to Udagawa was fully open for them to enter without using their new keypin. "Some good it did to get this keypin," Neku complained. "But the way's open for us…"

"Whatever, le's move." Beat shrugged and walked forward a few steps until Neku held him back.

"Hey! Hang on! It could be dangerous!"

Beat pulled his arm away. "But what if Ironface is back there?"

"How could she if she was barring the way for us?" Fox questioned. "She killed her own subordinates because they helped us. If she was back there, she wouldn't have the need to kill anybody."

"So we's wastin' time going there?" Beat asked. "Argh! What's the right way?!"

"It could be Udagawa," Neku said. "All places need to be checked before we come to a conclusion…but this could be a trap."

The punk nodded. "Aight. Le's bust up her face but good!" Careful with their theories in mind, the group proceeded to Udagawa.

Udagawa Backstreets

Udagawa was far eerier in setting than the rest of Shibuya, mainly because the craze of the Red Skull pin had caught on in the area very quickly. The punks that inhabited the alleys and dark corners weren't moving; only standing still with red eyes staring into nothingness and repeating the same dreadful words like everyone else. It felt like the world was silent along with time itself. With no timers on their hands, the Players thought time stopped for good.

This, coupled with the fact Neku died there due to Minamimoto, only worsened the creepiness factor.

"Every. Single. Person," Ness muttered under his breath as they made their way above the steps to the mural Neku worshipped during his free time. "They all are…"

"Have we failed our mission?" Pichu wondered aloud. "Was there a personal mission for us to keep this world safe?"

"The Subspace Army isn't here," Ike pointed out. "That makes us guests, and…I feel kind of guilty for this."

"Stop," Neku told them. "Almost there to end everything."

"If ending everything doesn't mean letting Shibuya stay like this forever," Fox said. "Is defeating that woman truly the best answer?"

"Could be, yo," Beat said, his gaze fixed forward while his eyes looked around for her. "The Composer is behind this. I know that!"

"Probably (and he better not be Mr. H)," Neku said.

After making it to the top, the Players came across with the mural. While Neku briefly found peace and freedom staring at the decals and CAT design on it, the others were quicker to tell there was smoke coming from beneath their feet. They quickly looked down and saw that they were on top of red, burning marks on top of black graffiti. Backing off quickly and pulling Neku away from the burned marks, the group examined it. "The hell is this?" Beat asked.

Fox pinched his chin and examined every corner on the floor. If memory served him well, the marks were once a large one that Sho Minamimoto was drawing himself a week ago. "Burn marks over the graffiti that crazy math fetishist was drawing," he said.

Having reached the highest point of the street with no signs of Konishi, Beat couldn't care less about the graffiti on the floor. "No sign of Ironface. Le's try someplace else!"

"And ignore this?" Ike asked while glancing at the burn marks on the graffiti. "Last time we came here, this…impressive art form wasn't burning or torn apart."

"I agree," Neku said, taking out his phone. "We should check this out. I'm gonna take a picture with my phone."

"You're going to use that feature which lets you take three photos of a same spot except each picture will show three different times in the past?" Pichu asked.

"Uh, yeah. It's what Mr. H did to Joshua's phone and mine," Neku said. "…Why'd you ask that now?"

"…Exposition sake?"

Neku frowned and aimed his phone's camera at the strange graffiti on the floor. The other five inched closer to see the pictures he was taking. With only three pictures to use for today, Neku took one from a day ago. The graffiti was still burning. Grumbling, he took another one from two days ago and there were no differences like today. "Two days ago and this was still burning?" Pichu asked, having climbed Neku's left shoulder.

"Hmm, let me try another picture…" Neku wondered. Taking a picture from three ago seemed like a bad idea since he had one try left for the day. He took a picture from four days ago – the first day of the third week – and found something different in it…

The evidence made them gasp. On top of the fresh-looking graffiti, Sanae Hanekoma was seen placing his hand on the center of the glyph. A closer look at the image revealed that underneath the black marks were fleeting images of Noise symbols. On the center, there was one Noise symbol.

"No way!" Neku said, his hand shaking the phone.

"What? Yo, lemme see it!" Beat asked, putting his head in the way of the screen and blocking everyone else. "Coffee Man!? That's him, ain't it?"

"Mr. H…"

"It is him…" Ness muttered. "That guy was here four days ago…the day he left me alone at the mall, and not because I wasn't being supervised!"

"(Why…)"

"What was he doin' out here, man?" Beat asked. "See, I told you he was fishy!"

Fox crossed his arms and said, "Hey, hold on there. What does this even mean for him?"

Neku snapped out from his descend to depression when he listened to the vulpine. "Huh?"

"Big deal. He was touching some glyph four days ago," Fox said. "I don't see anything in that picture that suggests he did something dastardly. No Noise anywhere in sight…no Reapers in sight… Hell, Pichu could be touching the graffiti and that wouldn't mean much." Pichu sighed at the mention of his name. "He's a guardian, you know. He could be investigating this behind the scenes. The math freak did this…not Hanekoma."

Neku breathed a mental sigh of relief knowing this argument was sound. With Beat making a face, it seemed like he was buying it. "Yeah… He could be investigating," Neku said. "A guardian like him should be looking at this."

Ness stared down at the burn marks on the ground. "Alright, so…what is this graffiti for again?" he asked. "Did Freak Plus Psycho say what this was for anyway?"

Long "uhh…" comments trailed off all at once. When Ike remembered Beat was in league with them before, he asked, "Don't you even know about this?"

"Why wouldai?" Beat asked. "Damn it! I'm an idiot! I shoulda know what this was for!" Several frowns were directed his way.

"Wait a minute," Neku said. "Let's drop by his café and ask him ourselves."

"Huh? Whatchu talkin' about, man? We gotta find Ironface first!" argued Beat.

"Mr. H's place is on Cat Street. We haven't checked there yet," the teen pointed out, causing the others to nod.

Beat began nodding faster. "I get it. Two stones wid one bird!"

Ike rolled his eyes. "No, no, it's two squirrels with one arrow," he said.

"Ike, it's two birds with one stone," Pichu said rather duly.

"Two birds with one stone? In my home, it's two squirrels with one arrow. You can strike two down with a fast arrow. How can you strike two birds with one measly stone?" the mercenary argued.

"Pfft, it's two flying vessels with a Charged Shot… Why are we even discussing the meaning of some saying that's very different from every world we come from?" Fox asked as the voice of reason. "Let's go to Hanekoma's café and ask him about what he was doing here. His guardian missions involve us Players, and we're the only ones left. Therefore, he's protecting us." He saw Neku's rather cool expression. "(Fanboy urges sure are creepy…)"

"Aight!" Beat said, pumping up a fist. "Ironface oughta be there! No time to lose, ya guys!" As if they were being dragged around by Beat, they had to start running back down the steps to start their long way to Wildkat.

All could have gone smoothly if it weren't for two Reapers blocking the way to Shibu-Q Heads.

The Players found Uzuki and Koki standing in their way, their eyes glowing red and their bodies standing still. The glowing eyes were a bad omen. "Oh no…" muttered Neku.

"They're…they're like everyone else!" Pichu shivered, tugging to Fox's left leg. "They're wearing those Red Skull pins somewhere!"

The brainwashed Uzuki said in a monotone voice, "To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption…"

"…that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…" finished the brainwashed Koki. Even with his will taken away, the lollipop in his lips didn't fall down.

The blond punk shook a clenched fist their way. "Yo, snap out of it, fools!" he demanded. "That pin youse wearin' is bad news!"

"Like they're going to just take them off now," Ness said. To their surprise, the Reapers were inching closer to them, stretching their arms to the front. "U-uh-oh…"

"If all the previous Reapers attacked us while they were brainwashed…" Fox trailed off, already cracking his fists, "a fight is what they want from us."

Ike looked sick. "Are we seriously going to erase them now?" he asked. "Can't it really be helped?"

"You'd rather be erased yourself?" Neku asked, until the two Reapers hollered at them and took flight to attack them all. The Players braced themselves as another Noise fight started…

The World Ends With You – Emptiness And

As fliers flew by into the winds somehow getting in the tight spaces of the backstreet, all six Players appeared in their respective planes, with the brainwashed Uzuki and Koki appearing in the upper and lower planes.

"Huh? All of us are fighting together against them?" Ike wondered.

"Good! I was sick of leaving people behind during the most important fights," Fox said. He was looking straight at the brainwashed Koki. "As always, beating Reapers up is the final solution… Too bad for you."

Neku believed that they had good odds with all three pairs working together to take down the two Harrier Reapers.

It was all good until the UG decided to ramp up the difficulty by deploying the Noise versions of Paula, Mist, Pikachu, Krystal, and Lucario, all in one single fight. Because of how Noise fights worked, that meant each group of three Players were facing off against six monsters all at once, with the Harrier Reapers counting as one person in each plane. In total, six to twelve demented monsters were fighting three to six sane people whose sanity was bordering on insanity.

The vulpine blinked twice. "…Aw, fuck!"

"Yo, guys?" Beat gulped, seeing red eyes staring their way. "Kinda scared here..."

"Oh…oh god," Ness felt sick.

Pichu clutched his stomach. "I-I'm not liking any of this!"

"Dammit!" Neku cursed. "You guys, we better watch ourselves for real!" They never saw the Grading Reapers watching from inside a store, quietly muttering to themselves, "Erasure! Erasure! Erasure!" just to end their long job to keep grading them all.

Once the battle started, hell broke loose.

The entire fight was a big mess of people running all over and attacks going in every direction. The general rule of thumb was to lure multiple enemies into getting in the same line of fire, which was easier said than done because it looked like the enemies were doing that to the Players without even thinking it. That, or just the sheer amount of Players and enemies fighting all at the same time was pure chaos.

Madness had taken over Uzuki and Koki. While the first was always a very temperamental lady, the latter always kept his cool. Now, though, the two had lost their minds. They acted like wild animals attacking without stopping to catch their breath. They were the leaders of the fight, with all the other Noise being their troublesome lackeys who made things even worse.

Ike took it upon himself to slay down the Clericure Noise to prevent her from healing her allies, but it looked like the Aura Hunter was protecting her, and Ike wasn't exactly a speedy fighter. Once a Force Palm blow to his chest sent him back to the dirty floor, he gasped for breath and asked, "Why did things suddenly turn so bad?!"

"They've been getting worse and worse anyway! It started when we all died!" Ness yelled, diving to the right to avoid a PK Fire beta blow from his personalized Noise. "I really hate this!"

Fox meanwhile was having a wild time fighting the Vixenance who had it out for him. Just fighting a copy of his failed love felt like fighting a super pissed Krystal; the worst kind of result anybody could get out of a romantic breakup. He needed to defeat this one and that just painted a worse picture in his mind. Using Velocity Attack to ram his fist against her face, he managed to connect the blow and send her packing to the dirty wall covered in fliers. Despite the blow, she growled and charged forward with her staff shooting fire shots from the tip.

He winced in pain, feeling Pichu getting damaged by the Pikander's Thunderbolt. "You alright up there?!"

"I-I've felt better before this fight!" Pichu squeaked. "I didn't want to fight another copy of Pikachu this soon! This sucks!"

"Stop whining and don't stop attacking back at it!" Fox ordered, sidestepping from a flurry of fire shots from the Vixenance. "This fight is gonna drag out for too long if we don't attack!"

During the whole fight, Neku and Beat took upon themselves to fend off Uzuki and Koki. They figured that if they could take down the leaders of the fight, they wouldn't have to mind fighting the monsters. This was easier than done, as the two Harrier Reapers fighting together as mindless people out for blood was much harder in comparison.

The madness of the O-Pin completely overtook the Reapers' minds. Both Harrier Reapers were roaring and yelling incoherently for no reason. Seeing Koki look so crazed was a scary sight, but they were used to seeing Uzuki losing it so she wasn't as scary, oddly enough. Much to his dismay, Neku found out Koki never changed the shape of his sperm bomb attack, and this crazed version of him liked to use this one attack a lot more just for the sake of causing havoc and chaos on their prey. The Noise had it easy that the attack never harmed them.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Koki would roar in a frightening way. He was even drooling and the lollipop he was always seen clutching to his lips was long gone. This was a different person altogether, just like how the rest of Shibuya had changed so quickly.

He felt so much damage piling up on the other end as he heard Beat screaming. He was being ganged up by three monsters at once, with Uzuki and her flower shots being the most damaging attacks of the lot. "Yo man... We in trouble..." Beat weakly called as he was allowed to rest for a bit.

As Neku took out a second Cure Drink, he saw what was going wrong in the form of lights descending from the upper plane to their hosts, only for the lights to go away before they could be used properly. The light pucks never lasted long enough to help them deliver strong blows to quicken the pace of the battle. This was all the more frustrating when they realized Uzuki and Koki could use the light puck themselves, and theirs lasted just as long as Neku and Beat's did.

The others, though, were falling behind by a landslide. With so many Noise fighting at once, it was a living nightmare in the flesh.

By the time Ike had managed to defeat the Clericure – which had been their only kill thus far – their healing pins were running out of uses. Once all uses were gone, they would have to survive the fight while also making sure Neku or Beat weren't erased. There wasn't a situation that so far called for them. Dodging and eliminating the rest of the monsters would be enough to take on Koki and Uzuki.

The cruel revelation that Koki and Uzuki could not only use the light puck but also a Fusion was what pushed them into the fire.

The berserk Reapers flew to each side of the planes and then locked the Players into their spots without moving. Then everything went dark, with the Players stuck in position between both Reapers. Red and white lightning bolts stroke their bodies, but they necessarily didn't shock them, but rather hit them for massive damage. The two Reapers were crackling madly as they shot the blows from afar, hearing the Players scream loudly. The attack then ended with Uzuki and Koki sending one last blast that formed a large X, right in front of an even larger Noise symbol.

"D-d-damn..." Neku spoke weakly.

After the attack had ended, all six of them found themselves struggling to stand back up, and the other Noise were charging at them to eliminate them all. They had one last use to heal themselves once more, but the bloodthirsty Noise were getting to them so quickly that attacking back would prove suicidal but effective, instead of standing there and using their healing pins.

"W-w-we have to attack to survive!" Ness yelled. "There's...no time to heal!"

The situation was very dire. In the middle of it all, Neku and Beat were gasping for breath, and they saw their partners painfully stand up to fight back. "(W-why...how did we get cornered so...?)" Neku was lost in thought, until he saw a familiar light transcending the planes and landing on Ike's body. It faded away just as quickly as it came, and he managed to overhear the deafening screech of a Pikander being burst apart by a charged shot from Pichu, who then decided to collapse. "T-the...light puck..."

"PHONES, DAMMIT!" Beat yelled. From his vision, he saw the Aura Hunter and Vixenance about to terminate Pichu – and by proxy Fox – on the spot as they lunged themselves at him. "F-Fusion Time, quickly!"

The Fusion pin they had wasn't even ready, angering Neku and frustrating him even more because of the dire spot they were. Pichu was going to die, and Fox would take the fall as well. The others would be next, and everything would be over for everyone in Shibuya, and perhaps even the whole universe. Neku cursed his luck so much that he saw a light of hope shining on his palm clutching his Fusion pin...

To be frank, Neku and Beat had some weird mechanic about their Fusion pin that they never understood. Beat somehow knew that it involved a deck of cards, but how in the name of Rhyme did he even get cards related to him was unknown, and he never knew how to play Poker either. The important fact was that these deck of cards were a pain in the butt to deal with as there was such a random factor that allowed the partners to prepare their Fusion in a blink of an eye, or be punished by getting random damage out of nowhere. Neku could actually see the cards playing out in his eyes, but Beat was in charge of adding the cards by doing certain attack patterns, which did nothing good to them most of the time. But when cards were paired and taken down in one long combo, miracles happened.

One such miracle happened. Pairs of cards were taken down in one long string that gave the Fusion pin so much energy that it started back up quickly in two seconds. With no time to waste, Neku clutched the Fusion pin to activate it stronger psyche yet.

With some extra energy gained from the pin, the two Players suddenly took off to either direction from the other as the planes merged together. "The beat is on!" Beat said, dropping his skateboard and riding on top of it.

"Bring it!" Neku said.

The teen made a small hop as the atmosphere around them changed into a void with all the monsters taken into it. As the Noise looked around in confusion at what was happening, a large amount of big chains appeared from black holes all over the place, trapping them into small spaces where they tried to get out but failed miserably. The sound of metal grinding against something echoed harshly, and then they felt damage by people ramming against their cages. It was Neku and Beat riding those same chains. The two Players were engulfed in a force barrier that damaged the trapped monsters every time they rammed into their cages, and the damage accumulated faster and faster as the two rode down the chains from all sides at faster speeds every second. The speed gradually became so blinding that Neku and Beat turned invisible to the naked eye, the chains rumbling so hard that they stopped hearing the anguished screams of the Noise eventually. Once the attack reached its climax, the space went back to normal...

All the Noise were exterminated, and the Reapers on berserk faded away in static...

Neku and Beat were panting so much that they fell forward and sighed loudly. The others were horrified that they were this close to being erased right there in a second that they felt so much better that the beasts were gone "We won..." Neku spoke weakly.

The grading Reapers were very astonished to see the Players still alive. Despite their surprise, the Reapers slapped a D rank on their overall performance. "Things got nasty at the end, but it doesn't excuse the fact the battle was horrible," the first Reaper said.

"But it got me so pumped up, bro," the second Reaper said. "So much suspense packed into this fight... Must be the lack of Players making me so excited."

"Bad News: We can't drop the job yet," the third Reaper reminded them, to which he was replied by annoyed grunts. The grunts got lost in the merging of planes...

Music stops

The very frantic battle had come to an end.

The six Players reemerged from the separated planes and dropped down on the floor, all of them gasping for air. After they reappeared, Uzuki and Koki fell down on the floor, having survived erasure altogether from the arduous battle. Thinking that certain death was too close made them feel horrified to the bone.

"T-too…close…" Pichu breathed out, lying down on his back and staring up at the sky. "We…were…just…about to…d-die…"

Ike tried to sit back up, albeit very slowly. "That was the…biggest close call…I've gotten…" he gasped out. "Damn…"

"So this is…" Fox coughed out, sprawled on the floor, "what seeing your life…flash before your eyes…feels like…"

Ness managed to be the first one to stand back up, though he felt very exhausted and frightened. "I'm having so…so many second doubts…t-to face off with…the Composer…" he said, his chest inflating and deflating at a quick pace. "I… Can…we…do it?"

Neku kept lying down on the floor to recover his energy. He saw Beat getting up next, and he went over to help him get up to his feet. Accepting his hand, Neku stood up and stared at Beat. "We pulled through…at the last second," he said. "Hope we don't get into that…kind of fix again."

"Yeah…" Beat huffed, turning around to see Uzuki and Koki knocked out. "…Dammit! All this 'cause of some pins! I oughta…!" He went to Koki and picked him by his neck.

The others gasped, assuming Beat was going to kill Koki. "B-Beat, wait, don't!" Neku called out.

"There!" Beat spotted a Red Skull pin in Koki's hoodie. He took it out and smashed it down under his foot. He then went over to Uzuki's side and spotted another Red Skull pin sticking out from near her breast area. While the Players thought Beat had no shame in touching a girl in such place, Beat yanked the pin off and crushed it as well. "That…shoulda do it… Le's let 'em rest here. They need it."

Everyone sighed as they started getting back up again. "It's those pins that made them attack us…" Ike said. "Not even they're safe from all this madness…"

"No one's safe in Shibuya…" Neku said. He looked around to see the brainwashed people not moving or saying anything than the cryptic words. "The city's…going to die in a way."

"And we're getting consumed by it…" Fox said. "Do they expect us to…wear the Red Skull pins ourselves to join them?"

"Yuck, no!" Beat said angrily. "I rather drink my own pee than wearin' it! Ironface's gotta be in cahoots with this whole thin', yo! Le's bounce to Wildkat, now!" For once, they let him rush ahead first.

"That guy sure has stamina…" Ness said, still trying to recover from an early bout. He glanced back at Uzuki and Koki. "That close call we got from fighting back there…that was…terrifying… How did we fall so low this time?"

"They tossed a whole bunch of enemies at us," Fox said. "It was hard keeping track of everything."

Neku was just about to say something important after he realized that the setting had changed so suddenly.

Beat's Day 6 - Stride

Scramble Crossing

With their collective energy recovered at the top, the Players blinked in shock when they saw they were back in the Scramble Crossing. "D-damn! Another day passed already!" Ike said.

"I-I can't really complain this time," Pichu said. He was lying down. "I needed some full recovery after that battle we had."

"But I do complain, because we need time to track that woman down!" Fox said. "I nearly experienced certain death…again…in a battle of life and death, and now I know how Chris felt when he lost all hope in his…" He closed his eyes to keep himself from recalling the sad memory. "…Point is, the random passing of a day is good and bad, but it's more bad."

"Aww… HELL no!" Beat roared. "This can't be happenin', man! What day is it?" They noticed how Beat was huffing very quickly, exasperated from the event. Neku demanded him to calm down. "It's Day 6! Nooo!" He grabbed his head.

"Calm down, I said!" Neku stated. "We've still got time."

"CRAAAAAAP!" Beat had another episode breakdown. He was happy one moment, he was crying another moment, he was weeping so suddenly, he was trying to hide his face from them another time, he was very giddy all of a sudden, and then he settled with just freaking out.

"Yeah… You're definitely glitching," Ness said.

Neku rolled his eyes. "Hey, we don't have time for nervous breakdowns!"

"Yo, I'm only human!" Beat shot back.

"I'm a beorc and I know we don't act like that," Ike said. Despite his knowledge about beorcs being the other word to refer humans in his world, his word was lost in translation by everyone else.

"Quiet, alien swordsman guy!" Beat said. "If the Iron Maiden was tellin' the truth, today's the day I get ghost for real, man!"

Day six was perhaps the last day their luck would last. Pichu sat up and said in a shaky voice, "If Beat disappears, Neku disappears, we disappear, Shibuya dies, everyone else dies and disappears, Tabuu swallows everything in Subspace, Chris and Soren will never come back to us a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-and…" He started shaking so badly that Ness had to shake him himself to put him back to his senses. "N-n-n-n-n-n-no use, I-I-I need to panic for a bit!"

"CALM DOWN!" Fox shouted loudly, just in case Neku and Ike were about to lose it as well. Pichu could only manage to reduce his shaking to subtle shivering. "Okay, we understand the whole mission goes to hell if Neku and Beat are erased and that this could really be our last try to fix everything… Me getting my hopes shot down by my own words aside, we gotta keep our heads in the game. Do you want to give up on Chris?"

"…N-no," Pichu said. "But…but what if…"

"I dare you say he's gone forever," Fox said seriously. "Go ahead. Say it."

"….H-he's waiting for us…h-he's waiting for us somewhere…" Pichu shivered.

"Good," Fox said. "He and Soren are rooting for us… They are. I know our chances to find the Game Master are slim now, but there's only one area we haven't checked."

"Where?" Beat asked. "Oh! Duh! Cat Street."

"We haven't looked around there yet," Neku said.

Beat grinned, forgetting about his weird nervous breakdown. "Aight, sweet! Ironface is gonna be there. I feel it, yo! I ain't goin' without a fight! C'mon!"

"But then again," Neku continued, stopping everyone from running away, "we've got things to fix first before we get into another fight for our lives…and I'd rather not feel like I'm really fighting for my life." He then gave a scolding face at the Smashers.

"…Why are you giving us that look?" Ike asked.

"I'm making you fix those trust issues you have," Neku said. The Smashers stared blankly. "It's because you guys don't trust your own partners completely that our fights have gotten progressively harder each day! The light puck helps a great deal in battle, you know! I've seen everything from the very start of this week, and you all haven't made any progress with your own bonds!"

"What?" Ness asked. "You really think we're the ones slowing you down?"

"I don't want to put it that way…but…" Neku shook his head. "…The truth speaks for itself and you know it. You can't fight properly without understanding each other. That's the whole point of surviving through the Game! Mr. H told us that, and even Koki hinted at it multiple times during that fight before he got brainwashed!"

Fox sighed. "(O great almighty Hanekoma. Stop brainwashing this kid…) Neku, stop trying to make your idol be the voice of reason fo-"

"Shut your trap!" Neku yelled, shocking Fox. "Whoever said this doesn't matter when that advice pulled me out from many sticky situations. Forget about Mr. H clouding my thoughts and ideas. I'm not stupid and self-centered anymore, and I wanna see you guys showing me you can also open up to others!" He pointed at them. "You see me in a different light than before, don't you? I thought back then you were all good friends from the beginning… So how come you're all lagging behind me? It makes no sense."

Ike glanced at Ness, who in turn glanced at him. Fox and Pichu did the same. "We did say we don't really…hang out with our current partners," Ike said. "…There's practically nothing between us we have in common, other than our jobs at fighting a common evil that doesn't relate to this place."

Neku nodded. "Okay, I can understand that, but that's no reason not to try," he said.

"Neku, you could connect well with your partners because you're all nearly the same age," Ness said.

"I know that wasn't a factor in it," Neku argued back. "Shiki tried the hardest to get me to open up. Joshua was an ass for a week but I managed to see what a good person he was. He knew this stuff as well… He was unique about it, though. Beat is still an ass and an idiot in my eyes but I see his worth in being a valuable ass and an idiot."

"Yeah!" Beat grinned. "…Hey. Wait, wha-?"

"I don't care how old and how different we are," Neku said. "It's the matter that we're different that…that makes me want to open up my world to these strangers trying to step into it. Didn't you guys learn that during these weeks?"

"That never crossed our minds because we didn't have partner changes like you did," Fox pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. So this is the time to open up to your partners," Neku said. He saw them staring at each other for a long while without saying anything. "…Fine. If you can't do this for yourselves, do it for Chris and Soren." They blinked in shock. "Our teamwork is what they depend on. You wanna blow it with the next big fight?"

"…No," the Smashers said in unison, looking preoccupied and saddened.

"Then follow me," Neku said, turning his back on them as he faced the 104 Building. "Beat, sorry, but we're gonna have a small detour to Dogenzaka. They need this detour to patch things up."

"What?" Beat asked, "Whatchu doing this for now?"

"Were you paying attention?" Neku asked. "Look you guys. Follow me to Dogenzaka." The Smashers and Beat followed the teen to the district, wondering how he was planning to help them out with their light puck and trust issues. Each one of them thought the idea was bound to fail, as they never cared much about the people that didn't belong to their worlds or ever found any interest in them. The sad reminder about two of their teammates' fates was enough reason to give Neku a chance to help them out.

Dogenzaka

From the looks of things, Neku was taking them all to Ramen Don, until they noticed that there was a shady-looking store opening up at the very end of the sidewalk, right next to the corner leading to A-East. "Hey… That store," Neku muttered as they saw the black props and announcements close to the entrance of the store. Because everyone in the district was under the spell of the Red Skull pin, none of the stores had any customers. The stores were wide open to the Players. "They reopened Shadow Ramen?"

"That was the store we tried to close down when Joshua was with us, right?" Ike said. "The outlandish one with the dancing chefs?"

"Yeah, I don't approve of dancing people cooking for me… We don't have any more business with them this time around," Ness pointed out. "But I wish them good luck in getting any customers while everyone in the street is more concerned about staring into space and chant hellish sayings all day long."

Fox chuckled, looking smug. "Right. What kind of people are dumb enough to go get some ramen over there?"

Shadow Ramen

Makoto was in high spirits, knowing that his business career would take off the right way without resorting to underhanded tactics to warp the masses' minds. Screw them! He did not like that shady businessman look he had donned the last week. Seriously, that gel hair was too damn expensive. With only enough perseverance and a big, honest smile, success would come and pass over the doorstep of his establishment. Despite his resolute mind, he failed to understand why the entire Shibuya area was oddly silent and…quiet. Obviously, this was a scheme from those twisted brands trying to push their trends into them! There was no other way Makoto had been used to spread those Red Skull pins. Sure, his company sorta promoted them from a mysterious source he wasn't told too much about, but still…

But that was a thing of the past obviously taking over Shibuya by storm in the present he didn't care to look at again. The today was the most important thing, even if said past was lingering out there in plain sight and reminding him that his evil alter-ego started off by selling those pins. It felt like he was being manipulated by the supernatural when he did that. He dismissed that. No way was he moved around like that either! Everyone knew the supernatural was a load of hogwash!

Today, it was the day the dead Shadow Ramen restaurant would rise from the ashes and take off into the high skies to spread honest advertisement and high quality ramen dishes! Good thing that did, because it had been three hours since the doors got open and no one out there took an interest in even using the bathroom. They preferred to say some weird words over and over again. Something about light bringing redemption and a paradise for a world. Brands were getting so weird, Makoto thought. To think he was almost drawn into the vortex of brands where he would not escape...

He even tried to call Ai – the girl that for some reason blushed when he would stare at her longer than five seconds (Makoto was oblivious to love but quite adept at noticing small details, you see) – to come over and get some shadow ramen bowl. Unfortunately, the current brand of the week had caught her too, for she was repeating the same thing everyone else in the city said every hour. He asked Mina if she would like to come instead, and all he got was a chant about a wonderful world being brought about by the so-called light of redemption; topics that were barely Ai-related. He asked again about Ai, but Mina repeated the same lines, much to his annoyance. He surmised it was a game not to say anything else other than that so he left her behind…and hanging on the phone.

Granted, it had been three hours without a single customer. It was too early to mop around. It was three days without customers or bust. Just as his smile was about to turn into a straight line, customers did indeed enter the building! Oh joy! Some of those fierce otaku people, judging their flashy looks and super real homemade costumes. Makoto grinned in delight. He dealt with this kind of crowd before. Rising up from his chair and tightening his business suit, he went over there to greet his first customers, who hopefully would come to appreciate the dancing chefs and black steaks in their bowls.

"I can't believe we're those dumb people getting some ramen here," Fox muttered to himself, much to their chagrin. Ramen Don had closed its doors right before they could get in. Neku then directed their attention to the other ramen establishment as a backup plan...

"Oh, hello…" Makoto called out rather weakly. His concerns about shooing off the people inside the building were getting to him. One good look at Neku suddenly made his memory remember something. "Oh! I know you. You ate here a while back."

Neku scratched his head. "Yeah… Sort of? (He remembers me?)"

Makoto sighed. "Circumstances forced me to close for a while." He looked bright as he said, "But today we reopen for business! Why not eat before you go?" Before letting Neku and the others say something else, Makoto took off running behind the black-and-white counter facing the entrance of the restaurant. Ducking down behind the counter, Makoto emerged, wearing a black Japanese robe with a black hat on top of his head. The group was mildly perturbed that the business man changed clothes so fast in a second...and more perturbed just knowing he did that behind the counter.

"Whoa! This guy is a chameleon…" muttered Neku.

The restaurant looked gaudy enough to leave an impression just because the whole place had a dark motif going on. White tables with dark chairs on each corner, a tiled floor with a black-and-white checker pattern, a kitchen with white walls and black pots, and even the bathroom doors were black for men and white for women. Perhaps the colors were stolen or they didn't have any other paint color, but it was weird to think the other conventional stuff was also like the whole place. They would all definitely get their vision screwed up if they remained there for too long.

"Neku, why is your skin suddenly darker?" Ike asked.

"Worry about that later," Neku said. "Time for us to eat."

"Eat?" Pichu said. "Why eat now?"

"Oh, no reason," Neku continued. "We should eat something to be ready for the worst. Hunger does cause some bad stuff in battles."

"Now you're talkin'!" Beat agreed. "I wanna have some ramen 'bout now."

"Yeah, we're all getting ramen," Neku said, his expression stoic. "I'm inviting you all to eat ramen, actually. That's the surprise."

"…Neku, please. You treating us all for ramen all of a sudden sounds fishy," Ness said. "What's the catch? We'll pay you back after you pay for the meals?"

"Nope. It's not like that," Neku said. "We should relax for now. That's all I'm asking for."

Ike sighed and smiled a bit. "Well, I'm not going to turn down the offer. All that running around Shibuya and skipping days randomly leaves me with an appetite you wouldn't believe," he said. "You really are turning into a nice person."

"Thanks. I'm not being fishy," Neku reassured.

A while later…

"I'm not being fishy my ass," Fox muttered through his teeth, staring forward with dull interest at Pichu as they sat together in a table meant for more people besides themselves. They were alone, however.

Pichu forced a smile. "B-but we still get food to eat! That's nice of him!"

"Oh yeah?" Ness called out from the right corner of the restaurant, sitting with a table together with a confused Ike. "This is several layers of wrong. You don't have food with a dude older than you!"

"People can confuse us for brothers," Ike brought up.

"Explain to me what resemblance we share other than being human," Ness dared. He looked outside the window at all the people possessed by the Red Skull pin. "…But it doesn't matter. None of those guys out there are going to walk inside."

"That's good," Fox called out. "I can't be seen around Pichu. He just doesn't look good by my side."

Pichu pouted. "Sorry I take off several notches of your manliness gauge just because I exist," he complained sarcastically. "You don't need rugged looks right now."

"Hey, would you guys quit complaining?" Neku asked as he took a table in the middle of the restaurant with a dangerously hungry Beat, who contemplated chewing the napkins because he could have sworn they smelled like meat. They did. "That's not the point of this experiment."

"News Flash: Your experiment is starting to suck," Ness commented.

"It started off badly because you're still indifferent about it," Neku said. "But it'll work out. The point of this experiment is that all of us are gonna eat with their partner without getting distracted talking to someone else entirely. We'll be here for a while until the food is ready." He cringed when he saw the dancing chefs beyond the counter. A happy-looking Makoto was waiting to get their orders, and Beat looked like he was about to eat Neku's head if he wasn't fed. "You're gonna talk to each other to pass the time meanwhile, and you're not expected to leave the table."

"Sounds like you're forcing us to bond with our partners," Fox said, looking annoyed.

"No, the Game is forcing me to force you to bond with your partners," Neku rephrased. "Teamwork is the key to finish the final challenge. If we lack that…everything is over. It's curtains for us, and Shiki…Rhyme, Chris, Soren, and maybe all of Shibuya are finished." The Smashers shut their eyes to stay strong. "It all depends on us now, guys. We can't afford any small mistakes."

"I can't really see the Reapers trying to make people open up to others to overcome the Game," Ike said. "That's the only good trait they have that can backfire on them."

"And none of you can't even pull that off because you're so damn closed off," Neku said. "I can't do the job by myself with Beat, guys. Please, understand… All the sacrifices we made each day will be in vain if we're erased for good."

"…" The Smashers sighed in unison and stared at their partners for a long time. Neku felt like they got the memo at last, and so he went to the counter to order six Shadow Steak Ramen plates. His gut feeling told him Beat's stomach was far bigger than it looked, so he welcomed the chance to prolong the time in the restaurant just so Beat's voracious appetite would be satisfied.

Back with Fox and Pichu, the two unlikely partners had a staring contest of sorts. They were waiting for one of them to start talking about anything that didn't sound remotely forced or boring. But what could they talk about? One was a young adult space mercenary and the other was a young electric creature. The two were far too different to mix well as friends, and yet they were there. "…" Pichu didn't speak.

"…" Fox didn't speak.

"…" Pichu continued the silence.

"…What's the point in this," Fox muttered with a silent scoff. "Let's go get ourselves erased already. We can reach Chris out faster that way. The fighting will be over as well."

Pichu gasped. "H-hey, you can't say that now!" he said. "We came so far to give up!"

The vulpine frowned. "I'm facing the reality of the situation here," he told Pichu. "Teamwork is supposed to be the only aspect we need to pull through. The battle yesterday nearly killed us all. We were lucky Neku delivered the final blow at the last minute." He furrowed his brow as he thought about the Composer. "The Composer is the final boss of this story. He is by no means a pushover... We ARE the pushovers."

"B-but we need to try fighting him anyway!" Pichu argued.

"And get erased right there," Fox sighed. "Before, I had hopes we could fight off all the threats thrown at us. I was very optimistic that we could make it till the very end… Maybe that was another stupid decision I didn't think through." As Pichu's ears perked up at the last statement, he saw Fox crossing his arms over the table, burying his face on them. "Where was the point I took a bad decision to lead to this…? Was a past choice I made…kill Chris indirectly?"

"…What? What are you saying?" Pichu asked concerned.

Through the small holes between the arms, Pichu heard Fox say, "It's been always like this for me lately… It started off with me turning Krystal down to continue working with me. That was the point of no return that decided my whole future… I liked to grin and say, 'Hey, things will work out! You just gotta press on and see everything through.' After some time passed, that optimism was tossed away, and I began to understand…I was a stupid leader…" His body trembled a bit. "…And back then, I was barely a leader. It was worst… I was just a stupid person who couldn't use his brain properly. Everything I won through hard work and dedication just went away…because of me; because I wasn't making the right choices."

Pichu's good hearing told him that the vulpine was…whimpering. He wanted to say something now out of worry, but Fox cut him off. His voice started to sound sadder and sadder by the minute.

"The choices I made started to destroy others' lives," Fox continued. "First, Krystal was absolutely torn apart when I told her to leave Star Fox. After that, none of my friends returned to reform Star Fox. Falco went solo, Slippy got hooked up with a girl and that made me feel very jealous deep down, Peppy became the new general of the Cornerian Army, and the only person who was left with me was ROB… He's a robot so he's hard to emote anything other than saying the sad state of the ship. I tried to get in touch with them before the whole Anglar fiasco started, but it was no use… After that was over, I somehow managed to get everyone back together. I was very happy to see my guys under the same roof again…but…I don't know how much longer that will last. I mean, I'm dead…"

"Fox…"

"And the worst thing is…I get the feeling that was just a temporary event waiting to get shot down," the vulpine whimpered. "What if the team already disbanded behind my back while I was dead? I'm the leader of that team, and I need to be alive so the team is alive… But that's just another problem I have besides the rest of problem I got into…"

"Wh-what do you mean by that?"

"…That stuff is about my team and me trying to be a good leader," Fox said. "What I care the most is what I'm worth as a person. That's where the source of my problems is. When I took my temporary absence to assist Master Hand with the Subspace Army, I was secretly…on a mission for myself." He slowly looked up from his arms, but his mouth remained concealed. Even if he wasn't staring at Pichu directly but rather at the table, Pichu could tell Fox had cried a few tears. "I was trying to become a better person by being around others, you know…but nearly all the time, I was 'losing' time with Falco. I never went to hang out with someone else to see how I was improving. Falco obviously didn't care much about that problem I have. He would just tell me, 'Geez, you're such a worrywart, man! What do you care what others think of you?' I punched him when he told me that… But Falco's a person who doesn't care about what others think of him, but I can tell he was trying to cheer me up his own way…"

"…"

"The last straw was Chris getting killed…"

"…Why?"

"…There was something in him that I found…was welcoming me," Fox said. There was a small smile hidden behind his arms. "Call me crazy, but that attitude of his annoyed me to no end when we first met. Well, I pointed a gun at his face. That was probably one of my stupid decisions at work, of course… Sometime later, the guy was starting to grow on me after I started to know him better. I thought he was one of those hotheaded idiots who always liked to throw punches at others to vent off his frustrations, but he was the complete opposite. He was a smart, pacifist person who could understand others' feelings… It's incredible how I never met someone like that in my world. I guess Slippy fitted that description too, but work got in the way too many times that he started to become distant. Chris is not a replacement for Slippy. He's…another friend I like."

Pichu smiled and nodded. "Y-yes, he is," he said. "He's so sweet, too!"

Fox kept smiling until he buried his face again. "…And he could be gone forever," he said, bringing the mood down. "When he was erased, something in my mind told me... Your only support is gone, Fox. You screwed up big time…yet again." The whimpering sounds returned. "This was by far the worst thing that happened to me... Someone close to me died because I couldn't do anything to prevent it… Of course, it's me who made this happen! Chris died because I couldn't save him!"

Neku and Beat were watching from their positions along with the surprised Ness and Ike. "Yo, Phones," whispered Beat. "The fox guy's cryin'!"

"Don't do anything, Beat," Neku told Beat just as he saw Beat about to stand up. "My plan seems to be working."

"Whaaat?" Beat asked, looking dumbfounded. "Whatchu mean by that? You wanna make 'em cry? Man, that's nuts! You're nuts!" He was more than ready to punch Neku.

"No, you idiot," Neku muttered. "He's opening up."

"No, he's cryin' us a river!" Beat said. "I ain't don't see what's good about that!""

"Just shut up and see," his partner said. Beat scoffed and went back to looking at the vulpine.

"Don't you see how bad this is?" Fox asked. "I had never had a man dying on me before… Now someone did, and that someone had so much left to see… How will we explain this to his family?" he asked. "They don't know what he got into all this time. Everything's done for his story…"

"Fox, please…" Pichu started to whimper himself. "…It's not your…your fault…"

"It is my fault…" Fox sobbed. "It's my fault he died…"

Pichu looked at the barely-seen reflection on the window next to him. "…It's my fault he died…"

It took Fox several sobs to register what Pichu had said. "…What are you even talking about?" he asked, albeit still sounding very depressed.

"He died because…because I wasn't strong enough," Pichu said, now looking down at his feet. "I'm just a regular Pichu who can't do much…"

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," Fox muttered.

Pichu could tell that Fox was mostly unaware of what Pokémon were. "Let me start from the beginning," Pichu said, sucking up some air. "You maybe don't know too much, but I'm just a weaker Pikachu. I can't do as much stuff Pikachu does because he's a stage of evolution higher than me."

"…Oh, you're going to tell me that you weren't strong enough just because you're not a Pikachu?" Fox asked. "That sounds like a meaningless personal issu-"

"It's not meaningless!" Pichu said, almost about to shout. Fox looked up from his arms. "I…I only told this to a few people, Fox. I'm very much aware how much I suck in a battle… I haven't even won a single tourney ever since I joined up with you." He sobbed for a little bit. "Master Hand came to my home forest one day and offered me to participate in the Melee tourney. I was very confused about the whole thing…and even more so with a floating glove that could talk…but I had this thought in mind way back then."

Fox decided to humor the Pokémon, just so he could stop sobbing himself. "What was that thought?"

"I have…an inferiority complex," Pichu muttered. "…A severe one."

"An inferiority complex?" Fox questioned. "But I hardly…"

"…seen me sulking?" Pichu finished. "I sulk inside of me whenever I lost many matches before. It hasn't happened much ever since we started fighting against the Subspace Army, though. I've felt much happier just teaming up with anyone else to fight because I don't get compared too much with others… I'm comparing myself to others now," he spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm the weakest member of all. Even I can't do a lot of things like you can do, so…so I thought I was dragging everyone down…especially you."

"Dragging me…down?" the vulpine said. "…No, you weren't dragging me down before Chris was erased. We weren't even partnered yet."

"But after that?"

"Uh…"

"You've been staring down at me like I disgusted you," Pichu said. His mental stability was starting to break down as his eyes kept watering up. "T-then all those things I used to think back then…they came back to haunt me. I couldn't follow your orders in battle too well…and you kept yelling and yelling. Somewhere in those yells, I started blaming myself for not being strong enough to please you, and I also couldn't make you feel better since…since Chris died…" He buried his face on his little paws as he shook. "Now only am I not strong, but I'm so pathetic…"

"…Dammit…" Fox hit his forehead on the counter. "…Another problem gets added up to my list…"

Pichu was very close to crying out, but he looked up. "What?"

"I didn't know you had it that bad, and now I screwed it up and made you feel incredibly insecure of yourself as a person…" He smacked his forehead once again. "It proves I'm a horrible person myself."

"Maybe…maybe I had to remember how useless I am," Pichu said, sobbing but not bothering to wipe his tears. "I've been taking it so easy till now without much of a care in the world… I should thank you for doing that for me…indirectly."

Horrifying. It was incredibly horrifying to help someone by being very demanding. This was something Fox would never live with in mind without excusing himself. "I-I refuse to be thanked like that!" Fox said. "I want to help others! I don't wanna tell them how bad they are about themselves! You're just a kid, aren't you?! That's a hell lot worse! I badmouthed a child all these five days we've been with!"

Pichu fidgeted his little fingers. "Well…I'm 17, so I should know how to take insults by now… Since Master Hand stopped aging for us but Chris, I should be a year older, but…"

"…" Fox silently revealed his wide eyes; his wide, shocked eyes. He couldn't bother to see, but the others dropped their jaws in complete shock. They remained silent (or as best as they could) to avoid butting in. "…You're telling me just now that you're actually…17 or 18 years old…" Fox carefully tried to understand what the hell he just heard from the obviously younger-looking creature in front of him. "…Holy crap, you're older than Chris!"

Although it looked confusing enough, Pichu cried and blushed at the same time. "And older than Pikachu…and Jigglypuff…and even Lucario…and maybe just Mewtwo…"

Fox could swear that the butterflies in his stomach had more butterflies in their stomachs. "…I…I take it all back."

"W-why?"

"Because I should've said holy shit instead and leave it at that." He felt sick in his stomach. "B-but you're way too freakin' small and childish to be that old!"

"W-we Pokémon have our own way to distinguish children with adults…" Pichu trailed off. "You're an adult when you evolve at your last stage, but things get really weird if you evolve…and still act like the mindless child you were before. Evolution gets pretty wonky in so many ways: you become far more aggressive, stupider, or just odd. You do get stronger for real, so it's kind of risky to get used to the secondary effects. So many Pokémon still evolve just to be stronger anyway… In your eyes, I'm older than the other Pokémon we have in the team. In my eyes, I'm a child… Age doesn't matter much to us Pokémon…"

"…That makes zero sense to me," Fox bluntly said. "(He's 17 or 18… He's freaking 17 or 18…)"

"…I know! We're so strange!" Pichu bawled. "F-forget about that for a moment, Fox! Don't you see how bad this is for me? I've had this inferiority complex for years now, and I never wanted to evolve because of those risks in mind! Maybe evolving to a Pikachu will do me a lot of good…but what if I lose my mind? What if I'm not the same? It's possible I can be the same Pichu in heart, but…but I just don't want to take the risk at all." He clutched his hands on his neck. "Removing the Everstone I carry with me is that risky…"

Still with the morbid revelation in mind, Fox found it hard to concentrate. "W-what's an Every stone?" he asked.

"Everstone…" Pichu said. He moved his hands away from his neck…to reveal that he was wearing a cloth that was perfectly camouflaged with the blackness of his neck. Under the cloth, he took out a small and thin stone plate that he showed to Fox. "This little stone is part of an Everstone; an item that prevents Pokémon from evolving at any time in their lives. When I fight while I wear it, I avoid evolving at the end of the fight. I can go without it outside of fights but I you never know what could happen."

"I…I see," Fox said.

"Any other Pichu can only evolve with sufficient happiness with their trainers, or so I've been told," Pichu said, putting the stone back into his hidden cloth. "But that's not the whole story… Any Pokémon that's equally happy without a trainer can evolve, meaning that wild Pokémon can evolve. I'm a wild Pichu. With this stone close to me, I have stopped evolution for so many years now…"

"For years you have stopped evolution?" Fox asked.

Pichu sobbed a bit. "I'm so scared about what else could happen to me once I evolve," he said. "That risk continues to scare me even today… I like being a Pichu, even if I've been a child for that long… I've watched others evolve before me, and many weren't the same people anymore. I don't want to go there… But now…now that I got involved in this fight…" he hung his head down and sniffed, "…I thought it was my fault Chris died…because I wasn't strong enough…"

"…"

"Someone died because of me…and we were the only ones who could do it, but…"

"…Don't…don't say that," Fox said, making Pichu stare at the wall formed by his arms. "If you want to blame someone, blame us, too… We were all there."

"Maybe that was it…or maybe it was just me…" Pichu did wipe his tears this time. "Fox…thank you for reminding me about how powerless I am. I shouldn't be here with you guys if I can't become stronger than I am now. I like being a Pichu, but it won't fit with the rest." Fox raised his head. "I don't want you to die because of me…"

"…I…don't want you to die because of me," Fox repeated. "After listening to you, I can't…"

"Thanks… It's okay if me not being here will help the group stay focused," Pichu said. "The last thing I want to do is have someone else die…"

"(But no one else wants that…)"

Pichu took a few seconds to sob a little more to let it all out. "…What I can do for all of us now is to take us out from the Game, with or without Chris," he said. "I'll feel okay knowing I could do that."

Neku and Beat then noticed that the two saddened partners didn't talk more beyond that. They fell silent. "…Phones, this ain't workin'!" Beat told Neku. "You dragged 'em down!"

"(Did I drag them down?)" Neku thought. "(No, it's too early to tell. They need to keep going at it…or maybe…) Give them some time," he said. "It could take a few minutes to spark something."

"Don't see how that'll happen now," Beat said.

The loner teen then looked over at Ike and Ness, finding them not talking. A few seconds later, Ike decided to break the silence first by looking at Ness and saying, "It's incredible how others feel about the situation, don't you think so?"

"It's more about how they feel about themselves and how those traits affect everyone else," Ness said. "…We're no exceptions either."

"…You have something to say about yourself?" Ike asked.

"Plenty…" Ness rested his arms on the table and sighed. "For example, my overall insecurity at being good at what I am."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The Onett boy mumbled a few words. "Don't laugh at me or think anything weird, Ike, but because of PSI gift, I feel like I don't do well enough with many of you," he said. "Just like Pichu thinks he's very weak and can't do anything right, I feel like the whole responsibility is weighing me down as well…"

"How can you call yourself weak?" Ike asked. "You can throw people around with your mind. I don't know many children with that kind of power."

"That's nice to hear, but it's not like the future was written on a meteor."

Ike grimaced. "Even I know you're saying that wrong," he said.

"It's pretty meaningful to me, though," Ness said, now his eyebrows lowering. "I was a destined child meant to defeat a great evil in my home world, Ike. Destiny literally dropped a meteor near my home, where a talking fly from the future told me to go on an adventure to defeat Giygas, an embodiment of evil and chaos. What he told made a lot of sense when I first got the first melody of eight melodies…"

"…Not exactly one of the strangest facts I've heard till now," Ike said, "but continue, please…"

"So, what I'm trying to say is that I was confident about my destiny," Ness said. "A lot of that bravery I showed during my own adventure with my friends was mostly justified because destiny said so. I believed I could succeed if I did things my own way, and I did succeed in the end. Though letting Porky escape that one time did a lot of bad things to Lucas in his timeline…" He embraced himself and shook. "…You know… If only destiny had mentioned to stop that guy from escaping…Lucas wouldn't have lost his mom and twin brother, and he wouldn't be so insecure about himself…"

Ike gasped. "Wait, no. Don't blame yourself for that. There was no way you could've known that would happen in the future!"

"You're right about that…" Ness said. "But with my gift, I thought back on that moment many times. I kept yelling to myself how stupid it was to let an obviously deranged guy escape with a time machine. I did anything else before that because destiny told me so."

"You're still strong in your own way," Ike said.

"And I'm young," Ness said. "Having this power is a boon. Other times, I thought it was a way for me to mature quickly or else I wouldn't achieve the expectations everyone had in me for having them. Sometimes, I thought having PSI was…a curse."

Ike tried to understand why Ness thought that was a curse. "…Because misusing that power could bring consequences?" he wondered.

"Or not using it for anything and suffer consequences anyway," Ness said. "I've seen many people trying to cope up with their powers, Ike. I'm no different. I can prevent deaths and defeat bad guys... I let one slip and that somehow caused the entire population of a world go to hell." He buried his face on his hands. "Destiny didn't say anything about those. I was driven by destiny before, and now I do things freely at my own pace without pressure. Some good that did in the end…"

"…Wait, you're telling me you do things because destiny says so?"

Ness looked angry at Ike. "That's the whole point I was trying to say!" he said. "There is absolutely no destiny telling me – or us – that we'll succeed in our fight against the army. I mean, look at where we got doing that! We're dead but somehow alive in a brutal game run by sadistic people. Chris was an extra added for good measure yet he croaked and died, and he was pretty much an ordinary human who had no idea this would happen, just like all of us!"

Ike made a wise choice: wait for Ness to stop fuming. He was surprised to see Ness so riled up to have thought so much about the past.

Finally, Ness shook his head. "…Now you know how I feel," he said. "I never told this to anyone because things never got too ugly, just like Pichu and his…rather unimaginable revelation. I can finally vent it off on someone I hardly talk to just to show you how much I care about our mission."

Ike couldn't force a smile now. "I'm very sorry for hearing all that," he said.

"The important thing is that I came clean about it to somebody," Ness said before sighing. "The four of us down here fighting for our lives just means we're very unlucky. Maybe destiny said so…"

"…Ness, seriously, stop it," Ike said in a rather stern voice. Ness stared. "Don't let destiny guide your whole life like that."

"Are you telling me to quit the team?" Ness asked. "I'm more than ready to go back to live a normal life for a boy anytime. All this fighting wore me out so much that I'm reconsidering this career choice. I should become the ultimate clairvoyant or whatever..."

"No, I'm not telling you to quit the team," Ike said. "It's your own choice to do that. I won't stop you from doing it."

"Just go ahead and say the 'But' part," Ness said, mildly surprising Ike.

"Okay… But," Ike began, "I won't convince you to do anything. It's beyond my power to force people into doing anything because that would be rude. I used to have so many soldiers under my wing that I knew how to read them all at the end of the Mad King's War so I understand any kind of emotion there is."

Ness raised an eyebrow. "That's nice," he commented. "Good to know you understand what I'm going through: too many expectations dropped on a boy with psychic powers. If I could predict it, I'd use your help to convince Master Hand to let me off the hook."

"Just there's something I wanted to bring up to you."

The boy smacked his face on the table. "There it is… I knew it."

"I'm not convincing you," Ike said. Ness looked back up. "Think about what that decision will do to you in the long run. It's best to think what'll happen down the road when you take those without thinking."

Ness then looked back at Fox still hiding his face in his arms. "…I get what you mean," he said while shrugging. "Let me think, then…"

"Let me help you," Ike said, crossing his arms. "You're heavily involved into fighting the army now that backing out is just asking them to terminate you on the spot."

"…How did I not consider that?"

"Not to mention, anyone else from us can't do the same as we have information the army would like to know about our advances, regardless of our status."

"Oh, crap…"

"In the end, we are tied to the job, and the only way to finish this is by defeating the army."

Ness hung down his head. "…I can't believe this," he said. "I'm practically forced to keep fighting."

"There will be times when we get to the worst of times, Ness," Ike said. "Backing out is not an option. Who in their right mind among us would do that?"

"…Maybe I could," Ness said. "I can beg and cry to Paula, Jeff, and Poo to stick with me till you guys beat the army to play it safe."

"Ness, we aren't so sure we can defeat the army."

He groaned. "You're telling me I should stick around and lament how futile this can be for me personally?"

Ike clenched a fist on the table. "Can you stop hogging everything for yourself? The universe doesn't revolve around you, you know!" Ness opened his mouth. "It also involves us! So what if destiny doesn't say you're destined to bring Tabuu down? It's nice to screw destiny over for greater good!"

"Damn, Ike. I haven't seen people screwing destiny before," Ness said. "I tried doing that many times when I first saw Mr. Aurageddon AKA Lucario, but no. Paula kept reminding me it was our job to destroy Giygas. Is there such a thing as screwing destiny?"

"I believe so," Ike said. "But there's no destiny to screw up here, is there?"

Ness looked away. "No. We're free to do what we want, and what I want to do is call quits," he said. "…And now I'm not so sure if I can call quits without getting my head blasted apart by the baddies while I sleep in my bed, thanks to you."

Ike scratched his head. "I wasn't trying to threaten you… I was speaking logically as if you were part of my mercenary company," he said. "I told you I have my ways with people."

The boy actually smiled a bit. "Hah, I can see it now," he said. "You do know your way around others…but isn't there something that's bringing you down personally?"

Ike looked away next. "What's bringing me down personally now?" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Find some way to get Soren back."

"…Okay, my turn to ask the questions here," Ness said, leaning forward. "What do you see in that insufferable guy everyone else can't? I branded him the Neku 2.0 that never opened up…or bothered to do it."

The mercenary looked back at him. "Have you seen that mark on his forehead?" he asked.

"The glaring one? Yes," he said.

"That's the mark of the Branded, people born from two parents that belong to different species each, in this case," Ike had to use the common words to get the point across faster, "human and a humanoid, or beorc and laguz. Soren was the product on two such people."

"One of his parents is a humanoid animal?" Ness queried. "I didn't see anything that looked like an animal on him."

"That's because Branded only look human in the outside, but they have beorc and laguz blood inside of them," Ike explained. "Normal laguz can smell the blood from a Branded so they are quick to treat them as garbage or they simply hunt them down, while beorc can see the mark and they like to injure the Branded because a lot of them aren't so kind to laguz in the first place. Just seeing a Branded is a big deal, but I wasn't aware of that fact until Soren brought it up to me."

"So what you're saying is that he's an outcast everyone hates because he was bred by two different species?"

"Yeah," Ike nodded. "He's been living like that for a long while now, until he came to the company when I was younger. Ever since then, he has taken a liking to me, but I hardly remember why he does so. He said that I saved him from starving to death long ago…so I went with that, feeling that was right for him." He sighed. "I'm the only person who he ever talks to. He ignores nearly everyone else in the company, but I've seen him talking to Stefan when he was around. I wonder why…"

Ness blinked and saw that Neku was already getting the ramen orders from Makoto, but the clerk insisted in giving them out instead. "You don't want to think he's completely gone like Chris is, huh…"

"…I want to believe they both can be saved," Ike said. "Both of them have so much left to see. I want to see the day Soren stops treating everyone like trash. I hardly seen people hurt him when I'm around, but he hisses at many of them behind their backs whenever he has the chance to say something witty but insulting."

"Just like he's been insulting us?"

"Apologies for that," Ike bowed. "I can see the resemblance he and Neku have until the latter changed for the better. Neku changed, so I believe Soren can change as well. He needs more time to do so…"

"…" Ness chuckled. "…Ike, can I say something to you?" Ike stared back. "I…I want to thank you for talking to me."

"Wait, really?" Ike asked.

Ness nodded a few times. "Really," he said, interlacing his fingers on each hand. "Maybe I was being too hasty with what I was about to do, so at the least…I want to help you reunite with Soren if it's possible, and Chris too."

"Um…" Ike felt embarrassed to hear the boy say that. "Thank you?"

"You're asking yourself why I suddenly changed my mood, right?" Ness asked. "Let's just say I don't want to feel like crap until I know for sure everything was done for nothing. I want to see what'll happen after we get out of the Reapers' Game to come to a conclusion…" He looked serious suddenly. "I refuse to think Soren and Chris are gone forever."

Ike felt relieved to hear the encouraging words. He thanked himself for being a good listener with good communication skills. "Ha ha, thank you too," he said. "I was also feeling so down with Soren's condition and all. I needed the support so badly." He saw Ness stretching his hand to him. "What are you doing?"

"Silly, I want to close the deal with a handshake," Ness said. "This is going to be our little pact to keep moving forward in this hell with the others. After all, you told me the universe doesn't revolve around a single person."

"Oh… Now I see," Ike said. Smiling a bit, he shook hands with Ness. "I'm glad to say I can consider you a closer friend now."

"Likewise here, and it feels pretty great to know that," the boy said.

"Here you go, sirs," said Makoto as he came with the bowls of shadow ramen. With a respectful bow, the business man walked away to serve the other bowls. Ike and Ness stared down at the ominous black piece of meat floating over the soup with other fishy-looking ingredients.

"…Is this edible?" Ike asked, grabbing his sticks and trying to figure out how to use them again.

"Eh, I had worse," Ness said, and the two began eating.

As Makoto placed the orders for Neku and Beat, the loner teen had been keeping an eye on Ike and Ness. "Told you so," he told Beat, whose mouth was already filling with drool at the black piece of steak in his ramen. "They patched things up and now understand each other better."

When Neku faced Beat, he saw the punk already eating at a quick pace, all those noodles rising up like a cascade going backwards. The noodles disappeared within his lips before he said, "It's a party in my mouth!"

"…" Neku stared down at his bowl, especially at that black matter floating there. Reluctantly, he used his chopsticks and took a bite of it. "…Gross!" he muttered to himself, though he had to eat it just to avoid wasting money. Seeing Beat's eager but sickening display of noodle slurping, Neku foretold there would be more bowls to follow. To get some fresh air before digging in, Neku turned back to Pichu and Fox.

They were still downcast, eyeing their bowls of Shadow Steak Ramen but slowly eating them. Fox didn't mind the flavor as much as Neku did, though Pichu didn't truly like it.

The orange-haired teen grunted, disappointed that they haven't moved after eavesdropping on Ness and Ike. "(Don't wanna tell them that we won't have much time left,)" Neku thought. "(They need to do it now for our sake…)"

As the vulpine thought about living with the harsh reality a little longer, Pichu's dislike to eat his bowl forced him to keep talking. "Fox…" Fox looked his way without saying much. "…Should we really give up now? I know we screwed up a lot before…"

Fox shook his head. "I have nothing," he said. "Way too many wrong turns to shrug off like they were nothing. I ruined people's lives. That was more than enough to keep me from making another mistake."

"…Well…if you ask me about my opinion…" Pichu fidgeted his fingers, "…I should probably mop around after we're done with the Game for real. You could take me to the winners' circle."

"And get you dead for real?" Fox asked. "That's too much pressure. I'd rather die."

"U-um…we will die together if one of us is taken down, technically…"

Fox widened his eyes.

"That's how the rules of the Game are. So if you feel like you're not worth living again if I happen to die, you'll just die with me too. And if you die first, I also fall down…" He shrieked a bit. "I-I'm not threatening you! I'm stating the facts!"

The vulpine looked away as Pichu tried to compose himself. "I guess I could mope around at the end of this trial…" he muttered. "Dying now would be downright sad and pathetic on my part…"

Pichu stopped shaking to blink a few times. "O-oh, thank goodness," he sighed. "It's better to just do the last leg of this ordeal together. It maybe won't help us feel much better about ourselves, but…Chris wouldn't want us to be like this for sure."

"Let's make a new start to make things right this time. Until then…I don't want to hear you to be my big brother."

Fox widened his eyes, recalling the moment he made up with the teen.

"I-I…am…s-so…s-scared… D-don't…le…a…ve…me…"

"Hang on to your life! You can't give up now! P-please… …Don't die…"

"…S-so…scared… D-don't…w-w-want…to...d-die…a-a…lo…ne… U-uh…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The traumatic scene played out in Fox's mind in great detail. Chris's last words summoned a few more tears in his eyes when he thought better on the situation his late partner got into. Solitude in death; an event the teen was most afraid of just like many others. However, there was something Fox noticed when he saw Chris dying and crying. "(Was it perhaps how he tried so hard to hang on to life, or was it perhaps…)"

"…"

"(…It was the last straw for him,)" Fox thought, greatly saddened. "(He had died many times before, but he always came back and wasn't so perturbed by it. Now…there was absolute fear in his voice… He knew this was it…)"

Pichu noticed Fox's ears drooping a bit. Knowing for certain that Fox was falling even deeper into depression, the Electric type thought fast on some encouraging words. "(Anything, please! Something helpful!)" he told to himself. "…Chris…Chris isn't dead yet!"

Fox looked up without wiping his tears. "How do you know?" he asked.

"B-because…" Pichu felt cornered, although Fox wasn't trying to make him sad, "…because…anything is possible!"

"Anything…is possible?" Fox wondered for a bit but immediately discouraged the thought. "Death is not part of that."

"T-that's right," Pichu said, "but he has come back from the dead a few times before! This isn't any different! I believe the Composer is holding his soul (and body) hostage!"

The Star Fox Leader wanted to believe that, but what if that wasn't true? Soren tried to divulge information for the team before getting erased, but there was also the possibility that his information could be false anyway. Deluding himself from the truth would make Fox think he was descending into certain insanity. "…And what good would they have by holding his soul hostage?"

Pichu got into thinking. "…He knows stuff others shouldn't know?"

"…Like what?"

"Well, he does know about many worlds and their most important people," Pichu pointed out. "We don't care much…or used to care much before, but in the hands of a villain looking for world domination or something close to that…he would be a vital tool."

Fox lowered his face. "But the Composer isn't a villain," he said.

"…Are you out of your mind?" Pichu asked, making Fox look up. "What kind of person makes dead people go through this hell just for some laughs? Why does this plane even exist? We're in a game played by madmen!" He pointed at Fox's face. "Look at yourself! You're crying! I've never seen you cry! They would so tape this moment just to see it every time they wanted! And to make my point clearer…" he pointed outside to a random bystander – Shuto "Shooter" Dan – standing still in his pose in front of a pole, "EVERYONE ALIVE IN SHIBUYA IS BRAINWASHED!"

"To right the countless wrongs of our Tin Pin Slammer matches, we shine this Bahamut pin of true redemption. That this place may become as hell of an Ifrit fun. What a wonderful battle of the ages such would be…" Shooter said in his own version of the cryptic words – which was amazing considering the rest of Shibuya couldn't enforce their speech patterns like he did possibly because Shuto possessed some kind of broken shonen hero trait in his blood for real - though none of the Players overheard his weird words. It only mattered that he was also brainwashed and mostly crazy in real life.

Pichu looked angry. "That doesn't tell you anything yet?!" he asked. "They like to tease us! They HAVE Chris in their clutches! I dunno you, but I won't give up until I see the Composer myself to ask for him! Maybe after that, I'll come to a REAL conclusion about what I want to mope about!"

"…I…" Fox looked away to the fleeting reflection on the mirror. He saw a fox man crying his eyes out, with arms crossed over the table next to his bowl of ramen which still was steaming hot. The picture was incredibly shocking and embarrassing, considering if Pichu's speech did make sense and he was being ridiculed just through his emotions.

"…Think what your confident self would say to you!" Pichu said.

"…I'm a girl for crying like this?"

"No, it's really manly to cry once in a while if you're a guy," Pichu said. "…But think harder than that! Think about encouraging words!"

It was this or continuing weeping on the table. Taking Pichu's suggestion into account, Fox took a deep breath and tried to think about his older self saying something to pull him up…

Instead of his older self appearing in his mind, a blank-looking Chris appeared, looking perfectly okay and joining his hands as if he was praying. Pichu saw Fox's eyes widening, unaware of what was going on in the fox's mind. "Don't give up on me…" Fox could imagine Chris saying, though his mouth didn't move, as if the teen was using telepathy. He was probably losing it for real, but it sounded too real. "…Don't give up…on us! You're still fighting for dear life! I want to live again…so help me, please…"

Fox heard crying echoing afterwards. The crying sounds nearly tried to make him cry even more…but one small blink made his eyes go back to the tough look he always used during the most hopeless of moments. Just like he experienced certain death many times before, his beloved ones always managed to pull through with him. Everything used to look hopeless, but fate had its ways to prove him wrong to make him feel right in the end. As he was oblivious that Pichu shuddered at looking at his serious glare, the cries in his head were still there, begging him to end them with his own hands.

Watching his fraternal little brother crying so much ignited a lot of anger and a pure sense of confidence stronger than before.

Fox used his right arm to wipe off his tears before slightly slamming a fist on the table, just as to not make a scene. Startled, Pichu moved back to his seat in case he thought Fox was about to kick him out. "F-Fox?" Pichu squeaked. The others sans Beat looked their way.

"I had it with them all…" Fox said. "I won't give up on Chris. He is still alive."

"W-what?"

"You told me so," the vulpine said. "Anything is possible. Every action that has happened to us in the past has broken nearly all common sense. Not all of it was bad. Some of it was good in the end…and that includes meeting Chris himself."

"Uh… Yes!" Pichu nodded. "Meeting him was very nice!"

"I agree with that," Fox said. "It only happens because we make it happen somehow. Cheating death is another skill we seem to possess."

Pichu sniffed. "He is waiting for us…" He was glad to see Fox getting back up on his feet. "…But what if I'm not strong enough to help you out and we screw up for the last time?"

Fox's cocky grin went away when he stared back at Pichu. "Well…"

Pichu sighed. "Fox, it's so sweet to see you care so much about Chris…more than me right now," he said. "This isn't going to work if we can't understand each other so well. I can't keep up with you."

The older Smasher sweated for a bit. "(Dammit, all this confidence was just for Chris without thinking about Pichu. It won't make a difference if we can't exploit the stupid light puck in battles. I better try to start bonding with him for real without making this up, but how do I even do that?)"

"Like I said before, things would be different if I was a Pikachu, or even a Raichu," Pichu said. "I've been a Pichu for years, unable to move on because of my fear of evolution. Nothing will change my opinion about doing that now because I would take a huge gamble that I won't be able to change back…" He buried his face on his hands. "…I wish I was a Digimon. They can do that with no problem."

Completely lost about what the hell a Digimon was, Fox was stuck in a hard place. When he thought he was going to stop to find something to cheer the little guy, something…or rather some people came in to their aid.

"And just like that," Ike began, "placing the whole burden of a mission on yourself makes you feel insignificant and worthless."

Pichu and Fox looked at Ike and Ness standing next to them. "There was a reason why destiny told me that I wasn't the only chosen one to save my world," Ness said. "There is no destiny telling me anything for this kind of thing, and yet I'm being grouped up with strangers with the same common goal because there would be no way I could defeat a dimensional army by my lonesome."

"H-huh?" Pichu said.

The little push made Fox understand where to continue. He smiled at them, "(Thanks, you guys,)" and then looked at Pichu. "It's way overdone at this point to say this…but the only way we can all succeed is by working together, or did you forget our last big fight? That was a complete disaster because we couldn't understand each other unlike now. Put yourself alone in that situation."

Pichu shuddered. "I'd be dead…"

"We pulled through at the last second because we were together," Ike pointed out. "Neku delivered the last blow when everything was about to end for us. That taught us everyone here that future battles will be the same like that in some ways. That's why we work together… To survive and live a normal life."

"We're weak by ourselves," Ness said. "Together…we're so damn screwed up that anybody who doesn't know any better would say we kill each other rather than the enemy. I feel like we changed this time around, though. After having a moment to reflect on our problems, I understand Ike much better than before, and you two understand each other better as well, right?"

"U-um…" Pichu stared at Fox putting a blank look. "I understand him much better…and I don't want to fight alone." He fell silent. "…But I'm the weakest person in the group just fighting alone."

Fox suddenly came up with a question. "And?"

"What do you mean 'And'?" Pichu asked. "Our group would prefer the best of the best over the weakest of the weak!"

"If that was true, Master Hand would have chosen that kind of people a long time ago," Ness said, surprising Pichu. "Yes, I do think there are stronger people than us somewhere else… Everyone is relying on us instead to get the job done."

Fox grinned at Pichu. "You could say we are the best by default."

"I don't buy it still," Pichu said, shrugging off their smiles. "I wish I could be stronger by myself…but…thinking again…it's also nice to team up with others to cover weaknesses together…" He looked at them again. "…Should I bother to become stronger by myself?"

Ike tossed his hands to the sides. "If there's another reason beyond helping our cause, go ahead," he said.

"Yeah…" Fox said. "Is there another reason why you want to become stronger by yourself?"

"…" Pichu looked at his feet. "…I only thought about that when I first entered the Melee tourney, and only to win matches there. It…it was never a concern to me before that…"

"Then don't let it bother you much," Fox suggested, stretching his hand across the table towards Pichu. "A lot of us don't bother toughening up in our personal lives because we just like living life the way we like. I'm…not the best example of that after you listened to me, but will you at least listen to us?"

Pichu stared at Fox's open hand and then back to him. "Maybe I'll never become as strong as Mewtwo…or other Pokémon stronger than me in the evolution field…" He nodded and grabbed Fox's hand. "Being strong shouldn't just be about physical strength, right? I can be strong in my own way like all of us are…that's what I want to believe in."

Fox chuckled. "You are strong," he reassured him, before Ness and Ike placed their hands above theirs. "We are strong."

As the Smashers shared a bountiful moment of bonding, Neku watched from afar at the event he had caused. Happy to know he mended their bonds, the teen wondered if his excitement to start anew with his own life different from theirs grew. Would there be people like them in Shibuya? As he asked himself this, he looked at Beat voraciously finishing his bowl of Shadow Steak Ramen. He pointed at Neku and said, "More, Phones!"

Maybe getting a stronger bond with Beat meant to appease his large stomach in the process.

"…Alright," Neku said, walking back to Makoto to order more ramen. The Smashers, with their bonds strengthened, went back to eating the fishy-looking bowls of black steaks, this time with a better understanding of one another.

With Pichu's spirits renewed, he chuckled and looked at Fox as the latter tried to find a flavor of his liking in the steak. "Fox…" The vulpine looked at his partner. "…Thank you, you know. Trying to make me feel better back there…I think that was one of the best decisions you've done."

Fox stared in surprise for a long while until he smiled. "Thanks a lot," he said. "Glad to know my words didn't bring your hopes down."

Pichu looked happily at him. "You can only get better from here for others like me. Keep it on!"

The encouragement from the little Pokémon was most likely true. Fox continued eating his meal with his partner, thinking about a brighter future where his decisions wouldn't distance people away from him. The only way to find that out was to win the Game for real…and it was a possibility that he couldn't deny this time around.

Cat Street

Three more servings of Shadow Steak Ramen for Beat challenged logic for normal stomachs in Shibuya. Moreover, ten total orders of ramen somehow convinced Makoto that Neku was gay for him, which was ironic considering he never noticed how much Ai liked him. The nervous fidgeting and the wide eyes from the businessman made Neku raise an eyebrow in confusion without ever finding out that Makoto truly thought he had a crush on him and only visited the restaurant because of a fleeting meeting Neku barely remembered. Bottom line, Neku was totally gay for him in Mick's eyes, and Makoto was another big weirdo in Neku's eyes.

With the meal time over, the group proceeded to Cat Street directly from the restaurant while taking on random Noise fights and brainwashed Reaper agents blocking their path for each area. Neku was relieved to see that the light puck was starting to last much longer on the others than before. Instead of fading away after a fourth of a second, the puck stayed on for three seconds or more. A fourth of a second would never be enough time to strike back, but three seconds was enough. Their survival skills were increased as a result.

"Now this twisted challenge has become a horror story," Ness said as he looked behind them at the shattered wall shards that used to block the way to Cat Street. "Another wall that got broken down by some unknown force…"

"Like what happened in Udagawa," Neku said. Beat had once again theorized that Hanekoma was evil and the culprit of the broken wall. Naturally, Neku shot his theory down in the name of righteousness.

They were just about to enter the street housing the coffee shop. "That guy should be there to answer our questions," Ike said. "We are extremely involved in these weird events that we may as well figure everything out."

"That better not give them a reason to vaporize us without us raising our hands to object," Ness said as they were about to see the establishment. "Really, I'm sick of their random excuses to put us on fire."

The Players finally arrived at WildKat.

It had seen better days before.

"What the hell!?" Neku exclaimed as the rest gasped in unison.

The shop was a huge mess of broken chairs and sliced tables. The counter was totaled, along with many mugs of coffee shattered and littering the rugged floor. The door used to close the place was pulled down harshly from its compartment, compacted into a foreign ball of metal to the side. The walls' cream paint was torn off at different spots, and the ceiling fan only supported a broken light bulb. The door on the back disappeared under a pile of wooden rubble and napkins.

Ness looked out to the street, wondering why the people weren't making a fuss over the destroyed shop. As expected, everyone in the street was busy chanting and staring away to notice. "Why did this happen?" Ness asked. "What happened here?"

"(You mean I skipped on the weird black piece of meat to get some coffee for nothing?)" Fox thought. "Damn…"

Beat had the nerve to ask, "Who redecorated? This place is trashed, yo. You think Coffee Man did this?"

Neku glared. "Why would he wreck his own shop?" he asked. "Maybe he was attacked."

Ike carefully got inside to see traces of blood to see if there was a scuffle before. "There's only coffee strewn everywhere in here," he noticed. "No blood."

"Okay, I'll believe in what Neku said about him getting attacked," Fox said. "I can't see him trashing his own shop for nothing."

Beat groaned and grabbed his head, feigning a headache. "Man, I don't get none a' this!" he complained. "Why must everythin' be so damn coryptical?"

"…Cryptic," Neku corrected as he inspected the place next, finding nothing else of importance other than broken shards and ripped posters. "This place is deserted…"

"At least the brainwashed people stayed away from the tornado that leveled this place up," Pichu said, shuddering in fear. "Didn't they see what happened? Let's scan their heads to find out!"

"It'll be useless to scan their minds," Neku said, turning to them from behind a sliced table. "None of them are on planet Earth. They're off in planet Wonderful World." Pichu sighed.

Fox looked back at the wall that had been smashed up by the unknown force. "Whoever broke that wall down must have chased Hanekoma," he said. "Who was that person? That's the question I wonder."

Beat tried to offer some culprits; the most hated people he got in mind. "Ironface? You think she smashed it up?"

Neku didn't need to think to respond. "No. She said she would stay in one place all week. If she was here, she couldn't have smashed those other walls."

"Who, then?"

"You got me. Somebody else."

Ike had walked all the way to the back to see if he found anything, turning up nothing. He walked back to them. "Was the shop attacked a few days ago?" he asked. "Can't we get a clue about an attack to this place to narrow down the suspects?"

"…Of course!" Neku took out his modified phone. "The camera!"

Beat looked at the phone. "What, that thing you used yesterday? What is it?"

"(He was there. He should have figured out what this… Oh wait, this is Beat,)" Neku thought in shame. "It lets me take pictures of the past."

"Whoa! Tha's badass, man!" Beat said with a wide grin, staring at the phone with utter interest and noticing that Neku was off thinking about the events that could have happened in the shop.

"(Two days ago, the Miyashita Park wall was still up. Which means whatever happened here took plac-)" While he was busy thinking, mid sentence, Beat effortlessly nabbed the phone from his hands. The Smashers stared incredulously at Neku, still not noticing the sudden change of weight in his hand. Fox snapped his fingers in front of him.

"Yo, lemme snap somethin'!" Beat grinned at aimed the camera's eye at the shop.

"Huh? Hey-" Neku tried to stop Beat. "Wait, don't-!" The deed was done. Three random shots of days gone by were taken without as much as a second thought. Beat firmly believed that there was no such thing as having second thoughts. "STOP!"

Beat looked confused when he tried taking more shots, ignoring the fuming looks from the others as he faced Neku. "Huh? Yo, Neku. I think it's broken," he said.

"Your brain is broken," Ness said, eyes narrowed.

"Whatchu mean? My brain is okay, yo."

"MUST NOT STRANGLE IDIOT…!" Ike held Ness back from throwing a corpse into the shop.

Neku grabbed his phone from Beat and sighed to him, sounding a little infuriated. "The camera only works three times a day," he told Beat. He saw Fox staring his way from behind the punk and raising a clenched fist meant to strike Beat's head. Neku shook his head and the vulpine obeyed.

Beat blinked, trying to understand what he meant. "Huh? Wait, so that means-"

"Three pictures a day."

They covered their ears. "Bwaaah!" he screamed. "Say somethin' sooner, man!" Fox grunted and smacked the punk's head. "Oww! What was that for?!"

"Just showing you an example of NOT being patient to do hasty things, dumbass," Fox said. Despite the harsh example, Beat didn't look like he understood. He only understood the parts where he screwed up with the pictures and how Fox liked to smack his head for no good reason.

With a useless phone, Neku handed it back to Beat. "Maaan… I didn't get nothin'," he said as he browsed the three random pics he took out the place. "What a waste of-WHOA! Yo, guys, check it!" The group was surprised to see Beat didn't screw it up so much, showing them an interesting picture. It wasn't the time when the shop was attacked, though it did show Hanekoma putting something in the back of the shop behind a poster.

"Hey, that's…Mr. H," Neku said.

"Look, the shop hasn't been totaled yet," Ike said. "This photo was taken…at the start of the week."

Ness took a closer look. "What's he doing in the photo?" he asked, spotting the barista fixing something on the wall all the way to the back. He was reaching out for a poster of a coffee advertisement. The group glanced to the poster in the present time, which somehow was spared of the destruction.

"I smell treasure reeking with a coffee smell behind that poster," Fox said.

"Yo, man, that little nose picks up a lotta stuff!" Beat said, not even minding the vulpine sighing. The group went to the back of the shop to the poster of coffee. Ike moved his hand over the paper, feeling a bump on the back. He gasped when he accidentally budged the item too much, letting it fall down to their feet.

"Is that an envelope?" Pichu asked, grabbing the item. Yet another item slid down from the envelope; a golden pin with a fancier-looking black keypin design on it.

The blond punk knelt down and picked the pin to inspect it. "Yo, it's a keypin!" he said as the others examined it on his palm while Pichu climbed his partner's shoulder and gave him the envelope. "I ain't never seen this one before, man."

"Wait, you haven't?" Ike asked. "You don't know where this key belongs to?"

"Not a clue," Beat said. "I know every place in Shibuya with a wall…"

It wasn't too hard for Neku to come to a reasonable conclusion. "…Except one place!" he said as he recalled what was beyond the bus station where they had fought the first Game Master. "The Shibuya River!" The group smiled.

"The last place where we can find that woman…and the Composer," Fox said. "To think she was hiding there in a place Players aren't allowed to go in…" Beat raised an enraged fist, ready to break a skull. With their final destination set, Fox noticed he was still holding the envelope…and it had something stored inside. He took out a letter. "Hey, guys. There was a letter in here."

Neku took the letter. "A letter… From Mr. H?" he wondered when he saw Hanekoma's handwriting on the paper. He read the letter aloud. "Staying alive in this Shibuya boils down to one simple trick: Enjoy the moment with all your might…whether it's gloomy, whether it's bright!" The group exchanged looks while Neku kept reading the words in his head. "Well, it's pretty damn gloomy right now. Mr. H…"

"That's some parting words from him…" Ness said. "Was he trying to tell us something?"

"Was he even expecting us to find this letter?" Ike asked. "It'll be creepy if he did expect us at all."

Beat rolled his eyes. "Yo, he left us the letter an' keypin for a reason. He wants us to go to the River, huh?"

"Right into the heart of the Reapers' base where we can get killed?" Fox asked. "Now he wants us to put a stop to them without saying that little detail?"

"You're thinkin' this too much, guys," Beat said, tossing the new keypin up and down his hand. "Ironface is there! Mr. H wanted us to beat her, but he forgot it was the Reapers' base where she's at!"

"I can't see a guy like him forgetting such a big fact like that," Ness said. "Ugh, who cares at this point? We have the key to enter that forsaken place and finish everything in this world. All of those annoying hanging questions will come full circle after we're done with this Game."

Neku nodded, until he remembered things wouldn't stop being so cryptic. "…We're getting trolled anyway, aren't we." Everyone nodded, though Ike didn't understand the word "trolled."

"Aight, then! Hoooooo!" Beat said a war cry. "What are we waitin' for? Le's find Ironface, rescue Rhyme, rescue the others, and knock the Composer flat!" With so much excitement that was hard to contain, the punk ran out from the destroyed shop while the rest simply walked out.

"(Go to the River?)" Neku thought as the others talked among each other. "(It's more than that. Why does Mr. H even have the key? What does he want me to do with it? Is he sending me to the River…or calling me there? And for what purpose? Why, Mr. H?)"

"I'm pretty sure we don't go through many secrets with our own mission," Ness said.

"It better stay that way or I'll lose it," Fox commented.

Cadoi City

Beat kept a large walking lead ahead of the Players, none of them being attacked by rouge Reapers. When they saw the punk slowing down to a full stop around the corner, they exchanged looks and went to see what made him stop for once without their intervention. "What's up?" Neku asked once they caught up with him.

Beat said, "The hell is that heap of garbage!?"

"Heap?"

A hideous heap of garbage was put in the middle of the street for everyone's viewing pleasure. The other Players stared long at the monstrosity of dumped trash taking shape of a shabby-looking tower trying to challenge the buildings around it to reach the skies above.

Ike was the first to shudder, followed by everyone else who saw similar heaps gasping. "What is this doing in the middle of the street?" he asked.

"Oh boy, are we losing it now," Ness said as the shadow of the heap was on them. "This being here would only tell us that a certain math freak is alive, or someone is trying to take up his spot."

Fox glared at the heap. "But that guy should be erased after Joshua gave up his life for us. So why is thi-"

"Up above, guys!" Pichu shrieked when a shadow appeared on top of the pile.

The Players looked up quickly and saw a smirking shadow figure looking down upon them. With a large jump back to the street between them and the heap, the shadow revealed itself, opening its arms fully. "Miss me much? You hollow-skulled hectopascals!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The Vexatious Monkeys"

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Cadoi City

Neku – Beat, Ike – Ness, Fox – Pichu

References:

- As of now, the story will stop pointing references out. You shall now try to guess when things look suspiciously familiar. Test your video game wits starting now!

I honestly got stuck in the fights because I needed to do my pin research. Thankfully, now I know my pin matchup table.

Enjoyed the chapter? Now you know the shocking truth: Pichu is older than he looks... Uh, okay. Maybe that'll have an impact on the story or not. But you know what it's going on in their stressed minds. Will that stress go away in the next chapters, though?

By the way, I did say before that two future chapters are basically finished, but I might just go and tweak them a bit if the next chapters have some importance to some small moments, but it's nothing too big.

Now to play the waiting game and see how many people keep gushing and giving me "reviews" about how long this thing is. Seriously! This story keeps getting roughly 4 new people following it every day, even during the writer's block. Maybe, just maybe, this will someday reach Nintendo's ears and...my butt might get sued to hell... Naaaaaaaaaah, I haven't made a single cent out of the story.

It's time for the review and threat notice. Please review, or else I'll make Beat fry his friends' brain cells before the final battle.

Beat: How am I gonna do that? With a fryin' pan? Yo, sick!

Ness: Never mind, you. You are already doing it.

Beat: What now? I have other powers?!

Ike: Shut up!
*Chapter 211*: Unknown's Week - The Vexatious Monkeys

But those monkeys are the heroes of this story...

From FF and STH: Also why can't Chris be older then 18 in your story?

From me: I think Chris's somewhat childish nature should remain with him below that age just so it doesn't become more and more out of place if he grows older. How I'm going to prevent that from happening remains to be seen, though...

From BobTheCat240501: I also found that The smashers problems were sort of out there. Like they appeared out of nowhere. They showed no sign of their problems in previous chapters. No evidence of this happening to them.
(Your Honour)...
Also,( Oh My Glob, I can't stop) it irks me that you stated that the smahers have no common interest with each other and that they Shouldn't be together. It's like saying that girls shouldn't hang out with boys or Asian people should only hang out with Asian people. I mean its kind of dumb when people say " link and Ike has a sword, they should be friends" there other things then common interest like relationships and personal stuff. I hope I made some sense and that you get my drift.
Anyway... Here's a checklist that needs to be checked.
- Since pichachu went back to ash. dOes that mean he's still alive?
- Are you going to do " Another Day" for the arc?
- If one of the Smashers gets cut in the next Super smash bros game, does that mean he/she will die?
- Are you trying to be an author?
- I feel like you are portraying of Ike as a NOOB. Is that ur intention?

From me: Oh, multiple questions. Time to answer them one by one.

1) Sometimes, they don't have to show their issues all the time. Their personal issues are buried down there under their faces, waiting for them to come out when they're pressed. The problem is that those same issues can't blend well with the current situation. For example, Fox wishes he could cook...but how would that fit into the narrative now?

2) The sad truth of the matter is that not all the Smashers are buddy-buddy with each other. You probably saw weird pairs outside this story but it won't be the same thing here. It's perfectly believable to see the likes of Link and Marth hanging out together, but what if Marth were to hang out with DK? It would look weird if that came out in the open without much explanation, so they need to start from the beginning to show a connection. New relationships will come as the story progresses, and this arc teaches them about that.

3) Yes, Pikachu is still alive and well with his trainer. I can confirm that.

4) No, Another Day will be entirely skipped...and I won't even mention what that day is about.

5) Gods no, I won't let them die or leave. I mean, Mewtwo is with us.

6) Maybe I should become an author...

7) Ike just looks like a NOOB because modern society is out of his field. It's a running gag.

And don't worry about the criticism. It all helps me in the end. I do have eyes to discern flames from reviews.

From Towerdepths: What happened to the little Riolu that Chris and Lucario adopted? I know that he was thrown across the horizon, but where'd he land?

From me: People really want that Riolu... His fate will be revealed soon enough.

From RwbyFan: Umm...are you gonna only do game arcs? 'Cause I'd kinda like to see an arc with RWBY. Chris and Yang's interactions...*snicker*.

From me: I...got no idea what that is. I only do game arcs.

With college over for now, I have more time in my hands. I used all the time I had to finish this chapter...and complete 80% of the next one, so I do think you'll see the final chapter of this arc sooner than you think. But for now, this chapter is going to be your next stepping stone. There are some drastic changes done to this part that you don't get to see in the main game... In fact, if you haven't played TWEWY yet, I'd recommend you do if you care about spoilers.

With that out of the way, let's begin the semi-final chapter in this long arc. I encourage all Players to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: I was...not into Kangaskhan before she went mainstream.

Chapter 211: The Vexatious Monkeys

- Shibuya -

Cadoi City

The return of Sho Minamimoto came out of left field after the confrontation where he had eliminated Joshua with a big explosion. Unlike before, the mathematician showed off a new, wilder look. For starters, his hat was gone, and in its place was a lot of long spiky hair running down his shoulders. His black unbuttoned coat was all rugged up with scars marks. Because his coat was unbuttoned, he displayed his bare front body, which was covered in familiar-looking tattoos that ran at different parts of his skin though in reality it was a large Taboo Noise symbol imprinted. Moreover, the blackness covering his arms seemed to have grown longer beyond his elbows. All in all, it looked like he came out from an explosion.

"The Grim Heaper!" Neku said.

"Hecto-whatcha-huh? What language is this guy speakin'?" Beat asked, even more lost than the others were.

The Players examined him from head to toe, especially the open shirt. "Lay off the fan service, dude," Ness said blankly, disgusted at the symbols on the former GM's skin.

"This really can't be happening again," Ike said as they stared at the madman Minamimoto in the flesh. "I thought you were a goner!"

"Foolish digit! I won't drown in the sea of imaginary numbers!" Sho said. "I know how to swim in there, to find the solution to the formula known as drowning!" Pichu's eyes became swirly but he managed to shake them off.

"Whaaat?" Beat said, scratching his head. "There's a sea of imaginary numbers, yo?!"

"Correct!" Sho said, preventing the rest from ever telling Beat the truth about that. "Enough about that sea, and more about me!" He flexed his fingers on his sides as he gave them a pretty psychotic look. "I've been calculating this from square one. That attack I used to bake your partner, I used that for a reason."

Pichu pouted. "You killed Joshua and tried to kill us! That was the reason!"

"Nayh!" Sho said, laughing afterward. "Stupid decimal number! Try to get it right! The answer to that problem is…ME!" Sickening enough, he ran his hands on his bare skin. "This is my latest masterpiece. I call it: 'Myself'!"

"You…?" Fox trailed off. "…You mean that sickening symbol on your chest? That looks familiar…"

Beat found out faster than they did. "Punk's turned himself Taboo, yo!" he said. "That symbol ain't hard to forget!"

Minamimoto cracked his neck a bit, all the while smirking. "The attack I used erased me, yes... But I was refactored, through the refinery sigil, into...this!" They couldn't tell if he was willingly shaking his body or not. "This body, this power...all through the magic of Taboo psycho-animation!"

The Players thought back on the weird graffiti symbol in Udagawa, assuming that Sho was talking about that place. "So YOU made those burn marks," Neku said.

"That weird-butt symbol brought him back?" Ness wondered. "…Specifically HIM of all people?"

"Well, he was the one drawing it when we first spotted him the previous week with Joshua," Ike pointed out. "…That means he was making sure he wouldn't be completely erased when we did that for him? Isn't that kind of cheating? (But...we also saw Sanae standing on the symbol days ago... Why was he there?)"

"Cheating? Me? Idiot!" Sho shouted. "Numbers are like tamed animals under my genius! There is no cheating done on my equations and divisions! But now, this number-cruncher is back...with power that rivals even the Composer's!"

The group gasped. "You're strong like the Composer? Are you sure about that?" Fox asked.

"You gotta be jokin'! That's why you Tabooed yourself up?" Beat asked, frowning. "Have some sense, yo..."

"Sense is garbage! CRUNCH!" He smacked a fist into his palm. "I'll add it to the heap! All that matters is MY beauty. Being reborn from the sigil was part of my equation." He, unnervingly, gestured them to look at himself again. "This...'Tabooing myself up' was unexpected. ...But it works. I'll make an imposing new Composer!"

"I'm scared to think this plane filling up with Taboo Noise, leaving no chance of survival to the people that die and end up in here," Ness said.

Pichu gulped but kept a tough expression. "B-but he just said he's just as strong as the Composer! Should we fight him?"

"What's this?" Sho chuckled. "You hectopascals wanna try tossing minus numbers my way? Just try and be derived!" he taunted. "I'll tear you down like those walls I broke with these hands alone!"

Neku blinked at the statement. "Wait... You went to WildKat!" he accused the madman from busting up his idol's shop, though the others also made the connection quickly. "You thrashed the whole place!"

Minamimoto sighed, still smirking. "Yeah. That set was empty, though. I let my rage of numbers out to relieve my stress... Rrgh... Where'd he run off to?" He shook a fist at them. "You know, don't you! Tell me! Tell me where that guy went!"

"We have no idea!" Neku said. "Wait, why do you want to see Mr. H so badly?"

"None of your erroneous business, foolish digit!" Sho said. "I have to find him quick if I want to settle the score for real!"

Even if the Reaper officer wouldn't tell them why, the group started to think that Hanekoma was most likely the Composer after all. Neku was having a hard time trying to dodge this assumption now that it was presented to him so suddenly. "We won't let you get near Mr. H!" Neku said.

Minamimoto's smirk dropped for a frown. "In that case...who needs you?" He slammed his right hand forward, as if he had a claw. "Attention, 000s! It's time for you 2 die 4 a cause..." In a flash, the parts where his body wasn't covered in the dark blue tattoos were then covered over, leaving the ones that were already covered go back to normal. Still, he had more Taboo marks than before. "Mine!" The distortion waves pulled everyone in the vicinity into another Noise fight…

The World Ends With You – Junk Garage

The tall building of Cadoi City overlooked its only guests appearing on two different planes. The secondary partners occupying the entrance area of the building, while the primary partners took residence on the sidewalks. The primary Players were all standing around a crazy-looking Sho floating above the floor, flashing a psychotic smirk. The Players in the other plane were thankful to see a shadow whom they couldn't tell apart very much.

"Ready for a beat down?!" Beat yelled at the shadow, and the battle started.

"You bunch of hypotenuses can't just keep pushing me away from my ultimate solution, can you?!" Sho proclaimed. Much to their dismay, he was also fond of warping all over the planes and mocking their efforts while doing so, making it hard to land the storm of pin powers they unleashed. He was giving Beat quite a workout as he relied heavily on mobility for his attacks. "I gotta join my line and the other one, eliminating the triangle you've set on my test!"

"Wha's this guy sayin' yo? It's all wonky!" Beat said. He was very close in landing a skateboard slam on the shadow, but it chuckled at him and warped to the opposite end of the plane.

"Two people with two different speech patterns is just too much to bear," Ness said, tossing a nearby car with his Sexy+ pin and failing to hit the warping shadow. "I'm so glad we can take the evil one down."

"CRUNCH! I'll add you to my heap of perfection and beauty!" Sho said, changing places with his shadow. "And I mean your possessions since they're golden garbage! Dead bodies are inconceivable additions that'll just tarnish my picture!"

"You're just making your defeat all the more tempting to us..." Fox trailed off, calling forth a set of flames that chased after the shadow. The shadow suddenly stuck out its right hand and shot six small-yet-fast blades of energy that covered quite a lot of range and rammed against all three Players perfectly. "G-gah!"

"All hectopascals! I'll derive you over and over till you hit 0!" Sho exclaimed with glee. "You're very persistent for being lowly decimals who refuse to be divided up! You are fighting PERFECTION or have you forgotten?!"

"We're fighting a math fetishist if that's what you mean," Neku said, still feeling pain from the Taboo officer. Nevertheless, he persevered and rammed himself against the shadow with a spear of energy.

The blow made Sho wince, but he still chuckled as he skillfully dodged the blows from the party in the upper plane, infuriating them all. "Keep doing scratch damage to my body. GIVE ME SOME FUN, WHY DON'T YOU?! SOOOO ZETTA LAME!" He seemed to be complaining harshly against them.

"Yeah, he has reached utter insanity with all that power going to his head," Ike commented.

"Seriously! This is another reason why I fear to evolve so badly!" Pichu shivered.

"All that aside, stop the guy! Letting him go anywhere in Shibuya is just plain wrong!" Ness said, tossing a scooter to the shadow and only dealing little damage. He did send a light puck to Ike anyway. "The whole situation is screwed up as it is!"

"TRIANGLE LESSON TIME!" Sho suddenly called out. With a maniacal laugh, he and his shadow started warping at different spots – mostly behind everyone's backs – to start a flurry of attacks. "SINE!" The two entities released a small circle of spinning blades that quickly spread out and slashed their backs without providing too much room to escape. As they spun around to retaliate, the two entities warped away from their sight to prepare a next attack. "COSINE!" A large spinning blade appeared above Neku, and then said blade was divided into more than ten energy blades that inflicted major damage on him and Beat.

"Neku!" the Smashers yelled, though they backed off from the blades blocking the path. It was a relief that the blades never remained behind for too long, but it wasn't the end.

The Tabooed Sho warped behind Neku, shoved his hand on his back, and yelled, "TANGENT!" and fired off a long spread attack of razor blades. All the blades hit him harshly, even making Beat yell. The blades cut right through his body as they spread out, having mixed results in colliding with some of the others. While Neku knelt down to catch his breath and use a recovery pin, Sho laughed as he warped away. "You're out of your vector!" he said...and then kept repeating to each and every one of them. "You're out of your vector! You're out of your vector! You're out of your vector!"

With a Cure Drink, Neku recovered a third of his lost health. "Damned broken record...!" he gasped out, tossing the can away. Even still, Sho kept taunting them all for his amusement. To be safe, he took another Cure Drink.

The other Players were getting fed up quickly as both Sho and his shadow kept warping all over. Sho did not stop taunting them about being out of their vectors. "Hold still for one moment, you crazed imbecile!" Fox growled, his flames unsuccessfully burning empty air. Ike wasn't doing any better with his energy slash attacks, slicing empty air. "What good is there to finally use the light puck thing if we can't even start it even once without landing a single hit?!"

"You guys are so zetta boring and soooo zetta slow! It amuses me!" Sho said. "The old Sho is dead, and in his place, is PERFECTION!" He warped behind Ike and shouted, "TANGENT!" shooting the same attack he used on Neku and thus delivering a lot of damage in one go.

"Aah!" Pichu shivered, feeling the sharp pain. "I-I'll try to lock on him with this!" He used his Storm Warning pin. Because of how fast the activation rate was, Pichu did manage to shock the shadow within lightning bolts, allowing Beat to strike it multiple times in midair. The two Players sent their light pucks to the partners in the plane down below.

Fox grinned when the light puck entered his body. Sho was busy taunting Neku nearby that he was wide open for a nasty blow from the back. "(Prepare yourself for this now!)" the vulpine thought in his mind, just to be sure his voice wouldn't alert the former Reaper officer. He rushed towards Taboo Minanimoto, brandished his Velocity Attack pin, got engulfed within an energy barrier meant to ram into foes, and then...!

The battle was called off.

Kingdom Hearts: 3D - Calling

The tired Players and a calm-looking Minamimoto reappeared in front of the department store of the street. The looks of shock from the Players were equally reflected by Sho's smirking look. "SO DAMN ZETTA SLOW, SONS OF DIGITS!" he complained to them. "Why do you gotta be so damn zetta slow a slug is faster when multiplied to the INFINITY?!"

They were a little happy that the battle was called off, though not so much for some of them who wanted to erase the guy badly. "Are...are you nuts or what?!" Fox yelled at him. "I was THIS close to giving you a bad case of backache till you pulled this bullcrap on us! We were just starting the damned battle!"

"Shut up, wild zero!" Sho yelled back. "I have no need to divide needless numbers like you when I have BIGGER ones to look at! You guys are just decimal numbers compared to whole numbers! CRUNCH!" He smacked a fist on his palm.

Ness was just as ticked off. "I'm glad you chickened out on us, then! We don't give a damn about you anyway!" he complained.

Beat complained next. "I 'as jus' getting' started on that fight too! But man, is he tough!"

"Heh heh... The source of my power is pretty simple." Sho chuckled as he began raising fingers. "Slabs Of Ham, Celery And Horseradish, Tons Of Asparagus. I'd say that's about enough calibration..."

Pichu groaned. "Come on! He got this strong because he was eating healthy?"

"If that's the case, I've been eating wrong all this time," Ike said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Enough with those jokes, you. Why did you call the fight off? It wasn't because we were weak or too slow for you!"

"Because the Composer is getting more digits added up to his time limit, you failed decimal! For the record, YOU ARE ZETTA SLOW!" the rebel said. "You are only a needless practice test that BORES me to hell! I wanna divide that time so many times that you'll never get to see anything beyond the number zero! This time, Composer... You fail!" They were too slow to stop him from sprinting off west of Shibuya.

"H-hey, come back here!" Beat shouted.

"Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally!" was all the Taboo Reaper yelled before definitely disappearing from sight, leaving the six Players thoroughly lost with his words.

"I'll beat up your dear auntie, yo!" the blond punk yelled back.

Regaining some fresh air to breathe, the group stood upright. "I just had it with that stupid math speech pattern of his…" Fox muttered.

"It's impossible not to be furious after we've been treated like this," Ness said, rubbing his head. "I know, it's still the same either way. I don't need to know how frustrated we are."

Beat rushed a little up ahead and grunted at them. Neku wasn't moving. "C'mon, man, we gotta go after him! What if he beats us there?" he asked Neku.

"Don't worry. He doesn't know where 'there' is," Neku said. "Besides, we've got the key to the River. He's stuck either way."

It was a little weird that Neku didn't make the connection with the Composer's identity, so the group thought Sho was hunting down a person and not a particular place where he was. "Are you assuming Hanekoma isn't really the Composer, then?" Ike questioned.

"Yeah, and I will stick to that till I die," Neku said. "It still seems fishy to me how Mr. H can be the Composer, even if the Grim Heaper is hunting him down."

"But why else would he be trying to kill that guy?" Fox asked.

"I can think of one thing…but it's up to you if you believe this. Maybe…" He scratched his head and looked up. "…He was trying to get Mr. H to tell him where the real Composer is?"

"…" Silence…

"…"

"…That does make sense in a way," Ness commented. "…Hey, that means the coffee guy knows where the Composer is at!"

"It's not like he was going to tell us where the boss is, though," Ike said. "If we hear confidential info by accident, we'll be in serious trouble regardless."

Fox stared blankly. "Did you forget that everything around us is going down to hell and all lower rank Reapers are brainwashed and busy trying to erase us anyway?" He frowned. "It doesn't matter what we do at this point. We're free to do as we please before tomorrow hits and we have to track that woman down and wrap up everything in one go." He grinned confidently. "Luckily for us, the river is the very definite final dungeon of this challenge. Let's end this today and save Chris and Soren from certain death!"

Scramble Crossing

Beat's Day 7 - Game

"…ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Fox yelled at the sky, the first thing he did when he came to his senses while sprawled on the dead street of still living bodies. His loud yelling made the rest wake up and gasp at the facts.

"Hey... What?!" Neku got up and looked around in shock before the rest did the same. "The scramble again?!"

Ness groaned. "Stupid Fox! You just HAD to go and say the magic words!" he said, earning a confused look from Fox. "You know very well destiny hates our guts! When things look up, it makes things look down in a blink of an eye…literally!"

"How the hell would I know this could happen beforehand?!" Fox complained loudly, looking pissed for a lot of reasons. "We ALWAYS say nice things and not all of them turn out so bad so suddenly!"

"Well, he does have a point with that…" Ike muttered.

"Except the universe likes to screw us up with the WORST case scenario from the whole lot!" Ness retorted.

"Ness sounds very convincing as well…" Ike muttered.

"Does it even matter?" Pichu asked, sounding dull. "This is the definite final day to solve everything, you guys."

Beat stomped the street. "Dammit! We lost anotha' day, man!" he complained, adding a little more fuel to the fire as he flung his semi-transparent hands.

"So it's Day 7..." Neku was the first one to notice his partner's hands fading away. When he did, the others followed suit and looked horrified. "Whoa! Dude, your hands!"

Beat blinked and looked down at his hands, spotting the grey color of the street right through them. "…Oh crap," Fox said, until he was starting to fall into madness at the realization of Beat vanishing, followed by Neku, then followed by the rest of them, and then followed up by the universe exploding. His irises shrunk by each passing second. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh shit." Ness and Pichu promptly started screaming, with each latching onto their partners' legs for dear life.

The one with the tangible-looking hands felt his breath go out without returning into his lungs for a brief moment. Twitching his nearly-invisible fingers, he held on to sanity. "N-naw, man... I'ma hold myself together! I can't fade away now!" Through sheer willpower, the hands went back to being visible and tangible, making the others sigh in relief but wonder how he did that. "Rhyme needs me! I ain't goin' up in smoke till I save her!"

"Oh goddess, thank heavens…" Ike sighed, holding his chest. "He isn't completely gone…yet…"

It pained Beat to trouble everyone with just his existence fading away. Troubled, he turned to Neku for guidance. "Yo! Neku... I, uh... I don't got much time."

There was only one place they could go for now: the Shibuya River. Neku nodded. "I know. Let's hurry over to the Shibuya River!"

"Wait!" Ike interrupted quickly. "This is going to be it, you guys. Are you sure we're ready to face all the bad guys that are in there? Do we have the right, uh, pins to use for the battles ahead?"

Neku scratched his head. "If we don't have enough pins as is, let's simply fight some battles on the way there," he said. "We gotta beat the Iron Maiden to win this Game. Then…we meet the Composer and demand him to give Chris and Soren back to us."

The team didn't talk for a little while to reconsider their rather suicidal ideas to beat on a god. Beat chuckled and stomped the street, creating a very loud echo that shocked his team. "Aight! Today we put an end to all a' this!" he said with a shaking fist…and then he noticed the loud echo he made was still bouncing everywhere in the city.

The Scramble Crossing was the busiest place in the entire city where many people crossed paths to their different destinations. It was never a place where silence would prevail during the day or the night, as steps and voices kept the noise loud and unclear. It took one stomp to ring loud and clear this time, passing through each still body across ten miles of living people who couldn't make more noise with their mouths or feet.

Shibuya was dead silent. Everyone who heard about the Red Skull pin was wearing it.

"…" Neku rubbed his forehead as he worried about the current state of his city. "Shibuya has… It has fallen silent…"

All the glowing red eyes plaguing the street made Pichu feel shivers. "W-why did this happen?" he asked. "Why would the Reapers pull this off on innocent people?"

"It's been bothering me for a while now how the whole city has been brainwashed…along with the Reapers themselves," Fox said with a stern look. "The Reapers are also brainwashed. Why go that far and include them?"

"ARGH!" Beat grunted. "Yo, guys! Stop the talkin' and get goin'! Everythin's gonna be solved when we knock Ironface down!" He started rushing down west to take the path leading to the Station Underpass.

"Leave it to him to give us the ultimate answer," Ness said. "But he's right anyway. This whole brainwashing thing should go away soon." The Smashers nodded and joined Beat with his rushing.

Neku remained behind for a bit to take one more look at the people standing around doing nothing. He kind of wanted a world with no noise to listen to without wearing his headphones. When he got it at last, it was all wrong to him – and even more so when he was dead and being hunted down. He wanted Shibuya to go back to normal; everything should go back to normal. With a sprint, he headed towards Hachiko in order to return to normality…

Station Underpass

Once back to the underpass of the train tracks, the group rushed down into the darkness towards the large Noise symbol that blocked the path to the sewers in the urban legend known as the Shibuya River. There was a brainwashed Reaper standing under the train tracks, but he didn't seem to see them as he was in a very deep trance. Passing the poor guy, they reached the imposing wall and looked up at it. Neku had the keypin out and ready to be used...

Everyone groaned so loudly that they didn't need Shibuya to be devoid of noise for their voices to echo together. "Why do we even bother getting keypins again?" Ness asked, wincing.

The large Noise symbol and chains that kept intruders away from the sewers' entrance were torn down into pieces. The symbol was shattered into shards stuck into the ground under the shallow water. There was no need to use the exclusive pin they had obtained from Hanekoma's café.

Ike put a hand over his face as Beat contemplated tossing the damned keypin away, though Neku told him not to. "Not only does the universe like to throw curve balls at us, but it also likes to tease us for no reason," he said. "Hard work hardly works..."

"Would you say finding a key in a mess is hard work?" Pichu wondered, likewise feeling insulted.

"No, but surviving each day to find said key technically counts as hard work," Fox pointed out. "Screw this, guys. Let's head in already."

"Yeah! Foxy's right! Let's find Ironface and save Rhyme!" Beat said. He was quick to avoid (and ignore) Fox's punch on the back of his head once he took another running start into the humid place.

"Still, who busted the wall open?" Ness asked. "Definitely that Math Fetishist again."

"Is his power that strong that compares to the Composer's?" Neku wondered. "How does he know that he's just as strong as he is?"

"We'll see firsthand if we can beat him there first," Fox said. "I don't want to imagine what could happen if he were to kill the Composer while Chris and Soren are in hot water."

"Stupid Composer! Now he's gonna boil 'em up till they scream?!" Beat said. They groaned.

"Less talk coming from you, more running!" Neku said. Beat agreed and let the saying go over his head completely, much to their chagrin.

Music stops

- Shibuya River -

Trail of the Sinner

The inside of the sewers was deep and large. The shallow water stopped its trail in exchange of a long graffiti trail that ran down into the darkness. On the sides of the creepy trail, heaps of garbage were scattered at random points – no doubt caused by the Grim Heaper. Due to the lack of materials in the sewer, the piles looked much less impressive than their city counterparts. The sound of running water echoed from deep within the trail. To play it safe, they decided to walk instead of running, looking around the area with careful eyes.

"Look, a trail of black and white graffiti," Fox noted. "You think this leads to their base of operations?"

"I bet it does," Neku said. "This is so fishy-looking that it shouldn't be a red herring."

The Onett boy looked around for anything suspicious that might leap out from the shadows to attack them. "This is the place that Joshua tried to get into so he could face off with the Composer," Ness recalled. "Poor guy… He got offed by Sho over nothing."

Neku shook his head. "Joshua let us continue playing the Game when he took the blow for us," he said. He looked at his right palm, clenching it tightly. "And to avenge him, we gotta erase the Grim Heaper for real."

"Normally, avenging people by killing others is a harsh punishment…when said people aren't like that guy, that is," Fox said. "No one is safe if Sho manages to become the god of this dimension. He doesn't value teamwork and treats everyone like trash."

"And spits on them," Pichu added.

"I know! Toss him into his heaps!" Beat said, mildly chuckling maniacally. "That oughta show 'im!"

"Karmic death through his works of art? It sounds too morbid, but…" Ness trailed off.

"Whoa, whoa, you guys. This conversation is turning way too dark," Neku said. "Erasing him is enough. Also, that kind of way to kill someone is too much."

"Neku," Ike began, "he killed you."

The teen stopped walking. "…On second thought…"

"Neku, I was kidding about that!"

The teen resumed walking. "No, he killed me. It's fair to kill him that way. Ness, use your psychokinesis pins in tandem with me to go straight for the kill next time we see him," he told Ness. "Everyone hates the guy and he hates everyone. Nobody will miss him. We sure won't."

Pichu said, "But his dear aunt Sally…"

"I'm willing to bet that was another math term I never saw before, or wouldn't even care to look up," Fox said.

"Damn, my men!" Beat said, looking very shocked at them. "What does freakin' math and his aunt gotta do with anything?" Wasting breath to explain Beat what they were talking about was a lost cause not worth looking at.

The sound of their footsteps was accompanied with a beeping sound coming from Neku's pocket. Startled by the ringing, the group stopped walking to let him see who sent him a message right now. "What? Mail, now?" Neku said as he took out his phone and unfolded it to see the screen. "Konishi wields shadow and illusion. You'll find only lies with the naked eye. During battle she always hides in the white darkness. Begin by casting Taboo Noise into the heart of chaos. Then, once you find where she truly lurks, your real battle will begin. P.S. Beware of shadows." The group exchanged confused looks.

"Uuhhh… What now?" Ike asked, scratching his head.

"More riddles explaining how to get around traps set up by Game Masters?" Ness said. "It sounds pretty weird to me, especially the 'white darkness' part."

Beat asked Neku, "Did Ironface send it?"

Neku didn't see anywhere on the mail who the sender was. It was anonymous. He had a feeling that told him it wasn't her. "What, to say, 'Here's how to beat me'?" he said.

Fox rubbed his chin. "So who would send us that mail?" He looked up at the dark ceiling. "Someone wants us to get rid of Konishi so badly that they sent us directions to defeat her. Do we have allies in the Reaper society?"

"Oh, me!" Beat grinned.

"You're not a Reaper anymore, you dolt," Ike pointed out. Beat slumped forward.

Pichu began raising his small fingers. "Koki and Uzuki are out cold, the math guy would NEVER give us pointers for this, Megumi doesn't sound like it, that evil woman wasn't it…so…the Composer sent this to us?" he responded.

Neku rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. The Composer wants us to dispose one of his loyal subordinates," he said. Through process of elimination, there was another person on the list of people that were involved with the UG. "What if it was…Mr. H?"

"Maybe he did it…" Beat trailed off, scratching his head so much that he might have as well tried to shave off his skin. "Uuuuuuuuuurgh, thinkin' isn't my specialty here, ya know!"

"…" Neku looked back at the trail leading deeper into the sewers. "Let's keep this bit of info in mind while we head into their HQ, guys. It'll be useful in our battle against her." The group nodded and resumed their walk towards the end of the trail. "(Mr. H… Don't turn out to be the bad guy behind all this…)"

Rubicon

The group found the source of the water sound in the form of a sewer water river running down south, separating the western portion of concrete from the eastern portion leading further into the darkness, as evidenced by the fact the trail of graffiti was cut off in half due to the river running in-between. They could tell they were getting even closer to their destination as they felt an odd energy clashing with their selves.

It was either the ominous energy doing that or the grinning Sho Minamimoto standing on the edge of the cutoff trail, staring at them from his position. Some of them wanted to push him into the river so badly but discarded the idea, though Beat kept the idea in mind. "Sooo zetta slow!" he shouted at them. "What the factor took so long?"

The party looked ready to start a fight. "It's Tabooty!" Beat said.

"Nice. We can end this here now," Ike said.

Minamimoto chuckled, which was an unsurprising move to the team. "FOIL! First, Outer, Inner, Last!" he said. "And this is the last stop. Not even I can break the barrier ahead. Her Iron Frostiness put it up."

"Barrier? What barrier?" Pichu asked. Sho used the back of his hand to knock the air above the river, where it was revealed that an invisible wall was put up there; the knocking sound bouncing off and leaving a ripple of water on its surface. "That barrier?"

"You're not strong enough to bring that down yourself like you did for the wall on the back?" Fox asked.

Sho frowned. "This is out of my iterations and functions. What a letdown," he commented. "But no matter. I'll have her open this up so I can continue to solve my problem. And once I solve that problem…" he flexed his clawed right hand at them, "…I shall reach a realm of INFINITE POSSIBILITIES!"

Neku furrowed his brow. "No thanks. I like to have my Shibuya as a normal place to live," he said. "If I got that right, the Iron Maiden can only open the barrier, right? Well, where's she? We've been trying to hunt her down for an entire week but she never turned up anywhere in Shibuya… She must be here…or rather, beyond that wall."

"Stupid hectopascals!" Sho said, smirking. "She's not through here."

Ness stared at him for a long while. "…Are you kidding me? There's one spot in Shibuya we didn't see yet? What, is she hiding inside one of the many malls? Maybe she's hiding in that weird Tin Pin Slammer get-together place. Ugh, I don't like going into that sport with all those weird children. I'd feel embarrassed to be their age!"

"Uh…" Neku trailed off, "…they're my age."

"Well! That makes it even more unsettling!"

"Quiet, you little digit. You're giving me a headache with fat eights," Sho said. "She's not through here OR in Shibuya."

Fox looked dismayed when he eliminated all the possibilities in his head. "She LEFT the city behind?" he said. "That is soooo good to hear. We can't exit the city to scourge the planet for her!"

Sho grunted annoyed. "Idiot! The Iron Maiden is…here!" he said, making them gasp and look around the area for her presence. However, she was nowhere to be found. Covering the side of his face while laughing, he added, "You zetta morons! You haven't noticed? She's been with you..."

"...The whooole time."

They stopped looking around when they spotted the source of the voice very close to their spots. Beat was still swinging his head around when he noticed their gazes fixed on him. "H-hey, whatchu lookin' at me fo'?!"

"The voice… Her voice came from you," Fox pointed out.

"Wha…?" Beat blinked many times until he stopped. "Tha's crazy!"

Ness was also sure that her voice came from where Beat was standing. He used some logic to deduce how that was possible until he came to a shocking discovery. "Wait… Oh my god. KONISHI TURNED INTO BEAT!" he said. The others gasped.

"BWAAH!" Beat screamed, covering his face. "Y-yo! T-that can't be true! I'm a guy! Or am I...? NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"This is turning into quite an annoying scene. I better just show up to stop you from prolonging this idiotic conversation…" The voice definitely came from Beat, but none of them saw his lips moving with the voice.

Behind Beat, his shadow started to fluctuate and twitch until it elongated all the way to the back of the wall where the straight line started to take shape: a womanly shape that stepped out calmly and coolly. As the shadow stepped out from the wall, it began gaining a more defined look until Konishi replaced the shadow's form, smiling pleased at her audience in the sewers. Neku saw that Beat was looking the wrong way. "Behind you!" he told him.

Beat turned around and saw the stretched shadow pull back below his feet. He stuttered, "You you you you you you was hidin' in my shadow?!"

"The whole time she was hiding in your shadow? That's kind of cheating!" Pichu complained. "It's no wonder why we never found her anywhere in the city!"

Konishi giggled as she fixed her glasses a bit. "I didn't expect to have to reveal myself like this. By my forecasts, you six should have been erased yesterday and the day before that," she said.

"But we didn't because we pulled through," Ike said. "I'm glad we can end the wild goose chase here."

"Ah, but first, I must address an anomaly present in here with us…" She turned to the grinning mad mathematician. "Mr. Minamimoto."

"Heh! I'm only here 'cause your barrier's blocking me out," he pointed out.

"Unforeseen circumstances aside... my plans are proceeding without a hitch," she said, looking pleased while imagining the dumbfounded looks of the Players. "You've yielded far more data than even I projected."

The group exchanged looks. "Should we even ask what you mean, or should we just wait till we beat the Composer to know the full story?" Fox asked, very ready to start tossing hits and conjuring fire from thin air.

She didn't bother to answer his questions as she was still focused on the other man. "You've yielded so much data. See the power of foresight?" she said.

Minamimoto tossed his hands to the sides. "Hey, who gives a digit? Hurry up and open this barrier before I turn you into Shibuya River sludge."

Konishi chuckled. "All right," she said, hearing the group gasp from behind. "I'll remove the barrier...under one condition."

Minamimoto raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What're you scheming this time?" he asked.

"When you become Composer...I want you to make me your Conductor," she laid out her condition. "Otherwise, the barrier stays."

"You're double-crossing Megs?" Sho asked with an evil look in his eyes.

Konishi closed her eyes. "Analysis shows that Shibuya is heading toward an untimely end. If revolution is upon us, then who has the highest probability of surviving the ensuing chaos? A free spirit." She half-opened her eyes at him. "You."

"Untimely end…?" Neku trailed off.

"Is she talking about how everyone in Shibuya is brainwashed?" Ness asked.

"So, uh, that means she's not part of that plan?" Pichu wondered.

Minamimoto laughed loudly at her. "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally! I zetta dig your style!" he said, flashing a confident grin. "You and me think alike. Fear 'n' mercy are garbage!" He smacked a fist on his palm. "All right! You got yourself a deal."

Konishi nodded with a smile. "Then I'll take care of the barrier." With a simple snap of her fingers, the invisible barrier covering the air above the river of water blinked once and vanished, and on its place, a bridge made out of Noise anti-matter formed up to lead the way to the other side of the sewers.

The former GM laughed loudly, pointing at the Players. "Attention, binomials of the UG! Introducing your new Composer... His name...is ME!" With another laugh, he turned around and ran deeper inside the sewers, his laugh echoing until it disappeared with the distance he crossed.

"Yo, where you think you goin'?!" Beat called out as he took another running start, only to be blocked off by Konishi standing in the way. "Hey!"

"Ah ah ahhh." She waved a finger, looking blank. "I'm afraid I can't let you take one step further."

"Okay, screw the whole thing!" Fox suddenly shouted, glaring at her. "You're going to betray the Composer by letting that maniac beat him up? You told us before you were glad that we seemingly got rid of him! Why change your mind now?"

She rested her chin on her right palm. "I simply choose to align with the man in charge. It hardly matters who," she said. Fox's glare dropped for a bit. "As far as I'm concerned, anyone could be the Composer. Suppose Minamimoto fails," she said. "By then, Kitaniji will have sustained serious injuries in the process of protecting the Composer, at which point I could finish him in a heartbeat. The Conductor and the Composer get to outlive this chaos. I am a simple Game Master, and I can fall prey to the Composer's scheme…" She took out a Red Skull pin.

"That's the pin we've seen everywhere in Shibuya," Ike said.

"Yes, and this is the Composer's scheme: revolutionize Shibuya with the O-Pins," she said. "When the Composer started requiring O-Pins, I knew the UG revolution had already begun."

Neku wanted to forget about thinking that Hanekoma was the Composer and thus the mastermind of the scheme. "Then what's going on IS his fault," he said in a low voice.

Konishi frowned. "I don't presume to know the Composer's true intentions. But I intend to outlive this chaos, as I've said before." She casually tossed the O-Pin into the running sewer water.

"(Huh? She just chucked the pin away?)" Neku thought. "(Why didn't she get brainwashed?)"

"These 'O-Pins'... They're fakes. Wear them, and you're finished. You made the connection while I was keeping a close eye on you from my hiding spot." Her glasses turned foggy. "Mind you, being in Mr. Beat's shadow was perhaps the most undesirable part of my plan that I am not so proud of. But he was the only one from your group who could possibly not sense my presence. I don't know if any of you could have done it, but it is over now."

"Yo! You callin' me stupid?!" Beat shouted.

"In a very sophisticate way, yes," Ness said.

Konishi giggled as she took out another pin from her pocket. "I have a better pin in my deck." They gasped when they saw Rhyme's pin – the real deal – being shown to them to see. "This pin managed to cancel out the effects of the O-Pin when I was issued to wear the latter. Unfortunately, since I don't need to wear the O-Pin anymore, there is no reason to keep this other pin with me…"

"…Heh!" Beat chuckled all of a sudden, looking tough. "Tha's what you think!"

Konishi sighed, not looking forward to a conversation. "Please. Spare yourself the embarrassment. My analysis are never wrong."

"Oh yeah? Then wha's wid the 'unforeseen circumstances'? Sounds like you can't predict jack, yo." They saw her right eyebrow twitch for a second. "'Sides you missin' something' hella crucial."

"I beg your pardon?"

Beat used his right thumb to point at himself. "Next Composer gonna be ME, yo! And I ain't never makin' a punk like you one a' my men! So suck on that, yo!" Behind his back, the Players weren't completely sure about supporting Beat in that notion. They raised their shoulders to tell each other, "Whatever."

"Me? Work for you?" Konishi asked before she broke laughing. "Ha ha ha ha!" What they weren't expecting was the fact that Konishi had listened to so many stupid comments coming from Beat for over a week hiding in his shadow that it started to nag her so much. Konishi was a calculating woman who got riled up dealing with oblivious people like Beat. Now that there was a chance to erase him and his crew once and for all, she decided to let her frustration out to feel better with herself in the end. "You vexatious monkey!" she yelled, looking very pissed an actually making the others back off a bit at her outburst. "You're right. No analysis could ever plumb the depths of your fatuity."

"Heh heh. Damn right!" Beat agreed.

Ness groaned. "Oh my god, Beat. She is making fun of you…yet again," he pointed out, to which Beat looked utterly stupefied.

"It's YOUR fault I didn't pick up on Shibuya's changes sooner!" Konishi added. "I was forced to keep a close watch on your antics to prevent a disaster from happening. I could have predicted sooner the situation everyone else is in, but your existence was a wrench I could NOT easily remove."

"Scheming witch! I'm no wrench!" Beat shouted, grinning afterward. "You so busy thinkin' wid your head, you forgot to pay attention wid your heart! Havin' a heart protected me, thanks to my crew here!" He ignored the whole team wincing. "You ain't got no heart, you lose the game, yo!"

"Beat, no offense, but that was about the cheesiest thing I've heard during my whole life," Ness commented, looking blank and blinking once. "Please don't talk."

"What cheese?"

Konishi couldn't take the stupid commentary anymore. "Arrrgh! Enough of your chimp-speak!" she hollered. "I will obliterate any disruptive elements in my path, including the maggots you like to call your friends! They also made this a very unpleasant experience for me. Let me erase these random, rule-breaking Players for good!"

Beat laughed as the Smasher team stood in front of Neku and Beat. "I'ma break those glasses into pieces, yo! Le's do this thing, you guys!" he said, waiting for each and one of them to say encouraging words for the next big fight.

Ten seconds of silence later, Beat got confused.

"…HEY!" he yelled at them. "Werentchu gonna say somethin' like we can do this and stuff?"

"We've done that two times already," Ike said, looking annoyed. "I've ran out of encouraging words to use for another important fight like this."

Pichu nodded. "And we know something really bad happens after winning. History repeats again…and again," he said.

"We know this isn't over yet because we already made the decision to fight the Composer," Fox said. "She's just another obstacle. What's the point of using more encouraging words as a group? She doesn't deserve them."

Beat waited for Ness to add his reason. When he didn't and simply made a face, Neku said, "Beat, can we start now? Please?"

"…Yo, Neku," Beat began, staring intently at the pissed Game Master standing in front of the bridge. "I got her pissed at me now. While she comes at me, you snag Rhyme! I ain't a Reaper no more, so I can't free Rhyme from the pin. But you... Anyway, if...if I don't make it, take care a'-"

"What makes you think I can set her free?" Neku wondered as a matter of fact. "Screw you. I'm not bringing Rhyme back to life. That's your job! I'll snag her pin if I get the chance, but...the rest is up to you." The Smashers looked at them and nodded. "…Besides, we have backup. It won't be over yet. Hold on till we beat the Composer down."

"Heh… Aight, man, you said it." Beat stomped the floor. "Then le's do this thing!"

"If you are done with the false wishes you have set for yourself, I shall begin your elimination round," Konishi said as she took off her glasses and tossed them away. Long, dark Reaper wings started to grow behind her back as she smirked. "You wish to save the souls of the erased ones? That is…cute, as they say, if not completely and absurdly stupid. You will not defy life and death however you want. It is just impossible!"

Her comments made the Smashers angry. "Shut up and fight us already!" Ness demanded.

Her wings stopped growing as her feet gracefully took off from the floor. Before they could see her transformation, their sight became distorted while the planes became separated…

The World Ends With You – O-Parts

Beat, Ness, and Pichu felt like they were floating in the clouds, lying down on their backs. The fast wind hitting their faces made them relax, telling them not to worry about the future. They sighed out in complete peace. "I feel like I can forget about my worries and just...rest," Ness said. "Ahh, I needed a nap so badly all this time..."

Pichu turned over and sighed at the sight of Shibuya under his belly. "...AAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly, snapping the other two from their relaxed positions. "W-we're falling into Shibuya!"

Ness gasped and Beat promptly screamed. Frantically looking around, there was something odd about their feeling of falling straight down to the street... There was wind pushing up from below, true, but they didn't seem to be dive-bombing. They were suspended in the air, as if they were taking part of a space program. "W-wait a second! We're not falling down at all!" Ness said.

Beat adjusted his stance as he put his skateboard down his feet. "H-huh?! Yo, this is crazy! Like, WAY crazy!" he said. "WOW! Something's down there!"

There was an unnerving white hole with a black-and-white static border taking the center space of what appeared to be the center of the Scramble Crossing. "U-um, yes, that's like the strangest thing I've seen in here..." Pichu shivered.

"Let your eyes feast upon the start of a new revolution..." Konishi's distorted Noise voice echoed, as she floated down in front of them. "...No. Feel the agonizing pain of erasure before the revolution even starts, you incredibly stressing monkeys." Konishi's Noise form – Tigris Cantus – was that of a tall stripped tigress humanoid with yellow eyes and large black-and-yellow wings on her back, with a long, thin, Noise-shaped tail with a sharp end. The tigress was very fond of just lying down on top of her back, reigning over gravity itself.

"...I found Fox a new girl," Ness could only comment.

"Hey, I heard that!" Fox yelled. "And besides, I'm not into psychotic women like her who think everyone is a pest!"

Far away down below, around the white hole, the other three Players were standing around it. The space was distorting into static, with straight lines going to the buildings and the thickness of each line being very random in comparison to the previous stripes. It looked like stepping on the weird lines didn't cause any ill effects to the Players. "Alright, this is pretty freaky," Ike said, seeing the lines passing down his feet.

Neku noticed Konishi was absent from their plane. She didn't employ a shadow version to take care of them, though it was yet to be seen if she could do the same. "Guys, you gotta beat her good up there," Neku said. "It's pretty empty down here..."

Fox sighed. "You just HAD to say that," he said, after witnessing that Taboo versions of the Vixenance, Aura Hunter, and Clericure stood in their way. "Rats... We never faced these versions before! Stay on your toes, everyone!"

The battle started.

"Thank the previous Game Masters for allowing you to get this far and face me," Tigris Cantus said. "Will your minds twist in confusion? There is but one way to find out..."

"Shut it, yo!" Beat said. He dive-bombed towards her at full speed, though even that was too slow for him to hit her as she warped on the right side of the space. "Iron Face, I'll rip your face...for Rhyme! Fo' my crew here!"

"Such an impossibility won't happen, vexatious worm." During a small slip up, she was attacked by lightning bolts shocking her body.

"You're a bad woman!" Pichu yelled. "I thought we'd never face bad women like you. Stop enjoying watching us get hurt! It's over!"

Tigris Cantus grunted as the lightning bolts bounced off from her. "What can a little rat like you do, even now?" she asked. "My calculations told me you and your furred partner would be the first ones to fall down. What has happened during this week that made you survive this long? Did that senseless talk back at that ramen shop mean anything?"

"It meant a lot to us!" Fox shouted, avoiding the Vixenance's lance and ramming her on her back using Velocity Attack while the light puck was on, dealing a large amount of damage. She tripped recklessly on the floor and fell forward...where she seemed to be dragged into the white void. "A person like you can't understand how much we care for each other, probably because you Reapers lack partners to be with!"

"Even Koki and Uzuki had each other," Ike said, chasing after the Clericure, who was trying to stay away while the Aura Hunter got in the way, though Neku took the fight against the wild beast to let Ike terminate the healer down. The two also could swear that the Taboo Noise were being pulled to the white void even while they were running and standing still... "It makes me wonder if they could do a better job at protecting this place, unlike you. You have dark intentions to take up command of the whole place! Why do you think you'll do better than the Composer or anyone else?"

"Because had not the Composer allowed this revolution to happen, Shibuya wouldn't be in this state!" Konishi said, conjuring a shadow of herself from the plane above that rushed forward to the three Players. Only Beat managed to avoid her claws, leaving Ness and Pichu to yelp in pain. "I can move peons and control slaves better than He can. You shall not interfere with my ambitions!"

Neku dashed back from several Force Palm blows from the rabid Aura Hunter. While the Taboo Noise got into a fit of rage, it allowed Neku to concentrate and slam a lance of energy right on the creature's chest. "Your ambitions are garbage!" Neku shouted as the force of his blow sent the Taboo Noise flying right over the white void, where it landed and instantly vanished from sight. The teen saw a light shooting up right afterward that stroke Tigris Cantus and stunned her into place.

"U-ugh!" Tigris Cantus twitched, her body unable to move for a moment. During this moment, Ness couldn't use his Sexy+ pin due to the lack of objects in the air above. He used the Fiery Spirit, Spirited Flame pin to engulf the tigress inside a tower of fire, charring her body inside the flames. Pichu followed by using his Bear Hug Magnum pin to fire a defense-shattering bullet that doubled the pain she was suffering within the scorching heat.

"Nice there, yo!" Beat said as he appeared from the sky and slammed his skateboard down like a meteor right on her belly. Tigris Cantus grunted loudly in pain as the force of the attack pushed her off from the flames, though she got attacked once more by Pichu using his Wonder Magnum pin up-close, shooting three-way bullets that spread out from Konishi's back. All Players sent light pucks down to their partners fighting the Noise. "Bam!"

"Argh!" Konishi was growling now. "This unneeded synchronization coming from you... If only your spirits had been broken a little longer! I should have fought you while you were at your weakest..." she said.

Neku wasn't about to question about why new Noise were appearing in their plane. Though this time, the Noise that came out was just a normal frog. "You Reapers always mess up, leaving things unfinished and letting us get prepared for you," Neku said. "In the end, we kick you in the butt harder than ever!" He saw Ike using his Kanesada pin, slashing and pushing the Clericure away. The gravity of the white void pulled her in, consuming her and shooting a light all the way up to Tigris Cantus.

Once more, she was stunned into place after the light struck her back. "T-these Taboo Noise...!" she struggled to say.

"Huh? What?" Beat said, although he was already ramming his skateboard multiple times against the tigress' face. "Why dontchu move away, Iron Face?! You makin' this easy!" He struck her down with the tip of his weapon, and now she had regained her balance.

Konishi was too smart about not blabbering out loud about her weaknesses, unlike how her other colleagues miscalculated the situation when they fought the Players. However, Neku was already a pro at figuring out weaknesses. "Guys, we gotta push the Noise into that weird-ass void in the middle!" he told his partners. "They weaken her!"

Fox wasn't being so lucky getting rid of the Vixenance. She struck his chest with her staff and knocked him down to the floor. "R-right, I'll have that in mind..." Fox muttered, rolling sideways to avoid a fireball from burning him. As he did so, he used his Tin Pin Fire to trap the evil vixen in flames. Once standing up, he used the Crackle Pop Barrier to call forth a barrier of fire on himself, which he then added up with the Velocity Attack pin and rammed straight into the monster. Taboo Noise were more resilient than normal Noise, but the pushing effect was enough to disappear her into the white void, sending a shocking light to Tigris Cantus above. "How about that for a pin combo?" Fox bragged.

Tigris Cantus was reconsidering her strategy in dealing with these Players. "(This can't be... They're completely overthrowing me at this stage.)" Her train of thoughts stopped when she started to get attacked by Pichu's charged bullets and Ness's stationary fireballs bouncing off all over her. Beat continuously attacking her like a dog with rabies was far worse, more so when it was Beat himself. "(Fine...)" She warped away as soon as she gained control. "This isn't so suitable for me anymore. Let us change the pace of this fight..."

"What?!" Beat asked. There was a big flash that made them cover their eyes. When the flash was gone, so was she. "Chickeeeeeen!" the punk called out.

The plane above didn't change one bit. Though as for the plane down below, the other three Players had been consumed into the white void. Instead of disappearing, they were actually standing inside the void. "Now the creepy void consumed us," Ike said when he noticed the change.

Neku looked up and saw the hole of the white void. Far above the hole were the other three Players facing Konishi in midair. "I can see the battle outside from here," he said.

Fox grunted when he saw Tigris Cantus entering the white ring with them. "Shadows or physical entities become one of the same being or are set apart," she said. "But I will separate your souls forever..."

"Just try, you damned animal freak!" Fox taunted.

"Oh, the sheer irony of that comment," she taunted back, to which Fox responded by using the Crackle Barrier pin and the Velocity Attack to ram into her...and he went right through without crashing into anything. He was lost for a moment when he noticed, allowing Konishi to send a shadow version out of her to slash frantically at his back for major damage. "Rage-blinded fools will never prosper. Don't be so utterly foolish, even if you can't change that fatal flaw!"

The coloration of her body was all gray and black. Neku noted the difference first. To confirm his doubts, he dashed into her, and he did pass through her body easily. "She's an illusion!" he said. "Guys, don't attack her now!"

Fox used his Healing Flamingo pin to heal his and Pichu's health back to the maximum. "Then how do you explain that attack just now? I certainly felt that!" he said.

"Because that's the only part of her body that can turn physical," Ike said. Just as he said this, he sidestepped away from a rushing shadow trying to claw his chest out. "But if this is an illusion of that woman, where is the real one?"

High above the white void, the battle raged on against the Tigris Cantus floating in the air. Unlike the one in the void, the one above the city was the real one, as confirmed by Beat repeatedly slamming his skateboard against her. "Why do you keep getting in my way, you brainless imbecile!" she growled, slashing Beat away.

The punk regained his balance in the air and said, "Cuz you don't know when to quit!" he said. "I'm gonna get Rhyme back from ya for reals!"

"That sickening determination to save this one life..." Her body turned gray and black, and she was now calling forth three shadow clones that rushed towards the three Players on top. "This should be your weakness, not a strength!"

Ness dove down and briefly let go of his cap, brushing against a clone as he retaliated with flames trapping the dark clone. The fire didn't burn her. "She's not up here!" he said. "Did she go somewhere else now?"

Inside the white void, the Tigris Cantus there had recovered her normal color palette. "Okay, now attack her!" Ike commanded. He rushed at her, drawing her attention and sending two shadow clones with claws outstretched at him. He gulped and slid down the two tigresses shadows, and somehow that did work for Ike, getting closer to Tigris Cantus and using his Kanesada pin to slash away at her, delivering many blows at once. It was followed by Fox using Velocity Attack and Neku using the Go 2 Hell pin to strike her on the side with his energy lance, which was made stronger by the light puck.

Tigris Cantus warped to the other side, shaking her head. "This shouldn't go like this..." she muttered to herself as she switched places with her intangible shadow above the city. Now she gained the attention of the other three Players, after she was now sending her feral clones after them. "You are not squirming like I predicted..."

"Are you truly thinking we're idiots or what?" Ness asked. "I feel so offended now! And besides, all of us have battle experience even before we got here!"

"Just perhaps, I need to make things fair for me," Tigris Cantus said, warping away from getting trapped in flames by Ness and struck down by thunderbolts from Pichu.

"Hey, Phones!" Beat called out, using his weapon to block the slashing blows from the shadow clones. "Fusion time!"

"No, it's not good yet," Neku said. "Let's wait a little more when we truly need the pin."

"Aww!" Beat groaned, and then the slashing blows overpowered his defense and struck him across the chest. Neku winced in pain.

"Then let us do it first!" Fox said, clutching his Fusion pin. The planes merged together, trapping Tigris Cantus in the line of fire as she witnessed Fox grabbing Pichu, the latter turning into a shocking ball of electricity that Fox tossed at full speed like a fast baseball that struck her in the face, dealing some major damage. "Yeah!"

Konishi grunted loudly, putting both claws on her face. "Y-you little...vexatious worms...!" she called out. "Letting you go is going to cost me dearly... Give me your pins!"

"What?" all the Players said, grimacing at the odd request. Just before they were going to object, Tigris Cantus held out her claws at them, using a strong psychic force that robbed them all of their pins and left them defenseless in the offensive side. Their good start seemed to have ended on a very bad note.

"BULL *^$(#&^(&$!" Beat swore at the top of his lungs. "Iron Face, I'm gonna...break you so bad you're gonna wish you were erased!" He checked the back of his skateboard to check if his special pin was still attached to it; the pin that allowed him to pull impossible feats with his weapon of choice. "...Huh?"

"W-what in the...?! Hey, no fair!" Ike said. "Those pins are the only way for us to fight in this week! How are we supposed to beat you down?"

Tigris Cantus chuckled. "I shall let you find out by yourselves. Aren't you supposed to be...smart as you said?" she asked in a taunting tone. It was far more taunting of her part now that both planes had her wide open to attacks. There were no illusions to confuse the Players and keep her safe. She was there, waiting for them to make their move.

"Grr!" Neku grunted. "Always cheating whenever you're on the ropes, huh?! Can't you ever fight fair for once?!"

Tigris Cantus kept laughing at him. "We always fight fair. You only have to figure out a way to fight back, Neku Sakuraba," she said. "You are a pin pro of some sort, aren't you? Can you use your head to know what to do now?"

"He can't if he doesn't have any pins like the rest of us!" Fox growled. "First, our move sets are taken away from us, forcing us to use the pins Neku always uses. Now you're taking ALL of them away? How is that fair?!"

She suddenly shrieked in pain. "A-AAHH!"

Ike raised an eyebrow and looked at Fox. "That's it!" he said.

"Huh? What's it?" Fox asked.

"We can hurt her using our words if we yell loudly at her! Fox, scream at her!"

Neku and Fox exchanged glances. "...Should I feel very offended or should I go beat him up instead?" Fox asked Neku.

"No, please no. You'll hurt Ness while you're at it," Neku said. "There's no way something as ridiculous as shouting is actually hurting her... Then again, she's now an animal with heightened animal senses so..." Fox shot him with a glare. "Okay, okay. If that's not it... Wait a minute. Beat?"

Above the white void, Ness and Pichu saw Beat furiously slamming down her body. The punk yelled loudly as he kept attacking without stopping. "How come Beat is hurting her?" Pichu asked.

"That's because...he doesn't use any pins like the rest of us do," Ness said. "Just like Shiki and Joshua... No, wait. They did say they used some special pins to fight. Beat must have one too."

Tigris Cantus dodged Beat's last blow. In that small moment, she had noticed a small glimmer under Beat's skateboard. The pin Respect was one of the rarest pins there were to obtain. "I thought I took all your pins away... Why is that single pin with you?" she asked. "Why do I bother asking you of all people?"

Beat pointed at himself. "Cuz you ain't got no respect!" he said.

"Typical answer from a stressful monkey. I should have known..."

Suddenly, the three Players felt stinging pain gradually adding up overtime, even if Tigris Cantus was not doing anything in front of them other than giving the occasional dark grin. "A-augh! Where's this pain coming from?!" Pichu yelled.

Back inside the white void, the battle seemed to be turning over to Konishi. The three Players couldn't lay a finger on her without attacks, though the weirdest sight was the tall tigress calmly floating close to them. The source of pain was coming from her, but the Players couldn't figure out why. "H-how come we're getting hurt now? She's not doing anything!" Ike asked, the tigress floating close to him. He tried to reach out to her with a punch, but she dodged swiftly. Tigris Cantus didn't say anything.

Neku tried to figure out what was wrong with their fight in the void. He needed to think fast before they would run out of energy. Their healing pins had been taking away and thus they now had a time limit until their eventual demise would come. "Fox, help me here! Do you have any idea what's going on?" he asked while he looked up outside the void, seeing a rabid Beat trying to hit the other tigress while Ness and Pichu tried to at least latch onto her at a pathetically slow speed.

Fox got the tigress floating close to him, feeling stinging pain building up in his body. He started to look around the plane to see what was causing the pain. It was coming from the tigress for sure, but from where was the question. He looked to the sides, above her, below her...

The answer was there under his feet. The white void was a strange place where there were no angles where light could produce shadows. Not even the light coming from outside the void seemed to do any difference, being completely consumed and forgotten. There was a straight line of the tigress's shadow that lined up over Fox's straight shadow line. Moreover, he also noticed that the large tigress Noise was circling around him to keep the shadow over him. With a grunt, Fox dashed away from her shadow, and the pain disappeared just as quickly. "Her shadow!" Fox said. "It's her shadow that causes pain!"

"Her shadow?" Ike said, and now the tigress was floating close to him, her shadow looming on him. Taking Fox's advice, the mercenary broke into a sprint and got away from her reach, the pain going away. "So that's it! Nice one, Fox!" He heard the Noise woman grunting. "Have you figured out a way to hurt her, then?"

"...No," Fox said, looking blank.

"...That's pretty sad...for us," Ike said, looking worried at their predicament.

Neku pointed outside the void where he heard Tigris Cantus grunting in pain. "But Beat's the only one who can strike her! Beat! Keep...beating her up good!" he yelled. "Down here is a battle for endurance!"

A fact like that would put the Smashers in a foul mood. They were sitting ducks who couldn't do anything other than watch and get away from the line of fire. Beat was the only one capable of inflicting damage, while Konishi had plenty of targets to strike. Pichu was staring into space while Ness flailed his hands around to try to reach the tigress. "...This really sucks," he said. "This is one of the biggest unfair treatments we've gotten so far."

Ness was heard panting, though he gave up in chasing after Konishi now that Beat managed to score more hits on her chest. "After this over, I'm going to rejoice being able to shoot fire bolts from his hands," Ness said. The boy sighed and put the tips of his fingers next to each other, pointing at Konishi and imagining he was igniting her. Tigris Cantus warped away from Beat's furious onslaught, but Ness kept a firm aim at her. "Buzz Buzz is looking down at me and screaming his eyes out for sure. If only I coul-"

A bolt of fire shot out from Ness's fingers and burst into flames on the tigress. Beat and Pichu gasped out loud at the sudden attack, while Ness stared wide-eyed at what he just saw. "W-what in the world...?!" Tigris Cantus shrieked. "How did you use your innate powers?! I was certain we removed them from you!"

"I-I don't know why, and I don't know how!" Ness said in his defense. "Everything is frigging weird here! How should I know?"

The three Players running around in the white void had noticed what happened up there. "Did Ness just use his power?" Ike asked.

Fox was being chased around by the other copy of the tigress and her shadow inflicting damage on him. During the desperate moment, he had also seen Ness's action. The vulpine's mind was put to work as he thought if he could use his powers as well... With a quick turning motion to face the boss, Fox glared fiercely and jumped straight at her. He clenched his eyes and tried to call forth his own kind of fire...and it happened. His body turned into a meteor of fire going up that crashed right into the tigress. His loud scream was accompanied by her loud yelp, followed by the vulpine jumping back.

Fox grinned. "Oh yeah, now that's more like it," he said.

Sometime during the time of the crashing, a small round object bounced off from the Noise and fell flat on the white floor, slightly blending with the floor's color...

Neku blinked. "He can use his power too?" he asked. "...Oh, so NOW I'm the only one who can't attack. That's just swell."

Konishi shook off the flames of the fire. "Why isn't this fight working out for me?" she said through gritted fangs. "The Taboo Noise got into the way of my first phase, the second phase was relatively easier for you to deal with, and now this phase... What is going on?! My strategies are crumbling down before my eyes! There is no explanation for this! (Is this the work of someone else, then? I can't sense another presence within my domain...)"

The six Players put up tough expressions. "Yo! It's just the truth! We're too much strong for you, Iron Face!" he said. His comrades didn't honestly think that was really the answer.

"That makes utterly no sense!" Tigris Cantus yelled back. "Sheer force of will has nothing to do with this. That kind of power is just an imaginary, childish principle that has no bearing against me! It cannot overthrow my tactics!"

Neku did agree with her. "(That kind of power is something I know I don't have myself. That's relying on pure luck...)" he thought.

"But fine... I grow tired of this fight," she said as she snapped her sharp claws. "You are forcing me to do...this!" Another bright flash took place.

When the flash was gone, all six Players were now trapped inside a white space. There were no holes leading outside, there was no gravity holding the three Players in the plane above in midair (which led to all three falling face-first on the floor below), and most importantly...dozens of shadow clones of Tigris Cantus were present in the upper plane. Beat didn't wait for an order to attack, beating up as many shadow clones as he could to find the real one.

Although Pichu regained his powers like Ness, the two Smashers were put on a hard spot because of the dozens of shadow clones plaguing their space. Ness launched PK Fire after PK Fire, destroying a clone each time he did so. Pichu for his part used some Thunder Jolts coupled with Thunder, but in the end he focused on trying to find the real tigress.

Pichu got slashed away by three clones at once. Leaving the clones standing by proved to be a hard decision, given they would act on their own at random. Moreover, it looked like the shadow clones seemed to multiply behind the scenes, making the battle on top go on and on forever.

In the lower plane, she was completely gone. No shadow clones were spotted at all. It was only a large empty white space with three Players trying to find her.

"Where is she?" Fox asked, wildly turning his head around to spot her in the lower plane. Either she had blended with the white space or their sight was starting to become tired seeing so much of one color for so long. "Damn it!" he cursed, feeling Pichu getting damaged. "Guys, find her quickly! I'm starting to feel weaker by the second!"

Ike ran around the white plane, trying to see if she had turned invisible. As he did so, he heard and felt Ness's pain carrying over to him. "Are we sure she's down here and not up there?" he asked. "There are way too many clones. One of them should be her!"

"That's easier said than done! I can't focus long enough to tell them apart with the shadows constantly lunging themselves at us!" Ness yelled. "And after I got my powers back, even! This is the worst!"

"Beat 'em one by two!" Beat yelled, wildly sending shockwaves to each and every clone that got in his sight. "Don't stop for a minute, yo! Keep plowin' through 'em!"

"Are you serious? They keep multiplying!" Pichu said as he sneaked under a line of clones. "We'll be erased if we can't find her soon!"

For a brief moment, Neku cursed their bad luck. He kicked the empty air and looked down at the floor. "It takes one move for them to cripple us badly..." He looked up and around. "...Wait a minute. What is that?"

He spotted a small glimmering yellow light floating around the white void. It had been there all along, whizzing by and trying to camouflage with the blinding white color. There was no way it had to be ignored, or so Neku thought.

"Hey, you guys! See the light floating about?" the teen asked Ike and Fox as he pointed at the light. "Attack it, now!"

Fox had to squint his eyes to spot the light. "Um... Where's that light again?" he asked. The pain was building up as he heard Pichu scream. "Blasted area is screwing up my eyes! Neku, are you sure there's a light floating around here?"

"Wait, he's right!" Ike said. "I just saw a small light pass close to me!" Fox asked him to tell him where it was. "I...am...not so sure where it went!" Fox groaned.

As Neku surveyed the area once more, there was a small yet glaring spot on the floor that stood out from the whiteness. Leaving Ike and Fox to spot the unknown light, Neku ran over to check the black item on the floor... Crouching down, he had found a pin. "A pin...?" Taking a closer look at it, Neku remembered the design quite well. "...Beat! I found your sister's pin!"

Beat stopped attacking when he heard his partner's words. "Whaaaaaaaat?! Really?!" he asked, though his small moment of surprise was tramped over by three shadow clones dealing some heavy damage on his body. "ARGH!"

Neku closed one eye to resist the overwhelming pain. "Well, I gotta use something to attack..." He looked around, spotting Ike and Fox trying to find the light. The two Smashers served as perfect walls that contrasted heavily with the void. The small light was spotted floating close in front of Ike. During that one moment, Neku locked his eyes onto it and clutched the pin to call out its psyche. "C'mon, do something good!" he begged the pin.

All the pin did was call forth the Noise form of Rhyme swooping down towards the light. While Neku complained too soon about the lackluster power, he did rejoice slightly when the squirrel struck the light...revealing an astonished Konishi for a few seconds before fading back into her light form.

"That light is her!" Ike noted. "We can strike her if we hit the light!"

Fox managed to spot the light close to him. Praying in his head that his powers were back with him, he used Fox Illusion and slashed the light... The attack didn't do anything. "It didn't do a thing?" he said aloud. "What's the point? Hey, that's right! Neku, you have to strike her with the pin!"

Neku lost track of the light. Using the pin too much would leave him unguarded, so he started looking around for her. "Come on, you guys!" Ness yelled. Ike was doubling over in pain. "We can't keep this up for much longer up here! Find her!"

Ike had to kneel down to rest for a bit. But when he did so, he noticed that his shadow was moving on its own. Looking around for the source of the light, he saw Fox's shadow angled at a different position than his shadow. He looked at Neku's shadow, which was pointing away from their shadows... The directions of their shadows had to be a big hint. "Neku, Fox, look at your shadows!" he told them. "Something's up with them!"

Neku looked at his shadow changing directions along with his other comrades'. "They're moving? Why?" Neku wondered.

Using common sense, Fox looked at the opposite direction his shadow was pointing at. Though faint, he saw the sneaky light. "Her light form is controlling our shadows! Neku, there she is!" he yelled before screaming in pain. Pichu was losing it in the plane above.

Acting fast, Neku aimed the pin straight towards the opposite direction of his shadow. His partners were right. The squirrel noise swooped down and struck Konishi., revealing her true form. Noticing that he was close to her, Ike lunged and pinned her down with his arms to keep her from getting away. "Aah!" Konishi screamed. "You ignorant monkey! Let go of me!" She started to claw Ike away, but the mercenary stood his ground fervently. Fox suddenly came running and jumped straight at her face, delivering a roundhouse kick on her head.

With no other way to strike her, Neku used the pin once more. "Gotta do something anyway!" he said, clutching the shining pin. "What the?!"

An odd phenomenon happened with the pin. It was shining brightly; so bright that Neku had to let go of it. The irony of the shining pin was that it let some darkness dim the white color, allowing everyone to see much clearer than before. The light of the pin even managed to reach out into the upper plane, eradicating all the shadow clones in one go. As the Players focused on the light, the squirrel Noise came down from above, shining just as brightly at the pin. The pin, tightly clutched in Neku's hand, escaped his fingers and went on to join the squirrel Noise.

From the body of light came out someone yelling loudly as she stretched her hand towards Tigris Cantus. With a Natural Magnum clutched on the other hand, energy rounds shot straight into the Noise, causing her to scream in pain and letting go of another pin that went all the way towards Neku. Fox and Ike looked up at the source of the bullets and let their jaws drop in sheer shock. "R-Rhyme?!" they both said.

The blond girl made a triumphant return to her original body just in time to assist the Players. However, she was heading straight to the floor. She covered her face and prepared herself for the abrupt stop, but it was stopped by Fox using Fox Illusion in the nick of time, saving her from a bruise. "Rhyme, is it you?" Fox asked, holding the girl on her arms.

Rhyme nodded with a warm smile. "Yeah, it's me," she said, making Fox smile. "But now it's not the time to hug! We have to defeat her!"

The pin that Neku caught in the air was his Fusion pin. The formerly blank pin had a new image printed on the front. It was the image of a skull mark with wild water wave that crashed behind in the background. The skull mark greatly resembled the mark on Beat's cap and Rhyme's small one on her own cap. "Might as well use this now...!" He clutched the pin to activate its psyche.

Filled with a lot of adrenaline, Beat jumped on his skateboard just as soon as the planes merged. "Yo, let's start it up!" he encouraged.

Neku took one small jump to ride on top of a flat tile that resembled, of all things, a surfboard. "No, let's end it!" he shot back.

The void of white darkness suddenly filled up with water, almost immediately creating crashing, wild waves of water form whirlpools and torrential currents. Tigris Cantus tried to escape from the water, but she was quickly caught in it that she got dragged inside. The water then completely filled the entire void and burst upwards into a large geyser, leading outside to the fake city of Shibuya. As she was pushed up, one large wave of water pushed her to the right, with Neku riding said wave right on top. On the opposite direction, Beat rode a similar large wave that joined up with Neku's, forming a gigantic wave that pulled up into the air, looming in front of a wide-eyed Konishi.

On top of the large wave, the other five Players were tallying behind the first pair on their own surfboards. "Why are we getting in this Fusion pin attack?" Ike asked, looking down at his surfboard.

"Because it's cool?" Ness said.

Tigris Cantus yelled as she tried to warp away quickly, but the huge wave fell on top of her with all the Players adding more weight to the attack. In fact, one by one, they crashed their surfboards one after another, until it finished with Beat grinding his skateboard hard against Konishi's face with all the force he could muster. Screams of pain and yells of adrenaline mixed together with the crashing sound of the water splashing everything around it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IMPOSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" was the loud, distorted scream coming from the Game Master, her face being dismembered by Beat's wheels under the water...

The water and the fake city started to fade away, and in its place, the Shibuya River replaced the setting entirely. The Players stood around their respective spots, looking at each other and finding Konishi nowhere. The battle had been won.

From the shadows, the grading Reapers were nodding multiple times, slapping a Star rank on the Players' performance. "Some big finish that was," the first Reaper noted.

"Sure feels good to see our bosses get their collective asses handed back to them like this," the second Reaper said.

"...You guys okay about these Players?" the third Reaper asked. "I dunno if we should let them carry on..."

The first Reaper rolled his eyes. "That is not our job," he said. "'Sides, I have confidence in them. We've watched them come this far... They really don't mean any harm."

"Ah, I guess that's okay," the second Reaper said.

As the planes started to join again, the second Reaper said, "You better be sure of this 'cause I want to keep my job!"

Music Stops

The planes went back to normal and, before they knew it, the Players found themselves standing on the dark floor of the sewers with their rescued ally in their ranks. In front of them, Konishi was found lying down on her frontal side, her long hair a big tangled mess over her back and arms. There was a small pool of blood forming from the area around her covered face, which made some of them shudder just recalling the screeching scream she did when Beat drove his skateboard on her face during the battle.

"…It's over, yo," Beat told the downed Konishi, before he turned around to see his younger sister looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "…Rhyme…"

"…" Rhyme was a bit confused about what happened during the two weeks she was trapped in a pin and turned into a Noise pet, but she managed to remember all the misdeeds her older brother did for her. Unable to say anything else for a moment, she buried her face on her hands, sniffing.

"I…I…" Beat knew for sure she had seen everything that happened. His team did present some convincing facts to him when he wondered if Rhyme wasn't herself as a Noise pet. "…I'm sorry, yo. I made so many mistakes…"

Rhyme looked up from her hands, her eyes covered in a layer of tears. "…B-Big…Big Bro…" she trailed off. Neku and the others dropped their jaws in unison.

Beat spoke fast. "I-I know I was so damn stupid when I joined up with those idiots but I had no choice 'cause you were a pin and I wasn't thinkin' so good and I needed to take some good action and WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" At the end of his forgiving speech, his brain caught up in time to realize what she said. He covered his face with his arms in a comical fashion. "Y-yo, Rhyme! Y-you called me…y-y-y-you called me Big Bro!"

The younger blond nodded, shedding a few tears. "Ugh…" she muttered. "I know everything… I remember everything about my life, Beat."

Beat lowered his arms and stood still. "What?! B-b-b-but I don't understand! How?!" he asked.

She shrugged, her eyes looking away for a moment before fixing on the downed Konishi. "…Maybe defeating her in battle fixed everything up," she said. "…I've got no idea if that was it, but…I got back everything I lost. I remember how you stormed off from home…how you tried to push me away from that car… And I was acting on my own will when I was a Noise perched on your shoulder, before I got my memory back…" She started to sniff a little more as she looked up at him. "I went through so much when I was sealed into a pin, Beat. I screamed at you for help, even! I was so scared… I thought I was going to lose everything…"

"…Anybody would feel like that if they were in your situation," Neku spoke from behind her. She looked at him. "But I'm surprised you were aware of the events around you."

"During that fight against her, I was watching the whole time as all of you fought," Rhyme said. "When she cornered you, I wished to help you out…and then, Neku used the pin to call out to me. I was very glad when I got for a brief moment…and somehow, I got my form back." She faced Beat again, though she looked down at his feet. "Beat…when I got my memory back, all the stuff that happened in the beginning made all the more sense to me about how you truly felt."

Beat blushed, scratching his head. "Huh? W-whatchu mean by that?" he asked.

"For one…you were never this nice to me when we were alive," Rhyme pointed out. "There had to be a good reason for you to change into this new person. It wasn't that hard for me to piece everything together…" She sniffed. "You were very sorry for what happened in the RG…"

The punk started to sniff. "R-Rhyme…"

"Beat…I'm sad and…very touched for what you've done for me in here," she said, trying to hold back her tears. "I was truly thinking you didn't care about me… I always put up a smile to demonstrate how I liked you for who you were, even when you pulled pranks on me. I knew telling you I liked you as my big bro would make you throw a tantrum, so I just…kept smiling."

"…" Beat slammed his face on his right arm to cover his tearful eyes.

"Thank you…Big Bro," Rhyme said, putting up a small smile under her tears. "I only wish you could be this nice to me if we ever get our lives back…" Suddenly, the punk dropped to his knees and gave Rhyme a quick hug. Rhyme wasn't surprised to see him do it. She silently embraced him as well, and the two began crying as quietly as possible. Rhyme knew his brother wasn't ever going to be so harsh to her now that he started to see the value of having a sister like her by his side.

Some of the Players were sniffing at the scene. Pichu even caught Fox sniffing and shedding a tear, but the vulpine gasped mentally and wiped his tear away to look composed. Neku was the stoic one of the group as he watched on the heartwarming scene from his position next to the others. "(How did she manage to break off from her pin and Noise form?)" he wondered until looking at his right hand. "(Did I have anything to do with it? So…is my power to use many pins the reason, or…?)"

"I don't know how this happened," Ike spoke, getting Neku's attention. "Rhyme came back to us in the end somehow. We should be happy for them to be reunited again."

"I know," Neku said nodding, turning back to them. "It wouldn't hurt to know how it happened. I don't want anything shady from bringing us down after this."

"How... An error in my analysis? Impossible..."

The group quickly noticed Konishi's voice speaking. She was very weak and ready to disappear from the UG forever, though she used the last of her strength to speak to them. "She's still alive?" Ness said. "Man, these Game Masters sure like to cling to life after a beating."

Konishi coughed. "How could you…Neku Sakuraba, have risen above my projections? You're not a Reaper!" she said in complete distraught. "How did you summon that Noise, let alone...restore her to her human form?!"

Rhyme looked away from her while Beat glared. The focus was on Neku, however. "Like I know!" he yelled. "And she's not a Noise! She's our friend, Rhyme!"

The dying Reaper coughed, grunting to herself. "Grrff... All of this... on account of that stupid chimp! If only I'd destroyed him!" She clenched her blood-soaked hands. "If only I'd destroyed the otherworldly Players...! Their high spirits ruined everything! All that despair dropped on to your souls...and you, Neku Sakuraba! You had to intrude into their business!"

Neku frowned as the others looked his way. "The old Neku could have made things impossible," he said. "But I'm here now, thanks to the people who believed in me. All that crap about helping and spending time with each other reached out to me. It helped me and all of us to push through your traps...and Beat..." He looked at Beat, ignoring the bright looks the Smashers gave him. "I don't think any of us can predict what Beat will do. (I mean, look at him.)"

Beat sniffed as he went back to hugging his sister, and she did the same. "I won't...I won't let you down, Rhyme..." Beat muttered between sobs. "This time...I won't screw it up for you!"

"It-it's okay now, Beat, really..." Rhyme sobbed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Now everything will be okay..."

Konishi was gagging heavily, and the group wondered how much longer till she would disappear for real. Getting her face screwed up by Beat's skateboard grinding against it was very morbid but a fitting punishment for her, though her hair and the darkness hid the scary picture. "If only she wouldn't have made it to the end of the first week...she would have lost her memories of you, Daisukenojo Bito... They were YOUR entry fee..."

Beat looked at her with a tough glare, ignoring the fact he was called by his full name. "But that never happened because...because my crew saved her from a tight spot..." He forced a grin towards Fox. "Thanks again...Fox..."

Fox nodded. "You're very welcome, you," he said. "I won't let any people dear to me die on my watch...not even Chris himself."

Suddenly, Konishi was heard chuckling to herself. The Players turned back to looking at her. "Oh...how hilarious..." she coughed. "...You still plan on saving him...? You truly are...wasting your time...with such a person..."

Ike glared. "What do you mean by that? We believe Soren and Chris are still waiting for us at the end of this challenge," he said. "Don't you dare mock our comrades."

"That human...Chris... He only lives to...bring the best out of everyone he knows..." Konishi coughed, though they heard her snickering. "You only want him back...to make yourselves feel better..."

The Smashers exchanged looks. "W-what kind of reason is that?" Ness asked. "Chris needs to come back with us so he can live his own life!"

"For...what?" Konishi asked back. "He has asked himself lately...why bad things happen to him all the time...and how he...can't do anything to stop them himself... I wonder what'll happen if he does come back to life...only to live the cruel reality that is bent in making his already miserable life even more...miserable..."

The group was speechless at her little speech. While the Smashers were trying to come up with a retort to that, as they also had to admit Chris had greatly suffered a lot lately, Fox silently went over to Konishi's side...

"You all are a greedy bunch... Wanting to have someone solve your dilemmas..." Konishi said, and she felt that her life was about to give away. "After all...that brat is only there to bring the best out of everyone...at the cost of his own happiness..."

She didn't see the vulpine pulling his right leg back. "Shut...UP, YOU FREAKING BITCH!" Fox hollered at her, and then he kicked her limp body so hard that she gagged one last time before her body fell into the sewer water. Inside the water, her existence disappeared and faded away in a flash, cursing them all and wishing them a cold and cruel death...

The other Players were shocked to see Fox vent out his frustration like that. The vulpine panted heavily as he stared at the spot where he had seen Konishi fall into, his fists clenched tightly and his breath escaping between his fangs. He remained standing there for a while until all the hot air from his breath was out. Worried about him, Pichu went to his side. "Fox... She's gone," he whispered. "You don't have to snap out like that..."

Fox closed his eyes shut. "I refuse to believe...to believe Chris exists just for that..." he muttered. "Why does he have to suffer so much now? What did he ever do wrong?!"

"Fox, calm down," Ike said with a serious look. "Konishi was trying to break us emotionally. Don't let her mockery get to you...or do you really believe her words?"

The vulpine shook his head and looked down. "No... No way I believe her... I'd rather defend Chris from people like her," he said, turning back to them and looking blank. "To me, he is an amazing person worth fighting for...and he's worth spending time with."

Pichu smiled a bit. "And that's why we need to rescue him and Soren!" he said.

As Ike watched Fox force a smile, he rubbed his chin. "(Why would she even say that out of the blue?)" he wondered. "(Was she trying to make a point before she could die, or was she telling us that he was worthless? Of course he's not worthless to us. If so...was she trying to imply something big that Chris is truly...?)"

"Chris is a great friend and you shouldn't doubt that for a second."

The others noticed Rhyme was talking to them, having stopped hugging her brother. She looked serious, which was an odd event in itself when it was her pulling that look.

"No person is worthless in my eyes," she said. "Everyone is special in their own way. Chris doesn't cause grief or anything like that. He greatly treasures the people dear to him that he's willing to listen to your stories to get to know you. Do I need to remind you that the Reapers like to bring the worst aspects of us that we dislike so much? I know those aspects can be quite...annoying to get over with, but we've pulled through them all anyway." She cleaned her eyes a bit. "And besides, isn't this the end of the long road?"

"...Yeah," Neku said. "Everything's gonna end up ahead, and we're ready for it. It's time we reached the epilogue of this screwed up story... But before that..." he nodded at Rhyme, "nice you have you back with us, Rhyme."

Rhyme smiled at this while Pichu lunged at her to give her a big hug that she returned. "Thank you so much," she thanked them as they closed in on her. "You guys saved me from losing my memories of Beat and...my dreams... I can't believe I played through the Game without either of those things. I was still myself while it happened, though, so I'm glad I wasn't heavily changed into another person."

Ness sighed relieved. "Sweet. Things are starting to look up for us now that Rhyme's here again," he said. "By the way...if you don't mind me asking you...what is your dream about?"

"My dream?" Rhyme asked...and then she blushed profusely, twiddling her fingers. "W-well... Don't tell this to my parents, but... I have a crazy dream to work with CAT someday... You know? The graffiti stuff a lot of people like in Shibuya? It got to me too..." The people around her stared in surprise at the revelation. "S-so...I do a lot of art in my spare time and friends at my school think it's pretty cool, so..."

"(Now I worry about her future,)" Ike thought. "(All that wild art...those outlandish clothing trends... She's into all that?)"

"...Rad," Neku muttered, happy to find someone like him who shared a similar dream.

"...Y-yeah! Enough about me, you guys!" she said, feeling very embarrassed that all the eyes were on her. "W-we must finish this for real now!"

"U-uh, yeah! What she said, yo!" Beat said, while a very long argument in his mind took place with the main topic being if he was responsible for making Rhyme think about doing such a dream that their parents would definitely try to stop at all costs. It was a topic for another day for now, but Beat didn't want to think about the problems he'd have to face much later if word got out from his own mouth by accident. "Shades' gonna go down, right? Guys? RIGHT?!"

"R-right!" the others said.

"Aight!" Beat said, smacking two fists together. He pointed at the bridge Konishi was guarding before her downfall happened. "Git!"

Rhyme has rejoined the team!

With the small episode of embarrassment over with, the seven Players were about to step on the bridge when suddenly they heard a beeping coming from Neku's pocket. The teen stopped with the rest to check on the mail he had received. "'See you in the Composer's chamber,'" he read from the mail.

"Mail at a time like this?" Rhyme wondered. "Is the Composer person doing this? Waiting for us at the end?"

Beat looked at Neku's doubtful look. "Yo... You think it's..."

"Hanekoma?" Ike wondered, and Neku strongly denied the suspicion. With nothing else to say, the group decided to continue on.

Though just before crossing the bridge himself, Neku was wondering if he should continue and see the harsh truth for himself. "The Composer must be ahead. Once we go on, I don't think we can come back," he said, making everyone stop again.

Beat scratched his right shoulder. "Well, I ain't sittin' out here. You ready, man?" he asked. Neku got the strangest feeling that this was their last chance to turn back...

"Shibuya is in hell right now. There's no point turning back now," Ike said. "Going back there to take a break is... I don't think it's a good idea now."

"...Let's go further in," Neku finally decided. With a nod of confirmation from everyone else, the group followed the long trail deeper into the sewers. They were sure about their suicidal-looking decision, longing for the days where fighting for their lives was a thing of the past...

"Aight! Full speed ahead!" Beat shouted enthusiastically, with his spirit renewed now that Rhyme was by their side safe and sound.

Rhyme felt like someone touched her on her shoulder. She gasped and looked around. "H-huh? Who was that?" she asked.

The Players turned to her. "Something wrong, Rhyme?" Beat asked.

"Uh... I felt someone touching my shoulder..." Rhyme trailed off as she tried to find the person who touched her. She was standing behind Beat and the others, so none of them could have touched her without her seeing them first. "Is someone watching us?"

Ike looked around the dark sewer. "I don't see anybody...and shouting for them to come out won't yield anything," he said. "Are you sure you felt something?"

"Well, yes," Rhyme said. "It was too sudden but I..."

Pichu went over to her. "Do you feel okay?" he asked with concern in his voice. "Do you feel sick?"

"...No," Rhyme said, looking at her hands. "I'm sure I'm okay now. There's nothing weird or wrong about my body..."

The mercenary said, "Rhyme, you better stay close to us. We can't risk having you getting lost once more."

"Yeah!" Beat said, pulling his sister to the center of their formation. "Rhyme, stick close to me. No wanderin' off now!"

His little sister giggled. "How weird it is to hear that from you. I always have to tell you that," she pointed out.

"BWAAAAAAAAAH!" Beat bwah'd loudly, getting a smack on the back by Fox. "Ouch!"

"Keep shouting like that in here and you'll let our enemies know we're still standing!" the vulpine said. "Anyway, c'mon! We gotta move deeper into this stinky sewer..." The group agreed to his suggestion, walking on top of the white trail leading somewhere deep. Rhyme couldn't shake the feeling about that random moment where she was touched...

Trail of the Bygone

The next section of the river passage wasn't very different from the entrance portion, except for the fact more piles of junk were spotted all over the place. Up ahead the darkness seemed to grow thicker but not so awfully dark enough to discourage walking into an invisible area. As the Players walked forward and looked around for anything suspicious, Pichu's ears twitched when he noticed that an extra pair of footstep sounds were coming from behind them. "G-guys, stop! Something's coming from behind us!" Pichu alerted them.

Careful about his warning, the group looked behind and saw a shadow coming from behind a pile of junk, followed by annoyed grunts and a nose being pinched to avoid smelling the awful odor of the sewer water and junk combined. "Ohhh... What is this place? It's so dark...and spooky... And stinky," the voice's owner said.

The small speech told them the mysterious person didn't seem to know what was going on.

But moreover, none of them could really forget that voice once the confused person walked out from the pile's shadow and stopped on her tracks when she saw them staring back at her. "I...I can't..." Ness trailed off.

Neku's eyes were bigger than any of theirs were, his mouth wide open. "Shiki... Shiki!" he yelled.

Their eyes weren't playing tricks on them. The seamstress was there in front of them, and Shiki was equally shocked to find them all wandering about in the dark place that was speechless for a moment until she forced the words out. "Whoa! Neku? Beat? E-everyone?!" she spoke in surprise as they rushed to their side.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Fox said, stopping them before they could get closer to her. He crossed his arms. "This looks awfully...good. I can't believe Shiki is right here in front of us that easily! How do we know she's not Shiki?"

"Huh?" Shiki blinked as she saw them looking doubtful at her.

Neku was very glad to see her again, even though she wasn't using her real body again. He had to believe Fox's words. This was awfully good to be true. "Y-yeah... We don't know if this is the real Shiki..." he said. "But...if we want to confirm it, you have to say something only the real Shiki would know while we've been here playing the Game."

The "Shiki" person was utterly confused as to what was going on, though she looked up and rubbed her chin to answer Neku's question. "Something I only know...? Well... Oh!" She took out a familiar doll: Mr. Mew. "This is my favorite doll I created by myself. You all remember Mr. Mew, right?"

"Yes..." Neku said. "...What else?"

"Shiki" blinked again. "What else? Uh..." She stared at them...and then she looked rather pissed. "Hmph."

They exchanged looks of confusion. "Are you getting angry because we're doubting you?" Ness asked.

"Shiki" grunted louder. "No! It's not that!" she complained. "It's just... Argh! I can't take it anymore!"

Beat grinned. "Ah-HA! Youse not the real Shiki! You admit it!" he said before cracking his fists. "Well, well! Looks like anodah fight is up, yo-!"

"PANTS OFF, YOU!"

"...Huh?" everyone else said in unison at her sudden outburst. Before they knew it, Shiki had tackled an unsuspecting Fox behind a pile of junk in an almost blinding tackle move the likes of Sonic would be jealous of. Soon afterward, screams and the sound of pants being unzipped echoed in the sewer in a struggle Shiki won unscathed.

"AAAAAAAH! NOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAIN!" the vulpine screamed at the top of his lungs as they saw their shadows becoming a big mess of things flying everywhere and bodies squirming on the floor. It looked very dirty, considering the setting they were at.

As the screams kept on coming, the others safe from the mysterious Shiki's ire looked at each other with blank looks and said, "That's Shiki. No doubt about it." They did a smart move by not intruding in her business and ignoring Fox's pleas for help, the vulpine accusing her of invading his personal space.

A while later...

With Fox's pants sewed up on three scars left by the fight with Konishi – above his right knee area – and his dignity as a man shattered once more, Shiki went back to being calm. "Do you even care about your clothes?" Shiki asked Fox, very seriously.

"No, I care more about my dignity as a man," Fox told her, blushing deeply and still managing a glare. "Thank you for breaking it apart, by the way. I didn't ask for it!"

"Hush, you," Shiki said, looking happy. "As long as I'm around, you won't have to worry about going naked by accident."

"(Girl's nuts, yo,)" Beat thought to himself.

Neku didn't mind the incident, so long as it proved it was truly Shiki herself. Ike felt the glare and fire of Shiki's eyes when she stared at him. Knowing what would happen if he didn't realize it sooner, he sighed and took off his cape, which had been torn off in a number of places. She went back to work as she started patching the large gaps without minding the dirty ends on the edges. "What are you doing here?" Neku asked her finally, after she was done with the cape.

"I woke up here all by myself," Shiki said. "Then I found you wandering about in here..."

"Yo, does that mean we won the Game?" Beat asked. "Like, the Iron Maiden was the las' boss?"

"If that was true, why haven't we been taken to that white chamber of whiteness?" Ness asked. "That usually happens after we erase the week's Game Master."

The loner teen crossed his arms in thought. "(But if I won the Game, why hasn't Shiki come back to life? Did the Reapers trick us? Or-?)

"So where are we?" Shiki asked, breaking Neku's thought. She looked around in the dinky place and shivered at the damp smell of junk mixed with water. "Are we all alive again?"

"I'd be skipping around like a girl in a flower field if that was true," Ness said. "No, we're not alive...yet. And to boot, we're inside the Shibuya River in the UG, under Shibuya itself."

"The UG?" Shiki said till she got a little hysterical. "But why?! I'm supposed to be alive..."

Neku lowered his face. "...You can blame me," he said. "They made you my entry fee. I'm sorry..."

"Huh? I was your entry fee? Then..." She gasped rather loudly at the huge implication of herself becoming an entry fee for Neku of all people. The others quickly looked away in embarrassment. Nobody saw the blush marks on Neku's cheeks. "Wh-whoa!" she exclaimed, flailing her hands in front of her. "So I'm your... I'm the... Whaaat? Oh, NEKU... Talk about embarrassing... I mean, this isn't like you at all!"

"Pretty shocking, isn't it? It's like you and him are a coup-" Ness was kicked by Neku before he could finish the sentence.

"That's 'cause you haven't seen me in two weeks. You missed a lot. And I mean a lot, Shiki," Neku told her.

"Well..." Shiki smiled. "Look on the bright side. If we're together now, you must've won...right? Now we can all come back to life."

Ike shook his head as he said, "That seems impossible for now," he said. "Like we said before, we haven't been taken to that white room like before."

"Prob'ly 'cause we been breakin' rules left an' right," Beat surmised.

"You've been breaking rules? Why?" Shiki asked. "That's kinda dangerous for this kind of thing..."

Fox rubbed his head. "Yeah, well, there's been a lot of things going on ever since we last saw you, you know. They haven't been pretty...at all," he said. "It's what we get for trying to figure things out."

Neku nodded. "I'm pretty sure the Game is null and void," he said.

"Null and-" Shiki gasped in shock. "But what about our lives?!"

"There still might be a way, yo," Beat said with confidence, "if I become the next Composer!"

Shiki was utterly lost on that plan, and the looks everyone else put up convinced her that he was bluffing or something. "How does that work?" she asked.

"I gotta take down the guy with the job now."

"Hmm... I see."

The Smashers stared. "...Shiki, he just said he was going to become the Composer," Ike reminded her. "Him... Him. Beat. And the Composer is supposed to be a god."

"...Uh... Frankly speaking, I'm just following the flow now," she admitted. "You look so serious so I figured you know what you're doing now... So I guess that must be the only way."

Pichu narrowed his eyes, already perched on her right shoulder. "You really are lost about the whole deal that hearing Beat say he's going to become a god is not that weird, aren't you," he said.

She sighed. "Totally," she muttered.

"Don't worry, yo! I'ma pull this thing off!" Beat said.

"But Rhyme's already with us. What other reason is there for you to become the Composer?" Ike asked.

"'Cuz we doesn't know if they'll keep their end of the bargain! 'member all the rules we broke?"

"I'm more concerned about all the power you'll get if you do become the next Composer and you suddenly vaporize all of us by accident," Fox said, and the others nodded. Even Rhyme nodded as well. Beat slumped forward but regained his fiery spirit quite quickly.

Shiki so needed to be explained about everything that happened during her absence. "Let's not waste any time, then!" she said. "I'll gladly help you out in any way I can, as long as we can make it back to our normal lives together!"

Shiki rejoined your team!

The group felt that their bad luck was going away. With Rhyme and Shiki back in the group, they thought that it was very possible to rescue the last two missing members. It was then that Shiki looked at each one of them and saw that there were people missing... "Hold on. Where are Chris and Soren? I don't see them anywhere..." Shiki said, making the Smashers look concerned before they went on to explaining everything to her.

Neku looked ahead to the area they needed to reach. "(If the Composer stands between me and life...then he has to go...no matter who he is... I...I have to do it.)"

After explaining the entire chain of events to Shiki to bring her up to date, the larger group moved forward, crossing the heaps of junk that furnished the way to the end of the river. One particular heap of junk caught Shiki's attention, mainly because the junk found there looked way different than any other pile there was. "Look! There's something there," she said while pointing to the junk heap. The overall design of the rather tall heap of garbage was familiar to many of them.

"That looks like a huge heap of garbage," Rhyme said, taking a closer look at it.

"Yeah, one of his magnificent pieces of art using...garbage," Neku said. "I'll never know why he had this fetish for making art out of garbage."

Ness rolled his hand to the side. "I admire him a bit for taking some time off his schedule to make this in the name of art," he said.

Rhyme nodded. "Hmm, the design is way off, and those antennas sticking out like that from the top give a weird modern impression that's sure to tip people off. Oh, and that refrigerator on top has to go because a square top looks silly in practice. Don't get me started on the tires all over the middle portion because that just makes it look very basic. The car doors on the base scream a rushed job was done, and the erratic choice of color from all the junk pieces put together... Eww, that's not cool. The big picture is just mentally scarring more than being amazing. Whoever did this was seriously just tossing garbage on top of garbage without thinking about the main result they envisioned in their heads to get from the start." She looked at the others. "What do you think? I think that tilting this heap to the left and gathering pieces of junk of the same color can seriously help to create something worthwhile without starting from scratch and lose a ton of time."

They were utterly speechless about her detailed assessment on a heap of garbage. Many jaws were wide open at her.

"...Excuse me. What?" Fox asked.

"Oh, come on. This is basic stuff for artists," Rhyme said with a smile. None of them truly believed anything she had said.

Neku stared at Beat. "She has you beaten in a lot of ways...and all of us combined," he said.

Shiki politely ignored the assessment on the junk of heap as she went around it to check it out. When she went to the back of the heap, however, she screamed. "Omigosh! There's a person under there!" she yelled. The others gasped and went to join her to see what she had found...

Under a whole white car upside-down and a soda machine, the Players found none other than Sho Minamimoto crushed under the sheer weight of the objects. His life seemed to have been taken right as he had tried to crawl out from the junk. Rhyme covered her mouth and looked away. "Yo, look who it is!" Beat said.

"The Grim Heaper got...crunched," Neku said in surprise.

"But...he was just fine a few moments ago before we fought Konishi!" Pichu pointed out. "How could he have been defeated like this?"

"This guy was tough as bricks!" Beat said. "Who coulda done this to him? You think...Shades?! Could he a' done this?" he wondered as he stared at the lifeless body.

"I dunno. But whoever it was must have been more powerful," Neku said.

"Um..." Rhyme trailed off as looked back at the body. "How odd... His body hasn't disappeared in static from erasure..." she pointed out. The group blinked in realization. "Could he be...still alive?"

"Z-zetta...low..."

They gasped when they heard the body talk. They waited for Sho to keep talking, but he only kept coughing and coughing. Case in point, the first six Players exchanged looks and went over to make sure the white car and the soda machine crushed the guy completely for real, just because they thought Sho was a huge jackass they never wanted to see again that the world would never miss one bit. Doing everyone in the world a favor, the Players crushed the math fetishist under the sheer weight, and his body disappeared forever underneath it all.

Ness smiled with a huge relief washing his soul. "I feel like I can do anything now," he said.

"Y-you guys! That was the meanest thing I've ever seen coming from you! How could you just go ahead and erase him like that? It makes me sick, you know!" Shiki scolded them. And then they explained everything he had done to them during the second week. "...Oh. Wow, that harsh? Never mind, then. He totally had it coming."

"Now we don't gotta beat him now!" Beat said in high spirits.

"No. Just the other guy who's stronger," Shiki pointed out.

Beat rolled his eyes. "Details, yo. I'm tellin' ya, we lucky! Now le's keep goin'!" With Sho forever gone from everyone's lives, the group started to move forward once again. Neku and Rhyme were left behind for a moment, the first wondering what had happened on the spot they found the heap of garbage.

"That is very strange..." Rhyme muttered to herself as she started at the objects that had crushed the former Game Master. "Everyone knows you can't just chuck a whole car and a whole soda machine to heaps of garbage. That's cheating. They need to take off the parts and then position them at the right spots to do it right..."

Neku overheard her extra assessment. "Huh? What?"

Rhyme looked up at Neku and chuckled. "Heh heh, sorry. I was just running my mouth a bit... Let's go!" she piped up and went back to the others. Neku was entirely stupefied that she knew too much about art itself, and his inner fanboy told him that he needed to stay ahead of her. What kind of stuff was she looking up to, anyway? With this in mind, Neku ran back to the others as well...not before picking up Pi-Face's hat dropped next to his feet. The hat was pretty nice in itself. A shame it had belonged to a psychopath, but now it had a nice home in Neku's inventory.

The hat then was given to Pichu, who begged Neku to have it for himself. Now the small Pokémon looked very cute and stylish with it.

Not very far away from them was the dead end of the Shibuya River. It presented itself in the form of a big red door with Noise symbols barely surfacing on the fine wooden door. It looked like the entrance to an elevator with a card key-like reader next to it. Staring at the door made them understand that this was it. The moment of truth to bring everything to an end was before them, and the Smashers couldn't wait to go back to their second home.

"Whew..." Shiki began. "This door just screams 'endgame.'"

"Please, please, let it be the endgame," Ness said, joining his hands and begging to the door. "I'm seriously sick about going back into the Game and run around like an idiot..."

"I'm certain this is really it," Ike said. "Soren, Chris, hang in there a little longer..."

As the rest voiced their opinions on the matter, Shiki looked at her former partner staring into the door, as if he wanted the door to open through sheer will. "Neku, you all right? You look pale," she said concerned.

Neku blinked and looked at her. "...I'll be OK. Come on." With a few steps towards the door, it opened up by itself after sensing guests coming toward it. A blinding light shone on their faces as the Players braced themselves for the endgame of the Reapers' Game. The Shibuya Crew longed to go back to their normal lives, while the Smashers longed to go back to their second home without leaving anyone behind. They took the first steps to their final tribulations...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next Chapter:

"The World Begins With You"

Do you want to save your data?

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Shibuya River

Neku – Beat, Ike – Ness, Fox – Pichu, Shiki, Rhyme

...I'll be honest. I feared we would never see the end of this long arc, but it is happening. The story continues even now, and I'm happy for it, really.

Personal thoughts aside, players familiar with TWEWY surely noticed all the changes that happened in this chapter. Not only was the Shibuya Crew affected in some way, but the Smashers have gotten some cryptic words from Konishi about Chris. Those words are going to mean a lot for future chapters... The final chapter shall be a life-changing chapter. The beginning of something new...

But focus on the present now. Sharp people should have noticed Rhyme came back and her memories and dreams were left intact unlike in the game. If you remember during the first third part of this arc, she managed to win the Game during her week, unlike how she was...well, you know. I wanted to bring closure to Beat, personally. Emotions will run high soon.

The next chapter is almost finished. Remember that. So now, I encourage you all to review, or else Shiki will sew you up good.

Fox: You mean touch you all over for the sake of fixing a stupid hole on your pants!

Shiki: Oh, shut up! I can't tolerate those glaring clothing malfunctions! They beg me to patch them!

Ike: I thank the goddess I didn't have a claw mark over my chest...

Neku: Ike, shut up. You're tempting your fangirls to start a new shipping.

Ike: I have what now?
*Chapter 212*: The World Begins With You

So begins the ending of the arc.

From Ckbrothers: 1: Will newer games such as pokemon x/y and Super Mario 3-D Land be relevant to the story?
2: Will Luigi ever have his own staring moment?
3: Will there be any more twists to the TWEWY Story line, such as New problems not in the game?
4: Will Shiki ever stop sounding like she has a Fox fetish? ( Her lines are so...yeah I'll leave it at that)

From me: More multiple questions to answer.

1: It's very possible that those games will happen because quite frankly I'm running out of material. Still, it's unknown at the moment.

2: I suppose Luigi will.

3: Not beyond this chapter.

4: Sure, once Fox stops being reckless with his clothing and she doesn't get the urge to fix his clothing before she snaps... It's only happened two times. TWO TIMES, anyway.

From Outrider: The battles are a little boring, as the pin style of fighting does not work outside the game well. I see why this arc had to be as long as it is, but its getting a little drawn out.

A way you could bring the fans into this story is to highlight a mmo game such as final fantasy 14 a realm reborn. There is a underlying storyline you can follow and it has a class system that Chris could use and become slightly stronger.

From me: The reason why this arc is so long was because there was no other way to give justice to the game with a shorter run. If I had picked the first week, Neku would've been a jerk till the last day along with a lot more discrepancies. If I did the second week...its ending would pretty much force the Smashers to keep playing for the next week, and as a result they would have never met Shiki. If I did the third week only...they could've been erased within the first second.

As for the battles, I admit the pin system doesn't translate too well, though I decided to mix things up in these last fights. You be the judge, okay?

From Outrider: I am very exited for the next arcs. I saw that golden sun is a possibility, does that mean you might do one of my favorite games, Golden Sun: Dark dawn in the future? Its younger charictors might blend better with the Smasher's personalities.
Whatever game comes next, I hope chris returns. I believe you do not have to worry about making him into a Gary sue anymore, he has been weak for 211 chapters. I think you can spruse the class system and give him a few super mushrooms to bring him up to pace so he does not die again.

From me: I can't simply jump straight to the latest Golden Sun game like that, but the first one is planned. Also, it doesn't matter if the characters are young or not.

Should Chris really come back...that's up to you to find out. Getting lives isn't that easy anyway.

Welcome to the final chapter of the TWEWY arc. It looks like I got too much into it that it got too long. To be honest, the battles ahead aren't as long as the final conversations everyone has. Everything comes together full circle, but I can't say for sure up here if all of their wishes will come true in the end. Unlike the previous chapter, much of the conversations have to deal with the Smashers taking extreme decisions.

WARNING: The following wall of text below reveals some huge secrets from TWEWY (including the extended ending), though it never elaborates on the Secret Reports you can get in the game. Play the game to find out a whole lot more about how stuff works in there. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Let the final Noise battles begin...

I encourage all strangers to read on, enjoy, collect pins(!), and review.

Disclaimer: RD Ike is known as a gorilla in Japan. Don't ask...

Chapter 212: The World Begins With You

~ Shibuya ~

Dead God's Pad

None of the Players were expecting a luxurious place at the end of a stinky, dark sewer. The sound of glass being stepped on made them look down to their feet, where they found a large aquarium was under the glass floor that covered every corner of the area, with the piranhas in there swarming around their feet as to hoping they would fall in there. To the sides were large white sofas with a table above a large cream rug. Behind the sofas were waterfalls that fell slowly back to earth behind stained glass. Beyond the classy arrangement was a bar area, with glasses of wine and other alcoholic beverages displayed on the dimly-lighted wall which also sported a waterfall. On each side of the large counter of the bar were two jukeboxes that were playing a jazzy, silent tune.

"Talk about luxurious," Ness said. "Who would've thought there was a place like this at the end of the tunnel?"

Neku looked around the fancy setting with wary eyes. "Is this the Composer's pad?" he asked.

"If it is, he likes living the good life," Fox said, "at the expense of making our lives miserable for his enjoyment... Prick. Don't mind if I go over there and drink his own wine." The other Players gave him a long stare. Frankly speaking, he was the only young adult of the team with a group of teenagers, and Rhyme and Ness. "...What? I need a drink."

"Honestly, this is hardly the time to get drunk," Rhyme advised. "And for the record, there is never a reason to need a drink, but only want a drink. How do you know if it's even safe to drink?"

While Fox cursed mentally that he got lectured by Rhyme again, Beat's loud grunt made them look at him. "Wait... I know this place..." he trailed off. "Yeah, tis the place where they like to gather a' the time!"

"You sure?" Ike asked. "Any chances the Composer also appears in here?"

"Sorry... I dunno that," Beat said ashamed. "But tas fine! Shades' gotta be 'round here!"

Shiki shivered. "The second-in-command of the Game," she said. "I thought he'd make things fair for all of us."

"But because of all the mess and trouble we've been getting into for the past three weeks, he has to let us go now! We can't break any more rules if they let us go!" Pichu complained.

"I'm not leaving this damned challenge behind without Soren and Chris," Ike said, looking serious. "I refuse to."

Beat was the first one to rush forward and grunt at every spot his head would stop to look at. He was hunting Kitaniji down. "Yo, Shades! Show up! We's gotta have something to say to ya!" he called out. "Are you a chicken?!" They didn't really want to scold Beat for his loud yelling, mostly because it was impossible to stop him once he got going on something.

"Welcome, Players."

The eight Players looked to the center of the bar's counter where Megumi Kitaniji was seen standing there. They all could attest he wasn't standing there a second ago, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that the second-in-command showed himself to them. They all tensed up seeing his knowing smile and his eyes directed at them from behind his sunglasses.

"Ex-Players, that is," he announced with a frown. "Your Game has ended. Now you are simply Dead."

"And we meet again for the fourth time," Ness said. "...Dead?" he wondered in the next second.

"Correct, you rule breakers. Doing anything you want in the Game has taken away so many points from you that your existences do not matter anymore," he explained, the glares fixed on his face. "I hardly believe there is hope left for any of you."

"Then why are still breathing inside this dead wasteland?" Ike questioned. "If you want to say something else is dead, that'll probably be you if you don't tell us where the Composer is! So! My question is...where's the Composer?"

Kitaniji fixed his glasses. "Oh, is that why you're here? And why would you kids want to meet the Composer?" he asked with interest.

Beat said confidently, "Whatchu think, man? We gonna take him down!"

"All we'll bring Chris and Soren back from the dead through him!" Fox followed.

Megumi chuckled. "Not a chance. You're not even fit to look upon Him," he said.

"Why are we unfit?" Rhyme asked.

"You are mere insects hoping to see their God. It is simply not possible to watch the filth gain audience with their almighty master... However, the Composer's utmost concern is mankind's happiness," Megumi said, walking to the left with hands folded behind his back. "He exists to shepherd the human race toward the right future, and thus all His acts are motivated by boundless love." He walked to the right. "You think egotists like yourselves have the right to lay your eyes - let alone a finger - on a being so far above you?" He walked back to the center and glanced sideways at them. "You're not even on the same plane!"

"Yo, I don't get a word you sayin', but you ain't stoppin' me!" Beat proclaimed. "I'm gonna take his place, and bring everybody back to life."

Megumi pointed at Beat. "You see! That self-serving rubbish is the root of all pain! Egotism - disregard for others - has caused Shibuya's downfall. And now the Composer must rebuild from scratch! The current status of the worlds outside of His reach are also decaying by the minute, thus the need to bring it all together!" The group gasped in unison. "None may stand in the way of that noble goal!"

"T-the worlds beyond His reach?" Shiki muttered. "You mean...?"

"It means our worlds!" Ike said in shock. "What is so wrong about our worlds that need to be rebuild? There is nothing wrong with them!"

"Empty words from an empty-headed individual!" Megumi said, smiling again. "You can only stare at one portion of the big picture and label the entire land as a perfect place when in truth you are being delusional to what is beyond your naked eyes! His grace knows the true solution to solve all problems that plague your every day life. How dare you even go against His word!"

Fox growled. "You and your stupid boss need to stay the hell away from our homes! The problems we have there can be solved with our own hands!" he said.

"Ha! What rubbish!" Megumi said. "You have done quite a swell job at solving those problems. Your lack of strength and influence has doomed your worlds from that threat you call...the Subspace Army." The Smashers exchanged glances. "Allow the Composer to give a hand to you...by putting everything in its righteous place."

"D-defeat Tabuu and give control of all the worlds in exchange?" Pichu said. "W-we can't! We don't have the right to do that!"

"That is why they all need a leader," Megumi said. "How can you reject His salvation over your unfledged one? Why must you be so stubborn, children of man?"

Ike shook his head. "T-this has nothing to do with the worlds! Tell us where you have Soren and Chris right now!" he demanded.

Megumi looked away. "The ones you're seeking are no more...for they hold unfathomable knowledge that is helping us understand how your worlds work. To let their souls wither away, along with your souls, would be a waste indeed. They shall become the crux of our plans for expansion," he said.

Ness's eyes widened. "Are you saying...they're alive?"

Morbidly enough, the Smashers felt relief when he nodded to them. "Alive in this realm between life and death, yes... But it is also a waste to let them go just like that. They don't possess their consciences and are just hollow shells with their minds intact," he said, making them go back to glaring. "Their lives did not do a lot of good, but their vast knowledge is treasure in themselves that we shall put to good use. You are all dead and therefore should not even care to get to them. That is His decree!"

"Hollow shells...being used to tell you how to understand everything outside your own world..." Fox trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to grit his fangs harder than they were. "How...dare you..."

Neku stepped forward. "Hey! That's not cool at all!" he said. "You Reapers keep using these nasty tricks for your benefit! Leave those guys alone! They have nothing to do with this!"

"They have a lot to do with this, Neku Sakuraba," Megumi said with a chuckle. "They helped you stay alive in the Reapers' Game. They have become your accomplices since Day 1 of the first week. They possess the means to let Him give salvation to their homes...and I shall not allow you to deprive us from our resources any longer, rule breakers!" He opened his hand at them. "Begone!"

All Neku saw the next second was a light knocking him out, coming from the Conductor's hand. Before his ears were out, he manage to hear to rest of his group screaming...

Sometime later...

"U-ugh... What...happened...?" Neku grumbled to himself, looking to the left where he saw the piranhas of the aquarium below his body swarming underneath him. He felt groggy and confused, wondering why he was knocked out so easily. When everything came to his head, he gasped and quickly stood up, looking around the sophisticated pad. "E-everyone?! Guys?!" he called out when he noticed he was left alone. Even Megumi was gone. "D-damn! Where'd they all go?!" he complained, almost wanting to stomp the glass under his feet to break it.

The party has left Neku...

He searched the place for signs of his crew, but he couldn't find anyone still. When he walked back to the center of the pad, he grabbed his head. "Am I...dead? But... But that's not possible... Beat should also be erased with me. I don't think this place is the true afterlife..." he muttered to himself, still looking around. "(What a drag... Where do I even begin to look? Going back to Shibuya is suicidal as it is with all the deranged Reapers prowling about... Have they all been really erased?) Argh! It doesn't make any sense that I have to keep fighting like this! Dammit!" he cursed his bad luck and let time ease his stress.

Just perhaps, it was all up to him to fight the Composer alone. If defeating him would bring everyone back, there was no other choice. Adding the fact many other worlds are in peril of falling under the control of the Composer, Neku didn't want to imagine the Reapers' Game spreading like wildfire. "But I do have to... Alone. Now...where's the Composer?"

Utterly lost in what to do, he put a hand inside his right pocket. "(Where's the Composer? The River ends here. There's no place else else to go... Better check this room over.)" When he felt the touch of his Player Pin, he got an idea. Using the scanning skill, his mind's reached all over the pad to see if he could find something relevant...

There was a door floating there in the spot where Kitaniji.

"(Okay... There's a door... Never mind I never found a door using this method before...)" Neku shrugged. He was drawn to the door. Using his mind, he seemed to open it, where then he noticed that he was standing somewhere else new...

Trail of the Judged

When he came to, he was once again standing in a dark place with a trail going all the way to the north. Turning his head to the left, he gasped when his eyes reflected true beauty people his age could understand very well. It was a large wall full of graffiti that left no corner untouched by the stylish decals and designs. To find graffiti in the final leg of the Reapers' Game – or rather the struggle – was a little weird, but he welcomed it for a small moment. Graffiti had that magic that helped him to continue enjoying his life.

"(I remember, Mr. H. Your art kept me going. Every piece seemed to shout, 'Enjoy life!' And outside my headphones, the rest of the world heard it, too. It was fun just standing here, looking... When I found out you were CAT, man, I just shook. I mean, I knew you were different the second I met you. The things you said... Somehow, they just clicked. I thought I finally met a guy I could respect. And now look...)" He sighed depressed when he thought back on the ordeals he had gone through for dying at the hands of Sho Minamimoto. He shook his head and looked ahead of the trail where all the answers were waiting for him. "But I won't falter anymore. You taught me better than that."

As the sounds of his steps echoed in the wide space, Neku got worried that the fate of so many people were at stake. He was back to being alone, like he used to before dying. Back then, he shunned people away because he thought they were stupid or didn't understand him at all. He probably was the one who didn't understand them all instead, and that was proven a lot of times when all the strangers he was forced to see every day in the world of the living dead yelled at him. Having them gone now...it was starting to become so obvious to him that his closed world was a cage.

As he reflected on the people that took him to this point, he saw two lights suddenly flashing on the far end of the trail. Said lights seemed to be floating as he approached them faster than before. He found himself running now, trying to see what those lights were. When the closed alley of graffiti ended, he was stepping into a large, empty area with three large towers looming every corner of the center of the space of dim darkness...

Before going forward, Neku went over his pin deck. He set a Sweet Talk Tether pin to use chains to trap foes, a Meteor Spike pin to crush foes with large boulders, a Blast Warning pin to create a a line of burning fire, a Yoshimitsu pin for continuous slashing blows, a Lolita Bat pin to fire seeking slow moving bullets to interrupt and hurt enemies, and lastly a healing pin; the Peace Full pin. With a strong set like this, he continued forward.

Room of Reckoning

Neku couldn't believe his eyes. He was back to the room where winning Players would get taken back from the Reapers' Game and get their prize to go back to life. Despite not many making it to the winners' circle, the room now was a place full of negative emotions where despair took hold it. And in the center of all that despair where three towers where they held two lifeless bodies floating in midair.

"I...I..." Neku trailed off, his fists uncurling to his sides. "...No. We knew it..."

The three towers held two bodies; their owners displaying sorrowful looks and closed eyes. They were the two people whose absence had taken so much from Neku's group: Chris and Soren. To see them again was a relief, but it wasn't a complete good feeling, seeing as they weren't aware of what was going on, let alone Neku himself.

"I found 'em..." Neku muttered. "...But now what? It seems way too easy to just walk over there and yell at them to wake up... This gotta be a trap." He grunted and looked around. "Come on out, Composer! Fight me! You want me to defeat you, right? Isn't that it!? Then show yourself!" If his nagging thoughts were right, he wasn't going to be ever ready to face off against the person he had in mind. "Show yourself and fight... Mr. H..."

At first, there was silence after his echoes resounded back to him. But then, he heard some sounds coming from the direction of the three towers. "Who's Mr. H?" asked Megumi as he showed himself to Neku.

Neku was still bitter from their last meeting."You again!" he said. "What have you done to my friends?!"

Megumi laughed. "I'm amazed! Here you stand on the final stage and still don't know who's playing what!"

"It's been cryptic since Day 1 because everything's been out of whack, and yet I have way too many doubts in my mind," Neku said while shaking a fist. "But now I made it here and I want answers to everything! Tell me now what the hell's going on with them!" he pointed at the two bodies.

"All right. You want answers?" Megumi said...and did as he was told. "The bodies you see up there between the towers hold two magnificent people rich with knowledge of the worlds beyond ours."

Neku blinked. "Rich with knowledge... Well, yeah, they surely have seen a lot if they don't belong to our world... So what? I thought those two were erased for good!" he said. "How come their bodies are here?"

"They are truly on the verge of death itself," Megumi said, making Neku gasp. "But if they die, so do their memories of the worlds. The Reapers' Game has never had people like them before, and thus this was a huge shock to us in the Reaper hierarchy. So, we treated them like any other Player to...test them, shall we say. To see how they would fare against the challenges we put on them all. Imagine our surprise when we found out that they had innate skills no ordinary human in Shibuya or the whole planet possessed... We all got curious about these oddities."

Neku had to admit their backgrounds sounded like some kind of cheap anime in a dream, though that was the Neku of the past. The Neku of the present truly believed their words. "Yeah, they are odd, alright," he said. "Odd but still human."

"Indeed," Megumi said. "Surely, you see how letting people like them go would be a waste to us, correct?"

The teen grunted again. "They have to go back to their worlds and settle that weird matter with that army bent on killing us all! I-I forgot what that was about, but I trust them!" he said. "What use do you have in them, anyway?!"

Megumi fixed his glasses. "I told you before that I'm planning on expanding the Composer's reach to their worlds!" he said. "Let his salvation bring hope to the decaying worlds beyond our barrier! It is a fair trade-off, considering the situation every world in existence is in. Use our resources for greater good while also extending the Reapers' Game! Surely you see the benefits of people falling into the Game! Second chances to live again after premature deaths and laugh at Death's face himself!"

Neku didn't want to admit that it was nice to have second chances. The way to getting those second chances was extremely controversial, however, after having gone through it three times without success. Those failures told him that it wasn't going to be fair, effectively making the entire point pointless. "Yeah, like anyone else wants that!" Neku shot back. "You idiots keep toying around with our lives and leave us in the dark about what to do in the damned thing! I'd rather eradicate the Reapers' Game forever!"

Megumi laughed loudly. "I did not know you were such a jester, Neku Sakuraba!"

"(These guys sure do love calling me by my full name...)"

"Which is why you cannot see the truth!" With a snap of his fingers, Kitaniji called forth a whole group of lights that formed a barrier in front of the three towers. From each light that dimmed down, he saw his comrades knocked out cold and floating there. "The worlds need a ruler who can shape them into perfection. The Composer shall be that ruler!"

"G-guys..." Neku trailed off. "T-they're...okay..."

"Ah, you seem weak in the knees again," Megumi pointed out, looking over at the others. "Simply erasing the rest of your friends would not do. Unlike the others, they will come to their senses shortly."

True to his word, the others slowly woke up from the trance they were on and noticed the abrupt change in setting. Looking around the empty space, they struggled to get down after seeing Neku and Megumi standing down there... They could not yell for help. They looked like they were yelling towards Neku, but the teen couldn't hear them. Only able to twist their heads to the sides, they never saw that they were floating in front of the two lifeless Players.

"They can't say anything!" Neku said.

"It'll be...noisy in here if they did," Megumi said. "Let us continue with our civilized conversation."

"Civilized my ass!" Neku said. "You're holding them all hostage to make me do whatever you want me t-!"

"Further misconduct will punish you dearly," the Conductor said. "I suggest you stay calm, or else I will not answer your questions."

Feeling stuck in a tight spot, Neku played it safe. "Fine... I know you're gonna make up another excuse to cripple me anyway. (I shouldn't give up now! I've come so far!) Tell me where's Mr. H!" he demanded. "He's the Composer...isn't he..."

Megumi...shook his head. "The Composer is not the man you envision," he confirmed.

"(Thank, THANK GOD...)" Neku sighed mentally. "...Wait a minute. If he's not the Composer, who else is it?"

"You don't have the right to see Him," Megumi reminded Neku, infuriating him.

"What in the hell! We've been wondering who could it be for a long while now and you tell me I can't eve-!"

"Stay calm." Neku sighed. "The Composer is not here and hasn't been here since before you came to the UG. So sorry you missed Him."

The teen dilated his eyes. "...He wasn't even here before I died for THAT much time?" he said. "...What...The...Hell," he said with so much deadpan emphasis in each word. "All this time, the Game has been left unwatched?"

"I have been in charge of the UG since his departure," Megumi said. "You may think that I am responsible for many of the events taking place till now...and you're correct. I am the mastermind behind what you see here and anything else after your arrival into this sacred plane." Because of the space of the area, their voices echoed into the distance, making the rest of the team listen clearly to their conversation and looking shocked when they heard the last words.

To think the culprit behind Shibuya's abrupt change was standing before him made Neku feel sick. "Why... Why would you do this to Shibuya?" he asked.

The Conductor looked over at the hostages behind his back. "Music requires many things. Melody, performers, instruments... But the key element in the most divine music is a Conductor, to hold it all together. The world is very much the same. Under one Conductor, one ideal, the world of men marches toward bliss. This is what I intend to do with the rest of the worlds, where the feelings I felt from our dear Shibuya are not so different!"

This was starting to look like a nightmare to Neku. "Feelings? What feelings?"

Megumi pointed at Neku. "Didn't you feel it in Shibuya? Rage. Hate. Misery. Envy. Fear. Self-deprecation. A cacophony of countless selfish wants. As that noise swells, it turns into crime, warfare... All the world's ills can be traced to individuality!"

"I never felt those things at all!" Neku shot back.

"Because you shut yourself from the outside world beyond the headphones you always wear!" the Conductor said while grabbing his red headphones hanging around his neck. "By tearing down the differences between us, I can make the world a paradise starting from Shibuya! From there, multiple realms shall join in and create a melodic song of peace, rather than the poor state they are as a mess of notes lost from their correct positions!"

Neku thought back on all the people under the control of the Red Skull pin. "By making everybody think alike? That's not even pos-!"

"It IS possible!" The Conductor chuckled as he showed Neku the damned Red Skull pin. "With these pins. I based them on the Composer's Player Pin. You see, the eyes of the world are on Shibuya. What starts on these streets will spread across the globe, and eventually their realms where noise stagnates the very air! I can save all of mankind from right here. Shibuya shall be my podium! I know you'll love what I do with it."

Neku looked back up at the wall of Players staring at him, begging him to set them free or sucker punch Megumi or do both. "...How can't you see none of us wanna do that?" he questioned. "Shibuya never asked to be forced into this mad plan! Forcing people to do what you want is just...wrong!"

The Conductor frowned at him. "This measure has to be taken," he said. "Everything shall crumble on its own base if it keeps going on like this. As a conductor, I cannot let such an event to happen!" He opened his palm at Neku. "Now, if you'll just remove that Player Pin..."

Neku's pocket vibrated with his Player Pin trying to escape from his self. Floating out from his pocket, the Player Pin went to Kitaniji. "Huh?"

Megumi took the pin and made it disappear. "It neutralizes the effects of the Red Skull pin, so my imprinting can't reach you," he explained.

"(This pin protects me?)" Neku thought to himself. "(And it neutralizes the Red Skull pin? Then when Ike held it... All this time, it was...)"

"What have your dealings with other people brought you? Only hurt," Megumi said. "So much needless pain coming from people that you hate so much to listen to; music that make your ears bleed. But in this new Shibuya, such pains will be a thing of the past..." The Players behind his back looked like they were objecting, as they tried to jerk themselves off from the bind they were in. The Conductor saw the loner teen looking down in thought. "Join me. Help me build a new Shibuya."

Neku took one more glance to his team. "...Not too long ago, I might have agreed. But not now. I've changed!" he said. "Here's my answer to you: Never! I'll never help you! Maybe living in your Shibuya WOULD be easier. Maybe. Except one problem: it wouldn't be Shibuya!"

The dark glasses shone for a brief second, reflecting Neku's infuriated look. "Go on..."

"I was never good with people. I covered my ears and blocked them out. But you know what?" For the entire time, Neku had been wearing his headphones. It was a wonder that he could listen to others very clearly while wearing them. But now, he grabbed the sides of his favorite trinket and gently hung them down around his neck. The Conductor grumbled a bit. "If I don't clash, I don't change. The world ends at my borders, and the best moments slip away. Shibuya's full of people waiting for those moments, when we clash together and find something new."

"You sound just like that fool Sanae Hanekoma," Megumi said. "Have his worthless teachings gotten into your head? His words shall be taboo to all of us!"

"He spoke the whole truth of the matter when he said those words!" Neku yelled. He placed a hand over his chest. "He showed...showed us here in the UG. I clashed. I changed. And now I know...Shibuya should stay just as it is!"

The Conductor let the sound of Neku's bewildered statement echo in the room, thinking about what the boy would do now that he had made up his mind. "Then let me ask you this... Do you like people?"

"Yup." The rather quick response made the Conductor twitch a bit.

"...I see. Hmph. Why you would is beyond me..."

"I told you... All the people I met that tried to get into my world... They taught me that! And even before I knew who Mr. H truly was, his words still had an effect on me!" Neku saw his team flashing a few smiles at him, and he smiled (albeit a small smile) back at them. Beat in particular thought that a dog had died around the same time. "Do anything to them and I'll punch those glasses of yours into your eyes!"

"...My, my," Megumi said with a small grin. "If that is how it is..."

A second snap of his fingers made the force binding the Players disappear, dropping down to the ground. While some landed on their feet, others fell on their rears. Regardless, they shouted for Neku's name and rushed to his side. However, the Conductor gave them false hope, because once he snapped his fingers again everyone beside him was frozen still into place. They could only move their eyes and mouth. "W-what in t-the...hell?!" Neku heard Ike complaining.

"I think you all need to be reformed," Megumi said, looking back and forth between Neku and his group. To their shock, he proceeded to take their Player Pins away from their reach, never to be given back. "Save your energy. An unpartnered Player has little to no power. I severed the link between each one of you after you barged into my pad... You can't stop me."

"Y-you...damn...cheating...b-bastard!" Fox growled.

"But remember that I'm saving you," he told them all as the eyes were on him. To their horror, multiple Red Skull pins manifested around the Conductor, with each one of them going into each pin-less Player. "These pins were standing between you and freedom from pain. Now, bask in the light of true redemption!"

While he ordered them to bask in the light, he basked himself on their screams mixed with agony and yells for help as the pins were deposited into the pockets of their clothes. With the pins equipped on them, the Conductor called off the binding force, setting them free and watching them drop down on their knees, their heads hanging down.

"Welcome to the new Shibuya," Megumi said, opening his arms, "welcome to a new beginning of a new era for a paradise of peace!" With his words echoing, the Players felt helpless to submit themselves to the brainwashing powers of the Red Skull pin, giving up on the fighting altogether and standing back up to declare their failure.

"W-we...we failed..." Pichu muttered, picturing himself with red eyes and the others having the same condition as they stared down at him. "We failed... Everything is...lost..." From there on, there was silence...

…...

"...?" Ness opened his mouth and looked around. "...Uh... What?"

"Huh?" Rhyme joined her hands and looked up. "U-um, was I supposed to feel anything after that pin got to me?" she wondered. The look on Megumi's face was one of utter disbelief.

Neku saw the others looking just as confused as to what was going on now, and seeing Megumi have the same look told him that he wasn't expecting it either. "...Nothing happened!" Neku finally said.

"Wh-what!? But I destroyed your Player Pins! Why can't I imprint on you all?" Megumi demanded.

"Sheer unrelenting reckless courage that defies all logic?" Ness wondered. "I've seen way too much anime with that as an excuse."

Shiki looked disgusted. "Oh, come on! I wasn't even trying THAT much to make this happen," she said. "...Besides, don't you dare say I'm reckless now!"

They heard Megumi gasp. "...I'm a fool. Of course He wouldn't let me harm His pick," he muttered aloud, which everyone clearly heard.

"His pick? Wha...?" Beat muttered. "Yo, you reachin' or somethin', Shades?"

"I owe you no more explanations to the likes of you!" the Conductor said, showing a hint of anger to them for the first time. "Only destruction!"

Fox cracked his fists. "Guess what? We also owe you a hell lot of destruction. In fact, it's gonna be a mess in here that," he looked to the three towers behind him where his eyes and his brain slowly registered what they held between them, "those pillars back there are gonna crumble down like sand in the ensui-HOLY SHIT! CHRIS!"

The rest of them who hadn't been informed about the two turned to their direction and gasped. "S-Soren!" Ike yelled out. "A-are they...?"

"Right in the middle of life and death!" the Conductor spoke as he warped between the group and the pillars. "I'm this close... To watch it all be foiled by the likes of you is a sin... Once I erase these Players, Shibuya will be saved..." He pointed at them with a twitching grin, his Reaper wings stretching out from his back. "Come to me, then! Come meet your end!"

They couldn't say anything else after than when an earthquake took place in the room. As they tumbled around on their feet, they watched Kitaniji's body going dark, before his shadow grew longer and longer, nearly reaching the size of the towering pillars of 20-feet tall. There was even more shock when they could tell that the shadowy form was growing a large tail that passed through them to the right. And when the darkness dissipated, they were all at the mercy of a roaring, large, winged, red snake Noise.

"NOW this is really it..." Ike said.

"You think?" Neku said, everyone looking at him. "He is the Conductor, not the Composer! Defeating him won't guarantee much to us, but...we gotta try and see what happens! He's the reason why Shibuya is like this!" He rushed up ahead, standing in front of the distraught group. "Let's erase the guy ourselves and save them from erasure!" Seeing them all nod, the loner teen nodded back at them and turned around in time to get another roar to the face. As soon as he noticed, the planes distorted far more chaotically than before...

The World Ends With You – Twister

With the three towers and the lifeless bodies looming over the battle, Neku found himself standing alone against the red snake Noise, Anguis Cantus.

The first second and he already realized that none of the others were present. "W-what the...?! Where's everyone?! Am I seriously gonna fight this monster all alone?!" he asked.

"NEKU!"

"That voice... Pichu?" Neku wondered. The next second, he saw through Pichu's eyes that the small rodent was riding on top of the snake's large tail in the upper plane. "W-what? You're my partner now? How did this even happen?"

"I-I don't know but this is not good!" Pichu shrieked, with Anguis Cantus not minding his presence much as if to let him strike. "W-what do we do?!"

There was no more time to lose as the battle had already started. His gut feeling told him that the others were fine, so Neku pressed on with whoever he was partnered with. "L-listen, Pichu! It's you and me against this monster. There's no other way around it!"

"Let me see how you fare against the odds!" spoke Anguis Cantus, his voice being a distorted voice version of Kitaniji's. "You said earlier that you like people. Why not put that into test now? Prove to me that they like you back!"

Neku grunted. "It's ALWAYS a challenge with you people, isn't it?! Fine! I'll play by your rules and see how that goes for you!" he challenged back with a fist. The battle started.

"You are a waste of time to me, little one..." Anguis Cantus told the frightened Pichu. The large snake moved down his head to the lower plane, facing Neku directly. "You are the root of the problem. Let my fangs sever you from the ground!"

Neku gasped and quickly dashed away from Kitaniji's chomping attack. Above in the upper plane, Pichu was distraught about what to do. "N-Neku, what should I hit up here?" he asked, studying the long snake body.

"Any part of this long-ass snake should do. Just attack!" Neku commanded. He used his Meteor Spike pin to rain large boulders on top of the snake's head. The light puck was sent to Pichu. "Actually, try attacking when you have the light puck, just to end this quick!"

Pichu felt the warm feeling cover his body. Looking tough and adjusting his Pi-Face cap, he braced himself...and latched onto the snake's body, right under his feet. "F-feel thunder!" Pichu yelled, using the Storm Warning pin. Bolts of lightning struck the snake's body hard, sending shocks of electricity all over. Kitaniji yelled in pain and shook the area with Pichu to get him off. "Ayeeeeeeeeeeh!" The light puck was passed down to Neku without problems.

The large snake was capable of multitasking, as evidenced when he shot Neku with a dozen of fireballs that spread around in an arc. The teen ran away from the fire and jumped above a large one with good timing, retaliating with tangling the snake's mouth with three spiny chains using the Sweet Talk Tether pin; its power boosted thanks to the light puck that Neku sent back to Pichu. "MHMHMMMHMMH!" Kitaniji's words were mumbled as he tried to break the chains.

Just as the light puck was going to be taken by Pichu, the small rodent was flung into the air where he was forced to switch spots with Shiki. The seamstress got very confused when she reappeared, landing on another portion of the snake's body. "What just...?" She looked around.

Neku couldn't tell why he felt more connected to Shiki than he ever did to Joshua and Beat. It wasn't because of love or something so farfetched as that. It was mostly because she did keep her head on earth and she never meant to do any wrong to Neku. With his first partner back with him, he told her, "Shiki, don't stand around and just attack!" he said. "Attack the monster's body!"

Shiki had Mr. Mew out. Carefully standing up, she commanded her doll to attack the snake's body wildly, scoring half a dozen hits that ended with an uppercut. It was a nice attack that was good for sending light pucks. As Neku barely avoided a chomping attack, he used his Yoshimitsu pin and slashed away at the head as quickly as he could, just in time for the light puck to reach him before he dealt the last blow for massive damage. "Yeah!" he said, sending the light puck back to Shiki...

And then Neku himself got swapped with Fox.

"...Huh?!" Fox looked up at the snake looking down at him. "What the freaking hell just happened?!"

Shiki stopped ordering Mr. Mew attack when she could feel her connection with Neku replaced with Fox. "F-Fox?! Where's Neku?" she asked.

"Neku? He was here?" Fox wondered, though he failed to avoid two large fireballs scorching and pushing him down. "A-argh!"

The seamstress winced in pain. "O-okay, Neku went somewhere else and now you're my partner? How could this happen?"

Fox rolled to the side to put the flames away as he stood back up, glaring at the snake. "I think he's fine! Just fight back against this bastard like we always do!" he told her.

"I am putting you all to the test," Anguis Cantus spoke to both Players. "Show me the convictions that have held you for so long till today! It is through your actions that shall decide the fate of Shibuya!"

Shiki balanced herself on top of the snake. "What can defeat mean to you, really? This kind of violence doesn't prove anything, does it?" she asked.

"From what I learned," Fox began, keeping a close watch on the snake's face aiming at him to shoot more fire, "the Reapers' Game is all about surviving with your partner. This whole week had been hell for us because our partners got switched around... That's when everything started to fall apart as each day went by, Shiki. If we hadn't fixed our differences sooner, we wouldn't have come this far. It all depends on two Players working together!"

Shiki was busy attacking the snake's back with Mr. Mew, sending down a light puck to the vulpine. She did listen to his talk. "That makes sense to me... But why does Shibuya have to be... Why do we have that big burden put onto us?!" she asked.

"You represent the ills of Shibuya, foolish child of man!" Kitaniji said, pulling back his snake head to the upper plane to face Shiki. "Only your experience can show me the true course the city should take! Either way, revolution will happen!"

Fox looked around for a body part to strike. He spotted a thin portion of the long body that made him grin. With the light puck in him, he used his Velocity Attack pin to ram into it, delivering a lot of damage, sending it back with the force of the blow. As he sent the light puck to Shiki, he was swapped with Ness. "W-what?" Ness backed off from the red scaly body. Shiki kept attacking the large snake and explained the situation to Ness. "O-oh, I see now. Another gimmick to mess us up badly! Well, it's not going to work! At least I hope it won't work..." He yelped and dove to the left when the snake tried to crush him with its tail.

On the upper plane, Shiki shielded herself from a blast of fire energy from the dragon. The blast didn't hit her. Mr. Mew got in the way with chubby arms covering its face, contrasting heavily with its endurance when the blast hit it and didn't faze it. The seamstress sighed, just right before she got swapped with a distraught Rhyme. The light puck faded away with the swap. "A-ahh!" Rhyme yelped at the sight of the large snake roaring. "I need to fight that myself?"

"No! You're not alone!" Ness called out to her as the dragon lowered his head to shoot fireballs at him. Wondering if he could use his normal powers, Ness held out his hands to create a blue barrier that absorbed the fireballs and healed him a bit. He shot his own fire with PK Fire, blasting the head with a small tower of flames. "None of us is alone! Let's keep the heat up on this big snake!"

Rhyme understood fully well about what they had to do. Checking to see if she still had her pins with her, she brandished her Bear Hug Magnum pin and shot penetrating bullets that burrowed into the snake's skin and blew up from the inside. The last explosion sent a light puck to Ness. The snake moved its head back up and shot fireballs at her, knowing that she had less room to move over its long body and without a recovery shield. The young blond did have some floor to step on with the long tail of the snake covering quite a lot. The only problem was that it slithered and moved slowly to the sides. She lunged to the right and landed on her body just barely from seven fireballs crashing onto the skin. The skin wasn't charred at all when she turned to notice, so making the snake shoot fire at itself was useless.

In the lower plane, Ness thought that alternating between his pins and his normal powers were going to be an advantage fit for the battle. Spotting a section of the tail, he readied his Aqua Monster pin and created seven orbs of water around the moving tail. Not paying much attention, Anguis Cantus's body bumped into the bubbles, bursting them in the process and receiving a lot of damage. "I'll never understand how water can hurt enemies so badly..." Ness muttered under his breath. His face of confusion was the last expression he got out after being swapped with Pichu.

"B-back again?" Pichu said as he looked around and spotted the snake head behind his back, its maw wide open and ready to tear him down. He shrieked and got swallowed.

"P-Pichu!" Rhyme yelled when she witnessed her current partner taken out...though she didn't fade away. In the next second, the snake head started to twitch when electricity built up from the inside. Bolts of lightning jumped out from the small confined spaces of its fangs, and before long it opened its maw, with Pichu standing on top of its tongue and transmitting his own electricity into the monster. Getting tired quickly, Pichu used the Storm Warning pin to shock the insides of the snake. The monster roared so loudly in pain and also blew Pichu away from its mouth, all covered in saliva. "Eeeeeeeeeew!" Pichu shrieked, trying to shake off the disgusting sticky liquid from himself.

"Oh... Good... You're okay..." Rhyme breathed out a sigh of relief.

Pichu got swapped with Ike. Somehow, the swapping left the saliva smeared all over him. He was focused on the dragon to notice the state of his clothing, however. "So this is the boss we have to defeat? Alright, I won't hold back... What is that horrible smell? Oh, gross!" he exclaimed when he noticed the gooey water on his clothes and hair. "What caused this?! I-it's horrendous!"

"Ike, look up!" Rhyme shouted.

"Rhyme?" Ike looked up and saw a glowing sword shooting down in front of his feet, where it then blew up in a large explosion that pushed him against the tail's wall behind him. Twitching in pain, the mercenary got his act together. "I see... We're partners now. I can see what's happening through your eyesight."

Rhyme used her Lovely Beam to shoot twelve bullets to the dragon's face to stagger it. She was too late to use the light puck sent to her by Pichu to increase the power of her attack. "But listen, Ike! This fight is very weird because we're trading spots at random with the rest of-!" She couldn't finish her sentence once Beat took her spot. He swung his head around in utter confusion. "Y-yo, what the heck!" he said until he looked up and glared at Anguis Cantus. The punk was quick to get into a fight without making more question. "There you are, Shades! Gonna make some snazzy boots outta you skin now!" He quickly rode on his skateboard, perfectly keeping steady balance on top of the long tailed-body towards the snake face.

Ike did witness the change in partners quickly. "Beat, be extremely careful against this monster, you got me?" he advised. To his relief, he noticed that his sword Ragnell was with him. He took it out with one hand and charged to the Noise. "I just know that if we lose, everyone else will die!"

"You are correct, foolish child of man!" Megumi called down to Ike. "This fight is like any other fight against my colleagues. One partner dies, the other goes down as well. You need to worry about everyone else tied to your lives, however!"

"If I'm so foolish, how come I guessed correctly, then?" Ike asked with a serious look and Ragnell being held to his right side. "Don't you underestimate us humans!"

"Says the man who cannot arrange a good deck of pins! Who in their right mind would set up a 10,000 yen pin for a fight like this? In fact, you have that equipped on you as we speak!"

Ike took a small glance to his belt where the golden pin for gathering money at the shops hung tightly. He blushed a bit. "S-shut up! I'm still trying to understand all this pin business! I shouldn't bother after I cut that thick skin of yours! HEYAH!" He jumped forward with his large sword trailing behind over his head.

Just before he landed the blow, Beat zoomed by on top of the snake's body, where a small portion was raised to serve as a makeshift upwards slope to use. The blond punk aimed straight at the snake face shooting flames his way. When Beat jumped up, he wisely grabbed his skateboard quickly and blocked the flames with the underside, and then he quickly switched to riding on top of it when he got to eye level with the snake. He yelled loudly and slammed the skateboard on the snake's nose so harshly that Megumi roared in pain. The light puck quickly went to Ike just as he brought down his sword on the front side of the snake. With the light puck empowering the blow, Anguis Cantus twitched its body around as to shrug off the pain of the two attacks.

Beat fell back down, giving a wide grin at the monster. His grin and his whole self disappeared, getting swapped with Fox. He got shocked when he noticed he was falling down on his back, which didn't help much when Anguis Cantus slammed down his tail on the vulpine, burying him down under his weight. Ike heard Fox's loud, muffled scream from where he stood.

"Fox!" Ike yelled, feeling the pain Fox felt quickly carrying over to him. "You dirty bastard...using your weight to...to hurt us both!"

"Less useless complaining and more fighting!" Anguis Cantus demanded.

Ike was about to attack in hopes of staggering the snake, but he got swapped with Rhyme. She started to twitch in pain when she noticed her partner Fox was trapped under the weight of the big snake. "I-I'm coming, Fox! Please hold on!" she shouted at him. "But I don't know if I can take you out from there myself... I have to try!" She grabbed her Lovely Beam pin and fired twelve bullets of concentrated energy to the snake's front side.

Though Rhyme did send Fox a light puck, it wasn't enough to make the snake move away. Megumi was bent on erasing all of them using the sheer size and weight of his Noise form. By now the damage was falling down the fifty percent mark. She doubted that her force round pin style wouldn't be enough to save them all... Then a loud yell came from underneath the snake's tail, and soon after flames came out an blew up into a meteor-looking attack that pushed up from below. Inside the flames, Fox came out using Fire Fox. The intensity of the attack was enhanced thanks to the light puck Rhyme had sent, allowing the vulpine to use enough force to get out and sending the light back with stronger potency packed up. He quickly landed back on the floor and sidestepped away from the tail crashing back down with a big charred spot of ash below. "You wanna crush me again, you colossal ass?!" Fox demanded.

While Rhyme was relieved, in her mind she was repeatedly telling herself, "(He meant the animal, he meant the animal, he meant the animal...)" She had never dealt with foul-mouthed people in her life; only Beat was the closest to have a foul mouth.

"Have I underestimated you?" Anguis Cantus asked. "I can only find the answer at the end of this fight..." A weird orange bubble floated out from behind his back and floated down towards Rhyme. Knowing the odd bubble was going to be bad news if she let it touch her, she turned around and ran away while shooting force rounds that the bubble dodged swiftly.

When Rhyme got swapped with Beat, the blond punk stood still. He grunted, turned around, and got touched by the bubble. The bubble quickly expanded and trapped him inside a bigger bubble that began floating closer to Megumi, who had lowered his face with his mouth wide open to chomp down on his prey. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Beat yelled when he noticed where he was going. He started to dash his skateboard into the bubble to break it down with its shockwaves, but the bubble was sturdier than it looked. It drew closer and closer to the snake's mouth, panicking Beat.

Fox prepared for the worst and used a Healing Flamingo pin twice to heal themselves back to full health. "Beat, break out from there! Don't stop attacking!" he ordered.

"I'm tryin' but it's not workin'!" Beat said, right as he was on the mercy of the snake.

"ENOUGH!" the snake said as it brought down its fangs on the bubble, piercing right through it and chomping down on Beat.

Fox felt a lot of damage coursing through his body just as he was forced to swap places with Neku, who became the one feeling the extreme pain. He acted quickly and used the Sweet Talk Tether pin to squeeze the throat of the snake with three pointy chains. The snake coughed loudly and spat Beat out to the floor. The blond punk grabbed his right shoulder where the fangs struck the hardest. "Yo, Neku...! You think we can win this?! My shoulder wants do die!"

Neku had no choice but to use all the uses of his Cure Drink to heal them completely, at the cost of lacking healing pins for any incoming damage. "Your shoulder should be fine now. Don't let him get to you again or it'll cost us...pretty much everything we have!"

Anguis Cantus raised his head back up and gathered energy inside his mouth, shooting it down to Neku and failing to hit him when he dashed away in time to avoid it. "Your efforts will be for naught, Players. My efforts and yours cannot coexist, no matter how you look at them. Let the dark, sweet embrace of erasure relieve you from stress..." Anguis Cantus said in an inviting tone. He wasn't kidding around.

"Never!" Neku yelled back, using his Meteor Spike pin to rain down large boulders on the snake's head. He sent down a light puck to Beat, though the teen didn't stop and continued attacking using his Blast Warning pin next to make a long trail of flames shot up from inside the snake's skin all the way to the head.

"Aight!" Beat said, gaining more confidence when the light puck entered his body. He had to take advantage of it and rally it back to his partner quickly. Spotting the nearest body part of the snake, Beat had no problem jumping into the air and smacking his skateboard several times on the scaly skin, delivering a harsh slam. The light puck rallied back to his partner...

Neku got swapped with Pichu. When he got the light puck instead, Pichu readied himself to attack. He used a combo of the Lightning Storm pin to fill the air with electric orbs, Storm Warning to shock a large area of the snake, and finally a Thunder for good measure. The last two attacks connected quickly, forcing the snake to twitch around and hit the thunder bubbles, getting himself hurt even more as the shock ran through his body. The light of the puck grew stronger as it rallied back to Beat.

Beat then got swapped with Rhyme, becoming the holder of the light puck. Prepared to fight the dragon, she too used a long combo of pins. First, she began her assault with the Bear Hug Magnum pin to shoot a dozen of bullets at once. Secondly, she followed with the Lovely Beam pin, shooting force rounds out of her two palms into the skin of the snake's head. For the last one, she used a new pin called the Pop Pendulum, granting her three energy boomerangs that she tossed one after another. The boomerangs circled and sliced the throat area of the snake, making it road loudly in pain. The intensity of the last blow was augmented with the light puck, rallying it back with even more energy concentrated.

Pichu got swapped with Ike. Just as he got the light puck, Kitaniji acted quickly. "You're rallying the light puck far too much... Begone!" He swung his large tail above Ike and brought it down upon him.

The mercenary gasped and immediately put his sword across in front of him as a shield. When the tail made contact with the sword, Ike instinctively countered with a harsh slash that pushed the tail away. But he wasn't done yet. He combined Ragnell with his Yanesada pin, allowing him to slash his sword against the tail faster than ever and delivering quite a huge hit on the last part that got sufficiently powered up fourfold with the light puck. The force of the last hit was so strong that he cut the thick tip of the tail in two. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Anguis Cantus roared in pain.

Rhyme then got swapped with Shiki, receiving the even stronger light puck. Knowing what to do when she saw the monster busy with roaring, the seamstress sent her stuffed doll to the offensive... She looked at no one in particular. "Don't judge me because I always rely on Mr. Mew to do everything for me. I really can't use pins as well as the others... Go, Mr. Mew!" she cheered her cat as she spotted it do a wall/throat run with near flawless movement. When it got to the top of the snake, it lashed out wildly at it with energy-charged slash attacks, finishing off with a big uppercut overly powered up with the charged light puck. Even Shiki jumped up with a pumped fist, assuming that Mr. Mew did those uppercuts whenever she jumped excitedly as well. The little doll's harmless appearance clashed with the huge hit to the chin that forced the snake to crash behind on a tower.

As the light puck descended into the lower plane, Ike was swapped with Fox. He felt pure adrenaline with the super charged light puck that he wasted no time in dashing ahead. He activated his Crackle Pop Barrier to shield himself with a fire barrier, used his Velocity Attack pin to ram hard into the snake's stomach, and sometime between using the pin and crashing into the snake the vulpine had used Fox Illusion. He thought at first that his own attack would overwrite the other, but his move gave the Velocity Attack so much speed that the force of the push left a large gap on the snake's stomach. Anguis Cantus was forced to move forward to spit purple saliva. "AUGH! UN...BELIEVABLE...!"

Fox backed off with a wide grin on his lips as he passed down a very powered up light puck to Shiki, though she was swapped with Neku at the last second. He received the light puck and got fired up quickly, watching the snake gag in pain. "Any last words?!" he asked, taking out his Fusion pin and planning to have Fox join him.

"I...have to...stop you...!" Anguis Cantus stuttered. The force of the light puck had been proof enough that all of the Players were in perfect harmony and synchronization; evidence that they were very good at fighting in his planes. "Have...to...!"

Megumi used his power to hamper the Players...though he was far too weak to hinder their progress. All he managed to do was force a last second swap, forcing Fox out of the play and dragging Shiki back in. The seamstress blinked and noticed that she wasn't holding the light puck, scaring her that something bad happened. "Shiki! Lend me a hand to give him a good beating he'll never forget!" Neku yelled.

"Oh, right! Lead the way!" Shiki called over.

The intensity of the light puck went into the Fusion pin somehow, revealing a new picture. The picture printed on the pin was Mr. Mew's head on top of a golden background. The last time Neku had used a Fusion pin Shiki was when he rode on a large Mr. Mew... He shuddered to think what was next as he activated the psyche after the snake roared down on them both.

Mr. Mew struck out a cutesy pose and jumped very high into the air. "Go, Mr. Mew!" Shiki cheered.

"Get 'em, Piggy!" Neku ordered, earning a brief glare from Shiki.

Anguis Cantus' vision darkened before him. He grunted loudly and shot out a large trail of flames from his mouth to guard himself from whoever was hiding in the darkness. The flames did land on something...round, watching the flames spread out. It was in that moment when he spotted two large, white, beady eyes staring down on him. Looking up, the lights of a night city revealed the abrupt change in setting...along with showing a gigantic Mr. Mew. "What in the...?!" Megumi spoke out loud at the sheer ridiculous event.

Standing on top of each shoulder of the gigantic kitty of death, Neku and Shiki cheered on their massive weapon. Well, Shiki was the one cheering. Neku had a look of utter embarrassment. "...Of course. It had to be a giant pig," Neku muttered.

"Would you stop calling Mr. Mew a freaking pig already!" Shiki ordered.

Mr. Mew's beady eyes started to shine brighter and brighter, gathering energy coming from the city behind its back. Anguis Cantus wasn't going to let such an eyesore of a doll eliminate him, so all he could do was shoot multiple fireballs to the doll's face. Quickly, the massive doll had finished charging energy that it used equally massive laser eyes that burrowed deep into the floor, also blowing the fireballs away in nothingness. The snake Noise looked down at himself to see that he was unharmed...except the glowing floor below him, where it started a large chain of chaos all over the fictional city. Explosions and rubble rose up with the city buildings tossed up like rag dolls, along with Anguis Cantus' body pushing up into the air and breaking away into segments that vaporized away. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed out in pain, witnessing Shiki jumping in her spot with glee and Neku barely emoting with a dull look. "I...CAN'T...LOSE...LIKE THIS...!"

At the last second, the battle was called off before Megumi could be erased...

Music stops

A loud grunt was the first sound that came in the large empty room, coming from the Conductor himself as he and the other Players reappeared. All of them looked so serious at him, looking just fine while Kitaniji was the entire opposite. He had underestimated his opponents so much. "No... I must keep fighting... My time is...almost up..." he coughed, watching them standing next to each other and creating a wall.

"Yeah, it's gonna be up in a few seconds," Neku said. "You might have escaped from that battle back there, but...you're on your last legs."

"And once that time is up, that'll be it for you and this whole ordeal," Ness said.

"We've fought for so long...I just want to go back to live a normal life again!" Shiki shouted.

"It-it's been really hard on us! It's about time this ended on a good note!" Pichu complained.

"Yo gonna go down with style, Shades! Stop makin' it hard and just croak already!" Beat said confidently.

"Your stupid and idiotic plans to expand this hell to the rest of the worlds will never happen. Give it up!" Fox demanded.

"Yeah! Nobody wants to be forced to think the same things! It's like turning into statues, waiting for a chess player to move them like they want to..." Rhyme lamented.

"All of us may not represent countless of people accurately, since we all are different...but it's the differences that make us unique!" Ike added.

Joshua chuckled as he nodded. "That can or cannot be correct, though. Can you truly be certain about what you say? Maybe you're overestimating yourselves a little too much," he said.

Neku and the rest looked to their right at Joshua. "Oh, suck it, Josh. We're very certain," Neku said. A record being scratched on their heads went off at the same time as Joshua's knowing smile and amused look occupied their attention. "...J-J-J-J-J..." Neku stuttered in absolute bewilderment.

Joshua sighed. "Gosh, Neku. My name doesn't have that much emphasis on the first letter. How could you forget how to correctly pronounce my name? World's Best Partner right there," he teased.

"J-Joshua?!" many of them finally said. The Players who had seen Joshua go out with a bang literally were surprised and confused about his sudden appearance, which had come out of nowhere.

"B-b-b-b-but how?!" Pichu stuttered. "H-h-how can you be alive when we saw yo-?"

"Let's leave that little matter for another day," said Joshua as he looked over at the Conductor, hearing and ultimately ignoring the protests from his comrades who nagged him for an answer. "I'm back, Megumi. Your timer must be nearly ticked out."

"Hey, Joshua!" Neku yelled at his former partner, but Joshua didn't turn to look at him. "You're alive! But why are you here?"

"...Hmm?" Joshua's eyes looked at Neku and the rest. "Oh, that. It's pretty simple, really, but could you hold on a minute? I have some business to attend with Megumi here." His teasing was back in full force, much to their chagrin.

Fox looked back at the Conductor...and he seemed to be very lost. He looked very scared, with his body twitching madly. "H-hey, what's happening to you now?"

Megumi ignored the vulpine as he was busy staring at Joshua. "No, Sir! I'm not done, not yet! I WILL protect Shibuya!" he called out to Joshua.

"...Sir?" Ike repeated. "Did he just call Joshua...Sir? Why? W-whoa!"

What happened after went by too quickly. The Players saw Megumi tossing some sort of purple Noise shuriken at Joshua. The object looked awfully sharp...but this didn't make Joshua move from his spot. Instead, he just grinned and opened his arms to the dangerous weapon. In a flash, the shuriken broke into segments that bind Joshua in a crucified position, floating forward to Megumi. With Joshua in front of him, the Conductor...merged bodies with him, causing an even larger earthquake in the area. They couldn't see clearly what was happening, giving an intense light blinded them.

"A-are you kidding me?!" Shiki yelled, covering her eyes. "D-do we have to fight again?!"

"Why must everything get so overly confusing and complicated?! WHAT IS GOING ON NOW?!" Ness yelled and banged on the orange spherical wall that trapped him inside. "..." He groaned out loud at the random prison. "AWW, DAMMIT! WHAT NOW?!"

"Where did this damned sphere come from?! Ugh!" Fox complained as he started banging the sphere to get out, but the glass was too strong to break with mere force alone. Getting very worried, he looked outside the sphere, finding everyone else in the same situation.

"I-I'm scared!" Rhyme yelled, clutching her hands on her bell necklace. "W-what do we now?! B-Beat!"

Beat was the only one still banging the sphere. "I'm tryin' to break out, Rhyme! This thing's just too hard like a wall! H-huh?!" Adding up to the confusing event, the spheres trapping the Players started to float up and converge around the large shadow's body that was now tangling the three towers behind. The bodies of Chris and Soren were also taken into spheres, joining up with the rest. However, they never budged on their own, imprisoned like dolls inside packages. "ARGH!"

"O-oh, just great. JUST GREAT..." Ike complained, his sphere attached on a section of the long body right above the left tower. "No way we can deal any damage from here! This is completely...how they say...BS!"

As they kept screaming for help within their prisons, the large body revealed itself. It turned out to be a much bigger and larger version of Anguis Cantus. The body of the snake was now a dim golden-scaled dragon whose body seemed to occupy all of the space in the room. Close to the center of the area was each Player situated right next to the gargantuan body, being held within purple Noise claws that were tangled up to the endless tail. No matter how much they banged the spheres, they couldn't get them to break. Eventually, they all gave up and looked around for something...anything that could help them escape the outrageous problem...

For one, most of them spotted Joshua. Unlike everyone, he was crucified right on top of the dragon's neck, sporting an amused look. He wasn't really worried about being forcefully merged to a monster, which was seen as extremely morbid by the other Players. "J-Joshua! I-I don't care for answers right now, but you've got to escape!" Ike yelled from his spot.

"Impossible, Ike," Joshua said with a serene smile. "As you can tell right now, I can't escape from this Noise. These binds are quite sturdy..."

"Are you even trying?" Shiki asked, situated four meters below Joshua. "Why would you let yourself get taken so easily?! You could've run away!"

"But why?" Joshua asked, making the seamstress stare. "I'm no chicken, mind you. I wanna see things till the very end. It's not my style to just leave problems unfinished."

"T-this isn't the time to be such a teasing imbecile, you!" Fox said, situated on the left side of the right tower. "What the hell are we gonna do about this?!"

"Nothing, silly."

"WHAT!" everyone else yelled.

Joshua chuckled as he looked down below at a spot where the long body of the dragon didn't occupy. "Sit and watch the show. Our dear Neku will fix everything."

The Players looked to his general direction, where Neku had been spared from the spherical fate they suffered. He looked very lost with all of his partners trapped and helpless from doing anything. He was alone for the battle ahead, his legs shaking at the imposing monster holding everyone captive. "Can...Can I truly...?" he muttered under his breath.

"Neku!" Ness yelled, situated right behind the teen. "It looks very impossible, I know! But you've got to try fighting again!"

Neku looked at him. "How do you know?" he asked.

"...I don't!" Ness replied, making Neku frown. "What else is there to do? Fight back! Either way sounds like you're screwed for good anyway! You may as well give it all for us!"

The teen considered the option. He was cornered in a tight place, as the final Noise battle opened up its curtain to him, drawing Neku into the fray...

The World Ends With You – Twister (Remix)

The final boss Draco Cantus roared to the dark skies above and looked down upon his prey: Neku Sakuraba. The appearance of the final boss was enough to cause the setting to change. Aside from entangling the towers behind him, red decals and red graffiti appeared on the towers and the floor. The floor had a long, straight line with a large red skull symbol resembling the one on the Player Pins.

With no partners to help him out, Neku felt like it was pointless to continue fighting by his lonesome. He needed their aid very badly now, but the odds were against him. "I shall save Shibuya from annihilation!" Draco Cantus proclaimed to Neku and the rest. "Sir, I'll show you that...that I can make you change your views! The worlds beyond our barriers...they shall receive your divine salvation!"

Joshua looked blank. "Will they now?" he asked. "I'd love to see where this crazy idea of yours is going..."

Rhyme was standing just below Beat near the base of the neck. "Why are they talking like they know each other?" she asked. "Is he...?"

"Neku, don't hold back now!" Ike encouraged. "This is it! You must end this yourself!"

Neku's eyes were wide as he looked up at the dragon Noise. "I...I have to," he said, "even if everything looks like it's lost, I have to press on! Mr. H wouldn't see me in the face if I didn't fight back..."

"Forget about that guy for a freaking second and just do your thing!" Fox yelled. "Everything REALLY depends on you now! The worlds and Shibuya are all at risk in this fight!"

"Oh, GEEZ! Now the fate of multiple worlds depend on me alone? This has become the worst day in my life EVER!" Neku complained, and for a good reason.

"Fight!" Beat yelled. "Yo, Phones! Dontchu chicken out now or I'mma punch you good in my head!"

Neku rolled his eyes. "Like that's gonna convince me of doing the impossible... Oh, screw it!" he yelled out. "I'll just fight and get this over with!"

"Come!" Draco Cantus taunted. "I won't give up on bringing paradise to my beloved Shibuya, not to an oblivious person such as you!" The fight began.

Neku felt a little lost that all his partners were trapped inside the bubble prisons ensnared within Noise claws all over the dragon's body. Despite the bad odds, he put up a tough look and used his Meteor Spike pin to rain boulders on the dragon's head. "Joshua!" Neku yelled. "Explain to me... How did you survive that attack back then?! How did you make it here?"

Joshua had the most amusing look on his face. Being crucified on a dragon's neck didn't seem to faze him a bit. "The answers will come to you soon enough, dear Neku," Joshua said calmly. "You need to worry about the huge dragon here who wants to bite you into little itsy bits."

If the large dragon didn't scare Neku, the five extra heads that slithered right into view would. The dragon heads looked alive just like the main head. On top of each head, there was a trapped Player inside the aforementioned orange spheres ensnared in Noise claws. "Oh, crap..." Neku muttered, just right before the five dragon heads started an onslaught of fireballs flying at every direction.

Ike banged on his prison, the one on top of the dragon head northeast. "I can't see Neku in this wild crossfire! Can we hope for him to beat this huge dragon monster?" he asked.

Fox, on top of the dragon to the west, also tried to bring down his prison with several kicks. "He's going to get his butt charred to hell!" He spotted the teen dashing and barely dodging the fireballs. "I'm more worried about us! I hate to be sitting in the sidelines without doing nothing but watching the only guy who can save everyone get erased! There has to be a way to help Neku!"

Shiki got scared when one of the heads nearly bit Neku's arm off. She couldn't decide whether to have hope or feel horrified at the worst possible outcome. Mustering up some courage by clutching Mr. Mew – a reminder of all the good things in her life - she tried to rally the others, starting with the guy crucified on the dragon's neck looking all amused at the battle. "Y-you! Up there!" Joshua's eyes looked down at her, his smile intact. "You know something about this, don't you? We gotta help Neku get through this battle or else...or else we'll all die!"

"Can't say if we can help Neku," Joshua said with an unsettling giggle.

"H-how can you say that? I thought he helped you as your partner the last week! You should look out for him!"

"Hey, prissy kid! She's right, yo!" Beat yelled at Joshua. "Phones ain't gonna make it alone through this! Ain't you gonna help him?"

Joshua flicked his hair by turning his head sharply. "You're doing quite a good job at it," he retorted.

Ness, on top of the dragon head to the northwest, grunted loudly. "How so?! Hitting these damn crystal bubbles isn't doing anything, and Neku's too busy to listen to us! Our cheers fall into deaf ears, Joshua!" he said. "Your life is also in peril again...somehow! How can't you look scared for once?"

"Me? Being scared?" Joshua asked jovially. When everyone else looked back at the fight, Neku had been trapped inside another bubble, making them feel ill and think the battle was lost. Though that didn't stop Neku from trying to use his pins to break out. The dragon heads aimed their fireballs at him, and even the dominant head called forth five sticks of light that converged, formed a sharp sword, and slashed the teen once. "Don't you have faith in Neku? He pulled you through for three weeks successfully. His odds to win aren't that really small."

"That makes utterly no sense!" Pichu shouted, being on the sphere on the dragon head of the east. "He's all alone fighting this monster and we're being held hostage! He's ALSO trapped or did you forget?!"

Neku frantically kept using pins to break out from the bubble. The others had tried to break out as well, but it seemed useless. The damage he was receiving from all the dragon heads at once was piling up fast and taking a heavy toll on his body. Even after using a recovery pin, the damage made the healed wounds come back again. Yelling loudly at the top of his lungs, he used his Yoshimitsu pin and furiously slashed the sphere quickly...

"...Huh?" Rhyme leaned closer to her prison and noticed a crack on Neku's sphere. The crack gradually spread out until the teen's loud screams got much louder after the crack shattered the prison apart. With Neku falling on his feet and breathing in and out, the Players broke into cheers. "He...he broke through!" she said. "Oh, what a relief..."

While Joshua chuckled in the background, Pichu stopped to cheer for a moment. "If Neku broke through..." He put up a tough look and started headbutting the sphere. Landing on his back after the first blow, Pichu didn't want to stop. He headbutted the prison harder and harder each time. Soon, the others noticed was he was doing and joined in with their own attempts. "W-we can't give up! Neku needs us!" Pichu called out, before he resorted to using his Storm Warning pin to electrocute the sphere.

Neku looked around to see his partners with renewed hopes attacking their prisons. Though he briefly smiled a bit, Kitaniji's roar made him focus on the monster. "Neku Sakuraba! The Worlds End With You! Should you win this fight, they will end by refusing to accept salvation and therefore change! Be erased and save them all!"

"That is the most screwed up logic I've ever heard!" Neku yelled back. He had to lie down on the floor to avoid dozens of fireballs closing on him. "You're not giving Shibuya a chance, and it's still fine as it is! I can't see anything wrong with it!"

"Those are words from an oblivious citizen who can't tell anything with a simple look!" Kitaniji roared. Confused for a moment, Neku realized all the heads were talking at once, though some did keep attacking. "You are the worst person in Shibuya! Why should I ask you about my beloved city if you have such a sad background? You are a fine example of what needs to be corrected in the city!"

Neku stood back up and back-stepped from an energy blast coming from the head of the east, followed by the head of the west firing another blast. He was starting to sweat a lot more as he kept himself on his toes from all the attacks. The dragon head sent down another yellow sword that got stuck to the ground and blew up in a massive explosion, pushing the teen away and falling down on the floor. "Worst...person in Shibuya?" Neku wondered, pushing himself up. "I thought I...I changed..."

Ike stopped banging the sphere with hi sword to say something. The head he was trapped on moved closer to Neku. "You used to be the worst person in Shibuya two weeks ago. His reasoning for trying to kill you is unfounded and needless! You're a much better person in our eyes, Neku!" he encouraged. The sphere that trapped him blinked with light, surprising the mercenary and the others. The light from the sphere quickly swirled into a small orb of light that flew over to Neku... It was the light of the light puck.

With the power of the light puck, Neku used his Meteor Spike pin and rained heavier boulders on top of the closest head. The sheer size and weight of the boulders made the dragon head roar loudly in pain, and some of those boulders crashed into Ike's sphere. The force of impact made a small crack that Ike noticed, encouraging him to keep attacking.

Neku next used Blast Warning and created a straight line of scorching fire that burned three dragon heads getting in the way. The sound of all three heads roaring out loud was a little weird to see since he thought the attack wasn't that strong...until he noticed he still had a light puck. "The light puck... It didn't go away?" Neku wondered to himself. "But I used an attack before and it didn't get another one..."

Ness took a moment to rest after using his bat multiple times. "It's not the time to wonder whatever the hell's going on now, Neku! Just fight back and keep going at it! What matters here is how you really want to save all of us... You're not chickening out with this big butt, six-headed dragon for one! That's some respect I have for you!" His sphere shone brightly and sent a light puck towards Neku, complimenting and joining the one he already had. He felt a warm, welcoming power getting stronger... Once more, he used Blast Warning, and the intensity of the fire was stronger with larger, violent flames scorching the three heads from the right side.

Fox took a moment to rest to admire the intensity of the attack. "Wish we could have that light puck thing in our battles outside the UG..." he muttered. He went back to attacking the sphere with all he got, switching with his kicks, innate skills, and the pins he had on himself. "Neku, don't stop! You're doing great despite the massive odds against you!"

Neku was too careless to avoid the chomping attack from a dragon head on his arm. He screamed in pain and quickly pulled his arm away from the head by using Meteor Spike on it.

The vulpine winced at the blow, sharing the pain in a figurative sense. "Um, uh, yeah, still doing fine!" he encouraged. "So what if your right arm got chomped for a second there? It won't keep you from fighting, right? Use a healing pin and counterattack!" He felt the glances of the rest of the Players. "What?"

"What kind of encouraging words were those?" Rhyme asked. "Neku already knows his stuff...doesn't he?"

"Yo, they sound like an ass-borin' tutorial! Like one o' those I fall asleep on!" Beat called out.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Hey, I feel understandably scared here! I start getting weak in the knees when he gets attacked so nastily like that, because I do care for his welfare unlike how I used to brush him off for being a massive jerk to us. Our lives are tied to his, that's true. But I want him to succeed using his own effort...with our help!" His sphere shone once and delivered a light puck to the teen. A crack appeared on Fox's cell, making him grin and resume attacking.

Neku believed that three light pucks joining together gave him enough power to deal as three times the damage of any pin. Putting this into test, he launched himself towards the head in the center using the Yoshimitsu pin, sending one harsh blow after another. The head was actually pushed back all the times Neku delivered a back-handed blow, though he pulled back when the head charged an energy blast his way, with the head of the west striking his back with the same blow. "Augh!" he yelped.

Joshua looked up at the main head. "You think you'll stop him in time?" he asked.

"Sir, I'll demonstrate why you must let the revolution happen," Kitaniji said. Rhyme kept an ear raised to listen. "Don't you truly love Shibuya as much as I do?"

"You keep asking me the same question many times before, Megumi," Joshua said. "I do love the city. I simply...abhor how dull it is. I'm only granting you this final chance because I thought it'd be fun to see how far you want to go to achieve that crazy dream of yours."

"Your Excellency... I am deeply moved by your words," Megumi said, nodding his draconian head. "It's settled, then. Watch as my convictions and determination save our city by eliminating this one speck of dust from the map."

"Hee hee hee," Joshua giggled. "I wouldn't say I won already if I were you. There is still time before the grand finale. I handicapped myself to have some fun... Don't you ruin it, you got that?"

All the Players heard Megumi sounding...worried. "Y-yes! I shall not ruin your joy, not today, Sir!" he said, going back to focus into the battle. "Let the light save you!" his booming voice said, striking the floor close to Neku with an exploding sword. The Player dodged the blow swiftly and smashed right into the head to the east with a more potent Meteor Spike. It was followed by the Lolita Bat pin, which had Neku fire three tracking bullets with jaws that tore away into the dragon's scaly skin.

Those same bullets went to the sphere on top and tore through the sphere holding Pichu captive. A small crack appeared on it after he had shocked the sphere using Thunder from inside. "I believe in you a lot more, Neku..." Pichu said, putting up a smile. "You used to be so scary and so distant when we first met you... Now you're such a nice friend to have and to count on. I'm so happy for you! I want you to be happy and enjoy life in Shibuya the right way! And just like everyone else has said till now...keep fighting! For us!" His sphere shone once and sent a light puck to Neku, further increasing the intensity of his permanent light puck.

The sphere trapping Pichu shook as the crack expanded slowly across the entire area, ending up with it shattering away and setting the electric rodent free.

It took a few seconds for Pichu to realize his release. "Wait... I'm free? Yay!" he cheered loudly, hopping on top of an enraged dragon head that shook him down to the floor. After yelping a bit, Pichu somersaulted in midair and fell on his feet. "Freedom is so sweet!" he exclaimed.

Megumi saw the Player and roared. "How could this be? How could he manage to escape from his prison?"

Joshua giggled. "Don't underestimate these Players, Megumi. Their ideals are strong, and their wills just as strong. They keep defying logic by sheer force of will... Well, I have made the UG to behave in such a way to see how many people could make differences using their will alone. Why have you forgotten that hidden power I bestow upon Players? It's not cheating on my part, and you know very well that's the case."

With Pichu having joined the battle with Neku, Megumi kept a close watch on the battle while talking to the enigmatic Joshua. "So then... It was their will that granted their powers back a few fights ago?"

"Naaaah, I personally gave them their powers myself, just because Konishi was behaving badly so much during their fight and the whole week, being the scheming witch she has been for a very long time now. Unless...do you think I'm cheating?"

Megumi gulped. "N-no, Sir! Of course I don't think you are cheating on our deal!" He seemed to be sweating. "This is fair; completely fair for me! Finishing this fight and erasing all these Players is a task I must accomplish myself!"

"That's a good boy," Joshua said in complete amusement. "Oh... You better get serious because someone else is getting out."

Megumi looked down upon the battle where Ness broke through his sphere and joined the other two Players. "Neku, you're doing great! No, we're all doing great!" he said with his bat resting on his right shoulder. "Let's keep pushing through this dragon!"

Neku was confused about why Pichu and Ness were inhabiting the same plane as he was, though he didn't care much. He turned around and saw the head of the east opening its maw to tear his head off. Staring wide-eyed at the large maw, Neku couldn't react quickly, though Pichu got in the way with his Lightning Storm pin creating orbs of electricity that got stuck on the monster's fangs, stunning it from moving any closer to Neku. With an opening, Neku slashed the head multiple times, smacking it right next to the head on the northeast.

The force of the crash into the other head shook Ike's cell so much that the large crack he had made spread all over and shattered away. The mercenary was quick to leap down to the safe floor and rejoin the others. "Thanks, Neku," he thanked the teen, giving Neku a high-five. "The odds are against that monster. It's really happening now!"

"Yeah, I know," Neku said, but the two dispersed quickly when the head of the north fired a large energy blast their way.

Feeling left out, Fox yelled, "Would somebody out there get me OUT of here, please?! Don't leave me out of this fight! I can kick some serious butt too!"

Rhyme took a moment to rest after using force round shots on her sphere. "Everyone is fighting bravely down there... Everyone has been fighting bravely for three whole weeks, and I feel depressed how I haven't done much myself... But now, I want to help Neku, Beat, and everyone in a fight!" she said, looking serious. "It's my way to say thanks for rescuing me. Beat made it far because Neku trusted him...so...I trust Neku a lot and will never stop trusting him!" Her sphere sent down an orb of light that mixed together with Neku's growing light puck.

Neku's empowered light puck made him use the Lolita Bat pin again, this time sending nine skin-tearing bullets towards the dragon head to the west. The nine bullets bit every single part of the dragon they could reach, including the fangs, skin, head, nose, eyes, and of course the sphere containing Fox. He backed off when the bullets ate the upper core of the sphere easily, causing the rest of the sphere to shatter apart and setting him free. Pumping up a fist in success, Fox leaped down and joined the fray. "Thanks a lot, Neku. Really," the vulpine said.

By now all the four Smashers were released from their prisons and attacking the other heads from getting in the way. With four more Players in the fight, Neku focused on the main head housing the four Shibuya residents. "Yo, Phones! Up here!" Beat called out, banging his skateboard on the sphere's inner wall. "Care to give me a hand?! Bust this ball up hard!"

Neku winced. "Uh, sure! I'll go right up there...after I figure out a way to do that!" The northern dragon head roared loudly at him.

"What kinda talk is that?!" Beat yelled. "Phones, you always come up with somethin' when things go down to shit! Dontchu go down on me now! This ass-scary monster ain't gonna make you a chicken, not on my watch! So beat it up hard in my name! We did the same with a' those Noise and Reapers this whole week! The bigger they are...uh...ah...well, I forgot how that goes but who cares?! YOU CAN DO IT, MAN!" His sphere shone once and sent another fragment of the light puck to join Neku's light. "Get me outta here or I'll bust yo ass good!"

"Oh, geez, now I really do have to listen to him..." Neku muttered, rolling his eyes. Looking up ahead at the dragon head, he tried to find a path to the large dominating dragon looking down upon him, and with him the rest of the Players. "Gotta find a way to get up there quick..."

"You, you, you," Neku heard Ness saying as the latter rushed up ahead of him, "it's not ALL about you, Neku. We're in this together...sadly!" He took out a yo-yo from his pocket and stretched its string between both hands. Neku wanted to snark about the usefulness of a yo-yo when he saw it, until Ness spun the yo-yo on his right hand and slammed the item right into the dragon's right eye, making it roar to the skies. "The dragon is busy roaring! Get on top of it!"

Neku snapped out from his surprise and rushed up ahead from Ness pulling his yo-yo back to him. As he closed in, Fox dashed quickly to his side. "It won't stay easy for this long. Let me give you a hand getting there!" he said, grabbing Neku's hand using Fire Fox to propel themselves to the top of the roaring head. Fox dropped Neku on top and jumped back down to keep the other heads busy from interrupting the teen. With everyone attacking the heads behind his back, he moved forward over the yellow scaly skin to the boss.

Now the teen faced off against the main dragon looming over him, with the four Shibuyans looking down as well. "You're almost there, Neku!" Shiki yelled while Mr. Mew slashed and clawed away at the sphere's wall. "I won't stop moving forward now, not like before when I wanted to just disappear forever. I had the chance to see you become a true friend to me when you were at your worst. An-"

"WHY IS EVERYONE GIVING ME THOSE SAPPY MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES DURING THIS FIGHT OF HELL?!" Neku finally asked, letting all the air out of his lungs. "I get it! I'm the one with the permanent light puck and the only one capable of setting you free! No need to remind me that with a different variation of your speeches!"

Shiki looked pissed. "Hey, you little weasel! We care so much about you! The least you could say is thanks or something!" she scolded. Neku gulped at her angry-sounding speech. "Be thankful we have a lot of trust in you, O almighty Player! I'd have given up on living if you hadn't fought this monster in the first place! If Beat had fought this monster alone, be sure that I'd have cried my eyes out from the beginning!" Beat crossed his arms and looked offended. " Isn't that enough for a heartwarming fact to get into that thick skull of yours, Neku?! Stop trying to be so difficult, geez!" Her sphere shone once and sent another light into Neku's light puck.

Instead of feeling warm, Neku felt endangered, and not because of the murderous dragon in front of him. "Man, that was a priceless speech," Joshua noted contently.

"Hardly the time to be joking now," Rhyme said with a sigh.

"U-uh, yeah! I'm gonna...save you from the dragon right away..." Neku spoke weakly, focusing his Meteor Spike pin on the spheres closer to him. The spheres he targeted were the ones holding Beat and Rhyme. The power of the light puck increased the weight and force of the boulders by fourfold,; a magnificent feat for very devoted Players playing completely in-sync. Neku had only reached that kind of multiplier during very rare moments when it wasn't a boss battle where everyone scrambled around to figure out how to attack the strongest foes. The boulders easily shattered the spheres holding the Bito siblings, setting them free and letting go of them above a high altitude.

Beat rode on top of his skateboard and used his pin's power to fly over and catch Rhyme on his arms. "Gotcha!" he told her, with Rhyme leaning it to his neck with a tight hug. Beat blushed slightly and rode down the dragon's body all the way to the floor, where they got busy with the others distracting and fighting the other heads.

Neku now had two people left to save from their predicaments. "Hold on, you two!" he called to Shiki and Joshua. "I'm coming!"

Joshua smiled. "Me? I need saving? That's cute."

Megumi roared down and sent an explosive sword to Neku, who counterattacked with Yoshimitsu, miraculously slapping the sword away to explode on top of the western head. "Why are you saying, Joshua?! You're freakin' merged with the damn thing!" Neku yelled.

"Am I what now?" Joshua asked in a teasing tone.

Neku slapped his forehead. "Joshua, this isn't the time to tease me..."

Shiki had all the time of the world to comment on anything that was going, since Mr. Mew seemed to be a separate entity that relentlessly attacked the wall trapping her. "Um... Whoa... He does tease you a lot," she noted. "Neku's right, anyway! Don't you feel scared of dying like us?!"

"I have confidence in Neku's success to care about dying," Joshua said with a big smile that freaked them out.

"I'll never understand you, man..." Neku muttered.

"I'll be cheering for you in my own way, Neku. Go show Megumi some manners for me," Joshua said sincerely. Despite not being trapped in an orb, the Player shone himself and sent the last light puck to Neku's light, nearly reaching its peak of potency.

"I'm getting Shiki out first." Neku raised his Sweet Talk Tether pin, conjuring chains from midair and tightening the chains all around the large dragon before him. The chains tangled up around Shiki's sphere, pressing harder and harder to shatter the large cracks that appeared under the empowered chains. In three seconds of trying to crush the sphere, it shattered away, releasing Shiki and Mr. Mew. "There!"

"Oh, thank you!" Shiki said, right before noticing she was standing on top of nothing but air. She looked down, got scared of what was going to happen next, and she fell down face-first. It didn't help matters that she was falling straight into the maw of the northwestern dragon's mouth. Neku couldn't dash to catch her and get into the way of the monster's fangs. "SOMEONE, HEEEELP!" Shiki shrieked.

The least Neku could do was to shoot the dragon head with Lolita Bat bullets. Though sending all nine bullets to stagger the head in hopes of closing the mouth seemed to do the trick, the head persisted with its wide open mouth. It was not until an electrically-charged Ness with PK Thunder collided harshly against the lower chin of the dragon to close the mouth shut, followed by Beat doing a big jump to the air to catch the seamstress. "Gotchu now!" Beat told Shiki, though in that instant Mr. Mew fell on his face and made them both crash into the skin of the dragon. Regardless, they were both fine.

Neku sighed in relief and turned his attention to the dragon. "I'm nearly there... I just got to save Joshua for last!" he said.

The enigmatic teen chuckled in the same unsettling tone. "Wow, you really want to save me that badly, Neku?" he asked, making Neku grunt annoyed. "I'm so flattered... Well, it's not going to be too long before this battle comes to an end. Megumi is getting super tired as it is."

Neku looked up at the main dragon panting, letting out the occasional fire breath out caused by exaustion. "Sir... I can...keep...fighting for Shibuya..." the dragon spoke weakly. "The light of redemption...will shine through...!"

"..." Neku knew well that the team had the fight in the bag. It was going to end for real with no more fights ahead of them. With confidence, he raised his Meteor Spike pin to activate its psyche... He was trapped within another sphere that happened to sneak and touch his back from behind, shocking him. "D-damn!" he said. When he looked outside, his irises shrunk in horror. All six dragon heads were gathering a large amount of energy inside their mouths, all aimed directly at him. He had to act quickly to break through and deliver the last blow, or else everything would end for all of them instead by erasing him. He frantically started attacking the sphere to break it open, but the dragons were quickly amassing so much energy that it looked like they were going to finish him off in one fell blow. "U-ugh!"

Such a low move went unnoticed for the rest of the Players. "Set Neku free!" Ike commanded. "We can't stun the heads in time!" With his order out, all seven Players charged forward, climbed on top of the northern dragon head, and launched a full frontal assault on Neku's prison. Fox came in dashing, using his Velocity Attack pin to ram hard into the sphere, followed by Pichu's Storm Warning electrocuting it, Rhyme's force round shots leaving bullets marks printed behind, Ike's Kanesada giving him slashing air sword blows that left large cracks for Beat's skateboard to crash into with a heavy slam, which was followed by Ness's charged PK Blast creating a large explosion of released energy. At the end of the attack, Mr. Mew playfully hopped all over and dove down with a charged fist that crashed and passed through the sphere, releasing Neku.

The Player landed back on the dragon head and held out what he thought was the Meteor Spike pin. With all seven Players standing around him and confronting the massive dragon, his original pin was energized with the light puck power, taking it all out from his body and transforming the small trinket into a pin that showcased eleven stars intertwined together. The stars had eleven colors that symbolized all the Players: purple for Neku, pink for Shiki, indigo for Joshua, dark yellow for Beat, light yellow for Rhyme, light blue for Chris, brown for Fox, yellow for Pichu, red for Ness, a strange dark coloration between blue and purple for Ike, and finally dark green for Soren. Neku's star was placed right on the center, with the other stars forming a loose image of a planet to give a meaning that his world held important people who meant something to him. The pin was known as the Final Fusion pin.

Time stood still as the pin's psyche activated. Neku held out a hand towards the dragon, forming a large Player symbol in front of him that started to shine brighter and brighter with each passing second. The sound of the symbol charging echoed in the space, just as circles of blinking light gathered into it to merge together into one entity. The Player symbol turned from dark to light white, with Draco Cantus unable to do anything to stop the pin from activating. Neku wasn't the only one who held out his hand to the Player pin. He noticed everyone else got drawn to the symbol, feeling that they also needed to join him in this one last attack. It proved to be right, as energy orbs came out from their hands to make the light even stronger. When the Player symbol was charged up, Neku pushed his hand forward...

The dragon was sliced apart with two large graffiti marks placed on top of one another. What followed next was a rain of massive light towers piercing right through Draco Cantus. Each piercing tower of light brought intense light into the body, making it shine just as brightly. The long tails and heads started to disintegrated inside the light, along with the Reaper claws sticking out. The massive roar of all six dragons was deafened by the sound of the explosion that followed. A big flash blinded sight for a moment, just before it went away and revealed that the towers and the floor had gone back to normal. One by one, all the Players – including Joshua – reappeared on the floor with relieved looks.

Thus, the final battle had been won. On top of the towers, the grading Reapers were speechless...slapping a Star rank on the battle report. "...Amazing job, dude," they finally said.

Music stops

"Congratulations, Neku," Joshua thanked Neku once the planes went back to normal. The teen and the others had barely registered the sudden shift. That shift included a downed Kitaniji dropped on the floor behind Joshua. "You pulled through for me somehow. Hee hee."

"...What?" Neku said.

"Wait a sec, please. I need to take care of something important first..." He turned around and looked down at Megumi, his dark glasses dropping down to the floor. "It seems I've won. What a pity for you, Megumi. You were...this close to reaching the completion of your plan, but alas, you lost everything."

Megumi was seen sobbing and banging a fist on the floor, shocking the Players. "NOOOOOO!" he bellowed, looking up at Joshua and holding out his right hand at him. "It can't end like this... Who else will protect Shibuya?"

Everyone else heard a ticking noise coming from Megumi's hand. Vividly remembering such sound before, they gasped once more when they found out that Megumi had a timer imprinted on his palm. The timer he sported, though, had two extra zeroes unlike a normal Player's timer, making it look even longer in comparison. "A timer?!" Neku said. "Why does HE have a timer?"

"He's a Player?" Ike said. "A high-ranking Reaper is a Player?!"

"Shocking, isn't it?" Joshua said, looking at them over his right shoulder. "That's correct. Megumi here is a special kind of Player who has agreed to a special set of rules to accomplish the little deal we formed at the start of the month...before Neku, Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, and you Smashers passed away. A deal formed before any of this happened."

Megumi coughed, his eyes shedding tears of despair. "Then... You'll do as You intended?" he asked. "You're going to erase it... The streets I know and love, gone..."

What he said with his horrified tone didn't bode the Players well. "Joshua is going to erase streets?" Pichu said. "...Erase Shibuya? Him?!"

The enigmatic teen chuckled again. "You did well, Megumi. That was one of my more enjoyable Games," he said.

Megumi hung down his head, getting some time to sob before he looked back up and flashed a cocky grin. "I gave it my all, Sir. I have no regrets," he said. The Players let the two continue with their conversation.

Joshua cocked his head to the left. "You know, I liked your idea. Shame it didn't work out," he said.

The Conductor chuckled as he hung down his head again, in a way that it looked like he was bowing down to Joshua. "You gave me a wonderful opportunity. Thank You, Sir," he said. "I underestimated your pick so much... It was the fatal error in my plan that I didn't foresee in time... But...but you pulled those lost souls into the Game too!" He looked back up at Joshua. "They were never intended to participate! You kept bringing them back from their confinements to keep playing more Games!"

"Hey, it was impossible to bring any dead person back to life with me being absent," Joshua said, hearing the Players gasp in unison. "You can't bring people back to life unless I give you permission. It was never my intention to put the Smashers to help Neku." He chuckled. "They...just gathered around him, that's all. What can you do? I thought before all that that they'd be interesting challengers for the Reapers' Game. What happened during the Game was beyond my control...sort of. In the Game, anyone is okay in giving a helping hand to others, as long as they follow the rules."

"Still! You brought them back for the third week when they were supposed to disappear for making them trying to break the rules during your week with Neku!" Megumi shouted, making the Smashers gasp and realize that Joshua was the reason why they came back.

"It was my way to say sorry for messing around with their frail minds," Joshua said, sighing afterward. "They're right when they complained over and over about the injustice they went through each day. The Composer – me – was absent from exerting my regulations."

Ike's mouth hung open. "Joshua's the Composer?!" he said.

The Conductor frowned to himself. "You... Your Excellency... You are correct..." Megumi looked at the Players, specifically at Neku. "As for you... Well played, Players. I am truthfully sorry for the unfair treatment you've gotten during the Game by my hands..."

Fox tossed his arms up. "That's PRETTY swell, thank you," he said. "It's not like we didn't mind one bit!" Ike and Ness held him back, just in case he was going to punch Kitaniji while he was down on the floor.

Megumi said to Neku, "I still can't fathom why my imprinting failed to affect you and your partners..."

Neku shrugged. "Me neither... You took our Player Pins away from us, and you said they were protecting our minds from the Red Skull pins." He put a hand inside his right pocket and felt a pin in there. Looking down at what pin he held, he took it out and revealed a second Player Pin. "Wait! That's right! Back then during the first week, I found out I had this one too!" Shiki also remembered when Neku had showed her the second pin.

"Another Player Pin?!" Megumi yelled. "Then all of you have a second Player Pin as well?!"

The other Players exchanged glances and immediately rummaged themselves to see if they all held a second Player Pin. "I don't remember ever having two Player Pins as well..." Pichu muttered.

"Yeah, me neither," Shiki said. "The day I met Neku, I'm sure I didn't have a second... Huh?" Inside her small belt purse, she found a second Player Pin. "A-ah! I-I have a second pin too?! W-where did this come from?!"

It was not long before everyone else found a second Player Pin as well. "H-hold on! This is crazy!" Ike said, finding his pin hanging on the back of his cape. "I don't remember having this on!" He saw Fox finding his second pin hidden inside his red scarf, Ness's dropping the pin from inside his cap, Beat spotting the pin stuck on the front right wheel of his skateboard, and Rhyme taking it out from the inside of her belt necklace.

Joshua watched the others express the same thought. "I'm guilty of that," he said simply, getting their attention. "You see, none of you had those Player Pins...before the third week started. I made it my mission to drop those on you when you came to from your sleep in this week. I dropped the pins on the Smashers and Beat before Day 1 started, I snuck one when Rhyme was brought back to her human form – hence why she felt someone touched her - and then I put Shiki's inside her purse when she was freed from being Neku's entry fee."

While Rhyme visibly blushed, Pichu shook off his second Player Pin from his right ear. "And it was well hidden! I didn't feel a tickle!" he said.

The Conductor laughed out loud. "Of course! To think I'd outsmart Him... I was sorely mistaken..." His body was starting to fade away before them, but he took one more look at Neku and said, "Neku... It's up to you now," before he faded away from existence.

With one supervisor gone, the Players stared at Joshua, who now faced them all with a serene look on his face. "Hee hee... It was me, Neku. I'm Shibuya's Composer," he revealed. "Feel a little more special, now that you know the head honcho of the Reapers' Game was your partner for a week."

Neku couldn't still believe the news. "What? But that...can't be..." he trailed off.

"Y-yeah, he's right!" Ness said. "How is it that you're the boss of this joint? You seemed a little frail when you were with us! Or were you intentionally handicapping yourself from the beginning?"

"It's just as you said," Joshua said. "I handicapped myself from the beginning. I know that must unsettle you. Especially since we spent all that quality time together." He raised his shoulders. "Still, it's the truth, and I need you to face it. Megumi and I decided to play this Game to determine if Shibuya should exist or not."

"What do you mean if Shibuya should exist or not?" Ike asked.

"The Shibuya of today is...boring," Joshua said, closing his eyes. "Way too many people with so many possibilities...clouded to see them for themselves. The influence Shibuya has on the other grounds in the world is incredible, and thus we set a standard that everyone else looks up to. What this means is that the Reapers' Game exists in every corner of the world, and we lie in the center of it all."

"Aww, sick, yo!" Beat said. "You mean evabody go through this crap like we do?"

"Yeah, yo, but only if they die sooner than they should," Joshua said. "If the other grounds were to take the Shibuya of now as an example...it would mean complete annihilation. The city is a poison bomb waiting to explode as it is, thus my decision to shut it down for good. I can't let that happen, you see." He opened his eyes with an amused look. "Megumi was very attached to Shibuya, as you saw for yourselves. He wanted to fix people by giving them the Red Skull pin to...brainwash their minds, which I sort of like yet don't because that turns them all into statues. So, when we agreed to play the Game against each other, he knew I was too strong for him. I changed my form into this one to watch him rebuild Shibuya..."

The harmless-looking person before them was actually a god in a human disguise. "T-that's too much to take in..." Rhyme muttered. "But why did you help Neku?"

"Megumi was playing using the other Reapers, while I picked Neku as my representative," Joshua said. "If Megumi won, it would prove Shibuya has been fixed. If I won, it would prove Shibuya is the same boring hellhole that must be eradicated at once."

Shiki shrieked. "D-don't nuke Shibuya, please!" she pleaded. "I-it's a nice and wonderful place to live! You can't!"

"Yeah, I don't know about that," Joshua said. "I picked Neku because of a reason. He is the absolute worst person in Shibuya who represented every ill each person in the city showed. There were other people I could've picked, but I wanted to prove that the city was beyond salvation and to make things fair for Megumi in the Game. Doing otherwise would go against my vision, so...Neku got the lucky ticket in the end, and he won for me." He smiled at Neku, who was staring in shock at him. "Again, thanks to you, Shibuya is gonna disappear from the map, saving the rest of the world."

Neku shook his head very slowly. "Then everything I've done... All of it..."

"Mm-hmm. You were playing for my team," Joshua said. "Really, you did a bang-up job. I couldn't have won without you."

"Then... What have I done?!" Neku said, grabbing his head. "I...I doomed Shibuya without knowing?! This can't be! I refuse to believe I made this happen!"

"T-then we're as much as guilty for it!" Fox said. "I-I can't believe it! We didn't know helping Neku out would mean blowing up his home! This is even MORE unfair than the other stuff we went through, Joshua!"

"Oh, why do you care?" Joshua asked with a smile. "You guys won the Game for real, and you can go back to your worlds now. Why do you care what happens to Neku's home? It's a matter you shouldn't be concerned with."

They weren't just about to leave the Shibuya Crew behind knowing that they would disappear anyway. The Smashers objected to it. "W-what kind of people are you taking us for?" Ness said. "We care what happens to their home! We had a hand in making it this far to this...super unfair prize! It's just wrong!"

"I thought you hated Neku?"

"Well, from the beginning, yeah, but he got better as the days went by!" Ike said. "He learned from his mistakes and took responsibility for his actions! And yet, knowing that his home would be destroyed is too much to just forget about!"

"...I had one role in this Game: picking the Player who would play for me," Joshua said. "It's not my fault you got involved with my pick that led to this. You otherworldly Players have other matters to attend to, so stop sticking your feet in my way."

Pichu looked angry. "N-no! We won't stop!" he said.

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Fine, then. Let me explain the rest of the story to convince you," he said. "As I was saying, I picked Neku myself. I knew I picked a winner when we met there at his favorite spot..."

Neku recalled the day when he saw Joshua and Sho Minamimoto change his life forever. "But it was Pi-Face that killed me..." he said.

"His bullet was meant for me," Joshua pointed out. "For some time now he's been after my seat. Maybe he thought I could be killed in the RG because my powers as a Composer were greatly weakened with the transition to this human form...a gross miscalculation anyway." He grinned. "The Composer, unlike the Reapers, can use some of his power in the living world. So, poor Minamimoto failed, and fled back to the UG. But I liked to keep him around. He knows how to heat up a Game!"

"That bastard was a psychicpather, yo!" Beat said.

"Psychopath," Joshua corrected. "Unfortunately, he overheated this time with all that Taboo Noise power going to his head, so I had to retire him early. Couldn't have him spoiling the climax!"

"Then you're the one who beat him back there at the sewers?" Neku asked.

Joshua nodded. "Why, yes! You're just sharp as a tack, Neku. I crunched him," he said. "Anyway, the pest followed me everywhere, even into the RG when I went to get you!"

"Into the RG? Wait... No!" Neku stepped back. "You can't be serious...!"

"Serious about what?" Ness asked. "...He picked you, but you were alive, so he needed to... Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT." He shook his head quickly. "That implies he...but we saw the truth of that day! Sho killed Neku!"

"Hee hee," Joshua giggled, snapping his fingers towards Neku. "Why don't I return all the memories I've been holding on to?"

To clear the next row of doubts, Neku started to feel a huge headache, grabbing his head and swearing that his fingers were going to penetrate his skulls. Joshua also extended the pain to everyone else, resulting in multiple screams of agony. Before long, the events that led to Neku's death played out again. "A-argh!" Beat shrieked. "W-what's this, yo?!"

"I-I see... Neku!" Shiki said. "H-he's touching the wall in the back of Udagawa!"

"I can see... Joshua appearing from one side... H-he's shooting Neku!" Rhyme said, watching the event. "N-no, wait! He shot someone else behind Neku!"

"I blew it..." the Sho in the memory said, holding his shot arm. The Neku in the memory was dropped on his back, and he turned around to see the madman aiming his gun at his face...

And from there, the memory was finally pieced back together to its true outcome.

With the Composer standing in front of Neku, Sho had to shoot him now and claim the throne of the UG for himself. The gun he had on his working arm aimed straight at Joshua's face..and he shot three bullets in quick succession. The bullets went flying right above Neku, but they passed too fast for him to notice in time. During his moment of shock, he did manage to turn around to the direction the bullets went...and found Joshua flashing a grin, for the bullets halted right in front of his face. He had never seen bullets float in midair after being shot, scaring him to the bone. Who was this guy, he asked himself. Why am I even seeing this, he asked next.

His questions were kept to himself as he watched Joshua walking slowly towards Sho. The madman had a look of utter fear in his face. He thought he had the boss cornered, but it was the other way around. Sho was completely helpless in the RG where Reaper powers were neutralized, unlike in the UG where they could use everything they had. If guns didn't kill the Composer here, there was no way he would survive a fight against him here, not with Joshua's gun aiming straight at his face now. Backing off from Joshua, Sho turned around and made a run for it, just like any other criminal fearing death...

Neku watched the criminal running away from the scene. He heard the sound of a gun getting ready. He turned his head to look up at Joshua...'s gun aimed at his face. With a simple pull of his trigger, the lights were out for Neku. Grinning down at his representative, the Composer stretched his closed hand over Neku and dropped a Player Pin on his chest. Thus, the order of the events was fixed, leaving a very bad taste in everyone's mouths...

The headache was gone and everyone came back to their senses. Speechless of what happened during Neku's death, they faced a grinning Joshua. Neku, being the owner of the memory, was huffing so hard as he stared at Joshua with murderous intent. To be betrayed like this in such a way was too much to simply let go. "It was you!" Neku yelled. "I thought... I thought I finally found a friend I could relate to... But it was YOU! You killed me!"

The others were just as shocked. "Gods! How unbelievable!" Ike said, tossing his hands to the sides. "All that time during the second week, we've been helping out the boss and Neku's killer all along! I thought you had some redeeming qualities but I guess that was trampled over to death now didn't it!"

"How could you?!" Shiki yelled. "Neku was trying to be friends with you! What kind of person are you to kill others like that?! You don't even need to ask for permission to kill!"

"...You-you know what? Screw you," Fox said, utterly irritated at Joshua. "No. Fuck you, Joshua. I don't care if you're the boss of this whole thing, I can't take any more of this shit any longer, and I CERTAINLY can't express how much I'm pissed right now so this will have to do. We put so much trust in you when we fought Sho and suddenly you tell us you did pull the trigger in the end. This is too much. I-I'm not that sorry for you." He flipped him off. His finger was censored in Joshua's eyes.

Joshua, much to their chagrin, giggled. "Yo, stop the gigglin'! You're in deep shit!" Beat called out.

"Ah ha... I can understand why you're all so...flustered about this, really," Joshua said, flicking his bangs. His sudden serious expression kind of frightened them when he stared at the Smashers. "But before we go even further into this conversation...your time is up."

Pichu screamed his lungs out.

"No, I mean you guys won the Game fair and square," Joshua said. "For your reward, I will return you to the world where you died."

Pichu stopped screaming, and now he was sniffing. "F-for real? T-this isn't a joke?" he asked.

"Naaah, this world has been tossing way too many jokes at you that it's become a bore," the Composer said. "There's a limit to being funny. Scavenging your lost souls was the least I could do to keep you alive, after all!"

"Scavenging our souls?" Ness repeated.

"Yeah, your souls were trapped in a limbo," Joshua said, looking serious. "When I picked up on your essences, I knew something was wrong beyond my realm... No otherworldly souls end up here. There is a plane in your world where the dead end up, but you lost your way somehow. Not picking your souls would result in you never finding proper rest. In the end, it all worked out, and now you can have a second chance." He giggled. "You have me to thank me. I wanted to test you like any other Player to see if the worlds out there suffered the same fate as Shibuya, and you proved to me that they are aware of their possibilities. But with that enemy of yours putting everything in peril, it's better that you take care of that. I don't want to get involved into that, truly. Megumi tried to shove that plan onto my lap so hard that he never noticed I'd be against it. Rest assured. The Reapers' Game will never touch your world one bit."

"...Wow," Ness said, looking dull. "I'm torn between shaking your hand or outright take it off your wrist."

"Ha ha, nice joke there," Joshua remarked. "As the Composer of this Game, I congratulate you in your efforts for participating in this event I took you into. You may go back now." He raised a glowing hand to his right and prepared himself to whisk them away.

"WAIT!" Fox yelled.

Joshua winced. "Eesh, that was some yell... What is it now?" He lowered his hand back.

Fox was glaring at him. "We're not leaving yet until Chris and Soren come back with us!" he said, making the Smashers nod.

"...Those two?" Joshua said. To their surprise, the lifeless bodies of said people appeared in front of Joshua, lying down on their backs. "You want them to go back with you? Really?"

"Well, duh!" Ike said, seeing Soren's sorrowful look frightening him. "They're not erased! We've been working so hard to save them both!"

The Composer sighed for two long seconds. "...Impossible," he said, looking deadpan at their blank stares and wide eyes. "They were erased during the Game before they could find partners. The rules dictate that erasure is the only method to die. Megumi, though, kept their bodies around and little fragments of their memories intact to use them as guinea pigs to study your worlds. I'm so sorry that you had to see those dead bodies again, giving you false hope that you truly had succeeded."

"No...no..." Pichu muttered, covering his mouth. "You can't be..."

"...But," Joshua continued. "I do have the ability to give their lives back."

Ness gasped. "Y-you'll really bring them back, then?!" Despair was going back to hope.

It quickly backpedaled. "...And let them suffer misery and despair all over? What kind of person do you think I am to let them feel that torture?" Joshua asked, looking up to the dark ceiling. "You must be insane."

Fox's anger was starting to resurface all over again. "What the hell do you even mean now?!" he asked, stomping the floor. "What misery and what despair?!"

"Oh, come on, now," Joshua said as he looked at them all. "Don't tell me you don't know yourselves all the pain they have gone through. Do I seriously need to remind you? These two feel ultimate despair; the kind of despair that is not so easy to brush off." He looked at Soren. "His life was met with extreme prejudice where everyone despised him for being a half-hybrid, even during at a young age. His mere existence sickened anyone until he found a home with a band of mercenaries. There, he found some solace, but clearly he despises the world and only cares that one person is alive and well. Soren does not care about his well-fare."

The Smashers looked at Ike. He looked down away from Soren. "That...is..." he trailed off.

"And then we have another prime example in Chris," Joshua said, looking at Chris. "Poor soul, having died three times already and experiencing the feeling of erasure... All the trauma he has suffered has taken a great toll on him before his last breath in the Game. It was in that brief moment that he gave up on everything; that life had no meaning to him anymore. This combined with the solitude he was subject to in his home...and how he once contemplated and almost used suicide before any of this took place...it was too much for his soul."

The Composer saw the horrified looks every single Player gave him. "D-died...three times?" Rhyme breathed out.

The Smashers had known about Chris's three deaths, though the suicide fact hit them all like a truck. "S-suicide?!" Pichu shrieked. "H-him?! Suicide?!"

"Yeah, suicide," Joshua said, looking blank. "The problems he went through back at home where his parents had to work away from him made him go insane inside his mind. When he was just ten years old, one little mistake from his relatives where they left a knife in his reach could have ended his life right there and then, but they stopped him in time before the knife could stab his throat. He had to take counseling for a couple of years until he snapped out of it. Years later...it looked like everything was going his way when he finally could have someone who wanted to stay and make him happy." He was talking about Lucario. "...Fate wasn't compensating him, though. It was just a cruel method to prepare him to cherish so much stuff before everything was taken away from his hands with death."

The Composer could see that some of them were starting to shed tears. It looked morbid with those stares they put on.

"Because of how laws in this universe work differently, he died not once, not twice, but thrice protecting people he greatly cared for...and that's where you guys have yourselves to congratulate for a job well done. You let him die to save your own hides."

Fox grunted loudly. "W-what?!" he said. "H-how dare you say we let him die?!"

Joshua rubbed his chin as he stared at Fox. "It must hurt to know that," he said. "You were the cause of his first death, if I remember correctly." The vulpine dropped his jaw in shock when he did remember the first death that started the events of despair for the World Traveler. "What happened back then? Oh yeah. You were bickering with your teammates over trivial stuff during a fight against a brainwashed comrade, and he even called out for your names to help him...but you stood your ground, your face looking the other way to throw weak insults to the others. What was up with that?"

"I...I..." Fox was starting to lose it when he was asked that question. He couldn't stop the tears now. "I-I didn't...I wanted to...!"

"Mind you, you didn't cause him too much misery," Joshua continued. "It was just the start. Some time later, he died at the hands of one his friends who neglected to tell anybody about his dark spirit taking control over his body. Hadn't he alerted them soon, Chris wouldn't have died...on his birthday no less. No, poor little Sonic the Hedgehog let his ego take the better of him, and he never considered the chances of his claws tearing others apart."

"B-but...but!" Pichu sobbed. "I-it was too late...a-and...!"

"And then we have the coup de grace," Joshua continued. "His last life was wasted on an enemy who had redeemed himself from his tragic past and actions. Only Chris rushed to his aid before a destructive beam could claim his life. He managed to save him, but that cost Chris his life again...but this time, he protected someone else. Granted, it was a dire situation back then, but what matters is that he was more than willing to make the sacrifice because he cared for you: his childhood heroes. Each death traumatized him more and more, but he forced a smile every time he could to make you feel okay. His joy was to be with you and that's what kept him going."

Ness dropped to his knees. "C-Chris..."

"Now you come to me and demand that I revive him?" Joshua asked, right eyebrow raised and hands inside his pockets. "For what? So that he makes you feel better with yourselves until he dies yet again? Oh no, I don't want him to torture himself, and that goes for Soren too because he also has the same suicidal thoughts. Let their lives rest in peace knowing that you're fine. They only care about you...so be grateful they want you to continue living. The way I see it, he's just a tool to help you guys from your moral dilemmas." Joshua grinned. "Hmm-hm, his own dilemma is that he will never grow as a courageous person, only to meddle in the affairs of others."

There was no more talk from the Smashers. They had been utterly broken apart with the facts tossed at them. They remained silent, shedding tears and covering their faces. There was so much wrong about everything that happened that they didn't know what to say. They were lost in grief, helpless to have a proper solution to help their friends cope with the traumatic experiences...

The silence of their sobs ended with someone behind them stepping forward. It was Neku, the only Player who wasn't making tears with his eyes. The look on his face made Joshua blink. "Neku? What is it?" He smiled at him. "Are you still ticked off because of what I did to you? Why don't we play one last Game to-?"

"Would you stop it, Joshua?" Neku interrupted.

"Sorry, I don't follow," Joshua said. "Whatever do you mean?"

Neku swung his arm to the right. "You're telling them to give up on him so he finds peace in death?" he asked.

"Well, pretty much, yeah," Joshua said. "He helped them to become better people, but they hardly made him feel better. I don't wish to see them screw up again and make things even worse for him. He has no redemption, just like everyone in Shibuya."

Neku looked at the Smashers, looking away from them. "...So you don't believe they can do it right after being told about how wrong they are now?"

"Neku, they had three times to correct that," the Composer pointed out. "And they never did. Why do you trust these people with that heavy burden now? Do you like to cause others pain?"

"NO, you damn prick!" Neku yelled back. "I trust my partners now... Before, I couldn't care any less about what happened to others. I've seen my fair share of people losing it as I walked the streets of Shibuya, and I never remained behind to give them a hand."

"That's a sweet story time," Joshua said smiling. "Hardly needed for a moment like thi-"

"I want you to give them another chance, without traps," Neku interrupted, making the Smashers look at him. "This was your Game. You treated all of us unfairly."

"...True, but that doesn't convince me from changing my mind," Joshua said. "Just look at them for yourself. They are far too broken up from making a difference in the matter. Their other friends don't even know about what happened here, and I feel that they won't help much either."

Rhyme stepped forward. "Um..." she muttered. "You sound like you are giving up on them, Joshua. I learned for myself that you should never give up on people, no matter what."

Neku nodded at her. "Yeah... You said something similar, Joshua," he told the Composer. "Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world. What point is there to give up on yourself if the world gives up onyou first? The people are the world! My point is, you're making them give up on Chris altogether!"

"..." Joshua rubbed his chin in thought and turned his back on them. "...Huh... I never saw how those words I told you could be reversed to make such a point... Very impressive, indeed..." He chuckled and turned back to Neku. "Very, very impressive, coming from the worst person in Shibuya..."

Beat shook a fist in front of him. "So what's it gonna be, man?!" he asked. "You gonna give up on 'em like you gave up on us?!"

"No need for fist-shaking," Joshua said, noticing that the Smashers were looking at him with sorrowful looks. "Hee hee... Well now... I just have a few more things to say to you all. First, it's you, Neku." Neku blinked. "You've proven to me how people can truly change for the better when they're at their worst. If you have the potential to change into the person you are now...I do think there is some future for Shibuya."

Shiki gasped. "Wait, what?" she said. "You changed your mind about disappearing Shibuya, then?!"

"Nope...but I'm convinced for now that what Megumi sought after was truly there all along, though yeah, so he brainwashed everyone, but that's beside the point." Joshua nodded. "I think there is salvation for Shibuya now, but I shall never change my thoughts of obliteration if it does happen again... You guys have been warned about it."

Rhyme sighed, knowing that they all had a future to look forward to. "Just so we're clear, can we try to raise awareness?" she asked. "Without mentioning the Reapers' Game, though. Isn't there some way to convince people to change?"

"That is all up to you, civilians of Shibuya," Joshua said. "It's your job to make this world that everyone shares a wonderful place to live...so no one has to die so early and give up on themselves. It's a Wonderful World." He stared at Neku. "Neku... I have you to thank you. Who would've known you'd change my mind? Was it perhaps Mr. H who gave you the idea to turn into...this?"

Neku looked at his hand holding the second Player Pin. "From the start...yeah, his words gave me some meaning," he said, clutching the pin. "But then I kind of developed my ideals without his guidance much. In the end, I realized for myself how dull I was and how I wanted to expand my world. He gave the push... I got to work from there."

"Do you see the people of Shibuya in a new light?"

Neku looked at Shiki, then at Beat, then at Rhyme, and then the rest. "Kind of, because I know not everyone is the same like everyone here...but hey, allowing strangers in is the only way to grow up and find out more about ourselves, right?"

Joshua frowned, but he chuckled anyway. "Oh yeah, I said those words to you, didn't I? Man, I didn't think they would change you as well. You do learn from others. These lessons you learned have thus made me ask one final question to your otherworldly friends..." The Smashers looked at him. "...Here is the final question. You better answer correctly or you will forsake hope for despair."

"W-what's the question?" Fox asked.

The Composer pointed at the lifeless bodies before them. "Do you truly want me to bring them back to life and see if they suffer even more? Are you willing to see them whittle in pain just for the sake of your happiness, with a drastically low chance to find joy again?"

"T-those are two questions!" Pichu yelled.

"And? How are you going to answer them?" Joshua asked with a knowing smile. "Think about this carefully. Death to seek peace, life to seek chaos. Can you do it?"

The Smashers exchanged saddened looks and just sighed. The questions Joshua had asked them were stopping them from reviving the two fallen people. "...So what now?" Fox asked, clearing his tears. "Should we say yes and see how we screw it up again?"

"It's going to be much worse for all us if we do screw it up again," Ness said. "I-I don't know if we can make it this time! I thought we had made up our minds about saving Chris, and now...! Darn it! This sucks!" he sobbed.

"I'm so lost, too..." Pichu said, sniffing towards the floor. "Knowing Chris tried to kill himself before he joined us, it's too much to bear now! I don't want to watch him cry harder if he dies again! It's hard to shake off how he cried when he was erased..."

"But agreeing to that means the two will disappear!" Ike yelled. "Soren is also in this, you guys! Their lives depend on what we have to say now!"

"We know that!" Ness yelled. "But either option leads to bad stuff! It's not fair! It's not fair to us and to them! NOTHING IS EVER FAIR!"

"HEY!"

The Smashers heard Shiki yelling at them. They faced her.

"...I can't believe any of you!" Shiki yelled. She was now crying. "You remind me of myself when I was truly lost! Why are you breaking up now? This isn't like you, guys! You're better than this! Back then, you all looked so serious about finishing the Reapers' Game with all of us. You liked to be with each other and were willing to make it till the end together!" From her back, she took out Mr. Mew and hugged it tightly. "I learned here that...that the world is horrible without people... People exist to make life nice... I felt that life was not worth it because Eri had everything I wished I had...a-and then I learned she treasured me so much because I made her feel complete, and I realized she made me feel complete as best friends working towards a common dream! Everyone here treasures their friends regardless!"

"But... But how can that help us with Chris and Soren?" Pichu sobbed.

Rhyme walked to them and, despite her tough look, she was crying her eyes out. "You only worry too much about screwing up!" she scolded them. "You have yet to worry about how you're going to get better at it! What Joshua said might be true, but I know you can make their lives better without dying again! What I mean to say is...stop dwelling in the past and think about the present for now! Their lives depend on you, just as how your lives depended on them while we played the Game!"

"W-we do worry because of our mission getting in the way!" Fox shot back.

"Yo! Who cares about that?!" Beat said, trying to fight back the tears. "Why are ya leavin' 'em in the dust like that? Tas' sick! We have things to look forward to together! I'mma been bustin' my ass all week cuz I cared aboud fixing all the problems I made for the team, and you come and say that crap now? What the hell, my men?! You wanna repeat that again? Do that and I'm gonna freakin' blow my head off with anger! Dontchu give up on people, dammit! You hear me?!"

"I'm still on the fence about saying yes and bring them back to suffer all over again..." Ness muttered.

"...Do you really want to see them suffer, if they come back to life?" Neku asked them. "Guys, you can keep them safe. You just gotta stay sharper than ever. Help them grow...mature. Remember that...that I used to be the worst person in Shibuya," he told them with a frown. "It's people like you who makes everyone else feel special. Life is a sick place when there's nobody who wants to hang out with you. Worlds start to die when nobody cares anymore. Would you rather let their worlds end with them?"

The Smashers looked at Shiki. "I want to go back to life and tell Eri that she's a wonderful friend and I'll never abandon her, like I tried to shut her off..." she said.

They looked at Beat. "I'mma gonna go back to life and tell my parents they were right. I'm an idiot, and I need all the help I can get to grow myself a brain, yo!" he said with a grin.

Rhyme got their attention. She was now smiling. "I want to go back to life to follow my dreams and keep helping others. I have a skill to counsel people, right?" she asked with a sunny look, though it was mixed up with her tears.

"And as for me..." The Smashers looked at Neku. "...I've got a lot of catching up to do with my world. I wanna expand my horizons even further and let strangers in to find new ways to be myself." He lowered down his shirt collar to let them see his smile. "What do you say for yourselves? You want to give up on people...your friends now?"

"..." The Smashers looked back at Chris and Soren, dropped dead on the floor.

They were given new things to think about with the support of the Shibuya Crew. Saying no to life now felt like the true path to chaos and despair. Saying yes, however, seemed to be very inviting in comparison. Under their tears, the Smashers slowly grew smiles as they looked at each other.

Joshua sighed. "Well, what's your answer?" he asked them again. "Yes to life with despair, or no to death with peace?" He saw them looking back at him, and he could tell their looks displayed positive outlooks.

"We say..." Ness began.

"Yes to life..." Pichu added.

"...With peace!" Fox added.

"Because giving in to despair is not an option!" Ike said. "We refuse despair and accept peace! If despair fights us, we'll fight back...and no one else will suffer ever again!"

Joshua kept staring at their bright looks. "Man, I'll never understand the human mind. It can change radically if given time...but whatever." He stretched his open right hand to them, and above the palm two orbs of light representing souls appeared. "I'm only giving them back to you to see how you can prove me wrong. If Neku here – the worst person in Shibuya – can change, why can't normal commoners too? We're humans, you know? If they die again…then they were a waste of oxygen in the end…or are they not?"

"They're not a waste of oxygen!" Ness yelled.

"Okay..." The Composer pointed the souls to the two bodies, and they heeded his command. The orbs calmly floated down to the chests of their owners and then merged with their bodies. The Players stepped back when they saw their bodies shine with a dim light. "The World Begins With You...Anew," Joshua said.

When the light dimmed out, the Players were wondering if they truly brought them back to life. Their uneasiness came to an end when they heard voices coming from the bodies. "...U-u...u-ugh..." They heard Chris grumbling.

"..." Soren was the first one to open his eyes. He blinked, confused as to why he was staring at a dark ceiling. He felt weak to push himself up and decided to wait for his energy to come back to him. In the meantime, he tried to call out for help. "...Ike...Ike, where are you...? Am I...dead?"

"...S-Soren...is that you?" Chris wondered, turning his head to his left and finding the Branded on the floor as well. "Why are...why are we here? I thought we were dead..."

The Branded looked to his right. "...It seems we ended up in the afterlife together... Like that even matters now..." He pushed himself up...and found Joshua smiling down at them. It was a rather unpleasant fact to know. "...Oh, for the love of the Gods. This is the afterlife... Joshua is here with us."

Chris sat up from his spot and looked shocked. "J-Joshua...?" he wondered. "S-so we really are... No..."

Joshua rubbed his forehead. "Get on with the program, you two," he said. "This isn't the afterlife. You are truly back to life."

"...What?!" both of them said in unison as they stood up from the floor. "H-how isn't this the afterlife? Or hell?! It's all dark in here!" Chris said.

The Composer cocked his head to the left. "Why don't you just turn around and see for yourselves?" he suggested them. "Better to see than hearing it out from me, don't you think?"

The two seemingly-dead people looked at each other and turned around. "...Oh...oh my god..." Chris breathed out. He saw his friends staring back at him with blank but otherwise relieved looks. "...Y-you guys..."

"Ike..." Soren muttered under his breath, unable to find the words to express how he felt now. He thought he was lost forever, though seeing Ike in the flesh made him feel happy in the inside, if not also pure disbelief.

The Players saw Chris quick to start sobbing. "I-I thought I...I'd never see you again... I didn't know where I was or anything all this time... I don't even know w-what...w-w-what..." And then he quickly went to their side, but he was stopped by his team going over and embracing him tightly. He tried to hug them back too, and he did so. Soon, Chris, Ness, Pichu, and Fox dropped down on their knees and began sobbing all together. Only Soren rushed towards Ike, and the mercenary welcomed him. Unlike the others, Ike didn't hug Soren, but Soren was the one who hugged Ike, leaning his head to his chest and sobbing to himself.

Shiki and Rhyme smiled at each other...but they too broke into tears and went to hug the others as well. Beat crossed his arms and bit his lip, watching them cry in the group hug. "...WHY ARE YA SUCH A BUNCH OF BABIES?! BWAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he cried out and recklessly joined them in the hug.

The World Traveler never felt any happier before. This was the true shining moment that he wanted to have. Surrounded by people who liked him a lot, Chris's tears were not of sadness but of pure joy. "I-I missed you so much!" Chris cried out. "I was so scared...so scared that I was truly dead... I-I thought when I woke up that it was truly it for me... Everything...everything happened so fast..." He didn't get a reply. They were just concerned about the current moment being a cruel lie, which it really wasn't. It was too real, and no matter how good it was, they couldn't think of it as a lie.

Watching so many people tearing up at once made Neku smile. He could have rolled his eyes instead before. Now he wanted them to enjoy the moment they so deserved. Their long struggle had come to an end for the Shibuya Crew, but it was only beginning for the Smashers. Joshua approached Neku. "You are full of possibilities, Neku," he said. "Quite a shock I got, coming from you and all. Out of them, you're the only one who taught them how to work through life's challenges. That's sooo ironic."

The loner teen crossed his arms. "Maybe what Megumi thought about Shibuyans was true after all," he said. "That makes me wonder why you were ready to toss the towel on us."

Joshua flicked his hair. "For a very good reason," he said. "For years, there was no change in Shibuya. The whole world of the Reapers' Game starts from here, where the rest of the planes look upon us. To have the citizens display such negatives thoughts and refuse to change can potentially damage their future. Just think, Neku." He chuckled. "What would happen to you if you never changed? Would that really be life?"

Neku thought back on the days where he shut people off. "It'd be...hell," he said. "I'd miss out on a lot of stuff."

"And by proxy, such sentiments would carry over to everyone," the Composer said. "See why I wanted to nuke you guys so much? It's all in the past, though. The future is so far away. What's important is the present... Ugh, the Shibuya River isn't made out of tears, guys," Joshua said once he looked back at the group, looking irked. "...Fine. Cry a little more if you want. There's an end to this scene."

As the crying and hugging continued, Chris was resting his head above Fox's right shoulder when he noticed something...wagging quite quickly to the sides behind the vulpine. "...P-pfft... H-ha ha..." Chris suddenly broke into a loud laugh, making everyone else look at him as he laughed hysterically. When everyone looked behind Fox, they saw his tail wagging for the first time. Gasping, the vulpine noticed what his body was doing and couldn't manage to stop his tail in time from the flood of laughs that followed after that. He was too overjoyed for having Chris back that his tail just decided to go wild at the worst possible moment ever.

"S-stop laughing! So what if my tail's wagging?!" Fox scolded them all. He grabbed his tail with a hand, but the tail proved to be a little stronger than his grip. It caused even louder laughs than before, much to his chagrin... Though one look at Chris's bright face made him reconsider. Although it was the most unexpected way to make Chris smile, Fox's annoyed look was replaced with a bright look that made him laugh as well, though he did still try to keep his wagging tail from moving against his will.

Chris and Soren have rejoined your team!

After a nice time of laughing, everyone stood back up and calmed down. Now that there were no other problems for the time being, Chris was handed over his Black Mage hat from Fox. "The hat sort of made me think you weren't truly gone, Chris," Fox told him. "I was too desperate to think straight..."

"We ALL were desperate. It was the worst," Pichu said, having perched himself on the teen's right shoulder. "We stopped believing a few times, but Neku always pulled us through instead of the other way around!"

The World Traveler looked at Neku. "Really...? I'm...I'm surprised he did," Chris said, smiling a bit at him. "You won't believe how frightened I was when...w-when I was dying again... I thought it was it for me..." He was shivering on his feet when he thought about that moment, though he was surprised when Pichu hugged his head and Fox rested a hand on the other shoulder. "I thought no one else would try to come back for me..."

"Stop," Neku told Chris. "Spare us the tears. I had to knock their heads around to get them back to work, and it wasn't easy when they were at each others' throats during the first half of the week, so..." he scratched his head and looked away embarrassed, "yeah... Someone had to help them out."

"Figures..." they heard Soren saying. Unlike Chris, the Branded had recovered from his freak out faster than he did. He did occasionally sniff to himself. "Ike is a mess when he has no idea what to do. Here I thought he'd try to take the helm and guide everyone to the right direction."

The others stared at Soren for a long while. "...Do you have a thing for him?" Ness asked. Ike shot him with a glare.

"A thing? I have no idea what you mean," Soren said, looking peeved. In the background, Shiki blushed but kept her outrageous thoughts for herself.

Joshua clapped his hands and frowned. "The fun time has come to an end for you all," he informed them. "Shibuya has been spared from destruction, the civilians from the city can now go back in time and resume their lives with the events that transpired during the Reapers' Game in their minds, and the Smashers...are alive but cannot go back to your world."

There were many cheers from the Players' victory, until the Smasher team realized what Joshua had told them. "WHAT!" they all said in unison.

"I can only give you your lives back," Joshua said. "I lack the power to cross dimensions. Didn't you notice? In this meager form I'm using right now, a lot of my powers have taken a huge hit but I'm still able to fight back. It will always happen to me whenever I make the transformation from the Composer to a human...and helping you to cross dimensions...not even my full power as a Composer can help you."

"That... No, please, no!" Ness said. "We can't be seriously stuck in this place!"

Neku shook his head. "What was the whole point in fighting if it meant they couldn't go back, Joshua? Why do you drop the bomb now?" he questioned.

"Megumi was overestimating the full extent of my powers, sadly," Joshua pointed out. "I can't make that kind of miracle. It's beyond my scope..."

Chris clutched his mage hat with both hands. "So...this was truly it for us..." he muttered. "We're stuck here in Shibuya..."

"Couldn't we just...walk somewhere and get lost to end up in the main world?" Pichu asked. "All the people we know from there get there that way."

"That's still not completely assured," Ike said. "There has to be a way..."

Joshua giggled. "As it happens, though, a friend of mine finally got the call and she's going to take you back instead," he said, making them look confused. "It was her negligence that got you all into this mess in the first place."

Everyone else exchanged looks. "Uh, what now?" Ness said. "What do you... A-ah!"

Next to Joshua, a cubic-looking vortex of darkness appeared. The design of the vortex was a little too outlandish for even the UG's standards, as it looked like there took the shape of a paper wind toy. Even when the owner of the vortex walked out to greet them, nearly no one in there had any idea who she was...except for Chris. "Y-you! It's you!" he told her.

It was Queen Jaydes, the ruler of the Underwhere, in all her polygonal, paperific glory. "There you are," she said, sounding not so pleased to finding the Smashers. She turned and looked down at the Composer. "And Joshua, it wasn't my negligence or whatever you think it is that made this happen."

Joshua looked away with an amused look. "Then what do you call this? You're in charge of their souls, not me. You should be happy I picked them, or else they'd be lost forever," he said. "How did they slip through you? Obviously, you were doing something else other than doing work." From the way they talked, Chris could tell that they knew each other very well.

She grunted. "If anything, my subordinates were slacking off again!" she yelled. "I told them to handle the business while I was having my month off with my family in a picnic, but obviously that went down the crapper. Now I have to do some world-hopping myself to pick up on their mess and get things back to normal!"

"Details, details," Joshua said with a giggle. "This happened before. Have you forgotten? You need to train your employees better next time if you really hate this too much... By the way, how's that Mario guy?" he asked. "He was one of the best Players I've ever had. And that mustache of his? Genius."

The unsettling amount of new facts were unsettling the Smashers so much, even more so when they learned Mario did the Reapers' Game before them. "What?!" they all said.

"Mario who?" Beat wondered.

"Stop disclosing confidential info, you little weasel!" Jaydes hissed. "It's going to make our work harder than it is... Keep your issues to yourself and leave my matters out of them!"

"But I love it whenever you slip up and I have to pick up on your work... Okay, that happened once before. Boy was it good!" Joshua rubbed his head.

"Whatever!" Jaydes told him. She faced the Smashers. "I do have to apologize to you. If my employees didn't screw up again, you wouldn't have gone through his little game of life and death. I'd just revived you without the conditions and the tricks..."

The Smashers remained silent. "...Uh... Are you in charge of hell or something?" Fox asked.

"Now, that's rude. It's not really hell. So what if the place is all dark and the water is somewhat poisonous and the oxygen is putrid," Jaydes said. "In any case, none of you should know too much about your version of the afterlife. Mention this to anyone you know besides yourselves and I'll make sure to curse you with super bad luck..." She looked at Chris. "And don't you EVER try to get an easy pass by visiting me. The locks I put on the door in Flipside picked up on some disturbance on the other side. Matters between life and death should go to me, not you."

Chris felt a bit guilty. "W-well...you did say everyone ha-!"

"Ah-ah-ah! No more babbling!" Jaydes interrupted. "Besides, if I remember, you ran out of lives! Tough call there, kiddo. You're coming with me to spend the eternity in the Underwhere!"

"W-what?! No!" Chris yelled. "And I just came back to life even! It-it's not fair!"

"I'd make a pun out of life, but I don't want to be so dark about it... Dammit," Jaydes said. Chris screamed loudly, while the Smashers quickly formed a wall in front of him.

"You're not taking him down to hell if that's what you think!" Fox said, baring his fangs at her.

"That's cute and all to protect him from the inevitable. It doesn't change the fact that he agreed to my warnings and failed t-!"

"Hee hee," Joshua was heard giggling.

Jaydes sighed and looked up in annoyance. "He won the Game, didn't he," she muttered.

"Not quite, no," Joshua said. "This time, though? I granted him another life as the good person I am... Just like you, I neglected my work. I was being unfair to them so they deserve something."

"...Well... That does change everything, I guess..." Jaydes frowned to herself, seeing the Smashers drop their guards and Chris stopping his loud screaming. "...Okay, okay. You got lucky and now can use this extra life you got from the prick behind me... I can't really complain, anyway. It's one less soul to take care of on my end." The news made the Smashers sigh. Another crisis had been averted. "As the Queen of the Underwhere and thus the ruler of the dead, I shall guide you back to the world where your bodies are... Hmm... Two of you seem to have gotten your bodies vaporized, it seems..."

Soren and Chris shuddered. The Branded was honestly sick of all the impossibilities that were happening in front of him, so he didn't want to dwell too much into asking who the hell Jaydes was. As long as everything would return to normal, nothing else mattered. "You're talking about me and Chris," he said. "Does that...hinder us in some way?"

"Not by much," Jaydes said. "Instead, you have the choice to reappear anywhere in the world where you died. Just say the word and my magic shall take you there... So, where do you want to go? Take in mind that the other four besides you are in a completely different place in the same world, though all of them are relatively close from one another. In the end, it all depends on your choices. Do you want to be revived close to home, or do you want to be revived close to these four?"

Soren didn't need to be convinced. "I'd rather be revived close to where Ike is, to make sure he remains alive after he goes back to life," he said. "He can't take care of himself for the life of him..." Ike groaned slightly.

Jaydes nodded. "It shall be done to you," she said before looking upon Chris. "What about you, though?"

Chris had three choices in mind. He could revive near the site where the Smash Mansion was, the Battleship Halberd where the escape team was, or follow the other five to where they were at. "...Can I at least know what is going on in the world?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm on a tight schedule as it is," Jaydes said. "You think you're the only souls that need guidance? There's plenty of other...Underwhere-like places that need to stop doing what they're doing with the extra baggage; my baggage. Choose now or else you'll live in this place forever."

The World Traveler looked at the Smashers. "...Then...I guess I'm going with them," he said, making them smile. "I know for sure that where they're going is a safe place where I'll have people."

"Works for me either way. Their bodies never wandered off to other worlds, but that's all I know," Jaydes said, her body suddenly glowing. "I'll need some time to charge. You seem to have friends who want to hear you say good bye."

The World Ends With You – Lullaby For You (English)

The Smashers looked at the Shibuya Crew: Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme. All four of them couldn't make sense out of Jaydes' explanations, leaving those same matters to the Smashers to handle. "...This is good bye, then?" Rhyme asked. "It's such a shame to see you guys go. I enjoyed my time with all of you..."

"Me too," Shiki said, looking a bit saddened. "It'll be hard to live our lives without you around, after getting so used to the Reapers' Game and all... And you won't get to see me in my real body, either. I was planning on having all of us reunite in front of Hachiko, but I forgot you guys come from other worlds..."

It was then Joshua approached Shiki. "No need to say more than that, Shiki Misaki," he said, making her blink. "Here. Let me give you a hand to get rid of that which you're not."

Immediately after that, Shiki felt strange when Joshua created an orb of light from his hand and directed it to enter her body. Upon contact, Shiki started to shine so brightly that everyone had to cover their eyes from the light. "Ugh..." Neku grunted, though the light faded away as soon as he started to complain about its intensity. Moving down his arms, he looked back at where Shiki was standing...though now it was harder to tell if they person they spent so much time with was the same person, for she looked wildly different.

Before them stood a young, dark brown-haired teenager with a meek look behind her glasses. She didn't have long curved hair but rather short combed hair. She was showing much less skin that before, only wearing a green jacket over a black shirt and a light green skirt which had palm trees printed at random spots. Under the skirt she wore long dark stockings, ending with white shoes used to walk in and outside home. Moreover, the girl was clutching her trademark doll Mr. Mew with both arms; the only trinket they could never forget.

The girl opened her eyes and looked at herself. There was no denying it now. She was back to her original body that she used to despise before over jealousy at her friend. It felt too weird to go back to being the true Shiki Misaki when all the eyes were on her... She did smile. "This is... This is the true me, everyone," she said, her voice sounding not so much different. "I'm the true Shiki..."

"...You look good!" Pichu piped up, going to her side and climbing to her right shoulder. "I think I like you more this way!"

Shiki blushed as she noticed the others looking appreciative of her true looks. "R-really?" she asked them. "I thought I looked boring... You all look so much better than I do."

"Hey, I've been judged by my looks way too many times outside my world," Fox told her. "Bet you've never seen a humanoid fox before. Do you see me complaining?"

"No... I guess not..."

Ness rolled his eyes. "You do always complain when everyone looks at you funny, man," he said, earning a glare from Fox. "Oh, see that look? That right there is another reason."

Shiki chuckled. "I yelped when I saw most of you. It didn't matter to me in the end because you were great people, too," she said. "I like the true me better, and I have you to thank for it... I'll never, ever feel bad about myself! It's on the inside what truly matters."

Rhyme nodded as she saw her hugging Pichu tightly. "Can't you try to visit us?" she asked them. "You're going to be busy with your mission to defeat the Subspace Army, aren't you?"

"It depends from time to time," Ike said. "Sometimes we're busy, sometimes we're not. We'll make the effort to come back for a visit if we can."

Beat grinned. "Then do it when there's an anime convention, yo!" he suggested. "The real Shibuya ain't ready to have guys like you 'round the streets!"

"Are you kidding me?" Neku asked. "Shibuya is home for all kinds of people regardless. Any weirdo fits in nicely with the crowd, or so I learned now that I opened my eyes." He nodded at them, watching Rhyme sharing hugs and Beat clashing bro fists. "...We'll be waiting for you at any time, you guys...and...thank you for everything you've done for us. I'm happy to know I got to meet you at all. You helped my world expand."

"But...but we also want to thank you, too," Chris said. "This was one of the hardest trials we've faced together, and it was pretty bad, too..."

"Everything worked out in the end," Ness said. "There's always people helping us out whenever we go to a new world to save. It wasn't that much different here either."

"That was one hell of a rough start," Fox said. "I hope we don't get into problems like this...and we'll make sure it won't happen to others ever again." He was thinking of Chris when he said the last part. To his relief, he saw the teen smiling a bit.

"We won't forget what we learned here! Not a chance!" Pichu said with high spirits. "And we won't forget you either, not after everything is done!"

Ike chuckled. "From every fight we go into, we learn more about others and ourselves," he said. "In my world, that's kind of the norm for people with honor. Rest assured I won't discard you from my thoughts for the rest of my life."

"Tsk. It'll be hard to forget any of this," Soren added. "Just let it end already. We're wasting time as is." The so uncalled for silence he brought forth made them feel disappointed.

Neku asked Ike through whispers, "...Did he learn anything from this? I learned too many things and he was basically a second me. How did he not change one bit?"

"Trust me. He did learn stuff... He just can't really express how he truly feels," Ike whispered back. "Here between us, I think he's a lot more worse than you were."

The headphones wearer shrugged. "Tell me about it... It's creepy."

"Charging time complete," Jaydes said, glowing in a dim purple light. "I'll start the chant now..." In a very low whisper, she chanted, "Game Over Game Over Game Over Game Over Game Over..."

The Smashers looked down at their feet slowly parting ways from the dark floor, with a dark vortex appearing right above them. Shocked for a while, they looked back at the Shibuya Crew waving their hands...and then they also started floating up to a different vortex Joshua himself created; a vortex leading to the RG where their normal lives would resume. "Good luck!" Rhyme said. "It was so nice to meet you!"

"Take care, yo!" Beat said. "Beat down those guys for me, or I'mma gonna punch you, okay?!"

"Don't you worry about us!" Shiki said, looking down at Mr. Mew. "I know how I'll never forget about you with a little idea I just got, but you got to figure out how I'm going to do that!"

"Thanks, guys..." Neku said. He smiled at them. "I learned from you that there are just as many wonderful people outside my world. I can't wait to see where they'll take me... We did it. Thanks a lot again."

Just before each group was about to depart to their destinations, they heard the sound of footsteps coming from Joshua's direction. Turning to look over there, they found a lazy-looking Sanae Hanekoma waving a hand and winking at them. They realized too late that they never asked Joshua about the barista's movements during the last week, which had been a topic they discussed way too many times that got drowned over other facts. "...HEY!" they called out in annoyance just before the vortexes consumed and whisked them away from the UG forever.

The Smasher and Shibuya Crew groups have parted ways...

Jaydes had finished her chant with a loud "CONTINUE!" word. She then gave one last look at Joshua before disappearing into the vortex she appeared from. "I don't understand how she's angry at me," Joshua mused.

"Well, she dislikes how you run the place, boss," Mr. H said. "She's far more honorable than you are, unlike putting everyone in a game against monsters and stuff... That's how things are, ya know?"

"Hmm..." Joshua just giggled once more as he looked up and thought about the future of his beloved city. "...Start getting rid of those Red Skull pins, Mr. H. Can you do that favor for me?"

Hanekoma nodded. "Oh yeah, that's gonna be taken care of by itself since you're rewinding time and everything," he said before stretching his left hand to the Composer. "Now...care to see what happens next?"

Joshua smiled at him. "Do you even need to ask?"

Statue of Hachiko

A month ago, present time, one week later...

Neku felt betrayed for a moment there when he woke up dropped in the middle of the Scramble Crossing. The scenario was far too similar to all the times he woke up each day in the UG to receive a mission and a timer right after. Luckily, after yelling his lungs out, he noticed that people did listen to his screams and didn't pass through his body like ghosts. That was how he knew he was back home with a life to continue the way he liked to shape it.

It didn't take much time for the Shibuya Crew to get in contact with each other, though they agreed to meet a week later after they came back to their homes to solve the issues they faced every day. Rhyme had told her parents not to be so hard on his older brother and stop telling him that he needed to be like her so he would be a person he wanted to be. Beat learned from the Smashers about listening more to his parents, making them feel surprised to hear from her unruly son that he would behave himself. Shiki met up with Eri and told her how she felt about her in the past and how she was sorry for it, leading to both girls breaking into tears and calming each other down.

As for Neku, he became more sociable than before with people of his school and the streets. By now, he was about to enter the CAT program looking for inspiring graffiti artists wanting to make it big later on in their lives, going so far as to make extra friends in the circles who appreciated his devotion to all that it was graffiti art. In the RG, it was nearly impossible to hear from his idol CAT and he often thought about contacting him in some way, but the chance never presented itself. He eventually gave up on the idea, now that he was busy enjoying life the right way.

With their lives back on the right track, the icing on the cake was spending time together. The meeting place was in front of Hachiko. Neku had arrived earlier than everybody else as he made his way through the crowd of people. As he stood in front the golden dog, he never noticed that he was being watched by two familiar people from the same bench where Chris sat down with Fox.

"Are you nuts, Kariya?" Uzuki asked in a downcast mood. "How can they just kick us out from the UG like that without much explanation? So they want to fix things in there, but why can't we lend a hand?"

Koki chuckled, sucking on his lollipop. "What can we do, girl?" he asked, pretending that he had Reaper wings on his back. "It's the boss's orders. Live with it."

"Of course you'd say that," she said, crossing her arms and resting her back. "It came out of the blue, you know. I've never been pushed back to this world..."

"Hmm-hm," Koki said, looking sideways at her. "Remember how we didn't use to have lives here and just...gave up on the life in the RG? That's when we found out the UG even existed."

"Yeah... But you got there first before me, and it was pretty different for all of the Reapers in place," Uzuki said. "Now here we are again...like nothing happened."

"...Wanna grab a bowl of ramen?" Koki offered, surprising her. "Why don't we dwell in this world a little longer...just the two of us?"

Uzuki grinned. "Are you trying to shamelessly convince me to accept this with food? Because it's working," she said with a giggle. Before long, the two stood up from the bench and walked off to the Dogenzaka area. To walk without flying off was weird at first, though they got used it rather fast. They did think that killing others for the thrill of it wasn't needed anymore. They would wait for the UG to call them again if they needed them, but for now they decided to enjoy what they could do together. "Hey, while you're at it, you gotta tell me about this Coco chick."

Neku could have sworn that he saw Uzuki and Koki, but he brushed them off from his mind when he overheard Beat and Rhyme calling out to him from the west side of the plaza. "Hey!" he called back to them with a smile as they reached him. "I've been a while..."

"Yeah, yo!" Beat said. "Kinda weird to be back, ya know? My parents is happy I told 'em what I needed to say and they've been givin' me less crap since that day...and I like it!" He put a hand on Rhyme's head. "It's great now!"

"Heh heh," Rhyme giggled. "It's good for you, Beat. I haven't told them about that dream you guys know about... It's not the right time to tell them. I want to make sure it's the right time, when things settle down a little more." She looked up at Neku. "How have you been, Neku?"

"Pretty great myself," Neku said. "Everything's so different now that I listen to people. I made like fifteen or so new friends in a week."

"Whoa! No kidding, Phones?" Beat asked.

"No kidding, yo," Neku chuckled. "I hardly have time for myself now, and I can't complain because I enjoy my busy time. Doing graffiti with others feels awesome now..."

Rhyme rubbed her chin. "Have you tried to talk to Mr. Hanekoma?"

"N-no... I tried to talk to him through the phone but no dice. I always end up talking to his security guards," the teen said. "It's hard to just drop by and say hi to him. He is a celebrity in this plane and all."

"Oh, right... I forgot he was a star." She smiled. "Anyway, where's Shiki? I don't see her anywhere... Wait, I see her!" She pointed to the east.

Neku and Beat looked over there and saw Shiki walking towards them... It wasn't actually her when they remembered the real Shiki looked far more different than the girl whom they thought was the one who was with them during the Reapers' Game. It was Eri; Shiki's best friend for life. "Hello," she greeted them. "Are you Neku, Beat, and Rhyme?"

"Uh, yeah," Neku said. "You're...Eri, right?"

"Yup," she said with a smile. "My friend Shiki just wanted me to meet you. She thought it'd be nice if I did, saying how you were close friends with her."

"I see," Neku said. "Where is she, though? We agreed to meet up today."

Eri said, "She called me today and said she was going to be a little late because she needed to finish some things first."

Rhyme looked worried. "I wonder if she'll even come at all... What is holding her up?" she wondered, right before when they heard someone calling out to them from the same direction Eri came from. There was no doubt that the person running to them was the real Shiki, carrying a large box on her hands. "Hey! There she is! Shiki! Over here!"

"T-there you are!" Shiki said as she came to a stop to catch her breath. Eri went over to her to carry the box she was holding. "Huff... Thank you, Eri. It's not easy carrying a box in this city with all the people in the way..."

Neku, Beat, and Rhyme looked curiously at the box the seamstress carried all the way from her home. "Uh, first off, nice to see you again, Shiki," Neku said. One look at Eri's smile told him that she knew what was in the box, or probably not. "Second, what's in the box?"

Shiki had caught her breath after resting herself on her knees. She stood up straight and smiled as Eri put the box down on the floor. "Well... Why don't you see for yourselves? I've been working so hard all week to make these, and I wanted to be ready for when we got together again," she said.

Wondering what she was talking about, Neku went over to the box and opened the loose lid on top. He looked inside and tilted his head. "...Dolls?" he said. Rhyme took a peek and opened her mouth in surprise. She put her hands inside the box and took out a doll that looked just like Pichu.

"W-wow!" Rhyme said in delight. "This one looks like...!"

"It looks like a character out of an anime," Eri said, completely oblivious about what the four friends knew about the origin of the doll design. "These dolls she made do look like they came from anime shows... I got a Mr. Pichu for my room." She chuckled.

Neku and Beat saw Rhyme enthusiastically rummaging through the box. While the Pichu doll looked very close to the real thing, the rest of the dolls looked like smaller versions of the rest of the Smasher group. Mr. Mage (Chris) sported a Black Mage outfit together with a hat that obscured his face. Mr. Swordsman (Ike) carried a large golden sword with one hand. Boy Wonder (Ness) had a glittering sphere between both hands to represent psychic energy. Mr. Sorcerer (Soren) sported a dull look on his face and had no other redeeming features. Mr. Fox meanwhile had a wide, fanged smile, though it did give a cute vibe anyway. "So many dolls!" Rhyme rejoiced. "And they all look adorable! Oh, and you have spares in here too!"

Shiki blushed. "I worked for hours making them during the whole week. I hardly stopped to eat," she said. "I was thinking about making shirt designs with Eri instead."

"I told her that she could do something like Mr. Mew," Eri said. Inside the box, Shiki's Mr. Mew was found in the middle of all the dolls. She was never going to make another one just so the only one she had was special from all the other dolls. "It'd take a little more time than making shirts, but she said she'd go for the dolls and, well, this happened... I still want to make those shirts when she showed me what she made."

Neku was holding a Mr. Swordsman doll, recalling the people who had helped them get through the Reapers' Game. "(This is what Shiki meant back then...)" he thought to himself. "(She'd do something like this to remember them by.)"

"What do you think, Neku?" Shiki asked for his opinion.

He nodded at her. "They're cool," he told her, making her happy.

"You can take one of them if you want," Shiki offered. "In fact, I'd like everyone here to take some of the dolls back home." With the wink she gave them, they knew she wanted them to do it. The dolls were going to be lucky charms in a figure of speaking, reminders about their struggles in the Game...and the people who made it possible for them to continue living.

"Hey, Eri!"

The five of them turned to the south where they saw Ai and Mina joining up. "Oh, it's you guys," Eri said. "What's up?"

"Well, we called your phone multiple times, I lost the count!" Ai said. "We got worried something happened to you!"

Eri shook her head. "Sorry. My phone ran out of battery. I forgot to charge it overnight," she said. "You wanted to see me? I'm kinda busy with Shiki and her friends today."

It was the first time Neku, Beat, and Rhyme met Ai and Mina outside of the UG. They wondered if Ai was still dating Makoto, given that time had gone back to the past before the day they all died. The two girls looked at the other guys. "Oh, nice to meet you," Mina said, and their eyes immediately went to the dolls Rhyme was holding. "Wow! Look at those!"

"Oh my gosh, they're so cute!" Ai exclaimed next. Both Shiki and Eri gasped when the girls went to the box to take out more of the dolls. "I've never seen these dolls at the stores! Where'd you buy these, Eri?"

"H-huh?" Eri shook her head and looked at Shiki. "Oh, no! Shiki made these herself."

"No way!" Mina said in complete surprise before smiling wide, holding Mr. Mage close to her. "Shiki, they're adorable! I can't believe you had a knack at making dolls at home!"

Shiki was speechless that her personal dolls given to her friends would take a shine to others. "I, uh...I don't know what to say..." she meekly said.

"Like, OMG!" Neku looked behind him where he saw more familiar faces coming closer. He was very surprised to see Sota and Nao-Nao – Players that he thought were lost long ago – well and okay. Sota flashed a wink at him, as if to tell him that he didn't forget him. Nao-Nao, however, was yet another girl who was now holding one of Shiki's creations. "Hey, Sota! Aren't these, like, so amazing or what? I wanna hug the stuffing out of them!"

"Yeah, if you're into that kind of stuff," Sota said. "Maybe I can buy you one from the store?"

"Good luck finding one of these dolls at the malls," Eri told him. "Shiki here..."

Neku felt a little abandoned when Shiki had grabbed the attention of so many Shibuyans nearby who started to notice the dolls she had made. While she did manage to secure dolls for her friends and somewhat disappointing all the people who wanted to take a doll, they all praised the designs so much. From the crowd of people, Neku saw even more familiar faces. Makoto showed up and expressed interest in pitching Shiki with a deal to make more dolls to sell in stores, for one. He even saw Shooter and his energetic Tin Pin friends mixing up with the crowd. All happened in the span of an hour, and at the end of the day Shiki would really consider about making dolls. Though she feared that her creativity had a limit with the Smashers, she was so happy to know that Eri would help her. The two girls would make a formidable team, making shirts and selling dolls together. Seeing them happy brought a smile to Neku, who then took off the headphones from his neck and put them down.

As he watched Beat and Rhyme encouraging her, Neku looked up to the blue sky. "(How do you do it, guys?)" he asked in his head. "(You're probably fighting to keep peace here, while we're enjoying every day full of possibilities you give us... Forget about you? That's never gonna happen now... Thank you.)"

Admittedly, the four former Players now had Eri's friends tagging along for the rest of the day, but they didn't complain. There was so much joy to be had as they made their way to the Scramble Crossing with all of Shiki's dolls in tow. As they chatted among themselves, two figures looked down upon them from one of the high skyscrapers. They were Hanekoma and a tall figure wrapped in flowing clothes and blinding light, the latter one being Joshua is his Composer form.

"You know..." Hanekoma began as they watched the friends laughing and talking. "This mess is gonna have repercussions upstairs. So much stuff happened during the month that the angels aren't gonna forget..." He grinned at Joshua. "But hey, at least things are back to normal, right?"

Joshua continued to look down towards Neku, AKA the former worst person of Shibuya. The Composer, deep down, felt like wanting to jump down there and join them in their escapades for one day... Frowning to himself, he turned his back and started floating away.

Hanekoma stood up. "What? You seem down! Hey, it's their world. They get to decide what to do with it. I know how you feel... It's human to enjoy life and laugh with people. That's one of my many mottos!" Joshua stopped. "You miss the other guys too and you wished you could help them... Why don't you use your human form to pay them a visit in the future? They'll be happy to see you in good terms."

The Composer turned into a ball of light and vanished from the RG, leaving a trail of sparkles behind.

CAT sighed and tossed a hand...and from his back, large angel wings sprouted. "Some folks just don't take no for an answer..." He soon followed his friend to a higher plane of existence, leaving behind a city of many possibilities just as there were people with the potential to make their dreams come true...

But that was another story for another day...for there were more important matters at hand taking place somewhere far away...

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have obtained 100,000 Smash Coins!

Joshua has used his powers to add the Shibuya Crew to the Assist Trophies!

Music stops

~ Smash World ~

?

The loud sound of waves splashing on the shore relaxed the World Traveler, lying down on a sandy beach and staring up into the sky. "..." Blinking multiple times, Chris had noticed he was aware of what he was seeing with his eyes. He gasped and sat up, looking around the new setting. "Where... Where am I?" he wondered to himself, shocked and distraught. Standing up on his feet taking off his Black Mage hat from his head – revealing his face – he took one more look at the place he was...

It looked like his body and soul had formed on a shore that he was very unfamiliar with. Behind his back, he found many palm trees and large leaves leading to some sort of jungle, where he could at least spot two mountains beyond the small holes of the trees. To the front and to the sides of his position was a long sandy beach that looked like it seemed to curve inward around the trees, and of course there was a vast ocean. He didn't know for sure where this place was, though it truly was the dubiously named Smash World.

He made sure all his body parts were intact, which they were, taking off one worry off his mind. Chris felt a bit of trauma knowing that he was alone yet again, until he spotted a large coffin washed ashore. "That coffin over there..." he breathed out and went over to it, where he heard knocking sounds coming from inside.

"Heeeeeelp!" He heard Pichu screaming from inside. "It's dark and tight in here, and it's wood! I can't destroy it with electricity! Huff... Huff... I need air..."

The teen screamed and quickly tried to open the tight lid on top, but it turned out the coffin was upside-down. Turning it over slowly and accidentally bumping Pichu around on the inside, Chris found it easier to take the lid off and find Pichu. The first thing Pichu did was jump out and latch to his face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Pichu exclaimed. The teen tried to peel him off for a while until Pichu jumped down. "I thought I was dead and Joshua was playing tricks on me one last time... Eww, they put me in a coffin..."

Chris sighed. "There's no doubt about it now... We're alive for real," he said. Pichu wagged his tail. "This isn't a joke anymore... Oh, I'm so glad..."

Pichu looked to the sides of the large beach. "...So...where's everyone? It defeats the whole purpose if they're not anywhere nearby..."

"..." The teen looked around for any signs of the other coffins, and Soren. "What are the chances of all the coffins drifting to the same shore?"

"Pretty low, I think..." Pichu said. "I guess we're going to have to go on a long journey to find 'em all..."

Fearing that their work was going to be a lot harder than it looked, the two Smashers fell silent and thought about what to do. When they looked to the right, they saw someone walking out into the open. "...Oh my god. Ness! Over here!" Chris called out to the boy, who started cheering loudly as he ran back to their side.

"I'd just ignore you if I didn't know you, but thank goodness!" Ness said. "It's good to be back to life!"

Soon after that, they heard another voice coming from the same direction. Fox was the next to join them. "Oh yes, things are starting to look up for us," he said, just as he patted Chris's back. The teen chuckled.

"H-hey!" They turned to the other direction and saw Ike appearing from behind some palm trees. Soon, he rejoined them as well. "I'm glad to see you guys safe... We made it back. We really made it back."

"I was worried the coffin I woke up in was just a dark room till I kicked it open," Fox said. "That scared me for a small moment there...but everything's okay. It matters to me the Reapers' Game is over and the only things we can worry about is rejoin with everyone else and fight the Subspace Army like we always do."

Chris didn't look happy to be reminded of their duties. "At least...just give me some rest before that," he said, looking exhausted despite having revived. "I want to get used to pacing myself again..."

The Smashers grimaced, having already been told about all the mind-scarring events the teen had suffered. Though in truth, they admitted that they also needed some rest as well. They weren't workaholics eager to jump into another fight too soon. "Yeah... You're right," Ness said. "I'd like to say we have to go back to the mansion as soon as possible, but...it's better that we don't rush into things and be exhausted at the end."

Pichu nodded. "Haste makes waste," he exclaimed. "We can worry about our problems after we return back home... Anyway... Where are we?"

Ike said, "When I got out from my coffin a few ways away from here, all I saw was the coast and the sea," he said.

"Me too," Fox said. "My coffin wasn't too far from here either."

"Same here," Ness said. "Do you think we're just far away from the village and the mansion? I've never been to a shore in this world."

They heard someone else coming from the same direction Ike came from, albeit from the shoreline. When Soren saw them from afar, he didn't try to run. He just walked and stopped when he was within close earshot. "Thank destiny that we didn't get separated," Soren said.

Ike smiled. "Good to see you back in one piece too, Soren," he said.

"I can't complain any further than that, myself," the Branded said, though the annoyed look on his face said otherwise.

"...Soren, I can tell you're not telling us something here," Ike said, knowing full well when his strategist was irked about other stuff. "You do have a complaint."

"Pfft," Ness rolled his eyes, "it's hard not to have him complain or snark." Ike groaned loudly in his mind. It looked like the others would never open up to Soren as long as he himself didn't open up to them. That was the root of the weird questions about the Branded having a special connection to the mercenary, while everyone else was trash waiting to be disposed.

"Well, yes, Ike. I do have a complaint...several, actually. Depending on the answer to my questions, however, my complaints can be entirely unfounded," Soren said, looking blank.

Fox crossed his arms. "Okay. Spill the question already," he said. "We can't have you looking like this for too long. (It's creepy and unsettling too.)"

Soren nodded and then dropped the first massive bomb on their heads. "During the Reapers' Game, Joshua took away a memory from me," he said, seeing everyone look mildly surprised. "It wasn't the memory for my entry fee. It was something else... It was a fragment of what had happened to me when that Subspace Bomb blew up and took us all into another place."

They understandably gasped. "There was more to that?" Ike questioned.

The look on Soren's face turned dark. "Yes...and it wasn't good at all. It was the worst event ever. After the bomb blew up, I didn't die right after. There was a moment of peace where everyone surveyed their surroundings, me included of course. During a whole minute, we tried to come up with a way to get out from the accursed setting of darkness. When I turned around one moment to look around...that's when the lights went out for me."

Chris was lost on the explanation. "How did...uh...the lights go out for you? Was that when...when you were k-killed?" he asked, the "K" word not making him feel so good.

"I wasn't killed after that," Soren said.

Ike cocked his head. "What? You didn't die?" he asked. "But you did die! You wound up in the Reapers' Game with us!"

Soren shook his head. "...I was murdered." The group backed off when he said the three words, all of them looking very ill at the thought of murder. "I didn't die. I was murdered by someone."

"M-murdered?!" Pichu shrieked. "W-who murdered you?"

"Well, duh! It was Tabuu!" Ness said. "It's the Subspace; his domain! ...Oh my holy freaking goodness, everyone is already fighting him as we speak and they're proba-!"

"I have no idea what this Tabuu looks like nor I think it was him who murdered me," Soren interrupted their hasty bad thoughts. "The murderer struck me on the back while I was staring off into the dark horizon to look for a way out. No one was in front of me, but my murderer got behind me and killed me right there."

Ike could only think about revenge for Soren to whoever had killed him. "Soren, how do you know you were murdered?" he asked.

"Because..." Soren shrugged as he said, "...I was...stabbed on the back through my chest...by the sword Falchion."

The mercenary left out a heavy breath, just as the others looked horrified at the severe implication of the murder weapon. They didn't want to think that the murderer could have done such a thing to an innocent person, but when Ness looked at Pichu's less shocked look, he asked, "Pichu? You look...confused?"

"I... Well... I think I forgot who has a sword like that..." Pichu meekly muttered in embarrassment. "Who owns the sword?"

"Marth," Fox said. "It's Marth's sword... But he can't be the murderer! You said you had your back turned on the damned murderer!" he shouted at Soren, whose expression didn't falter. "Anybody could have picked the sword and stabbed you!"

Soren frowned as he said, "It was him. He even removed his sword from my body while I collapsed, where he walked to my side while I shot him an indignant look... The look on his face...he was smiling."

Having been close friends with Marth, Ike couldn't think that he would murder others and enjoy the thrill. With a frustrated look on his face, he turned to Chris, who was the only source of news about the happenings of the mansion more than Soren was. The rather scared look on the teen's face eased Ike a bit, however. The last thing Chris wanted was people yelling at him for answers. "Chris...was Marth acting odd after I died?" he asked.

Chris was perturbed about the murder, but he focused hard on the question. "Marth... He did lament your death a lot..." he muttered. "But he never thought about killing others at the last minute I was there. I-I wasn't paying too much attention to every move he did back then, though. Nothing looked out of the ordinary." Ike sighed.

"I wasn't finished with my story," Soren said, getting their attention again. "Before my last breath, Marth said something...weird. He said to me..."

"Now you don't stand between me and Ike anymore…"

The Smashers were lost on the words, trying so hard to figure out what it meant. "What kind of sentence was that?" Fox asked. "It makes no sense..."

"Frankly, I don't give a damn about that nonsensical sentence," Soren said. "What you need to know is that Marth killed me for reasons unknown. He was acting just fine up until that moment. If he killed me...who knows if the others made it alive? I can't think of anything at the moment... He could be trying to murder them for all I care."

"Impossible..." Ike muttered, his trust for Marth going away quickly whenever he looked at Soren. "Marth... Why would you... How could you...?"

The Branded cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, I'd rather move on to the next complaint that has to do with present events. There isn't much point about fretting over an imbecile who isn't clearly here with us as we're losing valuable time as is," he said. It was hard for them to stop thinking about Marth murdering others, so they thought nothing else would top that. They were very wrong. "How good are you at surviving on an island in the middle of nowhere?" They widened their eyes, as if the shock of the previous complaint wasn't enough. "Just to be clear on this, this place is indeed an island. I woke up on the other side and I can prove the landscape is indeed circular and detached from the mainland."

"..."

The scene panned out to show that they were standing on a loosely-circular island. The panned-out scene panned out more to show that the island was in the middle of the ocean. The already panned-out view panned out even more to show that there were no islands within 50 miles or beyond. They were far away from civilization, with nearly no means to make it out alive from the small spot in the world they got to through the water. The seagulls would taunt them for being flightless creatures while the fish would laugh at their overall lack of stamina to swim into an unknown ocean.

The Smashers noticed that one of them was trembling on his spot, gathering as much air as possible, albeit very slowly. "...Fox," Ike began, seeing everyone else backing off from the vulpine, "this sure does look like a very good reason to scream your lungs out and proclaim how utterly furious, outraged, and sick with anger you are right now, but we must stay positive no matter how ridiculously bad this might look like. Besides, I thought you were done swearing your head off during the Reapers' Ga-"

"FuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

"He completely ignored saying the title of the next chapter..." Pichu muttered. "...Um... Stranded in the Home World!"

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Yup

Overwrite File?

Yes

~ Smash World ~

Chris, Ike, Fox, Pichu, Ness, Soren

And there you go! The "The World Ends With You" arc has come to a satisfying end.

First, I wanted to make the ending of this arc by altering a lot of it, particularly the ending where the Smashers' influence made a difference for the four characters...in the form of dolls Shiki made. Not only that but the last scenes with Joshua were expanded using them, just to balance out the spotlight between them and the Shibuya. All in all, everything worked out in my eyes, but it's your overall opinion that will justify my views. You're my base which I stand on, people.

Second, of course this is still a Smash Bros story. I sure do love making all of those misfits suffer for our overall enjoyment... No, I don't mean the reveal Soren said about Marth. I meant the fact all of them are stranded on an island and Fox just about dropped the biggest F word ever. We're back to focus on the main issue.

Lastly, suffice to say, the next chapter is actually finished as of this writing, though I need to do some house cleaning with it first, not to mention include reviews asking or pointing out relevant comments. I'm going ahead and tell you that many surprises will be had in there...but some of them won't be nice to them... Mwahahahahaha...
Neku has thus relieved his focus back to Chris. What Joshua said bears a lot of significance, however. He pretty much started the true development Chris will get for the rest of the story. He is very traumatized right now, though...

So anyway. We're back on the right track. I can hardly wait to show you the big fina...uh, return to the Smash Mansion...trapped in the Subspace. Oh. Just so you know, Jaydes wiped the Smashers' memories of her and the mentions of the Underwhere, except for Chris because he can't certainly forget his knowledge of the video games.

I encourage you all to review, or else I shall never make Fox stop swear his head off.

Fox: -UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!

Chris: Did, uh, character development hit him hard the bad way while I was out?

Ness: I'd say it gave him brain damage, actually.
*Chapter 213*: Stranded in the Home World

Say, is someone still cursing out loud nearby?

From Towerdepths: Wouldn't Fox need to take a breath for air, eventually? Or would he die before his time from oxygen deprivation and wind up in the UG again? *laughs*

Out of curiosity, are your updates going to increase in frequency now that Summer is on its way?

From me: Honestly, I don't know how he does it. I think he needs an ability for that in battle...

That I don't know, though I do like to write while I upload videos to my Youtube account.

From FF and STH: 1. If the smasher do use the Shibuya crew does that mean Joshua gave them back their power for an moment and will Shiki appear as herself or as Eri.

2. Will Joshua appear in the Smash World.

3. Will being Stranded on an island has any bearing on the plot.

From me: To 1 and 2, that's unknown at the moment.

For 3... Duh.

From GuyroMaster: Do you make a list of important notes to remember in that sense?

For all I know you may have Chris use his Moogle Knight job to fly to the mainland.

Meanwhile...I will be waiting for new info on Smash Bros 4 and wondering if you will have this story link to it in some form. I guess that will all depend on the time frame of the story to see if that happens.

From me: Nope. I don't do a list of important notes. Nearly everything I have for the story is in my mind, though I do want to make a list.

Eventually, Chris would get tired of flying. I have never seen a Moogle that keeps flying all the time.

Something tells me I should add those new spices slowly...

From Chiya Neera: I saw your profile page and pictures of Celes everywhere and was like OH SWEET MERCIFUL GOD YOU PLAYED DANGAN RONPA. So here's my obligatory Dangan Ronpa review. As a fan I feel the need to talk about it.

While it's been ages since I last played TWEWY and while I'm perhaps not a good judge of character, I found Joshua's talk of despair to be a bit weird coming from him.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is: Is this going to be important in anyway?

And then I remembered that your profile picture was, for a while, Rhyme, and it happened a bit before the TWEWY arc.

So I guess my second question is: Is there going to be a Dangan Ronpa arc sometime in the near future?

Since I've asked two questions already, I feel it mandatory to end it with a third.

Can Fox go without oxygen when dropping f-bombs?

From me: Well, ask yourself this: did I really play that game just because I happen to have an avatar from it? The answer is no, I never played Danganronpa and I wish I could, but the Vita doesn't sway me at all. But since this is a novel game, I pretty much have watched the entire game through videos and I have seen all of its mentally insane characters. As for your answers...

1 – Joshua's words do mean a lot. He has pretty much hinted that Chris is on the edge of making a huge mistake. Whether that mistake means keep fighting and dying or simply drop out remains to be seen.

2 – As much as I loved Danganronpa (and utterly hated and tried to destroy Monokuma in my mind a hundred times over), the way the story for that game is put together makes it impossible for me to make an arc out of it without killing Smashers as well (and I know people don't want that to happen again), just as how it's kind of impossible to make an arc out of Phoenix Wright. The closest I can do something with those is by making subtle references... And sorry to say this, but Joshua's talk of despair has nothing to do with Danganronpa. Don't automatically assume a single word references something.

...Unless I say "Mrgrgr!"

3 – I think he can. Must be that headgear on his head...but he doesn't have it with him here...

From I'm not a fish: I hear the sounds of screaming fangirls in the distance. Whether they are screams of joy because of the Soren and Ike moment or screams of rage because of the Marth, Soren and Ike moment, I do not know.

Also, I would like to make a prediction for what happens next.

'...And so, the formerly-dead-but-came-back-to-life smashers successfully returned to the mansion, but also returned with an overwhelming need to protect Chris. In fact, Lucario started a club and they all joined.

Later, Tabuu attacked and Chris got hurt. The formerly-dead-but-came-back-to-life smashers and Lucario flew into an unstoppable rage and tore Tabuu to pieces.

Except for Ike and Soren, because they had to deal with the complicated love triangle situation with Marth.

The worlds and the smashers lived happily ever after. Amen.'

From me: I knew someone was going to say something like this...but it has to be brought up. Radiant Dawn makes Ike and Soren look...well...way too much into each other considering what happens to them and their scenes together. It's kind of disturbing to me.

Hmm, a group like that would help... Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

From V-Gamer: 1 with chris and the others finnaly back dose that mean this next arc will focus on smashers
2 are u planning an arc for pokemon x and y... i hope this means mega EVELOTIONS!
3 did u planon having a plot with the new characters for smassh 4 after e3 and the relese date.
4 are u atending e3
5 of all the new smashers which one areyou excited to play with...
and as a bonus question ...just cause im a troll.. with just the reveald smashers only can you rate them from which ones can easily fit in the story to which one can be harder to

From me: More answers.

1 – Well, yes. This chapter is 95% Smasher stuff with the stranded team.

2 – Sorry. I won't be doing an arc for that...but stuff from those games will be incorporated one by one. For some reason, the biggest source of material involves roller blades... What?

3 – Maybe I will, maybe I won't.

4 – It's not that open to the public anymore, not to mention I'm stuck with my family.

5 – No idea.

6 – Again, no idea because I want to play them out personally.

Welcome back to the story, you guys. I wanted to release this chapter later in the week, but it's practically finished while the next one needs a lot more fine-tuning to do. So, that said chapter might not come out in a while. At least this chapter starts the odyssey to get back home.

Just because they're stuck in a deserted island doesn't mean there won't be surprises. If anything, many surprises will be had, along with Chris's conflicting thoughts on the matters surrounding him.

The Stop sign was ran over now. You may now proceed to the chapter (unless you ignored this). I encourage all coconut-crazed people to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The N Arc of the Pokémon BW anime is better known among disheartened fans (and me) as "Pokémon: Colress's Brain Washing Fetish." Everything else before and after that? "Pokémon: Bad Wishes."

Chapter 213: Stranded in the Home World

~ Forgotten Island ~

Shore

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

The Smashers were amazed that Fox had been screaming to the blue sky and ocean for two minutes straight. Fed up by the vulpine's sudden fixation to scream his head off one time too many, Ike grunted and went over to Fox, delivering a quick chop on the side of his throat. The fox immediately lost consciousness and fell aside to the sand, getting a mouthful of it by accident.

"Geez!" Ike said. "I can't believe there are people with strong lungs like his!"

The others sans Soren stared down at Fox until Ness said, "Ike, since when did you learn how to knock out people like that?"

"Huh? Oh, I didn't," Ike admitted. "I just thought that would do the trick…"

"…Regardless," Soren spoke up, "with his deafening screams out of the way, we have more pressing matters to attend to, namely our current condition." He looked to the sides of the circling sand path that ran around in a circle around the somewhat large island. "We have been revived on an island in the middle of nowhere with no signs of civilization nearby… This does not spell good things to come."

Pichu lamented greatly how the events were played out. They were finally out from the Reapers' Game for good, at the cost of reappearing in their world…somewhere. The big pile of bad news was enough to make him cry loudly, almost forcing Chris to embrace him, which he did quickly. "Why can't we ever have a good time?!" he bellowed until slamming his face against Chris's neck, his cries being muffled. "I'm so sick of this!"

"Oh, aren't we all?" Ness asked, the exact opposite of Pichu's being. "We went through hell trying to regain our lives only to be dropped in the middle of the ocean. What part of those isn't the least sickening to you?" He fumed a bit. "Ugh, sorry for complaining out loud, but I need to vent it all off! I'm a young boy after all!"

Chris spoke up. "I'm not too happy about this big problem either, but... I want to see that you reach home safely first," he said. "I don't want to be dropped off into the Subspace if…if that already happened."

Ness forced a smile. "Having you with us does right a nice bell…" He interlaced his fingers.

"We have to start scavenging the island for resources for our survival," Soren brought up. "In most settings, it is vital to make a plan to live out as many days as we can as possible."

Ike walked to them. "Survival? Seriously? We've come down to this?" he asked. "It's good that we have you on our side to plan out our activities, Soren, but do you have an idea to get us out of the island?"

Soren shook his head. "As a matter of fact, I don't, Ike. I need to see what we can find here first before making a safe getaway to the mansion…wherever that is from this small piece of sand," he pointed out. "We're utterly stranded. Working out ideas to return to our homes will be our biggest challenge yet."

Ness looked over beyond the downed Fox to the coffins that had drifted to the shores. "Damned coffins had to drift here instead of a coast with an actual continent…" he trailed off. "…We ARE alive and together, though. That's good, I guess." He noticed that Fox was missing his headgear and his other weapons. Feeling ill, Ness looked around his self to take out his own weapons. They were gone. "Oh, nice! Our weapons aren't with us AGAIN."

Ike gasped and saw the empty sheath of Ragnell to his side. Moreover, the sheath was gone as well. "Your sword is at the mansion, in your room... It's probably forever lost in that infernal place," Soren said.

Ike gulped. "Ragnell is lost in the Subspace... Oh, Sanaki won't like hearing this bit from me," he said. "Now I can't even go back to my world without her unleashing the Begnion Royal Guard on my back or making us work for her till we die."

"That's what happens when... Why do I bother bringing that up?" Soren asked as he eyed the other Smashers; the main reason why Ike was going through so many ordeals. He took out an Elwind tome from his robes. "My belongings are with me… I was carrying them when I died." He noticed Chris was also spared from getting his weapons taken away. "That point when I died… I cannot believe what happened to me. The trust Marth forced me to have on him was all for naught, disappearing with that stab to my body."

The Smashers looked down and played out the memories they saw through Soren's mind. Falchion of all things was a murder weapon that pierced his heart from behind. If it hadn't been for the fact that Marth had spoken, they would try to think there was a different culprit. "It doesn't make sense," Ike said. "How could Marth kill you in cold blood? What did he say when he struck you?"

"Now you don't stand between me and Ike anymore…" Ness recalled. "…What does that even mean? It makes it sound like Marth…like he wanted to kill Soren to get closer to you? But Ike wasn't even alive...so...uuuuuuuuuuuuh... I just don't know anymore!"

Pichu stopped whimpering for a bit to regain his composure. "T-that sounds a bit too dirty," he said. "It's so strange…"

Chris shook his head in disbelief. "...I was around Marth a few times and he never showed hints of straight-out murder towards Soren. He and Roy tried to make Soren feel better after Ike died… This doesn't add up at all," he said.

"It goes on to say Ike cannot make relationships without the company giving their second opinions," Soren said. Ike started to think that Soren was ordering him to rejoin with the Greil Mercenaries in an extremely subtle way and leave the morons he was living with.

They heard Fox's sand-muffled sounds coming from the sand floor. The vulpine pushed himself up and coughed out sand. Still feeling the grains in his tongue, he quickly used his fingers to clean it as much as he could. Spitting a few times later, Fox turned to the others. "Ugh, I was having this bad nightmare where we were fighting for our lives in a challenge between life and death and then we got dropped off on an island…" He forced a smile, looked around, and then looked angry. "Oh yeah, that DID HAPPEN, DIDN'T IT?!"

Ike sighed with the others. "We're sick of complains, Fox. Bothering to complain is just annoying the rest," he said.

Fox fell silent until he just grunted back. "Fine, you've got a point with that," he said. "By the way, don't ever knock me out like that again… So, what now?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at his empty belt. "Ignoring another complain about my weapons, what do we do?"

"We were talking about my murder scene," Soren said, "the one where Marth struck me down for no reason within that dark space."

"That event…" Fox got into thinking. "What did just happen there? Doesn't make sense some of us would kill Soren over cold blood."

Ness looked away. "(Who wouldn't want to kill him? He likes to make everyone feel stupid of anything they do,)" he thought/

"I…do have some guesses as to why people would do that to me," Soren said, closing his eyes and focusing on the brand on his forehead. The Branded were a shunned race with mixed beorc and laguz blood; a race whose existence was against the will of the goddess Ashera. Soren didn't want to revive the memories of his youth now. Marth and Roy found out about his heritage and still treated him like an equal, though Soren wasn't so appreciative of them in the end. "But not this time. I helped a great deal during your missions."

Pichu cleaned his eyes from some tears. "Unless he was brainwashed into killing Soren…" he theorized.

"Brainwashed? I don't think so," Soren said. "The black space filled the area quite quickly, and it only was a few seconds after that I felt the sword pierce my heart." He shuddered at the horrifying feeling though he was surprised he managed to bottle it up so well. Soren thought that his life of constant abuse helped to shield him from the fear of death. It wasn't such a nice skill to have on him. "He was just fine. We were running next to each other when that happened. If he was brainwashed, why didn't I feel it too?"

His question made the others look away while thinking about reasonable possibilities. After so much hard thinking, none of them came up with an answer. "…This isn't the time to discuss that," Fox said, looking serious. "We should think about that for another time after we get back there safely, starting from this damned island in the ocean." He stole one glance at Chris, and that clicked the words they heard from Konishi and Joshua.

"After all… That brat is only there to bring the best out of everyone…at the cost of his own happiness…"

"The way I see it, he's just a tool to help you guys from your moral dilemmas. Hmm-hm, his own dilemma is that he will never grow as a courageous person, only to meddle in the affairs of others."

"I'm only giving them back to you to see how you can prove me wrong. If Neku here – the worst person in Shibuya – can change, why can't normal commoners too? We're humans, you know? If they die again…then they were a waste of oxygen in the end…or are they not?"

Fox briefly looked sad, until Chris looked his way with a sorrowful expression. Forcing a small grin to hide his expression, Fox made Chris make a small smile back just to him to look away shyly, regaining some hope to overcome their situation. "(He's not a tool for us,)" Fox reminded himself. "(He's a good friend who wants to have good times with us. That's all. That's in no way a bad person.)"

Fire Emblem: Awakening – Shh… Easy now, girl. I won't hurt you

"Ahem," Ness got their attention. "Do we agree that we need to find food first before we have to eat Fox?" Everyone nodded.

Then Fox realized what he said and glared. "Eat me? Why me?"

Ness rolled his eyes. "Pichu isn't even meal material! He's just a snack," he said. Pichu nodded wisely. "You're a buff fox guy. You'll last us for a week! Provided Soren doesn't eat much of you." Soren frowned at this...but he considered roasting Fox, if only to get rid of an eyesore.

The vulpine narrowed his eyes. "In that case, I'll eat Ike. Just because you're humans doesn't mean I can't do the same to you," he said.

"Hey, no eating anybody here!" Ike said, stepping back from Fox. "We've got to find edible food without resorting to cannibalism. We're better than that!"

"Sorry, but in truth, I'm no better than that," Ness said. "I have a weak constitution against all that is meat. Fox is pretty meaty. I bet he can be a nice steak!"

"That does it. I'll just eat you right here and now," Fox simply said with a devious look, and Ness simply responded by running away, which was simply solved by Fox running after him.

Soren didn't understand why they were suddenly goofing off at a bad moment, but his opinion wasn't the same as the others who just laughed. Chris was just indifferent for a moment with all the odds of surviving once again stacking against them until he started chuckling, enjoying the moment in the end. His worries were forgotten for a bit; a nice reliever for the stress they had on hands. "Is Fox really going to eat Ness?" Pichu asked.

"I'll have to throw punches if it really does come to that," Ike said.

As he watched Fox trying to get his hands on Ness's head, Chris started to miss home and Lucario. When he thought back to all the ordeals he had gone through, there was a dreadful sense of realization that was haunting him. Queen Jaydes had told him that this was the last life before he died for real, and she would make sure he wouldn't end in the Reapers' Game again. Without any lives left, Chris felt like he was regressing to the time when he was just a teen without powers and confidence at the time when he agreed to help the team. Stranded on an island worsened matters further, as he feared dying there from starvation. Worse still, Lucario – whose fate was unknown to him – would never know that his trainer perished a fifth time while he was away.

He doubted that his battle skills were any good to the group in general. Lucario was a monster created for battle, not his trainer. Taking a role like Red would be the most appropriate, but then there was the risk to getting himself hurt while unarmed against a foe. It was a fear that was evolving overtime right then and there. Chris started to evaluate his own purpose to help in the fight against the Subspace Army, as he embraced himself for some emotional protection.

The teen ignored Pichu being squeezed on his arms. Pichu blinked and looked up at Chris. "Chris?"

Chris snapped out from his thoughts and blinked quickly. "U-uh? Um, it's nothing," Chris lied. "I was just getting worried about how we're going to get out of this place."

"Good, someone has his head in the problem," Soren duly noted. Having dodged a bullet, the teen from the real world decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Worrying the others about his personal struggles wasn't recommended for the time being. He just went back to watch Fox chasing after his next meal. Chris watched, and he never felt the small smile coming up to him.

"You're fast for a little boy!" Fox shouted from afar.

"Did you just call me fat?" Ness shouted back.

"You better be fat! I'm gonna have one heck of an empty stomach soon!"

"Boy, it does feel like he will eat him…" Ike noted.

Soren looked away. "Ike, go stop those two this instant. We must start investigating the small jungle behind our backs to find rations and make huts." He looked back at the mess of plants and palms in the center of the island, only barely missing two snake-like eyes hiding back into the shade of the large leaves. "(…Are we being watched?)" he thought to himself, but he never dared go check for himself. When he stopped looking back to the flora, the two eyes came back out to stare at them intently, until it fixed its vision on the teen holding the Pokémon with both arms.

Ness started to feel tired running around for so long that his speed started to drop. With a grinning look on his face, Fox was just about to leap forward until he barely saw Ness tripping down by a large object hidden in the sand. Fox yelped as he tripped next on top of the boy, smothering him under his body. Ness started screaming about sand getting into his eyes and mouth, frantically waving his arms for help while Fox slowly got his senses back to him, pushing himself off from the boy. "Ugh… Tripping is the worst…" Fox muttered.

The boy pushed himself up and tried to squeeze the sand out of his eyes with quick hand-rubs while coughing out sand from his mouth. Fox decided to drop his playful chase – something he found weird to do for his age – and looked behind to glare down at the random object that made them trip...

The object was not a thing but a human.

Music stops

Fox gasped loudly when he saw the unconscious person dropped on the sand, clutching a book of sorts on the lifeless right hand. Very distraught at the sight, Fox didn't go further into checking the body and turned to the others to the north. "G-guys, come over here!" he called out. "There's an unconscious person on the beach!" He saw their blank looks until they sprinted over to their side. When they looked down, almost everyone gasped at the sight. "See?"

"M-my god…" Chris muttered, looking at the person from head to toes.

Closer inspection revealed that the human was actually a young girl with short red hair, wearing black colored mage-like robes that had a pale purple cloth interior judging the hood on the back of her neck. Over her long-sleeved arms, there were purple lines running all the way up to the base of the hood, and there was another horizontal purple line sewed on her tailcoat, said tailcoat displaying a pale gold pattern on the lower end. She was also wearing white clothing under her coat, coupled with a few belts below her waist. At the end of the white, somewhat baggy white pants, she wore small leather boots.

"…It's a girl," Ike said. "A girl washed up ashore."

"Oh my god, is she dead?" Chris asked, horrified at the event.

"U-urk…"

Treating strangers sometimes yielded good results, but the team backed off a bit as they saw the girl grunting to herself. She slowly opened her eyes and saw sand everywhere, ignoring the feet surrounding her. Pulling the book she was holding on her hand, the girl pushed herself up and nearly tripped down, only for Ike to grab her free hand to keep her from falling down. "Are you okay?" he asked.

They watched the girl standing up with a dozy look on her face. Her eyes weren't fully open yet, but she stared at everyone with brief gazes. She then kept looking at their blank looks, shifting her direction every two seconds. "Oh, she's alive. Thank god…" Chris breathed out in relief. "I thought we had found a dead body on the beach for a seco-"

The girl suddenly yawned loudly and stretched her arms up before bringing them back down in a swift motion, playfully hopping once from her spot. "Ahh, nothing like a good rest on the sand," she said with a sunny look. "Until someone kicked me on the side…Ouchies."

"…" An unneeded silence settled in with all the stares following her happy look. "…She was just resting near the shore… Unbelievable," Soren muttered.

Fire Emblem: Awakening – Agh! Wompgoph in mahmouph! Blech! Ptooey!

Their wide range of indifferent looks was focused on her as she continued studying their figures. So far, she wasn't the least surprised to see their dull looks staring back. She actually found the random bit of attention very fulfilling in a way. "Okay, who kicked me on the side?" she asked, while smiling. "I'm learning the art of book-fu to save on weapon uses." She raised her book to them.

"…" Ike cleared his throat, seeing as his team was speechless to say anything. "I, uh, am Ike," he said before pointing at Fox and Ness, the latter who was still busy trying to get the sand off his eyes. "These two over here tripped because you were in their way."

The girl blinked and looked at the fox man and the big-headed kid. "Ooh, a foxie person!" she said with delight. Fox wasn't looking forward to how the conversation was going to develop from there. "Nice stripe on your head, Foxie… Can I touch it? Please?" She closed her eyes while smiling. "Can I call you Foxie? You don't mind, do you? You're so cute." The rest of the group was wise to keep their chuckles inside their minds.

The vulpine blushed under his fur cheeks. "…What… Wait, what? No!" Fox shook his head.

"Nice! You don't mind being called Foxie!" she said, pleased with the wrong answer for the wrong question. Fox tried to convince her from not calling him like that, but something told him she wouldn't.

He still spoke. "Don't call me Foxie, you," he said, and the chuckles came out nearly at full force. "My name is Fox, but not…Foxie."

She looked sad at the news. "Oh, I was so close…" she lamented, looking down at her feet. "…So can I call you Foxie, then?" she asked again, smiling once more.

"NO!"

"Aww…"

Ike had met so many quirky people in his time that this girl somehow felt like she belonged to his universe. To keep the conversation from getting any weirder, he spoke for the team. "Uh, listen, you… What were you doing resting in this solitary island?"

The girl looked up at Ike and cocked her head to the side. "Wait, this is an island? Huh, I thought I was on the mainland… Oh well," she shrugged with a small chuckle. "To tell you the truth, I dunno how I even got here." She looked like she was in pain to remember something in her mind. "My memory's kinda hazy… I…I don't know anything else beyond my name and who Father is…"

Pichu looked sad. "You lost your memories?" he asked.

"Seems like that's become the worst case scenario for waaaay too many people now," Fox muttered.

She wasn't particularly shocked to see a little yellow rat talking to her, but she truly wanted to hug him to death upon laying her eyes on him. "I'm afraid so…" She sighed. "I try hard to remember what happened to me before I got here…somehow. My mind is a big foggy place right now." She stared at them. "It hurts to try to remember… But it's okay, anyway," she said with renewed spirits. "I only care to reunite with Father. My world is complete once I find him."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "You only know your name and your Father… What's your name?" he asked.

"Morgan," she said with a blank look. "My name's Morgan… Oh! I remember some stuff, now that I can remember!" Morgan pressed her brow with two fingers. "…I'm a tactician in training. I wanna become the best tactician in the world like my father!"

Ike crossed his arms. "A tactician? That's nice to hear, but it's not that helpful for us to find out about your past," he pointed out.

Morgan bit her lower lip in defeat. "That's okay… There's always another day to look around for Father," she said, smiling brightly. "Did I tell you he's the best tactician? He's covered wars…and won them, you know."

Ness finally got rid of the sand on his face and looked up at her. He had listened to the conversation. "So who's your father?" he asked.

"My Father's name?" Morgan asked back. "Hmm… Oh, dang. I forgot his name," she said, looking even sadder than before. There was a small robin bird behind her, minding its own business pecking the sand for food until it took off to the north. The only one who watched the bird was Pichu. "I can't believe this! I forgot my own Father's name… No, don't look so down, Morgan!" She put up a tough look and pumped a fist. "You can't give up here. You'll remember his name soon enough! Memories take a while getting back to your head. That's an airtight theory!" She nodded to them and started walking east. "I need to find him first!"

"W-wait!" Ike stopped her from going away, the others watching. "Do you even know where you're going? Doesn't look like this island is connected somewhere else. We checked already and we're effectively stranded in the middle of the ocean."

Morgan stopped walking and turned around. "Is that so? Double dang…" she trailed off in thought. "It can't be helped… I need to grow wings and fly away! Wouldn't that be awesome?" she asked with renewed hope, blissfully thinking that their odd looks were challenging her on the matter. "Believing is power, right?"

"…Oh, sheesh…" Ike sighed. There was no way the girl would let the cruel reality get its way with her, at the expense of her cheery attitude bringing the most unthinkable solutions for her issues. "Morgan, we're stranded in this island together. Don't you at least remember being taken here with the water?"

"Nayh," Morgan said. "I just woke up here one day… Oh, that day is today," she pointed out, much to their chagrin. "Heh heh, I'm so wasted, am I not?"

"This girl is just so incredibly hard to understand…" Fox muttered.

"And she never lets bad news get her down," Chris added. "(I wish I had that sort of carefree attitude myself. I really need it now…)"

Morgan opened her eyes and looked at the others. "We're all stranded on this island, then?" she asked. "That stinks badly. Hey, why don't we tag along for survival of the fittest and stuff?" she suggested. "We can try to see who manages to survive till we die. I won't lose to you!"

"How the hell is that fun?" Ness asked. "We HAVE to survive and find a way out of here! No time to play games!"

"Aww, maybe you're right…" Morgan kept smiling obliviously to what they had gone through prior to their meeting. "I need to find Father, after all. That's my critical mission in life… You'll help me find Father?"

Ike scratched his head. "That's going to be tough for a wide number of reasons… Your memory loss makes a hard case to find your dad," he said. She looked sad. "B-but I'm sure our resources back home can take you to him! There's no need to look down!"

Morgan smiled widely. "That's great! I'll be happy to join your group for the ride." She eyed them. "…You SERIOUSLY need girl power."

Morgan has joined your team!

"Another mouth to feed…" Fox muttered to himself.

Chris overheard the mutter and gave him a disapproving look. "Don't put it like that! She needs to live as much as we do!" he scolded. "I feel sympathy for her situation!"

Fox looked serious at him. "I'm only complaining because she's gonna do some odd stuff around us… You saw how she called me and how she acted." As a matter of fact, there were two hands already combing his fluffy tail. Looking shocked, Fox looked down at Morgan, who was crouching down behind his back and feeling the fur slipping through her fingers. "A-ack!"

"Fluuuuuuuuuuuffyyyyyyyy," Morgan said in a creepy monotone voice. Fox quickly pulled his tail back and stepped aside from her. She looked up at him with a sunny look. "You guys are so fun! I'm so glad I ended up in this island with all of you!"

While Fox was torn between blushing and scolding the happy girl, Soren rubbed his forehead in shame. "For the goddess, can't our luck get any worse?" he muttered to himself. The days ahead were going to be long ones with Morgan in the team…

Etrian Odyssey IV – Labyrinth I – Cerulean Woodlands

Sometime later…

Soren had taken the role to give out orders among the other six members of the group, with Ike as the leader. It ticked off that Fox wasn't the leader of this expedition, but both Ike and Soren knew how to survive with whatever they had. Living in Tellius as mere mercenaries was an important life skill, unlike living inside a space ship with poor maintenance that was close to plummet down in space, if such a thing was possible.

After Morgan noticed that Soren was also a tactician – prompting her to take notes to how strategize during every occasion – the first task the group had to take was to secure food. As pretty low as it sounded, the many palm trees only had coconuts. Ness, Pichu, and Chris were instructed to get the coconuts from the shore to stay safe from any possible threats within the forest of the island while Ike and Fox (with Morgan following the furred humanoid closely) were to survey the forest for any other food. Soren meanwhile was planning out the rest of the day's activities as he stared at the lush green flora. The next natural activity was to make shelter.

Ness was a great help to get coconuts from palm trees due to his psychic powers. As Pichu made up a pile of coconuts, Chris was just about to start to help him when he saw the boy using his powers for something simple as this. What Chris was trying to do was distract his mind from the trauma that was frightening him whenever he was left to think alone. Just about anything to do was welcomed. "Um... How come I hardly ever see you use your PSI powers outside of battle?" Chris asked Ness.

"I don't want to use too much and become a lazy guy," Ness said, directing three coconuts to the pile Pichu made. "I'm like Mewtwo, but he uses his powers more often than I do. Do you ever see him walking? Of course not." He chuckled. "But I do use them when people piss me off. Throwing people away is a guilty pleasure."

Chris winced at the fact and decided to avoid making Ness mad at him, going back to helping Pichu with the growing pile. He needed to distract his worries with staying alive by doing other stuff, but trying not to worry about the fate of his faithful Pokémon, the rest of the mansion, ROB's fate, and the island they were on were putting a lot of weight in his mind.

It was then that Chris recalled that ROB and his team were somewhere in the world heading for the mansion. Now his worries were catching up to him so he tried to think positively of the several situations happening far away from his location. It was harder all the same, much to his dismay. He kept working diligently with the others to avoid showing signs of melancholy...without ever finding out that they were on to him with their gazes.

He also never took notice of two red eyes staring his way from some leafy bushes near the jungle.

The owner of those eyes had quite a tale to tell, as she stared at the young teen who was most definitely the Pokémon Trainer of the Pichu next to him. For starters, she had overheard most of their conversation from afar, which was coupled with the nasty realization that she had somehow ended up on the deserted island. She could've sworn that she was wandering around Lostlorn Forest in the Unova region before she found herself stepping on the sandy shores of the unknown setting. Naturally, she got frightened that someone had whisked her away without her consent, and it had been a day ever since she appeared there. Lostlorn Forest was somewhat mysterious, yet she never heard weird stories of people getting missing with the few friendly Pokémon living there.

She thought back when she took the decision from her parents to go out and explore the world to grow as a wise Pokémon. Her parents were guardians of a secret haven hidden in Pinwheel Forest, and going out to the world was a dangerous task. But she was very cunning in avoiding possible danger in the wrong places, and her parents were confident that she would return to them one day with magnificent stories to tell about her trip around Unova.

Whether this was Unova or not, she was regretting it already.

As a wild Pokémon, she knew how to survive in the wild, but that was whenever she had places and plenty of resources to reach easily. She had surveyed the island thoroughly and it was indeed cut off from the main land as far as the eye could see. She was lucky to have found a wide array of fruits hidden within the jungle of palm trees. She would be unlucky if the rations were to run out, forcing her to wait days for more to grow, and she couldn't wait. The people that had appeared in the island were surely going to decrease her food.

But they were her key out of the island. There was no way she would sail out on her own. The sea was far more unpredictable than a forest. She had heard them wishing to escape sooner or later after settling in. If she could at least sneak into their future boat, she could get on her way back to Pinwheel Forest. The plan would've been airtight if it wasn't for the fact that there was a Pokémon Trainer in their ranks.

Pokémon Trainers were either a good or a bad thing; most of the time they were bad news. She saw them as people who pitted other Pokémon against each other in bloody battles to see who was stronger. Capturing them in those infernal spheres was their way in imprisoning their lives to their trainers, never to see their relatives again. Her parents warned her about them, but her point of view towards trainers was far more cynical than the "please be careful around Pokémon Trainers" bit of info she was told about. From her hiding places, almost everything she saw with her eyes were battles where huge monsters would roar, attack, and scream violently. Other times, though, she saw trainers genuinely care about their team, but that didn't convince her that those captured Pokémon were taken away from their homes anyway. They looked happy to be with humans. She knew those humans never took into account their Pokémon's families. It sealed the deal to her that the happy Pokémon were, in some ways, brainwashed into liking their kidnappers.

The Pokémon Trainer she found in the island looked a little on the shy side. The shy ones weren't even that convincing to her, as they could be very unpredictable. Any nice-looking person could turn out to be a serial murderer. Not that she knew any but it still applied. The young teen was a nice person overall. She still couldn't spot the dreadful Poké Balls anywhere on his person. They weren't on his belt so they should be in his pockets. Ending up in a sphere to be called out whenever the trainer wanted sounded sickening and traumatizing enough for her to fear the red and white colors.

The human was nice enough to its assumed Pokémon partner. Maybe there was a small chance that he would help her…provided that the rest of the group wouldn't make a suspicious advance on her, that is.

Forgotten Jungle

"I'm not gonna use Fire Fox and potentially cause a forest fire on the island," Fox said as he, Ike, and a somewhat peppy Morgan kept surveying the area for any palm trees that were low enough to climb safely. "And without your sword, we can't cut down trees either."

"It's times like these that I wish I had a simple Iron Sword for emergencies, but I was striped from my weapons when…" Ike trailed off when he saw the oblivious Morgan walking next to them, "…I got robbed of my weapons like you were." Fox raised an eyebrow at him until he understood what he was trying to avoid. "I'm technically powerless like this."

They stopped walking any further down the jungle of plants to see that there was a ten-foot tall palm with around seven coconuts in all. On top of said coconuts, there were seven bananas, which was a rare sight to find in the island.

"Why, hello there, short palm tree full with fruits," Fox said with a grin.

Morgan chuckled and said, "Silly Foxie. Palm trees don't talk," prompting Fox to sigh.

Ignoring the comment, Ike looked up. "This one is short enough for us to climb. This shouldn't be hard," he said.

"Oh!" Morgan piped up, turning to the mercenary. "I have an idea to make things simpler!" She ducked down, picked a rock, and tossed it to the coconuts of the palm tree. Her aiming was poor and thus the rock missed the target easily. "Hmm, okay, I'm gonna try again."

Fox grunted. "That isn't even helpful. Let's just have Ike support me to reach the fruit," he said.

"Good idea, Foxie," Morgan said. The nickname was starting to sting Fox, even more so when he discouraged her from calling him like that earlier. "I'll look for other palm trees to strike down their coconuts." She sauntered off to a small clearing with more palm trees, completely oblivious that they were sure her rock-tossing wasn't going to help at all.

"…I can't believe that girl," Fox told Ike as the two joined forces to reach the fruit, with the vulpine using Ike's hands for a step. "Why do we keep meeting up with the quirkiest people around?"

"Because otherwise our lives would be boring and uneventful," Ike said.

As Fox started to climb the palm tree, he was surprised to get a quick response. "Huh, that was a quick reply…" he noted.

"Hey, you try managing over forty personalities in an army with people from different backgrounds and hometowns. How many have you managed?"

He stared blankly into space and winced just when he was about to take fruit down. "Around seven, and I somehow screwed more than half of them," he admitted with shame.

"Wow, you're not a people's person…"

"Your head looks like a nice target for these damned coconuts now."

"Fine, I'll be quiet."

"Good boy." Fox forced a grin with satisfaction, even if he acknowledged mentally that Ike was more social than he was. It hurt a bit, but a part of him wanted to prove Ike that Fox could be a people's person. Starting with Morgan looked like a nice beginning, but the girl looked too ditzy for his tastes. He had Chris, and he knew there was a very nice chemistry between the two. Not unlike the lazy Falco who often came to blows with him half of the time. If only Krystal was part of that circle of friends, Fox's life would be perfect. Unfortunately, his pride as a man was going to stop him from asking for help unless he tried hard not to care about it.

A little while later, the two Smashers had collected the fruit with success, carrying it all on their arms with the bananas acting like a cherry on top. "I think we're set for three days with just these," Ike said.

"Two days tops before I start dreaming of coconuts and eventually go insane," Fox said before looking around for Morgan. "Hey, where did she go?"

She reappeared from behind some bushes, carrying an abnormally large coconut with both arms. "Hey guys, look! I beat you in finding the biggest coconut!" she rejoiced with glee. "Looks like my plan worked after all! And here I was about to give up on it!"

The abnormally large coconut shocked the two Smashers…mainly because what Morgan was holding wasn't exactly what she thought was a fruit. "Morgan…" Ike slowly trailed off as Fox immediately started backing off, shaking his head in utter horror, "that's not a coconut…"

Morgan looked blankly, blinking twice, before looking down at the "coconut" she was holding. The angry buzzing sounds coming from the fruit gave her some bad vibes. "…Oh, now I see what you mean," she muttered.

"Okay, please throw that beehive far away from us," Fox told her quickly, his pupils shrunken.

But she had other things in mind. With a smile, she said, "We can get honey outta this!" and gently placed the beehive on top of the pile of coconuts Ike was carrying. "That way Fox won't have to go crazy with coconuts for the next days!"

"IS THAT YOUR REASON FOR DOING THIS?! REALLY?!"

Eliciting a scream from a horrified Ike, the mercenary screamed and ran back to the camp area, carelessly dropping the beehive to the ground. Fox quickly used a free hand and dragged Morgan with him right before the angry bees came out and chased after them. Despite the clear sight of danger, Morgan flashed another smile as she was dragged by Fox. "The bees left their nest! Let's go grab it now!" she suggested.

"Morgan, stop suggesting the unthinkable for once!" Fox yelled as they sped out from the jungle, trying to keep the fruit from falling down their escape.

Shore

By a streak of luck, the trio managed to keep the food in place and avoid the bees. Their rushed return wasn't ignored by the other four, who had already gathered enough food for days to come. Soren had also finished thinking about what to do next when he was hastily interrupted with his comrades' return. Walking over to them dropping the fruit down, he asked, "I suppose there was an unfortunate event that took place in there?"

Ike and Fox eyed Morgan, who now seemed to look ashamed with what happened. Soren could already tell she was at fault. "Sorry… I think that wasn't such a good idea in the end," she said. "At least, thank you for dragging me away from the bees."

She had one of those looks that begged people not to scold at her any longer than that; the kind of look that made her superiors look like the bad guys. Ike felt guilty about it, until Fox had the nerve to scold her by saying, "So far, your ideas alway-" just to be interrupted by Ike slightly punching his head to stop him from continuing.

"D-don't look so down, okay, Morgan?" Ike suggested her. She looked up at him. "You have the best intentions to help us out of this predicament. We know you mean well with your ideas…just try asking us first before you do anything rash. Does that sound good to you?"

Morgan mumbled a few things. "Hmm… That's not how a tactician should work," she said. "Normally, a tactician needs to think for themselves first and do the suggesting later… I have a long way to go, haven't I?"

"Well, you can learn from Soren here." The bewildering suggestion was replied by a scowling look coming from Soren to Ike. "He can give you some pointers." The scowl turned into a glare, but Ike tried hard to ignore the expressions.

Morgan brightened up quickly and turned to Soren. "You're right! He looks very tactician-y. I can learn from him," she said. "Should I call you Master? No, wait, my only master is my father. You can be my senior." Soren resigned himself to let her do whatever she wanted. He would just shrug her off.

"With that out of the way…" Soren trailed off as the others joined up with them, "the fruit we have gathered should be plenty for a few days." He pointed at the piles of coconuts and the bananas. None of them had the slightest suspicion that the snake eyes were spying on them from the bushes right behind the pile. "Now, we need to construct some kind of lodging to hold out for weather changes. It's still early afternoon and I found a place with shade where can start working on it." He pointed west of the fruit pile where there was a large shade spot where bushy palms hung low and the terrain was flat. "That's the spot I chose. The sun's heat should keep us from getting tired and sweaty."

Ike sighed. "Making a hut is going to be a challenge without blades to cut down the wood," he said.

Soren took out an Elwind tome. "I can try to concentrate the winds into clean cuts…but that takes a large amount of mental focus," he said. "Not having any weapons can severely hurt our plans."

Chris blinked, getting out from his sorrowful mood. "Um… I still have my weapons with me for all my jobs," he pointed out.

Fox's eyes widened. "Wait, you do have a job with my weapons. I can use your weapons to replace mine," he said.

The World Traveler shrugged. "My jobs are weird, though. The weapons go away whenever I change to another job… Unless… Oh, I can share jobs with somebody here while I use another job," he remembered. "And maybe then I can use another job and lend its weapons to someone else…which leaves me a little defenseless."

Ike stepped forward. "In that case, give me that Ranger job of yours," he said. His least used job, Chris took out a sphere of light and tossed it to Ike. The mercenary tried to grab it, but the sphere instead hit his chest and engulfed his body for a brief second. He was now carrying a copy Ragnell. "Alright, this is much better. Now that I have my…" he took the copy of Ragnell, only to find out that its pale golden color was replaced with a light blue color, "…blue Ragnell, I can start chopping down wood." He looked back at his cape. It had also changed to a light blue color. "Ugh, too much blue…"

While Morgan was filling up her mind with so many questions about the shiny lights and clothing changes, Pichu looked at Chris. "Why is it all blue?" he asked.

"I think that's because that's his favorite color," Fox said. "Am I right?"

"Yes, but I don't like how my jobs sometimes turn blue," Chris said. "I agree with Ike. I don't want to be wearing too much blue."

"Let us not complain about that small triviality," Soren interjected. "With a sword in hand, we can finish this a little sooner than expected. Let's start the hut construction. Chris, I want you to provide more weapons for the rest, if you can do that."

"Sorry. That's a little beyond me to do," Chris said disappointed.

"And frankly speaking, we can't wield swords as good as Ike or Link," Fox said.

"Wait, swords?" Morgan interrupted. "I have a sword here." From her robes, she took out a Steel Sword.

Ike stared at it and then back at her. "A sword? You don't look like the swordsman's type to me. You look more like a mage," he said.

"Hey, I'm full of surprises… That's what I like to think," she simply said.

"Regardless, that makes things easier for us," Soren said. "You can wield a sword, right?"

Morgan swung her sword a few times. Ike could notice that her swings were clean and fast without being too brusque. "Yes, she has a nice grip and form alright," he commented. "I wager she's good to go. Really, you don't look like a sword user…" Morgan chuckled in delight at the praise.

The Smashers and their extra party members then began a long day of hut construction. While Ike, Fox, and Morgan took the job of cutting wood, Chris, Ness, and Pichu went to gather large leaves to makeshift bed sheets. Soren meanwhile took the job to outline the measurements and design of the overall hut he had in mind. With the hut being the only thing in mind to do in the island for the time being, they worked fast enough that, by late afternoon, they were able to finish a decently-sized hut that was only meant to sleep and rest.

During the late afternoon, after taking a "coconut break," the seven island dwellers stood in front of the hut they had made. It was a circular hut with a leafy ceiling. The inside of the hut had seven beds covered in leaves, where two windows – one directly in front of each other – were placed on the wooden walls. The floor itself was also given a makeover, with a flat surface free from wood sticks. Next to the hut, they had made a small corral to place the food close by. The snake eyes were eying the pile of food, especially the bananas that were left untouched.

"I never thought I'd see the day I would help to make a hut," Ness said. "Soren, I would sue you for making a child do adult work, but I won't." Soren skillfully ignored him.

"I don't want to see another day like this ever again once we figure out a way to get outta this damned island," Fox said. "Reminds me when I went to Dinosaur Planet… Wait, was it Sauria? Yeah, reminds me of when I had my adventure in Sauria."

"We shall start thinking of any preparations for tomorrow morning," Soren said. "Our survival comes first before anything else. We can't just sail out into the sea like this."

Soren wasn't going to thank anyone for their job well done. Ike knew the Branded was still very bitter of everything they went through, and he was more spiteful of the fact that sending Ike to the mansion was the last straw. "So, yeah, everyone did a good job today. Let's go rest for the night," Ike said.

That night…

During the night, the seven went to sleep on their leafy beds. The comfy leaves made for nice bed sheet replacements over the hard wood. They were thankful to be sleeping under a ceiling in the desolated island. Despite each one of them having their own bed, Morgan had somehow sneaked from her bed to lie down on her makeshift pillow: Fox's tail by the side of his bed. The vulpine was having nightmares, feeling as if something was eating his tail as a result.

There was only one person who couldn't sleep. Granted, all of them took half an hour to fall asleep, still feeling troubled with their predicament. No one was as paranoid as Chris was. The World Traveler lied down on his bed, staring up into the ceiling as he heard the waves of the shore wash the sand and the slow wind ruffle the leaves outside. He just couldn't sleep, not after enduring so many trials before he was revived. He looked at the others and felt jealous that they all fell asleep. He was so down that not even looking at a gleeful Morgan napping on Fox's tail caused him to smile.

"(…Maybe I need some fresh air,)" the teen thought. Trying his best not to wake up the others, the teen walked out from the hut as silently as possible.

In his small departure, the small creaking sounds made Pichu's ears twitch enough to cause him to mumble. He opened his eyes and barely saw Chris's Black Mage's coattails leave home.

Final Fantasy VIII – Where I Belong

Chris walked out from the hut and sat down on a log that was next to the pile of fruit. There was a circle of cut down palm trees to offer a seating option while looking out after the rations. It was also their meeting spot to discuss what they would do for the next days. Chris sat down with his back facing away from the hut, as he looked over at the horizon of water across the shore.

Somewhere across the ocean was the continent where the Smash Mansion was, but it was hard to tell which direction it was. When he was on board the Halberd, Chris had a simple direction to go. Now that direction was lost, along with ROB and the others. The teen feared how much time it would take everyone to go back home, and he feared even more not going back to his own home in the real world. Last time, Master Hand had frozen time over there. Now it was a matter of survival.

Survival was the hugest problem he was trying to cope with.

He didn't know beforehand how things would turn out so bad from one simple kidnapping that came out of nowhere during a hopeful search to bring back his newly-reborn friends. Chris started to fear what would happen next while he was out there working to save countless of universes. Jaydes had told him that he only had one life left. He couldn't afford to die now. Admittedly, Chris himself knew that he was acting a little carefree without worries during all the battles he had participated. With the thought that he had lives in the video game world, he could feel safe. But without any lives left, it severely hurt him emotionally.

Continuing to stare at the horizon, Chris started to realize that his meddling against the army was making a difference at the cost of his own life. Sure, Lucario was there most of the times when he was killed, but not even a super Pokémon was enough to survive the worlds that looked docile and innocent. "(Perhaps I'm just so easy to kill that I'm throwing away my life without thinking rationally…)" he thought to himself.

To his shock, he started sniffing to himself. He could've broken into tears and buried his face on his hands right there if he hadn't heard small footsteps coming from behind. Gasping and quickly wiping the few tears away, Chris looked back and saw a blank-looking Pichu staring his way.

"O-oh! P-Pichu…" Chris trailed off, hearing his own tone of voice altered slightly.

"What are you doing so late at night?" Pichu asked. "You can't sleep?"

"N-no, I can't sleep," Chris said. "It's so hard for me to do that now…"

"I see," Pichu said. Instead of going back into the hut, he went and sat down next to the teen.

Chris needed to be alone for once to gather his thoughts. "Pichu, aren't you going back to sleep?" he asked.

"Not if you're here alone in the night…" Pichu said with worry. "There could be monsters inside the jungle and…I wanna keep you safe."

"(I want to keep you safe…)" Chris repeated to himself but he had no intention of saying those words back to Pichu. The words hurt him a bit, as similar actions and words gave him fright in failure to live

Pichu noticed the grimace and got offended. "H-hey! I can protect people! You've seen me in action already!"

"N-no, it's not that," Chris said, trying to keep their voices low.

Pichu looked confused. "Then what is it?" he asked.

The teen sighed and looked away. He expected someone older to hear him out (though Chris was one of the many ones that didn't know about Pichu's age), and he wasn't going to tell anybody about it to avoid making them worry more about his safety. But Chris wasn't going to hide anything else. There was no need to do that now. "…I was here trying to see if I can do anything anymore," he finally said.

"What do you mean?" Pichu asked, though he knew that the words Konishi and Joshua spoke before looked like they were true and he objected strongly to that.

Chris looked up to the sky. "…Let's face it, Pichu," he said. "I'm a total mess when it comes down to keeping my own life safe. I have a ton of jobs to fight back, but none of them are enough because I can't seem to do anything right. Once I was kidnapped, everything went downhill for me ever since." He frowned. "And it makes no difference if I'm close with all of you to stay safe."

Pichu shook his head. "T-that's not true! You just have bad luck!" he said.

"Well, then that bad luck will never leave me until…until I die for real," he said, and he was slowly descending into sadness as his voice got affected with whimpers. "That's another issue I have right there. All of my three lives are gone forever, and the next little mistake I do in a battle will no doubt cost me my last life. I'm amazed how living in my own world with just one life never has affected me much due to my living conditions, but here? I'm practically in a war zone! I'm a crucial target for the army because I represent the most important world from all of the others in this universe. How can we even win the next big fight we're going to have with Tabuu? What if that big fight is going to happen in a week? Am I just going to die again?" He buried his face on his hands to keep Pichu from seeing his tears.

"Y-you have Lucario to protect you!" Pichu brought up.

"It's not enough!" Chris shouted on his hands. "I have something similar to a Legendary Pokémon by my side, but you've seen how that huge advantage doesn't work! I'm not trying to say Lucario does a bad job at it. It's me who ends up getting the final blow on the face no matter what I do! I'm sick of it!" He started crying, putting Pichu in a tight spot. "I-it's ironic how I can die so easily! Maybe I've been acting so carefree without worries and I never noticed! Tell me, Pichu! Tell me what I can do without making a big mistake again!"

Pichu himself started whimpering, hugging Chris's right side. "W-we just need to do better…together!" he suggested. He leaned his head. "You don't have to do things alone!"

"That's another issue I have!" Chris said. "Whether I'm alone or not, I get screwed!"

The teen kept crying silently to himself. Pichu didn't want to worsen things any further with more suggestions. He just let Chris let it all out for a while so that they wouldn't wake up the others back at the hut. He thanked Arceus when Chris did indeed lowered his voice after five minutes of whimpers. Eventually, Chris fell silent and rested his elbows on his knees, staring down at the sand.

"…Maybe…I'm not meant to be here," Chris muttered. Pichu stared up. "…Back when Master Hand got into my house, I didn't want to let things go like that and just ignore the army from invading my own world. I could've let Lucario go alone…but at the same time, I didn't want to lose him and not be there if that even happened… I guess I'm still shocked that this is happening. It was such a huge deal and still is to me."

Pichu laid his small hands on Chris's right leg. "Why did you come here, then? To avoid losing Lucario?"

"That was one reason…and the other because I wanted to see what I could find myself," Chris said. "I thought back then that Lucario could take out the entire army by himself while I was off enjoying myself discovering new places. I couldn't do that much in my home. Here, I can do a lot…but somewhere along my discoveries, I took the fight with the army too lightly… I've seen too much of all the worlds already so…maybe it's time for me to excuse myself out from continuing with this whole thing and let you guys do the work."

Pichu gasped. "W-wait, you can't mean that!" he said.

More tears came from his eyes, and this time he looked down at Pichu. "I only cause grief whenever I die, Pichu! Everyone is going to feel okay just knowing that I'm somewhere safe where the army can't reach me!" he pointed out. "I'm just a normal teenager! I don't know any fighting skills in my world! I'm a pacifist, not a fighter! Do you have a reason why I should stay?"

"U-um…" Pichu trailed off in thought, desperate to bring up something good. "How do you think everyone will react with that decision?"

There was then another issue Chris would rather not confront with someone else. "I…I…I can try to convince them from letting me go," he said. "I can get through Lucario easily. He cares about my well-being…but as for the rest…only half of them are probably going to agree. I can see Snake agreeing, somehow… Really, I think it's for the best that I drop out."

"But you make a big difference, Chris!" Pichu argued. "Please, rethink your decision! I'd hate to see you go!"

Chris looked away. "It's not like I'm going away forever… You can still visit me at my home if I leave to keep in contact. I only really wish to stay in touch with everyone. You know how I hate to be alone." He was calming himself down, thinking that his decision wouldn't be that bad.

"T-that's true…" Pichu admitted. "…Ooooh, something about this feels…wrong, Chris. I'm not fully convinced…" The words Joshua spoke before started to become true right before Pichu's eyes...

"…Neither do I," Chris muttered. "Once we somehow get back to the mansion, I'm going to make a decision there. Right now, I want to make sure we can even get back there. Or else, everything's been for naught…and I don't want it to be like that." He fell silent and shrugged. "…Pichu…"

"Yes?"

"T-this is going to sound odd, but… Can I hug you?" he asked. "I-I'm so scared of what might happen next…"

"…" Pichu forced a smile and hugged Chris. The teen quickly scooped Pichu on his arms and hugged him tightly, but not too tightly. Resting his head on top of Pichu's, Chris sniffed to himself, making Pichu sniff as well. "You're going to be fine… We're going to be fine," Pichu whispered. "…Don't look sad, please. It makes me sad, too. But if you have to cry…do it. It makes me feel better if I let it all go."

"T-thank you…" Chris whimpered, muffling his cries on top of Pichu's head. The electric rodent braced himself from the shaking and cries. He wanted them to stop soon because it felt like the episode would repeat all over again many times in the future with no proper good ending. One thing Pichu was that he couldn't do this alone. He needed the others to make Chris happy. After all, they all had stood out for each other...

As Chris cried to himself, they didn't see that the owner of the snake eyes appear in the scene. She had spied on them from afar, but she couldn't hear their conversation from where she was. Her plan was to raid two bananas from the pile of food next to the hut now that everyone fell asleep. With a small smile and a brightened look, she saw the prize on top. She could easily reach out for it, but something made her stop when she heard whimpers coming from the circle of logs. Curious, she peeked out her head and saw a rare sight: a male teenager crying on his Pokémon.

Normally, she wouldn't even find an older trainer cry like that. Perhaps he was a very emotional person; a kind of person that was rare to find among people unless it was a girl. She wasn't the judgmental type, though… But seeing the teen cry and hold the Pichu like that gave her an idea. What if the trainer was a nice person? The Pichu could help her to get help, unless his speech couldn't be understood by humans. One big disadvantage between humans and Pokémon was the speech barrier. She heard stories that humans could understand Pokémon through the heart or some baloney like that, when in truth, one time she had heard two talk to one another, the trainer would agree to what their Pokémon said in their speech, "I'm gonna eat you soon!"

The teen and the Pichu were crying, apparently. Maybe they did understand one another. Playing like a survivor in the island would definitely become a big problem for her soon enough so she needed to take action immediately. Even if the trainer tried to catch her, she would try her best to just run away as fast as she could. She was very nimble for a small Pokémon. She could outrun them.

Gulping, she slowly and calmly made her way to them. She needed to be careful…

Chris took a brief moment to rise up his head to look down at the sand. He was starting to feel better when, suddenly, he saw a small green Pokémon walking into his fixed gaze. His eyes widened, but hers only blinked when they locked eyes. The Pokémon he had found by chance didn't look like any of what he knew. The new Pokémon had caught his full attention.

The Pokémon was a small, green reptilian creature that was a feet taller than Pichu. It had two large red eyes that looked always uninterested. The back of her body was mostly green with a cream underside. Behind her back ran a yellow stripe all the way to the beginning of her three pronged leaf-like tail. On the base of her neck, two curved yellow limbs curved downwards, and the same yellow lines were surrounding her eyes. Her head was small in height, but in had a longer width horizontally with a very small tip in front of her nose. Her legs were the smallest parts of her body, lacking any toes unlike the three fingers of each one of her small, green hands.

"…Pichu," Chris began, making Pichu stop whimpering, "…I think I just found a new Pokémon…" He was sure the creature was a Pokémon. He could argue it was a Digimon instead but it didn't seem to talk human language.

Pichu sniffed one last time and turned his head around. He gasped when he saw the Pokémon staring at them. "T-that's a new Pokémon!" he said. "…It is, right?"

The Pokémon didn't like their reactions. Just seeing her could be a big hint that they were going to catch her. She was too close to them and she didn't see the teen fetch one of those dreadful spheres. She got a bit pissed that she was referred as a "Pokémon." It was a term coined by humans. What right did they have to give her species a name like that? As far as she knew, her species never poked one another.

"…" Chris noticed that the Pokémon wasn't moving. "…Okay… What should we do here? Something tells me it doesn't want to leave…"

"Lemme talk!" Pichu suggested, jumping off from Chris's arms and going to the Pokémon side. "Hi," he said in their language, leaving Chris out of the conversation. "What's your name?"

Nice, she thought. The Pichu was friendly. "My name? It's Snivy," she said, introducing herself. The Pokémon speech she said outside of their conversation was overheard by Chris. Following the odd speech pattern, Chris surmised that her name was wrongly named "Vysni."

"Oh, nice name," Pichu said. "Uh… What are you doing here, Snivy?" he asked. "I thought Pokémon like you don't just approach people like that."

She made a note that this Pichu had resigned himself to be called like that. Poor boy, she thought. "I don't do it at all…under normal circumstances," she added, crossing her thin arms. "Let me get to the point: I'm stranded in this island like all of you."

Pichu gasped. "You are? I thought you lived here!"

"It looks like it, but I don't," Snivy said with some venom. "I live far away from here. I happen to be on a journey to find…entertainment for myself; to learn new things outside of my home." She felt it was right to tell him this. "But I regret that now after I somehow found myself in this stupid island."

"Wait, you got here without thinking?" Pichu asked. "(Maybe she's another victim like all those people ending up in this world by accident…)"

"Yes, I hate to admit that," Snivy agreed. "It's been two days since I got here, and I sadly don't know how to sail out into the sea. I'm a forest dweller, not a pirate." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I want to ask you something… Pichu, right?" He nodded. "Okay. Pichu, I want to escape from this island with you and your trainer's help."

Pichu blinked a few times and looked back at Chris. Chris blinked back at him, and then Pichu looked back at Snivy. "H-he's not my trainer," he said.

She widened her eyes. "What?" she said. "…But you two clearly look so close to each other! I never heard of a Pokémon willingly following a trainer without being inside those claustrophobic spheres they use to capture us! What are you, nuts?"

"Hey! I don't have a trainer and I have a purpose to be following him!" Pichu argued back. "U-um, sorry for snapping out at you…"

"…" Snivy looked up at Chris for a moment. "Is he a trainer or not?" she asked. "Let me ask you this. Does he want to capture me? If he does, that ruins my plan and my whole life as well."

Pichu understood where Snivy was coming from. A lot of Pokémon were informed by now that they can be easily captured by trainers. They either feared or loathed them. A secret among Pokémon was that they acted so wild against trainers because they wanted to get rid of them to avoid a possible capture. "Chris doesn't have Poké Balls right now…" Pichu said.

Snivy smiled. "Oh, good. There are no buildings in this island where they sell those things. That makes it a whole lot easier for me," she said. "This doesn't look like a bad idea after all!"

"Wait, what are you trying to say?"

"Did you forget? I want to get out of this island," she said, looking blank. "You guys look reliable enough. You built that hut over there in a day and gathered food… You can build a boat, right?"

"I dunno… But we want to get out too," Pichu said.

"Look, I've seen you from afar," Snivy said. "I heard you want to get out. Let me in this, please! I don't want to make this place my home. I want to go back home with my parents! It was their idea for me to take this journey of discovery, and I have yet to get something nice out of it!" She looked at Chris. "I don't have anything to offer in exchange… Do you think he can strike a deal with me?"

"Well… Let me see," Pichu said, turning back to Chris. "Chris, she wants to do something with us."

"What?" Chris asked, hearing Pichu go back to his human speech. Snivy suddenly looked at Pichu and was shocked to learn that Pichu could talk with a human so directly. In truth, she hadn't heard them talk at all. "…What does Vysni want to do?"

Snivy narrowed her eyes at him. She hadn't told Pichu that she used to spy on humans talking with each other to understand a few words of the English language. "Why the heck is he calling me like that?" she asked.

Pichu chuckled slightly. "U-uh, her name is Snivy…"

"…Oh," was all Chris could say. "Oh, sorry! I heard…uh, her say syllables and I… You know what I mean."

"That's right. You humans like to give us names through our advanced speech. Stop embarrassing yourselves..." she said. There was no way Chris was going to understand that, so he just thought she said yes. Pichu understood but didn't want to tell Chris about that.

"Snivy wants to accompany us out of this island," Pichu said. "But she doesn't want you to capture her if you can."

Chris stared at Snivy. "She doesn't look like something I would catch," he said. That eased her mind. "And she's too small to cause any trouble…maybe. I think it's okay if she can follow us out of the island… But where is she going to go?"

"Good question…" Snivy admitted.

Pichu turned to her. "Do you know what you're going to do after this? Where do you come from?" he asked.

"Hmm, I come from a region humans call…Unova, I think," she said. "Do you know that place?"

"Uh, no. I don't… I only know a few places in the Johto region."

"Well, that makes everything all the harder for me… I want to get out of the island first, though. I can work something out after that," Snivy said.

Pichu turned to Chris. "She comes from the Unova region. I dunno where that is," he told him.

"Unova…" Chris felt that the name was familiar to him, as if he heard it before. "…Maybe it's possible to take her back home using our methods."

Pichu smiled and turned back to Snivy. "Hey, we can probably take you all the way back home once we reach our home!" he piped up.

Snivy narrowed her eyes. "Like I'm going to enter a human's house and wait to be captured," she said. "I'll only follow you half of the way outside this island. Once we touch land, I'm out. Period."

The Electric-type looked ashamed. "But he won't try to capture you at all… Okay, I understand," he told her before turning to Chris. "She just wants to follow us half of the way."

Chris winced. "She doesn't have our full trust yet, I suppose… Fine. Snivy, you can come with us," he told her. "I don't want to hide you around the others so you'll have to stay in-sight where we can see you. Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to the others."

Pichu told Snivy about what he said and she agreed. With a new Pokémon in tow, Chris forgot about his problems for a while, allowing him to sleep safely for the night. He was going to tell everyone about the decision he was going to take once they reached the mansion, unless something was to change it on the way there.

As for Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon made a mental note to be wary of what her new temporary comrades would react to her presence. Truth to be told, her parents had told her that maybe finding an appropriate trainer to travel around the world would greatly help her achieve whatever she wanted to do, but she respectfully declined and said that she wanted to be with her family instead. If she wanted to find the right trainer, she needed to at least know a great deal about them before coming to a conclusion. She would put up an open mind around Chris if he treated her nice, though, which was unlikely after hearing him say he didn't have an interest in her.

…Recalling those words stung her from the inside. She shrugged it off afterward and went to sleep with them. She did, however, sneer seeing the human girl clutching the fox man's tail from the floor. A good laugh was always welcomed.

Snivy temporarily joined your team!

Music stops

The next day…

Battleship Halberd – Cockpit

The Ancient Minister, or rather ROB, hadn't spoken much ever since the only person who cared about his well-being had given up his life for him several days ago. Had it not been for Meta Ridley's meddling, the escaping team would've reached the mansion a lot sooner, but they were still cruising over the ocean as a slower speed. It turned out that the laser cannon had depleted a lot of energy from the ship.

Dedede was thankful that the ship had food within its long corridors. Sadly, Wario was well on his way to eat it all in the small, cozy kitchen that looked like a sore thumb compared to the cold steel of the rest of the ship. Meta Knight hid a lot of secrets in his own ship, they admitted. Dedede admitted that they were so going to die of starvation soon because Wario was a damn fat bastard.

The only person who looked after the robot was Mr. G&W. The two had an odd friendship going on: one was a prisoner meant to extract darkness and the other was a general for the same faction. G&W was the only sane man of the small crew, as Dedede felt a little distant and Wario…was too far away to reach. G&W stood next to the minister, the latter who kept staring out into the sky's large expanse. "ROB?" Mr. G&W said with worry. "ROB, you haven't moved from the steering wheel for days now… Let me take over. I can try to steer the ship if you teach me how to."

"…" the minister didn't reply.

"…You didn't run out of batteries or anything," Mr. G&W pointed out. "I know you're listening to me."

"I implore you not to call me by that name again." the minister finally responded. "…I only want to get to the mansion, I have no other task to do… "

"Why don't you want me to call you that?"

"The Ancient Minister is the true culprit for what happened days ago," the minister said. "ROB is dead. He doesn't deserve to exist anymore after that he witnessed that atrocity."

"Great, he's now in denial," spoke Dedede. He and Wario resting on some iron chairs to the right side of the cockpit. "He's busted out like a lightbulb! Kid's death did a huge number on his circuits."

The minister sighed. "Don't ever make me recall what happened before… I must stay focused on my mission," he said. "I can't let my feelings take the best of me."

Mr. G&W disagreed. "ROB, just let it go," he said. "And I mean you need to stop being in denial. It wasn't your fault…entirely, I think."

It hurt the robot all the same. He was surprised when he learned that he was yearning for attention all along. The lost memories of his past haunted him, which challenged the reason behind his existence. Just who was that man who created him and why did he leave him in that forsaken floating island? So many doubts clouded his mind about it, and Chris was his sanity ball. He acknowledged that he was turning into an emotional robot; a far outcry of what he was when he was plotting against Tabuu behind his back.

"I'm just as guilty for everything that has happened in the struggle," he said. "I don't want to speak further than this. Leave me alone… That was how things were supposedly meant to be for me in the past."

"…" Mr. G&W sighed. "You need more time before you come around… It's ironic," he said. "I only kept my sanity because you used to cheer me up subtly. It's my job to help you out now."

"This is extremely different now. Stop it."

"Fine…" Mr. G&W turned around and left the Ancient Minister behind. The flat character walked to Dedede and a sleepy Wario. "So what are we gonna do when we reach the mansion? That Subspace Bomb must've done a lot of chaos. Are they all fighting Tabuu as we speak?"

"I wish!" Dedede said, resting his left cheek on a hand. "They got plenty a' resources! I'd like to be thanked for doing nothing!"

"You did stuff, though," Mr. G&W said. "You helped us to escape from the base. Tabuu could've used us as hostages…or even killed us during the assumed final battle."

Dedede smiled knowingly, but he quickly looked away embarrassed. "Y-yeah, don't repeat that," he said. "We're fugitives now. I wanna think things are being taken care of by themselves!"

"Provided that's even happening…" Mr. G&W said. "We just need to wait until we get there. Meta Ridley drained out a lot of energy from the ship using that cannon during the battle."

The Ancient Minister was focused on the gauges in front of the steering wheel. The ship actually used ungodly amounts of gasoline to fly, along with an electric generator located in deepest parts. The gas tanks were filled by a half, which was enough to reach the mainland. The electric generator was the part that was just barely holding its ground. The beam shots from before drew out too much energy, and only by decreasing the ship's speed allowed the generator to recover the supply.

There was an oddity that presented itself from time to time.

The ship would suddenly creak and shift its weight. At first, they dismissed the happening as the electricity making another machine turn itself on and off. It started to look suspicious, though. Nobody thought about going to check if it was an essential part of the ship that was starting to fail. And even if they could, they all had their excuses not to. Wario was a general lazy guy to bother, Dedede couldn't imagine what...things Meta Knight had down there, Mr. G&W was keeping an eye on the minister, and the minister himself wanted to command the ship.

The ship would alert the cockpit if a vital component was in a critical condition, an alert that never happened. The Ancient Minister grew increasingly paranoid that something that wasn't connected to the ship was on board... It wouldn't make sense, though. He dismissed the possibility.

A loud explosion came from inside the ship, causing it to rocket violently for a brief moment. Dedede shrieked and held on to his chair, while the sleeping Wario clumsily fell down on top of his head and woke up rudely. Mr. G&W gasped loudly while the Ancient Minister held his grip on the steering wheel. "W-what did just happen?!" G&W asked. "A-are we being attacked?!"

"N-no," the minister said. "There aren't any enemies coming from any direction… The alarm didn't sound… Wait, it didn't sound." He looked around the gauges. There was something badly off about them that he was quick to tell. "…The gauges aren't working at all. They're not connected to the system."

"WHAT!" Dedede said loudly. "Hey, I did maintenance duty a few times, and I remember those gauges worked just fine!"

"They're disconnected this time…or maybe they were cut off," the minister said. Another explosion came, and the floor's angle was inclining forward. Grunting, the minister pulled the wheel up to avoid making the ship plunge into the ocean. "Just our luck…"

"What's gonna happen to this flying piece of junk? I don't wanna die!" Wario demanded.

"I'm afraid to say our arrival at the mansion will be greatly delayed…" the minister said. They noticed that the altitude in the sky was going down gradually by the second. "We must make a crash-landing somewhere."

"B-but we haven't seen an island in the ocean at all!" Mr. G&W pointed out. "I've been looking down the ocean a few times for hours!"

The minister grunted once more. "We must be prepared for the worst. I will try to find a spot to land…and we'll see what happens next after that. I'm curious about what caused those explosions somewhere inside the ship." With a firm grip on the wheel, the minister made it so that the ship didn't plunge down to a certain death. He briefly thought back about Chris's demise, thinking that maybe they would reunite in the afterlife; if there was such proof that a robot could also end up there. He shook his head and ignored the indignant screams coming from Wario and Dedede, who now were hugging each other for desperate protection.

~ Forgotten Island ~

Hut

"I swear to god," Fox began with a grimace. "These creatures multiply every time I look away."

Chris forced a glare, though Snivy's was a true glare. "There's nothing wrong with that!" he shot back.

The early morning started off with Chris introducing Snivy to the other five people. Fortunately, the five didn't mind that another mouth to feed joined up with them. Unfortunately for Snivy, she became the main target of a curious Morgan touching parts of her body. She felt harassed every time the amnesiac girl grabbed the tips of her leaf tail. Because of her, Snivy contemplated leaving them alone…but escaping from the island was a must. Fox grinned knowingly only because Morgan would stop her mind-scarring advances on his tail. Literally.

"If that thing does anything shady," Soren told Chris, "you'll be held responsible."

"Yes, sir…" Chris said in a dull tone. Snivy found it all the more annoying that she was being paired up with the human already.

"Okay, let's not start tossing subtle threats at it…uh, her," Ike said. "This is our second day in the island, guys. We've got plenty of food to live by for days, though we have to get out eventually."

"The obvious course of action is to build a boat," Soren said. Snivy sighed in relief. "That is going to take some more time to build a sturdy model with what we have in hand. I'll start to brainstorm a model for it, and we'll immediately start the preparations during late morning if I can think of something by then."

"Nice. There's hope for us," Ness said. "So now that we got that cleared out, what should we do? I propose we find someplace to take a bath." Everyone stared at him. "…What? I stink! You ALL stink! I'm not saving the world smelling like a hobo! Have you ever heard somebody say something like, "Ness here saved the world while smelling bad"? Completely scandalous, I say."

Pichu looked bored. "You're saying it like we're heading for the final battle," he said.

"…Maybe we are," Ike said as a matter-of-fact. "A Subspace Bomb blew up at our home. It's a sure way to end up where Tabuu is." The other Smashers exchanged worried glances. They may as well be heading into the final battle, completely ill-prepared for the worst during combat as two of the members lacked weapons to use in a fight, though Ike was crippled even more so than Fox. "Who's not to say they're fighting as we speak…or they failed?"

"That madman is so unpredictable. We haven't seen him for a long while," Fox said, scratching his head. "He could be stronger than ever now."

"Regardless of what issues you may have, I want you to focus on our current problem," Soren said. "Survival is our main concern now."

Both Morgan and Snivy were just listening, confused as to what these people were even doing. Snivy admitted that there was more to them than met the eye. For a fact, the fox guy wasn't a Pokémon she knew. "…K," Morgan spoke up. They realized two people that weren't involved in the fight overheard them. "Should I just…go sulk in a corner?"

"N-no," Ike said. "Sorry. We completely ignored you were here."

Morgan grimaced a bit. "You guys aren't normal people, are you?" she asked. "I had a hard time trying to understand this Substantial business you have going on."

"Uh, you're not supposed to get too involved in it," Ness told her. "It's our personal business. It's incredibly dangerous for you to get into this."

"…" She put up a tough face. "But I'm strong, too. I can wield swords and magic just fine."

Snivy felt even more distant to what she had heard. Just who were these people? None of them had a Pokémon to fight some kind of monster. The shy teen she was paired with didn't look like a normal trainer to her. Was he also special? She wondered how there were trainers that could fight by themselves without using Pokémon. That was a nice thing to hear, though. It boosted the chances of her not getting captured so suddenly… But then, why did the humans of her region never move on from capturing her kind? It greatly baffled her.

"It's very complicated," Ike said. "You can fight, but not our enemies. They will slaughter you at worst."

"No. Calculus is complicated," Morgan shot back wisely. None of them were amused by the response. "If you need me, I'll be ready for anything."

"She's not taking it back, Ike," Soren muttered. "She reminds me of Mia. You know how that girl is."

Morgan brightened up and stood up from her bed. "I'll just have to prove you guys my worth as a tactician to convince you," she said. Walking to the entrance of the hut, she looked up in the horizon and nodded with determination. "And I'll begin with my first strategy: order a hasty retreat from this hut before we die by being crushed by a flying giant mask of steel!"

Soren sighed and walked to her side, ready to scold her. Ike knew full well that the Branded was having enough of her antics. Her last statement was the last thing he needed to shoo her away for a good legitimate reason. "Morgan, will you stop it with your incoherent responses?" Soren asked. "We aren't playing around here."

Morgan turned to him and gave him a quizzical look. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that stooping to using lies is unnecessary."

She cocked her head to the side and pointed up to the sky. "Alright, genius. If I'm lying, what's that thing headed straight for our humble abode?"

With an uninterested look, Soren followed her finger's direction…and immediately widened his eyes. Confused, Ness walked to their side and saw what she was pointing at. "…Guys," Ness began, his legs shaking, "…I think we should move…"

"Why?" Pichu asked.

"BECAUSE THERE'S A GIANT BATTLESHIP HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US!"

The others quickly went to the entrance of the hut and looked ahead over the ocean. Their faces dropped their jaws in utter shock. Over the ocean, the growing image of the Battleship Halberd pivoting to their exact standing spot quickly loomed the shores of the island. They saw that the ship was shooting out smoke from the sides of its metal structure, but that wasn't the main point that they were worried about. They were more worried about dying by being mercilessly crushed by a huge contraption instead of dying of hunger or being eaten by sharks out in the ocean.

"…Oh boy," Pichu squeaked in terror.

The vulpine was none too happy about the event. "Can we EVER catch a break for ONCE?!" Fox asked, glaring up at the sky as if challenging the universe. "Is it so damn hard to ask for one stupid break without getting into a fix in a week?!" The universe replied by dropping a coconut on his head. "Oww!"

Chris knew best and thus started screaming; reminding them that idly standing by would accomplish nothing but certain death. Scrambling around, each man and woman took their own escape routes and quickly ran away from the crashing site. They were certain that they could avoid the crash just fine. They weren't that certain that there would be an ensuing explosion that would annihilate the island from the map. Frantically running and screaming, Pichu latched onto Chris's head while Snivy somehow found herself being carried on Chris's arms. She was greatly embarrassed to be carried around like that, but Chris would prove to be a good meat shield if an explosion would follow.

The imminent crash then happened as everyone continued running, looking back at the sand wave that was erected from the ground. A big sandstorm chased after each side of the crashing site, making them cover their eyes once the contaminated air caught up to them. "Keep running! No matter what, keep running!" Fox shouted.

"Bleargh! I got sand in my mouth!" Morgan said. "It doesn't taste good!"

"Why do we have to suffer all the time?!"Pichu cried out.

"Again, all of this could've been avoided if Ike never joined your suicidal crew!" Soren complained.

"He could have avoided it, not us!" Ness shot back.

"Would you guys just keep running?!" Ike asked.

"I just want to go back hooooome!" Chris cried.

"I regret joining up with you all! You worthless humans are ALWAYS a magnet for all kinds of trouble!" Snivy shouted. Nobody but Pichu would understand what she yelled.

During their hasty escape, everyone tripped and ducked down from the wave of sand splashing down to the sides of the massive sand crater that formed behind them. As the chaos of the crash subsided, the bodies emerged from the sand floor, shaking off all the sand that got into their clothes. The first to regain his eyesight, Ness noticed that he had run with Pichu, Chris, and Snivy. Somewhere on the left side of the crashing site, Ike, Soren, Morgan, and Fox were at an equal distance away from them.

They saw that their hut and food supply had been annihilated by the sheer weight of the Halberd. The large battleship managed slide all the way into the jungle, somehow averting massive losses with its protruding wings of steel and iron. The huge crash luckily didn't cause a large explosion, but some of them were waiting for the imminent chaos to happen in ten seconds or more.

Quietly, they all approached the large contraption from either side of the large sand crater and admired it with jaws opened. "…This is why we're never allowed to have a normal day," Ike said.

"Oh, you're noticing that just now?" Fox asked.

Shouting came from the other side of the battleship. Carefully walking around from the edges of the large hole, the other four joined up with the others on the left side, very shaken of the seemingly random event. Snivy didn't care she was leaning to Chris's clothes. He was a meat shield for her. That was what he was to her for now. "Good… You're okay…" Chris said, catching his breath.

"So…is this another otherworldly machination that Tellius is lacking?" Soren asked, studying the Halberd from top to bottom. "Is it perhaps a large bomb with a fancy design?"

"It hasn't blown up…yet," Pichu said. "…It should have blown up right about now…I think."

"Should we start making our prayers, then?" Morgan asked, truly looking concerned. "It'll be sad to just go out with a bang without one last line to remember." She started saying something to herself.

"No, it's…probably safe to stay close to it… Gah, I'll never understand complicated technology," Ike said. "Now that we have a giant ship in the island, what should we do with it?"

"Stay away from it," Soren said. "I can't afford to die and end up in that damned hell known as Shibuya again."

"Hold on. We need to check what happened," Fox said, making Soren think that these people secretly welcomed suicide with open arms. He stared at the distraught Chris. "…Come to think of it. Didn't you say you escaped on this?"

It all came to mind to Chris that the Halberd was being operated by the escape team before he gave up his life trying to defend ROB. The harsh memory stung him, but he frowned as he stared at the ship. "Y-yes, I said that," Chris said. "They're probably still there…"

"But the ship crashed," Ness pointed out. "Was there an accident? Chris, do you remember if the ship got badly damaged?"

"No… The ship was alright, and I saw Meta Ridley leaving into a portal," the teen said. "Everything was okay...until now."

Ness looked up at the ship again. "I thought this ship already had arrived at the mansion in the first place… We were absent for three weeks in another world," he said. "Why hasn't it crossed the ocean?"

"Well, I never took my time to check out the geography of this world," Fox said. "But as for the time… Doesn't time pass differently for each world? It sounds plausible if you see it that way."

Soren was about to protest that they could be standing next to a time bomb, but he was interrupted by a shadow rising from the deck of the ship and saying, "Nice! We landed on sweet sand!" before the owner of the shadow looked down at them and froze on the spot. They looked up and stared. "…And I've gone crazy 'cause I see dead people!" The owner was Dedede.

"Enemies!" Fox yelled, his instinct forcing him to grab a Blaster that wasn't there.

"Hold it!" Ness stopped him from jumping into action. "Chris said Dedede and the rest are on our side! Except for stupid Ganondorf, fat Bowser, and stupid and fat Charizard."

"What?" Dedede called out to them, and then he saw a worried Chris standing among their numbers. "…We landed on Crazy Island! Oh my gawd!" His irises shrunk in horror at the craziness of the scene.

One by one, the rest of the crew peeked out from the side of the deck and gasped at the other group. "I… I can't…" G&W stuttered in shock. "…W-what's going in this island?"

"We've been asking ourselves similar questions since point one of this long mission," Ness said. "…Just roll with it, you."

"…Says the boy who's seen the biggest oddities in his life," G&W replied.

"Touché."

"…Well," Ike began, stepping forward, "what Chris said was really the truth."

"H-hey! I told you the truth about everything that happened to me!" Chris said, until he noticed that the Ancient Minister was staring down at him in particular.

Final Fantasy IX – Border Village Dali

The minister took the revelation more personal than the others. His savior was there, breathing just fine, instead of being reduced to nothing floating in the air. He was so very shocked that he thought his circuits were overheating and causing some weird glitches. To make sure he wasn't hallucinating – a trait impossible for a robot – he descended from the deck across the crater to the sand. The others took steps back for protection, having nasty memories of him that caused the whole problem...

But Chris held his ground, still staring at the minister.

The minister shook his head and looked up at the teen. "This…this is you, isn't it?" he finally asked. "This isn't some sort of illusion…"

It was a very awkward experience for the teen to look back to the person he thought was starting to look decent to him. To be standing there face-to-face again was a miracle that Chris wanted to rejoice so badly... "U-uh… It's me, yes…" Chris muttered, forgetting that he was still holding the confused Snivy. "…I'm…glad to see you?"

The Ancient Minister was equally speechless. He had abandoned all hope for anyone to give him a helping hand, though Mr. G&W had been trying to do it to make him feel better. "…But how could you come back to life...again?" he asked. "You were clearly killed off in that battle without leaving a trace… Is this one of the miracles protecting you?" Chris blinked. "The army's surveillance cameras saw the times when you died before, but you somehow came back just fine… Are people like you blessed from the place you came from?"

Chris looked away. "...This is going to be definite last time I get to do anything," he said. "I had…lives to use in case I died. They were given to me because I need all the help I can get... It's complicated to explain things to you," he added, knowing full-well that he couldn't disclose more about the Underwhere. "But it's really me…ROB."

"…" The minister looked down, still not accepting his real name. "I thought I had lost all hope when you gave up your life for me back then… You showed me compassion; a trait that was long lost to me. All this time, I was yearning for company; for someone who could understand my feelings… To see you back in the world of the living…it's giving me back some hope." He looked up to the teen. He saw Chris was shedding a few tears. "If I had died instead of you, I wouldn't be able to come back as the same person I am. Such is a disadvantage of being a lifeless being… Haha… You living beings have it easy."

Chris cleared the tears with his left arm and swallowed air. "You're still a person to me, no matter what you are," he said. "All these experiences I've had taught me that everyone is a person. I don't want you to say that others 'have it easy' because…we all rejoice and suffer all the same… Oh, why are we talking about this now?" he asked, chuckling with content. "I'm just so glad to see you're okay."

"It's…hard for me to believe you're here," the minister said, "but it really sounds like it's you… My brain is trying so hard to process this possibility, yet something else in me is telling me that I shouldn't bother too much with it… Could this be a heart?" he wondered aloud. "I was never informed I had something so similar to one… Regardless of that…I'm so thankful to see you alive and breathing." Because Chris wasn't feeling so good with what he had talked to Pichu about last night, he felt it was right to kneel down and hug ROB rightly. It was a way to feel happy amidst his issues. The minister was lost about what to do. He got hardly hugged too much before, save for the times Peach a long time ago when the war started. He just stood there and received the affection, his eyes staring at the rest watching the scene and looking indifferent.

As Snivy hopped down and walked back to the group, they saw the two Smashers falling silent while listening to the sound of the waves splashing the shore and filling the crater. "If Chris hadn't been here," Ike began, "I would have destroyed that robot without hesitation."

"Same here," Fox said. "But honestly, it irks me to see him with us now. I'm just holding back because I don't want to make Chris any sadder than he is."

Ness forced a small smile. "Still… It's nice to see him happy for once," he said. "He deserves some compassion now and then."

The vulpine looked serious. "(And there's no damn way I'm letting any more turmoil get to him on my watch,)" he thought, ignoring how Morgan found the scene very adorable and wanted to hug the shady-robed figure herself.

Pichu chuckled happily until he noticed Snivy walking to him. "Just what is going on with you people?" she asked. "Believe me, I would never see or hear anything like this back home. It sounds extremely serious how you've gone through all these adventures and dangers, but it's also sounding very insane. I mean…that guy back there died more than once?"

"Oh… I know what you mean," Pichu said. "Things are very different outside our world."

"Wha…?" Snivy trailed off. "Our world? What does that mean?" She glared. "I demand answers right now. With this huge piece of metal next to us, you better believe me it's going to be hard to swallow the whole story."

The Electric-type looked confused. "That's odd. I thought you didn't care much about us," he said.

"W-well… A-ah…" Snivy stuttered and blushed. "…Well! How else am I going to ignore all this after I go back home? I WAS doing a journey of discovery, you know! No way am I going to forget the memory of nearly being crushed by a giant flying ship, which is pretty nonexistent in design from where I come from!" Pichu felt pressured by her demands that he was forced to explain nearly everything to her in the background.

"So now we're alienated with your killer," Soren told the others. "This calls for more carefulness of my part. He could have stabbed Chris on the back by now." Ike was sure that Soren meant more than that. It meant that the Branded wasn't going to be nice towards the minister in the slightest. "Don't give me that look, Ike. You're the most important asset to our company. I… We can't afford to lose you for real."

"I know, I know," Ike said. "He looks like he's sorry, though."

"Too early to tell," Soren simply replied. "Exercise extreme caution because we're having the shady ones coming to us."

The minister and the teen stopped hugging as a bridge lowered down from the deck to the edge of the crater. The other three walked down before focusing on the rest. The Ancient Minister saw the stares of the group he had murdered and moved forward, but not before looking back at Chris, who understood what he meant with the stare and moved forward with him. "I…I don't know where to begin," he said. "It's my fault that you all died so unexpectedly. Seeing you here with…with him just proves how unpredictable this world can be to others…including me. I can't ask you how angry you are with me... It's impossible to shrug off the feeling of your lives whisking away and forgive the one behind it..."

"You're very, very correct on that..." Pichu muttered.

"Since Chris didn't scream bloody murder when you got close to him," Ness began, "can we really say that you've become a good guy…again?"

Fox glared at the minister. "And will you betray us once more if things get downright nasty?" he asked.

The minister felt very intimidated by the question, until Chris placed a hand on his back. It was odd to feel that a simple touch from somebody gave strength to continue moving forward. Moral support was truly a wonderful feeling that pushed him out of doubts. "…You have my word that I shall never rebel ever again," he said. "I am sick of having to work for Tabuu, watching how my people keep being sacrificed for no reason. I only held my ground because I thought I could solve everything by myself, only to find out I was running away from the conflict. I know it would come after me soon enough anyway…and it would be much worse. My brethren suffer as we speak, and I wish to do anything in my power to see to their safety…even if it means I must take drastic decisions by siding with you."

"Then don't you ever think about taking drastic decisions against us," Soren warned him. Ike had the urge to facepalm. "You're robbing people of their lives too for your own ends. It won't justify anything no matter how you look at it."

"…" The minister looked away.

Chris looked worried. "You can do it," he whispered. "Talk back to him."

"…" The minister looked at Soren. "If I try to do anything morally stupid…then destroy me." The revived Smashers took it as a deal by nodding their heads. Even Morgan nodded, just to feel part of the deal.

Except the teen wasn't exactly expecting a reply like that, letting his mouth hang open. "…That wasn't what I meant!" Chris scolded loudly, making the rest gasp. The minister turned to him in shock. "I meant you should uphold the word! Don't think about dying if you know full well you won't go down that route in the future! Are you VERY sure you won't do that?"

"W-well…" the minister stuttered, "n-no… I-I mean, I will never do something dastardly like that."

"Good, just leave it like that," Chris said, sighing in relief. "Just think about being in my shoes for a moment. Getting yourself killed is the worst... I'd lose it if you died so easily; that's what I'm trying to say." He shrugged.

"Oh… I see…" He felt very thankful to hear the statement. "…Thank you." His words in turn made Chris smile a bit.

"Ah, he's back to his old self again," Mr. G&W suddenly spoke. "He was out for three days after the battle, and he never moved from the steering wheel at all… I'm also happy to see you again, Chris!" He looked at his comrades. "You guys seem like you like him too. I can't really say I'm a friend of his just yet... All we've done was flee from the factory since they set me free."

"Does that mean Chris also made friends with the fat blobs over there," Fox said rhetorically as he shot Dedede and Wario with a dull look. Both fat blobs glared. "I kinda understand how Dedede betrayed the army…but what does that other guy has to say?"

"The kid promised me double the money for my superb services after all's over with!" Wario said. Chris's left eye twitched. "How could I say no to that deal? I'll be richer than ever! Bwahahahaha!" His hearty laugh made everyone around him grimace.

"Oh man." Fox closed his eyes, feeling sorry for what Chris had done for Wario.

Both teams have united!

It took over an hour to explain what had happened ever since each member had any contact with the other. As Snivy and Morgan scavenged for information out of them, they were updated of all the events that had transpired. Because the hut was totaled and the minister suggested them not to board the Halberd for reasons he explained beforehand, they were sitting down around some fallen palm trees to discuss what they were going to do.

"So many problems to solve beyond this island," Mr. G&W said.

"I say we have some good chances to fight back any threat with our current numbers," Ike said as he looked at everyone present. "Counting the guests of the party, we're twelve people." Morgan preened that she was unofficially one of the guys, Snivy not so much.

"That means nothing if we can't go out from here, nancy boy!" Wario brought up. He earned Ike's ire with the nickname very soon. "We're gonna die out here from hunger!"

"Something tells me you'll be the last one to die," Ness commented wisely, staring at Wario's gut.

Wario slapped his gut in pride. "Good! It falls on me to be the leader!"

"…NO," the Smashers replied in unison, making Wario's jaw fall. He grunted and looked away in discontent.

Pichu looked at the Halberd. "Why can't we try to fix the Halberd?" he asked.

"We lack the necessary knowledge and tools to fix the damages," the minister said. "The main electric generator was supposedly damaged by an unknown event I have yet to discover. Without a power source, the battleship cannot sail."

"So much for an easy way out of this place," Fox said. "We could reach the mansion quickly with this."

"You mean the site of the explosion," the minister corrected. "No doubt that its location is radically different from what it used to be. Three days since the explosion was set off… They could be dead by now."

Ike shook his head. "They can't be dead. They just ended up in the Subspace," he said. "Soren was there when that happened. He only died because…because Marth stabbed him from the back." Soren grunted to himself, simulating the life-threatening stab across his heart.

"Backstabbing each other? Literally?" Dedede questioned. "What, did your guys go crazy in the head when they got in that there place?"

Hearing that his former enemies were killing each other over nothing sounded hard to believe. "Dedede, that's impossible," the minister said. "The Subspace is not designed to make people lose their mentality. Whatever transpired during Soren's point of view shouldn't have happened." He sighed. "I'm sorry I can't be much of help with that problem… We can only find clues and answers if we dive into the Subspace and rescue them."

"Couldn't they have defeated Tabuu?" Ness asked.

"...It's possible. Tabuu is still in recovery even after all this time," the minister pointed out. "He wouldn't confront them now, because he feels that he must regain his full power…and more."

Morgan decided to ask, "And more?" to get into the conversation.

"…His power depends greatly on the space a Subspace Bomb swallows," he explained. "If multiple bombs go off, he technically has the ability to become a god. The Subspace and himself are one and the same. It's like dwelling in his own body…but I have my suspicions that he is stronger… He never enclosed too many details about his state. Beyond commanding the Subspace creatures, he has hardly lifted a finger to engage in battle."

"Oh," she said, nodding a few times. The others exchanged glances and rolling eyes.

Pichu stood up from his seat. "B-but we have the Halberd right here! There should be something we can do to fix it!" he said. "It's like a big missed opportunity to have it right here but broken up!"

Dedede looked worried. "'Fraid Meta Knight knows the dinky-daddle of his ship, and he was there in the mansion, right?" he asked. "We're stuck here."

Chris looked frustrated. He wished so badly for their bad luck to go away already. "T-this is so unfair!" he complained. "Why is everything not working out so well like when we did missions?"

"Tell me something that is fair," Fox said duly, resting his chin on his right palm. "It'll be easier to find what is fair from this."

"I-I can't, but even so!" Chris said. He was desperate to find a way out. "M-maybe there is something in the island's jungle that we can use!"

"It's a damned deserted island," Soren said with intent to sound angry. "There are no tools in here. There are no traces of civilization anywhere. There are only palm trees and coconuts. There is absolutely no metal to synthesize equipment. Our only option is to build a larger boat with our new members." He shut his eyes. "Face reality. We are severely crippled as is."

Dedede rolled his eyes. "Ya must be such a hit in parties," he sarcastically said.

While everyone else was discussing and occasionally arguing what they would do – regardless if Soren provided an easy but long way out – Snivy took Pichu's attention. "I must stick with you all to get out of here…but you guys are making things look hopeless," she said.

"W-we'll reach a conclusion!" Pichu said. "Just give us more time!"

"No rush," Snivy said, looking back at the jungle. "I have the patience of a Rock-type… Hmm?"

Her eyes found an unusual sight behind some bushes. For an unknown reason, she saw a glaring color sticking out from the lush green bushes from the jungle. The color source was even stranger, as it was some sort of…pom-pom that occasionally swung to the sides, attached to a string that went down into hiding behind the bush. From the looks of it, the mysterious pom-pom was inspecting the Halberd's crash site to see if it was safe to touch and inspect it.

The pom-pom didn't notice them yet. With that in mind, Snivy narrowed her eyes and then bumped Pichu's shoulder. "Hey… Someone's over there," she whispered to him. Pichu blinked in shock at her before looking where she was pointing at.

Pichu opened his mouth fully, and whispered to the rest to look back to the jungle. One by one, they spotted the swinging pom-pom from afar. Its red color was too easy to spot even for people with bad eyesight. All talk fell into silence as they stared incredulously at the strange sight. "The hell…?" Fox trailed off.

"That's…a red ball," G&W said. "…There's a bobbing red ball in the jungle."

"Huh…" Chris narrowed his eyes. Somehow, the red ball looked oddly familiar to him. "…There's only one type of creature I know that has a ball like that… Is that a string?" he asked as he got closer, but still far away from it.

Soren didn't see how the ball was important. "We have other matters to attend to," he said. "What would be so important about that?"

From the bushes, the owner of the pom-pom walked out from its hiding spot, looking up in awe at the Halberd. When it walked out, some of the Smashers recognized the figure… It was a Black Mage Moogle that resembled greatly the Moogles from the Black Mage Village west of the mansion.

"The last time I saw someone like that, it mocked me for not being able to use magic," Fox mumbled, until he did a double take. "W-wait, there are people in this island?!"

Morgan giggled and stood up. "Heeeeeeeeeey, fuzzy thing!" she called out. "May I huuuuuuuuuuuug you?" The others gave her odd looks after hearing her request.

The Moogle blinked and looked to the shore's way, findings twelve sets of eyes fixed on his little frail body. Not a good public speaker, the Moogle gulped, yelped a loud "Kupo!" and turned tails deeper into the jungle.

Everyone else gasped at the development and immediately gave chase for the creature, leaving their meeting spot behind. "W-WAIT!" Ness yelled. "We're stranded on this island and we need all the help we can get! LEMME EAT YOU AT LEAST!"

"What a good idea! Eat the only source of help we can get," Mr. G&W said sarcastically. They could still make the outline of the flying Moogle among the bushes as they proceeded deeper into the island's innards…

Running as a large group and eventually getting out from the Halberd's sight, the twelve slowly started to lose sight of the running Moogle until they saw it diving down into some bushes. Five seconds of getting to the spot where it dove into, the group surrounded the strange finding that was nicely hidden among leaves and trees… It was some sort of manhole - wide enough for them to enter through - that was covered by a leafy cover.

"What do you know… There's something in here," Ike said as they all stared down at the unknown entrance.

"I have so many questions on top of the ones I already have," Ness said. "…Should we?"

"What question is that? Of course we should," Fox said, rolling his eyes. He ducked down and pulled the squared door up, revealing a ladder going down into a deep bottom where they spotted light from candles illuminating the mysterious location.

"Ooh, mysterious dungeon," Morgan said. "Can we go down now and find the adorable fuzzy ball?"

"Yes, we should," the minister said. "It may be worth to investigate the inhabitant of this island. Perhaps he has a way to help us…but I'm not getting my hopes up."

"Jus' go down!" Dedede said as he pushed his way through and started climbing down the ladder, followed by Wario, who commented that there could be treasure inside and he was going to get rich first. Exchanging glances, the team went down the ladder and closed the door.

Pichu and Snivy held onto Chris's shoulders as he climbed down between Fox and Ike. "I want to make it clear that I never knew there was a secret entrance in this island," Snivy told Pichu.

The light at the end of the ladder was actually further away than they thought. It took them about two minutes of climbing down that they realized that they were going far underground. Whatever the island was hiding, it was something huge, or probably small.

When everyone got down, the lights went out after Dedede landed on firm bedrock that was perfectly flat. Careful with their steps as they gasped, the twelve shielded the ladder and looked around the darkness for anything dangerous. "H-hey, we saw light in here!" Mr. G&W said. "We know there's someone here! We didn't come here to do any harm!"

"I did say I wanted to eat him," Ness muttered. Ike kicked him.

"Lies, kupo!" a squeaky voice called out from the darkness. "You have some questionably-looking animals in your group! Dear god, look at that fox guy! He's pissed because he's hungry!" Fox didn't look pissed at all until he was accused of it. "Now he's furious!"

Chris stepped forward and held up his hands, with a wary Fox staying close to him for physical protection. "R-really! W-we're just people in serious need of help! We got into this island by accident and we have no means to go back to our homes!" He joined his hands to beg. "Please, just listen to us! We're so desperate!"

…

A small candle lighted up right in the middle of the darkness, showing a small fuzzy figure standing on top of a table. With a wide, beady smile, it said, "How odd that you got here of all places! I knew there was a hidden charm in you lot."

The Smashers blinked in confusion at the familiar figure, while Morgan thanked the gods that she could die without remorse for seeing an adorable round creature wearing traveler clothes. "…Stiltzkin?" Chris said.

"Yup," Stiltzkin – the traveling Moogle who rarely ever uttered his species' verbal tic and had known the Smashers before - said with a nod. "How do you do, my friends? You find Mognet Central interesting so far?"

"What?" Ike asked. "Wait, how come you're here?"

"Silly man," Stiltzkin said, hopping once on each foot before looking around. "Okay, guys! You can turn the light back on! These people are good friends of mine!" The lights didn't on. "...They're not going to eat your pom-poms!"

In a blink of an eye, illumination came in, revealing an obscenely large setting that occupied a large space deep down within the island. The group gasped surprised at the sight of hundreds of different Moogles hiding behind conveyor belts, tables, lower and higher floors, and even behind mugs of coffee. This was just a rough way of describing the large network of Moogles that made itself present.

~ The Harlem of Mail Service, Mognet Central ~

Final Fantasy IX – Moogle Theme

The place they had found was a very large cave that housed the aforementioned Moogles that worked there. It was an incredible place hidden beneath the island. In front of them, there were visible floors that rose up high into the ceiling, the amount of floors being eight. With ladders going down at several points in the first floor, there were even underground floors down below. On each floor, multitudes of Moogles were standing in front of tables, conveyor belts that were covered with mail which were also strewn around the rocky floor, and counters to organize all the mail in their respective drawers. Drawers were neatly shown lying against the rock wall which the drawers, from afar, were all lined up one above the other from floor to floor.

The Moogles were plentiful, but there were so many kinds of them that were easy to tell apart. A majority of Moogles were dressed up in different attires that displayed their expertise in their Job System field, which was very similar to Chris's Job System: many seemed to be part of the Tinker and Moogle Knight jobs, while the rest fell into the minority as Thieves, Animists, Black Mages, Chocobo Knights, Fusiliers, Jugglers, Time Mages, and Flintlocks. Setting apart from them were Moogles that were dressed radically different but looked like cotton dolls with their beady black eyes and pink noses. Among the dressed Moogles were other Moogles that preferred to be undressed, and there were more Moogles that had no arms and were small in stature, which were no doubt the closest kind that resembled the happy Stiltzkin.

There were about a thousand Moogles in all, staring carefully at their visitors.

"Oh…my god…" Ness muttered at the sight.

"Deserted island my butt!" Dedede said.

"…Okay, everyone!" spoke a Fusilier that had an unusually deep voice for one of his kind. He stuck his head out from the sixth floor. "Back to work! These mails don't deliver themselves, kupo!"

And the order made many a Moogle shout "Kupo!" before everyone scrambled around to their workstations. The size of the cave was so big that the location didn't seem claustrophobic. But because of the sheer number of workers, the word "Kupo!" resonated at different times, nearly all at once a few times it would drive a non-Moogle person insane.

Stiltzkin himself stood on top a small table in front of the entrance. Nodding to himself, he hopped down to the floor and walked to them. "Welcome to Mognet Central!" he greeted. "This is a home for so many Moogles working together to deliver mail around this wide world!"

"...And all this was under the island the whole time?" Chris asked in disbelief, looking around at the many groups of merry Moogles flying and walking around.

"You say it as if Moogle Island was deserted to you…" the traveling Moogle said.

"This island even has a name?" Pichu asked.

"Yeah," Stiltzkin said. "It's obvious it's an island for Moogles! Even the shape of the island resembles a Moogle face from high up in the sky!"

Indeed. From outside with a bird's eye view, the island resembled a Moogle's face. The random palm trees and landmarks were positioned in a way that it would resemble the iconic creature.

The Ancient Minister was speechless for a bit as he spotted mail envelopes strewn around the floor. "Why is this city under the ground?" he asked. "Why the need to hide it here?"

"We Moogles like to be very secretive of our homes," Stiltzkin said. "Well, the Ivalician Moogles like to live among the other races, but other than them, the rest are alike… So! What brings you here?" he asked. "We haven't seen each other in a long while! What made you come here so suddenly?"

"Please understand that we didn't want to come here," Ike said. The traveling Moogle cocked his head. "Some…special circumstances took us to this place."

"…" Stiltzkin stared at each one of their faces. "Oh, I can tell you've gone through a lot, alright. Each one of you has this 'I can't believe this is happening to me' look."

The party shrugged as a whole at the claim. "How can ya tell?" Dedede challenged.

"Simple! I've seen a lot in my travels, I gained the ability to discern emotions and figure out people from one glance!" Stiltzkin said. "Too bad I can't quite pinpoint what happened to you. I can only tell it's been… Wow, it was incredibly nasty from the looks of things!" He dropped his jaw for a second. "Ever had the feeling that the universe…hates you?"

"Many a time it makes me wonder if it started with me back home," Fox said in defeat.

"Ha! I knew it," Stiltzkin said. "No worries, though! If I learned something about this, is that people help one another to overcome the harsh trials ahead. Clearly, your surprise visit to my home means that I must help you out in any way I can! SUCH IS FATE," he said in a failed attempt to sound dark and imposing.

A passing Time Mage Moogle muttered to them, "And he's off into his dramatic sentences, kupo."

"First things first!" the Moogle traveler said. "Want to have a tour around the central? I know every nook and cranny you can see."

"And get to hug every one of you?" Morgan piped up with glee at the thought.

"Sorry, ma'am! The board right next to you outlines the rules around here." Morgan and the others looked at a wooden board with rules inscribed on red paint hanging next to the entrance.

Do not skip work!

Do not distract the workers!

Do not drink too much coffee!

Do not eat mail if it smells sweet!

Do not fall asleep on the working conveyor belt and sue somebody for your recklessness!

Do not misplace mail!

Do not make a mess! (We are currently trying to solve this issue ourselves, kupo!)

Do not leave the door open!

Do not be pessimistic!

And most important, do NOT hug the Moogles!

Moogle Society for the Worker's Well-Fare, Kupo!

P.S.: The "Kupo" is part of the acronym, kupo!

"Aww…" Morgan groaned.

Ness kept staring and exploring each and every corner of the work site. "Why would you put a mailing service all the way in a deserted island?" he asked. "We didn't see any Moogles flying out when we came here."

"Flying across the ocean? That's too much work. Us Moogles can't keep flying for long," Stiltzkin said. "We prefer to deliver mail…from the underground!" he announced. "See how there are ladders going down into the ground? We use an efficient Gargant network that connects to every single corner of the world for delivering mail."

"A network of…what?" the minister said.

"Gargant network," Stiltzkin repeated. "You don't look like you know what a Gargant is so let me explain. Gargants are these giant bugs that travel through vines and walls. They look imposing, but they're nice bugs when you feed them with Gargant Grass. They're easy to tame and can pull a lot of weight with the mail bags we attach to their backs. They're a useful way of transport."

His last sentence clicked an idea in everyone's minds. "A way of transport to every corner of this world?" Ike wondered. "Is there any chance that those bugs can be used to transport people instead?"

"Hmm? What are you scheming?" Stiltzkin asked. "Well, we Moogles use them for transport ourselves. It can be tiresome to fly all the time without breaks, not to mention carrying the mail bags! We weren't made for heavy duty, but we are very delicate and calculating with little details."

Mr. G&W stepped forward. "Can't we use them to head over to the Smash Mansion?" he asked.

"You mean the area around Nintendo Village?" Stiltzkin asked. "Oh… You want to go there. Yeah, that's natural. I guess we could arrange a special delivery…" Many of them smiled in triumph. "…But you'll have to wait till the next carriage arrives. The next Gargant is scheduled to arrive in two hours. You're lucky that the Gargants can be equipped with seats for transporting people."

The cloudy skies were clearing over their minds, angels were singing and flying, and at the end of the road was a party with all the food they could get...or so Dedede thought. "Hell yeah!" Fox shouted, pumping a fist. The rest did similar actions and thanked the Moogle for his help. "Things are looking up now!"

Suddenly, Stiltzkin shivered. "W-wow… My fur is standing on end after agreeing to this…" he said, stopping their round of cheers. "It's an instinct of mine that alerts me of incoming danger. That's how I manage to find the safest ways around the world. And that instinct is telling me that you guys are heading straight into it…"

The Smashers had several rounds of twitching eyes.

"…What?" the traveler asked. "Hmm, I think you guys like to make the universe hate you, not the other way around!"

"...O-oh, dream on, you fuzzy ball," Dedede said with a grin. "We're plenty strong! We can handle things going our way! Friendship! Love! Trust! And love and…and all that!" Most of them frowned.

Even the traveler shrugged. "Whatever," Stiltzkin said. "While we wait for the Gargant to arrive, why don't I show you around?" It would be a nice gesture to let him show them around the post service center after helping them out with transport. Chris could hardly believe that they were slowly getting up from the ground. Soon, he would see his Lucario again, and the universe would be right, provided that his wishes were going to come true.

He wasn't prepared to voice out the decision he came up with unless someone asked him…

Time passed as Stiltzkin showed them the Mognet Central. Each floor had a long conveyor belt transporting mail through several levels. On each floor, the mail was sorted out to different drawers with the names of the various locations placed around the Smash World. Moogles flew and walked between the machine and the drawers, and somewhere in between where tables for workers to take a small break. At the top of the floors - on the eight - there were many bags with mail meant to be sorted out through the conveyor belt. The machine had a large upside-down cone where all mail was dropped down the belt, where it would pass through each single partition for check up. Once all mail was sorted out, it would all go back to bags with their destinations set.

The guests were impressed to learn that there was a near-identical room in size terms that housed the home of all Moogles, which were arranged in slots in the walls where beds and other furniture were arranged. It was like a giant underground neighborhood. Though there were more easygoing Moogles that slept on hammocks hanging up high in the ceiling. Being creatures with bat wings had their advantages. The guests were offered some slots to sleep in case they ever wanted to rest there.

Suddenly, as they were on the sixth floor, there was an alarm that set off once they saw the machine stopping. The Moogles stepped back in unison and yelled "Kupo!" with shock. Speaking of the phrase, the group was starting to get sick of the word. The Moogles liked to say it out loud many times that it eventually got into their heads, echoing nonstop. It was so bad that they let the word slip out from their own tongues at random times. Morgan didn't mind, as usual.

"Great," a Juggler said as he saw the dead machine. "The machine's busted, kupo."

"There goes another accident in our long streak, kupo," an Animist said as he walked left to the drawers where he erased the number 448 from a blackboard that had a banner on top that read "Days Without Accidents."

A Moogle stepped out from the crowd of Moogles near where the group was. Unlike all the cream-colored Moogles, this was a rare purple-striped Moogle with closed eyes. The stripes on his purple fur were neatly arranged in darker purple lines around his belly area. The back of his head had two purple stripes, in addition to the rest. "I forgot to present you to Artemicion!" Stiltzkin said, getting the Moogle's attention. "He's the boss of Mognet Central."

"Hello there, suspicious group of people, kupo," Artemicion greeted. "More friends of Stiltzkin, kupo. Did you cause any trouble with the machine, kupo?"

"I had my eye on them all the time," Stiltzkin said. "They behaved nicely. I think the machine needs more of that…Superslick of yours. The gears need it."

"…My hair gel again, kupo?" Artemicion said. "But it's hard to find in other towns and I like my fur all shiny and slick, kupo… Fine, I'll use it, kupo." He cleared his throat as he took out a hair gel bottle labeled "Superslick." "HEY TINKERS, GET TO FIXIN', KUPO!"

The Moogles known as Tinkers gathered around the machine as Artemicion handed the product over to them. The Tinker Moogle wore fingerless brown gloves, brown boots under pale blue pants, and a blue, long sleeved baggy shirt with pockets on the sides, where underneath they wore a plastic body suit that left their faces uncovered under the blue hat with a thick white brim and a yellow ribbon on top. The hat had a small hole for their pompoms to hang up high atop their heads without having a clothing malfunction. Their red bat wings were never on the way to getting their tools from their small bag-like backpacks on their backs.

Almost immediately, the product was making its way all across the office with small servings being applied on brushes that were brushing the gears underneath the large conveyor belt running across each floor. The full bottle of hair gel would be all used up in a single day as a result, much to Artemicion's dismay.

"Hair gel…" Ness trailed off in boredom. "You're using hair gel to gloss gears with…"

"It's super effective," Stiltzkin said. "And with our useful lot of Tinkers, we can fix anything that breaks in the central! No matter how small or big, the Tinkers can fix anything that is a machine or a generator! We're never short on hands."

The Ancient Minister stared long at the Tinkers dutifully fixing the gears with the gel, listening to Stiltzkin's facts. "They can fix anything, you say?" he asked, turning to the traveler. "Even…battleships?"

"Yes," Stiltzkin said. "Battleships are also in the book, but we don't get to fix any of those too often… Waaaaaaaaaaaaait… Ah, I know why you're asking me that now," he figured out. "We sent one of us to check out what was that tremor outside of here earlier. Was it…a battleship crashing down?"

The minister nodded. "It's our battleship. The electric generator was presumably damaged during mid-flight, along with other circuits," he said. He turned to Artemicion. "I see that your workers can fix machinery… Would it be too much to ask to fix the Halberd? We could use the Halberd to go back home instead."

The Smashers looked at the minister. "But we already have a sure way to get there," Soren said. "Why would you want to fix that?"

"It's Meta Knight's property," the Ancient Minister said. "I wish to give it back to him in optimal conditions. If he were to learn that his ship is…like it is right now, he would never forgive me for stealing it. It's only right to give it back."

"Right," G&W said. "He never gets to fly his ship without having an explosion."

A chilly wind went through Dedede's head. "Y-you sure he won't decide to slice 'n dice us? That masked nightmare won't be happy to see me! He'll kill me!" he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. True, he did smack Meta Knight away that one time, though he only did it because he got a lucky hit. That luck was drained down the toilet, and Dedede was going to be the next one to go down in there.

Ike sighed. "Meta Knight won't go out on a rampage and kill you, Dedede. I have never seen him go out to a killing spree over his battleship blowing up... Right?" he said to the others, who weren't looking forward to seeing Meta Knight without his property back with him.

Stiltzkin hopped on his feet. "The mainland you're trying to go to is north of here," he pointed out. "Using the Gargant, it'll take about three hours to reach the village. It goes at a speed of 30 MPH."

"The Halberd can reduce that time to a third, if it's fully repaired," the minister said. "It's more convenient to use it, too. What if we are forced to enter the Subspace? Having a massive weapon in our arsenal would be for the best."

"I wanna have things easy!" Wario demanded. "We'll blast Tabuu to hell with it! I won't have to kick butt that way!"

"Uh…sure," the minister said. "What says you?" he asked Artemicion.

"Oh, that's fine by me, kupo," Artemicion said. "The Tinkers like to fix a lot of stuff that not fixing something for a while makes them delirious. To give you an example…we couldn't use the Gargants for weeks because of a freak accident involving cheese and duct tape, kupo… Yeah... Don't ask how that even happened."

None of the crew wanted to ask how that happened and remained silent about it.

"Fixed!" a Tinker called out and the machine came back to life.

So much rejoicing later, the Moogles went back to work, as Artemicion gathered the Tinkers. "You guys got a huge job to do now, kupo," he said before pointing to the guests behind the large crowd. "See those guys? They have a large battleship outside that needs repairing so they can get to their homes, kupo. I see you're smiling wide, but don't rejoice now, kupo! I want to see you smile after you finish the repairs of that ship, kupo! Okay, now go out and make me proud, KUPO!"

"KUPO!" the Tinkers called out with a loud war cry, rushing out from the office to the large ladder. Instead of climbing, they all flew up in a large line, almost with perfect coordination.

Morgan was so moved that she shed a tear. "They're so useful…and so hugable," she muttered.

"This is great news, I suppose," Soren said. "I can't fathom how creatures like them can be able to work around with the odd devices from modern eras, but I can't complain either."

"You better follow them," Artemicion said. "They need pointers before they can get to work."

Because eleven out of twelve of them were sick of hearing the word "Kupo!" from the office every second, they decided to go out to take some fresh air, knowing for certain that they could rest assured that things were going their way at last. "I'm torn between being excited and being scared," Pichu suddenly said. "We'll get back home before the end of the day…or we'll get to the final battle…"

"Please, don't bring that up," Chris said. "I want to think everyone got out okay from the confrontation…"

"It makes me wonder how we haven't defeated Tabuu with just tossing Lucario at him," Ike said. "…Oh, we never got the chance. Maybe he did win."

Fox grunted as they started climbing the ladder. "Sure, all that work we did for months and he gets to steal the kill in the end," he said. "Unfair. What do you have to say, O owner of the beast of aura, overlord of massive destruction and ultimate death?" He looked down at Chris.

"…U-um… Hurray?" Chris meekly responded. Fox frowned with the others.

"(That is still too easy…)" the minister thought. He was the last one to climb up, as his climbing pace was slower than the rest. "(It's not solely about power alone. There are other factors one must consider in a fight against Tabuu… I wish I had a clue about what's going on over there.)" Sighing, the Ancient Minister continued climbing up with his mechanical claws.

~ The Hidden Resort, Moogle Island ~

Shore

The group of twelve made it to the shore area where a hundred Tinkers were looking up and down in awe at the broken battleship, hammers and wrenches at the ready. "Oh my gawd, kupo," one spoke, breaking into many more sentences from his companions, twitching in desperation to start messing around with the godly gift of the heavens before them.

"It's like a dream in the shore, kupo!"

"I am never going to wash these hands after this, kupo."

"I want to take a group photo shoot when we're done, kupo!"

"Can we keep it, kupo?"

"I wouldn't mind giving it a cleaning hand polish, kupo!"

"We shall name it Precious, and it shall be ours, kupo."

"Quiet, all of you," the Ancient Minister spoke loudly, making his voice be heard to the fuzzy Tinkers. They turned to his direction and awaited orders. "The problems with this ship are the electric generator along with some other maintenance systems connected to the cockpit. The gasoline is low, but I don't suppose that you have gasoline to spare?"

"We do, kupo," a Tinker spoke from the crowd. "We've got thousands of gasoline reserves at the central. We can spare some for you."

"Oh, that is good," the minister said. "The generator and other machinery can be found in the lower portion of the ship. It's actually called the Reactor room." At the mere mention of the word, many Moogles put up dreamy looks on their faces. They were about to drool at the thought. The minister, on the other hand, wasn't used to seeing such faces that he got very perturbed. Were all non-robots like them? "…I…shall just take you there myself. Please follow me."

He was about to show them an entrance from the lower left side of the Halberd when suddenly, a Tinker from the crowd stopped in his tracks and looked around in confusion. "Hold on, you guys, kupo!" he called out to his team. His ears were twitching under his hat. "I hear something odd coming from this ship!"

"It's possibly a short fuse emitting sparks," the minister said…until he heard that there was a sound far too heavy within the ship. The sound was something close to metal rolling over metal. Whatever it was, it was definitely heavy and making loud sounds. "…That sound wasn't there when we got down the ship."

The sound got gradually louder until it fell silent.

Some of the Smashers approached the sand crater. "What's going on?" G&W asked.

The front of the ship was met by an explosion that blew up the lower side, causing panic among the Moogles as everyone backed away from the smoke for protection. Shocked at the event, the minister backed with the rest, seeing that there was a large hole on the front where the smoke came out. "It was this kind of explosion that took place before the ship fell down!" the minister yelled.

Before he could say anything else, the Smashers noticed a strange silhouette coming out from the large hole of the ship and climbing up the slope of sand. Although the smoke made it hard to look through, the silhouette rolled out with its large two wheels, supporting two halves that were blue and pink in color. The halves had weapons of their own: the blue one had large sharp bladed-limbs with an axe-like head, while the pink one relied on lasers on its arms and head. It was a large machine that was responsible of the explosions that brought down the Halberd.

Only three people were quick to recognized the machine: Mr. G&W himself felt shivers just looking up at the behemoth, Fox narrowed his eyes in recognition of the figure and took his stance in front of a terrified Chris, and the Ancient Minister was silent with confusion until he spoke, "Back then when we escaped from the factory, I wondered why you were missing among the others… They tossed every single important person at us, but you never appeared. Even Meta Ridley chased after us… You were hiding inside the ship all this time…Duon."

Duon chuckled confidently, its two halves chuckling at the same time. "Yes, that is right," the blue half said. Then the pink half said, "And I shall exterminate you all before you try to meddle in our affairs anymore!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"The Final Line of Defense Towards Home."

Do you want to save your data after the events of today?

Totally, man

Overwrite File?

Yes

~ Moogle Island ~

Chris, Ike, Fox, Ness, Pichu, Ancient Minister, Wario, Dedede, Mr. G&W, Soren, Morgan, Snivy

The drama, the suspense, the discomfort, the mystery, the universe hating them, that Snivy... Oh, I love this story.

Really, did you think I was going to use the overused theme of people getting lost in an island and go insane with each passing day, culminating in Ike making a new best friend on a coconut? Oh no. This story is better than that. That's why it has many explosions...

Wait, do people like that a lot in movies? Have I even put enough explosions into this? Okay, I'm kidding there.

Serious time. With the appearance of a Fire Emblem: Awakening character in the story, I have pretty much revealed that Chris's knowledge of his video games has become obsolete, as games of the future will appear earlier to him outside his world. That implies quite a lot, doesn't it? Now please stop jumping on your seats. If we ever get back to the Mansion Chapters, expect those to be a lot zanier than usual... Oh wait, stranded on an island with a killing machine the Ice Climbers should've fought in a cutscene of the game. Did you think I forgot about Duon? Nope, so it gets the chance to shine brighter than its allies.

Will the Moogles even help the fighters in the next fight? Only the first paragraphs of the next chapter know.

I encourage everyone to review, or else the Moogles will claim ownership of Precious and Chris is catching that Snivy.

Chris: I hardly think a new Pokémon is going to make me feel any better...

Snivy: *In her speech* I hardly think a human like you is going to change my mind about how utterly infuriating your kin is.

Chris: I didn't understand anything you said so...I'll pretend you just agreed with me.

Pichu: Y-yeah, that's for the best...
*Chapter 214*: The Final Line of Defense Towards Home

Returning to normality is the biggest challenge yet...just as how this chapter got really big.

From GuyroMaster: So the games are moving along quicker than Chris' world is. That could be problematic for the World Traveler who is supposed to or did have knowledge of many different video game worlds.

So we get to see Duon battled. I can see why Mr. G&W is a little freaked because he WAS that thing in the war at one point...unless the SSE is not 100% canon to the story line.

Also...are you giving us a small glimpse of Snivy because it's a new Pokeball Pokemon in the new Smash Bros? Just thought I would ask.

From me: Naaah, I can confirm that nearly every event of the SSE was canon here, except for the extra trio of characters (TL, Wolf, and Jigglypuff) being thrown into the mix, how there was a plan to lure Tabuu out from the beginning, and the disastrous final battle that...made this story be born.

The addition of Snivy was never intended to connect with the main game. In fact, she was already planned to appear like seven months ago while I was stuck in the TWEWY arc. It was a coincidence she turned out to be a Poké Ball Pokémon in the main game... I suppose I can make a connections there.

From monotoinetim: i just read the whole story and now im deaf

From me: ...There's no humanly way you can go deaf by reading.

From Ckbrothers: 1: will there be any more Nintendo game arcs? (There has been a lack)
2: will the next arc Include finding new smashers, Nick Fury style? (Marvel Comics reference)
3: will Chris need a video game phycolgist? (Seems plausible)
4: Will you ever go back to that riolu? (either they find him or Chris looks for him hopefully; I love that riolu!)

From me: More answers?

1: Maybe there will be...a lot?

2: No idea what Nick Fury does in Marvel (as I'm not really a fan of the franchise) but it's unknown at the moment.

3: If he were to go to a psychologist, the story would end with him being taken to a madhouse. So, probably?

4: That Riolu is forever lost, and you will never see the adorable puppy ever again!

From BobTheCat240501: Ok first thing first. I called the Halberd landing onto the island where the former players was. If you think about, all the possibilities how they would escape from the island are rather limited. I mean there's, Master Hand suddenly alive locating them and rescuing them (cliche), there's the random moogle letter mail thingy-ma-bob which seemed really random and totally out of place ( like Morgan and Snivy, but we'll get to that later) and then there's the Halberd, a ship heading towards a plot hole if you hadn't crashed the ship into the island where (conveniently) all the former dead people are. All I'm just saying that it was rather obvious. Maybe that's just me.
Anyway,Next topic Morgan and snivy.
Hopefully, Morgan and snivy isn't some random sub-plot. I have some theories that Morgan is related the Marth killing soren and that this snivy is actually the same snivy in ur pokemon fanfic.
Also I found you didn't execute the atmosphere of the whole 'we are trapped on a island' very well. It just felt very light- hearted.

Anyway I hope you update soon.(:

From me: I do admit it was kind of obvious for the Halberd to crash in there, though using the other options ruins the big surprise about their fate. Will that be answered in this chapter?

Morgan has nothing to do with Soren's murder. She's mostly there to point out that the worlds are moving much faster than they are through the real world's perspective. Chris doesn't have any idea about which people shouldn't show up so early so he just brushes them off as people from games he hasn't played yet. But besides the figurative sense, Morgan's existence also points out another crucial thing... Is her father aware she exists? I'm surprised no one has asked who the mother is.

As for Snivy... Uh... N-no, she totally isn't the same Snivy you've seen in that other story. What makes you think that?

As I explained before, I wasn't going to make the six guys + Morgan be the victims of being trapped on an island for too long because I've seen how many of the readers wanted to get back to the Smash stuff ASAP, so which is why I didn't spend three chapters trying to make these people go insane eating coconuts and giving names to their food. Sorry if it wasn't your mug of coffee...

From GoldenYoshistar1: IDEA! Make an Animation of all of this once this story is complete (starting with Bond of Aura first)
Each Chapter could be a separate video

Just an Idea... but could be really neat.

People could read whats happening as well as watching it to.

From me: That sounds super excellent and all, but I can't do that on my own. It'd take far more time to make an opening than writing twenty chapters using that much time. If it was a thing...I'd die happy.

From FanFictionfan: ... I don't even know where to begin. well i guess ill start with questions.
1. are you going to do a arc so megaman can join the smashers?
2. are mewtwo lucario and charizard going to mega evolve?
3. what happened to the riolu will we see him again?
4. will you add in all the new supersmashbros. characters? I read this story in a month and a half and im impressed on how far you and the story has come. From Chris meeting the hands in his house to Chris running away with R.O.B. it's easily the largest stand-alone written story in a long while. you should try to contact Nintendo to make something like an anime out of this.

From me: Even more answers.

1: An arc for Mega Man? It has to happen someday, but sadly I need time to get familiarized with his series because I completely skipped on it in favor of Mega Man X, Legends, Zero, and Battle Network. Him joining the Smashers? I can't really tell.

2: Who knows? Maybe. If I ever did that, I wouldn't overdo it every time they'd fight. I'm probably one of the few people who oppose Mega Evolutions because I'm fairly certain Game Freak has abandoned evolving old Pokémon the old-fashioned way unless their name is Eevee, and that's terrible in my opinion. Poor Sableye needs a stone to evolve incompletely...

I guess what I'm trying to say from the bottom of my heart is...DAMN YOU, KORRINA!

3:YOU SHALL NEVER SEE THE RIOLU.

4: Again, maybe.

5: I should really try contacting or letting Nintendo know about this huge thing. I fear they might sue me to hell if they ever found out. At least I deserve some award for making this huge-ass story in their name.

WELL! Hopefully, all of your doubts concerning the rest of the plot of this saga will be answered as you move along this chapter. This chapter sets up so many stuff for the rest of the story, even... Yet more trials and tribulations are in order.

Let the curtain for this chapter be raised, and all Snivy lovers be encouraged to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The trollness gauge of this story shall rise to the heavens by simply adding a single character to it. Pick your goddess and...be afraid.

Chapter 214: The Final Line of Defense Towards Home

~ Moogle Island ~

Impact Site

The dozens of Moogles watching the mechanic menace wanted to scrap it down and study how it worked. To their misfortune, the machine was evil and murderous-looking that approaching it was greatly discouraged. "Duon..." the minister muttered loud enough for the machine to look down at him and his crew. "All this time, you've been hiding as a stowaway inside the Halberd... You're the reason why the ship was slowly deteriorating."

Duon laughed. "How reckless of you, minister, for not bothering to check things out for yourself. Tabuu put such a lot of trust in you, and you repay him with betrayal...again?" It shook both of its heads. "What has he ever done to you?"

The minister grunted. "Why the need to repeat what you already know? That despicable being enslaved my companions for his own ends, sacrificing pairs after pairs of them to drop those awful Subspace Bombs all over!" he yelled but soon calmed down. "I had it with his schemes...so I betrayed him again, and I plan to leave it at that for as long as I live."

"What a waste of living steel..." Duon noted before looking at the others. "Let's see... More betrayers...a bunch of stupid-looking creatures...and...dead people?" It leaned forward. "What is the meaning of this? Why are those dead Smashers with you? I thought they were gone forever from our sights! Is this some sort of illusion I cannot compute?"

The minister looked back at his group and then back to Duon. "Believe me... Reality can be very unpredictable when it wants to, but I can't complain about this unusual arrangement as long as it helps me to destroy every single one of Tabuu's minions," he said. "You are another stepping stone who refuses to being stepped on."

Duon frowned. "This is rather troubling to us if you Smashers can't just lie down and die..." the blue head spoke until the pink one whirled around to face them forward. "It makes our work harder than ever knowing death is giving you free passes...so to fix that..." it pointed its cannons at them without charging, "...vaporizing you into dust is all we need to do!"

Mr. G&W raised a trembling hand, which looked like it was glitching due to his unique body. "S-stand back, you double-headed monster!" he called to the duo machine. "Y-you shouldn't fight us if you think that's good for you!"

"Huh? Why not?" Duon asked.

"B-because we have a big army of engineers right behind us who will no doubt scrap you down to the last nut you have tightened up in those murderous weapons of yours! R-right, guys?!" He turned around and saw the ravaged piece of land the Halberd left behind with the sandstorm it brought up, completely deserted of a single Moogle Tinker. The Moogles all had silently flown away back to their hideout without making much of a sound somehow, and the only one standing there was a deadpan Chris staring in shock at the empty scene behind their backs. Only the group of Smashers and their guests were there, though Snivy was hiding behind several palm trees to watch them from afar. "...Uh..."

"And here I thought they were fighters...all of them," Fox muttered with some anger. "Once again, the universe likes to tease us so badly in the worst way possible."

"...Who cares about those creatures?" Duon asked, sounding offended. "My only task here is to eradicate the betrayers, along with the extra baggage that was meant to stay DEAD!"

As the minister engaged in a long argument with the machine, the last word he said made Chris freeze on his feet, breathing in and out rather quickly and clutching his Black Mage rod firmly and hard. He didn't want to fight so soon. He didn't want to fight such a huge machine whose only goal was to make sure they all died. One fatal hit...one fatal mistake...and it was going to be it for real with no going back to his peaceful life. He shivered as his mind started racing with very gruesome images of any of his limbs bursting into blood or being cut down with the large blades. He could have broken down right there and then, but he had forgotten one vital positive side in this battle...

The vulpine in front of him heard the heavy breathing coming from behind his back. He looked over his left shoulder and opened his mouth seeing Chris's soulless look. The pupils in his eyes were actually shrinking under extreme fear of death, and Fox knew well he wasn't wrong about his guess. "(I have to do something for him! He can't even tell I'm looking at his face!)" Fox thought. He was about to yell, but he kept his voice low to avoid making Duon look their way. "Chris, listen to me!" he whispered loudly.

Chris's shocked eyes snapped back to normal when he heard a voice calling to him, quickly realizing he was standing behind the vulpine. "Y-yes?" he asked, sounding a little too much scared for his tastes.

"Listen..." Fox dropped the glare in his eyes to look more inviting. "No matter what happens in this fight...stay close to me, and I'll stay close to you to protect you from that scumbag, okay?"

It was a nice gesture coming from Fox, but Chris felt he was going to be a burden and cause a massive mistake in the fight by getting someone killed instead of him. He would never feel okay after that forever. "Fox... I-I-I can't...! Please, just... I-I'm going to hide somewhere in the jungle to stay safe..." he said.

While that was probably the best option for the teen, the vulpine wasn't so sure if losing an extra helping hand was the best choice. Moreover, Chris possessed healing abilities; magic that no one else in the Smasher group possessed and came in very handy for life-and-death situations. "...Can you try to heal any of us from afar?" Fox asked.

"I...I can as long as I'm not that far away from the fight..." Chris looked back at the leaves and palm trees with Fox following his gaze. "...I think I can do it just fine without wandering further away into the jungle. I also have to...to stay put while I chant spells. That's when I need to avoid even the smallest hit to interrupt me before my spells work."

"Yes, that's good," Fox said. "You should only focus on healing during the whole duration of the fight. If you happen to hurt that thing a bit...it will go after you no doubt." He saw Chris shivering at the thought. "You're not forgetting I'm here for you, right?"

Chris blinked and looked at Fox. "I-I'm not," Chris said.

Fox smiled. "Don't you worry if it does spot you. If that happens, I'll jump right into the action and distract him to give you time to go back into hiding. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe...but I expect you to keep me safe with your skills, okay? Each one of us needs to put their weight to good use."

There had to be fairness in a fight. And with some hope of protection thrown in, the teen felt a little better someone in there cared too much about him. Chris forced a small smile as he said, "Okay... I'll keep everyone healed while I hide away."

"Nice," Fox said nodding. "But don't go into hiding yet. Do it when it's not looking our way." With a strategy set, the two went back to staring at the machine finishing its long winded argument with the minister. Chris felt scared anyway, but with Fox supporting him, it was so much better to move around without freezing.

Ike was glad he had a copy of Ragnell still with him thanks to Chris, so he stood in front of the whole group and pointed his sword at Duon. "Do you truly believe you have a chance to fight all of us at once?" he asked.

Duno looked at the eleven fighters scattered around in front of the sand crater. "The last time I fought was against six people at once. I had been defeated that one time because I greatly underestimated your underhanded tactics...but this time..." the blue body faced them with its blades pointing forward...followed by the pink cannons on the back rotating clockwise in such a way that they were positioned over the blades, making the Smashers gasp, "...upgrades to my fighting style are a must."

"Oh...crap," Fox said. "It never did that before!"

"So the rotten forest mammal remembers that fight. That's cute," Duon said. "...Now, DIE!"

Boss Battle Song 1

The battle began as soon as Duon charged forward to the left side of the field, where he locked on to Ike, Soren, Morgan, Ness, Pichu, and Mr. G&W. The six of them were quick to scatter around the field just when Duon fired a barrage of missiles and bombs for long range attacks, while its stretched blades were meant to slice anyone foolish enough to get close to it. When Ike remembered Morgan got into the fight, his worries told him to convince her to stay away. "Morgan, flee!" Ike commanded. "This battle isn't yours to take!"

Morgan for once put up a serious look that sent a shiver to Ike for a brief moment. "I won't flee from this fight, not with you all fighting behind my back to cover my back, Ike," she said. Ike wanted to continue the conversation, until a missile blew up between the two, forcing them to back off and cover themselves from the burst of sand and gunpowder that followed. Behind the small sand curtain, Morgan took out an Elfire tome from her robes. "This is perhaps my greatest chance to prove myself to you!"

"The little girl will prove herself worthy of being annihilated first, then!" the blue Duon spoke as he aimed straight at her.

With eleven fighters to deal with in the fight, Duon seemed to not look towards the other five sneaking behind his unguarded back. The minister, Fox, Dedede, Mr. G&W, and a reluctant Wario got behind to face the pink body, while Chris managed to hide behind the bushes close to their area, changing to his Fonic Hymn User job and clutching his staff with both hands to watch for any sudden injuries and incoming blows. "The back is unguarded. Strike there while it's busy taking on the rest," the minister told his group.

Their hopes of striking back blows were dashed when the pink body looked down on them. "Do you really think I'd leave my back unguarded, you useless fools?!" the pink portion asked with an ensuing laugh. Seeing them gasp in unison, the pink body charged a blue orb on top of its head that didn't waste much time to fire quick, silent laser shots at each one of them. Ten shots were fired at once, and although they tried to dodge them, they all got hit and pushed back with sparks jumping out their bodies. "Hahahahahaha!"

"(T-that's my cue!)" Chris thought alarmed as he saw the scene from his hiding position. "(Ugh, there are way too many people to heal at once...)" A big disadvantage of his healing spells was that while he could extend the healing effect to all party members, the amount of people affected how much his magic would work on them. Those were only the drawbacks for the spells that targeted everyone and not a single person. For now, Chris focused on Fox and took some time for his concentration to finish. "Energize... First Aid!"

Fox's body was cured from the two strikes to his body, nearly healing him back to full health. Thankful that Chris was keeping an eye on the battle, the vulpine sidestepped from a missile coming from the pink body. The explosion alerted his team to scatter all over. "It wasn't like this before, definitely!" Fox said. "The last time I fought this guy never had him strike from any sides!"

"Just like brainless monkeys like you can learn from their mistakes, I can adapt much faster!" the blue body spoke, its blades pointing straight towards Ike as the machine rushed ahead to mow him down. "Have your resolves been crushed under the harsh reality yet?"

Ike dove to the left to avoid the rushing stampede, the machine whizzing by to the far left side of the beach. "(Huh? Why am I slower?)" Ike thought. "(I haven't been injured. What's the deal?)"

Duon whirled around and faced the ten of them. "You've been warned many times before not to get into our matters. You keep getting in the way...SO OFF WITH YOU!" Charging its wheel to have a running start, the machine aimed its cannons and blades forward, where it shot a barrage of missiles down to the sand. Due to the setting, Duon was using it for its advantage by uplifting sand into the air and creating smoke screens left by explosions. It then sped into the confusion of the smoke and sand in the air with guns blazing and blades stretched to the sides, cutting right through the smoke.

Outside the smoke and sand, Chris heard the heavy wheel tore into the chaos, followed by loud screams that sent many chills to his bones. The lack of visibility was a big disadvantage, as he needed to see who he was going to heal. With so many screams coming out at once and piling up one after another, he needed to be prepared for the worst. "(C-calm down...c-calm down! Cry your eyes out when everything is truly lost...!)" he told himself.

To his shock, Duon reached the other side of the smokescreen and whirled around to face the smoke again. He crackled with joy and stopped in its tracks to see the smokescreen clear out... While the sight was truly marvelous to it, it was horrifying to the World Traveler. Duon managed to get many of the fighters in one fell swoop. He knocked out Ike, Mr. G&W, Pichu, Dedede, and Wario. Fox, Soren, and Morgan managed to get out of trouble, but the explosions had done a big number on them seeing as they were charred with trails of blood on places Chris would get sick from staring for too long (thankfully, they didn't lose any limbs), said places being deep cuts that sliced their clothing and reached their skin. The fact their eyes had been messed up with the sand was even worse. And the minister...

"(Where's ROB?!)" Chris thought alarmed as he surveyed the area for signs of the minister.

The Ancient Minister appeared from the slope of the crater, looking unscathed despite the tattered clothes from the fight against Meta Ridley. Seeing the traitor, Duon said, "See what your betrayal forces us to do, minister? You are tossing their lives away for a worthless cause!"

The minister had the advantage of being equipped with the latest in eyesight technology to see through smoke and be unaffected from annoying situations like getting sand in the eyes. He looked to his team and cursed how their numbers were falling down. "A shame you couldn't manage to kill us with that one attack, Duon," the minister retorted, making both heads of the machine furious. "Just as always, the Subspace Army fails miserably to exterminate their foes for good..."

"Grrr! You cocky faceless robot!" Duon hollered as he aimed his cannons at the minister, who then shot a fully charged laser shot into the right cannon where it blew up from inside and incapacitated the machine. "Argh!"

"Try crushing my resolve again, Duon," the minister taunted. "Each try you do will get progressively worse for you more than to us."

Fox coughed. "G-great idea! Why don't we make the big double-headed machine furious? That sure is gonna help us!" he yelled sarcastically.

"But...it just might!" Morgan said. "I read in a book before that angry enemies are more likely to fail at their attacks than one that's calm! ...Or wait, was it an encyclopedia or a note on a book?"

Soren looked back at Ike dropped down on the sand, spotting a trail of blood underneath his body. "This...can't be...!" he breathed out.

Right before Soren was about to lose it, a shining light descended from the sky and touched Ike's back, pulling him back up on his feet and restoring the bloody scar under his clothes. Admittedly, he wasn't at full health. "I'm...okay..." he breathed out.

While the Branded was thankful that Ike hadn't died, the two never found out it was Chris's doing who revived Ike and restored his wounds with Resurrection. He was quick to focus on Pichu's lifeless body, until he noticed a crucial fact. "(Something isn't right here... Our ability to revive after being knocked out isn't triggering at all! What's going on here?)" he thought while preparing his next spell. "(I don't know for sure if we're getting out of this one safely...)"

The problems only would get worse from there once Duon noticed Ike standing back up with the reviving spell. A quick scan through its eyes revealed that two out of the eleven fighters were missing from plain sight."Hold on a minute! Where are the other two?!" it demanded.

"(Oh, crap!)" Fox thought. "(He already noticed...!)"

Chris felt the chills now that Duon was looking out for him. The machine knew full well that the human of the real world was an annoying hurdle that always refused to stay down. Not wanting to let the teen go unnoticed, Duon began to search for the missing Smasher with both sides analyzing the surroundings. Now that he was with them, the Ancient Minister struck the blue head with another charged laser. The hit was followed by Morgan and Soren joining forces and sending a slicing gust of wind and large fireball straight to the same point, making the machine lose focus on locating the World Traveler. "Insolent bugs!" Duon bellowed, dropping out the search and opting to take them all down first to confront the healer for last.

In the background, Pichu's small body was brought back to normal thanks to Chris. The electric-type shook his body from the sand and saw Duon already charging forward with all blades and a single-working cannon. There was no doubt the machine was going to use that extremely dangerous tactic to reduce their eyesight and mow them down again, so Soren had already a strategy in mind. "SPREAD OUT! DON'T REMAIN STANDING CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER AND SEPARATE TO REDUCE CASUALTIES!" he yelled out as loudly as he could.

"What he said!" Morgan added.

The standing fighters spread out across the sandy area to avoid being struck down in a single move, with Fox suspiciously standing near the greenery scenery where Chris was hiding. Grunting as it saw its foes spreading, Duon stopped its spinning wheel from charging forward. "You're only slowing down your demises! But if you want to play it this way, so be it!" it said. It couldn't manage to stop Dedede standing back up from the reviving spell tossed his way. With shrunken irises and being the only one in Duon's line of sight, the kind panicked and ran away. "And it seems I have my first target: the fat traitor!"

"AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" Dedede shrieked. During his fleeing, he started to take out as many Waddle Dees as he could from out of his sleeves to slow the machine down. The ten Waddle Dees stared up at the machine's red glaring eyes, gulped, and turned tails to join their cowardly king and leave him behind in the dust. "S-some subordinates you are!" Dedede complained. He took out one last Waddle Dee when he heard a big engine quickly gaining up on him and tossed his last meat shield behind without looking...

The Waddle Dee he took was a Gordo, which spun wildly right towards the blue head and struck its left eye with a spike that got lodged into it. With a loud scream, Duon stopped advancing and sliced the Gordo in half. "Damned...fat...idiot!" Duon complained, its damaged red eye shooting sparks. Its episode of pain got worse when a laser struck its damaged head, worsening the pain in its circuits.

"The battle started with the wrong foot, but as you can not plainly see, the tides can change so abruptly," the minister said to the point he started chuckling. "Do you still want to continue fighting?"

"I'll scrap you down!" Duon yelled, turning its back to let the pink portion become the main frontal attacker. Locking on to the Ancient Minister, Duon charged forward with one cannon shooting missiles and the blade arms stretched to the sides on the back. His former ally creating a long trail of sand and smoke, the minister wasn't about to get himself caught in it by going down near the blasted hole in the Halberd. Running inside the ship was a viable option, but the minister wanted to avoid leading the enemy inside and cause more collateral damage.

The minister shot a laser into the smoke once he spotted Duon's silhouette, but the other machine dodged it and charged down into the sand crater. The Ancient Minister turned away from the Halberd and rushed back up and away from the metallic contraption chasing him down. "(The others need to be healed while I have Duon's attention. Hopefully he'll take advantage of the extra time I'm giving to him...)" the minister thought, thinking back on Chris.

Back outside the sand crater, Chris revived Wario for last and now focused on healing wounds. Fox found his hiding spot and went over to check on him. "You okay, Chris?" he asked.

"Y-yes, I haven't been hit since this fight started, but Duon is already aware I'm making its progress slow," Chris said, focusing on Fox to heal him first. "If it finds me...I'll be in deep trouble..." His fears caught up too quickly as he lowered his rod and started shaking, the spell getting interrupted. "I-I don't...want to..."

Fox grimaced. "Pull yourself together now... It's thanks to you we can keep fighting back without worrying about dying, and in return we keep you safe," he tried to encourage, though he was being very honest. "Don't lose hope yet!"

"...Thank you," Chris thanked, but he ignored Fox's grin as he looked behind and saw Wario taking off away on his motorbike. "T-that fat bastard is running away!"

The vulpine looked to the general direction and grunted loudly. "Oh, no he won't!" Fox said as he took off to catch up with Wario's somewhat slow vehicle moving at half its speed over the muddy sand. With the encouragement given to him, Chris restarted his spell to heal his close comrade.

The dire situation only made Soren far more insufferable, though his reasons to keep everyone in line were honest, even if he primarily wanted to keep himself and Ike the last ones to die. While Ike stood nearby and watched Fox chase after Wario, the Branded said aloud, "Long-range attackers should stick to their jobs! Close-combatants, only advance forward while the beast is busy fending off long-range attacks!"

"That means I'll have to attack once I see an opening," Ike said. "Right now I feel very sluggish for some reason..."

Soren shot him with a look. "Sluggish how?" he asked. "Is it the sand on the beach that's reducing your movement? It isn't as bad as when we tried to hunt down Muarim's group."

"Well, how do I put this? I feel slower than usual ever since I came here...and I'm not even injured on my legs."

Soren wiped some sweat away. "This better not be a joke, Ike. The last thing we need is you running like a turtle... For the time being, stay focused on the monster and attack once you see an opening." The mercenary nodded and ran away, although at a slower speed Soren didn't remember. The Branded could even outrun him without having to walk, or that was what Soren thought.

The Ancient Minister came out from the sand crater, followed by Duon charging out and firing missiles to strike the traitor down and terminate him with its blades. While the Subspace weapon was busy charging forward, it was struck by Morgan's fireball exploding on its face. "I want to help everyone!" she said, her hand held out to Duon. "If I defeat you, I'll prove myself to the guys!"

Duon turned directions and went after Morgan. "Who are you? My data doesn't have any records of a red-haired girl with the group. But now that you want to die..." Soren couldn't afford the beast to strike the spell casters of the group. They were the only ones who could strike from afar without getting into trouble standing close. With Duon going after Morgan, the team would be crippled with one less mage.

Morgan didn't run away. She stubbornly stood her ground with her open tome ready. "Confound it all. Morgan, move!" Soren ordered. He was slow to prevent the three missiles being shot to the tactician girl.

Time slowed down for the people watching the explosives seeking Morgan. The girl did think that she should had run away, though she wanted to help so much that she considered her choices at the last second. With nothing else to do but endure the blows coming after her, the tactician...spun on her right foot and felt the magic trying to leak out from her hand quickly. "Time to even the odds!" she said aloud. "Luna!"

The fireball that came out of her hand shot wide across the three missiles, destroying them in midair halfway through their path. The fire however shot out so fast that it practically sliced the projectiles with ease and then collided so badly against Duon's pink body, scorching its body as the fire affected its inner circuits. It screamed loudly and shook itself off by spinning on its spot and clearing the flames away. "H-how did this happen? My body is hard impenetrable steel that cannot be damaged by mere fire alone!" Duon said. "Who are you?"

While the out-lookers were surprised by the attack's power, Morgan thought it was a perfect chance to strike a pose and boast. "I am Morgan, Master Tactician...in-training!" she said proudly, standing on her right foot with her Elfire tome above her head.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...And you morons don't know why we want you gone so badly," Duon said, breaking the silence.

"(Luna?)" Ike thought as he stared at Morgan. "(The defense-breaking ability? But it's only reserved to devoted Halberdiers like Nephenee and Devdan. Morgan isn't a Halberdier at all, so why does she have that?)"

While the battle resumed from there, Chris was done with healing party members. As he watched Fox dragging Wario back to the fight, the World Traveler changed jobs to his Scholar jon and used Study to analyze Duon in great detail. "We are getting there depleting its health... It has got a weakness to thunder?" Chris wondered, closing his book. "A weakness to thunder? That means Pichu can give it a rough time..." He changed to his previous job. "...And now I need a way to alert the others without giving myself away. Oh, just great."

The Ancient Minister happened to be standing close to him.

"Pss, hey, you!" Chris whispered. The minister looked to his right and saw Chris sticking his head out from the bushes. "I need to tell you something important: Duon is weak against electricity! Pass the word around, especially to Pichu!" He hid back behind the bushes.

"So he is..." the minister muttered right before going away.

The World Traveler thought that things would be fine for them in the end, provided that the battle was going to go to their favor and not Duon. Serious about staying hidden away from the boss's sight, Chris remained on the lookout to heal anybody who needed first aid.

Right after his positive thoughts went through his head, an explosion set off on the spot where Morgan had been standing. Her body was flung away from the smoke and bumped into the sand, where her movement seized completely. She had been knocked out by the machine, who gloated over its victory. "Any person who dares stand against us will suffer our wrath full-force!" Duon proclaimed, right before a gust of slicing wind scratched its two helmets. It was now locking on Soren.

"This isn't good. Wind magic doesn't faze it..." Soren said.

The Ancient Minister yelled aloud, "Duon is weak against electricity! Anybody who can use lightning should attack it!" Duon looked surprised when it had heard the fact.

"Lightning, then... I lack the expertise to wield thunder tomes myself," the Branded noted. "The only one who can wield electricity from our group is..."

"M-me?!" Pichu shrieked, peeking out from the sand crater. His shriek didn't go unnoticed by Duon, who whirled around and strangely roared for being a being of metal. "A-ah, no. Oh no. No, no, no...!"

"So much yes, as some say!" the pink body spoke, aiming its only-working missile cannon to Pichu and firing as many missiles as possible. The electric-type yelled loudly and ran back down to the sand crater, screaming louder and louder as the explosions behind his path trailed closely from behind.

Dedede, who was shyly hiding behind a palm tree, noticed that the machine wasn't moving from its spot. The blue portion didn't take its eyes off from the rest of its enemies looking its way. "Som'body has anythin' in mind yet?!" Dedede demanded. "Can't have those creepy red eyes starin' back at us for long!"

"We can't just strike at close range because both heads have all their bases covered!" Fox said. "I could use my Blaster but I happen to NOT have it with my right now, just like my Reflector! Those two were a boon to me when I fought this damned thing before!"

"A-and getting close to those blades is like asking it to cut us in half!" Mr. G&W said. "O-oh, boy, this is pretty bad... That girl!" He looked at Morgan's charred body right before a reviving light brought her back to her senses. "S-she did a lot of damage t-"

"WHERE IS THAT PESKY KID?!" Duon suddenly interrupted after witnessing the tactician getting back up on her feet and dusting off her clothes. Thinking logically, leaving the healer of the group alone was going to prolong the fight for so much longer at the pace it was going. Using the eye that wasn't struck by Dedede's Gordo, the machine used its heat-seeking vision to locate a signal hiding in the trees...but because the other eye had been damaged, there was no telling if the source of the body heat was the target. Duon did remember the World Traveler was a threat as a viable healing source. "THERE YOU ARE!" Stopping its wild hunt on Pichu, Duon whirled around and charged forward to the direction of the jungle of palm trees. The minister shot a charged laser beam, but Duon blocked it with its blade and brushed it off.

Ike gasped. "STOP IT!" he yelled. Ness rushed past him.

"Everyone is helpless attacking that thing except for me, Pichu, and Morgan. Let me try to take it on!" Ness said. Unfortunately for him, although he was a long-range attacker, his PSI abilities left a lot to be desired in the speed department, not to mention that he needed to be really close to his targets. Duon was faster than Ness, so the machine left the kid in the dust of the sand. "I-I'm...almost...there..." Ness panted. The heat of the beach and his forced running around forced him to stop and catch his breath, right when a missile blew up on his face and pushed him back to Dedede's side, who then proceeded to scream. "Man up...you..." Ness muttered on the ground.

To Fox's dismay, Duon had entered the jungle in hot pursuit of the World Traveler...though the machine was way off looking for its target. Feeling endangered, Chris ran out from his hiding spot and quickly went to the minister's side. "I don't f-feel safe hiding anymore..." Chris told the minister. "It's outright furious about me healing everyone behind its back."

"That will further complicate our progress in this battle," the minister noted. "I know how you spell users need time to pull off your attacks without getting interrupted once... Though that reminds me..." He looked back to the jungle. "I thought for sure he had spotted you. You weren't that far away from the battle."

Chris realized the new fact and looked back to the trees. "R-really? But I didn't see anybody else back there... Did I forget someone?" he asked.

The sounds of the machine ramming and crushing down palm trees from the jungle echoed. "...I vaguely remember seeing a green creature with your group," the minister said. "Where did it go? It followed us to the hideout of those other creatures."

The World Traveler's eyes dilated. "Oh my god! Snivy!" he yelled. "S-Snivy went into hiding too!"

From the direction of the explosions, the group saw a vine tangling up with a nearby palm tree, and from the other end of the vine came a very startled Snivy jumping out from the war zone behind her back. She was quick to slither all the way to the sand crater in utter shock as she yelled, "T-that monster of steel wants to kill me for whatever reason! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT, WILL YOU?!" Only Pichu understood her message.

Soren pressed his brow. "I suppose her existence has its useful needs," he mused.

The sound of the machine coming out from the jungle startled them all. With tree vines and wood stuck on places where they would snap easily by the brusque movement of the steel parts, Duon's pink body analyzed the area once more and tracked Chris down, zooming its view on his terrified face. "THERE YOU ARE, YOU DAMN HUMAN!" it yelled.

The Ancient Minister was now sure that the battle was going to take an even worse turn with the machine aware of the healer's presence. Standing in front of a terrified Chris, the minister shot a laser beam at Duon's face, striking it directly but not enough to stop its rushing movement towards them. "This is asking too much for sure, but you must fight back!" the minister told Chris. "Keep running away from your problems...and they will hunt you down no matter where you hide! It's a lesson I learned the worst way possible! Don't go through the same path I chose prior to meeting you!"

The words hit Chris so hard. Either way, he was risking his life, and he was too much involved with the affairs of the Smashers that hiding was no longer an option, figuratively and literally speaking. The one problem they all faced together was the enraged Duon and the rest of the Subspace Army...

"Morgan, listen to me!" Soren spoke from behind the tactician, startling her. "Thunder magic is strong against that monster. Do you happen to have a thunder tome in your possessions?"

Morgan quickly searched her robes for a tome. Replacing her Elfire tome, she took out a yellow book; the Elthunder tome. "Y-yes! I have this Elthunder tome with me!" she said.

"Good. You're going to become the crux of our offensive assault on it," Soren said. "Keep attacking on that monster while everyone else attacks at close combat. Your attacks will stagger it long enough to strike close and prevent us from getting sliced by those murderous blades."

The serious look on the Branded's face told Morgan that she needed to get serious as well, so she reflected the same look and nodded confidently. "I-I understand! I'll learn through your tactics so that I can device my own tactics soon!" she said.

Ike ran back to Soren's side. "S-Soren, are you sure about this?" he asked.

Soren frowned. "We haven't hit it with attacks thus far, Ike, because it hasn't let us due to having eyes on the back of its head...literally," he pointed out. "...Dammit, it's about to mow down those two on the other side. Everyone, rush forward without turning back!" He held out his hand towards Duon. "We won't get anywhere running around like idiots and avoiding every explosive it throws at us. If you want to keep those lives of yours, heed my words NOW!" With his tactic given out, Fox, Ike, Pichu, Mr. G&W, and Ness were the first ones to rush into the fray as quickly as they could. Infuriated with Dedede and Wario's lack of teamwork, Soren turned to them hiding behind a single palm tree. "You fat bastards need to put your weight to good use too, so GO!" His piercing glare scared both of them that they had no other choice but to rush out and helplessly run to the battle. Seeing that everyone was participating, the Branded kept a good eye on Morgan preparing her incantations. "(So she knows the Halberdier ability Luna... What kind of girl is she to have such a valuable ability?)"

Duon was happy to have his two most hated targets standing close. "I'll relish cutting you both in half at the same time. YOU MUST PERISH FOR GOOD!" the blue head spoke, being the one leading the frontal assault while the pink head kept an eye on the small army coming from behind. With one cannon, the pink portion tried to delay their time to arrive at its side, while the blue portion crossed its blades over its chest.

After the minister shot a laser that was blocked by the blades and ordered his partner to start running to the opposite direction to delay the incoming attack, a frightened Chris asked, "C-can't you use something else than shooting lasers?"

"I can, but my other attacks won't even dent Duon's armored body," the minister pointed out. "My laser beams are the only tools I can use to deal damage. And besides..." he was unable to look embarrassed when he said, "...shooting spinning tops against an enemy like Duon is very degrading to me." Chris had forgotten most of the moves the minister – as ROB – could look ineffective against Duon, especially the spinning top toy. "Even today, I wonder why I spin tops with my arms, unlike the rest of my people..."

The sounds of the machine were coming even closer. Looking behind and screaming his head off, Chris saw Duon closing in with ten feet of distance from their feet and its wheel, with the blades easily covering three extra feet of distance. "I-I don't care if you repeat it again and again! Shoot it!" Chris yelled.

"I can't. I need to stay still to charge, and frankly speaking staying still is not recommended at all right now!" the minister said. "Brace for impact! Here it comes!"

Duon lifted its blades to the sides to cut them down and crush them with its wheel, though all it did was create two unintentional makeshift lightning rods where bolts of lightning suddenly rained down on the tips of the blades and electrocuted its body harshly, stopping its movement and twitching madly at the shocking feeling. "A-A-A-ARGH!" it yelled.

All the way to the other side of the sand crater, Morgan rejoiced at her deed well done, only to see Soren rushing up ahead. "We must stay closer to the enemy. Our spells won't reach it from here," he said, to which Morgan nodded and followed the Branded from behind.

With Duon trying to shake off the sparks from its body, the rest of the Smashers caught up quickly from behind, but the pink portion wasn't going to let them have their way with it. "S-stop right t-there!" the pink head proclaimed as it aimed its working cannon arm at them, but unfortunately for it, the sparks were greatly slowing its arm movements down that it took a long while for it to shoot. By the time the arm was halfway up, it was too late.

"I'm gonna take that other arm cannon down myself!" Fox said, rushing up ahead and jumping straight to the arm cannon, where he did a quick spin midair to perform a harsh roundhouse kick that pushed the arm to the left. Despite how hard the hit was, it only left a small dent on the arm. Jumping off from the pink body and grunting at his result, Fox landed back on the ground and went after the arm again.

Dedede and Mr. G&W positioned themselves next to the wheel, where they charged up their weapons; Dedede's large hammer and Mr. G&W's improbable flat flame stick. In all honesty, Dedede was very reluctant to get near Duon, but so much nagging from the others forced him to comply. Mr. G&W meanwhile was just as reluctant about standing close to the machine that he was supposedly trapped into long ago. "A-AWAY!" Dedede yelled as he banged his hammer down on the left wheel together with his flat partner.

The two attacks once again made a small dent on the hard steel, prompting them to resume their desperate attacks on the same spot. "F-faster! F-faster!" Mr. G&W pleaded. "I want to see this monster gone forever!"

"You and me both!" Dedede said, gulping as he looked up at the stunned Duon.

Ness and Pichu ran to the other side of the wheel, the first pointing up above the machine. "Go up to its head!" he told Pichu. "Strike it with electricity as much as you can!"

Pichu was hesitant to climb up a steel colossus until his feet started moving on their own. Climbing on top of the wheel and scrambling up to the top, the electric-type stood between the heads and started to rain down Thunder after Thunder. Although less weaker than Morgan's lightning attacks, the blows connecting to the body were keeping Duon stunned for even longer. "W-W-WHAT INSOLENCE!" it yelled in frustration, unable to budge its body around. Coupled with Ness crashing charged PK Flash blows, Duon's endurance was starting to take a huge hit as time went by.

Once again, Fox noticed that Wario wasn't doing anything but stare at the fight from a safe distance. "Would you get that butt of yours over here?!" the vulpine yelled.

"My expertise doesn't work on that machine!" Wario retorted, slapping his butt and making his disgusting point clear. "I'll be better off smacking someone with a nose and fragile skin! I admit, I'm 100% deadweight for this fight..."

"You can try smacking that weird bike of yours int-"

"NEVER!" Wario was quick to interrupt. "You leave my dear Ramona outta this!"

"Who...is this...Ramona...?" came Ike's voice from the right. The mercenary was seen panting heavily and dragging his sword with two hands behind him over the sand. He had only caught up to them right now, where he stopped running to catch his breath. "I'm...here, you...guys... Aah..."

Wario looked at Ike from head to feet. "Geez, you're working up a smelly sweat right there. Stay away from me, you sweaty bishonen guy!" he ordered, making Ike glare his way and wonder how the fat mass of lard was even on their side.

The Ancient Minister, forced to shoot charged laser beams after charged laser beams, stood close to the teenager watching the fight. The minister wondered why Chris hadn't done anything to help in the struggle to take Duon down, so he stopped attacking to talk to him. "Why aren't you doing anything?" he asked Chris. "With your help, this fight could end sooner. Everyone is giving their best... You should do the same."

Chris changed to his Black Mage job and clutched his mage rod with both hands. Under the dark shade of his mage hat, the minister saw the large yellow eyes look worried. "I-I'm...scared..." he muttered. "I-I...c-can't...m-move..."

"Why are you scared?" the minister questioned. "Surely you see how the fight is going to our favor now. Why the need to feel scared now?"

The teen looked back towards Duon, and it seemed like nobody noticed that the blue head was glaring daggers at the teen; its evident main target to take down first before the rest of the rift raft. With the menacing eyes on him, Chris felt endangered and lost. It revived memories of the last time he was killed off by a monster back when he was in the Reapers' Game. He felt the slow and painful feeling of dying away; a feeling that was repeated when he died the first and third times. When he had died so quickly by Dark Super Sonic that one time, his death went too fast that he only lamented dying in a flash. The other times, he felt his life go away by the second where he truly felt terrified. He would lose his mind if he were to be wounded gravely, and Duon was going to do just that to him...

"(All those times he died in the past must have left a big scar in his mind by now,)" the minister thought to himself, seeing Chris not bothering to cast a spell. "(This is the reason why having more than one life is uncalled for: it brings uncontrollable fear to its victim. They lose the will to live a normal life after experiencing death so many times... And it had to happen now of all times...)" He stared long at the teenager shivering on his spot. "(Am... Am I supposed to ease his fears? Me? I truly want him to stop shaking like that during this fight, but how can I snap him out of his senses without indirectly bringing up the issue? His blood pressure is going up or so my eyes tell me...)"

The two heard the sound of multiple bodies falling down to the sand. Looking back at the fight, they backed off immediately. Duon was able to shake everyone off from its spot, now sporting a multicolored aura that was either a miracle or pure misfortune depending on the user...

"N-no... Oh please, n-no!" Chris breathed out. "D-Duon can use a Final Smash as well?!"

"Damn it! I forgot Tabuu enhanced all of its subjects' powers with that!" the minister said. "And if I can remember, Duon's was... EVERYONE ESCAPE FROM THIS PLACE ASAP!" he ordered very loudly. "RUN!" Startled by the loud order, Chris agreed to it and started running away to the west and away from the Halberd with the minister tagging along.

Panic quickly ensued when the others lagging behind where Duon proudly stood watched the two sides of the machine crackling madly with laughter. Soren and Morgan were unable to get any closer when they saw the machine glowing ominously that they were quick to turn tails when they also heard the minister issuing the order. As for Snivy, the snake-like Pokémon scurried all the way to the shoreline behind a piece of metal from the Halberd, and she was just as shocked to see the big metallic enemy glow so suddenly. At best, five party members had a small chance to avoid whatever Duon was planning to do...but the other six were in grave danger.

Wasting no more time when it saw its victims running away to different directions, Duon's entire body became a true weapon of mass destruction. From every spot where a hatch could have space to be concealed there, a missile fitted with sharp blades on four sides stuck out. The bladed missiles appeared from every imaginable corner of the steel monster: the wheels, the blades, the eyes, the arm cannons, and the two heads. "My main purpose is to KILL!" Duon proclaimed right as smoke flew out from every small orifice in its body, half of a hundred missiles shooting out at once high into the air at high speed. To further complicate things, all of the missiles shot were seeking missiles that were followed by another set of fifty missiles trailing from behind. "EXPLOSIA INFERNO!"

The missiles reached forty-feet in the air, where they all started to turn down and fall even faster towards all the moving targets trying to escape. The blades of the missiles were meant to cut targets down, followed by exploding right after sensing physical contact to further increase damage to any open wounds. In case the blades wouldn't slice their targets, the explosion would suffice with the rest of the missiles following suit to create more confusion and chaos inside a gigantic smokescreen. It was a move so hard to avoid that chances of living through it were slim.

The two tacticians and the two Smashers running away from the growing cloud of smoke and loud screams of agony watched over their shoulders at the chaos unfolding. Within those screams, the loud laughs from the machine were heard, their loudness just as loud as the screams. No matter what happened, Soren and the minister dragged their temporary partners away from the violent scene of sand and smoke. The screams only added up with Chris screaming back and losing his mind, where at that point the minister used a mechanical claw to make him run unwillingly.

Inside the smokescreen, Snivy had dove inside the sand crater for extra cover from the missiles. Being a supporter of clean air and flower-covered fields, the smoke was riling her up with utter disgust, and with a battle being the main cause was all the more screwed up. She had no idea these people could get into very problematic events like this. There was no way the battle could compare to a normal Pokémon battle. In comparison, Pokémon battles were for children seeking honor and fun out of smacking each other around, while this battle truly meant that the winner got to live more days to survive... Wondering if her team was okay, the Snivy noticed the explosions ceased, so she slowly walked back up to her now decimated hiding spot. The smoke was clearing out, the laughs of the mad machine still echoing in the distance...

Her pupils shrunk in horror as she covered her mouth with both hands. The outright sickening sight of lifeless bodies and blood spots mixed with sand and charred ash was too much to digest. She wanted to vomit when her eyes took a closer look at the body of that guy with a sword drenched in his own blood from a wound on the head. While it was possible that internal organs could be sticking out from the dark share of red, Snivy didn't want to find out. The other bodies dropped around on small hills of sand were in a very bad condition as well. She thought that her only support to go back home were no longer in this world...and looking back at Duon going insane with its deed told her she wasn't safe.

The aura had gone away after Duon used its Final Smash. When it noticed that it only took down half of its targets, its laughs stopped and were replaced by two grunting sounds. "Tsk... Only six targets are down. What a pity..." Using its scanner vision, it found two targets standing far away from the Halberd's crashing site on each opposite cardinal direction. To the east were the two tacticians, and to the west were the World Traveler and the Ancient Minister. The tacticians were harmless in the grand picture as they were unrelated, so the machine decided on taking the other two down first and foremost. "MINISTER! YOU AND THE HUMAN ARE DEAD!" it proclaimed as its wheel zoomed out from the bumpy sandy area to its two decided targets.

As Duon left the blood-soaked scene behind, Soren and Morgan saw it leaving that they returned to rushing back to where the bodies where lying down. The Branded could see his friend cold and lifeless body lying down there from afar, and Morgan noticed that Soren was running faster than she was... Though before either of them arrived at the scene, a familiar traveling Moogle flew out from the jungle and saw the bodies, ash, and blood spread around the front side of the large battleship. "I didn't think it could get this nasty..." Stiltzkin muttered to himself. "...But they are the only hope we have if we want to keep this island safe."

Far away from his location, the minister and the teen kept running away from the battle. While Chris was far too broken up to respond, the minister started talking again. "...Chris, listen to me," the minister said without slowing down, "Duon is coming after us. I can't say for sure how well we will fare fighting that weapon of mass destruction without everyone else aiding us, and your mental condition is at its worst...but...I...I beg of you..."

Coming to a stop, the minister straightened the shaking Chris with both of his claws.

"...Fighting alone is extremely discouraged if we want to survive," he told him. "I can probably hold my own till a certain point where I let my guard down... You must keep it together for our sakes!" He stared into Chris's shaking, tear-filled eyes. "You said you were going to help me reunite with my creator... Until then...I will keep you safe! You are my only true support for now! I depend on you!"

The World Traveler breathed in and out faster than ever. He was standing right on the edge of utter madness. Any more responsibilities that involved fighting for dear life were going to crush him, though a small side of him; the side of his mind that tried to held on to sanity was begging him to snap out of it. There were people backing him up, the side would tell him. The person talking to you truly wants to keep you safe, it would remind him. Remembering the chaos that ensued behind their backs, Chris was stuck...

"YOU WILL PERISH RIGHT WHERE YOU STAND!"

Duon's voice came from the east, forcing the two Smashers to look its way and feel scared. Despite all the damage Duon had sustained, it was hell bent on killing them. Its endurance was something to be scared. With Chris unable to do anything but stand there in horror at his death bringer, the minister grunted loudly and stood between his protegee and the mad machine. "I swear in this traitorous body of mine that I...I will destroy the Subspace Army and keep my true comrades safe!" the minister yelled at Duon...and then he charged forward into battle alone.

That side that begged Chris to focus did alert him that the minister was heading straight into danger for his sake again. The fact only made him scream the minister's real name loudly to stop him from killing himself in a futile battle. Chris's scream was also his way to pray anyone out there to stop their suffering. His hands moved on their own as they clutched his mage rod with so much force that he thought he was going to bend the wood by accident...

If Chris had used offensive spells before, he would soon notice that all those battles he had in the Reapers' Game leaked their experience into his move set. He had learned all three -ara spells for the Black Mage job along with the spell Bio. It was only natural that the next stage after that were the strongest line of spells available to devoted Black Mages. And the spell that got unlocked first was...

Bravely Default – You Are My Hope

"Mighty Lord Zeus. Cast your judgment from the clouds upon those undignified souls!" Chris broke into a chant as his feet levitated above the yellow glyph that formed below him. His mage rod started to emit electricity right onto his arms, but the sparks were completely harmless on his self. He was in control of the high amount of magic that was patiently waiting to be unleashed once he was ready to give out the order, which happened all too soon when he spun his rod thrice and pointed towards the rushing Duon. "H-here I go. THUNDAGA!"

As fast as lightning itself, dark clouds formed quickly over the machine's path. The clouds that formed in midair started to spark with thunderbolts illuminating their insides. When Duon and the minister saw the clouds turning the area below them dark, it was far too late for the machine to run away from a dozen of thunderbolts shooting down and shocking its large frame. With the two mechanical screams came the booming sound of a mighty thunderbolt falling down from the cloud bed and subsequently creating an explosion on Duon. The minister backed off at the sand wave produced by the explosion and had to stop to look back at the World Traveler landing back on his feet...

Although Chris had done a big number on Duon, the World Traveler wasn't recovered at all. It was a spur of the moment that helped him to strike back. The minister saw the teen's exhausted look just in time before Chris fell on his knees and collapsed on the sand, his mage rod lying down under his right hand. "...I...want to...to...live..." Chris muttered, his body refusing to faint now.

"...Thank you, my dear friend... Rest for now," the minister muttered right before turning back to the spot where Duon received divine judgment from the clouds...and he saw the machine was still standing after the blow. "Ugh..."

The force of the spell did damage Duon a lot, though the aftermath of the explosion left the general stunned and nearly charred black. The Ancient Minister surmised that it was only a matter of time before Duon would die. Chris didn't deal the last decisive blow, but his last move turned the tides of the battle. "THAT DA-DA-DAMNED...HUMAN CHILD...AL-AL-AL-ALWAYS TR-TR-TR-TRYING TO UPSTAGE-GE-GE-GE US...LIKE ALL OF-OF-OF YOU...!" The system inside the machine was going haywire after receiving so much damage that his speech was glitching. "BUT-BUT-BUT-BUT I SHALL SUCCEED-EED-EED-EED IN THE END!"

The minister was heard chuckling confidently. "You had the chance, Duon, but it got blown up by that disastrous attack of yours back there," he said. "...So let me be the one to put you out of your misery. The sight of those heads is making me wish I could vomit."

The sparks from the attack then disappeared, and Duon was back to moving freely. It crossed its blades in front of it. "Come right-right-right here, traitor!" he dared the minister, who now thought that the battle wasn't favoring anyone in favor against the other. "It'll be my-my-my pleasure to make you-you-you-you eat your words!"

"...Then here I go," was all the minister said before rushing forward to the Goliath of steel. Feeling unsure if he could do it, the minister was acting recklessly all for the sake of protecting the human dropped down on the sand behind his back. He had cooperated and given the Ancient Minister so many chances to seek redemption that he wasn't going to let others hurt the teen any longer.

Mere seconds before the minister and the steel machine could clash weapons, there was a suspicious orb of light that split in two and shot into the minister's body, while the other orb went all the way to the back and got into the teen's body. There was no more time to ponder what that was, even if the minister felt an odd feeling inhabit his body. With Duon charging blades at him, the battle had to continue. Whatever the orbs were for, the minister didn't stop and propelled himself to Duon's blue head.

"FOO-FOO-FOOL!" Duon yelled, raising his right blade to slice the traitor down.

The minister was quick to see the blade above him, and Duon was known in the army to be a hard opponent to simply push away like Galleom. Having saved up a charged laser to strike up close at the face, the minister used it on the blade, knowing that the last time his lasers were blocked effortlessly by the weapons, there was not much else he could use. His eyes fired off the attack to the incoming blade...and it veered it off from its course once it got hit, being pushed aside with ease. "(What?)"

"Huh?!" Duon was surprised when the laser he had blocked off a few times before managed to move his weapon. He couldn't ponder why it happened once the minister moved the base of his body right at its face and delivered a harsh explosion of fire on the damaged eyes. "A-AHH!" Duon yelled in pain and tried to slice the traitor, though the force of the explosion had pushed the minister back down to the sand.

"(My attack got stronger... Why?)" the minister pondered as he saw Duon helplessly swing its blades around. The pink portion wasn't acting erratically as its other half, aiming its working arm cannon to the traitor. The Ancient Minister dodged the five laser blasts from the cannon and shot another laser straight to the fiend's face, stopping it from moving around. "(Is it because Duon's armored body isn't as hard as it was before? But my analysis tells me it hasn't...)"

"DARN IT ALL!" Duon bellowed, getting back in control and looking down at the minister and the teen staring at him from afar. He switched targets and aimed the arm cannon at the human, finding him an easier target to take down. The minister and the teen both gasped when the arm cannon shot a seeking missile...which the Ancient Minister couldn't stop with a long-range attack but his own body. He got pushed back by the explosion, falling right next to his protegee. "Heh-he-he-h-e-he-he-he-he-hehhhe... I-I-I-I gogogogogot you-you-you...D-DI-I-I-I-I-IEEEEEEEE...!" The wheels started spinning, but now the machine was simply going to run them over and crush their frail bodies in a single move. The minister pushed himself up and tried to shake off the hard hit, while Chris found it useless to run away with him being frozen in fear.

The pink head noticed from the back a very unsettling sight coming from the east. "W-W-WH-W-HW-HH-WH-W-H-WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" it yelled. "HHHOH-HOW?!"

A full party of eight not-so friendly fighters were thirty feet away from reaching their fighting spot. Despite how their clothes, skin, hair, and fur were all charred black and sandy from the chaos that ensued moments ago, they all were otherwise completely recovered. Whatever bleeding wounds there were before had disappeared for some reason Duon couldn't understand.

"PPEPEPPPEPSEPESKY SMASHEEEEEEEEERRSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Duon glitched in utter anger.

Both Chris and the Ancient Minister were just as surprised to see their group back on their feet and ready to keep on fighting. What sort of crazy miracle had happened back there, the minister wondered to himself. Whatever happened, he couldn't deny how there was hope to defeat Duon. Spotting the machine raising its arm cannon at them, the minister wouldn't let it strike them. He indiscreetly fired one last laser shot to veer off the aim of the arm cannon, enraging the machine once its aim got thrown off.

Then hell was given to it.

Being the fastest one, Pichu came in first and latched onto the wheel, where he used Thunder and sent a harsh electric shock into the machine. Getting away from his sneaky attack, Pichu backed off to allow Fox to use Fire Fox and crash right into the pink body's face, jumping over the machine to go rejoin with Chris. The next one to follow up with the attacks was Ness, who now that he knew electricity was Duon's weakness used PK Thunder on himself to become a human rocket of electricity that crashed right on the left shoulder while also sending another huge shock into the machine. Ness's blow bounced him off to the left where he fell headfirst into the sand. Rolling to the side, he then saw Dedede tossing a distraught Wario right on the Duon's pink face. The attack in itself didn't really do much...

"WHY?!" Wario asked, comically bouncing off to the right side.

"Just because, now shut your yap!" Dedede scolded, because tossing a Waddle Dee would be less effective than tossing a mass of lard like Wario.

With Duon still stunned in place, it saw Mr. G&W using his weird fireman third jump move to get at face level. "I-I-I don't know if this will even work!" he beeped, smacking what appeared to be a filmmaker's tool on the right eye and shattering it apart. Still very fearful of the machine, Mr. G&W ran away from its range of attack, spotting Soren pointing at the top of the enemy to indicate where Morgan's next blow should land.

The female tactician said, "Checkmate!" and rained down bolts of lightning on the machine. The hit unfortunately wasn't packing a critical hit or Luna, though by now Duon was unable to move with all the damage done to it. Soren noticed that everyone but Ike had attacked him... Moreover, Ike hadn't landed a single blow. The Branded looked to the east where the mercenary tried to catch up to them and sweating his head off from the heat and effort he was using to run fast.

"I won't...let this fight...end without me attacking once...!" Soren and Morgan heard Ike said as he wandered to Duon at a speed even Wario could beat. Duon witnessed the mercenary getting closer and closer, until Ike decided to use Aether. He tossed the spinning blade above the mad machine, used the steel body as a makeshift stepladder to reach out for the blade, spin a few times with it, and bring down the final blow.

Everyone watched the light blue Ragnell cutting the blue head off like it was nothing, as if Ike was cutting bread with a butter knife. The hit was clean and deadly all the same, with the mercenary's sword going further down into the armor and taking off half of the blue body off, which fell forward and shattered into large pieces due to all the damage received from the battle. Cables and steel got mixed up in the cutting motion, shooting sparks and setting on fire. Once Ike hit the bottom and backed off quickly, everyone backed off as well from the twitching machine.

Music Stops

The final blow that sealed Duon's fate started to produce short circuits on its exposed machine parts. Twitching on its place, Duon looked over at the fighters keeping their positions. "Damn...you...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllll...to-tooooooooooooo-to-toooooooooooooo-to heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllll..." the pink head spoke. Right there and then, the glowing red eyes turned off completely.

The battle was truly over.

"...We...we won..." Ness breathed out, inspecting the broken machine and its torn off body. "We did it..."

With half of them looking relieved and sharing bright looks, the silence was broken once Chris started to whimper. The Ancient Minister and Fox were quick to react and console him. "It's over, Chris," Fox spoke softly, patting his friend's back with care. "...Let it all out of your system."

"I thought I-I-I was going to die... I t-though it was it...a-a-a-again..." Chris whimpered under the dark shade of his mage hat.

The minister was relieved anyway. With Duon defeated, the path back home was open for them to take freely. They needed to rest for the time being. "I believe he will be okay after he rests," he told Fox as the vulpine looked worried at Chris.

"(...I doubt this experience is gonna help Chris recover at all,)" Fox thought. "(It'll make things harder for him to deal with...but I'm going to be there for him all the way till the end, no matter how many times he has to cry his eyes out to feel better.)"

With the battle over and the chaos having ended as well, the group was approached by Stiltzkin and a curious Snivy. The traveling Moogle stepped forward and hopped on his little feet. "Phew! I made it in the nick of time!" he said. "When my friends flooded back in to HQ and told me what was happening, my gut feeling told me I needed to pack things up to aid you! I could've asked the other guys who're far more courageous than the Tinkers to lend you a hand, though... It worked anyway."

Soren then decided to explain the minister what happened. "It was a scene out of a nightmare when Morgan and I first arrived at the scene back there," he narrated. "Bodies...blood...ash... All of those elements were mixed in the sand... I was this close to scream all the air out of my lungs until he appeared and started administering a surprisingly-potent elixir and other healing items to the group."

Stiltzkin nodded twice. "If you want specifics, I used my super-ultra-rare Mega Phoenix Down to revive them and my rare-ultra-super Megalixir to fully heal their wounds," he explained. "Life is far more important than preserving goods, so...I had to part ways with those two items, and because everything looked so bad, I use those two for a faster effect instead of giving a Phoenix Down and Elixir each. You're lucky we're friends!"

Ness looked at the cuts on his clothes and the dark red stains mixed with sand. The shade of the blood was so badly mixed up with ash and dust that Chris didn't get episodes of heavy breathing, which he was thankful for when he stopped crying. "Now we look like we've been stranded in this island for weeks now," Ness said before shuddering. "Uh... All that blood we lost back there... Did that Megalixir item gave us some blood back?"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah... No," the traveler said. "I don't know where you can get your blood back. It's a given you lost quite a lot of it. White Magic research hasn't developed that far yet..."

"Guess I'll have to get blood transplants at the hospital. I don't remember losing that much blood in a battle before..." Fox said, looking at his torn jacket. The nightmare known as a feral Shiki holding a needle and a ball of yarn flashed in his eyes. "A-and I need to replace these clothes," he added hastily.

"Shiki isn't here, Fox," teased Pichu.

"S-shut up!" Fox barked, making Ike, Pichu, and Ness laugh a bit at his flustered face. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Chris smile and chuckle to himself, so it was all worth it to get embarrassed just to see him smile even once after the battle.

"Well done, everyone!" Morgan spoke up with a bright look. "Man, that was such an epic battle against that monster of steel! I feel that, as a tactician, I've gotten so much experience out of this fight! Thank you so much for letting me help you!"

Soren sighed. "As much as I dislike to admit it, Morgan was a great help with her Elthunder tome," he said. "Perhaps she does have her uses for future skirmishes."

As the Smashers started to walk back to the front side of the Halberd, Snivy went to talk with Pichu. "That battle had to be the most grueling event a Pokémon like us had to see in their lives," she said, looking surprised. "You're not normal. You're far stronger than the annoying Scolipede that live in my home."

Pichu blushed as he straightened his body fur. "S-stop it, I'm not that strong, you jerk..." he said very embarrassed.

"Anyways, I'm glad none of you died," Snivy said. "I'm also happy to know our plans to get out of this island are still a thing."

The group was halfway towards the Halberd when they suddenly heard the sound of a wheel revving up from behind. Turning around, they saw Duon's pink portion charging straight at the Halberd. "W-what the...?!" Mr. G&W trailed off in shock.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-you mi-mi-might have defea-tedted-ted-ted me..." the torn Duon spoke, easily passing by next to them and rushing down the sand crater to the entrance it came from. "But...no ma-ma-matter...you are...far-far-far-far too late...to make a di-di-di-difference... I...can eliminate-nate-nate-nate...everyone...in one simple move...be-be-be-before you even g-g-get to l-l-learn the ho-ho-horrible tr-tr-truth... Fa-fa-fa-fare-well-well-well, imbeci-ci-ci-ciles!" It laughed out loud as the Smashers heard a loud explosion coming from inside the Halberd, and with it, Duon's laughs faded away, only to be replaced by the sound of rusty metal falling apart...and explosions. Dozens of explosions setting off at once that worked their way from the front side to the upper deck. The large wings that once dominated the skies were now being dominated by collateral damage quickly spreading out far and wide.

Whatever was happening in there wasn't good. The large ship started to shake slightly to the sides, making loud whirling sounds of steel and metal brushing against each other. There were many more explosions that started to appear nearly everywhere, causing everyone to gasp. "W-what's going on?!" Pichu asked.

"That last blow Duon sent hit the engine at the last second!" the minister realized. "We have to take cover somewhere! The explosion of the ship is enough to eradicate us and part of the island!"

So many screams were set off at once after hearing the disastrous fact that would vaporize all of them with no effort. Stiltzkin heard it too, though he remained calm. "We have to go back into the central! It's the only way we can have a chance at surviving! C'mon, follow me!" he rallied everyone. Although exhausted from the fight, the twelve fighters turned tails quickly and fled from the beach as quickly as they could. Not being a fast runner, Chris started to lag behind, and his fears were catching up with him quickly once again. That all changed when Fox slowed down and picked him up on his arms. Losing a bit of speed, the vulpine clenched his fangs and went on to join the others faster than Chris could have done alone. The teen looked back at the ship falling to its demise inside the chaos of the explosions, its outstanding features shattering...

Stiltzkin reached the door of the central and opened it up. "There's not much time left! Jump down!" he yelled. "I'll activate a big cushion down below to break your fall! Hurry!" Hearing his words, one by one, the Smashers jumped down into the hole's darkness. "8, 9, 10, 11... Hey, someone's missing!"

"W-wait up!" yelled Ike from the direction of the beach. The Moogle saw the mercenary trying very hard to run as quickly as possible. Ike was surprised that he wasn't running as fast as he used to, but he thought his injuries from the battle had something to do with it. "I'm...nearly...there...!"

"Odd. That mage reached this place faster than you did... Hop in!" Stiltzkin ordered. Having no other choice to reach the bottom faster, Ike jumped down the hole. Once they were gone from the outside, the traveling Moogle pressed a hidden button inside the edge of the entrance and got inside, letting the door fall down and close the entrance.

~ Mognet Central ~

Just as he had said, an inflatable cushion came out from under the floor and quickly covered a 30-foot area of the surrounding floor. The Smashers fell down straight into it and survived the rather large fall, sliding down to the sides of the cushion and landing on their feet. As Fox put Chris down, Stiltzkin flew down from the hole and yelled to his alarmed colleagues, "DUCK DOWN! The whole place will shake!"

Many screams followed and everyone stopped doing what they were doing with the mail to duck down to the floor for cover. After the conveyor belts stopped, there was a small quake that shook the whole place for at least twenty-frightening seconds. There were screams coming every single Moogle in the vicinity of the factory as lights dimmed down several times, with a few pebbles from the rocky ceiling falling down to the floor and pelting many on their heads.

The shaking subsided after the seconds were up, and a few people stood up and looked around for any signs of a massive cave-in. "...We're okay," the minister said, the only one who couldn't quite crouch down. "The explosion is over."

Everyone else sighed aloud and stood up, while the Moogles wasted no time in resuming their work. Dozens of them took upon themselves to clean the floor from the obtrusive rocks to keep accidents from happening for the workers that walked around with mail envelopes and the sort. The Smashers saw the cushion deflating, shrinking back into the hole where it came from and disappearing inside. The hole then pulled an automatic hatch that closed it off. "Gods... That was...pretty close," Morgan said, looking agitated. "I thought we were going to be a goner..."

"No, thank you. I don't want to be a goner too soon again," Ness said, until he looked up at the hole where a bunch of rocks fell down from high up. When there weren't anymore rocks falling down, he looked up and saw the light of the sky shining down. "...Is it safe to go out and check how things look there?"

Stiltzkin quickly flew up and away. "I'll go check myself!" he told them.

With the traveler's help, the Smashers were left to rest after the dreadful fight. They were so glad that they had made it alive. "Man, that was tiring..." Dedede said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "This is gonna be so common to me now, huh?"

"Probably, but escaping from massive explosions should really be kept at a minimum," the minister said. "We're fortunate that we had a place to shield ourselves from it. In any case, we escaped certain death."

"Yay..." Mr. G&W said. "And Duon is no more. That's a huge relief for me."

"...I can't say for sure Duon is truly gone, however," the minister informed. "The likes of Duon – who are born from Shadow Bugs – will never fade away from existence as long as Tabuu breathes. Duon's own existence proves one thing... Tabuu is still alive."

Many of the Smashers looked distraught at the news, their early victory being nothing more than extending their time to live a little more. "I knew it... I knew something was so off about fighting Duon," Fox said. "It makes sense to think all of those Subspace monsters are connected to Tabuu. That can only mean the others... No, I refuse to think they're gone! I want to see if they're alright with my own eyes!"

"Exactly my thoughts," the minister said. "We only have implications as leads to what is truly happening behind the scenes, far away from this location."

"Just great..." Chris said, taking on the role to heal the Smashers with his FHU's healing magic to bring them up to their healthy selves, though he knew many of them were fully healed by the Megalixir. "There is never a single day we can rest..." Fox went over to the teen's side and patted his back.

"Still, it worked out in the end for this fight," Fox said with a smile. "We pulled through."

Chris forced a smile and nodded, though it truly wasn't enough for him to feel safe. He was about to apply a First Aid on Ike when they saw Stiltzkin coming back down from the hole and landing on the table in front of the floors. Seeing him back brought silence to the entire area for many Moogles, especially the Tinkers. "...The Halberd is completely gone," he announced.

"PRECIOUS, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" was the agonizing cry that came out from all the Tinkers.

"(I can't believe those people went ahead with that ridiculous nickname...)" Ness thought, rolling his eyes.

Hearing the news that the massive battleship was gone forever, the Smashers lamented their loss. "Well, I'm dead," Dedede said, covering his face right before he started sobbing loudly. "Meta Knight is gonna kill me in my sleep when he finds this out."

Wario then said, "Then why don't you lie about it?"

Dedede put his hands away with a shocked expression. "That could work..." he muttered.

"No, it is nearly impossible for me to lie about what happened to his vessel," the minister said, making Dedede yelp. "I cannot see Meta Knight wanting to kill any of us over an accident that was beyond our control. It was Duon's fault."

"We did use that to flee from the factory, you know..." Mr. G&W pointed out. "But yeah... Meta Knight won't probably hurt us. The least he's going to do is consider us as pathetic roaches waiting to be stomped on multiple times till we croak every time he sees us in particular."

Chris looked down at his feet. Now that the battle was over and he had cried his worries out, he felt safe to talk normally. Besides, having Fox's left arm over his shoulders felt nice, only because of the moral support kept him going. "Either option just sounds as bad to me in my opinion..." he said.

Watching his fellow Tinkers whimper and handing napkins around in the background, Stiltzkin turned back to the group of twelve. "You are the most adventurous bunch I've ever seen. Your lives are always so eventful. It's like I see me in you!" he said nodding. "Nice of me to come to your aid, right? I knew you'd have died back there if I hadn't arrived in time."

Ike wiped some sweat from his forehead after Chris had healed him. "Thanks to you, our lives were spared in the end. I can't thank you enough," he said.

"Eh, you guys fended that horrible machine off. Moogle Island would've been in serious trouble even if the ship had blown up," the traveler said. "For that, I want you to keep those handy abilities I gave you. I'm amazed you made it this far without ever considering to equip abilities... You guys are reckless, indeed."

"...Say what now?" Mr. G&W said. "Abilities? What?"

"That deserves some explanations..." Stiltzkin said. "You see, after I was done healing you, I also tossed in a very helpful freebie. I awoke the innate abilities in you all to help you defeat that machine."

"Innate abilities...?" the Ancient Minister wondered. "...Those lights back there. One of them entered my body as I fought with Duon. Were those abilities?"

"Yes!" the traveler said. "I remember Chris's ability activated and it helped you deal with the boss better than before, hence why your attacks got stronger!"

The minister looked at Chris, whom looked a little lost in the explanation. "My ability...helped him fight Duon? But I didn't... I mean, I didn't feel anything while I was down on the sand," Chris said.

"The ability triggered regardless," the Moogle said. "You guys had those abilities dormant within you, and I being a sleuth in this kind of thing awoke them all! I'm surprised your boss hadn't done that from the beginning..."

Fox grunted. "We didn't even know about those abilities. It's not fair our boss didn't inform us about it!" he complained.

"Something tells me he had a lot of blind confidence in you all. Numbers are nothing if those singular numbers can't work properly in battles!" Stiltzkin said. "He should give you all the weapons you'll need in this huge adventure of yours...so let me be the first one to give you a helping hand! Some of you couldn't use those abilities in the fight, but I'll be happy to explain to you the gist of each of them." He looked over at Morgan, Soren, and Snivy. "Except you three rejected the abilities I wanted to give you... The girl is packed full with them, for one! The broody guy has some but he can't have anymore. And that little green reptile already has an ability that won't let equip another one." He gazed at the Smashers. "All of you happen to be very compatible with what I gave you. Let me give you a detailed explanation of each ability I awoke inside of you! First, the blue/purple-haired guy."

Everyone looked at Ike's pissed look. "...Oh, come on. The color of my hair isn't that hard t-"

"The ability I gave you is called...Aether," Stiltzkin said. "This amazing ability lets you deal a harsh blow that drains energy from your foe, followed by a truly harsh blow that ignores their Defense cap no matter how thick their skin is! Too bad this one doesn't activate too often, but don't solely rely on this!"

"...I take my complaints back," Ike said, having fond memories of the ability in his world. "Aether came in handy a few times in the past. It's what I used to defeat Ashnard."

Soren narrowed his eyes. "If I recall correctly, you needed Aether hits to bring that madman down," he said.

The mercenary received doubtful looks from his group. "Make me look less impressive, Soren, why don't you," Ike said.

"Moving on to the penguin guy!" Stiltzkin said, referring to Dedede. "Your ability is Endurance. This ability triggers whenever you hit the middle mark of your health. What this does is give you an increase to your Defense by 10% every minute in the fight, culminating to 300% after thirty minutes, making you a hard wall to topple over for those enemies who can't take you down quickly!"

Dedede looked tired. "Oh joy. I'll never put that off if I fight by my lonesome," he said. "I'm blessed with suck."

"Now, now, don't under-appreciate yourself. It's not like your enemies will know you have that in you," the traveler said. "Next on the list is the robed robot guy over there."

The minister wasn't expecting him to be on the same level as the others. "I was given an ability despite not being a living being?" he asked.

"Yes, to put it bluntly," the traveler said. "You're special, but I don't know why. Anyway, your ability is Shock Gauge. This lets you absorb electric attacks to boost your Attack power by 50%, capping at 300%."

"...I... Uh, yes, that sounds useful for the right situation," the minister said. "(Just what is inside of me that lets me feel so alive? My past holds the answers for that somewhere...)"

"You, the unnerving glaring fox!" Stiltzkin said, backing off a bit when Fox did glare his way. "Your ability is Adrenaline. When you get in a pinch, all speed aspects of your actions in battle will double, allowing you to cast spells and skills faster than ever!"

Fox's glare dropped, being replaced with the cocky grin on his lips. "Can't complain much about that. (You're toasted, Wolf.)" When he noticed the somewhat worried look Chris had on his face, his grin dropped. "(...Screw you, Wolf. I have other important people to look after.)"

"The shady-looking...big boned Italian dude," the traveler continued, addressing Wario. "Your ability is...gross. It's Fartillery. Your...eugh...farts have a 20% chance of poisoning or paralyzing enemies."

Everyone within hearing range grimaced and looked away from the laughing Wario. Soren once again reevaluated why Ike was paired up with the fools. "Bwahahahaha! Thank you, you furball! Best ability ever I could get!" he rejoiced. "Nobody is gonna look at me funny ever again!"

"Yeah, yeah, please don't fart in here or I'll stick a bottle in a place I don't want to mention," Stiltzkin said, his lips turning his cheery smile upside-down. He went back to smiling when he looked at Mr. G&W. "For that flat guy over there, he gets Glitch. It has some... Wow, I can't really describe this ability so well."

The flat character tilted in confusion. "Huh? What?" he said.

"Stuff...happens if you or your attacks come into contact with your foes," Stiltzkin said. "I have no idea what it does. I do know it doesn't hurt you or anything. It does bad stuff to your enemies... Find out for yourself, okay? I don't have an idea what it does. Sorry."

"...Oh, that's nice, I think," Mr. G&W said. "It sounds very suspenseful to me. I can't wait to see what that does."

Ness shuddered and embraced himself. "Why did I just shrug just now?" he muttered.

"Not because of the ability you have, I hope!" the traveler said. "Your ability is Cleansed Mind. You're immune to all status effects that have some hazardous effects to your mind."

Ness smiled a bit. "Okay, that does sound good enough for starters," he remarked. "Using PSI does tire me out so not having to worry about attacks making my brain feel like it's going to explode in my head is a plus."

The traveler looked over at Chris. "And now comes my favorite part of this tutorial," he said, making the World Traveler stare. "You have...two abilities: Second Aid and Close Bond."

The other Smashers who had just one ability looked surprised at Chris, who reflected the same expression. "Two abilities?" Chris said. "I have two? Why two?"

"It's pretty simple, really," Stiltzkin said. "Firstly, Close Bond is your primary, innate ability. What it does is increase all of your closest battle partner's attributes by 30%. This ability triggers as soon as someone in battle decides to keep you safe from harm without going too much into the offensive, though it only does that for one person; the one who honestly makes a commitment to themselves to see you safe. It won't work for people who only care about getting the boost more than protecting you, however. In case you faint during battle, the ability stops till you are back on your feet." The traveler nodded with a chuckle. "It's a sweet ability that puts your partner's trust to the test for your own sake. How cool is that?"

The Ancient Minister looked down in thought when the first one was explained. "That Close Bond one... I wasn't attacked by lightning during the battle. I could tell my attacks got stronger all of a sudden... So it was that ability that did it?"

"Yes," the Moogle said. "You and him share a strong bond. The ability triggered from there."

"O-oh... I-I see now..." the minister muttered, sounding flustered about the fact when Chris looked his way. "(Bonds with others... The first time I felt like protecting someone close to me...)"

The ability was nice to have, Chris thought. But the thought of seeing when it would trigger with the right people would feel a little heartbreaking. Not seeing Fox's relieved look, Chris said, "Um, that's cool," he said. "But...why do I have two?"

"That's because you have a job equipped on you right now," Stiltzkin said. "You have the Job System in you. By proxy, all of your jobs possess their own innate abilities apart from your own, which means you can potentially have more abilities that your comrades. As for your second ability Second Aid, what it does is boost the effects of spells that revive fallen allies by healing them back to half their health. It also works on meager Phoenix Downs!"

"That's pretty neat," Ike said. "Chris makes for a perfect healer for the most dire situations."

"Only because he happens to have a high Mind stat unlike many of you do," the traveler said. "His Mind stat growth equals his high Intelligence stat growth, and with this job that further increases Mind, base level healing spells heal quite a lot. It's not hard for me to see how he is statistically stronger than any of you right now."

"...Huh?" was all the Smasher group could say in bewilderment, their mouths gaping.

Chris himself was more shocked than the others. He never considered himself to be stronger than any of them, and he never felt much different. "H-how could I be the strongest person in this group? It makes no sense!" Chris said. "I've never done training or work out in my spare time! I've only won important battles where I had to fight!"

"Well, that's to be expected only because you are using the Job System," the traveler pointed out. "I'm sure your boss explained to you that each job you have in your list fits for people who can exploit those jobs to the fullest. But that isn't the whole story! Equipping jobs can drastically change your base stats, making them even stronger or even weaker. One look at you reveals to me that you have a base high Mind stat. This job you have, the Fonic Hymn User, increases Mind by 50%. That adds up to your Mind stat, giving you the maximum Mind stat."

"That's... Wow..." Chris muttered.

Ness stepped forward. "Hey, wait a minute! Doesn't that mean Chris has the potential of becoming the strongest fighter out of all us, even if he didn't have any battle experience back home?" he asked, making a good point that everyone else considered. Chris didn't want to imagine what he could really do with all that much power. "That Job System of his has to be the most broken thing I've ever heard."

"It doesn't work that way," Stiltzkin said. "Chris here has above-average HP and Magic Defense, Defense, and Speed; high Magic with high Intelligence and high Mind stats; and below-average Attack and Evasion for his base stats. Those base stats he has get added up, or reduced, with each Job he changes into. His role fits nicely as a White Mage or a Black Mage, though other jobs put him in the middle."

Pichu tilted his head. "Uh, stats? What?" he said.

"Oh, I've been mentioning those quite a bit without explaining too much," the traveler said. "Let me explain this for you. Each one of you has nine stats: HP for how much damage you can endure till the lights get knocked out of you, Attack for dealing physical or close-combat blows such as punches or swords, Defense for resisting physical blows, Magic for spells which has its own two stats: Mind for White Magic and healing, Intelligence for Black Magic and offensive spells; Magic Defense for resisting offensive spells, Speed for mobility in battle, and lastly Evasion for how well you can dodge all blows. These stats can mean the difference in a battle. Those who can exploit their best attributes can try to outwit their foes and claim victory without much of a sweat. Coupled with the Job Systems, it brings the best or the worst from several stats at once. If only everyone else could do the same, or Chris could give jobs to you guys, you'll become stronger in the right areas. The way the rating of stats goes...goes like this: worst, mediocre, below average, average, above-average, high, and best."

"...But he can give jobs to us," Ike said, pointing at his blue Ragnell. "I haven't stopped using this one."

"Oh! That's much better!" the Moogle said. "Oh yes, I see that your stats got stronger...and weaker... Eesh... That's the worst Speed stat I've ever seen, man. Your Attack stat is the best there is from your little group, though!"

Ike gasped. "Wait, so I wasn't imagining things when I was running around! I did feel much slower than usual!" he said. "But this job he has resembles my normal attire!"

"Your base stats match perfectly with that job's stats. The stats that were above the average got stronger while the ones with the stats below the average got even worse... Aww, gross! That Magic Defense stat is also the worst!" the traveler said, his fur standing on end. "I reckon a Fira will be enough to put you on your knees! Stay away from mages if you want to keep that weird-colored head of yours on your shoulders!"

Ike grunted. "The color of my hair i-"

"I'm not surprised myself," Soren interjected. "Any mercenaries who focus on weapons are most likely going to be easy targets for those who can wield magic, but the reverse can also happen. Ike has a hard time trying to stand up from spells, though he can resist cuts to his body now and then."

The Moogle turned to Chris. "Can you get that job back from him?" he asked. "He should notice the difference." Agreeing with him, Chris asked Ike to get the Ranger job back to him. The mercenary agreed, and the light blue shade of his cape went back to red, though he lost the blue Ragnell sword as soon as the job returned to Chris's self. "Okay, Ike. Try running a circle around us."

Wanting to see the change, Ike did a lap around the group (with Morgan cheering silently) where he noticed the abrupt change in speed. He was running much faster than before, unlike when he was running away from the imminent explosion. Once stopping next to Soren, Ike said, "This does feel a lot different...and familiar, like it needs to be."

"Your stats went back to your innate base stats, that's why," the Moogle said. A Fusilier Moogle suddenly showed up, carrying a steel block that he placed in front of the table. The Fusilier bowed to them and disappeared into the crowds of Moogles. "If you guys are still not fully convinced, let's do a small test of strength. Who wants to have a go at this innocent steel block? What we're testing here is your base strength."

"Too easy," Dedede said, but he didn't step forward. He simply rested his neck on the handle of his upside-down hammer, staring down at the block.

"It has to be someone who has at least above-average Attack... The fox guy has that much!"

Fox groaned. "Really? I only have above-average Attack? I thought it was high..."

"Above-average HP, Attack, and Defense; mediocre Magic stat with mediocre Mind and average Intelligence, high Speed and Evasion, and below-average Magic Defense," Stiltzkin analyzed the vulpine.

Fox looked offended. "Why did you have to choose mediocre for a rating and not low to contrast high?" he asked.

"Because in my opinion saying low hurts more and mediocre has more 'oomph' and 'oh' to it that low," the Moogle wisely said. "But I can make changes..."

"N-no, don't do that. I'm mediocre, then." Both Wario and Dedede laughed out loud in the background, making Fox growl through his fangs. Those laughs were probably the 'oomph' and 'oh' factors...

Staring down at the steel block, Fox decided to use a downward kick. But first, he stepped back, charged his attack for precision and strength, and then he brought down his right boot with all his might on the block. Sparks flew to the sides as soon as the hard steel of his left foot made contact with the surface. Feeling a shaking sensation going up to his waist, Fox looked down at the block, where he was only able to make a small dent. "Tsk... I thought I'd split it in half," Fox said.

"Your Attack stat isn't enough for that. At least someone with high Attack, like the penguin guy and his hammer, can hope to do what you want to do," the Moogle explained. "However, if you equip a job that compliments Attack... Chris, do you have a job for that?"

Still staring at the dent on the block, Chris looked back at him. "A job that might increase Attack? I guess...either the Ranger or...the Monk job."

"The Monk job! Ah, what a marvelous classic job for starters," Stiltzkin noted. "Okay, give that one to your friend here and see his innate stats and skills add up to the Monk!"

Watching Fox nodding (to rectify his honor to destroy the taunting block in front of him), Chris formed a sphere of light between both hands and tossed it at Fox, who caught it in his right hand and instantly got a wardrobe change in a blink of an eye. Now the vulpine was wearing a red kenpo-gi, with his steel boots under the torn ends of the lower half, his furred shoulders exposed without the sleeves, his fingerless gloves covering his hands, the white fur of his chest showing on the small crevice of his neck, a red headband with two tails on his foreheard, and his red scarf still neatly put around his throat. Blinking and staring at his clothes, Fox said, "...Man, I need to change my wardrobe more often. I feel lighter."

"Your base stats have changed!" the Moogle said. "Near-best Attack, near-best HP, above-average Defense, high Speed and Evasion, worst Magic with average Mind and worst Intelligence, and worst Magic Defense. For the Monk's ability, it's called Strike Back, which can stop a physical blow from punches and kicks without receiving damage and striking back as punishment. Show that block who's boss now!"

Not feeling much of a change, Fox shrugged and went back to charging his kick. With finesse and perfect precision, the vulpine brought his right boot down on the block...

It shattered into pieces upon contact, so far as to making a crack on the rocky floor beneath the remains which the boot landed hard with its full weight. Hearing gasps along with his own, Fox was honestly surprised that the change was so different. "W-wow...!" Mr. G&W said. "I-I can't hope to break a block like that without a boost!"

"It really was a huge improvement... Okay, seriously, that was cool," Ness remarked.

Spotting the cocky grin that looked down at the crack on the floor, Chris was expecting something to fuel the ego. Fox looked at him and said, "Chris, do you mind if I have this on forever?"

"I-I know what you're trying to do!" Chris said, glaring back at him. "You're going to use that boost on Attack against Wolf and maybe Falco, aren't you?"

The twitching smile on Fox's lips gave it away. "U-uh...yeah...among other personal things..." he confessed. The dreams of breaking Wolf's arms with his hands alone were trampled over.

"Not fair, you!" Ike called out on Fox. "I'm the only one of this group who currently needs a weapon or some means to fight until I get Ragnell back from the Subspace! Don't you steal my only way to be a viable threat against our enemies!"

"I can add about a dozen reasons why Ike's reasoning is sound," Soren added.

Agreeing with the Greil Mercenaries on that, Chris didn't have to ask Fox to get the Monk job back to his list, though Fox unwillingly did so without being alerted. Getting his old clothing back, he sighed in shame. "Hello, old, weaker me..." he muttered through his fangs. "How are you been feeling? Weak? Oh yeah..."

Stiltzkin could have rolled his eyes if they weren't tightly shut behind his eyelids. "Grow up, you. Don't let the power go to your head. It's bad for the complexion... Seen plenty of those guys going nuts and hurting people left and right. Scariest bunch, I tell you... SO! That's the gist of it about how jobs can turn the tide of the battle to your favor. Every job has its ups and downs, with special abilities that add up to your innate ones. Your stats are affected as well so exploit every job combination there is to claim victory even faster!" He hopped on his feet. "I have a few more things to say, though! Firstly, just because you have a high Attack stat doesn't mean your next foe will be helpless! Your levels determine how strong you'll get!"

"Levels?" Pichu wondered. "Levels? Now we have to keep track of levels in this?"

"Not really!" Stiltzkin said. "All of you seem to have a nice level average of...hmm...ah! Your level average for everyone in the group is 96! That's nice! You can fight most threats out there without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to increase your levels, you need to fight and win battles. You must absolutely win fights to get experience. It's like working out and you wake up the next day all sore in your body. Levels work the same way like that."

Interested to learn how big his level was, Dedede asked, "So what's my level?"

"Level 64... You and the guy picking nose behind you have the same level," the Moogle said. "Geez, both of you are the lowest of the lot... Do you even swing that hammer enough?"

"Hey! What kinda baloney is that?!" Dedede complained. "Can't believe everybody here is stronger than me!"

"Only way to remedy that issue is by fighting battles you're sure you can win," Stiltzkin said. "But for now it's not very necessary to get very specific into your stats and levels. I'm sure the great being watching over you from another dimension will keep track of that, so just feel confident of your prowess!"

The eerie statement made everyone look around as if thinking the great being was nearby. "What great being is this person you speak of? I'm at a complete loss," the minister said.

"I told you not to worry about that. Worry about one day hitting your level cap: Level 1000!"

Ness looked up at the ceiling, imagining the sky. "Level 1000? Will we be gods at that milestone?" he wondered.

"If you feel that delusional when that times comes, maybe," the traveler said. "Getting cocky at that level will cost you dearly. One day, there will be impossibly hard enemies to fight where you will need to exploit everything you have." While the Smashers (and Morgan) took the statement as helpful advice, Soren was starting to think that they were losing valuable time speaking with the silly creature.

"...Hey! What are my abilities?" Pichu asked. "I think I already have one..."

"Yours is Static," Stiltzkin said. "It definitely works against bosses, but when they get stunned, it'll only be for a small while..." He saw Pichu looking sad. "...And you also have another one: Elec Amp. It powers up all electric attacks and magic by 1.5."

"...Oh! That's better!" Pichu said. "I'm very frail to resist blows to my little body..."

"Ah! But I have an important announcement to make regarding abilities: you can equip five abilities at once!" He saw their surprised looks. "The truth of the matter is that each job Chris has here has an extra ability that unlocks itself once the job has been used a lot during battles. But because that would mean having three abilities total, you can also buy abilities from special places in the worlds you visit. Mix and match, as they say!"

"Very, very neat," Ness said. "Not only do we get to learn skills, we can have more than one ability... Aren't you a merchant?"

"Yup, that I am, but I don't really sell abilities..." He slumped forward, his pom-pom doing the same. "Abilities are rarer stuff to find at common shops. For that...you could probably find the hidden shops my girl - whom I have a crush on – runs in secret places."

Chris looked mildly surprised. "You have a crush on someone? Is it a Moogle?" he asked.

Stiltzkin blushed. "She doesn't know yet, though, but see for yourself! She's visiting right here!" He turned around and saw the girl he mentioned. "Oh, there she is! Hello!"

The girl he had alluded to was definitely not a Moogle. It was a human woman with a youthful look, with a red ponytail on the back of her head, dressing primarily in red garments above her yellow shirt. The fact she was a human that the Moogle had a crush on looked and sounded very disturbing, and it would be far more unbelievable if she reciprocated his feelings for her. With her right index finger close to her lips, she winked at the Smashers. "Greetings!" she welcomed. "I'm... Huh? Hey, I recognize you two."

She was referring to Ike and Soren, both of whom looked surprised to find their acquaintance in such an unthinkable place. "Anna?" they both said.

"Oh, Ike! And little Soren!" the girl named Anna said with a smile. "What a small world! It's been so long since we last saw each other. How are the Greil Mercenaries doing?"

"They, uh, are doing well, but... That's not important to ask now," Ike said. "How did you get here?"

"How did I get here? I'm a fantastic traveler. Have you forgotten? Hmm-hm-hm!" she chuckled. "I can get anywhere I want as long as those places exist! But truthfully, I got here by chance on my boat and I found these adorable little guys hiding underground. Happy to say my curiosity didn't kill me...yet!"

The other Smashers exchanged looks until Mr. G&W asked Ike, "You know her?"

Soren nodded. "She is Anna. In our realm, she is known across some groups of mercenary companies and battalions as a resourceful woman with instructions of how to fight in skirmishes. While her lessons are basic and simple, she has become something of a respected person for those to wish to defend themselves...or fight to make a living when she turns her eyes away," he explained.

"That is correct," Anna said. "I'm also a very resourceful merchant. Those people who find my secret shops are...blessed with the ultimate equipment their eyes can ever see." She winked at the Smashers. "You can only find those shops if you have a special item, though!"

Stiltzkin said, "Ain't she a nice girl? Anna, my sweet, can you give them the item?"

Anna nodded, taking out a credit card. "I believe so! I have some fond memories of helping Ike's company in the past. Let this be my way to aid you in your quests...as long as you have the coin to show how good you are at saving money." Walking to Ike, she gave him the brown card.

Obtained Member Card!

An exclusive card that allows the user to find Anna's secret shops hidden in the vast worlds. It won't work if the shops aren't found first!

"My shops aren't found in plain sight," Anna told Ike. "They are hidden very, very, very well in places you'd never think of finding a shop... Once you stand of the spot the shop is hidden at, I'll appear to sell you super rare items and merchandise you won't be able to find anywhere else. Hmm-hm! Your wallets should be very fat to afford my prices, or else your tears will fatten 'em up." She walked back to the Moogle's side. "Good luck finding them!"

"...That has to be the worst way to promote your business ever," Ness said. "Having to go outside and find your shop at a place no one else would think of? Are you purposely making people go out of their way to find you?"

Anna smiled. "Of course I am! I only congratulate hard workers, and I know Ike and Soren are hard workers. Everyone hates lazy people who can't even bother to stand up from their seats to seek their food!" she retorted.

"That is a very true fact! She is truly a pro," Morgan noted.

The traveling woman never seemed to put her finger away from her face. "Not only do I sell abilities, I also sell other rare weapons and items. I'll be happy to sell you anything once you find my shop."

"Why can't we just buy anything from you right now?" Mr. G&W asked.

"Because I want you to find the shops first. Once we part ways, it'll be fair game."

Stiltzkin jumped down the table, landing firmly on the floor. "Upgrades to your innate attacks, leveling up in battles, equipping abilities and jobs... I think there is nothing else you guys can learn. You're basically ready to progress on the right path to become the strongest fighters the universes have ever seen." He turned his back on them. "Train, fight, discover, and do rest once in a while! Before long, you'll topple your foes with ease. But never, ever fall victim of becoming power hungry...idiots. They not only become into monsters, their egos, behaviors, and other similar traits can be wildly affected for the worst...but I trust you a lot!"

Though many of the Smashers looked appreciative for the Moogle's help, Chris wasn't entirely convinced about tempting him to keep on fighting. "(Stiltzkin surely knows we shouldn't rush straight into danger anyway...specially me...)" he thought concerned.

"...One more thing," the Moogle continued as he turned around. "I updated skills and magic that can reveal information of your enemies. Skills like Examine, Study, or Scan give far more detailed info so you can discern if it's a good idea to fight or run away from battles. Using any of those skills come with a personal assessment of yours truly! I'll gauge the overall performance of a group of fighters against your enemies as an added opinion. Whether you take my thoughts into consideration will be up to you, but don't get hurt needlessly when you could have fled to save yourselves instead! No shame in running away!"

"And that's a pretty basic tactic you shouldn't forget!" Anna piped up.

Dedede grinned mischievously as he rubbed his chin. "Hmm! Could I smack Meta Knight down if he tries to kill me?" he wondered.

"Oh, yeah, that also reminds me... Everyone else in your group need me to activate their innate abilities first," Stiltzkin said. "Once you make contact with your friends, be sure to call me with the bell I gave you."

Chris then said, "T-the bell? I lost it..."

"You lost my bell? Oh well, no harm done. Here!" He tossed a spare bell to Chris, who got surprised and scrambled his hands to catch the item. "Good thing we met! We can now stay in contact whenever you are. When you feel you need stuff...ring a bell to call me, okay?"

Artemicion suddenly appeared from the crowds of Moogles to stand next to Stiltzkin. "The Gargant cargo to the Nintendo Village junction has arrived, kupo," he said. "If they want to hitch a ride, they need to do it now."

The minister recalled that they had the other alternative to reach the Smash Mansion. "I had forgotten we had our dubious method of transportation... It's time for us to move out from here, it seems," he said, with the rest of the group nodding.

"Yup, we'll put you back on track to what you have to do," Stiltzkin said. He turned his back on them and walked northwest where he stood next to a spiral ladder of steel that not only went up to the other floors but also went further underground to an area the Smashers hadn't gone to yet. A sign on the wall said that the way down led to the Mognet Central Junction. "Go down this ladder with me!"

The group walked in a line to the ladder, seeing several Moogles waving and saying good bye to them and thanking them for keeping Mognet Central safe from Duon's menace. Morgan at first tried to hug at least one of them, but they kept backing off and pointing at the dream-crushing sign of rules of conduct, making her pout a bit and disappear down the ladder. The last ones to go down were Ike and Soren, though they decided to talk with Anna one last time. "What will you do from here?" Ike asked.

"I'll be leaving shortly on another ride," Anna said. "Good luck finding my shop, boys! Until we meet again."

"(There's no doubt now. I am surrounded by idiots and somehow I put up with their antics...)" Soren thought in disgust, descending down the ladder with Ike on the front. He was thankful that they would no longer hear the annoying "kupo!" word from the stupid creatures any longer as their cries were silenced as he went down the ladder to rejoin the rest.

Sea Cave Underground – Mognet Central Junction

Final Fantasy IX – Gargan Roo

Way down below the Mognet Central was a hidden cave that ran under the large ocean. The smell turned humid as the thirteen characters went down the spiral of wooden steps. As they descended, they looked around the new setting. Down below the spiral, there were more Moogles working near counters messy with documents and mail bags arranged in rows within lines depicting the destination of each one. They worked by placing the mail bags on a carriage, which was in front of a wooden docking bay.

The carriage in question was strapped with ropes to a large, blue bug (the Gargant) that measured a good 25 feet-tall body, latched onto the lower side of a large vine that stretched down a big passage into the vast network under the sea. The cave was so big, with a water river running down the carriage's path and the space of the carriage's path wide enough for transport without rocks blocking the way. On the walls, there were light candles and shiny rocks illuminating the way, which made the path look gaudy and pretty.

"This island sure did conceal a lot of secrets," noted Ness.

"But no treasure! What's up with that, eh?" Wario complained, always the one who cared more about the money and personal gain.

"Hush, you. We're finally going back home in less than three hours," Mr. G&W said.

The staircase spiral ran down to 50 feet until touching the floor. The Smashers and their helpers reached down the next floor and caught the attention of the Animist Moogles sorting out mail bags on the Gargant. The carriage in question was made entirely of wood, hanging up above the river. It gave the allusion that it was flying across the cave, if it were not for the Gargant. An Animist Moogle placed a bag with mail, jumped into the carriage with five other Animists, and then rang a bell. The Gargant roared in recognition and started making its way down the vine with the Moogles and the mail bags. Its heavy sounds were soon out of earshot.

"Ahoy, my brethren!" Stiltzkin told the Moogles as he stepped forward. "These guys need transport to Area 403 – Nintendo Village. Can you spare a mail carriage for them?"

"We're delivering people instead of mail, kupo?" a nearby Animist asked.

"This is very important! They need to reach their homes at once!" the traveler said. "Can you? Artemicion said it was okay."

The Animists looked at one another. "Well, if the boss said so, kupo…" an Animist near the docking bay spoke up. He walked to safe rocky ground and approached a large plantation that the Smashers had ignored. It was a plantation of erected plants with yellow bell-like flowers on top that covered a much larger area than the piles of mail bags. Plucking out with both hands, the Animist flew over to the edge of the dock and held up the plant. Quickly, a roar echoed from the right, and the Smashers saw another Gargant, carrying an empty carriage, appear, only stopping in its tracks when the Animist flew up to its range and offered the plant for it to eat in peace. Thankful, it would await the signal to move. "There, kupo."

Stiltzkin nodded and turned to the group. "There's your transport! You should get in before the Gargant gets impatient," he said. "Don't worry about the big guy. It's a vegetarian."

Half of them were hesitant to ride with a large man-eating-looking bug, especially Snivy, who feared Bug-types with a passion. Having agreed to herself to use Chris as her eternal meat shield, she climbed to his right shoulder as he and the others walked on the docking bay and jumped on to the carriage. The carriage wasn't fancy enough. It was a simple transport with a red carpet spread on its floor, with a large step on each side for sitting down. Many of them did sit down, except for the Ancient Minister, who took the central point.

"Let's open the stop sign for your destination, kupo," spoke another Animist. He went over to the counter where he pulled out from a drawer a small device with several buttons. He pressed one button, causing it to flash.

"The Gargants that need to stop at specific locations need to be stopped using feeding boxes," Stiltzkin said. "One box with food was activated down this passage. You'll know that's your stop."

"This one will take you to a hidden passage connected to Nintendo Village, kupo," spoke the Animist close to the docking bay. "Rest safe. There aren't any monsters anywhere in this long tunnel, kupo."

"I'll take anything at this point just to reach home, be it battleships or...large...bugs," Fox said with a sigh. "My life is such a mess…"

"Like you're the only one going through that," replied Ike duly.

Stiltzkin walked to the edge of the dock with some other Animists. "Thank you so much for all your help," the Ancient Minister said, the others nodding behind him. "We needed outside help badly."

"You're pretty lucky to land in my home," Stiltzkin said. "But anyway, I wish you guys the best of luck. Remember that I can appear anytime using my bell!" he said, staring at Chris taking out his replacement bell to look at it. "I'm a traveling shop. I never fail to sell juicy wares to fund my travels. If you are ever in a fix and have a pretty fat wallet to spare…ring a bell!" he said metaphorically and literally, as the Animist Moogles rang multiple bells at once, ordering the Gargant to resume its course. It began to crawl away with the carriage down the passage hole, and the Smashers looked back at the Moogles waving hands as farewells. "Back to adventure with you! Bye-bye!" Stiltzkin yelled loudly until they couldn't see the docking bay anymore.

As many of them stopped waving back, they were now on their own inside the cave. Very soon, they would reach home at last, prepared for the worst but also prepared to confront the future threats ahead. For now, they sat down on the steps and exchanged relieved expressions. "Halberd destroyed aside, we're going back," Ike said.

"How can you brush off the destruction of a ship whose owner is shorter than you but can still induce fear?" Ness asked. "I'm not looking forward to what Meta Knight will say. That time when we entered the Subspace a long time ago, it was his choice to sacrifice the ship… Now it's pretty different! We failed to keep Duon away from it! He'll cut our guts off in our sleep after he says, 'No, I'm okay. Just go to your rooms and rest.'"

It was Dedede's own gut feeling to use them all for shields to deal with Meta Knight. The king needed to prove that he was not that nice, but not that evil either. He wanted to keep his image, whatever that image was, and getting slashed to bits by the universe's most terrifying person was not in his schedule of forgiveness. "M-Meta Knight is gonna kill us!" he finally yelled.

"N-no, he won't. He's not that violent," Chris said. "I can't imagine Meta Knight getting like that. He…he will ignore us for the rest of our lives…at best."

"Stop it with the fear," Soren spoke from his seat. "No doubt that we are heading into the Subspace location you all fear. I have been there before, and I'm the proof that they are all trapped in there," he said, not that his facts helped to lift up the mood among the others. "If what you say is true, a battle is coming soon today. We aren't done with our fighting."

Pichu groaned as he sat on Chris's knees. "I wish the fight with Duon was just the last one for today…" he lamented.

"We've got more of a chance now that Stiltzkin gave us all abilities for battle," Fox said with crossed arms. "Well, that increases the odds by some numbers… You think we're strong enough to fight Tabuu?" he asked the Ancient Minister.

"I can't say," the minister said. "Tabuu hasn't been seen fighting at all since the final confrontation. And honestly, Duon's presence made it clear that Tabuu is still alive despite the fact there are over twenty people fighting him or not. I shall keep this simple…for some reasons," he said, eying Morgan and Snivy. He wanted to keep things brief, as it would have a great impact to people who weren't aware that they were different than Chris was. "The Shadow Bugs… They are small essences from Tabuu; an extension of his own body." He heard them all gasp. "You believe that Mr. G&W is the source of the Shadow Bugs…but that is a false assumption."

"W-what?" Mr. G&W stuttered. "I…I'm not the Shadow Bugs' source?"

"That's crazy!" shouted Dedede. "I thought this here flat guy was the monster maker!"

"Let me explain more," the minister said as the carriage rocketed to the sides a bit. "Truth is, Mr. G&W was used as a portal of sorts back at the factory. When he is not connected to the machines, he can live a normal life. But when he is… The machines sync together with Tabuu." He saw the group making blank looks. "I shall only say that the reason why G&W can be used for this is…because he is a special being unlike anybody else. Anybody who is born through normal means cannot be used for his role as a portal for Shadow Bugs."

Ness rubbed his head. "Wow, that's…unbelievable," he said. "…Hold on. Why do you think Duon's presence meant that Tabuu is still alive?"

"Shadow Bugs exist as long as Tabuu breathes," the minister answered. "If he is gone, Shadow Bugs are gone. If he were to die first, the likes of Duon and Galleom would seize to exist, along with the Subspace. Because Duon was alive, it's easy to tell Tabuu hasn't been killed… That spells doom, considering what happened at the mansion." He watched as they started murmuring words with each other. "It's inevitable. We will experience the worst first hand when we get there."

"Damn it all!" Ike complained, slamming a fist on his right knee. "We're forever locked in combat against his forces!"

"Moreover," the minister continued, "the Shadow Bugs cannot physically move out of the Subspace without a conduit of sorts. Mr. G&W is that conduit to allow passage between both worlds. With an immobile clone, Tabuu can transport the bugs from his self without trouble. If we were to sever the clone that he has at the factory while keeping Mr. G&W safe, it would definitely stop any of his creations from ever plaguing the world."

"But that's not happening now," Ness said. "Chris told us a clone of him was used as a replacement… Wait, that reminds me… Why can't he clone a thousand of him to make a lot more Shadow Bugs?"

"Tabuu spends so much energy producing Shadow Bugs for meager tasks, so he has stopped using them unless it is a special occasion," the minister said. "And besides, he has found it useless to create any monsters when he can simply try to create a single, powerful entity to take on you…us," he rectified. "Do you remember the Shadow Nightmares when Dark Gaia was a problem? Those malevolent copies of your comrades weren't so easy to make. When that feud stopped, Tabuu took a back seat to recover from producing too many Shadow Bugs."

Pichu looked confused. "Doesn't that mean that he's weak right now?" he asked.

"Like I said before, it's hard to tell," the minister said. "He could look tired, only to wipe out interlopers like ourselves with a mere flick of his hand. It's unknown what he can truly do…but this is just the beginning of what I can tell you about his true nature."

"There's more to this?" Fox asked with a sick look.

"Much more…but I'd prefer to tell this part of the story once we meet up with everyone," the Ancient Minister said. "It would help to brainstorm with them."

"I guess you're right…"

Wario groaned. "Oh boy, here we go," he said. "I'm gonna be kickin' people around and…do work outside of my rich office. Not gonna like this." While some shot him with glares and wondered why he was even with them, they ignored him and just let the Gargant take them across the long tunnel.

Pichu heard Snivy calling out to him from the backs of the people sitting in the front. He climbed down and got into a talk with her. "You called me?" Pichu asked.

"Yes," Snivy said. "I want to tell you that I'm going to let myself in with your team."

Pichu blinked in shock and backed off. "W-what? Why? I thought you said you'd leave after we got to the main land!" he said.

"That was my original intention," Snivy said. "But how am I going to just forget about everything I saw till now, huh?" She crossed her arms and frowned. "I get the feeling I got into a 'You know too much. You must die if you leave' situation."

"No one's gonna kill you for this…"

"At least not you or the others," Snivy said. "But your enemies… Why can't your enemies be Pokémon? I'm so confused now. You got giant robots and entities from other spaces trying to kill you. I don't want to get my vines tangled up against anything that isn't a Pokémon. That's why I didn't bother fighting that…that robot back then." She suddenly smiled and rubbed her leafy hands. "But if I stick with you and watch from the sidelines, it'll be a memory to remember when I get back home with my parents. I'm going to see where I can get one of those camera things to take photos for proof, otherwise nobody will believe me."

Pichu sweat-dropped. "You're more devious than I took you for…" he muttered.

She looked at Chris's direction. "If I want to stay safe, I need to pretend…to be one of his Pokémon," she said with dread. Pichu blinked twice. "It's the only way for me to be safe from other delusional trainers."

"Then why don't you let him capture you?" Pichu asked.

"Over my dead vegetarian body," Snivy said with a piercing glare. "I'm captured, and my fate is sealed forever. There will be no going back."

"B-but Chris is very understanding!" Pichu said. "He's not like other trainers!"

She rolled her eyes. "Next you're going to tell me that he has a hidden skill that makes Pokémon join his cause without question," she said. "Look, I have better things to do than fighting other Pokémon because a human wants me to. I want to live a life without getting smacked around."

"No, really! He's pretty nice and he doesn't fight other trainers!"

Snivy snickered. "Is he really a trainer at all?" she asked. "You said you weren't his Pokémon but he is close to you. He knows what Pokémon are (I really hate to keep using this word), and no one else has taken a liking to me…except for the red-haired girl who keeps staring me from her seat." She eyed Morgan, who seemed to be studying her out from the other side of the carriage with a smile and focused eyes. Snivy shrugged and looked away. "But she doesn't know what Pokémon are. Ignoring her, that guy has no Pokémon, so why should I worry?"

"That's not true," Pichu said. "He has one Pokémon back at home."

"Really?" she said. "I'm not very knowledgeable about all Pokémon in the world. Has he mentioned that one?"

Pichu explained everything to her about Chris's Lucario for half an hour.

"Ha!" Snivy laughed at the end. "Why are you trying to make him sound all mighty and tremendously powerful? His trainer doesn't even look like he can take on those legendary beasts and actually capture them! He looks a little generic to me."

"H-hey, I'm not lying!" Pichu said. "Lucario is that powerful!"

"What you described me a moment ago is someone close to a god," she said. She was a complete stranger to the existence of Arceus to refer to it as god. "If someone like that existed, his trainer would look more…imposing and whatnot."

"Well, about that part…" Pichu trailed off. "…His Lucario already came powerful from the start. (I can't explain to her how those two met in detail! She'll think I'm insane if I mention the real world!)"

"…That Lucario person just joined him?" Snivy wondered. "And he had no Pokémon to 'tame' him?"

"He used compassion and hospitality to get to him," Pichu said.

Snivy sighed, tossing her hands to the sides. "I need to see this Lucario for myself," she said. "I can't believe anything you say about him until I look up at the monster. It's so unheard of for Pokémon to just…walk up to a human and join them. He better be a serene person." She walked off to the border of the carriage to look around the passage, but Pichu didn't leave her side. To their surprise, Morgan had walked up to them, ducking down to see them at eye level. "Hmm?"

"Vee, snai vee, snai," Morgan spoke.

"…"

"Snai?" Morgan had listened to their conversation from her seat, and she was sure that she could understand them by talking using their language. Instead of understanding them, Pichu and Snivy put up miffed looks. "…Oh, I'm sorry. I'll use the other method… Pi, Pi-chu, Pi!"

"…" Snivy rolled her eyes and walked away from her, feeling less respect for Morgan. Feeling Morgan's stare burn into his skull, Pichu shivered and hopped away.

"Hey, no fair!" Morgan said as she stood up, getting some stares. "You can talk perfect English just fine! Let me in with her!" she told Pichu. "I want to ask her if I can hold her for a whole day! Maybe two days or more!" Snivy disrespectfully declined when she was told about it.

Sea Cave Underground – Nintendo Village Junction

After a long while, the Gargant slowed down to a halt when a box with plants interrupted its path. When they noticed that it stopped, they saw another docking bay with more Animist Moogles working around. They stopped moving mail and packages around when they saw the people on the carriage stepping down. One of the Moogles flew to them when they got to the rocky floor. "Oh, you must be the people our guys told us about from the main station, kupo," he said. "Welcome to the junction for Nintendo Village, kupo! If you follow those stairs on the back, you'll come out from our secret spot, kupo."

They looked forward where an opening with stairs was located, illuminated by candles. "Sweet home fresh air is beyond that passage!" Ness rejoiced, making the rest smile with relief. "And people are around! We can rest at the village!"

The Ancient Minister noted the fact. "What you said just now…" he trailed off in thought. "The Subspace Bomb that blew up at the mansion didn't reach for the village, then?"

"To be honest, the mansion is quite a long distance away from the village," Ike pointed out. "We've seen how large the void can be. Aren't they the same size for each detonated bomb?"

"Yes, they are," the minister said. "Unless multiple bombs blow up within range and increase the size, a bomb takes up about five miles in diameter."

They forgot the Animist that was floating right there. "Uh, I don't understand what you people are saying, so I'll just leave you be, kupo…" he shrugged and flew away to work with his team.

The group stared back at the way out and started walking there, until a figure flew down and gasped at their sight. "W-what the…?! H-how'd you guys end up here?" Parakarry asked.

"Parakarry?" Chris blinked. "What are you doing here?"

Parakarry grumbled. "I'm asking the question first! This area is kinda private for you to be!" he said. "Did you get through the post office without our permission? I thought the door was perfectly hidden…" He scratched his chin in thought.

"…Wait, this place is connected to your office?" Fox asked.

"Well, no use hiding it, but yes," Parakarry said. "We're affiliated with the Mognet Central to deliver mail. They're our jet planes to deliver mail across the world," he explained. "…Okay, that's enough explanation from me! How did you find this place?"

Dedede stepped forward. "We landed on that fuzzy-filled island by accident without a ship!" he said. "Those fuzzy guys helped us get back here!"

"Uh, I don't remember ever seeing you before," Parakarry said. "Eh, I see a lot of personalities every day so… UAH!" Dedede pushed him away to open the path, walking up the stairs with Wario following him. "R-rude! Seriously!" The others began to walk up the stairs in a hurry, leaving a confused Parakarry behind. "W-what's the rush with you all? Don't leave me behind now!" He took flight and flew up the cave passage to catch up to them.

~ Morning of New Beginnings, Nintendo Village ~

Wings' Post Office

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn – Vale Remix

A door behind the rows of drawers of the office opened up, and the Smashers ran out from the secret entrance to the front of the office, where a speechless Quill turned around from the counter and simply stared at their sudden appearance. "What in the… How did you get here?" he asked.

"Q-Quill!" Chris said relieved. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"

"WE are glad to see you!" Ness said amidst the cheers from some of them. "I can't believe we made it back!"

Quill was confused and thoroughly taken off-guard to see them in his work office. He was even more shocked when he saw some Smashers that weren't supposed to be alive. When Parakarry caught up, he panted for a bit and looked at his coworker. "A-ah… C-can you get out from here, first?" he suggested. "You have some story to tell me, I think…"

The team was told to stand outside in front of the counter, where they explained everything that had happened to them when they appeared in Moogle Island a day ago. They also explained the bit about why Ike, Fox, Ness, and Pichu were back, and Quill and Parakarry bought the weird story about a perilous quest Chris took to bring the back from the dead. Morgan was just given this information, and she bought it as well. Snivy, as always, just couldn't believe the story. They had arrived during early afternoon with a cloudy day, which was considered as a bad omen.

"And somehow," Quill said as he and Parakarry were inside the office, "you found your way back through Mognet Central…"

"That's the whole story," Fox said.

The Paratroopa mailman shrugged after staring too long at their worn-out clothes and weird stains on them. "Man, you guys are never having a normal day, huh?" Parakarry said with some envy. "Sounds like the universe likes to throw curve balls at you all the time."

There were so many averting glances from the group that Parakarry and Quill had to blink. "Why does everyone keep telling us that?" Ike asked, mildly angered.

"Ike, I don't feel the need to explain that to you," Soren said with dull interest.

Quill said, "It's hard to believe all that that happened you, and it's all the more confusing with some new recruits you got on the way… I'll just follow the flow and let things go by," he said. Parakarry nodded. "Let me be the first one to welcome you back home."

Parakarry gasped. "U-uh, me too! Oh wait, I'm the second one already," he sighed, hearing them chuckle his way. "So what are you gonna do now? The mansion is over that hill."

Immediately, all laughing seized to linger as they stared blankly at him. "T-the mansion is back there?" Pichu asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Parakarry asked. "That's where you live, but did you forget?"

"That's… How?" the minister said. "You mean to tell us that the mansion hasn't been destroyed or something?"

"Destroyed?" Parakarry repeated. "Uh, well, I haven't been over there like in two weeks…" He saw the Smashers sigh, correcting their assumptions. "…Yeah, I'm stuck here. What's going on?"

"I-it's better if you don't go over there for a week at least," Fox said, forcing a smile. "Really, don't go near that place or even tell anybody about it. We'll tell you when it's safe." Dedede slapped the back of Fox's head.

"Oh yeah, you guys tend to have explosions at random," Parakarry said. "Okay, thanks for the heads-up. Off you go now! You deserve some rest." The two postmen nodded at them, not looking at the worried expressions they put up when they walked away from the office.

"You deserve some rest, he says," Mr. G&W said. "The mansion is not there anymore, we know."

Chris gulped as they got into the way that led to the large hill blocking the traumatizing view to the Subspace beyond the other side. Looking around the village, it was a miracle that it didn't get deserted. Koopa Troopas, Piantas, Goombas, whatever race the people of Fox's world were called, humans from Ness's and Lucas' worlds, and some Pokémon Trainers (Snivy leaned closer to Chris's legs to give them the allusion that he was her trainer) were having normal days without worrying about a void that could possibly take them into dangerous territory. "Should we warn the people about the Subspace?" Chris asked.

The Ancient Minister stared at the villagers of the settlement for a while with the rest of the team. "I feel that we shouldn't," he said. "They could have gotten away from here since the bomb blew up. Tabuu could've sent the other army generals to cause havoc, but they haven't. Besides, making an unnecessary panic in the populace wouldn't help to keep things safe."

Soren nodded. "We better stay low if the enemies happen to be patrolling the area from the shadows," he said. "Our only safe bet is to go in there ourselves. Why should we accelerate the panic episode for these people if they're done for in the end? Let their ignorance be their bliss for some more time."

Ike knew Soren was just about to say the "They're all expendable" reasoning. "Then let's keep their peace like it is now, even for some more days."

"I can surmise that they're not stupid enough to run straight into the unknown," Soren said. "If they are…how pitiful." Ike facepalmed again.

"Are we stupid, then?" Wario asked, hoping to convince them from not dragging him into the struggle. "Our homes are calling! That mansion isn't our main house! Why don't we go away?"

As many glared his way, Chris pulled out his triumph card, only to keep things as easy as possible. "...Wario, did you forget I'd pay you when all this is over?" he asked. "If you aren't there with us during the final battle, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the money safe after that…"

Wario chuckled nervously. "O-oh! D-did I say…bail? I-I mean, I said we should FIGHT for our homes! Y-yeah, that! (Buyitpleasebuyitpleasebuyitplease…)" The Smashers rolled their eyes and frowned.

The Ancient Minister moved forward in front of the group and stared back at them. "If you think you are prepared to face the greatest challenge yet…we should prepare ourselves accordingly and rest for a bit before we move on behind that hill," he said. "It's unclear what'll happen once we enter the Subspace."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day you, of all people, would say that to us," Ness said.

The minister was worried that anybody else other than Chris would complain about him due to his past, but one look at Chris forcing a small smile told him that he should continue. "(I'm starting to see how you gain a lot of trust from others… I wish I had that skill myself.) I have changed for the better, and I don't intend to double-cross you again. If worse comes to worst, I'll…I'll accept my defeat and will renounce the chance to be the only one alive. I want to set my people free from torture."

Soren cleared his throat. "Ike better not die trying," he said. "I would try to sway him from continuing with this problem. He looks like he is dead set on continuing anyway."

"Soren, seriously, I feel like a dog with a leash with you talking about me like that," Ike said.

"One needs to face reality now and then."

"What?"

"Nothing, Ike," Soren said, causing Ike to shrug.

"Um…" Morgan spoke with a concerned look. "Uh, sorry, guys, but I'm trying to figure out how…uh…you came back from the dead and all that…"

"Oh boy," Ness muttered.

"This sounds a pretty serious thing to all of you," she said. "I don't get how dead people can revive…so does that mean you're zombies? Nooo, you would've eaten my brain," she said with a smile. "Well, anyway, do you guys need my help with this issue?" It seemed like she had dropped the controversial issue completely...

"No, we don't," Soren bluntly said. Ike frowned at the response and shot Soren with a bewildered look. "But it's your decision to choose what to do. We reached the mainland. This should be a good spot for you to start looking for your father."

"I-I know…but I feel like following you to help," she said. "Sounds like there's a huge battle going on across that hill… It feels wrong to just sit out on this, not after I helped you fight that monster back at the island."

Remembering her exceptional prowess in dealing major damage to Duon, Ike nodded. "You have the Luna skill with you," he said. "Only the most devoted soldiers get to learn a skill like that. But I fear about your safety."

"It'll be okay!" she said nodding. "I can hold my own in battle. I wish I was as good as being a tactician, though."

Chris said, "She should come with us. We need all the help we can get against Tabuu if we were to fight him in a little while…" He dreaded the very thought to fight Tabuu so soon. But if victory would be achieved so soon, it would take off a lot of weight from his back with his decision, which would probably be pointless in the end...though he wasn't so sure his mental stability was going to be ready for it. When he looked down at Snivy, he ducked down to meet her gaze. "That reminds me… What are you doing here still?" he asked her. "I thought you were leaving now."

Snivy blinked and told Pichu to translate her decision to them.

"She has less of a chance against that guy," Ness said. "Unlike Morgan, she didn't help in the fight against Duon. She needs to stay put or…just leave to stay safe." Snivy felt offended about that fact, but she didn't care much.

"She says she'll go hide in the nearby forest and wait for us," Pichu said.

"What? Even after all the stuff she saw, she wants to stick with us?" Fox asked. "She is a very stubborn Pokémon." He got a square Vine Whip smack to the forehead from her low position. "Oww!" Some of them laughed for a bit. Snivy smiled sadistically.

"So yes, I'm going with you and Miss Snivy is staying behind," Morgan said with renewed hope. "Let's fight together as a team! This is so gonna give me the necessary experience to be a tactician too."

"I'll be taking that role for now, if you don't mind," Soren said, making Morgan pout.

The Ancient Minister nodded once they stared him. "Good. Let's try to clear out our minds for the worst with a little rest in the village," he said. "We can't lose more time. Each day counts with the Subspace looming over the mansion's location. Let's meet up at the edge of town in an hour…and please someone keep Wario from sneaking away." He looked to the left where Wario was tiptoeing his way out into an alley. When he heard his name being called, he hung down his head.

The twelve members broke up and went their different ways. Ike, Soren, and Morgan went to the central fountain; Ness, Mr. G&W, and Dedede took Wario with them to the Wonder Restaurant area; and Pichu, Snivy, and the Ancient Minister remained with Chris. Because Fox wasn't feeling okay to leave Chris alone with a betrayer, he didn't move.

"Thanks to your presence and support, I have the necessary force to keep moving forward," the minister told Chris. "Now I worry that I may become co-dependent of you."

Chris felt happy hearing that. "If I can help you to feel more human…no, more stable in emotion, I'm happy to help," he said. "I see you can change for the better after discovering your tormenting past."

The Ancient Minister looked down. "My past…" he muttered. "When you were gone, I wondered how I would find those answers alone in this wide world," he said. "I have no leads to my creator, and how the origin of Tabuu came to be. Such big tasks must be done as a group and not alone." He looked up at Chris and shook his head. "…In the event that we fight Tabuu…please, don't perish again."

The plea scared Chris in the inside, and he shrugged with worry. Seeing his reaction, Fox glared and said, "Don't tell him those words! He hasn't taken it so well lately. That battle with Duon was not a good remedy either."

"Oh… M-my apologies," the minister said. "I won't refer death so carelessly around you… You have the power to avoid that, though." He was trying hard to reassure Chris. It only made him feel worse under the facade to keep them from worrying. "Unlike the last time you protected me, I will protect you from harm. You gave up your life for me… It's fair for me to try to keep you safe as well without losing lives."

Protection from harm was greatly appreciated. Chris felt safer just knowing that, but he would feel much better if Lucario was around. "You're not the only one keeping him safe, you know," Fox spoke. "I'm keeping him safe too."

"Me too!" Pichu piped up. "(He's pretty worried, and only I know that! I can't let him die again after hearing him out yesterday…)"

Chris was a bit touched by their help. "Thank you so much, everyone," he said, making them smile. "The final battle is going to be really tough, and I'm here all broken up over what happened in just three days."

"Make that 24 for us," Fox said, begrudgingly recalling the Reapers' Game.

"Oh, yes…" He nodded. "I need as much moral support I can to avoid losing it and screw up again…" Fox responded by hanging his left on Chris's shoulders. "Thanks… I want to go back to having fun times with everyone… Oh, maybe I can spend time with ROB." Fox's grin faded away.

The Ancient Minister stuttered. "U-uh, spend time with me?" he asked.

"Why not?" Chris asked. "That's how I usually get to know people."

"What else do I have to show?" the minister asked. "Everything about my past is blurry, even within my circuits."

"Then let's make new memories," Chris offered. "Don't they say that you shouldn't worry about the past and look forward to the future?"

"I…I suppose so, yes," the minister muttered. "I don't know how I can spend time with others, though. I've only shown interest in being with you, but even that can be hard for me without talking about missions."

"Geez, you need a life," Fox commented. Chris smacked the back of the fox's head.

"Perhaps I do…" the minister muttered. "…Let's make a life for me, then."

The comment actually helped the minister a bit, and Chris was surprised just before Fox returned the smack in kind. "O-okay! Sure! I'll show you around after this mission is over with, and nobody will confront you alone." In his mind, Chris felt that he was ignoring feeling concerned with the chances of surviving the incoming battle. He beat himself up for recalling that, because he thought it was carelessness in his world-hopping that affected him for the worse. With four stares looking his way, he toughed it up and concealed negative emotions.

One right twisting motion of his head to look away embarrassed brought him to a shocking finding behind a trash can inside an alley between two buildings. He saw a thick blue tail sticking out from behind the bucket, and its owner walked out wearily, holding its small chest in its larger arms. That didn't shock Chris as much as how the owner looked like: covered in bruises and bleeding on the forehead.

"N-no way!" Chris shouted in shock, startling the four. He quickly ran to the alley to the creature he spotted next to the tall trash can. The creature got scared when he heard shouting, but when he saw Chris, he blinked and backed off a bit until he remembered the teen. "Oh my goodness, is…is that really you? The same Riolu we found before?"

Riolu shuddered, but he didn't back away more. He couldn't understand human speech at all, unlike the more knowledgeable Snivy. Thus, he was frightened and confused about what to do. Since Chris had a very soft spot to Riolu in general, he grabbed the creature from his arms and brought him close. Riolu felt that this happened before; the feeling of being carried on someone else's arms and being fed, and it was the same person who did that. He felt protected and didn't want to escape from the human.

Feeling pain after a hand brushed the blood on his forehead was not very welcomed. He barked in pain and flailed his arms, desperately begging to stop. "I-I'm sorry! Please, don't cry! Everything's fine!" Chris said, his words meaning nothing to Riolu.

Having spotted the scene earlier, Pichu and the others went to their side. The Electric-type climbed Chris's left shoulder and looked down at Riolu. "Hey, he's not going to hurt you! You're safe!" he spoke in their language.

Riolu slowly stopped flailing his arms and looked up at Pichu. "H-huh? H-he won't hurt me?" he asked.

"No! He's very worried about you!" he said. "He's just trying to see why you're bleeding!"

"Bleeding…?" Riolu was new to the word. He thought the red stuff on his forehead was just red water that hurt when touched. "I-it hurts…"

"I-I know," Pichu said, examining Riolu's body in detail. Besides the bleeding forehead, some parts of his arms and legs were bloated spots that were a sickly red color. Bruises were everywhere, even his ruffled tail had messy hair spots. One of the appendages on his face was bloated while the other suffered from a few cuts...and there was this odd finding that he looked charred. It was a miracle that he was holding on. "Can I ask what happened to you? You look so bad…"

Riolu whimpered. "T-there was this smiling girl…s-she called this big monster that started chasing me and…a-and tossing fire my way from its nose! I-I've been running away for some time now…b-but they're chasing me down from the forest to here!" He started crying, indirectly forcing Chris to pull him closer to a hug. "I-I don't want to remember! I-I don't want to see them again!"

Pichu looked concerned and told the others what happened to him. "He was being weakened to be captured by some girl," Fox said. "I know Pokémon are captured that way."

"I forgot this Riolu was even here," Chris said. "Soren did say that he saw Lucario toss him away before the explosion took place… I started to think he was gone forever… Wait, I need to take him to the Pokémon Center! He's way too weak!"

"That's going to take time just healing him, won't it?" Pichu wondered. "Why don't you use your healing magic? Those are wounds, not an illness…"

"Oh wait, you're right…" Chris changed to his Fonic Hymn User and placed his staff over Riolu. The Emanation Pokémon stared at the glowing tip of the staff as Chris performed an incantation. "Energize… Fir-!"

He was just about to finish the spell when they heard a loud "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" scream from behind. Looking back to the alley where Riolu was found, there was a large creature breaking havoc and crushing trash cans as it had locked eyes with the frightful Riolu. Riolu screamed with his cries and leaned closer to Chris, alarming the group from the monster that was chasing him down.

"W-what is that?!" Chris said alarmed.

"T-that thing is headed our way!" Fox said.

Snivy shivered and took cover behind Chris. "T-that's a Pokémon I know very well!" she told Pichu, who was perched on Chris's shoulder. "It's an Emboar! It's a horrendous Fire-type! I hate Fire-types!"

The large Pokémon was suddenly engulfed in flames that covered its whole body as it rushed towards them, its main target the Riolu. Fox took the front to cover them, but the Ancient Minister simply stood where he was and fired a charged laser shot right on the Pokémon's head. The force of the blow send the Emboar back to the floor, where it fell on its back and the flames disappeared. It had been knocked out in a single shot. Fox blinked in surprised and sighed with relief, the others doing the same. Snivy felt the most relieved.

"Wow…" Pichu looked at the minister. "You felled that Pokémon with one shot."

"Pokémon are weak when compared to the likes us," the minister said. "Only the ones who are in our team can be a legitimate threat against normal Pokémon. The explanation Stiltzkin gave us made the point clear... It wouldn't be out of place to see you knocking normal Pokémon down, Pichu.

"Huh? I could?" Pichu wondered. "Oh, wow! That's cool!"

Riolu sighed when the Emboar was taken down. With danger averted, Chris resumed the incantation. "Energize… First Aid!" A healing wave engulfed Riolu. The Emanation Pokémon felt a soothing feeling washing over the wounds he had sustained from his escape. The bloated parts slowly shrunk back into his skin, and the bleeding wound seized to discharge any more blood from his forehead. Although not completely healed, he felt much better. Chris didn't stop there and cast another First Aid. Despite the second wave, Riolu just felt stinging pain on his body, a feeling that was completely eradicated once Chris used a third round.

The little Pokémon blinked in surprise, looking at his recovered body. He felt tired of all the running, though, so he simply yawned and leaned to Chris's chest. "He's all right now," Chris said relieved, until he felt shivers coming from Riolu when he stared back at the knocked out Emboar. "Oh… He's still scared." He didn't think that Riolu wanted to stay with him. The Pokémon knew he was safe with the teen, recalling Lucario's words that Chris would just do that. Being so young, Riolu was a mess in emotions and social skills. His main concern was to be alive and be safe.

The four looked at the Emboar from head to feet. It was just barely big to reach Chris's height, the Pokémon being 5'03. He was large in body with arms thick to demolish concrete and a large waist that had a large belt skin with a pale orange pattern running around to the back. It had a loose boar-like face complete with fangs sticking up outside its lips. Even while it was knocked out, it had a flame collar still alive.

"…Doesn't this Pokémon strike you like it's…Ganondorf?" Pichu wondered.

Chris stared at the Emboar. "No evil aura or proclamations of killing us all… It's not him," he said. "Anyway, where is its owner? I have a word to say for trying to hunt down this Riolu in particular." The somewhat angry look in his face made the point clear.

"Not to sound like a spoilsport, but isn't that Riolu a wild one?" Pichu asked. "Isn't it legal for anybody to catch it?"

"U-uh, no!" Chris said. "He's tugging to my shirt for dear life! It's obvious he wants to stay with me. Besides, I was the one taking care of him when he was about to starve to death!"

"Oh! Then, I guess you're his unofficial trainer," Pichu said. "I think Pokémon should just choose the people they want to be with, instead of being hurt and captured out of the blue. I'd hate to be randomly hurt…"

Not long after he stopped talking, they heard shouting from the alley where the boar came from. "Embooooooooar!" a female voice called out. "Dear Emboar, did you get that Pokémon?"

"So Emboar is its name," Chris said. "Another new Pokémon… Maybe the next generation is ready?"

"Chris, focus," Fox said.

"S-sorry."

"Oh, there you ar-OH NO!" she shrieked when she came running into the scene. Chris was surprised to see that the Emboar's trainer was a young teen who was probably close to his age and definitely taller than Red himself. It was a blond girl who dressed a little too formal while giving off a cute look (which of course the team wouldn't say her dress was cute). She wore a baggy green hat over her bushy blond hair, an orange vest over a white sundress covering her orange stockings that were above her yellow shoes. She never let go of her precious green purse hanging from her neck all the way to the right side of her belt area. Lastly, she wore white wristbands.

She ducked down and tapped Emboar's nose with a finger. "What happened to you?! You were all okay a moment ago! Don't tell me you got sick!" she said.

"H-hey, that Pokémon of yours is far much better than what he did to… (Should I really claim Riolu as mine? He's safer with me, so…) to my Riolu!" Chris scolded her.

The girl looked up at him. "W-wait…" She stared at the Riolu. He shivered and buried his face on Chris's shirt. "That cutie is yours?! Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought it was a wild Pokémon, not a captured one!"

"(I'll have to keep him away from any Poké Balls for now to keep the wall up…)" Chris thought. "Y-yes, he's part of my team. Don't you ever try to toss a Poké Ball his way!" He was lucky the girl hadn't thrown a Poké Ball while she had chased after Riolu with a heavyweight on his trail.

"A-alright, okay!" she apologized. "I know I won't lay a hand on him… Aww, and that one isn't from the Unova region. What a false alarm." She shrieked when she looked back at her fallen Emboar. "My Emboar! What happened to him?!"

Telling her that her Emboar was struck down by a laser would probably sound very outlandish, so Chris came up with an alternative. "He tripped by a banana peel and hit the back of his head. Hard," he said. His group just stared.

"Really? That's so unfortunate! I hope he's okay!" She burrowed her free hand into her purse, without opening the bag properly and thus sneaking into the side holes. This caused her some frustration when she tried to take out her Emboar's sphere from the relatively smaller opening she found, and she was stubborn enough to try to pull it out with force. She gritted her teeth and tried over-the-top body motions with little success.

"Shouldn't you…uh…open the bag?" Chris said.

"N-no! I got it!" she said with a twitching smile. "Oof!" She pulled the Poké Ball high up, causing her to stand in one foot and balance her form to prevent a nasty fall face-first on the floor. With brief triumph, she recalled Emboar into his safe sphere. Snivy could only shiver at the imprisonment of the large Pokémon, which was fitting considering she thought the Pokémon was a monster meant to live in a cage. "There we go now." Never mind she tried to shove the Poké Ball back into the hole of the bag again.

"…Uh, so," Chris began, "I can forgive you this time. Next time, I won't be so nice."

She bowed to him in respect, albeit a little too fast. "Really, really sorry! I'm never going to hurt a cutie like that if it's not a wild one!" she said.

"That sounds incredibly morbid, but…okay?" Chris said. His Riolu wasn't going to uncover his face to her. "What's your name? I'm Chris, by the way."

"My name?" She stood up and smiled. "I'm Bianca. I come from the Unova region with my friends," here she began raising fingers, "Cheren, Hilda, and Hilbert… OH MY! I totally forgot about them!" Bianca started panicking, suddenly taking off back across the alley. "Sorry! I gotta go now! See ya later! Bye!" She waved a quick hand without turning back from her sight, disappearing in a thick cloud of dust her feet somehow left behind in her hasty retreat.

Chris and the others were left blinking in confusion. "…Pokémon Trainers can be awkward," the minister said.

"…No, it's just her," Chris said, turning back to his group. "I got this weird vibe she felt like…like a female Barry." He shrugged at the thought and looked down at Riolu. "It's okay now. The creepy girl is gone." Despite the news, Riolu didn't uncover his face from the shirt. "Riolu?"

Pichu said in his speech, "Hey, it's okay now! You're safe from harm!"

Riolu slowly looked up and then looked around for any sights of the girl. He sighed in relief and simply leaned to Chris. "He's surprisingly a quiet one," Fox said. "He must've gone through a lot himself."

"…" Chris cocked his head to the sides as he examined the Riolu. There were some features on it that he didn't quite catch the last time. "…The size…the features… Oh god...this Riolu is a baby."

"What?" Pichu said. "It's a baby? How can you tell?"

"Well… I've gone to the Valley of Aura several times that recognizing newborn Riolu has become an innate skill of mine," Chris said, blushing in embarrassment. "This one measures just less than two feet and four inches tall, the appendages on the front are a little smaller than the average, and the face clearly looks – to me – like a baby. He also feels a little lighter."

"A newborn creature, wandering the world on its own…" the minister muttered. He could oddly relate similarly to the Pokémon. "Why would someone like him be wandering around just like that?"

"Huh? Wait, you're right…" Chris blinked. "I've never seen a baby Pokémon wandering about without its parents. Is this one lost, then?" He shivered. "His parents should be very worried about him…"

The minister had a hunch Chris was going to go look for said parents. "Unfortunately, we don't have the time to help him out during this critical time ourselves," he said. "We must engage Tabuu today. We cannot do anything else."

The fact saddened Chris once the Riolu looked up at him. "Another ordeal… But what am I going to do with him while we go into the Subspace? I can't bring him in there."

Fox said, "Then just tell that other snake Pokémon to take of him inside the forest area."

They looked down at Snivy. The Grass Snake Pokémon stared up at them until Pichu climbed down to her side, telling her their idea. "Me take care of that baby?" she said. "That's asking a bit too much, you know."

"Please!" Pichu said. "U-um, if you don't take care of him, Chris is going to have a heart attack when we come back from that place!"

"…Wow. That'd be hilarious to see." She smiled deviously.

"Snivy!"

"Argh! Okay, fine! I'll take care of him! But try to tell him not to wander off. You're lucky I'm a certified babysitter back at home…"

He sighed and told the others about it. "Thank goodness…" Chris sighed with relief. "We have to tell Riolu about this, though… Pichu?"

"On it," Pichu told him, directing his attention to Riolu. "Hey, Riolu!" He got Riolu's attention and explained what was happening. "Listen…" He explained the whole deal to the Emanation Pokémon, but he responded by clutching his little hands on Chris's shirt. "It's no use... He refuses to let go of you, Chris."

Fire Emblem: Awakening – Shh... Easy now, girl. I won't hurt you

The teen sighed and started to rub the Riolu's head with care. Feeling a nice hand rubbing his head, the Riolu looked up at Chris. Pichu stood between both as the speaker and translator. "You're very scared...just like me," Chris spoke softly. "Believe me. I wish I could stay back with you to keep you safe...but I have to do some stuff I'd rather not be doing because it will keep you safe."

"I-I don't wanna leave you..." Riolu said, his eyes filling with tears. "...Why do you have to go away now? I need you..."

It struck Chris so hard that the Riolu needed him so badly. He was both relieved and saddened to hear the statement. "...I also need you just as badly," Chris admitted. "The last time I saw you, I wasn't as scared as I am right now. You remember that big house where I took you, right? It's...it's gone from there, along with that Lucario who was looking after you."

The Riolu gasped. "H-he's gone? W-what happened to him?"

"I really don't know, and I want to see what happened to him... I'm so lost without him by my side," Chris said, sniffing a bit. "Where I'm going is very dangerous and full with peril. If you come with me, I'm scared about what could happen to you. You're just a baby who can't defend himself from bad guys."

Pichu did his best to dumb the words down for Riolu, as the latter had a hard time trying to understand most of them even in his speech. "I-I don't wanna fight..." Riolu said. "...I don't wanna leave you again." He felt Chris's hand rubbing his head.

"I'm going to make sure I'll return for you," Chris muttered, bringing the Riolu under his chin and resting it on him. "Once I do...we'll have lots of fun together with Lucario. When that happens, I'll never leave your side because...I...I really like you." He was shedding tears. "I have a very soft spot for you, y-you know? You're just a baby without your parents... I feel the need to raise you because of that."

"My Daddy and Mommy..." Riolu spoke softly, leaning his head to Chris. "I dunno where they are... I feel alone... So alone..."

"(Damn it...)"

"...I wanna be with you," Riolu said, for the first time since he met Chris smiling up to him. "You're so nice! You gave me food when I was hungry! And you didn't hurt me like that creepy girl... I'm happy with you!"

The teen chuckled as he brought Riolu face-to-face by lifting him from his arms. "And I'm very happy with you too," Chris said, watching the Riolu's tail wag to the sides, where his owner looked over his shoulder at his tail doing the unusual movement. "What is it?"

Riolu looked back at Chris. "N-nothing," he said. "My tail starts doing that when I'm very happy. That's what my Mommy told me."

"Heh heh, that's just fine. It's normal," Chris said, seeing the Riolu smile brightly again and his tail wagging even faster. "So... I want to ask you again. Will you stay with Snivy until I come back for you?"

Riolu's smile faded away, looking saddened at the proposal. "I...dunno..."

Chris swallowed a bit of air. "Please... I promise I won't leave you so suddenly like I did before," he said, and now his tears were coming out faster and plentiful. "I never knew I'd get into deep trouble when I wanted to help my friends... I could've stayed with you, b-but...my friends are just as important to me as you are." Fox, Pichu, and the minister exchanged glances. "If you were in trouble, I'd go help you out too."

"...Oh..." Riolu smiled a bit. "You help your friends?"

"Yes, even if...even if that puts my life in danger," Chris said. "I have the power to help them, but people like you don't have it, so that's why I can't let you come with us to that dangerous place... You wouldn't make it." He hugged the Riolu, and the Riolu was quick to hug him back. "...I'll try to come back for you once I'm finished with my mission, okay? Till then...please, stay back."

The Riolu was starting to cry and toss up a bit. "O-okay... I'll wait for you," he said, making Chris hug him a little tighter. "Come back to me...okay? I'm also waiting for my parents to come back for me, but you're also nice! I feel safe with you!"

Chris closed his eyes and started to cry with joy. He was unsure if he was going to make it, though knowing he had another reason to fight pushed him forward. "You're a sweet little baby Riolu..." Pichu knew the two had made a deal. He climbed down from Chris's shoulder to leave them both alone.

Watching Chris and Riolu together, Fox cocked his head and smiled. "So this is that side of him when he raised his other Pokémon that one time," he said. "He looks a little better to me... What do you think?" he asked the minister.

"W-what do I think? Well, I, uh..." The minister got startled by the sudden question as he watched the teen babying the Riolu. "Y-yes, he does. I-I suppose that's a nice trait to have to look after babies, no matter if they're human or not..."

"I think Chris's the nicest trainer I've ever met," Pichu said. "So caring, so devoted to spending time with Lucario without fighting..."

"A diamond in the rough, then," Snivy said. "Why can't trainers be like him? Trainers that don't force their creatures to fight should replace the ones we have now," she muttered.

Pichu overheard her, though he had to agree with her notion. "It's a real shame, isn't it?" he said. "I used to think trainers were bad, too..."

Snivy stared up at Chris, whom now was laughing as he rubbed Riolu's head. Seeing the baby beaming with glee was making the teen feel so much better, and Snivy smiled a bit. "I've got to see how this develops," she mused. "Pichu, maybe you're not saying lies after all. This human, Chris... He has something I thought trainers didn't have: compassion...and true love."

The electric-type rubbed his chin at Snivy. "Is it just me or do you sound nicer?" he asked.

"W-what? I-I can be nice now and then! I'm not heartless!" Snivy said angrily, to which Pichu laughed. She crossed her arms and looked away in disgust. "D-don't you think I'm going to join his cause! You all are in deep trouble with this Subspace Army group who want you dead, and I'm not planning in fighting them myself!"

The six took the rest of the time they had to rest on a nearby bench where Chris spend time with Riolu. The teen was happier than usual, unlike how lost and helpless he was during the fight with Duon. As time went by, Chris introduced Riolu to his other friends. The Riolu turned out to be a very curious baby, asking why the big mad fox looked angry or why the robed figure had glowing yellow eyes. Feeling awkward at answering the questions as best as he could, Chris nonetheless felt like there were no problems or battles to fight. What mattered now was enjoying his time raising the little baby sitting on his lap and laughing with the others.

The minister then saw why the teen was so precious for the Smashers: he was a true friend anyone would be glad to have with a warm heart and positive outlook; a far outcry from those times when the minister saw him during his most hopeless situations. If given the chance, Chris was worth to be with, and the happy Riolu proved the point.

"Uncle Fox?" Fox said dismayed at Chris. "You want me to be the uncle of...a baby Pokémon?"

Chris looked sternly at the vulpine with the Riolu simply staring. "I don't see why not," Chris said. "Lucario can be his big brother, and you can be his uncle."

"H-hey, come now..." Fox said, staring at the Riolu. "Now that you went ahead and said it, he's not going to make me take it back!"

"That was the whole plan, actually," Chris muttered, looking a bit devious.

"W-what?!" Fox said shocked. "Y-you little weasel! I didn't think you could do that to me! You do have a dark side after all, you scheming little kid!"

Chris got offended, though Riolu wasn't stopping barking at Fox and calling him his uncle. "Watch your mouth, Fox! I can get pretty rowdy if people call me a kid! I'm a teenager: a TEENAGER. Do I look like a kid to you?"

Fox looked away and muttered through his fangs, "Then you should totally stop behaving like a kid."

"I heard that!" Chris said, and then he started shaking Fox by his shoulders, with Pichu tagging in and shaking his head, and Riolu cheering on Chris by default. A loud scene ensued on the bench while Snivy and the Ancient Minister watched on without saying much.

Before long, the rest of the team arrived and saw what was happening. None of them decided to stop the event, as long as they didn't share Soren's mentality. Staring at the Branded's annoyed look, the minister said, "This long session took a lot of our time. It's nearly time to storm the Subspace...so please, stop."

"Aww... It's already time?" Chris said, getting up and holding the Riolu in his arms. "...Rats. I was having so much fun..."

Fox grinned. "(Just you wait, Chris. There will be plenty of times to laugh and goof off,)" he thought. "(Now that you look much better, I'm sure everything will be okay...)"

The baby Riolu temporarily joined your team!

SMT: Devil Survivor 2 – Heroes Have No Fear

With the team reunited for the most important mission in their lives, they made sure to see if everyone was okay with the idea. They would, however, ignore Wario's outcries to go home. "This is going to be the last time I'm going to ask this before we continue on," the minister said. "Are you ready for what's to come?"

Ike nodded. "We let this go unnoticed, our homes will suffer later. I'm not backing down from this," he said.

Soren nodded. "Against all odds, I cannot go against Ike's words. Still, the Subspace Army is a big threat to Tellius itself. This is a good time as any to stop them for good," he said.

"I feel scared… Really scared of what can happen in the Subspace," Pichu said. "I never went in there before, and Tabuu looks like a powerful god or something… B-but I can't back down after everything I've seen! I'm brave enough to do this with everyone!"

"I'm sad I couldn't get to be with you guys while I was imprisoned there," Mr. G&W said. "So, I made it my personal mission to recover the lost time after finishing Tabuu off for good. I know I'm doing this!"

Dedede laughed jovially. "Lemme chunk a buncha Waddle Dee at his face! I have an endless supply of 'em right in my sleeves!" He sighed next. "Eugh, that sounded dirty…but ya know what I mean!"

"It's really time for the final battle, huh?" Ness asked. "I'm shocked, but at the same time happy to know we're reaching the end of this long journey. Let's do this! I want to rest after having to go through the pain that was the Reapers' Game!"

Morgan chuckled. "I can't wait to receive all the experience to get me to the next level in my tactician quest!" she said. "This is gonna be a story father won't believe once I find him!"

Fox looked serious and made a fist. "With the mansion inside the Subspace, there's no way we can just escape with the rest of the team. Once inside the Subspace, Tabuu can stop us if we don't put up a fight," he said before grinning. "So let's give him what he doesn't want."

"Can I leave now?" Wario asked. Several "no" told him not to. "Fine, fine, I'll just…slam my motorcycle on his face…and run off with all his money… Heheheh. Hey, that doesn't sound too bad!"

Chris embraced Riolu, making the Pokémon look up at him. "I…I've gotten so far," he said, more to himself than anybody else. "Tabuu didn't see me as a threat when I met him days ago, so…I wonder what he has to say now that I'm here with this team…" He forced a tough look, feeling Riolu's gaze. "I-I have a Riolu right here who wants to be with me… I can't just perish in the next battle! (I sure hope this is enough for me to keep on trying…)"

The Ancient Minister nodded at them. "Very well," he said. "I, myself, have more to say. The fate of my…of my people depends on what's going to happen next after we encounter Tabuu. I can take off a lot of weight from my shoulders, but the aftermath of the battle will tell me that I need to work harder to make up for my past mistakes. The chances of victory look slim for now… Hope has taught me how important it is to persevere, though. I do look forward to see the happy ending of this story." He turned to the direction of the hill and nodded once more. "Let us go forth."

"Yeah!" only Morgan said, as the rest of the team wasn't fully convinced of their odds. Nevertheless, they pressed on to the hill, climbing its steep road to the other side of the landscape. With each step, some of them started to feel anxious and more scared. The Subspace would be looming on the other side and with it the final battle against Tabuu.

They wanted to believe that the others were still fighting even today, somewhere within the void. Chris hoped to see Lucario okay. With a baby Pokémon to look after, the teen found it harder to die without remorse. He wanted to have more happy times in the future. He wanted to raise Riolu with care and fun like was doing a few minutes ago. He wanted to go back home and let his parents know indirectly he was fine. He wanted Lucario back…

The Ancient Minister approached him. "Don't leave me behind now," he told Chris. "You're practically the only person who can support me once I try to make amends with the rest of the group. Should you disappear again…I'll lose it."

Chris grimaced but forced a small smile. "I'll do my best to stay alive for the end… This better be the last leg we need to end everything."

"I'll protect you," the minister said. "It's only fair for me to keep you safe as well."

"Just…no sacrifices, okay?" Chris said, shuddering at the mere thought about him doing just that instead. "No more deaths. This is enough."

"I couldn't agree more."

He steeled himself with his resolve. On the other side of the hill, everything would be decided at last. He suddenly felt Fox's arm hanging on his shoulders. Chris looked with surprise at his grinning expression. "Don't look so down, okay?" Fox said with a small wink. "You've got me for protection, too. No way am I letting my little bro suffer more for this."

"…Thank you, Fox," Chris muttered, smiling truthfully. "That makes me feel better." With a small chuckle from the vulpine, the team continued moving forward to the top of the hill.

Since Snivy and Pichu were the smallest members, they were the last ones to see the horrendous sight in front of the hill after making it to the top. The team had stopped there, speechless of the scene before their eyes. Morgan, though, nodded to herself an advanced forward with determination. "Team! Let's not put up long faces now!" she encouraged them. "We must move into the wild land of the Subspace and confront this Tabuu guy! Don't let your fears take the best of you! You are far better than that!" She raised her Elfire tome proudly. "Quit standing there with those looks now, and let's fight for our future!"

"…B-but…b-but…" Pichu stuttered.

"No, Pichu! Don't look so down either!" Morgan encouraged. "You said before you were brave despite your cutesy appearance! No, you ARE brave! I know it to be true!" she said. She was on fire! She was the heart of the team; the important role that helped them to keep moving forward during moments of anguish! "And you guys are just as brave. So come on no-!"

"Morgan," Soren interrupted.

The amnesiac girl had her pumped fist high up in the air. "Yes?" she asked with her tough look intact.

"There is no need for you to continue with your encouraging words…" The Branded stared behind her. "…Because, frankly speaking…"

The Subspace void was nowhere to be seen in its spot. In its place, the majestic Smash Mansion – not sporting the hole in the front wall over the entrance – stood proudly far away from the hill.

Fire Emblem: Awakening – Agh! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!

Morgan blinked and turned around to the mansion's direction. "…Oh… Well, you could've fooled me," she said, scratching her head. "Really, when you say 'Subspace,' I think of big mansions."

"That's…the worst kind of logic I've heard so far," Soren commented.

Switching to most important topics, the Smashers were shocked to see the mansion perfectly fine. There were no signs of outside damage around its surroundings. The mansion was okay. The Subspace void was nowhere in sight at all. The huge implication that fighting Tabuu was a fact suddenly faded away so quickly from their minds, they felt uncomfortable with the quick development. It took several eye-rubbing hands to convince them to accept reality. Yet still, they knew there was no way this was happening.

A wide-eyed Fox, his arm still hanging on Chris's shoulders, blinked several times at the house until he sighed and looked ticked off with a dull expression. "…So much for all that stupid drama and suspense back there," he said.

"But how?" Soren asked, looking just as ticked off. "I remember so well how everything was sucked into the void! How is it that the void is gone? Have we arrived at the wrong location?"

"Ooh! Maybe it's an illusion! A trick being played on our eyes!" suggested Morgan brightly. "Quick. Let's toss a rock and see any wavey-waves in the air." She picked a pebble and tossed it forward. It fell flat on the ground twenty feet away. "Hmm, I need to get closer…" She was stopped from going forward by Ike.

"No… This is definitely the same location," Ike said, looking around for anything out of place. "…These are the mansion grounds, alright…"

The Ancient Minister was the most surprised one from the lot as he moved forward, next to Morgan. "But this… How?" he asked, just like Soren did. "Duon was alive hours ago. That was enough indication that the Subspace and Tabuu were… Did Tabuu get defeated within that span on time, then?"

Dedede's shrunken pupils enlarged to their normal size. "Hey, something's fishy about this," he said. "This looks WAAAAAAAAAAY too good to believe!"

"But the mansion's right there and the Subspace void is gone!" Mr. G&W said. "What else do you need to be convinced? I don't see any voids anywhere else…"

The minister looked around in the sky to see any weird distortions caused by the Subspace. There were none to be found, no matter how hard he tried to scan the air with his vision. "There is no Subspace in this area," he said before looking ahead. "The village was spared of the void's area of effect…and the mansion doesn't have any signs of the Subspace in the air… It is completely safe."

The World Traveler was having a hard time coping up with the revelation. "…I don't know what to believe anymore!" Chris suddenly burst, startling Riolu. "I can't take this in so lightly! This is…just…just too good to be true! And I should know that myself!" he complained, his eyes deciding to shed tears of joy, fear, and confusion all at once. "We've gone through hell to get here, and…we see this? How isn't this a trap set up by Tabuu?"

"Subspace can't just disappear on a whim," the minister said, turning to Chris. "It can only disappear for good once Tabuu is defeated. Soren claimed that he saw the Subspace take hold of the mansion…and it looks like the Subspace was taken care off out of some miracle after we defeated Duon."

"Did they…did they really defeat Tabuu?" Pichu asked. "The fight is over? We won? We can go back to our normal lives?"

"Honestly, I feel bummed out we didn't get to be part of the final confrontation," Ike said. "So much for all our combined efforts and heartwarming struggles."

"Fighting Duon ourselves was the only challenge in the end..." Mr. G&W muttered. "...I can't say I'm truly happy."

Snivy then approached Pichu, looking unappreciative. "Were you telling me a fantastic story?" she asked. "I don't see any void of destruction around these parts. Were you pulling my vines?"

"N-no, I wasn't kidding!" Pichu said. "How can you think I'm kidding right now? We're serious!"

"Well, explain to me how there's a normal…big mansion over there where you thought there was a hellish world of darkness," Snivy said, crossing her arms. "I believed almost everything till now." Pichu was struggling to come up with a good explanation for the odd event all on his own.

Then he recalled Riolu. "R-Riolu!" Pichu shouted at the Pokémon on Chris's arms. "You were here! Didn't you see some kind of dark sphere growing over there?"

"U-uh…" Riolu shook in fear. "L-Lucario told me to stay away from here… I-I wasn't around here when he tossed me away…"

"Oh no…"

"…No, there's no effing way this can be true!" Fox suddenly said, pulling his arm back to his side. "Unless Tabuu was really very weak, I can't believe this is happening! Something is definitely fishy about all this!"

"That can be true…" the minister trailed off. "I do think this is unbelievable as well."

"Can't we just go in there?" Dedede suggested, looking mighty pissed that he also missed the final battle. "There's gotta be more than one stinky clue inside!"

Soren then interjected by saying, "Then we should do so as carefully as possible. We don't know if the inside of that mansion is filled to the top with our enemies. It could really be a trap in disguise."

"Aww, man," Wario groaned. "I wanna get this over with…"

Mr. G&W then said, "Let's slowly approach the entrance from this point. What if there are traps on the way there?"

The World Traveler wanted to play it safe. He set Riolu down next to Snivy and told Pichu to tell them to hide in the bushes of the forest while keeping an eye on them so they could be given a signal to follow them once having reached the entrance. Riolu was very reluctant to leave Chris's side, but Snivy pulled him into the bushes on the side of the long road. Sticking their heads out, they watched the Smashers slowly make their way to the mansion's entrance. Just to be super sure, they didn't talk out loud.

"We revived too late for the big event…" Fox grumbled. "Falco will rub it on me for the rest of my life how he defeated a cosmic abomination without my help… Oh, then there's Wolf too. Dammit."

"I'm not really all that angry about it…" Chris muttered. "I'm happy this is over without suffering any casualties…"

"Chris, you forgot we are the casualties," Ness muttered, feeling pathetic. He began to compare his previous achievements in life. "…This is way too stupid. I fought a nightmarish alien of outer space who could taint people's hearts! I should've been included in this final battle!"

"You're one to talk!" Dedede whispered. "I kept Dream Land safe from a REAL nightmare till Kirby got the wrong idea! I-I coulda have definitely taken Tabuu on…with a lot of backup!"

"I'm very capable to beat up an abomination without an Arwing, also," Fox continued. "How can I be missing out on this?"

"Fox, please, you need to stop complaining so much…" Chris muttered.

"We're just a bonus for them to rejoice with…" Pichu lamented. "No participation in the final battle… We were separated and left on our own… Oh, so very lonely…"

"Aww, all that experience…forever lost," Morgan muttered, feeling sad. "Now I'll have to take the long way out to become a great tactician like father… This sucks, guys. I'm gonna kill some evil soldiers who try to kill me to get me started." Getting some odd looks, Morgan just blinked.

Mr. G&W looked back at Pichu. "I know how you feel," Mr. G&W said. "I have practically done nothing to help the cause. This is so degrading to my standards as one part of the team."

"I better see if my people got out safely," the minister said, the only one not lamenting his participation in doing nothing against Tabuu. "I don't care if Tabuu perished in any way. I care more about the only persons that I was attached to…"

"(Wait a sec! I'm gonna get rich!)" Wario realized, looking with lustful eyes at Chris. "(Tabuu is done for! I did nothing to fight but he promised me riches! In your face, suckers!)"

"I can't say this adventure of ours wasn't fruitful," Soren said. "For one, Ike is alive and well. My bad luck back then turned out to be a safe way to get to him."

Ike grimaced. "And you enjoyed the way how you died?" he asked. "We still have that weird mystery about Marth stabbing you from the back, but I'm not ruling out the chance he was brainwashed somehow."

Soren frowned. "No, Ike, I didn't enjoy the way I died," he said. "And I can't believe that Marth was brainwashed. The part where he stabbed me, though, needs further investigation from his own words."

They were halfway through the path to the entrance. "W-what if there are enemies inside?" Pichu whispered.

"We beat them out from the house," Ness said. "It's our home, not theirs."

"Oh, now you're giving me the creeps with that," Mr. G&W said. "The others aren't there, but instead, there are enemies…"

"That doesn't make much of a difference in what we're going to do," Ike muttered. "Let's do this very carefully to avoid getting too much attention from…whoever is in there."

"And what if people don't rush out to kill us?" Dedede asked. "What then? Do we just let ourselves in?"

"That would be the most appropriate course of action," the minister said. "As stealthy as possible…"

Chris looked back at Snivy and Riolu. They were still there, sticking out their heads from the bushes to stare their way. The teen turned back to the north, where the imposing mansion's wall stood proudly before them. They were only fifty feet away from the double doors of the house to clarify their nagging suspicions and get in there. Their steps gradually became slower with each step. They wanted to take a look at the windows, but the Branded advised against it. Soren looked up to spot the hole where the bomb had crashed into, finding the wrecked mark nowhere. It made him feel uneasy, narrowing his eyes at the double doors.

They stopped right at ten feet from the main entrance. Nobody dared go forward and knock on the door. "…Definitely too easy," the minister muttered.

"Really, really easy…" added Chris.

"It's our home, and yet we can't barge inside… Oh, the irony," Pichu muttered, drooping his ears.

"It's not like anyone is keeping us from entering," Fox reminded them. "It's just us being careful."

"Okay," Dedede spoke up. "Right now, I name you the leader of our little expedition team! As your first task, you need to go there and knock on the door!"

Fox had been staring forward with intent until he felt ten gazes shudder the fur on his head. Looking to his sides, the ten were staring blankly at him, unanimously choosing him as the first one to take the fall despite having had many nice chances in the past. Through gritted fangs, he uttered, "NOW YOU'RE APPOINTING ME AS THE LEADER FOR THIS?!"

"It's a strategic point," Soren muttered. "You're the second swiftest person of the group. We could go send Pichu over there in your stead, but you are more physically able to resist the brunt of incoming damage. Besides, you can escape certain death with your speed… By the way, no hard feelings if you do die, Fox."

"(Arrogant little turd!) Ugh…" Fox nodded. "Fine, I'll go. But let it be known I got the leader position."

"Naaah, we're surely going to dethrone you once we get in," Morgan said. "You're not a leader without any members. That's basic stuff us tacticians know!"

Bewildered at the statement, Fox grunted at them one last time (except a little less so towards Chris, who just forced a small smile that seemed to twitch) and advanced to the double doors by his lonesome, his team keeping the back row covered. Fox was shocked when his eyes looked up to the tall wall of the mansion, feeling quite too small. He never thought such things when he used to live in there, but this was largely different for a reason. For all he knew, the wall could collapse on him and take them down in one blow. Good thing there were no signs of wear anywhere.

When he stood right in front of the double doors, he stopped and looked back to them. Almost everyone nodded their heads, telling him to go ahead and knock. Sneering at them, Fox looked forward at the wooden door and reluctantly raised the back of his right fist. Considering what he could unleash with a mere knock, Fox didn't want to knock. He then got annoyed and knocked on twice, backing all the way to his loyal team. Gasping, they assumed their positions and reached out for their weapons.

"Nobody say anything or make a move yet," Soren whispered. "We'll wait here till the doors open."

"Wait a minute, I thought I was supposed to say the orders," Fox said.

"You're the leader, not the tactician. Your only role is to be the team's face until you die in battle and we have to put someone else more capable for it. Therefore, you're expendable."

"That's a load of bull-!" He was hushed to avoid screaming, much to his chagrin.

Waiting for the doors to open up, they steadily got ready for anything: enemies pouring out, bombs dropping from above, the shaking of the earth, bizarre sounds that would turn out into giant machines appearing from the back, or even a Mr. Saturn with space-bending powers (this last part was thought out by Ness only). It was only after a whole minute of no response that they eased their stances.

"…Nothing," the minister muttered.

"Should we take a peek from the windows?" Pichu asked.

"No, that'll alert anybody who's in there if they spot us," Soren said. "We can make do with just one person opening the door while the rest are doing their own business. Said person would make a great hostage if things go down badly."

"Gosh, you are pragmatic," Mr. G&W noted.

"You should've been around when Soren suggested selling Princess Elincia to Daein back in Tellius," Ike unnecessarily added.

"Let's wait a little more," Ness said. "We know our guys. They open the door like two minutes late when it's not Mario, Peach, or Zelda."

Two minutes later…

"Nothing still," the minister muttered. "I'm starting to believe the mansion is deserted."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" retorted Ike. "Why would the mansion be back without anybody in it?"

"That is a point I didn't consider, now that you mention it…" the minister said. "The Subspace could have been eradicated, but it could also have left all of them behind in it. It would imply they defeated Tabuu around the time they somehow…used their last breath to kill him off."

Chris wanted to discourage the possible scenario so badly. He would never feel okay with Lucario gone. "L-let's go inside if nobody is really in there!" he said.

"That's a 'duh' answer! Outta the way!" Dedede stepped forward with hammer ready on his shoulder. He was just about to kick the door down until his fear resurfaced quickly, forcing him to shyly grab the doorknob and stop there to reconsider what he was going to do...

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"Would you please open the damn door already!"

Everyone nearly yelped and turned around at the source of the voice, ready to fight back whatever threat had shown up so suddenly.

Instead, all they got was a pissed Parakarry standing next to a large red mailbox they hadn't noticed till now. "P-P-Parakarry!" Chris said, looking angry. "D-dear goodness, when did you show up?!"

"I've been here since you guys started dissing Fox for being canon fodder," Parakarry said with a dull look in his eyes, spotting Fox sulking. The mailman delivered mail into the mailbox and closed the red lid with a key. "What's up with you? You told me to stay away because it was dangerous or something."

Ness looked at the mailbox. "T-that thing wasn't there before!" he said.

"Oh... Oh yeah, I just put this here," Parakarry said, smacking the box proudly. "I'm quite quick and silent...like a moonless night... I don't know how the saying goes." There was absolutely no way the Smashers would find out how the mailman managed to show up and set up a mailbox behind their backs without making so much as a small sound.

"Why did you suddenly have the urge to put that in here?" the minister inquired.

"I heard the lot of you can't truly trust each other to keep the mail safe when it reaches the front door, which by the way you haven't opened for the last five boring minutes, and I put this box here to make sure mail doesn't get burned or torn into pieces... What's up with you?" Parakarry shrugged and fluttered his wings to get some air. He approached Ike and gave him several copies for the key to open the mailbox. "Please give them to Master Hand. He knows how to keep stuff safe."

"I-I will," Ike said.

"Anyway, I needed to deliver mail today here so I did. No idea why you guys are acting so out of it, but then again, you all look like you had a freak accident with sharp stuff. I question your sanity sometimes... Uh-oh, clock's ticking! Gotta fly!" He waved at them and took off to the south back to the village.

"...I am surrounded by idiots," Soren muttered through his gritted teeth.

"...GOSH!" Dedede said, getting their attention. "T-that nearly made me get a darned heart attack!" he complained, twisting the doorknob. Then, he found out the door was open. Gulping, he pushed the door open as stealthy as possible. Sweating bullets, he gulped once more and stuck his head in…

There was nobody in sight. The main lobby was deserted, the kitchen was a ghost place, and the two floors with hallways were very silent and alone. Shifting his eyes around, Dedede's feet suddenly walked inside. The others behind him gasped but followed him suit.

It was then Chris felt a quick push on his left leg from behind. Startled, he clutched his rod to his chest and looked behind, finding a scared Riolu clinging to his leg. "O-oh," Chris sighed in relief, until he did a double take. "Wait, no! You shouldn't come inside yet! We're not sure what could be in there!"

Snivy showed up from behind just as Riolu shook his head, feeling that Chris was shooing him away. To make a point, Riolu wrapped his little arms on his leg and locked himself in a hugging position, all the while trembling in fear. Seeing this, Snivy sighed and frowned, saying in her own language, "He got more and more worried with every passing second, and I couldn't hold him back without having to make him cry. So yes…"

The World Traveler frowned with a sigh of defeat. "I-I don't want to see what can happen to the two of you in here…" He tried to pry Riolu off from his leg, but Riolu didn't let go of the leg and cried out. His cries forced Chris to stop trying his futile moves. "I don't know if I can defend you in a fight… Fine, you'll have to stick with me, but don't wander off inside! It might be dangerous in there…" He had to tell Pichu to give them the message. Even with the news, Riolu didn't smile once, and yet he didn't stop clutching to the leg. With some added weight, Chris slumped into the main lobby with the two Pokémon. Fox was kind enough to remain behind to see him safe.

Main Lobby

Such a familiar sight made the Smashers shudder. While Riolu didn't understand or cared much about interior space, Snivy was mildly amazed she got inside a home at all. The Ancient Minister had nightmares remembering the last time he got inside to cause havoc with the man-made disease he released on them. It was so strange to be back in there, expecting over thirty people to just forgive him for his misdeeds. He needed Chris's support so Lucario wouldn't rip him apart. No doubt Peach and the Mario Bros. informed everyone of the kidnapping when it happened.

Pure silence and a solitary space were the key elements of their visit. It was downright frightening how odd everything looked, despite the good news the group itself were suppose to embody.

"So…" Mr. G&W began as he walked around for a little without going too far from the group, "…Nice to be back home?"

"Sure, if you don't mind living inside a ghost mansion," Ike said, looking around for any sights of people. "Ugh, this is beyond odd."

"You'd think you'd find Falco sleeping on the couch," Fox said as he looked over at the couches to the right. "Or has he locked himself in his room since I got offed?"

"That was just after you were gone," Chris pointed out. "It took some days for all of us to cope with your deaths, but…I know we never truly healed from them." He forced a smile. "Now's different, though! We can finally be reunited and live normal lives!"

"Good, now tell me when we are going to live normal lives," Soren said with a blank look, "because otherwise I know that time isn't now."

Tired of waiting to be blasted away, Wario yelled, "IS ANYBODY HOME?! I'M TAKIN' THE FOOD AND THE MONEY ON THE FLOOR FOR ME!"

"Wario!" many of them shouted in dismay.

Soren validated the chances of him dismembering some of them with violent wind magic. "Now they must know our position inside the mansion," he said. "Be it friend or foe, we have been surely found."

Dedede smacked Wario's head. "You and your loud FAT mouth got us in this!" he yelled even louder than Wario, irritating the saner members of the group. "We gonna throw you to the hound dogs for that!"

"Hush, you two!" the minister muttered. "Nobody has showed up yet. I think we're safe for the time being." True to his word, nobody showed up around their field of vision…

"Intruders!" shouted someone from somewhere in the halls. Everyone else glared at Wario and Dedede for giving them their location before frantically looking around for enemies. They readied their weapons almost at the same time and took their positions of battle.

…Nobody showed up despite the shouting. Half a minute of careful surveying yielded nothing.

The Ancient Minister sighed to break the silence, moving a little forward. "We know someone is in here," he called out. "Show up already to get this over with."

"What are you doing?!" Ness muttered through gritted teeth.

"Accepting our fate," the minister said, looking over at the boy. "We might as well go ahead and face off against the threat inside the mansion now before we go insane with assumptions… And I'm very desperate to know what's going on in here, too."

"Yes, me too," admitted Soren. "Forcing them all to show their faces is the best plan, only because some fools starting yelling. There is no other choice." With the sad news, the group looked forward for any person showing up from a hall.

A black hand with a wrist spike peeked out from the left side of the second floor. Instantly, they looked at the hand and focused solely on it till its owner leaned his head out with a confused look. Chris gasped and nearly ran forward, but Fox grunted and pulled him back. "Easy, Chris!" Fox muttered with a glare. "This could still be a trap! It takes just one look at him to make you feel you're safe until BAM! You're dropped dead on the floor! It can't be THIS easy."

"A-ah!" Chris gasped, hiding behind Fox. "Y-you're right. I was being so careless…"

"Okay, that's much better, but putting me in the front row is too much." Chris didn't move forward.

The Smashers looked at Lucario staring back at them from the corner of the hall. His eyes quickly went over to Chris, and Fox blocked the view by standing between them. "…Chris?" Lucario called out.

In the span of five seconds, nearly everyone else who hadn't been killed reared their heads from all sides of the two hallways. All the stares directed to their "guests" were met with blank looks, sans Soren, who looked frustrated. "Now we've got everyone on our tails," he said. "Nice job, team."

"This is incredibly awkward for my tastes…" Ike muttered.

The weird silence settling in the lobby was broken once the house inhabitants walked out from their hiding spots, approaching the thirteen members. Quickly, they had formed a wall right in front of them all. Running out was not advised, and moving quickly was just as banned. The Smashers who had emotional ties with others locked stares for a long while, but the Ancient Minister, Dedede, and Wario moved back to be safe from getting mauled alive. The minister in general took cover behind Chris.

"…" Nobody said a word. Everyone knew this was too good to be true…though Snivy had to admit something. "(That Lucario is freaking huge.)"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Next Chapter:

"An Epilogue of Discomfort"

"Hello!" Stiltzkin said, appearing in this little closed space. "I'm going to be taking the saving duties from now on. Without your consent, I shall save the game automatically! This place will be the to-go spot to keep track of the place, party members, and their levels, along with how much cash they have... Saving time!"

Overwriting File...

~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris (Lvl. 103) – Fox (Lvl. 114) – Ike (Lvl. 119) – Ness (Lvl. 112) – Pichu (Lvl. 110)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 95) – King Dedede (Lvl. 64) – Wario (Lvl. 64) – Mr. G&W (Lvl. 95)

Soren (Lvl. 119) – Morgan (Lvl. 119) – Snivy (Lvl. 10) – Riolu (Lvl. 1)

Smash Coins: 100,451

To the people I responded so negatively about the Riolu not appearing...I think it was rather obvious I was kidding. People with great perceptive skills can figure out a lot of the stuff this story brings to the table if they think logically for a second. Oh, and speaking of which about the end of this chapter...

...Oops. The small group didn't make it to the final battle in time. Oh well. Things like this can happen when you are too late to the big stuff. All that big stuff Stiltzkin gave to them is going to be wasted in the end, because now Tabuu is dead. Chris can now consult a psychologist (in the video game universe) to recover from his traumatic experiences, with a baby Riolu to boot!

What do you mean I left loose ends unsolved? Well, they'll be solved in the next chapter...

Maybe.

By the way, maybe you guys already forgot, but I made a forum in this place to get up close and personal. I see that the restrictions I put were unfavorable at best, so I'm going to go and change things around. For one, I'll allow people to make threads to answer specific questions and such, but if you want questions to be answered here, just include them with your thoughts on the current chapter. I'm aiming to make my own gaming community right here in fanfiction for one.

So yeah! I encourage everyone to review, or else the issue with Ike's hair color will never be solved.

Ike: How is it so hard for you people to tell what color my hair is?

Dedede: Blue?

Wario: Carolina blue?

Mr. G&W: Dodger blue?

Ness: Iris?

Chris: Is it electric blue?

Fox: No, midnight blue.

Pichu: Periwinkle!

Ancient Minister: Cornflower blue.

Snivy: International Klein Blue.

Riolu: Blue!

Morgan: A weird mix of purple, blue, and black!

Ike: ...That's it. Either you guys know or you're screwing around with me. I'm not telling you. Soren here knows and that's fine with me.

Soren: I think it's Prussian blue.

Ike: *Sigh*
*Chapter 215*: An Epilogue of Discomfort

The story has thus reached its final chapter.

From Towerdepths: Strange, though, how that even considering Chris's unstable state he has the highest Mind stat of the group. I wonder if that'll decline as his mental condition slips...

But something is DEFINITELY off when you consider that the mansion was indeed swallowed by a Subspace Bomb. I find it hard to believe that Tabuu would get beaten off-screen. Perhaps they're in an alternate dimension? Might just be me being paranoid and/or crazy, but when you've played Bravely Default... Still, heaven help the crew when Meta Knight finds out that they couldn't save the Halberd.
All in all, though, you've left a very enticing hook (and a cliffhanger) and I will be waiting eagerly for that next chapter to come up because of it.

And now that I know that you started up a forum, I'll head on over!

From me: You people have waaaay too many question. It's my obligation to answer them all.

1) Chris's high mind stat means nothing. Unlike when Fox had issues with his magic channeling, Chris's own problem was all those episodes of mental breakdowns over dying. In truth, his mental condition is worse, unless he focuses on the battle and doesn't go truly insane.

2) Just because I recently played Bravely Default doesn't mean I'm drawing too heavily out of it. I thought it was Final Fantasy more than that one...

3) By the way, I erased the old forum. The new one is called TSSEWC'S Smash Mansion.

From GuyroMaster: Chris is worried about dying and not ever living again. So...what if when he talks to Master Hand about it...Master Hand tells him about the advancements in the video game worlds so far that it is now possible for him to be a official "trophy" smasher. Which he would call the Mii Fighter (minus the physical change into Mii). Since the Mii Fighter has three different classes, the job system kinda works with that. I mean again this was a very big idea I got after the Mii Fighter was revealed, but it could make sense. It's your story though so I'm sure you've already got things planned out.

Oh! One last thing! I'm trying to remember, did Chris have a girlfriend? If he does...what would happen if she ended up in the video game world, particularly the Smash Mansion, by accident through one of those Wiimote portals Master Hand gave Chris? Thoughts?
Just something I threw out there.

From me: Sorry. I'll never incorporate the Mii Fighter gimmick into this story, unless I have to show them in action during matches outside missions. Chris is his own person, not a weird person with a giant emoticon on his head.

Chris never had a girlfriend. Besides, he will always be the only prominent OC of the story. I add another character now, the story will be less about Smash Bros.

From a fan fiction fan: question time!
1. how much longer is the story going to be going for. im not complaining though
2. im just throwing it out there but what if tabu used to be a human but got trapped in sub-space.
poor DeDeDe meta night is going to kill him XD.

From me:

1) The story will go on until it can't go on anymore.

2) Sorry, no. There's no crazy connection like that...and not to mention it would imply Nintendo is evil.

From BobTheCat240501: I found the battle with Duon really nicely done, but the blood should have been left alone. I mean there been many times where the smashers get hit by a sword or something that causes blood. I think you should stick by the non blood violence side. Also I found you sort of forgot some characters in the fight like ness and pichu. I wish you tried something different. Like every boss battle is start battle, discover weakness, do a giant attack, boss dies. It's gets a bit boring and I wish you tried something if its possible.

So in ur last reply for my last review, you said that someone no one had asked about Morgan's mum. So I did some research, and I think Morgan' mum are either Sully,sumia,tharja,Flavia and the children. I hope my research is wrong because I know there's going to be some kind plot twist. It's either that or I'm over thinking. I mean there's gotta be more reasons than Morgan is there to show that the game keeps going.
Ok next I think that the whole mansion, village, and city are in the great maze. What if everyone was actually some illusion made by Tabuu. What if the Subspace was actually invisible and that they are actually in the Subspace. Ohh, so many possibilities! XD
Also, I Can tell Bravely Default really influenced the battle system.
Also, I know this fanfic hasn't ended yet because you haven't started the pokemon black and white arc, so Tabuu is dead, unless there's a plot twist a Tabuu isan't the real mastermind.
Before I end this review, I wanted to say is the level is screwed. What I mean by that is that
The veterans eg Fox and Ness should be much higher level than anyone in the group as they been in the tournament longer than anyone else thus they had more experience.
Any way I hope you update soon. (:

From me: Duon's fight was meant to be that gruesome because I wanted to get the point across that Chris is going through harsh times. Future boss fights won't have that many casualties (now that the team can exploit tactics better than ever)...but as for the blood fact, do you really think I deliberately made them bleed for no reason unlike all the times where they could? Think hard about why this happened at all. It's hinting at something big.

Oh boy, you're way off about Morgan. There was kind of a big clue during her introduction that pretty much narrowed down the choices for her mother. Figure out what that clue was using your FE: Awakening logic.

What makes you think BD influenced the battle system? Maybe it was FFV or even FE: Awakening.

As for the levels, Fox and Ness could've been way stronger, but unfortunately Master Hand never considered explaining that bit to his subordinates. Moreover, when they were pushed back to their worlds, he reset them all back to level one by accident during the failed final battle... Oops. The only ones who maintained a high level were the "Brawl rejects" for being pulled ahead in time, though their levels mean nothing now.

From FF and STH: Also with the level thing you add, will other characters from future arc have their level show.

From me: Oh yes, but it seems useless now.

From Koopacrazy: Great chapter as always first and foremost i'd like to say i have looked into it and Ike's hair has to be
Catalina Blue, but in a more serious tone this chapter was a bit exponential adding all of the nerd math (stats) with it being right after battle it did kinda kill any tension that was going on, but it was still nice to know how strong the smashers are anyway (even if the job system is incredible broken) it's also good to see the smasher's back at the mansion and i wait to see what kind of explanation we can get for that until next review.

From me: Stiltzkin meant to be that specific just to encourage them to continue with their mission, and they were running on a schedule with their transportation.

From YoungNintendoJr: Hi there, Chris.
I'd just like to say something, and it's not about the latest chapter.
I don't really like that you're rewriting the original chapters again, I actually preferred them before you rewrote them. I think the grammar was a lot better before and they weren't as long, meaning they didn't take ages to read. And seriously, believe me, the grammar was a LOT better.
Again, I'm not hating on you, I'm just being honest, and there are probably a lot of others who agree.
Thanks for reading, anyway.

From me: Hah hah, there is no way the grammar was better when I first started. And frankly speaking, the rewritten chapters have better narrative flow. Chris is also far more down-to-earth than the stupid joyful attitude I tried to avoid with him in the beginning...and failed miserably with it. Sorry for destroying childhood memories, but I will rewrite the chapters. Besides, I want to make Chris connect more to the characters in the past so I make new way to new moments in the future.

Keep asking questions that might or might not be related to the chapter in some form or another, people!

Well, as it happens, the final set of chapters for this saga are here. This marks the beginning of the end, though I can't say that this chapter is going to do wonders...

This chapter will screw around with your mind. A lot. Hell, it looks like a crack-fic.

That's the warning I'm giving you. For now, read on, keep a good mind on your shoulders, and review.

Disclaimer: I am probably never going to get used to Mike West reprising his voice as the now-older Fox. Jim Walker forever!

Chapter 214: An Epilogue of Discomfort

~ Smash Mansion ~

Main Lobby

The two parties of Smashers weren't making a single move other than staring at each other. As much as how each wanted to celebrate the arrival of their departed comrades, said departed comrades were taking things very slowly and carefully to the point they were emotionless statues filled with discomfort. "Why is it hard for us to admit that we can't greet each other like we used to?" Ike suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Because it is...too easy...too good to be true," Ness said, staring directly at the fidgeting Lucas. "A whole lot of good and bad stuff has happened way too many times. Most of those were incredibly unbelievable happenings that is...well, you know..."

"He makes a rather good point," the Ancient Minister said. As expected, half of the Smashers sent glaring daggers his way, making him back away slightly. In his moment of weakness, Chris slowly stepped in his way to shield him from their accusatory gazes. Their glares dropped when they saw Chris. "..."

"...HEY!" Sonic clapped his hands quickly to get everyone's attention. "This is way too slow for me! I hate how everyone here takes three seconds to take a step forward! Will somebody say something more important before I lose it?"

Chris sighed. "Well, at least I knew Sonic would react like that of all people... (...Wait... What happened to his voice?)" he thought to himself. "(His voice... It sounds a little different...) U-um, let me say something then..." He gulped. At that moment, Fox patted his back to tell him that he had his support. "First off...what has happened here?"

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Zelda asked at a loss of words. "Oh, right... You mean that Subspace Bomb that blew up here?"

"Yes, that!" Mr. G&W said. "A bomb blew up in here and took you all into the Subspace while we're away! But when we came back here, it was gone... We thought you guys had done something like...defeat Tabuu?"

"Oh!" DK piped up, hopping on his spot. "Yeah! Uh, well, thing is...we did it! We defeated Tabuu!"

The news hit the newcomers a bit too hard as they gasped in unison. "You what?!" Fox said in shock, seeing many of them looking happy. "You SERIOUSLY defeated that bastard without us?!"

"Of course we did, Fox," Falco said, flashing a wide grin. "It was a piece of cake to beat on the guy while he was weak. Turns out he was as frail as a butterfly when we got to him. The beat down we gave him was a thing to see, I tell ya! You should've been there to see it with your own eyes!" Fox was mentally cursing his luck for missing out on the big fight of the century.

"It was, like, a big explosion of lights and everything!" Peach continued with a sunny look. "It was fantastic...like something out of a wonderful dream as he proclaimed his undying hatred for us..." The newcomers winced at how cheerfully she said the last part.

"I...can't truly believe that it happened," the Ancient Minister said. "Tabuu is gone...? But truthfully speaking, he was still weak from that fight you had with him a long time ago. I thought he was at least back at a reasonable level to be a major threat... Did I underestimate you?"

"You bad guys always underestimate us. It's not new...news," Snake spoke from behind the crowd. He was probably leaning behind the wall and smoking a cigarette because they didn't see his head anywhere. "The truth of the matter is that we kicked the living daylights outta that cybernetic butterfly man. That's it. The end. We can go back to our boring lives and stop worrying about bombs dropping on our heads."

Dedede blinked several times. "Fo' real? Seriously?" he asked. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh... Whoa... That sounds nifty."

Pichu then said, "I-I can't believe this still! It's so completely...so completely incredible to believe!"

"But it happened," Luigi said with a big smile. "It really did happen! No more getting scared of dying out there fighting demonic monsters! It's all truly over and...you came back to us! Hey, wait! How did you come back?" He pointed at Chris. "You were supposed to be kidnapped!" He pointed at the minister, Dedede, and Wario. "You're our enemies!" He pointed at the rest. "And you should be dead!"

Morgan automatically assumed he also was referring to her. "Never! I shall never die for the life of me, not until I find my Father!" she said with a bright expression. "I shall press on with life and fight back whenever necessary! I am a master tactician...in training!"

"Oh! I see. Sorry," Luigi said. The newcomers thought that the Mario brother was acting a little weirder than usual. He didn't seem to stutter one bit nor he gave a slight hint of fear and doubt. He was very...focused.

"...Uh, anyway," Ike began, "I suppose we need to catch up quickly, now that I see everybody is here with us..."

And so the newcomers told the others their story about how they managed to get back to the mansion to the point Chris had been kidnapped; the starting point of the chain of events that led to their eventual comeback to the mansion. It was a harsh experience for Chris to relieve everything in his head. He took one glance at Lucario, who was giving him a saddened look... So far, the Aura Pokémon hadn't opened his mouth. He was entirely focused on Chris for a very long time without ever stealing a single glance of the baby Riolu latched on his trainer's leg. As for the baby Riolu, it diligently kept holding onto Chris, very shy about getting so many eyes to look at him.

At the end of their long story, the Smashers were filled in. "What a magnificent story tale," Zelda noted. "I don't mean to insult you or anything. It's...incredible."

"But you know us." Ness said. "We're a huge weirdness magnet wherever we go."

"Very, very true," Pit spoke up. The newcomers raised some eyebrows when they listened to him. His voice was sounding extremely different just like Sonic's. Pit's voice used to sound a little like a woman to some, though now he sounded very teenage-like, albeit a bit goofy judging how he said his first words to them. "Wow, you guys. Everything worked out in the end for us. Tabuu was defeated, you guys came back from Hades or something like that, and you even managed to put our enemies on our side! What's not to like about that? It's like you're some sort of bonus for us beating Tabuu real good!"

Ness grumbled, though the others looked just as disappointed. "Please don't put it like that... But that reminds me of something... What happened when that bomb blew up in here and took you to the Subspace?" he asked. Soren narrowed his eyes at Marth. He had noticed the Altean hadn't said nor looked his way since everyone gathered. But now that the golden question had been asked, it was the Branded's time to get the full story out of them.

"When we got to the Subspace?" Diddy wondered, scratching his head in deep thought. "Let's see... The bomb blew up in our faces...we got very scared of what was going on that we explored the place out for days I think...Tabuu showed up and proclaimed how much he was going to enjoy slaughtering us...we disagreed big time and pummeled him to death in a very looooooong fight...and just like that the Subspace disappeared and we came back here like nothing happened." He smiled. "So, yeah, nothing else happened after that!"

"That's... That's it?" Chris said in disbelief. He didn't see Soren narrowing his eyes in utter disgust at Marth, who looked proud of their achievements. "That's all that happened while we were away?"

Wolf crossed his arms. "Kid, we could waste 50 pages worth of flashback to explain every single damn detail there was or we can tell you to just suck it up and accept the short version. Which one do you wanna hear?" he asked. "I can explain in great detail all the times I sweated my fur out in that fight or how many times I yelled at Tabuu for taking Fox down... I did that exactly seven point five times." Fox rolled his eyes. Morgan was amazed how he was such a stickler for the details.

"...Are you for certain you're speaking the truth?" Soren asked. His team knew there was about to be a huge argument only because he had spoken up now. "Nothing else of importance happened before you fought that apparent villain?" He saw Marth rubbing his chin and loudly humming. He just needed him to admit that he had killed Soren in cold blood, though Soren also predicted Marth wouldn't admit it outright. Unfortunately for Marth, Soren had shreds of evidence that would point out Marth did the dastardly act.

"Can't remember a thing for the life of me," Marth finally said. The newcomers eyed Soren glaring daggers at the prince. "I'm sure those were all the details."

"Liar," Soren said. His team could feel their skins shuddering. "I said you did something to me that I'd never forget for anything in the world. And to prove you that, I have over twenty witnesses right here that can attest to it." He turned to the rest of the Smashers. "I don't know for sure if everyone saw it, but I need just a few to agree with me... So explain yourselves. Did you happen to see what Marth did to me?"

"No," Peach said smiling.

"Nayh," DK said with a toothy grin.

"I wasn't looking... Did he do anything?" Olimar asked.

"Didn't see a thing..." Sonic said.

"I was looking up a whole lot, so..." Nana said.

"Definitely no," Meta Knight said. His words were taken more seriously than the rest of them who said no about watching Marth do "something" to Soren. With each negative response, Soren started to get more and more impatient with their overall lack of attention span or their great annoying act of lying with such carefree looks.

In the end, everyone had said no. Soren shot Ike with a look that said, "You better not for the life of me think I lied to you." Ike really did consider about telling Marth what he truly did to Soren. The mercenary was torn in the inside after hearing those news from his most trusted friend in his company. "Marth, didn't you do anything with Soren when he got sucked into the Subspace as well?"

Marth shook his head. "Not that I remember... I did notice he went missing somewhere," he said. The Branded was getting furious inside his mind. "Me and Roy went to go look for him, but he never turned up. We stopped searching when Tabuu came out of nowhere and started fighting us. After a somewhat long struggle, we killed him and that was the end of it. Soren...never turned up." He frowned. "We really did give up on him...just like we did with all of you."

Soren grimaced. "(How could this bastard and everyone else feign ignorance?! One of them must have seen him murdering me in front of their eyes! Why must they smile like idiots and say I'm lying?!)" he thought...though in his other thoughts, it all became clear to him that he needed to do research of his own to drag the truth out soon enough. With Marth around, however, the Branded made a mental note about being very careful. "...I see," Soren said. "I do think I went missing and died somehow... That's the only way I can explain it." Shocked, the Smashers stared at him, right before seeing he put his right hand behind his back and twisted his fingers to send a silent message to them.

"Oh, you silly Soren," Roy said. "Pretty reckless of you for getting killed without noticing. Aren't you supposed to be a master tactician?"

"(Bite me,)" Soren thought with just as much venom he showed with his glare. "Anyone unknowable about that strange setting would be reckless about what goes on in there. I admit I was a victim of that. I came back with the rest anyway. Nothing was truly lost."

"That's what you think," the minister suddenly spoke up. He looked at each one of them to find some other people he expected would defect to their side. "I notice the absence of a few members of your team... Where are Ganondorf, Charizard, and Bowser?" he inquired. "I can tell one day they would join your cause, and to see them absent here after Tabuu was defeated is...a bit odd."

Red lowered his cap. "...Those three died," he said, much to their shock of the returning Smashers. "Tabuu sacrificed their lives to recover some of his power during the final battle of the ages. It was... Oh man, it was frightening."

Chris couldn't believe such an event had happened behind the scenes. While Ganondorf and Charizard were disposable targets that wouldn't cause more evil and destruction, it was just wrong for Bowser to have died considering the history he shared with the other Mushroom Kingdom residents. "T-they died?" Chris said.

Peach joined her hands over her chest. "I know... I felt very bad that Bowser had to die like that," she said, sniffing a bit. "He has caused a lot of chaos back home, always kidnapping me whenever he got an idea to defeat Mario...and Luigi... Seeing him gone forever somehow makes me feel very sad... No more Mario Parties with him..."

"You feel sorry for the bad guy who keeps screwing up every time because they never get the memo," Yoshi said. "Now he's dead for real. That's going to put Mario and Luigi out of their jobs."

Olimar said, "Aren't they plumbers?"

Mario sighed. "I suppose it is time to do real plumbing at last," he said.

Zelda looked relieved. "There is not much point fretting over Ganondorf, unlike Bowser," she said. "We know the cycle of revenge from his piece of the Triforce will come back to haunt future generations in our world. It has become rather stale to see him dead yet again."

Link nodded. "I feel pity for Bowser, but Ganondorf deserved being killed... Too bad I didn't deal the last blow on him."

Squirtle then said, "And about that fat orange dragon... Meh. There wasn't much I liked about him. He never got to ask for forgiveness."

"Yeah. Sucks for him to be on the evil side confronting us," Ivysaur said. "That's just one less Charizard the world won't notice. We reproduce like Buneary, though...so no big loss there."

The Ancient Minister looked away. "Tabuu could have had such an ability to suck people dry from their power. I never got to see him fighting ever since the final battle that started the long struggle," he muttered. "...Wait... I also noticed something else... Where is Master Hand?" It was truly weird that the boss of the Smash Mansion hadn't shown up to see his subordinates back.

Roy rolled his eyes. "As soon as we defeated Tabuu, he and Crazy Hand went off for some needed vacations," he said, and some of them shrugged their shoulders. "Do you remember? They've been inside the mansion because they couldn't go out in fear of the army capturing them. Both of them were going insane being trapped in here all this time, you know? They let it all out of their systems when then went out to get some fresh air."

Fox sighed. "I thought at least Master Hand would remain behind to rest," he said.

"Nobody said they were perfect," Yoshi said.

The minister remembered something else to bring up. "What happened to the Subspace Bomb Factory?" he asked. "What of all of my people?"

"Gone forever," said Popo. The minister looked down.

"Well, that's what we think," Nana said next. "The Subspace blew up on itself when Tabuu was gone."

"...The factory was part of the Subspace in a way," the minister said. "It was right between reality and madness incarnate. I...I think it's safe to say it is gone with everyone..." Chris felt sad to hear that, so he patted the robot's back.

"Maybe they're still out there," Chris said, pathetically trying to encourage the minister. "Don't give up..."

"..." The Ancient Minister sighed. "...If it's the only way for me to stay positive about their whereabouts, I should see if I can find them wherever they are in this world."

The returning Smashers felt uneasy to hear all the facts at once. It was still too good to be true that the fight against the Subspace Army was over, but there was no evidence to argue against it either. Seeing everyone safe was enough confirmation for them, though the fact Marth's statements were going against Soren's statements about the gruesome scene left a lot of doubt in its own. Either way, the Branded wanted to ditch everyone behind as long as Ike went back to the Greil Mercenaries. It wasn't his business to solve mysteries that didn't concern the company.

"So..." Link trailed off with a smile, "we didn't think you guys could return to us after you...well...died, got kidnapped, and were working with the army."

"And we didn't think you guys could defeat Tabuu without our help," Ike said, looking happy. "It goes on to prove more than half of our numbers overwhelmed him."

"And that's why we should celebrate!" said an enthusiastic Morgan.

The newcomers weren't expecting her from interrupting the conversation, but for whatever reason the other Smashers cheered loudly in agreement. Even the quiet ones agreed though through nodding their heads. "I agree wholeheartedly!" Zelda said, interlacing her fingers. "Let us bask in a huge celebration for defeating Tabuu and for recovering our dear friends! The goddesses would have it so!" Even louder cheers came...and mostly everyone ran into the kitchen as a huge messy crowd. The newcomers couldn't believe that everyone was acting very cheerful around them.

They didn't ponder more when they turned back to see a blank-looking Lucario left behind with a glaring cardboard box on the floor. A closer look to the box revealed that Snake was inside. "...Whatchu staring me at for? So what if I got in here inside this box at the start of the conversation? I swear you guys are pricks towards us box lovers..." With all the speed of a cardboard box, Snake slithered away into the kitchen to join the big mess of a party.

There was no way the newcomers thought something odd wasn't happening with everyone. Although their relationship with Soren was really bad, seeing Ike looking so lost made them give the two Greil Mercenaries their sympathy, but Soren's focused look hinted at his desire to find out the whole truth about the matter. He wanted to discuss the oddities that they all saw together; a feat impossible to do given that one of them stood behind to stare intently at his trainer giving him a confused look.

Finally, to break the silence between both, Lucario approached his trainer. The baby Riolu looked up at the imposing Pokémon and felt secure, the conversation in English completely flying over his young head. Snivy was mildly scared of the rather large Lucario that she hid behind Chris for protection, if what Pichu had said about the teen and the Aura Pokémon was true. "...You're back," Lucario said with a small smile. "You're really back, Chris..."

Hearing his voice was calming Chris down quite quickly, despite how deep and menacing it was to others. "...You can tell, right?" Chris asked, feeling some tears coming from his eyes. "Your aura can tell fakes apart..."

"Yes, exactly," Lucario said. "No other aura in the world is the same. Yours is so unique and very unforgettable to me..." He pulled his trainer into a soft hug, minding the chest spike from hurting him and not crushing the baby Riolu still attached to Chris's leg. "...I thought...I thought you were gone forever... I didn't fight Tabuu much and made it my mission to find you first, Chris..." He was starting to sob, making his trainer sob as well. "N-nothing would ever be the same without you, Chris... I just wanted to die altogether when the fight was over and the Subspace was gone forever with you. I wanted to kill myself today, even... I-imagine my surprise when I sensed your aura again... It was a big relief to me!" he yelled.

The odd facts Chris had listened to before Lucario spoke to him had him confused so much that he couldn't believe anything they said because it was too good to be true. But hearing his beloved Lucario speak like that was quickly swaying him away from not believing anything. He hugged him back so tightly, his strength not hurting his powerful Lucario at all...

"C-Chris, could you...ease it a bit?" Lucario asked. "I-I think you should back off from me a little. I just got out from my supposed last workout regime... I don't want my sweat to make you stink."

"...Huh?" Chris looked up. "U-uh...oh, okay..." He backed off from Lucario, but the two smiled at each other anyway. None of them noticed the suspicious look Fox was giving the tall Smasher, though Chris was wondering why Lucario said he was sweaty when he was not... "...I'm so glad to have you back with me, Lucario... Oh!" He picked up the baby Riolu and showed him to Lucario. "Soren told me you saved Riolu from getting sucked with everyone... Thank you so much! I thought I had lost him, but your quick thinking prevented an incident. I found him and he was this close to getting captured by a ditzy girl back in the village."

Lucario's large tail wagged to the sides. "The pleasure is all mine, Chris," he said proudly. He placed a hand behind Chris's back. "Come now. Let us have a nice party with everyone. You deserve it just as much." He looked at the others. "Please lead the way, everybody." Wario went quickly to the kitchen in a big hurry, leaving the others behind just as they walked ahead from Lucario.

The aura wielder noticed the vulpine was standing close to them. "..." Fox stared at Lucario.

"...Want me to put a hand behind your back too, Fox?" Lucario asked, sounding very sincere.

"No!" Fox said. He quickly smiled a not-so sincere smile. "Did I tell you Chris and I got closer than ever?"

Lucario gasped. "Is that true, Chris?" he asked. His trainer gave him a weird look.

"Yes... Yes, we are," Chris said. He didn't know why Fox went ahead and said that out of the blue. "I think he wanted to let you know that. Truthfully speaking, I feel safer knowing he wants to keep me safe. If...it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have made it this far, you know..."

"Oh... Fox, thank you," Lucario said nodding. "I guess I'll see you in a new light for taking care of Chris. I feel much better knowing that... Anyway, let's go rejoin the others." Fox nodded and the five went to the kitchen to celebrate with everyone in a rather big party of over thirty people. Behind Chris's back, Snivy was wondering when she should ditch them. Something about all the funnily-dressed people intrigued her greatly, not to mention the behemoth known as Lucario. It was her chance to find out more about the world through the people in there... There was a Pokémon Trainer mixed up among their ranks she had spotted. She had to be wary about him and the rest.

Kitchen

Chris felt at home with everyone. With Fox sitting close by – as in right next to him to keep him safe from a party where he knew from experience things could get really crazy at the drop of a hat – the World Traveler enjoyed the festivities with his Lucario and baby Riolu, the latter who wasn't ready to smile because the loud people unsettled him a bit. He could have run away, but being with Chris and Lucario put him at ease. The Emanation Pokémon sat on top of his caretaker's lap, eying the weird food in front of his eyes.

After waiting for an hour, food practically flew around the large table with Peach taking the helm of cooking. Just as he expected, Chris saw lots of people talking loudly and some even making fools out of themselves; a sharp difference unlike when he was in the mansion weeks ago. He wanted just to see each person to remember them for who they were and get used to their faces again. In fact, he did just that, barely noticing some of his recently split team doing the same.

In front of him he saw Link and Zelda laughing loudly and spoon-feeding each other in such a playful manner. Having as much as everyone else, the two Hylians seemed to get closer and personal because Chris saw them suddenly making out rather profusely. And they kept going at it for quite a long time, never to stop to catch a breath...

To their right was Mario and Luigi. The two brothers were eating in peace, with Mario covering his face with arm and looking extremely paranoid of the occasional flying bit of food coming from anywhere and Luigi looking very relaxed and completely in harmony with his hot stew. Luigi was so focused that not even a chicken bone bumping on his hat was enough to snap him out.

"T-they're out to get me..." Mario muttered, his eyes darting around the kitchen. "T-they want to get me..."

Luigi sighed and looked up in frustration. "Mario, stop listening to the voices in your head," he said, turning to his brother. "No one's out to get you, except Bowser and his army."

Mario covered his eyes. "I knew someone was coming after me!" he yelled, though his yells were drowned by the cheerful voices in the room. "L-Luigi, you've got to help me!"

The green Mario patted the red Mario's head with care. "Yes, yes, I'll never leave you."

"Thank you! You're the best Mario brother from the two of us!"

Next were the Fire Emblem boys. Ike was having a hard time dealing with a very jumpy Roy and a very, very narcissistic Marth flipping his hair and asking Ike if said hair was messy anywhere, followed by questions regarding if the Altean had put up a lot of muscle to ruin his good looks and if his clothes looked very outdated. With Ike busy, Soren tried very hard not to cover his ears from a loud Roy asking him nonsensical questions such as how he got his hair with that color or why Soren always acted emo. The Branded wanted to fling Roy away with his wind tome and possibly kill him by accident. What was worse about the scene was that Morgan was joining in with Roy, making the experience far more aggravating. It was very hard to listen them.

Up next were the only two PSI users: Ness and Lucas. Ness was expecting Lucas to gush over how he came back to life and that he shouldn't worry about him anymore. However, it was not very simple for Ness to avoid feeling that he was being watched by Lucas. The young blond had still-looking eyes trailing every single move Ness made with his spoon to eat his stew. At first, Ness thought he was seeing things. He wanted to prove himself wrong by going to the dishwasher to clean his hands and stealing glances at Lucas. In all of those thefts, Lucas tailing him with his eyes, freaking Ness out and making him think Lucas truly felt scared of Ness dying again.

"Lucas..." Ness trailed off. "I know for sure you still feel indifferent about me suddenly showing up out of nowhere because I died and what not. It's not necessary for you to keep staring at me as if I was a ghost."

Lucas gulped. "B-but I don't w-want to lose y-you, Ness," the blond said. "Y-you're like my brother Claus..."

"...Hey, we already got over that issue," Ness said. "I thought you learned that."

The blond forced a smile. "W-well, it takes some time for anyone to forget their tormenting experiences, no? I'm j-just one of them..."

"I...guess..."

"So I-I'll continue watching o-over you, Ness!" Lucas said, inching closer to the other boy. "T-that way, n-nothing bad will happen to you!"

"(Besides my privacy having been literally destroyed by you now...)"

Chris couldn't see more people beyond those. Seeing the first people, however, was proof enough that they had lost their collective minds...somehow. "...Fox," Chris began, "do you think something i-?" As he turned to the right to see Fox, he was too late to talk to him, for Falco had pulled Fox to him with a left arm.

"Hey, Foxy!" Falco said. Fox sighed mentally and wondered why everyone was calling him names now. This was Falco, however. He liked to screw around with Fox when it was right. "Heyah, buddie. Good to have you back with us."

"Heh, thanks," Fox said with a grin. "Glad to see you again, man. I was going nuts with all the crap we've been through before getting back here."

"Tell me about it," said the avian as he let go of Fox. "Listen. Now that you're back, I want to ask you something serious; a favor to do with me tonight."

"I'm not going to drown my sorrows with beer if that's what you mean," Fox said with a dull look. "I'm swearing the beer off, and I haven't even drink a few drops. I want to take it easy and relax... I really need the rest."

"Oh, good!" Falco said with a big smile. "My favor's got to do with resting and such. I want you to come to my room tonight and check my body out."

"Sure, I'll go to your room and do what now?" Fox asked, looking a bit disturbed. "...Excuse me? What did you say just now? The room is...uh...too loud to listen to you." Next to him, Chris stared with discomfort.

Falco was happy to repeat his favor. "I want you, Fox, to come to my room and check my body out. I think I got more buff since you died! You being my bro, I wanted you to be the first one to know!" He flexed, making Fox yip silently. "What do you say?"

"..." Fox looked around until he said, "Uh, no, sorry... I have...other things to do, Falco..."

The avian's sunny look dropped. "Oh... What a shame..." he muttered. "Big shame right there..."

Fox nodded, his small smile twitching once. "Yeah, it is... Can you please stop flexing your arms in front of me? You're losing your time because your uniform has broader sleeves than mine," he pointed out.

Falco suddenly smiled again and, to Fox's dismay, did not stop flexing. "Man, I forgot about my sleeves! Yeah, let me pull 'em up so you can se-"

"I said no!" Fox said. Looking for a quick getaway from the conversation, he looked down at his bowl and pointed at it. "Look, I'm real hungry now. I don't have time to see your biceps or whatever. Would you mind giving me some rest?" Falco groaned and gave up on his favor. Fox still felt perturbed that his fellow team member had asked such a weird favor. They would only get that personal for stuff about who the best fighter was but never about what body part was bigger than the other. He let go of those thoughts and focused on his hot stew with a dynamite sticking out of it.

…

"What...the...hell?" Fox said when he noticed the unlit dynamite sticking out badly from his soup. It hadn't been there before when he was served in his bowl. To think that he was just about to drown his spoon into the tarnished stew without noticing it. To be fair, the dynamite wasn't lit. To be unfair, there was a dynamite in his stew. "Who the hell put this thing in here?"

"Eat it, eat it, eat it..."

Fox's ears wiggled when he overheard some whispers coming from nearby. It was not until he looked down in his chair where he was being watched by Wolf squatting down, whispering aloud to himself with his hands covering his ears. It looked very ridiculous to see his eternal sore thumb fall to such lows to bring him down, though it didn't change the fact it pissed Fox off. "And what the hell are you doing?" Fox asked Wolf.

The lupine looked up with an angry look. "What does it look I'm doing? I'm taking you down myself," he said. "You croaked your last words months ago and now you're here again. Now that you're here, I can try taking you down."

"By putting an unlit dynamite in my stew..." Fox looked duly at him as he grabbed the dynamite and held it over Wolf's face, the stew's drops dripping down. Wolf nodded. "...Go away from me before I decide to call the authorities for your lame attempts at assassination plots. Corneria might have pardoned all the previous crimes you've done in the past, but it doesn't mean you can go killing anyone."

Frustrated, Wolf got up and frowned. "You're lucky you got off easy," he said just as he left to take a seat far away from the vulpine.

"..." Fox grimaced until he looked at Falco. "That was the stupidest way to hurt me that he has ever done. He normally tries to take me down in a spectacular way, not by using a simple dynamite."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Who cares about the stinky mutt? You should be worried about what we'll be doing tonight!" he said with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, I'll need some rest first. Besides, I didn't want to miss the party." He looked at his ravaged clothes covered with old sandy stains of blood. "I'll be changing clothes and equipping all my other stuff later..."

"Can I check you out when you do that?"

Fox stared. "Uh, no?" he said as a matter-of-fact. Falco groaned and went back to eating his stew. "(I'm not stupid. Something is definitely off about this whole arrangement. I can't just talk about it out loud... I need privacy with my team.)"

"Fox?" Chris tapped Fox's left shoulder. The vulpine looked to his way. "I shouldn't point out how everyone is acting...weird?"

"(Okay... Chris can tell what's wrong. He has a sane mind. Good.) Yeah, this looks odd," the vulpine said. "They're all acting more carefree than ever. Whenever we were busy doing tourneys and such, things did look hectic, but not like..." he eyed Link and Zelda making out, making him shrug, "...this."

Chris was honestly perturbed that everyone was acting out of it. Unlike Fox who wanted to keep privacy in their thoughts, the World Traveler was more open-minded to ask someone else about what was going on. While Fox was a veteran who had seen so many insane events even before Chris knew that there were millions of real people inside his consoles, the teen wanted to get a second opinion from someone else. Behind his back, he spotted Popo and Nana. "Oh, Popo, Nana!" he called them over while Fox watched from the background. "I wanted to ask you two something..."

"What do you want to ask?" Popo asked.

"Maybe we can answer your question," Nana said next.

"Umm, well, it's about how everyone is acting a little...out of it," Chris said. "I don't remember Link and Zelda be so passionate about being in a relationship, for one...and Mario is shivering next to a completely sane Luigi, while I'm used to those two having the roles reversed... Did something else happen after you defeated Tabuu?"

Popo smiled. "Not that I know of," he said.

Nana said next, "Everyone is happy to be able to unwind at last."

Then Popo said, "Which is why you see people doing new things."

As if Chris had been talking to one person, Nana continued talking after Popo finished his part almost immediately. "I know how it looks weird to you at first glance, Chris."

Popo quickly followed by saying, "But you sometimes have to live with it."

"Because otherwise you'll never be happy in your life."

"Just sit back and relax with Lucario!"

"The poor dog's been trying to cut off his tail over you."

"And you look like you've been trying to cut off your own head."

"That isn't very sane, you know? You two share a lot in common!"

"That's a true bond between Pokémon and trainer."

"Or that's what we think. We're not Red."

"Who is an expert in bonds between Pokémon and trainer."

"So you should ask him for advice when you get into a fix."

"You'll get a headache if you don't."

"And that would be terrible."

"Very, very."

"Terrible."

"Indeed."

"Totally."

"Wink."

The World Traveler and the vulpine weren't idiots. The two Ice Climbers have been talking one right after another without wasting half a second to pass, giving the impression that both of them shared a single mind between two bodies. It was even creepier when they also noticed their tone of voice didn't seem to go up or down...and the soulless eyes blinking at the same time. "...Uh, I...see?" Chris said, mildly perturbed at the two climbers.

Popo patted Chris's right knee. "Was that all you wanted to ask us?"

Nana patted Chris's left knee. "You look like you have more questions to ask us."

Either Chris could ask more questions or risk his sanity trying to understand in his own how these two were talking in perfect sync. "N-no, I'm okay. I need to make sure Riolu eats something... The stew is too much for a baby." Truth to be told, the Riolu was making faces trying to understand what he needed to do to eat the steamy stew.

"Alright. We'll see you later," Popo said.

"When that happens, we'll sit down and have a long nice chat," Nana said next.

"Because you're a close friend."

"And making you feel uncomfortable would be bad."

"For your self-esteem."

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee..." The two ended the talk giggling together as they walked away, further disturbing their speaker as he watched them do a lap to go around the large table.

Fox raised his dropped jaw and looked at Chris. "I can attest that those two never acted like that before you even met them," he said.

"S-so I'm not crazy," Chris said, until he noticed Riolu looking up at him with his hands on his stomach. "I figured the stew was too much for you... Let me see if there's any fruit anywhere." He looked behind his back and found a bowl with natural fruits sitting there on top of the counter leaned to the wall. Riolu had actually looked to the way of the fruit and suddenly starting barking and tossing his hands anxiously. "H-hey, stay still. You're going to fall off my lap."

Fox smiled. "I think he spotted something back there that he wants to eat," he said.

The teen got off his chair, carrying the baby with him to the back where the fruit bowl was. On top of the bowl was a single banana with a grape sitting behind it. Riolu seemed to be more interested in the banana than the grape with plentiful pieces. "You want the banana, then... I'll peel it off for you." Chris reached for the banana...and felt two piercing stares coming from nearby.

Blinking, the World Traveler yelped a bit when he spotted Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong standing on either side, their eyes staring intently at the banana on his hand. Riolu stopped cheering for his fruit that he also noticed the other two larger people interested in his treasure. The way their eyes were fixed on the food was unnerving both of them, and the Kongs were not about to let go of the banana away from their sights. Chris did know very well how Donkey Kong was a big sucker for bananas and anything that had that as a flavor while Diddy was far more down-to-Earth than his friendly uncle...but to see him in a trance like DK was creepy.

"...I'm going to give this to Riolu," Chris said. "He needs to eat something light."

"We won't let you," DK said.

"That banana will be mine," Diddy said.

His eyes dilated in shock. "(Oooooooooooooooh, CRAP,)" the teen thought.

Chris couldn't afford to get Riolu involved in a fight for a meager banana. While the teen could certainly take on Diddy, DK hit stuff like a truck and Chris would snap like a twig (all things considered, Chris was never attacked by DK but he wasn't suicidal to find out now). It was advised to never have arm wrestling matches with DK unless you were Bowser. With both routes of escape blocked by both Kongs, the banana was going to be digested by someone other than Riolu.

"..." Steeling his emotional soft spot for his little Pokémon, Chris tossed the banana over DK's head. Both Kongs gasped and immediately went over the fruit and started fighting like wild animals, attracting quite a crowd of enthusiastic Smashers cheering on either to win the fight for supremacy. Ignoring the loud ape-like screams, the World Traveler felt an arrow pierce his heart when he looked down at Riolu, who held his hands out towards the precious food he wanted to eat and watched it being crushed under DK's back. The tears were quick to appear in his eyes. "(Must find food must find food must find food must find food must find food must find food must find food!)" Knowing he would be the next one to cry if he didn't act quickly, Chris looked back at the lonely grape and took it with him back to his seat. He plucked one piece and showed it to Riolu.

Riolu sniffed sadly and stared at the small purple sphere for a little while, until his stomach growled and forced him to take the dubious fruit with both hands. Having never eaten grapes before, he put it inside his mouth and started chewing it... The juicy sweet flavor was a surprise for him when his little teeth tore the skin off. His tongue happily accepted the offering, and he was now smiling under the few tears left to fall down. "Ri! Ri!" he barked happily as he saw the human putting the grapes on the table and plucking every piece for the baby to take. With no obstructions, the baby Riolu started to eat every piece with glee, his little tail wagging.

The arrow in Chris's heart was burned away, and he felt like he could live again. "Oh god, that was close..." he breathed out.

Lucario patted his trainer's back. "Thank goodness you acted quickly," he said. He looked angry at the fight several feet away from them. "Those brainless monkeys were this close to getting a sound thrashing if they decided to hurt either of you."

"No, please. I don't want you to horribly maul them alive," Chris said. "Popo and Nana told me to get used to everyone acting like this today... Maybe things will settle down tomorrow."

On the other side of the table, he spotted Red looking up, up, down, down, left, right, left, and right directions, checking on random stuff like opening drawers, ducking, standing back up, ducking back down again, and opening the same drawers he had already opened as if expecting to find new stuff in there. Red kept going at it for a long time without making direct eye contact to start a conversation...

A few feet away from him, Chris saw Squirtle and Ivysaur keeping a close eye on their trainer, though both were acting very oddly as well. For one, Squirtle was recording everything that was happening at the dinner party with a video camera while wearing a director's hat. Ivysaur looked more curiously than Squirtle because he wore a green set of priest robes with a laurel crown on his head. Where they got those accessories and clothing was a good subject to think about, specially where Ivysaur found clothes that fit quadrupedal creatures like him. "Oh yeah, ooooh yeah, this is good video material!" Squirtle said, zooming on Red inspecting forks and butter knifes. "Keep it real, man! The Adventures of Explorer Red & Friends is gonna be a huge hit at forgotten video stores this Summer!"

"No, you sinful heathen!" Ivysaur said, speaking in a calm and serene tone. "Our Gods and Goddesses would not tolerate this obscene display of our actions! O sacred Shaymin, do forgive these corrupted souls and accept their forgiveness!" he said this while holding a rare golden cross with a picture of a Shaymin on the center. "I am your Mareep shepherd! I shall guide your children to enlightenment...with my vines!"

Squirtle and his camera shared the same sight. They were never seen looking to another direction. He looked at Ivysaur. "Here we have a vegetarian priest who's gone crazy, forcing his ideals and truths onto others. He is like the PETA: People for the Equal Treatment to Audino."

Ivysaur shook his cross in front of Squirtle's camera. "Back off, you! As a shepherd to Shaymin, I implore you to embrace your upbringing and dedicate your life to our God Manaphy!" he proclaimed.

"The only god I have is this camera!" Squirtle said. "I'd rather convert you to be my lackey! You're too much into your church to change to something else... Can I make a documentary about it? It will convince people to join your cause. Wink wink."

"This is a plot cooked up by the evil Darkrai and his servants!" Ivysaur said. "Nayh! The temptation is far too great to take! I shall not fall to your schemes!" With two vines, he raised his cross high above. "LONG LIVE GOD SHAYMIN!"

Having watched the two of them, the World Traveler winced. "...I might have spoken too soon," Chris said in a deadpan tone. "I'll let a week pass to see if anything changes. I should be happy I got back home so for now I'll try to readjust to my peaceful life." The Ancient Minister happened to approach him from the right. As always, it was hard for anyone to tell how he looked even without the badly-torn robe. "Uh... How've you been doing on the other side of this table so far?"

"I noticed half of the people I looked at glared my way," the minister said. "I don't feel safe being alone..." The World Traveler couldn't forget how the minister had made a very bad impression when he showed up in the mansion the last time prior today. It was natural for many of the Smashers to be angry at him, though the time when they would forgive him wasn't going to come any sooner for now. "I have this feeling that tells me I'm going to be damaged on purpose by someone soon enough."

Chris wasn't going to have any of that. "They'll have to answer to me if I do see them hurting you," he said. "You only were doing all of that because Tabuu was threatening you."

"It doesn't change the fact I exterminated people," the minister said. "Killing is just nearly impossible to forgive, even when it was an accident. Are you sure people will get over that soon? I only see that happening in a dozen of years..."

"I... Well... I think it'll happen soon enough," Chris said, forcing a smile. "We managed to bring everyone back in the end, didn't we? That should make it easy for you."

"But you were the one who brought them back," the minister pointed out. "I am the killer still."

"(U-ugh, dammit...)"

"All I can do for now is wait for their glares to subside," the minister continued. "Master Hand has the final say in the matter. I'll accept whatever punishment I deserve for committing that hideous crime."

"...But...not death," Chris said. "If the punishment is going to be death, I'm not going to allow it. You should never be punished with violence because I know you're truly sorry about everything that has happened to you up until now."

"I..." The robed robot looked down to the floor, where he spotted a curious Snivy hiding away from the crowd of people and eating an apple she had taken from the bowl with fruit. "...Thank you for the moral support...again. I wonder how many times you're going to keep me on my feet whenever I feel I'm about to resign to a cruel fate."

"As many times as I need to give you a positive view out of..." Chris hung head down. "...Oh god. I will eventually run out of stuff to cheer you up with."

The minister saw Meta Knight walking nearby. The Halberd had been destroyed once more and he hadn't relayed the news yet. It was better to tell the owner about it or else the Ancient Minister would never feel okay carrying the fact till he grew stressed with it. "Meta Knight," the minister said to get the knight's attention. Though the mask gave a menacing glare, the robed robot wasn't intimidated. "I have something important to tell you... It's about your battleship. It's...gone again."

"...I see," Meta Knight said.

"But it wasn't our fault that it got destroyed," the minister continued. "Duon was the one who destroyed the battleship. We were simply using your vessel to escape from the Subspace Factory, and I truly had the intent to return your belonging to you...but...in the end, we failed to secure it from the enemy." He looked away and spotted Chris and a few others staring at the conversation. "I feel very sorry for what happened to it. Really. There is nothing else I can say to make you forgive me...so...this is all I can say. You have every right to be angry at me. After all, I was part of the army..."

Meta Knight looked down next. "...It's fine," he said. "I never understand why I keep rebuilding the battleship if I know it's going to go down soon enough. But seeing you alive makes me feel tons of rainbows going out at once inside my stomach."

"Yes, I suppose that would..." and then the minister realized the absurdity of that last sentence, staring at the stoic-looking knight, "...Rainbows?"

"Rainbows, yes," Meta Knight said, approaching the minister and grabbing his sides. "I'm happy to know the Halberd didn't blow up on your butts while you piloted it. Truly, I thought the Halberd would blow up because I didn't take it for a test flight when I finished building that one. With you alive, I'm so happy I could kiss you right now... Let me do that. Muah. Muah." He seemed to kiss the minister on each side of his robed face. While the minister couldn't exactly emote anything with his features, Chris and a select few were morbidly perturbed at the display of affection coming from one of the most serious Smashers of the lot.

"...Do...you do this with people often?" the minister asked.

"No, but it feels...nice," the knight said, letting go of the minister and bowing to him. "There is nothing else for me to fret about. My ship might be gone, but so is my stress. I can live a healthier life."

The impossible, which was no way ever going to happen otherwise elsewhere, happened. The knight removed his mask and tossed it inside a trash can, revealing the real face behind the mask: a slightly larger Kirby with blue skin and the same eyes. The shock of the unmask made Chris cover his mouth, while Fox's open jaw was wide enough to let a small fly get in and out. "(H-he does look like Kirby?!)" Fox thought alarmed.

Meta Knight smiled; a smile everyone could plainly see now. "I thank you for getting rid of that stress," he told the Ancient Minister, who wasn't as fazed about the unmasking event as many others were. Rather, he was still trying to process why the hell he was kissed twice. "I shall now look forward to a life where fights will not get in my way...because I'm ignoring them. Thank you from the bottom of my pitch black heart." He bowed once more and walked off from the kitchen...and to a future of new possibilities his adorable face would see.

Meanwhile the minister kept staring into space after the knight went away from sight across the corner of the wall. "...That...went better than I...uh...expected...?" the minister muttered, turning back to an extremely bewildered Chris. "What do you think?"

Chris was quick to say, "I think Meta Knight's gone completely bonkers just as everyone else here."

Dedede suddenly rushed from the west to their side, ignoring how Fox was frozen with his jaw dropped down in the background. "W-what'd he say?!" he asked the minister, the latter spotting the small pupils in Dedede's eyes. "I-is he gonna stab us in our sleep?! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"He, uh, took it well," the minister said. "He went as far as to remove that mask of his..."

"...Huh?" Dedede grimaced, his eyes going back to normal. "He took his mask off?"

"He tossed it in that trash can over there." Dedede went to the trash can and picked the mask, gasping when he looked at it. "There was so much to see in him than I thought there was...I suppose."

Very dumbfounded with the mask on his hands, Dedede let go of it as he put up a toothy smile. A single Waddle Dee came out from his right sleeve and picked the mask up, where he put it on and started fooling around with it. "T-t-this is great!" the king said with a hearty laugh. "I-I'm gonna live! Ain't no one gonna kill me in the end! Oh, sweet cake lord, thank you!" Fox was able to snap back to reality.

Pichu was the next one to come. At first, Chris noticed the worried look on his face right before the electric-type looked blankly. "Meta Knight could be lying about not hurting us in our sleep..." he muttered, making Dedede stop his personal celebration with his hands on his hips. The masked Waddle Dee was standing on top with one foot of his king's head. "I should know... Everyone here is acting so strange."

"Frankly, I don't care about how everyone else is acting," Lucario spoke up. "People have to unwind all the stress of fighting a multidimensional army. I feel a huge crushing weight has been lifted from my back, and I can now truly enjoy my time with my trainer." Around the last words he said, he pulled a confused Chris to his side. "It's about time our lives went back to normal. I agree with Chris that it's going to be hard to get used to this kind of insanity."

"But you don't know much," Pichu said, and Lucario's eyes widened. "You, Chris, and all of the Brawl tourney newcomers don't have any idea how life here was when Tabuu wasn't a threat. Explosions were far more often to see, drama wasn't as chaotic as this, and...Zelda for sure wouldn't be caught trading saliva with Link out in the open." They looked back to Link and Zelda still making out in the background. "...Yeah... It's way too unbelievable seeing her doing...that. She was always acting very royalty-like even during the tourney times."

"(Wish I could be making out with my special someone instead. Now that makes sense,)" Fox thought annoyed.

"But we're more people than before, so..." Pichu trailed off. "Maybe it's just me..."

"It's not just you...it's us too," Fox said. "Let's wait and see how this goes, okay? Don't forget. We've gone through so much insanity prior coming here that we really need to rest. Just look at me! My clothes are torn off that I need a clothing change."

The minister looked at his tattered robe filled with holes, torn fabric, dusty stains, and bent hat. "This is the only outfit I have. I lack a copy to replace this one," he pointed out.

The pink princess of the Mushroom Kingdom walked into view with a small smile. "Oh! Let me help you sew your robes," she offered the minister. "There is no way I'm letting such a nice outfit like that go around with that many holes."

The Ancient Minister wasn't ready to be spending time with someone else outside his small group of friends. "Uh...you don't mind?" he asked her. "I mean, I thought you wouldn't give me a hand judgin-"

"I'm not like the others here," Peach said with a blank look. "I know when to stop forgiving people who've done me wrong in the past."

Chris grimaced. "Does that include all the dozen times Bowser has kidnapped you?" he asked.

"Well, yes, but sometimes I know when to put my foot down," the princess said. "And...it always fails me when it's about Bowser... It's an old shame that keeps haunting me. But anyhow, would you let me fix your robes? I know deep down you are a true ally."

The minister wanted to emote physically with a grimace. "How can you have such faith in me after what I've done?" he asked her.

Peach giggled and said, "Because I've heard Chris wants to keep you safe. He's the best proof I have to put my faith in you. Even without him, I'd trust you!" She walked behind the minister and started pushing him away from the kitchen. "Let's go to my room! While I fix your clothes, we can have a nice chat together." Dragging the reluctant ally to her quarters, the minister stole one look at the others before they both left them behind.

"Well... I can say for sure Peach is acting normally as she always does," Pichu said. "Hey, where's Pikachu? I haven't seen him around."

Chris said, "The last time I saw him, he said he wanted to have some time alone in his world to get some of the stress out. I did tell you this before, didn't I?"

"Oh, right. Now I remember." Pichu smiled. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees me again! I'll lift his spirits up in a flash, and everything will start going back to normal... When is he going to come back?"

"That...I don't know," Chris said. "I could go fetch him and..." he remembered Pikachu's trainer was completely oblivious about what his little partner was doing behind his back, and Master Hand had prohibited anyone in the mansion to get into contact with his trainer as he didn't want a random Pikachu to be participating in his affairs, "...put on a stealth act to let him know about the news. But I don't have my control to open portals... Wait a minute. My stuff!" He looked around. "All of the stuff I had with me before I got kidnapped got taken away! Where did it go? I still have my Final Fantasy III copy in my DS!"

Fox groaned. "Months later and you haven't finished that damn game yet?" he asked.

"Y-you don't understand. I already beat the game, but that super boss at the end forces me to level grind, and that alone takes too long to finish!"

Pichu looked to the sides. "Okay... Where's your other stuff?" he asked.

"O-oh, right, I don't know where it got," Chris said. "ROB told me they ditched it all with the others when I got kidnapped. I figured it's still somewhere in here..." He looked at Lucario. "You've been here. Where's my stuff?"

Lucario frowned. "I was keeping a close eye on your belongings, but...when the Subspace Bomb blew up and the fight with Tabuu was over, all of it vanished somehow," he explained, and he looked at Chris's distraught look. "I-I'm very sorry, Chris. I searched high and low around the mansion for that stuff, but I didn't find it anywhere. I treasured those belongings after you went missing..."

The teen sighed. "There goes a lot of my progress, lost forever... It's time to start from zero and get back to the top," he said. "Well, now that the army has been defeated, I have all the time of the world to go back to my prime."

Lucario chuckled. "That's how you need to look at it," he encouraged. "You'll have to wait for Master Hand to come back and give you another altered controller, or when Pikachu comes back. He got one for himself, didn't he?"

"I didn't see him leave," Chris said. "I'll just wait for Master Hand to come back, then. I have other stuff to do other than rest." He looked down at the baby Riolu, who ate the last piece of grape and barked happily in delight with his satisfied stomach. Looking at the others partying, Chris felt tired. "I'm going to my room. I want to lie down for a bit..."

"I'll come with you," Lucario said. "Leaving you alone cost me so much..."

"Y-yes, please do so."

"O-oh! I'm coming with you!" Pichu said, climbing to the teen's left shoulder. "I don't have anything else to do either until Pikachu comes back."

"It's fine by me," Chris said. "I don't mind having people over right now." Grabbing the baby Riolu gently and getting off his seat, the World Traveler walked to his room with four Pokémon in tow; the fourth one being a cautious Snivy who wanted to stay away from the craziness of the party in the kitchen. She was thankful they got away without drawing too much attention.

With Chris gone, Fox was the next one to excuse himself. "I have to replace these clothes for new ones. And I want to equip myself with my tools," he told Falco.

"Cool!" Falco said. "Can I go check you out?"

"No... Please no," Fox said, getting a reminder in his head about the oddness of his allies. "...But you can do me a favor," at this Falco smiled again, "and keep Wolf away from me." Falco's smile went away. "I can tell when he wants to blow up my face. You saw how he wanted to do that just now, didn't you?"

"Aw, yeah," the avian said, looking ticked off. "If you want me to throw punches, I can do it for you."

Fox grinned. "Thanks, man. Keep a good eye on him while I get ready for...whatever craziness goes in here," he said, and with that he left the kitchen.

"I wish I could keep an eye on you...all day long," muttered Falco to himself...

...which Dedede overheard clearly. Disgusted at the implication, Dedede wandered off to the crazy party with his masked subordinate to go find something to eat. To his great curiosity, he saw that the glutton Kirby was swearing food off with nothing on his plate. "(What's happened to 'im?)" Dedede wondered, though he shrugged and left the puffball alone for now.

Chris's Room

Finally away from the crazy party and having some needed time to rest, Chris opened the door of his second room and was relieved to see the familiar sight of an inviting setting that begged him to flop on the bed and fall asleep. A cozy room with a large bed, a drawer to the left of the bed with a window to the left of the drawer, a hidden widescreen TV on the left wall, and to the left his bathroom. Although his home's room looked far more descriptive of his hobbies, he really wanted to make this other room look the same. But for now, all he wanted was to flop on the bed and forget about violent fights for survival.

"Thank goodness... I'm back to my room here," Chris muttered, almost wanting to sniff. "It's back to the old life I always thought was boring. You really don't know what you lost until you really lose it."

Lucario smiled. "I thought I lost just as many important things as you did, but now it's fine," he said. "I can't wait to for us to enjoy the worlds without worrying about fighting for our lives."

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure..." Pichu spoke. "Master Hand really wants us to fight in matches soon. He never wanted to get into the 'save the universe' business from the beginning."

The World Traveler had shyly avoided those matches ever since he got his Trophy Stand. "Something tells me I'm also going to be forced to fight in those matches. I remember signing a contract with Master Hand about it...b-but, that's for another day." He walked to his bed and flopped down on it, carefully putting a blank-looking Riolu on his side. "What I want now is rest..." He sighed slowly and closed his eyes.

His eyes didn't stay shut when he looked at the baby Riolu finding the soft "ground" weird. Patting the bed sheet a few times, the baby was surprised to feel such comfy matter. From the few days he had been born, the baby Riolu would find weird places to rest next to brusque tree barks, grass with pebbles mixed in, and plain dirt. All of them were annoying to lie down on, but the bed he sat on didn't make his rear feel uncomfortable. It was the complete opposite.

Pichu hopped into the bed and saw the baby doing his thing. "He's lucky to have a bed to rest," he said. "Baby Pokémon without their parents have it rough trying to survive in the wild. Most of them don't...they don't make it."

Interested to hear the fact, Chris looked at Pichu. "They...die?" he said with mild surprise.

"...Yes," Pichu nodded. "Either of hunger or because of stronger wild Pokémon attacking them. Where I come from, my family and friends sometimes find babies and take them in to raise them. We don't mind taking care of orphans. But the other few that don't end up with us are caught by trainers."

A long time ago, Chris remembered a few gruesome facts Red once told him; facts that made Red reluctant of making a journey. "And...there is a chance those trainers might..."

Pichu frowned with a sigh. "Die because it's not guaranteed they'll survive their travels," he finished. "I don't know what happens after that."

The baby Riolu then tried to lie down his back on the bed. With no pebbles or sharp leaves poking at him, he smiled and started to roll to the sides. "Ri! Ri! Ri!" he spoke up, translating to, "So soft and nice! I wanna rest here!"

Seeing him happy made Chris sigh pleased. Just about anything involving the baby Riolu getting happy was giving him so much relief and joy, forgetting about his bad past experiences. In a hushed, deep voice, the teen said to the ceiling, "Oh please, god, don't take this one away from me anytime soon." To his delight, the baby rolled to his side, his head screeching to a halt on his chest. So positively overjoyed, Chris lied his head on top of the giggling Pokémon and took one long sniff...

…

"Eww!" Chris moved his nose away from the baby, who looked confused at his reaction.

Lucario had wanted to lie down too, but Chris's arms and legs were very spread out for the large Aura Pokémon to lie down. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Chris looked at the confused Riolu. "M-maybe it's because I found him in an alley or he hasn't bathed at all, but...he stinks if you put him close to your nose," the teen said. "I think he's got a coat of dirt on..." Rubbing the baby's head, the teen did discover a layer of dirt well hidden under the blue fur. The baby took the rubbing as affection. "He's dirty..."

Pichu shrugged. "All of us are dirty. It's not just him..."

"I also have to take a bath," the teen noted, while in the background Snivy was finding it fun to hop on the bed. "But first, I want Riolu to get clean. What if he gets sick with something nasty?"

Chris's Bathroom

Hygiene and a clean body were rules Chris had imposed on Lucario ever since they could remember. Disliking the idea of avoiding baths each day, the teen was adamant about forcing his loyal dog to have some dignity with his smell. The baby Riolu was new to the idea of water and soap keeping him clean and shiny, and his new owner was going to make sure it would drill into his head and get burned in his mind before long.

Just like anyone else, each room of the mansion was equipped with its own bathroom. While some bathrooms were traditional ones, some other bathrooms were outfitted to please the owner's desired setting. Being a human, Chris's bathroom was normal and straightforward, with a big tub occupying the other end of the room and a long pristine white counter with two sinks, where two large compartments with mirror doors stuck out of the light blue-tiled wall. Facing the counter was a long metal pipe for hanging towels. To be honest, the bathrooms in his home weren't as big as the ones in the mansion, but Chris later found out through Crazy Hand that the bathrooms were like that because, "hormones make our child-friendly fighters do crazy stuff across the bathroom's door...with someone else." Naturally, he blushed, but he never dared ask who did that kind of stuff.

Thinking logically, there were only five females in the mansion, and more than thirty males. Even then, it would be overkill to have big bathrooms. The only reasonable explanation for Crazy Hand to have that kind of response would be that the opposite gender wasn't supposed to be the only answer...

"Chris?" Pichu snapped Chris from his train of scandalous thoughts.

The teen shook his head. "O-oh, sorry. I suddenly had the urge to get into thinking too much about something, but... That's over with." He just noticed that Pichu and Lucario had followed them into the roomy bathroom. "Uh, what are you two doing here? I'm going to clean Riolu myself."

Perhaps Chris had forgotten about how strange everything looked like inside the mansion, but Pichu wasn't oblivious. Though the World Traveler forgot about his worries with the baby he was looking after, Pichu and most of the returning Smashers were dead set on discovering what was going on in their home. They so wanted to have a private meeting to discuss their thoughts in more detail, but the Smashers outside their group were standing within earshot, thus discouraging talks that would cause scuffles if big words were used.

Taking one good look at Lucario, Pichu could spot some snippets of strange behavior. While everyone else acted too crazy, Lucario was acting a little...happier and easy-going. To boot, the guy was always smiling, unlike how in the past he would just keep a straight line between his lips until his dear trainer would compliment him, where that forced him to growl and rub cheeks. Now, he was almost Kirby-happy, a far outcry to his badass from hell mentality (which Pichu looked up to). With more confidence thanks to his previous fights, Pichu knew he could get to the bottom of this.

"You have a baby with you," Pichu said. "I want to see how you treat baby Pokémon...and keep Riolu safe. You never know how babies will react to warm water and shampoo!"

"He is right, Chris," Lucario said. "I'm also here to make sure you don't have problems with your new party member... And...well...I don't want to lose sight of you after what happened." He shrugged. "I'm being paranoid of what else could happen to you if I'm not close."

Chris honestly believed his words, even if it was ridiculous that his loyal Pokémon had to follow him to the bathroom (of course he wouldn't let him in during his private times). "It's also a huge shock to me. We both suffered too much without the other..." Chris looked down at the dirty Riolu on his arms. The baby was pondering what was going on and why he was brought into the glass room. "...But not anymore. Fate wants me to recover with the people I like the most."

Lucario, oddly, snickered. "Recover..." he snickered, fully aware the other three heard him.

"U-uh, yes, please don't tell me you've fallen into those lame internet terms while I was away..." Chris trailed off, though he was already walking forward to the tub.

As Chris started the water and the baby Riolu found it interesting to see water coming out from a steel tree, Pichu and Lucario noticed the wild Snivy entering the bathroom and looking around inside the wooden doors under the sinks. "What are you doing?" Pichu asked.

Snivy looked out from the door she opened. "I'm exploring a human household. What does it look like to you?" she said before going inside the door and touching nearly every cleaning tool she found. "I'm never getting another chance like this with the big blue dog's trainer letting me in without getting captured. I've got to take advantage of this... Ooh, so this is what they use to slice unwanted hair! Huh, it's not that dirty. It hasn't been used...yet."

Lucario made a face. "What big blue dog is she referring to?" he asked.

Pichu looked dull at him. "Surely not you," he said sarcastically.

He smiled. "Hah hah, of course not. I also have yellow and black colors."

"(If Pikachu was here, he'd have a field day with him... Wait, how come he had to ask that? It was pretty obvious who she was talking about. Did Chris notice this?)" Pichu looked over at Chris and the baby Riolu. The teen was too busy preparing the water to listen to them.

Snivy came out from the door and chuckled. "My Dad and Mom are going to freak out when I tell them about this," she said. "They always advised me to stay away from human houses. I can practically wander about inside this one! I am such a lucky Snivy."

Pichu got an idea. "Oh, so you like wandering about and trying out new things, right?" he asked.

Her smile dropped. "That tone and that reply unsettled me. What do you want me to do?"

"(She's sharp...) Ever tried to take a bath?"

Blinking, she looked at the tub being filled with warm water. "In the wild? Plenty of times in the water. Inside a house? Never..."

"You should try it out," Pichu said. "The water's not muddy, and you can even put up some soap to smell nice."

"(D-darn it, he's already convincing me! But it does sound very tempting to do it for the first time.)" She was a Grass Type with a lot of pride, and to think she was going to go into a tub to take a bath was winning her over. Blushing slightly, she asked, "D-do you mind telling your friend over there?"

The tub had water raised to three fourths of a foot; the ideal height to place a baby Riolu. While gauging how warm the water was, Chris heard the three other Pokémon coming his way. "Hey, Chris," Pichu spoke up. "Snivy wants to take a bath inside this tub too."

Very surprised by the fact, Chris turned to the two of them. "She wants to take a bath too? Seriously?" He saw her looking away embarrassed.

"I convinced her," Pichu said, looking deviously at her. She yelped a bit and smacked his head with a vine coming form her neck. "I'm also taking a bath too! Your tub is pretty big for all three of us."

Chris grimaced. "Isn't putting an Electric-type like you inside the water dangerous? Like putting a toaster inside?" he asked.

"I'm not plugged to the wall..."

"T-that's not the point."

"Chris, you've already seen me and Pikachu swimming inside water before," Pichu said. "Your argument is invalid!"

The teen's mind was still in recovery from the harsh experiences prior arriving to the mansion. He couldn't remember the small details his keen mind was used to remember instantly. "R-right, sorry. I forgot about that." He felt the temperature of the water just right, and he quickly turned off the faucet. "Okay, it's ready now. I'm going to put Riolu in there so he gets used to this." Smiling and grabbing the curious Riolu, Chris put the baby inside very slowly to see if he would react negatively to the warm water. Luckily, the Riolu had a blank look on just as the water rose up just below his chest area.

Blinking confused at the humid hole he got into, the baby Riolu looked around. He spotted some items on the edges of the tub containing what he thought was colored water, and there was also some kind of white block of mud over a steel stand. Looking inside the water, there was a white floor that stretched out and covered the hole. As for the water, he wasn't exactly sure if it was nice or bad, so he splashed his hands on the sides... Thinking again, seeing water droplets splash around looked fun. Gradually, he started splashing water faster and faster, until he was barking happily with glee.

Chris was happy to see the baby happy. "That's better," he said. "He's not going to like it when I tell him he can't do that when he gets older with age..." He turned to Pichu and Snivy. "You two can enter now." The two hurried inside and jumped down to the water, making a few splashing landings. While Pichu was used to taking baths, Snivy found it relaxing to enter a body of warm water that she was quick to lean to the wall's direction and slide down on her back. "Now please don't make a mess in here. I'm going to be giving this baby a nice bath with soap and shampoo."

Just as he turned his face to look up at Lucario standing behind him, Chris briefly missed a very...unnerving glare that wasn't aimed at him, and it definitely came from the Aura Pokémon. That glare was being aimed at the tub...or was that his imagination? Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, though he didn't want to ask a weird question all of a sudden. Did Lucario notice him in time?

"So you really want to stick around?" Chris asked.

"I don't mind if you're involved, Chris," Lucario said, his smile coming back to him when Chris talked to him. "Nothing can hurt you while I'm around."

A chuckle that sounded a little nervous for his tastes came out from his lips. "Y-yes, you're absolutely right," Chris encouraged. "(Oh god... I really could've sworn I saw him glaring fiercely at someone in here... A-am I going insane? I really am tired...)" To distract himself from the troubling thoughts, Chris focused on his new Pokémon.

The baby Riolu was met with a treatment he found strange and very bubbly. He learned what shampoo was; some kind of woozy water liquid that smelled great and could make bubbles out of his skin when rubbed on several times. He also learned about his favorite toy: the soap, a slippery rock made out of clay that refused to stay on his hands no matter what way he grasped it (though he learned quickly that his hands were just too small to give it a good grip). Just like the shampoo, it made dozens of bubbles and piles of foam floating above the water, making for fun places to hide from behind with Pichu. Snivy would secretly use the cleaning tools on herself to see if it was truly refreshing on her skin, which it truly was.

Chris had so much fun bathing the baby Riolu. The baby was just so happy seeing bubbles floating up and smashing little piles of them on his little palms. Laughs and foam flew everywhere with the little Pokémon playing in the tub and the teen and his Lucario watching on. During that moment, Chris forgot how such little adorable Pokémon like Riolu could evolve into fighting machines like his first party member... For now, there was no need to worry about evolution. Chris was more worried about his doubts about the current state of the mansion's household guests and the baby Riolu trying to see if the soap was edible.

At the end of the bathing session, Riolu was clean but wet, and much to his dismay the foam and bubbles were going away very fast. "Now I need to dry his fur with a towel," Chris said, until he realized there weren't any towels in his bathroom. "No towels around... I'll have to stock up on them." He stood up from his spot and turned around.

"U-uh, wait!" Lucario stopped him. "Will it be okay...?"

"I think so... I'm really not going to leave this floor," Chris muttered. "The towels and other clothing are placed next to the floor's staircase. I did see some towels back there when we came up from the staircase, so it'll be fine. What can happen to me inside the mansion?"

"I think...it's fine," Lucario said.

"(It's so clear he's still worried about my kidnapping and everything he went through...)" He forced a smile. "Oh, come on. I'm just going sixty feet away from here. Nothing is going to happen to me. Just keep a close eye on Riolu while I'm gone. Now that's where I believe something can happen..." Without saying much else, the World Traveler walked out from the bathroom and then away from his room, with his loyal Lucario staring his way.

Back inside the tub, Snivy approached Pichu. "I can't say I hated this," she said as her leafy tail splashed the water once. "It was like being inside a cooler sauna."

Pichu chuckled. "I told you so. I knew you'd like it," he said.

She nodded. "And, you know, I'm starting to believe you about that trainer...Chris," she said. Snivy looked over at Riolu making small waves of water on the shallow water. "He treated that little guy over there with so much compassion...but...I don't know when he's going to force him into battle."

The electric-type shuddered. "The last thing Chris would do with that baby is let him fight," he said. "But Lucario is more than happy to throw punches." He saw Snivy's gaze go towards the Aura Pokémon...and her eyes dilated. "Huh? Is something wrong?" He looked behind his back and found nothing strange in the bathroom, not even Lucario flashing a weird look. His eyes were focused on the baby Riolu.

Snivy knew she had seen something outright scary that she shouldn't say out loud. Deciding to whisper very softly to Pichu, she used a vine to pull his right ear gently to her mouth. "I saw that big blue dog glare at him... That glare was some stuff out of a nightmare, I tell you." She motioned to look at the happy Riolu playing on the water, unaware of his surroundings. "Does he do that a lot?"

Pichu looked at her with a serious look. "I knew it... He's also acting very strange," he whispered.

"Strange? How?"

The Electric-type was aware that he couldn't disclose a thorough explanation with a non-returning Smasher standing behind his back. He closed his eyes, unaware that he gave the large looming shadow behind him a big chance to get closer on him. Snivy meanwhile was seen with a terrified look on her face as she looked over Pichu at the soon-to-be aggressor. "I can't say more," Pichu said. "I can't just go around spouting stuff without having proof, you know? You'll have to listen to me on this one, Snivy. I want to have some private time with you to talk about some crucial personal stuff that's bugging all of us. That's the only way I ca-"

The sound of an object being pushed down into the shallow water bounced out from the bathroom, followed by muffled, drowned screams for help...

Second Floor's Hallway

Four minutes ago...

Chris wasn't feeling so well.

With the revelation that Tabuu had been defeated within the three hours his team had defeated Duon, coupled with the fact that everyone in the mansion was acting way out of it, he was having a hard time trying to understand how he was going to get used to the new personalities everyone got. Unlike how the most attentive Smashers knew something was causing the problem, the World Traveler was convinced he was seeing things. Though, he also knew he was tired mentally after his struggles to survive had come to an abrupt end he wasn't so okay about.

"(Ugh, I need to play with that Riolu again to stay positive...)" Chris thought, finding an ideal but temporary remedy to his tired mind as he made his way to the staircase of the second floor; the one that was to the left side of his room. Going to the other direction would take him to the staircase leading to the main lobby, where a loud party was going on and he wasn't going to go into till he slept for a long while. "(I so need to rest, too...)"

He got to his destination. There was a staircase going up and down one floor, where a free cubic space on the wall contained towels of different colors. Said cubic space happened to be a moving cube that would go up or down from the lavatory area in the floor below to transport clothing and other stuff. Wondering why there was the need to have bathroom tools in such a place, Chris took about three blue towels and three white towels on his arms, making his way back to his room.

Just as he turned around to look at the wall facing the staircase, he found a curious painting on it: a painting of Mr. G&W jumping in the air. Looking to the sides for any other weird picture he hadn't see before, he stared at the painting for a little while and grimaced. "(Where'd that come from?)" he thought. "(Master Hand dislikes people messing with the walls using paint...)"

To his great shock and surprise, the painting came off the wall and fell on its feet. His yelp was nearly a loud scream, until the painting spoke to him, "R-relax! I-it's me!" Mr. G&W said.

"H-holy crud!" Chris breathed out, having dropped the towels all around his feet. "W-what are you doing stuck on the wall?! I thought it was an enemy hiding in plain sight!"

It was impossible to see any luminescent blush marks on the flat character's face. "I, ah, was hiding from those lunatics down there..." Mr. G&W said, scratching his head in two frames that looped multiple times. "Namely that angel guy! He's going insane!"

Chris took a good guess who the angel guy was. "Pit is going insane how?"

"W-well, he started grabbing his head and yelling 'Ah, there's voices in my head!' and kept asking me for help to stop them," the flat guy said. "Of course I don't know how to help that kind of people! But he kept shaking and shaking and shaking me nonstop that I had to run away from him! These Brawl newcomers are crazier than they look!"

Being reminded that the cruel reality he was living in was true hurt Chris. So, once more, he tried to diverge the conversation to something else. His panicked friend would appreciate talking about a distraction. "Brawl newcomers...?" Chris wondered aloud.

Mr. G&W nodded. "Yes, Brawl newcomers," he said. "I've been kidnapped for so long since the Melee tourney days were over. Back then, Master Hand told all of us that the next tourney would be the Brawl tourneys, so I figured the new deals – including you – were the newcomers. That's how I thought everything out when you guys rescued me from being Duon..." He shook to the sides. "And I got kidnapped after that failed final battle with Tabuu...stuck inside in a tube where I thought I made the Shadow Bugs. I was a portal in reality..."

It was a wonder Chris truly believed him, how Mr. G&W could emote so well, and how claustrophobic it was for Mr. G&W to have gone through so much for months. He believed the flat character couldn't talk because of his origin in the first place, though that was proven wrong very easily. "It must've been really hard on you," Chris said with a worried expression.

"Y-you wouldn't understand very well if you weren't in my place," Mr. G&W muttered. "That's in the past...again. Now I can go out and enjoy my life." He recalled the crazy people in the mansion. "...Well, sort of. I could go back to my home and lay low."

"I wish I could go lay low in my world too," Chris said. "I need Master Hand to open up a portal for that."

"We're two now," Mr. G&W said. "Two normal people trying to survive in this insane asylum with insane people... Were they like this before, though? I visibly remember Mario being a very down-to-earth nice guy, but now I see he's a total mess while everything that made him Mario was deposited on Luigi."

Just like that, the conversation shifted to the main unsettling topic. Chris couldn't try to talk about something else. "I-I know what you mean," he said as he crouched down to pick the towels from the floor. "I don't have any evidence to prove something weird is going on here, though. I can only think about resting while everyone's gone nuts...and probably Lucario too."

Mr. G&W tilted his head. "Oh, you're that creepy guy's trainer, then?" he asked. "I did see him fighting Duon a long while back...though last time I checked, he was smaller than now. Did he get near nuclear waste, or was he still growing?"

The conversation shifted away to a topic Chris would like to indulge into. "Oh no, that Lucario you saw before and the one you see now are two different people. The first one went back home after he got manipulated by Tabuu to fight us. Master Hand sort of found me and my Lucario in my home world, and he was desperate to get help... That's...how I got dragged into this," he explained, sighing a bit.

"I see..." the flat character muttered. "I don't remember seeing you during that war so I thought... Well, it doesn't matter if you were there or not. Your last minute help turned everything around to our favor, didn't it?"

The teen wasn't so sure if his meddling affected anything. During the early beginning, Lucario did most of the grunt work while Chris stuck from behind cheering the others with support. Once the Smashers started flooding in, his role became a little minor. "I-I think so, but I honestly came into this because I wanted to explore the worlds with Lucario. It...it always came to bite me whenever I got too confident about our odds. For one...I died on my birthday party."

Mr. G&W gasped. "B-boy, that's the worst..." he muttered.

Chris shrugged off the shivering feeling. "But I luckily had an extra life to spare to come back and fight...and...then...I died again protecting ROB," he muttered softly. "I've gone through so much ever since, you know. Now that we're here and learn that Tabuu was defeated...I just can't settle down." He forced a tough look. "I have this feeling that our friends are hiding something huge that they're not telling us..."

The flat character nodded. "I was also thinking that too, because there's no way Kirby would swear food off," he said.

He was too concerned about his current state of mind that nothing else would distr- "Kirby did what now?"

"He wasn't eating voraciously like he always used to!" Mr. G&W said. "He was staring at the steam of his stew without ever lifting his spoon. But when he did, he started playing around with his food. I can say the stew was good enough for anyone!"

"..." Chris grunted. "O-okay, whatever is happening here is not right! I have to confront someone about it before I start losing it just trying to live with...with this!" He finished picking up the towels when he finished talking. "...No, I don't mean the towels! I mean everyone acting like they came out of a madhouse!"

"Y-yes, that's exactly it!" Mr. G&W said, though he lowered his hands and paused. "...Uh... Say... If you're going to confront someone for answers...is it really a good idea?"

The teen's motivations crumbled down like nothing was supporting them. "What?"

Mr. G&W fiddled with his fingers. "It's clear to me everyone in here is on...whatever they're hiding..." he trailed off. "If you annoy one of them, the rest are bound to find out we're on to them. What if...they all strike us all at once?" Chris felt silent with shock. "10 people or so against 20 people or so, and everyone is a talented fighter. Without Master Hand, we can't stand a chance against fighting that many people...and...well...we'll be hurting our comrades, too..."

"Oh god, no..." Chris muttered.

"...Assuming they're the same people you've known," Mr. G&W added, making Chris think. "They're acting so strange their original selves wouldn't even dare to act. I get the feeling these guys are fake doubles taking their place."

Was the Lucario he had been talking to a fake one? "But...why'd the mansion be back here?" Chris asked. "The Subspace Bomb's explosion is truly gone. What if they're really not body doubles?"

Mr. G&W seemed to be thinking harder. "You got me," the flat character said. "We lack any clues to find by ourselves... The others have to work with us, but not while there's one of the rest keeping tabs on our talks!"

The World Traveler resigned to their bad luck. He couldn't try to deny it any longer. "I guess you're right..." he muttered.

"I-I know I'm right," Mr. G&W said. "Why, it'd be very bad if we were left alone with one of them. Who knows what could happen? I suggest we should stick together while we're here to investigate our findings."

Chris agreed to the idea. He bowed not to be alone with a non-returning Smasher to stay safe from harm. Staring at the towels, he thought back on his baby Riolu, Pichu, and Snivy... Oh crap, was all he could think of. "I-I have to get back to the bathroom!" Chris said.

"Huh? The bathroom?" Mr. G&W repeated. "You have to do your business there?"

The teen blushed. "N-not that! I left a defenseless baby in the tub with a murdering monster machine!" He started running to his room with the Flat Zone citizen trailing from behind. "Oh my god, I'll never feel okay if that baby is hurt behind my back! Not after I found and took him in!"

"R-relax!" Mr. G&W said. "There's no way these guys would go ahead and hurt us now so suddenly!" Cries for help came from the direction of Chris's room. "N-never mind what I said!" Their pacing increased once hearing the cries and soon they reached their destination.

Chris's Bathroom

Accidentally dropping the stack of towels on top of Mr. G&W, the two were too late to see what had happened during the cries. What they did find was the baby Riolu and Snivy looking startled in the tub, Lucario kneeling forward into it with his right hand sticking down, and a soaked Pichu gasping for breath as he was seen getting out from the tub. It wasn't so hard for Chris to piece together what happened. "Pichu!" Chris yelped as the Electric-type went to his side and shook the water off. "W-what happened to you?!"

Pichu was on the verge of tears as he looked up to Chris. "L-Lucario tried to drown me in the water by pushing my face down!" he cried. "I was drinking water with soap!"

Looking back at Lucario's dignified face, the Aura Pokémon stood up and shook his head. "I-I wasn't trying to drown him!" he said distressed. "I slipped down on the floor and I accidentally pushed Pichu down to the water!"

Pichu shot a glare at him. "Y-you didn't slip on anything, you liar! You were pushing me down for ten seconds! Who can't get up in that time?!"

Lucario shot a nasty glare back at him. "It was a stupid accident! Stop trying to make me look like a bad guy in front of Chris!" He looked at his trainer...who was looking at him with extreme dislike. "U-uh...Chris?"

Chris was at a loss about his Lucario's behavior. He had cornered his once loyal Pokémon against the wall, now that the first noticed the worried looks on Riolu's and Snivy's faces. "Lucario..." Chris began, stopping to sigh and frown before continuing, "...I want you out of this room and sit on the bed."

"Wh-what?" Lucario said, looking horrified.

"Get out of here!" Chris scolded. Yelling at his Pokémon made the teen shed tears. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to think you weren't doing this on purpose?! For crying out loud, you won't believe all the stupid crap I've gone through before getting back here, and the first thing that I see you doing in my room is trying to kill Pichu in my tub?!" He saw Lucario's head sinking on his raised shoulders. "This is getting on my nerves! I want some peace and quiet, not chaos and cries!"

"I-I...I-I...!" Lucario was shaking his head many times.

Shutting his teary eyes, Chris pointed his finger out. "You know what? Don't sit on the bed. Get out of my room and go think about what you were doing here!" he said, hearing Lucario gasp. "I'm not letting anyone scare my baby Riolu with this asinine action, not even you, you hear me?!" The baby Riolu scooted over to Snivy's side and hid his face behind her back. He was scared about hearing the good friends yelling at each other.

"B-but...but Chris!" Lucario said.

"OUT! NOW!"

Groaning loudly to the ceiling, the Aura Pokémon walked out from the room and closed the door behind his back. When he got away, Mr. G&W stuck his head out from the pile of towels and stared at Chris covering his face with both hands. "Wow... That was intense..." he muttered.

The teen, despite knowing his Lucario was a victim of some insane bastardization, started to sob on his hands. It was too hard for him to raise his voice at him. He looked like his Lucario, but he wasn't being himself. The trainer was torn apart mentally, confused as to what to do to fix everything back to the way it was where the world wasn't as dark as today.

"Chris..." Pichu hugged the trainer's right leg. "It's okay now..."

"N-no, it's not..." Chris sobbed. "Nothing is right here...no matter how many times anyone else tries to convince me... The worst part is...i-is that I don't know what to do to fix it..." He uncovered his face and looked at everyone staring his way. "What do you think we should do?"

Mr. G&W frowned. "Wait until something nice happens...?" he suggested.

The World Traveler couldn't answer correctly or even agree to anything. He looked at the baby Riolu hiding behind Snivy, where he caught a glimpse of the frightened look on his face. The Riolu got startled when the human was yelling so loudly, and he thought he was going to be the next one to get yelled at. Carefully watching from behind Snivy, the baby Riolu saw Chris approaching the tub and staring at him with tears in his eyes. "(Just what I needed... He's scared of what he saw...)" Chris thought. "(I was the one yelling, too...)"

He knew the baby wouldn't understand his words, and asking Pichu to translate seemed like a bad idea. The only thing Chris did was hold out his hand to the Riolu, with Snivy standing between them and looking blankly at his saddened expression. She looked back and forth between both of them, wondering when she could walk away to stop being a living wall. In her opinion, the human was a nice person who meant very well, and the baby Pokémon had to understand himself that he wasn't going to yell at him...so she used a vine to wrap it around the baby's right hand and gently move it forward to Chris's hand.

When the two touched hands and stared at each other in the face, the baby didn't smile, but he shut his eyes and ran forward, making Chris react and pick him up on his arms. The Riolu felt safe on those arms, leaning his wet face on his caretaker's chest. Feeling his wet fur, Chris went to pick a towel and started drying him off on top of the counter, where he saw the Riolu giggling when he rubbed the ticklish parts. At least he could sigh in relief that the Pokémon's small episode of fear was over. "I know you don't understand my words yet, but I'll never scare you again, okay?" he told the baby. "You'll just have to wait until you learn how to understand words."

While the two of them were left alone, Snivy came out of the tub and used a towel to clean herself. Pichu was also drying off with another one as he walked to her. "Are you okay?" Pichu asked. "I'm sorry you had to get into this."

Snivy shook her head. "It's fine by me. That Lucario guy is a terrifying one for sure..." She shrugged. "Listen. Is he like that all the time?"

"No, he's never like that," Pichu said concerned. "No one in here is being normal."

"Huh... I'm going to take your word for it and see where this goes," she said. "It's pretty intriguing."

"But very confusing..."

After having bathed the Riolu, Chris asked everyone else to remain in his room while he took a shower to relieve himself from the storm of emotions in his mind. He had to rest alone now...and think about what he should do to find the source of the insanity surrounding the mansion. As he was letting the steam of the warm water fill the bathroom, he wondered how the others were faring...

Ike's Room

"No, Marth. I'm sure I don't want to have a sleepover with you," Ike told Marth, the first standing in his room and the other standing outside in the hallway. Soren was looking out the window to pretend he wasn't listening to their conversation.

Marth looked peeved. "Why? You're letting Soren sleep with you. Oh, all the scandalous implications I'm thinking about just knowing that..." Disturbingly, he ran a hand through his silky hair.

The mercenary shrugged, picturing Soren rolling his eyes. "W-what are you thinking? Soren wants to be sure nothing unusual happens to me. I am the leader of our company, and he hasn't felt so well with me...well...dying behind my sister's back. It's only fair he stays with me tonight to keep his concerns in check," Ike explained.

"But with me around you'll feel even safer," Marth said...with a wink.

Ike was smart enough to consider the true meaning behind that false reassuring offer. "(Somehow, I bet I just won't get hurt physically...) N-no, three's a crowd. I need to have some rest with a close friend of mine."

The Altean looked peeved. "I am a close friend to you, probably even closer than Soren!" Soren sighed loudly. "Are you saying we're not close friends? Is that what you're saying to me?"

It had been nearly an hour of putting up with Marth's antics that Ike said, "Stop trying to blow things out of proportion and just leave me alone for a while, okay?" and closed the door on Marth's indignant look.

"This isn't over!" Marth yelled, though it sounded like he was whimpering. "I'll prove to you that I'm the closest friend you have!" Ike heard the close footsteps going further and further away from the hall until they were gone.

Sighing with relief, the mercenary turned to the tactician. "Man, what's gotten into everyone here?" Ike wondered. "Marth is so much more concerned about his looks and Roy can't stop nagging at you like an hyperactive child."

Soren nodded. "Yes, I suppose people can change within a very small span of time. It is also a fact they can go from murderers to narcissist fools too," he said, and Ike knew he was very close to attacking the next fool who would yell at his ear. "Leaving that point behind, have you thought about what you're going to do now, Ike?"

"What I'm going to do now?" Ike wondered, rubbing his chin. He noticed the real Ragnell sword was on top of the long drawer, where he walked to it and lifted it with both hands. "...This is Ragnell," he said, putting the sword in his sheath and feeling complete. "It wasn't lost to the Subspace."

"It is a relief," Soren said. "Otherwise, if it was gone, Sanaki would toss the Begnion Royal Guard on your back and leave nothing behind. Now there are no stops for you to return home like I intended to do from the beginning."

Ike stared. "Uh... What?"

The Branded frowned and looked rather angry at his only friend. "I take it you've forgotten my original intent. Fine. I shall recap it all for you," he said. "Ike, it's been months of no replies ever since I found out you died. When I mean replies, I mean replies to Mist who doesn't know anything about what has been going on with you." He saw Ike looking away in shame. "I've filled your role in sending replies back to her – somehow, because I'm surprised mail can go out from here and reach our base – and frankly speaking my original goal was to check up on you..."

The blank stare coming from Soren's red eyes were unsettling Ike a big deal. "That goal changed, didn't it..."

"Oh, you can tell. That makes things easier," Soren said. "Yes, my goal has changed completely now that your rather insane friends here are okay. The point I'm trying to make is...we're going back home."

Ike opened his mouth in surprise at the statement. "G-going back home? Now?" he asked.

"No, not now," Soren said, "but soon enough, probably later today or tomorrow when Marth isn't hot on your track."

The mercenary wasn't about to leave the Smash Mansion behind so soon, not with everyone behaving so strangely. Marth was a close friend indeed, though his new personality bugged Ike out a lot. Not to mention the fact he had apparently stabbed and murdered Soren. "But... I can't leave! I'm surprised you want to leave this place without getting to the bottom of your issue with Marth."

"Frankly, I don't give a damn about Marth anymore."

Ike glared. "Soren!"

Soren glared back. "You know how I am, Ike. I only care about the company's mercenaries. Anyone else who has no relation to us should stop meddling in our business." His look went back to normal. "Now, you're far more important. You're the leader of my group whose sister and everyone else have been fretting over why you haven't replied in the months after your death. You're very lucky you got to come back to life through some of the most unorthodox methods our homeland would never have in a million years."

Ike was against going back to his home. "The Subspace Army isn't alive anymore! There is no way I will die again!" he said.

"Yes, yes, your sworn enemy after the Black Knight is gone forever," Soren said. "There isn't anything tying you down here, is there? Your mission is over. You told us so you'd return after you brought that army down...but as it happens, your friends here took it down for you. Therefore, there is really no motive left, right?"

"T-there is a motive," Ike said, feeling like he was losing the discussion against Soren. "How do explain everyone being so strange unlike before when you first met them?"

"I told you a moment ago I don't care what happens to them," Soren said aggravated. "I care about what happens to you. You're done with your mission here. Leave these people behind and come back home to retake your duties as the leader of the Greil Mercenaries...or would you rather have Mist sad with your absence?"

"(Very dirty of you, Soren. Using my sister to convince me...)"

Soren smiled a devious look. "So? What's your answer? Perhaps Marth will come to his senses by himself without your help. Who says you can't talk to him with letters? He deserves long-distance mail rather than talking face-to-face and driving us nuts."

"..." Ike looked down at his sword Ragnell. "...What about Morgan?" he asked next. "She clearly is related to us. She uses the same kind of tomes as we do."

Soren got into thinking. "She... She isn't from anywhere we know," he said. "I studied her tomes when we were coming back on that gigantic bug carrier. The runes and verses in those pages are wildly different than the ones I've read. Furthermore, visually, the tomes themselves don't resemble the conventional looks from Tellius'... She has no memory of where she hails from, but she isn't native to anywhere in Tellius. If we took her with us, she'd be forever lost in an unknown land with no hopes of finding her home again."

The mercenary couldn't believed the tactician had discerned so much, though Soren was a very bold and smart person that brought forth many victories in the past. "I...see... I'm honestly shocked you don't want her to come with us to a place where she doesn't come from. You do have a soft spot."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying? I mostly want her away from us so she doesn't throw herself at my feet and has to be fed with our food rations. We don't have a good harvest this year without hunting boar. I was just making a point about not bringing her with us using some easy logic."

"(I take it back. He's still a big jerk to every living being,)" Ike thought dismayed. "Never mind..."

The Branded looked outside to the cloudy sky. "What's your next command, Ike?" he asked. "I've pointed out all of the facts. It's your job to take a decision... I trust you won't choose the wrong one."

With a worried expression, Ike got into thinking what he was going to do from now on. He wanted to find out what was wrong with Marth and Roy so badly, though Soren wanted him to leave them alone and check up on them through mail. Pondering about the best course of action, Ike took some more time to decide...

Fox's Room

The door to the vulpine's steamy bathroom opened up, with his owner walking out with a refreshed face and a towel wrapped around his waist. "Same old mansion, same old personal bathroom," he whistled. "Ahh, I needed some steam..."

With a cleansed mind and body, Fox looked over at the clothes he was forced to wear when he had died of that horrendous disease months ago, said clothes tossed into the trash can between his bed to the right and the closet to the left. Although the clothes he wore in the Reapers' Game didn't carry over with the ones in the world of the living, the battle with Duon sliced and stained the clothes with his blood. In fact, he was staring at the bloodstains for a very long time...

"(...Come to think of it,)" Fox thought with an irked eyebrow. "(How come we just happened to bleed in that battle unlike all of the previous times we've fought other insane people? I'm sure I've been slashed here and there with my clothes getting torn off, but there was hardly any blood showing...)" He thought he was probably some kind of rare inhuman person unable to bleed, though everyone else was in the same category. Still, he did bleed in his world, and he was also sure fighting in official matches prevented the loss of blood when damaged by strong attacks. Was it Master Hand's doing that kept their innards safe from massive losses?

"Take off the towel, take off the towel, take off the towel..."

Fox snapped out of his thoughts when his ears twitched, hearing some whispers coming from nearby. The whispers weren't definitely coming from outside the door. They were coming from inside his room. Since there were two hiding spots from his position, he ruled out looking inside the closet and went to look below his bed...where he spotted the tip of a beak peeking out from the front. "(Aww, crap... This is sooooo...)" Fox rolled his eyes and stared at the beak. "Falco, if you're under my bed, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. I told you I wanted some privacy."

"I'm not Falco."

"You sound like Falco, you have a beak similar like Falco, I can see you have blue feathers like Falco, and I'm sure you're Falco. Therefore, you're Falco."

"...You lack enough evidence to prove it's me."

Fox got angry. "I said get out! Now!" he demanded.

"No!" Falco stuck out his head, and Fox got scared when he saw that dreamy look on his ace pilot's eyes. "This is like the best angle I have to look up at you! Damn, you're ripped!"

While Fox respected... Actually, why was he even thinking Falco was one of them? He was very much perturbed that Falco was showing some of those traits. Now, if Krystal had been in his place, he wouldn't really mind... But that was only an "if" scenario. The scenario he was going through was undesirable. "Y-yeah, get out of my room before I have to hurt your eyes with my foot!"

"I won't see anything if you do that!"

"That's the point. Get out!"

Grumbling somewhat too loudly, Falco crawled out from under the bed, where Fox discovered Falco had discarded his vest and jacket prior to entering his room. "(I don't want to ask why...)" the vulpine thought as he watched the avian shoot him a look over his shoulder before he left the room and closed the door reluctantly. "(This isn't over yet, is it?)" he thought dismayed as he went over to his closet to open it and browse sets of clothes for wear, which were technically the same clothes he always wore around the mansion with different color themes: on the top was a row of vests and jackets, the floor side displayed a long row of steel boots, and to the right corner of the closet was a compartment that held all of his Blasters and other combat-related tools sanctioned for use in his battles. Noticing he had to expand his repertoire soon, Fox only settled with his normal attire.

When he picked a vest from the left corner, removing its hanger revealed an unpleasant sight hiding behind and staring right back at him with a frustrated look. "T-the hell are you doing in my closet?!" Fox asked.

Wolf sneered. "Waiting for the right chance to make my move on you. What else?" he said annoyed.

"Are you stupid?" Fox said. "What reason is there for you to take me down here if everyone else will know it was you who killed me? You want to revive all the crimes Corneria ignored for you just because you decided to eliminate a galactic threat?"

"..." Wolf pulled the hair from his chin in deep thought. "...Hmm... I gotta think how to do that discreetly without making too much evidence..." He snarled at Fox. "You have won this round again, Fox McCloud, but I will take you down...without...um...making it too obvious it was me!"

Fox looked duly and pointed away to his door. "Get out of my room, you moron," he said duly.

Making a fist, Wolf walked out from the closet (but not figuratively) and left the room, slamming the door in the process. Fox had to make sure no one else was hiding in the room to have a moment of peace and quiet. Once having checked any other places to hide, he sighed loudly and started dressing up in his normal-yet-boring attire.

"(How can I feel I'm back home when my teammates and enemies are being idiots?)" Fox thought. With a keen mind, he knew very well something was up behind the scenes after having met up with everyone at the lobby and seeing their insane antics. "(All of them are lying about what they did. Hate to admit this, but I trust Soren's words about Marth stabbing him... I've got to investigate if there are any clues in this place.)"

Dedede's Room

King Dedede was appalled to know his room wasn't exactly found between the rooms of the third floor with the letters G and L, but rather between the rooms on the second floor with the letters A and F. His room was between Chris's room and Diddy Kong's room. The word "King" was part of his name. If the Falcon guy's name started with Captain, why didn't Dedede's name have the same benefit? Blasphemy, he thought with an indignant look on his face. "Gonna yell at that big hand when I see 'im!" he said aloud as he entered his room...

He was disgusted! His room looked like every other room in the mansion: a single queen-sized bed on the right wall, a closet in front of said bed, a bathroom on the opposite side, and a wall housing a hidden widescreen TV where a panel was spotted between the bathroom and the empty space of the wall. The floor was covered in a dark brown color, the ceiling was a dark gray color, and the walls had a light gray color. This setting was not fit for a king like me, he thought.

Grinning wide, the penguin opened up his sleeves and released two dozens of Waddle Dees to wander around the room aimlessly until he cleared his throat loudly. "I want you to renovate this dinky dang place to resemble my image!" he ordered, seeing his retainers doing a salute on their foreheads. "ASAP!" he added for extra emphasis. The Waddle Dees started to scramble around, taking out some super egotistical-looking, shiny golden furniture from god-knows-where and put them on unthinkable spots until they got the right feeling of the right placement. Heartily laughing loudly, Dedede turned his back on his servants to wait for them to be done.

He saw Kirby waltzing by. He hadn't seen the puffball ever since he left the party below. Rubbing his chin, Dedede said, "Hey, Kirby! Get over here!" Kirby stopped on his tracks and looked up with a smile at his fellow representative. Because it was such a huge thing for the pink black hole to swear off food, Dedede had to know why Kirby was acting out of character. "Okay, you. I wanna hear everything you have to say! I want you to come clean and simple...simple and clean... No singing, though!"

"Come simple and clean about what?" Kirby asked curiously.

"You see, little happy pink marshmallow, I saw you...not eating," Dedede said. He was resting his right arm on the handle of his hammer. "You're known 'round my kingdom as the Black Hole Menace, the Pink Danger, the Hammering Puffball, the Bottomless Smile, the Black Hole Pink Hammering Bottomless Puffball Menace with a Dangerous Smile. They call ya that 'cuz you can't help eatin' your way through food. I should know!" He smacked his belly proudly. "I lose to ya 'cause I can get full! But you can't get full! You keep eatin' and eatin' and eatin' and eatin' and eatin' and eatin' and eatin' and eatin' some more and eatin' and eatin' and ya won't stop eatin'! What do I see when I come crash the party?" He pointed down at Kirby. "You're not eating anything! That's a hella strange! I want answers! Now!"

Kirby serenely joined his hands with a smile. "Because...I realized..." he trailed off.

Dedede raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"That..."

He leaned closer. "Yes?"

"I..."

He nodded. "Hm-hmm?"

"Am..."

He fully opened his eyes. "Ah-ha?"

"...Full."

It took five full minutes for Dedede to clearly understand the outrageous word he heard. "...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" he yelled loudly, backing off and crossing his hands in shock. To add far more unneeded emphasis to his reaction, a few Waddle Dee carried a background showing a thunderstorm behind their king. "YOU?! FULL?! WHO THE HECK ARE YA?! WHADAYA DONE WITH KIRBY?!" The Waddle Dee ditched the background and went back to remodeling the room.

"I'm full," Kirby said. "I've eaten too much food in my life, I can go without eating forever! Food is not so important to me now! My stomach won't growl to a small slice of cake even! I think I have reached enlightenment at last!" He hopped on his spot once. "Food is, um, irrelevant to me? Yeah, that's it!"

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-" Dedede was having a mental breakdown. All those gourmet races with Kirby in the past had no meaning now that he lost someone he was always happy to humiliate in front of thousands. He felt...empty, but not in his stomach. It was his kingly heart that was empty. Because deep down, he saw Kirby as his friend...whom he liked to pummel every now and then just to keep his image. "Y-you can't do this to me!" Dedede sniffed, tossing himself on Kirby's feet. "Y-y-you can't swear food off! What about me?!"

Kirby patted the king's head. "You'll be fine!" he told him. "You'll find someone else to have food contests with! Me? I'm out, man."

Adding to his mental breakdown, Dedede noticed Kirby was speaking unusually weird. When did he say man? "You? OUT?! WHAT?!" Dedede cried. "Who's gonna fill your shoes in?! I have nobody! NOBODY!"

"That's not true," Kirby said, pointing to his right. "You do have someone else!"

Looking to his left, Dedede's mouth hung open when he saw Meta Knight – the mask-less Meta Knight that is – walking to them with his mouth stuffed with a large piece of strawberry cake. He stopped to talk, but they could only hear muffled sounds and see bits of bread and frosting dropping on the floor. "Awwwwwwww, heck," Dedede said, outright frightened and disturbed at the turn of events. It was clear Meta Knight was unfit to be a food eating rival if he couldn't manage to swallow a piece of cake Kirby and Dedede would easily eat in a second.

"Right now, Meta Knight's training," Kirby said. "I'm gonna be his coach. Soon, he'll be tossing food in his stomach without tasting it!" He then tossed his hands up with glee. "Everything will be okay in the world!"

"..." Dedede felt he was having a headache having to deal with these unlikely turn of events that he got into his room and closed the door, where he ordered his subjects to build several locks on the side of the room to keep the demented puffballs away from his sight. Kirby and the stuffed Meta Knight exchanged glances and flashed bright looks. Before leaving the door, they held hands together and waltzed away.

Chris's Room

Chris had finished taking a shower, helping him relax his body and mind. He was even more relaxed when he decided to fool around on his bed with the baby Riolu. The Emanation Pokémon was being very impatient not having the human around that Pichu and Snivy held him for long enough before he could weep prior to rolling around the bed and letting Chris discover his ticklish sides which the baby greatly enjoyed: the yellow paw pads. Pichu was messing around too, but Snivy was more concerned about checking the stack of video game boxes inside the drawers.

Mr. G&W was also there in the room still. He was going to leave them and go to his room in a little while just so the demented Pit wouldn't see him nearby. Enjoying watching all the Pokémon and the human playing around, he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me," the Ancient Minister said from the other side. "Open the door."

Mr. G&W not only heard the minister, but he also heard some deep-sounding chuckles. They came from Lucario, who was sitting next to the door in the hallway to wait for Chris to let him into the room again, though the large Aura Pokémon opted to stay quiet until his patience would get the better of him and beg his trainer for forgiveness. Besides the point, why was he chuckling now? He hadn't say anything up until now. Careful not to let the big dog in, Mr. G&W twisted the doorknob and opened the door for the minister.

Chris and the others stopped playing when they heard the door open. Once the minister walked inside, the World Traveler wasn't sure how to react. "...Oh my god," he could only mutter, smacking Pichu on the back when he heard him puff out some restrained air from his closed mouth. "What happened to you?"

The Ancient Minister was far worse-looking than everyone else because of the battles against Meta Ridley and Duon. But thanks to Peach, his only set of robes was patched up...except not the way he approved. While Peach was a master seamstress, the minister wasn't expecting her to do whatever she wanted with the tears and holes on his robe that he became a walking mess of pink patches of all hues. While his robes were sewed up to perfection, the patches had so many different patterns: hearts, birds, flowers, and other stuff Chris was just sick trying to tell apart because of the pink overpowering the old colors of the robe. Worse yet, the patches had words written on them: "Hurray Pink!", "Love Is Pink", and "Pink Peach Power!" were sentences that stood out the most.

"Princess Peach happened," the Ancient Minister said, hearing the door closing behind him which thankfully drowned Lucario's loud chuckles. "I have never felt being treated like a human doll before."

Chris sat on his bed while the baby Riolu rested his head on the pillow to catch some breath after laughing out loud for too long. "I didn't know she could go this far..." he trailed off, still inspecting the robe to spot anything left behind of the old look. "(Everyone is nuts in here.) Why don't you remove them? You don't deserve wearing them..." his eyes moved up and down, "now!"

"I don't want to take them off," the minister said. "This clothing is a reminder of the atrocities I made with the Subspace Army, and I will only take them off once I can forget the past for good...and that point in time is still a long way to go." He looked down at his new look. "My original intent was to wear these robes as a sign of guilt. I was honestly not considering wearing them to make people twist their lips and cover their mouths whenever they see me passing by. Maybe it is a punishment I should endure forever..."

"I-I object to that!" Chris said, grimacing hard and standing up. "Look, humiliating yourself in front of everyone is not a punishment; it's abuse! You can't let yourself get bullied around like this! And besides, Peach is better than this!" He was very close to yelling his suspicions about what his sane team thought about the others. "Let's go and tell her to fix your robes."

The minister felt guiltier with someone putting so much effort to his cause. "...Fine, but know this: I don't feel so well getting so much attention and support from you. I should've given you the most pain," he said.

"It's...in the past," Chris said. "You only had the best intentions for your friends. But yes, they were very misguided until we got to talk and saw how much you needed help. I hate just thinking you trying to be miserable to feel okay much, much later."

Mr. G&W was relieved. "(Oh, he's such a nice guy! With his help, ROB is sure to come around and stop beating himself up,)" he thought.

The minister couldn't say something else to turn the offer down. "...Can we go to Peach so she fixes this abomination I'm wearing?" he asked, though he indirectly supported the teen's suggestion anyway. Carrying Riolu in his arms, Chris joined the robot's side and walked out with everyone out of the room. Snivy could have remained behind to inspect other secret items hidden around, but she was unnerved about the insane people in the house that she needed meat shields.

When the group of five walked out, Lucario gasped and stood up from his spot. "C-Chris!" he breathed out.

His trainer shrugged. "What do you want?" he asked, with Pichu taking cover on his right shoulder and shooting a glare at the other Pokémon. Riolu covered his face for protection. "We're busy here. We're going to have Peach fix the minister's robe... I'm sorry, but did you just chuckle?"

Lucario gulped. "N-no, I-I..." He lied.

The World Traveler got depressed again. "Just stay sitting here... I'll see what I do with you once I come back. Try to behave for once," he said. "(Not that I expect you to listen because I know something is controlling your mind... Hopefully that's it.)" He saw Lucario groaning and sliding down on the wall to sit on his rear and rest his chin on his hands. Feeling pity, Chris shook his head and left with everyone, only hearing another chuckle coming from his Pokémon. "Oh goodness, I hope we can get to the bottom of this very soon. I can't bear watching him act so out of it..."

"It is very sad. He doesn't act like the badass he always was before," Pichu said.

"...Badass?" Chris and the others stared at Pichu, who blushed and looked away. "Oh, so you think Lucario's a badass."

"...Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah..." Pichu quickly turned to Chris. "Don't you?"

Chris blushed next and looked away, vividly remembering the much friendlier Lucario smiling and laughing with him the times before the human was kidnapped. He wanted to go back to having wonderful moments like those with him again. "...Um, well, I did teach him to behave around people, so...uh, yes," he said.

"So you taught him how to be a badass?" Mr. G&W wondered.

"N-no, but... The point is I think he's a real badass in my eyes; the one that didn't act so weird around me!" Chris saw the two of them laugh. "I want to have the old one back..."

The six went to the fourth floor to seek Peach out and fix the robe, though unfortunately they signed themselves for a very long talk about flowers and the pink color with the super peppy princess that the day went by too quickly until it was a cloudy night. Focused on the minister's robe, Chris had to constantly remind her to take off the patches and sew the holes correctly. The princess did so, but they noticed her eyes twitching whenever she took off a patch despite how happy she looked...

Ness's Room

Ness thanked the cloudy skies that he finally got to come back to his room and rest on his bed. Unlike the other normal rooms, his room did look like it belonged to him with many typical stuff a kid his age had in their room: bats, yo-yos, baseball balls, and posters of his favorite sport players of his world. After doing the same actions everyone in his sane group did the same day, he was ready to flop on his bed, which he did so when he switched to his pajamas and discarded his red hat over the two drawers. "Sweet, sweet bed," he said to the ceiling as he covered himself with the bed sheet and looked out the closed window. "It's been so cloudy outside... Wonder if it'll rain all night."

He looked back to the ceiling and thought back on the mansion's situation. Ness was used to a fair lot of incredible and unbelievable happenings in his world. The Smash Mansion housed the same kind of weirdness, though somehow it kept it at a minimum with so many personalities. Now that his friends here were so out of it, Ness was reflecting on his world and friends. He considered dropping by his home and eat his mother's home cooking again, and playing with his dog King and perhaps inviting Paula, Jeff, and Poo sounded nice just to forget about his second home.

Thinking about having a week off for himself, Ness chuckled. He was going to wait for Master Hand to arrive soon and let him off the hook for a while to relax. With his mind made up, Ness turned his head to the left and faced his pile of Mr. Saturn plush dolls. He yawned and fell asleep...

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...then again, when did he have that many Mr. Saturn plush dolls? His eyes shot wide open when he realized the fact. He only had one Mr. Saturn doll, not fifty of them. The only reason he had for owning one was to remember his home. Having fifty would make people label him as a strange guy who was into weird dolls.

Grumbling, Ness started to fling doll after doll on his back to the floor, but then he made a scary discovery when he spotted a fluff of soft blonde hair sticking out from the left side of the pile. It was human hair, making the guess in his mind far more terrifying if it was what he thought it was. Judging its position...

"Oh no," muttered Ness as he shyly took a few more dolls to uncover the undeniable: a very quiet Lucas lying next to him under a pile of dolls. Ness had all the right to scream loudly and back off, so he did just that. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Lucas simply blinked. "Hello," he said in a quiet voice.

Ness felt robbed of his privacy with another dude lying down next to him. Suddenly, the idea of punching Lucas in the face was very tempting. "W-why are you sleeping on my bed under those dolls?!" Ness demanded.

Lucas then looked worried. "Because I was trying to protect you," he said.

"Protect me from what?" Ness asked, still looking mad. "Surely not from anyone else destroying, eating, and spitting my privacy back at my face!"

The blond sat up and sighed. "Ness, losing you hit me so hard. This mansion has a lot of people with crazy intentions and other agendas... I can't bear to see you get hurt by them. I must use my power to keep you safe so you don't die again...just like my brother and mom..."

Although it was a touching reason, it wasn't enough to justify sneaking into his bed with Mr. Saturn dolls to use as a hiding place. "T-that's super sweet and all, but this isn't the right way to do it, you!" Ness said, blushing madly. "I need to have some time for myself, namely alone in my room!"

"I'm sorry, Ness. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Ness couldn't handle the insanity of the words he just heard. "L-Lucas, leave!" he demanded the blond. "I'm going to be safe in my room! I have PSI just like you and I'm capable enough to toss people around with it! Now don't make me do it on you!" Lucas sniffed once. "Aww, heck... I didn't want to sound so rude to you."

"...I understand where you're getting at," his fellow friend said as he got off from the bed and started walking to the door. He grabbed the doorknob but didn't twist it to leave. "I'm being so paranoid about what else could happen to you. It does look like I'm getting in your way... I'll stop being a nuisance if it makes you happy."

Ness was sure there was something causing Lucas to do unorthodox methods around him, just like everyone in the mansion. Or, what if Lucas was doing it on his own free will? Dying for real must have caused so much trauma to the blond than Chris let on to say. Ness was very conflicted mentally. "...Look, Lucas," Ness said, making Lucas look back at him. "I've been pretty hard on you today. The truth is that I feel very stressed and need some rest to get back to my game. You being some kind of paranoid guy over what happens to me doesn't help me a bit."

Lucas nodded. "I-I know..."

"Good, you know how odd this is," Ness said, sitting up. "What if I propose we do something tomorrow?"

Lucas smiled at the proposition. "What?" he asked, sounding a bit excited.

"Why don't we go out to the village tomorrow and check out that new ice cream place they opened up there?" Ness suggested. "Anything to stay away from this place for a little while." With such a nice suggestion, there was no way Lucas would object to spending time with Ness without worries. That way, he could keep a close eye on him.

The blonde's ill look made Ness feel uneasy... Lucas shook his head quickly. "U-uh, go out from here?" he said. "T-tomorrow? A-away from the mansion?"

Ness blinked twice. "Um, yes?" he said. "Away from here. It's the whole idea behind going out to have ice cream, away from the guys here, where it's clearly dangerous from the look on your face."

"U-uh, n-no, t-that's a bad idea..." Lucas twitched with his feet shaking. "W-what's so bad about this house? W-why can't we have ice cream here instead?"

"Because a bucket of ice cream doesn't compare to what an ice cream shop sells," Ness said. "Their stuff is sooooo good."

Lucas then gulped, making Ness grimace. It was a little dark to see the blond sweating bullets. "Y-you should go alone to that shop tomorrow!" Lucas suggested with a smile that looked very forced. "I-it's bad time for me to go out tomorrow!"

"...Can I ask you why?" Ness leaned forward with interlaced fingers. "Why is it a bad time tomorrow? None of us here have stuff to do other than fool around and start useless food fights. Master Hand is gone so if you're planning to leave to visit your family in your island, you have your work cut out for you."

"..." Lucas' silence marked a win in Ness's book. "...Ummmmm... Can you bring me the ice cream?"

"No!" Ness said. "(Since you're playing hard to get, I'm going to see what's up with you.) You're coming with me and we're gonna enjoy eating ice cream that your head is going to get a headache! That's final!"

He saw Lucas looking away from his frustrated eyes. "...Okay... I-I'll go with you," Lucas muttered, his small smile twitching. "T-that's what friends are for, r-right?"

"Yeeeeeeeeees..." Ness felt perturbed by his friend now. "You go and rest in your room. I'll be fine on my own... Chop-chop!" Lucas, startled, hurried out of the room and closed the door. Ness groaned loudly and sunk his head on his pillow, not before pulling a Mr. Saturn doll to his right side using his mind. With a deep voice, he said, "Oh my god, why am I the weirdness magnet?"

Second Floor's Hallway

Rushing quickly through the lonely hallway, Yoshi dashed like hell to a place where he could hide from his pursuers. Why he was being pursued was simple: he used his tongue to swallow his target into his mouth, keeping it there and letting his drool cover it. With shrunken pupils and sweaty skin, he stole glances of his pursues trailing behind him. "COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!" came Chris's uncharacteristic demand. "I SWEAR IF YOU DO SOMETHING TO THAT BABY, I'M CUTTING YOUR TONGUE OFF!"

Some time ago, after leaving Peach's room, Chris was ambushed by Yoshi of all people, who used his tongue to get the baby Riolu and make a run for it. Instead of crying, the inner Papa Wolf in Chris was set loose when the deed was done, hence why he was utterly furious and angry enough to scream loud menacing demands. He hoped the baby wasn't hearing his hysteric yells, but he was sure the Riolu was confused and terrified inside the mouth of someone else. Unable to voice his baseless reasons for kidnapping a baby, Yoshi kept running in hopes to lose them.

"S-so!" Mr. G&W began, "On top of everyone not being themselves, Yoshi turned into a kidnapper?!"

"This is so wrong of him to do!" Pichu said. "He always had a soft spot for babies! He never did kidnap one before!"

The minister could have attacked Yoshi to set the baby free, but he feared his attack would hurt the Riolu too. None of them could do anything other than chasing the Yoshi down the hallway and wait for him to slow down. "I am very baffled about this," the minister said. "Days ago, everyone here was Tabuu's only threat capable of putting a stop to his plan. Now that I come in here, everyone is a threat to themselves."

"HE'S A BABY, YOU DAMN IDIOT!" Chris yelled. "I WON'T STAND UP FOR THIS!"

The other four were scared of the teen's abrupt change in moods. "I've never seen him so riled up like this either!" Mr. G&W noted. "It's pretty scary!"

Pichu did see Chris scream and yell a few times long ago when he raised Lucario as a Riolu. The World Traveler was capable of dropping the warm smile whenever he saw someone being rude to his baby that it looked like he was an angry parent, and sometimes he was not above hurting others if they didn't apologize, though the only victim whose tail was set on fire once was Wolf. "He got angry before. It's been a while..."

"HE ALREADY TOOK A SHOWER! NOW I'LL HAVE TO GIVE HIM ANOTHER ONE BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Although the chase was going to be eternal, it all stopped when an unlikely helper got in the way of Yoshi's path, coming out from a room that wasn't his. It was Wario. The Mario alter ego wasn't told about where his room was (the fifth floor) so he had been looking all over the first two floors right after stuffing himself with food from the party. His search for a room came to a halt when Yoshi crashed into him and both fell on the floor.

The others caught up quickly, but Chris lunged himself on Yoshi and applied a grappling hook on his throat. "SPIT HIM OUT! NOW!" he yelled at Yoshi. Frightened, Yoshi did the opposite and swallowed the baby. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The next second, a Yoshi egg was laid out behind them. The egg rocked to the sides until it cracked open, where a startled Riolu looked around and cried for his parents or Chris to come over. The teen was quick to pick him up on his arms and give him a tight hug, though he wondered how the baby wasn't covered in saliva. He was clean and safe. "Oh my god, are you okay?! There, there, the worst is over..."

Yoshi stood up with eyes fixed on the crying baby. "Hey!" Pichu called him out. "What's wrong with you?! Why did you try to kidnap him?"

"I can't help it anymore!" Yoshi said. "I have to take care of that baby at all costs!" Chris bonked him on the head. "Oww!"

"Are you nuts? I'm the one taking care of him!" Chris complained, covering the baby's ears. "He wants to be with me, and you freaking swallowed him whole! I want you to stay away from him or else I'll cook you with my fire magic!"

Yoshi glared. "Mark my words! That baby will be mine!" and with that strange declaration, the dino walked off with a pouting face. With the kidnapper gone and the baby safe and sound, Chris took several seconds to calm his anger down and rub his Riolu's head with care.

"Augh..." Wario sat up and rubbed his head. "Everyone's so whacko here... Hey!" He stood up and pointed at Chris. "Where's my room?! I've been looking for it for half an hour!"

"Your room should be somewhere in the fifth floor," the minister responded instead.

Wario tilted his head. "Eh? How do you know? You didn't live here."

"I know because of...all of our spies taking live video feed from their hiding places," the minister said. "I'm not too proud of knowing that much information now that I'm actually living here too..."

"Oh! Sweet!" Wario wasted no time in running away to the fifth floor to find his room and make it his own. He already saw the new look Dedede gave to his room, which he took it as a challenge to make his own remodeling.

"Well..." Mr. G&W trailed off, staring at Chris. "This was a big eventful day... Sorry, guys, but I'm calling it quits here. It's time for me to get going to my room and rest."

"Are you going to be fine?" Pichu asked. "You should have someone to rest with you."

"It'll be okay," the flat character said. "It's hard for people to grab me. I can hide in the most unthinkable places." He looked at the minister. "What about you?"

The Ancient Minister looked at Chris. "I decided to stay with him in his room," he said. "I'm not so sure I'll be okay on my own with so many people waiting for the right moment to strike me down and hurt me. To stay safe, I'll be together with him."

"Me too," Pichu said. "I'm a little frail... You don't mind, do you, Chris?"

Chris shook his head, having calmed down when the Riolu stopped crying. "I don't mind at all," he said. "I want to be safe as much as you."

The Flat Zone resident chuckled. "Alright. I'm going to sleep now. Good night...and...thank you for setting me free from the army," he thanked them and waltzed off to the fourth floor, doing so in a cautious way. The other group went back to Chris's room.

Pichu noticed that Snivy was absent. "Where's Snivy?" he asked. The Grass-type suddenly appeared from the nearby staircase, sporting a small pink jacket that she found a little too gaudy. "...Princess Peach happened?"

She nodded. "Oh yes, she happened," Snivy said. "When you started running like madmen, she sneaked behind me and took me back into the room... You wouldn't want to know that crazy look on her face when she had me pinned down to the bed and started using some yellow tape to check my size. She then forced this pink jacket that's blinding my eyes."

"Oh boy..."

"Yes, oh boy," she said, looking angry. "From now on, I'm standing between you guys. I made a grave mistake not having a meat wall on the back." She took off her pink jacket and discarded it on the floor, now that she made sure the princess of pinkness wasn't around to see her. To her dismay, she started to think the group she was with was a bunch of maniacs.

Chris's Room

A little while passed after everyone settled down. Only Chris and the bunch of small Pokémon were resting on the bed, with him resting on the right edge, Riolu in the middle, and Pichu on the other edge (with Snivy curled above a pillow on the floor). The Ancient Minister chose a corner of the room and stood there. When Chris stopped tickling the baby Riolu's ears and turned his head to the minister, he asked, "Do you sleep like that?"

"All the time," the minister said, dimming his eyes. "I am unable to lie down on my back. You should know why."

"Oh, I know," Chris said. "It looks kind of creepy to see you sleeping while standing up. Doesn't it bother you?"

"No, it doesn't. You living beings are far more different in other aspects than me. I don't mean to sound rude, though..." He shook his head and looked outside the window, reflecting on his current choices. "...I wonder... I wonder how my friends are doing wherever they are."

Pichu was looking at the ceiling. "Can't you contact them with your head using a signal?" he asked.

"I used to do that in the past," the minister said. "I was the one who gave them orders from afar, and I could see through their eyes what they were seeing. It takes a great deal of my energy to get into contact with any unit depending on the range separating, and it's even more taxing when there is disturbance between us...and the Subspace is an example of that."

Chris thought about the new fact. "Didn't you say you had spies hiding around here? Can't you reach them?"

"...Not anymore. It appears a man-in-the-middle intercepted my communications when we fled from the factory. I suspect it was Ganondorf after he found out I was planning to take everyone with me. They must have programmed a wall."

"But... But what if those spies are still hiding in the bushes?"

The Ancient Minister looked straight at him. "Hmm... I suppose there is a small possibility for some of them to have avoided total annihilation when the Subspace was destroyed, assuming your friends are telling the truth."

"Oh! We should go out tomorrow and look for those spies," Pichu suggested. "Do you know where they are?"

"I still remember their general locations, yes," the minister said. "I'm...not getting my hopes up, however. I'm considering all the chances that could've happened right after Tabuu and his henchmen deemed me a traitor and severed ties with my people. There's not much else to do for now..."

The teen forced a smile. "Let's sleep for now, okay?" he suggested. "We can do a lot of stuff tomorrow and find out what's wrong with everyone." He turned his face to Riolu, who beamed happily and cuddled up to his trainer. "Oh god, thank you," he muttered with glee.

They were about to sleep soundly until the door opened. Looking to the general direction, they saw Lucario peeking inside. When he noticed their looks, he looked saddened. "Can I...sleep with you?" he asked shyly. "The hallway is a bad place to sleep."

"You have a room in the next floor above us," Pichu pointed out. "Can't you go there?"

"I'm not used to sleeping alone, and I like it better when I can keep Chris safe," he said, looking at his trainer's doubtful expression. "Please... I beg of you."

"..." Seeing everyone else looking at him, Chris felt a little pressured. "...You can rest with us if you do three things first."

"Um, what are those?"

Chris didn't believe this was the Lucario he knew and liked so much. Whoever this person was, it took Lucario's body and soul and failed to impersonate him in soul. Even if he obeyed Chris's conditions, there was no telling what he would do to the others around him. "First, I want you to apologize to him for laughing when he was wearing that stupid pink robe." He eyed the minister. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken. I thought the same anyway," the minister said.

Lucario sighed loudly, sounding also annoyed. Chris wasn't surprised one bit that he reacted like that. "I'm sorry for laughing at you earlier," he told the minister, though his crimson eyes were looking up.

"Look at him and say it again!" Chris scolded, startling Lucario.

"I-I'm sorry for laughing at you earlier!" He repeated with more emphasis, even going as far as to bow his head. The minister wasn't sure how to respond to that other than nodding his head.

"...Good enough," Chris said. His Lucario raised his head and smiled a bit. "Now apologize to Pichu for nearly drowning him in the tub."

Lucario grimaced. "B-but I wasn't trying t-!"

"No back talk! Apologize to Pichu!" Chris said, carefully making sure he wasn't scaring the baby Riolu.

Begrudgingly, Lucario looked at the pouting Pichu. "I'm...very sorry for...uh...um...trying to drown you in our tub..." He bowed his head slowly. "It was an accident..."

"..." Pichu wasn't fully convinced, but he sighed and nodded. "Fine, if you're really that guilty..."

Lucario smiled. "Well, those were two things. What's the last one you want me to do?" he asked.

Chris said, "No matter what happens in here, I don't want you to hurt anybody while I'm sleeping. Leaving you alone was a bad mistake on my part, and I don't intend to do it again. I want everyone here to have a good night's sleep, especially the toddler I have next to me. Can you please do that?"

The Aura Pokémon nodded multiple times. "I can do that," he said. "Start scooting aside. I'm going to take my spo-"

"No, you'll sleep on the floor."

"W-what? On the floor?" He looked dismayed at the floor. "B-but...I wanted to sleep on the bed..."

"Oh no. After you 'accidentally' tried to down Pichu, I can't take any chances with you around," Chris said, making him groan. "What if you puncture someone with those wrist spikes? Those spikes scratch Riolu, you're out of my life forever."

Sweating at the possibility, Lucario hung his head down. "I...understand..." He walked next to the left side of the bed and leaned his back on it. Looking at Chris's disapproved look, he said, "P-please, at least let me be close to you."

"(I am so going to regret this very soon...) Ugh, fine," Chris said. It hurt him to be scolding the image of his main Pokémon. "But you better behave, okay? I want no scuffles here."

Lucario nodded excitedly. "Y-yes, I promise I'll be good! You can bet on it!"

"I'd rather not bet anything," Chris said, before he started to yawn and lean his head to Riolu's. "I'm so tired, so...I'll just go to sleep now... Good night, everyone..." He heard his Riolu yawning a cute sound and fell asleep next to him. The baby found it so soft and nice to be under bed sheets with a pillow that didn't hurt his head. "(Thank you, thank you so much for this...)" he thought.

"Good night, Chris!" came Lucario's overly happy voice. "Oh, good night for the rest of you."

Chris grimaced in his sleep. "(Oh, come on. Stop making it so obvious you're not the same guy...)"

With everyone having said their good nights, most of them fell asleep after an hour. The only ones who weren't asleep were the Ancient Minister and Pichu, the first was faking being asleep to keep a close eye on their little intruder while the latter had the same idea. None of the two were comfortable with the Aura Pokémon around, and it would have been the same with the others who fought Tabuu.

Although the minister was perfectly capable of staying awake forever, Pichu had a disadvantage with that. The Electric-type was starting to yawn in boredom, watching Lucario's back. The minister saw the large aura wielder's eyes closed, but Pichu was left in the dark. Mustering up his energy, Pichu tried to hold on a little longer. Anything could happen if he fell asleep next... His eyelids were feeling heavy... He was feeling exhausted...

He considered closing his eyes for a second... Maybe he wouldn't fall asleep with closed eyes...

His eyelids were giving away... Pichu didn't know how much longer he could hold it up...

A little shut-eye wasn't so bad...

The Ancient Minister was a good fighter... He could protect them...but against Lucario...

Maybe sleeping was a bad idea...

Maybe letting him in was a very bad idea...

Then again, sleeping wasn't a bad idea...

He wanted to stay awake...to...protect...

...Chris...

...and that baby Riolu...

...especially...

...that...

...little guy...who deserved...

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...a nice home and a nice...

...trainer like Chris...

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...No, he couldn't sleep. Pichu finally gave in to staying awake.

"(WHY MUST YOU STAY AWAKE TO MAKE MY LIFE MISERABLE?!)"

The demanding deep voice echoing in his head snapped him out of any sleep he wanted to have. It was easy to tell it was Lucario using telepathy through his aura. Pichu held his ground, despite his body shivering in fear at the voice. "(U-uh, is that you, Lucario?)"

"(Of course it is me, you damned pipsqueak!)" Lucario's aggravated voice yelled. While his eyes were closed, he wasn't completely asleep. "(Get any closer to Chris than you are right now, and I will rip your freaking head off! The rest of you should just disappear from our lives. You're a bad influence!)"

Pichu turned white for a moment, but he kept his cool watching Chris's and Riolu's small smiles. "(T-that's so rude of you! We're not a bad influence to him! Y-you tried to kill me, for one! You're the bad influence here!)"

"(You were so lucky Chris came in at the last second...)"

Pichu gulped one big gulp, his eyes shaking. "(Y-you...you tried to kill me...)"

"(I tried to. I wanted to make it look like an accident, but I wasn't counting on Chris to catch on so fast. He was looking so lost and quiet before he came in and scolded me to no end... It's because of that stupid Riolu he picked up that he can't stay weak! I am going to get rid of all of you soon...and I'll keep Chris for myself!)"

The Electric-type was honestly scared of what Lucario...what this person was going to do very soon. "(W-why are you doing this?! You're not yourself! W-what happened to the old Lucario who would never do this to us?!)"

Lucario chuckled darkly. "(That Lucario is no more... The final battle with Tabuu awoke something new in me... Everyone is worthless in my eyes, and now that Chris is back to my life, my next big step is to eliminate every other distraction that gets in my way. NO ONE WILL TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME AGAIN, NOT EVEN YOU.)"

"(I-I'm not even trying to take him away from you, y-you monster!)"

"(And that's how you're doing it without even trying! People like you make me sick... You do things you think won't affect anyone... Soon enough, everything will change for the better.)"

"(I-I...won't let you!)" Pichu opposed. "(C-Chris will never feel okay with us gone! H-he knows you're not being yourself! W-we all know everyone is acting weird...)"

"(And where's your evidence?)"

"(H-huh? E-evidence?)" Pichu blinked. "(W-we don't need evidence! It's as plain as day!)"

"(You're starting to anger me. What evidence do you have?!)"

"(W-well, all of you!)"

"(That is the most stupid fact I've ever heard!)"

"(You mean stupidest...)"

"(DON'T CORRECT ME!)" Lucario growled loudly. "(So what if you think all of us are acting weird? Is there any evidence you have that proves it?)"

"(T-there's no need for that!)" Pichu said. "(What we want to prove is...is...something else you shouldn't see!)"

"(Proof that we didn't fight Tabuu? We fought the guy and brought him down. Everything that he created disappeared into nothing as soon as he was defeated. Why do you guys have to make it so hard? We showed you hospitality and so much more, and you're not satisfied with the results? Well, I'll be! It's sooooooooo bad you missed the final battle of the century! LIVE WITH IT, AWAY FROM CHRIS.)"

Pichu wasn't safe thinking of anything else than stalling for time. He had to stop Lucario from getting into his thoughts. "(I-it's not about honor or us wanting to fight! We just can't believe it!)"

"(I grow tired talking with you and your nonsense. Stop straying away from my main point...)" Lucario opened his eyes and looked over his right shoulder, where the sleepy Chris turned his face to his direction, making him smirk. "(My dear trainer and I... We will reach a new stage in our relationship...)"

The talk had started with a dark tone. Now, though, it changed into something weird that the Electric-type didn't see coming. Hearing that, Pichu made a face. "(Uhhhhh, what now?)"

"(You shall be the first one to see the blossoming of a new stage in the bond between trainer and Pokémon...)" Pichu forgot all about his fear of being found out when he saw Lucario lowering his face to Chris's level and...pushing forward...a little too close to Chris's face... "(Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...)"

Right there, there was another fact Pichu couldn't believe, even if it was so glaring and clear to see in front of him. Calmly sitting up, his small jaw fell down in shock at the sheer horror of the real picture his eyes witnessed. The Ancient Minister didn't have a single clue that they both had a mental argument, but he did get a newly found disturbing image he would try to erase from his memory for the rest of his life.

At the worst moment possible, the door of the room opened up. No light from the hallway came in, so the unexpected guest wanted to meet in private with his fraternal little brother to check up on him. "Hey..." Fox's mouth hung open and stayed that way when he got a clear view of the atrocity he, Pichu, and the minister saw together. The creaking of the door awoke a sleepy Snivy, who looked around annoyed and then looked over the bed, where her eyes saw bestiality at its finest...

Chris was utterly confused. Something was forcing itself onto his lips for some reason. It was very uncomfortable, not to mention he smelled a stinky odor. Whatever it was, it was also pushing the left side of his face, brushing with his skin and passing over him. He thought at first that it was a weird dream he was having, though that didn't explain why it felt very much real. So now that he was waking up to see what it was, all he saw was a streak of black with some blue below that line. It was dark in the room so he assumed his baby Riolu (who was soundly asleep) leaned his head to his face a little too much...though then he felt the Riolu was sucking on his lips. Feeling a bit disturbed, Chris opened his eyes...

...and his disturbing feeling multiplied about a hundred times.

While he waited for the day he would give his future girl a big kiss to seal the deal (not that he was looking for one now), Chris wasn't so happy when he knew someone else stole the big kiss in such an unceremoniously way that not only his excitement to give it away died, but his confidence as a man was thoroughly robbed away...by his big Lucario's lips.

The kiss, which had lasted for half a minute, was over when Lucario pulled away and smiled seductively at his trainer. "We shall become the first couple between our races to make history in the world, Chris," Lucario said, making the overall shock everyone got that much worse. "Speechless, aren't you? Well, I think this was the reaction I was expecting from yo-"

What happened next went by really, really fast. Chris contained his boiling anger in check as he instructed Pichu to cover Riolu's ears gently as to not disturb his sleep, and somehow that was good enough. The teen then proceeded to scream his head off at Lucario, who backed off in shock and tried to come up with an excuse Chris and everyone found lame and poorly thought-off (which was Lucario trying to justify he wanted to give him a surprise while he was sleeping soundly in peace). Grabbing the appendages on the back of Lucario's head, Chris dragged the bewildered lover away from the room, where Fox silently stepped away for the teen to kick Lucario straight on the butt and into the dark hallway. Fox had planned to do a secret meeting with the others, though now with Chris riled up, he opted to leave. The door closed shut anyway and he saw the heartbroken Lucario sprawled on the floor.

"...You are nuts," Fox said, "and I mean it. If you want to make it worse for you, stay away from him." With his words spoken, he walked away to his room and called off his private meeting. He hadn't spoken to anyone else so it was good. The last thing Fox heard from the room was the sound of a water faucet being turned on.

Utterly broken in tears, Lucario sent one last warning to Pichu. "(Y-you'll see one day! One day Chris and I wil-!)"

"(Oh, shut up and sleep already!)" Pichu shouted back, effectively forcing himself to sleep.

Fox's Room

The vulpine was already lying down shirtless on his bed. It was already midnight, or so the clock next to his head told him. Worried that something else might happen to them in a house full of crazy people that would make great friends with Crazy Hand, Fox couldn't think of anything else to do for now. He was going to check up on Chris when he saw...that happening in his room. Technically, the next day arrived, but it wasn't the time to go out and about. Yawning loudly, Fox sunk in his pillow and went to sleep.

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"Ha... Ha..."

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Was he dreaming when he heard a crackling sound coming from under his bed?

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"Hee hee hee hee..."

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No, the sound was loud and clear...

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"...McCloud...is going down...ght... Ha...hah hah..."

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Scoffing annoyed, Fox sat up and said, "Wolf, come the hell out of my bed and leave!"

The lupine stuck his head out from the left side and snarled. "Oh, come on! How did you know I was down here?"

Fox glared at him. "Your stupid crackling isn't exactly silent! Now go away and leave before I have to call the police for your lame assassination ploys!" He was starting to feel a headache coming in.

And unfortunately, things just got a hell lot weirder for him at the drop of a hat when a dazzling disco light came from his closet when it suddenly opened up. Coming out from the closet (literally and figuratively), Falco walked out, looking unappreciative at Wolf. Fox was both stupefied and thoroughly mad when he noticed his closet had turned into a jungle of sparkling lights of purple and blue colors and confetti that rained down from the inside, and none of his belongings were there anymore unless the blinding, sparkling trinkets that greatly resembled his wardrobe used to be them hours ago. The fact he was quick to notice Falco about to take off the belt from his pants made it all the more screwed up. "Yeah, go leave him alone!" Falco demanded as he and Wolf got face-to-face, both sporting angry scowls. "This was meant to be our special alone time until you crashed our party!"

"This was NEVER meant to be that way!" Fox yelled. "And what the hell did you do to my closet?!"

"I turned it into something nice for us to have fun with, but THIS mutt just so happens to get in here and take you away from me!"

The vulpine couldn't stand the purple lights anymore, so he went to his closet and closed it. "I'd rather both of you leave now!" he yelled.

"Bird brain, stop getting in my way!" Wolf yelled, ignoring Fox. "Looking at that stinky beak of yours makes me sick in my eyes!"

"You have only one good eye left!" Falco yelled back. "Want me to punch it so it matches the other one you have under that stupid visor?"

Wolf removed his visor, showing that his left eye was indeed fine. "No, but I'll be glad to gouge both of yours with these claws!"

"How did you two get in my room?!" Fox asked. The two, without turning their eyes, pointed at the open window facing the door and the backyard of the mansion. "Dammit!"

Falco shoved Wolf back. "You gonna gouge my eyes out, then? Wanna try doing it now?!"

Wolf grabbed Falco from his shoulders, where Falco did the same and the two started a scuffle of trying pushing the other down to the floor and punch away. Sadly, both of them were nearly physically strong to held their ground that none of them was making too much progress, other than loosely going closer to the open window where they had one last solution: push their victim down from the second floor to the hard concrete of the garden.

"H-hey!" Fox called out to them. "S-stop fighting in here! Go take it outside my room!"

"Not until I take this guy down!" Falco grunted.

"I'll have to take you down first before I move on to McCloud!" Wolf grunted.

Fox saw them getting too close to the window. He could have gone over to their side to pull them away, but he feared what either one of them would do to him: Wolf would most likely take advantage of the situation and push him down the window with Falco, while Falco would most likely tag team with him to push Wolf down and push Fox down to the floor to do...something Fox would not like much.

The vulpine was forced to watch as both his friend and his arch-nemesis grabbed each other by the throat to suffocate their enemy while leaning to the window. The lupine and the avian were more concerned about crushing throats than trying to break the fall they took at the last second. Fox gasped loudly and rushed to the window, hearing the screams of his unwanted guests until he was too late to see when the screams stopped. All he heard at the end was the sound of concrete shattering. When he looked down the window, he grimaced, seeing Falco's and Wolf's bodies having landed on their heads into the hard floor. The hit to their heads was so grave that they started bleeding, having been knocked out in one blow and falling flat aside with wide, soulless eyes open.

"...Aww, fu-" Fox stopped his profanity and put on his boots to go check up on them. Sighing loudly in annoyance, he had no other choice but to go ask for assistance to take them to the infirmary, because asking Chris to heal them was impossible after he saw his little brother in dire need of rest when he got kissed in his sleep. Moreover, the vulpine was sure he wouldn't have to deal with Falco's demented advances on him and Wolf's poor assassination attempts now that they were out of commission for a long while, though he didn't agree too much with how it happened instead of talking things through...

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However, Fox was too slow to notice a peculiar event. Had he gone down there first instead of going for help, he would have seen the knocked out Smashers twitching despite their unconscious looks. From the back of their heads, an orb of swirling blue mirrors with a red core at the center jumped out and fell flat on the ground. The orbs were presumably damaged so badly when their hosts got hit so badly in the head. The cores at the center had cracks that started stretching all across, until they shattered and faded away from existence, leaving no trace behind once Fox, Mario, Luigi, and Roy came from the back door and brought them in to the infirmary. As soon as they left, rain started pouring down.

The next morning, the returning Smashers were dead set on discovering the mystery that was masterminding the strings that caused turmoil and insanity in their former humble abode...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Next up on this insanely-long adventure: Clues to Go Back Home," Stiltzkin said. "Auto-saving your data!"

Overwriting File...

~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris (Lvl. 103) – Fox (Lvl. 114) – Ness (Lvl. 112) – Pichu (Lvl. 110)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 95) – King Dedede (Lvl. 64) – Wario (Lvl. 64)

Mr. G&W (Lvl. 95) – Morgan (Lvl. 119) – Snivy (Lvl. 10) – Riolu (Lvl. 1)

Smash Coins: 100,451

I wanted to pretend this story was going to end, but, well, everything you saw in this chapter is a big piece of evidence that says otherwise.

Sorry guys! I can't explain anything that happened here. It's up to your wild mass guessing to find out what truly transpired while this intrepid team of sane Smashers tries to find out for themselves in the next chapter.

...Hmm... Though I'd like to point a few things. One, that this arc and saga is going to end in two chapters. Two, that I will show the rest of the Smashers and their new...outlooks in life. And three... Doesn't that save data look shorter to you? Noticing the small differences can sometimes reveal a lot of crucial events...

Just a small reminder. My forum in this website has opened. It's called TSSEWC's Smash Mansion. Come over and do whatever you want in there as long as you follow the rules.

So yes. I can't wait to see your reviews about your thoughts on these characters. I encourage all mentally sane people to review, or else I can't guarantee your favorite character will remain the same forever...

~ Meanwhile... ~

A large trophy matted in shining gold that reflected her bright look was shown to her in front of the video feed. Joining her hands together, she started to sniff in happiness. "Oh, my Ash! He's turned into a young man now! I always dreamed of this day..."

"Hey, I thought I was a young man already!" her son said in disbelief.

"Ms. Ketchum! I don't think winning the first place of the Sinnoh League has anything to do with growing up!" his companion said with a funny look on her face. "You have some strange thoughts."

To their dismay, the mother of the son grabbed napkins from somewhere and started blowing hard on them. "I-I can't help it... My young little boy finally won a league after all this time... It makes me so happy in my head... You change their diapers one second, and then the next they're holding a trophy over their heads in front of an audience and national TV..."

Her son blushed. "Y-you don't have to say it like that, Mom! Dawn and Brock don't need to hear that!"

His oldest traveling companion chuckled. "It's good for her to be so happy for you, Ash," he said. "I am also very proud of you myself! I had some doubts when you faced off against Tobias and his entourage of Legendary Pokémon during the semi-finals, but Pikachu pulled through and beat the rest of his team! Who would've thought he could do it alone?"

He grinned. "My Pikachu is the best in the whole world," he boasted.

"Yeah, keep saying that," his female friend said. "You can say it all you want now. Don't let it get into your head too much after this, okay?"

His mother cocked her head to the right. "Say, where is Pikachu? I don't see him with you."

"Oh, Pikachu's at the Pokémon Center," her son said. "He and the other guys are being checked up before we leave for Littleroot Town. The final battle wasn't as intense as fighting Tobias, but I wanna make sure everyone's healed up."

"I see! Well, that close bond with your Pokémon managed to take you to the winner's circle after all. It's natural for you to do this."

Unbeknownst to the three traveling trainers, outside the building of the hotel they were staying at, the league champion's Pikachu wandered off from the local Pokémon Center to meet up with his "identical" cousin hiding in a nearby bush. The first Pikachu was the Smasher Pikachu who had left his team behind to unwind from his stress by going back to his trainer in another world that didn't belong to the same universe Pichu and the others hailed from; a world where mechanics and physics were all over the place if one person squinted their eyes hard enough to notice the glaring differences.

"There you are!" Pikachu's cousin said with a smile. "Hey there! I saw you owning those Legendary Pokémon like a pro! You really are something, cousin." He and Pikachu slapped tails together as a form of greeting.

Pikachu sighed and hung down his head. "I'm lucky to be overly trained," he said. "My idea of letting some stress out didn't include fighting a Latios, a Moltres, a Suicune, a Regirock, and, oh, a SECOND Darkrai on top of that!" He looked angrily at the sky. "Stupid destiny! Don't you think I didn't see what you did there, dropping such a conveniently overpowered foe against many normal trainers who are defenseless against Legendary Pokémon just to screw Ash up from getting a win after I beat that prick Paul and his egotistical Electivire! Well, I beat all of them by myself! How do you like that?! I am the top percent Pikachu! TOSS ARCEUS MY WAY ANYTIME!"

His cousin sweat-dropped awkwardly, being used to his strong-yet-hyperactive cousin. "Uh, stop that, please," he said. "Fighting our god is probably too much for you to handle. And thanks to you, now I'll have to deal with Infernape sulking how he didn't get to punch Paul's Electivire once. The guy can't stop complaining about it."

He rolled his eyes. "Pfft, whatever. He got the last kill-slash-blow in the final match and I didn't get sent to it anyway. He should be thankful he stole the show and Paul got the decency to stop by and congratulate him in the most jerkish way possible," Pikachu said. "I did save the whole team against Gary Stu Tobias. That's my greatest achievement in life in my home."

"Yeah, yeah..." his cousin said, feeling tired talking to Pikachu. "So what now? Are you leaving again?"

Pikachu took out from his back a Wiimote altered to open portals. "That's the plan," he said. "I enjoyed my time here while it lasted. Nice of me to drop by for the Sinnoh League and save my trainer's butt. You can go back and pretend you're me in front of Ash and bask in our glory."

His cousin shrugged, looking frightened. "I don't know if I should change spots with you this soon," he said, seeing Pikachu look curiously at him. "I think Ash is gonna head to a new region and start from zero all over again."

"Or as I like to put it, handicap himself to hell and forget he has a Sceptile," Pikachu added. "But what's so bad about it?"

"Oh, I don't know..." his cousin looked annoyed. "When you were gone and I arrived at Hoenn, I got a severe case of having too much electricity in my body that I went feral. When you were gone and I arrived here in Sinnoh, the first thing that happened to me was getting injured and separated from Ash," he said. "You see a pattern yet? I always get injured and that messes my skills somehow! What if I explode and I forget Volt Tackle once I arrive at the next region?"

Pikachu frowned in disagreement, even though his cousin was right on his assumptions. "You'll be fine if you're more careful. And please do not forget Volt Tackle for the world," he reassured in an annoyed tone. "It's our signature move and it shouldn't be forgotten. It's like a Smeargle forgetting how to use Sketch... And if you see Team Rocket again, just run the other way and Ash will follow you. He is Pokésexual, you know."

"Oh gosh, don't put it like that!" He covered his ears.

"S-sorry, that's a reflex of mine. (Doesn't mean I'm wrong.)" He smiled. "Follow my advice and you should be fine. You could end up winning the next league all by yourself like I did!"

"That sounds a bit tiring, but I'll do my best."

"Yeah, that's the spirit. As long as Ash keeps this expert mentality and he doesn't act stupid at the worst time possible, the next league will be a cinch. Remember! Beware of the trainer that's not a complete whacko. That kind of guy needs to be taken seriously when you're at the leagues," Pikachu said. "I'm wasting too much time here. I gotta go back with my team on the other side and fight an evil army trying to conquer this cruel sinful world." He recalled why he had returned to his home, and he got all depressed again. "..."

His cousin blinked. "Something on your mind, cousin?"

"(Pichu...) N-nothing... Some dark stuff I don't want to talk with you again..."

"(That Pichu he was close friends with... He told me about his passing some days ago,)" his cousin thought. He forced a smile. "Well, off you go now! You need to leave now before Team Rocket sees us together. I have to make a run for it to the Pokémon Center and pretend to be you."

Pikachu stared. "Hey, you don't mind filling in for me even longer?"

"Naaah, I enjoy traveling around. It's the battles that I dislike to do."

"(Seriously? And he wonders why he gets injured?)" Pikachu shook his head and pressed a button on the controller to open a small portal connecting his current position to the command room in the Smash Mansion. "Anyhow, I have to bounce away from here. You go keep up my spot with him."

"Will do. Good luck fighting that Submarine Army while I keep blasting TR off to the sky and wonder when they'll stop."

"Subspace Army," Pikachu said, "and never." Waving at his identical cousin, the Electric-type jumped into the portal and vanished with it. Feeling alone, the other Pikachu wandered off to the Pokémon Center and being very careful about not being spotted, swearing hearing an annoying voice yelling aloud, "THE TWERP'S PIKACHU GOT INTO A POHTAH!"

~ Smash Mansion ~

Command Room

The portal to the old room where the team would gather to do missions was awfully dark, until the light of the vortex opened up and Pikachu jumped out. When the light was gone with its source, his ears twitched as he looked around the dark setting. "Huh... Looks like I got here late at night," he muttered. "I hate how the worlds run at different time zones. Why can't they all have the same time? Now I'll have to get used to sleeping when it's dark out here."

When he walked one step ahead, he fell like he was stepping down to a lower ground. Pikachu nearly tripped forward but managed to stay standing.

"W-what the...?" He once again looked around and saw something different around the room. He didn't appear on top of a table. He appeared on top of a pile of rubble and destroyed computers...

In fact, the room was totaled beyond recognition of its former look. The tables were broken down and shattered, along with glass of the LCD screens of the many computers. The walls showed large gaping holes of concrete leaning against them from the broken floor, and said rubble was mixed with everything else. Even the ceiling showed signs of wear. The mess extended to the hallway, making Pikachu think something nasty happened during his absence.

Perhaps talking to himself was a bad idea now. "(Arceus gracious, what happened here?)" Pikachu thought shocked as he examined the area. "(I didn't leave for that long, did I? I know stuff can get pretty crazy when Master Hand leaves things unchecked, but this...? Why would anyone destroy this room? Why would he leave it like this?)"

His ears twitched when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Gulping, Pikachu took cover behind some broken computers and saw through a small hole who was coming closer. He feared for the worst. What if the mansion got attacked by the enemy while he was away? He shivered just thinking that he could have prevented an ambush if he hadn't been away for a while. The command room would never get so badly damaged with Master Hand around... It was proof enough for Pikachu to assume he shouldn't let his guard down.

A familiar person came into view and looked around the room.

"(...Maybe it's safe...)" Pikachu peeked out from his hiding spot, letting the visitor see him clearly. "Oh, it's you," Pikachu said, forcing a smile. "Thank goodness. I thought everyone was gone from here."

"..."

"Listen, I have a bunch of questions to ask you," Pikachu said, looking back at the messy room. "First of all, what happened to this room? It's so messy a Pokémon of the streets could live here and shoo us away."

Pikachu committed a grave mistake with his face looking away.

A minute later, Pikachu and his visitor were gone from the room, and near the spot the Electric-type was standing on was a smear of blood left dripping down into the mixed bits of destroyed matter...

...Aww, crap.
*Chapter 216*: Clues to Go Back Home

I'm not so sure this chapter will answer your questions...

From GuyroMaster: And...clever little rhyme I saw and I was thinking..."Is Snivy gonna rap about how Peach did what she did?"
"she had me pinned down to the bed and started using some yellow tape to check my size. She then forced this pink jacket that's blinding my eyes."
Size and eyes rhymes... That's why I thought what I did.

As for everything else...well...maybe they are not subspace clones.
Because I remember one tiny little detail. Sonic, Toon Link, Jigglypuff, and Wolf didn't have clones in the SSE. So...guess it's something else...but something bout leaving the mansion seems to scare these impostors...I wonder why...

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

As side note...I have a question...not about the story but do you think Sakurai will reveal another Veteran or Newcomer next...and if so to either...who do you think it could be?
Just thought I would ask that.

Anyways...that's all. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Later!
GuyroMaster

From me: That rhymed? Well, I wasn't aiming for a rhyme at all.

Sorry, but your assumption doesn't hold much ground at all. It doesn't have anything to do with this event.

He'll probably reveal both Robin and Lucina from Fire Emblem and reduce Chrom to Final Smash materi... Oh wait, too late to say that.

From fanfictionfan: you just love messing with us don't you?

From me: Yup.

From DecepticonFan: Ans Stiltzkin is behind the wheel during the "Next Time..." blurbs? Yep, something is definitely up.

From me: He has no meaning running that segment other than pointing out the little things and be the interactive Save File.

From GoldenYoshistar1: So is Taboo finished and are you going to add any OC's to your story?
Are you gonna add OC's to your story along with Chris?

From me: I am NEVER going to add more OCs to this story. Chris will forever remain the only true OC.

Phew. This chapter is going to blow your fragile little minds more than the previous one, or so I think anyway. Whether you'll get answers to all your questions or not will remain to be seen until you scroll down and find out for yourself.

Warning: There is a lot more insanity contained in this chapter.

Now that you read the warning in bold letters, it is time for you to embark on a perilous journey to find the mastermind behind this stage act. With everything ready to go, I encourage all sane people to read on, keep your head in the game, and review.

Disclaimer: This story does not endorse the practice of bestiality.

Chapter 216: Clues to Go Back Home

~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris's Room

August 1 – Saturday – Morning

There were times when the World Traveler felt happy. Other times, he felt endangered. The others very few times where the most random thing happened. Getting kissed by his Pokémon shook his very nightmares, and the worst part was that he never saw it coming. He acknowledged that his bond with Lucario was sometimes too close, but it never came to intimate physical contact. The Aura Pokémon exhibited some dog-like traits though they never got out of hand ever since Chris disciplined him to behave like every other person and become the envy of many other Lucario.

Now he would the laughingstock of many a trainer. Who cared if his Lucario was the strongest if he also happened to give nasty French kisses? The envious ones would never make Chris live it down if they knew about it.

The incident from yesterday had left a bad impression on Chris that he swore not to get too close with his Lucario until he and the other sane ones managed to solve the mystery inside the mansion's walls. Today, it was cloudy outside, giving a vibe of a bad omen to come. Well, the bad omen already came when his lips were assaulted, Chris thought as he was the first one to wake up. Yawning, he stared forward. "(I hope washing my mouth with toothpaste five times removed all traces of unwanted Pokémon DNA out of my system... Am I growing blue fur anywhere?)"

He turned his head to left...and saw his baby Riolu sleeping soundly. The little smile on his sleepy face gave Chris a lot of joy and relief. Perhaps if he hadn't had him around when Lucario did his unwanted business, Chris could have already burned someone alive. The Riolu's presence was like a Stop sign for his caring trainer so he could collect himself and stay positive. Doing otherwise would scare Riolu a great deal, and the teen would never feel okay. As long as Riolu was happy and safe, Chris's mind would be safe.

"(Seeing him so calm and quiet gives me strength to keep moving forward,)" Chris thought, gently rubbing the Riolu's head. "(He reminds me of when I took care of my first Riolu before he evolved... I wonder if I should let this one evolve too? Having two Lucario around sounds like too much, though... Maybe I can keep him as a Riolu for much, much longer.)"

Chris wasn't subtle enough to keep the Pokémon from awakening. The Riolu yawned and put its curled palms on each side of his face. His tired eyes opened up slowly and he noticed the human was staring worried at him. Blinking at least fives times, the Riolu's eyes shot wide open and barked happily. "Ri! Ri!" he barked, and Chris saw the little lumps behind Riolu. His tail was wagging under the bed sheets.

His trainer wondered for a moment why Riolu was so happy. Obviously, the Riolu took a great shine on Chris. What Chris didn't know was that Riolu would always wake up one day alone in a dangerous, solitary setting with no one else looking out for him. In the wild, it was the survival of the fittest against stronger and meaner Pokémon, though Riolu never had an interest in getting stronger. He was more prone to fleeing than thinking about hurting others, and it didn't help much that he was a newborn with no experience about anything. He learned about stuff whenever it happened to him, and when he found Chris, he learned he looked after him like his lost parents. That told him the teen was someone he could be with for as long as he liked.

Riolu feared Chris would be gone the next morning after waking up, for one. When he saw him again, Riolu couldn't help but be so happy.

The baby moved closer to the human and leaned his forehead into him. "Oh god, thank you," Chris said in a hushed, deep voice.

"Honestly, It is hard for me to understand why you behave like that around that newborn Pokémon."

Chris yelped slightly and turned his head to the right, seeing the Ancient Minister awake, albeit he stayed up all night to keep a close watch on the others for the Aura Pokémon. "O-oh!" Chris blushed and forced a smile. "G-good morning to you."

"Morning," the minister said. "I'm very intrigued. Yesterday, you were practically ready to stab someone in the back. Today, you're ready to give out hugs. Is it that newborn's presence that snaps you back to a adequate level of sanity?"

The World Traveler kept blushing, stealing one glance at the curious Riolu. "I-I can't help it. I just can't bear myself to act so rashly around him," Chris said. "He sees me yelling and looking angry, he will get scared me."

"So do others with weak mentalities," the minister pointed out. "But you are putting a lot of effort on this one more than anyone else you know. There is a lot of...affection, shall I say." He saw Chris covering his face with the bed sheet. Riolu wondered why he did that, so he also covered himself to see why. "You only met him for maybe a day's worth of time, yet you're very inseparable. Why?"

"U-uh... B-because...I-I...j-just really, really...like Riolu?" Chris shyly stuttered. He was very embarrassed to explain in detail to the minister about his reasons; his rather unmanly reasons to adore baby Pokémon. Gulping, he uncovered his face and stared at the minister. "...Don't look at me like that! I adore Riolu in general! I-in fact, I adore just about anything that's very cute, but not overly cute! Say what you want about my gender, but that's the way I am!" There was a beat of silence. "...And no, I'm not a girl!"

"I wasn't trying to say you were a girl or make fun of you..." the minister trailed off. "I just found your behavior odd. That is all."

"...Oh, crud," Chris muttered, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I forgot you always meant things seriously. I thought you were going to make fun of me for it."

"I am incapable of making fun of the people living here," the minister said. "Why do I want to make everything all the much harder for me with you? I only want to repent for my past sins by helping you in any way I can."

Chris nodded. "Yes, that's the way to do it."

"Though I tried to wear a silly pink dress yesterday for the rest of my life until you said no... I am in dire need of guidance about how to convince people to forgive me." He looked outside and went to the window. "Everyone in here, however, is not being themselves, which is why we must discover the root of the problem and uproot it from the ground to stop it from spreading its weeds into us before it is too late to change anything back to the way it was." He turned back to Chris. "Are you willing to continue with this after what you went through yesterday?"

The teen shivered. "I-I'm not letting a disturbing kiss stop me from doing what I need to do, if I ever want Lucario – or whoever the hell that guy was – back to the way he was," he said in mild determination. Riolu uncovered his face and stared at Chris for a long time. "How am I going to sleep after this? He could do it again!"

"May I suggest required violence with laser beams if it happens again?" the minister suggested.

"Not in front of this baby," Chris said, pointing at Riolu. "The last thing you want to do is be on his black list. Granted, Lucario never got to murder anyone that did have a name while I was around, though I'm not so sure this one will let you live...or...me..."

The minister approached him. "You have endured great turmoil till now, and I would never want you to suffer at the hands of another again," he reassured him. "Oddly, I am not doing this because it is my duty... I am...doing this because I do like you."

"..." Chris widened his eyes in surprise.

"...Just not in the way you really, really like that baby behind your back," the minister quickly cleared. "It's a bond between friends. You are my first true friend in a long while."

"R-right, I knew you meant that," Chris said, smiling a bit. "But thank you. It's people like you who keep me going during these harsh times."

"Returning the favor to someone does feel nice, after all..."

Pichu suddenly yawned loudly and sat up. "Good morning..." he muttered, still sleepy. "I dunno if it's such a good morning."

"Considering we haven't been harmed yet, I can say it's a good morning," the minister said. "Today, we'll be very busy trying to uncover the secret behind the mansion and get to the bottom of this as soon as possible before it gets any worse than it is."

The Electric-type rubbed his eyes to open them fully. Looking at the locked door, Pichu muttered, "Y-yes, if Lucario and the others don't catch on... Guys, listen. This isn't going to be that easy." They asked why. "Lucario is getting suspicious about us. Just yesterday, he and I got into a telepathic talk where he was far more than angry than he looks with that glare he's stuck with..."

The Aura Pokémon's owner looked sick. "W-what did he tell you?" he asked.

"W-well... He said that...that he wanted you for himself..."

"Bleh..."

"T-that he wanted everyone to stay away from you o-or else he'd rip our heads off because we're a bad influence to you..."

"Y-you're not a bad influence!" Chris argued. "If anything, you're helping me stay sane from the insanity of this place!"

"Y-yes, that's what I thought too!" Pichu said. "A-and he also admitted to trying to kill me in the tub before you showed up and realized what he was about to do!"

"Oh god... This Lucario wants to..."

"He won't," the minister interrupted. "We're aware of what he wants to do with us. Now that we know, we can't let our guards down more than ever."

The old Lucario was somewhere, Chris thought. He was possibly crying out for his name to save him from the place he was being held in. The new Lucario looked more like a fake that failed miserably to replace the old one. Would fighting him be a good idea? Just the idea of fighting a Lucario would bring bad memories of the last time when Chris was fatally injured... "...Did he say anything else?" Chris asked.

"Um... There was another thing..." Pichu trailed off in thought. "I tried to get him to admit that Tabuu wasn't defeated..."

The minister got more attentive to the bit of info. "And what did he say? Did he admit to it?" he asked.

"Nope... He said that he was defeated, but I don't believe him, so that's what I told him," Pichu said. "He also argued to me we didn't have the evidence to prove otherwise. Without the evidence, he told me to shut up, basically..."

"Evidence..." Chris trailed off. "We need evidence to confirm everything. But how are we supposed to find evidence? The void of the Subspace isn't here anymore." He looked at the minister. "Is there really any chance that we entered into the Subspace ourselves and we never noticed?"

"Impossible," the minister said. "I have the sensors to locate Subspace matter, whether I look at it from afar or I enter it. I can confirm this space is safe to inhabit. But if that is true, it brings up a contradiction..."

Pichu looked down at his feet. "Why everyone is even here..."

"Correct... Their very presences are a contradiction," the minister surmised. "We can't afford to talk more about this in private. Overnight, however, I came up with what has been brought up to light until now... Hear me out on what I'm going to say. What I gathered will serve as our first steps to discovering what has truly happened behind the scenes."

Danganronpa – Beautiful Dead

Chris and Pichu were surprised that the minister was one step ahead of the game. "You already came up with something?" Pichu wondered.

"I have," the minister said. "I had a lot of freedom thinking by myself while I watched over you. All that time was well spent as I thought back on all the facts we've found together. It doesn't seem anyone is keeping tabs on us behind that door over there... My heat sensors tell me so." They looked at the locked door for a moment and went back to looking at the minister. "I can't do everything by myself. We must piece together the facts to uncover the ultimate truth hiding away from us."

Finding the ultimate truth would surely fix everything back to how it was in the past. The teen sat up on his bed and embraced his knees. "I think we should start talking now to avoid the rest from eavesdropping," he said. "What have you gathered?"

"Listen well to what I have to say. The facts I have must be remembered and rallied to one another from our group, but these same facts should never, ever wind up in the ears of the insane ones."

"Um, why?" Pichu asked.

"They work against us," the minister said. "They will no doubt obstruct the path and make up evidence to stray us away from the truth. Essentially, the mansion is a big scene of the crime committed while we were away. They are witnesses whose facts and statements should be taken lightly."

"B-but what if they have true facts somewhere in their sides of the story?" Chris asked.

"Should they drop red herrings, it is only natural for us to counter their facts and prove them as false evidence," the minister said. "Most likely, countering their facts might destroy their line of logic and take us straight to the answer instead of pushing us further away from it. Though for now, the facts we have should take us to evidence along the way. I advice against trying to reason with anyone in the mansion other than our team members because we don't have the tools to fight them with our words."

"I see..." Chris said. "That sounds about right..."

"Yes, I know," the minister said. "Now, let me relay on to you two the facts that we'll be using first... First and foremost, I want to bring up one fact."

Fact #1: The escape from the Subspace Bomb Factory occurred five days ago.

The teen shrugged when he remembered the event. "Do you think this fact will help us at all?" he wondered.

"There is no way to know that for now," the minister said. "It is worth noting when it happened. Though it is not evidence by itself, it might come in handy to remember in case a contradiction to it shows up... Now, the second fact has more importance."

Fact #2: From the point Duon was defeated and the extra hour we took resting at the village, there was a time slot of 4 hours when Tabuu could have been defeated. Prior to that time, Tabuu was alive due to Duon's appearance.

Pichu rubbed his chin. "So Tabuu could've been defeated during those four hours?"

"It's a possibility everyone in this mansion is trying to tell us," the minister said. "Though of course I do not truly believe their words. Hardly anybody here has said a contradiction to it regarding the time it took for them to defeat him. This fact also brings another important fact..."

Fact #3: The Subspace Bomb that blew up on the mansion occurred six days ago. During that time, it is assumed that the captured Smashers fought Tabuu for the duration of four days after escaping the factory. Presumably, yesterday should have been the time when he was defeated.

"Are you sure the time is right?" Chris asked.

"Every world out there runs at their own time. Sometimes, the gap can be very different," the minister said. "The location of the Subspace and this world share the same time. Therefore, they run on the same time zone." He saw Chris nod. "Lastly, we have the most glaring fact..."

Fact #4: Everyone is insane.

Pichu looked bored. "What a way to put it," he noted.

"I can elaborate more on that point, namely, why everyone is acting insane," the minister added. "If they're supposed to be the same people, why would they fail miserably to be the persons they're trying to imitate? Is this some sort of trap that wasn't very well thought of? They could be impostors fabricated by Tabuu... Though then again, none of them are shadow clones made from Shadow Bugs."

The World Traveler frowned, thinking back on the days normalcy was everything in the world for him. "We only have those four facts to use here?" he asked.

"Yes," the minister confirmed. "Keeping these in mind, the next part of our investigation is to find clues and evidence somewhere in this mansion. This is the part where we might find complications...unless we choose the right places to investigate first before they're tampered with." He looked at Chris. "What places do you think should be investigated?"

"Uh..." Chris thought on the important places of the mansion. "...There's the command room...Master Hand's office...and...I think I remember a security room."

"But what can we find in those places?" Pichu asked.

"Clues," the minister said. "Mentioning the office has also revealed a new fact, to boot."

Fact #5: The Smashers attested that Master Hand and Crazy Hand left for some needed vacations. But if they're nowhere to be found and yet it's believed that the Smashers lied about their whereabouts...where are they really?

"R-right, they could be somewhere else!" Chris said. "What if they got captured?"

"That's one of the most likely answers we can come up with," the minister said. "They should have contacted us in some way while we were away from here. I suspect the Subspace Bomb's explosion did something nasty to them."

Pichu gasped. "T-Tabuu captured them?!" he said.

"If that is the point, why would they leave every threat they captured as well behind in here?" the minister asked. "Perhaps Duon relayed information to Tabuu when it saw us alive and well, and that is how Tabuu hatched a plan to take us down while in the guise of a home to rest. But still...it wouldn't make sense for them to go this far."

"Huh? Why?" Pichu and Chris asked in unison.

"Capturing Master Hand and Crazy Hand has been one of Tabuu's main goals from the very beginning," the minister said. "He has told me even before the failed final battle that possessing both of them under his control would give him enough power to overrun an entire world with his army. He only had control of Master Hand, hence why he could use so many slaves made out of Shadow Bugs. Had he possessed Crazy Hand as well...none of us would be standing right here."

"..." Both of them shuddered in fear.

"So why go this far to get rid of us?" the minister wondered. "Why won't he just simply unleash a horde of Subspace enemies on us rather than luring us into a trap to build false confidence? Tabuu would hardly use such cynical means to eradicate his foes very slowly... He always wanted to kill anyone who dared oppose him, but in the state he is, he has to use threats and promise false riches to pull capable people into working with him."

Pichu grabbed his head. "Oww... That's too much to think about..." he muttered.

"So that is why none of this makes sense until we find the clues we need to get to the bottom of this mystery," the minister said. "The time when this started...the battle with Tabuu...Duon's appearance...the insane people in this mansion...and lastly the hands' disappearance. All of these facts must come around today."

He was determined to change everything back to normal, though Chris knew there would be a fight if they weren't too careful about doing their mission. "H-hey... What if we have to fight them?" Chris asked.

"Smacking people in the head will hardly do any good to us since we're vastly outnumbered," the minister said. "Frankly, I don't know if everyone is working together against us as I haven't seen many form into small groups to conspire. But we can't be sure...which brings me to my last point. Because we'll be investigating, we have to make it look subtle to avoid raising suspicion."

"That's going to be the hardest part," Pichu said. "Lucario is the only one suspicious. He's also a mind reader! How do we counter a mind reader?"

"..." The minister turned to Chris. "We can counter him with his beloved trainer."

"...Wait, what?" Chris said. "W-what are you trying to say?"

"He has eyes for you. Literally," the minister pointed out. "Pichu said he wants us away from you. If he is speaking the truth in his own way, why not use you as bait for him to get distracted?"

"(So he kisses me again?!) I-I don't like that idea much after what he did to me yesterday," Chris said. "Isn't there some other way to keep him out?"

"Well... Can you inflict status ailments?" the minister asked. "We could put him to sleep."

The World Traveler recalled that the Black Mage job had a small pool of spells to inflict status ailments. He only had Sleep, Poison, and Silence; spells that were useless against mayor boss fights. "I don't think that's going to put him out for too long," he said. "And what if he catches on after I try and fail? He could drop the act and attack me..."

The Ancient Minister had one last suggestion in mind. "The other method is...for you to lead him away from the spots we'll be investigating."

"..." Chris looked worried about doing that. To think that doing something like that would be completely fine in the past, only for it to sound so wrong in the present. "...Please tell me I'm not going to do this alone."

"A large group of people would look definitely suspicious. With what happened to you yesterday, you need company. Staying alone by ourselves is not advised..."

Pichu looked tough. "I'm going to stick with him!" he said. "I want to protect him!"

"I'd also have someone else looking after you. Dedede and Wario are sadly not so good at sticking together with others, specially the latter as he was too incompetent as an ally for Tabuu," the minister said. "Either Fox, Ness, Ike, or Soren should suffice for protection. There is also that Morgan girl..."

Chris was quick to say, "Fox. Definitely Fox."

"But what about you?" Pichu asked the minister. "You need someone to go with you! Everyone here doesn't like to look at you...except Peach."

"Mr. G&W shall be my ally for my investigations," the minister said. "I think this is the ideal time to start bonding with him since he does want to make me feel at home... He and I can work together while you try to diverge the attention away from us. You and the others should keep the rest busy without implying much about our true motives." He looked at their doubtful looks. "And...if things get bad quickly...there won't be any other way but to fight back. It's them or us."

Chris gulped. "W-we're going to kill them if it's necessary?"

"No, only incapacitate them," he reassured. "There is a possibility that these fakes might truly be them but...brainwashed...though why they're all brainwashed is beyond me. We must clarify everything in one day, because if we leave a single loose end, that's going to be it for our slow and careful approach to this."

The World Traveler felt shivers running down his spine just thinking about the worst outcome. Their track record was bad when they tried to avoid massive conflicts as it was. When he looked back at the curious Riolu and the sleepy Snivy, he recalled them. "These two will have to stick with me, won't they," he said.

Pichu nodded. "Lucario's threat also included them..."

The baby Riolu looked happy at Chris when he got his attention again. The smile not only relieved Chris, but it also frightened him that it could be forever destroyed if he were to get harmed. He was a frail little baby; a stranger to fighting back. "I'll...I'll keep them safe," Chris said, rubbing the baby's head and making him bark. "They're in this as much as we are. If only I knew this was going to happen..."

The Ancient Minister frowned. "There is no use lamenting what has already been done to us," he said. "We can try to fix everything back to normal...and we shall do so. Now that we have reached a common ground, we must prepare ourselves for a very long day of work. I shall wait for you to get ready." He looked at his two teammates. "You two should rendezvous with Fox immediately and hang out with the rest while making sure Lucario is not spying me."

The World Traveler got out of the bed and stood up. "Let me take a shower and give one to Riolu first. I want to clear my mind a little more before starting this dangerous mission."

"Please do. High morale proves to be necessary in these dire times..."

After baths were taken and some relaxation was had, the team of three set out to their respective tasks and separated. Chris, Pichu, Snivy, and Riolu headed to look for Fox while the Ancient Minister headed for Mr. G&W's room.

Mr. G&W's Room

Located on the fourth floor of the mansion, Mr. G&W's room was easily found with a golden label which read his name on it. During the minister's little trip, he was concerned about being ambushed by anybody who wasn't in his circle of friends. He made it quickly to a safe zone after being stared at by some people on his way there. "(Well, so far nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me other that being the receiver of one too many glares...)" the minister thought to himself as knocked on the door. "Mr. G&W, it's me. I'm coming in if you don't mind..." He made sure no one else was eavesdropping on them in the lonely hallway.

"Oh, I don't mind if it's you!" came Mr. G&W's voice. "I unlocked the door. Come in!"

The room would be a nice place to tell Mr. G&W about the whole plan in private. Confidently, the minister opened the door and went inside...

...to see something truly far out of the ordinary.

Unlike any other room in the mansion, Mr. G&W's room was a sight to behold only because its design puzzled the mind of anyone that didn't hail from the flat character's world of origin. To put it simply, the minister was staring directly at a tile that resembled a black tub. Right on top of that tub was the design of a black bed where he found Mr. G&W sitting on top. The strange thing was that the bed was hovering above the floor where the tub was. Next to the minister, he found a ladder going up to the second floor. Between the ladder and the bed was a black table with two black chairs to the side.

From the eye of the person reading this very sentence, they were staring at a large Game & Watch device showing Mr. G&W on a black bed on the top right corner of the screen and the Ancient Minister standing next to the open door on the bottom left corner.

"..." The minister was speechless at the design of the space. He spotted a window between him and the tub, showing the outside world in its correct 3D design.

"Yes, that's the general reaction the quiet ones have when they visit my humble abode in here," Mr. G&W said. "But hey, it's like I never left my home! Master Hand was very kind in replicating that same homey feeling. What do you think?"

"...Uh..." The minister wasn't sure how he could see the guy from the first floor of the weird dimension. "This is why we could never get a good visual on your room. The space in here is...something else, I-I think..."

"They also say something along those lines." He frowned in two frames. "I tell you. No one but me has a good eye to appreciate rooms like this."

Were the minister's eyes deceiving him, or was he seeing spots on top of Mr. G&W that resembled faint Zs over the bed? He somehow managed to climb the ladder to the second floor, passing by the table and the chairs. "Aren't you aware how...uh...unique you are from everyone else here?" he asked.

"Very aware of that," Mr. G&W said. "Doesn't mean people should look down on this amazing space. After being held inside a tube for months, coming back here heals my pitch black heart a great deal..."

"Uh...yes..." The minister frowned. "Listen. I came here to tell you what we're going to do regarding the current state of events in the mansion. I have already explained the gist of it to Chris and Pichu, and there is no one spying on us right now. It is the right time to tell you."

"Oh." Mr. G&W jumped out of his bed in three frames. The minister was getting sick trying to understand the weird dimension he entered. He thought it was a nasty side effect of the Subspace Bomb blowing up. "Getting to work this early, aren't you? Well, it can't be helped. I'm all ears."

"Right..." The minister looked down at the black tub and decided to ask away. "Before I start... Why do you have your bathroom down there in front of the door?"

"It discourages people from barging in while I'm naked in the shower."

"..." He just didn't want to bother asking when Mr. G&W was seen naked anytime due to his "unique" appearance, and he wasn't about to ask when Mr. G&W wore clothes on that mysterious void of dark, flat skin. "...As...I was saying..."

Infirmary

Fox hated how he was living a very strange life away from his home world. This was what he was forced to sign for since he could remember: live inside a big mansion with other personalities that didn't belong in his world to duke it out in front of millions for fun and for glory, but it was mostly glory for him. The Melee days were the good days for him. The Brawl days never came to fruition because of Tabuu rearing his head into their business. When would the Brawl tourney start? Tabuu was supposed to be defeated, though Fox's keen mind told him otherwise...

After having brought Falco and Wolf to the infirmary yesterday, a very shaky and shy Dr. Mario told him that they needed to rest for a few days without ever thinking about using healing magic to bring them back to full health. Though Fox considered going for Chris's help even after he thought it was ready to ask him when he saw that event with his own eyes, something told him he should leave the downed Falco and Wolf alone as to avoid their perturbing advances on him. The vulpine rested well that night without worries of getting harmed or abused...sexually.

Fox was now back at the infirmary to check up on Falco and Wolf. He shuddered when he went back to the place where he passed away long ago, and it was so weird to be back there again. Thankfully, no more man-made diseases were going to haunt the Smashers. The only new haunting problem was how his former friends were not themselves. When he arrived at the infirmary, both Falco and Wolf had bandages on their heads and were resting, having sustained such heavy hits with a fall of one floor to the concrete in the backyard.

"(Wish I could have the real ones instead of you two,)" Fox thought, looking over at his best friend and his arch-nemesis. "(It feels...empty, somehow. I miss the old days so badly now that things are looking my way.)"

He heard footsteps coming from the hallway. He armed himself from whatever was approaching. If it was an insane person like Mario, he would be very careful. If he was a friend, he could need some relaxation right about now. Luckily, he couldn't help but smile a bit when he saw Chris and his entourage of small Pokémon accompanying him, his baby Riolu looking happy being carried on his arms. "Oh, there you are, Fox. Good morning," Chris greeted the vulpine, finding him sitting on a chair next to Falco's downed person. "It took a little while to get Roy to tell me where you were, so..." He quickly noticed the setting in the infirmary and looked confused. "Uh... What happened to those two?"

Fox frowned. "These two got into my room in the middle of the night, Falco basically turned my freaking closet into a disco palace, Wolf tried to do a lame attempt at killing me again," he saw Chris shudder at the K word, "these two then started bickering and arguing about the other getting in the way of whatever the hell they were going to do to me in the dark, and then they simply pushed themselves off the second floor to the backyard through my open window where they landed on their heads and bled like crazy, which of course I had to go pick them up before people would think there was a murder at my room, so I took them in here with the help of some of the insane ones."

None of the four said a thing after hearing that, though Riolu curiously looked at their blank expressions.

The vulpine smiled sarcastically with a clear annoyed look. "As you can see, I've been feeling peachy with myself since midnight," he said. "How 'bout you?"

Chris closed his eyes in annoyance. "All confidence as a man was drained away from me earlier that night," he said. "Not to mention I was forced to get into bestiality with a Pokémon...MY Pokémon, while I was freaking sleeping!"

Fox sighed. "Don't worry. I'm a firm believer you don't swing that way...that far," he said. "Falco would be happy to make fun of you for a while, but thankfully, he's knocked out cold right here. I don't think he'd pay attention to you anyway because he's apparently gay for me." His fur stood on end for a brief moment. "I was this close to drowning my sorrows in coffee this morning."

Pichu sighed next. "Well, you won't have to worry about people spying on you anymore after we tell you what we're doing." Unfortunately for Pichu, he was very close to telling Fox about their plan when they all heard grumbling sounds coming from the avian. Being a late bird, Falco was waking up very, very slowly. "...And...I can't tell you now because it is not advised..."

Fox looked at Falco and then looked back at Chris. "Oh, I see... (Whatever it is, it's probably something these guys shouldn't hear,)" he thought. "I'm not gonna stay here and look after them. I want to unwind and relax."

Chris nodded. "That's what we wanted to tell you," he said. "Fox, do you mind tagging along with us for the rest of the day?"

The vulpine grinned. "Chris, I am so exhausted to deal with these guys by myself that I will enjoy anything that doesn't involve them." He looked happy. "But if you're involved, it's hard for me to say no, all things considered. Take me away anywhere and I'll follow gladly."

The teen chuckled. He truly felt a very strong bond between him and the vulpine. "I'm so happy you feel that way."

Behind the fox's back, the avian was having a hard time trying to open his eyes. He only managed to open very small openings in his eyelids, his vision looking the very blurry ceiling. "O-oww..." he groaned in pain, the hit on his head stunning him on the bed.

Fox didn't turn to look Falco's way. "So yeah... Let's get out of here," he said. "I want to make sure I'm a hundred percent heterosexual."

"Can you please not mention that to me? It feels degrading when I think about yesterday..." Chris muttered.

"Yeah... Agreed."

It was then that the baby Riolu decided to bark and look flustered. "Um, is something wrong?" Chris asked. He saw Riolu holding his stomach, where they heard a loud growl. "Okay, you want to eat. I think I know where we are heading to next."

Pichu spotted Snivy coming out from under Wolf's bed. "Time to leave to the kitchen," he told her.

She grunted annoyed. "What? We're leaving this place so soon? Well, okay." She held up a syringe. "I'm so keeping this weapon."

Pichu shuddered. "T-that's not a weapon."

She inspected the needle closely. "It isn't? I've never been close to a place like this before, but this does look like something to poke people with..." Pichu explained the purpose of a syringe to her, to which she sighed and placed the syringe back inside a drawer.

Falco's tired eyes turned to his right and saw a large brown spot facing away from him. A few seconds later, his vision was starting to come around, but the brown spot and the other spots away from him were starting to leave the infirmary behind. Just before Fox was out of sight, Falco's vision got halfway better where he was nearly able to tell he saw the ghost of his leader wandering away. "(Was that...Fox...?)" he thought, closing his eyes in defeat. "(Oh man... Is this the...the afterlife? I screwed up...then... D-dammit...)"

Sixth Floor's Hallway

The Ancient Minister recalled that Master Hand's office was on the seventh floor of the mansion. The mansion in all had ten spacious floors, with the roof counting as the unnamed eleventh floor. After the first five floor occupied by miscellaneous rooms and the rooms housing each Smasher, the other half contained other special rooms like libraries, a gym, the security room, the Brawl room where official matches were held, the music room where those musicians occupied a whole floor for themselves to rest in, the infirmary, and of course Master Hand's office. However, the minister noticed something off with the floors after reaching the sixth one...

While it wasn't his main target, the library that used to occupy two floors in the same room was nowhere to be found in the sixth floor. The path he and Mr. G&W took should have showed the double doors of the library located on the far left of the building, but in its place was a shaggy janitor room. The minister was concerned about finding the office first and foremost, though he couldn't chalk off the fact the library seemingly disappeared. It didn't seem to house anything noteworthy...

"Where is the library at?" the minister asked his companion. "Wait. You didn't live here when Master Hand remodeled the mansion."

"Don't remind me of my unlucky situations," Mr. G&W said. "I regret so much of what I missed while I was in a tube and let some guy use me for nefarious purposes..."

"Right..." He looked around at the other doors leading to other rooms that didn't hold much interest. "I'm concerned about the library suddenly missing from its original spot. Did it get moved when I wasn't looking after escaping from the factory?"

"Hey, maybe you should note that down as a fact!" Mr. G&W suggested, as they moved to the center of the floor to move on to the seventh floor. The minister did so...but not until seeing Chris's group coming out from the infirmary from afar and leaving to the floors below. "Oh, hey. They reached Fox."

"...Wait a minute..." The minister looked at the door leading to the infirmary. "What is the infirmary doing on the sixth floor? It should be on the next floor above us."

"What?" Mr. G&W stared at him. "The infirmary was on the seventh floor?"

"Yes, it used to be there. There aren't two of them in the mansion, and that's surprising considering the people here are victims to many injuries," the minister pointed out. "But besides that, the infirmary used to be on the seventh floor, and it never moved anywhere else from its place... Both the library and the infirmary are not on the places they should be, but why?"

Mr. G&W, perplexed, shuddered. "It's too bad I don't know how to answer that without finding more information."

Fact #6: The library and the infirmary have seemingly switched places from their original locations. The layout of the first five floors is unaltered.

"I wasn't expecting this odd finding much..." the minister trailed off in deep thought. "We should ask ourselves why this was necessary. Master Hand never liked to change the layout so much unless it was necessary."

Mr. G&W raised his hand. "Oh! Wait! I think I can use my knowledge of the past to attest to that!" he said. "Back in the Melee days, when I lived here for a time, Master Hand hardly changed the look of the mansion often. I only remember he did it once during my stay here, and sometimes he would change everything to something new if a room or a spot got destroyed in a freak explosion... Did he change the layout recently?"

"Yes, once during the Dark Gaia incident," the minister pointed out. "After that, he never changed the inside or the outside. So, if the rooms were changed after the explosion was set off...did they get changed by accident?"

The two didn't have more time to ponder on that once they reached the staircase leading to the seventh floor. Though, unlike the previous staircase, there was someone near the stairs. It was Snake...hidden in his cardboard box and staring outside to the two Smashers. "If it isn't the traitorous robot and the flat guy. How ya doing?" he asked in a hushed voiced. "You gettin' a special tour 'round and 'round the mansion to check what places to strike next?"

The minister shook his head. "I have no further intention to cause collateral damage to this home more than I did in the past, and even then I only harmed people...which...I'm still guilty about," he said.

"Heh. Guess you're gonna have to live with that guilt for the rest of your robotic life till you get rusty in the circuits."

Watching the minister look down on the floor, Mr. G&W grunted. "Hey, that's not nice of you. He is trying to apologize to everyone here by helping them out," he defended.

"So he wants to apologize," Snake said. "He can start by leaving this place forever. The least we see of him, the least we remember our heavy losses. Don't you agree?"

"Stop harassing the guy!" the Flat Zone resident said. "You're starting to look like a bully in...a box! He doesn't need to hear you out. You don't have the right to speak for everyone here, anyway!"

"But I have the right to say the truth," the bow owner said. "Truth hurts, and so does you. Go away from here and don't you ever try going up these floors."

The Ancient Minister was getting a little sick hearing so many insults from the others. He couldn't stand the glares much as he would usually look away from them. Hearing their words felt very obnoxious. "I don't care what you or the others say," the minister told the box. "I will continue waiting for the day you forgive me, no matter how many days it takes for you to see how I've changed. I have people who do believe in me. I can't let them down now." Mr. G&W smiled in that dark void of his body. "Move over. We have business to attend to in the next floor."

"Good joke right there. You can't go any further," Snake warned.

The minister and the flat character exchanged glances. "Why won't you let us go up?" Mr. G&W asked. "Is it because you hate RO-uh, the Ancient Minister with a passion?"

"My passion for that runs so high but also because the upper floors are being renovated."

"Renovated?" the two repeated.

"Yes, renovated, as in getting new fancy looks?" Snake said sarcastically. "What a bunch of losers. You don't understand the word very well."

"No, it's because it's a first to us to hear that fact now," the minister said. "So if you'll be so nice to tell us – which I doubt you will – why are they being renovated?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you that piece of info," the mercenary muttered with anger. "Steer clear from here. You go up there, I won't hesitate to wring your neck and feed you a grenade while you're down."

Mr. G&W leaned closer to the box to stare at the hole, while in the background the minister discretely used his built-in X-ray vision to examine the upper floors. "We're not going to interrupt the renovation at all. We just want to take a look around our home a little. I have a right here!"

Snake did a mocking laugh. "You don't. Don't think you have special rights to go behind my box here just because you aren't universally hated like your friend here. None of you is allowed up here. End of the history. Continue with your boring lives for don't go up."

"W-what kind of reason is that to prevent me to get to the next floor?" the flat character questioned. "T-this is hypocrisy! I demand that someone hears my demands!"

"Tough call there, grandpa." They saw Mr. G&W twitch at the insult. "Until Master Hand gets here, you can't go any further. Stop wasting my time talking with you and let me waste it guarding this spot."

The Ancient Minister resigned to the statement and looked back down to them. He couldn't afford to initiate a fight against Snake so soon, and he couldn't have Mr. G&W get tempted to fight either. "Let's go, then," he told his partner. "There is no need for us to start a senseless fight against him. We can go somewhere else farther away from this place."

"Yeah, that's how you do it," Snake said, not budging from his spot. "Leave. I'm getting anorexia just watching you."

"..." The two investigators exchanged silent glances and left the box and his owner alone, walking back to the staircase leading to the floor below. Once they were far away from Snake's hearing range, the minister spoke up. "That couldn't gone any better..."

"You tell me..." Mr. G&W said. "I was this close to kick that box away when he called me grandpa. I don't look that old! I don't like that Snake guy much."

"Well, he is acting strangely like everyone else," the minister pointed out. "The real one wouldn't be going around inside that cardboard box all the time. But there is no need to keep talking about him anymore. A new fact has risen."

Fact #7: Snake is discouraging anyone to go up the floors because of some dubious renovations.

Mr. G&W shook his head. "He was quite stubborn on that fact. Why was he trying to keep us away? What could be on the upper floors that he doesn't want anyone to see?"

"All the evidence we need to confirm every fact we have to solve," the minister said. "Unless it's his new-found personality that's making him stop people from getting closer to the sky, it's just...convenient for him to stop people now that we've gotten to this floor."

"Eh?" His partner stopped walking with him to the staircase. "What do you mean with that?"

The minister looked to the far left corner where the library used to be. "The library is nowhere to be seen in this floor, and the infirmary has been moved down one floor," he said. "Snake said there were renovations going on above us, but I can't hear any signs of life above using my X-ray or heat sensors... The upper floors are abandoned; completely alone with no souls."

"W-what? No one's up there? Are they taking a break from renovating the rooms?"

"It could be, but then there's another fact I just confirmed after examining the floors... And it's a startling one at that. You probably don't know about this, but the people in here recruited musicians to work on the tracks Master Hand uses to hold the matches of his tourney. They've been spied on too, though they hardly showed anything noteworthy to look at."

Mr. G&W looked up to the ceiling. "There's musicians up there?" he wondered. "I thought Master Hand had the music ready for when we came back here..."

"Yes, but there was an accident with strange beings in penguin suits that destroyed all of those tracks in the past, forcing the hand to contract musicians of different worlds to restore the lost tracks." He looked up at the ceiling too. "Though now that I searched for any life forms...they're gone."

Fact #8: The musicians working for Master Hand have disappeared and left no traces behind.

"Now comes another question..." the flat character said, "where did they go?"

"They never did leave the mansion when the Subspace Bomb blew up," the minister clarified. "Unbeknownst to them, they became more victims to the cruel event. Asking anyone else in here about their whereabouts is probably not a good idea because that will imply we're looking for them."

"So, wait... Do you think knowing where they went has some relevance in this?" Mr. G&W asked in thought.

The minister looked at the direction where the cardboard box was far away from their spot. "Just about anything they're hiding under the rags is suspicious. While it doesn't look like much, any inconsistencies must be cleared up to get closer to the truth of this mystery. The musicians in this case are supposedly inhabiting the upper floors, for one."

Mr. G&W grumbled. "Oh boy. We're only getting more questions than answers so quickly... I don't like any of this," he said as they reached the staircase. "Where to next?"

"Since anything on the upper floors is barred, the only other place we can possibly go to is the Command Room on the first floor where the group usually gathered to discuss and go to the places Tabuu targeted from his realm," the minister said. "That place should hold clues, though logically speaking, I can't see what we can find there... Let's keep on moving and fast while the rest is buying us time. Every second counts." He and his ally went down the stairs to the first floor, wondering if there were going to be more barricades to keep them from investigating any further...

Kitchen

The other group of Smashers arrived at the kitchen, though none of them entered the place yet. Peeking in, Fox looked from the corner to the inside for any signs of a bunch of insane people ready to make breakfast a living hell of explosions and unnecessary drama... For now, the place was mostly deserted. On the far end of the table, Fox spotted Link and Zelda making out on their chairs without paying much attention to their surroundings. He winced a bit at the display of gross affection (and even felt jealous he couldn't do it with his other half). Fox was about to tell them to enter when he also saw DK and Diddy Kong standing on top of the large refrigerator to the right side of the table, looking down at a bowl full with bananas. The bowl was the same one Chris used to get fruit for his Riolu.

The vulpine walked inside and looked up at the Kongs, while his team entered the place and also saw them. "What are you two monkeys doing up there?" he asked them, getting their attention.

"Hello!" Diddy greeted in a friendly tone. "DK and I are looking for people trying to steal our bananas!"

"Yeah!" DK said with a thumb up. "Someone grabs a banana, we DESTROY them! Diddy gets on their face and I punch and break their bones!"

Everyone but Riolu exchanged horrified glances before looking at the bowl with bananas. Riolu hadn't seen the bowl yet and Chris smartly blocked the baby's line of sight with a hand to keep him from getting excited. There was no other way to interpret the part about destroying people other than saying the Kongs were going to kill them over a measly thing. "I... Wow... That's a little too much, don't you think?" Fox asked.

"Nope! It's necessary!" Diddy said nodding with a smile. "Bananas are the best food in the world. And this is a mansion where survival of the fittest applies! Me and DK are gonna stay on top and get rid of the bad guys trying to eat our food supplies!"

DK flexed his arms. "If you wanna stay on our good side, don't even touch the bananas! We let Chris go yesterday. Today, we've changed our minds about how to do this! Grab a banana, you get your bones crushed!" He winked once.

"...Uh... O...kay..." Chris trailed off, backing off from the bowl of bananas and passing the fridge to keep Riolu from looking at the food. "We'll just move over here to this side..."

"Good boy! You almost forced me to break your arms off yesterday," DK said.

Angry at the threats, Fox said, "Don't choke on eating bananas. We would hate to lose you that easily."

"Naaaah, we hope you don't get close to 'em anytime for now. That's way worse than choking!" Diddy said. The vulpine sighed loudly and walked off with the others to the other side of the kitchen, unfortunately having to hear Link and Zelda smooching and sucking their lips off as a result.

The five settled down on a row of chairs, albeit only Fox and Chris sat down with the Pokémon sitting on the table, though Snivy's curiosity took the better of her as she started to look into the many doors of the counters on each side of the walls. Not sure about what else to do other than feeding themselves, the Smasher group were sad about their bad luck. The World Traveler looked at a second large fridge to the right and went there to see if there was something to feed his impatient Riolu. "This is the worst, you guys," Pichu said. "Nothing seems to go our way now that we got here to our home. I can't live with everyone acting so crazy. What if we can't find the solution?"

Fox rested his right arm on the table and saw his chin on his palm. "Well, obviously, we can't leave from here. My gut's telling me we'll regret leaving the place behind without getting to a proper closure. This is one more problem we have to deal with...and if we don't fix it, it will come back to haunt us forever," he said, finishing with a sigh. "On the other hand, toleration is gonna keep us standing till we break."

Pichu shivered and covered his head. "I'm so glad we have ourselves to stay sane..."

The vulpine looked over at Chris "I'd have run away from here if I was the only person to make it alone. It's our resources that keep us going..." He saw Chris taking out a strawberry yogurt that Riolu didn't react so strongly to, only with mild curiosity. "(And it's our job to keep anything else from changing so drastically.)"

The World Traveler came back to them with a spoon, where he sat down and started to spoon-feed Riolu with bunches of yogurt. The Riolu was indifferent about the pink matter on the metallic stick, because it looked like the shampoo he used to make bubbles and smell nice. When he opened his mouth and closed it once the spoon got inside, the spoon slid out gently with no yogurt. The taste of the yogurt was something out of a dream for the young Pokémon, feeling his tongue dancing with the soft foam covering his whole mouth with delicious strawberry goodness. He was very quick to start celebrating and wag his little tail with so much vigor that he asked for more.

His happiness pulled the group back to joy. "It's times like this when I can forget about my problems...and I can't complain about it," Chris said with a relieved face. "This Riolu just keeps making me look at the bright side of things, you know?"

"What's that bright side?" Fox asked.

"That I have a baby Riolu to take care of," the teen answered, spoon-feeding his happy baby.

Fox chuckled. "Chris, anytime that baby gets happy, you're quick to smile. I wager that you'll smile if you got drenched in dirty water and you saw him hopping around."

The World Traveler blushed. "I-I am not going to deny something like that. I like it this way very much. Looking at him is my only way to keep smiling during this harsh times. But..." He looked worried. "This is bound to end sooner or later if I don't do something to remedy this problem..."

Pichu nodded, until he heard footsteps from the left exit of the kitchen. Turning his head to that direction, he gulped. "Chris, you better steel yourself a lot because he is coming over here..." he muttered shyly, backing off behind Fox's arm for protection.

Chris didn't have to look behind first to guess who was coming to him. Pichu already spoiled the nasty surprise, and Chris had to look at it or else his back would suffer great pain in a way he didn't want to describe. Steeling himself as told, he turned to the west to look at him, and then he found out his guess was a bit correct, because when he saw Lucario, he was also seen holding a bouquet of flowers with roses, tulips, and sunflowers (that were oddly dried up). Meant to be a sign of forgiveness, Chris took it as a sign of utter stupidity. "(Oh god...)" he thought dismayed as Lucario stopped walking when he was ten feet away from him. The teen saw the twitching smile on his face.

"..." Lucario moved the bouquet of flowers forward.

"...What are you doing?" Chris asked in a groaning tone.

"I...am...trying to...apologize for yesterday..." Lucario trailed off. "So here... Have this amazing bouquet I put up for you today."

A closer look on that bouquet revealed that it was hastily put together. The petals on many of the flowers were missing, the tulips had some dirt of them, and the sunflowers looked fared worse than its cousins with torn bits of dried plants mixing with the rest. The paper that wrapped the bouquet turned out to be a newspaper that wasn't even up to date. What he was holding should have been a nasty joke. "Why would I even want that?" Chris asked sternly. "What's your real intention?"

"M-my real intention?" Lucario stuttered, his hands shaking the poorly-made bouquet. "M-my intention is to save our relationship and get off to a good start again! W-we've spent so much time together th-that I thought it was the right time to declare my feelings for you. Ta-Tabuu was defeated so everything should be okay with our world, right?"

Th World Traveler frowned in disgust, while Pichu had to cover Riolu'e ears again. "I'm sorry? Our feelings?" he said. "That makes no sense to me! The only relationship we had was that of a nice trainer and his Pokémon, not what you're trying to say!"

"But it makes no sense to me!" Lucario said, ignoring the fact he tossed the bouquet over his head and hitting Link in the background off his chair. "We are CLOSER than any other random trainer and their Pokémon! I thought we had something special going on!"

"The only special thing was our bond, which was never meant to turn into a lame romantic bond between the two of us! And besides, I'm a human! You're a Pokémon! And we're both males! Something like that will never work unless I'm incredibly insane enough to try it out!"

"You don't want to?" Lucario asked, putting up a sexy look that Chris shook his head to many times.

"N-no! You're insane!" Chris scolded, making Lucario look shocked. "We are never going to be like that because I-I am completely against it! And no matter what you say or do about it, it will never work! I'd rather have the same close bond we've always had than you kissing me out of the blue!" He shuddered at the thought, though now the tears were quick to appear in his eyes as he recalled the good old times with Lucario before the kidnapping took place. "W-what happened to that Lucario I used to adore? That same Lucario who was always diligent and nice to me? The one who is clearly the strongest Lucario of the whole universe? D-do you think your family would accept this new change?"

"..." Instead of looking saddened by the response, Lucario forced a glare and clenched his fists to the sides. "That Lucario is still the same one! You just don't accept reality now! I thought I had made it clear before how much I wanted our relationship to reach the next level! I-I feel betrayed because you had to weep and kick me out like trash! What kind of trainer are you to do that to me of all people?!"

Chris did look shocked himself. He thought he was going to trigger an unusual reaction that would tell him his true Lucario was trapped in the body in front of him. It was making him feel despair when the "fake" one reacted rather harshly. "A-at least I have a nice mind on my shoulders and good logic to say for sure this isn't how things should be for the two of us!" he argued back.

"That logic of yours is so wrong I don't know where to begin with!" Lucario said, taking a step forward and looking a little more intimidating.

Fox wasn't liking how the conversation was taking a turn for the worse. "Hey!" he called out to the two of them, though in the end he was going to stick with Chris's side. "If you two don't mind, we're having a quiet breakfast time here. Would you keep it down and be quiet, especially you?" he asked Lucario.

The Aura Pokémon growled menacingly. "Don't tell me what to do!" he barked. "Chris and I are having an important discussion about us that you shouldn't stick that stupid nose of yours into! (FUCK OFF!)"

Fox did hear the angry telepathic message. He glared. "Sorry, I couldn't listen to your senseless babbling over Chris's compelling arguments. You should take the wax out of those ears first before you keep talking weird stuff and making Chris more uncomfortable than he is now." To Lucario's shock, Fox pulled the startled Chris to his side with his right arm. "You're his Pokémon, aren't you? Well, crud, I'm not an expert about these things but you should try making him feel better the way he wants it. I've been trying so hard to make him smile and have a nice time with me, and so far I've been doing it very well. You used to do it with no effort. What happened to that guy?"

Lucario panted heavily, baring his fangs at Fox, who stubbornly and bravely kept his tough glare on him. "Who are you to tell me how to do it?!" he yelled loudly. "I do it my own way!"

Chris felt stuck between the two of them, and he didn't like to see Riolu starting to figure out what was going on with that scary look Lucario put up. In fact, seeing the baby starting to shudder in fear gave Chris the courage to speak up and recall what his group was supposed to do with the crazy Aura Pokémon. "S-stop it, all of you!" he said, startling Lucario while Fox simply looked his way. "Lucario, if you feel sorry about what you did last night, I'm willing to forgive you...once more..."

Lucario blinked. "R-really? Y-you will give me another chance to make our relationship better than it is?" he asked with excitement.

"N-no!" Chris scolded. "After what you did yesterday, I only want to see you behave correctly! I want you to make up for the atrocities you've done to us, and this is the only way for me to judge you. I want you to stay with us to see you won't go out of control."

The Aura Pokémon grimaced. "You want me to stay with you, but you don't want me to do what I want to do with you..." Pichu and Chris found the wording of that sentence along with its pause very suspicious. They feared the Aura Pokémon had caught on to their little plan to keep him away from the Ancient Minister. "...Okay!" he said with a smile. "I need to stay positive for this! I admit, I went too fast with out relationship, Chris. I shall wait a little more until you can realize what I wish we could be together."

Snapping back to harsh reality, the teen shuddered. "K-keep mentioning that stage and I'll probably have to release you from your Poké Ball forever. You don't want that...do you?"

The Lucario shivered. "N-no, please don't do that to me. Being imprisoned in that ball means that I will forever heed your words and never harm you no matter what. That is how all trainers get their Pokémon."

"...Please don't put it that way," Pichu muttered. The happy Pokémon sat down next to Chris, much to the chagrin of his trainer. With the Aura Pokémon lured with the bait, the team now had to keep him from wandering away, but it didn't mean they were going to stay in one place all the time. Carefully, each one of them prepared their own breakfast and tried to relax as much as they could. Some of them could have sworn from time to time that Lucario was giving them death glares...

Pichu heard someone calling to him. On the opposite side of the table, he saw a cocky, grinning Sonic with a bowl of cereal in front of him. "Hey, Pichu!" Sonic called out. "Let's see who eats their breakfast faster than the other!"

The Electric-type stared at his plate with four bacon strips. "But I'm eating baco-"

The hedgehog suddenly started eating his bowl with cereal at an insane and messy way that he spilled milk and bits of cereal everywhere, most of the spoon contents never making it into his mouth. The group watched disgusted as Sonic kept going at it, and they did see him looking back at them. He stopped to catch his breath, his face covered with rainbows and milk stains. "I'm winning!" he said.

"Sonic, I'm not even eating cere-!"

"You let your guard down!" Sonic then proceeded to wolf his food down, much to their collective disgust.

Their share of uncomfortable moments weren't over with when a floating being came from the left side of the kitchen and approached them. "Greetings, my fellow barbaric-sounding Smashers," he greeted with a blank look.

They turned to the right and saw Mewtwo, several notepads and notebooks floating around him, glowing in a faint blue glow that indicated they were being held in midair using psychic powers. In the background, Sonic went the extra mile and added more cereal and milk to his bowl. "Uh, hi," Chris said, his eyes looking at each tool. There were about three notepads and four notebooks, though the Psychic-type was more fond on the one he was holding over a hand. For a moment, the World Traveler thought he was going to be flung away. "It's nice to see you, Mewtwo."

"The pleasure shall be mine after you help me here with my research," he said nodding, the notebook he was holding opening up by itself. "You see, I am conducting several surveys about important topics that will define the fate of the universe. Answering my questions will eventually get me to discover the definite truth which will help us fight complete and utter destruction from any threats in the future. Are you willing to answer them all? Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety..." The last part was said in a warning tone. None of them wanted to mess around a master of the psychic arts and get strangled in midair with no way to stopping an invisible force. Riolu was only curious about how the big gray cat was not touching the floor with his feet.

"Y-yeah, sure," Fox said, his bacon sandwich just about to hit his mouth. "Go ahead and ask."

"Thank you," Mewtwo said, turning to Chris and making him feel endangered. "Now, Chris, I want you to answer this truthfully. Saying lies will take me somewhere else..."

Chris mentally gulped. "O-okay, you can ask me anything..."

"First question," Mewtwo began with a small smile as he looked down on his notebook. "Do you, Chris, like...Mudkip?"

"..."

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"(Did Mewtwo just really ask me if I like Mudkip?)" was Chris's mental question. "(Oh, stupid anime! You just HAD to exist!)

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"...I understand that the question is hard on itself, Chris," Mewtwo said, looking uninterested and breaking the awkward silence. Fox was thankful that he wasn't asked that, as he didn't know much about Pokémon lore. "You must provide me with an answer now. I cannot move forward with this question unanswered."

The trainer noticed Lucario's attentive look. "...Well...I do like Mudkip, and I do not mean it as a joke," Chris responded.

"Nice," Mewtwo said, writing the answer down. "Now, why do you like Mudkip? You must give me a detailed answer for this. Saying just 'just because' does not work in my eyes."

None of them heard Chris's loud mental groan. "(I can't believe I'm having this conversation...during breakfast of all times!) U-uh...well...uh, I, er, I like Mudkip because...well...I think...it's adorable and...I'd like having a Swampert for real soon because it looks awesome?"

While Mewtwo rolled his eyes and accepted the answer, it greatly shocked Lucario. "Chris, I thought you liked me!" he said.

Chris was quick to look angry. "You better not be thinking I like you in a non-heterosexual way," he warned him.

"N-no, I really mean I thought you liked me better than that mud fish! I got in your life first than them!"

"Y-yes, but that was before I started liking you a lot more!" Chris said, and he wasn't saying lies. He was truly speaking from the heart. "You rose to my top rank when you came into my life, but that doesn't mean I'll stop liking other Pokémon! I have plenty of love to spread around!"

While Lucario took the response as a nasty one, Mewtwo cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for butting in, but I am not done with my surveys," he said politely.

"(Oh god,)" was what Chris thought.

"Now, onto the next question," he began, staring at Fox. The vulpine thought it was bad karma for having chuckled at Mewtwo's new personality. "Do you like Krystal or Fara Phoenix?"

Blushing a bit under his furry cheeks, Fox had to diverge the question. "Who the hell is Fara Phoenix?" he asked.

"You can't answer a question with a question," Mewtwo reprimanded. "I don't want to assume. Give me an answer."

Fox said, "Uh, easy, I like Krystal."

"But does she like you back?" Fox wasn't so sure if Mewtwo was making fun of him or if he was being serious with the question. "I'm being serious. Does she like you back? You must answer honestly." Admitting the failed love of his life didn't like him back would hurt like hell to his pride as a young adult. He was about to say a lie when Mewtwo was kind enough to throw in a rule that he hadn't mentioned from the beginning. "Answer incorrectly to me, and I will fling your lying mouth out the closed window over there." Chris and Pichu widened their eyes.

"..." Fox shut his eyes. "S-she doesn't...like me... Bah..."

"...True enough," the Psychic-type mused as he wrote the reply on the notebook, angering the vulpine. "It must have been so hard for your unstable mind and heart for having admitted to the truth. Your answer shall bring me closer to the ultimate salvation of the lives of many."

"(BITE ME,)" Fox's fiery mind echoed. "H-how is asking me that kind of b-bull going to help you in your little expedition of discovery?"

"Nice of you to ask. I shall tell you once I reach my goal."

"Is that a lame way of not admitting you don't know yourself?" With that response given away, with a simple motion of his fingers, Mewtwo flung Fox away with psychic force to the closed window and therefore outside. The loud shatter of the glass startled most of the people in there, but unlike the kissing Hylian couple or the banana assassins whom went back to their business quickly, the sane group was speechless, staring at the broken window and wondering if Fox was okay. Sonic took a moment to see where the vulpine went and then he himself went back to "eating" his food.

"No fools shall make fun of my serious work I bothered to take on," Mewtwo said, glaring fiercely at the path he forced Fox to take. "At the end of this long road, I shall save everyone..."

"I fully respect your goals, my fellow Smasher friend," Lucario bowed.

"H-holy crap!" spoke Chris in shock. Luckily, the baby Riolu wasn't so interested in learning profanity. "M-Mewtwo, that was pretty harsh of you! You shouldn't have tossed Fox out like that!" The nasty glare coming from the Psychic-type shivered Chris to his very soul. "I-I...respect your work...t-too..." he trailed off in fear of being unnecessarily tossed outside for simply voicing out his thoughts out loud.

The Aura Pokémon smiled at his trainer. "It makes me so proud you also see his worth, Chris," he said. Ignoring Lucario and concerned about Fox, Chris asked loudly if the vulpine was okay. He could only see a shaking hand peeking out with a thumb up, before said hand gave up and fell back down.

"(Oh my goodness, let this end soon...)" Pichu thought, shaking on his spot and unable to eat his cereal with the trembling spoon losing all of its contents it carried. To his shock, Mewtwo looked his way, except without the nasty glare. "(E-eep!)"

"It is your turn, Pichu. I trust you will provide valuable insight," Mewtwo said. "Without further ado, answer this question. Do you think me and Lucario should evolve even further? I am thinking of having two different evolutions myself because I am the start of the Master Race."

"No!" Pichu said in a scolding tone. "(Why would we want you two evolve and get even stronger? You're strong as you are!)"

"I shall remain standing and accept that harsh response," Mewtwo said as he noted down the answer.

Lucario pouted and crossed his arms. "I want to evolve again if I could... I wanna be the very best Lucario like no one ev-"

The World Traveler covered his ears and wished for this hell to end very soon. He couldn't get used to the insane Smashers, and he started to feel insane listening to them going on and on...

Command Room

The Ancient Minister and Mr. G&W managed to get to the command room. Luckily, no other soul blocked the way to their desired destination, possibly because the room held no importance to protect...judging that it was wrecked beyond recognition and there would be no point to look after it. Speechless for ten seconds of looking around from the entrance, the two found broken computers, shattered glass, rubble covering the entire perimeter of the room, and the wall worn out and destroyed in large holes. The minister turned on the lights with a switch to the left, but only one harmed glass with light lighted up on the ceiling.

"You sure this place was a command room?" Mr. G&W asked as he stepped inside to look around more. "It looks like a tornado got in here and destroyed everything..."

Perplexed to see the room totaled, the minister got inside next. "No one else was keeping anyone away from here. They must be confident we won't find anything in here." He examined the broken CPUs and the monitors. Cables were cut down at random spots, and the power sockets were offline. Motherboards and other computer cards had been crushed, destroyed, or turned into ashes that mixed with the pieces of rubble and the broken tables and chairs. "They were very good at getting rid of potential evidence. None of the equipment here has any hope of being restored to retrieve information saved on the hard drives."

Mr. G&W stood on top of some broken tables. "I think they did a good job at destroying everything and leaving nothing else behind... Yet again, another disadvantage for our investigation." He sighed. "Are we going to get anywhere if we keep walking to dead ends like this room?"

The Ancient Minister was stubborn. Their chances of solving the mystery were slim as they were now. He was determined to get to the bottom anyway. "Despite the odds, the true facts are staring and laughing at our faces. They only want some concrete evidence, and they're keeping it all away from us. I'll play their little game and win it." He looked around at the mess of rubble and shattered screens some more. There wasn't anything else that he looked at...though when he looked to the center of the back where Mr. G&W was standing on the pile, he noticed that an item stuck out badly from the rubble by its white predominant color. "...Oh, finally, a piece of evidence."

Mr. G&W hopped down from the pile and looked at the destroyed item the Ancient Minister was looking at. The item had a white skin on the outside with buttons that resembled a peculiar controller that the minister was able to identify easily. "What did you find? A controller?"

"Not just any controller," the minister said, staring down at the item and spotting the letter "Wii" on the lower end; the only part of the controller that was nearly spared from its destruction. "This controller was modified by Master Hand to open portals to other worlds. While Tabuu can open portals through his power, the people here require either the hands' power or this."

"Oh, I see!" Mr. G&W nodded twice. "...I'm lost. Why is this evidence again?"

"Because if you notice...the parts of the controller are still sticking out from the inside," the minister pointed out. "Unlike how the rest of the machines are, this controller's contents weren't disposed of properly. Whoever tried to destroy this did a bad job, because you can clearly see it's not in a very bad state."

"I think I get what you mean, but...why is it important to take note of this?"

"It's easy, really," the minister said. "Remember what the people here told us about Master Hand? They said he was taking vacations and we needed to wait for him to come back and take the others to their worlds if they wished, though there is no point in waiting for him if one of these altered controllers were lying down nearby. People like Chris don't need of his assistance when using these for world-hopping."

"Oh, wow. That's actually a good point!" Mr. G&W said. "...Wait... No, wait. Something is off... Do we know for sure they didn't say that because they found this place utterly destroyed first?"

"You raise a good point... We can't prove for sure if this place was destroyed by Tabuu or his minions. They can argue with a false truth and lead us away." He used his many vision modes to detect anything fishy with the skin of the destroyed controller. "This controller should be the same one I tossed away from Chris while I was pretending to work with Tabuu... What the..."

"Huh? Did you find something?"

On the sides of the destroyed device, the minister could spot some kind of small grip mark. "...For some reason...my fingerprint detection can't find any of his fingerprints on the surface. There is some dirt and dust on the front, but I can tell there are no wiped-off fingerprints left behind...that belong to him. There are other fingerprints on these or, actually, a shape that sweat left behind for the dirt to stick more. This shape resembles...Pikachu's grip?"

"Pikachu's grip?" Mr. G&W repeated. "Pikachu held this controller? Are you sure he held this?"

"I can affirm this grip on the controller could have only been made by his hands only. He has a rather unique way to hold stuff..." He looked at his partner. "This controller was last touched by Pikachu."

Obtained Pikachu's Controller!

A destroyed Wiimote that was last held by Pikachu. It was found in the wrecked Command Room.

"There are no other fingerprints on the pieces that are scattered around it," the minister affirmed.

Mr. G&W rubbed his chin in three frames that looped many times. "So Pikachu...was here when this place got wrecked?" he wondered. "I didn't see him anywhere in that crazy party..."

"I did see from the spies that he said he was going to go back to his world to relieve some of the stress when...I propagated a man-made disease and killed Pichu with it," the minister said in shame. "...But...enough sentimentality. This controller most likely ended up here after the room was wrecked, because I already confirmed its pieces didn't get out from it that far."

Fact #8: The Command Room was found wrecked. During the aftermath, a controller that bears Pikachu's hand mark was found.

The Flat Zone resident tilted his head to the right. "Uh, wait. If this controller was used by Pikachu and it was found after this room was wrecked...does that mean Pikachu got here?" he asked.

"That is the truth," the minister said. "Master Hand only administers these controllers to Chris to avoid people from misusing it during mission time. The spies used their X-ray vision to see the event happening in here, and that's when I saw Pikachu holding a controller and opening a portal to his world before Chris arrived here and went to Flipside. (When the latter left for last, that was when my old allies and I moved out with our plans...)," he explained. "Now why we didn't see Pikachu with the rest? Perhaps he arrived here shortly after we did."

"Ah! Pikachu is somewhere in the mansion, then!" Mr. G&W realized. "Maybe he's looking for us!"

"Impossible."

"W-what? He's not looking for us?"

"He could have found us right away. But as you see here...the controller was destroyed, and he was the one who was holding on to it," the minister said. "Why would he destroy it? If he didn't destroy it, someone else did. Why do you think they went ahead to destroy this?"

"U-um... Well..."

"Recall what I said earlier about the use these altered controllers have. They can let people go to other worlds."

"...Oh!" Mr. G&W realized the point. "Anyone else could have used this controller to go somewhere else in an instant! Is that what you mean?"

"Not only do I mean that, but in a way, it also locks us out from leaving elsewhere while the people who 'fought' Tabuu can keep us here. It's perhaps a way to ensure we won't go somewhere else and bring an army. If they didn't want us to stay here, they could have told us there was an extra controller lying around...destroyed, that is."

Mr. G&W was thoroughly impressed with that train of thoughts. "I-I think everything is starting to fall into place now! This piece of evidence reveals a lot!"

"Well, just the part about keeping us here..." The Ancient Minister looked around some more. "This proves that Pikachu got here too, though the question is where he is right now. It's possible they took him to a room when he arrived here." When he looked down from his position, he found an unsettling sight on top of a hole of rubble that he quickly examined by stretching a claw to it. "...And this right here...is...blood..."

The flat character gasped and went over to check the hole of rubble, spotting old crimson blood splattered all over the hole. "B-blood?!" Mr. G&W repeated in shock. "O-oh my goodness, that is blood!"

Sticking some old matter with blood smeared on it, the minister ran an analysis in his head. "According to my data banks, this blood belongs to...Pikachu."

"Aww, heck..." Mr. G&W held his stomach. "W-was he...?"

"No, I know for sure you're trying to say he is dead, but just seeing blood like this proves no such thing...yet. It only proves he was attacked...and the broken controller only adds to that." He frowned. "Yet another piece of evidence and a fact have been brought up to light."

Obtained... Uh... Found Pikachu's Blood!

Pikachu's blood was found in the wrecked Command Room near the controller. The placement of the blood indicates he had arrived after the room was wrecked.

Fact #9: Pikachu was assaulted when he arrived at the Command Room. Though his whereabouts remain unknown...

"..." The minister sighed. "This mansion is holding its fair share of dark secrets. This is so unnerving to find out like this..."

"I-I don't want this to turn into a creepy mystery murder story!" Mr. G&W said, stuttering in fear at the implication of a murdered Smasher. "W-we have to find Pikachu...w-wherever he is in here!"

"That is going to be a lot harder to do. They took his body, uh, I mean, they took him somewhere where he was unable to escape from their grasp. I hope, too, that he wasn't killed behind the scenes. I don't want to think another victim was claimed because I had an indirect role that helped this to happen..."

Watching the robot slouching forward a bit, the flat character patted his back. "Stop beating yourself for something we don't know for sure yet... Sure, you probably made this happen, but you're trying so hard to make up for it! If you want to make up for it, try to solve the mystery with us!" he encouraged.

"...And...I shall do so, if only to seek redemption," the minister muttered. "Back to the topic at hand, it doesn't seem there is much else to find here." He took one last look around the room. "It's time for us to move somewhere else, perhaps the place where they took Pikachu."

"O-oh, wait," Mr. G&W stopped the minister from moving, and he took out a strange item from his back. "I did find this on the back of that big pile of rubble. I don't know if it's anything important because...well...it's a hat."

"..." The minister looked at the hat his ally found. "First off, that is not a normal hat. It's a big green beret. Second...why do I think I've seen this beret somewhere before? It seems familiar to me... I can't remember where I saw it..." He got in deep thought where he saw the beret before.

"What? You remember this hat?" Mr. G&W asked. "Is it really important to have with us?"

"It's trying very hard to move my memory... But in any case, the beret may be an important piece of evidence, only because finding it in this place is strange."

Obtained Big Green Beret!

A big green beret found in the wrecked Command Room. Does it really have any importance to the mystery?

Mr. G&W put the beret on his head. "I'll wear this just to remember where this might have come from," he said. "Hmm, I like how soft it feels! Good thing it wasn't dirty when I found it."

"I suggest you put that away," the minister said, staring at the beret. "Someone who might want to stop our investigation might get suspicious just looking at it. Whatever we find, it's evidence they failed to dispose of."

"Oh..." His ally put the hat away." "That's a shame. It did feel comfy to wear... Hey, I want to ask you a question, if you don't mind. How can you tell what fingerprints and what blood belongs to a certain person? I'm impressed you managed to tell that apart very easily..."

The minister looked away from the flat character. "I obtained that much information through hacking Samus' ship," he said. "It was when I defected from the Subspace Army when the factory was raided. After escaping from there, I slipped away from the group in the ship before they prepared to launch a frontal assault on the Subspace. Samus wasn't looking when I found files she had stored in the ship. Surprisingly, she held a lot on information in there. From the home worlds of her comrades to private facts such a blood type and fingerprint analysis."

"Oh yeah... I remember when we all did that before the raid took place," Mr. G&W said. "...Why were you hacking Samus' ship, anyway?"

The robot looked at his ally again. "I lacked intel regarding the people I was working with. I did that mostly to catch up to their battle performances and backgrounds to know them better. I was still an anti-social person back then, so what I did was done for greater good. Besides...I wasn't sure if they had so much trust in me to tell me upfront about them. The time we had was very little." He frowned. "It's all in the past, however."

"Well, I dunno if that was a good thing to do, but I'm glad it's coming handy now," Mr. G&W said. "We need all the facts and evidence we can get to understand what's going on here."

"Correct, and we shall continue this." The minister noticed that small stains of dry blood were leading outside the command room to the hallway. "It seems we found a trail to our next destination... There is a trail of Pikachu's blood."

Mr. G&W shrugged as he saw the minister moving out from the room into the hallway. "C-come on, more blood? Are you sure this isn't a creepy mystery murder story?"

"Stop thinking about the worst outcome and accompany me to where this trail leads," the minister said, and he found out the red carpet of the hallway hid the trail with its color to the naked eyed, albeit if one squinted their eyes long enough, they would notice the darker coloration in small puddles. "At the end of it, it better take us to Pikachu. Having him on our side will be a big advantage."

Looking back at the destroyed command room, Mr. G&W followed his partner and the hidden trail away from the sad setting. The minister, as he followed the trail, wondered how his fellow friend was holding up on his other end. With more people by his side, Chris surely was faring better than he thought.

First Floor's Hallway

"First Aid!"

A wave of healing energy bathed Fox's damaged head, feeling a soothing wave that relaxed him. The wounds that he had received from breaking the window with his head patched up in a flash, and he felt much better as a result. Once the glow went away, he smiled at Chris. "You know, your healing magic is way better than having to wait for Master Hand to hand over healing items to restore us. You heal people quickly and efficiently."

Chris chuckled, feeling embarrassed as he pulled back his rod. "T-thank you, Fox. Do you feel better now?"

Fox rubbed his head. "Yup. No lodged glass shards or bleeding. But mentally, I want to tear Mewtwo a new one." He stopped to think. "...Do Pokémon have one? Never seen Pikachu go to the bathroom. Uh, anyway, Mewtwo is going to get it when I see him again."

Pichu, perched on Chris's left shoulder, shook his head in disapproval. "You saw what he did to you! He casually tossed you away like a ragdoll just because he didn't like being made fun of!" he said. "He didn't use to do that if someone made a small joke about him, and he'd get violent if people kept bothering him..."

"At least Fox learned his lesson for not messing around with my pal Mewtwo," Lucario said. The three sane Smashers groaned mentally. "He had it coming for acting so rashly to him."

Fox glared. "(My pal Mewtwo? This guy has finally lost his marbles...) So sorry I pissed him off so much with a simple, harmless comment. I'll be more careful answering his weird questions next time. Oh, and by the way, I won't get near him ever again."

Lucario chuckled. "Pussy..."

Hearing Fox's loud grunt, Chris put himself between the two, albeit he stood closer to Fox than to Lucario. "Lucario, stop dissing Fox right this instant before I think even less of you! I never educated you to make fun of others!" Seeing Lucario's disheartened look, Fox grinned in a cocky manner. Having a person his size berate a large imposing figure was a sight to behold.

The group of six finished eating their breakfast in the most peaceful way possible they could achieve, and now they decided to wander around the mansion to the direction of the backyard just to ensure the Aura Pokémon wouldn't find the minister investigating the whole place.

Snivy had used a lot of the time inspecting the kitchen and eating an apple she found on a bowl (one that lacked bananas), but she did see the fox guy getting tossed away by the big scary cat of psychic powers. While Snivy never knew about Mewtwo's existence, she was smart enough not to cross in his path. Psychic-types were feared among the wild Pokémon world because their power could bypass anything that wasn't a Dark-type, though the types that were resistant to them could shrug off their attacks a few times to retaliate. Her parents had warned her of any Psychic-type that used their power for self-gain and satisfaction.

She had taken a spot on Chris's right shoulder. The World Traveler didn't mind her much. He even felt appreciative of her company. If only he knew she was using him as a meat wall for any possible accident coming from one of those "insane mansion dwellers" as she liked to call them.

When they were about to cross the corner to the left, the group saw a worried Morgan holding some a paper. When she saw them staring back at her, she hurried to their side. "Y-you guys!" she said, catching her breath when she reached them out. "T-this is bad. This is really bad!"

Fearing for the worst, Fox asked first. "Hey, uh, Morgan. Did something happen?" he asked.

She stood up and handed the vulpine the paper she was holding on to. "Y-you need to read this. It's a letter I found in Ike's room..." she trailed off. "I've been running around the whole place, trying to find any of you to deliver this... The letter was addressed to you, so I wanted to play as a delivery girl, Foxie."

"(Wish she could stop calling me that...)" Looking down at the letter, Fox's eyes started reading its contents aloud, while his team looked over his shoulder to examine it closely.

Dear friends (Chris, Fox, Ness, and Pichu)...

It's been a wild ride since I joined up in the fight against the Subspace Army. But now that the army has been defeated for good, there is no reason for me to stick around some more. I have a company of mercenaries that needs my full attention so I shall excuse myself so soon without having to say good bye in person. I know this looks unbelievable and so sudden to you, but you have to understand that the world where I come from is having a difficult time trying to adjust to its new regime by my dear friend Princess Elincia – now turned queen of Crimea – and having learned that my sister is getting worried sick about me not answering her letters is not fair for her. I am her only true blood family...

With all due respect, I thank you for bringing me back from the dead to continue with my goals. The experiences I enjoyed with you all, I won't forget them for the world. It was a fantastic journey where I got to meet so many new people. I learned so much spending time with you, but now I must leave. This doesn't mean we should stop seeing each other. You have all that weird technology thing that lets you visit worlds in a flash, right? Use that to visit my home. I will always welcome you with open arms.

Sincerely,

Ike Greil

P.S.: Oh. One last thing. I left the mailbox keys Parakarry gave me to give to Master Hand next to this letter. I remember the flying guy put mail in that mailbox we haven't checked yet. I didn't bother to check what was inside so go check it out for me, okay? Dispose of any letters meant for me, though.

"...He...left?" Pichu breathed out in surprise. "(H-he left us now of all times?! Right when we needed his aid the most?!)"

"I-I can't... Ike left the mansion without saying good bye?" Chris muttered loudly. "(This isn't good at all! I feel less safe knowing he's not around to help us out with this problem! I thought he knew better than anyone else things aren't the same here!)"

Fox nearly crumpled the letter into a messy ball of paper. "How could he leave us now without warning?" He looked at the worried Morgan. "Didn't you see Ike anywhere when you got to his room?"

Morgan shook her head. "No. I didn't see him or Soren on the way there from the room I took for my own to sleep for the night yesterday," she explained."I got shocked when I found the letter and read it all. S-sorry for reading it. My eyes are very curious about reading intimate letters!" She then pointed at the letter. "Oh, and...there's more to that letter on the back."

The Smashers looked down at the letter on Fox's hands, which he turned around to reveal another passage.

This is my last formal warning to you.

Come back to ask Ike for help with your business ever again, and I shall do everything in my power to keep you away from giving more workload on his back that he doesn't need to solve with your useless heads. You are an utter waste of time and resources to the Greil Mercenaries. Trash like you should just disappear from our sight. It took some work, but I finally convinced Ike to ditch you. Just because you brought him back from the dead, it doesn't mean I'm going to like you. It is your fault that this happened in the first place.

Good riddance. I have nothing else to say to scum like you. Do not ever step into Tellius again... Do NOT take Marth with you to us either. Have fun spending time with a pancy murderer.

Soren

Fox, Pichu, and Chris looked at each other. "Soren!" Chris said, looking pissed. "That guy convinced Ike to leave us behind!"

The vulpine made sure there wasn't anything else in the letter before tearing it up into pieces. "Ain't that nice of him? I can't believe that little snot convinced Ike to leave," he said.

Pichu's ears twitched. He heard a voice that was no doubt coming from Lucario's mouth. What he managed to hear without turning around was a cryptic statement. "...they left and no one saw them... ...have to increase security..."

"(Increase security...?)" Pichu wondered to himself. Though the message was crucial to relay to the others, he couldn't afford to make their guard get alerted of their true intentions. "O-oh, this is so sad," Pichu said, going back on topic. "I was starting to like Ike a little more after what we went through together..."

"Guess having Soren around was a bad idea in the end," Fox said. "That guy never liked any of us one bit, and I noticed very well how he was always bossing and listening to Ike more than us. I swear, he's like a worse Neku."

Lucario rolled his eyes. "Well, leave those idiots alone if they don't want to stay with us any longer," he said. "I knew Soren was bad news when he came to the mansion. Getting stabbed by Marth should have told him so."

Chris didn't like how his Lucario was acting so rashly. "Lucario, please be a little more respectful about what you say behind people's backs. I still care about those two despite how Soren...got stabbed..." Blinking in realization, Chris, Pichu, Snivy, Riolu, Morgan, and Fox stared long at the Aura Pokémon.

"Hmm? Is something on my face?" Lucario asked, rubbing his face with both hands.

"...Dude..." Fox began, looking mighty suspicious at Lucario, "...care to repeat what you just said a moment ago?"

"...That I knew Soren was bad news when he came to the mansion?" Lucario said, completely missing the point somehow.

Morgan pointed an accusing finger at his face. "No! He said, and I quote, 'Getting stabbed by Marth should have told him so'!" she said, making Lucario gasp. "I was paying attention that one time! Soren did say he got stabbed by Marth but everyone else here denied it, even Marth! So why did you say he really got stabbed?"

Lucario backed off from the hard, long stares. "T-that's...because..."

"(Did we crack him up because of one slip of the tongue?)" Fox thought.

"(I didn't think he would fess up like this out of nowhere...)" Pichu thought.

"(It...can't be this easy, can it?)" Chris thought.

Gulping loudly, Lucario said. "I-I meant...when Marth stabbed Soren...w-with a fork during the party!" he said hastily, getting odd looks from everyone staring. "Y-yes, that's what I meant!"

"Liar!" Morgan called out with a smile. "I was having fun with Roy asking Soren silly questions the whole time and I never saw Marth stabbing him with a fork in the kitchen!" She looked very proud of what she was doing with the Branded.

Fox kept a grin from coming up as he crossed his arms. "So, care to explain where you saw Marth stabbing Soren? Because there's only one place where that could've happened." While the vulpine wasn't told too much about the plan, Pichu and Chris wondered if it was a good idea to confront Lucario about the matter. "Come on, we're pals here, right? Chris would love to hear whatever intimate secret you're keeping away from him. Do you want to screw up your relationship with him?"

Chris's jaw dropped. "(Y-you're using ME to get him to confess?!)" he thought.

"Marth stabbed Soren with his finger when he left!"

"...Huh?" was everyone's same reply.

Having said his response, Lucario sighed in peace. "...I saw Marth stabbing Soren with his finger when he left," he said. "W-well, it looked like he was poking him a bunch of times..." He laughed playfully and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh... Sorry for confusing poking with stabbing. I get those two mixed up often."

None of the listeners in there were glad to hear such an outrageous statement. "(What kind of stupid correction is that?!)" Fox thought angered. "What? So you saw them leave and said nothing about it?"

Lucario's twitching smile gave them a wrong impression of his act. "N-no, I didn't see them leave. I just...happened to find Marth poking at Soren's chest so quickly in the hallway when Chris told me to leave after that bathroom accident I had," he explained poorly. "I thought he was stabbing him, and Soren looked visibly pissed like a volcano about to erupt. I think that letter now makes more sense with that in mind, don't you think?" He started to sound more confident about his side of the story.

"(I-I can't accept this bull!)" Chris thought. "(I thought we were getting somewhere...)"

Fox, pinching the bridge between his eyes, asked, "Morgan, did you see those two after the party was over?"

Morgan looked ashamed. "No... I...I didn't see them after that. Ike and Soren left me behind with Roy. None of them bothered to tell me where their room was," she said. "I was mostly looking around this big place. My curiosity is an untamed, wild beast hungry for knowledge."

The cocky grin on Lucario's lips made them feel hatred. To boot, Chris never saw him grin like that before. It was one more fact that this person was trying so hard to replace the real one. "So you see, that was what happened when I saw them. It doesn't relate to that crazy memory about Marth murdering Soren in cold blood. Do you guys have a bone to pick with Marth? I thought you were better than this..."

Chris grunted. "S-stop making me look like a bad guy!" he scolded, making Lucario gasp again. "We want to believe either side so much! Have you forgotten how stressed we are to come back here and try to settle down with everyone again? It's going to take a very long time for us to get used to this strange place! Of course we can't adapt so quickly, unlike you!" He clutched his arms on his Riolu, who had no idea what was going on. "So please...stop trying to make me feel so bad about all this..."

"..." Lucario grunted. "It doesn't mean you should badmouth the rest... Someone has to guide you to a righteous path."

"...I don't know how to answer you back," Chris said. "I want to try to enjoy being here."

Concerned about the scene, the tactician-in-training forced a smile. "T-that reminds me, you guys. Here." He handed Fox the keys to the mailbox. "Like the letter said, I found that next to it. I figured I should take it with me to keep it safe. Now it's yours!"

Obtained Mailbox Keys!

Keys to open the newly-installed mailbox in front of the mansion. Always be sure to check the box every day for new discoveries! (Pray they're not bills...)

Fox kept the keys in his pocket. "I'll hold on to these for now," he said. He saw Morgan rummaging through her pockets for something else.

"That also reminds me..." she trailed off as she searched her pockets, "just this morning, while I was wandering around the fourth floor, I found something dropped down on the floor. It looked so out of place because I didn't see anything else like it before. I thought I should bring it to you guys. Maybe this is yours?" From the right pocket of her robe, she took out a small sphere with a top red half and a lower white half.

"...That's a Poké Ball," Pichu said, picking the sphere from her hand and jumping back to Chris's side. Snivy shuddered just looking at the small prison. Using his animal instincts, Pichu sniffed it a few times. "Hmm, cherry smell..."

Fox grimaced. "O-okay, it's got a cherry smell on it," he said. "Like that's anything worth writing home about. Isn't that from the item storage room on the eight floor?"

Pichu rotated the ball a bit and discovered that it had a stamp on the top. The stamp showed a sparkly H letter. "I don't think this came from there, and Red never put stamps on his stuff... Hey, Chris! Does Red put stamps on his Poké Balls?"

"Uh, not that I remember..." Chris said.

"Huh... That's weird," Pichu said, handing the ball to Chris. "Here! Keep it. Should we open it and see what it has inside?"

With the ball on his right hand, the World Traveler felt that it was a bad idea to see what it contained. What if it there was a rabid Legendary Pokémon ready to tear anyone a new one? "I-I better hold on to it for now..." he said.

Obtained Poké Ball H!

A random Poké Ball found on the fourth floor by Morgan. Not only does it have a cherry smell, but it has a stamp with the letter H on top. Does it really belong to anyone in the mansion?

Lucario scoffed. "It better not be a Pokémon who wants to take my spot for Chris's appreciation. I would kill anyone trying to do that," he said.

Chris was quick to reprimand him. "I don't want to see you killing a Pokémon that I might like! I forbid you to do that, okay?"

"Y-yes, master..." Lucario slouched forward in defeat.

Silence quickly settled in after the discussion was over. Until Pichu decided to break it. "HOO-EEH!" he said with a cheery look. "It feels like we haven't moved anywhere from here, doesn't it? Why don't we go to the backyard already?" He smiled at Fox. "Oh, Fox! Why don't you go to the mailbox and check what letters came?"

"Why should I go?" Fox asked, his eyes narrowing.

"(Because with Morgan here, it's getting pretty crowded...) I subscribed to Poké Gossip Magazine. Maybe the new issue got here already! I want gossip!" He winked at Fox, and somehow the vulpine could tell it wasn't entirely the reason to shoo him away.

"Yes, go get the mail," Lucario ordered. "What does the fox say?"

"I don't know why I should feel insulted with that question..." He glanced at Chris's worried expression. "Uh, well, I'll go check the mail. I'll be back in a flash. (Chris, be careful. I'm gonna come back and keep you safe from this demented idiot next to us.)" Nodding to Chris in particular, Fox dashed away to the front entrance of the mansion and left the group behind.

"Yay! More time to hang out with Chris and get all the attention for me!" Lucario cheered, his large tail wagging. The World Traveler lost count how many times he had groaned because of his strange reactions.

Front Entrance

Fox couldn't waste any more time alone. He had to go back and make sure his fraternal little brother would be fine hanging out with that beast. Although he had a good crowd of people looking after Chris, Fox wanted to be there as well. He thought they were trying to discover what was wrong with the mansion, because he hadn't seen the Ancient Minister anywhere yet. Whatever was happening, the vulpine needed to get updated on the plan they had in mind.

Taking out the keys for the mailbox, Fox stood in front of the mailbox and opened the rather large door of the front side to retrieve the mail. When he opened the door, all Fox found was a single letter mixed with bills for water and electricity. Putting the bills away in his jacket to give to Master Hand later, he inspected the letter to see if it was from any of his friends. "(...Crud. It's not even from Slippy,)" he thought dismayed when he read Pit's name on the letter. He made a note to deliver it to its insane owner

…

That wasn't enough of a reason for Fox to wonder why he should deliver a letter to that angel guy. He did see Pit running around like an idiot, screaming at the top of his lungs that there were voices in his head. The letter would probably get destroyed if the angel got his hands on it. Although rude to do, Fox forewent privacy with people's letters and opened it. At first glance, there was no sender information. All the letter had was a notice that it was meant for Pit. "(Let's see who this guy gets letters from...)" He read the letter to himself in his head.

Please hold this piece of paper and close your eyes for three seconds.

You-know-who

P.S.: You made me do this, Pit.

"(...)" Fox looked frustrated at no one in particular. "You mean I left Chris alone with a kissing monster for this piece of crap? What kind of lame joke in a letter is this?" The vulpine looked back at the strange verse on the letter and wondered if it was a good idea to heed the letter's order. Looking around to see if anyone was waiting for him to let his guard down, Fox saw no movement or soul. Closing his eyes for three seconds wasn't going to be enough time for anyone to strike. He had quick reflexes, after all.

So Fox shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes for three seconds...

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After the three seconds were over with, Fox opened his eyes. "Okay. Whoever made me waste three seconds and a minute to come over here and stand outside like an idiot with my eyes closed is gonna have to expla-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" His scream echoed, oddly enough.

Fox wasn't screaming because he had been attacked on the back or something like that. No. He was screaming because the setting he was standing on had altered drastically in the blink of an eye without him noticing or feeling any movement under his feet. It was no place that belonged to the Smash Mansion or even the world it resided. He was standing in the middle of a glittering hall of resplendent light reflected on the mirror-like floor and walls, with three large doors carved with elegant marks. The doors on the sides of the one in the middle looked smaller and less majestic, as there was a long, transparent, blue staircase leading to the far out middle door. The door to the left held torches with red flames at a low level with an arrangement of flowers decorating the pillar to the left, while the door to the right had torches with blue flames held high up on the wall, only mirroring the same flower arrangement on the opposite side.

Wherever he was, Fox was whisked away to an unknown sanctuary of sacred light...

?'s Sanctuary

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Solo Menu

The impression that he was standing on something that looked like was very high in the sky made him feel sick. Really, really sick. "Oh god... I...died..."

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"FREAKING AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN?!" Fox yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing and bouncing off the sanctuary.

"Geez! Who's yelling in my home?" came an echoing voice from somewhere else in the area. "Don't tell me someone let the door open and another Eggplant Wizard got in by accident again! I can't have those things around, not after Pit arrived at last! He has nightmares with those..."

Fox stopped panting when he heard the voice; the voice of a woman who sounded not too pleased with his screaming. "...Is someone around here?" Fox asked, looking around to find the source of the voice. He seemed to be the only one standing in the lonely hall. "I know you know Pit, so...I'm...a friend of his, you could say!"

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"...You know, eventually, people will get tired of these awkward ellipse pauses. I got tired myself already that I had to scroll down the page."

"Huh?" Fox had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"Sorry. Forgot you where there, person-I-don't-know. Here. Let me bless you with my presence."

Blinking, Fox saw the middle door of the sanctuary opening up very slowly, where stronger light squeezed through the small openings until a large blast of shiny light forced him to cover his eyes. As soon as he heard the doors stop moving, he tried to see who was going to come out and presumably fight him. He then heard footsteps coming from high heels, and then the doors slowly closed when the footsteps stopped moving forward into the area. With the light dimming down, the Star Fox leader uncovered his face and saw someone on the far side of the room.

She was known as the Goddess Palutena, the goddess of light and protector of the human race (of her world), seen carrying her large rod on her right hand and mirror shield on her left elbow.

"..." The goddess looked at no one in particular. "I had my introduction like two hundred chapters ago. No need to repeat a long description people already read about here," she told the reader, you, so you wouldn't wonder why the writer, me, didn't bother with a description for her.

Back to the story, Palutena had a hard time looking forward to tell who was the lonely soul waiting for her, who was wondering who she was talking to in favor of talking to him. "...Hey, I know you," Fox said. "I've seen your image whenever Pit uses his Final Smash during friendly Brawl matches."

Palutena put a hand over her eyebrows, squinting her eyes at Fox. "Ugh. I can't see a thing from afar! I need to have that laser eye surgery soon..."

"...What," was Fox's deadpan response.

The goddess started walking down the long, wide staircase, making futile attempts to see the fox clearer with her sticking out her face forward to see him. She stopped halfway through, though...and then she kept walking down until she was face-to-face with her surprise guest. "...Wait a minute. You're not Pit," Palutena said, once she gained a clear sight of Fox.

Fox resisted the urge to slap his forehead. "I think it was pretty obvious after I yelled," he said.

She chuckled. "Kidding. I knew it wasn't Pit when you yelled. But as for my eyesight, yeah, it's very much, painstakingly real," she said. "Let's see. Proper introductions are in order..." She snapped her fingers, casting a light that shone down on her to make herself look more imposing and important. "I am the Goddess Palutena. Goddess of light and protector of the human race of my world." Having said that, a powerful fanfare blared out from nowhere, causing Fox to look for the source. Ten seconds later, the fanfare stopped at her behest. "There. That should do for an introduction. Normally it lasts an hour, but I don't want to keep you waiting."

"...Uh...yeah," Fox said while wincing.

The light shining above her faded away next. "I don't need to know who you are. I pretty much know your whole background from looking up here. You're Fox McCloud, age 30, leader of the famous space mercenary band known as Star Fox, green eyes, 5'8'', legendary hero of the galaxy..."

Fox was both surprised and embarrassed. "O-oh, yeah, that's me." He stuck his chest out proudly after being addressed directly by a goddess.

Palutena smiled deviously. "You're also quite the heart breaker with girls, and I mean it the bad way. You practically keep destroying your girlfriend's heart for being sexist to her at the worst of times. Oh, also, your status as a hobo in a spaceship is as legendary as your title."

All that proud air he swallowed was farted out of his body, in a figurative sense he disliked so much. Something about the goddess was rubbing him the wrong way...

Seeing him silent, she continued to talk. "So anyway, since you ended up here with no issues and you're holding the special blessed letter of teleportation that it was supposed to reach Pit...now I learned you like to rummage through people's mail. Tsk-tsk!"

"What?" Fox snapped out from his bewildered look and looked shocked instead. "Hey, hold on! I only read this because I doubt the guy would get to read it the way he is right now! We're in a dire situation at the mansion!"

Palutena raised an eyebrow. "You know why Pit is acting like such an idiot then?" he asked.

"Uh, what, wait, what?" Fox raised an eyebrow next. "How do you know Pit is acting like an idiot?"

The goddess looked away and sighed. "I've been trying to communicate with Pit many times after that Subspace void disappeared four days ago," she said. "I got all worried when I saw the bomb blowing up in your mansion. I thought Pit had been a casualty, but...I quickly learned he got out fine."

The vulpine grimaced at her. "You've been looking at the entire event since that long and you never thought about helping us out?" he asked.

She strangely nodded with a happy expression on her face. "Master Hand told me to stay away from your affairs, unless that one time I helped Pit beat a boss. He said something about a goddess helping lesser beings feeling like cheating. He does love working you all to the ground. Does he expect you to grow muscles or what?" She made her two weapons disappear just so she could rest her right elbow on the back of her left hand to brush Fox away with the right hand, looking like some sort of stereotypical teenage girl. "I swear, the guy gets worried over nothing. Why doesn't he just take the easy way out and recruit me into your group so I can make his enemies go poof with massive beams of light from the very heavens? Well, watching you from up here doesn't get old any day of the week so it's not like I can complain for not helping. It's like watching a really good sitcom without the laugh tracks. I also taped every juicy moment into my Divine Blu-Ray!"

That was too much infringement on their privacy that Fox didn't know where to begin complaining about her carefree attitude. Wasn't she supposed to be more goddess-like and not so close to a normal gossiping person attending high school? It was a question Fox wanted to ask her. "(I was this close to lashing out to Chris for watching us from his world without our permission...but she managed to top that and genuinely admit she liked doing it?)" he thought. "Can you stop doing that? I feel perturbed now."

"Pfft. You already said that to Chris when he dropped the bomb and said we're all video game characters," she so casually said.

"W-what?! You also saw that?!" Fox said.

"Hoo yeah, I did! I'm not ashamed of my upbringing. Nintendo forever!" she cheered cheerfully, before getting into deep thought about what she said. "Hmm. The name Sakurai comes to mind more prominently..."

"...No idea who that guy is myself."

"I thought as much," the goddess said. "Anyway, my powers can't really exit our universes into the human world. It's something I lack, sadly. The powers of a mighty goddess of light only reach so far..." She put her hands down to her sides. "Anything that happens outside here is just behind the scenes material. Mind telling me all the hijinks that happen at Chris's house for me?"

"NO!" Fox responded. "T-that's just too much for you to see, and this is not the issue at hand! You just told me a moment ago you watched everything that happened at the mansion, right?"

"Yes," she said, looking blankly. "The void of the Subspace disappeared five days ago. That's when I started trying to talk to Pit. But the only responses I get from him are senseless screams with him saying there are voices in his head...which they kind of are since they're mine trying to get him to talk to me."

Fox was glad she focused on the key points now other than useless, disturbing facts. "You said the void disappeared five days ago?" he asked. She nodded. "...But...that can't be it."

"Oh, it very much can," Palutena said. "I saw it with my own eyes. For a whole day, the void was there. Then the next morning, it goes away and shows the mansion is okay. I assumed Pit and his legion of misfits defeated the guy. Why do you think it can't be it?"

Fox wondered if it was okay to talk about the facts to her. "Well... Here's the thing... Our friends in there told us they defeated Tabuu," he said. "We beat one of their generals, Duon, and then we came back to the mansion four hours later. This guy, the Ancient Minister, told us Tabuu was still alive up to the point when we fought Duon. So when we came to the mansion and saw them again, they said they beat Tabuu not too long ago, which my friends and I don't think was the case because everything in there looks fishy..."

"Hmm, yeah, in that case, no. They didn't defeat anyone," Palutena said. "Man, I got my hopes up for nothing. I thought you guys were having the epic final battle of the ages for the fate of the universes. It's a shame I can't see anything in the Subspace and the mansion right now."

"(Didn't she say she could see everything?)" Fox thought. "You can't see the Subspace from here?"

"Oh no, I can't," she said, looking irked. "I can see everything else in the universe, except for the Subspace. I get transmission issues whenever I try to go in there. But if someone like Pit can get there, I can get a clear visual of the area. And don't get me started on the mansion." She saw him looking curious. "Before, I could see anything and record it to my Divine Blu-ray. Now, the signal gets all wonky because the same Subspace matter is shrouding the entire place! All I get is static."

"...Subspace matter?" Fox looked horrified. "The mansion has Subspace matter? But there's no void there."

"But there is. Don't quote me on that," Palutena said. "I'm only assuming there's Subspace matter covering the entire mansion just because there is nothing else that has blocked me before, except, well, darkness from a god of evil. I can only see the perimeter around it, but at the center of that perimeter, everything is so blurry."

Fox looked down at his feet. "So we've been wandering inside Subspace the whole time?"

"Again, that's just my assumption. I really can't help you more than what I've seen." She pinched her chin. "Pit's in there. I want him to talk to me soon. That just went down the crapper now, though..."

The vulpine let out a slow sigh and looked seriously at her. "To be honest...I didn't think I'd find out this much just coming here by accident," he said, before looking determined. "Now...everything is so much clearer... I have to go back there and destroy the source of this problem!"

Palutena kept pinching her chin. "Didn't you tell me the others are in there, too? I thought everyone else was okay."

"Uh, yes and no. They're all acting crazy. It's not just Pit," Fox said. "And it's their insane behavior that's giving us big headaches. They want to take us down in dirty ways. Guess I'm gonna have to tell my guys what I learned from you, but... How can I do that without alerting the enemy in there?"

"I COULD give you some aid, but that Subspace matter prevents me from doing my iconic divine interventions," Palutena said, scoffing. "You're on your own. I'm not very good at this stealth thing."

"Here I thought I was going to get right into the heart of the situation," Fox said, staring long at her. "That reminds me... Why did you want to call Pit now?"

Palutena looked serious. "The Underworld Army is starting to mobilize here, and I need Pit's aid to fight them back. The fight between my army and theirs hasn't started yet, though. Still, I need him back ASAP," she said. "I know he has his hands full fighting the Subspace Army, but what point is there for him to fight if his world gets taken away behind his back? I know your group can handle things while he's busy fighting in my name." She walked closer to the vulpine and placed a hand over his forehead. Her hand was shining...

He grinned. "Oh, cool. Are you granting me divine powers?" Fox asked. "I could do with some wings and super strength. Getting a little taller would be a nice bonus."

"What are you saying? I was just about to say I trust you to bring that little guy back to me. My hand shines at random when I do this." Fox's smile went away quickly. She chuckled, stepped back, and took out a Blu-ray box with a bring white color from her back. "Also, just to prove I'm not making things up, take this with you. It's the video of the day I saw the Subspace void disappear. It took place exactly five days ago." Grimacing at the video box, the vulpine took it from her hands.

Obtained "The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest – Episode 196's Director's Cut Edition"!

A video Palutena recorded using her Divine Blu-ray (it also includes a DVD version). It shows when the Subspace void disappeared a day after it blew up.

The title of the cover for the box was absurdly long. It barely fit into the frame. Good god, Fox thought when he saw the number. "196... Holy... You have 196 episodes of these?" Fox asked.

"Naaah, that was the last episode I recorded," Palutena said. "I pulled some strings to get recordings of the first episodes to complete my collection. But as for the current events, I had my complete attention on that void for so long that recording it for 20 extra episodes was a bore. I wish to record the next episodes on hiatus once you and your group fix things down there. I should have spied on someone else, like you... Hmm, I sensing some dead energy coming from you...like you went to hell..."

Fox shuddered. "Y-yeah, no need to make me remember that," he said, making her look confused. He smiled quickly, albeit very forced. "A-anyway, I gotta go back and rejoin with my friends. They have to learn what I got from you." He put the box away. "Before I go, I have to ask something personal about you..."

Palutena looked sideways at him. "If you want a date with me, I'm letting you know I'll outlive you eventually," she teased.

He blushed. "T-that wasn't my question. My question is how come you're so...so...so..." He had difficulty trying to describe the goddess, if only because he considered the event where he could get roasted alive with extreme, powerful light. "So... How come you're so easygoing? I thought when Pit talked about you, I pictured a very important and powerful being who acted serene and benevolent... O-oh, I-I don't mean to insult you or anything, of course!"

The goddess of light rolled her eyes. "Honestly, when are people going to stop thinking the gods and goddesses are like that?" she asked annoyed. "We also have emotions and stress to go through every day. Don't go thinking we have the answers to every problem you and your friends cause down there. I like to sit back and eat pizza too."

"...Whoa," Fox muttered.

She chuckled. "There you go. Now go back down to your home and snap Pit out of his funk. I need him immediately." She pointed at the letter he was holding on to. "To go back there, close your eyes for three seconds again." Fox felt tired trying to reason with her unique behavior that he thought he was still inside that mansion full of insane people. Heeding her words, he closed his eyes for three seconds. "I'll let you know if that strange barrier is gone as soon as it goes down. I'll keep a close eye on it like always... Oh, dang! I need to prepare my Divine Blu-ray!"

…

…

…

Music stops

Front Entrance

The Star Fox leader opened his eyes quickly after the seconds passed, and he found himself staring at the large mailbox. Gasping if what he went through was a mirage or a nasty trick, he searched inside his jacket and took out the video box Palutena handed to him. The letter was also there on his left hand, but as soon as he looked at it, it faded away in a rain of glittering sand that fell down on the ground. Looking back around and seeing he was in front of the mansion again, he stared at the video box and kept it away. "Hot damn, just what the hell have I gottenmyself into lately?" he asked himself.

To his surprise, the doors of the mansion opened up inward. He turned his head to the same direction and saw Ness dragging out a reluctant Lucas by his arm to the open world. "Lucas, I can feel you trying to walk back into the house," Ness said. "Stop struggling! We're gonna have ice cream, remember?"

"B-but I-I don't w-wanna go out just y-yet!" Lucas shot back. "I-I have to fix my h-hair! Y-you didn't l-let me finish it!"

"Your pompadour is fine and I didn't drag you out of the bathroom. You came to my room willingly! We had a deal!" Ness said, until he noticed Fox looking at them from his spot. "Good afternoon, you."

"Good afternoon," Fox said, looking at Lucas trying to escape into the mansion. "Where are the two of you going?"

"This ice cream shop just opened today downtown," Ness said, pulling Lucas closer to his side. "I'm taking Lucas there to eat ice cream."

"...Why go all the way there?" Fox asked.

"'Cause there's no way I'm wasting another minute inside this mansion full of nutcases," Ness said, though Fox saw the Onett boy winking ten times in quick succession. The vulpine took it as a sign that it wasn't entirely the case to go out. "I've got to breath some fresh air, and since Lucas here will get sick if he doesn't make sure I'm safe, well, I'm gonna take him with me so he doesn't gasp for breath. As you can see, he's trying to convince me to get back inside."

"P-please!" Lucas pleaded helplessly. "H-help me, F-Fox! N-Ness is being m-mean to me!"

Looking at Ness's dull expression, Fox faked a smile to Lucas and said, "But the two of you look like you're having so much fun! You're gonna have a blast eating ice cream and freezing your brains to death. I don't wanna keep you guys here any longer so I'll be moving away." He waved at them as he started walking around the mansion from the right side to the backyard. "Have fun! Tell me what flavors there are!"

"N-n-no! D-don't leave me!" Lucas pleaded as he held out his hand to Fox's back, but a frustrated Ness pulled him back to the road and away from the mansion's imposing form. He kept protesting to Ness not to drag him away, but the boy never listened and obeyed...

When the two children were gone, however, Fox came walking back to the front entrance and took out the piece of evidence he was holding on. "Then again..." he muttered to himself before entering the mansion and heading for his room. He wanted to do something else first before meeting up with the others again.

Backyard

Dedede confirmed that the backyard of the wonderful Smash Mansion had suffered from its guests' meddling. From the very few live feed videos he watched from the Subspace Factory base, he saw four corners filled with flowers, with a wide center area for people to sit down and relax to enjoy the day and fool around. He had a good eye for judging outside decorating (and also imagining putting golden statues and anything else that resembled his kingly figure everywhere). He also had a good eye to give constructive criticism where it was due (though his criticism could be considered as flaming people mercilessly). When he stepped out from the back door and saw the backyard with his own eyes, Dedede had the urge to puke; a sentiment his group shared equally.

For the backyard hard turned into a large, muddy pig farm housing four dozens of smelly pigs.

"Eww!" He pinched his nose and looked around the sad landscape of the backyard.

While it was hard for him to make out anything in the group of oinky pigs, Dedede could tell that mud was spread out as far as the eye could see, just as how there were many pigs eating from large, rectangular containers that weren't organized and put together in order and were blindly put around the area. He did see that the benches that used to occupy the center were pushed to the edges of the large mud spot. More importantly, he found a sign that revealed the perpetrator's name who made this happen. "Toon Link's Happy Pig Farm," was what he read on a smelly, old wooden sign nearby to the left.

A wild farm boy's call made his head jerk to the right, where he saw the owner of the disgusting farm riding on top of a large black pig whose eyes were hard to see. "Heeeiho!" Toon Link said. Dedede winced when he saw the blonde's farm boy getup, complete with blue overalls on top of a green-and-white checkered shirt and a straw hat. "Welcome there, sonny! You just arrived to that there Toon Link's – me! - farm!" he greeted in a weird tone, taking off his hat to Dedede.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh..." Dedede looked back at the hideous pig farm and back to the farmer boy. "What did ya to this here place?"

"I made my dream come true, of course!" Toon Link said, pushing his overalls with his thumbs. "That whacky army's gone forevah, and I have all the frickin' time in the world to do THIS!"

The king stared at the blind-looking pig Toon Link was riding on. "...You made a muddy pig farm?" he asked.

"Aren't ya the blind one? Yeah, I did this!" Toon Link said with a hearty yet annoying laugh. "C'mon! Git in there and enjoy the oinks!" He pointed at a row of ten pigs, all of the pigs looking exactly the same. "Lemme show you my beauties! The first one is called Brittany, and behind her is the shy Alph. Behind Alph is my adorable little Charlotte, and oh, there's my darlin' Tetra and her boyfriend Groose! Let's not forget little Fara and stupid James, walkin' 'round with their happy pals Ozma, Barinade, and Bob." He slapped the pig he was riding on. "And this guy down here mah rear is my favorite: Ganon! Say oink!"

"Oink," oinked the pig.

Dedede wasted no time in getting away from the demented swordsman-turned-farm boy and his pigs, walking in a long circle by walking to the left. Staying away from the pigs, Dedede spotted a few familiar faces sitting on a bench and looking very indifferent about the pigs overrunning the backyard. In the order he saw them sitting, it was Morgan, Chris, the baby Riolu on top of Chris's lap, Lucario, Pichu, and Snivy. "I'm tellin' ya, these guys are nuts," Dedede said as he approached the group.

"I have heard that sentence or similar words way too many times, I don't need to keep hearing them again," Pichu said. "This sucks."

"See the bright side," Lucario said. "We will never run out of pork with these pigs."

"This isn't supposed to be a pig farm. It used to be a nice environment for relaxation and peace," Chris said, being seen pinching Riolu's nose after the baby wasn't having a nice time pinching it for long periods of time. "Now it's a stinky pig farm! I'll have to walk away from here if I want Riolu to play somewhere safe and...nose-friendly!"

Lucario looked at him. "Don't kids like to play in the mud? Maybe you should let Riolu have a go at it," he suggested.

"Never," Chris said. "Can't you see that face he's making? He's clearly disgusted with the pig smell here."

"That's poop smell, Chris," Lucario corrected.

"Whatever! It's the same thing I was trying to refer to!" He petted Riolu's head a few times, making the baby bark happily his way. "He's a growing boy, anyway. He has to be raised in a nice place with fresh air and nice people, like me."

"I concur!" Morgan said, her nose pinched between her fingers. "Babies must breath fresh air and be fed with the correct food. A home full with love and fun is the ideal place to raise babies... Urk..." She grabbed her head in pain. "Oww... I was trying to remember more about my past with my father... Was I raised in a good environment?"

The horrid smell was very effective against Grass-types, as proven by Snivy never letting go of her hands covering her nose. The weird creatures smelling their butts and eating voraciously inside those food containers were making her sick. "Remind me why do we have to sit in this hell again?" she asked Pichu. The Electric-type looked at her and pointed at Lucario. "Oh right... That reason isn't holding up to me anymore. Nowhere did it say we were going to get to this stinky place. I am a Grass-type, and my type doesn't like places like this. We require fresh air to stay healthy!"

"I know that very well," Pichu said. "Just hold on a little longer."

Snivy frowned in disgust and turned her gaze at the strange creatures, where she spotted some kind of limb...a human leg showing from behind a line of pigs. "Call me crazy if you want, but is that a human leg over there behind those things?"

Pichu looked to the direction she was pointing at and blinked. "U-uh, that is a human leg..." he trailed off. "Hey, guys! T-there's a human leg over there!"

The others looked to the general direction and spotted the leg as well, looking generally surprised and shocked about the implications of finding a human leg between a bunch of pigs. "...Should we start screaming and run away at the sheer horror of seeing a leg mixed with those pigs?" Morgan asked, looking genuinely concerned about the docile-looking pigs not minding them.

"T-there's no need to fear," Chris said, staring at the back of the leg and making Riolu look away. "I don't see any blood on any part of that leg... Wait a second..."

The line of pigs covering the rest of the body moved away slowly. Screams were had from nearly everyone but Lucario once they noticed that the leg's owner was very much covered in mud and outright naked in the open air between the stinky pigs. Because of the sheer shock of the scene wasn't suitable for the baby Riolu, Chris covered the baby's eyes and turned him around to face his clothes. While Dedede's jaw was frozen in place, about four Waddle Dee peeked out from his left sleeve and saw the scene. When they got a clear view of it, they put up dreamy looks on their eyes and fainted, falling down on the ground and not bothering to wake up from their dazzled looks.

"MOTHER OF GOD!" Chris yelled, turning red on his face and trying very hard to look away.

The owner of the body was none other than Samus, whose alluring and slender body was covered in mud from head to toe. Her status as being quite the eye candy was cemented when her out-lookers saw her lying down on the mud. With her back facing them, she looked over her right shoulder with an uninterested look. "Hmm? Oh, hey... You caught me having a relaxing mud bath, guys...and girl," she said in a tone that tried to sound sexy.

"M-my eyes!" Pichu shrieked, covering them and shaking his head. The color of his face was matching the color of his small cheeks. "W-why do humans have to lack fur on their bodies?! T-this is beyond embarrassing to see!"

"No, please, no more!" Morgan pleaded, covering her face. "I get overly jealous seeing such a sexy body that I probably won't get before my golden years end! Make it stop!"

Dedede had no words to emote his reaction.

"Come now, everyone," Lucario said with a knowing smile. "Us Pokémon are very used to not wearing clothes. Why won't you humans get used to seeing your kind naked like they came into the world?"

"Y-you demented idiot! It's not the same thing for us!" Chris scolded, finally having the courage to look away from the naked figure and keeping a steady hand covering Riolu's eyes. "Oh my god, Samus! What are you doing out here naked?!"

Samus stretched her arms and turned her naked body around to face them. Fortunately, none of the flustered ones tried to look, now that a set of breasts was there. "You found me during my beauty time..." she trailed off. "Mud is the perfect way to make my skin smoother and clean."

"B-but the way you're doing it is not the right way with all the pigs walking around!" Pichu said. "You should be taking a mud bath inside a pool of mud instead! What makes you think having pigs around is ideal?!"

The story was not going bother explaining was she was doing in the mud now as it would raise the rating several levels. "Hey. I was desperate, you know? I got to make some sacrifices...so here I am, surrounded by these cute pigs."

Just in case the naked woman wasn't enough for them to walk away, someone else came into the scene with a small herd of Pikmin covering his private parts using the leaves on their heads. It was Olimar, who was only wearing his helmet without his space suit. "Greetings, my friends!" Olimar greeted. "Ah, I see you haven't embraced the wonders of discarding your clothes yet! Do it like Samus did! It tickles you when it's so windy out here. Hee hee hee..."

Pichu averted his eyes from Samus to look at Olimar. He was thankful the Pikmin were smart enough to block his little naked body. "I didn't see you two naked at the party yesterday! How come you're naked now?" he asked.

"Oh, Samus and I were being formal that one time," Olimar said. "Our sleek skin would've been too much for everyone to see, especially Samus's. She's like the queen of skin."

"Come over, you little naughty man..." Samus said in a sexy, alluring tone.

"Oh boy!"

The shock of the scene was too much to bear when they heard a splashing sound in the mud. Making a hasty effort, Chris stood up from his seat and started walking the other way with Riolu in his arms. The others quickly caught on with his departure that they also started leaving one by one, albeit Dedede stood there frozen, blushing madly and fiercely at the playful woman and the little man playing in the mud.

To see the famous bounty hunter reduced to some kind of failed playboy bunny girl and the family space man not having a single shred of dignity left was inconceivable. The World Traveler felt so much sorry for the two, adding up to the other people whose minds had gone insane since he was kidnapped. Once the group of people was far away from the scene, they uncovered their eyes and sighed, sitting on a bench to the east side of the pig farm. "That was the most unpleasant, embarrassing sight I've ever seen in my life..." Chris muttered.

"Really? Don't people your age get all excited when they see women like that?" Lucario asked.

"D-don't you dare compare me to them! I am NOT like them at all!" Chris scolded. "(How many times have I scolded this guy in this one day alone?)"

"I'm also embarrassed and overly jealous of that amazing sexy body..." Morgan was heard lamenting. "Hmm... Everyone had their guards down when they stared at her... That makes for a nice strategy to use in the battlefield. I wonder if...?"

"Morgan, I implore you, don't," the World Traveler said annoyed. "No one would do that unless they were really insane and suicidal..."

Pichu said, "Samus looks like she would..."

"Y-yes, which is why I don't want to talk about that anymore." The teen looked up to the cloudy sky and tried to disperse the stress in his mind. Sadly, not even looking up into the sky was a good option, because once he turned his head to the left and saw the edge of the mansion's roof, he spotted a figure standing proudly, overlooking the area up north. "Is there someone up there?" They looked up and saw the figure together.

Pichu squinted his eyes and leaned forward. "It looks like...Captain Falcon?"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The startling, loud yell made them hop on their seats in surprise. Although it was hard for them to get a clear view on Captain Falcon, they could visibly see him starting doing poses with his body. "Uh, okay, he's doing poses and screaming at the top of his lungs," Morgan said.

More screams to the sky came as soon as they saw him ripping his suit off and tossing said suit aside to their direction. The suit fell on top of an unaware pig. "SHOW ME YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUR MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!" he screamed, flexing his biceps.

"Aww, god," Pichu and Chris said at the same time, somehow very aware what the captain was going to do next. And in truth, they were precisely right. The racing captain started using his taunts and flexing every single pose there was for anyone in the world to see. He was unaware only two people were watching his flex-off show.

"His body! It reeks of pure hardcore manliness!" Lucario said, looking very appreciative and amazed. "Those muscles! They bulge out like basketballs! That voice! It can shake the very earth and create earthquakes! I wish I was that ripped myself!"

"I can't take my eyes off him!" Morgan said next, looking exactly the same as the other guy. "Granted, it's pretty hard for me to see anything from this angle and distance, but that voice just tingles my mind with a clear picture of his godly body! Wow, that is some pure testosterone! It is perfect to make tactics about such display of raw strength!"

"...You two can't be serious, can you?" Pichu asked with a dull look.

Chris stole one glance at his Riolu. The baby was trying very hard to see who that guy was on top of the mansion, but his screams were startling him in a bad way. Covering the baby's ears, Chris looked at the others. "I-I had absolutely enough of this backyard. The smell makes you want to pinch your nose, Samus naked on the mud makes you want to look away, and Captain Falcon screaming like an idiot makes you want to cover your ears. Those are the three most important senses and they're useless here! I want to go back inside..."

Lucario opened his mouth, which Chris clearly saw.

"Try to find a good reason to be outside here and I will pull those appendages with no mercy."

Lucario closed his mouth.

His general disgust for the backyard heard by the others, they agree completely and stood back up, ready to go back inside into the mansion in hopes to forget what they saw in the backyard. Insulted by their departure, Toon Link blocked their way while riding on the same pig. "Hey hey hey! You leavin' soon from this here farm?" he asked, clearly looking peeved.

"Well, for good reasons!" Pichu said, pinching his nose. "This farm stinks! I hate it here!"

"I'll be danged! You pussies ain't never understandin' the great outdoors with pigs!" He slapped the pig. "C'mon, Ganon! Ride me 'way from 'ese pig haters!" The Ganon pig oinked and started walking rather slowly into the pig herd, with Toon Link looking at them with extreme disgust, until the pig stopped and he fell into the crowd of pigs.

"I hope you're feeling better now that he called us pig haters," Lucario said disappointed.

"Oh, suck it, you," Chris muttered.

Danganronpa – Beautiful Dead

Sixth Floor's Hallway

"This is starting to tire me out immensely in my mind," the minister muttered.

"Tell me about it..." Mr. G&W trailed off.

The two Smashers were still following the hidden trail of blood on the red carpet. Because the red carpet covered the center of each hallway and also went up the stairs, they had a clear lead about where Pikachu had been taken to. The drops of blood weren't numerous, though the trail was there, taking the two up the floors and sometimes going back down for no reason. At first, the minister thought someone was playing tricks on them and making them waste valuable time in their investigation to discourage them from going any further, but the oddity of the situation caused the Ancient Minister to be more persistent in his search for the truth. The trail of blood was definitely going up.

"How long will we have to keep going around aimlessly?" Mr. G&W asked.

"Until we give up in this. It will never happen," the minister replied. "This is starting to look like a test for endurance to see who can last longer in this game of cat and mouse."

"I'm ready to say meow and go for the nearest bowl with milk..."

"Please don't."

"Aww..."

The trail of blood seemed to go to the same direction where the two saw Snake blocking the path to the next floor. Noting that, the minister grunted. "If we keep following the trail, we'll meet up with Snake again. Let's pray we don't have to stop our senseless search by him of all people..."

"Aw, shucks. That's not going to be good. We've been doing this for a whole hour now! Besides, I don't like that guy because he badmouthed us the whole time we talked," Mr. G&W said. "Don't we have other leads?"

"As it stands...no," the minister regretfully said. "Most of the places we have to investigate happen to be on the upper floors. And if this trail leads there and Snake is blocking the path, that can only mean they're hiding a lot of controversial facts from us."

"B-but why...?" Mr. G&W asked. "W-why do they have to be so dark about it? I thought we were good pals..."

The minister didn't want to answer a question he wasn't sure about answering. Instead, he decided to look up from the small droplets of blood stained on the red carpet to see the eventual meeting with the insufferable Snake...

Snake was nowhere to be found.

The box that used to warn people from going upstairs was gone. No one else was blocking the way anymore. Confirming his doubts, the minister saw the trail going up the stairs to the unexplored seventh floor. "H-he's gone!" Mr. G&W confirmed when he saw the mercenary's absence. "Snake is gone!" They stopped walking in front of the unguarded set of stairs. Looking to the sides of the hallway for any other person secretly watching them, the minister then looked back at the trail, blood stains hidden in the untouched red carpet. "This is our chance to go up and find answers!"

Something was wrong about the sudden discovery... "Why would Snake suddenly leave his post?" the minister wondered. "He was so adamant about keeping people from going upstairs."

Mr. G&W shuddered. "Y-you think this is a trap?"

"It could be... If we can be alert enough for the horrors awaiting us upstairs, we can try to fight back any traps they set. Once we go upstairs, anyone who spots us will no doubt try to take us out with violence."

"W-wait! H-how can you tell violence is an option?" Mr. G&W asked, shaking on his feet.

"Look. I'm not so certain. But since I am hated by everyone here, they'd rather destroy me than letting me live in here trying to seek redemption," the Ancient Minister said. "I can tell when I'm not wanted by a majority of people. The secrets they are withholding from us are so important to them that they'll try to justify their violence against me... With you by my side, it's possible we can avoid danger... Are you with me or not?" He stared at his partner, who then fell into silence.

"...I'm with you all the way!" Mr. G&W said, raising a flag. "I don't like anybody in here anymore! I only like you, Chris, and the rest of us who came back here!"

The minister nodded and started heading upstairs with his determined partner. "Brace yourself for what's to come beyond these steps..."

First Floor's Hallway

Afternoon was fast approaching, and the group distracting Lucario from going anywhere else was going to run out of places to go. The minister needed all the time he could use to get to the bottom of the mystery, so bringing their unwanted companion closer to the upper floors was a bad idea. Luckily, the World Traveler noticed that Riolu looked impatient, wanting to eat something soon. They would have to return to the kitchen and have their next meal.

As they proceeded through the hallway, Pichu was seen fiddling with the strange Poké Ball Morgan found. "I feel like we should see what's inside this..." Pichu wondered.

Chris looked to his right at him. "Pichu, we don't know what Pokémon is in there. What if it's an angry Raikou or an Electrode? Are you going to take any chances?" he asked.

Pichu was clearly scared about the possibility since he gulped. "I-It won't be so bad, will it?" he asked. "I-I mean, Lucario's here to protect us if anything goes wrong..." At the mention of this, Lucario stuck his chest out proudly in the background.

"(I'm not really sure if he will protect us...)" Chris thought. "R-right. He'll protect us..."

"So...should I go ahead and see what's inside?" Pichu asked. "We can recall the Pokémon quickly."

"Fine, fine. Go ahead."

Smiling, Pichu tossed the sphere up and released the monster trapped inside the sphere. Seeing the light show, Snivy looked perturbed. How much time was the poor creature encapsulated in there? It must have been wondering when its trainer was going to take it out to breath fresh air. She figured to ask the Pokémon for pointers to know more about the process. When the light dimmed out and revealed the Pokémon trapped inside, she nodded to herself and walked forward to get answers.

However, her calm reaction wasn't the same as everyone else. To their great surprise, the Pokémon that came out from the sphere was not a Pokémon they knew beforehand, not belonging to a single generation they knew about. Their surprised reactions were also met with shock at the somewhat-imposing form of the 4'11'' tall Pokémon. The size of the Pokémon was only measured while it was seen from the front and not on all of its four blue legs, but the coral helmet with a large, sharp spike on its head is what scared them the most. They would get even more scared if they knew that the coral sheaths on the front legs were holding scimitars for slashing its foes. With a sharp gaze under the coral helmet, its large white mustache divided into four portions, and its white beard, the Pokémon roared upon having been called out.

Then it got very much surprised itself when it saw the group of weirdos standing in front of it.

"H-holy crap!" Chris said, not looking at Riolu gasping and cowering in fear.

Morgan, somehow used to life-and-death situations, put up a tough face and drew her Iron Sword from her coat. She stepped forward to face the monster. "Don't fear! We outnumber the beast!" she said.

Upon seeing the weapon she took out, the Pokémon looked sharp, stood on two feet, gained two extra feet easily, towered over its assailants, and took out from its left sheath its scimitar (affectionately referred to as a seamitar). In retaliation, the beast growled and, when its weapon grew longer within an aquatic glow to make it far sharper than it looked originally, slashed and cut Morgan's Iron Sword in half.

The group saw the half of the sword falling and hitting the floor near a startled Snivy. "...That went much better in my head than this," Morgan said in her defense to her dismayed team members. When the monster growled again, she backed away to their side and kept their distance with it.

Pichu was clutching the sphere so tightly with him that it didn't look like he was going to use it. "Lucario, punch it in the gut or something!" Chris ordered.

"N-no, you know I don't like fighting foes bigger than I am!" Lucario shot back.

"YOU NEVER SAID THAT BEFORE!" the World Traveler complained, hearing another growl from the pissed beast.

What the human side didn't know was that the Pokémon was actually talking to them. The growls were loud demands that Pichu just realized were questions. "Where's my trainer?!" the Pokémon demanded loudly to his assailants. "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CUT YOU TO RIBBONS!"

"W-WAIT!" Pichu stopped the creature once it started advancing towards them with its sharp seamitar ready to slice them. He jumped down Chris's shoulder and stood next to the terrified Snivy. He was ready to recall the Pokémon back to his Poké Ball if things would get worse. "W-we're not bad people!"

The formidable Pokémon looked down at the smaller one. "Where have you taken her?!" he demanded. "Tell me!"

"I-I don't know who you're talking about!" Pichu shrieked. He asked himself if he could really take the creature down. "M-my friend here just found your Poké Ball dropped on the floor inside our mansion!"

"What kind of lie is that?!" the Pokémon asked. "You stole me from her! Are you with Team Plasma?! I'll let you know I make their puny little Pokémon cower in fear when they see me!"

"(Oh, I wonder why? It's surely not because you stand up with a glowing weapon and look down on them... Wait, this isn't the time to emulate Pikachu!)" Pichu thought. "P-please, listen to me! We're good guys! W-we can help you reunite with your trainer! J-just don't hurt us!"

"You're pissing me off with every second! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" To Pichu's shock, the large Pokémon pushed his sphere off his small hands with the tip of his seamitar and pulled it back to his side to prevent the strangers from imprisoning him. He was no doubt going to opt for violence to get answers.

The words didn't seem to work with the mad Pokémon. Noticing how everyone wasn't moving out of fear, Chris gulped and handed Riolu over to Morgan. The tactician-in-training gasped when she realized she was holding the frightened baby and seeing his caretaker taking steps forward with open palms to the murderous Pokémon. The Pokémon gasped and backed off from the scared human, putting his weapon to his side to strike if he saw his victim do something suspicious. For now, the Pokémon held his ground as he saw the gulping teen get closer and closer to his side... "E-easy there..." Chris whispered loudly enough to let the Pokémon know. "Eeeeeeasy there..."

"S-stay back!" the Pokémon warned, his language meaning nothing to Chris. "I-I'll stab you in the chest if you keep getting closer!" What the Pokémon didn't let Chris or any other human know was that it would never stab innocent people and kill them outright. His honor as a samurai was so righteous that defeating opponents was enough for him to walk away. He only used his formidable appearance and his weapons to plant seeds of fright, though he was also capable of retaliating when he needed to do it. The human approaching him looked a little puny and innocent, but he couldn't let his guard down. The human could be one of those stupid Team Plasma grunts who caused his beloved trainer so much trouble for trying to stop their malevolent plans in taking Pokémon away from people...but the human didn't wear any of those silly outfits that made every grunt look identical to the next one.

"You're...going to be...just fine..." Chris tried to sooth the Pokémon as he kept getting closer and closer. He had passed Snivy and Pichu, standing five feet away from the frightened Pokémon. "There... I won't hurt you...and you won't hurt me, right? It's a fair trade..."

"..." The Pokémon gulped and kept a tighter grip on his weapon when Chris got to two feet of proximity to his face. The two were now staring at one another with scared looks... The human stopped moving and analyzed the situation, until he slowly moved his hands to the Pokémon's chin. Thinking it would be too rude to strike the scared trainer, the Pokémon's grip on his weapon got tighter and tighter...until Chris's hands started rubbing his bearded chin with care. "..."

"There... You don't understand me well...so...tell me if you like this instead," Chris muttered. "(H-holy crap, I managed to get closer to this guy without getting stabbed...)"

"..." To Chris's surprise, the Pokémon made a small smile and enjoyed the rubbing in his chin. Feeling at peace, the Pokémon sheathed his sword and slowly and carefully went back to standing on all fours, looking smaller as a result of his sudden change in size. Before he knew it, Chris had tamed the Pokémon successfully, his hands playfully touching the large creature's face. "Ahh... Yeeeeeaaahhh..." he growled in pleasure.

Hearing everyone sigh, Chris sighed next and got closer to the formerly mad Pokémon. "Phew... I-I did it..." he breathed out, noticing the happy look and smiling a bit. "You're not so bad after all. You just were confused about what was happening, weren't you?" The Pokémon didn't know what Chris just said, until Pichu regained his composure and translated it to him. He nodded at Chris. "I knew it... Uh, Pichu, can you try talking to it and see what's wrong?"

"O-on it," Pichu said. "H-hey, big guy! Now that you've calmed down, can you tell me who are you? I'll tell you everything you need to now."

The Pokémon looked down at Pichu while Chris kept rubbing its chin. "The name's Samurott, the Formidable Pokémon!" he said, proud of his name and title. "I am my fair Hilda's loyal and first Pokémon since I was a little adorable Oshawott!" He gasped. "I-I, ah, didn't mean to say adorable, no! I-I meant to say formidable Oshawott!"

"...Uh, yeah. Let's go with that," Pichu said. "So you're saying your trainer... Hilda, was it? Did she come in here?"

Samurott looked around at the strange hallway. "I dunno!" he said, looking very concerned about the whereabouts of his trainer. "I was pretty sure she was at that village full of people. Now... You really don't know where she is?"

"Um, how does she look like?"

"Uh, well, she looks a little too developed for a girl her age, wears pretty short shorts, wears a cap, wears clothes, is quite adventurous just like me..."

The picture in his mind didn't match anyone with that description. "Sorry... I don't know her," Pichu said, and the Samurott was starting to look very worried. "D-don't you worry! W-we'll find her wherever she is!"

The Samurott shuddered. "Oh no, please don't tell me something bad happened to her!" he said. "T-trainers like her sometimes don't make it in their journeys a-and they...they..." He started to sniff.

"H-hey, he's sniffing!" Chris said, rubbing the Samurott's chin a little more to calm him down. "Pichu, what's going on with him?" Pichu explained the whole story to his team. "This Samurott lost his trainer..."

"Yes... Someone named Hilda," Pichu said. "Do you know someone with that name?"

The teen looked at the Samurott looking back at him with some hope in his eyes. "N-no, I don't know anyone with that name... But wait, how come his Poké Ball was found in here of all places?" he asked.

"Well... The thing is... Samurott doesn't know why," Pichu said. "You sure no one with that name got into the mansion while you were here?"

"I'm sure of it, yes," Chris said. "Wouldn't that mean that Hilda person got in here when the Subspace disappeared?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Chris," Lucario said. "No one named Hilda got in here." Because the fact came from the dubious member of the group, none of them took his word very seriously. There was no other way to think she didn't get into their humble abode if one of her Pokémon was found in the hallways.

"Uh..." Morgan stepped forward with Riolu staring at the long whiskers of the Samurott. "Guys, I told you I found that ball on the fourth floor, right? Wouldn't that Hilda girl be on that floor?"

"But that doesn't make much sense," Chris said. "She should've been seen around the place by now. How come she hasn't shown up yet?"

Lucario looked serious. "This is starting to annoy me, you know. This guy's ball probably got in here through a series of strange events that are very difficult to explain. Why don't you just let him go and look for his trainer himself? I'm sure the invisible bond between him and his trainer is strong enough to guide him."

"...That...doesn't make much sense either," the teen said, feeling that his Lucario wanted Samurott gone from his sight. He looked back at Samurott, seeing his depressed face. The World Traveler felt some sympathy for the Formidable Pokémon, given that they both were separated from their dear friend in different yet similar senses. He tapped the Samurott's cheek to get his attention. "It'll be okay," he told him calmly. "I'll find your trainer very soon and everything will be alright again. She must be somewhere in the mansion, waiting for you to go to her side. I know how it feels losing your best friend in a dangerous place... The two of us aren't that different." Perhaps the Samurott didn't understand many of his words because he didn't look any less sad. Pulling back his hands, Chris saw the long mustache and started brushing it with his fingers carefully. The Samurott was seen opening his mouth with glee, closing his eyes in peace. "Oh... You like it when people brush your mustache?"

"Oh yeah... That's the stuff..." the Samurott said.

"I'll take that as a yes," Chris said smiling. The Samurott then growled in pleasure and nudged his face to the trainer's chest in a playful push. "H-hey, stop it. You're going to push me down." The Samurott didn't stop there and kept trying to push him back, but Chris held his ground and rubbed the Pokémon's chin a little more. "There, there... Heheh... You're actually pretty cool to me."

Riolu reached out towards the Samurott, wanting to go touch the large mustache too. Morgan listened to his plea and approached the Pokémon carefully until she was standing on the other side opposite to Chris. One of the whiskers poked Riolu's head, making him slap it and see it wiggle. The baby Riolu got more curious and slapped the whisker some more, until he found himself laughing and having so much fun with the soft hair. With so much attention, Samurott started to forget about his stress. He considered the strangers as his new friends, and he even wanted them to meet his trainer very soon, wherever she was looking for him...

"Hey, you," Snivy called out to the Samurott. "Tell me something. I need to know... How does it feel being trapped inside one of those Poké Balls?"

"Hmm, well... It feels weird," Samurott said. "You don't really get to see much when you're inside there, you know?"

"I see, I see..." she noted in her mind. "Don't you feel sad to be trapped in there sometimes?"

"I can't say I'm that sad," he said. "Normally, when I'm out and there are passing trainers, they do nothing but challenge my trainer Hilda to battles. We always come out on top every time, though, so it's not that bad! But it kinda gets old when nothing else happens to her. She does take me out from my ball when she needs me or my other pals."

"To fight and keep fighting?"

"Nah, she does take me out to feed me and fool around in a body of water," Samurott said happily. "Inside a Poké Ball, you get to relax all the time! You never worry about wild Pokémon trying to hurt you over food, and besides, with a trainer, you grow stronger and you're looked after aaaaaaaaaaaall the time. Look at me! I'm an awesome Samurott and this guy brushing my mustache thinks so too!" He stole one glance from Chris. "...You think he's a mustache brushing master? He's not half bad."

Her cynical view towards trainers was diminishing the more she let him talk more. "B-but, don't you wish you were out more from that ball?" she asked.

"Hmm. I don't know. I told you trainers are waaaaay too eager to fight me when I'm out. Eh, it's better than when I was living in the wild and wild Pokémon didn't care about killing others over food... But if I went back to the wild, I'd totally rule over those bullies."

Snivy's left eye twitched. "If you ask me, I'd love to be outside more..."

"Uh... Why are you asking me these questions, anyway?" he asked. "Aren't you this guy's trainer?"

She looked flustered at the idea. "W-what in the...?! N-no, he's not my trainer! I'm just allowed to be with him to explore the human world without being forced to fight!"

"Ah, I see... One of those curious types." He snickered. "Their only weakness is their own curiosity! It's like those dumb Dragon-types."

Then a startling roar made everyone stop what they were doing, looking alarmed at the deep tone of voice. The group looked behind and saw a super pissed Lucario. "L-Lucario!" Chris said. "W-what's wrong? Why did you just roar like that?"

"It's nothing, you idiot! Leave me alone and keep having fun with that guy! You like him so very much and your new Riolu over me!" Lucario said very disgusted. Still growling through his gritted fangs, the jealous Pokémon started walking up ahead and gave Samurott a warning glare before going away, leaving them in the dust and confused at his sudden behavior.

"Wow. That was some angry, super jealous-sounding roar..." Morgan noted with amazement. The Riolu now wanted to go back with Chris after being scared by the deafening roar.

Recalling their mission, Pichu said, "Hey, we need to stay with him at all times! We can't let him go like this!"

"Y-you're right. We have to catch up to him!" Chris agreed as he took Riolu back to his arms. He started running ahead with Morgan following him.

The other three Pokémon meanwhile exchanged glances with one another. "What's that guy's problem?" Samurott asked. "Did I do something wrong...besides...well, trying to horribly maim you earlier?"

"You just looked awesome in Chris's eyes," Pichu said. "His Lucario got very jealous because of you. He's been like that for the whole day so don't feel guilty."

"Oh... And wait, were you two speaking that language humans use? I couldn't understand that much when you started talking with the humans," Samurott said as he looked impressed. "...Can you teach me how to talk like that? It'll make talking with Hilda much easier."

"Later, big guy," Pichu said as he went for Samurott's Poké Ball beside him. "Do you mind going back into your ball? We'll take you out once we find your trainer. You have my word we'll find her."

Samurott nodded, looking over his right shoulder at the people disappearing after going right around the corner of the hallway to the main lobby. "Sure. I trust you now. I can stomp on you if you lie to me, anyway."

"(Don't count it, you...)" Pichu thought. He aimed the ball to the Samurott, and the Formidable Pokémon got shrouded in light before being compressed into a single orb that went back into the Poké Ball. He and Snivy were left alone. "Snivy, come on! We have to catch up to them!" he told her, taking a lead start until she decided to follow him. She felt that something bad was going to happen very soon since her spine shook slightly...

Main Lobby

"Lucario!" Chris shouted as he spotted Lucario stopping in his tracks right before he could enter the lobby area. He and Morgan caught up with him, not noticing the malevolent smirk on his face. "Y-you didn't have to walk off like that! That was a little rude of you!"

Morgan was about to say something to support Chris's opinion until her eyes wandered beyond the Aura Pokémon's back. She gasped and pointed forward. "C-Chris, was the lobby like this before?" she asked.

The World Traveler took his eyes off from his Pokémon and looked forward as well. "...What...in the...?"

Danganronpa – Mr. Monokuma's Tutoring

The lobby was a place of relaxation, just as the backyard once was. In the small time Chris and his group had avoided contact with it, there was a big drastic change to the overall setting... Before, there used to be a large space of nothing but couches and sofas occupying the right side of the lobby. Now, something else had happened during their brief absence. It mainly had to do with the fact that there was a large circle made up of many wooden witness stands – around forty in total and as seen in foreign courtrooms – occupying the center. Under the circle of stands was a large circular red carpet with yellow edges. Overlooking the circle was a gaudy and tall throne where someone was seen sitting and overlooking the whole area of the stands.

"Why are all those stands there?" Morgan asked. "I didn't see anyone setting those up before!"

Staring into space, Chris suddenly felt his right wrist robbed of its privacy by Lucario. Gasping, Chris looked up at him and saw the nasty sideways glare. "W-what are you doing?!" Chris asked, only for Lucario to drag his trainer to the area with the stands. The World Traveler tried to pry himself away from him, but even though he found it oddly easy to swing his hand around from the grip, he was ultimately forced to take a spot on the second-to-last stand going clockwise near the throne. He wanted to back off immediately as soon as Lucario pushed him to the stand...but he then felt the sound of steel closing right below his feet...

His feet were chained to the wooden stand. He just noticed the cold chains that each stand had on the lower portions, set to automatically ensnare their prey once they got close enough

"W-what in the hell is going on here?!" Chris asked, hugging his Riolu for dear life. He saw the grinning Lucario not taking his eyes from his face as he took the stand to his right, getting his feet cuffed as well. "Lucario, answer me this instant! I demand an answer!"

"Silence in my beloved courtroom!"

The high-pitched voice made Chris turn his face to the throne sitting in the middle of the hallway path. He saw none other than Jigglypuff wearing a judge hair wig and carrying a small gavel on her right hand. "J-Jigglypuff? W-what's happening here?"

Jigglypuff looked disgusted at Chris. "You have been turned in for making a big crime, you heinous criminal!" she said, making the teen grimace. "But I shall not give you any details yet! We shall wait for everyone to come here and hear you out!"

"B-big crime?!" Chris said in utter shock. "What are you even talking abou-?!"

"I SAID SILENCE!" Jigglypuff yelled, smacking the gavel on a wooden pedestal to her right and on top of the throne's right arm. "Be quiet forever till I give you the order to speak!"

"What the hell is going on now? Chris!"

Chris and Lucario turned to the left to see a bewildered Fox walking down the stairs from the second floor to the lobby. He saw Chris chained to the stand and gasped, quickly running down and taking the stand to Chris's left without ever noticing the automatic lock on his feet. "F-Fox!" Chris said.

"H-hey, what the...?!" Fox looked down at his new pair of cuffs and then back at Chris. "Chris, care to tell me what these stands are doing here in the first place?"

"Silence, you stinky fox!" Jigglypuff called out, letting her presence be known to Fox. "Wait for everyone to get here to get your questions answered! For now, know that you and your little band are being accused for a crime!"

"What?!" Fox was quick to glare.

Morgan came running to their side and almost walked to the stand next to Fox's side. "Guys, is everything alright? Nothing is looking so good to you now..." she trailed off, wondering if this was something common for them to see. To her dismay, someone pushed her into the next stand, getting her cuffs on her feet and keeping her from running away. "Huh?!" She looked behind her and saw Marth...and he didn't look very pleased to see them given he decided to wear a lot of makeup that was running his black eye-shadow because he seemed to have cried.

"You disgusting, bad boys and girl are gonna get it now!" Marth wept pathetically. "You're the reason why Ike left me behind to rot in this stupid mansion! I-I'll see you get your punishment!"

"Are you on drugs or something, you idiot?!" Fox asked. "Is this the reason why we're being held hostage here?!"

"SILENCE, I SAID!" the judge demanded.

Things were starting to look so bad for the team with their feet cuffed to the wooden stands. The only ones who weren't cuffed yet were Pichu and Snivy...or so Chris thought until he saw DK carrying both struggling Pokémon to the stands next to Morgan. Pichu and Snivy were put down on tall chairs to let them see over their spots to the other stands surrounding, but those same chairs also cuffed their feet into them, following by those chairs getting cuffed on their legs as well. "N-no! Why is this happening?!" Pichu shrieked.

DK so rudely shoved his face into him. "BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN A VERY BAD BOY, AND YOU'RE GONNA GET IT NOW!" he said, adding his scream with a jungle cry that made Pichu and Snivy cover their ears. The crazed primate then started beating his chest and walked away from the group to take a stand on the opposite side. He also got his feet cuffed to the wooden stand he took, though he didn't care as long as he showed them his insane smile.

Feeling very angry at the display, Chris glared. "You leave him alone and stop showing that idiotic smile!" he yelled at DK, only for the ape to laugh loudly and obnoxiously.

Snivy's cuffs didn't cuff her small feet. Her throat got cuffed instead and she couldn't take it off with her vines. "Pichu! Just what is going on here? You didn't tell me this was going to happen!" she said with clear anger in her voice.

Pichu also got cuffed to the chair by the throat. He was starting to shed tears. "I-I don't know what's going on anymooooooooooore!" he sobbed loudly until Jigglypuff's gavel made a loud noise that forced him to stop crying.

Soon enough, a wailing Dedede was dragged out by Snake and Roy to the stand next to Snivy. The mercenary then retreated into his box and walked slowly to the other side of the stands. When Dedede not only got his feet cuffed but also his sleeves to prevent Waddle Dees from pouring out, he gulped and looked at his team in the same predicament. "We don't know anything either, if that's what you're going to ask," Fox said. "These guys suddenly went insane."

"Insane, insane, insane," Lucario repeated in a mocking tone. "It's ALL you can think about your friends, huh? It's about time we settled matters once and for all with you!"

"Settle what now?" Dedede questioned, trying to take off the cuffs. "Don't put me into this! I'm innocent!"

"I don't know whether to agree or disagree in that one..." Pichu muttered.

Finally, the last Smasher that was dragged to take the stand next to Dedede was a whining Wario, whom had spent the entire time remodeling his room to outclass Dedede's room. "Why are you dragging me into this weird event?!" he demanded soon after his feet were cuffed. "Oh no! Someone sued my company?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Relax! If you can..." Pichu said. "Nobody is suing you for anything."

"If anything, you're ALL being sued in a sense," Snake said, not minding the fact his box hideout was cuffed to the stand with him inside. "I can't wait for this to start..."

The sane Smashers exchanged worried glances and decided to wait while the glares piled up with every other insane Smasher that came to join the event and get their feet cuffed willingly. Eventually, everyone had gathered to take the opposite side of the stands to glare at the assumed "culprits" of the crime. Clockwise, the order of the positions was Lucario, Chris, Fox, Morgan, Pichu, Snivy, Dedede, Wario, three empty stands, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, DK, Diddy, Link and Zelda sharing one stand together and still making out, Toon Link on top of a pig, Kirby, Meta Knight, two empty stands, Samus (thankfully fully clothed), Olimar (still naked and with Pikmin covering his naked body), Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, two more empty stands, Marth, Roy, Popo, Nana, Pit, and another empty stand a very slow Sonic was trying to reach from the kitchen. There were thirteen more stands empty in case extra people would come forth, giving a grand total of fifty stands in all.

"Ahem!" the judge Jigglypuff cleared her throat once all witnesses gathered when Sonic finally took his spot. "We are here gathered today to begin the trial against Pichu and his team of misfits."

The sane Smashers did notice there were people missing from the event. Ness, the Ancient Minister, and Mr. G&W were missing, while on the insane side C. Falcon, Lucas, Falco, and Wolf were absent as well. "Wait. I get there's a trial going on, but there's people yet to be here," Fox noted.

Jigglypuff smiled deviously. "C. Falcon is taking care of ROB and Mr. Game & Watch, Lucas is going to bring Ness back here any time soon, and both Falco and Wolf are injured at the infirmary so they'll be missing this. But not to worry. My dear friend Squirtle is going to record everything for them to see." They saw Squirtle aiming his video camera lens at them. "We will have to begin without them, sadly."

Chris felt and looked at Riolu shivering. He was tugging onto his mage robe, scared of what was happening. On the other hand, the Emanation Pokémon didn't know that Chris's troubled aura was rubbing on to him. "Jigglypuff, you better tell us what's happening now! This is beyond disgraceful!" he said, to which the insane Smashers laughed out loud in unison.

"Disgraceful? DISGRACEFUL, YOU SAY?!" She pointed her gavel at him. "It's not as disgraceful as what you and your BFFs have done to us!"

"Whatever did we do to ya?!" Dedede asked.

They heard Peach sniffing, holding on to a familiar pink jacket between her hands. "You... You think we're insane... A-and you refuse to adapt to your new home..." she sniffed softly in an overly dramatic way. Gradually, the pink jacket between her hands was being torn in half. "Why would you think we're insane? We're friends..." the jacket snapped in half just as how her temperament did with the furious look no one knew she had, causing Snivy to gulp and imagine herself still wearing that jacket while being cut in half by force, "AREN'T WE?!"

Fox glared. "You're putting us into this trial just because of our opinions? What kind of BS is this? This isn't fair at all!" he complained.

"What's not fair here is how you keep complaining," Luigi said, putting up a tough look that frightened his brother. "We got so sick about you trying to change things back to normal. You deserve to be punished...severely for that."

"S-severely?!" Pichu shrieked.

Lucario cracked his fists. "The punishment for your unruly behavior is death," he announced, making the sane group gasp. "We don't need the likes of you to be soiling the mansion's grounds anymore. It's much better that you just...disappear forever." He smirked. "Just like flies poking at your face."

Morgan shook her head. "B-but we aren't flies! We want to be friends with you!" she defended.

"Yes, sure!" Lucario glared at his trainer, the latter shaking in fear at his gaze. "How do you explain Chris trying to push me away at every chance I get to make him understand he should adapt to this new lifestyle? I WON'T stand for this shit anymore... If the likes of him can't be redeemed, the ultimate solution is to kill them."

Chris could have frozen on the spot and remain silent staring at that nasty glare, but with Riolu covering his face on his chest, the teen got enough courage to keep talking back. "Are you listening to yourself?" Chris asked, seeing Lucario narrow his glare. "What good is there to kill us instead of just letting us go from this place?"

"To put it simply," Mewtwo began, "we do not want you to ruin our perfect lifestyle by informing others outside here. If word got out, that would be it for us, and my research to find the truth of the universe would be for naught. It is stupid to try to stop us, you see." He opened a notebook and looked down at it. "Coincidentally, you have become an obstacle during my pursuit of knowledge. Like all the flies I have crushed with my mind, my friends and I must crush you to deliver massive damage on your weak points."

Wario's jaw dropped. "M-massive damage?! Holy Molly! You lot aren't that nice like I thought you were!" he said.

Only the Star Fox leader rationalized everything that had happened so far. With the odds stacked against them, he slammed his right fist on the stand and tried to persuade his insane companions to hear them out. "Everyone here is crazy! Nobody was like this before!" He saw everyone outside his group groan in annoyance. "And since this is a trial...why don't you prove it?"

Jigglypuff grimaced and fixed her wig. "Come again, criminal?" she asked.

Fox turned to her. "It's clear to me neither side agrees with the other. We're just disagreeing all the time without getting anywhere. This is getting real old real fast."

She spun her gavel. "Actually, we were just about to start the execution time," she said. "This trial setup is here just to make things...flashier, you could say."

Fox frowned. "It's a waste if you ask me," he said. "We have everything to start a real trial to see which side is right and which side is in the wrong. All day long, I've heard people complain about us and us complain about them. Of course nobody was going to like the other person... But what both sides have in common is their side of the story."

"True, true..."

"So why don't we put things to rest doing it the right way?" Fox asked, narrowing his eyes. "Killing us right now looks...desperate... I thought something like this would happen much later instead. Why do you suddenly want to terminate us? Something is very fishy and none of you are willing to tell us."

"That there stinky fox is makin' us look like those dang-wrongto bad guys from bad movies!" Toon Link spoke. "Make 'im stop with DEATH!"

"See what I mean?" Fox said. "Even Toon Link wants to kill us and we hardly talked with the guy! Why don't you come clean about this desperate chance to settle everything?"

"It's not like we c-can't start throwing punches at you..." Mario shyly said.

"And it's not like we can't break off these stupid cuffs and strike back harder," Fox pointed out. "In the end, no group can finish off the other. But if you REALLY want to get somewhere, why don't you try shooting down our logic with facts?" He grinned. "Or...god help me, are you that scared to lose to us?" Much to his dismay, everyone growled angrily at the weak taunt.

"ORDER!" Jigglypuff said, smacking her gavel on her throne. "Fox, you do bring an interesting point. It would make your punishment feel all the more gratifying to us." She smiled happily.

"Oh, but what would you do if you lose?" Morgan asked out of nowhere. "Are you gonna suck up your pride and let us go free? I don't think you will do that, but it's worth asking, right?"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr..." Jigglypuff started to sweat. "I-I suppose...we could...arrange that kind of victory prize for you... But you WILL listen to everything my friends and I will have to say, okay? Agree to that and we will conduct a real trial!"

Chris looked at the big circle of witness stands. "Judicial trials aren't like this, though..." he pointed out.

The singer-turned-judge chuckled. "I made up the rules in my head already! I'm so smart," she rejoiced. "The way we're going to do things will be like this. My group is going to present the facts to your group, and your job is to debunk our facts using your flawed logic and the little evidence you have in your hands right now. It's so simple, we're gonna win against you so easily without even trying! I love it! And Red loves it too!"

They looked over at Red, who was more concerned about holding up a Helix Fossil over his head and waiting for something spectacular to happen.

Jigglypuff's voice echoed. "Red, there is a time and place for everything, but not now." Regardless, Red kept going at it. "Poor little boy..." She looked at the criminals. "Very well, then! I have explained the rules of this trial that I shall call as the Smash Trial! The objective of this trial is to see which group tells the true side of the story of...whatever the criminals think happened here during their absence. I'm very confident there's no need to explain again what happened, but I want to watch them squirm as they try to get into their little heads the truth." Her group snickered at them. "Does anyone have anything else to say before we begin?"

"LET'S DO IT!" came DK's primal call as he beat his chest furiously, with Diddy hopping erratically on his stand.

Fox looked at the others as their enemies started yelling in agreement. "Guys, this is it... This is the way we're going to use to get to the bottom of this," he said. "Are you okay with this?"

Pichu sniffed but then put up a tough look. "I-I...will do it!" he said. "We have to work together more than ever! It's the only way!"

Dedede grumbled. "Oh, whatever. Let's get this done now," he said. "Gimme a good reason to pummel on Kirby and I'll listen gladly!"

Morgan raised her fists. "I'll have the team's back all the way till the end. No, BEYOND the end even!" she said. "My brain needs experience out of this trial! I can't let this opportunity go to waste!"

Wario was busy gold-digging. "Eh..." he simply said and flung the gold on top of an unaware Luigi's cap.

"(I'm forced to watch against my will now...)" Snivy thought with dismay in her tone. "(Might as well see how Pichu takes me out of this one.)"

Chris clutched Riolu hard and nodded at Fox. "Anything to stop this nonsense for good..." he trailed off, unsure if they were going to make it through the trial for their lives. With his Riolu barking softly at him, the World Traveler forced a serious look. "...No matter what happens during this trial...I will fight with everything I've got..."

Lucario snickered. "How cute, Chris. Don't worry about what will happen you specifically." His tail wagged. "At the end of this trial, you will become my sex slave."

There was a long beat of silence for the group of sane Smashers as they stared in utter horror at the Aura Pokémon's bold claim. They then stared at Chris, whom looked about to scream his head off and put his lungs out of their misery at any moment... That was when the baby Riolu forced a glare at Lucario and stuck his tongue out. Albeit the baby didn't understand what the older Pokémon had said, he did know now that he was being a big meanie to Chris since yesterday. Riolu wanted to defend his trainer from the bully, shocking Chris and Lucario at the same time. "Well..." Chris chuckled at Lucario, "this Riolu stole the words from my mouth. I agree wholeheartedly with him."

Riolu shivered and covered his face when Lucario started growling angrily at him. "Y-you think this is funny, you little runt?! You want to make fun o-?!"

Already fed up with the annoying attitude and the unneeded dissing on the innocent baby, Chris's right hand instinctively reached for Lucario's long snout and pulled him to his eye level, the Aura Pokémon looking scared of the sudden move. "DO NOT...MESS...WITH THE BABY..." Chris warned, emphasizing nearly every word that came from his mouth. "Keep messing with him any longer, and I WILL grab one of those wrist spikes you have and stick them up your butt for a whole minute!"

Lucario blinked and pulled off when Chris let go of him. "You...replaced me then..." he growled. "You replaced me with him..."

Chris was ready to shed tears, but he was stubborn in keeping the tough look. The person standing next to him was no longer the same person he used to know since he could remember. This person was there to try to break him apart mentally and kick him while he was down, but he wasn't going to have any of it for much longer. "I will never replace the Lucario I know... You...you're not him!" he said. "You're the one trying to take his spot! I will defend his memory until he comes back from wherever he is so you GO AWAY from my life!"

The Lucario looked mildly impressed. "Wow... That sounds...deep...in a stupid way!" Lucario shot back, pointing a finger at Chris that the teen pushed away quickly. "Let's have it your way, then! Let's not delay this trial!"

Jigglypuff banged her gavel three times and pointed at it to the entire circle of witnesses. "Order in the court!" she announced. "The Smash Trial will now...BEGIN!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Boy, oh boy..." Stiltzkin said. "It's time for this chain of events to end in the next chapter, titled Smash Trial: Return to Normality! Time to save your progress!"

Overwriting File...

~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris (Lvl. 103) – Fox (Lvl. 114) – Ness (Lvl. 112) – Pichu (Lvl. 110)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 95) – King Dedede (Lvl. 64) – Wario (Lvl. 64)

Mr. G&W (Lvl. 95) – Morgan (Lvl. 119) – Snivy (Lvl. 10) – Riolu (Lvl. 1)

Smash Coins: 100,451

All I have to say about the outcome of this chapter is... Good luck trying to figure out what the hell's going on in the Smash Mansion!

It will be time for everything to be explained and resolved. Whether the next chapter solves your doubts or not, I can't say here. This will probably be the final chapter of this small-yet-everlasting saga. Use that head of yours to wonder where the minister's investigation is going to lead him to.

...Oh, and one last thing. I had originally planned to have a long struggle take place in the next chapter, but I saw this other method more fitting to do to mix things up. Be ready for the Class Trial in the... Uh, I mean, Smash Trial in the next installment of the story. People are probably going to guess how that trial is going to be set up...but let me tell you not all of the elements you expect to see will be seen here because it's just kind of hard to put everything into words.

I encourage everyone to review, or else it will be punishment time...

Toadette's Ice Cream Shop

Ness was pretty sure the name Toadette wasn't there when he first saw the ice cream shop's banner on the building, though he had a good guess the establishment was under her management given that the predominant colors used on her attire were everywhere inside the pink cozy building. Near the entrance was a horizontal line of ten tables, the entrance being in the middle of them all and on the pink-and-white checkered floor. Each table was a bring pink color with four brown seats each. Facing the long row of tables and seats was the main counter, equipped with a freezer inside the pristine transparent glass displaying nearly every kind of ice cream flavor and combination there was in the world: from the common and rare lemon flavor to the more complicated strawberry with mango and kiwi flavor. Behind said counter was Toadette herself, standing behind a cash register and in front of another counter showing the several types of cones to use to serve customers. The shop also specialized in giving milkshakes, banana splits, and other common food like nachos with cheese.

It looked like the Toad gal had opened her establishment too soon, as she was the only worker managing everything at the shop. In truth, she was waiting for the other clerks to come in and help her out, but they were taking a lot of time after she opened an hour ago. She thought it was because it was starting to rain outside that it discouraged both the clerks and the customers. She was lucky Ness and a frightened Lucas were the first ones to come.

"I thought you also ran a restaurant?" Ness asked her. He was seen standing in front of the tall counter while grabbing Lucas's right wrist with his left hand and using the other one to hold his cone with ice cream chocolate topped with melon flavor and a cherry.

"I have way too many jobs," Toadette said. "I've also got a long line of dutiful workers at the ready. They're running the Wonder Restaurant while I'm trying to kick this business up to its feet. Once I'm done here, I'll shall open...a hot spring for the Winter season! Be sure to tell Princess Peach and Mario about it. I can sure use their help to spread the word. You know, them being famous and all..." She looked at the twitching Lucas and then back to Ness. "By the way, how are those two doing? I haven't seen them around in a long time."

Ness looked away. "Uh, they're doing okay, I guess..." he trailed off.

Toadette looked bored. "Let me guess. Princess Peach was kidnapped for the umpteenth time by Bowser," she guessed. "Again."

He looked back at her and shook his head. "Oh no, she's at the mansion, frolicking about and whatnot," he said. "Mario's also there."

"Oh, I see," Toadette said. "She should go visit Toadsworth. I heard he can't stop banging his head against the wall worrying about the princess. Though I know he'll try to convince her to stay at the castle like always. Sometimes I think he's like her dad." She looked back at the twitching Lucas. "Say, what's wrong with your friend? Did he get brain freeze already?"

Ness stared at Lucas, but he knew better than Toadette that Lucas had been shaking to the sides the moment the two boys stepped halfway through the path to the hill overlooking the mansion grounds. After that checkpoint was passed, Ness had no intention to turn back. He wanted to see what was going to happen to Lucas if he was away from the mansion. He was betting on the blond's head blowing up to discover he was a robot in disguise. Furthermore, Lucas's pleas to go back to the mansion seized to come and hit Ness's ears. That was a big plus.

"His doggy died," Ness lied to the Toad gal. "He's taking this really bad. I took him here to eat ice cream and get some air."

"He looks like he's ready to vomit," Toadette said, watching the simple vanilla ice cream cone shaking to the sides with him. "I'm prepared for this kind of problem! I'll go for a barfing bag on the back." She jumped down the platform she used to look beyond the tall counter and left the two behind to go to the back of the establishment.

With her gone and no one else in sight, Ness stared at Lucas. "We're not going to the mansion soon until you fess up what's wrong with everyone, Lucas," he said, narrowing his eyes and licking his ice cream. "You look ready to have a meltdown...somehow. But unluckily for you, you're talking to the king who has seen every strange thing there is in the book. From wild dogs to floating brains. You twitching like this is nothing new to me."

"BRBRBELMNDKSNVJSENKNVDKNBDKSNKSD..." Lucas responded.

"Yeah, sorry. Incoherent and unpronounceable speech is also in the book," Ness said, noticing that Lucas was moving a lot more on his feet and the ice cream holding on to the cone for its dear frozen life. "How about you come clean and tell me everything you know. Or...are you even Lucas?" He inched his face closer to the blond. "The worst I'll do to you is fling you across the street and reveal to the world the fake you are."

"NVKRBISFRIROLFEWN#V %YY% Y$W^U&LOLKKNAERNNNLMAOI$KW#BYIBS!"

Everything came full circle when Lucas stopped twitching, staring off into space with his mouth wide open. He then leaned forward a little too much and fell down unconscious on the floor, without minding the fact his face fell on top of the ice cream cone and crushed it under its weight. Ness winced slightly as the ice cream was pushed to the sides of the blond's face, though he had no intention to help Lucas stand up. "...Yeah, still not that freaky-looking," Ness said, looking bored and licking his ice cream. "You'll have to do better than that to surprise me."

Then a shining red orb with light blue shards floating around it was expelled from the top of the blond's head and rolled all the way to the wall next to the entrance. Ness blinked five times and saw the strange seed bouncing off slightly...and it looked like it was trying to roll and get back into Lucas's head. Using common sense, Ness simply walked to the sphere, took out his favorite bat, and smashed the dubious object into a million pieces that spread out and faded away from existence.

With his deed done, Ness put the bat away and looked back at Lucas. "...Still not surprised here," he muttered as he went over to Lucas and flipped his body around with his PSI power. "The old brainwashing-seed-in-the-head trick is also overused in popular culture."

"Hm-hmmmmmmm..." Ness heard Lucas mumbling, shaking his face when he felt the cold vanilla mask mixed with cone bits. He used a hand to wipe the ice cream mask away to open up his eyes and stare at the pink ceiling with lights shining down on him. "...Heaven...?" he muttered weakly.

Ness's face got in the way, looking upside-down from Lucas's perspective. "Nope. Heaven isn't an ice cream shop," he told the blond. "That being said, welcome back to the real world, Lucas."

"Oh..." said Lucas, until the sheer shock of seeing a dead boy hit him five seconds later. "YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He sat up and looked around the new setting he found himself in. Gasping for breath, he looked behind him and saw Ness simply waving his free hand at him. "Ne-Ne-Ness?!"

"Just Ness will do," Ness said with a sigh.

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu...?!" Lucas grabbed his head with both hands and tried to process what was going on with the world. "I-I was...s-supposed to be trapped in the Subspace... A-and y-you! Y-you were su-supposed to be... H-how did this...?!"

Ness smiled at no one in particular and said with confidence, "Checkmate."

Toadette then came back from the back of the shop and put a special barfing bag on the counter, which was just a simple brown paper bag. When she saw the mess on her pink-and-white checkered floor, she sighed and walked down her platform. "And now I gotta go for the mop..." she hissed. "Worst. Opening. Day. Ever."

Things are REEEEEEALLY coming full circle starting now...
*Chapter 217*: Smash Trial: Return to Normality

Thank you for tuning in for more despair goodness from your lovable Monok... Oh wait, wrong universe.

From a guy/gal who didn't bother making an account: It seems this was the Ace Attorney Investigations chapter, with the facts sort of replacing the Logic. And the next chapter will be like the trial portion of the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney games. Can't wait for it.

Also, Thanks for letting Palutena ignore the fourth wall. Will Pit be doing that after he regains his sences?

From me: Eh, it was really not that close to an AAI gameplay way, though this chapter mashes up AA and Danganronpa elements into one.

I can't say if Pit will like to destroy the fourth wall like Palutena. Who knows if he'll be back to normal?

From Ckbrothers: Uh...I can't even. 10/10? Jeez what an odd chapter. I assume that this is similar to the escape the factory arc due to clues and such, so this is a homage to phoenix wright: ace attorney or whatever. Meh.

From me: Oh yes, it's more like a homage to that series.

From V gamer: C#*k tease for palutena kid icarus uprise arc and a dangan ronpa arc... check yeah... also palutena personality change from before n I'm going to assume that u put palutena was there for a kid citrus arc and THE OFFICIAL BEGINNING OF THE INTRODUCTION OF SMASH BROS 4 ... for the story
Ness is a genius point blank and simple
I officially begin chrisxlucario shipping... not really plz no
Now I'm guessing the story will be unfolded for now it going to be good and bad... especially what the reaction all the smashes will have after hearing what they did
And to end it of...soren is a b#/*h ugh I hate him now more than ever

From me: Whether I'm making a KI:U arc or not remains to be seen, and like I said before, it's just impossible for me to make a Danganronpa arc without killing Smashers off, and I know how people reacted so strongly to that the last time it happened.

You know what? This chapter will hold all the answers. Just don't skip to the end yet. Make it feel like a surprise! I can't guarantee the surprise will be good or bad now...

From fanfictionfan: What the hell just happened? It's like everything i know about this fanfic is going in the opposite direction. Anyways nice chapter, I can't wait for the next one. And on a completely different note, this was updated on my birthday! :D

From me: Inside my head are nasty ideas that can turn your thinking around... Good for you and your birthday!

From TheSoraKid: Hi Chris!

It seems this weird little chapter and the next chapter will be hinting at an upcoming arc.

Can you give us a hint of what it could be?

From me: *Cheerfully and singing* No!

From BobTheCat240501: Anyway, while I was reading some reviews, someone mentioned Danga rompa, so I searched up the just mentioned and I feel immediately creeped out by this chapter. Not 'what the hell' creeped out but as in 'that's scary, I'm out of here' creeped out. But I'm guessing the execution is getting possesed by the orb thingies.

From me: While I can reveal nobody will die here, I can't say for sure if they'll be okay at the end of this long struggle. It's not really like Danganronpa, though it borrows some elements from it.

From DecepticonFan: Yeah...I have no idea what's going on in these latest chapters except that everyone is behaving VERY odd. Perhaps the Ancient Minister is behind it all? I'll certainly see in the next chapter.

From me: Hmm, maybe the guy is behind it all...

From GenericPsuedonym: So this turned into a Danganronpa arc and a potential Kid Icarus Uprising arc is hinted at. Nice! I loved just how insane the insane Smashers are. They are either flanderized versions of themselves, stupider versions, complete opposites, or turned gay. It's like you based their insane personalities on poorly written fan fictions (sorry, don't know how to say it in a nicer way, but hopefully you get what I mean).

Now on to the next... wait. Hold on... Why is there no next button? There's no reason for it to not exist unless... I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO CATCH UP? Wow! I started reading this around July 3. I never thought I could actually read this entire thing! So, let me say this. Comparing your early chapters with later ones, you have improved a lot! Keep up good work!

From me: Not a Danganronpa arc, but more like a pseudo-Danganronpa arc. Oh, and I rather describe the insane Smashers as something out of a crack fic... Oh no. I MADE A CRACK FIC ARC!

Congrats for catching up! I think it's inhuman to catch up to the whole thing in a whole month (or 27 days). But then again, this fic is inhumanly long...

Well, something in me just clicked when this chapter was written. Part of me wanted to break this into two parts, but then the other said I should release it as a big one to make this look like a fitting end for the saga. In the end, the other part won, so...

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS MASSIVE, BREAKING THE 100-PAGE MARK. DO NOT READ IT ALL IN ONE GO UNLESS YOU'RE UP TO IT.

AND IN CASE YOU FORGET TO WRITE ABOUT A FEW DETAILS IN YOUR REVIEWS, MAKE SURE YOU WRITE MAJOR POINTS IN A NOTE OR SOMETHING.

So yeah, this chapter is huge. I think it's bigger than the final chapter of the Dark Gaia Saga.

Whether the insanity of the mansion will remain or the sane Smashers will triumph and have to deal with it forever, I can't really say because technically it's a spoiler until you hit that crucial answer in this big chapter. So go forth into this big territory, enjoy the insanity of it all, and review.

Disclaimer: Lord Helix can't help you here. YOUR ONLY HELP IS THROUGH LORD ACC.

Chapter 217: Smash Trial: Return to Normality

~ Smash Mansion ~

Court Lobby

After Jigglypuff's order was heard by everyone standing on the witness stands, the cloudy sky outside started pouring rain down. It truly looked like a bad omen just happened, with two teams of people fighting for supremacy using only their words and facts to overthrow the other team and bring them to their gruesome demise. With these heavy thoughts in mind, the sane Smashers tried to keep their emotions in check, unlike how the insane Smashers acted like obnoxious children when the attention wasn't on them.

SMASH TRIAL

BEGINS

ALL RISE

"Let's begin this trial with the most blatantly obvious event these criminals are trying so hard to debunk," Jigglypuff said. "My friends here know what event I'm talking about, don't you?"

"It's the event when we defeated Tabuu, of course," Mewtwo said with a confident grin, looking down at his notebook. "According to my notes, we defeated Tabuu five hours before our former friends showed up and kept asking irrelevant questions yesterday. Everyone agrees with me?" His team nodded with happy looks.

Pichu was the first one to raise an objection to Mewtwo. "I object to that!" he piped up, receiving glares from everyone on the opposite team. "There is no way you defeated Tabuu!"

"Aww, its the wittle waby whining wecause he widn't wight with wus?" DK lamely said, his lips sticking out grossly.

"N-no, I'm not whining because I didn't get to fight Tabuu!" Pichu said, looking insulted at his treatment. "I just know it was impossible for that to happen!"

The judge banged her gavel once on her throne. "Before this turns into a needless discussion started by these criminals, I want you all to act civil and start discussing the facts about when we defeated Tabuu!" she ordered, making the point even clearer that she was rooting for her own team over the others. "Guys, try to be...gentle to them, please? Their fragile little minds won't stand against your almighty words." She caused her team to chuckle.

Morgan narrowed her eyes. "I know when I'm being unfairly insulted, you guys," she told everyone.

Annoyed by their reactions, Fox said, "Let's get on with this so we get somewhere instead of having to watch people act so overly confident about the outcome of this trial... Oh wait. Actually, give us some time to prepare so we don't look like idiots."

Jigglypuff scoffed. "Very well. My side will prepare as well." Although she said that, the only things her said did was fool around on their stands doing their corrupted, signature actions. They looked very confident about winning the trial against the opposite team.

"So what's the plan, eh?" Wario asked. "What's the plan to avoid getting our butts sued with death?"

"Well, I've only seen a few trials in my life..." Fox admitted sheepishly. "It's about presenting evidence and get your defendant a Not Guilty verdict, right?"

Chris held back the fact he played visual novels with court trials as the center point. Technically, it was his only source of knowing how trials worked, even if the system presented in those games didn't resemble the one used in real life. "You're right on that..." Chris said. "For a trial to work, you need witnesses, facts, and evidence to work things out, but..."

"Our witnesses here won't believe anythin' we say and we can't believe anything they say!" Dedede argued. "That's the problem! They'll believe their side more than ours because it's more convenient!"

"Not unless we can prove our side happened..." Morgan said, earning the stares from her teammates. "Uh, I was thinking logically, you know. If we want them to believe us, shouldn't we use evidence to break their line of logic apart? They're the villains of this story, so it's only fitting we strike back hard with stuff!"

"Yes, but, we don't have any evidence with us!" Pichu said with concern. "We can only argue with what they say..." None of them knew that one of their teammates had evidence to use against their enemies, though mentioning that now would alert the enemy side about it.

"Our only option right now is to listen to their side and see what's wrong with it," Fox said. "Everything they say might be wrong. It's obvious they're bound to slip up on something crucial we can strike down..."

"Agreed..." Chris muttered, feeling Lucario's nasty glare hitting his face. Clutching Riolu on his arms, he nodded. "...Does anybody else have anything else to say? There isn't much to say, is there?"

"No, I think we're good! Key words: I THINK," Dedede said, pointing at Jigglypuff. "Hey, second pink puffball! We're ready here to get this over with!"

The Singing Pokémon was seen clearing her throat as if preparing herself to sing loudly. "You heard the penguin with a nasty hat!" Jigglypuff said, making her team stop fooling around on their stands. "Start giving specific details about Tabuu's defeat on our hands!"

Danganronpa – Discussion -BREAK-

When Tabuu was defeated...

The sane Smashers waited for the other team to make their move. They didn't have to wait long before Mario spoke up, shyly pushing himself up to stand taller on his spot. "Ta-Tabuu was defeated yesterday. I remember t-that day very well..." he said.

"He was defeated roughly five hours before you showed up," Mewtwo added with an uninterested look on his eyes.

"After he was defeated," Diddy began, "the Subspace imploded and the mansion went back to normal!"

There was a moment of silence that followed. None of the insane Smashers was going to talk more about the event. "...Those are all the specific details you can give us?" Chris asked.

"Yes, you insolent fool," Mewtwo said. "There is nothing else worth mentioning. Can you try to break our logic apart now? Do I need to remind you that you're taking on the smartest Pokémon there is?"

"I thought I was the smartest..." muttered Lucario.

Jigglypuff cleared her throat loudly. "The criminals should stop babbling on the heroes. Criminals, you can hear the facts once more as many times as you like. You are allowed to press on them to get even more information from each statement if you wish... Pfft, like you could get anything else from them," she said.

"Don't think we're going to fail this one. I know we can debunk your line of logic with what we know that you don't know," Fox said. "Whatever, then. We'll have to work this out one by one."

"Oh, and did I forget to mention you only have ten minutes to break our flawless logic apart?" Jigglypuff casually mentioned. "If you fail to prove anything on those ten minutes wasting time on our facts, you'll be automatically attacked by everyone here and the trial will end."

"...So what?!" Dedede shouted. "We're in deep trouble as is! Bring it, not-Kirby!" His team sighed with multiple frowns.

"You heard the penguin! BEGIN DISCUSSING AWAY! Start repeating what you said just now!"

Mario, Mewtwo, and Diddy nodded. The shy plumber started talking again. "Ta-Tabuu was defeated yesterday. I remember t-that day very well..." he repeated.

Unsure whether to raise his hand or not to tell everyone he was going to talk, Chris did so. "Mario, uh, are you sure you remember everything very well?" he asked.

Mario gulped and shrunk himself on his stand. "A-ah, Luigi! He's taking it out on me!" he said.

"What? I am not!" Chris said. "I'm just asking you an innocent question!"

"B-but the way you said it... It sounded so...so hostile... L-like a hostile jerk!"

The World Traveler blinked in shock. He kept his head in the game to avoid proving a point that wasn't even true. "H-hostile jerk? I-I wasn't even being a jerk to you! We never even talked until today!" he pointed out.

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Mario, he's just trying to get answers from you. Give them to him so he stops annoying you. Remember that he can't put two-and-four together," he said. Chris lamented dearly how the shift in personalities looked way worse than the original ones on the two brothers.

The red plumber stood up and gulped again. "Y-yes... U-uh... It-it was a spectacle of flashy lights and explosions everywhere..." he trailed off. "H-he also tossed enemies...a-and Galleom(!)...at us while we fought him. H-he was very, very, very desperate fighting us..."

Dedede raised an eyebrow and tried to cross his cuffed hands. "You don't say?" he asked. "Ya ain't didn't say nothin' about butterfly man tossing enemies."

Sonic raised his hand. "Oh yeah, he totally called his slaves to attack us!" he said. "It made the battle all the more epically awesome! Yeah, I made that word up just now." He snickered. "But when the final blow was delivered, all of the remaining enemies disappeared! That Galleom dude blew up like a nuke... It was like they were connected to lame-o Tabuu's life force. That helped us clear the mess quickly and faster than the speed of sound, or me!"

"(Hmm...)" Fox narrowed his eyes and took note of the fact. He wanted to press every statement to get everything out of them first, however. "It sure was convenient those enemies disappeared at the same time you took down Tabuu, wasn't it?" he quipped.

"Oh yeah," Snake said. "Saved me tons of ammo... Then again, I don't waste any ammo with the hand's magic at work."

Mario raised his hand. "T-that's all I can say about the battle... It's going to be hard for me to remember everything else. Luigi and the princess were valiantly defending my butt a-all the time..." he trailed off. "I-I wish I was like them."

"(But you were much better than they are right now,)" Chris thought to himself.

"Alright, his point was made clear!" Jigglypuff said. "Continue with the next statement!"

Mewtwo nodded and repeated what he said before. "He was defeated roughly five hours before you showed up," he said.

Morgan raised her hand next. "Wow. You really know the time when you defeated the Big Bad and how much time it took for us to get here?" she asked.

Mewtwo grinned and chuckled darkly. A golden watch suddenly floated up from his position. "I always take the passage of time in consideration with my research, girl," he boasted. "Losing a single second by not paying attention can jeopardize the foundation of my hypothesis. It was exactly five hours that transpired between Tabuu's defeat and when the doors to this mansion opened by your hands. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Hmm, you do look like you're very sure about that," the tactician-in-training said in awe before bowing down to him. "I underestimated your words, floating white humanoid cat."

The Psychic-type pinched his chin. "Ahh, you show potential to become an adequate assistant for me, given how you recognize my superiority and my brain." He held out his hand at her. "The position is open. Do you wish to accept my proposal?"

Morgan grimaced. "Can you make me float over the floor all the time like you do?"

"I don't see why not."

"Deal!"

"MORGAN!" her team reprimanded her choice with negative looks.

She sighed. "Sorry. I'm already part of this team," she said.

"Perhaps we can make some adjustments for you at the end of this trial," Mewtwo said.

"Really?"

"Morgan," her team said annoyed.

"S-so, Mewtwo! You said you were sure about the time," Pichu said.

"I don't need to repeat what has been said already," Mewtwo said with a scoff. "The truth of the matter is that Tabuu was defeated five hours before you showed up. It's that plain and simple."

Chris frowned. "I don't think we'll get more information out of him," he said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Jigglypuff said. "Continue with the next statement! Diddy, you're up!"

Diddy nodded enthusiastically. "After he was defeated," Diddy began, "the Subspace imploded and the mansion went back to normal!"

Dedede raised his cuffed hands and rubbed his chin with both. "The Subspace went kaput and it just pushed everything out like nothing?" he wondered. "We ain't seen somethin' like that happenin' before."

"Oh, but it did happen!" Diddy said with a thumb up. "The hole on the wall outside got repaired with Master Hand's help before he and his brother left, but that's not important to talk about. What's important here is that defeating Tabuu made the entire Subspace disappear and push everything that was inside out of it!"

Having played the game during his free time, Chris asked, "So what about the Subspace Factory? Did it get pushed out as well?"

"Who knows about that factory?" Ivysaur said, holding his Shaymin cross on top of his head. "Our saint god Shaymin tells me we should not bother finding out about what the spawn of the devil Darkrai created using his nefarious tools of the underworld."

"...Tabuu and Darkrai are unrelated to each other, you know," Pichu said duly.

"HEATHEN! DO NOT CONTRADICT THE WORD OF THE ALMIGHTY SHAYMIN!" Ivysaur demanded as he pointed his precious tool to Pichu. "It is only believable that Tabuu and Darkrai are in cahoots! Both belong to the forces of evil that wish to murder my god Shaymin! ...And I suppose Grass-type Arceus." The team didn't bother to contradict the unnecessary facts. "Ah-ha! You don't deny it! I AM IN THE RIGHT BECAUSE OF YOU, LORD SHAYMIN!"

The judge wiped her forehead and banged her gavel twice. "Well, that sounds about it, criminals," she told the group. "What do you wish to do now? It doesn't seem you have any objections."

The team of sane Smashers exchanged glances. "All of those statements are wrong..." Chris muttered. "Where do we even start attacking? They probably only want evidence that contradicts their line of logic, don't they?"

"Uh, yeah," Dedede said. "Bet they won't listen to us argue and argue without dah proof to back us up! Hey! Does anyone here have any evidence?!" He gulped and sweated bullets. "P-please, you gotta have some! Y-you worked hard till we got to this mess!"

Murmurs were exchanged between the sane Smashers while their enemies chuckled at their loss of words. However, Fox told Jigglypuff, "Care for them to repeat the same statements again?"

"Oh, so you want to hear everything again," Jigglypuff said. "Very well! My friends, please satisfy this mutt's wishes. It'll make the victory even sweeter for us." The sane Smashers stared at Fox, wondering what he was going to do. None of them were prepared to contradict anything, but the vulpine looked very sure...

Mario gulped and said, "Ta-Tabuu was defeated yesterday. I remember t-that day very well..."

The vulpine's team looked at him nodding his head. "Next..." Fox said.

Mewtwo sighed and said, "He was defeated roughly five hours befor-"

"No, you're wrong!" Fox shouted loudly, causing everyone to fix his gaze on him.

Mewtwo's right eyebrow twitched after being interrupted out of nowhere. "Care to explain why do you think my logic is wrong with this, Fox?" he asked, the pages of his notebooks starting to flip madly.

Crossing his arms, the vulpine shook his head at Mewtwo. "Sorry to challenge your logic, Mewtwo, but the way you put it just couldn't have happened," he said. "Thank you for reaffirming us with your friends that you're all wrong on that time frame."

"...Whatever are you trying to say?" Mewtwo asked, his stare turning into a glare. "Explain yourself this moment before you look even more stupid in front of everyone here."

Pichu quickly caught on to Fox's train of thought and decided to talk. "I-I just remembered!" he piped up. "Five hours was just too much time after defeating Tabuu! It's impossible that even happened in the first place because of that glaring fact!"

"Are you telling me my fact is wrong?" Mewtwo questioned with venom in his voice. "How did you even come to this hasty conclusion?"

Chris gasped and said, "B-because we fought Duon and defeated it four hours ago when you supposedly defeated Tabuu an hour earlier than that!"

"Alright, so?" Mewtwo asked. "You said you fought Duon and defeated it an hour later than when we defeated Tabuu? What does that have anything to do with this?"

Fox grinned. "Don't you recall what Mario said just a moment ago when he was questioned?" he asked. "He said Tabuu deployed his enemies to attack you while he fought as well, right? What happened to those minions when Tabuu was defeated first before they did? Sonic even supported that fact and described it in more detail..." He glared next. "Or do you want to take all that back now?"

Danganronpa – Class Trial Turbulent Edition

Mewtwo widened his eyes and shot a nasty glare at Sonic, who started sweating bullets and whistling innocently at his grave mistake. "T-they disappeared without being damaged... Y-yes..." Mewtwo admitted. "But... But... Your logic is flawed! There is no way Duon could have fought you an hour later! After all, Duon happens to be a fierce opponent unlike those slaves!" He grinned with the mad look on his eyes. "I-I hardly think the demise of its boss would have had any effect on it!"

"But that just makes another glaring contradiction..." Fox trailed off with a suspicious look in his eyes, angering Mewtwo. "If what you said was true, how come Galleom was taken down at the same time?"

"W-what?" Mewtwo looked tired.

Fox looked at the whistling Sonic. "Sonic also said Galleom was taken down the same moment everyone else did, and we all know here how strong and mighty powerful that guy is. Anything big Tabuu creates is equally strong, wouldn't you say?" he questioned. "So yeah, it's pretty weird he made Duon stronger than Galleom."

"..." Everyone saw Mewtwo starting to huff with air. "...WHERE'S YOUR EVIDENCE?!" he finally asked as the pages of his notebooks started to get torn off at random places. "You keep looking all smug and confident about what you know happened! I won't accept any of this bull if you're just bluffing your way through this important trial!" He started chuckling very loudly. "Yes, you don't have any proof to back up your words, huh? You're just using small slip ups of the tongue that damned hedgehog and the pathetic plumber said by accident!"

"I wouldn't say this if I didn't have evidence on hand to prove the point."

Everyone in the trial stared at Fox, and both teams were surprised that he managed to produce evidence out of nowhere. "W-wait, what? How?" Pichu asked. "How did you get evidence like that? All of us were away from here when the Subspace Bomb blew up!"

The vulpine smiled sheepishly and scratched his forehead. "Well... Let's just say someone out there was keeping watch on the whole thing and she became my surprise source," he said.

"Krystal," nearly everyone in the room said at the same time, even Chris. It shocked Fox that everyone said it so casually.

"N-no, she doesn't even know what's happening here!" Fox said flustered. "I-I was talking about someone else other than her! I meant Palutena! You know, Pit's goddess?" He saw everyone exchanging glances and wondering how he met up with her.

"Uh... How did you see her?" Chris asked. "Isn't she supposed to be busy doing...um...goddess stuff and wishing Pit good luck from her realm?"

Pit kept grabbing his head as he said, "The voices in my head say Fox met up with my fair goddess in person while no one was looking! The voice is also saying he likes rummaging through people's letters while no one is looking too!"

A beat of silence came as the witnesses gazed at Pit's panicked look. "Pit, are you supporting the criminals? The heathens that defy the sacred word of Lord Shaymin and like to read intimate stuff on sacred paper?" Ivysaur asked.

"Ahh! The voices in my head say you should shut up and worship the voice instead!"

"I AM NOT CHANGING MY VIEWS!" Ivysaur complained loudly. "YOU SINFUL ANGEL! YOU HAVE SCHYZOPHRENIA! DO NOT TRY TO CONVERT ME TO YOUR IMAGINARY RELIGION!"

"The voices in my head say you're a cute little idiot!"

The enemy party suddenly started arguing with Pit over nonsensical things that didn't have any place in the trial. The sane party, meanwhile, watched as chaos erupted between their former friends trying to keep Pit quiet about the dubious voices. Being the only one who had a rough idea of what really was going on behind Pit's voices, Fox looked up at the ceiling. "(...Is that woman keeping tabs on us through him?)" he thought. "(Is she using him to voice out her words and help us?)"

The nagging voices made the Psychic-type snap with anger. "ENOUGH!" Mewtwo yelled, making his team shut up arguing. He pointed a pencil at Fox. "Stop wasting time and let us see that evidence you have!"

Back on topic, Fox took out from his jacket the evidence he was holding on to. "Here's your evidence," he said.

Chris leaned forward from his witness stand to look at the overly-long title on the front part of the box. "'The Subspace...Emissary's Worlds...Conquest Episode 194 – Director's Cut...Edition'?" he read. "...This is the piece of evidence you got from...a goddess of all people?"

The vulpine sighed. "No one's gonna believe how I got this at all...but the truth of the matter is that this video recording holds the answer to when Tabuu was defeated," he explained. "We just need to play the video recording and watch the event together. All our doubts about what side is wrong will clear up in the span of a minute."

The Psychic-type's right eye twitched. "Ho-how did you even obtain that out of...?!"

Jigglypuff was heard laughing jovially. "Oh dear! It looks like we can't play that in this place," she said smiling. "We lack a Blu-ray device to play that, and no one can leave their stands in this trial to make sure nobody escapes from us. Soooooo sorry, little Fox, but we can't use that as evidence to prove your point." Much to their chagrin and annoyance, the enemy group started laughing and pointing fingers at Fox...

...But Fox's grin didn't go away. After half a minute of laughing, all laughter died when they noticed they weren't shooting his hopes down. Instead, all they did was cause him to chuckle at them. "W-what's so funny now?" Luigi asked.

"Oh, don't mind me," Fox said, looking smug. "I knew someone was going to pull something like this if I just casually brought this to your attention. Well, not really. I thought someone would destroy this piece of evidence by accident and say it was an accident just to piss me off...so I took some precautions before I was ready to show this."

"I should've destroyed it if I knew it existed!" Lucario suddenly said, earning a glare from Chris. "Wait, I don't follow! What precautions did you take?"

The Star Fox Leader simply grabbed the right side of his headgear and activated a large hologram using his scouter that projected a large video playback in the middle of the stage. "One precaution I took was this," Fox said, and the eyes were on the hologram that made the enemy party feel insecure. "I basically inserted the contents of the recording into my headgear so it could play the video from anywhere I want. Mind you, this recording method is outdated compared to my universe's standard so I'm surprised people are still starting to use this to store video images. I mean, this is some pretty old stuff my universe stopped using after hundreds of years that it's kind of pathetic the technology is just being used toda-"

"Fox," Chris interrupted, his eyes and Riolu's focused on the hologram, "stop trying to make me feel like a caveman."

"Sorry..."

The hologram was surprisingly very detailed coming from a small device equipped on the user's head. In the hologram, footage of what happened six days ago was shown. A Subspace Bomb suddenly dropped out of the sky and struck the front wall above the entrance, and the countdown showed ten seconds. Around the five-second mark, the doors of the mansion opened hastily and a whole lot of Smashers came out and saw the horrifying sight. Screams in there ensued and, during the ensuing chaos, Chris and Riolu were quick to see the moment when Lucario tossed Riolu away; the real Lucario Chris was so fond of.

"SAVE YOURSELF AND DON'T COME NEAR HERE!" he shouted in the form of a growl only Riolu understood before the baby was blasted off to the eastern forest with impressive strength, never looking back when the bomb blew off and many of the people close to the explosion started to run away. But it was futile in the end, as everyone who at least got a chance to run were dragged into the dark void and never to be seen again. The only one who managed to get out was Sonic, but the hedgehog looked serious and ran back inside, thinking he could fix everything back again only to be met with disappointment inside...

"..." Silence fell in the lobby as the video kept playing, showing the void of the Subspace growing larger until it stopped halfway on the path to the large hill.

"...Ri!" Riolu broke the silence, looking at the startled Lucario. What he said was, "That's what happened to me!"

The World Traveler looked down at his feet in shame. "At least I got to see what the real Lucario did before the bomb blew up..." he muttered. "Back when he was truly a person I thought was the best..."

The Lucario next to him growled. "I'm the same Lucario!"

"YOU'RE NOT THE SAME ONE!" Chris scolded quickly. "That one in that video saved this baby from getting lost in that void, while all I've seen you do was outright try to kill Pichu in the tub!"

"O-order! Order!" Jigglypuff demanded loudly, smacking her gavel thrice. "I-I see a lucky out-looker got to record that little moment...b-but...b-but...b-but...!" She was having a mental breakdown trying to figure out how to justify what they were seeing.

"It doesn't say anything about when the Subspace void went away!" Mewtwo pointed out, wiping his forehead by removing the sweat bullets with psychic energy. "W-we lost the track of time when we were there, but it doesn't matter how much time we lost! The Subspace void disappeared five hours before you arrived! PERIOD!"

Fox looked away from everyone's gazes. "..."

"...AH-HA! YOU WERE BLUFFING THIS WHOLE TIME!" Mewtwo said as the hologram kept playing the video.

"Uh... That wasn't the end of the video, you know," Fox said, looking back at them. "Let me fast-forward the video a bit..." He clicked the right side of his headgear and forwarded the video. Everyone saw clearly how the void remained there for a whole day until, during the next day in the morning, it retracted back into its point of origin and returned the mansion back to its original look, complete with the hole on the wall having been mysteriously repaired. Case in point, the enemy side blinked in shock. The video then paused on Fox's command. "...Using some common sense, I'd say you guys are pretty good at fighting abominable threats without all of us participating in the same fight," Fox said with a dull tone. He smiled duly. "I'm proud of being part of this wonderful team of heroes."

Morgan pointed forward. "But you're the worst of liars ever!" she added.

"URK!" Mewtwo held his chest with his left hand, while the notebooks got ten pages worth of senseless answered questions torn off hastily.

"OBJECTION!"

The sane Smashers gasped. "W-who said that just now?" Dedede asked.

"It was me, fatty," Snake said within his box. "So what's your point, huh? The void disappeared one day later. Like that's anything important to take note of."

"Hey! Get to the point!" Wario said. "I was feeling like a winner a second ago till you interrupted my victory dance!"

"What I mean to say is, it doesn't point out how you guys took a whole day to get back here," Snake pointed out. "Weren't you dead? Well, most of you? What if we're lying to the wrong people sitting on those soiled stands right now?"

"Oh no..." Pichu muttered. "W-we're the real deal!"

"Really? I wonder," Snake questioned. "Sorry, fakers, but if we've been wasting our time dealing with impostors, I suppose we can wrap this trial up in the next second. Here I thought you were going to prove a point..."

The sane Smashers felt pressured that the glares were back. Even some of the enemy party started smirking. "...Uh... The video hasn't ended yet," Fox said again.

"...Aww, c'mon, you idiot," Snake cursed. "What the hell else is in that stupid video you got outta nowhere?"

Fox played the video again, though he was making a face as he sighed very slowly. "This is...going to look pretty weird, but... There's a preview of the next episode of this," he said, to which many opened their mouths in confusion. "...Look. Just watch."

Everyone looked back at the hologram continuing to play...where a happy person appeared in it and winked at the audience. It was none other than Palutena herself, standing in the middle of the area. "Ah! The voices in my head are saying this is their favorite part of the recording!" Pit spoke up.

Chris could only blink in utter disbelief once he managed to finally see the goddess within the world of the video games. He wasn't expecting to see her doing a very lewd dance with her hips. Well, at least he thought it was a little too lewd for a person of her rank. "...What are we watching here again?" he asked.

At the snap of her fingers, a very enthusiastic tune played.

Disgaea 4 - Sparking

She proceeded to point at the camera. "On the next Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest!" she said in a very happy tone. Her image got replaced with the screen being divided into two portions. On the right side, the Smash Mansion was shown after the void had disappeared. On the left side, however...it showed the returning Smashers fighting against Duon with everything they got. Although the left side wasn't shocking to see, the most shocking fact about it was that there was a time and date put on top of the screen to showcase the exact time running on both sides of the screen. "The returning Smashers – most of them who were dead by the way – duke it out against the evil Duon on an island full of fluffy creatures!" Palutena announced.

"What in the...?!" Snake got speechless with his group, though most of them started to look ill.

The left side of the screen changed to nighttime, showing the exact time when Chris and Pichu were talking about while everyone else slept. On the right side, it was also nighttime, showing the Smash Mansion intact. "Chris and Pichu share a heartwarming moment together!" Palutena said next. "Will their relationship upgrade to the next level?!"

Lucario gasped dramatically and took her question very seriously. "NEVER!" he objected.

Both Chris and Pichu blushed in embarrassment. "H-hey! T-that moment was supposed to be private!" Chris said, his tone of voice sounding a little too high pitched as a sign that he was too embarrassed about it. Thankfully, the scene didn't have any audio.

The left side then changed to show Morgan pushing Soren into the central fountain of Nintendo Village while Ike watched on with dismay on his face, though the right side didn't change one bit. It still showed the Smash Mansion, devoid of voids. "New guest party member takes broody emo mage Soren for a swim!" Palutena announced. "Is this the sign of love, perhaps?! Just think of the ratings and reactions from the people!"

Morgan completely ignored looking embarrassed. Instead, she smiled. "Oh no, it's totally not love," she confirmed. "I was just trying to help Soren get into the fountain to pick money people were tossing in it."

"By pushing him into it?" Wario questioned. "Man, you're crazy! You should've used a vacuum cleaner to collect all those coins!"

"Guys, I don't think it's the time to scheme anything so stupid right now," Fox said.

The video recording kept playing. This time, it showed the Halberd crashing into Moogle Island and the Smashers running and screaming. The right side of the video showed the mansion without changes. "The Battleship Halberd crashes into the island and causes panic among our protagonists!" Palutena said. "The owner's gonna have to pony up some bucks to repair the damages! But will the Halberd be okay after this?" She then showed the massive explosion that took place later on the day, eradicating a large portion of the island as a result. "I say noooo."

Dedede sighed with relief. "Phew! Guess I'm not gonna have to say more about it!" he said.

"Oh joy," Meta Knight said after watching the video. "It was a nice reminder. I doubted the Halberd went kaput."

"Meta Knight, be quiet and eat your cake!" Kirby demanded, though Meta Knight listened and started eating a very large piece of strawberry cake his mouth couldn't take all at once.

Pichu was starting to look freaked out by the casual comments from the goddess of light. "Is she being serious? It's like she enjoys watching us suffer..." he trailed off.

"Ahh!" Pit screamed. "The voices in my head say she enjoys watching us over and over again when she has free time to kill!"

The video was just about to end, showing the goddess of light smiling at the camera. "Tune in the next time for another insane episode of the Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest!" she said as she bowed down cordially. "But before I go, here is a juicy preview that will keep you complaining about in internet forums during the weekend!" The video got blurry all of a sudden, as the picture of the recording was nearly covered in static that made it nearly impossible to see anything. It looked like Palutena was using the insane Pit as a receptor to broadcast what he was seeing. The angel was seen walking inside a hallway, where he opened up a door and saw someone using a very mundane way of cleaning after themselves instead of taking a shower like anyone else...

It was Lucario, bent forward and using his tongue to lick his left foot. When he noticed Pit, he growled. "Go away! I'm taking a bath right now!" he yelled, and Pit backed off and closed the door.

Horrified by what he had seen, Chris screamed. "I SLEPT ON THAT BED!" he cried out, glaring nastily at Lucario. The Aura Pokémon groaned out loud and looked away. "You dirty mutt! How dare you do that while I was away?!"

Fox patted his little brother's back. "Calm down, Chris. Don't get so worked up," he said. "Honestly, I swear to god...not her that I got similar reactions when I watched this by myself. I didn't watch the rest of it just because the sheer implications that woman does scared the hell out of me."

Music stops

Loud arguments started to pile on pretty quickly, but Fox didn't want to continue watching the perturbing video. He sighed and ended the hologram demonstration. "Ahem... Er... Well, yeah..." he said with a sheepish smile. "That's how stuff REALLY went down, not like how everyone here is trying to make us believe." The arguments stopped when the sane party saw the insane party sweating bullets and looking extremely worried that they had been found out. Crossing his arms over his chest, Fox looked serious. "Care to tell us why did you need to lie to us?"

"U-uh... W-well..." Physics were challenged, because Snake's cardboard box was sweating bullets. "...W-we thought you guys were fakes! T-that's why we lied about when we defeated Tabuu!"

"Really now?" Pichu asked, looking at Lucario. "Chris, I'm sorry to remind you about what happened yesterday, but Lucario was fairly certain since day one that you were the real deal...and you are." Chris hung down his head in shame, and so did Lucario, though both did it for different reasons. "If we were impostors, how come a lot of you made it look so convincing you trusted us?"

"W-well! T-that is quite easy to explain!" Snake said. "Y-you see..."

"Yes?" the entire sane team said.

"...Someone help me here!" Snake complained, making his group gasp in unison. "I'm never going to take all the heat for you all the time! Make those not-so tight butts of yours useful for a change! Samus, you sexy chick! Help me!"

Samus blinked and gulped a bit when the eyes were on her. "You want me to help you?" Disturbingly, she kept using a sexy tone of voice as she talked, despite feeling the heat of the unwanted attention. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to add to this spicy discussion..."

"Noooooo, your sexiness is your only good trait!" Snake bellowed. He started to punch his cardboard box. "How could you do this to us?!"

"ENOUGH!" Fox yelled, causing them to jump in shock. "It's obvious you lied to us because you're hiding something big in this place, and we want to know what that is RIGHT NOW. Enough with the stupid arguments between each other. Tell us the whole story!" He looked satisfied when everyone started murmuring stuff and making noise. The vulpine thought they had won the battle...though they had only won the first round.

Peach giggled very loudly to have everyone look at her. "Tee-hee! So then, Foxy! What do you think we're hiding away from you?" she asked so sweetly. "You have a super sharp mind that has unfortunately led you to a dead end where your hopes have been crushed rather brutally."

"Huh?" Fox blinked.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Distant Traces of Beauty

She failed to twirl on her spot due to the cuffs on her feet. "All I'm saying is that this little, useless evidence you've shown us today has no meaning to us, really," she explained. "You managed to uncover the lies we've told you, but for what? What do you think we're hiding from you, our dear friends?"

"U-uh... W-well..." Fox's loss of words was making the enemy party regain their cockiness very quickly. There was no more evidence he could use to counterattack that line of thought. He kept the discussion going regardless. "What you're hiding here is something we shouldn't know, of course. Otherwise, why would you go through all the trouble to keep us in the dark?"

"Because we thought you were fakers," Peach said with a smile, and somehow she was seen knitting a very long piece of pink cloth with the word LIAR knitted on red wool. "If we had known you weren't fakers, we wouldn't have lied at all! We just were being cautious about you because, well, none of you should be even here... Foxy, Ikey, Pichuey, Nessy, and Chrisy should all be dead by now, and the rest...well, they're not important to talk about, are they?"

"B-but Snake just admitte-" Chris was interrupted.

"Little Snake doesn't know when to speak up, sadly," Peach said, forcing an ashamed expression. "He said we were trying so hard to make you feel at home so you wouldn't suspect us for...whatever you think we're doing behind your backs. We were taking precautions around you, that's all." She cocked her head to the right and giggled...now the words knitted on red wool changed from LIAR to BAD BOYS. "What do you have to say to that? Would you doubt us... Your friends for life from other worlds?"

The World Traveler grimaced and even felt the smirking gaze coming from Lucario. "(Incredible how we're being sweetly accused as liars by her of all people...)" he thought. "(...What should we do now?)"

Jigglypuff banged her gavel thrice. "Princess Peach brings up a good point! We shouldn't ignore this important statement!" she said with a smile. "When all hope is lost, turn to the princess of mushrooms!"

Morgan's team looked a little lost on the subject, though she raised her hand to speak up. "Um! If I can say something here!" she piped up. "I-I suggest we should make another round and find out what that princess with the blinding pink dress is trying to say! Yes! Let's make it so!"

Peach looked uninterested at the suggestion. Her amazing – if rather suddenly acquired - quick knitting skills showed prominently, as she was now knitting the word USELESS in the cloth. "Huh... Such a strange request to hear," she spoke sweetly. "I thought I had made myself clear earlier... Oh well! I'll be happy to crush your hopes with the harsh reality that is THIS reality!" she announced, turning to her team. "Everyone! Please, lend me your aid and we shall take these people down sooner than you think!"

"YEAH!" the insane Smashers said, pumping more than a dozen of fists in the air.

The tactician-in-training looked worried at the sane Smashers. "I gave you a chance to keep at it, you guys..." she muttered. "Do everything you can to get closer to the truth of this weird mansion! I don't have much else to offer..."

"I admit... Somehow, it looked too easy," Pichu said. "As always, we keep playing a much longer game. I really thought we had them with that video!"

Chris looked at Fox. "That reminds me. How did you even meet Palutena?" he asked. "You were with us nearly all the time and you never said you met with her before..."

Fox said, "I picked a sacred slash blessed letter in the mailbox that warped me to her sanctuary where I met her and she promptly proceeded to change my perspective towards how gods and goddesses really act, unlike how many us think they act all the time. In a few words, she acts like your typical gossiping high school girl who has everyone bent on her index finger but can't do anything to help us because Master Hand prohibited her from giving us a hand..." He was met by silence from the group. "And by the way, she has watched us from the beginning of this whole tale and has recorded every, single, thing we've done, outside and inside the job. If you guys thought that you-know-what about us was bad, she just topped it."

The description sounded so fantastic and yet so unbelievable to many of them. The teen thought that wasn't how he pictured the goddess of light to be. Then again, he saw the video where she showcased her real attitude. It was a real shocker to many. "...Did you complain to her about that?" Chris asked.

"I tried to, but then I remembered I was standing in her domain where she could possibly incinerate me with sacred light," Fox said. "...She called me a sexist for my stupid past too."

"Ouch," Morgan muttered.

The judge cleared her throat and pointed at the stands. "Silence! This isn't the time for expository banter! You're standing and attending a trial!" she reminded them. "Discuss away, witnesses, for we shall get ultimate satisfaction from bringing these criminals to justice!"

Dedede slapped his forehead and then smacked his cuffed hands together. "Don't crash and burn, don't crash and burn, don't crash and burn..." he kept repeating to himself.

Danganronpa – Discussion – HEAT UP -

Peach & Friends's Sweet Facts

Her hands busy knitting the words THE TRUTH, Peach giggled before speaking up. "Foxy, Ikey, Nessy, Pichuey, and Chrisy all died off-screen so we didn't see any of you coming back to life when the Subspace explosion took place," she said.

Luigi followed by saying, "We used lies on you because we thought you were impostors trying to take the real people's places."

Marth, seen putting makeup on his face and thus looking sillier than before, added, "Using lies immediately made you think we were hiding a big secret or some such? Oh, the humanity! What big secret was that?"

Popo began by saying, "Stop trying to paint."

"Us as the bad guys," Nana finished.

Jigglypuff smacked her gavel on the pedestal. "Alrighty! Criminals, you may now question them all!" she ordered.

The sane Smashers took a moment to analyze their next move. "Does anyone here have another piece of evidence that might help us out against one of them?" Morgan asked.

"I'm fairly certain Fox's video was the only one..." Chris said. "...We don't have anything else in hand to counterattack one of those statements."

Fox rubbed his chin in thought. "Is showing evidence truly the only way to go, though?" he asked. "In the previous round, we used snippets from all the statements to formulate a good attack. What if we can do the same here again?"

"Ha! Fat chance!" Wario said. "They look sharper than ever! They won't fall for the same trick again!"

"You really think so?" Pichu asked. "They messed up big time before. They don't seem very organized..."

"Well...neither are we," Chris pointed out in shame, clutching Riolu on his arms. Staring at the baby to helplessly get some guidance out of him, the teen couldn't think of a good strategy other than saying, "Let's pay close attention to what else they have to say to discover anything new."

Giving them the order to repeat every statement again, the enemy party did so. "Foxy, Ikey, Nessy, Pichuey, and Chrisy all died off-screen so we didn't see any of you coming back to life when the Subspace explosion took place," Peach said.

The teen raised his hand. "It's true all of us died off-screen and it'd be difficult to prove we're the real people, but...but I can say for sure it's us!" he argued.

Peach giggled and patted her right cheek. "Your own personal opinions about what you think is the truth don't hold up well against our truths, silly Chris," she said. "You're biased to believe your side as the truth, while my friends and I are sure that our side is truly the undeniable truth that you naughty people won't just simply accept..."

Chris made a face. "Uh, Peach, I'm sorry to say this, but your side is also biased if you put it that way," he said.

The words on the knitting project changed to CHRIS IS A NAUGHTY BOY. "Oh, Chrisy! How dare you say we're biased to our opinions! It breaks my strong, pink gold heart of metal to hear such accusatory words coming from you... I thought your mother and father raised you well," she lamented.

Annoyed by the response, Chris grunted. "Don't bring my parents into this! I'm voicing my opinion on the matter as you put it!" he argued.

"Still... It's not enough of a reason to blame it on me..."

"I-I wasn't blaming you! I was just correcting you!"

Wario groaned loudly. "Aww, kid! C'mon! You're gonna go around in circles with her!" he said, surprisingly catching on fast on the princess's claims. "Let her go already!"

Surprised that Wario shut him up with a good reason, Chris sighed. "Okay, okay. I won't press her again..." He saw the princess smiling and knitting the words CHRIS IS LESS OF A NAUGHTY BOY BUT STILL A BAD BOY on her project. "(Wait... Something about her statement sounded off to me... What was that part I thought was wrong again?)" The trial continued as he thought about what troubled him about her words.

"We used lies on you because we thought you were impostors trying to take the real people's places," Luigi continued.

Wario raised his hand against Luigi's opposition. "Why did you let me in? We don't have the best of relationships!" he questioned. "Did it even matter if I was a fake or not to you?!"

Luigi scoffed. "Wario, we outnumber you greatly," he pointed out. "You're perhaps...no, you're the least dangerous villain of the whole lot. We don't care much about what you can do to us!"

The anti-Mario grunted at the reply. "Pfft! That's pretty dirty, coming from the scaredy green cat!"

"Scaredy green cat? Me?" Luigi chuckled. "Where did you get this impression? I'm a courageous person, unlike my brother shaking in his boots here."

The ones who knew the real Luigi could only sigh mentally. "Er, you ARE a scaredy green cat," Wario said while pointing a finger at Luigi's nose. "Everyone knows that! Mario is the...g-good one, not you!" His lips twitched when he tried to compliment his eternal arch-nemesis.

"No! I am the supreme brother!" Luigi said, putting up a death glare that made even the likes of Fox back off slightly from their stands...though the glare he made wasn't as scary as many would have thought. It was shocking to see him glare at all. "One day, people will see me for who I am! THE YEAR OF LUIGI WILL MARK THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down!" Wario said. "I wasn't trying to make you insane!"

Luigi grasped the front side of his stand and started huffing air. "I...AM...THE...SUPERIOR...BROTHER!" he emphasized every word.

Whatever had made Luigi snap out like, none of the participants wanted to elaborate on it. "C-can we move on to the next line...please?" Pichu pleaded.

Leaving Luigi trying to regain his senses pathetically while Mario sunk down in fear, Marth held out his hand forward. "Using lies immediately made you think we were hiding a big secret or some such? Oh, the humanity! What big secret was that?" he repeated.

Fox raised a hand to take the attention. "A secret like, for example, why everyone here isn't behaving like they did before?" he said.

"Ooh, nonsense, muddy Fox!" Marth said dramatically. "What makes you think we're behaving strangely?"

The vulpine started raising fingers, "Mario is a pathetic scaredy cat, Luigi has superiority complex issues, Peach is overly sweet yet crazy in the inside, Yoshi keeps staring lustfully at Chris's baby Pokémon from his stand, Mewtwo asks serious questions about extremely mundane topics, Red has basically sat out the whole trial raising stuff – mostly the same fossil from what I can tell - above him and waiting for something to happen, Squirtle keeps playing around with a video camera, Ivysaur has been turned into a follower of some grass god, Jigglypuff is so obsessed about controlling this trial just to be important, Lucario is gay for Chris, Falco is gay for me, Wolf wants to take me down using poorly planned schemes, DK and Diddy are freaky smiling banana protectors who will try to outright kill anyone who gets close to any banana they have nearby to survive in this mansion even though they should just walk out and go find more for themselves if they wanted to, Link and Zelda keep trading saliva and not minding this trial that much, Toon Link has erected a pig farm outside and talks like a ranch owner, you Marth keep obsessing over putting too much eye shadow on your eyes, Roy looks like he's ready to explode energetically, Samus can't stop touching herself rather erotically, I think I could've sworn hearing C. Falcon yelling taunts on top of the mansion's roof, Olimar likes to have his Pikmin cover his nakedness, Popo and Nana talk...as if they...shared the same mind... Water..." He gasped for breath but kept going on. "...Pit...keeps grabbing his head and...yelling there are voices in his head, Kirby plays with food...rather than eating them, Meta Knight likes to go around unmasked and filling his stomach with food, Snake doesn't let go of that stupid cardboard box, and Sonic is pretty fast with his hands but terribly slow on his feet!" He inhaled and exhaled air to relax and recover energy. "What is NOT strange about that?"

"Everything," the insane Smashers replied quickly, earning a frustrated look from the vulpine.

"...Figures you'd say that!" Fox complained.

Marth wept a bit. "Sniff... I am appalled by your claims!" he said disgusted, waving a wet napkin. "You've been ignoring us from the very beginning! That's why you say we're acting so weird! It is no wonder why your ex left you."

The Star Fox leader fumed at the sudden mention of his failed marriage. "Krystal has nothing to do with this trial! Don't bring her up!" he scolded the prince, until he calmed down himself to go back to the main point. "A-anyway! The biggest glaring secret is right in front of our noses! But it's obvious you won't tell us what really happened!"

"Fine! Then be it that way!" Marth said. "You can take those wrong assumptions to your coffins after we're done with you in this trial! It is a fitting punishment for taking Marth away from me..."

"I'm not going to bother explaining that one to you..."

"Good, because there is no need to explain why he left me!"

Fox just sighed and flipped his right hand in boredom. "Just continue with this damn trial..." he pleaded the judge, and she did so gladly by telling the Ice Climbers to take over.

Popo began by saying, "Stop trying to paint."

"Us as the bad guys," Nana finished.

Dedede grunted loudly and leaned forward on his stand. "You're frickin' tryin' to kill us for not adaptin' or whatever! What kinda reason is that?!" he demanded.

The two twins narrowed their eyes at the same time without missing a beat. Popo began by saying, "It is our job to maintain this perfect lifestyle of a modern society to..."

"...demonstrate the entire world that this example of a communal life must be enforced in every home there is where people live, hence why you should have adapted to this..." Nana added, though they weren't finished.

"...new environment," Popo finished.

"P-perfect lifestyle?! This is crappy!" Dedede protested. "This lifestyle sucks! I was gettin' royal treatment at the enemy's base compared to this place!"

"Oh, what a poor little baby whiny penguin. It is not our fault that you failed to adapt quickly unlike..." Nana began, though she stopped.

"...us, who managed to reach absolute enlightenment before any of you did." Popo finished. :We hate the sight of you, and letting you pollute the air of this place with your presence is way too much to..."

"...tolerate. Extermination of your selves is required so we can balance things out. No hard feelings, but you brought this upon yourselves. After you..."

"...die, it will be a small matter of time to recover the balance that we lost after you joined us again. It is a shame that things must..."

"...end like this, but what can you do about it? You will not have to complain anymore once..."

"...we're done with you, so why don't you give up and..."

"...let us finish this absurd trial to..."

"Stop wasting our time."

"Anymore than."

"You."

"Should?"

"Hee hee hee hee..."

Dedede sweated bullets at the odd statements. "U-uh... N-no! M-my subordinates over here aren't gonna stay put and let the axes cut my head off!" He turned to see the bewildered looks of his team. "AIN'T THAT RIGHT, PEOPLE?!"

"...Waaaaaaaaay to put the heat on us so suddenly, you!" Wario complained, seeing the enemy party snickering together at their desperation.

After having listened to each statement in more detail, the sane Smashers got together to discuss what they should do now. "We don't have any evidence to contradict any of those statements!" Morgan said with a worried look on her eyes. "Is this where we die...?"

"No, this can't be a dead end," Fox said. "I'm sure we missed something important somewhere in those statements. All we got to do is open our ears and listen more closely to anything suspicious they say. Whatever small thing they say...something that just sounds off...that is our opening for a counterattack."

Pichu crossed his arms in thought. "But I was listening to them very closely and I never noticed something weird and pretty strange! What else is there?" he asked.

Morgan got into deep thought by pressing the sides of her head with her index fingers. "...Like...a part of their side of the story that they shouldn't know by any means necessary?" she suggested. "Something like that?"

Chris recalled hearing a strange fact somewhere in those statements. "(Where did I hear that strange bit of info again? I have to press the part where everything falls apart in their line of logic...)" he thought. The repetition of the statements played again.

Peach giggled before speaking up. "Foxy, Ikey, Nessy, Pichuey, and Chrisy all died off-screen so we didn't see any of you coming back to life when the Subspace explosion took place," she said.

"...!" Chris gasped and aimed a finger right at Peach's face. "No, it's wrong!" he accused her, making the enemy party glare daggers his way.

The princess continued giggling and sewing the words CHRIS IS DELIRIOUS in her long project. "Oh? You think I'm wrong, little Chrisy?" she asked sweetly. "Oh my! Whatever made you think that of me? I'll have you know, as a princess, all of my words say the whole extent of the truth. You wouldn't want to face a princess like me and accuse me of saying lies, would you?" She stopped knitting to made a very cold glare directed at the teen. "But if you truly want to do that..."

The teen shivered at her cold expression, but he pressed on. "No, I'm not really saying you're completely wrong on your statement," he said.

"Then why are you wasting my time trying to falsely accuse me of a lie?" Peach asked, her tone sounding serious and intimidating. "I'll never understand the people of your world..."

"...While your statement was correct, there was something extremely off about it," Chris said.

"What is so extremely off about it that you had the nerve to stop my knitting of this beautiful scarf I'm making for everyone?" she asked, while the 80-foot long pink scarf with horrible words knitted on them stretched all the way to the entrance of the lobby.

After staring at the scarf for too long, the teen shook his head. "(I have to be very slow on this and have her say it outright...) Well, for starters... How do you know everyone died here?" he asked.

"Oh, that? Pfft, it's pretty easy to remember!" Peach said with a smile, tossing the cold look away. "Foxy, Pichuey, Ikey, and Nessy all died because of a terrible disease that disgusting robot ROB released on us in this lobby. While you, Chris, died because a massive laser that fired off from the Halberd after fighting Meta Ridley."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Oh, right. That's how I died. But remind me something... How do you know that much, anyway? You weren't even there to see me get vaporized, were you?"

"..." Peach tore up the end of the scarf she was knitting when she realized what she just said, and her eyes widened in shock. "AHH!"

Danganronpa – Class Trial Solar Edition

Despair and shock befell the enemy party when they listened to her earth-shattering words, while the sane Smashers narrowed their eyes at them. Chris, meanwhile, grimaced at Peach's sweating face. "...I think you said a little too much, don't you think?" he asked. "Either you're the world's most amazing clairvoyant, or you're a terrible eavesdropper who knows a little too much about stuff you shouldn't know. My question to you is, why do you know this much?"

Peach's hands automatically repaired the broken end of the scarf as they started knitting the words STINKY LITTLE BRAT! on them. "W-why do I know this much, y-you ask?" she stuttered her giggles, her sapphire pupils having shrunk down in size. "W-well! C-Chrisy! I-I know this much because i-it was obvious it happened to you!" she shot back.

Fox slammed his right fist on the stand. "How the hell can you say something like that happened to him because it was pretty obvious?" he questioned, making her yelp and tear up the scarf by accident again. "The guy was freaking killed! Say Mario got kidnapped. Would it be obvious he'd die coming back here?" At this, Mario sunk down in his stand.

The princess repaired the torn end again, this time writing OBNOXIOUS NOSY MUTT! in it. "U-uh, F-Foxy! T-there's no need to question me like this! I always knew Chris was the sort of person who would sacrifice his dear life for someone so rotten like that murderous robot!" she said. "F-for that, we should be proud of his heroic actions! Oh, Chrisy... You've grown so much since you joined us..."

Chris listened very well to what she was saying. "Peach, how do you even know I sacrificed myself for ROB? You shouldn't know about that either!" he pointed out.

She yelped and tore off the scarf again. Frozen in a helpless state to explain what she knew, Luigi stepped in. "Hey, scumbag!" he yelled at Chris. "Stop bullying the princess! What is so important about what she knows happened to you? It means nothing!"

"I disagree!" Chris shot back. "By no means necessary, none of you here except for my team here should know what happened to me. I never said a word about my third demise to anyone here in the mansion..." He shivered remembering that dreadful event in his head. Perhaps because his aura emitted a sad emotion, it startled Riolu, who had no idea why he felt sadness so suddenly... "...Because of that, I say it's pretty fishy Peach knows what happened to me at all!"

"AHH!" Luigi jumped back, his jaw falling down.

"Peach!" Chris called her out. "Explain to me why you know this much!"

The princess shook her head so many times that she could swear it was going to unscrew itself off her shoulders. Sweating bullets and knitting a very long string of one word AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, she gulped and finally said something to answer back. "We-we had...c-cameras on that ship?" she said, making it sound like a question.

"What?" Chris said. "Cameras? You never even touched the Halberd to put a camera in there! You were busy trapped in the Subspace to have noticed anything! I want you to tell us how you know so much!"

She tore up her scarf slowly as she screamed loudly. Her patience having been tested to the point of unbearable stress, she tossed the scarf behind her and glared fiercely at Chris. Riolu got startled by her glare that he took cover on his caretaker's robe. "I refuse to tell you anything, MORON!" she yelled. "I have the right to refuse to saying that in detail!"

Albeit the World Traveler could have frozen with her look, feeling Riolu shivering overwhelmed his fear and replaced it with courage. "What kind of stupid reason is that?" Chris asked. "You just know the truth will reveal quite a lot about this whole charade!"

"Will it, though?!" Peach argued. "What if I told you Tabuu showed us while we were fighting?! He tried to crush our hopes when you died in that fight, but no! We didn't care you died because you saved that stupid, rotten robot, AKA the same guy who tried to kill us! That told us a lot about how you truly felt about us!"

"..." Chris closed his eyes, averting gazing at Peach's cruel smirk. "...I'm sorry, but I can't accept that sudden answer."

"What?!"

Chris glared. "Do you have evidence of your own to prove that?" he asked. He saw her covering her cheeks in horror.

Morgan pointed at her. "You just made that up, didn't you?" she asked. "I knew you did so! You wouldn't have reacted so shocked if you had that explanation ready to use!"

"Y-you red-haired brat, stay out of this!" Peach snarled. "Why can't you believe me?!"

Fox looked bored. "You don't believe us unless we destroy the lies piled on the truth behind this strange chain of events," he pointed out. Taking the previous facts and formulating a better answer, he looked smugly at Peach. "But hey, I'll humor you! So you say Tabuu showed you when my buddy here got attacked. That's sweet of him! But I wonder, didn't that void disappear a day later, which would mean you guys saw Tabuu and did nothing against you? Why would he let you go like that?"

The princess was now grasping her stand with such force her fingers tried to tear the wood off. "H-he...he-he...h-he...!" She struggled to say her words, until Jigglypuff, annoyed by how their scheme was going awry so fast, smacked her gavel thrice.

"Order here!" she ordered. "I-I forbid the criminals from asking that question to the heroes!"

"Order overruled!" Dedede shouted.

"Dammit!" the judge cursed, receiving odd looks from nearly everyone at the trial. "S-somebody here say something to counter that! I-I can't have a victory after we've been had like this, and I have you guys to blame for this outcome!"

"Nice to see the judge of this trial is extremely biased on her judgments," Fox pointed out duly. "Swell job there."

"Q-q-quiet! MY WORDS ARE FINAL!"

A loud argument between both parties erupted soon after, and in the middle of the loud chaos, Chris covered Riolu's ears as he pondered what to do. The enemy party had poor excuses to explain why they knew about his demise. The argument that happened after that seemed to be a way to give some of the quiet ones time to retort and debunk the accusatory fact, because Chris did see Kirby and Diddy talking quietly with each other. The trap was set, and thus he needed to stop the enemies from making up a false answer.

Music stops

Destiny was unkind and would continue to be like that to the insane Smashers, however, when someone in the lobby decided to stop everyone from shouting, as he had suffered a major headache without even knowing why. "EVERYONE IN THIS DAMNED MANSION, SHUT YOUR TRAPS ALREADY!" the source shouted at the top of his lungs, holding his head with a hand over it.

A long chain of gasps replaced the shouting in the lobby when everyone turned their heads to the left of the staircase leading to the second floor and saw the source looking a cross between being utterly confused at the large gathering of people and looking mighty pissed for awakening with a bandage wrapped around his forehead. "...Oh, it's just him," Fox said, rolling his eyes.

"...Huh?" Wolf blinked when he heard Fox's voice coming from the other side of the long circle of witness stands. Confused and disoriented, the lupine walked down the steps of the staircase to take a closer look at the humanoid fox. Looking bewildered, the lupine gasped. "M-McCloud?!" he stuttered. He was sure his eyes weren't deceiving him even after rubbing his right good eye with his left hand. "Wh-what the...?! H-how in the hell are you...?!" He looked at the rest of the people standing next to him, and he was getting increasingly more confused. Wolf even looked at the rest of the enemy party. "...D-dammit! Just what's this insanity?!"

The vulpine sighed slowly. "Don't tell me this is some lame attempt to kill me again," he told the lupine, who just made a weird face. "Sorry. Those guys standing close to you are gonna kill me at the end of this trial. A shame you can't do that yourself without their help."

"...Huh? Come again? What?" Wolf willingly walked forward into an empty stand next to Sonic, where his feet got automatically cuffed. Distraught by the event, he looked down and grunted loudly in complete anger. "CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?!" he demanded. "And why did I wake up with this horrible headache and the bandage?!"

"Wow, man," Sonic said snickering. "Props to you for making it down here with that headache! You're my hero." His unneeded comment was met with a much needed grip on his frail little throat by Wolf's right hand. "G-GUH!"

"Care to repeat that, you stupid hedgehog?!" Wolf threatened, increasing the strength in his grip and even going so far as to lift Sonic a little above the floor, shocking the enemy party while the sane party exchanged awkward glances. Sonic, meanwhile, was quickly turning purple in the face and unable to go away with his cuffed feet. "Try repeating that again...if you can! Don't mind my hand crushing your throat!"

Watching a murder take place before the worst could happen later was not going to bode well to many, especially to a newborn, so Chris spoke up. "W-Wolf, let him go! I-I can explain everything to you if you want!" he said.

The lupine turned to look at the teen and let go of Sonic in the background, with the hedgehog falling on his knees, gasping for air. "The hell are you doing here, kid?" he asked. "Weren't you supposed to be kidnapped?"

"...What?"

"Oh, c'mon! This is too much!" Fox interrupted. "Wolf, stop it with the fake amnesia problem! You know damn too well what happened here!"

"Fake amnesia?" Wolf repeated, glaring daggers at Fox. "Now, you shut your trap, McCloud! I rather hear someone else explain things other than you! No way this can't be the world of the living with you wandering about so casually like nothing happened!" He slammed a fist on his stand. "Kid, I demand answers. NOW!"

"U-uh..." Chris trailed off. "(How come he's asking us all these questions? Doesn't he remember anything?) D-don't you remember falling down Fox's room on the second floor and landing on your head? I think that impact shook your head too much..."

"Wha...?" Wolf held his head in thought. "When did I fall down the moron's room? I was sure I was somewhere else entirely different..."

"..." Chris tilted his head. "Uh... Somewhere else entirely different? Well, you were here in the mansion and received us when we arrived...then you started to pester Fox about killing him in stupid schemes that never worked..."

The lupine grimaced hard when he heard the facts. "...That's not it, kid," Wolf said. "I visibly remember being trapped in the Subspace... That's where my memory came to a full stop." The sane party exchanged glances again, while the enemy party hardly did the same thing. "...So how come I ended up waking up with this headache? Why is it that I see dead people staring back at me? This is starting to look like hell to me. It's the only way for this to make any sense."

"T-this isn't hell! E-even if it looks like it is..." Chris stole glances from the enemy party.

"It's hell, alright," Wolf said, glaring at Fox. "No way he's alive, for one. I saw him breath his last. And you, kid, you should be kidnapped. And then we have the rest of the peanut gallery and...those fat bastards I used to work with," he said as he eyed Dedede and Wario, who whistled innocently and averted their gazes at the lupine. "Oh, and don't get me started on this idiotic setting. My feet got cuffed to this stupid spot and here we are, standing in a circle. All we're missing is holding hands and sing a sappy song together."

"Ooh! I'm game!" Jigglypuff cheerfully said.

Wolf stared long at the judge wig-wearing Pokémon. "...Denied," he said with disgust. He felt there was no point asking more about the strange events. "So, anyway, why is everyone standing here with their feet cuffed to these stands?"

"We're being accused for not adapting to your perfect example of a communal life," Pichu said. "Everyone wants to kill us at the end of this trial, and you're with them..."

"..." Wolf looked sideways at his alleged team. "Kill you for what now?" he asked. "Adapting to a communal life? What kind of reason is that for killing anybody? Only a madman would do that sort of thing..." He noticed the glares from the enemy party. "What's up with you all? Why are you glaring at me for?"

Fox blinked twice and dropped his glare. "Uh, for real?" he asked. "You're really saying this whole thing is insane?"

Wolf looked straight at his rival. "I know I hate like half of the people here, but killing anyone is...too much for a thug like me to bear," he said. "Well, unless my enemies happen to be a hundred percent scum and douchebags... So yeah, I think this setup is waaaay too much."

Jigglypuff angrily banged her gavel thrice. "Wolf O'donnell! I think you should shut up now!" she demanded, getting his attention. "We will label you as their accomplice if you keep saying our fair judgment is stupid!"

The lupine glared at her. "What happened to you?" he asked. "What's with that attitude?"

"I don't need to explain that to you, do I?" Jigglypuff asked. "You should know full well yourself! Why are you suddenly backing them up? You should back us up instead! You accepted our ways to live a perfect communal life!"

"...I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about, you squeaky girl," Wolf said pissed. "Last I checked, we got trapped in the Subspace. I got knocked out by someone...and...I don't remember anything else after that. What's the next thing I know? I wake up in the infirmary with that annoying bird brain lying dead on a bed. That's when I got up from my bed and walked around for a bit, finding no one else nearby until I made it down here and see...this." He looked at the circle of witness stands. "Quite the abrupt change in setting, I should say... This can't be an illusion or a dream playing in my head right now."

"(...Really?)" Fox thought. "(Could it be possible he's truly...? Is it a trap?)"

The lupine crossed his arms. "I'm not the leader of this weird trial game, but could you stop this now?" he asked. "This is the biggest, stupidest thing I've ever seen coming from you all."

"No! We can't stop this trial!" Roy spoke up. "We have to give those idiots what they deserve for smearing our rules with their rude attitudes! At least wait until they're dead!"

"..." Wolf sighed loudly. "Sorry...not really, but, even if this is a dream or not, Fox has to live. Have you forgotten yet?" he asked. "I'm the one destined to take him down myself. (Fox: Oh joy...) If he dies, my entire purpose goes down the drain. Unless you don't mind me clawing brains out for the one doing the killing first..."

Jigglypuff giggled. "Oh! You're on our side, then! So sorry for judging you so harshly, Wolf!" she said.

"I am no one's ally in this stupid trial," Wolf said aggravated. "I'm surprised the hands allowed you to run this. This goes against every rule they set up for us, and the hand in charge isn't going to like it one bit to see corpses... Where are those two, anyway?"

"Taking a much needed vacation after we defeated Tabuu," the judge said. "They put us in charge of this, and they also said you need to obey us as well!"

Wolf thought about the time he was trapped in the Subspace, but he answered her witty remark first. "Hah hah, no."

"Huh? Why not?!"

"I simply refuse to take part of a murder just because someone else said so," the lupine said. "Want to get my hands stained in blood I didn't ask for? You seriously are trying my patience now... I'm warning you now. Keep spouting nonsense to me while I have this headache, and you'll be the one whose blood will stain my claws."

As Wolf and Jigglypuff started arguing, the sane Smashers got to talking a little more. "What's happening now? Why is Wolf acting...normal so suddenly?" Pichu asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what's going on with him," Fox said. "Part of me wants to believe he's turned back to normal...but the other part of me says this is an elaborate plan to make us look stupid in the end."

Morgan grumbled a bit. "What kind of elaborate plan is that?" she asked him.

"Well..." When Fox couldn't think of anything, he just grunted. "S-some intricate plan that's impossible for us to decipher!"

"Hmm, that's not a compelling argument, Fox. Your argument is therefore invalid," Morgan said, making the vulpine grunt louder. "Anyone else has something to say?"

"The kid does!" Dedede said, making Chris gasp.

"I don't!" Chris shot back. "I'm just as confused as you are! It does look like he's come back to his senses... That's all I can say about the matter!" He stared at Fox. "I'm stuck here. What do you think we should do?"

Fox stared at Wolf and Jigglypuff arguing while the enemy party murmured among themselves. He couldn't believe his hated rival was acting so normal. In fact, Fox wanted to shoo him away from his sight. So much happened to him that asking Wolf for help was the last thing to do...but there wasn't much they could do right now. The lupine's presence was a good opening to bring down the wall of lies. "Uh... We could use his help?" Fox finally suggested, feeling several brain cells dying.

"While he keeps complaining about the headache he has?" Pichu said. "He doesn't look like he wants to be a part of this. He's complaining too much about his injury..."

Chris then thought about doing something for Wolf. Healing the lupine from his injury using magic didn't seem like such a bad idea as they were all cuffed to the stands. Deep down, the teen thought he could trust Wolf now...so he changed to his FHU job (surprising Riolu with the bright glow and change of clothes) and started muttering an incantation with his rod. Lucario then asked, "What are you doing?"

The teen didn't reply as he finished his chanting. "Energize... First Aid!" he called out.

Wolf stopped arguing when a gentle and warm glow covered his injured head. Feeling a waft of relaxing air brushing the wound in his head, it closed down under the bandage, and with that the headache was gone. "Huh... Nice," he said with a grin, ripping the bandage off his head and looking at Chris. "Thanks."

His healer smiled a bit. "Glad to be helpful during this trial," he said.

Fox looked surprised. "Was it really a good idea to heal the enemy, Chris? He could be conspiring with them against us!" he said.

"Now that this headache is gone, I can bear talking a little more," Wolf announced. "Firstly, I'm NOT conspiring with anybody here. Secondly, this trial is stupid and uncalled for. And lastly..." He looked straight at Marth, and Wolf winced slightly when he saw the prince covered in makeup. "...That was some low blow you did there, prissy prince."

"Huh?" Marth blinked.

"You should be the one taking this trial instead of all of us," the lupine said. "You stabbed that broody mage guy when we got to the Subspace. You murdered him in cold blood."

Danganronpa – Class Trial Turbulent Edition

The sudden accusation surprised everyone in the trial, especially the enemy party. Feeling pressured about the statement, Marth started gulping. "W-why are you accusing me of a murder I did not commit?! I-I swear, you space mammals are the most problematic bunch!" he said, taking out a bottle of perfume and spraying it on his neck.

Wolf had no clue why Marth was into cosmetics. "Problematic? Well, damn, I don't wanna know what the true meaning of that word is when using it on you," he said. "But, yeah, you can't deny that. I saw you with my own eyes when you murdered the guy and said he wasn't going to stand between you and the other swordsman guy with the weird blue hair anymore, which it didn't make much sense either because he was also dead."

Marth yelped in a high pitched tone. "Eeek! T-the nerve of you, you stinky dog from space!" he said. "Accusing me of murder out of the indigo?"

"You mean blue."

"Y-you get what I mean!" Marth said. "B-but I have no fear! B-because you lack the evidence to prove that! In this sacred court of justice, nothing can prove anything without evidence on hand!" Wolf was unfazed by the claim. "...I'll take your silence as a no!"

"Wait! I-I have a question to ask!" Morgan said. "Is it important to discuss this now?"

"Well, I suppose so," Fox said. "If they started killing others before they decided to start doing this, it should be discussed. Murdering people for baseless reasons is unforgivable." He stared at Lucario. "Stabbed Soren with a finger, huh? Time to shoot that down with style."

"Urk!" Lucario backed off.

Wolf scratched his head. "Damn. Seems I've missed plenty of stuff while I was out cold..." he muttered. "But all this sounds stupid. Fine then, I'll join this needless discussion. It'll make the look on your faces far more priceless to see."

Jigglypuff inflated angrily. "W-Wolf O'donnell! Y-you're working against us!" she said. "I-I thereby declare you as part of those criminals over there! You shall receive the same punishment of sweet death for your treason!"

"Yadda yadda yadda," Wolf said as he rolled his eye. "Just try. I have about every tool at my disposal to fight back and return the favor tenfold..." He looked at the team he had the most questions with. "You guys over there. I'll give you a hand in this thing."

"F-for real?" Chris said. "H-how come you're going to help us?"

"Because the bunch of you isn't doing something degrading like everyone else standing next to me. I mean, that woman bounty hunter is doing some A-rated motions with her body no one here would have the courage to describe...and that's just an example," the lupine explained, wondering why Meta Knight didn't have his mask on. "...I'd rather side with the side that didn't lose a dozens of screws...yet. And also because I want to know the full story behind Fox's reappearance. Who better to ask this question but the guy himself?"

"(Wolf...)" Fox thought, stiffening his stare.

Wolf(?) rejoined your team!

Marth suddenly laughed jovially. "Oh ho ho! You want to accuse me for being a murderer? You're so sure about this insane claim of yours." He held out his right hand forward, showing his pink nails. "I am just as sure about my side of the story, though! Bring it on, you naughty children!"

Danganronpa – Discussion -HEAT UP-

The Melancholy of Prince(ss?) Marth of Altea

Roy hopped on his spot with a hand raised to the air. "Oh! Oh! Marth didn't kill Soren! We said we didn't see Soren anywhere when we entered the Subspace!" he said cheerfully.

Marth got busy sharpening his pink nails as he said, "Me? Killing a fellow friend of ours? How absurd, you! Aren't you blindly accusing people because you hate them?"

Yoshi looked tough as he said, "Back then, killing anyone was suicidal! We needed all the power to fight Tabuu! Would you kill an ally during a confrontati- NOW GIMME THAT BABY!"

Ivysaur raised his cross. "Repent, heathens! It is...HEINOUS to take lives away so simply! My eyes saw nothing of the sort!" he argued.

With no more statements to say, the team decided to explain Wolf about what they could do. "Press each statement to get more information outta them? Tsk, that won't be too necessary," Wolf said. "I know what I'm doing here. I'll get to the bottom of this stupid game in a flash..."

Fox glared. "Wolf, don't do something hasty and ruin our chances here! These guys mean serious business despite their weird selves!" he said.

"Fox, shut up," Wolf said with a frown. "I know what I'm doing. Don't make me repeat that."

Now the sane Smashers were worried about their new team member proving to be a liability to their plan. "Hmm, he looks super sure. Maybe he really knows what he's doing?" Morgan wondered.

"We have to brace ourselves if he gets this wrong..." Chris muttered. "(Can we really trust Wolf now? What if he's not the real one? I wish this hell could end soon...)"

Jigglypuff banged her gavel. "That's enough useless babbling! Let the trial continue!" she said.

"Oh! Oh! Marth didn't kill Soren! We said we didn't see Soren anywhere when we entered the Subspace!" Roy said cheerfully.

Wolf raised his hand to speak, robbing Fox from his chance. "Let's see. Are you telling the truth, boy?" he questioned.

Roy nodded enthusiastically. "I stood next to Marth all the time, you know! He was pretty wary of his surroundings like all of us did. One day, I'll aspire to be just like him...uh, in the hero sense of the word!" he said.

The lupine frowned again. "The story how I saw it says otherwise. You weren't even standing close to him when we got dragged there," he said. "You were on the opposite side of the field."

The red-haired swordsman looked confused. "Huh? How do you know where I was?" he asked.

"I know 'cuz you were standing next to me, telling me to stay cautious of what could happen," Wolf said as he narrowed his eye. "Should I mention you didn't look as jumpy as you do now? Quite the shocking change in behavior."

Roy sweated a bit at the statement. "H-hoo, I-I think you weren't paying attention! Just because you think you saw me somewhere else doesn't mean we'll believe you right away! In this sacred court, you need to show evidence to prove your point!" He took a beat of silence. "Heheh, I forgot you're an ex-convict! You don't know the basics for this! Just being a former thug eliminates nearly every piece of 'truth' you have to say too!"

"My past has no relevance in this idiotic talk," Wolf shot back. "And this isn't a sacred court. It's the same stinky lobby I see every morning I try to get into the kitchen. Big deal, so there's a circle of witness stands and a gaudy throne on the back."

Jigglypuff puffed up and smacked her gavel. "Don't you diss my seat, you former criminal-turned-criminal!" she demanded. "Your penalty for insulting my seat is skipping your current talk with Roy and go to the next one!"

The lupine chuckled. "It's okay. I was just wondering what the boy was going to tell me before getting to the main point of this," he said.

"...I'm rightfully scared about what he has in mind," Chris commented.

"We're doomed and screwed," Wario muttered.

Marth giggled once he got the attention. He was ready to repeat his part with much more gusto and style to charm the audience present in the lobby. Applying red lipstick on his lips and wiping all traces of sweat on his forehead while Squirtle recorded every motion, the Altean said, "M-?"

He couldn't get a single word out in the end due to Wolf interrupting him way too quickly. "Wrong," he interrupted, causing his team to gasp.

The prince's jaw hung open in shock after the deed was done to him. Narrowing his eyes with utter disdain at Wolf, he said, "Why did you interrupt my retelling of the events so soon? I was ready to make a big entrance by saying each word with much more style! You're the worst person I've ever known!"

"Not as worse as a person who kills others for senseless reasons. Compared to you, I'm a saint," Wolf said with a sigh. "Look, let's not keep beating around the bush and get straight to the point."

Marth laughed jovially, but it sounded very forced. "Pfft! What proof do you have that points me as the killer? Would you ever see my hands get stained with blood from a fellow comrade? You space mammals and your asinine ideas... Only Falco gets me!" he complained.

For Wolf to have interrupted Marth so hastily meant that he had evidence, or so his team thought. "He has evidence? How did he even get proof to prove Marth's lies?" Pichu asked.

His question was soon answered when Wolf tapped a button on his headgear, which projected a hologram in the center of the circle of stands. Unlike when Fox displayed a hologram with high definition, Wolf's definition was blurry with black and white static buzzing at random places. Still, everyone managed to tell the ominous setting of twisting darkness apart in the video playback. Many gasps were had when the video was presented as evidence from a second unlikely source. "M-my goodness!" Marth yelped. Suddenly taking out a Fan and waving his face with it. "How did you get your hands on thi-?!"

The video playback showed the group of Smashers looking around the void of darkness, though Wolf was looking away from them where he was seen looking at an edge with Roy at his side. Suddenly, an audible scream came from behind, and the recording turned around and saw a gruesome image: Marth's sword Falchion going right through Soren's back. Outside the video, Chris covered Riolu's face as he also closed his eyes shut. "What the hell are you doing?!" came Wolf's loud question just as Marth removed the bloodstained sword from the Branded's back. After a moment of silence, Soren's body hit the glowing, cracked floor.

The Marth in the video walked around the body and looked down at Soren's indignant face. "Now you don't stand between me and Ike anymore..." he said in a low, silent tone.

"Y-you...disgusting...!" were Soren's words before he passed away, his blood on the back slowly joining the trail of blood coming from his mouth. As many protests and questions were fired at Marth's odd behavior which had also confirmed everyone saw the underhanded action take place, the video ended with Wolf grabbing his head and losing consciousness on the floor.

Once more, the enemy team was backed into a corner, sweating profusely and looking very ill while the sane Smashers looked on very surprised at their ally. Wolf, however, smirked a bit at Marth when he saw the prince pat his forehead several times with a paper towel. "You were sayin'?" he asked. "It's fine if you don't believe my words. It's fine if you think I created false evidence behind my back. It's fine if you stick to your bias and refuse to tell the truth to a former convict like me...but no matter what you say, you can't deny proof from a piece of video showing the harsh reality of the murder you committed." He started chuckling. "Now comes the part I enjoy the most... The part where I watch you fall on top of your little tower of power."

Danganronpa – Class Trial Turbulent Edition

"Sa...sa...SACRE BLEUUUUU!" Marth yelped as he saw his facts crumble down into dust by the smirking lupine. He forced the paper towel on his face and rubbed it down harshly, leaving a large rash of colors on his left cheek. "H-how on Earth did you get this abominable evidence?!"

The lupine crossed his arms. "It all started when we got sucked into that void and I wanted to record everything that happened there, just in case I'd find something worth mentioning to the others. Who would've thought I'd find someone from our team committing a murder out of the blue..." Wolf explained before he pinched his chin. "Oh yeah. I forgot you have to explain to me, a thug, about why you had to lie about what you did to that guy," he said. "Care to tell this 'sacred court' about your true actions? We would love to hear you out, especially the police once I contact them to take you away."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Marth growled in anger, his pupils shrinking as he supported himself on his stand.

"Hmm... Yeah, that ain't gonna be a good explanation for forgiveness. You hit a dead end... " Wolf teased. "Since I'm with this team, I'll leave it up to them to ask you all the questions I need to know myself. I have a rough idea what they've gone through since I was knocked out, though..." He faced his team and nodded. "You take it up from here. I'll follow your tails and see where you take me. You do trust me now, don't you?"

Blinking in shock, Fox sighed. "I... Well, I...think we can truly trust you," he muttered in shame.

Back to the discussion, Dedede pointed his cuffed hands at the enemy. "You fat liars! You lied to us about that too! I DEMAND COMPENSATION FOR THIS TREASON TO MY SUBORDINATES!" he demanded, though his team thought he was being too forceful with his yelling just to feel part of them. "EXPLAIN! NOW!"

Diddy used his hat as some sort of fan to cool off his face. "U-uh... It was... U-u-uh... I-I-I..." he stuttered.

The amount of discord in the faces of all the enemies pointed out they were not expecting their facts to get shot down so many times with actual proof of their true moves. They severely underestimated the returning Smashers, and now they were paying dearly for their collective ignorance. With no one on the enemy party ready to speak a lie (even the judge was fidgeting nervously), Morgan spoke up. "You really can't explain why you stabbed Soren on the back...can you?" she asked with disappointment in her voice. "All of you are on it! You're far darker under that makeup and smiley faces than I never took you for!"

While not exactly the way he wanted her to accuse them, Chris followed it up. "You know what I think about all this? I think this has gone on for too long now!" he said angrily. "You lied to us about when the Subspace went away, you lied to us about why you know too much of stuff you shouldn't know, and on top of that...you DID kill someone over nothing! I demand you tell us everything you know!"

Wolf decided to ask, "What do they know they shouldn't know, exactly?"

"Uh... They somehow knew I sacrificed my life for ROB's life," Chris told Wolf. "They were never there when that happened. But...well...you were with them so maybe you know?"

"No idea about that, either," Wolf confirmed with a frown. "Didn't know you got yourself into another fix like that, kid. It's starting to look like you just won't stay dead no matter how many times you die..." He saw Chris looking slightly sad at the retort. "Must've been traumatic every time..." he muttered to himself.

With Chris out to recollect himself from the memories, Pichu clapped his hands. "Wolf said none of you knew about what happened outside of the Subspace! That's just another truth destroying your truth!" he said.

"Wa-wa-wait!" Lucario stopped their confrontation. "Wo-Wolf was out during the final battle! He didn't see when Tabuu showed us what was going on with the Halberd!"

Wolf looked away. "Sorry. I can't really say anything that happened between getting knocked out and waking up at the infirmary. Anything between that span of time is a big blur to me," he admitted. "But about that pansy prince stabbing an ally on their back? That did happen. Which is why I order the judge here to say something about that crazed murderer spraying perfume on his face."

Jigglypuff's eyes swelled in size when everyone looked her way. The sane Smashers had blank looks ready to strike at anything, but the opposite team was pleading her to shift the tide of the trial to their favor. "I-I reckon you weirdos with the crazy curly wigs pull legs do miracles on those dang there seats!" Toon Link said.

"They don't do that!" Fox yelled.

"U-u-u-u-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh..." Jigglypuff wasn't ready to smack the gavel. She had been seen witnessing the same event in the video, which she couldn't try to deny. Unfortunately for every single enemy member of her party, their world was about to break apart once two other people walked down the staircase to the right and saw the event. "Y-y-you!"

Dozens of eyes turned to the general direction, spotting the Ancient Minister and Mr. G&W. "Wh-what is going on here?" Mr. G&W asked. "Why is everyone standing on a circle of stands with their feet cuffed to them?"

"This is the trial Captain Falcon told us about," the minister said. "It looks like we missed so much during our investigation..."

"Eh? Investigation?" Wario said. "What investigation? Why doesn't anybody here tell me about all the good stuff? I wanna know!"

Jigglypuff managed to smack her gavel once, albeit with less force than she hoped. "Y-you two! I order you to take your spots on the stands and face divine judgment for your treas-"

"I object," the minister interrupted, causing her to scoff. He stared at Chris's surprised expression. "Our investigation came to an end ten minutes ago, as it happens, and we found a shockingly amount of facts that debunk every foundation everyone here has built to stray us from the truth. Because of this, this whole trial is a big sham from any angle I look at it. I believe my teammates think the same, don't you?" They nodded together. "Common sense has been locked away in this mansion...in a sense. Behind those bars, the entire true story of what happened here was kept away."

Everyone standing on the stands exchanged confused glances. "Uh, what now?" Pichu asked.

Mr. G&W stepped forward. "Well, what he's trying to say is that... This deserves some narration of what we did behind everyone's backs. Listen very well to this story," he said.

Flashback

Seventh Floor's Hallway

The faint trail of blood led the Ancient Minister and Mr. G&W to the seventh floor, now that Snake wasn't blocking the path. The trail then forced the two to follow it to the right side of the stairs from their point of view. "This floor is where we shall find all the answers we need," the minister told his ally. "Traps may be hidden around here. It could be a trap to lure us into a false sense of security."

Mr. G&W shuddered as they followed the hidden trail further down the hallway. As they continued walking down there, the two saw a set of double doors open. When they got in front of the entrance to watch for any traps, they confirmed some of their doubts. "L-look! T-this place is...!"

"The theater the musicians use to make music," the minister said, stepping inside the large room and spotting an array of instruments lying down on the floor and sitting on top of the seats. It was an actual mess of items, though, as many of them weren't properly put away to their boxes. This fact and the other one that they found right away just made more questions that answers. "None of them seem to be around here..."

"The musicians? Oh no, I completely forgot about them!" Chris spoke outside the flashback.

"Why do we keep forgetting those guys live up there in the upper floors?" Fox asked.

"Because the focus it's on us and not them?" Pichu said.

"Aside from your unlucky forgetfulness, our questions about their whereabouts would get answered sooner than we thought," the minister said.

"Can't you use your sensors to locate them?" his ally asked.

"I suppose so," the minister said, his eyes turning blue as he began to analyze the perimeter of the room. "..." He turned off the heat-seeking sensor and looked down. "How...?"

"Uh? What? How what now?" Mr. G&W said. "Don't leave me in the dark! I want to know what you found!"

"I don't know how this is even possible, but we are standing on top of matter, right?"

Mr. G&W looked down at his feet and stepped on the floor three times. "...Yes? Why do you ask that?"

"Because my sensors can't detect even the slightest amount of heat on the floor," the minister said. "It's like I'm standing on top of nothing, like standing in midair where no heat is present. But outside of my sensors, I can clearly see the floor and other items. What's more is that there is nothing else on the floor below where my sensors were working just fine."

His ally gulped in two frames. "A-are you saying we're dead?" he said.

"There is also no need to go that far," the minister said. "Since I can see anything up here just fine with normal vision, but it's impossible to spot anything using anything else..." he browsed with his other sensors, yielding the same result as with the heat sensors, "...we've entered a strange field that renders specialized vision equipment useless."

"Like...the Subspace?" Mr. G&W only brought that up because it was the strangest place he could think of.

He wasn't really far from the truth. "...Just like the Subspace," the minister responded. "But this doesn't feel close to that, although it does show one similarity. If it was the Subspace, we should've seen the void here still, but it's not..."

Looking around with a hint of fright in his shaking form, Mr. G&W said in a hushed voice, "...A-are we standing in the Subspace?"

"Maybe... Though I have never seen the Subspace behave this way. And if it can act like this by hiding away from the naked eye, this just spells a lot of trouble in the future... No, we mustn't think too much about this. We have to keep looking for Pikachu, and now the musicians." He turned to the entrance to leave and keep following the trail from where they left off. He and Mr. G&W walked out from the eerily abandoned room. "Coming up here has confirmed a number of things. First, there is some sort of field of interference that renders equipment useless which is similar to exploring the Subspace... Then the other confirmation is..."

"The missing musicians."

"Yes, though their disappearance presents another question..."

"We're standin' in the Subspace?!" Dedede panicked.

"Stop. Let us finish this tale," the minister said.

A minute of walking slowly and carefully down the trail eventually led them to discover the end of it. However, said end was passing down a shirtless C. Falcon guarding the door where they needed to go. When he spotted them, he said, "INTRUDERS!"

Mr. G&W raised his hands. "We're innocent!"

"I'LL BE THE JUDGE OF THAT BEFORE YOU GET TO THE TRIAL DOWN HERE!" the captain said, unnecessarily flexing his biceps. "GO BACK DOWN OR SHOW ME YOUR MOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!"

"Let it be known I wasn't taking his words too seriously because of how sillier he looked like compared to everyone else in the mansion," the minister said.

The Ancient Minister moved forward to their enemy. "I take it this rather absurd display of a threat should be taken as a hostile action you're willing to take against us despite trying to push us away from the door you're guarding?" he asked.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Captain Falcon said, sticking out his chest.

"...Oh. Very well. That makes things easier for us." Without warning, the minister shot a charged laser right on the captain's head, sending him back to the wall where his head got stuck in the wall. Mr. G&W yelped at the sudden move as he watched the minister hopping in the air and burning the captain with the rockets of his lower base, knocking him out cold. Pulling back from the nasty blows he dealt, the minister turned to his ally. "Done. We may proceed."

"Eesh..." Chris said.

"W-why did you do that?!" Mr. G&W asked, looking at the captain's charred, exposed back. He wasn't moving anymore after having been attacked so badly.

"For a number of reasons he made so obvious. We weren't going to leave here unharmed if he was left alone. After getting this far, the mysteries surrounding this mansion are behind that door." The minister turned to the door, where he spotted a lock with a chain attached to the door and the wall. Snapping it open with a charged laser, the chains and lock fell down to the floor, leaving them to open the door with the doorknob. The minister twisted it and opened the door inward to see the big secret behind. "...My goodness... This is..."

Mr. G&W shyly took a peek of the setting and wished he could turn white when he saw the secret behind the door...

Mansion Dungeon

Bravely Default – Infiltrating Enemy Territory

The somewhat fancy look of the hallway didn't mesh well with the dark, rocky, and damp setting of the dungeon housing a dozen of cold cells. From their point of view, the Ancient Minister and Mr. G&W saw an empty cell that gave out how everything else looked like. To their left was just a rocky wall, but to their right was a long path with the other cells full with figures in the dark. In fact, the darkness of the place made it hard for them to see anyone, though they heard breathing and the occasional rumbling sound echoing in the rocky hallway.

"Is this a...?"

"A dungeon, yes... I would've never thought there was a dungeon here. It's one of the places of the whole mansion where the spies never got to see," the minister said. "It lacks windows. Anybody who gets here is completely safe from being spied on."

"Hold the horses! There's a dungeon in this mansion?!" Dedede asked with a panicked look.

"You can trust me on that. There is definitely a dungeon in this place," the minister said.

"Goodness gracious. I really need to explore every corner of this place more often..." Chris muttered.

The two investigators walked down the rocky steps of the entrance and closed the door behind them. Once they walked down the steps, they got a full view of the two rows of prison cells. It was too dark, though, but Mr. G&W found a light switch on the left wall and flicked it to turn on the hanging lights, giving illumination to the entire place. The action made many gasping sounds echo at once from nearly every cell in the dungeon... And soon enough, hands clasped the cold bars, before multiple faces were displayed above them. "W-who's there?!" asked a voice.

"Are they gonna feed us dirty leftovers again?" asked another.

"We don't eat chewed bones! And I can confirm there was trash in those plates!" said another.

"Oh my gosh, I don't want to eat trash! Is this the punishment we get for getting inside this big mansion?! I'll never sneak into houses while it's raining!" cried another.

"Keep it quiet, you! You don't want to make them any angrier at us that they are," scolded another.

"...Excuse me," the minister called out as he walked forward to get a full view of all the dirty faces waiting for something nasty to happen. Mr. G&W walked behind him and kept an eye on the closed door. Once looking at the people imprisoned against their wishes, their doubts were clarified even more. "Just as I thought... The musicians were here all along."

From the left row of cells, the two spotted the missing musicians. Makar and Medli were sharing one cell, with the next cell imprisoning the Kong trio, and then the next cell holding all of Wario's employees.

"What?! My employees are here?!" Wario called out. "They're under my contract NOT to work for others! They gimme money!"

"That's not the issue here. Shut up!" Fox scolded.

"Oh no, not another shady character with another one!" Lanky said, trembling in fear together with the much larger Chunky. "W-what are you gonna do to us?! Please, anything but my arms!"

Tiny Kong stared at him. "Lanky, they haven't tortured us physically," she pointed out.

"Well... I'm scared! I have a reason to get these crazy thoughts! We've been in here for five days...I think!"

"All of you, calm down," the minister said. "We're not in league with the people who imprisoned you. Rather, we're here to set you free from this dungeon."

Many gasps of shock were had when he spoke his words. "Really? Truly?" Makar asked. "You really are going to set us free? This isn't some sort of joke disguised as a trap, is it?"

"N-no, it's not a trap!" Mr. G&W said. "I didn't think my friends would toss you into these cells! I want to know what's wrong with them! They never were like this before, a-and...I know you knew them as different people before! I'm right on that, am I not?"

The Kongs exchanged glances and nodded at him. "Uh, yeah! DK and Diddy were never like this before!" Chunky said. "They used to be my BFFs but they're now my WFFs! The 'W' stands for Worst!"

"And Link... He never talked so weird before either," Medli said with a downcast look on her face. "He was scaring me with his talk about the fascinating world of pig culture and whenever I tried to get him to talk to me about what was happening to us..."

"That there birdy was a nutty one, I tell you what!" Toon Link said. "I ain't no bird keeper! Pigs are the future, which is now! I wasn't tryin' to feed that bird anyway..."

"Frankly, I don't care about that," Pichu said.

"And this is the treatment we get after working hours and hours restoring their precious music? I only got here to see where Wario went!" Mona complained. "Nowhere did it say I'd get tossed to a cell! I think I can really sue someone for this!"

"R-relax, all of you! Your suffering is over! I'll just go ahead and unlock the cells so you see we're not lying," Mr. G&W said, spotting the keys of the cells hanging on the opposite wall of the dungeon. He walked over to them, until he stopped in his tracks when he spotted a spot of yellow peeking out from the last cell of the right row. "O-oh... M-my god..."

It was Pikachu himself, looking ill and sporting a bandage that went around his waist. He definitely looked sick in the eyes, and under his fur he was very pale. He looked like he was ready to faint. "H-hey..." Pikachu spoke weakly. "Are you...gonna hurt me too? Y-you better..." He collapsed on his back, making the flat character gasp and yelp in horror.

"Pikachu is here?!" most of the sane Smashers said at once.

"He had arrived just yesterday during the night when he was attacked by these imbeciles standing on the stands," the minister said. "This tale doesn't end here yet. There is more you should know..."

"I-I found Pikachu!" Mr. G&W alerted the Ancient Minister, the latter going over to his side to spot the fallen Smasher. However, upon looking at the cell he was in, it was revealed Pikachu was not alone, Some human hands picked him from the floor and raised him to their chest, looking blankly at their guests. "Huh? Wh-who are you?"

"The cells not only contained the musicians and Pikachu... There were other people who got tangled up into this mess."

Before the two Smashers was a young man wearing a black hat on top of his long but messy green hair. "A friend to all Pokémon in the world," the man spoke. "This little one has suffered a terrible fate, but his fate only got intertwined with mine hours ago. My other reason for being here is to find out why the hearts of the Pokémon got tainted by an evil force in the works..."

"That person we met there holding Pikachu went by a strange name," the minister said. "His name was just a single letter: N."

"N?" Morgan wondered. "People can have names with one letter? Wow, that's cool! I wish my name was Q."

"Morgan, that's not the point here..." Pichu said.

"N... N... Where did I hear that name before... Oh, that's right! I know who that guy was!" Chris said. "That's the same guy I met before I got kidnapped!"

N caressed Pikachu's head with care as he stared at the strange people talking to him. "Should I trust you now, after being forced into this cell depriving me from my freedom? I cannot read your hearts for some reason... But this dying Pikachu looks like enough proof to convince me about what you think of Pokémon in this accursed mansion." He looked up and sighed. "Where is that young trainer, I wonder? That trainer whose heart was like a sanctuary for souls to rest peacefully with no fears to worry about... The one that is not Red, who hasn't fallen victim of this madness..."

"O-oh, come now. My heart isn't a sanctuary..." Chris muttered in embarrassment.

The minister and the flat character looked at each other and turned back to the guy. "You mean Chris?" the minister asked.

N looked back down at them and nodded. "I wish to see him again. He probably holds the answers behind his trusted partner's erratic behavior...unless he was a victim of the madness already," he said with a frown.

"Chris isn't insane like the people whom you probably met already," the minister told N. "He is alive and well, looking for the truth behind this assumed madness you speak of."

The man smiled warmly. "Ahh, I see. His heart has not been tainted by that evil force. It makes me feel at peace knowing that," he said. "But why did his partner attack me?"

"His partner attacked you?" Mr. G&W said. "Wait, why are you even here?"

N looked serious. "Days ago, I came here when I sensed a disturbance that was taking over the hearts of some unfortunate Pokémon living in this house," he explained. "I visited this place when I met my new friends Red and Chris. The two nursed a young Pokémon back to full health just before he was going to die from starvation. I became acquainted with their Pokémon whom showed just as much positive energy as they did, until I felt that strange feeling taking over them, one by one... It was a day later from my meeting with them that I returned to this place to seek answers. I entered the mansion from the front door and was greeted by his partner, the one they call Lucario. As I talked with him, it didn't take too long for me to notice how odd he was acting... And when I asked him what was wrong with his tainted heart, he knocked me out cold before I could think of escaping. The next minute I wake up, I found myself trapped in this cell with everyone else here."

Chris narrowed his eyes at the sweaty Lucario. "Don't go thinking I didn't hear that just now! You got a lot of explaining to do after this is over!" he scolded him.

"I see..." the minister said. "You got to the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It appears that way," N said with disappointment in his eyes. "Days have passed after that incident, where the people of this mansion fed us with dubious food to survive in this cold place. It was an unfair punishment as you can see... Then, just yesterday, they dropped this poor Pikachu with a large wound on his stomach in my cell." He looked down at Pikachu staring at him through the small openings of his eyelids. "His heart wasn't tainted like the others, though. He and I also became friends...and to see him like this brought despair to me. I thought he was done for as he lied dead in front of my feet, until destiny was kind enough to have me reunite with my fellow friends next to this cell..."

The minister and the flat character just noticed there were four more people trapped in the cell next to N's. One of them looked a little familiar to the minister, pressing her crying face against the bars. "Get me out of this place! It's so dark and dirty, it's staining my favorite dress!" Bianca bellowed.

"...Bianca?" Chris said.

"That same crazy chick with the crazy boar Pokémon we met a day ago?" Fox said.

"Wow, Fox... I wouldn't describe her like that this soon... But still, what's she doing here?"

"That's where I'm getting to," the minister said.

"You..." the minister said as he moved to the other cell. "You're that same human girl my friend met yesterday. What are you doing in this place?"

"Huh? Who're you?" Bianca asked. "...Wait, I don't care who you are! Let me out of here! I swear I'll never sneak inside another house during the night ever again!"

"...So, you're saying you got inside the mansion during the night," the minister said with a few nods. "Anything else you're sorry about?"

"W-well, my favorite hat! I lost it when I got taken here!" she cried, and she looked far sadder when mentioning the hat she lost. On top of her bushy blond head, her green hat was gone from sight. "I learned my lesson now, okay? Please, get me outta hereeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" her cries cringed everyone in the dungeon so much they had to cover their ears.

"Bianca, you're not helping one bit! Seize your crying this instant!" spoke a voice behind the crying Bianca. It came from a young teenager with a quiet look on his face behind the glasses he wore. He had combed black hair with an unruly cowlick sticking backwards from above his forehead, wore a blue jacket over a shirt with an orange Y stripe on the center, black pants, and blue shoes. "Your cries haven't stopped for a long while now. You're going to make us go deaf at this rate!" her companion scolded as he walked into view, looking covered in dust like his fellow friend.

"I have the right to complain, Cheren!" Bianca cried to him, making him cringe at her loud voice. "My dress is all dusty, we've got thrown in jail for trespassing into this place, I lost my hat, I lost my Pokémon, and I'm gonna grow old in here without ever going back out...well, maybe I'll grow 3 days older before I pass out! This is the worst!"

The young teen named Cheren grunted. "Hopefully you learned your lesson this time. Perhaps running back to the Pokémon Center under the heavy rain was a much better choice than entering the nearby house with an open window... Don't you read books? You never enter the dubious mansion while it's raining and you're traveling the world. Only an idiot does that!" he scolded.

"Hey, calm down, both of you! They said they were going to get us out of here!" spoke a female voice from behind the two arguing trainers. She walked into view and, while looking equally dusty like her companions, she looked like one of those wild teenagers who happened to be nice people. That was the impression the minister and his ally got when looking at her long brown ponytail hanging on the back of her white cap with a pink Poké Ball logo along with the two long strands of hair; one on each side of her face and resting on her shoulders, the dark vest on top of her white shirt, black wristbands, dangerously ripped short shorts that barely covered her thighs, and black boots with pink bases and pink shoelaces. "And Cheren, that was a little too rude of you!"

Bianca wanted to cover her face with her hat, a habit she used to do many times. Sadly for her, her hands instinctively reached out for empty air above her hat-less head. "Oh, Hilda! It was my fault! I know when it's my fault!" Bianca cried.

Hilda sighed. "Bianca, everything is gonna be fine now. We're gonna get outta here. You can stop crying now..." she said.

"I can't stop crying! They took our Pokémon away from us, including my dear Emboar!" Bianca cried. "And my hat! It's only one of a kind my mom sewed for me ever since I was little! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU LOST THAT HAT YOU'RE WEARING?!"

Her friend looked to the sides awkwardly. "You do know I just bought this hat this year from a store, don't you?" she asked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the blond screamed, once again making everyone cover their ears.

There was a fourth newcomer inside the cell, standing up and covering his ears. It was another young trainer whose age was the same as the other three trapped in the same cell. He was a young teen with semi-spiky brown hair covered under a hat with the Poké Ball color scheme viewed from a bird's eye view and the same design shown on the front except black. He wore a blue, long-sleeved jacket with a dark blue circle pattern covering his shoulders and neck, dark brown pants and red shoes.

The curious thing about this young teen was that his overall appearance was an easy target for others to take for their own...but that was another story. "Anything to stop Bianca from screaming her lungs out! Gosh!" he complained loudly in hopes to shut her up.

She did shut up, still looking torn apart by the loss of her possessions. "You guys will never understand how I feel!" she whined. "You too, Hilbert! I barely even know you for a year! You wouldn't understand this coursing pain I feel!"

"Doesn't matter how long you know me! We do know how you feel, except we're more concerned about our Pokémon than you do with your hat! They're living beings, you know?" Hilbert shot back, only for Bianca to start bellowing for her lost Emboar. "Oh geez..."

"Great going there," Hilda muttered annoyed.

"I deserve that..."

"..." The minister just remembered seeing the blond girl before, and he also remembered seeing a big green hat on her head. The missing hat turned out to be very close to them. "...Mr. G&W, that beret you found belongs to her," he said.

"Huh?" Mr. G&W took out the beret for everyone to see. "This is her hat?"

Bianca's tears stopped falling down her cheeks when she saw the beret, which sparkled a great deal of lights in her eyes. "MY HAT!" she rejoiced, but frantically tried to snatch it away from her rescuer's hands by sticking our her whole arms between the bars. "Give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it give it giv-!"

It was clear Bianca had lost her marbles as she was lost trying to reach out for her hat. Many of the other prisoners felt sorry for the girl. "Mr. G&W, just give her her hat already before she starts crying again," the Ancient Minister said.

"I-I want to, but what if her hands drag me into that cell and I get torn apart?!" Mr. G&W asked, barely putting the beret in Bianca's reach. He opted to toss the hat towards Bianca, where she scrambled around her hands for it until she caught her precious item and put it back on her head. She was smiling wide and hopping on her feet.

"Yay! My hat! It's back!" she rejoiced loudly. "The world is a good place to live!"

Cheren was thankful she seized her cries. "That's one problem down, but that doesn't solve the other problems yet, namely our Pokémon..." He quickly covered Bianca's mouth with his right hand before insanity would hit her again. He stared at the two Smashers. "Alright, I want answers. Who are you and what is going on here?"

"From that point, a lot was revealed," the minister narrated. "Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca turned out to have wandered inside the mansion during late at midnight when it started raining. They were out exploring the woods for quite too long until the rain started. They happened to be around the mansion grounds around that time, and Bianca – the girl we met a day ago – got inside through an open window which forced her friends to go after her. Their story didn't end there..."

"This mansion has abusive people who are willing to gravely injure innocent Pokémon," Cheren noted. "The Pikachu that got here – who turns out to be able to talk - was violently attacked."

The minister didn't like how outsiders were getting involved in their affairs by accident. "I assume the place where we found Bianca's hat was the place you witnessed such event happen," he said.

"That wrecked room with the computers? Yeah, that's the place we got to after we got in from the window and walked down the hallway," Hilbert confirmed. "Bianca rushed over there when she saw the wreckage, and then she started looking around for any lost items to claim for herself... But then, around that time when we all entered the place, a portal opened up in midair and this talking Pikachu came out from it! Just before he appeared, we hid behind a big pile of trash and kept a close eye on that Pokémon looking around the place..."

Hilda looked sick as she lowered her face a bit. "Then we saw this red-haired swordsman walking into the room and greeting the Pikachu...a-and he slashed the poor creature with a blazing sword while it wasn't looking! Oh god, I still remember the scream and the blood..." she continued.

"Roy!" Pichu cried out to the swordsman. "H-how dare you attack Pikachu?!"

"I-I was only following orders f-fro-" Roy stopped talking when Marth hit the back of his head. "I-I mean, I w-was..."

"Enough," the minister said. "I haven't finished with this tale."

"We saw that person drag the bleeding Pikachu away from the room where we hid. After a little while, Bianca felt her heroine senses tingling and rushed out of the room to pursue the guy, and we naturally followed to stop her from alerting any other hostile person living here," Cheren continued, fixing his glasses over his nose. "Soon enough when we turned left around the corner, a massive ape spotted us and knocked all of us in one fell blow against the wall. We lost consciousness, but I spotted several other people coming out of nowhere to carry us somewhere... That's how we ended up here before we knew it, stripped from all our Pokémon and left with our other belongings. I surmised they left the rest behind because it posed no threat."

"A-and then we found N was here too, and he was pleading us to help him nurse that Pikachu!" Bianca continued. "We passed some of our items to him to see if he could do something to help the little cutie...and...well...he's barely breathing now... A-and he spoke to us while he was resting! He asked us so many questions like who we were and what we were doing here..."

The minister looked back at the unconscious Pikachu. "I must bring Pikachu back to Chris so he heals those wounds," he muttered. "So I see how the puzzle fell into place with your accounts. You all were unfortunately caught during an event you shouldn't have gotten involved with. For that, I apologize indirectly from the people who imprisoned you... Though then..." he turned to the musicians, "...what about you? Didn't you see the Subspace Bomb? Weren't you taken to a strange plane?"

The quiet Ashley, lacking her witch wand, stepped forward from her cell with her demon companion Red hugging her leg for dear life. "That place of infinite darkness and empty souls... We ended there for a brief time when we saw that void stretching out from nowhere," she said. "We wandered in there for a bit until everything just went back to normal, or so it looked normal, because those naughty people living downstairs rushed up into the music room and subdued us for no reason..." Her hair turned white with anger, her eyes shining red. "They took my wand away from me... I will curse them in their sleep once I get my wand back... Nobody throws an innocent sweet girl like me into a cell and gets away with it..."

"(That creepy look and that white hair don't make me feel okay with her...)" Mr. G&W thought with a gulping sound.

"Ah, that's a good explanation of the events that transpired here," the minister said as he looked at every prisoner. "Thanks to your stories, I can now say for sure that we have everything we need to strike back against the people who took you here. But because they pose great danger, I will ask you to leave the mansion from the backdoor and wait for us to fix everything back into place, for those of you who wish to know the answers..."

Medli interlaced her fingers over her chest. "...I want to know why Link is acting so strange," she said.

"Yes! Me too!" Makar said.

"And DK and Diddy!" Tiny said. "Those two better have a good explanation for doing this to us!"

"My cousins better have one or else I'll smash my cymbals on their empty little heads!" Lanky proclaimed.

"Y-yeah, what my friends said!" Chunky shyly said.

Mona looked away with a scoff. "Other than suing that floating glove, I don't have much else I want to know," she said.

"That reminds me," the minister began, "you're part of Wario's crew, aren't you? The man himself is with us right now."

The mention of Wario's name made his employees look incredulously at him. "Wait, what? W-Wario is here? For real?" Mona said in shock and mild surprise. "I-I gotta see him!"

"Oh wow! Mr. Wario himself came to rescue us from this prison? I didn't think he had it in him!" Penny said with a smile. "He defected from the bad guys the moment he heard we were in trouble? What a true hero!"

The Ancient Minister had a very different story that would wreck their hopes mercilessly. They only needed to know their boss was here. "Uh... Sure, let us go with that," he said, and cue the cheers from the Wario crew sans Ashley.

"Hey, you!" Hilda called out. "We also have stuff to do in here! We have to retrieve our Pokémon!"

"I don't know where they took them, but I will see to it that you'll recover your creatures soon enough today," the minister said. Mr. G&W grabbed the keys of the cells and started unlocking them all. "Just listen to my directions and we should do this without getting into more problems..."

End of flashback

Court Lobby

As the story was finished, leaving many sweating in a mess of emotions and the few ones surprised by the retelling, one single person walked out from the hallway holding the wounded Pikachu on his arms. It was N, who quickly went over to Chris's side and smiled warmly at him, although Chris thought the mysterious man was a tad creepy for his tastes. "Chris, your friend over there told me you possess healing magic," he said. "I'm quite shocked a trainer knows how to do that, but...please, help your friend."

The World Traveler looked at Pikachu staring back at him. The weak look in his eyes were pleading the teen to heal him quickly before it was too late. Looking determined, the healer raised the tip of his glowing rod on Pikachu. "Hang in there...!" he told Pikachu. "Holy power, come to me! ...First Aid!"

A warm and welcoming glow covered Pikachu's wounded belly. Under the bandages, the wound mended itself and closed tight while retrieving any loss blood that was nearby. Thinking it wasn't enough to heal him completely, Chris used another dose of healing magic, and this time the harsh wound was gone for good, albeit now Pikachu sported a bald line under the bandages. Feeling much better and ready to wander about, Pikachu opened his eyes and shook his body. "Whew! That's much better... Thank you!" he thanked Chris, jumping off from N's arms to the teen's left shoulder where the two started laughing merrily at their little reunion. Even the baby Riolu was barking happily, unaware that Chris's brimming positive aura rubbed off on him.

Pichu was quick to start tearing up in happiness. "P-Pikachu!" he cried. "I'm hoooooooooooooooooome!"

Pikachu's ears twitched when he heard that familiar voice calling out to him. When he looked at Pichu's direction, he gasped. "P-Pichu? I-is that really...?!" He jumped off from Chris's shoulder and ran on top of the circle of stands all the way to Pichu's chair. He noticed the new Pokémon staring at them. "Who're you?" Pikachu asked Snivy.

"Just an innocent Snivy with a large metal chain wrapped around her throat," she muttered with anger. "Nothing to see here."

"Oh..." Pikachu turned back to Pichu. "Is it really you?"

"Y-yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!" Pichu managed to move forward and toss his little arms around Pikachu.

As the two started to catch up with questions, the Ancient Minister moved forward to the circle. "Like I said before, this trial is a big sham," he said. "The people trying to convict you of crimes you didn't commit are the true criminals who orchestrated so many unforgivable schemes that they would have never thought about doing before. We have been lied to since yesterday, but that foundation of lies has shattered, and thus they're the ones falling into that wreckage..." When he looked down at the cuffs on their feet, he started setting his team free with concentrated laser blasts. The enemy party was left to see their criminals moving back from their stands, more than half of them glaring at their enemies. "Anything they say is a lie."

"Mind if you come over to this side and set me free? These cuffs bring back bad memories to me," Wolf called out.

The minister looked at the lupine. "...Aren't you in league with them?" he asked.

"No... Wolf is with us," Chris told him. "He looks like he came back to his senses somehow. It's fine to set him free."

"Well, if you say so..." As the minister pondered how the lupine managed to snap back to reality, he went over to his side and set him free. He was expecting Wolf to lunge at him, but all he did was push his broken cuffs away and walk calmly to the other side of the lobby to reunite with the others. The Ancient Minister followed him and saw he wasn't about to do anything strange with Fox other than looking at him from head to toe. "Wolf, are you sure you're not with them?"

"Like I'm ever going to be part of those weirdos. Look at them!" Wolf complained as he saw the enemies supporting themselves on their stands, looking ready to start screaming. "They lost it since we got to the Subspace. I was once part of them, but I don't wanna think about what they've done while I was knocked out."

"Knocked out? Whatever do you mean by knocked out?"

Wolf scratched his head. "These guys told me I was awake the whole time they've been here, for starters. I have no memory of that myself. I only got knocked out in the Subspace, and I woke up in the infirmary here like nothing happened," he said.

"Huh... That is an interesting point..." the minister muttered. "If what you say is true, why is it that you came back to your senses just today? Did something happen to you yesterday?"

Fox felt the stares from his team burn into his mind. "...Er, well, he did land on his head when he and Falco fell from the second floor..."

There was a very awkward silence of an entire minute of hard thinking as everyone thought hard about the little fact Fox just said.

"...He...hit his head very hard yesterday," Wario said.

"...So that means..." the Ancient Minister began as they looked back at the big circle of Smashers looking far worse than before, "...everyone here i-"

"OBJECTION!" Jigglypuff yelled all of a sudden, stopping their train of thoughts. "I-I prohibit you from saying that insane idea you have in mind! Ever since you naughty people came into this mansion, you've been accusing us for so many crimes! I ORDER YOU TO STOP THIS!"

The sane Smashers glared. "Would you just quit it already?" Wolf said. "This is game over for you. Accept your defeat with dignity."

"D-defeat? Ha!" Jigglypuff forced a laugh, twirling her gavel "Fine, fine, I'll humor you a little bit! You for sure know something about us after you took that minute to organize your thoughts... So tell us already! What do you think we have?"

The double doors of the mansion slammed open with Ness and Lucas entering the lobby. Dozens of eyes turned their way just before the two boys rushed up ahead, jumped over the shocked spectators, and lunged at Jigglypuff with Ness taking the lead. "You have brainwashing seeds in your head, that's what!" Ness yelled as Lucas shot out from his head a trail of concentrated electricity that collided against Ness, turning him into a spiraling human rocket that blasted right into Jigglypuff's face. The Singing Pokémon's eyes bulged out in utter horror right before a large blast set off on top of her throne...

Bravely Default – Signs of Enemy Invasion

As panic quickly ensued from the sudden attack, a bright flash forced everyone to cover their eyes, a few seeing Ness's frame bouncing out from the smokescreen he produced with Lucas's help. The two PSI children quickly went back to rejoin with the team to inform them with the news. "E-everyone!" Ness said. "All the people in here are brainwashed!"

"What?" most of them said.

"It's true! You have to believe me!" Ness said as he pointed at the startled Lucas. "Lucas here had a seed in his head that was making him crazy! That's the reason why everyone else is being an idiot!"

The unbelievable fact made everyone start murmuring stuff with each other until one such brainwashing seed came out of the smoke and fell flat next to their feet. "W-what the...?! What is that thing?!" Chris asked as he clutched Riolu closer to him.

Ness took out his bat and smashed the twitching seed into pieces that faded away upon being broken. Looking serious, he pointed at the smokescreen as it was clearing out. "Look for yourselves! That seed came out of Jigglypuff's head! You're going to see her looking around confused in a second!"

Over at the wrecked throne, Jigglypuff's dazed look was the first thing they saw. The impact from the PK Thunder had resulted in a big hit to her head that she tumbled down and rolled forward, where the gavel fell on her face and knocked her out cold.

"..." The sane Smashers all sweat-dropped at the same time.

"...Ness!" Lucas said. "Y-you got a little too carried away there!"

"Uh...whoops?" Ness said with a frown, taking out from his back a bucket of vanilla ice cream. "Well, maybe we should've used the ice cream bucket we took from the shop. I just thought hitting people was the best idea when I heard Fox saying that was how Wolf came back to earth..."

Lucas covered his face. "Oooooooohhhh, I know this is the real you! Only you would do something as violent as this like my brother used to do!" he said, torn between being happy and disappointed.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Ness asked offended.

"Enough about that!" Fox interrupted. "Ness, you know some more stuff about this. Tell us!"

Ness put the bucket down and decided to explain his side quick. "I took the brainwashed Lucas away from here. Halfway through our little trip, he started twitching madly and begging me to go back to the mansion, which I didn't because I wanted to see what would happen if he was out of it for a little longer. So then when we got to the shop, he just stood there like a zombie until he collapsed on his ice cream, where this weird seed came out of his head. My genre savvyness told me to smash that so I did, and presto, Lucas came back to his senses," he explained as everyone looked at Lucas, who was confused about why the dead ones were back. "After that, he explained to me what happened. Well, only the parts he remembered before he got brainwashed by that thing. And he revealed he did see those seeds entering everyone's heads when they got to the Subspace before he got into that mess..."

Lucas shuddered. "I-I'm...so happy to see you again..." he muttered. "I thought this was some crazy dream, but...but it's not, right?"

"It's a nightmare more than a dream," the minister said, scaring Lucas when he noticed his presence.

"Y-you! You did this!" Lucas forced a glare. "You caused all this!"

"Settle down!" Ness told Lucas. "He's with us. He defected from the army."

While Lucas couldn't believe the fact, the time to talk came to an end when the sane Smashers looked back at the enemies yelling in protest of their actions. Moreover, their eyes were glowing an unnatural shade of red. "How dare you hurt the judge, you insolent children!" Yoshi yelled. "You ought to be killed for that!"

Albeit their eyes were also glowing red, Link and Zelda kept making out, except their eyes were probably glaring daggers their way. "In the name of the three goddesses of Hyrule – and my sexy husband here! - WE WILL NOT STAND IDLY BY ANY LONGER!" Zelda proclaimed, though her words were actually muffled because she just couldn't keep her lips away from Link.

They rattled the cuffs on their feet, trying to get off and start attacking them. To their shock, half of the cuffed Smashers set themselves free by breaking the cuffs using their attacks, wasting no time stepping over their stands and charging violently to their way. The chaos of the situation only got even worse – or more precisely random - when even more uninvited people rushed out from the open double doors, yelling aloud in a war cry, "DIVINE INTERVENTIOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

"Huh?" everyone in the lobby turned to the guests, and soon, a large dust cloud formed where a big scuffle broke out that didn't have the sane Smashers in it. But just before the dust cloud formed, they did see the people rushing in. They were small in stature, wore Greek-like armor, carried bows, and most importantly had wings enabling them to fly...

The insanity of the situation was getting out of hand so quickly in the drop of a hat that nobody knew what was going on anymore. They at least knew the Smashers were brainwashed, but where did the flying soldiers come into the picture? Staring dumbfounded at the yells and screams inside the large dust cloud, one of them sighed loudly. "Okay. I give up," Wolf said, tossing his arms to the sides. "Does someone have a logical explanation of what in the hell is happening now?"

"Some dozens of small flying angel soldiers got in from the front door, yelled DIVINE INTERVENTIOOOOOOOOOOOOOON at the top of their lungs, and started attacking everyone in the stands which was enough to create this improbable dust cloud before our eyes?" a concerned Morgan said. "...Hmm. I think we must think harder to arrive to a new conclusion. Let us gather more proof to clear this dust once and for all!"

"Morgan, the trial is over. Proof is kind of irrelevant now," Fox said duly.

"Oh," she simply said.

The ensuing chaos of the battle was confusing to see as they backed off to the right staircase. "So what are we supposed to do now?" Pikachu asked. "So far, I only understand the part where everyone is brainwashed and has these seeds in their heads. Do we have to knock their heads around?"

"That would be the most useful method right about now, but... I'm still trying to understand where these Centurions came from," the minister said.

"Centurions?" Chris said. "Centurions as in the royal guard Pit is a commander of?"

Out of the dust cloud, a radiant goddess of light walked out to bless them with her royal, loyal, and magnificent presence, or so she thought. "I like to think Pit is currently MIA and I took matters into my own hands, thank you," Palutena said with a smile.

The Smashers quickly noticed her. "H-holy..." Chris trailed off.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm holy," Palutena said with amusement. "I'll take that as a compliment from you. Looking forward to get to know you better face-to-face, Chris. I haven't spoken with a normal human since... Hmm... Never... I need to get out more from my realm. Talking with you is going to be so much fun."

The teen blushed madly just thinking about the prospect of talking with a goddess he thought looked a little too pretty for his tastes, though the chances of having her around in the mansion were extremely slim. Truly, the situation had gotten extremely confusing with her presence. "H-hey, you!" Fox called out to her, wanting to spare Chris from her unneeded playful comments meant to strip anybody of their dignity. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren't gonna intervene into our problems!"

Palutena rubbed her chin. "I said that, didn't I?" she asked. "True, true. I said that...but I never said I could go back on my word on it. After I met you, I gave it some thought for five long minutes. That's when I told myself, 'Screw the rules, I'm a goddess!' where I decided to intervene with my divine force of Centurions when the time was right."

She was met with awkward silence from the whole group of dumbfounded Smashers.

"...Who the hell are you?" Wolf finally asked.

"Rude," Palutena said miffed. "I'm not going to waste more introductions here. Fine, I'll get to the point of this. I have some important news to share with you, O heroes and protagonists of this tale," she said. "The root of this evil is somewhere in the upper floors of this mansion. I used my ultra super divine sensing powers to locate the epicenter of this malevolent energy shrouding the mansion and its grounds outside. The roof area is where I think you need to head to."

"Ultra super divine...sensing powers?" Morgan muttered to herself.

"Man, ain't this turnin' into quite the party!" Dedede voiced out.

"Hold on. We have to get to the roof?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"Yes, you have to. Otherwise, this strange space will never go away and I'll never get to record any more episodes with you in them," Palutena said. "And there's a chance the brainwashed Smashers here will never go back to normal. You want to live in this house full of psychopaths?"

"No," everyone said.

"Then get going now!" she told them. "I only wanted to drop by and tell you myself about this bit of info. I can't stay outside my sanctuary for too long in this dimension. Oh, and one more thing... You need to start running upstairs to the roof. The Centurions are too flimsy fighting most of the experience fighters here. Yeah, I know. It's a shame."

Ness looked back at the dust cloud. "Wouldn't it be easier to knock everyone out and smack their heads?" he asked.

"After you crashed the party and revealed their secret? I don't think they'll let you get too close to their heads anytime soon," she commented, making Ness hang down his head. "The clock is ticking! Get to the roof and destroy the root of the problem for good! I'll go back to my realm and wait for you to solve this... GODDESS OF LIGHT, AWAY!" She waved at them as she went back into the dust cloud, where her silhouette was still visible while she kept an eye on them. They knew she wanted to make a dynamic exit but failed at it.

"We can still see you looking at us from there," Pikachu said.

"No you can't," Palutena said. With her powers of teleportation being useless in the invisible force field, she clutched her goddess staff and simply ran outside of the lobby, the eyes of her watchers following her till she was gone from sight.

"That woman is supposed to be a goddess?" Wolf asked.

"N-never mind that. We have everything we need to know to stop this madness," the minister told them. "Let's trust her words and go to the roof of the mansion. Quick, before those brainwashed people notice we're gone!"

Lucas didn't understand much about what was happening. He and Pikachu were in the same boat. "I-I'm going to follow you," Lucas said. "I think it's the right choice..."

Lucas rejoined your team!

Pikachu looked at Pichu and then back to the others. "Count me in too. I know for sure sticking with you is the best choice I have," he said.

Pikachu rejoined your team!

N moved down his cap for a bit until he smiled at the group. "I'll have to decline coming with you. I feel that this is a job you must see through for yourselves," he said before he jumped down over the rail of the staircase. "I need to see my friend Zorua. He has been waiting for me since I got imprisoned days ago."

"W-wait, is it safe for you to escape?" Morgan asked.

"I'll go through the backdoor like everyone else did. I know the way," N said and, with his words spoken, he gave them one wave of his hand and made his way to the backdoor through the hallway of the first floor.

"O-ooh, he's gone... Thank goodness," Pichu sighed.

"Why are you happy he's gone? He's not that bad," Pikachu said.

"H-he looked like Sho Minamimoto... That's why..."

Ness, Fox, and Chris exchanged horrified glances and shook their heads when they thought about the crazy math fetishist. They had to admit N shared a passing resemblance to the madman, even going as far as to think N was possibly a reincarnation of him. "Sho Minawho again?" asked a confused Pikachu.

"It's not important!" Ness said. "Hurry! To the roof!"

"Yeah! To the roof!" Lucario agreed.

"Yeah!" Morgan supported...until everyone stopped on their tracks and looked down the staircase at the Aura Pokémon. "Wait, something isn't right about this setup..."

"Rats! They spotted us!" Ness said, preparing to shoot the aura wielder with PK Fire.

"W-wait, no! It's me!" Lucario said, putting his palms forward. "I-it's me, the real Lucario! I-I came back to my senses now!" The fact he didn't sport glowing red eyes like the rest seemed to be proof enough...

Fox then asked, "Do you want to kiss Chris passionately? He's up for that." Chris screamed Fox's name indignantly.

"Oh, definitely!" Lucario said eagerly, just before Fox got close to him and started charging an upward blow. "...WAIT!" He got kicked on the chin back to the dust cloud. Oddly, Fox thought that it was too easy to kick the taller opponent away with ease. He could have sworn it was extremely difficult to even budge Lucario when he stood on his feet before...

"Couldn't you have asked something less intimate than that?! Seriously!" the blushing Chris scolded Fox as the latter started climbing the steps.

"We're running out of time and this is a dire situation!" Fox reminded him. "Now go! We gotta run to the roof! GET GOING!" he commanded everyone. With no other way to go, the party of fourteen people started running upstairs all the way to the roof, some of them looking back at the chaos in the lobby just as they left the second floor...

Sixth Floor's Hallway

As they were about to round the corner to the next set of stairs, someone stood in their way. "STOP!" C. Falcon said, breaking into a flexing showdown and briefly showing his charred back. "WHO'S GONNA SHOW ME THEIR MOVES NEEEEEEEEEXT?!"

"Uh, is he serious," a deadpan Pikachu asked.

"No! His manliness is too much to bear!" Morgan lamented. "I can't move beyond that impressive masculine body! My eyes can't stop ogling him!"

"How is she not brainwashed?" Wolf asked.

The minister sighed and moved forward. "We don't have time to fool around with you. The jig is up," he told the flexing captain. "We know the secret behind this place. You and the rest have been brainwashed by mind-controlling seeds Tabuu no doubt set up in you. Just stay still and let us smash your head."

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!"

Chris covered Riolu's ears just as he heard the baby bawling. "Someone smack his head good already! He's going to pay for this!" the teen said.

Just as they were about to do just that, a groaning voice came from behind the shirtless captain. They looked behind him and saw the source rubbing his head with his feathery left hand. "Hey... Keep it down, will ya?" Falco groaned, wearing his complete outfit but still feeling weak from the night before. "There's not a single freakin' pill for headaches in that infirmary so I'm gonna..." When he got a clear view of the crowd of people, his eyes widened in shock, but more so when he saw a bunch of seemingly dead people staring back at him, especially his boss. "What...in the hell is...going on here?!"

"Waaaaay too many people keep asking that," Pichu muttered.

"YOUUUUUU!" C. Falcon faced Falco with a very stretched finger at his face. "JOIN ME IN THIS BATTLE FOR JUSTICE! LET US SHOW THEM OUR MOVES TOGETHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Very confused about the captain's sudden penchant for yelling taunts out loud, Falco covered his ears. "Would somebody shut him up?!" he asked.

With the captain distracted by the avian, Dedede took out his hammer and promptly smashed C. Falcon's head into the wall. The force of his blow ended up burying the brainwashed human into the wall where they couldn't hope to get the seed out of him. "Why didn't you smash his head down?" Ness asked.

"I'm shaken up, okay?!" Dedede wisely replied, pulling back his hammer.

The shocked Falco got closer and stared at the racer's unconscious body, and then he looked back at the team. "Am I seein' things or...? Ugh..." He felt his head beat. "Damn this headache..."

"If Wolf and Falco got hit really hard in their heads..." Fox looked at Chris. "Chris, I think it's okay if you heal Falco."

"Uh, okay..." Chris pointed the tip of his rod to Falco's head. "I'm surprised healing magic can heal headaches... Energize... First Aid!"

A warm green glow covered Falco's head, easily getting rid of his annoying headache once the welcoming light faded away. He sighed jovially. "Aww, much better..." He really did think he was just having a weird nightmare once he felt better in his brain. But then he opened his eyes and saw that the crowd of Smashers was very much real. "Aww, hell! This isn't a dream! You are real...are you?" He wasn't sure just yet, so he walked over to Fox and grabbed his head to shake it a bit. "Or not? Maybe this is some super robot who's just trying to look like Fox..."

With a bored expression, Fox said, "Falco, you better stop shaking my head before I have to punch you."

"Hmm, the voice sounds spot on and the fur feels authentic. But you know what they say. You can't never be too sure with these clones." Seeing as Falco wasn't about to stop shaking the vulpine's head, Fox punched him on his right cheek. "Oww!"

"Falco, this is Fox," Ness said. "He isn't a clone. He is the real deal, just like me and Pichu here."

Falco took a moment to process the news in the best way he could: dropping his beak jaw. "Say whaaaaaaaat?!"

"We're losing time standing idly by," the minister said. "We'll just have to fill him in on the way to the roof."

Falco glared nastily at him. "Hey! You killed Fox! What are you doing with them?!" he asked until everyone decided to just rush up the stairs, with a disgruntled Fox grabbing Falco's right wrist to drag him with them and forcing him to run. "Will somebody tell me anything here?!" he was heard yelling. They completely skipped the unconscious Captain Falcon on the wall.

Falco was forced to rejoin your team!

Music stops

Roof's Exit

"Let me get this straight," Falco began as they rushed up the last set of stairs, "All of this started with Chris getting kidnapped, and from there everyone getting trapped in the Subspace where we saw Marth randomly murdering the broody mage guy and got these weird brainwashing seeds into our heads and then the Subspace void on the mansion disappeared and everyone continued living a strange life for no real reason, while the dead guys went through some weird test of strength you strongly refuse to talk about which helped you to revive in a deserted island full of those weird Moogle creatures, and then you literally got aid from these three traitors and Mr. G&W where then you were forced to fight that Duon machine and beat it soundly but failed to preserve Meta Knight's Halberd, and then after that you took a ride on a gigantic bug all the way to the village where you then came here and saw that the mansion was okay, when in truth everything was a lie because everyone – including me – was brainwashed, and then a day later everyone here forced you to take a trial where you destroyed their lies with evidence and accounts, and then after that Pit's goddess came outta nowhere and led her army inside to attack everyone to buy you some time to get rid of the true reason behind this whole charade...oh, and then you met up with me."

"That's a big rough draft of everything till now, but yeah..." Fox said.

"...Man, we never catch a break!" he complained. "Even dead, fate just likes to keep toying around with us."

"Thank you for the biggest, most amazing tale I'd never get to hear in my world," Pikachu said. "So happy to hear there's some logic involved into this massive, complicated plot of evil. Now I'm up to speed."

"That reminds me. I was brainwashed, wasn't I?" Falco asked. "How was I acting?"

Fox took half a minute of silence to explain in the best way possible how to say the facts to his fellow wing mate. "...You were gay for me," he said. The ones that didn't get to see that looked on with shock in their eyes.

"..."

"...Yeah, I know how you feel."

Falco looked beyond pissed. "Oh boy, oh boy. You really don't know how much I want to blow Tabuu and his whole army to smithereens right now," he said, emphasizing his words by cracking his fists. "So that explains the stinky perfume on my neck and the ten photos of you with hearts on 'em in my pockets..."

Mentally grimacing, Fox grinned. "Now that's the mindset I wanted to hear," he said.

The large group of people reached the exit to the roof. It was a square that stuck out from the outside, though they were inside the square. In front of them was the door leading outside towards their destination. They were about to open the door, but then they noticed they weren't alone in the cubicle with a figure standing on the corner of the darkness. "Greetings, my fellow adventurers!" the figure spoke as it walked forward. "How goes the adventure?"

Morgan fawned in the background. "Stiltzkin? What are you doing here?" Ness asked.

"My adventure instincts led me here. It's incredible where they can take you!" the Moogle said. "Your mansion reeked with adventure so...here I am!"

"...How did you bypass all the security?" the minister asked.

"There are certain things you shouldn't know about me..." he eerily said with a beat of silence. "...Oh, right. I should make myself useful here. I was just about to leave because my fur is feeling all fuzzy with danger coming from outside that door over there." They looked at the door. "I should warn you that there's a boss up ahead. You need to be prepared for what's to come...unless of course you're just coming up here to have a private meeting and aren't really going out."

"But we are," Mr. G&W said.

"...Well! Ain't you the violent bunch!" the Moogle said. "Or the heroic bunch! Yeah, totally the heroic bunch. Anyhow, you'll need all the help you can get, soooooooo I'll setup a shop here. You don't know when you'll need items! Items forever!"

Falco rolled his eyes. "Items. Who needs 'em? I don't look like it, but I rather fight without items." He and Fox high-fived.

"You two live sad, saaaaad lives. It makes me feel so much sorry for you..." Stiltzkin commented, much to the chagrin of the two Star Fox members. "Alright! What do you want to buy from me? I'm only carrying basic healing items with me at the moment."

When money talked, it was usually the time for Wario to speak. "Pardon me? You're chargin' us money right now? Don't you see the fix you're in? We're surrounded by murderers trying to kill you! The least you could do is give us your items for free (so I can sell them at a higher price myself later)!"

"Hmm! You drive a good point," Stiltzkin said. "It does feel like this mansion reeks with danger; the kind of danger that slowly kills you with every inhaling action you do..." He hopped on his feet. "...Naaaaaaaah, I'll sell you my items for a profit. That looks like the right way to do."

The others were impressed he wasn't going to let them have items for free. "W-what the?! You're in danger like all of us! Why are you charging us money?! You can't escape from here!" Wario said.

"I'm charging you because I simply have confidence in your success, that's why!" The traveling Moogle stared at their ill looks. "What? Would you rather have me give you items for free because I think you'll most certainly perish without them?"

"Now you're twisting the facts a bit there..." Dedede said.

"Nayh! I sell! I don't give!" the Moogle argued. "You should hurry up and buy anything you may need. The air is starting to feel heavy..."

He wasn't kidding when he was talking about the air. The group felt like they were breathing a bunch of small matter that quickly piled up in their nostrils, though it wasn't that bad that would endanger their health. It was annoying for the most part. Only the robot accompanying them didn't feel the effects. "Ugh. Time is really running out. We don't know how much long we have till the others catch up to us," the minister pointed out.

"Yeah, the chances of them coming over here are big," Wolf said. "From a strategic point of view, there are many people in this team we have. Unless you don't want to be a part of this, I suggest we split up our forces to divide the workload."

"I agree," the minister said. "The staircase leading here isn't wide enough for many enemies to pour in all at once. Less than a half of us should suffice to stop them from coming any closer. Right now, we have Ness, Lucas, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Dedede, Wario, Chris, Morgan, Pikachu, Pichu, Mr. G&W, and me as viable fighters... I don't think the two Pokémon following us will be any good in this fight." Riolu was clutching his little paws on Chris's clothes, while Snivy just kept staring blankly at them all from a corner of the cubicle. "Who is willing to become a roadblock?"

Wolf raised his hand tiredly. "Count me in for this thing," he said. "I'll gladly snap their skulls open with these claws."

"We don't want to do that. Just knock them out or block their path up here."

"Fine, fine, I'll do that."

"Who else wants to join him?"

Pikachu raised his hand next. "Me. I work well against a big crowd of people. My electricity will just jump all over them using their bodies as conductors," he said, his cheeks sparking.

"We need someone else..."

Clutching an Elfire tome on her right arm, Morgan raised her left hand. "I'll be part of the blockade team!" she said.

"No, you can't," the minister discouraged her. "I took notes on your overall performance during the fight against Duon. You serve much better in the front line so you'll be accompanying the team fighting the boss up ahead." Despite the discouraging first part, Morgan was happy to know she was part of the offensive team. "Can someone else take a third spot?"

"...Ah, alright! I'll do that!" Wario said sighing. "I'll stay put here and do stuff..."

"Somehow, I'm more concerned... We need a fourth member for the defense team."

Dedede suddenly laughed merrily and slapped his stomach once. "Leave it to me and my army of servants to do the work!" he boasted, with the one Waddle Dee wearing Meta Knight's mask peeking out from his right sleeve.

"Huh. Now I'm oddly feeling better with this decision..." He turned to the rest of the team. "One more person should suffice."

Lucas wanted to stay close to Ness to confirm the doubts he had about the entire problem, but in the end he shyly raised his hand. "I-I'll help them out! But you better survive this one, Ness..." Ness patted his back for support, making the blond smile a bit as he walked to the defense team.

"Five people will remain behind while the other eight will face the boss behind that door, then," the minister said, looking at his team compromised with Ness, Pichu, Fox, Falco, Mr. G&W, Morgan, and Chris, the latter having bought ten items from Stiltzkin: five Phoenix Downs and five X-Potions, costing him 15,000 Smash Coins for everything. "...Chris, you need to put that infant down and away from the next battle, but I'd rather have you out of this too if you don't want to."

Chris tried to take Riolu off his arms, but the infant was stubbornly holding onto them for dear life. Sighing, Chris asked the other talking Pokémon to convince him to stay with Snivy. It took a whole minute for Riolu to understand, and he was put down next to Snivy reluctantly by his caretaker. Sharing saddened expressions with Riolu, Chris walked back to the team with a worried expression. "...I...I want to... I want to fight," he said. "I learned all the benefits of the Job System. It'll be a waste if I didn't join the battle. I think I have enough confidence to go on..."

Fox placed his left hand on the teen's right shoulder. "Whatever happens there, I'll keep you safe myself. Just like the last battle. I'll look after you," he said before winking. "It will be a huge waste if you were to get injured badly, you know? You're a big asset to the team."

"O-oh..." Chris looked embarrassed. "T-thanks, I guess..."

"Plus," Fox continued, "...you're my little bro. I know you haven't accepted that part yet, but...I want to pretend you did, just so I feel okay."

The teen looked away from Fox, though most of them saw the small smile he showed to the floor. "...You're so nice, Fox... Thank you..." he muttered very silently.

As he saw Fox chuckle, Falco raised an eyebrow. "(...Did he just call him his little bro? Since when did he call him that? ...Is it just me, or are those two a little closer than before? Maybe I'm judging them way too quickly...)" he thought.

Concerned about Chris's welfare after he had that nasty mental breakdown during the fight with Duon, the Ancient Minister was also going to protect him. "...Fine, then. It's your decision in the end," he said before looking at both teams. "The preparations are over. We shall now move on to the battle," he said as they nodded together.

"I'll stay here and wait for you to defeat all enemies!" Stiltzkin said cheerfully. "I have confidence in your success! Remember that! But before you proceed to the next battle..." He turned to Falco and tossed an orb of light right at his chest. The avian gasped and glared. "There we go. I gave him an innate ability."

"What now?" Falco asked.

"I gave your friends abilities to fight much better in battle. Yours is called Taking Flight. It makes your attacks 1.5 faster in the air when you get in a pinch. Use this ability well and you'll dominate your opponents!"

Still lost on that sudden change, Falco scratched his head. "Uh, okay. As long as I don't grow a third arm on my back..." he muttered.

The minister went over to the door to open it slowly. "I don't understand what's hiding on top of the mansion's roof," Ness said. "It didn't look like there was anything fishy when looked from the outside."

When the door opened outward, everyone who had been looking to the door got speechless when they saw what was beyond...

Roof

The space around the edges of the roof was heavily distorted. It was a confusing sight to see a faint image of the Subspace's dark setting shrouding the entire perimeter – the floor and the sky - while bits of the rain from the outside world would manage to cross the dimensional distortion and fall flat on the strange floor. The concrete floor would often change into cracked floor found in the Subspace, but only for a brief time before turning back to normal and then change all over again. In fact, large pool-like forms were all over the place. One second, it was normal concrete facing a dark floor with blue cracks, and then the next second would have the positions inverted. Not only did the floor look strange, but the cloudy sky above was fighting to gain dominance against a dark space of swirling shades of darker colors. Overall, it looked like the mansion was slowly being dragged into the Subspace.

The setting wasn't the only thing that made no one talk. It was also the large oval sitting right in the middle of the roof. Said oval was a fifteen-feet tall version of the brainwashing seeds that got deposited in the heads of its victims. The oval had a visible, glowing red core with many glass-like blue rectangles floating clockwise and counterclockwise, as if giving the impression that they were shielding the core from possible threats.

"What the hell is that?" Fox asked at last.

"That should be the root of this plot," the minister said. "Its appearance and design somehow remind me of Tabuu himself..."

The offense team moved out from the cubicle to outside, taking sight of the chaotic space. Ness looked at the shifting floor and sky. "Did this distortion just start after we uncovered the truth moments ago?" he asked.

"Possibly, but, does that make a difference now?" Mr. G&W asked.

"No, but seeing this large seed here is unnatural. I assume that if we get rid of it, everything should go back to normal," the minister assumed. "These distortions... Could they be the cause behind the strange changes in the floors below the mansion?"

"Changes to the floors? What do you mean?" Ness asked.

"From the sixth floor and upwards, every floor has shifted around with no explanation. The infirmary, for example, was moved down one floor from its seventh spot, and several other rooms were put at random places. The library was placed next to the music room, and you know how inadequate would be to put the most silent room next to the loudest one."

"Wait... The infirmary was on the sixth floor?" Chris asked. "But that can't be! I think I remember going to the seventh floor where it was, not the sixth! And when I came down from there to the first floor, there wasn't a missing floor downstairs!"

"Really now? I was on the same floor as you did when I saw your group coming out from the infirmary," the minister pointed out. "Then again, we both left at different times..."

"Hey, we should stop playing detective here! There's this big egg that's just begging us to break it!" Falco shouted, ready to attack the seed.

"Hold on... Is it safe to physically touch it?" the minister asked as they stared intently at the eerie orb. "It could do irreversible damage to us if we get too close to it. We can't take any chances like that."

"Oh!" Morgan raised her hand. "Should I suggest attacking it with magic and long-range attacks? Those don't involve coming into contact using our bodies."

"Yeah, let's do that!" Pichu said.

"Then we better attack all at once to deal as much damage as possible in one hit," the minister said as he turned to Chris. "You will lead the attack."

"Wait, what now? Why me?" Chris asked.

"That Thundaga spell you used on Duon is the reason why I want you to lead," he said. "It's perhaps the strongest magic we have. Also, don't you need time to pull off a spell of such magnitude?"

"U-uh...yes... Well... I haven't used it since that fight..." Reluctantly, Chris changed to his Black Mage job, and he put on his magic pointy hat to cast a dark shade that completely shrouded his face in darkness, except for two emotional, glowing, yellow eyes he now sported. Some of them thought those eyes were kind of creepy.

"Good. You should start chanting the spell. Everyone else should prepare their attacks once he casts the spell." Listening to his suggestion, the others got into position next to him and prepared their weapons to attack. However, only Falco was the only one without a ranged weapon. He had only his Reflector with him.

"I should've gone to my room to pick up my weapons if I knew this was gonna happen..." he muttered with an angry scoff at the end.

With the minister's eyes glowing, Fox's Blaster aiming at its target, Morgan flipping pages on her Elthunder tome, Pichu gathering sparks to shoot a strong enough jolt, Ness waiting for the right opportunity to use PK Blast, and Mr. G&W's less than optimal frying pan all waiting for the right moment, the World Traveler's feet hovered on the floor as a yellow glyph manifested below him. "...Mighty Lord Zeus. Cast your judgment from the clouds upon those undignified souls!" came Chris's chant.

Raging dark clouds were quick to form above them and the ominous seed, the latter being the main target for the angry lightning bolts. Most of the Smashers were amazed by the sight. "That's our cue. Be ready for a combined blow!" the minister warned them.

"H-here I go!" Chris said, pointing his sparking staff to the seed. "Thundaga!"

The bolts of lightning were ready to strike down, and so did the rest of the people. With Ness being the next one to send his growing flash of power into the seed, the rest followed suit and fired off their attacks at the same time a massive thunderbolt shot down from the middle of the dark clouds. The attacks connected at the same time, creating a massive explosion that pushed air outwards from the spot they struck. The eight fighters backed off just as they saw the clouds dispersing and an even louder sound of glass shattering apart from within the explosion. "D-did we do it?!" Falco asked, covering his eyes with his right arm.

The smoke cleared out quickly, showing the now damaged seed. It lost half of the circling shards and looked far more vulnerable to attacks. The red core was starting to show a deep crack on its surface, though it was trying to hold on. After the seed was severely damaged, the dark blotches in the sky and the floor diminished, allowing the rain to pour down more on the floor from the unblocked air above their heads. "It wasn't the last hit, but it is working..." the minister noted.

"For this being the assumed boss behind this problem, it's not putting too much of a fight..." Ness said. "That thing is standing there. Should we really keep going with this plan? What if destroying that ends up causing a massive explosion?"

"I don't think so. I can see the outside better after we attacked it," Mr. G&W pointed out. "This is really working! Just a little more an-!"

The seed suddenly started to accelerate the circling shards that remained, and then after that it started trembling on its spot. Much to their greatest shock, the seed was behaving strangely. Sounds alike to that of a machine came from the seed as the shards started blinking with light. From within the seed, however, two growing shadows were starting to come out from it until said shadows stopped growing as soon as they left the red core. The seed ended up spitting Master Hand and Crazy Hand out to the floor, both of them landing on their backs unconsciously.

Everyone in there gasped. "M-Master Hand! Crazy Hand!" Chris breathed out behind his hands.

"They didn't go to have vacations! They...they were sucked into that!" Pichu said.

"I was wondering where those two really went after discerning all the lies those people told us," the Ancient Minister said as he stared at the unconscious hands. "So they were up here all along..."

"Um, guys?" Morgan looked concerned. "There are two giant gloves in front of us. Should be toast them too?"

"N-no, no, don't toast them. Those two are our bosses...well, the left glove is the boss. The other one is his insane brother," Fox said. "Are they unconscious? They're not even moving..."

"I can't tell the emotions of two sentient gloves, but they do seem unconscious," Ness said. "...Hey, we shouldn't stop now! That seed is ready to give up! We have to destroy it for good!" Nodding, the eight got into position to strike the seed for one last time...

"ERROR... ERROR... ERROR..."

The eight fighters hear a deep voice coming out from the seed. "D-did that just talk?!" Mr. G&W asked.

"ACTIVATING SELF-DEFENSE PROTOCOL. DEPLOYING SENTRIES," the seed spoke aloud, calling forth an earthquake that made half of them lose their footing. The tone of voice it used felt extremely familiar to some of them. "ASSUMING DEFENSE TEAM LEADER POSITION. ELIMINATE THREATS AT ONCE. REPEAT. ELIMINATE THREATS AT ONCE."

With its warning spoken, the air and the floor started to change portions of the real outdoors with the Subspace void even faster, though the amount of changing spots didn't change. It did look like the space was going into overdrive. "A-ahh! What's happening?!" Chris yelled, just before they saw four holes appear between them and the seed.

From the holes came four random choices of the brainwashed Smashers. The unlucky ones brought forth were Snake inside his cardboard box, Link sharing the same hole with Zelda (and still making out), an absolutely pissed DK, and lastly a standing Lucario. The eight backed off, their glaring red eyes frightening them. "O-oh no, what now?" Mr. G&W asked.

"Eesh, those red eyes! You don't need to make it so obvious they're evil!" Falco said.

Their collective shock only got even worse when the seed shattered into five equal pieces that shot into the five conscious enemies, merging with their bodies and mutating their appearances. While Snake's box only turned into a strange cubic shard which replaced the cardboard that prevented them from seeing how the mercenary had changed, the other four were easier to tell apart. In general, their bodies showed random spots of the same glass-like material where anyone could see through them. The greatest mutation they suffered were the Tabuu-like wings that appeared on their backs, though they got one wing each, and said wings were constantly twitching, indicating that the mutation was done hastily. They still retained the exact crazed looks, however...

"...Oh, holy crap," Fox breathed out.

"T-that seed merged into them!" Morgan said. "Now they look like monsters!"

Feeling extreme fear just seeing the mutated Lucario, Chris held onto his sanity for dear life. He had to provide info to the others about these monsters as he changed to his Scholar job and started flipping pages on his book. "S-Study!" he called out, focusing on Snake...

Brainwashed Snake – Lvl. 130

HP: 28,000

MP: 0

Attack: 1,400

Defense: 500

Magic: 0

Magic Defense: 300

Speed: Average

Evasion: Below-average

Resistant to: N/A

Weak against: N/A

Immune to: Death

D: A brainwashed Snake, mutated from the strange seed. All of his attacks have been mutated accordingly and have more firepower than the real Snake's attacks. He can be a threat in close combat when outside his shard box. Speaking of which, the shard box can reflect ammunition and magic, and it is also a hard material to shatter.

"Keep using that on the others, quickly!" the minister said. Confused as to why the book knew a little too much about these new enemies, Chris kept using the same skill on them.

Brainwashes Link & Zelda – Lvl. 130

HP: 20,000

MP: 999

Attack: 1,000

Defense: 400

Magic: 1,000

Magic Defense: 800

Speed: Average

Evasion: Below-average

Resistant to: Light

Weak against: N/A

Immune to: Death

D: A brainwashed Link and Zelda sharing the same stats and mind while somehow still being able to make out. Their attributes compensate the other's lack of ability in battle, working exceptionally well in close combat and long-range combat.

Brainwashed Donkey Kong – Lvl. 130

HP: 30,000

MP: 0

Attack: 2,000

Defense: 500

Magic: 0

Magic Defense: 50

Speed: Average

Evasion: Below-average

Resistant to: N/A

Weak against: N/A

Immune to: Death

D: A brainwashed DK, mutated from the strange seed. His attack power has been tremendously boosted to a point he can deal massive damage with his raw power. However, his Magic Defense remains pathetically low despite the mutation. Highly dangerous due to primal instincts governing his mindset.

Brainwashed Lucario – Lvl. 130

HP: 25,000

MP: 999

Attack: 1,500

Defense: 300

Magic: 1,600

Magic Defense: 300

Speed: Above-average

Evasion: Above-average

Resistant to: Poison, Steel

Weak against: Fire, Ground, Fighting (includes any kind of close combat attacks)

Immune to: Death, Poison

D: A brainwashed Lucario. Overall battle performance has been boosted, albeit it somehow lacks the true power of the real Legendary Lucario perhaps because of the mutation. Still, this hound dog will do anything to see its foes dropped dead, as per mandate of the seed's will. Important to note are his somewhat low defense stats for both areas.

"Stiltzkin was not kidding when he said he boosted the information obtained from skills like this..." Chris muttered, quickly changing back to his Black Mage job and staring forward at the mutated Smashers.

Bravely Default – He of the Name

The Ancient Minister was ready to come up with a strategy to fight back against the five foes, but he was too late. The five foes started the battle and quickly charged at them. "Spread out!" the minister ordered, and everyone split up to different sections of the roof. Chris's getaway yielded him Fox and the Ancient Minister. "Listen! We have to strike their heads! It's where those seeds are taking control of their bodies!" the minister said.

"Strike the heads. Got it!" Falco yelled from the southwest point of the roof, engaging a crazed DK all by himself. He was quick to note Fox and his small band fighting Lucario, Morgan and Ness fending off Link & Zelda, and Mr. G&W and Pichu fighting Snake.

"Man. You people make things so hard," Snake spoke inside his crystal cage, his voice distorted. "This is what happens when you don't accept this shit the first chance you get."

"T-that's so mean! We never wanted this to happen!" Mr. G&W said. He yelped when the mutated Snake sat up on a knee to shoot a fast missile that barely missed its target, blasting in the background above the air. "Y-you guys were never like this before!"

"S-so stop forcing it on us! This isn't life!" Pichu yelled, using Thunder Jolt. The jolt of electricity kept hopping along the ground and struck the box, though it didn't do anything other than splitting into dozens of bits. The glass box was surprisingly sturdy. "Life was much different before!"

Link and Zelda stopped making out to talk. "It was such a bore... My Linky here didn't pay much attention to me," Zelda said as she and Link backed off from Ness's PK Fire bolts. "Now, this is heaven. He shares his insides with me! I cannot get bored of staring at his eyes up close..."

"Are you seriously listening to yourself?!" Ness asked. "Zelda, you always got all red in the face whenever someone made fun of you and Link being together. You don't even love him...or at least used to love him so much before this!"

"Oh, poor Ness. You're much too young to understand how us adults think," Link said, with him and Zelda rushing forward to Ness in a sidestep fashion, as if they were dancing. His ominous glowing Master Sword was unsheathed and ready to inflict damage on its victim. "A shame, really. Let me cut that head from your shoulders."

"You two aren't even adults yet. You're old teenagers. OLD TEENAGERS," Ness emphasized. He gasped and jumped back when a jolt of concentrated lightning flew above his head and struck the two crazed lovers back.

"Old teenagers or adults, I think it doesn't matter!" Morgan said, her Elthunder book open on her right hand. "Using logic outside that awesome trial we had earlier, this is a little too much to take in!"

"OOGA OOGA BANANA OOGAAAAAAAA!" DK yelled furiously as he jumped into the air and tried to smash Falco with joined hands. Falco quickly sidestepped and watched the floor tremble with the hole the crazed ape left behind in his wake.

"No fair! I can't really say anything to that crazy jungle scream!" Falco complained. "I understand how insane things were, though! I just don't understand the part where we have to live with THESE people like this! How will I rest easy with these guys being violent morons?!"

"You won't have to, because by the end of this fight, you'll be exterminated from the face of the earth!" Lucario howled, engaging in an arduous kick fight against Fox while the minister used the distraction in hopes of landing a well-place laser blast, which the mutated Aura Pokémon was very aware of by occasionally breaking from his standoffs against the serious vulpine. "You'll suffer for trying to reject us!"

"How many FREAKING times do we have to keep objecting to your crazy views of life?" Fox asked as he watched the Aura Pokémon try to rush towards a defenseless Chris, forcing the vulpine to use Fox Illusion to beat him in blocking his way and push him back with attacks. "It's been annoying me since we got here! I won't let this insanity continue any longer than it has!"

"Tabuu is the true culprit behind all this. He tried to corrupt so many people. Though, it greatly surprised me that it didn't get any worse than this," the minister said as he helped Fox in pushing the crazed Aura Pokémon back, taking better aim with his laser blasts. While he could get into the fray by attacking physically, the fight between Lucario and Fox got so hard to keep up with the kicks intercepting one another and heads swiftly dodging punches. He resolved in being a second wall keeping the World Traveler safe. "Why go through the trouble in brainwashing the people of this mansion? At least, I thought he would kidnap them to kill everyone, or brainwash them to serve him. So why were they left alone here?"

With the fight turning a little too intense with growls, yelps, and screams, Chris wasn't sure if he wanted to take part of it. He was outside, watching a monster try to topple over Fox and the others. He felt he needed to hold on the baby Riolu to get enough courage to fight back, but he tried to summon said courage for his dear life. With his staff, he started his incantation. "T-this is...really insane..." he spoke weakly. "I-I refuse to live with everyone like this... I-I'll keep refusing it till everything goes back to normal!"

"Those are some stupid words there, kid," Snake said, taking a moment to use his glass box to block Pichu's and Mr. G&W's attacks to take out a missile launcher and taking aim directly at Chris. The mercenary then sent a missile which picked up speed as it went along in the air. "Refuse the undeniable, and the undeniable will blow your head up."

The World Traveler noticed the rocket flying towards him, making him stop his incantation in favor of running away. The Ancient Minister spotted the rocket quickly and blasted it apart with a charged laser. "Tabuu's intentions don't matter much now that we got here. It's time we solved this problem ourselves to bring peace back to this mansion," the minister said.

"You keep talking about this peace... It's futile to change what's been done to us," Zelda said as she sent a Din's Fire all the way where Morgan was standing, the tactician-in-training gasping and lunging herself to the right to avoid the incoming blast of fire. "Come... Just join us... If you agree to accept this fantastic reality, we won't hurt you...much..."

"Argh, what kind of offer is that? It's stupid!" Falco said, kicking DK so harshly on his big chin that he only managed to shove him back a bit, infuriating the Kong and taking that cue to back off from him. "How would we get used to seeing you with those creepy bits covering your body?! I'd rather barf..."

"ENOUGH BANTER!" Lucario howled out, shocking Fox when he grabbed his neck and tossed him away to make way to his true target: the World Traveler. "Fine. It's decided. WE WILL SNUFF YOUR AURAS OUT! There's no use trying to change your idiotic minds!" The Ancient Minister got in the middle between Chris and the monster just they heard the teen screaming.

The minister noticed how Chris hasn't done much since the battle started. While the teen had tried to use magic before Snake had to interrupt him, there was a lot of time he had to strike back while everyone was busy attacking their enemies. It was a waste not to attack while nobody was giving him trouble. "Chris, please, try to attack," the minister told his trembling friend. "I know this is giving you so much trauma that you can handle it all at once, but, it's for the best you attack!" He turned his face quickly to the front and smashed his claws into the rushing Lucario's face, making him roar in pain. "Would you rather have them kill you while you don't do anything about it?"

"Y-you don't understand... This has been so hard on me..." Chris muttered weakly.

"It's been hard on us too, but I know it's been even worse for you... Though this fight is bringing you so much emotional pain, you must fight to survive..." The Ancient Minister heard a roar gradually getting closer. He faced the mutated Lucario just in time to see Fox crash his right shoulder against him to try to push him down, though he only managed to push the Pokémon off a bit before earning his ire and full attention. Looking back at the World Traveler, the minister thought about using a somewhat cheap idea to get him to fight. "...Do you want that baby Riolu to be alone should you die?"

The World Traveler gasped and looked up from the floor to the robed robot. "I-I..." He froze up. He knew the minister was trying to convince him to fight for his life. But using the baby as a reason to do it truly hurt Chris.

"This won't be a victory if you perish before we succeed," the minister said, hearing the roars coming from nearby. "Losing you will be a massive loss, just like when I came here and caused massive losses I thought wouldn't be easily repaired. Everyone has a chance to bring back normality today. It won't be normality if one of us dies now!" To his shock, Fox's body crashed against him, pushing him aside while the vulpine rolled aside, groaning in pain and holding his chest.

The conversation came to a sudden halt when Chris and the mutated Lucario locked eyes, the first with eyes of despair and the other with eyes of a killer. With his two guardians needing time to stand up, Chris started shaking as the deafening, distorted roar aimed at him got closer and closer. "You will become my toy once I'm done with you!" Lucario howled, putting Chris in a deeper state of trauma.

Knowing how bad his fraternal little brother was feeling, Fox toughed it out and so easily stuck his right foot on the monster's path. His steel boot connected with the enemy feet, making Lucario yelp as he tripped down harshly on the humid floor. "You...better shut it before I get angrier..." Fox muttered through gritted fangs as he stood back up before his foe would. With the main healer in no position to heal, the vulpine took out an X-Potion from the inventory. It had a very sophisticated look to it, given its slim and thin appearance as a blue-glassed vial Fox easily grasped fully with one hand alone. He chugged its glittering contents down his throat, relieving the stressful hit on his chest almost instantly that he no longer was suffering from a bruise. Tossing the vial aside, he noticed the Aura Pokémon got back on its feet and ready to chase his main target down, though Fox used Fire Fox and collided against the monster.

The minister got up next to continue talking. "You won't become something you despise if you help us. If we're not a good reason to convince you to fight, just think how that baby Riolu will feel," he said.

"...I have to...to fight back..." Chris muttered to himself.

"...I have a better idea," the minister said. "That skill of yours you used to reveal that info about our foes, it said Donkey Kong had lousy magic defense. From all of us, you and Morgan possess high magic power. Go over to Falco's side and aid him in beating that insane ape."

"H-huh? B-but..." Chris looked over at Falco fighting the mutant DK. He then looked at Fox fiercely fighting the mutant Lucario.

"You're helpless fighting the monster using the image of the only person you like the most, though I don't know if you will fare better fighting someone else who doesn't summon inner trauma in you," the Ancient Minister pointed out. "Emotions run rampant in the battlefield. But logically speaking, why not change targets? Falco is the only person who lacks a partner..."

"..." Chris frowned, though he agreed with the minister. "...I-I think I'll feel better fighting someone else... E-excuse me, please..." Shyly walking away while the Aura Pokémon was distracted, Chris left the three alone, but not until realizing he could help them with a simple move. Taking out an orb that contained the Monk job, the World Traveler sighed and looked at Fox struggling to block the physical blows from the monster. "F-Fox, use this!" he called out as he tossed the orb into Fox's body.

The vulpine was busy blocking the overwhelming punches from the mutant until he was struck in the back by the orb, which immediately changed his overall appearance in a flash. With the Monk job in his possession, the vulpine's hands moved on their own and grabbed the flaring fists with ease. "H-huh?!" Lucario gasped when the grips on his fists were so tightly held that he couldn't move.

Even Fox was surprised his hands automatically blocked the attacks. In fact, he was unaware the innate skill of the Monk – Strike Back – had triggered. He could notice the huge difference in strength, feeling nearly no stress against the enemy fists trying to overwhelm him, now standing in equal ground against the monster. Grinning at the shocked monster, it was Fox's decision to strike back himself in any way he wanted. He opted to smack the Aura Pokémon so hard on his skull by using a roundhouse kick that pushed him down to the wet floor. "Looks like the tables turned," Fox told the angry Pokémon. "I wonder how much you'll last now."

Lucario got up from the floor and growled. "Shut up, you cocky animal!" he growled and charged forward, unaware he was sent into a rage where he would pointlessly toss fists that Fox would easily counter back without putting too much of a sweat. With the Aura Pokémon locked in a long cycle of counters directed at him, the minister would join in and attack from afar to keep the monster away from its target.

"...Wow..." Chris muttered as he watched the fight continue on a little longer, never seeing Fox drop the cocky grin with every counterattack he effortlessly pulled off, though the Aura Pokémon was catching on in blocking the counters and being forced on the defensive. "That job is like the perfect counter against him..." He shook his head and looked back at Falco and DK. "T-they're giving me time to fight someone else. I can't let ROB down... H-here I go." With a loud gulp, the Black Mage made his way to the northeast corner of the roof, though not before noticing he was free from casting a spell with everyone busy fighting their enemies. Looking around, he quietly moved to the cube that was the entrance and took cover on the right side, facing the busy Falco and DK. "Doing this for the baby... Doing this for the baby... Doing this for the baby... (Oh my god... I can't get distracted with his smiling face in my head...)"

As the teen prepared to crash Falco's party with a spell, the avian was seen dodging some hard downward strikes from the insane monkey. "What's up with you all of a sudden?!" Falco asked the mutant. "Why do you gotta kill me? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"YOU WANNA EAT MY BANANAS!" DK screamed, stopping to catch his breath. "THEY'RE MINE! MINE! MINE!"

"Keep your stinking bananas to yourself! I prefer grapes more than bananas anyway!"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT, YOU EVIL BANANA HATER!" DK bellowed, beating his chest. "GRAPES ARE BAD! YOU WILL DIE FOR BEING A HATER! HATERS GONNA DIE!"

Falco grunted loudly at him. "You're blowing this outta proportion! You know what? Screw talking with you! You'll only get better once I smack your head good! It's what you monkeys always need to get back to your senses!" he said, causing DK to violently roar and rush at him with hands slamming hard on the floor. The avian waited for the crazed monkey to get closer, where he then jumped over DK and tried to strike his head, though DK's movement only made Falco strike the back of his neck with a downward kick. "Dang! Too close..." the pilot said as he jumped back from the irate monkey. He heard a very loud crackling sound coming from above. Looking up, Falco's beak hung open at the dark clouds and bolts of lightning ready to strike down their intended target.

"Thundaga!"

DK only noticed the incoming attack once his body got assaulted by thunderbolts coming from above, ending with a massive thunder which struck him down with such force it created an explosion, pushing the large ape aside with a charred body. Due to his low magic defense, the attack had been very devastating. Spouting black smoke and feeling sparks jump out from his fur, the mutant kong said, "Burned...bananas... Tingly...peels..."

The avian turned his face to the west and spotted Chris and his staff aimed at DK. "Hey, thanks!" Falco said. "You really gave him a number just now!" Chris doubted the attack finished the enemy, which he confirmed quickly when DK yelled out a war cry and charged at him, nostrils flaring with air. As a Black Mage, what Chris greatly lacked in physical attack and defense, he made up for having high magic and high magic defense. But against someone with too much attack power, he would get broken bones. With this in mind, he opted to run away from the crazed animal until Falco zoomed in with Falco Phantasm right through the ape, slashing him once and appearing right in front of him. "Sorry. Can't have you breaking him apart!" he told the Kong.

The World Traveler did feel better fighting someone else, though it pained him that he was hurting a former friend. "F-Falco, I'll assist you here!" Chris said, standing several feet away from the two fighters.

"Gotcha! I'll keep this guy busy! You keep doing your thing!" Falco yelled without turning, his full attention on the ape.

"CHEATEEEEEEEEEERRRRRSSSSSSS!" DK yelled.

While the two partners took on DK, there was so much happening on the other side of the roof. With Ness and Morgan, the two fought fiercely against the strange but effective duo between Link and Zelda. Though both Link and Zelda never stopped separating one arm from their assumed lover, they used their other second arms to attack: Link would attack at close range with his weapons while Zelda would attack using magic. It was a little tiring on Ness, as he was taking the heat from their attacks at close range while Morgan stood in the back flinging spells. "This is how you do battle, you little children. You never take your arm off from your partner's waist," Zelda said with a blank expression on her distorted face. "You can defeat just about anyone this way."

Morgan looked worried. "Maybe she's right! Romance just about topples anything during a fierce battle! Ness, we have to fight like they do!" she suggested.

"Morgan, they're insane! Don't take their words too seriously!" Ness said, clashing his bat against Link's sword. Although the bat was holding its own against the sword's sharp edge, Ness minded the deep cuts his weapon was getting from clashing it against the cold steel. "Besides, you and I aren't even in love! Just keep attacking whenever you can! ACK!" One explosion from Din's Fire pushed the boy back, followed by a bomb blowing up on his face and pushing him further away from the snickering couple. Morgan yelled his name.

"Poor boy. If only he understood the power of true love..." Link teased, sharing a tender kiss with Zelda.

That small kissing moment costed them so much, giving Morgan the right opening to strike back. She spun on her feet once with her book tightly held beside her, feeling her innate skills triggering. "Time to even the odds!" she said, and from her sparking right hand, she sent a long bolt of lightning that struck the two lovers together with such potency they screamed in unison. Morgan's Luna skill triggered with that attack. Despite the duo's shared defensive stats covering both bases, the Luna skill laughed at both and bypassed them altogether, delivering such a big hit that pushed the lovers down to the floor, their bodies trembling with the sparks.

"Y-you...i-insolent...girl...!" Zelda cried, keeping a tight grip with arm around Link's waist. "H-how did you hurt the two of us so much?! I-I'll have you know we have the blessings of the goddesses on our side, b-but you...!"

"You picked the wrong goddess to pray to!" Morgan shot back wisely.

Ness noted the strength of that attack. It was so bad to the two lovers that they really screamed so hard. Just perhaps, Morgan's skills were an easy way to defeat the two of them. "Morgan, can you trigger those skills of yours more often?" Ness asked as he stood back up.

"Well, no. They kind of come up randomly when I attack..."

"Oh, it doesn't matter. As long as you can strike them with that magic..."

"...About that..." Morgan's silence got Ness's attention, where he saw the Elthunder book dissipating into dust, "...I used up all of my book uses," the tactician-in-training in said.

"...Books don't do that!" Ness complained, turning around and dodging a slashing blow from an angry Link, the blond swordsman and his precious woman holding each other. "Oh great, you ran out of magic?"

"N-not quite, no," Morgan said, taking out from her robes an Elfire tome. "I only have this one left! I don't know how many times I have to use it before it disappears!"

Ness rolled back from a Din's fire explosion. "Make sure you land your hits! Magic is pretty useful when you can use it instantly like you do!" he said.

"R-right!"

"Sweetie, I think we need to focus our divided but not so divided attention on that pesky girl," Link told Zelda.

"Oh, my love! You're not only hot, but you're a genius..." Sharing another tender kiss that made Ness stick his tongue, the two lovers danced their way towards Morgan, so casually kicking Ness aside thanks to Zelda. With the two approaching her, Morgan knew it wasn't such a good idea to strike them with magic at close range. She needed at least a second of focus to pull off her moves, mostly because the rain was staining the pages of her book and making it a little unreadable.

"N-no, stay back!" Morgan told the mutants, storing her book away and taking out another sword she just remembered she had. The sword she took out was wildly different than the plain Iron Sword and Steel Sword she had with her. It was a yellow sword with the shape of a lightning bolt, glittering and glowing with the sparks it created on its length. "T-take this!" She raised the sword above, which in turn summoned a lightning bolt from the sky infused with her magic power, directly landing on Link's head and making his body tremble in pain. Their dancing moves came to a halt as the two lovers tried to regain balance.

"ARGH! You stupid brat! Don't hurt my boyfriend!" Zelda hollered, sending a Din's Fire to Morgan. Distracted with her sudden fit of rage, Zelda got smacked really hard on her head by Ness's baseball bat, causing her to bump into Link's face and fall down on the floor. "B-brats... A-all of you!" she growled.

The hit Ness dealt hadn't been strong enough to cause a seed from falling off the princess's head. He realized that very soon. To boot, that blow he delivered was charged prior to being used. "The seed didn't come out?! Does that mean their bodies are the seed itself now?" Ness wondered.

Their battle raged on, while on the southwest side of the roof Mr. G&W and Pichu fought against Snake and his artillery of weapons. The mercenary used his glass box for the ultimate defense against the attacks from the two Smashers. After the box was struck down by a 2D sausage without leaving a scratch on it, the mercenary chuckled darkly. "Give it up, you punks. It'll take you a million years before you can penetrate this incredible defense," Snake said.

"He hasn't come out of that box yet!" Mr. G&W complained. "Our attacks aren't doing a thing to it!"

A little while ago, Pichu had climbed on top of the box to use Thunder, but even the force of the attack wasn't enough to damage Snake inside. It only made him laugh. "H-he's trying to tire us out from attacking too much," Pichu said, standing on the other side of the crystal box. "I thought we could break that box!"

"Man. You can't understand anything when it's said to you once," Snake taunted. "Not even you understand when you try it out and see nothing happened. Oh, I dare you to keep trying to attack me. You're mine the moment I see you catching your breath."

"T-then we'll just stop to think what we can do to hurt you! O-oh, that sounded so wrong..." Mr. G&W said.

Snake raised his crystal box with a missile launcher aimed at the flat character. "You don't know when to quit it, do you... Huh? Where the hell did you go?" he asked.

"What?"

"I hear your voice, but you're not even there! Where did you get to, you flat dude?" Snake looked around the battlefield to find his intended target, though he never saw him anywhere. Truth be told, Mr. G&W was standing right in front of the mercenary, but Snake was looking straight at the line that made the Smasher look flat, unlike how everyone else had perfectly normal bodies that could be seen at any angle. If seen from the right angle, though, no one could tell Mr. G&W was even there. "Ugh, you idiots. I knew you'd pull something as stupid as this! W-well, doesn't matter to me! I-I'll find you where you are!"

Mr. G&W was very familiar with this situation. It had happened before in the past and he had no way to control the direction his flat body was pointing at. He thought everyone was going blind or they were making fun of him, until it was proved that they really couldn't spot him. Still, he kept thinking it was a bad joke. He would get accused of sneaking up into people a few times it happened, frustrating him when it kept happening occasionally. He was very much aware he could lay his body flat against the wall perfectly, though the other incidents were out of his control or lack of attention. "...You've got to be kidding me," Mr. G&W said in a deadpan tone.

"I-I hear you!" Snake aimed at an unlikely spot and fired off a missile which ignored its target and blew up outside the roof area. "You swine! Show yourself and face me like a flat black-colored man!"

"..."

"M-Mister!" Pichu called out from his position, vividly recalling those moments when Mr. G&W felt ignored as if he was some sort of ghost. "Attack Snake while he can't spot you! It's our only chance to damage him!"

"Oh, alright..." Mr. G&W simply walked directly towards the mercenary, noticing how with each passing second his enemy was getting increasingly paranoid of his presence and aiming everywhere to find him. Something about the mutated Smashers was so off. It was as if they retained their insane aspects under their heavily-altered looks. It was nice to know that only because it would make the battles less frustrating and much easier to handle...at least against Snake. When the Flat Zone resident stood right in front of the paranoid Snake, he took out a large match and charged it for more power...and then, in a frame of movement, the match was brought down.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Snake covered his burning face and pushed the crystal box away, leaving himself vulnerable. Pichu took his chance and latched his little body on the man's back, where he started to send electricity into the enemy's body, paralyzing him on his feet. The mercenary's shaking hands tried to reach out for the little rodent, though he couldn't see Mr. G&W readying another match that he brought down on his feet. "HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" Snake cried out, his feet burning up.

"It's working!" Pichu shrieked from behind. "D-don't stop! I'll release as much electricity as I can!"

"Y-yes, I'll keep at it!" Mr. G&W said with renewed hope.

"Y-you punks! I-I'm gonna blow you up!" Snake forcibly grabbed a grenade and let it explode to release the two Smashers from himself before he could accumulate for injuries to his body. The ensuing explosion pushed the two Smashers away, though Snake had also suffered from the blow. In the end, as long as he was free from getting damaged so much, it was worth it. "S-screw waiting for you guys to get tired. You've got on my nerves now!" When he wanted to go after his box, he found Pichu standing on top of it. "What are you supposed to be doing?"

"I-I'm not letting you back in!" Pichu shrieked. "You're very troublesome in there!"

"Pfft. I can toss you back without any effort." He then got smacked in the head by Mr. G&W using a flat box. Grunting annoyed at the smack, he looked around for the Smasher. "But that guy is seriously trying my patience now!"

As Snake got ganged up by Pichu and Mr. G&W, the battle focus switched over to Falco and Chris again. By the time the attention was on them, they had managed to put DK on the ropes thanks to Chris continuously spamming Thundaga whenever Falco distracted the ape. However, Falco was seen getting struck on his right arm with two joined hands so badly that Chris could've sworn he heard a snap. "F-FALCO!" Chris cried.

"AWW, HOLY, THAT HURT!" Falco cried out, grabbing his right arm with his free hand and backing off from the smirking ape.

Falco had done a good job at evading the monkey's blows for the most part, though now he knew how much stronger the ape had gotten due to the mutation overtaking his body. "(I-I can't believe this! DK can snap bones that easily?)" Chris thought alarmed. With Falco busy trying to resist the coursing pain, the teen noticed the toothy smirk coming from the mutant. "O-o-oh no, don't you do what I think you'r-"

"CRUSH CHRIS! CRUSH CHRIS! YEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!" Donkey Kong rejoiced to the sky, beating his chest madly. Doing insane sounds with his mouth, the large Kong charged forward towards Chris. If Falco couldn't resist such a harsh blow like that, Chris would most certainly get more bones broken as a Black Mage job...

...Then it occurred to him he could change to something more adequate. His trauma for death seemed to have decreased a lot when he fought against DK and not Lucario. Holding on to his sanity, the World Traveler changed to his Moogle Knight job and took flight above the roof, easily getting out of reach from DK. The mutated Kong blinked in shock and came to a halt when he saw the Moogle floating in midair fifty feet above the arena. Sighing and making sure he wouldn't get spotted by the other enemies on the roof, Chris moved to the corner of the roof and watched DK stupidly try to reach out for him with his hands. It never crossed his mind he could jump twice in the air. "Phew... Sometimes it's too obvious how to deal against some people, kupo..." he muttered.

Watching Falco groan in pain at his horrifying wound under his skin, it changed Chris's mindset. The moment DK would notice he could annihilate Falco effortlessly would be the point where Chris would watch helplessly in terror. He had to think about something quick...

"...I have to keep him busy, kupo," Chris said, raising his little sword as it glowed with a green aura. "Hey, DK! Taste Moogle Lance!" The little flying knight swung his sword down so hard he spun thrice in midair, sending a very fast energy slice that DK stopped with his face. The Kong yelped in pain at the red wound over his nose area, forcing him to cover his face with his two hands. "(I got him! I think I can keep doing this... But what about Falco? What if he loses an arm? Could our healing items help him...?) FALCO!" Falco looked up tiredly at Chris. "It doesn't matter to me, but use all the X-Potions you need to repair your broken arm!"

If only Chris could see the tears of pain in Falco's eyes. "Y-you think those can repair broken arms?" he asked.

Chris wasn't sure, though he didn't want Falco's diminishing confidence to stop him from healing himself for nothing. "I-I believe so! JUST DO IT, QUICK! I'LL GET TIRED SPINNING AROUND IN THE AIR LIKE THIS, KUPO!" Chris kept sending as many Moogle Lances as he could to buy time for Falco to recover from his fatal injury.

Falco let go of his loose limp and used his free hand to take out an X-Potion from the inventory. Popping open the vial with his beak in a hurry, the avian chugged down its contents... The broken tissue in his broken arm seemed to be patching up through the magical liquid rejuvenating. Falco took a moment to test his arm by spinning it a bit. Halfway through, he heard a snap and started groaning. "I-I'm gonna use another one! Hope you don't mind!" Falco called out, using another X-Potion. He felt pain as the broken arm started to heal under his skin.

By the time Falco had used the team's third item, Chris became so tired of spinning in the air that he started feeling sick in the face. DK, for his part, endured the slashing blows using his thick arms, though he really wanted to reach out for the Moogle to pluck his wings from his back. DK was too dumb to give up on his futile task to do that. "B-bleh..." Chris stuck his tongue out. "I-I need to lie down somewhere... O-oh goodness, kupo, I feel so sick..."

"Monkey face! Turn around!"

DK turned around by the call just to see Falco's right foot connect against his face; his eventual demise came in the form of a harsh kick that knocked his whole body aside. "AYEEEEEEEEEEH!" His mutant eyes bulging out, the ape was pushed aside to the floor. His body shook violently as the mutated parts started to expel themselves off from him, fading away in the air. On the parts where his body had become visible matter, his normal brown fur and skin retook their rightful places on his fainted form...

The changing space reacted after part of its source was destroyed. A quarter of the changing floor and air vanished, though the battle was far from over. However, now Falco and Chris were free to help the others. Descending from the sky to stand on his feet, Chris changed to his Black Mage job to regain his normal size, though he really thought changing jobs would help to get rid of his sick stomach. "W-wow, w-we took him down," Chris said, looking over at DK's lifeless body. "I-I thought it'd take more time..."

Falco approached him, holding his injured arm. "Y-yeah, I only struck him back to get revenge for breaking my arm. Didn't think he'd croak soon... But hey, it worked out for us," he said with a grin. "Now...c-can you use your magic to heal my arm? I think those potions did the trick but I don't wanna waste more items..."

"O-oh, sure..." Chris changed jobs to his FHU job and prepared himself to heal the avian's arm. As he healed his teammate, he looked at the changing space. It did look like it was disappearing...

"A-as soon as my arm is all healed up...w-we'll rain hell on the other guys!"

Back with Morgan and Ness, the tactician-in-training found it hard to concentrate now that Link and Zelda were attacking her from close range. Morgan couldn't quite fend them off when they got all so serious, tossing magic and slashing blows her way. She did a good job at dodging most of those blows, but she was starting to feel tired moving back. She got especially worried when one of her locks of hair got cut down by Link's glowing sword. Ness tried to interrupt the two lovers from attacking her, but Zelda would so casually turn her face around and throw many a Din's Fire his way to keep him busy. "Sweetie, this stinky child is starting to get tired of us..." Link spoke sweetly to Zelda.

"Oh ho ho! It is but a matter of time before she dies by your amazing sword, honey," Zelda said as they both continued fending off the blows from their attackers. "Love make us so strong. We should conquer the world like this! Imagine all the slaves we could get!"

"N-no! Your sickening love for each other and penchant in trading saliva shouldn't be seen by other people!" Morgan said, truthfully sounding concerned as she and Link clashed their swords to a standstill. "It is so powerful but so very wrong at the same time! If I was your tactician, I'd implore to stop holding each other so tenderly by the waist!"

Getting their romantic advances insulted like that earned Morgan glares from her enemies. "You just didn't insult us, did you?" Link asked, moving his sword back and aiming the tip straight to Morgan's chest. The tactician-in-training gulped hard and backed off quickly when Link tried to stab her. "Now you've done it! How dare you sully our love for each other! And you wonder why we want to exterminate you so badly? You're an awful person!"

Morgan couldn't dodge the incoming Din's Fire that blew up on her sword grip. She yelped as the force of the blast forced her to let go of her Levin Sword, where she noticed she had been cornered to the southeast edge of the roof. The sword however fell all the way down to the ground floor near the entrance, leaving the young girl with one weapon less to use. Holding her scorched left hand, the girl looked up and saw Link's sword a mere centimeter from stabbing her face. "Y-you can't do this!" Morgan told the snickering swordsman. "I-I still have a lot in my life to do! Stabbing people in a sword fight is cheating anyway!"

"I don't care if it's cheating if you die so you stop insulting my love. People like you should be burned alive for laughing at us," Link spoke darkly while Zelda kept Ness away from interrupting his rescue attempts. "Receive your punishment!"

Morgan was savvy enough to pull out her Steel Sword to block the attack.

"W-what?!" Link said in shock, his sword struggling to stab its target through by crashing against the flat side of the girl's sword.

"F-fool!" Morgan said with a forced smile. "During your useless monologue of evil, I took the chance to take out my sword to block yours! It's something the sort of villain like you always do because apparently gloating over your sure victory is more important than just going for the kill! Tacticians like me know when to strike for such occasions!" she said wisely.

"U-urk! D-don't you make fun of me!" Link yelled back, forcing more strength into his sword to push Morgan's sword away. "Dear! How are you holding up against the other brat?!"

Zelda was starting to sweat, her sweat mixing up with the rain drops. "D-darling, we have some more problems that even I can't handle all at once..." she trailed off, her eyes looking stressed.

"W-whatever do you mean, my sweetie pie?"

"A-ahh, no! Don't turn around!"

"Wha-?!" Link foolishly turned around and got his face kicked on his left cheek. His other arm wrapped tightly around Zelda's waist, the force of the blow pushed the two down aside, where they were quick to scramble back up on their feet to dust themselves off using their lover's hand. Looking back at their enemies, the two lovers grunted annoyed. "Oh, now we have to deal with the bird brain and the whimpy kid?!" Link complained.

A fully healed Falco faced the two of them while Chris busied himself by healing Ness's wounds in the background. The tactician-in-training looked hopeful and walked to Falco's side. "Yes! They do say numbers make a big difference in battle as long as said numbers come from special people with names!" Morgan pointed out, earning weird glances.

"Uh, yeah, so, let me help you in taking those two down," Falco said. "We finished DK."

Ness rushed up ahead to join the two. "Alright. Now everything is starting to look up to us! I really thought this battle would be a lot harder to handle..." he muttered.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are!" Zelda said, stretching her hand to them. "The power of our love can defeat any person who dares stand against us! Just look at us!" They share another tender kiss. "Together like this, we're unstoppable!"

Falco grinned. "Is that so? Well, what would happen if you stopped holding each other?" he asked.

"What kind of question is tha-?" Link couldn't finish the question when Falco used Falco Phantasm to slash the two lovers right in the middle of their embrace. The startled lovers got pushed away from each other, causing them to panic when they felt...empty without a welcoming arm holding them together. "W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Link screamed as he and Zelda tried to regroup together, though they failed. Morgan stood in the way of their embrace with a Steel Sword blocking the swordsman. Zelda shrieked like a cat and tried strike Morgan's back with her glistening right hand, but Ness got close to her, where he used his mind to juggle the woman above his head and tossed her further away from her panicking lover. "S-stop! You're ruining her makeup! She likes to look pretty for me!"

The two lovers weren't so good fighting separated. Their stats got divided up so that Zelda would snap easily by physical blows while Link was at the mercy of magic. The swordsman heard a rumbling, dangerous sound building up above his head... He looked up and saw dark clouds forming, with lightning bolts eager to strike down on him. His eyes bulging out, Link saw the Black Mage Chris hovering slightly above the ground with a magic glyph under his feet, his staff sparking brightly with electric power. "Can I say checkmate now?" Morgan asked, earning the swordsman's terrified gaze.

Link screamed at the top of his lungs and made a beeline towards Chris in hopes to stop his incantation. However, Link truly thought the bolts were meant for Zelda, which explained why he didn't want to go for her as it would mean they would get zapped together. He wanted to do an heroic act by stopping the murderer from pulling out his spell. And truth be told, he had a chance to stop Chris...though Link made a grave mistake when he left Morgan alone.

The tactician-in-training opted to use her Elfire tome, where her innate skills triggered again as she spun on her feet once. With the power of Luna accompanying her spell's might, Morgan confidently said "Checkmate!" and sent a large roaring fireball after Link.

The swordsman only got ten feet to go until the fireball struck his back. The force of the blow was so bad that Link screamed loudly and stopped his advance to cover his burning back, allowing Chris to finish his spell and rain down several lightning bolts on his target. Within the blinking light from the currents of electricity, Link's body shook in great pain, only for a massive thunder to drop down and blow him away from the ensuing explosion. His heavily charred body hit the wet ground...and the mutated parts faded away.

The space and the floor reacted strongly against the loss of another part of its source. Zelda in particular screamed like a rabid cat when she spotted her lover's back producing smoke, though there was no way the rescued Link would have her near her ever again. "Y-YOU MONSTERS!" Zelda cried over her indignant look. When she took a moment to wonder why she hadn't been attacked yet, it was when she noticed Ness had sneaked up behind her to charge a particularly strong blow with his baseball bat.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAALL!" Ness yelled out, swinging his baseball bat with such force he ended up breaking it for having blocked Link's sharp sword before, dealing a very good critical hit. Case in point, the bat snapped in half when it send its "ball" across the floor right back to Link's fainted side. The three other fighters watched the other half of the bat fly across in the air...though they stopped looking at it when they saw the space above them grumble angrily when it felt another part of it fade away. Looking back at Zelda's frozen look on her face, they noticed her body went back to normal, though now she sported a bump on her forehead.

"W-we did it!" Morgan cheered. "We took them down!"

Ness sighed at the loss of his baseball bat, but he didn't toss the handle away. "That was my best critical hit yet," he said. "I hope Zelda won't ask why she has that bump when she wakes up..."

"We're doing great, you guys!" Falco said as he looked back at the other two confrontations taking place on the left side of the roof. "Let's go help the others to put a definite stop to this!" Eagerly, everyone but Chris rushed into the other battles to confront the last two enemies.

The World Traveler kept standing there under the rain. He felt pessimistic about their chances to win the fight as he watched his friends rushing into battle with so much confidence he lacked alone. "(Are we really pulling this off?)" he thought concerned. "(I-I admit we fought well against three out of five people, but... I don't know if I should be happy things are looking up all of a sudden...)"

A paranoid Snake was seen covering in fear inside his crystal box. After getting attacked from seemingly nowhere by Mr. G&W, the mercenary couldn't afford to go out of his precious box to strike back at his enemies. The crystal box was impervious to damage. It was the safest place in the world to take cover. "T-try hurting me now, you fools!" Snake taunted, his voice echoing inside the trembling box. "Ha-hahahahah... Y-you won't get to me while I'm inside this girl..."

Pichu pouted, standing next to a frustrated Mr. G&W. "We were doing so well until he had to get inside that stupid box!" Pichu complained. "And he's not going to come out either! He didn't fall for the same trick..."

"Is he going to stop calling me a ghost?" Mr. G&W grumbled.

"...That worked for our advantage very well," Pichu noted. "I mean, he kept trying to find you but..."

"Well, I don't like it! It makes me remember the past when I used to be here back in the Melee days and everyone would get scared of my presence!" Mr. G&W complained.

"Ah! There is his voice again!" Snake yelped. "If only Otacon and Mei Ling were here to tell me how to deal with this ghostly punk..."

"HMMMMMMMMMMMM," Mr. G&W grumbled again, scaring Snake.

Ness and Morgan came from behind to rejoin the duo. "Hey, what's going on over here?" Ness asked. "Why aren't you attacking the guy inside his box?"

"That box is pretty sturdy and hard to break, and he refuses to come out after we kept attacking him, that's why!" Pichu complained. "I think he's not going to survive for too long!"

"And he's scared to death of me because he can't see me at the right angle," Mr. G&W added begrudgingly. "I feel offended! He thinks I'm a ghost! That's why he's not going to come out of that!"

Morgan pinched her chin in thought. "Oh, you don't say?" she wondered. "Hey, Snake person! Mr. Game & Watch got inside your box!"

The trio of Smashers stared at her. "Wait, what?" Mr. G&W said.

"W-what?!" Snake yelped inside his box. "O-oh n-no. N-no way that ghost got inside my precious home!"

Morgan chuckled. "But ghosts can pass through solid matter, can't they? Is your box ghostproof?" she asked. "You're in deep trouble if he got inside while you weren't looking..."

"Eek! I-I'm not having that ghost inside this place! W-where are you?!" Snake demanded. "I-I managed to hurt ya a few moments ago! I can hurt you so bad with explosives again!" They heard the man taking out grenades from his infinite supply where he started to snicker like a maniac. "Y-you're not gonna get away... Hmm... Maybe I should go out..."

Morgan was a stranger to grenades, but not her small teammates. "No! Don't do that!" Ness said. "The ghost attached to your back! You have to stay put in there and let him get blown up by your grenades if you want... OH NOEZ! What did I just say?! I just told the enemy how to deal with us! We're dooooooomed! (I'm really not buying this charade...)"

"Heh, heh heh heh heh... You little dorky kid..." Snake said inside his completely dangerous safe zone. "You guys aren't as difficult as I thought. You're all just a bunch o-" The crystal box contained the massive explosion that flashed from the little hole, albeit smoke came out from said hole. There wasn't a scream coming from the agent...

The four fighters exchanged curious glances until they stared forward at the box. "...Snake?" Pichu called out. "Snake, are you okay? Uh, maybe not okay, but a confirmation would be nice..."

The crystal box started to shatter from the inside, though not because of the explosion. It was mostly because its owner knocked himself out from sheer paranoia and stupidity from his own grenades. Eventually, after the cracks of the box spread out to every corner, it shattered into pieces, revealing Snake's coal-coated body while also revealing his mutation had gone away. Now that there was no space containing him in a compressed crouching position, his limp body stretched out with relief, but he would never know why. Due to the seed's second-to-last host gone, the space shook once more, and more of the sky's rain started pouring down the roof.

"...Ha! Ha ha!" Ness let out a small laugh. "I wish I had recorded that! That was the easiest win I've seen yet! His paranoia was priceless!"

Mr. G&W sported a frustrated look no one could tell was there on his face. "...I'm not laughing here," he said. "He still thought I was some sort of ghost. He saw me just fine during the morning, for crying out loud!"

"Er, well, it helped us to defeat him, didn't it?" Pichu halfheartedly laughed, noticing the rain falling down on them. "...Hey, I can see the sky clearer than before! We're nearly there!" They looked towards Fox, Falco, and the Ancient Minister fighting the mutant Lucario.

It looked like the mutant wasn't faring so well against the three fighters. He had stopped attacking Fox physically to use corrupted Aura Spheres of swirling purple colors, which bypassed the Monk's Strike Back ability. However, Fox could still reflect projectiles using his normal equipment, and both Falco and the Ancient Minister could reflect them back using their own variations (Falco was thankful he had his Reflector with him). The Aura Pokémon felt cornered and useless fighting against the trio. "T-this... H-how did things turn out this way so badly?!" Lucario howled as his three assailants gave him a moment to catch his breath, though they were also catching their breath as well. "How dare you try to defy us?!"

"Because this setup is just stupid and unnecessary!" Fox yelled at him. "Of course we'd object to it! We want everything to go back to normal here so we can rest and relax with our real team!"

The Ancient Minister noticed how the Subspace was barely holding on in dominance for the area. The floor wasn't changing as much as it did initially. The air was nearly clear from the frightening holes of darkness. Though he couldn't notice it for being a robot, the air felt much better to breath for the living beings. "This entire plan to overtake the mansion and its people was poorly constructed," he said. "It was quite easy to take apart once we started catching up to things today... I expected more from Tabuu, really."

Lucario grunted, baring his glowing blue fangs. "O-our plan...p-poorly constructed?!" he said. "N-no... I-I can't have you defeat me... I-I'm the only one left who can hold this space as it is! I-If I'm gone, t-then...t-then I'll disappear from existence! Do you really want to terminate me?!"

"We knocked down the other four already, and they didn't disappear!" Falco pointed out. "We just gotta defeat you to bring this story to an end!"

"Urk!" Lucario started backing off from his enemies, only to notice his back was surrounded by the other four fighters closing in on him. Surrounded by seven enemies at once, he started to pant heavily. He had received way too many counters from Fox until he realized too late it was futile to keep striking him back, his Aura Spheres proved useless against their devices, and he was feeling tired when the last portion of the seed tried to sustain him to keep the space up. Either way, he was utterly screwed. He couldn't fend off all seven people at once!

…

He realized there was one missing person: his main target who had slipped away due to the vulpine's meddling. Using his aura senses, he located Chris easily. He was seen standing outside the circle, feeling trauma just trying to think about fighting the mutant Lucario. Although he had helped in bringing half of the enemies down, he just couldn't get near the scary Lucario...

"Why is that idiot not even bothering to see me in the face?!" Lucario roared angrily. "Does he think I'm not worth his time anymore?! Well, I won't have his shit! OUT OF THE WAY!" Perhaps due to renewed fury, the seven fighters gasped when the mutant Pokémon performed a long jump out of the circle to land outside and howl furiously at the distraught teenager.

The howl snapped Chris out from his thoughts, but he froze up when he saw the demented monster going after him with fists flaring up with corrupted aura energy. Starting to breath fast, Chris couldn't move. He was frozen on his feet when the monster noticed his presence at last again. Chris couldn't even waste time to think and blame himself for not even trying to move away. The event looked a little too familiar when he was attacked by that Lucario Noise some time ago... He could even remember the exact feeling of getting his back struck down and bumping along the street. And this situation...!

The door of the cubicle opened up slowly. It was then Chris recalled his sight let him see what was happening over there at that spot. A small figure peeked out from the door and looked around concerned for his beloved trainer. From behind him, there were dozens of people trying to pour into the roof to attack the ones trying to stop them from bringing an end to the insanity of the mansion. Riolu had watched with a frightened expression how those insane people tried so hard to mow down the other people blocking their way. So many screams and yells were scaring him so much that he wasn't thinking about what else to do, other than begging Snivy to open the far away doorknob he couldn't reach with his small height. Snivy gave in to his wishes and opened the door with a vine, although she was against his idea of walking outside...

Unaware of the horrors of the outside world, Riolu spotted Chris standing there just fine. He barked happily and started running towards him with a happy face with a shocked Snivy following him from behind. His tail wagged vigorously just thinking about being held up in the human's arms. He would feel okay again! He just needed to run up to his side and enjoy being caressed!

A loud, deafening growl forced Riolu to stop when he heard it. Not expecting that kind of scary growl, he turned to his right and froze up just when he saw a very scary Lucario glaring nastily his way. That monster was so big and scary to him, and feeling that stare... It was burning up inside his mind. He wouldn't forget such stare. While his little feet couldn't move, Snivy managed to stay sane as she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the cubicle. However, the two were too far away from the door due to Riolu's quick little feet trying to get him to his beloved trainer... Now, Riolu wouldn't feel okay. The mutant growled their way and changed targets, thinking back when that baby Pokémon made Chris much happier than being around with him. The baby was too weak to fight back so it wasn't going to take Lucario too long to kill him and keep his spot as Chris's only true Pokémon.

Chris watched horrified as the mutant charged to the baby while the other Smashers rushed to stop him, though they were too far away. The mutant Aura Pokémon would catch up to the two Pokémon in three seconds flat... During those three seconds, the Aura Pokémon would suffer the consequences of his actions the moment he screamed, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

The words echoed in Chris's head and alerted that angry caretaker about what he was going to do. It summoned a sudden rush of courage that swelled up inside the teen. He just couldn't bear to see that monster killing a defenseless little baby like the Riolu he took in with open arms. The yellow eyes inside the shade of darkness took on an angry look, and before he knew it, he pointed his staff at the monster. "Don't you EVEN DARE HURT HIM!" he called out.

The Smashers never thought about doing one thing ever since they fought Duon: call the power of the Final Smash through doing the Over Limit. That hidden gauge would often be said by Chris's DS assistant, so without him there they might have as well been oblivious to its existence. The gauge was ready to be used after scoring so many hits from that previous battle, waiting for someone to use it and exploit its wonderful power. That person who used it at last without thinking was Chris himself; his sense of protection towards the Riolu stronger than his trauma for dying. Though his sudden rush of adrenaline was rewarded with a Final Smash, it wasn't certain he would be okay after using it...

He'd be fine as long as that Riolu would live and smile his way.

Lucario felt a strong grip take a hold of his rushing feet, which forced him to fall forward on top of a dark glyph of magic that suddenly appeared there. That small moment of falling down on the floor was the same moment Snivy managed to pull the frozen Riolu back to the door, where they both watched the struggling mutant trying to pulverize them to no avail from his invisible shackles keeping his entire body grounded to the floor. Hollering and complaining about his current problem, he saw dark sparks floating around him. His aura senses alerted him about a very strong spell that was about to destroy him for ever thinking about trying to murder a baby. But deep down, that person imprisoned in his subconscious would triumphantly reclaim his spot soon...

Behind him, Chris's feet floated above the floor, his glowing dark gloves making his staff float in the air between them. The angry yellow eyes closed as he chanted the spell for the Final Smash associated with the Black Mage job... "Infinite void of darkness! Swallow these corrupt souls into nothingness, and bring about a new beginning to life through your chaotic might! Let no living being survive your judgment!" his echoing voice chanted. He pulled back his left hand to allow his right hand to grasp the glowing dark staff, where he spun it between his fingers and aimed its glowing tip to its target. "ULTIMA!"

The magic glyph trapping Lucario glowed with dark energy as it shrouded him inside a dark sphere. Inside the sphere, his jaw dropped. He was now floating in the middle of the space and millions of constellations staring at his helpless form. He tried to move away but it was useless. Looking up, his eyes shrunk in horror. There were dozens of meteorites about to strike his back down with merciful speed he wouldn't be able to resist. Screaming for help in the infinite space, the mutant Lucario's pleas for forgiveness managed to echo outside the dark sphere to let its watchers listen to what was happening inside there. What they heard later after the screams were pained screams with the sound of rocks clashing hard against their common target, followed by wild explosions that overtook the volume of the screams...

Behind the large sphere of darkness, Chris pulled his staff up, where it commanded the sphere to shoot up into the air as it started compressing with every second until it was reaching its critical point. The explosions from the meteorites kept going on just before the sphere turned so small the naked eye would have difficulty trying to tell it was there... "...BEGONE!" Chris cried out, and with that, the small sphere blew up in a massive explosion that pushed air to all directions.

The Smashers down below covered their faces from the strong gust of wind pushing down. The drops that were close to the explosion were scattered in the air just as new drops caught them to fall back down to the roof area...and in the middle of that explosion, a body hit the floor so hard that it left a large crack. Lucario's body, although having been set free from the seed's control, was covered in red wounds, somehow keeping blood from spewing out from his wide open mouth. His soulless white eyes indicated he was fainted... Whoever was taking control of him didn't get the chance to voice out how much he hated utter defeat...

Music stops

The rainbow aura covering Chris's body went away as soon as his feet landed back on the floor. Concerned about what the Riolu watched, he tossed his mage hat and staff away to rush to his baby's side. When he passed by Lucario's body and reached the door, he dropped to his knees and gave the baby a tight embrace. The teen couldn't fight back his cries and tears as the Snivy watched him weep... "Y-you're okay... Y-you're okay..." he cried silently, rubbing the baby's head with care with a shaking hand. "N-no one's going to kill you... I-I'll keep protecting you no matter what happens..."

With the last host of the seed taken down, the space and the floor reacted violently to the demise of its master. The air became randomly heavy and then very light. The pools of shifting matter started to shrink away into nothingness at the same time the air above started to make way for the cloudy sky and rain, leaving behind the true face of the space surrounding the roof. Before long, all traces of the Subspace were gone, leaving only the rain pouring down at full force on the fighters without interruptions coming from the supernatural void. While it was hard to believe that the menace had passed, the Smashers had a good hunch that told them they successfully saved their comrades from living a life of total madness.

Hundreds of droplets reigning the silence above their home, the Ancient Minister lowered his face to stare at the humid floor, just before looking at the heavily-injured comrades that had the misfortune to cross them against their wills. "...It's over, isn't it?" he asked, looking over at Chris.

"...Is it, though?" Ness asked. "This wasn't the final fight against Tabuu. We fought our guys to save them, the mansion, and the hands. But you know, it always looks like things go our way until something nasty comes up to crush us... What I'm trying to say here is..."

"You don't really know if destroying that strange seed was the right answer, do you?" Fox asked, looking very serious at the unconscious Lucario before his gaze turned to Chris. With the battle over, the Monk job and its clothes were expelled from his body, giving back his normal attire. The sphere of light that contained the Monk job went back to its owner, though Chris ignored the orb as it joined back into his self. "It's okay. I'm so used to getting flustered over not having our way work out that I'm practically immune to whatever nasty realization shows up. I'll keep on fighting till the end... As long as I have someone whom I can rely on..."

Some time passed as Chris tried to regain his composure from the battle. Though he saved his Riolu from death, he didn't feel okay when he looked back at his Lucario, now free from the brainwashing seed. During that spur of the moment, he had lost it. It terrified him about the things he could do to keep his loved ones safe from harm, so he was given time to rest as he cried silently on his baby Riolu... The World Traveler was now seen standing next to a concerned Fox and Ancient Minister, his baby Riolu having recovered from the early scene.

The door to the mansion opened up behind them. Expecting enemies, the tired Smashers were about to get prepared, but they lowered their guards when they saw the other members of their team coming out to see what happened in the big fight. They all looked worn out from having to push the rest of the brainwashed Smashers back, though only Stiltzkin looked just fine. "So... The battle's over," Wolf noted, spotting the bodies spread around the roof. "We won."

Pichu ran to their side, especially towards Pikachu. "H-how did it go over your end?" he asked.

"Dozens of them tried to force their way through, but...we managed to keep them back," Pikachu said, his belly inflating and deflating quickly with air. "They didn't let us get close to their heads. It was like keeping a bunch of stubborn zombies off from munching on your head..."

Lucas shuddered at the thought. "B-but they just stopped moving," he said. "T-they all fell unconscious on the staircase..."

"They did?" Mr. G&W asked. "Oh, so destroying that big seed destroyed the other seeds in their heads? Maybe this was the right choice!" Although he cheered for their victory, none of the others felt the need to cheer. "...Uh... I-I think you really want to make sure we did the right choice... S-sorry."

"Well...where do we even begin with that?" Morgan asked. "Should we heal someone in here and test our theories?"

Everyone, looking doubtful, turned their heads to the two hands in the middle of the roof. "...Should we heal them first?" Dedede asked.

"No, those two can be a real threat if they're still under the seed's control," the minister said. "It has to be someone else we can take on together."

The group settled on dragging Kirby into the open. The puffball was placed gently in the middle of the circle they made, in case the puffball would run away upon being healed. Unlike the five casualties in the fight, Kirby wasn't all that injured. During the fight, he was only pushed back down the stairs multiple times, though he hadn't woken up after everyone fell unconscious. Still wondering if they should go ahead with the healing process, the Smashers murmured stuff between each other. "Hmm! I was about to leave," Stiltzkin said. "If you're really so worried about getting attacked, you should drop a Phoenix Down on that puffy-looking dude! These feathers only restore a very small fraction of the target's energy."

Chris took out a Phoenix Down from the inventory. "Wait," Ness interrupted. "Let me go drop that on Kirby. You look a little too shaken up to fight someone else..."

It would be pretty hard for Chris to hide his weary and shaken look from his eyes. The last battle just about destroyed his sanity when he was forced to fight a mutated form of his real Lucario, which greatly resembled the one from the last time he was killed in the Reapers' Game. Without saying a word other than a muffled sound, he handed over the feather to Ness. The boy walked to Kirby's downed form and placed the feather on his face...

The red feather turned into a crimson light that fused into Kirby's body. As the small-yet-intense glow got into him, the feather's image faded away, leaving fluttering bits of the feather falling down calmly without the rain pushing them down. With the Phoenix Down used, the circle of Smashers waited for its target to budge which didn't take too long. The puffball grumbled wearily, feeling the drops of the rain splash on his face. "U-uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh..." he mumbled, tiredly sitting up and shaking his already-wet face.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Ness called out.

"...?" Kirby blinked and squinted his eyes, swearing that he was looking at Ness standing in front of him. "...Hmm?"

"It's me, Ness," Ness said. "Y-you do know who I am, right?"

"..." Kirby nodded. He was thinking this was some bad dream he was having where he could see dead people. Admittedly, he was pretty weak and tired from the brainwashed seed exerting too much energy out of his body. "...Ness?"

"Uh, yes?"

Kirby's stomach grumbled, with him looking ready to pass out. "I'm hungry..."

"...Alright, this looks a little too good to be true, AGAIN," Ness told the others. "Should we knock him out?"

"Wait!" Dedede held out an open hand as he approached the tired puffball. "If you wanna make sure this is right, you gotta do it the right way! I was prepared for this..." From inside the right side of his coat, he took out a slice of strawberry cake. Physics were nothing to the cake since it didn't look like it got strands of cloth or mud on it.

"Dude, you keep a whole slice of cake with you inside that robe?" Falco asked dismayed.

"Don't judge me!" Dedede shot back. He placed the cake in front of Kirby. "Pinkie! Eat up!" And Kirby wasted no time in sucking the slice into his mouth. Dedede smiled stupidly. "Could it be?!"

"...I want more," Kirby squeaked.

"..." Dedede took out another slice of strawberry cake from his robe, which he then placed in front of Kirby, which the puffball ate quickly. "...Hmm." The king did the same action and got the same result, though Kirby was asking for more food. "Ah..." Eventually, this broke out into a very long sequence with Dedede providing Kirby with one slice of strawberry cake too many. After five dozens of strawberry cakes were given away, somebody asked a golden question. "Hmph."

"Just how many of those cakes do you have?" Falco asked, mildly perturbed just as the others.

"Quiet, bird brain! I'm busy doin' an experiment here!" Dedede yelled, stopping to give Kirby his 67th slice. Very much used to getting fed, Kirby happily hopped to the cake and munched it down, landing and sitting on Dedede's hand.

"Phew!" Kirby blew out a small cake-shaped cloud from his mouth and flailed his hands happily. "Yay! Cake!" he cheered, fully recovered with the many slices he had eaten. Feeling much better than before, Kirby looked around for more cakes to find, though he only found a lot of people and King Dedede staring awkwardly at him. "Wait..." He blinked in shock and stared at Dedede. "Oh my gosh!"

Dedede sighed pleased. "Oh yeah! This puffball's back in busin-!"

"I'm having a weird cake dream with dead people and villains! It feels too real!" Kirby said, making everyone grimace at his lack of attention. Taking a moment of silence, he then said. "...I want more cake."

The king grunted annoyed and let Kirby fall on his rear. "You idiot! This ain't no dream! It's real life and I've just fed you about five whole cakes!" he yelled.

"Um?" Kirby stood up on his feet and rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was really dreaming. He didn't remember much about what happened before when the Subspace sucked him in. It felt so weird to wake up somewhere else with a bunch of people he thought he would never get to see again. A third of them were supposed to be dead... "...This is real...? Uah!" He flailed his hands above his head and started running in circles around the king, the latter standing idly and his eyes circling around his head.

"I think Kirby is back to normal..." Lucas muttered.

"...Yes... He is now," Pichu said smiling. "Then the others...!"

"We have to heal the rest!" Fox said with a grin. "This is probably it!"

"Hmm! Let me provide you with more Phoenix Downs myself," Stiltzkin offered. "It's on the house. I want to be part of this huge celebration party you want to have!"

A few cheers were had as the group started to scramble around into the entrance to the cubicle to pull every unconscious body they could find. Fortunately, all of the Smashers were retrieved and placed outside in the rain. The rain seemed to be slowing down with every minute that passed, and soon it was only cloudy outside. As the traveling Moogle gleefully spread the reviving read feathers on all the targets, the Smashers witnessed their comrades coming back to their senses, albeit slowly.

"U-uh... My head..." Peach muttered.

"Why is it...raining...?" Mario asked tiredly.

"Do...I have my hat on...?" Luigi asked.

"...Bhuut?" Link opened his eyes and got terrified where his lips were resting on. Sadly, he was too late to prevent the ire from his princess.

"YIAH!" Zelda woke up and slapped Link so hard his right cheek the Hylian swordsman was knocked aside. Feeling sick in her mouth, Zelda started gagging.

"Eugh... What's that stinky smell?" Toon Link asked, pinching his nose.

"Gods... What's this on my face?" Marth asked.

"...Man, I want to lie down..." Roy managed to say.

"Bananas... Rain of bananas..." DK mumbled groggily.

"Banana rain...? Ooh, count me in..." Diddy whispered, stretching his hands forward.

"Hey... Who turned the lights out...?" Yoshi asked before yawning.

"What in the...world is this headache...?" Mewtwo grumbled.

"...Do I have my mask on?" Meta Knight asked when he felt water soak his face directly. Dedede playfully whistled and very subtly placed the knight's mask back on before he could notice.

"...I feel...violated..." Samus muttered under her breath. "Why do...I feel that way?"

"No... No more showing your moves to me..." C. Falcon shook.

"Honey, no... No more sugar..." spoke Olimar.

"...What's this in my hand?" Red asked. "A...Helix Fossil?"

"Who put this camera on my hand?" Squirtle asked wearily.

"Am I wearing something?" Ivysaur asked.

"Nana... Oh, Nana, where are you...?" Popo asked.

"Popo... Please, don't...leave me..." responded Nana, their hands instinctively reaching out for one another and putting a grip.

"Man... This is what I get...when I'm not on the spotlight..." Pit groaned.

"So not cool... I hate too much water..." Sonic complained.

"I feel like...my dignity was trounced on multiple times..." Snake murmured.

Even Master Hand and Crazy Hand were supplied with Phoenix Downs. "U-uuuuuuuhhhhhh..." Crazy Hand muttered. "...I'm...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa zoooooooooooombbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee..."

"...Oh, my pinkie finger..." Master Hand groaned loudly, using his recovered bit of energy to start floating back up from the wet floor. "I never felt this weak since...since Tabuu pierced me on my palm..." While it was extremely difficult to tell if he looked okay with the lack of an emotive face, the right hand inspected his new surroundings and the crowd of people before him. Although he didn't react so surprised when he saw the ones that were absolutely seen with him, he almost felt like having a heart attack when he saw the rest that by no means should be there. "...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His very loud scream forced everyone to cover their ears, going so far as to snap the weak ones from their trances and see clearly at the people standing around.

"What the...?!" Red covered his mouth.

"Dead peopleeeeeeeee!" the Ice Climbers cried, hugging each other tightly.

"Oh no, we're dead?! Oh no, oh no, oh no..." Peach lamented so badly she was quick to sniff.

"D-dead...and naked!" Olimar bellowed when he saw his naked body, only for him to press a glass button on his helmet to cover his body with an automatic suit that sprouted out from the collar of his helmet. With that problem solved, he corrected himself. "We're dead!"

"Noooo! Heaven doesn't have bananas!" DK cried. "Cranky lied to me! It was all a lie!"

"I don't want to see your grandma! She's creepy and a total hag!" Diddy cried.

"Tsk. So this is how I was meant to go: together with a full cast of idiots," Snake said.

The panicked Smashers kept saying a bunch of incoherent reasons why they were dead. As for the people who truly have died, they just looked bored at each other. "Wow. We turned into the avatars of death during our absence," Ness told Pichu, Fox, and Chris.

"Makes me want to toss them into the Reapers' Game," Fox muttered, eyes narrowed. "All of them."

Pichu looked sad. "A Pichu like me, used as a definition for death... I've reached the lowest point in my life," he muttered.

Chris wasn't exactly going to make a jab out of death. He wanted to stop the panicking people from going insane with the revelation. Once Riolu started to sniff on his chest at the loud noise, he spoke up at last. He had to speak or otherwise people would think he wasn't feeling okay. "E-everyone!" he yelled at them, making them stop talking and focus their attention on him. "I-I...I want to say something..."

"Oh no, Chris is also dead!" Pit panicked. "Those bastards! They killed him off-screen!"

Very much annoyed that he was outed like that, he covered his baby's ears and yelled, "I'M NOT DEAD! NOBODY IN HERE IS DEAD!" The group fell into silence after that. "...It's...true," Chris spoke softly as the murmurs died down. "T-there's a whole lot of stuff you need to catch up with, b-but... Just trust me in this one... What you're seeing right now is the roof of the mansion, and...and the guys standing next to me...they're positively alive and well unlike before..." He rested his chin on the Riolu's head. "...This is reality...and we should be happy for it..."

As the confused Smashers stood up from the floor and tried to understand the situation for themselves, Master Hand very slowly floated forward into the crowd. "...This place...is...definitely the mansion," he announced. "That Subspace void is no more...and the people standing over there are really alive, you guys. They're not fakes."

"What?" Toon Link stared at Ness and Pichu. "H-how come they're alive? We saw them die months ago!" The Ancient Minister was seen moving right next to Chris, feeling that he wasn't going to be welcomed so soon. "Hey!"

Marth, unaware his face was smeared with makeup, glared at the minister. "It's the Ancient Minister! He came back to kill us with another dise-"

"NO!" Chris yelled so loudly that the glaring people got startled by his outcry. The minister was also surprised, looking up at him. "There is so...so much you need to learn. I know you all hate him for what he did the last time he was here...b-but...b-but..." he sniffed, "...but if you hurt him before I explain to you why he's here...I will strike back and punish you." A lot of the people in there gasped in shock at the warning. When they felt into silence, Chris could only think the worst was going to happen in a few moments. "(Now I've done it... They're going to think he brainwashed me t-!)"

The teen felt Fox's left hand slam on his shoulder as a good gesture. He noticed the super serious look on the vulpine's face directed at the others. "You wanna make a big deal outta this before we explain everything to you? Do you want to punish someone before you realize you're gonna feel like crap when you're done with whatever stupid ideas you have in mind?" He pointed at the minister. "This guy, believe it or not, worked with us to save all your hides to repent for the crimes he did to us. While you were knocked out and doing the weirdest of things you would never let people caught you dead, he worked so hard to rescue you. And guess what? He and us saved you from being insane people." Speechless, the Smashers looked away to digest the sudden news coming out all at once. "...I know I'm being too harsh here, but you will have to remain silent and wait for everyone to get back here."

The harsh talk made everyone fall silent, and they didn't look like they wanted to argue. Even the likes of Mewtwo thought it would be best to wait for a better detailed explanation of what had happened since they were sucked into the Subspace, which had disappeared from existence after they woke up, having no memories of what they did before. The Ancient Minister thought they were going to subdue him, and he also thought Chris was going to be his shield...but he was amazed someone else did it. "(I... I can't believe he defended me...)" the minister thought. He felt the vulpine's gaze looking his way.

"I want to make something clear to you," Fox said. "I'm only defending you because you did good while you were with us. I still don't like you for what you did before."

"(...)" The minister nodded, feeling Chris's sad gaze.

"But..." Fox looked at Chris, "...Chris here trusts you so much you're friends. If he can see redeeming qualities in you, then, well, heck, I'll have to follow his belief and see if you changed. He taught me to forgive and apologize to people...something I was never good at by myself a long time ago before I rejoined the team... I could've ignored you for what you did to us twice, but...everyone deserves a third chance."

"...I understand," the minister muttered.

It wasn't the way the World Traveler wanted things to go down for the Ancient Minister, but it was better than nothing. No one else raised an objection to that. "We should rest for the time being," Meta Knight spoke. "I certainly don't feel like listening to explanations. I feel exhausted." Although very distraught, the Smashers nodded.

"Huh... Well, you guys may be tired, but..." Master Hand frowned. "Ahh, what the hell. I'm also feeling a little weak today. I need to rest to recover my energies... Ugh. I can't remember a thing since that bomb blew up on us... (I wonder if Tabuu took advantage of my time off to invade a world... The protection I put on the worlds was severed while I got knocked out cold...)"

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to the entrance to the mansion, spotting Jigglypuff.

"W-what's happening? Why were there a lot of fallen angel soldiers at the lobby a-a-a-a-a-an-" She broke asking too many questions when she saw everyone standing outside on the roof. But she was told to rest, much to her confusion. Just as they were about to retreat inside the mansion, Jigglypuff was the first to notice one Smasher wasn't conscious, dropped down outside the crowd of people. "F-forgive me for asking, b-but why is Lucario dropped down over there?"

The crowd turned to see the Aura Pokémon lying down unconscious on his back behind Chris. At the same time they noticed him, they heard Chris sigh. "He was taken over by the enemy moments ago," Fox said. "We had to fight him until he was set free from their control, which forced us to knock him down. He's all battered and bruised, as you can see... Hey, wait a minute." He looked at Chris. "How come you haven't healed him yet? What's holding you?"

Stiltzkin pranced over to the Aura Pokémon's side. "Chris told me not to drop a Phoenix Down on him, but he didn't say why," he said.

Chris clutched his baby Riolu on his arms as he stared at Lucario's unconscious face. "...I don't know if I'm ready to talk to him," he said. "That's why..."

"Why?" the minister asked. "Isn't he the only person in the universe who can make you feel right at home?"

"Yes...but... You have to understand something..." The teen frowned. "Only Fox, Ness, and Pichu know what I'm talking about... You remember what happened to me at that cynical game we played, right? During that third week..." The trio exchanged worried glances and nodded at him. If memory served, the World Traveler had been killed by a bastardized version of his Lucario. Chris didn't want to say aloud he was murdered a fourth time, just to avoid making more confusion to the new listeners. "...And then after we came back here, I was greeted by...that brainwashed Lucario who made things worse for me. Maybe it was hilarious to some people who got to see him acting stupid, but...it was hell for me, because he was trying to hurt others while trying to make me his...his you-know-what... Just today, I endured spending time with him while he was crazy. I wasn't feeling right at home because of that stupid brainwashing plot twisting everything. Even now, I think this is just too good to be true... I can't believe we can rest."

"B-but!" Pichu managed to say.

"I know... Maybe everyone knows we can rest... As for me..." Chris turned to them, tears in his eyes. He was starting to sob. "I've been through so much crap already... I want to rest for once; settle down and stop thinking about our problems. I don't want to have anyone else other than the people who helped me come back here. I don't want to add...or lose more people in my life right now. If I see Lucario now, it's not going to be good. I don't want destiny to laugh at my face the moment I heal him just to see him try to make my life miserable by not being the real Lucario..." The baby Riolu sensed the sad emotion coming from Chris's aura, though he was too oblivious to know why. He started to move his little hands up to the human's shoulders. "...It'll take some time for me to fully accept things as they are right now. Lucario can't see me. He'll be trying so hard to comfort me if he saw me like this, and I would just try to push him away because I'm not certain the nightmare is over..."

Some of the Smashers gasped when they saw the teen taking out Lucario's customized Poké Ball. "What are you doing with that?" Pikachu asked.

Chris aimed the sphere towards Lucario's downed body. "I had this in my drawer in my room. I tried to trap Lucario in it yesterday before we went to sleep...but it didn't work. He never noticed when I aimed it at him, and that told me something was awfully wrong with him. So...let me see if it works now..."

"I'll have to stop you there!" Stiltzkin interrupted. "Whatever you're about to do, at least let me drop a Phoenix Down on this guy. He needs a bit of healing to stay safe from harm. No buts! My fur gets all fuzzy when I see injured people."

"...Okay," Chris agreed as he started at the bruises on his Pokemon's body. "I wouldn't want him to drop dead on the floor the next time I call him out...but...once you use a feather, I'll quickly call him back."

Stiltzkin nodded and dropped a Phoenix Down on Lucario's chest. The item glowed radiantly and disappeared in a crimson light, its healing power entering the Aura Pokémon's chest. Once it had faded away, it didn't take long for them to hear Lucario grunting weakly.

Chris forced his hand to aim the sphere at him. "Lucario, please return!" At his command, Lucario's body got shrouded in light orbs that compressed him into a small sphere that shot back into the ball's button. "...It worked..." Chris breathed out. "This time, it really worked... But I don't want to see him yet. He's now inside his Poké Ball. That should keep him from seeing me."

"You really think this is the right choice, Chris?" Fox asked concerned.

"...I don't know," the teen muttered. "But I believe if I rest for some time, then maybe I will be ready to talk to him."

"Well... It's up to you," Ness said. "It's been really hard on you since this began."

"Thank you..." Chris saw Riolu curiously looking at the sphere that swallowed the large Aura Pokémon. "...Ironic, isn't it? I feel at peace being around his baby form than him."

"Uh, ahem!" Master Hand cleared his throat. "Uh, so, yeah, you people. I believe we need to rest for the time being, but I'll be going around the mansion to see if anything weird happened inside. As you might remember, our defense system got totaled by that last attack. We don't want another bomb to suddenly drop from the sky during our sleep... Geez, I'd have never thought bombs could do that much damage..." He looked at the Ancient Minister. "However... You're coming with me, along with Wario, Dedede, Mr. G&W...and that little red-haired gal. You five weren't here before, were you? I'm going to have to hear what each one of you has to say today, though everyone else will have to settle down and rest. Tomorrow, I want everyone to listen to the full story of this strange chain of events. Do you all agree with me on this?" It took them a few seconds to nod and agree. "Good, good. We're on the same page... Go wander around the mansion, everyone. Take the whole day off."

Each one of the Smashers took their own separate ways from one another, albeit some did want to know why and how the dead ones were back. As everyone started entering the mansion from the only entrance on the roof, Stiltzkin approached the group he had spoken to last. "You guys need some rest like he said. As for me? I'm going back to adventuring in the big wild world," he said, taking flight to reach their eye level. "I didn't help as much as I did last time. This doesn't mean I'll be giving items away for free all the time! From here on out, I'm only an innocent traveling merchant and you're on your own... So, so long, kupo!" he said cheerfully, flying away to the south until his figure disappeared into the distance.

Falco yawned loudly. "Let's go waste our time on the couches," he said tiredly. No one disagreed to that as the roof was cleared out from people...

Later that night...

Chris's Room

The rest of the day had been a little too quiet. While some of the Smashers tried to get answers from the ones who saved them, a majority dedicated their time to fix their rooms. During the days the mansion was not the same, it turned out their brainwashed forms had done so many outrageous changes to their rooms in their absence.

Meta Knight dealt with a lot of trash of scrapped metal and large quantities of food he would never dare eat. The most obvious solution to dispose of the food was having Kirby swallow everything.

Luigi was horrified when he saw posters of himself with the number one plastered on his wall and leaving no room available.

Both DK and Diddy screamed when they saw their banana supply had disappeared in the bowels of their stomachs, though they never felt the tasty flavor as a result.

Zelda was irked when she found her room being a total mess of blankets on the floor and lip marks on the walls, and her being royalty, she considered the state of her room as unacceptable.

Mewtwo bowed to get sweet revenge from Tabuu when he saw his room full of papers with complicated research about extremely mundane topics such as what people liked the best between apples and oranges or how much they knew the real names of all shades of the color blue, all which ended up getting scrapped into a large ball of paper.

The least spoken about Samus's room the better for her, as it had turned into an extremely erotic place full of roses, candles, and posters she did not want to see again.

On a very serious matter, however, Yoshi's room was a nightmare to him. He found his Mime Jr. trapped inside a cage with a wheel meant for gerbils, just as the other dozen of cages his brainwashed self planned to use for other babies (namely the baby Riolu). Having seen the scary Yoshi in his worst days, Mime Jr. took his chance to escape from Yoshi and hide away from him, putting Yoshi in such a downcast mood he didn't sleep well after failing to spot the baby.

Those were just a few examples. A lot of trash was put outside every occupied room into the hall for disposal the next day. Not only that, but the people that were told to evacuate the mansion were given the signal to come back inside. It only caused the musicians to seek their friends and try to get answers, which they unfortunately didn't get. The Wario crew was especially adamant in trying to get in touch with their boss, but he was being interrogated by the master of the mansion in his wrecked office during the rest of the day. Because it was still unknown where their belongings were, Master Hand had to confront the four trainers about the matter (while also trying his best to calm them down from seeing a talking giant floating glove) and had no other choice but to lend them rooms for the night (though he considered tossing them out when the crazy blond girl failed to toss an imaginary Poké Ball at him, in which she noticed she had also lost her homemade bag, forcing her to cry so loudly it irked everyone). Of the people related to Pokémon, N was the only one who hadn't returned. He had left somewhere else without much of a word to his apparent friends.

As for the World Traveler, he was mostly seen doing mundane activities with his baby Riolu. The baby was the only person he was focusing on the most, with Riolu asking Chris for food and getting his wishes come true. The baby's happiness was everything Chris needed to recover from the trauma of the battle, but it wasn't being as effective as he would have liked. His worries and fears caught up to quickly to him that he just couldn't relax for the rest of the day. He couldn't stop wondering about many things, like for example what Master Hand was doing with the Ancient Minister. Probably something not so bad, he thought. Chris thought the hand would never resort to using violence (at least not extreme) to torture former enemies...

Giving up with his worrisome thoughts, the World Traveler called it a day and went back to his room, with the baby Riolu and Snivy in tow. He closed the door behind him and sighed when he had all the time in the world for himself, except for the fact there were only two people left who wouldn't leave his side. Walking over the bed and setting Riolu down on it, he saw Snivy climbing the bed as well. "...How come you haven't left this place already?" he asked Snivy. "You became involved with that horrible fight hours ago. I thought you'd leave once you got the chance..."

Snivy managed to understand most of what he said, so she just shook her head to him. Maybe he could hold an actual conversation with her.

"Well, I'm just thinking about your safety. So much stuff happens in here," Chris said, trying to convince her to leave. He saw her little smile as she nodded twice. "...You like this place?" Snivy nodded more. "That's a little...surprising... But that's your decision anyway..." Looking to her left, Riolu was already busying himself hopping on the springy bed. The teen caught the baby in midair and rubbed his laughing little head. "Sorry. I need to lie down and sleep tonight. I know you also want to sleep... Oh wait, you can't understand my words yet. Oh well. You'll understand."

He remembered the bed had the unfortunate treatment of being a makeshift bath when Lucario used it to clean himself like a cat. Irked with that, the World Traveler ditched the bed sheet and everything else, putting it outside in the hallway. He then proceeded to replace every sheet with a new one, along with new covers for the pillows. With that out of the way, the World Traveler sighed. The teen put the baby down and he moved the top of the bed sheet down, which prompted the Riolu to scramble around and take a place under the bed sheet. Barking happily, Riolu lied down his head on the comfy pillow and waited for Chris to join him.

"Something tells me you love lying down on the bed..." Chris managed a chuckle. Though, before he lied down, he took out from his pocket the Poké Ball that held Lucario in it, quickly forcing his mind to think about his most trusted partner. He couldn't see him yet, fearing it would be a nasty trap that looked safe and welcoming. Sighing, Chris placed the sphere on top of the drawer so he could remember about his idea to see Lucario soon. "If...you're the real Lucario...you'd understand how I feel," he told the sphere. "But I want to be very careful about my choices. Soon, I'll see if it's alright to look at you in the face again..."

His mind troubled, Chris then prepared himself and lied down in his bed while Snivy took a pillow all for herself to lie down on the floor. The baby Riolu got very happy with his presence that he started cuddling up vigorously against his cheek. "Ri! Ri!" he barked, which meant, "Yay! You didn't leave me!"

"...So adorable..." Chris muttered with a sunny look, gleefully closing his eyes. Riolu didn't want to stop for at least after a minute. The World Traveler, at last, found peace and hope in that little creature who enjoyed being with him. "(...Thank goodness he recovered from that terrifying experience back in that battle... I guess the mind of a baby is easier to control than a mature mind, but...I don't think he just forgot about it so quickly...)" Feeling the baby's cheek press against his, the World Traveler forgot about his worries for a brief moment to bask in his happy time. "You're one happy baby Riolu, you know? Well... Thank you for being with me till the end..."

"(You should be thanking my son as well.)"

It was like destiny truly wanted to make him suffer at the worst time possible when he was at total peace. Chris screamed and sat up in a hurry, startling Riolu and Snivy. That strange, echoing, and deep baritone voice that just rang in his ears frightened him so much he started looking around his room for its owner. Although he didn't find anyone around (though he suspected someone was hiding in the closet or in the dark bathroom), he forced a very nervous glare. "I-I knew it! I knew I wasn't wrong when I thought this was too easy!" he told the voice. Looking back at his worried Riolu and a confused Snivy, he gulped and looked up. "F-fine! I-I'll fight you to protect these two!"

"(I do doubt you would have any chance at hurting me...but that is not the reason why I am speaking to you now, Chris. Collect yourself. I am not your enemy,)" the voice spoke. "(We have seen each other many times now. It is me, your Lucario's father.)"

Failing at calming down, Chris realized the voice was talking to him through telepathy, which would explain why Riolu and Snivy weren't as scared as he was. However, when the voice said it was the voice of Lucario's father, Chris had all the right to question that. So far, the part about the telepathy was right because he could hear faint breathing. "(Y-you're saying you're his father talking to me... Well, that's impossible! For one, you've never been in this mansion OR its world before! Unless you're standing outside...)" The teen got out of bed and looked outside through the closed window to the dark landscape and cloudy night. There weren't any glowing eyes staring at his room after so much searching of a whole minute. "(...I knew it! You're not him! You'r-!)"

"(My son loses it when he is hungry and he smells meat in the air. He is a big serious carnivore. I have you to blame for that as it is a bit degrading to see him lose it with that kind of food within his sight. However, I am proud of him all the same, because you have taught me that humans can bring the best out of us, and I do not mean fighting prowess or such chaotic practices. You truly see him as a person, which in my world many humans and trainers have blinded themselves to...)"

"(...)" Chris eased his shoulders and overall panicked look as he calmly returned to lie down on his bed. Snivy rolled her eyes and thought a snarky remark about the teen, while Riolu kept blinking and staring until he started cuddling up to him again. However, Chris was more concerned about the irrefutable facts that nearly no one else could have worded like that into his mind. "(...He told you that, didn't he,)" Chris said.

"(I have seen most of it every time you and him come to his home in the valley...though the carnivore facts surface whenever he got a little sick eating too many berries. His mind makes no effort in trying to stop those graphic thoughts... I dwell into people's minds when I sense their troubled auras radiating strange emotions. I admit it is somewhat rude...)"

"(...Okay, okay. I get it. You really are his father,)" Chris thought in defeat, ignoring the cuddling Riolu. "(...Wait, this is so unnatural! How is it that you can suddenly talk to me without being physically close?)"

"(I have to thank my son for discovering a brand new ability our family would have never discovered due to circumstances. Namely, he discovered the ability to use telepathy to transcend the dimensional barriers dividing the worlds to contact others.)"

That kind of ability was a little too much, or so Chris thought. "(Uh, pardon? When did he discover this ability? He never told me he could do that!)"

"(Oh, he did tell you, except very indirectly,)" he said. "(You were the first person he used it. This happened back when you fought against that god of darkness.)"

The only god of darkness Chris recalled was Dark Gaia. "(During that fight? Uh... Wait... I do remember hearing his voice while I was...while I was falling down into the core of the planet... I thought that was just some cheesy heart-to-heart thing about invisible ties connected to people's hearts.)"

"(...That is such an improbable explanation, I do not know where to begin breaking that senseless bit of logic,)" he said. "(No offense to you, of course. I do believe in ties connected to each other, but that was hardly the reason why that happened.)"

"(Eh, no offense taken. I get really skeptical when the assumed power of friendship and love help win fights with no buildup. I see that a lot in TV programs that it makes me sick... O-oh, sorry for getting a little off-topic there. U-um, can you explain to me how this even happened?)"

He heard the almighty Lucario clear his throat. "(My son, during a spur of the moment, used his restrained aura powers to hopelessly reach out for you when he saw you falling to your death. Although that exactly did not help you at all, it did help him to uncover that new skill, which I have now perfected for my own use.)" His chuckling was so deep, it made Chris shiver. That Lucario was a little taller but far more imposing than his son for a lot of reasons. "(I am so proud of him. My people will certainly honor his name more often and see him as a figure of respect. His aura skills will continue blossoming to new heights the longer he aids you.)"

Chris blushed. "(O-oh, please. I hardly train him the way nearly every trainer does with their Pokémon,)" he said.

"(And you are doing it the right way. Unfortunately, you might remember when I said humans are more concerned about our fighting prowess more than our true roles as guardians of life, making them forget at a young age what they are meant to do. Cruel irony rears it head when they use our powers carelessly to destroy said life...)"

The teen nodded. "(...Wait a minute. Did you just say a moment ago that his aura powers are being restrained?)"

"(Hmm? You mean to tell me you do not know?)" the almighty Lucario asked. "(The god of the mansion has been using his powers to weaken my son's powers by a big fraction just to make sure every being working alongside you can grow stronger properly without my son...how do they put it...stealing the kills from them.)" That random fact made Chris's jaw fall down a bit. "(Moreover, he has done the same to that Mewtwo being. I...am surprised neither my son, Mewtwo, or you even know of this. This idea seems to have been there for a very long while now.)"

"(...That hand has been doing that for a long while...and he never told us once?)" Chris asked. "(Have I been keeping Lucario off from battle for nothing?!)"

"(Thinking logically, I suppose your boss simply did not want to say that to bring my son's confidence down. This, in turn, has made him train both body and mind much more as a result, which I am thankful for. All those needless thoughts about darkness affecting his aura are truly not so important. It was just him failing to notice your boss's doing weakening him.)"

The World Traveler felt a little frustrated that Master Hand did such a thing all the time. "(I thought you'd protest against that, hurting your pride or something...)"

"(It does hurt my pride a bit, but it is for the best,)" the almighty Lucario said. "(This grand task of saving multiple universes should not just fall to him. It is a group effort. He will need all the help he can get, as long as it does not corrupt him... And speaking about corruption... I know what has happened in your current home.)" He heard Chris gasp mentally. "(He was corrupted by the Subspace Army's Subspace Bomb. I only know the full story now, though. Since that bomb took over the mansion, this developed aura skill failed to get in touch with my son during the whole incident up until now when I finally got through and sensed that the Subspace was no more. You fought valiantly to save my son from their clutches... Thank you.)"

"(I-ah, how do you know that much?)" Chris asked.

"(This refined aura power is so strong that it can be combined with my other abilities: namely, read your mind and see the images that are so strongly burned into your memories. I do not need to explain that part since my son can see the pictures of the mind as well. You witnessed that long ago yourself, did you not? He used the same ability to understand the cause of your solitude.)"

Chris looked away, noticing Riolu already sleeping next to his face. "(...I remember when he used that on me when we were first discovering what he could do with his aura skills. I accidentally thought about my past while he read my mind, and he started to wonder how bad I was behind that optimistic smile I always showed him so he wouldn't worry,)" he reminisced. "(...So you used that on me too?)"

"(Mind you, I was very concerned about the fate of my son. You were the only source I could use to know what happened to him... I am sorry for being this rude. A parent's concern for their child is so strong that they can do unlawful actions for the sake of seeing them again one more time. You understand, do you not? You have that little one to look after. You react...peculiarly whenever he is threatened.)"

Chris blushed again. "(If I didn't have magic to burn people, I wouldn't consider setting them on fire! I-I mean, I-I understand what you mean by that,)" he said.

"(Which brings me to my last point,)" he said. "(...Must you really keep my son imprisoned in that sphere? He has returned to normal. No outside forces are holding his heart shackled any longer. He must see you.)"

Mentioning Lucario to Chris brought a lot of sadness. The World Traveler wasn't prepared to look at him in the eye. "(I-I can't see him... I'm sorry, sir. I don't know if I'm ready to see his face again. I've seen his face come up many times before, but all those times, it wasn't him. It was a person trying to kill me or drive me insane.)"

The almighty Lucario growled. "(Those false copies of my son have passed away in the past. Now it is his chance to reclaim his spot to dispel all your doubts and sadness they have cultivated. Otherwise...I do not know when you will ever see him.)"

The teen started to shed tears as he looked back at the Lucario-designed sphere on the drawer. "(B-but...but I don't want to suffer anymore...)"

"(Your heart is aching because he is not there with you. I can confirm for you he is back to normal, which he is,)" he said confidently. "(Now you just need to see him again to repair that deep scar. He will not harm you. Rather, he will see that you will smile again. Such simple expression is so powerful; it is his source of power and the only remedy he needs...)" Chris felt into silent but audible sobs. "(...You cannot hide that deep desire from me. Inside your mind, you want to have him by your side again. You are screaming his name...begging him to save you from this awful feeling. You know full well my son has that emotional power to make your wishes come true. You feel you are falling down into a deep abyss, stretching your hands out for someone to pull you up... That very person...is my son.)"

Chris fought against his own sobs, but he was losing the fight against his true inner desire to see his Pokémon again. His sobs alerted both Riolu and Snivy from their sleep, staring intently at him from their spots. They gasped when they saw his right hand coming out from under the bed sheet and reaching out for the sphere on top of the drawer. However, his shaking hand only managed to grasp the ball under his shaking palm. He was having last second doubts about going through the idea he considered insane.

"(You control your own fate. No one else is the owner of it,)" the almighty Lucario said, his tone serious. "(You are strong enough to face despair. Stop underestimating yourself! Your decisions may bring ruin, but you have fought valiantly and learned from your mistakes. This one decision... I know it is the right one... Now, allow him back into your life and watch your wounds mend themselves with his presence alone...)"

Chris's hand shook the ball. "(I-I can't... I can't do this! W-what if this is a cruel joke?!)"

"(IT IS NOT A CRUEL JOKE! STOP REJECTING REALITY!)" the imposing Lucario scolded. "(GO BACK TO THOSE TIMES WHEN YOU COULD SMILE AND LAUGH! GO...AND RETURN TO NORMALITY TO END YOUR SUFFERING!)"

With a loud cry, Chris raised the Poké Ball from the drawer and aimed it at the floor. "L-Lucario!" he cried. "C-COME OUT, PLEASE!"

The Poké Ball didn't need to hear anything else. With its command spoken, the ball released a large light that shot down on the floor and quickly formed a living body standing upright...

Since the Subspace Bomb incident, Lucario was completely knocked out. His will to snap out from the mind-controlling seed was so weak that he never got a chance to call out for help, until that battle happened where he was seemingly starting to regain control for a brief moment when he felt a familiar aura pulsating with extreme negative emotions. Had it been someone else, Lucario might have reacted. But since it wasn't just someone else, his primal instinct as an Aura Pokémon replied with vigor and courage, enabling him to get one glimpse at the outside world until he got fiercely attacked by his rescuers. Now, when he opened his tired eyes, he blinked and turned his head to the sides to become aware of his new surroundings...

Then he felt that same aura calling out for help; calling his name muffled in desperate cries he could only hear using his senses. Outside of those senses, his ears perked up slightly hearing the sobs that came from the same direction. There was no doubt about it. That aura he had been with for so long was impossible to forget, and it was his duty to calm the negative waves down before worrying about anything else.

Feeling sore from the wounds he got in battle, Lucario nevertheless pressed on as he knelt down next to the bed to see his trainer, his eyes shut but not so tight enough to prevent the tears from leaking out. The World Traveler was fighting the last mental wall that tried to hold him back from seeing his Pokémon, greatly fearing he was going to suffer by letting his guard down...until he overcame that wall when he heard that voice calling out for his name calmly and quietly. "Chris... Don't cry... I'm... I'm here..."

The sobs and then quick breathing seized when Chris opened his crying eyes and looked at Lucario... Perhaps the sadness his aura radiated was very extreme that it rubbed off on others, but he did see his Lucario – eyes shedding tears of joy and sadness mixed together – staring intently at him. "Lu... Lucario..." Chris sobbed. Riolu and Snivy carefully backed off from the large behemoth. "...Please... Please tell me this is the real you..."

"It's me, Chris..." Lucario sobbed, closing his crimson eyes as he forced a twitching smile. "...Welcome back... And...thank you for saving me..."

His mind and heart were won over by those words. With no barriers of doubt and thoughts of despair poisoning his judgment, the World Traveler sat up and embraced Lucario so tightly that the Aura Pokémon returned the embrace quickly, resting his snout on his trainer's head while he listened to his muffled cries on his chest fill his ears. Though the scene looked heartbreaking, it truly was not. Using his sixth sense, Lucario saw that radiant blue aura leave all the discord behind to make path to for so many positive feelings: joy, relief, happiness, zest, and gratitude... All emotions Lucario so proud to call forth with his presence alone.

The teen pulled off from his embrace to look up at Lucario. "Thank you... Thank you so much for coming back to me..." Chris cried.

"No, Chris... You came back to me," Lucario sobbed. "For once, you saved me... I can't tell you how proud I am for that..." He winced in pain, his body still feeling sore and weak from the battle he was forced to fight unwillingly. While his true power came back to refill his soul, the wounds from the battle carried over. "U-ugh..."

"Lucario!" Chris yelled. "O-oh no. You got healed just a bit! P-please, wait for me to heal you! Hold on for a little longer!"

A minute of desperate healing later, all of the wounds Lucario had sustained from battle went away, each usage of magic giving life back to his strong body. With his wounds healed, however, Lucario felt extremely exhausted. He wanted to lie down and rest for the night, especially now that his beloved trainer was back. He had no reason to be so frustrated and angry anymore... Occupying the right side of the large bed, Lucario and Chris stared at each other with relieved, smiling looks. Unlike how sure the two were their eyes weren't deceiving them, Riolu and Snivy thought differently. Riolu had taken cover behind Chris's back while Snivy pulled her little cushion bed away from the much larger bed, wary of the dangerous Pokémon on top.

Lucario's father intruded to explain everything to his son in full detail to help him catch up, asking Chris for confirmation. "I see... That was what happened to me all this time," Lucario said. "I'm so ashamed..."

"Don't be... Please, don't," Chris advised. "You had no control over your actions. I'm willing to forget what I saw when I came back here... You really were out of it."

"...Exactly, how much 'out of it' I was?" Lucario asked curiously.

"(...Chris, please explain to my son. I do not feel it is right for me to say it,)" the almighty Lucario said.

Mentioning what he was doing before he came to his senses seemed like a very bad idea, only because the teen would dash the Aura Pokemon's dignity to the ground so mercilessly without meaning to or being at fault for it. But in the end, it was now or never. Chris sighed, looked away from Lucario, and muttered, "...You were super gay for me and...y-you tried to make me your sex slave... U-uh, o-of course you never swung that way! It-it was the Subspace Army's fault!"

"..." Lucario's eyes shut. For a moment, he thought Chris was saying lies, but he would never question him. It was the whole truth, and he had to cope up with it.

"...Lucario?"

"..."

Lucario's eyelids were forcing so much strength into his lower eyelids that he began breathing quickly and deeply to calm himself down. The ire building up in him was represented by his aura manifesting all over his body, turning into a wild blue flame that spared the bed sheets from burning into ashes. Although the scene looked so terrifying to many, Chris oddly held his ground until he opted to cover himself shamelessly with the bed sheet for protection alongside Riolu, seeing the intense blue glow pass through his measly cotton shield. After a whole minute of deep breathing and careful growling, Lucario's blue flames died out, making Chris uncover himself and look worried at the blank expression on his loyal Pokémon. "U-uh... D-did you let it all out in the quietest way possible?" Chris asked with concern.

"Yes," Lucario said blankly. "And with that said, now I realized something crucial... That Subspace Army? I'm going to utterly wreck it with my two hands. No, wait. That's not enough. I'm going to drop a Super Mushroom on me and then wreck everything with Tabuu in it. They will rue the day for making a massive fool out of myself and giving you so many uncomfortable moments beyond my control. I AM NO ONE'S PUPPET AND THEY SHALL LEARN THAT SO. I WILL ANNIHILATE THEM ALL THEY WILL WISH THEY WERE DEAD BEFORE CROSSING ME." His aura let out one last burst of flames to emphasize his point, but the back of his mind warned him that his fierce glare was possibly scaring his trainer...

"..." Chris, however, smiled a bit. "...I also realized something crucial just now, Lucario."

"Huh? What?"

"...You get all badass when you get so riled up like this for good reasons." He chuckled happily. "And when I think you're my Lucario...well...that makes me so happy... And for that...please, never, ever change for the life of me."

"..." Lucario pulled Chris to his side and growled with pleasure. "GUUUUUOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH..." he growled, nuzzling his snout playfully against his trainer's forehead. He heard his trainer laugh merrily as he kept pushing his head around. His power so strong, Chris couldn't hope to budge him.

There was no mistake now. Lucario had returned to his side. It brought tears of joy to the World Traveler..

"(...It seems everything is fine,)" Lucario's father told the two, breaking them from their playful time. "(I shall leave you alone, knowing full well my son will keep protecting you, Chris, just as you protected him from complete madness. You two are destined to do great things in the future, though that future will be no doubt filled with dangers and nightmares that will try to crush your hopes along with your souls... Remain steadfast and do not falter to them.)"

While Lucario nodded with no objections, Chris didn't feel okay knowing that the struggles against the army would continue for much longer. "(...As long as I have Lucario...I'll be okay, sir,)" Chris said, forcing a smile at his Lucario.

"(Keep that thought with you... Though... Before I go, I want you two to visit the valley soon.)"

Lucario and Chris exchanged glances. "(For what reason, father?)" Lucario asked.

"(It is better that I do not mention it right now. It would cause discomfort to your reunion... Both of your auras radiate anxiety now... Nevertheless, it is something relatively minor compared to your current quest. Please do rest and enjoy your time together. It will help to ease your minds. I know you shall triumph in the end. For now, good bye, my son. Continue making our family legacy proud of its heritage...)" Though Chris wasn't good at seeing or sensing aura links without being physically touched by someone who could, Lucario could tell the link had been terminated.

"He left," Lucario said.

Chris started to yawn. "Well... I think we should continue this happy reunion celebration tomorrow... Oh god, it feels so good to have you back with me." Lucario smiled. "It's like I can rest easy for a good night."

"Don't think you're the only one, Chris," Lucario said. "Besides fighting our enemies, there is nothing else troubling my mind now..." He noticed the baby Riolu peeking out behind Chris's back at his face, but he gasped and hid. "That Riolu... That's the same one I..."

"Oh..." Chris turned to his right to look at his Riolu covering himself from looking at Lucario. "I don't care if I'm repeating this again, but, thank you, Lucario. You saved this baby from getting trapped in the Subspace. I was so lucky when I found him wandering around... (If I tell him he was being injured by Bianca, he'll snap...)"

"He doesn't want me anywhere near him."

The odd statement made Chris turn to his Pokémon. "What?"

"His aura is filled with fear, Chris. It's all because of me when...when I wasn't being myself," Lucario said, his body glowing dimly with aura. "The pictures in his mind are vivid. I see myself in those... The ones where I'm seen acting so rashly towards you are the ones he keeps remembering. He is even worried about me doing something nasty to you right now..."

"..." Chris looked worried at his baby. With the human's attention, Riolu barked frightened in a hushed voice and quickly went to cuddle up to Chris for protection from the Lucario's gaze. With their bodies touching, the teen felt the little frame shaking at odd times. "...You're right. He wasn't like this a few moments ago when you weren't here... This is the worst..."

Lucario grunted, feeling angry for being denied by the baby against his wishes. "The Subspace Army will pay dearly for this... They went too far trying to scare the two of you," he muttered with so much venom.

"..." Chris looked back at Lucario. "...You think we can call it a day and go to sleep?" he asked.

"I think so... But not before I do this." Lucario pulled his right hand out of the bed sheet and placed it on his trainer's shoulder. "There. I wanted to do pull you into an embrace to make sure nothing would harm you, but...that Riolu needs to have you by his side more than I do." He smiled a bit. "I don't mind him having all the attention. I'll just wait for my turn tomorrow. Until then, I'll just have my hand on you... I do feel fear coming from you, after all..."

"..." Chris chuckled and started rubbing his baby's head with care, the Riolu barking happily and curling into ball, quickly falling asleep. "After all I went through to get here...I'll need you more than ever, Lucario."

Lucario growled and shut his eyes with a yawn. "You won't be disappointed... Good night, Chris..."

"Good night, Lucario... Good night, Riolu...and you too, Snivy..."

This wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream disguised as a real nightmare. It was sweet reality, Chris confirmed. With a baby Riolu curled in his right arm and a powerful but friendly Lucario grasping his shoulder softly, the World Traveler felt at peace. He knew, however, that his struggles didn't end, though it didn't mean that he would have to face them alone with a small band of people anymore. That small band of people had fought so hard to recover all they seemingly lost and, in the very end, they succeeded. Although the Smashers were at a loss of what had occurred in the past few days, they were on the path of recovery...

Before Chris fell asleep, he thought one last thought. "(It's so good to be back to normality again...)" he thought, just as he fell asleep and his left hand confidently clutched Lucario's large hand, which sent a wave of positive aura into his sleeping body. Smiling during his sleep, the Aura Pokémon let one final growl escape his lips.

With the trio sleeping soundly, Snivy blinked to herself. "(...Dad, Mom. I hope you don't mind if I stay here in this mansion with these people... I want to see where they'll go from here...)" she thought, looking over at the slightly open door where she spotted Fox staring at the sleeping trio from the small opening. "(Hmm? What's he doing here? What a creep... Then again, it's not my problem.)" Shrugging, she curled her body in a circle and fell asleep.

Having watched the two since Chris called out the Lucario from the sphere, Fox was only trying to see if his fraternal little brother was going to be okay. He had only watched Chris being a little too downcast for the rest of the day, concerning him greatly. Though now that he watched the Aura Pokémon back to his old self and the World Traveler truly enjoying his presence unlike during the morning, Fox could rest easy. Looking down at the sleeping bag he carried under his right arm, he chuckled and frowned to himself, deciding to leave the duo alone. "(Good night, Chris. You deserve this very much,)" he thought confidently, disappearing in the darkness of the hallway to his room.

Thus, the mansion and its people, albeit still recovering from the events, managed to return to normality... Though... Lucario sensed great discomfort in his trainer's aura. Despite the reunion, he sensed negative feelings trying to overtake his dear trainer. The traumatic experiences Chris lived through the last days left a deep scar in him...

"(...It is my job to make him feel happy,)" Lucario thought just as he fell asleep. "(Anyone who dares make him feel sad... THEY WILL FEEL MY WRATH... But...for now...I'm going to work hard to see him smile truthfully...)"

"RETURN TO NORMALITY" SAGA SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED!

YOU HAVE GAINED 50000 SMASH COINS!

TO BE CONTINUED...ON THE NEXT SAGA...

"A most spectacular job well done!" Stiltzkin announced. "Your hard work has paid off!"

Level Up!

Chris (Freelancer) – Lvl. 103 → 120

HP: 3442 → 3881

MP: 448 → 529

Attack: 400 → 433

Defense: 200 → 231

Magic: 763 → 831

Magic Defense: 381 → 453

Pichu – Lvl. 110 → 122

HP: 3012 → 3293

MP: 511 → 588

Attack: 251 → 285

Defense: 104 → 119

Magic: 780 → 859

Magic Defense: 357 → 439

Fox – Lvl. 114 → 125

HP: 3892 → 4336

MP: 322 → 364

Attack: 688 → 728

Defense: 321 → 355

Magic: 367 → 389

Magic Defense: 186 → 246

Falco – Lvl. 95 → 111

HP: 3590 → 4189

MP: 219 → 240

Attack: 647 → 742

Defense: 299 → 349

Magic: 156 → 178

Magic Defense: 142 → 152

Ness – Lvl. 112 → 121

HP: 3799 → 4123

MP: 589 → 639

Attack: 568 → 610

Defense: 271 → 324

Magic: 801 → 847

Magic Defense: 421 → 458

Ancient Minister → Lvl. 95 – Lvl. 115

HP: 4100 → 4489

MP: 100 → 109

Attack: 556 → 581

Defense: 452 → 489

Magic: 50 → 58

Magic Defense: 78 → 86

Mr. G&W → Lvl. 95 – Lvl. 113

HP: 3456 → 3755

MP: 274 → 399

Attack: 590 → 621

Defense: 240 → 265

Magic: 87 → 100

Magic Defense: 201 → 226

"Nice! Keep up the good work. Your team list has regained all lost members. Rejoice! Overwriting your file!"

Chris (Lvl. 120) - Lucario (Lvl. 1000) - Mario (Lvl. 94) - Luigi (Lvl. 92) - Peach (Lvl. 93)

Yoshi (Lvl. 90) - Wario (Lvl. 64) - Pikachu (Lvl. 113) - Jigglypuff (Lvl. 88)

Pichu (Lvl. 122) - Mewtwo (Lvl. 1000) - Red (Lvl. 80) - Squirtle (Lvl. 90) - Ivysaur (Lvl. 92)

Donkey Kong (Lvl. 97) - Diddy Kong (Lvl. 87) - Samus (Lvl. 95) - Kirby (Lvl. 98)

King Dedede (Lvl. 64) - Meta Knight (Lvl. 126) - Link (Lvl. 97) - Zelda (Lvl. 97)

Toon Link (Lvl. 92) - Fox (Lvl. 125) - Falco (Lvl. 111) - Wolf (Lvl. 119)

Captain Falcon (Lvl. 87) - Marth (Lvl. 94) - Roy (Lvl. 88) - Ness (Lvl. 121)

Lucas (Lvl. 101) - Pit (Lvl. 90) - Ice Climbers (Lvl. 101) - Mr. Game & Watch (Lvl. 113)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 115) - Snake (Lvl. 100) - Sonic (Lvl. 100) - Morgan (Lvl. 119)

Snivy (Lvl. 10) - Riolu (Lvl. 1)

Eesh, that big list of people... I write for ALL of them? Should I just stop this story right he-? Hah hah, no. I love all of those guys, except maybe Wario.

Thus, we have reached the end of the fourth saga. Everyone has been saved from utter madness and now everything can go back to normality with the dead Smashers having been revived... Uh, yeah, that bit wasn't going to last too long. I just wanted you guys to feel shock and discomfort just so you know these people will never succeed all the time, and that there will be tragedies from time to time. Though, I can say for sure there won't be any more deaths...though as for psychological injuries, that will pop up. These characters are flawed and will suffer the consequences of their actions.

But hey, this story also focuses on humor a lot. There will always be a bright side...right?

Well, let's all close the book on this saga and continue moving forward. I suppose you guys are wondering why the Smashers suffered so much in a strange way. That should be answered soon enough, but I'm afraid I have nothing else to show you...

…

…

…

...By now, you should have noticed that strange leftover space under your sidebar. I'm a bad liar.

So eyes, please review, or else I'll murder people and make them suffer for my amusement!

Meanwhile... Three days ago...

~ Comet Observatory ~

Library

"...at the end of their long journey, the boy was rewarded with something big and irreplaceable. He was never going to be alone, forever and ever..." she whispered softly the last part of her storybook, noticing that her children fell asleep on their little, fluffy couches put around in a circle over the circular mat on the floor. Smiling a bit, she rose up from her rocking chair, and her feet hovered above the air as to not make any sound to startle them.

Rosalina floated to the nearby bookshelf and put the book she read to the Lumas away. The story she had read to them was about a lonely boy who started making friends with so many wonderful people, a simple story the Lumas found easy to understand. Though sadly, they felt asleep a little too soon and didn't get to hear everything. It was okay with the galactic princess. She was going to tell them about the ending tomorrow.

With the book shelved, she floated away and left the sleeping children behind. It was times like this when she could relax, knowing they were alright and enjoying themselves with her presence. As she was about to leave her favorite reading spot, she saw her trusted adviser Polari coming to the entrance of the library. Being several feet away from the snoozing children, the dark brown Luma spoke. "Finished your daily reading session, my dear?" he asked her.

Rosalina nodded. "Yes. The Lumas are sleeping soundly again... They never seem to stop falling asleep at the last part of every chapter I read them, though," she said with a small giggle. "Either way, it only matters they had fun."

"Hmm, sometimes I wonder if you spoil them a little too much..." Rosalina's long stare, although it meant no threats, made Polari back off a bit. "...Maybe not? I'm just spouting nonsense."

She smiled warmly. "I'm going to go rest to my bedroom now. Can you look after them?"

"Oh yes, sure," Polari said. "I'll keep an eye on those rascals for you. You need to have your sleep now and then like the people from down there." He mumbled a bit after that. "...Say, Rosalina. Have you ever considered going back down to your home planet? I...know some of your history with your past, but...you know, it'll be nice for you to make new relationships with others."

The princess looked away, never feeling her eyes drifting slowly as she got into deep thought about the last time when she was a normal girl and had a family. Remembering her dead mother brought some discomfort to her, deep down in that blank stare. Clutching her hands to her chest, Rosalina looked at Polari and said, "I don't know if I'll be ready to go back down...even for a small visit. You know I'm not the same person I used to be in the past."

Polari floated to her side. "You only come to see your planet from afar every time the universe is reborn once a century, girl. You should really leave the observatory and go have fun! I can take care of every single Luma that comes in here," he reassured her.

"I'm still not sure myself," Rosalina said. "Making friends with so many people sounds very nice indeed, but...I eventually outlive every being when it is about age. It...it frightens me to think about that."

"Oh... Well, that shouldn't be a stop sign!" the adviser said. "You met Mario and Princess Peach, and that Yoshi guy. They're your friends and they would love to see you spending some time with them. Your galactic powers shouldn't lock you out from making friends anyway! Don't take it as some sort of curse, my dear." He patted her head a few times. "Your home is not just the Comet Observatory. The whole galaxy is your oyster!"

"..." She closed her eyes.

"...And...one more thing," Polari began, "I'm not forcing you to go out. You can think about doing that whenever you want. I'm just suggesting, that's all. And I'm saying this because you should do other stuff other than playing around with the newborn Lumas. They'd love to see you smile and laugh with other people. Ah, yes! You should bring some of them with you, just to feel at home."

The princess took the suggestion to her heart, and she nodded to her adviser. "One day, I'll see when I will be ready to take that big step," she told him. "Visiting a planet by myself... It does sound exciting in a way."

"No one is truly alone in this vast galaxy, and we've seen many people from up here to prove that!" Polari said with a small laugh. "I'll be waiting anxiously for that day you go down. Keep taking care of the babies and the kids until then. Perhaps they will give you the incentive to make that big step eventually."

Rosalina giggled. "Thinking about it again, I shouldn't feel frightened to make new friends other than the Lumas." She started floating out of the library, until a sudden sound of...something being dropped on the flat floor somewhere in the observatory echoed loudly to make her stop in her tracks. "What was that sound?" she asked.

Polari looked around the edge of the observatory to find the source. "Uh, well, that didn't sound like anything we know should make when dropped down," he said. "The Lumas aren't feeling pranksty today, are they?"

She shook her head in disapproval. "No, they behave nicely. They know not to break things," she said.

"Regardless, something fell down around here. Let's go check together." The two agreed to that idea and walked out from the library area, leaving the sleeping Lumas behind.

Central Area

Once stepping out from the library, the two looked around for any sights to find the source. Fortunately, it didn't take them too long to find the source as they had found it right smack dab in the center of the entire observatory...

Unfortunately, what they had found also proved to be a frightening discovery meant to cause chaos in less than a minute...and counting down.

An exasperated huff of breath exited through Rosalina's frozen look as she and Polari were staring at a Subspace Bomb, complete with two ROBs that resigned to their horrible fates where they would never return to live a normal life. Though, the only most important problem was the Subspace Bomb meant to take down the entire Comet Observatory in one blow.

"H-how in the...?!" Polari stuttered as he tried to find out how the bomb had dropped into their home. "T-this is one of those Subspace Bombs from that evil army Mario and the others are fighting! I thought that army was done with us! Unbelievable!"

Rosalina snapped out from her shock and waved her wand, now glittering in a cosmic glow. "I shall remove this bomb from here before it causes any damage," she said, twirling her wand and ready to encase the bomb inside a force shield to toss it away from the observatory.

Until a thick, large hand grabbed her neck from the back and held her by her throat. Rosalina yelped at the sudden grip, and she tried to retaliate with her free hand, though the hand with her wand was seized by another hand of the same size, making her drop her wand and stand there defenseless. Polari looked behind and screamed, backing off from their sudden guest; the cause behind the events happening to them right now.

"Princess Rosalina," Ganondorf spoke with a dark grin, "so nice to meet the so-called princess of the galaxy high above the lands!"

"U-u-u-ugh..." Rosalina couldn't turn around to look at her captor. The grip on her throat was steadily increasing by the second to keep her from attacking, though she wanted to attack anyway. Just as she was about to push the Gerudo King back with her force field, Ganondorf's hand got engulfed in spores of darkness that released electricity that coursed through her body, making her scream in pain. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Your cosmic powers are NOTHING compared to one fraction of the Triforce, insolent woman!" Ganondorf said with a laugh. "Babysitting a bunch of whining star children has its own consequences, and it is time for you to pay for that!"

"N-NO!" Polari watched in sheer horror as his dear friend got shocked. Arming himself with courage, Polari rushed helplessly at Ganondorf's face, but the king reacted quickly and tossed Rosalina at him, and the two fell down on the floor. The shock of the attack immobilized the princess so much that she was starting to lose consciousness on top of Polari's flailing body. "M-my dear! P-please get up!" he pleaded her. "Y-you fiend! Why are you doing this to us out of the blue?!"

"The hand's protection of this world has been lifted," Ganondorf explained as he watched the countdown go down the forty-second mark. "He will no doubt put it back on should he recover from his fate. But why should the army wait for that while there is a fitting power source waiting to be taken right here?"

Polari gasped. "Power source?!"

"This observatory!" Ganondorf said, stretching his arms to the sides as he stared at the mysterious glow in the center of the area. "The power of the galaxy is held right here before us. With this potent source in our hands, conquering the rest of the worlds should be a smaller feat to do... And we have to thank the owner for giving this to us without any complaints," he said, bowing down to the downed Rosalina.

The princess managed to stay awake. She listened to his talk that got her panicked so much that she started to breath faster, thinking about the horrible fate her home and the Lumas was about to witness. The Comet Observatory was her only true home, and to see it get taken away from her hands so soon without warning... Her eyes were quick yo swell up in tears when she realized the darkness of the previous attack was keeping her grounded and helpless to use her powers. She was never backed to the corner before, and it truly felt her world was being destroyed. "L-leave!" Rosalina cried to Ganondorf. "P-please, leave! Y-you can't do this to my children!"

Ganondorf chuckled. "Your cries fall to deaf ears. No one can help you right now," he told her. "Soon, in less than half a minute, your humble abode will be consumed by the Subspace...and the army's power will grow exponentially."

"This...c-can't be happening...!" she struggled to say, as fleeting memories of the sleeping children oblivious to the impending chaos played out in her head. "No... No... NO!"

The Gerudo King got sick of her whining that he walked to her side and pulled back his right leg. "Oh. I almost forgot. We do not want a woman like you soiling the Subspace with your tears... FAREWELL!"

A harsh kick to her stomach knocked Rosalina in more ways than one. Other than instantly losing consciousness for good, her limp body was tossed aside into a hole on the floor where there was nothing to stop her imminent fall into the space. She could only make out a blurry image of her home between her closing eyelids, and Polari suddenly flying towards the comet at top speed...

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"...ma...ma... …ma...ma...MA... ...MA...MA...MAMA!"

Rosalina's eyes shot open when she heard the calling of a dozen of colored Lumas all around her. The first thing she saw was a yellow Luma flailing its chubby hands at her, though it started cheering when she woke up. She was quick to grasp the Luma with her hands to pull it into a tight hug. "You're...you're alright..." she sobbed tearfully. "I thought you were gone..." She looked at the circle of Lumas dancing all around her, bringing her a small but very relieved smile. "You're all okay... Thank goodness..." With the Lumas safe from harm, the princess looked around. They were floating in the middle of the space with no stars or planets nearby, with only the company of her children giving her some much needed relaxation.

In front of her, Polari floated down, holding her star wand and her prized telescope given to her by her father. "Oh! You're awake now!" he said with relief in his voice. "That nasty man is going to get it if we ever see him again!"

It all came back to her, and she disliked to think about what she went through. "Polari..."

"It's been like an hour since we got kicked out from the observatory..." Polari said. "Just before the worst could happen, I quickly went to gather the Lumas. I managed to save them all...and your telescope..." He sighed. "I was lucky to retrieve your telescope, by the way! I was THIS close to getting myself caught in that strange black hole explosion. I just know your most prized valuable is this, so-"

Rosalina gasped at the mention of the black hole. "B-black hole?"

Her adviser looked down in shame and pointed up with the wand. "...Brace yourself, Rosalina. This... You have to be strong in mind and heart... Don't lose hope..."

Her throat still sore from the choking attack, Rosalina slowly raised her face, where her azure eyes reflected an abominable sight of darkness where her home used to be. High above them, the Subspace void floated eerily, with its twisting dark shade of colors resurfacing at random spots. Nowhere from the outside of the sphere showed the Comet Observatory in the inside of the ball of unknown darkness. Their home was forever, seemingly gone from existence. With the image burned into her mind, Rosalina couldn't do anything else other than wrap her arms around the single Luma and cover her weeping face on its head. When their mother started sobbing, the Lumas got closer and tried to console her with no results.

Polari looked up at the void and then back at her. "Rosalina... I'm so sorry..." he muttered. "I couldn't do anything to stop that malevolent man from getting away with it..." She continued to sob to herself. "We can't risk going back in there. You saw how that man broke through your defenses using that dubious Triforce power of his! W-we are very lucky to be alive and well!"

"N-no..." he heard her weep. "N-nothing...is going to b-be the same anymore..."

Polari was starting to get increasingly worried. He had never seen his friend get to such emotional distress before. The Comet Observatory truly was her favorite place in the entire galaxy where fond memories of her past with the Lumas would always be there for her to remember. Now that their home was gone, it felt like her achievements were for naught. She felt so sad that she and her friends had no home to return to. "U-uh..." Polari let go of the items he carried to rub his head. "(T-there are no other places we can go to! What else can we do to fix this?! I can't see her crying all the time!)"

During his hasty search for a solution, Polari gasped audibly.

"M-Mario!" Polari said. Rosalina moved her face up when she heard that name. "M-Mario can help us!"

"Mario?" Rosalina sobbed, sniffing a bit. "But... He is not in this universe... He's gone..."

"W-we won't know that unless we go out and find him ourselves!" Polari said. "He's the only one who can help us now! We need to get in touch with him ASAP!"

"..." She lowered her face and sobbed some more.

"...Rosalina, listen to me," Polari began, "do you love your home? Do you want to take it back from that madman? Do you want to keep traveling the galaxy with your children and me?"

"..." She raised her face again and nodded very slowly.

"Then we have to contact Mario...somehow!" Polari said as he handed over her wand while he carried the telescope over his head. "I told you not to lose hope yet, didn't I? We must keep our hopes up, then! Our search will begin in the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Rosalina's odds in finding Mario were very small. The last time she ever saw him was when she retrieved him to help her in the fight against Bowser. Ever since then, she had been busy living her own life away from the people of the planet to raise the Lumas. Though now that her home was gone, she had no choice. Mario was the only one who could help her...somehow... With her adviser Polari leading the way, Rosalina and her Lumas started their long journey in the cosmos to find the plumber. She looked back at the malignant void of darkness floating there on the same place where her home was, a few tears escaping her eyes and floating aimlessly in the immense land of no gravity...

Little did she know that her journey to recover her home would be filled with danger and hardships she would have never imagined...

IMPORTANT

Difficulty settings have been locked on "Hard." Cannot return to "Normal" difficulty.

~ - Preview Theater - ~

Bravely Default – Prelude Moving Toward Hope

"Your foes work for the Subspace Army, correct?" Robin asked, closing his book. "Mind if I ask if you have a tactician working for your group? Such wide range of personalities must have one, don't they?"

"Well, I think our leadership role changes very quickly many times that there's no definite tactician," Roy said.

"Hmm, that sounds a little too risky for my tastes..."

...

"I'm so used to this. It's fine," Marona said. "People look down on me for being a Chroma. They think I'm cursed because of my powers to see the dead."

"But this treatment is heinous to such a young one like you!" Zelda protested. "I cannot let this keep happening to you."

"I appreciate your concern so much! Really, I do. But I know it won't be easy to change their minds... One day...everyone will come to like you."

...

"How much longer will this fight continue?" Chris asked. "I'm at the end of my patience here. Why do I have to keep fighting? It's just...so unfair!"

"I thought you knew from the very beginning what you were getting into," Master Hand said. "There were many consequences in that decision. Did you think most of the time you were going to be able to fool around and enjoy life? This is harsh reality."

"And I thought a long time ago I wasn't going to complain again..."

...

"You want me to come back to you," Ike told Marth. "I'm sorry. I can't just leave my home behind with this war killing hundreds of people. You're on your own."

Marth looked defeated. "Sorry... I knew it was foolish to ask that. I wouldn't leave my home behind if it was participating in a war for peace, either." He looked serious at Marth. "Though now that I'm here, would you mind if we lend you a hand one more like before?"

The mercenary smiled and shook hands with the Altean. "My friend, I'll be honored to fight by your side again."

Marth winced. "T-thanks, but could you lose your grip a little?"

...

"Ooh! Let's see! Where do I begin with this?" she asked gleefully. "Oh yeah, an introduction! Hi! My name's Korrina, very nice to meet you and your crazy tall Lucario!"

Chris smiled sarcastically. "Hi, my name's Chris. Now would you please release my Lucario from that hug and leave this private property for trespassing the fence?" he asked in a fake sweet tone as he looked at Lucario's annoyed expression. "(Hold on for a little longer...)"

"Not anytime soon! There is no way I'm getting to hug such a precious Pokémon like this one very soon! Lemme let it aaaaaaaaall out."

...

"Le Monsieur Turtle Bits, tis be a great times of good commerce, indeed!" Broque said cheerfully. "Moi presence is good for you! Your wallet, zis juicy meat it wants! Your stomach, it squees!"

Bowser grumbled annoyed. "I think you got your meanings backwards!" he complained, his stomach rumbling angrily and ferociously. "But who cares?! Gimme that drumstick!"

"Ah, ah, ah! Zis is not how you do zee arts of buying! Monsieur Turtle Bits, I am sad. Oh, so sad!" He took out a napkin and started blowing his squared nose. "See what have done to moi? I am leaking water from my eyes! Do zis the right way, s'il vous plait!"

...

"Is Little Mac even aware about who he's going to fight for the last match?" Ness asked.

"Son, you're not doing this right, I tell you what," Doc Louis said. "You don't care about who your opponent is. You wait for them to care who they are going to fight! It's the element of surprise that's on our side! They lower their guards when they see their brawny foes entering the ring!"

"...You do realize how that tip could be reversed and used against us," Ness began in a deadpan tone, "and that nobody in this tournament so far has looked intimidated by your somewhat-short contender over there?"

...

"The name is Ringabel, master rose gardener, gentlemanly genius, fabulous fighter, intrepid adventurer, exceptional person in the arts of cooking and painting, and not to mention the only one in this world with the most incredible combed pompadour every lady has fawned over. I'm letting you know, you won't be disappointed with my performance," the man introduced himself cordially to the women side of the team...and then he turned to the masculine side. "Ringabel. Pleasure to meet you and all that. I'm not good at talking to men."

"Oh, geez. I'm so flattered and touched," Roy said offended.

"Good ol' Ringabel," Edea said with a flustered look. "Never a dull moment with women around, no matter if they belong to his world or not. He amazes me with that head of his... Ringabel, stop smirking. That wasn't a compliment."

...

"Wait. Don't come any closer to us!" Kazooie warned.

"Uh, why?" Diddy asked. "I said I'm friends with Banjo, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're buddies with this honey nose over here. But I don't think it's legal for us to be seen together." She frowned. "You're too late. We've jumped ship..."

...

"Hey, Samus. Do we have authorization to make jokes while on the job?" Falco asked.

"No," she simply responded without even batting an eye at him.

"That's bull! I swear your commander needs to loosen up a bit. Here, let me tell you a joke right now."

...

"Is there any way to know if my preview line will be final?" Palutena asked. "As a goddess, I have to say something memorable for people to remember and heavily mutate into an internet meme."

"...What is she talking about?" Nana asked.

"Oh god, please don't think about it too much," Fox said.

"Ah, ah," Palutena chuckled. "You mean, 'oh goddess'."

...

Lucario knelt down to his father. "Father, please, teach me the full extent of my powers. I'm ready to endure any training you have in mind," he said. "I only wish to use it to fight...and protect my trainer from harm. He deserves the best from me..."

"It is that time for you, son," his father said. "...Very well. Though before we start with your training, I believe it is time for you to meet the one person who has granted our family with this power we possess since the dawn of time. He has requested me to pass on this message to you for a big reason you must fulfill..."

"...What?" Lucario looked up. "The source of our power?"

...

"Nya ha!" the smiling dark sorcerer crackled a bit. "Say! Have you seen someone with the name of Morgan around here? My boss's tactician is looking for that little rascal. Morgan's his child, you see."

"Wait, you know who Morgan is?" Chris asked.

"Of course I do! It's hard to forget that girl when she used to move around the camp way too much every day. Imagine how pale our tactician got when he found out she went missing one day without leaving a trace! Hopefully she didn't die a slow painful death!" Henry pinched his chin. "Hee hee. It'd help me a lot if she discovered how to die a painless death... I don't like ouchies." The World Traveler looked sick.

...

"He is a powerful contender whom I tried to seek during my foolish days, during the time I wanted to end the laziness of the inhabitants of Dream Land," Meta Knight said. "I had given up the search to fight him when it led me nowhere... But now, that ancient evil is roaming the worlds, looking for worthy opponents to take down."

Dedede gulped. "A-ancient evil?! Why would ya want to fight an ancient evil?!" he asked.

"Like I said, I was foolish before. I was one of those types of people who sought to become the strongest warriors of the universe. Now, however, my past is trying to catch up to me...and defeat us as we fight against the Subspace Army. I wouldn't advice anyone here to fight that monster alone..."

...

"Come on! Now we gotta fight a multidimensional army on top of fighting the demons overrunning Tokyo?" Atsuro asked. "What's next? Are we fighting angels?"

"I'd recommend you about not tempting fate to do what you don't want it to do, little boy," Wolf said. "I'm saying this because of past experience. You never want to mess with fate."

"Ooh, I'm all for fighting for justice and love against every kind of enemy!" Midori said, the only one of the group cheerful enough to admit excitement from such arrangement.

...

"That reminds me. Where did Chris go?" Olimar asked.

"Oh. Well, the last time I saw him, he was taking out that autograph book of his before saying something about getting Pinocchio's signature," Peach said. "Hmm-hm. It's nice to see him so happy for a change."

Sora grumbled. "An autograph book... I should do the same just to remember every new friend I meet. I'll never know if I'll see 'em again," he mused.

...

Ghirahim teleported and slapped Pit, the angel looking disturbed. "Did you just slap me?" he asked.

"Yes," the Demon Lord said. He slapped Pit again.

"Did you just slap me again?"

"Yes," the Demon Lord said. He slapped Pit again. "Hmm-hmm-hmm! This is rather fun and amusing." He slapped Pit again.

"Pit, would you please move away from him already!" Marth scolded. He got slapped by Ghirahim before he knew it. "Ugh!"

...

The group saw Samus walking out from a corridor. She turned her head to the right to face them. "Oh, there she is," C. Falcon said with a grin. "Hey, Samus! It's us! We came here to check up on Subspace Army business!"

Samus made no gesture other than turning her whole body around and raising her arm cannon at their direction. "...Samus?" Olimar said, his feet starting to shake. "...Why...are you aiming at us?"

There was no response either. She now started to walk very slowly and somewhat menacingly at them all. Her arm cannon started charging energy... "Guys..." Fox started to back off. "...RUN!"

...

"N, b-but...I thought we were friends," Red said.

N chuckled, stretching his arms to the sides. "Oh, Red. We're friends. It's just our truths and ideals differ a lot from each other. I thought I met a kindred soul in you, just like I did with Hilbert and Hilda... But, just using truth can reveal how black your heart is. Shall I add white to that void?"

"Hey! This ain't rocking so good here! Make your bunch of weirdos leave this place quick or I'll rock the poison so hard, your hair with turn white!" Roxie ordered.

...

"The show of the wonderful showing is opening!" Fawful proclaimed. "Fink rats like you who stink like rancid cheese with cherries on top will do with the laughing of my success!"

"What kind of language are you speaking, pal?!" Bowser complained loudly. "I had enough of you for a day! Mr. Henchman X! Go whack that guy and bring him here!"

Mr. Henchman X sighed. "As you wish, your Wonderfulness, kupo..."

...

"Colonel Jade Curtiss, Colonel of the Third Division of the Malkuth military," the formal man introduced himself.

"Oh, wow. A colonel joining our ranks!" Pit said. "This is great! Our group only has lesser mercenaries, bankrupt space mercenaries, random people who don't belong to any kind of army, a mercenary that hates our guts, and other fishy-looking amateurs! Our luck is turning around!"

Jade coughed very loudly all of a sudden. "Hmm, this fatal disease I have prevents me to do so much, I'm afraid. I'm aging so fast I'll become an old man by midnight." He smiled warmly. "I'm sorry. I botched your chance to do incredible things with me. You'll have to let me rest for my only day left in this sinful, cruel world..." There was a huge nagging feeling the otherworldly people felt going off at the same time which told them he wasn't entirely honest with that sick joke.

"...You're kidding, aren't you," Zelda asked, eyes narrowed.

"No, no, no. I've been frail since birth..."

...

"You sick, sick little frog!" Pikachu complained, his face stuck with the strange foamy material. "I ought to...shock you bad for this!"

Froakie snickered. "You're in no position to do that! You have other...facial issues to look into!" He started laughing as he jumped away from the group. "Catch me if you can!"

Pikachu's hands took the mask of foam little by little very quickly until he glared at the spot where the frog once was. "What's his problem?" Pikachu asked. "We were having a nice conversation until he started making fun of me!"

...

"Okay. We're here," Popo said. "Now we have to find Link and make sure he stays alive in this period of time so his legacy isn't shattered apart. Ganondorf is gonna get it!" He clapped his hands once. "So! Where do you guys think we should look?"

"Right over there," Roy said as he pointed at the edge of the floating island, on top of a small bridge where Link stood between the sky and a happy Zelda... "Huh, it was easy to find him, almost kind of anti-climatic. They don't really look all that different no matter what period they hail fro-"

Zelda gleefully pushed Link down to his apparent death, herself showing no remorse as he yelped and got out of sight quickly...

"..." The sheer twist of the scene made half of the group stare into space, until Chris's eyes rolled into his head and fainted on the grassy ground, which made everyone scream their lungs out and rush over all the way to the bridge to rescue the falling man, and perhaps even slay Zelda or at least put her in prison.

...

The door behind his back opened. The World Traveler raised his head from the floor and saw the rather frightened looks of his Pokémon looking at the person looming behind him. "Why are you so scared?" Chris asked, before looking over his shoulder and smiling. "Oh, it's you, Lucario. I don't see why they're...uh..." His smile dropped quickly when he took a good look from head to spiky toe at the extremely intimidating appearance Lucario had taken out of the blue, though the Aura Pokémon was smiling a bit despite the reactions. "...Oh...my...god..." he muttered.

"Chris..." Lucario's voice seemed to distort, making the smaller and friendly-looking Pokémon shiver. "I... I evolved for you..."

...

The World Traveler forced a glare and pointed the tip of his staff at the monster. "T-this...is enough!" he yelled, his team taking their stances. "You'll come back with us and forget about working for the army! All that power going to your head has corrupted you so badly you're not aware of the things you're going to cause to so many innocent people! Swallow your pride and...and stop this nonsense! You're causing so much grief... So please..."

Mega Lucario growled menacingly, tightening his flaring red fists. "I shall never go back to my boring life with the likes of you ever again. This power is just too good to pass up... Rely on humans to activate this amazing transformation? Who made that useless rule?" Chris knew well he was the main target of the Mega Evolution's ire. "If I have to crush you under my feet to keep relishing this form for eternity...then so be it. I don't care! You pathetic weaklings will taste defeat and like it!"

"...Is it a wonder humanity hasn't been dominated by Pokémon yet?" said Sheik, eyes dull.

"Shh. Don't give us ideas," whispered Charizard.

...

"If there is anything I learned from you...is that there are wonderful people waiting to meet you in the worlds," the Ancient Minister said. "I have to go out and see the people who would like to be my friends... Don't close yourself to what you have taught me. Otherwise, how would I be sure I did the right choice? Don't underestimate what you can do for others... You give them so much influence when you help them, just as you did with me. You make a difference alone..."

...

Outside of the previews, Master Hand floated up to greet the reader. "And this is why that final battle with Tabuu should have ended with us victorious, people," he said. "This is the kind of thing I have to look forward to every day at the expense of my subordinates' sanity... Oh well, what else can I do to fix these problems?"

...Ahh, hell.

Before I go, I'm letting you know the overall theme of the next saga is a mystery. Off you go to wait!
*Chapter 218*: Meteor Star Shower

It's the calm before more than twenty storms hit at once...

From GenericPsuedonym: DEAR GOD THAT IS A LARGE LIST. You sure you can do all that? I know that you planned on doing some of them earlier, but I really hope you don't explode from all the work. But enough of that... Let's move on to my favorite part of every story: GUESSING!

-The theme of the saga is about power.
-The confirmed Smash 4 Characters will join.
-Rosalina will be the protagonist for the saga.
-You have no idea how to get Villager and Wii Fit Trainer to join the Smashers. (Let's face it. WFT is too silly and unexpected and Villager comes from a lighthearted game.)
-Charizard and Bowser betray Tabuu and join the team.
-That Froakie will evolve into Greninja.
-Robin will replace Morgan.
-Ancient Minister takes off his clothes... wait. What?

That's it for GP's guessing corner. Keep up the good work!

From me: Oh, I'm sure I can do that. I was unintentionally coming at a blank during the previous saga since last year, but now there's so much to spice things up my passion for writing... And now let me shoot the guessing points that brought my attention.

Nope. Power isn't the theme of the saga. No idea where you got that.

No use hiding that one anymore...or not?

Ooh, so close, but no, she's not the protagonist of the saga. It'll be someone else entirely different who's not affiliated with the Smashers, just like the previous sagas.

Actually, I do have plenty of ideas to integrate those two, and yes, I have finally made something work for the Wii Fit Trainer.

Will they really betray them, though?

Silly boy. Froakie evolves into Frogadier.

I suppose Robin will replace Morgan...or not?

Nope. He still wears them.

That's it for you. Happy reading. :)

From Ckbrothers: Wow cool chapter, 10/10. I see sora's name in there, but is it the sora I know? And..why is ghirahim slapping everyone...odd. Can't wait for the next couple of chapters. I also started playing fire emblem awakening and now I know who Morgan is. Yay! Cool boss fight, glad everything's almost back to normal...but rosalina is in trouble. Anyway, I see luigi has a small moment of glory..for the year of luigi...meh... Hope the next arcs are pretty cool.

From me: If you're talking about that Sora from Squenix, then yes, it's that one.

And it isn't weird for Ghirahim to slap people. If you stay idle in his fights, he'll slap Link.

From v gamer01: HOLY CARP that was a long chapter
But finally now everything is back to normal... or as normal as the smash world continues
Question how do u remember all the arcs your going to do?
And now time for my favorite game guessing and predicting:

So I'm going to assume palutena will now play a big role along with rosaline... she might be the main character in this arc

It seems as though the saga might focus on power and truth so it might be those 2 comb...
Keep up the good work can't wait for you to update...
Question
Will u do arcs on full games even if it is only 1 games in the future
Do u still have trouble with the inclusion of villager and Wii fit trainer if so what can we do to help out
Also will Chris be the mii of this story

From me: I remember all the arcs I want to do by simply going back to the chapters with the previews, though I also add new ones on the go.

Again, no. Palutena isn't the main character of this saga, not arc.

Power and truth aren't the themes of the saga. Like I said before, the theme is utterly hidden away and does not show at all in the previews.

I don't understand your question about arcs for full games...

No, I don't have trouble with the Villager and the Wii Fit Trainer anymore.

The Mii Fighter will appear...though at least not as a real important character. Chris isn't a Mii, for god's sake. Thank you!

From Towerdepths: Then there's Bravely Default, and with that comes Ringabel. Oh, Ringabel... Personally, I'd love it if you found a way to incorporate him into your story. Just think about it! It'd be hysterical if he tried to hit on Samus (Keyword: tried)... Or maybe even Marth. Ringabel IS a philanderer, after all, so it'd be perfect if you want to get a laugh out of people: He'd be perfect if you wanted a comedic character. Just a thought, anyway.
Again, great chapter as usual, and I hope you get the next one out soon!

From me: As much as that idea would be wonderful, I'm under my own rules to keep this story as Nintendo-related as possible. Sorry, but awesome Ringabel can't be a recurring character. :(

From GuyroMaster: Well...
*slow clapping* I must congratulate you on doing such a fine job so far and for keeping me guessing, however was it just me or was that Boss Fight a little easy? Eh...maybe they are just getting more powerful.
You know when the fight against Snake was happening...I kept expecting Mr.G&W's Glitch ability to trigger and do something nuts to that Snake fake. (still waiting to see what it is)

So...we see the beginning of not one, not two, not three, but four Newcomers getting thrown into the mix sooner than we may think, but the question of how much a time span before these events happen will be up to the imagination.

Also...I see that rather subtle hint you give for the next story Arc. "the overall theme of the next saga is a mystery"
Is it possible...that we may be seeing something along the lines of a Professor Layton Mystery arc?
I guess we'll find out soon enough.
Well that's all then. Keep up the good work!

One last question and this is just a 'I wanted ask'. Do you have a Newcomer you hope to see in the new Smash Bros game? ...or maybe yours has already been revealed?
Mine was Pacman. I'm really glad he's in so...now we just wait to see what else Sakurai pulls.

Well cya!
GuyroMaster

From me: That boss fight was meant to be easy. It wasn't meant to be so much harder than it was because that special Subspace Bomb held a mystery to it. Though what that mystery is will be revealed soon enough in a future chapter...which is the next one. Mr. G&W's Glitch ability didn't trigger in this fight, but I wouldn't say his ability is all that hot... It'll freak you out when it does trigger.

Oh ho ho, no. Professor Layton has nothing to do with the theme of the arc. Don't take the word "mystery" out of proportions.

I'm pretty neutral about newcomers in Smash Bros, actually. I only care about if the characters will be good to use against any other character, which of course Brawl had to ruin. (I didn't play competitively, but there were too many Meta Knights and Snakes...)

From a mysterious guest who didn't make an account here: Seems like you're putting some more Nintendo arcs in there. Some of which seem to relate to Smash 4 characters. I'm interested to see where this goes. Especially Rosalina's arc.

From me: Rosalina has no arc. That's what I can tell you.

From somebody: WHY MUST YOU TEASE? My heart can't take this. I think I might die from waiting too long.

From me: What can I say? I'm evil. :-(

From NowhereStarr14: Good luck trying to keep up with this with school comin' round the bend. I've got a YouTube channel startin' up, and trying to edit 10 minute long videos AND keep up with school? ECCK, gonna' be tough.

But, you're making chapters that usually take 2-3 days to finish.

Um, guess I can't say too much about my troubles...

SO ANYWAY! Keep goin', hope school doesn't put you into THAT big of a rut. And...

...yeah. That's all I got.

From me: I'll need that good luck for sure. This next half of this year is going to be a tad tougher than the first half, but I expect to do well in the writing part. I have too much time in my hands... Oh, and editing videos for my Youtube channel isn't really all that time consuming. It takes like a minute to prepare a video.

From BobTheCat240501: Oh wow there's so many things to digest here and things to look forward to. Like the previews of the future and relationship of Lucario and Chris. I enjoyed the smash trial and the final fight with the fake smashers. In the smash trial, is it just me or that the smasher breakdowns are kinda similar to the Ace attorney breakdown. Peach is sort of like a combination of Juniper woods and dahlia hawthorn. Snake is definitely based on Myriam Scuttlebutt. Mewtwo's breakdown is sort of like Alita tiala.

Anyway some problems I have with this chapter is the final boss and the reunion. I enjoyed the final boss but it was kinda underwhelming. I was hoping for some more bosses like zelda and link. It was kinda of a missed opportunity. Also the reunion was kinda weird. I mean the the former dead smashers and the un-fake smashers was unrealistic. I mean dead people just came back. Shouldn't you be celebrating or crying with happiness instead of going to bed. I mean Master hand doesn't look like he cares. If your doing something I think your doing to master hand, then my fanfic is going to be ruined. Lol. Talk about ruining, as much I love LucarioxChris. I think Chris is sort of ruining his relationship with everyone else. Chris's impression of Lucario is Gary Sue. I thinks he's not like appreciating the with him.
Anyway, so I while I was reading the previews of the future, I noticed that some newcomers weren't mentioned. I hope you do something creative with the villager and the Wii fit trainer.

Anyway, enough with my babbling. I look forward to ur next chapter. :)

From me: I think it was just you with those breakdowns. I never meant to make them similar to Ace Attorney characters.

The final battle of this arc wasn't meant to be really long. I wanted to do away with the long struggle by making a surprisingly short one, though its main role has been fulfilled as you saw in that stinger.

Oh, trust me when I say I thought about a celebration party after the end of the battle, but it just didn't seem well to put that because of how utterly confusing everything was. And to boot, everyone was very tired because of the seed exerting too much energy out of them at the last part. You could say that this chapter and the next one are meant to have them celebrate their current success.

Chris's relationship with Lucario was meant to be like you're assuming. Those two haven't reached their peak yet, and that point is going to be heavily addressed in this new saga... Unlike with Lucario, Chris has managed to form a perfect bond with someone else already. It's obvious who that person is, and he's going to be rewarded handsomely for his effort.

Your message kind of got cut off with a missing word...

Not all of the newcomers were mentioned. I meant to do that.

Welcome to the newest chapter...of two meant to introduce you to the newest saga...which is not going to be spoken of in this chapter but the next one.

The fourth saga has ended the previous chapter. I think it is time to start setting things up for what's to come in this big saga. There are many more surprises and, should I say, plot twists that will leave people...CRAVING for more. That's my evil corporate strategy, you see.

But this is going to be a slow but careful introduction. Please do enjoy what's to come.

I encourage the stargazers to read on, enjoy, and think about filling out that sweet review box at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: Pikachu is well on his road to...sell more merchandise at your local Japanese Pokémon Center. Get your plushies today!

Chapter 218: Meteor Star Shower

~ Somewhere in space... ~

August 2 - Sunday - Morning

In retrospect, this was probably a very bad idea to do. His idea to fight that monster should have needed more preparations. He should have fled the planet when he had the chance, though his stubbornness was costing him his dear life. There was no going back to confront the monster. This was it for him and he was paying the ultimate price for his stubbornness...

Alarms screamed with red lights flashing constantly and rapidly all around him. His ship had suffered so much damage from an accursed monster that its parts started to tear off one by one, disappearing in the endless ocean know to many as the space. To his great shock, the source of the ship's power started to fall down so low that it was a matter of time before it would turn into a large comet of fire for a planet to grab with its gravity. Keeping a steady grip on the steering wheel, the little alien piloting the ship made a quick scan for any nearby planets...

There was one such planet that was close to him, but he wasn't so sure he would be conscious by the time he reached the planet's atmosphere. However, if there was just a very small chance to survive the demise of his ship, it was better than nothing, he figured. Just as he slowly moved his blowing ship to the planet's direction, a large explosion knocking him out could... As he drifted into unconsciousness, he recalled the words of an old acquaintance of his...

"If you ever find yourself in trouble...why don't you look for my friend? You know the one, right? He helped me so much that one time when I was powerless..."

"..." The alien passed out as his ship tore into pieces that scattered across the big galaxy...

~ Smash Mansion ~

Chris's Room

The first one to wake up in the sunny morning was Chris, though he shut his eyes right afterward. He was very doubtful that things went back to normal, so he decided to do a small checklist in his head to confirm everything was alright with the world...

Firstly, he made sure he had a baby Riolu sleeping in his arms... He looked down and spotted the baby blissfully sleeping with a small smile on his face. The soft pillow was a wonder to his little head. So far, everything was good until that point.

Secondly, he made sure the scary behemoth behind his back hadn't approached him during his sleep to do anything scandalous with his lips... Looking behind, he just noticed Lucario's large right hand grasping his left shoulder just as he remembered from last night. The Lucario was soundly asleep to recover his energies from being so tired all day yesterday due to that battle where his brainwashed self did everything he could to stop his enemies from defeating him, but his eventual demise came from Chris himself... Forgetting about that traumatizing scene, Chris confirmed his doubts on that matter and felt much better knowing Lucario was alright...

…

Though then again, it was around that little time where he lowered his guard down for a moment and...stuff happened... And he was apparently right, because the Lucario yawned loudly and started speaking out of nowhere.

"See how big I got, Chris?" Lucario sleep-talked. "Look at my biceps... They're bulging out mountains of pure raw muscle... I'd like to see who's going to challenge the top percent Lucario now... Heh heh heh heh heh..." The sleeping Lucario went as far as to grin; an action he very hardly did when he was awake.

"..." Chris smiled duly as he looked up at the ceiling. "(Okay... That's really him, alright. Dreams where he fantasizes about being muscular... That's kind of really concerning, but...at least it's a good sign...)" He thanked the heavens his true Lucario was back by his side. He just couldn't handle the awkwardness of the last one because it happened way too often. He was much better around a little bit of awkwardness instead... But it got annoying after Lucario kept sleep-talking about his apparent six-pack, and the teen wasn't certain if an Aura Pokémon's anatomy was roughly the same as a human. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

"No, don't!"

Paranoid of that squeaking voice, Chris turned his head to the right quickly and spotted Pikachu, Pichu, and Jigglypuff all standing on a vertical line facing his bed. While the two yellow characters were certainly okay, he wasn't so sure with Jigglypuff. "...Wh-what are you all doing here?!" Chris whispered so he wouldn't wake up Riolu. Lucario kept sleep-talking about his thick neck and V-shaped back.

"We're just unwinding here," Pikachu whispered, a devious look in his face. "I missed coming over here with Pichu to hear the big guy talk in his sleep. It's where our main source of blackmail comes from."

Pichu snickered. "It feels so nice to get blackmail material out of him again!" he whispered.

"I don't mind listening to him go on and on (for different reasons, ooooohhh!)" Jigglypuff whispered, though she looked like she was swooning...

The teen just noticed the door of his room was slightly open. "(These three are masters at sneaking around without making a sound... Why do I keep leaving that door unlocked?)" Although Chris missed dealing with such problems, it wasn't a reason to get straight into them first thing in the morning. "S-so sorry, but I'm not having you three make fun of him. We need to rest here!"

That scolding talk got Pichu depressed. "W-well, it was Pikachu's fault! He wanted to do this with me a-and I couldn't refuse! I missed him!" he whispered.

"T-that's touching and all, but do something else other than eavesdropping on Lucario!" Chris stuttered, feeling like the villain of the prank. He turned his face to Lucario and started budging him with a free hand, which was harder than it was because the Aura Pokémon was too heavy to move easily. "Wake up, you! Pikachu is at it again!"

"Feeling sweaty...from working...out?" Lucario's eyes opened up, quickly looking at his trainer's face. "...Oh, good morning, Chris," he greeted before yawning slowly and trying hard to cover the murderous fangs in his mouth. "I was...having a nice dream..."

"Which Pikachu was going to use to tease you – again – at every chance he could get," Chris finished.

"..." Lucario sat up from his side of the bed and spotted the trio of small Pokémon flashing innocent smiles his way, making him narrow his eyes. "Exactly what kind of blackmail were you three trying to use against me?" he asked.

Pikachu's twitching smile gave up. "...Run away!" he told his squad. The three Pokémon didn't feel threatened one bit because they scampered off out of the room, trying hard to contain their little laughs from breaking out wildly. Once they left the room, Pikachu closed the door behind his back and ran away with the others.

Lucario sighed with a frown. "I can't believe those three..." he trailed off, rubbing his head.

Still lying down next to the sleeping Riolu, Chris said, "Some people are quick to recover from very bad experiences... I wish I could do that."

The Aura Pokémon rested his head back on his pillow and looked back at his trainer. "Chris..." There was a big hint of concern in his voice even more so than his worried expression said.

"I-I'll be okay," Chris said. "I don't need to see something so violent in a while to feel fine...but with you around, I can go around and have a normal life, I think... I need you more than ever, Lucario. I've seen so many horrifying things since the past few days that I can't simply forget... They're going to be there for a long while until I'm able to get past it, so..." He shook a bit. "...So yes... I learned a valuable lesson when that happened..."

"What was that lesson?" Lucario asked, though he had a good idea what that was.

"I need to have you close to me in every second of my life in this universe outside of this mansion," Chris said. "...Or at least someone who's willing to keep me company who's able to protect me at all times from nasty surprises."

"I...see..." Lucario recalled when he got so mad during the time he learned about his trainer's kidnapping. He beat himself so much that he thought it was his fault it even happened. All the battles in the past should have made it obvious that the worlds of the video games were places full of peril, besides displaying such wonderful places Chris wanted to see. To think his trainer had perished so many times... On the other hand, Lucario wasn't going to complain about an idea like that. He would get to stay alert more than ever, and from those moments, he would feel so proud and strong being appreciated every time he would defend his trainer from harm. "...In that case, I'm willing to do it for you, Chris," he said with a smile. "This is going to be very good for the both of us."

The trainer chuckled, his aura getting a little brighter with positive emotional energy Lucario felt. "I knew you weren't going to complain about it... But...there's something else I want to make clear here."

Lucario looked confused. "Uh, what?"

"I still want to try to enjoy my time in the worlds... I refuse to let this trauma in me try to scare me from doing a lot of things," Chris said. "There are so many things I can do besides just getting pulled into battle, you know? Doing other stuff with others – with you of course – will help me a lot to feel happy and have fun. You remember that it's my personal hobby to go have fun, right?"

Lucario nodded with a small chuckle. "It's those times when I can enjoy life the most," he said.

"Yes, so... You understand what I'm saying here... To prove my point, we have this baby Riolu right here."

The baby Riolu was heard yawning a cute sound, stretching his little arms to the sides and slowly opening up his eyes. Blinking dozily, he looked around and spotted Chris looking at him, which made him immediately try to wake up to beam with glee and wag his tail quickly. "Ri!" he said, translating to, "Yay!" as he cuddled up to his trainer's face.

"Oh my god...he's so adorable in the morning!" Chris squeaked gleefully, letting the baby cuddle his cheek against his while Lucario watched on amused, sensing how strong Chris's aura got so strong with an overwhelming emotion of joy mixed with happiness. "I want to roll around in the grass with him in my arms all day! I don't care if I roll into spiny roses!"

That fact scared Lucario from his amused look. Maybe it was too soon to think his trainer had recovered from his traumatic experiences... "U-uh, Chris, focus, please," Lucario said. "I know you like that baby Riolu to death, b-but please don't say things like that..."

It took Chris three seconds to snap out of his sunny look. "O-oh, right, s-sorry," he apologized. "I just lost it when he started cuddling up at me... Wait, did he stop?" He noticed the Riolu was starting to shake in fear when he saw Lucario staring back at him. The shaking of his little body was so bad that he curled up into a ball and leaned close to Chris.

"He's extremely scared of me, Chris..." Lucario said, feeling very hurt. "He can't bear to see me in the face... Just how much did I scare him while I was brainwashed?"

"It was...horrible... It makes me not want to think about it," the teen said, rubbing the baby's back with care. "When you were brainwashed, you kept trying to push him away from me, screaming loudly a few times which he dislikes too much, and not to mention when your body mutated with that seed and...he came out from his hiding spot looking for me, where he saw you and then...you growled his way and...I-I just couldn't watch Riolu frozen with fear. It's like he didn't want to cry at all! You were about to kill him when you saw him coming out running for me... At the end of that, I snapped and defeated that thing controlling you... If I didn't have that Over Limit ready..."

"Stop," Lucario interrupted as soon as he felt another wave of sadness washing over his trainer's aura. "It's in the past, which is trying to make my life a living hell having Riolu like this..." Looking worried at the shaking baby, he sighed. "...I don't know how I'm going to fix this issue with him like this, Chris. I have to admit that I look a little too...intimidating. Sometimes I wish I could take these spikes off..." He looked at his wrist and chest spikes. "Why do I even have a spike on my chest, anyway? It doesn't do anything other than keeping me from hugging you frontally...and I'm not thinking about ever hugging an enemy to death with it. It's not just my thing."

"W-well, that's not the point behind Riolu's fright, and I sure do not want you to gain more unneeded spikes anytime soon in unlikely places," Chris said concerned. "The problem here is that Riolu doesn't want to see you because of what happened. I...I think you'll just have to wait until he's sure you've changed and you're not dangerous... Remember that he's a baby, for one." He felt the baby push his forehead against his chin to get his attention. "Maybe you should try to make him open up to you...somehow, like...doing what he likes to do the most."

Lucario frowned. "He doesn't want me to touch him. That's out of the question for now," he said. "What have you done with him, other than just touching him?"

"Um... I've been feeding him..." Chris recalled. "...Oh, and I guess he has some sort of fascination to...bananas."

"...Bananas?" the Aura Pokémon said, somewhat lost on that fact.

"I-I don't know. I did notice he wanted to eat bananas more than anything else I've fed him with," Chris noted. "He probably got over eating bananas because he has liked every simple food I've given to him...but maybe that could be your starting point?"

Lucario resigned himself to do just that, only because he really wanted to have a young Riolu look up to him and have fun together with his trainer without barriers keeping everyone off from each other. "Anything to get him to like me," Lucario said.

"Maybe we should start by making you lose that glare stuck in your face," Chris suggested. "Really, crimson eyes with a glare on them isn't very baby-friendly..."

"...Sorry. I can't change this expression other than looking sad."

"Your mom and any other female Lucario have better looks, but you males needed to look so tough all the time... No, that's not a compliment."

The Aura Pokémon looked away from his trainer, until he noticed there was an extra Pokémon inside the room, resting on top of a pillow. "Chris, who is that?" he asked as he stared at Snivy.

Chris turned to the sleeping Grass-type. "Oh... That's Snivy," he said. "She found us while we got back here. I heard from Pichu she likes to explore the outside world, especially us... She's been sticking with me to stay safe from being captured by other trainers... In other words, she's kind of using me to enjoy herself."

Lucario grunted at that idea. "And you're letting her take advantage of you?" he asked.

"Well... When you put it that way... I-I can't really say no to her. She hasn't done anything bad to me," Chris said. "B-besides, she's a new Pokémon. I think I kind of...like her..."

"...You do?" Lucario stared incredulously. "Forgive me for asking, but why? Is it because she's a new Pokémon?"

Chris rubbed his chin in thought. "I think I just like how she looks," he said. "She has this smug look to her that looks...charming, somehow. I'm on the fence of having her in that dream team I want to have, but I'm respecting her decision not to be captured by trainers... She really dislikes the idea of being trapped in a ball."

Lucario had learned from Chris that his trainer wanted to capture Pokémon he liked. Considering how many bad things his trainer went through for the last past few days and how he said a moment ago he wanted to enjoy the worlds to the fullest... "...Wait, that dream team, Chris," Lucario began. "Why don't you start looking for the Pokémon you want to have?"

"...Wait, what?" Chris stared blankly.

"You told me before you wanted to catch Pokémon... Well, why don't you try doing that when you can?" he suggested. "Having Pokémon around you should make you happy, won't it?"

The teen considered the idea as he stared at Snivy. "I...I don't know if I can do that," he said. "I have this rule in my head that says I don't want to keep them in Poké Balls. And if I do that, I'll have to look after them."

"It shouldn't be hard for you," Lucario said confidently. "Look at me, Chris. I can do so many things no other Lucario does. I think you can pull it off."

"...I did teach you how to make breakfast," the World Traveler said with a smile. "Some of them won't get to do that, but... I think I should give it a chance. Technically, I already have a Riolu and a Snivy. I'm going to do this very slowly first, though. It's not like all the Pokémon I want are going to appear at the same time... And...if I do get to see a wild one...I'll do what Red did the other time when he caught that Pidove: no violence and using words to convince them." He grasped Lucario's right hand. "I'm not going to toss you against them. You'll kill them on the spot..."

The Aura Pokémon groaned slightly. "I can try to be gentle..."

"Even that's not enough. You punched that tree so hard the other day it went sailing across the air...into the mountains in the distance! You did it gently the next time, and it was enough to push a half off...into the mountains again! I call you into a battle and you will kill someone by accident with a single punch to the face..." Recalling those events in his head and comparing them when Lucario fought against other enemies in missions, Chris was surprised he didn't notice the massive difference in power. "(Dear god, Master Hand was really weakening his powers during all those missions. How come we never noticed that until now? Well, as long as he doesn't find out before Master Hand tells him...)"

"I-I'll try to make my attacks weaker than they are in case you're forced to defend yourself from a small threat, then... Hmm, that could be a nice training regimen I could do in my free time," Lucario considered. "(...Wait... There is something strange when I compare my strength outside of the missions...)"

Riolu barked all of a sudden at Chris. The teen saw the baby holding his stomach excitedly. "Oh! Time for you to eat? Let's do that after we take a shower first." When he tried to stand up away from the bed, Riolu felt endangered being close to the large Lucario that he barked at Chris to get him away from the apparent monster. "Okay, okay! I'm grabbing you!" He grabbed the Riolu, noticing the downcast look on his sad Lucario. The bawling coming from the baby awoke Snivy from her sleep. "This is probably going to be a lot harder than we thought..."

"He really wants to be with you just so he stays away from me," Lucario said. "...But I'll do everything I can to get him to like me. I don't want that little event when I spoke with him to be the only good memory we had together." Seeing his trainer nod, Chris left for the bathroom, leaving the Aura Pokémon behind on the bed.

"Hey, big guy."

Lucario's ears perked up slightly when he heard the Snivy calling out to him from her resting position. She was using their language to speak. "Oh, uh, good morning to you," Lucario said in audible, ineligible growls for human ears. "You must be...Snivy, right?"

Snivy nodded. "Yes, that's right," she said, looking doubtful about the big guy. "Am I supposed to believe you and everyone else in this crazy mansion are back to normal? Honestly, I don't believe people can get brainwashed. I've never seen something like that happen in my home."

"Uh, yes, I can't sense negative energy with my aura," Lucario told her. "Everything is at peace right now."

"Huh... Aura, you say," Snivy said, sounding skeptical. "I didn't see you trying to plant your lips on that human boy during the night again. You weren't making ridiculous body motions either... Maybe I should believe you and see where this takes me."

For being a small Pokémon he could crush, that Snivy sounded too serious and intimidating. "...Why do you want to follow us?" he asked. "Chris told me it was because you wanted to explore the world or something like that. It sounds like you're using him to do what you want."

"And that makes you angry," she said.

"Well, a bit, because I don't like people taking advantage of him," Lucario said seriously. "But then he said you haven't done anything bad to him... Is it possible you like him?" That question was meant to be used as a lethal weapon for the Aura Pokémon. He was ready to dwell in the Snivy's mind to look for real answers behind her own spoken words. It was rude, but it was all for the good of his beloved trainer.

With that question said, the Grass-type looked a bit flustered. "L-like him? I-I don't like him," she said. "J-just because I walk close to him doesn't mean I like him... He accepted my deal to use him as a fake trainer to keep others from capturing me in the open. I couldn't have turned that deal down! I like to explore human residences the most... (Ugh! He's the second guy who's asked me that question! I need to make it look like I don't like him without looking like a jerk... N-not that I like him and that's why I don't want to hurt his feelings!)" she thought inside her embarrassed look, though she never knew Lucario had caught that thought cloud. However, he managed to spot a lot more when he saw her aura burst with a positive emotion.

"(Her aura showed a bit of happiness when she thought that...)" Lucario thought. "(Pressing that button again is going to make her snap at me, most likely.) Oh, I see... Well, just be warned that I'll keep him safe from any shenanigans you'll try to pull."

Snivy rolled her eyes. "I'm not one of those prankster types. I'm a very dignified young girl," she boasted. "More dignified than you were two days ago, anyway. Seriously? Kissing a human of the same gender? We don't go that far!"

That bit of info was something Chris didn't tell Lucario, probably because it was so embarrassing to mention. Reading the mental pictures of Snivy's aura, Lucario was horrified when he saw himself giving a very bad French kiss to Chris during his sleep where he subsequently got kicked out of the room with a literal kick to his rear. It was all true... "I-I was brainwashed when that happened!" Lucario shot back, his cheeks reddening. "That's all I can say about the matter!"

"Hmm, I don't care much, frankly," Snivy commented. "Staying here in this place is bound to give me so much fun! ...If not outright frighten me. Hee hee! Either way, I'll enjoy myself playing the part of being a human trainer's...Pokémon, as they like to call us." She truly thought Lucario was an oddball because of what happened yesterday. It hurt the Aura Pokémon so much to know someone knew him as an insane person he didn't remember, which dashed his dignity to the ground mercilessly. That normal meeting with Snivy told him that he was going to make sure to set things right with the people who saw him behave so oddly.

Kitchen

Master Hand had done a very good job at tidying up the parts of the mansion that didn't belong to a single Smasher, because when Chris noticed, the entire main lobby was cleaned from the long circle of stands and the chaos that ensued from the Centurions. Speaking of the Centurions, Master Hand screamed when he found dozens of them lying dead on the floor, and them being angels painted a nasty picture with so many bad implications about his house. He wanted to send a formal but loud complaint to Palutena, until he had found a note on the floor with her royal handwriting which read, "Please kick every Centurion corpse outside the lobby. I'll come pick them up in the morning. Thank you! :D". At first, he thought it was a joke because he didn't remember the goddess being like that, but the sight of the corpses was unsettling him so much that he kicked them out into the field outside. Even now, the mountain of corpses wasn't removed yet...

After having taking showers, Chris's small group of Pokémon made their way to the kitchen to have breakfast, where they spotted about a dozen of Smashers going on with their normal lives, and one good look at some of them cleared the teen's doubts...though he had to ask why nearly everyone looked so embarrassed. Everything got clearer when he saw Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur gathered with Zelda, Sonic, Falco, DK, Diddy, Toon Link, Lucas, Ness, and Pit...all staring at a small video camera screen playing loudly in the rest of the deserted area of the kitchen. Exchanging curious glances, Chris and Lucario joined them right in the middle of the long table, where their eyes got locked into the screen displaying the faux reunion party of two days ago.

"I cannot believe this... I feel so dirty and violated! I-I'm a dignified princess, not some cheap...slut!" Zelda complained indignantly, watching herself kissing Link and trading saliva without ever stopping to catch a breath. "I-I...I-I have to... U-ugh!" Disgusted by the scene, she ditched everyone by running away to her room, covering her heavily violated mouth. She utterly ignored looking at Link coming out from the way she went, where he then spotted everyone gathered around the video feed. In short, he joined them, saw the video on the part where he and Zelda played with their tongues, blushed madly and felt sick in the stomach, and then made a beeline for his room's bathroom without saying much of a word. No one wanted to laugh at them because there was so much wrong to see in the video where they all were seen doing unorthodox activities...

The reactions from the Smashers were about to get worse as the video kept going on. "U-uh, good morning, you guys," Chris said, staring at the way Link and Zelda disappeared to in a hurry. "Where did you get this video camera?"

Squirtle, standing on top of the table, looked at him. "I had this with me when I came into," he said. "I gave it to Red and he found out there was a long video reel in it, and... W-well, we saw what it had and we had to tell everyone about it!"

The video played the part where DK and Diddy surrounded a terrified Chris holding a banana. The teen gasped. He didn't notice he got filmed when that scene happened, though his gasps meant nothing to the Kong family bulging their eyes out in shock as they saw themselves chasing after a single banana and breaking into a fight that escalated quickly in the background. To boot, the banana was lost in their little fight. "Wh-what sort of monster did I become?!" Diddy asked, hands grasping his hat.

DK was ready to apologize to Chris with a big hug, until the teen stopped him with a hand just because he was holding a baby that didn't want to see the two of them for a while. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know that happened!" DK apologized profusely. "I never get that crazy about bananas! Please, don't think about me that way! I'm a sweet guy inside this brawny body; a sweet guy who likes sharing bananas with others!" He started weeping loudly after that.

"U-uh, yes, it's fine! I know you're not like that! Please, stop crying!" Chris pleaded. Seeing as DK kept weeping under his large hands, he focused on the rest.

Sonic looked away when he saw himself eating stew at a very alarming speed he wouldn't dare try doing for himself. "Ugh... So not cool..." he muttered, only to see his brainwashed body walk out very slowly towards the hallway. Not even after a whole minute did his body step farther than five feet away from the chair, which made his right eyebrow twitch. "What kind of sick joke is that? I'm super slow in that video! You know how that goes against my principles? I need to keep an image here, hello?!"

"(...)" Chris stared long at Sonic for a long while, but not because of his complaints about his image. "(That's odd... I thought knocking that seed out of his head would make his voice go back to normal... Why does he still sound so different?)"

"Wow. We were pretty out of it for days," Pit said, scratching his head as he watched his brainwashed self grab his head with both hands and scream loudly at Mr. G&W about the voices in his head. It got so bad that, during one moment the angel looked away from the flat character, Mr. G&W took his chance to slip away from the kitchen just to stay away from him. "Lady Palutena would've had several field days if she knew any of this happened. She likes to watch people...uh...suffer? No, that's not the word. She likes to watch people make fools outta themselves...me especially..." He chuckled awkwardly. "She's probably watching this from her realm and recording our reactions right about now. Is this gonna be the 195th video of her series or the 218th one? There's gonna be a lot of bloopers for sure."

"(...His voice sounds different too!)" Chris noticed. "(And...what kind of comment was that? Normally, he's a little more reserved and less prone to making indirect jokes... 218th? I don't even...)"

Red half-closed his right eye in disbelief as he watched himself inspecting drawers and picking up random utensils, and sometimes he would also inspect the same objects he had already inspected for no reason. The icing on the cake was whenever he raised that Helix Fossil above his head, as if waiting for something extraordinary to happen. Moreover, the young trainer wouldn't say a word at all. "That's not even the time to do all that..." he muttered, covering his embarrassed expression.

The video screen showed Ivysaur waving his Shaymin cross around his trainer to exorcise whatever evil spirit was controlling his actions, though Ivysaur also considered he was possessed as well. That dance he did around his trainer's legs was horrible and degrading. "I'm the laughingstock of my kind...and I never noticed that!" Ivysaur wept.

The camera then went on to focus on the other side of the table where Lucario spotted himself smiling widely at his awkward-looking trainer watching the other people acting out of it. The screen then moved to the left where Falco watched himself give a flying kiss towards Fox, the latter who was seen walking away with a big grimace on his face and never noticing the kiss meant for his lips. "What...the...hell?!" Falco said, his face gradually turning redder under his blue feathers. "I... What was I...?! GOD DAMMIT, I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!" he complained, looking away from the video.

Lucas couldn't bear to watch seeing his crazy self latching onto Ness's right shoulder, while his "beloved one" only remained sitting there, staring into space with a dull look, and eating his stew in peace. Ness was obviously perturbed under that uninterested look, but he just lived with it because he knew the real Lucas would never go that far. "O-oh, I'm so very sorry, Ness!" Lucas apologized without looking at the dismayed Ness. "I-I would never such a thing to you!"

Ness sighed. "I know, Lucas, I know. I know nobody would act like that. There's no need to apologize for something you weren't aware of," he said.

"Y-yeah, b-but! But it happened anyway! I feel responsible for that! ...E-even if it wasn't my intention to deprive you from your personal space!" Lucas was blushing under his hands.

The video then focused on Toon Link, though there were no pigs in there. He was, however, seen wearing farm clothes during the party, complete with a strand of straw hanging on his lips. Unlike the rest of the others, the young swordsman looked depressed. He made no comment, mostly because he had already found out about what he was doing yesterday. The intercom of the mansion beeped into existence, making everyone raise their heads to listen to Master Hand's announcement. Red meanwhile turned the video camera off.

"Good morning, my loyal Smashers," Master Hand called out to everyone within the mansion. "As you may know, so many strange events happened for the past few days without our consent. But thanks to our little rescue party who managed to pull us out from total insanity, the mansion has gone back to normal. You guys have my eternal thanks for that! Who knows what else could've happened if everything kept going like that for the rest of our unlucky lives? Lady Luck is still married to us."

That announcement had might as well confirmed that life in the Smash Mansion truly went back to normality. It brought a brief but strong flash of joyful aura into Chris that Lucario picked up quickly.

"Anyway! I can't say how proud I am for your valiant efforts... But unfortunately, that doesn't mean we have defeated Tabuu yet. He keeps existing, much to our collective dismay... So, on to other things! Firstly, I made a thorough check throughout the mansion. I screamed my middle finger out when I got to see the abrupt, massive changes done to so many rooms during our 'absence', so I used my magic to fix all of those. The backyard has been freed from all the pigs and the stinky mud, and our pork supply has mysteriously increased almost immediately for unknown reasons. Heh heh heh... Oops, I shouldn't have chuckled out loud. I expect our lives to have more pork in them."

Truth to be told, there was a third big fridge in the kitchen that hadn't been there before. Inside said fridge was a massive amount of mass of pork meat ready to be cooked at anytime. "Why did he have to do that?" Toon Link was heard sighing. "One of my dreams was to have my own pig farm, but he had to massacre every single one of them with his weird hand magic... It's true what they say: it's too good to be true." He ignored the odd stares everyone gave him, as he buried his face on his resting arms on the table.

"I also had a heart attack when I discovered our beloved command room wrecked into pieces!" Master Hand continued. "Since I thought having that special room on the first floor where anybody could get to, including robbers, sounded a little impractical for my tastes, I decided to move that room to the center of the fifth floor. Now many of you must report there whenever we have a new mission to take... Oh, and there's something else about the room itself. I've changed it so it looks more like a meeting place. At the end of this announcement, I want all of you to report there before noon. We must settle a few crucial things I learned overnight..."

"I knew this wasn't the end of our problems with the army..." Ivysaur trailed off.

"Lastly, due to the current state of affairs, I have decided to take some...very, very drastic measures about our current workforce... I can't say much about this somewhat controversial bit of info in the intercom. You will have to wait until we have our little meeting at the new command room."

That piece of info caused a few gasps among the group in the kitchen. "W-what does he mean drastic measures with our current workforce?" Lucas asked.

"Oh my god. HE'S GONNA KICK PEOPLE OUT FOR NOT BEING USEFUL!" Diddy panicked, which caused many murmurs among them to fly off at once.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Diddy! I'm not kicking anyone out! It's suicide to drop people out now that the army knows very well whom they're fighting against!" So many sighs were had. "So yeah! That's all I can say for the news of the day. I expect every single Smasher to come together to the command room in the center of the fifth floor today. Anyone else who just happened to hear this and isn't a Smasher...STAY AWAY! No, seriously. Don't bother asking about the weird stuff you just heard. It's extremely dangerous for you to get so involved in our personal matters... By the way, Morgan, you're allowed to come to the command room. You're the only exception."

"Yay!" Morgan was heard saying over the intercom.

"Morgan, stay back. It's rude to interrupt the announcement," the Ancient Minister called out.

"Please have a moment to rest until you're called, you people," Master Hand said. "Report to the destination at 12 o clock. That's it for this announcement! See you later!" The intercom turned off afterward.

Falco groaned. "Not a single moment to rest when that army is still outside, huh?" he said. "This sucks."

"Oh, stop complaining about it. It's what we get into for agreeing to participate in these tourneys to prove who's the strongest personality in the universes," Ness said. "...Okay, maybe we didn't know this could happen, but what can you do about it? What's done is done."

"I'm not as mellow as you!" Diddy complained. "This is big stuff we can't get out of!"

"And I don't think there's any use complaining now..." Chris muttered, whom they heard clearly. "But... Well... It's fine, you know? We have each other to do this. It's much better than doing things solo. I feel much better knowing we're not alone in this big fight against them. It's what I relearned the most during the past few days I was gone from here." The little statement made them feel a little better, exchanging small smiles. "Frankly, I'd lose it if I was alone without anyone helping me. I still haven't recovered from those awful events I went through."

Red shrugged. "I know what you mean. I saw how uneasy you were during the video even when Lucario was with you... Er, I mean, that brainwashed Lucario who kept being so out of character," he said. "It's nice to know we're not alone, though. It's people like you who rescued us from that strange incident, so..."

"Yeah," Falco said nodding. "Fox and you sort of saved me from being a fabulous gay man."

"Uh, Falco, no offense, but you knocked yourself out with Wolf when you were brainwashed. None of us had much to do with that..." Ness pointed out.

"...Well, who cares? I didn't get to face with that gray mutt a whole bunch of idiots!" the avian said. "It all worked out. That's what matters right now! That Subspace Bomb blowing up on our faces just made me more alert about what can happen to us at the drop of a hat! I'm ready to act quickly next time something like that happens again!" he boasted.

Riolu's please for food forced Chris to walk away from the conversation, dragging Lucario with them. "Okay, so, what are you going to do if a bomb blows up again?" Toon Link asked.

"Duh. I'll scream my head off and run away before it gets me," Falco responded wisely, to which everyone around him rolled their eyes. "What? You think I know how to stop a blowing bomb from sucking us in? I'm just an Arwing pro, not a quantum physics graduate! The best solution for when that happens is just run away! You guys would do the same. Admit it!"

"Quantum physics don't have anything to do with Subspace Bombs... I think..." Lucas muttered. "B-but, it's all good now, right? It's back to doing missions the same way, just like before."

"The same way with those villains," DK said. "...Hey, yeah! There are villains in our group now! Wario, that Dededededede guy, and that killer!"

"That was three 'De's too many, DK, but..." Diddy rubbed his chin in thought. "Chris said we could trust ROB...again. You think we should really follow his gut feeling this time?"

Ness raised his hand. "I'm a victim of his murderous actions, and I learned from experience he can be trusted for real this time unlike before," he said. "Really, he was being manipulated by Tabuu all this time, you guys. He was being selfish about doing everything by himself until Chris somehow got through him when he got kidnapped. I saw how much he changed when we met up with him."

Toon Link grimaced at him. "You think he really changed?" he asked.

"Keep asking me that and my answer is gonna be the same," Ness said. "Oh. One more thing I should mention... Harm the robot and you get the fire from that dangerous person over there." He pointed at Chris trying to hold Riolu back from leaning forward too much to grab a banana. They saw Lucario grabbing it and trying to hand it over to Riolu, but just the fact the scary Aura Pokémon had the fruit with him made the baby start to weep and beg him to drop it. Lucario then hung his head down in defeat, while Chris retrieved the fruit from his hand, peeled its skin, and showed it to the baby, who had no intention to decline an offer from him as he took the banana with both hands and started eating it happily. Though his trainer had avoided a crisis, it didn't make Lucario feel much better knowing the baby was scared of him. "...He and ROB became close friends, and he won't let you hurt him in any way."

"Will he? Chris went insane during that fight yesterday when that little baby creature was about to get a fist on the face," Falco recalled. "Is he gonna snap out so violently like that again?"

"He'll probably just try to tell you how much you suck rather than skinning you alive. The baby is completely off-limits in comparison..." Ness said. "...That's just me, though. You don't want to cross him after he made up his mind about ROB. Me? I still have some doubts left in me until I can call that robot my friend, but...he deserves a second chance at redeeming himself. Don't quote me on that." The others looked unsure about allowing the robot to be a part of them.

Ivysaur grumbled. "Oh well... I'll trust the guy for now. But if he does something outright nasty, I'm Vine Whipping his metallic base," he said.

"You dork. He's clearly a Steel-type. He'll resist your feeble Grass-type blows!" Squirtle said.

"It's times like this I wish I was a Venasaur... Red, get to work on that!" Red was still tired from having to understand everything that happened. He just sighed and made a mental note about that. "...WOW WOW WOW! Stop everything!" Ivysaur called out enthusiastically, his face reddening quickly as he gazed away from the group.

"I-Ivysaur, what's wrong with you?" Red asked, until the Grass-type used a shaking vine to point away towards a particular green snake inspecting a door to investigate the many human tools in a kitchen. "...Uh, wait, is that a Pokémon?"

Snivy suddenly felt a dozen of eyes burning her back. Curiously, she looked to the big group staring back at her, though she didn't react surprised. She was very wary about the one young human who clearly looked like a Pokémon Trainer. She had no more time to ponder what to do when that strange Ivysaur approached her with a blushing face. "...Uh... Hello," Snivy greeted without mustering a smile.

"H-hello," Ivysaur stuttered. "U-uh... S-so... Y-you got a lot of nice curves in your body..." He giggled until he gasped and shook his head vigorously. "N-no, don't take that the wrong way! I-I'm just complimenting your assets! E-er, let me introduce myself! I'm Ivysaur! W-what's your name?"

Snivy wasn't oblivious. The weird Ivysaur had clearly fallen in love with her, but unfortunately she didn't reciprocate the same feelings. "Snivy, just Snivy," she said with a somewhat dull look. "I don't have a stupid nickname like some humans put on the likes of us."

"Oh! We have something in common! Because my name isn't made up!" Ivysaur said proudly, sticking his chest out. "..." Snivy was just about to walk away when the other Grass-type didn't do anything else other than having his chest out.

"...Is that all you wanted to say?" Snivy asked.

"What? No! No-no," Ivysaur said awkwardly. "I-I've been meaning to ask you if w-we c-could s-s-s-spend t-t-time t-t-together..."

"..."

The others behind Ivysaur exchanged glances. "Somebody found his sweetheart. What a dummy," Squirtle muttered.

"I don't remember that Pokémon being here before, you guys," Toon Link said. "Is it yours, Red?"

"No, it's not mine," Red said, taking his Poké Dex and trying to register Snivy's appearance into it. However, he came to a dead end when his device couldn't manage to even get a clear picture of the Grass Snake Pokémon. The screen read UNKNOWN CREATURE in big letters. "Wow... It's a new Pokémon... And now I need a new update for this thing."

Chris and his little team returned from the other side of the table and noticed everyone looking at Snivy and Ivysaur. "Um, if someone asked already, that Snivy is sort of mine," he said. "Red, please don't toss a Poké Ball at her. She doesn't have one and is not going to like being captured in one bit."

"Oh, I see... Wait, what? She's following you?" Red asked.

"She's using me to learn about household stuff like this mansion..." he said in a dull tone. "I'm her excuse for others not to chuck a ball to her face. I don't really mind her much, though. I think I sort of like that attitude. Maybe I'll try to convince her to be part of my team one day..." He noticed everyone gave him bored looks. "...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Chris, even I can tell that sounds like an abusive relationship," Diddy said.

"A-abusive relationship? How can that be an abusive relationship?"

"You're the abused, she's the abuser, and you don't mind she takes advantage of you... It does kind of sound an abusive relationship," Toon Link said. "If I were you, I'd lay down some rules on her before she gets too comfortable."

Chris looked back at Snivy trying to tell Ivysaur to leave her alone in a subtle way. "...I'll see what I can do about that later. I really don't have the patience to deal with her seriously," he said that as he saw his happy baby happily munching his banana down his mouth. "If it gets pretty serious later on, I'll tell her... Does Ivysaur have a crush on her? I can literally see the hearts in his eyes... And now Snivy is grinning mischievously... This isn't going to end well for him..."

"You know what? You're really not the one who's going to be in an abusive relationship," Squirtle mused. "I'm gonna watch this till the very end!"

"You're one messed up blue turtle," Falco commented.

Command Room

The little break everyone had before noon went by too fast once they got to the new command room in the center of the fifth floor. However, they didn't get to enter the new room, because there was a set of double doors with no windows to see through. There was also a big crowd of Smashers waiting for the doors to open, and some had already tried to push/pull them open with no success. All in all, every member of the Smasher team was there (save for the people Master Hand got to talk to), without exhibiting any outlandish behavior that would crush their dignity to bits. Chris, however, went over to Fox. "Good morning... What's going on here? Can't we enter the new room?" he asked.

Fox smiled at the teen. "Oh, good mornin'," he greeted first before turning to the closed doors. "Yeah. That's the problem right now. I wonder why he hasn't opened the way yet. I've been here since twenty minutes ago."

"Oh! Maybe this is a surprise!" Olimar said. "It wouldn't be fair if someone got to see the new look of the command room before everyone else did!"

"The wait is killing me here! I wanna know a bunch of stuff to catch up with!" Sonic complained, tapping his right foot impatiently. He had no right to say that, because he had just appeared a minute ago. "When do we get to show that Tabuu guy another lesson?"

"Relax, would you?" Samus asked, inside her Varia Suit and not ready to show her Zero Suit to the world after Squirtle was kind enough to show her the...unspeakable actions she did the day prior. "Let us enjoy the little time we have before you're all trusted into battle again."

"Excuse me, but waiting outside the room isn't the kind of relaxation I can enjoy. At least give me a glass of wine," C. Falcon said, thankfully fully clothed on his upper body. "...Hey, Samus, did I hear you saying you're not gonna participate in missions with that 'you' part? Was I hearing things?"

Samus looked away from some dozen of eyes looking her way. "..." She didn't say a word after that. She had unexpectedly caught the attention of everyone standing within hearing range.

"Samus? Is something wrong?" Peach asked.

"...Nothing you should be worried about," Samus muttered. "...The doors are opening."

Indeed, the doors behind their backs started to open by themselves to reveal the surprise hidden behind them; a large room which did not resemble the same command room they knew before. The new look of the command room was enough to warrant so many different reactions coming from everybody who would become regulars to it.

"Wow. This is a pretty nice change of pace," Roy commented.

"Hmm-hm. I can't deny the rustic feel it has now," Marth commented.

"Oh yes. It does look like one of the rural places back home," Link commented.

"While I could've accepted a more royalty-like setting, I suppose a setting like this is passable enough," Zelda commented.

"Eh. I don't mind myself. But look! Actual tables! I can bring food in, I think!" Sonic commented with a grin.

"I have to admit, the previous command room was a little too cramped up with all of us standing around those computers," Popo said. "This new look is pretty good!"

"It's amazing! Now we can sit around and enjoy ourselves much better! ...Not that we should enjoy listening to serious topics," Peach commented.

"Eugh," Fox muttered. "Really? Are you...kidding me?"

"This better be a bad joke, 'cause I'm not gonna enjoy this new room too much," Wolf commented with a snarl.

"It's like we stepped back in time! What the hell, man!" C. Falcon complained.

"I could probably get used to it. It somewhat reminds me of my upbringing..." Samus trailed off in thought.

"That's sweet and all, but, yuck! Nothing can beat the modern look of the future I come from!" Falco said.

"Uh, really now? I don't know what to say. He should've tried to make it look a little more modern," Red said.

"Leave it to the hand to use his skewed interior decorating skills to screw it up," Snake muttered.

"Thinking back, the old command room was a little too hi-tech. This room, on the other hand, looks much better and inviting," Mario commented.

"You people should relish what you have rather than complain about small details you hardly got to use," Mewtwo voiced out.

"I knew people were gonna complain about the change. But me? I didn't enjoy the old command room either," Yoshi said.

"Yes. This looks less intimidating and much less complicated," Diddy said. "...I-I'm not intimidated by computers or technology! D-don't get the wrong idea!"

"Phew! All those computers gave me bad eyesight just staring at them. This is much better to me!" Olimar said with relief.

"No comment here, just as long as I can enjoy it," Lucario said.

"Typical. You didn't care much about gadgets and technology... Me neither, so there's that. Ha!" Pikachu said.

"Like others have said, this looks more welcoming and inviting. I'm not so surprised some people reacted strongly against this," Meta Knight said.

"I love this! I can probably hold a mini-concert in there! But I know I won't get to do that even if I did it anyway..." Jigglypuff sighed.

Master Hand, annoyed, floated out from the room. "Okay, okay. I get that not everyone is pleased with the new look. But I don't care! I'm the boss so the final word comes from me! Now get your ungodly souls in here to start the meeting!" he said.

"I was just about to say something important here!" Pit said with an indignant look people hardly got to see coming from him. "You can't stop our long round of comments! Let me say my thoughts first!"

"(What the heck happened to his voice?)" Master Hand thought. "If it will make you enter...say it."

"Okay. So, I think this room looks old. I mean, what's up with this? There should be glowing mirrors of light shining and probably blinding your eyes if you stare long enough at 'em. I thought you were better than this, but tables and chairs made out of rocks? Couldn't you have made this look like something between the future and the past and not just make it look ancient? If Lady Palutena was here, she would try to sue you before you even got to ask how you could be sued for doing this. Heck, I wanna sue you for this, even! I'm gonna pretend you hired an amateur to handle this entire project you didn't bother to ask us about." Pit crossed his arms, his new attitude becoming well-known to the rest of the Smashers who honestly thought something was incredibly wrong with his head. "What do you have to say about that?"

"...You really want know what I think, Pit?" the hand asked, bottling up his anger from the heavy criticism very well. Pit nodded. "I think THIS!" He slapped the angel into the room and turned quickly to the rest of the Smashers. "You guys, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold myself from burying someone under my fist... Does anybody else have anything relevant to say?" So many hasty disagreements were had. "Good! Now, with all due respect, enter..." He showed them the way to the new command room...

A good reason about why some said the room looked old was because of the prevalence that the dark cream rock had with the overall theme. There was a wide rock staircase of four levels running between three rows containing a set of six rock tables with a very flat surface – three on each side of each row – with a circle of red cushioned, fine flat wood broken into three portions for each table to allow at least groups of six people to sit around a table. The fourth level had far more space than one level because of the large rectangle step facing the staircase. To each side of said rectangles were doors leading to bathrooms for both genders, each gender occupying a corner with males to the left and females to the right. Between the rectangle step and the men's bathroom, a counter where Crazy Hand was seen floating from behind was spotted. Just like the ceiling with long electric lights, the walls were white, holding square portraits with each insignia belonging to a particular group of Smashers using a variety of colors that most befitted each emblem, such as red for the Mario group or bright gold for the Zelda group. The floor everywhere was so finely flat that it looked like it wasn't even rock but tiled dark cream rock.

"Welcome to the new command room, now with 100% less computers nobody used much anyway!" Master Hand announced. "Don't be shy to pick a spot. You're free to take a table and mingle with fellow fighters. Enjoy the much more sophisticated atmosphere!"

"Dibs on the front tables for the most wonderful people in the group: us children!" Nana called out, until everyone started chattering as they dispersed around the large room to pick their desired spots. After a whole minute of scrambling around, everyone had picked their spots, most of them choosing to sit together with people from their worlds or with friends outside of them. With everyone rounded up, Master Hand floated to the small stage to the front of the crowd.

"So, once again, thank you for coming to our new command room. Heh heh heh, it doesn't look that much like one, does it?" Master Hand asked. "Maybe we relied too much in technology back there. The only stuff we need to pull this off is the virtual projector above me. See that black device stuck on the ceiling? It'll activate whenever a world is in danger, which right now makes it clear things are quiet out there... Eerily quiet, I should say. Regardless of that, first, I want to congratulate our rescue party from doing the rescuing when we were all the victims of that awful Subspace Bomb... A round of applause, everyone!" An applause with some whistles were had, making the previously small team of returning Smashers feel embarrassed, proud, or happy for their efforts. "In this humble mansion, we like to give credit where it is due. You deserve all the credit for making it this far... Not to mention you brought back people we thought were long lost! It goes on to prove so many miracles of magnificent levels can happen..."

"If you truly can say everyone came back, that is," Marth spoke, sitting together with Roy, Link, Zelda, and Pit on the middle table of the lower left side.

"Eh? What do you mean?" the hand asked.

"He means Ike," Roy pointed out. "And Soren... Those two aren't around and they became victims of our enemies. We were the first ones to notice they were gone..."

Sitting on the opposite side with Lucas, Popo, Nana, Toon Link, and Squirtle, Ness said, "Ike and Soren came with us to the mansion. But...during their stay, they left without telling us anything face-to-face." The new fact caused small whispers and voices to fly about, especially coming from the table full of swordsmen. Master Hand, for his part, remained silent as he seemed to focus his mind on something else...

"They just left?" Link asked with mild shock. "How come they just left? Didn't they see what was happening to us for the past few days? I thought Ike would do something to help us out of that problem..."

Right behind them and above a step level, sitting with Lucario, Chris, the baby Riolu, and Falco, Fox said, "Trust me when I say Ike could have stuck around to help us, but that Soren guy convinced him to ditch us."

"Soren convinced Ike to leave us behind?" Zelda said, mildly surprised. "Why did he do that? It was obvious nothing was the same when you arrived!"

"Soren couldn't have cared less about what was happening to us..." Chris spoke with a worried look. "He outright hated us from the very beginning. When he was killed in the Subspace, he ended up finding us in the Reapers' Game." It was kind of too much to even mention the Reapers' Game to the lucky people who didn't get to experience that challenging task. There were many confused looks when he noticed.

"The Reapers' Game? Oh, there's a term I haven't heard in a while," Mario said, sitting with Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, DK, and Diddy on the top level just above them. Chris, Ness, Fox, and Pichu all exchanged mortified glances between each other from the rather long distances between their tables. "If you ended up there, that must mean Chris also..."

That concerning flash of fright in the teen's aura made Lucario blink. "Y-yes, let's just say that was a challenge we had to overcome together before we got here," Chris said. "B-but back with Ike and Soren... Soren convinced him to leave us. The two even wrote a letter about their departure without even telling us in our faces. Ike's side sounded understandable, but Soren's side..."

"He outright said he wanted us to leave them alone and never give Ike our work on his shoulders," Fox said indignantly. "Looks like bringing his dear best friend back from the dead wasn't enough to change his insufferable opinion about us. But at least we know Ike is safe and alive."

Marth frowned. "Knowing he's alive is certainly good news, but it's a shame we didn't get to see him in person... At least...I feel much better he's back out there," he said.

"(Sometimes, I wish I had made robots instead of kidnapping the first twelve years ago...)" Master Hand thought with a grumbling sound. "And they just left, just like that. Soren must have remembered the way where he came from to go back to their world... In fact, I checked and sure enough, I saw them reuniting with their friends. I didn't contact him directly because it wouldn't look right to pull him back with that sister of his weeping and hugging him... Oh, wouldn't you know? Talking about them just led me to the main conversation I wanted to start."

"Why is it talking about them related to our meeting?" Peach asked. "Are you... Are you planning to bring them back?"

"Not now. Ike made a big mistake leaving us because..." Master Hand sighed. "...His world is being monitored by Tabuu's minions from the shadows." That unsettling piece of news caused many of them to start talking with each other about it. "Okay, you guys. You can come out from the bathrooms. The meeting started," the hand said aloud. From the men bathroom, the Ancient Minister, Dedede, Wario, and Morgan came out and walked to the center of the lowest floor to take the stage. Although the last character was clearly not supposed to be inside the wrong bathroom, she didn't mind much. Morgan was a stranger to gender-separated bathrooms. "Hearing their stories all day yesterday revealed quite a lot of news about Tabuu, but I feel I should explain first and foremost about the situation we're in... So, firstly, I want to address a HUGE problem we have on our hands."

Lucas gulped. "Wh-what kind of big problem is that? A-are we in extreme danger?" he asked.

"I'd say kind of," Master Hand said. "As you might remember, Tabuu can't target worlds where his army has been defeated and knocked out by you guys all because of yours truly. Every time you defeated the army, I used my magic to put an impenetrable barrier that kept the army away from ever invading the same worlds twice."

Sitting on the far right table by himself, Snake said, "How much good that did when they dropped that bomb into this freaking house and destroyed whatever security barrier you had."

"Unfortunately, that bomb they dropped on you was specifically made to bypass the barrier of this world and the mansion's," the Ancient Minister said, noticing their stern looks directed at him but also noticing the concerned look in Chris's face... "Before you ask me, they didn't let me in about that certain bomb. I thought it was the same bomb I was making rather than that one..."

"W-wait, hold on there," Nana interrupted. "You only made two bombs? Why weren't there more bombs to use?"

"All this time, I've been slowing down the Subspace Bomb production behind the scenes without Tabuu ever knowing. If you don't believe me, why do you think we haven't used the bombs in a very long while?" That fact made everyone exchange whispers of doubts. "It was all because of me. If Tabuu ever got to deploy and blow up a bomb, his reach would extend and his power would grow exponentially. It would've been a big problem to you...us...if I hadn't intervened. Unfortunately, now there's nobody in his side willing to stop his machinations...which means..." he looked down, "...my people will continue sacrificing themselves over nothing...unless I can stop them with your help..."

"...You were working for us while disguising as the enemy?" Popo asked.

"I... I had no intention to help you after that final battle ended up with disastrous results. After that, I was selfish, thinking that I could put a complete stop to Tabuu," the minister said. "It was until Chris decided to convince me to join your cause... He turned my thinking around..." He saw everyone looking over at Chris, making him blush a bit. "...Tabuu was already planning to destroy me the same day I kidnapped Chris because he caught on to my personal agenda to cripple him massively... My plans were foiled that same day. I tried to withdraw all of my people using Meta Knight's Halberd. However, on the way back to the mansion, we were forced to deal with many more problems... One, Meta Ridley showed up and tried to take us down with the ship."

"Ridley..." muttered Samus, ignoring C. Falcon, Olimar, two Red Pikmin, and Meta Knight sitting on the same table with her to the right of the swordsmen table.

"Two, Duon emerged from the ship and tried to kill us, where he failed but managed to destroy the Halberd as a last ditch effort before he exploded." He turned to Meta Knight. "...I wasted time apologizing to you when we got here and that bomb made everyone insane. So...please, forgive us. We tried to protect your ship from harm, but..."

"...It's fine," Meta Knight said, not emoting at all. "The Halberd always had the misfortune of being destroyed after some while. It's a curse I can't seem to dispel no matter how hard I try... Though, naturally, that just means I have to destroy the Subspace Army and take Tabuu down if I don't want them to mess with my weaponry ever again."

"...I wasn't expecting you to be so understanding," the minister said, sounding a bit thankful that no violence or harsh words were used against his case. "...Thank you."

"You had no direct influence in robbing me of my ship, if you haven't remembered yet. There is absolutely no need for you to feel guilty," the knight said, confusing the minister. Meta Knight's gaze then changed targets to Dedede, who started sweating and gulping. "King Dedede, however... That is another person I have some business to attend with, because as I remember, he stole my ship twice already and has received no comeuppance for it because there was no moment of rest while I focused on the war effort. The last time he stole my ship was when he smacked me out himself."

"Meep," Dedede yelped. He saw his life flash before his eyes as Meta Knight kept staring at his shrugging body. He only managed to hit the knight because he had appeared out of a portal that caught Meta Knight off-guard. Nobody in the room wanted to get in their little problem.

"...Dedede," Meta Knight began, his right hand resting on Galaxia's handle. Samus, Olimar, the two Red Pikmin, and C. Falcon noticed the move and were smart to scuttle away from him. "I'll give you exactly a whole minute for you to explain why you had to deprive me of my ship without even asking me about your plans. Unless you want me to keep thinking of you as a massive fool who deserves no right to live, you better convince me to think differently of you before I am forced to take drastic measures..."

The atmosphere got super heavy so quickly with that threat, scaring a good half of the Smashers. "(H-he isn't thinking about killing him, is he?!)" Luigi thought alarmed, covering his eyes by pulling his cap down.

Dedede made no move. His wide open eyes started shedding rivers of tears, pleading for even Kirby to stop Meta Knight from doing a nasty number on him. "You have lost ten seconds staring into space," Meta Knight informed calmly. "Perhaps you don't mind me thinking of you as pure scum?"

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Dedede broke out crying and falling forward on his stubby stomach, his whole face obscured by his hat. "I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The rest of that whole minute was wasted with the king crying so loudly. He truly feared the knight's intimidating skills at fighting and also feared for his life to get sliced into bits by that sharp sword. Eventually, when that minute passed, C. Falcon turned to the knight and asked, "Are you accepting his loud apology?"

"...Just as I thought, while his intentions to cripple the army were good, he can't be bothered to explain his actions to get to his own ends," Meta Knight said. "It's exactly this reason why most of the Dream Land populace hates his guts and decide to ignore him. It's not my place to waste my time with fools like him. If he wants to live in fear of me, then so be it. That is a fitting punishment he shall experience for the rest of his life."

"U-uh... T-that's a bit too harsh..." Olimar said.

"Though..." the knight stared down at the weeping king, "...I shall give him time to come up with a good apology. He clearly is not in the mood to say what he really wants to say."

Too fed up with the king's crying, Master Hand tapped his back. "Dedede, stop crying and go take a seat," he said. "While you're living in this mansion, it's prohibited for Meta Knight or anyone else to severely harm you, unless it's your doing. You're expected to work for missions from now on to make up for the little crimes you committed against us...and that includes Wario and the Ancient Minister. Now stand up and relax. Wario, Morgan, you two can go have a seat too." The king stopped crying and got up, where a Waddle Dee jumped out from his right sleeve and handed him a napkin. As he blew his nose loudly, Dedede walked with his little retainer in tow to the right table next to Kirby's table. Wario went over to take a seat with Mario's group while the peppy Morgan felt right at home sitting with the swordsmen and Zelda. "Okay, that's kind of settled... Ancient Minister, continue with your tale."

"Uh, yes..." the minister said once the attention was back on him. "With the Halberd destroyed, we were lucky enough to hitch an unlikely ride back home, and that was when we found out nearly everybody here was brainwashed for days since the kidnapping took place. Master Hand was taken into that strange seed we destroyed, which kept his influence from reaching out to us."

Master Hand took the turn to spearhead the conversation. "And because of that, my absence... It caused the worldly barriers to disappear...which Tabuu took advantage of."

Dozens of gasps were heard going off at once. "You mean the protection on all the worlds we previously visited were taken down while you were out?" Pikachu asked, sitting on the left table with Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur (keeping a reluctant Snivy close to his side), Jigglypuff, and Pichu next to the young Smashers.

"For five whole days..." the hand added, adding to their shock. "...and they took advantage of that, because they have sent spies to some of those worlds. With those spies there, I can't put up a barrier. They serve as direct links to Tabuu himself to use as portals! It'd be like a cellphone trapped inside a bubble! It doesn't matter if the bubble reappears as long as that small link is still inside of it!"

Mewtwo sat alone on the left corner of the row of tables with crossed arms over his chest. "Exactly what worlds were invaded by these forces?" he asked with a serious look.

"Well... His forces weren't plentiful. I can sense from afar Subspace matter in those enemies, though he only deployed a few just to secure links for him to use at a later date," Master Hand explained. "He has sent spies to Mario's, Link's, Red's, Fox's, Samus's, and Kirby's worlds...along some others we have already visited...and then some more we have yet to visit. He has procured an entrance to many of those worlds which he will no doubt invade when he's ready."

"T-this is awful!" Peach said, looking very disturbed. "Was all the work we did before for nothing?"

"Not really... I only see all that work as delaying Tabuu's total domination of the worlds," the hand said. "But...we did kind of suffer a big hit already..."

Silence quickly fell when he said that. "W-what did we suffer?" Squirtle asked. "Y-you mean back when we were crazy?"

"No, that's not it. During that time when we were out, they did something horrendous," Master Hand said. "...Tabuu and his army... They managed to sneak a Subspace Bomb under our noses...and it blew up."

"...A Subspace Bomb blew up somewhere else?" said Zelda, her eyes wide with shock and fearing her world was the target. "What world was affected?"

"...Mario's world."

The Mario crew gasped in unison with Luigi standing up on his trembling legs. "N-no! N-not our world!" he shouted. "W-w-w-w-w-what place d-d-did they target?! W-was it all of it?! P-p-please, oh please don't tell me they blew up our house or one of Peach's castles!"

Master Hand didn't say more as he snapped his fingers and made the hologram device above him come to life, displaying the frightening image of a dark void floating eerily in the middle of the space. "Oh, no way..." Link muttered. "They took out a whole planet?"

"No, it's not a whole planet," the Ancient Minister said. "It's the same size Subspace Bombs make when the expanding process hits its peak. What you see right now is a Subspace void in a random part of the space. It doesn't seem it took something important, however... Thinking logically about this event...why would the army target a random spot in the long expanse of the galaxy in Mario's universe?" he asked them. "Is there something of importance that can only be found there that they didn't decide to blow up a bomb in Mario's planet or in some other world?"

"U-um, not that I can remember..." Luigi stuttered, looking at his group trying to find the right answer. "A-are you sure the army was after something in the space?"

"I'm only asking the logical questions. The army wouldn't waste time trying to blow up a bomb in somewhere random of no importance," the minister said. "They had a good chance at blowing that bomb in the middle of a city, but they didn't. They chose a small part of the space instead, but why do that in the first place?"

Mario was heard gasping when he only thought about one logical place that the army could have attacked. "M-Mario?" Peach said. "D-do you know something?"

"...I think... I think they targeted the Comet Observatory," Mario said, looking concerned about the observatory's owner's welfare.

"The Comet Observatory?" Peach repeated, a little lost on that place until she recalled and grieved that she did so. "N-no! Y-you can't mean...?! But that is Rosalina's home!" As soon as that was spoken out loud, the other Smashers started to panic, talking with each other about the dire implication.

Most of them recalled the time when they worked for the galactic princess that one time. Rosalina's observatory was not only a simple base of operations, though. It was also but mainly a very extravagant home for many young stars; the Lumas. "Rosalina's home has been sucked into the Subspace? A-are we sure that's what happened?" Chris asked.

"That's the only place I can think that's very important in the space," Mario said, looking ill. "It's a very grave implication, but..." He felt guilty that he couldn't help his friend.

Seeing as no one wanted to say anything rather than worries about Rosalina's welfare, the Ancient Minister continued the conversation. "...Now that makes more sense if we relate that sudden spike in power," he said.

"Spike in power? What spike in power?"

Master Hand moved forward. "The Ancient Minister explained to me that Tabuu is doing more than we think... It's better off if he explains the rest," he said.

"What I'm trying to say here is that Tabuu has been on the lookout for adequate power sources to absorb," the minister said. "Do you remember all those times when he partnered up with unlikely sources like the revived Smithy Gang and Dr. Eggman? He was trying to use them all to get to their power sources once everything was gathered. With the Smithy Gang, he tried to force the power out of the Star Spirits, but he failed not only because you intervened, but rather because the Star Spirits were sentient beings who refused strongly his absorption process that he focused on taking you down with his new army. That failed miserably, other than destroying the city... Then we have the incident with Dark Gaia, where he once again tried to use Dr. Eggman to get Dark Gaia under control for Tabuu to absorb. Unfortunately for Tabuu, he overestimated the usefulness from that man and thus bailed out at the last moment when Dark Gaia was starting to run rampant."

"Pfft, he was so desperate if he wanted to get Egg-face to help him," Sonic snidely remarked, sitting with Mr. G&W on the left table from Chris's table.

"After those two plans failed to do any good to the army, Tabuu then heard my plan to kidnap Chris which...I'm very sorry about..." the minister continued, looking at his human friend's worried look. "The plan was for extracting the knowledge of the worlds out of him while everyone else in this mansion was to be trapped in the Subspace forever. My personal plan was to cripple Tabuu's army by making an escape plan with my people using the Halberd without him ever getting a chance to rob Chris from his knowledge and taking Mr. G&W out of the factory to prevent Tabuu from using him as a portal for the Shadow Bugs to pass through. Though, in the end, that didn't work out on most areas because they caught on with my plan, and they had made a second Subspace Bomb behind my back... That second Subspace Bomb was used on you, while the first one, the one that was incapable of making such absurd changes to your personalities, was used on Rosalina's home instead while the events of the other bomb kept playing out to keep Master Hand away from protecting the worlds."

"Holy... They were one step ahead of you," Mr. G&W said.

"Wait, hold on. Mr. G&W is a portal for Shadow Bugs? I thought he was a source to make them," Pikachu said.

"No. The Shadow Bugs and Tabuu are one and the same. Mr. G&W turned out to be a fitting portal to bring the bugs outside the Subspace. Although we rescued him, I found out too late that the army had a clone of him in case he was to die or escape... As for the fact about the bugs and Tabuu, anything that is made out of the Shadow Bugs can be used as Tabuu's own eyes. Therefore, the likes of Duon and Galleom can report to him without him having to wait for someone to enter the Subspace and inform him. Because there was Subspace matter in this mansion for days, it's possible that the brainwashed people had a direct link with Tabuu...so he knows the team is back and ready to strike back."

Lucas gulped. "Is there something else?" he asked. "That's too much to take in..."

"There's more," the minister said. "Master Hand has put barriers on the worlds that the army couldn't manage to get to when he noticed yesterday, but we were too late regardless now that Tabuu has acquired a power source..."

"The pixel guy got a power source? How do you know?" Snake asked.

"Master Hand knows why."

Master Hand shuddered. "The minister revealed to me about something catastrophic that's been staring at us the whole time since he appeared," he said. "...You know that people end up in this world through sheer luck, right? Well, I just found out that's not really the case as we thought... To the people who were here during the first two tourneys, do you ever remember seeing said people getting here randomly?"

"...No," Nana said as she shook her head. "If I remember, you put up special portals in our worlds to get people here. Weren't you doing that now?"

"Nope. Tabuu's appearance delayed the third tourney," the hand said. "...His appearance alone is the cause of this as well. The barriers between the worlds are breaking down, which is causing people to wind up here."

Falco grunted at the next piece of news as everyone started chattering. "What? Just because he exists people can suddenly end up in this world?" he asked. "But wait, what's the deal? It's not that problematic, is it? They know how to go back to their worlds if they retrace their steps, don't they?"

"Well, right now, things are tame and quiet," the minister said. "However, I know fully well about this because Tabuu himself told me about it long before the final battle. He told me his existence has shattered the barriers separating all the worlds from this specific one, as this world is right smack dab in the center of all of them. Master Hand created this world and put it right there, most likely because his tourney has to be at the ideal spot where broadcasting it would be much easier to do."

"Don't blame me for that! I didn't know Tabuu even existed!" the hand interjected.

"You people are probably asking yourselves why Tabuu has such influence on the barriers..." the minister trailed off. "...That is simple...but at the same time very discomforting. What I'm about to say is going to shake your very thoughts to the core regarding Tabuu himself. I was planning to relay this information after my thoughts were changed during that escape plan..."

There was a long beat of silence that lasted for ten seconds. Said discomfort was building up very quickly as they each exchanged blank looks containing fright. "...What is that?" Mewtwo asked. "What is this secret?"

The Ancient Minister frowned to the ground until he looked up and said, "Tabuu, the enemy you have been fighting for as long as you can remember, is in fact...a living virus. A literal, living virus given form who uses Subspace Bombs to extend his reach and corrupt every world so that he may shape them as he sees fit within his domain. His ultimate goal? Total world conquest so he reforms everything into a single world where all of the aspects separating your worlds can coexist together in harmony, or so he thinks. It is no different than gaining complete control of all the aspects of life itself and mix them up for catastrophic results..."

Utter silence fell and crushed their composed looks, as if said silence weakened the ceiling above them to come crash down and bury them faces frozen, they waited for the minister to reveal more.

"You know right away how extremely insane this plan of his is, correct?" the minister asked. "By combining every world, every special feature that accompanies them is going to coexist with other features that by no other means should be even together. Imagine the dire implications: the people from Chris's world being forced to live with extraordinary beings, futuristic citizens having to live in ancient settings, Pokémon and every other fact surrounding them tossed to people who have no clue what they are or why they don't look like normal animals, items and other materials from all corners causing confusion among scientists, billions of people thrown in total panic to get used to such an envisioned society... The list goes on. What Master Hand created with this planet is what Tabuu aims to do in a universally larger scale where he will be the indisputable god of every living being. No one will be safe."

The likes of Ness felt so sick that they might have as well have tried to die on their seats. Clutching his stomach, the psychic boy said, "W-we've been fighting...a-a living virus?! Like a computer virus?!"

"M-man! I was making jokes about his ridiculous form before, but this?!" Sonic said.

Sweating at the thought of a world like that, Chris tried to calm down his thoughts. "(T-that is so extreme! The people of my world would never get used to it! They would certainly panic and start attacking out of fear!)"

"People, calm down!" Master Hand yelled. "That event will never happen as long as we keep fighting Tabuu and defeat him for good! We'll never have a world like that!"

"I agree," the minister said. "Tabuu can be defeated. Unlike a virus, he has a physical form which leaves him open for attacks. Though, if you were to ask me, fighting him right now is not an option because he has absorbed a power source."

"Wh-what power source did he get?" Pichu asked.

"Rosalina's Comet Observatory..." he said, discomforting the Mario crew. "It houses a great amount of Power Stars and other galactic energy which should function as a source for Tabuu to exploit. Now that his power has grown, the interference in the worlds has increased. In the next days or months, we're expected to see many more people winding up in this world we live in through accidents they can't control. But...because Tabuu is a virus himself, I don't think that's the only problem... Sorry. I don't know for certain what other side effects he'll cause now that he has recovered more power."

"Huh? So, he hasn't recovered yet?" Red asked.

"No. Honestly, just getting that observatory's energy wouldn't be enough to restore even a fourth of his lost power. You people responded very quickly when he was at full power, which would explain why you never got to see the secondary effects take place. Because Tabuu has went into hiding in a space we can't reach, it's impossible to mount an assault mission in his realm to eliminate him for good."

"T-that's not true!" said Link. "We can just enter a Subspace void and track him down!" Nearly everyone nodded at that.

"And why would he let you find him while he's weak?" the minister asked. "Tabuu isn't an idiot. He knows better not to cross us when he's not fully recovered. Should you enter the Subspace expecting to fight him, you'll be caught in a trap you won't get out of so easily while he mobilizes his army into blowing Subspace Bombs outside the voids, where then he will appear before you and exterminate everyone once he thinks he's more than ready to take you out... You must have noticed how the world outside the Subspace disappeared the moment you stepped into the void in that futile assault you did a long time ago."

"He's right..." Samus said. "When our vessels got inside the Subspace, I looked back and saw nothing other than darkness stretching all the way beyond my sight. We did enter a huge trap we couldn't get out of."

"Until I crashed the party and helped everyone to escape!" piped Crazy Hand. "My bro left me behind in case things got reaaaaaaaaallly nasty. We used our magic to get all of you out from that battle!" He giggled embarrassed. "A-and we kind of screwed up in that escape attempt and you practically went back in time before you even got called to the Brawl tourney... Whoopsie."

"Don't remind us about that! It's an old shame," Master Hand lamented. "I was wounded in that battle on the back of my palm! That's why we couldn't get you guys out properly... It's in the past."

"..." The Ancient Minister noticed the downcast looks on most of the people there. "...That's all I have to say about this meeting. Now you know how important this fight against the Subspace Army is. To summarize, Tabuu is a living virus. His presence throws the dimensional barriers into disarray. His power can only be restored by either resting for long periods of time or sucking power sources into the Subspace. His reach can only extend with the Subspace Bombs, which also sacrifices pairs of my people with each bomb. And most importantly...we are the last solution to eliminate him."

A few started whispering more things among themselves. "Okay, does anybody have anything else to say about this fight?" Master Hand asked. "I suppose things were made clear thanks to the Ancient Minister. Unlike before, we can trust him to work with us. If you touch a side of his robe with violent intentions, you're just going to make a fool out of yourself and cripple us... He can deactivate Subspace Bombs. That's a good reason not to hurt him."

"H-he can?" Yoshi said.

"Yes. Subspace Bombs and I are connected in a way I have yet to find out about my past..." The minister looked away, deep in thought about that mysterious creator who might have been the true mastermind behind Tabuu's creation. "...I can't say anything about my past because I lack crucial info. The memories I lost in a time where none of this was a problem hold answers like...why my people must be used for Subspace Bombs and why Tabuu even exists... But please, don't try asking me. I want to find those answers with your help...somehow..." He turned back to look at Chris's stiff expression. "It's my personal mission to find out about that truth that keeps eluding me."

Mewtwo was heard sighing. "Who would have thought that this mission was much more perilous than it looked like?" he asked rhetorically. "Though everyone here feels horrified of these truths...the only way to solve these problems is by defeating Tabuu. Everything that is being caused by him will fall apart if he is taken down...correct?"

"Correct..." the minister said. "Despite what I know revealed so much, the goal remains the same. The only difference is that you know how crucial it is to kill him as soon as we have a chance and are prepared to bring this to a fitting end..."

"And lastly, there's one final note about Tabuu's increase in power," Master Hand said. "Now that you know he's a virus, he has literally changed the difficulty setting imposed on the missions."

"W-what? He changed an imaginary difficulty setting?" Pit asked. "Wow. That's pretty meta..."

"Y-yes, it is," the hand said. "From now, the difficulty is locked on Hard. With this new difficulty, he has also done a big number of changes that will cripple us for the missions ahead of us..." He pointed up at the hologram, where it replaced the image in the space for a big list with large sentences...

Hard Mode Changes

Allowed party member size has been decreased from 9 to 8. No changes can be done once a team is deployed.

Job System compromised. Chris can only use the jobs that are compatible with the current party members chosen. All jobs can be used in the Smash World, however, regardless of missions taking place there. Furthermore, it is impossible to change jobs during the heat of a battle anymore.

Red cannot use all three Pokémon at once during one battle. He can only use one at a time, though he can use all three one after another.

Other "transformations" from some Smashers cannot be done in the middle of a battle. As such, the likes of Zelda cannot change to Sheik unless outside a battle.

Bosses may possess abilities – which they will or will not be aware of - and are 1.5x stronger than usual.

Item space limit has been disabled. Inventory can only carry one item of any type during a mission, however. Duplicates are not allowed.

Rewards for completing missions will now take into account overall performance much more than Normal Mode. Rewards through successful victories may be more plentiful with exclusive items. Failure will yield no rewards though so be warned.

Save for the Over Limit ability and averaging levels for weak guest party members, all other group abilities have been rendered useless in Hard Mode.

Should a Smasher fall in battle, there is a chance that the defeated party member will turn into a trophy, in which case the trophy stand must be touched by an ally before it is destroyed by an enemy. Should the trophy be destroyed, that character does not die, but they will be pushed back to the Smash Mansion where they cannot be chosen to do the same current mission. Furthermore, touching the trophy stand only reverts the fallen ally to the last time how their body was before the transformation took place. Use healing if necessary.

Rescue feature disabled. Should all party members fall in the same battle, there will be no rescue attempts for the duration of a whole day. Seek an alternative route to rescue fallen members or wait 24 hours before a second party can try the same mission again.

Anti-blood spillage protection overwritten from Smasher party. Take extreme caution when fighting against stronger foes. Any blood loss cannot be recovered, unless there is a way to recover it.

Experience obtained from battles boosted by 1.5x times. Fallen party members at the end of a battle won't receive any experience at all. Despite boost in experience, it won't be possible to be evenly matches with stronger foes by just defeating one boss. Do train during your spare time when possible.

WARNING: Should Master Hand be killed, all Smasher-related skills and abilities will disappear, which also includes the Job System. Innate abilities obtained outside of his scope will not be affected.

All those changes were so big that made many feel weak in the knees. The rules that were directed at certain Smashers were received with much more negative response. "H-holy..." Chris was starting to lose focus in front of him, until Lucario grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back to the world of conscious people. "N-no job changes...during battle... Oh god..."

"Weeeeeeeeeeak," Squirtle and Ivysaur complained at the same time.

"T-this is pure defamation against me! I won't accept this change so quickly!" Zelda complained, putting a hand over her chest.

"Eh, I always thought it was kind of cheating that you got to transform into a different character in the middle of a fight s-" Link couldn't finish that sentence when Zelda sent a spine-chilling glare his way. "...It's unfair! We should sue someone for this unfair treatment! The nerve of them for weakening a princess from a royal family connected to the Triforce!" he corrected himself hastily.

"T-those are way too many changes..." Lucas muttered.

Nana's right eye twitched. "N-no kidding! That changes a lot of the stuff we used to do! Can't you do something to change the difficulty back?" she asked.

"I tried already. It didn't do anything," Master Hand said. "Because the big universe we live in is a big you-know-what, that alteration he did is affecting us wherever we go. And it also affects his side by increasing the power of his army."

"As a virus, Tabuu can control many settings like a computer," the minister said. "This change in difficulties is one such thing. He was holding back during the previous war to capture and finish you off, but he could've done even more damage had he not let his power go to his head... It was those foolish mistakes he did in the past where he now is starting to wise up in his strategies to achieve a sound victory. He has to do it slowly... Though, if he were to obtain more power sources, we would be in deep trouble."

Still staring at the long list of changes, Fox gazed back at them. "That anti-blood thing wasn't there when Master Hand was trapped inside that seed, was there?" he asked.

"You bled?" Master Hand asked. "I was still alive inside of it, but my powers were barely functioning correctly. If I was utterly gone, none of you who learned new moves to use in the tourneys would be able to use them so freely. Link's arrows would get empty, Fox wouldn't have Fire Fox, all of C. Falcon's moves would be gone..."

Captain Falcon shuddered at the thought of not being able to use Falcon Punch ever again. "Horrible..." he muttered.

"All this time, you guys were very hard to injure to bleed unless the attacks were very powerful," Master Hand said. "That little change was taken away by Tabuu, sadly, so you will have to be more careful against the stronger bosses you will have to face to defeat the army..." He wasn't oblivious to the discomforting atmosphere in the room. His subordinates weren't feeling so well about anything they were told. "...Low morale is horrible, you know? With low morale, you won't function properly in battles. To remedy this, I have two surprises to announce."

The whole group looked back at him with mild interest. "What do you think is going to cheer us up after hearing all this?" Yoshi asked, fidgeting his fingers. "T-Tabuu's gotten stronger, we're gonna have to fight stronger bosses, a-and Rosalina..." He sniffed. "S-she's probably being held captive in the Subspace with dozens of baby stars crying for help! I can't get happy with that in mind!" he wept.

"Uh, well, maybe she is being held captive, maybe she isn't," the hand said as he saw the looks of the Mario crew. "I like to think she escaped at the last minute with every baby star. Don't fall into despair too soon, okay? Let's stay positive!"

"What's one of your ideas to help us stay positive during this time of complete, utter conflict where our enemies look like they will win against us and our worlds will merge together into a chaotic place that no sane person would survive during the first day of its birth? What can possibly be so good to raise morale among us?" Zelda asked with a stern look.

"...Eesh, girl," Master Hand said with a shrug. "Well, what do you guys think about recruiting candidates to become new Smashers? I'm looking for new people to help us fight the army as we speak, and they will also get all the benefits to participate in our official tourneys, which I'm going to say right now will become a thing again while we do missions."

As if everyone was riding a train at top speed that came to a full stop, all chatter seized immediately. While everyone tried to process the unbelievable piece of news about having more people in the team, only Chris and Lucario looked offended. "...That's it?" Chris asked. "You seriously think that pulling people into this mess to fight a trans-dimensional army of massive proportions is going to help us stay positive during these harsh tim-" He was fantastically interrupted by more than a dozen of loud cheers breaking at once from nearly everyone whose name wasn't Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Wolf, or Snake. It was a big shock to see the previously tense Smashers break into cheers, forgetting completely about their shared stress.

Master Hand placed himself in a stop sign move. "Before you guys start tossing me suggestions, I'm going to inform you that my picks have been chosen (not)," he said and was met by some people booing. "Just wanted to let you know we'll have more people in our lives. In the incoming days, expect newcomers to arrive at random times. When those newcomers come here, I will announce publicly inside our humble mansion their names, just like when I did the same during the Melee and Brawl ceremonies. You know the sound." He snapped his fingers, making the hologram display the words CHALLENGER APPROACHING in big, flashing, red letters, causing hysteric cheers.

Hysteric cheers that didn't come from Chris and Lucario. The cheers forced Chris to cover his baby's ears as he watched nearly everyone lose it with their loud voices. He even spotted Fox leaning his forehead over his interlaced hands, all the while muttering to himself, "Please let Krystal in, please let Krystal in, please let Krystal in..." over and over.

As everyone started making wish lists and sharing their ideas with others, Master Hand went over to Chris and Lucario. "You were saying?" the hand asked in a smug tone.

The teen grimaced at him. "I-I was mostly worried about having more people involved in this! Maybe I could've reacted differently if I hadn't gone through hell getting back here!" he complained.

"And I second that notion," Lucario said sternly.

"Have I mentioned winning multiple tourneys in Chris's name would make him so proud of you, the Legendary Lucario?" the hand said smugly.

Lucario's lips twitched as he felt Chris's own stern gaze keeping him from instantly smiling at the idea. "That... T-that is such a dirty move to use to convince me!" he barked, even though his thoughts begged him to say yes.

Chris knew when to let Lucario enjoy himself. "...Ahh, forget it. I know that's what you really want to do and you won't stop mulling over it if I kept you away from it. If you want to go ahead, do it... I'll pretty much enjoy seeing you get the glory for me," Chris said, making Lucario pull him to his side and growl pleasingly over his head, but making Riolu bark at Chris to pull away from the "monster", somewhat ruining the mood Lucario wanted to set when his trainer listened and obeyed his plea. "But aside from that...how am I supposed to forget the dangers we're going to have to pass through? It's not like having more people in this mansion will help much other than having more options to choose from..."

"And this is where my second surprise comes into play for you only, Chris," Master Hand said.

"...Say what now?" Chris asked, just before the hand picked him up from his seat (while also dragging a confused Riolu on Chris's arms) and moved him all the way over where a giggling Crazy Hand was. Lucario moved quickly down the rows to stand next to his trainer. "I'm starting to get anxious here. What are you two going to do to me?!"

"Nothing, you silly boy!" Crazy Hand said. "My brother and I are going to give you the rest of the jobs you lack!"

"H-huh? W-what?"

"That's right!" Master Hand said. "As a reward for rescuing us, I'm going to give you five jobs right away so you have a compatible skill set with every single Smasher present here!" As he said that, he raised his glowing index finger.

"W-wait a second! I-I think you're moving things too fast around here!" Chris said. "H-have some consideration for my feelings firs-!"

"HAND MAGIC GOES BOOM!" Master Hand yelled, pointing his glowing finger at the distraught human and shooting a beam of concentrated light into his body. Frozen in place as every limb shone brightly, Chris didn't move or let go of the surprised Riolu. After about ten seconds passed, the light disappeared along with the glowing body. "There! You have acquired five new jobs! ...Uh, oops. I forgot to ask you how much you liked the Psychic and the Racer jobs because two of those jobs overwrote them entirely."

The perplexed look on the teen's face was pretty hard, but he figured he should just roll with the flow until it was the right time to voice his thoughts. "Uh, well... Those two jobs were kind of boring to me..." he admitted. "The Racer job especially... Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to have me shout CHRIS PUNCH or CHRIS KICK every time I used that one outside missions? That was so annoying! That's why I didn't use that job so much. And the Psychic job...I just didn't like how I needed to have Mewtwo around to keep my supposed psychic powers from getting out of hand. The last time I used that was when I accidentally flung Jigglypuff out of my room and smacked Lucario with a pillow...about twenty times until I had to call Mewtwo to get me out of that job's mentality... Oh, and that creepy quiet mentality was the worst..."

"...What was I really thinking with the Racer job?" Master Hand muttered to himself. He dreaded the thought of having a third Smasher with C. Falcon's move set. "Well, you don't need to see those two jobs no more, for you have obtained these five new jobs to use!" He handed over a blue notebook to Chris. On top of the front cover was a label which read "Job System – Job List". "Here I hand you this useful notebook which contains information about all the jobs and abilities that you possess. Use this notebook to refer to every job you have and see what new stuff you can get from using each and every job in battle. There's so much I need to tell you about the sudden change in rules regarding the Job System...so first, check the last five pages to see a rundown for each new job you got... One more thing I want to mention is that I combined two other jobs into one. You should know which ones they were once you read further in."

Sighing and staring at the notebook, Chris placed it on the counter and used a free hand to flip through the pages to the last pages. Before he got to the indicated pages, he managed to see a lot of information about every single job he possessed, though he focused on the last five...

Obtained Job System – Job List Notebook!

A notebook which details every job's strengths, weaknesses, and their skills. Useful to look up what desired abilities the user wishes to learn.

Job: Time Mage

D: Mages that are more than happy to bend time using their will alone for support magic. They are also accomplished in bending space as they see fit for offensive magic. This job overwrites the Racer job entirely.

Weapon Type: Rod

Command Set: Time Magic

Compatible Smashers: Sonic & C. Falcon

Stat Changes

HP: Mediocre

MP: High

Attack: Worst

Defense: Mediocre

Magic: High – High Intelligence, High Mind

Magic Defense: High

Speed: Average

Evasion: Average

- Skill List -

Haste – Hastega – Quicken – Slow – Reflect – Stop – Extend – Undo – Comet - Meteor

- Ability List -

Critical: Quicken – Evade Magic

- Final Smash -

Spatial Time Chaos

Job: Green Mage

D: A job that was exclusive to the Viera race until now. Specialized mages who would rather use their abilities to support party members and cripple foes on the battlefield using unusual and exclusive spells. Out of all mage jobs, the Green Mage has decent attack power.

Weapon Type: Mace / Hammer

Command Set: Green Magic

Compatible Smashers: Wario

Stat Changes

HP: Below-average

MP: Below-average

Attack: Above-Average

Defense: Above-Average

Magic: Mediocre – Mediocre Intelligence & Mind

Magic Defense: Above-Average

Speed: High

Evasion: Above-Average

- Skill List -

Protect – Shell - Tranq – Leap – Blind - Fear – Oil – Silence – Sleep – Berserk

- Ability List -

Evade Magic – Absorb MP – Spellbound

- Final Smash -

Ailment Roulette

Job: Blue Mage

D: Peculiar mages who learn abilities used by monsters and other enemies as long as they get hit by them. While their stats are a little rounded up, they make up for it by having the most skills out of all the available jobs.

Weapon Type: Saber

Command Set: Blue Magic

Compatible Smasher: Kirby

Stat Changes

HP: Average

MP: Below-average

Attack: Average

Defense: Above-Average

Magic: Average – Average Intelligence & Mind

Magic Defense: Above-Average

Speed: Average

Evasion: Average

- Skill List -

Magic Hammer – White Wind – Angel Whisper – Night – Screech – War Dance – Roar – Sandstorm – Cornered – Matra Magic – Bad Breath – Fire Breath – Ice Breath – Thunder Breath – Eerie Sound Wave – Unction – Self-Destruct – Doom – Roulette – Quake – Expose Weakness – Mighty Guard – Dragon Force – Smasher Neutral B Moves

- Ability List -

MP Shield – Learn - Immunity

- Final Smash -

Smasher Final Smash

Job: Sage

D: Using extensive research, the Sage uses most advanced magic not found in other jobs and mixes them into a single category. Their best magic is weakened by their low MP rate. This job overwrites the Psychic job entirely.

Weapon Type: Mace

Command Set: Sagacity

Compatible Smasher: Mewtwo

Stat Changes

HP: Average

MP: Below-average

Attack: Below-average

Defense: Worst

Magic: Best – Best Intelligence, Above-Average Mind

Magic Defense: Below-average

Speed: Average

Evasion: Average

- Skill List -

Blind – Water – Watera – Waterga – Aero – Aerora – Aeroga – Scathe – Esunaga – Gigaflare – Bio – Ultima Blow

- Ability List -

Reflex – Defense Up - Shieldbearer

- Final Smash -

The World's Wisdom

Job: Tinker

D: A machinist who specializes in using a wide variety of gadgetry with clockwork creations. Although their beneficial weapons can aid all enemies or cripple all party members at once at random, astute machinists can exploit certain ways to be a force to be reckoned with. This job overwrites and combines aspects from the Space Mercenary and the Hacker jobs.

Weapon Type: Knuckles

Command Set: Clockwork

Compatible Smashers: ROB (Ancient Minister), Mr. G&W, Fox, Falco

Stat Changes

HP: Average

MP: Worst

Attack: Above-Average

Defense: Above-Average

Magic: Average – Average Intelligence & Mind

Magic Defense: High

Speed: Average

Evasion: Average

- Skill List -

Red Spring – Blue Screw – Green Gear – Silver Disc – Gold Battery – Black Ingot – Chroma Gem – Gold Moogletron – Reflector – Hack Device

- Ability List -

Regenerate – MP Shield - Ribbon-Bearer

- Final Smash -

Moogletron Division

"W-wow, that's a lot of info and a lot of jobs I have..." Chris muttered.

"You can also check the other jobs," Master Hand said. "There are some jobs that aren't quite developed as they are and have the possibility of transforming into better jobs. Those weaker jobs can turn out to be devastating because their abilities and skills will carry over... For example, the Aura Apprentice, the FHU, and the Monk jobs are fledgling jobs." Hearing the first one made Lucario listen even more. "Use them a little more in battle and they will eventually turn into better jobs at the end."

"..."

"...Uh..." Master Hand noticed Chris's saddened look. "...What's up with you? I've dedicated a whole surprise in your name, but you can't seem to stop looking so down... What do you want from me?" To his surprise, Chris sniffed. "(Better be careful talking to him while his dog is standing right beside him...)"

"I-I... I-I just want to rest..." the teen sniffed. That nagging negative feeling in his aura caught Lucario's attention, but so did the oblivious Riolu. "I-I was starting to recover this morning talking with Lucario. I thought I could rest easy for the rest of the day, b-but then I came here and learned about the huge problem we've been facing since I ever joined this team. This last week has been pretty hard on me, you know..." With the others busy celebrating the arrivals of new Smashers, Chris felt it right to say what had happened to him. "...I was kidnapped, I sacrificed my life trying to protect the Ancient Minister, I ended up playing a hellish game between life and death where I was killed by a monster Lucario, I then ended up in some strange place where I randomly became aware that I was dead or not, I fought Duon who tried to kill me first...a-and then I came back here and had to deal with everyone being insane and not helping me feel okay..."

"(H-he died twice while I wasn't there?!)" Lucario thought, his crimson eyes having shrunk in horror. His curiosity was as its peak, and he had to dwell inside Chris's mind to see the pictures of those events in order to understand much better how he had felt. Sneaking his aura sense without making his body glow, the Aura Pokémon quite easily found the pictures floating inside his trainer's troubled aura, where he started to see everything without Chris ever noticing... He was quickly catching up to every single detail his trainer didn't want to say. From the point where the World Traveler woke up in a cell to the point where he witnessed Chris decimating the evil seed overtaking Lucario's body.

"O-oh... I-I didn't know that much happened to you," Master Hand muttered. "E-er, well, I-I wasn't aware about it. Sorry for not taking your feelings into account... I guess I screwed up in this meeting. I wanted to boost morale among us by announcing all these great surprises, but I should've asked you about your side of the story. So that's why you were so broken up yesterday..."

Chris could let two silent tears fall down on top of his Riolu's head.

"...O-okay, then!" the hand said. Chris looked up to him. "L-look, how about we do this? Besides just giving you all these wonderful jobs, how does the sound of giving everyone two days of rest look to you?"

"T-two days of rest?" Chris wondered.

"I'm sorry. I could give you some months of rest, but I'm still recovering from that battle yesterday. It drained me out from my power... And with Tabuu's new power source, it's been a little more difficult to me to cast a mighty barrier like the last Summer Vacation," the hand explained. "It's not really much, but it's something you could use to rest..."

"...I think it's fine," the teen managed to say, looking down at his curious Riolu. "It'll probably be enough time for me to feel much better about this..." He started petting and rubbing the baby's head, making him very happy for the attention, until Master Hand showed him a familiar device on the counter. "M-My DS!"

"I found that stashed in one of my office's drawers along with some other stuff like items and a bunch of Poké Balls that aren't from us," the hand said as he saw his subordinate take the console. "Luckily, it wasn't damaged."

Chris booted the console on and was greeted by Kawashima's virtual head. "Oh, the horror!" he said. "Consoles have feelings! We know when we don't have our owners nearby! I was alone behind the black screen..."

"Oh good... My games are still intact..." Chris sighed, closing the console and putting it back into his pocket. He cleaned his eyes and turned to Master Hand. "I could use those two days now if you don't mind..."

"Fine. I'll grant you your wish," said his boss, snapping his fingers. The sound his fingers made echoed throughout every hallway and room in the mansion, which extended throughout the universe as a very quiet sound few noticed and shrugged off quickly. Of course, the sound was louder in the room where it came from, which broke everyone from their conversations with each other. "Everyone, starting today, you have 48 hours of relaxation. There will be no missions or assaults on other worlds until the time is up, which we will expect the army to react quickly. I don't want to push you into more dangerous tasks right now... Use all this time to relax and do your personal hobbies with others, okay? I therefore declare this meeting over... (Could Tabuu have done other things rather than just taking Rosalina's home? He probably did...)"

Some people started to leave the meeting room while some others remained behind. Chris was one person, whose troubled mind banned him from moving away. As he thought hard about forgetting his issues, he was approached by a large group of young Smashers. "Hey, Chris," Nana said. "Um, are you going to be busy today?"

Snapping out from his thoughts, Chris blinked. "N-not really. I was just thinking about letting the whole day go by," he said unsure.

"That's a waste," Ness said. "Me and the guys are planning to head down to the village and go have ice cream without making it look like a stealth mission to do something else like I did before. Why don't you, Lucario, and that, uh, Mini Lucario join us?"

"It's Riolu, you dang ignorant," Pikachu muttered.

"I heard that, you! Anyway, Chris! Care to join our crew? Or do you want me to insert the idea of that baby happily licking ice cream for the first time in his life in your head? …Heh heh. I guess I already did."

And he was right. Chris couldn't stop thinking about that idea, and Riolu had a rather small stomach. A cone with ice cream would be nice to feed the baby with as it wasn't that risky to his health. "Well... Your little devious idea won me over... Fine, I'll go with you all." He smiled briefly as he saw some of them cheering. "Wait... It feels like someone is missing here..."

"If you're talking about Fox, he's still right over there praying to whatever god he has to bring Krystal to this tourney," Popo said, pointing over at Fox still in the same position Chris last saw him doing. An amused Falco kept grinning stupidly at how his boss and best friend was so serious about his wish to come true. "His screen time is over. It's time for us to claim the spotlight!"

"Okay... I don't mind spending time with all of you," Chris said, looking appreciative for the offer. As they started to leave the command room behind, the teen noticed Lucario wasn't moving. "Lucario?"

"..." Lucario snapped out of his mind searching and looked worried at Chris. "...I've seen everything that has happened to you, Chris..." Chris's eyes widened in shock. "...I had to look into your mind to see how everything happened. I couldn't resist not knowing about those heart wrenching experiences..."

"O-oh... O-oh god..." Chris felt weak. "I-I didn't want to tell you that much... I didn't want to worry you now. It didn't feel right to remember those times with how I am right now... Please, try to understand I wasn't trying to keep this from you. I just wasn't ready to go down that memory lane..."

"I-I understand, Chris," Lucario said. "Your aura had so much grief that it bothered me...a lot. It was so bad that I just had to know..." He walked closer to his trainer's side and placed a hand on his right shoulder. "If anything, this just proved to me that I need to stay more alert about what can happen to you at any given moment. My aura will always be on all the time to keep a close watch on you and whatever enemy tries to hurt you... Is that okay with you?"

The Lucario's concerns were true and honest. Chris couldn't deny him anyway because he just knew it would be useless to stop him. He smiled with a small nod. "Please do so... You're my ultimate protection against anything, you know. Do anything you think is necessary to keep me safe. Just...don't go overboard, okay?"

Lucario proudly knelt down for a brief moment. "As a Legendary Lucario, your wishes are my command..." He looked up at him. "But I get to discuss any fishy commands to keep you on the right track. I'm not just some mindless order taker."

Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 Remix – Traverse Town

The negative aura waves diminished a lot as Chris smiled a bit to his Pokémon. "It makes me so happy to have someone as understanding as you... Thank you so much." Such a comment like begged Lucario to hug his trainer, but that unsure Riolu was like a barrier he couldn't break. He needed to be friends with that baby soon... He was about to go after the Ancient Minister to come with them, but it looked like he had truly found a good friend in Mr. G&W. He saw the two of them leave the command room and, even though it was hard to tell, the minister seemed to look more relieved after the meeting was over. He did steal one glance at Chris, giving him a small nod before leaving with the Flat Zone resident. He was in good hands after all.

~ Nintendo Village ~

Toadette's Ice Cream Shop

There was a certain advantage when your friend was someone like Ness; a boy who received ridiculous amounts of money to his bank account from the mysterious job his father worked in at an office. He was so rich that he wouldn't even wince when he felt ripped off from shady deals from otherwise mundane stuff (Chris could still remember that costly pizza Ness didn't complain about like he did). He would just recover all that lost money the next day and earn a heavy profit in return.

"Paula is totally a shoe in. There has to be more girl power in this group, you people! Zelda certainly thought so when she nagged the hand about it!" Ness argued.

"Naaaah, in that case, why don't I suggest Tetra? She'd probably kick loads of butt," Toon Link said with a knowing grin.

"Paula's too sweet and Tetra's kind of a big tomboy, you guys," Nana said. "Lucas got Kumatora. Now that girl right there is a worthy addition."

"N-no, not her!" Lucas said. "She's even worse than what Tetra is! She's not above tossing people around with her mind! A-and I'm a victim whenever she got too rowdy with me..."

"Why don't we find that girl Red knows? The girl that made him start his journey as a trainer?" Squirtle suggested. "Green, was it?"

Red lowered his cap over his flustered eyes. "W-why did you have to go and mention her at a time like this? Don't do that, Squirtle!" he scolded.

"Someone's hormones matured faster before puberty even hit him," Popo teased deviously, causing most of them to laugh.

This was the kind of scene Chris wanted to enjoy: be together with so many singular and unique people enjoying life's good side. A world where there was no fighting but joy, friends, and laughs. He could relax so much well in a setting like that, and it was very true. Taking the left table with Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Snivy, Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Lucario, with a gleeful Riolu wagging his little tail happily while licking a large ball of lemon ice cream next to the entrance, all of them eating their own ice cream of many colorful flavors. To their left side, Ness, Lucas, Popo, Nana, Diddy, and Morgan (whom had said she wanted to be with a big group, as it felt nostalgic to her for some reason). With so many friends from different backgrounds and places, there was nothing that could truly bring anyone down, not even the depressed World Traveler.

"You know who should join the tourneys? My father," Morgan suggested.

That little comment alone reminded everyone that the amnesia girl had listened to everything they heard in that meeting. Master Hand, however, let her stick around, since she was utterly oblivious about what a virus was. Her lack of knowledge on technology was a great plus that wasn't going to scare her. "Uh, your dad?" Nana said. "Why not you? When people like you get to hear that, they'd usually try very hard to enter themselves..."

"I'm sorry... I don't feel up to the task to do that," Morgan said with a small smile. "I need training to be a good tactician, and a tactician needs lots of people to work with. In a tourney, aren't you alone fighting others?"

"Well, yes, but sometimes you pair up with someone else in team matches..."

"It doesn't sound that fun for a tactician to use just one person... It's okay. I feel that this is a much better choice for me," the girl said. "My father is an awesome tactician. I know he's the greatest tactician to ever live. If he ever got to join you, I'd take his job in the meantime... But... I need to find him first, wherever he is in the world..." She briefly looked sad, until she licked her strawberry ice cream. "...Maybe it's time for me to go my own way from you."

Everyone looked at her. "Y-you're leaving, Morgan?" Chris asked.

"I was reflecting on that thought since the last fight yesterday..." the tactician-in-training said, staring down at her ice cream. "It's so amazing and awesome to be with all of you. If we never met back then on that island full of fuzzy creatures, I wouldn't have made it alive to the mainland. I really was thinking about leaving soon after we arrived at your home, but then things got really heavy pretty quick... Heh heh, I was very good helping you, wasn't I?"

"Of course you were," Ness said.

"Yes, I know! But... I want to find father," she said as she shed a single tear. "He's my everything I have...besides everyone here, of course, but he's my top priority. It should be a law to have your parents close to you... So... If you don't mind... I think I'll be heading out to go find father..."

The Smashers exchanged worried glances. "Is it really a good idea for you to leave? Our enemy might have already caught word about you helping us... They could attack you while you're alone," Nana said concerned.

"Hmm, that sounds bad..." Morgan said, a little crestfallen. "...Well, I'm trying to be a tactician, am I not? I should start figuring out a way to get back home safely. That's going to be my first task," she said with high spirits. "It was so fun to be with you, everyone. After I'm done eating this frozen cream, I'll start formulating a plan to get back to father. How does that sound to you?"

"...Does that plan include us in any way?" Red asked.

"Other than saying good bye to me as I start walking away? No," she said blankly. "You don't know where my home is, do you?" They shook their heads. "Then... I don't wish to trouble you with my personal mission. You seem like you have your hands full as it is..."

Some of them thought hard about a viable link that would help her to get back with her father. Logically speaking, she seemed to be part of either Marth's, Roy's, or Ike's world. "Morgan, do you remember seeing Marth, Roy, or Ike in your home?" Ness asked.

Morgan rubbed her hard with a hand in an effort to make her head remember. She had no results. "No... I...I don't remember their names or how they looked like prior meeting them in person... But... Wait..." Inside her memories, she felt like a new fact was starting to come into light, but it was pretty hazy and mysterious. "I-I think Marth... I think there's something familiar about Marth..."

"Marth is probably the person you should ask!" Diddy suggested, nodding several times and making sure his banana ice cream wasn't going to fall off. "Try asking him about your home!"

"...Is Marth really the right person?" Lucas asked out of the blue. "He said nothing to her when she sat with him at the meeting, other than just saying hello and trying to look away from her asking him if she could use his makeup..."

"I-I should have remembered seeing him before! He's right!" Morgan said. "That's one risky choice to ask him. I don't have anything else to use to get back to father, though... It's worth asking him, right?"

"Yes... Let's go with that," Chris said. "I'm sorry we don't have any leads to give you."

She chuckled heartily. "It's fine. I will always have a home to go back to..." they smiled at that, "...with father." Their smiles went down. "...Oh! Your home is the second home, of course! Don't feel unappreciated!"

"Then...to good luck to Morgan," Nana said, raising her chocolate ice cream.

"To good luck to Morgan," everyone said as they did the same move, ending with a few cheers and going back to eating their ice cream together in peace. The tactician-in-training felt happy for receiving such a nice gesture from the group.

"Are you feeling better, Chris?" Lucario asked, carefully eating his lemon ice cream. Only him, Riolu, and Chris were all eating that same flavor just to get the baby to eat it with confidence. He was a little reluctant in licking ice cold matter until his trainer managed to get his little tongue to press against the dessert. The lemon ice cream started to disappear into his mouth right after.

"Much better," Chris said relieved. "No fights, no violence, a baby Riolu barking happily my way right in front of me, surrounded by many friends who mean well, you keeping watch over me... This is a vision of life I wouldn't mind repeating many times for over a month."

Lucario chuckled, his right arm ready to pull his trainer to his side, though the baby Riolu was keeping watch if the hideous monster was going to do something nasty on the human, in which case he would start bawling and begging Chris to stay away from him. Looking at Riolu, who in turn averted his gaze from his eyes, Lucario sighed. "...This would only be much better and even perfect if he just would stop thinking I'm going to hurt everyone here..."

"Lucario... This is the first day he gets to watch you acting normal," Chris said. "I-I'm very sorry, but you'll have a long way to go until he can touch even a finger from your hands without having to scream for me..."

"I have the army to thank for doing that big favor for me," Lucario growled lowly. "I will rip them limb by limb the next time I see them..." The stern look his trainer gave him told him that he was breaking a rule about their current event. "...F-forgive me for saying that here. I let my rage take the best of me..."

"Apology accepted," Chris said, turning to Riolu and rubbing his head softly and fast. "Is my baby enjoying his ice cream?"

Riolu barked happily at the attention...which his mind took it as an order to lick the ball of ice cream faster. Worried that his baby was going to feel the unnerving feeling of a frozen brain, Chris tried to stop him from going overboard with his little tongue, until he was too late to prevent an accident from happening. While Riolu avoided getting his little brain frozen, he pushed his ice cream a little too much forward from the cone. The sphere of licked ice rolled down lifelessly next to him and went further down the table where it tilted down from the edge...and fell straight on top of Lucario's waist. "A-ahh!" Lucario yelped.

Instead of laughing, Riolu's eyes started to get a coat of tears. He wasn't even halfway through with his dessert and wanted more of it. He had no dignity in trying to go pick up that missing ball of tasty goodness...but since it fell on top of a person he was so scared about, it made him think he was never going to get his precious food from him without getting hurt. In the end, Riolu decided to cry to the ceiling. "RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" he cried at the top of his lungs.

That loud cry made many other normal customers cover their ears. Chris himself was going to join those cries soon if he didn't do something to make him stop quick. He was not about to pick that melting ice cream from his Lucario's waist, though. It wasn't advisable to do that anyway, because it had rolled down to the tiled floor to pass away from the world over its pool of melted ice. "O-oh my goodness, I need to make him stop!" Chris panicked.

"H-he wants more ice cream!" Squirtle yelled, keeping his sea salt ice cream balanced on top of his cone. "FEED HIM MORE ICE CREAM!"

With Lucario blocking the way to scuttle away from the seat, Chris ordered him to move out. "Wait, I'll go get another one for you!" said Ness, not having people block his way. He jumped down and went over to the counter to talk with Toadette. "Another lemon ice cream, please!"

"Okay, but we don't give free refills! This is still a new establishment and I need all the money to keep it going!" yelled the wincing Toadette as she uncovered her ears and went to fulfill the order.

Half a minute later, Ness came rushing back to the table with a new cone carrying lemon ice cream. He showed it to Riolu, who looked away from the ceiling and tried to clear his tears to see the cone. Once he gained a clear view of his prize, he blinked and grabbed the cone with both hands, starting to lick the surface. Second after second, his teary look went away, and he was starting to recover that calm smile on his stiff lips covered in refreshing lemon flavor. Everyone in the shop sighed, and not just the Smasher group. "T-thank you so much, Ness..." sighed Chris, wiping a few lucky tears that got to out from his eyes.

"Thank my quick thinking. It saved the day," Ness said, retaking his seat and licking his vanilla ice cream with caramel and chocolate nuts.

"Ugh..." Lucario stood up from his seat and saw the large green smear dripping down his waist and, more embarrassingly, over his crotch area, with some of his cream-yellow fur getting stuck in uneven knots with green bits glossed over them. "I-I have to go to the bathroom to clean this up..."

His trainer felt a little guilty as he pointed to the right side of the shop where the bathrooms were. "The bathrooms are over there," he said.

"W-will you be alright?" Lucario asked, looking sad for a moment.

"D-don't worry about me. I won't leave this place yet. Just hurry up and clean yourself."

"Y-yes, I'll be quick. I'll keep my aura senses up if I have to rush out..." Lucario walked away into the bathroom. Just as he said, he kept an aura link with his trainer. They couldn't afford to let their guards down outside the mansion, since that was what deprived Chris from his freedom during a seemingly harmless activity. They had many capable fighters with them, though how fast they would react was a little questionable and too risky.

With the supposed monster away, Riolu was quick to forget he was crying. He was beaming with glee at his trainer, who noticed the change in attitude very quickly. "...Why can't I smile at him now?" Chris asked. "He looks so happier without Lucario around. This isn't right to me!"

Red sighed. "I guess you'll just have to deal with this as well, Chris. You have my condolences..." he said.

"Thank you, Red, but I hope this is over soon. I can't bear to see two of my favorite Pokémon having to stay away from each other just because one of them got into his head that the big one was brainwashed..." the teen said, staring long at his baby's happy expression meant to make him rejoice, though it took Riolu a while before he understood his happy behavior wasn't doing anything good. He stopped looking happy when he couldn't manage to persuade Chris to even smile. "...I have to teach you how to understand my words soon. It was easier with Lucario because of those legendary genes of his giving him more than just brute force."

"Chris, please, you forget you're surrounded by Pokémon who can talk to humans and Pokémon to act as translators," Pikachu said duly. "Why don't you let me get through that baby and tell him what he needs to do with Lucario? He'll listen to me rather that the 'big bad Lucario monster who wanted to hurt me' as he put it when you couldn't tell he was talking about him."

"...Do you think you can get to him?" Chris asked.

"He's a baby, alright, but baby Pokémon are quick to learn a few new words from other older Pokémon... Don't quote me, okay? I'm aware I come from a different universe where my laws aren't the same as Red's world's laws." Shrugging, Pikachu carefully climbed the top of the table with his kiwi ice cream on hand and struck a conversation with Riolu in a language no human would ever understand without turning into a creature like them.

Because the seat Chris occupied with Lucario was facing away from the entrance of the establishment, he was unaware that a certain girl with Rapunzel-like blonde hair tied on a ponytail on the back of her head had walked in...or rather rolled in on her customized roller blades, expecting to grab a quick vanilla ice cream and leave in less than two minutes. That plan was tossed out the window when she caught sight of the large group of Pokémon sitting across the square seat, especially the adorable baby Riolu that gave her a big smile on her face.

Still oblivious to her presence, even after she rested her crossed arms right behind his head, Chris focused on Pikachu and Riolu. "I want you to tell him that he shouldn't feel scared of what he saw and that he should give him a chance. Tell him that's my wish for him to do. I'd hate to see him not having fun while I'm with everyone here..." He sighed with a frown and leaned forward. "If worse comes to worst, I'll have to endure this for so much longer. Then again...he's a troubled baby who can't understand much. I sort of saw this coming. I want him to smile and have fun with us without him pushing others away from me."

The girl behind him then said, "And once he's happy enough with you, he'll evolve, and he'll strike fear into his opponents with clenched fists rolling away with courage! They'll wish they had never scared him during his baby years!"

Chris rolled his eyes at that comment. "Oh, right. Push him right into Pokémon Battles. Why didn't I think about that before? That's about the most random solution to do here... He's just a baby now, and a sweet baby like him should try to learn what he wants to do in life...but I sort of want him to stay away from battling others. What I want him to do is enjoy himself, not enjoy hurting others! And I realized just now none of you said any of that..." The other Smashers became aware of the girl's presence before Chris did. They nodded their heads at him, which made him look over his left shoulder at the giggling girl behind him. They locked eyes for about five seconds until Chris said, "Uh, hello..."

"Hi!" the girl said cheerfully, not moving from her perfect spot for gazing at the baby. The girl was a young teenager who sported a cheerful-looking appearance, what with the aforementioned ponytail hanging out from her white helmet which had three holes on top; one on each side which let a strand of curved combed hair stick out as if giving an impression that the helmet was part of her hair as well. Moving down from her fresh light blue eyes, she wore a white dress with prominent orange streaks taking the edges around her sleeveless shoulders, neck, and the middle portion over her chest and waist. Her short skirt was stylized in a way that it had orange triangle shapes on its border next to the clear white spaces between them. Aside from just wearing modesty dark skintight shorts under her knee-long skirt, she was wearing white roller blades with each one sporting a set of two orange wheels. It was probably worth noting that one of her white finger-less gloves, especially the left one, had a mystic-looking jewel on the back of her glove glittering without the need of light shining on it. It went completely unnoticed, however. The girl was a young teenager that was coincidentally the same age as Chris. "Is that adorable baby Riolu yours by any chance?"

"Y-yes, that's my Riolu," Chris told her. "I'm currently raising him to be a plain, happy Pokémon. I've only had him for about four days tops, but he's very close to me."

"Ah, I see!" she said with a small nod. "I bet it won't be too long before his friendship with you hits the maximum level, where he'll just need one battle to evolve into a strong Lucario! Don't you love how evolving Pokémon through friendship can be the easiest way to evolve 'em? I do!"

The girl was clearly a trainer or someone who knew her evolution chart and maybe owned a Lucario somewhere around her person. That last assumption was impossible to Chris, because her sunny disposition was the kind he thought would be the one that allowed her Pokémon to run free by her side...which she did not show, seeing as she was alone. Although the idea of evolving a baby Riolu tingled her fancy, it fell flat on Chris entirely. "...Sorry, no, I'm not letting him evolve soon or much later down the road," he said.

Her smile went away when she heard that, which somehow shocked her greatly. "W-wait, what? You're not going to evolve the baby?" she asked.

"No," Chris said bluntly.

"Why?"

"Well... One, he's just a baby right now and I want him to enjoy his childhood without immediately kicking him straight into adulthood with an evolution he won't ever get to revert for the rest of his life...which I somehow wish they could do that whenever they wanted, but that'd make them look like another kind of creature I shouldn't talk too much about around here... And two, he has no idea about what evolution is, which I don't want to show him too soon either."

The girl stood up, looking quite disturbed at the odd choice this guy just told her. "B-but, w-why not show him now?" she asked with a smile that seemed to twitch a few times. "I bet he would like to do that somed-"

"Sorry, sorry, but, no," Chris interrupted her. "It's Happy Baby Riolu Time, not Evolution Lesson 101 4 Happy Baby Riolu Time. My decision is final...unless you want me to pit him into a world where Pokémon knock each other out every day."

"No... No..." She looked a tad depressed that she couldn't persuade the World Traveler from even trying her suggestions out. "...Can I...uh...ask you something?"

"I suppose so..." Chris was grimacing a bit at her odd behavior.

"Do you have something against evolution?"

"..." Chris thought hard on that. "...I've seen my fair share of histories about evolution not being so good a few times, and in those few times, really, really nasty things happened to trainers that I don't want to think too hard about..." He turned back to his baby Riolu talking with Pikachu, avoiding the very sick look the girl put on so suddenly. "And now that I remember, I'm not so sure if evolving this one is such a good idea. What if evolution gives him a bad attitude? He could stick one of those spikes into my chest if I'm not too careful..." He turned back to her, just after she managed to snap back into reality. "There's nothing wrong with him right now, though. It's a life of cheek-rubbing and ice cream for now." He chuckled heartily at the thought.

To his mild surprise, the girl chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah, that's a nice decision right there..." she meekly said. "(Oh goodness. Please tell me he hasn't heard those stories about m-?)"

"You're kind of looking anxious and scared..." Chris pointed out, stopping her thinking. "...Wait, I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Chris. What's yours?"

"M-my name?" She started to sweat, much to her chagrin. She truly wanted to be friends with that trainer, but after hearing him hear those discouraging stories about evolution being bad... "...W-would you look at the time?! I-I need to roll outta here!" She made a very pathetic bow and quickly rolled out and away from the ice cream shop.

The entire group of Smashers kept staring at the spot where she once was until a happy Morgan said, "She so has a crush on you she was so embarrassed keeping in secret."

"What?!" Chris burst out in shock when he heard that polarizing statement. "N-none of what she did with that weird fidgeting of hers while we talked suggested that! I know when people look like they have crushes on others!"

Surprisingly, no one else in the group wanted to make fun of him. "Morgan, she had no crush for Chris," Squirtle said. "You want to see who has a crush on who? Look at bulb back right next to me." He looked right to Ivysaur, displaying an infatuated look as he held Snivy's chocolate ice cream next to her face. He had effectively turned into her little obedient slave, lost in a world where he wasn't aware about anything happening in reality. "Hmm, bulb back, Bulbasaur, bulb back, Bulbasaur... I'm this close to making a good joke here... Bulb back-aur... Bulb back-aur... So close..."

"She looked scared to me," Diddy said, returning to the conversation.

"Oh yes, I saw that scared look on her eyes too," Nana noted. "Something Chris said made her wince so hard..."

"What are you talking about? I didn't see her getting scared," Chris said. "And that conversation we had was pretty short. I didn't even get her name..." He looked at Pikachu. "Pikachu, what does Riolu say?"

Pikachu sighed. "He says he'll think about it," he said. "That's what I got out of him. The term 'brainwash' is so strange to him so that didn't work too much. He's sure Lucario is a monster you shouldn't see."

"The long path of recovery seems to be the only path I can take with him..." Chris muttered sadly, looking at his happy Riolu licking the ice cream on his hands.

Lucario happened to return from the bathroom without the smear on his waist and crotch. He couldn't quite wash off the sticky matter from the knots he so hated to carry around over the black-like belt waist. As he sat back down, he asked Chris, "Were you talking with that girl back there?" True to his word, he kept an aura link connected with his trainer.

"The girl who refused to tell me her name? Yes," Chris said. "You kept a link on me, didn't you? Did you read her mind?"

"No... But... There was something so strange about her..." Lucario trailed off. "...Chris, she had no aura."

"...Oh... I see..." His eyes widened in shock right after that. "N-n-n-n-n-n-no aura?!"

The licking sounds came to a stop when he said that. They were very certain the girl they saw was very much alive... But if a master of sensing auras like Lucario said he didn't spot her life essence, there was no way he was joking. "S-she had no aura?" Pichu stuttered, just about to reach the inside of his cone filled with orange ice cream. "D-don't you need an aura to live?"

"Oh my gosh... CHRIS TALKED WITH THE GHOST OF A DEAD GIRL!" Jigglypuff panicked, very close to spilling her cheese cake shake on the table.

"I-I talked to a ghost?!" Chris said alarmed. "But she looked alive to me! Everyone in here saw her with their eyes!"

"Chris...you didn't let me finish," Lucario said blankly. "She had no aura...at first."

"...OH MY GOSH, SHE WAS A HUMAN-LOOKING ZOMBIE!" Jigglypuff panicked, making the others panic but with less energy.

"Would you stop shouting?! Let me finish here!" Lucario said annoyed. "As I was saying, she had no aura at first, until I focused my power and found out she did have an aura... A troubled one when she started talking with Chris, but nevertheless, she was very much alive."

"...Oh," Jigglypuff muttered in a low tone. "Eesh, big guy! You shouldn't have stopped talking for no reason."

Lucario grumbled. "Anyway, that was it," he said.

"Wait, wait, I know what you're driving at here. I did listen to you," Pikachu said. "How come you weren't able to spot her aura at first? Can people do that willingly?"

"Well... She was no aura master and not even an apprentice," the Aura Pokémon said. "But... When I first tried to sense her aura, it wasn't there because of some strange barrier in her blocking my senses out. While I was able to locate her essence, I couldn't locate the source of that barrier... It puzzled me a lot that I found out people like her existed who could cover their aura somehow. I should ask my father about this finding..."

"...Dude, that's still creepy coming from a guy like you," Squirtle said quietly. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"I-in any case, Lucario, did you dwell into her mind?" Chris asked. "Was she thinking about her name or anything?"

"Sorry... I switched over your side at the last minute when you talked about Riolu, but I can try to locate her from here and see what she has in her mind," Lucario offered.

"No... It's okay," the teen said. "It's too much intrusion into personal thoughts. I'd rather have her introduce herself later. Right now, I only want to relax with everyone else and have a wonderful time with my little baby right here." He chuckled and rubbed Riolu's head with care. The baby wagged his tail quickly to the sides but made no effort to accelerate his licking moves, having learned not to eat his prized food so fast. "Yes, yes, you're an understanding little baby. You'll be the best Riolu that ever lived..."

"Chris, my sister is still a Riolu."

"Best little baby male Riolu," Chris corrected himself.

The rest of their little relaxation went by with no issues or interruptions, until Diddy noticed a flier stuck on the wall next to them. "Hey guys, check that flier out," he told them to get their attention on the paper with a blue mystifying background, with a bunch of stars with different shades of yellow struck down by comets behind the big letters reading METEOR STAR SHOWER TONIGHT AT 9 PM. "There's gonna be a meteor shower tonight! Awesome!"

"A meteor shower!" Lucas said excitedly. "Oh, I have to see this! I don't get to see meteor showers much!"

"Oh yeah... I remember seeing this flier when we arrived here two days ago," Ness said. "I was more worried about the mansion in the Subspace to care about this, but now... A meteor shower event tonight, huh? I'll pray one of those meteors doesn't land close by the mansion carrying a talking fly from the future... Why are you people looking weird at me? That's how things went down to me!"

"Shooting stars?! I must stick around and make dozens of wishes!" Morgan said excitedly. "But I'm conflicted. Should I wish to become a great tactician like my father right away, or should I wish to take the slow but easy path? Hmm, decisions, decisions..."

Because an event like that would look more fantastic in the world of video games, Chris thought it was a perfect chance to enjoy the only two days they got to rest. "Sign me up for that event. It's just perfect for relaxation... And this is going to be Riolu's first meteor shower, too." Riolu suddenly raised his arms at Chris to carry him. The teen did so and rubbed cheeks with him while keeping his ice cream replacement from falling off again.

"It's also going to be our first one together, Chris," Lucario said with a smile. "I don't know if you already seen one before we met, but it's going to be my first time too."

"That makes three, because I only ever got to watch those watching programs on TV," Chris said, hearing his baby bark with glee. "This is going to be so fun."

"We got ourselves a nice spot, even," Nana said. "The top of the mansion's roof. We can see a lot more of the sky from up there!"

Ness shrugged, remembering that the roof was the last place where a grueling battle was held. "Y-yes, that's the best spot we can use to watch the meteor shower," he said. He could tell Pichu, Lucas, and Chris reacted just about the same way.

With a new event to look forward to, the group of Smashers agreed to watch it together. Time passed as they each finished eating ice cream, where they were just about to leave until they were going to bear witness to a shocking finding that would forever change their lives...

Music stops

From the entrance of the ice cream shop, someone walked inside with a dozen of sentient baby stars floating all around her downcast expression. Days passed and she unsuccessfully found no leads that would take her to Mario, and what was worse was that her entourage of babies were starting to become hungry. It had only been a day since she unwillingly winded up in the Smash World, where she noticed that Star Bits were not even falling down from the infinite reaches of space. Star Bits were usually the main source of food to feed Lumas with, though they would also eat anything else that their dear mother would cook in the kitchen of their home. But that home was taken away by force, which had drastically put her in a very sad mood that not many got to see.

Rosalina stopped on her tracks, her hands over her dress as she felt like thinking back about her home that she was unable and helpless to protect. "Oh dear, please..." Polari began as soon as he saw her looking down. "It's not okay to stop now. The Lumas want to eat something now. I'm lucky I have some of that money currency the Mushroom Kingdom uses to buy us some food."

"..." Rosalina just sighed and looked forward at the counter, where she saw a blank Toadette staring back at her. Calmly and quietly, she approached the Toad gal. "Good afternoon," she said in a off-putting tone that hinted too much at her inner issues. "I...I want to buy ice cream for the Lumas here..."

"Right," Toadette said nodding. "Here, in my amazing shop, I have many different flavors. Which ones do you want to have?" She soon would regret asking that question so casually.

"The Lumas will tell you," Rosalina said, her words being taken as a command for her babies to float forward and start yelling many different choices that Toadette could barely tell apart. To no avail, she tried to ask them to be less rowdy and loud, though Polari was taking care of that all by his lonesome. Rosalina could have stopped them to behave nicely, but her gaze was moving to her right a little too far...but enough to see a small glimmer of hope in one person whom she was quick to remember seeing before, and that person and his group of Smashers were staring in utter shock at her. "...It... I... This can't..." she couldn't find the right words to say. "...Chris?"

The only people she had met before aside from Mario were Fox, Falco, C. Falcon, Samus, Olimar, Yoshi, Luigi, Geno, and Chris. Therefore, if she could at least be lucky enough to find any of those people, there was a sure way for her to get in touch with Mario, and logically she would recover her lost home from the malignant people who deprived her from her favorite place in the entire galaxy. Rosalina could only think about Mario solely, though... With one of his friends very close to her, she could only wordlessly walk a little too fast on her feet to him.

The Smashers had thought Rosalina became a victim trapped in the Subspace. They thought she was done for if their assumptions about her demise were correct. With the Comet Observatory gone, it may have as well sealed her fate to wander in a world of darkness... That thought was proven wrong just now."R-Rosalina?!" Chris breathed out in shock. "Y-you're...!"

"..." Rosalina's eyes welled up in tears, and she felt the need to drop on her knees and pull Chris into a tight embrace. His cheeks reddened just as fast as his face did, freezing on the spot while his arms kept a tight hold on the confused Riolu. Her face across his left shoulder, she started to cry silently. Lucario felt an extreme void of sadness emanating from her potent aura energy that made him realize she had seen so many horrendous moments prior finding them...

"We have to bring her with us!" Red said.

Later that day...

~ Smash Mansion ~

Command Room

A hasty emergency meeting was held hours later when the group brought Rosalina and her Lumas back to the mansion, where upon seeing her alive and well, Master Hand ordered everyone to occupy the command room again. Loud talks and small conversations were had among pairs of Smashers as most looked back at the saddened princess unwilling to look up from the feet. On top of the little stage, Rosalina looked up from her feet when Mario himself approached her. The discussions across the room died out almost immediately when they saw the plumber grabbing her hands away from her dress. "It's going to be okay, Rosalina," Mario tried to reassure her, seeing the flood of tears streaming down her eyes. "I have a feeling I know what happened to you. Everyone here thinks the same."

Rosalina sniffed silently until she regained enough composure to talk. "Mario... My... Our home... It was all stolen from us..." She broke into tears, pulling him into an embrace that he returned. "It was so horrible... I couldn't do anything...! I couldn't protect it...!"

Yoshi sniffed, joining the two in their hug right as the Lumas put themselves in a tight circle around all of them to try to calm their mother down. "(Oh my gosh. I've never seen her like this! She was always so strong when I met her!)" he thought alarmed.

Polari was the only person capable of giving more details about their misfortune. "It was so terrible, Mario. This dark green-skinned man came out of nowhere and shocked Rosalina by her throat! He laughed at us as we tried to stop him from blowing up that bomb in the middle of the observatory, but we were too late... He kicked us down from our home...and that's when everything turned out so bad..."

Link looked serious at Zelda. "Ganondorf did this, didn't he?" he said.

Zelda reflected the same look. "That accursed man led that attack on her home," she agreed. "Why must he keep opposing us when he knows this war is futile? His stubbornness is such a dangerous trait that keeps breaking havoc to anyone in his path for the Triforce..."

"Well... This just about confirmed our fears, everyone," Master Hand said. "This has become into a much harsher reality, especially to Rosalina..."

"Those darkness lovers! It makes me so mad!" Pit protested. "This is so infuriating! We gotta strike back and recover Rosalina's home ASAP!"

"It's nice to see our frustration has some good intentions behind them, but it's not enough to pull out so easily by just saying things without thinking clearly," the Ancient Minister said, going to the center of the stage. "As it is right now, we lack conclusive leads to find the Subspace, and I advise you against going in there right away after I explicitly explained the dangers of that corrupted world during the previous meeting we had. It pains me to say this, but...we can't do anything to recover that lost home from Tabuu's clutches..." He turned to the weeping princess. "Rosalina...I'm very sorry for your loss..."

"Is there really no way to recover my home very soon...?" Rosalina asked quietly, trying to look hopeful at Mario.

Mario looked disheartened. "...I-I can't lie to you. We can't recover your home very soon as you want..." He saw her sniff again. "But I will help you out... You can count on us to help you recover the observatory, Rosalina..."

Yoshi, with his teary eyes, nodded seriously. "I-I'm gonna help you so much too! I'm not gonna let them keep your home away from you!" he said.

Master Hand moved to the center, looking at Rosalina and the Lumas. "Rosalina, you've been a victim of the Subspace Army's plans for total conquest. I thought I'd let you know this... It greatly saddens me to see a person like you crying. From the safety of our mansion, I got to see what kind of person you are. While we won't let this go unnoticed, I want to offer you and your Lumas a place to live for the time being...here with us," he offered.

The princess broke out from her hug and looked up at the hand. "Is...is not going to be so much trouble for you?" she asked unsure. "It's been hundreds of years since I last lived on a planet with normal people. I feel like...like I don't belong down here..."

"Pfft, spare me the sentimental fact, girl," Master Hand said duly. "This mansion has a lot of unique people like you. If anything, you'd feel right at home being here with us! I mean, you're friends with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi, aren't you? Aren't they enough to convince you to stay with us? Unless you have another home you can go back to..."

There was no other place Rosalina could stay at. "I... I don't have anywhere else to go," Rosalina lamented. "I-I used to have a home in my planet, but it's been lost to the passage of time... I can't take your offer..." She looked at the Lumas staring intently at her. "I don't wish to be so much trouble. I only wanted to get to Mario to help me recover my home..."

"You're in luck, lady. This matter also involves my people in this room," Master Hand pointed out. "The Subspace Army did this to you. They're our enemies. Whatever they do to fight us will be responded quickly... If you're still on the fence about leaving, do you think you will survive out there? There's a chance they'll hunt you down..."

"..." Rosalina remained silent as she looked at the Lumas.

"My girl, please reconsider this offer," Polari advised. "We don't have anywhere else to go other than this mansion. The Lumas will probably starve if we hit the road again... You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

"No... But to suddenly live with people again... It doesn't feel right to me," she said, stealing glances from the people in the room looking back at her. "The galaxy used to be my home with the observatory..."

The Luma adviser frowned. "Everyone understands the heavy burden of losing our home, Rosalina," he said. "And they want to help us in any way they can. I know it's been far too long since you last lived as a normal human girl and that you've become so used to wander around in the stars above... That time needs to stop now. It's time for you to go back to your roots and relish what you have down here. We will stay with you like always!"

Rosalina felt Mario grasp her two hands together. "Stay with us, Rosalina," he offered. "I promise your time here won't be a bad one. This mansion is always so lively."

"..." The princess asked something important. "...Nothing will ever replace my first home, Mario..."

"I never meant it to be that way."

She gasped slightly.

He smiled warmly. "I'm adding a new home to you. That's all there is to it," the plumber said. "Your home will come back to you, but you have to be patient until we can make your wish come true. It'll take us a lot of time to recover it... That's the truth I can tell you."

"He's right, Rosalina," spoke Peach as she and Luigi came to join them. "Stay with us in the mansion. You won't regret this decision... We'll do our best to make you feel right at home."

"J-just like your first home!" Luigi sniffed. "You'll have so much fun and joy like always!"

"And I'll help you to take care of the Lumas!" Yoshi added. "I have so much free time to be your babysitter again!"

Seeing the four Mushroom Kingdom residents voice out their worries for her made Rosalina sniff again. She grasped Mario's hands slowly and said in a hushed voice, "...I'll stay with you... Thank you..." As a reply, the four surrounded and hugged her tightly, followed by the Lumas and Polari doing the same. "Thank you so much for having me..." There were more sniffing sounds coming from the tables.

"...Falco, are you sniffing?" Fox asked duly.

Falco had a napkin covering his nose. "S-shut up, you. I can be very sentimental when I want to," he sobbed. He asked a sniffing Chris for another napkin.

Master Hand cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Alright. From now on, Rosalina will stay with us, okay? I will arrange a special room for her and her star babies. It's not going to be much, but I hope the room I'll prepare for her will be enough to calm her down... I want everyone here to treat her with respect," he warned them. "She has suffered a great loss due to the army targeting her. Be mindful of her feelings, okay? Give her protection should our enemies ever try to attack her...again." Everyone in there nodded, agreeing to the plan.

Then Samus approached the hand and said, "Not me," causing many to gasp.

"Oh no. Ohhhhhhhhhh no," Master Hand groaned. "I knew you would fall to your rebellious side at the worst of times one day, Samus. I'm disappoin-"

"I'm leaving. That's why I can't protect her for now."

"...Ah, I see. Yes, that's understandable," the hand said, until it took five seconds for him to let that sink in. "...Wait, come again? What do you mean you have to leave now?! Don't you see the heavy fire we're walking on, you woman? And you just found it convenient to tell me you're leaving us?!"

"It's both convenient and inconvenient," Samus said.

"Those two words clash so hard when they're said like that in the same sentence..."

"Anyway... I have to leave right now. Just this morning, my suit intercepted a distress call coming from my universe. I must reply to that call immediately."

Master Hand grunted. In retrospect, allowing the bounty hunter to have trans-dimensional connections to her universe of origin using his magic was a bad idea. The woman was a pretty stern customer who wasn't oblivious to shady contract deals, something the other original eleven failed to notice, and add conditions of her own. "Seriously? Now you have to leave? Aren't you aware of the dangers the army has prepared for us?"

"You gave us two days of rest," she pointed out. "I'll do my best to finish this matter before that time limit passes up. Also, I want to remind you that you said my universe has army spies in them. Can't I eliminate them to secure your protection while they can't do anything in this span of time?"

"Well... I suppose my hand magic could give you time to do just that... But two days aren't going to be enough for you. If that time frame ends, I'm not so sure if I'll be able to stay in touch with you, let alone make a portal for you to take! I want to consider this option very carefu-"

"I have, and I want to head out."

"D-did you even stop to think once?"

"Oh yes, after I got the call," she said blankly. "I'm prepared to face anything that comes my way. You forget that I'm very experienced even when fighting alone... I have defeated more than three galactic abominations; probably even more than most people here combined."

"Okay, that's plain rude to all the Smashers here," the hand said. "Hey, people! Feel free to prove her wrong! I chose you all because of your important achievements in life!"

Silence...

"...Really? None of you is going to argue?"

"Other than just defeating two abominations and more than a dozen of bosses with everyone's help while I've been here..." Chris trailed off, "...I can't brag about anything else in my life that I did by myself."

"Mentioning the many times I defeated Bowser don't compare to her achievements..." Mario said.

"There's always one Link in my world who always defeats a big monster enemy...so I can't take all the credit of my past and future selves who carry my legacy," Link said.

Zelda, dismayed, frowned above her open palm. "Nobody please mention the times I get kidnapped. I only help Link at the last minute but it doesn't compare to all the work he does..." she regretted.

"There's nothing like a bad monster to beat in my world that I needed tp defeat with my team," Red said, speaking for nearly every Pokémon but Pikachu and Jigglypuff whom belonged to a parallel universe.

Pikachu looked away with a defeated look. "Is using the power of friendship to stop rampaging Legendary Pokémon without physically hurting them a good achievement to compare with Samus?" he asked.

Jigglypuff sighed. "Of course not. It doesn't count..." she said.

"We just climbed a big mountain to recover our fruit," Popo and Nana said in unison, looking ashamed.

"Marth and I have defeated our own abominations, but...they're not the same as the ones Samus fought," Roy said.

"I-I don't suppose gathering treasure to survive and gain massive profits count?" Olimar asked.

Fox looked annoyed. "Hey, me and my team defeated four abominations threatening to destroy or enslave the entire Lylat System. I feel I'm on the same ground as Samus!" he argued.

Then a deadpan Falco said, "Except she did it alone, without using flying ships, and just using her own physical skills and weapons." The vulpine groaned in recognition. "Our achievements are nothing to her."

Sonic grinned with arms crossed over his chest. "I've defeated more than six myself single-handed," he boasted.

"No you didn't," Pit said. "I know your background! Your friends helped you out so much before you got to go all Super Sonic on your enemies that they deserve as much credit as you do! Your argument is invalid!" The hedgehog's right eye twitched at this.

"Kirby is truly the only one who can compare to Samus," Meta Knight said out of the blue. "He has done just as much as her."

Diddy's jaw dropped a bit. "For real? Kirby? He's done it alone?" he said surprised.

"Though, on the other hand, the dangers Samus has faced in the past required more heavy preparation and years of training, unlike how in Kirby's case it was far easier to control. The only trait they share in common is probably the number of threats they have stopped alone with little to no outside aid," the knight clarified. Kirby cheered happily.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Samus is more than capable of taking care of herself than any of us do," Master Hand said.

"Nonsense," said Mewtwo and Lucario with stern looks. Only the latter was reprimanded by an annoyed look coming from Chris, making Lucario remember his point was nonexistent for more than five days in the past. Mewtwo later cursed his luck when he remembered that fact as well.

"Whatever! She made her point and I'll oblige her wish," the hand said, snapping his fingers to create a portal before the bounty hunter. "There we go. This portal is connected to your ship in the last place you left it at... Godspeed to you, Samus. Should you find any sort of Subspace trouble, know that we will head over to give you a hand whether you like it or not."

Samus nodded. "I understand that... Well..." she turned to everyone and gave a formal salute, "...see you later." Without much more to say, the bounty hunter walked into the portal and vanished along with it...

Samus left your team...

"That's... That's all she could say to us?" C. Falcon said astonished. "Couldn't she say something more heartwarming and touching than that?"

"You forget Samus isn't much of a social person when nothing interests her," Snake spoke. "When something does interest her, she says everything she has to say to make her point. I have hardly seen her hanging out with anyone in this mansion other than our pink princess who kept taking her to her room by her arm."

Chris winced. "(It's like she's still trying to close herself from us. What happened to her in her childhood was just too much, I think...)" he thought concerned.

Pit was heard chuckling. "You guys worry too much about her. She'll be just fine on her own," he said so offhandedly. "Me? I'm here to stay and keep on fighting against the army. There's absolutely NOTHING else in my schedule that'll keep me from helping you guys out."

"Oh, really now, Pit?" spoke an echoing voice that made the people who knew it shudder.

As many Smashers started looking around for the source, Pit blinked. "Hey, that sounded just like..." A divine tower of light with a heavenly fanfare suddenly manifested in the middle row of the tables, where its owner appeared within a flash, gracefully floating down from the ceiling with her long locks of green hair waving smoothly in the air like the waves of the ocean on a good day. Her ethereal face would bring hope and prosperity to the lucky ones who would get a chance to see her in person, while her voice alone would revive fallen heroes from their downed states. With her fourth wall request for a magnificent introduction fulfilled, the saint goddess Palutena appeared from the pillar of light as it started to fade away. "L-Lady Palutena!" Pit said, standing up from his seat.

"Hmm-hm!" she chuckled as she saw the whole team look at her with surprised looks. "It feels so good to drop in like this. Good job for getting rid of that Subspace matter, you guys. As a reward, you get to see...me!"

"Aww, hell," spoke more than five people when they saw her again.

Master Hand was quick to float to her side. "Oh, it's you," he said. "If you're here for the mess of dead Centurions in front of the mansion's entrance, take them all away from here. Passerby are going to get the wrong idea if they see those weird guys dropped dead on my lawn!"

Palutena smiled. "Already taken care of, Mr. Master Hand," she said. "That's not the only reason I'm here, though. I'm here to take my faithful commander to take care of our personal business in our universe. That was the deal I made with your guys just yesterday."

"...Did somebody here sign another fishy contract - with a goddess - behind my wrist?!" the hand asked in shock. Roy and Pit hung down their heads in shame.

"Calm down! Nobody signed a contract with me...but I should've done that when I had the chance," the goddess mused to herself. "Enough joking around. I need to whisk Pit away from here for a little, long while, if you don't mind."

"First Samus, now Pit? What's the deal with you people suddenly dropping out at a critical moment like this?"

Palutena pointed at him. "If my universe goes down to the Underworld, what reason will Pit have to fight the Subspace Army?" she asked...then answered back. "Well, he could try to get revenge in a heroic yet stubborn way before he would come to terms with his idiotic attitude and realize he had nowhere else to go other than staying here with you forever. He would just fight for personal gain, with no way to enjoy his life anymore. He would become a sad shell of his former shell, forever to rot in the long torture that is life... Oh, so very lonely..."

While most people there looked horrified at her genre savvy fact, Pit looked away from her. "Lady Palutena, I'm not a fallen angel or something like that," he said.

"You will become one if you don't come with me right away," his goddess said. "The Underworld Army is back, and Medusa is leading the attack, Pit."

Pit gasped and looked at her. "What?! She's back?! After 25 years of much sought out peace she's back?!" he asked.

Palutena rubbed her chin. "Technically, somebody made this happen 3 years earlier than it was meant to be..." She looked straight at the reader, leaving everyone but Pit puzzled as to who she was looking at. "You know who."

"...Wait, what? Is Pit 25 years old?" Yoshi asked.

"No, no, he's older than 22 years...I think," Olimar said.

"He's an angel. His age is irrelevant to know, unlike the goddess who's probably a million years old," Wolf said.

"Uh-oh," Pit muttered.

His goddess grimaced. "Now, now, you don't want to cross that line there, you gray humanoid wolf with the ironic name," Palutena warned. "There's not much more time to lose, Pit. You must come with me to our sanctuary to prep you for the war. Are you up for it?"

Pit nodded, pumping up a fist. "I'm always ready to deliver a sound trashing to more Underworld Army scum in your name," he said.

"That's the new spirit," she said pleased. "Master Hand, would you please let him go?"

"...If I say no, you'll still take him away, won't you," the deadpan hand said.

"Well, I'm a goddess, so...yeah, pretty much. I make my own rules on the go," she said with a giggle. "...By the way, I heard you're going to look for new people for this thing, aren't you? Would you consider having m-?"

"Ah-ah-ah! I'll rather stop you there, missy. You're not allowed to know this much...and I would implore you to stop having this many liberties with us. Can you do that for me?"

Palutena rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever. I already spoiled myself of the future roster you have in mind anyway." Nearly everyone in the room gasped at that. "But I'm not telling anyone here, not even Pit. I want to see the excited and the disappointed faces when the times comes...especially the disappointed faces."

Master Hand was having enough of her carefree attitude. "C-can you just leave and take Pit with you already? You're ruining the mood here," he said.

"Fine... I'll let your guys come to my realm in case we need a few more hands to take care of our business, which I think it won't happen. Oh wait, preview theater spoiler scene... Oh well, I'll see you very soon," the goddess said with a smile as she called forth a heavenly light - accompanied with a fanfare - to shine down on her and Pit.

As Pit's feet started to leave the floor, he started waving at everyone. "I'm gonna say some more heartwarming and touching unlike Samus!" he said. "So! Um, ah, well, I'll see you guys later!" They thought he was going to say more than that, but a beat of silence followed. Strangely, the light didn't take Pit and Palutena away yet. "...Lady Palutena, we're not leaving yet. Something wrong with your godly powers of light?"

"Oh no, I'm just waiting for you to come up with a touching good bye," she said, mildly annoyed. "Say something more adequate than that."

"Oh! Um..." He thought very hard on a fitting line, but he ended up groaning at the end. "Aww, I can't come up with anything good..."

"You're coming back here eventually one day. That thought ruins the whole mood you're trying to seek," Palutena said chuckling. "Time's up for us. I have to prep you for your biggest task yet... Defeating Medusa and the Underworld Army once and for all...again. Absolutely NOTHING else will come in our way!" She raised her one-of-a-kind staff into the light, whisking her and Pit from the floor into the air. "Good luck with your own missions, everyone! This isn't going to be the last you'll see of me, that's for sure!" Some of them grumbled tiredly right before the light tower vanished along with the two celestial beings...

Palutena has whisked Pit away from your team, goddess of light style!

With the goddess gone, many Smashers who hadn't gotten the chance to see her in person looked tired and confused. "Pit's goddess seemed a little too...joyful? Carefree? What's the word I'm trying to use here?" Popo wondered.

"She was freaky, that's what," Wolf said. "One freaky goddess who really is not above amusing herself watching others squirm for her entertainment."

"N-no, that sounds a little too wrong to refer to her," Zelda said with an embarrassed expression. "I expected her to be more regal-like and pure in attitude. I kind of got disappointed that my expectations for a goddess like her were...destroyed so simply like that."

"Oh, she was just like you expected, Zelda," Master Hand said. "Pit and Palutena had sudden changes of heart, though. I have no idea how that even happened. I blame Tabuu for this myself. Maybe he had a hand in this like how Sonic's voice sounds too different."

"What? My voice sounds different?" Sonic asked. "Does not! It sounds the same to me!"

"No, your voice definitely sounds waaaaaay different than before," Link said. "I can't even tell if you're the same person when I'm just hearing your voice."

The hedgehog scoffed. "Oh, whatever. You guys have some severe amnesia issues... I'm playing the blaming game on butterfly man too," he shot back.

"Enough of that, please," Master Hand said. "Two Smashers left today, everyone. This isn't complete until there's a third one leaving as well. Is anybody here planning to leave now?" Everyone looked at one another to see if someone else was going to leave, though no one else truly wanted to ditch everyone behind. "Yeah, that's what I thought..." He turned back to Rosalina and her big group. "Rosalina, I'll arrange for a special room for you to use. You, Mario, and friends can follow me to the fourth floor... Are you willing to stay with us?"

"...Yes, I am," Rosalina spoke, looking just as unsure as she had looked like since the beginning. "Please, lead the way..." The Lumas suddenly broke up cheering happily, giving their mother a much needed small smile that seemed a little too forced.

Everyone else who weren't called to the fourth floor watched the Mario group leaving from the command room, where most people started to leave to do their own stuff. They had agreed to leave Rosalina alone with Mario and the others as to not disrupt her peace. Before anyone knew it, the day went by until the night fell down on them...

Roof

Super Mario Galaxy – To The Gateway

Above the starry skies, the vast unknown reaches of space shot glimmering meteors that shone in the distance, leaving long trails of space dust that glittered like magic. The entire upper half of the sky was slowly turning into a big show for citizens to see from their homes, but it was hardly the time for the big event. There was half an hour of time left until the true meteor star shower would begin. In the meantime, there were a few streams of light coursing through space above the rather crowded section of the roof area of the Smash Mansion.

Word had spread quickly about the event in the mansion. Most of the Smashers had gathered on top of the roof to see the blinking stars in the darkness of the night, with no big light receptors to black out the majestic objects flying by the planet's sky. The time of the event was taken seriously by many who took advantage of it as a form of good relaxation among friends. Scattered around in small and large groups on top of blankets, the Smashers talked with one another as the stars kept traveling and leaving behind their awe-inspiring tails.

Not only were there Smashers on top, but there were also some of the musicians and the guests joining them. "Remind me again how is it that we wound up learning of these many people, some of them not being Pokémon, and how we just...got our own rooms in this big place?" Hilbert asked his group of three friends sitting next to him, with arms wrapped around their knees.

"Basically, I extorted the talking glove into letting us receive some sort of benefit for being imprisoned unfairly and fed trash," Cheren noted with a dull look. "Objectively, what Bianca made us do should have warranted a less severe punishment than what we really got. Our Pokémon were also taken away for no reason. That helped me to further strengthen a good compelling argument..." He looked at Bianca looking proudly of herself. "You better not be rejoicing for what you did, Bianca. There was no way for us to know what we could have gotten into by trespassing into private property. Be lucky we managed to secure a good place to rest."

Bianca sighed in defeat. "Oh, but it all worked out, didn't it?" she asked, her forehead resting on her hands. "There's no need to complain a little more..."

"Yes, truly, but you should keep yourself together even during a small, harmless rain," the insufferable trainer said. "Getting a cold is far better than being subjected to consequences far beyond your control."

"Cheren, please..." Hilda sighed, looking a little down. "We should enjoy what we got from this strange experience..."

"..." Hilbert looked serious. His friend Hilda hadn't looked so well even if they managed to recover their Pokémon. In fact, recovering their Pokémon was what made Hilda feel sad. One of her Pokémon didn't make it to her, and she feared it had gotten lost somewhere she didn't know. She could have sworn that her trusty Samurott's Poké Ball was with her when they infiltrated the mansion by accident. Samurott had been Hilda's first Pokémon partner since he was a young starter. "Hilda, did you manage to find Samurott?" he asked.

She looked worried at him. "No, I couldn't find his ball anywhere. That guy Master Hand said there wasn't an extra Poké Ball missing in his office when he found them all..." she said.

Bianca looked up from her knees. "Didn't you try looking all over for it?" she asked.

"Y-yes, I tried everywhere in the library, the hallway we went through, that wrecked computer room, but I couldn't find it..." Her fears of having lost Samurott forever were saddening her so much that started to sniff. "I-I don't know how this could happen in the first place..."

The blond of the group gasped and looked at Cheren. "Cheren, stop her from crying!" she pleaded him.

Cheren looked flustered. "W-what can I do?! Why don't you do it, Bianca?!You're far closer to Hilda than Hilbert or me!" he shot back.

"You always talk so sophisticated-like! It's gotten me out from so many problems in the past thanks to your words!"

"Are you looking proud of that embarrassing track record?"

"It doesn't matter! Just help her out, will you?!"

Hilbert patted Hilda's back with care. "It's easy to say she'll stop crying if we find Samurott again, but...it's hard to find a little sphere in a big place like this... I-I'm not saying it's impossible to find it, though! If we persevere in our search, we'll find him soon enough!" he encouraged her.

But Hilda kept sniffing. "I wonder..." he muttered.

As the other three exchanged glances, Pichu came to them. "Um, excuse me... Is somebody here named Hilda?" he asked. After having seen a talking Pikachu, it only came as a mild surprise that another Pokémon could talk their language fluently.

Hilda looked at him. "That's me," she said.

"Oh!" Pichu smiled and showed her a Poké Ball with the H sticker on top. "I think this belongs to you! The Samurott guy I met told me you were his trainer, right?"

Hilda quickly cleaned her eyes and grabbed the sphere just as fast. "O-oh my goodness!" she stared at the ball for a moment before calling out the creature trapped inside to confirm her wishes. Much to her delight, her mighty Samurott manifested right next to her, roaring out proudly. "S-Samurott, you're okay!" she rejoiced, standing up and hugging her Pokémon tightly around his neck. The Samurott looked happy and nudged his coral helmet against the side of her face in a playful matter. The two didn't forget to shed tears of joy at their reunion.

As it happened, Bianca also shed tears behind her. "O-oh, this is so heartwarming to my eyes! Cheren, give me a napkin!" she pleaded, much to the chagrin of her mature friend who handed over a napkin. Heeding her words, he gave her a napkin just right before she started crying.

Hilbert chuckled. "Glad that got resolved so fast... Thank you, you," he told Pichu.

"Naaah, it's okay. I've been looking for Hilda to give her Samurott back all day long when I could," Pichu said. He looked up at Samurott. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone. Keep shedding those tears!"

"A-are you making fun of me?! T-these aren't tears; I'm sweating through my eyes!" Samurott replied flustered.

"Sure, big guy..." Pichu trailed off before he waved at the other humans and walked away. He caught one glimpse of Hilda brushing Samurott's long mustache, pleasing the Formidable Pokémon.

Cheren fixed his glasses as he intently stared at Pichu rejoining a large group of young Smashers. "First a talking Pikachu, and now a talking Pichu... Then there are those other Pokémon who can also talk... I must get to the bottom of this strange finding..." he muttered to himself, eyeing behind them at Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Snivy. "Ah, another trainer. He should be useful..."

Near the left side of the center of the roof, Riolu had his hands stretched out to the sky, where he tried to reach out for the curious lights cruising through the air. Although he would never be able to catch one, he was still having fun trying to cover some of the comets with his hands. He giggled and giggled so much as he lied his head on top of Chris's chest, who was lying his head down on the right black ring of Lucario's shoulder. Lucario heard a sniff escape his trainer's relieved expression. "Just hear him giggle... Right above me..." Chris muttered, wiping his tearful eyes. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me so far..."

Lucario couldn't really agree to that because of the fact he couldn't quite wrap his long thick arm on the two of them, all because of that Riolu who feared him greatly. He couldn't even get to have his arm leaning next to his trainer's side, so the only other option was to make his spike-equipped wrist lay flat and stretched on a straight line away from the two of them, turning into a possible death trap for anyone who would trip and get injured by the spike he never got to use in battle. "Yes... I suppose so..." Lucario muttered, his forced smile staring up at the few comets he could see. "(This is the worst for me. How much longer should I wait until I can hold these two together? I'm missing the baby's best days as...well, a baby right in front of me!)"

"Riiiiiiiii. Riiiiiiii," they heard the baby trail off with glee at the funny lights in the sky. He giggled louder when Chris wrapped his arms over him.

"(...I can only wait,)" Lucario thought, his forced smile turning into a sincere smile. "(I shouldn't feel so down.)"

Then Chris started talking. "During the free time we'll have after doing those dangerous missions...I'm going to pour my heart on him," he said. "Tomorrow, I'll start measuring his height to show him how big he'll get once he becomes a boy. After that, I'm going to start educating him like I educated you, Lucario. I'll teach him how to make his own food, how to water the plants, how to take a bath for himself, how to be cordial to people, and even how to write! ...Too bad you need to wait for him to re-accept you. I was really looking forward to you being his role model and a big brother during his baby days..."

That last part of the plan might have as well struck Lucario's chest with ten lava swords of searing magma. "(Wh-why did he have to say that?!)" Lucario thought with great sadness and disappointment, but not without letting his whole body tremble with the strong sniff he unconsciously let out.

Chris's head bumped slightly against Lucario's shoulder, making him look up at him. "Are you okay, Lucario? ...Are you crying?" He looked worried.

"I'm just...f-feeling so proud of you for taking in a baby Riolu to teach him how to be like me..." Lucario sniffed. Despite that not being the whole truth, Chris used his left hand to rub Lucario's chin with care. "(Oh, thank you, Chris. I needed this so much...)" He growled with a lot of affection...though he once again felt disappointed that he couldn't even reach out to his trainer's head using his long snout. "(Dammit, he's too far away!)" Instead, he awkwardly used his left arm to rub Chris's forehead. The World Traveler looked a little dumbfounded at that strange way he received affection physically.

Moving his eyes away from the two Pokémon, Chris spotted the Mario group sitting together with Rosalina and her group of Lumas...and she seemed to look much better than when they found her at the ice cream shop. She wasn't smiling, however. She was intently staring at the stars while sitting down with everyone. The galactic princess was properly prepared for the occasion, because she was seen using a telescope that her father gave her a long time ago to stargaze. "How are you feeling?" Yoshi asked her.

Rosalina put her telescope down and smiled a bit. "Much better... This meteor shower is putting me at ease," she said. "It brings back good memories to me, gazing at the stars from down below with my telescope like I used to. I find...peace in the galaxy."

Peach smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Rosalina," she said. "Are you going to feel much better after tonight, though? I'm worried you'll be back to feeling down. We don't have many meteor showers around here..."

"...I..." Rosalina frowned. "...I have to put on a brave face for my children..." The Lumas were seen floating around the group, staring up at the comets pass by. "They need a mother who can smile and look happy. They're like mirrors who want to reflect good emotions to feel safe..."

Luigi shrugged. "B-but you need to look happy when you feel like it! It won't work if you force a smile all the time..." He gulped. "Y-you got yourself the biggest room out of everyone here! It's looks like the Comet Observatory, even!"

Mario raised an eyebrow. "(Huh. That's very strange for Master Hand to be this nice to her by giving her a big room that has two floors... Does he really feel very sorry for her loss?)" he thought.

"You're all wonderful people..." Rosalina spoke softly. "I feel a little guilty receiving so much help from you. It doesn't feel right to feel so pampered..."

"Ah, nonsense, my dear," Polari said. "You deserve all the help you can get! You're a very important figure among the planets and the cosmos. While your job as a seer of the cosmos deprives you from meeting others, you mustn't undermine yourself so much! Take what you're given with a smile and enjoy everything you obtain from your new friends in here. There's something so special in you that everyone can plainly see... They want you to be happy while they spend time with you...because you do have friends."

Rosalina wiped her eyes a bit. "I-I see... It feels so strange...and so welcoming to be back down here," she said.

Yoshi leaned his head to her right shoulder. "We love you so much! Don't be so modest!" he encouraged.

Chris and Lucario heard a few laughs after that. "...I'm going to start to arrange a meeting to talk with her more often," Chris told Lucario. "I feel like I should start to know her a little more than I do. She needs to have some fun with us."

Lucario was proud of his sweet trainer. "You should probably do that. You have a good air that lets you be friends with so many people," he remarked.

The teen blushed. "O-oh, you're also coming with me on this idea," he said, making Lucario blink. "You also need to be a little more social with others. I want you to display that heroic sense of justice to protect others like you do with me."

"But you will always be my first priority, Chris," Lucario said. "Anyone else will have to be after you."

"It's fine by me. It's technically impossible for you to stop liking me so much..." Chris saw his mighty Pokémon chuckle heartily. "I'm sure one day not so far away Riolu will like you so much... I'll make that my first mission starting tomorrow."

"R-really? You will try harder to get through him for me?"

"If I want to truly feel joy, I need you two to accept each other. You accepted Riolu just fine but he needs to do it next to establish a connection between all of us together..." He rubbed the baby's head, causing him to bark happily. "...It's like a big missed opportunity for him to be like this, you know?"

"I know very much how that feels..." Lucario muttered, but then he smiled at Chris. "Thank you, Chris. I'm so proud of having a smart, sweet trainer like you... So many trainers should try to be like us."

Though he blushed again, Chris wasn't embarrassed by that remark. "I wouldn't feel so special, then..." The two of them laughed for a bit until Riolu started wiggling on Chris's arms, the baby's hands moving quickly to the sides. The two looked up in awe when the true show started. "Oh... Wow..."

"It's really something else..."

High above in the sky, dozens of comets started to circle eastward. The entire sky filled with so many glittering, shining comets that gave the impression that it was raining in the space with long, streaming rivers of shining dust cruising through with not much care in the world. Their intense light seen from far away was strong enough to cause some light to illuminate the big, dark landscape deep below their reach. All in all, it was a magnificent event. A yellow Luma begged Rosalina to use her telescope to see the comets up-close, which she gladly handed over to him.

Keeping his eyes in the sky, a grinning Fox approached Chris. "This is the best way to celebrate our reunion with the rest of the guys, don't you think so?" he asked.

The Ancient Minister and Mr. G&W came from the same direction, looking up at the comets. "Loud parties aren't really my thing," the minister said. "I'd rather have a quiet night like tonight to rest. Meteor showers are a good way to remind me that it is worth it to defend the worlds from chaos and devastation..." He frowned. "Here I thought I wouldn't get to ever protect them from Tabuu and just escape from my troubles. I was very foolish..."

"Oh, stop dwelling in the past so much. We'll succeed in this big fight!" Mr. G&W encouraged. "Oof... I don't want to think about our troubles. Let's keep staring up into the stars a little more..."

On the northwest corner of the room, the young Smashers noticed that Ness was looking around for something in the sky other than the comets. "Why are you quickly looking around?" Nana asked.

"Me and comets have some history..." Ness said. "One comet changed my whole life by telling me of this great destiny I needed to complete with three other people. I'm expecting a comet to come crashing down nearby, where I'll approach it and find another talking bug."

Pikachu looked bored at him. "Ness, I know your life is full of the creepiest of things, but you should leave your botched clairvoyant senses to rest," he said. "Relax! This is a night for resting, not for battling."

"Usually, when I leave my guard down, something happens," Ness said. "I'm not going to let you guys bring my guard down right now. Someone has to be attentive to the looming danger. I'll take that task gladly..." He saw them frowning and sighing. "You'll think I'm insane, but then you'll see how right I am! Everyone on top of this roof might be smiling and enjoying their time together, but I know better! There's going to be this massive comet that's going to strike this very roof!"

Lucas gulped and looked up at the meteor shower to see if Ness's assumption was correct, though there wasn't anything that was veering off-course from one of the many single comets as far as his normal eyesight could see. "...I don't see anything weird," Lucas said.

"Maybe it won't happen right away," Ness said, looking suspicious. "Maybe it'll happen right at the end of the show. Maybe it'll happen once we go to bed. Maybe it'll happen right when someone tells me on my face nothing happened. Maybe it'll happen in a week. Maybe it'll-"

"You're starting to become increasingly more and more paranoid with every 'maybe' part," Pikachu interrupted. "Gosh, Ness! Don't try to scare us with a crashing comet! We could die and get to the place where you got!"

Ness shuddered. "O-oh, you don't want to know where I got with the others... You'll become somebody's little slave, running around like a headless chicken in a huge city full of monsters that the living can't see during plain day, and then when you think you got to the end of these challenges expecting your wish to come true, you'll be lucky if they let you revive..."

The young Smashers exchanged blank glances. "What does that even mean?" Jigglypuff asked.

"It's the sad history of my life. Don't make me remember that again!" The others rolled their eyes at that and went back to look up at the stars. Kirby was seen taking photos of the show with a camera, which he thought would cheer up his assumed pal Dedede, who had been feeling so down since he was nastily punished by Meta Knight's lack of importance in him as a living being.

The event kept going on for a long half an hour of comets brushing the night's sky, where eventually the comets started to die down in numbers until just a few ones remained behind, flying through the space... Seeing less comets fly by made Riolu ask for more, his hands stretched out to the space. "That was a nice event..." Mr. G&W said.

"Aww, I couldn't make a second proper wish to a shooting star..." Morgan said. "Besides wishing to be reunited with my father, I couldn't quite make a good wish. I had so many chances and I let them slip by... Wait, there are still more shooting stars. I'll stay up all night and think of a good wish before it's too late."

Marth had already been asked if she was part of his world, though he found out that Morgan's belongings didn't look familiar, as he has studied a bit on magic verses that didn't look the same as Morgan's magic tomes. "Striving to make your wishes come true will yield some results for sure," Marth told her. "You shouldn't leave your work for the stars to do in your place when you think you can do it."

"Wow... That's some deep, meaningful advice right there..." Morgan said in awe. "It should be true if it sounds that deep! Okay, maybe I'll stop wishing and just do my usual thing like I've always done it. Logically, stars don't do anything else other than come crashing down and die. Why would I trust a suicidal object of space with my wishes?"

"Uh... The depth of that advice shouldn't really be enough to convince you, but...you get the main point, I think," Marth said. She chuckled.

It was quickly becoming late as some people started to enter the mansion with yawning voices. When Riolu yawned himself, he curled up on his trainer's arms and fell soundly asleep. "It's time for him to sleep..." Chris said, standing up from his spot with Lucario. "I wish this event could've been a little longer. It was still nice to see."

"It felt magical, even," Lucario agreed. "Our first meteor shower together... I'll remember this for my whole life forever."

"Me too. I'll ask Kirby to give me a few pictures just to remember the moment," Chris said as he and Lucario started to walk back inside. "I'm glad this day was pretty quiet and so calm. I needed this so much after the past few days..."

Once the three entered the mansion, they stumbled upon the young Smashers as the rest left. "So, Ness, your crazy, paranoid assumptions of a crashing comet turned out to be bogus," Pikachu said with a devious look. "Thanks for somewhat ruining the mood. All your talk about that made me feel vigilant during the entire event."

Ness grunted and took one more look at the sky to find the incoming catastrophe. "Everyone is leaving the roof! It's about the right time for a comet to come crash down!" he said, looking to the south.

Nana grunted next and dragged Ness back into the mansion by his neck collar. "Yeah, yeah. Stop it with the paranoia. Your comfy bed awaits your messed up big head. It better put your stress to rest before next morning..." she trailed off with a yawn.

Music stops

The roof then became alone with no soul roaming its flat surface or sitting at the edges. It had only the light of the stars and the moon to accompany it, along with the sounds of crickets chirp all night long... Though, after a minute of natural silence, the chirps of the crickets started to die down mysteriously by a faint but red glow covering the entire upper floor. The source of the glow was coming from a large fireball that was coming from the northern skies, its intensity increasing as its proximity to the mansion's roof decreased in the distance it had left to land down forcefully. After a whole minute of the red glow reaching its peak, the roof was violently blasted by an explosion caused by a small, scorching rock that tore through the floor and reached deep into the main lobby of the ground floor. The force of the impact shook the very mansion slightly on all corners, causing dozens of screams that were silenced once the shaking subsided.

However, only one person looked positive at the otherwise horrifying incident. "HA! I KNEW IT!" Ness was heard yelling at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing. "I FREAKING KNEW IT! AND YOU THOUGHT I WAS INSANE! WHO'S YOUR GOD NOW, PEOPLE?! I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: ME!"

"HOW CAN YOU BE CHEERING AT A TIME LIKE THIS, YOU WHACKO?!" Pikachu yelled in disgust, until he found it right to slap Ness's face with his tail.

Main Lobby

Just about everyone who lived in the mansion had to rush down from the upper floors to check what had just happened. The comet that struck the mansion through its ten floors plus the roof left a deep, long scar in the form of holes running from the top corner of the roof to the bottom corner of the lobby, right in front of the entrance where a small, smoking crater was created. Over forty people in all where keeping their distance from the crater by standing in the two hallways and the two staircases, with some others staring at the smoke from the kitchen area. They knew very well the object had come from high up in the space...though it was most likely a stray comet and nothing else...

"It's decided," Popo said. "Next time, we're tossing Ness out of our team. He's a living weirdness magnet that'll keep dragging danger right to us!"

"O-oh, come now," Nana said, gulping as she stared at the crater. "He's not some sort of bad luck charm meant to hurt us all!"

"T-then how do you explain this?" Pichu asked, standing behind Pikachu for cover. "H-he was sure a comet was going to strike us down! We barely dodged being killed by that!"

"You should start worshiping the ground I walk on instead!" Ness complained. "If it hadn't been for me, you'd be an adorable smear of internal organs on the floor!"

"You weren't exactly trying to drive us away from the roof, you dork," Diddy pointed out.

Some others took the event as a bad omen. A comet striking down their home was a very surprising but at the same time shocking event. It made them wary about more random comets falling down from the sky. "It's just a comet..." Chris told himself and the startled Riolu. "It's just a comet that crashed down on the mansion. N-nothing else. It's just a piece of space rock..."

"..." Lucario grimaced when he sensed a faint aura coming from the crater. "...T-there's life in there, and I don't mean it's coming from nature itself..."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww, craaaaaaaaaaap," many Smashers said in unison.

"Honestly now..." Mewtwo began, crossing his arms as he too sensed a presence inside the crater, "the army isn't just the only enemy we should be careful about. There are other forces outside them that will conspire to take us down."

"Are you seriously saying the galaxy is out to get us too?" Squirtle asked.

"Sort of. It goes on to prove that our worlds aren't as peaceful as we thought they look like. This is something you should never forget."

Master Hand, the only valiant soul to face the crater closer than anybody else, sighed loudly. "Never a moment of rest in this place, huh? As if the army wasn't enough of a threat, comets are raining down on us... Wait, there's life in that crater? Oh boy, an alien. JUST WHAT WE NEEDED," he complained. "Okay, everyone. Let me handle this. No alien in this universe is strong enough to stop me from breaking havoc on their squishy skulls."

"Are you simply going to curl into a fist and crush them?" asked Meta Knight.

"My big size is an advantage. It's almost like an awesome curse..." They heard grunting, groaning sounds coming from the smoking crater. "O-okay, here it comes! Everyone, take cover!" Every single person in there crouched down or ran back to shield themselves between the walls of the hallway, though some hid everything but their peeking faces, curious about the alien that had arrived on that stray comet...

Until a familiar Mime Jr. wandered out of the kitchen and approached the crater with a very curious look. Spotting the baby mime, Yoshi gasped. "T-there he is! I've been looking for him all over!" he said, running down from the staircase to the left and passing Master Hand. Mime Jr. heard the footsteps and panicked when he saw Yoshi again, the last memory he had of him when he was a creepy child kidnapper. He couldn't quite escape because the green dino easily caught up to him and raised him above his head. "N-no, no! Don't panic! It wasn't really me who you saw the past few days!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." a loud, groaning sound came from the crater, where Yoshi and Mime Jr. stopped struggling to see a dusty, gloved hand stick out from the smoke. Fearing for their lives, Mime Jr. forgot all about his fears against Yoshi as the latter clutched him on his arms and backed off, standing next to Master Hand.

The owner of the gloved hand turned out to have no limbs joining the glove to his circle-shaped body. All covered in dust and soot, the strange alien crawled out from the crater into the charred red carpet. Coughing, he weakly looked around to see dozens of surprised faces staring back at him. His energies quickly leaving him, he muttered a weak but audible "H-help...m-me...p-please..." and passed out right then and there...

The Smashers would soon know the new mess they were about to enter starting the next day...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Ooh, what a suspenseful cliffhanger! It totally changed the entire mood in less than three pages..." Stiltzkin said. "See you next time on the next chapter: An Alien Friend in Need. Overwriting your save data!"

Overwriting File...

Chris (Lvl. 120) - Lucario (Lvl. 1000) - Mario (Lvl. 94) - Luigi (Lvl. 92) - Peach (Lvl. 93)

Yoshi (Lvl. 90) - Wario (Lvl. 64) - Pikachu (Lvl. 113) - Jigglypuff (Lvl. 88)

Pichu (Lvl. 122) - Mewtwo (Lvl. 1000) - Red (Lvl. 80) - Squirtle (Lvl. 90) - Ivysaur (Lvl. 92)

Donkey Kong (Lvl. 97) - Diddy Kong (Lvl. 87) - Kirby (Lvl. 98)

King Dedede (Lvl. 64) - Meta Knight (Lvl. 126) - Link (Lvl. 97) - Zelda (Lvl. 97)

Toon Link (Lvl. 92) - Fox (Lvl. 125) - Falco (Lvl. 111) - Wolf (Lvl. 119)

Captain Falcon (Lvl. 87) - Marth (Lvl. 94) - Roy (Lvl. 88) - Ness (Lvl. 121)

Lucas (Lvl. 101) - Ice Climbers (Lvl. 101) - Mr. Game & Watch (Lvl. 113)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 115) - Snake (Lvl. 100) - Sonic (Lvl. 100) – Morgan (Lvl. 119)

Notice: Snivy and Riolu have been removed from the roster.

Although the title of this chapter didn't have much to do with the actual chapter, I wanted to highlight that event as it's the true start of what's to come... Perhaps you know the identity of that alien before his name is revealed? It's a Nintendo character, but giving another hint to you will spoil his name.

Besides the alien's appearance, you've seen more events that will take more focus in the future chapters. Some involve meeting new people, while some others involve special worlds. I'll let you dwell and speculate on what those events will be...

There's going to be a whole lot more of surprises in the next chapter. I predict a brand new Smasher character shall join their ranks in said chapter. I wonder...what you're going to wonder for a good guess? Maybe I left it too obvious already...or not.

I encourage everyone to review, or else I'll tell you right now that you don't need to look for a god anymore...BECAUSE IT'S NESS!

Palutena: Who needs a simple human god when you can have a goddess of light like me?

Pit: Yeah! A goddess of light like Lady Palutena is better than just a simple, element-less god!

Zelda: Are you sure? She somehow looks like the kind of goddess who would abuse her power and authority for her amusement.

Pit: Pfft, as if! I know you worship three different goddesses who hardly see you at all, but Lady Palutena would never take advantage of her privileges on innocent people like you! Right, my lady?

Palutena: Of course I would!

Pit: ...

Ness: So happy she's not with us... Hey, why are you snickering? Now you got me all worried.
*Chapter 219*: An Alien Friend in Need

Do you mind if we set things up for the rest of the saga right here and now?

From Ckbrothers: And now..a question! If you were able to put any character from any game that seems possible into the next smash bros, who do you choose. Welp that's it for now..so Byez!

From me: My mains who got cut because the 3DS wasn't strong enough to hold them at the same time. :(

From GenericPsuedonym: Let's get my criticism out of the way first.

I feel there should have been more interaction between the formerly dead Smashers and the alive ones. Them going to sleep because of all the weirdness last chapter makes some sense. But here they all are now! Alive! Not dead! Yesterday wasn't a dream! Shouldn't there be some hugging and "I still can't believe you're alive"s and stuff?

Master Hand giving Chris new jobs makes sense, but I feel that there's too much focus on Chris's 'mage jobs.' I really hope you put emphasis on job evolution, cause seeing the same classes over and over makes me think that the other jobs might as well not exist.

From me: Unfortunately, scenes like that didn't develop right there because I thought it would look a little to long. However, with this opinion in mind, I'll do the slow route instead. Maybe the Smashers think this isn't happening and they need to confirm their doubts.

Chris's mage jobs do seem to have too much focus, but that's why I literally enforced that rule about not using other jobs in missions. Since the Black Mage job is tied to Mario and Luigi (and someone else), Chris won't get to use it too much as he had hoped. He'll have to go physical soon...though overall, he's more of a mage archetype that the group is lacking too much.

From FF and STH: As I post this chapter Shulk from xenoblade chronicles have been confirmed for smash, which mean having him in your story and an arc for him (hopeful).

Also as I seen you don't like mega evolution. Which is fine, not everyone got to like it I just hope you treat the transformation fair and not 100% bad.

From me: I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with Xenoblade at all, so an arc for that game will only happen if I ever find a cheap copy of it somewhere. I'm not going to jump into that wagon for now as to not diss fans of the series. In short, Shulk will not be seen around here in a long time.

Where did I say I don't like Mega Evolution, by the way? That's news to me.

From NodokaLover: i have a question for lucas, how did it feel when ness was revived and came back to you?

From me: Happy and shocked. In short, shockpy... This isn't an Ask the Character a Question corner.

From Outrider: I love that Chris is not traumatized anymore! He is undoubtedly my favorite charictor now that he is becoming an asset to the team. Now, on to my questions.

What inspired you to use tactic classes as opposed to ones from games like final fantasy 14 (ARR)? That game has the scholar job, summoner, monk, dragoon, paliden, black mage, white mage, and bard classes. I guess its a dumb question, tactics does have better move sets to blend with the story, but I want to hear your response. (I know its a mmo, its still final fantasy XD)

What game are those seeds from, if any? If taboo has his hands on those, ouch.

What is your opinion looking back on the most recent arcs? (The ones just before, and now after TWEWY)

lastly, do you know you are the best writer if have ever read a story from? I read ALOT.

-outrider

(I am wishing chrono cross was a nintendo game so hard. That game was amazing)

From me: Chris is still traumatized. The only problem is that, just like his fear of blood, that trauma of fighting battles will only come up when he has to fight for his life. Outside, he can only...dare I say, recover.

I have detached myself from the MMO entries of the FF series, so I don't even know what FFXIV has. I did rely on FFT:A2 for more jobs to use, however.

The seeds aren't from a known game. They're entirely my creation for Tabuu.

My opinion on most recent arcs? They sure do look better than the earlier ones, which I will try to rewrite soon...

Thank you! :D

From TheSoulOfBattle: Hats off to you! I can really see all the pure effort thrown into this fanfiction, it is a truly magnificent fanfiction and easily the longest I've ever read. *claps* sadly the progress of the fanfiction may slow, due to school I presume?

PREDICTION TIME: kay' here's a list -
1. One of the newcomers is ABSOLUTELY joining the smasher's ranks, likeliest being Little Mac or Mega Man - I expect him/her to be of a high level, give or take lv.100
2. The alien is Rayman, or an OC appears
3. Palutena will be as weird as usual
4. MICHAEL BAY
5. Doctor Mario, has a small chance of appearing (in your fanfiction that is)
6. The change of voices of Pit and Sonic represent the changing of 'voice actors' or games of the two, specifically pit and uprising - Palutena will join the party at one point due to this
7. The 4th wall will be completely broken by Palutena, resulting in the space time continuum be ripped, mixed and then thrown out the window, Palutena will be wearing a troll face mask the whole time
8. Theme of the next saga could be PROTECTION or FRIENDSHIP/RECRUITMENT (friendship as in, getting to know and recruiting the smasher's new fighters)

And those are my predictions! Thanks for responding. Signed TheSoulOfBattle

From me: PREDICTION ANSWER TIME:

1. Duh, but not so sure about the level part.

2. Nope. It's not Rayman or an OC... Didn't I say Chris was the only OC?

3. Oh yeah.

4. He blew up magnificently.

5. Already did.

6. Yup, that's the joke I was trying to say. But that doesn't mean much for Palutena.

7. Eh, nope. She'll restrain herself for being too obsessed with breaking the fourth wall so she doesn't become a cliché.

8. Like I said before, the theme is utterly hidden away. In fact, I never gave a single hint about what it's about...

By the way, out of respect, any reviews that had character spoilers in them were deleted. Do not talk about unofficial character reveals in your reviews until the first day of November... Though the little thing I said to Ckbrothers has become public knowledge through Sakurai in an interview.

The original plan was to publish this chapter on my birthday (Sept. 30), but life got in the way and delayed the release...while in turn making it a little longer. Hmm, I wonder if I already reached the 4 Million Word mark yet? ...Nope, not yet. Aww...

Outside of talking about real world stuff, this chapter is going to set up a whole lot more events that will have meaningful results to the characters. Will they be good or bad? Either way, we shall enjoy their suffering...uh, I mean, their happy times.

Without further interruptions, I encourage everyone to read on, fear the Mii Fighters who look like your parents in Cruel Smash, and review.

Disclaimer: We shall reference the Pokémon anime with every trophy description from now on for subliminal advertisement purposes. Don't understand the references? By all means, watch the anime to learn the erroneous way how the Pokémon world works there! DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT...

Chapter 219: An Alien Friend in Need

~ Smash Mansion ~

Infirmary

August 3 – Monday – Morning

Yesterday's last event for the day had brought an unlikely guest to the Smash Mansion by way of smashing right through the floors. Master Hand had wanted to ditch the strange alien person away, but there were many objections coming from the people who wanted to know more about him. It wasn't common to have aliens drop from space and beg others for help. Badly injured from the crash landing, the alien was left to rest at the infirmary. Healing items and healing magic could have been used to restore him completely, but Master Hand forbade anyone to do that, as it was unclear if the alien was a person to trust or not. In the end, he suggested that the alien should rest and recover his energies slowly until he was ready to explain the side of his mysterious story.

Only the Smashers were gathered at the infirmary with Mario taking his role as the doctor again to watch over the new guest, who was lying unconscious under a bed sheet. "He had a lot of bruises all over his body caused by explosions," Dr. Mario said. "I suspect he was riding in a ship until it blew up and left him stranded in space, where he approached the gravitational energy of this planet during the meteor shower and turned him into a human comet. He was all charred black from that...but he miraculously survived. I do think he just needs some rest before he comes back to his senses again."

"I wish I could heal him up..." Chris muttered, resting his chin on top of Riolu's head as the latter held onto his trainer's arms and stared intently at the alien.

"Nobody here knows him at all?" Master Hand asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Huh, well, he sort of looks like he belongs in Kirby's universe, but I may be wrong with that thought..."

Ness sighed. "If that's true, I can rest easy that he doesn't belong to my world. I was worried I had to take on another fishy destiny to save my home again," he said, earning a few stares.

"Forget about that! What's the plan once he wakes up?" Falco asked. "Should be turn him over to the authorities to get some cash? They pay a lot when you turn in unregistered aliens."

"I would have turned anyone from here over to another universe a long time ago, but I never did, so we're not turning him over," Master Hand said. "We'll wait for him to recover, hear his sad story, and then we'll decide if he should stay here or kick him out. I'm not going to be so nice to strange guests."

"You kind of gave too many gifts to Rosalina, though. You gave her a much bigger room than any of us, and you didn't toss a fit when she got here," Yoshi said, holding his Mime Jr. in his arms. "...It's like as if she was part of us."

"(Because she will be if I can get through with he-) I'm only being nice to her because she has babies to look after and because she was a victim of the Subspace Army. You really want me to kick them out and wander out into the wild where they could starve to death? That's utterly heartless!"

"U-uh... Y-yeah, that would be pretty bad..." Olimar noted.

"Good, good. You guys understand me," the hand said. "So I suggest you guys wait until we kick this guy out and let him starve to death."

"What a saint you are," said a deadpan Wolf.

"Shut it, you," the hand muttered. "Alright, there's not much else we can wonder about this alien guy until he wakes up. While I think there were more places out there where he could have crash landed instead of my sweet mansion, it's only fair he gets to rest here... Then again, he did make a long hole from the top to the bottom...which I already repaired... Oooooh wait, that reminds me about a new decoration for the mansion I have in mind."

Everyone looked at him. "Are we going out to let you blow up the mansion to remodel the place again?" Diddy asked.

"Nah, that won't be necessary," Master Hand said. "The interior will remain as it is. I can just do changes with the snap of my fingers, but not for the inside. The coming of this alien has taught me that we can't expect others not to wander inside the mansion at their leisure, even when the alarm is on. So therefore, I have decided to use this proper method to keep intruders away from here so they learn not to invade our personal space."

Snake asked, "You gettin' some hound dogs?"

"Eesh, no! Not something as violent as hound dogs. You guys are the hound dogs to me...the hound dogs that keep letting people in, that is..." he muttered the last part to himself. He was ready to snap his yellow glowing fingers. "You shall see right about...NOW!" He snapped his fingers, sending a wave of energy out that bumped into everyone and stretched all the way outside.

A trembling sensation soon took place, making most of them gasp and hold onto the furniture inside the infirmary. After half a minute passed, the shaking subsided quickly. "W-what did you do?" Lucas asked. "D-did you level the mansion into the sky?"

"Again with the drastic suggestions! No!" Master Hand said. "Just go take a look outside and you'll see what I mean! Behold the ultimate method in mansion security!" Some of them approached the nearby windows in the infirmary to look outside.

Around the perimeter of the mansion was a ten-foot tall red brick wall fence that surrounded the building and the backyard. On top of the long border of the wall were black cones with pointy ends to discourage people from climbing over the wall. Meanwhile, on the front side of the entrance of the mansion – fifty feet away from the double doors – was a big black gate with horizontal bars stretching out and above the wall height by at least two feet.

"...You just brought a wall," Toon Link noted. "That's your ultimate method in mansion security?"

"Yup, that's it. Not only is there a wall there, but there's a much more powerful invisible barrier to intercept Subspace matter starting from that wall. But I would rather focus on its physical aspect more," Master Hand said, floating to the group near the windows. "The tallness of the wall keep grounded people from entering, while the spikes on top of those cones mean a world of hurt awaits those who dare fly over! It's incredible what you can do with just a few bricks and cold steel to make a lasting impression! I wonder why we never used this during the last two tourneys."

"While the idea is sincere and pure, I do not think this is going to discourage people from entering," noted Meta Knight. "True, the height and the spikes might ward people off, but more often than not, those who know very well about their facts come to realize that behind a circular wall with a large building like a mansion must house unbelievable secrets waiting to be unearthed by the bravest, if not, stupidest strangers willing to risk breaking our physical security for the mere thrill that is discovery and personal satisfaction. In bringing up a wall that surrounds the mansion's grounds, you have perhaps committed a great mistake in piquing people's curiosity towards the unknown we hide away from them every day. It is but a matter of time before uninvited guests start pouring in against your heartfelt wishes." Everyone stared long at the knight after his speech was over, and some even feared about his theories being proved correct. "...I am just thinking logically, really."

"...Uh... Ah..." Master Hand looked around. "...I'll test you out, you little guy! You'll see that this wall will keep people away from the mansion."

"In that case, you kind of got beaten there already..." Nana said as she looked out to the inside of the wall. "...Someone is near the gate...and inside, even."

"What?" the hand muttered as he and a few more people looked outside to the halfway point between the double doors and the gate to spot a small humanoid raccoon prowling about a square of occupied land that hadn't been there yesterday. Said square was surrounded by wooden sticks on each corner with a sign on the front of the ropes touching each stick. "How in the... Oh no, I hope he's not thinking about doing what I think he'll do!" With all haste, Master Hand left the infirmary.

As he was left to do his own stuff, the other Smashers meanwhile turned to the downed alien on the bed. "...Is there much else we can talk about this guy?" Roy asked.

"There's really nothing else. He literally just came out of nowhere from the space," Fox said. "There are no leads about him... Maybe he's with the army?"

"I don't think so," the Ancient Minister said. "During the days I have been with the army, there was no mention of a person like him. And if he was with them...we can clear our doubts once he wakes up to tell us about his story. He managed to speak our language for one."

"Yeah..." Sonic said. "Let's wait for him to wake up, okay? Until then, let's enjoy the rest of the day!"

Front Entrance

Master Hand came out from the double doors and quickly went up to the raccoon person, who turned out to be wearing a titular blue apron that many recognized along with his appearance. "Alright, Tom Nook, tell me what you're doing here all of a sudden!" the hand demanded, looking at the square of occupied terrain. "Why is there a piece of my land taken away by your accursed ropes?!"

"Oh! Master Hand!" Tom Nook looked happy, despite the angry shouts from the hand. "So nice to see you again in such a fine day as today."

"Spare me the greetings, you. I want you to tell me what you're doing right here!" He pointed at the square. "Why did I just wake up to see that hideous square of land exist within the grounds of my mansion?! This is obviously your doing!"

"Ah, yes, yes, this fine square of land..." Tom Nook still looked happy. "Sorry, but a client of mine requested me to search for a nice place to build his new home. He asked for a place where he could get to see many neighbors in a secluded place away from the village, surrounded by forest and grassy plains... Well, of course you wouldn't find a place like that in the village itself, so I ultimately found this lot of land to be the perfect spot for such request!" He hopped on his spot. "You'll be happy to have your own neighbor soon!"

"Y-you can't do this! I own this land!" Master Hand protested, making Tom look blankly at him.

Tom Nook took out a few documents from behind and looked shadily at the hand. "Not according to these documents," he said. "It says right here on page number two that you only own the land that occupies any facilities that are built above the ground... Anything that isn't touched by those facilities is open for anyone to take. Technically, anything inside any fences you build is your property, but sadly for you, I built this lot right before you made the fence appear... On page three, it says right here that anything that has been used up before a fence is built is not your property any longer. You could either get rid of the fence altogether, or allow the occupant to use the fence service along with your tenants..." He looked happy. "So! Which do you prefer to choose, hm?"

Master Hand shook with anger for a bit. He didn't want to get rid of the fence, though he didn't want to let some random stranger take residence with everyone either. "I-I'll keep the fence up..." he stuttered.

"Oh, yes, yes! That's sweet of you!" The raccoon put the documents away as he nodded. "Now please give me a copy of the fence keys to seal this honest deal between us. I'll send the key to your new neighbor so he can pass through the gate whenever he wants. Page four says that you must hand over a key in case the fenc-"

The hand snapped his fingers to create a key that he gave to the raccoon. "Here," he grumbled.

"Oh yes, this will do very nicely, indeed," Tom said happily, with blooming flower symbols on top of his head. "Construction of this house will be finished by tomorrow morning... Well, there's nothing else for me to do here! You fulfilled the side of the contract, so I'll be going now." He bowed. "Thank you for being so understanding! I hope you enjoy your first neighbor." With that said, the raccoon waved at the hand and walked off to the big gates of the mansion, where he opened them with the key and got out, locking the gate from the outside and walking off towards the village.

Master Hand sighed very loudly as he stared at the occupied lot of land, forever lost to his ownership. As he tried to tolerate that hideous square inside the ropes, the Ice Climbers appeared from the entrance and went to his side to see the lot. "Aren't you going to get rid of this?" Popo asked.

"I want to do that so much, but the law forbids me from doing it," the hand muttered.

The two siblings exchanged glances without moving. "...Aren't you the god of this world?" Nana asked while grimacing. "Don't you have the final say of whatever happens here?"

"Eh, not really. I wanted to give everyone equal chances at doing whatever they wanted in this world with me being just a regular individual who in truth is the creator," the hand explained. "Hardly anybody knows I'm the boss of this joint. I could enslave them all to do my selfish desires...but I wanted to do more thrilling stuff that no one else would dare to do... THE SMASH MANSION!" He opened his body to the building, making a proud fanfare blare out of nowhere. "I figured that being evil would ultimately see me dead by an idiot hero anyway. Being good feels...good, and it keeps me safe."

"You have a whole army after your wrist," Popo said.

"Which is why I have you guys to destroy them!" The Ice Climbers aww'd and hugged the hand affectionately. They quickly broke off from the hug. "Okay, against our wishes and my lack of attention, we'll have a new...neighbor living in this lot. I'm also entitled to keep him or her safe from harm now that his or her house is within our fence. Hooo, this is bound to be good..." he said with sarcasm.

"It better not be a crazy Smash fanatic," Nana said. "Don't you remember the last time we had to rescue Pichu from that insane kidnapper?"

"Oh yes, I still remember that faithful day..." The hand shrugged. "Fortunately, kidnapping is a federal crime. Anyway, I'm off from here. I want to wait for that alien guy to wake up and get everything sorted out. You two and the rest of my crew should enjoy the rest of the day like usual." The three nodded and went their separate ways. "(Time to expand my land with other facilities! I won't have that sneaky Tom Nook claim anything he can around my home!)"

Backyard

The backyard went back to normal after its porcine catastrophe happened. Although the four large pieces of green grass surrounding the large brick cross going through them returned, any other flowers and trees weren't returned. It was Master Hand's rule to give his people a sense of ownership by taking care of gardening topics, though only a handful ever cared about doing that. The only one who took his job seriously was Olimar himself, who had quite the two green thumbs to spring new life to gardens. Now that he needed to start all over from zero, he had no other choice but to start with a small band of five Pikmin, Chris, and Lucario in tow. Riolu was just a small bonus.

To his chagrin, Chris failed to make progress with Lucario and Riolu's relationship. The baby was just not ready to try to like him at all. The early morning tests all ended up with unfortunate failures, each one chipping Lucario's confidence away, and in return the baby would get even clingier to Chris for protection if the scary blue monster was around, proven by Riolu's hands clutching onto his caretaker's clothes. To clear their troubled minds, the duo decided to do something else other than losing time trying to force the baby to change his thoughts.

"Oh, thank you for offering yourselves to help me out with this task," Olimar told the three. "I'm so happy to have you here."

"I'm very used to do gardening in my house with Lucario, and he greatly enjoys meditating in the middle of a flowerbed," Chris said, carrying a sprinkler in his right hand. "He says flowers and all kinds of plants give out the most life in their auras, which help him to relax." Lucario nodded.

"Aww, I didn't think he was the kind of guy who liked flowers. He looks so menacing and intimidating... I wouldn't have known," he muttered. "Nice knowing that. So, how about we start planting seeds? Today, seed planting is in order. I wish we could have a few trees to spice up the scenery, but it'll take years to grow those..."

"I could carry some trees into the garden," Lucario said.

"Wait, what? Oh right! I forgot you have super strength! I think we can really do that with you here! We should've done that before," Olimar said, looking very pleased. "Forget about the seed planting for a moment, then! Let the rest of us start to dig big holes with shovels! We can place trees inside the holes, and then we can do a lot more with the seeds to make a nice environment in this backyard."

Chris nodded at the suggestion. "With a fence built around the mansion grounds, it'll be a nice place to let Riolu walk around at his leisure too..." He looked down at the smiling Riolu standing next to his right leg, and then he looked to the southwest corner of the backyard where he saw all of the small Pokémon fooling around with their games. "I don't want you make you start planting seeds this soon... Why don't you head over to play with everyone over there?" Although Riolu didn't understand a word Chris said, he did understand the part where the human pointed at the group of Pokémon in the distance. "...Oh... I'll take you over there while I'm busy here. I doubt you'll let Lucario tell you to leave us..." He set down the sprinkler and picked the baby in his arms to go over to the group, while a depressed Lucario sighed about his misfortune with the baby's thoughts about him.

A little while later, as a mighty Lucario was seen carrying a tree on his right arm without feeling stress in the background, the other Pokémon – Pikachu, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Jigglypuff, Snivy, and Riolu – were seen using Ivysaur's vines to play jump the rope. So far, the baby Riolu was enjoying the new game so much that it didn't look like he was going to get tired soon. Everyone else felt a little proud of themselves, as the baby started to see them as his superiors whom he could trust. This new outlook was perceived by one of Lucario's aura links, only making him jealous of the other Pokémon giving a good impression to his frightened teammate. Luckily, his troubling thoughts were constantly being dispelled with Chris's sunny expression.

It was Riolu's turn to enter the vine that Snivy swung calmly with a free hand. Being touched by her soft hands made Ivysaur lose all sense of reality, with his only task in life to keep swinging that vine which made body contact with his one true love who didn't see him as nothing more than a weird Grass-type. Once Riolu ran up inside the vine swing, the Pokémon started singing. "~It's Riolu's turn again. What's he gonna say?~" they sang.

"~Chris-is-the-best!~" Riolu sang cheerfully, his tail wagging.

"~That's-what-you-think,~" they sang. "~He'll take care of you foooorever and ever!~"

"~Yay me yay!~"

"~Yay you yay!~"

Then Ivysaur suddenly butted in. "~So very soon I will have a girlfriend!~" he sang. Only Riolu had no idea what to sing about that, though the others did. He just followed the flow with small noises.

"~You little dummy need to know that's impossible~" they sang, even Snivy herself.

"~I-will-never-stop! No-matter-what-you-say!~" Ivysaur sang back without sounding the least offended.

"~Good-luck-with-that~"

"~Yay me yay!~"

"~Nayh you nayh~"

"Yay!" Riolu jumped out from the cage and ran around to the line behind Jigglypuff. "This is so fun! I want to keep going!"

"Easy there. Your turn will come up soon again," Jigglypuff said. "It's Pichu's turn again, then Pikachu's, then Squirtle's, then me, and then you." Riolu cheered at that, no matter if he was the last one. He looked up ahead and saw Pichu waiting for a good time to jump in and start jumping. Once he found a good time to start, Pichu ran up ahead...

...only for something foamy and sticky coming out of thin air to latch onto his feet, making him yelp and trip right below the reach of the vine, which ended up hitting the back of his head and come to an abrupt halt. "O-oww!" Pichu groaned, as the others snapped out from their eased looks to look surprised at him. "W-what the... E-eww, what's this?" Pichu asked when he saw the strange matter taking a hold of his feet. It was certainly some kind of bubbly foam that was easy to stick up to anything like bubblegum that stuck into the underside of a shoe.

The others went up to him to see the weird foam. Being the curious type, Riolu started poking at it, looking very thrilled when the foam got stuck on his palm. "What is this, really?" Jigglypuff asked, unsure about touching the thing when Riolu started to rub his hands against the foam and getting them stuck together until he freed himself after enough pulling.

"It's like bubblegum..." Pichu said. Squirtle looked down at the foam and used a small spray of Water Gun to see if he could get rid of it. Luckily, the foam dissolved easily when he used water, setting Pichu free from it. "Oh, thank you! I was worried I might get sick..." Squirtle gasped and went over to Riolu to clean his sticky hands quickly, as he feared that the baby would get sick and alert the scary adult Pokémon about it to release his anger on them.

Pikachu rubbed his chin. "Hmm. I saw that coming from somewhere," he muttered. "It came from...over the fence..." They turned to the tall fence and looked up at the upper edge, where a portion of the tree branches were floating right above the spiky cones. "Geez. Master Hand should've noticed this! Anyone small enough can jump from those branches over to the backyard for easy access!"

"So, did you say that weird foam came from over there?" Snivy asked.

"Oh yes. I know it came from that direction too...which means... HEY!" Pikachu shouted at the branches. "We know someone is in there! Show yourself and face dignity with a brave face!"

There was no response, though there was a shady rustling of leaves inside the leaves of the branch... Getting impatient, Squirtle charged up his Water Gun and shot a quick stream of water into the leaves, where it was discovered that a small figure was indeed hiding away for his own amusement. Said figure jumped out to the tip of the sturdy branch and snickered down at them all. "Hee hee hee! I guess you found me out!" the figure, revealed to be a Pokémon, said. "I need to sharpen up my ninja senses a little more to stay completely out of sight! I should've taken another hiding spot..."

None of the seven Pokémon knew about the strange Pokémon, though they could tell him apart. He was a small blue frog Pokémon with large yellow eyes and a collar around his neck that sported the same foamy material that had stuck into Pichu's legs. Two small white orbs were on top of his nose, in front of a small streak of a darker blue running between his eyes. Unlike the rest of his body, his three-fingered hands were as white as the foam collar he had. His voice was a little squeaky to their ears, fueling his rather mischievous nature. "Who are you?" Squirtle asked. "And what are you doing tossing that weird stuff at us?"

"My name? Hee hee! It's Froakie," the frog said, still chuckling at his early prank. "And why I was doing that? I was having some fun, silly! When you get to be like me, you get to do lots of fun stuff!" To illustrate his point, he simply grabbed a portion of his foam collar and tore off a bunch of it. The collar then replicated even more foam to replace the one he took away. "You need to know a little more about me! I'm gonna be the best ninja there is in the world... That's why I'm practicing my skills on you using the art of striking from the shadows and hide away in them... I give myself an A- for it! It could've been an A+, but you found me out... It doesn't bother me that much! I'll keep practicing. I know I have a lot to go for that day to arrive. I'm not like one of those stubborn people who think they can have everything for granted!" He snickered.

"Oh... Oh well. You were just practicing your ninja arts on us," Pikachu said. "You could've done something else other than getting that foam in Pichu's way, though..."

"Hee hee! I couldn't resist!" Froakie said. "I'm sort of a prankster myself. Combined with my advanced ninja skills, it's the perfect combo! I don't get to blame others to take the fall when I can just hit and run! Or hit and hide! That sounds better in a sentence." He saw Pichu groan. "Okay, okay. I won't slam another one of my bubbles here. I like you!"

"Well, of course, because you had your fun with me," Pichu muttered.

"Let bygones be bygones. Be thankful a rising star in the ninja department tested his skills on you!" he said.

"Right..." Pikachu trailed off. "So, Froakie. What brings you here to our mansion's backyard? Do you live around these parts?"

"Oh yeah, I live around here," Froakie said, scratching his head. "Not alone, mind you. I live together with a lot of other people enrolled in a special ninja school. You're looking at one of the top students there: I'm Froakie, from Master Accelgor's Ninja School!"

It got increasingly obvious that Froakie truly had his head in the clouds referring to himself as a very good ninja from a school no less. He was contradicting his earlier claims. "Oh, sweet. A ninja school for Pokémon," Squirtle said. "Can I enter?"

"Hmm, ninja turtles are so overrated these days..." the frog muttered to himself. "Uh, sure! If you think you have what it takes to be a fully-fledged ninja! I was born with pure ninja blood in my veins so I know it's my destiny to reach the top one day. Do you have pure ninja blood like me?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Squirtle trailed off for a very long while.

"...You should see my master! He has good eyes to pick people with potential. When he saw me, he flipped and took me in," Froakie boasted. "He said I was like the future of my current ninja generation. He's got some good eyes in him if he told me that to my face. With that kind of advice, I have worked hard for the past month to reach new levels! ...And when I say levels, I mean evolve." He grumbled. "I feel like I'm this close to evolving... But I dunno if I can evolve in the first place. I'm only two months old anyway an..." He came to a full stop when he mentioned that last bit of his history.

"Ah. You're a young Froakie who was born just two month agos," Snivy duly noted. "And then after a month, you've been training hard to see if you can evolve..."

"Eep... I didn't mean to say that much to you strangers..." Froakie muttered, sweating a bit. "It's personal stuff you shouldn't hear. Forget I said anything about that..." He smiled as he then started to look around the big backyard and the specially huge mansion. "Ooh! You guys live a good life inside that mansion, eh? I'm jealous. I once stole human food from a store as a test for my sneaking skills, and I totally fell in love with what they make... Huh..." When he looked into the distance at Chris laughing together with Lucario, his smile went away. "...Oh, I see... You guys have that guy over there as your trainer..."

Everyone else looked over at the pair and then back at Froakie. "What, him?" Snivy said. "Are you kidding me? I'm a wild Snivy. These guys next to me have their trainers."

Pikachu shrugged. "My own trainer is somewhere else faaaaaaaaar away from here," he said.

"Me and heart eyes here have another trainer who lives with us," Squirtle said.

"Chris takes care of me!" Riolu cheerfully said.

"And I'm a wild one, unfit to wander around the world and meant to sing for big audiences..." Jigglypuff sighed.

"...Tsk." Froakie looked away. "Wow... I thought you were better than that..."

"What was that?" Pikachu asked.

The frog still had that bunch of foam in his hand, and he seemed to have found a good target for his little ammunition. "Oh, nothing! Say, I think I saw a suspicious shadow moving above this garden... You should look up and see for yourselves!" He pointed up at the empty sky, making everyone look up blindly to find an imaginary object that wasn't even there. With everyone distracted, Froakie contained his chuckles as he aimed for Pikachu's face.

"I don't see anything..." Squirtle muttered. That was Froakie's cue to toss the foam at high speed right into Pikachu's face. The Electric-type stood his ground, though he wasn't all that happy that he got hit in the face with that weird matter sticking into his yellow fur. His muffled scream made everyone look at him, before promptly gasping. "H-hey!"

Froakie started laughing out loud. "Oh man! That was rich! I'm such a genius!" he laughed, grabbing his stomach. "You weren't expecting me to do that to you, did you? You should never let your guard down around strangers! But when you meet strangers yourself...prank 'em!"

Pikachu grunted annoyed after hearing that as he started to tear off a hole right above his mouth area to voice his thoughts. "You sick, sick little frog!" Pikachu complained, his face stuck with the strange foamy material. "I ought to...shock you bad for this!"

Froakie snickered. "You're in no position to do that! You have other...facial issues to look into!" He started laughing as he jumped away from the group. "Catch me if you can!"

Pikachu's hands took the mask of foam little by little very quickly until he glared at the spot where the frog once was. "What's his problem?" Pikachu asked. "We were having a nice conversation until he started making fun of me!" Squirtle offered to spray water at Pikachu's face to disintegrate the rest of the foam, which the latter gladly agreed to.

"Honestly, that was outright rude of him to do," Snivy said, noticing that the frog was long gone from their sight. "His behavior took a quick turn when he looked at that trainer..."

Pichu frowned. "That happened so fast... I thought he was a nice person when we got down to talking a little bit," he said. "Too bad his prankster side won him over..."

Pikachu's annoyed look came out from the stream of water coming from Squirtle's Water Gun. "Too bad I didn't get to shock him good, you mean!" he complained before shaking his face to dry himself off. "Argh. I hate prankster Pokémon with a passion. Destiny gave me the stupid TRio. I don't need someone else doing pranks for the good of evil."

"I honestly think you're blowing this a little out of proportion..." Jigglypuff muttered with a bored expression. "He was just a random prankster Froakie. Hardly anybody to remember."

"Oh, but I would kindly ask you to forgive that young little one if you can."

That deep voice made everyone look up to the top of the fence, where a new figure stood on top of the pointy end of a cone, with the two ends of its long dark blue scarf fluttering with a wind that wasn't truly there for the area but for dramatic effect. Still, the figure was not to be underestimated. Though the figure had a legless thin body wrapped in dark blue membrane straps, the incredibly serious look under its pink cone-like head was intimidating, even more so with the green stripes of his head stretching from right above the eyes and running on the curled back, with a four-pronged black cross emblem on its forehead. With small crossed arms, the figure moved at lightning reflexes as it quickly changed places from the top of the wall to right in front of them, causing many yelps of surprise. "E-eek!" Pichu shrieked, getting a full view of the rather small but tall enough creature. "W-who are you?"

"I'm known among my students as their master," the figure said, keeping his arms crossed and look still as he looked at everyone. "To that young one that pulled those pranks on you... I'm his teacher and master. My name is Accelgor."

"O-oh, r-right..." Squirtle said. "You're his blindly fast master..."

"Well, blindly fast or not, I have a few complaints to file with you and your little student!" Pikachu said. It was then that a nearly-equally fast Ninjask and a rather slow Shedinja floated over the fence to stand on each side of the Accelgor. "More introductions, I suppose..."

"I know you're yet another victim of Froakie's pranks. Don't worry. We've rehearsed the same apology line every time something like this happened to innocent people," the Ninjask said.

"Though, our master already said the a similar line like that," the Shedinja said, ominously floating with levitation unlike his winged partner. "Nevertheless, please forgive Froakie for this. We shall accept any punishment that you wish to bestow on him..."

"Uh, punishment usually feels better when I get to shock the bad guy of the tale," Pikachu said duly. "No offense to you. He needs a little tingling sensation to understand."

"Which I implore you not to administer on Froakie," Accelgor said. "As his teacher, I feel guilty for his inappropriate attitude. Find it in your heart to forgive me. Many a time, Froakie gets it over his head about the extent of his promising skills that he can't truly stay still for a moment. Unlike my two humble assistants Ninjask and Shedinja, I regret to acknowledge Froakie as the entire opposite of either one of them."

"Okay... Fine. I won't shock him to death," Pikachu said, sounding disappointed. "I'll end up killing the guy by accident without meaning to anyway."

"(He really isn't bluffing. I can sense tremendous power in some of these young Pokémon...)" Accelgor thought. "You have my thanks. Do you wish to know anything about Froakie so that you might understand him a little more? I don't trust his words, as he tends to deviate from his stories to make himself more promising than he looks."

"Alright, I'll take a shot," Squirtle said. "Is he really a ninja prodigy?"

"Oh, that he is," Ninjask said. "Master Accelgor has noted that Froakie does show a lot of potential in him to become a ninja master someday. Unfortunately, when he told Froakie that, it made the little guy so egotistical about his skills that he thinks he can take the future for granted."

Shedinja shuddered. "A real shame indeed. While he is one of the top students of Master Accelgor's class, his attitude is a huge wall he can't simply climb over. Some have noted that Froakie needs to keep his mischievous attitude in check before he can truly graduate one day. You might say Froakie is skilled in techniques only."

"His behavior leaves a lot to be desired, sadly," Accelgor said. "As long as he keeps pulling pranks on others and thinks that he can achieve anything he desires without much effort, I'm afraid he will face failure sooner before he can even call himself a good ninja."

"We just had to pick the one promising guy who's kind of an idiot... Er, no offense, Master," Ninjask said. "It doesn't help he has some cynical views about other people that aren't ninjas like him."

"Cynical views? So is that the reason why he pulls pranks?" Pichu asked.

"Mostly, yes," Shedinja said. "Though he holds the kind of people like us allied with human trainers to be scum..."

"Uh... Why?" Snivy asked, interested about hearing someone's views to Pokémon Trainers.

"It's hard to tell, though we have noticed this the past few times that has happened," Shedinja continued. "When we confronted him about his unruly behavior on others, he just snickered and said that it was a real letdown for our kind to be enslaved by humans, who only want to seek glory through endless fighting with others."

Ivysaur had snapped out of his love eyes on Snivy to listen to the conversation. "Ouch... That's kind of a hard view to change," he said.

"Though..." Shedinja continued, "the strange thing about this is that he does have a rather noble view on top of this bad one, as he said that he fears our kind will become so barbaric one day that chaos will erupt everywhere in the future, where the helpless humans will face total annihilation..." There was a very awkward silence after he said that. Shedinja, Ninjask, and Accelgor saw the seven Pokémon exchanging troubled looks. "...Rather deep, don't you think? And it was quite a shocker when he said that."

"That kind of vision told me that Froakie has a pure heart under that hard exterior," Accelgor said. "Normally, other Pokémon – as humans call us – don't even think too hard about the future of others. It brings a smile on my face to know he wants the best for everyone...even if he has a hard time trying to convey that message through his own words and big ego. That is why I made it my mission to help him through his training so, until one day, he can help others for the greater good while also being a ninja master."

Jigglypuff sniffed. "Such noble goal for a stupid guy like him..."

"That day is sometimes close and sometimes far away from him. While he has the skills to back up his words, Froakie can't never seem to be so utterly carefree and lazy," Ninjask said. "Mind you, it's been only two months since Master Accelgor found his orphaned egg in a forest where he arrived just in time to see the egg hatch. He could probably be very energetic for his young age, but there has been other young students who started to mature after a month... He's just taking his sweet time to mature his own way."

Pichu looked worried. "He's an orphan?" he said.

Accelgor frowned. "It's not uncommon to find orphaned eggs in the wild, but yes, he is an orphan who never got to see his parents' faces. The same day I found his egg during a morning patrol with my other students, his egg hatched, and he only ever saw my face. Ever since then, he has followed me, developing his innate ninja skills until he started to gain confidence in his ability...though then it got so bad that he couldn't stop bragging about himself to my other students. His second month of life has been a rebellious time, much to our chagrin." He grunted. "I'm afraid that this attitude might stick with him for the rest of his life if we don't intervene soon. Of course, he has to study along the other students of my school so he learns the value of teamwork among comrades. Teamwork is about one of the few drastic points that hold him back from becoming a true role model. What kind of person doesn't do teamwork with others? They're the first ones to suffer dearly down the line..."

"Um, well, Pokémon Trainers and their Pokémon do that all the time," Squirtle said.

"Oh, don't ever mention that to him," Ninjask said. "He really dislikes trainers and their Pokémon. Sure, we agree with him that our world might fall into chaos if humans keep pitting us against each other and twisting their views to see the art of fighting as something...fun...but we believe humans can have the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone is the same. That's a rule in life."

"Just as how Pokémon show potential to do great things, so do humans. It's beyond shameful for us to judge humans as a whole when they need to be judged singularly from one another..." Accelgor said, piquing Snivy's interest. "Perhaps if he could learn to do this right, Froakie would understand what he is doing wrong with his actions..." He looked ahead to Chris and Lucario digging holes using shovels, as Olimar was seen commanding his Pikmin to carry bags of manure to his side. "...No. It is too much soon for him to ever try this route. He needs more training physically and psychologically." He looked back at the other seven. "Our talk is about to finish here, but before we leave, I wish to tell you something first if you ever see Froakie again..."

"What is it?" Squirtle asked.

"If he visits this place again, which he will no doubt do, try to get through him," Accelgor suggested. "I highly doubt he will listen to my talks when I do not have much to back up my claims. Since you seem to be living with trainers, I want you to give him the side of your story so he starts comparing your views with his... Can you do this for me?"

Pikachu and the others exchanged glances again. "I'm not making any promises, but...anything to stop him from being an egotistical prankster," he said. "We're not gonna go look for him. We're actually very busy people doing some secret stuff no other Pokémon does..."

"..." Accelgor leaned forward, as if to analyze the looks on their faces. "...Ah. I see." He chuckled. "There is this air around you that tells me you have equally noble goals that don't involve hurting others for the mere thrill of adrenaline. You truly understand the meaning of possessing such great power in you. If only Froakie could be like you..." Some of them looked embarrassed at the remark. "But...be careful with what you do and say to Froakie. Should you happen to fuel his dark views on people, he will forever stray away from his path of honor. He is balancing his body between a fresh pool of pure water and a swamp with poisonous bog; environments that especially relate to his kind." The wind suddenly started to pick up, making the young Pokémon cover their eyes from the flying dust. "Until you see Froakie again...please help us out with his training. It'd be a great waste to see him fail... Oh. And if you ever decide to become a ninja, make it your task to come talk to me. We shall be around the area."

Accelgor turned his back on them and quickly vanished through use of sheer speed alone. He had deserted the backyard by the time everyone uncovered their eyes... Although Ninjask had nearly just as much speed as his master, Shedinja didn't far so well at it, as he was spotted floating over the wall at a normal speed anybody would catch up to. The three ninja Pokémon were gone from their sight. "Wow. That guy was pretty fast... Like Sonic fast," Squirtle said.

"That was some meeting there," Ivysaur said. "I get the feeling this isn't the last we'll see of Froakie."

"And you're right on that. It does feel like we'll keep seeing him for a long while..." Pikachu muttered, until he looked at Snivy staring up at the empty wall. "What are you thinking?"

"...What? Oh..." Snivy looked at him. "I was...just thinking about some of the stuff he said about trainers and Pokémon... It made me think about what I think of them."

"Truly a ninja master like him got to you," Ivysaur said, his heart eyes returning again. "You shall become a better person in the eyes of many, my sweet green love." Snivy, though she barely accepted that as a remark, freaked out a bit at his words. She wondered when he was going to stop looking at her with those freaky eyes ogling her body.

"I'm bored..." Riolu spoke. "I'm going back to Chris!" He cheered to himself and started heading back to his trainer's side, leaving the others to do their own things in the background of the scene. When Riolu caught up to Chris, he pulled a part of his pants and started barking happily. "Chris! Chris! I met new friends today! They were ninjas! I don't know what ninjas are but they sound very cool! Oh! What's does cool mean? It sounds icy!"

To his oblivious dismay, Riolu's words meant nothing to Chris other than the fact he looked very happy, which made Chris smile and crouch down to rub his baby's head. "Aww, you look so happy! Did you have fun with the others back there?" Riolu just kept barking happily, unaware that he was asked a question. "Well, I think you did. Do you want to stay around here where I can see you?" As he asked that, a monarch butterfly flew into his sight and landed softly on top of Riolu's nose. The baby calmed down as his red eyes focused on the curious little bug that he thought was another Pokémon fluttering its nice-looking wings on his eyes. A little while later, Riolu had the urge to sneeze, which scared off the butterfly to fly away from him. Still, it made him laugh merrily and started chasing the wondrous creature inside the quarter circle of grass that the other three were working on. Chris stood up and sighed relieved. "He's so freaking adorable..." he muttered, feeling so happy and ready to continue his yard work with the others. He turned to Lucario and said, "Lucario, start to dig in front of that tree so we can put the manure and dirt with the seeds."

Lucario stared at Riolu happily chasing that butterfly around until he nodded at Chris. "Yes..." he said in a depressed tone that he wished he hadn't used. Grabbing his shovel, the Aura Pokémon went in front of the big, sturdy tree he brought into the garden, its shade covering him completely.

"(Poor guy... I'll try to get those two closer together after we're done with this,)" Chris thought worried, until he went over to Olimar's side to help him start putting manure into the holes around the edge of the small fence surrounding the piece of land.

Unbeknownst to any of them, the sudden appearance of the long wall that surrounded the mansion's area didn't go unnoticed by a certain person who happened to be doing her morning routine using her skating equipment to ease her mind from her personal issues. Appearing from the same side where she was within the range of the gardeners on the other side of the wall, she rolled out into view as her eyes caught sight of the tall brick wall blocking her way to the imposing mansion that loomed across from the other side. "Whoa... Look at that building! It's huge!" she told herself as she looked at the top of the mansion. She then looked back at the wall and placed a hand on it. "Hm-hmm! You just know what they say about big fences. There's always something good hiding behind 'em..." Looking around for any people or cameras, she chuckled. "I need some good old adrenaline now and then... This might just be the perfect time to clear my mind!" She looked behind at the trail she was using, waiting for two people to show up. "Hey, you guys! Come over here quickly!" She was afraid her two friends would do something very rash, but she was sure they were going to behave...

Said two people she was waiting for were two fierce-looking Lucario who were seen jumping from tree to tree until they both landed right in front of her with good posture, coming to a halt on their right knees before standing up proudly. The two, however, shot looks at each other before looking up at their concerned trainer.

"(Is this the right time for them to go on and about?)" she thought worried as her blank look froze against the two sets of crimson eyes staring at her. "(I haven't let them fight any battles since... No... I don't want to remember those times right now... I have to be optimistic! I have to look tough so they listen to me for once! I'm supposed to be a successor, for crying out loud!)" She put up a tough look, which made them put even tougher looks as a response. Very used to her two Pokémon behaving like that, she did not falter. "Don't you two give me those looks now. We gotta spend more time together to get you two to behave! My grandpa is giving me a lot of slack because you can't stop being so rowdy. Please, can you give me a chance here and enjoy doing other stuff than isn't battling others?"

The two Lucario looked at each other and shook their heads at her.

"...I sometimes curse how the two of you are so competitive towards the other one, you know. That's seriously not healthy," she commented blankly, earning two angry growls. "Oh, suck it, you!" She looked back at the wall. "You two can jump crazy high, but I need to get some speed and jump over a slope to get halfway of your big jumps. So for this occasion, can you give me a boost to grab a hold of those cones? I wanna take a peek of what this place has over this wall." The two Lucario frowned and helped their trainer to climb the wall so that she could grab the cones to push herself up to see the landscape beyond the wall. The two Lucario stopped supporting her and easily climbed the wall to each side of her to join her little session. "Now let's see. This is quite the big backyard they have here!" she noted as they started scanning the area...until her eyes rested on a familiar teen putting manure into a row of holes with a smaller man in a space suit. Though Chris was far away from sight, she still remembered the crazy mage getup she saw him wear at the ice cream shop, especially the two long ends of his blue scarf hanging on the short-spiked tailcoat of his robe. "...Oh, hey! Isn't that the same guy I told you guys about?"

The two Lucario weren't interested on the human, and they groaned when they saw the weak-looking Riolu chasing after some kind of weird, small winged creature flying around in circles. For a moment, they thought the trainer owned a Lucario they could beat up in a battle, but the Riolu being there showed a wrong promise. They felt he wasn't worth their time to fight, which their trainer easily picked up when she saw their expressions.

"What, were you thinking about fighting again? Geez!" she complained until looking back at the happy trainer looking on at his baby Riolu having a good time. The female trainer and her two Lucario were at an angle where they couldn't see the big behemoth hiding behind the only tree that was placed in the inner corner of the grass area. "Get a room with a ring, you two. I don't want either of you to think about fighting. That was the deal we made when I took you out of your Poké Balls. Instead, you should learn how to be like that super sweet, cute, adorable baby frolicking about!" She sighed, reminiscing when her two Lucario were baby Riolu that she used to play a lot with until they quickly matured into the insufferable Pokémon they had become now, having evolved when she fought her first battle ever a long time ago. "Ahh, those were the days... It's really frightening what evolution does to Pokémon... I hope that little baby doesn't turn out like any of you."

They growled at her.

"Well, it's true!" she said. "That guy over there is very aware about what he could be getting into! He's a smart one." She looked at Chris. "I wish I could get to talk to him without fidgeting about evolution talk... Come to think of it...I think I can avoid talking about evolution if I juuuuuuuust focus in talking to him about what he likes to do other than raising that baby over there. Luckily for me, I can talk all day about roller blades and my insane skills on wheels. Heh heh heh. Let's roll with that... Hey!" He noticed her two Lucario became quickly bored about the scene that they were ready to drop down and walk away. "You're not leaving, misters! You leave, I'll do drastic things to your sweet power source..." They growled annoyed and grudgingly stared into the backyard. She looked back to the Riolu chasing that mysterious beast. "U-uh, s-say, what is that thing that baby is chasing? It looks...it looks weird and so strange! I-is that even a Pokémon? It kinda looks like a very small Butterfree...or is it not? Ohh, I'm so scared what that could do to that baby! We must do something to save him from that little monster!"

The two Lucario rolled their eyes and were ready to make a run for it to ditch her behind. They could have gone with that plan if it hadn't been for the fact that a very unusually interesting sight made itself present in the form of a 6-foot tall Lucario walking out from behind the tree to talk to his smaller trainer. When she looked at that Lucario, her jaw, along with theirs, dropped in utter shock and surprise.

"H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-" she stuttered for a very long time as her light blue eyes examined from head to toe at that majestic beauty to compare it to the height of its trainer. That Lucario was a whole head taller than the teen, and it was no doubt nearly twice as tall as two Lucario standing on top of each other. It was massive, and its body showed that with equally-proportioned limbs that exhibited clear brawn under its somewhat thin exterior. To find such Lucario out in the open so casually was a miracle in itself, as she was used to staring down at her normal-sized Lucario. Truly, she thought in her shocked state, the tall wall housed good stuff behind it. "H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-HOOOOLY CRUD!" she finally managed to say, with her two partners looking as outright shocked as she was. "I-I would've never thought he owned such HUGE Lucario! I-I didn't even know Lucario could get that big either! Why have I never seen something like THAT before?!"

Her two Lucario snapped out from their dazzled looks. Screw the baby Riolu, they both thought. That gigantic Lucario looked so much better to fight against that they just couldn't let a golden opportunity like this to pass. They looked at each other with wide grins. "The first one to land a blow on him gets to fight him," the first Lucario said.

"You're on," the second Lucario agreed. Without their trainer's consent, the two of them sprung up over the wall and landed firmly on the concrete, where they then started rushing up ahead to their intended target...

The girl gasped loudly when she came to. "W-what are you two doing now?!" she shrieked. "Oh my gosh, you're gonna fight him?! Of all the things you could do today!" She frantically looked around for another entrance, until she spotted a set of gates on the north side. With all haste, she jumped down and quickly rolled all the way to the gate, though she knew very well she was going to be late for an incident to happen...

Inside the peaceful backyard, Chris showed Lucario a pot. "Olimar and I think that we should make this garden very colorful, so we should start looking at all the different flowers we can plant," he said. "It'll be just like the flower garden at our house."

Lucario nodded. "That sounds very good," he said.

Chris chuckled. "I like having green thumbs for this, and someday soon, I wish Riolu to have his own green thumbs for this," he said as he looked at his happy baby still chasing that butterfly around...then he immediately noticed the two random threats that were running right across the other end of the grassy field in a path where the oblivious Riolu was standing on. Those two threats were two angry, growling Lucario. "W-what in the hell?!"

Lucario also noticed his fellow brethren seemingly rushing to his direction. "What are those two Lucario doing here?" he asked.

"MY BABY!" Chris shrieked when he noticed their path was conflicting with his baby's current position.

The baby Riolu had his hands stretched to the teasing butterfly flying higher and higher into the air. Disappointed that the bug was out of his reach, Riolu groaned slightly. He smiled when he turned to look at Chris looking at him and shouting otherwise incoherent words for him to come over to his side. Riolu simply raised his hands and waved back, until he heard some menacing growls coming from behind his back. He blinked and turned around, where his eyes froze when the two larger adversaries were smashing the ground with their quick feet as they tried to outrun the other to land a blow on their real target. Still, they truly meant to kick anybody away, and Riolu was standing right in the middle of their dangerous approach. Shaking, Riolu covered his head and curled into a ball on the grass, starting to cry out for Chris's help. The situation felt all too similar with what happened two days ago, reminding the baby about how awfully frightening it was to face a monster who scared him so much... Though he cowered in the ground, Riolu kept a frozen eye open to see when he was going to suffer over doing nothing...

A hero responded his call just in the nick of time, appearing and standing right above him. Everything happened so fast after that, though he could tell that this imposing figure was there to protect him as said hero grabbed the flying fists of those two monsters and used the weight of their bodies against them to send their faces flying straight aside to the back where they couldn't hope to react in time to avoid their hasty falls.

To add insult to their injury, Olimar was coming out from the mansion with an open bag of manure that a Purple Pikmin carried by itself. "I know the first bag of manure is going to go away soon so I brought another one ahead of time!" he said cheerfully as the Pikmin put the bag next to the other open bag. Olimar hadn't noticed what was going on until two blue bodies flew straight into the bags, their heads burrowing deep into them and instantly stopping all movement from their selves. When Olimar had backed off with a slight jump, he eased himself and stared at the Lucario bodies for a long while. "...Do Pokémon love to eat manure? Wow, I didn't know..." he said in mild surprise.

Over there at the spot where the cowering Riolu was, the baby looked up at the back of his mighty hero, looking outright surprised that he of all people saved him from harm. Standing right, Lucario looked over his shoulder at the baby, the first looking worried that he had scared the baby even more. "A-are you okay?" Lucario asked. "It's okay now. They won't hurt you as long as I'm here..."

"U-uh..." Riolu looked over at the two immobile bodies before quickly looking at Lucario. "I-I'm okay... U-uh..." He was scared about the two new threats being closer to him, so he scampered over to Chris's side where he picked him up in his arms and hugged him tightly. A concerned Lucario went back to them and looked down at the frightened baby.

"Oh my goodness, thank you, Lucario..." Chris thanked his loyal Pokémon before they all looked at the other ones in a mild case of severe shock from eating manure, paralyzing their bodies. "Where did those two come from? Are they perhaps...Riolu's parents?"

"No, they're both males, and their auras don't share a single resemblance to Riolu's," Lucario confirmed. Though then he noticed that there was something very odd with the auras, where he spotted some strange fragments that didn't quite match up to their souls yet tried very hard to assimilate with them. These fragments were a first to Lucario, as he had never seen something like them before. Upon closer inspection, the fragments did belong to the their auras, but something had tampered with them to forcibly separate them... "(What is happening to their auras? What are those strange bits...?)"

Chris sighed that he didn't need to part ways with his baby so suddenly, but it scared him to know there were other wild Lucario ready to hurt him. "So these two must be wild Lucario who just...jumped over the fence and tried to look for a fight? Well, I have enough Lucario in my life to care about two random ones..." Looking down at his shaking baby, he looked serious at Lucario. "Lucario, toss those two away. I don't want to see them wake up and scare Riolu again." Lucario nodded and started to walk towards the two downed bodies, until a female voice yelled very loudly for them to see her across the other side of the backyard, right behind the closed tall gate that barred her way in.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" she shouted loudly, getting everyone's attention. "OVER HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Who's that girl?" Olimar asked. "She's too far away to see..."

The girl was relieved that a fight hadn't broken up inside, but she still wanted to go get her Pokémon. She tried to open the gate but with no luck, until Pikachu wandered over from the inside to look up at the girl. "(Huh. It's the same girl Chris met yesterday...)"

"O-oh, hey there, little guy!" she said with a forced smile. "C-could you tell your trainer to open the gate for me? Those two Lucario over there happen to be mine, so... I gotta go pick them up..."

Pikachu looked back at the quartet staring his way before he himself climbed the gate to reach its lock to open it. When the lock got unlocked, he jumped back down and pulled the right side of the gate inward, allowing the girl to enter in a rush with her roller blades letting her speed through the center of the bricked backyard to the side where a confused Chris was. He recalled seeing her yesterday once she came to a halt in front of him. "... (Oh god, don't tell me she actually owns two Lucario. It didn't look like to me she owned even one!)"

"H-heh heh heh... H-hey there..." she weakly muttered as she stared at Chris until her eyes forcibly looked up at the imposing Lucario looking down awkwardly at her. Such height...such incredible look...such amazing finding... She felt very weak in the knees for having found such specimen. Her cheeks reddened to the point her face would look like a tomato ready to burst by outside forces. It was like as if she had found the ultimate prize in history that no one else was ready to find. But she thought she was more special than she thought she was now that she found him. It was like love at first sight... Her troubled mind immediately and happily kicked out all the stress she had to make way for her cheerful attitude to come over her. Nothing was going to stop her, as she did the most logical move she could do: lunge at the Lucario's waist to feel that godly fur brush the side of her face. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!" she yay'd, startling everyone that stared at her, though nobody would feel as awkward as Lucario felt. "OH MY FREAKING GOSH, THIS IS SO AWESOME! I WON THE LOTTERY!" she yelled, not allowing Lucario to push her off from his personal space.

"(Oh sweet lord, just what I needed... Another quirky girl who's into Lucario,)" Chris thought dismayed as he watched helplessly at his Lucario begging him for help with his face. He looked back at the girl as he approached her. "H-hey, you! What do you think you're doing?!"

She opened her eyes to look at him, her arms tightly grasping the big Lucario. "Ooh! Let's see! Where do I begin with this?" she asked gleefully. "Oh yeah, an introduction! Hi! My name's Korrina, very nice to meet you and your crazy tall Lucario!"

That new second impression was surprising, to say the least. The teen had remembered her to be a little more reserved than now, though honestly, his Lucario was out of sight when she met him. She only needed a slight push to blurt out all the stuff the World Traveler needed to learn to get a good picture of who she was. All things considered, Chris smiled sarcastically. "Hi, my name's Chris. Now would you please release my Lucario from that hug?" he asked in a fake sweet tone as he looked at Lucario's annoyed expression. "(Hold on for a little longer...)"

To Lucario's chagrin, she tightened her hug, pressing the side of her left cheek more forcefully against his light cream fur. "Not anytime soon! There is no way I'm getting to hug such a precious Pokémon like this one very soon! Lemme let it aaaaaaaaall out."

That was truly discomforting to hear. "(Don't jump to conclusions, Chris. She definitely doesn't have a fetish for Lucario...) T-this isn't the right way to let it all out! Stop it!"

The girl known as Korrina wasn't going to let go of her hug. Grunting, Chris set his baby Riolu down and went over to pry her arms off from his annoyed Pokémon. Unfortunately, it became a tug of war-like task, because Chris tried very hard to pull her arms away and she didn't really want to let go. Grunting sounds coming from both trainers eventually annoyed Lucario so much that he effortlessly used a free hand to pull an arm of hers until he slowly pulled her away from his waist and dropped her on her rear. However, it only fueled her interest further. "Oh my gosh, that grip was so sturdy and strong!" she sighed as she looked up at his face from a lower angle. "You're just as strong as you look!"

Chris then stood between her and his Lucario. "We're kind of busy here, so, would you please take your Lucario away and leave us alone? Today is kind of our free day," he said.

She gasped and stood back up. "N-no, please, don't shoo me away!" Korrina said. "I-I just HAVE to know more about you!" She smiled at Lucario, who slightly backed off from her. As a general rule, the talking Pokémon of the mansion were forbidden to speak human language to avoid pushy trainers from bothering them a lot with questions they couldn't explain. "W-why didn't you tell me you had a Lucario too?! A-and a super BIG one at that?! O-oh, this is the greatest finding I've ever found!" Chris gasped when the very disturbed girl grabbed his dirt-covered gloves. "I feel this is destiny trying to get the two of us together!"

Chris's face couldn't have reddened so much more for a brief second. After that second went up, he pulled his hands away from hers. "W-w-w-would you CALM DOWN for a second, please?!" he hollered at her. "I-I implore you to CALM DOWN!"

She covered her cheeks. "Y-yeah! I-I think I should do that! I'm doing a lot of stuff I shouldn't do so openly. I-I have a reputation to keep!" She looked back at Lucario. "...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" She once again trying to lunge at him, but Chris reacted quickly and blocked her way by pushing her shoulders back. It was going to take a while for her to calm down completely and subsequently realize she still had her own unimpressive duo knocked out inside the bags of manure on the back.

Olimar ordered five Purple Pikmins to carry the two unconscious bodies away from the bags. Once that was done, he resumed his work. "Well, it's done. I lost him after only an hour of yard work..." he muttered. "Now he has to deal with that weird girl or else he won't rest well..."

Half an hour later...

Unsurprisingly, the girl Korrina failed to calm down her sheer excitement at her finding, which contrasted to the two pissed looks on her smelly Lucario standing side by side, glaring up at the big Lucario who was quick to give a very accurate assessment on the duo's rash-looking behavior. With Pikachu's party standing close to them, they waited for the girl to say something. "I would've never thought you had this guy like him with you!" she told Chris. "Why didn't you tell me so when we met?"

"Because there wasn't much of a clear indication that you liked Lucario that much?" Chris pointed out, clutching his baby Riolu in his arms and letting him hide his face from the two angry Lucario. "I mean, really, you don't look like a Lucario trainer."

"Oh, come on, I'm totally a Lucario trainer just like you! In fact, I could say you're like me in some ways!" Korrina said with a giggle. "You have a BIG Lucario and a baby Riolu... Oh my gosh. Is that baby going to grow just as big? I'm so jealous!"

"N-no, sorry. This baby is way different than my guy here," Chris said blankly. "And by different, I mean he's just like..." he eyed the growling Lucario at each side, "...just like any other normal Lucario."

"Really? But how come this one is so big? Lucario NEVER get to be so tall!" she said as she playfully raised a hand to measure in her mind how tall he was. "Did you feed him with something funky and nasty?"

"No... (She will flip if I tell her the whole story... I have to keep her expectations low.) He only got like this when I got him," Chris said.

"..." She started to laugh. "Okay, okay, you can stop kidding me. I have a good eye for this kind of thing and I know you don't want to tell me."

"(Eep. No, she's clearly bluffing! I have to keep disagreeing!) I really don't know how this happened! He just grew this big when he evolved one day before I even got him! I don't know more than that myself..."

She looked disappointed. "Oh... Oh, I see. That's kind of a letdown right there... BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!" She piped up very quickly. Chris could spot the unsettling glitters in her eyes. "I feel so lucky that I got to find him at all! It really does feel like I was destined to meet you; a fellow Lucario trainer with a big heart like mine..." She blushed as she thought very scandalous thoughts that would kill Chris's dignity if he ever knew. By default, Lucario forbade himself from reading her dangerous mind, unaware that she was hiding a whole lot of stuff under that cheerful demeanor. "...L-listen... I-I knew we started off on the wrong foot the last time we met, b-but...w-would you be my friend?" she asked sweetly to the teen.

Chris recalled that meeting in his head. "Uh... Well, why didn't you tell me your name when I asked for it?" he asked. "It seemed odd..."

"(Wait... Maybe he really doesn't know! Oh, I was acting like a fool for no reason! Well! As long as he doesn't know, it won't hurt me!) O-oh, that! Well, you see, I was in a hurry back then!" she lied. "I had to check up on these two running about! That's why you didn't see them with me!" The two Lucario looked oddly at her and shrugged.

Their reactions told so much to the others watching the scene. "(My lie detector has spotted a white lie... I shouldn't press her, though. I don't want to make her feel bad for anything,)" Chris thought. "Okay... Fine, then. I'll let you be my friend." He yelped when she practically tossed herself into a tight hug on him.

"Oh, thank you, thank you! You won't regret this!" she yelled, her pad-covered chin resting on Chris's left shoulder and her somewhat flat chest pressing on the back of Riolu's head. He was already regretting it, however, and mostly because the girl's hug was a little too tight on him. "You're about the only true friend I have who is into Lucario too! I always waited for a moment like this to happen..." she pushed herself off as she lustily stared at the big Lucario, "...and this guy over here is a big plus! Right, guys?" She turned to her duo, who grinned darkly at their main target. "(Hoo boy, I don't like those stares...)"

"(Hoo boy, I don't like those stares...)" Chris thought, unaware of her thoughts. He looked back at her and bowed. "Well... We met, so I'll escort you out of here."

"Yeah, I-wait, what?" Korrina did a double take, and so did her pair of Lucario. "Y-you're already kicking me out?!"

"N-no, but... Today happens to be a very important day to us in here. It's our break from work," he said. "I already made plans to do for the rest of the day, and I have my schedule full as is. And regrettably, I need to do some very important stuff with this baby right here..." She looked at the baby Riolu stealing glances from her little group. "My boss doesn't allow outsiders to be in here, actually. You shouldn't have jumped over the fence to get here."

"H-huh? B-but I... I-I couldn't help myself when I saw your big guy! It's not fair!" she complained with a worried look. "Here I was coming up with so many activities we could do for the rest of the day! Can't you really do me a favor and spend some time with me?" She blushed slightly. "U-uh, not in the intimate way you think..."

He blushed slightly as well. "Sorry, but... I have to say no." He wasn't expecting her duo to react so strongly by growling and baring their fangs...fully. They were still growling at him with terrifying looks that send dozens of chills into his spine. "H-holy crap! W-what's wrong with those two?!"

Even Korrina looked disturbed by their sudden reaction. It was progressively getting worse, since their fists flared with angry aura meant to punch someone, most likely the other Lucario standing opposite to them. She stood between both parties. "C-calm down! He doesn't want to do anything with us today! You'll have to live with it! EEK!" She backed off when they directed their growls at her, but she put up a tough look herself. "(I know what they want. They want to fight his Lucario! That's all they cared about since they saw him! And if the past was any indication...)" She took a moment to clutch the strange jewel on her left glove. "(...No, I can't let them use that again. I can't let them embarrass me in front of Chris! ...But I have to do something to calm them down or else they'll never live it down for the next days!) U-um, Chris!" She turned around and joined her hands together. "T-there's only one thing you could at least do for us... Would you please have a battle against me?"

And suddenly the thought of a premature death came as a reality when she asked that. One, or both, of the Lucario looking very pumped up to fight for honor would suffer a great deal of humiliation and physical damage... Though maybe Master Hand was keeping Lucario's power under control. When he thought that, his DS shook in his pocket. Chris took it out and opened it to read a message sent by Kawashima. It read...

Master Hand has really weakened Lucario's legendary power since a long time ago, but he only ever does that during missions and quests you take at the village. He doesn't bother to do that outside of those times. Pokémon Battles, however, aren't under his watch, so you must be ABSOLUTELY careful about letting Lucario fight other normal Pokémon! He's level 1000, to give you an idea, and he can quite possibly level a mountain if he wanted to! Bottom Line: He WILL kill other Pokémon!

P.S.: By the way, you have good perceiving skills! I'm happy you could tell the difference!

Now he looked very ill when he read that fact. "Hey, it'd rude to read your texts after someone asked you a question," Korrina called out to him. Putting his DS away, Chris was now looking at two tombstones where the Lucario used to be standing...and Korrina was all dressed in a black version of her current clothes with a thin veil in front of her face, until he shook his head to reveal the real image. To his surprise, Lucario had read the message over his shoulder, and now he learned the harsh truth of his power...though he was very proud to be level 1000. "So what's it gonna be? It would really help me so much if you could accept it..."

"(If I say no, her Lucario are probably going to hurt her. But if I say yes, they're the ones who are going to get hurt...and die! Either way is a bad idea that will make me feel bad!)" Chris thought in a panic. He tapped his head as he looked at Lucario to tell him to talk to him using telepathy, which he complied. "(Lucario, there's no way out of this one! You have to fight them to calm them down but I don't want you to be so rough on them!)"

"(Y-yes, I read the mail too... I'm very happy to be so powerful, though.)"

"(FOCUS! That's not what matters right now!)"

"(S-sorry, I got carried away... I'll listen to your commands without going overboard, then.)"

"(Thank you...)" The telepathy talk ended without Korrina ever noticing. "Okay... I'll accept the battle."

She smiled. "Ah, really? Oh, thank you!" She looked serious as her Lucario nodded at each other. "You don't know how much this is going to help me!"

"(Other than having fun? I wish I knew if this was the right decision...)" He looked back at Olimar. "Olimar, sorry, but I'll be busy for a little while. I'll go back to helping you out with the garden."

"Oh, it's fine!" Olimar said. "Don't you worry about this. I'll continue planting flowers in the meantime."

Korrina tilted her head. "Say, Chris... Is he sick or something? His nose looks bloated..." That little comment made Olimar freeze for a brief moment, until he looked away and started lamenting his odd looks to normal humans.

"No, he's not. Please don't ask anything else," Chris advised with a sigh, before she could ask why he was wearing that weird suit and the space helmet.

Five minutes later...

Needed violence for the sake of sportsmanship was never Chris's thing. He could have been a little more open to the idea of Pokémon battles until he experienced so many hardships for the past week and several more in an unknown world that changed his views to a more pacific attitude. Still, as long as he had a strong Lucario by his side, he just had a very accurate hunch that told him that he was forever going to fight battles he couldn't avoid, which either had him, Lucario, or both in them.

One such battle was the battle against a happy-yet-confident Korrina and her two super serious Lucario sporting some unsettling smirks... Chris, Lucario, and Pikachu were standing on the east edge of the bricked cross that divided the four gardens apart, facing their opposition on the opposite side. However, the battle didn't go unnoticed by some people in the mansion. Some of the Smashers were seen looking out from the inside, with Red and the Unovan quartet sitting outside on the benches inside the brick circle and them being the only people Korrina noticed other than the very strange people inside the big building. On the northeast corner near the south edge of the small curved fence, the World Traveler had a crowd of small Pokémon with his baby mixed in them. In all honesty, Chris thought everyone was something else other than mere spectators: witnesses ready to see a murder scene ensue if he wasn't too careful. Making sure they were far away from the peppy girl's ear range, the teen talked to his team. "Pikachu, I'm so sorry for roping you into this mess," Chris told the Electric-type.

"Pfft, don't be, please," Pikachu said with a devious look. "You just gave me a front row seat to watch the carnage from even closer. See those two hot blooded guys on the other side? Yeah, they're gonna die before I even get to step forward."

"P-Pikachu, please! I don't want to think about dismembered heads flying out into the horizon!" Chris scolded. "Lucario is going to be extremely careful about this battle. He's going to be as soft as possible... The plan is to tire those two out during the conflict so they can't fight anymore. It's going to stall the fight, true, but it's the only way to keep them safe from being mercilessly killed over nothing. Lucario will stay fully on the defensive, disrupting any attacks that come his way. That's the plan I have." He looked at Lucario. "I can count on you to be soft, right? You understand you're a killing machine, right?"

"Yes..." Lucario said.

"Good... Just interrupt any attack they throw at you and tire them out."

Red, Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca all shared one bench together near the inward curve of the northeast garden. Red stood up from his seat so that he could walk forward and be the match's referee. "Oh, how exciting! A battle between foreign Pokémon!" Bianca exclaimed. "I don't regret ever infiltrating the mansion two days ago! Who knew we would get to see this?"

"Again, feeling proud of your little crime. I hope you don't start sneaking into people's houses more often because of this one time," Cheren said. "Do I need to remind you that we could have died if they hadn't set us free?"

"You two should stop talking about the past and just stick with the present," Hilbert said. "Let's be quiet for a while and watch this fight. That Lucario, was it? That Lucario that trainer has looks very strong."

"I wish I could fight him instead," Hilda said. "It feels a lot more thrilling to fight foreign trainers with new Pokémon, you know? We should start to hang out with Red and his friend more to learn about what they know and what they've seen! I bet they've seen lots of new places we haven't heard of."

"Shh! The battle's gonna start!" hushed Bianca as they saw Red take the center of the field.

"Um, well, this a Single Battle match between trainers Chris and Korrina!" Red announced to the crowd gathered in the vicinity. "Both trainers can only use two Pokémon for this battle. The first one who manages to defeat all Pokémon from their opponent or makes them give up wins the match! All rules apply, which means anyone can change Pokémon during anytime in the battle, though not when an attack is being used! You can only change Pokémon when no one is making a move." He nodded at Chris and then at Korrina. "Are you two ready?"

"Sadly so..." Chris said.

"Give me a minute here!" Korrina said when she saw one of her Lucario demanding her to hand over something to him. Knowing what he wanted, she shook her head, making him growl angrily. "No! I'm not giving it to you or him! It's incredible you and your friend here still want to use that even after what we've gone through already! Can't you learn from your mistakes?" The Lucario pointed angrily at his adversary to make a point. "And your point is? The answer is still no! You'll fight normally and you'll like it. I don't want either of you to mess this new relationship with Chris!"

Her voice had been so loud that the people outside heard her. Looking shocked while her two Lucario smiled at her mistake, she cleared her throat.

"N-nothing wrong over here! We were just making some things clear..." she sheepishly said, pushing her first Lucario forward from his back. "A-anyway, we're ready right here!" With that being said, the first Lucario rolled his eyes and assumed his battle stance.

Chris's right eye twitched. "The more I see her talk, the more I think the two of us share something in common other than having the same Pokémon... No, wait, I'm being hasty here. I don't believe any of that," he muttered, until he looked at the people inside the mansion waving at him, especially Fox who gave him a wink. Smiling a bit, he then looked to his baby Riolu sitting with the other small Pokémon. "...Lucario, try not to scare Riolu during the fight. He's still watching you."

Lucario nodded as he stepped forward. "I won't let a random match like this push me further apart from him," he muttered, taking his battle stance, which was simply stand upright. Red started to move back outside the circle ring to let both combatants stare at each other. "It's been too long since I fought in a battle..." he told his opponent in growl language.

"Tsk, don't make me think I'll win this fight before it starts," his cocky opponent said with a grin. "I wasn't showing you the full extent of my powers during that surprise attack you foiled. Too bad you won't get to see the real me here."

That cocky talk annoyed Lucario. "...I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about, nor I want to know what you mean. Your cockiness is so annoying, though, so I shall demonstrate you not to cross me with that idiotic attitude. Prepare yourself to see how foolish you are...and take a bath after this, for Arceus's sake. You stink."

His opponent growled, unwillingly taking a big sniff of his smelly head. "Let me see if your ridiculous height isn't the only good thing you do to see the weather up there, freak," he taunted, forcing Lucario to glare menacingly.

"Uh-oh, growl-inducing-glare talk. This is a bad omen..." Korrina muttered, biting her lower lip. "N-no, I mustn't show any weakness here! I have to show Chris how good we are!"

Before the battle started, Riolu was confused about what was happening. "What is happening?" he asked Snivy. "Why is everyone looking so serious?"

"They're going to have a battle," Snivy told him.

"What? They're going to fight each other?" Riolu looked worried. "But why?"

"It's kind of complicated and foolish," the Grass-type said with a sigh. "Humans engage our kind in battle with other humans and their partners. I don't see what's so hot about that other than knocking each other in the head and endangering their lives over flimsy medals of gold that do nothing."

"...Oh... Is Chris going to make me fight?"

"..." She could be cynical and say yes, or she could give him the benefit of the doubt. Either way, she was talking to a toddler. "No, I don't think so..."

"Oh! That's good!" Riolu cheered. "I don't wanna fight others. It looks dangerous... But why is he making Lucario fight?"

"Because that guy enjoys fighting others, but his trainer doesn't seem to like it. It's kind of sad."

"Hmm..." Riolu wanted to see where this was going to go.

"Both sides are ready to go!" Red said, raising his hands and then bringing them down. "BEGIN!"

Pokémon X & Y – Battle! Trainer Battle

The girl Chris faced was actually really prone at fighting others. With a confident chuckle, Korrina yelled out her first move. "Lucario, use Swords Dance! Raise your attack power!" she commanded. Nodding, her Lucario conjured three pairs of floating swords th-

"A-as if we're just going to let you finish that!" Chris interrupted. "Lucario, use Extreme Speed to stop him!"

In a blink of an eye, the big Lucario appeared right in a flash in front of the smaller Lucario and promptly smacked him across the face with a slap that pushed him aside on the floor. The three pairs of clashing swords didn't manage to provide its user with a power boost as it was intended.

Korrina gasped loudly while the other Lucario blinked in shock. "O-oh, wow. Extreme Speed? That's just great... (That slap on the face was a little too much, though!)" She saw her angry fighting Lucario standing back up from the floor to back off from his dangerous opponent. "Alright, then! If standing idly by isn't recommended, then let's increase your power with Power-Up Punch!" With a loud growl for battle, her Lucario's right fist was enveloped in an orange glow meant to smack his opponent with all its might. The jackal rushed forward with fist ready to damage his target.

"(Okay, that's a new move... But no matter! We must stay on the defensive!) Lucario, block that glowing fist!" Chris ordered.

"Don't let that big Lucario block your punch now!" Korrina said. To her dismay, her enraged Lucario's fist collided softly against a much larger right palm that put a very tight grip on her Pokemon's curled fist. The grip prevented the smaller Lucario from moving away, and he frantically tried to set himself free by constantly pulling it with no luck. He was at his enemy's mercy. Due to the Power-Up Punch nature of raising the user's attack power if the hit managed to hurt the target, the boost was nonexistent. "W-what the?! Set yourself free with another Power-Up Punch!" Unfortunately, the other glowing fist collided against the larger Lucario's left palm, which also trapped the limb inside a tight grip. Her Lucario started to get increasingly annoyed and frustrated, waiting for his opponent to just get over it and land a blow. "W-wait, what now? U-uh, well, I've never been in a situation like this before... Try to get out of those grips, Lucario! Come on!"

Her Lucario started growling curses at the more calm-looking Lucario looking down upon him. "You big freak! LET ME GO!" he growled at him. "Fight like a man!"

"I'm afraid I will end up crushing you if I do what you want," Lucario told him with a narrow glare. "You're not my trainer. Therefore, I shall not listen to your demands."

"DAMMIT, LET ME GO!"

"No. My trainer hasn't told me to do that. Until then, please remain calm."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Korrina was starting to sweat. With her Lucario technically incapacitated to strike back, she could only wait for her opponent to make a move. "D-dang it, all of my Lucario's moves involve using his hands," she muttered to herself. "Maybe I should've listened to his request before the battle... W-wait, what am I saying? That's incredibly dangerous! I have to think of something!"

Chris received a telepathic message from his Lucario, asking him if he was going to let him do something. "Um, Lucario, slam him down on the floor (softly)!" he ordered.

With no effort, Lucario raised his opponent right above him, watching his shocked eyes and flailing legs for a second until he turned around and lightly slammed him down on the floor, causing a small crack to appear under every limb. Korrina's Lucario growled in pain, but he stubbornly got back up again and tightened his fists. "Phew, you're free! Okay, now use Bone Rush!" Her Lucario grinned cockily and formed a long glowing blue baton in the shape of a thing bone with his hands.

"B-break that apart!" Chris ordered.

Using a karate chop, his Lucario tore the glowing bone apart before it was even going to be used. His opponent gasped loudly when his weapon didn't get to deal damage, forcing him to back off and pant heavily with frustration. "(Oh my gosh, these two REALLY mean business!)" Korrina thought in desperation. "(They've stopped all of our moves, and the only one left is Metal Sound! ...Why did I let them both learn Metal Sound when they don't even have a single special move? Oh wait, Aura Sphere... Yeah, they haven't learned that yet either!)" She shook her head. "Lucario, keep your distance from him and be sure to strike when you can! Use Bone Rush again, and don't let him break it!"

"(Chris, don't say anything to me,)" Lucario thought.

"(Huh? What? Why?)" Chris thought.

"(I didn't feel a single bit of pain when I stopped his blows earlier. Let me see if I can endure his next blow without doing anything.)"

"(Uh, well, if you want to...)"

Her Lucario listened to that command by backing off from his idle opponent. When he was far away from him, Korrina's Lucario conjured another bone weapon with his hands. With no interruptions, he felt that it was going to be his time to strike back properly. Once again, that cocky look returned as he rushed up ahead, ready to strike his target several times. Lunging forward with a war cry, the Lucario fiercely smacked his weapon against Lucario's face.

And the bone snapped in half, with its tip flying off and vanishing in the air. For a moment, the smirking Lucario thought he had delivered a harsh critical hit, until harsh reality reminded him that the big Lucario stared down at him with a blank look and no signs of damage to his face at all... The spectators, along with both battling trainers, gasped out loud and froze for a moment. "T-that didn't hurt him?!" Korrina breathed out.

"Oh wow... It didn't hurt him at all!" Bianca exclaimed.

"What has this human fed him with? This is unnatural!" Snivy noted.

The fact had been proven to Chris. His Lucario had really been weakened willingly during all those missions in the past. Now, his Lucario was at his best, where no attack his foe would throw at him would hurt him. Korrina and the other Lucario started to find out that their foe was incredibly strong, just as she had thought when she first laid her eyes on him. "I...I... What can I do now?" Korrina muttered loudly enough for her other partner to hear her. "If Bone Rush didn't work, what else will? Do you have an idea?" Her second Lucario smacked the back side of his left wrist several times with an angry look. "Did you forget? I didn't give it to him and the battle has already started! It's against the rules to give Hold Items during it! ...A-and I don't want to use that! I told you that already! Maybe I should just forfeit the match?"

The fighting Lucario heard the outrageous idea, which he loudly protested at with an angry growl. He truly believed he could defeat his foe if he put his mind into it.

"...Aww, alright! We'll continue fighting until we can't no longer fight!" she said with a serious smile, dismaying Chris. "Like I said before, I have a reputation to keep here!"

At the mention of that sentence, Cheren's glasses eerily shone as he fixed them on his eyes. "(Hmm... Now that I think about it, haven't I seen that girl somewhere before?)" he wondered to himself.

With Korrina not willing to give up the match, Chris wasn't looking forward to waste more time to tire her team out. "Oh, alright... Let's continue fighting, then," he said.

"Say, Chris..." Korrina called out. "I know when people are going easy on me. Your Lucario has been blocking my Lucario's attacks since this battle started. C'mon! I want to see just how powerful your awesome partner is!"

"(Ooooooooooooh, no,)" Chris trailed off in his mind. "S-sure! Let's go with that..." He wasn't going to let his Lucario severely injure an innocent soul even if he was begged to. His plan to tire them out was still going to be on play as long as their foes were breathing.

20 boring minutes later...

In truth, while Chris and Lucario had the best intentions, they doomed everyone to absolute boredom.

Twenty minutes later and Korrina's Lucario hadn't managed to hurt his opponent, who kept blocking his attacks and retaliating with soft blows rarely. The spectators were yawning and almost falling asleep having to watch the battle drag on for too long. Riolu was the first one to fall asleep, thinking that Pokémon battles were boring as they looked dangerous and overall getting the wrong impression. Only Korrina's side seemed to be on their toes, unlike the tired-looking Chris who wanted to sit down and sleep. His Lucario was also getting increasingly bored by blocking the weak attacks packed with extreme anger and swiftness that didn't help to make a small shred of difference in power. "How much longer is this going to go on...?" Hilda asked softly, fighting her urges to fall asleep on the bench.

Bianca yawned loudly as she asked, "Isn't it against the rules to stall battles?"

"No, I'm afraid it's not," Cheren said, blinking slowly. "It can be used as a strategy to make a Pokémon run out of move uses so they become unable to use anything else other than struggling."

"Well, it should be a rule not to stall," Hilbert muttered, resting his hands on his knees.

The boredom in the air was a thick as the very much enraged, pissed, and exhausted Lucario fighting the big one holding out a dull but sturdy hand forward to stop him in his tracks. As the small one pulled back from using his last Bone Rush move, he spoke through his gritted fangs at his adversary. "HOW MUCH...LONGER...ARE YOU PLANNING...TO TOY WITH ME...YOU FREAK?!"

Chris's Lucario yawned slightly. "Until you give up..." he responded in a low voice.

"ME...GIVE UP... GIVE UP?!" Korrina's Lucario said, his crimson eyes shrinking in utter rage. "I WILL NEVER GIVE UP! I ONLY ACCEPT DEFEATS!"

His adversary was a little surprised – under his bored eyes – how he reacted violently under all his panting. "Oh well... Too bad this battle will have to go on for much longer..."

The second Lucario, sitting on the floor and glaring daggers at his trainer, growled menacingly at her. "I can't give up..." panted Korrina. "No member in my family has ever given up in a battle...! I won't be the first one to break that tradition! We will keep fighting on...until we can win!" The World Traveler admired and greatly lamented how hot blooded the blond girl with the long ponytail was, if only because he was suffering because of it. He had to make Lucario finish this fight sooner before the heat of the sun would make him faint. "Chris, come on already! You haven't told your Lucario to fight back! Why are you making this fight drag out for so long?!"

Chris was more than ready to tell Lucario to go to the offensive and be as careful as possible, though he was too late to do anything because of one little thing... The bottled-up rage in Korrina's Lucario leaking in small bursts. "THAT IS IT!" he growled at the large Lucario, noticing that each one of them was standing on the opposite sides from the trainers. With his enemy's trainer standing quite close to him, the panting Lucario chuckled. "So...you don't want to attack me at all...is that it?" he asked. "You only want me to throw the towel...just to hurt my pride...right?"

"That's not exactly it, but..." Chris's Lucario trailed off.

"Oh... Well, let's see if you start getting serious after I do THIS!" With a quick turn on his feet, Korrina's Lucario changed directions and was now rushing at a bored Chris. His two fists flared up with aura until they got enveloped in the orange glow of the Power-Up Punch, their intended target being the trainer himself.

"What..." Lucario's eyes fully opened, furrowing his brow very hard, "ARE YOU DOING?!"

The sudden surprise of the event made everyone snap out of their yawning selves, but it took Chris several nudges from Pikachu to notice that his life was being threatened by a spike-wristed creature whom for some reason had decided to let it out on him. It was not until Korrina's loud scream that alerted him about what was just about to happen, where he noticed the smirking beast headed his way. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed loudly and turned tails.

The sheer shock of the event made the blond girl panic and remember fleeting memories of the past, though they didn't relate as badly as this one occasion. "AAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Korrina called out to her Pokémon, though he was completely tuning her out. "S-STOP! NO! PLEASE! NO! DON'T RUIN THIS FOR ME! TURN BACK, PLEASE!"

Korrina's Lucario was about to suffer very dearly for endangering the life of an innocent person just to make his enemy fight back. To make matters worse, attacking Chris like that so suddenly was a big hair trigger temper for the Legendary Lucario to go wild with fury. Using Extreme Speed, Lucario caught up in record time between his running trainer and his soon-to-be-dead foe, who laughed jovially when he saw him get all angry. "YES! YES! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GET SERIOUS!" Korrina's Lucario laughed, his fists ready to leave a scar on the growling monster ahead of him as he closed in very quickly. When he was five feet away from the other Lucario, he lunged at him with a big smirk. "DON'T YOU TOY WITH ME EVER AGAI-!"

Music stops

An honest, but quick and very sturdy punch to his face was all he ever saw for the rest of the day, aside from the dozens of stars flying out as his vision came to rest in a black void of darkness. Not only that, but he was going to wake up feeling pain all over from massive collateral damage.

A large blue burr was shot across from the east to the west side of the backyard. Korrina and her other Lucario screamed and jumped out in opposite directions to avoid the large bullet from smacking right into them, said bullet whizzing by and crashing right into the wall across the long path behind their backs... The wall, however, didn't stop the living bullet, as it made a large hole through the blockade to continue a very damaging crash course into the trees of the forest on the other side, where they easily gave out to the sheer strength of the blur's speed, breaking apart into large logs of separated wood and leaving a huge mess of dead plant life behind in its wake. By the time the dust cleared out from the outside of the mansion's grounds, two miles of broken trees had appeared, where at the very end a twitching right leg stuck out from a wreckage of trees...right before a tree to the left collapsed on it. Meanwhile, a strange piece of white material was seen flipping in the air from the direction of the trees into the backyard, before it fell flat on the center of the battlefield. It looked like a jagged piece that used to belong to a spike...

Following the trail of destruction back into the backyard, the spectators were admittedly horrified and scared of what they just saw, standing on the path to the mess of trees and the blank-looking Lucario with his right fist stretched out in place where his foe used to be. Their stares were directed at the path beyond the broken portion of the wall, where they couldn't see clearly where the hot blooded Lucario went beyond the fallen trunks. None of them looked as outright surprised as Korrina and the other surviving Lucario. Still dropped on their spots, the two slowly turned away from the hole in the wall to their opponent on the other side.

"..." Red blinked and cleared his throat. "U-uh, is the fight going to continue or what?"

With that said, the blond girl and her partner looked back at the imposing Lucario looking at them. While the other Lucario looked very sick, the girl was quick to cry. There was no chance in hell she would ever topple that...that horrendously strong creature as they were right now. She had witnessed a terrifying incident that wasn't done by her hands, and she got very scared of giving up the other surviving Lucario in a pointless fight where she would be defeated...and potentially be left alone. "I...I...I...I GIVE UP! PLEASE! I GIVE UP! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Korrina cried out as she got on her roller blades and went to go check on her fallen party member somewhere within the trail of dead wood. Her Lucario, meanwhile, didn't want to flee with her. He was scared about what that freakishly tall Lucario was going to do to him.

Chris's Lucario sensed a very nagging emotion coming from his trainer's aura...and it was getting closer to him. He closed his eyes and wisely gulped before his trainer said, "WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU DO?! You freakin' killed the guy with that punch you tossed!"

Lucario slowly turned to him, his head hanging down his neck in shame. "I-I was trying to protect you! He suddenly wanted to irk me into attacking him by threatening your life!" he said. "It made me snap, b-but it was for your own good!"

"You could've at least tried to be a little more careful with that, but GEEZ!" Chris complained. "You turned him into a living rocket waiting to die at the end of that trail of destruction you left across the wall! I'll be super lucky if Korrina at least doesn't freak out in a bad way whenever she sees you again after this! It's a given she'll stay away from us because you couldn't control your power!" He groaned and buried his face on his hands. "Way to screw up big time, Lucario!" Lucario had no excuse to justify his behavior, so he groaned afterward and smacked his forehead. When Chris took his time to look into the mansion, he spotted the Smashers giving him sick looks before they started to leave the premises. Fox in particular forced a twitching smile in an effort to reassure his little brother that everything was going to be fine, until Falco dragged him out from sight.

The rest of the people who became witnesses to the gruesome ending of the match snapped out from their shock-induced-trances. "Okay..." Snivy trailed off, surprised to see the baby Riolu still sleeping soundly on the grass. "I am now a firm believer that his Lucario is a living weapon of mass destruction. I can't believe what I just saw..."

"You should've been there when the aurageddon happened. It was WAAAAAY worse than this," Pikachu said.

"How worse?"

"Nuke worse."

"O-oohhhh..." She shuddered.

Ivysaur kept looking at the path where the other Lucario went. "Do you think he killed that poor foolish Lucario?" he asked the others.

"It's going to be a miracle if he survived crashing into all those trees..." Pichu muttered. He could faintly hear Korrina's cries coming from the direction of the forest. "I wish her trainer good luck in recovering through this..."

On the Unovan trainer side, the four friends exchanged terrified glances. "U-um, suddenly, I don't want to fight that one Pokémon..." Hilda muttered, watching the Lucario getting scolded even more by his trainer in the background. "I really love my Samurott, so...yeah..."

"An enlightening decision, Hilda," Cheren noted. "Choosing your own battles is a smart way to avoid unnecessary conflict that would otherwise dismember your Pokémon...though...I really can't wrap my head around that atrociously strong Lucario." He stared at said creature. "Perhaps he is perfectly able to face off against Legendary Pokémon."

"Oh yeah, he can!" Bianca said. "Didn't you see that lethal punch to the face? It wasn't even a move and it was enough to send that one flying away! Just imagine how much stronger his actual moves are!"

"Well, I think he was holding back during the battle. That Extreme Speed, for example, looked a little weak because he didn't quite slam into his opponent... He just used its blinding speed to appear and slap the other Lucario," Hilbert noted. "I know this sounds a little wrong, but...I wouldn't mind getting to know those two." He smiled. "Red and Chris look like nice people with a lot of experience. We should really sit down one day to talk."

"Not now, though..." Hilda said, looking back at the hole in the wall. "They have their hands full as is..."

"True that..."

From the fifth floor of the mansion's windows, Master Hand was informed of what had happened during that Pokémon battle by some of the Smasher witnesses. He looked outside and saw the damage done to his wall. "It's been just three hours. THREE HOURS since I brought the wall up and it's already totaled on one side! Can't you people keep yourselves from wrecking my home and its security?!" he asked loudly.

"Apparently, no," spoke Ness, standing next to him.

From within the sound side of the path of destruction that led to the downed Lucario, Accelgor, Ninjask, Shedinja, and Froakie were seen standing on a nearby long branch, staring at the fallen trees down below and listening to the cries from the crying human girl somewhere deep in the mess further inside. Since the beginning of the battle, they had watched it unfold to see how humans and Pokémon behaved together, but they were admittedly surprised to have witnessed such event all the same. "Master Accelgor..." began Shedinja, "the power of that one...it was unbelievable! Just look at all the damage he caused with a simple punch! I have never seen such display of raw power before..."

"Do you think you can defeat an opponent like him?" Ninjask asked.

"Of course not. I am entirely out of his league, though there is no real reason to risk my life fighting him over nothing, is there?" Accelgor said. "Though, I am very intrigued about his unreal strength... Froakie, what do you make of this?"

The frog looked over his left shoulder at his master. "What do I think? I think trainers are dangerous people," he said. "If they can make people like us this strong...I'm scared to know what they'll do to others! I want them to stop fighting for nothing! I'll study harder to become a ninja master so I can stop violence from happening..." He looked back into the backyard at the culprit of the destruction: Lucario. "...And I'll start with that guy and his trainer very soon. Yes. They look like a good place to start..."

"..." Ninjask and Shedinja looked at each other before turning to the frowning Accelgor. "Master Accelgor, I suddenly feel like making a funeral," Ninjask informed.

"Stop it with the dark jokes," Accelgor advised. "Froakie, I hope you know what you are trying to do. I will not stop you unless your life is in danger, but I want you to think clearly for yourself about what you have in mind. Is that clear?"

Froakie, oddly, snickered and smiled at his master. "Don't you worry, boss! I know what I'm doing here! I know how to pick my own battles," he reassured him, though his snickering didn't make the other ninja Pokémon feel okay...

An hour later...

~ Nintendo Village ~

Pokémon Center – Entrance

The World Traveler couldn't have been any more thankful to the skies above after finding out that Korrina's unlucky Lucario managed to survive that horrendous karmic blow to the face. With Red and the other Pokémon tagging along, they had to rush the massively-injured Pokémon to the local Pokémon Center at the village, where after waiting for a report from the nurse, she told them that he was going to be fine...

The problem was when he was going to be fine. The nurse had told them that the injuries received from the incident were too much to take in all at once (Korrina, oddly, didn't blame Chris by ratting out it was a battle that put her Pokémon like that so she lied by saying he fell from a mountain) and total recovery would take at least a month under intensive care. Unlike other Pokémon who would never be heavily damaged in a normal battle, they were dismayed to learn that her Lucario got all arms and legs broken, along with a slightly fractured head and a large, bloated black eye and a swollen neck, also mentioning the broken chest spike and fangs. The nurse commented that it was a miracle that he had survived and would have likely died if they hadn't come to the hospital much sooner. Because she would have never thought that her opponent was so overly powerful, Korrina made a vow to herself to never fight them again...for the time being.

Standing outside from the automatic doors and having waited for Korrina to stop whimpering on her hands, Chris, carrying a sleeping Riolu on his arms, hung his head down to her. "I'm so very sorry this happened!" he profusely apologized. "I knew from the very beginning that my Lucario was way too strong! That's why I didn't want to have a fight against you!"

"I-It's...kind of...okay..." Korrina sobbed. "I had this coming, somehow..."

"N-no, I object to that! I feel very much responsible for this!" Chris lamented. "You have all the right to hate me and never see me again, Korrina. I nearly got one of your Pokémon killed, for god's sake! I'm always getting into many dangerous situations, but...but I have kept Lucario away from Pokémon battles because I feared something like this would happen! I should let you drown me in a sack..."

Korrina sniffed and shook her head. "L-like I said before, it's okay!" she reassured him. "R-really, it's fine! I don't mind that your Lucario seriously nearly killed one of my Lucario..."

"...What?" Chris said. "...Are you even listening to yourself? How can you be fine with this? One of your guys isn't going to come out of this place for a month, and you think it's fine?" He gasped when he thought they had done more damage than they thought they did. "Oh no, the sheer shock of the fight made you lose it! This has become one of the worst days of my life ever!"

"N-no!" Korrina said, keeping him from panicking. "Look, I think this was just what my Lucario needed to see to understand how bad they've been with me since I can remember! They had to be punished somehow..."

"...And again, what?" Chris grimaced at her, watching her interlace her fingers above her skirt. "Okay, obviously, there's something that happened to you before you even met me which somehow is not making you try to hate me...or hurt me..." She bit her lower lip very hard. "What is keeping you from hating me?"

"..." Korrina closed her eyes in deep thought. "...Just...just know that my Lucario don't behave very well like yours does," she muttered in a quiet voice. "They're very rowdy... They always want to fight people using Me..." There was an odd pause when she said that incomplete word. "...Using me to get strong opponents... When they do fight, they cause a lot of havoc around them, but they don't care as long as they win... You know what's worse? They're brothers."

"...Oh..." Chris looked back. In the background, Chris's Lucario was having an unneeded conversation in growls with the other surviving Lucario.

"Please, I beg you," Korrina's second Lucario told Chris's Lucario. "Make me your student! I wish to be as powerful as you...master!"

"For the umpteenth time, NO!" Lucario shot back.

He groaned at him. "Why not?! I'll never get another chance like this! Anything to be stronger than my idiot brother you punched in the face!" he said. "Our power level is exactly the same, and it irks me that neither of us can ever win against the other! But with your help...he'll be my slave! Or...how do humans put it? I'll make him my bit-?"

"N-no!" Lucario said again.

Chris shrugged and turned back to Korrina. "I had a feeling your Lucario looked a little too violent when they didn't like the idea of no fighting..."

"And you were right on that," she said. "I've tried to get them to behave, but with no luck. It's been eating at me for years... Now that we had this battle against you, I think they'll start to come around." She forced a smile. "They weren't like this when they were simple Riolu before, when we used to have so much fun together. When they evolved, everything slowly changed until it was too late for me... Just looking at one walking Pokémon – owned or not that looks strong enough – is enough to send them into a wild frenzy... I haven't lost hope in them yet. I want them to be like your Lucario! Just with a caring heart for others and not the big power he has in him..." She sighed as he saw him look worried at her. "...I'm very tired right now, Chris. I don't wish to rope you into this any longer since this is your free day. Please, just leave us for now."

"A-are you sure?" Chris stuttered. "A-are you going to be fine?"

"Yeah... I'll stick around in this village for much longer than I thought," she said. "So I'll have plenty of chances to see you again. W-we won't fight again, of course! I want to take it easy..."

Concerned about her decision, Chris thought that it was for the best. "Okay... If you think that's okay with you..."

She nodded with a small chuckle. "O-oh, but before you go... Are we still friends?" she asked, preparing for the worst. "I'll understand if you think it's weird for me to be your friend even if I was the victim..."

"..." Chris nodded with a small smile. "If you really think it's okay..."

"A-are you kidding? I'm so thrilled to be your friend!" she exclaimed happily. "I feel like you really understand me much better than anyone else I know because of what we share in common. I don't want to toss this friendship away just because your partner nearly killed one of mine..." She winced. "Oh gosh, that sounded so weird, didn't it? Maybe I should leave you alone forever..."

Chris thought that was really hurting Korrina. She wasn't going to be okay with that decision. "...Don't worry about it," he said, making her blink. "It doesn't look like it, but I've met so many extraordinary people before that I'm so used to their quirks it doesn't bother me. You being another addition to my life isn't going to change things. I can tell you have a nice heart in you..." If only Chris could have sensed Korrina's heart skipping two beats. "You're an innocent victim who gets involved in very dangerous situations where you panic, just like me, and that's why you hardly have a chance to be yourself. If someone would give you a chance to be the real you, people will see how valuable you are. When I do that without my issues weighing me down, I feel like I can do anything to enjoy myself... So I think that you're a very good person when nothing is holding you down. I rather like to see what makes people themselves."

"(...)"

He chuckled, which somehow sent a warm but unexpected welcoming feeling in Korrina. That feeling hadn't been there when she met Chris before... "O-oh, I think I got too carried away there. I rarely get to say things like this to new friends... I should be going now...so...good by-"

"WAIT!" Korrina yelled loudly, perhaps a little too loud, because it made Chris yelp. "I-I have to... I-I have to...g-give you your prize money for winning against me!" She quickly took out $5120 Poké Dollars from her pocket and gave it to Chris, though not without pulling his right hand to force the prize on him and making him nearly lose his balance trying to hold the sleeping Riolu, who started to yawn during his puzzled awakening. She was having a wild storm of emotions brewing in her mind just holding his hand for those two brief seconds. Pulling back, she looked at his wincing expression as he stared down at the rather large amount of money. "T-there... Buy yourself something nice with it, okay? M-maybe you could buy supplies or even Poké Balls..."

Chris flinched at all that money. Pokémon Trainers must be really rich to carry so much money with them. "U-uh... (W-well, I was about to ask Red to lend me Poké Balls, but...) A-alright..." he stuttered, pocketing the money in his pocket and watching the baby Riolu smile and stretch his little hands towards his face. Chris was quick to raise the baby high up by holding his arms. "Good morning, you! It's already afternoon, so I better feed you with food soon!" The baby, once again, didn't understand anything other than enjoying the view from high up in the air. Chris brought him up at chin level and cuddled his head affectionately. Korrina watched very intently as they both giggled and chuckled, and her heart was beating a little too fast. When they looked at her, she blinked twice. "S-so, I'll see you later, okay? Tell me how your Lucario is doing until he's out. I'm worried about him..."

"...W-what now? Oh, right! Yes!" Korrina nodded several times, forcing a twitching smile. "I-I'll see you around...a-and thank you so much for being friends with me... It means so much..."

Chris nodded back and waved his right hand at her, with Riolu simply staring. The teen then turned around and told his Lucario that they were leaving, much to the dismay of her other Lucario who had failed to convince the stronger one to train him under his wing. The little group went on to rejoin their friends waiting in the background to start their long walk back to the mansion...

When everyone else had mixed and disappeared with the crowd of people walking by, Korrina kept staring for so long at her friend going away. She was not quite happy that he was gone so soon... Then her Lucario got close and growled at her for her attention. Snapping back to reality, she gulped and looked down at the curious look on his face while her index fingers shyly pressed against each other. "...Can I tell you...a little secret?" she asked, but the Lucario didn't say anything to disagree. "...I...I think I have a crush on Chris... Y-yeah..."

"..." Her Lucario's eyes widened at that, as he saw her twiddling with her thumbs, her cheeks reddening blissfully, her smile digging deep into her face, and her eyes softly closed. Considering what scandalous statement she just said, her remaining Lucario rubbed his chin and thought how this could benefit him in any way... The most obvious benefit was the chance at being trained by that amazing Lucario. With a small grin, he nodded happily at her.

"Y-you think I have a chance?" she asked in a low voice. He nodded seriously. "A-ahh, you think? W-wow, I never thought you'd agree on a romantic topic like that! Feeling love feels...very nice... B-but maybe I'm rolling this a little too fast. I-I don't want to crash and bother him until it's the right time... Maybe sometime tomorrow..." With a sigh, she went back to reality and looked at the Pokémon Center. "That's something for another day. I have to stay close to my other Lucario now. He needs me more than ever... Come with me, you. We're gonna have to stay in this village for a little longer than we thought..." A small giggle escaped her lips. "Why do I feel so happy for that? This is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to me!" She kept giggling as she rolled her way inside the building, with a dumbfounded Lucario staring oddly at the audience before following her, the automatic doors closing behind their backs.

...Chris's Lucario, who had sensed the rather strong feeling of love emanating from Korrina's aura as they left her behind, felt the need to send Chris a fair telepathic warning about her in case he were to meet her in good terms again. The other oblivious Smashers couldn't tell why the World Traveler stopped in his tracks, put Riolu down, and fainted, his fall on his back interrupted by his dutiful Lucario.

~ Smash Mansion ~

Main Lobby

"It's unfair, don't you think?" Marth said. "Although we recovered our lost comrades, only one of them deserted us behind our backs."

"That wasn't the worst of it," Roy said. "The worst part was that we didn't even know he came back just to leave while we were brainwashed! I know that we could've made a difference if we were acting normally."

Link raised his shoulders. "There's nothing else we can do. What's done is done, and we won't ever know if Ike will come back here on his own free will without Soren convincing him to not come back. I sort of knew those two had a stronger relationship than with us," he said.

"It's almost as if they were in..." Roy shook his head. "Y-yeah, forget what I was going to say. I guess you can't never become much more important to a guy who hails from another world where he has his most important friends and family."

"..." Morgan nodded, looking crestfallen. "..."

Marth noticed her sad look first. "Oh, Morgan... I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help to you. I've told you that your tomes and swords don't belong to either my or Roy's world, so you must belong somewhere else different," he said. "It's a pretty complicated thing to explain since everyone in this mansion hail from so many places. Your world happens to be a new place altogether..."

The tactician-in-training looked at him. "I understand that..." She smiled hopefully. "If you guys don't know where I belong... Maybe I should try to venture out and find my father by myself."

"I don't know if it's a good idea for you to leave on your own, Morgan..." Link said. "The army might be after you when you got involved in the mess since two days ago."

"But it's not fair!" she said. "It wasn't my intention for some random enemy army to take an interest on me for helping you out! Besides, how do we really know they know who I am? I want to think I have one little chance at sneaking away. I only know who you are..."

The amnesiac girl looked very sad, making all three males look disappointed at themselves for not being able to cheer her up. Her predicament was very bad, though, and simply ignoring it could mean the possibility of being hurt by the army. "...Morgan," Marth spoke up, seeing her sad face look up at him. "It'll be okay... We shall try to find your world of origin and your father. This is what I promise to do for you."

Morgan stared. "Do you think you can really help me find my way back?" she asked.

"...Perhaps I can," Marth said. "I can only say for sure that it's going to be tough to find a certain lead... I'm very certain that you're not alone in this. If my comrades here can't help you out, then you can turn to me for directions."

"Hey, I want to help Morgan out too," Roy said. "She's part of our worlds in some way. It's my job to see people like her safe from harm."

"I might not be part of either of you three, but...I'll be happy to help her out too," Link said nodding. "You guys know I'm a sucker for helping people whenever they need help. I'm not going to turn her down on this matter."

"You guys..." Morgan shed a tear as she smiled. "Thank you... It means so much to find my father again... I want to remember all those times when I used to have someone by my side, teaching me the ways of being a tactician. Granted, I don't know if that's what happened in the first place, but I like to think it was that way..." She saw them smile back at her. "...If...I ever find my way back...I will never forget about Marth, Roy, Link, and that strange, eye-catching white statue in the middle of the lobby."

"That's pretty touching," Roy said. "It's the least we could do for you. You did save us from utter insanity two days ago... Hmm?" He rubbed his chin. "Uh, wait a second. Why do you mean by a white statue?"

The tactician-in-training was the first one to notice that they had reached the main lobby from the left side of the first floor's hallway. She had also found a strange white statue standing right in the middle of the lobby, which the swordsmen were quick to see when they saw it with their own eyes. "That white statue," Morgan said. "It's so strange and out of place that it kinda burned into my memory. I will never forget such a thing! My amnesia better watch out because I have sharpened my senses to remember every little detail I see! This way, I won't ever forget about anything else!"

"Very admirable of you, Morgan, but..." Link trailed off, staring at the human-sized object from afar as they got closer and closer to it. "Where did this statue come from?"

The four characters approached the statue cautiously. It wasn't just a regular statue, however, because it looked like a white mannequin wearing gray, skintight pants and a small, sleeveless blue shirt. With a short gray ponytail on its back, the mannequin was a woman...standing on her right leg, with her left hand stretched behind her to grab her raised left foot's ankle, with her right hand stretched out to the second floor. All in all, the finding was truly weird.

"...Ooookaaaaayyy..." Link trailed off awkwardly as they stared at the statue. It was perfectly still. "...Whose is this?"

"Definitely not mine or Marth's," Roy said, grimacing at the statue. "Why would anybody have something like this here?"

"Using some expert logic, I can assume this is...Captain Falcon's," Link said, looking dull. "It's probably some kind of erotic statue of a woman for him. I can't see who else might own this."

"I...probably...agree with you, but an erotic statue of a woman doing exercise?" Marth wondered. "...Seriously? Erotic?"

"What else do you want me to say? There is no other reason for anybody to own a statue doing a pose like this if it can't even do more poses," Link said, until he smiled a bit and looked at Roy. "...Hey, Roy. I bet you can't copy the same pose."

"Wait, huh?" Roy blinked. "Are you challenging me to do the same pose as the statue?"

"Yeah, do that," the Hylian said. "Flexibility is a good way to prove how good we are. There has to be more stuff we can do without our weapons to fight."

"You're just lamely trying to justify making Roy do that pose," Morgan pointed out. "...Let's do it together, then!" she piped up. "It's going to be more fun when everyone does it at the same time!" Saying no to Morgan right now would have been bad after consoling her of her dilemma with her lost world. With nowhere else to go, the three swordsmen agreed and then exchanged glances, but not without vaguely narrowing their eyes at Link for suggesting the activity.

A minute later, the four were trying to hold the pose of the statue using their bodies. Link had a very hard time trying to remain balanced standing on one foot. Roy couldn't quite reach all the way to the back for his ankle, though he also found it difficult to keep his ankle raised so high up on the back. Morgan utterly disregarded moving her coat away from her back, which completely disoriented her seeking hand from finding her left foot (this was done intentionally, however, because she wanted to make her try harder than the men). Marth was perhaps the only one who proved to them that he had a flexible body, as he copied the pose nearly perfectly. Nitpickers would only criticize him in the fact that his body used to wobble slightly to the sides, though it was a bit impressive he managed to do it.

After Roy tilted to the right so much that he fell on the floor, he looked at Marth. "I saw this coming..." he muttered, resisting the pain from the fall. "You were always the one with the most graceful moves with the sword."

Link gave up on trying to do it, relishing a bit when he put his left foot back down. He turned to Marth and said, "Yeah, Marth has more flexibility than the two of us combined... Oh, but Ike was hardly flexible. He was a little on the brutish side," he said.

"Aww, I hoped to get my pose right," Morgan said, though then she smiled at Marth. "Can you become my role model for this? I could learn so much about being very flexible like you."

Marth still held his position only to see if he could keep for a little longer. Morgan needed some cheering up to clear her mind, so he nodded at her. "Fine, I don't mind teaching you," he said. "This is going to take some time getting used to. You need to keep constantly trying to make it better until you can do it easily so your body gets used to it."

"Spoken like a good fitness trainer. Well done."

The four of them immediately looked around the lobby when they heard that womanly voice come out of nowhere, until Roy yelped as he saw the white porcelain statue come to life in front of him. The four quickly backed off from the living statue, now putting its...her foot back down on the floor, relaxing herself as she saw them look surprised at her very much alive body. "H-holy...!" breathed out Link. "T-that statue...I-I mean...it-it was a woman!"

The literally white woman, formerly known as a statue, rubbed her chin. "I'm not a statue, you know," she said. "I was simply doing one of my many fitness routines of the day."

"B-but you were standing on one foot without even budging one bit!" Roy said. "How did you manage to be perfectly still like that?"

She chuckled. "That's because I'm a certified fitness instructor," she said. "Let me introduce myself first... I'm a Wii Fit Trainer, but you may call me Ms. Fit."

"Misfit?" Link said.

"Yes, Ms. Fit."

"...Oh! Ms. Fit."

"No, it's not Misfit, it's Ms. Fit."

"Stop it, you two clearly can't tell the difference. It's Miss and then Fit," Marth said, before turning to the woman. "But anyhow... What is a woman like you doing inside this mansion? You do know this is private property, correct?"

"I know that," she said nodding. "But the thing is that I was called here by Master Hand to provide his subordinates with a relaxing yoga session for the day. He sent me a key to enter the gates and the building."

"Oh... I see..." Roy trailed off. "...Wait, what? He contracted you for a yoga session for us?"

Ms. Fit nodded again. "Yes, that was the idea of my coming here," she said. "I didn't want to search the whole place for my participants, so I remained here at this lobby to wait for them to show up. And see, you showed up first. That means we can get this session started to release all the stress out of your tired bodies... He said your bodies were tired, by the way."

The four of them exchanged curious glances. "I'm so lucky! I get to do yoga with you all with the help of an expert like her!" Morgan said. "...So what's yoga, anyway?"

Ten minutes later...

Yoga mats of all colors were spread around the left side of the lobby, with Ms. Fit standing in front of them all and taking the center of attention from the people who showed up. Along with Marth, Roy, Link, and Morgan, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Zelda, Popo, Nana, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Olimar, DK, Diddy, Kirby, Dedede, Ness, Lucas, C. Falcon, Chris, Lucario, Sonic, and Snake showed up for the session. All of them pretty much thought the same thing when they first met Ms. Fit: she had some unnatural white skin on her body, coupled with even more unnatural-looking gray eyes that frightened some.

"What a crowd of people," Ms. Fit said as she examined each one of the Smashers present at the lobby. "Well, first of all, I'd like to introduce myself to you again. I'm a Wii Fit Trainer, but you may call me Ms. Fit."

"Misfit?" Ness said.

"Yes, Ms. Fit."

"U-um, I heard misfit..." Lucas said.

"No, it's Ms. Fit, not misfit," she corrected, causing confusion among them until they realized the true name. "Anyway, I would like to get this session started. I don't wish to delay your session." Yoshi raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Are your yoga exercises going to work for the people with uneven body shapes? Some of us here don't look like we're going going to pull it off..." Yoshi said.

"Pfft, you underestimate me," Pikachu said. "I can perfectly do human yoga routines just fine."

"It's not just about doing it, however," Ms. Fit said. "I'm able to discern people's center of balance as they perform their exercises."

"Center of balance?"

"Yes. Your center of balance tells how much you balance your body on your feet. While you might be able to perfectly stand still, your feet can radically focus the point where it is exerting force. And if you concentrate your balance on an irregular spot on your foot...it might lead to bad posture," she said. "Let us start with a basic yoga pose: the palm tree. Everyone please stand on your mats and mimic what I will do." She raised her left foot and placed it parallel to her right thigh. Then, she joined her palms together and gently raised them above her head. "With this pose, breathe slowly as you hold it." Once everyone did the pose, she said, "Now I'll go around to see how well each one of you is doing. Please hold your pose. If you tumble over to the side, just restart from the beginning." She lowered her pose and started to walk around to check them out one by one. "Though your center of balance is a little wobbly, it's nice overall."

Mario nodded. "Thank you," he said.

"Try to do more exercises to perfect your pose," she suggested as she walked away for her next student. "Hmm, your center of balance is dangerously leaning out of the edges, despite your still pose."

"What? Huh?" Fox looked a little bewildered.

"You look a little too energetic," Ms. Fit said. "I can see you've done a lot of work on your legs, though sadly that has messed up your footwork regarding its center of balance. You can't probably afford to stay still once, can you?"

The vulpine thought about that for a little bit. "Well... I tend do move around a lot to care about my posture," he told her. "But I have good reasons why."

"Yes, Master Hand told me you guys fight each other during tourneys along some other stuff he refused to tell me about," Ms. Fit said. "But I'm here to help. You will regain a nice posture in no time with my help." Fox's little smile burned into her mind, until she grabbed his sides and adjusted his pose, only hearing a quiet yelp from him. When she had fixed his balance, she pulled back her hands, unaware of his blushing cheeks under his fur. "There. Try to keep the focus on the center of your foot."

"Y-yeah..." Fox whispered, watching her walk away to Wolf and looking down at his balanced foot and overall pose.

"Very nice!" Ms. Fit said. "Your center of balance is nearly perfect and you barely budge to the sides. I bet the other exercises I have prepared will be nothing to you."

Wolf grinned. "Always a pleasure to be in top shape," he said.

"Aww, c'mon!" Fox groaned loudly, knowing full well the lupine said that to irk him. In the background, Falco looked away.

Ms. Fit then walked to Mario, seeing him struggle to keep himself standing on a foot. "Forgive me for saying this, but you don't do much yoga, do you?" she asked.

"Sadly, no," Mario said, a little embarrassed. "Luigi here only does more of that than I do." She looked at the green brother and found his posture to be on average unlike his older brother. "I'm...the chubby one of the two... I won't deny that."

Ms. Fit giggled. "Although it's harder for...chubby people to do yoga, it's not impossible," she said. "You might have a harder time trying to do it than your other friends. But if you want me, I can give you private lessons."

"Oh no, please!" C. Falcon shouted from his position. Just looking at the guy's steady foot told Ms. Fit that he was a pro at standing on his center of balance. "Why don't you give me private lessons? I'll need 'em too!"

"Sorry, but I already saw through your obvious trap," the instructor said with an amused smile. "You have a very good center of balance that I won't need to have private lessons with you. No alone time, then."

"Wow, she's good," remarked Link, making many laugh at C. Falcon's twitching smile.

"Don't try feigning a bad balance now! I have a good set of eyes in my sockets," Ms. Fit warned the racer as she went over to check on Kirby. It was very much impossible for Kirby's straight feet and lack of thighs to mimic the palm tree pose, so he ended up looking like he was ready to do ballet. Worried that he couldn't do it, he looked up at Ms. Fit while his foot swayed to the sides. "Is this poser hard for you?" she asked.

"Yes..." Kirby said. "I-I've never done yoga... I don't have a good flexible body..."

"Hmm, there are still some other exercises you could do other than the palm tree pose, though," Ms. Fit said. "I don't mind having you do this current pose even if it doesn't look like it. I want you to balance your posture on one foot and not worry about everything else you don't have the others do, okay?"

Kirby smiled. "Really? Yay!" He cheerfully stood on one foot with his hands above his head, though he was wobbling to the sides from time to time, unlike how Dedede utterly sucked at trying to balance his larger body shape on a foot that he felt was being crushed under his weight. Behind his back and inside his robe, two Waddle Dees tried to keep him from falling by grasping his spongy back, though they were sweating much more than their un-rightful king.

"Do you need any help?" Ms. Fit asked the king, aware of his little cheating. "You may fail a lot, but gaining experience from your mistakes do usually make you strive to do better."

"I-I'll be fine!" Dedede said with a twitching tough look. "You worry about the other whackos! They need you more than me!"

Ms. Fit rolled her eyes. "Sure... Call me if you need assistance." She looked sideways at the back of his robe. "I don't mean holding you." Hearing the king gulp, the fitness trainer walked away to her next target: the World Traveler who clearly was ashamed he couldn't keep himself from standing still on one foot less than four seconds. "I've found a new person who needs some guidance," she noted, getting Chris's attention. "What's your name?"

"Um, Chris, Ms. Fit," Chris said, feeling preoccupied that he was going to get laughed at for not being as good as the average person in the there. "...I've hardly done yoga," he admitted. "I feel so embarrassed about it."

"Oh, there's no need for beginners to feel ashamed," Ms. Fit said.

"B-but it kind of irks me," Chris said, looking at Lucario, who held a near-perfect pose that was devoid of any mistakes and swaying of the body. The fitness instructor was impressed by his near-flawless center of balance, though she saw the worried look he had on Chris. "This is Lucario. He's my best friend and guardian, but he's also extremely athletic unlike...well, me. I can't help but compare my performance on this exercise with him."

"It's a bad practice to compare yourself to others and you turn those thoughts into negative feelings," Ms. Fit said. "Sometimes, a person like you doesn't need to be so great at something someone else does very good. Take me, for example. I'm not a good cook." She smiled a bit. "But fitness is an important task for a healthy life. If you don't want to be the best at it, you could at least try to be just decent."

"...Yes, you're right," Chris said nodding. "I'll do my best to be decent at it."

"Don't feel so down about it. You might be very good with other yoga poses," she reassured. "You could just not be so good at one or two of them." She saw him looking a little happier with that advice before she looked up at Lucario. "Your unique body type is something, but you've demonstrated a nice good impression with your center of balance."

"Thank you," Lucario said. "It's Chris who got me to do some yoga in the first place so I know what poses to do."

She looked at the blushing Chris. "Is that so?" she said.

"I-I'm kind of his trainer," Chris said. "He has some very powerful raw strength in him. I thought that doing other exercises rather that bulking up would test his limits a little more." Inside Lucario's mind, he lamented his trainer didn't go for the other choice in exercises for Lucario to do.

"Ah, I see. In that case, you seem to have done a very good job with him," Ms. Fit said. "It's a shame. You cut down the work for me to help him personally." Lucario blushed a bit and looked away from her amused look. With a small chuckle, she was ready to go look at someone else until a one-foot ball rolled into her feet and bumped back. Said ball had a Poké Ball pattern, and its little owner shyly went over to pick it up while cautiously looking up at her. When he picked his ball, he didn't budge when her gaze was fixed on him. "Hmm? Who's this little creature?"

As Chris started to get a hang on the palm tree pose, he lowered his foot down. "O-oh, that's my baby Riolu!" he said. Earlier in the day after leaving Korrina behind, Chris put the money he got from her to good use by buying berries to harvest and a toy ball for Riolu to play with. The ball proved to be a curious thing Riolu couldn't help let go. In his head, he wondered why the item rolled around, why it bounced when he tossed it, and why it was so light to carry unlike its large appearance suggested. He was so happy with the ball that he ignored the passage of time, his head only thinking about rolling and kicking the ball around as much as he wanted. "I think he kicked the ball over here by accident."

The baby Riolu looked cute to Ms. Fit. Giggling, she knelt down and carefully petted his head, making him bark happily and lose any traces of discomfort he had for the white-skinned woman. "That's a good baby," she cooed, watching his tail wag and ignoring the jealous feeling Lucario got from a stranger easily making friends with the baby who was scared of him. She gently took the little ball from his hands and rolled it away, making him bark and go after it to the other side of the lobby where his temporary babysitter Snivy waited for him. Standing up, Ms. Fit looked at Chris. "I'm used to seeing a lot of new faces. I've seen strange creatures who behave like normal humans, for one, but then there is the odd creature here and there... Do you and your friends know what kind of people each of you belongs to?"

"Yes, I know very well what kind of people they are," Chris said. "Lucario and Riolu are Pokémon, for example. If you ever see a creature like them, it's probably a Pokémon. They're not always going to be bipedal or be able to talk, though."

"I see... I wonder how long it is going to take me to remember that much about others," Ms. Fit said as she eyed Lucario before her eyes went to the others. "I have to start doing that while keeping my exercises in check..."

Unaware that he himself was starting to last more than six seconds on one foot, Chris looked oddly at her. "Are you trying to learn other stuff about others for something?"

"A-ah, well, I often get a lot of different participants from different backgrounds for my yoga classes. You would wonder the same if you ever saw talking turtles and other anthropomorphic people just suddenly talk to a normal person like you or me."

Chris stole one full glance at her whole body. "(It's not like your unnatural white skin is normal either... I probably shouldn't bring that up to her now,)" he thought. "I'd wonder the same, too. You're not the only one."

"Oh, good. You understand me," Ms. Fit said. "I feel like I need to understand others to further extent my yoga lessons. Isn't it a wonderful thing to think of new ways to do yoga for others who can't do the usual stuff? I wish to research that more, and you and your friends here will prove to be a good starting point in my career as a fitness instructor."

The World Traveler admired her dedication to the yoga arts. As he smiled a bit at her, he said, "Too bad it's only for one day."

"Oh, I don't think so. You're going to see me a lot more in the next days."

"...Wait, what?"

"(...Oh no.)" Ms. Fit gasped slightly and walked away. "U-um, I need to check on the others. Please don't distract me," she quickly said, getting a few of her students to see her strange behavior.

His gazed fixed on her, Chris grimaced at Lucario. "Why is that I can't have a normal conversation with a girl for once before she starts fidgeting around me?" he asked him.

"Maybe she's also into Lucario and she's so happy to see you and me," Lucario said.

"O-oh, no. I had enough of that for one day too... No offense to you," Chris said, trying very hard to keep his blushing cheeks from reddening any more once he was forced to think back about the other girl's apparent crush on him.

For the next half hour, the Wii Fit Trainer engaged everyone in relieving yoga poses. One of them was the deep breathing, which everyone had no problems doing, unlike how troublesome it was to do the triangle and the standing knee, only to fall back to easy ones like the half-moon and the warrior. Though at first glance it looked like everyone was doing great, the fitness trainer's eyes were quick to tell her how many of them didn't have a good center of balance. She kept suggesting and advising with many tips to each one of them.

Once everyone was stuck doing the downward-facing dog pose, Master Hand decided to appear in the lobby to see how they were all doing, seeing them staring down at their feet. "Ahh, mostly everyone is doing yoga, I see," he said, turning to the standing fitness trainer. "Thank you for coming here, Ms. Fit. My guys needed to relax doing something like yoga."

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Master Hand," Ms. Fit said. "Working together with them is truly a thrilling experience for me."

"Glad to see you enjoying yourself as well!" Master Hand said before turning to his subordinates. "How are you doing, everyone? Are your flexible bodies having problems yet?"

"My spine is starting to crack..." DK whimpered.

"Maybe lying down on a hammock for hours is not exactly healthy..." Diddy said.

"Some of you better not give her issues during your exercises!" the hand said. "You're lucky I didn't have to pay much for these lessons. But you'll feel even luckier after I drop the bomb on you."

Zelda, challenged by Link not to turn into Sheik to gain more flexibility, failed to raise her head from her position to look at the hand. "I do not understand the term 'drop the bomb on us'. Whatever do you mean by that strange slang term? It better not be an actual bomb," she said.

"Okay, I guess I can say that now... Oh, but please don't break from your poses yet. It'll be rude for Ms. Fit to see you drop down like flies just because of what I'm going to say next."

"Fine, fine, just tell us what that bomb is about!" Sonic said. "And isn't it kinda wrong to say the word bomb around us?"

"...Oops. Yes, it is kind of bad..." the hand muttered. "Anyway! It is with my great joy to announce to everyone present here that our first newcomer has finally arrived to join our team from this day onward." So many of them gasped and tried to raise their heads to look up.

"Wh-what?! T-there's a newcomer already?!" Pikachu said.

"H-holy! I've never felt the excitement of getting a newcomer since the Melee days!" Yoshi said.

"Ooh! Count me in for this!" Diddy said. "I'm a former new deal. I want to see this new deal!"

"O-oh, my goodness! I feel like I ate too much sugar just knowing someone new is going to live with us!" Chris said excitedly.

"Ugh, what's the point?" C. Falcon said. "Knowing the hand, it's probably another guy to off-set the females even more."

"Yes, I dread to think that is the very case," Zelda voiced. "He always has had a thing for males and swordsmen."

"Yeah, it's sad that the number of girls in this place is pretty low," Snake said. "It didn't change much from the Melee days as I've researched through...our special means."

Master Hand grunted. "Okay, okay, I know I probably look like I live in a pool of manly testosterone inside this mansion, but I promise it will start to change once I say this newcomer is 100% female."

Zelda and C. Falcon practically stopped doing their poses to stand up and walk forward. "What kind of incredible jest is this?!" Zelda asked as she stared at the hand. "Y-you better not be teasing a princess like me with that! You better NOT tease a person of my station!"

"Yeah, what she said!" C. Falcon said. "You can't joke about a new girl in the mansion! I'm drowning in this stinky pool of testosterone and dying from having to stare at Samus for some escape from everything!"

"You bet your sorry butt I will tell her on you when she comes back from her missions," Ness called out from his pose.

"Stop delaying the announcement, everyone! I must know who shall be the lucky female to break this endless cycle of unnecessary men fervor and the male Pokémon!" Zelda said.

"I'm soooo sorry Lucario wasn't a female," muttered Chris. Lucario quietly barked at him in protest.

Master Hand sighed as he cast an ominous shadow to shroud the lobby in darkness, ignoring Chris's Riolu quickly scampering off to his trainer's side for protection. "Hold your poses! Do NOT drop them down like these two chickens!" the hand told everyone as soon as he heard them whispering among themselves. Zelda and C. Falcon meanwhile looked around the darkness to find the newcomer, ignoring Ms. Fit looking around for herself. With the setting ready, the owner of the Smash Mansion began his long speech. "Ahem... FROM A FARAWAY EXOTIC LAND, THIS WOMAN HAS HELPED MANY IN CONTINUING THEIR LIVES FROM THE CLUTCHES OF EVIL, TIRELESSLY WORKING FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANKIND AND THE REST OF THE LIVING BEINGS LUCKY ENOUGH TO LAY THEIR EYES UPON HER. HER VERY PRESENCE MAKES MANY STRIVE TO BE EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE, FEEL PEACE IN THER MINDS, AND JOY IN THEIR HEADS. NO, THIS WOMAN IS THE EPITOME OF GOODNESS AND LOVE, AND NOW SHE SHALL BLESS YOU ALL WITH HER SKILLS...OR SMACK YOU DOWN WITH HER SKILLS SINCE SHE IS A NEW SMASHER. I MEAN, SHE IS AN ABLE FIGHTER AFTER ALL."

Zelda clasped her hands, her eyes fully open. "Ah, what a glorious description! I cannot wait to meet this wonderful woman!" she said.

"Humankind? Aww, crap! It's not her!" Fox cursed. Falco quietly snickered. "Oh well. At least it's a girl..."

"WITH THE SKILL AND GRACE OF A SWAN, WITH THE HARSH POWER OF A BEE'S STING TIMES 100, THIS WOMAN HAS BEEN CHOSEN AMONG THE MANY UNIQUE PERSONALITIES OF THE WORLDS TO PARTICIPATE ALONGSIDE YOU TO TAKE THE GLORY AND FUN FOR HERSELF! WELL, MAYBE JUST GLORY, BUT YOU CATCH MY DRIFT! MY SUBORDINATES, PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MANSION DWELLER! AND SHE IS...RIGHT HERE!"

Everyone then stopped doing their poses, the excitement of meeting the new woman overtaking them. Looking around the dark lobby, they didn't exactly find a new person standing anywhere. After ten silent seconds of nothing, Zelda grunted loudly and asked, "Where is she? I don't see her anywhere in this place!"

"This was...a joke?" Peach said, suddenly lamenting the worst outcome. "Oh..."

"N-no, this isn't a joke," the hand said. "She's in the lobby. Look harder!"

They thought the lucky woman was a midget or probably clinging to the large walls around the lobby, though a quick check around the area yielded nothing at all. Some even looked behind the couches to find her, but again they found no one hiding anywhere. Growing quickly frustrated, Sonic asked, "Okay, what the H, man? Can't you tell us where she is?"

"Geez, you guys are either bad at finding newcomers or blind," Master Hand complained. "She's not hiding anywhere. She's standing in plain sight."

Immediately, they looked at the only other girl there was in the lobby on the other side.. The Snivy that had followed Chris. Feeling their stares from across the lobby, Snivy looked around and backed off from them. "Snivy's the newcomer?" Chris said in surprise. "O-oh god, I-I never realized she was a newcomer in disguise! ...Really? She's fought evil before?"

"Nice! Another female Pokémon Smasher!" Jigglypuff said. "I knew she had it in her!"

"Seriously! Another Pokémon? Why can't you stop milking that team for what it's worth? Hell, I wish that Kumatora girl was the newcomer!" Ness said.

Master Hand grunted very loudly. "Gosh darn it to heck, you guys! I didn't mean that sneaky grass snake!" he complained. "Here's a HUGE hint, it practically gives it away: it's the OTHER woman besides her!"

With that hint given away, the Smashers focused on the other second woman in the lobby...the Wii Fit Trainer, who continued staring back at their dozen of stares. "..." Nobody said a word.

"Phew..."

"...Naaah, this is too easy," Popo said. "It can't be her. I bet the real woman is just invisible and that's why we can't see her. Should I nickname her Ms. Invisible?"

So very much annoyed by that little comment, Master Hand simply pointed down at the Wii Fit Trainer. "It's HER!" the hand yelled. "She's the newcomer!"

"...Naaah, I'm still not convinced." Most of them nodded.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Master Hand snapped his fingers to call a showy display behind the blank fitness trainer, said display having her name in big white letters with a small, extra quote below her name over a green background.

~ WII FIT TRAINER ~

WEIGHS IN!

In other words, the Wii Fit Trainer joined your team!

The absolute clarification and confirmation convinced everyone that she was the real deal. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" was many a Smasher's response at the reveal, staring wide-eyed at Ms. Fit.

As Ms. Fit sheepishly rubbed the side of her right cheek with a finger, Master Hand chuckled contently. "Your impossible reactions make up for the frustration I went through a few seconds ago," he said. "So yeah! Introducing your newest member: the Wii Fit Trainer, otherwise known as Ms. Fit!" They saw her calmly waving at them.

"It's true... I became a new Smasher for the group," Ms. Fit said. "Master Hand not only contacted me to give yoga lessons for you. He also called me for an offer to become part of your group. I did a background check about the Smash Tourneys that take place here, and I figured that it would be the best place to advertise my job for others to see... I do need the income, you know, so..." She gave them a confident thumb up. "I hope we can be friends and work towards having a healthy lifestyle."

"I-I can't...truly believe this is even happening..." Olimar said, grabbing his helmet. "I-I wouldn't have thought she was the one!"

Master Hand tilted himself as he saw many others nod their heads. "Huh? Why is it so shocking that you can't believe it?" he asked.

"W-well, do not take this wrong, but I do enjoy the company of a new woman among our ranks," Zelda said as she looked at the fitness trainer. "But...the fact that her background is a simple fitness trainer somehow looks off... U-um, no offense to you, Miss Fit," she apologized cordially with her twitching smile in play.

"Eh? I thought that was good enough for me," the hand said. "And she's a girl. I planned to have her fellow companion – another Wii Fit Trainer – come over here but it would look redundant."

Ms. Fit fondly recalled her companion, the appropriately-named Mr. Fit. "I thought you said he was allowed to come here too," she said.

"Oh, he can, though I wish to give you more prominence over him because we seriously lack girl power in the mansion," he pointed out. "While he can show up here, I'd rather have you be the main attraction for the time being, okay? Mingle your womanliness with the other thirty-something guys of the mansion! And the five other girls."

"Thirty-something males...and five girls?" Ms. Fit winced. "...And the number of girls was the same during the Melee season?"

"...I don't need another person like you rubbing salt on my wounds with that memory, lady," Master Hand grudgingly muttered. "Who the hell cares about the past? The present is what's most important right now! The present exists to correct the wrongs of the past, and so I have done that with your existence!" He turned to the Smashers. "Everyone, I want you to be on your best behavior with your new friend, though I doubt you'll behave well for too long... I'm going to be busy preparing her room next to Wario's and Wolf's. Please make her feel at home in the meantime!" He turned his back on them all...until he turned around again to leave one last message. "By the way, I told her everything about what we do behind the scenes and she has agreed to fight against the Subspace Army. Get hyped! She'll accompany you for the next missions!" Hearing and seeing them gasp when they remembered that little detail, the hand giggled and warped away.

Left with their new recruit, the Smashers remained silent. They could hardly believe she was the first new recruit. They never thought a mere fitness trainer could get in (though her unnatural white skin was certainly an eye-catcher) but they were proven wrong with the sudden announcement. Still baffled by said announcement, they couldn't quite bring themselves to say anything to her. "...Oh, stop it..." she meekly said with all the blank stares on her. "I can get a little shy with so many people giving me stares like that."

"..." Zelda shook her head and tried to see the bright side of this. They had a new woman in their ranks. It was a good motive for celebration. "M-my apologies. I was still trying to recover from the shock of this abrupt revelation of the day," she said, composing herself. "That is another thing of the past, however. We should all celebrate the arrival of our new member and relish in joy at the addition of a female fighter!"

Chris smiled a bit as he held his Riolu, who was holding his ball with both arms. "I don't see why we need to be so freaked out by her just because she's a fitness instructor (and her white body)," he said. "Technically, I should have left a lesser impression on you all since I'm just a normal high school student..."

Diddy nodded a few times. "Yeah! I think I got over the shock and surprise as well. There's no way Master Hand can top that off with another newcomer, right? Maybe if the next newcomer was pretty ridiculous in paper, but not her," he said.

"Let's receive her with a small round of applause," Peach suggested, to which a majority of them started clapping sounds of joy and welcoming their new recruit. Ms. Fit's blush stickers were a shade of gray ovals on her cheeks, but she was clearly thankful for everyone being so welcoming for her.

"O-oh, this is a little too embarrassing," Ms. Fit commented as the applause died down, with many smiles directed at her. "I wouldn't have thought about how my life would turn out like this, and yet I got here, expecting to be looked at like a strange nobody... I'm so happy to be so well-received by everyone in this mansion."

"Come on, now," Falco said with a grin. "When you look at us in a picture, we all look like we don't fit in with each other...and just because everyone here looks like a misfit, we all end up looking like we came from the same place."

"My usual kind of group doesn't look like anyone here," Roy said. "It's okay for you to feel like a stranger around us. It's a mutual feeling we're very much used to."

With those reassuring comments having been said to cheer her up, Ms. Fit bowed. "Again, thank you for being so welcoming... I hope I can live up to your expectations... But... That reminds me about this strange Subspace Army Master Hand told me about..." Many of them recalled that she was about to enter a long war against a supernatural threat that no other person like her would get the chance to see with their own eyes. "He explained to me you fight against it...and that he wants me to join the fight as well... Just what is this Subspace Army?"

Sonic winced. "It's this army who kind of wants to conquer a lot of worlds to merge 'em together into one big mess to rule it all," he said. "They like blowing bombs around to suck land into these dark voids of darkness where you can enter and wander around a dark place that'll mess your eyes up real bad, with no hopes of ever getting to see the day or the night."

"Nice. That is the most primitive description someone like you could have picked," Zelda muttered ashamed.

Ms. Fit blinked awkwardly at that description. "Okay... That sums up what I've been told about," she said.

"I'm surprised you didn't turn us down when Master Hand told you about the Subspace Army," Mario said. "Why did you agree to be with us?"

"Well, I was mostly in it for the money and promotion I can get for my job as a fitness trainer," Ms. Fit said. "I thought that the rest was just some sort of strange extra I could live with, but...I'm starting to realize that strange extra is much bigger than I thought..."

"In other words, you underestimated what you've been told and now you can't get out of it," Wolf said with crossed arms. "You caught yourself in this trap."

"Oh, but it's going to be fine, I think," she said as she looked at everyone. "It's not a job one person can do. It's a group effort, right?"

"Y-yes, but I feel like you should've given it a little more thought," Chris said. "This isn't something simple. It's really a matter of life and death!"

The fitness trainer considered that awful scenario in her head a little more. "...If you're all so worried about my well-being, can I count on you all to keep me safe as I learn the ropes of this big mission?" she asked with concern. "I don't wish to become a liability to your missions. I wish to be useful in my own way. The way I can learn to be useful is through you, who look like you have far more experience under your belts than I do."

Snake then said, "That's how it's going to be, woman."

"If it will be like that, I have no complaints," Ms. Fit said. "I look forward to this." She got a few nods from her group, until Zelda clapped her hands together as she, Peach, Nana, and Jigglypuff walked to her sides, making her look confused.

"Enough about the horrible fates we are forced to fight on a weekly basis. It is time for you to focus on the now," Zelda said with an amused smile.

Ms. Fit looked at the rest of the girls exporting the same smiles. Something was afoot among them. "Focus on the now? I thought we were going to continue my yoga exercises," Ms. Fit said.

"We've done plenty of that for one day," Nana said. "What we haven't done yet is show you around this big place."

"Yeah! It's going to be more exciting to explain to you what you need to know and what you need to be careful with about the other people of this place! We don't want you to suffer an accident because of their recklessness," Jigglypuff said, earning more than one groan from the males behind her.

"And we must certainly start to schedule get-togethers to get to know each other more intimately than with a guy," Peach suggested cheerily, grabbing Ms. Fit's right hand without her consent. "But first, a general tour around the mansion is in order, Miss Fit! Let us show you around!"

"I..." Ms. Fit couldn't say much more. She was pulled away from the lobby to the hallway of the first floor, giving the large cast of males one parting look before she disappeared into the many bowels of the building. With that done, the yoga exercises had been postponed and most likely canceled for the rest of the day.

"...Oh, hey!" Morgan suddenly said. "I'm a girl. I can join up with them! So long, guys!" She excitedly ran into the hallway to catch up with the girls.

Some of them looking dumbfounded, Pikachu grimaced. "They literally took her away from us," he noted. "Were they really desperate in having another girl in the team?"

"I sort of know how they feel about that. It's not like everyone here doesn't know how...abysmal the female side of the roster is," Marth said. "...I was expecting at least a new girl to join us during the Brawl season, but such event never happened for unknown reasons and motives."

Some of them heard Fox mutter with a lot of venom, "Krystal should've been in instead of the wet mutt over there..."

Afraid that the conversation was going to spiral into an all-out flame war among them, Chris said, "L-let's just be glad there will be new girls in the team. I'm very happy to see more of them coming in."

"Oh, Chris," Falco began with a sly grin. "If there's something I learned from my previous participation, is that you shouldn't set yourself up for disappointment till the end. That's why I don't trust what the glove says when he's talking about newcomers. You're better off thinking about it...with a blank mind."

"Wisest thing the bird brain has ever said till now," Wolf said.

"No, my wisest thing would be kicking you on the nose."

"Haaaaaaalt," Popo annoyingly called out. "It's true. Let's not think every newcomer from now on will be a girl. I expect like two or three men, and possibly more swordsmen because Master Hand has a weird liking towards them."

"Hey, that's not so bad," Link said.

"Says the swordsman, one of the six we have," Ness said. "...Oh wait. We don't know if Ike will come back from his absence."

"It's okay. We'll make it up by having THREE new swordsmen!" Roy said.

"Screw that! What this team needs is more Kong family members!" Diddy said, high-fiving DK in agreement.

"No, no, we're in serious need of mages like Chris," Luigi said.

"Can I suggest Louie? He's kind of a slacker and a big eater, but I think he has a chance," Olimar meekly said.

"N-no! Let Kumatora in!" Lucas said. "She can be a mage-like person if she wants to! But she's sort of a bully at the worst of times..."

What he tried to prevent slowly erupted into a big discussion that went on to turn into an argument between each one of the Smashers. Chris and Lucario watched as their comrades started to argue about their personal picks being better than others, and the scene could be easily compared to watching online forum members throw arguments and complain all day long about insane choices most didn't like to hear. Though Chris liked to dwell in online forums himself, he just didn't have the energy to take the online brawl into the real world. So he and Lucario calmly grabbed Riolu with Snivy tagging along and left the lobby behind, hearing Dedede loudly proclaim that his Waddle Dee army was a shoe in for newcomers in his name. To their dismay, they started to hear explosions and crashing sounds echo from the direction they came from... "This is the team we agreed to be a part of?" Lucario asked.

"No. This is the sort of insanity we agreed to be a part of," Chris corrected. Now that the four were alone, the World Traveler suggested going to go to Rosalina to see how she was doing, but Chris made a mental note to help his baby Riolu get closer with Lucario once that was done.

Rosalina's Room

On the fourth floor of the mansion, Chris's little group found the door with a golden label that had Rosalina's name on it. They recalled Yoshi saying that her room was located there. "This must be her room..." Chris said as they stared at the label.

"Wait, why does she have a label for her room in the first place?" Lucario asked. His trainer quickly noticed what he meant. "Only Smashers like us are allowed to have rooms with our names on labels."

"I think Master Hand is just being very nice to her for what she went through," Chris said.

"But... He is being awfully nice if you think about the following points..." Lucario pointed to each side of the hallway as he explained his logic. "Her room is right between Roy and RO-uh, the Ancient Minister's room. Her door has a golden label like everyone else, unlike the Unovan trainers who have taken guest rooms in the rooms above. And then...the golden label on her door doesn't have just her name."

"What?" Chris took another look at the label. Oddly enough, the golden label didn't just read her name. The full description on it was "Rosalina & Luma." "And Luma?"

"See now, Chris?" Lucario said. "I just find this very odd. Her room is taking space in the floors for Smashers, and she even got a golden label with that long name on it... But is the name Luma in plural?"

"N-no... I heard her say Lumas," the teen said. After being told the facts and thinking about the crazy possibility that Master Hand was planning to pull the galactic princess into the team, Chris winced. "...Master Hand couldn't be thinking about recruiting her like Ms. Fit, could he?"

"I...I don't know if he's planning to do that, but I just thought it was weird how she was getting this much special treatment after I saw that golden label," Lucario said.

"..." Chris smiled at Lucario. "Way to go, Lucario!"

"Huh?"

"You just used some masterful logic right now, and I didn't catch on to it until you pointed it out for me," the teen happily noted. "I probably had my mind somewhere else, but you noticed every little detail right away and explained every point very well. I'm so proud of you! I can go on and not worry about you thinking with just your fists, if you know what I mean by that."

Lucario growled in pleasure. His trainer's aura flashed with positive waves that were so contagious and hard to avoid in a good sense for the Aura Pokémon. "I learned from the best, Chris. It's only normal for me to be so keen-eyed and smart," he boasted.

Chris blushed contently. "Keep at it and one day you can call yourself the strongest and wisest Pokémon in all universes," he remarked, to which Lucario was close to pulling him to his side if it weren't for the fact the baby Riolu was wary about having his favorite caretaker get closer to the blue monster next to him...

However, Lucario's aura senses alerted him about the lack of fear in Riolu's aura. There was a noticeable lack of emotional fear that had disappeared, unlike how before the baby would consider crying out whenever Lucario touched him by accident. He and Riolu were standing very close in front of the door, but even then the baby didn't seem to react so strongly in his mind. Still, as long as there was some remnants of fear in the baby's aura, Lucario couldn't afford to screw it up by doing something.

"I will do everything in my power to keep you from being so lost in your physical strength...unlike Korrina's two Lucario," Chris said, shrugging when he had to recall her name for a good example.

Lucario shrugged too. "Please do so. I don't want to look like a fool," he said.

"Y-yes, how about we visit Rosalina already?" Chris suggested as he moved forward and knocked on the door. "H-hey, Rosalina! It's me, Chris! Can I come in? Can Lucario, Riolu, and Snivy come in as well?"

"Please enter!" came Rosalina's voice from the other side. Getting a confirmation to enter, Chris twisted the doorknob and pushed the door inward to look inside the room...

Once their eyes looked inside, in a very low tone of voice, Chris said blankly, "Oh, Master Hand is reaaaaaaaally being nice to her, alright..."

Super Mario Galaxy – Comet Observatory 1

Master Hand's generosity had reached very high levels before Chris discovered the outrageous-yet-welcoming look Rosalina's room displayed. Her room was so big and wide; so big and wide that it could have taken three rooms on one floor and three more on top of those rooms for the big space compared to six rooms put together. All the space she got was occupied by six stations: the lower middle area had a living room set with three red couches and a modest green table over a red fluffy mattress with Rosalina's favorite telescope placed next to a big window meant to stargaze during the night; the lower right portion had a king-sized, circular, white bed with its own roof to cover the bed with a semi-transparent curtain, with portraits of places Rosalina had seen in her long life hanging on the right wall; the lower left portion's left wall had a small chimney with a large bookshelf on each side containing about fifty books each for a grand total of a hundred books mostly about children stories meant to read for the Lumas in front of the chimney itself, where small fluffy pillows and a rocking chair were found on top of a green circular mattress; the upper right portion contained two dozens of hovering, floating cribs meant for the Lumas to sleep in; the upper left portion had a wide ledge where a kitchen took the upper left wall with drawers, doors, and a counter; and finally, the upper middle portion had a terrace with an even bigger window for more stargazing purposes. To top it off, the ceiling and the walls had an astral projection of the night with shifting stars and flying comets built into it to make guests think it was dark out and to make Rosalina feel she was back at home.

Speaking of the spacious room's owner, the little group found the princess sitting on her bed with a yellow Luma sitting on her lap and Polari floating next to her. The other Lumas were seen flying about at random directions. It looked like they hadn't recovered from the excitement that was getting to own such magnificent room since yesterday. "Greetings," Rosalina said when she saw her guests coming inside, especially the baby Riolu who started to run around to admire the place with his ball on his arms. Snivy, being extremely curious, started to sneak around the incredible room.

The wide-eyed Chris found it hard to look away from the room itself. "(I wish I had this much space in my room back home or here...)" he thought, feeling slightly jealous of Rosalina's luck. Pulling his mind back on earth, he turned towards Rosalina. "Hello... Master Hand gave you a lot of stuff, didn't he?" he said as he and Lucario made their way to her side. "I've seen other rooms, but they're not like yours at all..."

Rosalina forced a smile. "He has good intentions for me like Mario, Yoshi, and the others, though I hardly know him," she said. "My surprise hasn't gone away since yesterday when he showed me this room. It is...truly breathtaking."

"I'm just as surprised by his generosity," Lucario said, staring long at the astral walls. "You do deserve all of this."

"Do I?" Rosalina asked, getting their looks. "It feels unnecessary. I thought I could get a simple room to stay the next nights. A big room with so many reminiscing spots like this one gives me a sense of being back home...even if...my true home may be no more..."

"M-my dear, don't you think about shedding more tears now," Polari advised. "Everything's been going so well since we arrived here. The Lumas all feel very happy to have something that looks very similar to their old home, which we will recover one day in the near future using Mario's help!" He looked at the two Smashers. "And you two, of course! Unless I'm wrong and you want to cause an incident here!"

"(H-he's trying to make us take the fall if we don't agree now! T-the nerve of him!)" Chris thought. "She has my help and Lucario's. W-we will try to recover her home from the Subspace Army someday!"

"I can tell you're saying that just to make me feel better," Rosalina said. Chris flinched. "It's fine. You probably think this mission may be too much for everyone here to do. This is a mission that might be beyond my scope and knowledge..."

"You're saying that as if you resigned yourself to failure already," Lucario said blankly. "Don't you have some faith to recover your home?"

"If it was not about that Subspace Army, I could have some shreds of faith, but that's not case here, is it?" she said. "The Subspace Army is a force to be reckoned with; even more fearsome than Bowser's forces alone. I saw with my own eyes how their power was the most unusual strength the galaxies would never own by themselves. Their power is out of the universe..."

She was hurting very much under that fake smile. Though Chris could tell she had nearly no faith, Lucario saw the negative waves of sadness continuously pulsate out of her soul. It irked him to sense those waves at all, more so coming from a powerful being like Rosalina. "And yet we have proved to them from time to time their plots can be stopped," Lucario said with a serious look.

"..." Rosalina stared at him. "...Was there a small chance for you or your group to keep my observatory safe days ago?"

"...U-uh... I-I..." Lucario's serious look was quickly put down in favor of a shocked one he didn't want to use. He had no excuse or proof to respond to that. It hurt him when he sensed some faint but visible anger within Rosalina's aura; a feeling she suppressed in her psyche.

"They targeted you when they were keeping us busy," Chris suddenly said once he had thought hard on a good response. Her mouth opened a bit. "...I think...I think they struck your home when we couldn't respond in time, Rosalina. That's why...we couldn't help you."

"...Oh..." She looked down and frowned, feeling the Luma's gaze. "So this was a plan they had in mind since the beginning... They knew they could overpower me if you and your friends were doing something else..."

"P-please don't look so sad," Chris said in a worried tone. "Doesn't it matter to you that you're alive? Isn't it more important to have your life with you?" She looked up slowly. "I'm not trying to convince you to forget your home or anything, though... It's much more important to be alive to me. Maybe your home got taken away, b-but... Look, I'm trying really hard to make you feel happy despite all this, okay? But I can say for sure that it's so nice to see you and your Lumas alive after what you went through."

Rosalina blinked twice as she gathered her thoughts. "Life...is the only element that matters in the end," she said. "Just as how the galaxies were reborn that one time, so do lives. And lives are the foundation of homes..."

"I-I believe so," Chris agreed.

"Yet..."

"(Oh no. I don't like that yet.)"

"The many memories I made in that one place I called home for centuries... It holds a very special meaning to me and the Lumas," she said. "Would you feel okay if your home was suddenly taken away? The place where you made so many memories?"

"Of course not, but I understand how you feel about that," Chris said. "A-as how painful it is to admit it, it'll take some time to recover your home from them. You know this already from the conversation we had with Master Hand yesterday, right? Until then...I want to make you happy."

Rosalina blinked. "You...want to make me happy?" she asked.

Blushing a bit at the thought of a woman like Rosalina asking that, Chris nodded slowly. "Make you happy other than recovering your home, I mean... While you stay here, it's not surprising most of us want to see you happy. I'm one of those people. It'll be hard to forget what you lost, but is...is that going to prevent you from having fun here?"

He had a point with that. The princess's emotions were greatly reflected on the babies she looked after. She couldn't afford to look so depressed for the next days to come. "I'll try my hardest to have fun," she said.

"Not unless you really mean it," Chris said with a worried expression. "If you don't mean it, it will be all the more painful... Trust me on this. I've done that myself during times I don't want to recall."

She looked mildly interested at him, though she opted not to ask him about those times. "All right. I shall trust your words," she said. "...So...you want to see me happy?"

Chris blushed. "U-um, yes, but I just came in here wondering if you were doing okay. I forgot to think about a way to make you happy before the thought crossed my mind right now," he said in defeat. "I should've planned something in advance..."

Rosalina forced a smile. "It's fine. Don't look so sad," she reassured. "Knowing people like you care about someone like me makes me feel appreciated... It's quite a strange feeling."

The teen stared at her. "Strange feeling? Being appreciated? Don't you get lots of that spending time with the Lumas?" he asked.

The princess looked down at the yellow Luma on her lap, who started to happily flail his hands around. "I get that feeling from them all the time. It's just...very different when it comes from someone else who isn't a Luma. You surely know by now that I used to reside in the..." she stopped briefly to shield herself from the emotional pain of remembering her stolen home, "...Comet Observatory for many millenniums. When I first became the adoptive mother of all Lumas, I was but a child at the time, when I used to have a normal family like you."

Chris winced in his mind. "(I wouldn't exactly call my family life normal, but I'll humor her...)"

"After living for so many years, that appreciative feeling coming from a human feels new...yet nostalgic," she said just before she truly flashed an honest smile. "That's why I said it was a strange feeling, but now I remember how it feels like."

"You'll get many chances to experience that feeling here," Lucario said, doing a small nod. "Will that feeling help you feel better?"

"I think so..." Rosalina said. "...I can't get that feeling without someone like you two, can I?" She giggled a bit at that thought. "If so, please...I need to feel such positive feeling as many times as I can to recover my confidence. It would help me and the Lumas so much..."

A sweet and kind woman like her deserved all the help she could get, Chris thought. Nodding a few times, Chris said, "I-I'll do what I can to make you happy and have fun here, Rosalina," he said, before both of them looked at Lucario.

He gasped a bit. "Y-yes, me too," he said hurriedly.

Rosalina looked unsure. "Hmm. I'm a little bit...concerned that this will not work out very well with his response..."

Chris sighed. "Lucario's a little slow on social matters when it's not about training or...me," he said.

"Chris!" Lucario barked in embarrassment, prompting the other two to laugh heartily at his reaction. It wasn't long before he himself started chuckling. He was fine if his little slip up helped the woman cheer herself up, and more so when his trainer was involved in it.

"Hmm-hm!" Polari was seen chuckling. "Thank you for coming here to visit Rosalina. She so needed the emotional support from others. It makes my heart feel so warm knowing people like you exist."

Suddenly, the four heard giggles coming from the center of the room. They looked to the center and spotted the baby Riolu happily playing with the other Lumas using his ball by rolling it around the floor and passing it among themselves. "Oh. What is that creature?" Rosalina asked.

"Oh... That's my baby Riolu," Chris said, smiling as he saw the baby cheerfully playing around with the living stars. "I found him starving to death one day and I took him in under my care until we can find his parents."

She looked concerned. "Starving to death, and his parents weren't around?" she said.

The teen looked worried at her as the laughs kept coming from behind. "I have no idea what happened before we found him. He's still a baby so he can't remember too well what happened... I only know he needs someone to look after him, so I took that role. It'd make me feel really bad if I just walked away."

The princess started at her children and their new friend playing around with the ball bouncing everywhere it was tossed around. Rosalina, oddly, smiled a bit at Chris. "You know how it feels like to raise a defenseless baby, do you not?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"In the past...when I was a child, I looked after a Luma," she said, fondly remembering a memory from a long time ago. "That Luma wanted me to help him find his mother somewhere in space. I gladly helped him and we searched around the galaxy..." Although she was unaware Chris knew her backstory very well, Rosalina thought she needed to avoid saying too much. "Before long...we never found his mother, but after a while he started to call me Mama."

"(...Is it possible I can draw more information out of her?)" Chris thought. "(I hope she doesn't mind...) Do you... Do you think their mother is somewhere in the galaxy?"

Before Rosalina could get deep into thought, someone interjected. "Mama is right here!" piped the yellow Luma sitting on her lap. His little outburst made Chris gasp, recalling the babies were capable of talking. "Mama isn't lost! What are you saying?! We don't have to look for Mama because she is right here with us!" To justify his point, he turned around and embraced Rosalina.

"Uh... (I forgot she had that one with her. I sounded a little rude...) Y-yes, of course. Rosalina is your mother," he said, as he saw Rosalina rub the Luma's head with care. "No one else is your mother because she's your mother, right? She's not lost."

"Yes! Exactly!" the Luma said, his voice muffled on his mother's dress. "We found Mama! She was just so happy to see us she forgot about us! You can be so happy and forget about your kids!"

"(I-I don't know where to begin correcting that strange bit of logic!)" Chris thought alarmed. "(I can't even correct him without possibly making him cry and look bad in front of her!) S-sure, you're absolutely (WRONG) right," the teen said, forcibly chuckling.

"I know! Mama taught me well!" the Luma said, to which Rosalina took a moment to wonder when she taught such strange fact to him. "No need looking for Mama when she's here with us! Right, Mama?"

"Yes... Yes," Rosalina said, before looking back at Chris. "That little one surely has their parents somewhere else. Are you going to look for them?"

"D-definitely. Once I have the time," Chris said. "It's going to be very hard trying to find his parents right now. We have no clue who they are or where they live exactly."

"I wish you the best of luck," she said with a smile. "...Though...may I say something?" They stared at her. "You must think very carefully about anything that could happen looking for his parents. Are you ready to confront...the harsh truth?"

"Harsh truth? What do you mean by that?" Lucario asked.

"Consider what would happen to him if you were to find his parents one day," she said. "How would you feel about parting ways with him? Would you feel okay with that?"

"..." Chris looked away.

"I can tell right away... You love him dearly," the princess said. "You'd dislike the thought about leaving him, don't you? Are you going to be prepared for that once it happens?"

"I-I have thought about that," Chris said, looking back at her. "But nothing says I should really stop being with him. I can still visit him with his parents."

The princess nodded, doing a small chuckle. "That is one good positive idea. However..." Once again, Chris looked worried. "This is one of the worst possibilities that you must consider even more than just finding his parents. Are you prepared to hear me out on this matter? The very question might shake your world so violently, but you must endure that believable result so you are prepared."

If she was sounding and looking serious about that question, it must be an extremely important question, they both thought. "...Tell me," Chris said blankly.

"...What if...his parents are no more?"

Chris let out an audible gasp, breathing out almost all of his air and shaking his head multiple times to snap out from his shock. "T-that... W-well..."

Rosalina looked concerned. She thought she had touched a very fragile nerve with that question. "I'm so sorry for bringing this rather shocking question to you, but you mustn't set yourself for disappointment if this is a true possibility down the road..." Seeing Lucario hold his trainer's back, the woman thought about an alternate route for her conversation to ease them both. "It's a possibility I thought about when I had it happen to me." The two looked back at her. "Take me as an example of an adoptive mother who knows the hardships of knowing the harsh truth for orphans. When I was a child and traveled around the galaxy in search for their mother, I used to think questions I didn't want to bring up to my children to avoid making them sad before they christened me as their real mother. Countless moons sent my mind into long thinking sessions about all the possibilities of that long journey of discovery, but then I stopped thinking those controversial thoughts once I became the mother they were looking for. Still, to this day..." she covered the Luma's head on places where his ears were supposed to be, "sometimes I think they have a mother somewhere else in the vast galaxy, and I am but a mere adoptive parent to them. Sometimes I think they had no mother at all and were just wondering why they saw no one around during their births. Though, for every other creature in the universe, they have parents regardless. People like us end up caring and looking out after them while we take short and long journeys to their homes that the thought of parting ways with them grows much...much harder to bear once that time comes."

"..." Chris joined his hands over his waist and contemplated on her statement.

"But if you don't want to part ways with him and you want to be forever with him without doing anything wrong...it could be possible that his parents might b-"

"Rosalina, please, stop," Chris interrupted right before he could feel the need to shed a single tear. "I-I don't mean to sound rude, but...I understand what you want to say here."

Rosalina moved her hands away from the curious Luma on her lap. "...Do not worry," she said with a small smile. "It's clear you understand and you will be prepared for it. You don't want to hear that saddening event, though. Right?"

"You...you read my mind," the teen said, looking back at her and forcing a small smile. "I'll be prepared for anything that can happen with his life. I want to enjoy the moments I have with him right now and...think about the rest once the time comes. If I don't do that, he'll get sad and we'll never enjoy anything we do together."

Rosalina stood up from her bed and nodded. "Your heart and mind are in the right place," she said. "I do not wish for you to trouble yourself with those thoughts. Live your lives to the fullest and enjoy every second you can. Ironically, growing closer together helps to endure any issues that could change your lives forever." The ball then rolled to the center of their positions, prompting the baby Riolu and a lot of Lumas to come chasing after it and become distracted with the people there. The ball bumping on her dress, Rosalina let go on the yellow Luma to let it float and grabbed the ball, getting the attention from all the children in there. She ducked down and looked at the baby Riolu, who wondered if the blond girl looking at him with a smile didn't have more of those unruly monsters he saw hours ago. She only showed him the ball. "Here."

Though the baby didn't understand human words, he knew the ball was meant to be taken from her. Wagging his tail a bit, the Riolu grabbed the ball and raised it above his head in glee. A soft hand then rubbed his forehead with care, making him look surprised at Rosalina doing the rubbing motion that he found very soothing. "Riiiiiii..."

"You're a healthy baby," she told him. "You remind me so much about my own children that I could mistake you for one of them. But you have your own father looking after you." Chris blushed in embarrassment at that mention. "Do you mind if I can be your friend?"

"Um, Rosalina, Riolu probably doesn't understand any words you're saying to him," Chris said. "He can only understand you if someone like Lucario can translate your words into his language."

She looked up at him and stopped rubbing the baby's head, leaving him to wonder why she stopped doing that. He really liked it. "Oh, is that so? Well," she turned to Lucario, "can you tell him that for me? Babies are much easier to bond with during their early years of birth."

That struck Lucario very hard. He could only grunt in shame.

"Why are you grunting?" Rosalina asked in mild confusion.

"Riolu...is scared of Lucario," Chris said with worry in his voice. "...Days ago, we had to fend off a threat from the mansion and Lucario had been a victim of that threat. That same threat brainwashed his mind and forced him to fight some of us, and then Riolu got in the way and he was very close to getting killed by him..." Lucario hung down his head in shame. "B-but Lucario would never do that if he wasn't brainwashed! He would never hurt a baby, but Riolu can't stop thinking he'll do it again! We kept trying to explain there's no need to fear him anymore, but... You understand that hasn't gotten us anywhere."

"That event was the same one that kept you from coming to my aid..." Rosalina muttered as she looked at the curious Riolu. "I wasn't the only one who suffered, then..."

"It's been annoying me ever since," Chris said. "Lucario can't stop beating himself up over that problem he couldn't stop when it happened, and it hurts me to see these two distancing themselves because Riolu got the wrong idea. I can't live with them like this."

The princess looked back at him. "Have you tried doing other options?"

"Besides constantly trying to convince Riolu to accept Lucario, no."

"..." Rosalina took one hard look at Lucario's downcast face, seeing him heavily lament his relationship with the baby. "If I had a guess, I know what the solution for this problem is."

Lucario blinked twice and looked at her in surprise. "Y-you know what I can do to fix this?" he asked.

"It's not certain, but what you must do is look inviting to Riolu," Rosalina said. Lucario looked confused at that. "Look at your face, Lucario. I've seen living beings who are used to showing such...intense looks that might pass off as glares, even though they don't mean it. This baby will not get closer to you as long as you look so imposing and intimidating to him. He could have accepted you with no problems if he hadn't seen that malevolent side of yours during that time."

Lucario vividly remembered that small time when the baby did accept him. Back then, the baby was confused and alone in a big world full of mysterious things, though he opened up to Lucario after having talked to him. The catalyst to the sudden change in attitude was the bomb blowing up on them...

"I don't know much about what happened before, but instead of trying to force a young one like him to like you back...you need to look inviting first," Rosalina suggested. "It's true that people talk to others when they do not look like they will hurt them, and there are some more who do talk to the intimidating ones, but for babies, they tend to stick with the first the most, especially when they saw their parents first before anyone else did. The problem that you and him have with each other will only start to go away once you can truly display a nice look on your face..." She realized the Lucario was several inches taller than her and that he possessed some not-so child-friendly spikes. "...Your height and those unnecessary spikes might put him off even more, but you can try starting with your gaze."

"It's...a little hard for me to drop the look on my face when my eyes are open," Lucario said.

"That is not true. Just now, you dropped your glare for a worried look," she pointed out. "Try giving that worried look a smile."

"...Do you think that will be enough?"

"There is a chance something as simple as that won't be enough." Rosalina rubbed her chin a bit and then looked at Chris. "Does Riolu like you, though?"

"Oh, totally," Chris said. "He likes so much that I can tell he doesn't want me to stay near Lucario."

The princess suddenly smiled a bit. "Ah. The baby has some traces of being protective of you that he can't show without fearing he might fail and get hurt by Lucario. This should be much easier than I thought."

"What? H-how can that be any easier?"

"Prove him wrong," the woman said. "Prove him that Lucario won't hurt you. That could be the ideal starting point instead."

"B-but every time I try to get close to Chris, he starts barking angrily," Lucario said.

"Ignore his barking, then," Rosalina said. "Show him he's wrong. Be affectionate with Chris and he will start to wonder why you haven't hurt his dear one yet. He can let his guard down and let you start anew."

"..." Lucario looked at his concerned trainer. "Should I do this, Chris?"

"...Y-yes," Chris said, looking serious. "This is driving me crazy that I'll do just about anything to get him to like you. Whatever you do, don't listen to Riolu and just...get close to me." He looked away. "M-maybe you should try nudging my head with the side of your cheek and growl while you're at it to really convince him..."

"You two do that a lot? That is a very adorable picture. Try that out," Rosalina said with some glee. The two of them blushed, but regardless they started the plan and Lucario inched closer to his trainer's side...

Alerted of this, Riolu looked behind him and gasped. The horrible monster was getting close to Chris and he couldn't afford to see him getting hurt. Very shy and scared of even touching Lucario, Riolu started barking his way to stop him from moving, and Lucario did so but only for a moment. He was serious about crossing that dangerous bridge. "RIIIIIIIIII!" Riolu cried out and, unwillingly, clutched his whole body onto Chris's right leg in hopes to stop the terrifying creature from touching him.

Chris was about to reach down for him. "No, Chris," Rosalina quietly interjected. "Do not give him attention either. If you grab him, he will seek shelter in you to keep Lucario away. Endure this for a little longer and let Lucario reach out to you."

This quickly turned into a battle of emotions as Chris tried hard not to grab the baby and stop him from crying. Looking worried at Lucario, he saw the big Pokémon stand very close to his side. Riolu's cries got increasingly worse by the second as a shy hand tried to push Lucario away from afar, though he persevered by ignoring the baby. With Chris by his side, the Aura Pokémon closed his eyes and calmly nudged his cheek against Chris's head.

"...Guuoooooooorrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh..." Lucario let out a long but silent growl, as he slowly started to rub his cheek against his trainer's head. The cries stopped right there, but Riolu was greatly horrified that he couldn't say anything else but watch as the hideous monster playfully rubbed his own cheek and tried to push the laughing teen a few times aside and...

…

Super Mario Galaxy – To the Galaxy

Why was Chris laughing?

Why wasn't he trying to push Lucario away?

Those were the questions that greatly puzzled the baby when he saw with great surprise how the human let the big monster very close to his head to the point they were touching each other like that. Chris only laughed and chuckled merrily as the big Lucario didn't stop nudging his cheek into his space. The teen didn't look scared or frightened. He was truly enjoying himself so much with the monster that it didn't make any sense to Riolu why that was even happening. He stared up at them continuing to do their thing for a small while, as everyone else in the room smiled at their display.

Polari floated closer to Rosalina, spotting her small smile and blushing cheeks. "That's quite a small shock I got from those two," he whispered to her. "I thought they looked like they were above cheek-rubbing..."

"It's...very adorable," Rosalina muttered with glee in her voice. "I wouldn't have imagined they were like this... There's something really cute in this that I can't stop looking at it..." She emphasized this by covering her smile behind her hands.

The Luma advisor chuckled to himself, watching his lady enjoying herself. "(And you were so doubtful about coming down here to meet other people. Look at yourself! It's like you're relieving your years when you were a child again!)" he thought proudly.

As Lucario sensed so much positive aura energy coming from his trainer, he was completely distracted from other positive auras brimming around them. After a small while of laughs and pleased growls, the Aura Pokémon pulled his trainer into an embrace using one arm and chuckled confidently at him. "That felt so good," he said.

"You really had to let it out, didn't you?" Chris asked with a content smile. "I knew there was something else you wanted to do a lot more after what happened days ago."

"Yes, I...I needed to do that more," Lucario admitted, until he recalled they had a baby Riolu staring up intently at them. Fearing for the worst but also preparing himself for it, he looked down at him with the most inviting look he could muster: a worried look. "...I...I will not harm Chris," he told the baby using their language. "I will not harm you either... I...want to keep you and Chris safe from danger... So please...don't fear me."

Riolu blinked...though he couldn't tell why he wasn't trying to bark or cry anymore when he stared at Lucario again. His little feet would freeze if he gazed at him a few times, and his hands would start shaking so suddenly as well, but something was different... Could the big monster really be a good person after all? Curiously, he looked at the Lucario's tall legs and tried to reach out to them to touch them with his left hand. Scared about the legs suddenly pulling back to kick him, Riolu calmly approached them... His advance was so dreadfully slow that it was going to take a long while for him to decide if this was a good decision to do.

Chris then ducked down and placed an open palm on Lucario's left leg. This caused Riolu to gasp a bit, expecting Lucario to kick Chris...but yet again, that expectation was destroyed when he saw nothing happened. With his caretaker looking at him with a small smile on his face, Riolu blinked at him and then accelerated his approach to touch the leg, feeling like Chris's hand being there was protecting him from harm... At last then, the tip of the baby's finger was bumping into the thick black skin. He stopped there for a moment to look up at Lucario to see if he was going to drop his act. "...It's okay," Lucario told him. "I said I won't hurt you."

"..." Riolu then pressed his little palm against his leg...and nothing bad happened. He remained standing there with his palm on the leg until Rosalina told Lucario to kneel down next. Slightly scared when the big behemoth knelt down, he still towered over Riolu. But then, Lucario very slowly offered an open palm of his for the baby to touch. Thinking that it would be very different unlike touching the leg, Riolu pulled back his palm away from the leg and then slowly touched the rather larger palm with his smaller one, leaving it to rest there. He blinked again and looked back at Lucario. "...Y-you...won't hurt me?" he asked shyly, ready to cry if he needed to.

Smiling was prohibited, as it would look scary to have a combo of red glaring eyes with it. Lucario had to be careful as he said, "I will never hurt you... I want to protect you," he told the baby. "Just...just give me another chance..."

"H-how do I know you won't try to hurt me like last time?" Riolu asked.

"I won't... You saw me and Chris right now, didn't you?" he asked. "I didn't hurt him, and he was laughing with me. He knows I won't hurt him, but you think I will. The two of us are worried about you not wanting to like me over something I couldn't prevent... I beg of you, please." Riolu saw a few tears falling down from Lucario's eyes, making him gasp. "There's nothing else I want from you other than your affection to me..."

Lucario forgot that Riolu didn't understand most complicated words, though the baby could plainly see the big guy was hurting. After all the little moves he did, Riolu's confidence was slowly and steadily growing. The next move would probably seal the deal for good as he stared at the open palm; the large, thick, open palm that served for hurting...and protecting others. His thoughts still a mess, Riolu thought about doing the right thing he thought was right...

He gripped the large hand and looked straight at Lucario... "...That's why..."

"W-what?" Lucario asked.

Riolu's eyes had small borders with tears of his own. "That's why y-you...you protected me this morning..." It didn't take long for Lucario to figure out what he was talking about. Early in the morning, he did protect Riolu from Korrina's rowdy Lucario brothers. During that one moment, he also realized Riolu didn't scamper away in fear when he was standing too close to him, which he saw as a small sign that the baby was opening up to him. Later on the day, he truly thought that was a just a cruel assessment because the baby would still try to stay away from him. "I thought Chris was going to save me... I didn't think y-you would do it... I got so confused when you saved me instead..."

There was an opening. Riolu's fear was slowly going away within his aura. "M-maybe you were right on fearing me. It was right for you to get confused until I...proved you wrong," Lucario told him, unaware he was gripping the baby's hand softly. "...What do you think of me now, Riolu? Do you think I should leave you alone...forever? Or...do you to give me a chance?"

"..." Riolu looked back at Chris. He saw his trainer wiping some tears away, and he also saw the other Lumas and Rosalina waiting for them to come to a conclusion, but he took a very long look at Chris for a while, until he turned to Lucario and asked, "...Chris wants me to like you?"

"He wants us to like each other," Lucario said. "...He knows what's best for the two of us. Why do you think I stick by him all the time? Because I understand he truly is a wonderful person who would rather spend time with us rather than putting me to fight others."

"B-but you had a fight today..."

"Because he wanted to make that girl happy," Lucario said. Riolu looked a bit surprised. "There was...no other way to get her to leave without making her two Lucario angry at her. She has her own issues, but they shouldn't matter that much between you and I. Forget what you saw me do that one time. You surely got scared when I punched that Lucario across the wall into the forest..."

Riolu shrugged. "T-that happened? I was sleeping because I got bored..."

"(...Oh, thank Arceus,)" Lucario thought with relief. "T-then, forget what I said about that. Just know I fought because I wanted to protect you too."

"R-really? You wanted to protect me again?"

"I will do that forever if you let me... With my power, I will keep you and Chris safe. I wish for the three of us to be happy together, without you trying to keep me away from Chris. He gets very sad whenever you barked at me, you know..."

Riolu sniffed. "I-I made him sad? O-oh, no..." The two related Pokémon had one thing in common: they both liked Chris so much. Before he could start weeping, Lucario couldn't take it any longer. He pulled Riolu with his other free arm and carried him on his arms. The baby wasn't trying to struggle to set himself free. He wasn't going to move. "I-I didn't want to make him sad! I thought you were going to hurt him like you did before!"

"That wasn't me," Lucario muttered, letting Riolu rest his chin over his left shoulder as Lucario patted his back softly and slowly. "Just know that. That wasn't me who you saw before. Chris...helped me to come back to you two and he...succeeded... You have to thank him for taking me back here...with you."

Riolu started to whimper, and he only realized too late that he was embracing Lucario's neck. "P-please... D-don't leave me again..." he sniffed. "I don't want you to leave me again..."

"We will be together...forever..." Lucario closed his eyes and let one a small whimper escape, finally sensing that yearned feeling of happiness coming from the baby's aura mixing with his own radiant aura. That feeling was so strong...so potent that he wanted to roar to the skies to demonstrate how grateful he was for this, but he held himself back. There was more than one young child inside the room and they didn't need to be scared. Silence was enough.

To Chris, it was a miracle. His two favorite Pokémon were so close to each other and Riolu didn't want to leave Lucario's side like before. The Pokémon language prevented him from understanding what they talked about, but their actions told him so much instead. He understood right there that both had tied loose ends and they were on the path to recovery, not a path that was divided before they came to this problem together. He sniffed as he stared the two sniff and whimper together, their arms tightly holding the other. The Lumas even began to sniff and wipe their own tears away watching the scene unfold, and one look at Rosalina's sunny expression pulled Chris back to reality. "Rosalina...thank you," he told her. "I was afraid this was going to take a lot more time..."

"You could say I have thousands of years of experience with this," Rosalina said. "It's the least I could do for people like you...like Mario and his friends. It felt like it was my job to give something in return for helping me recover my home."

"...Were you not going to help us if we weren't helping you out?"

"Oh no, that's beyond cruel of my part if I saw it and didn't do anything," she said. "I have a big heart in me. That heart makes me want to help people reconcile, because I can feel empathy."

"It's one of her many charismatic abilities," Polari said. "My girl truly knows the workings of the hearts that she has gained vast knowledge on how to mend scarred minds. Could you imagine she felt unsure if it was alright for her to come down to the planet to mingle with others?"

She blushed and looked a bit flustered. "Polari, please don't say that. It's so embarrassing if others get to hear that conversation we had before," she said.

"It's not embarrassing anymore! You finally came down, though I had hoped your visit would be better terms than what we went through," the black Luma said. "Time to destroy that wall of galactic doubt, I say! That wall is gone forever, don't you think so? I saw you enjoying yourself very much since yesterday, for one! Don't go telling me it's embarrassing otherwise!" He saw her lower her head in a strange attempt to make her embarrassed face look less pathetic. "There is also no need to feel ashamed of it... Smile for us! They want you to smile!"

As Rosalina looked up to smile at her Lumas, Chris thought, "(I didn't want to know this much about her this soon, but for how many years has she been away from human contact? ...Well, it doesn't matter right now.)" He looked at Lucario and Riolu looking at each other with small smiles on their faces. "(She helped us so much already... I can't really thank her enough for this...) Lucario...does he like you?"

Lucario nodded at him. "Yes... He truly likes me again," he said. "I explained everything to him in a way he could understand. I sensed how ashamed he was for making you sad, especially..."

"Making me sad?"

"That was the point that helped me get to him... Just like me, he likes you so much, Chris," the Aura Pokémon said. "Maybe he wanted to give me a chance so you wouldn't be sad..."

"Oh... I feel bad that I'm a reason he got to you..."

"No, no. It's very much okay," Lucario said with relief. "It helps to get closer to him that way. Both us like you so much we're willing to do anything..."

"(...I... Why do I feel bad for this?)" Chris thought. "(Why is it strange to feel okay with that? It's like I don't want those two to use me as a reason to make up their minds. What if I hadn't been there for them to...?)" He shook his head and smiled. "I-I'm happy this is over, at least... I can finally have the two of you close to me."

Lucario walked closer to Chris, prompting Riolu to clear his tears and smile at him. He was holding his hands out toward him, begging him to carry him next. Calmly, Chris picked the baby away from Lucario, getting a lot of cheek-rubbing from the young Pokémon. Chuckling happily, he rubbed his cheek with the baby's, until they heard Lucario growl and pull them back to his side. The three were now busy playfully trying to push heads away, though Lucario clearly overwhelmed the other two with ease. They didn't mind that much, however. They were happy to enjoy the company now that the barriers Riolu put up were gone, and Lucario would make sure to keep it that way forever, or else he knew they would all suffer dearly from isolation issues from one member of their little trio...

"Rosalina, thank you so much for your help," Lucario told her as he stopped nudging his head against the other two. "You don't know how much I wanted for this to end soon."

"The pleasure is all mine," she said with a small chuckling sound. "You and Chris have such warm hearts that match Mario's nearly completely, did you know that? I shouldn't have judged you both that much when I first saw you..." The duo stared at her. "Chris's age and your appearance suggested you both were...above doing what you're doing right now. Your display of affection towards each other is so strong and caring that exceeded my expectations..." The duo exchanged blushing, smiling looks. "You both are perfect examples of the kind of people that live above the ground... You've helped me see what other people I'll get to meet personally in this world full of possibilities. Even Magolor seems like a nice guy..."

Chris was extremely embarrassed for being addressed as an important person by a princess of the galaxy. "I-I'm so happy we helped you indirectly, then," he said. "I can't wait to see what's going to happen to us in the next days."

"I hope they are bountiful days, indeed," Rosalina said, the Lumas going by her side to giggle together. "The days ahead aren't as dark as I thought they would be..."

Everyone there started to laugh for a bit, until Lucario noticed a little too late about a strange name Rosalina had mentioned earlier. "Wait... Rosalina, you mentioned someone else besides Chris and I that was interesting, didn't you?"

The princess tilted her head a bit to the right. "Oh, Magolor?" she said. "You're talking about Magolor, correct?"

That name was new to Chris himself. He didn't remember someone with that name that was related to Mario's world. "He's right... Who's this Magolor person you know?" he asked.

She didn't find it so odd to say, "He is the alien that crash-landed in the mansion yesterday." The two Smashers looked surprised that she knew the alien's name. "He's up there making tea at the kitchen, actually." Their surprised looks gaining gasps, the two looked behind them to the upper left area where they spotted steam coming from the unseen pots above the stove. They couldn't quite see who was there, except for the two blue horns of the mysterious visitor...

Kirby's Return to Dream Land – File Select 1

They then heard the sound of objects being placed on a tray, followed by happy-sounding hums coming from the guest above the kitchen area. Before long, the guest picked the tray with tea cups and a big jar with soothing lemon aroma wafting in the air, making his way down by merely floating from the upper area to the lower area where Rosalina waited patiently for his arrival. "Lemon tea's ready!" the alien said in a very cheerful tone as he was met with equally-cheerful looks from the room's owners. "Ahh, you were right when you said tea calms the troubled souls, Rosalina! My soul feels much calmer than before when I woke up on that infirmary, alone by myself..." He sighed and placed the tray on top of a nearby table, ignoring the blank stares from the two Smashers...who then noticed Snivy was sitting on top of the alien's head, which he didn't seem to mind one bit. She was finding it fun to be sitting on top of a make-shift flying chair. "Enough! Tea time is crucial. Go ahead and dig in!"

"Hmm-hm. Thank you," Rosalina thanked as she and Polari helped themselves for some tea.

The alien chuckled and rubbed his gloved hands...his limbless, gloved hands together. "The pleasure from strange people like you is all mine!" he said. Feeling a pair of extra stares, the alien blinked and looked to the left, spotting Chris and Lucario. "...Oh! Hi!" he greeted without thinking much about their stares as he went over to their side. "So very nice to meet you! I take it you're Rosalina's friends? She's a great one, I tell you what. I woke up on that desolated infirmary some floors above this one and I became so worried about where I was... So...I wandered around this big place and found this room open. I'm ashamed for being quite the curious mouse type, but I had to enter this room and see if there was someone in it, and that's how I found my dear Rosalina!" He looked happy as he nodded.

"..." Both Chris and Lucario remained silent. The strange alien sure was odder than he appeared to look like. Although yesterday, and by extension just today first thing in the morning, it was hard to make out how his normal appearance used to look like...until now, when they could plainly see he was a floating orb-shaped person with a yellow-brimmed white robe tied on the center of his body by a blue belt, the robe having a mystical, mystifying cosmic theme when looked from the inside. Aside from the robe, his overall blue body seemed to be some meager armor that concealed the brown skin around his oval-shaped yellow eyes peeking out between his fluffy belt and the circular yellow arch around the face. He also sported a set of two horns on each corner of his head, said horns having a thin yellow ring separated by a blue ring that stood between the rings and the broader white tips.

Was it remotely possible for the alien to recover so fast...and have time to replace his charred robe for a new one and then have a tea party?

"...?" He tilted his head a bit to the left. "Huh? Why are you two so silent? You look like you just saw a person who was charred beyond recognition and somehow looks much better in the afternoon..." Conveniently, he also talked their language.

"...U-uh, I-I mean, how?" Chris said, earning the alien's attention. "H-how come you're suddenly much better after being hurled down from space as a living comet?!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH... That," the alien said as he rubbed his chin. "Yeah... Yeah, I see where you're getting at... I have the answer for that question right here with me... I heal fast." He looked happy again.

"...Seriously?" Lucario said.

"Well, nothing my powers can't fix. Heh heh, I mean, I'll be dead by now if I didn't know how to heal myself," the alien said. "But that's in the past, isn't it? I like the now much better."

Lucario looked at Snivy sitting on the alien's head. "And why are you even sitting on his head for?" he asked her.

"I thought he was a floating chair when I saw him from behind and I went ahead and sat down on him," Snivy said. "...Mind you, I tried getting back down but the guy kept me from jumping off." She slyly smiled. "I can't complain much about that. Meeting strangers has its perks!" The Aura Pokémon rolled his eyes at that odd statement.

Yet again, Chris had met another quirky character in the messy dimension of the video games... "...What's your name?" Chris asked.

"Magolor," the alien said, going to the teen to shake his hands vigorously. "Magolor is my name. So nice to meet more of Rosalina's friends! What's your name?"

"Chris...and these two over here are Lucario and Riolu."

The alien named Magolor chuckled at the other two. "More names to remember in my head. That accident I had earlier is paying me off with new faces, I see," he said, showing no signs of worry for recalling his forceful crash landing. "This calls for a party, wouldn't it? I mean, I survived and all that, and I got to crash into this big house. It's the least I can get!"

"Uh... I...have a better idea than that," Chris said, considering the fact everyone else was a witness to the alien's arrival.

Magolor blinked, glittering lights around his yellow eyes. "Wow... You're gonna invite a whole city to this party?"

Command Room

Another meeting had to be called once Master Hand was informed about Magolor's sudden recovery, which the glove then informed to everyone else. Curious about the sudden event, everyone wasted no time in heading to the command room. From the stage, the alien looked around at the dozens of people murmuring words as their gazes were fixed on them. Happy that he was the center of attention, he nodded at them all. "Whoa! There's this many people inside this house? Color me surprised with a green color!" he said. "You guys have some superb hiding skills. Nobody was looking after me when I woke up at that infirmary..."

Everyone looked at Dr. Mario. "...I just went to the bathroom during that one time," he said. "When I came back, he was gone from the room."

"A potty emergency," Magolor said. "Those are the worst when you're watching your favorite TV program and there are no reruns..."

Master Hand didn't care much about the strange example the alien just said. He wanted to get it over with before he could get the chance to kick him out of the mansion. He floated to the alien's side, looking down at him as Magolor himself admired the giant floating glove. "Introductions first," he said. "My name's Master Hand and I'm the god and owner of this mansion. All those people in front of you who clearly don't look like they came from the same place are my subordinates called Smashers."

"Smashers?" Magolor repeated, stealing one glance from them. "Now I worry about my welfare. I look pretty smashable myself..."

"They're not going to smash you unless you irk one of them too much," the hand said. "Which they won't do right now. What's your name?"

"Magolor, Master Hand Sir," Magolor said, joining his limbless hands. "That's the name my mother gave to me."

"Uh, okay, that's kind of obvious... So Magolor, tell the audience here why you suddenly came crashing down my mansion, leaving a trail of destruction in the form of a hole running across all the floors to the ground floor."

"Ah," he blinked, "you really want to hear my story? Ooh, perhaps my prayers to solve my problems were answered to whatever god I was praying to!" Looking happy, he turned to the audience of Smashers and cleared his throat. "Ahem... Let me begin this sad tale of hardships from the beginning..." He looked calm and serene as he said that, giving them the impression his tale was full with woe. "I am...a proud Halcandran from the planet Halcandra, a planet that exists in another dimension far, far, far, far...times a million...away from this dimension I ended up in... I drifted in space after an unfortunate incident happened to me while I was trying to defeat a horrible monster that made its home in the volcanic reaches of my home planet. I did battle with that monster, but unfortunately, I clearly underestimated its might and thus I paid the price with my beloved ship...g-getting torn down to pieces by its shadow creatures..."

Sonic looked up to the roof. "(I'm a getting a Chip vibe outta this guy already...)" he thought.

"The ship I was using, called the Lor Starcutter, was heavily damaged during my escape from the monster's army of nightmare creatures. I kept being attacked long after I flew from the planet, even! Surely the nightmarish beasts wanted to see me take my last breath. They were offended by my attempt at defeating their master than they let it all out on me... As I traveled through space in hopes of losing them, I failed miserably, with my own eyes seeing my beautiful ship being torn down to pieces. I only managed to see it being engulfed in flames, before I lost consciousness by a sudden jerking motion from the dying ship..." He closed his eyes and looked down ashamed. "...I couldn't see what happened after that. I did find a planetoid, this planet I presume, with my radar. I tried to change the course of my ship and set it on automatic before I fainted...but as you can see...it seems only I made it during my long fall to this planet; to this mansion that cushioned my fall..."

"You still left a pretty deep crater, though..." the hand pointed out.

"...And that's my sad story," Magolor said, opening his saddened eyes. "One fight with heavy preparations costed me every possession I had, along with the uncertain future of my desolated home at the claws of that wretched beast shaping the planet as it sees fit..." He sighed. "I'm being honest here. I thought at least the ship's body would make it with me, but all I got was...the ship's steering wheel, which I stored into my cape." He buried his face on his hands. "...I lost everything for trying to do the right thing... What kind of result is that? I'm never going to live with it for much longer with how I was left with...nothing..." He sniffed, hoping that everyone was going to feel pity for him.

"Well..." Master Hand trailed off as he hoped himself that someone else would say something. "That's pretty rough..."

Magolor uncovered his face. "Oh yes... I'm stranded in a place I don't know with a bunch of strangers, and Kirby, with no hopes in getting my ship back together and defeating that malevolent monster wrecking havoc in my planet..."

"I...see..."

"Wait," Meta Knight interrupted. "I heard him say Kirby's name just a moment ago. How does he know Kirby if he himself hasn't said anything about knowing Magolor?" Kirby just blinked.

The alien looked happy. "Kirby? He's like the biggest hero of Dream Land, which he is! I've heard countless stories about him from a dear friend of mine," he said. "Crazy, huh? I'm from an alternate dimension and I know who he is. News travel just as fast as gossip does through the dimensions! Which reminds me..." He looked at Kirby. "Kirby... I... I was wondering if...you could... Oh, stop it with these ellipses! I want your help to recover every ship part I missed!"

"OK!" Kirby agreed happily without much of a second thought, making many grimace and frown.

"HEY HEY HEY," Master Hand hastily floated between both of them. "I am NOT going to let someone else go at a time like this. Sorry, little alien, but we're short on staff right now to help other people with their problems. This isn't some sort of help center for intergalactic tourists."

"How could you be short on staff when you have this many people in a room?" Magolor questioned as he looked at the rest of the Smashers. "What do you guys even do, other than looking like you're already for the best Halloween party of the year?" Some took offense to that.

"Important, classified stuff."

"I'm thinking some dirty things for some reason."

"They're NOT dirty!" the hand argued. "Magolor, please understand. Kirby and the rest of us here can't bother to help you out. After this day is over, we're all going back to work."

"..." Magolor looked down in shame. "I...understand... Certainly, whatever you re doing must be pretty serious stuff that I shouldn't know..." He looked at Kirby, reflecting the same sad expression. "If there's nothing else that can be done, Kirby, I guess I'll wait for you to be done with your important mission here."

"Are you going to be okay?" Kirby asked.

"Eh, I'll be okay, but I'm worried about my home planet and my ship parts," the alien said. "Especially my ship parts. In the wrong hands, its pieces could be used as lethal power sources used for evil on good guys like you, but it's okay. I can wait... But I can't assure you I'll hold on to sanity after a week or so..."

"Alright... I wish you good luck," the puffball said, going over to the alien and giving him a warm hug that Magolor returned. Some of the Smashers pitied the alien a bit as they heard him weep until he broke from Kirby's hug.

"Excuse me," the Ancient Minister spoke up, standing next to Mr. G&W on the right table of the right middle portion of the room. "I want to know more about your ship." Everyone looked at him with some curiosity. "You said your ship parts can be power sources?"

The alien blinked at him. "Eh? Oh, yeah," Magolor said as he nodded. "You could probably take a room of my ship and turn it into energy if you know what to do with it. That's not to mention the other power source I use to energize my ship with sufficient energy to travel far and wide across the universe..." He frowned. "Every part must have broken off and fallen to other places, I'm afraid. If I really wandered off from my own dimension, I think there's a chance that every part drifted off somewhere else..." He then slapped the air with the back of his right hand. "Why do I bother saying this much? Your boss already disagreed to help me out here."

"...More power sources for Tabuu to use..." the robot muttered. At the mere mention of that, most of the people in there gasped.

Music stops

Magolor did notice the silence that fell in the room when the robot spoke his last words. Confused about their murmurs and occasional stealing glances, the alien turned to Master Hand. "So, uh, why do I feel like you're suddenly interested in my affairs?" he asked, as he noticed Master Hand cursing under his breath. "Quit it with the cursing under your breath and tell me what's wrong, please. Kirby's friends are my friends, if that's even allowed for me..."

The hand kept cursing in his head. The mention of Magolor's ship being power sources was not a good thing if said sources were all spread over in different places he feared were other universes. With what happened to Rosalina's observatory, there was no doubt Tabuu's upgraded force would go ahead and find every source to drain into him and become even much more of a threat. "Magolor... I want to know something about your ship," the hand said.

"Okay? I was ready to pack my things, but... What do you want to know?"

"Exactly how many parts of that ship do you think have spread around the universe?"

The alien rubbed his chin in thought. "Assuming every individual section of my ship was torn off without extra damage, I'd say...like five," he said. "Oh wait, I also lost the main body which may or may not have split into more... Six and the other power source, then."

"What's that other power source?"

"Pretend that other power source is some sort of fuel to the ship," Magolor said. "Except that power source has untold, magnificent properties that would energize anything once you put it together with the ship. You'll get something amazing if you combine all those parts together...the Lor Starcutter!"

"So in total, there are seven items that got lost..."

"Geez. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really are going to help me out after saying all that harsh stuff that could be summarized as a simple no."

"Well, I changed my mind on that, yeah."

"Oh, I see." Magolor kept staring. "...What? Did I hear right? You're going to help me out?"

"Yes..."

"Really now? Is this a bad joke?"

"No."

"So we're clear here."

"Yes."

"You're not joking here."

"No."

"So you want to help me."

"Yes..."

"And you're not going to kick me out."

"No."

"And I can stay in this place with Kirby and Pals."

"Against my will, yes..."

"And you won't object to that."

"No..."

"And I wi-"

"YOU GET THE POINT! Stop dragging it for too long!" the hand snapped. "PHEW! Magolor, because your unfortunate incident is going to cause us a hell lot of trouble should we ignore it, we...must help you with this before it's too late for us and for your home planet...especially the former." To try sounding nice, he added, "Your family must be worried about you anyway."

"Meh. I'm the only one who lives in my planet," Magolor casually said. "I have no family. You could call me the ruler of Halcandra if it weren't for that monster." Many people started to murmur complaints between each other once he said that fact so simply as that. "I do care about my planet, though. I wish to rebuild it to a nice utopia where people can flow in one day. So you see, I have good intentions, besides blasting and mauling a monster to death using heavy weaponry!" He looked cheerful.

"Riiiight..." the hand trailed off.

"Hey, hey," the alien said. "So why the change of heart? What does my problem have to do with yours?"

The Ancient Minister approached him from behind. "If it's okay to say this now, the reason why we're all banded together is because we fight a trans-dimensional threat known as the Subspace Army. That army is trying to conquer every world out there to unite them all into a single entity that will no doubt cause chaos for the people and their homes," he explained. "Their leader is Tabuu; the mastermind behind the chaos who wishes to ascend to godhood to rule everything under his hands."

Magolor digested all that info. "Uh... Alright... That's...sort of believable..." he trailed off. "...What does that taboo person want with me?"

"Days ago, he stole Rosalina's home; a viable power source that he used to increase the power of his forces," the robot said. "More likely than not, he will do the same to your ship and its other power source to grow even stronger, further complicating our fight against his forces."

"..." Magolor looked ill, holding his stomach. "W-what? W-why am I suddenly involved in this fight you have with him with my ship, its parts, and the fuel as prizes for anyone to take? This is nuts!" He turned to Kirby. "Kirby! Say there's hope to scavenge my ship parts before that strange maniac nabs them!"

Kirby could only look confused. "We can try to find all of the parts if we're quick about it," Meta Knight said. "Though, blindly visiting other places will achieve nothing, and we can't afford to split up into singular formations. Magolor, do you have some means to locate each ship part?"

"Hmm, well... Me and my ship have this strange bond of connection that I learned years ago," Magolor said, scratching his head. "I think you can use me as a living radar to find anything that once made up the Lor Starcutter... But it's pretty wonky, I tell you. Sometimes, it reacts, but other times it doesn't do anything... I can still tell apart what used to be my ship, though! And if I really put my mind into it, I can possibly locate the parts if they happen to be nearby within 50 miles, but for security purposes, the parts will try to disorient my radar ability to stay safe from aggressors." He nodded softly. "I feel a tad weak today after I used my magic. I'm all healed up but I feel sore and tired, so I can't locate anything in this condition until I rest up... Still..." He turned back to Master Hand. "That taboo person could go after my ship parts and the fuel... He mustn't collect a single one of them or else that'll be it for me, Kirby, everyone in this room, and everyone else! I never experienced theft before!"

"Settle down, you," the hand said. "You're pretty lucky we'll have to work with you to ensure our enemy doesn't get any stronger than he already is... Consider yourself part of out group for now, Magolor. Here. Finger shake." He held out his index finger to the alien.

"If I pull it will yo-?"

"NO! Shake it like a handshake!" Magolor giggled and shook the finger with both hands.

The two broke off from that shaking. "Yippie ya-yay!" Magolor cheered. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This means so much to me!"

MAGOLOR

HIGH FIVES AND LOW FIVES YOU!

Magolor joined your team!

"You're so nice, Mr. Master Hand sir, that I sort of heard a fanfare play out somewhere very close in honor of my joining the team!" Magolor spoke happily, doing a little dance. "Is it okay for you to help me in this long quest?"

"It's really not that big of a deal," the hand said. "It's just seven parts or so anyway. I bet they'll be easy to find unlike the other times where we had to scramble around a lot to accomplish some past objectives... You said you can be a radar of sorts to find those parts. It will help us a lot to narrow down our searches."

The Halcandran nodded a few times and turned back to Kirby, seeing him smile. "This means you'll help me out after all, right?"

"Yeah!" Kirby said.

"And you'll help me gather my ship parts, right?"

"Yeah!"

"And you'll look for the 120 Energy Spheres – the fuel of the ship I was talking about -that were scattered across the galaxy, right?"

"Yeah!"

Kirby was utterly oblivious at the many dropped jaws that were had in the room. Unlike how his cheerful demeanor ignored the heavy fact, everyone else caught on to that crushing fact... It came out of nowhere, and they weren't warned about it. "One...hundred...and twenty...what now?" Yoshi struggled to say.

Magolor looked at the green dino. "Oh, didn't I mention it? The fuel I was talking about is composed of 120 objects known as Energy Spheres," he said. "During the attack on my ship, I saw the spheres getting torn off from the ship one by one...and then nine by nine, but I never got to see the end of it because I got knocked out cold. There's no denying all of 'em got scattered just like the ship parts." He turned back to the twitching Master Hand. He wasn't taking it so well to hear that. "In total, you must locate six ship parts and 120 Energy Spheres, which are smaller in size and much harder to spot. But hey, you have me, the living radar! They have a much lower rate of frequency my radar can't pick up. I just need to stand a mile close to one to locate them, though!"

…

"...You okay, my new friend?" Magolor asked when he noticed the hand wasn't saying anything, rather than twitching and trying to hold it all up inside a mental bottle ready to burst.

"W-why...w-why...w-why did you..." Master Hand muttered under his breath. Some of the Smashers knew better than to stand close to him that they started backing away. "W-why did you just decide to say that...a-after saying all that...?!"

"Come now," Magolor said chuckling. "Surely you guys will be able to find them all in record time! A small number like one hundred and twenty will be no sweat to you and me. The probabilities of finding pairs of them together are very slim, but I'm optimistic about our impossibly small odds! Follow my example and let us succeed in this mission to save the universes! And my home, too."

"What stupid, skewed opinions are those suppose to be?!" the hand demanded in the quietest voice he could use to keep himself from bursting.

"I like thinking my friends can do so much. Isn't it nice of me to think so highly of you all before I even get to sit down and chat with a nice cup of tea?" The Halcandran said chuckling. "Now show me a big smile and let us start our long quest to gather all my possessions before it's too late! We'll pick all those 120 Energy Spheres before you can even say Game Over!"

Master Hand couldn't handle that anymore. In the end, he released everything he had in him...

Nintendo Village

A sleeping Parakarry on the counter suddenly woke up in a hurry when a loud scream - that was strong enough to shake the earth and the buildings – echoed from the direction of the mansion. Even everyone who walked around the vicinity panicked and remained standing still, their feet slipping up and making many fall to the ground.

~ Smash Mansion ~

Command Room

As if a freak accident with a tornado happened inside a building, the command room was nearly totaled by the scream Master Hand released. On the walls were holes shaped like the Smashers, which in truth truly contained each Smasher that was inside the room before the overwhelming scream of a god pushed them away into the walls, except for Crazy Hand who had taken cover behind his rooted counter. The furniture somehow survived the chaotic force of the wind, except all of it got scattered around the room. And in the middle of that messy room was Master Hand panting heavily, looking ahead where Magolor's shape was seen across the hallway that the room overlooked. As many groaning sounds came from the holes and some Smashers limped their way out, inside the hole in the hallway, Magolor had his eyes wide open at the hand. "...I take it that you were so overjoyed that made you do a yes scream?" he asked.

"NO, YOU LITTLE ALIEN FR-!" Master Hand was quickly held back by Crazy Hand before he could make a murder scene. A little while later, the boss calmed down, and his brother let him go. "Phew... I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks, Crazy..."

"The universe would be wrong if you got crazier than me! I had to stop you there before you could out do me! Mission accomplished!" Crazy Hand commented, chuckling as he went back to his counter.

Popo crawled out from his hole next to Nana's. "I'm so gonna...stay away from you...if you ever want to scream like that again..." he muttered.

"Does this happen a lot...around here?" Ms. Fit asked, walking out from her hole on the right wall and feeling the need to lie down on bed and do exercises to heal her sore body.

"Not like this, but...do not approach the site of a fight if you can. You never know...what could happen..." Zelda spoke weakly from her hole, contemplating the thought of drinking pills to relieve the headache in her head.

Very impressed that Lucario managed to shield Chris and himself even after being flung into the left wall, Riolu barked happily, albeit he stopped when Lucario sighed and jumped down to the floor while carrying the two. Chris didn't exactly escape from the chaos, since he had to deal with being deaf for a moment. "Is anybody talking here?" Chris asked, as he was put down to safe ground. "Hello? Anybody?"

Master Hand nervously chuckled as he felt more than a dozen of glares burning his self. "Oops... Uh, here. Have some Heart Containers." He snapped his fingers and made a rain of Heart Containers fall down gracefully from the air. While some people tried to move to the miraculous healing items, the hand went over to Magolor. "Sorry. Had to do that there to relieve the impossible amount of stress your oblivious cheerful demeanor gave me for giving us that much workload out of the blue."

Magolor popped out from the hole and dusted off his robe. "Hmm... Yeah, yeah, I can see why it would be so stressing to go and collect 120 trinkets of unlimited power...and the ship parts...from an evil army..." he said, feeling sore all over. He then was handed a Heart Container by the hand. "Is this a sign you love...me?"

"No, silly. Just hold it for a while and it'll heal you."

"Like magic!" Magolor held the item before it dissipated into sparkles of light that entered his body and healed it completely. Feeling alive, he started waving his limbless hands around. "Phew! That's some nice healing item! Why didn't you give me one of those when I was weak this morning?"

"Security purposes," the hand said. "I didn't know if you were evil or not. I must keep my people safe from harm."

"I'm a 200% good. The extra 100% is there to represent my optimistic attitude," Magolor pointed out, ignoring the hand's sigh.

A while later, the room was put back together to its former look and the Smashers healed up quickly thanks to the Heart Containers, but not without making them wary about the hand screaming so loudly as they kept their distance from him by taking the seats away from the center. Magolor took the center of the stage and nodded. "Okaaaay... Maybe I should go ahead and say the other thing that we must stay cautious about..." he trailed off, seeing some look horrified that there was even more he needed to say.

"COME ON, NOW!" Master Hand screamed, making many take cover under their tables. "How many things are you going to keep revealing until the last moment after agreeing to help you?!"

"I'll cross my imaginary fingers that this is the last thing, really!" Magolor said, looking anxious. As soon as he saw the hand calm his grunts downs, he cleared his throat and faced the others. "You see, the Subspacial Army isn't the only force we should be worried about..."

"It's Subspace Army," the Ancient Minister said. "What other threat do you speak of?"

"It's...the monster I faced off against in my planet," Magolor said, looking sad. "That monster happens to have its own minions. Those minions were the ones that kept chasing after me when I made my escape from that battle of the ages and, just like their boss, they're pretty stubborn about finishing their prey off. They're smart enough to learn what their enemies can do and they happen to know me very well that...they will try to keep us away from the ship parts and the 120 Energy Spheres..."

"How could they know that much about you?" Mewtwo questioned with a stern gaze. "Why do you know they will hinder our search for your belongings?"

"My ship...isn't exactly mine," Magolor pointed out, looking down at the floor. "It's an ancient ship I found in Halcandra during my search for a weapon strong enough to do battle against the monster. As it happens, my ship is a very strong weapon when used correctly, but I didn't count on the fiend being knowledgeable about it that it was prepared for a bout like that. I did it without thinking much and that's how I got myself into this. But since that monster knows about the ship's power, it will send its minions after the pieces to keep me from defeating it... They can only hold the parts hostage. They cannot truly destroy the ship no matter how much they attack it, though they can dismantle it..." He looked serious and moved his face up. "The monster's minions are called...Doomers: beings made of pure evil darkness who will stop at nothing to keep their master alive. With this being said, I know a lot about them from ancient texts I discovered in my planet and I know how they behave around their prey. If you ever want to know how to handle them, ask me."

Under his table, Sonic rolled his eyes. "Again with the creatures made out of darkness. How overdone is that?" he muttered to himself.

"Not as overdone as werewolves," spoke C. Falcon next to him. Sonic groaned.

The alien sighed softly and slowly. "...That is everything you need to know," he said. "There isn't anything else I can say about this mission, other than wishing us good luck to find the Energy Spheres and hope no one has taken possession of any of them."

Master Hand grumbled. "Okay, you're doing this on purpose now," he said. "I'm not going to overlook that extra point you just said."

"What? About random strangers picking up the Energy Spheres and the ship parts and getting into deep trouble with the Doomers who will try to kill them, believing they will give the spheres back to me when it's possible they might not want to when asked nicely to hand them over?" Magolor said. "...Then, yeah, that's a big problem..."

"...Oh, crap."

"Oh crap indeed," the alien agreed. "Knowing strangers, they will easily spot the spheres from anything else nearby. The Energy Spheres have this nice, cute look in them. They have a spinning golden gear in them that radiates a rainbow glow from the inside of the sphere... Truly marvelous when you imagine them, and even more so when you hold them in your hands." He rubbed his chin and looked up into the roof. "Say, I turned into a comet when my ship fell apart, right? What are the odds the spheres turned into 120 comets that people mistook for normal comets?"

"Ah-ha!" Ness was heard saying, holding a newspaper. "There was something fishy with that Meteor Star Shower event we saw yesterday!"

"Where did you get that?" Diddy asked.

"From the newspaper boy who comes all this way to deliver the newspaper to our doorstep...though I took this away from Olimar when I saw the headline: UNEXPECTED AMOUNT OF METEORS GRACED THE NIGHT SKY," he read aloud the headline, with Olimar sighing at the boy's rude move. "Says here in this paper that there were way too many comets in the event than they expected to be, and they even said they spotted some of those comets blink and disappear in the sky so abruptly without turning into dust by the fire... Those comets weren't even set ablaze, either!"

"All those comets we saw yesterday were...Magolor's Energy Spheres?" Squirtle wondered.

"Not all of them, but a big majority...possibly," Ness said.

Master Hand thought about the facts. "If those astronomers said the spheres disappeared so quickly...I can only think that the spheres truly have wandered off to other places just like the temples we looked around for," he theorized. "...Aw, hell. Every possession Magolor had did spread out to other worlds!"

?

As the conversation kept going on, many events were set off at once about people finding the mystical items everywhere in the universes where they lived far away from the Smash World. All of these events either happened during the day or the night, though that didn't change the overall reaction from the people who found some of them.

In a tropical paradise comprised of a hut in the middle of an island looking to the night sky, a small comet landed nearby it the shore, where a young green-haired girl and her older, teenage guardian with messy blue hair spotted the object and quickly made way to it. The girl ducked down at the small sandy crater and reached out for the trinket, smiling wide at its radiant beauty. "Ash, look at this!" she said. "This fell out of the sky! It looks...nothing like a comet, but it comes pretty close. I think I'm gonna keep it as a good luck charm... It feels nice."

"I wouldn't worry about other people spotting these," Magolor said. "They will probably steer clear from holding the spheres so up close."

In another world, in a manor situated close to a castle, a rash man with long red hair was seen walking towards his room in the night until another comet fell down in the well-kept flowers his home's servants looked after. Annoyed that someone might have tossed a rock, the man groaned and checked the flower bed near the rails of the open hallway. "Tsk. Better get this outta the way before everyone makes a big fuss about a random rock in the morning... Hey... Whoa, what's this thing?" His eyes widened in surprise at the otherworldly glow the item gave, illuminating the stalks of the flowers. Since the man was looking away, he couldn't tell if the rock had fallen from the sky "...Did Guy drop this here? Doesn't seem like it belongs to my parents either..."

"The spheres might look nice to look at, but surely they know they shouldn't grab things they don't own!"

In another world, a herd of sheep started to cry out as they spread out and away from another comet that struck the ground so suddenly during the middle of the day. A small, brow-haired boy pushed his way through the crowd of sheep he was herding with his older brother until he stopped his tracks in front of the small hole that occupied the Energy Sphere, glowing warmly with its multi-colored light. "Wow... I've never seen a sphere like this around before..." He picked up the trinket and inspected it all over. "...Heh heh. I found it first, didn't I? I can't wait to brag this in front of Tiz's face! He'll be jealous of me!" He turned around and started running through the confused sheep. "Tiiiiiiiz! Look what I found here!" he was heard yelling.

"Should they keep it for themselves, they're just going to attract those beasts to them! What if they're unprepared to fight for their lives?"

In another world, a couple was ready to enter a very shabby cinema for a superhero movie the guy of the couple wanted to see with his uninterested girlfriend. He was now being berated by that same girl in front of the entrance, however, because he had promised he was going to get her a nice gift to show how much he cared about her (not that she was into material stuff, since he suggested a gift for her in the first place and she thought his thoughts about her would give her happiness). "JOE!" she yelped loudly. "I'm not going into that movie theater until you show me the gift you promised you were going to get for me!"

"(Had to overslept watching that Captain Blue marathon special...)" his date named Joe said as he backed off to the street with her pointing a finger that could kill him. With his hands on his back, he was too much focused on his girlfriend's glare that he failed to feel an Energy Sphere suddenly dropping from the sky right onto his hands. Laughing nervously, he tossed his hands to the sides. "S-Silvia, please! J-just give me some time to l-look around where I left yo-"

"Huh?" his date Silvia blinked when she stared at the glowing sphere resting on his right hand. "Oh, wow! Joe, is that what you got for me? It's...beautiful!"

Joe then noticed what he was holding and gasped. "W-where did this come..." When he looked at her bright face, he had to take the easy way out to avoid a slap on the face. He grinned forcibly and showed the sphere to her. "Silvia, why did you think I forgot about this? I was messin' around with you!"

Silvia giggled and happily took the sphere from his hand. "I'm so sorry I doubted you... You had to admit, you looked very convincing..." she muttered as she eyed him.

Her man chuckled, once again, nervously. "A-ahaha... Yeah... Hey, come on! The movie's gonna start!" Without summoning her ire, Joe cordially led the way in front of his date. Silvia would soon regret the moment the movie started, as it took Joe's entire attention away from her...

"They're all in for some trouble if they so casually keep the spheres! It'll make our search easier, but I don't think they'll let us take the spheres away from their hands!"

In another world, set in ancient times that would be familiar to some Smashers, another sphere suddenly surprised a Pegasus Knight walking to her tent during the night. Startled, she tripped spectacularly on the sphere's round form and fell forward. "O-oww... I hadn't tripped all day long... Why did this happen to me at the last minute?" she asked to herself, her voice muffled by the grass her mouth fell on top. Slowly getting back on her feet, she stood up and looked behind, until her eyes widened at the culprit behind her unlucky tripping trip to the ground. "That's... Wow... Maybe I wasn't all that unlucky as I thought I was..." A smile spreading on her face, she went over to pick up the sphere...where she then tripped again, though strangely over nothing that blocked her feet to the item. "Oww!"

"Who can seriously take a shine to those?"

In another world, in the metropolis of Tokyo, a busy man surrounded by computers typed furiously on his keyboard until the peace of his quiet home was disrupted by an Energy Sphere breaking through the window. His peace destroyed, he lazily looked over his right shoulder and spotted the sphere rolling idly by to his feet. Upon taking a closer inspection at it, he chuckled darkly. "At least it wasn't some boring rock," he mused as he reached out for the sphere, holding it on his right hand. "There is some power coming from it, too. What a good day indeed..."

"People should know any better than keeping them as treasure!"

In another world, the terrace door was open wide enough for an object to enter the inside of the second floor's door, where a snoring young boy with messy brown hair lied down lazily on his bed. In front of his bed, sideways, a peculiar device with a clear screen showed a person wearing a blue suit, staring dumbfounded at the open door in the real world. "Geez, Lan. I know you feel hot, but you could've just plugged the fan to the wall socket if you wanted some wind..." the person spoke dully, worried that someone might sneak into the room with the door unlocked for air to come inside.

The person in the handheld device then witnessed an Energy Sphere barely whizzing inside the room's open door, avoiding breaking the glass and rolling all the way to the other side of the room where a pillow broke its crash into the wall.

"What the..." The person looked to the left and stared at the sphere for a long while, wondering how lucky they were that his friend's foolish idea to let the door slightly open did save them from an accident. "Hey, Lan! Wake up!"

"5 more minutes...or maybe an hour..." the boy named Lan yawned, still sound asleep. The person sighed.

"I hope they don't get too attached to those spheres... It could spell a lot of trouble..."

Right there in Nintendo Village, a bored Korrina wondered how long it was going to take her heavily injured Lucario to recover. She was sitting on a table inside the Pokémon Center while her other Lucario was busy wandering outside to distract himself. As she was about to drift off to sleep and dream something that had the World Traveler in a nice light, the automatic doors of the building opened quickly and she heard footsteps rushing inside and towards her. Startled, she pushed herself up from the table and looked at her grinning Lucario. "What's with the rush?" she asked. "Why are so happy about? ...You better not tell me you picked a fight with someone else and won without my permission! I have enough problems as is!"

Her grinning Lucario chuckled and showed her an Energy Sphere that was covered with some trash. He must have found that one inside a trash can as she looked at it, but she was more impressed by the actual glowing object sitting on his right palm. Despite the obvious look, the hot-headed Aura Pokémon thought it was special for other reasons...

"W-wait... C-could that be...?!" She hastily picked the sphere and examined it closer at eye-level. The floating golden gear inside the sphere put her off a bit, but she thought the sphere was something else of great importance. "...Oh my gosh... This could be a new stone! This day is rolling around for me!"

"All those poor innocent people are running the risk of being killed..."

The scene then changed back to the mansion, showing a concerned Magolor. "...It's our job to find them all, though," he said. "The Doomers will try to take all the spheres for themselves using violence, and I'll never be able to save my planet from that monster's ruling... So please, help me out here!" He looked serious. "This mission sounds very stressing. I saw how badly you reacted moments ago, but...there's not much we can do other than gathering all the pieces I lost..."

The alien looked around the room. All the Smashers exchanged glances and could only think about the new mission they had to deal with besides fighting the stronger Subspace Army. "Here we go again..." said Fox with a slow sigh. "Another extra mission involving us where we have to run around each world to find these important, world-destroying relics before the bad guys beat us to them..."

"Huh? You've done something like this before?" Magolor wondered aloud. "You must be pros since you don't seem mangled up so badly! Aside from the crash to the walls... I think I made a right choice in asking you out for this, then!" Most people in there sighed at their misfortune, which didn't seem to faze the alien one bit.

"I freakin' want out of this team," Snake said.

"Include me in that list too, but it's too late to do that," Wolf said.

Master Hand shook himself and sighed next. "Magolor, is this truly everything?" he asked.

"Yes... That's it," the alien said. "As bad as this sounds, let me rest for the rest of the day so we can begin tomorrow in our search for my belongings. If we're lucky enough, there could be pairs of spheres close to each other in the same world or planet... Feel optimistic about this ordeal! It's the only way we can make progress without feeling so down!" He raised his hands. "You have me in the team! I'll do my best to be helpful to you all!" Though he meant well, they couldn't cheer up at all. It was as if they couldn't enjoy the rest of the free time they had left before Master Hand's barrier would lift up and allow the army to attack.

Finally, someone broke the silence. "Let's...just wait for that to come," Mr. G&W said. "It's been hard for all of us and it's about to get even harder, b-but let's try to do our best like Magolor wants us to do! We've got more time to relax for the remainder of the day!" With his reassuring words, most people in there forced smiles and nodded.

"He's right on that," Roy said. "This won't change much, will it? I bet it could make this much more interesting for us in the long run, besides fighting for our lives..."

"His rather strange opinion on this otherwise bad turn of events has some truth in it," Zelda said. "We are forever meant to do battle against the army and whatever other threat stands in the way to peace."

"Forever meant to do battle..." Chris muttered, rubbing his baby's head. "But at the same time, forever meant to explore more worlds to grow stronger and wiser..."

"I-I believe in us!" Lucas tried to cheer. "L-let's keep doing the same we've been doing since the beginning like always! We'll get somewhere if we don't stop now..."

"Yeah! That's the spirit I wanted to see!" Magolor cheered. "Our long journey ahead of us will take us to dangerous places where other enemies will block the way. Smash them down to the ground and continue forward! But after I get some rest. I'm pretty worn out..." He floated over to Kirby's side. "Say, now that I'm part of the team, why don't you show me around the mansion, Kirby? Let us create a strong bond between the two of us!"

"OK!" Kirby happily agreed without questioning again. Leading the way, he hopped down his seat and walked outside the room with a chuckling Magolor. Concerned that Kirby was not up to explaining much about the mansion, Meta Knight excused himself from the meeting and followed them. He had this small suspicion that Magolor's attitude was a little too...forced. Maybe that was his imagination, since many citizens in his universe were awfully carefree, recalling the days when he wanted to end them all until Kirby meddled in his affairs and thankfully snapped him out of his thought process.

With the three gone from the room, everyone turned to look at Master Hand. "The meeting is adjourned," he told everyone. "You may now continue to relax. I can expect the army to attack a world tomorrow after the barrier goes down... I'm seeing many frowns in here. Why don't you guys get to know our new deal Ms. Fit?" They looked over at the fitness trainer. "The girls look like they finished keeping her away from you."

"As if!" Jigglypuff said. "We haven't shown her the upper half of the mansion! I order every girl in this room to continue our personal mission!" All of the girls agreed, though some Smashers could have sworn Ms. Fit sighed in defeat, as if she wasn't liking to be with the girls hogging her for their amusement to get to know her. It proved to be more obvious because Peach was the first one to calmly grab her hand and drag her away with the giggling females out of the room, leaving the room to a huge amount of males.

"The girls have been acting so overly peppy today because of her..." the hand noted. "Really? Was I making them suffer for not having more females in the Brawl season?"

"What do you think?" asked Pikachu rhetorically.

"Fine... I'll make sure I add some more girls soon." He was ready to shield himself from the raised hands that came up. "NO! I didn't say suggest me some! Relax and leave me alone, you people!" He snapped his fingers and warped away to his room, with Crazy Hand doing the same two times after randomly exploding with the first snap. Groaning sounds echoed in the room until everyone started to leave.

Before Chris could go back to take refuge with his baby Riolu, the Ancient Minister went to him with Mr. G&W by his side. The two truly had connected after all if they were seen together, which was a good reason for the flat character to keep the robot safe from glares and sneaking hits. "I spent time outside looking for my people," he told the teen. "...They cleared out the area. The army doesn't seem to want to spy on us anymore."

"Probably because of you," Chris said. "Don't you have a connection with your friends?"

"The army never gave me complete control of them," he explained. "The other generals can control them using devices implanted in their brains. I would never resort to using such means to force them to hear me out... Strange, isn't it? Perhaps if I should've done that, I could've saved them all... Regardless, I won't stop until I can get through them. If they are never convinced, they will continue to stick with Tabuu out of fear."

"I... I will try to help you with that," he told him.

"Thank you...but I'm also worried about you," the robot said. "Let us work together to reach our goals. This is a battle that mustn't be fought by one person alone."

"I second that!" Mr. G&W said. "I'm kind of excited to see how you guys work. If possible, can I come to the next mission?" After being told about the rules of the missions, the Flat Zone resident sighed and hoped for the best. He and the Ancient Minister left the room after that.

Chris felt Lucario's blank gaze at him. "You really do trust him, don't you?" Lucario asked. "After what he did to me, you like him?"

That question sounded very bad if Chris predicted the Aura Pokémon would be against their relationship. "..." He couldn't really say anything to back up his point without mentioning the part where Lucario nearly died. He looked away in a loss of words.

Of course, Lucario knew better than to make his trainer sad about his decision. "I...also trust you," Lucario said, making Chris look up at him. "I can't help but feel very worried when you're around him, Chris. I can't read his aura at all, for one. It's impossible for me to read minds from beings that have no life energy in them. It also puts me at a disadvantage in battle since I can't sense people like him, but that's the least of my worries. Just know that I won't let him harm you if he suddenly goes rouge..." He forced a smile. "But it's you, Chris. You have the best intentions for him. That's why I can hold myself from tearing him apart."

Shrugging at the last part, Chris smiled back. "Thank you... You do understand me," he said. "I know he's a good friend now, Lucario. Give him a chance to redeem himself from what he did in the past..."

"If that's your wish, I shall do so, but I will doubt from time to time to stay safe."

Then, suddenly, Mewtwo went to Lucario, arms crossed firmly over his chest. "I suggest you start doubting Magolor himself, then," he said, earning their attention and making Riolu take cover on Chris's chest when he saw the intense gaze Mewtwo was forever cursed to wear. "I cannot sense his presence at all, barring my way to read into his thoughts... Lucario, have you sensed his aura?"

"Huh? Uh..." Lucario quickly scanned the area in the mansion to locate the alien...but he only located Kirby and Meta Knight walking in the first floor's hallway. Using Kirby's vision, he did spot a happy Magolor floating next to him, but otherwise, there was no aura where his body was. His presence was truly missing from his senses, which made him gasp under his breath. Feeling irked that he once again had to deal with another being whose aura was tampered with somehow (and remembering to go visit his father at the valley), he focused his whole power into grasping Magolor's assumed aura energy...but unlike the time when he broke through Korrina's aura barrier, Lucario was unsuccessful in sensing the alien's aura... With no aura to sense, Lucario was also barred from dwelling into the happy alien's inner thoughts and vivid emotions. "Magolor...doesn't have an aura..." he told the others close to him.

"W-what? Again?" Chris said. "Why is it that people with strange auras are cropping up so suddenly?"

"I have no idea...and I want to know more from my father," Lucario said with a serious expression. "I'm on the top of my race's chain, and yet I can't tell anything from the findings I discovered. Am I getting out of shape?" He flexed his hands.

"You better not think your body is getting out of shape," Chris dully said. Lucario winced.

Mewtwo sighed. "If neither Lucario or I can read Magolor, we must be careful around him," he said. "What if he is hiding something more from us and that is why he can't afford to have his life essence known to others like me? Truly, he is a person with many mysteries..." He turned his back on the trio, his gaze fixed on them. "Do not get too friendly with him. But if you think it's right to ask, ask him why he has no aura or mind to sense when you have the chance... I will try my hardest to find out what he is up to." With that, the Psychic-type floated away to his room.

The news that Magolor was impossible to read using supernatural methods greatly concerned Chris. He thought the alien was a nice guy all in all despite his overly cheerful attitude. "...Magolor might be a bad guy?" Chris muttered. "Is that possible?" He heard Lucario grunting.

"Grr... I have to get to the bottom of this while we have the time to relax," Lucario said, his face looking away in thought. He looked at Chris. "Chris, come with me to the valley now. I must talk to my father in person to find out about everything I saw... Korrina's hiding aura...the fragmented bits of aura I saw in Korrina's two Lucario...and Magolor's lack of an aura..."

"...Okay." Chris nodded, clutching the baby Riolu. "I'll open the portal to your home."

And then the rest of the Pokémon team was spotted standing behind him. "Ooh, you're going to Lucario's home?" Ivysaur asked, holding Snivy's hand with a free vine. She looked bored out of her mind to have him tightly hold her hand. "I want in! I've never gone there before!"

"Is his home really filled to the top with Riolu and Lucario?" Red wondered. "(Could I maybe convince one of them to get captured by me to fill out my dex? I have to get one eventually...)"

"Yeah! It'll be like a picnic party!" Pichu said. "And it'll be nice to meet his family!"

Pikachu chuckled. "We're following you all the way to Sinnoh, whether you like it or not!" he said. "We are that stubborn under our adorable faces!"

Lucario looked bored. He was defeated on that even before the argument began. "You better behave in there. My father isn't very much welcoming of strangers... Stick with us before you decide to run off to do your things."

"Yes sir!" spoke many of them, further annoying the Aura Pokémon. Despite his Pokémon's chagrin, Chris chuckled. There were people he knew who liked to fool around now and then, giving him some fresh air from the battles in the future. His friends of this universe helped him to ease his mind from a lot of bad stuff. As he opened up a portal to the Pokémon world, he wondered what was in store for them all... New Smashers... New problems... New events... New people... New places... The universe he got into still had so much to show, just as the Smashers who stuck by him...

His thoughts stopped when Riolu barked at him for attention. He felt endangered facing a mystic rift in midair, but Chris assured him that it was fine by tightly hugging him. Once everyone started to enter the portal, the command room was emptied out of people, as a small wink of light took the portal and its dwellers to another world before their relaxation time would end.

The day went by, with a happy Magolor getting to know his new friends and allies by merely looking around his new home. "(Phew... I dodged a big bullet there,)" he thought to himself as Kirby led him to rest with him for the next days ahead. "(Who would've thought I'd get Kirby and his friends to help me after all? Hee hee! I'm so lucky...)"

MAGOLOR SAGA

BEGINS

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Will you be able to keep up with the story?" Stiltzkin asked. "Well, of course you will! See you in the next chapter: Goddess of Nature & Goddess of Trolls!"

Overwriting File...

Chris (Lvl. 120) - Lucario (Lvl. 1000) - Mario (Lvl. 94) - Luigi (Lvl. 92) - Peach (Lvl. 93)

Yoshi (Lvl. 90) - Wario (Lvl. 64) - Pikachu (Lvl. 113) - Jigglypuff (Lvl. 88)

Pichu (Lvl. 122) - Mewtwo (Lvl. 1000) - Red (Lvl. 80) - Squirtle (Lvl. 90) - Ivysaur (Lvl. 92)

Donkey Kong (Lvl. 97) - Diddy Kong (Lvl. 87) - Kirby (Lvl. 98)

King Dedede (Lvl. 64) - Meta Knight (Lvl. 126) - Link (Lvl. 97) - Zelda (Lvl. 97)

Toon Link (Lvl. 92) - Fox (Lvl. 125) - Falco (Lvl. 111) - Wolf (Lvl. 119)

Captain Falcon (Lvl. 87) - Marth (Lvl. 94) - Roy (Lvl. 88) - Ness (Lvl. 121)

Lucas (Lvl. 101) - Ice Climbers (Lvl. 101) - Mr. Game & Watch (Lvl. 113)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 115) – Wii Fit Trainer (Lvl. 100) - Snake (Lvl. 100) - Sonic (Lvl. 100)

Morgan (Lvl. 119) – Magolor (Lvl. 100)

...Hold on. There's a cliffhanger.

~ Subspace ~

Deep Inside the Great Maze

Before Tabuu was a big pink crystal chunk that housed some sort of person trapped inside, said by the legends to have been sealed away in an unknown part of the universe somewhere in a Smasher's world. After having stolen Rosalina's Comet Observatory to increase his power, Tabuu made a declaration to all his generals about the new changes he would do regarding his workforce. For one, Ganondorf had been promoted to his closest adviser, replacing the traitorous Ancient Minister. For another, he had declared that he needed to expand the forces of his army with more able people willing to cooperate for his cause, willing to convince them with their personal wishes. If they asked for power, he would grant them the benefit. If they asked for land in his envisioned planet, he would do so. All they needed to do was go ahead and ask him to lend him their strength.

That plan was put into motion as soon as he found out stories about a warrior of incredible strength and skill. His search party managed to uncover the location where the warrior was sealed away...and now said warrior stood before him inside hard pink crystal. Tabuu and the rest of the generals could barely see the silhouette of the warrior trapped inside, right before the Subspace entity snapped his fingers and made a dark bolt of lightning come crashing down upon the crystal. The bolt's strength was too great, making a big crack on the surface of the prison. Tabuu didn't need to send another attack, for the crystal started to shatter away by itself until the being inside started to come to his senses about his new surroundings...

Stretching his light ebony wings and pushing the obtrusive fragments of his prison back with his long pink lance, the being was ready to ask for a fight to the first person he saw floating in front of him. "Who may you be...and what do you want with me?" he asked in a deep tone of voice that sent chills to the generals behind him. "Have you freed me to challenge me to a battle?"

"No, that will not be necessary," Tabuu said. "I have set you freed in hopes to convince you to work under my elite force in my army. With a chance like this, I take it you will find great pleasure and achievement defeating the universe's strongest warriors in my name to form a perfect paradise where people will have their wishes granted?"

"...How do I know you are not jesting?"

"You can see for yourself once I send you out to your first mission to meet up with those warriors who want to stop me from fulfilling my dreams," Tabuu said. "After you fight them, you can tell me right here about your experience. If you agree to help me, you may stay to have more chances to fight them head on. If you disagree to help me...you can wander the worlds as much as you want, though I do not think you will get to see those warriors... What do you say to that?"

"Hmm... Fine. I shall see for myself how worthy these warriors are," the figure said.

"Excellent... Now, may you tell me your name?"

"You may call me..." the dark red eyes under his two-golden horned mask glowed ominously, "...Galacta Knight."

...There we go!

As you can see, I have revealed the saga's name, which revolves around your friendly alien Magolor and his quest to gather all of his ship parts and the 120 Power Sta-uh, 120 Energy Spheres across many worlds. With the grave warning that the lives of the people who found the spheres are in danger, they must act quickly before the Doomers get to them first...

However, what's the theme of this saga? The theme of this saga shall only be said in two words: dreams...and nightmares come to life... How? You'll see later, though I can say I drew inspiration from a Mario game to make this happen.

To summarize what happened in this chapter, the Smashers continue to relax (though that ends next chapter, putting them back to do missions), a home lot belonging to someone new has taken some space inside the newly-built fence, the Pokémon team meet a prankster Froakie and his teachers, a weird girl named Korrina gets her first one-sided crush with Chris (sadly), the (female) Wii Fit Trainer joins their ranks, Chris gets to know a little more about Rosalina who manages to bridge the gap between Lucario and Riolu, and lastly...Magolor drops several bombs on them with a big smile under his belt-covered face...

...And I suppose Tabuu is recruiting new able people into his army to take them down and obtain the new power sources scattered across the worlds to grow stronger...

That's just the tip of this big iceberg. What remains to be seen is how everything will develop from all those points and when those new deals start to appear... There's no need to joke around about the first arc of this saga. It's (painfully) obvious what that first arc is about just by reading its chapter title...

A few more surprises are in store for the next chapter before the mission starts again. Don't go forgetting the first cliffhanger you saw before the save file section came up... And by the by, since it was impossible to hint at it during the story, I'm going to say right now that there is going to be another guest star party member in the team. Now, you might say "surely it's Bandana Dee!" but he isn't (though he will appear). It's someone completely different than him... Will it be another Kirby character, or...?

I encourage everyone to review, or else Ms. Fit will make you fit...into a coffin.

Ms. Fit: It's completely possible to fit a person into a coffin, though. But why do I have to fit a person into one in the first... Oh... Oh my... N-no! I wouldn't do that ever!

Captain Falcon: And you got yourself a new cool battle taunt! Congrats!

Magolor: I'll bring the confetti! Kirby, help me here!

Kirby: OK!

Meta Knight: Stop agreeing to help him without questioning him first, Kirby...
*Chapter 220*: Goddess of Nature & Goddess of Trolls

Warning: This chapter lacks anything related to Christmas, unless you want to pretend Pit is a Christmas angel.

From BobTheCat2405010: Talking about characters, in my last review I thought that Lucario is Gary Sue to Chris. What I really meant is that I feel like that Chris really only cares about Lucario and Riolu and that he would prioritise those two by a wide margin than everyone else. Like sometimes when a charcter was in despair he would sort of let it happen and say and think about trivial things. I'm hoping I'm not bashing Chris that much cause I really like him as a character and that his that the stereotypical head strong hero. Also, IReallyDon'tLikeLucarioAsACharacterAndThatIWishedHeWasBeatenBySomeoneAndGetTakenDownAPegPleaseDon'tHateMe...
Also I hope you put Mr G&W in the spotlight as he really needs it.

From me: The reason why you think that is because Chris was still recovering from his traumas by being with the people he really likes the most. However, he is soon going to start growing out of it starting in this arc, where he'll start "distancing" himself from Lucario and start to get to know others. Just be a little patient, though.

As for Lucario getting beaten down... Well, he will soon, but I surmise some other unlucky members of the group will too. This Lucario is a screwed one who can't really balance his inner desire for battle over his trainer. And still, it probably wouldn't do much, though he stills wishes to become much stronger...

From Towerdepths: Hi again! Awesome chapter like usual! Like before, I have a few things that I felt like would be good feedback:
First off, the newcomers. Here are my predictions:
1. Something tells me that the prankster Froakie will eventually become Greninja. And then he will join the team.
3. How in the world do you plan on adding Pac-Man to this whole thing?
4. When Pit comes back I'm pretty sure he'll bring his counterpart too. It'll be... interesting, to say the least, on how Dark Pit will get along with the others.
6. Master Hand's new neighbor is almost certainly going to be the Villager. I'll be very surprised if it isn't.
9. I suppose Robin will replace Morgan eventually?
Next up is miscellaneous thoughts. These are just some thoughts I had while I was reading.
1. Korrina's Lucarios are a pair of big jerks, aren't they? Something tells me that the Mega Stone plays into this somehow...
3. WHY HELLO MAGOLOR I WILL BE LEAVING NOW BYE. He's gonna try and kill them all! Don't trust his cheerful demeanor, Chris! Don't do it!
4. Will you be using the Master Core in the fanfic? Like, as Master's and Crazy's absolute last-resort?
5. I'm not so sure about what Froakie intends to do to Chris after that incident. Considering that he's a ninja-in-training, something tells me that it has to do with either screwing with him or outright attempting an assassination.
Speaking of Chris...
I feel like you're putting just a little too much emphasis on him. I understand that he's a pretty important character in this story, but at the same time I feel like you're missing out on a lot of potential to expand on the other characters.
Just thought that it would be a good idea to say how I feel. I don't think that Chris is bad, necessarily. Quite on the contrary, in fact: He helped get the whole thing going and has been a good way to make the other characters a little more... real. But at the same time I'm starting to feel like he's starting to take a spotlight that should be shared.
Anyway, that's my take on this chapter. I had a great time reading it (stayed up way too late... XD) and I hope the next one is released soon!

From me: I shall only address the points that I saw interesting:

Did I leave that a little too obvious?

Oh, Pac-Man already has a very nice establishing moment to join the group.

Maybe?

Pfft, as if it was the Villager.

Not that Morgan was doing much, but...oh yes.

And now the next batch:

Hoooo boy. Korrina's pair of murderous dogs have a much bigger story than just some stone I don't know about, I'm afraid.

Why would you think Magolor wants to kill them all, anyway? He's such a quirky nice alien.

Possibly, but not in the way you think.

Froakie's interest on Chris is largely on the fact that he's a trainer, and they've been told how he looks down on them (and the battle he saw just picked his curiosity with Lucario to boot). I'd say that the frog's interest will eventually extend to Red himself, since he's more in line to normal trainers than the more down-to-earth Chris is.

No use answering the same thing about Chris. Thanks for reviewing. :)

From GenericPsuedonym: Another guest star party member? I think it could be a Zelda character. Maybe... Agitha? Hyrule Warriors has shown she can fight!

From me: Sorry, I'll have to say no. It's not Agitha. I don't see any guest party member potential in her.

From Crescent Blue: (Though I thought Galacta Knight had white angel wings? In his intro you said "light ebony wings".) Did he undergo some redesign?

From me: I get confused. Sometimes, it's white wings, but then other times those wings glow purple with light.

From FF and STH: Will work like Zelda-sheik and Samus-zero suit Samus. (will he even fight and be seen outside the mansion)

What will you do about red with Charizard going solo.

Some character got new Final Smash, will that be in or no. ( If yes what about character who old Final smash you hasn't been show yet.)

Before Chris die and the world end with you arc their was an poll for the next arc, is that one still happen.

From me: Zelda and Samus will only get to choose what they want to be before accepting missions. Dividing their secondary persons into different characters is pointless for the story as it would take too much from other characters.

will stay as a main character of the fic along with Red. I am not letting Chris be the only trainer left behind.

Yes, new Final Smashes will be in soon.

I'm afraid the poll formula has been terminated. I want to have all the freedom on chosen arcs since some characters barely had any input in the previous saga...like Donkey Kong.

From SSBFan: I do have a question: Do you have any plans to add a storyline that will involve the Elite Beat Agents game? That game is crazy good!

From me: The EBA already have their own sub-arc of sorts during the Smash Mansion chapters. They will reappear in the next one, but I speculate the Ouendan group is going to have more spotlight than they will.

From Aurawarrior13: I have two questions...will the events of Omega/Alpha Ruby/Sapphire ever happen? And/or will the events of Kirby Triple Deluxe ever happen?

From me: I have huge plans for OR/AS...but those are pretty far away. Kirby Triple Deluxe is kind of a mystery to me for now...

Once more, we open up the way to new worlds and more development for everyone involved in the story.

It's a given the next world will be focused on a certain angel...but I want to give a fair warning first: stop watching this arc if you haven't finished its ninth chapter. We're entering the territory the commercials and the trailers didn't want to show in order to surprise you. Also, someone drops two big words near the end. You've been warned!

One last thing I want to mention is that, due to how that one world is shaped, conversations happen when it's important. I'm not going to have the group beat on normal enemies that don't even have personalities. I want to have them talk with villains that do have personalities. You can expect a lot of skipping around the levels... What? This is a written piece of work, not an action movie. (Oh god, I wish this was a movie so bad.)

I've replied and written my intro paragraphs in this section, so now you may continue scrolling down the page. I encourage everyone to stop looking at your Christmas loot for a moment, read on with you eggnog-induced eyes, and review with your cold hands.

Disclaimer: OR/AS just had to make people beg for a Pokémon Historia book now.

...

Holy crap, we hit over 4 million words! I love you all!

Chapter 220: Goddess of Nature & Goddess of Trolls

~ Smash Mansion ~

Front Entrance

August 4 – Tuesday - Morning

The Smashers dreaded what was going to happen today. Their vacation of two days was going to expire soon at noon, allowing the army to strike the next unlucky world they had in mind to invade in order to take over, and Master Hand had a very bad hunch that told him they were going to resume operations the first chance they would get. It weighed a lot in their minds just being reminded indirectly about that possible scenario through their personal clocks as the last minutes were being milked one second a drop until nothing else would be left for them to have to be at peace... However, some found some solace in distracting their minds through a very unlikely sight outside the tall walls...

There was an eye-catching house built within the brick wall of the Smash Mansion where that occupied square used to be.

The few who noticed the house first – Yoshi, Olimar, Luigi, Chris, Dedede, Roy, and Falco – came out of the mansion and went to examine it. The house itself was quite roomy and big enough to house a few people under its red roof, though oddly it was only big enough to have a single room where cramped boxes were spotted through the windows. They all had been told by Master Hand that Tom Nook had gotten the better of his land rules that he was unable to shoo the construction site away. Thus, they all had a new neighbor, instead of someone else living inside with them. It was a new experience for them all to have another building close by; the only other close one owned by the strange Insect Princess Agitha.

The current event of the day after that was the group watching Falco put his hands to the sides of his face as he looked inside from the left window of the front side. "Falco, for god's sake, don't peek inside!" Roy scolded the avian.

Falco grumbled and turned to the group. "Relax, would you? There's no one in there yet," he said with a peeved look. "They're gonna be living with us, aren't they?"

"That's not enough of an excuse to peek inside their house," Chris said, staring at the red door in the front. The absence of Lucario and Riolu by his side meant they were taking a shower together, and Chris thought it would be safe to just stay within the mansion's wall once he spotted the odd house standing inside.

They were all amazed that the house was built so fast overnight...and none of the night owls even noticed construction workers coming in through the gates. It was creepy as it was shocking, though yet again the World Traveler simply used the same excuse he always used when something didn't make sense and there was no ultimate reasonable explanation: this was a video game given life and he would never dare get a headache over it. "What if they are grumpy?"

"But the house looks so sweet and simple. The owner must be someone normal," Yoshi said. "...I'm jealous. I wish I had my own house next to the mansion. Owning a room is not the same to me."

"You ain't dreamin' big enough here!" Dedede scolded with a scoff. "What you wanna really have is a big palace with statues of you all over the place!"

"You're crazy enough to think that far," Falco said dully.

"You're all crazy for not thinkin' that far!" Dedede retorted, trying to sound wise.

"Well, I'm excited myself for our new neighbor!" Olimar piped up. "Yoshi is right. It's really not the same to have a guest next to your room. It feels more...more right to have someone else living next door in a house... I could exchange gardening tips with them and go on normal strolls! Oh please, let them be normal people. I feel so bad hanging out with Captain Falcon and his brash attitude..." He gasped. "Please don't tell him I said that."

"We all pity each other when he gets too buddy-buddy," Roy said. "Anyway, this house's finished being built overnight. Do you think our new neighbor will show up today?"

"I heard from Master Hand they'll come today to start unpacking and living in their house," Yoshi said. "They're gonna come here right about now, actually..." They looked to the gates of the mansion to see if there was someone coming beyond the hill blocking the sight of the village...and there was a shadow coming from the other side of the hill, intended to reach the mansion through the only beaten path leading to it. That figure was coming quite fast, actually, because it seemed to be hovering above the ground when seen from far away. As the figure got closer, it turned out to have long flowing blond hair running behind its...her... "Oh, hey. I see someone coming closer! It looks like...a girl!"

"..." Chris turned white with horror and quickly took cover behind the house. They looked at him trying to cover his blushing cheeks. Those scandalous thoughts that were brewing in his mind came too soon, much to his chagrin. He wasn't prepared to see that person again immediately in the morning...and the possibility that the house belonged to her was just not a good sign. "W-whatever you guys do, please say I'm not here and I went to take a walk at the village! Please, don't say I'm here!"

A few exchanged odd glances until they gained a better visual on the girl coming from the south. It was Korrina, the same young teen with a knack for rolling skates that suffered great pain when she confronted Chris's Lucario to a battle she would never forget. "That girl again?" Falco said. "I thought she was never gonna come back here after what happened yesterday with her murderous creatures."

"She and I resolved things in the end, b-but I found out through Lucario that she...she..." Chris groaned, "...she has a crush on me," he breathed out in complete and utter embarrassment. He saw the sly grin on Falco's lips. "Don't you DARE make fun of me! To make this clear, I'm not here, and I DEFINITELY do NOT have feelings for her!"

"Oh boy," Olimar muttered, rubbing his helmeted chin. "One-sided crushes. They're the worst..."

Yoshi kept staring out into the distance as she came closer to the mansion. Eventually, she came to a stop in front of the gates and spotted the rather strange group of people in costumes staring back at her. Making a strange face and wondering if some of them were going to a Halloween party ahead of time, she forced a smile and decided not to ask about their backgrounds, focusing on the little guy with the bloated nose she saw yesterday. They utterly failed to notice the strange sphere she was sporting over her chest, hanging from a meager necklace she had made for herself. "H-hey, good morning!" she called out. Chris pressed himself against the wall to cover himself. "I saw you yesterday! Remember me?"

"O-oh, what? Oh, yes," Olimar said nodding. "I remember you...and what happened yesterday to that unlucky Lucario... Uhh..." He shrugged, and so did she. "What brings you here?"

Korrina blushed slightly when she was asked that question, but she pressed on. She needed to make it look not so obvious. She wondered why she had showed up so soon after what had happened yesterday. It was as if she wasn't in control of herself anymore when she had found her first friend in a long while...whom she also had developed very special feelings for. "Oh, w-why?" she fidgeted a bit. She cursed she was letting that bottled emotion leak out in her facial expression. "Um, is Chris in that mansion?"

"No. He went to take a walk at the village."

There were two sides inside of her that took the lie with different interpretations. Her shy side was relieved she didn't have to see him so soon after all, but her...rather love-struck side heavily lamented the lost chance. "Wait, he did? I-I see... Maybe I should go back there and see if I can find him... Okay!" She nodded and turned away. "Thanks for telling me! Bye!" With that simple visit, she rolled her way away from the mansion and beyond the distance behind the hill.

Once she was gone, Chris came out from his hiding spot and sighed. "Thank you for not ratting me out," he thanked Olimar. "Thank goodness she didn't stay here for too long."

"I thought your monster of mass destruction made it clear to her not to cross him in those violent battles and not approach this place full of crazy people?" Falco said.

"This is what I get for being overly nice when I deeply apologize to people," Chris said, looking defeated. "Sometimes I do think I'm too nice..."

"That can really be a fault," Yoshi said. "...Oh, hey! Someone else is coming from the same direction!" They all once again looked back to the hill and saw a rather shorter figure walking towards the mansion, and thankfully the same figure wasn't Korrina. It was someone else entirely different.

As the figure got closer and closer, they were able to spot their physical appearance. It was a short brown-haired, young-looking boy wearing a red T-shirt with a blue one number on the front, wearing black shorts, green stocks and blue sneakers... Those were about the only normal looks the boy had, because otherwise his other features were a little more cartoony-looking, like his small nose which was shaped like a red triangle, his finger-less hands, and the cheerful and bright look in his face. He was seen waving a stick with a leaf, happily strolling into view until he made it to the gates of the mansion and spotted the people staring back at him. "Good morning!" he called out before looking at the house inside the wall. "Hey, that's my house over there! Tom Nook told me it was inside the wall next to the big mansion. He handed me the keys so I'm gonna come in now!" Without a care in the world, he took out a pair of keys and used one of them to open the big gates. Pushing the entrance open for him to squeeze in, he chuckled cheerfully and closed the gate behind his back. With that done, he strolled to his new, interesting-looking neighbors before he could get inside his house.

Only Chris was able to tell that the peculiar boy was part of another world: the world of Animal Crossing. He of course couldn't say it so casually.

Olimar bowed. "Greetings!" he said. "It's nice to meet our new neighbor! We've never had a neighbor...or a house nearby until you came."

The boy liked to move, as evidenced by him swaying his short arms to the sides. "I'm happy to hear that! To be honest, I didn't know just where to build my new house away from this sweet village where I live among other people and friends," he said. "I asked my good friend Tom Nook for a good location. He said I could've lived in that bustling village back there, but it looked a little too noisy and crowded to me. He then said there was this big mansion with no other houses nearby between the forest area and that won me over. I wanted a quiet place close to nature and all that..." He looked up at the big building dwarfing his humble new house. "...You guys live in there, don't you? You really got it made!" I myself don't like to live in super big houses, though... But big houses are another thing. I like to own my own big thing."

"Cool," Falco said. "So what's your name?"

"My name? Oh, yeah," the boy said nodding. "I'm just your average little villager guy... My real name is kinda odd to say... Ah! It's not like I don't wanna tell you or anything! It's just too weird to pronounce."

"What? You can't pronounce your name?"

"Uh... I can say it just fine, but it sounds weird," the villager boy said. "...Why don't you call me a villager or something? It's better if you use the little nickname I've made to avoid using my real name."

"And that is..."

"Vill the Villager!" the boy said enthusiastically, staring at their blank looks. "...I know, it sounds very plain. I can't think of anything else other than that nickname. It sounds like Bill but with less focus on the syllable."

"How 'bout triangle nose?" Falco suggested. Yoshi slapped the back of the avian's head.

"Ignore him," Yoshi said. "Vill the Villager it is."

"Yay! Thank you for understanding," Vill said, until he took a closer look at Yoshi. "Saaaaaaaay... Your face is sort of familiar to me... It's like I've seen you somewhere before..." He rubbed his head as the others exchanged glances. "Hmmmmmmmm... Where did I see your face before? It's like it's at the tip of my tongue..." His eyes looked shocked for a second as he started back at the green dino. "Y-you wouldn't be Yoshi, would you?"

"Yeah... I'm Yoshi," Yoshi said. "No made up names."

"...Now, I've seen a lot of you around that village, but never a green Yoshi," he said. "The only remarkable Yoshi that comes to my mind is this Yoshi who's in this tourney where he fights other people in really awesome matches where each opponent tries to blast the other off from a stage..."

"Oh, you mean Smash Bros.?" Yoshi said.

"Yeah!" Vill said with a smile. "Smash Bros.! That's where I saw that Yoshi and the other guys he's fought! Ever since the owner of the tourneys started broadcasting those exhilarating matches over my region, I never missed a single one of 'em! Pow! Pum! Boom!" He waved his arms around. "I'm a firm believer of Final Destination without items and Fox only! Dang, he was good there..." Chris stared at the audience dumbfounded. Vill, meanwhile, started to realize that the avian in the group looked very much familiar as well. "...Hey, hold on a minute! You also look like Fox's subordinate Falco. But you look...a little more HD than he was."

Falco looked peeved. "I am Falco. The one and only Falco Lombardi," he said.

"Huh, really? The other one had this weird voice in him," Vill wondered, rubbing his chin and looking up at the sky while ignoring Falco's puzzled and angry look about weird voices. "I haven't watched any more matches since the Melee season. The Brawl season was supposed to start a few years ago but...they never started... Now Saturday mornings are unbearable to go through and I can't bring myself to watch something good during Fridays."

Yoshi sighed. "Vill, this guy over here is the same Falco," he said. "And I'm the same Yoshi you've seen on TV."

Vill blinked thrice as he stared at the two. "I have my doubts about this because... HOLY!" He noticed Luigi and Roy. "I-I must be hallucinating things now! Those two over there look like the real deals more than you two!"

Dedede smacked his belly. "What about me?! I'm practically recognizable!" he boasted.

Vill looked flatly at him. "...No clue who you are," he said, earning a glare from the penguin. Vill turned back to Luigi and Roy. "B-but those two are harder to forget! It's the Lean Mean Green Machine Luigi, and the fourth swordsman Roy!"

Luigi sniffed happily, albeit Roy was disappointed he didn't have a good fan-made title. "S-someone remembers who I am besides the dozens of Toads bothering to remember!" he said with much relief.

"Oh. My. GOSH," Vill said, covering his cheeks. "That's something the real Luigi would say! T-then this Roy must be..."

"Yup. Real," Roy said, forcing a smile.

"..." Vill then looked at the mansion behind them. "T-that mansion behind you must be...the SMASH MANSION WHERE EVERYONE ELSE LIVES?!" His body started to shake to the sides. It became obvious the villager was a die-hard fanatic of the group of people he was neighbors with. When he remembered he had made a house next to theirs without even knowing about it beforehand, Vill breathed in and out in pure excitement. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" he squealed, much to their surprise.

"Oh boy. A fan lives next door," Falco said. "Pichu better stay safe he won't get kidnapped again."

"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" Vill squealed in pure delight until he tossed his hands above his head. "I won the lottery here! I struck gold and diamonds just looking for a random place to live! I wouldn't have thought I'd get to make a house legally next to the Smash Mansion; the site where my dreams come true in the form of crazy matches!" He lunged forward and hugged Yoshi tightly. The green dino gasped for breath. "Thank you, god! I will never move away from here!" In Vill's crazy reactions, Chris saw his younger self behaving the same way before maturity hit him. It brought a small tear in his eye.

"P-please...let go...!" Yoshi gagged.

Vill stepped back and composed himself, or at least tried. He couldn't contain his excitement. "I-I dunno what to say! You're practically my heroes!" he said. "And I get to live next door to your place?! It's like my wildest dreams come true and I can't believe it's real!"

They thought he was going to continue squealing, but he quickly calmed down and bowed his head to them.

"Alas...preparing my house is top priority," he said calmly, surprising them. "Not even my heroes will become a distraction from decorating my new house. My lifestyle is my hobby before Smash Bros. stuff. I ignore my needs and I will never forgive myself once I see weeds cropping up all over the place. Forgive me, but I gotta get busy with my home first. A much needed autograph session shall follow right after..." Without waiting for them to say another word, the villager opened the red door and entered his house, closing the door behind his back... Once inside, he screamed "I LIVE NEXT TO THE SMASH MANSION! IN YOUR FACE, APOLLO!"

Olimar chuckled contently. "Our neighbor is a fan of us! It feels nice to have fans!" he said. "Besides your own kids..."

"Here's hoping Vill doesn't turn out to be a crazy fan. Crazy fans are the worst there are," Yoshi said.

"Was the Melee season unbearable with your fanatics?" Chris asked.

"There's a big reason why this mansion is so big," Roy said. "It's better that you spend a lot of the days in there before even thinking about going out to the city...uh, village where everyone knows who you are. Go into the village and you'll never stop signing autographs."

"If I had a dollar for every fan asking me for my autograph, I would quit being with Star Fox," Falco said. "Then I'd spend everything on gambling and go back to being piss broke."

Dedede was angry that he didn't have any fans yet. "Awright! I'm gonna go bust a head or two in that new tourney so everyone starts worshiping me like it's supposed to! Not lettin' this green hat guy over here take the glory from me!" he said. Luigi gulped, because he couldn't handle the pressure of facing off against someone who had more weight than he did.

"Oh... I'm just a newcomer too," Olimar lamented. "Oh well. I'll have to show them my..." he thought of Captain Falcon grinning, "...my performance in the matches. Hey, Chris is going to start getting his own fans too."

Chris blushed. "W-what? My own fans?" he muttered.

"You get in this tourney, you're bound to make a hundred fans at least," Roy said. "I don't pay too much attention on how many I have, but you do get some... That reminds me, you are planning to participate in the tourneys, aren't you?"

Falco chuckled. "He will. We're all under contract to participate in all tourneys you like it or not. He's one of us and he'll step into the ring," he pointed out. The World Traveler was worried about how well he would do in those fights against people he liked to hang out with. Everything would have been much easier if it was just video game matches, not real matches. "But if he doesn't wanna throw a punch, the audience isn't gonna like seeing him appear in every other battle." The teen felt a little worse.

"Falco!" Yoshi scolded with an angry look. "Careful what you say! Chris could end up having more fans than you do!" Though touching, the second part of that defensive retort could have been said better, or so Chris thought.

The avian gasped. "What? No way! I'm a well-known veteran in front of the cameras while he's just a newcomer nobody knows too much about!" he shot back.

The red door next to them opened up and Vill peeked his head out. "By the way, I couldn't help overhearing your loud complaints while I was setting up my LCD TV," he said. "If you want statistics, Yoshi has over 100,000 fans while Falco has only 5,000." Falco's beak hung open in shock, though the others reacted similarly. "It helps that the first iterations take the world by the storm. Mario's the guy who's got over a billion fans, though. Wonder how many fans you'll all get once the tourneys start up again!" He chuckled and closed the door calmly.

"...Well, I wasn't expecting that to be said," Yoshi muttered, looking at Falco's horrified look.

"Seriously?! You have more than twice my number?!" Falco said, his anger rising as shown by his curled fists to his sides.

"Saying that he's got more than twice your number is an utter understatement when you know his number has six digits over your four," Roy said, earning a glare.

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "Oh, grow up, you. I don't even care how many fans I have," he said

Vill once more stuck his head out from the slightly opened door. "Not caring about how many fans you have makes you even cooler!" he added until he went back inside and closed the door again.

"Wow. Fans have some good ears on their heads," Olimar remarked.

"Indeed!" came a voice from behind Vill's house. The six turned towards the general direction and spotted a happy Magolor coming into view. "Fans are the best. I'd consider myself a Kirby fan if we were to be really specific. That being said, you guys must be stars for having that many fans!"

"Were you spying on us?" Dedede asked, narrowing his eyes. He had some right to be suspicious about the friendly alien.

"Whoops. Sorry. I was taking a morning stroll around this sweet mansion when I fell asleep behind this sweet house," the alien said. "Your talk woke me up and I kinda wanted to hear what you had to say. I'm the very curious type to a fault." He giggled and joined his gloved hands. "First, good morning and all that. Second, you guys fight each other in violent matches for the sake of accomplishing who's the best of the whole lot?"

"Uh... Yeah, something like that," Roy said.

"Awesome," Magolor said while nodding. "I wouldn't have thought you were all fighters. I really thought you were some crazy people who were into crazy costumes. I say crazy because many of you lack this cute little charm the likes of Kirby have...but, eh, I think Mister Dedede has that charm as well."

After hearing the alien found him charming, it was better than nothing, since the alien came from an alternate dimension and knew who the king was. "There we go! Someone recognizes my charm. Feels good to be alive today," Dedede boasted proudly.

"Your lardy charm-ness is truly a sight for the eyes, indeed!" Magolor remarked, causing some of them to cover their chuckling mouths from the pissed king. "But none of that compares to Kirby. Ah, but enough talking about complementing my new friends here. I heard from Mr. Master Hand that today is when your vacations will end, right? You'll start helping me out in finding my ship parts and the 120 Energy Spheres scattered all over the universe, right?"

"That's sadly what's gonna haunt me forever whenever I look at the job resume I'll never write," Falco muttered loud enough for them to hear.

"It would've been nice to hear a simple yes but I take what I can get, so yay!" Magolor said cheerfully before calming down. "Okay, really. This means so much to me. I can't just express how grateful I am for all of you pitching in to help little poor me. I feel really helpless doing all the job for something as huge as this... I shall put my weight on it to help you as well. Using my intellect and powers to detect every single piece there is to find, I will not become spatial dead weight for you all."

"I think that's more reassuring to hear," Chris said with a small smile.

"See? We haven't started and I'm already sounding helpful," he said. "Normally, I'd stick and give orders from a safe place, but in the fix I'm in, I have to do this face-to-face for better results... So then, why don't we go ready ourselves for the ordeals ahead of us? Breakfast time is upon us." The alien giggled to himself. Agreeing with his good thoughts, the group of people left Vill's house behind and entered the mansion, with Magolor lagging behind and looking around the area. "(Now this is very strange... I could've sworn I sensed an Energy Sphere nearby while I was waking up from my sleep. It's what woke me up... Was I sensing things or what? Eh, I'll see it again once I get back into my funk)," he thought to himself as he entered the building.

The door to Vill's house opened up with its owner peeking to the manor with a curious look in his eyes. He had eavesdropped in their conversations easily without even meaning to because they were awfully loud people who stood too close to his humble abode. "What were those guys talking about just now? I could hardly think that was about the next Smash tourney..." He shrugged and went back inside his house, happily celebrating in his head how close he was to his heroes.

The Smashers and by extension Vill all failed to notice an extra soul wandering about the front gates of the mansion. It was a young man with white hair, wearing clothes that looked near identical to a certain amnesiac tactician-in-training they knew. The young man looked around and then at the large mansion he found in the open, amazed at how big its walls were. "Whoa! A king must be living in there! Maybe it's their home for vacations?" he wondered to himself with a small laugh. "I bet my cousin would be so thrilled to live in a big house like that... But still, I wish I could ask her that to the face." He sighed as his eyebrows lowered on his eyes. "It's been days since I set out to find her with the other Shepherds. Where could she be? It's all the harder when you suddenly were told you have a family that you didn't know about before like...like how you didn't know your father's face over your mother's face... Oh well!" He piped up quickly and started to walk to the west side into the woods. "Mother wants to find her brother's kid soon. I'm not gonna let my cousin stay lost forever, or my name isn't Morgan!" he mused to himself as he went back to look around the trees in the woods close to the mansion.

Command Room

It was nearly twelve o clock. Once the hands of the clock hit that mark, the protection on the worlds Master Hand put would vanish and allow the army to strike at the next unlucky world in their list. After having prepared themselves for the worst, the Smashers felt anxious. They were back to saving worlds like they used to do, but this time they had recovered most of the lost ones and gained a new ally in the form of a particular fitness trainer with spooky white skin. She was the last thing they would worry about (aside from all the females sitting all around her). They were more worried about the appointed time as they all sat on their spots.

"In about three minutes, we're all going back to work as always," Master Hand announced. "I hope everyone is ready for the worst."

"It's practically become second nature to feel prepared each day I wake up in this place," Link said. "I wish I could be prepared for a random explosion engulfing my room and not about a real life and death situation."

Ms. Fit winced a bit. "Random explosions...?"

"An unfortunate secondary effect caused from having so many unrelated people used to dangerous situations," Zelda told her. "Truthfully, that only ever happens when people start to disagree for an hour or so until it comes to blows."

Those kinds of events were truly mentally scarring to some. The likes of Lucas would watch as a simple discussion about bananas and strawberries would escalate to food-tossing and flying punches, prompting them to shyly turn the other way and leave the scene as quickly as they could. It didn't help that some even picked sides and just fought each other for the hell of it just to clear their minds. "Can we not talk about those times? I dislike knowing the people here are so prone to violence..." Chris muttered. "(It betrays whatever I thought about them as well-behaved people too.)"

Sitting next to Kirby and a wary Meta Knight, Magolor raised his hand. "I propose you channel all pent up frustration you have on each other on your enemies instead. It should be a good stress reliever," he proposed.

"You don't even know you're doing it wrong when it's not the target you want to strike down," Wolf said.

The alien tossed his hands. "Well, I tried. That's what counts," he chuckled as he looked at Master Hand. "Isn't it nearly about the time the clock will hit twelve? Are you sure your enemy party will strike once the barriers go down?"

"Right now, Tabuu is like the annoying giggling child from next door who can't wait for recess to start and show off his new toy, like me for another good example. Weird comparison, but true," Crazy Hand said.

"Uh, yeah, something like he just said," Master Hand said. "The army will not hesitate to act. I want to respond to anything they toss at the next unlucky world as soon as possible to hinder their progress."

"Oh! That's nice basic thinking. It's nice to see this is going to start quickly," Magolor said. "Speaking of which, ten seconds till twelve o clock! Everyone, get your bodies ready!" His last message of encouragement having such a wide open space for interpretation, many of the Smashers in there started to count down in their heads as they looked at the big clock hoisted on the wall above the stage. The larger hand of the clock would soon join the short and slow one that was barely lagging behind. With a slight touch of its larger cousin on the number twelve, it would mark the end of the tense wait...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

The larger hand got stuck, causing many to exchange blank looks. "Ain't that such an anti-climatic moment to happen now," Sonic said in a bored tone.

Master Hand was a bit angry at the clock suddenly getting stuck. Nevertheless, just as his fears predicted, an alarm blared out. "Told you so," the boss told them all as he saw most hang their heads down before looking up with serious looks. Above the stage, the holographic image came to life and showed the world that was being put under jeopardy...though it only showed some kind of ancient era where technology wasn't a thing. It was some sort of medieval century-like era that had nothing of importance to show. Despite some of them trying to figure out what place that was, they came to dead ends. "Unfortunately, we've taken a hit in trying to discern the affected worlds. However, I can tell for sure that the world being targeted this time around is...Pit's world."

Some of them gasped at the mention of the angel's world. "Are you kidding? He left two days ago and his world is already being targeted?" Yoshi asked.

"You say it like we've never been against Lady Luck before," Master Hand said unimpressed. "But yeah, his world is in peril starting right now. You'll be happy to know anyone is allowed to go, as long as you do not go above bringing more than eight people for the main party."

"Oh, bullocks," Magolor muttered. "Am I gonna take a slot of those eight? I do have to go to that unknown world to work my magic..."

"Magolor, you'll be an exception to that rule," the hand said. "I can't afford to lose manpower with you tagging along with everyone else. As such, I'll use my power to squeeze you into the group... Just be sure you won't get in their way while they do battle against anything or anyone who shows up in there, okay?"

"That's much better, then!" the alien said with a happy look. "OK! I won't let the team down!"

"I hope so... Anything can happen to us now that Tabuu is stronger," the hand said before looking at the rest of the team. "Because I do not want people to argue about who wants to go to this world...I'll leave that burden to Chris as always."

At that, the teen looked shocked. "Why do you keep giving me that role every time something like this happens?" he asked.

Master Hand giggled. "Because making you choose people is an excellent way for me to avoid complaints of not getting chosen by my hand," he said, to which half of them started tossing projectiles his way. After a few small explosions on his body, Master Hand remained floating there completely unfazed. "Oww. You're all so mean. Anyway, get moving with the choices! Our dear Palutena will be glad we're gonna be helping her and Pit."

The chatter died down immediately when he reminded them all of the goddess and the angel.

"Oh, what now? Why are you all suddenly looking like you're not looking forward to this mission even more than before?"

"With all due respect..." Peach trailed off as she tried to explain their mood in a good way, "...oh, I don't know how to say this!"

"How is it hard to say that goddess and her little angel slave are massive weirdos?" Snake said with a small scoff. "That's what putting off nearly everyone inside this room. They are utterly carefree and prone to making fun of us all, especially the assumed fair lady of light. The angel boy just recently started to act far weirder for whatever crazy reason the universe decided to do on him."

"Oh... That," muttered Master Hand. Since Palutena's last visit, nearly everyone in the group was thoroughly put off by her less-than-goddess-like behavior and her actual gossiping freak behavior. They weren't certainly going to look forward to seeing her and the new Pit again...and much less so once Master Hand would drop the news to them about the goddess and the team. "There's really nothing we can do to change what's already been altered by the laws of the universe. We must put up with it and continue on. No need to discuss this even further, okay? But maybe if we give them both a chance, they could be good people to hang out with."

"I formally disagree," Zelda said.

"It's gonna be hard," Diddy said.

"You're crazy, man," Pikachu said.

"Good luck hates us all," Roy said.

"It truly will be hell," Mewtwo said.

"Not looking forward to this..." Chris said.

"Can I say I have too many friends as is?" Luigi wondered.

"You're all no fun," said C. Falcon with a grin. The grin went away once everyone shot him with looks.

"...Boo hoo," Master Hand said. "Okay, enough about your one-line opinions. Chris, I want to see a party of eight plus Magolor ready to be deployed ASAP. Ms. Fit, as an honorary member, you get to come with the party team. Please see this as your initiation."

Albeit confused as to how react about two people she never met before, the fitness trainer nodded. "I shall do my best out there," she said, making everyone think if she was going to be fine.

Once everyone started to talk among each other, Chris was ready to stand up until one firm hand on each shoulder of his stopped him from rising up. He heard two simultaneous "I'm coming with you" from both Fox and Lucario, before both stared at each other for a small while.

"Awkward..." Chris muttered until the two backed off their hands and looked at him. Somehow, the fact that Fox had developed quite a close relationship with him over the past days went over his head until right now, when his head realized he had two people looking out after him the most out of Smashers. He couldn't bring himself to deny either one of them since both knew full well how stressful and traumatizing his last experiences had been...and he needed ample protection. He feared his traumas would show up all over again in the next big fight and leave him completely defenseless. "Okay... I'll bring both of you to this mission." Lucario smiled and Fox grinned, though then both stared at each other once more. Feeling a little freaked out standing between both tense Smashers, Chris nervously chuckled and stood up. "I-I'm going to go get the others... Wait till we're all ready to go... Excuse me." He left the table at a rather quick pace, wondering what was going on in their heads.

The World Traveler walked all the way to Ms. Fit's girl-ridden table. The other girls knew what his intentions were and thus they were quick to give him stern looks that made him stop in his tracks, though thankfully Peach's look was a blank one.

"Why are you giving me those looks for?" Chris asked, trying to look tough.

"You're just about to ask our new asset in our group to put her life in danger for every world out there," Nana said. "We're all concerned she might not make it out in one or two pieces."

"That's...still no reason to indirectly pit the blame on me for that using your faces. Besides, I thought she agreed to do this?"

Ms. Fit nodded. "I have agreed to do it, yes. But my new friends," she was a master at keeping a blank look when she said the stinging F word when referring to the girls who kept dragging her around the mansion's every corner all day yesterday, "are very concerned about me as you can plainly see."

Chris couldn't blame them for worrying about her. For once, ever since the Melee season, the girls could celebrate in having a new girl Smasher in their ranks. The teen thought if things would have been very different if any of the new male Pokémon could have changed that by being part of the severely underrated feminine gender of the mansion. Samus not being around further made them feel like the smallest minority. "You're the solution to the lack of female gender of this place...one of many I hope to see around here."

"Oh, Chris! You understand how needed we feel about that topic!" Peach said sweetly.

"(I understand it a lot more now that I've seen you react so happily like that... OH MY GOD, NEVER CHANGE, PEACH,)" Chris thought. "I do take every single thing into account, no matter how small it might be."

Zelda glared, and so did Nana and Jigglypuff...and Morgan. "Was that an offensive comment to our problem being small and forgettable?" she asked.

"N-no, no. I didn't mean it that way," the teen said hastily. "(Holy hell, they're very sensitive about it! I need to be careful with my choice of words...) I fully support the cause and...I'll keep our new recruit safe if I can do it."

Ms. Fit was very appreciative with his conditional help. "Thank you. I can't hardly wait to see how you fight," she said.

She brought a good point about the fighting style. "Say, how are you even going to fight enemies?" Chris asked. "Has anybody seen you fight yet?"

"No...but Master Hand was kind to give me a move set to do battle against our enemies," Ms. Fit said. "I can use my poses as lethal moves, like deep breathing and saluting the sun." Everyone else in there exchanged blank looks, feeling confused as to how those moves would actually help her in battle. "...I can't explain what those do right here. Master Hand instructed me not to show them off until a real battle happens."

"Why must he try to drive us nuts with this unnecessary suspense?" Zelda questioned.

"Because that's how suspense works, princess! Live with it!" Master Hand called out from his position, earning a stern look from the princess.

The teen looked back at the fitness trainer. "Well, I'm kind of excited to see the way you'll be fighting with us, so best of luck to you... You'll need it just as much as I'll need it, I think," he told her before walking away from the table.

"Now, we must establish the relationships you must watch out for," Peach said with a smile, somehow ignoring the sigh from the new deal. "While many people here think too lowly of Captain Falcon, what you mustn't do around him is..."

Away from the girl talk and the WFT's indirect pleas for help, Chris was starting to walk down the few steps to the first level just as the Ancient Minister approached him next. "I must prove myself to the group here if they want to start trusting me all over again," he told the concerned human. "So, please, let me come with you for this mission."

Chris thought back on the Subspace Army's severed connection with their former general. "Is it going to be okay for you to fight the army while you're on our side?" he asked him.

"Surely you're not thinking I will defect from this group again or stop myself from hurting my former idiotic comrades," the minister said. "Neither of those scenarios will happen here. I have had enough about Tabuu and his chaotic plan to conquer the worlds. If I could do it alone, I would blast him apart into smithereens until he was gone forever from my sight." He sounded very blunt. Otherwise, it would be hard to tell what his emotion was like even without the shady cloak over his head.

"You're very sure about doing this, then."

"Yes. I'm completely sure," the minister said.

"Alright... You're coming with us."

"Thank you... By the way, this is not related to the mission at hand, but what happened to that baby Pokémon you're usually seen with all the time?"

"Riolu? I left him with Rosalina and the Lumas to take care of him while we're out doing missions."

"That explains the bloodshot eyes you have..."

Chris sniffed, rubbing his red-veined eyes. "It took me an hour to convince him to remain behind, but then I learned through Lucario that he strongly objected to being left alone again and how it turned out last time. I started whimpering and crying with him for that good hour until I got through him... I can't stop thinking about how he's feeling right now... He's probably not even having a good time trying to forget about being left alone without me and Lucario by his side... What kind of person am I for making a baby like him take this hard decision?"

Truth be told, the baby Riolu was seen barking happily and chasing the ball he had gotten yesterday with the entourage of Lumas following close by. Rosalina was having a great time watching all of the young ones playing without a care in the world, putting her at ease. It was as if the tear-cringing moment they had earlier never happened at all.

Back in the command room, Chris sniffed. "O-oh god, it's coming up again!" He covered his face on his hands and let out another sniff.

The Ancient Minister was a little put off by the teen's reaction in leaving the toddler behind once more. Though, thinking again, it was that quirky attitude of his that made Chris charismatic to many. Although very emotional, he had the best intentions and truly cared for the people he now lived with... Back in the present, the minister did not know how to ease the adoptive parent's mind. "Uh, he will be alright with Rosalina. She has...uh...a big heart like yours," he tried to encourage the crying human.

Chris uncovered his face and wiped his tears. "T-thank you... It's so nice to see you try to cheer me up..." he muttered.

"Oh... Good. This should be a nice step in my path of redemption." Hearing Chris still sniffing to himself somewhat forced the minister to go behind him and pat his back lightly with one of his cloaked mechanical claws. After a while, Chris calmed down. "Emotions sure can run wild in you... That's a nice trait."

"Thanks again... So, see you later for the next round of this long war," the teen told the minister.

After wiping the last tears away from his face, Chris overheard Popo grunting loudly. He thought his grunting was just a random occurrence he happened to hear at the right time, until he tried walking away and hear his grunting louder, more so when Popo looked his way. Sighing at the weird calling, the teen approached him. "I know you're doing this on purpose to get my attention. What's wrong?" Chris asked.

Popo grunted again, much to Chris's chagrin. "It's Nana, that's who's wrong," he said. "Ever since the new girl joined us, she hasn't been with me since yesterday."

"And that's a bad thing? She's celebrating having a new girl with us."

"Yeah, but I feel left out anyway," he said. "They even had an all-girl sleepover, leaving me alone to rot in our room!"

"...Popo, you're really blowing this out of proportion," Chris admitted.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. The point is it doesn't feel like I'm myself without her by my side." Chris thought that was touching to hear. "We're nearly 90% of the time together each day, not counting the times we have to go to the bathroom or we're down with a contagious illness. She just broke that number and brought it down to 40% in a day. I can't adapt to abrupt changes that fast! And today, we started at 0%! ZERO FREAKING PERCENT! I won't survive without her!" Chris thought that was a little too much to hear. "But I figured if I had you take me with you, she'll be forced to come along too. Because technically we're two characters in one and it would be stupid to just bring just me alone...or pray tell none of us at all. You agree with me, right?"

"I... Yes, it would be a great shame," Chris said.

"Good, good. You're gonna take me and thus her too, right?"

"If I don't, I'll never hear the end of it from you."

"Good, you understand how to avoid irking people," Popo said with a smile. "You're awesome! Ah, but first, you need to help me do something about Ms. Fit. She's coming with us too and I can't have her hogging Nana away from me. It'll be disastrous if we were at least ten feet away from each other."

"Why don't you just follow her?" Chris suggested. "She'll be away from her girl circle. You can take advantage of that."

"Oh, true. I can stick myself to her back basically, without the super glue," Popo admitted. "OK! That should do. Thanks." Chris nodded. "Now, off you go. I must brace myself to tolerate all the girl talk I'll hear for the hours ahead." Leaving the troubled twin behind, Chris walked away and thought a bit about how unique it was to have a sibling...

As he left Popo, Meta Knight and Magolor approached him next. "You should know why I'm talking to you right now," the knight said.

"Spoiler alert! He wants to be my escort for this first mission!" Magolor said. "Honestly speaking, I'm ashamed Kirby isn't going to come with us for this after Meta Knight so heavily insisted to be my guard instead. Then I remembered, Kirby's a celebrity. I have to start somewhere among his circle of friends to get the benefit of having him by my side." Unlike the super oblivious Kirby, Meta Knight's whole reason to go was to see what the alien was going to do with them. He wasn't going to afford letting a stranger from space do what he wanted to do now that he had seen so much about his overly cheerful demeanor, which he thought was a facade hiding something big. "But, eh, what can you do? This is how things will be, won't they?"

"Well, Kirby is kind of oblivious when it's not about fighting someone," Chris said. "Meta Knight does fit into the guard role more than he does. You'll be extremely safe just being with him over Kirby."

"Are you dissing Kirby for not being as useful as Meta Knight?" Magolor asked with a shocked expression, his hands shaking a bit. "W-whoa. Tough love there..."

"N-no! I didn't mean that!" the teen argued. "I'm just saying you'll have better chances at staying safe with Meta Knight! B-but I don't doubt Kirby can pull it off."

"Oh, I see, I see... That's good to hear," the alien said. "Anyhow, you're the guy who chooses who gets to go? I saw how you complained about it to the hand. Must be a big task doing that."

"I somehow got used to it. It helps a lot that I'm a little too average for anyone to strike a conversation with me."

"That red fellow with the stylish stache and the hat looks very enticing and right in the middle of average," Magolor said, overlooking Mario sitting with Luigi and Yoshi. "Why doesn't he do it for you?"

"Because Mario is way too nice and average for our own good...or something Master Hand said to me."

"Okay! Enough about those others. I'll happily accept the invitation to come along, and so does Meta Knight under that glaring mask of his."

Meta Knight sighed very silently and looked up at Chris. "Prepare yourself for more quirky moments. I am ready to face this new side of Pit and his easygoing goddess," he said. "I dread our dignity will not survive after we are done with them."

While it was hard for some of the Smashers to grasp Pit's new personality, Chris knew full well Pit and Palutena liked to break the fourth wall to smithereens. However, it was outright impossible in his view for them to do that since he was living reality. They weren't being watched by other people safe from the calamities the Smashers faced each day so their actions looked strange and unneeded, and it wasn't a show for those same people to enjoy watching each day. "I dread the same thing... I'll see you in a bit." He walked off and left the two behind.

Magolor chuckled. "I see myself having a good time with that guy!" he told Meta Knight. "He may have rougher looks than you, Kirby, and Dedede, but I can see his heart through his brown eyes."

"Magolor... I can't begin to fathom how cheerful you are about all this," the knight told the alien.

The Halcandran turned to him. "I'm being cheerful because I'm getting professional help from the best of the best, or so I think," the alien said blankly. "Would you rather see me mop every single second, voicing out how miserable I am to the others? I know my psychology lessons! I must smile and continue forward with my life. The adversities I went through taught me to not lose hope. You understand this, right?"

Meta Knight wasn't entirely convinced by that. "I suppose you could say I do," the knight said.

"Good! Supposing is good. You can't be friends with me if you can't doubt me." Magolor had a point in saying that, but it would take a very long time for the knight to fully trust the alien completely. He needed more insight into the dubious character to arrive at a good conclusion.

For the eight member of the party, Mr. G&W went to Chris himself. "I said before I was going to go to the next mission to make up for my absence, didn't I?" he told Chris. "Pick me for this one, please. I saw ROB is also going. I can be his guard."

"You're concerned about him as much as I do," Chris said.

The flat character nodded twice. "I do. He was the only one in the army who talked to me while I was suspended in stasis. I couldn't talk back but I heard his every word. But, back then, he sounded awfully dark and sinister." He looked down. "That was before he grew a heart in his steel body. When he didn't have that heart, his talks with me were short and uneventful."

The teen could only shudder how bad the experience was for the Flat Zone resident. Being captive for months could certainly make anyone claustrophobic and scared. "How were his talks with you?"

"Mostly about how he promised to set me free with some side comments about how much he hated Tabuu and the rest of the bad guys. He would also use the F word under his breath..." he said.

Chris's eyes widened. "He...really said the F word?"

"Oh yes. He said he hated Tabuu's freaking guts."

Chris nearly smacked his forehead and decided not to press the fact further. "T-that's understandable to hear from him," he said. "Back on topic, I'll be happy to take you along for this mission."

"Thanks," Mr. G&W said. "But... I want to ask something personal. Maybe someone already asked you this, but, are you...really okay in fighting enemies?" Chris lightly gasped and looked away. "The last time I saw you fight, you weren't completely yourself. It was like watching Lucas suddenly roar to the sky and start smacking people silly to death using that thick stick of his... W-weird comparison, I know."

Fleeting memories of that horrible fight days ago played out in Chris's head. Although he did good in the end, he was a mess for most of that fight where he couldn't function unless someone was kind enough to watch after his back. The next mission would involve fighting and he luckily had his dedicated guardian in the team, but he couldn't help thinking the worst case scenario: him being pitted alone against a dangerous foe. If that ever happened...he wasn't sure he was going to make it alive. He then noticed his body was shaking, which he failed to stop doing for Mr. G&W to notice too late.

"I can't begin to imagine all the ordeals you've gone through to get this far..." Mr. G&W said. "If... If it's any consolation...I think you're pretty good."

"W-what?" Chris's somewhat shaky voice said.

"Just thinking about it, you've done very good to get this far without becoming a hassle to the others. I haven't heard complaints from any of them since I got to see you, except for Dedede's snarky comments about stuff that isn't true," he said. "...I heard him call you a shaking body...right when Lucario was nearby. You figure out why he's sporting that big lump on the side of his face." Chris looked over at Dedede pressing a bag with ice on a swollen lump on the right side of his face. The penguin was avoiding Lucario's sight by never looking to the exit since the Aura Pokémon was nearby the only escape route. "I may not be the right person to seek consolation, but...don't undermine yourself so much. You can pull through this."

"...You're just as concerned for me as ROB, aren't you?" Chris said. "Why?"

"Because you have a heart for that guy who thought he had lost everything," Mr. G&W pointed out. "Quite a few here keep giving him some uneasy looks, but you keep lending him a hand so he never breaks down from peer pressure. You're one of those people others just don't want to see suffer because...well...forgive me if I sound cheesy, but it's because I think you're a golden friend to have." The teen felt touched by the comment, as he put his hand over his chest in surprise. "So yeah... I'll be right there for you when you're in danger."

"W-wow. Thank you... I think I'll be alright in the next fights if I have the others with me with you included. But as for solo fights... I need more experience to do those in case they ever happen."

Mr. G&W raised a flag. "I will rally you on!" he cheered. Chris chuckled at the usage of the black flag and thanked the Smasher for the small talk. With the eight members ready, he made it a habit to go visit Crazy Hand.

"I smell money. I smell lots of it in you," Crazy Hand said as he made sniffing sounds, reminding Chris that the mansion had some insane people to watch out for. "I have stuff. I have items to make you give me money."

"How come I missed hearing you say those weird things?"

"I'm the most lovable character of this mansion. The other guys are just side extras who need physical eyes to see how much people like 'em. BUT I DO NOT!" the insane hand proclaimed. "Now that you're here, let me tell you that my brother giving you all those jobs for free was a real waste. Now I lack the skill to give you the incentive to buy stuff from me."

Chris looked bored at him. "You mean you lack the inventory," he corrected.

"I like thinking my items are my skills. Don't judge me...too much." The hand gave Chris the usual list. "Onto more important topics to talk about! First, there's kind of some very bad news about the stickers and the trophy stands..."

"Wait, what? What are you saying?"

"I'm getting to that!" Crazy Hand said. "Turns out my bro thought sticker usage became a little...old...dated...inefficient...some other random synonym..."

"..." Chris thought hard on what the hand was trying to say. "...Did he get rid of the sticker system?"

"Aw, yeah."

"..." Those news felt like something that shouldn't have happened in the first place if it was caused by someone among them, especially their head boss. He turned sharply around at Master Hand. "MASTER HAND!" he yelled out, startling the hand and making him go to his side. "What is that about you getting rid of the sticker system and the trophy stands?"

"Those old sticky things? Oh yeah, I got rid of it all this morning," the hand said without a slight hint of shame. Chris's loud call alerted everyone in there about what was going on. "News flash, guys! The trophy stands and stickers are no more!" Several gasps were had as everyone started to look for their trophy stands in their persons. To their great dismay, the stands were gone for good, and so were any leftover stickers that haven't been used by someone.

"I feel naked without that!" complained Diddy. "And you did this to us and not Tabuu? Why would you do this?!"

As several more complaints came out all at once, Master Hand raised his voice. "It's a simple matter of the system starting to age in my eyes that it was necessary to put it down," he said. Now he was getting some glares. "After hearing too many complaints about a bunch of mature people looking silly putting stickers under trophy stands, I decided to close the sticker system down."

"But the only person who's ever complained that much is Snake," pointed out Roy.

Everyone looked at Snake smoking a cigarette on the top-right corner of the room. He scoffed at them all. "...You seriously are kidding me if you're blaming me for making the glove get rid of that childish system," he muttered.

They looked back at Master Hand. "But lots of us had some good sticker sets already!" Pichu whined. "Some of those were even free!"

"It also makes my infuriating quest to learn magic pointless if I can't snap my fingers to set stuff on fire!" complained Fox.

"Fox, as one of the savant magic users of this group...I can tell you that you do not need to snap your fingers to use magic. (Not to mention saying that out loud can get you sued...)" Chris told the vulpine, looking at him facepalming with a frown. The teen felt a little weak without the system in play. "Master Hand, did you weaken us again to make us work a lot more?"

"Yes, and no," the hand said, further confusing the group. "What I mean to say is, I replaced the tedious sticker system for something more appropriate for all of us."

Marth smiled a bit at the implication. "You mean to tell us you're going to start giving us normal equipment as in chain mails for armor and rapiers for weapons?" he wondered aloud, causing a few murmurs between groups of Smashers.

"I'll never make you go for a big cliché like that. I like making things showy and sparkly," the hand said, killing the chatter. "Ultimately, the sticker system has been utterly replaced for a much better system called...Equipment!" He opened his hand at them and expected a few cheers. To his chagrin, none of them even tried changing their blank looks directed at him. "...Get hype?" he added meekly.

"...Wait, wait, wait. You mean you're gonna give us powers like laser eyes? It was a crazy dream of mine when I was kid, but if it's possible..." trailed off Falco with a grin, making many get excited to have very unusual powers like size shifting or skin color change at will.

"What? No! I don't mean something THAT cliché either!" the hand complained, once more killing the excited chatter. "Let me continue for once, you people! The Equipment I'm talking about is just normal, near-intangible equipment that's going to be part of the special customization system I'm setting up starting today." He heard many repeat the bold word. "Look, for now, let me talk about Equipment. These items come in many different forms, and these are special in that, unlike how stickers used to increased very specific aspects for each one of you, these are more rounded in general and prefer to build three types everyone is subjected to: Strength, Defense, and Speed."

"...Still in the dark here, but go on," Toon Link said.

"Simply put, you all start with three slots to use these pieces of equipment," the hand explained. "For those who want higher strength, you can equip pieces that raise only Strength. But doing so means you'll be giving up the other type that's next after Strength, which is Defense. Get more Strength, you lose some Defense as well. Get more Defense, you lose Speed."

"Laaame," Sonic called out.

"To give you an example, a guy like Sonic who has insane speed can do with losing some of it in favor of more defense to become a reasonably fast but a hard to wreck opponent."

"Screw you!" the hedgehog yelled, feeling even more irked at the prospect of losing any of his speed.

"Ignoring his childish insults, this is just a rough explanation of what these pieces can do," the hand said. "Some pieces can even have a secondary effect that gives more benefits to the wielder, like increased jump or a regen effect. Some have penalties to complement their rather high boosts. There is really no definite amount of equipment, though. They all are different and can be utterly impossible to collect them all. Just go ahead and collect as many pieces of equipment as you can from doing normal runs in Classic Mode and the other modes we house here in the mansion! My bro here will also sell some of them, but his inventory will never be the same each time a mission starts. If there are people who ever wished to have DK's brawn, they can do so now with these and walk all over him."

"B-but...I'm the number one arm-wrestling champ..." DK muttered. "I can't let these bozos usurp my spot!" Diddy nodded in agreement.

"Uh, yeah. Just to keep some of you under control, your equipment won't affect your daily activities, but only the responsible people will have the benefit to walk around with their changes as long as they behave and use them for good," the glove explained, making some roll their eyes. "I do remember some of you equipping stickers. Don't worry for those. I have personally gone on ahead and turned them all into special equipment with no penalties. Outside of the mansion, anything that can be equipped will turn into equipment for you to equip without losing it, unlike how the stickers were a one-deal package... Lastly, since I bet you'll want to equip more at once, I recommend either paying my bro here to increase the slots...or go up and face off against the bonus bosses you guys have neglected to fight since you last had a bonus battle at the Battle Floor."

"I'm sure I speak for everyone here that we do not want to remember that particular fight there," Wolf said, making many shrug.

"That's all I have to say for how we shall do things around here," the hand said. "After you finish this first mission, there's another new customization venue I shall integrate soon. For now, do use the equipment and become the kind of fighter you want to be... I sense that some competitive people are scoffing at the idea of customization already. Don't hide it. I can see your grimaces! Just see customization as items for special matches. You can still fight each other using your innate and somewhat overused skills like always." He extended himself to Chris. "Okay, off you go."

Chris was still a little confused about the overall system as he looked at Crazy Hand. "Say good bye to the childish stickers and say hello to Equipment!" he said cheerfully. "My shop will only carry 20 random pieces with each mission. I'm not gonna bore the audience and display that many things on-screen. It's for your eyes only, Chris!"

"What audience are you even talkin-oh, who cares," Chris commented.

"Yeah, who cares!" the insane hand said as he pushed the clipboard to his loyal and only customer. "Let's bring up the list for posterity's sake!"

Jobs (Sold Out!) - Equipment (New!) - Smashing Abilities – Items – Sets

Smash Coins: 190,451

-Items

Assist Trophy – 500 Smash Coins

Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins

Beam Sword – 400 Smash Coins
Bob-omb – 300 Smash Coins
Bumper – 500 Smash Coins
Bunny Hood – 300 Smash Coins
Cracker Launcher – 500 Smash Coins
Deku Nut – 200 Smash Coins
Fan – 100 Smash Coins
Fire Flower – 200 Smash Coins
Food (contains 10 dishes) – 400 Smash Coins
Franklin Badge – 400 Smash Coins
Freezie – 300 Smash Coins
Golden Hammer – 1000 Smash Coins
Gooey Bomb – 200 Smash Coins
Green Shell – 200 Smash Coins
Hammer – 700 Smash Coins
Heart Container – 500 Smash Coins
Home-Run Bat – 400 Smash Coins
Hothead – 200 Smash Coins
Lightning – 600 Smash Coins
Lip's Stick – 200 Smash Coins
Maxim Tomato – 300 Smash Coins
Metal Box – 300 Smash Coins
Motion-Sensor Bomb – 100 Smash Coins
Mr. Saturn – 100 Smash Coins
Pitfall – 200 Smash Coins
Poison Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins
Poke Ball – 800 Smash Coins
Ray Gun – 300 Smash Coins
Screw Attack – 200 Smash Coins
Smart Bomb – 400 Smash Coins
Smash Ball – 1000 Smash Coins
Smoke Ball – 100 Smash Coins
Soccer Ball – 500 Smash Coins
Spring – 200 Smash Coins
Starman – 800 Smash Coins
Star Rod – 400 Smash Coins
Super Mushroom – 400 Smash Coins
Super Scope – 400 Smash Coins
Superspicy Curry – 300 Smash Coins
Team Healer – 200 Smash Coins
Timer – 500 Smash Coins
Unira – 200 Smash Coins
Warp Star – 600 Smash Coins

Current Items:

Block Meal

Green Shell

Assist Trophy

Bunny Hood

Poké Ball

Bumper

Stored:

Miracle Gels x3

Now that their inventory could be expanded greatly, Chris knew items would save them from a lot of situations. "We can only have one of each item, can't we?" he asked.

"Righto," the shop owner said. "Buy as many different items as you want, but you can't never have more than one of the same type while the difficulty is on Hard or higher. Oh, but you can buy more of one type to store it away... You can only take items from the storage when you're not busy in a battle, however! I added a special delivery service to send requested stored items to your team while you're away, as long as there's not a copy of the same item in your possession!"

At least that benefit was better than nothing, Chris thought. "I'll gladly use that when necessary... I want to buy this, please. And toss in a Miracle Gel."

"A Smash Ball, a Heart Container, a Maxim Tomato, a Super Mushroom, a Super Scope, and a Starman coming right up for a total of 4,400 coins with a free Miracle Gel!" the hand announced happily, snapping his fingers and filling the inventory. "With the item list outta the way, check out the Equipment section," the hand instructed.

A quick browsing through the current list bought the teen's attention to a few pieces... The pieces did say what attributed they raised and decreased, and more importantly they were fairly cheap to buy. Since their current money amount was so high, he went ahead and spent everything on all the twenty pieces of equipment. "I'm buying all of it."

"Sold for 1,000 coins!" the hand announced happily, snapping his fingers. After he did that, Chris expected something to happen like an item materializing in midair or something else. "...Oh, oh, yeah. Forgot to say these pieces were added to your DS menu where you can manipulate everyone's equipment from the screen... Wait, DS? Ha! That's so outdated. Here, lemme give you something more up-to-date because I can't simply keep watching you carrying that weak console around."

"What?" Once again taken off-guard, Chris saw Crazy Hand pulling a black squared object from behind the counter and showed it to him. One glance at the object was enough to reveal that it was some sort of control-screen hybrid with its button layout around the edges of the rather big screen in the center. "What's that?"

"This is the Gamepad!" Crazy Hand said. "It's something my bro created just recently. It has a high definition setting built into it to help you better organize cosmetic stuff around. It also has a camera and a mic speaker for long distance conversations with the base here, which is far better than your DS."

"That looks awfully bulkier to carry around unlike my DS..." Chris muttered as he grabbed the dubious machine and examined it all over. "Then again, we have that hammerspace ability."

"Don't feel all mighty and stuff, kiddo. You can only ever change equipment for others when they give you their consent or when they wanna do it themselves," the hand said. "You're not in charge of their lives behind the TV screen! You all can only choose the paths behind this small and clean screen..."

Obtained Gamepad!

The assumed successor of the DS portable system with much stronger horsepower. Holding this in your hands lets you envision and see the future of revolutionary gaming through its screen for some reason...

Dr. Kawashima came on the screen of the device and laughed jovially. "I feel powered up by the wonders of high definition!" he said, despite he sported cubic polygons on his face. After examining the strange device for a little more to get familiar with it, Chris put it away, perturbed that he made it vanish behind his back into the inventory.

"Need anything else?" Crazy Hand asked. "Perhaps you may want to invest on Smashing Abilities? Judging your performance, I guess it's time to be a little selfish and buy upgrades for yourself!"

Survival was going to be far more important in the next missions to come, and the teen couldn't afford to waste the chance to ignore the opportunity to increase the odds for his own survival. "Please let me see my list again..." he trailed off as he tried to clear his mind from visualizing and feeling pain.

Smashing Abilities

Chris

Job Throw Lvl. 2 – 3,000 Smash Coins

Upgrades the ability to hand over jobs to others during battle, handing out two jobs at once. The user cannot use the given jobs until after recalling them at the end of a battle.

Resist lvl. 1: Light – 1,000 Smash Coins

Resist lvl. 2: Darkness/Shadow – 2,000 Smash Coins

Chris will reduce any received dark-based attacks by a half (½).

"Okay. Since this is Pit's world we're talking about, I think it'll be a good idea to raise my defenses... I want to buy every single current upgrade on the list," the teen said.

"WOOT! 6,000 coins for all there is on the screen!" Crazy Hand rejoiced, snapping his fingers once more and granting the World Traveler everything that he wanted to buy. "You're awesome! Awesome people buy more stuff from me, you know, so buy more!"

"I-I get that you're really giddy about all this, but this is it..." Chris muttered, killing the hand's excitement in one fell blow. "Sorry..."

"Oh. Oh well," Crazy Hand spoke in a dull tone. "Your current money count is at 179,051 coins... You're so rich. Don't you want to buy more stuff from me?"

"N-no. It's okay," the teen said. "I have this weird feeling that I shouldn't dwell too much into the shop for some reason. Maybe I'm trying to avoid being greedy buying so much stuff..."

"I swear Wario would be a lot easier to snap than you," the hand said duly. "Off you go now. You can resume taunting me with your big wallet full of coins from afar."

"(What does he even use the money for? ...Why am I thinking he wants to make a coin bath? Can't that hurt people?)" Chris thought puzzled as he walked away from him and went on to reunite with his party members: Lucario, Fox, Ms. Fit, Mr. G&W, the Ancient Minister, Popo, Nana, Meta Knight, and Magolor standing between everyone else and the stage. "Well, this is it...again. We're back to world hopping," he told the group.

"Half of you may feel tired of doing the usual, but it's the first time for me!" Mr. G&W said excitedly.

"It will be my first time, too," Ms. Fit said. "I'm quite anxious. What could the possibilities for a person like me have in fighting an army?"

"...I am so curious about that myself," the minister muttered. "No doubt this mansion houses a lot of unique people with surprising fighting styles. To prove my worth to those who still doubt me...I will lend a hand in the next battles."

"Yeah, and I'll try to be as helpful as I can as the team's living radar for Energy Spheres!" Magolor said cheerfully, earning their undivided attention. "Ooh, I'm so way excited to repair my ship piece by piece! Like a jigsaw puzzle of one hundred and twenty-six pieces!"

"Okay, you're doing that on purpose now again about how many pieces we have to gather," Fox said with a bored look at the alien. "Would it be okay if we don't have to hear that amount so often?"

"The chances for that happening are so slim with him," Popo said with a frown. "I bet he'll remind us how many pieces are left every time we find one of 'em."

Nana saw the happy look and chuckling sounds coming from Magolor. "Great going, Popo. You already gave him ideas!" she scolded him by bopping his head. "Ugh. Someone just open up the portal already..."

Meta Knight frowned and turned to Chris. "Either you or Master Hand should do the honors. Open the portal and let us start the mission to help Pit and his goddess," he suggested.

With that being said, the World Traveler took out his controller and opened the portal to the next destination, creating a vortex of swirling lights above the stage that made everyone look at it, recalling how many times they have crossed that same path in the past. As Chris unwillingly clutched his controller with both hands over his chest as some sort of meager shield and started to think and fear what was up ahead, he felt a sturdy hand gently resting on his right shoulder, which made him look up at Lucario, whom had sensed his troubling sensation very quickly. "I am by your side this time. I won't let anyone lay a hand on you to hurt you even more," he told his trainer.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's physically possible to avoid getting hurt at all..." Chris trailed off as he tried very hard to steel himself from those tormenting thoughts. "...It feels like I regressed back to when I first started, and I dislike that so much."

How to encourage him now? Lucario thought. Every time something so bad happened to his trainer, it felt like it was even harder to cheer him up to bring him out of his depressive state. The only way Lucario could truly make progress is by slowly pushing Chris into battle and make sure he didn't get brutally hurt...and that was the only solution he had for now. "I-I'm...I'm always going to be there for you... T-this is the best I can say to cheer you up. I'm sorry if it isn't much..."

Chris forced a small smile and chuckled. "Just you being there for me keeps me sane. That will always be my top support to keep standing up..." Seeing Lucario stare and then smile a bit, Chris nodded and turned back to the vortex, somewhat unaware that some of the Smashers had overheard his worries and stared at him for a bit until the team all started to cross the world boundary to the next place they had to go. After Meta Knight escorted Magolor through the portal, it started to shrink in midair until it turned into a small, fleeting blink of light.

Above the stage, the image of their current location was displayed, and some of the leftover Smashers started to leave or decided to stick around to see their progress from the commodity of their base. Master Hand had other plans in mind, though, as he floated over to Mario and told him to meet him in private at his office for a very important task no one else should know for the next weeks. Mario was just the right person to partake in the very confidential task who wouldn't spill the secrets to the other gossiping Smashers...

Front Entrance

The red plumber was seen walking out from the mansion with an important purpose: to deliver a letter with a red stamp to their newly-moved neighbor inside the mansion's wall. He spotted the fancy and nice-looking house standing in the middle of the gates and the front doors, easily finding the personal red mailbox next to the house's entrance. Calmly walking to the mailbox, Mario opened it and slipped the letter inside, closing the lid and walking back to the mansion.

A few minutes later, Vill came out of the house and curiously peeked inside his mailbox, having sworn he heard someone having put something inside it. When he opened the lid and found the letter, Vill blinked and took it out. "Wow. Mail this early?" he muttered as he stared at the letter. Wanting some privacy, he closed the lid and went back inside his house where he closed the door behind him and started to open the letter to read its contents. "Must be some kind of Summer deal... You have been cordially invited to become one of..." he continued to mutter to himself, his breathing somehow accelerating and dropping in speed at random intervals as he continued reading from top to bottom...

A minute of silence later, Vill utterly forgot he was a living person.

The next minute after that, he wasn't going to stop twitching madly for an hour at best.

KID ICARUS: UPRISING

?

The portal opened up in a very strange, unknown location, which didn't stop its travelers from jumping out one by one into the wild world they were about to start scouring to finish the important mission they were tasked to complete: repel the Subspace Army's attack and find the ship pieces Magolor was looking for. They expected to find Pit right away, walk into an old-century village, and then watch that same village get burned down to the ground by an army of evil forces. Some of them dreaded to meet up with Pit and his goddess – especially her – after they had seen how much they had changed out of nowhere... Unfortunately, fate liked to laugh at them for being the heroes of the story.

For now, after looking around confused and feeling like they were nowhere at all, the only major problem they were so unlucky to get roped into was...

"Uh, where are we?" Popo asked, the view panning out to reveal they were standing in a black void of darkness where, aside from them, there was no one else in the vicinity.

They were all literally standing in a place where the background was completely black. The floor they were standing on was perfectly flat and invisible, blending with the darkness of the color and screwing up their feeling of perception, unless they were standing close to each other. Weirder still was the fact that lighting was good on them, as they noticed they could clearly see their bodies standing above the black floor with darkness having no effect on them.

"...What happened here?" the Ancient Minister asked as he tried to use the many vision modes he had built into his eyes to find anything in the darkness, be it heat or anything that was truly under a shade of darkness and hiding away from them. "It wasn't like this when we first saw the world through the command room's display."

"Hmm. This threw me off right off the bat..." Ms. Fit commented as she surveyed the black surroundings. "Has this happened before?"

"No. Never before have my feet stood over a black void with no sense of perception," Fox said, grimacing hard right after. "Are we just too late for this world or did we go somewhere else by accident? ...Oh no, don't tell me the Subspace Army already beat us to the punch!" Some of them gasped.

"Sorry, but there is no indication there is Subspace matter in the air," the minister clarified as he continued to look around. "But don't quote me on that as I couldn't tell right away that Subspace had engulfed the mansion days ago..."

Nana walked around with her open palms in front of her to see if she could feel a hidden wall somewhere. "Then I guess we ended up in the wrong world after all...but what kind of world is a world where there's nothing but black space?" she asked.

Lucario used his own way to detect anything wrong in the world they were in using his aura senses... There was no life he could detect other than theirs. He eased himself and turned to Chris, whom he just noticed sported the Aura Apprentice job's look with the black stripes on his face and the red eyes replacing his brown eyes, surely because of the restrictions that Tabuu forced on them. "I can't detect anybody in this...world," he said, unsure if it was right to call the place they were a world. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"I don't even know much about Pit's world. It's one of those worlds that we never got to fully see, like Popo and Nana's world," Chris said as he contemplated not fighting at all for the next hours.

"Meh. It's just a mountain village next to an impossibly tall mountain that looks like an iceberg," Popo said. "Beyond those two it's a fairly normal world where polar bears and Topis rule most of humanity."

"...What?"

"He's pulling your leg about the rest of the world... Although, good one," Nana said with a small chuckle.

"No time for jokes here. What if this is really Pit's world and something really bad happened?" Mr. G&W asked. Some of them were thankful his outline kept him from blending with the black background. "Pit could be gone forever! And his goddess! Especially her! What if her goddess falling down caused the whole world to go kaput?"

"How likely is that?" Meta Knight asked as he too continued to scan their surroundings with the others. "Would it be possible that the death of a goddess could mean the whole destruction of the world itself? I hardly doubt they both fell in battle against the army."

"I wouldn't doubt that if the army got much stronger..." wondered the minister in thought as he gave up looking around for any signs of life. "Standing here isn't accomplishing anything. We must find some other place within this void to find out what happened to Pit's world."

Magolor floated about as he frantically tried to find any readings for his Energy Spheres. "U-uh, uh... I'm at a loss here. I can't sense anything in this strange world," he said, looking a little panicked. "I wouldn't put it past us having ended up in a black hole of sorts."

"Nobody knows what's in a black hole, Magolor," Nana said.

"Oh, I do," the alien said as he turned to her. "Some of those black holes can turn out to be wormholes that can take you to other weirder dimensions. In my experience, this particular world is much less weirder than the other ones I ended up to. Why, in this other dimension I got into, everything was pink and yellow."

"Yeah... Nice tale... Hey, wait, maybe you know a way out of this place?"

Magolor sighed. "I'm not that much of a dimensional explorer. Every world has its own physics or so I know," he lamented. "We're all in a fix either way... Now, I'm contemplating suicide as the last final option."

"Avoid thinking about ending your life prematurely. I'm sure a way will open up soon to us," Meta Knight said.

Kid Icarus: Uprising – False Ending

They were just about to ask where they could go in the void until their ears picked up...8-bit music playing from somewhere in the dark place. They weren't hallucinating things because they all could hear the music loud and clear, and it put them off and made them wary about what was happening now. "Where is that weird music coming from?" Ms. Fit asked as she looked around for any music device nearby which she couldn't find.

Then they were immediately greeted by something else that came up floating from below after Popo pointed forward. Bizarrely enough, it was...a staff roll.

STAFF

DIRECTOR

SAKURAI

PLANNER

KAMIYA

PROGRAMMER

MACHINO

Their eyes glued at the one-liners floating high above into the void and their jaws slightly dropped in surprise, they all said aloud, "Whaaa...?"

"A staff roll?" Nana said in complete and utter confusion.

"Remember what I said about the other weirder dimensions?" Magolor said. "Forget about it. This is just as weird as them all."

"Who's this Director Sakurai? He sounds like a rather likable guy..." Popo muttered as he rubbed his open jaw, as the staff roll kept going up, showing more Japanese names that weren't so memorable to them.

CHARACTER

SUZUKI

ANIMATOR

N. ABE

"Okay. I lost it for real this time," Fox said, tossing his hands up and turning his back at the staff roll. "Y-you know what? I can't tolerate this much weirdness. Chris, hack that controller of yours and just take us away from this place."

The World Traveler stopped looking at the staff roll while the others kept looking at it rose its staff's names high up and above the black void. "I don't even know how to hack a Wii controller!" Chris complained to the vulpine. "I much less know how to hack a heavily modified controller by a floating giant glove god!"

"Let's not forget we cannot leave this place until we are sure the Subspace Army is not around anymore," the minister said, looking away from the staff roll. "I have a much better question, though... Why are we looking at a staff roll of all things?"

"Because it's the story of our lives somehow?" Mr. G&W wondered.

STAGE

A. YAMAGUCHI

CUTSCENE

R. ADACHI

"Have I succumbed to insanity, perhaps...?" Ms. Fit muttered loud enough for some to hear her. "It couldn't be. I did my strength training early in the morning like I always do. So, did I drink something weird in my daily water bottle?"

"Uh, Ms. Fit, I'm surprised you're already considering being insane, but... Trust me, you're not insane," Chris reassured her troubled thoughts. "This is just another strange episode where insanity tries to make us go insane."

"...That doesn't sound so reassuring to me," she noted with a blank look.

Chris covered his face in defeat. "I'm so sorry. I'm already going insane trying to understand what's happening to us now..." he muttered, making Lucario pat his back sympathetically.

Out of nowhere, someone came dashing into the scene with a very surprised look over his wide smile. "You guys! Here! Hey, look over here, it's me!" they heard Pit's (new) voice coming from a cardinal direction they weren't so sure yet, but nonetheless he appeared to greet them, looking fine and unharmed. He stopped running and greeted them with a short waving hand. A puzzled Lucario didn't try to bother why he was unable to pick up on Pit's aura before he personally showed up and made his soul present. At least he was sure it was the same angel they came to known. "Heyah! Good to see you again! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, thank goodness he's okay (other than his new brain)," Nana said as she stepped forward. "Pit, before we get into business here, tell us something... What the heck is this place?" she asked with a stern look as she pointed at the staff roll still going in the background, though none of them looked at it while staring at the peppy angel.

UI DESIGN

M. SAKURAI (AKA SAKURAI'S WIFE)

Pit turned to the staff roll and his smile went away. "Don't you know that comes up after you finish off the final boss?" he told them. "That's like the most basic stuff there is about our you-know-what. But hey, I took things seriously throughout my adventure here."

Perturbed that Pit mentioned a video game fact so casually, Chris shook his head. "N-never mind that! I wanted to know what this place was, but now all I care for is an exit to get out from here!" he said, with the angel seeing everyone else nod.

"Wait, hold on... Final boss?" Mr. G&W said. "Pit, you defeated the final boss...uh...enemy you were sent to defeat when we last saw you?"

"Medusa?" Pit said, rubbing his chin. "Oh yeah. I took care of her in the most epic final battle of the ages minutes ago using the Three Sacred Treasures. You guys just missed it!" He pumped up a fist. "Man, was it some battle! There was so much flying around, so many blasting explosions, so much vertigo with no vomiting at all, some vertigo with light vomiting because I'm not very used to sudden jerking motions, a victory pose, a staff roll which you're seeing here right no-"

"PIT!" Fox yelled to interrupt the angel's cheerful account of the events they never got to see. Moreover, he was getting more and more frustrated with the staff roll in the background. "We get it. You defeated that Medusa person in the span of two days. Stop prolonging that!"

"Two days? That much went by over your side?" Pit said with slight surprise. "It's been weeks over my side..."

"Sure, we know time doesn't run at the same speed in two different worlds. But regardless of that, just please tell us a way out of here," the minister told him. "That staff roll is starting to unnerve me."

Pit chuckled, scratching his head. "You just have to wait for it to finish along with the credits music," he said. "At the end, we'll be back with Lady Palutena in Skyworld... Oh wait, let's make this official first."

"Make what official?" Nana asked.

~ PIT ~

RAISES HIS WINGS!

Pit rejoined the team!

"There!" Pit said.

"What is there?"

"My rejoining the team! The obligatory message saying it was official!"

"..."

There was a long twenty-second pause after that as they tried to process why they had to see a staff roll at all. They ignored Pit's early outburst about making it official or whatever he had meant by that.

"...That reminds me," Lucario began, "have you spotted anyone from the Subspace Army yet? That's the reason why we came here."

"Yeah, I had a feeling you came over here for that," Pit said. "You'll be glad to know that I managed to find some of those intruders as I kept cleaning the mess Medusa's army left in her wake. All of those baddies I beat up were just small enemies, though. I didn't get to burn Bowser or uppercut Ganondorf."

"Are you sure you cleared them all out from this world?" the minister asked.

"Er... Since Lady Palutena can't detect Subspace matter all that well, we're not so sure. I just found them by chance whenever I looked away." He saw them sigh, which told him to talk about something else to pass the time. Luckily, he had a topic in mind once he saw the new deals of the group. "Oh, hey! Who's that white lady?"

Ms. Fit was ready to introduce herself, though she wondered why Pit referred to her as a white lady. "Hi. I'm a newest member of the group. I'm a Wii Fit Trainer, but you may call me Ms. Fit," she said.

Pit oddly glared at the others. "Guys, did you coax her into ridiculing herself into calling her a misfit? Are you gonna make the new deals point out they don't fit with us? Tsk, tsk. For shame. You never tried to ridicule me when I joined the group after I was done with my plastic surgery," he said, crossing his arms and pouting a bit. Plastic surgery, they all thought confused.

"What kind of people do you take us for?" Mr. G&W asked.

"It's...Miss Fit," Ms. Fit said with a puzzled look. "As in Miss and then Fit."

"I dunno why separating the syllables makes it better to understand, but if you like being called misfit..." Pit trailed off.

Chris got annoyed quickly and wanted to keep Pit from indirectly insulting her. "Oh my god, Pit. It's like calling Peach Ms. Peach," he explained. "Her name is surely Fit but she's called Ms. Fit by others including us. We're not making fun of her."

"Ooooooh, that's much better to understand," Pit said with a sheepish smile. "Nice! It's a girl Smasher! We were lacking in girls since the Melee days were over! But..." He turned to Magolor, sporting a happy look. "I know for sure that's a guy. That off-sets the gender equality in the team..."

"No, no, my angel friend. I'm afraid I'm not one of the Smashers," Magolor said. "I'm just a humble guest in deep trouble whom they decided to help so kindly in recovering his scattered belongings across the universe."

Pit blinked and then smiled. "Oh, he's our new Geno slash Twink slash Chip! How come we always end up recruiting one of them into the group? Don't say it's because the universe says so," he said.

"If the universe said I was destined to be helped by Kirby and Meta Knight's friends, so be it! Working together to achieve our goals is our ultimate destiny!" Magolor said determined, not seeing Meta Knight frown in the background.

"You go, man!" Pit cheered back. "Welcome to the team! With me – the evil goddess vanquisher - tagging along for the ride, you shall never taste defeat in the name of my fair goddess Lady Palutena!" Magolor cheered loudly, perhaps a little too loudly which caused some of them to flinch.

Having enough of Pit's ramblings about the story of their lives, Fox looked back at the staff roll. "...Is the staff roll about to end?" he asked.

"I only know that when it gets to the SPECIAL THANKS part...and that's near the end," Pit pointed out. "Let's sit here while I connect you to Lady Palutena's telepathy so she can talk to you to provide her helpful guidance. She's telling me she can't wait to have infinite 24-hour telepathy connection with you all!"

"...Wait, wha-?!"

Maybe they were distracted by the staff roll that they were too late for their loud complaints to stop Pit from doing something stupid to them, or maybe Pit didn't think Fox's surprised outburst was enough to stop doing what he was about to do. But it was all too late. Pit held out a glowing palm and shot their heads with thin, ethereal lights that made way for her chuckling voice to echo in their minds. They certainly didn't like the idea of that particular goddess have that much freedom in them. "How've you been, y'all?" Palutena's voice asked from her safe haven. "So nice to see you all again! With my divine telepathy effect added to your heads, I shall never part ways with you no matter where you are!"

"Pit, you stupid idiot!" Fox finally snapped, moving forward and ready to kick Pit aside until Meta Knight and Mr. G&W held him back by the shoulders. Pit had the benefit of yelping and backing off. At that moment, they recalled the most important point they had to tolerate: Pit and Palutena. "I never asked for this!"

"But I did, and I get what I want most of the time," Palutena said, still chuckling and openly mocking the vulpine. "Advantages of being a goddess of good. Pretty rad, huh?"

As Fox tried to calm himself down from ripping Pit a new one, Chris did the most intelligent move to keep her from making fun of them. "U-um, Palutena? I was kind of wondering if you're very sure the Subspace Army is gone. We received an alert coming from here..."

She thankfully didn't elaborate more on her fun time. "Pit told you that already. I can't detect Subspace matter from up here or even if I was close to some," she said. "It wasn't all that bad when Pit spotted those intruders. It was easy for him to get rid of those mooks."

"Could it be that it was a false alarm?" Popo wondered.

"That's not likely, since the alerts sent to the mansion only trigger when there is a high concentration of Subspace movement, be it from hundreds of Primid-like enemies or one single Subspace general on the move," the Ancient Minister explained. "They are in here somewhere, unless Pit did away with them and he doesn't remember."

Pit scratched his head as he tried to recall beating someone important. "No, I'm sure I didn't beat a general, commander, or captain from their group. Only minor enemies with no names and backgrounds," he said honestly."I could've spotted one of 'em doing their usual routine, but alas, I didn't."

"Obviously, he didn't look hard enough while he was off fighting that Medusa person," Magolor noted. "Let me ask a personal question! Have you spotted some weird ship parts or these glowing orbs with gears in them?"

"Add that to the list of things Pit Didn't See," Pit said, feeling a little useless. "What else did you guys wanted me to look for that I didn't?"

The team sighed in unison, right after they let go of Fox. "That's pretty much it. I guess we have no other choice but to start looking in this wide world for everything we've been sent to look for," Popo said, looking back at the staff roll continue. "Oh god, can that thing go any faster? I'm not much of a fan of 8-bit music!"

"Is that my cue for my establishing character moment, then? Good, then I'll go ahead," came out a booming, echoing voice from somewhere within the black void that made them blink and look around for it.

"W-what in the... W-who was that just now?" Chris wondered as he joined his hands over his chest. It wasn't long for Lucario to suddenly let out a fearsome growl as he bared his fangs fully and glared fiercely at the staff roll. "L-Lucario! W-what's wrong with you?!"

The Aura Pokémon had been surprised to spot such a gigantic amount of malevolent energy suddenly appear right behind the staff roll, while before he couldn't spot any other aura unlike when Pit showed up by himself. However, that new source of aura was clearly stagnant, its presence completely intoxicating the life energy that surrounded them... The aura's owner was also not a common person, because Lucario could sense that overwhelming sense of dread and darkness ruled over their own aura, and thus their life. "Show yourself!" Lucario roared, very ticked off to sense that negative aura nearby.

"My, someone's a little feisty today! I'm surprised little Pit wasn't the only person I was going to come to blows, but so is fate, and who can go against fate's schemes?" the voice chuckled, enjoying the attention it got from the surprised group.

"Hey, who's that?" Pit asked. "I don' remember hearing your voice from anywhere..."

"Let me just give you a formal introduction... Away with these old credits!" Before their very eyes, a giant hand that sported many dark shades of purple, violet, red, and blue running above its skin suddenly came bursting from the right side of the staff roll and slammed down on it, its claws digging deep into the black wall and ripping it apart into pieces like a huge wall of cloth, pulling it away to reveal what was hiding behind... Thus, the setting changed abruptly into a very mind-scarring location that had been in hiding all along...

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Hades's Infernal Theme

Their feet felt like they were rooted to the shattered piece of black floor that was left behind in the wake of the demonic hand breaking the space they were in, replacing the setting to a fiery hellhole where flames rose up high and above the red sky. And within the flames...or more specifically, in front of the floating platform they were standing on, was the reason why they felt like moving around was not encouraged but greatly discouraged...

A gigantic man stood proudly within the flames as it looked down gleefully at their frightened expressions. That same man was no doubt a normal human, since the same shades of colors that belonged to the hand earlier belonged to him as well. He was massive, probably about fifty-feet tall. He had long, flowing hair which was mostly green at the ends and then mostly shades of red near his purple, smirking face. Although he seemed to be wearing clothes, said clothes looked very outlandish, with a thick orange belt wrapped around his waist to hold on to his purple robe with burst bubble patterns on the outside and a window that showed burning darkness from the inside with four long strands floating wildly by the base of his clawed feet. Over his seemingly exposed chest where his heart was underneath, a portion of his robe covered that area with a fancy spiked pattern where his skin had red tattoos all over a very dark skin which ran down and up his body... His small yet glowing red eyes kept a watchful look on them all as he noted some of them willing to forget being scared just to gauge and compare his size with theirs.

His very presence was terrifying, to say the least, with a few but loud screams filling the air.

"The symphony of screams from mortal beings make me feel butterflies in my stomach. You flatter me too much," the colossus spoke in a gleeful tone. He waited for them to stop screaming so he could focus on Pit, who was the only one unfazed and ready to fight given his glare. "Hello there, Pitty Pat. Hi up there, pretty Palutena. It's so nice to have you all in MY Underworld!"

"Hades?!" Palutena said, truly sounding very shocked to see him in the flesh.

"H-Hades?!" most of the Smashers who knew their Greek mythology said.

"Hades?" Pit repeated in confusion.

"He's the true master of the Underworld," Palutena said. "Suffice to say, he is a rank and a whole different league than Medusa herself, who was merely just a goddess of darkness. He is a thousand times more evil than she was."

Pit pinched his chin, utterly oblivious that everyone else felt like they were about to die. "Heeey, if that's true, how come I never got to see him in our first game?" he asked.

Hades crossed his arms – his massive arms – over his chest. "That was when I was a young and naive god who liked to have other lesser people do things for himself...until I got out of the couch and stopped being an idle potato," he said.

"We're not all exactly that young," Palutena quipped.

"Lord of the Underworld humor. You know full well what I'm talking about here," Hades said in a casual tone. "The past is a thing of the past, though. The future is now and it's me. I had to drop by here and congratulate this little angel for beating up big bad Medusa all by himself. Good for you, Pitty Pat!" he said, totally mocking the angel. "How did you like beating that Medusa I created?"

"What?!" Pit called out. "You created Medusa?!"

"Eh, more like bringing her back from the dead because her thirst for revenge was way too juicy to let go to waste," Hades said chuckling. "I'm a bad guy here. How could I not try to ignore the potential she had for round two? She made quite the show and stirred the crowd to prepare them all for my big debut. You took her out, and that made me take myself out from my home to point out...that this adventure isn't over." He opened his arms to them, the flames rising higher with more intensity. "I am the bigger bad here, and it is time to prepare a much bigger show! Hope you liked the first nine chapters, Pitty Pat. They were all just glorified tutorial material."

"Aww, man!" Pit groaned, hunching forward. "I knew there was something fishy when this chapter was built up as the final dungeon!"

"Oh yeah. You're so game savvy to tell what was fishy. Kudos to that," Hades said applauding, until he rubbed his chin – his massive chin - and focused on the Smashers staring up at him with frozen looks. The curious floating alien in the back tilted to the side and fell flat on the floor. "Hmm, are these the Smashers? The same people I've heard so much about from Palutena's loud cheers coming from her realm?"

"Did you just call me loud?" Palutena asked with an irritated tone.

"Hold your angels, lady. I'm having a formal conversation with these guys," the lord of the Underworld said. "Nice meeting a fraction of the Smashers. Did you come here knowing that the main course of this world wasn't all that important? Oh my, even outsiders think less about me; a god."

Meta Knight was the only one of the group who managed to shake off all fear the god planted on his other comrades, besides Pit still not feeling it. He stepped forward, snapping some of them out of their trances. "Enough of your mocking. The matters that Pit must attend are truly a side distraction for us. Our mission here is to ward off the Subspace Army from this world and leave everything as it is to avoid interfering too much into your affairs," he said with a straight voice. "Unfortunately, our bad record tells us that you will simply not stand by and let us go like that, and you will try to annihilate us right here on the spot if our bad luck is really that bad."

"Good point. I could squash you all with a hand right here and now." The Ice Climbers screamed, and so did Chris and Mr. G&W. "But I hate easy. I like dirtying my hands with people worth squashing down, or when villains purposely delay an easy beating in hopes of making the final showdown all the more flashier...and who can't say no to that? I like flashy!" he laughed. "I'll abide by the rules and let you go for now. Ending your lives now would make everything after this much less boring, and boring stuff bores me."

Some of them sighed, though it still didn't make them feel that much better with a god of darkness making fun of them. "G-good..." Fox breathed out with a loud gulp. "I'm so not used to fighting gods yet...and I probably never will."

"Neither do fitness trainers like myself... Was I asked to fight a god this early in this job? This isn't fair at all..." Ms. Fit muttered, keeping her distance from the massive god.

"Once you do start bearing them, you can start bragging," Pit said casually. "Like me, for example."

"H-how the hell are you not quaking in your feet?" Chris asked the angel as the first pointed at the god. "We're practically defenseless against someone that big!"

"You could say Pit's obliviousness is a boon when fighting the evil forces of evil. He is one in five trillions," Palutena said.

"Being oblivious is awesome. It keeps giving me the boost to keep moving forward and fight my enemies with a brave face on and sharp swords ready," Pit said, going so far as to pump up a fist.

"You're not supposed to be proud of that, you moron!" Fox scolded loudly.

"H-hey, maybe we should start changing the topic here about other stuff we have to do?" Nana said in a shivering voice. "T-this giant god of darkness just said he doesn't want to do anything utterly gruesome to us, didn't he? W-why keep wasting his time?"

"Pardon me, little lady in the pink parka. You are right on that," Hades said nodding, until he looked down at Lucario still glaring, growling, and baring his fangs at him. "But before I go, why is it that this bipedal...blue...dog person hasn't stopped looking at me with that murderous look in his eyes?"

"I loathe darkness and negative aura all above else..." growled Lucario, keeping the shaking Chris behind him. "You have the most sickening negative aura I have ever sensed yet..."

"Ooh, you're some sort of talking, evil-seeking dog, then! I'm very happy you can tell how godly my negative aura is. I like you, but it's a big minus that you're part of the good guys. Oh well! Toodaloo." He waved his right hand as he started to walk back, the flames between them rising to hide him away. "Smashers, make yourselves comfortable in this world I'm about to rule with a godly iron fist! I won't hold myself responsible if you do get squashed... Totally kidding. I'm holding myself responsible for that. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!" his booming laugh echoed in the setting as he slowly disappeared from sight, his glowing eyes being the last part of his body they saw right before he went away for good...for now.

The flames then started to die out just as how their fear did. With the lord of the Underworld gone, the Smashers were able to compose themselves to a reasonable level of mild discomfort. "O-o-oh good... H-he's gone..." breathed out Chris as he saw Lucario easing himself, not feeling the overwhelming aura of darkness anymore. "T-that was too much for my heart to bear for an intro of this mission..."

"That is not good. I shall become your coach and guide you through the necessary poses to stabilize your heart to avoid sudden heart attacks," Ms. Fit said.

The teen stared incredulously at her. "How are you even...? Oh, never mind. I forgot you were a professional fitness instructor..." he trailed off with a slow sigh.

Meta Knight budged the fainted Magolor until he saw the alien opening his eyes and standing back up. "W-what happened?!" Magolor asked in a daze. "A-all I remember was a gigantic and grotesque man monster appearing in front of us who made me re-evaluate my career choices again!"

"It's fine. That grotesque man monster is gone for now," Meta Knight said. "But he will come back to stop us from proceeding through the mission just for the fun of it."

"Awwwwww!" groaned Magolor as he moved his hands down in shame. "And this is okay with you, guys? You should've told me giant monsters were expected to appear!"

"We didn't know that!" Popo complained. "We also didn't know any of this would happen right away!"

"Hey, guys, calm down!" Pit said as soon as he saw them complaining, stopping their talk. "It'll be fine! It's just like any other mission we've gone through in the past! You gotta trust me and Lady Palutena that we will defeat Hades and end this war against the Underworld Army for good!"

Mr. G&W gulped. "A-are we fighting that colossus head on?" he asked meekly.

"Worst case and probable scenario, yeah, but we're the good guys here. We can't lose!" Silence greeted him along some side glares and disheartened looks. None of the Smashers truly through they could stand a chance against a giant god of darkness. "It really is annoying when we do this silent treatment, you know."

"I am not even bothering trying to make you understand how illogical it is to fight a god as we are now," the Ancient Minister said, before looking at the area dimming and going back to how it was when they had arrived. "Talking here any more is strange. Pit, can you take us away from here?"

Pit nodded. "Okay! My vision was starting to get so messed up, anyway," he said as he pointed upward. "Lady Palutena! Take us back to your temple!"

"THY WILL BE DONE," Palutena announced in an uncharacteristic booming voice, right before she produced saintly light shine down on them all. The Smashers felt some sort of godly power engulf their bodies just as their feet started to part ways with the black floor. As they exchanged curious glances with each other, they were all whisked away in a flash of light, leaving the staff roll area behind...

Palutena's Sanctuary

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Solo Menu

The Smashers would feel great relief to be somewhere else where their lives weren't in danger and where their brains were safe from insanity. Right at the same place where the Star Fox leader had once ended up to the last time he came unexpectedly, all of the Smashers and Pit materialized at the center of the lustrous hall of light, their feet touching the firm floor and quickly easing their minds with some needed long sighs. Upon arriving at the hall where three large doors were seen, they started to move around to check the place out. "Oh, thank god we got somewhere decent. I was starting to lose it back there at that...staff roll place," Mr. G&W said, looking down at his flat reflection on the floor.

"Huh. Strange. I thought this sanctuary would be a lot more rundown than I thought it would," Nana said as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Why would you think that? Lady Palutena likes keeping things tidy here," Pit said with a smile, feeling happy that he brought his fellow comrades to his base of operations high above in the heavens.

Nana stared blankly at Pit and thought the obvious: Pit and Palutena were far from normal people. "No reason..." she muttered with a bored look on her face.

After meeting the apparent bad guy of the world they were, the World Traveler needed to calm himself down by admiring the sights of the sanctuary with his dutiful Lucario in tow. "I think I like this place," he told Lucario. "You really can feel safe walking around a sanctuary of light."

"It is all the more refreshing to me after what my aura senses picked up from that abominable god. There is an equally strong positive aura radiating from the walls in here," Lucario told him before looking concerned at his trainer. "I...I hope I didn't frighten you for snapping out like that in front of everyone. I was very shocked and surprised to having sensed that negative aura out of nowhere..."

"That? Oh, that was the least of my fears...or it wasn't frightening to me one bit besides the sudden reaction," Chris admitted as he folded his arms behind his waist and looked away in embarrassment. "In the back of my head I-I thought you looked pretty heroic when you stood in front of me with blazing fists of aura and all... That was also very sweet of you." The Aura Pokémon's mouth gaped a bit in surprise before he growled proudly and pulled Chris next to him, nudging his head with his right cheek and making his trainer chuckle heartily. "It always makes me feel so happy to have you when you do this, you know?"

"Guuoooorrrgggggghhh..." Lucario growled happily.

"Check it out! His tail's wagging!"

That womanly voice made Lucario gasp as he and Chris looked behind them and found Palutena herself watching them share a moment. To his chagrin, she was right. His tail was wagging slowly to the sides and stopped it as his cheeks reddened. "M-must you say that out loud?" Lucario asked, forcing a glare that looked embarrassed as well.

"Pit was right when he said it is something when you watch it from up-close," the goddess said. The Aura Pokémon's ire then was directed at Pit, who knew full well his goddess was using him as a scapegoat to escape Lucario's rage.

"And right on cue, she starts wrecking our dignity the first moment she gets..." muttered a deadpan Fox as he and the others went over to the goddess while Lucario broke off from hugging his trainer. "Can we get to the point here where you explain to us what's going on?"

The goddess turned to the others as the duo she eavesdropped on joined them and wisely stepped back from her undivided attention. "I know why you're all here. The Subspace Army is on the move somewhere in my world. But you don't know what has happened here since we last saw each other... Time sure flies faster here than Master Hand's world, huh?" she said. "Anyway, here's the thing: Pit and I have fought against Medusa's army since the beginning. I made a big deal about that when the mansion was under attack, remember? Weeks later in here, Pit managed to defeat Medusa for good in a very epic final battle of the ages...which somehow looked like it happened too much soon."

"And then Hades showed up from nowhere and explained everything about what REALLY happened," Pit continued. "He instantly made it to the top of my bad guy list!"

"While Pit was busy with Medusa, he did spot the occasional Primid wandering about," Palutena continued. "Though, aside from that, nothing else out of the ordinary by our world standards has happened yet. But if what you say earlier was true, I suspect a captain slash commander is somewhere planning to blow up one of those anti-goddess Subspace Bomb or worse..."

"That 'or worse' part is my ship parts getting stolen from me!" Magolor piped up. "There's no denying that! We must stop them from acquiring the Energy Spheres and the Lor Starcutter's parts!"

Palutena hmm'd in thought. "Are those the new trinkets you guys are looking for this time around? You do lead eventful lives," she commented. "Well, I'm happy that my world is getting the focus in the search for these items of untold power."

"Yes, yes. We know how you like the attention," Popo said. "Say, what do you know about that Hades guy?"

"For starters, he's the true master of the Underworld," the goddess said.

"He never showed up for my first game," Pit added, confusing Ms. Fit and Magolor on that term.

"Because we thought he was an okay guy who didn't like killing humans unlike Medusa," Palutena further explained. "Hades used to be the kind of god who didn't care about his underlings much, until we found out today that he was behind everything that happened recently. Whether he had a hand in Medusa's scheme in the past or not, the harsh truth is that he's our new enemy who will try to rip Pit and you all into billions of pieces."

"Hurray," duly said Nana.

"D-does that Hades god person want anything with my Energy Spheres?" Magolor asked.

"Maybe? He doesn't need any more power than he has, that's for sure... He surely wants to cause more chaos in the realm just like Medusa did," she explained as she turned away from them and walked to the center door. "And with the Subspace Army on the prowl, things just got more...interesting, if I say so myself. It's a race against time to see who gets to rule the world as they see fit. I don't plan in losing that race to any of them or else there would be nothing left for the humans...or no humans at all." She turned back to them with a smile on her face. "But why should I worry too much when I have ten more loyal servants with benefits and minds of their own?"

"You know, we're not always going to win here..." Popo trailed off.

"I like to think you will, at least here," the goddess said. "So put yourselves together and be prepared for battle. We will shortly begin our usual line of duty after I pinpoint where Hades' army is trying to target next. While I'm busy doing that, I want Pit to show you around my sacred realm of light."

"Got it!" Pit saluted. Nodding in approval, Palutena walked off to the translucent staircase leading to the center door and opened it with a single motion of her staff. She walked between the two tall slabs of the door as they closed down behind her back. Feeling like the leader of the bunch, Pit turned to his team. "Alright, it's time to get to know your new base, everyone. I can't wait to show you all the weapons I get to use outside those restricted missions we used to have at the mansion! Not to brag or anything, but I'm very good at all types of weapons. I make Chris's Job System look redundant."

Chris stared blankly. "Can a weapon of yours cast magic from afar?" he asked.

Pit kept smiling for ten seconds until he said, "...Over here! Follow me!" enthusiastically. Hearing a few chuckles making fun of his apparent lack of a magic-casting weapon, the angel started his long explanations as he took them to the door on the right side. "Before I show my angel stash, I gotta warn you something... None of you can't use my weapons for anything. The weapons are sanctioned for Lady Palutena's army. You are technically part of the army, but only holy beings like me can wield the weapons."

"I had a feeling it was too good to be true," Meta Knight said. "What happens if any of us wields a weapon of yours?"

"You blow up." They all stopped walking. Their sudden stop made Pit stop and turn around to them. "Or you start feeling sick in your stomach. Lady Palutena put way too many countermeasures to prevent mere mortals like you guys from making off with the weapons." Some of the "mere mortals" of the group shot Pit with some glares. "I-I'm not saying you're thieves! It's the way she runs the rules here!"

Ms. Fit didn't particularly care about wielding a weapon. She had her own way of battle, though she hoped everyone would receive it with open arms. After Master Hand gave her the move set she was meant to use for the rest of her stay with the Smashers, she was a little too shy in showing them off. "Your goddess is quite the lady to put that many countermeasures," Ms. Fit said.

"Lady Palutena's a goddess. She can do anything she wants to make everyone stay in line, me included!" boasted Pit.

Nana looked bored. "Oh, is that so? It sounds like you're her little slave when you put it that way," she said.

"S-slave?! I'm not her slave! I'm her dutiful leader of her personal guard! How dare you think she treats me like a slave?!" Pit barked back, rather strongly in a way some of them backed off from him. Noticing their mildly surprised looks, the angel shook his head and looked apologetic. "S-sorry for snapping like that. I just hate when people confuse my services for Lady Palutena as nothing more than slavery. Geez, why would you think that badly of her?" The angel saw half of them talking all at once and exchanging their own thoughts about the goddess with each other for a while.

Eventually, Fox said, "Your goddess is the hardest person to read we've ever met." They all nodded their heads.

"And I thought I was the hardest person people couldn't read!" Magolor chimed in. "Which I mean I'm not!"

"I-is that so? Wow..." Pit scratched his head in confusion. He had to give them some credit in that regard as he had gone through some rather questionable choices his goddess told him to do while fighting the Underworld Army. He would never admit something like that while wandering about the sanctuary, however. Pit was entirely biased in believing his goddess was the top person in the purity department no matter what she did...or was planning to do. "Lady Palutena is trustworthy when in the heat of battle, though! You can trust her with your lives when it comes to that! Her guidance is the most helpful guidance there is!"

"We shall see about that when a battle does occur," Meta Knight said. "She has a peculiar attitude that is not to be messed with."

Pit thought the knight praised the goddess. "You heard it from Meta Knight! His vote should be enough to win you over to her side!" he said.

Mr. G&W snickered. "Sure. His vote won me over, that's for sure," he muttered. The knight rolled his eyes while frowning as Pit led them to his vast weaponry they were disallowed to use. Although none of them had planned to wield any of those weapons, some had second thoughts when Pit started cycle to each one of them. Lucario wanted the clawed weapons, and Nana wanted to mess around with the orbitars.

An hour went by as the large group walked out from the right door, finding Palutena standing in the center of the sanctuary. "Oh, there you are. No wait, I knew were you all were," she said. "I have successfully located the Underworld Army going at a specific location...and with that being said, I want Pit to head over there ASAP." She clapped her hands. "Like, now."

Dumbstruck, Pit blinked. "Wait, you're not gonna explain what's happening?" he asked.

"There's no time! You must start flying right over there!" She pointed her staff at the center door, opening and revealing an uncharacteristically dark hallway. "I'll grant you the Power of Flight as always. Better start flapping those wings!"

"O-oh, okay!" Pit said as he looked serious and started rushing upstairs to the door, until he stopped midway and looked back at the goddess barring the way to the Smashers. "Lady Palutena! What are you doing?"

"Yeah, what gives?" Popo asked the goddess. "I thought we were all in this together and all that?"

"I let you go through that dark hallway and you'll be jumping to your deaths in a fiery inferno," the goddess said, earning some surprised looks. "Only Meta Knight can take flight and I doubt he will make it without my godly protection on his wings."

"C-can you please explain this a little slower? I can't understand what's happening..." Chris said.

Palutena shrugged and turned to Pit. "Go forth, now! We can't waste any more time! I'll make you regroup with your guys once you reach the destination!" she ordered.

"O-okay! I trust you all the way!"the angel before sharply turning around and brandishing his Guardian Orbitars, running into the dark hallway as the door closed behind his back. The Smashers looked on worried at the door until the goddess's staff started to glow at the tip.

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Ch. 10: The Wish Seed

"I'm going to connect you with Pit's field of vision so you all can get an idea of the place where you're going at the end of his flight path," Palutena said as she raised her staff and created a hologram in front of the group; a hologram which was highly detailed in showing a clear landscape where Pit was seen flying through with golden glowing wings. They noted that his wings weren't glowing before he had rushed out through the door; the glow caused by Palutena's Power of Flight.

The place where Pit went was a searing land of magma and lava, where spewing lava jumped out from any large openings on the coal-like floor and volcano ash contaminated the air. As the angel flew through the area, he was being attacked by flying enemies at nearly every corner he looked at. "Really? A lava land? Why couldn't it be an ice land?" Nana shivered as Lucario disliked the idea of traversing a hot place where his steel limbs would get too hot from the temperature.

"Blame Hades on choosing that one location," the goddess said as she kept a wary eye on her loyal angel. "Time for another round of explanations for the Smasher group. As you can see in the hologram, you're seeing Pit flying. He can't fly on his own because...he's not that good at flying by himself."

"Hey!" Pit called out embarrassed.

"So I use the Power of Flight to control his flight path," she said. "I'm the one controlling his flight path while he dodges and blasts enemies blocking the way. This is how we do our jobs here. Unfortunately, the Power of Flight is rather limited... Pit can only fly for five minutes. Any more than that and his wings will burn."

"What? Just five minutes?" Chris said. "Why can't it be more than that?"

"The wings Pit has are shielded from attacks as he flies. They will never get damaged no matter what blow they take during that five-minute interval... However, the rest of his body is not sturdy enough for those. It's a small price to pay for having my divine Power of Flight."

"I thought a goddess would give some sort of infinite advantage to her subjects..."

"I'm the Goddess of Light, not the Goddess of Fighting. You mortals do put a lot of expectations on us gods," she said with a shrug. "You really think I could whisk an army away with a single snap of my fingers? I'm not like Master Hand."

"Sorry for thinking we could win for sure having you on our side," Fox said.

"You only win for sure doing it slowly and carefully. Anyway, the plan here is to have Pit cross the level, uh, lava land and reach a safe landing place where I shall use him as a warp pad for you to assist him on foot... Oh...that reminds me... My protection for Pit in a very hot place is only limited to one person. Can anybody here resist over 5000 degrees by themselves?" she asked, watching as nearly everyone in the group put up disheartened looks. "...Pit, good luck going solo for this one."

Pit gasped as he entered a dark cave. "What?! I'm going solo for this one mission?! I'm sure the Ice Climbers would make it through those odds!"

"We'd be the first ones to succumb to the heat, you dork!" Nana argued.

"Ouch. Okay, I get it... Fine, I'll tackle this solo, then. I can show you how I do by myself using my mad angel skills!" As he dove further into the cave, he finally asked why Hades was going forward into the area. "What's Hades' target in this place, Lady Palutena?"

"Hades is after the Wish Seed; the unique seed that's been told to grant the finder any wish they want, no matter how selfish or outlandish it is," she explained.

Pit liked the idea of an item like that existing. "A wish-granting seed? Hey, maybe I can make a wish to fly by myself without the 5-minute limit of the Power of Flight!" he commented, busying himself with blasting enemies with his weapon. Speaking of his weapon, the orbitars were shaped into two small but effective shields that floated on each side, covering Pit's left and right sides.

Palutena turned to the Smashers, sporting a smile. "Pit really dislikes not being able to fly without using my power," she said. "He's kept complaining almost every time when he was mocked for it."

"L-Lady Palutena, don't say that to them! It's my personal, private issue!" Pit yelled.

Now that Pit's issue was out into the open, he was going to get mocked for it by some of the Smashers watching everything from the sanctuary and the mansion. The Smashers in the sanctuary were more concerned about the Wish Seed. "A seed that can grant any wishes," the minister said. "If the enemy obtains such a valuable item, it could spell doom for us in the blink of an eye."

"Truly, our luck is the worst there is..." Mr. G&W said.

"But what if we were to claim that seed for ourselves?" Ms. Fit wondered. "Could we use that to get rid of the Subspace Army?"

"Oh, sorry. I've heard that the seed cannot grant death wishes or the like," Palutena said. "Selfish wishes are up for the taking, or wishes that can help those wish takers defeat their mortal enemies, which is what Hades is trying to do..." She eyed the group with an alluring look. "I wonder if any of you would use the wish for something worthwhile that could benefit the rest of the world instead of yourselves?"

Pit chuckled as he entered an even hotter place: a sea of vast magma and fiery waterfalls as far as the eye could see, with some rock formations that looked weak and ready to crumble down at the slightest of pushing movements over the sea. "C'mon, Lady Palutena. My friends would never wish for selfish stuff like me for example! The ability to fly by myself would be a boon to take down aerial enemies!" he mused.

"(I'd wish for a double of me to go take on hard missions in my place...)" Chris thought.

"I'd wish to know more about my past..." the minister muttered.

"(If this is the fastest, safest way for me to obtain a muscular frame worthy of a Legendary Lucario like me...)" Lucario thought.

"I'd wish to open up an academy of the arts in aerobics and fitness," Ms. Fit mused.

"(Infinite money or...Krystal's love? Or maybe growing a few inches taller to ramp up my looks?)" Fox thought.

"(A giant, ice palace,)" Popo thought.

"I'd definitely use my wish to build a house bigger than my current one," Mr. G&W voiced out.

"(A giant, ice palace,)" Nana thought.

"A super radar to find my belongings, or obtain all my belongings in a snap!" Magolor said happily.

"Nothing comes to mind to me," Meta Knight said. Everyone stared at him. "...Maybe perhaps another Halberd. That is it."

Pit grumbled. "That's five out of ten? How come Chris didn't say something not selfish like I thought he would?" he wondered.

"I can be selfish when I want! Sometimes it's nice to be selfish to reward yourself!" Chris said, which Lucario took that into heart as a yes for his own selfish wish.

"Someone's not entirely white at heart. I like you, guys! This is why I like humans," Palutena commented, making Chris blush. "...Like to protect," she added. "...In groups," she added when the group winced, though they kept wincing. "...With no physical contact." They all said "oh" and sighed.

Lucario then spoke. "If it isn't advised for us to help Pit in this mission, what should we do in the meantime?" he asked.

"We could wait for Pit to reach the Wish Seed and provide side commentary to stall for time," the goddess suggested, "or we could entertain ourselves with our fitness trainer if she's willing to hold a yoga session to relieve all the stress you got from staring up at Hades."

Ms. Fit wanted to be helpful to the team, and that suggestion was the best way she could use to provide support. "I am open to that thought," she said.

"Oh, good. I feel like my godly back is killing me for standing around too much." The goddess raised her staff and made white yoga mats appear on the mirror floor. "Let me finish here with Pit first. We don't want him to get toasted in the lava and turn into fried angel."

"Anything but becoming a nutritious side dish rich in proteins!" Pit yelled as he flew under large streams of lava jumping in arcs high in the air.

An hour flew by as some Smashers reluctantly joined Ms. Fit's yoga session while Pit was left on his own, walking through a landscape of molten rock and lava rivers where Underworld enemies patrolled and blocked his way, only to be mercilessly pushed away by large moving shields his Guardian Orbitars produced as charged shots. After Palutena joined the group in a so much needed yoga session, the Smashers got surprised when they heard a mocking, familiar voice ringing in their heads...

"Greetings, Pitty Pat and Friends!" Hades's booming voice rang out while they were doing the Arm & Leg Lift exercise, causing some to lose their balance and fall flat. Because of their first encounter with the Lord of the Underworld, they all looked around to see if he was in the temple, ready to crush them down as he had said he would do. "I'm sorry I interrupted your...yoga session. I'm a big curious kid."

"Hades!" Pit said with venom in his voice; the hammy kind of venom.

After confirming that Hades was not in the temple or where Pit was running through, Fox looked at Palutena. "W-what in the hell? That guy is in our heads?!" he said.

"Thank Pitty Pat for that! Without that telepathy-granting power he gave you earlier in the day, it would've been impossible to connect to your heads to impart my own kind of guidance," the god said with a godly chuckle. "Turns out telepathy is highly hack-able between us gods. You're better off setting up a WPA2 encryption on a device for better protection against people doing war driving like me."

Chris gulped. "W-well, that's what I do with my internet connection at ho-"

"Pit, you moron!" Fox barked in frustration.

"Hey! Stop blaming that on me! It had to be done!" Pit complained.

"Ah, you DID do that on purpose even if we disagreed, then? Okay! Remind me to give you a thank you gift for granting us this anti-privacy gift in our heads!"

"Cool!"

"IT'S NOT A GOOD GIFT!"

"Rich conversations as always! This is why I didn't want to prematurely kill you all," Hades joked. "A shame the party was unable to attend the festivities with the Phoenix's lair down here. The Phoenix, AKA the guarding of the Wish Seed, will feel left out that ten guests were unable to attend."

Still holding her pose, Palutena said, "You can make it up by inviting ten of your underlings in their places."

"Good idea! They'll be happy to see Pit at the fruit punch table to exchange embarrassing stories together," the god said. "Anyhoo! I'd rather focus on important matters here. Will Pitty Pat make it to the Phoenix to defeat it and claim the Wish Seed to make his selfish wish come true?"

"Yup!" Pit called cheerfully. "Infinite flight power, here I come! I'll beat up all the sorry losers trying to get the item, even my own friends just for the sake of good sportsmanship!"

"HEY," was the same response from many of them.

Hades laughed. "Well said, little angel! Well said! Let's see if you can stop all these guys and me from getting that powerful, almighty, wish-granting seed! No one can resist the temptation to get that, don't you agree?"

"Duh! Most people would easily fall for that!" Pit said. "Think for a moment! A wish-granting seed! It's like the ultimate item in existence."

Palutena put her right arm and left leg down. "And what if that seed were to be a fake intended to be nothing more than a major trap to lure people into believing it's real?" she asked.

"We'd have a problem of major proportions... Hey, why would you say that?"

"Because that's what the seed is: a fake that grants no wishes at all."

It took ten seconds for Pit to let that piece of info sink in. "...W-what?! No! My infinite power of flight!" he bellowed. "The Wish Seed is a non-Wish Seed?! Why?!"

"Curses! Foiled by the light dwellers!" Hades continued to joke. "Kidding here. Thanks to your rather small part in the plan, it'll be all the easier for me to convince the human race that the Wish Seed is actually a thing when in fact it isn't. Can't wait to see the war cries echoing throughout the world as the selfish humans start killing each other to claim an item that doesn't even exist!"

The Smashers were discomforted to hear that the seed couldn't grant any wishes, thus abruptly ending their own selfish wishes. "How do you expect the human race of this world to react like that?" the minister asked, him, Magolor, and Meta Knight being the only ones not doing the yoga exercises and watching Pit's progress attentively. "From what I learned moments ago, the Phoenix is a beast that guards that seed. Would the humans be foolish enough to fight such a beast?"

"They're not that foolish enough, sadly. But! My army already ruffled the Phoenix's feathers too much for it to go on a rampage on the human race and anything else that moves," Hades noted with a smirk. "It helps that the beast can't understand our sophisticated language to think logically on its own!"

"N-no fair! I'll have to kill the Phoenix to make it stop from doing that!" Pit said as he was seen jumping on jump pads that took him to greater heights in an area with small lava waterfalls on top of each other. "But I bet the humans won't start fighting each other once I take the Phoenix down and relay the message to them all."

"Too late, Pitty Pat. I have already spread whispers and rumors about the Phoenix and the 'Wish' Seed all over while you were busy taking Medusa down. They haven't stopped musing aloud about their wishes, and even world leaders are discussing...or rather arguing about who should be sent to claim it."

"D-darn it!"

"So there's that! You have two problems to solve. Can you solve both in time before it's too late?" Hades chuckled confidently. "I always wanted to say those last four words. If Pitty Pat can stop the Phoenix, will he stop the mass genocide that will follow? The bloodshed is about to begin shortly."

The group was very much horrified that the god wanted to cause a massive war of such scale between the humans of the world. "T-this is absolutely nuts! As if the skirmishes in Ike's world weren't enough, this is going to cause a lot more deaths just because of a single item that can't even grant wishes!" Chris said. "Can't Palutena try to convince them?"

"Uh, well..." Palutena trailed off, for the first time showing concern on her face. "I can't really communicate to millions of humans at once. I could probably lessen the death count a few hundreds, but..."

"My plan is foolproof, guys. You can try anything you want to stop it from happening as it slowly falls into place. I've given it a lot of thought, and it's practically impossible to backfire on my godly face," Hades taunted. "Now, Pit. Go fight the Phoenix to spare a few hundred of lives, will you?"

"Grr!" Pit growled as he charged forward through the fiery area, shooting Underworld enemies with his orbitars.

Popo sat up and embraced himself. "I'm not feeling so good knowing that will happen now..." he muttered. "I-I can't bear to know thousands of people will start killing each other over that fake seed."

Ms. Fit stood up from her yoga mat and crossed her arms. "Countless of people dying for that trinket... I cannot believe this is happening during my first mission. I feel useless..." she said.

"This is a very big problem that can't be easily prevented by just a few people. Once rumors start to spread and everyone starts to believe so much in them as the truth, it'll be much harder to convince the populace about the lies that the rumors sowed," the minister said. "Let us brace ourselves for the worst and think about how to deal with it in a safe way."

Chris looked away in thought. "That reminds me... How is this problem going to affect our mission? I just noticed Pit hasn't found a Subspace Army member around that area," he pointed out.

Fox stood up and stretched his arms. "Probably lurking somewhere else where Palutena and Hades can't see," he said.

"Oh? Subspace Army?" Hades piped up. "Is that the name of the bad guys who got in the way during Medusa's conquest? Hmm, well, it doesn't hurt to say I haven't met up with any of their commanders... But if I did, I'd strike a deal with them to oppose you with my aid. It's not fair pretty Palutena has you supporting her army of expendable Centurions who aren't even doing anything right now other than stay guard at that temple of sickening radiant light."

"Leave my expendable Centurions alone, you wretched lord of darkness!" Palutena said...with a smile.

"Your sarcasm is...flattering, somehow."

"Thanks. I make it work a lot of times." The Smashers exchanged disturbed looks and wondered if the two gods were friends.

"(Way to ruin the mood of a possible genocide...)" thought Nana. "Pit, hurry up and defeat that Phoenix to make things a little easier for us! I'm kind of prepared to see the worst happen..."

"Got it!" Pit called back.

Some time passed as Pit trekked through the area to the Phoenix's lair; a suspended circular platform where he spotted a floating seed. Right before the beast itself could show up, however, a very excited cry from Magolor made them turn to him. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! There it is! I see it! I see it! I see it!" he said.

Pit not only spotted the floating seed in the middle of the arena, but he also found a rather curious sphere lying down below it. It was a sphere with rainbow, intangible colors converging at random spots over its glass-like shape, protecting the spinning golden gear inside its core. "Wow. Check that ball out," Pit commented.

"Oh please, sir Pit! Go pick it up and give it back to me!" Magolor said. "That's one of the one-hundred and twenty Energy Spheres I set out to find! You must take it!"

The other Smashers approached the hologram to see the one piece of many they were meant to find all over the different universes. They watched as Pit quickly dashed to the center and knelt down under the seed to pick the special item with his right hand, examining it closely. "Energy Sphere Get!" the angel called out, eliciting a cheer from Magolor. "No fanfare? Aww..."

"That little thing spread all over, then?" Popo asked as the hologram zoomed into the sphere Pit raised to the air. They noted that the sphere was at least the size of a young adult's hand. "Well, I thought they were a lot smaller than that..."

"It'll be a real pain to spot those from afar," Fox said.

"Maybe, but they glow in the dark!" Magolor pointed out. "I bet it'll be easier to find them at night, shining somewhere in a narrow spot on the floor. That being said, well done, sir Pit! That makes the count go down to one-hundred and nineteen Energy Spheres to go!"

"Glad to help! WHOA!" Pit heard a shrieking sound coming from high above, where he spotted the winged beast descending from the skies to take out the intruder standing in front of the seed. He pocketed the Energy Sphere away and took his stance as he looked up at the thirty-foot tall green bird with the red belly and four-clawed feet.

"That is the ugliest Phoenix I have ever seen, and it doesn't look like a Phoenix at all," Chris said while wincing, earning some stares. "What? The Phoenixes I know are red and spew fire from their feathers. That one doesn't remotely look like a normal one..."

"It can still reincarnate after getting killed. That's just about it to give it some Phoenix sense," Palutena said. "Oh, right. Pit's about to get eaten. Fight back!"

The group watched the angel fight the massive bird, having some close calls here and there where the creature would ram its glowing body on him or crush him with its large claws. Some dodging maneuvers and sneak attacks eventually took the bird down, as it was seen crashing on the ground and blowing up...where on the place where it fell, a giant beacon in the shape of the Phoenix stood tall and high into the sky.

"Why was a beacon erected?" the minister asked.

"The Phoenix likes to go out with a big flashy bang. I like its cycle of life," Hades said.

"Kinda boring when the boss can't talk and it's not alienated to a god," Palutena said, holding a cold drink for Pit upon his return. "Good job, Pit."

"Now the people won't fall for this trick Hades made!" Pit said as he stared at the beacon and then at the seed, which had been broken during the scuffle and lied down on the floor as shattered pieces.

"Oh ho ho, I wouldn't be so sure about that. That beacon you produced can be seen all over the world as a sign that the Phoenix is no more...and the Wish Seed is up for the taking, or someone already took it. I can hear the excited yells already, but it wouldn't be fun to leave things as they are. Let's give them a little nudge," Hades said. "People of the world, the Wish Seed has been liberated! This is your chance to fulfill your wildest dreams! All you have to do is conquer anyone in your way!"

The group gasped at that loud call. "You really think the people will be deceived? Think again!" Pit said.

They saw Palutena looking somber all of a sudden. "The seed of deception has been sowed, and its roots are already taking toll on the people's actions. This is all my fault for not catching up on Hades' plan sooner..." she said as she raised her staff, conjuring a sacred light where Pit was to whisk him from the floor and back to the temple. The same light appeared behind their backs, where the angel dropped down from the blinding orb. As they looked back at Pit joining their side, the goddess gave him his cold drink. The goddess turned back to the hologram and changed the location where she spotted the first sign of a skirmish.

Magolor went over to Pit. "Please, give me the Energy Sphere!" he said as he saw the angel quickly gulping his drink down and giving the alien the sphere. Magolor practically snatched the orb away and held it up above his head for the others to see its radiance. "Behold! The Energy Sphere! One piece of one-hundred and twenty!"

"Pretty..." Nana and Ms. Fit both said, their eyes glued on the golden gear acting as the core.

Lucario sensed the sphere's energy leaking out in short bursts that he picked up quickly...though, he noted that the energy signal didn't make itself known to him until Magolor grabbed it. "It does contain pure energy inside. It feels ethereal..." he noted.

Magolor put the sphere inside his robe and chuckled. "We were lucky we didn't see any of the Doomers around. This was like a nice prize free of danger to stimulate our search for the other one-hundred and nineteen spheres," he said.

"Do you have to keep repeating that big number whenever you mention those orbs?" Pit asked between gulps.

The alien twiddled his hands. "I'm just giving a friendly reminder so people don't forget..."

"Oh! You're a real nice guy. I actually forgot how many there were a second ago," the angel said with a smile, heavily clashing with the many annoyed looks the others had.

Their conversation was cut short when they heard Palutena voicing a quiet "Oh no" as she had found the first place where signs of a skirmish appeared. The Smashers and Pit looked back at the hologram.

"Is it true? People are already starting to fight so soon?" Pit asked.

Under all the teasing and playful jabs at the Smashers, there was a very harsh and cruel world that was so unnerving to see as it crumbled down on itself...

Music stops

The place where Palutena was focusing on was a random location where there were two – or possibly more than two - waging armies fighting each other under dark clouds. Screams filled the air along with flaming arrows, old steel clashing against cold steel or flesh, and large boulders catapulted to the burning town in the background; a town that surely belonged to the army charging away from it. While the armies tried to claim victory in a gruesome way where bloodshed was imminent, the burning town dealt with innocent people running away or scrambling around in a futile attempt to escape from the rain of fiery arrows that set the nearby homes ablaze. It was an extremely tragic scene to watch more so by the fact not even children were safe from the carnage. Though momentarily safe from the enemy soldiers, the town residents would be soon overrun, as the defense their army put up was waning in strength...

With shrunken irises, Chris stepped back. "T-this... T-this... I-I can't even begin to believe..." He looked away and covered his ears, making both Lucario and Fox worry with the way he was shivering on his feet. "M-make it stop... M-make it stop..."

"(NOW this happens? Seriously?)" Fox thought in frustration. "(Time to bring him back down from his trauma again...)"

The Ancient Minister was baffled at the cruel display, but not as much as the other human members. "How in the world could this happen in the span of a few minutes? Were the humans ready to fight each other at the drop of a hat?" he asked.

"It was possible. Not far away from the burning town, I can see another town beyond the mountain range," Meta Knight said. "...It's also being attacked with no army to defend it, judging the smoke trails."

"Human desire for a single wish does wonders, don't you think?" Hades was heard saying, containing his laugh. "It's something out of a fairy tale with a good climax."

"Y-you...sick god!" Mr. G&W yelled.

"I see you'd rather remind me how good I am at being bad than going down there to lend a hand to a lucky army worthy of pretty Palutena's protection, or maybe you want to aid them all?"

Palutena was a little irritated by that comment. "It will be impossible to stop the fighting in a single move. Pit, you must head down there immediately!" she ordered once she had seen the Underworld Army attacking from the air.

Pit set his drink down on the floor and started to run ahead to the central door again. "Officer Pit, reporting for duty!" he yelled, the slabs opening at his coming and closing back once he went through. He was once again seen diving down to the area in the hologram.

The goddess turned to the group. "This is going to be too much to ask of you, but unlike lava land, I want you all to assist Pit once I find a good landing spot," he said. "The Underworld Army is harvesting the souls of the deceased to grow stronger. This is just the top of Hades' scheme to get the humans to kill each other."

"How do you expect us to stop such a war of a big scale with crazed people hard to convince?" Nana asked. "I wasn't trained in the ways of diplomatic discussions!"

"Right now, we're grasping at straws," Meta Knight said. "We would only be fighting an endless war with major casualties on all sides. Surely you must understand that this task would take years to stop and mend?" Palutena only remained silence, perhaps showing the first sign of weakness to them. "The situation is at its direst point. Coming back down from that point will not be easy."

Her silence extended to the other Smashers. They were all stumped about what to do to solve the outrageously bad issue at hand. As Pit was seen blasting Underworld enemies flying around, it looked like the fight on the ground got progressively worse by the minute, with the boulders set on fire to cause even more damage and crushing unsuspecting soldiers in the battlefield and innocent victims in the burning town. "There's no humanity left in them! There's just...brutality!" Pit said, flying right above the soldiers and rising high into the air.

Ms. Fit looked on at the group still at a loss about what to do as much as she was. A dim flash in the dark clouds caught her attention, where eventually she made an audible gasp under her breath when said flash started to grow in intensity that it illuminated the clouds. "Everyone... S-something huge is coming from the clouds!" They looked back at the hologram and saw what she was talking about. Pit, being at the scene, looked up and opened up his mouth in surprise.

"W-what the heck is that?!" he yelled.

Palutena quickly pulled herself back together. "Oh no. I have to pull you back, NOW!" she said as she pulled her staff to the left, making Pit's wings take a very speedy escape where the Smashers barely saw a flaming meteor of big proportions tearing through the dark clouds and striking the center of the battlefield...

The meteor's explosion was oddly pink, though it didn't lessen the shock value it had on the group as its ravaging dome grew in size and took the entire battlefield and the burning town down in one single blow. The battle cries and flying fiery boulders that once used to cause collateral damage all came to an abrupt stop by the major object of destruction, and so were all the casualties that were unlucky enough to be caught in the massive explosion of pink light that blinded their view of the once chaotic scene...

The scene did have a positive effect on Chris, though, because the surprise snapped him out of his trance from seeing the bloodshed happen. "W-what's going on now?" his shaky, recovering voice said when the light of the explosion hit its peak.

"There was a meteor that came crashing down and blowing up the entire battlefield..." Fox explained. "...But that's the thing: it was a freaking meteor that came out of nowhere and acted like a nuke of all things." While the team didn't have to go through the pain of watching people suffer slow, painful deaths, it wasn't any better to witness an event like that happen. No doubt hundreds of people died inside that dome of explosion.

When the light of the explosion died down, the group once again was met up by a very unsettling sight...

Over the spot where the meteor had blown up, there was a huge sphere that radiated a pink light that illuminated the rest of the landscape miles around it. From afar, it was very hard to see any features, but the sphere seemed to contain a multitude of large vines connected to each other in twisted shapes. "...Apparently, explosions from random meteors can cause that in this dimension," Magolor spoke, staring blankly at the unnatural formation.

"Pit, your world is soooooo messed up," Popo complained. "Between the godly armies, people killing each other, and random meteors, I wouldn't want to come down from this temple."

"Nice of you of judging my world, but I'm afraid that meteor wasn't all that random as you believe it was," Palutena said.

"Whatever do you mean by that implication?" the minister asked. "Did Hades do this?"

"No, it was..."

It wasn't very long that the group heard a childish laugh booming from the spot where the sphere of vines was created. Their gazes fixed back on the hologram, they looked around the large area, until they realized there was someone else entirely different from Hades that had hijacked their unlucky godly telepathy. Moreover, the owner of that childish laugh appeared in the hologram in the form of a gigantic, intangible figure, standing in the way of the sun shining through a single hole in the dark clouds.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Nice shot, if I do say so myself!" the figure laughed jovially and maniacally to the point the Smashers were perturbed to hear that childish tone laugh at the misery of hundreds. When the figure revealed itself to be holding a giant wooden staff, it...or rather, she pointed it forward to where Pit was seen flying. "Good riddance, human scum! The world is better off without you!" she proclaimed as her figure, uncovered by the sun's light being swallowed in the now dark pink clouds, revealed itself to them.

Although the gigantic hologram that was next to the sphere of vines gave an impression that she was that big, the figure was that of a young 8-year old girl. From her choice in clothing style, she leaned towards a nature style, with a hair brooch sporting thorny vines outside its green petals and purple gem placed on her long, light blond hair tied on a ponytail that reached the backside of her ankles, with a nearly-equally long strand of hair on the front of her exposed forehead wearing a vine headband. She wore a simple dress with the top having a violet pattern that covered her chest (with a violet chest on top) and shoulders, the middle section in a fine red color that resembled that of the color of a red rose, and the bottom section having the color tone of a pink rose acting as a long skirt. The dress also had vines that separated each individual section. Under her skirt, she wore dark green sandals with brown barks acting as sprouts over her ankle area. Her left arm had a small and tight wristband, but her right arm was completely covered with the same pattern as the hand gripped that big wooden staff with the sturdy, arc-like end on top.

While some people would mistake the child for a nice girl, the way she appeared to the group utterly wrecked any sense of a friendly demeanor, what with the obliteration of the humans and all.

"Um, who's that?" asked Nana.

"That is the goddess of nature, Viridi," Palutena said.

"Another god who's seemingly evil?" Mr. G&W said. "And she looks like a wee child!"

"Not all gods look super old. And please don't call me old or anything. We just like to look like this to mortals," the goddess said. "I wanted to show off my curves to appeal at a wider audience, for example."

"Not REALLY the time to talk about that," Fox said as soon as she started to do some poses. Some shielded their eyes.

"You're right." She stood right. "Pit, go check things out over that place. I want to see how much damage it caused."

"On it," Pit said as his wings accelerated to the targeted spot. As soon as he started getting closer, he was met up by enemies, but not the demonic underlings of the Underworld. Disturbingly enough, he was spotted by flying, leaf winged chestnuts with mono eyes chasing off the same demons he was taking care of a few minutes ago.

"Flying chestnuts?" said Ms. Fit. "Not the edible kind, I suppose..."

"Yup, a hundred percent not edible but a hundred percent hostile," Palutena said.

"Greetings, o famous Palutena," they all heard the other goddess call out through telepathy, which Fox sighed to in the background. "How've you been? Busy for sure, right?"

"And you're Viridi, the ruler of the earth and all living things..."

"I'm flattered you know about me. How do you like my true work of art I just did on those horrendous humans?" she asked in a sweet-yet-creepy tone. "So proud to see the vines take back the earth to how it used to be: when the humans weren't around ravaging my precious land!"

Nana shuddered. "Okay, is she on our side or not? I can tell right away her way to deal with this was too much," she said.

Viridi overheard the extra guest. "Excuse me? Are you belittling me for solving this stupid conflict where the humans started to destroy the land over a fake item out of a fantasy tale?" she asked rhetorically. "This had to be done! Humans are driven by selfish desire. They think only of themselves. They were killing each other for what? A WISH? A FAKE wish?! They've strayed too far from their intended path. That's where my Reset Bombs come in. To help return Earth to its natural state!"

"How can you say that when you exterminated humans, who are also living beings?" Meta Knight asked.

"They used to have my protection long ago until their selfish selves started to resurface," Viridi explained. "That's when I indirectly left Palutena with the task of keeping them safe because I grew tired of them all. But it takes a few years out of focus to watch them tear themselves apart over their wishes of grandeur, and this happens before long! The nature I'm entitled to protect, destroyed during their meager scuffles! As the Goddess of Nature, I'm ready to lift my green thumbs to squash them all back into the dirt!"

They were horrified that a goddess with a childish appearance was seeking the destruction of an entire race as an ultimate solution. "You're jumping at conclusions here! It's not fair for a lot of people who aren't culprits to the destruction they caused!" Pit shouted.

"But those same innocent people will continue the cycle of destruction. It's just like taking care of your garden. You don't want those young weeds to grow and ruin your flowers. Pluck them all and the problem is solved," she chuckled. "My weeds are the good kind, though."

"Y-your method is still so wrong!" shouted Chris. "You gave up on them all so simply like that..."

The Goddess of Nature gasped when she had sensed a human presence in the talk. "What th-?! Palutena! Don't tell me you let a weak human side for your cause...and talk back to me while at it!" she yelled.

"Sorry. He came with the Smasher Package," Palutena said.

The teen shook his head. "W-weak human? I've done a lot of good deeds to help others with my own power!" he shot back at her.

"I simply don't have the drive to keep talking to some lowly human with good intentions. The truth is, I'm very biased against humanity as a whole, which I'm not ashamed to say aloud!" she said loudly, making them look bored.

Lucario growled menacingly. "Don't you even dare call Chris a lowly human, you imbecile," he warned.

"Oh, shut up, you weird humanoid blue dog! I get more nauseous when nature mixes animals with human attributes!" Viridi yelled as Pit got closer to the site of the crash landing. Up close the vines actually formed a gigantic sphere protected in thin but very sturdy vines that barred outsiders from entering on land. But in the air, there was a small hole where Pit could enter easily as he shot down Viridi's forces. "...Okay, I kind of like it when I can use that kind of people against humanity to scare them a little."

"You're a real saint," duly noted Fox.

"Stop it with the jabs at each other, please," the minister said as he saw Pit entering the sphere of vines. "What is this Reset Bomb you mentioned a moment earlier?"

"Reset Bombs are meant to blow up at designated locations and return the earth back to its natural state," Viridi gloated. "Side effects include the obliteration of the human race and the overwhelming sense to take care of trees until the host expires...well, if they survive the explosion."

"You turn into a tree hugger for life? How horrible!" Magolor voiced.

The inside of the Reset Bomb had a chaotic structure in and out of itself. The branches radiated with an ominous pink glow – just like the hundreds of pink leaves - as they occupied a large area of space almost everywhere they were seen. The size of the wooden limbs varied in size, and there were some odd places where remnants of buildings were trapped in them with no sign of any other human being other than Viridi's underlings patrolling the place on the vines. With so much pink and bark growing out of control, some of them thought it was Peach's nightmare come true. "This is a pretty twisted version of nature," Pit said.

"Twisted goddess with a twisted sense of gardening and justice towards humans she thinks are twisted? They fit just fine, if you ask me," Palutena said.

"They're the twisted ones!" yelled a frustrated Viridi. "Humans massacre Earth's creatures, decimate the trees, and exploit the land. They're enemies of life itself! Tell me, Palutena, why do they deserve special treatment?"

"They're closer to the gods than other creatures. Intervening in their affairs cannot be done by the gods. You broke the rule when you tossed that bomb on their heads," the Goddess of Light accused.

"Humans are trampling over the rights of every other living thing! Should I just sit back and watch as they continue to exploit the earth?!" she argued, her temper reaching a boiling point. "No. I must exterminate them all before it's too late! That includes the one in your party!"

"Holy crap, is she pissed at judging thousands of people with some innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire!" Fox said, looking angry.

As Chris found it odd she didn't target the other three humans in the party, Ms. Fit spoke up next. "Last I checked, there are four humans in this team, including me," she said.

"He irked me first more than the other girl, but... Huh? You're a human?" Viridi asked.

"Yes... Why would you think I'm not?"

"No reason..." the young goddess trailed off, wincing at the fitness trainer's white skin.

As Pit blasted a giant fish-bone like enemy, he said with determination, "Wiping out humanity is not the answer to solve this problem, Viridi! If you're so sure about that, then we have no choice but to oppose your forces!" Most of the Smashers nodded.

"The Forces of Nature are not what you're used to," she said in a dark tone.

"No kidding. I could've sworn I saw flying chestnuts for the entree," Magolor said.

"Hey, don't you diss my cute little Nutskis!" the young goddess shouted indignantly.

"Those are cute?" most of them said in unison.

"Shut up, all of you! You have a bad taste in telling what's cute and what's not!" Viridi yelled. "Ugh, I hate you so much, I'll just have Pit meet Cragalanche!"

"Who?" Pit asked, just before he flew right up into an open space of air where he found a flaming chunk of rock come out of from the top of the vine sphere. He yelled when he saw the fiery meteor directed at his direction, and he eventually dodged, though the force of the rock's descent threw his movement off that Palutena wasn't able to further control his flight path...and deep down he fell, whereas the fiery meteor passed right through the tight spaces of the area and reached the solid ground further down into the area.

"PIT!" many shouted as the angel's scrambled screams died down the further he went down the twisted forest of pink branches...

Reset Bomb Forest

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Reset Bomb Forest (Ch. 11)

The hologram was quick to find Pit scrambled on a flat ground high above the solid ground down below. The place where he fell was sustained by the thick branches all around him, and there was only one path he could take to move forward. With his location in mind, Palutena turned to the Smashers. "A quick question: how many of you are allergic to roses made by goddesses?" she asked.

"I'm fairly certain no one is allergic to that...but why would you ask?" Ms. Fit asked.

Palutena's staff glowed as she smiled. "Just checking," she said. After that, the Smashers felt their feet parting from the lustrous floor...and then the next thing they knew, they all found themselves standing all around the fallen Pit. They gasped at the shock of being warped to a much different location, though Meta Knight, unfazed by the quick action, went over to help Pit stand up.

"Seriously?! Couldn't you have warned us you were going to drop us off so quickly?" asked Mr. G&W asked.

"I like being fast when it comes to this," Palutena spoke into their minds. "Now don't go complaining and finish the job you were sent to do."

"You didn't tell us what we should do in this mentally-scarring forest of pinkness before you warped us out from your temple," Fox said, eyes narrowed as he inspected the strange pink world they were in.

"Why you! I don't care what the fox says here about my forest! And Palutena! Way to make things fair for Pit's bout against Cragalanche by making all those weirdos join him!" Viridi complained. Mr. G&W voiced out his offense to that description.

"To be honest, it is fair. I haven't deployed a single Centurion since Medusa attacked and I made Pit do all the work by himself. You have deployed hundreds of your forces, which makes it unfair for little Pit. But now I can use their help and still make it look fair between our forces," Palutena boasted.

The Smashers exchanged bewildered gazes and frowned. "Wow... Just wow," Nana said as she kept blinking in utter shock at the goddess' treatment of his only soldier, and in general how she had new pawns.

"What? My Centurions could die with a single sneeze to the face but Pit can endure more than a dozen. It's worked wonders, hasn't it?"

Pit stood up upright and tried to look tough despite taking a big fall. "Yeah! I've been doing great by myself!" he boasted.

"Oh, the massive amounts of pity I feel for Pit now..." muttered a sympathetic Chris.

"Going back on topic, our current mission is to defeat this Cragalanche guy to be done with this nightmarish place? Is it possible to find the Subspace Army or Magolor's possessions?" Popo wondered.

"As a matter of fact, I sense an Energy Sphere somewhere in the area!" Magolor piped up. "I can't tell for sure where it is, but the reading should get stronger the closer I get to it. Since I'm getting a little sick and scared of seeing so much...pink from the branches, may I propose we burn this place down?"

"Ha ha ha! Go ahead and try. The branches the Reset Bomb creates are fire resistant for hundreds of years," Viridi boasted. "You'll never get to outlive the time limit in time to burn it down. When a bomb goes off, it's there to stay... But it'll take a few years for the land to go back to its green state. And who says you'll get to live a complete day in there? You're in for some surprises. Enjoy the ride."

"...How is it possible that a Goddess of Nature can be outright sadistic, cynical, and psychotic?" the Ancient Minister asked, causing Viridi to bottle up her frustration at those three words.

"Can we stop badmouthing her? We should get a move on through this place," Ms. Fit said.

Right before he could move, Chris felt his pocket shaking. He took out his DS and opened its screens to look at Prof. Kawashima's face. "I feel like I need to remind you about your only list of jobs available," he said. "As you may remember, Master Hand said your job list has been handicapped by only letting you choose the jobs that are closely related to the party members in the group."

"Oh... Right..." Chris looked at his hands covered in the same dark skin Lucario's hands were. "What are the jobs available for me?"

"The Tinker job because of Fox's, Mr. G&W's, and ROB's inclusion; the Aura Apprentice because of Lucario, the Chozo Arts because of Ms. Fit, the Fake King because of the Ice Climbers, the Hymn Fonic User because of Pit, and the Moogle Knight because of Meta Knight," Kawashima said. "I think having three people share the same job greatly reduced your choices, but it's also good when all of them are in the same battle for quick combined attacks."

The World Traveler was concerned that only one job out of all of those was a long range one. If Pit hadn't been included in the group, Chris would have had a bad time trying to fight at close range. The other jobs needed attention to grow stronger...but his trauma of fighting wasn't entirely solved yet. Cursing himself, he ultimate chose Pit's compatible job and changed outfits in a quick flash of light.

"You've made your choice!" the AI said. "If you want a refresher about the abilities and skills that one job has, consult the book you got from the hands. I'd recommend you do that now... And be sure to share your jobs with the team. The stat changes they get can mean a lot during a battle!" It was all for his survival in the many battles that were yet to come, so the World Traveler took out the book and browsed to his job's page...

Job: Fonic Hymn User (can transform into ?)

D: A specialized healer that can also strike from up-close using knives for throwing. Light magic rules this job's offensive potential.

Weapon Type: Rod

Command Set: Hymns

Compatible Smasher: Pit

Stat Changes

HP: Below-Average

MP: Above-Average

Attack: Worst

Defense: Worst

Magic: Best – Above-Average Intelligence – Best Mind

Magic Defense: Average

Speed: Below-Average

Evasion: Below-Average

- Skill List -

Nocturnal Light – Severed Fate – Pow Hammer – First Aid – Healing Circle – Eclair de Larmes – Resurrection – Holy Lance

- Ability List -

Void Attack (occasional anti-stagger) – Heavy Magic (adds a stun effect to offensive magic)

- Final Smash -

Fortune's Arc

"You've yet to learn Healing Circle for this one, but you're really close to learning it," Kawashima pointed out. "After that, it's only a matter of time before you reach the next job. Say, since abilities were added, I can set the ones on the job to couple your Close Bond one. Would you like me to do that?"

"Please," Chris said, and the abilities were set. Maybe, he thought, the chances of surviving had increased knowing his job's in and outs.

"Done! You're all ready to go... No, wait. There's one thing you haven't done with your skill set. Do you vaguely remember Master Hand mentioning how you can use a second skill set from other different jobs?"

"Oh! Um, yes, I think. I don't remember that well because my head was somewhere else..."

"Well, you should choose one of the many skill sets you have to pull some unexpected moves on the enemy," Kawashima said. "For example, since you like to read up enemies to know what they have, why don't you keep the Scholar's skill set – Studies – so you can keep the ever so useful Study ability along with some Black Magic and White Magic? Do remember that you won't gain experience for secondary skill sets unlike the primary one that's tied to the job you're using... Sadly, you cannot have the Scholar's abilities until you have truly mastered the job."

The World Traveler was the curious type of the many of the group he was with. Not knowing what the enemy had would be a big disadvantage, much less so when he recalled the bosses were going to be stronger to deal with. Taking his virtual AI's suggestion to heart, the teen agreed with his options. "Please set it up for me," Chris said.

"Done! And with this, you're all done. The menu is going to get locked out on your way down... Good luck!" the professor said before the teen pocketed the DS.

"Yeah! He chose my job!" Pit suddenly shouted, startling Chris.

"Truly he has the best taste," Palutena commented.

"I-I have no choice but to choose this one for now. I'm afraid of getting too close to an enemy just to get punched in the face..." Chris trailed off, getting Lucario to stand closer to him.

"No worries there! I'll do my best to keep you from getting horribly mangled up. I can't let them get rid of a vital party member of my little squad!" Pit said with a pumped fist over his head.

Pit had been a little too hard to read since they noticed the abrupt change in his composed personality, but Chris sighed that he could still count on his help to stay alive and well. Under that 10-year old facade, Pit was probably still the same guy he had helped when the former saintly goddess Palutena had put that test on him... Little did Chris know that he was putting a lot of expectations on Pit if he wished to see that smart side of his resurface again.

The group proceeded to move forward, until Lucario stopped in his tracks and sensed different traces of life energy across the twisted place. "I'm sensing human auras all over this place," he said. "...There are still surviving humans somehow."

"Some humans survived the catastrophe of this bomb?" asked Mr. G&W in surprise.

"There is one up ahead..." They walked forward to an area where a twisted branch occupied the center around a flat rock surface that was cracked up. Not even the branches looked safe for touching, because a few of them were covered in thick thorns on the walls as they saw to their left. Morbidly enough, they spotted Viridi's underlings in the form of three living plant cannons being carried by tree stumps with eyes. Behind those enemies, there was a human soldier trying to pry himself off from some vines that held him captive. Too weak to yell for help, he was quickly falling unconscious.

"Say hi to my heavy hitters: Pew Pews!" Viridi said. "Stay around to see their third eyes behind the cannon lids, and don't bother knowing where the cannonballs came from."

"I'll just do this..." The Ancient Minister's eyes flashed red as she shot a big laser blast that crossed the distance between the group and the unsuspecting Pew Pews. The shot made one get pushed back and bounce off the wall, bumping into the other two and pushing them all down a hole. With the path clear, the group quickly went over to set the soldier free. "There."

"Ugh. I need to train those to have better hearing," the blond goddess complained.

"Why didn't you just, you know, alert them of my guys' presence?" the light goddess asked.

"Testing! It was all testing! You're a bad boss when you can't test your own servants!"

"Oh, I've been testing Pit for a loooooong while now...and I haven't stopped." The Smashers shuddered at that fact.

"Who's the bad guy in this story again?"

Once the soldier noticed that he wasn't alone, and that seeing an angel like Pit meant good things, he mustered up his energy to yell. "H-help me, please! I-I want to go home!" he pleaded. Pit did so by using his orbitars' shooting prowess on the vines that tried to suffocate the soldier. The vines received the blows from the weapon and easily disintegrated upon contact, setting the soldier free. As he fell on his feet, he stood up and thanked the angel. "T-this must be a sign of the Goddess Palutena casting her divine blessings on me!"

"You bet!" Pit said. "But right now, I want you to leave this place and make it somewhere safe. My team and I will get to the bottom of this whole war. Lady Palutena will take you away."

"Thank you! Oh, and I also have this overwhelming sense of taking care of trees..." the soldier thanked from the bottom of his heart just before Palutena herself took him away by whisking him with a saintly glow of light. In the next second, the soldier disappeared...

….and in his place, the most random of things appeared: a perfectly nice ice cream on a cone. The group was freaked out by the piece of food suddenly appearing before them, but only one of them that wasn't Kirby thought differently.

"FLOOR ICE CREAM!" Pit cheered and immediately swallowed the whole thing in one bite, causing a lot of grimaces from his group and even the goddesses. "...What?"

"I do not need to be a fitness instructor to know it's not really healthy to eat food from the floor," Ms. Fit advised. "The deed has been done. I pray you don't get brain freeze now..."

"Pit eats a lot of questionable things I'm not so supportive of," Palutena said with a smile.

"Floor food gives you health!" Pit argued with a shaking fist. "My friends even do that a lot during our friendly Smash matches!"

"Yeah, but over there you can't get sick. This is the open world where we don't have Master Hand's protection from eating from the floor," Popo pointed out. "You picked that up from a very pinky place. How do you know Viridi didn't make that appear and hid poison ivy as a secret lethal ingredient?"

"To be totally honest, I don't even know where that ice cream came from," Viridi said with a wincing expression. "I should've tossed some poison ivy now that you mention it."

"Pit, we all forbid you from eating anything that appears out of the blue," the minister said.

The angel visibly sulked. "It's your fault if you don't want to eat free food and you lack taste buds. More for me," he said.

"You and Kirby would suddenly make the greatest of pals," noted Nana.

"Let's move on, please! We don't want that Subspace Army claiming my stuff like it's theirs!" Magolor hurried as he moved on ahead, with Meta Knight following close by until everyone else followed them further in.

"Subspace Army? There's another army wrecking havoc on nature?" Viridi asked. "I won't have any of that in this world if that's the case! I had enough of people thinking it's a free action to destroy nature as they please!"

It was worth a shot to try to convince the psychopathic goddess to work with them against a mutual enemy. "Um, Viridi!" Chris spoke. "It's pretty clear to me you like to protect nature. And the Subspace Army won't even care about doing some destruction. Would it be a good idea for you and your forces to aid us?"

There was a dead silence that soon followed as they entered an enclosed area where concrete and branches met.

Then to the teen's chagrin, he heard the nature lover chuckle. "It's against my policy to partner up with a group that supports the selfish humans. I wouldn't be caught dead working with you all! I can take care of any extra army just fine! Anybody who gets in the way will get the thorns!" she said proudly.

"B-but that's not a good idea! You don't even know how dangerous that army can be!" the teen shouted back. "They already took a friend's home when we couldn't do anything to prevent it..."

"Well, that friend had it coming if they couldn't defend themselves in time, which won't happen to me as long as I continue on living."

That insult directed to Rosalina made Chris a little angry. "There's no reasoning with Viridi! She won't ever join our fight against our enemies!" Pit said.

"I see her as the type of person who will eventually eat her words when she starts to feel the heat," Palutena said. "Let us be the ones putting the heat on her."

"I'll put the heat on you all by strangling your mortal bodies and muffling your screaming mouths with my vines," Viridi said with a somewhat psychotic smirk.

"That's swell. She's also a person not above bondage. That adds up very badly to her cute looks," Magolor said as he shuddered at the thought.

By the time the group got to an area where it looked like a cave with holes and two other paths barred by purple vines, Ms Fit audibly grunted. "We've walked for a while now and I haven't done much to help," she said.

"Palutena must be very desperate if she hired a lowly...human(?) fitness trainer to fight," Viridi noted snidely. "Your kind is better off staying in the back lines or at home. The Forces of Nature are pretty flexible enough that they don't need fitness training."

"She killed the pain on my back earlier. They have their uses," Palutena said as she twisted her body a bit.

Ms. Fit felt challenged by the blond goddess. "Oh, is that so? Fine, I shall prove you all how I can be of help," she said just as the group noticed there was a living worm monster – a Hugworm – standing a few feet away from them. To their shock, the fitness trainer jogged her way away from them and towards the enemy. "Let me handle this one, guys."

"No! Somebody stop her!" Nana shrieked as she grabbed her head. "I can't bear to watch a female representative perish!"

The Goddess of Light looked horrified. "Oh no, we can't have that! Pit, protect the pathetic amount of female cast members!" she ordered.

Pit grunted at how slow he was to react. "It's no use! She's already been sighted! The roster will suffer a great loss today!" she said.

"Are you two concerned or are you making fun of us all? I can't tell," Mr. G&W said.

Ms. Fit had already been locked into combat with the agile Hugworm. It was an expert in digging and burrowing from the ground to sneak into its enemies and strangle them viciously. Though the Smashers rushed ahead to help her out and get an easy victory, they stopped running when they saw her...charging an energy ball of light in front of her stretched body to the air. When the ball of light was fully charged, they heard a whistle sound, and the fitness trainer shot the sphere of concentrated energy to the Hugworm going after her. With no brains to understand how to dodge, the Hugworm crashed its strange beak into the ball and got pushed out from the ground, its tangly body falling unconscious. "Salute the sun!" the fitness trainer called out when she had shot the ball.

Then Ms. Fit took a deep breathing, and Lucario was the only one who sensed an increase in power in her body. The fitness trainer jogged to the Hugworm and then used the Arm & Leg Lift pose to push it forward into the wall of the back. With the worm stunned into place, the woman stood up, took out a soccer ball from nowhere, jumped into the air, and dunked it with a hard hit to smack the Hugworm squarely on its head. The force of the attack ended up exterminating the worm as its limp body fell back into a hole, the soccer ball also rolling down into it.

Landing gracefully on the ground, Ms. Fit opened her arms above her and turned back to the astonished group. "How did I do?" she asked.

"Did she just...charge an energy ball in front of her waist?" asked Pit confused.

"And did she just dunk my pretty Hugworm with a soccer ball?" Viridi asked with utter bewilderment.

The fitness trainer joined her hands as she blushed gray spots on her cheeks. "Was it bad? Was it too showy?" she asked shyly.

"Uh, well, um, that was quite an unusual way to fight," Fox admitted, her shyness rubbing off on him.

Nana rolled her eyes. "Pfft, it's no different than Peach smacking her butt against people when she has to," she said.

"I thought she used her hips for that?" Popo wondered.

"That...was...awesome," Palutena said in recognition. "You'll definitely make the female representation proud in Smash Bros."

Magolor tossed his hands up. "I never doubted any of you would be so bad at fighting! I can't expect any less from Kirby's friends," he boasted.

Ms. Fit calmly walked to them as some gave her proud smiles of recognition. "Thank you for not laughing at me. I did think my fighting style was a little too odd compared to yours," she said.

"So her fighting style is using yoga poses? Can't say I didn't expect that before I laid my eyes on her," Palutena said. "Look out, Viridi. You shall taste defeat by way of yoga poses poking your forces to death."

Viridi gruntled very loudly. "The other gods will never let me live it down for the next centuries if that ever happens! FORCES OF NATURE, DROP THE HAMMER ON THESE IMPUDENT ENEMIES AND EXTERMINATE THAT FITNESS TRAINER AND THE HUMANS!" she announced loudly, though her call didn't make a flood of enemies come out from anywhere nearby.

"Never! I won't allow any of your green thumb fanatics shrink the female side of the roster!" Pit called out bravely.

"Are they protecting me just because I'm a girl?" Ms. Fit asked Meta Knight.

"Unfortunately, the lack of females in our group runs deep as a lamentable issue most of us wish to resolve, so...I'd say yes," the knight said.

"I-I do care about the party members no matter who or what they are," Chris tried to reassure her.

The purple vines barring the way to two different paths – the left one to a destroyed piece of a tower that was oddly steamy and the right one leading to a straight pad where a treasure chest was at the end – retreated into the ground. As they did, glitters of light fell next to the right path...and turned into a slice of strawberry cake on the floor. "FLOOR CAKE!" Pit cheered as he dashed over to eat the mysterious piece of food, until a peeved Fox held him by the shoulders for a little while until the angel's eagerness for eating food helped him overpower the disgruntled vulpine.

"Where's all this food coming from?" Nana asked. "Palutena, is this your doing?"

"No, it's not my doing. This is the doing of Chefras, the God of Culinary Food," Palutena said in a serious tone. "I heard he's a god who's completely neutral and aids whoever he deems worthy of eating his health-restoring dishes for the sake of saving mankind from wrongdoers like Medusa, Hades, and Viridi. Truly we must be blessed for having him on our side. Our victory is assured now that he has decided to help our noble cause in the name of justice and some love. I speculate he was the one who made that ice cream appear earlier."

"Wow, really?"

"For goddesses' sake, she's lying!" Viridi yelled. "Seriously? A God of Culinary Food? A god like that would be my sworn enemy, cooking up living beings instead of letting them each other raw! Let the meat be raw, darn it!"

"I hate raw meat..." the meat-lover Lucario muttered to himself.

The group proceeded through the right path. An eager (and full) Pit went to open the chest at the end to find a bow weapon no one else but him could use. Close to the entrance of that path, there was a jump pad that they all took to go up in height to an open area outside guarded by two Nutskis and other enemies. Those other enemies were a flower cannon standing on the center called Lethinium, and a foreign harpy monster with purple hair rolled into two buns and orange feathers called Syren. The enemies there were seemingly trying to take down the Syren until they all noticed the group's presence and agreed on an indirect truce by starting to attack them all.

"That Syren is not part of Viridi's forces," Palutena pointed out. "It's a leftover from Hades' army after the Reset Bomb blew up."

"It's a humanoid bird from the Underworld with a lust for bloodshed. I'd never take care of such an unruly bird specimen," Viridi said with disgust. "You're allowed to pluck its feathers down, but I don't mind it slashing the misfits with its gusty screams either."

"I'll just do this!" Pit said as he charged forward by himself. His orbitars fully charged, he leaped forward and caused his weapon to great a giant moving shield that moved slowly through the air. Despite how slow it was, the Syren flew right into it and was blasted off from the area. That didn't mean the other enemies were taken down, as they quickly focused on Pit. Their focus was short-lived once Pit's cavalry rushed up ahead and took them all down with projectiles, close range slashing blows, and Ms. Fit's strange Sun Salutation move.

"How does it feel to charge an energy ball in front of your waist?" Nana asked curiously.

"It feels good after letting it go because it heals me a little," Ms. Fit noted.

"And before...?"

"Yeah, it feels strange then..."

When the Syren had been defeated, a chocolate bar fell on the floor. Nobody was fast enough to stop Pit from picking the dubious piece of food from the floor as he yelled "FLOOR CHOCOLATE!" Strangely, he didn't eat it right after taking it...but he went over to Lucario and showed it to him. "I forgot. You really like chocolate, don't you?" he asked with a sincere smile that was far more demeaning than his owner didn't think it was.

"..." A pissed Lucario stared sideways at a bored Chris. Chris understood the bad joke and nodded, and Lucario punched Pit right in his gut, making him double over in pain and fall on the floor where he started to eat the chocolate for himself to recover from that nasty blow. "Don you ever try to associate me with others. We're not the same," he warned Pit.

"A-at least I get to eat it... Urk..." grumbled Pit. Some Smashers sadistically smiled. "Ms. Fit...would you give me a yoga session...to fix this?" Ms. Fit wondered if it was good idea, because she also was getting a little tired of the angel's antics.

"Hey, I need Pit in good shape. Would you mind not punching his gut?" Palutena asked.

"Oh no, by all means, let them," Viridi said with a laugh. "Friendly fire and chocolate-induced acne are the best methods to take care of yourself."

Time passed as the Smashers barreled through the Forces of Nature stationed at every corner of the twisted world of branches as they kept saving the unfortunate but lucky surviving soldiers from the catastrophe. They reached a winding maze where they weren't sure where to go...until Pit rubbed his eyes when he saw steam coming from one direction. "Could it be...?!" He didn't bother telling the others about his sudden sprinting move, which forced them to follow his trail until they saw him stopping at a dead end, where he looked down and jumped off. Shocked that the angel was going to get into trouble, the group carefully leaned forward the edge of where he had jumped to look down...

Pit was seen lying down on his back in a large, steamy hot spring. The Smashers were much too bored to bother sighing with the dull looks on their faces. "A HUGE HOT SPRING!" Pit yelled.

"Random food, and now a random hot spring in this place? Why do we keep finding these strange things?" asked Popo as he and Nana backed off from the hot steam.

"Our world is rich in hot springs. Pit here is a huge fan of hot springs that he doesn't care dipping in with his clothes on," Palutena said. Pit was too busy getting refreshed.

"Huh. I do remember he was never that much into them back home..." Chris muttered.

"After that kick Fox tossed at my sacred buns earlier...I feel much betteeeeeeeer..." said a drowsy Pit, causing many to groan in disgust. Fox was just about to head down there and make the pain on the sacred buns worse until a deadpan Meta Knight blocked his way with one hand.

"Palutena, you better teach your little servant some manners saying those scandalous things so casually!" Viridi said, her cheeks blushing.

"It's no use. Pit is unstoppable! I fear we won't survive his advances for too long..." Palutena lamented.

"I'm not getting my hopes up thinking she really meant half of that," Mr. G&W said.

"Heeeey guuuyssss..." Pit slowly called to them, waving a slow hand above him. "Come down here... It's awesome... You can take your clothes off and stay here for a long while to forget about everything in the world..."

Meta Knight took on the role of being the mature one of the group and dove down where Pit was. Pit was about to protest he was getting out from his favorite spot so quickly until he saw the knight take flight right above him and sliced a Hugworm in half behind Pit's head. The angel and the others had been busy looking at Pit that the enemy was hiding in the steam for a sneak attack.

"Whoa!" Pit sat up and looked at the knight landing behind his back. "Thanks!"

"Yes, now I'll thank you after I drag you out from this place. We have dire business to attend to," Meta Knight said.

Loud protests coming from the angel got closer and closer to the group until Pit was dropped back to their side, with Meta Knight landing calmly next to Magolor. "You guys are mean," Pit sulked with crossed arms until Lucario pulled him back to his feet.

"I can sense that Cragalanche creature's aura nearby. He is waiting on the ground level below us," Lucario told the group. "There are no more soldiers within my range asking for help, but...there are no bodies either. This only means that the hundreds of people that were here before that bomb went off are all..."

"They are all no more," Viridi said. "A small fraction of humanity was obliterated for good. This is one small victory for me, and one grave loss to the selfish humans. Can't wait to return the whole world back to its green, humanless state."

Being a guardian of life by default due to his power, Lucario narrowed his eyes. "I am utterly disgusted by your lack of sympathy for human life, Viridi. I cannot believe a goddess like yourself would choose death as an option to solve the issues you have with an entire race. Have you no shame for your crimes on life?" he asked her. Chris didn't like how the conversation was going to go from there, while Palutena silently waited and watched the argument unfold.

"I rule on all life in this world! You have no right to call me out on my actions, you living life detector! Do you have an idea how annoying and sad it is to watch the world rot because of this one race of people that won't just understand the gravity of their actions so they can think they have the right to shape the land as they see fit?! Nonsense! I have given them their time to reconsider, but just as I predicted, they ALL decide to shape the world into another wasted place like the Underworld!" Viridi complained loudly. "I am more disgusted that a guy like you who can sense life with your aura is in league with the humans! ...Say, what would you say if you helped me out?" The group exchanged shocked looks and stared at Lucario. "Come on, you certainly cannot disagree how stupid the human race was a few moments ago, and you want to find a real answer... Well, I'm doing my job, but Palutena's forces and the Underworld Army are giving me a headache. With them in the way, I can't do this quickly. But with a person like you in my ranks..."

"...I would rather pluck your precious roses and shove them down your throat before I ever considered that asinine idea," Lucario said darkly. His response caused the group to break in a loud cheer, and he felt the need to smile when he saw his trainer sincerely smiling his way and generally feeling proud of him.

Viridi and Palutena were both speechless until the blond goddess' inner grunts leaked out from her gritted teeth and the green-haired goddess stood upright and proud. "W-why you little stinky dog!" Viridi hollered, but she couldn't miss out in trying to convince the Aura Pokémon from joining her. He fitted right in with her Forces of Nature. "Why do you side with them?! Why do you have to be so ironically annoying helping the very problem I'm trying to fix here?! Don't give me a stupid fact that the humans are closer to us gods!"

"One, extinguishing life, unless ultimately necessary against a few exceptions, is looked down upon from where I come from, which you are fine doing it with no shame," Lucario began. "Two, you generalized an entire race as a bad influence, which is no different than being racist. And three..." he looked at Chris and smiled a bit at him (while Popo trailed off his "Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurn!" comment in the background), "...I have learned from my owner and trainer Chris that some or all humans are worth protecting from threats like you..." He glared up at the sky just as Chris rubbed a tear from his right eye. "My first point should tell you I would stop this fighting against you if you could understand the point Pit is trying to get across. After saying my third point, I wonder if your overall thoughts against humanity would change if a human would convince you th-"

"Blah blah blah!" Viridi interrupted. "All I understood from that sappy explanation is that you've been captured like some Pokémon to do the bidding of that one human tagging along with you all!"

"I am a Pokémon."

"...Really? Huh... I guess I shouldn't have stopped learning my typing chart since the third Generation... But anyway, all would be fine with you if I obliterated your precious trainer; the chain tying you to the humans, right? You're just being controlled by him that you're not willing to change sides... But that's okay with me. I just have to make him disappear forever to get me a fine commander for my forces."

The proud feeling Chris felt was all taken down by sheer horror when she said that, and he quickly froze, staring into empty air. It also caused Lucario to growl. The Smashers similarly reacted, but only one of them was irked so much that he snapped and yelled at her. "Over my fucking dead body, you psychopathic bitch of nature!" Fox yelled. If Viridi hadn't been silent before, she was now with her twitching right eye.

"Aaand we're back to the first base in an even worse position," Pit said.

"Shh, Pit. This is getting good," muttered Palutena to Pit personally.

The Goddess of Nature, her jaw dropped, didn't say anything. The group waited for her to unleash hell on them after the vulpine snapped. In the meantime, the frozen Chris snapped out of his trance and recovered his composure. "...Thank you for defending me, you guys," he said with worry in his eyes. "But...maybe we shouldn't have argued so strongly against her like that."

"It's my fault, Chris..." Lucario said with shame as he looked down at his feet. "She made me snap first and I kept running my mouth without thinking..."

"But you were right on everything you said," Ms. Fit said as she pinched her chin. "She is doing this in the most unforgiving way. Somebody had to call her out sooner or later."

"And besides," Fox said as he rested his right hand on Chris's left shoulder, "she just doesn't know when she has crossed the line twice on some people. Feels really good to vent it all off on the enemy."

"That could lead to even more stress on the body if it's not done properly or if it's done on someone you like to spend the time with," the fitness trainer said, causing Fox to roll his eyes.

Meta Knight started to walk down the thick branch path that he thought was going to take them to Cragalanche. "Although we have the best intentions in mind, I do not support how we talked back to her in the most foul way. To remind you all, we are fighting a goddess; a deity possibly stronger than all of us combined," the knight said.

"Ah, about that... Us gods vary differently in strength," Palutena chimed in. "We're just overrated lieutenants with supernatural powers and fountains of youth thrown in for good measure. It wouldn't be crazy if a single lesser being like Ms. Fit could take down a god by themselves. I could toss you Pit, but it wouldn't matter if I got punched in the face. The same is true with Viridi."

"..." Meta Knight waited for her to continue.

"I did say humans tend to think too highly of us gods more than necessary, didn't I?"

"...Awesome," Popo said with a smile, doing a few swings with his hammer. "I'm not afraid of smacking Viridi in the face with my hammer now!"

"But technically..." Palutena continued, "more often than not, taking down a god can mean disastrous results for the realms they have been entitled to protect. Taking Viridi down directly would lead to nature rotting and dying away, for example."

"Aww, hell," Fox said with an angry look.

"Which is why we have to convince her to stop killing humans by fighting back and driving her into a corner!" Pit said.

The Ancient Minister was the next one to move forward. "Our odds to win against her may have been reduced due to our previous argument, but our answer for something so perilous that cannot be solved with a more pacific answer will always be the same: let us move on and confront the next battles ahead of us," he said. The group had no other choice but to listen to his advice. For added security, they looked anywhere nearby to be prepared for an army of evil plant creatures coming out from their hiding spots to attack and horribly maul them all, though Chris cherished how Lucario, Fox, and the Ancient Minister were standing close by his side to keep him safe. He thought that his stress from having to worry about another premature death could be a thing of the past if he were to get more closer to the other Smashers just as he did with Fox and the minister...but he didn't want to look so forced and just have them for protection. He truly wanted to get them to see him as a close friend they could rely on. Lucario was there by default, but outsiders like Fox and the minister were won over. As they proceeded, Chris contemplated spending more time in private with some of the members of the current group.

Once a few minutes passed without the Goddess of Nature talking back with a sarcastic remark, Palutena's chuckling sounds filled their ears. "Viridi? Are you there?" she called out. "You're not still green in the face from the conversation earlier, are you?"

"..." Viridi suddenly broke the silence by stifling a little chuckle. "It's fine. I'm okay. I wasn't expecting someone calling me that in my face," she said. "But I feel a little...stressed... I'll be right back in a moment once I'm finished talking with this wall next to me. I'm not gonna miss the match against Cragalanche for the world."

The Goddess of Light was glad. "Tell your friend the wall how much stressed you feel," she said.

And then the knocking feet from the very much pissed goddess rang out in their heads where they also heard her loudly yelling, "WHO THE HECK DOES THAT STUPID HUMANOID, STINKY, ROTTEN, PATHETIC, WEAK, FILTHY, FOUL-MOUTHED, SMELLY, IGNORANT, FOOLISH, IDIOTIC, SLIMY, DOPEY, DORKY, FREAKY, GROSS, DISGUSTING, INSANE, UGLY, DUMB FOX THINK HE IS CALLING ME WITH SUCH A WORD TO MY FACE?! WHY, I WILL MAKE AN EXCEPTION ON HIS KIND AND HAVE THEM GET ROASTED ALIVE IN A SUNNY DESERT TO SCAVENGE HIS CORPSE AND FEED IT TO MY BUMPETY BOMBS FOR DINNER! OR MAYBE I WILL TOSS HIS CORPSE TO MY BUMPETY BOMBS AND HAVE THEM BLOW THE BONES TO SMITHEREENS AND SCATTER HIS DUST TO THE SAME SUNNY DESERT! I WILL THEN TOSS PIT IN THERE AND FORCE HIM TO FIND EVERY SINGLE SPECK OF DUST FROM THAT MORON AS PUNISHMENT FOR TRYING TO DEFY THE GODDESS OF NATURE! I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE HUMANOID FOXES! LET THEM ALL ROT IN THE UNDERWORLD! LET THEM ALL ROT IN SKYWORLD! KEEP THEM AWAY FROM MY WORLD AND FROM MY FACE FOR THE ETERNITY OR I'M SURE I WILL SCREAM TO THE FLOWERS TILL THE AIR IS OUT OF MY CLEAN LUNGS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!"

All of the other Smashers looked at Fox, completely unfazed by her loud tantrum but still flinching whenever her voice hit a higher pitch. "It takes the B word to send her on a loud complaint and release Gaia's vengeance," Pit said. "Aren't you afraid what she could do to you from now on?"

"Nope. This is the one time I don't regret insulting a girl with the big words, even if she looks like a noisy brat given goddess powers," said a grinning Fox before blinking in realization. "Whoa. I feel a big rush of adrenaline challenging a goddess like that."

"Please don't turn this into a reckless habit of yours. We cannot afford to have deities against us as how we are right now," Meta Knight advised.

"And I'd rather have you alive instead of missing a limb because of them..." Chris added. Fox simply winked at him. "I mean it. I don't want to be the mature one of the two when you're older than I am. Be a good big brother figure and behave." Fox sighed and nodded.

Pit had been keeping a close eye on the "antics" of his comrades for a while now. He especially liked the bond Chris had with some of them and how they reacted trying to defend him from Viridi's harsh words. "(Ah, Chris. It's so refreshing to see how good of a friend you've become to the others just like you did with me. I wish we had a much closer relationship like true brothers... Hey, that's right! There's Pittoo! He could be my aggro twin brother! I should try to get in contact with that guy. Haven't seen him since the final epic battle of the ages against Medusa...)" he thought fondly.

The rest of their stroll on the branches was annoying at best as Viridi didn't quite stop kicking the wall and spouting how much she hated humanoid vulpine characters. After a few more skirmishes with the Forces of Nature, the team reached one last jump pad that made them hop all the way down safely to the ground level of the dungeon of wild plant life. Ahead of them, a large, circular arena awaited them, where at its entrance something else appeared before their eyes: a large vial of red liquid that made the vial look red. "Nobody complain about that one piece. That was really my doing," Palutena said. "It's a Drink of the Gods. It's main function is to fully restore the drinker's health."

Pit looked at the Smashers. They were all in good health and hadn't suffered too much fighting the enemies on their way there. "Guess I'll gulp it all down to restore that one glaring five percent in my health bar," he said and happily took the drink for himself. Ms. Fit cringed at how the angel said nothing about his questionable food cravings, and there was this little nagging feeling in her that was starting to greatly irk her about him...

On the center of that arena up ahead, there was a large boulder in the middle. "So where's that Cragalanche guy? All I see is a boulder..." Popo said.

"That boulder looks mighty suspicious, though. It doesn't look like anything else that we saw on our way here," Nana said. "...That's Cragalanche, isn't it."

"There is life energy radiating strongly from that very same boulder, so it should be Viridi's fighter," Lucario said with narrowed eyes at the rock.

"Aaaaaaaaaand..." Magolor trailed off, his hands stretched out to the boulder with his eyes closed in deep focus, "...oh my, there's another Energy Sphere somewhere in its person! I can detect a very strong reading coming from that one boulder!" He opened his eyes and pulled his hands back. "We must retrieve it before the Doomers show up!"

Before they could head in to a possible boss fight, Chris consulted Kawashima about the customization pieces he had gotten from Master Hand. "I'm so sorry..." Kawashima said ashamed. "Your only chance to equip those was when you were with Palutena or when you were about to head out into this stage with Pit. I'm afraid the menu's been locked out until you go back to the goddess' side."

"Just my luck..." Chris muttered.

"But...! Don't go forgetting you can share jobs with others! The jobs are just like the pieces of equipment, except with the added benefit of getting extra skills and abilities pasted over the target. You can toss jobs to others during a fight!"

He wasn't going to go forgetting that, and Fox was the first one to make a note of the useful bit. The others, though, they had to be filled in about it, but it was all too late once they started to move forward into the arena to face off against the boss of the area...

...when, during their little stroll, the circular border of the arena decided to call forth a dome of vines that sprouted from the ground and rose up to the air. The sudden jerking motion of the earth made the Smashers tumble to the sides, where some managed to keep their footing on and realized that at least half of them had been allowed into the boulder's line of sight. "N-no!" Pit yelled as he noticed that only him, Popo, Nana, Meta Knight, Chris, and Lucario (him reacting quick enough to step into the ring) were by his side while the other half of the group was barred from entering, their faces barely noticeable through the small gaps between the vines.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Fox complained as he started to pound the thick vine wall with his right fist.

They heard Viridi confidently laughing her head off at their misfortune, realizing that the blond goddess was back to her insufferable attitude they all so hated. "Honestly now! Were you really thinking I was gonna let you all fight Cragalanche as a massive group? I didn't forget how Palutena was so peppy about having over ten commanders at her disposition!" she said.

"Hey, they're not my commanders. They are all extra guests who can get free passes to anywhere they go unless they are not MVPs," Palutena said.

"Whatever! I know it would be nasty to let everyone in. Cragalanche can handle this many by himself just fine... This is a matter between us goddesses, and you all have trespassed one of my many future domains!" Viridi said with a grin.

They were distraught that their numbers had been halved. Magolor peeked his face through one gap to look at them. "These vines are way too thick to cut down! This can't be done any other way, but...fight and win against that guy!" he said.

Ms. Fit peeked inside too. "I doubt my moves could work against a rock. I'd be a big disadvantage to you all..." she lamented.

A black void belonging to Mr. G&W's face peeked in. "These vines are also fire-resistant! You guys must be careful in there!" he said.

Pit grunted at their bad luck until they were forced to turn around and look at the big boulder at the center... Two glowing red eyes upside-down appeared on the bottom side of the boulder, until it started to shake on its spot. The hard coat of brown rock all over began to crack into large segments, until one by one, every individual piece fell off to the ground and revealed a gray exterior within the rock coat. It was a thick, sturdy rock body that measured about nine feet tall, with two long stubby arms with brown curled fists that looked just as sturdy as the rest of its body. Though, said arms belonged to a common face body type, since the creature's large face covered the whole front with short legs under its large chin. Sporting a set of two somewhat uninterested glaring eyes, the rock monster found out it was standing on top of his head and rolled aside to adjust himself, eyeing its prey at the south corner of the dome.

Showing off how his obliviousness was not shared among his other worried teammates, Pit grinned cockily. "Cragalanche, huh? What are you, a monster truck?" he taunted with an appropriate hand gesture for the creature to come at him.

Viridi followed by saying, "Pit, huh? What are YOU? A hole in the ground?"

The World Traveler reminded himself that his dutiful Lucario was standing right next to him, with fists flaring up with aura and a glare meant to crack the monster apart. With some renewed courage, Chris was quick to put his second skill set to good use and took out the book he always used to read up the enemy's stats. "Study!" he said as the pages of his book flapped wildly and then stopped dead on Cragalanche's entry. He bothered to read aloud the description to let the others know.

Cragalanche – Lvl. 155

HP: 100,000

MP: 0

Attack: 2,155

Defense: 1,294

Magic: 0

Magic Defense: 0

Speed: Worst

Evasion: Worst

Resistant to: N/A

Weak Against: N/A

Abilities: Anti-Death, Anti-Poison, Anti-Sleep, Anti-Confusion

Immune to: Death, Poison, Sleep, Confusion

D: A commanding officer in the Forces of Nature. Once a mere boulder with a soul, Cragalanche spent years developing a will of his own. Fiercely loyal to Viridi, he strikes at the front lines of battle like a meteor.Attacking the animated boulder head on does little against him, but it possesses a weak point somewhere. During his free time, Cragalanche is a top rock sculptor and likes to cannonball into big pools of water to annoy nearby swimmers.

"...What was that last sentence about?" Nana asked with a grimace.

"I feel like this book suddenly knows a little too much about our enemies..." Chris said shrugging, putting the book away.

The Goddess of Nature wasn't so knowledgeable about the World Traveler that she felt it was right to ask rhetorically, "What the heck kind of human breed are you to know that much about Cragalanche? Ugh, you're just as despicable as I thought all humans are."

The World Traveler then decided to talk back to her. He wouldn't have thought about talking back to her after her nightmarish ideas, but it helped that Viridi looked like an annoying younger cousin when he first saw her image. "So sorry I can't control how much info this book has about our enemies..." he said.

"No talking back to me!" the goddess shouted. "Hey, Cragalanche! Get this over with and crush them all into the ground! Be sure to reeducate that blue Pokémon into serving me and not the human-loving goddess!"

With the Aura Pokémon growling in protest and standing next to his doubtful trainer, Pit looked back at the Ice Climbers and Meta Knight, the three nodding at him as a sign that they were ready to fight the rocky monster. The angel pointed at Cragalanche and chuckled. "We're so gonna turn you into a fine Lady Palutena rock statue which we will worship for weeks after we're done with you!" he said, his battle cry being frowned upon by his otherwise more level-headed party members. Regardless of that, the team charged forward to the monster...

It would be just the beginning of a very long struggle against gods and many other enemies for the Smashers. A third party had thought that as he watched from the outer core of the Reset Bomb forest on a thick branch poking inside the pink atmosphere. He grinned to himself and took off to the skies outside the dome, his dark wings enveloped in a purple glow that allowed him to fly infinitely as much as he wanted. As he flew away, he only thought about taking Pit's spot as being the original angel...

TO BE CONTINUED...

"On the next episode of this never ending tale: One Bunch of Black Wings!" Palutena announced excitedly. "It appears someone is shedding black wings!"

"Who let the ravens in?!" Pit asked.

"No, Pit. There are no ravens in our world. Only singing birds."

"Oh, right. Maybe I should start singing a good number with the birds right here and now. Ahem... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

"Stop," the other Smashers interrupted, making Pit stop and sulk at them.

"Saving your data now!" Stiltzkin said.

Overwriting file...

Reset Bomb Forest

Chris (Lvl. 120) - Lucario (Lvl. 128) – Pit (Lvl. 140)

Meta Knight (Lvl. 126) – Fox (Lvl. 125) - Ice Climbers (Lvl. 101) - Mr. Game & Watch (Lvl. 113)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 115) – Wii Fit Trainer (Lvl. 100) – Magolor (Lvl. 100)

Make way for the biggest ***ch in Nintendo history to charm you with really drastic measures to kill us all! Flower lovers are not safe.

If Pit's world hadn't changed to something you would enjoy during Saturdays, the chances of me unleashing all those jokes would've been slim.

Ahem... I hope I don't ever get to release these chapters so late, but life has truly changed my schedule. Well, who knows when the next chapter will be ready? I really am liking how Pit's world doesn't take itself so seriously even at the light of pure and utter annihilation...which is something the Smashers are going to have a hard time trying to get used to.

By the way, for those of you who are getting sick of Chris only talking with Lucario, the next chapter will change that as he will start bonding with the other Smashers of the group; Pit especially...and the easygoing Palutena. Hoo boy, I think I hate the guy for putting him through those two.

The last paragraph of the chapter also hints at the appearance of everyone's favorite aggro angel. Even the next chapter's title isn't that shy of saying it outright.

Did some of you think I was going to show stuff from the first nine chapters of the game? I found Viridi's arc to have more potential character-wise because of how many important characters start to show up. Therefore, you can expect a lot of jabs between all parties...though things will get really serious under all the laughter once the Subspace Army shows up. Don't go expecting a long battle with Cragalanche. It'll be short and sweet.

My profile has been updated with bios for the Ancient Minister, Mr. G&W, King Dedede, Wario, and Ms. Fit.

Well, Merry Christmas to you all...at least for the people who managed to read all the way down here during this joyful day. See you next time, and Happy New Year...or else Pit will go without wings till next year.

Pit: U-um... C-can we not talk about that? Things have gotten a little too dark when you talk about my wings now.

Nana: Oh, phew. I thought everything we knew about the Pit of the past was gone for good! It's nice to see something we all remember is still a memory in you.

Pit: I'm being serious! Don't talk about my wings like that!

Chris: ...I have this fleeting feeling in me that's telling me we shouldn't press him too much on that more than ever... Strange...
*Chapter 221*: One Bunch of Black Feathers

Nope. This isn't a joke. A brand new chapter is here to break that cycle of emptiness.

Though before we begin…unless you had already moved down below…let me say THANK YOU to all you wonderful people who kept coming back to the story even though it stopped updating for a long time now. The favs just keep coming like a stream every day, which only shows me how much you all care about this GOD ******* LONG *** STORY OUT OF THE ******* ABYSS of my head. Yes, those asterisks aren't censors. So I figured the only way to keep the stream going is to complete the next chapter at last.

…Well, actually, it had to be split a bit at the end because it was getting a tad too long. Regardless, this should satiate your thirst for a bit more.

(I'm not answering reviews since there's way too many new and old ones. I want to have fresh meat.)

Because I doubt people remember what happened last time, my chapters shall now include helpful summaries of previous chapters to get you back up on speed.

My catchphrase lives on again. I encourage everyone into floor ice cream to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: What do pants feel like?

Last time…

With their new long arc mission defined, the group is once more put into universe watch mode and learn a little too late that their new objective involves Pit's universe after the angel himself had departed not too long ago. Record time much? Expecting religion and many Greek/Roman references, the group did NOT expect how nobody in Pit's world takes things too seriously. As a result, they are constantly mocked by Pit's newfound…lack of intelligence and his goddess Palutena's "screw your rules, I make them' mentality.

Clenching their collective fists to tolerate them both, they are forced to fight against Hades, Lord of the Underworld, until that mantle is quickly replaced by Viridi, the Goddess of Nature, who reveals to be quite anti-human as they come by releasing gigantic nuking seeds of oblivion (it make more sense in context, I think) onto them when she deems humanity stagnant to nature. Opposing her skewed views of racism (and her similar approach on mocking them like Palutena and Hades), the group infiltrates her Reset Bomb Forest to rescue any survivors and, most importantly, gather Energy Spheres for Magolor. No, we aren't trying to downplay human life against material things.

Reaching the bottom to collect one more trinket, they are divided in numbers, with one divided group forced into a death match against one of Viridi's subordinates: Cragalanche…

Chapter 221: One Bunch of Black Feathers

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Boss Battle 1

Within the dome of vines, the six fighters faced off against the rocky Cragalanche. Pit took the frontal line first just as Meta Knight joined his side. "We've got the number advantage, you guys! He may be big and thick, but we can chip off his body little by little!" Pit encouraged the team.

"But Cragalanche can break each one of you down in one smack. He's been practicing his fighting routine very hard lately," Viridi boasted. "Cragalanche, smash down the humans first, especially the annoying teen with the funny mage getup!"

"Of course she's going to pick on me first on account for being human…" Chris trailed off, until he saw Cragalanche smacking his fists on the ground as if to prepare himself to move forward. He did move forward without wobbling his small feet around. Strangely, he moved by sliding above the ground at medium speed.

"I thought he liked to roll to move around?" Popo wondered.

"Sliding motion that challenges the physics brought to you by yours truly. It takes months for Cragalanche to move without rolling into a ball," Viridi said.

As if taking an idea from her, the rock monster did curl into a ball to raise his speed and tear toward the enemy line quickly. The six fighters managed to move out of the way as Cragalanche crashed into the root wall hard. "I won't let that thing lay a hand on you, Chris. You must keep yourself away from its range!" Lucario warned.

"W-well, being the only spell caster of the group, I have to keep a long range, so… Lucario, you stay close to me while I cast my spells!" Chris ordered. Lucario obeyed as both of them moved away from the monster. "…Oh, right. I forgot. I have to give out a job to get experience for it. For you, Lucario, I will give you…the Monk job. It should complement your style!" The World Traveler created an orb of light that contained the Monk job; said orb now showing a gloved fist within. As Lucario stared at it, the teen tossed the item into the Pokémon's body.

In a quick flash, Lucario was now wearing a black karate gi, with his chest spike peeking out from the cleavage window in the middle. He was also now wearing a black headband with two long ends reaching halfway through his back, along with blue straps wrapped around his ankles. The Aura Pokémon could sense his strength and vitality having been increased by half as much power as he originally had, at the expense of reducing his magical defense by just as much. He couldn't complain much.

"(Oh dear god. He looks so cool in it… Finally some clothing fit him right,)" Chris relished. "H-how do you feel?"

"Stronger than ever, and surely ready to crush the world in your name," Lucario noted with a smile.

"Good! But…no crushing the world in my name. I don't want people to hate me for that ever happening," Chris said. "You know the current plan. Let's stay away from that monster!"

"And he likes to play chasing games as well! Cragalanche, don't you let that human do his work!" Viridi ordered.

Cragalanche turned around and faced his current target getting way, until Pit and Meta Knight barred his way. "It's rude to ignore me of all times!" Pit said, his Guardian Orbitars in position. He pointed at the monster. "We will not fall to the likes of you!"

"Must your adrenaline make you say such lines now?" Meta Knight asked.

"…" Cragalanche said, staring down at his two foes.

"…Not much of a talker, is he?" Pit asked. Cragalanche lunged forward with a charged barrier covering his head, quickly ramming into the two and causing a blast once his forehead struck the ground. Only Meta Knight dodged the blow perfectly, while Pit was pushed away.

"He's a rock. He is the strong silent type," Viridi said. "He's not much of a fan of roars, either. I'll do the talking for him so you're not bored. Ahem… CRAGALANCHE PUSH PIT AWAY!" she said with a hoarse voice. "CRAGALANCHE SMASH PUNY HUMANS DOWN!"

Meta Knight took advantage of Cragalanche's immobility from getting struck on the ground and quickly slashed the body parts he thought were less resilient, or more accurately, the tight spaces between the rocks in hopes of severing them. When the monster pushed himself back to his feet, Meta Knight backed off and pushed his cape aside after using it to cover his eyes from the dust in the air. "I doubt we will deal a lot of damage to him. His body may resist our frontal blows without problems," Meta Knight said.

The Ice Climbers were carefully standing away to see where they could strike. They both thought about the same place: the face. Maybe striking the eyes would do something, they thought. "I just know a monster like him must have a weakness somewhere!" Popo said.

"The book Chris read said he's not so good at resisting magic," Nana said. "What a nice time to lose our sticker magic…"

"Holy Lance!" suddenly was shouted from the other side of the field, courtesy of Chris using the time Cragalanche took to fight the others. A holy glyph formed under the rocky creature and created four shining lights that surrounded him on all sides, rising high and then piercing his body in the shapes of gleaming lances of light. The only pained reaction Cragalanche showed was slowly opening his mouth.

"Not cool, puny human!" Viridi complained as she saw the lances vanishing. She was a bit thankful the spell didn't truly pierce her general through fatally. "Magical spears that literally don't pierce through. You sure are going soft on him!"

"If only it was that simple, but all my enemies happen to have some fantastic resistances. It's really hard to really burn someone alive in any other universe…" Chris commented. "Maybe I've become used to this that I can resist being shot by a gun now."

"Then if a gun won't do the trick, let heavy weights do that! Cragalanche, enact your revenge on him and just rush!" Viridi ordered, clearly infuriated. Cragalanche simply obeyed and started moving to the World Traveler, not minding the others getting in the way. The Ice Climbers quickly scrambled up and lunged at him with hammers ready, which the rock blocked and the swatted away with ease. Pit, with a loud battle cry that in hindsight alerted Cragalanche, charged at him from the side with his Guardian Orbitars firing a barrage of shots. The angel completely forgot that the shots were extremely weak against Cragalanche's rock-hard body, only barely making him twitch.

The rock kept advancing to a wary Chris keeping his distance while Lucario fired off a charged Aura Sphere that collided hard on the monster's face and made him stop to shrug off the pain. "Lucario used Aura Sphere! It's super effectively working on this universe's laws!" Palutena giddily commented.

"Gaaah! If only that blue mutt hadn't reacted and entered the thorn barrier!" Viridi complained. "We have to deal with the stupid disadvantage… We can do that, too! Cragalanche, use Dig!"

"Wow. I didn't know he was a Pokémon!" Pit commented, taking a small break to recover from shooting mindlessly at the monster, who then spun in place and burrowed down into the ground, leaving a big hole behind. "Dang! It's surely gonna attack someone from down below!"

Being the Aura Pokémon, Lucario's eyes glowed yellow as he sensed and tracked down Cragalanche's presence under the ground. Quickly locating him, Lucario gasped in shock when the monster's original path – a direct crash course to him – suddenly changed directions and immediately went underneath an unsuspecting Chris looking around. "CHRIS!" Lucario yelled.

But his warning yell came too late. The World Traveler felt heavy shaking under his feet, and from there, Cragalanche sprouted out and gave a nasty uppercut so strong that it send the human crashing on the thorn ceiling above. Letting out a quiet yelp of horror, Chris's back bounced off from the ceiling, falling back down and above a staring Cragalanche… "Critical hit!" Viridi giddily announced.

"You crazy little bitch!" came Fox's furious call from outside the thorn barrier. He gasped in horror as he saw his companion falling back down…

The monster didn't get to attack once more, due to the Ice Climbers using their Belay move to get Popo high into the air and pulled Chris safely with her using the rope with Nana pulling the rope from the ground, pulling both back down. As Cragalanche wordlessly stared at the move and getting pushed back by a furious Lucario ramming a Force Palm on his side, the climbers safely grabbed Chris from above their heads and put him down to check on him. "C-Chris, are you okay?!" Nana asked.

The World Traveler fought back the tears of horror as he tried to resist the coursing pain in his body. "I-I will be now. T-thanks…" the teen gasped out as he was helped to stand back up. He took out his scholar book for a quick healing spell, while the children stood to the front to keep an eye on Cragalanche, who was lying down on its side after receiving the Force Palm blow. Not to mention, an Aura Sphere came from the side and flipped him back to stand on his flat head, before falling forward on his big face.

As Cragalanche tried to recover from the furious blows, Meta Knight noticed a rather disturbing but very important spot on the rock's body that was too hard to miss… There was a big gap that was glowing bright red right on the spot that would be the place where Cragalanche's butt should be. "….You've got to be kidding me," muttered Meta Knight. "Everyone! Strike the glowing spot on his rear! That must be a weak point!"

Everyone in the vine dome overheard the command and then stared oddly at the place where Cragalanche's butt would be, wincing at the red rock within the gap flashing. "Eww," Nana muttered.

"And it's rather big to miss… How did we miss that from the start?" Popo wondered.

"But this shot won't miss it!" Pit said excitedly as he ran and lunged forward, launching an offensive attack with his orbitars. Having triggered a move that would only happen while running, the orbitars produced two large transparent shields that slowly made their way through the air, though Pit had gotten so close to the rock goliath to crash the shields into the rock gap, rather severely inflicting damage on Cragalanche. "This is for messing with Chris!"

"That should be my line!" Lucario complained – right before the Ice Climbers exchanged dull looks at the cheesy line from both - just as an Aura Sphere squarely blew up on the rock gap, pushing Cragalanche back and to the vine wall. The sphere had flipped Cragalanche on his feet, his face crashed on the wall.

"Argh!" Viridi grunted loudly. "I told him to get that fixed weeks ago! Cragalanche, you had to procrastinate!"

Cragalanche, as always, did not give a coherent reply and just pushed his face off the wall and twirled around to face them. With the wall covering his embarrassing glowing butt, the monster raised his arms and called forth a floating arc of rock in midair. The others readied themselves for what the monster was going to do, which was blasting the floating rock wall and breaking it into big rock shards that flew across a ninety degree angle. Only Meta Knight was close to the attack's range, though he easily dodged the blow with Dimension Cape, warping to the front and facing Cragalanche. "Now that I know your weak spot, this battle won't last for long," he warned the monster.

Viridi gulped. She knew how threatening Meta Knight was and she didn't want him anywhere near Cragalanche now that the weak point was discovered. The others were about an average threat, but Meta Knight? "Cragalanche, you better stay away from that guy! We can't afford to lose this fight while Pit is in our reach!" she ordered. "…And the human!" she added.

"(For crying out loud!)" Chris complained mentally as he finished his Cura spell and applied the full effect on him, restoring his health almost fully. With the pain gone from his system by a lot, he returned to his spell casting job.

Cragalanche heed her orders and dug into the dirt once more. The group feared where the monster would crawl back out from the ground, especially an anxious Chris…so Lucario stepped and carried him on his arms.

"W-what th-?!"

"He won't get to you ever again," Lucario said, and without giving Chris a chance for a reply, the Aura Pokémon ran to the vine wall and effortlessly climbed it without using one occupied arm. By the time he got up the wall, both Pokémon and trainer were hoisted on the edge of the wall and the roof. As Chris tried to regain his composure, Lucario warily stared down at the ground and used his aura senses to locate Cragalanche digging around the spot where they were hovering above. It turned out Chris was Cragalanche's target after all.

"Stupid scaredy dog! Come back down and fight like a manly plant!" Viridi complained.

"If you insist…"

"W-wait!" Chris interrupted. "H-how are you supposed to attack? Both of your arms are busy!"

As the others carefully looked around for any trembling motions, Lucario narrowed his eyes and looked sideways at the vine he was holding on to. "…Time to put that to good use," he muttered, covering his left hand with aura. Chris looked back at what Lucario was doing, gasping when he saw the aura in his hand going into the vine wall and then leaving a thin but visible trail that went all the way down into the ground… "Grrr…" Lucario grunted. "My power has weakened tremendously in these missions, but I can pull this off…!"

And from out of the ground, Cragalanche was given a rocky uppercut in the form of a stalactite covered in vines – the vines enveloped in Lucario's aura – that rose up hard and dug out the rock monster abruptly as he had been busy waiting for his prey to come down. Falling on his face again, Cragalanche wailed around in confusion. "W-what the heck was that just now?!" Viridi bellowed.

"I-I have no idea!" Palutena quipped. No one would ever know she had been quiet for taking a bathroom break. "This isn't in my official Pokémon Move Guide: Special Edition!"

The Goddess of Nature took a hard look at the stalactite. It wasn't the rock itself that had been manipulated. The glowing vines were clutching into the rock formation rather hard, with visible gaps filled under them all. The rock had been forced out using the vines. She then saw the stalactite pulling back down and disappearing from sight by Lucario's command. She grinded her teeth hard and yelled, "T-that blue mutt manipulated the vines to make that rock strike Cragalanche! How dare he brainwash the flora of my domain?!"

The other fighters in the dome were taken aback from what they just saw, it took Lucario's yell to get them back into the fight to focus on the weak spot again. The Ice Climbers and Meta Knight rushed forward, the first jumping high and smashing their mallets hard on the glowing spot, followed by the latter drilling into it with Drill Rush (which Viridi winced at). Popo and Nana didn't waste time and used their icy breath to add up to Meta Knight's attack lasting a little longer. With Cragalanche busy to get back up and resist the damage accumulating quickly, Lucario let go of the vine wall and landed back on the ground, taking his trainer further away from the enemy.

Then Pit came running by and asked loudly "How did you do that?!" to Lucario, who twitched at the loud question.

"This is hardly the time to explain what I did. Just focus on the battle!" Lucario complained as he set Chris down.

"The Overlimit Gauge is full!" their digital instructor rang out.

Meta Knight stopped drilling into the weak spot and didn't miss a beat triggering the special rainbow aura. Swiping his cape aside as his body became engulfed in the glowing light, he swung his cape at the weak spot, gently brushing the fabric on it as the scenery darkened and time itself stopped…

…

…

…

A harsh slash that just seemed to cut through the darkness itself divided it in two, striking the weak spot in the way. Cragalanche groaned loudly and quickly spun on the ground to push his attackers aside. Getting back up, the monster furiously beat on his rocky face as a sign of desperation. "CRAGALANCHE ANGRY! CRAGALANCHE MAKE MINCE MEAT OUTTA PUNY PEOPLE!" Viridi seemingly translated, channeling her minion's hatred until he stopped.

"Someone is getting into voice acting!" Palutena said.

"RAAAWR! STUPID SHINY GODDESS IS GONNA LOSE!" Viridi said.

"Wait. Cragalanche didn't do anything when you said that," Pit pointed out.

While the holy(?) beings kept squabbling on, the World Traveler took the opportunity to begin casting magic. Cragalanche saw the glow under the teen, remembering he could attack from afar. The monster grumbled a bit and smashed the ground several times, creating quick moving shockwaves that went along the floor all the way where Chris was focusing. As Chris gasped at the sight of the shockwaves, Lucario once more took him on his arms and leapt away from the homing blows, which crashed behind on the vine wall. Angered by their move, the monster groaned loudly and smashed the ground hard with both fists, creating a rather large shockwave barrier that covered the entire floor. Though Lucario and Meta Knight managed to leap above it, it took Pit and the Ice Climbers by surprise, sending them tumbling on the ground.

"S-shockwaves!" Chris said. "That thing can send shockwaves!"

There was an ominous shadow right above him and Lucario. The two looked up and saw that Cragalanche had somehow enlarged and stretched his right arm to smash its larger weight on them both. Just barely noticing it going down, Lucario growled and picked the fastest choice to keep Chris unharmed: tossing him aside to give Lucario enough time to use his now available arms to stop the crushing blow. Though Lucario barely held out his palms in time, the blow struck him down hard onto the ground, trapping his feet as he resisted the weight pressing down on him. "Grr!"

"About time there was some damage on that mutt!" Viridi said.

"N-no!" Chris said as he saw Lucario gritting his fangs and slowly getting buried to the ground. Cragalanche was surely trying to trap the Aura Pokémon to strike hard later, Chris thought, so he desperately used whatever move he could think of to stop the monster from continuing, seeing as the others had backed off by the earlier attack. Raising his staff to the air, the World Traveler called out his move… "Pow Hammer!"

A red squeaky hammer materialized on Cragalanche's head, bonking him with the serenity of a plastic toy that could barely hurt a rock. It bumped on his head and lifelessly fell on the ground, vanishing in a quick blink of light with a squeaky sound following.

Viridi started to laugh at the display. "Oh, rich! You seriously attacked with a toy hammer? What are humans getting for threatening attacks these days? It's no wonder my Reset Bomb wrecked them hard!" she boasted as much as she could to let out the steam from her head.

"H-hey! I'm desperate here! I can't think straight in these situations!" Chris complained to her.

"Desperation! The negative threat that makes humans so detestable!" Viridi stated. "Well! Now that you're so desperate to get Cragalanche's attention, I will note him to strike you down where you stand! Cragalanche, swing that arm aside!"

Cragalanche did nothing for the next five seconds. Lucario oddly felt that the pressure on his palms was entirely gone.

"…Cragalanche, I said swing it!" Viridi yelled, her patience being tested. She didn't like to see how Chris was taking the strange moment to move back and start a better attack with magic. "Oh, Cragy! Will you get a move on and fight? We were starting to get the upper hand! …CRAGALANCHE, WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING?!" she complained until she saw the strange look on Cragalanche's eyes. "W-what th-?!"

The rocky monster was dazzled. His eyes were bright orange swirls that comically spun clockwise at uneven speeds. His body had gone unresponsive, with his stretched arm just resting on Lucario's thick palms. "Hey, check that out! He's dizzied!" Pit said. "That squeaky hammer must have hit a nerve!"

"Are, you, KIDDING ME?!" the Goddess of Nature screeched. "That utterly pathetic attack did that?! How?! It shouldn't have done anything!"

"It did, luckily for us…" Chris sighed. "…STRIKE!"

The rest of the group went for an all-out attack to take advantage and exploit the moment. While Meta Knight, the Ice Climbers, and Pit rushed behind Cragalanche to hit the weak spot, Lucario growled and pushed the enlarged rock arm to the side, quickly burrowing from the ground with Extreme Speed to fly all the way to the back of the monster. From where Chris was standing, he heard a large multitude of strikes piling up on top of each other, gradually depleting Cragalanche's health in quite a fast pace. "S-stop it!" Viridi demanded in a hurry, feeling Cragalanche's life starting to dwindle faster by the second. "I SAID STOP IT! How dare you pick on a downed opponent?! Stop playing dirty!"

"Says the girl who dropped a seed nuke on unsuspecting humans," Palutena scoffed.

"That was a justified move!"

"Yes! You're utterly exploiting the weakness now!" Dr. Kawashima noted. "Cragalanche isn't going to live for long. His health is just about to hit rock bottom!"

"S-seriously?" Chris asked.

"I'm positive. The numbers in my recorded memory for his HP don't lie. Finish this off with a bang! The Overlimit gauge has filled up again!"

"R-right!" Chris prepared to use the Overlimit, until he couldn't block off an extreme roar and the familiar rainbow aura gathering right behind Cragalanche. "What the…?"

Lucario had beaten Chris to the punch, taking the Overlimit for himself. Powered up with the gift, the others saw his form and wisely backed away in a hurry, with only Pit screaming and getting shut up by Nana. Seeing the others running away only warned Chris to do the same and take cover somewhere safe from whatever small scale-yet-still-big-enough explosion was going to appear at any moment now. With no good covers in the barren dome, his only option was simply increasing the distance between the start point and the furthest wall. Even the people outside the dome ran away, with Fox pulling Ms. Fit and Mr. G&W away. "Oh dear god, he's using the Monk's Moonbeam move!" Dr. Kawashima said.

"B-beam! That's enough for me to know!" Popo shrieked with Nana, just as the move was being pulled off…

Lucario gathered a large amount of energy – stylized with his aura energy – in his left foot as he pulled it back. With a loud roar, he squarely kicked Cragalanche's weak point with the strength of three trucks crashing hard and continued with a kick somersault in midair, increasing the potency of the devastating blow on Cragalanche's rear… Contrary to their initial reaction to the name Moonbeam, it hadn't been a laser move but rather a simple powered up kick that was three times as strong as a normal attack, though with Lucario's power having been increased with the Monk job, the blow was too much for the monster to resist.

Cragalanche regained his consciousness – his rather lost consciousness – at the worst possible time of all. He felt queasy inside his body, feeling the extreme pain of the kick sending multiple explosions within his rocky form. There was also that strange feeling of flying in the air against his will, realizing he had been kicked to the air and to a crash course to the center of the dome itself. Screaming with a loud groan as the cracks in his body released streams of orange, volatile light, Cragalanche went soaring to the center of the ceiling and burst through it, causing the dome's roots to die out quickly as his life blew up a little higher in the air. Startled by the explosion coming from outside the dome, the other watchers turned around on their retreat and saw the big smoke cloud above the crumbling dome…

The battle was won.

"Defeated by a hard kick in his rocky butt!" Pit's echoing voice resounded. "Literally!"

"Dammit, Pit! I won't forget that in a while!" Chris's cringed voice resounded back.

The roots that made the dome were dying out quickly, with the debris of the center falling down and withering quickly on its own. The way to the outside world opened up and in time the fighters were able to reunite with their other allies rushing inside the area to check on them. "Nice job, you guys!" Magolor thanked them, before looking dull and shaking his head. "You could have tried to make sure to get the Energy Sphere instead of kicking it away," he emphasized, sounding slightly annoyed.

"U-uh…" Lucario felt their gazes burning his crimson eyes, forcing him to look up at the black cloud left behind by Cragalanche. "I-I'm…sorry…"

A small twinkle in the cloud shimmered for a brief moment, piercing through the darkness of its color. A small hole through the cloud formed behind a trailing round object falling down right on top of Magolor, who blinked and held out his hands in time to catch the spoil of the battle. "Oh! Never mind that!" he brightened up with glee. "Energy Sphere get! This makes two out of one-hundred and twenty! We're getting there!"

"Hearing you say the maximum number tires me out already," Fox muttered, until he smiled at the others. "Great work out there, you guys. Defeating that rock beast from a crazy goddess proves we can fight back."

Lucario's Monk clothes blinked away from existence, forming a white orb that flew over his head and went back to rejoin Chris's own self. The feeling of getting that increase of power just taken away made Lucario a bit sad. "Well done in sharing the job with Lucario. The Monk job got some nice experience for the battle's results. It definitely helped to finish the battle sooner when he went all out on the weak point!" Dr. Kawashima said. "Keep going at it and you will have every job mastered someday soon!"

"R-really…" Chris said, looking at Lucario. "…I have to make a habit out of sharing jobs with others. It's the only way I can make our battles easier."

"Yes," Lucario said. "I felt much stronger with that job increasing my strength…" He got in deep thought. "…Outside of missions, can yo-?"

"I'm not boosting your already-nuclear power!" Chris scolded, making Lucario hang down his head. "Geez! You guys get a little too addicted to the Job System once you get a little taste of it. No wonder Master Hand gave it to me…"

"(Would be a lot easier for me to keep a job if his power changed his mind…)" Fox thought in shame.

Suddenly, Viridi's gigantic projection of herself appeared far away in the distance, surprising them. The small twitching vein on her forehead only made her temper more obvious. "Enjoy this meaningless victory, you peasants. This won't stop me from correcting this world from its corrupted natural state!" she boasted. "Defeating Cragalanche in such dirty way gave me enough of an impression. I won't go easy on you all, especially the pesky human!"

"Ms. Fit is a human too, you know!" Chris yelled.

"Doesn't matter! You're going down first!" she declared while pointing her wooden staff down at him, just for Lucario to step in the way and growl at her. "…And your stupid blue dog too!"

"You'll see how futile it is to fight the power of the Super Smash Brothers!" Pit declared with triumph, not noticing the cringing looks on their faces and Meta Knight pulling Fox away from punching Pit's head. "Your war against the human world will end in defeat!"

"Big words from an angel that can't fly!" Viridi retorted. "We shall see how this goes. Good luck facing off the Forces of Nature, puny mortals!" she laughed out loud, her projection fading away in the pink sky of the Reset Bomb Forest…

Confirming that she was gone from sight, the group exchanged looks and sighed, happy to know the infuriating goddess had left them alone for a while. "She's gone. Thank goodness," Nana said.

"She's even more annoying to deal with than the Subspace Army," Popo said. "How can that be possible?"

"They don't yell in our ears 24/7," Pit said. "Can't imagine how that feels like."

"Yup. I can't imagine either," Palutena called out. "Great job in repelling her forces…even if we sort out of lost big time with what happened there."

The group looked around the landscape. Large vines sprouting out from the ground to form chaotic formations of flora all the way to the sky, covering the area in a huge sphere of glowing pink plants. Any signs that used to tell there was a settlement near the battlefield were wrecked completely under the sheer weight of the thick wood bursting through the hard concrete. Now that they had reached the ground, they noticed the swords, ripped flags, shields, crushed catapults, and most important of all…the sickening smell of dry blood spread around the soil…

"…I…I want out of this place…" Chris muttered.

"Yeah… Nothing much can be done," Palutena said, calling forth the ethereal lights of transportation for the group to take. Looking up at the light, they saw their feet being separated from the ground, until in a second they were all whisked back to Palutena's Sanctuary. The vivid memory of the battlefield being destroyed by the Reset Bomb would remind them how dangerous Viridi was under her stressed face…

Palutena's Sanctuary

The victory against Cragalanche signaled a small but yet eventful time where Palutena's forces (AKA the small bunch of unfortunate idiots who had no other choice but to carry her banner and Pit) fought against Viridi's forces, at during which time Hades decided to show up to stir the fighting a little more. Despite some attempts to convince Viridi to join them in their cause, not only did they get a long talk about how she absolutely despised them all for siding with the humans (with an even longer rant about siding with humanoid foxes), but it looked like she commanded her forces to ignore Hades and focus on Pit even more, which in turn allowed Hades to spread more mischief and chaos. It was not crazy to say the Smashers were against all odds.

Still, they somehow pushed through the fighting and managed to destroy the Reset Bomb factory that Viridi used to create the deadly Reset Bombs. With the factory gone, the group was content to know they had saved many humans from the wrath of the anti-human psychopath Goddess of Nature (it wasn't a surprise everyone came up with their own personal derogatory nicknames for her in their heads). After fighting for quite a long time now, there was just silence, and the day was drawing to a close before they knew it.

Palutena rewarded their efforts by granting them a moment of rest in the form of bringing a living room set to the central area of her temple. It was better than nothing, most of them thought. There wasn't much else to do seeing as the outside world was a little too hostile to wander about with the Forces of Nature and the Underworld Army on the move. The relaxation time was much welcomed in the end...

It would've been more relaxing to Chris – who was starting to feel better from putting his life on the line and was also becoming used to surviving - if it hadn't been for the unusual interruption of a cushion being flung at his face at full force. That same cushion was then grabbed by Lucario and tossed back at its owner with more force. "Oww!" Pit grumbled as the cushion fell aside. He rubbed his face. "H-hey, you make cushions feel like soft bricks!"

The World Traveler briefly glared at Pit, until he noticed the angel was sitting by himself apart from the circle of sofas and couches. His own sofa was next to another one that wasn't being occupied by anyone...which Chris then noticed was meant for him, because the angel was looking his way and patting the empty sofa. The angel seemed to be trying to have a private conversation with him while the others were busy talking to each other (the topic they were discussing being if if was possible to punch Viridi or not). The World Traveler already knew that talking to Pit was like talking to a ticking bomb with no countdown on it; he would never know when Pit would say something outlandish and make fun of serious stuff. But then again, if he didn't get it over with, Pit would surely keep his game of trying to get his attention with cushions.

Chris then stood up from his sofa and walked all the way to the other one, though not alone seeing as Lucario kept his word about staying close to his troubled trainer. He took on the role of the silent out-looker while his trainer became the target of the talk. Once sitting down on the empty sofa, Chris turned to Pit, and he was surprised when he saw the rather indifferent look on the angel's face. "Okay, I'm here. There's no way you tossed that cushion on my face to start a cushion war other than getting my attention," Chris said.

"Phew. I'm glad you didn't think about it that way, but it would've been cool," Pit said. After Chris shook his head in disapproval, the angel chuckled awkwardly. "A-alright, I'll just tell you why I called you here...and your creepy shadow creature," he added when he looked back at Lucario standing behind the sofa, his glare turning a little more menacing. "Here goes, then..." He stared back at Chris. "...Have you ever felt like your own group hates you behind your back?"

"No... And the last time it felt like that, it was when not many of you couldn't believe the truth about your origins," Chris said, remembering that event long ago when he had revealed the impossible truth to the group. He quickly stopped thinking about it when Pit leaned forward. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because it's starting to feel like that to me!" Pit said. "I mean, haven't you seen how everyone else has talked to me ever since you all came to help Lady Palutena in the fight against our sworn enemies and Viridi? It's like they don't take me seriously! Why is that?"

The angel's earlier fact that he had obtained the "invaluable" skill of being oblivious was perhaps in play, because otherwise it was pretty easy for Chris to tell. The talk they were having was perhaps the only chance the teen got to set Pit straight, though he knew he was going to be prepared for the worst anyway. With a somewhat stern look, Chris said, "Pit, I'm really amazed you can't even tell why everyone feels like not wanting to give you a pat in the back."

"Uh... Is it because not everyone likes floor food like I do?" Pit asked with a sheepish smile.

"...No, that's not it," Chris said. "It's because of your...your new attitude, that's why."

"New attitude?" Pit's look truly looked like he was at a loss. "What do you mean new attitude? I've been like this as long as I can remember! I remember how I was good friends with some of the others back at the mansion, even you! Don't you remember our times together at Colette's world where I mistakenly had the guts to fall in love with her and made Lloyd punch me in the eye when he was conflicted in saying she loved her first?"

If Pit could remember that event so well, there was no way he didn't forget the way he used to act before. "You can remember that far, which is good," Chris said. "But if you can't really compare how you used to act back then, then we have a problem."

"Huh... I'm seriously not seeing any differences," Pit admitted.

Chris forewent using his subtle talk and went for the blunt talk. "Before, you were like a younger version of Marth with a little silly on the side, which a lot of people were fine with. Now, you're a heck lot sillier than ever...like Sonic silly but somehow much more than him," he compared.

"I thought people didn't like him much because he's a Sega character in a Nintendo setting?"

The World Traveler winced at that and was wise enough not to say something incriminating to the hedgehog in case he was watching them from the mansion. "T-that's not the point...(even though it kind of looks like that). Focus on your behavior, Pit. Try to see what's so incredibly different about you than now."

Pit pinched his chin and looked down at the floor in thought. "...Well, I've heard a few whispers where practically everyone in the mansion said my voice sounded different," he said. "It's not my fault I went through angel puberty weeks ago and that affected my voice."

"(I'm certainly sure there's no such thing as angel puberty...I think,)" Chris thought, but he chose to follow Pit's shaky flow for a little longer. "S-sure, I'm glad to hear you at least are aware of that change of voice in you, but that's not it either. Do you ever remember being as peppy and cheerful as you are right now?"

"..." Pit's long sigh seemingly gave Chris an answer. "...No."

"(Bull's eye! He can tell!)"

"But wait, I think I was just as peppy and cheerful," Pit added.

"(NO, YOU WERE NOT! Great, I'm being as hurtful as the others deep down!) You were not, Pit. You certainly never behaved so strangely like...a younger me when I was five," Chris said bluntly, making the angel stare at him. "And please, I implore you not to focus on my childhood to avoid admitting the problem you have now."

"R-right..."

"Your problem right now is that you're just not serious enough to give a good second impression on everyone here," Chris continued. "You're more prone to saying something witty and funny that not all of us think is that witty and funny. The likes of Fox are quickly growing frustrated with you, for example."

"No kidding there. He's tried to do more harm to me than Viridi's forces. He has some strange fixation in kicking my sacred buns more often," Pit said and fought the temptation to rub that area. Chris cringed at that. "Then the Ice Climbers nearly smacked my face deep into the dirt with their hammers, and Meta Knight likes to pretend I'm some sort of uncontrolled child in a sugar rush."

"(Oh, believe me when I'm saying that description isn't all that far off,)" Chris thought.

Pit continued his list. "The Ancient Minister doesn't want to believe I even exist, Mr. G&W keeps getting these sarcastic sentences when I say something, and Ms. Fit... I get the feeling she makes these angry faces when I finish eating stuff from the floor."

"I'm not sure about that, but...it's kind of hard to see the looks on her face. Her white skin blends a little too well with her gray eyes..."

"And last but not least, I fear your overpowered Lucario may snap my angel bones when he grabs me from somewhere, but I'm so glad his power isn't all that great when doing missions! I'm scared what he'll do to me once I go back to the mansion..."

"(How did you even know his power was...? Oh, never mind.)" Chris turned to look at the silent Lucario. "Whatever you do, please don't be so rough on Pit, okay?"

Lucario said, "I can't make any promises if he goes too far... Yes, I admit I can get out of hand at the worst of times."

"T-that's okay, as long as you can keep it under control," Chris said before looking back to the concerned angel. "If you just can reduce all the...silliness – forgive me for saying it this way – I bet it'd be easier for you to look decent to the others. Just try to be the same guy you used to be before we had that Subspace Bomb drop on our heads that one time. (Wait, is it possible that bomb was what caused all this? But...Palutena surely wasn't there and yet she's so...out there. Oh no, the reason is still random...)"

"I can be seriouser!" Pit said with brightened hopes, but Chris already predicted it was bound to go seriously wrong with that made-up word. "I just gotta imitate Meta Knight's personality and the world will be alright!" To get his point across, Pit somehow produced a similar mask from behind and wore it. "My name is Meta Knight. The less I talk, the cooler I am."

Lucario winced in the background. "...I can't be the only one who thinks you'll end up having a sliced throat instead before long," the World Traveler said, "and it's really something when you're capable of getting on Meta Knight's nerves so much that he will use violence to keep you away."

Pit realized that his plan would surely go that way since he sighed miserably and sunk back into his seat. However, he forgot about discarding the mask. "Yeah, you're right. I can tell it won't end well for me... Guess I should learn how to be like Pittoo: super serious and really antagonistic. People like anti-heroes... Oh wait, he's sort of evil."

It was the first time Chris ever heard of someone called Pittoo. "Uh, Pittoo? Who's this Pittoo?" he asked.

Under the mask, Pit rolled his eyes just recalling that person. "Well, this is some neutral but still somewhat evil copy of me who was born from this trinket called the Mirror of Truth? He was supposed to be in league with the Underworld Army, but I interrupted the copying process and that's how he ended up never choosing a side of either army. That didn't stop him from trying to pluck my wings from the sky because he feels that I'm the copy and he's the original or something... Oh, and he has it against my fair Lady Palutena!" He sat upright and still didn't try to remove the mask. "Last time when we fought each other, he started saying a bunch of stupid lies that I was Lady Palutena's lap dog! He even mocked my utter loyalty to her that he was the proof that I'm wasn't so loyal to her cause!"

Chris was a little slow in trying to understand the whole situation, and somehow he thought that the name Pittoo was poorly conceived. "Okay, so all I understand is that this Pittoo person is your evil copy?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it...but he kind of helped me defeat this mini-boss with a super kick to the head that I'll never get to do with other bosses as told by Lady Palutena herself," Pit said. "But you can sense the hostility from that guy when you're standing next to him! He really hates my guts as long as I exist! It's nice to have a rival to make more battles epic in hindsight."

"...Anyway, that Pittoo person's attitude doesn't sound that likable for a lot of us. You're better off not trying to copy his act," Chris said.

"Sweet. You understand I'm not a copy! He's the copy of me who wants to see me dead!" Pit suddenly stopped to think. "Hey, maybe you and the guys can help me take him down for good next time I see him?"

"Are you suggesting we k-kill him?" Chris asked.

"Errrrr..." Pit truly considered that option until he saw Chris shiver. "M-maybe just horribly maul him within an inch of his life?"

"PIT!"

"Okay! Okay! Just beat him down and get him to stop insulting my blessed relationship with Lady Palutena!" the angel hastily said. "Let me tell you he won't stop anyway. And since you're with Lady Palutena's guard," the teen then noted that Pit would never stop calling Palutena as Lady Palutena, "and he really hates the gods no matter what side they are, he'll probably try to tear you apart. No kidding."

Chris closed his eyes in a disheartened way. "Thank you for telling me my chances of survival mean squat to your evil copy," he said, until he opened his threatening-looking eyes. "Say thank you and I will reconsider telling Lucario to go soft on you."

"Thaaaaaaaaaaaat's not gonna happen!" Pit said, barely avoiding a big aura bullet. "Well, anyway, thank you for cheering me up, Chris. I really thought Magolor was the only one who only cared about me..."

"Magolor?"

"Yeah, him! He's been the only one who's accepted me much better than everyone...and you!"

"That's just because you've been delivering the Energy Spheres to him and he's very sickly worried about losing his possessions. It's not crazy to say you're his special delivery boy."

"I'll take that as a dare, then. Someone else will deliver a sphere to him next time," Pit said. "We'll see if he likes me because of who I am or because I'm some special delivery boy to him. Oh! And...thank you for trying to cheer me up, Chris." The World Traveler, for once, smiled at Pit in a very long while. "Who knows what could've happened if I had told Fox to come over here."

"We'd probably be missing another party member then."

"Chris, that's insane! I'll never put Fox down!"

Then again, that kind of comment made Chris wonder if the talk they had was any good in the end. "I never said anything about that! At least not in that perspective..." Chris muttered, his face buried on a cushion.

The sudden arrival of Palutena into the hall made all talk die down as she stepped down the floating translucent steps of the central door. "Pit, ready yourself. We have yet another bout against Viridi to fight," she said as she noticed her slave(?) angel was sitting close to Chris. "(Oh, dang it. I was too busy that I didn't see this scene,)" she thought until she looked back at the rest of the group. "You know the drill, guys. You'll be going out into the cruel outdoors in less than six minutes. Prepare yourselves for the worst."

"Alright!" Pit kicked himself off from his sofa to stand up and rush all the way to the central door, feeling much better after having a serious(?) talk with Chris. Instead of the Guardian Orbitars he used before, he instead brandished the Beam Claws; a weapon set of two-pronged claws with exactly that same description which glowed faintly with blue light. "I'm so happy, I'm gonna start to sing!"

"What," everyone else said in unison right before they saw the angel entering through the central door and leaving the sanctuary behind. Palutena meanwhile brought up the hologram again to display Pit's flight path for the others to see.

Then the singing started just as Pit was seen rushing down the dark hallway...

Kid Icarus: Uprising – Ch. 13: The Lunar Sanctum

"~ Again today I will go soaring through the skyyy! My enemies, I'll dish 'em up in a stir fryyy! Gracious goddess of light watches from up above! At dinnertime I always show the cook some looove! ~" Pit sang cheerfully at the top of his lungs even while he was quick to fire laser beams from his clawed weapons into some random enemies from the Forces of Nature that showed up very soon upon his deployment.

The Smashers were shown cringing at his sudden urge to sing. The World Traveler pinched the bridge between his eyes and frowned, cursing to himself that he was a direct cause for the angel to be back to his usual antics. To Chris's dismay, it seemed that the talk they had was a little meaningless. "Is it bad that I forget about the super dire situation we're in because of him which in turn makes me drop my guard down?" Popo asked.

Palutena didn't mind, because deep down she liked to see Pit make a fool out of himself for her amusement (though she still liked him a lot under that teasing smile). "What are you singing? Why so cheerful?" she asked him.

"Just this little victory song I made up," Pit boasted. "One, we stopped Viridi's evil factory of nuking seeds, and two, I feel like my character development got some needed development a moment ago!"

"(Aw, hell,)" Chris thought as some eyes stared his way.

"(He better not be teasing me about that scene I didn't get to watch,)" Palutena thought sternly. "I see! Those reasons do call for a victory song made up on the spot." The group saw her crossing her fingers behind her back for that one moment alone. "The order of the day calls for another not-so epic battle of the ages against Viridi's forces, though."

The Smashers made faces. "What? I thought we were done with that obnoxious little goddess girl?" Nana said. "We destroyed that screwed up factory of Reset Bombs. What else is there?"

"There's Arlon the Serene," the goddess pointed out. "The Reset Bombs look like firecrackers compared to the weapon he has. His weapon is so lethal, it may leave a scratch on Master Hand himself."

"That is some comparison right there... I'm confused," Magolor said.

"His weapon is so lethal, it may turn Mr. G&W into 2D dust."

"Oh! Now that's a much better comparison!" the alien said, much to Mr. G&W's horror. "Eek! That sounds pretty hardcore...and bad! And if may be even worse if my materials are caught in the crossfire again!"

"True, true. This is why we must head out and attack Arlon's base ASAP," Palutena said as Pit took a higher ascent into the night sky. "His base is pretty close by. But first, can I direct your attention to the moon?" The watchers unanimously directed their gazes to the moon far away in the sky, shining brightly and calmly. It almost seemed to soothe their worries away since the landscape was peaceful and silent…

"Aww, it's so pretty and shiny..." Pit trailed off as he stopped briefly on his flight path to look up at the shining moon. "It makes me wanna turn into a werehog..."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," the Ancient Minister said.

Palutena chuckled as she fondly remembered she had dozens of videos about that term stashed safely in her room. "Okay, what about that other thing next to the moon?" she asked as the display then showed...a second, similar moon that caused many eyebrows and gaping mouths to open.

"Makes me wanna turn into a SUPER werehog!" Pit said, hearing a lot of groans from his side.

…

…

…

…

…

"What did I say about the over-usage of periods?" Palutena asked duly to the audience, her comment going largely ignored by everyone else who was more concerned about the second moon in the sky.

"Holy heck! This world has TWO moons?" Popo asked. "How come we haven't seen the land being swallowed by tsunamis?"

"And why is Fox the only one who doesn't look shocked at all?" came Ms. Fit's comment, causing everyone to turn to the vulpine sporting a straight, blank look on his face.

"What?" Fox said. "Big deal, it's two moons. From where I come from, some planets have seven moons. It kind of takes the surprise factor away by a whole bunch when there's less than that number in this universe in particular..." And he was right. Though, he'd be more shocked to see a second moon somewhere else he knew very well like the Smash Mansion's world or even Chris's world. The craziness he had seen in Pit's world lessened the surprise factor in the astrological sense.

"Aside from Mr. Moon Looker here, I just want to say that that is...no moon at all," Palutena said...to which the second moon to the right reacted soon after by splitting itself in a flashy vertical light into two vertical sides.

Fox's mouth gaped, though not as much as the rest of his team. "Okay, now that's completely different from what I'm used to," he said.

The moon was no moon at all, as it turned out to be an artificial object that looked like the real moon. That being said, Pit started to fly straight into it. "So what's the deal here?" Nana asked. "What's our next mission again? I forgot after the shock of seeing that happen."

"Our mission is to destroy the Lunar Sanctum," Palutena said. "The owner of the Lunar Sanctum is one of Viridi's loyal commanders: Arlon the Serene."

"So cool! It's like an artificial moon in space!" Pit complimented. The moon base was flattered to hear that, because it showed its appreciation by shooting a massive laser right at Pit. He was lucky to have jerked himself a second before the actual beam had scratched part of his body. As for the laser, it wasn't close enough to the earth to cause a lot of damage upon the human settlements it was set on destroying apart. "Never mind! I dislike artificial moons now!" he yelled as soon as a squad of Nutskis appeared in his way. He then started to work by shooting and dodging their attacks, his approach to the base picking up in speed.

Pit's approach eventually made something clear to the group. There were about dozens of lasers shooting wildly at his direction, until he finally got closer to the base to get a better look at it. The surface of the base did look like a copy of the moon, but the point where it had split showed off a golden network of steel where hi-tech weaponry was at the ready to strike the only threat trying to infiltrate the sanctum. In the middle of the giant planetoid, there was an energy reactor that powered up the entire base, though it was going to be hard to strike it down with the shields covering it, the laser cannons providing ground defense, and the Forces of Nature swarming the air. The setting in itself became just odd to see it happen because, quite frankly, the Smashers didn't think this was really something fitting of Pit's world where the human race did not even have phones or any other piece of technology.

Palutena frantically moved Pit's flight path around to avoid getting him fried alive. "...I'm confused. Are we in Pit's world or are we in Fox's world?" Mr. G&W asked.

"Pit's world with Fox's world's elements tossed in," Popo said. "Never mind that. This is another whole level of crazy I just can't believe."

Fox had an inner desire to rush up to his Arwing and join Pit in the fray. It had been a really long time since he had flown his vessel expertly to replace it with ground work. However, his desire convinced him to ask the golden question to the goddess. "Say... Would it be possible for you to teleport my Arwing in here?" he asked as he watched the angel fly around haphazardly. "I'm sure I'll be a great help to Pit out there in this mission."

"Nayh," Palutena said.

"Why not?"

"Because, quite frankly, you're not even going to last a second out there," the goddess said bluntly, moving her staff using unlikely motions.

Fox looked peeved at that comment. "Hello? I'm an expert air fighter. Logic says you deploy your best units to do the best jobs so that they perform better out there. This is right up my alley, you know," he said.

"Please. I know very well I could've done that with Falco because he's more a god in the air than you are," Palutena said. Fox was quite insulted to hear that comparison now of all times. "But he's not here, right? Still, that's not my main problem with you going out there..."

Fox crossed his arms. The Smashers could just feel the tension building up in his face. "And that is?"

"Lady Palutena is a dangerous opponent, I must say. She knows very well that Mistress Viridi holds a deep grudge against your kind, young master Fox," came a serene voice out of nowhere to everyone in the temple. "To break it down to you, she knows very well that I will not hesitate to shoot you down from the air using the best of my weaponry at my disposal. It is a shame that I cannot do that to young master Pit himself. It really says something when the same measures are different for either one of you."

Fox's ears perked up as he looked up. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Arlon, the Serene," the voice called out, belonging to a tall, slender man who loosely wore a butler's outfit stylized in a way of a space ship commander. His skin was light pink, with a wide white moustache complementing his short white hair. He wore a small monocle on his left eye, leaving his right one bare. "I am one of the most loyal commanders of Mistress Viridi. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my sworn enemies. It is not a surprise to meet you in person, since Mistress Viridi has told me of your...fantastic heroic tales that tell about you spreading chaos wherever you go."

"It is so nice of her to define us as a bunch of mindless barbarians," the minister said sarcastically. "Your instructions are to put a stop to us, then?"

"Unfortunately so," Arlon said. "Though her rather charming attitude leaves something to be desired, she has the best intentions for all of us involved. I am baffled that you chose to attack my humble abode of all places, however. Why on Earth must you interfere with Mistress Viridi's actions?"

"Because nuking humanity with organic seeds of destruction is really not the most ethical way to stop the wars they cause, which makes your alternate method look all the worse in paper?" Pit said.

"Excuse me for saying this, but we are the 'well-intentioned extremist' kind. Our ends justify the means," Arlon explained. "Wouldn't you all agree on that notion?"

"N-no!" Chris argued back. "How could you consider killing human life as an ultimate solution? Just think of the many young, innocent people who had nothing to do about those wars!"

"I believe Mistress Viridi already explained why it is no concern for her to terminate some...few extra lives for the protection of the world, young human master Chris. There is no need to waste my words on something that has been said to you all before I was consulted to lend my undivided aid to the cause," he said serenely. Unforgivable, Lucario muttered.

"You sound like a nice person despite the subtle threats," Ms. Fit noted. "Wouldn't it be possible for you to join our cause against the Underworld Army and the Subspace Army?"

"According to Mistress Viridi's will, it is impossible. It's beyond my purview, my dear. Please understand." Although no one saw him in person, he bowed down, eastern style.

"I understand the courtesy, but I don't understand what purview even means," Pit voiced. "Can't you be more like 'I'M GONNA KEEEEEELL UUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!' so I can understand better?" It was as if the Smashers were being told repeatedly that Pit's brain had suffered severe brain damage the more he talked off-topic. It didn't paint a good picture about his newly acquired oblivious behavior.

"Pit, this isn't the time to make us all think even less about you," Meta Knight said bluntly.

"Young master Pit's impersonations are a delight to watch, but I will have to agree with master Meta Knight on that note. This is the time where I'm allowed to exert massive amounts of damage to one of Lady Palutena's servants," Arlon said.

"LOYAL soldiers!" Pit barked back angrily. Palutena chuckled for whatever reason that implied to the Smashers that she liked to use an iron fist...which they did not doubt that much.

"Okay, I'll be the one to ask something more important to our new telepathic guest," Magolor said. "Say, Mr. Arlon the Serene! I want to ask you if you've noticed these sparkling orbs with golden cogs in them… I'm in a kind of a personal mission to collect them all for the sake of my own survival not affiliated to the scuffle between gods in this world."

"I cannot say I have seen any such items lately," Arlon responded. "However, you are free to find them in my Lunar Sanctum."

Magolor looked appreciative while the Smashers exchanged grimaces. "Wow, no threats to vaporize me on the spot? You really live up to your name!" he said.

Arlon chuckled. "Oh, but that is to say if young master Pit can breach into my domain in the first place. Any unwanted guests get to be treated with the most violent methods possible as they traverse the sanctum. But go ahead and find any of those items in here if you are able to avoid the heavy security. I have no personal need nor Mistress Viridi for your items so feel free to dispose of them just as the weaponry will dispose of you as you go on about your business," he said.

"You know, I can't put my finger on it but I can't tell if you're being confident about vaporizing me anyway..."

"He is," Nana sighed.

Lunar Sanctum

Lunar Sanctum

Unsurprisingly enough, despite all the shouting and close calls, Pit managed to infiltrate the fortified base before the gates could shut him out. As he flew into the base's innards and landed with a sliding halt on the golden floor, Pit quickly looked up and his mouth gaped almost as quickly. His arrival was the right signal for Palutena to warp the entirety of the group over to his side (without asking for their consent if they were ready). They similarly started to gawk a bit when they looked around in the new setting they were in: it was a vast world matted in golden luster with futuristic buildings under a strange yellow and green sky high above. On top of the buildings were sharp spikes that pointed upward, with some energy spheres inserted in some of the constructions. Though the exterior of the base was filled with nothing but heavy security and fake moon fields, the inside was entirely different. "This is inside a lunar base?" Mr. G&W asked as he admired the sights.

"Here I thought it would be filled to the top with cannons and a creepier architecture theme. It's like a forgotten modern city of gold in space," Popo remarked.

"Your remarks are nice to hear, fellow intruders. Do enjoy the sights, and don't mind the heavy security trying to kill you all," Arlon said. "I'm being serious here. I wish you all could stay here, but the Lunar Sanctum has no room for any...MORE guests, shall we say. Your deaths shall be very dignified if you do not toss tantrums." The previous sentence before the ghastly one went completely unnoticed as it didn't hold any importance to them.

"His comments about our deaths are so dignified that it's really hard for me to tell if he's mocking us, but he sounds so…so…serene about it!" Magolor noted.

"Don't you encourage him! He's our enemy of the day and we have to trek through his domain to find any stray Energy Spheres," Fox said, until he took a closer look at the rather immense area inside the prison they were in. "That said… Oh god, this place is so huge…"

"Fret not, fur lots! My sixth sense will alert me of any Energy Spheres I suddenly pick up by walking up ahead. That should save us looking around for nothing as long as you keep me safe from enemy fire." Magolor then looked happy and said, "I believe it is…game over if you let me fall prematurely. Please make sure such event never happens soon… I don't want to think I'll have to scream loudly if it happens." He started sweating bullets they all saw clearly running down his face.

"It's impossible. I'm known to be very loud when it comes to getting finished," Pit said.

"Very reassuring, Pit," Nana said. "Anyhow, let's start exploring this huge golden station for those spheres and to defeat Arlon."

"Do take your first steps into my realm. I shall invite you in now that Master Pit infiltrated the sanctum," Arlon called over. "And the first step is…done."

The group couldn't tell for sure why he was placing so much importance to the first step thing until one of them happened to step on a loose tile on the floor that opened up and revealed a big hole. The victim ended up yelping and then screaming when they fell down into the darkness of the hole. The tile then moved back and covered the hole once more, causing commotion among the others who saw Chris being easily separated.

"CHRIS!" Lucario yelled at the top of his lungs. He went over to the tile and started punching it hard to open up the trap door, but his fists were hardly making a dent on the surface. It didn't stop him from punching the tile, however, but he could still sense Chris's aura getting further away from his range…and then, abruptly, his senses lost their target, but not because Chris left his range, but because the loss of signal came out of nowhere. "I-I can't detect his aura!" he said in shock, alarming the group. "It was just close in my range but it disappeared!"

Fox looked very ill. "W-wait, the aura thing is tied to our lives, right? T-then… N-no… NO, THI-"

"To all uninvited guests," Arlon began, his voice echoing in the sanctum, "while you are intruding in this important place, I would like to remind you that you cannot use any supernatural sixth senses or any other physical device to locate any living soul or location. This is done this way in order to keep private places from being found by reckless people such as yourselves. This informative and friendly reminder is brought to you by yours truly, with the technology empowered by Mistress Viridi's goddess magic… So there is that, Master Lucario," the commander said. "I cannot have you disrupting the flow of your advances with that extremely useful aura sense of yours. So that is why Mistress Viridi planned up ahead and provided me with blessed materials that negate your aura senses completely as you move through the sanctum."

Lucario was enraged at this point as he glared skywards. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE CHRIS, YOU DAMNED IMBECILE?!" he barked.

"Young master Chris was taken into custody in a cozy prison cell and will remain there until you either reach my location and defeat me or you peacefully surrender and swear your alliance to Mistress Viridi," Arlon said, angering them all with the ultimatum. "As much as my fair goddess would like to do this, I cannot inflict pain on Young Master Chris due to my accommodations for the sanctum…"

"…What? I mean, you have him in your grasp," Magolor said. "Why can't yo-?"

"MAGOLOR! We don't want to give him ideas!" Mr. G&W interrupted.

"Those ideas would be awful, but I cannot explain why there should be machines or other servants near the human's location. It would be…very, absolutely disastrous," Arlon said, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Wait, why did you even take Chris away and no one else?" Ms. Fit asked.

"One, Mistress Viridi informed me that young master Chris is a rather lethal opponent despite his lack of confidence in himself with that nefarious Job System of his that helps him to respond and fight accordingly to any situation," the serene man explained. "Two, taking someone else would be a waste… and three, he needs isolation from other would-be hostages to avoid having two people breach in from the inside."

"Come on! Now's the time the enemy takes an interest on him unlike the first arc with the EarthBound crew?" Pit asked.

"Good thing Palutena-powered telepathy can hack into just about anything here!" Palutena happily boasted from her realm, and some of the Smashers groaned that she was a potential safe link between them and their separated comrade. "Hey, stop it with the groans. Be happy to know that Chris is somewhat safe and relief to me a useful message just now."

Ms. Fit looked a bit relieved. "What did he say?" she asked.

"Well, his very long scream as he fell told me that you guys shouldn't worry and must continue through the sanctum. He will reunite with you further up ahead as soon as he survives the horrible hemorrhage he'll get once his butt touches the bottom of his fall."

"THAT IS NOT WHAT HE SAID AT ALL!" a very pissed Lucario yelled back at her.

Palutena cringed at the volume of the yell. "Okay, fine. He screamed and is still screami-oh wait. He just hit a destination with his butt, as yours truly predicted correctly," she giggled. "No need to look ill. Chris survived the fall in his cozy cell… Tell you what, I'll switch back and forth between you guys and him to stay in touch, okay? That should keep our blue bipedal hound dog from going Aura Rage on everything he sees."

"That's actually really reassuring," said Nana as she side-glanced at Lucario growling under his breath, several limbs of his body randomly catching on blue fire through aura.

"Ugh, at least he's fine in that cell…" Fox muttered. "C'mon, we got to move and rescue him from this golden, giant bird cage."

"Best of luck in your endeavors, Smashers and young master Pit. I am sure I will be victorious in this struggle," Arlon said serenely, watching the group rushing up ahead to the inner bowels of the sanctum…

Cell Room

Having fallen on his rear wasn't as painful as Chris thought it would be all because the hole he fell into turned into a long slide at the end, where he popped out from the golden wall and fell on the golden tiled floor. Sliding on his rear and groaning aside, he took a quick look at his surroundings… A well-lighted golden hall with multiple roomy cells behind bars that were divided into huge blocks on the walls, reaching high into the golden ceiling. His cell happened to be on the ground floor, though it didn't help it lacked some sort of door. "A-are you kidding me? Separated again? …And put in a cell again?" Chris told himself, his voice echoing in the big hall.

"Good, that saves me the trouble to explain your role in this new safe setting, which is sitting there and being quiet for very long periods of time," Arlon's voice suddenly rang in Chris's head. "Do enjoy your new home, young master Chris."

Chris grunted as he stood up. "Y-you're sick in the head if you think I'm going to rot in this cell! I want to get out and…and…" Quickly shaking the depressing thoughts about how he was not going to make it, the teen found something weird about his current predicament. "Wait a minute, why did you even put me of all people in a cell?"

"In a few words, Mistress Viridi sees your Job system as a hindrance during your bout against fellow comrade Cragalanche that she wishes to keep you away from your group. Also, she sees how useful it can be for an army…and thus, she also wishes me to tinker with your body to extract those useful abilities and add them to the army." Chris's eyes widened in horror. "…Or we could always resort to the overused brainwashing method if its predecessor does not work."

Chris pictured Viridi's echoing laugh in his head while she used strings to move him about. "E-eww, no! I don't want to be some puppet to some…human-hating goddess of nature!" he complained.

"If it is any consolation to you, your ill thoughts towards my fair mistress are completely discarded when the brainwashing is successful."

"T-that is in NO way any better!" With a groan, Chris looked forward to the golden bars barring his way out from the empty cell. Then he looked at his black mage staff and mage hat on the floor. Putting his hat back on his head that cast the dark shade on his face and gripping his magic weapon, he glared. "Oh… S-screw this, I'm just going to break out from here…" he muttered.

"Do that and my security system will open massive fire on you, and it would be a big loss for both factions to have you reduced to ashes," Arlon warned, making Chris reconsider his decision to break through.

"And this is where I shine," Palutena's voice giggled in their heads as suddenly, the bars keeping Chris trapped lowered down. The teen stared dumbfounded at the empty space of air the bars used to occupy, while half-ignoring Arlon grunting very slightly. "Come forth, o Job System source, to freedom and beyond! So says your saint goddess of light."

"…W-what?" was Chris's only response to what happened.

"My… Lady Palutena, must you intervene in my secondary affairs?" Arlon asked, still sounding unfazed by the event.

"Hey, I gotta live up to my name of goodness and love and all that stuff humans make up about me," Palutena said. Chris grimaced at no one in particular. "Yeah, don't think too much about it, Chris. Just get a move on and step out from that boring empty cell into the wild golden outdoors. Hurry it up because my special Anti-Viridi Long Range Weapon Security System won't last for long… Yeah, it sucks that goddess powers can't hold out from very absurdly long distances, but what can you do?"

Cringing that the goddess was not taking it so seriously – mostly because she was not the victim – Chris carefully stepped out from the cell, did a quick hop over the holes of the bars to avoid being possibly neutered, and then started to run to the right, where he noticed a long hallway out from the cell room. Trusting that Palutena was (at least) trying to keep him safe, Chris could only run faster and away from there…anything to stay alive and survive to keep that nasty depression from kicking in…

"This has the unfortunate potential to cause massive chaos if I do not intervene myself," Arlon said as he watched Chris moving through the thin hallway. "Young master Chris, I believe you are a firm believer of peace, correct?"

"T-that's such a weird question to ask right now, b-but yes!" Chris responded.

"Thank you. For all purposes intended, please do not even think about setting free some of the specimens kept under tight lock in this facility. Because…" Arlon suddenly went quiet, "…well, you cannot have those unruly Forces of Nature's minions fighting you during your escape, do we?"

"U-uh, sure! Why would I even think about setting monsters free if they can't tell who's an ally or foe?!" he asked, just as he crossed a heavily-guarded door with multiple locks on the frame and several inactive laser cannons pointing at it from the ceiling, with a big sign on top of the door that read CHAOS KIN CELL ROOM – DO NOT MAKE PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH IT. Arlon then sighed, knowing that the human passed and ignored that particular room.

15 minutes later…

Chris didn't know how much longer he had to keep running like mad through the hallway, and he did not if he was taking the right way out as he had taken many different paths that broke into yet more paths inside the convoluted sanctum design. To make matters worse for him, he had to tolerate the goddess and the guardian's endless talks. On Palutena's side, it was the subtle teasing she did not make so subtle. On Arlon's side, it was the polite remarks that actually narrated his eventual demise. He was going crazy and getting bored simultaneously.

On both sides, it would be pure teasing incarnate.

"Young master Chris has an everlasting amount of stamina, I see," Arlon spoke.

"He sure does. That surprises me a lot," Palutena said in thought. "Pit gets really tired after running for 15 seconds, but Chris? I so need to reevaluate my training from heaven on Pit to make him more durable. Can't make him less durable than a human! Think of my reputation."

"Lady Palutena, the least you could show this human is some courtesy. I can only try to show him my security system on the other side of the gun barrel."

"Having a Swiss Chris Cheese could sound appetizing, but I rather you don't while I'm around. See? I can be a good guy to my humble people! Even if…he's kind of out there from my realm. He just got a lucky break for being human."

"So, does that imply you show hostility to any other race that is not human?"

"If said race raises a pitchfork and bugs me for a month, I can retaliate…with Pit, of course. When it's a god, I have to take out the big guns, which is Pit, again. And when things get really bad, I can always count on my otherworldly assistance. Isn't that right, Chris?"

"Y-you better be completely honest about that…" Chris muttered.

"Sure, results may vary, but I do enjoy a good progress from humans now and then. Make me proud and slay the evil Arlon for good, and step on his corpse and impale his heart with that wooden stick of yours when you can! Let us spread a clear message to the Forces of Nature that we AIN'T kiddin' 'round!"

"Your theatrics could be more…dignified and less mentally scarring," Arlon muttered.

The human's whole reason for not taking breaks was the impending doom of his death if he let his guard down. He already experienced that horrible feeling in the previous world, and he was not ready to go through it again. As he continued running through the endless hallways, he had the urge to ask Palutena a golden question. "Palutena! C-can you tell me when I'm going to reunite with the others?!"

"It seems you are getting close to them from where you are, but I'm afraid you'll have to get your hands dirty as there are evil minions up ahead," Palutena said. "All I can sense is a big, wide room, but my goddess radar is too clunky in this sanctum to properly get a good visual."

"Oh… So young master Chris is reaching that area?" Arlon spoke up.

"Whoops. I forgot he was still on the line. Sorry about that, Chris."

"Y-you COULD keep him out from our talks?!" Chris asked alarmed.

"It is quite feasible and quick to just hijack Lady Palutena's conversations while her servants are prowling in the sanctum. Do not be so shocked for hearing that line of common knowledge," Arlon said. Right after that, the teen yelped when the path behind his back was closed by a wall falling from the ceiling. "And now everything is working properly. No more saint blessings from Lady Palutena will let you have silent strolls in my realm. Show me the potential a human can do against the Forces of Nature."

That last sentence made Chris stop and reconsider what he was going to do. When he noticed, there was an automatic door up ahead. Perhaps it was the door that led to the big room Palutena mentioned…and if memory served, big rooms were always good places to expect big fights. Dreading the thought of fighting multiple monsters that clearly took baths in atomic waste, the teen contemplated lingering in the small halfway he was to wait for his team to arrive to his rescue…

"I hate people standing idly by, so I will give young master Chris an incentive to continue to the Control Center room," Arlon said.

And suddenly, the temperature of the hallway increased at the drop of a hat that the floor, walls, and ceiling were turning a bright shade of red. Even one second called beads of sweat on Chris's forehead, but he panicked immediately and started running up ahead to the automatic door to get the hell out of the hell in the hallway. Before his skin could feel like it was melting, the teen managed to reach the door, opening at his scrambled feet's command and letting him out to take a deep breath in the big room with lower but average temperature. "O-o-oh…my… H-holy…crap… Whew…" Chris huffed, feeling very safe to be alive instead of burning up.

Seeing the red color of the room made him swallow his breath for a moment, until he reconfirmed that the temperature was right. He swung his head around to see if anything was odd… The room was big and red in color, with pillars on the walls. To the right, there was a rather large red door. To the left was a door protected by some sort of force field that discouraged progress. To the center was…a large blue sphere of some kind, sporting some golden squares that didn't shield it by even a half and were almost erratically placed around its shape.

"I have a nasty feeling that sphere in the middle is…dangerous…" Chris muttered.

"Your forewarning skills are spot on, young human," Arlon said. "But did they tell you about another being lurking around the room?"

"…L-lurking?!" Chris panicked once more and started looking around the room for whatever that being was. He looked up at the ceiling, at the floor with glowing trails of light running around, at the walls to find some sort of spider, but there wasn't anything. Halting his heavy breathing, he couldn't afford to lower his guard, so he took a tight grip on his staff and darted his yellow eyes around once more…until his ears picked up the sound of footsteps coming from behind the blue sphere in the middle. He braced himself for the monster stepping out…a monster shaped like Pit… "…Huh?"

Utter confusion filled Chris when he saw the being Arlon hinted at. It was an exact replica of Pit, except wearing black colors and a more serious look on its face...HIS face. Anything that had been white and brown on Pit was black on that other replica. Besides the silver bow weapon that the being held on his right hand, the smirk on his face was threatening.

"But…" Chris blinked in confusion. "How is this…?"

"Hey, Arlon," the Pit replica suddenly spoke in a slightly gruffer tone than Pit's, his smirk fading. "You told me it was Pit coming through here, not this other guy."

"Did I? I am so sorry for the confusion," Arlon said audibly to Chris, Palutena, and the Pit replica. "Circumstances have brought young master Chris to the Control Center room. If you really wish to do battle against young master Pit, do show young master Chris your fighting prowess…and cease his existence at once. Are we clear?"

The Pit replica rolled his eyes but then grinned at a wary Chris. "Whatever. I was getting bored standing around doing nothing but guard this big ball. Let the games begin!"

Dark Pit's Theme

Without warning, the Pit replica quickly aimed at Chris and sent a rather large green arrow of light from the silver bow. The teen screamed and quickly dove to the right to avoid the blow, barely avoiding it. He scrambled up on his feet and turned back to the dark angel. "W-who the hell are you?!" Chris asked.

"It's Pit's dark nemesis! The evil renegade Pittoo!" Palutena informed the startled human, who really vaguely recalled hearing that degrading-sounding name before from Pit.

Hearing that name, Pittoo growled. "Seriously now? You're calling me that?!" he bellowed to Palutena.

"Gotta have some cheering up to my favorite human of the bunch," the goddess said with a smile, which Chris did not see. He was too busy trying to understand what was happening while also dodging the long arrow blows from the evil Pittoo person. "You could use some cheering up, Pittoo. Some cheering up that does not involve satisfying your thirst for combat."

"How about cheering me up with my real name, then?" Pittoo asked, while still busy aiming at a running Chris.

"T-then what is your real name?!" Chris yelled, ducking his head from another arrow blow.

The Pit replica grinned and said, "Dark Pit."

"…T-that's it?" Chris asked, slowing down his running.

The Pit replica, or Dark Pit, looked a tad peeved and lowered his weapon for a few seconds. "Yeah, so what? You expected something more imposing?" Angrier, he raised his bow and resumed shooting, only grinning when he struck Chris's chest and made him stop to catch his breath.

"Urk!" Chris winced, quickly grasping the spot where the arrow hit him. "N-no… I can't… I-I can't die in here…" The pain reminded him about his horrors once more. He froze there trying to stubbornly resist the pain of the blow until Kawashima spoke up from out of the blue.

"Chris, don't stay put! Your magic comes out much faster when you're alone against the enemy! This was done by Master Hand in case you'd be stuck in a fight without being able to change jobs! …Well, he could have given you the ability to change jobs, but…" the professor trailed off until he shook himself. "Fight back! You can do this!"

Hearing those encouraging words, the World Traveler sidestepped from another arrow blow and turned back to the chuckling Dark Pit. Out of desperation, Chris started chanting under his breath, unlike how he needed concentration and some more time to reach the chant part. "Bolts of lightning, shock my enemy and awe! Thundara!" He raised the tip of his staff, now brimming with yellow lights.

From above Dark Pit, dark clouds appeared quickly and made him look up, until the clouds shone bright and sent several lightning bolts that electrocuted his body in a blink of an eye. The dark angel screamed and tried to shrug off the bolts, though they only did so when the attack stopped. Standing on one knee, the dark angel glared daggers at the teen. "F-feeling tough now? That should make this fight much MORE interesting… (Mages aren't good at close combat, right?)" Dark Pit suddenly broke the silver bow in two sharp daggers and charged right towards the black mage, making him yelp.

"He is switching to close combat? Black mages aren't good in a fight like that!" Palutena informed the horrified Chris. "You must device some sort of defensive strategy!"

"H-how?! I can only fling spells… Wait, I should do that!" Chris resumed casting another spell while Dark Pit approached with weapons ready. "Bolts of lightning, shock my enemy and awe! Thundara!"

"Not agai-UUUUUURGH!" Dark Pit stopped in his tracks the moment the lightning bolts came crashing down on his body again. Noticing the free time he got while the dark angel was being electrocuted, the World Traveler turned tails and tried to get some more distance from the enemy. He surmised that he could keep the onslaught of spells going if he kept using the same spell-and-run strategy. Maybe the fight to the death was possible to win…

"Come now, young master Dark Pit," Arlon spoke from the silence. "You cannot be struggling against this human. I was afraid something like this may happen, so I prepared some accommodations in advance to assist you properly."

The sphere at the center of the room suddenly shot an explosive blast from the top that easily homed in on Chris and blew up into a bigger explosion of fire, pushing the teen aside and getting injured even more than the arrow blows Dark Pit shot. Sliding a bit on the floor, the World Traveler cringed in pain and started to think the worst was going to happen… Noticing Dark Pit rushing to him with his blades, the teen scrambled to his fight and turned tails again, though the sphere had fired another shot that reached out for his back and made him lose his footing, giving Dark Pit more time to get closer to him. "A-argh!" Chris grunted as he tried getting up, but then, he heard the rushing footsteps way too close to his back, and he turned around. His eyes shrunk in fear as the blades were pulled back to deliver a heavy slashing blow, and seeing Dark Pit's serious look made it much worse to him, so Chris screamed and yelled, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"No ellipses! I said this before! It interrupts the flow!" Palutena scolded harshly to no one in particular.

"Ignoring what that even meant, can I ask why the battle came to a stop?" Arlon asked.

When Chris heard the sanctum's owner pointing that out, he opened his eyes and could not believe what he saw. Instead of thinking his team had rushed in and stopped the dark angel at the nick of time, he was at a loss of words when he saw Dark Pit frozen on his spot, with his blades behind his back, trembling as if something was holding him back from dealing the heavy blow. Looking up at Dark Pit's face, Chris was even more confused to see him clenching his teeth hard, beads of sweat running down his face from his hair. The serious look on his eyes was a little more puzzling, along with the restrained grunting sounds escaping through his teeth. By all means, Dark Pit seemed to fight back whatever was holding him still… "D-darn it…!" he said through clenched teeth as he stared down at Chris's shocked look. "W-why can't I…?!"

"I'm helping you out because…I don't want to feel entirely useless to the group during this big journey. I have more experience at trying to make someone feel much better emotionally when I hang out with them, and you've seen how close I am to Lucario. I-I'm not saying we'll be doing the same stuff as he and I do. I just want to make friends… I can't just turn away when someone needs help trying to get through hard times…"

Those familiar words inside Dark Pit's head echoed as he kept staring at Chris's face. There was no mistaking it, he thought. Those words were spoken by Chris, but not through telepathy. Whatever he tried to do to force his arms to attack, he couldn't do it, much to his chagrin. He wanted to attack just to get it over with, but the restraint put by those words…those strange words holding him back… As he tried to wrestle himself from the bind, he could only watch the World Traveler slowly backing off while keeping a close eye on the dark angel's trembling body. Once the teen put some distance between them, Dark Pit's body was set free from the restraints. "What was that…?" he muttered under his breath, and then he glared at Chris. "What did you do to me back there?! How did you stop me from attacking you?! Did you learn some expression technique that stops enemies from attacking?!"

"W-what? No!" Chris said.

"Then how do you explain those strange words ringing in my head?!" Dark Pit demanded.

"W-what words?" the teen asked back. "Palutena, are you messing with his head now?"

"I can honestly say it's not my fault," Palutena said. "I can speculate it was his own thoughts messing with his head… I wouldn't be surprised if he had some. Dark Pit wasn't completely created to be an evil Pit knockoff." She smiled and said, "Can we say that he is…glitching mentally and he's on the road to total existence failure?"

"Oh, aren't you the best scientist now," Dark Pit grumbled. He combined his two weapons and reformed the bow, aiming at Chris with an arrow. Seeing Chris gulping and backing off, Dark Pit growled when his arms started shaking again. The shaking prevented him to aim properly at his shivering target. "C-c'mon! I don't need this shaking screwing me up!"

Arlon sighed loudly. "Young master Dark Pit, I regret to say that you are proving to be an unwanted ally in this operation. Now I am starting to lament how the battle unfolded with your inability to fight intruders," he said.

"Z-zip it! I only agreed to come here just to fight that moron Pit!" Dark Pit growled.

"Very well. Stopping that colorful angel is more important to you. I will keep you around until he comes. But as for the human in the room, I will dispose of him myself." The sphere in the middle shone and immediately sent another explosive blast to a screaming Chris…but Dark Pit's hands stopped shaking and instinctively moved his bow to the direction of the blast and shot an arrow at it, causing it to go off in midair before it could harm the World Traveler. Palutena, Chris, and Arlon were all surprised by the sudden move that made the sanctum owner fix his monocle and ask in a tense tone, "May I ask what is it that you are doing now?"

"G-grr…" Dark Pit cringed. He just couldn't explain why he just interrupted the blast from hurting the human. He was doing well just a moment ago until those strange words made him stop his attacks. Since then, just the thought of hurting the human again was…wrong…and even thinking back on the strikes that did connect with his target made him feel oddly guilty. He was beating himself up in his head a lot about what was wrong with him all of a sudden. What pulled him out of his trance was another explosive blast from the sphere being shot at Chris again, but the blast only reached halfway through before Dark Pit shot it down again. He was now grimacing hard.

"You did it again," Arlon said blankly. "Must I reevaluate your free pass in the sanctum? Changes could be made to turn you into a hostile intruder."

"W-will you shut up already!" Dark Pit growled at him, while Chris replaced his fear for confusion all over again. Giving Chris one more look, the dark angel cringed. "Why can't I even think about hurting you without getting cold feet? That is not my style! You're messing with my rhythm!"

"H-how could I be messing with you?" Chris asked, his hands tightly grasping his mage rod. "None of my spells have any secondary effects like that!"

"You're hiding something from me! And I'm gonna make you squeal it out!" Dark Pit complained as he aimed his bow at the human, only for his hands to shiver even harder. He grunted in annoyance and lowered down his weapon, at which point his hands stopped trembling. "Darn it!"

"A friendly reminder to everyone watching and listening to this controversial fight," Arlon began. "I do enjoy watching some improvised acts of entertainment. Even I have my limits when watching too much of the same thing, however. So, I will ask young master Dark Pit one more time… Will you please get rid of the human or do we have to watch your capable hands freezing all the time you want to prepare an attack?"

Gritting his teeth and staring with disdain at Chris, the dark angel had a whirlwind of troubling thoughts in his head that held him back from fighting. No matter how hard he tried to fight the thoughts and the human, he would be forced to reevaluate any moves that involved violence. With Arlon talking so formally with a hint of dissatisfaction that was slowly giving away, Dark Pit grabbed his head with both hands. "S-shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Dark Pit yelled louder and louder with every demanding word.

"…Very well. You have chosen your meddlesome alliance," Arlon said blankly.

Just as things were going to reach a breaking point, the strange brawl at the Control Center room was interrupted by screams coming from the door that wasn't barred by a force field. The two people in the room turned their attention to the door, as if it helped them to forget about the stress of dealing with Dark Pit's confusing reactions. "W-what the…" Dark Pit trailed off.

"H-how are we supposed to cross this chasm?! There's no floor!" complained a whiny voice.

"Hey, hold on. There has to be some crazy mechanic to cross this place. Not even double jumping will help us here…"

"I-I'm back… Okay, gotta rush i-!"

"NO! You're going to get yourself killed if you keep running blindly!"

"Maybe letting him get killed that way we'll avoid getting killed ourselves?"

"…That's dark, man."

There was no doubt that the screams belonged to the rest of the team, Chris thought. He was relieved, but confused as to why they were screaming. "Oh, look. My plethora of boys and two girls are headed this way," Palutena quipped. "Say your prayers, Arlon. Your days are numbered."

"How dramatic of you," Arlon said with dull interest.

"Wait. That reflection on the other side… It shows a floor."

"As they say, ahh, heck."

Less than a minute later, the door finally opened up, and the whole group came rushing into the room as they have done ever since Chris had been separated. Immediately, the teen and the dark angel saw them, and they saw them both as well. "Oh, thank goodness!" Chris said.

But then Dark Pit grinned when he saw the stunned Pit staring back at him. "You're right. Thank goodness he is here. RUAH!" he yelled a battle cry without his body falling numb. He was now in total control, probably due to his inner hatred of Pit standing in front of him.

And just like many times before, Pit did nothing else but charge forward, ignoring the exasperated complaints of his group. The two angels clashed their Guardian Orbitars and silver box respectively, suddenly getting into a heated battle to see who would push the other foe away…though Pit, showing as if he was trying to toss his trembling balled fists, was only seen standing there with his floating weapons doing the pushing. "Pittoo!" he said in a very serious tone. In the background of their clash, a stealthy, sweating Chris was sliding his feet sideways to his group while the attention was focused on the angels in case the dark angel would switch his attention back to him again. After a few dozen sliding motions, he safely managed to embrace his concerned Lucario and hear his group's collective relieved comments upon rejoining them.

"Stop calling me that!" Dark Pit growled through his gritted teeth.

The two angels were at it for a long while, giving the others some time to collect info about their missing partner. "Did he rough you up? I'm in for some justified hammer swings," Popo said, while swinging his hammer.

"A-a little, but he kind of doesn't want to hit me…" Chris said. "At the start, we fought, but then he started getting cold feet."

"He got cold feet from fighting you?" Magolor wondered. "Truly, you have given him terror underneath that mage hat of yours."

"I-I'm sure it wasn't because of my face under my mage hat," Chris said. "I still don't know why he'd stop from attacking me…and then when that core at the center started to shoot explosive blasts at my face, he immediately started to block those blows wit-" He recalled what that core does too late, when one explosive blast was sent to them and blew up right in the middle, causing everyone to be pushed back to the floor. "O-oww!"

"Sorry. I could not just resist the temptation to do it," Arlon said.

The group groaned in pain after being blown away to different directions, though the first blast from the core had alerted them all from how dangerous it was. With a second blast coming out from it, they were more prepared to stand up and run, despite their bodies smoking. "Sorry for being the goddess of obvious goals, but you must destroy the core to advance further in," Palutena informed the group. "Surely the combined might of the Smashing Force will defeat such a fearsome foe!"

Arlon was heard sighing. "I am afraid my poor choice in security personnel do not favor my odds…for this one battle," he said while looking over to the two Pits clashing their weapons in a heated, if personal, scuffle that seemed to have no end as they never managed to score a solid hit on each other for playing a defensive game. They did move a lot around the room, even to the point that they kept running into the others by crashing into them and pushing them away to ignore their complaints. Pit kept apologizing, but Dark Pit kept tossing insults. Their bickering at each other became known quickly to the group…though Arlon was a bit satisfied that both angels were interrupting the flow of the attacks to the core with them constantly ignoring running into the others, he couldn't believe their overall ignorance of their surroundings was actually giving the core a better fighting chance. "Or…perhaps I arrived to a quick conclusion? I do not know anymore."

"Ugh. This is so degrading to watch, even I'm ashamed," Palutena said. "Hey, you guys! Care to smash that core down now?"

Popo was kicked away by Dark Pit, who then jumped aside from a shield blast from Pit, who pushed Ms. Fit back with his right shoulder by accident. "Pit and his evil dark twin brother are making this a little too difficult!" Popo complained.

"You little shrewd! Don't you dare call me his evil dark twin brother!" Dark Pit barked back.

"Yeah, his name is Pittoo!" Pit corrected.

"IT'S NOT THAT EITHER!"

Magolor, being the only pacifist running around in a panic, groaned. "Ooh, I don't know what to focus on anymore! Should we fight the core, the Dark…guy, or wonder if his name is Pittoo? So many commotions!" he screamed, until Meta Knight grabbed his hand to keep him from bolting away and screaming his head off.

"Fight the core, defeat that other Pit, and then continue further into the sanctum," Meta Knight said, taking a small flight to avoid a blast from striking them.

"Q-question, if we can ask!" Mr. G&W said, waving his right hand. "Why is there a dark version of Pit around? That's what I can't wrap my head around!"

"Fight now, exposition later!" Fox ordered.

Arlon saw how anti-climatic the battle would play from the first moment the group reunited, except without expecting the part of the Pits prolonging the struggle. His plan to keep the World Traveler away from his comrades was ruined through DIVINE INTERVENTION, though he questioned if that plan was even worth it seeing as Chris wasn't exactly focusing too much in fighting the core and was more concerned about the two Pits duking it out and wondering aloud if he should really attack Dark Pit after he protected him against his will (the fact Lucario kept him from getting blasted helped Chris a lot in distracting himself). Eventually, with a mechanical cry induced by Ms. Fit smacking the thing with a soccer ball, the core stopped functioning and blew up in place, causing the nearby barrier shielding the door to vanish…but despite all this and Palutena claiming victory over the "core of explosiveness", the Pits were not even done with their fight, as they kept running around and only suffering from huffing and sweating…

Lunar Sanctum

The Smashers stood aside together and looked back and forth between both angels, until they stared at one another with dull looks…and split up in equal numbers to subdue both Pits by overwhelming numbers overpowering their arms and legs, successfully sneaking up on them. "Gotcha! Dark Pit was caught," Palutena said. "What should I name him now?"

"Whatever the lady pleases," Arlon said. "You can subtly torture him all you want. I do not care for what happens to him. Let us return to our usual escapades…"

The two Pits were both struggling to get off from their captors. Even when the group released Pit, Dark Pit was being held back by Meta Knight, Fox, and Lucario. "What do you freaks want from me?! Let go!" he barked.

"I clearly said there would be exposition later, didn't I?" Fox said with a sly grin.

"Who the heck cares? You're not getting anything from me! Now let me go so I can give Pit a new one!"

Ms. Fit, Chris, and the Ancient Minister had to now hold Pit back when the angel took a sprint to the dark angel. "H-hey! I thought we were gonna defeat Pittoo for good by ganging up on him!" Pit said when he stepped back.

"We're not a bunch of violent people…" Ms. Fit said. "…I'm correct in saying this, right? I haven't been around for too long." Chris nodded just to reassure her.

"Oh no. I agree that we should keep a close eye on Dark Pit to monitor his activities," the Ancient Minister said, earning a wide-eyed stare from the dark angel. "I am very intrigued that he even exists. Defeating him in combat would have been a little…uncalled for."

Dark Pit was not liking how everything was falling into place against his will. First his body through unwilling will, and now physically restrained. "W-what?! Since when did you freaks agree to turn me into your stupid guinea pig?!"

"Did you call yourself stupid?" Magolor wondered.

"…Shut up!" The dark angel resumed tossing around, making his captors grunt as they restrained him into place. When they saw his dark wings suddenly glowing in a purple light and fluttering madly, they were a little surprised that the dark angel was slowly taking off from the floor.

As they struggled to keep him from flying away, Popo and Nana looked at each other. "Rope?" Popo asked.

Nana took out a lengthy rope from behind. "Rope," she said. The two actual twins walked behind Dark Pit and, much to the dark angel's agony, started to wrap the rope tightly around his twitching wings until they were bounded completely from right behind the angel's back.

"ARGH!" Dark Pit growled. "What are you, bullies?! What the heck did I ever do to all of you to get bounded?!"

"Hey, no offense, but you pissed me off the moment you attacked one of us," Fox said. Almost all of them nodded, somewhat making Chris grimace.

"So sorry I hurt your boyfriend!" Dark Pit barked, and he earned a well-placed punch on the left cheek from the vulpine...and a flustered Chris smacked his head with his mage rod. "Oww!"

"Ahem, guys?" Palutena faked a cough. "Stop drawing things out for a bit and tell me what you're planning to do to Dark Pit. I don't really mind having him as a prisoner because…well, he is a tad unsettling and a small hindrance to Pit."

"He is a copy of Pit, isn't he?" the Ancient Minister asked. "While it could be possible that the Subspace Army may scout him, we should consider scouting him first instead of letting him roam unsupervised to let them have the chance."

Dark Pit seemed to ease his tossing around when he listened to their conversation. "I am in league with no one but myself. I prefer to go solo in my missions," he stated.

"Please. Your missions all involve giving Pit some sort of major pain in the butt to prove who the original is or some such," Palutena said.

The dark angel chuckled confidently. "Best life mission ever, if I do say so myself," he boasted, making Pit growl really loudly.

"…" Palutena then got a splendid idea to get Dark Pit to comply with their demands. He was outnumbered and bounded to the earth, keeping him from escaping after all. "Dark Pit, we need your help." The group exchanged confused glances when they heard that. "If you don't come with us, we aren't certain if Pit will live long enough for the two of you to have the destined epic battle of the ages."

"What?" everyone else asked in unison.

"Think about it for a sec," Palutena said in deep thought. "Dark Pit has secretly been confident in Pit's skills to fight the Underworld Army alone up till this point…"

"When the heck have I eve-?!" the flustered Dark Pit yelled but was interrupted by the goddess.

"But this fight against the Subspace Army may be too much for one Pit alone. Not even fighting together with the rest of the team will be enough… And in the event that Pit falls, there goes the chance for Dark Pit to defeat him personally…"

"…" Dark Pit looked a tad surprised to hear the revolting explanation playing with his feelings like a fiddle. Now that the thought about Pit falling prey to the Subspace army was in his head, it was hard for the dark angel to forget about the possibility of his infernal copy being defeated and potentially killed by someone else other than him… He knew it was a cliché. Dark Pit knew himself that his rivalry to Pit was just like the rivalry between the space furries from the other universe, yet he couldn't deny the thrill and adrenaline he got from clashing against the lively angel…but Dark Pit was having an inner crisis about ignoring what could happen to Pit or keep a close eye on the enemy from delivering the finishing blow… Curse that cynical goddess, Dark Pit thought.

"What do you want to do, Dark Pit?" Palutena asked in a teasing tone. She was confident she had him where she wanted him to be. "Do you want to take the chances, or make sure you fight for our cause to keep your vendetta alive?"

"…Curse this stupid…" Dark Pit muttered.

"Hmm?"

"…Ugh, fine!" Dark Pit growled, glaring at the ceiling. "You got yourself a deal… It's better than doing nothing. I have a good reason to kick someone else's butt to get stronger and get back at this stupid angel."

"Hey!" Pit yelled.

Unsure if it was right to do so, the trio holding Dark Pit let go of him, though the Ice Climbers didn't untie his wings yet. When the dark angel looked at each one of them giving him a wide range of stares, he scoffed and looked away while shaking his head. "Some bind I got myself into because of some idiotic gambit…" he muttered under his breath.

A very loud fanfare made everyone cover their ears. The fanfare was coming from Palutena loudly announcing, "DARK PIT WAS FORCED TO JOIN OUR TEAM BY YOURS TRULY!" The fanfare died out quickly when she heard them all groaning and complaining about the loud music forced into their minds and ears. "Sorry. I get all hyped up when new members join our growing crew."

"D-dang it, woman!" Dark Pit complained, his ears still ringing from the fanfare. "T-this is one of many reasons why I don't pledge alliances to your kind!"

"You didn't pledge to me. You pledged your life to the Smasher group…who therefore pledged their alliance to me." Dark Pit groaned at that loophole abuse. "No way out of this one for you, Dark Pit. Welcome to the team. My Centurions serve some good cookies."

"I'm not sharing my stash with him!" Pit defiantly said. Dark Pit briefly contemplated making Pit's life in the sanctuary hell, but maybe, he thought, dealing with the cookies was a tad too depressing and low…

A stone-faced Ancient Minister then asked, "Can we not get into another mindless squabble involving meaningless stuff and proceed to Arlon's lair while looking for more Energy Spheres?"

"Ahh, someone here wants to focus on the most important…personal mission I have!" the Halcandran said giddily. "Let us go to uncharted space territory!" He noticed everyone started to walk rather than run… Only then he noticed they were still feeling very unsure about tagging along with the black Pit that was forced to join them. "Um… You guys could show some optimism and hurry now and then…"

"How?" Nana asked him, looking at Dark Pit keeping distance from them and Pit stealing serious glances from time to time. "I can't say we should just ignore the other Pit…"

"Then why don't you let me go?" Dark Pit questioned, looking forward and still listening to the team. "It'll be easier for all of us to go our separate ways."

"You forgot what I said a moment ago already?" Palutena asked.

Dark Pit cringed and looked away in a sharp turn. "Y-you're all lucky I don't want some random mook to take Pitstain down for me. Ugh! This wasn't in the script…" he muttered the last part.

So far, Dark Pit hadn't opened up warmly to anyone other than Chris himself, so the World Traveler tried to be the mediator between both parties and, with his dutiful Lucario in tow and getting a lot of gossiping looks from the others from behind, slowly approached the dark angel. Dark Pit heard the teen coming over and he nearly cringed when he stole one look at him. The teen saw the cringing look, signaling that something was up. When he came closer to the newcomer, Dark Pit didn't seem to try shooing him away until Chris talked. "U-um… so…it's nice to have you in the group, I guess…"

"…" Dark Pit didn't say anything. His body became numb when he even thought about shutting Chris up or telling him to go away. The dark angel recalled he had insulted him earlier, but that was because his attitude was reaching a breaking point from dealing with his captive situation.

"(…Maybe he's still angry about what he's going through?)" Chris thought. "L-look… W-what happened earlier between the two of us…"

"Don't bring it up." Chris was shocked to get a response. "I was out of it for some reason I don't know. I don't wanna know why it's…so hard to inflict pain on you unlike stupid Pit."

Lucario's gaze turned stern, but Chris only got more curious. "So… For some reason, you can't bring yourself to hurt me?"

Dark Pit cursed himself. The shot was fired, and he couldn't order Chris to stop it. He figured that if he wanted this to be over, he had to endure the human for a while longer. "…That's what it is. I have no idea why that is," Dark Pit said blankly. "Sure as heck I'd like to know myself just to stop freezing up whenever you are involved somehow."

"I-I'd like to know myself too… We really haven't met before, that's for sure…"

"…That makes things even weirder and stressful to me," the dark angel said. He looked over his right shoulder at Chris, though his serious expression unnerved the World Traveler. "…I know you enjoy helping people out of their issues to feel better with yourself helping the team out. Wanna work on mine?"

"…" Chris just blinked.

Dark Pit felt the stare burning his skin that he glanced sideways. "What?"

"…How do you even know I like doing that?" Chris questioned. "If you really haven't met me, how do you know that much?"

"…What did I…?" Dark Pit's eyes trembled and he turned away from the human. He was surprised he went and said that out of nowhere. He was sure he had only met Chris just today, and another part of him thought he knew Chris very well without having met him in person anyway. The piles of confusion kept pilling on, only being delayed when Dark Pit didn't say more from the surprise he got. As Chris related the conversation to the others and Pit fully disclosed how Dark Pit came to be, a wary, gossiping Palutena personally started brainstorming why Dark Pit behaved so "funny" around the World Traveler. His upbringing was like a huge hint she took happily to help her theories come to fruition…

Some time passed as the group worked together to cross the sanctum, with Dark Pit almost not doing anything to help the cause but always raising his bow whenever Chris would scream when an attack was headed his way, further raising confusion among the teammates who questioned that habit. The whole way to Arlon's location was filled with awkwardness with the other Pit tagging along. The group almost didn't want to talk to him, except for the few occasions when he made small talk during the few times they were attacked by enemies.

The above was just the tip of the iceberg. While Dark Pit didn't say much to the Smashers, he and Pit volleyed insults at each other like there was no end to them. Said insults were really pathetic whenever they were said, as they could have easily been confused for two children at a park berating one another over a toy. Pit's insults involved complementing himself and making fun of Dark Pit's overall dark nature, while Dark Pit's insults involved counterattacking those insults with really poorly thought comebacks that nonetheless were taken very seriously by Pit anyway (one shining example being "he who makes hot springs colder with his feet"). The stone-faced looks on the Smashers were most likely going to freeze the more they had to tolerate the two angel boys. Listening to Arlon was oddly therapeutic whenever he had something to say, as trusting Palutena to distract them from the angels was useless due to her adding fuel to their fire in subtle ways.

Their bickering only made things worse for Pit. If the Smashers had thought he had some redeeming qualities, they were all being erased every time they got to insulting each other. Dark Pit had no one but a torn Chris to support him. Although Dark Pit was not giving it justice to the stereotype of being a dark evil twin, his childish attitude to Pit was not leaving a good impression either. For Pit, the Smashers admitted that their old Pit was forever gone. For Dark Pit, the Smashers lamented there was a second Pit running around that was slowly driving them nuts. For Palutena, it was all good, as she believed something good would come out of this…sometime soon, preferably.

After seemingly adventuring for minutes that felt like hours, they were crossing a small golden bridge in front of a big golden door that screamed boss room when they had a chance to talk in the quiet area. One fellow member wanted to diverge the negative impressions by bringing up a point about Dark Pit's only redeeming quality. "Man, I know Chris is a true friend, but this is taking things a little too far when you just met him through a fight," Fox noted. "No offense to you, Chris."

"W-what, you dislike the way I can react quickly to enemy attacks?" Dark Pit asked with a twitching grin. "Pit makes a swell job tiring himself when he tried protecting the guy, tripping and complaining about how slow he was to react."

"Ha ha, stop making yourself so much better than me," Pit said, having behaved like a pouting child since Dark Pit had tagged along and stealing his thunder in keeping Chris safe. Pit took it very seriously all due to their personal talk at the sanctuary that (supposedly) helped him to be seen as a normal person to the Smashers…who hadn't changed their views on Pit one bit. "I-I was slow, but it's the thought that counts! Right, Chris?"

"Yes… Yes, it is," Chris said, feeling tired of fueling the feud between the angels.

"Ha! In your face!" Pit boasted.

"Come on, now, Pit. Don't take it too personally," Mr. G&W suggested. "Look, we know now Dark Pit can be an ally if he goes out of his way to protect one of us…"

Pit looked appalled. "How can you trust him? He's an evil knock-off of me! He's got black colors and I have white, pristine colors!" he talked back.

"Uh, well, I haven't seen him doing bad stuff other than you two being at each other's throats, so I can't really judge what I haven't seen…"

"Then I will show you evidence: me!"

"Overruled," the Ancient Minister said blankly, making Pit pout. "Your chatter has become intolerable to all of us present. Do us all a favor and never think about talking back to Dark Pit, or vice versa." Dark Pit's snickering sounds grabbed Pit's attention, and now both of them were locked into making grimaces at each other. "Oh, whatever. I shall cherish the silence."

"Arlon is just up ahead, team," Palutena informed them all, seeing them staring forward at the big entrance. "Be prepared for the most serene battle of all times."

"Such a battle would displease the Pits, wouldn't it?" Arlon chimed in. "Oh, they surely will turn it into a messy, rowdy rumble. Smashers, I will enjoy the bout with you in the mix."

Ms. Fit tilted her head. "He sounds a bit confident in fighting a whole bunch of us at once…" she muttered.

Nana looked bored. "I think he knows the Pits will just bicker endlessly and make us lose our cool during the battle, or we get separated like what happened with the rock monster, or both," she said. Prepared for whatever the lord of the sanctum would toss at them, the group stepped forward to the big entrance. Sensing their footsteps, the door started to open up, until the path was wide open for them. Careful of anything beyond, they proceeded forward into what appeared to be a dark space with no visibility…

"Oh. The classic dark area," Magolor spoke up from the darkness, his eyes eerily shining alongside Meta Knight's. "I can't wait for the lights to turn back on and reveal what we're facing."

"Darkness! Go away!" Pit suddenly demanded. "We all know darkness is evil and light is good! Arlon, why do you have to rely on darkness to try to make us fall into a trap?! I swear on Lady Palutena's name that I will dispel this evil darkness, in the name of Skyworld!"

"That was a rather loud outburst…" Chris commented.

"It was justified! You trust me on this one, right, Chris? Do you agree darkness will always be evil and light will always be good?"

"Uh, well, if we really want to get on that topic now, I believe that's not always the truth sometimes…"

"WHAT!" Pit's yell startled them all. Even Arlon, who was hiding in the darkness, was heard subtly cringing. "H-how can you believe light can be bad and darkness be good, Chris?! Where did you even see something like that from your world?!" Somehow, without even telling he was there, Pit grabbed Chris's shoulders and started shaking him. "Answer me! I can't live with that!"

"H-hey, Pit! D-don't take this too personally! I can tell clearly when that belief of light and darkness can't be the absolute truth!"

"T-then you believe my light flag is bad?!"

"Of course not! Now stop shaking my shoulders!"

"Enough chatter, boys," Arlon called out, stopping Pit instead of the angel actually listening to Chris. "If this darkness is ruffling Master Pit's feathers the wrong way so much, I better just cast it away…" With a snapping sound, the darkness cleared away…

…and Pit, Dark Pit, Chris, Fox, and Ms. Fit were quick to notice the barrier separating the rest of the group from the inner circle they first five found themselves standing on. "C-crap!" Fox muttered.

"I knew IT!" Nana yelled indignantly, smacking the barrier with her hammer. Her anger did not even match Lucario's, who was more hell-bent on breaking down the damn thing with his fists to be next to his distraught trainer's side. "I just HAD to be right about this stupid trap!"

"Your perceptiveness to predict my battle plans were for naught, Young Master Nana," called Arlon from the center of the circular field. The group of five in the circle turned around and saw the guardian floating there in midair in a sitting position, calmly gazing at their frustrated looks. He really was a towering, slender man, reaching 8 feet tall at best. "Let us all enjoy this battle on fair grounds…"

Magolor leaned his hands on the barrier when his senses started acting up erratically. On Arlon's neck, there was an Energy Sphere resting as the main piece of a necklace. "There! Over there!" Magolor piped up quickly. "There's an Energy Sphere on his neck! You have to get it from him!"

Arlon raised an eyebrow and then picked the sphere with two fingers, staring intently at the gear inside. "This is the acclaimed Energy Sphere I've been hearing about?" he asked rhetorically. "It fell one day in my room. I decided to keep it as a good luck charm since then."

"T-that's mine, Sir Arlon!" Magolor said. "P-please, give it to me, or else you'll be attacked b-"

"Attacked by Lady Palutena's forces, yes. It would have to come to this sooner or later," Arlon interrupted, serenely bowing down to his adversaries for him to gaze at them with a flashing red eye. "But will her forces win this one? Let us find out."

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Boss Battle 1

With astounding reflexes, Chris used the Scholar's Study skill to read up on Arlon's stats. "S-Study!" he called out, the pages flipping through until they came to a stop on Arlon's entry.

Arlon – Lvl. 165

HP: 60,000

MP: 9,999

Attack: 1,700

Defense: 400

Magic: 1,900

Magic Defense: 1,000

Speed: Average

Evasion: Above-Average

Resistant to: N/A

Weak Against: Really Bossy Masters

Abilities: Anti-Death, Anti-Poison, Anti-Sleep, Anti-Confusion

Immune to: Death, Poison, Sleep, Confusion

D: A suave commander of the Forces of Nature, Arlon resides within the Lunar Sanctum. Compared to Viridi, he is very tall. You could say he has the ear of Viridi, but he has to lean down pretty far to reach it. Despite his refined appearance, Arlon is capable of holding his own in combat. He won the award for "Best Intergalactic Butler of the Millennium" five times straight and still goes strong.

Pit brightened up. "Lady Palutena! He's younger than yo-!"

"I'd really hate UNNEEDED interruptions in this one battle, Pit," Palutena ironically interrupted.

"Young Master Pit needs to learn how to properly talk to a goddess," Arlon noted. "…Lady Palutena, teach him for me. I am not his butler."

"'Kay," the goddess said. "Attack! He's just floating there!"

The Pits and Ms. Fit dutifully rushed forward, leaving Chris behind for long-range magic with his Black Mage job. Noticing Fox just remaining next to him made him ask, "Why aren't you attacking?"

"Someone has to protect the mage with some good physical defense," Fox said with a grin. "It's what Lucario would've done too."

"…Thanks," Chris said, his red blushing visible through the darkness of his mage hat. Behind them, Lucario felt both relieved and jealous. He wanted that affection for himself so badly now…

Arlon made notes of how their formation played out. The Pits and Ms. Fit were the offensive, the World Traveler was the magical offense from afar, and the space mercenary was the defense. "This is how I shall approach this battle… Off with the lights," Arlon said, snapping his fingers and serenely floating back into an ever growing shade of darkness that made everyone in the ring gasp once their vision was shut off. Making matters worse was that they couldn't see each other anymore. The watchers outside the ring had light, though they couldn't see through the darkness much less. Lucario tried to get his aura senses to work but the lock was in place, while the Ancient Minister used his night vision sight only for the sanctum to cancel out the feature. Fox couldn't use his scouter for anything either.

"A-aah! It's so dark!" Pit called out. "Darkness is bad! Light is good!"

"Still trying to push that biased point?" Dark Pit asked.

"S-settle down, please," Ms. Fit called out, confused with her surroundings. "We have to find Arlon in this darkness! If he's in here…"

"Madam Fit, I wouldn't play such trickery and leave you all in the darkness during this fight," Arlon's voice resounded from all over the ring to keep them from tracking him down. "I am a gentleman."

"W-what kind of gentleman tosses darkness in a fight?" Chris said, suddenly feeling a tight grip on his left wrist. He panicked and quickly used his free hand with the staff to bonk whoever tried to hurt him. Only the grip became tighter. "G-get away! I have a life ahead of me!"

"Ouch! Chris, it's me!" Fox yelped, causing the mage to stop bonking his head. "I figured I'd keep track of you if I just clutched to you somehow to stay close!"

Chris then yelped next and quickly apologized. "F-Fox, I'm so sorry! It was out of self-defen-!"

"Yes, I understand. You had a reason to bonk…me…on the head," Fox trailed off. "Damn, it's too dark. Don't lose my grip on you, okay? We'll get through this together."

"Y-yes… My life depends on you now…" Chris's felt another hand taking a grip of his right wrist, but he didn't panic and decided to give his other defender the benefit of the doubt. "Okay, the other hand feels firm and delicate… Ms. Fit, is that you?"

A small portion of the darkness gave away to a glowing blue light right next to Arlon's calm expression. He was carrying some sort of blue energy on his right palm, freezing Chris with horror and making Fox turn around and gasp at the sight. "Why, I feel insulted for being compared to a lady's hand," Arlon said…

The others not close to Arlon briefly saw a flash of blue going off south, followed by screams of pain and two bodies hitting the floor. "Those were Chris and Fox! I have to go help them!" Pit said to himself. He turned around on his feet and started running to the direction he heard the voices, ending up crashing onto a wary Dark Pit and pushing both of them down to the floor. "Argh!"

"What are you doing, you carbon copy?!" Dark Pit called out, scrambling off the floor and backing off from Pit.

"Hey, you were in my way! It's not my fault I can't see where I'm going!" Pit argued.

"It's sort of is 'cuz you crashed into me!"

"Now we're making excuses here." Pit ignored him and got up, dashing to the same direction (or not) he remembered the others were. He bumped right into Ms. Fit. The least said where his face exactly crashed onto her the better. "Oof!" Then he got slapped. "Oww!"

"O-oh, Pit, it's you!" Ms. Fit said, very much flustered. "Sorry. It was out of instinct…"

"It's good! It's good!" Pit said. "It was sort of my fault."

"Hypocrisy! I knew it!" Dark Pit called out from the darkness.

Outside the veil of darkness, the Ancient Minister lamented the situation the fighters were in. "This is not good. Arlon is fully relying on the darkness to attack and disorient their moves in the battlefield. Not just his attacks will hurt them, but they can get in the way of the others attacking blindly," he informed. "His strategy is working against our larger numbers."

"And he's watching everything unfold while he can play in the darkness all he wants!" Mr. G&W said.

"I can't do a thing to see through the darkness," Palutena said. "Accept this bit of guidance from me, Pit. Watch closely in the darkness for Arlon's movements. Try to see if there is a hole in his strategy."

"Yeah, sure. Let's try finding that hole while it's so dark out. Top advice there," Dark Pit said.

"Hush you, Pittoo," she said, earning a growl. "My divine guidance is so good it beat you up last time."

"Getting on his bad side right now is not a good idea!" commented Popo.

"My, my! The fighters get too restless wandering in the dark," Arlon announced, his voice resounding from all directions. "I can't believe this strategy is doing wonders for me."

"Turns the lights on!" Pit called out. "So I can beat you and get this over with!"

"I will do so once everyone invading this space can't get up from the floor," Arlon spoke darkly. "That will come to be in a matter of minutes. I have a teapot boiling in the kitchen that needs my attention. Do pick up the pace!"

"Y-you damned trickster!" called out Fox, shaking off the smoke from his body caused by the earlier attack. Getting back up, he felt the tip of a familiar rod bumping on his chest.

"Who's there?! I-If you're Arlon, I will smack you silly!" Chris warned, bumping his chest several times.

"It's me, Chris," Fox said.

The teen lowered his weapon and quickly leaned to the vulpine's side. "O-oh good. You're alright," he said.

"Likewise. Now, we gotta do something to turn this battle around before we make his wish of victory come true." The vulpine took his Blaster and aimed at random directions. "What if I just blindly shoot? Hate to admit it, but this weak thing should be good enough… Hey, wait a minute." He turned his head to Chris. "You haven't given a job to anyone yet. Mind if I grab one?"

"Huh? Oh, right…"

Fox grinned. "And we can both agree my physical strength could use a buff so why don't you give me that Monk job alrea-"

"Nope."

"…What do you mean nope?!" Fox demanded so suddenly.

"I'm not letting the job corrupt you with its power," Chris said. "Sorry to say this, but I want you to be my little guinea pig for this new job I got."

Fox grumbled. "That job better have increased physical strength," he muttered.

"You'll use…" Chris formed an orb of light between his hands, "…the Tinker job."

"I seriously doubt being Slippy for a fight is gonna do wonders for me. He is into gadgets and I'm like into blasting and blowing stuff up with those gadgets."

"Amen to that," Palutena commented.

"It's not a Slippy job!" Chris scolded. "J-just try it!"

Fox sighed loudly. "Fiiiiiiine. Gimme that thing to me," and the orb with the job flew into his body, briefly making a strong flash of light in the darkness but not entirely illuminating the area. Curiously, the others away from them did notice the flash piercing through anyway, albeit it didn't give them a clear sign of where they were standing on.

A moment of silence followed, and Chris heard the fluttering of wings next to him. Then a high-pitched scream went down to the floor followed by a grunting noise. "Uh… Oh no…" Chris muttered under his breath, now recalling that the Tinker job belonged to a single kind of race that wasn't human. "…F-Fox?"

"What the freaking hell did you do to me, kupo?!" Fox's high-pitched voice yelled up at Chris. "You freaking shrunk me down! This wasn't what I had in mind, kupo!" Everyone within earshot heard Palutena trying so hard to cover her chuckles, which were ignored by the fuming foxy Moogle.

To Fox's renewed anger, he had been shrunk to a 3 feet fuzzy wonder wearing a blue baggy jumpsuit and carrying an orange backpack on his smaller back under the orange bat wings he couldn't quite get used to, with a blue hat with a thick white brim on his head, comically juggling the pom-pom attached with a long thin string to his head and piercing the hat. Unlike a human turning into a perfect replica of a Moogle, Fox's characteristics had carried over. He was a weird Moogle with a small white muzzle and a light brown tail with a white tip on his rear. Scarier were the thick eyebrows that gave him such a fierce – albeit adorable – look on his face.

"You could've at least tried to make me bigger, kupo!" Fox the Moogle complained.

Chris tightened his lips to keep himself from laughing out loud at Fox's misery, despite the harsh situation. "I-I don't have a job that makes you taller!" he said.

Fox wobbled to the sides as he got up, noticing his red greaves were still worn in a smaller foot size. A bit of relief was the two bronze knuckles with sharp tips equipped to his hands, which did in fact increase his physical strength now compressed. "This sucks so much!" he said. "What can I even do in this stupid ass small body, kupo?! And why can't I drop the freaking verbal tic down, kupo?!"

"C-calm down, please!" Chris begged the creature. "I-I gave that to you for a reason! I want to see what it can do for us!"

Fox huffed a few times and calmed himself down, without dropping the frustration that he knew was taller than he was. "…Okay… I'm calm… Letting all my hot air out... Kupo… So this is how it feels like being Pichu. UGH!"

"Fox!"

"I'm fine!" Fox squeaked. "Gotta focus here. There's a fight to the death and nobody can afford listening to my well-justified complaints, kupo… Alright, let's see here…" He thought hard to see what skills he had available. As if the job itself had a mind of its own, it did not withhold info from Fox's request. In a snap, Fox's mind was filled with two interesting terms with their descriptions. "Red Spring: It can cast Haste on one party. Blue Screw: It can cast Dispel on one party… What the hell, kupo?!" Fox fumed when he ran through the descriptions in his head. "Both of them are double-edged swords?!"

"You mean the skill can affect either our whole group or the enemy with the toss of a coin…" Chris recalled.

"Like we want to risk it and make that bastard faster in the darkness, kupo!" Fox said. "And making us faster does nothing if we can't see him! Great thinking giving me this job, Chris!"

"F-fine! I admit it! It was a terrible idea!" Chris gave up.

"…" Fox grimaced and took out a light brown chest from the backpack. "…What about using Blue Screw? Says here Dispel just dispels buffs or debuffs. Is this darkness a buff for Arlon, kupo?"

"Probably… We don't have any benefits or hindrances inflicted," Chris said. "So maybe…?"

"Worth a shot, then. I gotta do with what I have, kupo," Fox said. He raised the chest over his head. "Blue Screw!" he called out.

The treasure chest opened up, shooting a large coin that everyone saw pierce through the darkness. The coin sailed high above the battlefield, spinning its two sides madly. On one side, a red sun showed. On the other side, a yellow crescent moon was displayed. If the coin landed on the red sun, the group would be targeted all at once by Dispel. If it landed on the yellow crescent moon, it would affect Arlon instead. "So many spectacular objects making a mockery of my strategies," Arlon spoke, calmly looking up from a hidden location at the coin.

The coin's spinning speed came slowly to a halt…and it stopped on the yellow crescent moon.

What followed after was a rain of soft but adult-sized blue screws raining down the floor. The screws did not bump on the Smashers despite them all covering themselves, but they all bumped on Arlon's self. The commander gave out some grunting noises as the items did nothing else rather than just testing his solid patience… "Ugh. Knew it, kupo," Fox said. "The stupid attack is just a silly display of bad fireworks."

Arlon's whole body flashed green, illuminating the spot where he was: standing right behind the Pits. The owner of the sanctum blinked with an extremely subtle hint of hopelessness once the angels fixed their gazes on him, as did the rest of the group. Although Blue Screw's didn't necessarily cancel out any buffs on Arlon, the added visual effect of being afflicted by it turned out to be very effective.

"There you are!" both Pits said.

"Oh, crud," Arlon serenely said, right as he entered a world of hurt.

The Pits turned quickly and launched an offensive. Pit's Beam Claws tore through Arlon's body, stunning him into place with the slashing blows delivering such intensity to his stick-like body. Dark Pit, surprisingly, did not get in the way of Pit's blows and instead went to the other side of Arlon's position to hack and slash with the blades of his Silver Bow. The sanctum's owner couldn't stop flinching and gasping for pain as the Pits let it all out on him. Their bad blood to each other didn't get in the way of their suspiciously synchronized attacks on Arlon. They were unwillingly complementing each other in their blows. When one Pit struck on one side, the other one would strike the opposite spot at the right angle and speed. And even while he was being attack, Arlon took those hits to memory and was baffled to find out how well they were working together to defeat a common foe…

Perhaps because the darkness of the floor was tied to Arlon's state of mind, it dissipated quickly and illuminated the floor. Now everyone could plainly see the enemy in plain sight being mauled alive by the Pits. "Now is your chance!" yelled the Ancient Minister from his position.

Arlon's stunned state went away as soon as he gathered enough strength to slip through the attacks and float away. During the attack, his monocle had been broken. He replaced it with a new one as he coughed. "How could this be?" he pondered aloud, pinching his chin as he looked at the Pits dashing to his way. "Your attacks didn't conflict with one another. You were almost sharing the same mindset without turning on each other…" The Pits then started tossing insults at each other and stopped their plan to attack Arlon. The least said about their bickering the better. "…I spoke too soon," Arlon muttered, feeling mocked by the sudden ignorance from the angels.

A soccer ball smashed to the side of his face, startling him as he recoiled. Turning left, he saw Ms. Fit rushing in an orderly fashion for any fitness trainer like her. "It is time to attack," Ms. Fit said.

"How could a lady like you brutally smack a man with a round object? Ladies these days are getting more abrasive…counting Lady Viridi," he muttered the last part as he produced three sharp rings above his left hand. Swiping the air, he sent the rings to strike the lady head-on.

She gracefully jumped with grace and firmness, her form behaving like a stick that dodged the rings by making unconventional yoga poses in midair. Arlon blinked, charmed by her display of fitness to dodge his blows, when she landed on the floor and ran to his side, sliding forward as she performed the Gate pose and pushed him back. In this little string of unorthodox attacks, the lady got up close to the staggering commander and struck his chest hard with a Warrior pose, the tip of her firm right hand pushing him back even harder that he desperately flipped in midair to regain his stance and back off from her. "I-I'd say!" Arlon grunted, trying to recover from the blows.

"Salute the sun!"

Then she performed the Sun Salutation pose and fired a large energy sphere that struck him in the air and pushed him to the invisible wall of the ring (as she had charged it during the moment of confusion at the start). Arlon bounced off from the wall and snapped his fingers to call forth the darkness, disorienting them all again to give him time to rest. "Each one of you is full of surprises, it seems…" Arlon commented.

"I should enroll in her classes if those moves are that effective," Palutena commented.

"Back to running blindly into this darkness," Dark Pit said from somewhere, which was closer to Pit than he would actually like instead. "Why don't ya just fight without the gimmicks? Nobody likes a gimmick in a fight."

"A person of my stature must employ every trick in their sleeve to attain victory however they can," Arlon said. "Not to mention, fighting such a large number is not fair, as I've heard about your accomplishments from Mistress Viridi."

"Well, then it's only fair for us to use our own tricks, kupo! Blue Screw!" Fox said, cringing at the verbal tick he couldn't get rid of. Holding up his treasure chest, he shot the next coin through the darkness and watch the magic item spin in midair to choose who to target…

It landed on the moon.

"Yes!"

Then it flipped and landed on the sun.

"What?!"

The effect of Dispel did not target Arlon. Instead, after the coin vanished, the comically large screws rained down and bumped on everyone else as the magic's effect took hold without really dispelling anything they had. They did not get hurt by the attack, only slightly being annoyed. "Lady Luck has switched to my favor," Arlon said. "As it should be."

"Couldn't you possibly use something better than that?" Dark Pit asked.

"Hey! You try fighting the odds, kupo!" Fox squeaked.

"Try fighting this," spoke Arlon as he gracefully jumped over where Fox was at, laying down a blinking point under his feet. The glow was seen through the darkness, getting the attention of everyone and especially Fox, who looked down just in time to see the blinking point going off with a big explosion that sent him soaring across in the darkness, unfortunately right into the wall, where he bumped off and fell back down on the floor, smelling smoke coming out from his body. "Score."

"Y-you…bastard…kupo…" Fox muttered.

"That is good. Vent out your frustration just like the smoke coming off from you-" Arlon was suddenly struck very harshly on the side of his face, causing him to yelp and, for whatever reason, strike out a pose of agony.

The blow on the side of his face had come from a frustrated World Traveler's weapon rod, who had taken advantage of the blinking mine that let him take a good look where Arlon most likely headed as he had seen his feet going off a certain direction. Though he had to admit that was too desperate with the chance that Arlon could have gone off elsewhere, Chris was lucky all the same that his swing connected on Arlon's face. Briefly stunned that his blow had worked, Chris gripped his weapon hard and started smacking the stunned Arlon as much as he could out of desperation. "This…is…for…teasing…me…so…much!" Chris paused between every blow he delivered. Ironically, he was venting out his own frustration.

"Wow. Look at him go!" Palutena commented. "I'm glad he has no reason to smack me like that."

Arlon had lost focus on the darkness as Chris repeatedly smacked him silly, the veil lifting off from the field and letting everyone see what was going on close to the entrance of the ring. When the darkness was lifted off, Chris thought that his little onslaught of blows would be stopped if he continued, so he yelped and ran back from the stunned commander, deciding to go over where Fox was to heal him. "H-he's all yours again!" Chris yelled. Lucario visibly sighed in relief.

"Alright! Good ol' rod smack frenzy!" Pit cheered, excitedly rushing over to where Arlon was with Dark Pit following suit.

The three fighters were slow in reaching Arlon, who had stopped doing that dramatic pose of agony, getting back to midair and pulling back. "Is anybody going to say anything about why he was posing like that," muttered Popo.

"Dramatic effect?" Magolor quipped.

"Lady Luck will not be so kind you all for long," Arlon muttered, gathering four rings of energy on his hands and shooting them gracefully towards his enemies. Pit and Dark Pit couldn't react fast enough and got pushed back by getting sliced by two rings each, but Ms. Fit kept running – rather normally for a fitness trainer – without stopping. "Come for more, Ms. Fit?"

"Did you just insult me?" Ms. Fit asked, narrowing her eyes.

Arlon raised an eyebrow. "What? I did not…"

"Oh, NOW she thinks she got insulted," Popo said, looking annoyed.

"It's rather hard to tell when someone is making fun of her," commented the Ancient Minister.

Regardless of any of that, Arlon was quick on producing more of his homing rings to strike Ms. Fit down harder than the Pits, who were still cringing at the cuts they got from the previous attack. Shooting them at her, she stopped running for one moment and side-stepped – or rather leaned her body to the side in an arch – to dodge the incoming blows at the last possible second to throw them off from their not-so precise homing attribute. She then went back to running towards him. "I never tire of seeing such grace in your moves while fighting. Our kind is a dying breed," Arlon said.

"I'm pretty graceful myself. Just watch me till I have to take off my goddess kiddy gloves," Palutena chimed in.

"When will that be?" Arlon asked, dodging a large Sun Salutation blast the fitness trainer had saved prior the darkness lifting off.

"'K. I'll get you back on that after Hades and Viridi stop making such a big ruckus all over." The team outside of the ring rolled their eyes, and so did Dark Pit.

Arlon danced away to dodge a volleyball from hitting his face. Upon having some time to strike, his hands glowed blue and his eye flashed a red light. "Here, just for you," he said as he brought his hands together, firing a massive blue laser that tore through the air quite quickly.

Ms. Fit gasped and couldn't run off to avoid the blow, taking it in full. To make matters worse, Pit had been struck by the laser by standing close to its attack radius, getting pushed back ways away close to the opposite corner Arlon was facing. As the laser shrunk back down in front of the commander, the two fighters were scrambled on the floor, trying to stand back up from the blow. "T-that was…such a critical hit…" Pit muttered.

"Naaah, that wasn't a critical hit but still a lethal hit all the same," Palutena said. "Grin and bear it, Pit."

"Why tell that when can't bear the grin?" snarked Dark Pit as he ran towards Arlon.

"All that potential in taking Pit down, wasted," Arlon told Dark Pit as the former started floating back to delay Dark Pit's incoming slashing blows. "You disappoint me for being a copy trying to take down the original."

"While both of us exist, there are two copies running around. I'm just trying to balance everything out," Dark Pit chuckled. The two engaged in close combat, with Dark Pit slashing wildly and Arlon skillfully dodging every blow that came his way (while also pinching one side of his wide mustache, only to infuriate Dark Pit whenever he noticed).

It was no exaggeration to believe Arlon was purposely getting Dark Pit mad… "Losing your temper make a fighter do some rash, uncalculated attacks in battle. Did you know about that?"

"What about it?!" Dark Pit, enraged, asked.

"I know everything about you and young master Pit," Arlon darkly said, slipping a single ring of energy as he spun back to avoid one harsh blow and slice Dark Pit on the side. "Unlike him, you tend to let your emotions falsely empower you fighting style. You let your bottled up rage release in unneeded bursts of anger. You usually act calm and collected, but you tend to lose everything when a battle happens." While Dark Pit stubbornly kept attacking despite how the cut he got on the side of his ripped clothing made him stagger and cringe with jerking motions, Arlon kept the banter coming just to keep making the dark angel lose his focus. "I had high expectations your stubbornness and his lack of intellect – which Lady Palutena kindly tries to correct every time – would cause both of you to just…die in battle."

Dark Pit sweated beads, the pain on his side forcing him to take a small break. The pain on his side had turned out to be worse than it looked like, as his constant movement had made the bruise harder to ignore. "I-I'm not that easy to…croak!" he shot back.

"Words that mean almost nothing. This is so unlike me to do, helping the enemy out, but you must let young master Pit claim his spot as the original…" His hands were glowing blue, ready to fire another laser straight to Dark Pit, who gasped and knew well enough what the glow meant. "…If only for a few minutes before he too falls down!" Arlon brought his hands together and calmly opened them at Dark Pit to release the incoming blast. The dark angel, grunting, crossed his arms in front of his face as a meager way to reduce the force of the attack.

Arlon was slashed on his side by a small enemy coming from the left, digging his clawed-clad hands into his thin body and violently pulling the claws back, tearing part of his regal outfit and causing him to grunt loudly and back off, calling off his focus on his attack on Dark Pit. The second Pit blinked in surprise and saw that it had been Fox – now restored back to health and looking quite smug for a little guy – who had interrupted Arlon in his next deadly blow. "W-what the…?"

"And one more!" Fox squeaked as he pulled back quickly and struck Arlon on his damaged side with his small yet sturdy boots, kicking him swiftly to cause even more pain to the commander. Sadly for Fox, his flawless technique in flying as another creature was short lived, as the last blow he used to push himself back reminded him that, yes, he was not used to being a Moogle that much, so he fell on his rear, back on the floor. "Grrrr, kupo! Talk about ruining my comeback!"

"It's less about a flashy comeback and more about saving Dark Pit! Focus!" yelled Chris from afar, having healed Fox in the background while making sure Arlon wasn't targeting them. "Dark Pit, are you okay?"

"Yeah! Thanks for the help!" Dark Pit said, waving a hand rather excitedly. Right after, he froze and shook his head, feeling so weird to having replied too nicely to the human. Getting some weird looks from the people behind the barrier only worsened how embarrassed he felt. "Ugh, I-I-I mean, whatever!"

"Uh, okay! I-I'll just pretend you kind of thanked me!" Chris said, unsure as to what to believe anymore.

As Fox stood back up, he saw Arlon staring him down from a few feet away. "Mistress Viridi was right about that human boy being an eyesore… Letting him run free will only make this fight go on forever. Very well." He dusted himself off and tried to shrug off the pain on his side. "Change of plans. The human goes down first."

Fox growled a cute sound and started running at Arlon. "I won't let you!" he squeaked. To his ever growing anger, Arlon snapped his fingers and called forth the darkness once again. Fox just kept on running as he remembered where he last saw Arlon to later strike that same spot where he was…or had been. The vulpine-turned-Moogle only managed to slash dark empty air with the pointy ends of his clawed knuckles. "Ah, dammit, kupo! Chris, watch out! He's after you!"

"H-he is? I shouldn't have vented out my frustration this early!" Chris complained.

"Calm down and concentrate!" the Ancient Minister shouted outside the ring. "You can spot Arlon's movements whenever he is about to attack. Even though it is very dark in there, his attacks can be seen right through his visual trick. We all saw how he laid that mine on the floor moments ago."

"I should have put up a sound barrier while I was it preparing the battlefield," Arlon commented, his voice echoing.

"It wouldn't have made a difference because of yours truly relaying messages," Palutena boasted.

"Oh, that, too."

"On that note, I'm supposed to be giving my divine guidance to you all. No giving out your own non-divine guidance," she told the Ancient Minister.

"Whatever," the Ancient Minister simply retorted.

With guidance from a trustable person, Chris focused on his surroundings for any cues on Arlon's whereabouts. "F-focus…" he muttered under his breath, placing a hard grip on his magic rod and stealing glances all over. "Arlon is after you… Y-you have to be ready for anything…"

"How entertaining. Fear is getting up to him," Arlon commented, mocking the human. "This is but a mere preview of what's to come to show you how humans should never interfere with the divine order of Mistress Viridi." Then there was a blue flash behind an unsuspecting Chris. "Your sins shall be repaid handsomely with your life."

Although it looked like Chris would have to deal with Arlon trying to take him down first, someone else had listened on the Ancient Minister's advice and put it to use, really focusing on the darkness by squinting their eyes. They had noticed the blue flash pretty quickly and readied their attack immediately, which was shot across the darkness straight to its intended target. Said hit not only did interrupt Arlon's blow, but it had struck him in his free, unprotected eye.

"AAAAAARRGGGGH!" Arlon surprisingly screamed in horror at the coursing pain running through his head, the veil of darkness lifting off as he covered his damaged eye and stumbled back to the invisible wall.

A horrified Chris looked behind and gasped at the sight of the commander, then he whirled around and saw Pit's silhouette holding his bow out. "P-Pit, you saved me!" Chris said.

"I…" Pit was seen crawling on the floor ways ahead from the silhouette, still weakened from that laser blast. "I saved you by doing nothing! Wow! I surprise myself! ...Wait, I didn't do anything!"

Blinking, Chris saw the darkness dissipating a bit more, revealing Dark Pit to be the source of the shadow. Though the dark angel was seen cringing, he mustered up his strength to strike back at Arlon without truthfully admitting he was doing it to keep the World Traveler safe from harm. "…W-why don't you look around some more?" Dark Pit said in an effort to hide his strange feelings. His cheeks were blushing. "T-thanks for the experience!" he tried to be smug.

"Uh, well…"

"Stop being awkward and strike!" yelled and encouraged Magolor.

While it took a bit for Chris to stop being awkward, Ms. Fit and Fox rushed over to where Arlon was cringing really badly. The fitness trainer was lagging behind due to the previous attack having taken a lot out of her, but Fox was still in top shape thanks for being healed. As such, the vulpine Moogle reached the commander first and used his clawed knuckles to dig into Arlon's thin body in a way that looked like he was digging through him like a crazed mole. Arlon stopped holding his face to swat the little creature away, at which point he left his face unguarded for Ms. Fit to jump, spin around, and perform the Cobra pose to slam her feet straight into him, causing him to bounce off from the wall and indirectly save him from Fox's savage attack.

"B-bunch of…barbarians…!" Arlon coughed as he warped away to safe location to get some time to compose himself, lamenting how his clothes were being torn apart and leaving behind deep cuts thanks to the pesky Moogle among them. "If you want to play rough, then…!" With distance favoring him, he decided to resume his laser blast, aiming it straight at the World Traveler.

Arlon just noticed Chris was back on the game, with a magic glyph under his feet and his long scarf floating eerily behind him. "T-this is for trying to kill me earlier…and for constantly humiliating me!" Chris warned the commander, the latter unaware that a spell was going off first before he could strike himself. After finally using Black Magic in the whole fight, something within the World Traveler got unlocked as his Fira spell got stronger all of a sudden… "I got it now!" Chris called out, his feet slightly floating above the floor as he swung his staff and aimed it at Arlon. "FIRAGA!"

The commander of the sanctum, in a call back to what Chris would have succumbed to at a greater scale, felt the air all around him increasing in temperature, until from the very center of it ignited in a small flame that suddenly erupted into a very large explosion, consuming a good portion of where he was standing. The force of the explosion pushed the commander out before the smoke could settle in, and he collapsed on the floor after bumping into it a few times. Slightly charred black, the commander coughed and stifled a grunting noise, adjusting his broken monocle. "How did this fight…come to this?" he coughed, standing up and realizing the other three fighters were after him from across the battlefield.

There was no way Arlon could win with the odds stacked against him. He was a good commander and had put faith into his strategy, but somewhere along the line, his strategies to wear them out didn't work out very well, and he disliked to admit he had toyed with them too much. Placing too much faith on the Pits destroying each other had turned into the biggest mistake he could have done, only made worse with how strangely protective Dark Pit got for Chris's welfare…

Knowing for certain he was going to fail his mission to please Viridi, Arlon opted for one final move to cripple them all. He saw Pit sprawled on the floor, apparently still damaged by the laser blast from earlier surely because it had hit him much harder than it did to Ms. Fit. "My…defeat is assured…but my time isn't over yet… Young master Pit…you will stop annoying Mistress Viridi if it's the last thing I do…!"

"W-what? Oh, crackers!" Pit gasped as he forced himself to stand up but only managed to cringe at his body giving up.

In the next seconds, Arlon created a floating ring on each palm. Said rings split a fourth of the way to give them sharp ends to attack by stabbing them into a target. Seeing the rings, Pit yelled and pushed himself up, only managing to give Arlon a clear path to strike the angel's eyes and his chest. With all his strength, Arlon swung his arms in a faux-hugging motion and shot the rings on their targets. In those short seconds, Pit tried hard to ignore the pain and stand up, but he was not going to make it, even if shutting his eyes made him believe they would be fine under his eyelids.

Music stops

"URK!"

Pit, very surprised, couldn't tell what that loud grunting noise was and couldn't see all because he still had his eyes shut. When he opened them, wary that they would get struck by the sharp rings, all he saw was Arlon getting struck on the side of his head by a blunt object that had broken what remained of his monocle's glass. Said blunt object bounced off from his head as he fell aside, falling unconscious and defeated. Even when falling, Arlon had somehow made it so that he fell with grace and serenity; holding out his hands forward as if wanting to talk...

The others stood there slightly dumbfounded as they saw the blunt object – a soccer ball – rolling aside and disappearing with a soundless poof sound next to Pit's downed self. Knowing the source, they all turned to Ms. Fit, who blushed at their stares digging into her. Not even the barrier going down made everyone else rush into the battlefield as they tried to swallow why that had been the last attack to take down the commander. "…I did what I had to do…" she muttered, embarrassed of her winning act.

The others shrugged and got into the battlefield to check on the others as Magolor floated over to where Pit was. As a concerned Chris ran to the angel's side, Magolor stared at Arlon's unconscious self and made sure it was safe to get near him. "Uh, equally important as that…" He muttered as he went to his side to pry off the Energy Sphere on his neck, sighing in relief all blows directed at the commander left the mystic item safe from harm. A few pulls later, the Halcandran reclaimed the object and held it up high in victory. "Energy Sphere Get! This makes three out of one-hundred and seventeen spheres!" he said cheerfully.

"Good job, team," Palutena called out to them as the fighting side took some time to recover from the battle. "You have slain Arlon the Serene and stopped the Lunar Sanctum from raining unfair judgment on the (somewhat) innocent humans."

"Alright! One more commander down!" Nana cheered. "That girl better take us more seriously."

"Isn't that gonna make things worse for us?" Popo wondered.

As a very thankful Pit thanked Chris for healing him back to top shape, the human felt his cape being tugged down, seeing a bored Moogle Fox looking up at him. "Ahem," Fox squeaked.

"Wait, I thought the job would already leave you since we finished the battle," Chris said.

"Well, it didn't, kupo. So I came to the conclusion a little while ago you had some sort of say in th-" A very brief flash of light enveloped Fox as soon as an orb containing the Tinker job went back into Chris's self, and the little vulpine Moogle discarded being from another race in favor of returning back to normal. Now back to being his normal self, Fox looked down at himself, quickly rubbed his arms and thighs through his uniform, and as an added extra step measured himself with Chris to see that, yes, he was two or three inches taller than him. "Phew!" Fox sighed with a lot of relief. "Glad that was over with! That weird accent is gone from my system and I feel bigger than ever. The universe is right now."

"…Remind me not to give you another job that shrinks you down," Chris muttered, shaking his head. He saw Dark Pit standing away from the group and went over to see how he was doing, but more importantly, tell him something. "Uh, Dark Pit…"

Dark Pit gave him a side glance, his eyes looking but not feeling tired. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for saving me back there when I needed it," Chris thanked him, smiling sincerely. "I-I wouldn't have wanted Arlon to hurt me after all that mocking he said to me during the whole time we got here."

"…" Dark Pit's eyes wandered away. "…It was pretty easy and simple to do it. Save you, I mean."

"…For you, I suppose," Chris said, chuckling a bit. "I can't thank you enough for it."

The dark angel blushed. "O-once was enough. That's it. Please, kept it that way." He looked completely away from the human, in time to avoid seeing Lucario behind his trainer.

Awkward at his overall attitude, Chris didn't pursue the matter further and turned away himself from the dark angel. "You lament how he wants to put distance between the two of you, don't you?" Lucario asked. "I can tell even without my senses."

"Yes. I'm starting to grow fond of him for being nice to me when he doesn't seem to mean it," Chris said. "Why do you think he acts that way?"

Lucario wouldn't know what to believe was the right answer. "Were you nice to him when you met him?" he asked.

"I-I wasn't nice or nasty to him. He was excited to slice me down until he started having hiccups," Chris said. "Then those hiccups evolved into acts of kindness that we both don't know why they happen. I don't feel like scolding to him at all after he did those acts."

"…I see… Well, I'm thankful he gives you a hand when it counts," Lucario said. "My opinion on him is strange. I do like his protective nature of you, but his distancing himself doesn't let me agree if he is a good person. He better not insult you."

"If he does that, don't beat him," Chris said. "I can talk him down if it happens. I'll rely on his true feelings to get to bottom of this." Lucario nodded in obedience but held the opinion of defending Chris only when things would get rough for him to handle. He shot one look at Dark Pit before Arlon's body flashed and disappeared from existence. None of the three had noticed Pit had been listening and seeing their conversation a few feet away, looking quite pensive after listening to Chris possibly having a high opinion on Dark Pit of all people…

"Hey, he vanished!" Mr. G&W said, returning back to the Arlon disappearing act. "Did he escape or did he die?"

"Just like Cragalanche, Arlon simply went back to being in stasis under Viridi's care," Palutena explained. "To any god giving their blessing to their commanders or important figures swearing their loyalty, they get the benefit of having divine protection. Even when gruesomely defeated, these protected beings live forever, but the drawback that comes from being defeated means they will have to recover for a very long time. This may sound like an advantage but not so much when a war is going and one side has lost important resources, because then the god or goddess is at risk of being eliminated…and there's not an even higher being giving them protections! So if say someone were to get to me and slice my throat without Pit around… Brrr," she shivered. "A whole faction would just die."

"Interesting," Meta Knight said. "Divine beings in this universe can't afford to lose their most important people or they will lose a war and become defenseless."

"True. Now that you guys took the master of this star of death down, this calls for an automatic self-destruct sequence scene."

"What?" the group said in unison. Right after, the floor underneath them trembled, caused by the source of a loud explosion triggering somewhere in the flying moon-like ship. Rocking movements and more explosions only made everyone start to panic and looking frantically for a way out.

"W-why does this place have to explode just like that after taking down its owner?! It doesn't make sense!" Mr. G&W panicked.

"Looks can be deceiving, but you could say the sanctum operates just as long as Arlon is alive and breathing…and right now, he's barely any of those aspects. So now you know," Palutena said calmly. "Stop panicking. I'll bring everyone back to our base immediately… Unfortunately, Pit has to fly out by himself."

"What?! Why?!" Pit asked.

"There are waaaay too many people taking the Palutena Express Service, and we don't want Dark Pit to suddenly turn tails and leave, do we?"

"Screw you!" Dark Pit barked. He was ignored.

"Sorry, Pit. You'll take the long way out with your wings. It'll be okay, though. The path I have ready for you is safe and not dangerous at all."

"Oh, okay!" Pit said without any objections, watching the others being covered in pillars of light that whisked their feet from the floor and warped them away from the sanctum's location. The angel barely saw Dark Pit shooting him with a very scornful look as he left within the ethereal light. Shrugging, Pit felt his wings revitalized with the Power of Flight, allowing him to take off from the crumbling stage and seeing Arlon's downed body disappear in flashing purple lights. The angel saw a big hole in the darkness of the room and flew through it to the outside.

As he made his way out from the collapsing lunar base, Pit made note of a strange object flying out from another hole somewhere on the sanctum's outer shell. He wondered what that flying object was, but Palutena simply told him to forget about it. It probably was nothing of importance to them…

Palutena's Sanctuary

One by one, the group reappeared in the sanctuary, with their disgruntled dark angel appearing with crossed arms and a look of utter boredom at his current predicament. While Dark Pit took very slow glances around his new base, the double doors opened with a slamming sound, and Pit came rushing down from the stairs to reunite with everyone. A smiling Palutena greeted him first. "Good job, Pit. With the Lunar Sanctum gone, Viridi's forces may as well hang the towel and walk away," she said.

"Wait. We're done with her?" Popo asked. "Phew! About time."

"No, that doesn't mean this is over," the goddess said. "Viridi is a very feisty goddess, if you couldn't tell already. She will keep at it until she's extremely tired. We gods are a stubborn bunch when it comes to not accepting defeat."

"Wow. You're admitting that with a straight face?"

Palutena chuckled. "That's because I've never lost a single bout since that time I got turned into stone. Victory is always a thing to me," she said.

"But the odds are somewhat against us, what with hell breaking loose down there…" Mr. G&W said. "…Wait, that reminds me. How is everything going so far on the surface? Is everyone still fighting over the fake Wish Seed thing?"

The goddess looked a little grim. "The fights have eased somewhat, but it hasn't slowed down much. Humans continue killing each other while the Underworld Army watches from the shadows to continue the cycle of death. Like Meta Knight said, we can't hope to stop these wars by ourselves. We can only try to stop the large scale attacks from the gods causing havoc," she said.

"How can we make them understand us, Lady Palutena? Isn't there a faster way?" Pit asked.

"No. Perhaps they will come to their senses when they realize they're all being used by Hades…but such time is so far away now." She saw them putting up disheartened looks. "Cheer up, you guys. The death toll may be really off-putting, but as long as we can minimize the damage from the gods, everything should be fine eventually."

"That is the best we can do for this world," Meta Knight said. "Besides, our main objective is to push the Subspace Army away, wherever they are."

"So what are you all gonna do now?"

Dark Pit's comment made everyone turn to where he was: leaning on the left wall. They just remembered that they had taken the dark angel to their base without hearing his consent. "We wait, Dark Pit," Palutena said. "The team needs some R&R after going out into space. You could use some too, if you're tired too. My sanctuary is open up to you." Chris, without looking, covered Pit's mouth from hearing a loud "WHAT!" protest.

"Seriously? What are you scheming with giving me that much freedom in this light-blinding place?" Dark Pit questioned, before grinning and saying, "You may want to keep an eye open or else I might just slay you. I dislike gods in general."

"Pfft, I'm sure Pit or the thousands of Centurions will keep me safe from your god-killing ideas. If you're anything like Pit, I know how to persuade you to behave."

Dark Pit glared. "The heck is that supposed to mean?"

"Please, you two. Stop it with the teasing for once," the minister said, standing between both. "I am still puzzled as to why we must keep Dark Pit close to us. He is not trustworthy, albeit he hasn't done anything fishy since we made him join our group."

"He's been badmouthing me ever since!" Pit objected.

"I like to pretend the childish banter was never there." Pit pouted. "Whatever happens because of Dark Pit, we will not be held responsible."

"'Kay," Palutena said simply, and she warped away to goddess-knows-where.

The Ancient Minister was irked about her simple response and not so premature departure. "Why am I thinking she just left us the job of security guards instead of at least trying to feel some shame about her hasty decision?" he wondered aloud.

"And this is why I dislike the gods: they ALWAYS try to have control of everything while toying around with lesser beings," Dark Pit said.

Pit was obviously the first one to object once more to that. "HEY! How dare you make Lady Palutena look like that? My group knows Lady Palutena isn't anything like that! Isn't that right, guys?" he said as he looked at everyone else looking the other way or remaining deadpan silent. Pit then turned back to Dark Pit. "See? They're so quiet they don't even want to object to it!" He ignored the Ice Climbers face-palming.

"Keep telling yourself that. Just leave me alone…" Dark Pit said, scornfully turning his gaze away from the fuming angel.

As Pit spiraled into muttering stuff about Dark Pit by himself without taking his eyes from the unwanted guest, the Smashers formed a circle to talk. "It's like we're always put in more annoying situations one after another the longer we stay here. My sanity can only reach a point, you know," Fox said.

"You'd rather step away from this safe haven and suffer being attacked and potentially slaughtered down there with all those wars going on? Sorry. I prefer my life over my sanity this time," Nana said.

"A wise choice, Nana!" Magolor piped up. "Losing our lives right after starting this epic quest of gathering the Energy Spheres and my ship would be an extremely anti-climactic ending. I admire your devotion in putting your sanity to the test!"

"Magolor, stop trying to make yourself blend with the angels here…" said Mr. G&W. "It's bad enough as it is. I wasn't hoping my first venture to another world to be like this."

"It makes me wonder how it could've been before Pit got that bad personality change," Chris said. "I really miss the old Pit and how he used to be: just a normal guy without a fascination over random food on the floor."

"Not that I want to derail this conversation, but, where is this Subspace Army?" Ms. Fit asked. "I haven't seen that specific army around this world at all."

"She makes a good point there," Popo said. "If the army has been here for a while but hasn't joined forces with the Underworld Army, what is it even doing without making a move yet?"

"Could they be seeking an alliance with the Forces of Nature, then?" Lucario wondered.

"Viridi herself has admitted that she wishes to do this alone without any alliances," the minister said. "The best we can come up with is that the army is lurking in this universe before making a move. Now that I'm not part of their group anymore, it is hard for me to predict their every move without a countermeasure."

"Hey, that's right. You were with them," Popo said. "Do you really have no idea?"

"The only idea I have is Ganondorf being the new capable commander and right-hand man to Tabuu. Everyone else in the army who's not an expendable unit is unfit for giving orders and making tactics. If I were them, I wouldn't risk the chance to strike three different enemy factions…"

"So we keep playing the waiting game again…" Mr. G&W said with a visible sigh shape. "I can't complain. I do want to rest after going through so much already."

Everyone overheard the two angels engaging in a long argument about loyalties to the gods. "I'm afraid resting will be a little harder than before… This could affect our morale and pressure us into a stressing state of mind and bodies," Ms. Fit said. "…If anyone needs some yoga practices, I'm open."

Her offer just gradually became more and more tempting as time went by, as they all tried to block the angels' long and loud arguments within the sanctuary. So as to kill time, everyone dispersed and took long tours around the majestic land of Skyland, which was almost littered to the top with Palutena statues, (there was the very odd event in which they found a Pit statue; barely any bigger than the gigantic Palutena statues and placed in the remotest location like dead ends), Greek-like temples with Centurions patrolling and pretending to be very useful units, and blinding light making it hard to see in some places. The sea of clouds below was a good sight to see and helped as a stress-reliever.

A mass mental call from Palutena put an eventual end to the peaceful break time, making everyone gather at the sanctum to hear the news about a new movement by the Forces of Nature. Rushing into the lustrous hall, the group found Palutena and Pit standing in the middle, with Dark Pit apparently not having moved from his spot since he came with them. "W-we came in as soon as you called!" Popo said. "W-what's the situation?"

"I'll let you guys see for yourselves through Pit," Palutena said, turning to Pit saluting her. "Pit, you know the drill."

"MY DRILL IS THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE UNDERWORLD!" Pit enthusiastically said while raising a drill-less right hand that glowed rather horrifyingly strange due to a rainbow-like tattoo engraved to the entirety of Pit's bare right arm.

Naturally, the group was freaked out. "H-holy crap!" spoke Chris out of concern. "P-Pit, your whole arm is…is glowing! A-are you sure you're not sick with an angel sickness or something?"

Pit looked blankly at them all. "Huh? Oh! No, no, no. This isn't a sickness. It's a palm weapon: the Violet Palm!" he said with a grin and holding out his arm to make it shine brighter, indirectly making some look ill. "It's a special magical tattoo placed on my arm to use as a mystical weapon!"

"And it's a pretty easy tattoo to take off without skinning the arm," Palutena added.

Still wary of the creepy glowing arm, Nana gulped and said, "O-okay… We don't have to worry about Pit falling ill in the middle of a battle, then."

"Yup. Aside from feeding off from the user's life force every time it is used to fire a bullet, Pit doesn't have to carry anything at all. What a useful perk, huh?" There was a very dead, unsettling silence after everyone noted the horrendous fact the goddess glossed over with the not equally proportional benefit. Even Pit's cheerfulness wasn't enough to keep him from looking sick in the face. To Lucario in particular, he was disgusted about the mere implication of wasting away life to turn it into a weapon. At least using an Aura Sphere was connected to his life without feeding off from himself. "Kidding. Let Pit shoot from his heart's content."

"L-Lady Palutena, don't make me get second thoughts about using palms again…" Pit trailed off. Chuckling with a horrified tone, the angel gulped hard and started rushing out through the double doors in the background.

A snickering Dark Pit suddenly pushed himself from the wall he was leaning on and started walking to the same direction. "Guess I better head out too. I can't stand doing nothing…" he said aloud.

Fox glared. "Wait! How do we know you won't escape during the confrontation?" he asked.

Dark Pit stopped in his tracks and grunted. "Relax, you. I won't try to escape. I wanna see what happens with the Subspace Army and every other army trying to shoot Pit down… Not letting those guys upstage me from taking my target away from me. Like that's ever gonna happen," he retorted before resuming his slow walk to the way outside, with Pit having already rushed further up ahead. When the dark angel crossed the double doors, the doors themselves closed behind his back.

Ms. Fit looked at Palutena. "Can you give Dark Pit the Power of Flight as well?" she asked.

"There is no need," Palutena said. "Dark Pit absorbed Pandora's essence into his wings somehow, enabling him to fly as much as he wants to. Pit of course is very much irked about that fact." She chuckled heartily as she tapped the floor with her staff, turning on the hologram in the center of the hall.

The first thing they all heard when the hologram turned on was a loud, crashing sound created by the sound of lightning clashing hard between the dark clouds somewhere high above. Some of them had to block their ears to stop the ringing sound in their heads as they watched the chaos happening outside. The chaos was comprised of enemies from the Underworld Army and the Forces of Nature locked into heated combat, all the while dodging the enormous tornadoes that connected the wide space between the two dark cloud beds. "W-what's going on now?" Chris asked between the crashing sounds, barely seeing Pit taking off after dodging a beam of electricity and Dark Pit following after.

The two angels briefly locked glares and almost forgot they were in a truce until they almost lost control of their flight path by rushing winds caused by the source of a quick but dangerous lightning bolt zooming by. "WHOA!" Pit yelped as he dodged the lightning bolt from crashing into him, until some sort of glowing green dragon shape came rushing from behind and almost striking his back. "WHOA! AGAIN!" he yelled.

"The Underworld Army and Forces of Nature are fighting each other for dominance in the war, and Pit is just added dessert for that bloodshed of nameless enemies!" Palutena said. "We can't let them treat us like a side dish. Let us punish them all for thinking so lowly of us after all the progress we've done so far!"

"Wouldn't it be a better idea just to retreat, let them kill each other, and then strike down the one that wins?" the minister suggested, with many of them nodding in agreement. "It sounds like the best strategy to take here."

"Nayh. It's something Viridi and Hades would do to us if one of them had any concern for striking Pit down right now. Why would I want to stoop down to their level with such dirty tactics when Pit is extremely reliable for a situation like this?" Palutena asked with a bright smile, ignoring the multiple facepalms.

"…Your extremely blind faith on Pit is sure charming to see," the minister muttered.

"Augh! Enough with the visual puns!" Viridi's ever so irritable voice ringed in their heads. "Move out of the way, little angel! Or rather, don't do that. Get in the middle of it just to pluck your wings off your back by accident!"

"Splendid idea, my cute enemy!" Hades' ever so teasing voice ringed next. "Pretty Palutena doesn't have a single Centurion out for this bloody battle between the gods. Sending one little angel makes no difference in the slightest."

"Do I need to remind you two that Pit has done a lot of damage to either side of your factions due to underestimating my forces?" Palutena wondered.

"Eh, what can I say? My forces are expendable," Hades said with a shrug.

"But you will pay dearly for being a nasty thorn on my side!" Viridi exclaimed.

"That is one out of two. I'd call that progress," Pit voiced while firing the ambiguous life-sucking energy bullets from his palm weapon. To his honest surprise, he saw Dark Pit joining in the fun, using his Silver Bow to slice enemies from up-close and shooting long trailing arrows to approaching enemies.

"Oh my," Hades said, his eyes widening at the other dark angel. "Someone isn't following the script."

"Another angel?!" Viridi cringed loudly. "Of course. It's Pit's neutrally annoying double: Dark Pit!"

"Pleasure to beat your forces," Dark Pit said with a cocky grin. "My hobbies don't just include slicing Pit into bits. I also enjoy pulling pranks on self-absorbed gods who like to think they're doing the right thing around here."

"Hey, Pittoo. What gives? You're with a goddess yourself," Hades inquired. "Isn't that kind of extremely hypocritical to say now? Why are you on their side?"

Dark Pit sliced several Nutskis as the conversation went on. "Because you morons are gonna try to finish Pit off before I do it myself. Think of my temporary alliance as a way to clean the trash from the battlefield for the BIG epic battle of the ages," he said, chuckling. "Don't wanna have trash making me trip."

"Ugh, whatever. Palutena can have all the help she needs but it still won't make a difference to me!" Viridi boasted.

"Says the goddess whose plans keep falling through," Popo spoke. Almost immediately, everyone heard some strange sounds coming from Viridi's direction. The sounds were made from something being muffled repeatedly into something soft. "Uh, did everyone hear that just now?"

"I did. What an otherworldly sound!" Hades said. "Miss Viridi, care to explain why the sounds are coming from your side?"

"It's…nothing…you…have…to…worry…about…!" Viridi kept trailing off in every single word. Between those trailing words, the muffled sounds filled the gaps.

"There they are again," Palutena said. "What's going on over your end, Viridi?"

The muffled sounds came to a stop as soon as they heard Viridi letting out a sigh. They would never know she was using a poorly made Pit doll she used to beat on to vent on her ever-growing frustration. "Like I said, nothing you should concern yourselves about," Viridi said, speaking calmly while calmly kicking the doll in an unmentionable spot. "Now, why don't I let Phospora introduce herself to your Pits?"

"Who?" Pit asked. Right after, as he was busy blasting Monoeyes and Nutskins down, a dazzling thunder appeared from the dark clouds below and crashed right into the Monoeyes at a tremendous speed. The angel blocked his eyes from the flashing thunder, until he yelped when the thunder changed directions and headed towards him…only to stop several feet away to reveal the source hidden in the thunder. It was a young lady with short, curved blond hair with orange tips, wearing clothing that covered her chest and served as a short skirt while baring her midriff, pale dark green hand wraps that covered her arms and legs, and otherwise normal sandals. A long, trailing blue scarf floated behind her, sparking with bolts of lightning every now and then just like the rest of her body. Of note were the green vines that occupied some parts of her body, probably as a visual representation of her alignment to the Forces of Nature.

"Yes, you called? Heh heh heh!" the young lady spoke while chuckling, just for her to turn away and blast off to fend off the green trail of flames from earlier, coming into powerful clashes that just created even more violent winds.

"Meet Lightning Flash Phospora, Pit. She is one of my best commanders for the Forces of Nature," Viridi boasted proudly. "While Arlon likes playing enemies like chess pieces, Phospora would rather wreck the pieces up-and-close."

"Ooh, introduction time!" Hades gleefully said. "Pit, I'd like you to meet Thanatos; the God of Death. He's the green glow dragon trying to shoot down the lightning teenager."

"Huh? Thanatos? I thought I took him down already!" Pit said.

Palutena focused the view on Thanatos within the green blazing shape flying about. The group could barely tell the features of the enemy, thought they all mostly agreed that Thanatos looked like a green genie with a lack of open eyes and huge blue lips. "Oh, a genie person! Perhaps we can make a wish to gather all Energy Spheres in one go!" Magolor said.

"Settle down, little alien. Thanatos only grants death wishes," Hades said amused. "Hey, that's ironic. Palutena has a dog that worships life while I have the GOD of Death. Won't this call for an expected battle between both?"

"Keep my aura dog of life away from your asinine plans, Hades," Palutena said, while Lucario scowled at them both.

"For the record, I own his Poké Ball. None of you don't," Chris blankly stated.

"WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE! CAN THIS CHATTER WAIT?!" spoke Thanatos from his glow dragon form, his erratic moves around the tornados in total chaos with Phospora's electric aura crashing hard against him. Things got even more dangerous as pieces of floating islands were mixed into the brawl, creating more hazards and safe spots to hide allies and enemies alike.

Dark Pit covered his face from a gushing wind created by their blast. "Oh yeah. This kind of chaos is what I like to see, alright," he said.

"There are just too many explosions to see clearly in this battle. How can anyone see clearly in this mess?" Mr. G&W asked.

"I can," Fox said. He received multiple dope slaps.

"Leave this to the pros in air combat! I'm pretty good at this aerial fight myself," Pit said proudly, dodging the floating debris with ease, only to smack into a floating wall and lag behind Dark Pit.

"It's just like you said just now. Can I say it?" Dark Pit teased the angel…only to smack into a floating wall as well due to looking back at Pit over his shoulder.

"Oopsie! The pros at aerial combat were silenced. They lasted a good while," Hades teased. Both angels growled and got off from the walls to continue their flight path, chasing after Phospora and Thanatos.

"Ugh…" Ms. Fit was heard muttering to herself.

"Is something the matter?" Palutena asked.

"I just realized we're fighting two armies at once, and we will probably be facing off their commanders at the end if they don't take each other down first," the fitness trainer said. "Can we win this one this time?"

"Don't be scared, adorable white-painted lady," Hades chuckled. "I have no intention to make a truce with these two feisty goddesses and their black-hearted minions of evil. As the good guy of this story, it's only right to take both forces down."

"My team is the good one here!" Pit argued.

"No, it's mine!" Viridi argued.

"One god is killing humans, while the other…is also killing humans. You tell me which is one isn't the bad one here," Fox said.

"Not me!"

"Ditto," Hades said.

"Don't look at me. I want to protect my precious stubborn and senseless humans from chaos and destruction and killing themselves for the amusement of all gods," Palutena said.

"…Please, can we all try to make her into a bad guy for this one time?" Viridi suggested.

"That's another personal hobby of mine," Dark Pit said.

"So hey!" Magolor piped up. "I can't help but be curious about this Thanatos person Pit seems to know. I understand he was already defeated?"

Pit blasted a squad of Syrens down with a powerful charged blast. "More like killed, but yeah, I took him down by a thousand pegs in an epic battle of LIFE and death... How come he was resurrected again so quickly?" he wondered aloud.

"A special perk that comes from being the God of Death, and being a part of my army, unlike how you goddesses of goodness and love take your sweet time to regenerate your best units," Hades said. "It's a health insurance to DIE for, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd certainly like to have such kind of health insurance!" Magolor said cheerfully.

"I like you!"

"I like you too, despite being an evil madman wanting to kill us!"

"I like you even more now!"

"You know, I like you more too!"

"Stop fraternizing with the enemy, Magolor," Meta Knight coldly advised. Popo bonked Magolor's head, earning a small annoyed mumbling sound from the alien.

"FINISHING BLOW!"

That loud cry coming from Phospora was accompanied by a strong booming sound. The two angels flew faster up ahead between the big debris just in time to see Thanatos' glowing form going off like a candle. The sparkling electric aura from the lightning warrior kept shining as she moved away into the dark clouds, leaving a helpless Thanatos spinning in the air and falling down back to the earth hundreds of feet away. "AAH, FAREWELL CRYYYYYYY!" the God of Death cried out, descending into the dark clouds like an immobile stone before disappearing from sight.

Viridi laughed contently (albeit a bit maniacally) at her commander's victory. "Bravo! It feels so good to win like this in a while!" she laughed.

"And…he's down," Nana said. "Poor guy. We barely even met him."

"Yeah, tis a shame," Hades said, faking sounding saddened as he ran his monstrous fingers in his translucent dark hair. "…OH WELL. Let's continue the fight, ladies, little angels, smashing barbarians."

"You're just going to continue this fight without a commander leading your forces?" Meta Knight questioned.

"You see, my loyal mooks are brainless. They're so devoted to me they can't tell their actions may cost them their lives. So much loneliness is made down here in the Underworld," Hades lamented. "…Care to join me down here?"

"Aww, he just needs a hug," Palutena cooed. "Viridi, no one can resist hugs from childish-looking goddesses. Do the honors."

"AS IF!" Viridi objected loudly. "I'm not gonna hug that guy! I'd rather give him a thorny hug if that'll shut him up for good!"

"Ouch much, you two?" Hades pouted.

The two angels flew higher up into a clean part of the storm to get out from the dusty winds caused by the floating islands. "Now what?" Pit asked.

"Now that Thanatos has been defeated, Phospora is drained out from the fight. It's our chance to strike her while she…MUST RECOVER," Palutena advised.

"You CAN be dirty when you want to…" Viridi trailed off.

"All's fair in love and godly war, and there is no love whatsoever, is there? There is just war."

Hades chuckled. "It's Pretty Palutena's forces against lovely little Phospora. But my attention lies on the fight outside where she's headed to," he said. "To the victor of this fight will go the spoils!"

Pit and Dark Pit flew underneath two crossed tornados as they spotted Phospora's flashing light going into a rather immense cyclone. "That girl is headed into that cyclone," Dark Pit said. "Why hide in there?"

Palutena said, "A secret area lies inside that cyclone. It's a rather convenient spot for her to rest, but I'll rely more information about it once you cross the violent winds. Let me open a path for you…"

While everyone focused on the incoming battle against Phospora and watched the projection showing the two angels entering a worm tunnel opened by Palutena, something dark caught Magolor's attention. He narrowed his eyes when he saw a few dark spheres materializing somewhere down the cyclone's wall. "Those spheres… Is it just my imagination or…? Then that means… EVERYONE!" Magolor shouted, startling them. "Somewhere in that cyclone is surely at least one Energy Sphere waiting to be found! We must find it quickly!"

"Huh? Why the sudden outburst?" Popo asked. "Did your living radar sense a sphere already?"

The Halcandran looked serious. "I probably saw things just now, but our other enemies are starting to make their move," he said.

"The Subspace Army is here?" the minister asked.

"No, it's MY enemies… You all must get sharp now! There's no telling what could happen to us if we stumble upon them! They're nothing like any of Pit and Palutena's enemies!"

"You may gotten a few victories under your belt, but the Forces of Nature can fight back against these mysterious enemies of yours, whoever they are!" Viridi said.

"You still hate us, don't you," Ms. Fit said.

"Yes to Hades and back!"

The two Pits then emerged from the inside of the turbulent winds, coming into view inside a gigantic clearing between the clouds and inside the tornado. In the middle of the tornado, there was a floating temple sitting there. "Seems we reached the place she was talking about," Dark Pit said.

"That is the Thunder Cloud Temple, long abandoned since ancient times with no souls to take ownership," Palutena said. "Until Phospora conveniently barged in there today."

"What a big convenience for her to just find a temple related to her lightning powers!" Pit said. "Are there any conveniences for me at all?"

"Well, you have the Smashers," Palutena said. Most of them aww'd in response.

Pit yelped when, from the top of the temple, a lightning beam shot out from a large electric sphere and almost friend him alive. Dark Pit took the sudden attack as a sign to be more cautious while they approached the temple as fast as they could. "Could you guys leave a girl alone to take a shower?" Phospora was heard while faking a pouting face.

"Water in a lightning temple. That is so unbelievably false," Dark Pit said with a sly grin.

"We're going in now!" Pit said as he and Dark Pit accelerated in their descent to the temple. With the sphere of electricity shooting beams all over around their flight path, they were forced to land a few ways away from the central area.

Thunder Cloud Temple

The two Pits, uninterested at looking at each other, landed their feet firmly on the rocky floor. As they surveyed the area for a bit, several beams of light appeared all around them, transporting every Smasher member to the area. They joined the angels' surveillance to get acquainted with the dangerous territory. Ahead of them was a slope of stairs leading further in, where towers of electricity could be seen while being surrounded by hazards; electrified walls. "One more area that needs some exploring," Popo said, feeling a little tingly by the electric radiation the temple gave off. "Why didn't we bring Pikachu here? He'd love it here for sure."

"No team rotation allowed once a team is set and ready to go," Palutena quipped. "Your main task is to get to the boss of this level and defeat it. It's been a rather productive strategy, if I do say so myself."

"Already referring to me as an 'it'? You sure can be rude!" Phospora complained with a teasing smile. "Yeah, whatever. Start coming up here, you guys! Try it while touching the tingling walls all around you."

The group heed her half-advice and started heading forward, this time making sure no one else was going to get separated at the start like before. As some of them got busy bursting through the enemy lines, the resting Phospora wasn't going to lose the chance to have many conversations to entertain her. "Hey, you. The cute human boy," she called out to Chris, who closed his eyes and prayed to a more benevolent god that not another blonde girl was taking an interest on him again. "Whatcha doing aiding a goddess and her angel of justice and light?"

Before Chris could answer, Pit butted in. "He is a true warrior fighting for Lady Palutena, light, justice, love, Lady Palutena, and righteousness!" he declared, being completely ignorant about the repeated reason.

"P-Pit!" Chris scolded. "I-I have a much better way of answering that than what you said!"

"Is Lady Palutena and Lady Palutena included in your reasons?" Pit asked curiously. Everyone looked oddly at him.

The teen looked dumbfounded. "Y-you were serious about repeating her name?"

"Shows how much importance I have in this arc, doesn't it?" Palutena said. "So is me and me included in your reasons, Chris?"

"H-honestly now. No!" Chris said. "My only reason is that…it's just the right thing to do. That's all!"

"Tsk. Booooring," Phospora said. "It'd be much more interesting if this hadn't been a battle of values 'cause your values are short and dumb. Who's the villain of this story?"

"Viridi," everyone on Palutena's side said without missing a beat, not even considering Hades as that important for the time being. Viridi took a small moment to grunt out loud. Hades simply laughed in the background.

"Anyone but me. I'm neutral to the end," Dark Pit said, however.

"Heh heh. Your vote doesn't count!" Phospora said. "Right or wrong, my support goes to Mistress Viridi. It is so cliché that we have to come to blows because of this."

"…I'm not going to bother trying to make her understand to aid us," the minister said.

"Yeah. Don't expect anyone else but Dark Pit to join our side willingly for the truly good cause," Palutena said.

"You people are guilt tripping me into aiding you!" Dark Pit complained.

Palutena started to wonder the possibilities. "Or maybe we can guilt trip Phospora? Naaah, she's the boss of this level according to the sacred script."

"Spoilers much?" Magolor said, covering the assumed place where his ears were.

After the group went up ahead into the central building, they reached a long passage where an electric-powered train car slowly hovered above an abyss to the right of their walking path going down. When Pit destroyed a previous train car to uncover some food goodies the group was never going to be ready to eat themselves, he had the urge to ask Phospora, "You are powering up this temple with your power, right?"

"Yeah, so what? Feeling too tingly?" Phospora teased.

"A bit! But your power is also transporting goodies across the temple, right? Do the Forces of Nature need any material needs?"

"Eh, you kinda got me there. My troops don't need any items to work hard. These cars just happen to have goodies in them. Do whatever you want with 'em. It's not like I own this place and I'll be gone from here after I deal with all of you myself."

"Sure. All of us," Fox said with a bored expression. "If the past is any indication, you're just going to separate some of us to pick on the battlefield like that rock monster and Arlon did."

"Those two were playing it safe. I like playing with all the toys I can get," the lightning lady said. "I'll swift-kick you out from the temple before you can react."

"You're awfully confident about your odds. Are you scheming something behind the scenes to even those odds?" Meta Knight wondered.

Phospora looked a tad depressed. "I'm not into scheming things! That's more Mistress Viridi's thing. Don't go easy on me just because I'm a girl."

"Everyone! Abuse is okay when it's male on female. Go all out on her when we see her!" Magolor advised.

"Did you have to put it that way?" muttered Mr. G&W.

Some more time passed as the team continued exploring the temple's central building, until before long, they were forced to ride a long grind rail that led them all outside and to the bottom of the temple itself to a long, curved path around a big spire. As luck had it, they of course started from the very tip of the bottom of said path. While Pit, Meta Knight, the Ice Climbers, and Fox went up ahead to watch out for enemies, the others followed closely from a distance. A few steps later, they noticed Magolor fidgeting and looking around swiftly.

"What is wrong with you? Not like I care or anything. It's just too distracting with the muffled yelps," said the tsundere Dark Pit.

"I-I sense malevolence close by. It wasn't like this when we got deeper into the temple," Magolor explained. He then pointed at a growling Lucario. "S-see here? Our aura hound is also sensing said malevolence!"

"Is that true?" Chris asked Lucario, who then stopped growling to nod at him. "Where is this evil presence?"

"It's very hard to tell where exactly," Lucario said, looking up to the rocky ceiling. "It's somewhere around the higher floors. I can barely sense Phospora's presence due to that childish goddess' powers trying to lock my power out. Her lock isn't as strong as it was in Arlon's base."

"Arlon was like a magic booster to me. Ugh, so annoying to see a mortal upstage me so simply," Viridi complained. They all ignored her.

"Still, what Magolor is also sensing is made out of pure darkness. Its dark aura is too strong to focus on, so I can only detect faint traces left in the air and abnormally large essences that hide the host's body." He clenched his fists and growled. "This is not like Hades' aura. It's a completely different being."

"I can visually confirm it's not just one being," Magolor added. "…Oh! There is also another Energy Sphere above us! Wherever it is, it's drawing the Doomers to it. They want to reclaim it for themselves, so we must move faster! If they get a hold of it, it will almost be impossible to recover it!"

"Why almost impossible?" Dark Pit asked.

"They will take the sphere away to their master, in hindsight. And reaching their master is another problem without the Lor Starcutter. Even having the ship might not be enough to break into their stronghold in Halcandra. In short, the easy mission becomes much harder."

"That's bad to hear," Ms. Fit said.

"The Energy Spheres may be somewhat optional to reclaim. It would be for the best to collect them for ourselves before they can get their hands on it, be my enemies or your enemies," Magolor said. "We don't want any of them to power up even more…"

"They are optional to obtain, though letting others channel their power will be bad for us," the minister said. "…Could we then channel their power for ourselves?"

"Oh no. We can't use them to power ourselves up, if that's what you mean," the alien said. "The spheres can be an unstable source of power for living beings. They are closely attached to the Lor Starcutter as its only secondary source of fuel and will never be engineered to be used for something else…is what I think. As far as I know myself, there could be a process to harness their power, but I never bothered to do that because it's dangerous. I once tried to power up an oven and…the results weren't pretty and I had to live outside in a cave for a week." Given the straight lines on his eyes, he was embarrassed about the memory.

"…An oven?" the minister questioned.

"You can do crazy things when you're hungry and desperate to eat anything quickly, unlike…" from afar, he pointed at Pit trying to destroy a huge floating dead fish-looking enemy called Lurchthorn. Magolor kept pointing at him as he tried to say something... "…What was his name again?"

"Noooooooooo!" Pit cried out, confirming his doubts he had when he and Chris had a "serious" conversation.

After successfully climbing back to the center of the temple and riding a jump pad that conveniently led them all to the door that housed the boss of the area: Lightning Flash Phospora. "She's up ahead behind the door. Be prepared, everyone," Palutena said. "I don't like how overconfident she's being."

"Nearly everyone in this damn universe is overconfident," Fox said bored.

"Now, now, guys. This dang universe isn't nice to…DIFFERENT people," the goddess said. "Seeing you all makes me wanna smack you with my staff."

"Hey, I wanna beat them up first! Get in line, ma'am," Phospora said.

If there was something that ruffled Palutena's angel feathers, it was making fun of her astrological age. That jab at her age had been met with a long argument between her and Phospora earlier during the team's expedition through the temple. She quite clearly didn't learn about ignoring the lady once she said, "Oh, how I just want to use my staff for unrated stuff to you now," Palutena warned in a quiet tone that made Pit shudder.

"I love deities beating each other up over trivial stuff," Dark Pit commented with a grin. "Makes me look much smarter in comparison."

"We have a smarty tight pants over here. Can you step in already? This break time of mine is tiring me out," Phospora complained. Making sure everyone was properly healed, Chris used his meager sub Scholar skillset to heal them, taking a bit of time.

Magolor then shuddered and rubbed his intangible arms. "I-I sense evil from within. It is them…" he muttered.

"They're in there, too?" Popo asked.

"A-and an Energy Sphere! They're being drawn to it as well!" Magolor added up. "It's like the sphere is being held by…by…by that lady!"

"Huh?" Phospora irked an eyebrow. "Sphere? You mean my special treasure?"

"I'm so surprised and shocked the boss of the area is holding an Energy Sphere. I want to cry," Nana sarcastically said.

"Tee-hee! I must say, finding this treasure in the middle of that one-sided lightning battle outside cheered me up a great deal, despite getting a bad fortune from Mistress Viridi. I'm not gonna part ways with it even if Pit asked me on a date for it. He might be a cutie, but…enemy forces and all."

Pit gulped hard as he blushed at the door. "Do you mind keeping your head in the game?" he pleaded. Seeing Dark Pit's grin get wider, Chris grunted his way to make him stop from saying something demeaning…and Dark Pit reluctantly obeyed, only bringing up the mystery behind why he couldn't help listening to the human teen. As the dark angel shook his head to forget about that nagging feeling, Pit went to the door and pushed it wide open to make way to the arena up ahead…

Just like any other area where a strong enemy resided, the team reached a large circular floor surrounded by an abyss, where tall bushy trees – elements that represented the Forces of Nature – occupied half of the space outside the ring. In the middle of said ring, floating a little too high while on a sitting position, a grinning Phospora welcomed them into her room. "Hello, everyone. Aww, the cute ones are even cuter face-to-face!" she teased. Some of them noticed that a small object glittered over her neck: an Energy Sphere attached to a vine-looking necklace. "Will you look as promising after you've been electrocuted to death?"

"Just trigger that trap of yours already to get this done and over with," Dark Pit said, hands griping the two ends of his Silver Bow on his sides. "I'm keeping the track record. You Forces of Ineptitude haven't won a single important victory over this side I'm forced to work with."

"Oh? Then why don't you help us out?" Phospora asked. "Mistress Viridi would like to have her own Pit…and me too."

"Yeah… Keep dreaming while I take you out in your sleep," the dark angel said, earning some looks from the others.

"…Well, that was worth a shot," Phospora giggled. "My scheme didn't work out."

Pit's mouth hung open and spoke his question very quickly that the others barely listened completely. "That was your plan? You wanted to sway Pittoo into your side in hopes of turning him against us in an epic battle that would test our morals against each other and hold us back from hurting him if he ever raised his weapon to our faces just so he could get a big slice of me in a super stressful battle after coming all this way to find you? Man… That's so ingenious!" Fox dope-slapped him.

There was something that the World Traveler wanted to test to further get to know the dark angel. "E-even if he could, he just wouldn't turn his back on us," Chris said. "I…I just know he's not capable of doing it." Dark Pit stared at him for a long while, puzzled about the comment yet knowing the teen wasn't wrong about the nagging assumption.

Phospora grimaced. "What sort of cheesy friendship statement is that? I've been told he prefers to go solo and have a 'big' slice of Pit. Why didn't my offer go through? It's extremely tempting just to mention the chance to put both angels in a single fighting ring." She grunted. "Don't tell me you guys are brainwashing him into doing your bidding?! Ma'am Palutena has a very dark side."

"I wish it was brainwashing…" muttered Dark Pit.

"I wish I could brainwash people," Palutena chimed in, making her team grimace.

"No? I just don't understand you angels," Phospora said.

"Would Viridi even consider having a Pit of her own?" Mr. G&W asked. "I thought you were his Pit."

"I AM NOT HER PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Phospora suddenly hollered at the thought of being considered like that that she scared them all and made them jump back when lightning bolts rained down on the ring, which they hadn't thankfully stepped into just yet. Noticing the murderous rage on the lady's face…that she quickly discarded for a giggling look. "Am I right?" she added sweetly.

"Er… What was going on there?" Ms. Fit asked.

"The name 'Pit' somehow has transcended into a derogatory term among the Forces of Nature that is even worse to mention than just saying a person 'is worse than X'…" The Ancient Minister got a little uncomfortable when everyone looked wide-eyed at him. "…It was sort of obvious to me it was bound to happen since everyone likes to make fun of him the most."

"H-how could my name turn into something that low?! What did I do?!" Pit asked innocently.

"Murder a lot of enemy troops with no brains?" wondered Popo.

"And your personality is…eh…uuuuuuuuh…eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh….yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah," Nana added, playing around with the angle of her right hand.

"T-then…" Pit looked down in shame and made Chris briefly consider the small glimmer of hope of making the angel reconsider his new attitude…but anyone with common sense by now would know it was usually around times like this that such hopes would be dashed upon the ground by Pit himself, and they were right. Pit only looked up with determination and pointed a finger at Phospora. "Attention, pet of Viridi! Your time to be brought to justice and light is upon you! So you better sharpen! Your! Claws!" he proclaimed with such force into his last words that made everyone around him fall silent to yet again another classic childish moment of him. To drive things even further, a saintly light shone on Pit as he then started to pose some sick moves to strike fear into Phospora, though he only made himself look even sillier among everyone present in the room confused at the display and the light. "I am the servant of Palutena, goddess of Light an-OWW-OWW-OWW!" he yelped several times once Phospora interrupted by firing electric bolts from her index finger at his feet. He luckily managed to avoid getting hit all times.

Phospora blew the smoke from her index finger and giggled. "Too much talk, and no action bore me," she said, striking her own battle pose in midair. "You won't have no restrictions fighting me, unlike Arlon and Cragalanche. You better be ready for a true smackd-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Magolor interrupted her speech with a loud scream, startling everyone but a very serious Lucario growling at his surroundings.

"What now?!" Phospora yelled back.

"T-they're here… THEY'RE HERE!" the Halcandran shrieked, cowering behind Meta Knight. "T-they're after the Energy Sphere!"

"Wha-?"

"SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A nightmarish screech echoed from all over the room they were in. As some of them covered their ears from the loud sound, they started to look around for the enemies Magolor was sensing. Phospora looked around in confusion until everyone got a clear view of the monsters that Magolor had seen earlier…

In a rather coordinated formation, three blobs of darkness rose up from the abyss to the highest point in the air and stopped there, with one occupying a side of the circle in a large triangle formation. Their shapes were that of purple spherical faces with angry yellow eyes and purple angel wings, with a meager bush of hair on top of the main body and two tail feathers. The main body itself was nearly divided in half by their large gapping mouths echoing their screeches together as they fixed their gazes on their main target: the necklace on Phospora's neck holding the Energy Sphere.

"W-what are these things?" Phospora asked.

"Oh! What seems to be the problem here?" Hades chimed in. "I sensed a peculiar source of darkness making itself known."

"Hey! Don't you know not to ignore a lady?!" Viridi chimed in next, until she took a good look at the creatures. "What the heck are those?"

"SPHERE DOOMERS!" Magolor shrieked. "T-they're after the Energy Sphere she's holding!"

Phospora blinked and then held the sphere connected to her necklace. "They're looking for this? Oh no, I'm not handing it over to anyone! It was fair game to find it outside! Why should I give it to some monsters?" Unless the Sphere Doomers were speech-impaired and did not understand their language, they shrieked in response to her statement.

And then…

"GIVE…BACK…"

The group below gasped once all three Sphere Doomers spoke in unison, using a very distorted and dark tone. The monsters fluttered their wings angrily to emphasize their desire to reclaim the Energy Sphere from Phospora. "T-they can talk?" Mr. G&W asked.

"Y-yes, they can," Magolor said. "They really don't talk that much unless they're very riled up. And to be honest, they are always riled up whenever they see other people rather than their master!"

The Lighting Flash warrior giggled in response, quite confident about keeping her treasure for herself. "These critters don't scare me one bit. I'll just zap 'em down and forget they ever came in here. BAM!" She pointed at one Sphere Doomer from behind her back and sent a dazzling electric shot at it.

Which the monster swiftly dodged with a spin. The blast crashed on the wall behind without landing on its foe.

Phospora irked an eyebrow. "Huh? Well, great, you can dodge one blow. Doesn't mean you can dodge all of m-!" The three creatures interrupted her by shrieking loudly. All three were in clear coordination, as they conjured four dark orbs each that circled around their bodies. The warrior lady didn't want to just sit by and watch them execute an attack, so she picked on the target that had avoided her last blow and charged quickly in reference to her namesake. "Like I'm gonna let you attack me!" she yelled as she stretched her blazing thunder leg on a crash course to the Sphere Doomer. Her grin grew wider as she quickly approached the creature at a swift speed.

And yet, so much happened during those two seconds.

It all turned out to be a ruse to get Phospora close to one of the monsters as they had planned from the beginning to reach out for the Energy Sphere. The group witnessed the three Sphere Doomers calling off their blunt weapons, and instead, the one Sphere Doomer that Phospora was going to kick hard enlarged in size and opened its gapping maw wide in an attempt to swallow her whole. For a split second, Phospora flashed a very unlikely expression showing utter horror as her eyes passed the dark fanged-row and were blinded in darkness once the maw closed shut and nullified the swift blow…

Time seemed to come at an abrupt half for everyone present. Staring wide-eyed at the horrendous incident, their unwilling silence made them all wait for a response from the swallowed warrior as they saw the enlarged Sphere Doomer gobbling up its meal inside its maw. A chilling, muffled scream was heard going out for about a second until it was eerily silenced by the sound of a swallowing sound from the satisfied monster, who showed not much of a change in emotion rather than shuddering in victory with its mouth still closed shut. To be on the safe side, they waited a little more for a reaction like when Kirby swallowed enemies to gain their power…until it became clear that nothing else was going to happen.

"H-holy…!" both Pits trailed off in surprise.

"T-t-that thing…!" Chris breathed out right before covering his mouth in shock.

"It… It swallowed her whole…" Ms. Fit muttered.

Fox looked sick. "Y-you can't be serious! Did they really just kill her like that?!" he asked.

Magolor shuddered and turned his back. "This is just one of the atrocities they can do to people holding the Energy Spheres…" he muttered. "They focus on their target and refuse to lose time fighting as long as they can get the items they came for…"

With a tight grip on Galaxia, Meta Knight stared at the alien. "Why didn't you warn us about their methods of attacking?" he asked.

"I-I am sorry… This is the only special method of attacking they have. I didn't think once this would happen since I put a lot of faith in you guys… I was scared… I thought they were just going to retrieve the sphere without fighting, but that girl happened to find it, a-and…it was too late to warn you all…" He looked up at Meta Knight. "The mere sight of them sends chills to my spine…"

"…What… What the…" a quiet Viridi trailed off. She couldn't just bear to believe what she just saw as she unconsciously tried to reach out for Phospora's presence…her long-gone presence that disappeared from existence just right there and then. For as many times as she could during her freaked out state, Viridi couldn't sense Phospora anymore. Unlike how her other commanders were defeated, she had the power to revive them except after a long period of time had passed. Even defeated, she could faintly sense their lives being tended to in her realm. To see one of her most powerful commanders disappearing without leaving a trace was unreal. "What did they…? What happened to…?"

"They have quite the appetite for lightning ladies, don't they? That's some express delivery through the car," Hades quipped, pinching his chin in curiosity.

"Too soon, Hades. Too soon," spoke Palutena dully.

The three Sphere Doomers shrieked in victory at the successful retrieval of the Energy Sphere…until they fixed their gazes on the group down on the floor, especially the cowering Magolor. Recognizing the alien since the last time they attacked and destroyed his ship, they knew that the alien was hostile. Furthermore, although the alien carried a few Energy Spheres with him, they couldn't sense it, as Magolor had put a magic lock on them to keep them from being located. They did surmise that the alien could possibly be carrying more spheres, but most important, he was a threat if left alone. They then started shrieking violently.

"T-they want me!" Magolor yelped, hiding behind a wary Meta Knight. "T-they remember who I am!"

"So they're not completely feral," the minister said. "Their movements so far have told me as much. I expect we won't get out of this easily if they swallow us whole like they did with her."

"A-about that…they won't swallow anyone else but me," the alien clarified. "They only swallowed her because it was the easiest way to get the Energy Sphere from her hands. They prefer to attack when there's people not carrying the items on the offense."

"Then we must keep you safe and attack those fiends," Fox said, loading his Blaster by his side. "We have the number advantage here. This fight may be tricky, but it shouldn't be too hard."

The group readied themselves to fight as they saw the three Sphere Doomers converging at the center of the arena, with the swelled Sphere Doomer who swallowed Phospora taking the central formation. The fiends saw the group clearly trying to oppose them, so as to even the odds, the bigger Sphere Doomer started to twitch in place and change shapes. The group watched grossed out at the monster's body growing limbs in uneven places and its eyes spiking out at random, until very slowly, the form it was trying to take took a more human-looking appearance, albeit said look was a dark version with glowing yellow eyes and the Energy Sphere peeking out from a wicked-looking mouth... The shape it took hovered in the air ominously with dark lightning sparking around it, striking a battle pose they had seen before.

"HEY!" Viridi, whom had fallen silent ever since she saw her last good general take a curb-stomping defeat, snapped out suddenly when she saw the entity. "What's the big idea here?! They're using Phospora as their own puppet!" Indeed, her statement was a fact. The Sphere Doomer that had swallowed Phospora whole had seemingly taken over her body.

In hindsight, many of the Smashers breathed out in relief when they learned she wasn't completely gone from the world. "Phew! Thank goodness they didn't truly end her. They're just evil copies of Kirby that can swallow bosses!" Pit said.

"But is there a chance to save Phospora from their clutches?" wondered Palutena. "Only one way to find out: beat her dark skull senseless to bring sense into her! Because defeating people is the only true method of solving issues! Shall we say…settle it in Smash?!"

"Can you not try to paint us as the bunch of barbarians people want to take us for?" Nana pleaded.

Dark Pit grinned. "This brawl just got more interesting. I'll take it," he said.

Pit opened his cursed palm to the fiends. "It'll be a melee to remember! Let's take 'em down in 64 hits or less!"

Being the only one who understood the underlying message, the World Traveler grimaced. "…Okay. You two are doing this on purpose," Chris deadpanned.

Pit winked at him. "No, U," he said.

"…T-that doesn't eve-!"

"Ugh, I'm not into helping other gods do their jobs, but you guys better snap Phospora out of her brainwashing!" Viridi ordered loudly. "I'll be the laugh of the sacred realm if others learn one of my subordinates got taken away from me like that!"

"Ha ha, her subordinate got taken away like that," both Palutena and Hades teased.

"Quiet, both of you! Leave me alone…"

"Can we just get it over with?" Ms. Fit asked. She was fortunate to know her team charged forward with guns blazing into the arena. Being the least experienced in taking missions like this…or ever, the lady would soon find out that the Smashers' streak of bad luck would get even worse with every victory they managed to get.

The battle up ahead was just the real preview of the real horror that was to come in Palutena's territory…

TO BE CONTINUED…

"Let the Aliens Steal the Floor," Pit said. "Aliens? …Guys, no stealing Palutena's floor!"

"Why would we even want to take tiled floors for?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"Lady Palutena's floor is worth almost a gazillion gold nuggets! Your lives would be set forever by taking just one! Also, the money can be used in any other universe because it is import-friendly!"

"…Oh! I have caught an alien stealing a piece!" Magolor happily chimed in.

"What?! Cocoons live in my wallet and I'm sick on living on instant food! She won't miss a piece of her floor that much!" Fox barked.

"Saving your data now!" Stiltzkin said.

Overwriting file...

Thunder Cloud Temple

Chris (Lvl. 120) - Lucario (Lvl. 128) – Pit (Lvl. 140) – Dark Pit (Lvl. 140)

Meta Knight (Lvl. 126) – Fox (Lvl. 125) - Ice Climbers (Lvl. 101) - Mr. Game & Watch (Lvl. 113)

Ancient Minister (Lvl. 115) – Wii Fit Trainer (Lvl. 100) – Magolor (Lvl. 100)

It almost feels like a dream for a new chapter to be here. I hope it was for you all.

Since the chapter was divided at the end, that should give me a good head start for what's to come. I'll cross my fingers that you won't have to suffer longer delays from my content in general.

I know it's been some…time since new stuff was provided by the official game, and now we're in for more content to go through. Well, I'll have to adapt that new content as well. The more victims, er, characters I can get my hands on, the better! You'll have your Inkling someday soon. And speaking of which, I'll have to put things into overdrive to give every other new guy the limelight they deserve, so expect this story to focus almost solely on recruiting more unfortunate idiots, uh, heroes for the battle of the ages.

Oh, and one more thing. I have updated my profile with other websites where you can find me. Namely, my Twitter and Youtube accounts. Sit down and let's have some good times outside the tower of words I have for chapters.

That is all for now! Hope I can see you again. Please do review (by putting effort in not saying some short lines since I don't do this **** just to read two or five words). Or else Chris's newest BFF will be Dark Pit.

"A vote for Dark Pit is a vote for EVIL, Chris!" Pit said.

"Frankly speaking, your campaign promises…could use a little work," Chris said.

"I do need a campaign manager, but Lady Palutena doesn't like me running my ow-"

"I didn't mean THAT!" he scolded.